"Potter, Harry!"
Chapter 10- “Potter, Harry!”
Michael and the Dark Lord quickly came to an agreement after that.
Mike would assist the Dark Lord and Quirrell in the resurrection and keep them alive until then, Voldemort would then owe Michael a Life Debt. Voldemort was smug for a moment, because he knew that wasn’t how Life Debts worked, but then Magic snapped the agreement in place solidifying their pact.
Quirrell was promptly given his body back, as the Lords strength was fizzling out. Before they left, Michael gave them a potion.
“Trust me, it’ll help. Just take a sip before you go to sleep every night.” Quirrell’s blue eyes stared back at him skeptically, but he still took the bottle with him.
Michael sighed, tension easing from his body. He made his way to the bedroom so he could get some sleep before the students arrived.
He was dreading the coming day.
Mike spent the next day wondering how the hell he ended up taking a job as a teacher.
The morning was easy enough, he spent most of it in the owlery sending out orders for furniture, books, and other classroom supplies. He would not be accepting long scrolls of parchment paper, so he made sure to buy plenty of looseleaf notebook paper as he was sure none of his students would have any. He made sure to have pens and pencils as well, because quills were a pain in the ass to write with.
By the time the students had arrived he already had a long list of things for the headmaster to pick up from the delivery address, which he promptly handed to the man before they sat for the Welcoming Feast. He simply smiled with that annoying twinkle in his eye and reassured Mike that they will bring his items as soon as they arrived. Michael nodded in response and sat down in his usual place. Minerva and the grounds keeper were both notably missing.
The Hall was quickly filled with noise as hundreds of students flooded it in a blur of black, red, yellow, blue, and green as they all sat at their appropriate tables. Michael observed the room.
The rowdiest of them all were the red clad Gryffindor’s, they were loud and pushing each other around. Michael was almost concerned by their behavior, it was reminisce of his own in school.
The Slytherins were quietly pristine, and probably the most subdued of the bunch. They kept to themselves and seemed to be the smallest House.
The Hufflepuffs were all chatting quietly amongst themselves, the older years making sure to include the new second years in the conversation. Occasionally they would call out to those at other tables to wave ‘Hi’.
The Ravenclaws were mostly quiet. Many seemed to be reading, or seemingly discussing a book with friends. He saw others drawing or writing as well, although they were few and far between.
Minerva led the first years in only a few moments later. The eleven (11) year old’s stared around in wonder and a bushy haired girl remarked a fact she learned about the ceiling. It made Michael think of his own siblings, how Evan would have nervously shuffled around while a few years later Elizabeth would have been bouncing up and down in anticipation. His throat closed up a bit, and he shook his head to get rid of the thought.
The black-eyed man next to him eyed him.
Michael ignored him.
He looked on as the Sorting Hat began its song, listing the characteristics of each house. Mike found it a bit silly to sort eleven (11) year old’s, who had yet to fully develop their personalities away from the influence of their parents. Each table clapped as the first years were sorted, although the applause were greatly subdued for the new Slytherin student’s and some Gryf’s even booed the small children.
The sorting went on without a hitch, outside of one little boy who accidently ran off with the hat, until they got to the P’s
“Potter, Harry!” Rang out. The Hall silenced when no little boy came bounding up to the platform. A nervous tension filled the air. Michael was a little confused. He had heard the name ‘Harry Potter’ before, apparently the kid was famous, so why wasn’t he here?
“Potter, Harry?” Minerva tried again, but still, no one came. The stern woman in emerald robes took a deep breath, and continued on as the rest of the students broke out into whispers. The sorting was more subdued after that, and the Slytherin table was receiving more glares and boo’s from the red lions for some reason.
At the very end, the Headmaster stood to give a speech.
“I did have a speech prepared, but I feel that I must clear up a few things. As you have seen, Harry Potter has not arrived at Hogwarts. We believe he may have had some trouble getting his letter, rest assured we will hand it to him soon!” He began, it seemed to settle most of the children. “Now, for the usual announcements!”.
Michael tuned out for the most part. He could see through the Headmaster’s lie. Something happened to this little boy. Then, Michael had a terrible thought. What if his father was behind it?
Only four (4) kids were reported missing, but what his father had left behind said there were five (5). He wouldn’t have known the kid was famous, and they were obviously trying to keep his disappearance on the down low. But would his father really kill and experiment with a magical child?
Who was he kidding, of course William would. He would have needed to test every variable.
Fuck.
But Mike couldn’t panic yet, he didn’t know for sure that Harry Potter was a victim. He was probably overthinking and his theory would be disproven once he found the animatronics. Until then he decided to keep his mouth shut.
He continued to watch the sorting, waving at the students when the headmaster mentioned him. Some of the purebloods, especially the Slytherins, seemed to recognize his name.
This was going to be a long year.