15: Sorting Hat.

The train ride was quite interesting, the faces Hermione made when they told her some details of the magical world she didn't know were really funny. 

Astreo wishes he had a camera to capture those moments, but he will always have his memories, not at all he uses them to laugh at Hermione in the future, but not at all, our protagonist is very mature and of course, he doesn't do such ridiculous and childish things like that .... right?

Although Astreo had to endure a lot of questions about the magical dolls he could create. The girl loved their shape, their intricate design, a different one for each of them, and they looked alive. 

Except for one episode with Draco Malfoy, who to Astreo's constant amazement did not behave like the stereotypical fanfic snob or the repulsive young man from the original story, the whole trip was really pleasant for the youngsters. 

What Astreo did not know was that his arrival in this world changed many things from the moment he was born. One of those "ripples", so to speak, caused by his birth is that it ruined the basic plot of Harry's terrible upbringing, and without that situation happening, many things changed. 

First of all, Lily Potter survived, so part of the truth about the traitor situation was known, and Peter Pettigrew was cataloged, and Mrs. Potter prevented Sirius Black from doing something very stupid, thus averting a possible catastrophe because the man was not quite in his right mind at the time. 

The fact that Sirius Black was not imprisoned in Azkaban, as in the original story, changed the supposedly canonical story much more. Since the rightful Black heir was alive and free, and since the supposed expulsion of his mother did not technically count, he became the patriarch of his family in the end. 

This fact, coupled with the political skills that Lily Potter had demonstrated over the years, proving time and again that she was more than capable of both strength and cunning, regardless of her lineage, made Draco's upbringing very different. 

The Malfoy can be anything you want them to be, I don't mean that as a metaphor, they are a family that has survived over the centuries because they know how to adapt to the times. 

They can follow tyrants in their struggle, but they can also follow those who rebel, as long as one side gives them opportunities and above all money, they can even become the most tolerant people. 

Since life was no longer so easy for the Malfoy because Lily had never stopped using her resources to screw over everyone who was involved in the chaos caused by Voldemort, the education Draco received was much more... understanding, so to speak.

Instead of letting him grow up wild, Lucius and his wife focused on Malfoy's education, teaching him not only the hypocritical ways of Malfoy's survival but also the black education that made him a more refined boy.

Yes, he despised Muggleborns and Half-Bloods, he still considered pure-blood wizards to be noble, but knowing from a young age that the world was not so simple, he could 'hold back'. 

Even if he mentally despised Hermione, disagreed with Ron, disliked Astreo's existence, and had some anger against Harry because of his mother, the boy learned well from his parents. 

With Neville, he had no particular problem, although he looked at a wizard with a sword with disdain, to him the young Longbottom was a suitable heir to a noble family, and he was even more cordial to him.

After all, in the long run, the boys around Hadrian Potter were likely to become relevant figures, and any cordial relationship he could build was a relationship he could use in the future when he took over the responsibility of his family. 

Although he was curious about the mechanical animals Astreo could build. If it had been his original version, he probably would have made some sort of derogatory comment or demanded something, but he only left the comment that he would talk to his father to see if he could commission a mechanical animal for himself. 

"Am I still the only one who thought Malfoy would act like a cartoonish villain?" asked Astreo as he changed into the wizarding robes required for class. 

"I was expecting some ridicule from my family, you know how some people look down on us for our ideas and stuff," Ron said with some discomfort as he got dressed.

Not everyone could take comments about their family without flinching, and with Ron's temper, it was something that bothered him, but the boy knew it wasn't something he could change, at least not now. 

"I thought he'd yell at me, you know, my mum wasn't very nice to his dad, but well, at least he seems nice, although the smile on his face never reached his eyes," Harry commented, noticing some particular details in Draco's manner. 

"I don't know, he was very nice to me," muttered Neville, now realizing that his mechanical toad had always been on top of his head, which embarrassed him. 

"You know, you're a respectable, noble pureblood. Ron is a blood traitor according to his group, Harry and I are filthy half-bloods, you know how it is, but I'm surprised the boy was so understanding. I mean, the other noble kids might be less tolerant than him," Astreo explained his thoughts.

"Well, if anyone tries to bother us, I always have my hammer with me," Ron said, showing a blacksmith's hammer adapted to his age and size. 

"I brought my practice sword, it doesn't cut, but it leaves good bruises," Neville said with a friendly smile on his face, though anyone who heard his words and didn't know the boy would look at that expression with fear. 

"I can frighten them with Parseltongue, you know, it's the signature of the Dark Wizard, at least in Britain and Greece," then Harry started to say something in Parseltongue, but the boys didn't understand what he meant, but his mechanical snake seemed to answer him by sticking out its tongue and hissing. 

"Yeah, I didn't program that," Astreo said, pointing exaggeratedly at the snake around Harry's neck. 

"Can you imagine the snake bringing Harry dead mice in the morning? Like cats do?" asked Ron with genuine curiosity, not noticing that his mechanical mouse seemed to be hiding inside his robes at his words. 

Astreo watched this strange display of sentience; he had never expected his creations to behave so nimbly, and they seemed to be becoming more and more like real life. 

"By the way, where's your eagle?" asked Neville to Astreo, who smiled macabrely at the question. 

"Ohohohoho, flying around, I want to present it to the world in a masterful way, you know?" our young protagonist wanted to show off, and he had a very good idea to do so. 

"Is this one of your weird ideas that usually go wrong and then you complain for days because it didn't turn out the way you wanted?" asked Harry in a very specific way, which made Astreo want to touch the boy's head, but the mechanical snake stood up on guard and hissed at Astreo. 

"You treacherous snake! I AM YOUR FATHER!" just as Hermione, assuming everyone had already changed, opened the door and saw the scene of Astreo yelling at a mechanical puppet. 

"Yes... the train is already stopping," the girl said before slowly closing the door, leaving an embarrassed Astreo with a raised hand and an indecipherable expression on his face. 

"Brother, calm down for a while," Ron advised, causing Astreo's left eyelid to twitch slightly. 

Realizing that Astreo was genuinely upset, the boys left the booth, leaving the boy alone. 

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE MAGIC OF THE WORLD?" Astreo's cry was charged with accidental magic, causing even the glass in the train to shake and threaten to shatter.

"He still seems so... strange sometimes, doesn't he?" sensing Astreo's magic through the door, Harry turned and looked at his friends. 

"He's still the quietest of the three of us, but sometimes..." replied Neville, gripping his mechanical toad tightly to keep it from running away. 

"Even the twins haven't teased him since then," Ron reminded him quietly, causing the three of them to shudder together. 

All of Astreo knew one thing, you could joke with the boy, but there were things you shouldn't touch, certain specific lines the twins had once ignored with their prank, and well, if you upset someone who was a born astrologer, it couldn't end well.

"Bad luck, absurd bad luck," Neville muttered as if that was the only thing he could do, a small taste of what happened three years ago.

A short time later, Astreo came out of the stall and looked at his friends who were trying to hide something, but he just sighed deeply before speaking. 

"Excuse me," the young man said before leaving the train with the other students. 

The path along the road to the boats was much better, it wasn't so narrow or muddy, and it all looked quite tidy. Then the foursome got into one of the boats, as was the tradition. 

"That's Hagrid, he comes to visit sometimes, but my mum warned me to be careful with his pets," Harry whispered to his friends as he pointed at the half-giant. 

"He's tall," said Neville, who was amazed at the height of the Hogwarts housekeeper. 

"Fred and George told me about him, he seems to live near the entrance to the Forbidden Forest, he's the one who stops students from sneaking into the forest, he always stops my brothers," added Ron, who had noticed Hagrid's obvious distinguishing features.

"My mom says he sometimes plays assistant to teacher Silvanus Kettleburn, the one who teaches with animals in the third year," Astreo added the information he knew, his mother's stories about the eccentric teacher were several, making the young man prefer mechanical pets to real ones. 

Astreo would never admit that his fear of dogs had followed him through three lives in a row, first dead before he would accept that... wait for it.

The boat ride was revelatory, Astreo, whose sensitivity to magic was incredibly high, and Harry, who was talented in that department, could feel a subtle magical power clinging to each new student who took the trip across the Black Lake. 

It was strange, but considering the historical reasons for this trip and some possible implications, Astreo surmised that this was some sort of elaborate ritual to search each student at the school's barriers, probably also being able to detect cursed objects, disguised figures, and irregularities. 

Astreo didn't think that the founders of the directors of Hogwarts hadn't foreseen that someone with evil intentions would try to sneak something past the incoming students, it would be the height of stupidity, wizards were ignorant about some things, not morons. 

Then, as he came ashore, the magical power of the school seemed to boil, as if anticipating the arrival of new students, Astreo even felt that the magic of the castle seemed to recognize him as one of the children born within it and gave him a 'greeting', or at least that's what the young man felt. 

"Greetings to you too, Hogwarts," Astreo bowed, attracting the attention of all the students and Minerva McGonagall, who had opened the door to the entrance. 

'Sinistra's son is strange,' the deputy headmistress thought when she saw Astreo's gesture, but she just walked in with the eager children.

Skipping the annoying ghosts and the hat song, the sorting of the students began, calling them by their last names in alphabetical order.

Hermione ended up in Gryffindor, the girl was smart but had an adventurous streak that was much stronger than anything else in her. Neville also ended up in Gryffindor, he was a bloody magical swordsman with a desire to be a knight, and he would end up here. 

Ron ended up in Gryffindor, but you'll notice I skipped Astreo and Harry, well, those two rankings are really special, both because of the weird idea of Astreo and the outcome of Hadrian Potter and what house he ended up in. 

I'll just say that it caused weeks of coverage and gossip.

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AN: I'm dying of sleep and I have to do another chapter of another fanfic, so I won't have time to update any of them, lol. If you see any mistakes, let me know, lol.