Keeping The Dark Lord (on his toes)

Chapter - 5. The sorting ( 1 September 1991 )

The boat ride went by fast, and Harry soon lined up with the rest of the students. Zabini and Nott had joined them, and Harry was thankful when they simply seemed to analyze the situation before glancing at each other. They then seemed to have a silent conversation before they moved together and lined up at the front and the back of their little group.

The Great Hall was a lot bigger than he remembered and Harry looked around as something within the castle brushed up against his magic before wrapping around him. He smiled and allowed his magic to hug the castle's magic in return and the castle almost hummed with happiness.

Only one person felt the exchange and Harry felt his scar sting, causing him to glance at Professor Quirrel. The man seemed to be in deep thought and Harry tugged his magic back in as Dumbledore entered the Hall a few minutes late. He was sure that Voldemort felt the reaction because he was an heir of the Founders, but he wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to be so wired into the castle's magic that he could feel it as well.

The thought sent a startling thought through him and he felt the Hogwarts' magic constrict in sadness and confirmation. Harry pulled up all of his shields as he felt his fury rise. He should have known...Dumbledore had only defeated Grindlewald after he became headmaster so it wasn't too far-fetched to believe that the man had been draining and using the castle's magic as his own.

A new plan started forming in Harry's mind and he glanced at Quirrel, who was still staring at him. He needed to steal the stone the moment Dumbledore secured it in the mirror of Erised, instead of waiting until the end of the year.

Even though the Dark Lord would probably start hunting him the moment he returned, Harry knew it would keep Dumbledore from focusing too closely on Harry's movements. Pair that with the fact that the man will soon be hunting for Harry's 'Guardian', he was sure that he would find a gap somewhere.

Harry returned his focus to the front of the room as the Sorting Hat started to sing, and one by one each student was sorted. Hermione was sorted into Ravenclaw, but Harry gave her a reassuring nod, which she returned with a smile. He'd always known that she was meant to be in Ravenclaw, and this way she would be able to protect Luna when she came to Hogwarts.

Draco ended up in Slytherin of course, and Harry smiled as his friend excitedly joined his house. Nott was also sorted into Slytherin and Harry noted the momentarily relieved dip of the other boy's shoulders before he sat. It was something that Harry needed to look into, he decided.

"Potter, Harry", Harry inwardly grimaced as the whispers began, but he ignored them. If they thought he was going to be the perfect Golden Boy then they had another thing coming. This time he was going to do things HIS way.

The hat chuckled the moment he was placed on Harry's head, "I can't wait to see what havoc you will create young master. Now let's get you sorted before they think you're a hat stall, shall we? Though you still have the attributes of each house, you would do well in..."

"SLYTHERIN"

As excepted the school erupted in shock, but Harry only focused on his friends and he was relieved to see that none of them seemed angry at his placement. Ron even gave him a nod and a smile as he walked towards Slytherin's table.

Ron went to Gryffindor and Harry returned the smile and the nod, making it clear that they would still be friends no matter what. The entire school watched the exchange in surprise and without knowing it, Harry already managed to ease the rivalries between the houses ever so slightly.

Zabini turned out to be a hat stall this time around but was still sorted into Slytherin. Draco teased him good-naturedly by saying that the hat probably struggled to decide between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, to which the other boy nodded.

The feast started as everyone settled in and Harry finally chanced a glance at Severus. The man was glaring at him as if he was an enigma that the man wanted to solve and Harry had to stop himself from sticking his tongue out at the other man.

He wouldn't allow him to die this time, not again.

He ignored Dumbledore completely and Draco gave a mock shudder as he pointed out the way that the old man was staring at Harry. Several of the other students noticed it as well and Harry grimaced as they looked to him for answers, not really expecting that he would answer though.

"I found out that the headmaster seems to have an unhealthy obsession with me so I'm not surprised that he's staring. Probably found out that my new guardian has locked him out of my vaults. He was a little late for the sorting after all."

The response was instant as most of the snakes stiffened and looked at him. The unasked question hung in the air and he nodded. He'd just given them a freebie of vital information and they fully realized it. It also succeeded in proving that Harry wasn't the Light's Saviour that everyone believed he was.

The feast soon ended and the prefects started herding the first years together. Draco stiffened next to him and Harry found that Dumbledore was standing right behind him as he turned. "Good evening Headmaster, is something wrong?"

Harry acted quite concerned, and he saw a few Slytherins battling to hide their laughter behind their masks.

Dumbledore nodded, "If you would please come to my office dear boy, I believe we need to have a little chat?"

Harry found himself closing off slightly, but he kept his mask in place and pulled up a look of worried confusion, "Am I in trouble, sir? Or is there something wrong with my school application? I did receive a letter saying that I was accepted at Hogwarts, sir. I swear!"

Dumbledore looked all too happy to see him acting so timid and Harry fought the urge to hex the man. "No, my boy. Everything is quite alright, I just want to have a little friendly chat."

Harry saw Draco's eyes narrow in suspicion and he reached back, slightly squeezing his arm even as he lowered his eyes to the ground to avoid looking the man in the eyes, "Sorry Headmaster, my guardian said that I shouldn't visit your office unless I am in trouble."

He frowned a little as if he didn't quite understand it, and Dumbledore immediately pounced, as expected, "Oh I am sure it will be quite alright Harry..."

Harry shook his head and an expression of fear crossed his face, "Sorry Headmaster, I don't want to disobey my guardian, he took me away from the bad people." He frowned slightly, "My guardian also said that I shouldn't talk with you about bank stuff, sir, but why would I do that?"

Dumbledore paled slightly at the implication before he excused himself and rushed from the hall, thus confirming Harry's earlier words about the headmaster. Harry felt Draco's gaze shoot towards him, and he just hoped that none of the other Slytherins had realized how easily the first implication spilled from Harry's lips.

The prefect cleared his throat before gathering them up again and leading towards the dungeons. They stopped at a blank wall, the only one that seemed to be clear of pictures in the entire hallway, and the prefect spoke the password, "Basilisk".

Harry found the password amusing, but he didn't say anything. They entered the common room and for a moment everything was quiet before the students that heard his conversation with the headmaster, started laughing and introducing themselves.

He saw Flint nearing and shook his hand, "Marcus Flint, I haven't seen Dumbledore pale like that in years, well done."

Harry smiled, but his reply was cut short as Severus started making his speech. He then asked Harry to stay behind and Draco squeezed his arm, "Don't worry, my godfather wouldn't allow you to get into trouble if you didn't do anything."

Harry nodded, but still gave in to the urge to swallow nervously. This was new territory for him, as he didn't know how the man would react if he were placed in Slytherin, even if the man seemed to be pleasantly surprised when Harry revealed it during one of their study sessions.