"Where do you belong then, eh?"

How do you feel about being a Seer?

What do you consider to be your greatest flaw?

If you could choose to only have one accurate vision in your entire life, what would you want it to be?
(For example, a vision of lottery numbers so he can win lots of money and be set for life)

Which is more important: the past or the present?

What do you aspire to be?

Who or what do you care for most in the world?

---

  

Leonidas almost outright snorted at that. Almost. "I should have already known where I belong by now." He mumbled in response to the hat.

How do you feel about being a Seer?

What sort of question was that? All he had known was being a seer. Well, perhaps it was impractical at times. Day time were heavily inconvenient. But still, perhaps he would actually see something useful someday. "It's alright, I suppose."

What do you consider to be your greatest flaw?

Flaw? What an intrusive question! "I shall not dignify that with a response." Perhaps it was insecurities as to what others might think of him. He had been born the spare, after all. Would he truly rise to the role of heir?

If you could choose to only have one accurate vision in your entire life, what would you want it to be?

Now that question was far better. Almost easy, but still made him think. "Something that could benefit my family, bring them pride. Something to make the family name stand out for centuries."

Which is more important: the past or the present?

This made him think once more. A bit more. The past... it had little to offer for him. It was a reminder of what he was. Not what he could be. "The present. And what future it can bring."

What do you aspire to be?

He was now the first born son. What did he even need to aspire to? Finding a respectable wife and carrying on the name? But... that sounded so boring. There had to be more. He couldn't simply not be sure. However... that's exactly what he was. Not that he would admit that, so he said the only thing that sounded reasonable, "Minister of Magic, so I can leave a notable legacy." That was something to be expected of his position in life, right?

Who or what do you care for most in the world?

Probably his mother. She was always trying to bring him to his best potential. But that sounded so childish. How could he admit that? Even to this silly hat? "My family title. Securing our future." His father would hopefully be pround of that answer.

---

  

---

Magic by MJ

What are you looking forward to most about Hogwarts?

Is friendship important?

You want something very much, more than anything you've ever wanted, but your family would not approve. Would you obey your family at the expense of your own happiness and knowing you'll likely regret it for the rest of your life, or would you forge your own path and risk the consequences, even if it could mean losing your family?

---

Leonidas Perks

  

What are you looking forward to most about Hogwarts?

Being able to explore what would actually be interesting to him. Likely trying out mulitple clubs and finding what he actually enjoyed doing - even if it only ended up as a hobby. But how would it look if he answered like that? He had to display confidence. "Building skills for my future." Surely that was the expected answer.

Is friendship important?

Friendships meant connections. Rising in status through who you knew. His father had taught him that since his brother's death. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so ingrained in his head, had he stayed the second son. "Yes. It matters who you make connections with."

You want something very much, more than anything you've ever wanted, but your family would not approve. Would you obey your family at the expense of your own happiness and knowing you'll likely regret it for the rest of your life, or would you forge your own path and risk the consequences, even if it could mean losing your family?

What sort of question was that?! His family had certain expectations. How could he ever go against that? Oh, the look on his mother's face. The anger in his father's eyes. And what of his siblings? That looked up to him and depended on his reputation to stay as it should. "Of course I would follow my family's wishes." Who would he be without them?

---

  

---

Magic by MJ

"Hufflepuff!"
Leonidas Perks

  

Leo's eyes widened. His heart rate quickened. This was not the outcome he had expected. Nor, did he suspect, was it the outcome his family expected. "What? No! I cannot be placed there, that is not where one of my status is expected to be placed!" He snapped at the hat, holding it to his head before the professor could take it off. This had to be corrected!

---

  

---

Magic by MJ

"How wrong you are, boy! Hufflepuff is the house of the kind, loyal, and generous. The hard-working and the diligent! Whilst the other houses covet self-interested traits, Hufflepuff alone looks outward. You think nobility is inherited in a bloodline, true nobility lies in all Hufflepuff stands for. Slytherin may be the easier path but for that very reason it will only stunt your potential; Hufflepuff will allow you to flourish, all you need do is open your mind."

"And so you see, Mr. Perks, I stand by judgement. You have the makings of a fine Hufflepuff!"

---

Leonidas Perks

  

The Great Hall, Tommy decided, looked a lot like the central station in London. It was very grand, which he suppose the name made clear enough, and the ceiling was impossibly high up! Just like he could see the real sky through the glass bits there, he could see a magic sky on the ceiling here. It made it hard to even tell how high it really was. It felt like it was just as high as the sky was. It wasn't quite as busy. There was at least space to move around, even though didn't dare. He and the other first years were all in a line, just waiting to be called up and he definitely wasn't going to be the one to break the rules and leave the line.

He was just happy to be off the train in one piece. After spending almost all of the night there, he wasn't sure if he was ever going to get off. He had been stranded on the boat with a torn sail before with Dad, Uncle Theo and Etienne, but that was different, almost exciting. He had always known that they were going to get back from that. Dad and Uncle Theo would make sure of it. But he didn't know the train driver at all.

His thoughts were cut off really quickly when a gasp from the other kids around him made his eyes snap back down from the sky-ceiling to something really, really odd and a bit funny. The old, brown hat that had been sitting on the stool at the front of the room (he'd thought before that one of the teachers must have left it behind) had suddenly come alive and started singing! Imagine that! A snort of excited laughter slipped out from him even though Mum would have definitely told him it was rude. A talking hat! A singing hat, even! Wait until he told Timmy and Tuppence about this!

He stayed just as excited, watching the hat call up kid after kid, think for a bit, then call out a odd sort of name- the ones that he'd heard the other kids talking about on the train. Griffin-door, Huffle-puff, Slither-in and...he couldn't remember the other one, something about a bird he thought, but nobody had been sorted into it just yet. But, then, after quite a lot of other names, his was finally called. For some reason, he hadn't thought about the fact that he would have to go up there too, in front of the whole school and have the hat decide about him. All of a sudden, the few little butterflies in his stomach exploded into a hundred or more. He felt like he might be sick, but it wouldn't help to make it wait so he trudged up anyway and slid the hat onto his head, way down over his eyes. He was pretty sure it was made for someone much bigger than any of them there. But, he figured there must not be enough singing hats around to be picky about the size. He did really, really wish Mum was there with him, or Tuppence. She was always brave about these sorts of things.

---

  

"Hrmmm, interesting..."

What trait do you find impossible to tolerate in others?

Rules were made to... Finish the sentence.

You're told that the career of your dreams is unobtainable - what do you about it, if anything?

Would you help a stranger at the expense of your friends or family?

What is the worst thing that can happen to someone and why?

Choose one: rabbit, fox, stoat, bat.

---

Tommy Tupper

  

Even though he knew the hat talked, he jumped when he heard it talking in his head! Wow!

What trait do you find impossible to tolerate in others?
If he could have seen anything from beneath the hat, he might have looked around to see who was talking. He had never had anyone... or, anything talk to him without really talking to him before. It took him a few seconds get over his surprise enough to actually even think about what the question was. "Erm.... I dunno." he mumbled out loud. "Maybe when they're mean and just... want all the good things for them, but not other people even if they don't work hard. That's not nice." He really didn't like people like that. There had been some of them at his old school who didn't like that he got awards for French or spelling when they didn't even try to practice and be good at it. They just thought they should get all the awards no matter what because they wanted them. He had barely finished answering that question when another popped into his head.

Rules were made to... Finish the sentence.
He squirmed in his seat, trying his best to think quickly. He didn't want to hold other people up by not knowing, but he also didn't want to say anything he didn't mean and make the hat say the wrong house
"To..." he blurted, just a but too soon, not really sure what to say next. It depended on the rule, didn't it? And the person who made it. "I mean, rules were meant to make sure you're safe. Like, you can't get too close to the side of the boat if a storm comes and kids have to go below deck. My dad always says that because my uncle, he wasn't a kid anymore, but he got close to the side and he drowned." That's what the right kind of rules were for anyway. Sometimes, there were rules that just didn't seem to be for anything. Dad said those sorts of rules were usually just to make selfish people happy.

You're told that the career of your dreams is unobtainable - what do you about it, if anything?
"The... career? ... is unobtainable?" he asked, trying to search back in his memory for words like those, then he had it! He wasn't sure if he'd remembered them or if it was magic, but, they were there, at least, he thought. "Like..  I can't do the job I want? Well, I used to want to be a pirate, but a good pirate, like a Robin Hood pirate, when I was little. Then I found out that there weren't really any pirates in the channel anymore, so I decided to be a fisherman like my dad instead. If I couldn't do that, I guess I would join the Royal Navy, and, if I couldn't do anything on a boat, I would probably just be a dairy farmer because my grandad does that. Milk is pretty nice. Not so exciting, but Grandad would be happy. Or maybe something magic. I just don't know a lot about magic jobs." He didn't really think he would want a magic job and he didn't understand why anyone would tell him he couldn't be a fisherman, but, if it was true, what else could he do but find something else? You had to work or you couldn't feed your family or have a house, and that wasn't good. It was kind of funny, being there under the hat. Maybe it was so big because they weren't meant fo see the other kids. He thought it would probably be a lot harder answering the sort of questions it was asking if he could see a whole school staring back at him. This was, it was almost like he was alone with the hat.

Would you help a stranger at the expense of your friends or family?
Tommy's eyebrows scrunched together as he thought.
"Like hurting them?" he questioned the talking hat back "I don't know. These questions are hard. Maybe, if the other  person would die without help and my friends or family would just have a bad day or something. They would want me to, even if they were cross at first. It's the Christian thing to do." That's what Mum would say, anyway. He wouldn't want to hurt his friends or family, but he wouldn't want to hurt a stranger either. If they were both going to get hurt the same amount, he supposed he would choose to make it better for his friends or family, or even better, if he could get hurt instead and protect them all, that sounded even better, kind of like being a hero, unless he got hurt a lot to save them from being hurt only a little. That wouldn't be fair.

What is the worst thing that can happen to someone and why?
If he thought the questions couldn't get any harder, he was wrong. Or maybe just any sadder. This answer actually seemed pretty obvious, just not so nice to talk about. "Well... the worst thing would be... to die, I guess." he tossed out for what must have been the dozenth time for the hat. He didn't think there were more than one or two other answers that anyone could give. Dying was dying, after all. When you died, you were dead! "Then, your family has to miss you. My grand-mere was really sad when my uncle died. My dad says it's good they found him, that just being missing would be worse, except, I don't think so, because, at least, if you're just missing, people might think you're still alive. And then, you have to wait. Even if you go to heaven, you have to wait so long until the rest of your family gets there. And, if you were bad and you go to hell, it's even worse because I don't think you ever get to see them again, then, because it's hell." That was why he always tried to be good, well, that and because it was the right thing to do, but he also really didn't think Hell sounded very nice.

Choose one: rabbit, fox, stoat, bat.
By this time, answering had gotten easier and not just because this wasn't such a serious question. He had gotten into a pattern by now too. He supposed he could have answered those sorts of questions all day if he had to. It was what they were all there for from what he heard. "To eat or for a pet? My mum cooks rabbit sometimes. It's nice. But, if I had a pet, I think a fox would be the best, as long as it didn't bite."

The Sorting Hat

---

  

"Hufflepuff!"
Tommy Tupper