Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Round 2

Team: Holyhead Harpies

Position: Beater 1

Task: Write about a hufflepuff x hufflepuff friendship

Prompts Used:

(setting) Prefects' bathroom

(word) mirror

(quote) 'Boyfriends and girlfriends will come and go but this is for life' - Phoebe Buffay, Friends.

(opening sentence) It had been a very long day.

(phrase) a piece of cake

Word Count: 2,130

It had been a very long day. Really, all Albus Severus Potter wanted to do was go to sleep, and hopefully wake up somewhere far, far away.

He'd never thought Hogwarts would be like this.

From the way his parents had enthused about it, the way his cousins and aunts and uncles had talked for hours on end about the wonderful castle and the supportive community of witches and wizards. Even James had assured him he would love it here, in amidst the teasing.

But James had teased Albus about being in Slytherin. Not even James had imagined this could happen. And clearly, judging by the reaction in the Great Hall, neither had they.

Because when Albus' shaking legs had carried him up to the stool where the old, frayed hat stood, he had been thinking that if the Hat was debating whether to put him in Slytherin or Gryffindor, Albus could make up his own mind. That's what his dad had said. That's what he'd promised.

Albus felt anger at his dad for giving him that hope, but how had Harry been to know? How could anyone have predicted that the moment the hat landed on Albus' messy brown hair, it would shout out, "Hufflepuff!" without a moment to think, without the smallest bit of doubt?

How could anyone have imagined that Harry Potter's son would be in the weakest house? His family had tried to cheer him up – "It's the house for the kind, moral people, Albus. That's good," – "Everyone has aspects of the different houses in them. Your kindness trait just happens to be strong and prominent. That's nothing to be ashamed of!" – but Albus knew, deep down, they were all slightly disappointed.

And the rest of the school hadn't helped. The 'supportive community' his family had talked about? No.

Oh hell, no.

Everybody had stopped talking when Albus stepped up. They had watched in silence as the Hat was lowered. Then it had sent him to the Badger House, and what had they done?

They had laughed.

True, not all of them. True, they died down quickly and looked pretty ashamed of themselves afterwards, but that didn't cancel it out.

They had laughed.

Because it was funny. The son of Harry Potter, the son of the Chosen One, the son of the boy who saved the world, was a Hufflepuff.

Hufflepuff.

The shout of the Sorting Hat echoed in Albus' ears even now, hours after it had happened.

How can you argue with the Hat if it doesn't give you a chance?

How can you convince it of your brave traits when it has already condemned you to a life of mockery?

How can you be a Potter if your biggest trait is kindness?

Harry didn't defeat Voldemort with his manners, after all.

Albus had forced himself to eat the feast, feeling sick to the core, despite his family coming over and comforting him. At least they hadn't abandoned him, whatever they might be secretly thinking.

Then he had stumbled from the room with the rest of the Hufflepuff first years, being led by the prefects to the common room. But Albus, in his anger, had separated from the rest of them and now found himself alone, on a corridor identical to all the others, with no clue which way to go.

How was being nice going to help him now?

A Gryffindor was brave enough to march around the castle until they found what they were looking for.

A Slytherin was ambitious enough to not give up their search and maybe even cunning enough to con one of the portraits into leading them home.

A Ravenclaw was smart enough to remember the way back.

But what did he have?

Nothing. He was the useless house. The house for the people with magical blood but without the traits that would make them useful to society.

He staggered down hallway after hallway, after a while not even looking for the Hufflepuff Common Room, just looking for somewhere comfortable to collapse in a heap of shame.

After what felt like hours of wandering back and forth, he heard someone shout from behind him.

"Hey!"

Albus looked up from his feet and turned to see who was calling. It looked like one of the Hufflepuff prefects who had been escorting them to their rooms.

"Hey! You're the Potter kid, right?" he asked when he got closer. Albus nodded and hung his head in shame. "Woah, what's wrong, kiddo?" he asked, his smile fading a bit. "You look like someone just died."

At Albus' glare, the Prefect bit his lip. "Did someone die? Sorry, dude…" he trailed off, looking awkward.

"Nobody died," Albus snapped. Great, he thought angrily. My one trait was nice, and I've screwed that up too.

The prefect looked a little relieved at this. "Erm, that's good, I guess," he muttered. "Here," he added, perking up again. Or at least doing his best to look cheerful. "You look a little down in the dumps, let's go somewhere to chat."

Ignoring Albus' protests, the Prefect led the young Potter boy down another few corridors until they reached a door. The Prefect gave the password and pulled him inside.

Albus slumped onto the surprisingly soft sofa in there and glared up at the Prefect. "Now what?" he asked sullenly.

The Prefect sat next to him with a big smile on his face, refusing to be fazed by Albus' moodiness. "Well, since I know about you, I think it's only fair you know a little about me, too," he said. "The name's Ernie Callotle. I'm a Half-blood Hufflepuff Prefect, and I am proud to be in the mighty Badger House. I am proud that I am most recognised for my loyalty and my justness and my hard work and my kindness. I know that you feel like everyone is disappointed in you right now, but it's not true. Hufflepuff is only as bad a house as you think it is."

Ernie slapped Albus on the back, in what Albus supposed was meant to be a supportive way. "I've been at this school for five years already, and I was one of the only ones in first year to be really pleased about being in this house. I took it upon myself, then, to make sure everyone in this house understands and appreciates how great we are. You are not the first disappointed little boy I've met, and certainly not the last. I have got another whole year here, after all."

Albus sighed heavily. "I just feel so… Worthless," he admitted. "Am I not brave enough to be a Gryffindor? Not smart enough for the Ravenclaws? Not cunning enough, or ambitious enough, to be a Slytherin? Am I just kind? Is that all there is to me?" he stared down at his hands. "Do I not deserve to be a Potter?" he mumbled sadly.

At this, Ernie took a sharp intake of breath. "Do you not deserve to be a Potter? Albus, being a Potter is not some badge you have to earn! You are part of the family, no matter what you do. Being a Hufflepuff is just as important as being a Gryffindor, or a Ravenclaw, or a Slytherin. Being in one house doesn't make you more worthy or righteous or brilliant than if you were in any other house."

He sighed. "I don't even understand where this prejudice against Hufflepuffs came from. All my Hogwarts life, I've been trying to break them and prove that Hufflepuff is not the 'lesser house'. Honestly. Where did they even get this idea from?" He stood up suddenly.

"Come with me," he told Albus, who stood up and followed him without a second thought. It was strange how much Albus trusted Ernie, even though he had known him for less than an hour. He was already revealing his deep insecurities to him! Ernie led Albus over to the large mirror that adorned one wall of the bathroom, and positioned Albus in front of it.

"What do you see?" he asked Albus.

Albus looked at his reflection.

His reflection looked back at him.

"I see myself," he said. Was this supposed to be a magic mirror or something? His father had told him about the Mirror of Erised…

Ernie nodded. "Describe what you see," he told Albus.

Albus looked at his reflection.

His reflection looked back at him.

He frowned. What was the point of this exercise, exactly? "I… I have brown hair, and green eyes," he said hesitantly.

Ernie nodded enthusiastically. "Good. And can you remember what you looked like yesterday?"

"Erm," Albus stared at Ernie. Was he feeling okay? Was he crazy? Had Albus just made friends with a crazy person? "Yesterday, I had brown hair and green eyes…"

"That's right," Ernie said. "Yesterday, you weren't in a Hogwarts house. Today you are. But have you changed at all since then?"

Albus shook his head. "No, I look the same."

"You look the same," Ernie agreed. "But you are still the same person, too," he prodded Albus in the chest. "In your heart, you haven't changed. Neither has your appearance, or your personality, or anything. You are who you always were. All that's happened is that you have now been recognised for your hard work and your loyalty and your kindness being a big part of who you are."

It made sense, what he was saying. Albus couldn't deny it. And he wanted it to be true, he really did. But did he really believe it? "But yesterday, nobody knew they were my strongest traits," he argued, although he didn't really want to. "Yesterday, maybe everyone thought I was actually really brave."

Ernie sighed heavily. "You could at least try and feel better about it," he muttered. "No, Albus, because if your family accepted who you were before, then- well, then they should still accept you now because they shouldn't notice a difference between Albus from the 31st of August and Albus from the 1st of September. Nothing has changed. If they didn't realise how loyal you were before – well, your personality is still exactly the same, so they still might not notice it. They could go their whole lives thinking that you should have been in Gryffindor because you've never showed yourself to be loyal. But you know, in your heart, that they would be wrong, and that you belong in Hufflepuff. And if you don't like that, then maybe you don't deserve this house."

The Hufflepuff Prefect finished his rant and leaned back against the wall, breathing slightly heavily. Albus could tell he'd had conversations like this before, and that he believed strongly and wholeheartedly in what he was saying.

"You're right," Albus acknowledged at last, and he felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Ernie looked up in surprise.

"I am?" he asked, then shook his head in confusion. "No, of course I am. It normally just takes more convincing than that," he laughed. "That was a piece of cake. I should remember that speech for next year."

Albus laughed. "It was very convincing," he assured Ernie. "And it's true. If my family can't accept that this is who I am, then… Then they don't deserve me!" Albus puffed up his chest. "I am a Hufflepuff, and I am proud!"

Ernie grinned victoriously. "We Hufflepuffs are really supportive of each other," he promised Albus. "We're a really caring community. And since we're all such 'hard workers', you'll never be lost for someone to help with homework. And team projects are a breeze!"

They left the mirror and started back towards the door to the corridor. Ernie was still telling him about Hufflepuffs. "Seriously. I think we have the closest relationships of all the houses," he said. "Boyfriends and girlfriends will come and go but this is for life. When you make friends in Hufflepuff house, you know you've got a friend for life. You know you've got a friend you can rely on for everything. We are loyal, after all."

Albus' heart was so light, he thought it might float away. He'd never been happier, or prouder to be who he was, and he was so glad that he had met Ernie so he could convince him of this. Albus hoped that in Ernie, he had found his loyal friend, if only until Ernie left the school in a couple of years' time.

No, he wasn't a mighty lion, brave and chivalrous. No, he wasn't an eagle, intelligent and witty. Nor was he a snake, cunning and ambitious.

He was a badger.

He was dedicated, he was kind, he was patient, he worked hard and played fair.

And he was proud to be who he was.