After the carriage ride we pile into the Great Hall. I wave bye to the twins and sit down at the Hufflepuff table next to Cedric.
"Hi Emily," he says.
"Hi Ced," I reply. "How were your hols?"
"Brilliant, actually!" he says excitedly. I feel a stab of jealousy but, I suppose mine weren't too bad. In fact, other than being carved into, they were great! "Dad took us to Romania to see the dragons!"
"Whoah!" I say.
"What did you get up to?" he asks
"Oh nothing much, stayed with the Weasleys. George and I played some one aside Quidditch," I say. He wiggles his eyebrows in a silly way. I backhanded his arm. "He's basically my brother, Ced! I am not in love with him!"
"Sure," he giggles. Suddenly the door swings open and in come the first years. At the front, there's a bushy haired girl talking to the girl behind her who looks a lot like Charlotte.
"Charlotte, psst, Charlotte," I hiss to the girl opposite me. Charlotte Abbott is one of my friends in my dorm. She looks up at me. "You didn't say you had a sister!"
"You didn't say you had a brother!" she accuses.
"How do you know he's my brother?" I ask. "We look nothing alike!"
"You have the same expressions, when you're in awe your lips part and your eyes dart around trying to take everything in, but I saw his face at the beginning and he had the same look that you have when you're nervous. His mouth was shut tight and his cheek was dipping in like he was chewing it and he had lines on his forehead, it was obvious," Charlotte says. She's so observant sometimes that it's scary.
"Quiet now," McGonagall orders sharply. She lifts up the hat and it bursts 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 bowlers black,
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,
You might belong in Gryfindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring nerve and chivalry,
Set Gryfindors apart,
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil,
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind,
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk, use any means,
to achieve their ends,
So try me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap,
You're in safe hands (though I have none!),
For I'm a thinking cap.

Everyone in the school burst into applause when the song finished.
"Good song this year," I whisper to Charlotte and Cedric.
"Yeah, finally there's one that gives us Hufflepuffs some credit!" Charlotte whispered back. Ced and I nodded in agreement. Sadly, everyone seemed to think of Hufflepuffs as (Oh what were Hagrid's words he used back along when I was getting ready for my first year? Oh yes) 'A load o' duffers'. Codswallop. Hufflepuffs are kind and caring. We put others before ourselves and stick up for our friends.
"Quiet," McGonagall calls. We all hush. "Abbott, Hannah!"
Hannah (a spitting image of her sister) walks up. She sits on the stall and tosses her blonde left pigtail over her shoulder. McGonagall puts the hat on her head. I look over to see Charlotte crossing her fingers and muttering "Hufflepuff" repeatedly under her breath.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" my table cheer wildly as Hannah skips to join us. Next, a girl named Susan Bones was sorted. She was sorted into Hufflepuff. I zoned out until my brother's name was called.
"Potter, Harry!" she calls. I swear under my breath. I'd missed Ron's sorting. I look over and see him next to the twins. I'm slightly regretful he wasn't in Hufflepuff, but then again, I hadn't expected him to be, all of his brothers were Gryfindors. I hear lots of whispers.
"Harry Potter?"
"Emily's little brother?"
"Did she say Potter?"
The hat gets dropped onto his head. It sits there for ages. I can make out Harry's lips forming the words: not Slytherin. I smirk but then feel upset that he's already become prejudiced against them. There are some good Slytherins. I really like Amulet for instance.
"Better be," the hat says and then pauses for effect. I wish and I wish it's about to say Hufflepuff but I know it's not. "Gryfindor!"
I cheer loudly to cover my disappointment. I feel slightly hollow to be honest. The food appears and I numbly grab some. Cedric nudges me with his elbow.
"Huh? What?" I ask.
"I was asking you whether you're disappointed about Harry," Cedric says.
"Nah, I always knew he was no Hufflepuff," I say, lying.
"You can still be disappointed though," he presses. I shrug. "You know, we all thought you'd be Gryfindor."
"Why?" I ask, surprised.
"Well, your bravery at age three, surpasses most adults'," he explains.
"Huh, never thought about that. I guess it was loyalty though, loyalty to my brother," I say. "Anyway, I always think that us Hufflepuffs are people who have all the house traits but think kindness is more important."
"Hey," he says. "I'm not complaining. I'm glad you're a Hufflepuff. And I agree with your definition of Hufflepuff!"
We finish eating talking about dragons and goblins. Dumbledore starts to waffle on about nonsense start of term notices that I deliberately ignore. I see at many points his eyes wander to me and the twins.
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song. Everybody pick a tune and sing along!"
I look over at Fred and George who nod. This is going to be humiliating but here goes. I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.

"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 filling,
with some interesting stuff,
for now they're 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!" everyone finishes at different times. On the train, the three of us thought it would be funny to keep everyone waiting ages after they'd finished so we went to a funeral march tune. Dumbledore even conducted our last part. Cedric and Charlotte look at me amused. They both had a look on their faces that clearly said 'really?'. I nod contentedly.
We head down towards our common room. Cedric knocks on the barrel and it swing open to admit us. It swings shut behind us. I head with my two friends to a set of armchairs.
"I have something to tell you," I say urgently. They look at me alarmed. "I-uh-well, I guess I'll start from the beginning. When I was in Diagon Alley, someone kidnapped me-"
Looks of horror enter their faces, "Who?"
I smile sadly, "I don't know. All I know, is one minute I was with Ginny and the next I was in a dark room with blood running down my arm."
I roll up my sleeve and their horror intensifies.
"I think they used a memory charm, but, and I don't know for sure, something about Quirrell looks familiar. Ginny also described my captor as a `turbaned dude`," I explain.
"Oh Merlin," Charlotte whispers. Suddenly I hear a splash. Despite the tense atmosphere we were in two seconds ago, we giggle. Cedric goes to the barrel and opens it. To our surprise, in comes a drenched Hannah. Charlotte suddenly starts laughing. She laughs hard. She tips her head back and roars with laughter, she then falls to the ground rolling in laughter.
"Char!" Hannah shouts indignantly. "Your sister got drenched in vinegar and the first thing you do is laugh?"
"Well, yeah," she says, trying to calm down. "I mean, I know you're fine 'cuz it's safe so why wouldn't I laugh? Come on Han, you'd laugh if it were the other way round!"
Hannah storms into her dormitory. In a couple minutes, conversations are back to normal.
"Do you think it's Quirrell then?" Cedric asks me curtly. I shrug.
"I don't know if I'll ever find out," I sigh. "Do you think this means anything though? Do you think I'll actually be a slave of Voldemort?"
Cedric and Charlotte wince.
"I don't know Emily," Cedric says. "I hope not."

~AUTHOR'S NOTE
I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. I JUST WANT TO SAY, I DID THE SONGS AND STUFF FROM MEMORY SO IF THEY'RE WRONG I APOLOGISE. I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING FROM MEMORY SO THERE'S LIKELY TO BE INACCURACIES. LIKE I SAID BEFORE, THIS STORY IS ALL BASED OFF OF SOME GAME I MADE YEARS AGO SO IT'S MADE OF A YOUNG CHILD'S IMAGINATION. I HOPE YOU STILL ENJOY IT THOUGH!