Chapter 2: Legacy (2/4).
After a very awkward silence during the remaining of the ride. Maxwell sat there quietly with Neville, Ronald and Hermione. Hermione tried to ask him a few questions as she quickly recognized that he was Maxwell Peverell due to the scar on his chest. The Questions were mostly about his family, which was pretty much mentioned in nearly every book that she read. Max only gave her an single answer. "Everything you read, is mostly true." But he mostly stayed quiet and looked at the window for the remaining of the ride.
Eventually, the train stopped and all four prepared to take off.
"Hey, could you guys please not mention who I am?" Maxwell requested. "I honestly want to delay the whispers and stares for as long as I can." Which is something that Max has to deal with, for as long as he can remember.
"Why? It must be amazing being famous." Ron asked him.
"I would rather be famous for something that I actually remember doing it." Or actually did it. "Besides, I'm only gonna be able to delay it until I get sorted anyway...So please?" Maxwell asked them.
"Okay, okay, we not gonna say anything." Ron agreed with his request. "Right?" He asked the others.
"Sure." Neville replied while holding his toad on his hand.
"Of course, I read it that you're family are actually descendants of one of the founders of the school. You must get a lot of questions about it, especially with the amount of achievements that you're family has acquired. Speaking of which, is it truth that one..." Hermione suddenly started to speak a lot, with the boys just starring at her with confused faces. Ron just stares at Maxwell and tries to signal him to say something to make her stop talking.
"Ummmm... We really need to get going, so... do you mind if I answer your questions later?" Maxwell asked her as he made his way to the door. He wasn't lying as he would gladly answer her questions, but later.
"Oh, not at all."
With that all four made their way to exit the train. Walking behind one another with Maxwell leading the way. He could see some people exiting the train. A lot of them are first years just like me. I wonder how many of them will actually be on the house that they want. He thought as he kept on walking towards the exit.
Soon enough, they were all outside of the train. As he could see the castle from afar, he only had one thing to say about it. "I thought it was bigger." Maxwell commented.
"What do you mean, it's a huge castle." Ron replied.
"Yes, but my castle is bigger." Maxwell couldn't help but compare.
Saying that however caused Ron to make a surprised face. "You live in a castle?"
Max just starred at him confused, as the fact that his family lives on a castle is common knowledge.
"His family lives on a castle since the start of the middle ages, It's written in a Hogwarts, A History that it was the grandson of Godric Gryffindor that build the castle alongside-" Hermione was explaining to Ron, until Max interrupted her.
"Actually, Godric Peverell only build a small part of the castle." Max added to her explanation about how his castle was build. "The rest was build part by part by other members of the family around the centuries."
"Really?" Ron asked. "Does it mean that it you can still build it to increase the size of it?"
"If my grandfather or I wish so, yeah." Max confirmed.
"You telling me that if you wanted to build your own Quidditch Pitch, you could?" Ron asked.
Max opened his mouth for a second before speaking. "But... There is a Quidditch Pitch there already, why would I need to build another one?"
That made Ron even more shocked. "You have your own Quidditch Pitch?!"
Max sighed before explaining. "It was build some time ago by the Peverell triplets." He explained.
The Peverell triplets were as the name implies, three identical brothers who are regarded as some of greatest Quidditch players of all time. As they have won every game for every team that they were a part of. They build the Quidditch Pitch on the castle for their personal training. Each of the three played on a different position, the oldest one was a chaser, the middle one was a beater and the youngest one was keeper.
"The Peverell triplets are legendary! I have a poster of them from when they played for the Chudley Cannons in my room." Ron told him.
"That's a collectors item, how did you get it?" Max asked in curiosity.
"My father got from-" Ron was about to answer Max's question, but was interrupted before he could.
"Hey, Maxwell!" Suddenly, his conversation about collector's items with Ron was interrupted by his best friend, Draco. "I looked for you on the station but you were nowhere to be found." He told him, ignoring the others.
"Oh, sorry." Max apologized. "I had a little problem back home, so my grandfather and I arrived late at the station."
Draco then, took a good look at the ones behind Maxwell and he could tell that he wanted to frown. "Come on, Daphne is waiting for you." He told him before putting his arm over his shoulder leading away from Ronald, Neville and Hermione.
Once they were far enough from them, Max had to ask. "What was that about?"
"I could be asking you the same question." Draco replied. "Why were you walking around with a Weasley?"
"Who I walk around with is my business, not yours." Maxwell was quick to respond. "Besides, I already expressed my opinion on you walking around with Crabbe and Goyle, so you have absolutely no right in questioning who I keep company."
"Hey, that's different." He tried to argue.
"Not really," Max replied. "But it doesn't matter, let's just find Daphne and get to the castle."
"There you are."
Maxwell and Draco made their way to the castle, while talking about some idiotic conversation that Draco had with other future Slytherins. Mostly trivial things regarding wealth and status, which simply made Maxwell roll his eyes and be thankful that he wasn't present for that. One of the disadvantages of belonging to the most prestigious family of the Sacred Twenty-Nine, is the annoyance of having to deal with people trying to elevate their status by becoming acquaintances with you.
They eventually arrived at the castle and were quickly greeted by Daphne, or Maxwell was greeted to be more precise. As she quickly gave him a hug like she always do. "Where were you?"
"Walking around with a Weasley." Draco responded for him.
"Why?" Daphne asked him after she pulled back from the hug.
"Don't you start too." Max replied. He then look to the group of students that were about to enter the hall for the sorting ceremony. "Come on, it's time to enter." He signaled them to follow him.
The three blonds joined the group of students that were about to enter the great hall. Only to heard some annoyingly familiar subject.
"Did you hear, Maxwell Peverell is coming to Hogwarts."
"I heard rumors that he would be starting this year as well."
"But no one saw him on the train."
"I heard that some twins saw him on the station."
And it kept on and on, luckily, he warned Draco and Daphne to not reveal his identity because he wanted to keep it quiet until the sorting ceremony. Soon enough Ronald, Hermione and Neville also joined the group the group of students. I'll apologize for Draco's rudeness later. He thought as he waited. But then suddenly, he sees Hagrid guiding some of the students towards the giant door that lead to the great hall.
Maxwell decided to greet him. "Hi Hagrid."
Hagrid quickly smiled when he saw him. "Ah, Max," He greeted him in return. "S' glad that you m'de it."
"Yeah, we had a problem with my grandfather's pets this morning." He explained. "He also asked me to tell you to pay him a visit, he could really use your help."
"If that's th' case, I'll pa' him a visit tommoro'" Hagrid replied. "Sorry, I hav' to finish wha' am doing."
"Okay." Max replied as well before moving out of the way.
Hagrid moved to the big door. "Everyone here?" Hagrid asked. "You there, still got yer toad?"
Neville nodded and clutched his toad to his chest, while everyone else nodded to confirm that they were, in fact, there.
Apparently satisfied, the giant raised a huge fist and knocked three times on the door, which opened at once to reveal a tall, stern looking witch with black hair. Maxwell recognized her as Minerva McGonagall. His grandfather had told him about her.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Hagrid," she said dismissively. "I will take them from here."
Hagrid moved off to the side and she pulled the door open wide, letting the children pour in. Maxwell and his friends were still hanging around in the back of the crowd.
McGonagall led the first years past the entrance to the Great Hall and into a small, empty chamber. Maxwell and his companions still stuck close to the back, near the exit.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began. Maxwell didn't really payed much attention, as he already knew about the House points and dormitories. "The Start of Term Banquet will begin shortly," she continued, "but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses."
He glanced over at Draco and Daphne. Daphne's face was completely emotionless as always. Draco on the other hand, looked nervous.
"What is wrong with you?" Daphne asked.
Draco jumped violently at Daphne's blunt question.
"The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts."
Maxwell wasn't really paying attention, as he was holding back his laughter at Draco's disproportional reaction. Is he nervous that he'll end up on a different house? He wondered.
"You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House Common Room."
He vaguely wondered if students from other Houses were allowed in different Common Rooms, because hewould like to visit his friends on other Common Rooms.
"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
Said in descending order from most favorite to least? Max genuinely wondered.
"Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards."
"Except Hufflepuff," Draco whispered on Max's ear.
"Not really, there's a lot of accomplish wizards in the ministry that were Hufflepuffs." Max whispered back.
"Like who?" Draco asked in curiosity but didn't got his answer.
"While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you House points while any rule breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house becomes yours."
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." After pausing to glance pointedly at a few of the students who were rather disheveled looking, such as Ronald and Neville, the tall witch took her leave, saying she would return when everything was ready for them.
As soon as she was out of sight everyone immediately began whispering among themselves.
"How exactly do they sort us into Houses?" Hermione asked, obviously nervous but trying her best to hide it. "I know it's based on personality, but-"
"You put on a Hat," Maxwell replied calmly. "It looks into your head to determine your personality and then you go to whatever House suits you best." He explained.
Hermione looked relieved. "Oh, I thought it would be some kind of test. Not that I don't know any spells, I mean I read all my course books twice and after I got my wand I went out in the backyard-we've got a privacy fence, you know-and I started practicing some defense spells and-"
Maxwell just stood there, politely listening to her continuous talking. Which he was fairly impressed by how long she was able to speak with taking a breath.
"-and I'm very sure that I know History of Magic well enough to get an A-I mean, an 'O'-on at least a multiple choice test-"
Gasps suddenly echoed from the crowd, drawing Maxwell's attention away from Hermione and her ramblings.
Two ghosts had drifted through the wall into the room. The two ghosts seemed to be arguing about something until one of them noticed the first years.
"I say, what are you doing here?"
Nobody answered until Maxwell spoke up, not quite seeing why everyone else was so frightened: "We're the first years waiting to be sorted."
"Oh! Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" one of the ghosts, who looked rather like a Friar, replied. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," A sharp voice commanded them. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. The ghosts floated off through the walls instantly.
"Now, form a single file line and follow me." They had reached the Great Hall, and his racing, upsetting thoughts were broken by Hermione's whisper of, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it inHogwarts, A History." Maxwell glanced up at the charmed ceiling. He had to admit that it was impressive. It was, in fact, so realistic that Max had a hard time imagining that the Great Hall didn't just open up into the heavens.
Looking around, he saw four tables lined up facing another long table at the front of the hall, where all the professors sat. Headmaster Dumbledore was situated in the middle. All the students sat at the table decorated with their respective House colors. All the Slytherins looked vaguely sinister, the Hufflepuffs vaguely upbeat, the Ravenclaws vaguely snooty, and the Gryffindors vaguely insufferable. Looking forward to being sorted.
Maxwell focused his attention back on Professor McGonagall as she silently placed a wooden, four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she placed a ragged wizards' hat.
Max had imagined the fabled Sorting Hat to be a bit grander than that, at least in better condition. It was so dirty. Doesn't anyone ever wash it? Max thought as he couldn't believe that something that used to belong to his ancestor is in such a unsanitary state.
For a few seconds, there was complete silence, then a rip near the brim opened like a mouth and the Hat began to sing:
"Riddle me this, riddle me that,
For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.
I am about to have a ball,
Sorting the most cryptic Riddle of all.
Where shall this enigma go?
Shall I shout out Gryffindor,
Whose audacious honor makes them subject of lore?
Their daring, nerve, and bravery set Gryffindors apart.
Shall I shout out Ravenclaw,
Where lie those whose intellect has no flaw?
Their studious ways make them the most knowledgeable of all.
Shall I shout out Hufflepuff,
Where their loyalty and fairness,
Prove to be ageless?
A Hufflepuff will never be afraid of toil.
Shall I shout out Slytherin,
Where dwell the sly and cunning?
Those who belong to this house will do anything,
To achieve their ends.
So where shall I sort this conundrum,
This puzzle,
This most mysterious Riddle?
I'm not yet sure of that,
So, come try me on,
Don't be afraid,
For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!"
The whole hall burst into applause when the Hat finished its song, and not one person looked shocked, as if a bit of cloth that could sing was an everyday sight. The Hat bowed to each of the four tables and then became still.
Max then overhead Ronald whisper about how his brother had been going on about having to wrestle a troll. Did they really think the school was out to kill them?
"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall began. "You will put on the Hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"
A girl with pig tails rushed up to the stool and put the hat on. After a moment's pause, the hat shouted. "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The table on the right, decorated with yellow and black, cheered as Hannah took the Hat off and ran to take a seat. Maxwell saw the Friar's ghost waving happily at her.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
The girl scampered off to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
The table second from the left, done up in bronze and blue, clapped this time.
"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Brown, Lavender!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The red and gold table on the far left exploded with cheers.
"Bulstrode, Millicent!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Draco clapped along with the Slytherin Table.
"Corner, Michael!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Crabbe, Vincent!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
I once heard someone say that the main problem with Slytherin is that they have a tendency of accepting Pure-bloods automatically, whether they posses the desirable traits or not. Maxwell thought in a slight disgust as he sees Crabbe taking his seat.
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Just as his grandfather had once told him, it took a different amount of time for each person to be sorted. For some, the Hat barely touched their head before it called out their House; for others, the Hat had to sit there for almost a minute.
"Finnigan, Seamus!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Goldstein, Anthony!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Goyle, Gregory!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Granger, Hermione!"
Maxwell gave a thumbs up to Hermione in reassurance as she walked towards the stool. Which she seemed to thankful of.
The Hat sat on her head for almost a minute before declaring her to be a "GRYFFINDOR!"
Maxwell waved at her once she got seated.
"Greengrass, Daphne!"
Maxwell tenderly touched her shoulder, which she responded by holding his hand tightly for a few seconds before making her way to the hat.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Both Maxwell and Draco applauded her as she made her way to the table.
"Longbottom, Neville!"
The boy who kept losing his toad stumbled his way up to the stool. The Hat sat on his head for almost two minutes before shouting out "GRYFFINDOR!" Neville ran off still wearing the Hat and had to come all the way back to give it to Professor McGonagall, who looked irritated.
I honestly thought he was going to be put in Hufflepuff. Max thought as he sees Neville taking his seat.
"MacDougal, Morag!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Macmillan, Ernie!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Malfoy, Draco!"
Max smirked. This wouldn't take long.
Draco swaggered forward and put the Hat on his head. After less than a second, it decided he was very much fit to be a "SLYTHERIN!"
Obviously. He applauded alongside the Slytherin's to Draco.
"Moon, Marissa!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Nott, Theodore!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Parkinson, Pansy!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Patil, Padma!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Patil, Parvati!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Perks, Sally-Anne!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Weasley, Ronald!"
Maxwell tapped the red head's shoulder in reassurance. "Thanks," Ron thanked him before moving forward.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat took a few seconds to decide which had Ron on the edge of his seat, but was instantly relieved when he said Gryffindor.
After the Gryffindor table had settled down, Professor McGonagall looked down to announce the next student's name, but the words died on her lips. After a small pause that had everyone a bit confused, she finally announced the next student.
"Peverell, Maxwell!"
The moment that Professor McGonagall said his name. Several of the exact same whispers from early started again, only louder and much more numerous. The ones coming from the Gryffindor table were particularly the loudest. I guess it's time to end my anonymity. He thought as he moved forward, announcing himself in the process.
As he approached the hat, all the whispers got worse and worse. Until he finally sits down on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his hat.
My,my,my, it's been some time since I sorted a Peverell.
"Were looking forward to it?" Maxwell asked the hat.
In a way, yes. Peverell's are predicable but unique in a way.
"How so?" Max asked.
Your father, Alistair Lancelot Peverell was almost a Hufflepuff.
"My father was almost a Hufflepuff?"
He was certainly brave and courageous, but he was also very kind and hard working. Though he was a bit dense.
"What about my grandfather?" He asked.
Angelo Julius Peverell, was almost a Slytherin. As he had exceptionally cunning and resourceful.
"Yeah, I can see that." Maxwell commented. "So, what about me?"
You, Maxwell Antioch Peverell, is very hard to sort. You indeed posses courage, bravery. But I can also sense hard work, patience, and loyalty. Alongside intelligence, wisdom and wit. And last but not least, I sense ambition, cunning and resourcefulness.
"So...?"
It doesn't really matter which House I place you, as you would fit in easily in all of them.
"If that's the case, could we go with cliché choice?"
As expected, I was hoping that you would be the one that would finally break the cycle, but there's always next time.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
After what was probably the longest sorting of the ceremony. The Hat finally announced Max's house. Which caused the Gryffindor's table to erupt in applause and celebrate loudly that Maxwell Peverell was in their house.
1976:
The blond boy was in a very difficult situation. "Expelliarmus!" He launched the spell towards his adversaries. As he was currently in a very disadvantageous duel against Marco Mulciber and Alec Avery Jr.
Both were attacking him together, Alistair was having considerable difficulty in deflecting their spells. Neither Mulciber or Avery were particularly skilled at dueling, which was something in Alistair's favor.
His father taught him how to duel as he considered a skill that every Wizard should be at least decent on it. Which is basically Alistair's level of skill as a duelist, mainly because he detests fighting.
"Such a bloody waste, and to think your family is considered superior to ours." Mulciber bitterly commented.
"If your families are as deplorable as the two of you , then it's kind of easy to see why." Alistair replied to him, which just caused to become more angry and launch even more spells at him.
"Is even more of a bloody waste because your doing that for that plain looking mudblood." This time, Avery was the one to speak.
"Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?" Alistair asked. "Because it's hilarious that someone as ugly as you would call someone plain looking."
"He got you there." Mulciber told Avery mockingly.
After that comment however, Avery got made and ended up launching a spell at Mulciber that send him flying into the nearby wall. "Shut up!" He yelled as soon as Mulciber hit the wall and fell into the ground, knocked out.
I thought Slytherins were supposed to be comrades. But Avery is a petty idiot that gets mad at the slightest insult. It was Alistair's chance however, so he charged a Avery, who quickly turned back to Alistair and started to launch several spells at him. Spells that Alistair had no problem in deflecting, until he got close enough and pulled the wand out of Avery's hand.
He could have used s disarming spell, but Avery was probably going to block it.
"That's enough!" Alistair yelled as he pointed his wand at Avery.
Avery put his hands on the air, looking incredible angry. "You got lucky, Peverell!"
"Yeah, lucky that you're a petty idiot." He replied before tossing Avery's wand far away. "What did you do with Mary?" Alistair asked.
"Just a simple lesson that those filthy mudbloods are too slow to learn." Avery replied with a very disgusting smirk on his face.
"Yeah, I'm gonna love see you try to argue that logic with the headmaster." Alistair informed him sarcastically. "Move," He pointed the direction for him to go.
He just smirked again. "How about you move?"
Alistair opened his mouth to say something, but unfortunately, he didn't had the chance.
"Crucio!" Suddenly, Alistair felt a insufferable pain that caused him to fall into the ground. On the ground, he managed to open his eyes and see that it was Mulciber that just launched a forbidden curse on him.
"Into the floor." Avery completed his phrase from early as he watches Alistair convulsing in pain on the ground.
Suddenly, the horrible pain stops. Alistair struggles to breath as he tries to stand up. But his attempt was futile as Avery delivered a kick into his face with the tip of his shoe. Following by several stomps into his back.
"Aaahhh..." Alistair winced in pain.
"Once we've done with him, you pay for that stunt from early." Mulciber spoke bitterly at Avery.
"Forgive my friend, but you know how I feel when my appearance is insulted." Avery replied.
Alistair, while the two were conversing, tried to reach his wand in order to fight back. But before he could, Avery stomped on his hand hard before kicking his wand away. "You're not getting away this time, blood traitor." Avery spoke. "Please do the honors."
"With pleasure." Mulciber replied. "Crucio!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Alistair Peverell screamed in agony as he felt an undescribable pain. Helplessly convulsing on the ground in pain as the two Slytherins laughed at his misery. Soon enough, it stopped and as soon as it did, Alistair desperately tried to crawl away from the two. Until he was stopped by a kick on the ribs that came from Mulciber.
"Am not done playing with you yet." Mulciber told him as he crouched down to look at his face. Then he grabbed Alistair hair and pulled it, hard. "I always hated those pretty blue eyes of yours." He pointed his wand at his right eye. "I wonder if you'll be so pretty without them."
"Shame you'll won't find out!" Out of nowhere, someone pulled Mulciber's hand off of his hair and punched him very hard on the face. Moving his head a bit to the right, he saw that the one who did it, was James.
"Nice one, James." He heard Sirius's voice as well. He moved his head to look at Avery and saw Sirius pushing Avery into the wall. "Like hurting girls don't you?" Sirius asked him before punching him on the stomach several times.
Moving his gaze back to James, he saw that he was mounted on top of him, punching Mulciber in the face several times.
Both were wearing their Quidditch uniforms.
Alistair just rolled in order to lay on his back as he was still struggling to breath and felt a horrible pain due to the kicks he received. Soon enough, he felt really tired and could feel that he was about to pass out due to his vision becoming a bit blurry.
"Al?! Al?!" He could hear James's voice calling him.
"Come on, we gotta get him to the hospital wing!" He could hear Sirius telling that to James.
Thanks everyone who's following and favourite this story. I deeply apologize for this delay and for the grammatical mistakes. My PC broke and I'm reduced to writing on my phone as a result.
Question and Answer:
Aw wasn't Ginny adorable with how she was around Maxwell looking forward to more of that later
Saying that I'm looking forward to Maxwells interactions with the girls in general when they are older
Also needless to say between the scar Harry had and the one Maxwell has Maxwells is clearly the more badass
I'm also going to literally beg you please don't have Max be as dense when it comes to girls as his father
Ginny will be more involved. There won't be a Golden Trio in this story, it will be a Golden Group.
You should, it will wild.
Voldemort wasn't in a good mood when he hit Maxwell with the Killing Curse.
Don't worry, Maxwell won't be dense as Alistair. He wouldn't be able to win Hermione's heart otherwise, though he will have a very hard time dealing with the situation regarding the other girls.