(Up til now, the story is the same as in the real 'Harry Potter and the philosopher's Stone'.)

Harry watched as Sally-Anne Perks stood up and went off to her house table. And realized his turn would be very soon. He was so nervous now that he had not payed any attention to the houses which the last four students had been sorted. He only remembered vaguely that the Patil twins were in different houses. Then Professor McGonagall's voice called out:

'Potter, Harry!'

Harry walked over to the stool trying to look as calm and composed as he could and as he sat down, he thought he had caught the flash of a smile from her face. He felt the hat being placed on his head. The general atmosphere directly around him seem to change slightly in a way which he couldn't put into words. It just felt like there was a person who loved him and wanted to make him happy right next to him. If it was Professor McGonagall, she had a very good way of hiding it. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head.

'Hmm. Difficult. Very Difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting ... So where shall I put you?'

Harry concentrated on the one thought with all the will power he could bring himself to muster: 'Not Slytherin, please, not Slytherin!'

'Not Slytherin, eh?', said the small voice,' Are you sure? You could be great you know, it's all there in your head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no?'

Then while Harry was bullying his mind into remaining centered on 'Not Slytherin', two other thoughts just popped in. The first was Mr Ollinvander talking about Voldemort doing great things, terrible but great. The second was Hagrid telling him 'Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin!'. Before he had the time to even acknowledge the thoughts, the hat responded:

'So it seems that for you, greatness is not the highest priority. Very wise. Did you say Hufflepuff? You know, this could be the biggest decision you make in all your life. Oh, but it would be a challenge. Oh yes, a great challenge. Are you willing to take it? Yes? Then it had better be HUFFLEPUFF!'

Harry sighed heavily with relief. Good, not Slytherin. As the hat was removed, he stood up and was surprised to hear Professor McGonagall whisper: 'Congratulations, Mr Potter. Your house table will be that one over there. Enjoy the feast and make sure you make some friends at last.'

Harry quickly made his way to the Hufflepuff table and sat down opposite Sally-Anne Perks, and beside two boys who had been sorted a few minutes before him. Immediately an older boy leaned over accross the table and held out his hand. Harry shook it, hoping this wasn't going to be a repeat performance of Malfoy and his gang. The older boy was smiling: 'Harold McMillan, fifth year prefect. If you're ever lost, troubled or stuck, you come to me or to that lass over there. You see, the one with the blond hair and the big mouth. That's Lorna Wildey, the other fifth year prefect.' Harry look in the direction Harold was pointing and his eye fell on a tall girl with short blond hair and a strong Northern-English accent which seemed to be moulded to fit her mouth, which by the look of it, could have held a pair of shoes. But Harold went on, showing him one of the first year boys: 'This is Ernie, my younger brother.' Ernie reached over and shook Harry's hand saying, rather pompously: 'It's an honor to have you in Hufflepuff, Potter!' The boy right next to Harry then introduced himself: 'Justin Finch-Flechey. I'm muggle-born and I'm feeling rather lost at the moment.' The three girls opposite them had begun to get interested in having a celebrity in their house. They introduced themselves as Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones and, as Harry already knew, Sally-Anne Perks. Harry found himself blushing as Susan smiled at him when the others weren't looking... Then there was silence in the great hall as the headmaster rose to his feet.

'Welcome to Hogwarts! Before you tuck in to this absolutely splendid feast, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak, and keep your elbows off the table!'

With a chorus of laughter, the students all looked down to their empty plates. Suddenly, lots of different succulent dishes appeared on the table out of nowhere as it were. Harry, who had never had a square meal since he was baby, took advantage and proceeded to pile up his plate with everything he could get hold of. He ate third helpings of everything while chatting merrily with his new found friends. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor with Ron. He was also wondering wether to feel sorry for Ron for his being landed with that Hermione Granger when Susan Bones spoke to him. Her voice was like he had imagined a fairy's voice, soft and silvery.

'I noticed you were travelling with Ron Weasley on the train.'

Harry, being entranced by her voice, took a couple of seconds too long to answer: 'Er, yes. Do you know him?', he asked, wondering why on Earth he was feeling so clumsy.

'My aunt works at the ministry. She knows his father, Arthur Weasley. She says they're a very nice family, very decent people.'

Harry suddenly realised he was expected to say something. Making and great effort not to stutter he managed to say: 'Yes, they seemed nice. His mother showed me how to get onto the platform at King's Cross. We got on rather well on the train.'

Susan, it seemed, read his thoughts as she told him in a comforting sounding voice: 'Well you'll see him again during herbology lessons. Lorna told me we have herbology with the Gryffindors.'

This did have the effect of comforting Harry a little though he couldn't decide wether it was because of her concern or because of the news itself. He noticed that Harold the prefect was telling Ernie, Justin, Hannah and Sally-Anne about the different teachers who were sitting at the staff table.

'...then the small round lady sitting next to Vector is Professor Sprout. She's our head of house. She's one of the nicest people you will ever meat in this school but be warned, she can get really fierce with rule-breakers. I've only seen her lose her temper once so far and I'm glad it wasn't with me. And her subject is Herbology. The bloke she's talking to is Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house and potions master. I've noticed he's often saying funny things to her. Now Professor Snape is one who expects strict disipline and regular high standard hard work. If you fall in with his requirements, he'll treat you well. I've heard the Gryffindors hate him for that. Now he's talking to Professor Quirrel. He's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He goes by the book and that's that...' But at that moment, Harry caught Professor Snape's eye. Snape just nodded briefly and went on talking to Quirrel. For some strange reason, Harry felt there was something strange about it. Then he tuned back into Harold's guided tour of the staff.

'Then there's Professor McGonagall, head of Gyffindor. A very charming lady if you ask me. Strict of course but you can see she's a very clever person, and her lessons are intense and very interesting. That tiny bloke who's telling her a joke is the charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, probably my favorite teacher after Professor Sprout. He's as good and kind as he is small and he isn't head of Ravenclaw for nothing.' But that had to be the end of Harold's introducing the teachers because the Headmaster had just risen once more to make another speach.

'Now as you're filling up the corners as we hobbits put it...', an elbow in the side from Professor McGonagall interrupted him, 'well, now that you have eaten more than your parents would let you in one sitting, I would like to give out a few notices. First years will please remember that the forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Some of our older residents may also need to reminded.' He seemed to glancing towards the Gryffindor table, straight towards the place where the Weasley twins were sitting. 'Quidditch tryouts will be held next week. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madam Hooch. Finally, this year the second floor corridor on the right-hand side is strictly out of bounds to everyone who doesn't wish to die a very painful death. Now before we go to bed, let us sing the Hogwarts anthem, each pick your favorite tune...

After singing the anthem, it was time to go to the dormitries. Harold and Lorna were on their feet in a flash calling 'first years follow us. They all laughed as Harold mimicked Lorna's exagerated accent to which Lorna giggled: 'Oh, come on, I don't sound that silly!'. Harry was pleasantly surprised that they seemed to be going the same way as the Gryffindors. He found himself walking beside Ron and a bunch of other Gryffindor first years, inculding Neville clutching his toad with two hands. Ron turned to Harry:

'Shame we weren't sorted into the same house.'

'Yeah', answered Harry, 'but I've heard we'll be together in herbology at least.'

'Sure.', Ron said, then he put on a disgusted frown, 'Of course I had to be stuck with that know-it-all Hermione Granger girl. All through the feast she's been boring us all to tears, going on about all the things she's read about the school and the ministry and the whole wizarding world. And if she wasn't doing that, she was telling me to sit up straight and hold my knife and fork properly and not to talk with my mouth full. Then she said the hat was thinking of put her in Ravenclaw. I wish it had. I tell you, Harry, if I have a year of this I'll go crackers!'

At that moment, Hermione overtook them, so obviously ignoring them. Harry nodded towards her and told Ron: 'I think she heard you. Still, this was only the first day. I expect she'll settle down in time.'

But they had to end the conversation at that point because they were at the foot of the staircase the Gryffindor's were about to go up. 'Well', said Ron, 'I'll tell you next herbology lesson then. See you!'. 'See you, Ron!', Harry answered, wondering if Hermione would have behaved the same way with him if he had been sorted into Gryffindor...

Harold and Lorna lead them down a staircase into a dungeon which seemed to have been made up to look as though it was the entrance hall to a comfortable home. The occupants of the portraits on the walls watched them all closely as they walk along. The fat Friar was bringing up the reer, telling Justin that, yes, there really were ghosts and that he wasn't just an illusion. They ground to a halt in front of a very old painting of a beautiful young lady.

'This', said Lorna, 'is Lady Helga Hufflepuff herself. Make sure you show her the greatest respect. Actually that goes for all the portraits and the ghosts. Just because you're dead doesn't mean you no longer deserve to be respected.' Harold turned to the portrait of Lady Hufflepuff and said 'Elderflower Beer'. The painting swivelled over to let them all through. They walked into a room which was as warm and welcoming as the Dursley's living-room was severe and cold. The wall was basically a gay yellow and covered in paintings of different people and other magical creatures from different periods of history. The room was full of yellow squashy armchairs around a fire-place. There were a lot of desks and chairs for doing homework or playing games on. Harold and Lorna called them over to where two corridors led off to the side. Harold spoke: 'The left corridor leads to the boy's dormitries, the right one to the girl's. You will of course use the dormitry marked First Years. You will find your luggage has already been brought down here for you. I suggest you go straight to bed now because you want to be well rested for your first lessons tomorrow. Good night.'

Harry soon found a door marked 'First Years' and it opened to reveal a cosy circular dormitry with five beds and his trunk at the foot of one of them. Justin and Ernie came in behind him and found their beds. They were in the process of getting ready for bed when the door opened and two more boys entered. One looked fed up and about to plead for deliverance from whatever was annoying him. The other looked so much like a small grown up that Harry almost did a double take. The fed up looking boy introduced them both: 'Jonathan Noakes, and this here is Yvon Houtmann.' The boy called Yvon looked ever so much as if he would be more at home in a strict suit and tie sitting behind a desk in the director's office of a bank. Jonathan, or Jon as he wanted to be called, calmed down as soon as he realised that that he wasn't stuck with a bunch of Yvons. Yvon, it turned out, was muggleborn and the son of a rich bank manager. He was destined to follow in his father's footsteps. At first, when he received his Hogwarts letter, his father was reluctant to let him come, but when he found out that the wizarding world also had a bank and that it did business with muggle banks, he was overjoyed at the idea? Yvon had then proceeded to bore Jon and two girls to tears by going on about the subtlties of muggle banking which his father had been teaching him for several years and how he was planning to get a high up job at Gingotts after he graduated, all through the feast. Very quickly, the other four were in bed and the light was out while Yvon was still in the middle of explaining the differences between a service account and a single account. He stopped in his tracks and muttered a quick 'good night'.

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