Chapter 4

The entire hall grew quiet. A pin drop silence spread throughout the hall. The faces of McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape and other professors had expressions of shock and disbelief on them. The students were in shock. Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, the boy who killed Voldemort, the greatest dark lord, was a Slytherin. A Slytherin, the house whose members were known as blood supremist, whose members were known for their use of dark magic, the house which was known for producing dark wizards and witches. Harry had defeated the most powerful dark wizard from Slytherin. The possible implications of what had just happened were enormous. Had they just witnessed the beginning of the rise of another powerful dark wizard?

Harry stood up and removed the hat from his head. He then placed it back on the chair and went to sit at the empty corner of the Slytherin table. As soon as he sat, he looked around. He saw everyone staring at him. It made him feel uncomfortable and he looked at his hands, wrangling them together and waiting for the sorting to resume, hoping that it would take the attention from him.

McGonagall suddenly came out of her shock and said the name of the next student. The attention of the remaining people went back to the sorting ceremony, but the fact that Harry Potter was in Slytherin was still in the back of their mind, just pushed back for the moment. The sorting ceremony was soon over and Dumbledore stood up to give his speech, "There is a time for speech but now is not the time for that. Enjoy the fabulous feast that has been prepared for all of you." Dumbledore then clapped his hands and food appeared on the large plates kept on the tables.

Harry was surprised by just seeing the sheer quantity and variety of food kept in front of him. Mashed potatoes, sausages, beef roast and pudding were just some of the dishes. In front of him, a pie was present. Harry took a small piece of the pie, just to try what it would taste like. As soon as he ate a spoon of it, he felt himself falling in love with this dish. This was the tastiest thing he had ever eaten. He ended up eating three helpings of the pie and knew this was his favourite dish. He heard someone to his right say, "Turns out Potter is a fan of the treacle tart." The blonde boy he had seen earlier, Draco, said, "No wonder he liked it. it is as plain and average as him." Harry didn't understand what Draco's problem with him was. But he didn't mind much what he and his gang said. Harry had been bullied since his childhood and by now, he was used to this type of stuff. But Harry was happy to learn that the dessert was called treacle tart.

During the meal, Harry was discreetly observing everyone. Headmaster Dumbledore was in a deep conversation with professor McGonagall. The large man he had seen earlier, Hagrid, was taking with another professor who was short and had worn a patched hat over her grey and wavy hair. He noticed that a professor wearing a turban was talking with another professor who was wearing a black clock. His focus however appeared to be on Harry, as his eyes were fixed on him. This made Harry uncomfortable and he felt pain in his scar. He quickly looked away. When he looked at Ron, he saw Ron stare at him. His ears were red and his face had a scowl on his face. He had been playing exploding snap with him just an hour before and was now scowling at him, with anger clearly visible on his face. What had changed from then to now? What was making Ron angry at him?

But before he could think more, Dumbledore stood again and said, "I hope you all enjoyed this wonderful feast. To the first years, welcome to Hogwarts. To the others, welcome back for another year at Hogwarts. There are a few announcements before I let all of you go to your dorms. First, the Forbidden Forest as the name suggests is forbidden to everyone. No one, not even me or Hagrid, our gamekeeper, knows all the things that are in the forest. I will once again repeat this for the benefit of some students, no one is to go inside the Forbidden Forest." He said the last part while looking at Fred and George Weasley. He then continued, "Mr. Filch has also asked me to remind all of you that use of magic in corridors in forbidden. And lastly, the corridor on right side of third floor is out of bound for everyone. The reason is not important but for your own safety, don't try not sneak there. The results will be painful for you. With that, I wish you good night. Prefects, guide the first years to their respective dorms."

A tall and muscular boy along with a blond girl went towards the first years. The girl said, "I am Gemma Farley and this is Marcus Flint. We are 5th years prefects and are going to show you the way to the Slytherin dorms. Follow us and don't lag behind." Marcus and Gemma showed the first years the way to the Slytherin Dorms. They also showed them the various classrooms near the dungeon, where the Slytherin dorms were located. Upon reaching the entrance to the dorms, Marcus and Gemma turned towards the first years. Marcus said, "This is the entrance to our dorm. We have a password that you all have to say in order to enter the dorm. It changes every week. Today, it is Salazar. You have to say the password to this snake here. It will allow you inside only if you say the password correct. And you better remember the password correctly, because if you don't, I don't think I need to tell you what this snake here will do. Am I clear?" the first years all nodded. The prefects then took them inside. Gemma then said, "This is the common room. You can spend time here talking with other students, sit by the fire or just read a book. On the right side is the dorm for girls. On the left is for boys. We all have individual rooms instead of a single dorm. A common bathroom is attached to the dorm. The curfew is till 9 pm. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. Gemma and Marcus then left the first years. Harry went toward the room on the farthest corner. He found all his stuff in there. He changed his clothes and decided to sleep early, letting his mind come to term with all the stuff he had just learnt.

The other first years were talking amongst themselves. Draco said, "I doubt Potter is as powerful as they claim him to be. I mean look at him. He looks like a muggle for merlin's sake. He probably didn't even know about magic before getting the letter." Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Pansy and Millicent agreed with Draco. Blaise however didn't immediately agree. He said, "Remember Malfoy, he defeated the Dark Lord as a baby. Let's observe him for a while before deciding anything. Looks can be deceiving. For all we know, he might be posing like that to push attention away from him." Daphne and Tracy agreed with Blaise. After all, Potter was in Slytherin. He must have something in him for the hat to place him in Slytherin. The others said nothing and they eventually went to their rooms to sleep.

Albus was in his office, thinking on what had just happened. His thoughts were focused on Harry. He looked terribly underweight and undernourished. He had hoped that being the son of her own sister, Patricia would look after Harry like her own. Or at least feel him being a part of her family. It appeared that contrary to his hopes, Harry wasn't treated like family by the Dursleys. The way he looked was proof of that. This was not good at all.

He still couldn't believe that Harry was in Slytherin. He had always believed that the boy would be in Gryffindor, considering his parents and his family. Had he been in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, then also it wouldn't be that big of an issue. But he was in Slytherin, the house known for producing wizards with an affinity for dark arts. A fear had already started taking shape in Dumbledore's heart. Tom had also been an orphan. He too had grown in a place where he wasn't loved or looked after. Where he was alone. Tom had also been in Slytherin. Lots of similarities were appearing between Tom Marvolo Riddle and Harry James Potter. Was Harry shaping up to be the next dark lord? No, Dumbledore would not do the same mistake he did with Tom. This time, he would observe Harry carefully and not let him turn dark. The wizarding world couldn't handle another dark lord. But that wasn't the biggest fear in his heart. The biggest fear was Harry going to Voldemort and joining him, for Dumbledore believed that Voldemort wasn't dead as everyone believed.