The Feast

"Difficult—very difficult!"

A high-pitched voice sounded in Jon's ear:

"Clearly very brave, not bad at heart, and quite gifted too..."

I want to go to Hufflepuff! Jon silently repeated to himself.

"What?" The Sorting Hat's shrill voice sounded almost incredulous.

I want to go to Hufflepuff!

"Without a doubt, though you possess every quality of a Hufflepuff student, I don't think that would be a very good choice..."

I want to go to Hufflepuff!

"Have you made up your mind? If you went to Gryffindor, there is no doubt you could achieve greatness..."

I want to go to Hufflepuff!

"Don't you have any other thoughts?" the Sorting Hat roared impatiently.

I want to go to Hufflepuff!

"Can you only repeat that one sentence?" The Sorting Hat seemed a little angry now.

I want to go to Hufflepuff!

When Jon repeated the sentence for the sixth time, the Sorting Hat could no longer stand it. It shouted the name to the entire Great Hall:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The people at the table to his right immediately began applauding and cheering for him. The Fat Friar waved at him as well.

At the table furthest to the right, Astoria inexplicably let out a faint sigh when she heard the announcement.

Jon breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would not have to go to Gryffindor and nervously keep company with that group of protagonists.

"To be honest, you're the second student this century to voluntarily ask for Hufflepuff!" The Sorting Hat's voice sounded in Jon's ear again.

"Oh? Who was the first?"

"Newt Scamander. I hope you can be as outstanding as he was!" The Sorting Hat offered its blessing. "Mr. Scamander was expelled from Hogwarts in his fifth year..."

Jon still wanted to say something more to the Sorting Hat, but Professor McGonagall had already come over and roughly yanked it off his head.

"Luna Lovegood!" Professor McGonagall called loudly.

The strange girl who had shared Jon's boat hurried over.

Jon had already reached the table nearest to his right. A tall boy came over. "Welcome to Hufflepuff, Jon... I'm the Hufflepuff Prefect, Gabriel Truman!"

"Hello, Gabriel!"

"Come on, Jon, sit here!"

A little girl with two golden braids pulled Jon into the seat she had occupied earlier.

The Sorting Ceremony continued.

Luna Lovegood was sorted into Ravenclaw... Steven Lucas, like Jon, became a new Hufflepuff student...

Applause rang through the hall again and again as one new student after another became members of the various Houses.

Of the last two, Ginny Weasley went to Gryffindor, while Madeleine Yaxley was finally sorted into Slytherin.

The Sorting Ceremony was over.

Professor McGonagall picked up the Sorting Hat and was about to put it away... when the Great Hall doors opened. Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick returned together, with Daphne Greengrass following behind them. Her head was lowered, and there seemed to be tear streaks on her face.

Professor Snape ordered his student back to the Slytherin table, then leaned close to Professor McGonagall and whispered a few words.

Professor McGonagall's expression suddenly became rather complicated. She did not even have time to put away the Sorting Hat before hurriedly following Professor Snape out of the Great Hall.

Professor Flitwick walked to the top of the dais and quietly said something to Professor Dumbledore...

Dumbledore's face changed at once, and he swiftly left the Great Hall as well... without even having time to say his classic line: "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

With both the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster absent, Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw, finally stood atop Dumbledore's plate. He welcomed the new students to Hogwarts, introduced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, and reminded everyone that the Forbidden Forest was off-limits and of the Quidditch player trials.

The feast began!

"Want some steak?" The girl with two golden braids enthusiastically recommended it to Jon. "Hogwarts steak is delicious!"

"Thanks..." Jon quickly cut himself a piece of steak. "By the way, I still don't know your name!"

"Hannah, Hannah Abbott... I'm a second-year student!"

"Good heavens!" Jon solemnly put down his knife and fork, then shook Hannah's hand. "It's an honour to meet you, Hannah—oh, no, Miss Abbott!"

Hannah rambled on about Hogwarts... The school was very safe, Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard in the world, Hufflepuff students were all united, and Professor Pomona Sprout treated them very well. She also said that they absolutely must not wander around the school at night. Last year, three idiots from Gryffindor had wandered around at night and cost their House 150 points...

"By the way, do you know Harry Potter?" Hannah suddenly asked in a mysterious tone.

"Harry Potter? You mean The Boy Who Lived?" Jon cooperatively put on a surprised expression.

"That's right!" Pleased with Jon's reaction, Hannah said proudly, "Harry Potter is a student in our year. He's in Gryffindor House... My grandfather always hoped I would go to Gryffindor. He graduated from Gryffindor himself, but unfortunately, the Sorting Hat thought I wasn't brave enough..."

As she spoke, Hannah's tone became somewhat dejected. She began looking toward the Gryffindor table, intending to find Harry and point him out to Jon.

Unfortunately, Hannah did not know that Harry Potter was probably in Professor McGonagall's office with Ron Weasley right now, having just caused a major disaster... McGonagall, Dumbledore, and even Snape had all rushed over to clean up after them.

"By the way, there's something people outside Hogwarts might not know..." After looking for a long time without finding him, Hannah continued. "Near the end of last term, Harry successfully stopped You-Know-Who's plot once again. Professor Dumbledore specially awarded Harry and his friends 160 points, helping Gryffindor snatch the House Cup from Slytherin!"

"Wow..." Jon nodded repeatedly.

This was the first time Jon had learned that the supposedly unshakable Hannah Abbott was actually a little fangirl of Harry's.

But he could not accept the House Cup thing... A trophy decided a year in advance, where Dumbledore simply made up however many points Gryffindor was short at the end of term—how were the others supposed to compete?

"By the way, how long has it been since Hufflepuff won the House Cup?" Jon asked curiously.

"Well..." Hannah looked a little embarrassed.

"Seventy-nine years!" A tall, handsome boy turned around and said gravely, "The last time Hufflepuff won the House Cup was in 1913!"

"Er..." That was even longer than Jon had imagined.

For a moment, Jon suddenly had the thought of helping Hufflepuff win a House Cup... but that unrealistic notion, even more difficult than tearing Voldemort apart with his bare hands, was quickly cast aside.

"You're Jon Hart, right? I remembered your name during the Sorting Ceremony!" the handsome boy said with a smile. "I'm Cedric, Cedric Diggory!"

"Cedric is the captain of Hufflepuff's Quidditch team... the only person this century to become Quidditch captain in his fourth year!" Hannah whispered from behind him with an admiring expression. "He's always ranked first in the fourth year."

It seemed Jon had misjudged. Hannah was not just a little fangirl of The Boy Who Lived, Harry.

"Hello, Cedric!" Jon smiled and shook Cedric's hand.

He exchanged a few more words with Cedric, and the feast gradually came to an end... Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had returned as well!

Dumbledore introduced Gilderoy Lockhart to everyone once more, then began directing them all to sing the school song:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts,

Hogwarts, Hogwarts,

Please teach us something,

Whether we be old and bald or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling with some interesting stuff,