Hi all,
Obviously some of this stuff is from the book. JK Rowling owns that. I own the rest of the plot. Still looking for beta readers.
Some of you will hate me for this decision about their houses, but I really hope that you'll like the story regardless.
ekrichards
"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, you house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room," Professor McGonagall paused, looking around the entryway.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your 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 be a credit to whichever house becomes yours," she continued.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place momentarily. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," she said, glancing at Harry, Hermione, and Draco and nodding at them before turning and exiting through the door.
The large group of incoming students started whispering nervously to each other, only to be interrupted by a group of ghosts that rose through the floor and entered through the walls. This caused several people to jump, including Hermione. Some of them screamed. Nearby Ron was whispering to his buddies.
"I wonder what the test is, and how hard it is," Ron said.
Hermione laughed.
"All you do is literally put a hat on your head and it sorts you," she said under her breath to the two boys next to her, "There is literally nothing to worry about."
At that moment, Professor McGonagall returned.
"Follow me, please. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin," Professor McGonagall said, as she opened the large doors for them to enter the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was a sight to behold. There were hundreds of candles floating over 4 very large tables that lit the whole room. Everywhere he turned there were flashes of gold and silver from the plates, goblets, and silverware that was set at each place at the table. Overhead were four large banners which signified the house that sat at each table. Sytherin's banner was green with a silver snake, Ravenclaw's was blue with a bronze eagle. Hufflpuff had a yellow banner with a black badger and Gryffindor was a blood red banner with a golden lion on it. At the very back of the hall was a long table with who Harry presumed were the professors. He caught Severus's eye as he, Hermione, and Draco walked forward. Severus raised an eyebrow, as if asking them what they were up to. Harry gave a small smile and gazed up to where Hermione was pointing and talking to Draco.
Hermione was pointing at the ceiling, which he remembered had been bewitched to look like the sky outside. At the moment, it looked like the starry night sky as it had been when they had crossed the lake no more than 20 minutes ago. Dragging his attention away from the ceiling, he noticed a stool sitting in front of the teacher's table with a large, pointed, and rather dirty hat. Very soon after the first years had stopped moving and gathered near the stool, the hat opened at a rip and began to sing.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry,
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means,
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
After the Sorting Hat had finished its song, the house burst into applause. Harry tentatively joined as Professor McGonagall unrolled her scroll.
"As I call your name, come up to the stool, sit down, and I will place the hat on your head. After you have been sorted, you will join your house and the next person will come up," Professor McGonagall explained.
"Abbott, Hannah."
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted.
"Bones, Susan."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Boot, Terry."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Brocklehurst, Mandy."
"RAVENCLAW!"
Some students were being sorted faster than others. Some students, like Susan Bones, the sorting hat took nearly 5 minutes trying to decide where they went, whereas others, were sorted almost immediately. Draco, Harry, and Hermione were standing patiently together, wondering if they would be one of the students that took nearly 5 minutes to sort.
"Brown, Lavender."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Bulstrode, Millicent."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Finnegan, Seamus."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Granger, Hermione."
Hermione took an intake of breath. She made her way through the crowd of people, and walked up the stairs, glancing at Severus as she did so. He simply stared back at her, giving her a very slight nod as he rested his fingers on his chin. She turned and faced the rest of the hall and sat on the stool as Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.
"Mmm, Miss Granger, or should I say Snape?" The hat gave a small chuckle.
Hermione wanted to roll her eyes.
"Not to worry dear. You've got a brilliant mind, and normally you would have been sorted into Ravenclaw. Oh yes, that's where you will thrive in your studies, but you want to prove everyone wrong about you. You don't want Gryffindor, and goodness no, you could never be in Hufflepuff. So, that leaves you Ravenclaw or Slytherin."
I want to be somewhere I can be myself and where I will grow and learn the most, Hermione thought, her nerves making her stomach feel as if it were in knots.
"Don't we all," the hat said in her ear. "I think I know the perfect place for you. They are rather studious, but they also take care of their own, no matter their backgrounds. I think that the best place for you is…"
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted to the hall.
Slytherin House gave a loud cheer. It was official, Hermione Granger was the first muggleborn to ever be sorted into Slytherin. Although, she wasn't really a muggleborn was she? Hermione barely recognized the remainder of the names, although she noticed Draco walk up to the platform and the hat had barely touched his head when "SLYTHERIN!" rang out into the hall. Draco walked over to the Slytherin table amongst cheers, and sat down next to Hermione as they watched the remainder of the sorting.
Harry was standing awkwardly by himself, separated from the dwindling group of students next to him. He knew his turn was coming up soon but he wasn't ready for it. But, soon enough, McGonagall called his name.
"Potter, Harry."
The hall burst out in whispers, as several of the professors, including Dumbledore leaned forward to observe the sorting. Hermione and Draco were watching him from the Slytherin table. Harry stepped forward and sat on the stool. The hat covered his eyes as a small voice began to speak.
"Hello, Harry. I had just spoken with your sister earlier. She had quite the dilemma as do you. Now lets see. My first instinct is to put you in Slytherin because that's where you truly belong. . However, it seems to be a tradition for the Snape family to choose where they want to go. Your father chose Slytherin, your sister wanted a choice, so it's only fair I do the same with you. So where will it be, hmm?"
Where I truly belong, Harry thought.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The hall sat in stunned silence. Quickly, the Slytherin table began to clap loudly as Harry got up and set the hat on the stool. Harry went and sat across from Harry and Draco, giving them a weak smile.
"Look, Harry, Severus looks pleased and Dumbledore looks murderous," Hermione whispered to Harry, gesturing up at the head table.
Harry turned to look. Indeed, Severus was smirking, yet held a proud expression in his eyes. Severus's eyes flickered to Dumbledore and his smirk disappeared. There was no mistaking Dumbledore's rage. His eyes were no longer twinkling and his smile had disappeared from his face. Dumbledore remained staring at the stool in front of him as he leaned back into his chair. The look lasted barely a minute before a small smile was plastered on his face again.
The remainder of the students needed to be sorted were sorted rather quickly. Ron Weasley had been sorted into Gryffindor, and after a scathing look at Harry, he joined the cheering table of Gryffindor students. The trio watched as 3 red heads stood up and patted Weasley on the back. Rather, one calmly patted him on the back and 2 identical brothers practically jumped on him. As Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin, Dumbledore stood up.
"Good evening! I trust that you all had a good trip over to Hogwarts. I have a few words to say to you, and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
"Yep, he's definitely mad," Harry said to Hermione.
A boy with a shiny badge that said Prefect on it, leaned over to the trio.
"Indeed, he is slightly mad. A genius, but still slightly wonky in the head. I'm Marcus Flint, one of the prefects in Slytherin House. You can call me Marcus, and don't be afraid to come to me for anything you need," the boy said. "I'm also on the Quidditch team."
"Hi," Harry, Hermione, and Draco said in unison.
Before anyone else could speak, the table before them filled with food. They looked down the table and saw students filling their plates. They glanced at each other and joined the rest of the table in filling their plates with food. Harry, who had never seen anything so marvelous in his life, had reached for the chicken wings and the large pile of garlic bread sitting on the table in front of him. There were mashed potatoes, peas, chicken, steak, roast beef, and various other dishes. Hermione didn't realize how hungry she was until she smelled the food sitting in front of her. Once everyone had filled their plates, Hermione began talking eagerly with Marcus Flint about the classes.
"So, what is your favorite class?" Hermione asked as she cut her steak.
Marcus swallowed before answering.
"My personal favorite is arithmancy with Professor Vector. But you can't take that until 3rd year. So I guess my favorite would be potions or herbology. They're both very interesting and they both have good professors. Professor Snape is the potions professor and he's also our head of house. He always favors us instead of the Gryffindors in his classes. Well no, everywhere. But it's because Gryffindors typically get favored over us in all situations because we're the 'evil' house."
Hermione frowned.
"But that's not fair!" She protested. "The sorting hat told me that this would be the place where I would learn the most and be able to be myself. No Slytherin has even mentioned that I'm a muggleborn."
"Well, it's what we put up with. Professor Snape will tell us more about this later."
Hermione spent the rest of the feast asking questions to Marcus about upcoming classes. Once the feast had finished, Dumbledore forced them to sing the school song, and then they were sent to their dormitories. The gaggle of new Slytherins followed Marcus Flint down to the dungeons, where they reached a wall that had a portrait of a serpent, which was slightly different from the one near Severus's office. Marcus Flint spoke the password, which was Serpensortian. Serpensortia was a spell that could conjure a snake out of thin air, but Marcus explained that they couldn't have a spell as their password.
They clambered into the Common room and were told to sit on the couches around the fireplace as the large group of first years looked around the room, eyes wide. Of course, Harry, Hermione, and Draco had already seen it, but they had to play their part effectively. Once everyone had been seated somewhere around the common room, Marcus spoke up.
"Now that we're all seated, I will go get Professor Snape so that we can begin our annual start of term discussion."
And with that, Marcus walked towards a door down a hallway at the edge of the common room: the door to Severus's quarters.