The Boy in the Cupboard

The Boy at Hogwarts

"I ran off with the hat last year," Neville shared, as Padfoot nudged Harry into the spot between Neville and Ron. Fred and George held out their hands for high-fives, and George gave Harry a pumpkin pasty. The sweet only lasted a minute. By the time Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor, Harry was tapping goblets and plates impatiently.

"I know," Ron commiserated, just as hungry, though he edged the empty golden serving platters away from Harry.

Nearly Headless Nick seemed very unsympathetic, stating he hadn't eaten for nearly five hundred years.

Harry grabbed for the golden plates and held one out to Padfoot. "Make money?" he asked, though Sirius couldn't transfigure anything but himself as Padfoot.

After the Sorting Hat had sorted the last first-year, McGonagall stood to give a short speech before the food appeared. Harry almost pounced on a potato, but quickly shoved another across the table to Nick.

Harry would still eat enough to make himself sick, if allowed to. He got revenge on Ron for moving the platters by stealing Ron's chicken drumstick the moment Ron looked away, laughing like he knew it was wrong but was doing it anyway.

Hermione seemed appalled by Harry's table manners and tried to get him to ask for food before she passed it to him. Sirius barked warningly and Ginny passed Harry a steak without making him say anything. Still, Neville told Harry not to grab anything, and Ginny didn't let Harry steal from her plate.

Sirius quietly cursed himself when, predictably, Harry panicked once the food disappeared. Harry settled down when desserts appeared a moment afterward, but once those were gone, he protested vehemently. He grabbed plate after plate until Padfoot almost dragged him out the door. Sirius pulled Harry to the kitchens, transformed into his human form to tickle the pear, and led Harry inside.

They were greeted by hundreds of ecstatic house-elves who were all too happy to give the great Harry Potter more food. They promised that food would always be available if he visited or called one of them.

One elf, dressed in a dirty pillowcase rather than the Hogwarts tea cozy, cryptically said bad things would happen but panicked and vanished as soon as Sirius demanded to know some details. Sirius debated about summoning Kreacher to track the elf down, but one of the Hogwarts elves volunteered. Sirius was glad; he had no desire to deal with that vile old elf.

Rather than returning to the Great Hall, Sirius, as Padfoot once more, walked with Harry through the hallways.

Peeves tried to pelt them with walking sticks, and Harry tossed them right back up at the Poltergeist. Harry even grinned and said gift, much to Peeves' shock.

Peeves zoomed away when the corridors filled with hundreds of footsteps, some trampling upstairs while others headed toward the dungeon. Several Hufflepuffs waved at Harry as they passed.

McGonagall and Remus intercepted Harry as Padfoot ushered him toward the stairs.

"We've made some changes to dormitory assignments." McGonagall said. "I understand you're comfortable with Neville and Ron, Harry. Since you would ordinarily be a second-year, I'll allow you to room with them."

Padfoot barked in approval, wagging his tail and giving McGonagall a dog grin.

Remus walked them up to Gryffindor tower, since Sirius didn't know the password. Before the portrait opened, Remus gave Harry a quick hug and scratched Padfoot behind the ears. Remus followed them into the common room to check in on the students.

Harry didn't sleep much that night. He fidgeted with the curtains of his poster bed. When they were closed, he kicked and smacked them, clearly reassuring himself they weren't walls. He rolled around in bed before pulling the duvet off and dragging it partially under Neville's bed. Padfoot settled on the floor beside Harry, letting Harry pet him as he fell asleep.