By the time they werre done gathering everything, twilight had begun to fall over the alley. Harry's new wand was stored safely in a hip mounted wand holster he had bought at Olivander's. Walking back into the Leaky Cauldron, Harry took a bit of floo powder from the pot next to the fireplace, "Wgere are we going?"
"Me hut, we'll walk up to Hogwarts from there."
"Hagrid's Hut," Harry said, and was pulled away in a woosh of flames and a rapid spinning. Nald'thal, give him Aetheyte travel any day of the week. This was so nauseating- Finally, Harry burst from the flames to find an oversized cottage, a large boarhound looking up and growling slightly. Harry stepped out of the way of the fire and approached the boarhound.
Hagrid came out a second later, patting out a few embers in his hair, "Gettin' to know Fang, 'arry?"
"Fang," Harry said, holding out his hand for Fang to sniff. After a second, Fang pressed his head against the hand.
"We should probably go 'arry, they'll be wantin' to sort ya."
"Sort?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Hogwarts has four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin," Hagrid said, opening the door and taking wide strides im front of Harry, "they're like your family 'ere. Gryffindor values bravery, Ravenclaw, smarts, Hufflepuff, loyalty and Slytherin Ambition. They're a right dark lot, Slytherin."
Oh, Harry had seen the way ambition could go wrong. The coup in Ul'dah had taught him of that. He also strongly doubted he would find family when his goal was just to get home.
They entered the dining hall then, people looking at Harry from the middle two tables as he strode towards the dilapidated hat sitting on a stool. McGonagall was standing next to it, "Come on, Potter. Sit down and I'll put the sorting hat on your head."
Sorting Hat? Harry sat down warily, letting the hat be placed on his brow. Immediately, a soft voice spoke in his ear.
"Harry Potter," it said, "I was wondering when I would sort you, or if I even would when you didn't show up at the start of term."
If Harry had his way-
"-I would have never gotten the chance, yes," the voice said.
Hang on, was it reading his thoughts?
"Have to root around your head to figure out where you'll go, don't I? Don't worry,everything I see wll be strictly confidental between you and me," The voice said, "now let's see. You aren't scared to delve into the abyss for power and knowledge. That much is certainly true, with your "Black Magic", but, more, much more is your loyalty to your friends. You'd do anything to get back to them, wouldn't you? In fact, you don't intend to stay around Hogwarts for any longer than you have to."
Hufflepuff then?
"I can see why you would assume that, Mr. Potter But excepting your duel with Hydaelyn, your greatest trials were fought with the help of strangers. And what trials at that! To the edge of the universe, to other dimensions, to the moon, all in service of a world where you weren't born but was undeniably yours. There's only one choice here, I think, and it's GRYFFINDOR!"
The last word was called out to the hall at large, and the right most table exploded in applause. Harry took the hat off, handing it to McGonagall, who looked extraordinarily pleased, and walked to the table. Immediately, a pair of beaming redheads pushed a goblet into his hand, and it took all of Harry's effort not to use his prodigious strength to crush it and instead put it down. He preferred to pour his own drinks, since the Coup.
Suddenly, something in his brest pocket burned, and he reached in.
—
Neville Longbottom, a boy with straw blond hair and slightly on the chubby side, watched as Harry Potter reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small black gem with red carvings on it, looking down at it with curiosity. Red smoke began to rise from it and drift towards Neville. Harry snapped his fist shut and stored the crystal away.
"What was that?" Hermione Granger asked, having stopped looking at her book to stare at Harry curiously.
"Soul Crystal," Harry said gruffly, "repository of knowledge. Got this one from… Well, or relationship was a bit complicated, he'd call me his best friend, I'd call him an obsessed madman."
"I've never heard of a Soul Crystal before," Hermione said.
"Not surprised," Harry said, but didn't go further.
"Why was the smoke coming towards me?" Neville asked.
"Tell you when we're alone," Harry said, putting a steak on his plate, "In fact, give me a few minutes to finish this and we'll split off and talk. Ok?"
Neville swallowed at the idea of talking with the famous Harry Potter, who seemed an unsociable figure given the way he had ignored the crowd around him, alone, but nodded. Harry finished the steak far too quickly for his liking, before standing up, "C'mon."
Neville swallowed again, before standing up and following the tall man out of ths Dinning Hall and then out of the castle. They walked until they reached the black bird and Harry flicked open a saddlebag, pulling out a bottle.
"What's in there?" Neville asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Apple juice," Harry said, "I'm sure whatever they have up in the castle is delicious, but after a bad experience with poison I refuse to drink anything anyone else has poured for me."
"Someone tried to poison you?" Neville asked, wondering what adventures Harry Potter had gotten up to wherever he had been.
"Friend, would have successeded too, but her uncle, who was in on it, switched it with one that made her sleep. Anyways, what's your name?"
"N-Neville, sir, Neville Longbottom," Neville stuttered.
"Don't call me sir," Harry said, fishing out thr soul crystal, "So, this picked you."
"Picked? Me?"
"Mhh," Harry said, "It's a Reaper Soul Crystal, carries the knowledge of generations of them. It's yours, if you want it."
"What's a Reaper?" Neville asked.
"Combat specialty, scythe users. They make a deal with a Voidsent for extra magical power."
"Voidsent?"
"People born on the Thirteenth shard, twisted by the Flood of Darkness. Don't worry about what those are, point is, it give access to the Voidsent's power in return for feeding it Aether."
"Aether?"
"This place really is backwater, isn't it?" Harry snarked, "Aether comes from many places, the environment, but also all living things. Draining some plants or animals would be enough to keep it happy. It's charity, really, so much of the Aether in the Void is dark aligned they're constantly starving. You want it? I'll give you combat lessons. I don't know how to use a scythe, but the Soul Crystal should do the rest, Neville."
Neville reached out with a shaking hand, taking the crystal in it, and in front of him bloomed a creature that looked quite a bit like a Dementor, though none of the known negative effects of one happened, and with red skeletal claws in the place of hands and a rictus grin on its eyeless face.
"That's the Avatar, it represents your pact with the Voidsent," Harry explained.
"What if it picked wrong?" Neville asked.
"I've never known a Soul Crystal to pick wrong," Harry said, pulling out the necklace around his neck to reveal several Soul Crystals, "and trust me, I have plenty of experience."
—
Harry came out of the guest quarters the next day, black robes on and his staff, Blade's Fury, on his back and his wand at his hip. Walking through the halls of Hogwarts, he brooded on Neville Longbottom. He couldn't particularly see why Zenos's Soul Crystal had picked the boy. He was slightly overweight and not confident in himself, but it wasn't his place to countermand where the crystal wanted to go, and he was sure the boy could lose weight with training.
Harry stepped into the Dinning Hall, immediately noticing McGonagall making a beeline for him. Stifling a sigh, he walked towards him, "Yes, Professor McGonagall?"
"Potter," McGonagall said briskly, "The teachers have talked over how to deal with your… Unique… Circumstances, and with the exception of three, have come to a consensus. First off, obviously, is that you will be allowed into the Gryffindor common room, but continue to spend your nights in the guest quarters. Far less messy that way. Second, most of your classes will be one on one, at least at first, to catch you up on what you missed over the past month. Your first lesson with me is tonight, after dinner. Transfigurations."
"And the three exceptions?" Harry prompted.
"Professor Sinistra, of the Astronomy department, doesn't have time for individual classes, as her schedule is booked at night each day, and so has requested you be put with the first years. Professor Sprout believes isolating you from your classmates is only going to cause problems down the road, and so requests the same. And Professor Snape… Well, he says it will cut into his time for grading and detentions."
"What do they teach?"
"Herbology and Potions. Now," she tapped a piece of paper with her wand, words scrawling across it, "the only class today, other than mine, is Potions after lunch. Do what you will until that time."
"I'll probably go down to Hagrid's," Harry said, taking the piece of paper and storing it in his robes pocket, "He's the only person here I know at all. I'll spend time with Squall, if nothing else."
Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table, sitting dowm across from Neville, who was staring at the Soul Crystal in his hand, "Alright, Neville?"
"Yeah, just… Never been chosen by anything in my life so it feels weird. Good, but weird."
"What about your wand?"
"It's my dad's, Gran insisted I use it."
Well, that sounded like a bad idea. Harry didn't know how focus's worked here, but they wouldn't have put him through the paces yesterday if anyone could use any wand.
"You'll get the hang of it," Harry said, kindly, "what classes do you have today?"
"Uh, Transfiguration, Defense Against The Dark Arts, and then double Potions in the afternoon," Neville pulled a face.
"Potions is rough?"
"Professor Snape hates me," Neville insisted, "I know I make mistakes, but it feels like he's harsher on me than anyone else!"
That didn't bode well, a grown man making a child hate him.
—