The Philosopher's Stone
Chapter Five
Sorting Hat
Great Hall
"Follow me please, and no more talking. "Professor McGonagall said as she entered the room, before she lead the children into the Great Hall after giving them a few final instructions. Yuery and Ron followed behind Neville and Hermione, who was still muttering quoted texts of spells, Draco was behind Yuery. As they approached the head table, Yuery looked around curiously. There were hundreds of candles hanging midair above the four house tables the ceiling above appeared to be open to the night sky. Hermione whispered that it was enchanted to reflect the weather outside.
At the Head table stood an old man with long white hair and beard. Seated along side him were several witches and wizards, Yuery recognized Professor Snape right away, sitting next to a nervous looking man Quirrell, and Hagrid sat nearby. There were two empty seats along the row.
The four house tables appeared full, with no where else for the new students provided, Yuery assumed then that they would be expected to find places along them after whatever task they were given. Once she had them settled in a neat line, McGonagall slipped away to bring back a stool with an old battered looking hat sitting on top.
"Welcome First Years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore said. "We will begin with the Sorting as soon as I complete a short announcement. First, we must give a warm welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell. Secondly, this year we will be welcoming foreign dignitaries who wish to observe our customs, beginning with Lt Fuhrer Elric, who will be here for the rest of the month. Please, do not interfere with his work or bother him with unnecessary questions." As Dumbledore spoke Yuery saw his Dad walk into the room from a side chamber and take an empty seat next to Snape, who turned to him briefly before returning his attention to Quirrell. "You will be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin - "
"Didn't you say your name was Elric?" Ron whispered.
"Yes." Yuery whispered back, before adding in hopes of the subject being forgotten." Quiet we are meant to be listening."
Yuery noticed his Dad whispering angrily with Snape now and gesturing toward the Sorting Hat as Dumbledore finished explaining the houses, before McGonagall started calling out names. The test seemed to be some sort of measure of magic, since the hat was placed on their heads then a word yelled out, before the student would move to one of the tables.
She had passed over his name however, which confused him since she was already on the Gs as Hermione was added to Gryffindor. Ron whispered again as the group slowly dwindled "Don't get Slytherin the whole lot of them are evil. I think I'd quit if I got in."
"What one do you want then?" Yuery asked curiously.
"I'll probably get Gryffindor, all my brothers did." Ron said with a shrug. "Hopefully you get in too then we can me roommates…are you related to that man?"
"Yes, he's, my Dad. Shh. I wonder why they didn't call my name?"
"Maybe your Dad told them not to, he seemed upset by the idea of the sorting." Draco whispered.
"Why would he have a problem with the sorting?" Ron asked. "I mean if it was like painful or something like Fred had said, but it's just a hat."
Yuery shrugged as the group grew smaller. Draco was sorted into Slytherin with the hat barely touching his head, and he made his way over to the table where he was welcomed by some other boys who had already been added. "I guess he's as rotten as his Dad after all." Ron whispered.
"I think I know why my Dad didn't like this process." Yuery muttered but wouldn't say anything more as the names continued. He nearly missed it when they called out the name Harry Potter, as the crowd all started talking.
"Harry Potter." McGonagall called out again, as she looked directly at Yuery, and Snape seemed to be whispering to his father again who in turn looked livid.
"My name is Yuery Elric ma'am." He said as he made his way up front.
The hat went onto his head and Ed had enough. This sorting business was bad enough in theory, but he had seen Dumbledore cast a spell at least three times as a kid sat, each time the hat seemed to decide right away which house to place them. Not only was the system divisionary, but it was also apparently rigged at least somewhat. As the hat announced Gryffindor, and many of the adults looked relieved, Ed bristled further. "I never agreed to allow this behavior." Ed said to Dumbledore, standing next to the man as he watched his son join the others at the furthest table. "I agreed to allow him to attend provisionally. You are already bending the agreement and the year barely began."
"Have a seat Mr. Elric. I can and will have you removed from the grounds should you cause a disturbance." Dumbledore said quietly as he continued to smile at the students.
"You will not, and we both know it. My son will not remain behind should you banish the adult guards." Ed said with a frown and crossed his arms over his chest. "We already had this conversation with your Minister of Magic. I am not here as a guest of the school but as a guest of your government."
The last of the children had now been sorted and the stool moved away, as Dumbledore stood to give another speech and Ed sat back in his seat, clearly angry. Dumbledore began listing the rules, including that the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds for all students and the third-floor corridor.
Yuery had watched his father argue with Dumbledore quietly, unable to hear what was being said. Ron joined them a few minutes later right before his dad sat back down and asked why his Dad looked so mad. "That's your father?" Neville asked curiously. "I thought they said you were Harry Potter?"
"I am Yuery Elric." Yuery said. "Harry Potter is my birth name, but I have never gone by it and am honestly completely unused to anyone using it. Please really, just call me Yuery. Yeah, that's my Dad. He's going to be here for a few weeks to audit the school and decide if we will be sending more students here."
"Who's that one sitting next to Snape, he seems nervous." Ron asked, as he looked over at the head table where the teachers were all eating. Quirrell did look a bit nervous, and Snape annoyed.
Yuery looked over himself and frowned. In a crowded room it was hard to tell, but something seemed wrong with the man. "That's Professor Quirrell, they just announced him." Yuery squinted at them, trying to decide what he was feeling. When Quirrell looked in his direction he felt a strange aura around him. He would have to talk about it to his Dad later, and maybe Professor Snape.
"Snape hates students, by the way. Especially Gryffindors." One of the twins said, George Yuery believed, though he might be wrong.
"It is best to steer clear of him, he is the worst." Said the other twin, Fred.
"Really, how bad could he be they let him teach here." Hermione asked, annoyed at the way the brothers were talking about the teachers. "So, you said you prefer Yuery?"
"Yes, I do." Yuery said gratefully. As another red-haired brother moved over to them.
"I'm Percy Weasley, I will be aiding you all this year as Prefect." He said as he smiled at the first years.
"Oh, are you prefect Percy? We hadn't noticed you only mentioned it a few times." Fred said, "A day, for the entire summer."
"Harry, I will be happy to show you around." Percy said, ignoring his brothers.
"Yuery."
"I'm sorry?"
"My name. It's Yuery Elric, not Harry. We corrected it with the administration paperwork too, I don't know why they announced me as Harry Potter." Yuery frowned. He supposed it didn't truly matter, accept everyone seemed to know the name Harry Potter, and the last thing he wanted this year was to be famous again.
He saw his Dad once again arguing with the other adults, he could tell they were arguing even if they were being quiet because of his Dad's expression and the red tinge to his face from the strain of not yelling.
"Elric?" Percy asked, before glancing in the same direction. "So, are you related to the visitor? Is he your brother or something?"
"He's, my Dad." Yuery said, "Why is the third floor off limits do you think?"
"I don't know. That was strange too, we are usually given a reason like the Forbidden Forrest is full of dangerous creatures, but they didn't say why." Percy said, before shrugging. "It is out of bounds though, so stay away from it, all of you."
The meal was over now, and they were all to follow their prefects to their dorms. Ed watched his son follow along with the others before Snape offered to show him to his own suite where he would be staying while he was here.
They made their way out into the hallway as the thundering of hundreds of feet passed by as the children all disappeared for the night. "I do not like this at all." Ed said with a sigh as Severus lead him to the fifth floor where he found a painting of a strange gnome guarding his door.
"Set your password." Severus instructed and waited before following Ed into the small suite. "I don't like this either. It still was the only way Dumbledore was letting you into this school and we need to find that piece and the stone. Something about Quirrell is bothersome, like a shroud of darkness around him."
"Find out how the others warded it, we already know where he put the damned stone." Ed said as he sat on the small sofa in front of the fire. "I will not have him using my child. It's bad enough you talked ME into using my child like this. Quirrell is trouble. Dark energy surrounds him, that's what you were noticing about him that just feels wrong. Yuery seemed to have noticed it as well, though he may not have known what he was feeling, he hasn't gotten that far in his teachings."
"Dragon Pulse?" Severus asked as he sat in the chair next to the sofa. "I know you are still upset over this plan. I am truly sorry there wasn't another way to go about it."
"Well, we can blame Hohenheim for that at least. He's the one who went and left a Stone to that drunk." Ed frowned. "Yeah, Dragon Pulse, it's what they call reading the energy. He feels wrong."
"I have lessons tomorrow. First Years included. I will ensure Yuery is settling in well. He is listed as Harry Potter on my class list." Severus scoffed. "It appears that will be an ongoing issue."
"Let Yuery take the lead on it. He seems to want to correct it himself. I will catch him at breakfast and let him know that I told you to let him correct you on it. It is likely all of his teachers will be hearing it from him over the next few days." Ed shrugged. "I don't like it, but he is going to have to learn when to stand up to authority. He's been watching me, and Dad do it his whole life, it isn't a new idea for him at least."
"Seventh floor, remember." Severus said as he stood to leave for the evening.
Meanwhile, Yuery had found his dorm and that he had several roommates, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron would all be sharing the space with him. He was unbothered by the idea, having spent his entire life sharing a room with somebody. It seemed he was the only one though, for even Ron who had talked about his large family, apparently had his own room at home.
"I thought that man was your father. His title sounded pretty important." Ron asked as the boys all changed for the night.
"He is, he's very important in my country." Yuery said reluctantly not wanting to make a big deal out of it.
"Oh, then why do you share a room with your brother?" Seamus asked, having overheard the conversation.
"Dads offered to give me my own room before, but I like sharing." Yuery said with a shrug. "I've always shared." Yuery climbed into bed and laid down to show the others he was done with the conversation, which worked as well as it did with his brothers. They continued talking themselves but no longer questioned him.
