At that a lot of people shrank back and developed looks of consideration.
"Anyway, like I was saying, I do understand that you may have questions, but honestly, a lot of what you've been told about me is utter rubbish. I'm just a normal boy, a normal student, I'm really not all that interesting, so please treat me like you would anybody else," Harry said. With that he started to fill his plate with the food that had appeared.
The students around him shared some looks and followed his example, most even happier now that Harry was in their house as he seemed like a good person as well as being the Boy-Who-Lived.
Meanwhile at the staff table
Albus Dumbledore almost choked on his lemon drop as Harry Potter stepped forward. The boy looked nothing like James, which worried him as he himself had placed the blood glamour. Watching with trepidation as Harry walked forward with an unusual amount of grace for a muggle raised boy, Albus leaned forward.
The sorting took a few minutes, the longest of the students so far, making Albus' heart rate skyrocket; he should have gone straight to Gryffindor! Eventually, when the hat shouted Ravenclaw, Albus almost wept in relief. Although not Gryffindor, the boy obviously had some redeeming qualities keeping him out of Slytherin.
However, the fact that it appeared that some of his charms had failed worried him. He needed Harry to be his perfect little light warrior, his plans counted on that fact.
Severus Snape, however, had the opposite reaction to Harry Potter's appearance; he had dreaded the day that Potter's spawn would arrive at Hogwarts, expecting a pampered prince, a clone of James and the embodiment of everything he hated. Therefore, he was surprised when the longhaired, delicate looking boy walked forward with his head down at first.
The boy was small for his age and walked with an innate grace that had Severus scowling. That scowl, however, soon died when the boy looked up; his features were soft - small nose, slightly pouted lips, and high cheekbones, but most shockingly were the vivid emerald eyes. Eyes Severus had once loved, that had belonged to the sister of his heart.
The boy looked like a male version of Lily; sure, there were traces of Potter, but they were well hidden. The boy had even somehow managed to avoid the dreaded Potter hair; his hair falling in waves and curls to his shoulders, not perfectly in place, but a far cry from the untamable mane his sire had.
Severus watched with baited breath as the boy sat boy to be sorted and he wondered if maybe he would be a snake, but dismissed that thought. No Potter had ever been in Slytherin as far as he knew.
The hat seemed to be taking his time and Severus wondered if maybe the boy would break the pattern before it called out for Ravenclaw. Clapping politely, Severus almost missed the nod Potter had sent to Draco Malfoy. Wondering what it was about, Severus tuned out the rest of the sorting, clapping whenever he heard Slytherin shouted out.
After the feast was finished and Dumbledore gave his warnings and spoke nonsense, Harry followed the other Ravenclaws up to their tower, being lead by Penelope Clearwater who Harry had never met, but remembered getting petrified in his second year and for dating Percy Weasley. The other prefect, Jason Samuels, Harry had never heard of.
Making the first years wait while the rest of the house entered, Penelope waited for the door to close before beckoning them all closer.
"Right, we have a tradition in our house for first years, which is that you all have to work together the first time to unlock the door. Unlike the other houses, we in Ravenclaw don't have a set password, instead the door guardian will ask you a riddle. To get in, all you have to do is answer correctly," she explained.
Harry shared nervous looks with the rest of his house mates. He had become a lot more studious and cunning since having the blocks removed, but he didn't know if that would correspond with him being able to solve riddles.
"Right then, are we ready?" Jason asked.
Harry, alongside his year mates, nodded and waited for the guardian to speak.
"You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?
Harry thought about it and failed to reach a conclusion straight away; he had first thought about memories but he knew from his own that they could be tainted quite easily, however, after a moment, a new idea hit him.
Sue Li seemed to have worked it out as well as she bounced slightly. "History," she said.
The others all nodded and realised the answer after she spoke.
"Correct," the guardian said, opening the door.
Leading them up the spiral staircase and into the circular common room where the rest of the house was waiting, Penelope walked forward and led the group into the room. Harry remembered coming in here once in his last life when he was looking for Tom's horcruxes; at the time he hadn't really taken in the beauty of the room. It was very different from the Gryffindor common room.
The white walls were broken up by tapestries of famous events and the ceiling was covered in stars, perfect renditions of the solar system. Against most of the walls were massive bookcases, which were filled to the brim.
Unlike the stone floor that covered Gryffindor common room, the eagles nest had navy carpet and there were more singular love seats over couches and sofas. There was also a lot more desks and notice boards dotted around, which Harry saw had specific subjects engraved underneath.
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