Harry Potter and the Wizards of Narhassa

Chapter 4: Platform 9 and 3/4s and the Sorting Ceremony

It was pure chaos and pandemonium as the five companions pushed their way through the train station the next day, their carts filled with luggage, cauldrons, spell books and screeching owls. Harry had recommended to each of the new students to purchase themselves an owl if they had the money. Jessica, Alex and Sean all complied readily, and between the five companions, has a small owlery. Sean's small screech owl, Ron's Pigwidgeon and Alex's large barn owl were raising the roof of the station, drawing confused glances from all of the Muggles around them. Hedwig seemed ruffled and hooted disdainfully at all the new owls, as if reprimanding them for making such racquet.

Yet, as out of place as they would have seen normally, the train station was flooded with people pushing carts with some form of animal making sounds. Many of the people with spell books and owls were dressed as Muggles, looking to each other with utter confusion.

As they proceeded through the station, they came to a "cart traffic jam," with about thirty confused teenagers standing stupidly on both Platform 9 and 10, reading their tickets. Some of their parents had surrounded as security guard,

"Do show us where Platform 9 and 3/4s is please?"

"Have you heard of this Platform 9 and 3/4s?"

"Could you tell us where..."

"I QUIT!" cried the security guard, dropping his badge to the ground and storming off. Harry recognized this man from his first year. When Harry had asked the man how to get onto the platform, he had reprimanded him for trying to prank him.

Harry and Ron looked to each other knowingly, and smirked.

"Harry, Ron, Sean!" cried a lovingly lofty voice from behind them, as the three boys turned around to see Hermione, who had abandoned her cart and was weaving her way toward them.

She leapt into Harry's arms exuberantly, her wavy hair blowing in the breeze. "I've missed you guys so much!" she stated as she enveloped Ron in a similar hug.

"Need... oxygen..." groaned Ron as she squeezed him a bit too tightly.

Hermione looked then to Sean, who was blushing a ripe shade of scarlet. "Alright there, Sean," she said, giving him a hug without nearly the same energy as she had given to Harry or Ron.

"Um, hi," said Sean uneasily as he patted her back. "It - It's great to see you again, Hermione."

Alex and Jessica introduced themselves to Hermione. They waited calmly for the lines to begin moving, however, all of their carts seemed to be locked together in the aftermath of confusion. It would have been difficult to walk toward the divider to board platform 9 and 3/4s, let alone push a cart onto it.

"Oh, this will never work," said Harry with a shake of his head. "How can we all vanish and not look conspicuous?"

Ron reached into his pocket and smirked professionally. "Leave that to me. Hermione, Harry, you two go explain to everyone how to get onto Platform 9 and 3/4s... and when I say go, have everyone cane it onto the train."

Harry glanced down to his watch. "Hurry, we only have six minutes."

"You aren't going to do anything foolish, are you?" asked Hermione in an accusing tone.

Ron smiled and winked at her. "Hey, its me..."

Hermione sighed. "That is not withstanding anything."

Harry and Hermione finally made their way through the confused Muggles, explaining to them how to board the platform. Most scoffed in disbelief, however, shrugged and nodded. Harry looked to Ron, who nodded his head slowly.

And suddenly, it happened. With a clandestine flick of his wrist, Ron produced a strange, grenade like device and lobbed it over his shoulders onto Platform 5. With an explosion of sound that forced Harry to grab his ears, the noise of machine gunfire, bombshells dropping and a trumpet calling a cavalry charge drew everyone attention and caused Muggles all around to dive for cover and sprint onto their trains.

Without having to be prompted, every single Hogwarts student rushed into the stony looking divider between Platform 9 and 10, immerging onto Platform 9 and 3/4. While it was rather messy and more than one cart had overturned, most had been able to get out of sight during the distraction.

"Ronald Weasley!" demanded Hermione when she came through, as she was the last to arrive. "This time you have gone too far!"

However, Harry, Sean, Jessica... and even Alex were cracking up hysterically. Ron adjusted his collar proudly. "That is called 'George's Jumping Jubilee,'" he explained with a smirk. "He wanted me to beta-test it for him."

"Looks like it passed," said Harry, trying to collect himself.

Hermione, however, was furious. "You know that'll be on the front page of Wizard's Weekly... I can just see it now: Son and Brother to Two Department Heads at the Ministry of Magic seen Scaring Hundreds of Muggles with a Grenade!"

"It was still hilarious," said Sean, blinking his shiny, green eyes innocently.

Ron smugly put his arm around Hermione. "This is why we love this one. She is boring enough for the three of us, so we can have fun!"

Jessica, between fits of laughter, put her hand upon Harry's shoulder to help her keep balance, though Harry was not help, a chorus of chuckles echoing from his diaphragm.

God, how much I've missed this over the summer, thought Harry to himself, for the first time in months, feeling utterly complete. While Jessica was a great reprieve from the usual summer boredom and loneliness, nothing made him feel whole again like Ron and Hermione.

Hermione seemed on the verge of slapping Ron, yet at the last minute, broke into a fit of laughter.

"Piss off!" Hermione said in between laughs.

"Piss off right back!" returned Ron, who also nearly fell over laughing.

The entire scene shifted from grave to comical in seconds, as Hermione and Ron were practically leaning on each other to prevent rolling upon the platform floor.

"I... really despise you sometimes, Ron,"

Ron put his arm around Hermione comfortably. "No, you love me and you know it."

Hermione shrugged his arm off her shoulder with a grunt that would have made Crabbe proud.

A moment later as the six companions were placing their luggage beneath the train, three more redheads stepped through the divider to join them. Fred Weasley and George Weasley looked as if they had each landed a night with a veela, and Ginny Weasley, Ron's young sister, could not stop giggling. The familiar red glow of the Hogwarts Expression train was a sight for sore eyes.

"Did... you... set... that... off?" asked George, his smile brighter than a million sons. "The entire Muggle police force is combing the station for 'several unseen gunmen."

Ron beamed proudly as Fred and George practically hoisted him upon their shoulders. Hermione, however, looked extremely stonily at Ron, putting her hands to her hips bossily.

"You just earned your dress robes, kid!" cheered Fred.

George ruffled Ron's hair. "See, I knew he wasn't going to turn into Percy!"

Ginny smiled and looked to Harry. "Hey, Harry," she said bashfully.

Jessica looked suspiciously toward Harry.

"Hey Ginny," replied Harry sheepishly. Harry took the attention off himself by checking his watch. "Well, we better get going. Only two minutes before final boarding."

They filed onto the train without wasting any more time. Harry, Ron and Hermione took the first empty booth. Alex, Sean and Jessica quickly followed, Sean sitting nervously next to Hermione, while Jessica sat close to Harry. The brown, fuzzy haired boy looked ruefully at Ron, and joined him.

A moment later, a shocking face popped into their booth. For a moment, he thought it was Draco Malfoy, for the pale face and blonde hair nearly made him look like his twin. Yet, their was a noticeable difference in the styling of clothing, as well as in eye color.

"Is there any room left in here for me?" asked the boy, with a voice so airy that it made Professor Trelawney's mystical cords sound like a tuba.

Harry looked at his five companions and shrugged. "I suppose we have more room."

"But of course you do," replied the boy, with a wave of a fine hand. "Let me introduce myself. 'I' am Bradley Trahvis, the son of Sir Malcolm Trahvis the XXI, Knight of His Majesties Royal Guard. I studied at Yarbark Elementary school and am eagerly looking forward to being enrolled in the program for gifted children in Hogwarts University as a Third Year student."

The facial expression each one of Harry's companions wore reminded him of what they would look like if they bit into a Mucus Every-Flavor Bean.

"Excuse me?" said Ron, making a show of cleaning out his ear with his pinky.

The pale, proper boy looked unruffled. "What I said was, 'let me introduce myself. 'I' am Bradley..."

"God, if it wasn't bad enough the first time around, do you have to repeat it?" inquired Alex viciously.

It was Sean that broke the tension. "My name is Sean," he said, extending his hand.

Bradley looked down on it dubiously, but made no effort to take it. He nodded his head instead. "Charmed. So, do any of you have relatives who bare the status of knight in His Majesties Royal Guard?"

Harry sighed and contented himself to look out the window. This is going to be a long trip...

There were a few more visits to their compartment, one from Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, which had served as a welcome reprieve from Bradley's bantering and boasting, and a second one from Colin and Dennis Creevey. Harry never thought he'd see the day where he'd welcome the sight of the goofy, mousy haired boy with his camera and his little brother in tow. Yet, compared to Bradley's boring stories of his studies at Yarbark, a few summer episodes of 'Meet the Creeveys' was a fascinating distraction. Colin was going into his fourth year while Dennis was just starting his second.

"... and that's why I have my own scar on my forehead," admitted Colin proudly, pushing some flicks of light brown hair off his forehead. Harry rolled his eyes slightly as he saw a slight, black mark above his left eyebrow. "See?"

Alex fixed Colin with a completely condescending glare. "Wow, you are a real geek. You know that?"

Colin looked at Alex with wide eyes astonishment, as though the thought could have never occurred to him.

"Geez, what's your problem?" muttered Colin as he stood up to leave.

Alex simpered slightly as Ron, Hermione and Harry eyed him wearily. Despite Harry sharing the exact same opinion of Colin as Alex, there was something so heartless about the way he voiced it that annoyed him. It was strange that him and Draco Malfoy did not get along... they seemed to have much in common. Knowing Ron and Hermione well enough, he knew that they shared his sentiment. Ron seemed on the verge of saying something in Colin's defense.

Colin departed before Ron could get the words out, looking a bit hurt. Dennis followed after him quietly.

Finally, the train began to slow down noticeably as the horn blew loudly.

"It's time for us to get into our school robes," said Harry calmly, standing up and offering his hand to Jessica. Jessica smiled and accepted, pulling herself up. Sean rose eagerly and helped Hermione to her feet, drawing a bit of a callous look from Ron, who had moved to do the same thing. Harry smirked slightly at Sean's naivety as Ron gave him a bit of a sour look. Alex and Bradley both stood up.

"I do hope they have proper air conditioning," said Bradley with his genie-like

voice. "Without moist air, I tend to get nose bleeds something awful."

Alex shook his head and blew hot air out of his mouth. "I think I speak for all of us when I say SHUT UP!"

That was all Harry could stand. While Bradley was a prissy little rich boy who annoyed him to, he would not stand for Alex putting down everyone he thought was less dignified than him.

"Alex," said Harry darkly. "We are going to have a real problem if you don't start treating people with some respect."

Alex looked at Harry like he were an insect. "Don't overstep your boundaries, four-eyes. Remember, I'm a Muggle with crazy magical potential. You don't know what I'm capable of accidentally doing."

It was Ron, however, who moved in. With a rough shove to Alex's shoulder, snapping the boy's hazel eyes upon him, Ron spoke coldly. "Are you threatening him?"

"Watch yourself, carrot top," hissed the American boy. "I liked your style when you helped me with the Malfoy kid and I owe you a favor for that... but don't push me."

Harry turned to Jessica, a severe look still in his eyes. "Why don't you go get your robe? I'll meet you outside."

The lovely girl nodded once, and left the compartment.

Ron maintained a cool glare at Alex for a minute or two, but eventually walked past him, shaking his head. Sean made a move to escort Hermione out, but the girl stopped in her tracks, pulling Sean back like a small puppy.

"If you hurt any one of my friends, Alex," said Hermione, with such a chill that even Harry felt intimidated. "I swear I will bring you down."

Alex narrowed his eyes, but found no swift retort to use against Hermione. Sean sighed and looked to Alex. He released Hermione's arm. "Harry, Hermione," he said calmly. "Can you two leave us alone for a minute?"

Both Gryffindors nodded and, without another word to Sean, left the compartment and began to walk down the extremely crowded corridors of the train.

"So Harry," replied Hermione, as they snaked through the corridor, nearly stepping over three Ravenclaw second years. "We haven't talked forever."

Harry managed a smile despite the recent encounter. If he could deal with Voldemort, he could deal with some arrogant kid from America. "No, we haven't."

"Tell me," said Hermione, with a bright smile as she pushed her wavy hair behind her neck. "Where did you meet her?"
Harry looked back to Hermione. "Who, Jessica?"

The bright eyed girl rolled her eyes. "No, Professor McGonagall..."

Picking up on her sarcasm, Harry smiled and explained how he met Jessica, outside of her house the day she moved into 6 Privet Drive.

"That's awesome," said Hermione, in a bit of a distant voice. "So, are you two formal?"

Harry rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, as he usually did when he was

uncomfortable. "I never really asked her. I'd imagine though... we've gone out on enough dates and all. What about you and Sean?"

Hermione looked surprised. "Oh, no. Of course not," she said. "I only saw him for that week I visited the United States. He's a sweet kid and all, but I need more time before I make up my mind."

They quickly found their bags rummaging through the cargo hold of the Hogwarts Express and slipped on their robes.

"Whatever happened between you and Krum, anyway?" asked Harry as he dawned his black robe and cap.

Hermione flushed a bit red. Victor Krum was one of the contestants during the Tri-Wizard Tournament and had been dating Hermione during that time.

"Oh, I just... I'm just not up for sporting a long distance relationship. Between his Quiddich and my schoolwork, I don't have the energy."

"How did Krum take it?" asked Harry as Hermione and him dismounted the train.

It was an uncharacteristically cold night on the Hogwarts grounds, as the moon seemed to be covered by low hanging clouds above. A whipping wind blew out over the lake, chilling Harry under his rather thin robe.

Hermione shrugged, her flowing hair seeming to bounce with the action. "Not that well, but he's doing ok. I owled him last week."

Further conversation was interrupted by the traditional call that Harry unknowingly had waited for the entire trip.

"Firs' years and all firs' time Hogwarts students, 'is way!" bellowed Hagrid's familiar voice. His message had changed slightly, however.

"Hagrid!" shouted Harry, walking over to him.

Hagrid looked down to see Harry and Hermione making their way over. "Ey there, 'arry! Nice ter be seein ya."

Hagrid embraced Harry and Hermione both in one large bear hug. "Keep growin', 'arry, n' yer going ter be as big as me."

The raven-haired boy smiled slightly at that absurd idea. "So, Hagrid, do you know what is going on with all the new students?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, do tell."

Hagrid shook his head, his wild beard blowing in the breeze. "Ah can't say that ah know fer sure," he said. "That's Dumbledore's business. Ah'm sure he'll be explainin it ter ye at the feast."

"Right then," said Harry with a nod. "I will see you then."

Hagrid waved as Hermione and Harry moved quickly to catch up with Ron. Harry caught notice of Sean, Alex and Jessica walking over to Hagrid, with mixed emotions. Seeing the look on Sean's face brought him back to the first time he had seen the giant man. Yet, he had found out quickly that Hagrid was one of the kindest souls Harry could have ever hoped to know.

He knew they would to.

Jessica waved to him as Hagrid and all the first time students made their way over to the lake. Harry and Hermione caught up to Ron just in time to make it onto the same carriage as him. Along with Ron, seated across from him, was Neville Longbottom. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, however, a very upset look was evident upon Neville's round face.

"Hey Neville," said Harry with a nod.

Neville looked up and looked at Harry with his squinty eyes. "Hi, guys," he replied somberly, and looked back down at his knees.

Hermione looked to Harry, who shrugged back to her. "We didn't see you on the train, Neville," said Hermione, trying to sound cheerful. "Where were you?"

Ron also watched Neville with a bit of concern. Harry and Ron had developed a real soft spot for Neville, having lived in the same room with him for four years.

"I was there," said Neville somberly. "You just didn't look for me."

Harry felt a slight pang of guilt. Every year, Neville had come to Harry's compartment to hang out for a while. In truth, with all the new faces on the train, he had completely forgotten about Neville.

"Sorry Neville," said Harry, feeling genuinely upset. "With all the craziness on the train, with the new Muggles and all, it got a bit crazy."

Harry paused for a minute, realizing how ineloquent that sounded.

Neville sighed and waved his hand dismissingly at the comment.

The carriages began to roll out, traveling the winding road to Hogwarts' main entrance. Each and every time Harry returned to the school, it was like seeing it again for the first time. The castle loomed ahead, with flickering lights in nearly every window, beckoning Harry back into its warm, comforting embrace. Harry could hear his stomach growling; he had not had anything to eat all day.

"How was your summer, Neville?" asked Hermione kindly, trying to cheer him up.

Neville remained silent, staring at his shoes. Harry looked away from the castle back to the round faced boy and only now noticed how sunken in his eyes were, as if he hadn't slept in ages. His hair was disheveled to a point where Harry's mat appeared stylish.

"Are you alright?" asked Ron, apparently noticing what Harry had noticed.

Neville sighed and looked up, his face seeming drawn and stretched from fatigue and stress.

"Gran died a few weeks ago."

Hermione put her hand to her mouth while Harry and Ron looked at him with stunned expressions.

"Oh, Neville," said Hermione, moving over to hug him compassionately. "I'm so sorry."

Neville sighed again, this time more unevenly as he accepted the hug from Hermione, his strong wall to his emotions beginning to collapse.

"I don't really have much of a family left," said Neville, with a bitter tone.

Ron cocked his head curiously. "What about your parents, Neville?"

Harry winced visibly. Of all the current Gryffindors, only he knew that Lord Voldemort had tortured both of Neville's parents horrifically under the Cruciatus curse. While they both lived, Harry knew that they did not remember who Neville was.

Neville simply shook his head, his eyes beginning to ring with moisture.

Ron winced and swallowed a lump of emotion. While it was not unheard of to see Neville in a bit of a funk, this was totally different.

"I... I'm sorry, I should have kept it to myself," Neville stammered and what little control over his emotions he had slipped away. Hermione continued to hug him, patting his back, while Neville rested his forehead against her shoulder.

Harry and Ron both looked at each other with bewildered expressions. Harry had never been in the position to console anyone before in his life. The closest thing to true loss experienced by one of his friends was when Ron thought Hermione's cat Crookshanks had eaten his pet rat, Scabbers. As it turned out, Ron wished the cat had succeeded, for the rat turned out to be one of Voldemort's most loyal Deatheaters.

And so the carriage finally came to a stop without any words, with Hermione still cradling Neville's head.

"We are here for you," she said softly. "We can talk about it later tonight."

Neville looked up to her and nodded, without saying any words. Harry and Ron helped Neville stand, and the four friends left the carriage at a slow pace. Almost immediately, they bumped into Seamus and Dean, who were waiting by the main hallway of Hogwarts. Upon seeing them, they rushed out to greet them.

"Harry! Ron!" exclaimed Seamus with a wide-eyed expression, as the light from the castle reflected off his silver prefect's badge. "You have GOT to see this."

Harry momentarily forgot about Neville as he cocked his head. "See what?"

Dean seemed totally freaked out, as if he had just seen a ghost... one that did not attend Hogwarts. "Just come on!"

Ron and Harry hurried off after Dean and Seamus, running though the main hall. As always, the room seemed to shimmer with the beautiful glow of magic, as the walls were decorated with floating torches. A new addition, however, was a red carpet that rolled itself out to the four boys as they raced to the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

Half of the student body assembled outside of the hall, talking in high-pitched voices. Seamus led the way through the crowd and into the hall, followed closely by Dean, Harry and Ron. Upon entering, each of the boys paused to take a deep breath.

The hall was beautifully decorated, as it always was the first night, with floating candles, suspended in the air with magic. Yet, there seemed nothing strange about the Great Hall to make the entire student body so spooked. The faculty table sat unmanned at the front of the hall, with five great tables spanning vertically across the room...

And then, Harry's jaw dropped.

"Um... perhaps someone put a Memory Charm upon me..." said Ron enunciating each word clearly. "But, were there not only four tables in Hogwarts?"

"Do you guys have a clue?" asked Seamus Finnegan, scratching his sandy brown hair.

Harry shot a confused look to Seamus. "You are the prefect; you tell us..."

Seamus shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. All I know is that for nearly a thousand years, Hogwarts has had four houses. I have no idea what this fifth table is for."

"Well," said Dean, holding up his finger intellectually. "There HAS been a massive increase in students, if you haven't noticed."

Ron scratched his chin, as Hermione and Neville had caught up to them. Their reactions were just as similar.

"Anything about this in Hogwarts; A History?" asked Ron dubiously.

Hermione thought for a moment. "I'd have to get back to you on that one."

Ron looked to Hermione. "I was kidding, I think."
"Well," said Harry, taking a few more steps into the Great Hall. "We won't be finding any answers standing out here with our thumbs up You-Know-Where."

Seamus smirked slightly. "Cute."
"I thought so," said Harry with a clever grin as he sat down at the second table from the left, the table that he guessed was now for Gryffindors. Hermione sat down next to Harry, and everyone else began to file in, sitting down at the tables they guessed would belong to their House. There was an eerie echo of anticipation amongst the crowd; most could not wait to hear what was going on.
And without much further delay, the teachers began to file in. First came Professor Flitwick, the diminutive Charms Professor who seemed very excited about something judging by the skip to his step. In there own time, the professors entered the room as the rest of the students sat down and filled the hall, with the exception of the one extremely large table on the far side of the room, practically against the wall. Professor Snape was one of the last to enter; now only Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall were missing.

"Blimey, it looks like some manner of creature crawled up his arse and died there," said Ron as he leaned across the table, speaking to Harry and Hermione.

Harry looked to Snape and saw that the sallow, severe looking man looking exceptionally grave.

"If that's all that wrong with him, I'd say he's having a good day," said Seamus out of the corner of his mouth.

"He must have been turned down again for the Defense Against the Dark Arts job," offered Hermione. "I wonder who is teaching it."

Finally, all that was missing was Professor McGonagall, who was still with the first years. While Harry had only been able to attend one other sorting ceremony that wasn't his own, it seemed like this was taking much longer than it should have.

And where was Dumbledore?

"Hey," said Dean, looking around the room. "Dumbledore is usually... well, no... ALWAYS here before anyone else arrives."

A loud voice shot over from the Slytherin table. "Maybe the stupid Muggles couldn't even figure out how to row the bloody boats!"

Harry did not need to look over to know who the speaker was. Snape's expression seemed to lighten up upon hearing that comment, but Professor Flitwick stared bewilderedly at Malfoy. The entire Slytherin table began to laugh.

"That will do!" squeaked the little man. "The next comment like that will cost the speaker five points!"

Malfoy bit his lip sourly and stared at the empty plate in front of him.

Another ten minutes passed in silence as Harry watched the doors to the Great Hall in expectation. Finally, when it seemed the tension in the room had culminated into a tangible force, the doors to the Great Hall swung open. First, Professor McGonagall entered dressed in her usual green robes with her acute spectacles and a very stern look upon her face, even more so than normal. About thirty first year girls and boys followed her, looking nervously around at all the faces in the Great Hall. Yet, the procession did not stop there, as larger children continued to file into the hall, followed by older still.

"Blimey," said Ron, his eyes wide. "There is sure a heck of a lot of them."

Harry nodded as over one hundred children, ranging from pre-teens to young adults who looked as old as seventh-years lined up nearly back to the Great Hall entrance, in between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables.

One of the figures waved to them, and Hermione waved back. Sean stood near the end of the line, smiling brightly under his black cape and Hogwarts robe. Next to him stood the very dull face of Alex, looking rather morbid and depressed. Behind him, Jessica looked to Harry with a nervous expression upon her face.

"You'll do fine," Harry mouthed clearly. Jessica seemed to get his message and smiled a bit more.

Professor Dumbledore entered at the end of the line, his ponderous white beard nearly touching his toes. With a twinkle in his crystal blue eyes and an excited gait to his usually slow step, he maneuvered through the line and took his place at the faculty table. With a sweeping gesture, Professor Dumbledore produced the Sorting Hat from beneath his robe. To Harry, the patchwork hat seemed to look much younger than ever. Every time Harry had seen it, it came off as an old hat in very poor repair. Now, it almost seemed to glow with radiant energy.

"Did they make a new Sorting Hat or something?" asked Harry, leaning over to speak to Hermione.

The wavy-haired girl shook her head. "I think it is just very excited. It is about to get four years worth of sorting in one."

Harry hummed in consideration as he sat back to watch.

The hat was handed over to Professor McGonagall as it shifted to reveal a large, gaping mouth. Without further adieu, a dry but rhythmic song filled the Great Hall

Oh, once again a song so true,

To fill a heart with cheer.

But now I offer a single clue,

That is why I'm here.

So put me on and try me out,

To show me what's up there.

Do not fret and do not pout,

What lies beneath your hair?

Will you be a Ravenclaw,

And look smart and wise to me?

As many books Rowena saw,

Is that your house to be?

Or maybe Hufflepuff is where,

True friends and workers unite.

Following Helga, with great care,

With lives free of spite.

Do you belong with Godric's might?

House Gryffindor, straight and bold.

Who never panic with foot or flight,

And fear nothing truth be told.

Or are you sly and cunning,

Perhaps with cold deceit.

Salazar's Slytherins keep on running,

And never know defeat.

And now my song should end,

But, no, I am not done.

For now is the start of trend,

A rising of a new sun.

I am proud to introduce,

For the first year today,

A new destiny for new produce,

So listen to what I say.

A new house for new power,

For mysteries we cannot see,

To see the dawn of a new hour;

A new page in history.

House Narhassa's given rebirth,

From an ancient order of old,

For those have yet to see their worth,

And those of power so untold.

The hat ended its unusually long song. Both songs that Harry had witnessed before had been met with tumultuous applause by the student body and faculty alike. Yet this time, only a handful of students gave haggard claps. Most were too busy whispering to the people sitting next to them.

"A new house?" whispered Ron across the table. "What's going on?"

Seamus looked just as baffled as Ron. "I have not a clue."

Hermione looked concerned. "Never once in Hogwarts; A History was a new house added."

"Narhassa was an old order of wizards that went extinct over eight hundred years ago," explained Ron while Harry nodded.

A puzzled look crossed Hermione's face. "What happened to them?"

Ron shrugged. "No one knows for sure. They vanished right about the time of the Founders' death."

"Freaky!" exclaimed Dean.

The Sorting Ceremony began, distributing the first years into random houses. When the Sorting Hat boomed out "GRYFFINDOR," their conversation was suspended as they applauded the new first years. The occasional shout "NARHASSA!" was met with a very dim applause, for there was no one at the empty table to welcome them.

And now, the older students began to try on the hat, and each time without fail, the Sorting Hat shouted out "NARHASSA!" About thirty minutes later, the hat was only half done with all the new students, who went nervously to the extra table and began to fill it up.

"Blimey!" exclaimed Ron, looking extremely impatient and hungry. "Can't they just say: 'All remaining students, go to House Narhassa?'"

Harry agreed wholeheartedly with Ron as he stomach was now audibly protesting this long wait.

Hermione looked at Ron sourly. "If you had ever read Hogwarts; A History, you would know that every student who has studied here for the past thousand years have to be sorted into a house. They cannot break that tradition."

Ron looked exasperated. "We'll we've already broken about a dozen traditions this year. Can't we just keep going and not look back?"

Another fifteen minutes later, the older students, those who would have been in their fifth year, began to be called up.

"Camaradi, Sean," called out Professor McGonagall, her voice nearly choking in her throat from overuse. Professor Dumbledore handed her a glass of water.

The red-haired boy calmly walked up to the hat and placed it on over his head. There was a long pause as the hat slipped down over his face. Sean's small height and skinny frame made him looked like a first year student, buried beneath the hat.

Yet, while the hat did not say anything for a long while, Harry, Hermione and Ron hardly noticed. Ron's head was in his hands and a rhythmic breathing was audible over the silent crowd.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat, shocking everyone back to reality.

Harry, who was on the verge of falling asleep himself, bolted upright and blinked away his fatigue. Ron's arms slipped out from under his chin and his head smacked into the table with an alarming start. At first, no one applauded, as if they thought perhaps it was a figment of their imagination. It was Hermione, however, that began clapping first. Eventually, the entire Gryffindor table began to applaud. Before long, everyone was standing, offering an extremely warm welcome to Gryffindor's first muggle student.

Seamus Finnegan pushed over as Sean made his way over to them, congratulating him. With a bright smile, Sean sat down next to Harry.

"Am I the first Muggle to be sorted into a real house?" asked Sean, his eyes bright and alive. Hermione reached over Harry and shook gave Sean's hand a squeeze.

"I think so," she said sweetly. "Good job!"

If Sean could possibly grow any happier, he rose to the occasion handsomely. Harry caught Ron out of the corner of his eye, sulking a bit.

"Guardings, Alex," called out Professor McGonagall, after a few more "Narhassas."

The hat barely touched the top of his head, as it had done with Draco Malfoy so many years ago. Without even taking a moment to reconsider considering, the hat bellowed out: "NARHASSA!"

Alex took off the hat bitterly and strode over to the new table dejectedly, which was now nearly full with new students. To Harry, it seemed as though he was upset about not being as special as Sean.

After a few more calls of "NARHASSA," finally, it was Jessica's turn. Jessica calmly strode up to the hat and placed it over her head. Harry held his breath in anticipation.

It took nearly a minute, as Sean's had done. Good sign, thought Harry.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat finally cried out.

The entire Hufflepuff table stood up, hooting and applauding loudly. After all of the students who had been Sorted, it seemed like everyone was excited to see some sort of break in the pattern. Even the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables gave their share of applause.

"Well," said Hermione, looking at Harry. "At least she's in a Wizarding House."

Harry nodded his head. It was impossible to hide a shred of disappointment. He had been hoping with all his heart that she would be sorted into Gryffindor..

Yet, Hufflepuff was as close to a companion house to Gryffindor as was possible.

Finally, it was time to sort the sixth years. Harry couldn't say that he knew any of them, but one boy caught his eye and held it. He was a sly looking boy whose hair seemed to rebel against his wizard's cap, sticking out like charred black spikes. His face seemed to form a triangle as his acute ears, his pointy nose and his prominent chin made up a crude, geometric figure. As if sensing Harry was staring at him, he rolled his dark green eyes over to him, with a listless sort of ennui.

There was something so familiar about this boy; that sly look, that gait, that expression... that expression of pure deadened malice.

At once, Harry felt his scar erupt with a surge of pain. He closed his eyes in agony, clutching his fist to his forehead, in an attempt to suffer without drawing attention. Instead of the black, backs of his eyelids, he only saw white as the pain clawed at his head like a prisoner trying to free itself. His ruse did not fool Ron and Hermione, who knew Harry so well that they could practically sense his pain.

"Harry? Harry?" said Hermione, shaking his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Harry lifted his eyes to behold the sixth year muggle. The boy was still staring at him, the top corners of his mouth set into an evil smile.

"Redetyor, Seth!" Professor McGonagall rasped with a failing voice, as she finished off the glass of water that Professor Dumbledore had given her.

The boy calmly folded his hands and walked forward, his tall strides quickly putting him into the chair and beneath the Sorting Hat. Instead of the immediate process of sorting, the hat considered the boy for a full minute. Harry panted, as the pain in his scar began to subside.

"Was it - Was it the scar?" Ron was stammering, drawing a concerned look from Seamus, Dean and Sean. "You-Know-Who?"

Harry shook his head, clearing his mind of the pain at last. "I... I don't know. It can't be!"

"SLYTHERIN!" called out the hat as it was lifted from the boy's head.

The young man named Seth Redetyor calmly strolled his way toward the Slytherin table though was not met with much welcome there. Draco Malfoy made it a point to slide as far away from the new boy as possible. Most Slytherins pushed away from him, giving him a buffer zone of about two feet on each side of his table.

"Not exactly greeting him with their arms open, are they?" asked Sean, biting his lip slightly.

Ron lifted his concerned stare from Harry and glanced over. "No, not at all," he said shortly.

"I wonder why that is," thought Sean out loud.

"They hate Muggles," said Hermione, reasonably. "They are all elitist pigs."

Yet something else clawed at Harry's chest. He was not so sure that was the reason. He shifted his glance from the back of Seth's head, to Draco Malfoy, who sat across the table, a few positions to the right. He was watching Seth with a look not of contempt, but of concern.

"I think even the Slytherins sense he is the wrong sort..." said Harry at length. "I have seen that boy before."

Ron, Sean and Hermione both looked at Harry quizzically.

"Where?" asked Ron.

Harry pointed to Ron. "When you and me went into the Chamber of Secrets, at the end of our second year."

Ron's eyes widened in utter disbelief. "You don't mean..."

"Yes, I do mean..."

He nodded to Seth, whose back was now to him as he sat upright at the Slytherin table. Harry spoke in a very chilling and drawn out tone.

"That... is Tom Marvolo Riddle."