Harry Potter tried his best to concentrate on Dumbledore's words while he waited to be sorted. You must get into Slytherin, you must befriend Riddle… you must win his trust, but don't trust him! He kept repeating that again and again in his head. He may have been concentrating too hard because he nearly trampled over a first year.
"Sorry," Harry muttered.
"It's okay," the boy replied, he had bright red hair. "Wow, you're tall!"
"I'm going into fifth year," Harry explained.
"Oh, I'm Artie, Artie Weasley, are you a Muggleborn?" he questioned.
"No," Harry muttered darkly. Why should he get to know people he'll just avoid and ridicule when he became a Slytherin?
"I always wanted to meet a Muggle," young Artie sighed dreamily, "have you met one?"
"I known a few: they were awful," Harry replied remembering that was the sort of attitude he was supposed to have.
"Oh," Artie sighed disappointedly, and he stopped talking to Harry.
When "Harry Potterton" was finally called up, the fifty-years-younger Dumbledore winked at him. Harry was confused and yet relived and decided he may be able to confide with this Dumbledore.
Harry sat on the stool, and Conner and Hagrid waved to him. Conner must have been very popular, because when he waved, almost the whole table and a few students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff followed. Harry noticed that pretty teenaged girls were all sitting around Conner, beaming at him flirtatiously.
Harry had the hat placed over his eyes; I must get into Slytherin, Slytherin! That's the house where I belong! he kept thinking to himself.
All right if that's what you want! the hat replied.
"Slytherin!" the hat bellowed so the school could hear. Harry could almost have predicted the surprised looks from Conner and Hagrid.
"And he's going into his fifth year!" Dippet added, "after a four-year education at Durmstrang!"
The Slytherins looked at each other, impressed. Harry scanned them all, and then he saw Riddle. He looked exactly as Harry remembered him. That treacherous snake! Harry sat in the closest empty seat next to him.
"You're a fifth year?" Riddle asked.
Harry nodded; good… Riddle was talking to him: the very start of a hideous friendship.
"So am I. And you're from Durmstrang?" he questioned.
"Yeah, it was great. No ruddy Mudbloods," Harry sniggered, trying to put on a good show.
"Why'd you transfer?" Riddle asked.
"My ruddy parents moved," Harry explained, wishing he could remember some other words apart from 'ruddy' to make him seem more Slytherinish.
"Why'd they move?" asked a pretty girl with long brown hair with her skirt rolled up very high under her open robes. She seemed to be Riddle's girlfriend.
"Political reasons," Harry muttered.
"Well, Potterton, welcome to Hogwarts," he greeted, acting very much as though he really loathed the place.
Harry looked at the staff table. Dumbledore and Dippet were the teachers he recognized. The rest didn't look half bad… except one odd-looking, skinny woman playing the pipe organ in the corner. The music sounded like a cat, and was very similar to the music from a death day party Harry once went to.
"Who's that?" Harry asked.
"No idea, she's new, probably a janitor or something!" Riddle explained.
"Oh, Tommy! You're being rude!" the girl whined, "We didn't introduce ourselves! I'm Cassandra Marroman."
"I'm Tom Riddle." Harry shook his hand.
"Alright! A few announcements…" Dippet hollered, silencing the crowd.
Every one shut up.
"We have a new teacher! For defense against dark arts!" Dippet announced motioning to the evil-looking woman playing the pipe organ, "Professor Spite!"
Professor Spite turned to look at the crowd of students: she was very wicked looking; her face was pale, contrasting with the dark hair on her head in a bun. She started at the crowd with piercing eyes and stopped paying the organ. She hissed like venomous snake. Harry could see she had fangs and a long, forked tongue. Then continued playing the awful music again.
"I like her," Riddle announced. Cassandra nodded in agreement and snuggled up to his arm.
Then everyone began to stuff their faces. After they all ate, Harry went to the Slytherin common room, which had the same spooky look it did when he went into it in his second year.
Harry dragged his belongings up to the dorms and saw only three beds.
"Who does that bed belong to?" Harry asked Riddle.
"Oh, that's Drake Snores," Riddle replied.
Harry looked in it to see Drake already asleep in the bed; Harry was sure he hadn't seen him at the feast.
"He's quite useless… all he ever does is sleep," Riddle explained, putting a hex on Drake. Drake just rolled over in his sleep.
Harry groaned. So it was him, Riddle and a guy that did nothing but sleep all day. What a wondrous year!
