Chapter 1: Surprises

The Dursley's, August 31st 1991

"BOY!"

Harry looked up from his latest study book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and sighed. His Aunt was once again screaming for his assistance, in that grating voice that set his teeth on edge.

He got up and raced down the stairs, phrases from his new book whirring around his head.

"The Fwooper is an African bird with extremely vivid plumage… has the head of a giant eagle…"

He was fascinated by the creatures in the book, creatures that few had even heard of, let alone seen. Harry James Potter was a wizard, and he was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the following day.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia?" He lived with his aunt, uncle and cousin, all of whom were very cruel to him.

"I want you to clean the living room windows until there isn't a spot of dirt on them. And don't even think about having any lunch until you've finished."

"Yes Aunt Petunia."

I wish I could get friends more easily

Platform 9/10, September 1st 1991

Harry was perplexed. His ticket said to catch the train to his new school on Platform 9 and ¾, but there was no Platform with that number. In desperation, he walked up to a woman with vivid red hair, to see if she knew.

"Oh, of course dear; all you have to do is walk straight through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Thank you, Mrs…?"

"Weasley, dear. Now run along."

"Thanks!" And he ran straight through the barrier.

He ended up running into a girl with very bushy brown hair, and who was already wearing her Hogwarts robes.

"S-sorry," He stammered.

"Don't worry," said the girl in a high, pompous sort of voice. "I do it all the time. My name's Hermione, Hermione Granger. Do you know, my parents are Muggles, not a trace of magic in the family? My parents said that I must be really talented to be magical in my family. What's your name, by the way?"

Harry was slightly overwhelmed by her stream of words, which she had delivered without breathing.

"I'm H-Harry, Harry P-Potter."

Hermione's eyes went as round as saucers.

"Wow! I'm really sorry about your parents Harry, it must have been awful."

She dwindled into silence.

"Don't worry about it," He grinned. "We'd better get on the train."

He and Hermione had to go almost to the end of the train to find an empty compartment, but eventually they found one three doors from the end on the last carriage. They stowed their luggage into the magically enhanced baggage car and Harry put up a sign with their names on the door.

"Wait a second Harry; I might have a spell to lock the door." She began to rifle through her book bag before emerging with a Spell Encyclopaedia that looked to Harry as if it weighed two tons.

"Let's see… Looking Charm, Unlocking, ah-hah! The Locking Charm. Obfirmo. Now, the wand movement,"

But before she could figure it out, the door swung open and a white haired boy walked in, followed by two blobs that could only be his attempt at bodyguards.

"Is it true?" He said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He didn't like this boy one bit.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Harry giggled.

"Think my name's funny, do you?"

Hermione spoke up. "And do you," she giggled. " prefer your martinis sh-shaken or stirred?"

Harry maintained his composure for long enough to hear Draco's next question.

"You'll soon find out some Wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, Mr. Bond. Oh, and just so you know, having two toy-boys at once seems a little excessive to me."

Draco's look of confusion was too much for Harry, and he broke down laughing.

"You'll regret this Potter!"

He just laughed harder.

"Well," said Hermione after several minutes of non-stop laughter, and the use of her new-found locking charm. "That makes one enemy for life, and we haven't even got to school yet. On a different note, what house do you want to be in? I think I'd like to be a Gryffindor, they say that the headmaster was one."

"I'm not sure Hermione, but I don't think that Gryffindor would be the best house for you. You obviously like getting good grades and studying hard, and I think that you're more of a Ravenclaw. I don't mind, so long as I'm not in the same house as Mister Bond over there."

He was about to continue, but a voice called out from the corridor: "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Harry unlocked the door with a simple Alohamora and went out into the corridor, fingering his pocketful of sickles thoughtfully.

"Do you sell any muggle sweets?" He asked.

"I do have a few at the back, why?"

"I wanted to do a comparison between the two."

He ended up buying 4 boxes of every-flavour beans, 4 chocolate frogs, 4 packs of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, 4 Cauldron Cakes, 4 Pumpkin Pasties, 4 Liquorice Wands, 4 Sugar Quills, 2 packs of Tooth-Flossing String Mints, 4 Sherbert Fountains, 4 Mars Bars, 4 packs of Haribo, 4 Cadbury's Crème Eggs and 2 packs of sandwiches.

He paid the lady a galleon for his purchases and carried it all back into the carriage, where they spread it over the table.

"Sine we're going to do a comparison, I decided to get a little of everything, and don't worry, I bought some tooth-flossing string mints to keep our mouths nice and healthy. I think that we should start with the sandwiches and the Pumpkin Pasties."

And so they passed their train ride, happily comparing the two lifestyles and writing it down carefully in one of Hermione's many notebooks, before being joined by Neville Longbottom, who had somehow misplaced his toad, which then hopped into their compartment. They changed into their robes about half an hour before the train was due to arrive, and I introduced Neville to muggle sweets. He liked the crème eggs best, and asked Hermione to owl her parents to get more, please? She blushed.

Harry was looking at his new chocolate frog cards, which included Nicholas Flamel, Agrippa (which was apparently a rare card), Merlin, Circe and The Witches from Macbeth.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

Entrance Hall, September 1st, roughly 19:00

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, her cutting Scottish brogue instilling fear already in their hearts. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to which ever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

She looked pointedly at Draco Malfoy, who had somehow managed to fall into the lake several times on the way to the castle. No one was questioned.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." And with that sentence still lingering in the air, she turned and swept out of the chamber.

Harry turned to Hermione, who had produced a hairbrush from the depths of her pockets, and was fiercely attacking her hair.

"How do they sort us into houses anyway?" Hermione was now rifling through her pockets to find her notebook of useful charms that they had looked up on the train, including a little one used to flatten hair.

She found it, then pointed her wand at Harry's hair. "Palpo Saeta!"

Next she pointed her wand at Harry's glasses. "Oculus Reparo"

"There. Now, I'm pretty sure that Hogwarts: A History mentioned a hat. I would guess that you put on the hat and it sorts you for your personality or preference."

"That makes more sense than actually giving us a test, doesn't it. Anyway, I need to learn that hair-flattening charm. It looks useful."

At that, the door opened and Professor McGonagall called for them to come into the Great Hall. Harry ensured that he stayed close to Hermione and Neville, who seemed nice enough from the train.

Suddenly, about twenty different ghosts came streaming through the walls, causing about half of those present to jump 2 feet in the air.

At that point Professor McGonagall swung open the doors to the great hall.

It was beautiful. The ceiling was covered with stars and swirling nebulae, and there were thousands upon thousands of candles floating across the tables above hundreds of empty platters.

A ragged old pointed wizard hat sat crooked on an old three-legged stool. As Harry looked, a tear just above its brim opened and it burst into song:

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowler hats,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head,

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be…'

The Hat went on to list the different qualities of the houses in more dodgy poetry, until it was time to start the sorting ceremony. Professor McGonagall stood up and unrolled a surprisingly short piece of parchment.

'Abbott, Hannah'

A short girl with stubby blonde pigtails rushed out of the line and jammed the hat on her head. She smiled in relief as she was declared a 'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Bones, Susan'

Again the hat shouted 'HUFFLEPUFF!' and the girl ran off to sit next to Hannah Abbott.

'Boot, Terry'

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Brocklehurst, Mandy'

A tall girl with long brown plaits walked up and placed the hat nervously on her head.

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Brown, Lavender'

'GRYFFINDOR!' The hat took some time deciding on her house. She seemed to be having an argument inside her head.

'Bulstrode, Millicent'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Finch-Fletchley, Justin'

A kind looking boy sat on the stool and was almost immediately made a

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Finnegan, Seamus'

The sandy haired boy sat for almost a minute before being sorted into

'GRYFFINDOR!'

'Granger, Hermione'

Harry smiled at his new found friend as she was sorted. She was made a 'RAVENCLAW!' after only about a second.

'Longbottom, Neville'

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'MacDougal, Morag'

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Macmillan, Ernie'

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Malfoy, Draco'

He sat for a while under the hat, before shouting "For Merlin's sake, just put me in SLYTHERIN!"

'Fine. SLYTHERIN!'

'Moon, Linda'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

'Nott, Theodore'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Parkinson, Pansy'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Patil, Padma'

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Patil, Parvati'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

'Perks, Sally-Anne'

'SLYTHERIN!'

And now, he thought, here come the fireworks.

'Potter, Harry'

He walked forwards among a wash of whispering.

'Potter, did she say?'

'The Harry Potter?'

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.

Hmmm… said a small voice in his ear. Difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh, my goodness, yes-and a nice thirst to prove yourself. Fiercely loyal to those that you would choose as friends… Now where shall I put you?

'Well,' thought Harry to the Hat. 'I wouldn't like to be in Slytherin, with Malfoy, or Gryffindor, with all of those people who might want to make friends with me for my fame.'

True, very true. That would leave Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I note that your new friend Hermione has been sorted into Ravenclaw, but the houses are much closer. There is less animosity between them than between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I think it'd better be…

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

A/N I now disclaim all text that I have used from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter itself.

This idea came to me this morning after looking at a few Harrys in Ravenclaw and Slytherin but very few longer fics about Harry in Hufflepuff. I will be using a few OCs in minor roles, although I will be using characters whose names are mentioned but nothing else. This is an eventual Harry/OC. To those who do not like this pairing, I would like to say that I initially wanted mostly canon pairings, but a long argument with a certain best friend (who shall remain un-named) changed my mind.

Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcomed. Flames are not.

Edited: 7/11/09 (Brit Calendar) as I've been agonizing over incorrect apostrophes and Americanisms ever since I posted it, but my laptop (my normal writing instrument) died just after I'd finished revising my work, so yeah. I must have done something pretty bad in one of my past lives. Maybe I was Bellatrix Lestrange or something.