Today I'm weak, Tomorrow I'll conquer the world by WyL

Despite his gloomy demeanor, Harry could acknowledge how impressive the selection of food was at the long table. Though he couldn't stomach much of it, he managed to try an array of different foods he never had occasion to taste before. Similarly, Dudley ogled at the array of sweet treats for dessert and took the opportunity to reunite with the beloved cakes, biscuits and pastries which he regularly had as a younger child. The meal ended before long, and soon enough they were being hauled to their individual houses with reluctance. Having spotted Cole and Jay across the table, Harry felt a modicum of comfort whilst sitting at the table designated for Gryffindor students, and when they arose to go to their dormitories he was glad to see Jay was leading the first years.

"Jay!" Harry rushed forwards towards the front of the crowd, pulling gently on his sleeve when he approached the elder. When Jay did notice Harry, his face lit up in recognition.

He felt a firm hand pat his shoulder as he spoke, "Harry! From the train," He said whilst walking them away from the hall, allowing the other prefects to observe the rest of the first years. "Gryffindor eh? Where's your brother?" He looked around curiously.

This only served to remind Harry of his misery. "He got sorted into Slytherin... I don't know what to do now." He responded sullenly. Jay nodded with a curious expression on his face.

"Usually siblings are sorted into the same house. But hey, maybe this will be good for you both, you know what they say, double the trouble..." Jay winked with a mischievous expression and Harry laughed in a relieved manner.

Dudley, on the other hand, was still shaking in his boots. Figuratively and almost literally, shame his dirty trainers weren't boots. The professor stood in front of them, halfway through his lecture, staring down each and every one of his students. It was the man from the store, and Dudley wasn't sure the man even recognised him, he sure hoped not, but something in his mind was curious about the Head of House.

Severus glanced at the children in front of him, the platinum blonde Draco Malfoy had a bored but attentive expression, clearly hiding his exhaustion. There were a couple others who looked about to pass out on their feet, and then there was Dudley Dursley. He was wide eyed but surprisingly seemed to be taking in his every word, small mercies he supposed.

"Do you understand?" He said, concluding his long speech, almost chuckling at the enthusiastic nods of children who just wanted this to end. "All right then, you shall come to me with any issues you have, and you shall do well to get along with your Slytherin peers outside of these walls. I shall see you all tomorrow." He nodded in approval, turning on the spot and swishing his cloak in a gracious manner before exiting the room.

Dudley and Harry, having rarely slept anywhere other than beside each other, brothers separated by mere houses, lay awake in their strange and comfortable mattresses in a dorm surrounded by strangers.

The morning was unusual. Neither boys had slept for longer than an hour between them, and it was before sunrise when he decided to get ready for the day. After lounging anxiously in the common room for a while, another student emerged from their room, then another and after a while it was quite crowded. Following the lead of Draco Malfoy, the only other first year to be up this early, he walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry was baffled that he was even allowed to attend breakfast, usually he and Dudley were never fed before 1pm, and so he wasn't particularly hungry.

"I'm famished" Said the ginger kid who passed him in the hallway, identifying the boy as Ron Weasley, son of Molly Weasley. Ron didn't give him any opportunity to respond, however, as he bolted it down to the Great Hall. Similarly to the meal yesterday, Harry and Dudley were told that they must sit at their house tables for meal times, and so it was just as displeasing to sit at the long tables if not more early in the morning. What made breakfast different to dinner was the arrival of letters to each first year.

"Must be our timetables." Draco Malfoy announced, swiftly opening his and looking it over. Dudley followed suit, opening the parchment before looking around at Harry. After a while of contemplating, he stood from his seat and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

"Lemme see yours Harry." He said in a hushed voice, handing over his schedule. His eyes raked over the sheet, and sighed in relief when he noticed that most of his lessons aligned with the others.

"Think we got lucky-" Harry announced, patting Dudleys arm and taking back his own sheet.

They were interrupted by another voice. "And what do I have here? Have you finished your meal Mr Dursley?" The voice of Professor Snape permeated their eardrums. Dudley decided not to fight this one and complied with the older man, who seemed to be talking in hushed tones as to not alert anyone that he was disciplining a snake.

"No sir, I'll go sit back down." Dudley walked away, pulling a silly face at Barry as he did so, which didn't go unnoticed by the teacher.

"Kids..." He whispered under his breath and swished away, choosing to ignore the gesture.