1991-September
Harry went to Platform 9 ¾ for the first time as an official Hogwarts student. He felt slightly off about the whole thing. It may be due to the fact that they didn’t get there extremely early, or maybe because he planned to sit with Ron and not Percy. But mostly he believed it had to do with Dora not being there, not to mention Kreacher having to stay at the castle. This was the first year he would be staying overnight, and it was nerve wracking.
Cedric, whom he’d happened upon by chance took him to a compartment which was empty save for one student, who had his head stuck in a book.
Ron, he believed, would follow his brothers into Gryffindor. While Ron’s loyalty was one of his key attributes, making him stick by Harry for their childhood, he had some outdated views on Slytherins that would keep him from a Hufflepuff mindset.
“Mate?” Ron’s voice said.
“Hey Ron, come in” Harry answered.
Harry felt Ron take the seat beside him and he grabbed the boy’s hand. Being on the train was unnerving, while he had an okay sense of the general layout, it was still muggle made and he couldn’t see anything.
The train started to move just after Ron got on, which made Harry think that the Weasley’s were cutting it close, as always. He heard the occasional flipping of pages from the other bench and wondered who was sitting there before he heard the door slide open.
“Hello, mind if I sit in here?” A timid voice.
“Of course, not” Harry answered automatically. He heard luggage being stored above them and then the rustling of robes before it finally settled.
Then the boy yelled out “Hermione, in here!” The door opened and shut once more before the luggage storing was repeated and the rustling stopped. There was a thick silence settling over the group.
“Well…” Harry began “I’m Harry Tonks, and this is Ron Weasley.”
“Oh right,” the timid voice said. “Neville Longbottom.”
“Hermione Granger” A high pitched female voice said.
“Theodore Nott” a boy’s voice said as a book was shut harshly.
“So, any guesses on your house?” Harry asked.
“Slytherin” Theo managed “Or maybe Ravenclaw, but let’s hope for Slytherin for the sake of my father.”
“Ravenclaw” Hermione immediately butted in. “Knowledge is power.”
“I think Gran would prefer me to go to Gryffindor.” Neville said quietly.
“Nobody else’s opinion matters but your own.” Harry stated. “Hufflepuff.” He smiled proudly.
“Gryffindor.” Ron said easily.
“At least one from each house” Harry stated. “That must be good luck!”
He heard the door open once again “Harry?”
“Gemma!” Harry smiled. “I missed you, how was your summer?” He attempted to get up before tripping over something on the floor.
“Sorry!” Neville gushed. “Trevor, bad toad!”
Gemma laughed quietly as she picked Harry from the floor. “Alright Harry?” He nodded. “Summer was good…are we going to make a Slytherin of you this year?”
Harry laughed “The only potential Slytherin in this compartment is Theo.” Harry pointed vaguely in the direction he hoped the boy was in.
“Hi.” Theo said softly.
“Gemma, Gemma Farley, Slytherin Prefect fifth year.”
“Prefect?” Hermione asked.
“Prefects are usually the two top students of a house in a given year, though that’s not always the case. Behavior counts as well, and some that are book smart aren’t as good with people. There’s always a female and a male prefect for fifth to seventh year. Prefects are given extra responsibilities like patrolling the halls at night, making sure the firsties know where to go and that all of the kids are following the rules. Prefects have the ability to take away points from members of their own house, and can give out detentions.” Gemma explained.
“Congrats Gemma!” Harry said excitedly.
“Thanks Harry.” Gemma said. “Alright, I’m off to a prefect meeting, just wanted to say hi.” She hugged him and left.
“How do you know the upper years?” Theo asked.
“Our Harry is somewhat of a genius” Ron said.
The door clanged open at that point loudly.
“Harry!” Fred exclaimed. “Thought you might have missed the train mate!”
“Didn’t see you on the platform.” George continued.
“Were worried you went off to beauxbatons or something” Fred finished.
“I wouldn’t leave you two to your own devices” Harry smiled. He let go of Ron’s hand and held it out for Fred, but it was George who took his hand. “George?” Harry questioned.
“Just checking mate” George said quickly then let his hand go. Fred immediately grabbing the newly released appendage.
“We’re missing something” Hermione said.
“Most definitely” Theo agreed.
Fred took the empty seat next to Harry for a moment. “He’s blind, has the ability to see some magic, very rare and likely due to his blindness.” Fred explained.
Harry smiled.
“Blind?” Hermione asked. “Really?”
Harry nodded.
Neville was suspiciously quiet. “How?” he finally asked.
Harry knew about Neville, he assumed most purebloods did, but especially him. He didn’t want to bring this up, but Neville had asked. “Neville, I’m sorry.” He said sadly. “The cruciatus, and that’s all I’m going to say on it, ask McGonagall if you’d really like to know.”
Neville gasped. Fred held his hand harder. Ron threw an arm around his shoulders, quickly squeezed and then let go. Theo made a sort of “Ungh” sound and Hermione was the only one left in the dark.
“Well, we’re off to our own compartment” Fred said quietly.
“Find us if you need us” George finished quickly.
The trolley came around and Neville bought a round of sweets for the compartment as they settled into a less serious talk about Hogwarts.
oOo
The five kids exited the train, they were told to leave everything on the train and it would be taken to the caste for them.
“Firs’ Years! Firs’ Years! Over here!” Hagrid yelled, Harry smiled at the familiarity of it. “Hiya Harry!”
“Hey Hagrid.” Harry said. HE was not quite happy to be on the boats, much preferring the carriages, and quite frankly he wanted to see the Thestrals.
“Follow me!” Hagrid boomed. “No more than four to a boat.”
Ron stuck by him and they climbed in, followed by two others.
“Hermione, Theo and Neville are over there with another girl.” Ron said quietly.
Harry nodded. “Harry Tonks.” He said to whoever was in front of them.
“Ron Weasley.” He heard someone sneer.
“Pansy Parkinson.”
“Blaise Zabini”
They were silent, and then there were gasps as Harry felt the familiar thrum of the magic of Hogwarts. The boat was swaying in a suspicious manner, but with the reassuring magic he felt much better.
With Ron’s help he departed the boat quickly.
Sprout greeted them “The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.”
“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.”
They walked into the great hall and Harry was grateful to have Ron as a friend. He kept hold of his hand as they went in. Ron whispered that Hermione and Neville had moved closer to them with the girl from their boat.
“Now I shall call your names, when your name is called please step forward, so I may set the hat upon your head” McGonagall said, and Harry was glad she was there.
“Abbott, Hannah” McGonagall said.
“That’s the girl that rode with Theo, Hermione and Neville” Ron said quietly.
“Hufflepuff” the hat called out
“Bones, Susan”
“Hufflepuff”
Harry tuned out, the hall was quiet. He wasn’t wearing shoes and there were a lot more dark spots than usual in the great hall. He started back into awareness when Hermione was called.
“Ravenclaw”
‘Expected’ he thought as he waited, the next one he cared about was Neville.
“Longbottom, Neville”
“Hufflepuff”
Harry smiled, he had at least one friendly voice in his dorms now.
“Malfoy, Draco”
“Slytherin” The cheers were quite loud for this child and Harry wondered why. Now he was just waiting for Theodore, and then he’d be off.
“Nott, Theodore”
“Slytherin”
“Parkinson, Pansy”
“Slytherin”
‘Hmmm, two Slytherins I met’ Harry thought idly.
“Tonks, Harry” Harry heard the hall still. The clapping that had been left over from the last student died, and Ron, bless him, led him to the stool.
Harry Tonks. I had wondered when I would get you. It seems as though your sister’s influence has reached your core “Hufflepuff”
The applause was deafening. “Harry I’ve got you” He heard Cedric say as he led the way over to the familiar table. “Good to have you mate”
“Weasley, Ronald” Harry shushed his house mates.
“Gryffindor” Harry cheered along with the Gryffindors, and the entire Hufflepuff table joined in.
“Zabini, Blaise”
“Slytherin”
Harry sat at the feast and couldn’t help but miss his sister. He wished he were even a year older so that he could have been with her for one year. And now, his big sister was studying to be a healer. She’d be good at it. He knew. He wasn’t that talkative at the feast, sitting close to the second years and he was sure he came off a little badly, but he missed Dora and he hoped his housemates would understand.
When the Prefects went to bring the first years to their common room Harry was pulled aside by Cedric. “The Hufflepuff dorms open by a certain knock, then we climb through a tunnel. McGonagall wasn’t sure you could do that, so a house elf will take you.” Harry nodded.
“Tinky!” He called. “Take me to the Hufflepuff common room please?” the pull of apparition was quick and Tinky let him be.
He waited as the common room filled. “Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room” Harry recognized the voice of Kevin Sterndale, Head boy. “I’m Head boy Kevin Sterndale, my counterpart is Mary Slewyn, Slytherin. We have six prefects that you can go to if you have any trouble, however all house members will be willing to help in any way possible. Seventh year prefects are Nicolas Grimmet, and Cassandra Leon, sixth year are Jake Flinton and Samantha Peters, fifth year prefects are Jonathan Spratt and Jennifer Cole. Hufflepuffs are often underestimated and picked on” Kevin paused. “We stick together, house disagreements are only shown within the common room and we help whoever needs it, whether they be Slytherin or Gryffindor, old or young, we have house pride and we are known for kindness.”
“Do not disappoint, now Jonathan and I will show you to your dorms. We have five girls, and six boys, that’s a good turnout.” Jennifer said.
Harry was led to a room, it had six beds and there was a large table at the middle which he assumed was for homework. “Hi guys, I’m Harry Tonks, sorry I was less than friendly at the feast, I was missing my sister.”
“You’re related to the Tonks?” Someone asked.
Harry nodded.
“She was one of the smartest Hufflepuffs ever!” Neville remarked.
Harry smiled. “She is. By the way, I’m blind so if you guys could just shake my hand and tell me your name that would be inordinately helpful.”
“Neville Longbottom” now Harry had the magic to the name, seemed as though Neville was a very accepting person.
“Wayne Hopkins” Harry could also see him, was this a Hufflepuff trait?
“Ernest Macmillan” once again, magic flared before his eyes.
“Stephen Cornfoot” and again, acceptance and sight.
“Justin Finch-Fletchly” and here was the only one he couldn’t see, strange…
oOo
Harry was not used to such a busy schedule, he had a couple of free blocks but not a ton of time to see anyone. He took all his meals with the Hufflepuffs the first week, meeting Hannah, Susan, Megan, Lily, and Sally-Anne and learning about their muggle or wizarding families, all of the girls he was able to see within the first two days, leaving Justin as the only blank in his Hufflepuff peers.
oOo
First potions class "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word—like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
More silence followed that little speech.
"Tonks!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
“Draught of the living death.”
“Tonks, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”
“A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons.”
“What is the difference, Tonks, between monkshood and wolfsbane?”
“As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite.”
Harry didn’t know why Snape was singling him out in class.
“Now, many of you” Harry couldn’t see it but Snape was looking at the Ravenclaws “May believe that since Mr. Tonks is blind he is incapable of brewing a potion, or even knowing the instructions.”
Silence descended.
“Untrue. I have known Mr. Tonks from the young age of four, where he saved a student from an explosion in a class with over fifty children. Now if you feel you know more than him, or are better than him just because you can see, you are more idiotic than I first thought.”
And now Harry understood, the Hufflepuffs were welcoming, as were the older students. They all knew him and that he was a capable student. But the first years, they had no clue and Dora wasn’t there to instill order.
oOo
That Saturday most of the first years were sleeping in while Neville and Harry ate breakfast, all of the Hufflepuffs were used to his strange contraptions to get around his blindness.
“Would you like the paper Harry?” Neville asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on July 31, widely believed-
The voice cut off harshly as Harry ripped babblesworth off of the paper. Harry started to hyperventilate before he felt Maimeo’s hand on his shoulder, “Come Harry, you have a visitor” she said. Bringing him up to the front table he was surprised by long fingers gripping his hand.
“Bogrod! Bogrod the vault, the vault,,,Gringotts” Harry yelled not really making sense.
“Calm down Harry.” Bogrod said. “We emptied that vault four years ago, when you first alerted us to it”
“Really?” Harry asked.
“Really.” Bogrod stated.
oOo
Many of the onlookers that day would wonder if it was still their sleep addled brains, a mass delusion, or an actual event that a goblin visited Hogwarts and stood on the teacher’s dais with young Harry Tonks.