A/N: Hello again! I'm back. We've broken 200 reviews! Just…gah, you guys are amazing. Really.

Now, the wonderful 200th reviewer was: Uchiha Salad! So feel free to ask for a omake or scene, Uchiha Salad. Your review was much appreciated.

And now…on to the chapter!

Chapter 12

The Wind, the Sun, and the Mist

The silence in the Hall was palpable. After a moment, Yāyún tugged the Hat from his head, holding it out to Professor McGonagall as he stood. With a short nod, he began to walk over to the table on the right, his tie now yellow-and-black and his robes edged similarly. As though this had broken them from their reverie, the Hufflepuff table broke out into raucous cheers, and Yāyún winced as the sounds echoed back into his ears painfully. As he slid into a free space on a bench, an older boy reached over, extending his hand.

"It'll be great to have you here, mate!" he exclaimed. "Say, aren't you the kid that Akers and his crew were bothering? I'm Cedric Diggory, by the way." Yāyún stared at the boy for a moment, listening as the other tables slowly broke out into more whispering as the Hufflepuff table's cheers began to die away.

"Hadrian," he said simply, nodding. The other looked rather put-out by his quiet response, but he smiled and sat down after a moment. Just as Diggory opened his mouth, Professor McGonagall lifted the parchment again and called out another name.

"Rockbell, Winry!" a blonde girl walked up to the hat and was promptly sorted into Gryffindor. Diggory sent a grin at Yāyún, turning his attention once more to the Sorting ceremony. The names were went through, slowly and methodically, until Aleksandra's name was called.

"Volkov, Aleksandra!" McGonagall called sharply, and the blonde girl walked up. She sat, and the Hat sank over her ears, obscuring her eyes. She fidgeted, biting her lip and griping the edge of the stool with whitening knuckles. A few minutes passed, but there was still no verdict.

"She's a Hatstall," breathed Diggory. Yāyún sent him a questioning look. "It's where the Hat can't quite decide which House to put a student into; it's not exactly rare, but it's certainly not the norm. You were a Hatstall too, you know." Diggory explained in a whisper, even as similar whispers and mutterings began to sound out around the Hall. "Certainly didn't think you'd end up in Hufflepuff; everyone thought you'd be a Gryff like your Mum and Dad. Wonder where she'll end up?" he wondered, looking contemplatively at Aleksandra. Time stretched out, and even the staff were leaning forward, awaiting the Hat's verdict with almost eager looks. Finally, the Hat's 'mouth'-seam opened.

"Gryffindor!" it cried, and the Hat was promptly removed from Aleksandra's head. She stood and let out a breath of relief, her face pale. She walked over to her new House's table, a smile spreading across her face. Oddly enough, though, there were only a few who clapped for her. The rest seemed to be staring at her with wide eyes and edged away from her as she sat. However, Luca promptly sat across from her, and started chattering at her.

Soon enough the last name was called out—"Walker, Allen!", who became a Slytherin—and Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment, grasped the Hat, and moved the stool away into the back of the room before taking her seat.

"Now, before we all tuck in, I would like to say a few words," the Headmaster's voice rang out clearly, despite the chatter in the Hall. "Welcome, all new students, and a fond welcome back to our older students! Our Caretaker, Mister Argus Filch, would like to remind you that all prank items are forbidden in the corridors alongside any and all spellwork. For a full list of banned items, there is a list pinned to his office door; I do believe that it has exceeded five hundred items this year." Dumbledore peered over his glasses at them all, a smile tugging at his lips. "Now, dig in!"

Food appeared on the plates in front of Yāyún, and he stopped, staring at them for a moment. He had never encountered this—at home, the food was always served to them in person, never appearing out of nowhere. Then he frowned. All of the food he saw was rich; rich and oily, and most definitely not things that he would be able to fully enjoy. Of course, the roast duck certainly looked good, but he knew that eating such oily and fatty foods would fill him up far more than his usual, lighter fare. Looking around the table, he noted the foods that he wanted and began to carefully portion out some for himself.

"Take as much as you want, mate!" Diggory said lightly, looking mildly amused at how little Yāyún was taking.

"I am," he said simply, glancing at Diggory calmly. Diggory frowned for a moment, before shrugging.

"If you say so, mate," he said, turning away. Throughout the rest of the meal, however, he kept a close eye on Yāyún, as though silently judging him. It made his blood itch with the urge to forcefully put the boy's attention back on his own food and business and not Yāyún's.

He tucked in, eating his fill. Soon though, his prediction was proved true—the richness was far more than he was used to, and soon he was full; almost overly so. He was grateful he hadn't taken more, though, as his Mum had been firmly against wasting food. Eventually, the dinner foods were taken away and replaced with the richly sweet foods that Wizarding Britain favored for dessert.

For this, Yāyún merely took a small portion of treacle tart, enjoying the sugary sweetness on his palate. Thankfully, as Yāyún had slowly been getting more and more bored, the food finally vanished, and the Headmaster stood once more.

"And now that we have all eaten our fill," he began grandiosely, "a goodnight to all! Prefects, if you will lead your Houses to your Common Rooms?"

And with that, the whole room became a bustle of activity; people moved around, chattering, benches scraped against stone floors, people shoved and laughed and pushed—

—all in all, it was very, very loud. Yāyún soon found himself being swept along in the hustle and bustle of the crowd, being jostled and pushed as the Hufflepuff House surged forward, the First Years following two Prefects.

They were lead through the Halls, separating away from the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws to join the Slytherins as they trekked down into the castle. Eventually, they parted with the Slytherins as well as the green-and-silver edged robes of the others continued deeper into the depths of the school while they turned away, leaving the darker and damper halls behind as they re-entered the warmer, better lit lower halls.

Soon, they were in a small room with a picture of a bowl of fruit at one end, and a bunch of barrels.

"This is the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room," explained one of the Prefects, a tall black-haired girl. "Watch closely."

She walked up to one of the barrels and rapped out a rhythm on it, smiling as she abruptly fell through the seemingly solid floor.

"All you have to do," began the other Prefect, a rather round brunet boy, "is rap out the rhythm of 'Hel-ga Huff-le-puff' on the right barrel." He demonstrated, and he, too, vanished through the seemingly solid floor. The group of First Years shuffled nervously, and Yāyún heaved a sigh. He was tired, and he just wanted to get to the undoubtedly soft bed that awaited him in the Common Room. But this group of nervous children was preventing him from reaching that bed. It frustrated him, and in a sudden fit of pique, he marched forward up to the barrel that the Prefects had knocked on and rapped out the rhythm. He was sick of waiting!

As he finished the rhythm, the floor seemed to abruptly give out from under him. It was oddly like falling and flying at the same time—there was an odd sense of control, but at the same time there was no control at all. It sent his heart pounding in his throat, and adrenaline flooding his system fiercely.

His feet met floor suddenly, and he stumbled several steps forward. Laughter rang out welcomingly, and strong hands helped him regain his balance. He pulled away, turning sharp green eyes onto the person who had helped him.

"Hey, easy there!" the older boy who had helped him said lightly, holding his hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you, y'know."

"So he's the first one through? I half thought it would be that Gibbs kid!" remarked someone.

"Nah, wouldn't have been him," refuted someone else. "I thought it woulda been the Lee girl."

"Well," interrupted the girl-Prefect from earlier. "It wasn't. It was Potter, so get over it and shut your gobs before the other kids start coming through!" she was sharp and firm, glaring the two into submission. Meanwhile, while they had all been arguing and talking, Yāyún had taken the opportunity to observe the Common Room. It was warm and bright, with large yellow and black armchairs arranged around the room with tables and around a large fireplace. Plush carpets covered the chill stone floor, and there were shelves of plants and little trophies on the walls alongside tapestries depicting pictures or names. All in all, it was a warm, welcoming room, and the students all seemed perfectly at home, lounging comfortably on the chairs or on the floor.

His attention, however, was drawn back to the entrance to the Common Room as a girl fell through the entrance, flailing slightly. Her hair was in pigtails, and she stumbled and fell over as she landed on the carpet. One of the older students promptly pulled her out of the way, greeting her cheerfully as another student fell through and was soon followed by another, and then another.

Yāyún soon realized why the other students had all been laughing when he had fallen through—as the others came through, one at a time, they flailed in an ungainly fashion, twisting and turning even as the magic around the entrance made sure they landed safely on their feet. It was an honestly amusing sight, and he found himself smiling.

Soon, all of the First Years were through, and the two Prefects from earlier stepped forward.

"Is that everyone?" asked the portly boy, counting heads.

"Yup, that is," confirmed the girl.

"Right then." The boy muttered. "Eyes on me!" he called out, and the First Years turned to him. "This is the Hufflepuff Common Room. The Boys' Dorms are up and to the left,"

"And the Girls' Dorms are up and to the right," finished the girl. "The First Year rooms are at the end of the halls, and all of your things have already been brought up."

"First through Third Years have a curfew of eight thirty to be back in the Common Room at night, and a curfew of nine thirty to be in bed with all lights out." The boy-Prefect continued.

"Failure to meet your curfew will result in points deducted, and if the behavior continues, it will be brought to Professor Sprout, our Head of House." The girl-Prefect explained. "Fourth through Seventh Years have a curfew of nine thirty to be back in the Common Room, and have to be in their dorms by eleven."

"For the first two weeks, you'll be escorted by at least one of the Fourth Years to meals and your classes, since Hogwarts is so easy to get lost in. Don't forget to watch the staircases—they like to move."

"Now, if the girls will follow me, I'll take you to your dorms," the girl-Prefect announced.

"And boys will follow me," the boy-Prefect finished, walking to a staircase off to the left. The First Years separated, and soon Yāyún found himself walking up the broad staircase behind the boy-Prefect. They came out into a long corridor, with doors on either side at intervals.

"Seventh Years are closest to the stairs," the boy-Prefect explained. "And the First Years are farthest away. And while we may not have solitary rooms, like the Slytherins, we aren't as bad off as the Gryffindors—they have six kids in one room!" the boy-Prefect turned and grinned at them as they came upon the last set of four rooms. "Instead, everyone's paired with someone else; take a look at the doors, and whoever your name's paired with is your roommate for the rest of your time here at Hogwarts. Yes?"

One of the other boys spoke, having raised his hand. "Well, there are only six of us," he began. "So why are there four rooms?"

"Well, sometimes we get more than six new boys in a year," explained the boy-Prefect. "So we have an extra room. If we get more than eight, Hogwarts creates a new room, so that everyone has a room. I wouldn't worry about it too much—from what I've heard, there hasn't been a case like that since around two decades back."

"Oh. Ok," the boy said, looking away.

"Go ahead and find your rooms and settle in—I'd get some sleep if I were you, though. Even if tomorrow's a Sunday, I bet you're tired out from the train ride."

With that, the boy-Prefect left, and the boys all looked at each other for a moment before separating to look at the doors. Soon enough, Yāyún found his name printed on one of the doors, just above the name 'Ren Kendall'.

Another boy sidled up alongside him and sent him a smile.

"Shall we?" he asked, reaching for the doorknob.

"Yes," Yāyún confirmed.

And together, they turned the doorknob, revealing the room inside.

/

(Just as the wind is accompanied by the sun, it also has other companions, though they are not nearly so constant. Clouds and rain and storms are carried by the wind, just as the mist that follows is swept along by the wind.)

/

/End.\

And…that ends this chapter! I don't actually have much to say, to be perfectly honest.

Also, before I cut this off, I would like to say something really quick. A lot of you guys have guessed some references I've dropped—and yup, they are there! You guys have guessed a ton of them, but not all of them. My point is, I use the name drops either to pay tribute to a fandom that I love, or to do that and also fill up empty space. I don't own the names or references, and quite a few of them are unlikely to ever have a large role in the story—unless I feel like putting in a few omakes detailing how they managed to get to Hogwarts.

Stay Awesome!

~Happy Camper27