Draco sat comfortably at the Slytherin table staring up into the dusk sky. Clouds drifted lazily from the North and birds, starlings mostly, darted around. Draco watched the flock expand and contract, thoughts drifting through conversations, weighing potential allies and enemies. Vincent and Gregory's position took up some thoughts, as did recent lessons from his diary, and his earlier conversations on the train. Draco wasn't thinking just remembering and idly considering connections that popped into his head.

Draco's thoughts drifted like clouds above.

Draco had already studied the head table, seating arrangements told a story. At the center sat Minerva McGonagall, black hair flowing freely under her still stern hat. Professors Sprout and Flitwick flanked her. The Headmistress chatted with both, gazing solemnly over the assembled students. On the other side of Flitwick sat Horace Slughorn, leaning over his own belly to chortle as he pointed out entering students to the bored Charms instructor. Beside Sprout sat a man whose deeply scarred right cheek marred an otherwise handsome look. His red and gold robes (and seat) announced the new Head of Gryffindor. Draco didn't recognize him. Other professors sat on wings of the head table. Professor Burbage looked annoyed sitting next to a young-ish Muggle dressed in an oddly styled suit. The lapels were much wider, colors much bolder than suits Draco encountered.. The Muggle's wild black hair, thick plastic glasses and lush mutton chop sideburns looked like nothing Draco had seen in his admitted limited experience. Certainly no teenager he'd met dressed like that.

After taking in the head table, Draco glanced around the house tables. Slytherin's sparseness bothered him so he stared at the sky instead.

The room quieted when the First Years entered, led by Hagrid. Draco's eyes drifted earthward and noticed that the Headmistress already standing. He hadn't heard. She gazed down at the procession of children, barely smaller but much less confident than Second Years. Had it really only been one year? First years waved at siblings and drew themselves close into small groups under the withering inspection of the older students who whispered, jeered, and made clandestine bets. The Sorting Hat, placed on a small stool in front of the head table sat silent until the children filled in the gaps between the tables and stopped.

A small rip in the cloth revealed itself to the gasp of the First Years, and the Hat spoke.

.

I'm the cleverest piece of leather

ever formed into a hat

And I've stayed the same forever

Though I change my annual chat.

.

Since the cornerstone was placed

upon the ground to start our school

The yearly opening feast must wait

while I declaim atop this stool!

.

Should you be in Ravenclaw

you'll answer riddles by the door,

For sharpening the student's mind

was Rowena's favorite chore.

.

If you land in Hufflepuff,

then you'll never lack a friend,

For Helga was the glue

that held together till the end.

.

If 'tis Slytherin you seek,

then your reward you must chase

For the virtue of ambition

surely drew you to their place

.

And every Gryffindor does know

that the path righteous and true

demands the utmost bravery -

Nothing else at all will do.

.

But I have a secret request

That I choose now to reveal:

Consider those whose grand bequest

created Hogwart's Mighty Seal.

.

Look closely at our Founders -

consider their full history -

You'll find extended meanings

and glimpse a subtle mystery.

.

For Rowena was ambitious,

And Salazar was brave,

And Godric fiercely loyal,

Helga clever to her grave.

.

Each founder has more character

than we remember every day

Do not oversimplify the

complex virtues they display.

.

What use is noble bravery

if you cannot tell what's right?

.

What will you do with cleverness

when you've lost the will to fight?

.

How will your true ambition taste

when you're lonely at the end?

.

And if you do nothing at all

Who would want you as a friend?

.

Tho' our Founders have their virtues

Each exhibits certain flaws

Yet my magic is constrained

to Sorting strictly by their Laws.

.

So I am a simple top piece

Bound to my appointed task.

You can ponder, you can question;

That is from all of you I ask.

.

Know Thyself! For You are Deeper

than the Sorting I do voice,

I am not your only Keeper

You do daily get a Choice.

.

Hear me Teachers! Hear me Students!

I do finish now my Song.

Those who state opinions firmly

May still be completely wrong.

.

When the Hat began the hall sat rapt and silent, first years stunned by the Hat itself, everyone else by the message. When the Hat named each House their table cheered (not too loud, everyone knows the Hat does not pause). As the song continued into the founder's flaws whispering started. Professor Slughorn looked nervous; might the Hat dare abolish Slytherin altogether? The murmurs rose until the Headmistress' harsh Shhshh quieted everyone.

As the last word resounded in a silent hall, Draco looked around. Scattered claps sounded after a few seconds, nothing like the rambunctious applause after last year's song. What had the hat meant? The Hat had reminded him that each Founder possessed virtues the others espoused. Why?

Professor Flitwick, holding a scroll, said "Creevey, Colin" and Draco's eyes snapped back to the Sorting, all polite attention. The Hat had said 'Yet my magic is constrained.' The Hat chose. That's what it did. Colin went into Ravenclaw. Draco focused on the words as several other students got chosen. One went into Slytherin, which distracted Draco as he clapped and tried to remember the boy's name. That wasn't a good sign. The hat picked the dominant virtue; everyone had a mix of virtues; the Hat did its best. Draco's thinking went in circles.

The blond girl - so that was Luna Lovegood - went to Ravenclaw. Draco snorted.

The Hat admitted it could be wrong. It couldn't come out and say "I'm wrong, sometimes" so it stated that people could be wrong, but the meaning was clear. Draco's eyes narrowed. He should be in Slytherin. He wanted to be in Slytherin. But others thought "Anywhere but Slytherin..." and the Hat accommodated them the best it could.

Did the Hat regret that? Or did it regret putting anyone into Slytherin?

"Smith, Zacharias" spent a slow minute under the Hat's brim before winding up, surprisingly, in Hufflepuff. Draco scanned the crowd for wrongly sorted students, looking to find those who should have been in Slytherin. But he couldn't think of any. Vincent and Gregory were saying something and his eyes settled past them, onto Pansy Parkinson. Could he get rid of her? Should he? He glanced around the Hall, again. Mike from Hufflepuff had potential...he thought about the problem.

Draco realized he couldn't solve it. Nobody wanted to be in Slytherin after last year.

"Weasley, Ginevra" was sorted into Gryffindor to the cheers of her rambunctious siblings. Apparently she was the final student because the Headmistress was getting ready to speak.

Draco realized he could solve another problem and stood up. At first, only nearby students looked at him as he took a deep breath. He made no motion to draw attention to himself, other than standing up, and hoped that it would be enough.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Headmistress McGonagall's voice sounded … mild.

"The Hat said it made mistakes. We should let students who think the Hat got it wrong sort again." This set off loud conversations. Draco could hear the shock and Macnair kicked him hard under the table, hissing "We'll have no House left!"

Draco ignored the pain "It's against tradition, but the Hat practically begged us..."

The Headmistress cut him off. "Very well. Does anyone wish to be Sorted again?"

Silence. Nobody wanted to go first, and Draco couldn't volunteer.

Father's training allowed him to stand up, to speak in front of others, to draw attention to himself. He'd ignored fear and shame often enough, though he felt it. For others, it must be paralyzing. Draco walked to the stool and picked up the Hat, carefully keeping it below his head at all times, then quickly returned to Slytherin table, stopping in front of Vincent. Draco held out the Hat.

Crabbe shook his head. "I can't. I shouldn't."

Draco slowly raised the Hat, "You'd be happier. Let the Hat sort again." Crabbe gave a short nod and Draco dropped the Hat on his head before Vince changed his mind. Draco had a few steps to get back to his seat. The whispering had started when the Hat cried out "Hufflepuff!"

The Hufflepuff table broke into applause, joined by Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Fred Weasley shouted "That's the bravest thing I've seen!" and sounded like he meant it. At the Slytherin table only Draco and Gregory clapped. Draco would have to pretend to lose in the near future, he realized.

Vincent moved to the Hufflepuff Table, wiping his face. He passed the stool, still wearing the Hat, and went back to place it but Padma Patil caught up with him and politely held out her hand. Vincent handed it to her, bowing with a small smile. Padma plonked the Hat firmly on her head with no ceremony.

Draco held his breath, hoping. Padma had been his second in command, after all...

"SLYTHERIN!" came the shout, and Draco clapped, whistled and shouted with rest of the table, except for Pansy Parkinson. Padma's twin Parvarti, sat at Gryffindor, mouth agape and clapped slowly.

When Ginevra Weasley stood up the entire Gryffindor table gasped, and she quickly went into Ravenclaw. At that point the Headmistress stood up.

"Miss Weasley, kindly return the Hat to its place." She held up her hand. "The Hat is available for the duration of the Feast and I, for one, am famished." She clapped her hands twice and the food appeared as Ginny unceremoniously dumped the Hat before rushing to Ravenclaw. She sat next to Luna, who had been sitting alone. Draco tore into a roll and ate.

That had worked out surprisingly well. Vincent would be happier with more friends and less pressure. Padma's surprise had probably saved him at least one beating and meant that there were students, good students, who held sympathy. Draco smiled and ate.

The professors, who normally ate with polite small talk, had an animated discussion that he couldn't quite hear. Professor Burbage filled in the Muggle on details. Draco wasn't positive, but thought The Headmistress had told Flitwick and Slughorn to cool it. The new Head of Gryffindor stared at Draco and a few other students, just eating, no conversation. During the meal three more students went under the Hat, each time causing a hush. Fred Weasley or maybe George sauntered forward just before desert before breaking into a smile and jogging back to his seat under a small barrage of buttered dinner rolls.

After finishing off some iced cake Draco went up and grabbed the Hat, again keeping it low to signal that he wasn't going to put it on. He walked to the Ravenclaw table, eyes locked firmly on Harry Potter.

Harry tried to wave him off but Draco went past Harry and stopped in front of Hermione.

He'd planned a small speech on his walk over. You are incredibly clever, but not enough to convince me that the Girl who stood up to bullies, Dumbledore, Voldemort and Azkaban is rightly sorted. But as he walked over, he realized it didn't need to be said.

"You'd never brag," Draco explained.

Hermione blushed. Draco raised the Hat slightly and paused, just in case she refused. Draco placed it gently on her head and "GRYFFINDOR" rang out instantly with enough force to shove Draco backwards.

The hall exploded into applause and Hermione stood up, as boys patted her arm and girls pulled her into hugs. Draco took the Hat off her head and walked back onto the podium. As he sat down he mumbled "Let's see Ravenclaw win the House Cup now," to nobody in particular.

Harry Potter stood up from the middle of the Ravenclaw. "I promised the Hat I'd never wear it again," which sparked murmuring in the hall and a full-blown five hour debate in the Ravenclaw commons room later that night. "But given it's pronouncement, I'd like to alternate between Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

"Of course you would, Mr. Potter," said the Headmistress. She motioned for him to change seats as the students laughed and a few snaps echoed around the hall. "Anyone else?

Colin Creevey switched to Slytherin, which concluded Hogwart's first Re-sorting.

Author's Confession - I originally wrote these early chapters as a mood piece, and now consider them a prologue. Since I've gotten good response and I'm enjoying writing this, I'm continuing and play to write out a full year. I'll probably have to take some breaks for that.

For the extended story I've got a good plot, mostly consistent. But I see gaps I can't easily fill. I might be able to do it, but it would make the story worse. I'd be adding epicycles, I fear.

My options are to delay until I can bulletproof it or just enjoy the story. Since I stop writing when considering the parts that give me trouble, I've decided to just keep my momentum and hope that I'll spot a solution without agonizing, and accept that there may be some handwaving if I fail. (I find ideas arrive easiest when I don't force them, a theme played out in Draco's daydreaming above, which I wrote weeks ago).

If, at the end of the story you say "But... but... but...", know that I am well aware of several issues and probably missed more, and I wish I could do better.

This is a complex plot, but it's entertainment (hopefully) and writing practice. Constructing a perfect puzzle isn't my motivation. Also, I believe the world is an ambiguous place. So questions like "Is Hermione an Occlumens" (on the train scene) may not be answered early (or ever).

("Such is Realism.")

In most cases I have answers to those questions in mind when I write the scene (I did for that particular example). Sometimes I flub it, though. I will show scenes without Draco to clear things up more (after the prologue), but not every question will be answered. After answering that particular question I decided that I'm going to, in general, let the work speak for itself except for the cases where I realize that I've fallen to the Illusion of Transparency, then I'll answer and revise (or if I've made an easily correctable blunder). I'm not going to defend the decisions in real time, in part because it gives away too much, and it's just not practical.

If you treat this story as a perfect puzzle, at the end you may discover pieces missing. Or poor connections.

I hope you enjoy the picture, though.

I'd like to put a puzzle in, and there will be puzzles, but that's not in any way my primary goal.

Consider this fair warning.