A/N Sorry about the delays! Been doing some editing and databasing work on older stories! I'll let you know if any full books get uploaded. I'll still be loading at least 1 chapter a week while I'm going through the story maintenance... gotta snuff out those old typos! ~DQ


Chapter Twenty

Back to Hogwarts

Quintin, Jeremy, Rus, and their supposedly younger escort stepped onto the 9 ¾ Platform, gazing at the train and then at the commotion around them.

"It's good to be riding the train again this year!" Rus said enthusiastically.

"It's a waste of time," Quintin complained.

"No it isn't! It's an experience! I have always wanted to do this!" said the enthusiastic boy next to him.

"Come on, Quintin! We can use the time to try to figure out what we're going to do about the Order of the Owls this year," Jeremy said. "Maybe some of the new students have potential."

"Alright, then! Let's get on the train! Can I sit next to you and your friend, Rus?" the boy asked.

"You know she's going to figure out who you are in less than a minute, don't you?" Rus warned him. They dealt with their baggage before getting on the train.

"I'm Flemming, James Flemming," the boy declared as he handed over his ticket.

"Yes, fine, have a seat," the conductor said distractedly, moving to the next student. Rus began looking into compartments before finding where Sissy was sitting.

"There you are! I brought someone with me! Do you have room?" Rus asked.

"Yes, but we need to save a seat for Pete. I did promise him in my last letter," Sissy said.

"Sure, we just need two. So you still write to him, eh?" Rus asked.

"There's nothing going on, we're just good friends like you and I are," Sissy assured him as they came in.

"Can I have the window seat?" James asked.

"This is my friend James, by the way…" Rus said.

"Flemming, James Flemming," he said.

"Are you really?" Sissy said so dubiously that Rus laughed.

"There, you see? I told you she wouldn't buy it even for a minute, Dad," Rus said.

"You could have picked a better name if you wanted to sneak on board," Sissy suggested.

"You're not going to tell on me, are you? I've always wanted to ride this train," Mage said excitedly. "So I'm pretending to be a student for the duration of the trip."

"Of course I won't tell, especially since I know from Rus' last letter that the two of you are getting on better," Sissy said with a smile.

"True, but the circumstances were weird that I don't really want to talk about it right now," Rus admitted.

"Yes, alright," Sissy said, then listened to the shuffle outside. "I think I hear Pete now."

A couple of steps later, Pete appeared.

"There you are, Sissy… hi Rus," Pete said, coming in.

"This is James," Rus said.

"Hi, James. Happy September first," Pete said.

"Since when is it a holiday?" Rus chuckled at him.

"It is for someone! Isn't there a wedding today?" Sissy asked.

"Oh yes, we got the invitation. Bonnibel and Moira are having a double wedding at the Villin Mansion," James confirmed. "After all, we're technically a part of the extended family."

"What better way to make certain that the majority of Snapes can't come than to have the wedding on September first?" Sissy said knowingly.

"You're right. It was an intentional slight," Rus agreed.

"I suppose it depends on who sent them. If the Maxens sent them, it was a slight. If the Villins sent them, they may have done it to keep the regrets from being contrived excuses, since I really don't think anyone except for Hope and Aurelius would have wanted to go anyway," James said.

"Why would Aurelius be willing to go?" Sissy asked curiously.

"Aurelius went to school with one of the grooms," Rus explained. "But now he has the perfect excuse to get out of it… and so do we, I suppose! So how was the workshop class, Sissy?"

"I actually enjoyed it quite a lot," Sissy said. "I got to learn a lot about sorting, soaking, and shaping woods for stringed instruments, although it was a bit hard on the hands. I can't wait to tell Mr. Chance all about it!"

"What did you do this summer, Pete?" Rus asked him.

"Oh, I worked at the cafe at the museum," Pete explained. "Rather boring in some ways, but I did get to meet interesting people… including that Delf everyone's been talking about."

"I don't want to talk about that creature," James said firmly.

"Tell me about him," Rus insisted at the same time. James frowned at him disapprovingly.

"Well, Bres has some sort of curse that makes people want to stay away from him, but if you actually stick around and talk to him for a bit, it slowly goes away," Pete explained. "I asked him about what those Defense books said about his race, and I even told him about that history special on Wand1. He said that some of it was true, but a lot of it wasn't, and it was from a very long time ago. Apparently, they've spent nearly a century fighting off demons and they were pretty much cut off from everyone else the whole time. It's all rather fascinating, really. You should have gone to see the exhibit."

"Does that exhibit talk about how they train their pets?" the strange boy asked icily. Pete blinked at James in confusion.

"Delves don't keep any pets. In fact, they don't keep animals of any kind, not even mounts, because they don't have enough resources to support them," Pete explained.

"They used to keep pets. What happened to them?" James asked. Pete shrugged.

"Don't ask me! Bres didn't mention anything about pets at all, only that they had scarce resources," Pete replied, wondering why the boy was so fixated about it.

"Perhaps it's just as well that you don't know. I have a feeling that I won't like the answer," James brooded. He glared out the window at the students who were rushing to get on the train.

"So how was camp?" Sissy asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Oh, it was fun… not as fun as driving through Pennsylvania and going to an amusement park, but still fun," Rus said with a grin. "That's what we did during our last weekend in the States. We went to Hershey Park."

"Did you drive?" Pete asked curiously.

"No, not me. My Dad did, of course, in a classic car he rented," Rus said.

"Really? What kind?" Pete asked.

"I don't know," Rus said. James blinked. "It was an old convertible of some kind with a fast engine and maybe it was in a Bond movie once…"

"Remind me to work on your vehicle education on the weekends," James said critically.

"Sure, Dad… sorry. I'll make it up to you by buying the snacks on the train…" Rus offered quickly. James brightened.

"There's going to be snacks?" James asked with surprise, and Rus let out a relieved chuckle.

"Of course there's going to be snacks," Rus said.

"I knew this was going to be fun!" James said enthusiastically, watching with interest as the train got ready to leave.

"Did you just call him… Dad?" Pete asked unsurely.

"Yeah. I adopted him," Rus said with a smile.

"I adopted you first," James said.

Sissy giggled.

"I am so glad you've accepted each other as family," Sissy said sincerely. "And what about Jay?"

"Jay has chosen not to accept," James admitted, solemn again. "I'm afraid that I missed that opportunity altogether. He's in the RBF now, and all we've received from him was a short letter letting us know that he survived training and he is stationed somewhere in the middle of Europe."

"Don't give up all hope," Sissy said with a smile. "Even adults need father figures sometimes."

"True, but I believe Jay is more likely to go to one of his grandfathers if he needs help," James said, then felt a jolt. "Hurray! We're leaving the station! Does that mean snacks are coming?"

"And games too," Sissy said with a smile.

"I knew this would be fun," James declared enthusiastically.

Just a few doors down, Jeremy and Quintin sat with Mindy and Duncan. Together, they watched the train as it began to slowly pick up speed. Just then, the conductor appeared in the doorway, squinting at Quintin.

"Well? What's the verdict?" he asked, squinting at Quintin.

"Exactly eleven o'clock. Well done!" Quintin said with a smile.

"Don't 'well done' us, we're just doing our job," the conductor harrumphed as he left, but Quintin could easily tell from his expression that the conductor was secretly pleased.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to us about?" Mindy asked curiously.

"The Order of the Owls of course. Do you realize just how many seats we have to fill this year?" Quintin pointed out.

"A lot," Mindy admitted with a sigh. "We had so many seventh years! I wonder how they're all doing?"

"I can't speak for everybody, but Jay's alright, he's in the RBF," Quintin said.

"My sister's alright too. She's in Cardiff working as Bronan Tubbins assistant," Duncan said.

"Really? I didn't know Gloria was into publishing! I know she worked on the newspaper, but I never knew she was into it," Jeremy said.

"Well, not like you are, no, but you see, she inherited a large stake in Wizardday Publishing, so she's spending a year learning the business. Draco suggested it as a way of her getting used to the business side of things, because he said his first few ventures flopped because his father bought him a shop when he didn't know what he was doing, so he and my parents thought it'd be a good way to get her feet wet. He says that just having a good NEWT in Magic and Industry doesn't guarantee you'll do well in the business world," Duncan explained.

"I guess that's true. Sounds like she's got a really strong support network out there, doesn't she?" Mindy sighed. "I'm going to have to save and scrape to get my business going."

"What sort of business?" Duncan asked.

"A yarn and crafts shop," Mindy said.

"I should have guessed," Duncan realised with a grin.

"I worked at Spinster's Witchwoven Fabrics of London over the summer. Have you been there before?" she asked. Duncan shook his head.

"I have been, I've gone with my mother before… and that place is huge," Quintin said. "Mum goes there sometimes when she wants to make clothes for Seren or other family children. She told me that the school gets a lot of supplies from them as well, drapes, linens, special thread to repair the tapestries and such, all of that."

"Well, I don't want a huge place, I want a little one with just a little bit of odds and ends and a giant selection of magic yarn that you can't get anywhere else. Anyway, I mentioned it to your mother when she came into the shop over the summer, Quintin, and she suggested I talk to Pamina Dimple to see if she was interested in the idea," Mindy explained.

"Oh right… because of that color thing she can do," Duncan said.

"It's a Transfiguration talent. It's called Prismancy or something like that," Quintin said. "My mother thinks Pamina probably developed it after spending most of her toddler years playing in the basement at Honeydukes. She was always surrounded by brightly colored candy and got fascinated with it."

"Anyway, she thought it might be a risky endeavor, but she's willing to give it a shot… and then her parents heard us talking, and Mr. Dimple pointed out that a lot of the Haveners raise sheep and might be interested in helping out if we ended up getting serious about it," Mindy said.

"Isn't it nice to have parents that'll support you no matter what you want to do," Jeremy said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Your parents support you plenty, Jeremy, they're just not so crazy about the fact that you attracted so much of Bagman's attention," Quintin assured him.

"But I don't know how to stop that! I think he'd probably pay attention to me now no matter what profession I went into," Jeremy protested. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this year doesn't just go and prove it. Since my parents are still nudging in a different direction, I figured I'd refresh my electives this year and explore the wonderful world of politics!"

"The wonderful world of politics?" Quintin repeated dubiously.

"Yeah, like that's not going to backfire," Mindy said, unimpressed.

"I've spent a lot of time in the Ministry over the summer while my mother and Draco were sorting stuff out over lunch and from what I've seen there's nothing wonderful about it. In fact, it's downright boring," Duncan warned him.

"Well, I guess it would be boring in the Minister of Magic's office. I'll choose an office with more action!" Jeremy declared. "Maybe I'll work in Mysteries!"

"There's no way you could possibly work in the Mysteries if you can't even get to the A group in Auror club," Quintin told his friend. "Their standards are an even higher bar than becoming an Auror. Maybe you could get a job in the Foreign Department. You could be an American correspondent or something."

"Nope! I'm going to be a spy," Jeremy declared.

"I think you need to work on keeping your feet on the ground," Mindy scolded him. "You Dusthorns are such dreamers! You should be trying to figure out something a bit more realistic."

"Hey, I'm not like that, I've always been really practical," Duncan protested.

"Oh, really? What do you want to be?" Mindy asked Duncan.

"I think I would like to coach a professional Quidditch team," he decided thoughtfully.

"No doubt about it, you're a Dusthorn too," Mindy said flatly. "And just what are you planning to do, Quintin? Are you going to found a colony on the moon or something?" she taunted him.

"I'm not sure I'd know what time it is on the moon," Quintin protested with a laugh.

"You'd have to pick one and stick with it, probably. Or make up your own time zone! Quintin time!" Jeremy teased.

"Alright, enough already!" Quintin protested with a laugh before turning to Mindy. "I still have every intention of spending my first semester trying to find out all I can about Symbology to convince my father it's worth studying. After that, I don't know yet, because I've signed up for the Student Exchange program."

"Wait… you're the chairman of the Order of the Owls. How is that going to work?" Mindy frowned.

"I'll step in for him, of course and we'll pick someone to fill in as vice chair when he leaves," Jeremy says. "Hard to say who, though, considering just how many seats we have to fill."

"Right, back to that," Quintin said. "We lost three Gryffindors, Two Slytherin, Two Ravenclaws, and one Dusthorn. Hufflepuff is the only one that didn't need any replacements this year. Garnet and Elmira are sixth, and you and Kitty just got in last year."

"She has it lucky, getting in first year!" Mindy sighed. "But I am grateful that you asked me to join last year, all the same! Oh, but don't forget that you only have one Ravenclaw to replace, Quintin. Remember? Ravenclaws had one extra because they had to make room for you Dusthorns."

"She's right, Quintin. Rus, Sissy, and Dawn are still here, so they only need one more to get up to four," Jeremy said.

"Mickey Pyther will probably nominate Nicky and his two friends… or maybe Justice," Duncan ventured.

"If Mickey nominates Nicky and Justice, everyone will be complaining about favoritism all over again," Mindy said.

"That may be true, but knowing all four of them personally, I can also see good reasons for any of them being in the Order. I really don't envy Mickey's decision on that considering he's probably struggling with it," Quintin said. "As for Slytherin, I'm really hoping we can finally get Stephen in, since he and Dawn aren't fighting any longer. Not only that, but Jay told me he picked him for Prefect, and you know how that house always prefers to have one of their prefects in the order when they can."

"Did he know who the witch prefect was?" Mindy asked with interest.

"Winona Stone, I think. She was the only member of an old family that didn't give Ella a hard time about Ella's heritage so ended up winning by default," Quintin said. "Up until now, her strategy has always been not to get in anybody's way and doing whatever she can not to offend anyone, so Jay isn't really sure how she's going to do as a Prefect. Apparently she has twin siblings coming this year, and Ella thinks she might pull it together for their sakes."

"Maybe if she needs a bit of a confidence boost she'd be a good pick too," Duncan said. "What about Dusthorn?"

"Let's see who gets Sorted this year before we decide. I think we should take a page from Hufflepuff's book and try to get a first or second year in," Quintin decided.

"Then let's hope we get some good ones!" Jeremy said, then began to get out some coins in anticipation of the cart.


When Bres arrived at Hogwarts, he met Hermione on the path to the castle, greeting him warmly and escorting him to his room.

"It's this way… the Headmaster put you with the suites nearest the back stairs so it'd be near the library, but don't be surprised if you run into little girls playing in the corridor because Andrew and Laura's rooms are close by," Hermione said.

"Really?" Bres said with such awe that Hermione looked amused.

"Severus thought you'd like that. But they're a pretty laid back couple, and we're all just teachers working for a common goal in the end, you know."

"But I am not a teacher," Bres pointed out.

"That doesn't mean you don't have something to teach," Hermione replied. She went over to a door with the painting of a Fae sitting in a classroom with a gentle smile.

"This Danaan looks familiar. I'm sure I've met him," Bres said.

"Possibly… this is Bael, Aubrey Lynn's father. He's taught here before," Hermione said.

"Ah, yes! The prince's servant, I have seen him before," Bres said.

"He is your door guard, and your current password is, "knowledge is boundless", but you can change it whenever you like," Hermione said, glancing at the door as it opened. Inside, the castle's industrious Trade Elves had already dropped off his trunk and Chest Cloak.

"Isn't this wonderful! It's just as spacious as Jennifer said it would be," Bres said, taking a moment to open the doors to look in the bedroom and bathroom.

"That explains the Chest Cloak. I bet she recommended it," Hermione said with amusement.

"Yes, I relied heavily on her advice since I didn't know what to expect," Bres agreed.

"Then you are a lot wiser than most people. I'm sure you'll do fine here," Hermione said. "Do you want to stay and unpack or head to the library?"

"The library," Bres said without hesitation. Just as Hermione had said, it was easy for him to find the stairs and the right floor, and he arrived to find Boulderdash behind the librarian's desk.

"He's all yours, Boulderdash! And Jennifer wanted me to ask, could you please teach him ground security and patrols as well as library security since he's staying overnight?"

"Understood," Boulderdash said.

"Then I'll leave you both to it," Hermione said. Boulderdash watched her go then grunted. "Congratulations, Bres, it sounds like you've been 'volunteered' to help with Hogwarts security."

"But I'm a scholar," Bres said, a bit confused.

"Aren't we all," Boulderdash shrugged, then began by showing him how to put cards into the new books.

By the day of the Sorting Ceremony, Bres had the library system down pat. A great many professors came in to see Librarian Boulderdash with book requests or lists of student permissions… too many to remember them all. But Bres had recognized Ambrose, Aurelius, and Andrew, who introduced Laura the Kindhearted as his wife. Jennifer came by the library twice; once with her book lists and another time to wander around and talk about security, which he then learned was one of her many responsibilities. He didn't see her again until just before dinner when she popped in to see the two librarians putting the latest periodicals away.

"Bres is coming too, isn't he? You're coming, aren't you?" Jennifer asked from the doorway.

"No, I thought I'd leave him here to decorate the library… of course he's going," Boulderdash said.

"Boulderdash has to sit at the main table, but Zack is saving you a seat next to him at the Auxiliary staff table, Bres," Jennifer said. "See you in a few minutes!"

"She seems quite excited," Bres ventured. "What should I expect from this event?"

"It is simply dinner. You'll sit quietly and listen to the Headmaster welcome the students, comment on any castle or staff changes, make subtle threats, and then watch Hermione and the Sorting Hat sort students, then we eat. For us, mostly it's just a lot of waiting," he shrugged. He didn't seem in the slightest bit excited. Uncertain why his two mentors had such strikingly different opinions, Bres decided that he would have to make up his mind for himself.

He followed Boulderdash down the corridor past a door he knew went to a staff room and onto a heavy wooden door which was currently open, leading into the very back of the Great Hall. A fair number of the faculty were already there, many of whom he had seen when they dropped off their library requests, but then he recognized Anna and Zack and walked over to them.

"See? I told you it was him," Zack said with a grin.

"Of course it's him, you can feel him coming. Welcome, Bres! How do you like Hogwarts so far?" Anna asked.

"It is a wondrous place. The library has no equal and there is plenty of work to do," Bres said.

"He is a hard worker, I'll give him that," Boulderdash grunted.

"Wow, that's quite a compliment, and not one he gives out very often," Zack observed.

"Yes, alright, maybe you should head to your seats so I can get to mine," Boulderdash said.

"Over here, Bres. I always sit second from the end just in case I need to leave in a hurry," Zack explained, gesturing to the side table adjacent to the main table. The majority of the Professors were congregating at the main table, including Jennifer, who at the moment was on her husband's arm and was talking to Andrew.

As Bres stood by the chair on the other side of Zack, he noticed Ambrose sitting on a side table on the other side. He waved at Bres warmly.

"Is that table also for Auxiliary?" Bres asked.

"That's the Instructors Table. It's for instructors who only come in a few days a week to teach specialty classes or help with some first year courses," Zack explained. "Our table is for people who hold non-teaching positions but work or live in the castle. It changes as to who shows up from year to year, but you can always expect to find John Carnegie and Trade Elf Francie sitting over here."

"And sometimes even an extra Black or two," Sirius said as he and Zoe found seats.

"Sure, but does Zoe really count if she's just doing contractual work?" Zack asked.

"It still counts… I asked Janus Craw," Zoe said, gesturing at the ghost at the end of the row.

"Second in command of security. I've seen you in the library, but I don't think we've met formally. Nice to make your acquaintance," the ghost materialized in front of Bres.

"Don't worry, Bres. He's one of the sanest ghosts here. He might even be saner than I am," Zack said with amusement.

"That's not much of a stretch," Zoe said sarcastically.

"Are you two fighting over there?" Ashley asked as she and John walked up.

"They just do it for fun," Sirius said, then noticed Anna staring at him pointedly. "But maybe we ought to stand by our seats so I don't have to sleep in the dog house. Which one is Francie's? I don't want to accidentally take it."

"I am here," Francie said, materializing in the seat next to the one John was standing by.

"Are you sitting with us? I thought you taught a class in sculpture or something," Zoe asked Janus curiously.

"Someone has to stay and keep your lot out of trouble," Janus said, taking the table at the end. "Well, that, and the ghosts are strategically placed by mortals who don't mind the smell of our rotten food so much," he added.

"That's true, I've been used to it for years, it's part of the job," Zack said. "I feel sorry for the professors sitting near Ick, they probably draw lots or something."

"Maybe they do some years, but this year he doesn't seem to have a problem," Sirius noted. Zack looked over and then noticed the same thing; Sinistra and Arcadia seemed quite interested in sitting near Icarus. Essie, who was listening to the conversation, was eventually shooed by the Headmaster, making her return back to the instructors table. Curious as to what was going on, Jennifer's eyes fixed on her and they didn't leave her until Severus said something and she sheepishly took her place.

By that point, students had already begun to trickle in; the local children came in first and scattered to different tables, and then older students walked in and continued on until Bres began wondering just what he had gotten himself into. He had never seen that many children in one place in his life; no wonder humans had to develop such a strange, elaborate system! How else could they possibly control them all?

"Anybody interesting this year?" Janus inquired.

"Not really. Because of how birthdays fell on the wrong side of September, anyone you'd be interested in comes next year. This is the calm before the storm," Zack explained. "Jillian and Aubrey Lynn are still in primary school this year."

"Oh. Then why are you here?" Janus asked Zoe.

"What's with the third degree? I'm working on the renovations and Aunt Jennifer said I could sit up here if I wanted," Zoe said.

"Oh. No relatives getting Sorted? This is going to be dull," Janus decided, immediately looking bored.

"You twins have a couple of second cousins coming," Sirius offered helpfully. "The Stone twins… Winona over there at Slytherin's their big sister…one of my aunts on my father's side married a Stone."

"I am so glad my family stayed so linear up until this point. I think I'd be as mad as Ick trying to follow the Black family line," Janus said critically. "Your great grandparents were as industrious as Jennifer and Severus."

"My parents used to tell me… 'if they have an old family name, assume they're a cousin unless proven otherwise,'" Sirius quoted.

"That strategy works out really well, actually. And you can be lazy about trying to figure out how we're connected because typically when someone comes up to me and declares me a cousin, they've done their homework," Zack added.

"It wasn't common for an old family to have a lot of kids to extend their political reach… it's just like what the Villins and Maxens are doing now, to be perfectly honest," Sirius said. "Then my grandparents had mostly girls and claimed they were cursed… some prophecy about the male line dying out or something…" he murmured.

"Well, thank god that didn't happen," Zack chuckled at him. "Hey, I saw the doors move a bit… I think we're about to start."

The tables to the left of them had nearly completely filled up now, especially the three houses in the middle, who left the far end nearest the main table empty. The two tables on each end… one where everyone wore hints of green and the one that wore hints of purple… had a great deal more space than the other two, but all of the students seemed quite eager as the doors opened to see who was going to join their group.

As Professor Hermione Weasley opened the doors and led in the new students, there were whispers among the students and solemn silence among the faculty… until Sirius' surprise finally caused him to whisper as well.

"Look! It's more than just the Stones down there, that girl looks like a Flint… too much of a family resemblance not to be," Sirius said.

"Another cousin?" Zack whispered back. Bres leaned back slightly so they could whisper to each other easier, caught in the crossfire.

"And there! Damned if that isn't a Yaxley. Strife… another offshoot of the Bulstrodes, probably first cousins with the Stones… the boy and girl down there walking together… and that boy looks like a Macmillan if I'm not mistaken…"

"Are you trying to tell us we're in for a Slytherin invasion?" Zack whispered back.

"Well, not all of them, certainly. The Macmillans are respectable, though most of them typically go to St. James," Sirius whispered back.

"We've had a few Macmillans in recent years, all coming from a branch living in the area… Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs mostly," Janus said.

"There's a Nott down there too… Slytherin family, but as far as I know, not cousins… they're related more to the Boxes, Tubbins, and the Jeffers families… he's probably Arnold Jeffers' cousin…"

"So in other words, while we were taking a year off… the year that Bael was here and Andrew had to go to the Otherworld and all of that… the other side was getting busy," Zoe concluded.

As the students began to start to arrive and stand in front of the stool, Severus Snape kept facing forward, but his gaze shifted over at Sirius and the very noisy Auxiliary table. But instead of looking critical, he simply made eye contact with Sirius before focusing back on the students with a more intense interest than he had before.

"Severus noticed it as well… we'd better hush," Sirius said.

"You're doing most of the whispering," Janus pointed out, but they all grew silent as Hermione went up to get the student list.

"You could have warned me," Severus murmured to Hermione when she was close enough to hear him. Hermione smiled with amusement.

"I thought it might be interesting after Wyatt and Grimsby last year. We'll finally get to put the new Sorting rules to the test," she said mischievously.

"It most likely will," Severus agreed solemnly, standing up.

"Welcome back to another year of Hogwarts. You will be glad to know that there aren't many announcements for me to make this year…" he began, then got interrupted by Sirius, Zack, and Zoe clapping enthusiastically until Anna and Severus gave them a stern look and they quieted back down. The students laughed softly, and Severus shook his head slightly and faced forward.

"As I was saying, there are no changes to Professors, Instructors, or Advisors, although we do have the honor of having Bres d'Ilsudan from the Otherworld acting as Librarian Boulderdash's assistant this year. His culture is strikingly different from ours, and I look forward to getting to know it a bit better, and hopefully all of you will have the opportunity to learn about it as well. Other than that, I have little to add, except to remind you to stay away from clearly marked construction areas… and even areas not so clearly marked that you know perfectly well that students aren't allowed. Do not forget to check the boards in your house rooms for last minute electives that we're offering, and speak to your advisors if you want to sign up for any of them. Thank you, let's begin," Severus finished, sitting down. Hermione picked up the Sorting Hat.

"Are you ready, Hat?" Hermione asked him.

"Ready or not, here I come," the Hat replied. She picked him up and set him on the stool.

Welcome new students from far and near;

I, the Sorting Hat, will be sorting you

In the name of the apprentices I hold most dear:

Slytherin's apprentice, Janus Craw;

His pride in his family is strongest of all.

Hufflepuff's apprentice,Caprica Dusthorn;

Preserved this school for those yet to be born.

Rowena's apprentice, Icarus Ravenclaw;

Used his foreknowledge to save us all.

And Gryffindor's apprentice, his squire Bedevire,

With humility and kindness, he spoke without fear.

In their honor I bid you to come and take a seat;

Together we'll decide where you're going to rest your feet.

"That's very nice," Hermione said to the Hat, unrolling the list then picking the Hat up.

"Sanjay Ali," she began, and a slight boy with dark hair and eyes came forward with a tentative smile, sitting on the stool.

"Ravenclaw!" The Hat declared.

Bres could tell that Jennifer and Laura seemed especially pleased by that as he joined the table with the blue patches.

"Betty Anderson," Hermione called out.

"Havener," Sirius commented as she sat down.

"Gryffindor!" The Hat said. Bres blinked when Sirius, Zack, and Zoe clapped so enthusiastically that Severus threw them a dirty look.

"I sense a bit of bias comin' from this table today," John told Ashley with amusement.

"Perhaps a bit," she agreed as Sam Archer stepped up and also was Sorted into Gryffindor.

As they clapped enthusiastically again, Severus muttered something to Jennifer, who looked amused then gave him a quick reply.

Bres couldn't figure out what was more interesting; watching the students' reactions or watching the different reactions from the faculty, who, despite the Headmaster's firm attempt to maintain unbiased approval, had a great deal of trouble getting his staff to do the same.

"Rainy Blake," Hermione said.

"Blake? Dad, you missed one," Zack murmured.

"Sorry, the only Blakes I knew were wizards and are gone. I did meet one at the last funeral whose father had fled to Australia during the Terrors… maybe it's his daughter. Either that, or they're completely unrelated to us," Sirius said.

"Slytherin!"

"They're related," Sirius concluded as her new classmates cheered warmly for her.

"Paisley Bulstrode," Hermione called out.

"That's a cousin."

"We know, Dad," Zoe sighed, as the brown-haired girl stepped up and sat on the stool. "It's Ian's little sister."

The Sorting Hat was dropped on her head. But instead of answering right away, it thought about it a moment before finally belting out:

"Dusthorn!"

Paisley frowned as the crowd fell into a stunned silence.

"I don't understand," Paisley said.

Paisley, are you not an honest girl? The Hat thought inside her head.

"Yes," she said out loud, and Hermione decided to wait to retrieve the Sorting Hat as everyone else watched her intently.

And since you are an honest girl, don't you expect others to be honest to you in turn?

"Yes," she agreed.

Then perhaps you can see why I would put such a girl in a house where you can learn what true honesty is about, the Hat thought.

"Yes. Alright," Paisley said, then got up and handed the Sorting Hat to Hermione, who smiled at her gently.

Jeremy glanced at Quintin.

"I don't get it either, but let's give her a warm welcome," Quintin told the others.

"It's what we do," Jeremy agreed, and as they began to clap, the rest quickly followed enthusiastically, finally managing to get the rest of the room to clap as well. Anna and Ambrose had even stood up, clapping and smiling at her approvingly.

"Why was that girl treated so differently?" Bres asked in confusion.

"You know what, Bres, she shouldn't have been. That didn't look good," Sirius realized, clapping firmly in support. "Severus is right, we need to be more consistent with these claps."

"Yeah, let's try to do better if there are any more shocks like that," Zack suggested, and the rest of the table firmly began nodding in agreement.

Up at the main table, Jennifer turned and said something to Severus when she saw their nods of determination, and Hermione paused a moment to find out what all the whispers were about before nodding and taking her place again.

"Sorry about that minor inconvenience, and congratulations, Paisley! I'm sure you'll do very well over there," Hermione added.

Paisley sat by Pamina, smiling uncertainly.

"You're lucky. We've got the best witch's dorms in the entire school," Pamina informed her, and Paisley gave her a tentative smile as well.


After that, Severus saw a dramatic change in the actions of the entire Auxiliary table. While they hadn't dialed down their enthusiasm, they were now clapping for everyone with the same charged energy as they had given the Gryffindors before. Even Bres was joining in, awkwardly attempting to match their clapping to fit in with what those around him were doing.

Severus sighed. Well, now that they were giving all of the students equal attention, he supposed he didn't mind so much… until the instructors sitting across from them on the opposite end of the table began doing the same.

"Whatever happened to solemn decorum at these events?" Severus protested between students.

"Let them have their fun," Danyelle said from the other side of Hermione's empty chair. "We all just had a shock, but everyone seems to have bounced back from it."

"For now. Expect more surprises," Severus warned.

Danyelle braced herself through the C's and D's without anything unexpected happening at all, other than the two side tables' warm enthusiasm. If anything, Slytherin's numbers seemed to be holding well that year compared to recent years. Sure, they still had less than before, but there was also the fact there were five tables now to consider. Erica Flint, a distant Malfoy cousin, stepped up with so much confidence that Danyelle wasn't surprised when she was quickly Sorted into her house. She hadn't missed the intense gazes coming from the Blacks, however; they, at least, were quite interested in students with old family names. True, they weren't all going to Slytherin… but it was far from the only time that a Goldsmith went to Gryffindor or a Handel went to Ravenclaw.

"Troy Jasper," Hermione called out.

"Slytherin," the Sorting Hat declared. Danny relaxed, clapping and nodding with a smile.

"Brian Kelly," Hermione said, and a golden-haired boy she didn't recognize walked up. There was a murmur from the Auxiliary table, however, and Brian looked over and waved before taking the stool.

"I know that boy, his family came to visit my exhibit on the very first day," Bres told the others.

"I don't recognize him," Sirius admitted.

"He said he was from somewhere called Donegal Town," Bres replied.

"Is he really?" John said with renewed interest, and they all watched as Hermione put the Hat on his head.

"Dusthorn!" the Hat said, and they all broke out in enthusiastic applause again.

"Is that good?" Bres wanted to know.

"It's my wife's house, so I wouldn't call it bad," Sirius said.

"Kinda light on Gryffindors, aren't we?" Zoe asked.

"Still a long way to go," Sirius said unconcernedly as Ketterly went to Hufflepuff.

Bres had trouble following it all, but always clapped after every child was Sorted like the rest of his table did. There were often whispers and nudges coming from the onlookers as each child went up, from recognition to pure speculation of which house they might be sorted into.

"Huxley Macmillan," Hermione called out, and the dark-haired boy strode over and sat down confidently.

"Slytherin!"

"Uh oh… black sheep," Sirius said, clapping loudly with the others. "That hasn't happened in a while."

"Still, there aren't many going over there. It was less obvious at first until Gryffindor caught up with the pack, but I think Slytherin will be the smallest house again even with this current batch," Janus noted.

"Wait, here's a Nott," Sirius pointed out. Sure enough, it didn't take the Hat long at all before Carrick Nott was sitting down next to Huxley at the Slytherin table. "And we still have the Stones and the Strifes to do…"

"Lewis Yaxley O'Hagan," Hermione called out.

"And that one," Sirius amended, wishing he had some popcorn.

"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat declared, and they all clapped again.

It took some time to get through the O's and less to get through the R's, the crowd thinning out to where there were less than a dozen left.

"Payton Stone… with an 'a'," Hermione said, and the boy twin stepped up.

"Pat," he told her, and she simply smiled as he took the stool and the Sorting Hat sat on his head for a moment.

"And the other one!" the Hat said.

"Peyton with an 'e'," Hermione said, and the girl twin stepped up.

"Pettie," she said, and sat down as Hermione put the Sorting Hat on her head.

"Yes, alright! The boy again," the Sorting Hat said, and they changed places once more.

"Ravenclaw!" he declared, and Pat shrugged and hopped down to join that table as everyone clapped.

"Peyton?" Hermione said with a smile, and the girl got back up again.

"Gryffindor!" the Hat said.

But as the girl smiled and went to their table, there was a noticeable rumble from the Slytherin side of the room.

"That Hat is totally demented. I understand not getting Pettie, she's always been a bit of a flake… but we didn't get either of them? Clearly something's wrong," Haxley Nott complained.

"I swear that Hat has gotten more and more biased the longer it's gone on. And why has it been talking about the apprentices lately and not the founders, anyway?" Ian grumbled with irritation.

Winona Stone decided not to say a word, clapping because they were her siblings and she supposed for that reason that she could get away with it.

"Harry Strife," Hermione said with a smile.

"Oh, that family's already converted, hasn't it?" Sirius chuckled. Nobody was surprised when that one went to Gryffindor.

A couple of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs later, it became evident that it was the Gryffindors and Dusthorns who had slipped ahead of the rest, and although there was a larger class of Slytherin than the year before, the fact that the Dusthorns had almost caught up to their overall number when they were only four years in did not make them happy.

"Well, that was more interesting than I thought it'd be," Janus Craw decided.

"I wonder what they're thinking over there," Zack pondered, glancing at the Slytherins who were still murmuring to each other.

"Probably that the Hat is broken, but I notice that Severus didn't seem too worried about it. He didn't even flinch when Paisley got put into Dusthorn," Sirius noted.

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't be surprised if that child wasn't in for a rough year," Janus said. "It seemed that she was struggling with it. That said, I think the Sorting Hat has been doing a splendid job in recent years."

"You don't see anything wrong with the fact that Slytherin seems to be shrinking?" Zack asked him.

"Not really, no. In fact, I find it rather encouraging," Janus said, glancing up as Hermione tapped the side of her goblet and the feast appeared.

All of the new students let out their customary ooh's and aah's at the amount of food put before them, while Bres stared at the tables with a dropped jaw. Then he stared at his own plate, filled with an array of vegetables and different slices of meat and a small side plate of fruit and cheese.

"What's wrong, Bres?" Zack said when he saw him staring at it without touching it.

"He's spoiled by my grilling. It's not good enough," Sirius said.

"Is there something wrong?" Francie suddenly asked worriedly.

"No, Francie, sorry! I was just joking, it wasn't serious. I think he's just overwhelmed," Sirius reassured her.

"The Trade Elf staff wasn't sure what Bres likes best, because he eats everything put before him, so we gave him lots of choices," Francie explained.

"His kingdom had very scant food resources, Francie, barely enough to go around. Having so many choices is a privilege he's never had before," Ashley explained to her. "He had never seen a real feast before his wedding day, when the True Fae provided it."

"Actually, this is bigger than the feast on my wedding day," Bres murmured.

"Wait until you get to Halloween," Sirius warned.

"I understand what he is going through. Many Trade Elves lived in that way before Liberation Day," Francie said. "I will be more conscious of the fact that he will eat it even if he doesn't care for it."

"He will, yes, but that doesn't mean he hasn't got preferences," Sirius protested. "I for one know that he doesn't care for American Hot Dogs, and that if given a choice between tea and coffee, he drinks coffee. Asking him first is probably the best way to go."

"It would probably also help if I even knew what all of this is even called," Bres admitted. "I have had some of it at your house and at Jennifer's, but some of these raw plants are quite strange…" he pointed out, picking up what looked like a little green tree and inspecting it.

"That's broccoli. You haven't seen it before because I don't care for it at my house, and you probably haven't seen it at the Snapes because Seren doesn't care for it. I've noticed that they're really quick to give in if she doesn't like something, because she likes to turn food into projectiles. I've learned to duck a lot when she's eating at our house," Sirius explained.

"You do not have to eat it if you don't like it," Zack said. "You wouldn't be the only one, either. I bet a lot of students down there aren't touching those bowls of broccoli."
"What happens to food if it isn't eaten?" Bres frowned.

"It is used to feed livestock and omnivorous plants or turned into compost to grow more food. We are careful not to waste anything," Francie assured him. "Even the grounds from the coffee are turned back into the soil."

"Great for potatoes, carrots… and a lot of berry bushes," Sirius agreed. "The Order of the Owls helped us pay for a new cold cellar, so the Muggle classes will be growing even more food for the school this year… we've only had a garden patch before. If you want, I can take you over there sometime if you want to see it."

"I would like that," Bres agreed, then silently ate everything on his plate without commenting on it.