Hagrid took special care to make sure all the students were inside the castle by the time that a tall sinewy feline with square glasses and dark black hair came down the stairs. She gave the half-giant a quick nod before he made his way off towards the hall.

The Mobian witch wearing emerald robes then gave a hardened gaze over the new first years. "My name is Professor McGonagall, and I welcome you to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly. Before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family here at Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your dormitory, and spend free time in your house's common room." The witch explained as she continued down the stairs, taking note of the hundred or so students gathered before her. "There are four houses, each with its own noble history; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose points and likely give you detention. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, which is a great honor. I do hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours." She then started towards a large door. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school, so I suggest you make yourselves presentable while waiting."

Collin took note of all around him; from his new friend, Rowan, to the humans and Mobians who looked like trouble. He was excited. Unfortunately, he noticed a few people, one in particular, from the human city he had once lived in. Oh sure, they had only been babies when he had last seen her, but he had always had a sense of recognition, not to mention, his own memory never let him forget anything for too long, if at all. It was a blessing, and a curse.

"What are you doing here, Kintobor?" Snarled an average height human girl with dark brown hair that looked like a mess in the front, dark purple eyes that were outlined by hatred befitting of the humans he had known in his first year of life. "Your father said you were dead."

Collin closed his eyes for a second to organize his thoughts as students gathered round the duo. Rowan looked concerned and worried. When Collin's eyes opened again, he was calm. "I'm afraid you have me confused for someone else, miss. My name is Collin Hedgehog. I'm an eleven year old human who was adopted by a hedgehog when I was two, and have since been raised among Mobians and humans alike. I do not hold any association with the Kintobor house, save for Miss Hope Kintobor, and even that is thin." The way he spoke was like that of an adult, but the firmness in his stance was like that of a threatened animal, ready to run. His blue eyes were clear, to the point, and focused. He didn't want to get into any fights this early in his first year… if ever… However, he knew something that the other students didn't know yet. He didn't need to cast a spell to have a shield around him. That was his soul magic acting up. He knew how it worked, and if he needed to, he could control it. For now though, he would force it to be down. It couldn't protect him forever anyway. He had to learn to deal with others.

"Oh, so that's where you went." The girl stood in front of the shorter human, glaring at him, not seeming to care. "Whatever. I know who you are, and you can't fool me. You're just as cursed as your sister, Kintobor." Collin twitched at that. "My parents told me about you and your sister. You both are just cursed, and waiting to take us all down with you."

Collin let out a slight growl at this. "Do us both a favor then, and leave me be. I'm not as much trouble as you seem to wish upon us." He took a deep breath to calm himself down as Professor McGonigal returned. 'The only curse I seem to have is that I was born a human.' The feline looked between the students and then led them into the main hall where they stood in front of the entire school.

There were four long tables, and up above seemed to be the night sky with thousands upon thousands of floating candles. It was almost enough for Collin to forget the little spat that had just occurred. Almost. As they neared the end of the hall where the professors and headmaster sat, Collin took note of a dirty old hat.

One by one, the students were called, and one by one, the hat called out names, sorting them into their appropriate houses. Much to Collin's relief, he was called up as "Collin Hedgehog". He made his way up, much to the surprise of some of his classmates, as he was a human. After he climbed the stool in front of the hall, he took a deep breath, as the old pointy hat was placed upon him. Much to his surprise, the hat didn't choose right way, as it had done for many before him.

"Hmmm, interesting… plenty of resourcefulness, but smart. Loyal, and brave… interesting."

Collin tried to figure out what he could do, if anything to get placed in a house that Senior had not been in. Senior had been a very proud Slytherin, that much had always been obvious, and while Collin enjoyed the green of plants, he absolutely loathed snakes. He closed his eyes and started muttering.

"Not his house, eh?" Collin's eyes widened. He hadn't expected the hat to take his opinion into consideration. The hat was also talking in a low whisper that only Collin could hear. To the students who were watching, the hat was merely mumbling as though thinking. It wouldn't be the first time, but it rarely happened. The professors were all interested as well as to what was going on. "Interesting request. You have the brains to do it though, it's all right here! Slytherin could help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that. You could end up even greater than he had ever hoped to be…" The hat looked deeper into his thoughts and saw reasons that justified the boy's fear. "Very well then… GRYFFINDOR!" the sorting hat shouted as it was lifted up.

Collin's eyes opened wide as he jumped off the stool with glee. He made his way over to where he sat next to a young Mobian lion cub with blonde fur and bright eyes at the Gryffindor table. Soon after, Rowan Khanna also joined at the table, much to Collin's delight.

The headmaster rose from his seat and announced things like "Harry Potter is safe" and for all to have a good year. Collin had heard of the "Boy who lived", after all, who hadn't. It had only happened about a month or so ago. Collin took a deep breathe as he thought about all that had happened around him, and those he knew. Many had been captured or killed by the Death Eaters, his original family was full of them, save for himself and his sister. He had only been an infant when he escaped from Senior, but his mind was always advanced, always thinking, always planning. His sister had tried to take him with her when she fled, he knew that she had. Things didn't often work out for the two of them. He knew she was alive somewhere though. He also knew that he had been lucky to be found by Charles Hedgehog. Maybe if he ever found his sister, he could ask Charles to adopt her as well.

Collin's rare childish thought was pushed aside as the speech ended and food suddenly appeared on the table. Many of the first years were surprised, while others were not so much. Mostly the children of muggles were the most shocked. Collin was only surprised because Charles, though quite gifted in magic, preferred to act as a muggle did, feeling that depending on magic for everything would only cause trouble. Collin didn't mind it one bit, grateful to know that he was capable of working with both sides of the spectrum and help many with his skills. He actually liked to tinker with gadgets on a rare occasion…

All thoughts of this faded as he started to join in with his new house and enjoy the food with them. A young blue hedgehog that was in his last year smirked at the young human. "Hey, Collin, pass the potatoes?"

"Sure thing."