wook77 | Gen Fic: Harry Potter: (In)Auspicious Starts (Percy-centric Genfic)

Title: (In)Auspicious Starts
Fandom: Harry Potter
Character: Percy Weasley-centric Gen Fic
Rating: G
Wordcount: 2460ish
Warnings: None
Summary: Percy has to brave trains, brothers, boats, Hagrid, hats with needles and the possibility of being naked in the forest on his first day at Hogwarts. That's normal, right?
A/N: Written for

omniocular's Any Time But Now Challenge. The request was "Percy's First Day at Hogwarts". Beta'd by

best_of_five and

yodels. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

He wasn't very sure about this whole going off to school thing. The train ride was lonely as Bill and Charlie hadn't let him sit with them so Percy had found an empty compartment for himself. The loneliness lasted until a few others joined him in there. He simply ignored their comments that there hadn't been any other space available on the train as they'd been friendly enough in their nods and quick greetings.

When the trolley came through, Percy patted his pockets and found some knuts. It wasn't quite enough to purchase anything and when the inevitable snickers from the rest came, his shoulders slumped. Humiliated, he went back to his seat and ignored the small bag of sandwiches his mum had packed and handed him with a proud smile.

The joy of being old enough to go to Hogwarts, the pleasure of meeting his first fellow students that weren't his brothers and the pride of being able to heft his heavy and overstuffed trunk onto the rack all by himself dissipated under the weight of those snickers and whispers behind raised hands.

Unable to take much more of the laughing or the soft pitying glance from the girl with beautiful curly hair, Percy left the compartment to wander the train. He passed by a compartment where the inhabitants gestured madly while swirling their hands about and he assumed they were speaking about Quidditch.

"Rubbish sport," he muttered as he continued along. He actually didn't much care one way or another about it but as Bill and Charlie liked it and he didn't like Bill or Charlie, the sport was rubbish as far as he was concerned. Sniffling at the memory of his brothers physically blocking him from their compartment, Percy continued his walk and pointedly ignored looking in where Bill and Charlie were laughing with a girl that kept changing her hair colour.

"Rubbish," he muttered once more as he wandered past it. When he couldn't go further, he turned and went back to his compartment. The sudden silence when he entered was telling but it didn't matter as they'd be reaching Hogsmeade soon and then he'd be off to Hogwarts. He wouldn't have to socialise with them any further.

The conversation ebbed and flowed around him though the girl with the curly hair tried to include him once. He studied his copy of Hogwarts, A History and barely responded to her attempt. It was as he was learning about how Rowena Ravenclaw had enchanted certain areas to relocate and the staircases to shift that the train started to slow while the brakes screeched.

Percy waited until the compartment emptied before lifting down his trunk. It was, surprisingly, much harder to lower it. When the load lightened unexpectedly, Percy stumbled.

"Here you go, Percy, come on, don't want to miss the boats." Bill smiled at Percy and Percy couldn't help but grin back. "How was your trip, then? Make any friends?"

"Can I ride with you and Charlie?" Percy hated the slight whine to his voice but he didn't want to ride with the same bunch. He didn't much like them and their laughter.

"Can't, Percy, we go a different way. You'll like it, promise." Bill ruffled Percy's hair and Percy glared before smoothing it back down. It was short work to follow Bill off the train.

Percy stumbled when he heard a very loud voice calling, "Firs' years follow me! Firs' years follow me!"

"That's just Hagrid, hurry up or you'll miss them." Bill hurried forward and, in a blink, disappeared from Percy's sight. Hoping that Bill had joined the very large and very hairy man that continued to shout while waving a lantern over his head, Percy muttered "excuse me" and "pardon me" as he made his way through the crowd.

Though neither Bill nor Charlie were there, Percy calmed as he walked along with the rest of the First Years. He wasn't embarrassed about goggling at the boats as everyone around him stared as well.

"Come on, now, in ter the boats ya go."

As everyone looked at everyone else, Percy decided that, as Bill had told him he'd like it, he was willing to be the first into a boat. Once he was settled, he saw that the girl from the train was in the same boat with him and when she smiled at him, he smiled back at her. While he wondered about making a friend, something he'd never been very good at, another boy clambered in and set the boat to rocking.

"Are these safe?" She leaned in and whispered.

"My brother says they are and he's a Prefect so I think he'd know." Percy didn't bother with whispering though he wasn't at all sure with the boat rocking the way it was.

"Oh, good." She sounded reassured and held out her hand, "I'm Penelope, Penelope Clearwater."

"Percy Weasley." Percy shook her hand and then the boats started to move. When there was a splash to the right of the boats, Penelope gasped and Percy declared, "That's the Giant Squid. According to Hogwarts, A History, he's quite friendly."

"I heard he eats First Years that get too close. That's why I'd much rather be flying over the lake than being stuck in these rickety things." The boy had a very thick Scottish accent and he rocked from side to side, sending the boat rocking once more. Penelope blanched and Percy glared.

"Stop it! Can't you see that you're making her ill? I'll tell my brother who's a Prefect if you don't stop." Percy didn't raise his voice, instead choosing to adopt the stern tone his mother used that seemed very effective on his younger twin brothers.

"Fine, you uptight arsehole." The Scottish boy might be mad at Percy but at least he stopped rocking the boat.

The rest of the trip was made without incident. Once they were out of the boats, they went up the stairs and waited, the boy from the boat and Penelope standing near him. He scanned the area, looking for his brothers but he couldn't see them. As one boy shoved his way to the front, he pushed past the Scottish boy and the Scottish boy pushed back. The shoving contest continued as Percy tried to stop it, shouting out that they were sure to get in trouble with the professors if they didn't stop. When that didn't work, he tried ordering them to stop. As fist connected to face, he realised that no matter what he said, they wouldn't stop but he had to try one more time.

It was when he was threatening to report them both that an exasperated voice echoed through the stairwell. The shoving stopped abruptly and they all looked up and saw a tall witch in green robes. This, he realised, was Professor McGonagall. Bill and Charlie had told him loads of stories about McGonagall and how stern she was. Actually, their exact words had been, "she's so stuck on the rules, she wouldn't know House Loyalty if it bit her in the arse" but Percy liked to think they'd meant it in a good way.

After all, rules kept them safe. Rules kept the world sane and recogniseable. Rules were created for a reason, after all.

His contemplation on the merits of rules was interrupted by Professor McGonagall's strident tones, "You will behave yourselves with a sense of decorum and a respect for this learning establishment. Fighting will not be tolerated."

She marched over to where the two boys had been tussling and grabbed them both when Percy piped up, "Professor McGonagall? Ma'am? I saw the whole thing and I'm more than willing to tell you what I saw. Rules are rules and fighting is against…"

"That will not be necessary, Mister Weasley." Professor McGonagall gestured to the side and, while Percy wondered just how she had known his name, a creepy looking man came out of the shadows while a cat trailed behind him. "If you would, Mister Filch."

The man she'd called Filch grabbed both boys by the arms and tugged them along behind him.

"I am Professor McGonagall. Soon, you will enter the doors of the Great Hall and you will be Sorted. Please enter single file and remain quiet." She paused as she glared at two girls giggling in the back of the group. "Let us begin."

She turned and strode towards the doors which, with a flick of her wand, opened before her. As the students trailed along behind her, Percy couldn't help but worry about the Sorting. His brother's had told him that the Hat had sharp sticks that stuck into his skin and would read his brain so that it could tell him what House he was best for. It sounded all too painful and Percy would prefer a simple conversation instead of being tied to the chair in front of all the rest of the students. It didn't much matter that every other student had gone through it before.

They walked past the tables and Percy saw Charlie and Bill grinning at him and giving him thumbs ups. He only shook his head with a worried grimace on his face. They were sure to enjoy the Hat sticking its needles in his head. After all, they really enjoyed that time they'd tied him to the tree outside of the Burrow and then had tossed fruit at him. They'd also enjoyed that time they'd stuck him with the Twins while they went to play Quidditch in the garden and the Twins had somehow managed to get him trapped in the closet with one of their dad's enchanted Muggle items that had repeatedly ricocheted between the door and Percy's stomach.

There was also the worry about the initiation into his House. His brothers had told him that Gryffindor made their new students strip naked and stay outside in the Forbidden Forest all night their first night at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw locked the students in the Astronomy Tower while Slytherin made their students sneak into Professor Snape's private chambers and steal one of his personal belongings. Hufflepuff made people sing in front of the school during meal times. Out of all of them, Percy thought that Ravenclaw sounded the nicest as it sounded the safest.

While he'd been wondering about which task would be the safest, he'd missed the Sorting Hat's song. He'd been looking forward to it and he'd missed it. As he was mentally castigating himself, the door opened and Filch dragged in the two boys from earlier. The Scottish boy sidled up next to Percy and whispered, "What did I miss? Anything good?"

"Sh, we're not supposed to be talking. Professor McGonagall clearly told us all to remain silent."

"Haven't missed a thing, then? Brilliant. What House are you thinking of? I think Gryffindor's the best." Professor McGonagall called out "O'Leary, Philomena" all while glaring at Percy. He cringed under the gaze and tried to ignore the boy next to him while Philomena went to Hufflepuff.

"I hear Gryffindor's got a great Quidditch team, you thinking of trying out? I think I want to be Keeper. I hear that the Seeker is really good too. It'd be nice to win a House Cup, wouldn't it?" Percy shushed the boy one more time but he knew, from the continuing glare from Professor McGonagall that the damage was already done.

"You're getting us in trouble, shush!" He tried the firm tone that had worked earlier.

"Fine, then. You're boring anyway." The boy turned to another and Percy ignored the small stab of hurt. He wasn't boring; he just wanted to pay attention to the Sorting. He hadn't seen any needles yet but that didn't mean that they weren't happening. The Hat was really large and they could be hidden.

"Trumble, Thomas," Professor McGonagall called and Percy squinted, peering as hard as he could as the Hat settled to see.

"What are you looking at?"

"The Hat and I'm boring so why are you talking to me anyway?" McGonagall glared at Percy again and he flinched.

"Weasley, Percy."

This was it, he thought as he strode towards the rickety stool. He knew his brothers were watching and he wasn't going to have them laughing at him for delaying the inevitable or being afraid of a stupid silly Hat, even if it was a torture device.

"Percy?" The boy laughed and Percy shot a glare over his shoulder. He didn't have time for anything else as Professor McGonagall placed the Hat on his head.

"Mmmm, another Weasley, is it? How many more are there? Doesn't matter, doesn't matter in the least. Long line of brave souls coming from the Weasleys. Are you a brave soul?" There was a voice in his head and Percy's eyes widened as he listened. It kept talking and wouldn't let him answer any of its questions. "I think you are, you have bravery that would guide you well in Gryffindor. But there's an intelligence there that makes me think of Ravenclaw. Which one would you do better in, hm?"

"Sir? I think I'd like Ravenclaw." Percy thought as hard as he could and the Hat laughed.

"Ravenclaw? But your family has always been in Gryffindor and always will be. Tradition is important, you know. Wouldn't want an angry parent to write letters to the Headmaster."

"But my mum and dad won't mind, really! They think I'm different already and I think I'd do better in Ravenclaw. I'm smarter than the rest of them anyway. I'd really like Ravenclaw."

"You're very brave to argue with me so… GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat roared and Percy sighed. For a moment, he was tempted to sit there and give the Hat another chance to Sort him. It wasn't to be, though, as Professor McGonagall tugged the Hat from his head. He wasn't just another Weasley, darnit. It was a rubbish reason and this whole thing was rubbish and… a hand touched his back and urged him off the stool.

Gryffindor was cheering, his brothers’ cheers were loudest of all, and he slid into a seat between them.

"Congratulations, Percy! We knew you could do it! Mum's going to be really happy!" Bill slapped him on the back and then Charlie slapped him on the back and then someone he didn't know pounded his back. Everyone was smiling and happy for him to be in their midst. The acceptance, especially after the train ride, was nice and Gryffindor might not be that bad of a place, after all.

He'd just have to see if his brothers would sneak him some clothing out in the Forest. Maybe if he threatened them with telling mum…

As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Concrit welcomed with open arms.