Harry Potter and the Choice of Slytherin

Chapter I: Beginnings

"Potter, Harry!"

Harry timidly approached the stool resting in front of the new first years. He sat on the stool, swallowed nervously and placed the battered Sorting Hat on his head.

"Oooh, very nice. Lots of talent, yes..." Unless Harry was going mad, there was a small voice that only he could hear. "Where, oh where shall I place you? You'd do well anywhere, I suppose. The wit of a Ravenclaw, the bravery of a Gryffindor, the loyalty of a Hufflepuff...But, ah, there is that ambitious side held highly with the house of Slytherin... What do you suppose, Mr. Potter?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Where do YOU think I belong, Mr. Sorting Hat?

"Very well, then, I believe you belong in Slytherin. You are very mischievous, as much as you may deny it, and you have an amazing sense of wanting what's best for you."

Place me there, then, Harry thought to the Hat.

"Fine, it is your choice. SLYTHERIN!"

*    *    *

A little less than five years later, Harry Potter found himself awake at the Dursley's house once again. Harry had had a strange dream. He had dreamt that he was a Gryffindor instead of a Slytherin. All very strange to him. That wouldn't even make any sense. He, THE Harry Potter, a stuck-up Gryffindor? He couldn't fathom it. Plus, the colors would contrast horribly with his bright green eyes.

Harry glanced at his clock and saw that he had just turned fifteen. Little less than a surprise to Harry, since no one ever celebrated Harry's birthday here. However, he certainly got presents from his friends...

Just as he was thinking this, a few owls came flying up to the window, coming to a rest on the ledge and waiting for Harry to let them in. As he opened the window, the owls fought to see who would get in first, and a large eagle owl floated in first over the heads of the others. The rest of them fluttered in and perched around the room, startling Harry's own owl, Hedwig.

The eagle owl landed on Harry's bedpost and Harry removed the letter and package from its leg. As soon as he had relieved it of its burden, it flew back out of the window gracefully. Harry opened the letter and grinned as he read it:

Dear Harry,

What's goin' on? Amazingly, I've remembered your birthday this year, truly a miracle. I got this for you when father and I were travelling France. Not much more I can tell you about that, but you understand. Make sure to enjoy!

Sincerely,

Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy was one of Harry's best friends. Although they had gotten off to a bad start, you really can't hate someone who you live with the majority of your school life and talk with into the late hours of the night. It only took a few days for Harry and Draco to mend their emotional scars and become true friends.

Harry turned over the package curiously and then tore open the green and silver wrapping to find a few pairs of dark, blood red spheres about the size of marbles. Inside the small box was a note.

Harry,

These are Dark Eyes. They come in pairs, and when one is held, you can see where the other is and the surrounding area for a few yards. Pretty much, they show you places without you being there. All you do is place the first eye in a place you wish to spy on, and then go hide wherever you please. After this is done, you can see and hear everything within a certain area of the first spy eye. Have fun!

Draco.

Harry's finely tuned mischievous mind was already formulating plans to use these Dark Eyes. Harry let his mind wander until another bird came up to him and beckoned him to let it go.

He untied the parcel it was carrying and found it was from Ron Weasley. Ron had been in Slytherin with Harry and Draco since their first days of Hogwarts. Draco had had to get over that one as well. Draco had a deep seated hatred of Weasleys instilled by Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, over many long years. Sure, it took a year for them to become true friends, but everything was fine now. 'A means to an end.' That's all that mattered.

When Harry opened it, he found a small set of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. These were Harry's favorites. No matter what, they always would start, and Harry remembered all the times late into the night that Harry, Ron, and Draco would start a riot by tossing one of Dr. Filibuster's into a suit of armor and run away laughing like mad men. When they would throw it in, the suit would start screaming and dancing, making such a commotion that if it weren't for Harry's invisibility cloak, they would certainly have been caught, either by the staff and prefects, or by the students themselves, who would peer cautiously out of their houses curiously.

Harry progressed his way through the separate packages, getting all sorts of strange and magnificent presents, including some Canary Creams from Ron's scheming twin brothers, a set of black obsidian Gobstones from Harry's godfather, Sirius, who had been on the run ever since Harry's first year (somehow, he had managed to escape the clutches of the terrible wizard prison, Azkaban), and finally, a small locket with a picture of a beautiful, red-headed girl on the inside. When Harry opened it and looked at it, the picture blushed adorably up at him.

Once all the owls and presents were gone or sorted, Harry lay back on his bed. Another great birthday, even without people to celebrate it with. Harry drifted off to sleep into a bright, flashing, Filibuster-full dream world...