The Dark Lord's Literary Appreciation Society

Chapter 9: The Sorting cHat

Harry shifted uneasily in his seat. He glanced at Severus, then at Corvinus and over to the Slytherins. He didn't know how any of them would take his sorting. Severus was the most likely to get angry. Harry knew that he would never tolerate a Potter in Slytherin house. Ironically, Corvinus didn't seem much like he'd care one way or the other. He'd probably laugh at the idea of Harry in his House, but then he'd become unbearably smug.

Harry shook his head. There was nothing he could do about it now anyway. He glanced over at the other Slytherins, ignoring Draco. Blaise had his arm wrapped around Daphne, who was trying to look bored but had a sparkle in her eye. Theo looked unaccountably smug about something, but Harry had no idea what that might be. He shrugged. It didn't really matter.

He was most nervous about Sirius' reaction. He didn't feel at all confident that his godfather would approve of his almost becoming a Slytherin. He reached down and patted Snuffles.

"Do you need anything, Harry?" Corvinus glanced over.

Harry shook his head. He wanted to take off his shoes and pull his legs up into the chair, but it would probably be bad manners by the pureblood standards. He glanced at Corvinus and shrugged. "I'm okay, let's just get on, I guess."

Corvinus frowned. He had no idea what could be so concerning about the boy's sorting. The hat had put him firmly in Gryffindor, after all. He'd been there watching it happen. "If you need a break or something," he began, but Harry shook his head quickly. "All right then." He waved his hand and the book began again.

...awarded the House Cup, a great honor."

"Unless the House with the most points is Slytherin," grumbled Daphne. The stealing of the House Cup from them that first year had been deliberately cruel and still stung slightly.

Blaise snorted. "At least we're about to find out what they did to get all those points." He leaned closer and kissed the side of her head.

...while you're waiting."

"What did she think that was going to do?" Harry frowned. "The Hat doesn't care what you look like, and if she meant get more intelligent , frankly, that's even more stupid. What did she think we could manage in the five minutes we had."

"I suspect the recommendation was more toward appearance." Corvinus laughed. "And not because the Hat would take it into consideration, but because the rest of the school would be watching and forming their own judgments."

"Oh," Harry thought back. That made much more sense, and he rather wished he'd taken the advice. He'd been stared at more than all the others together.

...looked anxious, too."

"Why would that be?" Harry looked over toward where his year-mates were sitting together.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Daphne asked.

Harry scrubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I know Ron was nervous because his brothers love pranking him, and I didn't know anything about the sorting because who would I have asked? But the rest of you are from magical families. Surely, someone would've told you what to expect."

Theo offered him a slight grimace. "Knowing what to expect doesn't make a person less nervous. If anything, the weight of your family's expectations can add a lot of stress." He glanced at his father and grandfather, sitting toward the front of the room.

"Right," Harry nodded. "Sorry."

Theo shook his head. "No need to be."

...lead him to his doom."

"Dramatic much, Potter?" Drawled Snape.

Harry shrugged and grinned. He still didn't have a clue how the man was going to react to the news of his sorting, but he found himself more looking forward to it than not. The man's face was sure to be a sight to see.