Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[50] House Of The Serpent

The Great Hall was decorated festively for the Start of Term feast. Students were seated on their respective house tables; each table bore the significant house colors and banners. Eridanus was lined up in a queue of his fellow first years that were just brought into the Hall for the Sorting Ceremony to commence.

Eridanus had been amazed beyond limits at every single thing he had witnessed by then; from the Hogwarts Express to the horseless carriages, the boat ride through the vast lake to the magnificent castle of Hogwarts itself.

But nothing could account for his absolute surprise when the battered old hat placed on the stool started to sing. Nathan had told him once about the Sorting Ceremony and its procedures at Ilvermorny but he hadn't explained anything about the Ceremony held at Hogwarts, telling him that he didn't want to ruin the suspense for him.

He, who had been expecting to walk over to a Gordian Knot whose gems glowed to indicate which house was the candidate to be sorted in, was quite astounded at the simplicity of the whole event. Unlike Ilvermorny, Hogwarts was rather humble and modest in its nature. A sheer quality of the Brits, as once Nathan had put it so himself.

After the song ended, names of the first years were called out from a scroll as they went to the stool, one by one, and put on the Sorting Hat which in turn announced the houses they were sorted in.

Lucius had given him a very specific description of the four houses; the foolhardy Gryffindors, the nerdy Ravenclaws, the leftover Hufflepuffs and the elite Slytherins. Danny thought that he had been a little too prejudiced in his description but hadn't mentioned it to him; knowing that he would find it out himself soon.

"Whitburg, Eridanus!"

His name was called and he went up to the stool, quite confident as compared to the rest of his peers, and placed the Hat on top of his head. The last thing he saw was Lucius's beaming face at the Slytherin table, who had raised his hand in an encouraging thumbs up.

In order to avoid suspicions, after Nathan and Demi's marriage, Eridanus's surname had been changed from Riddle to Whitburg upon Herbert's suggestion. Nathan hadn't objected at all since he had accepted Danny as his own with a sincere heart, while Demelza wanted her son to live a happy and secure life; away from the controversial rumors about his real father.

There was silence in the Hall and the only sounds heard were the soft murmurs of the students. However, the Hat started speaking to Danny which caught him off guard at first but he soon adjusted.

"A Parselmouth, eh?"

He hadn't ever heard that word before so he was a bit confused.

"Ah, so you aren't aware. You talk to snakes, right? That makes you a Parselmouth. It's a rare trait possessed mostly by those who are directly descended from Salazar Slytherin."

So you're going to put me in Slytherin, Danny thought realizing that the Hat would be able to know his thoughts since it was practically looking inside his mind, or so it claimed.

"Let's not overlook the other houses, shall we? My duty is to sort students in houses they would fare best in. And such decisions aren't to be taken so quickly, child."

Fair enough. Took you not even a second to sort the Prewett twins into Gryffindor.

The hat burst into a throaty laugh, at which Eridanus felt the sudden urge to cover his ears; since he was wearing the hat, the sound of laughter was loudest to him. 

"I see a clever wit, a quality that's clearly associated with Ravenclaw. And then you do have a caring nature akin to sweet old Hufflepuff."

What about Gryffindor?