23 - Sorting [MKAV]

{The Hogwarts Express}

{1st September 1989}

"ALRIGHT! First years, first years! Follow me! This way, over 'ere!"

As he stepped off the train, Matteo was greeted with a loud, booming voice. He couldn't help but smile as the giant of a man came into view. Rubeus Hagrid. Standing at a whopping 11 and a half feet tall, the half-giant truly was a sight to behold. In fact... Matteo dully noted that he looked even more ridiculous then he did in the movies, and idly wondered how Hagrid could even go out in public without drawing SHIELD's attention.

'They definitely know about magic, huh,' he reasoned.

Matteo didn't really care one way or another, though, since SHIELD and HYDRA were fairly small in the grand scheme of things.

"Get in yer boats! Four per boat! No more then four per boats!"

'So I can see them...' Matteo thought, looking at the rest of the students as they left for the supposedly horseless carriages. He already knew that he'd be able to, having seen death before... but he couldn't help but feel slighted. If he knew that Thestrals were a thing, he would've loved to know if experiencing death itself and being reborn would be enough to see them, but now he'd never know.

As he made eye contact with one, though, Matteo froze for a moment.

It gave him the same exact eerie feeling as the Gaunt ring.

"Oh fuck off," he muttered, wondering if Death was trying to play tricks on him. Sure, his existence as a transmigrator was probably interesting... but there had to be a lot of interesting things in the multiverse. Not that he wasn't great.

As he got to the boats, though, he had to stop himself from letting out a snort.

Fate could truly be fickle sometimes.

Having taken his time to arrive, Matteo was the last first year to reach the edge of the lake... and the only boat remaining had two students, both dark-skinned witches looking eerily similar to their actor counterparts. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet.

"I hope I'm not intruding," Matteo said as he stepped over the side of the boat, sitting himself at the far end. "I'm Matteo. Matteo Brooke."

Matteo didn't miss the way Alicia's eyes ever-so-slightly widened.

"Alicia Spinnet," she responded, slightly on guard.

"I'm Angelina. Angelina Johnson." Angelina responded with a grin, much more receptive. Which just made Matteo all the more curious as to why Alicia was wary of a boy she had never met.

"Alicia, why so wary?" he asked straight out, his curiosity gnawing at him.

"I... no reason," she responded nervously.

"Hrmm..." Matteo narrowed his eyes. Looking from Angelina to Alicia, he was starting to get a general idea of their situations. It was obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that Angelina was a muggle-born, the way that every little magical thing caught her attention. Alicia was much more composed then her... except when it came to him in particular.

The Spinnet House didn't have the highest standing, but they were a Wizarding Family nonetheless. Not to mention that House Spinnet was neutral.

"Did your parents tell you to be wary of me?" he probed.

Alicia's eyes went wide, before she immediately looked away, as if afraid to make eye contact with him. To which Matteo scoffed, "I'm not using legilimency on you, girl. I know your House is neutral, so I just pieced it together using your body language... and do you really think I'd be capable of such a thing at eleven?"

Alicia looked down at the floor of the boat, a slightest blush visible on her dark cheeks.

"What's legelmancy?" Angelina asked, frowning.

"It's the art of reading minds," Matteo answered for her. "Extremely difficult, though the easiest way to do it is through eye-contact..." he turned to Alicia, amusement etched on his face, "and this gullible little girl thought I could do what most full grown wizards cannot."

"I– I dunno! I was told that you're the next Merlin!" she hollered in defense, before realizing that they were out in the open, surrounded by other wizarding children. Mortified, Alicia waited for someone, anyone to react to her words... but they didn't.

"Confused, huh?" Matteo asked, amused. "I thought that I'd cast a silencing spell in case of an outburst, on your behalf... in fact, neither of you heard the Gamekeeper call us off, either. How have you not noticed that we're in the middle of the lake?"

Both of their eyes went wide as they took in his words.

Angelina was awed by the fact that they were moving without paddles, but Alicia was more focused on him casually mentioning his use of wandless, chantless spell.

"Wow..." Angelina murmured, looking around at all the boats effortlessly moving down the paradoxically still lake. In fact, Matteo was surprised that Angelina didn't react to Alicia's outburst... but a subtle Scry spell let him know that, well, Angelina had either never heard who this 'Merlin' was, or had just never internalized the information.

Which, well, was par for the course concerning a child.

Alicia just eyed Matteo even more warily than before.

"Wow indeed," Matteo agreed, looking off into the distance. His eyes glistening as he captured the very moment Hogwarts comes into view. "But it still doesn't compare to the castle."

"Castle...?" Angelina asked, following his line of sight. "Oh wow!"

With the sun all but set, and the castle walls lit by a impressive amount of torches... Hogwarts Castle was truly a sight to behold. The books and movies didn't really do it justice. The three of them sat in silence for a bit, admiring the view.

Matteo noted that this was a great way to indoctrinate muggle-borns, endearing them to their school the day they arrive. In fact, recalling the way that one would experience Diagon Alley, and the way that all magical children were recruited and kept away from muggle society during what was supposedly the most important years of their lives... Matteo quickly found himself impressed by the Wizarding World's tactics.

Immediately creating a divide between 'us' and 'them,' bringing the muggle-borns to the Wizarding side. The Statue of Secrecy only helped them in that regard.

But despite the fact that he was practically being indoctrinated... Matteo couldn't help but grin.

'I wonder what house I'm going to be in?'

***

Standing before the great hall, all of the first years were waiting to be called in. Almost all of them worried about how they were going to be sorted. Most of them anxiously chattering about, and both Angelina and Alicia standing next to Matteo.

The two of them seemed to have grown quite close on the train, so Alicia was sticking to Angelina is spite of her extreme weariness of him.

"I hope the test isn't on magic," Angelina muttered. She had come here to learn magic, and hadn't learned anything yet. The only thing she could do so far was cast sparks, and that was only if she concentrated really hard.

Matteo looked around a bit, frowning slightly. "I guess I won't be commissioning a portrait..."

"You won't be what?" Alicia asked him.

"Nothing, nothing," he assured. He couldn't quite tell them about his discovery. About how portraits were, well, alive. They were imprints of a person taken and placed inside of a being that couldn't interact with the really world with their 'desire' removed. The soul of the person wasn't present, so they would never desire more than being a portrait. But Matteo, well, he could bring any one of these portraits to life, and make them a REAL person.

Commissioning a portrait would be the same as cloning his women... and while twins were hot, the idea behind it made him profoundly uncomfortable.

'They don't even question it, do they?'

Then a legion of ghosts swarmed overhead.

"AAAAH!"

"EEK!"

"Wow, ghost's are real?!" Angelina all but squealed.

"Oh, it's the first years!" one fatter ghost bellowed, smiling brightly. "I hope to see the lot of you in Hufflepuff!"

"Hufflepuff?! There's no way I'm–"

"Is there something wrong with my House?"

Matteo let out a snort as the once defensive first year immediately wilted. How was a child supposed to stand up to a ghost, after all? It wasn't long, however, before Professor McGonagall arrived to assure them that their was no need to worry.

And after being told that their supposed test only amounted to wearing a hat... well, a lot of the half-blood and pureblood wizards and witches cursed their parents. All of them were relieved that there wasn't a way to 'fail.'

Well, as they were guided into the hall... which was once again a fascinating bit of magic, they realized that this 'sorting' was going to take place in front of the entire student body.

They immediately quieted down after that.

And after they got over the spectacle of the hat, as well as cheered after its rather obnoxious song, it was finally time.

"Allox, Abby."

Matteo watched as the girl let out an "eep!" Her face flushing red as the hall chuckled at her outburst, all but running to the hat at the end of the hall. Her blush intensifying as she fiercely brought the hat down on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The house furthest to the right erupted into cheers.

Then Abby took the hat from her head, placed it back down on the pedestal, and ran all the way back to her seat.

"Brooke, Matteo."

Matteo let out a small smile as he leisurely walked forwards. He heard a few whispers here and there, all of them wondering if he was the supposed Brooke Heir that they've heard about. Matteo, however, was all but focused on one thing before him. He was finally going to know what house he was sorted into. Except... if Matteo truly wanted an accurate reading, then he was going to have to divulge a few secrets.

He put on that hat.

'Occlumency, eh? And quite powerful at that... in fact, I don't even think I can sort you like this. You're perfectly blank, boy!'

'How good are you at keeping secrets?' Matteo thought back.

'I exist to sort, nothing more.. I cannot dispute the information I see, not one bit. It is literally etched into my being. For I am the Sorting Hat.'

'Very well then,' Matteo grinned.

Then he released his mental protections.

The hat's eye sockets widened as he was greeted with Matteo's memories. About how he was a transmigrator, about the horrors that their supposedly fictional world held, and about how Matteo's mutation was a gift so grand that he was one of the strongest beings on the planet, and no doubt the best wizard in all of Hogwarts' History.

As well as Matteo's... pastimes.

'How extraordinary,' the hat muttered. 'And how extraordinarily vulgar.'

Matteo chuckled internally. 'Maybe a little.'

'Let's see, let's see... your transmigration certainly affected you. You were spiteful, angry. Not to mention terrified of this world, which I don't blame you. Your knowledge terrifies me too. In fact, even after experiencing death, this world terrifies you. Because you are already smart enough to realize that there are fates worth then death...

Moving on. Then there's your mutation, making you the best at everything... and then giving you an immediate god-complex. You see yourself as better than everyone else, because you are in fact better than everyone else. Slightly worrying, but... but you don't look down others for being less than you, you just know they are. Interesting, interesting...

From your new perspective, everyone else is a failure of a person. You don't acknowledge it, but that's what you see, isn't it? It's what your mutation sees. Every imperfection in the way everyone acts, everyone thinks, everyone practices, everyone performs... all of it sticks out to you like a sore thumb, because you can't help but be the best at noticing everything. What a sad drawback to an otherwise perfect power.

But because of that... you value one thing most of all. The one thing that 'ordinary' people cannot fail, the one thing that they can succeed in. The one thing that no one has to master, because not only can you grant it, but you can hold them to it.

Loyalty. It's surprising, certainly, but boy you're a...'

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

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