Deaf-A Harry Potter story

4

Draco's POV
I told Harry it was time for the sorting and gently pulled him away from the weasel.

"Draco? I can't lip read from this far away." Harry told me.

We were right by the front but I suppose it made sense. His vision was terrible.

I decided that I would give him a signal once he was to be sorted and he could go up then. So, I told him that and he agreed.

"Malfoy, Draco!" Was called by McGonagall and I put my confident, 'in better than you all' mask and made my way to the front.

Once the old hat touched the tip of my hair, it shouted "Slytherin!"

I made my way over to the Slytherin table, smiling at Harry as I went past. He locked his eyes onto me and eventually his name was called. I made a small hand gesture that meant that he should go up.

I hoped he was in Slytherin. Pansy, Blaise and I were the only ones who knew he was deaf. Other than the devil twins from what Harry told us.

Harry's POV

I watched Draco, looking for the hand movement we agreed on. Soon enough, I saw it and everyone started looking at me expectantly.

Slowly, I walked up towards the front of the hall and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on my head and covered my eyes.

For the first time in 5 years, I heard something. A low voice.

"Hmmm, interesting." It said. "Deaf. Made, not born this way. Trying to keep it a secret. An advantage but also a curse. A Slytherin trait indeed. You would be great there you know? Great friends and allies. Your ambition far outweighs many already there. Although, Gryffindor would suit you very well indeed. Your courage and chivalry could overtake even the bravest in that house. Now, which one child?"

I thought back to Draco. One of the first things he told me was that he would be Slytherin so that's what I chose. "Slytherin, please." I answered in my head.

The hat then told me, "SLYTHERIN!"

I was so confused as to why I could actually hear the hat and decided to ask someone later.

Looking around as I was walking, I noticed only the Slytherin table clapped and cheered. Everyone else was looking shocked. Except the twins from before who had helped me. They clapped and cheered for me. Or so I assumed. I couldn't actually see what they were doing. I could only see gestures and moving mouths.For all I knew, they could be booing me.

Sitting next to Draco, I noticed him glaring at a lot of people who were obviously whispering and pointing at me.

"Why was everyone silent when I got sorted?" I asked the blonde boy next to me.

"Your parents were in Gryffindor. The supposedly 'light' house. You however were sorted into Slytherin. The supposedly 'dark' house. Everyone expected you to go to Gryffindor." He explained.

"Well, that's just stupid. I'm not my parents. Although, I did have a choice. Gryffindor or Slytherin. Speaking of which, why could I hear the hat?"

Draco laughed slightly and answered my question. "Well, the hat doesn't speak out loud unless it's shouting your house out. You didn't hear it, you thought it."

We carried on talking quietly until Blaise was sorted. He was the last person to be sorted which is unfortunate. Blaise obviously got into Slytherin and sat down to my left.

Pansy was also in Slytherin. She was sorted just after Draco and sat to his right. I was on his left.

As soon as Blaise was sorted, an old man wearing bright purple robes and his beard tucked in his belt stood up, commanding attention.

I couldn't read his lips from where I was so I took the time to look around the hall, observing everything and everyone.

A few minutes later, food just appeared on the table in front of us. I gasped along with a lot of other first years.

Draco tapped me lightly on the shoulder. I turned to look at him. "Harry, are you going to actually get some food or just stare at it?" He joked.

I blushed. "Oh yeah."

I put only a small portion of food on my plate. Just enough that I would fill up but not enough for me to throw up. Altogether, I think I had about 9 mouthfuls before I was full. I was quite proud until I caught the others giving worried glances between my empty plate and I. Confused, I asked what was going on. I looked around me and when my eyes landed on Pansy, she started to answer.

"Well, that wasn't a lot of food, Harry. It was a lot less than your body needs." She told me.

"Er, are you sure? This is how much I usually have." I told them yet they only gave me more worried looks. Older years had started to look now and were also concerned from the looks they had on their faces.

The girl sat opposite me had a Prefect badge displayed on her robes. She leant forward slightly when my eyes landed on her.

"Harry right? I'm Gemma Farley. Your house prefect." She smiled nicely at me. "Is there a problem?"

I shook my head slightly whilst my friends all nodded. Gemma raised her eyebrow at me slightly.

"Okay, fine. There is. They're all saying I'm not eating enough but I've always ate that much. Usually it'll last me a week or two!" Then I covered my mouth. No one was supposed to know that.