"Meow—!!" (Too loud! Can you people quiet down?!)
Early the next morning, Tom—still half-asleep—was jolted awake by the noisy chatter outside his door. Irritated, he let out a loud shout.
When he cracked open his sleepy eyes and saw an unfamiliar honey-gold ceiling above him, he suddenly remembered—
he was officially a member of Hufflepuff, and this was their dormitory common room.
(Ugh… stupid Dumbledore! (´-ω-`) If he hadn't dragged me to the kitchen last night, I wouldn't have overslept!)
Tom grumbled, though he knew perfectly well it wasn't Dumbledore's fault.
He had spent an entire week lying in a hospital bed. His body was fine now, but his stomach felt like a black hole.
And with a belly that didn't understand fullness at all—unless under special conditions—Tom had practically cleaned out the entire stockpile of ham and milk meant for all four houses.
By the time Dumbledore dragged him back to the dorms, the sky was already turning blue.
And now…
Tom glanced at the clock: not even 8 a.m.
He swished his tail in frustration. Only four hours of sleep—of course he was exhausted!
(￣ω￣) But whatever… I already skipped a whole week of classes. If I skip again, the professors might actually snap. I'll give them some face.
And most importantly—
If I move too slowly, there won't be any breakfast left!!
With that thought, Tom shot upright, grabbed his wizard robe, threw it on, and rushed out the door—
totally forgetting that this wasn't the Lovegood home, but Hogwarts, and that he was one of two unusually unique students in the entire school (especially since no one knew Ariana's special condition yet).
Even without the "wizard" label, Tom—being a beautiful, plush, two-legged British Shorthair—was already eye-catching enough.
So the moment he stepped out…
The once-busy Hufflepuff common room fell completely silent.
Dozens of wide, sparkling eyes turned toward a cat… walking upright… wearing a wizard robe… like a tiny, fluffy Hogwarts student.
Then—
Explosion. Instant.
"Whose pet is that?! I've NEVER seen it before!"
"Oh my gosh it's so cute—look at the robe! Look at how it walks! It's smarter than half the boys here!"
"I want one too! I don't care if I don't have relatives—someone let me adopt one of its kittens someday!"
"What about your owl?"
"I'll keep both! The owl delivers mail, the kitty is for cuddles. They don't conflict at all! And I'm not a first-year—I can totally handle two pets!"
Within seconds, the whole room turned into a buzzing crowd centered entirely on Tom.
The noise finally cleared Tom's sleepy fog. He shook his head, grabbed his small whiteboard, and was about to speak when—
A pair of arms suddenly squeezed him tight.
"Tom?! Why are you in the Hufflepuff common room?!
Wait—did you get Sorted HERE too?!
That's amazing! We're classmates now!"
It was one of Tom's few friends at Hogwarts—Hannah Abbott.
"Abbott, is this your pet? Did you custom-make it a wizard robe? It fits perfectly!"
"N-no, Prefect Truman! This is Tom. He's one of our classmates. It's just that earlier I—"
Before she could confess that she accidentally "hospitalized" Tom for a week, Tom quickly raised his whiteboard:
[I had a little accident earlier and took a week off. I only completed my Sorting with Headmaster Dumbledore last night.]
Tom was absolutely not going to let Hannah destroy her reputation in front of the other Hufflepuffs.
Not when she was his future "employee."
He needed her in good standing—otherwise who would work for him as his unpaid manager?
"(☉□☉) You're telling me this CAT is a Hufflepuff student?!"
Prefect Gabriel Truman stared, jaw dropped. Sure, Hufflepuff was known for kindness, but a cat…?!
"Of course! Haven't you read The Quibbler? One issue said Hogwarts would be welcoming its first-ever cat wizard this year!"
Hannah said this with complete seriousness.
"Oh, so it was in a magazine…"
Truman nodded thoughtfully. He'd never bought The Quibbler before…
But maybe he should start.
Still, he kept his smile and extended a hand toward Tom.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Gabriel Truman, Hufflepuff Prefect."
[I'm Tom. Nice to meet you.]
Tom shook his hand with a paw.
"And I'm Cedric Diggory! Welcome to Hufflepuff!"
The handsome boy leaned forward, eyes sparkling.
"Quick question—do you have more cats at home? And if so… can you introduce me?"
"I'm Susan Bones. Same year as you."
A braided girl studied him curiously.
"Hey, why were you coming from that empty room over there?"
"And I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley! Tom, you look just like my cat at home!
Wait—does this mean MY cat could also become a wizard someday?!"
…
Once everyone realized Tom wasn't a pet but a classmate, the little badgers swarmed him with even more enthusiasm.
Eventually, Prefect Truman had to step in or Tom would have been cuddled to death:
"All right, settle down! Tom's a first-year—first-years have class!"
The upperclassmen backed off.
But the first-years' faces fell instantly.
"（˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅）Why does today have to be Monday?!"
"Seriously! Why couldn't the week start on Tuesday?!"
"No—why couldn't Monday start at noon? If we skip mornings entirely, we get Professor Sprout's Herbology first!"
"Oh right—Herbology! Thank goodness… But why is the difference between professors so huge?!"
Listening to their grumbling, Tom instantly understood the problem:
Hufflepuff's first Monday class was Potions with Ravenclaw—
meaning they had to face Professor Snape first thing in the morning.
A bunch of terrified first-years nearly lost the will to live.
Especially the Muggle-borns—if not for Herbology in the afternoon healing their spirits, they might have given up on magic entirely.
Snape's emotional damage output was one step away from achieving what Voldemort never managed.
Meanwhile Ravenclaw…
Snape in the morning, Binns' sleep-inducing History of Magic after lunch,
and Quirrell's garlic-infused Defense Against the Dark Arts the next day…
Honestly, the only reason none of them dropped out was probably sheer intellectual stubbornness.