Harry tried to pay attention, really he did. The ceiling of the Great Hall was honestly one of the most impressive feats of magic he had ever seen, par none. His eyes refused to stay on the Sorting Ceremony, traveling back to the ceiling time and time again. When Susan and Hannah clapped, he did as well. Even through the Headmaster's speech, he remained only aware of what was above. He was going to learn how to do that if it was the only thing he did at that school.

"So," he began nonchalantly as the food magically appeared on the tables. "I knew Hogwarts employees people from different magical backgrounds… but what's with the toad?"

Susan spit out her drink and Hannah guffawed loudly before covering her mouth and rubbing her friend's back. Harry smiled, pleased at their reactions, and moved several delicious looking items to his dish. Harry bit his tongue and pulled his lips back, looking at the items in the dish and flicking his wand at them. The broccoli was rearranged to look like a small forest, potatoes moving up from the plate down back to the dish as if it were snow. Meat was arranged like a lake with it's gravy. Carrots became like fish, shrinking in size and wading slowly through the brown liquid. Satisfied with himself, Harry grabbed a fork and a knife, cutting out a piece of his lake, taking a tree, some snow, and a carrot with him.

People around him had gone fairly quite. He chewed slowly and wiped his mouth. "I'm sorry," he said to them. "I know it's rude to play with food, but I just can't help myself."

With that, a carrot jumped out of the gravy and continued swimming around while the potato snow continued. "It's hard to believe you're a big hero when you play with your food, Harry," Hannah told him, looking amused.

"I know." He grinned, opening his mouth as a fish jumped from his plate into it, winking at the astonished girl as it happened. "That's why I do it."

Susan seemed to be calculating him in her head, but appreciated the comment for it's honesty, smiling at him. "What are the chances that there's a party in our common room tonight?" he asked them, looking around the table. That seemed to catch the attention of the other Hufflepuffs.

"Party?" a handsome boy asked, becoming excided.

Harry nodded. "Harry Potter needs a welcoming party after all, wouldn't you say? And I have coincidentally brought several boxes of butterbeer and firewhiskey… I hear that's what you drink here in England."

The table started whispering excitedly. Harry's eyes squinted at the younger students. "You have to be at least a third year, son. No exceptions." The suddenly serious tone he used reminded everyone just who he was, but he discretely winked at excited boy he had reprimanded before turning back to the rest of the table. "Are there any relationships I should respect, Susie?"

Susan blushed and Hannah scoffed. "As if there's anyone good enough to date," the blonde said, looking to the red-head for affirmation.

Harry watched Susan ignore her friend, staring at her. When she seemed stuck in his gaze, he turned his full attention completely to her, unable to help the legilimancy that occurred, causing him to grin roguishly at her train of thought. "Not that I would want to grace any other lady with my attentions before you, of course," he told her.

The poor girl looked like her head was going to pop, her friend not helping her cause at all, instead choosing to laugh at her. Harry was amazed at how easy it was to rile the girl up, his only experience with women had been with older, confident women, but these girls acted like no one had ever properly flirted with them before.

"So, really, what's up with the Toad Teacher?" Hannah and Susan laughed at his assessment of their newest Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. "She looks like the type who likes tying up her food before cutting it open."

"She's from the Ministry. Since the minister's polls are down, he's doing everything he can to prove that he has some form of control over the country, which he doesn't. Everyone hates him, he's a stupid, bumbling buffoon who doesn't deserve to be employed by the ministry, let alone lead it."

Harry blinked at Susan and turned to Hannah. "He's been a complete jack ass to her aunt," she told them.

Harry made an aha face before animating two chicken legs to hop over to his plate from down the table, playing drums on the empty plate of a first year on its way. The child, who apparently came from a magic-less family, giggled for a while after the unique display.

"Are we going to have to get used to that, Harry?" Hannah asked him, gesturing to the dancing and flapping pieces of chicken traveling to his plate.

Harry grinned, opening his mouth and closing his teeth on a wing, letting his magic feed him. "Yes 'm," he told her. After chewing and swallowing he wiped his mouth again. "You get used to entertaining people while you eat when you're the only one at a table eating food."

Both of the girls looked confused and Harry tilted his head to the side. "Vampires, remember?" he told them. The blood seemed to run from their faces. Now Harry was confused.

"Y-you weren't just joking?" Hannah asked, her voice barely audible.

Harry frowned. "Why would I joke about my upbringing?"

Before they could answer, their attention was called from the front of the room, the Headmaster gently going over rules that Harry steadfastly ignored, deciding instead to look around the room. His gaze stopped on the Slytherin table where a girl with beautiful long dark red hair, nearly purple in color, was also looking around the room. Their eyes met and Harry couldn't look away.

She was nothing short of a Goddess in a teenager's body.

She held his gaze, giving him nearly a full minute to memorize the refined features of her face, her summer skin kissed by the sun no doubt. Her eyes were dark blue and seemed restless. Her magic swirled around her, tamed, as if caged and confined, its color matching her eyes. Harry almost stood and walked over to her then and there.

Everyone began rising from their tables and Harry lost sight of his enchantress. "So," the boy from early said, addressing Harry. "You mentioned a party?"

Harry grinned at him and slapped his shoulder. "Ernie, right?" The boy nodded, smiling up at the taller Harry. "I think we're going to be fast friends, mate."

As it turned out, Hufflepuff was not a house shy to partying. Harry was excited to find that not only could they hold their liquor, but that had quite a few interesting games as well. The whole house seemed to express their surprise to find him amongst their own and Harry eventually made it a rule that anyone who asked him a personal question or commented on his being in Hufflepuff or at Hogwarts had to drink.

The party wore on into the night and he was able to convince quite a few 'puff to puff and pass. The younger years had headed down to bed when he began passing around the blunts he rolled, impressing the handful of muggleborns who were learned in the way of partying.

"Oh man," Ernie complained. "I wish you had been here for the Goblet of Fire, that shit would have lit the best blunt."

"It certainly sounded entertaining," he answered, sinking into the comfy chair he had claimed in the common room. "But to have school children compete in a competition that could end in their death seems a bit much. I mean, magical children are so few an far between, I'm surprised that Durmstrang and Bauxbatons went along with it as well."

"Yeah, England tends to not care that much about children. At least in comparison." Ernie was nearly passed out on the couch with Hannah and Susan cuddling into his arms.

Harry shook his head. "That's such a shame. I wish adults were… better."

"We can be better," Susan told him. She sat up then, eyes bright. "We can be the best people. We can be better than the generations before us, don't you realize."

She stood, getting the attention of the older people in the room. "We're going to inherit this world some day, and we can be better when we do! We don't have to let people like Fudge or you-know-who fuck up everyone's childhood!"

"Hear, hear!" the rest of the house chanted, toasting her before drinking. Harry smiled at the girl. The party seemed to be dying down, some older students waking up the ones that passed out and making them go to bed. Harry stood up and took out his wand, flicking it around their area and getting it cleaned up. The rest of his house mates followed suit, thanking him for the party and congratulating him on becoming a 'puff.

It wasn't long before he was stripping himself for bed, smiling in contentment. Maybe Hogwarts wasn't going to be so bad after all. The last thing on his mind before his brain shut off was dark blue of that Slytherin's eyes.

.

Harry woke up after his standard two hour rest. Actually, he took an extra fifteen minutes to fight off the hang over he might have otherwise had. That being said, he was surprised to find that no one in his house was up even after he completed his morning training rituals.

All of his exercises took up roughly two hours. Feeling the need to spend a little energy before being made to sit in classes all day, he ran 10k instead of his standard 5.

Imagine his surprise when the sun had started rising yet not a single one of his dorm mates had yet to awaken.

Figuring he was better off doing something than nothing, Harry sat on his bed and began meditating. He followed himself into himself and concentrated deeply, allowing the world outside of him to disappear as he collected his thoughts and began the process of sorting through them.

This wasn't an uncommon practice for him, so it didn't take long at all to finish storing his own memories inside himself. He had something of a lair in his mind, perfectly kept and always a good time, Harry didn't mind meditating when the goings got boring. Then he began the task of trying to figure out who his golden goddess was.

He had narrowed down the possibilities, but just wanted to know for sure. There were four Slytherin girls in his year that he knew of, and she definitely wasn't Pansy Parkinson or Milicent Bulstrode, both of whom he had met briefly during holiday parties at Malfoy manor.

Harry smiled to himself. He loved crashing parties, especially when it meant finding a crack in someone's wards.

Finally, six o'clock rolled around and Harry rose from his bed, making his way toward the great hall. There were four other students at the Great Hall and two professors. Seating himself at the Hufflepuff table, he smiled at the bushy-haired Gryffindor who seemed a bit startled by the action.

He collected himself a great deal of eggs, spelling them into little egg-balls that rolled over onto his plate. To his delight, he found hashbrowns on the table and eager spelled them into a house. Using different fruits available, he began decorating the building, an egg ball magically flying into his mouth when he was done chewing. Coffee poured into a small mug and drifted to his open hand after a few twitches of his wand and he swiftly drank the liquid, closing his eyes dramatically as Ernie sat himself next to Harry.

"Potter- what on Earth?" He questioned, motioning to the house built of food.

Harry grinned, throwing an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. "Ah, Earnest, dear... Don't you know that food tastes better when it looks better?" He asked, wand moving again to place an illusion of a storm above the food, lightning striking a corner of the house and a gentle cutting curse applied ensured that the portion of the building fell from the house. Harry's broad smile was fixed in place as he happily scooped up the portion of the house, eating the corner of the building in two easy bites. Harry saw his friend place two pieces of bacon on his plate and smirked, flicking his wand at them and the half of a grapefruit down the table.

A makeshift helicopter was suddenly flying toward the storm, gathering attention from more sleepy eyed teens ambling to their tables. Susan stopped mid-motion as she began sitting at the table, hovering over her seat watching the show. Harry began adding sound affects for good measure, holding his hand up to his mouth as if it were a walkie-talkie.

"Ahh, sir, watch out ahead! The storm!"

He made a crinkling noise into his hand and changed his voice. "Roger that, we're on a one way route to death, son. I love you."

He crinkled again and went back to the first voice, the helicopter swerving left and right above his plate. "Pa! I love you! I'm scared, Pa!"

"Listen here, Jimmy," Harry made his voice thick with emotion. "There is nothing to fear but fear itself. This will just be... the next great adventure." With that, Harry made small screaming noises as the helicopter lopped sideways and crashed onto half of the house. A handful of first years cheered and Harry bowed, sticking a piece of bacon in his mouth.

He made quick work of the rest of his meal while Susan and Hannah tried to wake themselves up. "So, why do you guys sleep so much?" Harry finally asked. The question had been on his mind all morning.

Everyone blinked. "What do you mean?" Hannah asked slowly.

Harry shrugged. "We're magical. Witches and Wizards who attend Hogwarts are at least powerful enough in theory to cast a spell like the Patronus by the time they reach adulthood. Based on how strong you are magically, your body and magic regenerate at a much quicker rate. All of the witches and wizards I know abroad sleep far less than you all have, usually four or five hours."

Earnie gave him a strange look. "How much do you sleep, Harry?"

Harry frowned. "Two hours, today I slept in for an extra fifteen minutes since we drank."

"T-Two hours?! How do you function?!" Susan exclaimed, mouth open with shock.

Harry put on a serious face and turned to her. "I'm magical. I'm powerful enough to at least cast the Patronus and because I'm so powerful-"

"Oh, shut it, Potter," Hannah interrupted, making the muscular boy grin. "We don't know anyone who sleeps as little as you do."

Harry blinked, considering them. "How often do you rest your mind?"

"Rest our... what?" Susan asked.

Harry looked around at them all again, confused himself. "You don't meditate? Not even meditative yoga? Focusing practices? Becoming in touch with your magic, all of that?"

They looked at him like he was speaking a different language. He thought about that for a moment. "Am I accidentally speaking a different language?'

Earnie laughed and the girls rolled their eyes. "No, you're just telling us things we've never heard."

Harry nodded. "That makes sense, but it's surprising that you've never heard this before. Most of the magical cultures I've visited have rituals regarding sleeping and awakening. I've come up with my own mash up between a couple of different places I've visited. It's weird is all."

"Right," Susan said, obviously much more sassy when she was still waking up. "We're the weird ones for actually sleeping, and you're 'normal' for napping for a few hours every night. Okay, there, Potter."

Harry's laughter faltered as the Slytherin girl walked into the Great Hall. Their eyes met again, but this time she seemed prepared for the attention. Harry felt himself straighten, knowing that she was taking in his appearance and judging him. He was happy he thought of her this morning when he cleaned his face and styled his hair. He certainly looked his best for a normal school day, and he wasn't about to look like a slob if she was going to be around. He could tell from the graceful calculated way she walked that she was aware of everything around her and everything she did.

He wanted desperately to impress her.

Harry turned to Earnie. "Who is that Slytherin girl that just walked in?"

Earnie frowned, looking toward the table and finding the girl in question. He scoffed. "Oh, that's Greengrass."

Susan and Hannah snorted. Hannah looked pityingly at him, reaching over to pat his cheek patronizingly. "Poor Harry," she said, rubbing his face. "She's not going to give you the time of day."

Harry pouted at them, making them laugh. Earnie looked away from her and back at Harry. "I don't know, Hannah. If anyone's her type, it might as well be Harry. I mean, you can't honestly say that anyone else except for Dumbledore measures up to his reputation. He's got just as much money and influence as Malfoy. The Minister is probably torn between wanting to get him off and wetting his pants every time he's near the poor lad." They all scorned that last one and Earnie put his hands in the air. "I'm just saying, he's the most influential, powerful, accomplished wizard of our age in the world. Perhaps he's the only one Greengrass would spare the time of day for."

Harry shook his head. "I don't know mate, she doesn't seem impressed."

Earnie looked him in the eye. "The fact that she's looked in your direction shows you're more interesting than anyone else in the room. The only time she's ever looked at me was when I bumped into her in third year and she asked if I would be paying for the new robes she would need since those were 'tarnished' by my touch."

Harry laughed, looking back at the girl in question. She was buttering her toast, taking a small sip from her tea before biting a small piece. Her eyes flickered up to his for a brief moment before seeming to tear away and refocus on her task at hand. Harry sighed. He needed to talk to her.

.

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A/N: If anyone is any good at editing or writing and you'd be interested in co-writing/editing this story, I'm just interested in hearing from you.