Chapter Two: A Sorting Surprise

James and Fred sat casually at the Griffindor table, hoping no-one looked too closely at them. If they had they would have noticed thin wires originating from James's pocket, and leading to the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Head tables. James was quite happy. He had gotten a letter from his parents before had even gotten to Hogwarts. The letter read as follows:

Dear James,

I know you made us promise not to write to you too much, but we just had a few things to tell you. Please send us a letter telling us about who got into which house. Keep an eye on Albus for us, no matter what house he is in. I know you feel strongly about the division and rivalry between the houses, but that is no excuse for ignoring your brother. And keep him away from Malfoy's kid, or there will be- Ron! Sorry about that. We're using a quick quotes quill to write the letter. Actually, I'm amazed he lasted that long before talking. That goes for you too, Harry. Anyway, send us a letter with the results from the sorting.

Love, Mom

Ps. Cause any sort of trouble and you are grounded young man!

His mother's letter almost made James feel guilty about what he was going to do. Almost.

There was a sudden hush in the chatter as a group of terrified looking first years was lead through the door by Professor Neville Longbottom. Following them was Professor Flitwick, who was carrying a stool and a moldy old hat. Professor Longbottom took the age-old place by the stool, and after a bit of fumbling, produced a scroll.

"Acton, Liam"

A confident looking boy strode to the stool, and put on the sorting hat. It had hardly taken a second before-

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Andrew, Martin"

"GRIFFINDOR!"

James and his table erupted into cheers as Martin happily made his way to his House table.

"Appleby, Lois"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Azirus, Maximus"

"Slytherin for sure," Fred muttered to James.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Bashney, Tyler"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Boot, Sissy"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Well at least now we have another one," James muttered to Fred as 'Corner, Sean' made his way to Griffindor.

"Chirrik, Hunter"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cull, Pippin"

"It's Pepper!"

"Fine, Cull, Pepper"

"GRIFFINDOR!"

"Dash, Marshel"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Davis, Gunner"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Detano, Helen"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Dvinsky, Joshua"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Epes, Sylvia"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"What!" Fred exclaimed, "She's a muggle-born."

"Farraday, Claire"

"GRIFFINDOR!"

"Flit, Micheal"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Fore, Isabel"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Gliston, Brooklyn"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Fred snorted as a troll-like girl (Goyle, Phoebe) and a proud looking boy (High, Jakob) made their way to Slytherin.

"Kellen, Kellen"

The entire hall snorted in spite of themselves as the pudgy boy sat in a relieved way in Hufflepuff.

"Lyme, Harris"

"GRIFFINDOR!"

"Maddok, Wyatt"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius"

"Oh, that's easy," James said, "He'll be in.."

"GRIFFINDOR!"

The hall was totally silent, except for a few first years who didn't know better. Malfoy, still indifferent, walked from the sorting hat and sat down at the table.

"Well, that's a shocker," Fred chortled, then, noticing his friends expression, became concerned, "James? Hey, James! You okay? You don't look so good."

"I.. I'm fine," James said distractedly. He had seen something in Malfoy's eyes as he left the stool. A gleam of something. What was it? Anger? Sorrow? Triumph?!

"Nott, Isabella"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Nott, Valentino"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Opal Lilian"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Potter, Albus"

"SLYTHERIN!"

James froze, his usually agile mind throwing him a blank. No way. There was no way a Potter of all people could be in Slytherin. Not his brother. He was vaguely aware of the entire Griffindor table standing up and protesting, and of Fred trying to calm him down. Fred's efforts were in vain however, because James stood up with a howl. By standing, he jerked the wires leading to the other tables, causing a chain reaction as the drinks foamed out of their cups and all the food on the tables exploded. After the mess had been cleaned and a shell-shocked Griffindor sat down, the sorting resumed, although Professor Longbottom looked shaken.

"R-Ridson, Patrick"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Shiv, Lonna"

"GRIFFINDOR!'

"Smith, Joe"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Truel, Gibson"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Vern, Kelly"

"GRIFFINDOR!"

"Weasly, Rose"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Zabini, Myra"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Zerwinski, Paton"

"GRIFFINDOR!"

"Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts."

James stared blankly at the new head of Hogwarts. He had met Jerome Matherson before, in fact he had often encountered the good-natured man when he had been learning the ropes from McGonagall. Matherson was good-natured, but would not put up with too much fooling around.

'My name is Jerome Matherson, and I am the new head of Hogwarts. Now, before we eat, I have a few announcements to make. First off, since I have been moved from Transfiguration teacher, we have an occupancy there. An occupancy that was most kindly filled by a certain Newton Lore."

James looked up at Lore as Matherson rattled off the rules and regulations to the first-years, who were the only ones who listened. Lore was an old man, even by wizard standards. His skin was yellowing and his eyes looked tired. In other words, he was the last person you would expect to see in the high energy enviroment of Hogwarts. James suspected Lore would not last long at his post.

James was so lost in his thoughts that Fred had to shake him before he snapped out of it, and realized that the hall was emptying. He had thought through dinner, to the point where Fred had to stop him from eating one of the toffee candies he was badly allergic to. He climbed up the stairs in a stupor, and once he got up to the dorms he flopped on the bed in deep sleep.