He shook his head at the thought as the boats began to move across the surface of the lake.
Before he knew it the boat trip was complete and Hagrid was leading the large group up to the front doors of the castle, banging on them with his large fist once he had reached them.
The doors opened revealing a much younger looking Professor McGonagall who looked at the students calculatingly before nodding her head, seemingly pleased.
"Thank you Hagrid" she stated neutrally before ushering the students in.
She began speaking to them all and Harry immediately recognized the words as being exactly the same speech she gave to him on his first day of Hogwarts.
'She must have practiced that a lot' he mused internally. His thoughts were interrupted as the stern witch descended on him.
"I assume that you are Mr. Potter" she addressed him, tight lipped.
"I am" Harry confirmed.
"You will wait in here to be called" She explained. "And I hope for the sake of the school that you are not like your brother, heaven knows one is bad enough" she sighed and led the rest of the students into the Great Hall to be sorted.
It was close to an hour later that the door opened once more and a younger but no less cantankerous Filch beckoned him into the room as Dumbledore was about to introduce him.
Harry immediately noticed that there was indeed considerably more students than he was used to seeing in the castle, a reminder of how devastating the war had been on the wizarding population. "And finally we have one last student to sort who will be attending our sixth year classes" the headmaster informed the room. "He joins us from having been privately educated so please give a warm welcome to Harry Potter" he finished, gesturing for Harry to approach.
Immediately a large amount of whispering could be heard throughout the room as his name was announced causing Harry to shake his head as he made his way to the front of the hall.
'Just like first year' he sighed inwardly.
He took a seat on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head, stepping away after she did so.
"Hmm, how very interesting you are Mr. Potter" the hat began.
Harry shook his head.
"Is this the part that you tell me I would be great in Slytherin?" He asked. "Oh no, no, the house of the snakes is not for you, you cannot lead the light from the darkness after all" the hat explained. "The darkness there is mostly irredeemable, but there are a few that can be saved, remember that Mr. Potter" it said seriously. "No, there is only one place to put you, though you do share the qualities of all houses, your courage is undeniable and most prominent as displayed by yourself on many occasions" it finished knowingly.
"So why the delay?" Harry questioned with a frown.
The hat chuckled.
"I haven't seen Albus look this nervous in years, it entertains me" the hat replied.
"So you like a good joke then" Harry mused. "How would you like to be a part of a prank?" he offered. "I'm all ears, figuratively speaking" the hat returned gleefully.
(BREAK)
"What the hell is taking so long?" Sirius whispered furiously though it was clear he was nervous.
"Calm down Padfoot" James soothed, though it was clear that he was even more nervous than the other boy.
"Gryffindor!" the hat finally shouted, eliciting sighs of relief from both boy's as they joined in the cheering that had erupted around them.
"What took so long?" Sirius asked as Harry joined them at the table.
Harry smirked.
"I just got us an ally for number 73" Harry replied with a grin.
Sirius's eyes went wide at the revelation. "The hat?" he asked disbelievingly.
"It's perfect" James declared having quickly figured out how it could be used.
"Good job Harry" Sirius praised.
It was then that the plates filled up with food and the boy's tucked into the feast hungrily.
Dumbledore stood again as the final vestiges of dessert had been cleared from the plates and smiled warmly at the students.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts" he greeted them, his eyes twinkling. "Firstly, the forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students" he sighed, shooting a glance directly where the sixth year Gryffindor boy's were sat. "Mr. Filch would of course like to remind you that there is to be no magic in the corridors and a revised list of prohibited items can be found stuck to his office door" he informed them. "Yeah like anyone wants to go near there" Sirius scoffed.
"I would also like to welcome back Professor Mortlake, who has consented to return after a year away to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts" Dumbledore added.
"Ahh shit" James whispered.
"What?" Harry asked with a frown. "Mortlake is a bastard and he hates us" Sirius cut in with a rueful shake of the head.
"We did spike his pumpkin juice with hair growing potion" Peter pointed out.
"Good times" Sirius sighed dreamily.
"Watch out for him, he probably already hates you" Remus warned as he stood, noticing that the hall was now starting to empty.
The group made their way up to the seventh floor and into the Gryffindor common room, taking the large comfortable chairs in the far corner.
"This is our area" James explained. "People know not to bother us here unless it is important" he added seriously.
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