Despite everything that had happened, despite the fact that he'd give anything to be in Gryffindor, Alec found the Hufflepuff Common Room giving him a small amount of comfort.

The room itself could only be described as cosy. It was round and low-ceilinged, decorated in the cheerful, bee-like colours of yellow and black. The mellow vibe of the Common Room was emphasised by the use of highly polished, honey-coloured wood that had been used for the tables and the round doors that led to the dormitories and the high-backed chairs littered with cushions were always beckoning.

Alec supposed he liked the room because it reminded him of home. Specifically of the library where he'd spent countless nights - years most likely - reading by the light of a blazing flame, sitting in a comfortable wingback chair.

Now, standing by the crackling fire in the Hufflepuff Common Room, Alec felt it's warmth slowly melting away the dreadful numbness that he'd been feeling since the Sorting Ceremony.

Alec was desperate to talk to Jace. His brother had assured him that no matter what house the boy was sorted into they'd still be best friends. Alec supposed he'd shared his worries with Jace about possibly not being sorted into Gryffindor because deep down he'd known.

Alec wanted to be a great wizard one day. The boy just hoped his parents would understand that to be a great wizard you didn't have to be placed in Gryffindor, that it could be achieved in a number of ways. They probably would understand. Alec reassured himself because after all, Jace who was his adopted family didn't care, so why would his biological one mind where he was placed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alec saw the other students leaving the room in pursuit of breakfast in the Great Hall. The raven-haired boy Internally sighed at the realisation he'd have to abandon his post in front of the cosy fire before he followed his housemates out the Common Room.


Breakfast had started out so well. The food was delicious and Alec had even managed to make some small talk with a second-year girl. She informed him that apparently there was a giant squid living in the Black Lake and centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. The boy had been shocked, to say the least.

Alec had just been about to walk out of the hall and back to his dorm, in order to collect the textbooks and quills, he'd need for his first classes of the day - Charms and Herbology - when his ears heard dozens of screeches. The noise signalling the owls carrying the morning post had arrived.

Alec immediately recognised Church, the Lightwood family owl, amongst the flock of birds heading for the Hufflepuff table. The sight of Church made Alec long to visit his own owl.

When the boy saw the blood red envelope clutched in the bird's talons however all thoughts of Telum escaped him. Alec felt his stomach drop to the floor and his mouth go dry.

Church dropped the scarlet envelope on the table in front of him and left without so much as a glance in his direction. The raven-haired boy was completely frozen. He knew what the letter really was and what it represented. Alec desperately wished he was anywhere else because the Howler was starting to shake with impatience.

At that point, the other occupants of the Hufflepuff table had noticed the shaking scarlet letter. "You should open it you know." The second-year girl he'd been talking to said. "It'll be worse if you don't." She was right, the boy knew that. The longer a Howler was left un-opened the worse the experience would be. Alec tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he reached out with shaking hands to open the letter.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood!" The slightly distorted, high pitched voice of his mother came from the Howler at an alarming volume. "You've besmirched the family name!" It yelled. Maryse's voice was echoing around the hall and soon not only were the other Hufflepuffs watching him but a majority of the other students from different houses as well.

"There hasn't been a member of our family who wasn't sorted into Gryffindor in the last one-hundred years!" The Howler continued to scream. Not caring that with each word it spoke Alec was finding it harder and harder to pull breath into his lungs. "I should've known you'd be the one to ruin our family's honour!" Alec felt stinging in the backs of his eyes at those words. The boy bit the inside of his cheek hard to keep himself from crying. He wouldn't do that here. Not in front of everyone.

"You've brought shame to us all!" The Howler screamed before bursting into flames leaving behind nothing but a pile of ash.

Silence. No one in the Great Hall was making a sound. Alec knew most of them had heard what the Howler had screamed. The boy was aware they were all staring at him. The taste of iron was filling Alec's mouth, as a result of his teeth still firmly biting down on the inside of his cheek. The room was fading in and out of focus, his eyes glazing over and each breath a struggle.

When the whispers started he couldn't take it any longer. Alec quickly stood from his chair. The scraping sound it made from being pushed back against the floor echoed around the quiet room like the cry of a deranged beast.

With the eyes of the entire student body locked upon him, Alec Lightwood stormed out of the Great Hall.


Maryse's words echoed around his mind on an endless loop. Besmirched. He'd been ignorant, a fool to think that being sorted into Hufflepuff was acceptable. It wasn't. Alec felt shame wash over him like a tidal wave. brought shame to us all. She'd been right, Alec knew that every word the Howler had spoken was the truth. You'd be the one to ruin our family's honour. Those words had caused a feeling of indisputable self-loathing to overwhelm his senses.

Alec knew he'd d single-handedly destroyed the honour of the Lightwood name that had taken a hundred years to create. A legacy of brave wizards that had all possessed an abundance of magical power, destroyed in one moment. Alec knew he deserved every word that Maryse had said. No. He deserved worse.

Alec tried to pull himself back into reality. The boy was leaning against the wall in the corridor that led to the Great Hall, the large wooden doors were only a few meters away. Warm tears had been rushing down his face the moment the doors closed behind him.

Every breath he took was shaky and deep as Alec desperately tried to calm down. It was a miracle that nobody had already joined him in the corridor yet. Breakfast would be finishing soon and being seen like this; an emotional wreck was unacceptable. He'd already disappointed his mother in one way he wasn't going to do it again.

As if thinking about it had made it so, Alec heard a loud creak sound through the hallway as the wooden doors opened. Quickly Alec turned away, swiping at his eyes, desperately trying to erase the evidence that he'd been crying.

Alec knew it was probably Jace coming to check that he was ok. The blonde was his best friend. They hadn't been brothers for very long, barely a few years, but Alec for the life of him couldn't recall what life had been like without the other boy.

"Jace I'm fine." Alec lied. He hoped his voice sounded less shaky then he thought it did.

Alec turned around and his heart nearly stopped beating because it wasn't Jace standing in front of the huge doors. It wasn't even one of his housemates concerned for their fellow Hufflepuff.

It was Magnus Bane.


Magnus didn't know what had possessed him to follow the Lightwood boy out of the Great Hall and into the corridor. Perhaps it was seeing the way everyone had looked at Alec, it wasn't with fear or judgement but nonetheless, a look Magnus himself often saw reflected in the eyes of others whenever they gazed upon him. It couldn't be described as sympathy because for that people would actually need to care for more than a minute.

"I'm not Jace." Magnus informed Alec but judging by the other boy's wide eyes he was already aware of that fact. The Slytherin didn't need to introduce himself. Alec like most wizards would know who Magnus was. Whose son he was.

At his words, Alec seemed to just remember that his eyes were bloodshot and there were trails of half-dried tears on his cheeks because the boy started frantically rubbing at his face with the sleeve of his robes.

"Are you alright?" Magnus asked.

"I'm fine." The other boy responded all too quickly. Like a reflex. Magnus knew he was lying.

"You sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be!" Alec snapped.

Magnus hadn't expected Alec to yell. The action had caught him off guard. Alec himself looked shocked. Clearly, the Hufflepuff hadn't wanted or expected to lose his temper in front of a stranger.

"I know what it's like," Magnus started speaking again. "To get sorted into a house that you….aren't particularly happy with. So, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."


Alec was surprised. Magnus Bane. A Slytherin. The child of a mass-murdering wizard was standing in the corridor that led to the Great Hall comforting him. And he. Alec Lightwood. A Hufflepuff. The son of two high ranking Ministry officials was grateful.

Magnus wasn't offering him anything physical. The boy wasn't giving Alec a magical solution to fix the problem but he was offering Alec the knowledge that he wasn't alone. Alec smiled at the other boy in gratitude. "Thank you."

Magnus trying to lighten the mood said, "I also get what it's like to have a pretty horrible parent. So, there's also that."

At the Slytherin's words, Alec felt rage overwhelm him. All thoughts of Magnus's compassion and comfort gone. "How dare you say that about my mother!" Alec knew that every word Maryse had enchanted that Howler to say had been true. She wasn't a horrible person for merely pointing out the truth.

Alec waited for Magnus to speak, to defend and justify himself but there was only silence in response. Magnus was clearly confused and quite honestly Alec was quite irritated at this point because how could the other boy not understand what he'd done.

"Look, Magnus," Alec spoke wanting this conversation to finish as soon as possible. "Why did you follow me? Why do you even care?"


Magnus wanted to say he didn't. Wanted to walk away and get his textbooks and parchment for his first classes. He couldn't though. Magnus had followed Alec because of the simple reason that no one had been there to follow him when everything with his parents had happened.

Magnus hadn't had anyone there for him at the worst moments of his life, when he lost his family, and the boy would be damned if he let someone else go through that pain alone.

He couldn't explain any of this to Alec though because the Hufflepuff wouldn't understand. So instead Magnus said. "Because no one else is or does. At least not anyone who'd understand."

At that particular moment, the doors of the Great Hall opened and students of various different ages and houses poured out. All were heading for the dormitories in hopes of gathering equipment needed for their upcoming lessons.

Magnus didn't get a response from the other boy, in fact, he didn't even see where Alec went. The first-year had integrated into the crowd of Hufflepuffs heading back to the yellow and black Common room.