"Tonks, Henry."

Henry made his way to the front of the Great Hall, trying to keep the bundle of excitement and nerves inside of him together. This was it, in a few minutes he'd be sorted into his Hogwarts House and sitting with the students who would be classmates, dorm mates, and maybe even friends. But as the hat slid down over his forehead, something unexpected happened.

…What?

"What?" Henry repeated. That voice in his head, it was the sorting hat, right?

My, my, my. I've never seen a mind quite like yours, The hat said, sounding more than a bit…disoriented.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

So much turmoil and chaos. You've got quite a battle going on in here.

"In my mind?" Henry didn't understand what the hat was talking about. He felt fine.

It's like your consciousness is split into two separate parts—no make that three—that are constantly trying to overtake one another. No wonder you can't decide which house you want to be sorted into. I don't know how you get any thinking done at all.

"Are you trying to say I'm having some kind of identity crisis?"

Possibly. It must not be on an entirely conscious level if you aren't aware of it.

Henry sat there, baffled. He didn't know what to make of all this and wished the hat would just sort him already. But evidently it didnt know where to place him. And that was its entire job!

Sorry, I'm doing the best I can with what you're giving me, The hat replied.

Maybe the problem wasn't with him, maybe the hat was broken. It was several hundred years old after all.

I never had a problem until you came along, It defended itself. Your mind unlike anything I've ever seen—

"So you've said! But I'm not having an identity crisis. I know who I am!" Henry snapped in a frustrated tone.

Do you?

"Of course I do, I'm Henry Tonks, son of Ted and Andromeda Tonks." But uncertainty had begun to creep inside him. It was true he didn't know everything about who he was. He didn't know his birth parents but that didn't matter did it? He'd never felt a need to know who they were or anything about them. He had his adopted mum and dad, they were all he had ever needed or wanted.

He did wonder though, why he had no memories from before the day he had been brought to his adopted parents home? He'd have been five years old, shouldn't he have some memories from his time in the muggle orphanage?

All at once Henry was suddenly hit with a blinding headache unlike anything he'd ever known, his hands flying up to hold his head as if somehow that could ease the pain. There were gasps and whispers all around him and then everything went black.

"…Should be stabilized now."

As he slowly regained consciousness, Henry didn't know where he was at first. But when he took in the obvious row of hospital beds, it clicked. Most importantly the headache was gone, thank goodness for that.

"Ah, you're awake," Said a woman, who quickly introduced herself as Madame Pomfrey.

"That was quite a scare you gave everyone back there." Henry's head turned in surprise to see none other than Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. What was he doing here?

"I…don't know what happened," He told them simply.

"Neither did any of us," Madame Pomfrey said. "I gave you quite a thorough exam from head to toe but at least as far I could tell nothing was wrong with you. Physically at least."

"That's when I offered to step in," Dumbledore explained. Henry was astonished by this. Everyone knew what an accomplished Legilimens the Headmaster was. If anyone could find out what was wrong, it would be him.

"And?" Henry asked.

Dumbledore looked a bit graver. "I'm afraid there is a bit of trauma from your time in the orphanage, your mind has blocked it out all these years but it seems to have resurfaced a bit. Perfectly normal, no reason to worry. It won't bother you again," He assured.

"What kind of memories are they?" Henry asked, unsure whether or not he wanted to know the details of a trauma he couldn't remember.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them right now. I'm sure you'll no doubt have to deal with them someday but for now you should put it out of your mind. Youth and childhood is such a precious thing after all. You must enjoy this time while it lasts."

Something didn't seem right to him, though what he couldn't guess. He didn't think Dumbledore was being entirely truthful with him and he didn't know why. This certainly wasn't what he expected the great Albus Dumbledore would be like.

"What if they resurface again?" Henry pressed.

"I am certain they won't. But if that unlikely event should occur or you get any more headaches like what you had tonight, I would like you to come to me immediately."

"Is the headache a result of the trauma?"

"I believe it is."

"What do I do now?" Was his next question.

"Ah, I had almost forgotten that you had not been sorted," Dumbledore waved his wand and the sorting hat appeared in front of them. "Please try it on again, there shouldn't be any problems this time."

Dubiously, Henry took the hat and slipped it onto his head. He braced himself for a repeat of what had happened before but the hat was only on his head for a second before it shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

With a flash Henry's robes and uniform changed to that of his house colours, red and gold, as had happened to everyone else after their sorting. He felt a sense of relief wash over him. It had worked. He had a place here.

And yet in spite of this, he had a million questions burning inside of him. Ones he had a feeling that for whatever reason, Dumbledore wouldn't answer. He would just have to find the answers himself.

Once Madame Pomfrey had looked him over one more time she allowed him to go back to the Great Hall for what was left of the feast.

As he took his seat at the Gryffindor table, Hermione caught his eye with a look of concern. 'Are you okay?' She mouthed. Henry could only shrug. 'I don't know,' He mouthed back honestly.

It turned out there wasn't much of the feast left. He only got a few bites in before the prefect for Gryffindor, a boy named Percy Weasley, called for the first years in his house to follow him.

He led them through multiple corridors and up many staircases before finally stopping at the end of a hallway where a large wooden door was. Next to it was a statue of their house founder, Godric Gryffindor.

The prefect knocked on the door three times and then recited the password, "Ursa Major." The door then swung open revealing yet another staircase which led into Gryffindor tower and their common room.

It was a cozy round room with plenty of tables, chairs, sofas, and fireplaces. Most of the room was decorated in the colours red and gold. "I know you're all wanting to get up to your dormitories and into bed but there are a few things that need to be discussed first," The prefect instructed. He and another prefect passed out maps of the school to everyone. "As you can see here, these are the quickest routes to get back to Gryffindor tower," He said pointing it out on the map he held up.

"Furthermore you'll find on the other side of this hallway is a door with a staircase that leads down and out into what is known as the multi-house commons area. It's a large spacious courtyard that connects all four house towers. If you want to hang out with friends from other houses after class, it's the best place to do it. But just know that it is carefully monitored by the prefects of each house. So don't be getting into fights with anyone, you'll be disciplined accordingly if you do.

Right then, now you can go to bed. Boys are on the staircase to the left, girls to the staircase on the right. Have goodnight everyone."

Feeling exhausted, Henry stumbled up to his dormitory with the other boys who would be sharing with him. He found his luggage by one of the beds and after changing he forced himself to stay awake a little longer so he could write a letter to his family. He'd wait til morning to send it though. He didn't want to bother his owl, Hedwig, this late into the night. But he knew he needed to let his mum and dad know what had happened tonight as soon as possible. And maybe hopefully they could give him the answers he was looking for.

Dear, Mum, Dad, and Tonks,

You'll be happy to know I've made it to Hogwarts safely and have been sorted into a house. The sorting hat put me in Gryffindor which was a bit of a surprise, but it feels right. I think I might have made two friends already. At least I hope I have. One of them is a girl named Hermione Granger. She's the one I met in Flourish and Blotts. Surprisingly she was sorted into Gryffindor too. I thought for sure she'd be in Ravenclaw. But I'm glad to know we'll be sharing a house.

Something happened tonight that you'll probably be hearing about from either my head of house or Dumbledore himself. I don't mean to alarm you or anything. But something very strange happened when I first put the sorting hat on. It had a hard time sorting me because it was confused and disoriented just from looking inside my mind. Then I got a headache and woke up in the hospital wing. Dumbledore said some trauma from my time at the orphanage has resurfaced. He refused to tell me any details but assured me I'll be alright. I'm not so sure.

Can you tell me anything about my time there? Do you know much about what things were like for me at the orphanage before I was adopted? Was any information given about my birth parents?

I know Dumbledore wants me to just forget about what happened tonight, but I can't. I think it will help if I can come to an understanding about my past. Hopefully you can give me the answers I need.

I miss you all so much already.

Love,

Henry

Next he decided to write a separate letter for Tonks. He didn't want to risk upsetting his mum by bringing up the Black family but he wanted to find out what he could about Sebastian. He knew if he asked Tonks she could give him information and keep it a secret from their parents, at least for the time being.

Dear Tonks,

I'm writing you a separate letter because there is something I need to ask you about that I don't want mum and dad to know about, at least not yet. I met an older boy named Sebastian Black on the train today. I'm not sure what I think about him yet. He seems okay so far and maybe could become someone I call a friend.

He's aware of who our mum is but claims he doesn't care. I don't think he'd talk to me if he did. I know what the Black family did to our mum, which is why I don't want to ask her in case it upsets her. Which is why I'm asking you to find out what you can for me about Sebastian Black. The Black family Legacy may be a dark one but we know not everyone in that family is bad, mum is proof enough of that.

I'm going to give him a chance for now. See what I think about him. But still, I'd feel a little better if I knew a little more about his background. Especially before I mention his name to mum and dad.

Let me know what you can find out. Thanks.

Love,

Henry