CHAPTER FOUR:

Third Person P.O.V.:

The month of August had come and gone before anyone noticed and soon enough, the start of term was near. Charlie kept in contact with The Chosen One as he had to spend his last month with the Dursley's. He could only imagine how the anticipation of going to Hogwarts could effect his already horrific life with that god awful family.

Throughout August, Charlie kept himself occupied around the castle. He hung out with Peeves and played jokes on Mr. Filch, he taught Ludo some new tricks, he helped Dumbledore organize his office, he talked to McGonagall about his future lessons, he spent time with Hagrid and his magical creatures, he ignored Snape to the best of his ability, and again, he wrote to Harry.

When the month of September came around, Hagrid had made it known to Charlie that he was to accompany Harry to King's Cross. The young boy hadn't been to King's Cross in ages and so he asked Dumbledore if he could go as well. The old man agreed just as long as Charlie was back before the first years began to arrive.

With that, the brown eyed boy ran up to his room and got changed quickly. He wore back pants, a dark blue jumper, and threw on a black zip-up hoodie which he could use to hide his face.

When Hagrid and Charlie arrived at King's Cross, they awaited for Harry, who the boy could only assume would soon get dropped off by either his aunt or uncle.

Sure enough, a light grey silvarado in front of them came to a stop and Harry Potter exited the car, Hedwig in hand, and gave the brown eyed boy and the half-giant a big smile, "Hello!"

Charlie gave him a small wave and a smile while Hagrid spoke up, "'Ere yeh is Harry! Good to see yeh! Come on then!"

As Hagrid turned to walk further into King's Cross, Charlie helped Harry with the rest of his stuff. The brown eyed boy even dared to give Harry's uncle, Vernon a cheeky little smile and say, "Hello again." Which earned a scoff from the grumpy old man.

With everything in hand, Harry and Charlie walked into King's Cross. They met up with Hagrid to which Charlie looked up at him and said, "Thanks for the help."

Hagrid laughed at the boy's comment and still continued on his way. Harry took the time to take out his ticket and look at the platform number.

"Platform 9 and 3/4s? Is there even such a platform?" Harry asked.

Charlie nodded his head at the boy and began pointing in the direction of platforms 9 and 10, "Sure is mate, all you have to do is walk straight through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. No matter what, don't stop running. I'm sure there will be some magic folk down there to ask for help if you're still unsure."

The boy with the glasses nodded his head in understanding before snapping it back towards the brown eyed boy, as he had just processed what he said, "Ask for help if I'm still unsure? Couldn't I just ask you? You are coming with me, aren't you?"

The brown eyed boy put his hands in his pockets and sighed before Hagrid spoke up, "'Fraid not. Char going on the train will cause too much 'ttention, Dumbledore finds it best if he join the first 'ears when they arrive."

Harry looked at Charlie with a raised brow before the older boy nodded his head in agreement, "It's alright. Have fun on the train. I hear it's a pretty wicked experience. I'll see you at the castle. Best be off mate," Charlie pauses to look at his watch, "Train will be leaving soon."

And with that Charlie helped load the rest of Harry's luggage on to a trolley, so he could easily roll his stuff down to the platform. The younger boy waved goodbye to his two new friends as he got lost within the crowd.

"Come on then," Hagrid said to the young boy who was still fixated on the crowd, "Back to me motorcycle."

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Charlie and Hagrid had arrived back at the castle in record time. The young boy knew it would only be a couple hours until everyone would be back to Hogwarts. He was excited to see his friends that would be returning, but he was also excited for meeting those who would be in his year.

The brown eyed boy walked into Dumbledore's office, said a quick hello to his grandfather, and walked up the stairs into his bedroom. He already had most of his stuff packed, as he would soon be living in the student quarters, but there was still a few clothes he needed to pack away.

He entered the room and was met by his energetic little puppy who greeted him at the door. Charlie bent down and gave the dog a little kiss on the head before going over to his desk and seeing his wand in its box. He smirked to himself as he took his wand in hand, gave it a wave and said, "Pack."

Suddenly, the last few items that needed to be put in his trunk were floating above the case and then finally, descended within it. He smiled to himself as he heard Ludo give a small bark as approval.

With the students arriving soon, he thought it'd be best if he changed into his robes. As he gave a last minute pull on his tie, he heard the voice of his grandfather, "I guess it is true what the muggles say, the ones you love always tend to grow up so fast."

Charlie smiled at his grandfather before turning back to look at himself in the mirror. This was it. The first day of the rest of his life. Many thoughts ran through his hand, but he tried to shrug them off as much as possible. He decided that he wanted to disregard all of these pestering thoughts and go into his sorting with a clear head.

Dumbledore smiled at Charlie for a moment and said, "Walk with me?"

The young boy nodded his head. He grabbed his wand, stuffed it into his robes, and then gave Ludo a kiss goodbye before he left the room.

His grandfather walked with him through the castle as he spoke, "You should know Charles, I am very proud of the young boy you have become. There are many qualities in yourself that I admire. Sometimes, I even have this thought that maybe you're too good. After all this time, I've watched you grow up, and I can not recall a time where you've met a monster you couldn't love."

Charlie looked at his grandfather with a confused look, "I don't understand what you mean."

Albus gave his grandson a pat on the back, "You will. In time. However, I believe it is my duty to let you know," He looked at Charlie with soft eyes and spoke in a whisper tone, "Not all monsters deserve your love."

It was then that the two had came upon the Great Hall and as Charlie looked to his left, he saw an abundance of first years standing there listening to McGonagall tell them about the sorting process.

The brown eyed boy spotted The Chosen One among the crowd, standing beside a ginger haired boy. Harry too, saw Charlie, and gave him a little wave, which the older boy reciprocated.

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." The brown eyed boy overhead McGonagall say before she made her way over to him and Dumbledore, "Hello there Charles, I was wondering where you were!"

Dumbledore spoke up in Charlie's defence, "That was indeed my fault Professor. Charles and I needed to talk before he joined his classmates."

"Very well then," McGonagall spoked, "Right, if your conversation is over, I think it'd be best for Charlie to join the first years. The ceremony is about to begin."

Charlie nodded at Professor McGonagall and then turned to look at Dumbledore to confirm that their conversation was indeed done. The older man nodded his head and smiled, "I'll see you during the ceremony. Good luck Charles, and remember, any house will be lucky to have you."

With that, McGonagall and Dumbledore entered into the Great Hall. Charlie watched carefully as the doors shut behind them.The brown eyed boy smiled wide once more, before turning to walk over to the group of first years.

He stopped when he heard a familiar voice, "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort."

Draco Malfoy.

Charlie rolled his eyes before joining the conversation, "Please tell me that you're not referring to yourself as the 'right' sort, Malfoy. Because that would be tremendously pathetic, and on the first night? Now, that's just in poor taste!"

Everyone's eyes were now on Charlie, and he could hear the whispers as his classmates realized who was speaking. Harry, however, looked up at Charlie with a wide smile and then let out a small laugh.

Draco was unimpressed by Charlie's comment, "Hawthorne. I was wondering when you were going to make your famous appearance. What? Too good to listen to orientation like the lot of us?"

The dark haired boy gave out a small laugh, "Interesting how I'm the one too good for the lot, when not even 5 minutes prior, you were belittling people based on their families income. No one likes a hypocrite Malfoy."

And with that comment, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had moved away from Harry and Charlie, and now stationed themselves far away from the crowd. The brown eyed boy laughed as he saw Draco pointing in the corner.

The ginger boy that Charlie had noticed earlier spoke up, "That was bloody brilliant!"

"How do you know Draco?" Harry asked, as Charlie smiled at his ginger friend for his previous comment.

"His father and my father are close friends. They work closely together, as Draco's father spearheads the Board that is tied to Hogwarts," Charlie explained, "So, unfortunately, Draco and I have crossed paths more than I would like to admit. He's a right foul git."

Harry let out a small laugh before turning to the ginger boy and introducing him, "This is Ron Weasley, I met him on the train."

Charlie smiled before extending his hand out to the ginger haired boy, "Pleasure to meet you Ron. I'm Charlie-"

The ginger boy quickly cut him off, "Hawthorne! Yes, I know! You're famous!"

Charlie smile faltered as he shook his head at the word 'famous', but he continued to speak, "Say, you wouldn't be related to Percy, Fred and George would you?"

Ron stood there looking at the boy in awe for a moment before coming to his senses and shaking his hand, "Y-yeah! Those are my brothers."

"I've talked to them a few times before," Charlie explained, "They're all very nice, and I'm sure you'll be no different. That family of yours is quite miraculous. It's very rare to find pureblood families who don't act like a bunch of spanners."

Harry watched his two new friends interact and he smiled at them getting along. Ron and Charlie were the only friends he had made so far, well besides the bushy haired girl from the train.

There was a word that the dark haired boy had mentioned earlier that confused Harry, and so he asked, "What's a pureblood?"

Charlie contemplated how he was to answer the question before speaking, "Well, wizards and witches come from different bloodlines. There are pure-bloods who claim to have no muggles in their entire family line. Next, there are half-bloods who have some form of trace of a wizard or witch from their lineage. And finally-"

The brown eyed boy was caught off by a new voice that came from behind him. He turned to be met with a bushy haired girl with dark brown eyes, "Muggle-borns."

Charlie smiled at the girl and said, "Precisely."

The brown eyed girl continued, "Muggle-borns is a term given to those who are born to two non-magical parents. Yet, their magical abilities do not seem to be at all affected by their muggle parentage — in fact, some muggle-borns have been among the most powerful witches and wizards of their time."

The brown eyed boy nodded in agreement, "Right you are, Miss-"

"Granger." She said, "Hermione Granger."

From behind him, Charlie could have sworn he heard Ron say, "Mental." But he quickly ignored it and brought his focus back to the girl standing in front of him.

The handsome dark haired boy took a step towards the girl and stuck out his hand once again, "I'm Charlie."

The girl looked down at his hand with an almost disgusted look on her face, "I know who you are. Charles Hawthorne, son of Minister Fenwick Hawthorne. Who just so happens to be one of the most controversial Ministers our world has ever seen. You are aware of your father's subtle pureblood supremacy ideologies, are you not? The Daily Prophet has deemed you as one your father's most loyal supporters. It blows my mind how you are capable of supporting that man, but have no problem reprimanding Draco for belittlement. How did you put it again? No one likes a hypocrite Hawthorne."

As the girl finished her rant, Charlie withdrew his hand as he was taken aback by her instant — and uncalled for — hatred for a boy she had barely knew. The rest of his classmates had fell silent to their heated exchange and the dark haired boy looked at the girl with a completely stunned expression.

The boy took a moment to compose a thoughtful and intricate response. When he was ready, he looked the girl in the eyes and gave her a closed smile, "Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe you shouldn't trust everything you read, Miss Granger? I'll have you know that my father's ideologies disgust me as much as they do you. I am in no way, shape, or form a incarnation of my father, nor do I ever want to be. So, I would appreciate it if you didn't jump to unnecessary conclusions based off of hatred. I'd much rather you properly assess my character through the process of actually getting to know me for me, and not as the false narrative that The Daily Prophet paints of me."

This time it was Hermione who was stunned by Charlie's response. The girl didn't know what she felt worse about; jumping to conclusions based on something she read, or practically forcing the boy to defend his character to the entire grade.

After a moment of silence, she looked up to meet the gaze of the boy, "I'm sorry."

At first, Charlie didn't know how to respond, but then he let out a little sigh before looking down at her and smiling, "Don't be. You have every right to feel the way that you do."

Hermione was going to say something back to him, but was cut off when McGonagall had finally returned and said, "We're ready for you now."

The group of first years walked through the Great Hall and Charlie could hear the gasps and praises that the room received from the first years.

The brown haired boy walked down the middle of the room beside Ron and Harry. As he was walking, he smiled and waved at the friends he had made while living at the castle over the years.

As the group of first years reached the end of the hallway, McGonagall told the room that Dumbledore would like to say a few words.

Charlie listened to his grandfather intently with a smile on his face before his speech came to an end. The first years then circled up and waited for McGonagall to call them up to be sorted.

One by one the first years went up, had the hat placed on their heads, and got sorted into their houses. It was at this moment, where Charlie began to remember his father's letter on his birthday. What was to happen if he didn't get put into Slytherin house? What would his father do?

He was pulled away from his thoughts as he heard McGonagall call out Hermione's name.  The dark haired boy could tell that she was a bit nervous and so he gave her a reassuring smile as she sat down, and to his surprise she smiled back.

Within a few minutes, the sorting hat bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The room cheered and the bushy haired girl happily ran over to the Gryffindor table.

Next up was Draco.

"SLYTHERIN"

Susan Bones.

"HUFFLEPUFF"

As Charlie watched the other kids get sorted, he heard Harry grunt out, "Ouch" and rub the scar on his forehead.

Both Charlie and Ron looked at him with concern written on their faces. The dark haired boy spoke, "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry shrugged it off, "Yeah, it was nothing. I'm fine."

The two other boys didn't question it much further. It was a good thing too, because Ron was next to be sorted.

"GRYFFINDOR"

Then, up went Harry. Charlie watched intently as Dumbledore's attention seemed to perk up as his name was called.

"GRYFFINDOR"

Charlie now found himself growing even more nervous by each passing moment. All of his new friends were in Gryffindor, but his father expected him to be in Slytherin. Honestly at this point, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw didn't even cross his mind.

"Charlie Hawthorne." McGonagall called out.

The young boy stepped forward and walked up the steps. He sat down and waited for the Sorting Hat to be placed on his head.

Suddenly he heard it speak, "Ah yes, Famous Charlie Hawthorne! Let's see what we have here. A bright mind that Rowena Ravenclaw would very much favour. And yet, your heart is as pure as can be, which Hufflepuff would favour. Oh where to put you!

Are you like your father? A proud Slytherin who is achievement-oriented? Or do you take after you mother? A hero with great courage who demonstrated immense bravery.

Ah, there it is! I know exactly where to put you;

GRYFFINDOR"

The room cheered and Charlie looked back to see both McGonagall and Dumbledore smiling at him. He ran over to the Gryffindor table and was engulfed in hugs from his friends. The boy didn't even want to think about what this would mean to his father. Right now, all that mattered was living in the moment with his friends.

A few moments later, dinner was served. Charlie found himself in between Harry and Fred, while George, Percy and Ron sat across from them. As for Hermione, she sat next to Harry.

The browned eyed boy talked amongst his friends without a care in the world. He caught up with Fred, George and Percy as he was interested in what they got up to over the summer.

In the middle of the conversation, Charlie felt Harry nudge him, "Charlie, who's that sitting by Professor Quirrell?"

The older boy looked towards the staff table and noticed Professor Snape blatantly ignoring Professor Quirrell talking to him as he was too fixated on glaring at the two Gryffindor boys.

Charlie took a gulp before turning away from the Potions professor's gaze, "That's Professor Snape. Head of Slytherin House. He also teaches Potions, but everyone knows it's the dark arts he fancies. He's been after Quirrell's job for as long as I can remember. Stubborn git, he is."

Harry laughed before looking back at Snape once more, and then focusing back on his food without a second thought.

Just then, the sound of Ron's yelp made Charlie jump in his seat. He looked up to find the cause of Ron's scream; Nearly Headless Nick and the rest of the Hogwarts ghosts have come to say hello to their first years.

Charlie gave out a small chuckle as Fred and George teased Ron for getting scared. Then he shifted his attention back to the ghost, "Hello Sir Nicholas!"

"Charles my boy! Good to see you at the Gryffindor table!" Nicholas explained.

Charlie smiled as he looked around at all of his newfound friends. No matter the consequences, he had a really good feeling about being apart of Gryffindor house. Everyone he could see himself caring about was affiliated with it in one way or another, and for that he was grateful.

He then answered him back, "It's good to be here."

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Authors Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*

Phew! That was a long one! Hope you enjoyed! I really wanted to get Ron and Hermione into the story, as well as do the sorting! Things will start to pick up now! Bare with me as we go through the first three movies/books, once the fourth one comes around, things are really gonna heat up!

Anyways! I'd really appreciate it if you could vote, like, comment, and share with you friends!

Until next time! Much love to you all!

xo, Selena