Italics=Foreign Language/Dream

Underline Italics=Foreign Language in Dream

Bold=Emphasis

Disclaimer: Though this may be shocking, I am not Japanese(gasp!), A troll-I mean Devil- I mean New York Times Best selling Author, or a British woman. This means, sadly, that I am not Hiromi Arakawa, Rick Riordan, or J.K.Rowling, which also implies that I don't own any of the main/side characters except for Augustine. Sorry to disappoint.

Dudley could only gape at Hogwarts as the boats passed through the thick fog and the castle was revealed. His excitement came out in high pitched voice cracks, which was something that Harry hadn't missed about the other younger Dudley. Oh well.

"Harry! Harry! Look! It's a castle! A re-al live castle!"

Harry sighed, smiling slightly under his annoyed expression. "Yes Dudley, I know it is."

Dudley just squealed before thrusting himself back at the castle, seemingly not ready to stop admiring it. Harry noted how quiet Ron and Hermione had been, but the change of pace was nice at the moment. The calmness washed over Harry, and he let out a small sigh. If there was such thing as God, then this must be a reward for all the nonsense that Harry had to go through last time he went here. He closed his eyes, and focused on the constant lapping of the water on the side of the boat.

Until he nearly fell over, that is. He heard a scream as the girl from before, Thalia, screamed in outrage at a snickering Jason and Percy. They high-fived, obviously happy with what they'd done to her. Harry looked at his companions, and found that he was not at all surprised by their reactions. Hermione looked scandalized, Ron was trying not to laugh, and Dudley wasn't paying attention. Harry peered over at the boat that Percy, Jason, Nico, and Thalia were in, and saw that she had icicles sticking out of her scalp, encasing her hair in a frozen mass of ice. 

How were they able to do that? A prank hex from Zonko's seemed to be the most likely answer, but Harry had no recollection of any hex like that. He sat and pondered this for as long as possible, which turned out to be approximately 40 seconds. He hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, and now they were already docked near the front steps. 

He climbed out of the boat and walked forward, entering the mass of small children he'd soon learn with. Maybe this time around he'd be as smart as Hermione, although he doubted it. He looked up at the 4 men standing on the stairs. They were they brothers that they'd met int the train compartment a few hours ago, but this time they were properly dressed in their robes and decorum.

The shortest one, the man who was wearing tweed earlier, cleared his throat. "Hello! Welcome new students! I am the Honorary Deputy Headmaster, Arthur Kirkland. If you recognize my name, it's probably due to the fact the I hand wrote all of your acceptance letters. If not, then paying more attention to what you're given. Anyways, to those of you who had older siblings or friends who knew the person who did this job before me, Rubeus Hagrid, I will let you know that he has decide to travel the world looking for someone willing to tutor him in magic. I hope this explanation will answer your concerns and questions. If not, come talk to me later. Now, follow me. It's time for the Sorting Ceremony. THe four Houses are Gryffindor, Slitherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Each house has its own noble histor- " The man droned on, lecturing the new students with a near-identical speech I'd been given by McGonagall when I was a first year.

After the speech, there were several whispers, but nothing loud or particularly annoying. We walked down the newly restored castle, and I was happy to see it looked exactly as it had before Umbridge(A/N: She should just be Umbitch in my opinion but whatever). We filed into the great hall, where I saw that both Dumbledore and Snape were sitting at the head table. The first years around me shifted nervously and whispered, either from shock of seeing the dead alive or from nervousness of the sorting ceremony that would soon happen. Dumbledore got up and walked up to the golden podium at the front of the room. He tapped his throat, creating a spell to amplify his voice. He cleared his throat, making the room fall silent. 

"Now, before our dinner and other announcements shall begin, let us have the sorting ceremony, led this year by my Honary Deputy Headmaster, Arthur Kirkland!"

The sorting hat sat on its stool and began to sing. However, this time it was a different song than usual.

"Welcome, new students of all status, to Hogwarts castle
Where throughout the year you will learn new skills - Though attending class and studying might seem like quite a hassle 

I promise you that your time here will be filled with joy and thrills! You'll meet more magic folk your age, and make lots of friends

Everyone here is here because they've earned their spot

Within the walls of Hogwarts blood status prejudice ends

For here you are all welcome but that old debate is not. 

That debate has already torn the Hogwarts school asunder

Which is why I must split you up 

Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin 

So let's find out so that you must no longer wonder

Which house of the four will be the one that you will belong in 

Will it be Gryffindor, where dwell the mighty brave?

Gryffindor is courageous, yes, but hardly ever behave!

Maybe you'll be Slytherin, who seek power and fame

But beware for they do not care who they hurt in the game...

 Or perhaps the Ravenclaw house will help you to learn

In them is a mighty thirst for knowledge that will forever burn. 

Then there's Hufflepuff, the kindest, hardest working of the lot

They'll take you in no matter what, accept you even if the other houses do not.

So c'mon up here, one by one, and place me on your heads

We'll get you sorted into your houses in a snap
And then we can all eat and make our way off to bed

 For it's almost time for me, the Sorting Hat, to get back to my year-long nap!"

(A/N: The song is from Pengiwen's Marauders Series. Check it out!) 

Arthur cleared his throat and looked at a list. 

"Alday, Lucia."

A girl with long wavy black hair, glasses, and green eyes stood and walked gracefully up to the stool. She closed her eyes before the hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

Cheers erupted from the Ravenclaw table as the girl smiled and skipped over to her new housemates.

"Chase, Annabeth."

Annabeth, the girl from the train ride walked up to the stool confidently and placed the hat on her head. "RAVENCLAW!" It shouted, and she walked to the blue table. She looked at her friends from the table worriedly.

"Chase, Magnus."

Magnus, another person from the train compartment, strode up to the hat. He shoved it atop his head and closed his eyes. Minutes later, the hat announced something that shocked me to my core. "CARTREF YR YSBRYD" Magnus looked confused, but one of Arthur's brothers, the one with dirty blonde hair, looked surprised. He walked up and grabbed Magnus by the arm, leading him out of the great hall. Everyone was stunned. Arthur cleared his throat and looked back at the list.

"DiAngelo, Nico."

Nico did the same as everyone before him. The hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN."

"Dursley, Dudley."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Grace, Jason."

The hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Grace, Thalia."

Harry vaguely noticed that the ice was gone from her hair, but he didn't think much of it. The hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Graham, Margaret."

Hermione walked up to the podium. She lightly placed the hat on her head. Ron and I looked at each other. She'd get Gryffindor, right? The hat twitched, and cried, "RAVENCLAW!" 

"Jackson, Percy."

Harry was numb, not even paying attention to Percy as he walked to the hat. Hermione was in Ravenclaw? How? She was always in Gryffindor. This didn't make sense. He looked blankly at Percy as the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Jones, Alfred."

The boy nearly tripped as he ran up the stairs to the podium. He slammed the hat on his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Finally, the hat shouted, "TO BE DETERMINED!" Everyone froze as the boy got up, crestfallen. A house elf popped into existence and held Alfred's hand as they popped to somewhere else in the castle.

"Ahem....Well then...Kane, Carter."

Carter barely placed the hat on his head when the hat screamed, "SLYTHERIN!!"

"Kane, Sadie."

It was the same for Sadie as it was for Carter, except the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Levesque, Hazel."

She blushed and walked up to the hat, which she delicately balanced on her golden-brown mane. The hat tremored and shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"McLean, Piper."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Nisí, Calypso."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Porter, Henry."

Harry blinked. Was it already his turn? He numbly walked up to the stool, and sat down. He didn't feel the hat being placed on his head, but he knew it had been due to the fact the it was now speaking to him. "You again? I was expecting someone different, but I guess you and your friends are up to some scheme. I'll keep you secret a secret, so don't worry. Now, as for your house, it better be," "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry threw off the hat and stormed over to the Gryffindor table, sulking. Why was Hermione in Ravenclaw? Sure, she was smart and a bit stuck up, but she was also extremely brave, even when we were really first years. He just stared off into space as names were called and children separated into houses.

"Solace, Will."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Valdez, Leo."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Weiser, Augustine."

"HUFFLEPU-ERR, RAVENCLAW"

"Williams-Jones, Matthew."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Wortley, Ryan."

Harry snapped out of his trance, noticing that Ron was the second to last one left. He sat, closed his eyes, and waited. Harry held his breath. The hat's mouth opened, and shouted.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Zhang, Frank."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry clapped along with everyone else as Arthur rolled up the scroll and walked back up to the head table. Dumbledore waved his wand and the stool and Sorting Hat disappeared. He then smiled at the crowd. 

"Welcome all. I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But, before we start announcements, I'd like to say a few words. Curtain! Mitochondria! Metal! Canus Major! Thank You! Now, onto announcements. We have many new teachers this year, due to the incident from last year. Severus Snape has retired as Potions Master and Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Rubeus Hagrid has Retired as Care of Magical Creatures Professor. Filius Flitwick has retired as the Charms Professor. Cuthbert Binns has retired as History of Magic teacher, Bathsheda Babbling as our Ancient Runes Professor, and finally, Argus Filch has retired from Caretaker."

Shouts and cheers alike erupted from the crowd. Dumbledore waited patently for the crowd to quiet before continuing. 

"As I was about to say, there are now more class options available, even for first years. I would like for you to meet our new teachers, all of which come from a different country except for one. First, farthest to my left, is your new Alchemy teacher, Edward Elric, from the country of Germany. He and his brother, Alphonse Elric, who is acting as our new Caretaker, will be staying here, so please be polite and respectful. Second, we have Aladdin Sahir, who is from Iraq acting as our new Charms teacher. Like the Elric brothers, I expect the utmost respect towards him." Dumbledore looked pointedly to where Fred and George used to sit before looking away, instead focusing on Draco and his posse returning for their final year.

"Finally, we have 5 siblings all acting here as teachers or assistants. We have Aoife Nolan acting as a Head Chef of sorts in our kitchen as well as a professor of a new elective, Home EC. Next, we have Dylan Kirkland, who will be our new Ancient Runes teacher. He is not here at the moment because he is tending to our new first year Magnus Chase. Patrick Kirkland will be acting as your new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Also, Alistair Kirkland shall be our new Potions Master while my Honorary Deputy Headmaster, Arthur Kirkland, will be your new History teacher. I hope you will all have the best experience at Hogwarts and wish you all the best of luck on the school year. Now, time for the feast!"

He waved his wand and the feast appeared. The students all ate until they were full before heading to their new dormitories. As Harry laid in bed, all he could think of was what the year had in store for him this time.