The line came to a stop and I paid attention to the end of the great hall that had the teachers table as well as a podium for speeches. In front of even that however was a simple wooden stool that a ragged, dirty old pointed hat sat with wrinkles that formed a roughly face like shape. Dumbledore stood up at the podium and once we first years were in place began his speech.-
"Soon you shall all be sorted into your houses and begin your journey to magical mastery. Those in your house shall be your friends, your family and your classmates for the next seven years. I welcome you all to Hogwarts and wish each of you a happy next seven years!" The old man said loudly before stepping down to give McGonagall the floor to speak.
"When your name is called sit upon the stool and wait to be sorted before joining your houses table!" she said succinctly.-
The hat then 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 Gryffindor's apart! You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal. Those patient Hufflepuff's are true and unafraid of toil! Or yet in wise 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 folks 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 hat finished it's song and everyone clapped in appreciation of the interesting spectacle.
Mcgonagall stepped forward with a scroll of parchment and spoke firmly. "When I call your name you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she then paused to look at the scroll. "Abbot, Hannah!" she called out the first name.
A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line. She put on the hat which fell right down in front of her eyes and then sat down. There was a moments pause before the hat spoke in a loud voice that echoed in the hall.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Of the four long tables that sat the houses students the one on the left middle of the hall from the doors cheered and clapped as the girl took off the hat and moved to join them. The next few names went similarly but for different names and houses.
"Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Brocklehurst, Mandy!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Brown, Lavender!" "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Bulstrode, Millicent" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Corner, Michael!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Crabbe, Vincent!" "SLYTHERIN!"
Finally came my turn as there simply was only two with a last name starting with a C so it went to D.
"Drake, Alexander!" Mcgonagall said firmly and I calmly stepped out from my spot at the end of the line.
Amongst all my peers there was one that appeared utterly flabbergasted by my name. A boy with short white blonde hair that was oiled back and had narrow aristocratic features and grey eyes, one Draco Malfoy. His confusion was beyond amusing to me and I even winked playfully at him as I passed by. -
My last name and his first name were so similar that it was no wonder that he had mentally error messaged. Not that he could be blamed since he was named after the constellation Draco which had in turn been named because of it's similarity to a dragon. My name ironically was just a pseudonym of the word Dragon and thus it was a whole big jumble of coincidences all colliding at once.-
As I approached the stool and the range of my haki reached the professors the vast majority of them flinched in unison. I got what I wanted however as I had felt the magical power they exuded and as a result a rough estimation of their power in comparison to my own, minus skill of course. I was hopelessly outmatched to put it bluntly. Not every professor was a strong as the others in terms of pure magical energy but that didn't matter as each and every one of them outstripped my own magical energy by a massive amount, Dumbledore was by far the worst however.-
If my magical energy was a match most of the professors had campfires and Dumbledore had a bonfire. Just as fast as my haki had swept over them however I had retracted it so besides making all of them focus more intensively thinking there was something that set off their instincts about me they found nothing. It was a bit like immediately noticing when someone was looking at you and turning to find out who but several times more intense. In this case they knew the who but not the why of their instincts reacting like that.-
I sat on the stool with the hat on and it spoke quietly and with a very conflicted tone.
"You're a tricky one aren't you? Clever, witty, ambitious and loyal. If it weren't for the way things have been recently I might have thought you a perfect fit for Slytherin. That fellow would have loved you." it said honestly.
I shook my head "Can't do Slytherin, would alienate me from a good part of my potential customer base." I said firmly.
"There's nothing wrong with greed but be sure you don't overestimate your means. Better be RAVENCLAW!" the hat finally said and my robes finer details took on the colors of the house, blue and bronze.
I grinned at this and took the hat off before heading for my new houses table.
"Hello, I'm Terry!" a boy said with a friendly smile as I walked to the table.
Terry Boot was a pale skinned freckle faced boy with blue eyes and brown hair and a slightly chubby face. Not fat but more stocky in build. So far he was also fairly easy to get along with but I chose to reserve judgment until enough time passed.