A/N:
*Disclaimer* I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, places, spells ect. Those all belong to the Goddess J.K Rowling
Bold- Parseltongue
Italics- Thoughts
The first years were in a stone room, and before them were two great doors. The room was lit by torches high up on the walls. They nervously whispered amongst themselves. Suddenly, several ghosts floated through the wall above them. They shimmered in the dim light, talking in low voices.
"We should give Peeves another chance. He's just the typical prankster."
Peeves? Who's that? What does he do?
"But his pranks go too far. Remember last year when he made some kid late for potions by dumping a pot of glue on his head, then pelting him with dungbombs? The poor thing wasn't only late, he stank."
"You weren't the one there when Professor Snape yelled at him. I was," a ghost hissed, who appeared to be covered in blood. "He got detention for a month with Filch." Someone yelped in surprise, probably about the detention with Filch. Filch sounds like a nasty name, he must be horrible. One of the ghost looked down.
"Oh! First years?" A few kids nodded in silent conformation. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff, my old house." The ghost winked.
"I'll see some of you in Gryffindor," another chimed in.
"And I'll see a few of you in Ravenclaw," a pretty ghost said. She began to fade, and sang softly, "Wit beyond measure in man's greatest treasure."
"I'll see the rest of you in Slytherin," the bloody ghost said.
Honestly, I don't think Ravenclaw would be half bad, but hopefully I'm not in the same house as Granger or Weasley. The doors opened and Professor McGonagall came back. The young witches and wizards fell silent, and Professor McGonagall simply said, "Follow me."
She turned and vanished into the room she came from. Everybody followed.
There were five, large tables, four house tables and one head table, where the professors sat. Professor McGonagall carried out a stool with a tattered hat on it. A seam at the brim twitched, then the hat opened its mouth. After a tiny cough, it began to sing.
"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've 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!"
The hat fell silent, and applause arose from first Dumbledore, then the whole school. Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a piece of parchment in her hands.
"When I call your name, please come up, sit on the stool, and put the hat on. Abbott, Hannah!" A young girl with pigtails walked up to the stool. She put the raggedy hat on her head. Moments later, the hat shouted,
"Hufflepuff!" The Hufflepuff table cheered and clapped, while all the other houses clapped politely. Except Slytherin.
"Bones, Susan."
"Hufflepuff!"
"Boot, Terry."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Brown, Lavender."
"Gryffindor!"
Draco sniggered.
"Gryffindork!" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Bulstrode, Millicent."
"Oh! That's Millie, looks nice, but don't mess with her, she's a real bitch. She'll be in Slytherin." True to Draco's words, the sorting hat shouted
"Slytherin!"
"Chang, Cho."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Corner, Michael."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Crabbe, Vincent." Crabbe looked to Draco, who said,
"You know where to go." Crabbe took a deep breath, and walked up to the stool.
"Slytherin!"
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin."
"Must be Muggle-born, don't recognize his name." Draco muttered under his breath, but loud enough that Harry could hear him.
"Hufflepuff!"
"Finnigan, Seamus."
"Gryffindor," Draco said, beating the sorting hat.
"Goldstein, Anthony."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Goyle, Gregory." The hat barely was completely on, before the hat shouted,
"Slytherin!" Goyle walked over to the Slytherin table, obviously pleased with himself.
"Granger, Hermione."
"There goes the mudblood who can't respect Harry, hope she's in Hufflepuff with all of those duffers." Harry heard Pansy say to Draco, who was on Draco's other side. I bet I'm going to end out in Hufflepuff, Harry though gloomily.
"Gryffindor!" Draco smirked,
"Yes, now I have another reason to hate her, she's a Gryffindork."
"Greengrass, Astoria."
"Slytherin!" Harry looked to Draco.
"Expected, her dad is friends with my dad."
"Oh." Harry said, stupidly.
"Longbottom, Neville."
"Where's Shortbottom?" Harry asked, snickering.
"Gryffindor!"
"We don't have to worry about him, he can't stand a cauldron right side up." Draco said, laughing at Harry's comment.
"Lovegood, Luna."
"She's a wacko, that one." Pansy muttered. "Always talking about wrackspurts and Nargles and whatnot."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Malfoy, Draco." Draco smirked, and swaggered over to the hat, and the hat shouted,
"Slytherin!" before it even was halfway on.
"Macmillan, Ernie."
"Hufflepuff!" Pansy scooted over, closing the gap between her and Harry, where Draco was.
"Nott, Theodore."
"He's a nice guy, Theo." Pansy commented. Harry was about to ask how she knew Theodore, but the sorting hat shouted,
"Slytherin!"
"Parkinson, Pansy."
"Ooh, my turn!" She nearly ran to the stool, and put the hat on.
"Slytherin!" Harry noticed now that the Slytherins were clapping, probably only for the students who made it into the house.
"Patil, Padma."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Patil, Parvati."
"Gryffindor!"
"Potter, Harry!" Whispers erupted, and he heard snippets of conversation,
"She said Potter, did she?
"Potter, Harry?" He nervously walked up to the stool, and put the hat on. Hmmm….a small voice said, brave, noble, but has a great mind. Not Gryffindor, not Gryffindor. No Gryffindor eh? Why? Because of Weasley and Granger. Weasley was a jerk to me and Draco, and Granger had no respect at all. Ah, I see. Are Draco and Pansy treating you well? Yes, plenty well. You know their parents were Death Eaters? Death Eaters? You-Know-Who's followers. Oh. So, still no Gryffindor? No Gryffindor, maybe Slytherin? Ok then,
"Slytherin!" He walked over to Draco and plopped down. There were several gasps, from all around. Even all of the Professors had thier hands over thier mouths. There was a hooked-nosed teacher that looked at him with a curious face, and slightly surprised.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever done. Did you see the reaction of everyone?"
"Yes," Draco responded, smirking "I told you so. But don't worry, you're just the topic of gossip, for now. It'll die down in about a week."
"A week?!"
"Smith, Zacharais."
"Yeah, about a week." Harry groaned. A whole week of this attention? He looked up at the staff table. Most of the Professors looked surprised still, but Dumbledore had put his calm face back on. The hooked-nosed professor looked at him. Harry quickly looked away. He muttered to Draco, "Who's that? The one with the black hair and hooked nose." Draco didn't even look.
"That's Professor Snape. He's head of our house." Draco said, with a hint of pride. Harry looked at the professor in the purple turban. The Professor looked at him in the eye, and his scar seared. He slapped his hand to his forehead,
"Ouch!" Draco looked over immediately.
"Hufflepuff!"
"What is it?"
"Thomas, Dean!"
"My scar. I looked at the Professor in the turban directly in the eye, and my scar seared with pain."
"Gryffindor!"
"That's Professor Quirrell. He's an imbecile."
"Weasley, Ronald." The redhead swaggered to the stool like Draco did, but Weasley's nose was in the air was well.
"As for your scar hurting, you got it from You-Know-Who right?" Harry nodded. "I'll write to dad about curse scars...many don't hurt afterwards." He shrugged, "I don't know, mate."
"Gryffindor!"
"Why were there so many Hufflepuffs?"
"Zabini, Blaise."
"I dunno, I guess our group is mostly a mixture of imbeciles, duffers, and know-it-alls."
"Slytherin!"
"And why don't you like the attention, Harry?" Harry scratched his neck, and responded slowly, as if forming his sentence.
"When I lived with muggles, my cousin always bullied me. He and his gang made sure I had no friends, but everyone knew who I was. They always tried to hit me and punch me, but I was always too fast for them." Draco and Pansy nearly choked.
"They beat you?!" Harry furried his brow,
"Not really. My uncle was really the only one who hit me, they mostly made med chores. I think my aunt tried to make it easy for me, just giving me chores to for the whole day. Dudley knew better than to mess with me when I'm doing chores though. I would mess up something then Aunt Petunia would come in and drag him by the ear, out the door, sneak me bread to eat, then when Dudley tried to come back in the house pretend to yell at me."
"So your aunt favored you but your uncle and cousin hated you?" Pansy reasoned.
"I definitely would not go as far as favored, but I think she might have tried to discreetly help me. I'm not really sure, as she always called me a "freak". That's what they all called me."
"Freak?! What else did they call you?" Not much, mostly just "You! Boy!" especially not after Hagrid told me I was a wizard and-" Dumbledore rose from his seat.
"I have a few words to say to you today. To those of you returning, welcome back! To those of you new, welcome to Hogwarts! Nitwit, Blubber, Tweak!" He sat back down, leaving Harry more confused than the time Hedwig decided to bring him a dead frog.
"Say what?! Is he mental?" he asked Draco, bewildered. Draco laughed.
"A bit. Food, Harry?" He looked at the table. His jaw literally dropped. On it were several platters, of potatoes, pastas, rolls, chicken, and goblets. "Pumpkin juice?"
"Sure." Draco poured himself the juice and handed the pitcher to Harry. Harry poured himself some juice, and loaded his plate. After they were all full, the plates disappeared, only for dessert to appear. There were blocks of different flavored ice cream, Jell-O, and a few weird pastries. "What's that thing?"
"It's a treacle tart Harry. You'll love it." He took a nibble, and surprisingly he did like it.
"You were right! I love it!"
"I am always right, aren't I right dear?" He asked Pansy. She simply rolled her eyes and said
"No. Never. Unless you start telling people that you spend hours in front of the mirror combing your hair and act like a spoiled brat."
"HEY!" Draco whined. Both Pansy and Harry laughed. Professor Dumbledore rose again, and began a long speech.
"Now, first things first. Everyone is not allowed to go into the Forbidden Forest. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind all students that magic is not allowed in corridors, between classes. Also, the 3rd corridor in the west wing is off limits to anyone who wishes not to die a very painful death." Harry chuckled, but he was one of the few who did.
"He not serious, is he?" Harry muttered to Draco.
"Must be, he usually give a reason." Draco was frowning. "I'll ask Father if he knows anything. It might be illegal, since he's not telling us and he's known to that do illegal things."
"Like what?"
"In August, the goblins from Gringotts found a charm on Professor Snape to hate anyone with to the surname 'Potter' that was cast by Dumbledore years ago. Must be why he hated your father."
"He hated my father?"
"Yes, according to my dad. They hated each other at school. Father always assumed that he was jealous of your father. Now we know why."
"Prefects, make sure the first years know where to go, and take them on a tour of the castle tomorrow morning. Also, walk them to their classes for the first week. Our new head boy and head girl, I look to you to help all students around the school and to enforce rules. Now, off you trot!"
"First years, follow me." A Slytherin prefect commanded. "Hurry up now, we have lots to talk about." He led them all down to the dungeons of the castle. On the way, Draco was unusually quiet. Pansy, on the other hand, was the usual chatterbox.
"I heard that the light down there is all green because it's under the lake! And I heard that we have the best bathrooms, second only to the Headmaster's himself. I can't wait to take a bubble bath!" Bubble bath? And I thought Slytherins were all though! Seems like they are sweet after all. Harry thought, with a hint of amusement. They reached a stone wall, with a face on it.
"Unity!" The Prefect said, loudly and clearly. The face split in two, and a huge (or at least in Harry's opinion) room was revealed. There were couches, desks, two fireplaces, cushioned chairs, and a rug. The room was lit with torches, the fireplaces, and windows that revealed green light from the lakes. "Now everybody, take a seat." The first years did as they were told. Some sat on the ground, others in various couches and chairs. "Let the first house meeting take place!" The prefect announced.
Thx to all who read, please R&R! U all rock! :) Happy reading, will post next chapter soon, hopefully.