Chapter Text
When the grand Great Hall doors swung open, Sanghyuk felt his throat close up. This was it. He had felt prepared before he had entered the platform. That acclimation course had explained stuff to him, but honestly, getting on that train made him feel as unprepared as if he had been ripped from his bed and thrown down the stairs. Entering the Great Hall? More terrifying than being thrown off a cliff.
A peppy boy was ushering Sanghyuk along as they walked between what was supposedly the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. That boy was the only reason Sanghyuk made it to the front by the High Table. His legs really did not want to go in that direction – he wanted to run back to the train to be taken home. He was in over his head. This wasn’t going to end well.
“Han, Sanghyuk!”
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
Sanghyuk was shoved forward by the same peppy boy to the stool with the raggedy hat – sorry, the Sorting Hat. Sanghyuk stared up at the professor as he carefully stepped closer to the stool. His eyes kept flickering from the stool to the teacher until he could no longer delay the inevitable.
So he decided to bypass the stool and race for the doors.
Shouts of laughter and cries of disbelief rose from amongst the student body. Sanghyuk managed to evade a few students who tried to grab him, but a giant, angry looking Slytherin and a strange looking… Hufflepuff?... managed to catch him just feet from the doors. The Hufflepuff was chuckling happily as the Slytherin just held onto Sanghyuk with a grip tighter than his mother’s best bear hugs.
Sanghyuk struggled as hard as he could until he felt that it was useless because the Slytherin was too strong. He went limp, but the Slytherin’s grip didn’t change. Tears started to drop down Sanghyuk’s cheeks in little trails, and the Hufflepuff started cooing and petting his head.
“Let’s go sit at the end of the table and wait for Professor McGonagall,” the Hufflepuff said in a soft voice and the Slytherin nodded in agreement. When the Slytherin sat at the end of the bench, he removed one arm from Sanghyuk’s body to reach down and scoop up the tiniest kitten Sanghyuk had ever seen. He gently placed the little cat on Sanghyuk’s chest and moved Sanghyuk into a better position so he could pet the cat. Sanghyuk sniffled but raised a hand to scratch the cat between the ears anyway, and the Slytherin let out a little huff of approval.
The Headmistress eventually made her way around the High Table and down to the end of the Slytherin house table to where they were waiting.
“Now, there is no reason to be afraid, Mr. Han,” she began, “going back to the muggle world will not help you in any form – it will only hurt you. You can always send letters to your parents any time you want provided it is not during class hours.
“Now dry your face off, and let’s get you Sorted. Mr. Jung, Mr. Lee, thank you for catching Mr. Han.”
“It was mostly Taekwoon, but it was no problem!” The Hufflepuff – Lee, apparently – said happily, patting the angry looking boy on the shoulder.
The Slytherin, now known as Taekwoon, whispered a soft ‘you’re welcome’ and let Sanghyuk go, setting the still sniffling boy back on his feet, but not before scooping the little kitten from Sanghyuk’s chest. Taekwoon patted Sanghyuk on the back and rose to go back to his seat. He set the kitten down on the ground and took a few steps before looking back to make sure the cat followed. With a meow, the little cat waddled after Taekwoon.
“Hey, Sanghyuk, do you want me to walk you back up?” Lee ran his hand through Sanghyuk’s hair again, startling Sanghyuk back to the present. Lee was bent over to really look him in the eye. Lee had purple irises which was extremely weird paired with his white blond hair, but he was smiling kindly and Sanghyuk felt a bit calmer looking at him. He nodded and Lee took his hand. Taekwoon was strange, and so was Lee, but at least Lee’s cheer was a bit easier to swallow. At least the cat was a nice touch.
“Let’s go!” he cheered and they followed behind the headmistress until they reached the stool. Once the initial shock of Sanghyuk trying to run for it wore off, the professor had continued to call names so now the group of first years waiting to be Sorted was smaller. Lee guided Sanghyuk down onto the stool and stayed, continuing to hold his hand with a smile.
The raggedy hat was placed on Sanghyuk’s head and he jolted when a voice entered his head.
“Sanghyuk, hm? Tried to run away… no need to be embarrassed, all the best witches and wizards want to run away at some point in their lives. Hm, yes, quite crafty, you are, with a nice hint of intuition. Ah, you would do well in Slytherin, but hm, I feel your creativeness will do better elsewhere – RAVENCLAW!”
The table to Sanghyuk’s left erupted in cheers and the Hat was taken from his head. Lee smiled more brightly (if that was even possible) and led him to the table full of blue.
“Wonsik! Take care of him!” Lee said as he moved another Ravenclaw first year over so Sanghyuk could sit by a sleepy eyed student.
“Hey, kiddo,” the other boy greeted, patting Sanghyuk on the back, “nice show. Thought you’d end up in Hufflepuff with Jaehwan after that, but welcome!”
“I’ve gotta go back to my table, I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast and I’ll introduce you to our little group, okay?” Lee – now Jaehwan – said, and rushed off with a swish of his cloak.
“Don’t worry little man. I was completely baffled with all of this too,” Wonsik said, leaning close so people around them could still watch the Sorting.
“You’re… you’re mu-muggleborn too?” Sanghyuk stuttered.
“Nah, Mum thought I was pure Muggle so she didn’t think anything of telling me about the wizarding world. Then I blew up my eleventh birthday cake just by looking at it and well, now I’m here!”
Sanghyuk just stared at the chuckling Wonsik in disbelief. Maybe he should have stayed back at home with his parents – danger or not, the people here were weird.