A New Life

Chapter Five: Sorting Of an Odd Nature

Harry was feeling more than apprehensive now that he'd arrived at the Hogsmeade train station. Neither his parents nor Sirius had told him what to expect on the first night, nor was he sure what to do next. Stepping off the train onto the platform, he looked round trying to spot Draco but to his dismay, he didn't see him anywhere. Harry felt bad that Draco had to be beholden to his name, because the more he thought about it the more he really wouldn't have minded being friends with the other boy, even if he were a bit strange at times.

One person he did see however was the redheaded boy from before, and Harry felt a pang of guilt at how he'd treated him on the train. Shyly going up the other boy, who was looking just about as lost as he was, he said hesitantly, 'Umm ... Ron?'

The boy looked over at Harry in surprise at first, then with some wariness. 'What do you want?'

'Look ... I'm sorry about how I acted on the train. I suppose I just don't like to hear such thing about my Father, it's a bit of a sore issue,' Harry said with a hesitant smile.

Ron looked at Harry oddly for a moment then shrugged. 'Yeah, I can understand that. I'm sorry about what I said too. It was a shock to know that Snape has a kid though. I mean my brothers told me some pretty bad stories about him, no offence,' Ron said.

'It's all right, Ron, I understand. My father's not exactly an easy person, I've seen him in public, and he can be a bit harsh. I bet your three brothers --'

'Five,' Ron cut in.

'Five?' Harry asked.

Ron nodded sheepishly. 'Yeah, I'm the sixth of seven kids. Six boys, one girl, my younger sister Ginny who you saw at King's Cross. She's coming to Hogwarts next year.'

'Wow, I can't imagine having six siblings; I think my parents would go daft! They barely can handle me most of the time,' Harry chuckled. Looking round now he asked, 'Do y'know what we're supposed to be doing now?'

Ron shook his head. 'Not really. Even with five brothers ahead of me, all I know is we're to be sorted at some point. Just not sure --'

'Firs' years over 'ere! Come on now, all firs' years this way!' a voice boomed out from somewhere in front of the two boys.

'Well, I reckon that answers that, eh?' Harry said looking over to where the voice had come from.

Ron nodded. 'Yeah, I suppose we best get going,' he said and started to walk away, Harry following. 'So you'll probably be going to Slytherin then seeing as how ... err ... well because of your dad and all.'

'He's my father, Ron,' Harry said. 'My dad ... he's a Gryffindor actually.' He didn't quite yet want to tell Ron that his dad was also the new Muggle Studies teacher; Ron had had enough shocks for the moment Harry figured.

'So ... you have two dads ... err ... fathers ... umm ... well you know what I mean,' Ron said nervously.

Harry chuckled and nodded. 'Yeah, I know, it's not something you see often, even in the Wizarding world apparently, but yeah, I have two male parents. Hmm, I wonder where Draco went, I don't see him anywhere,' he said worriedly looking round for the other boy.

'Draco? You mean Draco Malfoy?' Ron asked in surprise.

Harry nodded. 'Yeah, that's him. We sat together on the train. He's really nice,' he said.

Ron snorted. 'Malfoys aren't nice, Harry. They're evil prats from the word go. My dad works with Malfoy's dad at the Ministry and well ...' he began and with a quick look round to see if anyone was listening continued in a low voice. 'They say Lucius Malfoy was right up there with You-Know-Who.'

Harry looked at Ron startled now. 'You mean Voldemort?'

Ron nearly choked and shook his head nervously. 'Don't say that name, Harry!' he admonished.

'Why not? It's just a name, Ron,' Harry asked.

'Because ... well ... just because. No one ever says his name,' Ron said.

'I'm not going to not say his name when that was his name, Ron,' Harry said growing impatient. 'My parents say that to fear a name only increases the fear in the thing itself. Besides, he's long gone now, why be afraid of someone that's dead?'

'Some people say he's not dead. My dad says he's just waiting out there, biding his time or something. Waiting to take revenge on the last remaining Potter,' Ron said in a hushed voice.

Harry snorted. 'All the Potters are dead, everyone knows that. Even if Voldemort did come back, how could he get revenge on the dead?' he asked.

Ron shook his head and groaned. 'Don't you know about what happened that night at Godric's Hollow?'

'Sort of, it's never really come up much at home. All they told me was that the Potters were in hiding and someone betrayed them and they all got killed,' Harry said.

'They didn't though; they never found Harry Potter's body. They found his parents bodies, but not his. Some say,' Ron trailed off looking round again and lowering his voice, 'they said that Sirius Black took him that night. That he's keeping Harry Potter in hiding, training him to be the next Dark Lord, taking over for You-Know-Who.'

'That's a bunch of tripe, Ron,' Harry said shaking his head in amusement. 'The Potter kid probably just got burned up or something when Voldemort killed him, I bet that's why he wasn't found. And why would Sirius Black want him? What did he have to do with anything?'

'Will you stop saying that name, Harry?' Ron grumbled. 'Believe what you want, but I think both of them out there somewhere, and they will show back up one day. Sirius Black was the Potter's Secret-Keeper, he's the reason they're dead; Black betrayed them to You-Know-Who. And he was Harry Potter's godfather, so no doubt that's why he took him away. What could be better than raising the son of your enemies as the next Dark Lord? Or worse, using him to bring back You-Know-Who?'

'You're really unbelievable; honestly, it's all fairy tales, Ron. Sirius Black didn't betray them, he was their friend, why would he? And I don't know about him being godfather to the Potter's kid, I think my parents would have told me if that were true seeing as how my parents went to school with James Potter and Sirius Black,' Harry said.

Harry knew the truth about Sirius of course, that he was on the run still only because everyone thought he'd betrayed the Potters, but Harry knew for fact it hadn't been his uncle at all. Peter Pettigrew was the real betrayer and still out there, hiding somewhere. Harry knew Sirius was always on the look out for him because he hoped to find Pettigrew someday in order to clear his name. Harry had never heard anything about his uncle being godfather of the Potter's kid though, that was a version of the story his parents had never told him. He filed that information away though, determined to remember to ask his uncle about that when he came to the school.

'Firs' years, let's get a move on now! Th' boats are waitin', so get yerself on one!' a loud voice boomed out again.

'Oi, look at that bloke, he's huge!' Harry said in awe as he looked up at who'd spoken.

'That's Hagrid, the Groundskeeper. I heard about him from my brothers. They said he's harmless enough, despite his size. Lives in a little hut on the grounds and seems to like odd animals. Anyway, come on and let's get a boat before they're all gone,' Ron said.

Harry nodded then just as he was about to get into the boat he spotted a familiar silver-haired boy. Waving frantically he called out, 'Oi, Draco! Over here! Take this boat!'

Draco looked up and saw Harry, then saying something to two rather large boys standing next to him went over to the boat Harry was standing. At seeing Ron, however, he sneered and said, 'I thought you were going to avoid people like the Weasley's, Harry. They're not our type.'

'Draco, stop being a git and get in. Ron's all right, really he is. What do you two have against each other?' Harry asked curiously.

'He's a Weasley, a disgrace to the name of wizard,' Draco said looking down his nose at Ron, who was glaring back with equal dislike.

'Malfoys are nothing but evil gits. Mark my words, Harry, if You-Know-Who were to come back, you can bet the Malfoys will be standing right next to him,' Ron said darkly.

'Don't make assumptions you know nothing about, Weasley,' Draco said icily.

'Oh both of you shut up already!' Harry said glaring at them both now. 'Look, you're not you're fathers, you're yourselves. As far as I'm concerned, you're both all right in my book, and I don't really give a flying fig about Voldemort or any of that. Now get in the bloody boat, Draco, because all the others are gone already,' he grumbled.

'Harry!' Ron whined.

'Oh stuff it, Ron, I told you, I'm not going to call him anything else, so get used to it,' Harry grumbled.

Looking round, Draco realised Harry was right, there were no more boats left. Glaring again at Ron he stepped into the boat with a huff. 'Just don't tip the boat over, Weasley.'

'If anything your ego will do that, Malfoy,' Ron muttered.

'I'm not going to warn you both again. One more word and I'll hex you both into next week,' Harry said warningly.

'Considering you're Snape's son, I wouldn't doubt that for a second, Harry,' Draco chuckled.

'You really know spells that can do that?' Ron asked curiously, forgetting his gripes with Draco for the moment.

'You'd be surprised what I know, Ron,' Harry grinned. 'My uncle taught me a trick or two this past month after we found out I was definitely coming here. My parents probably wouldn't be too happy to know that though no doubt, they'd flip if they knew he was teaching me unlicensed magic,' he chuckled.

'Why would you think you weren't coming to Hogwarts? Where else would you have gone?' Draco asked puzzled.

'Actually, I was planning on going to state. All my friends are going to go to the same secondary, I reckon now they'll have to do without me though,' Harry said a bit wistfully.

'State school? Are you saying that you went to a Muggle school, Harry?' Ron asked in shock.

'What's wrong with Muggle schools? I had tons of fun there,' Harry said defensively.

'But they're for Muggles, Harry. You're not a Muggle,' Draco said.

'No, but I was raised as a Muggle, Draco,' Harry said.

'Snape's son was raised as a Muggle?' Ron asked in disbelief. 'Are you sure you're Snape's son? He hates Muggles!'

Harry rolled his eyes. 'My father doesn't hate Muggles, Ron, he makes people think he does. I'm warning you though, you breathe a word of any of this to anyone I'll have to hex you. I'm sure that I'm going to be treated the same way as everyone else at school by him, so don't make things worse for me then they already will be, all right?' he pleaded.

'Ah, sure, Harry, I won't say anything,' Ron said.

'You best not, Weasley. I wouldn't put it past Harry to do something quite nasty,' Draco smirked.

Harry looked at his new friends a bit sheepishly. 'Believe it or not, I really haven't used magic much in my life, only experimenting here and there. The real magic I have learned has been only in this past month. Dad thinks I can do a lot more than I can though, don't know why he thinks that but he does,' Harry said with a shrug. 'Though a few times I think I might have done some magic at school unknowingly, and since he was teaching there that's probably why he thinks that way.'

'Your dad's a teacher too?' Draco asked.

'Well he was teaching at my primary school back in Notting Hill. He was a substitute teacher not a full time one, but the days he did teach were awesome,' Harry said. He still hadn't mentioned anything to either of them that his dad was going to be teaching at Hogwarts, they'd find out soon enough.

'Hard to believe a pureblood would reduce to teaching at a Muggle school,' Draco said.

'Why is being a pureblood such a big deal round here? I don't see what difference it makes,' Harry said irritably.

'It just seems odd, Harry, that's all. Purebloods don't normally go into the Muggle world, let alone live amongst them,' Ron said.

'Well maybe my parents just wanted to live in the Muggle world to get away from people in the Wizarding World, if this is how they act all the time,' Harry shrugged. 'Doesn't matter though, do it? We're all wizards, so I don't see what the difference is.'

'I agree with Weasley. Purebloods just don't do that, not unless they have something to hide that is,' Draco said.

'Look, my parents have nothing to hide. What would they need to hide? Maybe they just didn't want to be bothered by other wizards,' Harry said. 'Can't we just drop it?'

'Didn't mean to bother you, Harry, it's just curious to us,' Ron said.

Harry sighed. 'I know, but that's the way it is, and besides, I like the Muggle world. I already miss my Super Nintendo. I'm really good at beating my uncle at football,' he grinned.

'What's football?' Draco asked curiously.

Harry stared at him in shock. 'You've never heard of football?'

'No,' Draco said shaking his head.

'Me either, what is it?' Ron asked.

Harry groaned. 'It's a sport, sort of like Quidditch only you don't play it on broomsticks; it's played on a pitch that's on the ground. You have a black and white ball and you try to kick it into a goal. I was the best kicker on my primary school's team; we won every game as long as I was in play,' he said proudly.

'Sounds ... err ... interesting, this football thing,' Draco said in a tone of voice that said the opposite.

'It really is fun, Draco. Maybe one day I can ask my parents if you can come to a match with us. Dad loves Manchester United, but Father loves West Ham as I do. We go to matches whenever we can,' Harry said.

'Umm ... I'm not sure my father would let me do that,' Draco said.

'Why, because it's a Muggle sport? We're not back on that issue again are we, Draco? Thought we already covered this on the train,' Harry said.

'And I told you already, Harry, it's not that simple to just go against what everyone expects of me,' Draco replied.

'Typical Malfoy attitude, I bet your house-elf even chews your food for you, doesn't it,' Ron snickered.

'Shut up, Weasley, at least I have a house-elf,' Draco said glaring at Ron.

'You're both daft you know that?' Harry said with an exasperated groan. 'We don't have house-elves and we do just fine.'

'Not even one house-elf?' Ron asked in surprise.

'No, Ron, not even one. Dad does everything by Muggle standards, he doesn't even allow magic in the house unless it's for special reasons. We live in a flat in the middle of London so we can't exactly have a house-elf now, can we,' Harry said.

'You live in a flat in London? Don't you live at Snape Manor?' Draco asked puzzled.

'Snape Manor?' Harry asked in surprise. 'We don't have a Manor, Draco.'

'Yes you do,' Ron agreed whilst nodding his head. 'I've heard of it too. The Snapes are supposed to be incredibly rich at that.'

'Well that's news to me. Father's never said anything about a Manor or being rich. We live in Notting Hill I have my whole life. I was born there; I have my birth certificate even to prove that. We live in a small Victorian styled housing complex, our flat even has a garden in the back where Dad likes to grow vegetables and stuff, and we certainly don't have a lot of money. It was an effort for me even to come to Hogwarts. I felt guilty because it's going to cost so much to send me here, but my parents insisted on it,' he sighed.

'Well ... umm ... maybe they just didn't want to tell you, Harry, but there really is a Snape Manor. It's somewhere in Suffolk or Surrey or something, I don't remember where it is exactly, but I can find out,' Draco said.

Harry shook his head. 'Nah, don't bother, not as if it matters to me. If Father really did have all that, I'd have already known. It must belong to another Snape family, not ours,' he said firmly.

'There isn't another Snape family that I've ever heard of,' Draco said, then saw the scowl on Harry's face. 'But ... we'll drop it for now.'

Harry smiled at Draco gratefully. 'Thanks. Oh look, there's the castle!' he said glancing up now as the boats were pulling up. The whole time they'd been talking in the boat they'd completely ignored the fact they'd missed their first glimpse of Hogwarts, but now that they'd reached the other side of the lake all three of them looked up in awe as they climbed out of the boat.

'Cripes it's big!' Ron said nervously.

'I'm going to get lost, I can tell now,' Harry sighed. 'This place is trillions times bigger then my old school.'

'I thought Malfoy Manor was big, this place is huge,' Draco said in a hushed voice.

'Well come on, can't lay about down here all day. Look, there's the others walking ahead, let's catch up!' Harry said and started to run ahead.

Ron looked at Draco who was looking at Harry dash off and said, 'There's something odd about him don't you think, Malfoy?'

Draco looked over at Ron, a strange expression on his face. 'On that I agree with you, Weasley. Whatever it is, I doubt he's going to say anything about it, or that he even is aware of it. Can you imagine that he didn't even know about his father's manor or that the Snapes are as rich as we are?'

Ron nodded. 'I know; that's fishy if you ask me. And to be Muggle raised? Something's really wrong with that,' he said.

'He's hiding something, or at least his parents are, give you that much,' Draco agreed. 'I reckon they've been lying to him for years.'

'Are you two coming or not? Hurry up!' Harry yelled back now.

'Coming!' Draco called out. 'Whatever it is though, Weasley, I suppose it's not really any of our business, and I'm not going to get him angry at me if I can help it,' he said, then headed off to catch up to Harry, Ron following behind him.

The three of them walked together up the stairs to the Main Hall where a witch with a soured expression was waiting impatiently stopped them at a set of large oak doors.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' she said in a strict sounding voice. 'I am Professor McGonagall. In a few moments you will pass through these doors and we will begin the sorting.'

'You will be sorted into one of four noble houses. They are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin,' she said looking oddly enough in the direction of Harry, Ron, and Draco. 'Whilst you are here your houses are like your families. Good deeds will gain you house points, whilst bad ones will lose them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup, a great honour. Now in an orderly fashion please enter the Great Hall and walk down to the end platform where we shall begin the sorting,' McGonagall said as the huge oak doors opened by themselves.

Harry, Ron, and Draco anxiously stepped into the Great Hall, looking round in awe. As they were heading down the aisle towards the front they heard a girl say, 'The ceiling isn't real; it's only enchanted to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.'

'Real or not, it certainly looks wicked doesn't it, Harry?' Ron said in a whisper.

Harry nodded back though he didn't say anything. Instead, he was feeling jitterier than ever now as they approached the front. As they got there, Harry looked up at the Head Table and nearly turned tail and ran. Right in front of him were his parents sitting side by side, but they looked nothing as he'd even seen them look like at home.

His dad was dressed in brand new robes of velvety red with gold trimming that fitted him perfectly, which surprised Harry because all he'd ever seen his dad in was tattered, frayed, patched robes of brown. Harry stared at his dad for a moment in surprise, but where he expected to see perhaps a smile of warmth, he found his dad not even paying attention to him. In fact, it looked as if his dad was avoiding him for some reason so he turned his attention to his father instead.

His father was dressed in his usual dour black school garb, his white shirt barely peeking out over his collar and sleeves. What bothered Harry, however, was that he'd never seen his father with such an expression of loathing on his face before, as if everyone was beneath him. In fact, Harry thought that not even Sirius had ever received such a dark look from his father. He'd half hoped to see a nod of recognition at least from him, but like his dad, his father was simply ignoring him for the moment. He didn't get much more time to think on why that was because McGonagall was now at the front of the Hall looking down at them with her grim expression.

'Now pay attention. You will listen for you name, come to the stool, and place this hat on your head,' she said in a strict voice. She turned to look at a three-legged stool that had an old looking, tattered hat sitting on top of it, obviously waiting on something. Harry wasn't sure what to make of this until the hat began to suddenly move, and from a seam words poured out.

Oh, I am the Sorting Hat,

Made in days of yore,

I will see inside your head,

And tell you what's in store.

A thousand years ago,

Four nobles did agree,

Magic was in desperate need,

Of needing to be free.

Hence, the four did seek to find,

Means in which to teach,

But how to go about it,

Was still beyond their reach.

A magic school they did think,

Would be the way of choice,

And searching for a name for it,

They cried "Hogwarts" in one voice.

But whom to chose became their worry,

Who to teach became a task,

They did think of ways to choose,

For they could not just simply ask.

Ravenclaw could not decide,

For all her smarts indeed,

Hufflepuff could not agree,

Despite her well-known loyalty.

Gryffindor was brave and noble,

Yet even he could not find the way,

As for the cunning Slytherin,

His ambitions saved the day.

A thousand years have passed since then,

And I was left behind,

With the knowledge bestowed in me,

I shall see what's in your mind.

So sit and place me on your head,

And I shall soon decide,

Where it is your heart belongs,

An in to which House you will reside.

The entire hall burst into applause then became stilled as Professor McGonagall moved to the front of the platform. Looking down her nose at the newest batch of students, she unrolled a piece of parchment and said, 'As I call your name you will come forwards and be sorted. When you are finished, you will quietly make you way to your new table.'

'Abbot, Hannah!'

A girl came forth with pink cheeks and sat down hesitantly on the stool, then within a moment after the hat was on her head it called out, 'HUFFLEPUFF!' The girl seemed relieved and with a smile went over to sit down at what was clearly the Hufflepuff table.

'Bones, Susan!'

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Boot, Terry!'

'RAVENCLAW!

'Brocklehurst, Mandy!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Brown, Lavender!'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

'Bulstrode, Millicent!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

Harry wasn't even paying attention to the sorting any longer, he was still feeling queasy about the sorting, as well as couldn't help but notice that neither of his parents would acknowledge him yet. He was worried that he'd done something wrong until he felt a poking on his arm, and he turned to see Draco looking at him funny.

'What?' he whispered.

'Harry, pay attention, they're on the F's already!' Draco whispered back.

Harry then looked back up at the platform whilst a boy with sandy brown hair and a smug expression on his face named, 'Finnigan, Seamus' was getting down and heading for the Gryffindor table.

'Granger, Hermione!'

A girl with bushy brown hair and oversized teeth then ran past Harry, Ron, and Draco, and sat down quickly, placing the hat eagerly on her head. 'RAVENCLAW!' the hat shouted out after only a second, and the girl beamed broadly.

'Saw her on the train asking round 'bout a toad. Mental that one,' Ron leaned in and whispered to Harry.

'Yeah, so did Draco and me. Bit of a strange one she is, eh?' Harry chuckled, though he thought she seemed more overenthusiastic than mental, typical of Ravenclaws from what he remembered his uncle has said about that house.

A few more names were called then he heard 'Longbottom, Neville!' and he had a bad feeling that he was to be next. As the hat shouted out 'HUFFLEPUFF!' Harry suddenly got a sinking feeling and to his dismay he then heard,

'Lupin-Snape, Harry!'

'Snape? Did she say Snape?'

'Is he related to the Potion Master d'ya think?'

'Nah he can't be Snape's too mean to like anyone!'

'Hell must have frozen over if Snape has a kid.'

Harry didn't even want to hear anymore, instead he wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole right just then. The only thing he did see was that his parents were finally noticing him, though not as he hoped they would. His dad was looking at him with a frown on his face, whilst his father was simply staring at him, a very bleak, dark scowl directed solely at him.

'Mr Lupin-Snape, if you would be so kind to move it along? There are others left to sort tonight,' McGonagall said sternly.

'Oh, err ... sorry, Professor,' Harry said meekly then went up and sat down, putting the hat on his head.

*Well, well, what do we have here, a Boy-Who-Died or a Boy-Who-Lived?*

*Huh? What do you mean? I'm just Harry, and I wasn't dead last I checked*

*Are you now? I wonder ... Harry James Potter*

*Look, I think you have me mixed up with someone else, hat. I'm not Harry Potter. He's dead*

*Is he? Remember, child, I see what others don't*

*Look, stop playing games and sort me already won't you? I can't sit here all night, now can I*

*Yes, of course I will sort you, the question is ... where to put you*

*Well, my father is Head of Slytherin, but I don't really want to go there*

*Your Father was not a Slytherin though*

*You must be thinking of my dad, he was a Gryffindor*

*Ah, of course, you're thinking of Remus Lupin I see. Yes, he was a Gryffindor, and a very difficult decision it was to put him there at that. I preferred for him Slytherin, but he chose differently that day*

*Slytherin? Why should he have gone there? He's not evil*

*Werewolves are still products of the darkness, young Harry. I told him he'd have done well in Slytherin, and I say it too you as well*

*And I said I don't want to go to Slytherin*

*Are you sure? Slytherin would help you on your way to greatness, Harry Potter*

*Look you stupid hat, my name is Harry Orion Lupin-Snape, get it right. And yes, I'm very sure that I don't want to go to Slytherin*

*Very well then, time will tell of course ... if you are sure, however ... then it had better be ... *

'GRYFFINDOR!' the hat finally called out.

Harry let go of a deep breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding, then quickly got off the stool and took off the hat, looking at it oddly. 'Harry Potter's dead, you silly old hat, you really need to get your facts straight about who's who,' he muttered under his breath then looked up at his parents to see what they thought about the hat's decision.

To his surprise, his dad had a strange expression on his face, and if Harry was right, his dad was clearly worried about something. He saw his dad lean over and whisper something to his father, then watched as his father seemed to go even paler than usual. Realising that Harry was watching them, however, both his parents gave him a slight nod, and though it didn't make Harry feel better, he nodded slightly back. Turning back round he stepped off the platform, and was about to head towards the Gryffindor table when he was stopped.

'Gryffindor, huh?' Draco said quietly.

Harry smiled sadly. 'I did warn you ... sorry,' he said back quietly and continued towards the Gryffindor table.

The hall seemed almost too quiet to him; he could feel the eyes of everyone in the hall staring at him as he sat down. He sighed as the redheaded boy he'd sat down next to (he recognised him instantly as one Ron's brothers, the one with the glasses from the station, but he didn't know his name) moved away from him, and the rest of the table looked away when he glanced at them. It seemed that his father's reputation was going to make his life rougher from now on, even though he was sorted into Gryffindor.

He didn't get much more time to dwell on things though when he heard 'Malfoy, Draco!' being called, and he turned to watch Draco walk up to the stool.

Draco looked back at Harry with a wistful expression. Sitting down on the stool, he put the hat on his head.

*Ah yes, a Malfoy is it?*

*Yeah, so what? Just sort me already and let's get this over with*

*Ah, but you're not so easy to sort now, are you young Malfoy*

*Look, say Slytherin and get it over with already. It's what everyone's expecting*

*I could do that, but that's not what you really want now, is it*

*Of course, that's what I want. I'm a Malfoy. Malfoys always go to Slytherin*

*True, however your newfound friendship with another young lad has made you think otherwise, hasn't it. You're not sure now if you want to be someone else's puppet anymore*

*I'm not a ruddy puppet ... am I? Harry did say I didn't have to be one ...*

*Slytherin could bring you fame and fortune, is that what you truly want, or do you desire something different from your predecessors?*

*I suppose when you put it that way ... that maybe I do want to be different*

*Very well then, since that is what you seek then there is only one place to put you ... *

'GRYFFINDOR!' the hat yelled out.

Draco didn't move for a moment, he wasn't sure he could. He felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and though he thought it was a good idea at the time to go against all he knew, now he wasn't sure at all. Saying he wanted to be happy, and actually doing something about it were two different things, and he had a bad feeling he was going to pay dearly for his decision.

'Mr Malfoy, if you would be so kind to go to your table please,' Professor McGonagall said with a tenseness that Draco felt all too well.

'The G-Gryffindor ... table?' Draco asked now in a weak voice as he took off the sorting hat. Glancing at the Slytherin table, he could already see some of them had looks of anger on their faces, and some pure shock that a Malfoy was demoted to the ranks of a lowly Gryffindor.

'I do believe the Sorting Hat did say Gryffindor, Mr Malfoy,' McGonagall said in a clipped voice, and pointed out the way to the table.

'Err ... right,' Draco said swallowing hard until he looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw a very happy looking Harry staring back at him.

Draco brightened a bit and headed over to the table, taking full note that as he sat down next to Harry it was obvious both of them were going to be avoided as the plague.

'Well ... hi,' he said with a nervous chuckle.

'You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Draco,' Harry grinned.

Draco chuckled weakly. 'I reckon so. You know my father's going to kill me for this,' he sighed.

'Somehow I get the feeling we're both in for it,' Harry said looking up at his parents, both of whom were scowling fiercely at him.

Draco also looked at Harry's parents and shook his head puzzled. 'I wonder why they wouldn't want us to be friends though. I mean they were friends with my father, which is probably why they don't want us to be friends,' he said dejectedly.

'I don't care what their reasons are, Draco, I want to be friends with you. If they don't like it, too bad,' Harry said firmly.

Draco smiled. 'You're a strange person, Harry, but I'm glad you think that way.'

'Look, its Ron's turn to get sorted. Wonder where he'll end up?' Harry said noticing Ron now getting up to the stool.

'Probably Gryffindor, all Weasleys are Gryffindors,' Draco said as he also turned to watch Ron's sorting.

Ron was not too happy as he noticed Harry and Draco acting so chummy. He didn't know why but it bothered him that a Malfoy got into Gryffindor. Even though he did like Harry, he wished his new friend wasn't so friendly with Draco. As he got himself on the stool and took up the hat, however, he put those thoughts aside, though his resentment was still bubbling under the surface.

*Ahh ... another Weasley I see ... but oddly you're not like your brothers at all, are you, Ronald Lennox Weasley*

*So sorry to disappoint you. Honestly, I'm already I'm being compared to them and I'm not even here an hour yet!*

*So you don't like to be compared the rest of the family eh? Want to be your own person does you?*

*Something wrong with that? Of course, I want to be my own person, why wouldn't I? I mean look, if someone like Malfoy can go to Gryffindor then I should have the right to be different too*

*I see much ambition in your mind, Ronald Weasley. You want to do more than just be different, more than even just a great Quidditch player or Head Boy, oh yes indeed. You want to have the world in the palm of your hand, don't you*

*No, not the whole world ... just my part of it is all. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? It's no shame to be poor, but it's no great honour either you know. Even though Weasleys are purebloods and respected and all that, why shouldn't I want more?*

*Why shouldn't you indeed. Your desire for greatness will get you far, young Weasley, and where I shall put you will help you on your way to achieving those dreams of yours.*

*Well it would be nice not to have hand-me-downs all the time I admit ... but how exactly am I going to do that when I know I'll end up being like the others anyway?*

*Then you won't be like the others. For you see, I'm going to put you in the only place that a Weasley who has the desire to be different then all other Weasleys belongs. Where you can get help to achieve your ambitions by any means possible ... therefore I say ... *

'SLYTHERIN!'

Ron heard the words and blinked, for a moment he wondered if the hat was playing games with him. He could already tell that the Great Hall had been stunned into silence at the hat's decision, just as it had been with Malfoy, only somehow it was even worse. Everyone knew that in the nine hundred years there had been Weasleys going to Hogwarts, which was longer than even the Malfoy's had been going to Hogwarts, never once had one of them ever gone to Slytherin, so naturally there was good reason for the silence. Although it was true that Ron had his secret ambitions, he'd never thought it would land him into the seat of evil itself, however!

'Oh boy ... ' he half whispered to himself, then sighed deeply as he removed the hat from his head and looked up into the shocked expression on McGonagall's face. 'I don't think Mum and Dad are going to be very happy about this are they,' he said with a nervous chuckle.

McGonagall pursed her lips tightly, obviously not amused by his remarks. When he realised he was still being stared at however by everyone he got up the courage to look over to the Gryffindor table, to his brothers Percy, Fred, and George. With a sinking feeling saw not only looks of pure utter shock on their faces, but anger as well. At that point, Ron then did the only thing a Weasley sent to Slytherin House could do -- he turned red as a beetroot and promptly fainted on the spot.

Minerva McGonagall looked down at the prone body of Ron Weasley and sighed. Looking back up at the Headmaster who nodded her way she got out her wand and levitated Ron into a conjured up stretcher, then waited until Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, came over and took the lad away. Finishing off the rest of the sortings, she only could shake her head in wonder at this day. Today would go down in the history books as what had to have been one of the strangest sortings Hogwarts had most likely ever seen, and somehow she had a feeling that it was only the beginning of what was going to be a very odd and very long year.