"Your Sorting into Slytherin made some waves, Harry," the old man pats the bag "I did not wish to disturb you with sudden influx of mail and it was my duty to ensure that nothing harmful was being sent your way. But quite a few former Slytherins have taken notice and wish to send their regards to the new blood, so to speak".

"All of this is for me?" the boy asks somewhat incredulously. While he knows there had to be quite a few adult wizards who were in Slytherin at some point, their existence is an abstract, like some two-hundred-twenty-first Goblin rebellion Binns would drone about. The letters and packages, on the other hand, are palpable and real.

"Well, the Hat did promise you an opportunity to make friends, did it not?"