Chapter 12: Sorting
The Hogwarts Express was simultaneously exciting and disappointment.
Some part of Adrian wished for something...more. He didn't know what he had expected in retrospect. It was a large train, ample room for movement and more compartments on the inside than it should've had. He'd managed to claim a large empty compartment for himself. The train was magical in how quickly it flew across the countryside; the view outside the windows was just a blur of greys and greens and browns. Adrain was almost positive the amount of rail didn't actually exist in the eyes of muggles.
Still, something about it just felt...lacking though.
Twenty minutes into the long trip, his compartment door slid open and he was met with the familiar face of Calum.
"Harry!" The older boy cheered, causing Adrian to freeze entirely.
How did this-
"You don't mind if I call you Harry, do ya?" The boy grinned larger. "Much easier to remember than that Hadrianian mouthful."
"Adrian," he corrected with forced laziness, eying the boy critically. "Did you learn those curses you were looking at?"
Calum's cheerful expression fell very quickly into something serious. He casually pulled out his wand - a light brown wood - and set it on the table between them. "Don't mess with me, Adrian."
Adrian in turn pulled out his own wand, concealed in an arm holster like Calum's own. The other boy's eyebrows rose in surprise at the holster, but seemed to take the sight of both wands on the table as a peace offering.
"Nice wand you got there," Calum noted, eyes filled with what Adrian now suspected was kleptomania. The older boy's fingers were twitching noticeably. "Birch? No wait- Hemlock?"
Calum guessed correctly.
Adrian had long since purchased an additional wand to his phoenix and holly. Apparently, his preferred wand was something of a 'sister core' and would one day be wanted by Dumbledore. Because of that, he'd been forced to get another wand: hemlock and dragon heartstring. It wasn't his first choice, but it would work well enough.
"Interesting thing, hemlock. I didn't think they sold that in Ollivanders." Calum grinned, obviously thinking he had somehow pinned down Adrian with his knowledge.
"They don't," Adrian openly admitted. "You also can't buy the majority of the books that you own in Diagon Alley."
Calum swallowed.
"You're in Ravenclaw," Adrian confirmed, leaning forward and linking his fingers together. How convenient it was to have sources able to look into the Ministry Archives for him. Adrian's smile grew. "You are rather studious. I assume you know plenty of things. Actually, I think you know things that are rather... secretive."
"If you're talking about the books-" Calum started.
Adrian interrupted him with a raised hand, tilting his head as if he had heard something. He hummed, looking thoughtful. Adrien pointedly met Calum's eyes and smiled a knowing smile. "I'm sorry, I thought I'd heard a rat."
Calum paled.
The compartment door slid open suddenly, showing two young children around his age. One had ridiculously bushy hair and her front teeth were slightly more prominent than normal. The other was pudgy and seemed overall nervous with the situation.
"Oh, sorry," the girl said, though she didn't seem all that apologetic for having barged in. "Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost his."
The pudgy boy looked down, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Adrian's eyes widened as he looked at the uncomfortable pudgy boy. He did faintly remember him. He had a horrid grandmother.
"No toad in here!" Calum exclaimed, snatching up his wand from the table. "But I'll help look. I'll get the Prefects to help out too. They owe me a few favours."
The bushy-haired girl seemed surprised but blushed slightly at the overwhelming assistance. "Thank you! I'm Hermione Granger-"
"Hadrianus Selwyn," Adrian interrupted, rising with a pleasant smile, sliding his wand back into its hidden holster. "What kind of toad are we looking for? I know quite a few magical creatures."
Neville pushed his way past and wrung his hands anxiously.
"He- Trevor's about this big," Neville stumbled to explain, holding his hands apart a decent distance.
Adrian fought to keep the look on his face pleasant. He hadn't known the Longbottom heir would be so… useless.
"I'll go search!" Calum said, slipping out into the open hallway of the train. He obviously didn't want to be confronted on certain… issues.
Hermione frowned, looking at Adrian curiously. "I've heard the name Hadrianus before. Wasn't he a greek ruler?"
"Unfortunately yes. You can't choose the names your family gives you." He shrugged helplessly. "Call me Adrian. I insist."
Hermione offered a small, timid smile and nodded.
"I'll see you around?" She offered, seeming thrilled by the pleasant interaction.
Adrian nodded. Hermione and Neville left, once more leaving Adrian in silence. Briefly extracting his wand again, he wordlessly locked the compartment door, closing his eyes and leaning back against his seat.
Of course, the one time he could use Lutain and his uncanny ability to find every animal in question, the snake was sound asleep alongside the rest of the Hogwarts pets.
Adrian must've dozed off himself. When he woke up, it was dark outside and the train was slowing down. They'd arrived at Hogsmeade, it seemed. The station was barely more than an overhang on the side of the a hill. Between them and the large beautiful castle rising from the Scottish moore, a huge black glittering lake reflected the constellations above.
Adrian was loathe to admit it, but he found the sight exquisit.
"Firs' Years! This way!"
Adrian glanced over at the call where the smallest children were gathering near a man of truly towering proportions: the half-breed. Adrian had been warned about him repeatedly, by almost everyone. This was Hagrid, the groundskeeper for the castle and the nearby forests.
Adrian was shepherded along with other gaping, wide-eyed children to the lake, where a small fleet of wooden boats waited for them. Adrian's boat rocked precariously as he clambered in, threatening to tip him and the other three First Years into the inky black water. Probably they all did. Once the fleet of small boats were filled with every First Year, they were guided by invisible ropes, gliding smoothly and rhythmically over the surface towards the far side of the lake and Hogwarts.
Each boat had a glowing lantern, a single flame giving off enough light for Adrian to see a frightened brown-haired girl and a boy with false bravado in the boat with him. Off to the left, Adrian was fairly sure he had spotted the youngest Malfoy's white hair reflecting in the flickering lantern light.
Adrian's first proper look at Hogwarts left him speechless. The castle towered over the black lake, dozens of towers and ramparts giving him the impression of an impenetrable fortress, a fantastic closed-off world that he was now entering. Warm torchlight spilled from every window and doorway, reflecting off weathered stone and covered bridges, and made the school seem welcoming.
They piled out, forming a large mob as they were herded (very much like sheep) up along moving staircases and past moving paintings.
The half-giant handed them off to a stern-looking Professor who told them to prepare for the Sorting, then disappeared beyond enormous doors. Then they were left alone in what looked like an entry hall.
Low mumbled conversations started to spread through the group, rumors and speculation for how the Sorting would proceed. Was Adrian the only one who knew that the Sorting was done by an ancient, floppy hat?
"I heard we have to battle a troll!" One boy bemoaned, looking nearly ready to faint.
'For Merlin's sake...' Adrian thought to himself, shifting restlessly as the crowd around him became ever more anxious. If Adrian was expected to be clueless, Bella had certainly raised him wrong.
When the door opened, the First Years echoed with gasps and sounds of astonishment as they looked around with wide-eyed glances. The ceiling of the Great Hall had been enchanted to resemble the night sky. It was brighter, deeper than anything Adrian had seen before and there wasn't even a hint of light pollution or muggle contraptions.
All of the long tables cheered wildly at the sight of each of the First Years stumbling into the light. The chaos really began once the hat was brought out and that same strict-looking professor began to call out names.
"Abbot, Hannah!"
A blonde haired girl in pigtails ran forward, sitting down on the wobbly-looking stool. She looked absolutely terrified as the hat was lowered onto her head.
After a moment of quiet deliberation, the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
"Bones, Susan!" went to Hufflepuff too. "Brown, Lavender!" went to Gryffindor. The names continued, eventually reaching the fabled name, "Potter, Skylar!"
At once the entire room was filled with a great hush, as if everyone had suddenly taken a deep breath and was now holding it until the boy in question was sorted. Skylar separated from the other First Years. He swaggered forward, confident and proud as he sat on the stool with his head held high. The hat was lowered and almost instantly it shouted the House: "Gryffindor!"
The red House went wild with cheers and applause. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw joined in, though more subdued. Slytherin remained notedly silent.
"Like nobody saw that coming," the girl standing next to Adrian muttered under her breath. He had only faintly heard her under the loud mantra of "We got Potter!" led by two frolicking twins. Adrian spared her a glance as the hall settled and the Sorting continued.
And then finally: "Selwyn, Hadrianus!"
Adrian was relieved that Bellatrix's spell had worked on the roster. He squared his shoulders and strode across the room, his shoes clicking loudly while everyone watched him curiously. He noticed glares from the Gryffindor table, likely assuming he was related to the well-known dark family with the same name.
(In truth, it was so much worse but it was unlikely anyone would ever actually know that.)
He climbed onto the stool and tried to calmly wait for the hat to drop onto his head and obscure his vision. The moment it did, he felt something blast right through the pathetic strings that were his occlumency barriers.
'My my,' he heard an indescribable, masculine voice whisper. It seemed to pause for a moment, before continuing along the path with a destination unknown. 'I was under the assumption you had died.'
Adrian's facial expressions twitched slightly. Thankfully, no-one would see with the hat over his eyes like it was. 'I did.'
'Well, If you would like to call it that I believe we could compromise. Harry Potter is dead.'
Adrian felt a wave of satisfaction from the blunt confirmation.
The hat felt it and chuckled lowly in his head. 'Of course, it is against my abilities to inform anyone of our exchange. A useful thing, ah yes, but you already know this. You thirst for more information, but you hold back.'
Adrian neither confirmed nor denied the hat, simply awaiting its decision.
'Ironic, isn't it, Mr. Riddle? Your entire situation, your life now... Your motivation and your goals, oh very cunning indeed... They may conflict with my own personal beliefs and judgement, although they are commendable. You show remarkable bravery, perhaps I should sort you into-'
'Don't. Don't you dare,' Adrian threatened, trying to quell the rising wave of panic at such a prospect.
'No no, of course not. It is humorous that your mind bears such resemblance to your father's.'
'I am nothing like Potter.'
'James Potter is not your father, Mr. Riddle. And because of this and the struggles you have overcome, it shall be-'
"Slytherin!"
It took Adrian a moment to realise that this last part had been shouted out loud.
The tables clapped politely as Adrian stepped down and walked over to the table. Draco had cleared a spot for him nearest a girl with the surname Greengrass. He spotted Calum at the Ravenclaw table, looking inexplicably relieved.
The feast finished very quickly afterwards, the only announcement which stood out in Adrian's mind was Dumbledore's strange statement that the third floor corridor was out of bounds and only then to anybody who didn't want to suffer a very painful death.
At the end of the feast the large group that was Slytherin moved, rising and filtering out of the Great Hall before taking a sharp left to descend into the dungeons where apparently the Slytherin common room and dormitories were located.
The hallways were dark and muggy, the air stiflingly thick and almost too moist, the consequence of all that torchlight and the castle being so close to the lake no doubt. Adrian felt uncomfortably with the close quarters, yet almost as quickly as they pressed in they opened to more pleasant stone hallways, forking to the left and then to the right.
The Slytherin Prefects led the way, directing everyone to a specific lantern stand with a well engraved snake curled around the mount.
"Hello First Years," The Seventh Year Prefect announced, looking very pleased with the selection. "This is the entryway to the Slytherin Common Rooms. The password is Dragon Eye. Keep updated, as the password will be changed by the end of the week."
At the password, the snake shifted, wriggling free from the stone and working as a latch in itself. The wall around the torch fell and curled in on itself. It rolled, sliding out of the way with a silent flare of light. The Prefect ducked inside without waiting for the baffled First Years to get their bearings.
The room opened up into a large domed cavern. The ceiling was supported by archaic iron archways, the very very top was dark black, although it shifted ever so slightly with colour. Adrian assumed it was charmed like the great hall.
An older girl with short hair stepped forward. This was the other Seventh Year Prefect. "The rooms are divided by Years. Unlike the other Houses, we have plenty of individual bedrooms. Depending on your Year, your room is located in different hallways or locations. Each room generally has two students to it, however you can swap roommates at any time, just take your name plaque with you." She pointed at the staircase alongside her own. The other instead of ascending, descended to a hallway lit by green torches. "First Years are down the stairs. Second and Third Years are to the right, Fourth and Fifth are to the left. Sixth and Seventh are up the stairs. Us Prefects are also up the stairs."
"If House drama comes up," The male Prefect took over. "Don't fight it out outside of here. We're Slytherin, I don't care if you're having problems. Outside of this room we stand together."
He noticed a few First Years looking uncomfortable, and he wondered just who was already picking sides or trying to influence the Slytherin hierarchy.
"Good!" The female exclaimed, clapping suddenly and looking amused as everyone startled to attention. "Go find your rooms. Professor Snape, our Head of House will be here soon to discuss rules and other pertinent information."
With that, they were dismissed and allowed to file down the narrow staircase, peering down, looking for their names among the silver name plaques.
That's how Adrian found his room as well as the name of his roommate. He'd hoped for a single, but he wasn't too worried; he knew at some point of time he could likely weed out the others and manage to get a room of his own. For now he just had to deal with whoever this stranger was.
"You're Selwyn?" Another boy grunted, eying up Adrian critically. Adrian did the same, noticing the sharp, aristocratic features and the slanting eyes.
"And you must be Zabini." Adrian nodded, looking at the boy who only wrinkled his nose slightly. Zabini would probably be popular for his appearance in the future, Adrian thought.
Zabini pushed past carefully and opened the room.
The room was… surprisingly large actually, very spacious. There was an open area immediately upon entering. From there, there was a two step lip along the left and right walls. On the elevated platform sat a pair of ordinary-looking beds and matching drawers were pressed flush to the back wall. Adrian spotted his black trunk as well as the 'cage' he had placed Lutain in at the end of one of the beds.
Blaise Zabini went directly over to his things, opening his chest to look at its contents critically.
Adrian didn't bother, already he took out his wand. With an elaborate flourish, he pointed his wand at the set of drawers. "Rigaterim."
They expanded, sliding upwards and shifting into a double door wardrobe. He repeated the action with the single bed, turning it into a double.
"Exuo," he then muttered, watching with a small sense of satisfaction as his clothing removed itself from his trunk and slid into the wardrobe almost identical to how he preferred at his home.
Once he had everything set up and resting in an acceptable way, he glanced back to see how Blaise had set up his segment of the room. Somehow the other had managed to alter the colour of the walls into a tasteful shade of dark charcoal. It was more aesthetically pleasing compared to the shocking white on Adrian's side.
"You mind birds?" It didn't sound like a question.
Zabini reached into his own trunk, more exotic-looking than Adrian's, and somehow pulled an entire bird perch from the depths and set it up challengingly near a bedside table. Adrian frowned slightly, the bluntness of Zabini's action caught him off guard. He had a feeling that the boy would have ignored him even if he didn't want a bird in the room.
"Don't attack my snake," Adrian responded, his voice clipped. He pulled out the charmed box for Lutain before restoring it to normal size. The box rested easily under Adrian's bed.
He noticed how Blaise's eyes seemed to light up when Lutain slid out the first time. Evidently he had been expecting a smaller snake.
"Strix," Blaise offered once he pulled out a rather impressive black bird with red eyes. It looked far too delicate with feather crests and thin claws to partake in long flying like owls. It truly was just an exotic pet, one that looked far too composed for having been hiding in a trunk for hours.
"I hope it isn't an actual strix," Adrian jabbed. The appearance of Zabini's bird wasn't what an actual strix supposedly looked like. Blaise simply smiled thinly.
"Lutain," Adrian offered, watching as his familiar in question glanced around interestedly before trying to get into Adrian's trunk where he knew a couple stunned mice were stored.
Zabini gave a jerk of his head, and left his bird perched on its dark stand like it was a wall decoration. The bird looked at the snake with sightless eyes and Lutain hissed in retaliation.
Blaise didn't offer to accompany Adrian back to their common room. Instead the boy simply left, leaving Adrian a precious few moments alone.
"How was the train?" Adrian smiled, stroking down the smooth scales of his companion's back.
"Terrible!" Lutain hissed, seeming very upset. "It was dark and loud with many hisses! Not good!"
Adrian shrugged, it would be the easiest way to smuggle Lutain into the school. Although considering Blaise also had a pet that evidently broke the school rules, he figured most of the Slytherins ignored the rule anyways.
"You'll enjoy it here much more. I don't think the others will find it too odd for a snake to be in the common room. Just don't bite anyone."
Lutain managed to somehow look affronted, "I am not vermin-brain."
Adrain chuckled lowly, allowing Lutain to slide up and over his robes. Lutain nestled into his usual position, looping around his neck and upper right arm.
Adrian turned, exiting his room and ascending the stairs where the rest of his Year had already gathered under the direction of the two Prefects.
"Welcome all, to Slytherin," the boy started. "My name is Terence, that is Vaisley. We are your Prefects for this year. That means if any of you have questions or problems with the other Houses come to us or our head of House, Professor Snape."
"Let's get this in the open," Vaisley chimed in, her expression falling into something serious. "Some of us come from more… reputable families, but we are all in this House now. We stick together and present a unified front. There will be no insulting each other for whatever reason outside these walls. No-one in the other Houses will make the distinction between if you are or aren't dark. And for Merlin's sake, don't attack the Gryffindor's alone."
Vaisley had the proper amount of exasperation in her tone to imply that such a thing had occurred before.
"Everyone in this House has strengths and weaknesses. We don't care if you're good at charms or rubbish at astronomy, if you need help, you get help. We don't tolerate laziness, or poor marks," Terence stated bluntly. "Most upper Years are decent at healing charms. Ask one of us for help before going to the infirmary and making a scene."
Vaisley sat herself down on one of the dark leather chairs, pulling out a rolled up scroll from in her pocket and produced a quill. "Alright you lot, I'm assuming most of you brought either something illegal or something not directly permitted by the school rules. Thankfully, the Slytherin rooms have their own set of wards- once you're older you can place whatever wards you want on your room itself. Or pay someone to do it for you. How many of you brought pets?"
Adrian grudgingly lifted his arm, alongside a decent portion of the incoming students. "It's fine. If something goes missing it's your responsibility. If anyone gets injured from it, it's your responsibility. You feed it, you control it, you keep it."
Lutain twitched and peered around the room curiously. Adrian spotted Draco staring at Lutain in slight disbelief.
The rest of the meeting continued rather blandly. At one point their Head of House stopped in. He was a tall man with pale skin and greasy hair. He had a large hooked nose and what seemed like a permanent sneer. He didn't seem that interested or enthusiastic for the year, but once again did reinforce the concept that the older Years were the ones to go to if they had need.
The First Years were directed to a bulletin board on the opposite side of the open common room. The board was split into multiple sections, some scrolls were pinned up advertising events or tournaments likely to occur on a weekend. Adrian learned that this was where students sometimes posted questions that they needed answered, as well as services or goods that they were willing to sell. He also spotted a bright red flier, boldly forbidding the breeding and sale of pets to one another.
The rest of the night was spent with an open question-and-answer session. Most of the questions were asinine and if anything, proved who were lacking the proper intelligence. (A lumbering duo stuck close to Malfoy, they seemed to have half of anyone's intelligence held collectively between them.)
Adrian instead opted to return to his room. He started attempting to construct the few wards he knew, simple things he had tried to create once moving into the Lestrange household. Having some forewarning when someone was outside his door gave him precious moments to prepare for whatever rabid attack Bellatrix conjured.
Adrian linked the ward to a small glass ball he brought with him, alongside a leather bracelet. It would last for now, but later on, once he actually knew and studied more wards, he would be able to make something longer lasting. A silencing ward was also constructed; he didn't want to have to hear all of Zabini's bird's chirping titters.
He wasn't exactly pleased to have to share his room. It was tolerable, but he'd have to establish some sort of set rules with Zabini. If he was lucky, he could perhaps bargain the boy into shifting to another room. The boy, Nott, seemed rather awkward but held potential.
Adrian smiled to himself. It was going to be an interesting year
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