A/N: Hey everyone! It's fixed!!!

Thanks to Evil Willow; Nickie; sk8reagle; Strange Attractors; potter-man; momma-dar; PheonixFire; JerseyGirl03; smilez; litine; Avlyn; fluxG; Winged Wolf; fallendruid; valeries26; BookMaster3000: Ohhh, so maybe that is his middle name, but it's not for this story. I'll have to remember that for my others. And his nickname? It actually came from someone I know at school. His last name starts with m-e-l, so everyone calls him Mel; Jordan; Nabiki; Bill; maggie; drake as in dragon; Maikafuiniel; fictionwriter; pheonixrising; Layce74; Katie: Ah! No! The dreaded puppy dog eyes! Must resist! And you're right - they never fail!; hippy flower; Dadaiiro; LittleEar BigEar's sis; Ian; WolfMoon: Then it's a good thing I put up this chapter. I would NEVER be able to survive without my Internet! You can take away my food, you can take away my freedom, but you shall never have my web access! And, you should talk. Go write more of your story! It's one of my favorites!

Like the chapters before this, it will have some excerpts from the book. That's unavoidable. Here we go....

CH13: The Feast

~"You have to figure that out for yourself. But, remember, things are not always what they appear. You'll get no better advice than that. And for your house, better be -"~

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left broke in to cheers, though Harry was getting a few disapproving looks from people with silver badges pinned on their robes. He assumed they must be prefects. Shooting a glance over to the Gryffindor table, he saw that the Weasley Twins were slightly disappointed. They gave him small smiles anyway.

Harry settled into a chair next to a girl with short black hair and proceeded to watch the rest of the Sorting.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" A tall brown-haired boy made his way over to the table and sat next to Harry. So did a the following girl called - 'Bocklehurst, Mandy'. But then, 'Brown, Lavender' became the first Gryffindor.

'Bulstrode, Millicent' was the first Slytherin. They looked like an interesting lot.

Harry hoped the ceremony would hurry up. The candy he had eaten on the train seemed like years ago.

"Flinch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. 'Finnigan, Seamus', a sandy - haired boy who had been talking to Ron Weasley in the side hall, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor. A seemingly thick boy 'Goyle, Gregory' then went to Slytherin, joining his friend, 'Crabbe, Vincent.'

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Harry heard a groan coming from Ron in the line and glared at him.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who lost his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted 'GRYFFINDOR' he skirted off still wearing it and had to jog back through gales of laughter to give it to 'MacDougal, Morag'. Morag became a Slytherin.

Draco shuffled forward when his name was called. He sat on the stool close to three minutes before the hat rang out

"RAVENCLAW!"

He went over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down across from Harry, who gave him a high-five.

There weren't very many children left now.

'Moon'....'Nott'....'Parkinson'....then a pair of twin girls. 'Patil, Parvati' was sorted into Gryffindor, while 'Patil, Padma' became a Ravenclaw. Then 'Perks, Sally-Anne' went to Hufflepuff and McGonagall paused. Harry realized with a jolt that it was the place he should have been if he was still Harry Potter. The professor seemed to think over this for a moment before moving on to 'Salves, Ricky' - A Hufflepuff. 'Dean, Thomas' and 'Turpin, Lisa' became a Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively.

A pale faced Ron Weasley approached the stool. The hat barely touched his head when it called 'GRYFFINDOR!'. He sat near his brothers, looking relieved.

After 'Zambini, Blaise' was made a Slytherin, McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore had got on his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank You!"

Harry laughed out loud as the corrugation clapped and cheered. Terry looked at him uncertainly.

"Is he a bit - a bit mad?" he asked. Harry nodded.

"Totally off his rocker. He's a brilliant, though."

"Eccentrics of a genius," Draco grinned. Just then, the plates in front of them piled with food.

Harry mouth dropped open. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, and for some odd reason, mint humbugs. He piled his plate with a bit of everything and began to eat. It was all delicious.

"Hungry, are you?" said an amused voice next to him. Harry looked up and noticed that he was sitting next to the girl he had talk to in Diagon Alley.

"Ravenous," he answered, swallowing a mouthful of steak. "Nice to see you again. I'm Andy. Evan Andrews."

"Cho, Cho Chang. I'm a second year." Any further conversation was cut off by shrieks from the table next to him. Whipping around, Harry saw the Gryffindors gapping at a ghost with his head hanging by a piece of skin and sinew.

"Cool," Harry, Draco, and Lisa said together.

'That's Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. Or Nearly Headless Nick," Cho informed the first years. "Don't let him fool you. He pretends to be annoyed when you ask him about his nick name, but, secretly, he really likes freaking people out."

"He's better looking than the Slytherin ghost," said Draco. He was staring over at a gaunt-looking ghost, covered in silver blood.

"How did he become covered in blood?" Mandy asked.

"No one knows. Everyone is too afraid to ask him," Cho said.

"Do you think he'd tell us if we asked?" Harry said curiously. Draco smiled.

"Always Adventurous Andy," he sighed.

"Dear Dense Draco," Harry retorted. They simultaneously stuck their tongues out at each other, causing the surrounding people to chuckle.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. Then the puddings appeared. As Harry helped himself to a chocolate eclair, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm a Muggle-born. It's all so amazing seeing everything here!" Mandy exclaimed.

Terry and Lisa were both half and half. Terry's dad being a wizard and Lisa's mother being a witch. Then it was Harry's turn.

"My parents were both magical. I think my mum was a muggle-born," he added to Mandy.

"Were?"

"They died when I was little." Harry turned out of the conversation then, not wanting the pitying looks he was getting. On his other side, Padma, Cho, and Draco were talking about lessons.

"I can't wait to start Charms," said Padma. "I think that sounds the most interesting."

Cho nodded. "It's great. Professor Flitwick is an amazing teacher - he's our Head of House, too."

"What about the other classes?" prodded Draco.

"Most of them our okay. DADA is kind of a joke, Quirell is afraid of his own shadow. And Potions is terrible. Snape's awful to anyone not in Slytherin." She turned to look at Harry. "I'd hate to be in your shoes, Andy."

Harry smirked at her and scanned the head table for Professor Snape. He was chatting with Quirell, his hair back to normal. But, when he locked eyes with Harry, the boy's head burst with pain - right where his scar should be.

Harry clapped a hand to his forehead. "Ow!"

"You all right?" Draco asked concerned.

"Yeah, just a small headache." Harry gave his friend a shaky grin and conversation resumed. Nobody noticed his eyes flash silver for a second.

At last, the desserts disappeared too and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices for you.

"First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's eyes glanced in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"Mr Filch, the caretaker, has also asked me to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors between classes.

"Quidditch trials will be held the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madame Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Normally, Harry would have cracked up laughing, but something told him that Dumbledore was serious.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. A few grimaces of pain shot across the teachers faces, barely noticeable behind their fixed smiles.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore. "and off we go!" Shiny ribbons shot out of his wand and twisted themselves into words. And the school bellowed:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filing

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bear and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.

Harry sang to a Tango, while Draco preferred a sort of sing-song thing. At last, only Fred and George were left, singing to a slow funeral march. Dumbledore wiped a tear from his eye.

"Ah, music. Magic beyond all that we do here. Now to bed - off you trot!"

The Ravenclaw prefects collected the first years and led them through the twisting turns of the castle. Harry was barely registering that they went through many hidden passageways and that the portraits on the walls were talking to them, he was so tired. Finally, the came to a deep blue tapestry.

"Wisdom and words to live by," called Maria Kensington, a 6th year Prefect. The tromped into their rooms and to bed. Harry fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.