Thanks to everyone that has been reviewing the story, it's really been helping me to keep working on this story. I've already finished 16 chapters, over 300kb worth of work, and have about ten more chapters to go. With any luck I'll get them finished soon. Each new chapter that I post is going through an edit and expansion as well, just to make it flow a little better. It works great with these small chapters.
Give me some reviews! And Check out the Omake at the end!
oooooooooo
Potter – The Stone
Chapter 06
By Cory D. Rose
(c) 2005
oooooooooo
"We need to get dressed. We won't have time once the train stops and we head to the castle." Ron explained.
"Alright." Harry said as he climbed to his feet, pulled his trunk out of his pocket and enlarged it. He ignored Ron gaping at him again as he pulled out his robes from the first compartment and got dressed. He quickly pulled the black robe over his head, covering up his silk shirt and black pants. Some of his blue shirt was still visible, but only a tiny bit of it.
Harry wasn't sure what to think of the wide sleeves of the robe though. He shook his arm a couple of times. He just couldn't figure out why he was supposed to wear such weird clothing. Why did it have to be too large as well? It was bad enough when he was forced to wear his cousin Dudley's used and nearly destroyed clothing.
Now he was being forced to wear a stupid looking robe that completely restricted his range of motion. He would have tried to perform a couple of high kicks, but could tell that the robe wouldn't' let him. It could very well be destroyed the first time he got into a fight. He grinned inwardly at that thought and tried to envision himself exploding out of his robe and kicking someone's ass.
He grinned as he went to put his trunk away. This made Ron glance at him. "You need to leave your trunk here. They'll take it up to the castle for you." Ron said. "That's what my mum said."
"Naw, it shrinks down easy enough." Harry said. He didn't want to leave the trunk for anyone to find or figure out some of its secrets. He would just have to hope no one made a big deal about the trunk. They sat down and talked about a few other things until the train slowed to a stop, and the students started to exit from the train onto a small, dark, platform.
The older students started to walk for the horseless carriages that were waiting for them at the end of the platform, Harry almost followed them, but then a loud voice called out for the first years. Harry turned and saw Hagrid standing at the other end of the platform holding a large lantern.
"Fis-years! Over here!" He yelled again and waved them over. "All of ya 'ere? Alright den, follow me and mind yer step!"
The large man led them down a rather muddy path, away from the platform. At first Harry wondered why they weren't with the older students, but then they finally rounded a bend in the slippery trail and go their first look at the mighty castle, well some of it anyway, just the upper floors. Even then, they all made approving noises as the castle was finally revealed, every floor and room lit up with torch light. It was quite a sight.
The castle was set on a hill in the distance, it's high walls and turrets rising into the sky. Harry looked around and saw that they were at the edge of a great big lake. Several small boats were bobbing around at the water's edge. Hagrid waved them to the boats.
"Pile in! No more'n then four to a boat!" He bellowed.
Everyone scrambled to get into boats as quickly as they could. Though several of the girls looked a little scared as they edged around Hagrid's massive frame. Several of the children eyed the little boats with fear, but they got in anyway. Harry just shrugged, remember the time Ranma took him on a little swim at a local lake and wasn't to worried.
"Forward!" Hagrid yelled and the occupied boats pulled out onto the water, without any help at all, and started to make their way across the lake. A few seconds later, they rounded a bend and got their first full look at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Many of the children were staring up at the castle on the edge of cliff above them. At the edge of the cliff, at the lake's surface, was a large dark maw of a cave.
They had to duck down as they boats made their way through a curtain of Ivy that almost completely covered the cave entrance. Harry was just looking around like everyone else when he felt something pass over his skin and cover his whole body. He blinked a few times and wondered why he suddenly felt a little safer than he had a few seconds before. Once through the ivy, the boats picked up a little speed and beached themselves on a small sand bar a little ways in.
"Everyone out!" Hagrid yelled as he grabbed his lantern and led them towards a series of small steps at the back of the cave. This led to a staircase that led upward until they exited the cave and stepped out on to the lawn near a massive wooden door.
Hogwarts stood before them in all her glory. Hagrid eyed them all before pounding on the door three times, nearly rattling it from its hinges. He stepped back and carefully placed the large lantern on a hook built into the wall next to the door. Harry watched as the door opened up to reveal a small area with more stairs leading up into the castle.
A stern looking witch was waiting for them. She was dressed in a black robe, perfectly cut and styled. Glasses adorned her face and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun that looked nearly solid. Harry could tell that she was quite old, but he could feel a kind of power radiating off her that he couldn't quite figure out. Now one else was giving off this kind of power.
"Professor McGonagall, the firs' years." Hagrid said formally.
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take them from here." She said and motioned for them to follow her.
Harry wasn't one for formalities so he looked a little bored with the whole thing as they all filed into the castle. Sure, it was interesting to look at, but he figured he would have plenty of time to explore. He wanted to find some food and head to bed. It was already dinner time too.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the pudgy kid from before was holding a large toad in his hands and that it was struggling to get away from him. Off to the side the Granger girl was adjusting her glasses trying to see everything at once and mumbling something under her breath as she looked up a moving painting.
Harry was sure said the word 'fascinating' more than once and laughed a little. "Hey Ron, any idea what we're supposed to do now?"
"Naw, my brothers mentioned that we have to be sorted into one of the school houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuf, or…Slytherin." Ron said, nearly spitting out the last name.
"Slytherin?"
"The House of Traitors and dark wizards." Ron said in contempt.
Harry snorted. "I doubt that Ron."
Ron shrugged. "Every dark wizard in the last hundred years has come out of Slytherin house, even You-Know-Who."
"That isn't true." Hermione said.
Harry gave her a glance. "Oh?"
"Each house represents certain personality traits. You are placed in the house that matches your own traits."
"Buzz off will you." Ron sneered at Hermione.
"Well!" Hermione snapped and moved away.
"Ron, that wasn't very nice."
"She's nosey and gets on my nerves. I hope she isn't in my house or she'll drive me batty."
Rolling his eyes, Harry looked away and noticed Malfoy and his two friends several feet away at the end of the line. They were staying as far away from Harry as was physically possible and even flinched when they noticed him looking their way. Harry could feel his anger coming back as he was reminded of the death threat, but luckily he was distracted as McGonagall finally stopped and turned to look at them.
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I will lead you into the Great Hall where we will sort you into the house where you will spend the next seven years of your schooling. Each house is designed to bring the best characteristics of each student. Now the Sorting Ceremony will take place here in a few minutes. Please wait here till I come back to get you." McGonagall told them and quickly walked through a nearby door.
Harry was about to ask Ron another question when his vision suddenly turned fuzzy and he saw a wooden like object rising into the air and smashing things. Shaking his head, the vision vanished as soon as it had appeared. So fast that no one even noticed that anything was wrong. Harry took his glasses off, rubbed his eyes, and wondered what just happened.
Everyone except Hermione anyway, who was looking in his direction as he nearly fell over. Then several girls screamed and everyone looked around to see several ghosts floating right through the back wall. The gaggle of eleven year olds all scrambled to get away from the transparent monsters. Harry, put his glasses back on and raised and eyebrow.
"Weird." He recalled some story that Ranma told him once, something about a Ghost cat and a bell. He wondered if these ghosts were anything like that cat and hoped they weren't.
A couple of the ghosts appeared to be arguing with each other.
"…that menace has caused enough problems. I say it's time for him to go."
"Nay Fryer, just ignore him and he'll eventually leave everyone alone."
"We've given Peeves enough chances, we really must…" The Fryer snapped just as the ghosts seemed to see the first years. "New students! Oh how lovely!" He said with a giant smile. "You're all about to be sorted? Hufflepuff all the way!"
The kids all paled a little.
Draco Malfoy snorted and sneered at the ghosts as they all started leaving through a nearby wall. "Useless thing."
"Ignore them, they're harmless." Said Hermione.
Sneering again, Malfoy ignored her and leaned against the wall just as Professor McGonagall stepped back into the room and stared down at the kids. Harry wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that this whole thing was prearranged for some reason. After several seconds of silence, McGonagall started to talk. "Form a line and follow me, it's time."
Several of the kids gulped nervously as they formed up behind the woman. Harry wondered if they were all about to be thrown to the lions or something. He found the idea intriguing. It would certainly be better than being bored, tired, and hungry. The only student that didn't appear to be nervous was Malfoy and he made it a point to be the last one out of the hall.
She led them though a small maze of hallways until they reached a pair of massive doors. They opened on their own as they approached, revealing a huge room full of black robed students waiting for them to enter. Four large tables ran the length of the hall, each one packed with students. At the far end of the hall was a small table where the teachers were seated, waiting for the Sorting to begin.
Several of the ghosts from earlier seemed to be gliding about the room as well, talking to random students. The ceiling of the large room was hidden under a hall length illusion of stars and clouds, giving it the appearance that the room was exposed to the elements. Harry heard Hermione saying that it was charmed to appear that way. According to some book she read about a week ago.
Beside the door was a stool with an old wizards hat on it, ratty looking, slightly stained, and ripped in a couple of places. McGonagall picked them up, carried them to the front of the hall, and had the first years stop and wait for her about half way in.
As she sat the stool down the hat seemed to come to life, opened it mouth, and started to sing. Behind him he heard Malfoy snort and make some comment about useless magical items. The rest of the first years actually seemed to be listening to the song, entranced.
Harry ignored the thing, he just wanted some food, and he really didn't care about it anyway. He just wanted to see how the sorting was done so he could get it over with as well. He also needed a few minutes of privacy to make sure Ranma was all right inside the shrunken trunk. He also wanted to look around a little without everyone hanging around and gawking.
As the song finished Harry was jerked back to reality as Professor McGonagall pulled a scroll out of her robe and unrolled it. "When I call your name, come forward and put on the hat!"
Ron Weasley almost fainted in relief. "I thought we would have to fight a troll or something."
Several of the first years laughed at this, while others tried not to laugh at the red headed boy. Harry kept quiet, suddenly feeling self conscious and wanted to do something like this in private instead of with all these people watching. He shifted around nervously and hoped this would go quick.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
The girl ran up to the stool, sat down, and put the hat on. The hat seemed to fall down over the blonde haired girl's eyes. After several seconds, it opened its mouth again. For a second Harry thought it was going to sing again, but then it called out a name.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
A table on the far right of the room started cheering and the girl ran over to them and sat down as quickly as she could. After that, Harry ignored the rest of the sorting until his own name was called. He did notice when Hermione was sorted into Ravenclaw though. Ron on the other hand seemed to be relieved that she was gone.
"POTTER, HARRY!"
A hushed silence spread through the room as he made his way up to the stool and grabbed the hat. Many people were looking at him in awe as he put the hat on and sat down. The brim dropped down over his eyes and Harry felt a presence in his mind that wasn't his own.
'Interesting.' Said a voice inside his ear where only he could hear it.
'What's up?'
'You will be difficult to sort. You have led such an interesting life that you are quite different from the rest of the students. You aren't naive or innocent anymore. You have talents in so many areas. Some are quite surprising indeed. You have ambition that would make you worthy of Slytherin and the fearfulness of a Gryffindor. Books have never been a big part of your life until a couple of years ago though. This Ranma seems to have been a great influence on you, young Harry.' The hat said.
'I'd rather not be in a house with Malfoy, I nearly attacked him on the train and things will be worse if we have to live together.'
'My thoughts exactly. Therefore, you will be "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled.
'Thank you'
"We got Potter!" The table full of Gryffindor's chanting and cheering.
Harry took the hat off and saw one of the tables was cheering as he stood up and sat the hat back down on the stool. He walked over to the table and saw that several of the teachers were watching him closely, three of them a lot more than the others.
The old man, Dumbledore, seemed to be eyeing him with pride. Something that Harry didn't know what to think about. He was used to living the way he wanted to with the occasional bit of help from Ranma. The old man reminded him of those nosy people that kept trying to tell him how to live his life.
Now the other two were giving him looks he recognized easily. Pure hate. Harry was used to people hating him, but not complete strangers. He would ask Ranma about it the next time they got a chance to talk. The most obvious one was a man with long hair and a hooked nose sending him the death glare.
Harry turned and stared back defiantly, making the man narrow his eyes and snarl a little. The other was Quirrell. The stuttering man seemed to be radiating pure hate unlike anything Harry had ever felt before. Harry could read it in the way the man stood and fidgeted. However, it wasn't as obvious on the surface so no one really seemed to notice but Harry.
"What did you do to Professor Snape?" Asked one of the Weasley twins.
"Not a thing." Harry said. "Though if he keeps that up I'm going to deck him one."
The twins laughed and nodded. "We can help, just let us know. The slimy git deserves a bit of punishment."
"WEASLEY, RON!" McGonagall yelled and the hat was barely on the boy's head when it screamed Gryffindor. The twins cheered and pounded on the table as the boy ran over and plopped himself down next to Harry.
"Congratulations."
Ron beamed. "Now all we need is food."
"I'd rather get a little sleep." Harry muttered and yawned.
Professor McGonagall walked over to them. "Harry, where is your trunk, the house elves couldn't find it when they went to place it in Gryffindor tower."
He looked up at the stern looking woman. "In my pocket. I didn't want to let it out of my sight."
"Well just remember to set it up next to the open bed in your room when you get up there."
"Yes ma'am." Harry said with a nod.
She turned and walked back up to the teacher's table where she said something to a weird looking creature that vanished with a pop of displaced air. As soon as it was gone, the old man stood up and raised his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! All of you are hungry so we will do announcements after dinner!" The old man waved his hand and the long tables were suddenly covered in gold plates full of food and goblets full of drink. Harry tried not to gape.
Ron started to grab every bit of food he could get his hands on. Filling his plate with more food than he could possibly eat in one sitting. Sighing, Harry started to grab a few things himself and quickly started to pack it away with a Saotome level of skill. The twins were eyeing him as he ate. A weird look in their eyes.
One thing Ranma believed in was lots of food. One never knew when the next meal would appear so they never wasted an opportunity to eat. Harry noticed that no matter how much he ate the level off food on the table didn't seem to get any lower. So he ate his fill, more than even Ron was eating, and pretended not to notice.
After everyone had time to be well fed, Dumbledore stood up once more and raised his hands to get everyone's attention. "Time for announcements! I'd like to tell all the first years that the forest outside is forbidden to all students! No matter what the reason." He said, staring right at the Twins, Harry noted. They just grinned and pretended to be innocent.
"Next, our caretaker Mr. Filch would like to let everyone know that there is no magic to be performed in the corridors or between classes. This goes for any practical jokes you might have brought along with you." Once again he stared at the twins, who got up and started bowing to everyone, which got a laugh.
"Finally, the third floor corridor on the right side of the castle is off limits unless you want to die a very painful death." Albus Dumbledore said, causing quite a few students to laugh. "Now everyone, it's late and time to head on to bed. Classes will begin the day after tomorrow. Take your free time to get acquainted with the castle."
Harry laughed a little, until he realized that the old man was being serious. Then Percy walked over to them and got all the first year's attention. "All first years follow me."
The boy led them out of the hall as the other tables began to file out a little bit at a time. As they walked through the halls, Harry tried to keep track of where they were going, but Percy seemed to be taking a number of hidden passages. Harry noted that the paintings hanging on the walls, even the tapestries, had scenes and people displayed that could move around on their own.
After a run in with Peeves, a poltergeist, Percy eventually led them down a hallway and stopped in front of a portrait of a rather overweight woman. She gave them all a smile as they crowded around behind Percy. Harry tried to ignore the fact that the fat woman was wearing a pink dress.
"Password?" She asked kindly.
"Sword of Justice." Percy said, muttering something under his breath about it being a stupid password.
oooooooooo
Notes: I considered making Harry a Hufflepuff as a change of pace, but decided against it since I don't know enough about the house to pull it off. I'll leave that up to writers that know more about HP than me. Harry has a bit of a temper in this and it will get him into trouble more than once. It has to do with his time with the Dursleys. Even Ranma hasn't been able to curb Harry's temper, but he's working on it.
Got an small Omake here for you guys. I tend to do Omake's randomly, so I'm not sure when the next one will show up. I've got one other Omake I've done as well, it should show up at the end of the next chapter or the one after.
Omake 01:
As she sat the stool down the hat seemed to come to life, opened it mouth, and suddenly let off a world class belch. Smacked its cloth lips and flopped over, starting to snore. Soon a snot bubble formed amid the loud snores. The students stared at it in shock.
The twins suddenly cracked up and fell to the floor laughing.
"Fred and George Weasley!" Professor McGonagall yelled.
The two boys scrambled to their feet and ran for it, still laughing.