I do not own Harry Potter nor World of Darkness

Great Hall, Hogwarts, 1st September 1991 (Sunday)

Harry and Ron were waiting for their turn to be called. They had taken the boats, like the rest of the first year, listened to professor McGonagall's speech and the sorting hat's song and were now waiting to be called for the sorting ceremony. The group had a surprise meeting with the ghost of the fat friar, which had been a huge surprise for Harry, who promised himself to ask Sir Harold for additional information with his weekly report.

"Granger, Hermione!" called professor McGonagall.

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Harry couldn't help but wonder what kind of magic allowed the hat to sort the students. Was the hat sentient? Or was one of those objects that had a spirit bound to them? He knew that the Garou did things like that, perhaps the wizards were doing similar but less…crude?

He observed the Tharsis, no… the Malfoy scion being sorted into Slitherin and once again wondered how useful his knowledge of heraldry would be. He had known there would be no Tremere, of course, but what about house Tytalus? House Quaesitori? House Bonisagus? House Shaea? That Susan Bones girl sure had the typical Quaesitori look, but her family name was Bones... He didn't believe for a second all of these houses went extinct, perhaps they had changed their names? But why would they do something like that?

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

Harry sat on the stool and the hat was dropped over his eyes. He waited.

"Hmm - said a small voice in his ear. - Difficult. Very difficult. Your mind is pretty cluttered, is it not, boy? You have so many voices in here it's hard to hear yours among the noises… Plenty of courage, I see. Loyal to a fault, a devotion rarely seen in one so young. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, yes… and a thirst to prove yourself... That is something all the voices seem to agree on… I suppose that's a start… So where shall I put you? Slytherin? You do have plenty of things in common with the snakes, after all… Ambition, cunning… Yes, you'll fit right in. In that case… SLYTHERIN!"

Harry could hear the clapping from the green and silver table. He glanced at Ron, shocked to see the horrified expression on the redhead. Was Ron feeling… Betrayed? Is that what it was? Turning his head toward the green and silver table, he swiftly walked towards the cheering group, purposefully avoiding the open spot next to Malfoy and sitting next to another first year: a brown-haired girl with a bowl cut sporting a pair of large, round glasses.

"Harry Potter, pleased to meet you."

He said, sitting down next to her.

"Sally-Anne Perks" she introduced herself.

"Theodore Nott" said another boy with long, weedy black hair sitting on the opposite side of Harry, extending his hand. His cheeks were a bit more pronounced, while the slightly longer front teeth and the unusually large eyes made Harry think of a rabbit, for some odd reason.

"Pleasure to meet both of you. You'll have to excuse me if my manners aren't up to standard, Sir Harold only had a month to teach me proper etiquette."

Harry could see a few nods from the older Slytherins.

"We'll do our best. After all, we snakes ought to stick together" said Sally with a smile.

"I have to admit Potter: I am surprised you ended up in Slytherin. Everyone was expecting you to be sorted in Gryffindor." commented the boy.

Harry shrugged. "I suppose being a devoted follower of the Wyrm influenced me. After all, it's a bit hard to not favor snakes when your entire religion is centered around them."

Many students suddenly became interested in the conversation.

"Are you religious, Potter?" asked one of the older boys with a touch of incredulity.

"Of course. My old school had mandatory daily prayers to honor the Triatic Wyrm in all of its aspects. Sir Harold should have brought up the subject with the headmaster already, but I sincerely hope I'll be allowed to set up a small shrine somewhere in the castle."

One of the older students scoffed at that.

"Wizards don't need religion, Potter. It's a superstition used by Muggles to try and explain magic."

Harry didn't react. After all, to quote Sir Harold, 'Mages in general seemed to be awfully resistant to the very concept of divinity. Do not engage them in the futility of their denial, merely pity them for they willingly blinded themselves to even greater powers than their own.'. He had been told to expect such reactions.

"I disagree. After all, I couldn't speak to snakes until after I got blessed by the Wyrm."

The students around him froze.

"You're a Parselmouth!?" screeched another of the first year, her voice barely covered the applause or another student being welcomed to the Ravenclaw table. She coughed a second, before repeating the question.

"Are you saying you are a Parselmouth, Potter?"

Harry looked at the girl, a blonde first year with a pair of pure blue eyes. Another Tharsis? Maybe one of their descendants?

She seemed to understand as she extended her hand towards him, introducing herself.

"Daphne Greengrass."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Greengrass. As for your question, I do not know what a Parselmouth is, but if that means someone that can talk to snakes then yes. It is one of the blessings I received… last year, if I recall correctly."

"What else can you do?" asked Theodore.

"Walk on walls. I also gained an additional joint in my arms, but I think that's more of a side effect than an actual blessing."

Before the questioning could continue, Albus Dumbledore had reached his podium, silencing the students.

"Welcome. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

As he sat down, food suddenly appeared on the table and everyone reached for it.

"Is the headmaster always so…"

"Weird? - suggested one of the older students, observing in morbid fascination Harry's arm bending in unnatural ways - I don't think you have any right to comment on that, but yes. Some say he's going senile, others say that it's all pretending."

Harry nodded. "Being underestimated can be a big advantage."

"As if anyone is stupid enough to underestimate Dumbledore. He's the one who defeated Grindelwald."

"Interesting. I didn't know about that. Do you mind telling me about it?"

Slytherin dormitory, Hogwarts, 1st September 1991 (Sunday)

After dinner, the students had listened to Dumbledore's warnings about the forbidden forest and the third floor, then followed the prefects to their common room. In the case of Slytherin, it was a dungeon-like room with green-tinted lamps and chairs that extended partly under the lake, with three large windows on that side of the common room providing an underwater view and giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had many black and dark green button-tufted leather sofas, a small collection of skulls of various animals on display over the many dark wood cupboards filled with books. Most importantly, a blackboard with the week's password, as well as any other important communications, such as their schedules and the day for the Quidditch tryouts, occupied the entire corridor that led toward the exit. Overall, it had quite a grand, if cold, atmosphere. A Prefect by the name of Gemma Farley showed everyone their bedroom, a circular chamber with three mahogany beds, each one flanked by a chair and a dresser. A large carpet bearing the Slytherin snake was placed in the middle of the room. Soft, greenish light diffused throughout the room from a series of glass windows near the ceiling, allowing the students to watch the lake from a unique perspective.

Harry was happy to see that his trunks were already located at the bottom of his bed, together with the bags of his two roommates.

He had already met with Theodore Nott, having chatted with him during dinner and the guy seemed friendly enough. He had asked a few questions about Harry's religion without ridiculing him for it, and that alone had put the Nott heir squarely in the 'cool people' box. Harry's other roommate, however, a black man named Blaise Zabini, didn't seem as friendly. He was very clearly looking down on both Harry and Theodore, but at the very least he had the decency not to voice whatever scathing remarks he was sure to have. Not the best roommate, but Harry was confident that if the two didn't get in each other's way, they would do just fine.

Once the trio was left to their own, they started to unpack.

"What's that?" asked Theo, pointing at a blue, a green and a yellow colored rectangle with buttons and a large glass window.

"Mind if I have a look? I didn't know they sold those things in Diagon Alley."

"They don't. They're Niknak Discman from… I think Japan? Or maybe Korea, I honestly don't remember."

"Imports? You must be very well connected, Potter." said Blaise, causing the boy to smile.

"I am. Sir Harold is on Pentex's Board of Directors. You can't really get more important than that."

"Never heard of this Sir Harold. Is he a British pureblood?" asked Theo

"American. Not really sure about pureblood, I never asked. But Sir Harold has a lot of titles, he told me… maybe half of them? I'm pretty sure his favorite one is 'scholar of Banes'. After Pentex's Board of Directors, of course."

"What is a Bane?" asked Theo, curious.

"Some type of spirit. He didn't have the time to teach me about them, all I know is that he believes they can make these - Harry pointed at the discman - work in Hogwarts despite them using muggle technology."

Blaise snorted. "Muggle technology doesn't work at Hogwarts, Potter."

"Sir Harold thinks binding a Rust Spider can make them work."

"Rust Spider?" asked Theo, curious.

Harry shrugged. "Some sort of spirit."

Harry turned on the first Discman. It sputtered to life, emitting a loud screech, followed by an extremely distorted version of the 'Thrill of Service' game theme song, which Harry only recognized because he already knew what song was on it.

Ignoring his roommates' shocked expression, Harry pressed a few buttons, then frowned and shut it off, moving to the next one. After repeating the process for all three Discman, he settled for the yellow one. The sound was still distorted and sometimes there was half a second of silence, but overall, he could recognize the music.

Theo walked next to Harry, peeking over his shoulder at the muggle contraption, while Blaise, despite his curiosity, tried his best to look uninterested.

"How does this work?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, I just listen to the music. it's pretty complicated stuff, though… my friend John wants to study computers, and he told me you need four or five years of university to learn how to program."

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that difficult? I didn't know muggles had the brains for spending that much time studying."

"Maybe that's why it takes them so many years." pointed out Blaise.

"Maybe. But it's really, really difficult stuff. You have to learn an entire language that has only two letters for it."

Theo snorted. "There is no way a language with two letters exists, Potter."

"No, I'm serious. It's called binary and is the language that muggle technology speaks."

"Are you implying that that… thing is sentient?" asked Blaise in a condescending tone.

"It has a spirit in it, so… maybe?"

"How does THAT even work? And weren't you raised by muggles? How do they know about binding spirits?"

"I was. But when I got my Hogwarts letter, Sir Harold came all the way from America to prepare me so that I wouldn't embarrass myself here."

"Ah, so you were taught by a wizard."

"I'm pretty sure Sir Harold isn't a wizard, but he also doesn't like the word, so maybe it's more of a personal choice?" suggested Harry. He had been ordered by Sir Harold to keep his identity as a vampire secret, but he was also encouraged to build 'an air of mystery and panache' around himself. By the look of confusion on his roomates's faces, he was probably doing things correctly.

"He doesn't like the word…wizard?" asked Theo, confused.

"He says mage is a better description and is 'more aristocratic'. He does know a lot about magic and taught me a few Thaumaturgy rituals, but the one time I called him a wizard he got really angry. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the Massasa wars, but he refuses to talk about them. Maybe we'll learn about them in History of Magic?"

While Blaise's mind was exploding with questions about Harry's mysterious teacher, Theo seemed more interested in the music. After a few minutes, Harry handed it over to the boy and started to teach him how to use the device.

Slytherin common room, Hogwarts, 2nd September 1991 (Monday)

Harry had woken up, as usual, at 6:00 sharp. Without waking his roommates, he made the bed, cleaned himself up and headed toward the castle grounds. He was halfway across the common room when a stern voice echoed behind him.

"Stop right there!"

Harry turned around, looking at a thin man with sallow skin, a large hooked nose and yellow uneven teeth. He was wearing flowing black robes which made him resemble an overgrown bat. He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains, curling lips and dark, penetrating eyes that resembled tunnels. Harry remembered seeing the man sitting at the professor table: this was Severus Snape, their Potions professor and head of house. Out of instinct, he saluted the man.

"Mr. Potter. What a surprise seeing you up this early. What are you doing out of bed this early?"

"Sir, I was hoping to finish my morning exercises, prayers and take a shower before heading to breakfast, sir."

Snape frowned.

"You will most certainly not. Students aren't allowed outside of their dormitory before 7, Mr. Potter. You should know that."

"Apologies, sir. I will head back to my chamber and exercise there."

"So you can make a ruckus and wake up your roommates? I think not, Mr. Potter. If you truly wish to exercise, you can start by carrying the students' cauldrons to potion class. Follow me."

Harry followed the professor through the corridors into a large room with a very ceiling, the walls covered in vials containing colored fluids. Snape waved his wand and a piece of parchment with a list of names floated in front of Harry.

"Go to the left, then right at the first intersection. The second room to your left is where you'll find the cauldrons. Since you want to exercise so badly you won't have a problem with running back and forth, do you?"

The snark and clear mistrust about Harry's intention was very much evident, but Harry didn't care. After all, he was genuinely trying to exercise.

"No, sir. I'll have the cauldrons here in but a moment."

Harry dashed to the end of the corridor, finding a storage room filled with tall shelves filled with cauldrons, each one carefully stored and labeled with a name tag, divided by year and house and stored in alphabetical order. Harry picked up the cauldron and dashed back to the potion classroom, repeating the process until all the cauldrons were there. Without missing a beat, he dropped to his knees and started doing push-ups, much to professor Snape's surprise. While Harry was exercising, Snape was hard at work brewing, throwing the occasional glance at Harry. Halfway to his potion, a sweaty Harry looked at him.

"Sir, my exercises are done. I do not know whether I have been granted permission to set up a Wyrm shrine in the castle, would it be a problem if I did my prayers in here for today?"

Severus paused. He had read the letter where Mr. Zettler had requested a shrine, but he had assumed, like the rest of the staff, that it was merely a request from an old religious muggle. He certainly didn't expect Harry to actually push for it.

"So long as you keep quiet, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded, walked halfway toward the door and fell on his knee.

He stayed in that position, unmoving and without making a sound, for much longer than what Severus had expected from an eleven year old boy, to the point that Snape had enough time to finish his potion.

At around a quarter past 8, Harry stood up.

"Sir, unless my presence is required I'll be heading back to my dorm for a quick shower before breakfast."

Severus looked at Harry. There was no way the boy could shower and get to the main hall in time for breakfast. He waved his wand toward him, removing all the sweat and grime.

"There will be no need for the shower. Follow me to the great hall, eat your breakfast and be sure to be on time for your lectures, Mr. Potter."

Harry saluted the professor. "I will, sir. If I may ask, would I be able to assist you with the cauldrons as part of my exercises tomorrow?"

Snape looked at the boy for a few seconds, measuring him up and down.

"You may." he finally said.

Notes

Harry's a Slytherin! I admit, this wasn't exactly hard to predict, but hey, not all changes need to be earth-shattering twists.

As you might have noticed by the fac that these three are the only ones I described, Theodore Nott, Sally-Anne Perks and Daphne Greengrass will be part of Harry's friend group.

Sally-Anne Perks is one of those barely-canon characters. We don't even know what house she ends up in! I placed her in Slytherin and, given the lack of info, will have to make her up from scratch.

Daphne Greengrass seems to be a fan-favourite, but canon-wise she isn't exactly that much better off than Sally. Sure, we have SOME info about her, but not really much to work with.

Theodore Nott... for being the son of a death eater (one that went to school with Riddle at that!) is also quite... lacking. There is a decent amount of info about his family, but Theodore himself doesn't really do much until the Cursed Child, and I doubt I'll get to that.

Muggle technology: there's the big change. I will not explain WHY muggle tech doesn't work at Hogwarts, but I'll spinkle hints now and then and see if anyone catches on before the big reveal. Harry's Discman works because, by binding a spirit (in case you're wondering: it's a Rust Pattern Spider, the corrupted form of the one of the weakest spirit of technology there are in WoD), that Discman becomes a Fetish (actual term from the WtA books), and that allows it to work in... wherever Hogwarts is.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and hit me up with anything: theories, suggestions, WoD character cameo (thanks again to ww1990ww for the cab driver idea)