Chapter 9: Welcome to Hogwarts

In the dark dungeons of Hogwarts castle, the potions master was sitting in his office, examining the list of incoming students. Without doubt, he would receive another new class of imbeciles and dunderheads, hell bent on blowing up his classroom and killing every last occupant. He sighed, as his eyes roamed over the names. His nostrils widened, as his eyes were drawn toward one particular name.

Harry Potter

Without even knowing him, he already loathed the spawn of James Potter. Without a doubt, he would be even more pampered, even more big-headed than his father before him.

On the morning of September 1st, Harry awoke early, giddy with excitement at the prospect of finally seeing Hogwarts. Although he was in a good mood, he could not overlook his worry about leaving Tori home alone. Mulling over his mixed feelings, he rose from his bed and started to dress. He had chosen his attire for the day very diligently: It was the same outfit he had worn on the day of the Ministry hearing. Harry found it to be somewhat fitting, considering it was the first ever clothes he had had of his own. His movements stirred the snake that had curled up at the corner of the bed. It slithered down the bed post towards the floor, and coiled upwards around Harry's leg.

"Goooddd morning, Ssspeaker," Ouroboros said, with a flick of his tongue to finish off the greeting.

"Good morning, Ouroborosss," he reciprocated, stroking the snake's triangular head," I'm sssorry I can't take you with me, I would love to be able to have you with me there."

"I knowww, sspeaker," the snake answered, a sadness in his voice that was surprising, coming from a snake," I think, it isss time for you to go towardsss your huuuman meal."

Harry did exactly that, and soon the entire family was seated around the kitchen table, richly filled with a wide assortment of what seemed like breakfast for thrice as many people. Apparently, Nibbles was determined to make the children miss even the food at home.

When they finished with breakfast, Harry and Daphne went upstairs to retrieve their things and the whole group met in front of the floo.

"We'll floo to the Leaky Cauldron, from there we will take muggle cabs to King's Cross Station," Xander explained their itinerary as the fireplace took him away. This time Harry even managed to stay upright when he was spewed out into the pub, making Daphne and Tori just a little cross at decreasing the fun they had watching him at it.

Before soon, they had split up into two groups and managed to stow away the two large trunks into the boot of the cars, while the owl, to the utter consternation of the cab driver, accompanied Harry and Daphne to the passenger compartment.

"Harry, have you thought of a name for him?" she suddenly asked Harry, who was looking out of the window solemnly. This led to some pondering on his part, as he had indeed considered quite a number of names, but somehow, he always returned to the eagle owl's funny ears.

"I'll name him Auriculus," he answered, and added in explanation," I found it in a book on Latin; it means little ear. Actually, it would be auriculum, but as he is male it is Auriculus."

He watched Daphne ponder the name and sighed in relief at her amused smile.

"I approve," she said in mock generosity. "What a great name for an owl with such adorable little feather ears."

Staring out of the window, she silently continued," Harry, are you worried about Tori, too?"

Her sad, worried eyes turned to Harry, as if penetrating him to the core. Her expression showed him how much she would miss her home and her sister.

"It's just, she doesn't have many friends, at least outside of the usual Slytherin circles," further intensifying her gaze, although Harry had no idea that was still possible, she added," she doesn't have anyone like you. She needs that…" she trailed off, looking a little sheepish, ears turning red. Harry just nodded and reassured her it would be fine.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, as each of the children was kept by their own thoughts. When they reached King's Cross, the station was nearly empty, as it was a Sunday. The group unloaded the trunks, placed them on luggage-trolleys and made their way into the station. Inside, they could see a number of other families with huge trunks and pets. He wondered how the muggles were able to overlook the obviously strange goings-on in their train station.

Finally, they had reached the wall between platforms nine and ten.

"Children, it is very simple. You take your luggage, and you walk straight through the wall between the platforms. If you want, you can run a little, but better just walk, less conspicuous for the muggles," Eleanor explained.

With trepidation written on their faces, Harry and Daphne started walking towards the seemingly solid wall. As they got closer and closer and a collision started to really worry Harry, they suddenly found themselves on another platform. Smoke billowed around them they could hear a number of owls screeching, cats meowing or hissing, students chatting or calling out names, and even some silent sniffles of younger students giving a heartfelt goodbye to the parents they would not see until at least the winter break.

With so much to take in, the two friends almost forgot to move out of the way for Tori and the Greengrass parents. It was almost out of sheer luck that Tori didn't run into them. After a few more seconds, the group was joined by Xander and Eleanor and they started on their way towards some of the rear carts, which would be not as full.

"We're rather early, so if you want, we can stay outside for a while, while you look for a compartment. Is that acceptable to you?" Xander asked, indicating the already open doors of the long train. They both nodded and with a little help from Xander, lifted the trunks into the luggage rack of the first empty compartment they could find. Having reserved a place to sit and gotten rid of their burden, they re-joined the others waiting outside; it was time for goodbyes. This was a moment Harry had been waiting for and dreading all the same. He wanted to show the Greengrasses his appreciation for letting him stay, but what he had planned would take a lot of him. Therefore, he started with the easiest one who was Tori.

"I'll miss you, Tori," he simply stated, watching the younger girl slightly tear up at the prospect of letting him and Daphne go. He took a step towards her, and to her obvious confusion, took her into his arms. "We'll write, I promise," he whispered into her ear. As he let Tori go, he could see her wiping away a few tears, clandestinely of course, before she turned towards her sister.

Now it was time for the two harder farewells. Fearing his courage would leave him, he stepped forward and encircled first Xander and then Eleanor in a small, short hug. From their faces, he could see that even such a short one meant a lot to them, and he was glad to have brought up the courage for it.

"Thank you, for letting me stay with you and for the clothes," he said, his voice cracking.

"You're very welcome, Harry," Eleanor answered, a small smile accompanying her slightly wet eyes.

"You're welcome indeed. And thank you, for lending us your living rodent-repellent," Xander joked. His jovial tone, though, could not hide how moved he was by the unexpected farewell from Harry. And Harry knew it meant a lot to the man even if he still had dry eyes.

So, without another word, Harry boarded the train, sat in their compartment and waited for Daphne to finish saying goodbye to her parents. When she did finally join him, her eyes were watery and without a word, she walked over to him and cuddled into his side. They stayed like this for quite some time, watching the hustle and bustle on the platform. There were groups of older students, huddled together. They saw one boy with dreadlocks holding a carton with what seemed like a giant spider, another boy, probably a first-year as well, running around panicky, shouting for "Trevor" and a small family in fine robes, hair platinum blond. As Daphne indicated this family to Harry, she silently advised him," be careful around that one, name's Draco Malfoy. Dad said his father was a servant of you-know-who. No idea, why he was never punished, though."

This was something, Harry could simply not understand: From what he knew, Voldemort was about as bad a person as possible, and surely his servants were not much better. How one of them could go unpunished, just didn't make sense to him.

A few minutes later, they finally saw someone they knew. At almost eleven, meaning nearly late, a large group of redheads made their way onto the platform. In the front, proudly strutting was Percy, a shiny badge, which Daphne told Harry was a prefect's badge, already pinned to his jumper. Behind him followed the rest of the bulk, minus the twins, who had obviously gone off. The family was in the middle of an argument, as Harry could hear.

"But mum, I want to see him," he could hear Ginny's small voice break through the clamour outside.

"He is not a zoo animal, Ginny. I am sure this was a trying morning for him, he doesn't need you ogling him now," Molly Weasley told her daughter, her annoyed tone making it obvious how often she had already had the same discussion over the course of the morning.

"Why do you want to see him anyway?" they now heard Ron's angry voice," he's probably hanging around with that damn snake again, anyway."

"Oh, shut up," he was interrupted by Ginny's angry voice, before the sound of the argument was again obscured by the chaos of voices and pets outside.

"Hello, are these seats taken?" they were suddenly interrupted in their observation of the outside, by another voice inside the train. The two of them immediately disentangled from each other, and turned their heads towards the compartment door. There stood a girl, probably a first year two. She had bushy brown hair, a small overbite and a slight air of bossiness around her.

Daphne was the first to wake from her stupor. She indicated the free seats across from Harry and her and said in an inviting tone, "no, they're all free, please take a seat."

Harry watched as the girl brought in her luggage and then tried to heave it onto the luggage rack. Seeing as she failed miserably, because the trunk was so much bigger than her, they jumped up to help. With their combined efforts, they managed to get the trunk situated on the rack nicely and sat down, the new girl across from them.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger. Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Daphne Greengrass, nice to meet you," Daphne introduced herself to the girl. As Hermione heard the surname, her eyes widened a little in recognition, and if Harry was not mistaken, her face paled slightly. Obviously, the Greengrass family had a reputation he was not aware of.

As she turned towards Harry, he braced himself for the introduction and the inevitably following questioning. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter," he told her, and while he did so, he could observe her eyes widening to a degree that outstripped her former expression by lengths.

"Really, you are? I've read all about you there is of course… Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Modern Magical History, Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century…" she trailed off, her face becoming a little red," I read a few extra books, just as background," she explained in a small voice, almost as if reading ahead was a crime.

"Oh, so you're muggleborn?" Daphne asked.

"Yes," Hermione answered, giving Daphne a slightly fearful look, as if expecting her to attack any moment. Harry would have to ask Daphne about her family's reputation soon.

"That must be so fascinating," his friend now exclaimed, prompting the look of fear on Hermione's face to be replaced by utter bewilderment," I mean, coming from the muggle world, never having seen magic before. It must be so incredible to be able to experience magic as something completely new!"

"Yes, it is," Hermione answered, obviously still a little confused," but, shouldn't you, I don't know, not like me?"

"I see you've read a lot," Daphne concluded with a sad voice," yes, many of my family would look down on you, but you won't have that problem with me, or my parents or my sister."

"Oh, thank you," Hermione responded her worries obviously abated.

They talked for a while, waiting for the train to finally set in motion and continued to talk even after they had left the station.

Harry watched the scenery fly by, first city and then rural areas, until the girls came to a topic that actually interested him.

"What house do you think you will get into?" Hermione asked the two of them inquisitively.

"Well, I think I'll be in Slytherin, just like the rest of the family. But who knows?" she answered, a slight frown prominent on her features.

"No idea, I think everything will be okay," Harry piped in. His only real fear was, not being chosen. He knew it was not rational, but he couldn't help but feel worried.

"Well, of course I don't know either, but you hear the best about Gryffindor," Hermione exclaimed, further deepening the frown on Daphne's face.

"Where did you hear that?" she asked in consternation. As Harry knew, she did not like Slytherin much, but also found the regard in which Gryffindor was held widely to be somewhat ridiculous. "The best house, is the one, where you actually fit in, not the one that is the most respected, or gives the greatest career-prospects. That is a rather Slytherin way to think actually, very cunning," she continued with a smirk. This seemed to have a profound effect on Hermione, as for a few seconds her face became blank, and Harry could see she was thinking about what had been said.

Their musings were cut short, when the door of the compartment slid open and in came Draco Malfoy, flanked by two large boys, who seemed suspiciously like bodyguards.

"Did I hear right?" he asked," All around the train, people say, Harry Potter is in this compartment?"

"Yes, I am," Harry answered, and looked at the three boys in the door. Draco was a pale boy, and between his huge, thickset friends he looked rather small.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle," he indicated the two mean-looking boys beside him," and I am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Daphne let out a small sigh at his pompous introduction. She had told him about this boy, and obviously, her expectations were not disappointed.

"Greengrass, how very nice to see you here," he said acidly, turning towards her, fixing her with an icy stare.

"Malfoy," she reciprocated in about the same tone.

Turning back towards Harry, Draco fixed an almost pleasant smile on his face.

"Potter, I see you have at least the foresight to associate with purebloods, but that family is not the best one. I can help you… crank it up a notch," he offered, stretching out his pale hand to Harry. He was disgusted by the self-important boy and his two goons, who had so casually spoken of the "foresight to associate with purebloods". He gave the offered hand a quick glance, before he fixed an icy stare at Malfoy.

"Thank you, Draco. I think I'll manage," he rejected the outstretched hand in a hardly controlled voice.

Draco Malfoy turned a little pink, and in an even colder voice than before he threatened," You better choose your friends a little better in the future, or you might just end the same way as your parents."

Harry had to work hard to keep himself from attacking the boy and his bodyguards. After a short staring contest, Malfoy huffed, turned his face upwards, spun around and his two goons followed him out of the compartment.

"Now that," Daphne warned," is one of the pure-blooded fanatics you have to look out for. The Malfoys are an old pureblood family, and let's just say they think of themselves as royalty, muggleborns are hardly more than animals to the likes of them."

Hermione nodded insecurely, trepidation written over her face. Harry understood why she was so upset, because he knew how hard it was to be hated for being different. The only irony was that Harry had been hated because he was from a wizarding family, trapped with muggles, and Hermione was now to be looked down upon by the old pureblood-supremacists, for being from a muggle family.

As the shock of Malfoy's visit abated, the trio started chatting again. Harry had been right, Hermione was a little bossy, definitely a know-it-all, but all in a charming fashion. The lengths she would go to help others were demonstrated, when the pudgy boy, who had cried for Trevor, showed up at the compartment door. His name was Neville Longbottom, and it turned out, that Trevor was his toad. He had lost him while bringing his luggage aboard the train and was now looking all over the train for his pet.

"Can we help you search?" Hermione asked him, surprising and delighting both her travel companions and the newcomer.

"Really, you would help?" the surprised boy questioned, completely surprised at being offered help.

"Sure," Daphne chimed in.

They went all over the train looking for the toad and had been completely unsuccessful. They reached a compartment with a familiar face. Ron Weasley was sitting there, together with two other boys.

As Harry opened the compartment door, Ron looked up at him, invitingly. Then, his eyes found his company and he frowned.

"What do you want, Snake?" he snarled, fixing Daphne with an angry glare.

"We're looking for a toad, Neville here lost his. Have you seen it?" she asked, disregarding his rudeness. Ron's eyes widened, as if in surprise about her being nice.

"Not here," he answered curtly and turned away.

After they had left, Daphne turned towards Hermione, looked at her in a meaningful way, and said," That right there was Gryffindor arrogance. His whole family is in Gryffindor and he will be, too."

The group continued to search the train for the toad, but they were unable to locate the amphibian. When they crossed paths with Malfoy and his two goons again, he turned around and hastily made his way back to his compartment. Apparently, he only liked numerical advantage if it was his numerical advantage.

Demoralized by their unsuccessful search for Trevor, Harry, Daphne and Hermione returned to their compartment and their previous conversation, in which they had been interrupted by Neville. This meant Daphne could resume her questioning of Hermione about what exactly her parents did, as she had never heard of dentists before.

Time was flying by, and sooner than expected, Hermione prompted them all to change into their robes. The girls changed first while Harry waited outside and vice versa for Harry.

Not much later, the Hogwarts Express entered a small train-station in a cosy little village. Just as they had been instructed, the students left their luggage in the racks and flooded out onto the platform. To Harry, this was all a little frightening, despite his nervous anticipation and eagerness at finally getting to start to learn magic. Therefore, he kept close to Daphne and their two new friends.

"First years! First years, over here!" he heard a booming voice call over the chatter and noise on the platform. Following the sound with his eyes he saw the largest, and possibly even biggest, man he had ever seen. Considering he had grown up under Vernon Dursley's house, that meant quite something. However, he was better proportioned than Uncle Vernon, Harry thought, as his massive girth somehow matched his incredible length; he stood at least eleven feet tall. The man might have seemed scary, but the face under all of that messy hair and beard looked friendly, the eyes warm.

"First years, first years over here, follow me! Did we forget anyone? Now, mind your step," he announced loudly to no one in particular. The first years followed the giant man along what seemed like a narrow path, all the while slipping and sliding slightly through a dark forest. Soon, they came to the shore of a deep, black lake and for the first time in his life, Harry saw Hogwarts.

The castle sat upon a high mountain on the other side of the lake, the high towers and proud walls a relief before the night's sky filled with stars. Many of the castles myriad windows were bathed in an inviting light that immediately told Harry he could find a home here.

"No more than four on a boat," their guide now instructed, pointing them towards a fleet of small boats the first years now boarded. Daphne had whisperingly informed him that the giant's name was named Hagrid. Harry and Daphne boarded one together with Hermione and Neville. Before any of them had the chance to really absorb the view of the magnificent castle, the boats had set off over the lake. They all had to pull their heads down, when the fleet reached the base of the mountain Hogwarts was built upon and entered a small underground port, where Neville, oddly enough, found his toad again. Leaving the boats behind, the awed group followed Hagrid to the gates. At Hagrid's knock, the gate was opened by none other than Professor McGonagall, the stern teacher who had helped rescue Harry from his relatives. They followed her through a vast entrance hall into a small room, where they were left to anxiously await the impending sorting.

As Harry watched Hermione nervously list up all the spells she already knew, he futilely tried to flatten his hair. The group's worrying about the things they had been told about the immense trials they were up for was rudely interrupted, when a number of pale, translucent people broke through the wall, startling most of them to no end.

Finally, it was time to be led into the hall. Single file, they followed the deputy headmistress into a great hall, where the rest of the student body had already assembled, gathered at four tables. Through his own nervousness, Harry could just make out Hermione telling Neville in front of her about the magic ceiling, that supposedly showed how the sky outside looked. To Harry, it was just plain breathtaking, the sparkling stars at the ceiling. And, of course, there were also the thousands of lit candles, floating in the room and casting a warm light on everything.

The group came to a halt in front of the teachers' table, facing the other students. Harry watched as Professor McGonagall placed a small, four-legged stool with an old, worn wizard's hat on it, in front of the first years. This cluelessness, however, turned to surprise when the hat started 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!

As the hat finished its verses, applause broke loose. Over the turmoil, Harry could just make out Ron Weasley cursing his brothers for something they had done to him concerning a troll. However, he could not deny his own relief at how simple the sorting was.

The sorting started and they were each called to the front to put on the hat, which would then shout out the supposedly right house. Harry watched his different peers get sorted but the first name that came up that interested him was Hermione's.

"Hermione Granger," the professor called out and the girl nearly ran over to the stool, enthusiastically placing the hat on her bushy brown hair. Hermione and the Hat looked as if they were leading a silent discussion.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat finally announced its verdict to the whole gathered student body and an entire table broke into applause.

The next name on the list, Harry was even more anxious about especially since she was fidgeting next to him.

"Daphne Greengrass," McGonagall proclaimed. In slow, even steps, Daphne made for the stool, sat on it delicately and elegantly placed the hat on her head. Again, it took several moments for the hat to make his announcement.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry watched as Daphne glumly made her way over to the Slytherin table, wishing there was a way he could help her in this. At that moment, it came to him: What if he were in the same house as her? It wouldn't be too bad, if at least they had each other. He watched as other students were sorted, including the Malfoy boy, who was declared a Slytherin before the hat had even truly settled down and Neville, who became a Gryffindor.

"Harry Potter," the professor called out. Immediately, an aura of whispers and stares filled the whole room, as every face turned toward the small, black-haired boy who made his way towards the hat. Harry was grateful when the oversized hat fell deep enough to obscure his field of vision to keep him away from the prying gazes. All of a sudden, he heard a voice in his head and knew he had been right about Hermione leading an unheard discussion.

"Hmm, now what do we have here?" the voice pondered. "I see courage within you, ambition, you want to prove yourself. And you are loyal to your friends, right? Very enquiring too… But where to put you?"

"Slytherin, please put me into Slytherin," he thought in what he tried to make a pleading voice.

"Please Slytherin? That is an odd request, not many would expressly wish for that. Why, though… Never mind, I see you want to be with your friend, what a very Hufflepuff thing to wish for," the hat chuckled, leaving Harry to wonder how the hat was able to do so.

"Well, as you do fit in there, I suppose there is no harm done. Be warned though, do not let Slytherin house change you into something you're not. Be cunning, but remember your humanity," the hat advised.

"SLYTHERIN!" he declared loudly.

The hall went silent, but the only thing Harry cared about was Daphne's gleaming face as he joined her at the Slytherin table. Gazing around the hall, he saw many shocked faces. At the staff table, Hagrid, McGonagall and the headmaster looked almost comically. A greasy-haired was watching him with a mixture of contempt and intrigue.

AN: Hello all,

As usual and quite deservedly so, very many thanks to my beta haphne24 for the great help with this story.

And thanks to all my readers for your interest in my writing. Please leave reviews for me to enjoy and use as constructive criticism. Don't be annoyed if I don't answer your reviews, as I'd rather write the story.

Enjoy your day,

alexandertheII