They waited for approximately three minutes before the doors opened revealing an extremely stern looking witch. She looked at them for a few moments before turning to the giant who had been accompanying them until now.
"The first years, Professor McGonagall," said the giant.
"Thank you very much, Hagrid. I'll take care of it from here." The woman said and right after that, she turned to them and added. "Follow me, please."
The entire group ran to keep up with the Professor, who walked with a quick and direct step, without expecting anything or anyone. None of them had time to observe the castle, the only thing that was on their minds was not to lose sight of the woman if they wanted to end up completely lost. In the end, she led them to a room near the main doors and the dining room, of which they had a faint glimpse. Once they were all inside, the woman turned to look at them again, and her expression showed that it was better not to cross her path, she was not someone who should be angry.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." She began. "I am Professor McGonagall. In a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall where the selection ceremony will take place and you will be classified into one of our four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. While you are here, your houses will be your family, you will sleep in the dormitories together with your companions and when you have free time you will spend it in your common room. Your achievements will become points for your house while bad behavior will deduct them. At the end of the course, the house with the most points will win the House Cup, a great honor. Now, I advise you to get ready while we finish preparing everything for the ceremony." After that, the woman looked at everyone before leaving.
Nerves ran high among all the new students, as they wondered in which house they would be selected as well as the method that would be used. Many claimed that it would be an improvised exam, so Hermione began to review all the spells she had learned, while a red-haired boy kept repeating that his older brothers had told him that he had to fight a troll. But all the speculation stopped when a group of ghosts broke through a back wall, causing frightened screams from everyone. Harry thought that this had been done because that way they could get a look at the new students, just as the ghost of a friar expressed his wish that they end up in Hufflepuff, his old house.
When Professor McGonagall returned a few minutes later, she led them to the dining room with her same quick and determined pace, ignoring the group behind her who were looking at everything around them in amazement. The best word to describe it was magnificent, especially the ceiling, which was enchanted to show the sky outside and seemed to be an extension of it.
They passed right in front of a stool where a very old and lowered hat was untied... come on, anyone would have thrown away the poor hat and bought a new one. Since a great silence and expectation formed, the new students waited to see what would happen, so their surprise was great when they saw how a mouth-shaped tear was formed and they began to sing, describing the qualities of the houses and explaining that they would be selected by putting the hat on their head, this being the one who would decide where they should go.
Professor McGonagall began naming names from a list and the new students were sorted into different houses. Terry went to Ravenclaw as he wished, while Hermione and Neville were sorted into Gryffindor. When Harry was called, he approached the hat with a trembling step and then, with a nervous sigh, sat down on the stool and tried on the hat.
"AHH... WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? YOU HAVE A LOT OF TALENT, DID YOU KNOW THAT?" Said a voice in his head. "NO, YOU DIDN'T KNOW, EVEN THOUGH YOU SUSPECTED THAT YOU WERE NOT SOMEONE NORMAL. LET'S SEE WHAT WE HAVE HERE... YOU'RE SMART, WHEN YOU WANT TO BE, THAT WOULD MAKE SLYTHERIN THE IDEAL HOUSE FOR YOU, BUT YOU LACK AMBITION AND YOUR GREAT HONESTY MEANS THAT YOU RARELY USE IT. YOU ARE ALSO BRAVE, THERE IS NO DOUBT, BUT YOU USUALLY THINK BEFORE YOU ACT... YOU LOVE BOOKS WITH ALL OF YOURSELF. HEART AND THAT MAKES YOU A REAL RAVENCLAW... BUT WITHOUT A DOUBT, WHAT CHARACTERIZES YOU MOST IS YOUR LOYALTY AND YOUR WILLPOWER TO WORK HARD AND PATIENTLY... YES, WITHOUT A DOUBT YOU WILL GO, HUFFLEPUFF!!"
When Harry removed his hat he was met with the silence of the Great Hall as everyone watched in amazement as he walked to the Hufflepuff table and sat down. He knew why they looked at him like that, he was the first Potter in many generations who didn't end up in Gryffindor and no one could imagine how that could be possible. Tremulously, one of the kind-faced Professors began to clap and was soon followed by the Hufflepuff table and then the rest of the Hall. After their classification, those still to be classified were divided among the four houses without any additional problem.
Next to Harry sat all the first years, who spoke to each other politely, introducing themselves and explaining where they came from. From what Harry could hear there had been nine sorted into Hufflepuff that year, four girls and five boys including himself, Susan Bones, Hanna Abbot, Julia Bullivier, Atenea Owen, Ernie McMillan, Justin Fin-Flechey, Zacarias Smith, Jonathan Miller and him. They all seemed really excited and couldn't stop talking, although they fell silent when the Headmaster got up to speak.
"Good evening and welcome to Hogwarts for another year. I am glad to see all our students with us again. I must remind you that the Forbidden Forest is, as its name suggests, prohibited for all students, some of our upperclassmen should remember this." Here he looked at a couple of redheads sitting at the Gryffindor table. "Our Caretaker, Mr. Filch asked me to remind you that magic is prohibited in the hallways and that the prohibited items amount to three hundred and forty-seven. Now enjoy!"
The golden plates were filled with food and everyone began to help themselves while different conversations began again. At the Hufflepuff table, a conversation began between the first years about their genealogy.
"It's the first time I've seen such an amount of magic... I saw a little in Diagon Alley, but this..." Justin said.
"You're a muggleborn, right?" Ernie asked. "It shows."
"And what? Is it bad?" Justin asked.
"Not bad, but it would be better if it were not known." Harry stated. "The political situation is not ideal to shout it from the rooftops."
"What… what do you mean?" Justin asked while practically everyone at the table gave him venomous looks.
"What I mean is that we are now in the middle of a war... There is a group of wizards led by one called Voldemort" Here there were several screams and shudders on the part of the group "who maintain that Muggleborns should not come to Hogwarts ...if it were only that it wouldn't be so bad, but they tend to attack and kill in terrorist attacks those who they don't consider stupid enough or those who support muggleborns... Since no one knows who is part of the group, surely many students are someone's relatives."
Harry was cut off by the vast majority of the first years shooting angry glances at the boy. Many reproached him for having told them and scaring him. Despite that, Harry remained stunned.
"I don't know why you make such a fuss." Athena complained. "Sooner or later I would have to know and it should be sooner than later. The sooner you are warned, the sooner you can avoid screwing up in front of one of the pureblood fanatics."
"Would you have preferred him to find out when some blackmail arrives at one of the students? Would you explain it to him then?" Jonathan added.
"Blackmail?" Justin asked scared.
"It's when you receive an owl with a black envelope... they are what the Ministry usually uses to inform someone that your family has died." Harry explained. "I have seen many, my family has always opposed Voldemort."
After that, they all changed the subject, but it was too late, within the first year two groups had formed, one part was Harry, Athena and Jonathan who did not want to ignore the threat posed by the Dark Lord and the rest of them that preferred to forget what was happening. By the time dinner was over, a kind of vacuum had formed between them, they ignored each other and barely exchanged two words as they followed the prefect who had to guide them to their common room, a boy named Mark Watson.
They were all so tired that they practically ignored all the wonders that passed through the corridors. They ignored the portraits and also the large stained glass windows. They stopped in the basement in front of a few barrels, the prefect proceeded to tap some barrels in a pattern.
After that, the lid of the barrel moved aside revealing a hidden entrance, and the prefect climbed through the passage, afterwards, the others followed him, arriving at a square room in yellow and brown tones, the colors of their house. There were several sofas and armchairs everywhere in the room and a cozy lit fireplace welcomed them.
[T/N, There are several versions of the Hufflepuff common room that Rowling gave us, she gave us the painting with the pear that you tickle, that the common room is hidden behind some barrels, and in some the common room is shrunk down in a barrel. I believe each country has its own version that the "professional" translators put in and spread, I think the author looked at the Ravenclaw's common room entrance and used the Gryffindor's password thing for the entrance which wouldn't work because anyone is supposed to be welcome to enter the Hufflepuff common room. Any new readers the author made a mistake which I just fixed. Edit, I decided I liked the barrels more and the Fruitbowl was used in most iterations for the entrance to the kitchen anyway so yeah. ]
"This is our common room." Mark said. "To access it you will have to tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'.The dorms are up those stairs, the boys on the left, the girls on the right."
After that, Mark let the first years go down their respective stairs to go to bed. After all the emotions of the day, they were exhausted. Most of them fell into their respective beds only consciously to change into their pajamas and go to sleep. Harry, for his part, reacted differently. To begin with, he took a good look at what his bedroom would be like and who would be next to him.
The bedroom, like the common room, was square and decorated with yellow and brown tones and five beds with canopies and brown curtains. The fifth bed was on one of the sides, right next to the window and he soon discovered that it was his.
Looking forward to the next day so he could start his classes, he went to bed with a big smile. He hoped everything would be fine from then on.
The next day, accustomed as he was to getting up early (so he could get everything done before Brian got up) he woke up quite early compared to the rest of the dorm. With a quick step, he grabbed his things before rushing into the bathroom to get ready for the day. He undressed and got under the hot water, while relaxing before the day that awaited him. He washed himself effectively, carefully passing his upper left breast, where there was a tattoo of a white phoenix.
While he showered, he thought about how he had acquired it, a little over a month ago. It had been the night of his birthday, after the fantastic day he had spent with Remus and passing his father's inspection for something unnecessary (or in other words, anything non-obligatory that Brian wanted to have), he had retired to his room so he could inspect everything and get ready for bed. He was preparing to take a shower when he felt a very strong pain in his upper left chest... it was an unbearable pain that made him scream, lasted a few moments, and then disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving him with a sensation of residual pain. He went to the shower as quickly as possible and once he took off his clothes, there was a tattoo of a beautiful white phoenix. Later, he discovered that when he was near his wand or had it in his hand, the tattoo seemed to vibrate as a feeling of peace and incredible happiness spread through his body, so he came to the conclusion that his own wand had done it... it had been tender and sore for a couple of weeks and now, he just had a strange feeling when he touched it.
He sighed and came out of the shower just to find Jonathan in front of him, looking at him carefully. For a moment, Harry was scared, not knowing what to do, he was vaguely aware of the sensation that ran through his body and that demanded that no one see his strange tattoo. He was going to make an excuse and cover himself as quickly as he could (even though he had already seen it himself) when the other cut him off.
"Good morning."
"Bu… Good morning."
"How early do you get up, are you alright?"
"Ahh... I'm used to it."
Harry watched nervously as his partner was getting ready to take a shower, expecting him to comment on the tattoo at any moment, but when five minutes passed and he still hadn't said anything, he relaxed.
"You have a very nice tattoo on your chest." Jonathan said casually when he came out of the shower. "I didn't think there were parents who would allow their eleven-year-old son to get a tattoo."
"My parents don't know," Harry murmured sincerely, deciding that it would be best to tell the truth.
"I already said that no matter how famous James Potter is for being a crazy liberator, he allowed his son to get a tattoo... How did you manage to get it without them noticing?"
"The thing is... I didn't do it, it appeared on my birthday... I still don't know how."
"Mmmm… A magical tattoo? Curious... not many of them usually appear like this, and never in children." Jonathan laughed. "Also, it is a curious drawing... Obviously, it is a phoenix, but I had never seen a white phoenix."
"Me neither."
"I wonder what it means..."
"That?"
"These tattoos always have a meaning... usually a facet of the wearer's personality."
"You understand quite a bit, don't you?"
"I love this topic." He explained. "I read it years ago in a Quibber article and since then I have been looking for information."
Harry looked at him in shock, not knowing if he should believe him or not. The Quibber was famous for its lack of credibility, but if he had sought more information... he assumed there was some truth.
"I guess you don't want the others to know, right?" As Harry shook his head, he added. "I already thought so, except for two people, most of those who have had a magical tattoo have kept it a secret." After a pause, he added. "What do you think if we go down to have breakfast? I don't know about you, but I don't remember the way to the dining room and we'll probably end up lost."
[T/N, Ok this one was a pain but luckily it was shorter than the last few chapters, after this chapter I'm going to spread the updates a bit so I don't have to spend the whole night, every night Translating a novel. Maybe 3 chapters a week from now on. Leave a comment if you have advice and drop some stones for the needy here. This novel isn't that long chapter-wise so it should be completely translated in a month or two if you want to wait.]