Here is the next chapter. Please read and review thank you love Hermione xxx
(AN: I wanted him to have to suffer before he could relax in his new body hence what is in this chapter. Nothing in this life is free as he learned when doing their darkest ritual)
Something was wrong and he could feel it. They should be here by now. What had happened to them he wondered as he glanced at Dumbledore who appeared to get panicked for a moment and then calm down. A quick glance into his mind told him all he needed to know. Dumbledore had thought Harry Potter had done something amazing to keep everyone behind. He was about to laugh at that thought when the hall doors burst open, Minerva walking forth with the utterly terrified first years. He quickly spotted Zacharias Smith targeting the Weasley Twins and smirked as he'd be one to watch for sure. He could see no one else had spotted it but you don't do the things he did previously without being able to spot someone doing wandless magic. It was a mere stunner anyhow so he saw nothing wrong with it. Clearly they deserved it as he doubted it would be done without reason. When he heard what happened he himself was furious. Why indeed was Hagrid of all people getting first years at all? He was massive and would look frightening to someone so short. In his day Professor Merrythough had gotten them to bring them up to the school safely. Hagrid would be utterly terrifying to someone that small. He glared at Albus but was highly shocked to see that the other staff were only now realising how scary Hagrid looked to someone of that height. They'd clearly been asleep at the wheel and had been seriously woken up now. If they were shocked or ashamed right now it was their own faults for being so stupid and they deserved everything they felt.
The hat was brought in and did its multicoloured dance and gave its speech. It confirmed in his mind right now that either one or all of the founding Lords or Ladies were here tonight and he agreed it would be the sorting of a lifetime. You don't read as much as he did growing up without knowing everything there was to know about each founder. He might have been a Slytherin but he wanted to know everything about the other founders too. He loved Hogwarts. It was his true home and he'd always resented that he couldn't stay here in the summers as a child. This was yet again something else Albus had denied him. He had looked for help and had been turned away. He hoped for the sake of the children present that Albus was better at listening now then he had been back in the day. He would keep an eye on him for sure and he couldn't listen to the children still he, himself would do the listening instead. He wanted to be everything he hadn't had in his time at the school. He turned his attention back to the sorting as Minerva stepped forward with a smile on her face.
"As I call your names you are to step forward one by one. You will sit on this stool here and I will place the hat on your head whereupon it will sort you into your houses! Please believe me when I say that this is all you need to do to get sorted. There will no duelling trolls of any kind" she instructed glaring at Fred and George and began. Everyone in the hall turned to glare at them and they at least had the sense to look ashamed of themselves for once in their life. It wasn't tough for Marvolo to surmise that they told their younger brother he'd need to duel a troll to get sorted which judging by everyone's faces he'd not kept to himself. He was already mentally planning a lesson for them that would drive home the importance of only joking at the right moments.
"Hermione R Granger!" she called out as Hermione approached the sorting hat smiling with confidence as it was placed on her head obscuring her eyes from view.
Welcome Lady Ravenclaw. You have the starting of a soul bond forming with Lord Slytherin and I congratulate you on it. I will be able to converse more with you at any time you just need to go to the room of requirements and I will be there. Time had paused for a moment while I have discussions with you about the security of the house. I trust your memories you garnered when you entered into the ladyship have shown you how to enter the house. It is not safe however as anyone who has the answer can enter and I wish to change this with your help of course
''Of course. Let's see it should still be a question and everyone should still think we have to answer any question the eagle decides. How about this as a question! Who was the Professor of Potions in Hogwarts in nineteen seventy five. My ring is telling me it was Professor Horace Slughorn. We should have to answer that question all the time as it will keep our whole house safer. I don't want anyone else who is not a house member to ever be able to access to the house. It should be a sanctury for Ravenclaws everywhere. Let Professor Flitwick know and futhermore let him know he can change the question once per full year of you so much'' Hermione answered carefully and cheerfully.
While I have you here I need to ask you if you want to change anything about the Ravenclaw table?
Yes I would like to ensure that we have new and special plates and cutery which are emblazened with the Ravenclaw emblem.
If you ever need me to do anything specific to Ravenclaw meet me in the Room of Requirements which as you know Rowena made and I can do anything you tell me to. We better get back to the sorting now. Better be Ravenclaw. She bounded over to her new house feeling ecstatic. There was a mild flash as new ware appeared on their house table surprising people greatly however attention soon returned to the sorting.
"Damian P Dursley!" she called out as he smirked his head off. Dumbledore's head snapped up so fast it was like it almost fell off. They'd had magical children! He'd been so busy looking for Harry Potter he'd forgotten he already knew that and berated himself inside for forgetting about the Dursley children. He wondered idly if they'd be able to do the obstacle course for the Philosophers stone if Harry Potter couldn't be found. Marvolo watched Dudley wondering why he looked so confident. He wasn't scared at all now.
Welcome Lord Slytherin. It is good to have you here once again kind of thing. The labs are as you left them as is your personal quarters. It can still be accessed by the side of the fireplace in the common room and no one shall see you go there either should the need to do so arise. You will prosper for sure. Like I did with Lady Ravenclaw I need to ask you if you wish to change anything about the house of Slytherin? I should have told her I intended to do this with each descendant of the founders. It truly is an honour to sort you all and help you out in any way I can.
''Yes please. I need you to make the whole house and indeed the potions classroom bright and well ventilated. I want it to be as clean as it can. Any broken furniture should be replaced with new furniture. All dust must be gone. I want to have a house which is clean and that I can be proud of. In fact brighten and clean magically, each part of the school so it all gleams. Only when it's all clean can we hope to be able to study properly. I want you to do to the Slytherin and the other tables what Hermione asked you to do for Ravenclaw'' he said carefully. Thinking about Hermione made him blush as he thought about kissing her lips and it made butterflies run rampant all over his tummy. In her seat Hermione blushed as she saw what he was seeing. It was truly wonderful. She could already feel the love there for her not that either of them wanted to admit to it yet.
Remember first impressions can be misleading and have a nice time. Everyone deserves a second chance but never more then this. The school will be clean when you take your hat off. I am so happy you all embued me with that power when I was created. I say you but I obviously mean the founders. Me being able to change things within the castle and clean it made things so much easier for them. Better be SLYTHERIN!
Damian walked confidently to Slytherin house followed there shortly by Draco Malfoy who looked terrified of him. Marvolo would know Lucius' son anywhere and he wondered why he was so terrified of someone with a muggle surname. A quick glance into the boys head showed him why and he chuckled to himself. Yes being friendly with Lord Black might do that to most people. He did after all have a lot of power in the world. He'd have to watch out himself and see what this Lord Black did as he held most of the voting power in the wizengamot. He'd be one to watch for sure when they knew who it was that is. Dudley had yet to tell anyone it was him. He would be doing so at a time of his own choosing in the future. The castle shook very slightly as the room they were in cleaned itself until it looked ten times brighter and larger. It was so clean the staff were shocked. The hat just proclaimed that he'd had enough of the school always looking so dirty so he'd just cleaned it. Albus was not happy because now he'd need to deal with Argus being angry however even he thought it looked way better.
"Zacharias H Smith!"
Good evening Lord Hufflepuff it is a fine evening don't you think? Don't worry Hagrid will be dealt with. I know it has been on your mind since you saw him. I tried to tell Headmaster Dumbledore it was not a good idea but he merely proclaimed that he trusted him as he does most people who are not good and left it at that. Do you want me to change anything about Hufflepuff house? I am obliged to ask you this. Lord Slytherin has ordered me to clean and brighten the whole school so that's what I'm doing.
''That's great. I want a section of the Hufflepuff common room now dedicated to music listening. It should hopefully help us relax. Also on the common room notice board it should be noted that people are allowed to have are their own opinions that no one is allowed to bully others for not having a view they would like for them to have. It is something I could see our house doing if we don't nip this in the bud now. Thank you so much'' He responded with a smile.
Unfortunately for you, you are right and it has already happened several times in that house. Unfortunately they believe that if someone believes something the whole house should too and anyone who doesn't is shunned by the whole house. This will end now and people can be happier. The addition of relaxing music to the common room will make it a wonderful place to be. Relax and enjoy the evening. HUFFLEPUFF!
"Neville G Longbottom!"
Welcome Lord Gryffindor. The Hall is still as Godric designed it all those years ago. As he is the one who designed it I am obligated to ask if you wish to change its design before I sort you.
''Thank you Silas. I didn't even think of that. I am still adjusting to having all of Godrics memories on a whim if I think of something. The great hall should remain as it is but the Headmaster and Vice Headmistress should have thick tall obsidian marble chairs with cushions for comfort built into them and not the throne the current headmaster has. He is a headmaster not a king and it's high time he remembered that. It is not to be changed by him later on either using magic as I know what he thinks of himself. Also the other staff should have suitable chairs not the peasant chairs he gave them. What a disgrace. Proper tall mahogany chairs'' he responded seriously.
Yes indeed Lord Gryffindor you are right of course. For too long has he had a throne like golden chair while his vice headmistress and everyone else has had peasant chairs! I also need to ask if you wish to change anything about yourself.
''Yes I have never liked that females can access the sleeping quarters of the males while they cannot access the female sleeping quarters. From now on no one is to be able to access anyones quarters unless they are the gender to which the sleeping quarter belongs. We Gryffindors are going to be chivalrus and respectful no matter what from now on. We lead by example in future'' he said very seriously as the hat regarded him with pride for being more sensible than Godric had in this area. He thought men might have needed women to tend to them in their rooms if they were ill for example but never thought of how it might look when it wasn't equal. Now it could at least be equal and fair to them all.
Thank you. Gryffindor won't know what it later on. It better be GRYFFINDOR!
As Neville finished he went to his house with a smile on his face. The headmaster was shocked then as his and Minerva's chairs changed to the specified comfortable marble black ones which showed their importance and the other chairs for the rest of the staff became tall mahogany ones instead of the jokes they had been. Dumbledore was secretly furious with this as his staff were meant to be in lesser chairs so they didn't forget who was more important then they were specifically him. Now it looked as though he thought they were equals which he most certainly did not.
Marvolo was amazed with the changes as he could see how much Dumbledore hated it. He had needed to take a pain relief potion when he'd reconnected his soul as it had killed him multiple times like he'd done to everyone else before it would even work. As it had been their darkest ritual known to man he would need to suffer everything everyone he'd ever killed had first before he could find relief in his new body. To say he had been traumatised by it was an understatement. The fact that it had taken ages too was the icing on the cake. At least now he did understand why he was wrong.
From now on if he wished someone dead he would ask one of his loyal followers to do it for him as he could no longer stand it. He would still torture people form time to time if they deserved it but it would be different for sure. He would also give his death eaters more leeway then he had ever done before. If they wanted to say no to doing something he would ask them why they were saying no and then consider it; something he'd never have done before. Suffice it to say when you have to experience the forty something deaths you've personally caused while your soul painfully reintegrates itself into your new permanent body it makes you think about why you were wrong. He was now not above saying he was wrong. He had been wrong anyway and he knew it now. It wasn't their darkest ritual for no reason and he knew he'd need to repent before he would be even granted his new permanent body. He knew the Philosophers Stone was there but no longer had an interest in it not that Dumbledore knew that of course. Because of the goblin spell he'd invoked Dumbledore would still think Voldemort was out there somewhere and not that he was Voldemort himself which is what he wanted. They'd all remembering him attending school and being in Slytherin but not who he became. It was the perfect fresh start for him and he was determined to not squander it lightly. He would do all he could do make positive changes in the lives of the kids he taught if nothing else because it would give them the security he'd never had at school.
Actually as it happened Dumbledore would come to confide in him eventually about Voldemort something he would find interesting for sure. Muggleborns were still very much a problem but not for the reasons he had initially said. They were a problem because no one had ever told them how to behave in their world or explained why things happened that way in their world. They should have been taught but Dumbledore disgusting as he was, had gotten rid of the damn traditional classes on it for safety. What a crock of shit if he'd ever heard of it. How in the hell would they be safe now? Sometimes Dumbledore could be such an idiot it truly did make one scratch their head in confusion. Well he'd be teaching them about it in his class for sure. They would learn about dark arts but first they would learn about culture. He would find a way to spin it so it made sense as to why they would be learning about it in the first place. As the sorting wore on Harry Potter was not there something he found very funny. Before he would have been furious but he knew better now. The Prophecy was only intact if he continued to act on it. If he didn't it would die out. Since he had decided not to the glow had left the globe in the hall of prophecies, meaning it truly did die out. It was no longer true.
Dumbledore approached the podium and made his speech including to stay away from the third floor corridor. He was extremely put out about Harry Potter not being there. Tom was so good at Legillimency that no one ever knew he was looking in their minds as he literally looked only for what he needed only and left. He didn't stay there exploring everything he could possibly find like Dumbledore did. He could see Dumbledore had intended for Harry Potter to grow up with his muggle relatives but it hadn't worked out that way. I mean what kind of guy did that? How fucked up in his head was he? It was now obvious someone had stolen Harry Potter and raised him on there own probably in a foreign country. He was happy to see the back of the boy. He had bigger fish to fry himself which was the total overhaul of their world and how they conducted their business. A few select legillimency attacks in the Ministry had shown him all he needed to know about the idiots in power especially that obvious fool Umbridge! He'd see to her for sure. She was so blatant in her hatred of things that it did work in his favour as he could have her out of there as soon as he wanted to if he did and said a few of the right things. As the food appeared on the table he smiled. He was genuinely starving and having had to suffer forty something deaths over and over again before he could regain his new body had surely taken its toll on him. It was nothing a good meal and some dreamless sleep wouldn't cure. What an exciting feast.