Uni: I changed a few things in chapter 1, so if you read chapter 1 before chapter 2 got out, I suggest you read chapter 1 again ;)

Matt: She doesn't own anything...

Uni: Wow, and on his own initiative OO pads Matt on the head

Matt: ... Go to hell...

Uni: ...

Thanks to C-chan, for betaing and final plot reading

Chapter 2

Sorting

Two month later, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opened its large doors to welcome back its old students, while also greeting the first years.

Harry Potter was standing beside one of the large horse carriages, watching his friends Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, as well as Luna Lovegood who had been sharing the carriage with them again this year, as they jumped one by one out of the wagon.

Harry's gaze turned to the animal he was standing besides, which looked similar to a large black winged horse, and took to lightly patting its bony, yet rather soft, muzzle, ignoring a few weird looks he was getting from a couple of second years passing by.

"Are you coming Harry?" Ron asked, his gaze wavering between Harry and Harry's hand, which in his eyes was patting thin air, before he turned to catch up with the others, obviously counting on Harry to follow right behind him.

He was right too, as Harry gave the Thestral one last pat, before he ran to catch up with his three companions, who were already half way up the stone steps.

Despite returning to the one place which had felt like a true home to him, Harry continued to feel on edge. Although he had been exposed and the entire wizard community now knew that Voldemort was back, nothing had happened!

There had been absolutely no attacks since the one on the Ministry. No escaping prisoners from Azkaban. Nothing!

Harry felt like he was going crazy. No one seemed to know what to think or do, and it had caused a blanket of tension to lay itself suffocatingly over the entire Wizarding world.

He almost wished he was back at the Dursleys. Now that they had started treating him better, it actually wasn't that bad to be there. They even remembered his birthday. Doing the dishes and setting the table, were now chores he shared with Dudley, even if he did have four out of seven days. He still couldn't wait for the day when he would be able to live independently though. Despite the fact that they were treating him better, he knew that the only reason was because they were scared, not because they had suddenly taken a liking to him. Not that Harry really cared even if they had. He had been used to being unwanted for so long he was sure he would find it unnerving if the Dursleys started worrying about him.

While Harry had been contemplating his current emotional situation, the three best friends had split from Ginny, who had gone to sit with other Gryffindor fifth years, while Luna had floated dreamily towards the Ravenclaw table.

Harry, Hermione and Ron continued further down the Great Hall, sitting across from Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom.

Ron raised an eyebrow at them once he had gotten comfortable. "Where is Dean?" he asked, sounding way too interested.

Neville's fork clattered to the ground, and he hurriedly mumbled something about having to pick it up before he dove under the table, leaving a rather pale-looking Seamus to answer the tempered redhead's question.

"Well, he had a stomach ache, and said that he would go straight to the dorm room to lie down." The Irish boy muttered, suddenly finding a peculiar interest in the patterns on the knife he was clutching in his hand.

"Oh..." Ron looked disappointed, but seemed to accept the excuse. Harry discretely grinned at Hermione, who rolled her eyes in Ron's direction, but couldn't help but smile a bit.

Ron hadn't had the time to talk to Dean since he had found that his baby sister was dating him. And even though he hadn't as much as mentioned Dean at all in the past four weeks Harry had spent with him and Hermione at the Black house, he had noticeably tensed every time Ginny had mentioned him.

Across the table, Neville seemed to have sensed that it was safe to come back up as he climbed back in his seat, giving a small yelp when he received a whack on the head from Seamus. Neville opened his mouth to give a verbal retaliation to Seamus in return for the hit, but he quickly closed his mouth again as McGonagall, accompanied by the new first year students, passed behind Harry, Hermione and Ron.

Stopping in front of the teachers table, McGonagall placed the stool she had been carrying with her, with the school's old Sorting Hat placed upon it, down in front of her, before stepping aside so everyone could see the battered old hat. The hall immediately became silent as the hat opened its rim at the bottom and started to sing.

"Hey."

Harry stared at Hermione, stunned. She, of all people, was talking while the Sorting Hat was singing? Blinking, Harry leaned closer to hear what she was saying.

"Have you noticed that there are four students standing against the entrance wall?" Hermione turned her head to look towards the entrance to the Great Hall, a faint frown on her face. Harry followed suit, and sure enough, standing just across from the Gryffindor table respectively leaning or standing against the wall, were four teens, presumably around their own age.

There was one girl, with a remarkable hair colour, and three boys. Harry frowned slightly. He was sure he had never seen them before, and they were too old to be in one of the years where he wouldn't remember their names. Judging by their appearance, they were either Ginny's age or his own.

Harry didn't really know what to think of it all, but he was sure he had never heard of anything called transfer students at Hogwarts before. Judging from Hermione's curiosity towards the four presumed newcomers, neither had she, and she had read Hogwarts, A History so many times she could most likely quote it in her sleep.

Turning his head back to look at Hermione again, who must have told Ron in the meantime as he too was looking towards the entrance, Harry's eyes widened as applause broke out around him. Before he could register what was happening, the hat had already ended its song, and the sorting had started. A girl had just been sorted into Ravenclaw, and Russell, Sandra, was now making her way to the hat.

There were a bit fewer students then last year, and it seemed that those from pure blooded families were missing this year. They were now half way through the sorting and only one had been sorted into Slytherin, as far as Harry could see.

When the sorting of the new first years ended with Ynna, Natasha, who was sorted into Gryffindor, Harry took the opportunity to have another glimpse of the Slytherin table. What he had first assumed was true, as he noted that only six students had been sorted into Slytherin, as opposed to the usual eight to ten.

Dumbledore rising to his feet interrupted Harry's thoughts, and such a loud hum of silence fell over the Great Hall, it was as if everyone had stopped breathing.

"I have a few things that I would like to address before the feast begins." He stated, looking out over the Great Hall.

"We have three more sortings to do," He reached out his right hand towards the back of the room, smiling kindly as he motioned for the four kids Harry had spend the last ten minutes studying, to come forward.

As the four made their way up to the staff table, Dumbledore turned his head to look at McGonagall, and motioned for her to step forward again. "Professor, if you would be so kind." He asked.

McGonagall didn't exactly look pleased, but she did as requested and stepped forward once again, opening another scroll from inside her robes.

"Haruno Sakura." She called out, and Harry's eyes followed the young girl with the shoulder-length pink hair, as she broke from the other three and started briskly walking towards McGonagall. For some reason she was wearing the strangest outfit Harry had ever seen on a person outside of a comic book. Dark red raw silk adorned with cherry flower patterns, the same colour of her hair, and a white collar formed a joker-like outfit. The pieces of silk were held together with crimson strings decorated with pearls, creating a jangling tune as her high boots carried her up the stony path to the front of the room.

"They are from Japan." Hermione stated, and Harry had to blink a couple of times before it registered what she had said.

"How do you know?" He whispered back, taking the opportunity to cast a look around at the other tables. Peoples' expressions were varying. Some of the boys were outright gabbing, while others, both boys and girls looked either curious or disapproving. Harry couldn't blame them. The outfit was... revealing.

"The robes they are wearing are Japanese dress robes. While the Japanese wizarding world usually wears robes of that calibre every day, the dress robes they use for finer occasions are also worn by the general Japanese population." Hermione explained. "'Though... I have never seen a robe quite like that anywhere before." She trailed off.

At the moment, the girl, Sakura, was sitting primly on the stool while McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

It was a while before anything happened, but in the end the hat opened it's 'mouth' and loudly yelled out "Gryffindor!"

Everyone at the Gryffindor table started clapping and cheering for the girl, as per usual, although she did get some rather curious looks from a few members of the house.

Once a somewhat calm had settled in the hall again, McGonagall stepped forward again, and read from the scroll the name of the next to be sorted.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

This time it was a blond boy approximately the same age as the girl, maybe a year younger, who stepped forward. He was short, and his hair looked like he had only recently tumbled out of bed, but there was something about him that made the entire hall follow the boy's every move as he made his way towards McGonagall. It may very well have been just the boots thumping on the floor, or the way he almost stalked towards McGonagall and the hat, that did it, but Harry got the distinct feeling that this guy, was used to having all attention directed at him when he entered a room. Much like Harry himself did, only the other dealt with it differently. Unlike Harry, he actually seemed to enjoy the attention. Almost daring anyone to approach him. He owned the room.

The boy was wearing robes as well, his top in the same style as the girl's, only a bit looser fitting. It was a very fiery orange, and reached down to his mid thighs. Under it, he had a pair of baggy black pants. A black vest worn over his orange top covered his back and shoulders.

Occupying the same stool the girl had sat on minutes before, McGonagall placed the sorting hat on the grinning boy's head.

It didn't take long before the hat yelled out "Gryffindor!" again, and the boy jumped up out of his seat, beaming in the direction of the cheering Gryffindors. Making a victory sign with his fingers, at the girl whom he obviously knew, he dropped down in the seat besides her, giving her an extraordinarily large smile. The girl just shook her head at him, but still smiled brightly in return.

McGonagall made the hall fall silent again when she once again cleared her throat strictly, to call the next name on the list.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

And everyone's eyes were again directed towards the place where the last two newcomers were still standing. Again, everyone watching as the darker of them stepped forward, moving as if every bone in his body was perfectly balanced, and with a regal air around him that permeated the room, making it a fight to look away from him even if you wanted to.

He too was wearing loose fitting clothes, although, in Harry's opinion, it resembled a bathrobe more then anything else.

"THAT is the traditional kind!" Hermione whispered excitedly into his ear, making him start. The robes were dark blue, decorated with light purple flower patterns. White triangle patterns were also present on the fabric, and the light blue collar formed a hood on his back.

Somewhere in the back of his head, Harry grasped the fact that the girls at their respective tables were sticking their heads together, whispering and even giggling. He frowned in annoyance. The boy wasn't that good looking, was he?

Trying to ignore the small voice in the back of his head telling him that indeed he was, Harry chose to focus on McGonagall who had taken to staring sternly at every person who was either giggling or whispering. When the dark haired boy sat down in front of the staff table, the hall was back to being completely silent.

McGonagall stepped over to place the hat on the boy's head, but it barely touched before the hat yelled "Slytherin!" Harry's head, for some reason, immediately snapped towards the other two newest Gryffindors, and watched the girl's face turn white as a sheet. The blond boy seemed to be trying to keep his face neutral, but he still looked strained.

Harry frowned. He was getting a bad feeling about this, but he quickly rid his mind of that thought. He shouldn't take the sorrows in advance. It could just be him, but looking around at Hermione and Ron, neither of them seemed to like the look on the two newest Gryffindorers' faces either.

The dark haired boy's face stayed expressionless, as he made his way towards the Slytherin table under applause and cheering, especially from the Slytherin girls. He barely sat down, before McGonagall called out for the last newcomer.

"Nara Shikamaru!"

A boy with brown hair, that up until now had been half hidden to Harry gaze, stepped forward, making his way towards McGonagall, same as the others had. He was dressed in army green and white robes, and compared to the others, the robes didn't suit him. Mainly because of the flowers it seemed, which were white too, and in the same print as on the girl's, only larger.

He didn't look like he cared much; he wore a bored expression, and an air around him that clearly stated that no matter what, he really couldn't be bothered.

Harry couldn't help but smile a little at the brunet as he passed him, looking like he wanted to stuff his hands into his pockets, if it hadn't been for the slight problem that the robes weren't equipped for such comfortable hand positions.

Harry watched as McGonagall put the sorting hat on the boy's head, just to find out that his spiky ponytail was positioned in a way that the back of the hat was resting on it. The front of the hat drooped forward, blinding the boy.

Snickers were heard from around the Great Hall, as McGonagall tried to position the hat differently, but not succeeding. In the end it seemed the bored and now annoyed-looking boy had had enough, because he grabbed a hold of the hat, and forcefully pulled it down over his ponytail, afterwards crossing his arms across his chest, and generally looking sour.

Minutes passed, and nothing happened. The hat was sitting there motionless, and Harry swore he could see the boy twitch under the apparent thick layer of clothes. Around him, Harry heard murmurs break out at the tables, but McGonagall silenced most of them with the same stern look as last time. Harry looked to Dumbledore, who was leaning forward in his chair, elbows planted on the table and chin resting on his folded hands.

What must have been close to ten minutes later, the Hat finally opened the rim at the bottom, and yelled out:

"Slytherin!"

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A/N's

-- talking while the Sorting Hat was singing?: I skipped the song, for two reasons. 1; I am that lazy. And 2; I can draw funny things from this later

-- strangest outfit Harry had ever seen outside of a comic book: The robes I am describing in this fics, (aside from Shikamaru's) are taken from the mini poster in the NARUTO Hiden Douga Emaki Official Animation Book 1. I was debating whether or not to use his picture, since the robes are far from traditional, but then I figured, I really like the robes on this picture, so, to heck with tradition ;)

-- the small voice telling him that indeed he was: No, Harry noticing Sasuke does not mean he is gay, it means he has taste. Trust me, guys can see if another guy is good looking, just as well as a girl can determine if another girl is good looking. Most straight guys just think it makes them appear gay if they reveal this. So, does this make Harry gay in this story? Who knows ;)

-- and yelled out: "Slytherin!": I chose to put Shikamaru in Slytherin for two reasons. The first reason, I will eventually get to in the plot. The second one is: Even with the first reason, choosing a house for him to be in, was hard. In the end though, I came to the conclusion that he has a lot of the traits that are associated with Slytherins. Granted, he is very smart, but he is by no means a hard worker, or in any way interested in learning. This rules out the possibility of him going to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Seeing Shikamaru in Gryffindor would be ridiculous. Rushing in before thinking is not his style, and while loyal to his friends, I doubt he would set his life on the line for people he doesn't know. He also once described himself as the best person at running away. This almost narrows it down to Slytherin, but what really got him in there, to me, is the fact that he is logical. You have to be logical, to be cunning. Strategists are cunning people.

-- Now some of you may be thinking, where the hell is Malfoy?? Answer, we will get to that later

-- And finally, I am sorry for being this late, but book 6 kinda ruined my plot, and on top of that I have been through 4 beta readers with this chapters since I finished it, half a year ago. But here it is. The next two chapter should be along soon Hope you liked! I certainly am having fun writing it ;)