Chapter Text
“Grindelwald, you say? Oh you poor boys, have a seat, have a seat,” Says Headmaster Dippet as he conjures up two chairs. Flashing a look at each other, the two sit down.
“Now, I hate to bring back bad memories, but I’ll have to ask you to explain exactly what happened.”
“I- we,” Despite going over their cover story over and over, Harry still finds himself tripping up over his words. Thank Merlin Draco is there.
“You see, Headmaster, we’re actually both orphans. We lived together in the same orphanage until we met an old wizarding couple who decided to take us in. They were so good to us, but… secretive. They never even told us their last names, letting us keep ours,” Draco begins in the most pitiful and woe-be-gone voice Harry had ever heard. Thank Merlin he’s here.
“We were always moving from place to place. We never really knew why, until the attacks started. We were always running and hiding and then...” He trails off.
“And then one day there was nowhere else to run.”
Harry knows he isn’t acting anymore. He can feel his nails digging into the palms of his hands. ‘ It’ll be different this time. ’
“So after… after they were killed to let us escape, we went here. From what we heard, Hogwarts is the safest place to be.”
Dippet, clearly moved, nodded his head emphatically.
“You boys heard right. You won’t have to worry about a thing now, I can promise you that you’ll be safe in these walls,” He says, giving them what appeared to be a comforting smile which Harry awkwardly returned.
“Hm… It seems we’ll have to put you in a separate room from the dorms from the way things are working out…” He mutters to himself.
“Ah! Before I forget, what are your last names?”
...Shit. They hadn’t thought of that.
“I’m Evans and he’s Dursley,” Harry blurts out before Draco can say a thing.
“All right then, Mr. Evans, Mr. Dursley, let’s get you sorted, shall we?”
--
News about Grindelwald cover the front page of the Daily Prophet. “ Series of attacks leave muggle communities devastated ” and “ Dark Wizards and Darker Times ” are among a few of the headlines.
Tom scoffs in his head. For all the ministry’s talk of ‘security measures’ and the like, it’s clear that Grindelwald is capable of much more than they could handle.
Though I could have done much better…
“...Is that the sorting hat?” He hears Avery ask. Looking up, there is indeed the beaten up hat sitting on a short stool at the end of the dining hall. But before he can ponder as to why, the Headmaster stands up and calls the students to attention. Dippet is a wizened old man, his hat slightly crooked on his head making him look more a fool than he really is.
“Students! I have an, unusual announcement to make this morning. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we are fortunate enough to welcome two new students to Hogwarts. They are adopted brothers who were previously homeschooled and will now be joining us for their fifth year, so I would ask that you all help them to adjust to their new life at Hogwarts. That being said, please welcome Draco Dursley and Harry Evans!”
There’s a ripple of excitement as the doors to the great hall open to reveal two figures. To the right is a tall boy with blond hair and silver-grey eyes. He walks like an entitled pureblood heir, but his last name gives him away as a half-blood at best. Tom’s eyes flicker to Abraxas, two seats down.
To the left is a much shorter, much messier boy. His dark hair looks like it’d never seen a brush before, and his stride is unmistakably Griffyndorish, but…
Avada kedavra eyes lock onto his for a fraction of a second, and there’s a complicated look in them before he looks away and marches towards the Headmaster. What a strange boy.
“Well then, Draco, why don’t we have you go first?” The blond nods and picks up the worn hat with barely disguised distaste before sitting down and placing it on his head. The other boy, Harry, stands awkwardly to the side as he watches his brother with what appears to be anxiousness on his face.
“He looks like a Ravenclaw,” Says Mulciber, “the stuck up bastards.”
“Who knows, he could be a Slytherin,” Counters Black.
Dolohov snorts.
“Are you deaf? Dursley , he said. He’s obviously a mudblood.”
The statement starts up a whole new debate, and Tom is getting tired of their loudness this early in the morning.
“Now gentlemen, I’m sure the sorting hat will work him out. And I’d advise you not to use such foul language so early in the morning,” He says cooly. Immediately, everyone shuts up. Though, this sorting was taking some time.
The blonde boy’s composure is slowly beginning to waver as the minutes roll by, and then finally,
“Hmph, fine then, better be… SLYTHERIN!”
A triumphant smile forms on his face as he takes a place at the end of their table. There’s a light applause, but clearly the house doesn’t know what to make of their new member yet. Homeschooled, the Headmaster had said. He wonders how much of that story was true.
Next his him , the strange one with the vibrant green eyes. There’s a fierce determination shining in them. He’d bet a galleon that he’s a Gryffindor through and through, but then the sorting hat shouts,
“SLYTHERIN!”
--
“So how’s it feel to be a slimy snake?” His best friend whispers smugly, clearly enjoying his suffering.
“Shut up I’ll kill you.”
“I should be the one killing you . Dursley ,” He hisses, “you gave me your awful muggle relative’s name.”
“Well what else was I supposed to do?” He whispers back
“I couldn’t think of anything else I swear!”
Draco rolls his eyes but shuts up as someone walks towards them. It’s a weedy boy with a nasty look in his eye.
“Dursley and Evans, right?” He asks, a slight sneer in his voice but nothing outright provocative. Harry still wants to punch him in the face.
“Just Draco,” His best friend interjects, “anything but Dursley.”
“Sure, Draco, whatever.” He says flippantly, “Anyways, I'm Evan Rosier, and my friend Tom Riddle is one of the prefects for Slytherin- you know what a prefect is right?”
“We do,” Harry says dryly.
“Perfect. Just let him know if you need any, help . He wanted me to let you know that he hopes we can all be good friends in the future.”
Draco gives the fakest smile Harry’s ever seen.
“We’ll keep that in mind,” He says, and Rosier takes that as his cue to walk away.
“... I told you your house is full of prats.”
“It’s your house too now, idiot. And besides, it’s best that we’re in the same house. Especially with him ,” He reasons, and Harry supposes that he’s right.
“I still think we could’ve done just fine in Gryffindor,” Draco tenses ever so slightly at that. Harry smirks.
From the far end of the table, a pair of dark eyes watches them.
“Keep an eye on them, something about their story doesn’t sit right with me,” He says. Harry Evans… Hatred. That’s what that look was.
A smile pulls at his lips, and his followers shudder when they see it. Nothing good ever happens when their lord smiles like that .
It seems that this year would be much more interesting than he expected.