"Granger Hermione!" professor McGonagall shouted and a girl with bushy brown hair stepped forwards nervously.
She took a seat on the three-legged stool and the professor put the old Sorting Hat on her head. The hat stood on her head for almost three minutes, still not making a decision! But just as everyone was starting to become restless, the Sorting Hat shouted:
"Hufflepuff!"
The students at the Hufflepuff House's table erupted into cheers and welcomed the newly sorted girl with warm smiles on their faces, some of the older girls even taking her a hug. Seeing this display of affection, Hermione nearly teared up – it was the first time someone outside of her family gave her a hug.
And Harry who happened to witness this scene had feeling of longing as well. But that feeling lasted only a moment as the very next second the rational part of him squashed it immediately.
It has been 3 years since he was on his own and despite feeling lonely sometimes, overall he felt like it was better that way. This opinion was reinforced once again during the last month when he had the chance to witness just how childish and immature were other children of his age in the wizarding world...What Harry failed to understand was that that was the case for all the children everywhere, not just in the Wizarding World. If they aren't acting childish at this age, then when would they?
Harry had not been the sole homeless child in London. There were many other underage people that lived on the streets and had miserable lives – not everyone had magic at their disposal to deal with their problems. Because of their rough life, those children naturally had become more mature than other children of their age.
But how could those homeless children possibly be compared with the wizards and witches' children?
Magical people were relatively few in numbers, that being the case especially for the old pureblood wizarding families. Children were seen as the most important resource of the wizarding world and because of that most magical people treated their children with utmost love and care. Even the children growing up in poor families lived a much better life than their Muggle counterparts.
Bottom line, Harry didn't understand the fact that it wasn't that the rest of the children were too immature but that it was actually him that stood out by being too mature for his age..
...
"Neville Longbottom!"
At that shout, the mood in the Great Hall abruptly changed and Harry was shaken off from his thoughts as well.
A pudgy boy dressed up in expensive robes stepped forward confidently. His brown hair was slicked to the side neatly and an eye-catching lightning bolt-like scar was clearly visible in the middle of his forehead.
The hat barely touched the boy's head when it shouted:
"Gryffindor!"
Loud chorus of cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table and most of the students from the other houses joined into clapping their hands loudly as well.
A brilliant smile graced the Boy-Who-Lived's face and he swaggered towards his housemates, where he was swarmed immediately by enthusiastic students, everyone wanting to shake hands with him.
One by one, the first year students were called forward and sorted into one of the 4 houses.
"Potter Harry!"
Hearing his name being called, Harry stepped forward rather nervously, but he didn't let it show on his face. The reason for his nervousness was that only after arriving in the Great Hall did Harry realise that the Gorgoneion around his neck might react rather violently.
Tom, the Bartender from the Leaky Cauldron told Harry a few weeks before how would the Sorting process proceed, but Harry didn't really think about it too much. Only now, after realizing that the hat actually used some sort of mind-reading spell on the students to sort them, did Harry become aware of how could his precious pendant interfere...and he really hoped he wasn't going to make a scene as questions would naturally arise afterwards.
'My, my, what do we have here?' the hat spoke directly into Harry's mind.
'You actually are capable of getting into my mind?'
'Of course, that's what I was made to do..' the hat replied in a puzzled voice. 'Why do you ask, was I not supposed to?'
'N-No'
...
'You're definitely hiding something, young man...'
The hat stood silent for a few seconds and Harry grew tense, expecting it to uncover the secret of the Gorgoneion.
In his mind, he was already going through a number of courses of action he would take if his secret got uncovered. What should he do? Should he just try to rip the hat apart if it talked? Or should he try to escape? ...but where to? It was night and Hogwarts was in the middle of nowhere! Furthermore, he had read in Hogwarts: A History that the Forbidden Forest was filled with all kinds of vicious dark creatures...who is to say they were not leaving the forest's perimeter during night-time?
But Harry's growing panic and wild paranoia were extinguished when the hat continued to speak seemingly unaware of his thoughts. And to Harry's relief, apparently, the Hat was not able to read all of his memories and thoughts since everything concerning the Gorgoneion was still hidden away from the Hat.
"Well, whatever... let's see... There's talent, oh my, there is so much of it! Your mind doesn't fall behind your talent either... and as for courage, there's also plenty of it. However...there's no ambition, there is nothing that drives you, you have nothing to strive for...Hmm...then where should I put you?"
And it truly was a difficult choice for the Sorting Hat because Harry didn't fit well in any of the 4 founders' criteria!
He didn't have any friends and he was not in a hurry to make some either. He was more of a loner – thus Hufflepuff was excluded from the start. Ravenclaw? ...if it hadn't been for the Gorgoneion, Harry wouldn't have touched a book even from a distance with a stick. As for Gryffindor? From what Harry heard from the bartender from Leaky Cauldron, this house was like a louder and more boisterous House of Hufflepuff. Furthermore, Gryffindor emphasized loyalty and honesty...things which Harry seriously lacked. Harry was not loyal to anyone as he had yet to meet someone deserving it. As for honesty...is there even necessary to go there? – years of having to survive from a day to another by himself on the streets made stealing become his second nature.
And the Sorting Hat's thoughts about Harry were among the same lines as well. He truly was a difficult one.
"Which house would you want to be sorted in?" the hat asked Harry rather helplessly.
"I don't really care which one...oh wait, actually, there is one house I don't want to be sorted in. So put me everywhere but in Gryffindor."
After rummaging through Harry's memories, the hat understood the reason for Harry's distaste at the Gryffindors.
"You do understand that that boy Percy is just an isolated case, don't you?"
At the Sorting Hat's question, Harry mentally shrugged nonchalantly not bothering to reply. In the end, although Harry was quite mature for his age, he still acted childishly from time to time. Only an immature or a bigoted person would judge an entire group of people just by looking at the actions of a single individual.
But that reaction made the hat quite annoyed. Most first year students were like a nervous mess and always begged it to sort them into a certain house. Nobody had that "I don't give a crap, just do you damned job already" attitude.
..But then it clicked: that phlegmatic attitude of his plus the rather unhealthy inclination towards defying rules and the authoritative figures kind of made Harry match Salazar Slytherin's standards like a glove...that if only it wasn't for his lack of a goal, for his lack of determination.
Although it takes time to write all these, their conversation didn't last for too long. Before a minute from when the hat was put on Harry's head passed, it screamed:
"Slytherin!"
At that various reaction could be seen from everyone: those who knew about Potter family's tradition of ending up in Gryffindor were sporting a slightly betrayed look on their faces, professor McGonagall pursed her lips and frowned while Hogwarts' potion master's, Severus Snape's face turned into a scowl. None of these could be compared though with the headache Dumbledore got in that moment.
Dumbledore's intention had been for Harry to end up in Gryffindor, surrounded by students loyal to him, students who venerated the ground he walked on. It would've been alright even if he had ended up in other houses...but not Slytherin.
'Really? Slytherin of all choices?' was what the headmaster was rhetorically asking himself in his mind, lamenting.
In that moment, the face of a rather skinny and pale Tom Riddle appeared at the front of his Dumbledore's mind, and the old wizard had to seriously concentrate on his Occlumency to settle down his stray thoughts. He decided that he'd cross that bridge when he'd get to it...until then, he should make the most of the current situation.
Harry's robes changed to match the silver and green colours of the Slytherin House and after he got up from the stool, he went to his house's table. Unlike the students in the other houses, Slytherins were noticeably more subsided – after shaking hands with the nearby older students, Harry was left alone to his own devices.
The first years continued to be sorted, and with Zabinni Blaise being called the last, everyone was sorted into one of the four houses...everyone except for a certain white-haired girl.
"Argyris Lilith!" (1
When McGonagall called this name, everyone started to look around curiously. Not only that the name had not been called in the alphabetical order – it should have been called at the beginning, given that the surname starts with A – but the surname also sounded exotic. Therefore, everyone was curious to see who was the girl.
An eleven years old girl with silvery-white hair and blue eyes came forward and seated herself on the stool. Before professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on the girl's head, she directed her eyes towards the rest of the students and said:
"Ms. Argyris has been home-schooled from an early age and because of that, she is an entire level above the ordinary first years that come to Hogwarts every year. Therefore, she is to be enrolled straight into the second year – this is the reason why she was put to be sorted last."
"Ms. Argyris comes from an old wizarding family from Greece...I'm telling you all these things now because, as most of you know, there are no institutions of magical education in Greece. Ms. Argyris and the 3rd year Ravenclaw Mr. Papadopoulos Yannis are part of a program initiated between the Ministries of Magic of Great Britain and Greece. Should the officials from the Greek Ministry of Magic be pleased with their development and should Ms. Argyris and Mr. Papadopoulos give them a favourable review, starting with the next year Hogwarts is going to receive most of the students from Greece that would otherwise have been home-schooled."
"I hope you realize the importance of their presence here...What I ask of all of you is for your behaviour to not be unbefitting of one of the best institutions of magical education in the world."
At professor McGonagall's words, everyone's eyes fell on Ms. Argyris and after taking a better look at her, most of them couldn't help but sigh in admiration at her beauty. However, their glances were not passionate, nor were they obsessive: she was just an eleven years old after all and – most importantly – after the incident that happened on the train ride, Ms. Argyris stopped using her allure completely.
When Harry saw the girl that introduced herself to him as "Alice" stepping forward, he couldn't help but mutter darkly under his breath:
"On the train, she did not even bother to introduce herself to me with her real name...that bitch...!"
But when Harry heard McGonagall's following words, he involuntarily let out groan and couldn't help but massage his temples as if he was preparing them for the incoming headache. As if on cue, Harry felt the girl glaring daggers at him heatedly.
'So much for me avoiding trouble and not attracting anyone's attention...Meh, I'll just have to beat the crap out of her again if it comes down to it...' was what his inner hooligan thought.
But then, the rational part of his brain reminded him that he was in an institution now and that he could not continue to act like a vagabond. He had to somehow integrate with the collective and obey the general rules if he wanted to not be shunned by everyone. It wasn't that Harry wanted to not be shunned because he wanted to make friends and become popular, but because he wanted to be left alone, to his own devices. Although he would always respond to hostility with hostility and despite his upbringing, Harry actually didn't enjoy being violent. He'd much rather choose to be treated normally, with indifference, instead of being hated.
When McGonagall finished her speech, she put the old Sorting Hat on Lilith's head and waited to the side patiently. Patiently, because the hat seemed to be taking its time in sorting the girl into a house.
'Are you sure you want there?' the hat asked the girl.
"Yes. I want to make Potter's school life miserable!"
'...'
'Do you realize that that incident was actually your fault?'
Lilith clenched her small hands into fists and she almost shouted out loud at the hat:
"Shut up!"
Fortunately, she got a hold of herself at the last moment and her intended shout actually came out as a whisper.
'...I pity your future husband...'
By now Lilith's face was red and she almost felt like wanting to burn the hat to a crisp, right then and right there, in the middle of the Great Hall.
'..getting back to business, with your prodigious talent, your curiosity and your sharp mind, you possess all the traits Rowena Ravenclaw treasured at her students.'
...after nearly making the girl yell in rage, the Hat surely was not stingy at all with the praising in order to calm her down. And it actually worked! For some reason, every time she was praised, a warm feeling appeared in Lilith's chest...Lilith loved her ego being stroked.
Witnessing the girl's abrupt mood swing, the Sorting Hat didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
'This girl sure has been spoiled rotten by her parents' – was what the hat thought before it continued its conversation with her:
'So I ask you again, do you really want to be sorted into Slytherin? Although you may succeed in making his school experience miserable, yours will not be any better either. Great Britain is not like Greece...'
'While in Greece your family can hold its head high especially because of their magical creature heritage, in Great Britain it would be quite the opposite. The largest part of the population is very prejudiced even against the humans with lesser blood, let alone magical creatures. And although this has never been Salazar's intention at the beginning, the house of Slytherin is actually the house with the most aggressive stance against your kind.'
"I- Is that so?" Lilith asked more than a little startled by the Sorting Hat's words.
She has been briefly warned before leaving Greece that she was most likely going to have a hard time in UK at the beginning, but she didn't think it was to this extent.
In that moment, although she knew that being in a different house meant it would be harder for her to get back at the one who had abused her, her intelligence was in the end way above average – obviously, the first students that the Greek Ministry of Magic had sent had to be the best they had to offer in order for them to make a strong impression. Therefore, the Ministry of Magic from Greece naturally sent the students with the most outstanding results in education.
That being said, although Lilith was very impulsive, she didn't follow her emotions mindlessly. In the end, she accepted to follow the Hat's advice since it seemed to be a much smarter thing to do in the long run.
"Ravenclaw!" shouted the hat and the Ravenclaw students all started to clap loudly. They were very pleased with Lilith being sorted into their house because if she was anything like Mr. Papadopoulos, Ravenclaw would actually win the House Cup that year! – yes, the Greek 3rd year Ravenclaw was be considered a genius. ...Last year they would have won the House Cup as well if it weren't for the Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup, thus getting the necessary points to jump from the second place to first...
With that, the Sorting Ceremony ended and all the first years felt their mouths water at the marvellous sight of the food appearing on their plates out of nowhere.
But they had to hold their hunger in for the moment seeing as Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.
"Welcome!" he said with his arms opened wide, as if nothing pleased him more than seeing the Great Hall of Hogwarts being filled with students.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we start stuffing ourselves with food, I would like to say a few words."
"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
Everybody clapped and cheered but Harry only watched the scene stupidly.
'There's some large-scale herd behaviour in this school' Harry thought 'What was there to clap and cheer for? The old fart basically insulted them, all the while having a large smile on his face.'
Harry actually felt the urge to facepalm himself.
But when the cheering stopped and the headmaster got back to his seat, everyone's focus shifted to the filled with delicious-looking food tables. Harry also ignored all his previous thoughts and turned his attention to the sight in front of him: food, so much of food! Moreover, it was cooked food!
During the month he lived at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry spoiled himself with all kinds of cooked food. It was a luxury he didn't have before, as a homeless child. Because although he didn't lack money, he couldn't very well go to a restaurant and order some food given his age. Thus, for 3 years straight, Harry only ate from the fast-food. And because of that, he still got excited at the sight of cooked food even if there has already been a month since he stopped havin to worry about food.
And now, at the thought that cooked food would wait for him every morning for the next 7 years, Harry felt somewhat emotional. Sure, he had found out that he was rich, but there's a saying - "a miser will always be a miser". Knowing that he was going to eat all these delicacies for years without even needing to spend a penny, this thought was giving Harry a feeling of satisfaction.
Harry filled his plate with everything: roasted chicken, boiled eggs, bacon, sausages and he even kept a tiny corner of the plate free for the pumpkin pasties...He made a very weird impression when compared with the other students sitting besides him.
It wasn't that he was eating like a pig, but the amount of food Harry greedily stacked on his plate sure was worthy of a pig's appetite. No, he was like a starved refugee!
Just as Harry started to ravenously dig in, a soft chuckle was heard from his left.
"You're pretty hungry, aren't you?"
It was a boy a few years older than him. He had chin-length wavy black hair, his skin was slightly dark and his face had soft but aristocratic features.
Harry shook his head in affirmative at him, but didn't stop eating. At his behaviour, the older boy only raised his eyebrows and chuckled again...apparently Harry had his priorities set very straight.
"You know" he continued "some people are getting really uncomfortable looking at the amount of food you're gobbling. Look, even a teacher is looking at you."
Harry swallowed the food in his mouth before saying:
"Well, they all can suck a dick for all I care."
Quite a few heads turned towards him after hearing his vulgar words but Harry couldn't care less...meanwhile, the dark-skinned boy barely managed to stop himself from laughing out loud.
"You know...with that foul mouth of yours no girl will ever look at you.."
Harry looked at him weirdly before asking:
"And how is this any of your business?"
The older boy was taken aback at Harry's blunt question, but after a few moments his face broke into a large grin and he said:
"You...I like you!"
"..."
"You're creepy. Please go away!" Harry said with a straight face, making the older boy blanch again.
At Harry words, the girl seated in front of them across the table burst into a loud laughter. Seeing the dark-skinned boy still not recovering after getting roasted, the girl began to laugh even harder and hugged her sides while even tears started to flow from her eyes.
"I- I can't...it's too much...that face!"
At the girl's laugh, the dark-skinned boy woke up from his stupor and narrowed his eyes at Harry:
"I'll surely get back at you Harry Potter! Pray that you will not ever learn just to what depths I am willing to sink in order to get my revenge!"
"Oh shut it, faggot!" the girl across them said when she recovered from her uncontrollable laughter.
She had brown hair which was styled into an intricate braid, her skin had a healthy pink colour and her hazel eyes were shining with mischief.
"What was that, Gwyneth?" the boy asked meaningfully putting the accent on her name.
"Don't you even dare go there, Danforth!"
The two were almost butting heads by now and Harry felt weird that they didn't attract half of their table's occupants' attention with their antics.
"Would you two lovebirds knock it off? What are you 12 years old brats?" Harry asked forcing his voice to sound gruff.
'Damn, I always wanted to say that!' Harry thought, mentally giving himself a pat on the back.
"I'm 13!" the two 'lovebirds' said at the same time, which almost caused them to butt heads again.
They both sniffed at each other at the same time and turned their heads disdainfully before sitting back to their places.
Harry felt like he was watching a live comedy play.
"Now, seriously, knock it off, guys. I'm trying to eat here. Just how old are you?"
"...You do realize that you're a nothing but a pipsqueak, don't you?" the girl asked back heatedly and then, she and the dark skinned boy started to laugh together at Harry's expense.
All of a sudden, the older boy dressed his voice and exclaimed dramatically:
"Oh, how rude of me to not have introduced myself...Allow me!"
His right hand went through his wavy locks of hair and he gave Harry what was supposed to be a dazzling smile as he said:
"From the great nation of England..."
"From the mighty and eternal city of Ipswich..." (2)
"Coming from the ancient and most noble house of Martlesham..."
"Cut it off you plebeian" the girl suddenly interrupted him.
"Who are you calling a plebeian, woman?"
The two continued to bicker but Harry tuned their voices out. When he finally ate his fill, he said:
"The two of you are sticking out like a sore thumb.."
And Harry was right. It wasn't that the Slytherin House's table was as silent as if it was a funeral, but they were clearly more subsided. Most of the students there talked in moderate voices and their behaviour as a whole gave off the impression of a mild mannered collective. Sure, there also were some exceptions, but the greater part of them minded their manners. Hence, the bickering duo was like a pair of "black sheep" amongst them.
"Do you see anyone complaining, or at least throwing dirty glances at us?" the boy asked rather smugly.
When Harry looked around, true to the boy's words, nobody had their attention focussed on them.
"You're probably wondering how come it's like this...in fact, it's just thanks to a simple Silencing Charm." the girl said while twirling her ivory white wand with her slender fingers.
Harry's attention was immediately piqued and he asked enthusiastically:
"Can you show me the spell as well, please?"
The girl laughed and said:
"Hold your horses, pipsqueack, it's still too early for you to attempt this kind of spells."
"However, we used this spell because there is something important we want to discuss with you about.." the girl trailed off, her previously playful demeanour being abruptly replaced by a serious mood.