Hairball and Nymphikins

Despite all that Nymph had told him about the place, Harry still gasped when he first saw Hogwarts. Torchlight poured out of hundreds of windows, setting the castle walls and towers to glowing, which reflected in the lake’s waters and outshone even the stars.

Inside, it was even more impressive. After years of spending time in the muggle world, it was doubly impressive to suddenly be surrounded by ancient stone and warded wood. Harry didn’t bother trying to hide that he was studying everything around him, as every other eleven year old was doing the same.

Then they reached the Great Hall, and it was time for the Sorting.

The hat’s song was amusing enough, but the real torture was waiting through the children whose last names came before ‘Potter’. Eventually, though, Harry’s turn came, and he only vaguely noticed the brief pause Professor McGonagall had before calling for him, and then the startled and excited whispers that broke out through the Hall. He hurried to take his seat on the stool, followed by floppy cloth obscuring his vision.

“Oh, my my my, this is quite a surprise.” A voice muttered in his ear. “You’re a very even blend, aren’t you Mister Potter? Quite studious, I see, and loyal to the family who took you in. Not shirking in courage, either, though you’re very determined to do well in school and beyond.”

I’m famous for something I don’t even remember, Harry said in his thoughts. If I’m doomed to being a household name, then I want it to be on MY terms.

“Well, I certainly can’t argue with that. Which would mean that the best place for you is in SLYTHERIN!” Applause instantly broke out from one quarter of the room, though the snakes who were clapping seemed just as stunned as the other, silent tables.

Harry hurried over to claim the seat beside a smirking boy he considered to be a first cousin. “I knew you’d wind up in here with me,” Draco Malfoy said smugly.

“Shut it, you.” Harry replied with a grin. “We can celebrate later.”

As the last new first year took his seat, everyone turned their attention to Headmaster Dumbledore. His ‘few words’ incited much quiet snickering among the Slytherins, but then they were suitably distracted by the arrival of food.

“So, Potter,” one of the other newcomers, Blaise Zabini spoke up after a while. “What exactly is it that brings you to Slytherin?”

“Cunning and ambition, I should think, same as any of you.” He answered back promptly. Up and down the table, Harry could see the older students looking at him with calculating gazes, probably all thinking the same question. “It also helps that I grew up going through prank wars with my big sister, and both of us were trained by a former Slytherin in her own right.”

“Oh?” A girl he’d heard about from Draco, one Pansy Parkinson, suddenly looked a lot more interested. “And who exactly was that teacher?”

“My distant cousin Andromeda, formerly of the House of Black. She’s also Draco’s oldest aunt.”

The intrigued looks now included the blonde to Harry’s left, who appeared to be equal parts happy and mortified with the attention.

“Didn’t she marry a muggleborn, though?” Another girl, presumably Daphne Greengrass, asked haltingly.

“That she did. So I wa raised by the Tonks family in a muggle town. Quite interesting, actually, to mix non-magical pranking materials into the battles with Nymph.”

A sixth year sitting fairly close by choked on his food. “You mean you grew up with that ruddy Metamorphmagus for a sister?”

“Yep.”

“But she was in Hufflepuff!”

“And is now training to be an Auror.” Harry remarked lightly. He smiled on the inside at see the growing uneasiness of some of the older students - Nymphadora might not have been such a big prankster as, say, the Weasley twins, but plenty of people knew she’d pulled off some pretty inventive revenge tricks against those she felt deserved it.

And if Harry turned out to have that same vindictive streak, along with even half the imagination, it would pay to be extremely careful around him.

Once the feast was over with, and Dumbledore gave a proper speech (the warnings within which ranged from amusing to disturbing), the students rose and began to head out of the Great Hall. Harry was keeping close to his fellow first year snakes when a familiar pair of voices called out to him. He turned with a smirk towards the approaching Fred and George Weasley.

“Just wanted to give our favorite Boy-Who-Lived a congratulations-”

“-on making it into the house of his choice!” The twins grinned at him.

“Thanks, mates.” Harry was fully aware of the gaping stares being directed at him, and felt confident enough to offer the pair of redheads a wink. “I look forward to challenging your reign while I’m here.”

“Ooh, so the ickle firstie thinks he’s going-”

“-to get one over on us, does he?”

“Well, I am the Marauder heir.” Both twins blanched momentarily at that, but quickly regained their usual smirks.

“We’ll just see about that, won’t we Forge?”

“Indeed we will, Gred. Oh, and in the meantime, Harry-”

“-if that younger brother of ours gives you any trouble-”

“-don’t hold back on showing him the error-”

“-of his ways, yeah?”

“Why in Merlin’s name would I ever hold back?” And with another grateful wink, Harry turned back to his classmates, all of whom except Draco were looking more worried than ever.

Once again, the boy thought back to his Uncle Ted’s concerns over bullying problems should he be sorted into Slytherin, and had to stifle a laugh. The first night wasn’t even over yet, and already his fellow snakes were making plans to avoid earning his wrath.

Down in the dungeons, Harry was directed to his new dormitory along with Draco, Blaise, Greg Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, and another boy named Theo Nott. He offered the others a proper introduction, and the chance to question him a little bit more on his family, before faking a yawn and preparing to turn in. As soon as he was certain the rest were all asleep, Harry carefully slipped over to his truck and pulled out two items - one was a small hand-held mirror, and the other was a great, shimmering expanse of cloth.

His Invisibility Cloak, to be precise.

Wrapping himself in the enchanted garment, Harry slipped out of the dormitory and back to the common room, which had become blessedly empty. Once he was tucked away in a secluded corner, the boy positioned his mirror.

“Padfoot?”

Almost instantly, the surface of the thing shimmered, and changed from Harry’s reflection to a much older, more rugged face, which was wearing a delighted grin.

“Hey pup!” Sirius Black greeted him. “How is it so far?”

“Absolutely brilliant,” Harry answered back with a matching grin. “The castle’s amazing, the train trip went fine, and - I made it into Slytherin with Draco.”

Sirius gave an exaggerated sigh. “Well, I guess that means I failed to convince you that Gryffindor’s where all the fun happens.”

“And give Fred and George unlimited access at pranking me? No thank you.”

“Hm, guess I can’t argue with that logic. But why not Ravenclaw, or even Hufflepuff? I’m going to worry about you an awful lot, down in those dungeons.”

“I know, and I’m sorry Padfoot, but I really do think this is where I’ll do my best.” Harry explained to his godfather for perhaps the hundredth time. “Besides, with my being down here, maybe I’ll be able to start undoing some of that stereotype of the ‘evil snakes’ that you and so many others have.”

“Yeah yeah, start a revolution why don’t you. But don’t forget, pup, you’re supposed to balance the working with having fun too, right?”

“I will. You know that I’ll be setting up pranks in no time, Padfoot.” He chuckled as the man’s expression turned suddenly wistful.

“I can still remember getting the letter from Andy about your first successful pranking of Nymph - proudest day of my life.”

“Yeah, and worst day of Aunt Andy and Uncle Ted’s, ‘cause that’s what set everything else off.”

“Yes, well, for all their complaints, I know they enjoyed seeing how much more dedicated to her studies Nymph became in an effort to get back at you.” Sirius winked.

“And yet, she never realized I was able to get around so many of her spells because I was reading the textbooks behind her back.” Harry paused and bit his lip. “You don’t think I’ll get in trouble for that now, do you Padfoot? Already knowing the material we’re supposed to be learning for the first time...”

“Pup, you might be familiar with the theory, but you haven’t gotten any actual practice yet.” Sirius reassured him. “Studying a bit early just means you’ll have an easier time getting through the homework, without needing to do quite as much research.”

“That might be true for Transfiguration and Charms, but what about Potions? Aunt Andy’s had me helping in her workshop for years now...”

“And you’ll need all the advantages you can get in that class! Take it from me, Harry, you might be in his house now, but don’t think for a second that Snape will actually go easy on you.”

To that particular concern, Harry’s response was a lazy smirk. “Then I’ll just have to show him why I deserve to be here.”

“Heh. Just don’t get in over your head, pup. Snivellus fought nasty when he was a student, but now that he’s a professor, he might very well try to have you expelled.”

“I’d like to see him try.”

The pair continued to chat for a little while longer, until Harry truly began to yawn and Sirius fussed at him for staying up to late on his first night at Hogwarts.

“Don’t worry about writing any letters tonight, either, I’ll be sure to let the rest of the family know you’re settling in alright.”

“Thanks, Padfoot.”

“Just be sure to write Andy and your sister before the week’s out, alright? Last thing I need is for those two witches to come track me down in anger over no news directly from you!”

“Now how would they be able to find you, if the entire DMLE hasn’t had any luck in the last ten years?” Harry and his godfather shared a laugh, said goodnight, and closed down the connection between their mirrors. Glad to have gotten through the conversation undisturbed, the boy got to his feet and headed back to his bed.

So far, his first year at Hogwarts was starting off on a very good note indeed.