Death Himself | Tomarry

Chapter 2: Arrival

When Harry came to he was staring at the vast ceiling of the Headmaster's office.

What?

He slowly sat up and looked down at himself and then around, only to let out a yelp when he saw an older brunette man in long silver robes standing quite close to him.

"Ah, Mr Potter, you have finally awoken."

"I-it worked then?"

"It has indeed. Welcome to 1944."

Harry practically felt the tension melting out of him.

It worked.

He really did travel back in time.

"Now, Mr Potter, I'm sure we have much to discuss but the students will be arriving shortly and we don't want you to miss the feast, not to mention your own sorting, now do we?"

The man extended a hand to help him up and Harry took it.

"Wait, hold on. What do you mean by my own sorting? I mean I've already been sorted so shouldn't I just sit with the Gryffindors? We can say that I was sorted here in private because you didn't want me to have to up with all the first years."

But the man who Harry assumed to he professor Dippet merely shook his head.

"I believe that it would be better to follow tradition, Mr Potter. And your sorting was quite a while back, no? Who's to say that things haven't changed in the meantime?"

"I seriously doubt that, sir."

"Then please humour me. If you do join our lions again then that is the way it it, but at least we'll know for sure."

"Alright.. I guess that's fair."

Professor Dippet smiled and went over to a little side table to pick something up.

When he turned back to him, Harry realized that it was a hogwarts uniform.

At Harry's questioning look explained: "The uniform apparently underwent some.. changes.. sometime before you originally attended Hogwarts. It still looks different in this time."

The man handed it over to Harry and gestured to a door connecting the office to a small bathroom.

"You can change in there before heading down."

Harry thanked him and went it.

He stripped his current clothes off and pulled the new ones on which was easier said than done.

The Hogwarts uniform of this time was quite a bit more modest and elaborate and Harry struggled with the cuffs and all the individual buttons.

Eventually he succeeded and deemed himself to indeed look quite a bit more imposing than usual.

It didn't look bad per se, but it was a bit uncomfortable compared to the more modern and less elegant uniform he was used to.

Oh well, there was nothing to be done about it.

He left the bathroom and even gave a little exaggerated twirl to show off his new look.

Dippet nodded in approval and muttered something about modesty and the old days which Harry chose to ignore.

"Alright Mr Potter-"

"Actually I think it would be better if I went by my mother's maiden name- Evans. I imagine that it would be pretty weird to explain to my grandfather why another relative has suddenly appeared out of nowhere"

"The name is not that uncommon, I'm sure that's not necessary."

Harry crossed his arms: "Maybe not, but paired with my hair and the glasses there's not much room for imagination."

"Fair enough", conceded Dippet, "Mr Evans then- the house elves will bring your bag along with school supplies and your new clothes to your dorm once you've been sorted. You should probably go on your way now. The sorting will start soon."

They had decided that Harry shouldn't bring any of his clothes with him.

For one did it get exceedingly difficult to travel through time depending on how many things you carried with you, but they would also make him stand out since the fashion of this time was quite different.

He hoped whoever provided the new clothes had halfway decent taste but already mentally prepared himself to relive the days when he had to run around in Dudley's old stuff before he was finally able to buy his own.

Professor Dippet told him that they'd talk again soon to discuss some specifics and then he sent Harry off.

The way down to the great hall didn't take long, even when he briefly stopped once or twice to marvel at portraits or bits of architecture that had changed in his time.

When he arrived it was none other than a younger Albus Dumbledore who lead the new first years.

Harry gaped at the short hair still flecked with auburn instead of being completely silver and the more subdued clothing.

They were still quite colorful, don't get him wrong, but they couldn't compare to some of the robes his Dumbledore wore.

"Ah", he said over the heads of all the staring and curious children, "our new student, Mr P-"

"Evans", interrupted Harry quickly, "Harry Evans, sir."

"Ah of course, forgive me. My old age is getting to me", chuckled Dumbledore.

"No problem, sir", answered

Harry with a grin and went to stand behind the younger students while they listened to Dumbledore explain the concept of the four houses.

He tried to subtly scan the faces in the

crowd but didn't recognize any of them.

Finally the explanations were done and the big doors to the hall opened up, letting out a stream of noise from the already seated student body.

Dumbledore didn't waste time and stepped, quickly followed by the first year's and then lastly Harry who kept his eyes focused on the sorting head.

He could feel people staring at and whispering about him but it didn't much bother him at this point.

He was used to this shit by now.

Being The Boy Who Lived didn't give him much of a choice.

They came to a stop before the stool and Dumbledore stepped around it to pick the hat up.

"Your names will be called out alphabetically and when they do, you'll come up here to get sorted into your houses.

Before we do that, however, I must ask Mr Evans over there to come up first.

After all its not everyday that a new student joins us this late in their education.

Please make sure to give him a warm welcome."

Harry walked up to him and sat down.

The old hat was put on his head and while not quite as big as when he was 11 still slipped over his eyes, obscuring his vision.

'Oh wow. Now this is not something I see everyday. How curious.'

'Yeah I bet', thought Harry back.

'One of the lions, I see. Yes, I did well to place you there.'

Seemed like Dippet was wrong after all.

'Yes you are a true gryffindor, but I wonder.. Hm. But this burning ambition inside of you.. And, oh my, you even speak the tongue of the snakes.'

'Oh no, don't you dare', thought Harry back now a bit angrily, 'We've been over this. I'm not a slytherin.'

'I wouldn't be so sure about that, Mr Potter. Yes, gryffindor was the right choice for you, no doubt, but I think it's time for change. Yes, you better be..'

"Slytherin!"