Harry was up in a second, and had moved to the side of the door. Instincts built up from his many years of training were guiding him, as he wasn't really even awake yet. A red head entered the room, and before he even had time to react, Harry had him in a choke hold, and disarmed of his poorly positioned wand, "who are you?"
"R-r-Ronald W-Weasely," the boy choked out. Harry grimaced. His smell was so nauseating – so devoid of snake – that it was going to make him sick.
"Why are you here?"
"A-all the other compartments are full," the boy was trying his hardest not to stutter. Harry rolled his eyes at the pointless act of defiance. It was obvious that he was not going to get away, so instead of trying to seem strong, 'Ronald Weasely' really should have been trying to figure out a way to escape. Harry scowled and threw the boy to the floor.
"Stay as far away from me as possible," Harry ordered while ensuring that his hood revealed nothing of his face. He didn't want to make too many enemies before even arriving at school, and kicking this repugnant boy out was a sure fire way to do so. Judging from what he knew of human behavior, he guessed that the boy would run off in a huff and tell everyone of how nasty he was. While amusing, it was not the way to start of a school year.
Harry might have survived if the boy hadn't wanted to talk, "what house do you think you're going to be in? I'm going to be in Gryffindor like the rest of my family. We're all Gryffindors."
"I will be in with my brethren," Harry replied, drawing a weird look from the other boy.
"Uh… Okay," the compartment door opened once again, and Harry nearly attacked once more, but saw that it was only the lady with sweets.
"Anything from the trolley dearies?" she asked warmly.
"Your entire supply of blood pops please," Harry asked, making both the trolley woman, and the weasel.
"Honey, are you sure? Wouldn't you prefer something sweeter?" she offered.
"I dislike all other sweets," Harry responded. He wasn't overly insulted as blood pops were an odd choice, and the woman had not seen his face. She nodded in a slightly confused manner, but handed over the sweets all the same. It took Harry several trips between the bench and the door to unload them all, but soon enough the woman was gone.
"No mice today?" a new voice called from the door way. Harry recognized the smell of the boy from the shop.
He pulled a small bottomless box from one of his smaller bags, and began to load in his pops one by one so that they would remain stacked when he moved about. The box had been a gift from Sirius when they discovered that Harry liked the pops almost as much as mice. Weasel was still looking at him with a horrified expression. It appeared that he had lost his voice once more. Harry glanced over at the blond boy, "I am saving the mice for when I reveal who I am, and what I am."
Draco raised an eyebrow, "you do that," he glanced around and noted Ron, "and what are you doing here? You must be a Weasely. My father has told me about you – poor, red hair, freckles. Honestly Trucido, I don't know why you let him in here."
Harry glanced over his shoulder at Ron who had turned a rather brilliant shade of red. It was actually interesting how he could change colors with such proficiency, "there was no room elsewhere. I will make enough enemies once I reveal myself. I thought it best to wait until then to make them."
"Ah. I suppose that makes sense," he walked inside, and sat down on Harry's bench, "what are you looking at blood traitor?"
The red head stood, "Don't you insult my family!"
"Oh please! Any respectable pure blood would be disturbed by how much your family loves muggles and the like!"
"I'm not pure blood," Harry interjected in an off hand manner.
Draco rolled his eyes, "well obviously. But you're different."
"No creature is different than any other. While we must remain segregated from muggles so that they do not exploit our abilities, we must be united within the magical community," Both boys stared at him like he was insane, and he finished putting away his blood pops, "what I'm trying to tell you is that your fighting is pointless, and you should find a better reason to hate each other. I suggest you settle on personality. I generally use smell, but I don't think either of you have that option."
The look that Ron gave him was one of total confusion while Draco's was a cross between amusement and disgust. Once again the door opened to the compartment, and a bushy haired girl came in, "have any of you seen a toad? Neville has lost his."
Ron jumped at the chance for an exit, "no, but I'll help you look!" both boys snickered as he practically dragged the girl out of the room.
"That was interesting," Draco took Ron's seat in the far corner, "father told me that Harry potter should be here this year but I haven't heard anything. Crabbe Goyle and I were looking for him, but we split up to cover more ground."
"Your father tells you a lot," Harry replied in an effort to distract the youngest Malfoy. Harry had never told an outright lie in his life, and he wasn't sure how long he could conceal the truth should Draco become more inquisitive. Oasis had trained him well in the art of concealing things under direct questioning. The trick was to do things in such a way as to never lie, but never reveal anything either. That of course was only necessary should you be caught - something that Harry doubted would be a problem for him. He had years of practice at covering up for his work. Time released traps were his specialty, and as most people added 'last night' to the ends of their questions, it worked out rather well.
"My father is a great man. He as embarrassed about being so squeamish when he saw you eating live animals," Draco grimaced, "which is rather disgusting."
Harry smirked, "it shocks most people, and upsets even those with hardened stomachs."
"It was certainly upsetting," Draco agreed. The pair spent the rest of the time discussing random topics of no consequence. The door didn't open again until the trip was nearly over, and some older kid came in to say that it was time to change. As both bys were already dressed they had little to do before they got off the train. Harry checked to make sure he had his dinner, and pop box with him, while Draco primped his appearance.
They exited the train amidst much crowding and discomfort, something that made Harry exceedingly uneasy. A man Harry could tell was half giant and half man led them down to a small pier where everyone boarded even smaller boats. Draco invited two boys, whom he called Crabbe and Goyle into their boat.
Both boys were purebloods, but they were inbred to the point that it could almost be said they were in a vegetative state. Draco went to introduce, "Crabbe, Goyle, this is Trucido."
Harry hissed, "They are not snake enough to use that name. To use it is a privilege few hold. You and your father may not pass on this privilege without my position. They may learn my real name during the sorting. Until then you will not address me by name."
All three boys had recoiled when he hissed, and nodded stupidly in agreement with Harry's demand. The rest of the trip was spent in silence – Harry surmised that they were too frightened to speak.
As the boats traveled through a cave, Harry felt a tracking spell try to settle over him. He quickly blocked it on himself and partially on Draco. He seethed in anger that the headmaster would do such a thing. It was disgusting behavior to apply spells behind some one's back. Especially those as restricting as tracking spells which monitored both location and magic use.
His mouth was the only part of his face that showed under the long hood he wore, and the scowl that adorned his face was enough to scare away many people away. . The lack of colors in combination with the scowl made a very intimidating picture. Harry couldn't wait until they saw who he was. The reaction would be interesting indeed.
Hardly anyone smelt like a snake, and Harry found in nauseating. They were led inside to wait for the sorting to begin. When the ghosts came in many people gasped, but Harry looked on curiously. They looked about until they spotted Harry. When they laid eyes on him they all bowed, "young lord. We thought you would never come."
Harry was not comfortable making a scene, but he adapted quickly. If the stares he got with his hood were anything in comparison to the ones he would get without, he would need to be used to it. Additionally he would need to be prepared for the reaction to his dinner, as it would assuredly not be good. He nodded to the ghosts "it is my time. As it was destined to be."
"We give you our allegiance," they chorused. Harry smiled, being careful not to reveal his fangs.
"I accept in the name of the Basilisk Alliance. You all may address me as Trucido," they bowed, and the tight lipped woman who had led them inside returned.
"Form a line. It is time for the sorting. Be on your best behavior," Harry could tell that she was generally a fair woman, a trait he appreciated, but he suspected that she had some biases. He decided to reserve judgment until he could figure out her scent better. She pushed open the double doors to the great hall, and Harry made sure to be at the back of the line. Taking a deep breath, he began to walk.
'Let the games begin.'