A/N: Thanks to all reviewers. I'm forcing another chapter out, because, on
Thursday, I have to return to the place of dread, more commonly known as
school. *shudder* I have to face the evil people that are my teachers. Here
goes, and the decision about Ben's house has been reached, though it was
hard. I'll explain why I chose it later.
Disclaimer: Okay, you should know I don't own Harry Potter, but just in case you don't, I'm telling you that I don't, got it? I just own The Shadow's Sorrow pub, and a few other things.
Chapter 5 - On to Hogwarts
It was the morning of the first of September, and Ben was shaken roughly awake. He looked at the person who had woken him, and saw their face was covered by a mask, though he could still identify who it was. It was Bellatrix Lestrange, someone with whom Ben never liked (A/N: like I'd say he liked her. She killed Sirius!) her, but she was an important Death Eater, so he kept quiet, knowing it wouldn't matter.
"What is it Lestrange?" he snapped, angry at being woken.
"Sir, it is time for you to get up. You have to pack for Hogwarts, and be ready to leave by the time Lucius arrives."
"Fine," he said, getting up. Once she left the room he became immediately cheerful, glad she had left.
Ben quickly dressed and then looked beside his bed. There was a meal there that some house elf had left. He ate it slowly, and then walked off to find his father before packing.
"Father," said Ben when he had found him.
"Yes Ben?"
"I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too, but you will be in contact regularly via firecall, and you can owl me whenever you want."
"I know, but it won't be the same."
"You'll be coming home in three months for Christmas."
"Yeah."
"You will see me again before you go. I promise. I have to threaten Lucius about your safety. Go and Pack."
"Okay," said Ben, and walked back to his room.
Questions started to come to his mind. Why did he have to agree to go? Now that he was going, he didn't want to. Which house would he be sorted to? Hopefully Slytherin, otherwise his Father would have a fit. It was going to be hard for him. It was going to be hard for them all.
When he got to his room yet more questions came. Could he really live among those he had been brought up to think of as his enemies? Could he leave the only person he could ever really think of as family? Could he do this?
___________________
Lucius arrived again later with Draco not long before they had to leave. Shortly after arriving Voldemort summoned Lucius to his chambers, leaving Ben and Draco to talk.
"So, are you looking forwards to this?" Ben asked.
"I'm sort of nervous."
"Me too."
"Which house do you think you'll be sorted into?"
"Well, I've managed to narrow it down to four."
"Me too," snorted Draco.
"It's a pity we can't try out for Quidditch this year," sighed Harry.
"I still don't understand why not though!"
"I know, though it's probably so the people who have never flown before get a chance to learn before anyone in that year can try out."
"Dumb reason, if you ask me!"
"I know. Let's go find out Fathers. Mine should be done threatening yours by now."
"Probably."
"Yeah," said Ben, and walked off with Draco.
___________________
Ben was nervous, to say the least. They were about to floo to London and he hated floo powder (A/N: Spot any likenesses between him and JK's Harry?). He had once even gotten lost whilst using it, though luckily a Death Eater (all loyal ones know who he is) had found him and returned him to where he was supposed to be.
"Now, remember why you're there," his father warned.
" I will," he said, taking a handful of powder and stepping into the fire. He took a deep breath and then said "The Shadow's Sorrow," dropping the floo powder at the same time.
Ben felt the familiar warmth of the flames as he span round and round travelling through the network.
Just as he felt he was about to be sick the spinning stopped and he fell forwards. Quickly he got up and took note of his surroundings. He smiled. He was in the pub, The Shadow's Sorrow, which, though a lot smaller than the more famous Leakey Cauldron, was busy today, because parents were dropping off their kids, then popping in for a drink, as the pub was right across the road from King's Cross station.
He had only been there a few seconds longer when Draco flooed in. He, like Ben, fell face first onto the floor. When he got up Ben noticed Lucius standing behind them with their trunks.
"Come along you two," he said quickly. He wanted to get them onto the Hogwarts Express as quickly as possible, so if anything happened to Ben after that, he couldn't be blamed.
They followed him out of the door and across the road. It took a while with all the traffic, but they managed to get across with a couple of minutes left.
"Why do I get the feeling we're going to be late?" Draco asked Ben quietly.
"Because you're a pessimist, though we are cutting it a bit fine."
"Come on. We need to get going," said Lucius, disappearing through a brick wall. Draco followed him, then Ben followed Draco.
They emerged on the other side to find a packed platform, with a scarlet engine waiting to leave.
"Hurry up. You only have two minutes left!"
"Yes Father," said Draco pushing his trunk to the nearest carriage.
"Bye," said Ben, following Draco. As soon as they got in to the carriage Lucius apparated back to the Dark Lord to give his report whilst the boys tried to find seats.
Finding seats was not an easy task. It appeared that everyone else was already there. Eventually they had made their way to the back of the train and managed to get a compartment to themselves.
Ben sighed. He knew that it took almost the entire day to get to Hogwarts, which was in the North of Scotland somewhere. No one was exactly sure where though. Some spell or other had made it unplottable. All that was known was which country it was in, and it was near the village of Hogsmead.
Ben looked at Draco, and the look on his face told him they were thinking about, more or less, the same thing. Ben smiles at his friend.
"So, looks like we've got three months of school ahead of us," he said.
"Yeah. I hope it's worth coming. I already miss Mother."
"I miss my Father. I'm starting to wish I hadn't gotten myself into this."
"Yeah, but at least you had a choice. I didn't."
"I know."
The next few minutes passed in silence as they both watched the scenery go passed, then they got into another conversation.
"Have you got anymore chocolate frog cards yet?" asked Draco.
"Yeah, wanna trade them?"
"Sure. I've got a few more duplicates," said Ben, pulling out a medium sized bag, filled with cards.
"How many cards have you got now?"
"I dunno. About a 1000," Ben offered a quick guess.
"Okay, I've got about 800. Do you have any Agrippa's to trade?"
"Yeah, but I need Ptolemy."
"I got a spare. Do you have any spare Hufflepuff's or Slytherin's?"
"One spare of each. Do you have any Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?"
"Yeah. Trade ya."
They carried on like this for a while longer, trying to complete their collections even more. They had just finished trading when a girl with bushy brown hair and big teeth came to the door of their compartment.
"You haven't seen a toad, by any chance?" she asked. "Only a boy named Neville has lost one."
"Nope, sorry," said Ben.
"No toads here," said Draco.
"Thanks anyway," she said and left.
"Why do I get the impression that she likes books?" asked Ben.
"Because she had around fifteen in her bag?" offered Draco.
"Oh yeah, that's why."
"How many more cards do you need to complete your collection, anyway?" asked Draco, getting them back to the cards.
"Three: Merlin, Morgana and Mordred. You?"
"Two hundred and three more to go. Not many."
"Yeah."
The rest of the journey went by pretty much uneventfully. A woman with a food trolley came by about midday and they both bought some chocolate frogs ("Damn! I didn't get any cards that I need!" said Ben), but after that nothing happened until they arrived.
They got off the train and were greeted by a voice from over their heads.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! Come on! We have to get up to the castle!"
The two of them looked up and saw a giant of a man who was twice as tall as a normal person, and about five times as wide.
"Righ', is everyone 'ere? (A/N: I don't think I got his speech right) Good. Now, follow me," he said leading them along a path. They followed, slipping and sliding, trying to get a grip on the slippery ground. Nobody really spoke.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' glimpse o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man called, "jus' round the bend."
They turned a corner and there was a collective "Oooooooooh!" from many of the girl, whilst almost everyone else stood open mouthed. Below them was a valley, surrounded by mountains. There was a large lake, black looking in that light, and on top of a hill, tall, but not tall enough to be call a mountain, was a large castle, with many towers and turrets.
They walked quickly down to the lakeside and the man pointed to some boats.
"No more'n four to a boat," he called. Ben and Draco got in one boat, and they were joined by two boys that could have been mistaken for boulders whom Ben recognised as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and remembered that they were almost too dumb to string two words together.
"Everyone in?" the man called again. He had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"
The fleet of boats moved forwards across the water as one. Everyone was silent, most staring up at the castle over head. It towered high above them as they sailed closer to a cliff by the water's edge.
"Heads down!" the man yelled as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads down and the boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a cavern at the base of the cliff. They seemed to be travelling through a dark tunnel, which appeared to take them right under the castle. After a bit they appeared to reach a sort of harbour and they all got out.
"Did anyone lose a toad?" that man called again.
"Trevor!" called out a boy, rushing forwards.
"Guess that must be the Neville that that girl told us about," whispered Ben to Draco.
"Oh, great deduction.," whispered Draco back sarcastically.
"Come on. We're getting left behind."
The two of them rushed after the other first years up some steps. They came out of a passageway onto some smooth grass in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded round a huge, oak door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"
Neville nodded and the giant (A/N: saying 'the man' all the time's boring) raised a fist, knocking three times on the door.
The door swung open and a tall black-haired witch in green robes stood there. She had a stern face and Ben instantaneously knew she was not someone you wanted to cross.
"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," the man said.
"Thank you Hagrid. I will take it from here."
She opened the door as much as she could and they entered the Entrance Hall. The stone walls had torches lighting them . The ceiling was too high to make out, though that was usual with wizarding buildings. There was also a marble staircase leading to the upper floors.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony ..."
Ben just tuned out the rest, already having a good idea of what if would be about. It would be about the house points, and how to win and lose them, and the house cup.
"... The Sorting ceremony will take place in few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as possible while you are waiting," she said, her eyes lingering on Neville's cloak, which, was somehow fastened to his ear, and on a red-headed boy with a smudge of dirt on his nose.
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," said Professor McGonagall, and left.
Ben looked around saw several people getting nervous. He smirked. The obviously didn't know that it was a hat that sorted you. One boy, the red- head with the dirty nose was explaining to another what his older brother had told him about being sorted.
"Fred said it was some sort of test. I think he said it hurts a lot"
Ben looked at Draco, who was smirking as well.
"Can you believe they believe that?"
"I know. Who would have a brain small enough?"
"Crabbe, Goyle, or apparently, that red-head."
"I've heard about his family. I think the name's Weasley, and that's their youngest son. I think his name is Don, or Ron, or something like that."
"It doesn't matter. Look, McGonagall's back."
McGonagall was indeed back. She told them to form a line and then she led them into the hall.
Ben was near the back of the line and when he entered he saw the Great Hall in all it's glory. It was lit by thousands of candles, floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the older students were sitting. These tables laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall there was another long table where the staff were sitting. The ceiling looked like the sky out side, and Ben heard someone, the bushy brown haired girl, say that it was bewitched.
Professor McGonagall led them up between the two central tables up in front of the staff table and the spread out in one line.
Ben saw that Professor McGonagall was placing a three-legged stool and a pointed wizard's hat in front of them. The hat was patched, frayed and dirty, so Ben recognised it as the Sorting Hat from his Father's description.
Soon everyone, including Ben, were staring at it. For a few seconds there was complete silence, then it broke into song.
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hart
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
SO try me on and I will tell you
And I will tell you where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
There daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindor's apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuff's are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet wise Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find there kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The hall burst into applause as the hat finished. It bowed to each of the four tables and then was still again.
Professor McGonagall stepped forwards holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put the hat on and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbot, Hannah!"
A girl walked forwards and was sorted into Hufflepuff. Eight more students were sorted, including the bushy brown haired girl, who was called Hermione Granger, and then it was Ben's turn.
"Hunt, Benjamin!"
Ben walked forwards calmly and placed the hat on his head as he sat down.
"Hmm," said the hat. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of Gryffindor courage. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a thirst to succeed. So, where do you belong?"
Ben sat patiently on the stool, swinging his legs a little as the hat made it's decision.
"Hmm. Courage and ambition are strongest for you, but is it Gryffindor or Slytherin? I haven't had such trouble in deciding for years. Do you have any preferences on which of the two you go to?"
"No, not really. It doesn't bother me," thought Ben.
"Ahh, one of the people who isn't bothered. I know now. You belong in (A/N: Here's the moment of truth. Nail biting time. Okay, I'll get on with it) SLYTHERIN!(A/N: Slytherin haters don't hate me!)"
The hat yelled the last word and Ben walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. Watched the rest of the sorting without interest, but Slytherin gained Draco, a Death Eater named Nott's son, and a boy (A/N: It'll help, I think, if it's a boy more than if it's a girl) named Blaise Zabini. Professor McGonagall walked out of the hall with the hat and an old wizard, who Ben knew as Professor Albus Dumbledore, stood up.
A/N: I did it! Yay me! Yay! I gave my reasons for putting him in Slytherin. It was a hard choice, as there were good reasons to put him in Gryffindor instead, but I decided on this after much deliberation, and even the 'eenie, meenie, meanie, mo' method. My reasons are as follows:
1) He was raised to believe that Slytherins are best, though I'm not sure if he does believe it at the minute.
2) In the actual book SS or PS, depending on where you are, the hat wants to put him in Slytherin, but, after hearing what Hagrid and Ron said about them, he tells the hat he doesn't want to go there.
3) Though it would have helped test out the bond between Ben and Voldemort if Ben had gone to Gryffindor, I'm not going to just yet.
4) It should help the story out more this way around, though there are some things that might change from the books, such as a accident that doesn't appear in the books.
5) Draco may, though he may not have, abandoned their friendship, which should be important in the future.
6) My last really worth while reason is that he would find it a lot harder to contact Voldemort if he had gone to Gryffindor, and they would need to keep in touch.
Well, I here it is. It took ages compared with the others.
Kris-tina4: I'm glad you liked them, though just because Lucius is a close Death Eater to Voldemort doesn't necessarily mean that Draco and Ben/Harry would be friends. They could just be forced to have one another's company from time to time. I wouldn't have changed his wand. I've read some where he has a different wand as well, though I prefer that he has it this way. Glad you noticed the colours. Part prediction for this chapter, showing that he would definitely go to either Gryffindor or Slytherin. I'm glad you think I'm a good writer.
Cataclysmic: Thank you! Lots of people say it's original, and I'm glad you do too! Here's an update!
Keebler-elmo: In my strange and twisted world, it is possible, though an explanation will be coming soon enough, if you haven't guessed why yet.
SycoCallie: You love me? Are you sure? Don't you love my writing instead of me? I know the last chapter was short, but I wanted it like that. Here's update. Right now. Is Longer. Hope you haven't killed yourself just yet.
Laurel Elven: Another positive review? Yay! I've written more now.
AlL rOaDs LeAd To HeLl: I know, I know. People have corrected me.
Chrissy: Glad you like. Thanks for the reason for Gryffindor, but Slytherin won the eenie meenie miny mo. Blood of Gryffindor? What does that have to do with anything? You get sorted according to your personality, not your ancestry. I'm on your fave list? Yay!
Cynaraek Heledrenan: Tanks. My mind decided to vanish that day. It was hiding from me.
Kaizer Knucz: Thanks.
Darak: I know now.
Rain Warrior: Thank you. I reply to all reviews! It's fun and helps to get people reviewing - or at least that's my theory!
J L: Yay! People like it! Yay!
Now to everyone who hasn't reviewed, pleases do! Flames are welcome too! I mean, I force my opinions on people, so the should force them on me too! But if you do flame try to put something helpful in, though it isn't necessary. This is the longest chapter I've ever written, so the next ones probably won't be as long. I mean, eleven pages on word! That's really long!
Disclaimer: Okay, you should know I don't own Harry Potter, but just in case you don't, I'm telling you that I don't, got it? I just own The Shadow's Sorrow pub, and a few other things.
Chapter 5 - On to Hogwarts
It was the morning of the first of September, and Ben was shaken roughly awake. He looked at the person who had woken him, and saw their face was covered by a mask, though he could still identify who it was. It was Bellatrix Lestrange, someone with whom Ben never liked (A/N: like I'd say he liked her. She killed Sirius!) her, but she was an important Death Eater, so he kept quiet, knowing it wouldn't matter.
"What is it Lestrange?" he snapped, angry at being woken.
"Sir, it is time for you to get up. You have to pack for Hogwarts, and be ready to leave by the time Lucius arrives."
"Fine," he said, getting up. Once she left the room he became immediately cheerful, glad she had left.
Ben quickly dressed and then looked beside his bed. There was a meal there that some house elf had left. He ate it slowly, and then walked off to find his father before packing.
"Father," said Ben when he had found him.
"Yes Ben?"
"I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too, but you will be in contact regularly via firecall, and you can owl me whenever you want."
"I know, but it won't be the same."
"You'll be coming home in three months for Christmas."
"Yeah."
"You will see me again before you go. I promise. I have to threaten Lucius about your safety. Go and Pack."
"Okay," said Ben, and walked back to his room.
Questions started to come to his mind. Why did he have to agree to go? Now that he was going, he didn't want to. Which house would he be sorted to? Hopefully Slytherin, otherwise his Father would have a fit. It was going to be hard for him. It was going to be hard for them all.
When he got to his room yet more questions came. Could he really live among those he had been brought up to think of as his enemies? Could he leave the only person he could ever really think of as family? Could he do this?
___________________
Lucius arrived again later with Draco not long before they had to leave. Shortly after arriving Voldemort summoned Lucius to his chambers, leaving Ben and Draco to talk.
"So, are you looking forwards to this?" Ben asked.
"I'm sort of nervous."
"Me too."
"Which house do you think you'll be sorted into?"
"Well, I've managed to narrow it down to four."
"Me too," snorted Draco.
"It's a pity we can't try out for Quidditch this year," sighed Harry.
"I still don't understand why not though!"
"I know, though it's probably so the people who have never flown before get a chance to learn before anyone in that year can try out."
"Dumb reason, if you ask me!"
"I know. Let's go find out Fathers. Mine should be done threatening yours by now."
"Probably."
"Yeah," said Ben, and walked off with Draco.
___________________
Ben was nervous, to say the least. They were about to floo to London and he hated floo powder (A/N: Spot any likenesses between him and JK's Harry?). He had once even gotten lost whilst using it, though luckily a Death Eater (all loyal ones know who he is) had found him and returned him to where he was supposed to be.
"Now, remember why you're there," his father warned.
" I will," he said, taking a handful of powder and stepping into the fire. He took a deep breath and then said "The Shadow's Sorrow," dropping the floo powder at the same time.
Ben felt the familiar warmth of the flames as he span round and round travelling through the network.
Just as he felt he was about to be sick the spinning stopped and he fell forwards. Quickly he got up and took note of his surroundings. He smiled. He was in the pub, The Shadow's Sorrow, which, though a lot smaller than the more famous Leakey Cauldron, was busy today, because parents were dropping off their kids, then popping in for a drink, as the pub was right across the road from King's Cross station.
He had only been there a few seconds longer when Draco flooed in. He, like Ben, fell face first onto the floor. When he got up Ben noticed Lucius standing behind them with their trunks.
"Come along you two," he said quickly. He wanted to get them onto the Hogwarts Express as quickly as possible, so if anything happened to Ben after that, he couldn't be blamed.
They followed him out of the door and across the road. It took a while with all the traffic, but they managed to get across with a couple of minutes left.
"Why do I get the feeling we're going to be late?" Draco asked Ben quietly.
"Because you're a pessimist, though we are cutting it a bit fine."
"Come on. We need to get going," said Lucius, disappearing through a brick wall. Draco followed him, then Ben followed Draco.
They emerged on the other side to find a packed platform, with a scarlet engine waiting to leave.
"Hurry up. You only have two minutes left!"
"Yes Father," said Draco pushing his trunk to the nearest carriage.
"Bye," said Ben, following Draco. As soon as they got in to the carriage Lucius apparated back to the Dark Lord to give his report whilst the boys tried to find seats.
Finding seats was not an easy task. It appeared that everyone else was already there. Eventually they had made their way to the back of the train and managed to get a compartment to themselves.
Ben sighed. He knew that it took almost the entire day to get to Hogwarts, which was in the North of Scotland somewhere. No one was exactly sure where though. Some spell or other had made it unplottable. All that was known was which country it was in, and it was near the village of Hogsmead.
Ben looked at Draco, and the look on his face told him they were thinking about, more or less, the same thing. Ben smiles at his friend.
"So, looks like we've got three months of school ahead of us," he said.
"Yeah. I hope it's worth coming. I already miss Mother."
"I miss my Father. I'm starting to wish I hadn't gotten myself into this."
"Yeah, but at least you had a choice. I didn't."
"I know."
The next few minutes passed in silence as they both watched the scenery go passed, then they got into another conversation.
"Have you got anymore chocolate frog cards yet?" asked Draco.
"Yeah, wanna trade them?"
"Sure. I've got a few more duplicates," said Ben, pulling out a medium sized bag, filled with cards.
"How many cards have you got now?"
"I dunno. About a 1000," Ben offered a quick guess.
"Okay, I've got about 800. Do you have any Agrippa's to trade?"
"Yeah, but I need Ptolemy."
"I got a spare. Do you have any spare Hufflepuff's or Slytherin's?"
"One spare of each. Do you have any Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?"
"Yeah. Trade ya."
They carried on like this for a while longer, trying to complete their collections even more. They had just finished trading when a girl with bushy brown hair and big teeth came to the door of their compartment.
"You haven't seen a toad, by any chance?" she asked. "Only a boy named Neville has lost one."
"Nope, sorry," said Ben.
"No toads here," said Draco.
"Thanks anyway," she said and left.
"Why do I get the impression that she likes books?" asked Ben.
"Because she had around fifteen in her bag?" offered Draco.
"Oh yeah, that's why."
"How many more cards do you need to complete your collection, anyway?" asked Draco, getting them back to the cards.
"Three: Merlin, Morgana and Mordred. You?"
"Two hundred and three more to go. Not many."
"Yeah."
The rest of the journey went by pretty much uneventfully. A woman with a food trolley came by about midday and they both bought some chocolate frogs ("Damn! I didn't get any cards that I need!" said Ben), but after that nothing happened until they arrived.
They got off the train and were greeted by a voice from over their heads.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! Come on! We have to get up to the castle!"
The two of them looked up and saw a giant of a man who was twice as tall as a normal person, and about five times as wide.
"Righ', is everyone 'ere? (A/N: I don't think I got his speech right) Good. Now, follow me," he said leading them along a path. They followed, slipping and sliding, trying to get a grip on the slippery ground. Nobody really spoke.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' glimpse o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man called, "jus' round the bend."
They turned a corner and there was a collective "Oooooooooh!" from many of the girl, whilst almost everyone else stood open mouthed. Below them was a valley, surrounded by mountains. There was a large lake, black looking in that light, and on top of a hill, tall, but not tall enough to be call a mountain, was a large castle, with many towers and turrets.
They walked quickly down to the lakeside and the man pointed to some boats.
"No more'n four to a boat," he called. Ben and Draco got in one boat, and they were joined by two boys that could have been mistaken for boulders whom Ben recognised as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and remembered that they were almost too dumb to string two words together.
"Everyone in?" the man called again. He had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"
The fleet of boats moved forwards across the water as one. Everyone was silent, most staring up at the castle over head. It towered high above them as they sailed closer to a cliff by the water's edge.
"Heads down!" the man yelled as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads down and the boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a cavern at the base of the cliff. They seemed to be travelling through a dark tunnel, which appeared to take them right under the castle. After a bit they appeared to reach a sort of harbour and they all got out.
"Did anyone lose a toad?" that man called again.
"Trevor!" called out a boy, rushing forwards.
"Guess that must be the Neville that that girl told us about," whispered Ben to Draco.
"Oh, great deduction.," whispered Draco back sarcastically.
"Come on. We're getting left behind."
The two of them rushed after the other first years up some steps. They came out of a passageway onto some smooth grass in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded round a huge, oak door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"
Neville nodded and the giant (A/N: saying 'the man' all the time's boring) raised a fist, knocking three times on the door.
The door swung open and a tall black-haired witch in green robes stood there. She had a stern face and Ben instantaneously knew she was not someone you wanted to cross.
"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," the man said.
"Thank you Hagrid. I will take it from here."
She opened the door as much as she could and they entered the Entrance Hall. The stone walls had torches lighting them . The ceiling was too high to make out, though that was usual with wizarding buildings. There was also a marble staircase leading to the upper floors.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony ..."
Ben just tuned out the rest, already having a good idea of what if would be about. It would be about the house points, and how to win and lose them, and the house cup.
"... The Sorting ceremony will take place in few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as possible while you are waiting," she said, her eyes lingering on Neville's cloak, which, was somehow fastened to his ear, and on a red-headed boy with a smudge of dirt on his nose.
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," said Professor McGonagall, and left.
Ben looked around saw several people getting nervous. He smirked. The obviously didn't know that it was a hat that sorted you. One boy, the red- head with the dirty nose was explaining to another what his older brother had told him about being sorted.
"Fred said it was some sort of test. I think he said it hurts a lot"
Ben looked at Draco, who was smirking as well.
"Can you believe they believe that?"
"I know. Who would have a brain small enough?"
"Crabbe, Goyle, or apparently, that red-head."
"I've heard about his family. I think the name's Weasley, and that's their youngest son. I think his name is Don, or Ron, or something like that."
"It doesn't matter. Look, McGonagall's back."
McGonagall was indeed back. She told them to form a line and then she led them into the hall.
Ben was near the back of the line and when he entered he saw the Great Hall in all it's glory. It was lit by thousands of candles, floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the older students were sitting. These tables laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall there was another long table where the staff were sitting. The ceiling looked like the sky out side, and Ben heard someone, the bushy brown haired girl, say that it was bewitched.
Professor McGonagall led them up between the two central tables up in front of the staff table and the spread out in one line.
Ben saw that Professor McGonagall was placing a three-legged stool and a pointed wizard's hat in front of them. The hat was patched, frayed and dirty, so Ben recognised it as the Sorting Hat from his Father's description.
Soon everyone, including Ben, were staring at it. For a few seconds there was complete silence, then it broke into song.
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hart
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
SO try me on and I will tell you
And I will tell you where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
There daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindor's apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuff's are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet wise Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find there kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The hall burst into applause as the hat finished. It bowed to each of the four tables and then was still again.
Professor McGonagall stepped forwards holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put the hat on and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbot, Hannah!"
A girl walked forwards and was sorted into Hufflepuff. Eight more students were sorted, including the bushy brown haired girl, who was called Hermione Granger, and then it was Ben's turn.
"Hunt, Benjamin!"
Ben walked forwards calmly and placed the hat on his head as he sat down.
"Hmm," said the hat. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of Gryffindor courage. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a thirst to succeed. So, where do you belong?"
Ben sat patiently on the stool, swinging his legs a little as the hat made it's decision.
"Hmm. Courage and ambition are strongest for you, but is it Gryffindor or Slytherin? I haven't had such trouble in deciding for years. Do you have any preferences on which of the two you go to?"
"No, not really. It doesn't bother me," thought Ben.
"Ahh, one of the people who isn't bothered. I know now. You belong in (A/N: Here's the moment of truth. Nail biting time. Okay, I'll get on with it) SLYTHERIN!(A/N: Slytherin haters don't hate me!)"
The hat yelled the last word and Ben walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. Watched the rest of the sorting without interest, but Slytherin gained Draco, a Death Eater named Nott's son, and a boy (A/N: It'll help, I think, if it's a boy more than if it's a girl) named Blaise Zabini. Professor McGonagall walked out of the hall with the hat and an old wizard, who Ben knew as Professor Albus Dumbledore, stood up.
A/N: I did it! Yay me! Yay! I gave my reasons for putting him in Slytherin. It was a hard choice, as there were good reasons to put him in Gryffindor instead, but I decided on this after much deliberation, and even the 'eenie, meenie, meanie, mo' method. My reasons are as follows:
1) He was raised to believe that Slytherins are best, though I'm not sure if he does believe it at the minute.
2) In the actual book SS or PS, depending on where you are, the hat wants to put him in Slytherin, but, after hearing what Hagrid and Ron said about them, he tells the hat he doesn't want to go there.
3) Though it would have helped test out the bond between Ben and Voldemort if Ben had gone to Gryffindor, I'm not going to just yet.
4) It should help the story out more this way around, though there are some things that might change from the books, such as a accident that doesn't appear in the books.
5) Draco may, though he may not have, abandoned their friendship, which should be important in the future.
6) My last really worth while reason is that he would find it a lot harder to contact Voldemort if he had gone to Gryffindor, and they would need to keep in touch.
Well, I here it is. It took ages compared with the others.
Kris-tina4: I'm glad you liked them, though just because Lucius is a close Death Eater to Voldemort doesn't necessarily mean that Draco and Ben/Harry would be friends. They could just be forced to have one another's company from time to time. I wouldn't have changed his wand. I've read some where he has a different wand as well, though I prefer that he has it this way. Glad you noticed the colours. Part prediction for this chapter, showing that he would definitely go to either Gryffindor or Slytherin. I'm glad you think I'm a good writer.
Cataclysmic: Thank you! Lots of people say it's original, and I'm glad you do too! Here's an update!
Keebler-elmo: In my strange and twisted world, it is possible, though an explanation will be coming soon enough, if you haven't guessed why yet.
SycoCallie: You love me? Are you sure? Don't you love my writing instead of me? I know the last chapter was short, but I wanted it like that. Here's update. Right now. Is Longer. Hope you haven't killed yourself just yet.
Laurel Elven: Another positive review? Yay! I've written more now.
AlL rOaDs LeAd To HeLl: I know, I know. People have corrected me.
Chrissy: Glad you like. Thanks for the reason for Gryffindor, but Slytherin won the eenie meenie miny mo. Blood of Gryffindor? What does that have to do with anything? You get sorted according to your personality, not your ancestry. I'm on your fave list? Yay!
Cynaraek Heledrenan: Tanks. My mind decided to vanish that day. It was hiding from me.
Kaizer Knucz: Thanks.
Darak: I know now.
Rain Warrior: Thank you. I reply to all reviews! It's fun and helps to get people reviewing - or at least that's my theory!
J L: Yay! People like it! Yay!
Now to everyone who hasn't reviewed, pleases do! Flames are welcome too! I mean, I force my opinions on people, so the should force them on me too! But if you do flame try to put something helpful in, though it isn't necessary. This is the longest chapter I've ever written, so the next ones probably won't be as long. I mean, eleven pages on word! That's really long!