Raised By Wolfstar: Slytherin Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Chapter Eleven: The Sorting Hat's New Song

(Big announcement, the next chapter after this one will be completely original, it has been so fun to write so far.)

Chapter Eleven: The Sorting Hat's New Song

Harry still wasn't sure if Theodore was telling the truth about being able to see the horses, and he did not want to tell the others that he and Luna were having the same hallucination, if that was what it was, so he said nothing about the horses as he sat down inside the carriage and slammed the door behind him. Nevertheless, he could not help watching the silhouettes of the horses moving beyond the window.

'So you all saw Professor Grubbly-Plank woman?' asked Allison. 'Do you think something happened to Hagrid? Maybe Fudge forcing him to be fired like he did to Mr Lupin?'

'I wouldn't mind if he wasn't in charge of Care of Magical Creatures,' said Luna. 'He isn't a very good teacher, is he?'

'Yes, he is!' said Harry, Tracey, and Theodore angrily.

Harry glared at Allison; she looked around then quietly said, 'Oh...right...great teacher.'

'Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw,' said Luna, unfazed.

'That's surprising then,' said Tracey, 'because Hagrid knows everything about every single magical creature in the world, I thought Ravenclaw appreciated knowledge.'

Luna did not seem perturbed by Tracey's; on the contrary, she simply watched her for a while as though she were a mildly interesting television program.

Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy up the road. When they passed between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds, Harry leaned forward to try and see whether there were any lights on in Hagrid's cabin by the Forbidden Forest, but the grounds were in complete darkness. Hogwarts Castle, however, loomed ever closer: a towering mass of turrets, jet-black against the dark sky, here and there a window blazing fiery bright above them.

The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of the carriage first. He turned again to look for lit windows down by the forest, but there was definitely no sign of life within Hagrid's cabin. Unwillingly, because he had half hoped they would have vanished, he turned his eyes instead upon the strange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming.

Harry had once before had the experience of seeing something that others could not, but that had been a reflection in a mirror, something much more insubstantial than a hundred very solid-looking beasts strong enough to pull a fleet of carriages. If Luna and Theodore were to be believed, the beasts had always been there but invisible; why, then, could Harry suddenly see them, and why could Allison and Tracey not?

'Harry, are you feeling alright?' asked Tracey looking at him with concern. 'The feast will be starting soon.'

'Oh...yeah,' said Harry quickly, and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.

The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.

The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one an- other, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again Harry noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared.