August 1991

Harry was awoken that morning by two owls scraping at the window of his dorm. They must have been there for a while, because they almost seemed to be glaring at him when he saw them. Harry looked around his room, seeing Seamus, Dean and Justin still fast asleep. Harry sighed in annoyance, dragging himself out of bed to open the window for the owls. They fluttered in, landing on the inner windowsill. The first one stuck its claw out haughtily, and Harry hastily untied the only letter off it, and three off the second one. The owls flew back out the window once their delivery was complete. He picked up the letter addressed to him, letting out a whoop of joy when he saw the red wax seal with a lion, snake, badger and eagle surrounding a letter 'H' stamped over the envelope flap. Justin groaned at the interruption to his sleep.

"Wh-" he cleared his throat, "Why are you awake?" Justin asked groggily.

"School letters! I've got all of yours here," he picked up the stack of three letters. Justin sat up in interest, padding over to the windowsill to take his own letter. He opened his own and unfolded his letter. He gazed through it briefly and sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness. Got pretty worried yesterday night; wasn't sure if I could continue at Egladus," Justin folded his letter back up and peeked over Harry's shoulder to see his letter. "You got into Hogwarts!" Justin exclaimed, gaping at him, "What does it say?"

Harry looked at his letter again, reading it aloud, "Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment... Term begins on 1st September... Yours sincerely, Amycus Carrow, Deputy Headmaster."

"Wow..." Justin muttered, "Bet Hermione got in as well... you two were worrying about nothing." Harry shrugged, smiling at his friend. "Congrats, mate. You deserve it," Justin said, punching him gently in the shoulder. Justin turned around to find their two dorm-mates still sound asleep. A sly grin crept onto his face, and he turned back to Harry, whispering, "What do you say we wake them up with a bang?" Harry snickered.

By the time lunch had come around, Seamus and Dean had stopped glaring at the two of them. Harry thought they were probably plotting their revenge for the stunt he pulled with Justin this morning. He would have to watch out for Gobstones placed under his comforter tonight. He did not want to get his sheets covered in Gobstone goop. He quickly finished his meal, excited to meet Mrs. Hogan in ten minutes for updates.

The few of them left the dining hall together, meeting up with Hermione and a few other girls along the way to their classroom. Lessons were officially over for them until they started the next year, but their Head Teacher had to see them to prepare them for the next step in their education. They settled down when she strode in, getting straight to business. "Good afternoon, everyone! This shouldn't take long; I will simply have to arrange a few trips for some of you to obtain your school supplies- Ah, before that," she pulled out the register which now included the schools they were posted to. "Has everyone received an owl from your new school?" There were dutiful nods, and no one raised their hand.

"Wonderful! I'm glad to know that I will continue seeing many of you around next year..." she hummed softly, "Miss Granger and... Mr. Potter! I will be bringing the two of you to Diagon Alley next Monday to purchase your school supplies," she looked between the two of them, smiling at Hermione's eager nodding.

"Miss Moon... Mr. Rivers and Mr. Wilson," she called out, "We will be going to Agarane School directly for your supplies this Thursday."

"As for the rest of you, all your school supplies will be available in Egladus. You should have an appointment between tomorrow and the 24th to purchase your wand. A teacher will be around to guide you. Any questions?" The meeting ended soon after with the students released back to their own devices. Harry waited with bated breath for next Monday to arrive.

Within ten minutes of their arrival at Diagon Alley, they had already managed to deviate from the schedule as Hermione gravitated towards Flourish and Blotts and managed to evade Mrs. Hogan amidst the towering shelves of books every time she attempted to pull them out of the bookstore. Hermione was nearly devastated to discover the money they would be receiving was the bare minimum needed for their education at Hogwarts, and that, no, she could not buy the stack of books in her hands for 'light reading'. Harry, too, looked longingly at some of the non-prescribed texts on the shelves. Mrs. Hogan caved when Hermione agreed to put the books away, eyes glistening slightly with tears she stubbornly refused to shed.

"Alright, one book, Hermione. A present from me for your acceptance to Hogwarts. You too, Harry," Hermione looked surprised, and then she beamed, rushing around the shelves with such familiarity Harry would have thought she grew up in the shop. Harry wandered deeper into the store and pulled out one of the books he had set his sights on, when he found Mrs. Hogan again, Hermione had already returned with a copy of Hogwarts: A History gripped close to her chest.

"Oh! You're getting Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century! You'll have to let me read that one day, we can do a swap!" The shopkeeper chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"You're going to Hogwarts, Miss; the library there is nearly unparalleled in Britain. You'll find anything you could possibly want to read there and more," he explained, as he handed each of them the tall stack of mostly second-hand school books and Mrs. Hogan's present. The bag had a Weightless Charm upon it, allowing them to take it effortlessly. They thanked the kind man, and Mrs. Hogan guided them to do the rest of their shopping.

"Only your wands left, then. Ollivander's is just down the Alley."

Mr. Ollivander was one of the most intriguing people Harry had ever met. The wandmaker had seemingly materialised from the back of his shop, scaring the living daylights out of them both. He greeted Mrs. Hogan with a recitation of her wand specifications, and told Harry about his parents' wands, which left them both gaping. "But let's not dwell on the past; We're looking for new wands today! As usual, ladies first, Miss Granger." Hermione didn't even think to ask how he knew her name. Mrs. Hogan guided Harry out of the shop to wait his turn.

Less than ten minutes later, Hermione stepped out of the shop happily with her 10¾ inches vine wood wand with a dragon heartstring core. Harry wasn't sure why, but he was suddenly quite nervous as he stepped into the shop.

Harry seemed to be taking an inordinately long amount of time to find the right wand, and he was beginning to grow even more anxious. It didn't help that Mrs. Hogan had stepped in after the first fifteen minutes lapsed to ask if everything was alright. Ollivander seemed to grow livelier and livelier as each minute passed, assuring Mrs. Hogan with a, "Oh yes, it is going quite wonderfully, Faustine!" Harry looked at her helplessly, cognizant of the growing stack of boxes on the counter. She gave him an encouraging smile, but left the shop once more. Harry turned back to accept the next wand held out by Ollivander. It was snatched away again as the man muttered to himself, "No, no, that won't do at all!"

"Try this one, Mr. Potter. Nine inches ebony with a phoenix feather core. Springy." Harry grasped it wearily, but his interest was peaked when he felt the slightest tingling of warmth that bloomed where his hand rested against the smooth dark wood and slowly right down to his chest. Harry looked at Ollivander in surprise. That was underwhelming, he thought rather miserably. But the wandmaker took it away from him gently, his expression one of contemplation. "I wonder…" he trailed off, rushing back to the shelves upon shelves of wands. This time, he disappeared for much longer than his previous expeditions into the back of his shop, leaving Harry to count the number of tried wands deposited unceremoniously on the counter.

Harry had just reached 24 wands when Mr. Ollivander reemerged with the dustiest box of all. He opened it slowly. "Here we are, Mr. Potter; Holly with a phoenix feather core, 11 inches precisely. Nice and supple." The moment Harry touched the wand, he felt a great sense of rightness and happy red and green sparks flew out of the wand to dance in the still air of the shop..

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful!" Ollivander exclaimed. His excitement faded quite suddenly, and he muttered, "Curious… Very curious…"

Thrown off by the sudden shift in mood, Harry asked cautiously, "Sorry, but what's curious?" Ollivander started, as if he had completely forgotten that Harry was still in the shop.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. I remember your parents' wands, your teacher's wand and even the Dark Lord's. It is curious, young Mr. Potter, that the phoenix that gave your wand its feather, gave just one other… You must remember, Mr. Potter, that the wand chooses the wizard. Yes… 13½ inches, yew, a phoenix feather core. The brother to your wand," Harry blinked, wands can have brothers?

"When I discovered what became of its owner, I expected your wand to never choose a witch or wizard." Mr. Ollivander stared at him, but Harry didn't think he saw him at all. "Brother wands are most peculiar— once one of them has chosen its yielder, its brother will only choose one with a similar magical signature. It is why many brother wands end up in families." He explained softly.

"The owner of the brother wand had one of the most wondrous magical signatures I've ever encountered… I didn't think I would ever find a customer like that again," Ollivander's eyes finally seemed to see Harry again, "Yet here you are, holding this wand..."

"...And who... was the owner?" Harry asked carefully.

The wandmaker looked so incredibly serious Harry almost thought he might be afraid. "We do not speak his name, Mr. Potter," he whispered. Harry swallowed, thinking he should probably know who Mr. Ollivander was talking about, and he blinked in bemusement. They stared at each other, until the old man bowed abruptly, letting him know that the cost of the wand would be charged to his school. Harry tucked the wand back into its box and left the shop, his mind whirling in disbelief. Thankfully Hermione and Mrs. Hogan seemed to pass it off as fatigue after a day of shopping and a difficult time purchasing a wand. Harry didn't tell them what Mr. Ollivander had told him.

September 1991

Harry had awoken so early on the first day of September, he was fighting back yawns as he and Hermione found an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express, putting their satchels on the seats to claim them. Their trunks have already been hauled into the train's storage compartments. When they sat down, Hermione immediately began talking about Hogwarts.

"So, I've finished reading my copy of Hogwarts: A History-"

Harry gaped, "Hermione, that's thicker than half our school-books!" She shrugged dismissively.

"That's not important. Have you thought about what house you'll be in yet?" Harry opened his mouth to answer but Hermione continued, "Did you know that the house that produced the most Death Eaters and Ministry officials is Slytherin? It sounds like the best house by far. The Dark Lord himself was a Slytherin. But I suppose Ravenclaw or Gryffindor doesn't sound too bad either…"

"How do they sort us?" Harry asked, curious.

"That's the thing! I've read the entire book," she griped, picking up the back cover of the book and letting the pages cascade down, "And there isn't any mention of how we're sorted!"

"Oh… Tyler said it was a tradition to keep it a secret. I guess even the author thinks so," Harry commented, thinking back to the times he begged the Death Eater Initiate to tell him stories about his time in Hogwarts. Hermione sighed and shrugged slightly, putting Hogwarts: A History away in favour of one of the prescribed textbooks. Harry followed her lead, but he chose to pull out the book Mrs. Hogan bought him instead. Flipping to a random page, he began to read.

The Great Wizarding War: Battle of Hogwarts

The Battle of Hogwarts (sometimes referred to as The Final Battle) marked a turning point of the Order's role from a formidable faction of the War to an insurgency against the Dark Lord's newly established administration. This conflict tipped the balance of power decisively into the Dark Lord's favour with the decimation of the Order of the Phoenix and the death of their leader, Albus Dumbledore.

By early May of 1981, Wizarding Britain had grown war-weary. The percentage of wizarding families and individuals choosing to remain neutral in the long conflict had reduced to just 16% of the total magical population, and as the War drew to its conclusion, the Dark Lord's faction held the majority support of magical families in Britain, gaining access to their considerable influence and resources. On the dawn of 24 August 1981, the Order of the Phoenix made a final stand against the Dark Lord's forces at Hogwarts School. It would prove to be their most fatal mistake.

Through an immense counterintelligence operation that began in June 1981, the Order had been led to believe that the day would see little action bar Death Eater scouts. According to Order intelligence relayed by spies, the belief held was that the true battle was still at least two weeks out. The defence parameters set up around the Castle consisted mainly of detection wards and the latent Anti-Apparition and defensive wards had not seen a concerted effort in strengthening. The Order had been vastly unprepared and underpowered to face a concentrated attack by the best of the Dark Lord's forces. When the first groups of Death Eaters had apparated to a weak spot in the wards by the Forbidden Forest, it had taken the Order nearly 10 minutes to respond. They arrived to find themselves facing nearly two hundred Death Eaters led by the Dark Lord. It was clear from the very beginning that the Death Eaters outnumbered the Order 12 to 1, and those odds only grew in the Dark Lord's favour.

The ensuing battle took place mostly on the vast grounds of Hogwarts, though as the battle progressed, the Death Eaters managed to push back the Order, cornering them in the Great Hall. It was rare for Dumbledore to make an appearance in battle himself, but as his headquarters were stormed, Dumbledore, then 99 years of age, engaged the Dark Lord in their legendary final duel. The recounts by various distinguished Death Eaters spoke of the raw power and speed in which spells were exchanged, silent bar for the spells flying through the air, and ending with the disarmament of Dumbledore. An exchange between the leaders of opposing factions took place, almost cordial in nature; upon the utterance of his final words, Dumbledore had unexpectedly received a nod of acknowledgement from the Dark Lord, the mark of a dueller's regard for their fallen opponent. The Killing Curse was casted, giving the leader of the Order of the Phoenix a merciful death.

The Order, still reeling from the shocking loss of their leader, grew disorganised from the blow to morale. The Death Eaters had quickly been able to apprehend less experienced Order members, while infamous long-time members fled the scene. By midday, the Dark Lord had taken Hogwarts as a stronghold, and without the rallying strength of Albus Dumbledore, the Order scattered into a loose collection of insurgent forces.

Harry looked up from his book when he heard banging on their compartment door. He looked at Hermione quizzically- Who could that be? When he opened the door, he found a slightly taller boy wearing red-trimmed robes with a loose red and gold tie. A mean smirk that spread on his face when he sized Harry and Hermione up.

"Get out, firsties. This compartment's for Gryffindors only." If he was expecting them to be cowed by his brazen behaviour, he was wrong.

"There's no such thing," Hermione rebuffed incredulously, "According to Hogwarts: A History, all the compartments on-"

"Oh, shut it you little know-it-all. Get out of this compartment or I'll-" his threat was interrupted by another boy's shouting from farther down the cabin.

"Cormac! Quit bullying people; I found an empty one!" 'Cormac' shot them a sneering look before slamming the door back in their faces and disappearing from behind the window affixed to the door.

"Well," Hermione huffed, more than a little miffed at the interruption. "He certainly was rude. I don't think I like Gryffindor so much anymore." Harry nodded, watching the compartment door. This time, they did the smart thing and locked the door. Sure, it could be easily unlocked with a spell, but it made them feel slightly better.

Soon, they both drifted off to sleep, the gentle rocking of the train and the soothing greenery rushing past them lulled them into a light slumber. They were awoken by an announcement blaring through the train, "We will be arriving at Hogsmeade Station in ten minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be brought directly to your dormitories. Thank you."

When they finally arrived, they disembarked the train easily and the first thing they heard was a man's voice calling out, "First Years, over here, please!" Harry and Hermione made their way over to where the voice was coming from, pushing through the throng of older students walking in the opposite direction. A few First Years were already there, nervousness written across their faces. One of them smiled in an uncertain manner at him and Hermione. As more and more students arrived, the man at the front did a quick headcount. Once satisfied, he gave the instruction to follow him, leading them to the edge of a big lake glittering with the reflection of the moon and stars of the Scottish countryside.

"No more than five to a boat, please. We don't want any accidents before you even start school." Hermione and Harry got into one boat, which they shared with a pair of twins and another boy. For the most part, the journey across the lake was uneventful, until they saw it, Hogwarts' grandeur amazed all the First Years, and they oohed and ahhed as more of the magnificent castle, illuminated by flickering candlelight, came into view. When they finally reached shore on the other side, they were led in through a towering entrance and into a magnificent hallway. It was there when the teacher that led them there spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School. I am Professor Amycus Carrow and I will be your Magical Arts Professor. In a moment, you will enter the Great Hall where you will be sorted into the four houses. They are Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Your triumphs will earn you house points, whilst any rule-breaking will result in a deduction of points, detention, suspension or expulsion. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the House Cup," he paused, ensuring that the message was received by the group of new students before him. "Your house will be your second family for the next seven years; I suggest that you be on friendly terms with your potential housemates. Please wait here and make yourselves presentable." He instructed, eyeing a few students around the hall. He then turned and strode off in the direction of the intricate double doors at the end of the corridor.

With his disappearance behind the door, a blond boy said casually to a thick boy next to him, "I cannot believe we have to attend school with mudbloods. I should get Father to ban all of the filth from Hogwarts," Though it was only really directed to his friend, the silence of the entrance hall had ensured that every First Year student heard the blonde's words loud and clear. There were murmurs of agreement, but also more than a few uncomfortable stares.

Professor Carrow returned, and the room fell silent once more. He frowned at them, pursing his lips as he surveyed some of the more unkempt students. "Follow me." He led them down where he came from and they were brought into the Great Hall. In the front right before the teacher's high table was a stool with a rather dirty hat sitting on it. Harry looked at Hermione, but his attention was drawn back to the hat as a seam appeared on its own and it began singing. When it finished its amusing yet informative rhyming song, the Hall broke into applause. Professor Carrow watched all this in disinterest, unrolling the scroll of parchment in his hands. "When I call your name, come forward and put the hat on," he glanced down at the list, calling out, "Abbott, Hannah!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" There was resounding applause from the table on the far left, and the Sorting went on like this, down the list in the Professor's hand.

After a while, he called, "Granger, Hermione!"

"RAVENCLAW!" It had taken quite a while, but when her house was announced, Harry clapped enthusiastically at the proclamation, and Hermione beamed at him, walking happily towards a house clad in blue-trimmed robes.

"Malfoy, Draco!" The blond boy from earlier sauntered forward confidently and before the hat even touched his head, it shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!" The table on the far right applauded loudly to welcome the boy. Harry watched the Sorting continue nervously, until-

"Potter, Harry!" He walked up hesitantly as his name was called out and sat on the stool, the hat slowly lowering onto his head. Immediately, he heard a voice and understood why so many of his yearmates before him jumped when the hat touched their heads.

"Well, what do we have here then, hmm? Very loyal, not a bad mind either; there's plenty of courage and you have a penchant for being impulsive in you. But you do not want Gryffindor, do you? You're thinking of the boy you met on the train… Hmm… You have a thirst for knowledge, but it stems from your deeper ambitions and a desire to prove yourself. Very interesting… Any preferences?"

Harry frowned. "Not really," he whispered to the Hat.

The Hat chuckled in his mind. "Never thought I'd see the day a Potter doesn't ask to be sorted into Gryffindor… Hmm… You have the potential to be great, you know, and the house that will help you on your way to greatness is... SLYTHERIN!" The last word was said aloud to applause from the green-clad table while the rest of the school gave polite claps. Harry slipped in beside a boy whom he recalled from the Sorting to be Theodore Nott, opposite one Pansy Parkinson, who gave him a disdainful look. When the rest of the First Years were sorted, the opening feast began and a smattering of conversations began around the table, none of which Harry had been included in.

The Headmaster, a tall man with a hook nose and a contemptuous expression, stood up after everyone had finished their meal and gave the briefest, most curt speech Harry had ever heard, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. You will be warned that the Dark Forest is out-of-bounds to all students. Any rule-breaking will result in severe consequences, which I do not believe any of you will enjoy. Prefects, please lead your First Years back to the dormitories."

"First years, follow me!" They were subsequently led down corridors, down moving staircases, more corridors, and passed many statues and portraits before they finally stopped at a blank wall. The temperature in the Dungeons was a lot lower than up in the Great Hall. "Alright, this is the entrance to the Slytherin common room. The password is currently 'Belladonna'," When the word was uttered, the once blank stretch of bricks began shifting until a doorway appeared. The group of them entered, trailing after the prefects. "Passwords will change every two weeks. The new one can be found on the announcement board," she paused to point at a board to the left of the roaring fireplace, "three days before the password changes. Keep yourselves updated, there may not be anyone to save you should you get trapped outside. Curfew for First and Second Years is at 10.30, which means you should be in your dorm room by then. If you're caught outside of your rooms- or Merlin forbid, outside the common room- past your curfew, there will be consequences." There was a pause to ensure the words sunk in. Harry felt his heart beating fast at the intimidating atmosphere around him.

"Now that that's out of the way, I believe some introductions are in order; I'm Gemma Farley and this" she gestured to the burly boy who was walking up to stand next to her from behind the First Years, "is Graham Montague. We are your Fifth Year prefects. Our Head of House is Professor Horace Slughorn. He will be stopping by later to speak to all of you." Graham Montague took over from her.

"Allow me to remind you that our house is of the greatest prestige," he began seriously. "As the Dark Lord's house, we will not tolerate any embarrassment to Slytherin. Remember that any problems you might have with your fellow Slytherins should stay within the confines of the common room. I hope that is the only time any of us will have to say this." Their eyes swept over the crowd of First Years before it landed past them. "Professor Slughorn?" greeted Gemma Farley with a respectful incline of her head. The First Years turned around to see their Head of House. Harry was surprised to find a balding man that was really not much taller than they were watching them with kind eyes. He had expected the Head of Slytherin to look more like the Headmaster, but decided it was probably a good thing Professor Slughorn seemed nothing like the dark man.

"Thank you, Miss Farley, Mr. Montague," he smiled genially at the two prefects. "As you have already been told, I'm Professor Slughorn, and I will be teaching you Potions for as long as you take the subject. Your prefects have given you a good introduction to Slytherin; you are, indeed, in a very special house with some of the most illustrious alumni, and I believe each of you have the potential to become something great in your own right. I wish you all the best of luck in your time here at Hogwarts," he directed a kind look at the gathered First Years. "Your trunks and other possessions have already been placed inside your dormitories. I suggest you all get some rest, you will be receiving your timetables from me at breakfast tomorrow, and classes will start thereafter. Have a good night, and welcome to Slytherin."