Being sorted into Hufflepuff on Pottermore was, to be honest, a bummer, so I've spent a while brainstorming this fic. It's sole purpose it to make myself feel better about being a badger.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters, so I made my own.
Beck watched in terror as the tiny figures of her parents vanished from view as the Hogwarts Express rounded a corner. She sat back in her seat and stared across the compartment at her pet rat, Beetle, who was scurrying around the opposite seat. He stared back for a moment before hopping onto the window sill and jumping into Beck's lap. She stroked him with a finger and reflected briefly on how all of this had come to pass.
It had started with a message from a carrier pigeon (because owls weren't used in America) stating that her father was, once again, being transfered to a different branch of the Ministry of Magic. Beck's father worked in accounting, a particularly mind-numbingly boring line of work that involved dealing with a lot of goblins and paperwork. His services, the message said, were once more required in England. While her parents celebrated about returning to their homeland, Beck was left quite distraught: she had friends in America, at New York's wizarding school, Brackenridge. But she was not the type to whine at her parents, so, tearfully and painfully, she wrote out heartfelt letters to each of her closest friends, and less heartfelt letters to her acquaintances. Then began the paperwork. Endless, tedious, horrendous paperwork concerning her transfer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England.
To celebrate her father's transfer, the family took a long vacation to Australia, much to Beck's dismay.
"Dad," she had said, "there are things that can kill me in Australia. There's snakes and sharks and spiders and lizards and jellyfish and..." She continued on in the manner for some time before concluding with, "Can't we go to France, Dad? To see the Louvre? You know how much I've wanted to see the Louvre."
"Now, now, Beck dearest- you need a tan!" Beck's father had said. "There'll be no tanning in England! It's all fog all year round! You get a tan while we're in Australia and you'll be the best looking girl in Hogwarts!"
It was at this point that Beck realized that her father was in such a state of mania that he couldn't be swayed from even jumping off a cliff. He was going back to England! He could do anything! Nothing stood in his path now!
So, they went to Australia where Beck got a sunburn and spent a lot of time standing where the sea met the sand and not going any further. She also spent a lot of time watching the pretty Australian boys surf.
Outside of her memories, Beck smiled; she missed the Australian boys with their beach hair and their tan skin and-
The compartment door slammed open and what seemed to be a large acne-covered rat head peaked through.
"Can I sit 'ere?" the rat head asked.
Beck observed the head for a moment. It belonged to a boy of about 16 years old with terrible acne and greasy, stringy hair. She judged him to be harmless, and invited him in.
"Thanks," the boy said. He sat opposite her and stared before finally saying, "I'm Jeromy, by the way. Jeromy Miggs. Never seen you before. What house you in?"
Beck licked her lips and tried to come up with something to say that wouldn't make her sound like a complete idiot when the compartment door opened again, gently this time. A girl stood in the doorway now. Beck examined the girl before she spoke: slender, Beck's age (16 years old), blue-black hair cut in a bob that complimented her elven features, and narrow blues eyes like chips of ice cut into her eye sockets.
"Miggs," she said in a slightly husky and irritated voice. "What did you do with my cat?"
Beck closed her mouth and sat back. The girl turned her gaze on her.
"And who are you?" she asked.
"Yeah, who are you?" Miggs said.
"Shut up, Miggs," the girl said.
"I'm Beck," Beck said. "Tacitus. Beck Tacitus."
"You're not from around here," the girl said. "I've never seen you."
"I just transfered," Beck said, her palms sweating, the voice of the mother from Stephen King's Carrie running through her head: "They're all gonna laugh at you!"
The girl cocked her head to one side and nodded before returning glaring back at Miggs.
"Where's my cat, Miggs?" she demanded.
"Gave 'im to Gabe, 'Nita," Miggs said, shrinking away from the girl's harsh, blue stare.
"Fine," the girl said. She slipped into the compartment, closed the door softly behind her, and took a seat next to Beck, who swallowed started petting Beetle.
"He's cute," the girl said.
"Thanks," Beck muttered.
"I'm Anita."
Beck smiled at her and started biting down on her lower lip.
"Where'd you transfer from?" Anita asked. "I've never heard of anyone transferring in before."
"America," Beck said, her voice cracking. "I'm transferring in from America. From New York. There's a magic school there, too, under the Niagara Falls."
"Really?" Anita chirped. "I didn't know they had one there. I mean, I assumed there had to be schools there, but, you know, I didn't know where any of them were."
"Are there others?" Miggs asked, leaning his greasy head forward.
"Yeah," Beck said with a little nervous cough. "There's one in the Grand Canyon, and one in the La Brea tar pits in LA, and I think there's one under Lake Michigan, too."
"That's cool," Miggs said.
Beck smiled nervously again and sat up a little straighter.
"Is there just Hogwarts in England?" she asked.
"Yeah," Anita said. "But there's other ones all throughout Europe."
"There's an all-girls school in France," Miggs said with a snigger.
Anita ignored him. "Do they have houses at Brackenridge? At Hogwarts we have have houses we're sorted into our first year."
"Something like that," Beck said. "We're put into dorms based on our age. There's Cat Eye, Fox Tail, and Bear Paw. The first through third years go in Cat Eye, the fourth through sixth years go in Fox Tail, and the seventh years go in Bear Paw."
"Hogwarts has four houses," Anita said. "There's Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff. You're sorted in on your first year by the Sorting Hat. It judges your personal attributes like intelligence, bravery, cleverness, and loyalty and other stuff like that."
"That sounds so much cooler than Brackenridge," Beck laughed. "We don't have magic hats, we just have the public education system."
The three of them chuckled as the compartment door slammed open for a third time. Beetle, sick of the noise, scrambled into Beck's pocket and curled up in a ball.
In the doorway was another girl so good looking that Beck felt like hiding under the seat and drowning herself in her own lack of self-esteem.
"Anita," the girl said, tossing her curtain of platinum blonde hair over her shoulder. "Where's your cousin?" The girl bit down on her lower lip with a flirty smile.
Anita cringed and sighed. "Go away, Leeana," she said.
Leeana sneered and tossed her hair again, rolling her big green eyes around the rest of the compartment. Her gaze landed on Beck, who sank in her seat.
"Who's this, then?" Leeana said, a wicked grin spreading across her perfect face. "Another girlfriend, Lesanita"
"She's not my girlfriend, Leeana, now get the fuck out!" Anita snapped.
"Tut, tut, Anita," Leeana smiled. "Mustn't lose your temper. Now where's Gabriel?"
"I don't know where he is," Anita snarled. "Now get out!"
With one last flip of her hair and a look of disgust cast down at Miggs, Leeana swept away, slamming the door behind her.
"Who was that?" Beck asked in the silence that followed.
"That was Leeana Brooks," Miggs said. "The biggest bitch Hogwarts has seen since Pansy Parkinson. Total daddy's girl. She's got the hots for Anita's cousin, Gabriel. Thing is, Lucas Coor has the hots for her and she's totally oblivious."
"Who's Lucas Coor?" Beck asked.
"Lucas Coor is a Slytherin and a complete idiot," Anita growled. "He follows Leeana around like a lost puppy."
"Funny thing is, he's friends with a boy named Marcus Greenbaum, who's totally in love with Lucas," Miggs giggled.
"So, Marcus loves Lucas, Lucas loves Leeana, and Leeana loves Gabriel," Beck said, making an effort to remember names. "Who's Gabriel in love with?"
"He's not," Anita said.
Beck nodded and sat back in her seat, trying to figure out how to restart the conversation.
"So," she said, turning to Anita, who was still flustered. "What are the houses like? I mean, how do you get into each of them?"
Anita explained the perimeters of gaining entrance into each of the houses, adding, "I'm in Ravenclaw and Miggs here is in Hufflepuff, poor thing."
"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!" Miggs exclaimed. "Cedric Diggory was a Hufflepuff, and he was with Harry Potter when You-Know-Who came back! Hufflepuff is great!"
Anita shook her head and smiled.
"Try to get into Ravenclaw, eh?" she said. "We can, you know, hang out, and I could show you around. If you want..."
Anita's face flushed and she smiled as she sat back in her seat. Beck smiled back.
"I'd like that," she said.
The rest of the trip proved to be rather uneventful: it began to rain, the three of them changed into their school robes, and Beck began to panic about what house she would be in. As the train rumbled to a halt, Beck started doing breathing exercises. Anita smiled and led her off the train while Miggs ran off to meet with the other sixth years.
On the platform, Anita bade Beck goodbye and told her that everything would be fine. Then she vanished into the crush of students and left Beck standing in the rain. Beck stood and looked on in confusion as the crowd began to thin, then a voice rang out over the din, amplified by magic.
"BECK TACITUS!" the voice called. "BECK TACITUS, TO THE MAIN GATE, PLEASE. TO THE MAIN GATE!"
And the voice was gone.
Checking that Beetle was still in her pocket, Beck made her was to the front gate. She was met by a slender man with bright green eyes and a shock of red hair.
"Beck?" he asked. When Beck nodded, the man clapped his hands together and grinned. "Oh, lovely! We must hurry! They have to use the Sorting Hat on the first years, too, but they're using it on you first so you can get to know your fellow students! Lovely! Hop along, then!'
Beck, cold and wet, followed the chipper little man through the rain and into a horse-less, horse-drawn carriage. Once inside, the man started drying her clothes with the tip of his wand, apologizing for not doing something sooner.
"I'm Professor Tharon Fauna, by the way," he said, gripping Beck's hand and shaking it vigorously. "I'm the professor of Herbology and the head of Hufflepuff house! I think you're just going to love it here. It's just lovely!"
Beck then noticed that Professor Fauna's eyes seemed a bit... bloodshot, as if he were intoxicated. She took this as a sign that she had in fact, been sent to a nut house.
Beck sat in a regal office. Portraits of previous headmasters and headmistresses lined the walls; shelves upon shelves of books climbed to the ceiling; tables stacked with nick-knacks stood at random around the room; a fire blazed in a hearth; and a large marble-topped desk was littered with scrolls, letters, parchment, and tomes of various sizes, shapes, and colors. Beck sat in front of the desk in a large cozy chair. Outside, she could hear students bustling in the corridor. Closer still, she could hear Professor Fauna fluttering about the room, making the occasional oddball remark about something in the room.
"The headmaster should be here any moment now, Ms. Tacitus!" Fauna smiled. "It'll be just absolutely lovely! He's a wonderful man, you know. Professor Levitt Hawk! Hogwarts's youngest headmaster on record, you know. A wonderful man fluent in ten languages, proficient in Transfiguration, Charms, and politics, and a Metamorphomangus to top it all off! Politics isn't a subject, you know, but he's so very good with people. Just lovely!"
To Beck's relief, the office's door opened, and in trooped a group of professors. At the head of the group was Levitt Hawk, who looked a lot like Clark Gable.
Frankly, my dear... Beck thought with a smile.
"Ah," Professor Hawk smiled. "You must be Beck Tacitus! How wonderful it is to finally meet you. I've only spoken with your father through letter. He sounds like a charming man, and you a charming girl."
Good God, Beck thought. He even sounds like Clark Gable. Beck blushed in spite of herself.
"Let's get you sorted then, shall we?" Hawk said with a smile.
"This is going to be positively lovely!" Professor Fauna called from the fireplace.
From a stand across the room, Professor Hawk withdrew the Sorting Hat. Beck looked at it curiously- it seemed very dirty and, if she wasn't mistaken, burnt.
"No need to fear, my dear," Professor Hawk said, placing the hat gently on her head. "It's old and a bit cranky, but it'll out you in your place."
The hat slid over Beck's eyes and her view of the other professors vanished, but she committed the faces she had seen to memory: a woman with pixie-like features and cascading black hair; an elderly man with a nose red from drunkeness; a slouching middle-aged man with pedophile-glasses and a bad combover; a woman with curly blonde hair and a cherub face.
A voice spoke in her ear.
"Judgmental, are we?" it said.
"Not judgmental," Beck thought back once she realized the voice belonged to the hat. "Just observant."
"Yes, yes," the hat mumbled, then it began to drone on as if it were going through a list of mundane chores. "Nervous... reliable... dependent, yes... loyal and kind- those are good ones, yes..."
Beck's palms were sweating. Carrie's mother was in her head again: They're all gonna laugh at you!
"Oh, yes. I know just where to put you, Beck Tacitus," the hat said. Beck could hear the smirk in its voice, as if it were about to pull a terrible prank on her. Then the hat's voice left her mind and expelled itself from the top of her head.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Beck went pale. She was in the loser house. She was a failure. Nothing good could come from this.
"Oh, lovely, lovely, lovely!" Professor Fauna called as he bounded across the room.
Professor Hawk removed the Sorting Hat and looked Beck in the face.
"Oh God," Beck whispered. Looking up at Professor Hawk, she said, "What do I do?"
With a look a grief, he said, "Your best," and stepped away to bring the Sorting Hat into the Great Hall. The other teachers filed out behind him, casting glances back into the room as Professor Fauna hefted Beck from her seat and escorted her out of the office.
"You're going to love it, Beck dear, it's lovely! Just positively lovely!" Fauna chirped. "They're going to love you, my Hufflepuffs, because you're just so lovely!"
Beck did not feel lovely. Beck felt ill.
In the Great Hall, the first years were being sorted. One by one, they hopped onto the stool, donned the Sorting Hat, and fled to their new houses at its command. Professor Fauna pointed out the Hufflepuff table, told her everything was going to be lovely, and danced off to the staff table at the front of the hall. Beck trudged as quietly as possible to the table, stealing glances around the hall to try and spot Anita.
"Oi, Beck!" hissed a voice.
Beck looked around and saw Miggs grinning at her.
"You in 'ere?" he whispered.
Beck nodded. Miggs clamped his hands over his mouth as he laughed, then he waved her over and opened up a space for her to sit in. Casting one last glance around, Beck caught sight of Anita and sat down.
After much subtle waving, Beck finally got Anita's attention. Anita looked confused.
"What are you doing over there?" she mouthed.
Beck just gave her a look of absolute pity and despair. Anita gaped and started shaking her head, then she slid under her table and popped up on the other side.
"What the hell happened?" she asked.
"That hat hates me!" Beck whispered back. "It was cruel!"
Anita seemed to be at a lose for words.
"I'm so sorry," she finally said.
"I'm not!" Miggs put in.
"Shut up, Miggs," Anita growled.
"What do I do, Anita?" Beck pleaded.
"Maybe you could appeal," Anita said. "You could try again tomorrow."
"There's no goin' back on what the Hat says," Miggs whispered. "You're stuck 'ere fer good, Beck. Welcome to Hufflepuff."
Beck lay in bed that night after writing her parents a very distraught letter, hungry (she couldn't force herself to eat anything) and hoping that Miggs was wrong and Anita was right. Beck liked Anita. Miggs was a sleaze ball.
After much tossing and turning, Beck finally managed to fall into a very light and fitful sleep until around midnight when she was awoken by the sound of swishing cloaks and whispers. Peering up from her pillow with bleary eyes, Beck found herself surrounded by a group of figures in black hooded cloaks.
Before she could scream, one of them pulled out a wand and whispered, "Silencio!" Beck's voice was reduced to nothing but panting as a black bag was dropped over her head and she was yanked from her bed.