Years passed and on the day Jerry and Harry turned eleven, they received their Hogwarts letters. Jerry snickered as he watched his younger twin brother open the letter, ''Awww, and I thought you wouldn't get one. You sure don't seem like you have magic.''
It was true, no one in Harry's family had ever seen Harry do magic. It was because Harry only practiced his magic in a deserted field that was in the middle of the forest between his home and school. Ever since he was eight he had been able to do some wandless magic, he had read in the books that this usually only happened to young children who didn't have control over their powers, but as they got used to wands, their wandless ability slowly disappeared. Harry decided to try something, if he could get used to wandless magic early on, maybe he wouldn't lose it once he got his wand.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays when his parents would take Jerry to Quidditch kids league practice, Harry would sneak out of the house with an invisibility cloak and spend about four hours in that field. He would often bring a bunch of books with him. So one of the first spells he learned was the levitation spell and the following charm, which he then would cast on the books every time he went to the forest.
He started to get really good at spells, charms, and even managed a little transfiguration with pebbles. He would turn them into erasers, bouncing balls, and marbles.
However, once he was almost caught by someone. It was in the middle of fall and the deciduous trees left a huge blanket of yellow, orange, and red leaves. Harry decided to have some fun and started to levitate a swarm of leaves around him. He laughed and hopped around while making more leaves follow him, but eventually it got a bit out of hand and created a huge vortex of leaves in the field, which eventually flew up into the sky and above the canopy of trees.
At that moment, he heard an old man yell in the distance, ''Hey! What is that?!''
Harry immediately froze and dove under his father's invisibility cloak and collected his books before the wall of leaves hit the ground. After a moment, the old man hobbled over to the field and looked around. Then he scratched his head and muttered about curses and pixie spirits in the forest before he left.
Harry decided to skip out on training for the next two times, just in case the old man came back to investigate.
He loved going out there, it was his free time... until lately...
Recently, he did something horrible and it was even worse than almost getting caught. In fact, even now, he was nervously expecting a group of Aurors to break the door down and take him away to Azkaban. He didn't mean it. He was just so mad that day after Jerry had beaten him up, then when he tried to tell his parents, they wouldn't hear that their perfect Jerry had done something like that to him. So they said he was just clumsy and fell down the school steps. Most times, Harry would drop it and sulk in his room, but this time, he yelled back that they only loved Jerry and that one day Jerry would do something horrible to him and they wouldn't know until it was too late. James had shot him a cold look and his parents sent him to his room.
Later when they took Jerry to Quidditch practice, Harry found himself at the field again. It was in the middle of spring and it just happened that a circle of butterflies danced around his head. But he was just so mad in that moment and wasn't even thinking.
A butterfly landed onto the page he was reading and he angrily cursed, ''Avada Kevadra.''
He didn't think it would even work. But it did. And not only that, it didn't just kill that one little butterfly on that page, it killed all of it's little friends too.
When Harry realized what he had done, he started to cry. Then in between his sobs, he gently plucked up each dead butterfly and made a small grave for them. He went home tearstained and with dirt all over his hands. He sat in the bathtub until he heard his parents open the door. He then climbed out and locked himself in his room for the rest of the night. But it wasn't like his parents noticed, they had purposely had not brought him his dinner as a means of punishing him.
Harry stared at the Hogwarts letter numbly. What if he did the same thing again? What if it wasn't butterflies this time?
~~~
They had spent the day at Diagon Alley. They had gotten both Harry and Jerry an owl, their school supplies, and finally they stopped in front of Ollivander's. Of course Jerry went first. He got a wand made of unicorn hair and oak. Then it was Harry's turn.
They had gone through about twenty wants and Ollivander was stumped, ''I don't understand...veela hair, dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, mermaid hair... None of them work... unless...''
Ollivander headed to the back and came back with a stack of boxes. ''Here, try Pheonix feathers.''
Harry tried a couple, they still didn't feel right, but they were more comfortable than any of the other wands.
''Is he done yet?'' Jerry whined, which earned him an annoyed glare from Ollivander.
Finally, Ollivander came down to the last box, ''I wonder...''
He handed the wand made of Holly to Harry, ''Try that.''
The moment Harry took hold of the wand, he felt a warm glow and it felt as if all his magic was swarming around and then flowing towards the tip of the wand. Harry gasped, ''Wow.''
Ollivander had a calculating look in his eyes, ''How curious.''
''What is it?'' James intruded.
''That phoenix only gave one other hair, and the owner of that wand gave your brother his scar...''
''He Who Must not be Named.'' Lily gasped, interrupting Ollivander, ''Oh no... no no no, Harry give him back t-the wand!''
Harry held the wand close to him and backed away. ''No.''
''Mrs. Potter, just because young Harry's wand's brother belonged to He Who Must not be Named, it doesn't mean that Mr. Potter will do the same terrible things as him.'' Ollivander replied, he decided to withhold the fact that the wand also indicated that Harry would have great power.
The family paid for the wands and mutely walked out of Ollivanders. No one talked to Harry for the rest of the day.
~~~
Harry found himself on the train early, sitting alone in one of the compartments. Jerry was over with Justin and a few older students talking about Quidditch.
''Please don't let it be the same at school...'' Harry muttered. He could see it now, him hiding in the corners of the school as Jerry and his friends stalked the grounds for him.
''...don't let what be the same?'' A red head boy asked as he stuck his head in, ''Hi! I'm Ron!''
''Hi, Harry Potter.''
''Oh! You're Jerry's twin brother.''
Harry nodded, thinking that Ron would leave once he got bored with him.
Ron grinned, ''Fred and George would love to meet you, they're twins too. Actually it's a bit creepy, they can do stuff like read each other's minds and everything. You and Jerry like that?''
''Uh, not really, actually we don't even look the same.''
''Oh~ You're separate twins. I have cousins who are like that too.''
Harry nodded again.
Ron looked around the empty compartment, ''Mind if I sit?''
''No, not at all.''
Ron gingerly got in and placed a cage with a rat in it next to him, ''That's Scabbers.''
Harry grinned and waved at the rat, ''Hi Scabbers.''
But the rat only squeaked and continued to run in circles around his cage. Ron made a face, ''He's a bit stupid...''
Harry grinned shyly and was about to retort when a girl with bushy hair stuck her head in,
''Has either of you seen Neville's toad?''
Both Harry and Ron shrugged.
''Oh and by the way, I'm Hermione.''
~~~
''So which house do you want to be sorted in.'' Hermione asked, the train was already along it's way and the compartments were now all full.
''Well, I don't know if I have much of a choice. All the Weasleys have always been in Gryffindor. Fred said the hat hardly touched his head and the hat already started with ''Gry- ''
Harry and Hermione laughed.
Ron turned to Hermione, ''What about you?''
''Well, either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I don't know which, guess it's up to the sorting hat.''
''And you Harry?''
Harry shrugged, ''I have no idea?''
''Oh come one, there has to be one you want to be in.''
''Umm... well, I'm sort of hoping I won't get into the same house as my brother is all.''
''When you said you two don't get along, you really mean it.''
''I guess, he kind of beats me up all the time at school.''
''That's horrible!'' Hermione exclaimed.
Harry shrugged and replied weakly, ''Yeah...''
''Okay, we'll both pray you guys don't get sorted into the same house.'' Ron said
Harry grinned, ''Thanks.''
~~~
Harry spared an annoyed glance at Jerry, who was sitting in one of the first boats and just couldn't shut up. You could even tell that the jolly groundskeeper was getting weary of listening to Jerry.
Harry sighed.
Eventually, they reached the shore and took the stone steps up to the castle. Harry grinned as he heard voiced coming from the large hall up ahead. It sounded like the rest of the students were already waiting.
Then in the corner of his eye, he spotted Jerry pushing and shoving to get to the very front of the group, and thus causing the platinum blond boy to lose his footing and fall backwards.
Harry quickly dove forward and caught him. The blonde was furious, his hand quickly went into his robe and pulled his out his wand, getting ready to hex Jerry. Harry quickly reacted by plucking the wand from Draco's hand. Draco spun around and was about to start railing on Harry when Harry quickly covered his mouth and pointed at the stern looking teacher at the top of the stairs.
Draco visibly deflated and stood stiffly next to Harry, hissing ''Give me back my wand.''
''Sorry, I didn't want you to get in trouble.''
''Shut up and just give me my damn wand.'' Draco growled. Harry quickly handed the wand back to Draco and took a few steps away from him.
Draco was about to say something when Professor McGonagall motioned for the students to follow her and Harry disappeared into the crowd of first years.
Soon, the sorting started and Draco didn't see Harry until Harry was called up and he was already sitting at the Slytherin table.
''Potter, Harry'' McGonagal announced. Harry walked over and put the hat on.
''Hmm... interesting.'' The hat said.
''I've been hearing that a lot.'' Harry retorted.
''Cheeky too.''
''Sorry.''
''Hmm... uh huh... intelligent, cunning, but brave too. You'd suit Slytherin or Gryffindor. Slytherin could lead you to greatness...''
''Um, I don't know. Either is fine. Whichever you think is best.''
''Alright then.'' The sorting hat told him. Then it cleared it's throat and yelled out, ''Slytherin!''
Harry got off the school and walked over to the table. When he finally seated himself he looked up at the teacher's table and found the Headmaster looking at him. Dumbledore wasn't smiling, in fact, he looked a bit disturbed.
Harry gulped and looked back down at his plate. 'Please go away, please stop looking at me.' He kept thinking, hoping that the headmaster would stop staring at him.
Next, Jerry was called up and then sorted in Gryffindor. The Headmaster was now looking at Jerry with a twinkle in his eyes and when Jerry looked back, the Headmaster subtly toasted him.
Harry wasn't sure why, but after watching that, he liked the Headmaster even less.
~~~
''Mum and Dad are going to kill you.'' Jerry hissed to Harry as they exited the Great Hall after dinner. Harry winced and cowered away from Jerry.
''Who knew you were the Boy Who Lived's little brother.'' Malfoy said with a wicked calculating grin on his face. Harry glanced at him warily and moved through the group of Slytherins so that he could get away from Draco.
''Our Head of House, Professor Snape will now have a word with all of you.'' One of the Slytherin Prefects said, as he stopped the group in the common room.
Professor Snape entered the room dramatically with a swirl of robes and glared down at the Slytherins, ''I expect that this new batch of first years will do well and not humiliate my house with immature behavior. If I hear of any problems from any of you within the first week, I can assure you that you will contend with me. Is that clear?''
''Yes sir.'' The student replied.
''Good. I expect to win the House Cup this year. Which means you will all do you best not to make fools of yourselves in class so that the other members of the staff may take points. Moreover, I will not tolerate laziness, stupidity, or any sort of Gryffindor-ish behavior. Understood?'' Snape continued, his eyes searching the crowd and eventually his eyes landed right on Harry Potter.
''Yes sir.'' Harry said, feeling the burn of Snape staring at him. It felt weird, like Snape was in trying to get in his head. Harry frowned and blocked out the intruding feeling.
Snape then gave him an odd look, but then turned back to the rest of the students.''Good, now get to your rooms. I don't want to hear you past eleven tonight.''
The Slytherins quickly scattered and made for their rooms.
~~~
''Did you see that?'' Ron said pointed at Harry, ''I never in my mind thought he would be put into Slytherin. He didn't seem the evil slimy type.''
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's shallowness, ''Ron, you know you're stereotyping them. Not all Slytherins are bad.''
''Oh yeah?''
''Yes Ron. If they ended up all bad, there wouldn't be a Slytherin House. Think! Look, I think Harry might have been sorted in because he's sort of reclusive, doesn't talk or interact with people very much. It's sort of a Slytherin trait to be antisocial. I don't know if he would have fit into Gryffindor very well, I mean... we're sort of loud.''
''Nuh uh!'' Ron tried to deny, ''And what about Neville! He hardly ever says anything.''
''You ever hear the phrase, ''Actions speak louder than words?''''
Suddenly Ron recalled the scene Neville made as the tried to sit down, he had managed to clumsily send his plate crashing to the floor.
''Harry's not bad Ron, he proved as much on the train. Just give him a chance.''
~~~
''I can't believe I got sorted into Slytherin,'' Harry confined to Hermione and Ron quietly outside of the Great Hall, so that the other Slytherins wouldn't hear him. He was thankful that they weren't treating him like a pariah for being sorted in Slytherin.
''Cheer up Harry.'' Hermione said helplessly, ''At least you won't be in the same house as your brother right?''
''Yeah, but the Slytherins look like they're ready to eat me for dinner'' He replied weakly.
''Yeah, you got to be careful.'' Ron said.
''Thanks.'' Harry replied softly.
''You sure they can't re-sort?'' Ron asked.
Hermione shot him a look, ''Haven't you read Hogwarts, a History?''
Ron made a face, ''That again. 'arry, you know she's said ''Hogwarts, a History'' fifteen times already since we came here.''
Harry laughed a bit, ''Well, it's not that bad. It's kind of interesting.''
Ron gaped as Hermione shot him a smug look. ''You see?''
''The both of you are barmy.''
''Hey Potter! What are you doing talking to a bunch of Gryffindorks?'' Draco Malfoy called from doorway.
Harry visibly cringed and mouthed, 'Sorry' to the two. Hermione whispered, ''It's okay, we'll see you later alright?''
''Yeah, try not to get killed.'' Ron piped in quietly.
Harry nodded and then turned around to follow after Draco.
''You know you shouldn't associate with the wrong people Potter.''
Harry zoned out a bit, something he used on his psychiatrists if he didn't want to deal with them, and nodded blankly.
Draco kept going on about how stupid Gryffindors were, but the words just went over Harry's head. After a while, Draco paused and stared at Harry's blank eyes, ''You alright? You look a bit weird.''
'''m fine.'' Harry replied monotonously.
Draco gave Harry a warily look and stopped talking to him for the rest of the meal.
~~~
A/N: I know in the book, Draco is the world's biggest prat. But I remember reading a discussion where Draco's attitude was : 1) exaggerated because it is only seen through the eyes of Harry, who's very susceptible since he's been locked away so long. 2) so antagonistic because of that one simple moment when Harry initially 'rejected' him at Madam Malkin's. So, I'm approaching this as if Harry hadn't rejected Draco, so Draco doesn't feel any sort of malevolent dislike towards him.
Moreover, I have read in so many stories where Ron is uncharacteristically biased towards the Slytherins to the point that it was unreal. I'd like to think that Ron is a reasonable person, even at the age of eleven. Molly and Aurthur don't seem the type to brainwash and badmouth any sort of people. Perhaps they would give a warning here and there to be careful, but never hateful diatribes towards particular people. If you notice in the second book, even Aurthur's actions towards Lucius are reserved because he doesn't want to set a bad example.
A/N2: Thank you to everyone who reviewed.
It was true, no one in Harry's family had ever seen Harry do magic. It was because Harry only practiced his magic in a deserted field that was in the middle of the forest between his home and school. Ever since he was eight he had been able to do some wandless magic, he had read in the books that this usually only happened to young children who didn't have control over their powers, but as they got used to wands, their wandless ability slowly disappeared. Harry decided to try something, if he could get used to wandless magic early on, maybe he wouldn't lose it once he got his wand.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays when his parents would take Jerry to Quidditch kids league practice, Harry would sneak out of the house with an invisibility cloak and spend about four hours in that field. He would often bring a bunch of books with him. So one of the first spells he learned was the levitation spell and the following charm, which he then would cast on the books every time he went to the forest.
He started to get really good at spells, charms, and even managed a little transfiguration with pebbles. He would turn them into erasers, bouncing balls, and marbles.
However, once he was almost caught by someone. It was in the middle of fall and the deciduous trees left a huge blanket of yellow, orange, and red leaves. Harry decided to have some fun and started to levitate a swarm of leaves around him. He laughed and hopped around while making more leaves follow him, but eventually it got a bit out of hand and created a huge vortex of leaves in the field, which eventually flew up into the sky and above the canopy of trees.
At that moment, he heard an old man yell in the distance, ''Hey! What is that?!''
Harry immediately froze and dove under his father's invisibility cloak and collected his books before the wall of leaves hit the ground. After a moment, the old man hobbled over to the field and looked around. Then he scratched his head and muttered about curses and pixie spirits in the forest before he left.
Harry decided to skip out on training for the next two times, just in case the old man came back to investigate.
He loved going out there, it was his free time... until lately...
Recently, he did something horrible and it was even worse than almost getting caught. In fact, even now, he was nervously expecting a group of Aurors to break the door down and take him away to Azkaban. He didn't mean it. He was just so mad that day after Jerry had beaten him up, then when he tried to tell his parents, they wouldn't hear that their perfect Jerry had done something like that to him. So they said he was just clumsy and fell down the school steps. Most times, Harry would drop it and sulk in his room, but this time, he yelled back that they only loved Jerry and that one day Jerry would do something horrible to him and they wouldn't know until it was too late. James had shot him a cold look and his parents sent him to his room.
Later when they took Jerry to Quidditch practice, Harry found himself at the field again. It was in the middle of spring and it just happened that a circle of butterflies danced around his head. But he was just so mad in that moment and wasn't even thinking.
A butterfly landed onto the page he was reading and he angrily cursed, ''Avada Kevadra.''
He didn't think it would even work. But it did. And not only that, it didn't just kill that one little butterfly on that page, it killed all of it's little friends too.
When Harry realized what he had done, he started to cry. Then in between his sobs, he gently plucked up each dead butterfly and made a small grave for them. He went home tearstained and with dirt all over his hands. He sat in the bathtub until he heard his parents open the door. He then climbed out and locked himself in his room for the rest of the night. But it wasn't like his parents noticed, they had purposely had not brought him his dinner as a means of punishing him.
Harry stared at the Hogwarts letter numbly. What if he did the same thing again? What if it wasn't butterflies this time?
~~~
They had spent the day at Diagon Alley. They had gotten both Harry and Jerry an owl, their school supplies, and finally they stopped in front of Ollivander's. Of course Jerry went first. He got a wand made of unicorn hair and oak. Then it was Harry's turn.
They had gone through about twenty wants and Ollivander was stumped, ''I don't understand...veela hair, dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, mermaid hair... None of them work... unless...''
Ollivander headed to the back and came back with a stack of boxes. ''Here, try Pheonix feathers.''
Harry tried a couple, they still didn't feel right, but they were more comfortable than any of the other wands.
''Is he done yet?'' Jerry whined, which earned him an annoyed glare from Ollivander.
Finally, Ollivander came down to the last box, ''I wonder...''
He handed the wand made of Holly to Harry, ''Try that.''
The moment Harry took hold of the wand, he felt a warm glow and it felt as if all his magic was swarming around and then flowing towards the tip of the wand. Harry gasped, ''Wow.''
Ollivander had a calculating look in his eyes, ''How curious.''
''What is it?'' James intruded.
''That phoenix only gave one other hair, and the owner of that wand gave your brother his scar...''
''He Who Must not be Named.'' Lily gasped, interrupting Ollivander, ''Oh no... no no no, Harry give him back t-the wand!''
Harry held the wand close to him and backed away. ''No.''
''Mrs. Potter, just because young Harry's wand's brother belonged to He Who Must not be Named, it doesn't mean that Mr. Potter will do the same terrible things as him.'' Ollivander replied, he decided to withhold the fact that the wand also indicated that Harry would have great power.
The family paid for the wands and mutely walked out of Ollivanders. No one talked to Harry for the rest of the day.
~~~
Harry found himself on the train early, sitting alone in one of the compartments. Jerry was over with Justin and a few older students talking about Quidditch.
''Please don't let it be the same at school...'' Harry muttered. He could see it now, him hiding in the corners of the school as Jerry and his friends stalked the grounds for him.
''...don't let what be the same?'' A red head boy asked as he stuck his head in, ''Hi! I'm Ron!''
''Hi, Harry Potter.''
''Oh! You're Jerry's twin brother.''
Harry nodded, thinking that Ron would leave once he got bored with him.
Ron grinned, ''Fred and George would love to meet you, they're twins too. Actually it's a bit creepy, they can do stuff like read each other's minds and everything. You and Jerry like that?''
''Uh, not really, actually we don't even look the same.''
''Oh~ You're separate twins. I have cousins who are like that too.''
Harry nodded again.
Ron looked around the empty compartment, ''Mind if I sit?''
''No, not at all.''
Ron gingerly got in and placed a cage with a rat in it next to him, ''That's Scabbers.''
Harry grinned and waved at the rat, ''Hi Scabbers.''
But the rat only squeaked and continued to run in circles around his cage. Ron made a face, ''He's a bit stupid...''
Harry grinned shyly and was about to retort when a girl with bushy hair stuck her head in,
''Has either of you seen Neville's toad?''
Both Harry and Ron shrugged.
''Oh and by the way, I'm Hermione.''
~~~
''So which house do you want to be sorted in.'' Hermione asked, the train was already along it's way and the compartments were now all full.
''Well, I don't know if I have much of a choice. All the Weasleys have always been in Gryffindor. Fred said the hat hardly touched his head and the hat already started with ''Gry- ''
Harry and Hermione laughed.
Ron turned to Hermione, ''What about you?''
''Well, either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I don't know which, guess it's up to the sorting hat.''
''And you Harry?''
Harry shrugged, ''I have no idea?''
''Oh come one, there has to be one you want to be in.''
''Umm... well, I'm sort of hoping I won't get into the same house as my brother is all.''
''When you said you two don't get along, you really mean it.''
''I guess, he kind of beats me up all the time at school.''
''That's horrible!'' Hermione exclaimed.
Harry shrugged and replied weakly, ''Yeah...''
''Okay, we'll both pray you guys don't get sorted into the same house.'' Ron said
Harry grinned, ''Thanks.''
~~~
Harry spared an annoyed glance at Jerry, who was sitting in one of the first boats and just couldn't shut up. You could even tell that the jolly groundskeeper was getting weary of listening to Jerry.
Harry sighed.
Eventually, they reached the shore and took the stone steps up to the castle. Harry grinned as he heard voiced coming from the large hall up ahead. It sounded like the rest of the students were already waiting.
Then in the corner of his eye, he spotted Jerry pushing and shoving to get to the very front of the group, and thus causing the platinum blond boy to lose his footing and fall backwards.
Harry quickly dove forward and caught him. The blonde was furious, his hand quickly went into his robe and pulled his out his wand, getting ready to hex Jerry. Harry quickly reacted by plucking the wand from Draco's hand. Draco spun around and was about to start railing on Harry when Harry quickly covered his mouth and pointed at the stern looking teacher at the top of the stairs.
Draco visibly deflated and stood stiffly next to Harry, hissing ''Give me back my wand.''
''Sorry, I didn't want you to get in trouble.''
''Shut up and just give me my damn wand.'' Draco growled. Harry quickly handed the wand back to Draco and took a few steps away from him.
Draco was about to say something when Professor McGonagall motioned for the students to follow her and Harry disappeared into the crowd of first years.
Soon, the sorting started and Draco didn't see Harry until Harry was called up and he was already sitting at the Slytherin table.
''Potter, Harry'' McGonagal announced. Harry walked over and put the hat on.
''Hmm... interesting.'' The hat said.
''I've been hearing that a lot.'' Harry retorted.
''Cheeky too.''
''Sorry.''
''Hmm... uh huh... intelligent, cunning, but brave too. You'd suit Slytherin or Gryffindor. Slytherin could lead you to greatness...''
''Um, I don't know. Either is fine. Whichever you think is best.''
''Alright then.'' The sorting hat told him. Then it cleared it's throat and yelled out, ''Slytherin!''
Harry got off the school and walked over to the table. When he finally seated himself he looked up at the teacher's table and found the Headmaster looking at him. Dumbledore wasn't smiling, in fact, he looked a bit disturbed.
Harry gulped and looked back down at his plate. 'Please go away, please stop looking at me.' He kept thinking, hoping that the headmaster would stop staring at him.
Next, Jerry was called up and then sorted in Gryffindor. The Headmaster was now looking at Jerry with a twinkle in his eyes and when Jerry looked back, the Headmaster subtly toasted him.
Harry wasn't sure why, but after watching that, he liked the Headmaster even less.
~~~
''Mum and Dad are going to kill you.'' Jerry hissed to Harry as they exited the Great Hall after dinner. Harry winced and cowered away from Jerry.
''Who knew you were the Boy Who Lived's little brother.'' Malfoy said with a wicked calculating grin on his face. Harry glanced at him warily and moved through the group of Slytherins so that he could get away from Draco.
''Our Head of House, Professor Snape will now have a word with all of you.'' One of the Slytherin Prefects said, as he stopped the group in the common room.
Professor Snape entered the room dramatically with a swirl of robes and glared down at the Slytherins, ''I expect that this new batch of first years will do well and not humiliate my house with immature behavior. If I hear of any problems from any of you within the first week, I can assure you that you will contend with me. Is that clear?''
''Yes sir.'' The student replied.
''Good. I expect to win the House Cup this year. Which means you will all do you best not to make fools of yourselves in class so that the other members of the staff may take points. Moreover, I will not tolerate laziness, stupidity, or any sort of Gryffindor-ish behavior. Understood?'' Snape continued, his eyes searching the crowd and eventually his eyes landed right on Harry Potter.
''Yes sir.'' Harry said, feeling the burn of Snape staring at him. It felt weird, like Snape was in trying to get in his head. Harry frowned and blocked out the intruding feeling.
Snape then gave him an odd look, but then turned back to the rest of the students.''Good, now get to your rooms. I don't want to hear you past eleven tonight.''
The Slytherins quickly scattered and made for their rooms.
~~~
''Did you see that?'' Ron said pointed at Harry, ''I never in my mind thought he would be put into Slytherin. He didn't seem the evil slimy type.''
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's shallowness, ''Ron, you know you're stereotyping them. Not all Slytherins are bad.''
''Oh yeah?''
''Yes Ron. If they ended up all bad, there wouldn't be a Slytherin House. Think! Look, I think Harry might have been sorted in because he's sort of reclusive, doesn't talk or interact with people very much. It's sort of a Slytherin trait to be antisocial. I don't know if he would have fit into Gryffindor very well, I mean... we're sort of loud.''
''Nuh uh!'' Ron tried to deny, ''And what about Neville! He hardly ever says anything.''
''You ever hear the phrase, ''Actions speak louder than words?''''
Suddenly Ron recalled the scene Neville made as the tried to sit down, he had managed to clumsily send his plate crashing to the floor.
''Harry's not bad Ron, he proved as much on the train. Just give him a chance.''
~~~
''I can't believe I got sorted into Slytherin,'' Harry confined to Hermione and Ron quietly outside of the Great Hall, so that the other Slytherins wouldn't hear him. He was thankful that they weren't treating him like a pariah for being sorted in Slytherin.
''Cheer up Harry.'' Hermione said helplessly, ''At least you won't be in the same house as your brother right?''
''Yeah, but the Slytherins look like they're ready to eat me for dinner'' He replied weakly.
''Yeah, you got to be careful.'' Ron said.
''Thanks.'' Harry replied softly.
''You sure they can't re-sort?'' Ron asked.
Hermione shot him a look, ''Haven't you read Hogwarts, a History?''
Ron made a face, ''That again. 'arry, you know she's said ''Hogwarts, a History'' fifteen times already since we came here.''
Harry laughed a bit, ''Well, it's not that bad. It's kind of interesting.''
Ron gaped as Hermione shot him a smug look. ''You see?''
''The both of you are barmy.''
''Hey Potter! What are you doing talking to a bunch of Gryffindorks?'' Draco Malfoy called from doorway.
Harry visibly cringed and mouthed, 'Sorry' to the two. Hermione whispered, ''It's okay, we'll see you later alright?''
''Yeah, try not to get killed.'' Ron piped in quietly.
Harry nodded and then turned around to follow after Draco.
''You know you shouldn't associate with the wrong people Potter.''
Harry zoned out a bit, something he used on his psychiatrists if he didn't want to deal with them, and nodded blankly.
Draco kept going on about how stupid Gryffindors were, but the words just went over Harry's head. After a while, Draco paused and stared at Harry's blank eyes, ''You alright? You look a bit weird.''
'''m fine.'' Harry replied monotonously.
Draco gave Harry a warily look and stopped talking to him for the rest of the meal.
~~~
A/N: I know in the book, Draco is the world's biggest prat. But I remember reading a discussion where Draco's attitude was : 1) exaggerated because it is only seen through the eyes of Harry, who's very susceptible since he's been locked away so long. 2) so antagonistic because of that one simple moment when Harry initially 'rejected' him at Madam Malkin's. So, I'm approaching this as if Harry hadn't rejected Draco, so Draco doesn't feel any sort of malevolent dislike towards him.
Moreover, I have read in so many stories where Ron is uncharacteristically biased towards the Slytherins to the point that it was unreal. I'd like to think that Ron is a reasonable person, even at the age of eleven. Molly and Aurthur don't seem the type to brainwash and badmouth any sort of people. Perhaps they would give a warning here and there to be careful, but never hateful diatribes towards particular people. If you notice in the second book, even Aurthur's actions towards Lucius are reserved because he doesn't want to set a bad example.
A/N2: Thank you to everyone who reviewed.