A/N: Heelloooo everyone! Here we go with the chapter we have been looking forward to! Harry's sorting! I won't ruin the surprise here, but if you ever checked the poll before it closed, you should know which house merged victorious.
I am still open to learn about your suggestions for spells to use. I now have a site for checking the already existing spells, but noting like a little home made stuff, right? So if you got an idea for a spell, please PM me or tell me in a review!
And even if you don't have a spell to give me, I still like reviews and there are some stuff in here you should have an opinion about so try to leave one to let me know what you think! I can't make the story better if you don't help me by telling me what you would like to add or change!
I have answered a few reviews at the bottom. And for those of you who haven't gotten yours answered there, thanks for leaving a review. They are what's keeping me going!
Now, I know you all are so excited to see what house Harry gets sorted into so without further ado, here comes chapter 6!
Disclaimer: I still haven't gotten ahold of the rights to Harry Potter franchise. I am hoping to get it as a christmas gift but my hopes aren't very high...
Chapter Six: First Day at School
Harry felt extremely nervous as he looked up at the large wooden doors that led into the Great hall of Hogwarts. They had arrived at the magical school just a few minutes ago, after exiting the train and being led by a very large man named Rubeus Hagrid down to the lake that was located on the school grounds. Apparently, it was a tradition that first year students entered Hogwarts by crossing the lake and through a cave that led up into the castle. Once they were inside the castle, they had been welcomed by the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall. After explaining some basic rules and other important things about the school and the houses, she had left them by the doors to wait to be summoned inside.
Which led them to the situation at hand. Harry didn't know why he felt so nervous, but perhaps it was simply the enourmous impact this event would have on the rest of his life. Depending on what house he was sorted into, he would probably go through his school years in different ways, getting different friends and it might perhaps even affect how much he studied and the amount he studied would affect what grades he got and the grades he got would affect what jobs he could get once he left and what he did once he left would...AAGH! It was just so damn much importance to these minutes that were soon to come! Why was he even thinking that far ahead? Why couldn't he just focus on getting past this monumental event?
To his right, Ron appeared to be doing a little better than him. He was leaning against the wall with a bored expression on his face, not even taking a look around. Neville was further down the group of students, looking as nervous as Harry felt. Hermione was standing a few steps to Harry's left, rabbling spells she knew and what good they might be for whatever they were supposed to do for their sorting. Malfoy was standing with his goons to the side, looking as calm as always, with a look of superiority on his face, obviously thinking he was better than all the other students, who appeared at least a little nervous.
Just as Harry took a deep breath to try and calm his beating heart, which somehow echoed through his head, Professor McGonagall stepped through the door and signaled for them to enter. Feeling like his chest had been turned outside in and inside out, Harry followed along with the rest of the first years. The great hall was just like Uncle Sev had described it. There were four large tables, one for each house, and then there was the staff's table by the end of the room, looking out over the hall. The ceiling reflected the sky outside and at the moment, it showed a very clear nightsky, filled with stars. He thought he heard Hermione comment on having read about the ceiling in Hogwarts, A History somewhere behind him, but didn't really care. His gaze was locked at the staff table, particularly on a black haired young man, sitting to the left of the headmaster. Uncle Sev, eh... Professor Snape was looking at Harry with a smile, giving him an encouring nod as their eyes locked. Feeling a little better about being the center of attention, Harry cast a glance at Professor Dumbledore who winked at him and nodded towards Professor McGonagall, as if to indicate that Harry should pay attention rather than look around. He looked away just as McGonagall placed the sorting hat on its little chair. After a few seconds, the sorting hat began singing in the new school year, but Harry didn't listen to it. He just revered in the feeling of finally being here. He had wanted to be here for so long and now he was finally here.
"When I call your name, you will come forth and put on the sorting hat to be sorted into your house." Professor McGonagall explained.
"Abbott, Hannah."
A small girl with blonde pigtails nervously strodded forwards. She sat down on the chair and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. For a moment, not a sound was made as the entire hall sat, all their attention on Hannah. Then, after several seconds, the hat somehow shouted:
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Hannah seemed to let go of a breath she had been holding as McGonagall removed the hat from her head and she headed over to join her new housemates by the Hufflepuff table, which had burst into applaudes upon the sorting hat's declaration. McGonagall kept on giving names, and the said student would go forth, sit down and be sorted by the hat. After a little while, a certain name caught Harry's attention.
"Granger, Hermione."
Up until then, he hadn't really thought about the fact that he didn't know Hermione's surname. Well, now he knew. Hermione however, took a little longer to get sorted than those who had been sorted before her. The fastest to be sorted had been "Crabbe, Vincent", one of Malfoy's goons, who had been placed in Slytherin almost the same moment the hat had touched his head. Finally, after almost an entire minute, the hat declared:
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The red and golden table erupted into applauds. So far, only Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan had been declared new Gryffindors. Beside him, Ron groaned as Hermione took off the hat, placed it respectfully back on the chair and walked over to sit next to Percy. The sorting continued, with the next name of Harry's interest to be called was:
"Longbottom, Neville."
If Hermione had taken a good amount of time to be sorted, it was nothing compared to Neville. Harry could almost see the poor boy tremble as the hat took its time to choose. However, after who knows how long, the hat finally settled on:
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry began feeling nervous the closer to "P" they came. Now, two of his friends from the train had been placed in Gryffindor and if Ron was as much a Weasley as he looked, then he too would be placed in Gryffindor. Harry also noted that Gryffindor was the house that had gained the fewest new students this year so far, by far. They only had 4 new students: Lavender, Seamus, Hermione and Neville. The Slytherins had gotten Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Millicent Bulstrode and a few others. Hufflepuff had so far gained Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Ernie MacMillian, Justin Finch-Fletchley and another bunch of students, as the most growing house this night. Ravenclaw had also had their share of students, amongst others Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst.
As Professor McGonagall reached "P" on the list, Harry was positive he was going to faint. He wasn't ready for this! He watched in horror as Pansy Parkinson got sorted into Slytherin and two twin sister, Parvati and Padma Patil, got sorted into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively. And then...
"Potter, Harry!"
As soon as she had said it, the entire hall burst out into mumbles and whispers. They were whispering about Harry Potter. That Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Harry felt like he was going to collapse from all the stares on him as he made his way to the chair and sat down. He felt Professor McGonagall place the hat on his head as he looked out over the hall, gulping with nervousity.
"Hmm, well this was hard. Really hard." Someone whispered in his ear. He was just about to turn around and look when he realized it was the hat who was talking to him. He idly wondered if the others in the hall would be able to hear it, but thought better of it as he remembered he hadn't been able to hear when the hat spoke to the others. Sighing with relief, he returned his focus to what the hat was saying.
"I see a great deal of potential, there's no doubt about that. Here, we got true courage... and intelligence that would make the most brilliant Ravenclaw pale in comparison. You are very loyal, oh yes very loyal indeed, to those you regard as friends. And you have a will to prove yourself. Soo, where should we place you, Mr Potter? Any house would fit you in their own way. I must say you certainly are a unique person. So where should we place you?"
"Uhm, might I make a suggestion?" Harry thought, hoping the hat could hear him. Apparently it could.
"Oh?"
Harry took a moment to decide how to put this. He didn't want to sound rude in any way. Even if it was a hat... well it could never hurt to be polite.
"Well, so far two of my friends have been placed in Gryffindor and my other friend is probably going to end up there too, because his family have been Gryffindors for generations. Do you think I would fit good in Gryffindor? My parents were in that house."
For a moment, the hat didn't say anything. Harry got the impression it was searching through his thoughts to try and confirm his claims. His suspicion was confirmed a few seconds later.
"Ah yes, another Weasley eh? Well, I must say I do agree with his predicament. And I see, of course. You're the son of Lily Evans and James Potter? I've seen few Gryffindors as true to their house as them. I am inclined to agree that you would do fine in that house. Very well then... GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat shouted the last word out loud, causing the hall to erupt into applaudes. Even the other tables were applauding. Harry felt relief course through him as he took off the hat and ran over towards teh Gryffindor table. The twins had rose from their seats and were chanting some kind of victory chant. Hermione was giving him a happy smile and even Percy had rose from his seat and was actually the first one to welcome him to the house once he got over to the table. Many of the Gryffindors were eager to shake his hand and for a moment Harry began to fear that he would have a reapeat of The Leaky Cauldron incident. Thankfully, Dumbledore rose from his seat and as soon as people noticed he was standing, the hall quieted down and the sorting continued. Harry caught Dumbledore's eyes and gave him a thankful smile, which got returned by the old man.
True to its word, the sorting hat barely touched Ron's head before it declared that he would be going to Gryffindor. Ron didn't waste any time and quickly went over to join Harry and his brothers. The sorting ceremony ended when Blaise Zabini got sorted into Slytherin. After the sorting ceremony, Dumbledore told the students that The Forbidden Forest was... well forbidden. He also said that the corridor on the third floor was forbidden to all who didn't want to die a very painful death.
When the feast began, Harry found himself in a discussion with Percy about the classes that they would have at the school. He had never regarded himself as particularly studios but he found himself deeply fascinated by the classes Percy described to him. Hermione, who sat opposite to him, was listening and seemed to suck in every word Percy said.
Later that night, Harry was sitting in his dormitory. Ron was snoring loudly in the bed to his left. His other dormmates, Seamus, Neville and a boy named Dean Thomas, were also asleep. But Harry couldn't sleep. He was still too excited. This day had been so wonderful. So much had happened he could hardly believe that onyl this morning he woke up in his bedroom at Private Drive Number 4. First he had been dropped off at King's Cross and realized he didn't know how to get onto Platform 9 3/4, only to be tackled to the ground by Ginny. He had met her family and made new friends at the train. Then he had finally arrived at Hogwarts and had been sorted into the same house as all his new friends.
Taking a deep breath, Harry got up from his bed and wrapped himself in his Hogwarts cloak. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep right now. Careful not to make a sound, he tripped over to the dormdoor and exited the dorm.
The common room was empty. Apperently, everyone wanted to be well rested for tomorrow's classes. Relishing in the mere fact that he was finally at Hogwarts, Harry sat down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. Thinking back, Harry remembered Ginny's face when they met again outside of the platform. She had seemed so happy. And to be honest, he had felt really happy too. He really wished she could have come with him to Hogwarts this year. Sure, he had made some decent friends since he got here already, but... well, Ginny was different. She was special somehow. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somehow she was different from the others.
Thinking of their time at the platform, from their meeting, to their stuggle with his trunk, to their parting. As he looked into the now almost extinguished fire, Ginny's crying face from when he walked away from her was plastered in front of his eyes. It pained him to think of the tears in her eyes. She cried because she was lonely. He knew that feeling, not having any friends your age around to play with. But unlike him, Ginny wasn't used to being alone. She had grown up with six brothers, always having someone around close to her age to play with. So now that all her brothers were at Hogwarts, he knew she felt left behind, no matter what she might say. She had been cheerful enough in her letters and on the platform until it was finally time to part ways.
He sighed. What wouldn't he give to be able to comfort her in some way, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He could just keep writing her and hope she really was alright.
"Harry? What are you doing up?"
Startled by the unexpected voice, Harry flew to his feet, looking around the room vividly. Finally, his gaze settled on the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories, where a round faced boy in light blue pyjamas was standing, looking around nervously.
"Neville, what are you doing up? I thought you were asleep?" he asked as his dormmate entered the common room, looking around as if searching for something.
Neville scanned the room with a nervous expression before diving to the floor. Harry twitched at the sudden movement and moved over to where the boy had thrown himself to the ground. When he went over to check if he was ok, he saw Neville was clutching his toad Trevor tightly in his grip.
"Oh, so that's what got you down here." Harry said, more to himself than Neville as he rolled his eyes and helped his friend to his feet.
He watched as Neville breathed a sigh of relief and gave Trevor a stern look for trying to escape. The toad didn't seem to mind being glared at, but he didn't look away from Neville, as if he didn't want to upset him more.
"Why are you always so worried when Trevor tries to escape? I've known you for like 6 hours at its peak and he have already tried to escape three times. Why don't you just let him roam free?" he asked. He had been wondering why Neville was so attached to the toad, despite their obvious problematics.
Neville got up from the floor and sighed before turning to Harry. He looked hesistant about what he was about to say, but seemed to ultimately reveal it.
"Well the thing is, Trevor is the only friend I have since before Hogwarts. I... grew up with my grandma in a muggle town and since she was certain I was going to Hogwarts, she didn't see any reason for me to befriend any of the local kids. So Trevor was my only friend. Without him, I would have been all alone." he said as he looked down on his toad with fond eyes.
For a moment, Harry briefly wondered if perhaps Trevor was the reason Neville appeared to be so clumsy. Growing up with a toad as your best friend can't be really healthy for ones psyche. But then, it registered in his mind what he had said.
"Friend..." he said thoughtfully as the problem he had been pondering when Neville came down returned to him. A plan began forming in his head on how he could help Ginny feel like she wasn't all alone. "Neville! You're a genius! Thanks for the help!" he said a little higher than he had intended.
Neville looked up with a startled look at Harry's sudden outburst but his dormmate was already on his way back up the stairs. It took Neville almost 10 seconds to understand what had happened. He frowned as he couldn't really figure out what Harry had been talking about, much less what impact he had on Harry's reaction.
"What did I say?" he asked no one in particular.
"Crooaak!" Trevor answered.
-:-:-:-
The next morning, Harry awoke early. He had fallen asleep last night before Neville even got back up to the dorm. Somehow, the knowledge that he could help Ginny had enabled him to get some sleep. Feeling well rested, Harry got out of bed and noticed that he was the first one in his dorm to awake. He wondered if he should wake Ron up but decided against it. There was still a few hours before their classes would start so there was no reason to rush him.
So without making a sound, Harry grabbed the school bag he had prepared the night before and left the dormitory. Down in the common room, very few people seemed to have woke up yet. There were a few 5th years seated in front of the fireplace and two 3rd years had taken up seats by one of the tables, playing some kind of card game. Scanning the room, Harry spotted Percy sitting on a chair in his own little corner, reading a book. Perfect, just the person he needed to talk to. So without further ado, he went over to the prefect boy.
"Good morning Percy!" he said in a cheerful voice.
The Weasley boy looked up from his book with a startled look. Seeing Harry, his face shifted from irritation to a somewhat greeting smile.
"Morning Harry. You sure are eager to start your classes I see?"
Harry frowned for a second, then realized he probably looked pretty studios with his bag thrown over his shoulder. Well, he was eager to start but that wasn't why he had walked over to Percy...
"I sure am! But there is something else I would like to do before classes start. Think you can help me?" he asked, hoping Percy wouldn't ask too many questions.
Like during dinner the night before, Percy seemed to peak up at the thought of being of help to someone. According to what Ron and Ginny had told him, Percy was very responsible and took his duties as prefect very seriously. It would appear that included, or perhaps specifically meant, helping younger students.
"Of course, what is it you need help with?" he asked with a very serious look on his face.
Harry had to hold back a snicker at Percy's overly serious expression.
"Well, I was just wondering if it was possible to order something from a shop in Diagon Alley without actually visiting the shop?"
Percy nodded knowingly. Once again, Harry had to surpress the urge to snicker at Percy's antics. He definetely had to ask Ginny if Percy had always been this overly dramatic. He could of course ask Ron, but something told him Ginny would give him a better answer. Or at least a more detached one.
"Well, of course there is. You can order something by owl post. Do you know exactly what it is you want to order?"
Harry shook his head.
"Ok, then you can send an owl to the shop you want to get whatever you want to get from and ask for them to send you a catalogue of their current products."
Harry nodded and thanked Percy for his help. The prefect made a show of being modest, but Harry couldn't help but notice he gave him a curious look as he excited through the portait hole. Thinking about what he should write in his letter, Harry made his way down to the great hall. Or well, the way he thought led to the great hall. It didn't take him long to realize he was lost.
Thinking back to the day before, he remembered Percy had mentioned that the stairs tended to move and change place. And Hogwarts was big so it would be enough that he had walked down one wrongly placed stair to throw him completely off course. He had thought the great hall would be on the other side of this corner, but when he turned around the corner, he found himself standing in another corridor, which on top of that ended in a dead end.
"Harry? Is that you?"
Upon hearing his name being spoken, Harry spun around and found Cedric Diggory walking towards him. Frowning, he turned around and walked to meet him. He had been pretty sure there was no one behind him just a second ago.
"Hey Cedric! Eh, what are you doing here?"
Cedric smiled as he came up to stand in front of Harry, the difference in height between them becoming painfully visible. As Harry looked up at the older boy, Cedric gave him a sympathethic look.
"Well, I was just on my way to the Great hall. I sometimes take these little extra long walks on my way there to get some time alone. It is soothing to be able to just walk and think for a little while. By the look on your face, I would say you were trying to find your way to the Great hall but got lost?"
Harry felt his cheeks redden with embarrassment. Was he really that obvious?
"Well, don't worry about it. It took me 3 weeks before I could get to the great hall without a single wrong turn. And the stairs doesn't exactly help, do they?" Cedric smiled at him as he began leading Harry down the corridor that was a dead end.
When they reached the end of the corridor, Cedric reached out and pushed a brick that was sticking out slightly from the wall. When the brick had been pushed back in place, Harry gasped as Cedric's hand suddenly went straight through the brick. Seeing Harry's shocked expression, Cedric laughed.
"It's a short cut. Push the brick into place and the wall will let you slip through. It takes 10 minutes from the point the brick is put into place before it slips back out again."
And with that explanation, Cedric stepped through the wall. Harry eyes widened in surprise. It was just like on platform 9 3/4! Shaking his head to clear it, he took a deep breath and followed Cedric through. On the other side, he was greeted by the older Hufflepuff boy, who was waiting for him.
"See? It works like a kind of portal. Now we need just to take to the left over here and we are there."
As Harry followed his friend around the appointed corner, he found that he was right. They were standing in the entrance hall. The large double doors that led to the Great hall were open and through them, Harry could see a few early morning strayers eating their breakfast. Thanking Cedric for his help, Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and began loading a plate with some bacon and eggs.
Some time later, students began filling into the hall as more and more of the castle's population awoke from their slumbers. By this time, Harry had finished his breakfast and picked out a quill and a piece of parchment to write his letter to the Magical Menagerie. He had just put the finishing touch to it when Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville entered the hall.
"Hey mate! We were wondering where you went off to. Why were you up so early?" Ron asked as he loaded his plate with double of what Harry had taken.
"I woke up early and didn't see any reason to stay in bed. Besides, I thought it would be useful to get to know the castle a bit." Harry made certain to leave out that he had gotten lost on his way to the great hall.
Seamus, who had sat down around them, groaned at the mention of getting to know the castle.
"Well, that's the understatement of the year. We got lost after the first turn!" he said before scoping up a mouthful of scrambled eggs and shove them into his mouth.
This caused Ron to glare at his dormmate and Harry to chuckle. Neville didn't seem to mind and Dean just ignored their friends. For a little while, they simply sat in place and talked until Professor McGonagall came down to them and gave them their timetables. Checking his over, Harry noticed he still had an hour before his first class, Transfiguration, started and decided it was as good a time as any to send of an owl to Diagon Alley. But before he could rise from his seat and excuse himself, a tall shadow fell over him and his little group of fellow Gryffindors.
"Good morning Harry. I trust you are anxious to start your classes?"
Harry turned around to find that Uncle Sev... uhm, Professor Snape had left the staff table while he was checking his schedule and was now standing behind them. The other 4 boys immediately tensed, for various reasons, but Harry quickly stood up and greet his favorite uncle.
"Morning Professor! Yes, I am quite anxious to finally get things underway! I look forward to your first class. I think it is scheduled to be tomorrow afternoon." he said enthusiastically. Snape however, seemed to only register part of what he said.
"No need for formalities as long as we aren't in class, Harry." he said with a small smile tugging at his lips. He was pleased that at least Harry had learnt the manners in which you were supposed to talk to a Professor, but he didn't want to alienate himself from him.
Harry noticed that the other boys, except Ron who had gone back to eating, was looking at him strangely, no doubt wondering from where he knew Severus Snape. This was going to be fun.
"Ehm, ok then Uncle Sev. Actually, can you help me with something before I go off to class?" he asked, enjoying the stares of shock the surrounding students gave him when he reffered to the professor as "Uncle Sev".
Severus frowned, but gave Harry a nod to indicate that he was free to ask.
"I got a letter I would like to send, but I don't know where the owlery is. Think you got time to show me?"
Once again, Severus found himself frowning. Who could Harry possibly want to send an owl to this early in the morning? Well, there was of course the Weasley girl, but other than that, Severus couldn't think of any.
"Of course. If you are finished with your breakfast, we can go now if you want?" he answered.
Harry nodded and gave his friends a simple "Catch you later guys!" and followed Snape out of the great hall. While they were walking, Harry got Snape to tell him about all that they passed so he might have a better chance of finding his way back afterwards. After many twists and turns, Snape led Harry outside and pointed towards a tower that was only reachable from outside. When they made it to the owlery and Harry called down one of the school owls, Severus couldn't help but become a little curious.
"Why aren't you using Hedwig?" he asked as he looked up among the owls, trying to spot the owl he had given Harry as a birthday gift.
"She is at the burrow. I sent a letter to Ginny while I was on the train and she hasn't returned yet." Harry replied as he tied the letter around the owls leg and went over to the window.
Severus nodded and smiled as Harry gave the owl its instructions. He had noticed that Harry had become quite close to Ginny Weasley since they met in Diagon Alley. According to Arthur, the two of them had been corresponding ever since and from the looks of it, become good friends. He was actually pretty happy that Harry had finally found a real friend. Severus knew all too well what it was like not having any real friends...
"So if Hedwig is at the burrow, then where are you sending this owl? No reason to send Ginny another owl if she haven't answered your first one yet." he asked curiously as Harry tossed the bird outside and watched as it took off.
Harry turned back towards Snape and the two began walking towards the exit.
"Well, I know Ginny is lonely at home, no matter what she might try to tell me. So I thought perhaps if she got a friend she wouldn't be so lonely anymore."
Severus frowned. Of course she wouldn't be as lonely if she got a friend. That was the whole problem here, wasn't it? She didn't have any friends nearby! He was just about to point this out to Harry when he came to think about Hedwig...
"That owl you sent off... it was sent to the Magical Menagerie?" he asked.
When Harry nodded and then looked away shyly, Severus inwardly groaned. While it was a brilliant idea and would no doubt help Ginny feel less lonely, the Weasley pride might present a problem here. Since it was a living being, he wasn't sure if Ginny would be too petty when it came to accept it, but her mother on the other hand... that was a different story. He tried to point this out to Harry, but the boy just said that Mrs Weasley wanted Ginny's best and if Ginny really felt better with a pet at hand to play with, then her mother should not keep it from her. When they reached Professor McGonagall's classroom, Severus told Harry to remember to drop by his office when his school day was finished. Harry looked at him questioningly, but complied nonetheless.
When the class started, Harry became painfully aware that most eyes in the classroom was aimed at him, rather than their teacher and McGonagall confirming his whole name didn't make things better.
"Ronald Weasley?" McGonagall finished her check off.
But no answer came. Looking around, Harry noticed that Ron wasn't present. He cast a look at Seamus and Dean, who was sitting a few rows further back in the classroom, but they both shrugged, indicating they didn't know where he was. The answer would present itself about 20 minutes later when Ron came rushing into the classroom, shouting that he had gotten lost again. After McGonagall reprimanded him for being late and warned him that next time she would have to take points from Gryffindor, Ron sat down next to Harry.
"Blimey, this castle is big." he said.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Really? What tipped you off?" he asked sarcastically.
The lesson went on without any other interesting event taking place, except that Harry found out Hermione hadn't been joking when she said she had memorized their school books down to the tiniest little detail. She earned Gryffindor 20 points for being able to answer all the questions they were given. Harry too knew the answer to most of them, but did not feel like drawing attention to himself. His scar did a pretty good job at that without him opening his mouth.
Being introduced to new classes made the day pass quickly and when the first years gathered in the great hall for dinner, Harry felt himself pump with excitement from all that he had learnt just in one day. He of course had read most of his school books to pass the time at Private Drive, but being able to discuss issues with a teacher or classmate opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Still, he found Magical History pretty boring and had actually dozed off in that class (along with everyone who wasn't named Hermione Granger) and he was a little disappointed not to be allowed to try out any magic just yet.
"Percy says that we won't start using magic before our second week. So except for the flying lesson on wednesday, we don't have anything really exciting until next week." Ron told Harry, Seamus and Neville while they were eating their dinner. Dean had decided he wanted to drop off his school stuff in the Gryffindor tower before he went down to eat.
"Well Weasley, that might be exciting for someone who doesn't know how to fly a broom, but some of us isn't as dense as you." came a sneer from behind them.
All 4 boys spun around to find Draco Malfoy had walked over to the Gryffindor table, flanked by his two goons Crabbe and Goyle. Ron immediately turned red around the ears, a trait Harry by now recognized as a bad sign. Neville seemed to sink into his seat and Seamus growled at Malfoy, though he didn't turn as red as Ron's ears.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked while glaring at the blonde boy.
Malfoy gave Ron a look of superiority and turned to Harry with a smug look on his face.
"Oh, I forgot! Potter doesn't even know what a broomstick is cause he grew up like a mudblood!"
At the use of the term "mudblood" the entire Gryffindor table froze and turned to look at Malfoy. Harry heard people shout in uproar and could make out the words "How dare you?!", "Who do you think you are?!" and "Get lost you scum!". While he had no idea what the term meant, he would guess that it was a pretty foul term, considering the reaction it got from others. Beside him Ron was seething with anger and had to be held back by Seamus, though the other boy looked like he too didn't want anything more than jump a Malfoy at that moment.
"I don't know what you meant by that Malfoy, but I suggest you leave now before Seamus loses his grip on Ron." Harry said and pointed towards the youngest Weasley boy. Big mistake on his part.
"Oh, that's right. Weasleys can't afford a broomstick cause they got no money!" Malfoy sneered, obviously pleased with the reaction he had gotten.
That was he last drop that caused the goblet to overflow. With a roar, Ron pushed Seamus out of the way and threw himself towards Malfoy. Seeing his friend was about to get himself into trouble, Harry grabbed him and tried to hold him back. Ron struggled against his new caretaker, but Harry was saved when an authoritive voice sounded above their heads.
"What's going on here?"
Professor Sinistra, the head of Slytherin House, had come down from the staff table when she had noticed the commotion. She had barely said it before the entire tables burst into a loud declaration that, if you read between the lines, demanded Malfoy's head. Harry noticed that Malfoy was still smirking at them. But that smirk got wiped out when...
"Mr Malfoy, you are coming with me to my office. Now." Professor Sinistra said sternly.
It seemed to take a lot fo brainpower from Malfoy's part for him to realize that he was in trouble, as it took several seconds for him to answer.
"What? I'm not the one who attempted to attack another student! Weasley should be the one to recieve detention!" he exclaimed.
At Malfoy's accusation, Ron tensed up again and so did most of the surrounding students, but Harry moved to silently place himself between the red haired boy and Malfoy. The last they needed was detention on their first day in school. When Malfoy kept refusing to go with his head of house, Professor Sinistra proceeded to grab him by the ear and drag him out of the great hall.
"Ouch! What do you think you're doing?! Don't you know that this can get you into trouble with the ministry?! I haven't eaten my dinner yet, let me go! Just wait until my father hears about this!" Malfoy screamed as he got dragged out of the great hall.
After a moment, snickers began spreading throughout the hall before the entire collected student body, with the exception of the Slytherins, burst out laughing. Harry had to lean on the table not to fall to the ground. The image of Malfoy being dragged off by the ear would be etched into his mind forever. This just made Harry's day and that was saying something as it was his first day at Hogwarts.
"That was just bloody brilliant! If I see Sinistra again, I could probably kiss her!" Ron laughed beside him.
As the commotion that had spread with Malfoy's departure settled down, the Weasley twins moved over to their younger brother to tease him about his comment about Sinistra. When Harry had calmed down, he checked his watch and thought it would be as good a time as any to make his visit to Uncle Sev's office, he excused himself and left Ron to his fate at the hands of Fred and George. Having had a Ravenclaw prefect point out which dungeon he was supposed to go to beforehand, Harry easily found his way down to where Snape had his office and knocked on the door.
"Enter." came the simple answer.
When Harry entered, the first thing that struck him was that it was a lot darker down here than it was in classrooms above ground level. The wall were covered by bookshelfs that contained either books of some kind or glass containers that held various items. In the far end of the room was a working desk filled with papers and in a chair behind it sat Professor Snape.
"Ah Harry. Good to see you. I take it you have had a good first day here?" Severus asked and motioned for him to sit down in a chair that was placed in front of the desk.
Harry didn't argue and went over to sit, all the while studying the many books and containers with varrying interest.
"Yeah, it's been great so far! Definetely worth the wait to come here!" he said enthusiastically.
Snape nodded and looked at him for a moment, then his face broke out into a grin.
"I heard you witnessed the scene with Mr Malfoy up in the great hall a few minutes ago?" he said, clearly amused.
"How... how did you know about that?" Harry asked, stunned. Sure, Snape had told him that gossip travelled fast at Hogwarts but this was ridiculus.
Snape smirked.
"Mr Malfoy's screams of complaint was heard even down here. The Slytherins have their common room down here so I heard him when he came down afterwards with Professor Sinistra." Snape answered.
The next few minutes were used for Harry to explain what had happened in detail, from their little talk by the table, to when Malfoy showed up and began making sneery remarks, to when Professor Sinistra had grabbed him by the ear and left the hall. Severus couldn't help but laugh when he imagined Lucius Malfoy's face when he learnt that his son had been pulled by the ear all the way from the great hall down into the dungeons. Now, that would be a sight to behold!
But you didn't call me down here to talk about Malfoy, did you Sev?" Harry asked carefully, not sure if it was his place really to push the matter.
Severus shook his head at the boy's eagerness and reached inside one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a big piece of parchment that he placed on the desk between them. Harry stared at the parchment for a moment, then at his Professor, then back at the parchment.
"What's this?" he asked curiously.
Harry knew Uncle Sev shouldn't have brought him down here if there wasn't something special he wanted to talk about and if this parchment was the reason, then it must be special. Snape however, simply tapped the surface of the parchment with his wand and said:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
As soon as he had said it, linees began drawing themselves all over the parchment. Harry watched wide-eyed how the lines came together to form what appeared to be a map of Hogwarts. Stunned, he picked it up and looked it over. Severus watched him with a smile on his face. No matter how much he still disliked Harry's father, he acknowledged that this creation of his was truly remarkable. And since Harry was James' son, it would technically rightfully belong to him as the other 3 creators of the map was currently in prison, missing or dead. Or well, perhaps Lupin wasn't really missing, but no one knew where he had gone off to after the first war ended. By now, Harry had noticed the inscription on the map and decided to read aloud.
"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs hereby proudly present: The Marauder's Map!"
Severus nodded.
"Yes. The Marauders were four of the worst pranksters this school has ever seen. Even the Weasley twins pale in comparison. And on top of that, everyone always knew it was the Marauders but they never got caught. If you take a closer look at the map, then you might just find out why." he said.
Harry scouted the map and when he realized what Snape was refering to, his eyes widened again.
"Those dots! Is that...?"
"Yes, they show every person within the castle grounds." Snape said.
For a moment, Harry just sat there, shocked. He looked over the map and found names he knew. Cedric was still sitting in the great hall with a group of his friends, while Ron and the others had returned to the common room. Dumbledore was sitting in his office and Hermione was sitting in what was marked as the library on the map. What in Merlin's beard was she doing there? She already knew everything! When he had finished marvelling over the map, he looked up at Snape's amused expression.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
Snape laughed and Harry thought he might just have seen a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Well, we can't have you getting lost on the way to the great hall again, can we?" he said with a fake mocking voice.
Feeling his cheeks heat up, Harry looked away, which caused Snape to chuckle.
"How do you know about that?"
After all, he hadn't told anyone that he had gotten lost this morning so the only one who should know would be Cedric. He couldn't see it since he was looking the other way, but Snape raised an eyebrow and grinned at him.
"Magic." he said.
Did Uncle Sev just make a joke?
"But aside from the fact that you need to learn how to navigate your way through the castle, it is also rightfully yours. Your father was involved in its creation so it only fits that you should have it." he said as he pointed at the name "Prongs" at the map. Harry looked at where Snape was pointing and felt his eyes widen for what must be the hundrenth time that day.
"My dad was Prongs?" he asked in wonder.
For a moment, Harry just stared at the name, then reached out with his hand and stroke it over the letters. Suddenly, this map felt different. It was a relic of his father, a memento to the man that had given his life to protect him. For a little while, he didn't know if it was minutes or longer, he just sat there and looked at the name and stroke his fingers over it. Could it be that his father had wrote this himself then? After a while, a sudden thought struck him and he looked up at Snape again.
"How did you get into possession of this?" he asked curiously. If it had belonged to his father, then how come Snape had it?
"Well, it's a pretty funny story actually. Filch had confiscated it, but lost it to the Weasley twins during their first year. However, I managed to catch them in the act of using it once and took it back, without Filch knowing. He is still set out to try and get it back from the twins." he said.
Harry, who already had a pretty bad impression of the Hogwarts caretaker, had to stiffle a laugh at the thought of the grumpy old man trying to get the map off the Weasley twins while they didn't even have it. However, that opened up for one last question.
"Are you really allowed to give me this, since you are a teacher?"
Severus grinned.
"No, as a teacher I'm not. But as I said, outside of the classroom I'm your part guardian, not your teacher and in that light, I am in my full right to give you this."
Thinking it over, Harry found himself grinning at Severus reasoning. Technically, he was right. While the Dursleys were his official guardians, Snape had made sure he also got written over as having part responsability for him during his younger years so that he would be able to quickly get Harry out of the Dursleys hands, should the need arise.
"Well, thanks a lot Uncle Sev. You don't know how much this means to me." he said as he picked up his bag to put the map away.
Seeing that Harry was about to leave, Severus remembered there was one more thing about the map he needed to tell him.
"When you are done using the map, just touch it with your wand and say "Mischief Managed" and it will erase itself from the parchment. That way, no one but you will be able to use it at will." he said.
Harry nodded but didn't erase the map just yet. He would probably need it to find his way back to the common room. Thanking Uncle Sev again and saying he looked forward to tomorrow's potions class, Harry left the dungeons and used the map to navigate his way back to the great hall. Once there, he stopped to find the quickest way back to the common room. When he was done, he erased the map and put it back in his school bag. As he walked back to the common room, he made sure to remember certain landmarks he could use to find his way back to the great hall without the map the following morning.
"Caput Draconis." he gave the password to the portait of the fat lady that guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor tower.
As soon as he entered, he spotted Ron, Dean and Seamus sitting in a corner and waving him over.
"Hey mate! Care for a game of Wizarding Chess?" Ron asked with a triumphant smile on his face. Seamus, who was sitting opposite to him, shook his head and made a "X" sign with his arms, clearly trying to say it was not a good idea.
"Don't do it Harry! Ron's a mad man when it comes to this game. I've lost 5 times in a row already!" Dean said to underline Seamus motions.
Harry looked form the chessboard, to Ron and then back again before smirking.
"We'll see about that." he said confidently.
Later that night, Harry would have nightmares about chesspieces.
A/N: So I would say that is a good time to end the chapter. So now we know that Harry is in Gryffindor! I'm sorry to all of you who wanted him to be in Ravenclaw but Gryffindor won the poll fair and square. I hope you will keep on reading the story anyway.
Now that we got that out of the way, the next poll is up. This one allow you 8 votes for who you want Harry to interact with and befriend in his first year at Hogwarts. I might have missed someone but that can't have been too many and if there are someone certain you think should be an alternative, then tell me and I will put him/her up.
Answers to some reviews:
Lordban: Well, I guess I can see what you are trying to say, but when I said that "the day passed at the burrow", it was more to signal that they fell into a routine. I also mentioned in that same text that the routine usually got messed up a little whenever Harry sent a message. I hope you can accept that.
MyHarryPotterAddiction: Well, the story wouldn't be much if it followed canon all the way. It will contain some serious changes in generall, but you will proably find them a little bit later in the first year as its hard to really change much there and still get the story where I want it. But I try to change so much I can.
Cosmyk Angel: Don't worry, I don't take offence in what you say. From what I know, "weren't" is supposed to be used when you speak in pluralis while "wasn't" is in singularis? I am well aware that I might have messed that up at a few places. I might go back and fix it later. Oh, and you do make a good point about Ginny's house, but you will have to wait until next school year to see what happens! ;)
Sisno2200: Why in Merlin's beard didn't you review as logged in? Never mind, I definetely am inclined to agree with you, but in the case of Ron, does that really add up? I mean, he isn't exactly the most studious one... And just because we didn't read about it in the book, it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Bill and Charlie had left school and was working as adults when we meet them, why would someone bring up what accidental magic they did? But aside from that, well Ginny will be doing magic at home, with or without her mother's consent. She already have actually *cough* Bat-Bogey Hex *cough*.
Now as I said: thanks to all of you who reviewed and didn't get an answer here. I still read all of your reviews.
And with that, this chapter comes to an end. I would really like to know what you think of Harry's sorting, about giving him the map early and if you think it sounded farfetched for Snape to give it to him? So please review! I really love reviews! They're addicting! See ya next time!