Chapter 1
Minerva McGonagall woke up on September 1st, ready for her eleventh year as the headmistress of Hogwarts. Except for her first year with the reconstruction, all other years went smoothly. No pranks, no Voldemort murder sprees, those years were chill, but she knew that it would change this year.
She knew that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin's kid, Edward "Teddy" Lyall Lupin-Black, would be there. Harry Potter being his godfather and George Weasley being a close family friend, there was a great chance that the kid would become the Master of Mischief. She shivered at this thought, but she remembered that the kid was quite calm and not that impulsive.
She prepared Hogwarts for the evening, hurrying Filch to finish cleaning before the kids arrived, checking the timetables with the teachers, meeting with Kreacher to prepare the welcoming feast, and finishing the paperwork. Finally, she sent Hagrid at Hogsmeade and the carriages to pick up the kids. She went to her seat, and she watched the kids scurrying to their tables. She watched as the doors opened on the first years and Hagrid reassuring them that it's going to be okay.
He went to the place she took for so many years and she had some flashbacks of her doing that, like she had since she became headmistress. The Sorting Hat, legacy of Godric Gryffindor himself, began to sing.
In times of old when I was new
And Hogwarts barely started
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted:
United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning,
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach!"
The four good friends decided
And never did they dream that they
Might someday be divided,
For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?
But now it has come to an end
Division was never their goal
Some of you do understand
And they will answer to that call
Houses were meant to unite
To make a well-oiled machine
Of mutual aid, and sorting was quite
A way to pluck out your best inn
-er qualities to gather you under one
Banner of learning magic
No matter what your blood type is
Which is frankly stupid, because the first
Magical beings were muggleborns
No matter your skin color or your gender
Because who cares? You've got magic
And you're your own self, which is going
To bring improvements if you listen to
Yourself, because if you really believed
That there was only one way to do magic
You really are deprived of common sense
Anywho, enjoy your elf-made meal!
I hope Hermione Granger is going to find
A way to give house elves their own thoughts and some rights while she's at it
The Great Hall gave a bored applause to them, only waiting for the Sorting Ceremony to finish so they could eat. But it struck a chord to the students that had paid attention, mostly muggleborns, and they whispered at each other, trying to find what the Hat meant.
'Is he becoming senile?' Filius asked.
'Probably.' Minerva answered.
'Listen up kids!' Hagrid shouted. 'Yer new comrades are going to be sorted, so let's be quiet! When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Understood?'
They stopped talking, the first years nodded, and Minerva tried to pay attention to see if there were some new troublemakers like the Prewett twins, the Marauders, the Redheads, the Weasley twins and the Golden Trio. She was fond of all of them even if they caused trouble and she now had a wrecking havoc radar. She spotted four. There were a few over the last ten years, but they did not do anything. She hoped it would be the same.
'Chen, Bǎo !'
A little girl with a winged lemur on her shoulder advanced towards the stool. She sat on it, and the Hat shouted 'HUFFLEPUFF!' The House table erupted into applause and she went to sit with them.
Students were sorted in each house, and Minerva did not wait impatiently for the next troublemaker, because she was certain which house he would be sorted in, despite his calm attitude.
'Lupin-Black, Edward !'
While he got to the stool, Minerva caught her four former students staring at her, expecting a reaction. 'SLYTHERIN!' The Hat shouted. Regulus got his camera out and snatched a photo of her shocked face, while Remus, Sirius and Mary were barely containing their giggling. They knew, she thought, they raised him!
Teddy went to sit at the Slytherin table, casually whipping silver and green confetti out of his pockets while keeping his best poker face. The Slytherin cheered, Bǎo too and he sat next to a guy that looked a lot like his uncle Regulus, but way younger.
'Hi, I'm Timothée Chalamet, nice to meet you. It's nice what you did with the confetti, but isn't it giving more work to Filch and the house elves? He asked, sticking his hand out.
'Nice to meet you, and call me Teddy,' he answered, shaking Timothée's hand. 'It's not more work because it works like Leprechaun gold, but it disappears faster. You see? Ta-daaaaa!'
He gestured to the confetti now not theretti because magic! Then they looked at the rest of the Sorting Ceremony.
'Ruíz, Elena!'
She went to sit on the stool, fidgeting with a piece of paper.
'RAVENCLAW! The Hat shouted.
The Ravenclaw table gave her a warm applause, and so did Teddy and Bǎo.
'She's your friend?' Timothée asked, genuinely puzzled.
'Yup. I cheered for Bǎo too, but it didn't stand out because I wasn't sorted yet.' Teddy answered. 'Oh look, it's Yamal!'
'Shafiq, Yamal !'
Hagrid tried to help her to the stool, but she avoided him and sat on it.
'Why did Hagrid do that?' Timothée asked, even more confused.
'Oh, she's blind.' casually answered Teddy. 'We taught her to see with magic this summer, but apparently my dads did not inform him that she was this good. They underestimated Bǎo's tutoring talents.'
'GRYFFINDOR!' The Hat shouted.
The Gryffindor table cheered really loud, and Bǎo, Elena, Teddy and Timothée cheered with them. She went to sit at the Gryffindor table as they pressed her with questions. When the last student was sorted, McGonagall just said 'Now Eat!', because she knew they were only waiting for that. During the feast, paper planes were seen flowing over the five tables. Those who paid attention but not involved were confused. Soon enough, they will understand and that day, Hogwarts' atmosphere will change.