Chapter 9

[A/N : This is the start of the cringey chapters (9-17) with 14 being particularly bad. I hope you are able to get past these so we can get to the fun part. (ch 18 onwards)]

We were admiring the view when a gruff voice reached our ears, "First years, over here. All first years, gather over here."

We followed the crowd of first years and I found myself facing Hagrid, the giant. He seemed even bigger in person as he ushered the first years on the boats. We quickly grabbed a boat for ourselves and settled ourselves in as comfortably as possible.

"That guy is one big dude, eh?" I casually remarked, to Harry and Neville sniggering while Hermione shot me a reproachful look.

"What? I am just stating the truth. People seem to have a problem with honesty here it seems." I mumble the last part, but loud enough to let the others hear, and Granger the uptight teacher's pet shakes her head as if she is helpless.

"Well, enough chitchat. This boat is very interesting though, isn't it?" Hermione agreed and we proceeded to formulate theories about the self propelling boats, with Harry and Neville chipping in, though The Boy-Who-Lived is woefully uneducated about magic.

Our conversation automatically died down by the sheer presence of Hogwarts. It's beauty and aura was enough to astonish us, and revel in it's glory.

We kept on admiring it as we walked towards the entrance to The Great Hall, where McGonagall was waiting to spout her "House is A Family" speech. I was surprised that Draco Malfoy still hadn't graced us with his presence and that Ron Weasley hadn't yet gotten into a fight with him. Hmm... interesting, the canon has changed a bit.

After McGonagall finished her long winded speech about the House Cup and 'House is Family', we entered the Great Hall, where Hermione started speaking stuff from Hogwarts: A History. I ignored her ramblings and instead focused on the wizened old hat, which was going to sort us into houses based on... something that I didn't know.

We were soon told to stand in a proper queue and then McGonagall spoke out the names of the students who went and placed an 800-year old ancient artefact on their head, which then sorted them into one of the four houses.

"Abbot, Hannah"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Acadia, Ben"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Arrington, Matthew"

I had always wanted to become famous, and I had been planning on taking the first step from the sorting ceremony. I had made many plans but at that instant, I just went with the flow.

On hearing my name called I sprinted towards the stool and then did a cartwheel, using the momentum of which launched myself up in the air, did a backflip and while upside down in the air, I took the hat from McGonagall's hand, threw it in the air as I landed in front of the stool and then as soon as I sat on the stool, the Sorting Hat landed on my head.

My acrobatic maneuvers made everyone stunned in the Hall, a silence which was broken up a voice saying, "That was wicked cool!" and a few more voices joining in and it escalated into a thunderous applause by the entire Hall, some of the Slytherins were clapping too. Before the teachers or the headmaster could do anything, the noise abruptly stopped, as people had noticed the Sorting Hat open it's..mouth? It proceeded to bellow out -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I walked towards the Gryffindor table and took a seat besides the twins, Fred and George Weasley, who had started waving at me as soon as I got sorted. After a few excited cheers and praises about my earlier 'act', all (note: a few) of us started to pay attention to the sorting, with the occassional whispers and chats.

McGonagall gave me a stern glare and cleared her throat before continuing the sorting ceremony. I didn't bother to hear the ensuing names as I was pondering on my sorting. I didn't know I was brave or bold, I had never found any such behaviour in me. But I suppose recklessness is also enough to get you sorted into Gryffindor or it may just be fate. My ruminations were interrupted when a name of importance made itself heard to my ears.

"Granger, Hermione!"

I sat up straighter in my seat as I was looking forward to see where one of the main characters was about to be sorted.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Hmm. I suppose she is more suited to Ravenclaw but I don't feel good about these changes. The canon knowledge might not be the gospel I thought it was, and this was disturbing to think of.

Well, just because I was in Gryffindor didn't mean I couldn't pull off a Ravenclaw and hole myself in the library, so perhaps Hermione will also somehow get involved with Harry...

My musings were suspended when I heard "Malfoy, Draco!" And to my utter relief, he was sorted into Slytherin. At least, a few things remained unchanged. Though I doubt Malfoy would be sorted anywhere else.

When McGonagall finally said the words everyone was waiting for, the chatter in the Hall came to an abrupt halt. All eyes turned to the skinny lad with the glasses who was trudging towards the stool.

The sorting hat took it's time sorting out the Boy-Who-Lived, and when it finally announced it's verdict, the tension that had settled in the Hall blasted out in a chorus of cheers and applause and I could see Dumbledore imperceptibly give a sigh of relief.

Harry joined me at the Gryffindor table where the Weasleys surrounded him, as well as the rest of the table. He wasn't as taciturn as I thought he would be and he chatted with quite a few people.

There were a few people still left and they were quickly sorted with the last being "Zabini, Blaise!" who was sorted into Slytherin. The chatting stopped when Dumbledore stood up and addressed us, "There's a time to talk and it isn't now. Tuck in!" With that last remark, food quickly appeared on the tables and people devoured them. There were all sorts of incredible delicacies here, even if some of them were a little too.... exotic for my tastes.

After the people devoured their meals, Dumbledore once again called for silence.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before you leave for your dormitories for a well-deserved rest, I have a few start-of-term notices to give. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, also asks me to remind you all, for what he assures me is the 502nd time, that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors, and there are 445 other products banned, the list of which you'll find on the board near Mr. Filch's office. And lastly, access to the third floor corridor on the right hand side is prohibited for anyone who doesn't want to die a gruesome death. Disperse!"

Well, glad to see nothing important has changed. The Philosopher's Stone still existed in Hogwarts which meant that the troll would also be released by Quirell, though that possibility still remained just that, it wasn't a surefire thing.

As we were led by the prefects through the confusing mess that is Hogwarts, I started to go through things I wanted to do, in orders of priority.

1) Exploit the Room of Requirements for training and knowledge and find out its limits

2) Turn my ideas into actual spells, especially the Integrator (I had a lot of ideas but until they actually have any practical value, ideas would be useless so this one would be almost as important as option 1)

3) Map out Hogwarts properly, and possess the Marauder's Map or something similar

4) Make the Library my second home

5) Become famous and well-known

6) Increase relationship with important characters

By now we had stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room, after Percy The Prefect had uttered the password (Caput Draconis) to The Fat Lady, and had gone up to our dorms.

I was actually sharing my dorm with Harry, Dean, Seamus and Neville which was brilliant but it still bothered me that I was replacing Ron Weasley, who I didn't like nor dislike actually. My attitude towards him could be summed up in a word - Indifference.

Anyways, after chatting a bit with my new dormmates, I lay down on the comfy bed while thinking of the things I would like to accomplish, my reincarnation and other heavy stuff, until sleep blissfully took me.

My last thought before dozing off was to send a silent, but serious, thanks to whoever was responsible for my rebirth. It was a great boon, one that I didn't intend on letting go to waste.