Harry looked up from his book when he heard a knock on the door to his compartment, standing outside was a frowning red head. Harry got up, patting Jareth as he walked past and slid open the door a bit. "Yes," Harry inquired, "What do you need?"
"Are you Harry Potter? I heard he was supposed to be here this year."
"Ah... I'm afraid not."
The redhead groaned and walked away with out saying anything else. Harry sighed and sat back in his seat, glad to not have had to deal with the Weasley pestering him. He grabbed Jareth and put him in his lap, opening his book to start reading again, when he heard yet another knock. He sighed, starting to get annoyed. He looked to the door, and saw the blonde he had been waiting to see. Harry set Jareth aside a gain, gaining an impatient look from the cat, and slid the door open. "Harry! I apologize for taking so long to find you, but I had to gather Pansy and Blaise, I wanted them to meet you."
"Come on then," Harry sighed "Get in here."
Harry stepped aside, and let the group in, looking at Draco expectantly. Draco looked at him for a second, then a look of understanding crossed his face. "This is Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, This is Harry Potter."
"Pleased to meet you, Heir Parkinson, Heir Zabini."
"Well met, Heir Potter" The two said in unison.
Harry smiled and nodded at them, but was quickly distracted by someone knocking on his compartment door once again. Harry scowled to himself, and rose once again to see who was there. He opened the door to see a girl with bushy brown hair, and slightly bucked teeth. "Have any of you seen a toad? My friend Neville's lost his."
"No we haven't, have you tried asking a prefect?"
"I can't find any, I saw a Ravenclaw prefect once, but they had disappeared by the time I got to where they had been."
"I apologize, perhaps if you keep looking you'll come across either a prefect or the toad?"
"Probably, thank you for trying to help though."
"Of course."
Harry watched her move onto the next compartment, then closed the door, settling once again. The group that had settled in with him were looking at the door oddly, as though unsure what had just happened. Harry shrugged, pulling Jareth closer to back into his lap. Jareth gave him a look, as if warning him not to get up again. Harry patted Jareth's head to mollify the kitten. Harry joined a conversation with his new acquaintances, and they talked for a while, them explaining a few things about the classes, such as who the teachers were, when the door slid open, despite being locked. The one who opened the door was an old woman pushing a trolley.
"Anything off the trolley dears?"
"Oh," Draco exclaimed, "Yes please, a Licorice wand, want anything Harry? Blaise? Pansy?"
"A pumpkin pasty if you would." Pansy said in a falsely simpering voice.
"Oh, nothing for me, thanks my mum doesn't let me have sweets, and I'm okay with not eating them," said Blaise, "Thanks though Draco."
"I'll pass, not hungry." Harry told the trio, slightly irritated about the continued interruptions. He just wanted to finish this one book before they reached Hogwarts, but it didn't seem like he would be getting to with his current company. He sighed and set his book to the side, tuning into the current conversation.
"-ot what he meant, of course we won't actually be taking a test, he probably meant it in a less literal way; Draco, you know your father would never allow something potentially embarrassing." Blaise sighed exasperatedly.
"Embarrassing! I wouldn't possibly do anything embarrassing, I'm a Malfoy! That's precisely why it could be a real test!"
"Oh hush Drake, who's to say it doesn't change with every generation and they just don't mention it? Perhaps your father took a test and just told you what he did?"
"Unlikely Pans, Hogwarts: A History says that students are sorted in a traditional way, implying that it stays the same."
Blaise huffed, and looked to Harry, "What do you think it will be, Potter?"
"Personally I'm of the opinion that it will be a simple test to see how we handle a specified situation. The houses have specific traits that define them, so I would assume how we handle the situation would help show them our personality, so they know where to place us."
"That," Pansy started, "actually makes more sense."
Harry smiled, and shook his head, petting Jareth and wondering how much longer there was to the school. Harry sighed and shook his head, deciding to get out his chess set that Quirrell had gotten him as a gift. He wanted to play a match now that he had people he could play against, as he hadn't ever gotten to play chess. "Anyone fancy a match?"
Blaise raised his hand with a slight smirk, looking forward to playing someone new.
...
Harry laughed as Blaise's Queen moved his king into check. Blaise had won fairly quickly, as Harry had no experience and didn't recognize any of the plays. Harry had enjoyed the pieces interacting with each other more than he had the actual game. The way the small stone figures threw around rude gestures was fairly entertaining to everyone in the compartment, even Pansy, who had appeared quite scandalized at first.
...
The rest of the train ride was spent playing various wizarding games which Harry was entirely unaware of, much to the amusement of the others in the compartment. The train finally slowed to a stop in the middle of their third game of exploding snap, and they heard a voice say, "Please leave all things on the Hogwarts Express, your items will be collected and moved to your dorms after the first years are sorted."
Harry and his newfound friends stepped out of the train and were ushered over to a large man bellowing "Firs' years ov'r 'ere!"
Harry looked at the large man in puzzlement, but followed him, as none of the older students seemed alarmed. The man led them to a lake, which held some small boats. "Four ta a bo'"
Harry climbed in a boat carefully, followed by Pansy, then Draco, and finally Blaise. After everyone settled into their boat, the man tapped the side of his boat causing all of the boats to lurch forward startling most of the poor first years. The man called for them to duck as they came to a particularly low hanging curtain of moss. After passing through the curtain, which none but the mad had the need to duck under, they were told, "You'll ge' yer firs' glim's o' Hogwarts roun' this bend."
Harry looked up, trying not gape, but it was hard. There was a beautiful castel shining in front of them, they still had a bit of lake to cross, so it made the view even better. They could see the castle in it's entirety, its spires and towers and an amazing covered bridge. Harry was immediately over come with a feeling of home, it just felt right to him.
The boats pulled into a cove near a stone staircase that led right up to a small door. The man waited for all of the students to exit their boats and led them all to the door. The man ducked through the door and waited for everyone to enter after him, leading them down a hall to stand in front of a door. After a few minutes of conversation, Harry heard people start screaming. He looked around, trying to figure out why they were when he saw ghosts. He was slightly startled, but looked to Draco to see his reaction and saw him in the middle of rolling his eyes. Harry sighed a bit, glad that it seemed to be a relatively normal thing to happen.
Harry watched the ghosts, listening to their conversation as they glided overhead "- should give him another chance!"
"Another chance! He's had all o- why, what are you lot doing here?"
"We're waiting to be sorted." the girl with the bushy brown hair said.
"Is it that time already?!"
"Oh move on, the children must be sorted now."
Everyone jumped and spun around to look at the stern faced woman that now stood in front of the door they were told to wait at.
"I am Proffessor Mcgonagal, and I shall be the Deputy Headmistress for your time here. You will follow me into the Great Hall in just a moment to be sorted into your house for your time here. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin; your house will be your family here, and I hope you will be an asset to where ever you are sorted. Take a moment to straighten yourself up," she paused here for a moment to look pointedly at the Weasley, " I will be back momentarily to collect you."
The woman turned back to the door and slipped through the opening she had made that was just big enough for herself. The students, meanwhile, started worrying anew at the issue of how they would be sorted. "I heard we would be fighting a troll!"
"Of course not Ronald, that would be dangerous."
Ronald sneered at the bushy haired girl, and scoffed, "What would you know, my brothers told me."
"They must have been having you on," said a blonde girl with feathered bangs, "They would never make first years with no instruction fight a troll."
"How would you know!"
"My aunt is the Head of the DMLE. She wouldn't allow me to do so unprepared."
The redhead spluttered, his ears turning red. He was just opening his mouth to retaliate, when the door opened once more, and Proffessor Mcgonagal beckoned the students forward. They moved forward and were awed at the sight of the Great Hall. Harry looked around taking note of the starry ceiling and heard the bushy haired girl whisper over to the boy who had lost his toad, "It's enchanted to look like the sky outside, I read about it, in Hogwarts: A History."
Harry looked around, as the hall had suddenly gone silent. In front of the Proffessors table, a rickity old stool was set up with an old had set atop it. The hat cleared it's throat and started to sing,
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty, You can keep your black, There's nothing hidden in your head You might belong in , You might belong in , Or yet in wise old , Or perhaps in So put me on! Don't be afraid!
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
Your sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The room exploded into applause, and Mcgonagal unrolled the scroll she was holding and began reading names from the parchment.
"Abbott, Hannah."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Bones, Susan."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
The sorting contiued on, eventually reaching Draco, who shot Harry a smirk and went to sit on the stool. The Hat barely even touched Draco's head before it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"
The sorting continued on, eventually reaching Harry.
"Potter, Harry"
The hall went quiet, and Harry slowely walked up to the stool himself. Harry Settled on the stool, and Mcgonagal put the Hat onto his head. A voice echoed in Harry's head, "Ah, I've heard a lot about you..."
(WC: 2,015)