Chapter - 004

-----------I don't own anything and any semblance to any character is a coincidence-----------

---September 1st, 1966---

---Theodore POV---

Standing in front of the portraits, "Then I will see the next time I come home." I say to my parents and leave the room.

I and Lily spent an hour listening to my parents and aunt talking about their experience at Hogwarts. Both my mother and aunt had studied there and Father had spent six months there while searching for any method back home.

Going down the stairs, I saw both our stuff lying in the living room with Aunt Celine and Aunt Cynthia next to it.

"Let's go or we will get late." Uncle Gerald spoke as he entered the house and started dragging the trunks which I quickly shrunk to the size of a bag pack. Helping him put all the luggage in the car, I look around but do not see Lily.

Giving Gerald a confused look, he ruffles my hair and laughs, "You should know that ladies take their time in getting ready."

"I do not take time!" Turning towards the voice, I see Lily lock the door to her house and quickly run towards us in the Hogwarts uniform.

"No...Why did you already wear your uniform? Couldn't you change it on the train before we reach the school?"

"Ah." A look of realization crosses her face and I quickly stop her when I see her about to turn. I looked around to see if any neighbors were seeing us and when I didn't find any, I snapped my fingers and cast Multicorfors Spell on her uniform which transfigures it into a beautiful travel dress.

I grin at her elated look but freeze when she pecks me on my cheeks and runs toward the car. Even after all the kisses we have shared, I still can not deal with her surprise attacks.

I too enter the car and watch smiles on the faces of everyone present and blush. ah not everyone, Petunia has a scowl on her face as she looks at me and Lily.

Ignoring her, I cast a quick 'Tempus' which let me know we would reach the train station well before the departure.

Leaning against Lily, I close my and sleep.

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Taking the trolley which had our luggage on it, we ran through the wall and reached platform 9(3/4).

The scene that greeted us was a crowded place with students saying their farewells to their families and boarding the magnificent red-colored Hogwarts Express.

Feeling arms around me, I find myself in a hug with my aunt. "My little nephew has grown up and he is going to leave his poor aunt behind." My aunt says with a mock sad face but I knew there were her real feelings as she was truly sad.

"Don't worry, I will see you during Christmas."

"Take care of yourself, OK? And write to me regularly. Lastly, enjoy yourself and make new friends." She tightens her arms around me before quickly releasing me. "Now go."

I looked at the side and saw that even Lily was done with her farewells so giving my aunt one last quick hug, I took our trolley to the train.

Boarding the train, we both quickly settled ourselves in an empty compartment and took out the books we had brought to read during our travel.

Sitting in silence with Lily leaning against me, we turn our heads towards the door when there is a knock. The door opened and in walked a kid with fair skin, medium, lustrous black hair, striking grey eyes, and from what I was seeing correctly, a slightly haughty look on his face.

He eyed us for a while before quickly turning back towards the aisle and," This one is empty!" shouts.

Soon we hear shuffling from the aisle as two girls and a boy come around bringing their luggage along as the one who called them here put his luggage on the racks above us.

"You should have seen the face of that greasy brat when his trunk came open!" The boy who came along with the girls says with a laugh.

The blonde-haired girl turns around and looks angrily at the boy, "You shouldn't have done that! He just tripped on you but no, you had to that."

The other with thick black curly hair quickly nodded but I could see a smirk on her face. The boy just scratches his messy black hair and starts laughing again as is joined by the other long-haired kid.

Within 10 minutes, they all were done and sitting with us while eyeing us as if waiting for us to break the ice which Lily did.

"I'm Lily Evans and this is Theodore Strange." Introducing us, she looks at them to continue.

"Narcissa Black." The blonde-haired haired speaks first. Her skin though very pale suited her with her blonde hair and blue eyes, giving her a very 'nice' look.

"Bellatrix Black." The other girl had thick curly black hair with heavily lidded black eyes. She too supported an arrogant look like the long-haired boy who I presume is her brother.

"Sirius Black but my friends call me Siri." The long-haired kid speaks merrily before we turn towards the last one. He had untidy short black hair and black eyes but the feeling I got from him was of a heavily pampered child.

"James Potter."

I did notice that they were part of two of the ancient noble houses. I was fine with the Potters because they do not pay much attention to blood status but the same was not true for Blacks. I looked at them a bit wearily for that because I did not want the first wizards Lily met other than my aunt to be stuck-up idiots.

Seeing my weary look, Sirius laughs, "You do not need to worry. The Blacks might be blood purists but us three, especially me, do not stick too much with traditions of our house."

I do feel relief at that but I still keep my guard up. What others show might not be what they truly are.

"Anyway, you must have studied a lot or be from some wizarding family to know about the Blacks otherwise you wouldn't act like this," Narcissa says.

Lily nods at that and we all feel a jolt as the train starts moving. As the talks go on in our group, I can roughly guess the dynamics of their group.

James is a pampered kid and from what Narcissa had to say, both he and Sirius like to cause trouble. Bellatrix seems to be a sis-con who agrees with everything her sister has to say but shows a tendency to be the same as James and Sirius. Finally, Narcissa seems to be the one keeping them in check.

While eating the candies and chocolates we bought from the trolley going around the train, we all suddenly turn our heads towards the window upon hearing a knock.

"Ariel!" Lily shouts as she quickly opens the window to let the bird in. We had released both Ariel and Lia, my owl, before departing from home so that they could fly to Hogwarts before us but it seems I was not missed when I did not find Lia with Ariel.

"A Thunderbird!" The rest exclaim upon seeing Ariel. My aunt had told me thunderbirds were very rare to find as they had high pride and did not show themselves easily in front of people. Even we would not have gotten Ariel if Uncle Newt was not a good friend of ours and if Frank (Newt Scamander's Thunderbird) had not likened father enough to give him his child to raise.

"How did you get a thunderbird?! I have asking my father for one ever since I read about how one helped in the Global Wizarding war by helping the wizards in obliviating the muggle." James says as he looks at Ariel in envy.

"It was my father's gift. He had got her from my uncle."

"Your father?"

"Yes. Stephen Strange."

"Blimey! I know him. Grandfather keeps talking about how he should met him earlier so he could have had married into the family." Sirius butts in excitedly.

I just ignore him and Lily laughs at that while caressing Ariel who is enjoying all the attention she is getting from Lily and the Black sisters.

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It was already night by the time we reached Hogsmeade Train Station. Lanterns were lit across the station as all of us moved where the crowd was going.

"Firs' years, gather 'round this way, now." Following the voice, we see a very tall man standing next to a very old-looking one.

"I bet he is a giant, with a height like that!" James exclaims. "Half-giant, to be precise." And Lily corrects him. We had learned about how to distinguish between races from my aunt.

Moving towards him with our luggage in hand, I see around 150-160 students of similar age gather together.

"Is tha' all, Mr. Ogg?" The half-giant asks the old man, Mr. Ogg.

"Luggage." And the reply is barely filled with strength.

"Oh, an' leave yer luggage behind, we'll take 'em up to the castle. Now, follow us."

"Don't mind Hagrid here. He is still learning the ropes on how to be the Keeper of the Ground and Keys. " Mr. Ogg says as we start following them down the road and further up ahead, I see a lake with boats docked along its shore.

"Yeah, don't mind me if I make any mistakes, there. Now, get on the boats, but in groups o' six, mind you!"

Quickly getting on the boat, we are joined by a person who is not only very familiar to the Blacks and Potter but to us as well.

"Someone's saving some extra grease for a slippery conversation with the giant squid later." James and Sirius chuckle at that causing the boy with long black oily hair and a hooked nose to sharply turn towards them and scowl.

"James! Mind yourself." Narcissa scolds them making them both laugh.

I quickly shift Lily behind me once the boy enters the boat and looks towards us. "Severus." I nod but give him a cold look when he tries to see past me at Lily.

"You know this greasy brat?" Sirius asks but Bellatrix pulls him back when she senses the mood.

As the boat starts moving, we all jerk and quickly take seats but I still do not take my eyes off him.

"Yes, we know him. He lives near us." Lily answers for us. Severus Snape was a kid our age we met when we were 9 and had gone to the lake near our home. At first, we had become friends and it helped that he knew about wizards.

The problems started when he started stalking us, or more specifically Lily. The guy had fallen for her and being a guy myself, I could feel it right away when he started treating her differently. We both had joked about it but that joke quickly turned serious when we realized that the guy had become obsessed with her.

Lily had become uncomfortable a little back then and from then on we stopped going to that lake.

Asking her parents, we did get to know about some rumors going around the neighborhood about him on how he was living with an abusive father and a neglectful mother and we did pity him about it but being uncomfortable ourselves to make him feel happy was not our job.

"Theodore, How are you doing?" Seeing no way past me, he simply turns his whole attention to me. Better here than on Lily.

"I am doing fine, Severus. If I'd known you were coming to Hogwarts, I would have met you on the train."

The mention of the train shifts his attention to James who acts ignorant while looking at us.

"Anyway, Which house would you like to sorted in?" Sirius successfully breaks the awkward atmosphere that was building up. "For me, I'd go anywhere except for Slytherin."

Both the Black sisters turn at that and look at him with a sharp eye. It was like a tradition for Black family members to be sorted in Slytherin.

"What?! I thought I had already told you I do not stick too well with traditions. And let me tell you, you should also start doing something about it, or else who knows it might be your turn next to make plans like big sis is making right now."

Both sisters lower their heads as they start seriously thinking about the things Sirius said.

"I want to be in 'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad." Severus sneers at that," Got a problem with that?" James asks.

"No. If you'd rather be brawny instead of brainy --"

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius cuts him off and asks him with a serious look on his face to which all of us laugh, well all except one as Severus is furious but doesn't know what to say and simply turns his head away.

"I don't want to be sorted in either Slytherin or Hufflepuff. In Slytherin, their views on blood purity are a bit too extreme for my taste, and in Hufflepuff, though very loyal and hardworking, the people there are not very exciting except for a few people." My views are based on my family's experience.

"Yeah, and in Ravenclaw at least we get to have a library in the dormitory and for us both knowledge is always welcome. For Gryffindor, Theo's mother and aunt were sorted there and all they had to say were good things about it. So we will go to either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."

"It's not like you can be sorted wherever you want to be," Narcissa says to which both Lily and I just smile.

When Father had come to Hogwarts on his search, he had gotten interested in the hat that sorts the students to different houses. He had wanted to research it and asked the then-headmaster for his permission but the hat had mocked my father thinking he won't be allowed.

That was its mistake as the headmaster had agreed and the first thing Father did was ask the house elves to clean the hat, by hand and properly. Since then the sorting hat had become very afraid of father and had been very meek in front of him.

And if what father told was true and the sorting hat does read the memories of the person wearing it, then it would see the memories of it drowning in the soapy bubbles in my and Lily's head and using that as leverage we would be forcing it to sort us in our desired house.

"Don't tell me you know how?" James asks upon seeing our smile and this gets everyone's attention.

"The method won't work for you but, I say, you should simply wish for where you want to be and if your arguments are strong for it, you will be sorted."

They can simply ask the hat and if it feels their arguments are more correct than what it feels to be right for them, then it will simply grant them their wish.

The rest of our journey to the castle grounds was a quiet affair. We quickly gathered around and were led into the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall.

'I've done this job for centuries

On every student's head, I've sat

Of thoughts I take inventories

For I'm the famous Sorting Hat...'

I look around at the tables as the senior students look at us 1st years standing nervously with a reminiscing look. Today was the day the former headmaster, Professor Dippet, was getting his farewell.

Although it seems, Professor Dumbledore had already taken up the post of Headmaster of Hogwarts last year. The details were not privy to the students and after the farewell, both the former and the present headmaster had left before the sorting ceremony.

'I've sorted high, I've sorted low,

I've done the job through thick and thin

So put me on and you will know

Which house you should be in...'

As the hat finishes singing its song, Professor McGonagall steps forward with a parchment and starts reading out the names.

"Bellatrix Black." As Professor McGonagall calls out her name, Bellatrix walks forward and takes a seat on the stool beside the professor.

"SL--" The hat had almost called out the moment the professor brought the hat near her head but Bellatrix had covered it's mouth with her hands. All of us present are taken aback seeing this scene.

Professor McGonagall steps forward to speak but the hat hums loudly stopping her.

A minute goes by as all of us see the hat on Bellatrix's head before, "GRYFFINDOR!" it yells and Bellatrix walks down the stairs as a loud applause sound vibrates the Great Hall.

"I hope the rest of the students do not follow the example of Miss Black otherwise the consequences can be quite dire." The professor speaks once the hall quietens down.

The names go on before James' turn comes and he gets sorted in Gryffindor and finally, the Professor calls out Lily's name.

The hat had taken a whole minute on her head squirming around before sorting her into Gryffindor too. She gave me a smirk as she walked and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindor students.

It was Narcissa's turn next in our group and she had been surprisingly sorted in Ravenclaw. It seems both the sisters had taken Sirius' words a bit more seriously. Next, it was Severus' turn and I did not like how he kept staring at Lily as he walked up the stairs.

Fortunately for us, Snape was sorted in Slytherin. When the Professor calls Sirius' name, he goes up the stairs and the hat sorts him to Gryffindor.

I do feel bad about Narcissa as she seems to have been singled out as all of us without including Severus were sorted in Gryffindor. What about me, you ask? I am sure I will go into Gryffindor otherwise the hat can count itself spending the rest of its life in soapy water.

"Theodore Strange." As my name comes up, I go up the stairs and I can swear, I saw the hat shivering.

Sitting on the stool, I feel the hat on my head.

'You are the spawn of that Devil'

'Now, now. Don't go calling my Father the devil otherwise, I will do the same thing he did to you back then. First of all, sort me into Gryffindor and after that, I am going to look for you.'

'WHY!!?'

'You should know why. Occlumency shield does not work against you.'

'Then I will tell you the same thing I have told the others. I can not reveal any information I know.'

'Tch-tch... Father didn't tell you but he has already loosened some of the enchantments on you. After all, he was in search of knowledge and you were a like treasure trove for him. He did the same thing you do on others.'

'He read my memories!'

'Ding-dong! Now, I will be coming for you during my time at Hogwarts. Don't go hiding around. I can easily find you. Now do your job quickly.'

The hat grumbles a bit before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!"

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