The Hawk is a Badger

[hawksdonttweet]

His palms were sweaty. That was all Clint could think about as he stood at the front of this huge crowd of older kids watching them. Clint hated being the center of attention. He just liked to slip off into the quiet and go unnoticed. It just wasn’t going to happen now. No, this was the biggest event at Hogwarts every year or so his brother had told him.

Clint scanned the crowd, finding his brother easily among the Slytherins. His brother caught his eye and winked. As usual, Barney could tell Clint was scared. Barney knew him better than anyone. Clint sighed and shifted his feet. He was lucky; at least with the last name of Barton he’d get to go up pretty quickly. Barney hadn’t told him it would be this public though. The way Barney had described this thing had sounded pretty personal, like it was just you and the magic hat.

Just as he was wiping his palms on his pants he heard his name and froze. He could feel eyes on him already, both the other first years and the rest of the students. Clint took another breath and stepped forward. It was just a stupid ceremony. He just had to put on the hat, right? He sat on the stool and the professor placed the hat on his head and then suddenly there was a voice.

"Well now, another Barton. Not like your brother at all though are you. Not that much ambition…not at all…"

Clint froze. Oh, Barney was going to pay for this one. He’d said NOTHING about the hat talking inside his head.

"Hmm, yes, clever but not exactly your forte."

"Hey," Clint protested, pouting. Did the hat just call him stupid?

"There’s a lot of courage though, to be sure, and certainly more daring than most. But you don’t like to stand out, at least, not in that way. You’re dedicated though and loyal, yes, very loyal indeed. I think that answers the question as to the House then, doesn’t it?" There was a pause as the hat went silent and then loudly it proclaimed for all to hear: "HUFFLEPUFF!"