The Great Hall was bigger than Harry could have ever imagined and the fact that it was charmed to look like the night sky only added to the effect that the room was endless. The main part of the room was the four tables that Harry immediately recognised as the house tables which were occupied by the older students who had already been sorted; they were peering in at the younger students with curiosity.

Once and a while, an older student would wave to or point out one of the first years but for the most part, walking past the main tables was a quiet event. As they reached the staff table, Harry spotted a stool with a ratty old hat sitting on it. Next to the hat was Professor McGonagall, her expression was as stern as it had been mere moments ago but there was a look of excitement in her eyes as the first-years gathered anxiously around the hat.

When the group was gathered around the hat, the wrinkles morphed into eyes and a mouth and in a low, gravelly voice, the hat began singing a song that Harry knew had to have been sung every single year.

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 Gryffindors 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 have 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 folks 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!"

After the hat was finished singing, Professor McGonagall picked up what appeared to be a very large scroll before turning back to the first-years. She wore a proud and excited expression on her face as she regarded the eleven-year-olds loud enough for the whole school to be able to hear.

"When I call your name, you will come forward and put on the hat to be sorted into your house. Your uniforms will be changed automatically upon being sorted," she said as she opened the scroll and began reading each name allowed. "Abbot, Hannah."

By the time the came to the M's, Harry was getting tired of standing around. He was in the middle of rolling on the balls of his feet when he heard Draco's name being called.

Upon sitting on the stool and putting the hat on, Draco was sorted into Slytherin a few seconds later.

"Malfoy, Harrison."

Harry trudged towards the stool with a worried expression, he knew that he wasn't going to be called by the name Potter now but he was about worried about the house he was going to be placed in.

When the hat was placed on his head, he heard a voice inside his mind but it wasn't coming through his ears. The hat was communicating directly into his mind.

"Ah, yes! You've got a good mind here and a thirst to not only prove yourself but to make a difference. You're determined and you believe in hard work to get what you want and you don't back down. Yes! I know where you should go!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry felt a wide grin take over his face as he took off the hat and calmly walked over to the Slytherin table where he took a seat next to his grinning brother.

"Good job, Harry!"

"Can we call you Harry?"

"I think we shall!"

Harry and Draco shared a quick look before they shot the older twins a wide grin; they seemed quite entertaining and it was easy to see themselves becoming friends with them in the future.

Turning back to the Sorting ceremony, Harry grinned when he saw Severus nod in his direction before watching more of his classmates being sorted into their respective houses.

"Weasley, Ronald."

Fred and George turned to watch their brother with wide grins on their faces as he sat on the stool. For a second it looked like the twins were swapping bets about which house Ron was going to wind up in but Harry simply watched and waited until...

"SLYTHERIN!"

It was obvious that George had lost the bet because Fred was beaming quite proudly at his brother who was already making his way to the table with a look of relief and pride in his eyes.

"I told you so," Fred whispered to George as Ron sat down beside Harry and a round-faced first-year boy. Draco smiled and gave Ron a quick pat on his shoulder before watching the rest of the first-years being sorted.

"Congratulations, Ron! Mum's going to be so pleased."

"Thanks, Percy," Ron said as he grinned towards his stern-looking brother who was regarding his brother with approval and this seemed to mean a lot to Ron because he seemed to sit just a little straighter at the compliment.

"That's our brother Percy. He's a Prefect this year, mum was so proud when she found out," Ron said with a smile.

When the sorting was finished, a man with a long white beard, Albus Dumbledore, stood up and looked around the room before he began talking; he was looking for someone and clearly had been unable to locate them and his expression seemed unreadable but it was obvious this was something he'd been expecting.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I'd like to start off by mentioning that, as usual, the forbidden forest is out of bounds unless escorted by a Hogwarts staff member. I'd also like to mention that the third-floor corridor, to the right, is out of bounds to those who do not wish to die a most painful death."

Harry couldn' believe he would mention the last part. Wasn't it enough to tell them to stay out; did he really need to bring up death so casually and right before they ate?

"He's mad, isn't he?" Harry whispered to Draco but received a nod from almost everyone at the Slytherin table.

"Also, Mr Filch would like me to mention that if anyone is found locking Mrs Norris out of the castle, they will be cleaning her litter box and trimming her claws for a month."

"Last year someone made a habit of locking Mrs Norris out of the castle; Mrs Norris is Flitch's cat and they never found out who did it," Fred said with a frown.

"We wish it had been us but that cat bites and scratches; can't afford to risk scarring our perfect faces," George said as they both ran their hands through their hair.

"Alright, with no further ado, let's tuck in!"

Suddenly, the tabled became lined with wonderful smelling food and Harry's stomach let out a loud and triumphant growl.

"Alright, Neville?" Ron asked the round-faced boy who was helping himself to some chicken.

"I'm fine, just surprised to have been sorted into Slytherin; my grams might not be too pleased," Neville said.

"Well, don't worry for now. Have you met Harrison and Draco Malfoy?" Ron asked pointing to the blonde twins.

"No, I'm Neville Longbottom; nice to meet you," Neville said nervously as he shook both Harry and Draco's hands.

It wasn't until the meal was done that Percy and the female prefect, Gloria Lanigiro, took the first years on a tour of the castle; not the whole castle but the main places they would need to know within the first few weeks. This highlighted classes, fire exits, hospital wing and what to do when they got lost. It turns out the portraits in the halls can give students directions to any room or person in the castle; all you had to do was ask.

Upon entering the Slytherin common room, Harry was amazed by the black, silver and green decor to the room; it should have looked dark and cool but somehow they did it in a way that looked warm and inviting. There were several fireplaces with chairs clustered around. On the other side of the room, it looked like a library with several bookshelves and large tables set up. Each table had eight chairs and a little basket with quills, ink, parchment, and anything else that might be needed for studying.

"This is our study area; as Slytherins, we stick together and work together to help each other learn. This is why we have extra study periods; you will be broken into groups of eight where you will study together for a total of four hours a week. We are the only house that does this and because of this, we have the highest academic rate," Percy said proudly and he moved on and pointed began pointing out the fireplaces which were not connected to the floo network.

"If you'll look over here, you will see all of the Slytherin class schedules sorted by year. These are updated automatically, so if a teacher takes ill, the schedule will automatically take note or if for some reason a class changes rooms," Gloria said pointing to the seven large grids which were posted to the wall. Above the charts were the names of the Prefects on duty that night, the password for the common rooms and the Slytherin house rules.

"As you can see, we have a few rules in Slytherin that set us apart from the other houses. We are a united house and we stay by each other's sides. If we see one of our own in distress or in need of assistance, we do so. People think that in Slytherin we are against the presence of muggle-borns but in truth, Salazar Slytherin was opposed to muggle-borns coming to Hogwarts ill-prepared and not taught of our history. He hated how they were simply thrown into the curriculum and expected to keep up with those raised in the magic world," Gloria said as she motioned for Percy Weasley to continue.

"This lack of preparation extended into the summer, where muggle-raised children were being mistreated, whether intentionally or not, by their muggle families who either didn't know how to help them foster their magic or wanted to eliminate them. Certain influences have told you that Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort, wants to eliminate muggle borns but in reality, he wanted to bring forth Salazar's vision and start an introductory year for Muggle-raised students to come and learn magic so they could easily catch up to their classmates. This would include resources for their families to learn from," Percy said as he walked around the room, his chest poufed out proudly. "He also wanted to see that these children were protected from muggle families who would harm them because of their magic."

"It is important to remember," Gloria started. "That some people will have certain misconceptions about you, as Slytherin, but it is important that you hold your heads up high and stand together because only through unity can you stay strong against those who have been corrupted and misinformed."

When the prefects finished speaking, Severus walked into the room causing several of the first-years, Neville and Ron included, to stiffen at the sight of the daunting and intimidating man.

"Relax," Harry whispered. "He's our godfather. He might be stern but he's fair and he's only stern when he needs to be."

"I wanted to welcome the newest snakes to Slytherin house and point out that I am available to speak with anyone who needs to talk. I am your potions master and I will be strict in class and to those who break rules but I am here for support if anyone should need it. If I am unavailable, then you may turn to any of the prefects as they have my trust and confidence to deal with most matters in a professional manner."

Once everyone was dismissed for the night, Harry, Draco, Ron and Neville hung back to speak with Professor Snape.

"Severus, this is Ron and Neville," Draco said pointing out the two boys.

"Yes, I believe they will be your dormmates," Severus said with a thin smile on his lips; clearly glad that they seemed content with each others company as the would be spending a lot of time together. "You guys should go upstairs and rest; I'm sure you'll be wanting to write to your families. Oh, and congratulations."

"May we borrow Axel tonight?" Draco asked quietly, excited to write home.

"Why would you want to borrow my owl when your owls are waiting in by your beds?" Severus said, with a mischevious glint in his eyes, causing Harry and Draco to smile joyfully as they made their way to their dorms where a white snowy owl and a grey barn owl were waiting. The white owl had Harrison's name on her cage and the grey owl had Draco's name.

"They're beautiful!" Draco said as he stuck opened the cage with his name on it. Doing the same, Harry laughed as his owl perched herself on his shoulder and began playfully nibbling his ear.

With that, the boys began writing to their parents to tell them all about their sorting.

***LINEBREAK***

The Potter brat hadn't shown up; he knew he wouldn't but he had been secretly hoping he would just show up without confirmation. It was two o'clock in the morning and angry owls have already started arriving. They knew Harry Potter was supposed to be there and work had somehow leaked that he was missing.

One of the letters had been from a near blood-thirsty Molly Weasley. He knew Minerva was not too pleased with him and according to one owl, the Daily Prophet was going to interview the Dursleys with truth serum; that letter was the one he hoped was a joke because if it wasn't, he was going to be dealing with the fallout and he didn't want to deal with that. Apparently, they were on their way to the Dursleys as they wrote, so chances are they were already there. He hoped they couldn't find them or that it was a joke but the fact that they knew the Dursley name killed any hope of that happening.

As much as he wanted to ignore the feeling, he was starting to worry that the Potter Spawn was dead and now his back up option had been sorted into Slytherin and he couldn't fall back on him. Everything was falling to pieces and now taking over the ministry was going to be that much harder.

He was going to have to wait a while and see what the Prophet was going to publish before he decided what he was going to do next. He couldn't believe how much one little brat could ruin his plans so much and now he was going to become a mockery to the wizarding world. There was nothing he could do now except for hope this didn't go too far.