A/N

Here's the next chapter of meta Saviour. Sorry, it took so long I had a really hard time writing this. (The parts that I did right.)

Italics mean quote directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone.

Don't own Harry Potter.

Beta'd by RegalGiant


Harry and Nymphadora were walking down the hall, "so Harry, any bets on how long it takes for those gingers to get reported to the DMLE?" Tonks asked as she sat down.

Harry shrugged, "I'd say give or take a few seconds. Not like this is the busiest place and time to be breaking the law. And not to mention Amelia will be here too as this is Susan's first year at Hogwarts as well."

She chuckled as the door opened revealing two familiar girls standing at the doorway. "Tonksie!" Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot squealed, dog-piling the female metamorph.

Harry and Nymphadora were familiar with most of their fellow first years. Not long after Harry had begun learning from his grandparents' portrait, Narcissa Malfoy had come along. She was a cold woman at first, but seemed to prove his grandmother wrong as she came once a week and taught him and Tonks wizarding traditions and history. It was strange that together, the three black sisters were seemingly some of the best parents. So they had attended all the balls and met all the new heirs and heiresses.

"Always the loud one Bones." A golden Blonde entered the room while tugging a brown-haired girl. It was Daphne Greengrass and her best friend Tracey Davis.

Harry grinned at his friends as they started to catch up. They spent the trip talking about Hogwarts and laughing at each other as they played exploding snap and did the infamous Bertie Botts challenge. As the sun was setting, Susan spoke up, "did you guys hear that the Weasley family was arrested today? Do any of you know why? My aunt refused to tell me."

Harry chuckled, "they were standing on the muggle side of the train station shouting about the platform and muggles."

Hannah looked stupefied, "they were blatantly breaking the statute?!"

Daphne shook her head and winced as she used a wrapper to remove a grass flavored bean from her mouth. "Rather stupid don't you think. I mean, the head of the DMLE would be here as Susan was starting Hogwarts this year as well. I knew the Weasleys didn't think things through but that… true blue Gryffindors to the core."

Harry sat down in a boat feeling extremely excited. "Everybody in? Right then, forward!"

The boats kicked forward automatically as they all stared wide-eyed at the sight of the castle they would be calling home for the next 9 months.

"Watch yer' head!" Hagrid called out as they entered a small cave.

Harry frowned as a toad leaped upon his lap. "A toad? Someone has a toad for a pet?"

Tonks threw her head back and laughed. "Says the owner of Hedwig?"

Harry frowned and shrugged. It was a good point. Looking around, he saw a pudgy boy looking around, "Oi! Is this your toad?"

The boy jumped in fright, "Trevor! Thank you. Gran woulda killed me if I lost him. I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Harry Potter. Think nothing of it mate, but be careful. He probably ran to find some water. Don't forget that toads are part aquatic so they need water sometimes."

Neville smiled and shook his hand, as the two of them followed after the group, Hagrid smiled back, proud of the fact that they got someone this year with an interest in animals.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and the first thought that crossed Harry's mind was that this was not someone he'd want to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here." She pulled the door wide and eyed every student that passed by her, almost shaking with excitement as noticed two children that were metamorphmagi. This excited her to no end as those who were blessed with that gift were naturals at transfiguration.

The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Tonks' home within it and still have space left over. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

As they followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor, Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall shoveled the first years into a small empty chamber off to the side of the hall. They crowded in, standing rather close together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "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 at Hogwarts, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your respective house dormitories, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will cause you to lose them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house you are sorted in. 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."
Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear.

Harry nervously wondered if he should shift to his natural form rather than the icy blue hair he kept, and his silvery eyes.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." turning around to leave the chamber.

Harry swallowed. "How exactly do they sort us into our houses?" he asked Tonks.

"No clue. Mum refused to tell me no matter how many times I asked, she said it's a tradition for us to not know going into the sorting."

He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except some bushy-haired brunette who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which ones she'd need. Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when auntie Bella took him to get a familiar. A rare thing among wizards, and one that usually didn't happen until one was fully grown up.

He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.

Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed.
"What the -?"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years.

They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget I say, we ought to give him a second chance."

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know it, and he's not even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind Tonks and Infront of Daphne, and proceeded to walk out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry thought that the great hall had a certain attraction to it, it had nothing on the Potter family observation room (his grandmother had been big into astronomy), but this was a nice place as well.

It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up there. They came to a halt in a line facing the other students with the teachers all behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts' shone misty silver.

Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. The bushy-haired girl was whispering to anyone who would listen, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts A History."

He and aunt Cissy had extensively studied runes since the Potter family Observatory was similar to this one. The only difference was that the Hogwarts one had real-time weather in it as well.

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she placed a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, but that would require conjuration. He and Tonks could barely conjure a toothpick, much less an animal.

He noticed that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat 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 folks 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!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still yet again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat?" Tonks whispered to Harry, "that was so not worth the suspense. Harry nodded in thought, that thing could use a fix, he idly began running through the transfiguration spells he could use.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Abbott, Hannah!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted again. Susan quickly scuttled off to the Hufflepuff table to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

Mandy Brocklehurst went to Ravenclaw as well,

Lavender Brown became the first new Gryffindor as the table on the far left exploded with cheers.

Millicent Bulstrode however became the first Slytherin.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry noticed that sometimes, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others, it took a little while to decide.

"Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy standing next to Harry in the group, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

The bushy headed girl almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

When Neville was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to the McGonagall. Everyone laughed at the boy.

"MacDougal, Morag."

"Draco Malfoy."

A blonde-haired boy swaggered forward when his name was called, The hat sat on his head for almost 5 whole minutes before the slit opened again.

"Gryffindor!" The boy fainted right there. Everybody laughed.

"Why is everyone laughing at him?" He whispered to Tonks.

"The Malfoys have been known for being proud of being all Slytherin. Though based on what aunt Cissy told us about her son, this isn't a surprise." She whispered back.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, at last.

"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 their necks to get a good look at him. After that 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?"

"I would like Hufflepuff please."

"Oh? Not many people want to go to Helga's house. You're definitely loyal, and you do work hard. May I ask why?"

"From everything Andi and Auntie Cissa said, Hufflepuff needs someone famous. Everyone thinks they're duffers."

The hat laughed, causing everyone to jump in surprise, "very true indeed Mister Potter. I like you, Better be...Hufflepuff!"

Silence reigned for a second and then the Hufflepuff table burst into cheers, each of them happy to see their house get someone so famous, hopefully, it would stop the rumors from spreading further about them.

The surprise didn't end there as when McGonagall reached for the hat, it started to glow, holes started stitching up, patches were also fading away. It now looked like a brand new hat from today, rather than an old hat on the verge of unraveling.

"Ah! Thank you, Mister Potter. It has been a long while since someone properly repaired me." The hat called out as Harry stood and took off the hat, nobody missed the slight glare that the hat sent to the headmaster for a second.

He handed the hat to McGonagall and sat next to Susan and Hannah, "hey guys."

Susan grinned, "everyone was saying you'd go straight to Gryffindor."

Harry shrugged, "could've. But I wanted to be with a few friends and judging from the glares that some of Slytherin have been giving me… Hufflepuff it was." Susan grinned. Harry turned to the teacher's table now that he could see the High Table properly.

At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, at the center of the High Table stood a large gold chair and in it 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.

Dean Thomas, a Black boy walked up to the stool and proceeded to go joined the Gryffindor table.

"Tonks, Nymphadora!" Tonks walked up to the stool, ignoring the sniggering some people were making at her first name.

"Hufflepuff!" Harry clapped along with the rest of his fellow Hufflepuffs as she sat across from him. He shared a grin with her and turned back to the sorting.

Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw.

And Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away, whoo was humming happily at feeling so good after so long of falling apart.

Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see all of them here. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we are too befuddled by our feast, I would like to say a few words. And they are, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!'

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he - a bit mad?" he asked Susan with a bit of uncertainty.

Susan shrugged, "auntie says that he should've retired years ago. He tends to try to act like everybody's grandfather, but since he is Dumbledore, everyone tends to buy it."

The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

Andromeda was an excellent cook, but she always made sure to limit what they ate so they didn't get fat. She had seen his cousin before the fire and had been disgusted with the incompetence of his aunt and uncle.

Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.
"That does look good," the Chubby Monk said sadly as he watched Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you -?"

I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to of course but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself yet. I am the Fat Friar, at your service. Resident ghost of Hufflepuff. So nice to see someone ask to be in Hufflepuff."

The Hufflepuff's all stopped eating and stared, "um… how'd you know that?" Harry asked nervously.

The fat Friar waved his hand, "oh, it's a gift of mine. One of the few I retained after death. I can always hear the conversations going on between the hat and the students. Your own, and the Malfoy boy were quite entertaining this year." He turned his head, "enjoy your meal children. I must go talk to Nicholas about doing that when you all eat."

Everyone turned and several people turned a little green as they saw the other ghost in the ruff pulling his head off, only staying attached to his body by a tiny sliver of skin.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, and rice pudding

As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families. He met an older boy named Cedric, he was pretty cool. He played the seeker position on the house team and was nearly the top scorer in his year.

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

He was staring at Harry curiously. He saw contempt in his eyes, but it seemed to be overshadowed by confusion. Like something happened that he hadn't expected. He resolved right there to not get on that teacher's bad side, he would go over his potions texts again just to be safe.

After a while, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.
"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. A few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Gryffindors. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death. And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick your favorite tune, and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.

Everyone finished the song at different times. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped the loudest. "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Harry stood and followed one of the Hufflepuff prefects. Talking to Tonks, Susan, and Hannah, "are we sure he should be a teacher? I admit to not being an expert, but wouldn't telling a school full of teenagers not to do something inspire them to do the opposite?"

Susan nodded, "yea. Look at the Gryffs." She pointed to the students who were entering the grand staircase, looking up at the third floor hungrily. "I'll have to remember to write all this down for auntie. Dumbledore is worse than she thought."

The Hufflepuff prefect froze, and everyone saw a bundle of walking sticks floating in midair ahead of them, and as the prefect took a step toward them, they started throwing themselves at him.
"Peeves," he whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves - show yourself"
A loud and rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.
"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"
There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air while clutching the walking sticks.
"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.
"Go away, Peeves or the Baron will hear about this. I mean it!" barked the prefect.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Justin's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.
"You want to watch out for Peeves," said the female perfect as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron is the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are.

They were standing in front of a wall of casks that were used to hold liquids. "Watch carefully, this is the pattern you use to get in." She twisted the valves in order and the casket rolled out of the way, revealing a hidden door.

A shorter woman smiled as she saw the newest students come in. "Welcome welcome! This is the Hufflepuff common room, here in Hufflepuff we do things a little differently. Unlike everywhere else, boys and girls aren't required to separate. Each of you will be assigned a partner and a mentor." Harry listened as everyone was paired off and went off to bed, "Harry and Nymphadora since you both are Metamorphmagi, I'll pair you together. Cedric will be your mentor. Through that door and have a nice night."

At the bottom of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the dungeons.

The three entered a smaller version of the common room, "we will share this room for a few years, Dora, you have the room on the right, Harry on the left, goodnight." He went through the door in the middle.

Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed. Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much because he was out long before his head hit his pillow. Not even Tonks sneaking into his room and crawling into his bed woke him up this time.