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-I-I-I-

Kaze's footsteps were the only sound to be heard as he walked to his new house table. They echoed through the Hall, bouncing off stone and ensorcelled sky, growing louder and louder until they threatened to bow the boy under their merciless impacts. The young mage clenched his fists in his robes, focusing his gaze on his destination, an open seat near the end of the long table.

The children there, the other Hufflepuffs, all stared as he passed them by. Most of their faces were slack with shock, and more than a few mouths had dropped open. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the other houses were in much the same shape. Some students were gripping their tables, as though trying not to fall over, but oddly enough there were several children scattered around the room who looked just as confused as he felt.

By the time Kaze reached the free spot on the bench, he was trembling. He slipped into his seat, folded his hands in his lap, and determinedly stared at them, his shoulders tight with a nauseous tension. The silence continued on, until it was finally broken by a rustle of cloth.

He looked up to see the girl who had been sorted just before himself leaning over the table toward him. The boy blinked at her, startled someone had spoken to him, and only then registered the outstretched hand.

"Sally-Anne Perks," she offered quietly, her eyes puzzled, and he recognized her as one of those similarly confused students. After a moment, Kaze felt an uncertain smile of his own make its way to his lips.

"Harry Potter," he replied just as quietly, firmly squashing the urge to offer his true name instead. After the way the Sorting Hat had reacted to it, he didn't think he ought to tell anyone else, even if being called by his birth name rankled.

She smiled at him. "Pleasure."

A few people began to clap, finally, at the table across the room. One of them was Neville, Kaze saw, though he looked rather dazed still, and there was a set of redheaded twins applauding along with him. "Better a puff than a snake!" another boy sitting at the same table said loudly to the girl next to him, and joined in.

The applause spread down the Gryffindor table, and suddenly his own erupted in cheers of delight. "We got him! We got Potter!" Kaze heard someone crow. Everyone was trying to reach out and touch him, their faces beaming, but the mage shrank back away from them, astonished and more than a little appalled.

"Travis Summers. It's an honor to meet you, Harry!" a pale-haired boy a couple of years his senior exclaimed, holding out his hand. Kaze helplessly shook it, and then looked with dismay at the dozen more still stretched out to him.

His rescue came in the form of a blast of noise. "/Enough/!"

-I-I-I-

Severus could feel himself scowling at the students as Albus canceled the Sonorus charm and lowered his wand. The mass of brats huddled around Potter drew back, startled and sheepish. Potter sent a look of pure gratitude towards the Headmaster, and Severus had no doubt Albus had caught it and filed it away for future pondering, just as he had.

"Shall we continue?" the elderly wizard said to Minerva, his voice mild. She nodded and unfurled her parchment again, though she still seemed disappointed.

"Rivers, John!" she called out, and the next first year ran forward after being prodded into attentiveness by the girl next to him. The sorting proceeded apace, but at any given point at least half the Hall's attention was on the boy with too-long hair at the Hufflepuff table.

"Severus," Albus leaned over to murmur once the last student had found his place and the Welcoming Feast had begun. "I'm going to call Mr. Potter to a meeting in my office. I would be much obliged if you and Pomona would attend as well."

The Slytherin's automatic reaction was to sneer and decline, but he couldn't help but be curious as to just where the Boy-Who-Lived had been all these years. "Very well," he said stiffly after a brief moment.

The Headmaster gave him a grateful smile and, at the Herbology professor's nod of agreement, turned to offer Minerva the same invitation. Severus's eyes went back to the boy, though, who seemed to be using his food as a more polite way to avoid answering questions. Whenever someone turned towards him with a curious look on their face he would take a quick bite. A reaction which was a far cry from the glory-seeking celebrity Severus had still half-expected.

The meeting was bound to be an interesting one, indeed.

-I-I-I-

Eventually the other students around him got the point that Kaze didn't feel like answering questions at the moment and stopped pestering him, which was a good thing because he hadn't even been sure what some of the questions meant, let alone what the answers were. He was left to eat in relative peace, then, at least until a shadow fell over him.

The mage turned to see one of the adults who had been sitting at the table at the front of the room standing behind him. Cheerful blue eyes beamed happily at him from beneath wisps of gray hair and a patched witch's hat. Kaze thought she looked rather ridiculous, and yet very motherly, both at the same time.

"Hello," he said politely, and her smile widened.

"I'm Pomona Sprout, dear, your head of house," she told him. "The Headmaster would like you to join us for some tea after the Feast, if you don't mind."

Startled, Kaze didn't reply for a moment. "Yes, of course," the boy replied, bowing his head.

Professor Sprout nodded, pleased. "Just wait here when you're done, and I'll take you up." With that, she was on her way back to her seat. Kaze watched her settle herself and then lean over to speak to the older man in the large, gold-accented chair.

Twinkling blue eyes rose to meet his, and it was the young mage who looked away first.

-I-I-I-

Had he been a lesser man, one more accustomed to showing the world just what was going on inside his head, Severus would have been drumming his fingers impatiently. As it was, however, he had to settle for glaring at a few of the odder contraptions Albus had collected over the years, particularly the ones he knew were there only to look shiny and impressive. He wondered sometimes if his older colleague wasn't related to a magpie with the way he simply collected things, whether they could be considered useful by any stretch of the imagination or not.

Things like an ex-Death Eater and a half-giant came to mind. And he planned to add a boy savior to the collection, perhaps? Severus had no doubt Albus didn't think of his actions as such; the Headmaster was a good man, but he had an unfortunate tendency to see only one side of things. He genuinely wanted the best for those he gathered around him. Sometimes, though, he didn't consider deeply enough what was truly best.

"I'm sure they won't be much longer, dear boy," the older wizard reassured him, gazing bemusedly at the dark figure propping up his office wall. Severus scowled back at him. Albus might not have been the best at understanding the truth behind his own actions, but he was far too proficient at reading others for comfort.

"Indeed," the Slytherin answered coolly. Minerva gave him an amused look, and he transferred the scowl over to her.

No more than another minute of silence passed before the Headmaster sat up behind his desk. "Ah. There they are." Minerva straightened her robe and turned in her seat towards the door as a quiet knock sounded.

"Come in!" Albus called. The door opened and Pomona ushered Potter in, closing it behind them with a quiet click. The Herbology professor led the boy to the middle of the three seats, and then took the one to his left, since Minerva occupied the one to his right.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," Albus continued, smiling genially.

Severus saw Potter's eyes narrow unhappily for just a moment. "Good evening, sir," he answered regardless, his voice quiet and respectful.

To the Slytherin's eternal surprise, Albus didn't complete his usual ritual of offering a bit of candy before getting down to business. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've asked you here," the elderly wizard said instead, leaning forward in his chair.

Potter cocked his head to the side. "I can only imagine it has something to do with the reason why everyone's making such a fuss," he replied, answering not only the Headmaster's question, but Severus's, as well. So he hadn't known, after all...

"In part," Albus said cautiously. "And in part to answer our own concerns, as well. There were quite a few people who were worried when you disappeared."

The boy blinked, startled. "Disappeared, sir?"

Albus nodded. "From the orphanage. Two of our teachers arrived to claim you not an hour after you were taken, and we were unable to find a trace of you after that."

"The man who kidnapped you used a false name," Minerva added, looking intently at the first year. "Did he mistreat you? Hurt you in any way?"

Severus watched as Potter drew himself to his full height, suddenly looking older than his eleven years as his green eyes flashed with anger. "How dare you?" he exclaimed, glaring at the Transfiguration professor. "Master Taka would never hurt me! He saved me!"

And that answered the question of just why the boy had been put into Hufflepuff. Whoever this 'Taka' person was, he'd obviously managed to inspire more than his share of loyalty in the Boy-Who-Lived.

The Headmaster held up a conciliatory hand. "We don't mean to insult your... guardian. It's simply that, after the disaster with the Dursleys... I'm sure you can see why we were concerned."

Potter stared at him with narrowed eyes, but finally relaxed when Pomona touched his knee with a smile. His head of house sent the other professors a warning look. "Are you happy with Master Taka?" she asked, stumbling only ever so slightly over the word 'master.'

"Very," he said simply, but the sincerity behind the single word spoke volumes.

Albus cleared his throat. "Be that as it may, I would like to meet Taka in person," he said. "To clear away any lingering doubts."

The boy nodded stiffly. "I'll pass along your request."

Severus felt no need to break the uncomfortable silence that followed. The truly awkward part seemed to have already passed, after all. Potter was surprisingly polite for a boy his age, and except for that brief burst of righteous anger, remarkably even tempered as well. Rather... boring, actually.

Severus had expected something far more entertaining. The confrontation with 'Master Taka' still held some potential, though, and he looked forward to it.

"...I'd understood that you would explain to me why everyone seems to know me?" Potter finally said, looking expectantly at the Headmaster.

Albus nodded and leaned forward to begin his tale.

-I-I-I-

Author's Note: This is the last of what had already been written. Updates will appear as they are finished.