Harry Silver

“AW COME ON!”

Luckily it appeared Harry's outburst had only been in his mind, he wasn’t sure how he would have explained it otherwise. He watched as a pink haired and very much 11 year old Nymphadora Tonks walked up to the stool with a brave face.

Well shit.

Apparently in this timeline Tonks had been born much later than originally and was now in Harry's year. He couldn’t decide if this was good or bad, although he supposed her and Lupin were very unlikely to now fall in love (or at least he hoped so). Perhaps she could be a potential friend and alley, he’d always liked Tonks after all.

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat shouted after a few moments and Harry swore he could feel the thing attempt to give him a smug look, another student with a different house.

Tonks practically jumped off the stool and ran over to the wide smiles and loud cheers of the Gryffindor table, it made Harry slightly jealous. But he supposed the hat had a point, he was a Slytherin now and may as well make the most of it.

Harry sat and watched as the rest of the students for the year were sorted, this time with no other surprises. He watched Ron join Gryffindor with a wide smile and finally Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin. The dark skinned pureblood walked over with a comfortable smile on his face and (to Harry's delight) completely ignored Malfoy's offer of the spare seat next to him and placed himself next to Daphne and opposite Harry.

Now that the sorting had been complete Dumbledore rose to his feet and gazed out into the crowds of hungry students, “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Now before we tuck into our delicious feast I’d like to say a few words. And those are: Nitiwt! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”

The headmaster sat back down to a ripple of chuckles as all kinds of food appeared in front of Harry, he licked his lips at the sight, despite how much he’d eaten on the train he was still starving. But Harry realised he was in Slytherin now, where etiquette and manners were key and-

“Chicken!” The brown haired girl next to him declared and swiped at least three chicken legs from the plate in front of her, for a minute Harry thought it had all been an illusion and he was actually back sat with Ron.

Harry smiled and forgetting high society table etiquette tucked in with ravenous hunger, he piled his plate high with steak, pork chops, potatoes, peas, gravy and anything else that would fit on it. Opposite the feral pair Daphne and Blaise took a much more steady approach as they smiled at each other.

“Heiress Greengrass.”

“Heir Zabini, didn't you fancy Hufflepuff then?”

“Please,” Blaise said with a honey like voice and a well practised smile, “How boring would that have been?”

“Are you guys gonna use those names for all 7 years we’re here?” The girl next to Harry asked them with an exhausted look.

Blaise let out a chuckle, “No, now that formal greetings for the year are complete there'll be no need for that. I’m Blaise, Blaise Zabini.”

“Tracey Davis,” The girl introduced herself as.

“Daphne Greengrass, a pleasure.” Daphne said as all three turned to Harry who paused with a chunk of chicken in his mouth.

“Oh um,” Harry said and swallowed the chicken, “Harry Silver.”

Daphne gave him a disgusted look, one he recognised as Hermione having given Ron for many years, “You don’t need to eat like animals.”

“Silver?” Blaise asked and rolled the name over his tongue, “You can’t be a pureblood then.”

Harry’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth with a piece of steak on it and looked up at Blaise, trying to ascertain his motives. But Blaise was doing a perfect job of making sure not to give anything away, he was almost as good as Daphne is keeping a neutral expression.

“I’m not,” Harry confirmed slowly.

“Oh thank Merlin,” Tracey said with a sigh, “I hoped you weren't. I was worried I’d be the only half-blood in our year.”

“Davis right?” Blaise said and frowned in thought, “Does your mother work at St Mungos?”

“That’s right!” Tracey chirped, “Head of the Curse Recovery Department. She’s a pureblood, last of the Davis line though we’re not some big or fancy pureblood house, my Dad was a muggle, died when I was young though. Never did find out Mum was a witch.”

“Ahhh, that’ll be it, Dad was in there a few years ago. Said the healer who looked after him was incredibly skilled.”

Tracey beamed at the compliment from Blaise, “Yeah, Mum was never one for pureblood politics so she taught me the basic etiquette but the Davis have no fortune or political power so I’ve never bothered with all the traditional stuff.”

“I can tell,” Daphne drawled though Harry could see the signs of an amused smile, “You didn’t even bow.”

“See!” Tracey said and pointed at Daphne, “That’s what I’m talking about, us halfbloods have to stick together!”

Harry scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, he might as well rip the Band-Aid off, “Ah… well you see…”

“Here we go,” Daphne said as she took a swig of her goblet to hide her smirk as Blaise looked at her curiously.

“I’m a muggleborn.”

Harry was fairly sure he’d got a less of a reaction by being Harry Potter than what he’d just said, somehow the entire Slytherin table heard his quiet statement and every single conversation stopped as they turned to stare at him.

“Did I hear that right?”

“A muggle-born? In Slytherin?”

“Can’t be. There hasn’t been one for generations.”

A lesser wizard would squirm under the attention, Harry however had spent seven years as the boy who lived, this was nothing. He turned to face the Slytherins with a smirk.

“What? Are you all afraid I’m gonna be the best Slytherin here and show the purebloods up?”

A few of the older students smirked back, enjoying the cheek and boldness and it did the job of making sure most of the table quickly went back to their own conversations. A few however weren’t convinced and of course one of them was-

“They can’t be serious, has Slytherin house fallen so low as to allow a muggleborn in?” Malfoy sneered from across the table, “When my father hears about this-”

“Oi!” One of the older students hissed, glaring down at Malfoy, “No house issues in the great hall! You want Snape to punish you before you even start classes?”

Everyone looked up to see Snape glaring down at first years. Everyone quickly returned to their meals and the subject of Harry was quickly dropped. However it left a bad taste in his mouth and twisted feeling in his stomach. Even without being Harry Potter it looked like he was going to have a miserable year, perhaps entire time at Hogwarts if he was ostracised within his own house.

It must have shown on his face because he felt Tracey nudge, “Don’t listen to him, sure, there’s gonna be some assholes who won’t accept you but hey, welcome to the club.”

“You already know I have no time for blood status,” Daphne commented.

“Awww, I think she likes you Harry,” Blaise said and wiggled his eyebrow at the girl who glared, “For the record I also don’t care about your blood, I mean when the likes of Grabbe and Goyle are pureblood I’m not sure how anyone can defend pureblood superiority.”

Harry let out a sigh of relief, at least it didn’t seem like every Slytherin was going to be against him, “Thanks, you two seem to know each other though?” Harry asked Blaise and Daphne.

“Pureblood society,” Blaise said as a way of an explanation, “Myself and Daphne have been attending high society events since we were toddlers.”

“And sadly Blaise here was the only half decent company.”

Harry blinked and turned to Tracey, “Yeah, I’m glad we’re in this together.”

Tracey snorted and Harry found himself dragged into the conversation, not that he was all that opposed. He already knew a fair amount of it, Daphne’s family were neutral and were the wealthiest family in Britain, possibly all of Europe, she had a younger sister who she both hated and loved and she had been trained from an early age to prepare for taking over the Greengrass Empire. From what Harry could tell Daphne herself wasn’t concerned about blood or politics, her main focus was to make money, much like her father. She was a little cold but Harry noticed how Blaise was able to work through the cracks in her shield to make her smile and smirk, he even made her laugh at one point during the meal.

Blaise appeared friendly and approachable but Harry was experienced enough to know half of it was down to how well trained he appeared to be in social etiquette. Apparently the Zabini’s had once been as high as the Greengrass's or Malfoys, though they had been an entirely dark family. Blaise’s great grandfather however had changed that and moved the family towards the more neutral ground, it had cost them vast sums of wealth, power and respect. As a result, while still respected among pureblood circles, the Zabini’s were a fraction of their once mighty name. Not that Blaise or his parents minded all that much, they had more than enough money and his parents were mainly focused on travelling the world as opposed to politics and business empires. Blaise too didn’t seem to care for it all, despite being an expert in it, and instead said he simply wanted to have a good time while at Hogwarts. Honestly, Harry could appreciate that more than most.

Tracey was perhaps the one Harry immediately got on best with. Her mother had fallen in love with a muggle by pure accident and as a result had spent many years in the muggle world and though Tracey’s father had died when she was young her mother still enjoyed a few muggle luxuries. It meant Tracey didn’t wear the same confused look as Blaise and Daphne when Harry mentioned TV’s or aeroplanes. Luckily for her, her mother was a well respected healer and the Davis name held enough weight to it that the purebloods wouldn’t single her out. But as far as Tracey was concerned she didn’t give a toss, like Blaise she was here to be a student, not set her family up for the future. She was crass and loud and didn’t care how people looked at her. Oh but that didn’t mean she couldn’t play the game, Harry saw it in the way she carried herself, flicked her hair and batted her eyes, she might not have cared but she could enter the ring as well as Daphne or Blaise.

Then, over dessert, it was Harry’s turn.

“So Harry,” Blaise said as he helped himself to a large slice of chocolate cake, “What is it your parents do in the muggle world?”

There was no judgement in Blaise’s voice, no sneer or disgust, just general curiosity. Unfortunately for him Harry was Harry.

“Mostly feed the maggots.”

Harry took great pleasure in watching Blaise’s perfect persona break as his eyes widened and he dropped his fork onto his plate, “Oh uh… feeding maggots is… um…?”

“He’s an orphan.” Daphne supplied with an amused smirk as she patted Blaise's arm.

“Oh,” Tracey said from next to Harry, her bowl full of at least 4 different ice cream flavours, “I’m sorry.”

Harry shrugged and speared into his treacle tart, “They died when I was a baby, so I never really knew them. People tried to tell me about them but…”

“It’s not the same right?” Tracey offered with a sad smile, “Mum always tells me about Dad but he’s just a stranger to me, I’m sure he was great but I don’t know him.”

Harry nodded, it was nice that someone else understood, Ron and Hermione had been great but… neither of them could appreciate it. Not in the same way Tracey did.

“Yeah, I grew up in muggle orphanages my entire life.”

“And… How was that?” Blaise asked, his and Daphne’s facades had dropped completely and they both looked at Harry and Tracey with sympathetic looks.

“It was fine, as you’d expect.” Harry monotoned, it was the same automatic response he gave whenever someone asked him about growing up with the Dursleys.

When nobody gave a verbal response Harry looked up from his dessert to find all three of them looking at him with expressions he couldn’t place.

“Harry,” Daphne said in a much softer tone than he’d heard before, “That sort of excuse might work if you were a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, but not here.”

Harry tensed and he felt his hand clench down hard on his fork, “Please… Don’t…”

There was a brief pause before Blaise nodded, “Alright, we’re not here to interrogate you. Just know none of us would judge you.”

Daphne quickly moved the subject on and Harry breathed out. All in all Slytherin didn’t seem so bad, he might not have been as relaxed as he was at the Gryffindor table but the Slytherins seemed to understand him better.

Harry took the lull in conversation as an opportunity to glance around the room, he spied Harrison and Neville talking amicably at the end of their table and laughing at something along with Cedric Diggory which was a surprise. Then Harry noticed the way the rest of Hufflepuff were glancing towards them and he realised Cedric was acting as a buffer for Harrison being bombarded with questions. If there was one thing Harry was determined to do this time around, it was to keep Cedric alive.

He also saw Hermione chatting with Sue Li at the Ravenclaw table as Cho Chang explained something to them, probably their lessons if Harry had to guess. Further down the hall he saw Tonks giving Percy a relatively disgusted look as he babbled on about something before giggling as the twins mocked him behind his back. All in all things looked good, they looked…peaceful.

Eventually the feast came to end (much to Tracey’s chagrin as she reached for a fourth bowl of ice cream) and Dumbledore got to his feet, “Now that we've all been well fed and watered I have a few announcements. Firstly Mr Filch would like to remind everyone that magic between classes is strictly forbidden, secondly first years should note the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden. And perhaps a few of our older students would do well to remember that too. And finally please be aware the third floor corridor on the right-side is out of bounds for everyone who does not wish to die a most gruesome death. Now, off to bed!”

“That was… weird.” Tracey said as the hall filled with chatter and everyone got to their feet.

“That’s Dumbledore,” Daphne commented as the Slytherin prefects called for them all, “Though father says most of it is an act, the man is a powerful and surprisingly shrewd politician.”

Harry decided not to comment on the headmaster, that was a can of worms he’d rather not open. The first year Slytherins were led towards the dungeons by the prefects, they were a much less rowdy group than Harry's previous dormmates, choosing quiet chatter over raucous shouting as they made their way deep into the castle. They eventually arrived at a large snake statue with green emeralds for eyes.

“Alright, this is the Slytherin common room,” The male prefect said, Warrington if Harry remembered, “The password for it changes every week, Snape informs the prefects on a Sunday night so make sure you know it before you leave for breakfast Monday morning. The current password is Parselmouth.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at the password and watched as the snake slithered around to reveal a wooden doorway.

“Welcome young Slytherins.”

Next to Harry Blaise shivered slightly, “I could do without the creepy hissing.”

With a start Harry realised he knew what the snake had said, he assumed without the horcrux he would lose it. Perhaps it was actually a long lost Potter ability, which would be rather ironic after all the fuss over it throughout his life. It was actually a relief in a way, the ability would make his life a whole lot easier going forward.

The first years clambered through the doorway and into the Slytherin common room. It was exactly as Harry remembered it, stone walls draped with silver and green tapestries, a warm fire in the middle of the room and soft green glow of the lake above. Comfortable seats and tables were scattered everywhere as well as several portraits. It wasn’t as warm as the Gryffindor common room but Harry didn’t think it was any less welcoming in the long.

What was unwelcome were the sneers and glares he was getting not just from Malfoy and his gang but several of the older students as well. But Harry refused to back down and stood tall, this was his house now and he would do it proud.

A few moments after the first years gawked at the common room Snape billowed into the scene, turning to look down at the small children.

“Welcome to Slytherin,” Snape said as he eyed each of them carefully, “I am Professor Snape, your head of house. In Slytherin I expect you all to make your house proud, you will work hard and behave and carry yourself with the honour that comes with being an esteemed member of this house. As Slytherins we stick together, I do not care how much you despise your fellow housemates outside of these walls you act like there are no cracks between us. This goes for myself too as well as Professor Sinstra, the only other Slytherin on staff, neither of us believe in public punishment therefore if we catch you out of line just because we say nothing does not mean there will be hell to pay once you return to the common room.”

Harry was more than a little surprised, was that why Snape always appeared to favour Slytherins? Because he only punished them behind closed doors?

“Please also note my door is always open,” Snape said and surprised Harry as his expression softened, “I appreciate this is a big change and I assure no complaint or concern is too small and no hour is too late to knock on my door. Should you wish to approach me in private simply let any of the paintings in the common room know and they will inform me. Technically the snake statues will do the same but seeing as I, as far as I’m aware all of you, do not speak parselmouth it would be a pointless endeavour. Slytherin is the house of cunning and ambition but that does not mean you must keep up an act at all times, here you may relax and be yourself.”

Harry nearly reached out to pinch himself. He knew of course not all Slytherins were like Tom Riddle and Malfoy but… he actually felt warm at Snape’s words, like he was being welcomed into a new family.

But all families had issues.

Pansy Parkinson raised her hand and Snape nodded at her, “Excuse me Professor but can I ask why he was allowed in?” She said and pointed at Harry.

Snape’s eyes narrowed and his voice lost its softness, “And pray tell, Miss Parkinson, what issue do you take with Mr Silver?”

If Pansy had been smart she would have noticed the way every older year in the common tensed up, how several didn’t even have the bravery to stick around and quickly retreated into their dorms. But Pansy Parkinson was not a smart girl.

“He’s a mudblood sir.”

“And that’s detention for a week.” Snape said as if he was informing her of the weather.

Pansy’s face fell (as did Malfoy’s and several others) and she gawked at Snapes glare, “B-But I thought-”

“You thought this was the house of blood purity? Well you are wrong. Yes, in Slytherin we value wizarding traditions and politics and I expect you all to be well versed on how proper witches and wizards conduct themselves. But that has nothing to do with blood purity, there are purebloods who spit on our traditions and muggleborns who practise them with perfection. And more than anything here you are Slytherins first and last, I do not care what your politics are but Mr Silver is as much a part of this house as everyone else. The hat does not make mistakes, if I hear about anyone discriminating against the blood status of another Slytherin I’ll see to it their years at Hogwarts are spent cleaning cauldrons, am I understood?”

The entire common room, not just the first years, mumbled out a confirmation and Snape nodded, “Excellent, now I suggest you all get to bed. Except for you Mr Silver, I wish to speak to you in my office.”

Malfoy smirked at Harry as he moved towards the dorms. Daphne and Tracey offered him a wave and smile as Blaise slapped him on the back.

“I’ll see you in there.”

Harry nodded before following Snape, they went through a side door in the common room that went up a set of stairs before opening into Snape's office. Harry glanced around the room, it was neat and void of anything personal bar a few potion certificates. That was until he glanced at the vase of Lilies on Snape's desk and nearly tripped up.

“Please take a seat,” Snape offered as we walked over to a potion set up and pulled out a kettle, “Would you like some chamomile tea?”

Harry blinked, “Tea?”

“Yes, they did have tea at your orphanage?” Snape asked, a sliver of amusement in his voice.

“Yes but- Sir what is this?” Harry asked, half expecting Snape to say he was being transferred.

“A check up I suppose, I always used to do them for muggleborns I introduced to our world. You being in my house just doubles the need.” Snape said as he poured himself a cup of tea and took a seat behind his desk.

“Right… Um… Thank you, for what you said in the common room.”

Snape nodded and spoke in a cautious tone, “I will always give you honesty Mr Silver. Did you read the books I recommended?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good,” Snape said, sounding pleased, “Then I don’t have to sugar coat it for you, as much as I will try not to let it get out of control I’m afraid you’re in for a rough time. Many of the students in Slytherin come from traditional wizarding families who have less than favourable views on blood purity. However, I assure you there will be some who see your value outside of blood politics, I noticed you speaking with Greengrass and Zabini at the feast? They are respected families, having them as friends would increase your standing in the house.”

Harry frowned at Snape's words, “I want them to be my friends because I like them.”

“Be that as it may you are a Slytherin Mr Silver, house politics are something you’ll have to face eventually.”

Harry grumbled in protest, something Snape seemed to find amusing.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, you seem like an intelligent young man. And believe me, being the first Slytherin muggleborn will only be dramatic news for about two weeks before something else comes along.”

Harry hummed in thought with a slight scowl, “Sir, may I ask you a question?”

“I am teacher Mr Silver, it’s in the job description.” 

Ignoring Snape’s sass Harry continued, “How can I be the first muggleborn in a century? Your muggleborn guide spoke about how every house has positive and negative traits, surely blood status isn’t that important?”

Snape took a long sip of his tea as he thought over an answer, “I’d be lying if I said blood purity on some level isn’t a part of getting into Slytherin but you are correct, theoretically muggleborns should be able to get into the house with ease. But tell me, what are Slytherins most important traits?”

Harry bit back his response of greasy hair and being a prat and decided to think it over for a serious answer, “Ambition, cunning, political savviness and what not.”

“Indeed. Now, why would muggleborns be unlikely to contain these traits?”

Harry ran through a list of muggleborns he knew (including himself) and came up with a variety of common traits, “Well… most of us don’t know anything about wizarding politics, so we can’t exactly be thinking about political futures when we get here and without knowing cultural norms you’d struggle to know how to be cunning as a wizard. And for ambition… I guess most muggleborns are so overwhelmed with being a wizard that they don’t have much ambition because being a wizard is already so incredible.”

“A fine assessment Mr Silver,” Snape said with an approving look, “I would agree, most muggleborns are too ignorant of our world and too overwhelmed by it to be thinking about ambition and cunning politics. And by the time any of them do figure it out, they're already a few years into Hogwarts. I have to ask then, why did you buck the trend so to speak?”

Harry shrugged and gave him a half-truth, “Because I have bigger plans than just being a wizard.”

He could Snape wanted to enquire further but instead he just gave Harry a rare smirk, “I see… Well if there is nothing else you wish to raise you may return to your dorm.”

Harry nodded and turned to leave before pausing, “Will you be doing this for Harrison too?”

Snape seemed to hesitate before nodding, “Of course.”

“That’s good… I think he needs all the friends he can get. Goodnight sir.”

“Goodnight Mr Silver.”

“Follow me firsties!” The prefect called with a wide smile and Harrison joined the gaggle of Hufflepuff first years as they wound their way through the corridors.

He hung back with Neville who shuffled along next to him. The moment Harrison had sat down, nearly every face on the Hufflepuff table turned to him with eyes hungry for fairy tale stories and gossip. He nearly turned and ran until Cedric had sat down next to him, effectively cutting off the rest of the table and chatted to him like he was just another student. 

It had been a great relief to Harrison, between Cedric and Neville he felt like a normal student for the first time since getting on the Hogwarts Express. He just wished Harry had joined him in Hufflepuff but it didn’t surprise him. Harry walked with an air of confidence, he spoke as someone who knew what they were doing and had already predicted the response. It was the way Harry carried himself, despite the fact they were the exact same size it always felt like Harry towered over Harrison. Of course Harry was destined for a house like Gryffindor or Slytherin.

It was a shame but Harrison was certain he hadn’t lost a friend there, they’d only known each other a few weeks but something about he and Harry just clicked. It was like they knew each other, knew what the other was thinking at any one time. They also seemed to have similar experiences, Harry didn’t state it outright but Harrison got the sense his upbringing had been just as bad as Harrisons. Plus he was the only person so far who genuinely didn’t seem to care that he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. Even Neville still seemed in awe.

“Alright,” The prefect said as they arrived in a wide corridor with barrels lining up one side, “This is the Hufflepuff common room, our password changes every Monday, ask a prefect for the new one when you can. Honey Bear.”

One of the barrels swung open and the eager first years made their way through. The first thing Harrison thought was how warm and comfortable the room looked. There were mismatched sofas and armchairs dotted around with bean bags in between. Blankets were thrown over them all, a variety of warm and bright colours that matched the variety of rugs tossed onto the wooden floor, each one a different shape, colour and size. Even the walls had a variety of old quidditch posters, tapestries and pictures on. It was like an oversized bedroom that belonged to any happy child and it filled Harrison with a glow.

“This is… nice,” Neville said with a relieved sigh, as if he’d been expected a torture dungeon with wooden tables for beds to sleep in.

“I hear Hufflepuff has the best common room,” A girl said from Harrisons side with bright red hair and pale skin.

Neville turned to her and his eyes widened, “Oh um… Heiress Bones I-”

“Oh please don’t tell me we need to do that,” Another girl said, she had long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and hard brown eyes, “We’re not Slytherins you know.”

The first girl chuckled, “If my Auntie caught me ignoring it she'd have me practise it for two days straight without sleep. Besides, your family is ranked the highest out of everyone here.”

“Not by choice,” The girl grumbled before gaining a wide smile and holding out her hand to Harrison, “I’m Hannah. Hannah Abbott.”

Harrison reached out and eagerly shook her hand, “I’m Harrison Potter.”

“Yeah,” The other girl said with an eye roll, “We know.”

Hannah elbowed the girl in the ribs, “Susan don’t be rude. This is Susan Bones. Hello Neville.”

“H-Hello Hannah.”

“You three all know each other?” Harrison asked.

“Pureblood society,” Susan explained with a wave of her hand, “We were all made to go to Ministry events growing up. You would have been there too were it not for well…”

“Merlin Sue!” Hannah explained and once again elbowed the girl, “You don’t just bring up someone's dead parents like that!”

“Hey!” Susan snapped, “My parents are dead too you know!”

“Can we stop talking about dead parents?” Neville managed to get out, red in the face and Harrison nodded in agreement.

“Right… Sorry,” Hannah said though Susan didn’t seem to care much.

“So where do we all rank compared to each other in society?” Harrison asked, glad none of them were bothered about bowing.

“Well Hannah’s at the top,” Susan explained as her brow furrowed in thought, “The Potters and Bones are more or less the same and we’re slightly above the Longbottoms though the Bones and Longbottoms hold more political power than the Potters but your family is wealthier and more powerful in the business world.”

Harrison frowned and rubbed his temples, “I’m starting to wish I was a muggleborn.”

“Ah relax,” Susan said, “You and I are in the same boat, we won’t have to worry about any of that until we’re 17 and though the Slytherins would have you think otherwise apart from formal greetings it really doesn’t matter that much in Hogwarts.”

“That’s good to hear.” Harrison said with a sigh.

Their conversation was cut off when a large plump woman walked into the room with a large smile. But she wasn’t plump like Harrison’s Aunt Marge, whose clothes were always too tight and had skin falling out of places Harrison didn’t think you could have skin. Instead this woman glowed, her robe was bright and fit her perfectly and she seemed to put the whole room at ease with her bright eyes and messy hair.

“Hello new Hufflepuffs!” She cheered and her voice was like a warm summer's day, “My name is Professor Sprout, your new head of house. First of all, welcome to Hogwarts! It’s my pleasure to invite you all into our home away from home. Here in Hufflepuff I value one thing above all; honesty. If you’ve made a mistake or done something you shouldn’t have you should always tell me the truth, I can’t guarantee you won’t be punished but an honest confession goes a long way in getting into my good books. If you lie or try to cheat your way out of it then you only have yourself to blame when my wrath emerges.”

The way some of the older students shivered indicated that was not something you wanted to do.

“Other than that you’ll often hear of house rivalries in school, the most prominent being between the Gryffindors and Slytherins though you’ll find the Ravenclaws have rivalries with both also. Here in Hufflepuff we take no part in such nonsense. Because of this I am more than happy for your friends from other houses to sit at our table during meals and you may invite guests into our common room though the dorms are strictly off limits as is sharing the password with anyone from another house. Outside of this please know my door is always open and I make sure your prefects always practise discreteness so if you can’t find me feel free to approach them at any time. Now, I suggest first years all get to bed, I’d like a word with the rest of you.”

“Goodnight boys,” Susan said with a wave as she and Hannah took off towards the girls' dorms.

Harrison waved to her as he and Neville chatted and made their way to the boys' dorms. Harrison intended on introducing himself to the other boys in their year but he was so tired he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Snape watched the door shut behind Harry and took another long sip of his tea. What an interesting afternoon it had been. From the moment the doors to the great hall had swung open Snape had trained his eyes to focus on the Potter and Silver boys. That had quickly turned to only Harry Silver as the boy's behaviour grew even stranger. 

Nearly every student had the same reaction when they first entered the great hall, their necks cracked backwards as they looked up at the enchanted ceiling. It was, in Snape’s opinions, one of Hogwarts’s greatest features. It was almost comical, watching as in perfect sync the first year heads snapped upwards to gaze at the stars every year. Except this year every head bar one had looked up.

Harry Silver hadn’t even so much as glanced at the ceiling, instead he had been focused on gazing across the tables, observing the gathered students. Then his eyes had swept across the teachers table, and not in awe or amazement like you’d expect. They had been focused, calculating, like he was searching for something. It was almost like a general, scanning the scene before a great battle.

Then the sorting had begun and his behaviour had become even more strange. First he looked bored, like he had predicted every sorting beforehand. Then the Granger girl went to Ravenclaw and he frowned, his frown quickly turned into a scowl as the sorting continued and then into full blown anger by the time he himself marched up to the stool.

And what a sorting Silver himself had. It took nearly 30 whole minutes to sort him, the longest sorting in over two centuries, according to Dumbledore who was giddy at the whole thing. And of course where was this strange muggleborn sorted? Slytherin. The one house he probably wanted to avoid at all costs. 

Not because Snape was afraid of what Slytherins would do to him. But rather what Harry Silver would do to Slytherin. Truth be told the Malfoy’s of his house mostly went unchecked because purebloods respected the family power and muggleborns were too ignorant of their costumes they resorted to fear of the old families. It appeared Harry Silver practised neither. And he was friends with Harrison Potter, the golden symbol of Dumbledore's light ideology.

“Helena,” He said to the painting of the elderly witch behind his desk, “Do keep an eye on the first years this year. I suspect it might be… a little more rowdy than usual. And please inform Sprout I’d like to speak to Mr Potter, loath as I am to say it, I owe him a recap as much as I owe Mr Silver.”

The elderly witch nodded and walked out of frame to her other paintings as Snape took another sip of his tea.

First Dumbeldore wanted to lock the Philosopher's Stone away in Hogwarts and now Snape had a muggleborn Slytherin to deal with. What a year it was turning out to be.

The moment the dorm room doors shut every Hufflepuff second year and above turned to Professor Sprout with excited eyes and far too much energy for the first night of a new school year.

“I can’t believe it Professor! Harrison Potter in out house!”

“We’re definitely going to win the house cup now!”

“Do you think he’d want to be my friend!?”

“Maybe we can ask him if it’s true he rode a dragon when he was 10!”

“Absolutely not!”

Sprouts didn’t raise her voice but it had a firmness that carried it around the room and silenced her house completely.

“Harrison Potter is an 11 year old boy who just started at this school. I’m disappointed some of you believe the drivel that they write in those fairy tale stories when the truth is likely he had just grown up with relatives in a reasonably normal home like the rest of you. Imagine how hard it must be not only starting at a new school but also with his amount of fame and with everyone already having preconceptions about who you are. We are Hufflepuffs, the house of friendships, and we are now Mr Potter's family. You will not ask him ridiculous questions and if I even hear so much of a whiff that someone from his own house dared to ask him about his parents then I assure you even graduation won’t get you out of detention. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal professor.” Cedric responded with a smile and Sprout allowed herself to smile back.

She liked Cedric, he was kind and with a good head on his shoulders. If he played his cards right he might make head boy. She just hoped he alone would be enough to stem the tide against Harrison.

Harry had to drag himself along the long corridor that led to the boys’ dorms, everything had hit him all at once as he trudged his way down to the end of the corridor where he’d been informed the first year accommodation was. He grabbed the large brass snake door handle and pushed the old wooden door open.

He was pleased to see the dorm rooms didn’t reflect the colder state of the common room. A thick shaggy green carpet rose up from the floor and the walls were plastered with a dark warm wood. It felt much like a winter cabin, complete with a small fire in the middle of the room. Like the Gryffindor rooms there were six circular beds surrounding the fire and Harry noticed one of the end ones next to the door had been left for him. It was thankfully next to Blaise who nodded as Harry walked over.

“All good?” Blaise asked as he flossed his already pristine white teeth.

Harry nodded, “He just wanted to check in on me, he says he usually does for the muggleborns he takes to Diagon Alley.”

“Ridiculous,” He heard Malfoy mutter from where he was slipping on a very on brand set of black silk pyjamas, “He should have booted you to another house. A muggleborn in Slytherin, it’s unheard of.”

“For the last century sure,” Harry said and smirked at Malfoy, “I guess I’m just a rule breaker.”

Blaise scoffed and rolled his eyes as Malfoy turned to glare at Harry.

“Watch it Silver,” He said and for a moment Harry thought he was about to break out in parseltongue with how he hissed at the S, “You’re nothing here, a muggleborn with no family.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at Malfoy, “And you’re someone?”

“Of course! My family-”

“Were on the fringes of society due to the last war and have only recently come into such favour because your father funded the current Minister For Magics campaign. Had Fudge lost the election you’d be much lower in the rankings. Your family’s favour remains as long as Fudge does Malfoy, you’re not the top of society, you piggybacked off somebody else’s politics and managed to weasel your way to the top spot. Don’t stand there and try to pretend you’re the peak of wizarding society, you’re not a Greengrass or a Yaxley Malfoy.”

Malfoy was so shocked that despite the rage in his eyes his jaw was slack and wide. He was so flustered that all he was able to do in response was huff and furiously shut his curtains, leaving Harry with a very smug grin on his face.

Harry turned and sat on his bed when he noticed Blaise giving him a very amused and impressed look.

“What?”

“A knowledge of pureblood society and putting Malfoy in his place on the first night? I think we’re going to be good friends, you and I.”

(AN: Just gonna put this here as saw a few questions about it and don't want people to miss it. To confirm, the relationships aren't multi they're Harry (original) x Luna and Harrison (new timline) x Hermione with any others to be added as I decide on them.)