As the boats took off, Harry looked up to see with amusement that Ron had somehow managed to get himself trapped on a boat with Draco Malfoy and his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. Making sure not to use his wand as he didn't want anybody to see him, Harry focused on his magic and sent a push towards the redhead.
Harry barely contained his mirth when Ron fell, landing with a splash in the Black Lake. Some people screamed whilst others laughed; Harry thought for a moment Malfoy would join Ron with the amount he was laughing.
"Easy now," shouted Hagrid from the first boat. "He'll be fine, the squid will rescue him."
His words seemed to incite more fear and people huddle close into the boats. Eventually Ron resurfaced with a tentacle around his waist and was plopped back in his boat. His white face made his freckles stand out even more.
Harry had to bite his lip as he heard Malfoy taunt, "Bet that's the first bath you've taken all year, weasel."
Eventually the boats reached the castle and Harry found himself reaching out with his magic instinctively. He felt the castle's magic sing within him and felt an overwhelming peace.
Seeing his enraptured look the girls giggled. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Susan asked.
Harry, dazed from the magical connection, merely nodded. "Yeah."
The crowd follow Hagrid into the entrance hall with Ron standing at the front next him, dripping lake water on the floor. The doors opened and Professor McGonagall entered.
"Good heavens, what happened?" she asked, indicating to Ron.
"He fell in the lake," Hagrid said.
"No, I didn't!" Ron shouted, "I was pushed! I bet Malfoy did it!"
Draco snorted. "Please, like I would want to touch you," he drawled, getting laughs from some people, including a small one from Harry.
McGonagall sighed and withdrew her wand. "Stand still, Mr. Weasley - you are a Weasley, I presume?" she asked.
Ron's grumbled reply was lost when Harry heard Draco mutter, "Red hair, hand-me-down clothes? He's obviously a Weasley."
After Ron had been dried, McGonagall gave the students two minutes to prepare themselves and left, promising to be back.
Alone again, the students milled out slightly. The girls and Neville chose to stay close to Harry, who had wandered towards Draco and Ron to watch their argument.
"I know it was you, you dirty Death Eater!" Ron snarled, red faced.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "You know nothing, weasel," he hissed.
"Oh, yeah? Just wait, me and Harry will get you and your little Slytherin friends," Ron threatened, shocking Harry as he had yet to meet the redhead in this life.
"I doubt you even know the great Boy-Who-Lived," Draco said.
"Me and Harry will be great friends, you'll see. We'll be in Gryffindor together and-" Ron started before cutting off when Harry snorted.
"Why are you laughing?" Ron demanded.
"I just think it's funny is all," Harry drawled. Behind him, Neville, Susan, and Hannah were all snickering slightly as they knew who Harry was.
"Oh yeah," Ron challenged.
"Yes," Harry said calmly.
"Well, who asked you anyway?" Ron said, dismissing Harry as he turned back to Draco. Looking up, Harry saw the blond giving him an appraising look. Draco, seeing he had been noticed, nodded his head in greeting. Harry, seeing this, nodded back and smirked slightly.
Before Ron could continue his argument McGonagall returned. "If you would, line up in twos and follow me," she instructed. Not waiting, she began striding through the entrance doors.
The sorting happened as Harry remembered, however, this time when Harry's name was called out, there was a gasp of indignation heard coming from Ronald Weasley as he realized who he had argued with and a wide smirk on the face of Draco Malfoy. Walking with grace up to the stool, Harry sat down and waited for the hat to be placed on his head.
'Hello again,'Harry thought as the hat settled on his head.
'Oh, you are interesting Lord Potter - or should I say Heir Potter? You're not a lord yet. Such a fascinating mind you have, so many secrets; oh, you would do very well in Slytherin, but I can see you don't want to go there. Why not, Harry? You could achieve so much greatness,' the hat questioned.
'You've seen my mind, you know exactly who I face; if I go into Slytherin I stand the chance of being discovered that much earlier. Dumbledore's suspicious already now that he's seen I don't have a glamour; if I go to the snake pit he'll never leave me alone.'Harry hoped his reasoning would persuade the hat, he was lucky the hat was bound to Hogwarts and could not reveal what it found in people's heads and held no loyalty to the headmaster - just to Hogwarts itself.
'Mmm yes, I see. Then it better be-'
"RAVENCLAW!" The final word was shouted out loud and, for a moment, the hall froze in shock before erupting into cheers, the eagle house jumping up and down. Looking around before he moved, Harry noticed Draco Malfoy staring at him again, and nodded his head as he went to sit.
Sitting down at his table, Harry was greeted by members, some of which he knew from his past, mainly the ones close to him in age but some he had never met before. Beside him was Padma Patil, who Harry knew through the DA and from the disaster that was the Yule Ball, when he took her twin Parvati. Terry Boot and Sue Li where opposite him, with Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner slightly further up. Lisa Turpin was finally sorted and she took the space next to Harry.
"Do you really have the scar?" asked Terry, staring at Harry intently as though he was trying to see through his hair.
Sighing, Harry looked around. "I understand that as Ravenclaws you all love mysteries and knowledge, but please, can you not stare at me like I'm something special? I'm really not," Harry said.
"How can you say that? You defeated You-Know-Who!" asked one of the older students listening in.
"I didn't actually," Harry said causing silence to fall around him.
" What?" asked multiple people in shock.
"I very much doubt what happened had anything to do with me. I was most likely a mistake on Voldemort's end or something done by my mum," Harry said.
....
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