The rest of the table bursts into laughter as Fred and George continue their story of the little prank they pulled on their Mom during a formal dinner.

"…and finally when Mom stops screeching…"

"…and is able to stop the forks and knives from dancing the tango…"

"…the plates jump up to start performing the pirouette…"

"…while the glasses start the waltz…"

"…all the while the Minister of Magic thinks it's bloody brilliant…"

"…and Dad is trying his best not to laugh out loud…"

"…though Percy was completely livid and his face turned more red than our hair.."

"…I think even Mom would have start smiling a bit then…"

"…if the charm didn't suddenly wear off…"

"…just as everyone's soup bowl was twirling over our heads…"

"…it was bloody good charm work until then…"

"…Professor Flitwick would have been so proud…"

"… and even though we pointed out none of the other food was spilled in the dancing…"

"…after all, it's not like us to waste good food…"

" …the Minister of Magic being covered in butternut squash soup was enough…"

"…for the two of us to be grounded for the whole summer…"

"…as well receiving the yelling of a life time…"

"…and the task of polishing all our china without magic…"

"…our china and the china sets of every other Weasley in the county…"

"…and believe me, there are a lot of us…"

"…and lots and lots of plates and silver…"

"…but I swear, the other day, I heard Mum humming in the kitchen…"

"…the tune that we played on the record player when the china spectacle began…"

"…and then I saw her place a charm on the spoons to do waltz while she cleaned…"

Harry and Ron laugh out loud with the twins and other Gryffindors. Sitting beside him, Harry sees the corners of Hermione's mouth twitching as she tries hard to contain her amusement. He knows she would be laughing out loud too if she wasn't so concerned that surely some Ministry rules were broken when soup was poured over Minister of Magic's head.

Suddenly a hush falls over the tables as the doors of the Great Hall opens. The seated students lean forward and back to try and catch a glimpse of the small heads that trail after the imposing march of Professor McGonogall.

Harry sees his sister in the crowd of first years. When their eyes meet, he gives her a quick thumbs up. The eagerness that was in her eyes while on the train still shone brightly, but now there was also a tint of nervousness. Following family tradition, Harry did not reveal to his sister what exactly the sorting entitled. He remembers the summer before he started school, his Dad and Mum's friends told tall tales of the impossible tasks that he must perform upon his arrival at Hogwarts. His 11-year-old self laughed bravely in front of the adults when he heard those tales, so the adults never knew that their small jokes were causing nightmares for the young boy. One of Sirius' tale, the one involving a troll and the Giant Squid taking turns to fling first years into four different directions to sort them, gave young Harry nightmares for a week.

Slowly McGonogall draws out her list of the first-years to call out their names for sorting. After the first student is successfully sorted, he can see the rest breathing a big sigh of relief as they realize all they have to do is put a hat on their heads. The nervousness removed from her eyes, Julianne is now anxiously shifting back and forth on her feet wanting to try the hat on.

Gryffindor.

Hufflepuff.

Slytherin.

Ravenclaw.

So the Hat shouts as the first few students are sorted into one of the Hogwart's four school houses. Then Harry finally hears her name being called.

"Julianne Potter"

A few heads from the other tables take notice of the Potter name, particularly members of other house Quidditch teams. They know Harry Potter best as the Gryffindor seeker. When he was invited to join the Gryffindor team in his first year, he became the youngest player at Hogwarts in over a century. Since then, and quite unfortunate for them, Harry has been unbeatable. He has caught the snitch in every game to help his team win, twice so quickly that neither side had even scored a single point. Needless to say, Gryffindor has won the Quidditch Cup for the past three years in a row. Now hearing another Potter name, some of them shudder to think they may have another Potter player to contend with on the pitch this year. They cross their fingers underneath the table and hope she does not have the Quidditch gene, or if she does, at least let her join their house.

Harry takes no notice of the alarm in his Quidditch opponents' eyes. Despite his earlier confidence that she will join his house, as he watches his younger sister bounce up the three steps to sit on the stool, he also feels compelled to cross his fingers underneath the table.

Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor.

"Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat shouts to the rest of the school.

The Gryffindor table erupts into cheers as Julianne Potter, now grinning from ear to ear, rushes down to join the rest of the new Gryffindor first years at the end of the table. She takes a quick peek at her older brother and waves to him. Harry grins back. As much as he wants to do it himself, he will let her write to their parents tonight to give them the good news that once again, another Potter has become a Gryffindor.

The sorting draws to a close, and the Headmaster raises his goblet to welcome back the students before proceeding with school announcements. While the Headmaster introduces two new teachers, Harry's attention is distracted by the twin's demonstration on the musicality of silverware, but he manages to catch the annual warnings against breaking certain important school rules: do not enter the Forbidden Forest, do not get caught out of bed after lights out, and do not feed dairy products to the Giant Squid. With official business taken care of, the feast begins.

As the students dive into the platters of food that have appeared, Harry finally takes a chance to look around the Great Hall. Since he arrived, he has been so busy catching up with his friends and being anxious about his sister's sorting that he did not really spend any time to look around at everyone else.

He saw familiar faces at the other tables and threw a quick wave at some friends from other houses. He sadly notices that there are at least three faces missing from the other tables. Two students who were caught in the Diagon Alley attack in the beginning of the summer, and a third student was caught in an attack abroad.

He glances up at the staff table. The two newly introduced professor sat on the far side of the table. Harry wasn't paying well enough attention earlier to catch their names, but he is quite sure the Headmaster indicated that the one sitting on the far left is the new History of Magic Professor. Then it must be the other new face is the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. That is a good position to apparently move on to big and better things. His first year DADA teacher went on to become a senior advisor for the Aurors Office at the Ministry. His second year DADA teacher has gone on to write a series of successful books about self-defense. Last year, his DADA teacher went on to get married and requested a year long break to go on an extended honeymoon. With its reputation as a lucky position, the process to fill the vacant DADA job is competitive each year. Harry wonders if this new teacher is also perhaps hoping to move on beyond Hogwarts soon. Whatever his future plans may be, Harry thinks the new Professor should strongly consider getting a good wash through his black hair, which was looking rather greasy.

As he continues to scan through the teacher's table, consciously dreading the pile of homework he knows they will be assigning soon, he suddenly realizes that Headmaster is looking directly at him.

From a young age, Harry has been told by his parents and all the adults he know that the Headmaster at Hogwarts is the greatest wizard alive, and everyone knows the Headmaster is the only wizard that Voldemort fears. The Headmaster is the reason why children are able to come Hogwarts and feel safe. So even though the Headmaster was more likely to share a lemon drop than a glimpse of his immense power in front of the students, Harry knew enough to respect him greatly. Harry also knew enough to be slightly intimidated in his presence at times, even if he is Gryffindor.

This isn't only because he knows his Headmaster is a powerful wizard, but also because he has felt, since his first year, there were times when the Headmaster stares directly at him while he thinks Harry isn't aware. Harry isn't even sure how knows, but even with his back turned away from the teacher's table, sometimes he can just feel the Headmaster's eyes on him. However, when he turns around to look, he will also find the Headmaster apparently immersed in merry conversation with the other Professors.

So it was odd this time, as he looks into the eyes of his Headmaster, to see that the Headmaster is undeniably staring at him, and does not look away. Only after a few moments have passed does the Headmaster finally lean back into his chair to turn his attention to the food.

"Did you see that Ron?" Harry whispers.

"What mate?"

"The Headmaster was looking at me just now."

"Was he now? Is there some food on your face?"

Harry instinctively reaches his hands up to touch his face. No, there are no pieces of chicken or apparent crumbs there. Is there something in his teeth? He swishes his tongue over his whites quickly. No, doesn't seem so. He turns around to say something more to Ron, but Ron is newly engrossed in a piece of chicken that he has just grabbed off the platter. His fifth piece of chicken.

Perhaps it isn't so strange that the Headmaster was looking at him. After all, the Headmaster must look at something right? He couldn't be avoiding eye contact with all the students all the time.

With that peace of mind, Harry decides he should join Ron and grabs another piece of chicken from the platter.


Dumbledore looks at the raven headed boy as he talks and laughs with his classmates. His best friends, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Ms. Hermione Granger sit on either side of him as they join in the laughter.

Harry met his eyes earlier. Last year's Harry would have looked away quickly after a small smile if he saw the Headmaster looking at him. This year, Harry stared at him with curiosity. Perhaps he is not yet fully grown up, but he has grown. Dumbledore grasps at this little comfort as he tries to strengthen his resolve to do what he must.

As the feast draws to a close, and he bids the students well as they head off to bed. Dumbledore retreats to his office, and waits.

He does not have to wait long, for soon the visitor he was expecting uses the password he was given to enter Dumbledore's private realm.

"Headmaster…"

"It has been too long old friend."

"Indeed it has. But Headmaster, I am not here for pleasantries. You have kept me in the dark long enough. You beckoned for my help months ago, and it is with great risk that I am here now. I have worked for more than 15 years to get into his inner circle, remaining at a distance from…this…and yet, now of all times you called for me to appear."

"Was he suspicious?"

"I am uncertain. I took great pains to create the circumstances so that it appears to him that it is his idea I apply for the position, but…"

"But?"

"Smarter men than me have been caught and killed by the Dark Lord."

"What is done is done. We must believe that Voldemort believes you are here on his orders. To act as his spy at Hogwarts."

"What exactly am I to do here."

"You will be here to recruit for him. Recruit him a new Death Eater."

"You suspect a teacher here may be tempted by the Dark?"

"No." Dumbledore closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before. When they reopen, they are filled with pain, but also strong determination. "You are here to recruit a student."

Severus Snape has seen and heard many things in his life time. Frightful and horrific things. But never in his wildest nightmares did he expect to hear such terrible words from the mouth of the great Albus Dumbledore.