Chapter 1: Prologue: The Spell

*Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters therein.

Warnings include:

-Evil/Manipulative Dumbledore and McGonagall (well explained, not just because),

-Good/Moral Severus and Lucius

-Eventual Slash (multiple couples will be slash and multiple couples will be Het.) I am keeping the rating T until the slash occurs, but there will be an eventual rating change as well as warnings before chapters that warrant more than a T rating.

A/N on Canon: So, this is an adopted story and plot. I changed as little as possible to kept with the original and moved in my own direction from there. This story is 7th year, Half-Blood Prince never happened, but everything else is the same. During 6th year the Golden Trio went to classes, got into mischief and Voldemort did something just in time to get final exams canceled.

Monday,

Sept. 1, 1991

GRYFFINDOR!

He never knew what awaited him as that fated word fell from the Hat's tattered mouth. The Gryffindors clapped and cheered, hails of "We got Potter!" could be heard, but it was a forced acceptance. Forced by a spell placed on them this very night in the year and years past. Every Gryffindor year 2 through 7 were without fail enslaved to the behavioral traits of their House, and had been for decades now, despite the fact that many of them should never have been there.

What Harry and every other student could not see were the lines of strain around every exuberant student who knew the fate that would befall the newest Gryffs that night. Their bracelets heated as they fought it's compulsions, hating themselves for cheering each name. They knew that in a few short hours, these first years, still innocent of the evil in the world…Soon, they too would know the hell that awaited them their first night inside the Lion's Den.

Bravery. Courage. Daring. Nerve. All of these, along with chivalry were good character traits in moderation, but being forced to go against your own nature, to be constantly short-tempered, reckless and ever rushing into pointless heroics and useless self-sacrifice. That was their fate. To embody all that encompasses the House of Godric Gryffindor, as interpreted by Minerva McGonagall.

Since 1956 when she took over as Head of House Gryffindor, Minerva McGonagall had placed an obscure charm over the Sorting hat. Being of Godric's House, the original creator of the Hat, she was privy to old notes on the Hat's creation, and knew how to circumvent certain sortings. Her charm convinced the hat that any child of a light family, a rich family, or a child with the potential for a large magical core and reserves should be sorted into Gryffindor. There were many students who were so perplexed about their sortings, but accepted it as their nature, but before the night was out they knew what had happened. They knew that they were in the House not of the Brave, but of the Enslaved.

Their pumpkin juice, the only juice served at Feasts, was laced down the entire Gryffindor table, courtesy of the House Elves who knew not what that the "Nutrient Potion" the Gryffindors needed was actually a calming draught laced with a compulsion liquid. The first years regularly needed the calming effects after the excitement of the day, but combined with the compulsion draught, they were helpless to fight the charm McGonagall cast over them until it was set deep into their psyche.

Anytime they were not inside the Lion's Den they would behave like a "True Gryffindor." Inside, the room The Lady Hogwarts herself, was able to shield them from the wort of the bind's compulsions. The castle was just too vast and the ward structure of the castle overloaded with useless wards that took too much strength from her.

Yet, their freedom to act as their true nature willed inside the Den was only a small consolation for their very nature pushed them to spend ample time exploring and finding mischief around the castle and her grounds.

"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower, House of Godric Gryffindor. Seconds through Seventh year students will go to the beds immediately. First years please have a seat as I go over a few House Rules."

The tiny first years watched as the students walked away, and Harry knew something was wrong as he saw silent tears running down the faces of one of the girls as she ran out of the room. He tensed, drawing McGonagall's attention. She raised her wand in one hand and a fiery crystal in the other. In a flash she had them pointing to the them, murmuring, "moribus e pueri teneantur ad voluntatem meam!"

The children screamed as pain tore through their bodies in two directions. One flowing out as the crystal pulled a bit of their own magic as well as the latent magic from the castle itself to power the spell. The spell then created a strip of pure energy around each child's left wrist. It stopped just short of burning them, but tears and wails flowed through the room in abundance. One girl blacked out from the shock to her system.

McGonagall pursed her lips in disfavor, sending an Ennervate at the weak child, they were Gryffindor now, and would need to toughen up. Immediately. She watched the students gather themselves, the girls gathering together, sniffling and wiping the tears from their eyes. The boys were rubbing their arms, and-yes, Mr. Potter was glaring death at her his eyes shifting from their Avada Kedavra green to that of jade for an instant. McGonagall cleared her throat, watching every child save one flinch back at the noise. Perfect.

"Again, I welcome you to the Lion's Den. I am Professor McGonagall, your Head of House. From this day forward you will learn what it truly means to be of Godric Gryffindor's Noble Army."

Literal Latin Phrase Translation: "behavior of the children are bound to my own will"

Google translate is never your friend, so I apologize for the rough spell work.

I am a firm believer that the intent behind the spell is what causes the desired results. Just as Bombarda means cannon, but it's used to create a blast, not to create a physical cannon. So, here McGonagall uses this spell with the intent to bind their behaviors to Gryffindor's traits because that is what she is willing the spell to accomplish.

So, Hi everyone! I'm PetraKitty. As you can see, I have adopted Tiger DeRanged's The Pride's Hatchling. I've loved this story since I first saw it. Something pulled at me to read it, despite hating to read WIPs. So when I saw that it was being put up for adoption, I had to grab it. I hope I can do as well as Tiger, I know the story she started was amazing, and I hope to continue in that fashion.

A/N 6/15: I'm back, for reals this time. I know whoever is still reading this is freaking out, but I didn't take the story down, just trying to revamp it. I have gotten past the exhaustion of year 1 in the US education system and the 7 cold/flu/bugs I got in 10 months. So, be on the look out here for a better story than before.