Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter!
The Sorting Hat song and Dumbledore' speech is directly from the book.
Cannon divergence!
All Draco could hear as he walked into the great hall with all the other first years was his heart pounding in his chest. The only thing he could recall is the conversation that he had with his parents before he boarded the Hogwarts Express.
"Now remember," his father began "when you get sorted into Slytherin be on your best behavior. We Slytherins need to set the perfect example."
"What if I don't get sorted into Slytherin?" Draco whispered.
He looked down at the brick floor of King's Cross Station.
"Draco." His father grabbed is shoulders roughly "Look at me."Draco slowly raised his gray eyes to meet his father's steely ones.
"You are a Malfoy, and the Malfoy family has always been in Slytherin. Now do you want to be the first to break that tradition?" Draco shook his head, thinking of his Aunt Andromeda. "Good. Then you best be off, the train will be departing shortly"
As he turned to gather his trunk his mother pulled him to the side "Darling," She said brushing his platinum blond hair out of his face.
"Don't listen to your father" "But-" He interrupted, glancing over to his father who was now talking to one of his ministry coworkers. "No buts young man, the sorting hat will put you where you will be the greatest. The house that you get sorted into will not stop us from loving you or being you parents, understand?"
Draco nodded
"Good." She kissed his forehead, "Now you really must be going." She said gently pushing him towards the train.
Draco was broken out of his stupor as the crowd of Eleven year olds came to a stop at the end of the great hall. He could hear the kids around start to whisper nervously, in particular he could hear a bushy haired girl spout off random facts of Hogwarts to a round faced boy.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside." She said quietly. "I read about it in Hogwarts, a History."
Professor McGonagall placed a stool in front of the first years and settled a grimy hat atop it. The sorting hat, he thought in awe, this is it. The great hall was silent, then all the sudden the hat's brim broke open 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 Gryffindor 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!"
The entire hall burst into applause, and just as the clapping was dying down wolf whistles and demands for an encore could be heard from a pair of red headed boys sitting at the Gryffindor table. Weaslys, he thought shaking his head. Although His father warned him to stay away from people like the Weaslys, bloodtratiors and such, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly at their antics. McGonagall stepped up next to the sorting hat and cleared her throat.
"That will be enough, Thank you very much!" She said sending a stern glare to the boys, "Now when I call your name from the scroll please step up to the stool to be sorted."
She glanced at the scroll, "Abbot Hannah!"
The girl stumbled her way onto the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on her head. The hat stilled for a moment, as if thinking, then shouted "Hufflepuff!"
There was a polite applause until the girl sat down with the rest of the Hufflepuffs. He zoned out after the first few sortings, three Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw, one Slytherin, and one Gryffindor, butterflies turning in his stomach.
"Malfoy, Draco!"
He swaggered up to the stool letting a confident mask hide how badly his insides were churning. As soon as the hat was placed onto his head a small voice entered his mind.
"Hmmm, what do we have here?" The hat asked "Lots of potential, Ohhh and lots of smarts as well you'll do well in Ravenclaw." The hat purred. "But wait, what is this?" Draco stilled, his sorting was taking longer than any of the other students. "Ambition and cunningness, yes Slytherin would suit you as well. But! If you were to look further you can see tremendous bravery and the want to do right in the world. Better be…" Draco could barely breathe, the hat wanted to put him in- "GRYFFINDOR" The hat shouted. His heart stopped, shocked gasps could be heard throughout the great hall.
No one clapped as Draco shakily climbed off the stool and made his way to the Gryffindor table. Father is going to kill me, he thought solemnly. Then he remembered his mother's words from King's Cross The house that you get sorted into will not stop us from loving you or being you parents, He wondered if she would live up to this promise or was just saying that to make him feel better. Draco sat down and stared at the golden plate in front of him, how could this happen? He couldn't bring himself to look at the Slytherin table knowing what he would see if he looked over. Draco didn't want to see the faces of the friends that he had grew up with.
Out of nowhere the Gryffindor table wildly burst into applause, the boys that where whistling at the hat earlier started to shout "WE GOT HIM!"
Draco realized that while he was in his state of shock Harry Potter was sorted. Of course, he thought, the boy-who-lived would be sorted into Gryffindor. Draco felt ill. First, he gets sorted into the wrong house. Then the famous boy-who-lived, whom he did not make a good first impression with, gets sorted into the same house as him. His stay at Hogwarts was starting to sound like a bad dream.
When the sorting was finished, the headmaster stood up.
"Welcome!" He said with a grin on his face. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
The students, and professors, in the hall all began to hungrily dig into their food. Draco couldn't bring himself to touch the food. All he could do was stare at his golden plate, how he wished the sorting hat would reanimate and tell his that there was a mistake, that he should be at the Slytherin table with their green table cloth and silver plates. But no, he was sat at a table with the most scarlet table cloth the he had ever seen, with shiny gold plates that reflected the candle's light into his face. It seemed to mock him, 'you'll end up just like your aunt, banished from the Malfoys. I don't belong here, he thought miserably.
As the dinner came to an end Dumbledore stood up again.
"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. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore's sparkling eyes seemed to land on a pair of red headed twins. They tried to look innocent but their eyes smiled as if they were sharing a joke with headmaster.
"And finally," Dumbledore continued. "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."
There was a couple laughs among the students. A couple of seats ahead of Draco a pair of students started whispering. He leaned forward to catch their conversation.
"He's not serious, is he?"
It was Potter, Draco scoffed silently, of course Potter had already fit in. Of course. Draco settled down into his seat, he didn't want to hear the rest of their conversation, he just wanted to get this feast over with.
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Cried Dumbledore, catching his attention. He cheerily flicked his wand and ribbons spurted out forming words in the air. Draco settled further into his seat. Hogwarts was going to be hell.