Chapter 6:

Once all the first years had gathered at the front of the hall, the head of Gryffindor stood tall next to the ancient artifact, "When I call your name please step forward."

A few moments passed, then she called out, "Hannah Abbot!"

The familiar pretty blonde pigtailed girl walked nervously to the front, most likely cursing her name for starting with an A. Luckily for her, the hat was only on her for a second before it called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Susan Bones was called next and quickly followed her friend into the house of badgers. Hermione Granger was called up after several, and the hat took its time sorting her, "Ah this is interesting. A thirst for knowledge that would make Rowena proud, but also bravery, and a need for friendship. I do believe you would be best in...Ravenclaw!"

The crowd clapped politely as they had for every student so far, and Harry knew the hat had made the right decision and he had only spoken with the girl for a few hours. Neville was called shortly after, and that hat spoke with sincere sadness, "Ah, a student affected by the war. I see desire, a desire for revenge that could give you the ambition to be in the house of snakes, however, I fear you would never achieve your greatness in the viper's nest. I sense a great intelligence in you Mr. Longbottom, and I dare say we will be seeing great things from you, just like your father before you. Go join your family's name in GRYFFINDOR!"

The Longbottom family was rather famous for being in Gryffindor so the table of lions erupted in applause and cheers as the young man confidently strode with a smile toward his new housemates. Draco was of course sorted into Slytherin without much of hesitation on the hat, and finally, Harry was called.

This was the first time he had taken a chance to look at his mother who was beaming down at him. He gave the beautiful redhead a smile, and took his seat on the stool, while the deputy headmistress put the hat on his head, "Now this a sorting I have looked forward to Mr. Potter. Like your father and ancestors before you, there is courage, and chivalry much like Godric himself. From your mother, I see that she passed on a brain that would make Rowena smile, and be glad to take you. I also notice a rather cunning set of traits in you, always trying to take the upper hand, not always for yourself, but for your friends and family. You also have ambition, oh boy, do you have ambitions, I feel the desire to prove yourself, to live up to your name and save us all again. Interesting. Now here is something that makes this even more difficult. I see your life, Mr. Potter, I see how you work, I see how you defend your friends and family when under fire. This is difficult. I am sure I know the answer, but do you have a preference Mr. Potter, I do believe any house will benefit from your residence."

Harry spoke strongly to the hat, "Put me where I will reach my best potential. Despite any fallouts, I want to be where I will prosper the most. If you have seen my ambitions and what I am willing to do to get there, then you realize the difficult path that has been paved. Help me smoothen it out a bit."

The hat laughed, "A charming young man once said the same to me, and now he basically rules the world. However unlike this man, you will be taking the path of the hardworking, and the path where loyalty is everything. Your new home for the next seven years will belong with...HUFFLEPUFF!"

The hall descended into silence. They had listened to what the hat had said, they had heard his declarations, and they heard the young man's responses. Most were shocked, too shocked to clap. Harry chanced a look at his mom who had a sad smile on her face, and his best friend who looked stunned. As the boy stood up however there was an ovation of applause from the Hufflepuff house, and the rest of the school quickly followed.

Before Harry could walk over to join his housemates however he trod over to his best friend. The whole school seemed to be watching him, and the head table made no moves to stop him. At first, the two just stared at each other then Neville sighed, "Looks like the forces are divided mate."

Harry shook his head, "Only by the house. This changes nothing. Perhaps you can join me at breakfast tomorrow and we will figure things out."

Neville nodded clearly not going to say much in front of so many people. However, before Harry could turn away he cleared his throat looking at his best friend expectedly. Neville groaned pulling out a gold coin and flipping it to his best friend, "I was hoping you had forgotten!"

Harry grinned, "I never forget Mr. Longbottom, a pleasure doing business with you!"

In a stunning moment of silence, Harry strode over towards his housemates with the gall to blush a little with so many stares. The moment of silence was broken by laughter from the Gryffindor table where Harry assumed Neville had explained their bet.

The bet was that Harry would not interfere with the hats sorting him and that it would put him somewhere other than Gryffindor. Neville however thought that was ridiculous considering he was a descendant of Godric himself, however, Harry was proven right once again. While this was still unexpected, they weren't unprepared for something like this to happen.

Harry made his way to where a familiar seventh year was sitting and took a hard seat next to her. She quickly put an arm around him, "Wotcher Harry! We are going to have so much fun together this year. This was certainly a pleasant surprise."

His cousin Tonks greeted him as warmly as she could, but Harry could tell she to was more than just surprised by the hat's choice. Everyone expected Harry to follow his father into Gryffindor, but it appeared destiny had other agendas.

The sorting finished quickly after him, with there being only one more Hufflepuff added to the group. The Headmaster stood up at the end of the sorting speaking clearly, "A few reminders before we begin our feast. For the first years, the forbidden forest is strictly titled off-limits to all students. Also, there is an extensive list of band products that you may see in front of our caretaker Mr. Fliches's office if we have anyone who wished to avoid detentions. Also, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds, for those who do not wish to die a most painful death."

Harry flinched at those words, as he realized that the protections for the stone were probably immense, and probably deadly to those who attempted to penetrate its defenses. Harry had never asked the headmaster what was being done because he trusted the old man completely that it would be taken care of, a thought that was reassured by this announcement.

However, the rest of the school took that as a chance to murmur amongst themselves causing a little bit of a rumble. Dumbledore just smiled flicking his hands, "Let the feast begin!"

The notice me not charm on all the food was suddenly lifted and the feast had truly indeed begun. Harry had remained quiet throughout most of it, but when Susan engaged him in conversation, he quickly picked up, "So are you disappointed to be a badger, Harry?"

Most of the people nearby had gone quiet at Susan's question, but Harry gave the girl a smile, "A chance to get to know a pretty girl like you Ms. Bones is never something to be disappointed about. However, I will admit I am surprised. I trust the hat's judgment though. If it believes I belong here then I believe it as well. I will do my best to make sure everything I do counts and will help watch out for my fellow housemates."

An older boy nearby clapped his hand on the table loudly twice, "Well done Harry! Spoken like a true Hufflepuff!"

Harry recognized the boy as Cedric Diggory and gave him a smile while the feast continued to rage on. The oldest Potter scion was quiet throughout dinner, only engaging in conversation when people spoke directly to him, and his silence was noticed by almost every badger at some point.

At the end of the feast, Dumbledore dismissed them goodnight, but Harry made eye contact with the headmaster and the old man gave him an encouraging smile and even raised his glass to him a bit. This gave Harry the necessary strength to follow his new classmates across the hall to their common rooms.

Tonks lead the way taking over for some fifth year that Harry did not recognize. She explained to them that Hufflepuff was the best because we were literally in the middle of the castle. The great hall was the closest, and we would be closer to almost every class with the advantage of being on the ground floor. Harry however saw it as a tactical disadvantage seeing that if something were to happen, they would be the first to die if the school were to be attacked.

When they arrived at the entrance to the common room there were a set of barrels that Harry had looked at carefully. It was clearly some type of trap that was set up, a group of twenty barrels and if you picked the wrong one something would happen to you. Knowing this was a school he knew it wouldn't be that bad, but he had a feeling it would be humiliating.

Tonks carefully showed them which barrel to push, and when she did the rest went tumbling out of the way, clearing an entrance into the common room. In the common room, it looked much like the pictures he had seen of Gryffindors. It was decorated in yellow and black colors all the way around the room, with a cozy fire and several couches around the room. There were tables for studying, and a small library that stood in the back of the room.

The view outside the common room was the Hogwarts grounds, which was clear of the meadow that took people down towards Hagrid's cottage. Harry actually like the view, but once again realized if the school was attacked, they would be the first to know.

Tonks announced, "Listen up you lot. We don't have many powerfully enforced rules in this house, obviously, we are the house of the hard workers and the house of loyalty, that being said I expect everyone to be doing their own work, and that there will be no cheating within this house. Also if you have a problem with a housemate you solve it between yourselves and don't drag the rest of us down into a civil war."

"I will curse the lot of you if I have to take sides in any conflict that doesn't have a right answer. Now girl's common rooms are on the left, boys yours are on the right. The rooms are plenty spacious so go and pick your beds, and get settled for the night. Professor Sprout who is our head of house will probably be trying to talk to you over the next few days so keep your eyes open! Classes start tomorrow, good luck, and if you need anything just come check it up with me, or the other Hufflepuff prefects, we are here to help!"

Tonks gave a final show with a deep bow, and a wink towards Harry as she marched towards the girl's dormitory. Harry sighed, but held a smile on his face as he followed Justin Fletchley, towards their new room.

Letting the boys pick their bad Harry took the last one remaining as his four roommates had filled the other beds. Harry had known Zacharias Smith for many years and knew the boy was nothing but a tosser and didn't even look to acknowledge him. He hoped the boy had a magical aptitude half as strong as his attitude, but the green-eyed Potter wasn't holding his breath.

Ernie Macmillan was someone Harry had also been acquainted with a few times over the years. The boy was a Hufflepuff in the heart no doubt, as when Malfoy had insulted Harry in front of him the boy decked him in the face. However he was a little naive, but Harry figured under his guidance/wing the boy would flourish into a wizard his family could be proud of.

Then he turned to one of the magical society's newer citizens. Justin Fletchley seemed to be in awe over Harry now that someone had told him what had happened between the Dark Lord and himself all those years ago, and Harry hoped that the awe would only be short-lived. Wayne Hopkins was the last boy in the room, and Harry had not yet even properly introduced himself to the boy and reminded himself to fix that the following day.

The girls across the hall were a little more optimistic in the green-eyed boy's opinion. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot had always gotten on really well with Harry, and he hoped that the three would form a solid friendship that would keep him sane, while Neville would likely not be on the best of speaking terms with him.

Megan Jones was also there, and Harry had met her through her mother who was in the order, Hestia Jones. He hadn't had much of a relationship with the girl but figured that may be changing relatively soon.

Taking a deep breath Harry laid down on his bed, barely remembering to change into his pajamas. He knew his day would be starting early tomorrow, and closed his eyes to drift into a light slumber.