‘This was a good. Very good’ Ronan thought. The way Neville introduced himself, as well as from seeing his demeanor he understood that the boy was just like his movie counterpart, which was a good thing. When Draco came to meet them in their train compartment, he felt that the cannon was deviating too much. But seeing Neville’s demeanor, he felt happy.
It might not be much, but if Neville is like its movie counterpart, then it would mean that it would be very easy to manipulate the guy. He knows what kinds of mistakes Harry made in the movies, and if he could manipulate the main protagonist of the movie, it would mean that he might be able to survive just long enough.
Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air, and several people behind him screamed.
“What the..” He was about to curse but stopped himself.
About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first-years. But one of the fat ones, stopped to look at them, “New Students!”
A few students nodded, “My name is Friar, I hope to see you in Hufflepuff” With a proud look he spoke, “It is my old house you know.”
“Move along now,” Professor McGonagall had come back. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.”
One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. “Now, form a line,” Professor McGonagall told the first-years, “and follow me.”
Feeling oddly confident, Ronan got in line behind Hermione, and in front of her were Harry and Ron. They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets.
At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. When Ronan looked above saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.”
Then he whispered back, “Hermione can I borrow that book, I am becoming quite intrigued hearing her mumbling.” She nodded and then looked forward. It was clear that she was rather nervous.
Professor McGonagall then silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the whole hall. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard’s hat, which looked like it not has been washed in quite a while. Then the hat twitched, a rip appeared on its brim like a mouth, and then the hat began to sing.
----------------------------------------
‘Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I’ll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on!
Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands
though I have none,
For I’m a Thinking Cap!’
----------------------------------------
The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished the song, and Ronan was most impressed out of all of them. He might have seen Harry Potter movies a very very long time ago, but he remembered that the movies didnt have this song. The hat basically explained how it works, he would have remembered something like this if this had happened in movies.
“I’ll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll.” He heard Ron whisper to Harry, which made him smile.
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Abbott, Hannah!”
A girl with a blond pigtail came forward, but then Hermione leaned back and whispered, “Ronan, how did you know about the hat?”
“I met a fellow student of Hogwarts while I went to school supplies, she told me.” He lied. Then, one by one Professor McGonagall started calling students one by one, and they started getting sorted out. Hermione was the first one to be called, and just like in the cannon, she got selected in Gryffindor.
After her, Neville Longbottom was called, his name started murmurs all around the Hall. He saw that even all the professors were curious about where the boy who lived would go. And just like the cannon, Neville got selected in Gryffindor. Malfoy was then called, the hat barely touched his head when the hat screamed, “SLYTHERIN!”
Seeing this Ronan smiled, and whispered to Harry, “No surprise there. That guy looks like he could go through any length to complete his goal.” To which Harry nodded, that boy was simply too nervous to reply.
Harry was called forward, the hat took some time with him, and like in the cannon sent him to Gryffindor.
“Ronan Johanson,” With a big smile on his face, and without any fear he went forward. He sat down comfortably on the stool. As soon as he felt the hat touch his head, he heard it yell, “SLYTHERIN” wiping the smirk on his face.
***
Sitting at the Slytherin table with green robes like all the other people, Ronan felt betrayed. That stupid hat sent him to Slytherin before he could even get a chance to reason with it, Honestly, this was very upsetting. Most of his plans included getting closer to the trio and manipulating them into killing the snake-headed bastard before he could rise again. But now in Slytherin, he didnt know whether he still would be able to pull anything off or not.
He looked around, everyone in the house seemed to be in a cheery mood. Draco Malfoy his two bodyguards were ethically talking to each other, while he was sitting with a boy named Blaise Zabini, opposite to them were two blonds called Pansy Parkinson, and Daphne Greengrass. And the thing was, he had never heard of any of these guys before, and they were definitely not in the movies.
“You alright mate?” Blaise asked, he turned towards the boy, he was a fellow boy with almond skin and black hair and eyes. “Yeah, I am alright.”
“Well, you dont seem to be happy ever since you got sorted.” Hearing Zabini, both the blondes who were previously busy talking stopped for a second, and tried hearing their conversation. He noticed them, so he made up an excuse, “Well, I thought I was a very very complicated guy. I thought that the hat would take some time to choose my house. But that old thing just barely touched me, and sent me here. Am I that easy to read?”
Blaise smiled, “You are worrying about stupid things my friend. You are here because of your heritage, you should be proud of that.” Then the boy put his hand forward, “My name is Blaise Zabini by the way.”
He shook the boy’s hand, “I am Ronan Johanson,” Then one by one the blondes also introduced them as well, it was then Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak… Thank you!” Everyone clapped and cheered, while he on the other hand got confused instead.
‘What the hell is that old man trying to say?’
But as he looked down, he was startled to see the empty dishes from before now had a pile of food in them. He saw that there was roast beef, chicken, pork and lamb chops, sausages, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and mint humbugs. He had never starved in the orphanage before, but he was never allowed to eat as much as he wanted in this life. So without any worry in mind, he dug in.
While eating, he further started to befriend Zabini and the two blondes, and they started chatting about things about the school. He understood that the people around him were all rich brats from affluent families, as they complained about the lousy train ride, and they could have just taken the floo network here instead of that old thing.
To blend in, he didnt participate in conversation much, but did agree to someone's comment from time to time. Then came a time, when he wanted to try the appetizing lamb chops, but they were too far away from him, close to Zabini. As he was about to say something, he stopped. He realized that he was in Hogwarts now, now he could use his telekinesis as much as he wanted, and he didnt need to hide it here.
He concentrated, and the whole tray of the lamb chops started floating at his command. The whole tray was very heavy, and he was having trouble lifting it, but as he had committed to the task, he didnt back down. He urged the plate to come near him, he took three chops and then placed it back. His knife was easily cut through the meat, but before he could take another bite he looked up to see that everyone was looking at him.
He looked around, most of the first years, who were sitting all around him were staring at him. Even a few older students were staring at him, which confused him, but then realization hit him. By his 7th birthday, he had realized that if he used telekinesis for a very long time, or if he tried to lift very heavy objects then his nose would start to bleed. He figured that his nose would be bleeding, with a swipe of his backhand he checked, but his nose was fine.
So he asked, “What happened?”
Daphne then asked, “How did you do that?” he got further confused, “What?”
Pancy then spoke, “You lifted the tray without using your wand. How did you do that?”
He didnt answer outright, instead asked, “You guys cannot do that?” Blaise, Daphne, and Pancy shook their head.
“Not every wizard in the world could do that,” came a voice, he looked up to see a ghost floating above them. Covered in what looked like blood, a ghost with a cruel face revealed, “But those who could do that.. They are the ones whose names are remembered in history.” Before he could ask any more question, the ghost turned around and fled the scene, leaving him even more confused.