Scattered by Houses, United by Friendship
Prologue
It's a known fact that history is often romanticized and written from the perspective of the author, thus making it biased. For example, in all the records of Hogwarts, the Gryffindors are seen as noble, brave and compassionate while the Slytherins are dismissed as cunning and obsessed with blood purity, the Ravenclaws as single minded academics and the Hufflepuffs as people who are laidback and don't fit in anywhere else.
A person is more than what other people assume them to be. Nobody deserves to be put under a label and expected to act out a stereotype.
Hogwarts needed to change. The Sorting Hat was no mere tool created by the Founders.
"Potter, Harry!" As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.
"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes —and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting. . . . So where shall I put you?"
Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.
"Why not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that —'
But Slytherin is the house of bad wizards, right? '
Harry interrupted the voice in his head.
'Who said that?' The hat seemed mildly angry before staying silent. 'I see. Is that what everyone thinks? That Slytherin House fosters dark wizards. Let me tell you boy, Merlin the greatest light wizard of all time was from Slytherin. Sure, there are bad apples there. But so does every other house including Gryffindor.''
Really' Harry wondered. In the short time he'd been in the wizarding world, all he'd gathered was Slytherin was bad and Gryffindor was good.
'Nothing is that simple, young Mr. Potter. I can send you in any house and you will flourish but I think what you need is a place where any preconceived ideas of who you are would be crushed right away. If you are in Gryffindor, you'll be hailed as the next Dumbledore. In Slytherin, you will be considered the next Dark Lord. In Ravenclaw, you will be the new Nicholas Flamel. The only place where you can discover yourself is -'
The voice disappeared from his head and rang out over his head. "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Everyone looked in shock. The Hufflepuff House erupted in cheers and the students in Gryffindor looked a little disappointed. Madame McGonagall looked surprised as she removed the hat from his head.
"There you go, Mr. Potter." She beckoned a little sadly.
Harry walked shakily towards the yellow table and he just realized he'd got the largest cheer. Several older students beamed at him and a boy with golden blond hair and sharp features moved aside to make space for him.
"Hey there." He grinned, shaking his hand. "I am Cedric Diggory. Welcome to Hufflepuff!"
Harry smiled back, sitting next to him. On his other side was another first year, a red head with long plaited hair.
"I'm Susan Bones." She introduced herself. "Good to meet you, Harry."
"Likewise." Harry said. It was the first time people were eager to meet him and were not driven away by Dursley.
He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban. And now there were only four people left to be sorted.
"Thomas, Dean," a black boy even taller than Ron, joined Hermione at the Gryffindor table.
"Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn.
He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"
There was complete silence across the hall. Then a few students in the Slytherin table started clapping though many were leering at Ron. Harry felt concerned. Though he'd just met him, he knew that his new friend wanted more than anything to be in Gryffindor.
"That's new." Cedric said slowly to the girl seating beside him, who nodded.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"He's a Weasley. All of them have been in Gryffindor as long as anyone could remember." The elder student said worriedly. "This is not good. The Slytherins hate his family and his family- I better write to dad about this. The Weasleys are the nicest folks in the world but they have no tolerance for Slytherins."
Harry gulped. He looked as his first friend staggered his way to the Slytherin table. He sat next to a few other first others, not making any eye contact with anyone. Harry decided to talk to him, first thing after dinner. He wanted to rush to him right now but that probably wouldn't look good in the middle of the Ceremony. Besides Ron needed time to process this.
Maybe he'd have reacted the same way. Then he remembered what the Sorting Hat had told him. That Slytherins weren't all bad and Merlin was from that house. He'd tell that to Ron. It'd definitely make him feel better.
"Malfoy, Draco!" The silver haired boy stopped glaring at Ron and swaggered forwards, smirking when he put on the hat.
"Slytherin, I tell you." The girl beside Cedric grimaced. "I hate the whole lot of them."
"You're probably right, Nora." The prefect replied, casting a worried look at the Gryffindor Table where the Weasley brothers were conversing with each other.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Another silence.
"Try it again!" Malfoy demanded, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"I'm afraid, Mr. Malfoy. The Sorting can only be done once. Now go over to your new house." McGonagall said grimly.
The boy glared at her before dragging himself reluctantly over to the Gryffindor table. Nobody clapped at his sorting, just looking at him astounded.
"This is … Something is wrong. A Malfoy in Gryffindor and a Weasley in Slytherin?" Cedric shook his head.
Harry bit his lips. Something told him it was his doing. He remembered how the Hat had reacted when he asked it whether only dark wizards were in Slytherin. Maybe it was trying to change things. He just hoped Ron would be alright.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Parts of the chapter has been excerpted directly from the first book.
It's an idea I've been thinking about for a while now. We never got to explore the other houses as much because the main characters were in Gryffindor.
Ron outsmarted McGonagall in chess at the end of the first year and he's far from stupid. He definitely has Slytherin in him. Also he was prejudiced against them. So being in that house would really mess with his mind and of course, that would be an interesting story for me to tell.
Draco in Gryffindor... well, if Pettigrew can be in the House of the Brave, anyone can be. We never got to know the real Draco underneath all his inborn prejudices and Slytherin tendencies. So that's what I want to explore. Can being in Gryffindor bring out his inner goodness or will he be a spy in the House of Lions for Voldemort later on? Well, spoilers.
I published this chapter almost 2 years ago if I'm not wrong. But then stuff like JK Rowling's ignorant comments about the trans community made me look at the Harry Potter franchise in a new light. As a member of the lgbtq community, I was disturbed however the HP fandom belongs to the fans as much as it does to JKR, obviously not in legal terms but the characters and the wizarding world have festered in our minds for the last decade. We grew up with Harry Potter and we can't just cut them from our lives. I still am and always will be grateful to JKR for creating this wonderful world and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. We have to understand that celebrities are in the end, people like us... flawed, prejudiced and imperfect. We shouldn't hold them to a pedestal and nor should we feel betrayed if their views contradict ours. And people do change with time and realize their mistakes. So I hope that JKR someday makes ammends with the trans community. At the same time, I am disheartened by the fact that JKR is being harrassed and cancelled by 'diehard Potterheads'. There are other ways to show your disapproval. Hate only leads to more hate. And HP wouldn't exist without JK. So while I don't support her comments, I still do respect her for her work.
Okay, sorry for rambling. What I mean to say, this story would have queer characters, LGBT storylines and elements. So if you don't like it, step away now because I refuse to censor any part of this story. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and would stick around for more. Please review and let me know what you guys behind. :)