A/n: And so, here we are. Almost a year since my previous update. Sorry everyone. I'll try and make this chapter nice and beefy to make up for it.
Chapter Twenty
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The Great Hall
Hogwarts
8:07pm, September 1st, 1991
Harry sat in line, numbly waiting his turn to be sorted. Joy filled him as he watched former friends and acquaintances get sorted exactly where he remembered them going last time. Still, it was eerie watching something happen that you'd already seen once before.
Names went by. He watched Hermione sit down on the stool. As the hat slid over her eyes, he saw her smirk. Thirty seconds later, the hat announced "Ravenclaw!" Hermione made her way over to the Ravenclaw table amidst polite applause.
Names went by. Neville and Draco both went to Slytherin, pounding eachother's fists as Draco took a seat next to Neville. A few more names and then...
"Potter, Harry." Professor McGonnagall read from the list. Harry thought she was eyeing him quite nervously. Harry raised his eyebrows at her and she took a step backward in shock. Harry took his seat on the stool and placed the hat on his head.
"Oh my!" the hat said "How very interesting. We don't get too many time travelers. Last one must've been around six... thirteen eighty-seven it was. Droculious the Dense. Bit of a dumb one he was. Didn't get out of Hogwarts until he was twenty-two. Stole a time machine and used some de-aging potion to look eleven again. Went back through Hogwarts as a prodigy and went on to be Minister of Magic. But where were we? Ah, yes. Sorting. Right. Well, it says here you want to be in Hufflepuff. I suppose I'd better go along with it unless I want to see you traveling through time and doing it again."
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat called. The puffers cheered fanatically while the rest of the hall just looked perplexed. Should they be celebrating? I mean, Harry Potter the Hufflepuff didn't really make that much sense.
Harry took a seat between Ernie and Hannah. "See, dreams do come true." Harry said cheekily.
Ernie snorted. After the last name was called and Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin, Dumbledore stood.
"Before we start eating, I have a few short words I would like to share with you. Nitwit. Blubber. Oddment. Tweak. Tuck in."
As Dumbledore said "tuck in" the plates piled high with delicious Hogwarts cooking.
Harry ate just enough to feel sleepy and content, which was more than he could say for Justin Finch-Fletchley. The Hufflepuff in question was slumped sideways and leaning on Susan Bones, moaning about how he'd eaten too much. Susan acted as if she hadn't noticed Justin. Harry wasn't sure if she was ignoring him or just didn't care.
Harry barely listened to Dumbledore's speech after the meal, deciding to practice a few of his animagus exercises instead. Inside his shoes, Harry was shrinking and lengthening his toes and toenails. Harry found he'd been doing that a lot lately. Whenever he didn't feel like paying attention or just had nothing top do, he would do some minor exercises to pass the time. It was like popping your knuckles or biting your nails, except it was productive.
"-the dormitories." Dumbledore finished. Harry transformed his feet back to normal and stood, just as a Hufflepuff prefect (a freckled big-eared guy named Tucker) started calling to the first years and asking them to follow him.
As it turned out, the Hufflepuff dorms weren't too far from the entrance hall. The entrance was hidden behind a still life painting involving a few chairs surrounding a small table. Very bland.
Harry suspected that they were actually down near the dungeons as they'd gone down a few flights of stairs but the warm, cozy feel of the corridor led him to believe otherwise.
Harry filed in through the door, and Hannah shut it behind him as she was the last in line. It seemed everyone had filed in to the room had stood in a circle, with the prefects in the center.
"Is that everyone?" Tucker asked, looking about for confirmation. With no objections, he continued. "Good. As you may know, I'm your seventh year prefect, Tucker Hills. I-" He paused because someone raised her hand. "Yes, Jennifer?"
"Can we use your nickname? I think it's cute." Jennifer said, a slight blush coming to her cheeks.
Tucker's shoulders sagged a little and he sighed. "Yes, that's fine. Some of you may know me as King Tuck. It's short for King Tuckhenkhamen. If you would prefer to call me by that you are welcome to."
"All the prefects get nicknames." The other seventh year prefect said. "My name is Sally Jones but you are all welcome to call me Salexander the Great."
Harry and several others laughed at that. "That's actually part of the reason we're all here tonight. At the end of last year we said bye to last year's seventh year prefects and welcomed in the new fifth year prefects Randy and Francine Campbell." There was polite applause as Randy and Francine stepped forward. It was obvious that they were twins and both had pale skin and curly red hair. Because Francine hadn't really developed any curves and Randy wasn't very tall, they were even more identical than twins their age should look.
"So, I know it's late, but it's tradition. We'll try not to keep you up too long." Sally added. "So, why don't we take a minute to think up nicknames for these two and after that, the rest of us prefects will step back and let the fifth year prefects run yo through a name game and an icebreaker.
"What about calling them both Frandy, since they're like the same person." One student suggested.
"Yeah, but if one of them gets a different haircut or they grow a little it won't be funny anymore." Another replied.
There was a lull for about a minute when Harry raised his hand. "I've got an idea."
"Do you?" Tucker asked. "Let's hear it."
"Raggedy Fran and Raggedy Randy." Harry answered.
Chuckles went around the circle. "That's cute." Sally said. "I like it. Any objections?"
Nobody objected. "All right Raggedy Fran and Raggedy Randy. They're all yours." Sally said.
"Hi guys!" Fran said cheerfully. "Two things and then we'll go around and learn names."
"FIRstly I wOULD-" Randy started but was cut off by laughter. Randy's voice was just changing and it would squeak like a mouse before going deep and low every other word.
Randy cleared his throat a few times and continued, this time his voice remained steady."Anyway, um. We need to introduce the sixth year prefects Matilda Kirkland AKA Matilda the Hun and John Perry AKA Genghis John."
"And the second thing, for those of you who weren't close enough to the portrait to hear, the password is eternal happiness." Fran said. "Now why don't we go around the circle and say our name and area of magic we're most interested in.
The circle went around. Harry mentioned Abjuration as his branch of magic.
"So, which icebreaker were we going to do again?" Fran asked Randy
"The ninja game!" Randy insisted
"But you can't play that outside of a pool." Fran responded.
"Sure you can."
"No you can't cause half the game involves splashing. And you can't do 'chop chop the ice'. Besides I don't know seventy different signs for everyone to do." Fran finished.
"Fine. Big wind blows?"
"Sure."
"Ok, the rules are simple. One of us stands in the middle and says 'A big wind blows for...' and then says something that they have done or that applies to them. Everyone that it applies to has to run across the circle and find a spot. The last person without a spot asks the question for the next round." Randy described. As he spoke the other prefects squeezed into the circle, leaving him alone in the center. "So, here we go. A big wind blows for anyone who has ever used a portkey."
Most of the circle scattered, searching frantically for new places. Justin tried valiantly to find a new place in the ring, but Randy beat him to the spot. Justin gritted his teeth, before making a devious smile that Harry hadn't known the normally good natured Hufflepuff possessed. Justin walked up to Randy, clearly indicating that his next 'big wind' was intended directly for Randy.
"A big wind blows for anyone who has stood in the center of the circle and said 'a big wind blows' in this game." Randy ran forward to get a new spot only to discover he was the only person who had left their spot. Justin stepped slowly into Randy's recently vacated spot leaving Randy alone in the center.
The game went on for about ten more minutes before the prefects called it to a stop.
"All right guys. That's pretty much it for the night. First years stay here for a few minutes so we can go over ground rules and some of the general things you should know about being a student and a Hufflepuff. Fran made a nice poster with our general rules and hung it over the fireplace if anyone needs a refresher. Everyojne who doesn't need a rules refresher should probably get on into bed. Early start tomorrow. Goodnight everyone!" Randy announced.
"Goodnight Raggedy Randy!" quite a few voices chorused back.
The older Hufflepuffs gathered in a group hug and then filed out of the room. Randy and Fran beckoned the first years over to a large round table in the corner of the common room and gestured for them to sit. Harry took a seat between Hannah and Susan. Ernie and Justin sat on the other sides of the two girls. Once they settled, Fran spoke.
"Ok, first things first." Fran said. "We've got a rulebook here for each of you. It isn't much, but it has some of the more common rules that you're likely to come across while you're here. Curfew times, no magic in the corridors. Mostly basic. Give those a glance when you get the time. Also, we tried to fill it with some helpful information that we wish we'd known in first year."
"It also has directions to all the places you might be looking for. The Hospital wing, all the classrooms, the teachers offices and what their office hours are. It doesn't have a map unfortunately. Hogwarts is unplottable making it notoriously hard to map. Don't worry, the directions are really well written." Randy added.
"In addition to the office hours it also tells you a little bit about each professor and the subjects they're teaching." Fran continued. "It's also got a few of the more handy secret passages listed. And umm... what else?" The question was directed towards Randy.
"The spell tips." He replied.
"Right. There's a whole section in there about spells. It teaches a few handy spells that are really easy to learn. Everyone just seems to assume you know how to cast them, and many muggleborns and half bloods come in at a severe disadvantage because of it. I remember my first potions class. Everyone knew how to light the little flames under the cauldron except us. The look Professor Snape gave me... I wasn't able to even look at him for three years after that." Fran confessed.
"All the spells have a citation at the bottom of their instructions telling you what textbook they came from so you can find other handy spells." Randy piped in.
"Yeah. That's pretty much it for the guide. I just want to add that you should probably look into the spellbooks that the guide mentions. It's impossible to make it past even the first semester without having to go to the library and looking through piles of books before you find the one little detail you need for a potions essay or whatever. You might as well get used to research now because you're going to need it. So... if you guys don't have any questions about the guide I'll turn you over to Randy."
Nobody responded, so after a few seconds Randy took over.
"Okay guys. My job is to talk to you guys about what it means to be a Hufflepuff. In other houses, the students have petty squabbles, rivalries and even fights. Always trying to establish dominance, always trying to see where they fit in the chain of command. We don't do that and we don't tolerate it. The other houses treat us as inferior and as far as they're concerned, we are. We don't do any of that here in Hufflepuff. With the other houses the way they are, we all need to stand together. Slytherins will bully you. Gryffindors will tease you. Ravenclaws will look down their noses at you. While there will be a few decent people in each of the other houses, most of them won't bother to stick out their neck for you if you get into trouble. A Hufflepuff will. We're required to. If you see a puffer in need, you will stop and help them out. If it's desperate enough, instead of stopping you can run to a teacher or more Puffers but that's the only exception. We have a code word we use for whenever one of our own is in danger. When you hear it, drop what you are doing and help out. We would all do the same for you. That word we use is 'Bluebriar'." Randy paused letting it all sit in. He'd done a remarkable job of keeping his voice from squeaking. It helped impress on the first years how serious he was being.
"We also have punishments for those who don't help out. You don't want it to come to that." Randy finished.
"Also, we have conflict resolution sessions available. If you have a problem with another Hufflepuff's words or actions, you can bring your grievance to us and we will gather all the people involved and discuss all sides and feelings of the issue until there is peace. It fixes the problem better than punishment and keeps us from losing house points." Fran added once Randy's words had sunk in.
"Well, that's that. If you guys need anything, feel free to talk to us or one of the other prefects. You are allowed to knock on our doors at any time. We have rooms to ourselves at the end of the hall. If there's any problem, no matter how small, please let us know. We'll help however we can." Randy said with a smile.
"Any questions?" Fran asked. She waited maybe two seconds. "Didn't think so. We have a few traditions to tell you about before we go up. The first is: every group meeting ends with a group hug. It's simple and it feels good. The second is: every night at lights out the girls and the guys wish eachother goodnight. When the lights flicker three times that's the guys signal and they call 'Goodnight lovely ladies of Hufflepuff.'. The Women then respond with 'Sleep tight marvelous men of Hufflepuff.'. So, we'll show you to your rooms and give you fifteen minutes to unpack a bit. When the lights go, you know what to do."
"OK, everybody up." Randy said. "Group hug!"
Everyone moved to the center of the room and gathered in a large group hug. Harry was surprised at how much he had enjoyed it, and was reluctant to let it end. Harry and the Hufflepuff first year boys followed Randy down a short corridor attached to the common room. Randy led them to a round wooden door shaped like a barrel top. The words "first year" were carved into it. Harry found his way to his bunk and flopped onto it. While the room was much more plain than the Gryffindor beds, it felt more comfortable. Harry undressed and slipped under the yellow and black sheets of his new bed.
A few minutes later the lights flickered. "Goodnight lovely ladies of Hufflepuff!" Harry called. His voice was lost in a unified storm of others saying the same words.
"Sleep tight, marvelous men of Hufflepuff!" came ringing back. Harry smiled contentedly and slipped into blissful sleep.
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A/n: Ok all. I know this took awhile. I hope you forgive me. This year at college has been a trying one. I'm trying to major in chemistry and several of the classes beat me flat. I stayed off of academic probation, but it was a close call, cause I failed Calculus 2. I hope to get more writing done this summer and to actually write more next year at school.
Until later,
Neopyro