"Abercrombie, Euan!" Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the silence following the Sorting Hat's song. Her hands shook slightly as she put the hat over the shivering boy's large ears. He fiddled with his hands and looked down as the brim of the hat fell over his eyes.

"Hmmm... what do we have here?" The sorting hat asked Euan.

Euan jumped in his seat, causing laughter to ripple through the hall. Laughter, he could luckily not hear. His fear would only be increased if he had heard it.

"Don't worry. The rest of them can't hear me. This is between you and me. You don't need to be so nervous. Now let's take a look shall we?

No, not Ravenclaw. That's not where you belong. Nor Slytherin. You just want to be happy, don't you? Hufflepuff could help you to get there- But wait. What is this I see?"

"I- I don't know?" stammered Euan's thoughts.

"You have such immense inner strength. You've been through so much for one so young, yet you have so much will, so much fight. Yes. I know where to put you."

The voice left Euan's head and he heaved a small sigh of relief. His thoughts were his own once more.

"Gryffindor!"

The hat was lifted from Euan's head and he saw the table second from the left jump up and burst into cheers. He shuffled over to red-clad table and nervously sunk onto a bench. He ducked his head, trying to escape the arms beating down on his back.

He heaved a sigh of relief when the attention was returned to the front of the hall where his classmates were being sorted. He let all the names and houses soar over his head like a cloud caught in the wind. He only left his thoughts to shy away from the reaching arms whenever anyone else was sorted into Gryffindor. He had never liked human contact, and he sure wasn't going to start now. Not after what happened last year.

Dumbledore rose to his feet and Euan shook himself from his thoughts. "To our newcomers, welcome! To old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Laughter filled the hall and Euan flinched. People started clapping and the back slapping started all over again.

Euan stared at the table in a delighted wonder when it finally stopped. He hadn't seen that much food in quite a number of years.

The girl next to him likes him to get his attention and he twisted his back to escape her finger. "You can take food, you know?"

He nodded as a ghost swept past him, chilling his body to the core. He shivered.

"You don't speak much, do you?" She paused and a forkful of potato fell back onto her plate. "Euan, right? I'm Arie Fletcher."

He gulped down the lump in his through. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Don't let me keep you from your food." He hurriedly started piling vegetables onto his plate, nibbling at them anxiously.

Arie, seeing that she would get nothing more out of him, thankfully turned to talk to the girl on her other side.

The food disappeared and Dumbledore got to his feet. Euan tried to listen to the man through the haze of exhaustion in his mind, buy only heard words and phrases. His eyes started to droop shut.

The scrambling sound of feet on stone roused him from his sleepy state. The students all around him rose.

"Hey- hey, you lot! Midgets!" shouted a red-haired boy near the end of the table.

A bushy-haired girl punched his arm as they made their way up the table and towards the doors. "Ron!"

"Well," he rubbed his arm, "they are, they're titchy..."

"I know, but you can't call them midgets! - First-years, this way please!"

Euan shuffled along behind the rest of the first year. A boy whispered into his ear, "Look, it's Harry Potter! We're in the same house as him. Youbknow what they say about him..."

Euan started shivering more and shot Harry a terrified glance. His smile disappeared and he whispered something to the two prefects before walking out of the hall briskly.

He followed the bushy-haired girl and obnoxious boy as they weaved though the passages and moved up and down staircases.

"Hogwarts is a little difficult to navigate at first, but you'll get the hang of it soon. Never be afraid to ask any prefect, older student or ghost for help," said the witch.

"Except Peeves. Don't ask him. He'll send you the wrong way," added the red-head.

Euan snorted. He doubted that he'd ever be able to find his way around the enormous maze-like castle. They stopped in front of a painting of a woman.

"This is the Fat Lady," said the witch. She had introduced herself as Hermione. The boy was called Ron. "She guards the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. If you wish to enter you must give her the password. For now it is Mimbulus Mimbletonia."

The portrait swung back to reveal a room decorated with an overwhelming amount of red and gold. Euan shuffled in, being pushed from all sides. A few older students sat around in plush armchairs and at desks, talking and laughing.

"Boys, up the stairs to the left. Girls, the same to the right."

Euan stumbled ahead, desperate to escape from the crowd. He tripped up the stairs and found a door labeled "First Years". He stepped in and found his trunk on the bed at the end. He curled up in it, pulling the curtains around him to escape with the joyful noises that filled the room. He was finally as alone as he could possibly be.