September 1st, 1990- Petunia

The rest of their little holiday had been enjoyable. Petunia and Harry toured London, visiting the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Madame Tussaud's. The proprietors of Camden Lodge, the little b&b they had stayed at, gave them funny looks after their Diagon Alley trip, as they were armed with the strangest books, a cauldron, and an owl. The two chuckled over what everyone must think of them. When they weren't exploring London, Harry was absorbed in his school books. He even found a name in his History of Magic text for his new pet- Hedwig.

Now, it was time for Harry to board the Hogwarts Express. Unlike the trip her family had made for Lily's first journey to the school, this journey was far less depressing for Petunia. She had been envious and alone then. Now, she was simply glad that her nephew was attending the school, and claiming his magical birthright.

'Oh my sweet boy,' said Petunia, blinking away tears and smothering Harry in a tight hug. 'I'll miss you so much!'

Harry's reply was muffled, but it sounded like he was protesting against the public display of affection. She laughed, wiped away her tears and released him.

'Now, remember, study hard, and don't get into trouble!' she warned him playfully. 'Be auntie's good little boy!'

'Ugh yes, auntie,' said Harry, blushing in embarrassment.

'And here, sweetums, I've packed a little snack for you.' Petunia handed him a rather large bag containing several sandwiches, pastries and bottles of cold water.

'Auntie! There's enough for about five people in here!' laughed Harry.

'Well, then, make some friends dear,' said Petunia, pinching his cheek lightly. Giving Harry one last hug, she watched him board the train. A few minutes later, he stuck his head out of the compartment window and waved at his aunt.

Petunia waved back, bravely holding back her tears until the train was gone, and then let them fall. She caught her own train back to Cullfield and found her cottage vast and empty without Harry's presence. Fortunately, her friends from the village made a point of dropping by, and didn't let her wallow. Although still missing Harry, she looked forward to his first letter.

September 1st, 1990- Harry

Harry had been a bit mortified at being kissed, hugged and wept at in public by his aunt. However, no one noticed because everyone else was going through the same ordeal with their parents. He climbed into the train, and settled into an empty compartment, leaning out to wave at his aunt one last time. The train began to move and he leaned back in the plush seat, feeling a bit unsettled. He had never really been away from his aunt before… they had always done everything together. Just as the weight of loneliness had begun to settle on him, someone cracked open the compartment door.

'Hey! Harry! Is it alright if I sit in here?' It was Neville Longbottom, the boy from Madame Malkin's. He peered in shyly, waiting for Harry's assent.

'Of course, come in,' said Harry, cheered at seeing a familiar face. 'Want a sandwich? My auntie packed enough for a whole family!'

Neville happily accepted the tomato and cheese sandwich, and they sat munching and discussing what they knew of Hogwarts. Suddenly, the compartment door flew open and a blond boy stepped through, flanked by two large, expressionless children.

'Ugh, Crabbe, Goyle, we've got to find another compartment. This one reeks of Longbottom,' sneered the boy, glaring at Neville. 'Can't believe you even got into Hogwarts, I heard you were a squib.'

Neville looked down, a dull blush spreading on his face. 'Hello, Malfoy.'

Harry disliked bullies, and although they barely knew each other, he felt the need to defend Neville.

'Malfoy!' said Harry excitedly. 'Not as in Lucius Malfoy's son, Draco?'

Malfoy preened. 'You've heard of me.'

'Of course! All the books about the great war talk about how your dad escaped going to Azkaban despite being clearly involved in several crimes!' chirped Harry, pleased to see Malfoy's smirk fall.

'How dare you… you… non entity!' snarled Malfoy and stomped out of the compartment, followed closely by his goons.

Harry glanced at Neville. 'Was it something I said?'

The two began giggling uncontrollably.

Neville settled back into his seat comfortably. 'I've never seen someone stand up to Malfoy like that! How'd you know all that stuff anyway?'

'After we found out I was a wizard, auntie got some books for me about the magical world,' said Harry. 'I got a bunch on the magical war, about that Voldemort person, and all the stuff that he did.'

He had also read a number of books and articles on himself and his parents, and it had been weird to say the least. It was like reading about someone else.

'If you don't mind me asking… what happened to your parents?' asked Neville in a small voice.

'Car accident,' said Harry. Remembering only hearing about Neville's grandmother, and not his parents he asked, 'What about yours?'

'They were attacked by V-Voldemort's people… but they didn't die. They just never… got better,' said Neville quietly. 'I've lived with gran ever since.'

'I'm sorry,' said Harry sincerely.

'It's alright, gran's been good to me, even if she's pressed about me getting into Gryffindor!' said Neville, forcing a smile.

'Let's hope the sorting hat makes the best decision for us!' declared Harry.

They were momentarily distracted by the trolley witch, whose cart offered sweets the likes of which Harry had never seen. He bought as many chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Cauldron Cakes as he could, and the two stuffed themselves. The rest of the journey was uneventful, except for the attempted escape of Trevor, Neville's pet toad. He hopped around the compartment anxiously, not liking the movement of the train. Another first year, a blonde girl with pigtails, helped to corral him, and offered them an empty picnic basket as a temporary cage.

Eventually, the train slowed to a halt, and the students disembarked. A large, burly man with a lantern gathered the first years and led them to a small dock next to a large body of dark water. Dozens of small boats bobbed gently and the students carefully boarded them. Harry stuck with Neville, nervous again. As the boats moved, seemingly of their own accord, Harry trailed his fingers in the freezing water.

'Now, don't yeh firsties go fallin' into the lake!' bellowed their guide, who had introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. 'We've got squids an' strange creatures yeh don' want to meet today!'

Harry and Neville stared at each other for an instant, and began searching the black water for any movement. Harry thought he spotted something breaking the surface, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. He kept his hands firmly in the boat after that.

'Look up, righ' ahead, and yeh will see Hogwarts!' Hagrid called out from the front of the boats. The castle rose in front of them, lights twinkling at the windows, turrets towering everywhere. A hush fell over the first years as they gaped at the building.

Soon, they arrived at another small dock, and were greeted by Professor McGonagall. Instead of the severe suit that she had worn the day she met Harry and Aunt Petunia, she wore equally severe black robes.

'Welcome to Hogwarts, children. Follow me, and your sorting ceremony will begin.'

They stumbled after her, their footing unsure on the dark path. She led to them to a small alcove to wait, and Harry could hear the chatter of hundreds of voices in a room next to them. The first years shifted nervously. Most had no idea of how the sorting ceremony was performed and Harry could hear them sharing wild theories. A red-headed boy claimed that they would be made to fight a troll, while a bushy haired witch muttered all the spells she could remember. Harry and Neville knew that a hat would be making the decision, so they remained calm, and amused at their classmates' panic.

'Come, children. It is time to be sorted.' Everyone jumped. No one had heard Professor McGonagall entering the room.

She guided them into an enormous hall, where the rest of the school waited on four long tables. Harry felt his stomach drop; what if something went wrong in front of all these people? He spotted Professor Dumbledore sitting with the other teachers on the head table, and caught his eye. Dumbledore smiled at him, and Harry felt a bit more reassured. A battered wizard's hat sat on a stool, and everyone stared rather stupidly at it. It began to sing a song, telling them about the four houses. When it was over, everyone applauded, and McGonagall commenced the ceremony.

'Abbott, Hannah!'

The helpful blonde witch from the train placed the hat on her head and waited for a split second. 'HUFFLEPUFF!'

A table at the side of the hall cheered, and welcomed the girl into their fold.

'Boot, Terry!'

'Ravenclaw!'

The Ravenclaw table greeted him with handshakes and slapped him on the back.

'Brown, Lavender!'

'Gryffindor!'

Harry felt Neville tense next to him as the Gryffindor table whooped rowdily.

'Crabbe, Vincent!'

'Slytherin!'

The Slytherin table applauded quietly and made a place for the lumbering boy.

'Dursley, Harry!'

Harry walked to the stool, his knees wobbling, and placed the hat on his head.

'Hmm, hello, Harry Dursley. Plenty of brains here, I see! You're a hard worker too, very nice. Lots of bravery and pluck too. A great deal of ambition as well. But… what's this?' Harry heard the Sorting Hat's voice in his head.

'What's what?' whispered Harry anxiously envisioning himself being forced back on the train to be sent home in front of all these people.

'Why, you're no Dursley. You're a Potter.' The hat sounded surprised.

Harry thought of his aunt's kind face and the warm hugs she gave. He remembered the stories she told him about the brave man who would have been his uncle, whose name he now bore proudly. 'No, I AM a Dursley! I'll always be a Dursley!'

'Interesting! Such loyalty. I say, let it be HUFFLEPUFF!'

Harry ripped the hat off, and stumbled to the Hufflepuff table in relief. Several people introduced themselves and he forgot their names immediately. He sat next to Hannah, the girl who had helped to trap Trevor on the train, and they grinned at each other. The Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar, tried to shake his hand and made it quite numb. Justin Finch-Fletchley joined them a few minutes later, while Seamus Finnigan and Hermione Granger went to Gryffindor.

'Longbottom, Neville!'

Poor Neville shuffled to the hat, his eyes firmly on the ground, and placed it on his head. He remained there for several minutes until the hat decided.

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

Harry beamed at him as he sat at the table with them, looking a bit overwhelmed.

'Oh no,' moaned Neville, dropping his face into his hands. 'What's gran going to say?'

'Don't worry Neville,' said Hannah, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. 'I'm sure she'll be fine with it.'

As the sorting ended, Dumbledore stood. 'Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you.'

Harry wasn't surprised. Dumbledore regularly inserted these words into conversation whenever he came over to Aunt Petunia's for tea or supper. Neither he nor Aunt Petunia had worked out what they meant. As Dumbledore finished his strange speech, an assortment of dishes appeared on the table before them. Baked potatoes, roast beef, baked chicken, steamed vegetables and buttery bread rolls were generously piled on platters down the table. Soup tureens containing hot vegetable soup, and jugs of chilled pumpkin juice and water appeared here and there. As they ate, the older Hufflepuffs pointed out the different teachers to them.

'…and that there is Professor Flitwick, he teaches Charms. He's great, you'll love him,' said Cedric Diggory, a second year student sitting next to Harry.

A girl named Tamsin Applebee indicated to the man dressed in black. 'Next to him is Professor Snape. He teaches Potions… he's a bit mean to everyone, especially the Gryffindors, but he's not so bad to the Hufflepuffs.'

Cedric chewed thoughtfully on a bread roll. 'He likes students who are good at Potions though. He's got no time for you if you're not.'

Harry stared at the man dressed in black and agreed silently that he did look a bit exacting.

'And that over there, with the weird eye, is Professor Moody,' said Tamsin, pointing out a strange looking man who was spearing his beef rather viciously. He wore an eyepatch that contained an electric blue eye that swivelled everywhere. 'He's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.'

As if he had heard them, the strange eye turned and focused on them, and they all floundered as they looked off in various directions. Fortunately, the main course faded from the table and dessert appeared, distracting everyone. Cupcakes, ice cream, and an assortment of pies and pastries materialised in front of Harry. He gorged himself on apple pie and vanilla ice cream and was completely stuffed by the time the feast was over. He groaned as Neville pulled him up to follow the prefects leading the first years to the Hufflepuff common room.

They trotted after them through a corridor next to the Great Hall, and down some stone stairs. Flaming wall sconces lit their path and Harry hoped that they were not going to the dungeons. "Hogwarts: A History" had been vague about the locations of the various common rooms as the houses were secretive about them. The children passed a few paintings on the way- one was a mundane bowl of fruit, while others featured chatty occupants who called out words of welcome to the new students. Finally, the prefects stopped at an unlit recess at the side of the corridor where some barrels were stacked in a neat pile.

'Now, look closely kids. This is how you access the common room,' called out one of the prefects. She began to tap on the middle barrel in the second row. 'All you need to do is tap here in the tune of "Helga Hufflepuff". If you don't do it right, you'll get drenched in vinegar!'

Harry and Neville exchanged nervous glances. That would be incredibly embarrassing. The prefects led them into the common room, and Harry was surprised to see a cosy, well lit space. Unlike the chilly stone corridor outside, the common room was warm, and glowed in the light of several fires. Squishy armchairs faced the fireplaces and plants hung everywhere, softening the stark yellow and black decor with their cool green. Larger sofa sets surrounded small tables elsewhere in the room, perfect for reading and chatting, while long desks with chairs were set up on the far end of the room, forming places for school work. Windows lined the walls, and Harry wondered what they could possibly show, as they were underground. Peering through one, he could see a moonlit meadow and someone said that it was magical view, much like the ceiling of the Great Hall.

Professor Sprout, a short, plump woman with flyaway hair and a kind face, introduced herself as the head of house. She gave them the basic rules and assured them that she, and the prefects, were there if they had any problems. Though her speech was short, Harry was comforted; she had a maternal air about her and seemed a jolly sort.

A passageway off the common room took the new Hufflepuff boys to their dormitory where their trunks waited for them. Atop Harry's trunk was Hedwig in her cage. She hooted softly at him as he released her, and gave her some owl treats. While Harry was at Hogwarts, she would sleep in the Owlery with the other owls. He hoped she would like it. His own sleeping quarters were comfortable. Each boy got a four poster bed covered in black and yellow bedding, along with a compact cupboard for clothing and a small desk and chair for school work. Curtains embroidered with the house symbol, a badger, could be pulled around each section for privacy. Just beyond the sleeping quarters was a private bathroom, just for the first year boys. Harry washed up quickly, and got into bed, exhausted. In minutes, he was asleep.

September 1990- Petunia

September 2nd, 1990

Dear Aunt Petunia,

How are you? How's Cullfield? Guess, what… I GOT INTO HUFFLEPUFF! It's really lovely auntie, everyone is really nice and helpful. And the beds are comfortable, and I've got my own little desk for homework. My head of house is Professor Sprout, she teaches Herbology, so she knows lots about plants. Today we had a class called Transfiguration which was taught by Professor McGonagall. Did you know she could turn into a cat? Did you know ANYONE could turn into a cat? I've already made a few friends: Neville who we met on Diagon Alley, my roommate Justin Finch-Fletchley and a girl named Hannah Abbott. The food is great, but not as great as yours auntie! Anyway, I've got Potions now, and I can't be late, they say the professor hates tardiness! Please write back soon, and tell me how everything is at home!

Love,

Harry.

Petunia was pleased that he seemed to be settling in well. She wondered what Lily and James would think if they knew that Harry had been sorted into Hufflepuff. They hadn't been kind about the house, with Lily calling them 'soft' and James derisively saying that it was a house of 'odds and ends'. Petunia, however, valued hard work and loyalty, and was proud that Harry had shown these qualities so much that he had been chosen for Hufflepuff. She took his hint about the Hogwarts fare not being up to her standards (although she was certain that he was exaggerating), and packed a large care package for him. She included his favourite white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, a whole strawberry cake, and some mini lamb pies, and sent it off with Willow. Not for the first time, she felt sorry for Harry's absent parents. But then again, their loss had been her gain.

AN: Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favourites! Look out for the next update, next week! Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter xx