Chapter Text
Nobody had seen Harry Potter since the final battle. Apparently, he had privately testified in favour of some of the Young Death Eaters , Slytherins and Narcissa Malfoy in front of Kingsley Shacklebolt. Other than that rumour, and it was only a rumour, nobody knew where he was and what he was up to. Even Ron and Hermione. Sure, Ron and Hermione had tried to find him for a couple of days, but they gave up once Kingsley confirmed that Harry was safe. They assumed he just needed time alone after living in a tent and spending a good part of his life fighting for…well…his life. So, they went to Australia to try to get Hermione’s parents back instead. They sent him a couple of letters, but only got short answers of “yes”, “no” and “fine” in response to the letters with more direct questions. At least, he was responding, they had thought.
It was now the start of what they had been calling «8th year». Ron and Hermione were sitting at the Gryffindor table, looking around for Harry. Because, surely, Harry would be coming back for 8th year, he just hadn’t arrived yet was there conclusion.
That’s probably why Ron and Hermione were the first to notice a stranger walk in. Not that it took long for the other students to stop their conversations and join the two in staring. He was way too old to be a first year. Plus, the first years were waiting outside the Great Hall for the start of the sorting ceremony. He didn’t look like a professor. But he couldn’t be a student, she would have noticed him before, no one at Hogwarts looked like that. The stranger looked to be walking towards the front. The closer he got, the more details Hermione noticed about his appearance. His hair was blond in a way that clearly had been bleached and wasn't this natural hair color, it was also spiked upwards, and the tips were colored in red. He was wearing his robe open with black pants and what looked to be chains on the side. He was also wearing a mesh top and through the top; the skin was visibly covered in tattoo’s. The tattoo's went up his neck and started under his opaque items of clothing. She had to admit, the tattos's were well done. From what she could see they all interconnected, giving the impression of one large piece of art. He also had a huge silver ring pierced in the middle of his septum. The ring was at least a centimetre in thickness and was big enough to be hiding a bit of his upper lip from view. His earlobes were also each stretched large enough that a quill would easily pass through. He was young, probably around their age.
Looking back, Hermione would say that she thought for a second that he looked familiar when he passed. But that train of thoughts had quickly been halted as she noticed more details about the stranger. More particularly, his eyes, they were green, but that wasn’t the part that had marked her. It was the fact that the whites of his eyes were in fact not white, but an inky black. It gave the stranger an eerie that was also emphasised by what looked like blue or purple eyeliner. She couldn't help but wonder if they were eye contacts that covered the whole eye and how it was possible. He also had 2 piercings symmetrically separated to be on each side of his bottom lip, a piercing on the bridge of his nose, nostril piercings and multiple eyebrow piercings. His ears were also covered in multiple piercings, including a bar through the top. Those were just the piercings she had quickly noted, she was certain there were more she didn't notice. She was starting to wonder who he was when her train of thoughts was stopped by the sorting hat.
The stranger had now approached the front of the Great Hall and stood in front of the sorting hat that was on the stool waiting for the first years.
“Are you finally going to let me sort you into your house Mr. Potter?” asked the sorting hat. If Hermione thought the great hall was quiet before, it was nothing compared to this. It was so quiet that you would be able to hear a fly from across the Hall. Hermione felt her jaw drop. Harry! That was HARRY!?! Was all her mind could think.
“Yes” the stranger, no HARRY replied in a cool even tone, “Do I have to put you on, I just did my hair.” The cool nonchalance of his voice was something she had never heard from him before, but everything about Harry was different today anyways.
At that remark, the sorting hat let out a chuckle. It even moved a little as if it's shoulders were moving while laughing. If Hermione was in a diffrent state of mind, she would probably have found the act fascinating for an inanimate object.
“No” The sorting hat replied, “I’ve known where I’m going to put you for ages. Better be: SLYTHERIN”
WHAT! Hermione’s thoughts to a halt, she honestly didn’t know what to think anymore as she watched the stranger (“Harry” her mind whispered) walk to the Slytherin table. He nodded at the other Slytherins in their year with a small smirk on his face. Even the nod was strange, I didn't look like a quick nod between strangers or distant acquaintances, but something with familiarity. From the look on the Slytherins faces, they didn't seem surprised, but it was always hard to tell with Slytherins. None of the Slytherins even showed an ounce of surprise. In some sort of instinctual an unspoken agreement, they all shifted in their seats. That left an empty seat next to Draco Malfoy. Harry? or whoever that was, the proceeded to bend down. He then kissed Draco Malfoy’s cheek and sat down next him with his head resting on Malfoy’s shoulder.
What was going on? Had something happened to Harry during the summer? Had they travelled to another dimension while returning from Australia? She turned to see what Ron thought of this, but Ron was passed out. He had clearly fainted at one point during this whole ordeal, but she didn’t know when.
Something happened this summer she thought…
Little does she know it all started in 3rd year.