When the hat shouted "Hufflepuff", he had never felt more like crying in his short eleven years of life. Not when he broke his arm and had to endure the pain for a week before someone noticed it, not even when his dear snowy owl died, or when his parents did not came to send him away at the train station in the morning.

But now just with a single world told by a stupid magical hat, he felt like crying — pitiful, loudly sobs that wanted to erupt from his chest—, still he repressed the feeling and lowed his head trying to cover his eyes with his hair. He could not permit anyone seeing his red eyes and disappointed face — how weak he was —, today had to be one of the happiest day of his life, but of course with his luck it had quickly become in the worst.

Like an echo he heard the cheering from his new house table and the polite applauds from the others, and he wondered why they were celebrating, could they not see that he was not happy in the slight? He took a long breath and put a fake smile, seeing from the first time the happy grins of his fellow peers, and his new colored tie.

He was never given a smile like that, even his parents couldn't smile to him with the same amount of sincerity and it was always because they had to, always in front of the cams or others.

'Men don't cry'

The prefect introduced himself as well as the head boy after the principal speech — if 'don't disturb me, I have more important things to do than babysitting' could be considered a speech — and the banquet start. He had been in banquets before, but never in one like this. It was full with a living conversations and cheerful laughs, noisy a chaotic. He was sure that his mother would be dismayed to see this kind of behavior.

'We are in the best house, mate!" another first year boy next to him said.

'Yeah?'

'Obviously, Hufflepuffs are real badasses, I'm Clint by the way' Clint answered while offering his hand to him.

'Tony' he replied shaking Clint's hand.

He did not say his last name, he was pretty sure that by tomorrow when the news about his sorting reach his father's ears he wouldn't still be a Stark.

'Stark men go to Slytherin, Anthony'

He was always such a disappointment.