Chapter 2:

Houses and Histories

As Harry and Neville made their way towards Hagrid's voice, the two boys made idle chit-chat, talking about which house they wanted to go into.

"Well, my whole family's been in Gryffindor," Neville said, the tips of his ears going pink. "It'd be nice to go where my parents were, but…" he trailed off. Harry stopped and wondered for a moment where his own parents had been sorted? All he knew about the four houses is what he'd read about in "Hogwarts: A History". He knew of the four Founders: Godric Gryffindor, brave and bold of heart; Helga Hufflepuff, hard-working and loyal; Rowena Ravenclaw, fair-faced and fair-minded; Salazar Slytherin, cunning and ambitious. All four houses represented something that Harry could admire. It was difficult to decide which he felt he embodied the most. Bravery? He hardly felt brave as he walked into the unknown. Smart? He felt he knew nothing about anything anymore. Cunning? Perhaps. He wasn't sure if using a pseudonym could be considered cunning or mere desperation. He knew it was futile, that in the end, he'd be outed as "The Boy Who Lived". However, he had enjoyed these few hours in the wizarding world being normal. For a while, he was just another student heading off for his first year at Hogwarts. As he thought of those things, the image of Cedric, his first friend in the wizarding world – or ever, for that matter – who had shown Harry kindness and helped him even when he'd had no reason to. A true friend. A small smile touched Harry's lips, his obvious admiration of Cedric making it seem easy to decide where he wanted to be. Loyalty, friendship, and hard work… Those were traits that he, Harry, would be proud to live by. He didn't know how the students were sorted into their houses, but he now knew where he'd go if he ever had a say in the matter.

As the students continued on their way through a path in the trees, they rounded a corner, and came upon a small dock that sat on a vast, dark lake with about a dozen or so small wooden boats tied to it. Walking up to one of the boats that seemed to be built specifically for him, Hagrid turned around and bellowed, "Alrigh'! Now I wan' no more'n three of ya to a boat, yeh hear?" He scanned the small gathering of scared looking eleven-year-olds, and he caught Harry's eye, but before he could say a word, Harry gave him a look that said, "Not now, not here." Thankfully, Hagrid seemed to grasp his meaning and began shepherding the first years into the various boats, which Harry was glad to see were far sturdier than they looked. He found himself in a boat with Neville and a bushy haired girl that he hadn't met yet, though judging by her wonder-filled expression, he was sure she was probably coming from a muggle home as well.

"Hello," he said, turning to face the girl, "this your first time in the magical world as well?"

She seemed to jump a bit at being addressed so suddenly, and then she blushed and said, "Is it that obvious?"

Harry chuckled and said, "Only to someone like me who also has no idea what he's doing." She seemed to take offense to that at first, then after a moment's consideration, seemed to concede the fact. She stuck out her hand as if to shake his and said, "I'm Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you Mr…" She trailed off, leaving it open for Harry to introduce himself. Harry found himself perplexed, and without meaning to, he laughed. Not a cruel laugh, but one of utter bemusement. "Well, Hermione," he said in between giggles, "while I certainly can appreciate your formality, we're eleven. There's no need to call me Mr. Anything. My name is H—" he coughed into his fist, hoping to pass off his mistake, and said, "excuse me, as I was saying, my name is Reggie." And he shook her hand, in good cheer. "And this here is Neville Longbottom." Neville squeaked at being referred to, and he looked at Hermione as though she might belittle him the same way Malfoy had on the train. Harry thought it was odd that Neville should be afraid of this girl, then it struck him as Hermione made to shake his hand and Neville went very pink at the offered hand.

Ah, Harry thought, now isn't that interesting?

Pretending to be oblivious to Neville's plight of having to talk to a girl, (Seriously, Harry thought, we're ELEVEN!), Harry turned around and faced the front of the boat. He was surprised to see that they were moving, as he hadn't noticed the movement, engrossed as he was in his meeting of Hermione. As he looked, he could see they were coming up to a clearing in the trees that surrounded the lake and – Harry gasped as he caught sight of a grand, majestic castle nestled upon what appeared to be an island near the edge of the lake. Harry could see a small wooden bridge off to one side, heading towards a vast forest that went on for ages. Off to the right, he could see lamps bobbing up and down in a line heading for a larger stone bridge that led to the largest doors Harry had ever seen. He realized that the lamps must be the older students in their carriages arriving as well. Just as he was able to come to this conclusion, Harry's vision was obscured by a curtain of ivy as they pulled into what appeared to be some kind of boat house. "This must be where they store the boats when they're not in use." Hermione said behind him, her voice echoing off the stone walls around them. Harry looked around and saw a door that led out to a set of stone steps, and as he and the rest of the first years got out of their boats, Hagrid led them out the door and towards the castle, taking a winding stair to get there. Harry was by no means a slouch when it came to physical activity, but neither was he very athletic. The years of neglect by the Dursleys soon began to take their toll, and by the time they were halfway to the castle, Harry was panting, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. Neville, who was a bit chubby for his size, wasn't having much better of a time, and he walked along with Harry, also panting. Harry reached up and wiped the sweat from his brow, and then he looked at Neville and asked if he was alright.

"I'll be fine, Reggie, I'm just… Say Reg, what happened to your forehead?"

Harry quickly brushed his hair back over his forehead, covering the lightning shaped scar before they got closer to the lights of the castle. "It's nothing, Neville." Harry tried to assuage him. "God, I'm starving, aren't you?" Neville seemed to ponder at him for a moment, then seemed to shrug it off and said, "Famished!" And the two boys began to laugh as they hadn't done since they were on the train, which felt like hours ago.

"Hurry up, you two!" Hermione snapped ahead of them. Still giggling a bit, Harry suddenly stood up straight, made a ridiculously cartoonish salute and said, "Yes, ma'am. Right away ma'am!" before bursting into a fresh set of giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes, but she seemed amused at the boys' merriment. Finally staving off their giddiness, Harry and Neville caught up with the group just as they were about to enter a set of huge wooden doors. These were not the same doors Harry had seen from the boat, he realized. However, they were still magnificent in their own right. As a group, the students entered the castle, only to find themselves in a small room. Harry thought he could hear shuffling feet on the other side of the door that was on the far end of the room.

"Righ'," Hagrid said, looking about at the lot of them, "Now you lot stay here. Professor McGonagall will be along in jus' a mo' to tell yeh about the sortin', and then she'll be takin' yeh from there." His large twinkling eyes rested on Harry once more before he turned and walked out of the room. Harry took this time to try and smooth his hair down on his forehead better, pretending he was trying to smarten up. He looked around the room, seeing a vast collection of trophies, plaques, and shields all around. As he looked, a name caught his attention, and he sidled over to the left a bit to get a better look. There, on a shield of gold, was the name "James Potter" followed by the words "Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and winner of the 1976 Quidditch House Cup."

Harry stared at the plaque for a few seconds, soaking in what he was reading. So, my father was in Gryffindor, and Quidditch captain too? Harry mused, perhaps for longer than was wise, for at that moment, Hermione was at his side, noticing the shields Harry was now looking at.

"Reggie?" Hermione asked, a look on her face as though she was trying to piece together some mystery and was nearly there.

Thinking on his feet, Harry said the only plausible explanation he could come up with.

"Ever since Ced told me about quidditch, I've been fascinated with learning more about it. I wonder who all these people are?" He made a show of looking at all the shields now, not just the one of his fathers. Hermione did not seem entirely convinced, but she was unable to state her rebuttal, as at that moment, there was a burst of excitement as half a dozen ghosts burst through the wall, all conversing as though they had not just floated through a foot of stone. Pearly white and slightly transparent, Harry thought they looked exceptionally like what Muggles thought ghosts looked like. Perhaps they weren't as oblivious as wizards thought.

"I'm telling you, this time we HAVE to put our foot down!" Said one of the ghosts, a tall, thin frame man with a large, frilled collar about his neck and a large, feathered hat atop his head. "Peeves has been a nuisance to this castle for far too long!"

"Come now, Sir Nicholas," said a portly ghost who appeared to be a monk of some kind with his hairstyle and rough looking robes he was wearing with a rope for a belt around the middle. "I say live and let live, surely he deserves another chance?"

Sir Nicholas seemed to bristle at the colloquialism, seeing as they were dead. "How many second chances do you intend to give him my dear Friar? He—" Sir Nicholas stopped abruptly as he seemed to notice the students for the first time.

"Ah! New students!" The friar beamed around at them. "Welcome to Hogwarts! I am known as 'The Fat Friar'!" at that, a few students looked as though they didn't know whether to laugh or be embarrassed. "Come now, it's an apt name, don't you think?" A jolly smile graced his face, making a few of them feel better. "Anyway, I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff. My old house, you know!"

"And I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington!" said the ghost with the feathered hat.

"I know you!" said a voice off to Harry's right, and he realized it was Ron Weasley. "You're 'Nearly Headless Nick'! My brothers told me about you!"

Sir Nicholas sniffed disdainfully at the moniker. "Yes well. I assume I'll be seeing a lot more of you Mr. Weasley. I am the ghost of Gryffindor, you see, and I'm certain you'll be placed there as much the rest of your family has for the past 5 generations." Ron seemed subdued by being so easily recognizable and shrank back a bit.

Hearing that Ron Weasley would most likely be placed in Gryffindor made Harry even more resolute. Seeing his father's name and seeing he had been in Gryffindor had made him feel conflicted. He knew though that he wanted to stay as far away from Ron Weasley as possible. Him and Draco Malfoy both seemed like the type of people he should avoid.

The door at the far end of the room opened, and in walked the sternest looking woman Harry had ever seen in his life, and he had grown up under Aunt Petunia's stern gaze. Her hair pulled back in a tight bun, a green velvet robe held snugly to her body, and a pair of glasses that sat on the end of her nose, she walked up to the gathered students and called them all to order. With a thick Scottish Brogue, she addressed them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! I am Professor McGonagall. In a few moments, I will lead you all into the great hall where the rest of the school is waiting for the opening feast. However, before you may take your seats, you will be sorted into your houses." She proceeded to explain the houses to them. It was clear to see which students had been raised in the wizarding world and which ones were new to the world of wizardry as each student seemed to either be bored or hung on every word she spoke. After she had finished, she walked back to the door and poked her head out, only to come back a second later to lead them out of the trophy room.

Stepping out into what appeared to be a large foyer of some kind, Harry noticed the massive doors he had seen from the boat. They were even larger than he realized, at least 50 feet tall, and 10 feet wide each. He turned towards the other set of doors in the entrance hall, smaller than the front doors, but easily as large as the doors they came into the castle through. Professor McGonagall threw both doors open as though they weighed nothing, and led them into the most amazing room Harry had ever seen. The room was large, easily earning the title "Great Hall". Four long tables ran the length of the Hall, a different color banner hanging above each one. Above the banners – Harry gasped, as did most of the first years, as they realized the ceiling was gone! All they could see was the night sky above them. Then Hermione whispered to a blonde girl next to her, "It's not really the night sky, the ceiling is just bewitched to look like it." The girl could only nod as she continued to stare in awe at the sight. Harry looked again, and sure enough, if he focused his attention a certain way, he could almost see the stonework of the ceiling beneath the enchantment. After the shock of the ceiling wore off, Harry looked around to see if he could see Ced, and sure enough, there he was sitting under the yellow banner with the black badger on it. Harry caught his eye, and Cedric smiled, giving him a reassuring thumbs-up. Harry grinned back at him, and then brough his attention back to Professor McGonagall. She had led them to the front of the Hall where a three-legged stool sat with an old, tattered wizards hat sat atop it. The hat was worn and patched in several places, and looked as though it might fall to pieces at any given moment. From within one of her sleeves, Professor McGonagall produced a scroll and said, "Now when I call your name, you will step forward and place the hat on your head. Once you have been sorted, you will join your house table and await the rest of the first years to be sorted before we begin the opening feast. Any questions?"

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he once again looked for Cedric's face. His face must have shown some of his panic, because Cedric looked confusedly at him. Harry knew that he was going to have to tell Cedric and Neville who he really was eventually, but not like this! Not in front of the whole school! Harry's pleading looks toward Cedric were willing the older boy not to hate him for lying.

With all those thoughts racing around in his head, Harry had missed a few names, but he came around just in time to hear "Granger, Hermione!"

Harry turned and saw his new bushy-haired friend walk to the front of the room and sit down on the stool. The hat sat on her head for a few seconds before a rip near the bottom opened and a voice shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

Harry started at the voice. "The hat can TALK?!" Harry whispered furiously. Neville chuckled and said, "Where've you been, Reggie? It sang us a song and everything!" Harry frowned. How had he missed a singing hat?

After Hermione joined the blue-and-bronze clad Ravenclaws, the blonde girl she had spoken to about the ceiling was called up as "Greengrass, Daphne!" who Harry noticed seemed very shy but determined as she approached the hat. After a moment, the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry heard Ron whisper to a sandy-haired boy, "She'll probably be dark before our second week is out. There's not a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin."

Daphne Greengrass must have heard him as she walked towards the Green and Silver Slytherin table, her robes already reflecting the hat's choice, Harry noticed.

"Read a history book, Weasley." She said coolly, "Emeric the Evil was one of the worst Dark Wizards to ever walk the earth, and he was sorted into Gryffindor." And without another word, Daphne Greengrass walked away with a cool calmness about her.

Mental note, thought Harry, make friends with Daphne Greengrass. Anyone who can put Ron Weasley down like that is okay in my book.

Harry lost track of the sortings until "Longbottom, Neville!" was called up. Neville looked frightened, but a reassuring look from Harry seemed to steel his nerves, and taking a calming breath, walked up to the stool. The hat took longer with Neville than it had for either Hermione or Daphne. After what seemed like an eternity (but which was no longer than 60 seconds) the hat finally shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry clapped along with everyone else, as he knew that Neville had hoped to go where his parents had gone.

Next up was Malfoy, and before the hat could even touch his head properly, it had already shouted out "SLYTHERIN!" Harry decided not to underestimate Malfoy. He doubted he could ever truly be friends with anyone like Weasley or Malfoy – he detested bullies – but neither would he antagonize them for no reason.

"Nott, Theo!" was next, and though it wasn't as quick as Malfoy, he too went into Slytherin. Twin girls, Padma and Parvati Patil were sorted into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively, which Harry thought was interesting. He didn't have long to think about it though, as the next name called caused a hush to fall over the entire Great Hall.

"Potter, Harry!"

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

For three heartbeats, Harry held his breath as students looked about trying to see who would come forward. Releasing his breath, he turned and looked at Cedric, then Neville, his look pleading for understanding, and a look of comprehension dawning on each of them. As he turned back towards the front, he brushed his hair to the side with a lazy movement of his hand. If he was going to be outed now, let it be in full. As his scar became visible and he began to walk forward, he became aware of the many faces turning towards him. Professor McGonagall looked at him expectantly, without the surprise of the students, and he remembered what Mr. Diggory had said back at King's Cross: "… you could not look more like James Bloody Potter if he'd spat you from his arse!"

I wonder if Professor McGonagall knew my parents. He thought idly as she lowered the hat down over his face. The inside of the hat smelled musty, as though it were in storage when not sorting students into houses.

Hmph, came a voice in his head that was not his own. You'd probably smell 'musty' too if you were over 1,000 years old! The statement shocked Harry, but not as much as having the hat inside his head. It felt as though someone was peering into his skull, looking at all his memories and calling some judgement against him for it.

Difficult, VERY difficult. The hat muttered, Plenty of courage, yes… Not a bad mind either! A strong moral code, and a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?

As Harry sat there listening to another's thoughts inside his own head, thoughts of Cedric and Neville kept popping into his head, and he hoped that they would forgive him for his deception, or at the very least, that they would not hate him for it. This seemed to amuse the hat.

Ah, I see. You worry your new friends will be upset with your decision to hide who you are. Interesting. Well then, there's only one place for you to go then…

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The hat shouted out the last word, which caused the crowd to gasp, and then, after a moment of silence, someone from Hufflepuff table started clapping, and to Harry's relief, he saw that it was none other than Cedric, a big silly grin plastered on his face. Harry made his way towards the Hufflepuff table, and noticed the trim of his robes had turned the same yellow as Cedric's. Slowly at first, but then as though they were all being roused from a collective stupor, the rest of Hufflepuff house began to applaud Harry as he approached their table. The tumult from Hufflepuff house was so great that Harry completely missed the jeering coming from Slytherin, particularly from a platinum haired princeling who had been sure that Potter would either go to Gryffindor or Slytherin. No one had ever even considered that the famous Harry Potter would go to the house of 'Puff!

As Harry reached Cedric's side, he stood there for a second, not knowing how his friend felt about everything. He seemed to be in a cheery mood, but Harry was well aware that you couldn't always tell.

"So, 'Reggie'," Cedric said, a smirk on his face as another nearby Hufflepuff snorted with laughter. As harry sat down, he glanced at the other boy, before returning his gaze to Cedric. "You aren't mad?" Harry asked.

"Ooh, I'd say we're all a bit mad, wouldn't you?" His grin widened, "But, no, Reg—er, I mean, Harry, I'm not angry with you. I can understand how being you could be a bit overwhelming, and had I been in your shoes, I can't say I'd do anything different."

Turning to the other boy, Cedric said, "Harry, this is Yancy Rollins. He's a sixth-year 'Puff, and somehow, he's Confunded Professor Sprout into giving him a prefect's badge!" He joked, jabbing the other boy in the ribs. "But in all seriousness, Hufflepuff is known for our strong connection and understanding of Herbology, especially with the Herbology professor being our head of house, but Yancy here is a true prodigy. He can grow anything!"

Extending his arm out to Harry as though he were presenting his friend with a strange and unique specimen from far away, "Yance, THIS is who I was telling you about, apparently he's Harry-bloody-Potter!"

Yancy looked Harry up and down for a moment, then shrugged, "Yes well… that's certainly interesting. We'll see how he does." He ended cryptically, returning his gaze to the front of the Hall where Ron Weasley, true to every prediction, was sorted into Gryffindor, before the last boy, Zabini, Blaise, was sorted into Slytherin. As he reached the Slytherin table, an old wizard in purple robes and half-moon spectacles (Harry recognized him as Albus Dumbledore from the chocolate frog cards he'd began collecting on the train) walked to the podium at the front of the dais he and the other professors sat on.

"Welcome, students, new and old!" He began to speak as he looked out at all the young faces in the crowd. "Before we get started on a most marvelous meal, I have a few start-of-term announcements to make. First, to our first years: the forest surrounding the castle is forbidden to all students, save those with special permissions, and those are only given to students of third year and above." A murmur began amongst the students. Some of the first years had presumably hoped to explore the forest at some point, and were understandably disappointed.

"Secondly, the third corridor past the potions class in the dungeons is off-limits to any who do not wish to suffer a painful death."

Harry waited for the second shoe to drop, but there was none. He looked at Cedric and said, "He's not serious, is he?"

"Seems like it," Cedric replied, a look of concern on his face, "though he usually tells us why we can't go somewhere, like the forest. Everyone knows there are dangerous creatures that live in there. The only reasons anyone ever go into it is to either attend Care of Magical Creatures class, or to get to Hogsmeade, and in both instances, you don't really enter the forest. More like flirt with the edges of it… Roast chicken, Harry?"

Harry hadn't even realized that food had magically materialized in front of him, so engrossed with Cedric's explanation as he was.

The table was now laden with all kinds of foods, some Harry loved, and others he had never even heard of. It was all delicious! Roast chicken was just the beginning. Beef Wellington, gooseberry pie, fresh chips, fried cod, jams and jellies of many varieties, lamb shank, pumpkin pasties, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit… it almost seemed to Harry as though every food you could think of was there on the table in front of him. Then he remembered that magic exists and that it wouldn't be that strange if true compared to other things he'd seen magic do.

After what seemed like an eternity (and not NEARLY long enough in Harry's opinion) of good food and good company, the golden plates cleared themselves off, and Dumbledore rose to the podium once again.

"Ah, what a wonderful feeling, to be full and happy and content." He beamed out at them all, his gaze sweeping across the crowd and resting for a moment longer than was usual on Harry. "Now, off you trot! You all have plenty to do tomorrow, and I'm sure you'd all appreciate a good night's sleep! Prefects, I trust you'll see to it that our first years find their dormitories without incident."

As one, the whole of the student body rose, pushing the long benches out from behind them. Harry tried following behind Cedric, but he quickly turned to Harry and said, "Follow Yancy here. He'll show you to the common room and dorms. I've got something I need to check on before bed. I'll come and find you before lights out though, yeah?" He gave Harry a smile and tousled his hair before walking off down a corridor alone.

Harry nodded and turned to Yancy, who looked at him quizzically as though sizing him up, then he looked around and shouted, "First-year Hufflepuffs, follow me! Come on, you lot, this way!" Harry took this opportunity to get a better look at Yancy, having not really paid him any mind during the opening feast. He was heavy-set, but not fat, and tall, at least from Harry's perspective. His long, black hair was pulled back in a roguish ponytail, with a strand of hair on either side of his face framing his visage. Upon closer examination, Harry realized that under certain lights and at certain angles, parts of his hair seemed to be the same yellow of Hufflepuff house. He wasn't sure what kind of magic this was, but it was an impressive effect, and he considered asking him how he'd done it. Maybe he'd try it himself.

As they marched along out the Great Hall and towards the Grand Staircase, Harry tried talking to Yancy and asked him what it was like at Hogwarts. Cedric had told him plenty, but Harry figured it wouldn't hurt to get more than one perspective, and Yancy's demeanor was the exact opposite of that of Cedric's. Where Cedric seemed carefree with a bubbly energy, Yancy seemed to have no energy. Perhaps he was simply tired, but his green irises were surrounded by redness, as though he'd been crying.

"Eh." Was his only answer.

He led them down a single flight of stairs before turning left down a corridor that seemed to go directly below the Great Hall itself. They passed an impressive painting of a bowl of fruit, and Harry noticed that the painting almost seemed… alive. As though the bowl and fruit were real. Another boy bumped into him as he'd stopped to look at the painting. "Sorry!" his voice was bright and cheery, and he spoke the Queen's English, as Harry had heard his aunt and uncle call it. He was taller than Harry, but only just. His perfectly styled hair made Harry a bit self-conscious about his own messy head of hair, but the next thing he knew, the boy had his hand extended to him.

"I'm Justin! Justin Finch-Fletchley." Harry reached for his hand and just as he was about to introduce himself, Justin continued on, "Say! You're that Potter chap I've heard so much about! Tell me, how are you finding the wizarding world so far? I heard you were also raised by Muggles. I'm Muggle-born you see, so I was ever so please when I received my Hogwarts letter, as I'm sure you can understand. I did almost go to Eton, you know, but of course I couldn't pass up this opportunity of a lifetime! I wonder when we'll begin our classes. Do you suppose we'll get right into it, or will we be starting out in books? Ah, I suppose you wouldn't know any better than I do, now, would you? Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Potter, I'm sure we'll be the greatest of chums here!" And just as suddenly as he'd appeared, Justin Finch-Fletchley disappeared into the crowd, Harry not having said a word to him.

"Potter!" Yancy called from around the next corner, "You're not going to want to miss this, come on!" Harry looked at the painting one last time, then turned and rounded the corner. All the first years were gathered around Yancy at the end of the corridor, where a pile of giant barrels was stacked against the far wall. As Harry approached, Yancy rolled his eyes, as though annoyed at his lagging. Harry felt abashed, and stood near the back of the group.

"Now that we're all here, welcome to the Hufflepuff common room entrance. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw have their towers with their passwords, and Slytherin has the dungeons. We have a much laxer system here in Hufflepuff. Instead of passwords that must be changed regularly, we simply do this." He approached the center barrel and with his raised fist, knocked 5 times on the top edge.

KNOCK-KNOCK, KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

With a soft groan, the barrel opened to show a doorway that led into a spacious room beyond. Before they could go in however, Yancy closed the door again and turned back to the first years.

"Now, who can tell me the significance of the knock I used?" The gathered students looked puzzled, trying to figure it out. After a moment, Harry spoke up.

"The pattern…"

"Yes, Mr. Potter?" Yancy looked at him expectantly.

"Well, it occurs to me that the pattern resembles the syllables in the name "Helga Hufflepuff. Two knocks for 'Helga', three for 'Hufflepuff'."

Yancy stared at him for a second, before giving him a toothy grin, the first sign of warmth he'd shown since they'd met.

"Very good, Potter! If I could, I'd give you House Points. You sure you're not supposed to be in Ravenclaw?"

Harry relaxed a bit and smiled back, "Well the hat did consider all four houses." That seemed to shock him slightly, but Yancy was good at schooling his face to mask his emotions. Smirking even harder at Harry now he said, "Well, since you figured it out, you can also be the one to demonstrate what happens if you get the knock wrong." Harry swallowed a hard lump in his throat, but he walked up to the barrels, and he knocked out "Shave and a Haircut" on the barrel.

Immediately, the spout in the barrel above him began to shake violently, and Harry found himself being doused in a foul-smelling liquid that burned his eyes. Before he could panic, Yancy waved his wand and Harry was as dry as he had been a moment earlier, the foul-smelling liquid vanished as though it had never been there to begin with.

"What WAS that?" Harry exclaimed.

"Malt vinegar, Mr. Potter, it's lovely on chips." He chuckled. "However, it's rather unpleasant to be doused in yourself, so let's try to avoid knocking incorrectly, hm? Helga Hufflepuff wanted it to be easy enough to enter her common room that she made it easy to remember the pattern, however, she also had a sense of humor." He looked around at them all and saw that they weren't about to forget his warning. "Alright, let's have a round of applause for our volunteer, Mr. Potter." He said lazily as he knocked on the barrel and opened the door for them again. A few of the students, like Justin Fich-Fletchley, actually clapped, but most of them just walked past him and into the common room. Once they were inside the spacious room, Yancy explained, how the dormitories worked. There were two doorways on either side at the end of the room. The door to the left led to a staircase that spiraled deeper underground with seven dormitories going ever deeper, the same could be said about the door on the right. Yancy explained that the girls stayed in the dormitories on the left, and boys were on the right. It was easy to remember which dorm was yours as well, he'd said, because your dorm was always the number door of the year you were in, which led to the arrangement that the older you were, the deeper you were, so all the first years would be near the top.

The common room itself looked like the coziest storybook home Harry could've imagined. Everywhere he looked there was either an overstuffed armchair, or, even more amusing, a bean bag chair. In between the two dormitory doors was a large fireplace that had a pile of smoldering coals in the hearth. There was a pot hook placed in the fireplace that was currently vacant, but Harry could imagine a giant cauldron hanging from it.

As he was taking everything in, Yancy walked up to him and motioned towards an area with a large sofa, a red bean bag chair, and a low seated lawn chair all gathered around what appeared to be a burning firepit in the floor, the flames shifting from deep purples and blues to bright greens, but as Harry approached, he felt himself becoming cooler, rather than hotter. "What...?" Harry began, but Yancy cut him off.

"It's called Faerie Fyre. You'll feel whatever makes you comfortable when near it. For example, if you are already hot, it will cool you off until you're comfortable. And it doesn't just work for one person at a time. If you are cold and I'm hot and we both sit in front of a Faerie Fyre, we'll each be affected accordingly." Harry's eyes widened in amazement. Magic was amazing! Walking across the small circle to the red bean bag chair and plopping himself down in it, he saw Cedric enter the common room and stride over to where they sat. He had his usually grin on his face as he deposited himself on the sofa and regarded Harry.

"So… Harry Potter." The light from the Faerie Fyre created a mischievous glint in Cedric's eye, and Harry felt himself blush.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, not knowing what else to say. Cedric barked out laughing and regarded Harry with a grin, "Honestly, I had an inkling you weren't being totally honest about your identity when we met. But you seemed like a good guy, and I reasoned that I'd find out the truth eventually, either by circumstances, or when you felt ready to tell me. Though I must say, with quick thinking like that, I'm surprised the hat didn't out you in Slytherin!" He winked at him with that statement, then Yancy said, "He got the question about the knock right too, almost immediately. Apparently, the hat considered him for all four houses." Cedric seemed to get excited about hearing this. "Really?" he leaned forward, locking Harry's gaze with his own. "Tell me about that."

So, Harry explained how the hat had told him he was difficult to sort, and how it was his own desire to be closer to his friend that landed him in Hufflepuff. Cedric seemed to need to take a moment after hearing that. Then he looked at Harry again and simply whispered, "Fascinating…" turning back to Yancy he asked "What d'ya reckon?"

Yancy regarded Harry for a moment and then looked back at Cedric. "While I think it's interesting, Ced, I'd say it's too early to tell. Let's get through the first week before we discuss it further though, okay?"

Cedric nodded and leaned back. Harry was vaguely aware that he just witnessed a coded conversation that had something to do with him, but as the Faerie Fyre made him feel more comfortable, he seemed to sink into the bean bag chair and drift off. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a sharp stinging sensation hit his left knee, and he jumped out of the bean bag with a yelp. Stowing away his wand, Yancy said, "Off to bed, Potter. You need your sleep for tomorrow, and I'm not carrying you. You'll get your schedule at breakfast in the morning, and you'll be starting your classes immediately after." He gestured towards the doorway on the right.

Saying goodnight, Harry walked to the stairs that led down to the dormitories, and finding the door marked with a 1, he walked in to find a large, round room with five identical beds with curtains around each. At the foot of each was a trunk that belonged to each boy. After finding his own, he looked around to see the other boys' names. There was Justin Finch-Fletchley opposite the room from him. To his immediate right was a bed with the name Wayne Hopkins, and on the left, Ernie Macmillan. Between Wayne and Justin was Zacharias Smith. None of the other boys seemed to be in the dormitory yet, so Harry quickly disrobed and changed into his pajamas. Climbing into bed, he went over the day's events in his head. It seemed like a week ago when he had met Cedric at King's Cross. As he recounted the days events, he heard the other boys enter one after the other, but he did not look to see who came in when. He was sure he'd get to know them tomorrow. His eyelids heavy, Harry drifted off to sleep, his last thought before he finally lost consciousness being, I wonder what Ced and Yancy were talking about… Ah well, I'm sure Ced will…

And Harry Potter slept.

AN: This chapter turned out to be a bit longer than the first, I felt like there was a lot to try and fit in with this chapter, characters I wanted to introduce right away so that we could start character development as soon as possible for all the characters I want to focus on in this story. I know that things seem to jump around a bit, and that my story seems a bit jank, I just ask that you bear with me.

AN 2: As of this posting this story has 26 Favorites and 51 Follows, Thank you all so much!