After exiting the train, Harry headed towards the Black Lake, where Hagrid waited with the boats. He ignored the man's shouting, and stood at the side, another book about rare magical species in his hands, having successfully finished the one on Arithmancy on the train.
First years gathered up around the half-giant, and the man boarded his boat, urging to students to board as well.
Harry randomly chose one, and glanced back at the man he had been quite fond of in his previous life.
If it weren't for his naivete, and full trust in the old goat, Hagrid was a wonderful man, but precisely because of his trust in Dumbledore, He wouldn't approach him.
He wouldn't allow Dumbledore to learn anything valuable about him, even if it meant not socializing with his friends in his previous life, well, the ones not there for the money.
Sorry, Neville, he thought sadly, glancing at said boy looking shyly to the ground, with Ross bragging loudly about her new broom. Until you are away from my sister, I cannot allow myself to talk to you.
{}
After they arrived and jumped off the boats, Harry stayed in the corner, making himself as unnoticeable as possible in order not to attract any attention.
"Red hair, hand-me-down clothes... you must be a Weasley." came the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy.
"Shut up, you filthy Death Eater!" cried out Ron Weasley, making Harry sigh.
Malfoy, in his previous life, while quite antagonistic, had been on their side. In fact, he had only won against Voldemort thanks to the blond throwing him his wand.
Ron, on the other hand, had been a whiny bitch, always jealous of the attention Harry got, unwanted attention, he had informed the redhead many times, and being unhelpful generally.
He shook his head at the blatant moron the boy was.
Accusing an eleven-year-old of being a Death Eater? That would have meant that he had been marked at a year-old at oldest, and a newborn at youngest.
What bullshit.
Malfoy scoffed.
"My father was under the Imperius Curse. We are innocent, as proven by the Wisengamot."
Harry held in his snort.
It was public knowledge that the Ministry had received a generous donation days before the Death Eater trials.
Plus, one couldn't receive the Dark Mark without desiring it, although this piece of information wasn't known by many.
Young Malfoy was also quite idiotic, it seemed.
McGonagall arrived with the clacking of her shoes. Her speech was the exact same as in Harry's previous life, so he zoned out, instead caressing Hogwarts' magic with his own, the castle responding immediately, a smile gracing his face at the warm feeling.
This was another thing he had noticed in his previous life.
Heirs and Lords of Hogwarts could interact with the castle's magic.
He now had connection to the wards, and frowned as he felt them, going over them one by one.
Just like in his last life, the wards had been tampered with.
There were multiple anti-apparation wards, but a single one would have been enough to hold anyone out, so they were just a waste of magic.
There were also several magic leaches on Dark Creature repelling wards, and several detection wards put to monitor magic cast in the hallways.
It seemed Dumbledore was leaching off of Hogwarts, and slowly destroying it's magic.
What rudeness!
Harry promised himself that as soon as he had enough time, he would pay a visit to the Ward Stone.
The students went in the Hall, as the door opened loudly, chattering filling the Hall.
Harry knew for a fact that it was louder than usual, but it was obvious what the reason was.
Rose Potter.
All eyes were on her from the moment she had arrived, and from her pompous smirk, she was very aware of it.
McGonagall announced the start of the ceremony, and one by one, the students sat under the Hat, and went to their decided Houses.
When it came to Hermione, Harry barely held in his glare, as the girl shared a small smile with Dumbledore.
The girl obviously didn't fit in Gryffindor, but as she had to be next to Rose, Dumbledore was secretly interfering with the Sorting.
He pulled up his mental barriers tightly, making sure that Dumbledore wouldn't see anything he thought.
His eyes trailed upon the teachers, and seeing Snape shoot a look of contempt at Rose made his lips quirk slightly upwards in amusement.
In his last life, the man had been a right bastard, but in this life, he would make sure he was treated differently.
He didn't look much like his father to start with, so that was an improvement. And as soon as he showed that he had the brains of Lily, he was sure that the Professor wouldn't treat him as bad in this life.
A smirk sat upon his lips as he though about how much Rose would suffer.
Just then, Sally-Anne Perks was called, and Harry knew the next one was him.
An excited chatter erupted in the Hall, as most thought it was time for the Girl-Who-Lived's Sorting. But, to their surprise, a different name was called.
"Potter, Harry."
There was silence in the Hall, then shouting started, causing McGonagall to silence them angrily.
"Can Harry Potter please step forward?" she asked once the voices were down.
Harry put stepped forward, movements elegant, and face nonchalant. Those who hadn't played any attention to him before were shocked: he looked nothing like a Potter.
If anything, along with his manners, he was more like a Black than any other!
Harry sat down on the stool, once again tightening his Occlumency shields to their limits, and the Hat was dropped on his head, engulfing half his head from how big it was.
'Please lower Occlumency shields, Mr. Potter, else I will not be able to sort you!' the Hat cried out.
'Unless I am 100% sure that the Headmaster does not have access to my head, I refuse to.' replied the boy.
The Hat was silent for a bit, then a sigh was heard in Harry's head.
'Do not worry, although the Headmaster has managed to breach a few of the wards placed on me, the most he can do is make me more accepting to the students' wishes. He does not know what we are talking about, nor can he see inside your head.'
Lowering his shields in acceptance of the answer, he stayed silent while the Hat went through his mind.
'I see. I understand why you asked me what your asked now. Do not worry, young Heir, I am but loyal to Hogwarts, and Hogwarts only. Dumbledore is but the Headmaster, he is not the master of this castle. Your words hold much more authority than his.' It then hummed. 'Now, where shall I place you in. You are most suitable in Slytherin, but I have a feeling you would not like that.'
'Correct,' Harry agreed. 'If I go in there, there is a possibiky that my father might try to disown me, as he is not of sound mind right now. I would prefer to go to Ravenclaw, if possible.'
The Hat responded by calling the House out loud.
'I would like to chat with you later, Young Heir, and hear your story. You have come a long way here.'
Harry agreed with it, and after asking for the Hat's name, which turned out to be Alastair, he walked off.
The Hall was filled with chatter. A Potter in anywhere other than Gryffindor? It was stunnibg, to even think about!
But their anticipation for his sister's Sorting soon took over their surprise, and as the girl stepped forward, the Hall was completely quiet.
"Potter, Rose."
The girl went up to the stage, a slight swagger in her steps, and an arrogant smirk on her face, and sat down on the stool.
She was under the Hat for quite some time, and whispers of a Hat Stall covered the Hall.
After some time, the Hat sighed out loud, and shouted what everyone had been waiting for.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Cheers filled the table full of Lions, as Rose went to sit there, while the rest of the students looked unhappy, but understanding.
It was expected for the Golden Girl to be in the House filled with Light Wizards, after all.
As the Sorting finished, Harry took one last look at Rose, and closed his eyes.
This was fine. He had already changed so much, and now, it was time to make allies.
He baltantly ignored Dumbledore's speech as he thought.
Now, how to be free of Dumbles' influence?
Because the old coot would never let him taint the Potter family's reputation, it was obvious that he would try to persuade Harry to get along with Rose.
A smirk spread on his face as an idea came to his head.
Well, it seemed that his first victim would be the Golden Girl herself. In order to make allies, first he needed to take off the rose-tinted glasses on people's eyes, and make them see who the Brat-Who-Brags really was.
Oh, this was going to be fun.