CHAPTER 4

The great oak doors opened. There behind the door, a skinny tall man with curly black hair stood there, he was wearing white robes embedded with jewels. He had a very stoic face and blue droopy eyes.

"Those who aren't first years can go inside already!"

Most of the people accompanying them started leaving, and only forty or so students remained. Once everyone left Archibald then pointed towards the man at the door and spoke. "Professor Scamander, the first years are yours."

"Thanks, you may now go, Archibald."

Seeing that, miss Granger said goodbye to Harrison and left together with Archibald, the others didn't notice but Harrison could swear that they went away holding each other little finger.

"Let us go, please follow me all the time, we don't want any trouble." Having said that Professor Scamander turn back and went inside. Past the door stood the entrance hall, the white walls were heavily decorated with patterns and paints, and every 10 or more meters you could see a medieval armor placed like some sort of decoration.

At the ceiling, it was possible to see some sort of hole-like entrances where owls would occasionally go past to enter the rooms of the castle. Their steps echoed through the corridor given them the feeling that this place was actually bigger than it looked like. For instance, Harrison could swear that the end of the corridor was too far away to match the picture he had on his mind of the size of the castle.

[A/N: About ghosts and poltergeists... they won't be very present in this story, I never liked then and I felt that they were more of a comical relief other than anything. Just wanted to say this before you guys start asking about them.]

They stopped in front of a big door, where the sound of people chatting was coming from inside. The teacher with his stoic face of an old man turned to look at them and said with a calm voice. "From here on your studies begins, once we go inside you will have to wait before seating since you will all be sorted into your houses first. My predecessors would usually make some big introduction but I don't think it is necessary. The only thing I want to remind you of is that no matter where you are sorted into, you can always become outstanding wizards."

Having said that he opened the double doors and the students that were already there suddenly became quiet. Every single one of the first years students, including Harrison, had looks of amazement in their eyes. From the entrance to the end of the great hall, thousands of candles were already lit up with white flames, the ceiling looked exactly like the sky outside and to the left and right, there were in total four long tables filled with students of all kinds and looks.

At the end of the hall, there was another long table where the teachers were sitting and behind them, there were four big statues, each one holding an item that seemed to glow and was protected by a transparent glowing force field. The first statue from the left was that of a friendly smiling woman, and it held a golden cup, filled with some sort of liquid and somehow everyone could smell the scent of meat soup coming from it; the second was also from a woman, but a much more beautiful one with sad eyes and it held a silver elegant diadem; the third was that of a fierce-looking man and it held a silver sword with a golden handle embedded with a red gem; the last one was that of a man with cold and emotionless eyes and it held a golden locket.

They stopped in front of the teachers' table and soon after Professor Scamander waved his wand and a comfortable chair appeared out of nowhere. Then he opened a little chest on the teachers' table and took out a wizard hat that seemed to be really worn out.

Harrison was feeling slightly uncomfortable with the many gazes they were receiving, and something made him feel even worse as he heard the people on the table and even the first years whispering many things, he didn't have anyone there he knew and was friends with to interact, so it was quite infuriating to be the only one alone there, although not that much, it was just that the circumstances made him feel like that.

Then, the hat started moving on its own and it suddenly looked like it had some sort of mouth and eyes, it looked at them for a moment and everyone became quiet as it started speaking.

"(The Power of Armies is a Visible Thing by William Wordsworth)

The power of Armies is a visible thing,

Formal, and circumscribed in time and space;

But who the limits of that power shall trace

Which a brave People into the light can bring

Or hide, at will, – for freedom combating

By just revenge inflamed?

(Percy Bysshe Shelley: "Song to the Men of England")

Wherefore feed and clothe and save

From the cradle to the grave

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat—nay, drink your blood?

Sow seed—but let no tyrant reap:

Find wealth—let no imposter heap:

Weave robes—let not the idle wear:

Forge arms—in your defense to bear.

"

As soon as he finished saying those profound words, everyone stood up and started clapping and cheering, while Harrison didn't have any particular reaction to it, someone in their group looked in confusion and asked. "Wasn't the hat supposed to sing music?" and someone answered soon after. "Yes, but ever since the war against the Dark Lord Voldemort, every ten years the sorting hat tells one or two poems as a homage to those who sacrificed themselves."

Hearing their words Harrison raised an eyebrow, so even the wizards had their own wars?

Once they stopped clapping the hat bowed to each of the four tables and stood still waiting for something.

Then, Professor Scamander took out a parchment from somewhere and said. "When I call your name, put on the hat, and sit on the chair to be sorted. Alan Hemsworth!"

A common-looking boy went there and put on the hat, he sat down and a few moments later...

"Gryffindor!" shouted the hat!

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Alan went to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

"Audrey Wilson!"

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat, and the girl went to sit with them.

Name after name was called and people were sorted non-stop, the twins Harrison met on the ship both went to Gryffindor, while Du Lingtian went to Ravenclaw. People would always cheer whatever someone came to their houses, but then... something quite unexpected happened.

There were only 5 people remaining when Professor Scamander said something that made everyone quiet.

"Caleb Potter!"

The boy looked up to the hat and started walking towards it, seeing how everyone was looking at him, Harrison couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, he was getting some really weird vibes here, it felt like when the military was on the streets, like some sort of fear filled the air and made you more or less afraid of making one wrong step.

Seeing his confusion, the same girl Harrison saw casting the light spell approached and said as she pointed to the boy using slow and sneaky movements so that no one would notice. "You seem a little bit surprised, let me prepare you for the hell we will be going through. The worst of the worst, one of the last descendants of the Potters, it is such a shame that they degenerated into another one of those 'sacred families'."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that he is a conceited bastard that thinks too much of himself..." She used her hand to softly move Harrison's head towards the two boys that were with Caleb. "The one in the left, with short black hair and those ugly teeth, his name is Travis Slughorn, and the other on the right, the red-haired boy with freckles, a Weasley. Such a shame that the best branch of the family moved on to Romania. Those three are all part of the twenty-eight sacred British families."

She was about to explain a little bit more, but then the hat shouted. "Gryffindor!"

The boy left the chair and started walking to his table as the people there suddenly started cheering and clapping a lot, it seemed that they truly wanted him to get there for some reason, Harrison could only think that the sacred families were more popular than he thought.

"Madeline Snyde!"

Hearing this name, the girl smiled at him and said. "Well I have to go, wish me luck!" her steps were timed and extremely gracious, Harrison didn't notice before but she had the characteristic of a very educated person, the type the parents wouldn't allow outside without someone to take care of her.

When she sat down, the hat kept mumbling something for many minutes, and as the time passed Harrisson noticed that the people started to become wide-eyed as if something incredible was happening in front of them, even the teachers raised an eyebrow seeing that, then the hat suddenly said.

"Are you sure? You could be such a good Hufflepuff, although I agree that you are also suited for that place..."

"Please..." She muttered with a lowered head.

"Alright then, so be it... Slytherin!"

Hearing this she suddenly looked up with a bright smile on her face, the people at the Slytherin table started clapping and cheering and welcomed her in their midst.

After that, the boys that accompanied Caleb were also sorted into his house, and the only one that remained was...

"Harrison Forgrave!"

Hearing his name he sighed and his eyes focused, with heavy but steady steps he approached the hat, putting it on his head, he sat down at the chair and cleared all of his thoughts, he kept his head up, he had nothing to lose, nothing to be afraid of. Why would he? After all, look at those kids, they haven't seen even half of what he saw, they never entered a real fight, they never saw blood, they never saw the guns, they never had to kill... They were less than him whether or not any of them would admit, he might be weak, but he knew how to survive. This sort of thing was engraved in Harrison's head, so what if he failed sometimes? Of the people he became friends with when he was on the street, all of them died before him, and even when he thought he would die, he still survived.

It didn't matter that he wasn't the one responsible for that though, be it destiny or not, only the facts matter, and they say that he succeeded. But... He wouldn't stop there... Rules? Laws? Dark Lords? All child's play, he wanted real power, he wanted an iron punch to break down the toughest of the walls, any means were possible, and if necessary, he would use them as his stepping stones to reach the top of the stairs of success, and then, when he became strong enough, he would make sure that the people under his wings would be able to live a true life, instead of merely trying to survive, he wouldn't be doing that only for him, it was a gift for anyone that accepted it, one day he would cleanse that dirty world...

"Mm... ambition, cunningness, resourcefulness, fraternity, and a determination I have seen only once, more than a thousand years ago... Yeah, you remind me of him, I wonder if your future will be equally great as his, worth of becoming a legend in both worlds, or if you are going to fail like many others who tried to walk on the same footsteps as him..."

"What?" Harrison wanted to question the hat but before he could it interrupted him by shouting...

"Slytherin!"