Wulfric Nightfang could not understand it. He had come to Hogwarts expecting a sorting into the great house of Slytherin. He was a pureblood, he was ambitious, and he was cunning. He was every bit the Slytherin he could have been, yet...
He was sorted into Hufflepuff. The leftover house of cuddles and fluffiness and - ugh. He'd yelled at the Sorting Hat for suggesting it, saying that he was a Slytherin through and through. He'd heard of the Hat giving in to requests before, like Sirius Black, who had been granted his request for Gryffindor despite generations of his family being Slytherins. Not this time, however, for the Hat was adamant on its decision, and gave the cry of "HUFFLEPUFF!" before Wulfric could protest the matter further.
Wulfric rebelled. What else was there to do? For the next three years, he became everything a Hufflepuff generally was not. He sat with Slytherins whenever he could, joining some of them in bullying Muggle-borns (particularly Hufflepuff ones) and became known to professors and students alike as the 'Green Hufflepuff'.
He could not change his uniform, of course, but he made efforts to at least wear something in the Slytherin colours. For the first day of his fourth year, Wulfric sported a green and silver headband, as he sat in a compartment in the Hogwarts Express with a group of Slytherins
"So how's the Green Hufflepuff? Still vying for Slytherin, Wulfric?"
Wulfric looked up at a grinning boy with blond hair and square-framed glasses, and huffed.
"Of course, Ezerion. I wouldn't be sitting here with you otherwise," said Wulfric. "I'm the only non-Slytherin that would hang out with you, and it's not just because I'm Raphael Raleigh's adoptive brother and best friend."
"To be honest, I never understood why the Sorting Hat decided to ignore you then," said Raphael, who sat beside his brother.
"I don't get it either. You're a perfect fit for Slytherin," said Ezerion, looking at the two brothers. Raphael had brown hair slicked back with what seemed to be large amounts of gel, whereas Wulfric allowed his black hair to form a slight fringe over his left eyebrow. They had already changed into their school robes, yellow for Wulfric, and green for Raphael and Ezerion.
"Whatever it is," Wulfric grunted as he reached for a Chocolate Frog in the pile of sweets placed next to Ezerion, "I'll spend my days rebelling against my Sorting if I have to, and show that stupid hat that I know myself better than it ever will!"
Suddenly, the compartment door opened, revealing a tall boy with electric blue hair and brown eyes. The Head Boy badge reflected the sunlight from its position on the lapel of his yellow and black school uniform.
"Teddy Lupin," greeted Wulfric, his eyes narrowing in disdain at the tall boy.
Teddy's gaze fell to Wulfric, sighing in disappointment when he saw the fourth-year's green headband. "Wotcher, Wulfric," he greeted back, "Had a good summer?"
"Like I'd tell you, werewolf's kid. Leave me alone with my real house, will you?"
Teddy's eyes narrowed, the Hufflepuff Head Boy clearly hurt by Wulfric's jab. He recovered quickly, however, and gave Wulfric a small smile. "Alright then. If anyone needs me, I'll be checking the next few compartments," he said, stepping away and sliding the door closed.
Wulfric had only just turned his gaze away from the door when a loud bang resounded through the carriage, followed by Teddy's voice, raised in a shout, "James!"
"That'll be the Potter kid," grunted Raphael. "Father says there's trouble in every year a Potter is in Hogwarts."
"Not that any good can come from that mess of a family, even if he is the son of the Chosen One," replied Wulfric. "Some of the Weasleys, his cousins, are even half-breeds. Disgusting."
"Excuse me, what did you say?!" The door to the compartment flew open, revealing a red-faced Victoire Weasley, her eyes wild and shoulders tensed. "Fine, we may be eighth-Veelas," she said, "but that doesn't mean that you can just be mean to people like us!"
"I can say whatever I want, blood traitor," said Wulfric. "If it wasn't for the hat, we wouldn't even have been in the same damn house!"
"Language!" came another voice behind Victoire. Wulfric's gaze fell on a girl that looked much like Victoire, with silver-blonde hair and fair skin. The difference between them lay in the fact that the girl's hair had been tied in a ponytail, and her eyes were a darker shade of blue, giving her a more subdued look compared to Victoire.
"Dominique Weasley." Onyx black met blue as Wulfric glared at his year-mate. Dominique, like him, was a fourth-year, while her sister Victoire was a fifth-year. "Just leave me alone, Domi-dummy," said Wulfric, his two Slytherins snickering at the nickname, "and both of you go back to Victoire's 'oh-so-handsome' wolf pup."
"Don't talk about Teddy like that!" snapped Victoire, causing the already snickering Slytherins to burst into near uncontrollable laughter. Wulfric smirked at the two sisters as Victoire blushed furiously. "Oh, that's it!" she exclaimed. "Dominique, let's leave these three idiots alone!"
Victoire stormed out of the compartment with Dominique following after her, but not before the younger of the two took another glance at the dark-eyed boy.
