FicWad

Chapter 4: Welcome to Hogwarts

"You killed her!"

The accusation echoed across the Great Hall and cut off the mutters and whispers in an instant. Harry halted and stood stock-still as looks of horror came in the direction of him and the girl who had just fainted. For a tiny moment no-one spoke or moved, as the tension leaped up from moderate to dangerous levels. The heavy silence made the air seem to crackle with danger.

Abruptly, the calm broke like a rubber-band stretched too far. A pretty witch with long, black hair suddenly jumped up from the Ravenclaw-table to his left and shrieked: "Stupefy!" Nearly simultaneously, a chubby boy sitting by the Hufflepuff-table to Harry's right shouted: "Expelliarmus!"

Harry reacted instinctively, all higher brain functions swept aside. With an economical twitch of his wrist, the wand that lay concealed in his sleeve fell into his waiting hand.

"Protego!"

The two spells hit the invisible magical barrier, producing nothing but a harmless flash of light. Unfortunately, the sound of incantations being shouted caused a chain reaction among the students. Several panicked witches and wizards from all years jumped up and launched their own hexes, ranging from the mundane stunner to more creative (and painful) curses.

Harry leaped nimbly back, avoiding the bulk of the jets and bolts of light. He shielded himself against a Full Body Bind from a third year, dodged a silver jet of light and let it whistle past his shoulder harmlessly, spun deftly around to block a blasting curse before the incantation was hallway out of the attacker's mouth - and suddenly an oval of golden light formed around him just in time to stop three more stunners, two blasting curses, and at least one impediment jinx.

"STOP!"

The shouted command was one of Absolute Authority. Albus Dumbledore had risen from his seat, wand in hand, and both the twinkle in his eyes and the friendly smile Harry remembered from their last meeting had vanished. Now the ancient wizard's eyes were blazing with such ferocious power he couldn't bear to look into them. The man seemed to radiate magic the way a fire radiated heat.

"Tuck away your wands immediately," Dumbledore ordered sternly. "There will be no more unprovoked attacks upon fellow students in this Hall."

Every wand vanished from sight even before Dumbledore finished speaking. Harry found to his surprise that his own wand had somehow made its way back into his sleeve.

The golden shield surrounding Harry disappeared. "Professor Flitwick, would you please check on Ms Rawson?"

The smallest man Harry had ever seen was already running down the Great Hall. He came to a halt in front of the girl who had fainted and used a spell to revive her. "There you go," he said soothingly to the confused girl, helping her back to her seat. "You just fainted. No harm done."

Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. As much as I don't want to spoil the Sorting Feast for anyone, I must ask the heads of houses to punish those responsible. I can't condone such an unprovoked attack upon a fellow student."

Four of the teachers nodded grimly, and the black-haired Ravenclaw-girl hung her head in shame. Harry slowly let out a relieved breath. While his heart was still pounding like mad, the adrenaline-level was slowly dropping back to normal.

Beside the Sorting Hat, McGonagall cleared her throat. "Potter, Harry!" she called out again.

Wishing to get it over with as quickly as possible, Harry walked quickly up to the stool and put the Hat on. He clenched his teeth as it fell down in front of his eyes, hiding over a thousand pairs of eyes that stared at him with everything from fear to curiosity. Harry hoped no-one would loose their cool and start hexing him again, now that he couldn't see anything.

"Ah... Harry Potter," a small voice said in his ear. "Boy, have I been waiting for you! Let's see what we have here... you're hardworking and loyal almost to a fault; good, good. Not lacking in intelligence and talent either, my goodness, no! You are cunning and - this is interesting - have thirst to prove yourself. Plenty of courage, too. So... where shall I put you?"

Gryffindor, if you don't mind, Harry thought nervously. That's where Sirius and my parents were.

"Gryffindor? Why not, say... Slytherin?"

Harry blanched at the thought of Sirius reaction upon hearing he had been sorted into Slytherin of all houses. Not Slytherin! he thought desperately.

"But you would do very well in Slytherin," the Sorting Hat insisted. "While you show a distinct lack of ambition beyond proving Sirius Black innocent, the cunning your godfather has unwittingly nurtured through pranks and counter-pranks would serve you well on the path to greatness."

But I don't /want any greatness,/ Harry argued.

"No? What if I put you in Slytherin anyway?"

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. Well, I suppose I'll just have to deal with it, then.

"Hah! That's what I thought you'd say - GRYFFINDOR!"

The Sorting Hat shouted the last word, and a shaken Harry took off the Hat with a gasp of relief. He, however, wasn't the only one who gasped. The entire Great Hall stared at him in dumbfounded disbelief. He rose and walked quickly over to the Gryffindor-table, but there was no applause or warm greeting for him. Dumbledore and a few of the teachers clapped their hands a few times, but it sounded so hollow they quickly stopped. Harry sat down beside Neville. The chubby boy gave him a look that was a mixture of incredulity and fear, and promptly moved further away.

The Sorting continued, although now most of the students were rather watching Harry while whispering among themselves. Harry had to keep himself from fidgeting. He felt like some sort of dangerous freak on display.

By the time Ron was sorted into Gryffindor, however, the students had returned to applauding and welcoming their new house-members. Ron was welcomed warmly and got slaps on his back from the twins. He got some surprised stares, too, when he sat down at the spot Neville had vacated, right beside Harry.

Finally the Sorting ended, and Dumbledore rose from his seat. "Welcome, everyone!" he beamed, like nothing could please him more than to see them all gathered there. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry! Before we begin the banquet, I have but one single thing to say: Willy Wonka is my hero!"

Harry snorted with laughter and wondered where Dumbledore had found Roald Dahl's book. But before he could wonder any more, the table in front of Harry was suddenly filled with roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. Harry grinned and rubbed his hands in anticipation. All the excitement this day had given him a ravenous appetite.

III

"Now that we are full and content," Dumbledore said after the feast, "I have a few words to say before we retreat to our comfortable beds. First, I wish to inform our new first years that the Forbidden Forrest is indeed forbidden for students to enter, unless accompanied by a teacher. A few of our older students would also do well to remember that." His eyes twinkled merrily in the direction of the Weasley twins, who grinned back cheekily. "Second, this year I must warn you that the third-floor corridor is completely off-limits - unless you wish to suffer an unusually painful death, of course."

Harry and Ron looked questioningly at each other. Ron shrugged.

"Finally," Dumbledore continued, "I wish to remind everyone that the security and well-being of the students of Hogwarts has always been, and will always be, the faculty's first and primary concern."

Harry winced as nearly everyone in the Hall gave him nervous glances.

Dumbledore's voice became a tad sterner. "However, I hope you understand that unprovoked attacks upon any student in this school will not be tolerated. Tonight I ask that you judge people by what they say or do, not by unsubstantiated rumours.

"That said, I think there's a few warm beds waiting for you. Prefects, please?"

Things got rather chaotic as the Prefects gave themselves a shake and began trying to shepherd students out of the Hall. The students, however, were far too busy discussing Dumbledore's speech to pay attention to them. In the end, Percy had to resort to sending up a shower of red sparks that exploded like fireworks, in order to get the Gryffindor first years in line.

"All right, follow me and I'll take you to the Gryffindor dormitories," Percy called, giving Harry a nervous glance. He had apparently not forgotten how easily Harry had stunned him.

Harry tried to break the tension by giving him a disarming smile. That was apparently a mistake, however, since Percy recoiled and his right hand twitched in the direction of his belt, where he had tucked his wand.

"Oi! Remember what Dumbledore said!" Ron snapped.

Percy gave his brother a long, unreadable look before he turned and began marching out the Great Hall, calling for the first years to follow him.

It was a rather odd procession that made its way toward Gryffindor tower. First went Percy and another Prefect Harry didn't know the name of. Percy kept glancing worriedly at Harry over his shoulder. Next came Harry and Ron with a ten-foot gap behind them and the other first years. Harry was really too tired to care, though. He just wanted to lay down on one of those warm beds Dumbledore had mentioned.

III

When he and Ron finally arrived at their dormitory, however, Harry had to force himself to turn his back on the bed and regard his new dorm-mates. They had been assigned a dormitory along with Neville and two other boys they didn't know. With the exception of Ron, all of them looked rather unhappy with the arrangement.

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly before turning to a boy with sandy hair, who stood with shoulders hunched and looked almost as pale as Neville. A black boy even taller than Ron stood beside him, looking at Harry cautiously.

"I promise not to hex you, if you don't call me dark wizard," Harry tried to joke, striking out a hand. "I'm Harry, and you?"

The boy chuckled nervously and shook Harry's hand. "Seamus Finnigan."

"Dean Thomas," the black boy introduced himself with a smile. Harry guessed he was a Muggleborn who hadn't grown up hearing horror-stories about him and Sirius.

Harry turned to Neville, who gulped and stared back wide-eyed. His right hand was in his pocket, gripping something Harry wagered was his wand. "I don't think I caught your last name?" Harry said lightly.

"Lo-Longbottom," Neville stuttered.

Harry was about to say something to put the boy's fears at rest when something poked at his memory. "You don't happen to be the son of Frank and Alice Longbottom, do you?"

"Yes, I am," Neville said, now with a hint of defiance in his voice, as if he expected Harry to taunt him about the condition of his parents.

"Sirius mentioned that my parents and yours used to be friends," Harry said. He leaned closer and added in a whisper: "And if you are anything like your parents, you'll go through Hogwarts like a storm."

Neville blinked at the unexpected compliment and suddenly stood straighter.

Harry found himself unable to stifle a yawn. "Look guys, I'm knackered. I'll go to bed now, and I guarantee you that you'll all be still alive tomorrow morning."

He couldn't help but notice that only Dean and Ron chuckled as he began changing into his pyjamas.

III

The next morning Seamus and Neville were dressed and out the door before Harry had woken up properly. Ron pulled aside the privacy-curtains and looked blearily at the door. "Blimey. You'd think something bit them."

Harry put on his spectacles and gave him a humourless smile. "Do you think they got any sleep at all last night?"

Ron shrugged. "Their loss. I'll hit the shower. Wait for me, okay?"

Harry nodded and began changing out of his pyjamas as Ron disappeared into the bathroom. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dean finish putting on his school-robes.

"Um, Harry?" Dean said hesitantly.

Harry looked up from rummaging through his trunk. "What?"

Dean shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Look, I don't know what the big deal with you is. Everyone seems to be scared witless of you, but you don't look that dangerous to me."

Harry broke into a lopsided grin. "Glad to hear you think so." He dragged out a fresh Hogwarts-robe from the very bottom of the trunk and began putting it on.

"They said on the train that you killed this evil wizard when you were only one year old, and that you were kidnapped and raised by one of his followers." Dean gave him a nervous look, ad if he wondered if he had said too much.

"Not entirely correct, that last part," Harry said calmly. "I'll tell you what really happened after supper, if you want."

Dean nodded agreeably and vanished out the door.

When Harry and Ron walked down the stairs to the common room a few minutes later, they found a gang of three Gryffindors waiting for them. One of them, a rather big and broad shouldered boy with thick, straw-coloured hair and quite a few pimples, gave Harry a look of utter distaste before moving his eyes to Ron.

"Hey, you! Why are you with him?" he demanded with a scowl. He seemed to be at least two or three years ahead of them.

Ron scowled right back. "With Harry? Why shouldn't I be?"

"And who are you?" Harry added.

"The name's Mike Harper," the boy snarled, then gave Harry an expectant look.

"Can't say I've heard of you," Harry said coolly.

Harry's reply seemed to infuriate Harper. "No? Well, listen closely, then: I have no idea why the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor of all houses, but if you know what's good for you, you'd better leave the real Gryffindors alone," he snarled. "Do you understand me, Potter?"

"I'll make friends wherever I want, thank you," Harry said, glaring at the older boy. "If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with our head of house."

The boy flushed. Whether from anger or the thought of what the strict professor would say to him if he did, Harry couldn't say. His two companions looked uncomfortable. "Don't be a big-mouth with me, Potter. I don't take crap from anyone, particularly not Slytherin filth like you."

"Gryffindor, not Slytherin," Harry corrected calmly. He hoped his face didn't display any of the gnawing doubt he felt in the bottom of his stomach. The Sorting Hat had after all come within a hair of putting him into Slytherin, and had only made him a Gryffindor because Harry asked it to.

"Bollocks! I bet you put some sort of Dark spell on the Hat while everyone was distracted by the girl you made faint," Harper sneered. "No wonder it took so long until you were sorted."

Harry rolled his eyes and was about to explain to the moron exactly how ridiculous that was, when Ron beat him to it. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded hotly. "Did you hear anything at all of what Dumbledore said yesterday?"

Harper gave Ron a glare before turning back to Harry. "Been recruiting followers, already? I've heard rumours that you somehow already got the Weasley-twins."

"Right, whatever," Harry said in a bored voice. "Shall we now pretend that we're scared witless, so that we can get down to breakfast?"

Without waiting for an answer, Harry and Ron climbed out the portrait-hole. Harry half expected Harper to stop them, but he didn't.

"Keep in mind that we'll be watching you," the boy called after them. Harry gave him a sarcastic smile over his shoulder.

"What's his problem?" Ron asked indignantly as the painting of the Fat Lady closed behind them. "Ordering us around like that! That arrogant git wouldn't know a 'real Gryffindor' from a garden-gnome!"

Ron kept ranting all the way to the Great Hall, and Harry had to struggle to keep a pleased smile from his face. Ron's indignation on Harry's behalf was worth a hundred confrontations like that. Sirius had told him to make an effort to make friends his own age, but with his reputation it had come as something of a surprise that Ron came around so quickly.

"What am I hearing?" a familiar voice suddenly said. Harry looked up to find the twins almost skipping toward them. "Did ickle Ronniekins just use words he definitely didn't learn at the Burrow?" Fred continued.

George wiped away an imaginary tear. "Our dear brother is growing up, Fred. It seems like it was only yesterday that he ran crying away from his teddy bear-turned-spider."

"Shut up!" Ron snapped, his ears turning pink. They both sat down at the Gryffindor-table.

"Why, I think he's a bit grumpy, George," Fred said, innocently. "Curious. It's a new year and a new day-"

"-with new pranks and new victims," George finished, sending a rather evil grin at a third year who froze with his fork halfway to his mouth.

"We ran into a bloke who didn't think I should be friends with Ron," Harry started to explain, and told the twins all about the confrontation in the Gryffindor common room.

"Ah, yes," Fred sighed, taking a seat beside them. "Mike Harper. He's in mine and George's year. Most of his family was wiped out by a bunch of desperate Death Eaters, right after you got rid of You-Know-Who for us."

"But what does he have against Harry?" Ron frowned.

Fred exchanged a look with George, who shrugged back. "Well, there are rumours-"

"-that we don't believe in, mind you-" George added.

"-which say that Sirius Black participated in the murder of Mike's family."

Harry gaped at them. "But that's ridiculous!" Harry exclaimed. "There's no way Sirius would have done that!"

"We know, Harry," George said. "But Mike believes it, and he's also convinced you're another Dark Lord in training."

Harry was so stunned he had no idea what to say. Did Mike really believe Harry would become like the monster who murdered his parents?

"It'll blow over," Fred said and patted Harry on his shoulder. "Not many of the students are listening to him."

"Right then," George said cheerfully. "I believe we have a surprise to plan, Fred."

"Too right, oh brother of mine," Fred agreed and got up.

"I sincerely hope not, Mr Weasley," came a voice from behind them. They turned to find McGonagall giving them a stern look through her trademark square spectacles. "I would really hate to take points from Gryffindor this early in the semester."

"But Professor!" George exclaimed in shock. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you just accused us of planning to break the rules."

Fred clutched his heart in mortal pain. "After spending hours thinking up this special surprise for our common friend."

McGonagall's look didn't waver, but Harry could have sworn he saw a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Run along," she said, gesturing with her head. To Harry, she said: "I need a word with you, Mr Potter. Please accompany me to my office."

Something big and heavy settled into the bottom of Harry's stomach, but he obediently got up and followed her out of the Great Hall. Looking over his shoulder, he saw quite a few eyes following them. Ron and the twins with worry, the rest with curiosity. He didn't say a word as McGonagall lead him up a marble staircase and down a hallway, but his mind worked furiously. Had he done anything that warranted punishment? The image of an unconscious Percy Weasley flashed through his mind, and he coughed nervously.

McGonagall gave him a glance over her shoulder, before returning her attention to where they were going. Was stunning a Prefect enough to warrant expulsion? Surely not; many of the pranks the Marauders had pulled at Hogwarts had been far worse. On the other hand, none of the Marauders had ever had Harry's reputation.

His chain of thoughts stopped when stern professor opened the door to her office and motioned for Harry to go inside. Harry bit back a groan when he saw Percy standing stiffly in front of McGonagall's desk.

"Mr Weasley has made me aware of an incident that occurred on the Hogwarts Express," McGonagall said as she brushed past them and seated herself. She folded her hands in front of her. "I would like to hear your version of the event, Mr Potter."

Harry glanced briefly at Percy and sighed. "Well, it was like this; I and Ron Weasley were sitting in our compartment, looking through my photo album when Percy appeared." Percy suddenly shifted nervously, and McGonagall's eyebrows rose. "First he asked for my ticket, which I gave him. Then he told Ron to come with him. Ron refused, saying he preferred to stay with me. Percy insisted, and Ron refused again. At that point Percy accused me of using the Imperious Curse on Ron, and attempted to disarm me. So I stunned him."

McGonagall stared at him for a second, before giving Percy a hard look. "You never said anything about that," she said sharply. "Explain yourself!"

Percy winced. "I didn't think it was important to our discussion, Professor."

"Not important that you accused a first year of using an Unforgivable Curse, and then proceeded to attack him without provocation?" McGonagall snapped. "I think not!"

Turning back to Harry she continued in a somewhat calmer tone, "While illuminating, that was not the incident I referred to. I was speaking of Draco Malfoy who claims he was hexed by you."

Harry blinked and quickly put on a befuddled expression. "Malfoy? That blonde pureblood I saw on the Express? I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about, Professor. I overheard him ranting about purebloods and mud - erm, I'd rather not repeat what he said, but the term was hardly polite."

McGonagall's nostrils flared. "I see. Go on."

"Well, I didn't want to be associated with people like him, so I left. That was the last I saw of him, until the Sorting." Harry shrugged. "I suppose being hexed by evil Harry Potter sounds better than being hexed by a Muggleborn that didn't like his, er, political opinions."

The Professor frowned thoughtfully. "Very well," she said, coming to a decision. "Since it is his word against yours, I will not take further action regarding that specific incident. However," she turned to frown at Percy, whose ears grew red in embarrassment, "I can't have a Prefect attacking a student for pretty much no reason."

"Please, Professor," Harry spoke up. "I understand Percy's reaction, and I harbour no ill feelings for it. If I had a younger brother and I found him sitting with someone with my reputation, I would probably have reacted the same way." That was only half-way true, but he didn't want one of Ron's brothers to resent him just because of the consequences of that one incident.

"You are very mature, for someone so young," McGonagall said, cracking a slight smile. "Nevertheless, Mr Weasley will serve one night in detention with me. Since the semester hadn't officially begun during the incident, Gryffindor will not loose any points, though. And relax; your status as a Prefect will not be revoked."

Percy let out a hiss of relief, before he caught himself. "Yes, Professor."

McGonagall looked at her watch. "Then I suggest you go back to the Great Hall and get some breakfast before classes start."

They left McGonagall's office, Percy walking at a brisk pace. Harry half-ran to catch up. "Hey, Percy," he called and stuck out a hand. "No hard feelings, right? Didn't mean to stun you; when you drew your wand I reacted by instinct."

Percy hesitated briefly, before taking the offered hand. "Alright," he said reluctantly. Suddenly he frowned, and his grip on Harry's hand tightened. "But I know it was you who hexed Malfoy."

"Did I?" Harry said lightly. "If I did, it must have been because he insulted Ron's - and therefore your - family. 'Blood-traitors so poor they can't distinguish Galleons from pig-droppings,' I think the expression was."

Percy looked outraged. "That little...!" He shook Harry's hand vigorously. "Nice to meet you, Harry."

III

Stepping back into the Great Hall noticed Malfoy's expectant expression. You're in for a disappointment, you spoiled ponce, Harry thought smugly. As he walked over to his fellow Gryffindors, his eyes swept over the teacher's table. One of the professors, a nervous-looking fellow wearing a turban of all things, was speaking with a hook-nosed man sitting beside him. Judging how his eyes flickered all over the Great Hall, he didn't particularly enjoy the subject of the conversation. Suddenly he caught sight of Harry and froze in mid-sentence.

Pain lanced through Harry's scar as 'hook-nose' looked up sharply. The man's lips twisted into a snarl of disgust and loathing, as if Harry's mere presence was an intolerable affront to him. Harry rubbed his scar and hurried over to where Ron sat.

"Is everything okay?" Ron asked as Harry slid down beside him. "What did McGonagall want?"

"I just-" He frowned over his shoulder, but the two men were once again deep in a conversation. The one with the turban growing ever twitchier. "Oh, nothing. McGonagall wanted to know what happened to Malfoy, but I managed to wiggle out of it. Just say you never met the bloke if she asks."

Ron nodded and returned to his breakfast. Harry caught sight of a letter lying beside his plate.

"Letter from home already?"

Ron's ears turned a bit red. "Um, yeah." He quickly grabbed the letter and stuffed it into a pocket.

Harry crocked a brow. "Is there something wrong, Ron?"

"No, nothing," Ron said quickly.

Harry crocked his head. "Good thing the Hat didn't sort you into Slytherin," he smirked. "You're a terrible liar."

Ron gave a resigned sigh. "Got a letter from Mum," he admitted reluctantly.

"So?"

"She warned me to... well, to stay as far away from you as possible," Ron said, not meeting Harry's eyes. "She's threatening to take me out of Hogwarts if I have anything to do with you."

Harry felt a little as if his golem had just punched him in the gut. "Oh," he said softly. "I see."

None of the two boys seemed to know quite what to say after that. Harry just picked at his food, having lost all appetite.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Harry," he muttered so quietly only he heard it.

III