The Sorting

As soon as all the students left the train they saw a huge figure screaming out, "Firs' years! Firs' years!" Harry and his group went to the large man, wondering what was going on. As they arrived Harry saw Audrey, Neville, Ron and Hermione walking near them. Harry saw Audrey look at him but ignored her, still a little hurt from her harsh words, 'You did it first, you know.' said a small voice in his head but Harry ignored it.

Audrey looked at Harry guiltily but was angered when he ignored her. They stepped to the large man who said, "Everyon' here? Good. My name's Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the keeper of keys at 'Ogwarts. Follo' me." He led them to some boats and said, "No more tha' four per boat."

Harry, Daphne and Blaise went inside a boat together with a boy whose name was Terry Boot. Hagrid then said, "Alrigh'. Forward!" and the boats started to move. Harry heard a blond boy say something, "They let the oaf take us across the lake? In these rickety boats?" Harry immediately labeled him as a spoiled little prince. He preferred to look at the lake as it reflected the moonlight and starlight from its surface. He asked Daphne, "How do we get sorted?"

She shrugged, "It's a secret but my uncle told me that we have to answer some riddles and questions. Some say, however, that we have to wrestle each of the four mascots. When you lose against one it tells you what house you have to go to."

Blaise said, "I heard it's very painful. Maybe they torture you and if you plead with your captor and bribe him, you go into slytherin. Ravenclaws try to escape. Griffindors just continue to get tortured until the end of the test and Hufflepuffs try to convince the guards to let them go and that they forgive them. That's what my dad said but I think he was joking." He didn't look convinced.

"I don't think they'll torture us. It would be too cruel and would keep people away." said Harry. This calmed Blaise down and he nodded at Harry, saying, "It was just my dad trying to scare me. He likes to do that sometimes. I don't know why but he has this idea that if he scares me when I'm young I'm going to be more confident when I'm grown up. He means well but he is a little ... eccentric." Daphne giggled at that.

A girl screamed and pointed at a thing waving at them. Hagrid said, "That' just the gian' squid. Nothin' to be 'fraid of." He led the boats around some cliffs and they could see Hogwarts in all its glory. The castle looked mesmerising and mysterious in the night. Everyone quited. The blond ponce stopped speaking and even Harry's jaw opened in amazement. They stopped at some stone steps that went to some doors. At the top of the stairs was Professor McGonagall, waiting for them.

Hagrid stepped up to her and said, "Here'r' the firs' years. Professo' McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid" she answered. She then said to the students, "Come inside. Follow me." She led them to the top of the stairs where she said, "You will now be sorted into houses. While you are at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. Good behaviour will earn you points and they will be taken away for bad behaviour. At the end of the year the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. The houses are Griffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. All houses have produced outstanding witches and wizards. Stay here while we prepare for the sorting ceremony. I will come and get you when we are ready. I suggest that you freshen up." she finished, looking at Ron Weasley, who colored slightly. She then immediately turned on her heels and went back inside the Great hall.

Everything was silent for a moment before the blond ponce said, "Well, Longbottom. Finally showed your stupid face. Or is it your fat arse?"

The pudgy boy colored and answered, "Shut it, Malfoy. Killed any muggles recently, you death eater?"

Most of the children gasped, both in wonder and fear. Malfoy colored and said, "Manners, scarhead. We wouldn't want to inform your grandmother of your atrocious manners, now would we?"

This time Ron Weasley answered, "You'll be too busy buying your way out of Azkaban, Malfoy."

Malfoy looked at him, sneered and said, "I don't even have to ask who you are. Red hair, old, dirty clothes. You must be a Weasley. Father always did say you bred like rabbits. Which are you? The twelfth?"

Weasley colored and returned, "At least my dad didn't have to bribe his way out of Azkaban."

Malfoy said, "My father is a very respected member of society, Weasel. He made very large donations to multiple charities. You see, we have enough money to make the world a better place. Not like you, who can't rub two knuts together."

Weasley looked ready to attack but was interrupted by a scream. Ghosts started streaming into the room, talking with each other, "We could give him another chance." said an obese man.

Another ghost answered, "My dear, Friar. Haven't we given Peeves enough chances already?"

They caught sight of the first years and the Fat Friar said, "Oh! First years. I hope to see you in Hufflepuff, my old house."

He was interrupted by the arrival of McGonagall who said, "We are ready for you. Form a line and follow me."

She led them through the large doors and Harry's eyes were immediately assaulted by the bright light. He looked around and saw that there were four tables in the hall. Four were obviously house table and the last on was at the end of the hall. This was the head table, where the professors ate. He looked up and saw that it was iluminated by several hundreds of candles floating in the air. The ceiling, though, was what took his attention. It was charmed to look like the sky outside, which looked beautiful. He heard the bushy-haired witch behind him say, "It's charmed to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." Harry immediately thought, 'Teacher's pet.'

They stopped at the end of the hall. Harry saw that there was a stool with an old hat on it. He felt something powerful off the hat so he tried to analyze it from afar. Suddenly the hat's brim opened and it started to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me out and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong to Griffindor,

Where dwell the strong at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Griffindor apart;

You might belong to Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid if toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin,

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

to achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Everyone in the hall clapped politely and the first years looked at the hat in awe. Ron Weasley said, "Thank Merlin, we don't have to fight a troll."

Mcgonagall looked at them and said, "When I call your name, you will put on the sorting hat and it will sort you into your house." She opened a roll of parchment and yelled,

"Abbot, Hannah"

A blond girl with pigtails went to the hat and tried it on. There was a moment of pause then ,"Hufflepuff!" yelled the hat. A table started clapping.

"Bones, Susan"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Boot, Terry"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Brown, Lavender"

"Griffindor!"

"Bulstrode, Milicent"

"Slytherin!"

"Crabe, Vincent"

"Slytherin!"

"Davis, Tracy"

"Slytherin!"

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Finnigan, Seamus"

"Griffindor!"

"Goyle, Gregory"

"Slytherin!"

"Granger, Hermione Jane"

"Griffindor!"

"Greengrass, Daphne"

"Slytherin!"

"Longbottom, Neville" Everyone looked at him as he confidently walked to the sorting hat. Whispers could be heard all over the hall, "The Boy Who Lived?" "Do you see his scar?" "He probably knows everything already." "He's so dreamy." Even the professors leaned forward eagerly, except Severus Snape. He decided, at that moment, that Longbottom was an arrogant little monster. The moment Longbottom put on the hat the whole hall went silent.

Harry was severely tempted to look into his mind during the sorting but decided against it because he didn't know what abilities the hat had. He did, however, observe his body language. Longbottom seemed to be getting more and more nervous as the sorting continued. Harry smirked, 'It seems the Boy Wonder isn't as golden as everyone thinks he is.' After about five minutes the hat finally said, "Griffindor." although it didn't sound as sure. Longbottom took off the hat, looking relieved and went to join the cheering Griffindor table. A couple of redheads were even chanting, "We've got Longbottom!" The sorting continued.

"MacDougal, Morag"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Malfoy, Draco"

"Slytherin!"

"Moon, Lisa"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Nott, Theodore"

"Slytherin!"

"Parkinson, Pansy"

"Slytherin"

"Patil, Padma"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Patil, Parvati"

"Griffindor!"

"Perks, Sally-Anne"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Potter, Harry James" Harry stepped forward. He went to the hat and put it on, 'Well, what do we have here? Please lower your occlumency barriers.' Harry heard in his mind, 'It would be quite easy for me to tear them down but it would be highly unpleasant for you. They're extraordinary good for your age but still amateurish to someone who has worked with the mind for almost one thousand years.' said the Hat.

'Is it all confidential?' asked Harry.

'Of course. No one will ever know.' answered the Hat.

Harry dropped his barriers and felt the Hat looking through his memories, some of them flashing in his mind. While doing that the Hat described the weaknesses in his occlumency barriers, 'They were strong but had a lot of weak-points. You also focused to much on keeping the attacker out of your mind and not deceiving and manipulating them. I saw you used a spherical barrier. It is good in theory but far too difficult in practice. No-one can constantly focus on keeping his mind inside an imaginary sphere because even the deepest recesses of your mind know that it is not real. That is why you must choose a place you are comfortable in, so you subconscious knows it well enough to keep it up without constant effort. The result of your attempt was the illusion that your mind was fully protected but in reality there were a lot of holes inside your barrier. You also organized your mind horribly. File cabinets, bah. Even a novice legilimens could find information within your mind. But doing it without destroying your mind is most difficult. You didn't even think of the spider pattern that usually shows itself in any mind, did you?'

Harry was speechless and asked weakly, 'Spider pattern?'

The hat answered, 'You organised your memories by emotion and importance. You forgot, however, to consider the association your subconsciousness makes with each memory until they don't their mind. Each time you think of a memory a thousand other memories will come into your mind because they are similar or related to the one you are thinking of. Basically, every-time I look through one of your memories a thousand other cabinets open and the result is a big mess. Trying to fix it while looking at your memories is very difficult. That is why this is taking so much time. I suggest you read the whole theory next time. Read Mind Games and The Mind. I hear the muggles developed a branch of science that deals with the mind. Perhaps you should delve into that, although I doubt anyone will ever understand the mind. Ah, I have finally found the most important memories.'

The hat continued to riffle through Harry's memories, 'AH! A vampire! And a Black court too! I've sorted several Silver court vampires in the past, but never a Black court vampire. Should be interesting. A piece of advice, keep a low profile. There's talent, oh yes. Wandless magic and a natural aptitude for mind magic. Makes me shiver just thinking about it. A good mind too but you like to skip the theory and go straight to the spellwork. Except in potions, interesting. I propose you read the theory. It will make more difficult spellwork far easier to understand. You are loyal only to yourself but secretly yearn for the loyalty of others. You are very ambitious, aren't you? You want power but don't know for what. You also don't want to be noticed. To stay in the shadows, metaphorically speaking.'

Harry said to the Hat, 'Could you hurry up? I'm sure it's been more than half an hour already. I don't want everyone looking at me like at Longbottom.' and felt a mental poke.

'Calm down. It's only been four minutes. Longbottom liked to argue everything I read in his mind. Funny, if you think about it. He was basically arguing with himself. On with the sorting.' said the hat. 'There's no doubt you belong in Slytherin. You could give a young Salazar a run for his money and you posses his gift too. You have power and it will only grow stronger but I suggest you control your ambitions before they control you. Make too powerful a flame and you will burn thyself. Good luck, young vampire. Come visit me, sometimes, when you're older.'

"Slytherin!" Harry quickly took the hat off, gave it to professor McGonagall and went to the clapping table. Professor McGonagall looked surprised at his house but gave him a small smile as he gave her the hat. He sat down next to Daphne and quickly adopted his bored mask to conceal his unease at the Hat's words. He looked at the High Table, looking at the professors. Most didn't even look at him and Dumbledore only had eyes for his Golden only professor to look at him was the oily haired one. He gave him a long measuring stare before nodding and looking away. Harry asked Daphne, "Who is the professor with the dark, oily hair?"

Daphne said, "That's professor Snape. He is our Head of House and the Potions professor." Harry nodded and continued to watch the sorting.

"Selton, Audrey Artemis"

Audrey quickly took the hat on her head and jumped when she heard, 'Let's see what we have here. Mr. Potter's got me interested.'

She snorted and thought, 'What's so interesting about that prat? And how are you speaking in my mind?'

The Hat answered, 'I'm reading your mind and projecting my thoughts into it. As to what's so interesting about Mr. Potter. I really can't say but I can tell you that there is much more to him that meets the eye. Now let's see. You have a good head on your shoulders but you don't enjoy studying. Not Ravenclaw. You're not suited to Slytherin. Although ambitious you aren't capable of putting your goal before your comrades although there have been Slytherins that didn't do that. You would have a hard time because of your lineage. Very compasionate but you can hold a grudge when you want to. Very loyal. Hardworking. You'd do well in Hufflepuff but I doubt you want to go in Helga's house. Very brave. Godric would do well for you but what do you want? Griffindor would bring you glory but is that what you want? I am allowing you to decide but know this. Not every Griffindor was noble and not every Ravenclaw was smart. Helga was not always hardworking and nor was Slytherin as dark. Try to keep an open mind about our world.'

Audrey hesitated but answered the Hat, 'I wanna be in Griffindor!'

'Very well. I hope you don't regret your decision.' said the Hat, leaving Audrey severely shaken.

"Griffindor!"

She jumped of the stool, gave the Hat to McGonagall along with a small smile and went to sit at the Griffindor table. As she sat down next to Hermione she glanced at Harry confusedly but soon forgot all about the Hat's words as Hermione started a conversation.

"Thomas, Dean"

"Griffindor!"

"Turpin, Lisa"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Weasley, Ron"

"Griffindor!"

"Zabini, Blaise"

"Slytherin." said the Hat for the final time. McGonagall rolled the scroll and took the Hat away.

As soon as Blaise was seated the Headmaster stood up. He looked like the happiest man in the world and beamed at the students. He raised his arms, looking like some ridiculous priest and said, "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down and everyone clapped or cheered. Harry leaned to a prefect and asked, "Is he a bit mad?"

The prefect answered, "Yeah, he is. But I guess it's a trait of powerful wizards that they are a bit strange. Could you please pass the peas."

Harry already noticed the smell of the food so he casually passed them to the fifth year. The rest of the dinner passed quickly to Harry. He decided not to eat one thing but to try several different dishes. He found the food to be very good. He especially enjoyed pork chops, roasted chicken, roast beef, lamb chops, steak, sausages, roast potatoes, carrots, peas, ketchup, gravy and Yorkshire pudding. The only thing that bothered him was that the found possessed a lot of fat, which Harry did not enjoy. He sensed a presence and looked to his left. He saw a ghost looking at him and asked, "Do you, perchance, require anything?" The ghost smiled and Harry looked him over. was dressed in medieval clothes with a sword hanging from his left hip. The most noticeable trait was that he was covered in blood. Harry said, "Might I inquire as to how you became covered in blood?"

The ghost smiled again and said, "Ti's not my blood young one. It is the blood of my love. The only woman I've ever loved was struck down by my sword, her blood cursing me to a life of undeath." Harry nodded and looked around him to see everyone starring at him. As soon as he looked they all went back to eating. He looked back at the ghost but he already left.

The desserts soon appeared and Harry thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream and the apple pie. He found that he disliked both the pumpkin pie and the pumpkin juice. They both tasted to sweet to him and pumpkin juice was simply diluted pumpkin soup. As the dishes disappeared everyone started talking about their origin. The blond ponce said, "The Malfoy's have only been purebloods for four generations but the Blacks, from my mother's side, were purebloods since the thirteenth century." Everyone looked at him in awe.

Pansy Parkinson said, "The Parkinsons have been purebloods for six generations already."

"The Nott's have been purebloods since the fourteenth century." said Theodore Nott.

They all looked at Harry and Malfoy said, "I know about you. You're not a pureblood. Miss your mudblood mother?"

Harry gave him a look that instantly quited him and said, "It is true that my mother was muggleborn. But she had the highest newt scores in the last thirty years, which is something most purebloods never manage. That should prove that she was sufficiently talented and powerful. The Potter's, however, can trace their lineage back to William the Conqueror. I doubt one of your ancestors was a king. Although the Potter's do originate from William's second son."

Everyone looked at him with their mouth's open while Malfoy's eyes widened and he said, "My apologies, I have unjustly insulted your lineage. Please accept my apology."

Harry nodded and the conversation continued. They were interrupted by Dumbledore as he stood up again, "Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Some of our older students should remember that as well." He looked at the Weasley twins, "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors between classes. Quiditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who doesn't wish to die a very painful death." There were a few scattered laughs but everyone soon realised that he was serious.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the teachers' smiles became rather fixed. Dumbledore flicked his wand and ribbons started forming words in the air. "Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.

Everybody finished the song at different times. The last ones were the Weasley twins who were singing to a slow funeral march. When everyone finished Dumbledore wiped his eyes and said, "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Everyone stood up and Harry, along with the rest of the first years, followed the fifth year prefects down into the dungeon. They stopped at a normal-looking wall but it gave off more magic than the other walls. The prefects said, "King of serpents." The wall disappeared and they entered the cozy room inside. The prefects told the first years, "Wait here for professor Snape. He will explain everything else. Oh, and remember the password. It gets changed every week." and left. Everyone sat down on the couches and started talking.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Severus Snape sat at the Head Table waiting for the first years. He analyzed them as soon as they entered, a habit from his spying days. He immediately noticed a few potential Slytherins, 'The Greengrass girl and the Zabini boy. The Nott possibly and Moon is a possibility. The Malfoy heir certainly along with his two bodyguards. The Parkinson girl and the Davis girl.' He grimaced, 'It's not that difficult to separate them from the others. Mostly spoiled brats and children that had rough lives. Abuse always leaves scars like paranoia and a lot of ambition.' remembering his own childhood.

He refused to look at Harry and only looked at him when he was sorted, 'He's looking bored but confident. Trying to mask his feeling? Hmm? His eye is constantly darting around, as if searching for a threat. His other eye is probably doing the same. It's almost unnoticeable so that means he had a lot of practice hiding it. He's light on his feet and is prepared to react at a moment's notice.' Harry turned a little bit and Severus' eyes widened, 'Merlin, he doesn't look like James at all. No glasses, he is a little taller and already has the beginnings of an athletic build. His facial structure reminds me more of Lily than of James. His features are softer than James'. And those eyes are exactly like Lily's.' His eyes got a little wetter at the memory of Lily. 'Please be a Griffindor. Please be like your father. Please spare me the pain by allowing me to hate you.' pleaded Severus as the Hat was placed on Harry's head. He noticed Minerva giving him a comforting look. The sorting took longer than most but suddenly the hat yelled, "Slytherin!"

Snape froze, 'Slytherin. Slytherin!? That settles it. He's nothing like his parents. Neither of them had any traits that belong in Slytherin. Did the Durleys' abuse him? I hope not but the signs all point towards it. It was emotional abuse probably. It couldn't have been physical abuse. He looks far too healthy. But he seems so in control of his environment. Did he, perhaps, outsmart them? Took control? He definitely isn't spoiled. Far too suspicious of everything.' he continued to observe him and noticed that Harry was looking at him. 'I'll treat him like any other Slytherin. Maybe a small amount of extra help.' he decided and nodded at Harry.

The rest of the feast passed quickly and after the announcements, 'Just tell them to go into the corridor, you daft man.' and the school song, 'I swear, they get worse every year.' he went to his office. In his office he prepared to give 'The Speach' to the first years. He stepped into the common room and everyone instantly noticed him.

He began, "I am Severus Snape, Potions master of Hogwarts and your Head of House. Being sorted into Slytherin is an honor. We have rules, though. First rule: Slytherins stick together. It means that you will keep all arguments and disagreements inside the Common room. Three quarters of this school hate or dislike us. We must present a united front. If you see a fellow Slytherin in danger help him. Second rule: Do not get caught. I know I will not be able to keep you from wandering and exploring the school. Vengeance is also a popular reason for leaving the Common room at night, after curfew. If you go outside then don't get caught and make sure it can't be traced back to you. A piece of advice, the portraits all spy for the headmaster. He ignores most rule-breaking but could interfere. Also, other teachers will believe other houses before Slytherin. Third rule: The Common room is for Slytherins only. The whole dungeons are considered Slytherin territory but you must never let another student inside the Slytherin Common room or Dorms. Fourth rule: The Slytherin Common room is a neutral zone. I will not stand for hexing and cursing inside the Common room. Keep all arguments verbal. There is, however, a tradition in Slytherin. Pranking student's belongings and rooms has been a tradition started by Slytherin himself. It promotes cunning and helps improve your spellcasting. I propose you look up on wards, looking charms, curses and other spells to protect your belongings and rooms. You have immunity until second year but after that everyone is allowed to 'prank' you. The only limitations are that you must not cause a permanent or debilitating injury to someone or their belongings. Revenge will often be in this form as well. I propose you do not anger any higher years until you are certain that your security measures will hold." The students were looking at him with wide eyes. "You shall get your timetables tomorrow. Get up at six o'clock in the morning or at least at seven."

"I shall now explain your dorms. To the left you have the girls' dorms and to the right are the boys' dorms. Each dorm possesses a bedroom, a bathroom, a large dresser and an empty room that you can use for anything you want. You are allowed to redecorate and to modify your room to your liking as long as you return it to the state it was when you leave. Goodnight." and turned to leave. He paused at the exit and turned back, "If you need any help do not hesitate to seek me out. Even the strongest need some help sometimes. Sleep well." and left.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everyone quickly left to their rooms. Harry picked the second on the left and went inside after saying goodnight to the others. He looked at his room. A king-size four poster bed with green sheets and silver pillows. The floor was covered in a deep green rug and a fire was crackling merrily in the fireplace. There were even two bookcases and a desk between them. He took off his shoes and looked at the dresser. It was large enough to suit his needs. It had enough space to easily hold a large number of clothes and shoes. Next to it was a large mirror. Entering the bathroom he was surprised, again. It had a large sink, a big tub and a shower. Behind the sink was a mirror. Harry quickly started unpacking everything.

He opened his trunk and took out everything. He carefully folded his clothes and put them inside the dresser along with his shoes. He put his potion supplies inside the spare room and his books inside the bookcases. He decided to stay up a little longer and try to catch up on the theory behind spellcasting. He took the Hat's advice to heart and decided to read the theory first from now on. He went to bed late at night and quickly fell asleep after locking his door with a minor locking charm.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is probably going to be the only chapter for the next three weeks because I'm going on vacation and won't have Internet or a computer.

About the sorting hat, though. There will be a couple of dirty secrets about it but I'm not saying anything else.

I decided that Slytherin should have more room than other houses. Can you really imagine Draco Malfoy sharing a room with other boys? I can't.

I've also decided to make Snape a little nicer. I really don't want to demonize him.