Chapter 3

"RAVENCLAW!" Announced the Sorting Hat. A silence ensued before Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff started clapping, further followed by the other two houses. Raising the Sorting Hat off his head and setting it down on the seat, he could see Ron and surprisingly most of Gryffindor disappointed meanwhile the other 3 houses were shocked.

'I suppose you were expected to enter Gryffindor, Harry.'

He walked over confidently, masking his joy into being sorted into the house of the wise, to the Ravenclaw table.

Sitting down by another first year, he turned to face the head table and saw the headmaster raising his Goblet at him. He nodded back with a large smile on his face. Harry inspected the rest of the table, spotting the same man he saw at the Leaky Cauldron.'I didn't know he was a professor.' He thought. Deciding not to linger on the thought he moved on. Meeting the eyes of a greasy haired professor, his scar flared in pain under the scrutinising gaze. Harry promptly turned back to his table. Tom watched the interaction with suspicion. Keeping his thoughts private he wondered 'Seems like he has no restrictions on using Occlumency on students. Soon I will have to show Harry how to fortify his mind. Perhaps second year.'

"Who is that professor?" Harry asked the first year sat next to him. The kid followed his gaze. "That's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions though I've heard from my elder brother that he is after the position of Defence Against The Dark Arts. The professor for that lesson is currently Professor Quirrell."

'So now we have identified two teachers.' Muttered Tom.

"Thank you." Remembering his manners he decided to introduce himself. "Oh, I'm Harry Potter. And you are?" He offered his hand similar to his interaction with Draco Malfoy. The boy took his hand and shook it. "Julian Haver, its an honour to meet you Harry! There's many stories about you, hell i'd be surprised if anyone over the age of 7 didn't know your name." Harry eyed Julian more closely. He had tanned skin, cognac coloured eyes which seemed alight in joy and chestnut brown unruly hair which reached his ears and down to his neck at the back. Julian seemed slightly taller than Harry, beating his own height of 144cm by only a rough 3cm.

The dinging of a cup stopped all chatter as they all faced the Head Table.

"I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch" They all looked at a ragged man whose cat prowled at his feet. "has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you. Now, let the feast begin!"

Food magically appeared on plates. The hall erupted into awe and chatter. "Woah! How did they even prepare so much food?" spoke one of the first years further from Harry. Looking at the food, Tom felt satisfied that Harry wouldn't need to steal food like he used to at the Durselys to remain well fed.

Harry placed a chicken breast, some salad and a piece of red velvet cake onto his plate.

"Where are you from Julian?"

Julian swallowed his forkful and wiped his face with a napkin before answering. "I'm from Norway, though I moved to Yorkshire 4 years ago."

Harry had never left Surrey and found himself curious as to what the rest of the world was like. "What was Normandy like?" His attention was no longer on the plate full of food. Julian set his fork down politely before continuing, a grin evident. "Well I remember the beautiful views quite vividly. My family used to take me and my brother hiking up the mountains and camp overnight." Harry could only imagine the views yet found himself longing to see it too. "It sounds incredible." Julian nodded in agreement.

They proceeded with their meal, Harry was particularly enjoying the cake.

Suddenly a ghost flew through the table. "Helena Ravenclaw." Harry spoke, watching her ghostly figure whirl around the air. Sharing the same fascination, Tom watched the rarely seen ghost wave to the students before disappearing through the wall. Her graceful flight was strangely soothing to watch. The meal proceeded, with Harry listening to more of Julian's time in Norway.

Finally they were marched up to the Ravenclaw Tower. Up the spiral staircases to the fifth floor where a wooden door stood with no keyhole or doorknob, only a bronze knocker in the shape of an Eagle. The prefect began to explain how the mechanism worked. "The Eagle will ask you a riddle. Get it right and you are allowed access. Guess incorrect then you have to wait for someone else to get it right ."

The knocker then spoke "What kind of room has no doors or windows?" Within 2 seconds the prefect answered. "A mushroom." The wooden doors slid open. "In you go." The prefect ushered them in.

The Ravenclaw common was a wide, circular room with arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks and a midnight blue carpet covered in stars, which was reflected onto the domed ceiling. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble.

"It looks stunning." Whispered Harry. Julien hummed in agreement.

'I do not recall the Slytherin common rooms ever having such articulated books.' Informed Tom. His fingers brushed against the covers, though he could not actually feel or touch them.

The prefect coughed, gathering their attention again. "I will now hand out the assigned dorm rooms. If there are any issues please seek me or Prefect Robert Hilliard."

Harry soon received his dorm number. 'I'm with Julian'he let out a breath of relief 'and Harlow Lecroft. I wonder who that is?'

"You will recieve your schedules tomorrow morning by our head of House. Be down at the Great Hall before 8:00. Now, curfew starts at 9pm until 6am. I don't want to see us losing any points so stay in the common room whether you are to sleep or not. You are dismissed."

Julian stayed behind to see the common room but Harry made his way to his dormitory. Upon entering the dormitory he saw four-poster beds covered in sky blue silk eiderdowns on platforms and the sound of the wind whistling around the windows. A wall was decorated with the Ravenclaw crest and the windows had blue curtains. There was also a desk and stacks of books.

The four-poster beds were covered in blue eiderdowns with navy blue curtains, a wooden nightstand next to it and his school trunk at the foot of the bed. The four poster beds had two shelves at the back of the bed, an owl perch on one side, a small carpet next to the bed and a wooden nightstand at the end of the bed on one side.

Smiling, Harry sat down on the floor and opened his trunk, satisfied with the day so far. A hand landed on his shoulder. Looking up, he met Tom's eyes. 'Now that you're finally in Hogwarts Harry I'm going to be pushing you to your limit. I'll start with basic spells and help you gain the fundamentals along with what you learn in class. Then we can start moving on to more advanced spells. I want you to gain independence so I will leave it to you to understand your classes unless you truly do require my help. You already have some sort of control from the wand less magic we have been practicing but you will need to get used to channeling and focusing it.'Harry nodded along. Being dependent on Tom was not something he wanted to be, though there was a comfort in knowing that if he ever did need his help he would always be there. What Harry still wondered was how Tom' s soul ever ended up in his mind, something which he planned to investigate. He had already pieced together that it must be linked to the night that gave him his title. But how was the unanswered question.

Harry grabbed his night clothes from the trunk and quickly changed seeing as there was no one else in the dormitory. It was currently 8:42pm. Deciding to stay up until 9, he picked up 'Magical Theory' by Adalbert Waffling and began to read. After Tom saw Harry adjusting his glasses constantly he drew up a mental plan. 'Once he learns basic transfiguration I will help him change the lenses and the shape. Once they're repaired we can start to look for magical cures for his eyesight. Glasses are a disadvantage in a duel.'

10 minutes later a boy with short honey coloured hair tied at the back and faint blue eyes entered the dormitory. His pale complexion enhanced his narrow jaw line. He too, seemed taller than Harry by that of a centimetre. "Hello, I'm Harry Potter. Who are you?"

The boy gave a faint smile in response. "Harlow Lecroft. Pleasure to meet you Potter." Harlow gave a slight incline of a bow. He blushed at the formality. "Please, call me Harry." Harlow nodded. "Then you may call me Harlow." A serene smile spread across Harlow's face. He then moved towards his own trunk and started getting ready to sleep.

They spend the rest of the following minutes in a pleasant silence until Julian entered. "Hey Harry!" Seeing that someone else was also in the dormitory he blushed in embarrassment. "Oops, sorry." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Harlow looked up at him. "It's okay." he replied serenely. Julian also got ready and, together, the three went to brush their teeth in the bathroom before going into their beds and tugging the curtains closed.

Lulled to sleep by the whispering of the wind, Harry found himself having a peaceful sleep.