This is the last bit to part one, the next part is going to skip ahead quite a bit, but it will be the Triwizard Tournament era. I skipped ahead so much because other than basically telling the other three books from Zacharias and the Hufflepuffs point-of-view, there was nothing I could think to do. So be looking out for Part 2: The Rise of Marietta Edgecomb/The Triwizard Tournament.
The Heir of Hufflepuff
Part 1: A Great Hufflepuff Someday
Bit 3: The First Voyage To Hogwarts
"Okay, bye then," he said, waving to his father as he boarded the scarlet steam engine, dragging his trunk and trying to hold onto Cat's basket at the same time.
"Do you need help?" someone asked.
Zacharias looked up and saw a boy maybe a year older than himself, coming out of a compartment. "No, I'm fine."
"Well, this compartment's practically empty," he said, pointing to the compartment he had just walked out of.
Zacharias nodded and followed him into the compartment. The older boy helped him put his trunk somewhere (even though he didn't ask him to) and introduced himself.
"I'm Cedric Diggory," he said, extending a hand and smiling.
"Zacharias Smith," he replied.
"So you're a first year?" Cedric asked. "What house do you want to be in?"
"I'm going to be in Hufflepuff," Zacharias answered automatically, it hadn't registered to him that the question was a bit different from the answer.
"Oh, I'm a Hufflepuff myself," Cedric said, indicating to a black-and-yellow tie hanging out of his trunk.
Zacharias smiled a little, relaxing.
"Uhm, hi, are these seats empty? Everywhere is taken…" a small girl asked. It was the same girl Zacharias had met at Ollivander's, accompanied by a girl with curly reddish hair.
"Yeah, of course," Cedric spoke up kindly.
Cho nodded and gestured for her friend to follow. They drug their trunks into the compartment and following Cedric's lead, Zacharias and Cedric helped them put their trunks up.
"Hey Diggory, why are you surrounded by first years?" a voice asked from the still-ajar door, two perfectly identical redheaded twins popped their heads in.
"All the other compartments were full," he replied simply. "What are you doing wondering around the corridors?"
"Looking for Percy, actually."
"Why are you looking for your brother?" Cedric asked.
The twins exchanged looks. "That is a matter of secrecy, Mr. Diggory. But another point of interest, you're trying out for your house team this year, aren't you?"
He nodded. "I suppose you two are as well?"
"You know us so well, we're trying for Beaters. Seeker, for you of course?" the twin on the left asked.
Cedric nodded again. "If I can make it."
The twins shrugged. "Alright Diggory, we won't flatten you too bad in our first match," one said as they waved goodbye and shut the compartment door.
"Who were they?" Cho asked curiously.
"Fred and George Weasley," he said. "Gryffindors. The whole Weasley family, from what I've heard from my father, is in Gryffindor house."
"That must be common," Cho piped up. "Both of my parents were in Ravenclaw," she said. "Wasn't your mother and father in Ravenclaw too, Marietta?"
"I think my Dad was in Slytherin, actually," the girl, Marietta, answered. "Mum never really talks about him; he was killed by Death Eaters."
"Oooh…" Cho said, looking embarrassed.
"So, you play Quidditch?" Zacharias asked Cedric, changing topics quickly. The subject of parents could lead nowhere good.
"Yeah, I play Seeker," he said. "Well, my Dad says I should play Seeker, and it is a position I'd like to play," he said. "My dad taught me Quidditch really early on," he added.
"Mine too, but I prefer Chaser," he said. "My dad was a good Chaser in his day," he said. "Why can't first years have their own brooms?"
Cedric shrugged. "Mostly because they don't try out for house teams until at least second year or because they're so inexperienced. Madam Hooch prefers it that way, I guess. Madam Hooch is the flying instructor, she's also a top-notch referee," he explained.
"Are the professors mean or scary?" Cho asked, sounding anxious.
"Well, some of them can be. Professor McGonagall, she teaches Transfiguration, she's Head of Gryffindor house, she's tough but I like her a lot. She's really fair, and a great teacher," Cedric said, twirling his wand over his fingers. "Professor Snape, he's the Potions professor, favors his house above all. His house is Slytherin," he added. "He's mostly mean to the Gryffindors but he's not one to cross. He's the meanest of all the professors, of the ones that I've had so far."
Both of the girls looked relieved.
"We should change into our robes," Cedric said as he noticed the sky darkening a while later. "We'll just, step out while you girls put yours on," he said, gesturing for Zacharias to follow him out into the corridor.
"Are you nervous?" Cedric asked.
He shook his head, trying to look confident. "I'm not nervous, it won't be that bad."
The girls stepped out into the corridor, wearing their long black robes. "If you'd like, we'll stand out here, as not to offend your delicate boy modesty," Marietta teased, and she and Cho broke into a fresh storm of giggles.
Zacharias narrowed his eyes, but closed the compartment door behind him. It didn't take them as long as it had taken the girls to put on their robes. The girls stepped back in and the compartment fell silent for the rest of the journey.
The train finally came to a stop; he stepped out onto the platform. It wasn't a very warm night, but it wasn't cold. He heard a low, gruff voice calling out "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"
He, Cho and Marietta followed the voice, waving goodbye to Cedric. When they saw the man that was calling first years in a better light, the girls looked a little frightened. He was twice as tall as the average grown man, with wild black hair that nearly obscured his entire face. When the man saw that all of the first years had gathered around him, he led them to a small fleet of boats at the edge of a vast black lake.
"This is how ya are gettin' ta Hogwarts, no more than four to a boat. C'mon, don' be shy," he said, settling into a boat near the front. Zacharias got in a little boat, and Cho and Marietta followed him in, a dark haired girl joined them shortly afterwards.
"I'm Katie, Katie Bell," she said.
They muttered their hellos, watching the huge man, and then the boats took off through the huge black lake. They came around a corner and there it was, perched on a huge cliff, little windows making patches of light against the dark shape. Hogwarts Castle.
When they got up to the doors, the giant man knocked loudly three times, after a moment, the doors swung open and the first years were hurried inside the huge Entrance Hall. The person that had opened the doors turned out to be a very severe looking woman with a tight black bun and emerald green robes. She gave off the distinctive air of a very tough woman.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said briskly. "Wait here for a moment, I will return and lead you into the Great Hall for your Sorting," she added shortly.
They waited for a while, Zacharias wondered if the woman had forgotten about them. But she returned, leading the first years through another set of huge wooden doors.
"Line up, please," she said. They formed a lopsided almost-single-file-line, craning their necks to see what was placed before them.
"What's with the stupid hat?" someone asked.
"It's the Sorting Hat," a girl replied.
The tough woman got out a long scroll, and unfurled it.
She called a couple of people. The first boy was sorted into Ravenclaw, the next into Slytherin.
"Bell, Katie," she called. The girl that had sat on the boat with him went forward, looking nervous. The hat plopped down on her head and sat there for maybe ten seconds, before declaring her a Gryffindor.
Cho Chang went up a few people later and was declared a Ravenclaw the second the Sorting Hat touched her hair. A few more people, including two Slytherins, another Gryffindor and a new Hufflepuff went, and then Cho's curly-haired friend Marietta was called.
The Hat stayed silent for a nearly a minute.
"Ravenclaw!" it shouted at last.
More and more people were called, until finally…
"Smith, Zacharias!" the woman shouted. He walked up to the little stool and sat down, the hat hit his head and he heard a voice in his ear.
"Well, you are a little bundle of something…" the voice in his head said. "I see a desire to know, I see very many questions…but I can see the honesty and diligence. You want to stand out, be different…don't you?" the voice said. "I have it."
"Hufflepuff!" the Hat finally shouted.
He pulled the hat off of his head and walked towards the Hufflepuff table, taking an empty seat across from Cedric and beside a boy wearing a silver badge.
"That was nerve wracking," he admitted.
"It can be, where else did it consider putting you?"
"I think it wanted to put me in Ravenclaw," he said.
Albus Dumbledore (Zacharias recognized him from his Chocolate Frog card) stood, his long white hair gleaming in the candlelight.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Well, that's about it. Dig in," he said, sitting back down.
"He always saves his proper speech for after the feasts," a cheerful voice said when Zacharias looked up questioningly.
He looked at the person that had spoken; it was the ghost of a fat, jolly looking old man.
"Oh, allow me to introduce myself, I'm the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost," he told the confused first years. "There are many ghosts here; each House has their own ghost as well. The ghost of someone who had been in their house hundreds of years ago, who remained behind, and we are sometimes of good use to our students, we are always enthused to help."
Zacharias had just noticed the food, and was aware of how hungry he was. He started piling things on his plate.
After he had finished everything he could eat, including a generous desert, he sat back. The headmaster stood again, his eyes roaming the large hall.
"As I was saying before hunger so rudely interrupted," he started, chuckling at his own joke. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I must remind the new faces…and some of the older ones…that the Forbidden Forest is, well obviously, forbidden to students. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to remind you all that no magic is to be done in the corridors, also there is an extensive list of banned items fastened to his office door if the curiosity so strikes you. He also begs each and every one of you to wipe your feet before coming back into the castle from the rain. Third years and above are allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade on select weekends, if any younger students are caught trying to sneak into the village, they will be punished. But, I see that time has made fools of us! Run along to bed now, your lessons are first thing after breakfast," he said, sitting back down as, with a loud scraping of benches, all of the students began filing out.
The boy in the silver badge that he had sat beside during dinner led them down some stairs and through a hidden corridor, until they were met with a large stretch of brick wall next to several paintings.
"Comfort," the boy said, the wall swung open, leading into a large comfortably furnished common room. A fire was crackling merrily and there were a few older students already sitting in some cozy black armchairs.
"Boys up that way," he said pointing to a staircase on the left side of the room, "and girls up that way," he said, pointing at the opposite end side of the room. "Welcome to Hufflepuff," he added as he started up the stairs towards the boys dormitory.
Zacharias followed the stairs until he found a door that had a glossy gold plate that read "First Years". He went inside and looked around; he spotted his trunk at the foot of a large bed in the very corner of the room. He was so full of food and tired; he fell into bed without even changing into his pajamas and was asleep by the time the other first year boys had made their way up.