Chapter 7: Arrival At Hogwarts

Harry followed Hermione out of the carriage, looking round at the darkening surroundings.

"First years over 'ere!" A deep voice called and Harry's eyes widened slightly as he saw the giant figure motioning for them to join him. "First years over 'ere. This way!"

"Shall we, my lady?" Harry asked, offering her his arm and Hermione giggled as she took it.

"Why, thank you, good sir."

Harry chuckled as they followed the huge man, then Harry grabbed something from the ground.

"Odd." He mused, looking at what he'd scooped up. "This doesn't look like the right sort of place for toads…"

"Trevor!" A voice called and Harry blinked as a pudgy boy gently grabbed the toad. "Sorry, he's always running away. Thanks for finding him."

"Not a problem." Harry said with a reassuring smile. "I'm Harry, this is Hermione."

"Neville Longbottom." The newcomer introduced himself and Harry's gaze sharpened.

"Really? Did you know your mother is Harry Potter's godmother?"

"I… I didn't." Neville admitted, looking rather sad before he gave Harry a confused glare. "How did you know?"

"No more-n four to a boat!" The large man called and Harry nodded.

"Yo're with us." He stated. "I'll explain in a moment, but you need to keep quiet… at least until after we get sorted into the Houses… however they do that."

Neville nodded and Harry held the boat steady for Hermione to get in. At his wave, Neville clambered aboard, then Harry vaulted in and sat down.

"Ho!"

The boats started moving at the large man's command and Harry glanced round before lowering his voice.

"To answer your question, I know because I am Harry Potter."

Hermione giggled at Neville's dumbstruck expression and Harry continued. "I had my parents will unsealed and discovered that I had been meant to be taken in by your parents after mine were killed, but after what happened to your parents… it's no surprise it didn't happen. For what it's worth, you have my condolences."

Hermione looked curious and Harry mouthed later at her.

"But… shouldn't your hair be black?" Neville asked.

"It's a wig… false hair." Hermione explained, causing Neville's face to light up in recognition.

"Ah! So… what house are you aiming for? I'm probably going to be a Hufflepuff… I'm almost a squib…"

"Hermione and I've agreed that whichever one of us goes first, the other will do their best to join them." Harry explained. "So if I go first, it'll be Ravenclaw and it'll be Gryffindor if Hermione goes first."

Hermione proved her superior intellect and mental development at that point by sticking her tongue out at Harry.

"You should join us." Harry continued. "I'd love to learn more about the one whom I should have grown up alongside… god-brother."

Neville stared at Harry dumbstruck.

"Here's Hogwarts!" Shouted the huge man and all three of them stared at the illuminated castle perched above the loch.

"Whoah." Harry breathed. "Nice."

"Nice?" Hermione spluttered. "Nice? is that all you can come up with? I thought you intended to be a Ravenclaw… nice."

Harry laughed as they passed under the curtain of ivy dangling down over the cave mouth.

.

Harry was still chuckling as they finished ascending the extremely long flight of stairs, Neville half-hanging on his arm as he panted for air.

"Are all wizards so…" Hermione began, then she stopped with a slight blush as she realized just how insulting her question could have been.

"I'm used to… working in… the greenhouse." Neville replied, catching his breath. "Not so… many stairs."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it."

The man leading them turned and looked at them, counting heads but looking slightly disappointed. A moment later, he blinked in confusion, then recounted before hitting the door. The wooden portal swung open to reveal a stern-looking elderly lady standing there.

"Yes, Hagrid?"

"The first-years, Deputy Headmistress." Hagrid said. "The number's right, but I don't see… him."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Well, I will take it from here. Thank you, Hagrid."

The now-identified man bobbed his head in acknowledgement and stepped around the woman who walked forwards, the door closing behind her.

"For those of you who do not know, I am Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonogall." She stated. "In a moment, you will be entering the Great Hall to be Sorted into one of four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. All four houses have long histories and once you are Sorted, the House will be as your family… yes?"

"I came here to escape my family." Harry said, earning several long looks. "is it too late to leave?"

McGonogall stood motionless for a moment, then she managed to recover. "I shall re-phrase. Once you are sorted, your new House shall become your new family, as a family should be. One willing to help, support and protect you as a true family should."

"Got it." Harry chirped, ignoring her glare.

"Each of the four Houses is led by their Head of House." McGonogall continued after a brief pause to make certain that there would be no other interruptions. "I am also the Head of House for Gryffindor…"

"How do you find the time?" Harry asked, earning another glare. "I mean, Deputy Head and Head of House? That's also quite a problem, what happens if someone from Gryffindor gets in trouble and requests to have both Deputy Head and Head of House present? If both can't be present at the same time, the case gets thrown out. Page six-hundred and forty-three of Hogwarts: A History."

"Hang on!" The blond half-shouted. "You mean the damned Gryffs can do whatever they want because of a loophole?"

"Pretty much." Harry shrugged.

McGonogall looked rather pale, her eyes fixed on something that she couldn't see and her mouth twitching. Concentrating, Harry heard her muttering "the Weasley twins must never hear about this…"

"Harry!" Hermione hissed and Harry shrugged.

"What? I'm just setting things up so if anyone tries to pick on you, you can hex them to Antarctica and back and they won't be able to do anything about it." He explained loudly enough for all the other first-years-to-be to hear. "Of course, given you want to join the nearly-headless-house of Gryffindor, you need some sort of way to protect yourself."

"Nearly-headless-house?" Several students chorused and Harry grinned.

"I got to talking to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron and several of the recent graduates from Hogwarts at the Hog's Head… as well as Aberforth Dumbledore. He's really cool, you know. He's the Headmaster's brother." He stated with a mischievous grin. "According to them, the other Houses have Heads to protect them but apparently Deputy Headmistress McGonogall spends so much effort trying not to be biased in favor of Gryffindor that she actually ends up being biased against her own house."

"I… you… I…" Minerva stuttered.

"Of course, if she hands over the Head of House position to someone else, there won't be a problem." Harry concluded.

"Harry!" Hermione half-whined as McGonogall took the opportunity to retreat back into the Great Hall.

.

"Headmaster!" Minerva snapped as she strode towards the front of the hall. "In order to prevent outright war and to save my sanity, I'm resigning as the Head of Gryffindor. Who wishes to take over?"

All the teachers stared at her, as did the shocked pupils, then Albus Dumbledore finally broke the silence.

"Why?"

"Because one of the new students pointed out that my position as both Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor means that all that any misbehaving student in my former house had to do was ask for the presence of the Deputy Headmistress in addition to the Head of House to confirm punishments. Since I am both and cannot be in two places at once..."

All eyes snapped to the pair of red-headed twins at the Gryffindor table who were face-palming and wailing dramatically at the many thousands of missed opportunities.

"…so we need a new Head of Gryffindor, otherwise it is effectively open season for the twins since we will be unable to give them any punishments!" McGonogall finished.

"I see." Albus said, looking rather pale himself. "Then… Professor Vector?"

.

"Why would you do that?" Hermione half-shouted, her fists holding handfuls of Harry's school robe as she pushed him against the nearest wall with all of her strength.

"Because, unless I miss my guess, Gryffindor will have within minutes a Head that actually pays attention to what's happening in the house. A Head that is available to actually help new students and will stand up for them."

Hermione froze as she thought it though, then she sagged, releasing him.

"Fine." She growled. "But don't do anything like that again without consulting me first."

"Bloody hell!" A nearby red-head gasped. "If McGonogall's still both when we enter, I'm running away! You have no idea how bad my twin brothers can be!"

"Listen up!" McGonogall snapped from the now-open door. "Follow me, it's time to Sort you."

The students grew quiet as they filed in through the doorway into the silent hall. As most of the students started looking around at the magically-transparent ceiling and the floating candles, Harry took the opportunity to move to Hermione's other side and remove his wig, covertly pocketing it.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She caid coldly, her eyes searching for the long blond hair of the one who had called her out on having too many jobs. "It is now time for you to be Sorted into your Houses. They are Gryffindor under Professor Vector, Ravenclaw under Professor Flitwick, Hufflepuff under Professor Sprout and Slytherin under Professor Snape."

The four indicated professors nodded, waved or scowled as they were introduced and McGonogall stalked over to a three-legged stool that was just in front of the Teacher's table. Hagrid held out something for her to take and then retreated as she placed it on the stool before stepping aside so that the students could see it.

"A… hat?" Hermione whispered in confusion just before the hat seemed to perk up, a tear near its brim opening like a mouth.

"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 Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old 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!"

As the students at the four tables began to applaud, the redhead near Harry growled.

"I'll kill my brothers… they told me we needed to wrestle a troll!"

Harry bit down a grin as McGonogall held up a scroll and read the first name from it.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

As the named girl scurried forwards, Harry leaned close to Hermione.

"It looks like you're going to choose our House, Hermione. Granger comes before Longbottom and Potter."

Hermione gave him a glare as the hat announced "Hufflepuff", causing the table on the right to cheer.

"Well, that's Hufflepuff…" Harry noted, "Now for the other tables."

One of the older students looked at him as the next first-year walked up the the stool.

"That table's Slytherin, we're the Ravenclaws and the table by the wall is Gryffindor."

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "So… according to the descriptions that Aberforth gave me, from left to right as we look at it now, it's brawlers, bookworms, bigots and bumblers."

The Ravenclaw froze, his expression midway between amused and indignant as Hermione face-palmed.

"Dammit, Harry." She grumbled.

"Language, Hermione." Harry chuckled back at her, earning a glare in response, but her reply was cut short by McGonogall.

"Granger, Hermione!"

"Choose wisely!" Harry smirked as she walked towards the stool. Hermione simply rolled her eyes, then sat down and let McGonogall place the Hat on her head.