Sorting
Harry’s breath stuttered when Selina led him into the entrance hall, which could have been mistaken for awe at the great castle. The last time Harry had been at Hogwarts, he had died, and the building was almost demolished.
To see his home as it had been when he was eleven, was a wonderful experience that filled him with a warm joy. As nerve racking as the entire experience was, it filled him with a warmth that tingled in his toes. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw an auburn-haired man draped in green robes approach him and Selina. He turned his head and Harry’s breath almost stopped; it was Dumbledore.
Harry’s mixed feelings about Dumbledore after the war had always conflicted inside him, and the joy and deep-seated anger that spiked within him shocked him.
With a genial smile on his face, Dumbledore stopped in front of them.
“Hello, I am Deputy Headmaster Dumbledore, and you must be one of the transfer students. Hadrian Peverell, correct?” Harry took a deep breath in an effort even his nerves.
“Yes sir, I’m Hadrian Peverell, my family and I are grateful that Hogwarts had allowed me entrance through it’s doors.” Harry made sure to thicken his miscellaneous accent every so slightly. It would have been suspicious if he had a complete British accent after traveling the world, as Arya had pointed out, so Death gave Harry one, after claiming that she was too lazy to train him.
Dumbledore’s smile was still plastered on his face as he offered his hand.
“Well then, if you would follow me, I will lead you to sit with the rest of the transfers, then your sorting.” Selina hugged Harry’s arm, and then let go. With a smile on her face she waved and skipped into the Great Hall, vanishing into a gaggle of students.
Following Dumbledore as he stepped forward, Harry ignored Dumbledore almost completely, only keeping enough mind as to not get lost following Dumbledore. Harry drank in the familiar surroundings, the stones and the portraits. It struck Harry yet again how much he had missed Hogwarts, and how much it also plagued him with the images of rubble and dead bodies.
The unwanted images were shaken from his head when Dumbledore abruptly stopped in front of a wooden door, with Harry nearly slamming into Dumbledore’s back. Dumbledore turned to face Harry and smiled again.
“This is where the rest of the transfers are, along with the first years, all of them waiting to be sorted. I do suggest you try to make friends, as it will make your time at Hogwarts all the better.” With that Dumbledore walked off, heading back towards the Entrance Hall. Harry pushed the door open and lowered his head as he passed through the doorway, heading to where he saw other, older kids.
Harry settled next to a younger teenager, a girl with dark blonde hair and hazel eyes, and rested himself against the wall. He took the time to observe the other people in the room. The small-looking first years were both huddling together and trying to avoid each other. The other teenagers, whom Harry assumed were the other transfers, were all standing along the edges of the wall.
There were two that looked almost glued together and were most likely twins by their identical brown eyes and hair. The rest were scattered about, either younger or older than Harry himself. His continued observations were cut off when Dumbledore opened the door and instructed them to follow him.
When they reached the doors to the Great Hall, Dumbledore yet again instructed them, this time to fall into three single-file lines. The exact same speech Professor McGonagall had given him, back when Harry had first come to Hogwarts, filtered through his ears with Dumbledore’s voice instead of his beloved Professor.
Harry felt almost mindless as Dumbledore’s speech ended, and he followed the others into the Great Hall. His gaze passed over the House tables that spanned out from the center of the Great Hall.
He heard the excited exclamations of the first years as they took in the beautiful, starry ceiling that he remembered feeling awed about when he was younger. He looked off to the side again and locked eyes with Tom Riddle.
Harry’s breath hitched and he quickly tore his sight from the younger version of the boy in the Chamber of Secrets. Trying not to hunch in on himself, Harry lifted his head to stare at the back of the head of the girl in front of him.
All of the little firsties had been sorted into their Houses and now the transfers were being sorted. The girl Harry had stood next to was named Jaqueline Beauregard, and the twins were Anne and Hector Fischer. As the names sauntered down to Peverell, Harry could feel his hands start to sweat with nerves, and almost jumped when heard Dumbledore call his name.
With slightly unsteady steps, Harry has made his way to the stool the hat sat on. As he got closer Dumbledore lifted the Sorting Hat and placed it on his head. Almost immediately Harry heard the Sorting Hat’s deep voice.
It’s not every day you see a time traveler. Especially one favoured by Fate and Death. Now, let’s take a look at you, and hope that we place you in the right place this time. Ah, you are a true warrior, I see in your battles your Lion’s power. Your Snake’s cunning shows in your darkest moments. You show strong cunning and bravery, but you have wisdom a man your age should not possess, and you have worked hard all your life. Your loyalty to those you love is admirable, and has lead you through most of your life.
Now where you need to be is more important. You have the bravery you need, along with the smarts for you to know when you need to be manipulative.
I know, better be RAVENCLAW.
Harry stood shocked as clapping rang through the hall and followed his feet to where Selina sat at the Ravenclaw table. Selina grabbed his hand and dragged him down to sit at the table, and Harry’s mind cleared enough to grab food and start eating.