3 The Sorting Hat

Harry, Stephanie, Archie and Cedric all stood in a small room within Hogwarts waiting to be called into the great hall so they could be sorted. McGonagall had all informed the uninformed about the house system which pretty much is what Harry already knew along with the fact that any actions deemed worthy of reward would earn points for their house and the opposite for actions deemed worthy of punishment. At the end of each year, the points are tallies and a House Cup is awarded to the House that has obtained the most points.

Harry and probably most of the other first years were also able to see their very first ghost as the Slytherin ghost, the Bloody Baron, floated into the room they were waiting in and just glared at them all for a while silently with slightly intimidating eyes. The blood stains on his ghostly white outfit were commented to 'probably' be apple sauce by some naïve girl waiting with them in the room.

"What do you think they'll have us do to get sorted?" asked a nervous Archie, more to Cedric and Stephanie because Harry hadn't seemed like the talking type since they'd met.

"How in the name of Merlin's balls am I supposed to know?" countered a grumpy Stephanie, she didn't like being made to wait.

"It is unbecoming of a lady to use such language Stephanie" Harry piped in, for the first time in their conversation; Archie, expecting his long friend to blow up at the somewhat sexist dig at her, gaped incredulously when she merely blushed while looking away from him and murmured an apology.

Cedric seemed to find the scene amusing as he just offered a chuckle "I asked my father before we boarded the Hogwarts express about how we get sorted, he said that it's a secret and that nobody going to Hogwarts for their first time should know how…"

Harry nodded dismissively, still leaning against the wall and looking off into space. The other three just assumed he wasn't really paying attention, but in truth, to pass the time, Harry was practising clearing his mind for his Occlumency lessons to pass the time.

Archie frowned in thought "What if we have to fight a dragon? Yeah, I bet that's it…and depending on how we go about it, they decide on what house we belong to…if we defeat it in fair combat, we go into Gryffindor, if we outwit it, we go into Ravenclaw, if we befriend it, we go into Hufflepuff and if we use our cunning to strike it down from the shadows, we go to Slytherin!" Archie exclaimed, thinking he was the most brilliant man in the world for deducing such a cunning theory.

Some of the other first years who overheard his theory were looking pale and more frightened then ever at his theory while Stephanie was glaring daggers at him and Cedric trying to suppress a laugh.

"You are the biggest moron if have ever had the displeasure of meeting!" shrieked Stephanie "he has no idea what he's talking about, they won't make us fight a dragon" Stephanie said to the others in hearing range, trying to calm them down somewhat.

"You have a better idea then?!" Archie challenged, his pride hurt at being shot down so easily.

"Yes" Stephanie provided "They assess our personalities with some magical object and judging by the assessment, they place us into a house that would suit us best" she offered and Harry had to admit, as he overheard, that it seemed like a well thought out and reasonable guess…maybe too well thought out and reasonable. Harry looked her directly in the eyes after she was done and noticed with satisfaction that she looked a little nervous and embarrassed under his gaze. He found it funny.

"As if it would be that simple Stephanie" Archie countered, looking as pompous as you would expect a pureblood politician would be "I still say my theory is better."

"Well, that's why you're a moron" she countered eloquently before looking at Harry and blushing again in embarrassment causing Harry to smirk again amidst her apologies.

Cedric looked between the two with a puzzled expression "You two fight like an old married couple…"

Harry had to stiffly a snort of amusement when his statement got an immediate reaction.

"Really?" asked the now dreamy and love struck Archie with hearts in his eyes "You really mean it? See Stephy-wephy, we were meant to be together!" he cooed, lunging at her to engulf her in a hug…

…which she promptly sidestepped, allowing Archie to fly head first into the large brimstone brick looking wall. Harry winced in sympathy; he knew how much that could hurt.

Cedric chuckled merrily when Stephanie just glared at the prone form of Archie on the floor "Will you stop with the stupid names and trying to molest me every three minutes?!" she kicked the down boy in the ribs for good measure.

Miraculously though, Archie was up without a visible wound on his person "Molest my beautiful Stephy-princess?!" he hissed in rage "Who dare would do such a thing to one so pure, so beautiful, so infallible, so…so…Stephy-poo!"

Stephanie flushed in embarrassment when Archie's tirade got the attention of more then a few of the people around them as she tried and failed to hide her presence behind Harry and Cedric with a desperate plea to hide her.

Harry and Cedric momentarily stopped what they were doing when they noticed Archie accosting a random boy near them.

"Were you the one trying to molest my Stephy-bear? Because if you were, I'm going to shove a wand so far up your…"

"Mister Montague!"

Every first year's attention was sent to the now open door when Professor McGonagall was standing in front of and glaring at the boy who had the scruff of another first year's shirt in his hands.

"What is it you think you're doing? I'd take points away from your house if you were sorted already!"

"He was trying to mo…"

"It was a misunderstanding on Archades's part" Harry interrupted before he could finish the sentence "something about Archades's feeling someone touch his behind, don't try and understand him professor, I find it only to bring on a headache" he offered, trying to save the boy from saying something he would regret.

Seemingly deflating, McGonagall glared one last time at Archades who let go of the boy and chuckled nervously with a quick apology.

"If you would all follow me into the great hall for your sorting" she said "you will wait at the back of the hall until your name is called so we can have you sit on the stool and place the sorting hat on your head" she offered as Harry watched the lack of surprise on Stephanie's face with amusement.

As they were walking into the hall, Harry grabbed Stephanie by her elbow to slow her down "Who told you about how we get sorted Stephanie?" he asked with an amused smirk as he watched her avert her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she mumbled under her breath nervously as Harry watched her try to deny it with amusement.

They both entered the great hall behind the rest of the pack, a little surprised that the ever clingy Archie hadn't found and re-stitched himself to Stephanie's side.

The great hall as massive with a ceiling charmed to show the night sky instead of a painted ceiling. There were four long tables placed vertically along the hall with a large and elevated horizontally placed table that the teachers were sitting on looking down at the first years at the opposite end of the hall. The other four tabled seemed littered in seas of green, yellow, red and blue showing clearly that each house sat separately at one of the four tables. The hall itself was illuminated by several lit candles spelled to float independently that all shone their light onto the students and teachers below like stars in the night sky.

Harry finished his observations and looked to the other first years, who, seemed to all be in shock and awe by the hall and its decorations. Looking up at the head table, Harry noticed several recognizable figures; one of those was the giant of a man Hagrid that had picked them up from the train station at Hogsmeade. Another recognizable figure was the very short elderly wizard recognizable from a lot of his Charms books as Filius Flitwick. The man was somewhat of an idle for him, being a former duelling champion and one of the world's most renown charms masters. However, probably one of the most recognizable figures seated at the head table looking down upon everyone in the hall from the headmaster's chair was Albus Dumbledore; the man looked to be the very picture of what one would expect Merlin to look like with long silver hair with a matching silver bear. He also seemed to favour bright and eccentric clothing, especially if the light blue shiny silk robe covering his purple undergarments was anything to go by.

Professor McGonagall walked through another door into the great hall holding an old looking brown wizards hat and a rickety looking stool, both of which were placed at the head of the hall – the hat on the stool – before she pulled out a rolled up scroll form her sleeve.

Harry was slightly surprised when there was a slight coughing noise coming form the hat, as if it were clearing its throat, before the creases in the material contorted to that of a face of sorts. Harry learned to take everything in the Wizarding world with a grain of salt, it was much easier that way so he wouldn't constantly be getting surprised by things other people would deem normal, but even a singing hat was fairly weird for the Wizarding world.

Oh you may not think me 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 theHogwarts 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 inGryffindor,

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!

Everyone in the hall applauded politely at the conclusion of the song. Harry looked over to Stephanie who was standing beside him with a raised eyebrow, his question clearly on his face. A little guilty, Stephanie gave a small smile before slipping her face back under a mask of neutrality.

"My father told me that the sorting hat looks through our minds to determine which of the four house's qualities we mostly possess and sorts us into that house…also that hat comes up with a new song every year at the opening feast" she explained, quietly so only the two of them could hear.

Harry nodded dismissively, that information didn't really interest him, what interested him more was the information that the Zabini lord was in a position to release such secrets that he knew were under secrecy oaths without a worry in the world for any sort of reprimanding that he may receive.

"Asmoedius, Gareth" called out McGonagall from the now unrolled sheet of parchment. A boy with light brown hair and grey eyes scurried forward as everyone in the hall had his eyes set on him. McGonagall with a thin lipped smile motioned him towards the chair where he sat down and placed the overly large hat on his head, allowing it to engulf his head whole. There were several moments of silence before the hat spoke up for the hall to hear.

"Hufflepuff!" the table that was the second from the right erupted with cheers as the boy's robes magically changed to match the Hufflepuff colours of black and yellow. The boy scurried over to the table and took a seat with his fellow housemates while McGonagall called forth the next person.

"Diggory, Cedric" McGonagall eventually called, catching Harry's attention, the boy seemed alright and he seemed to have already made friends with Archades and Stephanie, so he listened in.

"Hufflepuff!" Cedric took the hat off and blushed in embarrassment when the hall cheered for him before moving over to his table and sitting beside Gary, the first boy sorted.

Harry zoned out as he looked around the hall some more, taking in the details of the still foreign room. Just as he was wondering how hungry he was, another familiar name was called out.

"Montague, Archades" with large, proud steps, Archie strode up to the chair and put the hat on his head, his cheesy grin still in place and could be seen from under the rim of the hat. Harry watched the boy's facial expressions intently when he noticed the grin slip only to be replaced by his lips thinning, a look that almost looked out of place on the boy's features. After a long while, the longest yet out of all the students, the hat made its decision.

"Ravenclaw!" Stephanie looked particularly dumbstruck, Ravenclaw, the house of the witty and intelligent was the house her buffoon of a friend was sorted into? Maybe the hat was on drugs…

"Potter, Harry" McGonagall called out as Harry walked down the isle between the two tables and took his seat on the stool before McGonagall placed the sorting hat on his head.

Hmm, a good mind, very good; and you seem to be trying to block me out with Occlumency…I'm afraid that won't work.

Harry was shocked to hear a voice inside his head, and almost on instinct, he emptied his mind of all thoughts just as he was taught to do, though the hat seemed to still be able to read him.

'What do you mean it won't work? You can actually read my mind?' Harry asked with shock, he didn't think a mind could actually be read.

You may have the rudimentary skills of Occlumency down, Mr. Potter, but the more advanced practitioners of Occlumency can halt any foreign influence affecting the body or completely block someone from entering and controlling their minds, it is a very obscure and useful art, but we aren't here to discuss Occlumency, we're here to get you sorted…

Harry still kept his mind stubbornly clear, not wanting to influence the hat in any way with his stray thoughts.

A noble goal you have, to save one's mother...you hold much guild for her current condition and seek to remedy that by becoming strong enough to cure her…very ambitious of you…very Slytherin…

Hmm…Slytherin would do you well, you would be able to become great, you know… the hat continued to prompt, hoping to get a reaction from Harry.

However…you seem to value knowledge above all else and why your goals may be ambitious, you do not seek power for powers sake…you are also very intelligent and possess a sharp mind…and tongue…very Ravenclaw of you…where to sort you I wonder?

Harry remained silent as the hat sifted through his memories Have you no preference, no say in this matter?

'I'm just here to learn, that is all' Harry replied, finally giving the hat something to feed off of.

A sad day it is that I meet a child who is more interested in his goals then making friends and having fun, like a child should…

Harry was getting mad, how dare this hat presume to know anything about him'I have no right to lead a 'Happy' life when the reason for my well being is currently lying in a Hospital bed indefinitely because of me!' he all but hissed, and he felt the hat leaving his mind, seemingly having made its decision.

It is still sad, Mr. Potter, but seeing as you still, despite your personality or beliefs, hold knowledge and intelligence in the highest regard, better be…

"Ravenclaw!" the hat called to the hall, getting an applause and sighs of relief from most of the hall, Harry's sorting had taken the longest by far and people were extremely hungry. Harry looked down to his robes that still kept their black colour mainly but also gained the blue and bronze colours of Ravenclaw as well as the crest with the eagle on his breast. Taking his seat by his fellow housemates who welcomed him, Harry tuned out Archades who was now talking to him animatedly while people were still getting sorted.

Harry idly heard a few names that he recognized getting sorted after his own; Weasley, Pucey and Rookwood being some examples, but what really caught his attention, or rather, what Archades made him pay attention to was the last student to be sorted.

"Zabini, Stephanie"

Harry watched with amusement as Archades had a confident grin on his face "She'll definitely be a Raven" the boy whispered in his ear "true love conquers all, there is no way that she'll be in any other…"

"Slytherin!"

"NO!"

Harry wanted to laugh, he really did, if not for the fact that the poor boy looked so crushed and Stephanie looked so relieved. However, Archades continued to prove how amusing he was when his despair quickly turned into anger.

"That piece of shit hat planned this!" he said, fuming while sending a withering glare at the old and scrubby looking hat "he told me I would find true love with my Stephy-poo if I went into Ravenclaw!"

Harry shrugged "Maybe you still will, perhaps being in this house will make you mature?" Harry ventured a guess, not wanting to crush the boy's hopes, regardless of how funny it would be.

"I'm plenty mature!" Archie protested, which fell on deaf ears as Harry had stopped listening to him when the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, rose from his seat.

"Welcome students – new and old - to another year of learning magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" he greeted amidst the silence of the hall "Before we begin with the feast…" he trailed off amidst the groans of protests from hungry students "a few quick announcements are in order. As you know, Mrs. Thicknesse can no longer be your Defence professor due to wanting to seek a career within the ministry of magic, so your new Defence against the Dark Arts professor will be Professor Robards, who has served as an Auror for the ministry of magic for the past twenty years – please make him feel welcome."

There was a polite applause for the new professor who stood from his seat a few seats down from Dumbledore. The man had the look of a battle hardened warrior who had survived through a war with his greying hair and muscular features.

"As always, the Forbidden forest is just that; Forbidden, any students caught out of bounds will be given an instant detention with our resident caretaker, Mr. Filch" he commented, motioning to a scraggy and cruel looking man with long dirty hair and a grey cat by his side.

"Aside from that, I don't wish to hold you from your meals much longer, so enjoy!" he announced, and with a clap, the tables were instantly filled with a banquet of food, easily more then every student could eat, appearing before them. The food ranged from chicken, corn, bread, soups, steak, mashed potatoes, peas, all sorts of vegetables and pitches of Pumpkin juice. The sight of all the still steaming dishes almost made Harry drool in delight; he hadn't realized how hungry he was until just then.

Harry piled his plate for as much food as he thought he could eat and dug in while looking around at the other first years that had been placed into Ravenclaw along with him. One of them was a black haired boy by the name of Roger Davis who was currently chatting to one of the first year girls, Rachel Pennysworth, a rather bubbly yet intelligent looking blonde haired girl. Beside the two sat a shy girl who seemed to be just listening in on other's conversations, he remembered her to be Rhona Simmonds, a girl with light brown hair and rosy cheeks. Beside Archades were two other boys Harry couldn't remember the names of as well as Anthony Silvers, who boasted about preferring the name 'Tony'.

Harry shrugged and continued to eat, feeling oddly amused with Archades's current mood as he moped while eating his meal. Harry was just pleased that no one sought to start a conversation with him as they were much too busy chatting amongst themselves; he just wanted to eat dinner in peace.

All too soon, the tables were cleared of all food and any golden cutlery that was left over, signifying the end of the feast, Dumbledore stood once again, to address the entire hall.

"I'm sure you all enjoyed that meal, now if you will, follow your house prefects back to your house common rooms – first years should pay attention to where you're going to avoid getting lost in the future, this castle has a habit of doing that to people" he exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye "Good evening."

Immediately, the students filed out of the hall, Archades with one last look towards 'his love' before they were lead away to the western wing of the castle by the fifth year Ravenclaw prefects. On their way, they passed numerous moving portraits that waved to them politely and left some remarks as they passed – one rather bubbly portrait of a girl and her family winked and giggled at him as he passed, commenting on how cute he was, despite his embarrassment as it just seemed to draw attention to him.

Eventually, they arrived at Ravenclaw tower, which Harry noticed was conveniently close to the library, where they stopped in front of a door with no keyhole or handle, merely a bronze eagle door knocker that seemed to be alive.

"Before you gain entrance, first you must answer me this…" before the eagle door knocker continued, the prefect explained.

"Ravenclaw is a house that values intelligence, creativity, wisdom and wit, to gain entry into your common room you will need to answer a riddle or intellectual question, if you cannot answer, you will not gain entry" explained the boy before the girl spoke up.

"Don't worry, you get used to it" she said with a smile "if you don't get it, ask someone else to help you do it, or even Professor Flitwick, our head of house, if you can't find someone – his office is just down the hall.

The door knocker then felt it was time to pose its question "What is so fragile that when you speak its name you break it?" the bronze eagle knocker asked. Both of the fifth year prefects seemed to know the answer but they turned to the first years, expecting an answer.

"You guys will need to be answering these questions too, if you want to gain entry into your common room, does anybody know?"

There was silence amongst the first years - who looked to be in deep contemplation - taking this as a 'right of passage' kind of test to prove themselves to the older members of their house. Harry, who was just tired and wanted some sleep rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"The answer is silence" he answered from the back of the group. Instantly, the students all turned to look at him with a questioning look in their eyes, but the fifth years just smiled brightly at him.

"You may enter" the door knocker stated before swinging open and allowing them entrance.

Harry pushed passed his first year peers who were still looking at him and got his first glimpse of the Ravenclaw common room. The room could be best described as an "airy" room with many arched windows overlooking the surrounding mountains, all hung with heavy bronze and blue curtains, matching their house colours. The ceiling is domed and painted blue with twinkling stars on it. The floor is also covered by midnight-blue carpet, completing the 'Ravenclaw' look about the place. The room was filled with fat and cushy armchairs that looked quite comfortable to just sit at and read a book. The room also seemed to be circular in shape, showing that it was indeed on the inside of the Ravenclaw tower while there were several stairs leading up to the student dorms. There is a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw beside the entrance to the dorm, one of the Hogwarts four founder and the founder of the Ravenclaw house.

"Wow…" was all Harry could say, in his opinion, the room was perfect. There was even a small library if you wanted a quick read and didn't want to go to the library.

"Wow indeed" the fifth year prefect said from beside him with a grin.

"The first year dorms are up those stairs, girl on the left, boys on the right" he said, motioning to the stairs on the other side of the room "the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh are further up into the corridors and dorms respectively" the prefect said with a smile.

"Try not to disturb the older students by making noise please" she said with a smile "especially the fifth and seventh year students who are studying for their OWLs and NEWTs respectively, it is a very important year for them. If you want to make noise and have fun, you can come down to the common room if no one is studying here or someplace else in the castle" she explained with a smile.

"Also, as Ravenclaw students, we pride ourselves on being the most intelligent and studious of all the other houses at Hogwarts" the prefect said with pride "so, once a week, there is a mandatory study group for all first through fourth year students held by fifth year students, it helps you learn and helps the fifth years revise for their OWL exams. Later on in your life at Hogwarts, there will be similar mandatory study sessions for fifth and sixth years to be held by seventh years for the same reason" the prefect explained. Every first year there nodded in understanding.

"Your study sessions will be held on Wednesday nights before your Astronomy classes, if for some reason, you can't make it, please inform a prefect or Professor Flitwick, so we know you aren't slacking."

"Do any of you have any questions?" asked the male prefect, Harry liked the two and understood why they made the prefect position. They seemed to be very nice and approachable.

"Err…will we get in trouble if we um…aren't as smart as you expect us to be…?" asked a nervous first year girl.

The prefect smiled and shook his head "You are in here for a reason, which means you must be intelligent, witty, creative, or have a thirst for knowledge. No one expects you to ace everything, but it is expected that you want to learn and try your hardest with your studies, difficult or not" that answer seemed to placate the nervous girl as she smile shyly.

"When will we get our class timetables?" asked Harry, wanting to know what schedule he'll have to work around so he can begin his education.

"You'll receive them during breakfast on Monday morning, so be sure to be bright and early so you can come back here and collect the necessary materials you'll need for your classes, whatever they may be" Harry nodded in satisfaction. It was Saturday now, so that meant they had tomorrow off, he figured he could use the time to explore the castle.

Seeing as there were no more questions, the prefects lead them to their dorm rooms, as they split up to head to the different gender rooms. Apparently, no boy could enter the girls rooms but the girls could enter the boys, that thought frightened Harry slightly, hadn't these incompetent wizards heard of female perverts?! Obviously, they've never had fan girls, he thought with a shiver as he remembered the times he showered after football practise and the number of times the younger girls tried to peep on him.

Their dorm room was simple and oddly enough, had the perfect number of beds for the amount of first year Ravenclaw boy students. Each bed had a canopy that allowed them to drape their own blue curtain around the bed for privacy as well as large and comfortable blue and bronze pillows and blankets. There was also two large windows showing them a beautiful view of the surrounding snowy mountains and, much to Harry's delight, a desk beside each of the beds with a small bookshelf mounted on the wall above each desk. As every boy claimed a bed as their own, Harry took the one closest to one of the windows and took out a small matchbox sized item from his chest pocket.

Archie took his large school trunk from the middle of the room and hauled it over to the bed next to Harry's.

"Hey Harry, how come your trunk isn't with the rest of ours?" asked the curious boy, not loud enough to get the other's attention though. Harry merely showed him the matchbox sized trunk in the palm of his hand before placing it at the foot of his bed and whipping out his wand. Archades was so entranced by the 'cool' looking wand that he almost missed the bit of magic that Harry performed.

"Engorgio" he muttered, under his breath. Archie watched with wide eyes as the small matchbox sized trunk increased in size until it revealed a dark brown, slightly old looking school trunk.

"That was awesome!" cheered Archie, as he started to bug Harry about showing him that spell.

"Shut up" Harry pleaded with annoyance "it's in the standard book of spells grade 4, it isn't that hard to do, read up on it" he said, his voice showing how tired he was and how much he wanted to just go to sleep.

Archie nodded reluctantly, promising himself that he would see if that book was in the library, or if he could bug a fourth year to show him, after all, he could be very persuasive.

"Night Harry, you wanna go look around the castle tomorrow?"

Harry nodded "Sure, I figured you wanted to find Stephanie first, no?" Harry watched with amusement as Archades became depressed again.

Harry went to sleep, ignoring the chatting of his housemates wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Harry awoke early the next morning as the sun's rays peeked over the mountain and shone in his face through the window of the first year boy's dorms. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around for his glasses and used them to see the time, it was still only six in the morning and his roommates were still asleep. Deciding to get an early start to the day, Harry grabbed a pair of jeans, shirt, jumper and a fresh pair of underwear and headed into the showers to get ready for the day.

Coming out of the shower room, he was surprised to see that he had spent an hour getting ready; he figured he must have spent longer then he thought practising clearing his mind. Grabbing a scarf after noticing how cold it looked outside, Harry headed down to the great hall to eat his breakfast, trying to remember the way to get there from his trop to his common room yesterday. One the way, he passed a poltergeist that tried to ambush him with dung bombs which he easily avoided, years spent growing up with Remus gave him quite the 'prank' sense.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, curiously, eyeing the fuming poltergeist floating before him.

"I am Peeves the Poltergeist, Potty Potter and you may have won this round, but I will get you next time!" it shrieked as it floated around the corner and away at high speeds.

Finally smelling the effects of the Dung bombs hitting the floor, Harry sped away, not wanting to have the smell stick to him. Taking out his wand, he aimed it at himself before using a charm that Remus had taught him before coming, a rather simple one that removes foul and foreign odours from the body, 'a good one for a prankster to know', he had said.

"Refovio"

Instantly, he felt a blanket of magic cover the surface of his body head to toe, it felt like he was being softly tickled, before the sensation stopped. Raising his arm cautiously to take a whiff, he smelt himself to notice that he smelt like…nothing.

Harry frowned before realizing something 'It must remove all good and bad foreign fragrances from the body.'

Shrugging, thinking that it was better then smelling bad, he continued on his way to the great hall, passing several students conversing in the hallways on the way of different years and houses. He found though, that he didn't pass very many Slytherins. He figured that maybe because their common room was located in the Dungeons, they may just stick to their own area.

Entering the great hall, he looked around to see the Ravenclaw table being the most full, yet none of the first years, boys or girls, seemed to be up yet. Scanning the room some more, his eyes landed on Stephanie, who was also sitting by herself at the Slytherin table and eating her breakfast.

Shrugging mentally, Harry moved over to sit beside her and eat breakfast. Many of the students, especially the Slytherins were eyeing him carefully, he really couldn't blame them; he doubted people chose to sit at the Slytherin tables very often.

"Good morning Stephanie" he greeted, making the girl turn her head sharply to him before calming down.

"Morning Harry, what are you doing over here?" she asked her face neutral as she ate her jammed toast that was currently sitting on her plate. Harry followed her example and took an apple to start his breakfast.

"No one from Ravenclaw is awake yet, you're the only person I recognized in the hall" he said with a shrug, as he took another bite of the apple in his hand, idly thinking that it was probably the best apple he had ever tasted – a perfect combination of crunchy and juicy.

"I see, so, how do you find your house?" she asked, trying to start up some conversation. Harry shrugged again as he continued to eat his apple, he had just noticed how many stares he was getting by sitting at this table so he swivelled around in his stool and leaned against the table while still sitting next to Stephanie.

"The common room is nice, you can imagine it would be any studious person's wet dream, lots of books and comfy couches and what not…" he trailed off.

"What's a 'wet dream'?" she asked with confusion. Harry tried to hide his amusement when several of the older boys close by heard the question and choked on their breakfast.

"Don't worry Stephanie, you'll learn when you're older" he answered in a patronizing way which Stephanie didn't like at all, she narrowed her eyes at him dangerously which didn't faze Harry at all.

"You really want to know?" he asked and she nodded, not liking that he knew something that she didn't.

"I think it better you ask one of the older boys listening in on our conversation, they'd be better able to explain it then I" he said, curious to how this would turn out. She nodded and went over to a fifth year boy; from the badge on his robes he figured he was a prefect. Stephanie seemed to ask her question and from Harry's position, he could see the confusion on the boy's face before it turned into a grin. The prefect leaned in and whispered his answer into Stephanie's ear and from her reaction, one which caused her face to turn scarlet, Harry mused that she got what she wanted – especially if her stomping on his foot and slapping him across the face was any indication of the fact.

Stephanie sat down beside him, her face still crimson from a mixture of embarrassment and anger, Harry couldn't tell which she was feeling more, trying to avoid Harry's gaze.

"I suppose you satisfied your curiosity Ms. Zabini?" he asked, amusement laced in the question. Stephanie just turned to him and gave him the evil eye, which Harry just found more amusing.

"I would thank you not to use such vulgar language in my presence again" she said with finality, but Harry could see the topic still embarrassed her so he just dropped it.

"How do you like your common room?" he asked, curious to how the Slytherins lived in the dungeons.

Stephanie just shivered in disgust before answering "It's a dungeon" she answered, as if it answered everything "I mean, I knew the common room was in the dungeons, but all the walls are made of thick black stone with torches on the walls to give light, its horrid" she said "I guess I'm jealous of Archie and you in that respect."

Harry nodded, thinking he wouldn't like literally living in a dungeon either "We also are required to attend weekly study sessions with the older students to enhance our learning, you guys got anything like that?"

Stephanie shrugged, seemingly not surprised by his little fact "Not really, Professor Snape, our head of house, came into the common rooms last night after the feast and explained to us the 'rules' of Slytherin house, which we aren't supposed to tell anyone about by the way."

Harry just nodded; he didn't really care to be honest "My uncle told me about Slytherins… I'd be careful if I were you" he warned, noticing with interest how she seemed to get defensive. Harry also idly wondered about how easily the title of uncle came to Remus when he talked to others about him, he didn't really want to call him his 'guardian'.

"What did he tell you? That we're all evil or something? Why am I not surprised that the heir to the ancient and noble house of Potter would have such narrow minded…" she stopped when Harry lightly cuffed her on the back of the head, stopping her rant and making her glare at Harry with a look that would kill.

"Will you shut up? What I was going to say was that Slytherin students are known to display a high level of Machiavellianism, so you should be wary of who you befriend in that house" he explained, however, seeing her look of confusion, he assessed his statement and realized where he went wrong "basically, a lot of Slytherins like to deceive and manipulate others for their own personal gain, so watch who you befriend and what you suddenly owe people" he warned, getting her to raise her eyebrow in confusion.

"Thank you for the warning, not to be rude, but why do you care?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Harry just shrugged again in response before grinning "I don't, but if something happened to you Archades would be quite displeased I'd imagine, and seeing as we share a dorm, I'd rather have him not moping and carrying on; you know, he made quite the commotion when 'that piece of shit hat' put you in Slytherin" he finished, changing the topic suddenly.

"I'd imagine he would" she said, smirking "he can be so clingy sometimes, but he isn't that much of a bad guy, just annoying."

"You two have a history?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"You could say that, but it's not my story to tell. Suffice to say that we know each other pretty well, he's been living with my family since a young age" she didn't know it, but Stephanie had told him quite a lot by just saying what she did.

Harry knew of the name Montague, it was the name of an old pureblood family he had read about, for him to be living with the Zabinis a well known pureblood family in their own right, either something happened to his parents, or his parents disowned him and the Zabinis adopted him.

Harry just filed that information away for a later date "he keeps professing his eternal love for you, he seems quite determined" he said, enjoying how it embarrassed the girl.

"He pretty much yaps on about it to anyone who will listen" she said, obviously uncomfortable "he can be a bit overprotective and imposing at times…but he can be sweet in his own retarded way, not that I like him or anything" she said, straightening her back hiding behind her mask of neutrality.

Harry nodded, agreeing "Yeah, he definitely is a little retarded" they both shared a chuckle at that.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang coming from the door, both Harry and Stephanie looked up to see Archades strolling into the great hall whistling merrily. The boy stopped and scanned the hall, Harry wasn't sure whether he was looking for him or Stephanie, but apparently it didn't matter because he spotted them both and with a grin, he practically skipped over to them and plopped down next to Stephanie.

"How was your night my precious Stephy-bear?" asked Archie with a big smile, ignoring the fact that Stephanie was trying to sink into the table to avoid the looks of amusement she was getting from her peers.

"Look, Archie, I know you don't listen to me when I tell you not to call me those names, but this time I'm serious…" she said as she looked towards her house mates who were mocking her before turning back to him "people in Slytherin aren't like people in other houses, they assess everyone and look for weaknesses to exploit, what you're doing right now could very much make me an outcast…so can you please stop?" she asked, pleading her friend.

Archie sighed dramatically "Ok" he agreed, as if he was making a huge sacrifice "look what I do for you Steph, its just a testament to our love!" he declared in a more subdued voice so no one else could hear. Harry snorted in amusement when Stephanie kicked Archie in the shin real good.

"When you guys are done with breakfast, you wanna go look around the castle?" asked the boy, looking at Stephanie and Harry who both shrugged and agreed "awesome, we'll just wait for Ced to get here, I told him we'd go exploring together" he explained, looking to his two new friends and waiting for confirmation. Stephanie nodded, signifying that she was ok with it and Harry just shrugged, not caring either way.

After fifteen minutes spent watching Archie hovel down his food, Cedric arrived to eat breakfast; when he was done, the four headed out of the great hall to explore the castle.

Harry had, surprisingly to the group, suggested they map out their different classrooms, less they get lost tomorrow and not be able to find their way between each of them. So after they found the Potions classroom in the dungeons, the Transfiguration classroom near Gryffindor tower, the Charms classroom near the Ravenclaw tower and the Library, the Defence Against the Dark Arts class on the seventh floor and the greenhouse just outside on the grounds.

By the time they were done exploring, it was lunch time so the four of them headed back to the great hall to eat lunch. Harry, however, stopped before the entered the door.

"I'll take a raincheck on lunch, I'm just going to walk around for a bit" he said, and without waiting for an answer, he left to his dorm. Harry had, to be honest, an urge to play with his football, so after arriving back at his dorm, having to answer another riddle to gain entrance, he removed the ball form his trunk and went out to the grounds.

Harry received many confused glances when people saw him walking around with a football under his arm, but he just ignored them and headed out towards the large lake outside the castle; he remembered seeing a nice clearing near there that would be fine for what he wanted.

Arriving at the clearing, Harry tossed the ball to the ground and started dribbling invisible opponents for a while before kicking the ball up into the air and juggling. He may not be able to play football anymore, but that was no reason to let his skills go rusty by stopping completely.

After almost an hour of messing around by himself, he heard applause from behind him. Allowing the ball to drop, he saw Archie, Cedric and Stephanie standing there, the latter with her hands on her hips.

"You know, if you were going to play football, you should have told us, I love playing" Cedric said with a grin.

"How do you play?" asked Archades, while Stephanie just looked uninterested.

Cedric and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon explaining the rules and kicking the ball around the grounds while Stephanie sat by a tree and tossed stones in the lake while watching them play.