Once they had reached their destination, Harry, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Theo stepped out of the Hogwarts Express to join Hagrid who had called out for the first years. As he was gathering the first years, Hagrid gave Harry a warm smile and wave which he returned. The groundskeeper's smiled faltered just a little when he saw Harry's company of the four future Slytherins. He wondered how he knew who they were, but remembered that Draco was the spitting image of Lucius.
Hagrid informed them that they were to get to Hogwarts on boats through the Great Black Lake. Harry, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle got into a boat while Theo offered to get into another boat with one of his female friends since they were only allowed four to a boat.
They were now in the Great Hall at Hogwarts as the sorting ceremony commenced.
"Potter, Harry," called McGonagall.
It was Harry's turn to try on the sorting hat. Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Greggory Goyle and Theo Nott had all been sorted into Slytherin, while Hermione Granger had been sorted into Gryffindor. Harry had decided to let the Sorting hat decide his destiny even if his destiny was Slytherin. He heard many whispers among the students and staff members at the mention of his name. He felt many eyes on him as he made his way to the stool as the whole room watched him with interest due to him being "The Boy Who Lived". He picked up the sorting hat, put it on his head and sat on the stool waiting for its' verdict.
"Hmm ... not an easy one! I see bravery, and a disposition for chivalry and recklessness which would fit a true Gryffindor. I see loyalty, dedication, and a knack for forming strong friendship bonds which would fit Hufflepuff. I see intelligence and wit which would fit Ravenclaw. I also see talent, determination, resourcefulness and disregard for rules which would fit very well with Slytherin. Where to put you? ... Hmm ... You could do very well in Slytherin indeed ... But there's also ... hmm ..." the hat pondered.
After a good whole minute, the hat finally said "But alas, at the core you're a GRYFFINDOR."
Harry received the loudest cheer, especially from the Gryffindor table. Professor McGonagall looked elated for a brief moment before she consciously turned her expression back to neutral. He looked at Draco Malfoy who looked disappointed, but shrugged and gave him a small sad smile with a slight sneer. Harry heard a lot of whispering as he walked towards the Gryffindor table. The Gryffindors looked at him as if they were eyeing a priceless jewel as he took his place at the Gryffindor table.
He looked up at the staff table and saw Hagrid beaming at him with relief on his face. Professor Dumbledore looked pleased as he held up a glass in salute. His eyes then wandered towards a greasy haired man with a hook nose who was fixing him with a cold stare. Harry recognized him by his distinctive hook nose and greasy hair that the Marauders had described to him. He didn't know whether he was imagining things due to the Marauders warning him to beware of Severus Snape who used to be their arch-nemesis, but he thought he could feel an intense hatred from the Potion's professor's eyes that even his scar began to hurt.
Harry received a warm welcome at the Gryffindor table which included a hug from Oliver. Soon, they were joined by Dean Thomas and Ron Weasley. Ron took a seat next to him as they exchanged names and shook hands. Ron was briefly star-struck by Harry's name and asked to see his scar which Harry obliged.
"Ron Weasley? You wouldn't happen to be related to Charlie Weasley would you?" asked Harry.
"You know my brother?" asked Ron, astonished.
"Your brother? Cool! I heard he was the seeker on the Gryffindor team and an excellent one," said Harry as Ron looked abashed that Harry considered his brother and by extension him cool.
Harry and Ron quickly took a liking to each other as they fell into easy conversation. Ron thought Harry was lucky to be the privileged, only son of his father while Harry thought Ron was lucky to have a loving family with many siblings and a mother. He did consider himself lucky to have a loving family of his own with his father and uncles. He loved his father and didn't wish for a mother in place of a his father. But nevertheless, Harry always felt his family was incomplete without his mother and thought it would be wonderful to have siblings. He was introduced to Ron's three older brothers. Percy was a fifth year prefect while Fred and George were mischievous twins in their third year. Ron also told Harry about his other two older brothers, Bill and Charlie who had graduated and worked in Egypt and Romania respectively. Aside from them, he was informed that Ron had a little sister, Ginny who would be starting Hogwarts the next year.
Early the next morning, Harry and Ron went to the Owlery to send letters back home. Ron had to use a school owl as he didn't own his own owl. As they were leaving the Owlery, they ran into Draco Malfoy and gang.
"Potter, pity you didn't get sorted into Slytherin," said Draco.
"The sorting hat considered Slytherin for a bit but decided I had more Gryffindor traits than Slytherin," Harry shrugged.
"I'd pick my friends more carefully if I were you Potter. The Weasleys are far from good company to keep. They completely lack in class and status," said Draco as Ron's face turned as red as his hair.
"Say that again," Ron demanded.
"We both have different ideas of what class is, Malfoy. To me, the type of person someone is shows their class rather than which family they come from."
"Alright, suit yourself, but I warned you," said Draco as he continued walking into the Owlery with his gang while Harry and Ron headed off to the Great Hall.
"Can you believe that Malfoy? Thinks he's all that just because he's rich," said Ron.
"Mafoy's a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, he seemed alright when we spoke about things that didn't involved class or status. On the other hand, he can be such a git. But my dad says that it's his dad who planted nonsense into his mind," said Harry.
"I've heard of his dad. Lucius Malfoy. My dad says he was one of 'you know who's' biggest supporters," said Ron darkly.
James, Sirius and Remus were in the Potter Manor hall, reading through the letter they had received from Harry.
"My boy's in Gryffindor," said James proudly as the three Marauders exchanged high fives.
Remus furrowed his brows and pressed his lips together. "I wonder why the third corridor is out of bounds."
"When we were in school, the first thing we would have done was to check out what was *out of bounds* in the third corridor," said Sirius mischievously.
"Yeah", James and Remus agreed reminiscently.
"You don't think Harry would be intrigued to check out the third floor corridor, do you?" asked Remus. "I mean he did inherit your curiosity and knack for disregarding rules."
"That's true, but he doesn't have the inflated head that I had at his age though. Nevertheless, I'll write to him not to think it's clever to check out the out of bound corridor," said James.
Owls bearing letters from home flew into the Great Hall during breakfast, including Hedwig who brought a letter and care package to Harry from James. Across from his table, he saw Draco Malfoy receiving his own care package and letter.
Harry excitedly opened his letter which read:
Dear Harry,
CONGRATULATIONS on making Gryffindor! It's only been a day, and I miss you already.
Son, no matter how curious the third floor corridor is, please don't ever be intrigued to check it out. You never know what dangerous thing or creature could be in there. Remember that Hogwarts is also home to the Forbidden Forrest, so anyone thinking it's clever to check out the third floor corridor may very well be signing their death certificate. I'm not saying that you would try to check it out, but I'm just warning you in case.
I've attached a care package with your favorite treats. As your father, I advise you not to get into too much trouble and toe the line. As James Potter, I tell you to put those Zonko's products into good use.
Have a great time at Hogwarts. Take care and I love you. Your Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus send their love.
Love,
Dad
Harry grinned as he put his letter neatly away. He waited till he got back to the common room before opening his care package. The package consisted of products from Zonko's joke shop, Honeydukes and a large supply of Harry's favorite muggle candy, Cadbury.
"What are these?" asked Ron, picking up a box of Cadbury chocolates.
"It's a muggle chocolate. Try it. It's really good," said Harry courteously.
Ron opened the box and found many large rectangular Cadbury chocolates wrapped in a purple wrapper. He unwrapped one and took a bite of it.
Delight could be seen spreading across Ron's face as he chewed the chocolate. "It's really good. Better than chocolate frogs."
Harry shared his treats with the Gryffindors surrounding him.
"Your father sent you Zonko's products?" George was slacked-jawed.
"Just mild ones. He didn't send things like dungbombs or firecrackers," said Harry.
"Still, coolest father we've seen," said Fred, impressed.
"Make sure that stick in the mud 'prefect' doesn't see them," cautioned George.
"Who?"
"Percy," said Ron and the Weasley twins in unison.
"The school has decided to torture us by giving our brother authority to get us in trouble," said Fred.
"If he sees your Zonko's products, he'd use his 'prefect' authority to confiscate them," George warned.