In the opposite side of the Hall and still in the line waiting to be sorted, Hiccup watched Jack Frost's sorting with the same interest he'd done the others. On the contrary, the Great Hall seemed to hold its breath while the Hat made its choice.

"SLYTHERIN!" Came the verdict.

Some of the kids had taken a lot of time to be sorted into either of the Houses and some had been assigned as soon as the hat touched their heads. Jack Frost's had come up rather quickly.

He made a great deal of returning the Hat to the Professor to be given to 'Grant, Page' and going to the Slytherin table. Frost walked with confidence and a smirk on his face that could be read all too clearly. He wasn't the one to be happy to be sorted there. The Slytherins were the ones that had to be glad he had been chosen to join them. Frost's confidence didn't falter, even if his sorting had the coldest reception so far. The Slytherin table hadn't been the most enthusiastic during the Ceremony but now they took it to a completely different level. At least, that had been the impression Hiccup got of the exchange.

In any case, Hiccup wished he had at least half of his confidence. Unlike the shiny Jack Frost, Hiccup looked miserable. His robes were covered entirely in mud, thanks to his earlier fall, and was sure that nearly no color remained on his face by now. He was shaking too and there was no reason form him to blame it on the cold. Hiccup lifted his gaze to the ceiling, where ominous black clouds twisted in silence. With all his might, he concentrated on the image he conjured before. Had it only been this morning?

He was a Gryffindor. Stoic was proud of him.

Silence struck the Hall again and he was snapped to attention.

"Haddock?" Professor Longbottom asked, scanning the remaining first years on the line.

With a jolt, Hiccup realized he had missed his call and, his face burning, took a step forward. The Professor urged him to get to the stool and put the Hat over his head.

"Gryffindor, huh?" Hiccup could hear a small voice coming somewhere on the inside of the blackness that was the Hat. "You sure dream big, kid and I'll make sure you achieve it. That's why I think you'll be better in HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hiccup's heart sank as he heard the last part being told for the all the Hall to hear. His wonderful luck strikes again. Four Houses to choose from and he was sorted onto the one everyone made fun of. Kirsten Bundy had made it painfully obvious barely minutes before.

Hiccup had had enough of being fun of. He didn't get much time to fume or think, though. As he felt the tug of the Hat being lifted from his head, he pulled it back down by mere instinct.

NO!

He thought, as loudly as he could. Ravenclaw! Put me in Ravenclaw! Even in Slytherin!

"Bold of you, no doubt." The voice returned. "And Ravenclaw material too, I can tell. However, I stick to my choice. You are a Hufflepuff. Off you go, kid."

The muffled sounds Hiccup had barely been aware off while talking to the hat, suddenly went full volume. Even worse, most of it was clearly laughing. The worst part was that, it was him they were laughing at.

In front of the entire Great Hall of Hogwarts, Hiccup let go of the rim of the hat, which he was using to keep it securely on his head. This caused Professor Longbottom to stumble as he was still trying to pull it off. Laughs filled the Hall from every table while the Professor regained his footing and went on to check his name off the list.

Face down and burning, Hiccup made his way to the Hufflepuff table and collapsed onto one of the empty seats as far off of the High Table as he could manage. He felt everyone's eyes on him but it couldn't be right. Someone was being sorted and at least someone had to be paying attention to that.

Just his luck again. Hofferson, Astrid was the girl he had toppled before and made sure to give him the nastiest look she could muster. He thought he had gotten used to the sensation of wanting the earth to swallow him whole but he was proven wrong. Again.

He smacked his face on his still empty golden plate.

"High expectations, huh?" A chubby girl with glasses asked, changing her seat for the empty one on Hiccup's left.

"Eh? What?" He asked, still crestfallen. To be honest, he would rather be left alone and didn't feel much like talking but the girl fixed on him her blue eyes. She wasn't going to let go.

"It happens a lot." She said. "Almost nobody really wants to be a Hufflepuff when they arrive. There're some that don't really care as long as they're sorted, and Muggleborns by general rule don't know enough to get a bad opinion. But there're a LOT of people like you." Reluctantly, Hiccup found himself enthralled by her words. "Either by yourself or because of someone else, you believe that the only way to achieve great things is being in any other House than Hufflepuff."

She gave Hiccup a poke with her elbow, urging him to applaud when Rowle, William, the other boy he had pushed with his fall, was sorted into Hufflepuff. Unlike Hiccup, he beamed, as if there wasn't any place he'll rather be. He took a seat a couple of spaces away from Hiccup and got his hair tousled by an older boy.

"However, I'll give you some credit. You're the first one to make your disgust known so publicly." The girl on Hiccup's left continued.

"Not how I wanted to be remembered." He answered, annoyed again.

"Then don't." The girl said, categorically and surprising Hiccup once more. "Hogwarts isn't constructed like that. You'll get plenty of chances to prove yourself. It's up to you to seize them. And when you succeed, you can either say it was because or despite being in Hufflepuff. It's your choice." She forced him to clap again when a girl with mousy brown hair called Danielle Walker found her ways towards the chair in front of him. "All I ask is that you give us a chance. You'll be surprised, we even managed to win the House Cup last year."

Hiccup actually smiled at her exaggerated confident gesture. She then turned to give a personalized welcome the newest students. It also matched up to when Winters, Brian, the last boy on the line, was sorted to Slytherin. The Sorting Ceremony had come to an end.

Professor Longbottom cleared the stool and the Hat, giving space to a tall, severe looking witch embedded on deep green robes, square glasses and the hair pulled into a really tight bun at the nape of her neck.

"I would like to welcome you all to Hogwarts, whether you are returning or are here for the first time." She had a stern voice and she smiled to accompany her words but, somehow, Hiccup felt as she was sizing every student gathered on the Great Hall individually. "Before we have the chance to enjoy the start-of-term banquet, I am afraid I have to give you a few short notices. First of all, as always, the Forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students, as are some of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. You can find the list on the office of our caretaker. Using magic in the corridors or in-between classes is also prohibited."

"On a brighter note, the Quidditch tryouts will be scheduled for the second week, so I advise you to check the bulletin board on your respective Common Room for more information. And finally, I will ask you to enjoy your meal."

"Well, that's Professor McGonagall for you. She's Hogwarts Headmistress." The chubby girl said for the new arrivals' sake. "In any case, you'll do well on following her advice."

Hiccup hadn't realized how hungry he was until the platters in front of him suddenly filled with the most varied meals he could put a name on, and some he couldn't. He was as amazed by the quantities and the way they appeared, as much as the new Muggleborns that had also been sorted to Hufflepuff were. When his mother had been alive, she had often used magic to cook, but it had been a long time since he saw such an example of magic applied to a mundane, everyday thing. Add that to the fact that, even if he was never left to starve, cooking wasn't Stoic's strong suit at all. They actually ate better when it was Hiccup's turn to prepare the food.

Hiccup started small, putting on his plate little portions of everything that was close to him. His effort didn't last long, for as soon as he tried his first spoonful, he changed his strategy to just stacking his plate with bacon, sausages, lamb and a funny looking fried fish. Maybe it was his chance to finally gain a bit of muscle. Or a heart attack. It made no difference; everything was delicious.

"Yeah, that's Professor Spinnet. You'll have her for Defense Against the Dark Arts and the one next to her is Professor Hagrid. You won't have him until your third year and only if you take Care of Magical Creatures." Hiccup caught up a bit of the conversation between one of the older students and Shane Mayborne, one of the first years.

On Hiccup's left side, the chubby girl was busy explaining what where the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to Opal Jones and on the other, there was a discussion over which of the Quidditch teams had a better lineup for the next season. They even asked Hiccup's opinion until he confessed that he hadn't been following the League; but they were just as well inclined to fill him in. There were some older students commenting on the Hat's song, which apparently was kind of odd, for a singing Hat.

Conversation erupted all around him and more than one made him part of them, if just a bit, before they moved on to the next. It was definitely a big plus to his old life, so the sorting into Hufflepuff started to fell slightly less like a death sentence. In his last school, he had been constantly shunned by his peers due to the weird things that happened around him and his tendency to blow up science and art projects, even without the aid of untamed magic. Here, the environment was completely different, and everyone made an effort to include the new ones, giving advice and tips or telling anecdotes and stories of their own.

Hiccup was already full by the time every food platter was filled with pastries, sweets and tons of ice cream. It didn't prevent him from eating as much as he had before. An athletic guy with a round nose, green eyes and a lot of freckles rose from his seat and came to stand in front of Hiccup and behind a couple of the first years, putting an arm around each.

"Hello there!" He said, cheerfully. "Is Prefect Saph already giving you newbies instructions?"

"Shut up!" The chubby girl on Hiccup's left responded, slightly pink. It was the first time Hiccup noticed the bright P badge on yellow and black that was on her chest. "Yes, I'm a Prefect. My name's Sapphire Grint. This is…"

"Logan Mirkwood." He interrupted her. "Your regular fifth year. What about you? Let's see… Danielle, Opal, Shane, Hebert, Alexis…"

"Hiccup." It was now Hiccup's turn to interrupt when he saw Logan point at him as he had done with the rest. Logan looked at him curiously.

"Hiccup? Really?" Hiccup nodded. "'ll right then, Hiccup. Next are Lexi, William, Pluto and Pearl. Am I right?"

"Yeah!" Opal, applauded as she had seen everyone nod at the correct mention of their name. Logan responded with a mock bow.

"Thank you lass! I'll be here all year!"

"Stop fooling around." Sapphire cut him, though she didn't seem that mad. "You'll end up without dessert."

"Not a problem." He responded. "Too stuffed now and the elves will still have some later."

"You aren't going to…" Sapphire began.

They didn't figure out the rest of the sentence, as the desserts also, disappeared from their plates and the table was once again clear. The Headmistress stood up again and the Great Hall was drawn to silence by just that. Logan quietly slipped back to his seat.

"Once again, I welcome all of you to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said. "Now, to bed you go. As of next Monday, I expect you all to do your utmost to improve your education."

"Come on guys, follow me." Sapphire herded the first years together. "I'll show you to our common room."

Hiccup rolled with the group as the students agglomerated around the double doors that led out of the Great Hall. All the excitement and the food had left Hiccup awfully tired with nothing more on his mind than a comfy bed to collapse in for the night. Rather than the other Prefect, Logan was the one to join them as they followed Sapphire. A large portion of the student body went up the marble staircase, but the new Hufflepuffs were instead guided down one of the secondary set of steps, to the basement level. There, they had to follow a narrow pathway to a shadowy stone recess where a pile of barrels were stacked on a nook on the wall. Hiccup was sure he wouldn't be the only one to pass by if Sapphire hadn't stopped and pointed specifically at them, despite there being a small ring of Hufflepuff students waiting on some sort of queue.

"Here." Sapphire said when they finally got to the barrels, pointing at them. "Two from the bottom; middle of the second row. Now pay attention to this. It's important."

She tapped the barrel she had indicated. Two quick taps, a pause and then three more. As she did this, the lid swung open, revealing another narrow, dark passageway.

"The rhythm is what matters the most." Sapphire explained. "It hasn't changed since Hogwarts founding and it won't change in the future, but you have to be precise."

"Yeah," Logan quipped. "You don't wanna become saladdies."

"What's a saladdie?" Pluto asked.

Sapphire was about to respond but Logan covered her mouth.

"If you mess up with the rhythm, you'll find out." He answered, mischievously. "Now, come on, after you."

They took turns to crawl through the passageway. When Hiccup reached the end, he found himself on the first of three circular tiers, the largest one on the farthest end. It was like nothing he had seen before. A couple of steps separated each of the tiers, making them seem somewhat independent of each other. All of them were filled with the puffiest and inviting chairs and puffs, all in yellow. There were some study tables and bookcases too, at least two on each tier, more on the bigger ones. The biggest chimney Hiccup had seen in his life was there too, making the warm yellow tones warmer and shadows dance soothingly around. It played well with what appeared to be a soft breeze wheezing a dandelion field at nighttime on the round windows scattered throughout.

That had to be magic, since by all of Hiccup's calculations they were still in the basement of the castle.

People were still around, toasting marshmallows on the fireplace but they were few. The new students were gathered on the second tier. Trees that might as well be real coated the walls. Small flowers that smelled like warm beer. Ivy and shrubby plants, all turning towards a huge lamp on the ceiling that bathed them on a silvery light. Round portraits in all the walls, most of them of people fast asleep. There was something to look everywhere.

"Bu you cépest my dears, for you are in incer bail now. Hit will bone steede Common Room come morrow, hwonne you instendeep awake anew."

Hiccup realized he was gawking but so where the majority of the first years that accompanied him. Lexi's eyes looked like they would fall out of her sockets as she pointed to the biggest portrait of a motherly black woman on a huge outdated yellow dress. Opal also paled at making the connection of whom spoke to them, while William sniggered at their disbelief. Hiccup kept to himself but was as surprised as them. While he had seen magic photographs and knew about them moving around, it was his first time facing a talking portrait.

Sapphire got in front of them and ushered to divide in two groups, taking the lead of the girls.

"Might as well follow our Founder's advice. Plenty of time to getting used to your Common Room when you haven't been traveling all day."

"So that was Helga Hufflepuff." Alexis murmured to some other girl while they were lead through a round door to their right. Hiccup looked again at the portrait, sure enough finding the golden plate with the Founder's name at the bottom. The Woman made him an encouraging gesture, motioning to the left of the room, where Logan was guiding the boys through another round door.

"That's your door. The fourth one." Logan pointed to the end of a narrow hallway with a rounded ceiling. "Fifth years are two doors away in that direction." He pointed to the other one. "Feel free to ask if you need anything and bathrooms are on that end. Night everyone!" He waited for all of the boys to enter before turning to his own side of the hallway.

The bedroom was also circular, neatly separated on five identical sections with a set of shelves, drawers and a wooden trunk at the foot of beds embedded in nooks on the wall. All with heavy sets of yellow curtains.

"They already bought our stuff." Herbert pointed out, unnecessarily. The others were already reading the labels to figure out the arrangements.

Shane and Pluto had some kind of scuffle about the right to the center bed but Hiccup had been out of it as soon as he got a sight of the inviting mattress. He rummaged for his pajamas, taking care of not losing the note he found pinned to his trunk.

He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

End of Chapter

So a complete Hiccup chapter for whoever missed him. So far, I still have no beta so feel free to point any mistakes.

Read ya next time…