AN:

Thoughts

"Speaking"

Parseltounge

Chapter 2

The Sorting Of Serpents

Albus Dumbledore paced the breath of the Great Hall, directly in front of the teacher's table. His bright purple robes fluttered with each step as his long white beard lost its tip in the folds of said robe. His half moon spectacles drooped on his face and his normally twinkling blue eyes were dull with worry and uncertainty.

Minerva McGonagall watched him with concern in her dark kind eyes. Her slightly graying black hair was held in a severe bun and her own glasses rested on the bridge of her nose. She released a sigh and said, "Albus please stop pacing. I'm sure he will be on the train and will be here shortly."

The headmaster abruptly stopped and looked at his deputy headmistress. "I know he will be, but that is why I'm worried," Albus said. "His acceptance owl created more questions than I thought imaginable. It implied that he knows all about the wizarding world while casting some of his attitudes in a disturbing light. I need to know who raised him, where he's been living, and if he can be the hero the light needs him to be."

"You're certainly putting a lot on his famous shoulders," commented Severus as he stalked into the Hall with his black robes billowing dramatically. "But you might want to not speak of anything else connected with him. The other teachers are only minutes behind me and the carriages are heading up to the castle."

"Of course, Severus," Albus replied, "let us sit, our students will be here soon."

Draco, Blaise, and the dark heirs took a boat together. Their first vision of the castle was breath taking. Hogwarts stood silhouetted against a star strewn sky and a crescent moon hung just above its highest turret. The dark gray stone seemed to glisten and twinkle in the dim light of the celestial majesty. The wonder it inspired in their hearts was universal among the first years.

The huge man led the first years up many stairs, quiet a few were dangerously slick. The Serpentine Quartet balanced using one another and by avoiding their fellow first years. The stairs ended in a large entrance hall where a heavy double door stood closed to them. The giant of a man knocked and a stern looking woman opened it. She was wearing a dark jade green dress and her dark eyes glanced over the students. She dismissed the gamekeeper and turned her attention to the students.

As Professor McGonagall expounded on the virtues of each house, Draco, Blaise and the heirs tuned her out. They instead studied their fellow students. Draco and Blaise recognized many of the other students and knew that the dark heirs did as well. It was the clearly muggle-born and the ones easily identified as light family wizards that the heirs focused on. The heiress took special note of Neville Longbottom as he interrupted Professor McGonagall when his toad, Trevor, showed up. The professor then left, telling them to smarten themselves up.

The first years whispered to their neighbors about what the sorting was all about. After hearing the red head say that his brother said they had to wrestle a troll, the Quartet tuned out the other first years as well. A scream caught their attention, all four with wands at the ready and a hex on their lips; they put their wands away as the Hogwarts ghosts floated through the Hall talking about a poltergeist named Peeves. They smirked at the fear showing on faces around them. They didn't have time to say anything else though because Professor McGonagall had returned.

The stern looking witch led the flustered first years in two lines down the center of the great hall. The Ravenclaws to the left were impassive while the Gryffindor table to the right had lots of smiles and thumbs up. The fuzzy haired girl who had been looking for Neville's toad told the muggle-born beside her that the ceiling was charmed to look like the sky. At the front of the room was a stool with a frayed, dirty, old witch's hat sitting on top. Silence descended on the Great Hall and the rim of the hat ripped open. It began to sing.

"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 Hat
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
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their 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 exploded in applause and the hat motioned in a parody of a bow. Professor McGonagall then unrolled a scroll and said, "When I call you name, please come up and try on the hat. After you know your house you will then join them."

Professor McGonagall Sorting Hat

"Abbott, Hannah" ----------------- "Hufflepuff"

"Abercrombie, Alice" ------------- "Gryffindor"
"Bones, Susan" ------------------- "Hufflepuff"

"Boot, Terry" ---------------------"Ravenclaw"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" ------------"Ravenclaw"
"Brown, Lavender"----------------"Gryffindor"

"Bulstrode, Millicent"-------------- "Slytherin"

"Cauldwell, Owen"--------------- "Hufflepuff"

"Corner, Michael"---------------- "Ravenclaw"

"Crabbe, Vincent"--------------- "Slytherin"

"Dobbs, Emma"----------------- "Hufflepuff"

"Finnigan, Seamus"------------- "Gryffindor"

"Finch-Fletchey, Justin"-------- "Hufflepuff"

"Longbottom, Neville"--------- "Gryffindor"
"Granger, Hermione" ----------"Gryffindor"

"Goyle, Gregory"-------------- "Slytherin"

"MacDougal, Morag"--------- "Ravenclaw"

"Macmillan, Ernie"------------ "Hufflepuff"

"Malfoy, Draco"-------------- "Slytherin"

"Moon, Nathniel"------------ "Ravenclaw"

"Nott, Theodore" -----------"Slytherin"
"Parkinson, Pansy"---------- "Slytherin"

"Patil, Padma"-------------- "Ravenclaw"

"Patil, Parvati"-------------- "Gryffindor"

"Perkins, Sally-Anne"------ "Hufflepuff"

Professor McGonagall said, "Potter, Harry," and the Hall came alive with whispers and students craning their necks to get a look at who stepped forward. The boy who stepped from the remaining students was slight. He was whip-like thin with long brown hair held in a band at the nape of his neck. His skin was a golden bronze from healthy doses of sunshine. He walked with a grace and regal baring that seemed against his youth. His head was high as he stepped up to the stool, ignoring the whispers. His cool emerald gaze swept the Hall just before the hat was dropped over his eyes.

Harry heard a little voice in his mind, Hello Mr. Potter. My, my you are a tough one. You have the qualities of every house, you could go anywhere. I see that you are brave, loyal, a veritable genius, and ambitious. Now where to put you?

I prefer Slytherin, Harry thought back to the hat.

Slytherin, eh, yes you could do quite well there. You would meet you're truest friends and gain advantages in that house, but are you sure you wish for your guardian's old house and not your father's house?

I will follow in the footsteps of my mother and father! Place me in Slytherin! Harry commanded the hat.

The Hat screamed, "Slytherin!"

The Great Hall was eerily silent as Harry took off the Sorting Hat. Three of the four tables were completely still and the fourth seemed to hold its collective breath until Draco Malfoy stood up and began the standing ovation which quickly swept over the Slytherin table. The other three tables erupted in whispers as Harry sat across from Draco.

Professor McGonagall reached down to pick up the scroll of names. She had dropped it in shock. There were no "Q" names so she moved on to the "R" names. Her eyes widened and she almost dropped the scroll again. Her eyes met Dumbledore's in concern, causing him to raise an eyebrow. She said in a voice that quivered slightly, "Riddle, Kira." The name caught the attention of Severus and quite a few Slytherins.

Kira was the same height as Harry and even thinner. Her onyx black hair cascaded down to her lower back while framing her delicate facial features. Her blue eyes sparkled like freshly polished sapphires. The overall affect was a fey like quality. She walked with even more grace and poise than Harry had. She sat upon the stool. As Minerva lowered the Hat toward her head, Kira heard within her mind, the heir, while the Hat screamed, "Slytherin" for the entire Hall to hear. The Hat hadn't even fully touched her head before announcing its answer. Minerva could feel a slight quivering from the Sorting Hat as she moved it away from Kira's head. The Slytherin table gave another standing ovation as Kira smirked at her new housemates before sitting next to Harry.

"Rookwood, Marcus"---------- "Hufflepuff"

"Thomas, Dean"--------------- "Gryffindor"

"Turnip, Lisa" -----------------"Ravenclaw"

"Weasley, Ronald"------------ "Gryffindor"

"Zabini, Blaise"--------------- "Slytherin"

As Blaise sat down with her three best friends as Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat and stool away. Headmaster Dumbledore stood, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, now lets tuck in to this most excellent feast." Food appeared on the tables and the students dug into their meals.

During the feast the Quartet spoke with their fellow first years. All of them were from strong pureblood lines which were loyal to Kira's father. It was no surprise when the five of them said they would help the dark heirs anyway they could. Kira and Harry merely inclined their heads in thanks. While speaking in quiet voices a silvery form floated up through the table. The ghost was gruesomely dark looking with silver blood covering his form. The Quartet bowed slightly as Harry said, "Your Bloodiness, we are honored that you came to see we unworthy first years."

The Bloody Baron looked them over with a critical eye and then said, "Do not disappoint me by failing to bring glory to Slytherin House. Also if Peeves gives you any trouble, just let me know and I will deal with him." He then floated through Kira as he left the first years to their meal. The older students who had been watching were silently impressed by the fact that Kira didn't as much as shiver as the specter moved through her.

The raised staff table was also alive with quiet contemplation on the placement of Harry Potter. Minerva, Albus and Severus were more concerned with the fact that Voldemort's daughter was here and apparently already knew Potter. Albus asked Severus to bring Harry up to his office after the feast so that he could talk to the boy. Severus agreed and went back to studying Potter and Riddle.

Severus knew Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott were all the children of 'former' Death Eaters. He was fairly certain Bulstrode, Parkinson, and Zabini were as well. He vowed to watch this class extremely closely. When the Bloody Baron passed through Kira, a chill of dread ran down his spine at her lack of response. His left arm ached in remembered pain at the sight of her. He also wondered why he had not been sent any warning about her attendance to Hogwarts.

After the feast ended and the dishes magically cleaned themselves of the deserts, Minerva chimed her fork against her glass. Albus stood up and smiled at the students. "Now that we have completed this most delicious feast, I'm afraid I have a few announcements to make before you head off to bed. First a reminder to all returning students, there is to be no magic in the hall between classes. Mr. Filch has also added five new items to his list contraband; a complete list is posted outside his office. Also the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students, some older students would do well to remember that," his gaze seemed to rest on a red headed twins at the Gryffindor table, "In addition it should be noted by all students that the third floor corridor is off limits to anyone who does not wish to die a most horrible death. Now then please follow your prefects and have a pleasant year."

A few foolish Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors laughed uneasily at the third floor corridor announcement. The Quartet couldn't believe that anyone could laugh at a death threat. The first years were gathered up by their prefects and herded off toward their various dorm entrances.