Finally at Hogwarts
Harry, Draco and Neville managed to find an empty compartment near the end of the train. Having sent Hedwig ahead so she wouldn't be stuck in a cage for hours on end, the only thing they had to manoeuvre was their trunks, which, thanks Boltund's 'rising voltage' move, ended up being easier than it was for Draco to catch a Pokémon. Though, they only planned to get the trunks in the compartment, rather than completely set up there, in hopes of joining Hermione and Dean when they arrived.
Looking out of the window, and waving to their parents, the three boys spotted the arrival of a small army of red-head alongside two or three other kids their age, this was probably the Weasley family.
Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.
"Ron, you’ve got something on your nose."
The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.
"Mum – geroff," he wriggled free.
"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of what appeared to be twins.
"Shut up," said Ron.
"Where’s Percy?" asked their mother.
"He’s coming now.’ The oldest boy of their group came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes and the trio noticed a shiny red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it.
"Can’t stay long, Mother," he said, "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves-"
"Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin.
"Once-"
"Or twice-"
"A minute-"
"All summer-"
"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.
"Dear Arceus, they use twin speak, I hope I don't end up ever having to talk to them," Draco grumbled.
"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" asked one of the twins.
"Because he’s a Prefect," said their mother fondly, before turning to Percy the Prefect, "All right, dear, well, have a good term; send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek, and he left. Then she turned to the twins. "Now, you two- this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you’ve- you’ve blown up a toilet or-"
"Blown up a toilet? We’ve never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mum."
"It’s not funny. And look after Ron."
"Don’t worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."
"Shut up," said Ron again.
"He doesn't have a very large vocabulary, does he?" Draco joked.
"I wonder if we'll see Harry Potter on the train," one of the twins said.
"He would have to be, we didn't see him on the platform," the other offered.
"Figures you’re the first thing on everyone's mind today," Neville commented, scowling slightly, Harry knew it was an anger towards others for praising the fact his parents were dead and he wasn't, rather than anger for his fame.
Easily able to determine how the rest of their conversation would go, the boys sat down in their seats, a minute later, they heard the train's whistle, right before their compartment door was knocked on. It soon opened to reveal Hermione.
"Finally, do you three know how long it took me to find you? Dean and I were set up in a compartment in the middle of the train if you want to join us."
The three boys nodded, apparently their friends had gotten there before them, which, Harry thought, they should've considered, Hermione was obsessed enough with her education that it made sense for her to arrive early in hopes of having more time to read.
A short trip to the centre of the train and another 'Rising Voltage' from Boltund and 'Psychic' from Hermione's Espurr (she had befriended it at Evanton, Dean had befriended a Helioptile), as well) had them set up completely, of course, they had a small selection of books to read for the trip as well as a few games. They, of course, had all their Pokémon out so they wouldn't get too restless from being stuck in their Pokéballs for the multi-hour trip.
----____--------____----
Hours later, the train finally arrived. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform, a nearby sign identified it as 'Hogsmeade Station'. Harry shivered in the cold night air before Boltund lit a 'Fire Fang', while Vulpix lit a 'Fire Blast'. The warmth definitely made standing out there better. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Alright, there boys? Hermione?"
Hagrid had ended up delivering his letter to him after his uncle had experimentally not replied to Harry's Hogwarts letters (they still read it and went to Diagon Alley, but they didn't send a return owl), the amount increased daily and it ended up becoming quite ridiculous, with letters even showing up in their eggs of all things. When Hagrid arrived (sent by Dumbledore), he had been confused to see that Uncle Rei was the one in charge of Harry, and even further confused by the lack of response, until Rei explained why he had done so. Harry was pretty sure Hagrid had lost a fair amount of trust in Dumbledore after that, he was also stunned by Neville and Draco's presence, apparently he wasn't very caught up with what had been going on outside of Hogwarts. Though he did express relief in Harry no longer being with the Dursleys, he apparently hadn't agreed with his placement there, but trusted Dumbledore too much to question it. Harry also discovered that the large man had a love for dangerous creatures, particularly dragons, thankfully Uncle Rei had gifted him a Charmander after his second trip to the Pokémon world, and later on, a mega stone for it. This meant that Hagrid probably wouldn't be trying to get an Earth dragon any time soon.
"Good evening, Hagrid, how are you?"
"Doin' alright, thanks fer asking, Harry. C'mon, follow me- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years, follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path. Harry noticed a significant portion of students gravitating towards him- or more specifically, his Pokémon. The light of their fire revealed thick woods to either side of them. Nobody spoke much, though Neville sniffed a few times before moving closer to Boltund and Vulpix.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud 'Ooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. Harry thought he spotted Hagrid's Charizard flying over it, but the tell-tale flame of its tail disappeared behind the castle before he could get a good look.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore, "those with Pokémon, please return 'em to their Pokéballs."
A quick game of 'rock, paper, scissors' found Neville, Dean, Hermione and Draco sharing a boat while Harry joined Ron Weasley, who still had dirt on his nose, and two identical looking girls.
"Hi, I'm Hadrian, but you can call me Harry, nice to meet you, what are your names?" he asked once they had set off.
"I'm Padma Patil, this is my twin sister, Parvati," one of the girls offered.
"Thanks for the fire from your Pokémon," Parvati added
"Ron Weasley, same."
"You all looking forward to Hogwarts?" Harry asked, all three brightened immediately.
"Oh absolutely," Padma answered, "I'm almost certain I'll be in Ravenclaw."
"Whereas I, the better looking twin," Parvati began, "will be going to the better house of Gryffindor."
"Same," Ron added, "my whole family's been in Gryffindor, can't imagine going anywhere else."
"What about you, Harry?" Padma asked, pointedly ignoring the comment about Gryffindor being better.
"I don’t know, my Aunts were sorted as Slytherin and Hufflepuff, but my parents were in Gryffindor, one of my Uncles isn't a wizard, but he did get his sorting when he broke into Hogwarts; he was sorted as a Slytherin, which I guess makes sense if he was able to break in without using magic. My other Uncle was in Ravenclaw."
Harry was confused when he got no response aside from stunned stares.
"Your uncle…" Padma began, "broke into Hogwarts?"
"How!? Isn't Hogwarts supposed t be impossible to break into!? And without magic!?" Ron asked hysterically.
"I'm not really sure, all I know is he did it to learn about the school since my mother was a first-gen witch and their family didn't know what would be going on while she was there."
"First-gen?" Parvati parroted.
"First-generation… ah- muggleborn," Harry explained, getting nods of sudden understanding.
"Wait a minute…" Padma was now looking at him suspiciously, "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" she whispered.
Harry flinched and the other two were now staring at him with even wider eyes, he quickly covered their mouths before they could shout out his identity.
"Shh!" he hissed at them, "it's difficult enough when 'sensible' adults recognise me, I'd rather not energetic teens and pre-teens do so before the sorting at least," when he got nods from the two, he uncovered their mouths.
"You're Harry Potter," Ron whispered to him, "I thought you had a scar from- you know- that night."
"It's there, don't worry, it's just healed and faded- for the most part."
"But, who's your Slytherin Aunt? And your Hufflepuff Aunt? You’re the last Potter, and Lily Potter was muggleborn."
"My Slytherin Aunt is Narcissa Evans, and my Hufflepuff Aunt is Akari Evans."
"Narcissa Evans?"
"Is the magical world really that behind? She used to be married to Lucius Malfoy before Draco got him shipped off to Azkaban." Ron seemed to do a sort of spit take at that.
"I heard from my dad that Malfoy went to Azkaban, but why'd she marry your Uncle? Wasn't she like- into all that pureblood stuff?"
"No, she actually fought against Snore-demort during the war, at least, until she was forced into a betrothal with Malfoy."
"If she fought against him, why didn't she help Dumbledore?"
"Because Dumbledore was reactionary, his group only ever fought after the Death Eaters showed up and even then, generally missed the entire thing, whereas Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Rei went after the Death Eaters. When Uncle Edward changed sides, he ended up spying on their plans so Uncle Rei and Aunt Narcissa could be there before the Death Eaters attacked."
"One of your uncles was a Death Eater? How? Wouldn't he have been a muggleborn?"
"I mean, he'd probably count as such now, but that’s because my grandparents blood-adopted him. Technically, his birth name was Barty Crouch Jr., but now its Edward Delphinium Evans. He teaches DADA at Beauxbatons."
Based on their expressions, Harry doubted they'd be capable of speaking for the rest of the trip. To his surprise though, Ron had one more thing to say.
"What does that make Draco Malfoy, then?"
"Well, it's Draco Evans-Malfoy now, he's still the heir to the Malfoy family, but he was also blood-adopted by Aunt Akira and Uncle Rei, so now his hair is slate grey, and he has heterochromia, one green eye, one blue one. As I'm sure you can guess, blood status doesn't really matter to either of us."
After that, everyone was silent, staring up at the castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff
They all bent their heads, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid’s lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry’s first thought was that this was not someone to cross.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide.
The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Evan's library in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right- the rest of the school must already be here- but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. Additionally, during the Opening Feast, you are to keep your Pokémon in their Pokéballs."
She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.
"Any idea how exactly they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.
"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."
"Probably, the only thing I know about it is that Uncle Rei and Aunt Narcissa pioneered some kind of long term prank where it was kept secret, but I figured there might be a few families that didn't participate."
"Then that's definitely something Fred and George would agree with; they're obsessed with pranks, they keep talking about something called the 'Marauders' and the 'Demons of Chaos'."
Harry heard Dean and Draco snort at the comment, Harry idly wondered how the Weasley twins would react to Uncle Rei and Aunt Cissy's status as the Demons of Chaos.
Then something happened which made him jump about a foot in the air – several people behind him screamed.
"What the-?"
He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying:
"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost- I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff, and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.
Nobody answered.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them.
"About to be sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," said a sharp voice, "the Sorting Ceremony’s about to start."
Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.
"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."
Feeling oddly like the Pokéballs attached to his belt had become lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair. He, Draco, Neville, Hermione and Dean had organised themselves in general alphabetical order, Draco being closest to the front, followed by Hermione, then Neville, Harry and Dean. It wasn't until the first years ended up making a small crowd in front of the staff table that the 5 realised it was essentially pointless.
Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall had led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper:
"It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
Ah, she was definitely worried, when Hermione was stressed, she ran through as many pieces of knowledge as she could. Though Harry had to admit, it was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the heavens.
Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.
Noticing that everyone in the Hall was now staring at the hat, Harry stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:
"Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I’ll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
For I’m a Thinking Cap!"
The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Harry slowed his breathing, calming himself to the best of his ability, finding comfort in the warmth he was sure he felt coming from his Pokéballs. He could only stare determinedly at the hat in preparation for where he'd be staying for the next 7 years.