Chapter One: Designation
Professor McGonagall lead the first years into the Great Hall, and Harry followed closely behind. The sorting hat was set up on a stool. Almost time. Harry wondered idly if Fred and George would get in trouble for the ghost set-up last year. They would probably only be amused if they did. The twins in general found pranks to be worth any punishment they might receive, to the point where they liked getting credit for their pranks. Having gotten away with such a grand deception
for a year was bound to amuse them, especially now that the joke was out.
The sorting hat began to sing, as it did at the opening of each year.
"Welcome all now to Hogwarts,
where you will spend the year
learning all the wizardry
that we can teach you here.
Each of all the houses four
have strengths and weaknesses,
now I'll sort you into the one
that'll help you grow the best.
In loyal Hufflepuff you'll find those
who are hardworking and fair,
If in Ravenclaw you look you'll find
learning and wisdom there.
In Slytherin, the strategists, with
cunning and ambition, who'll reach
up for the highest stars
because they have vision.
In bold Gryffindor you'll find
those who still hold to chivalry,
the brave of heart will find it to
be where they ought to be.
Step up and set me on your head
I'll sort you one and all,
That you may be at home here,
as through years you grow tall."
After the applause had died down, Professor McGonagall unfurled a parchment which presumably held the names of the first years, and began calling out names.
Bunky, Karston was the first to be sorted, and the first to go to Gryffindor. 'Capper, Sage,' went to Slytherin, 'Creevey, Colin,' to Gryffindor, and 'Dorny, Joann' to Hufflepuff, and so it continued.
"Harper, Derek."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Lovegood, Luna."
"RAVENCLAW!"
Harry had gone completely unnoticed so far, by the living at least. He was still 'invisible', and
while it was perfectly clear from his run-in with Voldemort at the end of last year that he could be detected, it was an unlikely thing in a large room with so many people around to distract each other. He waiting patiently, wondering exactly what would happen when the time came.
The list drew to a close, with 'Smith, Zacherias' sorted into Hufflepuff and 'Weasley, Ginevera' sorted into Gryffindor.
As Professor McGonagall started to walk towards the stool where the hat rested, Harry shifted to visibility and, standing firmly on the ground, called out to her.
"Professor!"
She spun around, looking startled.
"I don't want to be a bother, but I'm afraid I never got around to getting sorted last year. Would you mind if I tried on the hat now?'
"Of c-course not. Go right ahead, Harry."
He walked up to the hat as calmly as possible. The hall was filled with whispers. Removing the hat from the stool he sat down and placed it on his head.
"Hmm, what have we here..."
"Me."
"Must you state the obvious? Now, let me see. Not a bad mind, and not lacking in courage, either, but you have a thirst to prove yourself. And you really are, to a point, a survivor. Better be a SLYTHERIN!"
Removing the hat from his head, he found that the hall had fallen silent, a great contrast to when every other student had been sorted. Then a single person started to clap. He looked around. It was Hermione. Not much of a shock there. He'd saved her life last year. He smiled back at her. Then, to his surprise, the twins joined in.
"Way to bring shock and chaos, Harry!"
"Keep up the good work, mate!"
He rolled his eyes at them grinning, then walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down in an empty seat towards the end of the table next to the Bloody Barron, who was looking ridiculously smug.
Even after Dumbledore finished his 'speech' and food was laid out, Harry could feel eyes on him. He couldn't help glancing around the hall a few times to check. Snape was glaring at him, as were Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan. Draco Malfoy was giving him occasional irritated, wary glances. They weren't the only ones watching him, however. The hall seemed filled with the curious eyes of strangers.
Though Fred and George Weasley weren't quite sure what to make of their companion-in-mischief's sorting, they weren't particularly concerned. In fact, at the moment, they were quite pleased with themselves. Harry's sorting appearance and sorting had proved wonderful distraction, giving them the opportunity to test out one of their latest inventions. They were now eagerly awaiting the results. They weren't disappointed.
Gilderoy Lockhart, the first person to help himself to one of the dishes of custard that had mysteriously appeared on the staff table before the rest of the food without anyone noticing, suddenly squawked and turned into a canary. It was an extremely strange looking canary, the feathers on its head curled to the point of being comical. Hundreds of eyes turned to stare in surprise. As he began to molt, Lockhart desperately attempted to pull out the feathers that covered his head, only to end up pulling out a handful of his own hair. The now fully-human Lockhart gave a screech of rage.
"What was it you were eating, Gilderoy?" the headmaster inquired gently.
"That." Lockhart practically spat, gesturing angrily at the custard dish.
"Pass in here, please."
Lockhart did so, and watched in shock as the headmaster, instead of using some form of advanced magic to discover the perpetrators, as he'd expected, preceded to dish himself a helping of the enchanted food.
Harry followed the Slytherin prefect down to the common room with the rest of his house in order to get the password. Entering the common room, he found Malfoy standing there, watching him.
"You're alive, Potter?" The tone was almost mocking, but there was a hint of wariness in his expression.
"Unlike you, Malfoy, I'm one of the privileged few who knew that all along."
With that he left the common room and headed for the blocked off secret passage way Fred and George had set up for him to sleep in last year. It wasn't as if he had a place in the dormitory yet, and he could wait until tomorrow to deal with his fellow students. The teachers, or perhaps just his head of house, would probably come looking for him, and he didn't feel like talking to them now.
Arriving in the Great Hall the next morning, Harry found the Barron had yet to arrive. He glanced over the table, and then walked over and sat down by one of the students he'd met briefly the year before.
"Hello. I'm Harry Potter," he began, holding out his hand.
The boy looked at him, and then around at the many whispering students who were watching Harry.
"I've no interest in joining, or associating with your fanclub, Potter," he replied scathingly.
Harry smirked slightly, and answered, "That makes two of us then."
The boy looked at Harry consideringly for a moment, then reached out and took his hand.
"Theodore Nott."
Double potions with the Gryffindors was first, according to the schedule Snape had given Harry at breakfast, informing him that he'd be attending second year classes because "if you failed to learn or practice the necessary skills last year because you were too busy playing dress-up, it's your own fault."
He was one of the last to enter the classroom, still in rather ragged muggle clothing rather than a uniform.
"Potter!" barked Snape as he entered the classroom. "You'll be assisting Longbottom, as usual."
"I'd never presumed otherwise."
He headed calmly over to take a seat next to Neville, who was watching him apprehensively.
"You're- you're really alive then?" Neville whispered.
"Yes, Neville. Come on, let's get set up for the potion."
"And you're a Slytherin?"
"What, are you planning to start treating me like scum, just because I'm in a different house?"
"Of course not, but- how- you looked like a ghost!"
"Just a few tricks I picked up from repeated accidental magic, and a bit of help from the Weasley twins."
Neville was staring at him. Apparently this explanation had not put him at ease whatsoever.
"What happened to you? After you disappeared from you're relatives..."
"What?"
"Accidental magic? That never happens in good situations. And for it to have happened enough to start duplicating the effects... you can't have been having many pleasant times."
"It doesn't matter, Neville."
"Right. Guess we should get to work on the potion." But Neville still looked vaguely concerned. Harry supposed it probably wasn't a bad thing to have a few people who trusted you and were overly sympathetic.
Transfiguration was next. He sat down in the seat by Theodore Nott. Tracey Davis, who he'd also met briefly the year before, took the seat on his other side.
"Mr. Potter, I'm assuming the reason you don't have school supplies with you is because you don't have any yet?"
"Yes, Professor."
"I'll take you over to Diagon Alley to purchase some this evening, unless your head of house has made other plans?"
"No, Professor. But if you don't mind my asking, where do you expect me to get money to buy supplies?"
She stared at him for a moment. It was probably occurring to her more clearly than ever the type of situations he'd grown up in.
"Your parents left you plenty of money in a vault a Gringotts, the wizarding bank. We can stop there first."
"Oh." To say he was surprised at the moment would have been quite and understatement. To think, money of his own... he could buy his own food, his own cloths... something warm, maybe a coat or a cloak, his own wand. "Thanks, Professor."
A/N: I'm beginning to see why JK likes to have Harry miss seeing the sortings. The sorting song was rather difficult, and then student names... I owe the HP lexicon for all except Colin, Ginny, Luna, and Zacherias. "Derek Harper" is actually a combination. There is a references to a "Derek" in Ginny's year, house and surname unknown, and someone with the last name "Harper" in the same year, in Slytherin, with the first name unknown. The other three are student from unknown years, and I made up the first names for those. I tried to be as authentic as possible here...
So, opinions? I actually purposely had Harry spend lots of time with the Gryffindors because I was planning to sort him into Slytherin. Don't I make sense? Or not. Don't worry, he'll still have interactions with other houses, and some qualities of other houses. I realize some people would have liked a different sorting, or for Harry to stay a ghost longer, but neither would really work with my plot.
We'll hopefully be seeing more interactions with the Gryffs, Harry's fellow Slytherins, the professors, and possibly Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs next chap. I know there probably isn't enough of people's reactions to Harry in this chap, but more will come.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. Reviews inspire me... I was going to wait a little while to post this chap, but so many people took the time to review that I decided against it. J
In reply to a few questions here:
"Arnold" Weasley- There is a case in one of the books where the Prophet refers to Arthur as "Arnold." Don't remember which book it was. In any case, I'm afraid I can't help mocking the Daily Prophet as much as possible. The two different names used in the article were actually there for that purpose. Thanks anyway to those who pointed it out, I really appreciate your suggestion/corrections.
Harry couldn't use the stone as an excuse for being alive simply because he was unconscious. They had plenty of time to examine both him and the scene, and knew he'd been faking it by the time he woke up. (For example, Poppy removed the fake burns and cuts Fred and George added, etc.)
Yep, I'd definitely agree with both the Chamber of Secrets and Sirius Black on the loose, Harry will be having a hectic year.
Thanks to everyone who made prank recommendations. For this chapter the only idea I used was that everyone wanted Lockhart getting pranked, since I already had a basic idea. I'll probably use more later.
For those who asked about the glass shard... I'm not telling. Sorry.
Please tell me any Questions/Comments/Sugguestions/Opinions. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
-twighlightshadow