AN: Sorry for the long wait :(. I had a lot going on and felt really crap most days. I also just started school online again and it take me a bit to adjust for writing. I'm really sorry for making you all wait so much but I should be back to updating in less time than for a season to come and go. Hope you enjoy the chapter! (Don't kill me in the comments for the wait please.)

Platform 9 and ¾ 1st September 1993

Damian was leaning against a pillar on the near mythical platform. The one, the only, Platform 9 and 3/4 that served as the place to begin nearly everyone's true magical journey in Brittan. He was there by himself, getting a few looks from a few pureblood lords for it as in the meanwhile, and early due to his nerves for what awaits him. The lords looked at him strangely due to the fact that most that are alone at the platform are muggle-born. This is due to their parents not being able to pass through the magical protections in normal circumstances.

Damian was thinking too himself about the past and all that he and Remus had accomplished over the years.

Flashback- Greymore Manor 5th October 1988

Damian was waiting in the lords study, something he hadn't had to do yet. The lords study was to be used for only two reasons, to manage house paperwork and the like, and meetings with those not part of the house making a formal request to meet with the head of house. Needless to say neither event has occurred, until now. The part that made it so he wasn't preparing for war was that it was Remus making the request.

It all started earlier that day when Remus went up to him looking determined, yet nervous. He stood rim-rood-strait and looked Damian in the eye.

"I, Remus Jhon Lupin, would like to make a formal request for a meeting of the Most Royal and Most Ancient House of Greymore, to you Lord Damian Thorn Greymore" the werewolf said in the most formal voice he could muster to properly say the ancientcustom.

Damian had been surprised to say the least, mostly by the use of the ancient and formal custom that he had read about. Damian made sure that he read magical etiquette as one of his first things to do in case he forgot. That was the proper way to make a request for a meeting with a magical house's head of house. It appears that his godfather had learned it, or known about it already and is using it to show how serious his request is.

"I, Lord Damian Thorn Greymore, will accept your, Remus Jhon Lupin's, request" he responded and now, half an hour later, finds himself waiting in the aforementioned study.

The study was made partly to intimidate it's guests and it's décor shows this well. The walls are a black mahogany along with the floor paneling and ceiling. The walls are decorated with trophies of Greymores past. On the wall to the right from when one enters there is mounted skeletal heads of dangerous beasts, including a basilisk, a dragon, and a bicorn. On the wall to the left is jewels held in cases inlaid with gold, with the jewels ranging from ruby to diamond to emerald. Finally on the back wall behind the desk which the Lord will sit are weapons hung on hooks. The weapons are both from their own craftsmanship and from conquest. There are golden gleaming swords and sliver poleaxes and everything in between.

The office shows that they can best beast, man and wealth. The Greymore family had a long time to perfect intimidation after all and this is nothing compared to what they have in storage after all the millennia the family has been around.

The desk that Damian sat at was made from bone white elder wood, to add contrast and more intimidation factor, Damian thought that his ancestors might have had a little too much fun in making this room.

'Edgelord ancestors! Damn they went crazy here! I get trying to intimidate people but this makes me seem like a grim reaper or something!' the young lord thought to himself.

Soon Remus opened the door and walked into the room, pausing at the appearance of the room briefly before looking at his godson. At the unasked question Damian merely shrugged. He walked up to the chair in front of the desk made of a plush black leather and sat down. The man played with his hands for a second before he spoke.

"I would like to make a proposal to house Greymore" Remus began "I would ask for you to share some of your resources to hire werewolves and improve their lives like mine has been. This would in turn give you a loyal work force that can work on any project you set for them."

Damian was surprised by the request somewhat, mostly due to him chastising himself for not having thought of it himself. He immediately agreed with his godfather causing the man to relax. They then began to harmer out the details.

Present Day

After that they used Remus' contacts to recruit nearly all the werewolves from the UK to Germany. This then gave them a loyal workforce of over 2000 men and women. They all had to sign a contract to ensure secrecy similar to a mundane NDA agreement. The werewolves were provided wolfsbane and the resources that Remus used to gain better control, including his own notes. They also were given lodging and food by living on site of their place of work.

The majority of the workforce was dedicated to heavily warded newly bought farms to cultivate more of the rare, and sometimes believed extinct, plants that the Greymores have. Others worked in potion labs brewing large amounts of various potions for future and current endeavors, including the needed wolfsbane. Then a select group had been sent to mundane schools to learn various trades and even some mundane turned werewolves were sent to university due to having pervious education. The ones sent to university were to gain businesses and/or engineering degrees in preparation for some of Damian's future plans that will hopefully soon come about.

After the massive success that the werewolf endeavor turned out to be Damian has developed plans to recruit more marginalized magical beings once he revels himself. Now the young man of thirteen years is waiting at the station leading to the mythical institute watching the people arrive. After watching for a while he decided to make his way onto the train.

He walked down the aisle of the train till he reached the last compartment. Seeing it empty he entered it and decided to take a nap. He settled down on the lightly cushioned seat and soon fell asleep. Damian woke up a few hours later when he felt the train start moving. Due to him being unable to sleep when in motion he pulled out a shrunken book from one of his pockets and unshrunk it.

About thirty minutes later he heard a knock on his compartment. He told the person to enter and once the door opened he saw a sight that made him think only one thing.

'Really! This is cliché!' he thought.

In his compartment doorway was a teary eyed thirteen year-old girl that stood at 5'4 with a head of bushy brown hair. She had deep hazel eyes and slightly angled facial features. Despite not looking exactly like he thought she would he could recognize who this was in his compartment doorway, Hermione Jean Granger dressed in mundane jeans and a blue blouse, from a mile away.

Approximately 5 minutes earlier.

Hermione Jean Granger was currently in a very familiar situation to her: crying in the girls bathroom.

She had always done this, ever since the bullying started at least, when things got to much. When she went to primary school she was picked on because she was a 'know-it-all' and a 'teachers pet' among other things. It didn't help that strange things happened from time to time around her when she was emotional, what she now knew was accidental magic.

When she found out she was a witch she thought that she could start over and finally make some friends. She knew her parents were getting concerned about her too so maybe this could help. They were right to be concerned and she knew it, she had become far more quiet and reserved these past two years. After no one showed up to her eleventh birthday, despite others at school saying they would, she just kind of went into herself.

Now Hermione had a chance to reinvent herself and she decided to grab it by the horns, even buying some new clothes despite not being as into that sort of thing as other girls. When she sat with a small group of boys and girls in a compartment she tried to make some friends. However this didn't turn out to well for her.

When it came out she was a muggle-born she was laughed out of the compartment after being insulted by the boy called Draco. So that leads to her current situation, crying in her safe space. However that was soon cut short by some knocking on the door.

"Hey, can you please finish up? I really need to go!" a high and somewhat panicky voice came from the other side of the door, followed by what Hermione thought was a 'damn Weasleys'.

Hermione sighed, wiped her face, and sat up to open the door. She wouldn't hog the only the female restroom for what she considered her pity party. She opened the door to see an older girl with plain features rubbing her legs together in the universal bathroom dance.

When the older girl saw her she suddenly stopped and gained a concerned face.

"Were you crying?" she asked.

Hermione, feeling embarrassed, ran away down the train. They older girl wanted to give chase but her bladder made itself known once more and she rushed into the bathroom, soon forgetting about the crying girl in her plans for vengeance against two redheaded pranksters.

Hermione eventually made it to the end of the train and decided to see if she could sit here. She knocked on the compartment door and soon received an answering 'come in' that made her have to try and collect herself some more. She opened the door and saw a boy her age dressed in muggle jeans, a black t-shirt and a black jacket over the shirt. He had a book in his hands as well.

However his hair and eye color was what most caught her notice, white and violet respectively. She could admit in the privacy of her mind that he was handsome.

Present Time

Damian looked at Hermione Granger with a raised eyebrow before gesturing to the seat across from him. She quickly sat down after blushing once she realized she was staring. For a while they sat in silence with Damian reading his book. He wanted her to make the first move, it seemed the best option and if she just wanted silence then who was he to deny her?

Soon enough though she spoke up.

"What are you reading?" the young witch asked in a carful voice.

"This is a book on Bio-Alchemic laws and principles" Damian answered her with a small smile.

She looked at him with a completely confused expression.

"What is that?" she asked in an extremely curious voice.

"It's a branch of Alchemy that focuses on biological subjects, such as turning one animal into another or the making of chimeras. Since you seem to not really know what Alchemy is I'll explain. The field of Alchemy is an elevated form of Transfiguration that is permeant and has different requirements in order to preform" Damian explained to a wonderstruck Hermione.

"When do we learn that at Hogwarts?!" she asks excitedly.

"Never" he says deadpan.

Hermione freezes in her seat for a moment before her face contorts.

"What?" she asks with a baffled expression on her face.

"All forms of Alchemy classes were removed in 1894 after a bill in the Wizengamot, the British magical government, classified them as a type of ritual magic, thus making it illegal to practice. They're not exactly wrong that it's a type of ritual magic, but it's still dumb. The only reason why great alchemists like Nicholas Flamel can keep on is that Britain is the only one with such a law in all of magical Europe" Damian answered her.

"That's crazy!" she said after taking that in.

She sat there thinking for a while and Damian just waited patiently having already put his book away. Eventually Hermione spoke up again.

"What other classes have been removed from Hogwarts?" she asked.

Damian smiled, glad that she asked as this let him help break her from her blind trust in authority, if she has it in this rendition of the universe. He knows he can do it by using the one thing Hermione Granger will always value more: knowledge.

"Well they used to offer a litany of other classes. Some of the stand outs are these. Elemental Studies, which was divided into six classes for all six elemental affinities. Then there was Enchanting offered after fifth year. Next there was Ritual Studies, but you know what happened to that. Finally the last that would immediately stand out would have to be that they used to offer a Magical Society Introduction course for Reawakened and mundane raised" the young lord told her.

The young witch seemed to be bouncing with questions after that.

"What do you mean by Reawakened and mundane raised?" was her first question.

"It is the far nicer term for what others call muggle-born and muggle raised" was the young man's answer.

"…what, but why Reawakened for muggle-born? That doesn't make sense" the bushy haired girl stated.

"Well" Damian started with a smirk "it actually dose, since so called muggle-borns are just reawaking the magic in their blood from their squib ancestors."

Hermione seemed to metaphorically blue screen. Damian wasn't worried about her knowing this, as it was a fact had already been told to the magical community centuries before. However many purebloods, at least in Britain, disregarded this information, and the evidence that was provided, as soon as it came out. This resulted in the information never really being talked about and thus not well known to many anymore and it didn't help that all books talking about it were taking out of circulation than banded. Besides it was never truly about blood and more about culture anyway, they just used blood as something to make them feel superior. The pureblood bigotry at its finest.

Hermione knowing wasn't going to do much harm, at worst she'll try and talk about it with purebloods and they'd say she was making it up. Then she'd go into a research frenzy and find out he told her the truth. She would have most likely done a search like that anyway. The books are only band in Britain as they are only posed as theories in places like France, which he knew she visited, and she could find the information there.

After a solid minute she snapped out of it.

"How do you know that?!" she asked shocked.

At this Damian's smirk grew, he's developed an enjoyment for shocking people over the years.

"Ah, were are my manners? We haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Damian Greymore, Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Royal House of Greymore. The oldest house in the magical world" he said in his developed 'noble' voice.

Hermione was shocked to find out she was speaking to magical royalty and the way he said it left no room for doubt ether. His voice and words had a strange magic to it, not literal, that made it so she could tell he wasn't lying.

"I-I'm Hermione Granger" she responded in a faint voice.

Another silence stretched after that and Damian decided he had enough of those.

"You don't need to change how you were talking or anything, it was quite nice to talk and explain things to someone my age" he told her honestly.

Hermione nodded to herself and started doing what she loves most again, asking questions. Their talk continued for quite a while going from what they expect of their classes, what the professors could be like and what their hobbies are. Light chatter to get to know each other instead of something that could blow her mind again.

Eventually the topic of houses came up, and it was Hermione that started it.

"What house do you think you'll be in Damian?" she asked in a far more relaxed voice then she had when she had come into the compartment.

She has, over their long conversation, felt they were becoming friends. So she was opening up a bit more as they talked and her tone reflected that.

"I think I'll go to Slytherin and failing that Ravenclaw" he answered.

"Really! But doesn't Slytherin have a horrible reputation?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"Now Hermione, do you really think a, at least once, highly renowned institute like Hogwarts would have an entire house, making up about 1/4 of the school population, dedicated to evil? Of course not! The traits of Slytherin are ambition and cunning, that's not inherently evil just like the traits of the other houses. It's just that Slytherin has gotten a bad reputation from a few bad eggs in recent years taking advantage of prejudice" Damian said at length.

"I mean all of the houses have stereotypes associated with them, all Slytherins are evil, all Ravenclaws are stuck up, all Hufflepuffs are mindless sheep, and all Gryffindors are glory seeking idiots. Those are all common enough thoughts people have now adays and it just is taking the worst from the bunch and saying they're all like that" he finished.

Hermione thought about that for a second and found him to be right. After all hadn't her bullies thought her looking down on them just because she was smart?

"You're right, I guess I kind of got swept up in the general beliefs of this new world I found myself in to try and get my barring's easier" she said "So what house do you think I'd be best for?"

Taking the change in topic for what it was he responded to her.

"Ravenclaw, hands down" the young wizard said without missing a beat.

The bookish witch just laughed and shock her head saying 'should've guessed'. They went back to talking about inane things for a while until Hermione brought up a topic from earlier in their conversation.

"By the way what are Elemental Studies? It sounds really interesting" the curious witch asked.

"Well it's the study of elemental magic which has six broad elements that you need an affinity for in order to use. The elements are fire, water, earth, air, light, and darkness. You can have more than one and they're very powerful magics. While anyone can use a basic flame charm only someone with an fire affinity can do anything major with fire" the knowing wizard told her.

"I can test you for your affinity sometime after we get to the castle if you want? I can even teach you about the magical world since no one seems to want to inform Reawakened" Damian offered.

Hermione looked like Christmas came early.

"You'd do that?! Thank you!" she practically squealed.

"Haha, don't worry about it. I might even teach you a bit of the magic Hogwarts doesn't anymore, my family still has the old text books from centuries ago. In the meantime" the wizard said with a laugh before taking a small box out of his pocket.

He stood up and put the small box on his recently vacated seat. He then flicked his wrist and a wand shot into his hand. Damian then taped the box with his wand and it proceeded to expand to the size of an average trunk. The trunk was made from grey oak with silver inlays. It possessed seven silver locks in a strait row on it's face, though none had a key hole. The locks were blood locks, a far more secure method, that had a small needle on their faces to draw the needed blood.

Each of the seven locks opened a different compartment in the trunk. The first from the left opened a clothing compartment that had drawers for folded clothes and a series of hanging racks for hanging clothes. It also possessed a feature for pre-made outfits that could be selected to cause the articles that made up that outfit be in the front of their respective homes, as well as an ironing enchantment that automatically irons all clothes put inside. The second lock from the left was for school supplies such as parchment, inkwells, and quills. It also housed in a small shelf for all required texts for the scholastic year.

The third from the left opened to a library compartment that had half a dozen bookcases worth of space, sortable through metal arrows on the shelves that cycled through the shelves. It could fit about half a thousand books and tomes easily. The middle lock opened up to a potions compartment, housing organized and labeled ingredients in jars and vials with preservation charms. It also housed various cauldrons, each having a specific purpose, and at least three sets of potion tools for in case of lending or disrepair. The third lock from the right was a compartment that functioned similar to the suitcase used by the legendary Newt Scamander housing all of Damian's familiars in a safe and comfortable environment. Also to get them into Hogwarts with him without advertising their existence to all and sundry.

The second from the right was another expanded compartment like the previous, except this one lead to a live in apartment with a gym to allow for privacy if need and easy access to training facilities. The right most lock opened up to a highly secure compartment meant to contain dangerous and volatile beings and objects without contaminating anything, or anyone, around it.

Damian opened the third from the left lock and out from the trunk sprung up a roughly 5ft tall book case filled with books. Hermione looked at it first in surprise and then in hunger, almost drooling at the wealth of books she's never seen. The young wizard goes to the top self and picks out an average size tome with a green cover. He then touches the lock again and the bookcase goes back down into the trunk with the lid closing with barley a sound. Damian then turns around after shrinking it and once more putting it in his pocket.

"Here you go, an introduction to the basics of the magical world with a focus on magical Britain. Be warned, it doesn't pull punches" Damian told her while handing out the book to her.

The book was titled 'An Introduction to Magical Britain for the Unaware and Unexperienced: Good Luck'. The tome was written by a half-blood about five years back under a fake name to avoid the ire of the important families. Hermione looked ecstatic as she took it. Then she spoke up again.

"Thank you! This should help a lot! By the way what was that with your trunk?" she asked in an inquisitive voice.

Damian then spent the rest of the train ride explaining what his trunk could do and the basics of the magic behind it. He knew how to as he made it, though he didn't share that knowledge yet. The Greymore family was very good at expansion enchantments after all. Soon enough the train came to a stop and they left their compartment.

Thankfully once the warning that they were about ten minutes away came they decided to change, with Damian going to the men's room to change and Hermione changing in the compartment with a locking and tinting charm applied. The first charm to lock the doors and the seconded to tint the windows further to stop anyone from seeing anything as well as to resist transparency spells, magic can be used by anyone on the train after all, even perverts. Damian was of the opinion that it was better to be safe then sorry.

Once they exited the train together, after Damian told Hermione that she didn't need to grab her trunk, ("But how will they get to the castle?" "Magic Hermione, magic" "Oh") they both heard a loud bellow coming from the direction of the nearby lake.

"First years! First years here!" said the joyful half-giant gamekeeper while holding a lantern.

The two new friends shrugged at each other and headed towards Hagrid. Once they reached the larger than life man they were directed to the boats and told no more than four to a boat. The two of them went to an empty vessel and waited. Soon after they chose their boat two girls went up to their boat. One was a blonde girl standing at about 5'4, slightly taller than average, with bright ice blue eyes. She possessed a pale, clear complexion with not a blemish in sight. Her face was full of sharp, aristocratic features. She was dressed in the standard unsorted robes along with her companion.

The aforementioned companion was slightly shorter than the blonde at 5'3 and had a head of light brown hair. She had hazel eyes and a more standard set of facial features along with a light dusting of barely noticeable freckles. The brunette was the one who spoke first.

"Hello! I'm Tracy Davis and this is my friend Daphne Greengrass. Could we share this boat?" she asked in a slightly bubbly tone of voice.

Damian looked at his own companion looking for her opinion in the matter. After she nodded he responded to the bubbly girls inquiry.

"Of course, we'd be delighted to have your company" he says in a more refined voice compared to what he'd been using previously, which gets a slight look from Hermione.

The two girls nod their thanks and get in the boat. Soon after they start to take off from the shore. After a small lull Damian clears his throat.

"Parden me, we haven't introduced ourselves. This is Hermione Granger, a new resident of the magical world. I am Damian Greymore, Lord of the House Greymore" he told the two girls.

The first part of his introduction didn't garner much reaction but the second most definitely did. The two girls had opened mouths, staring in shock at the information. Daphne recovered first and looked at his hand, where the Greymore lordship ring was. Having confirmed to herself the fact of who he was she turned to Tracy and elbowed her to snap out of the daze she was in. That snapped her companion out of her funk and also caused a slight blush to appear on the brunettes face.

"It's wonderful to meet you Lord Greymore, and I welcome your family's presence back in magical Britain" the Greengrass heiress said to him in a respectful voice with the Davis heiress nodding along to her friends words.

"Thank you for the welcome Miss Greengrass, Miss Davis. Now with formalities out of the way we can talk normally I hope" Damian said with a small smile.

The two girls practically sighed in relief, now they didn't have as much pressure to not offend him die to his giving leave to talk informally. The last thing they wanted after all was to insult the lord of the most powerful house in the magical world.

'I'm not getting disowned thank you very much!' Daphne thought to herself. While she may have loving parents if she majorly insulted such a person of power, disowning her would be one of the only ways to save her family from ruin if the worst were to happen. She didn't even like the possibility of that occurring.

After that they all made light conversation, the two heiress talking about inane stories of their childhood and explaining how they became friends after meeting during a party Tracy's father throw years ago. Damian and Hermione mostly talked about how they meet on the train and how Hermione was a show in for Ravenclaw. Nothing of real substance or overly personal. Hermione realized that, like during their conversation on the train, Damian never talked about his past. Though she didn't really herself do so, except a mention or two of her parents.

Soon they passed under a rocky arch and saw their first look at Hogwarts. Damian was in awe at the magical castle, despite his own home being impressive this was just different. Seeing it in person after reading about it and seeing it on a screen in his first life just made it hit how magical the structure is.

'Magnificent' he thought in his mind.

The short rest of the trip was spent in silence till they reached shore. They docked and Damian stepped out of the boat first. He helped the three remaining witches out one by one before they all stood in the rocky cave with the other first years. There was all the first years talking to each other in nervus excitement and to the Greymore Lord it showed just how bad the war was.

In years past the number of students each year was around two hundred, even his parents' generation had such a number. Now there was not even a hundred, less then half what it should have been.

'This is crazy! It's one thing to hear how bad the war was but this shows it' he thought sadly.

A loud sound brought him out of his thoughts. Turning he show that it had been the sound of Hagrid pounding on the doors leading into the castle, the large wooden monstrosities that they were. Soon after the half giant finished his knock the doors opened on their own and out stepped a tall, stern faced witch in green robes. The famous Professor McGonagall had arrived to shepherd the first years.

She strode into the cave with a smooth gait and stopped in front of all the first years who's attention she commanded easily.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting" she finished her speech while looking imperiously at a redheaded boy.

The redhead seemingly didn't notice, or care, and just stood there with a silly smile on his face. McGonagall sighed before turning and beckoning the new students to follow her.

"Come, follow me" the stern voiced professor said to those gathered after taking a final look through all the students and then turned around to head back into the castle.

They first years followed the order given to them, and thus got their first look at the inside of the castle. The ghosts of the four houses stopped by on their way, but didn't really interact with the new residents, seeming to be more busy looking for something, or someone.

'Are they looking for me? I guess ole' Albus is really desperate for finding out if 'Harry' is dead or if he's wrong' Damian thought to himself in mute amusement.

They soon entered the great hall after the ghosts went their own way. The enchanted ceiling was a magical splendor, with it's perfect recreation of the clear night sky making the candles all most seem unneeded with how bright the stars were. Even after living in the magical world for a number of years Damian was still transfixed. He also noticed Hermione wasn't rambling facts in nerves, a change with this version of her. Though he had already considered the books depictions of the people he meets to be just a rough outline to use. Remus had already proven different to his counterpart, be gay the most notable of the differences.

Quickly they were lined up at the side of the hall waiting to be sorted. McGonagall walked a little out of view and soon returned with a stole and hat in hand. She sat the stole down in front of the high table that sat the teachers and placed the hat down on the stole after dusting it off a bit. Then, to the amazement of those not raised in the magical and not in the know, the hat 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 folk 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 hats song ended to applause from both new students and old. After the claps died down Professor McGonagall seemed to cast a voice amplifying spell on herself and cleared her throat.

"Abbot, Hannah" she said loudly and concisely.

A blonde girl then stepped up to the stole, sat, and waited as the green robed professor placed the hat on her crown of golden hair. There was a short wait before the hat shouted 'Hufflepuff!' for all to hear. It was then answered be clapping as the girl took the hat off and put back on the stole before making it to a table with a banner of a black badger on a yellow field hung over it.

The sorting went on in this vain, no surprises from Damian point of view. Soon enough thought the transfiguration mistress shouted a name that drew his interest.

"Granger, Hermione!" she shouted just like the others.

The witch in question, standing right beside him, was visibly nervus. So Damian placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, getting her to face him, and mouthed 'You'll do fine' as he nodded to her. She took a breath, straitened her back and walked to the hat like a solder of too war. She nodded to McGonagall before she sat down and the professor laid the hat on her head.

It took about thirty seconds, a bit longer than normal but not enough to be a hat-stall. Than once thirty seconds passed the hat shouted 'Ravenclaw!' to cheers from the houses table. Hermione smiled as she took the hat off and walked to her new houses table, turn to give a nod at Damian on her way.

The next name called was another witch he'd talked to for the first time in twenty-four hours, Daphne Greengrass. She was quickly sorted into Slytherin like her friend Tracy before her. Then came the name he'd been waiting for, his own.

"Greymore, Damian!" McGonagall said with wide eyes to stunned silence.

He looked around the hall seeing the faces of surprise and shock from the majority of the students. He then turned to face the high table and wasn't disappointed in their response. The normal professors were shocked like the rest in the hall, but the heads of house had differing faces.

Flitwick looked like Christmas had come early, most likely because of his goblin ancestry and thus getting conformation that his races greatest ally hadn't died off. Professor Sprout looked curious about the reveal, and nothing more really, though perhaps just hiding her surprise better than the majority of those around her. McGonagall still just looked like she couldn't believe what she said out loud. Finally Severus looked like he was filled with anticipation, like he couldn't wait to see where Damian would go, and hoping it'd be his house.

Then Damian looked at who's reaction he wanted to see most, Albus Dumbledore's. The white bearded man looked completely baffled, like he couldn't understand what was happening. A face of complete, unguarded shock. He seemed to realize the face he was making and quickly regained his all-knowing grandfather façade. It still made Damian want to laugh at the reaction he'd garnered from the old manipulator.

He then walked out of the line of students and towards the stole. He sat down in a single graceful moment and waited. When the hat wasn't on his head for about a minute after that he cleared his throat to grab McGonagall's focus. She started and seemed to be a bit embarrassed before putting the hat on his head. Right before though he heard a student somewhere speak.

"Why's everyone all quite for that bloke?" was the last thing he heard before all sound cut of and he saw only black.

"Well, hello. I haven't sorted one your family for quite some time! I had almost thought you all dead. I also see you have impressive mind shields, they're stopping me from sorting you so if you'd put them down that be much appreciated" the voice of the hat said in Damian's mind.

"I'll take them down once you confirm for my the secrecy clause is still present" Damian responded.

"Ah, a carful lad. Very well I confirm it" the hat said back and sent a small pulse of magic that to Damian's senses confirmed the statement.

"Very well than" he told the hat.

A few minutes later, though must likely only one out in the real world, the hat responded.

"Well, that's a lot. Old Albus is going to have a heart attack when you reveal yourself! But that's not my business. I believe you already have an idea on where you want to go and I agree, so off too"

"Slytherin!" the hat shouted and the world came back into focus for the young wizard.

He took the hat off and gave it to McGonagall before standing up. He had taken a few steps before the clapping from Slytherin came like a tidal wave of sound. Damian smiled and went on to sit at his new table.

'Glad my memories regarding my reincarnation are blocked by death for me' he thought. He figured that might have been to much for even a magical hat to handle.

After he sat the sorting moved on and no new changes appeared, until, when McGonagall ended the P's and moved on to the next names. Throughout the hall people looked at each other and whispered concerns on where the titular 'boy-who-lived' was. Regardless the sorting moved forward and eventually ended. This then caused Dumbledore to stand up and begin his speech that Damian tuned out and simply waited for the food to arrive. He wasn't left waiting long as the plates of various dishes suddenly appeared on the table.

Damian loaded up his plate with some of the many dishes on offer. He then dug in and enjoyed the incredibly tasty foods he'd acquired, looking at those around him all the while. He saw many seemed to want to speak to him, but didn't start any conversation with him. Eventually, wanting the kind of awkward silence that surrounded his person, he started to talk to Daphne, who was sat across from him. He'd chosen the seat for that purpose after all.

"So," Damian began after finishing his bite of roast chicken "Hogwarts what you expected Greengrass?"

She stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"So far? Measuring up, though a few more surprises than I'd of thought" she said in a dry tone that Damian had seen her use in the boat not an hour before.

He lightly chuckled at that, enjoying her sarcastic humor she seemed to favor.

"You'd get along with my guardian then, he says that after all the surprises I gave him he wouldn't be shocked by anything anymore" he said remembering the many times Remus had said things to such effect, usually by swearing to make up at least twenty percent of the words.

Daphne, along with those around her, like Tracy on her right, looked intrigued by the mention of a guardian.

"A guardian?" she asked clearly implying a want for more information. He couldn't blame her, he was a lord of the most important family in the magical world, and hadn't said anything about his past yet to her.

"Ah yes, my guardian. He's the one who raised me, my parents having died a number of years ago" he said simply.

"Oh, sorry to hear about your parents. Though I'm glad you had someone to take care of you afterword" she said genially, she wouldn't use her dry tone of voice for such a thing after all.

Damian nodded in thanks and saw around her a few purebloods start to put things together.

"So that means your Lord Greymore than" a palatium blond haired boy said that could only be the bouncing ferret, better known as Draco Malfoy. It was statement as well, a fact that he'd just put together and was just saying more for the fact he needed to be sure of his deduction than asking for Damian to elaborate.

"Yes, it dose" he responded any way and saw a few people who hadn't put the pieces together yet widen their eyes at the news.

After that he let the others be in their silence as he made small talk with Daphne and Tracy. He found himself unconsciously giving more focus to the Greengrass heiress than her brown-haired friend. This confirmed what he assumed before on the boat here. They all talked for the rest of the meal, Tracy seemingly notice his fasciation with the blond and having a small mischievous smile. He'd already seen that Tracy liked to tease people, Daphne especially, and while he was no expert on teen girls he could imagine a teasing in Daphne's future about his focus on her.

He had been glad to see that as they all talked the two witches seemingly became more comfortable around him. This lead to his discovery of the previously mentioned teasing trait of Tracy after she slipped and teased him that he must think Hogwarts quaint compared to legendary Greymore family home. She'd frozen for a moment after she'd said it, but he'd taken it in good humor and laughed a bit. That caused her to release an almost addible sigh of relief, a little worried she'd somehow offended the Lord of a powerful house by her teasing.

That was what really lead to them getting more at ease, proof that he wouldn't be easily offended like some people in power tended to be. He understood, but still liked talking to Hermione who didn't really understand his position in the magical world. Though he found that Daphne was quicker at ease then Tracy was around him which didn't seem to match with her character from the looks Davis was giving her. All in all, a good meal and good first night in Hogwarts.

Eventually Dumbledore called the feast to an end and the prefects began to stand up. The prefects for Slytherin came up to the first years and told them to follow them to their dormitory. All of them got up and followed the two fifth year prefects down a winding way of halls to the dungeons beneath the castle. After a nearly silent ten minute walk they came upon a nondescript wall.

"Now, this is the entrance to our dorms and common room. The door is protected by the way of a password. The password changes every three weeks, which means" the female prefect began, a fairly normal seventeen-year-old girl with black hair by the name of Sara.

"You must remember the password. The new one is put on a notice board in the common room. If you forget this password, you will be stuck here until someone who didn't comes along" finished the male counterpart to Sara, a tall boy named Christopher.

Sara turned around at that point to face the wall and spoke in a slightly raised voice so they could all hear.

"Ambition" she said and the wall kindly grinded open.

The first years were then lead into their new commons and told to wait for their head of house to arrive for a few words. In the meantime the students got a good look at the room. The space was large and had an open feel to it in terms of space. The floor was a soft green carpet and had silver colored wooden chairs placed on top of it. The chairs ranged from single seaters to loveseats to couches, all with silver colored wood and green plush leather. They looked comfy to Damian.

The snake motif was present in most of the room, though not in a in your face kind of way. Just a silver snake symbol placed sparingly on the furniture and a Slytherin banner over the mantle place where a green fire burned in the hearth blow. The main thing that drew attention was the wall spanning window opposite the entrance. It showed a dark, murky liquid that didn't take long to realize was the black lake once a fish swam by. Damian wasn't worried though about water coming in, he'd read about the construction of Hogwarts in the Greymore family tome, more like diary.

From the book he had found out the royal families had helped in Hogwarts construction and even taught the founders some. This partnership is why many of the royal families have the blood of the founders in them. The Founders had come to the royal families with the idea of their school and asked for help. The royals loved the idea and decided to help the four. They wanted to them to run it by themselves after the school had been set up though since they had important duties and couldn't run a school as well. The Greymore lord that helped them wrote about the process of the building, as well as years later about his young son falling in love with his friend Salazar's daughter.

So he remembered as passage his ancestor wrote about that wall. It read like this:

I can't believe what that crazy snake-whisperer wanted to do for his common room! He wanted a glass window facing the big lake by the school! I asked him why and the madman simply said "Well picture the view!". When I asked him how the glass wouldn't break he said we could enchant it. I just about strangled the man! After said that I asked "What about if the enchantment breaks?".

He at least looked a little abashed but still insisted about the view. So I gave him a compromise, the wall would be made of stone like the rest, but I'd help him put an enchantment on it to make the stone transparent. He agreed and I taught him how, though I'm pretty sure he asked Rowena to help him. I'm just glad that potions head it's going to be teaching enchanting if this is the shit he does with it and thinks that the glass idea would have stood the test of time safely.

I swear Sal's going to give me greys before I'm forty, the lovable fool.

So yeah he wasn't worried about the window, thanks to his ancestor talking sense into his new houses founder. It was also due to the book he'd found out that the founders were not these all-knowing magical geniuses that books now adays portray them, at least not at first. When they worked with the royals and made the school they were only in their twenties, and had a lot to learn in the eyes of the royals. But they did learn and the school became successful.

He was snapped out of remembering long dead ancestors and their friendships with agnatic snake-men by the sound of a door opening. He turned and saw that a door on the right wall had opened and a tall man in black robes walked out. He had wondered what the door was for as to the left was two staircases going down to the dorms, so the right door was a mystery.

Severus Snape walked in a gliding kind of way that drew the attention of those around him. He reached the center point in front of the new students and turned on his heel to face them. The potions master simply looked at them for a moment before speaking.

"I am your new head of house, as well as you potions professor, Professor Severus Snape at this fine institution until you graduate or I for some reason no longer work here" he said to them in a drawling and deep tone of voice that made you focus on each and every word "I will tell you hear and now that you will be judged for the green you'll wear on your robes every day, for the snake sigil on your chest, and for your supposed wrong doing. I can't change that sadly, but I can tell you this: do not fear, you are not alone."

Severus began to walk after he said this back and forth in front of them.

"In Slytherin we must present a face of unity, no one is to be left alone to face the badgers, ravens, and lions that might prey upon the snakes. While not all of those of other houses will do so I don't like taking risks if they were to. In this house you will always have someone to speak to, for your worries and concerns, for your fears and troubles, or even if you just need someone to listen. If you can't find it amongst you peers then my door is right on that wall and you may knock at any time. I won't leave you all to flounder on your own, this I promise" the professor finished and turned to face them again in the same place he'd started.

That speech made Damian infinitely glad he'd started his correspondence with the man years before. Snape had written to him about how he'd begun doing this a year after they'd began talking. With him getting a bit more leeway with Dumbledor after improving his teaching, he felt comfortable doing this. Before he couldn't due to the bearded megalomaniac wanting him to have a reputation like the one on the books, but now he could as he put it 'be for my students what I wish I'd had as one'.

The Slytherin first years nodded and then Snape proceeded to tell them a few important things. He told them about the curfew for students, how they would have the option of a guide to classes by their prefects for the full first scholastic week, and how they have prearranged independent rooms for them among other things. Damian was glad for the private rooms, only possible due to expansion charms. Only Slytherin and Ravenclaw had the luxury, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff thought shared rooms promoted house unity. He'd found out about the conversation from the book and the two other founders response to Helga and Godric.

"If I had to share a room with over at least three people for seven years and during puberty I'd want to kill everyone in the room."

Rowena had told them that with Salazar nodding along according to his ancestor. He agreed with their assessment.

After Severus finished he told them to head off to bed and get some sleep. They followed his orders and headed to the staircases on the left wall, right staircase for boys and left for girls. The first years were on the first floor down with the following years being one floor down in descending order. Luckily for the upper years there was a magical enchantment that made it so the door for the staircase opened to whatever floor the user said before opening thus making it so they only have to go down one flight, a feature the professor had explained beforehand.

Damian walked down the hall the staircase lead to and saw the many doors with silver plaques on with names on them. He found his three doors down on the left, simply saying Damian G.. He opened the door and walked in to his new abode.

The room had plenty of space and the needed furniture, a desk, a wardrobe, a bed and a bedside table. There was a door on the back wall that presumably led to a bathroom and the whole room was in tones of silver and green against the grey stone walls. Damian took out and unshrunk his trunk, placed it on the floor at the foot of the bed, then took out some sleep clothes. He changed then immediately laid down on the bed tired.

'Well, today was interesting'he thought.

He contemplated the whole of the day, in particular why he shared so much and felt so at ease around Daphne and Hermione. He could reach only one conclusion after all he'd felt when around them and all the books he read on the subject over the years.

'I found two of my soul-bonds already' he thought with a sigh before closing his eyes to sleep.

Thus ended his first night at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.