Hagrid guided them to tiny paddle boats which lead them towards the castle. Harry it beautiful how the night sky seemed to reflect off the water. Severus had explained that the first years were brought to the castle separately to give the older students a chance to be seated before the first-years could be sorted. He said it would probably be too hectic if everyone came in at the same time, it would take far too long to pick out the first-years from the other students.
"Do you know how they're going to sort us?" Harry asked the three other kids in his boat, hoping one of their parents or siblings had let something slip. All Harry got back was a bunch of theories. The boy with dirty blonde hair tried to convince them that they'd have to fight a troll. But Harry could tell by the expression on his face that he was only trying to scare them.
Harry decided not to say anything and instead start focusing on what was about to happen. Even though Harry had studied everything he could, included some of Severus' second-year books, he was still nervous that he wouldn't do well enough in his classes. Of course, this was something Harry experienced in grade school as well. But he had to downplay how much he actually knew so his cousin would look good; his relatives didn't allow him to get grades higher than Dudley.
This was hard because Dudley was an idiot and just barely passed his classes. But that would no longer be a problem because Dudley wasn't even born.
"What house do you want to be sorted into?" the blonde boy asked. "I'm hoping to be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin."
"I don't know, I'd be fine with any house I get sorted into," Harry said. Harry was just as curious to see what house he was going to wind up in. And here, Harry wasn't going to have to worry about everyone going nuts about what house 'the boy who lived' was in. Because Harry was starting to lean towards Slytherin; he wondered if it would be possible to influence himself into the house. That way he'd know at least one person in his house.
Here, Harry could just be a normal boy. Harry had not been looking forward to going to Hogwarts as a 'celebrity', considering he was only famous because he didn't die with his parents.
"I'm Edward Bates," the young boy said, reaching his hand out for Harry to shake.
"Harry Potter," Harry said confidently, hoping Edward didn't connect him right away to James Potter.
When they reached land, Hagrid led them towards the castle. Everyone was mostly quiet except for a few whispers or loud, nervous breaths. Harry was excited but he was also nervous about what was to come. He wondered if there was going to be a test, if they'd have to cast spells or maybe they would be sorted based on how they behaved on the way to the castle. Harry wondered how easy it would be to influence whoever sorted them.
The castle was huge; it was without a doubt, the largest building had ever seen in his life. Heck, a single tower was larger than anything Harry had ever seen in his life. As they got closer to the castle, it somehow became bigger and even a little intimidating.
When the door opened, Harry knew it was time to get the show on the road. With a deep breath, Harry prepared himself, as best he could, for whatever was going to come his way.
A woman in grey and scarlet robes was waiting for them at the top of a flight of stairs. She had a stern look on her face but Harry could see excitement deep in her eyes; Harry could tell that she meant business and wasn't one to be messed with. Harry wondered what she taught; maybe if he could get on her good side, it would help him do a little better in class. Perhaps it would just be easier to make friends with one of the smarter kids in class who actually had magical influences growing up. Harry was determined to do well in his classes while he was here.
"Gather around," the woman called as students gathered on the stairs and watched her expectantly. "I am Professor McGonagall."
"In a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates for the start-of-term feast but first you will be sorted into your houses. Your houses will be like your family; you will go to classes together, you will share your dorms and together, you will share your successes and learn from your failures," The woman said, her voice was strong and carried over the group. Her voice was quiet but the way she spoke almost demanded respect. there is Ravenclaw
"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." Harry detected a slight bias towards the Gryffindor house in her tone and a little bias against the Slytherin house. Harry wondered if she had been in Gryffindor when she was a student here. "Your accomplishments will earn your house points; any rule-breaking will lose them."
The lights in the corridor flickered slightly, causing Professor McGonagall to straighten out her robes and stand up straight. Harry figured this was the cue to get ready to enter and ran his hand through his hair knowing it wouldn't do anything besides help ease his nerves.
"Alright, line up in pairs and follow me," Professor McGonagall said as she opened the doors to a large room filled with all of the older students in the school. Harry stood in line next to Edward who looked just about as nervous as Harry and walked through the massive double doors. Harry recognised the way the stairs and candles floated in the sky from Hogwarts: A History, the effect made the room look so much larger than it actually was.
The students were seated among four tables across the length of the hall and they were watching the first-years with various expressions from excitement to boredom. Each table had a different colour scheme to it and that extended to their robes and ties which matched their tables themes. After a few seconds looking around Harry spotted Severus who gave Harry an encouraging nod. At another table, he found Lily who gave him a more obvious thumbs up; the muggle gesture earned her a few confused glances but she shrugged it off completely.
When the finally reached the front of the hall, Harry felt the butterflies begin rushing violently around his stomach as he glanced around the room. At least Harry wasn't the only one who look nervous. There was a boy to Harry's left who looked ready to pass out; Harry wondered if anyone had ever passed out up here before. That would be a wonderful first impression.
At the front of the classroom was a stool with an old hat sitting on it. The hat looked like it was older than everyone in the room combined and the amount of patches on the hat made Harry wonder why it hadn't completely fallen apart. But what shocked Harry was when the hat started singing about Hogwarts different houses. A few of the creases had begun moving like a mouth and eyes and a loud, deep voice came from the hat. When the hat was done singing, everyone broke into applause.
"Alright, when I call your names you will come forward and the hat will be placed on your head and you will be sorted into your house," Professor McGonagall said, producing a long scroll and took a deep breath.
"Holly Adams!"
A girl with curly brown hair sat down on the bench and a few seconds after the hat was placed on her head... "RAVENCLAW!"
As Professor McGonagall went down with list, students were placed in different houses and everyone would clap but the houses to receive a new housemate always clapped loudest. Edward had been placed in Ravenclaw after only two seconds with the hat on his head.
"Harry Potter!"
As Harry sat down on the stool, he could see James Potter and his friends gaping at him with obvious confusion on their faces. Several Gryffindors could be seen looking back and forth between Harry and James, trying to figure out what was going on. Harry could only imagine the rumours that were going to go around for the first little while.
When the hat was placed on Harry's head, the whispers were muffled drastically and Harry enjoyed the silence for a second before...
'Interesting, very interesting... You are a quick thinker, you're quite resourceful and bright. You are also ambitious and the passion that goes with it! And a thirst to prove yourself! I believe you will do best in SLYTHERIN!'
Harry felt his stomach leap for joy as the hat was lifted off his head and Professor McGonagall gave him a small push towards the Slytherin table. It was enough to move his shaking legs in the right direction. Harry sat next to Severus who patted him on the back and gave him a warm welcome to Slytherin. When Harry lifted his head, he noticed James staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
By the time the time the sorting was done, the butterflies had left Harry's stomach and he was now quite hungry. Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat the Great Hall became silent.
"I have a few words before we begin our beautiful start of term feast! Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
With those words, the table was filled with more food than Harry had ever seen in his whole life and it all looked mouth watering! Harry wasn't sure what to try first. He finally decided on turkey with veggies and stuffing; all of the things he never got to eat at the Dursleys.
"A hat?" Harry asked Severus. "I thought I was going to have to write a test or cast a spell!"
"Nah, most first-years can't cast spells when they arrive because of not being allowed to use magic outside of school," Severus said.
When Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table, he could see that James Potter was still watching him but was also focusing on his food and friends.
"What's up with him?" Harry asked Severus, who looked up at James who sneered and looked away completely.
"He's probably shocked you're in Slytherin. Potters are known for being in Gryffindor. He doesn't know who you are but he knows the family name. He's probably also wondering why you have the family name," Severus explained.
"Maybe I should make something up; how do you think he'd handle finding out his father had an affair?" Harry said, remembering an argument some kids parents had on the school playground about just that.
"I think the thought's going to come up anyway because it'd be the most reasonable explanation," Severus said with a shrug. "But I bet he's probably going to be sending a very interesting letter home tonight."
Harry and Severus spent the rest of the feast coming up with different things they could tell James to get under his skin about who Harry actually was because they could tell James was going to try and figure it out.
Harry figured it was best to tell James something he'd believe and then maybe he would let it go.
By the end of the feast, they were introduced to their Head of House, Professor Slughorn. He guided the first years down to the common room and showed them to their dorms.
Harry was surprised by how welcoming it felt in the dungeons. It was exactly the right combination of sophistication, vintage and warmth. Harry could very easily picture himself curling up with a book by the fireplace and sipping tea. The dorms were nice as well, each bed was large and looked quite comfortable. Each student also had their own desk, dresser and small closet.
Harry found that is trunk was already sitting at the foot of one of the beds and his uniforms were already hanging neatly in the closet. The ties and robes had already been changed to represent Harry's new house and they looked like they had been pressed recently as well. Harry didn't have time to ponder this because the first-years were already being called down to speak to Slughorn again.
"Because tomorrow is Saturday, we will have your orientation tomorrow. So, for now, lights out is at ten; 9:30 on weekdays," Professor Slughorn told the first years. "Should you need to contact me throughout the night for whatever reason, just hold your wand and say 'communicare Slughorn' and I'll be right there."
And like that, they were left to their own devices.