Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter, or any of the characters from these universes. I am making no money off of this fanfiction.
A/N: Thank you once again to those who read and especially to those who reviewed. Over 100k views in seven chapters! Actually over 113k. I am amazed.
Chapter 8: The Useless Hat
Once the Sorting Hat's song was complete, McGonagall began reading out each of the student's names, calling them up to sit on the stool and have the hat placed on their head, after which it would call out what house they were supposed to go into. Harry still had no idea how it was deciding which house, but it didn't really matter to him. If the hat wanted to dig through his head, it was going to fail. He had already seen many things magic might do better than chakra, but for pure brute force, chakra was simply much more powerful. And brute force that magic simply could not supply was what it would take to break through his mental defenses.
He did make sure to memorize the names of each of his fellow first years and what House they went into for future reference though. For now, the only ones he really cared about were Hermione, then Neville, both of whom got sorted into Gryffindor, though both took longer than most of the other Sortings.
"Potter, Harry," McGonagall called. Finally, it was his turn, and the rest of the Hall fell silent in a way that they had not for any other name. Likely each was just now noticing his scar now that they knew to look for it on him. So Harry took these few moments of total silence to stride forward confidently towards the front of the Great Hall, which set off a wave of whispers rushing through the Great Hall.
Harry just ignored it though. He was far too used to people whispering about him. Sometimes good things, sometimes terrible. It had taken quite a few years, but he had eventually gotten to the point that he just let it wash over him and barely even noticed. The only opinion that mattered to him now was that of his friends.
So finally he reached the stool and sat down gracefully as McGonagall placed the Hat over his head, allowing it to drop down over his eyes to rest on his nose.
A long moment of silence passed before the hat stated, "If you could lower your Occlumency barriers, that would be very helpful Mr. Potter."
The wave of whispers which had just barely finished dying down once more swept through the Great Hall at this pronouncement, with those students close enough to hear likely passing the words on to those further away. But Harry remained calm and responded with a firm voice, "I have no idea what Occlumency barriers are."
Technically he was lying. Although he had never heard the term 'Occlumency' before, given the context, he could assume the Hat was trying to poke around in his brain and had come up against the mindwalking shields Ino taught him to create so long ago. Harry was fine with the Hat and everyone else making whatever assumptions they wanted though.
"Hmm...Interesting. Never heard of Occlumency, you say? Could be a natural Occlumens, I suppose. Though it doesn't feel quite right. If you are lying, there is no need. Anything I learn in your head is strictly confidential and used only for the purposes of Sorting you."
Harry almost laughed, though he was able to maintain his calm mask with some difficulty. The idea of the Hat not reporting whatever interesting information it found digging around in his head was ridiculous. If it was as old as it looked and had been serving the purpose of Sorting students for the entire history of Hogwarts - about one thousand years, from what he could gather...Well, the concept of a right to privacy from one's Lord didn't even exist back then. Not to mention that it would be downright irresponsible to not report information on a potentially dangerous student to the Headmaster for the sake of everyone's safety. A student like him, in this case.
No, he wasn't going to be opening his mind to the Hat or anyone else anytime soon.
The concept of a 'natural Occlumens' did seem useful though. Apparently some rare people were just naturally immune to people messing with their minds? That would be a useful excuse. Though he was curious why such a thing hadn't been mentioned in his Lost Powers book. It seemed like exactly the sort of unusual ability that would have fit into a book like that. He would have to look into what exactly an 'Occlumens' did at some later point.
"Umm...I'm not lying," Harry lied very sincerely. "If I have these Occlumency barriers, I don't know how to drop them." Fortunately, Harry had grown to be a rather talented liar in his lifetime as Naruto. It turned out that his overly enthusiastic happy mask he used in his childhood to draw attention had served as a strong basis in this field once he began to work on that particular area of his ninja skills shortly after the Forth Great Shinobi World War. And like everything else he practiced, he had nothing if not time to perfect his skills.
"Well, I must warn you that I am required to test you on this. We had a rash of students with Occlumency training claiming to be natural Occlumens after the first real natural Occlumens passed under my brim back in 1095, so I am required to call upon the power of Hogwarts itself to attempt to break your shields if you do not lower them now. If you are a natural Occlumens, this won't hurt you, but if you are not, it will be quite painful. And whatever shields you have created will fail, I assure you."
Harry gave a shrug and responded, "I'm not doing anything. Or if I am, I don't know how to stop. So feel free to do whatever, I guess."
Harry wasn't worried. As impressive as the Natural Energy flowing through Hogwarts was, it was no match for the power Harry contained. The last time he had done a rough calculation, including both the power of the Juubi and his own chakra, he housed roughly as much energy as a quarter of the entire planet's Natural Energy.
The energy, highly concentrated or not, of one small valley was nothing in comparison. Granted, the majority of the total power contained within him was the Juubi's, and it would be bad if he had to start pulling on that chakra since using more than insignificant amounts of the Juubi's chakra had an immediate visible effect. Not to mention the inherent evil and corruption within the Juubi's chakra which even magic users would be able to sense if he started channeling significant amounts of it. He really didn't need questions about that coming up this early.
It didn't end up being a problem though. The Hat's attempts to invade his mind had started as a scalpel trying to cut away his shields. Unfortunately scalpels were not particularly effective against what was the mental equivalent of a fifty foot thick wall of steel. Adding the power of Hogwarts to the attempt was a little like putting that scalpel onto the front of a tank and driving it full speed into the wall. Impressive, but still totally ineffective.
Finally the hat gave a long sigh and stated, "Very well, Mr. Potter. I cannot Sort you. The standard method of Sorting natural Occlumens is to have a meeting with the Heads of the Houses to discuss what House you would best fit."
"Just put me in Gryffindor, please." Harry responded politely but firmly.
There was a short pause before the Hat answered, "I cannot sort you, Mr. Potter. I cannot get past the barriers in your mind, even with the power of the Hogwarts supporting me."
Harry shrugged casually. "So what? You seem to just put everyone else either wherever they want to go or where their parents went anyway. I know Hermione Granger seemed more suited to Ravenclaw, but she wanted Gryffindor, so that is where you put her. Draco Malfoy is, as far as I can tell, totally lacking in cunning with his only ambition to be exactly like his father, but you didn't even get all the way onto his head before you were saying Slytherin. Likely simply because he was mentally shouting that was where he wanted to go." He glanced over at Malfoy, waiting to see if he would get another 'wait until my father hears about this', but the boy still seemed rather pale and in shock that the 'mudblood' he had made enemies with so quickly was Harry Potter. Harry doubted Malfoy's father would be pleased to hear that.
So Harry just continued, "And Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe? Those two are either the craftiest buggers to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts as they hide their intelligence behind incredibly realistic masks of being stupid followers...Or, much more likely, they actually are just stupid followers and have no business being in Slytherin. For that matter, no one who was actually clever enough to warrant Slytherin would want to announce to the world how cunning they are, so the fact that anyone who actually expresses a desire to be in Slytherin actually gets in proves you just put people wherever they want to go. Though I am confused as to why anyone would want to go into a House widely believed to be filled with untrustworthy dark wizards anyway. I would think that untrustworthy dark wizards would want to go there least of all."
The Hat made a sound as if it was clearing its throat among the snickers and outright laughter moving through the students and the stern frowns on the faces of the professors. "Well, the kind of person someone wants to be does contribute to who they will become, as does how their parents raised them...But I do have to see into your mind to make sure that the traits of your desired House do exist or I won't put you there, no. So as I said, I cannot sort you. You will have to speak to the Heads of Houses and try and convince them that Gryffindor is the House for you."
Harry shrugged yet again and lifted the Hat off his head and handed it back to McGonagall. "So when do we meet to decide my House, Professor?" Harry asked the woman.
She glanced up to Dumbledore with an uncertain expression, but eventually looked back at Harry and replied, "Why don't you sit with Gryffindor for now, and we can meet after the feast to determine your permanent House.
Harry grinned and walked over to sit between Hermione and Neville as the Gryffindors gave a hesitant and uncertain applause.
"You shouldn't say things like that about the Sorting Hat Harry." Hermione whispered reproachfully at him. "It is an ancient artifact that has been Sorting for a thousand years."
Harry laughed loudly enough to draw some questioning looks and replied, "Eh...Maybe it has gotten senile in all those centuries of Sorting. Or more likely all those centuries of sitting on a shelf somewhere with nothing to do 364 days out of the year." He quickly cut off her objection as he continued, "But I just wanted to be in the House with my friends, so I said whatever I needed to convince it."
Another lie, but it was one that made Hermione end her attempts to argue as she blushed brightly and quietly muttered, "Friends?" as much to herself as to Harry. In actuality, he wasn't the sort that would allow what House he was in to come between him and his friends regardless, so that hadn't really been a part of his reasoning at all.
Given his personality, he would probably fit within any of Slytherin, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff. Slytherin was out for exactly the reason he had verbally given the Hat. Plus the fact that the rate of Slytherin fatalities would probably eventually hover around fifty percent if he had to actually share a dorm with those idiots. Hufflepuff...Well, honestly loyalty was probably his most treasured trait. But he also didn't want to spend seven years explaining to people that he only worked hard on things that mattered, and that school essays didn't. He doubted that would go over well with the Puffs. Which left Gryffindor. And he certainly had plenty of the suicidal bravery Gryffindor was known for, so he should fit best here. Besides, from what he heard, they had the best parties.
But Harry didn't allow any of these thoughts to show on his face as he nodded to Hermione and smiled brightly. "Yeah, of course we're friends." He then turned back to watch the rest of the sorting.
A few minutes later, Ron also got sorted to Gryffindor to especially loud cheers from Harry and Ron's numerous brothers, followed by Blaise Zabini going into Slytherin to end the Sorting Ceremony.
Dumbledore then stood up in front of the gathered students, his arms raised wide and a bright smile visible behind his impressive beard.
"Welcome!" He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blobber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
He then sat back down and huge piles of food appeared in front of them on the table. Harry honestly wasn't sure what to think. Headmaster Dumbledore seemed like a lot of fun, and the feast was fairly impressive...But there was no ramen. How could they call something a feast if there was no ramen? Harry felt like he should object, but he was fairly certain it wouldn't accomplish anything.
So he was left a bit more morose than the circumstances would normally called for, but he did eat his fill and casually chatted with Hermione, Neville, and Ron. Though Ron's table manners were a little on the disgusting side, so Harry tried not to ask him questions, since he consistently didn't bother to stop and swallow before he answered. Harry couldn't really object though, since his table manners had been just as poor the first time he had been eleven. Though at least he had the excuse of not having parents to teach him any better...
But regardless, the meal passed in comfortable chatter and good food. Though not the best food, as Harry was constantly reminded. They did have Treacle Tarts among the desserts though, which Harry had found to be almost as good as ramen. And the pumpkin juice tasted basically like a liquid version of pumpkin pie and was far better than it sounded.
He also got the questionable treat of being horrified by Neville's family as well. Apparently they used to try and almost kill him fairly regularly to try and force his magic out. Because apparently it was better for him to be dead than not have magic in that family. Worse, the people around him were treating that as fairly ordinary. Harry would have to speak to him later in private about it...No child should have to feel worthless if they didn't have a single trait that they had no control over. That actually might be the root of much of Neville's problems, actually.
And so, a meal filled with mixed reactions finally came to an end, and the remains of the desserts disappeared as Dumbledore stood once more.
"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered." Dumbledore said with his apparently standard wide smile. "I have a few start-of term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore's grin and oddly twinkling eyes turned to face the Gryffindor table at those words. Specifically at the Weasley twins from what Harry could tell. They would probably be a good resource to get some tips on what sorts of interesting things could be found in this Forbidden Forest before he went exploring there.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Harry was excited once again. Dumbledore continued on with a few more comments and leading in the Hogwarts song, if it could be called that. But even that hideously awful thing with everyone singing to different tunes didn't significant distract Harry. He was still focused on one thing.
Hogwarts sounded much more interesting than the introduction to magic book had made it sound. Calling Hogwarts 'The Safest Place in Britain' had made him question if he should attend. In his experience, when people said 'safe', what they really meant was 'boring'. But that third-floor corridor thing sounded awesome. He would have to check that out tonight.
Albus Dumbledore was not pleased. Not pleased at all. Things were not going according to plan.
He had already gotten a strong indication that something had gone very wrong in his plans for Harry Potter based on Hagrid's report. But Hagrid wasn't exactly the most observant sort, so he had hoped what Hagrid had indicated was a result of the man looking for what he had hoped to see in Harry. A strong, confident, happy, and magically powerful young boy, pleased to be introduced to the magical world - both excited by many topics Hagrid also found fascinating and fully willing to accept the half-giant as so many in the magical world were not.
That shouldn't have been what Hagrid actually found. Albus had carefully examined the minds of the Dursleys before he left Harry there, not to mention Minvera's comments about them. They were petty, bigoted fools afraid of magic and bitterly jealous of anything related to Lily. Of course he hadn't wanted Harry actually abused, and he had placed several monitoring spells into the house's wards to make sure he could catch such a thing and prevent it from going too far if it had happened. But he had wanted Harry unloved.
That sort of environment...where Harry grew up safe, but with no sense of family or connection to anyone who loved him beyond vague stories of his parents...it should have left him shy, withdrawn, and terribly unprepared for the life of a celebrity that was what awaited him in the magical world. It should have left him desperate for people who would love him and open to accepting the guidance of anyone who cared for him.
Dumbledore had also spent ten years subtly encouraging a sort of mythos about the Boy-Who-Lived as a legendary figure with the intention that Harry would never be able to live up to it. He would be too nervous around groups of people to possibly fill the image people had of him, which would have left the students who actually interacted with him disappointed and ended with him isolated from most of his school-mates.
And at the same time, his name would have retained its rallying power among the masses of witches and wizards outside of Hogwarts...The people Harry never interacted with to use this influence, allowing Dumbledore to use Harry's name among those people to advance the opposition against Voldemort once again when it became necessary.
Instead, somehow, they got this very different version of Harry Potter. A boy far too confident with charisma beyond anything Dumbledore had seen in such a young child. He had never seen a child stride down to the Sorting Hat with hundreds of students watching and whispering with such grace in his movements and confidence in himself. Someone willing to so openly speak his beliefs to the Sorting Hat in front of the entire student body with no fear...Combined with his massive magical potential, if Hagrid's report of the events of Ollivander's shop meant anything, and he might really be able to live up to his legend.
Of course that wasn't automatically a bad thing. He had always meant for Harry to be a leader in the second war against Voldemort he knew was coming. But he needed to be a leader only after Albus had a chance to shape him. The dangers of someone with such magical power and so many ready to follow him going Dark were too great. The only Hogwarts student Albus had ever seen with similar potential, both in charisma and power had been a fifteen or sixteen year old Tom Riddle. And the magical world likely wouldn't survive another like him, especially since the potential Tom Riddle had once exhibited seemed to be even greater in young Harry.
And there was also the risk of the possibility of Harry being a Horcrux.
Albus had long suspected the possibility. There had been the residue of Dark magical energies around the room in which Voldemort lost his physical form which very few Dark rituals other than the creation of a Horcrux would match, and no object that could possibly be a Horcrux had been present. A fresh curse scar created with the energies of the most powerful dark spell in existence would have been a natural receptacle for such dark energies though. This was further supported by the unsettling fact that Harry was a natural Occlumens.
Of course no one knew exactly why some rare people came to be natural Occlumens, but Harry's mind attempting to constantly defend itself against a piece of another's soul might have caused such a thing. Certainly it wasn't proof, but it was additional evidence towards a very troubling conclusion.
And Harry being a natural Occlumens was sure to be a problem as well. A natural Occlumens was immune not just to Legilimency, but to all forms of mental intrusion or magical manipulation. This meant that many of Albus' backup plans for Harry, should he start slipping away from the path Albus planned for the boy would be impossible.
Albus didn't use the more powerful mental spells and potions except in the most extreme of circumstances. Things like the Imperius curse, Veritaserum, Amortentia, or similar potions for other emotions were far too obvious, not to mention rather immoral. People would immediately notice the differences in behavior. But the occasional minor loyalty potion, or one that makes someone just a little more likely to open up to someone already trusted, or just a little excessively jealous of someone, or so much more. These were where the true possibilities lay. Things so subtle no one noticed they were not their natural feelings. And after a time behaving under the influence of the potions, people would almost always continue acting in that manner even after the potions were not longer given. If someone spent months feeling loyalty towards someone and acting in that manner, the weight of inertia in their actions would almost always have them continue acting that way.
Not to mention the occasional light Legilimency to read Harry's thoughts and make sure the boy wasn't having any opposed to Albus' plans. Or some minor Obliviation should he discover information he wasn't ready to handle. All of these would be impossible now. So between Harry's attitude and immunity to magical methods of manipulation, almost all avenues to make sure that Harry followed the path best for both the Wizarding World as a whole and for Harry himself were closed.
Even his tentative plans for the Mirror of Erised were completely ruined. The Mirror functioned by sending out an extremely subtle Legilimency probe that searched for the deepest desire buried deep within the observer's mind...which a natural Occlumens would likewise be totally immune to. The Mirror of Erised was just a mirror to a natural Occlumens.
It would have to be something to be considered later. For now, he had a meeting with Harry and the Heads of Houses to see what House Harry would end up in. At least he wanted to go to Gryffindor. A Slytherin Harry Potter would have been a disaster for obvious reasons, and either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw would have made things almost as difficult.
In Hufflepuff, he would have been surrounded with friends and supporters. It would have been impossible to isolate Harry and have him truly rely upon Albus' guidance. And in Ravenclaw, Harry would have been encouraged to gather as much magical knowledge as possible, which when combined with his obvious power could possibly start him upon the same paths Tom had taken all those decades ago. But with Harry's agreement, it shouldn't be difficult to convince the other Heads to allow Harry into Gryffindor. That was where everyone expected the Boy-Who-Lived to go anyway.
So after escorting Harry and the Heads of Houses to the room normally used for faculty meetings, Albus sat down and introduced the Heads of the Houses before giving Harry a grandfatherly smile. "So, Harry, my boy. You seem to have put us in a bit of a pickle. But you mentioned that you wanted to go into Gryffindor? Perhaps you could tell us a bit of why to help us decide if that is a good decision for you."
Harry quirked an eyebrow as he looked around at Albus and the four other professors, spending a moment meeting Severus' glower with a confused widening of his eyes before he finally shrugged and turned back to Albus. "Well professors, I'm sure you are already aware that my parents were both Gryffindor, which seems to be an important part of the House placement for...some reason.
"Then just going over the traits of each of the Houses I have heard from people, it just seemed that I fit with Gryffindor best. Ravenclaw I immediately disregarded. No offense professor," he said as he looked over to Filius with a nod and a lopsided smile. "But I'm not really a fan of studying for its own sake. I don't mind doing the required work, or reading something occasionally if it is really interesting, but I don't like spending a lot of my free time sitting around studying."
Filius nodded graciously and replied in his squeaky voice. "Of course, Mr. Potter. Not everyone is a good fit for my House. I hope you will find the required reading and work for my class interesting, but that is all I can ask of you."
Harry nodded back with a grin and continued, "Anyway, Slytherin was right out too. I'm a little too...err...well, blunt, I guess you could say. I don't think it would work out. Plus I heard a lot of people in that house are the children of the followers of the guy who killed my parents. Allegedly." He rolled his eyes dramatically and seemed to ignore the nervous shifting of the faculty as he continued. "I don't think we would get along."
Severus took this opportunity to snort contemptuously. "As if a Potter would ever have the brains or cunning to be in the House of Slytherin anyway."
Harry just gave Severus a confused look once again before turning to Pomona. "Umm...Right. Whatever." Which just made Severus even more annoyed as Harry ignored his barb, but Harry just continued ignoring the fuming professor. "Anyway, I thought about Hufflepuff a lot, because loyalty is important. But in the end, I thought Gryffindor would be a better fit."
Harry grinned and looked around again, meeting everyone's eyes briefly except for Severus, who he continued to ignore. "I jumped off a two story building's roof once because my cousin bet me I wouldn't do it. It worked out pretty well too. He got in trouble with my Aunt for causing me to mess up the bushes I landed on." Harry waited for the chuckles to die down. "Anyway, I thought I would fit in pretty well in Gryffindor. And that's where all the friends I made on the train are too, so that is the House I would prefer."
Albus nodded, still smiling gently at Harry before turning to Minerva, giving her a chance to respond. He knew she would be in favor in honor of James and Lily even if nothing else.
"Well, I can tell you are going to be trouble just like your father," Minerva began. "But I suppose I do have the most experience dealing with such things. I think you are right that Gryffindor will be the best House for you. Do keep any trouble-making to a minimum though."
Severus snorted again, but everyone was ignoring him now. "So," Albus stated happily. "We are all agreed then? Harry will be in House Gryffindor?"
Most of the Heads nodded, but Pomona obviously wasn't so quick to give up. "Well, Mr. Potter said loyalty was also very important to him. And one of his reasons for wanting to be in Gryffindor is to be in the house with the friends he made on the train. That is obviously a very Hufflepuff attitude." She then turned to address Harry directly, "And I promise you will be able to find many new friends easily within Hufflepuff, as well as maintain friendships with any Gryffindors you wish. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor have always gotten along rather well."
Albus had to force himself not to sigh. Of course Pomona would be the one to object. Minerva would take his lead, Severus would rather cut off his own arm than accept a Potter into his House, and Filius was intelligent enough to accept that Harry didn't belong in Ravenclaw. But Pomona would truly wish Harry to go to the house she believed he would be happiest in. And she could be quite stubborn at times. She tended to focus far too much on the individual happiness of her students rather than what was best for the Wizarding World. It was most frustrating at times.
And there was likely a bit of a desire to have the Boy-Who-Lived bring prestige to the least respected of the Houses as well. Of course she would never understand just how important that lack of respect was. Groups that saw themselves as oppressed, even if just in minor or subtle ways, always looked for an influential leader to support them. And as the Leader of the Light, he was the natural choice for the almost universally Light Hufflepuffs. The Hufflepuffs which, with their hard-working mentality, formed the backbone of both the Ministry and the Wizarding economy. True, it was often not in the more visible positions of leadership, but Hufflepuff support had, in many ways, helped him push the Wizarding World in the right direction to an even greater extent than the Gryffindors.
That wasn't exactly something he could explain to Pomona as yet another reason Harry needed to go to Gryffindor though. So instead, he smiled gently at the woman and replied, "Yes indeed. Harry does seem to possess both traits of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor most strongly. A powerful combination, to be sure. But as the Sorting Hat suggested, our choices of what sort of person we want to be do have a powerful influence on who we will become. When the traits of two Houses are equal, it is our choices which define us."
Albus looked around among the other staff members for a moment before meeting Harry's gaze with a gentle smile as he continued, "I think that James and Lily Potter would be quite proud to see their child enter into Gryffindor. A proud and brave lion who yet remembers the importance of friendship, loyalty, and hard-work."
Of course bringing out the topic of James and Lily was a bit underhanded. Who could deny the wish of the people who had died to defend their child? The fact that giving an orphan, no matter how confident or self-assured, the idea that their parents would be proud of him would have Harry looking to Albus to provide guidance of what else he could do to make them proud was certainly an additional benefit.
But eventually the other Heads gave nods of agreement, and even Pomona gave a reluctant nod, though she quickly made one last comment to Harry, "Well, if you are sure Mr. Potter...I know that Hufflepuff would certainly welcome you, and that you could do very well in my House, but if you are determined to go to Gryffindor, I will not stand in your way."
Albus waited for Harry to give his silent but firm nod before stating, "Very well. As the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with the support of the Heads of each of the four Houses, I declare Harry Potter to be officially Sorted into Gryffindor House. So mote it be." He then watched with a satisfied smile as the edges of Harry's robes changed to Gryffindor colors and the Gryffindor Crest appeared over Harry's chest. And perhaps helping Harry get into his desired House would create the beginning of the trust Albus needed Harry to have in him over the coming years. All for something Albus wanted anyway. It was always best when things worked out that way.
"Alright. Why don't you take Harry to his dorm Minerva? And the rest of you can see to your students as well. I'm sorry for keeping you. Oh, but Severus. If you could stay for just a moment, I would appreciate it."
After the others filed out, a still scowling Severus Snape was left alone in the room with Albus. "So, did you get anything at all?" Albus asked quietly.
"No," Severus snarled back. "His defenses are like a wall, solid beyond anything I have ever seen before. Though from what I have read, natural Occlumens are supposed to have minds that are just impossible to find at all. As if they don't have minds at all, they are so well hidden. Not like this infinite barrier in Potter's mind."
Albus nodded thoughtfully. Of course he had tried a gentle surface Legilimency scan as well, but because of the more...antagonistic relationship which Severus could afford to create with Harry, Severus could be more direct about it. If Harry felt anything strange from Severus, he would attribute it to the strange glares the man was giving rather than an attempt at magically intruding into his mind.
"Yes, that was the indication I have gotten, but there haven't really been enough natural Occlumens through Hogwarts to know if they are all the same. There is no way he could have had a chance to study the art in the muggle world. And those defenses, whatever they are, are far beyond anything I have ever seen before. Far beyond what you or even I could hope to accomplish. A natural Occlumens is the only explanation." And it wasn't like there were a lot of natural Occlumens who developed the ability because their mind was constantly subconsciously fending off attacks from an implanted Horcrux, so it wasn't unlikely there would be some differences.
Severus snorted in derision. Again. Sometimes Albus had to wonder if all that snorting was bad for Severus' sinuses. "The boy is just like his father. He is going to be a nightmare. Already causing problems on the first night."
"Now Severus," Albus replied in a placating tone. "He doesn't even really look that much like his father. His hair is much shorter and he doesn't wear glasses. Honestly, he looks much more like his mother with those eyes and his cheekbones. And clearly this wasn't his fault. He can't help that he happens to be a natural Occlumens, as inconvenient as that might be."
Severus frowned severely. "He is nothing like her. Did you see the way he was arrogantly strutting around? Showing off his scar like he was proud of the reminder of his parent's death? Arguing with a centuries old Sorting Hat as if he knows better. He outright told his teachers he isn't going to study, for Merlin's sake! He's going to be a menace just like his father, I guarantee it."
Albus just sighed in resignation. There wasn't any point in arguing with Severus on this topic. Although his unthinking antagonism towards Harry would likely be useful from time to time, it was frustrating discussing it with the normally very logical man. On this one topic, Severus was incapable of being rational and unbiased in any way. Which made him predictable, but sometimes he would prefer if Severus could just set aside his ridiculous prejudice and act towards the Greater Good regardless of his own feelings.
"All right, Severus, you can go tend to your new Slytherins," Albus said as he waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the door to the room as he began to spend a few more moments in thought about the latest information on Harry.
Unfortunately, these moments of introspection were rather quickly put to an end. Severus had risen from his seat and attempted to stomp off as was usual for him when he was in one of his snits, but rather quickly ended lying on the floor instead.
"What in Merlin's name!" Severus exclaimed as he lifted himself from his sprawled position to look down at his feet. "My shoelaces are tied together! These shoes don't even have shoelaces!" But his tone of shock and amazement quickly turned to fury as he looked up at Albus.
"Potter did this," the potions professor growled so harshly his words were barely even perceptible. He lifted himself up to a sitting position on the floor and pulled out his wand to send a savage severing charm to cut the tied together shoelaces with enough force to scar the stone floor between his feet. And now that Albus had a chance to look at them, he agreed that it was clear they did not originally come with the shoes, though in his opinion they gave the shoes a very interesting look in spite of the lack of actual need for shoelaces. Perhaps he could get some like that.
"You see what I told you?" Severus continued in his angry diatribe, too quickly for Albus get his own words in as the man carefully clambered back to his feet. "Only the first night in Hogwarts, and already he is at it. This is just the beginning Albus. You need to rein him in now or I will do it for you."
Albus nearly groaned. He didn't need this additional aggravation, so he tried to say as soothingly as possible, "Now Severus. You know as well as I do that there is no possible way Harry could be responsible for this. He was in front of us for the entire time he was in the room and never even drew his wand. The boy doesn't even know any magic yet anyway. I'm sure it is simply a case of the Weasley twins finding out how to delay the onset of a spell over the summer and wanting to try it out as soon as possible. You know how they are."
Albus chuckled with amusement as he thought back on their frequent antics and pulled out his own wand to cast a silent Finite on the shoes to restore them to their original shoestring-less state, only to rock back in his chair in shock as nothing changed.
"Now that is interesting," he said quietly as he examined the shoes more closely. In fact, it looked like the apparently very real shoelaces had somehow forced small holes through the leather of Severus' shoes as they laced themselves before tying together between the two shoes. An interesting bit of animation spellwork, whoever had performed it.
"It was Potter. I know that it was," Severus predictably responded. "I don't know how, but I know that it was him. You can't just let him get away with this!"
"Now Severus," Albus responded, audibly sighing this time. "It can't have been Harry. I'm sure the entire faculty will do their best to try and determine who the culprit was, but you cannot just assume everything is Harry's fault without any reason."
Harry walked along beside McGonagall looking around at all of the paintings and suits of armor lining the walls as he thought back to his little prank on Professor Snape. It was pretty minor and rather simplistic for him, but sometimes that type of prank was a lot of fun too.
Though he did prefer to see the reaction to his pranks, but this had been just a spur of the moment thing as he saw Snape glowering at him for no reason and insulting him, apparently simply for being a Potter. Perhaps the Snapes and the Potters had some sort of ancient blood feud? Wizarding Society seemed archaic enough for that sort of thing to be relatively common, so it seemed likely, given how Snape had been treating his last name as a curse.
That would likely make Potions classes a little awkward. Fortunately, Harry didn't really care about his grades. And if Snape wanted to re-start some feud Harry had never even heard of...Well, that sounded like a perfectly valid source of entertainment to him.
If Snape continued his glares and undeserved insults, Harry could always escalate to more intricate and...interesting pranks from there. Honestly, if the man had any intelligence at all, he would realize that anyone who could successfully create even so simplistic a prank with only moment's notice directly in front of the senior staff wasn't someone it was a good idea to annoy without cause. For some reason, he doubted it.
He had to repress his grin though. He was sure word of what had happened would make its way to McGonagall quickly enough, so it would be best if she didn't remember him having a strange mischievous grin walking away from the meeting.
Eventually, after a fairly lengthy walk mostly in silence, with the occasional comment about Hogwarts or Hogwarts rules, Professor McGonagall stopped, motioning to the painting of a rather large woman as she explained, "This is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. It will be your home ten months of the year for the next seven years. To enter, you must give the Fat Lady a password, which will be changed regularly."
As Professor McGonagall paused at this point, Harry quickly interrupted with a confused look, "Wait...Why is there a password? As I understand it, the paintings are aware and have memory. Why can't they just remember who is in Gryffindor and allow us in? A password could easily be overheard by someone from another House."
McGonagall looked a little surprised, but also with an edge of disapproval in her expression. "A password is traditional." Harry rolled his eyes, though he didn't say anything. There had to have been a reason to start the tradition, so that answer was ultimately just avoiding of the question. Probably because she didn't know the answer. Teachers never liked appearing ignorant in front of their students. Though perhaps the eye-roll wasn't a good idea, because McGonagall's expression changed from slightly disapproving to an outright frown as she continued harshly, "The current password is Caput Draconis. Remember it."
Once the password was given, the painting nodded regally at Professor McGonagall and swung open to reveal the Gryffindor common room. Apparently those inside the common room had been waiting for them too, because it took less than a second for the Gryffindors to see Harry through the opening entrance and begin cheering. The Weasley Twins even began a chant of "We Got Harry," which was picked up by a significant portion of the rest of the crowd in the common room, though many were content with just cheering loudly.
Harry just grinned and strode into the room, waving around at everyone good-naturedly. He was still a little unhappy with being famous for something he was relatively certain his mother had been responsible for, but he was pretty used to being famous, and fame was a lot better than what he had expected coming into the Wizarding World. So he might as well make use of it until he had a chance to become famous for his own actions.
It took a couple minutes for the cheering to die down, but when it finally did, Harry yelled out, "Thank you everyone for your great welcome. I am proud to say that I was able to convince the Headmaster and the Heads of the Houses to put me into the best House at Hogwarts!" Of course this drew further cheers. There wasn't anything wrong with some occasional pandering though.
McGonagall just shook her head, though she looked to be repressing a bit of a smile now, which was certainly an improvement. Once things died down, she looked around with one of her stern gazes and said, "Alright. That's enough of that. It's about time all of you went off to bed. Classes start tomorrow." She turned to Harry as she continued, "I'm sure someone can show you to your dorm, Mr. Potter. I will see you in the morning to hand out schedules." With that she gave him a smile, if a brief one, and turned to walk out of the still open entryway to the tower.
Harry just waited for the door to close, then turned back to the crowds with a grin and said, "Well, from what I hear, one of the things that makes Gryffindor the best House is that Gryffindors throw the best parties!"
This brought more cheers and a great deal of laughter, though Harry did notice Hermione off in one corner frowning rather harshly at that comment. But eventually one of the Weasley twins came forward and slapped Harry on the back while the other dragged out a keg of what the other twin explained was butterbeer. It looked to be the beginning of a very long night.
McGonagall was probably not going to be pleased, come morning.
A/N:
For the Sorting Hat, I have never liked the common fanfiction cliché that the Hat will promise not to reveal any secrets it finds during the sorting...and universally actually follows through with that promise. I can't count the number of evil!Dumbledore stories in which he has managed to magically bind Fawkes into servitude, but the Hat for some reason still prevents Dumbledore from obtaining any of the many secrets it pulls from Harry's mind. And after the Hat promises it won't reveal secrets found in the sorting, the otherwise typically paranoid Harry always immediately believes it's word and drops whatever super Occlumency shields he has protecting his vitally important secrets. Because the Hat promised, and magical artifacts specifically made to gather information and serve the Headmaster couldn't possibly lie about such a thing. Of course in this particular story the Hat may or may not be lying, but Harry isn't going to trust it regardless. I would like to read a story in which the Hat assures Harry it won't reveal his secrets, then immediately reveals all to Dumbledore though.
And yes, we finally get a Dumbledore POV. He will be a bit of a manipulative bastard in this story, but not actually evil. He truly does care for Harry...He just cares more for the Wizarding World as a whole, not to mention being overly arrogant about the only correct way of doing things being his way. Which is how I see him in canon too, though we usually just see the grandfatherly face he shows publically. But look at his actual actions and that is the attitude that fits those actions.
He won't be actively out to destroy Harry's life for no particular reason beyond some strange desire to be as evil as possible as some fanfics portray him though. He will only do things which he believes benefits the Greater Good to a greater degree than the costs associated with that action, and he is very smart. A stupid Dumbledore that constantly antagonizes Harry for very little possible benefit is always annoying, and very, very overused.
Please review though! I don't care if it's just a short, "I liked it," a detailed breakdown of what you think I did wrong (and hopefully can improve on), or even just informing me of a grammar or spelling mistake - I would appreciate it. But please no flames. I don't mind criticism as long as it is constructive, but a simple, "This is the worst thing ever written," or "You made Harry too powerful. You suck" will be ignored.