19 Sorting Ceremony! Part-1

{Hogwart's Express, Unplottable}

{11:43 A.M, 1st September 1991}

Alex relaxed into his seat and focused on the book on mana theory, most of the contents of the book were just the theories and a detailed description of the progression of magical theory. Like in England and other European nations, a wand is used as the primary channeling tool.

In Asian cultures like China, India, and even some parts of Russia they rely more on staff to cast spells. The one thing that was common all over the world was that spells were the main medium of using magic in this day and age.

'I guess James' comments about using a sword in a battle seem true now. But what are the advantages of other mediums, is there a benefit of using a staff over a wand.' Alex had many questions but the book didn't go that much into detail over this. Alex closed the book and sighed, he couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts and have access to the Hogwarts Library.

"...we can sneak in a broom, come on Harry, you have to go to the tryouts." Ron was speaking as Ron and Harry were still engrossed in their quidditch talks.

'...' Alex stared at the scene a little perplexed, he couldn't quite tell if Ron here was different from the canon timeline.

"I'm gonna go to the toilet," Alex spoke as he stood up, while he was able to ignore Harry and Ron's conversation, it would not be a bad idea to stretch his legs. He stood up and walked out of the compartment. Alex quickly found a bathroom and after relieving himself he looked at himself in the mirror.

His dark black hair was in sharp contrast to his fair skin, the mark on his forehead had faded but it was still a mystery that remained unsolved. He ruffled his messy hair and tried to give himself a messier look, while the smooth and silky hair was more in line with the 90s fashion, he preferred his hair like this. 

Thankfully he hadn't been blessed with the Potter's eye curse so he didn't need glasses, his sharp emerald eyes scanned his face before he washed his hands and left the room. He was wearing a pair of black sneakers with blue Jeans and a plain white T-shirt. His body was on the lean side but he was a little taller than Harry and even Ron.

Alex peered into various compartments hoping to spot someone familiar but had no luck, many names were hovering above everyone's head but none that he could recognize from the canon timeline. He walked back to his compartment only to find a few more people in the small compartment than when he left.

...

[Neville Longbottom Lv 1]

[Susan Bones Lv 1]

[Hannah Abbot Lv 1]

...

"Neville," Alex smiled as he greeted the shy boy, he was still a lot more confident compared to canon but he was still shy. Neville waved slightly toward Alex. His wave caught the attention of the two girls who were in the room as they turned to stare at Alex.

'Susan Bones, niece of Amelia Bones, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hannah Abbot... Susna's friend.' Alex thought he didn't know much about them as they were just side characters in the original story. Amelia died in book 7... or somewhere around the time when Voldemort started to seize power.

Harry sensing the approaching awkwardness stood up to introduce Alex to his extended friend group.

"Alex this is Susan Bones, heiress to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Bones." Harry introduced as Alex gave the redhead a nod.

"Heiress Bones." Alex nodded as he greeted her. He knew the proper custom was to kiss the witch's hand but that seemed so backward to him. But when Susan took a step toward him and lifted her right hand toward him he realized he didn't have a choice.

'If I'm going to integrate into this new reality I need to get used to these greetings.' Alex thought as he lightly grabbed onto her extended fingers with his own right hand, put his left hand behind his back, and leaned down to kiss her hand lightly. He maintained eye contact with her as he spoke, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He suppressed a grimace as he watched Susan blush a little, her cheeks turned bright red but she still replied, "Likewise Heir Potter."

'Fuck the customs, I'm not kissing the hand of another 11-year-old girl...' Alex thought as he nodded to Susan. 

"And this is Hannah Abbot, heiress to the Ancient and Noble House of Abbot." Harry continued not listening to Alex's thoughts. For the first time, he lamented the lack of a twin bond between him and Harry but surprisingly Hannah didn't follow Susan's example. Instead, she bowed her head slightly and spoke, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, heir Potter."

"Likewise Heiress Abbot" Alex replied as the tension in the room dissipated. While Alex noticed the difference in the greetings between Susan and Hannah Harry tried to explain, "Don't worry too much about it. Susan and Hannah were just giving a customary greeting since it is their first time meeting you." 

"Yeah, that was weird... do you have to do that with everyone when you meet?" Alex asked Susan.

"Not everyone, our houses are allied, and since this is our first time meeting. A more formal greeting is considered better for future interactions." Susan explained, that everyone had settled down once again with Susan sitting beside Alex with Hannah on the other side while Neville sat opposite to Hannah.

'Yeah, and what was with this Most ancient and Noble house?' Alex thought the difference in greeting meant a difference in station. After getting the title {Heir to the Potter House}, Alex hadn't really cared to research into politics. He saw no point in learning anything about it as an 11-year-old's opinions hardly mattered. 

'But from the looks of it, the heirs of prominent households have been trained similarly to the heirs of the throne were trained in ancient history...' Alex thought. He could ask Susan the difference but doing so might lower his standing with her and although she wasn't an important character in the original novel, her connections were real.

While Alex was lost in his thoughts, he causally plucked the book from his inventory once again and started reading. His casual display of magic was noticed as Susan and Hannah exchanged an astonished look. While curiosity burned through her thoughts, Susan stopped herself from asking about it on their first meeting.

Aside from the fact that Alex was silent, the intelligence in his eyes was not hidden. His emerald eyes were breathtaking as Susan felt himself sneaking a peak at him more than once.

'Too bad he's going to Ravenclaw,' Susan thought disappointed, the oldest Potter twin was an enigma. From his supposed 'death' to the letter her Aunt got yesterday telling her that Alex Potter, heir apparent to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter will be attending Hogwarts was quite a shock. While the Potters didn't have as many votes as the Bones family, the amount of influence they wielded couldn't be matched by any other family in the current Wizengamot.

...

The rest of the ride went by in silence as the compartments slowly got used to each other, Alex even conversed with Susan, probing to see how much knowledge in the magical arts she had trying to get a feel for where he was at. 

...

'They don't behave like 11-year-olds...' Alex thought as the other three left the compartment. He shared a look with Harry who shrugged as they began to change into their uniform. The Shirt and trousers he could deal with, but wearing unmarked robes felt a little unnecessary. The robe provided no actual function other than getting the feel of the uniform right.

'I wonder what the reason behind our uniform is, is it just because of tradition or is there a deeper meaning behind it.' Alex thought as the train came to a stop. A prefect had come by telling them to leave their trunks on the train when he told them to change into their uniform.

He took a step out of the train. The concrete of the platform provided a stable base as he swung out of the gates and looked around. The Hogsmeade station was a small one, and before he could focus on anything else his eyes were drawn to the giant that was holding a torch over his head as he shouted.

"Right, then. First years, this way, please! Come on, now, first years, don't be shy. Come on now, hurry up..."

[Rubeus Hagrid Lv 39]

...

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AN - What do you think, was Hagrid too high level? And don't worry, I won't force Alex into unforeseen political situations, though some of them might be necessary considering I have decided to go with a hierarchical inheritance system in the Wizengamot.

Plus I wanted to address the issue of the info dump in the previous chapter. I want to present all the information that Alex would receive about magic to you in a more raw form. So my point is there will be a lot of chapters and paragraphs taken from the 'Books' in this world to show you what Alex is learning.

This way you both would have similar information to go on and you can have your own insight into the magic system that I want to create.