Chapter 25
1 September 1988, nighttime.
After Hagrid left the first years to her, professor McGonagall proceeded to do the same routine of every year, greet the kids, tell them to smarten up and then let the ghosts scare a few of them, its a silent agreement that has been passed down between them and the staff.
But before any of that, professor McGonagall looked for him, for Mr Lionheart, Allen. She wondered what he was doing in a muggle orphanage, considering that the family from his father's side was still alive, they could've take him in, but instead, they decided to flee the country and go to the Bermudas while the war with you-know-who was in its climax.
McGonagall wondered how a family could be so heartless as to leave not only their only grandson, but as well as their son and daughter-in-law by themselves instead of help them.
She lifted her eyes from Allen and went inside the Great Hall, to let the ghost do their usual thing before coming back.
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The professor checked her pocket watch, counting the minutes before going back in, after five minutes she returned to the room, looking at the ghosts leaving. She looked back to Allen and could see that he wasn't one bit scared, as well as the other two boys around him. She let out a small smile, barely visible, then she continued with the speech, about the importance of the sorting, their houses, and how they'll be their family.
Joseph and Mary Lionheart née Knight were two of the bravest students she had the pleasure to have in the Gryffindor house, always standing up to injustice, it didn't matter if it was a Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Raveclaw, they would always come to their aid. A memory of those two appeared on her mind, defending a young colleague of her from two of their most troublesome students at the time, James Potter and Sirius Black.
She wondered, if their paths had been different, maybe the Lionhearts could've survived along with the Potters.
The professor turned her back on the students, leaving her mind empty of useless thoughts and guided them to the Great Hall.
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While its common for the kids to join the same house as their parents, its not something always happens, and McGonagall had it mind, she didn't want to put her hopes up, yet as she continued to read the names, she wished for Mr Lionheart to come to the Gryffindor house, it would make the most sense after all.
"Lionheart, Allen" The moment she called his name, a cacophony of voices could be heard all around the Great Hall, while the Lionheart's tale is not as famous as the Potter's, is still being told by them whenever they ask them about that fateful night on Samhain.
Allen walked determined to get the sorting over, it reminded her of his father, while Allen seems to try to hide his last name so people don't mock him for it, Joseph was the opposite, he would go to great lengths to defend it if people laughed about it. He was really proud of it, and she wished Allen would be too, sadly, things never go according to what we want.
When Allen put on the hat, she thought it would be just like with Joseph, the moment he put on the Sorting Hat, it send him to Gryffindor almost instantly, yet, time continued to pass, second became minutes and after six minutes of waiting, the hat remained quiet, but there was something different, magic.
Allen's magic was leaking out of him in a fit of rage. While it was normal for kids that still haven't learned how to control their magic to get mad and do accidental magic, this was beyond that. Beyond what accidental magic could do.
McGonagall tried to stop him, take the hat off of him, but Albus stopped her, he wished to see this through the end.
"Better be…" Then right when the hat was about to sort him into one of the four houses, they heard Allen scream at the top of his lungs, anger, regret, sadness, these feelings were transmitted to them with only his voice.
While that demonstration shocked them, what surprised them the most was the Sorting Hat burning. Now, it might seem like an old and dirty hat, but it's been in Hogwarts since the creation and maybe inception of it, thousand years, give or take.
Suffice it to say that a first year couldn't even left a scratch on it, yet, Allen managed to turn the Sorting Hat in flames.
Albus reacted instantly, summoning the Hat towards him and putting out the fire in an effortless manner, it was at the end of the day, just accidental magic.
Allen looked back towards the faculty, tears falling down on his face, but also shock could be read all over it, this wasn't a prank or anything of the same nature, this was an honest reaction caused by the Sorting Hat, McGonagall wondered what could've caused such strong emotions, but her thoughts were interrupted by the cough of the Sorting Hat, exhaling smoke out of his pseudo mouth, then he shouted.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The hat's voice echoed around the Great Hall and before anyone could register what happened, Allen's robes turned an emerald green color and McGonagall promptly send him over to the Slytherin table.
McGonagall was shocked by what just happened, not only Allen being on Slytherin, but also the demonstration of accidental magic, but as a headmistress of Hogwarts, she had to continue as if nothing happened, and she did, she continued to call for the next person to be sorted until they were done.
There would be time to think about what happened later and how to deal with it, the faculty would need to take this matter seriously, and come to a conclusion. How was it possible that a first year student was able to harm a thousand years old artifact?
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As if nothing happened, the students ate heartily the food prepared by the house elves, she was glad that they decided to concentrate on the food instead of the accident, but she knew the kids, and she knew how they were.
Tomorrow everyone would be talking about Mr Lionheart burning the Sorting Hat, which would be promptly change into its own set of rumors that they liked to spread around.
McGonagall just hoped that Allen would be able to take it.
"Albus, why did you stop me from taking the hat away from Mr Lionheart?" McGonagall looked towards him as she ate her food.
"Hmm, I believe that it would have been more dangerous if Mr Lionheart's magic had nowhere to go after targeting the Sorting Hat.
"It could have gone horrible wrong" She added.
"Ah, yes, but I trusted our old friend, after all, he wouldn't have survived so many years without a scratch or a burn around here and there. Besides, the magic in the castle will help it recover"
McGonagall just sighed in defeat, she understood the arguments and it made sense, but she didn't want Allen to go through that.
"Then what are we going to do about the punishment? Even if it was an accident, burning school property, and something as old and important as the Sorting Hat must have consequences, otherwise it will give the other students wrong ideas"
"You are quite right professor, but I would prefer if we could talk about this after the feast, after all, we need to ask Mr Lionheart's head of house what he thinks should be done." Albus looked towards Severus and just returned the gaze frowning his brow.
"I don't see why I must take care of a lion in my house when it clearly belongs to Gryffindor since a Slytherin would never do such a thing." Severus spat those words as if it were venom.
"Well Severus, you are looking at the first one to do so, after all what the Sorting Hat chooses can't be undone by the staff" Albus said rather jovially and Severus just grumbled in return.
"I do hope that what we witnessed today wasn't a prank, but a reaction towards the hat looking at his memories. After all, if it was a prank, it went too far and we'll need to consider expulsion"
McGonagall opened her eyes as big as saucers at the declaration of expulsion of a student who just arrived. "You can't be serious Albus, you saw Mr Lionheart reaction, that did not look like a prank to me."
"While I agree with you Minerva, we still need to ask our victim, in this case, our dear Sorting Hat" She just nodded, she knew they had to get the facts correctly before enacting any kind of punishment so it made sense, but honestly, McGonagall didn't expect Allen's first day at Hogwarts to be like this.
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After the feast ended, the faculty members reunited in the Headmaster's office, wondering what to do about Allen Lionheart's punishment.
"I assume all of you know why I have summoned you, so let's get straight to the point shall we?" Albus summoned the charred Sorting Hat from his place and he coughed a few times before talking.
"Why headmaster, I need to rest so I can recover, talking with that boy took a toll on me and my threads" A voice came from the hat but from nowhere specific.
"I know but first, we need to know what happened then I'll let you rest as much as you need dear friend"
"Hmm, what happened indeed." It muttered.
"I believe it was a mistake on both of our parts" The Sorting Hat added after a while.
"Could he have reacted differently? Yes, but he's still hurting from what I saw and nothing can change that, therefore, it is also my fault. You know what they say headmaster, play with fire and you get burned"
"Thank you, any chance you could tell us what caused such a strong reaction out of Mr Lionheart?"
"You know very well that I cannot divulge what I see in the student's minds, that is something just between them and me. But I will say this, he's badly hurt emotionally, and you know how magic plays with emotions, must have triggered it, trying to protect himself." The hat made a motion similar to nodding one's head.
"Then it was not a prank, but just a reaction by what you saw?" McGonagall asked.
"Yes, indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to rest for a couple of days" The hat finished bending down. Almost as if it never talked in the first place.
"Alright then, what do you think Severus? What kind of punishment should be adequate for our Mr Lionheart?" Albus levitated the Sorting Hat back to its place.
He stayed silent for a few minutes before speaking.
"Since the hat already said that he didn't do it on purpose, but because it was a reaction, I believe that detention for the whole school year would be enough, after all, he did burn a precious school artifact."
"That's too severe of a punishment for lashing out, wouldn't you agree?" Added the professor Flitwick. "While I understand that we need to punish Mr Lionheart just so something like this doesn't happen again, we can't ruin his first school year just to set an example."
"I agree with Filius, how about a month at most?" Professor Sprout added from the side.
Albus sat down on his chair. "Hmm, yes, I believe a month would be better, and what better place than with his own head of house, it helps so you can watch him over in case he ever tries to do any mischief, of course if he misbehave in that month, we will be more severe and increase his punishment. Do we all agree?"
Severus let out a loud sigh, while the other professors agreed to the punishment that was imparted to Allen.
"Now, Minerva, why don't you tell us about your first encounter with Mr Lionheart at the orphanage? Anything that seemed to be amiss?"
McGonagall went on to tell Albus about how Allen reacted to magic and how he decided to go alone to Diagon Alley, something that surprised her, but still decided to let him do, since he would need to do it alone the next couple of years.
Albus just nodded along, listening to her interaction with Allen and while it reminded him of Tom, he still thought that they were fundamentally different, after all, Tom never made a real friend, and it seemed that Allen already had two good friends, remembering back at the sorting how they cared for him.