Becoming Alpha

Chapter Fifteen

Harry, Daphne, Tracey, Theo, and Blaise got out of the horse-less carriage and walked into the school. Walking quickly, they got into the Great Hall and to their seats at the Slytherin table before most of the other students. They wanted to be sitting by the new first years so that they could try to bring them into the group.

Pretty soon all of the students were seated and waiting for the first years. Harry had to hold in a snort as he heard Ron Weasley complaining about the lack of food from the other side of the Hall. Everyone had noticed that the boy was always hungry and ate everything he could.

Harry was about to comment on it to his friends when Professor McGonagall entered the room with the first years following her. She quickly led them up to the front of the Hall by the Head Table and where the Sorting Hat was waiting. Everyone turned to listen to the song as the Hat's mouth opened.

"I'm a thinking cap,
For I'm the Sorting Hat;
I am witnessing something,
And nothing can top that.
The Houses are uniting,
There is less fight,
And the Founders would be proud,
For all in the group are light.
The story is coming out,
The story that will change all,
That only one will hear,
But it must be believed or all will fall.
The Chosen Heir is coming;
He will prove himself properly,
And the Founders will all like him,
For he will hold himself proudly.
He could have been in Gryffindor,
Where the brave lay,
For they don't turn down a challenge,
To keep evil at bay;
He could have been in Hufflepuff,
Which is where loyalty is a must,
For without patient loyalty,
You cannot be just;
He could have been in Ravenclaw,
The home of wit,
Where learning is a boon,
For it helps more than a little bit;
He could have been in Slytherin,
The place of the cunning and sly,
For the ambitious will give their all,
And may even lie.
Now it is your turn,
For he has been placed,
So it's time to find,
Where your traits are based."

Everyone in the Hall was shocked beyond belief. No one had ever heard of the Chosen Heir. Not even Hermione, who Harry looked at almost immediately after the song, knew, or that was what Harry suspected from the look on her face.

What confused many people was the fact that the ghosts started whispering above them. Harry saw that many of the ghosts went to the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin House ghost, and started questioning him as if he knew all the answers. The Bloody Baron shook his head and said something that Harry couldn't catch.

It wasn't until the Bloody Baron was finally free of the other ghosts that Harry saw a hint at what the Hat had meant. Moments after he was finally left alone, the Bloody Baron looked right at Harry with a look that said he knew the Heir. The ghost then shared that look with many other Slytherins along the table, at least two from each year, which confused Harry.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore managed to calm down the Hall and allow McGonagall to do the Sorting. Harry didn't pay much attention except to hear the names of the new Slytherin first years: Laura Carmichael, Stephen Cornfoot, Kevin Entwhistle, Brandon Harper, Maya Pritchard, Isabella Stebbins, and Catherine Summers. He also tuned into the Sorting when it was Ginny's turn.

Ginny walked up to the Hat as the last student to get Sorted. She sat down and was on the stool for at least four minutes, which surprised some people as the Weasleys normally only took a few moments each. When the Hat finally opened his mouth again, he called out "Gryffindor!" Ginny smiled slightly, but Harry could tell that she was very confused by what the Hat had said as she went to go sit down and be congratulated by her brothers. Harry made a mental note to ask her about it at a later time.

After the Sorting, food appeared on the table just like the year before. Harry and the others let the first years get their own food and eat for a bit before they started to talk with them.