Strange Times Ahead (Harry Potter x Male Strange Reader)

Chapter 1

The boats reached the docks to the large castle, each clunking against the stone docks. An older, haggard man, with a cat at his side, tied the boats to the docks and watched as each child tried to climb out.

"Careful now!" Hagrid called out as his and (F/N)'s boat reached the dock. "One at a time!" He reached out and grabbed the dock with his hand and kept it steady. He leaned over towards (F/N), "go ahead, young'n." (F/N) nodded his head and carefully stood up on the boat, trekking to the side and reaching out to grab the dock. Hagrid could see (F/N)'s shaking hand as he reached out. He laughed to himself, thinking the boy was nervous to join, but he couldn't be further from the truth.

Pushing himself up, (F/N) got to his feet and gathered with some of the other students.

"Now students!" Hagrid spoke up as he took his steps onto the dock, "Mr. Filch here will escort you to the castle. Don' be intimidated by him, he's not as scary as he looks." He let out a laugh to try and ease any tension that was in the air, but as the students looked over at Filch, they weren't persuaded.

Filch was a rather lean person, with one eye constantly widened, and the other normal. He grinned at the students, which made them gulp.

"When you reach the castle, you'll be led to the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall. So be on yer best behavior!" There were more mumblings of agreement by the students, before they followed Filch.

Hagrid went to store the boats away in a secure location, while Filch led the way towards the castle with a lantern in his hand. The walk was silent, with only the sounds of footsteps echoing across the forest. They eventually passed through the courtyard of the castle, and into the large interior. The hallways had torches lit on each side, the Gothic designs of the walls and the wooden doors either leading to a storage closet, a bathroom, or the classrooms gave each of them an idea as to how old the castle was.

They were then led to a set of large double doors, and standing in front of it was a tall, old woman. Her hair was gray, the wrinkles on her face were visible from a mile away, and her hands were sticking closely to the bone, showing how old she was. This was likely Professor McGonagall, the teacher Hagrid spoke of. She stood there, looking through her glasses at each of the students, before addressing Filch.

"Thank you, Mr. Filch," she said, nodding to him. Filch nodded his head at her, before looking down at the cat that had followed him.

"Let's go, Mrs. Norris," he said, before walking back to where he would normally rest. Once he was gone, McGonagall scanned her eyes over the students standing before her.

"Good evening, students," she greeted, "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House and your transmutation teacher. Any of you returning to Hogwarts to resume your semester, please head to your respective houses, while the rest of you get sorted into your houses for the rest of the school year." (F/N) looked around at the people around him, where he could see the different patches stitched onto the vest of the students; the patches were simply one of the animals that were on the Hogwarts crest, as well as the color of the house: the badger was yellow, the snake was green, lion was red, and the eagle was blue. By deduction, (F/N) understood that he was going to be one of the students sorted into one of these houses, but it all depended on what house it would be. "After the Sorting, Professor Dumbledore will be giving his speech to you and then you will be allowed to dine." After that, McGonagall turned around and placed her hands on the double doors, giving them a hard push. The doors creaked open, and she guided the students inside.

Walking through the Great Hall, (F/N) could see all of the people that were there for the event. Four tables stretched from one end of the hall to the other, candles were lifted in the air, and the ceiling of the building was actually the sky outside! (F/N) could recall seeing a roof covering every building, but this was one room where he could see the night sky. At each table sat students dressed in robes, and pointed hats. Above each table were banners, signifying the houses; the lion, the snake, the badger, and the eagle. Each student at the table looked towards the new arrivals, and some were welcoming friends back from their trip home. At the end of the hall was a long table meant for the teachers, a device with four hourglasses and in each hourglass was sand of different colors; red, yellow, green, and blue. In front of the teacher's table was a stool, and a raggedy old hat; (F/N) could barely make out a face with how there were wrinkles.