Harry did not like being back in Dumbledore's office. Nothing good ever came of it, even if it wasn't necessarily for the normal reasons. Yet Harry didn't have a choice in the matter. He couldn't go back to his dorm and hide himself away in his bed. His bed wasn't in his dorm anymore. None of his things were, and a sinking feeling grew every moment he sat alone in Dumbledore's office waiting for the headmaster and McGonagall to return with the verdict.

So far, Harry had been waiting for over an hour. The party in the Gryffindor common room, had been put to an end when McGonagall came to collect him for his meeting with Dumbledore. His dorm mates had surely noticed the change by now. Were they talking about him? About what this change meant? Accusing him of entering his own name in the tournament? Then there was Ron, of course. His best friend hadn't even believed him when Harry tried to tell him that this mess wasn't his fault. Would he even be concerned that Hogwarts had kicked him out of his dorm, or would he think that this was exactly what Harry deserved? He would like to think that Ron wasn't too far gone in his anger not to be worried on Harry's behalf, but he wouldn't know until he got the chance to speak with him again. By then, everything would be resolved. Hermione, at least, had looked worried. Harry hadn't had a chance to explain to her what was going on before McGonagall had lead him out of the portrait hole. Maybe Ron still cared enough about her to fill her in on what was going on.

McGonagall had taken Harry straight to Dumbledore's office, the worried look on her face doing nothing to convince him that something wasn't horribly wrong. McGonagall had explained the situation to the headmaster briefly before they had both stepped into another room off the side of the office, leaving Harry to himself. There was nothing else for Harry to do to occupy his time while he waited besides stare at the various objects located around the room and run through the worst case scenarios. He waited so long by himself that he had almost decided to go and look for the professors himself and demand to be let in on the conversation when they both returned.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, and Harry's heart sank. Whatever Dumbledore had to tell him, it wasn't going to be good news. "It seems that the situation regarding your place in the tournament was a little more complicated than originally thought. On the bright side, we now have definitive evidence to prove that you did not enter yourself into the tournament."

Harry didn't waste time pointing out that he had already told Dumbledore this, wishing he would get on to the news that had McGonagall looking so upset.

"It seems that whoever wanted to enter you in the tournament was extremely thorough in their preparations. Withdrawal papers were filed at the ministry moments before the Goblet was retrieved for the choosing of champions. It seems that your uncle had signed them. Whoever entered your name must have done it at the very last second so that this paperwork would not be found ahead of time. As you were briefly not listed on the Hogwarts registry the magic of the Goblet did not recognize that you and Mr. Diggory attended the same school."

Harry knew that he should respond to what Dumbledore was saying, but he almost couldn't process the words. Actually knowing what to say was out of the question. His uncle had withdrawn him from Hogwarts. All the oxygen fled the room as Harry struggled to remember how to breathe.

"Now, this was most definitely a mistake on the ministry. Whoever wants to enter you must have had help within the ministry itself, because the paperwork should never have been filed in the first place, let alone that quickly. Your uncle may be your guardian, but he does not have the right to withdraw you from school. I will be looking into this to see whether I can discover the source of this error, but we will have to assume for the moment that they will have their tracks well covered. Either way, the mistake has been fixed, and you have been re-enrolled at Hogwarts.

Harry felt his emotions spinning from one extreme to another. He had been withdrawn from Hogwarts. That was why his things had disappeared. Gryffindor didn't recognize him as one of its students anymore. Who had gotten his uncle to sign the paperwork? Dumbledore had said everything was fixed though. Harry wouldn't be leaving Hogwarts. So why was McGonagall still wringing her hands behind the headmaster? Dumbledore gave him a sad smile, and whatever hope he had been clinging to that he would be able to head back to Gryffindor Tower now evaporated.

"Unfortunately, there is one last step we must complete before you can return to your dorm. When the paperwork was mistakenly filed you were removed from Gryffindor's roster. The only way to be added back is for you to be Sorted again. When that is complete Hogwarts' magic will return your belongings from where they have been waiting for you in storage."

That, of course, was the catch that Harry had been waiting for. Without thinking, his eyes drifted to where the Sorting Hat sat waiting on the uppermost shelf. Harry had never confided in McGonagall about what the Sorting Hat said during his first year. He had never told anyone, at first because his place in Gryffindor had felt too good to be true. Later, the whole school had believed that he was the Heir of Slytherin, and the knowledge that he had almost Sorted Slytherin would have only added fuel to that particular fire. After that, well, Harry was a Gryffindor. He had asked the Hat not to put in him Slytherin, and it hadn't. What did it matter that the Hat thought he would have done well in Slytherin? He wasn't in Slytherin, and that was all there was to it.

Except no, it wasn't. Because Harry would have to put that Hat on his head again, and he wasn't sure that he would be able to talk his way into what he wanted a second time. Somehow, McGonagall seemed to know it too. The way she looked at him, still wringing her hands, she knew. That, of all things, made him feel the worst. He would worry about McGonagall's reaction later though. There was nothing that Harry could do to change the fact that this was happening. Dumbledore was already reaching for the Sorting Hat. He didn't seem to have the same reservations as McGonagall.

"It will only be a moment," Dumbledore said soothingly, "and then you can go back to your dorm. I'm sure that you are quite tired after the trying day you've had." Dumbledore gestured for Harry to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk, and Harry had no choice but to do so as the Hat was lowered onto his head. The last image Harry had before the brim of the Hat covered his vision entirely was McGonagall sending him a small smile.

"Well, well," the Hat said the moment it sat on his head. "Harry Potter. It is a rare occasion that I get the opportunity to sort a student twice."

"Gryffindor," Harry thought as hard as he could. After all, the Hat had taken his opinion into account the last time. The Hat ignored him though.

"It is always nice to see whether students stick to the path they were on when they were only eleven, or whether they have grown in a decidedly different direction." There was an almost smug tone to the voice that immediately set Harry on edge.

"You were right about me," Harry insisted. "I belong in Gryffindor." For a moment, Harry sat alone in his own head before the Sorting Hat let out a low chuckle.

"Gryffindor has served you well," the Hat agreed. Harry almost sighed with relief until the Hat continued, "I still stand by what I told you during your first Sorting though. You would have done well in Slytherin. You could still do well in Slytherin, in fact."

"I'm a Gryffindor," Harry stubbornly insisted, proving his Gryffindorness if he did say so himself.

"Mr. Potter, rarely is anyone ever one thing and thus rarely do they ever exhibit the traits of one House and one House alone."

This was going about as well as Harry had expected. "But don't you take our opinions into account?"

The Hat let out an unhappy grumble. "I see you have been talking to Albus Dumbledore. That man like to meddle more than is his right. One day that habit of his is going to lead to mistake he can't undo. Yes. I do listen to the students' choice so far in that it is a good indicator of what they value most. Now, tell me. In your first year did you request 'Not Slytherin' because the key values of that House-ambition, determination, resourcefulness- are repugnant to you? Or was it rather because of the words of Rubeus Hagrid and the actions of Draco Malfoy?"

Harry sat frozen, breath shuttering as he couldn't stop himself from considering what the Hat had asked. Hagrid's explanation and Malfoy had been the reason that Harry didn't want to be in Slytherin his first year. Ron hadn't helped the situation either with the way that he had talked about the Houses. It wasn't like Harry thought ambition was a bad thing. He had come to Hogwarts wanting to prove that he deserved to be there, that he didn't need to go back to the Dursley's. And sure, he also wanted to defeat Voldemort, but he wasn't the only one who held that ambition. Determined had been a word used to describe him, considering Harry knew that he was stubborn almost to a fault. As for resourcefulness, he wouldn't have survived growing up on Privet Drive or any of the things that had happened to him since coming to Hogwarts if he wasn't resourceful. Harry didn't want to admit any of that to the Hat though.

"I see it whether you actively tell me or not," the Hat informed him. "Gryffindor might have been the correct choice for you in beginning, but you have relied on your determination and resourcefulness in addition to that bravery Gryffindor has encouraged. Now, more than ever, the House that you fit the most is SLYTHERIN!"

When the Hat lifted off of Harry's head he was met with two very different expressions. Harry looked at McGonagall first, meeting her sad smile with one of his own. She nodded at him, and Harry drummed up that courage Gryffindor had cultivated in order to turn his gaze from his kind former Head of House to the sure to be disappointed look on the headmaster's face.

Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling. In fact, the man looked stunned, as though he had never considered that Harry wouldn't be Sorted right back into Gryffindor. He stared down at the Hat in his hands, and to Harry it looked almost as though the Hat was smirking back. "Well," Dumbledore said slowly. "This is an unexpected turn of events, but the Sorting Hat's decision is final. Minerva, if you wouldn't mind calling Severus-"

"Wait!" Harry interrupted, unable to bring himself to feel sorry for cutting Dumbledore off.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but there's nothing to be done. You must be moved to Slytherin House."

"I know," Harry said, his voice breaking as he struggled to put words to what he was feeling. Harry had never had a panic attack before, but he could imagine it felt something like the tightening feeling that gripped his heart. He was drowning in too many emotions to name, but he knew that if he didn't speak quickly then the situation would spiral further out of his control. Harry couldn't go into Slytherin right now, not when everything had slipped away from him so suddenly. They would eat him alive if he went there before he got settled. He needed at least a few hours for the reality of the situation to sink in. For him to figure out how to handle it all without losing his mind.

"I know I have to go to…Slytherin. But is there anywhere else I could stay? Just for tonight? Harry asked, desperately. "Today has just been so much, and I would like to be able to tell Ron and Hermione before the whole school knows."

Dumbledore exchanged a look with McGonagall before turning back to face Harry. "I do not think that is an unreasonable request given the circumstances. You have been through much today, and I'm afraid it is unlikely to get easier any time soon. There are guest rooms at Hogwarts for emergencies or visitors. You may stay in one for the night and inform your friends of the change before breakfast."

"I can arrange for Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley to meet you at the guest rooms so that you may have more privacy than the Great Hall for your conversation," McGonagall added.

"And I can promise you that I will get to the bottom of this, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Severus will have to be informed now, but you may rest assured that you will have the rest of the night to yourself. I truly am sorry."