- Hogwarts: Side Chamber -
"Welcome children, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Ushering all of the children into the castle, they find themselves passing through an entrance hall so large that an entire house could fit comfortably inside it.
The stone walls were lit with flaming torches that illuminated everything but the ceiling; which was so high up that it couldn't even be seen. Facing the front door that they entered through was a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors of the castle.
As the children follow McGonagall across the worn stone floors, the sound of hundreds of voices could be heard through a pair of tall double doors to their right, revealing where the rest of the student body had gone.
Directing the group into a small, empty chamber off the hall; the children began nervously whispering quietly to each other as they waited for McGonagall to start speaking.
Stepping over to a slightly raised platform, McGonagall speaks up over their conversations. "As I said earlier. Welcome to Hogwarts, the start-of-term banquet will begin shortly. Before you may take your seats, you must first be sorted into your Houses."
"The Sorting will determine which House you will spend the next seven years of your time here at Hogwarts in. You will attend classes with your House, sleep in your House's dormitories, and spend your free time in your House common room."
"There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you House points, and any rule breaking will lose you House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points wins the House Cup."
Glancing at the crowd of children staring up at her, she finishes her speech. "The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a few minutes. You will be standing in front of the entire school, I suggest you all take these last few moments to smarten yourselves up." Her eyes pointedly directing that statement at Neville's cloak fastened under his left ear, and the dirt on Ron's nose.
Finding Harry amongst the crowd, McGonagall spares him a slight smile and a nod before making her way out of the chamber.
Her exit brings a new round of whispers and conversation to the chamber.
"H-How exactly do they sort us into Houses?" Neville's stuttering voice asks aloud.
"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron replied.
That brought a whimper from Neville; who's face had gone an almost sickly pale color at the thought.
All around the chamber, the children wondered back and forth what their test will be. Some thought they would have to showcase the spells they had already learned, others thought they had to fight some form of magical creature.
To his left, Harry could hear Hermione rattling off all of the spells that she'd memorized. 'Memorization is different from Application, Hermione. Just because you know what it will do won't matter if you've never actually done it before.' He recalls as memories of the few spells he learned, failing the first time he cast them, pop into his head.
That was the problem with the Trace. It meant that students who live with non-magicals can't practice any magic until they got to Hogwarts or Diagon Alley. Whereas students who live in magical households can practice as much as they wanted.
Sadly, it was a law passed during the Civil Blood War that was never changed, because the pure-bloods realized quickly that they could use the advantage to ensure their children got the best scores at Hogwarts.
Taking a moment to look down and make sure he was presentable; Harry flattened a small wrinkle in his robes from when he sat in the boat. Reaching under his robe's sleeves, he pulled at his shirts cuffs, making sure they were straight and his collar was decent before fixing the slightly crooked black Hogwarts tie.
Apparently, all of his school ties was spelled to change color to match the House he was sorted into. How that particular spell worked still went over his head.
Moving a hand through his hair, Harry took a moment to enjoy the feeling of his now softer, clean cut hair. After having to use basic soap at the Dursleys, Harry was ecstatic when he finally got to use shampoo for the first time. The spells cast by the barber on the instruments also ensured that his hair wouldn't grow out for several months; at least. Something he was incredibly thankful for, as he was never fond of having long hair.
As Harry checked himself over, the children around him started to panic over what the test would be. Before their panic reached a tipping point, several voices in the back of the group began to scream.
Every head turned to see what had happened, only to gasp in shock.
Appearing through the back wall of the chamber was about twenty ghosts; their bodies pearly-white and slightly transparent. All of them were dressed in vastly different clothing styles that dated across centuries.
Curiously, some of the ghosts appeared to be arguing with each other. A fat little monk was heard saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance- ".
His statement was quickly interrupted by another ghost wearing tights and a ruff. "My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name, and he's not even a ghost! We shoul- I say, what are you all doing here?" The ghost paused in his conversation, suddenly noticing all of the first years.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"
A few children nodded mutely in response, still not believing they were seeing real ghosts.
"Hope to see you all in Hufflepuff!" cheered the Fat Friar. "My old House you know."
Before he could continue, a sharp voice rang out.
"Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin." said McGonagall, having just returned from the Great Hall.
With a last wave to the students, the ghosts floated out of the chamber through the opposite wall they entered from.
Waiting for the last ghost to leave, McGonagall waited until she had everyone's attention. "Now, form a line and follow me."
Quickly getting into line, the children walked out of the chamber and back into the hallway. Reaching a pair of double doors, McGonagall pushed them open before leading them into the Great Hall.
- Hogwarts: Great Hall -
Once inside the Great Hall, Harry got his first look at the massive room.
Thousands of candles floated in the air; hovering over four long tables that dominated most of the room. Above each table hung flags of different colors, bearing the color and symbol of a particular House. At the tables, students sat amongst their Housemates chattering away as they watched the first years walk into the Hall; their tables lined with glittering golden plates and goblets.
Looking up, Harry marveled at the velvety black ceiling dotted with stars; a perfect replica of the sky.
Returning his attention to the hall, Harry noticed where McGonagall was taking them.
At the front of the room, a similar long table sat on a raised platform overlooking the other tables. The table was filled with teachers sitting on one side it, facing the students. In front of it sat a wooden stool.
McGonagall quickly led the first years up to the front of the hall where the four-legged stool sat, before placing a pointed wizard's hat on top of it.
Everyone stared at the hat, watching as a rip near the brim opened up into what vaguely resembled a mouth. Suddenly, the hat began to sing:
"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."
Harry had to cover his ears for a moment at the horrible voice coming from the hat. It was like nails on a chalkboard, and had him cringing at every word. Slowly taking his hands off his ears, he was relieved to hear the hat finishing the song.
"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 the Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished it's song. Harry reluctantly clapped along; though not at the singing, but at it finally being over.
As the applause died down, McGonagall stepped forward holding a long scroll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." Looking at the first name on the list, she calls out. "Abbott, Hannah!"
For the next several minutes, Harry watched as students were sorted into different Houses. Draco and his two buddies were all sorted into Slytherin together. Hermione, Neville, and Ron all got sorted into Gryffindor.
'Good! Looks like everyone was at least sorted into the same Houses as in the storybooks. The last thing I need is to figure out what effects having them sorted into different Houses would cause.'
Finally, he heard his name called out by McGonagall. "Potter, Harry!"
As he stepped forward, whispers broke out all over the hall.
"Did she say Potter?"
"The Harry Potter?"
Ignoring the whispers as best he could, Harry calmly sat down on the stool and placed the hat on his head. For a moment, Harry worried that the hat could see his memories of Death. 'Aww crap. *Sigh* Not like I can do anything about it now."
Suddenly, a small voice spoke in his ear. "Hmm. Another student..."
Realizing the Hat was talking, Harry tried to focus it's attention on what House he wanted. 'Ravenclaw! Please let it be Ravenclaw!'
"Ravenclaw, eh? Yeeees, you do seem to have a knack for learning. Odd, that…You never had the desire to learn before you found out about magic…how strange."
That gave him a moment of relief. If the hat could see his memories with Death, it would have known he liked to learn even before coming to this world. Spending your life in bed can make you desperate to learn any new thing if it meant passing the time.
"What about Slytherin, hmm? You could be great you know…and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness!"
'OH HELL NO!' He would sooner try and set the hat on fire before going into Slytherin. If he wasn't killed in the first week, he'd be proclaimed as an up-and-coming Dark Lord by his second year.
"Oh, very well. Had to at least pretend you could have gone anywhere else. No…I think we can expect great things from you in RAVENCLAW!"
Harry heard the last word shouted out loud for the whole hall to hear.
At the shout, the table under the blue and bronze banners exploded into cheers while the table of red and gold looked confused. "We didn't get Potter?"
As Harry placed the hat back on the stool before making his way over to the table, he spotted McGonagall smiling at him. Though, he couldn't help noticing the slight disappointment in her eyes at not having him in her house.
As Harry made his way down the table, he spotted Cho and Marietta waving him over. Reaching them, the girls quickly made room for him to sit down.
Looking around the table, he noticed that was seated next to Cho on his left, Marietta facing him on the other side of the table, and on his right was Penelope Clearwater. All of whom were smiling at him as Cho pulled him into a friendly one-armed side hug.
As they turned back to watch the rest of the Sorting, Harry made sure to keep his focus on the stool and McGonagall. His earlier scare with the Hat reminding him that his mind was vulnerable to reading if he looked into someone's eyes.
Knowing that at least Snape and Dumbledore could look into his mind, Harry made sure to never look directly at any of the teachers. 'I think it's time I speak to Death and see about getting the Horcrux in my scar removed. She DID say that she would give me a gift in return for each soul fragment. Maybe I can ask her for something to help with that?'
With that, Harry noticed the last of the first years, Blaise Zabini, being sorted into Slytherin.
As McGonagall rolled up the scroll, taking the Sorting Hat and stool away; Dumbledore slowly got to his feet. Spreading his arms out wide, his face in a beaming smile, the Headmaster welcomed everyone.
As he did so, Harry made sure to keep his eyes focused on the table and not him.
"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before we begin, I would like to say a few words…Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
"Thank you!" As he sat back down, everyone clapped and cheered.
Utterly confused that Dumbledore actually said that like he did in the storybooks, Harry turned to Cho. Seeing his incredulous look, Cho burst out into laughter.
Eventually, she calmed down enough to respond. "It's best not to think about it, Harry. Most powerful witches and wizards are extremely odd, but no one is suicidal enough to say anything. It's best to just go along with it."
From across the table, Harry heard Marietta speak up. "It's better than that joke he tried to tell last year at least." As she shuddered, Penelope refuted it saying. "It wasn't that bad Mary."
As Cho, Marietta, and Penelope argued over last year's joke, everyone started grabbing from the food that appeared on the table.
The sheer amount of food piled onto a single plate alone would have made the Dursleys drool.
Eventually settling on a mixed plate of chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad, Harry made small talk with some of the other first years.
It seemed that only three other boys were sorted into Ravenclaw; Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstein. They were outnumber by the girls who had five new members; Mandy Brocklehurst, Su Li, Isobel MacDougal, Padma Patil, and Lisa Turpin.
Thankfully, they all seemed to be fairly nice people.
At least, no one was going around throwing insults and calling others mud-bloods. So that put them above Slytherin.
- Timeskip: End of Feast -
As the food disappeared from the table, Harry and the other first years listened as Penelope started talking to them. "When they dismiss us, I'll be leading all of you to the Ravenclaw Common Room for the first time. Tomorrow morning, I'll also be leading you back to the Great Hall before showing you all where your classes will be. Be warned, after the first week, you'll be expected to find your way to class without me. So make sure you pay attention to how I get you there."
After finishing her piece, Penelope quiets them all down with a finger to her lips before pointing towards the staff table where Dumbledore was once again rising to his feet.
As the hall fell silent, Dumbledore began. "Ahem. Just a few more words, now that we're all fed and watered."
'Did he just call us animals? Rude.'
"I have a few start-of-term notices for you all. First years should note, that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. Something a few of our older students would do well to remember." At that, Dumbledore not-so-subtly glanced at the Gryffindor table where the red-headed twins made terrible attempts at looking innocent, before giving up and laughing out loud.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Also, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should speak with Madam Hooch."
Marietta looked at Cho before asking, "Are you going to be trying out this year, Cho?"
Nodding her head, Cho replied. "Yeah, I figure with the seeker graduating last year, I've got a pretty good chance."
Turning to Cho, Harry asks. "You're going to try out for the Quidditch team?"
Before Cho could respond, Marietta spoke up for her. "Oh yeah, Cho here is a huge Quidditch fan! You should have seen her when she found out that first years couldn't bring their own brooms, she was pouting for weeks!"
"I was not!" Blushing, Cho tried to sputter out a rebuttal.
Before they could continue, Dumbledore made one last announcement; silencing their conversation. "And finally, I must tell you all that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."
As everyone nodded their heads grimly, Harry couldn't help asking, "Okay, what?"
There is no way that a teacher would tell a school full of children, 'Hey, please ignore the Murder Corridor!' and they all just go, 'Yeah, okay!'
Nudging Cho, he asks, "He's not serious, is he?"
Unfortunately, Cho nods her head. "He is."
Frowning, Penelope speaks up as she glances at Dumbledore. "It's weird though, he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere. After all, the forest alone is full of dangerous beasts! But Prefects are usually warned about this sort of thing ahead of time; yet this is the first I'm hearing about it."
As they all frowned at that, Dumbledore continues on. "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"
'Please don't…'
Harry's desperate plea goes unanswered as everyone stands up. Cho, Marietta, and even Penelope let out groans at having to sing.
As a long, golden ribbon flies out of Dumbledore's wand to float high above the tables, Harry inwardly pleads to every deity he can think of to get him out of this. Even pleading to Death to get him out of it only resulted in a feeling of amusement being sent his way.
Apparently, Death has a sense of humor. Great.
What followed was a butchering of the very concept of music itself. Everyone finished the song at different times, with the Weasley twins taking the longest singing their slow funeral march. All the while, the madman behind it all conducted their singing with a smile on his face.
'It's official. He's crazy.'
Wiping a fake tear from his eye, Dumbledore says, "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime."
"Off you trot!"
At the dismissal, Penelope has the first years wait for everyone else to leave the Great Hall.
Cho and Marietta wave goodbye to him, saying they'll see him soon before leaving with everyone else. Finally, the Hall had mostly cleared of students before she began leading them toward the stairs.
Several flights of stairs later, they end up on the fifth-floor before making their way to one of the three towers that Hogwarts has. Reaching the tower, they had to climb a spiral staircase up to an entrance that overlooks a courtyard.
By the time they had reached the entrance, all of the first years were red-faced and huffing.
Harry was already regretting his decision to join Ravenclaw. 'And we have to climb those steps multiple times a day!' Signing, he reluctantly admitted, 'At least I'll get a workout from it.'
Waiting for everyone to catch their breath, Penelope turns their attention to door with a bronze eagle-shaped door knocker.
Reaching out her hand, Penelope knocks on the door.
At the knock, the eagle opens it's beak to start talking. "What can travel around the world, while staying in a corner?"
Turning back to the first years, Penelope explains. "In order to get into the common room, you must be able to answer a riddle. The other Houses use passwords to get into theirs, but we here in Ravenclaw prefer to keep our minds sharp with riddles. Can anyone guess what the answer is?"
"A stamp." From the crowd, an incredibly small Asian girl; who Harry remembers is named Su Li, answers.
At her response, the door to the Common Room swung open.
Beaming at Su Li, Penelope praises her. "Well done!"
Harry notices Su Li blushing at the praise, her posture turning shy as everyone congratulated her before they all step through the door.
- Hogwarts: Ravenclaw Tower -
The Ravenclaw Common Room was actually one of the airiest rooms at Hogwarts.
It was a wide, circular room with arched windows that had blue and bronze silk drapes. The carpet was midnight blue, decorated in stars that were reflected on the domed ceiling. "There's the same enchantment on the ceiling as the one in the Great Hall." Penelope mentions.
The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall marble statue of a beautiful woman dressed in robes.
"That's Rowena Ravenclaw, our House's founder." Penelope says. "Well…Welcome everyone, to Ravenclaw. This is our common room, where you'll be spending a lot of your free time studying if you'd rather not study in the Library."
Pointing towards the bookcases, she mentions. "Our common room is different from the others, in that we have our own little library. It's not as big as the school's Library, but it has more than enough books covering every topic here at Hogwarts."
"With that said, you will find the dormitories through the doorway next to the statue. The first year's are on the first floor, and each year you will move up a floor until you reach the top floor in your seventh year. The girls dormitories are the bronze doors, and the boys dormitories are the blue doors."
Staring at the first years, Penelope's face becomes strict as she continues. "You can come and go as you please between the dormitories, but we ask that you all keep a level of decorum and quiet while you are up there. The fifth and seventh year students are going through their Exams, and we ask that you respect their need to study in peace."
That was certainly different than Gryffindor. 'No alarm that keeps the boys out of the girls room? I guess that makes sense…Ravenclaws would care more about keeping it quiet then they would about who's room your in.'
"You will find your stuff has already been brought up to your rooms. I suggest you all get to bed early tonight; the first few days of classes are always the roughest."
Waving her hand at them, Penelope finishes her speech. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask them tomorrow at breakfast. Otherwise, I'll see you all in the morning."
- Timeskip: Midnight -
Waiting until midnight, Harry quietly made his way out of the tower before creeping towards the seventh floor.
As he did, he kept an eye out for any professors or the caretaker. Luckily, he was able to find the tapestry of a wizard attempting to teach trolls to dance without being spotted.
Recalling what he had to do, Harry paced quickly back and forth three times as he thought, 'I need the Room of Hidden Things. I need the Room of Hidden Things. I need the Room of Hidden Things.'
After his third pass in front of the wall, a door appeared.
Looking around, Harry quickly snuck into the room before quietly shutting the door behind him.
As he did, the door slowly disappeared from the wall.
- Room of Requirement -
The Room of Hidden Things was a massive chamber filled to the ceiling with items lost or left behind over the years at Hogwarts.
Taking a breath, Harry prepared himself before calling out loud.
"Death?"
In an instant, a tear appears in front of him; opening into a familiar portal as Death silently steps through.
Taking in the floor-length black robes and wide hood shadowing the top of her face, Harry feels his lips stretch into a warm smile. His time together with Death had been short, but undoubtably memorable. And for a moment his mind turns back to their shared kisses, the lingering memory of her lips on his causing his cheeks to flair a slight red.
As she steps out of the portal, Death sees his blush and laughs softly. Not commenting on it, she instead smiles at him before stating. "I was wondering when you were going to call me, Hero."
Sheepishly raising his hand up to scratch the back of his head, Harry chuckles. "Heh, yeah. Sorry about that. I was gonna call out to you once I got settled in the Leaky Cauldron, but…I kind of got distracted."
Stepping closer to him, Death brings her hand up to cup his cheek. The touch unconsciously has Harry slightly leaning into her touch, feeling just as soft as it was before. "You do not have to apologize, Hero. You were only 18 years old when I brought you to this world, I expected you would make some mistakes." Releasing his cheek, Harry pushes down the desire to ask her not to.
Shaking off the thought, he replies, "Still…I shoul-"
Before he could finish, Death silences him with a finger on his lips. "Shhh…It's alright. As long as you try to learn from your mistakes, I will be happy."
Reluctantly nodding, Harry turns the conversation to why he called her. "Now that we have a moment, could you take care of the Horcrux in my scar?"
Instead of responding, Death reaches up to place her finger on his forehead. A chilling black energy coats the digit as she presses it against the scar.
Suddenly, Harry feels as if a massive pressure in his head has lifted. The cooling touch of Death's energy keeping any pain from flaring up as the soul fragment is removed.
Blinking his eyes, Harry realizes that his vision is incredibly blurry. Taking off his glasses, his vision quickly clears as he looks around the room.
Apparently, the horcrux was the reason for him needing glasses, and with it gone he could finally see properly.
Looking into the shadows of Death's hood, Harry smiles brightly at her. "Thanks Death. It feels like a pressure I didn't even know was there is finally gone, and now I can see clearly." Looking down at the glasses in his hands, Harry frowns. "Though now that it's gone, I guess these are useless."
"Not exactly." Reaching out a pale hand, Death gently takes the glasses from him. "I promised you a gift, didn't I?"
Watching on, Harry sees the same chilling black energy coating the glasses. Finished, Death hands them back to him. "I heard your thoughts earlier. So long as you wear these glasses, no one shall be able to gain access your mind."
Speechless, Harry puts his glasses back on. Finding that they are no longer blurry, Harry reaches out to pull her into a hug. "Thanks, Death."
Smiling, Death hugs him back gently. "You're most welcome, Hero."
Letting go of their hug, they step back. With a start, Harry remembers why he chose where they met in the first place. "Hey Death, there's supposed to be another horcrux in here. Any chance you can help me find it?"
Smirking, Death raises her hand before snaping her fingers. A black trail of energy appears at their feet, leading out into the maze of items stacked on top of each other.
Gesturing with her hand, Death motions Harry to follow it.
Quickly weaving his way through the mountains of junk, Harry finally reaches the end of the trail. Looking up, he spots the diadem resting on a bust sitting on top of a broken cabinet.
Climbing up, he grabs the bust, making sure not to touch the diadem itself. Taking a second, Harry pushes the cabinet over. As it hits the ground, the broken cabinet crashes into pieces. 'And that solves that issue. You're welcome, Dumbledore.'
Making his way back to Death, he gently places the bust down in front of her.
Stepping back, Harry watches as she lifts the diadem before coating it with her energy. Once again finished, she hands it back to him. "Another fragment destroyed. You may do with this item as you wish."
Holding out her hand, Death continues, "And for your reward…" Once again the chilling black energy makes an appearance; molding itself into what looks to be a phial.
Soon, the energy fades away, revealing it to actually be a phial as she hands it over to him.
Looking into the clear phial with an unnatural black liquid sloshing around inside, Harry looks back at Death questioning, "What is it?"
"That, is a liquid that will fix the damage done to your body." Motioning to the phial, she continues. "Drink it, and over the next few days make sure to eat as much food as you can. Your body will repair itself slowly over the coming weeks, and the food will provide the necessary energy your body requires. This way, your body's change will not be as noticeable; and if questioned, you can say that the charges are due to a mixture of early puberty and better diet."
Staring at Death, Harry glances back down at the phial before bringing it up to his lips. Quickly drinking it he finds that it tastes like chilled water.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Harry thanks her. "Thanks Death." Momentarily, he chuckles, "Heh, I seem to be thanking you all the time, don't I?"
Smiling, Death places her hands on his cheeks before drawing him in to a kiss.
As they kiss, Harry realizes something that he hadn't noticed before. 'She tastes like mint.' The thought quickly passes through his mind as the soft kiss continues.
Pulling back, Death replies, "It is I, who should be thanking you, Hero. You have already given me two gifts, and I know that you will succeed in gathering the others."
With that said, Death calls an end to their time. "As much as I wish to stay, I cannot spend any more time here. Call on me again when you have another fragment, and I will have your next gift waiting for you."
"Until then, Hero."
"See you soon, Death."
Waving at her, Harry watches as she steps back through the portal. The portal silently closing behind her.
Turning to the exit, Harry wishes for a door that leads to the Ravenclaw Tower.
Seeing a door appear, he quickly steps through it out onto the quiet landing, right next to the eagle door knocker. "What has an eye, but cannot see?"
Pausing, it takes Harry a moment. "A needle."
As the door swings open, Harry tiredly makes his way up the stairs to his door. Sneaking into the room, he notices that the other three boys are, thankfully, still asleep.
Reaching into his trunk, he places the diadem in one of the smaller compartments of his trunk. Mentally glad he had taken the time to buy a trunk that was slightly bigger on the inside.
Nothing too large like the trunk Alastor Moody had; but it had enough space to fit his clothes, books, and a few items. At most, he could probably fit a broomstick in it as well.
Shutting the trunk and locking it, Harry slowly crawls into bed. Drawing the curtains, he falls asleep before his head touches the pillow.