I own nothing.
Alaric couldn't help but marvel at everything around him. The charms on the ceiling, the ghosts, the countless suits of armour, the talking portraits, and the constant comforting hum of raw magic all around him were beyond what he imagined they would be.
Neither of his grandparents had gone to Hogwarts, both of them being alumni of Beauxbatons instead but he had heard countless stories about it and read each page of Hogwarts: A History to prepare himself, but seeing it all was truly amazing.
Alaric had been the first of the first years to make it onto the platform and the majestic sight he had been greeted with had frozen him to his feet and left him breathless for more than a moment— it was not just the rough outline of a massive castle which he knew to be Hogwarts, it was the gentle feel of magic in its purest form that enveloped the entire landscape.
It permeated into every inch of the air he was breathing and drenched the very grounds he walked upon, subtle enough to appear comforting yet powerful enough to almost overwhelm the magical sense he had so painstakingly developed over the course of his childhood.
The Peverell Estate was apparently one of the most well-warded locations in all of magical Britain yet even his ancestral home simply paled before Hogwarts which had no comparison.
It had been Hagrid's loud shout that had snapped him out of his trance, and he had purposely ignored the curious glances sent his way by Daphne and Tracy as he wordlessly followed the giant whom he vaguely recognized when the towering man had introduced himself.
The man was rather hard to miss, let alone forget. Alaric had shot Hagrid a reassuring smile when he noticed that he was looking at him with a modicum of concern. The first years then followed the giant down a steep road and into a kind of docking station where several small, old, rickety-looking boats awaited them.
Alaric and his companions had ended up with a sharp-looking boy with aristocratic features who had introduced himself as Blaize Zabini with a dramatic bow. None of them had said a word after the introductions as they cruised across the water, though Alaric nearly gasped aloud when he got his first sight of Hogwarts.
He was right— no picture could have the thing justice, not with its sheer scale and thousands of windows all lit up by torches in the darkness.
A few minutes later, they had all disembarked and followed Hagrid up a treacherous path to the large, oak front doors that seemed to lead directly into what Alaric knew would be the entrance hall of the castle.
Professor McGonagall had then taken forward and led them across the flagged stone floor into a small, empty chamber beside the Great Hall. She had then proceeded to give them all a detailed but succinct summary of the four Hogwarts houses. There was no bias in her descriptions.
The tall woman who spoke in a thick Scottish accent struck him as a very strict taskmaster almost at once. It appeared as if she would not be one to cross in the future.
They had all got quite the scare when several ghosts floated straight through the wall, though they did not stay long as Professor McGonagall had returned a moment later to usher them into the Great Hall itself.
Alaric heard one of the boys asking his companions if they knew how they were sorted as they walked and to his amusement, a red-headed boy had answered with something about a troll which was an absurd guess in his opinion. He had read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them more than once and it was said that trolls were known wizard killers, apparently a challenge for even a fully grown wizard because of an inherent magic resistance.
He had somewhat remembered how they would be sorted from the stories he had heard of Hogwarts but neither they nor the vivid description in his books really had not done the place justice, though he seriously doubted any description could have truly succeeded in doing just that. Even knowing about the charm, it was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall did not simply open on to the heavens.
The hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with shining golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were seated. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver as the hovered around the Great Hall.
The Sorting Hat's song was certainly interesting and he briefly wondered how much time it spent to come up with a new song each year for centuries, but then he remembered that an enchanted would not have much of anything else to do lying around in the school's formal collection of magical artifacts that housed a considerable amount of magical treasures.
He looked up at the staff table at the thought and saw the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore looking proudly at each new student with a twinkle in his eyes as if he were witnessing something truly momentous. He briefly caught the headmaster's eye and he was almost certain that the twinkle in his eyes brightened when he caught his gaze before Deputy Headmistress McGonagall called out the first name to be sorted.
Alaric recognized several names from his grandmother's lessons about Magical Britain's genealogies. Abbott, Bones, and Goldstein were among the most notable that Alaric remembered.
Alaric had noticed the inconsistencies of the hat— sometimes it decided right away and other times, it took quite some time. Tracey was one of these cases. The hat sat on her head for almost three minutes before loudly proclaiming her to be a Slytherin.
This sorting did not take nearly as long for his other companion who had remained quiet and aloof throughout the journey, within less than thirty seconds the hat proclaimed Daphne Greengrass a Slytherin as Tracy had rightfully predicted.
After Padma Patil was sorted into Ravenclaw and her sister Pavarti went into Gryffindor, McGonagall finally looked at her list of names and called out his name, "Peverell, Alaric."
Alaric took a bold step forward, all too aware of the small glances exchanged around the hall by some students at the mention of his name. The last thing he heard before the hat fell over his eyes was one particularly loud Slytherin saying, "I didn't know the Peverells had an heir our age!"
"Hmmm, just what do we have here?" a disembodied voice asked.
"Hello?" Alaric asked tentatively. "Hat?"
"Quite the secrets you have, Mr. Peverell. It is the first time I have seen a mind as fragmented as yours, it would have taken quite some time trying to make sense out of the pieces had I not been enchanted by Rowena herself."
Alaric almost froze, wondering for a moment what exactly had the Hat seen inside his head. I don't know what you're talking about"–"
"Please, Mr. Peverell, you cannot lie to me. Your secrets remain safe with me for I cannot divulge anything I have gleaned from your mind."
"My mind?" Alaric could not help but repeat even as he somewhat relaxed, suddenly remembering his grandmother vaguely mentioning the obscure branch of Mind Arts which he was not supposed to touch before reaching magical maturity at eleven.
He had not touched the Mind Arts, knowing all too well that his grandmother's warnings about stunted emotional and magical growth were made out of genuine concern but he would look more into the subject now that he had reached the first stage of magical maturity.
The very idea of anyone invading his mind disturbed him on a fundamental level and he had no doubt that there were practitioners of the obscure art in Hogwarts itself with most of their professors being renowned wizards and witches who were considered masters of their subjects even in higher academic circles.
"Courage you have in spades and you would never be the one to shy away from hard work." The Hat continued unbidden, "Your thirst for knowledge is also unmatched and you have a great thirst to prove yourself. It seems you have traits suitable for each of the four houses, but where exactly shall I put you?"
"Ravenclaw?" Alaric asked curiously, all too aware of his knowing streak and his wonder for anything related to magic. At the first glance, it was the house that suited him the most.
"Is that what you want, Mr. Peverell? To be a Ravenclaw?"
Alaric paused. The house of wise and knowledgeable had seemed tempting to him, but did he really want to be a Ravenclaw?
"It's not wrong to seek greatness and you do seek it, there is no doubt about that. I've sorted many children, but only a handful ever held themselves to the same standard you seem to set for yourself. Though you have developed a love and talent for magic that I have rarely seen in someone your age, your desire to prove yourself and leave a mark on wizarding history is also unmatched."
The hat paused and Alaric closed his eyes, knowing that the decision had been made already. He certainly had no qualms about it, the house matched him well and both of his friends had already been sorted into it.
The Hat hummed dramatically for a long second before finally proclaiming, "Yes, it's quite clear you belong in…SLYTHERIN!"
The hat was quickly removed from Alaric's head, and he looked up to see Professor McGonagall give him a small smile as the table furthest to the left clapped politely in welcome. Alaric immediately set off for the table laid out in green and silver as McGonagall called, "Potter, Rose."
There was a moment of silence at her before whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall at the mention of a name that each wizard and witch of their generation had heard more than once, the mysterious girl famous for defeating a Dark Lord who had almost conquered Magical Britain.
The room went completely quiet to his ears even as a red-haired girl strode confidently up to the stool. Vaguely, Alaric could hear the Great Hall breaking out in furious whispers once but his eyes remained fixed on the girl seated ramrod straight upon the stool.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Rose Potter?"
"Better be Gryffindor!"
As the entire Great Hall continued conversing in furious whispers at the mention of the name, Alaric turned around to watch as the hat was placed on the head of a thin girl who had confidently stepped forward. Judging by the way Rose was grabbing the stool and muttering to her, it appeared that the Girl-Who-Lived was having a very intense conversation with the Sorting Hat.
After almost a minute had passed, the hat's brim opened and loudly proclaimed Rose a "GRYFFINDOR!"
Alaric could not help but absently clap with the rest of the hall as Rose made her way over to the Gryffindor table. Slowly walking over to his table, he took a seat beside Tracy who grinned at him and could not help but absently notice that she was one of the few on his table who did so enthusiastically.
From what he could remember of the original story, Harry Potter was supposed to be a single boy— a lone orphan raised by abusive muggles who had grown up in a boot cupboard for ten years of his life. His thoughts wandered and he could not help but remember the old times when he had genuinely admired the Boy-Who-Lived and wanted him to succeed, to show the world that they were wrong about him.
Yet here Alaric was, seated at the Slytherin table amongst a group of young wizards in the making and looking at a girl who should not have existed if his memories were anything to go by. So what exactly had happened here?
Was he in some sort of alternate universe where everything had changed or was this merely the consequence of the ripples brought about because of his existence?
He could neither understand nor foretell what this meant in the grand scheme of things but then again, none of his plans were based on his fragmented foreknowledge drawn from a series of books that he had read decades ago.
His amethyst eyes remained fixated upon the young girl even as the Sorting Hat continued its duty and delegated students to their respective Houses. Well, that certainly changed things.
As Blaise Zabini was placed into Slytherin, ending the Sorting, Alaric finally snapped out of his stupor and smiled.
He was finally at Hogwarts. This year was going to be great!
I apologize for the break, but I'm back.