Welcome to Hufflepuff

Welcome to Hufflepuff

At the table, Roy was shoveling various delicacies into his mouth like a whirlwind. Now that he had witnessed the food quality at Hogwarts, Roy felt he had indeed chosen the right school.

Sitting beside him, Cedric was eating in a much more elegant manner. Placing a piece of sizzling fried pork chop onto his plate, Cedric looked at Roy, who practically wanted to shove the food straight down his throat, and couldn't help asking about the Gryffindor Sword.

"You took so long during your sorting, what did the Sorting Hat say to you? Why did it hit you with that sword?"

The many young wizards busy stuffing their faces at the Hufflepuff table all paused their eating simultaneously upon hearing Cedric's question, looking at Roy with curious gazes.

Suddenly stared at by so many pairs of eyes, Roy halted his whirlwind eating, glanced at the surrounding students, and shrugged.

"Nothing much, the Sorting Hat just asked where I wanted to go, and I said I wanted to go to Hufflepuff. Then it asked me why, and I said Cedric and I are good brothers, of course I have to be in the same house as Cedric. And that was it."

Cedric felt rather touched upon hearing Roy's words and opened his mouth to say something, when two mischievous voices sounded from behind them.

Turning their heads, the Weasley Twins had somehow wandered over, and Fred spoke to Roy in a tone of utter disappointment.

"How truly ungrateful. Clearly, we rescued you from Knockturn Alley. What, are we not your good brothers?"

"Precisely, and you still haven't explained why the Sorting Hat hit you on the head with the Gryffindor Sword." George chimed in from the side.

"Naturally because the Sorting Hat saw my extraordinary bravery and therefore intended to present the Gryffindor Sword to me."

Roy raised his head and explained to the surrounding people with a very proud tone.

"I reckon your heart is simply too evil, and the Sorting Hat decided to punish you with the Gryffindor Sword instead."

Watching Roy boasting there, Fred cracked a joke at him.

Fred's words amused everyone, and Roy nonchalantly continued pouring various foods into his mouth.

Nobody took it too seriously, seeing as Dumbledore had said it was merely a joke played by the Sorting Hat.

The atmosphere at the table was extremely lively. The young Hufflepuff wizards were all very friendly, especially many young lower-year witches who were attracted by Cedric's good looks and kept chatting with him.

The multitude of enthusiastic young witches left Cedric somewhat overwhelmed. Watching the blushing, pure-hearted young boy Cedric, Roy ruthlessly teased him.

"Look, our handsome guy has attracted so many followers the moment he enters school."

Cedric blushed, lowering his head and continuously stabbing the mashed potatoes on his plate with his fork. Seeing this, a mischievous grin appeared on Roy's face.

By the time all the young wizards had stuffed their bellies with the abundant food and leaned weakly against the backs of their chairs, the tables previously piled high with food suddenly saw everything vanish, replaced moments later by a variety of desserts.

Most of the young wizards could no longer eat a thing, but seeing how exquisitely made the desserts were, Roy forced himself to finish a piece of cake.

At last, the Great Hall grew considerably quieter, the young Hufflepuff wizards all having eaten their fill and leaning back in their chairs to savor the lavish meal. Until the desserts also vanished from the table, Dumbledore stood up to preside over the conclusion of the welcoming feast.

"It appears everyone has eaten quite well, but before returning to your dormitories I must emphasize a few more matters."

"First-year students take note, the forest on the school grounds is strictly forbidden to students. Some of our older students would do well to remember this point as well."

"Furthermore, Mr. Filch the caretaker has asked me to remind everyone not to cast magic in the corridors between classes."

"Quidditch team tryouts will be held in the second week of this term. Anyone wishing to join the house teams please contact Madam Hooch."

"Lastly, allow me to introduce this semester's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Elias Thorne, who has just arrived due to transit issues."

A middle-aged wizard in his forties with a tall, straight posture and wearing a grey-black portable travel cloak stood up from the end of the staff table, taking off his top hat to reveal grey-black hair. A friendly smile appeared on his slightly weathered face as he saluted all the teachers and students.

Roy noticed that that seat had been empty when the banquet began earlier.

Applaud broke out sparsely in the Great Hall, and Dumbledore continued introducing Professor Thorne's achievements to the students.

"Elias is an elite Auror from the American Ministry of Magic with extremely rich experience in combatting the Dark Arts. Having such an outstanding wizard serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is the honor of all our teachers and students, though it is quite regrettable that Professor Thorne will only serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for one semester. Next year, Professor Thorne will return to America to continue serving in his post as an Auror."

Having finished introducing the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore drew his wand, and a long golden ribbon fluttered from the tip of the Elder Wand, twisting and winding like a snake high above the dining tables to spell out lines of text.

"And now, it is time to sing the school song. Ready, sing!"

Dumbledore took the lead, singing the school song loudly together with all the teachers and students. Every year's welcoming banquet had to feature such a boisterous tradition.

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with some filling,

For some interesting stuff,

For now they are bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.

The whole school sang the Hogwarts school song in a disjointed manner using all sorts of tunes. The Weasley Twins continued singing the very end to the tune of the "Wedding March" after everyone else had finished.

Dumbledore watched the twins' performance with great interest, even using his wand to conduct the final section for the two of them.

As for Roy, he just casually hummed a few lines to the tune of "In the Summer"—he had looted plenty of vaults back in Azshara, and that song was what those vaults were all about.

With the school song finished, the welcome feast officially came to an end. Students from each house followed their respective prefects toward the dormitories.

Owen Caldwell led the young Hufflepuff wizards straight down to the basement level. Since it was closest to the Great Hall, they arrived after just a short walk.

"To enter the Hufflepuff Common Room, you must tap these two rows of barrels in the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff. Get it wrong, and you'll get doused in vinegar. Simple though this defensive magic is, it's remarkably effective. You should know that the Hufflepuff Common Room is the only one in a thousand years that has never been broken into by outsiders."

Pride was written all over Owen's face as he introduced it. Hufflepuff might be ordinary, but it was by no means mediocre.

"That over there is the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens. If you're hungry, all you have to do is tickle the pear in this painting, and the kitchen door will open. House-elves will provide you with food at any time—that's a privilege exclusive to us Hufflepuffs."

Owen tapped the barrels a few times with his wand, and the passageway into the Hufflepuff common room swung open.

Roy followed the others into the Hufflepuff common room. It was a round, spacious room with yellow and black walls, draped all over with various Hufflepuff-themed banners.

Many green vines hung from the ceiling, and the windowsills were crowded with magical plants cultivated by Professor Sprout, glowing softly and swaying slightly.

One could say that the Hufflepuff Common Room was the coziest and most comfortable of the four houses, resembling a badger's den: warm and safe alike.

Roy liked it here a lot; both the lighting and the decor suited his taste.

Led by Owen, Roy arrived at his dormitory. Cedric happened to be in the same room as him.

Aside from Roy and Cedric, there were two other young wizards in the same room whom they had just met at the dinner table.

Gabriel Truman was a Muggle-born young wizard with curly black hair. Having arrived in the magical world for the first time, Gabriel was excited about everything and kept pulling Connor aside to talk incessantly.

Connor Trump had a head of curly blond hair. Both of his parents were wizards, and he had a rather amicable personality, listening with a smile as Gabriel chattered away.

Logically, there should have been five people to a room, but the sorting happened to leave only four people assigned to Roy's side, so there were only four beds set up in the dormitory.

Roy and the others found their respective luggage already placed beside the beds bearing their nameplates. After tidying up their things and chatting for a bit with Cedric and the others, everyone turned in for the night. Exhausted from a whole day of travel, they were all feeling rather tired by this point.

Roy pulled the yellow bed curtains closed and lay down on the soft mattress. He had to admit that this bed was much more comfortable than the one at the orphanage.

Lying in bed, Roy kept replaying everything that had happened today in his mind, and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.