Adam Wolfsbane and the Sorcerer's Secret
Part 1: A Muggle Sorted at Hogwarts

Adam was doing his absolute best to stay calm. His breaths were shallow, his nostrils flaring with each one, as his eyes darted back and forth, trying to catch sight of everything in this place. People in robes. Floating candles. Owls, cats, toads.

Thankfully, half the group he was in looked just as nervous and panicked, as they watched one after the next go up to what actually appeared to be a talking hat and place it on their head — after which, the hat soon shouted some sort of gibberish word that got the rest of the people in the giant hall to either cheer or boo, depending on where they were sitting.

"Wolfsbane, Adam," the older woman who'd been reading names off a list called out.

Adam stayed exactly where he was, completely frozen. Was that his name? How did she know his name? It looked like she read it off a list, how did she-

"Adam!? Adam, you're here!?" Came the voice that was the whole reason for Adam's predicament.

The pretty little girl with the straight black hair elbowed her way past the fellow eleven-year-olds, as she made her way to him, absolutely beaming. Adam didn't think his heart could beat any faster, but there it went.

"Oh, Adam, I'm so happy! I had no idea you were a wizard, too!" she cried in joy, taking his hands and squeezing them.

"Yeah," Adam somehow managed despite the dryness of his throat. He also had absolutely no idea what he'd just agreed with. Did she say wizard?

Either way, it got her smile to brighten even more, as she older woman behind her cleared her throat in annoyance and repeated his name. The girl gasped, realizing that they were being rude, and she pulled Adam forward, in the direction of the chair with the hat.

"Ooh, I hope we're in the same house! Oh, Adam, I can't believe it! I really thought I wouldn't see you anymore!" She said, so happily, giving his hands a final squeeze before letting go. Adam gave her an awkward smile and shrug, his feet somehow moving one after the other to help him stumble towards that chair.

The older woman gave him a disapproving look as he sat down. He was shaking terribly and sweating so much he was sure he'd leave a puddle, but several others had been in a similar state as him already, so no one even looked twice.

He had no idea what to do. All eyes were on him, and slowly, that hat was lowered down, onto his head…

"My, isn't this interesting?" he heard a deep voice in his head, and Adam just barely resisted the urge to scream. A strange, frightened squeak left his throat, instead.

What is going on, what are these people, why is Isabelle here? Oh god, oh god, they're going to find out I'm not supposed to be here, Isabelle is going to hate me…

"Yes, I can see she matters a lot to you," The voice said in some sort of agreement, causing a small whimper to leave Adam again. "You worked very hard to get here, didn't you? Tucked away, hidden from everyone, even somehow managed to get around all the charms we have set up. Very interesting…" The voice repeated.

Adam's shaking intensified, as the voice in his head gave a strange rumble of agreement to a thought he didn't bother to share with Adam, before saying, "Well, I know what to do with a hard worker."

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The voice shouted, this time, from atop Adam's head, instead of inside it.

The tables covered in yellow and black in a corner burst out into loud applause and cheers. The red and gold tables clapped politely, as did a tables of blue and silver. The green and white tables sent boos and, Adam could make out a few comments about him possibly wetting himself.

"Off with you, Mr. Wolfsbane," the older woman said, as she took the hat off, and gently nudged him towards the cheers. "And we'll need to discuss your strange attire in private, later."

Adam stumbled up to his feet, looking back up at her with wide, panicked eyes. He had no idea what had just happened.

His head swiveled, looking around until his eyes caught sight of Isabelle again. She was beaming and clapping her hands like crazy, before pointing him to the tables he'd been nudged towards. After a moment, Adam managed to get his feet to move in that direction, as he heard the older woman call out, "Xu, Isabelle!"

He watched while he walked, as she sat down in the chair with a squeal of excitement. The hat barely touched her head before it shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" which caused the red tables burst into roars of approval to drown out the roars of disapproval from the green tables.

Adam felt something in his heart sink, when she gave him a slightly sad look as she stood up, before she stood to walk in the other direction.

Adam sat down and was met by excited greetings and some happy jostling, but he was stiff as a board. He looked at the table, his nostrils flaring in silent fear whenever he saw a plate of food appear from literally nowhere, which no one but him seemed to find strange. One person even complained about the state of the potatoes that had magically come out of thin air somewhere to his left.

Adam wasn't able to listen to the conversations around him. He caught words here and there, strange ones. Potions. Arithmancy. Wand. He'd thought he'd stumbled into some sort of live-action cosplay convention, until the self-moving coaches, floating candles, the talking hat, and now, the magic food. His world view was literally turning upside-down. He didn't even notice that he'd picked up a roll and stuffed it into his mouth at some point, with how loudly and quickly the wheels in his head were spinning. Nor did he notice when a boy on the other side of the table stood up, to make his way over to Adam and sit down next to him.

"Hey," A whisper came to the left of Adam. It was directly next to his ear and brought young boy back to reality, causing him to choke on his roll for a second. His eyes turned to see a boy maybe a year or two older than him. He was pale, had bags under his eyes; he seemed sickly. There was something about him that managed to put Adam further on edge than he already was.

"Hi," Adam managed awkwardly, and the crazed smile on this older boy's face widened.

"You're like me," he whispered to Adam. Adam's eyes shifted around guiltily, not sure what to say, before the boy added, "You don't have magic. You're not a wizard."

Adam froze, and for a moment, a cautious feeling of ease permeated through his body. Someone here knew? Someone knew he was normal? And he seemed excited by the idea…

The older boy's eyes shifted around, and he moved his robes to the side slightly, revealing an old, tattered book with a stain on the front that looked suspiciously like dried blood. Adam could make out the faded title, A Hunter's Guide to Sorcery.