Partly inspired by "A Sorting Like No Other" by Stargon 1.

Draco Malfoy was fairly certain that he had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. Not even his shared embarrassment when his counterpart had been transfigured into a ferret at the beginning of the school term. He was standing between the tables of the Great Hall and the entirety of Hogwarts was watching him.

His breathing was shallow and under the combined gaze of the three schools he was shaking. There was just so many people. He knew his face was pale and he could feel sweat beading on his forehead. Somehow, this wasn't what Draco imagined what would happen when he finally attended Hogwarts.

"Malfoy, Draco." Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the whisperings of the Great Hall.

Still shuddering in anticipation and fear, Draco made his way to the front of the hall, where a ragged hat sat upon a four-legged stool. Wiping his sweaty palms on his new robes, Draco felt the hat land upon his head.

This was different from his memories as well. Instead of immediately crying out Slytherin as soon as it hit his head, he heard a voice whisper in his ear. Draco closed his eyes, blocking out the amount of faces that were staring at him.

"That's interesting. So many similarities and yet so many differences. You both have ambition sure, a hot temper and you will often speak your mind without considering the consequence."

So are you going to sort me or not? Draco demanded. He could feel the stares of the Great Hall piercing through the hat, he wiped his sweat-ridden palms on his robes again and focused on not fainting in front of the three schools.

"Well, Slytherin might work... but due to your different experiences to your counterpart I think it will be best if I placed you in GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted out the last word and a round of scattered and confused applause sounded throughout the hall, mostly from the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang who weren't entirely sure what was going on. Most of the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables sat in stunned silence, wondering what the heck had happened.

Draco wobbled on his way to the Gryffindor table, feeling dizzy at the sheer amount of people in the hall. His new housemates glared at him, but Draco found a spare seat next to Neville Longbottom and sat in it before anyone could stop him. Over at the Slytherin table, they had recovered from their shock and now were in fits of fury, calling Draco a traitor.

This was most definitely not how Draco had imagined his first day at Hogwarts.