16 You Talk Too Much!

"Harry Potter."

Harry heard his name being called and the following expected silence. Everyone turned towards him and ones at the back were trying to get a peek somehow.

Harry ignored all of that and walked to the center where the sorting hat was kept.

He sat on the stool and the hat was put on his head.

"Hmm, difficult. This is difficult. After a very long time, I have seen someone with this much potential. You would do very well in Ravenclaw but then you would also suit Hufflepuff. Hmm, maybe Slytherin would suit you better but your heart belongs in Gryffindor. It's difficult, very very difficult. Hmm...let me see..let me see...Yes, you should definitely go to Ravenclaw. You have a thirst for knowledge and your intellect surpasses anyone I have seen in a long time. So you should go to Ravenclaw.

But I can see that you are not afraid to work hard. You also value loyalty and know how to take care of the people around you. You also desire a family. I guess Hufflepuff would be better for you then.

But you can think out of the box and come up with creative solutions to your problems. You know how to read people and can use them appropriately. Yes yes, you definitely belong to Slytherin.

No wait, you have the heart of a lion and the pride of a phoenix. You are not scared of facing adversities and like to face them head-on.

You are a true Gryffindor. So, you should go to Gryffindor..."

The hat kept on going for almost two minutes. Everybody was looking at him weirdly, thinking what was taking so much time. From the looks of it, the people couldn't hear what the hat was saying and it was only meant for the person who put on the hat.

It was better that way or Harry would feel really embarrassed.

After two minutes listening to the hat going around in circles, Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey, Mr. Hat, did anyone ever told you that you talk too much? Just stop with this nonsense and put me in Gryffindor already. Please..." said Harry annoyedly to the sorting hat while activating his mind fortress.

"Huh, hmm, interesting, you are able to shield your mind from me. Then so be it, I will talk no more and you shall go to GRYFFINDOR!" announced the hat.

There was a deafening cheer at the Gryffindor's table. They were excited to get the famous Harry Potter in their house.

Harry was also feeling good about it. He knew that out of the four houses, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were the two houses that valued the spirit of loyalty and considered their fellow housemates like friends.

So, Harry would be Ok with either of them but then chose Gryffindor due to future concerns and since the major characters were all going to join Gryffindor, it would be good to stay in the original house.

The sorting proceeded as expected and Hermione and Ron both joined Gryffindor. Neville caused the commotion as expected. Harry couldn't watch him like that. He had one of the best magical talents right from his birth. But he had been constantly ignored by his family members and then thoroughly repressed by his grandmother.

This caused his timid personality. But Harry knew that he was truly brave and only needed someone to believe in him. Even in the original story, he was the one who took the helms of the 'Dumbledore's Army (DA)' at Hogwarts in Harry's absence.

So, this time he would bring out the true Neville a lot earlier since he might be of great help to him.

With the sorting ceremony done, Dumbledore's gave his usual speech about the forbidden forest and warning the students not to go to the third floor. Harry found it really funny since it was an obvious bait. If you don't want students to go to a certain location, you lock it out and hide it from them using the most powerful jinxes.

But Dumbledore mentioned the two most dangerous places and warned the students not to go there despite knowing that some of them would definitely check out these places.

Harry didn't care about it since he was planning on visiting both the places anyway.

The start-of-term-feast was great. The food was truly delicious. After tasting the food, Harry decided to pay a visit to the house elves in the kitchen to thank them. He wanted to befriend these elves so he could have good food anytime he wanted. Although the elves would cook for you even if they don't know you, it's always better to have a good relationship.

Then as dinner was over, Dumbledore stood up and everybody sang the Hogwarts song. Harry was feeling cheerful so he decided to sing it along with everyone at the top of his voice. Watching him, the other first years also joined in on the fun. By the end of it, Gryffindor was the loudest of all the houses. It made a lot of people from other houses look at them weirdly while a few seniors at Ravenclaw just rolled their eyes muttering 'Here they go again. These muscleheads really know how to make a ruckus.'

But the Gryffindors were having fun and all the first years looked a lot more relaxed. They gave Harry a thumbs up at the end of the song. It made his popularity go up even further.

Then, all the four houses left for their common room and Harry & Co. were lead by Percy to their dorms.

The Gryffindor tower was one of the three tallest towers in Hogwarts along with Ravenclaw tower and Astronomy tower. It was decorated with scarlet and gold and looked really lavish.

There was a portrait at the entrance. It was of a fat lady who asked for the password and as Percy told the password for the week, everybody entered the common room. It was a circular room full of squashy chairs and tables. There was a bulletin board for notices, ads, etc. There were also various bookcases filled with novels.

The windows overlooked the school grounds and the walls were covered with portraits and scarlet tapestries depicting wizards and witches.

There was a portrait of a lion on the mantle over the fireplace.

Overall, it was a cozy room with a distinctive flair of nobility. Harry liked it immediately.

Then Percy showed them the dormitory for boys and girls and also warned them a little about the consequences of trying to sneak into the other dormitory. He only warned the boys as only the girls' dormitory had any intrusion charm since girls were considered more trustworthy.

Everybody was already tired from the long journey and the feast.

As such, everybody directly went to sleep.

Harry also went to bed, not for sleeping, but for meditating.

He always meditated for at least an hour before he slept. That helped him with much better sleep and he would feel completely rejuvenated the next morning.

As the entire dorm fell asleep, Harry was finally able to think calmly about his next steps. Now that he was here, what should he do next?