A/N: When I first read about Hepzibah I had this image in my head of a cross between Queen Anne(Queen of England 1702-1714, who had the typical 18th Century big wig hair and required a square coffin when she died due to her size!) and some of the eccentric characters the late great British actress Hattie Jacques used to play. Later discussions and comments from JK Rowling herself haven't altered that image in my mind.
51: Foggy
"I know the signal word or words we could use," said Ginny, before they walked a step closer to Hepzibah's house. "It can be the simple phrase 'It's very foggy today', with our action a moment after 'today'."
"Excellent!" said Hermione. "It's certainly true of the weather out here, and will seem like just a passing comment. Let's hope we can get them feeling foggy."
The two women walked forwards and through the little swing gate to the garden path. As Hermione turned to make sure the gate was shut again, she was aware that the road and scenery behind them looked a lot more foggy than when they'd been standing out there. It seemed it was part of the charms cloaking the house from the outside world.
Standing on the doorstep, they saw a little bell with a chain. Ginny felt for Hermione's hand, gave it a squeeze, then pulled on the bell. It clanged on the downward pull and upward release too. It sounded alarmingly loud, and made the two women on the doorstep grimace and grit their teeth, completely on edge.
From inside they heard a woman's voice. "Answer the door, then!"
"Yes, mistress," replied a smaller voice.
Ginny gave a side glance to Hermione, the same time the brunette looked at her; with that glance alone they both knew they were thinking, 'elf'.
The door slowly opened, and looking down Hermione and Ginny were faced by the very old and oddly sweet-looking Hokey.
"Who is it?" called a voice to the elf, which they knew must belong to Hepzibah Smith.
"Don't know yet, mistress."
"Well, ask them! Goodness me, are you a house-elf or not?"
Hokey turned back to the visitors. "To whom am I speaking?"
"Hello, I'm Rose Parkinson and this is Virginia Wade," said Hermione. "Your mistress was expecting us."
"Wait one moment, please," said Hokey, before scurrying off as fast as an elderly elf could scurry off, inside the house.
"You knew they might be visiting! We spoke of this!" said an annoyed voice. "Don't leave them on the doorstep, show them in!"
"This way, please," said Hokey, as the elf ushered in the two guests.
After closing the door, the elf led the two women a short way down the hall before turning off into a sitting room, where sat in an armchair, looking every inch the eccentric, was Hepzibah Smith. She was a very large older lady, wearing a big, hideously fluffed up, ginger wig and wore make-up that looked like it had been applied with a trowel.
"Do come in," Hepzibah waved.
"Hello," said Hermione. "I'm Rose and this is Virginia, but everyone knows her as 'Gin'."
"Have a seat," the Smith woman said, waving her fleshy hand at them, as her elf straightened some cushions on a sofa for them to sit on. "Well, I must say it was a lovely surprise to get Borgin's request."
"I hope you don't mind about that?" asked Hermione. "But it's so hard to meet with other genuine collectors. We always try to find ones wherever we happen to be."
"It's a nice change, to see new faces, and people with the same interests," said Hepzibah. "But where on earth did you hear about me?"
"We couldn't possibly say," said Ginny, but with a genuine smile. "It's suffice to say it was a fellow collector and they'd heard of your wonderful items, and it completely piqued our curiosity."
"Have you been buying things from Borgin?"
"Yes, we have," said Ginny. "We heard about him through the same source. I can't imagine why we'd never thought to shop with him before. What an amazing place he has, though."
"He does, doesn't he?" grinned Hepzibah. "Always a fair and trustworthy man to deal with too. He understands me completely."
He understands your money and your gullable compulsive buying, thought Hermione.
"We went one day and then we had to go another couple of times," said Ginny. "Rose kept seeing things, then thinking on them and deciding that we couldn't possibly not buy them."
"Let us show you a couple of things we bought," said Hermione enthusiastically, as she held her beaded bag. She smoothly took out her wand and used Accio to retrieve one of their items; the stunning Iceni necklace. "What do you think of that?"
"My, oh my!" exclaimed Hepzibah, her eyes glowing with genuine interest, already tinged with a little envy. "That's a beauty!"
Hermione flicked her wand to allow the necklace to travel over and lie in Hepzibah's hands. "Borgin doesn't think it has any magical properties, not much anyway, but it dates to Boudica and was in the possession of the muggle queen Anne Boleyn."
"Anne Boleyn?" said the plump lady. "She wasn't a witch. No, never. She could hardly make a herbal tea! However it's believed a couple of her ladies-in-waiting were witches."
"That's fascinating," said Hermione, actually interested. "The necklace was supposedly given to a favourite of hers, before Anne was executed, and stayed hidden for generations."
"Marvellous," said Hepzibah. "Absolutely marvellous. Had I known about this myself, I would have beaten you to it!"
"Sorry, we're not selling," smiled Ginny.
Hepzibah laughed, making her chins wobble like a jelly. "Of course not, my dears! You don't buy wonderful items like that to add to your collection one day and sell them on again the next...well...unless the Ministry wants to visit for some reason."
"Precisely," chuckled Hermione.
In the very short time they'd been talking, Hepzibah was relaxed and at ease with her young guests, and flapped a hand to Hokey. "Tea for three!" she called, as the elf disappeared, presumably to the kitchen.
"Rose chose the necklace so, I of course had to find something to spend our money on too," said Ginny, looking for a way to get her own wand into smooth use. She used Accio to retrieve the silver dagger, from Hermione's bag. "This completely floored me, I had to have it!"
Ginny hovered the dagger in its jewelled scabbard using a levitation spell, making it turn slowly in the air, the jewels twinkling in the light. She slowly sent the dagger over to their host, so she could take a closer look.
"That's a beauty too!" said Hepzibah.
"And useful!" said Ginny, as she watched the portly woman take a careful look at the blade.
"Is that silver?" asked Hepzibah.
"Yes, and...," Ginny lowered her voice, conspiratorially. "It works on werewolves."
"Well, silver...hmm...of course," said the older woman, talking to herself as she studied the dagger.
"We hope we never have to use it, but it's nice to know it could be very handy as well as beautiful to own," said Ginny.
"Werewolves! Disgusting brutes; filthy things," said the Smith woman. "They need to be put down the moment they're found, even if they aren't in their changed form at the time."
Hokey walked in with a tray, holding a teapot, three flowery cups and saucers, a jug of milk and a bowl of sugar. The elf prepared a cup for each of them, offering sugar and milk if it was desired. Even the tea smelled flowery and distinctly like Earl Grey. Hermione made sure not to thank the elf or even give it eye contact. What she had seen of the elf so far made it likely to be of no threat, and that meant they could both work on the woman.
Hepzibah put the dagger back in its scabbard and Ginny hovered the item back to her own lap. "Hokey," said Hepzibah, as the elf handed her a cup of tea. "Go fetch that vase...the one with the gilt lining."
"Yes, mistress."
A short time later the elf brought in a small black chest, opened it on the coffee table in the middle of the room, and took from within it a white vase, which had a gold-gilt interior surface and one small blue, willowy flower painted on the outside. Hokey very carefully handed it to Hermione.
"This may look rather dull, next to your things, but this has been in my family for generations," said Hepzibah, taking a little slurp of tea. "It's a Ming Dynasty piece from circa 1400AD, and came into my family's possession before 1500. It belonged to a Chinese warlock. Very powerful."
"What properties does it have?" asked an admiring Hermione.
"Properties? We never were sure, but it has to be powerful," sniffed the older woman. "If it came from a warlock into the hands of a wizard ancestor of mine, I highly doubt it was used to store cut flowers!"
Ginny and Hermione made a point of studying the vase, holding it with very gentle care, and making a show of their admiration for the piece. Then they'd take a sip of tea before making it seem as though they were drawn back to the vase for another look. It also used up some time as their host rambled on about Chinese warlocks and the supposed journey the vase had made.
During the time they looked at the vase and listened with outward interest to Hepzibah, Ginny had glanced once or twice at Hokey, not seeing the signs that Hermione had. It made her feel very tired trying to absorb information and do all that they had to as well, but she was a little worried about her dream. What if the elf is a danger? What if that was what Harry was trying to make me see? I've got to concentrate...Hermione knows her way around elves, I have to trust to that...
"It's so sad that these items and their uses become lost to us," said Hermione. I'm going to try to get to deeper conversation now, she thought, we seem to already be comfortable with each other and are past the truly awkward phase. I'm glad that didn't really happen.
"I know," said Hepzibah. "Thank goodness for Borgin & Burkes."
"It's like the Ministry, telling people what we can and can't own," said Hermione, aiming the conversation. "Don't they realize they're destroying our very heritage?"
Ah, thought Ginny, trying to forget the elf now, it's starting! "Exactly!" the redhead said. "Everything they confiscate or decide isn't 'proper' is another attack on our own history! I know that some things can't be made available to just anyone, but to collectors...genuine collectors, it's frustrating!"
That's it, Ginny, thought Hermione, we're a true double-act! She had seen Ginny look a little pale once or twice since they arrived and seen her occasionally flick her eyes to Hokey, and guessed that she was wondering about the danger the elf might pose. She wished there was some way to tell her that everything was fine, but now they were getting into the reasons they were even in the house, she was relieved to see Ginny straight into the right mode.
"You have the right of it there!" Hepzibah nodded her agreement, making her chins wobble like a less than set blamange.
"It's why we like to meet up with other collectors...ones into buying the same type of items. Very soon these items will just be gone, lost forever!" said Hermione, so passionately that even Ginny believed her.
"I must say it's so pleasant to hear such young women as yourselves, talking so powerfully on the subject," said the older woman. "I sometimes think that when my generation and Borgin & Burkes' passes by, that it will truly be the end of it all."
"There are a few other young collectors we know," said Ginny, thinking of Draco Malfoy so that the small lie came across as genuine in expression. "Hopefully these wonderful artefacts won't all be lost or destroyed."
"I don't trust the Ministry's judgement, that's for sure," said Hermione, thoughtfully. "I mean, when they confiscate things, who is to say they don't just keep the items for themselves, and buy and sell between each other?"
"I have considered that myself," said Hepzibah, finishing her tea with the slightest of gurgles. "Especially the rarest pieces. They're supposed to be locked away safely...but does that just mean in some corrupt Ministry worker's own vault?"
"That's a definite possibility," agreed Hermione.
"That's horrid, to think of our lovely dagger, ending up locked away at the pleasure of some dodgy Ministry official! What a waste! What a...it's...it's annoying," Ginny deliberately stuttered, as if from worried disbelief and bubbling anger.
"You have to keep your artefacts safe, my dears," said Hepzibah. "You do keep things safe?"
"Yes, multiple protection," answered Hermione. "The thought of those items being taken away...is not nice. It's not the money, it's the actual items themselves, the principle of it."
Hepzibah seemed to come to a decision then. "Hokey! Fetch the locket! Quickly!"
Here we go, we're really getting into it, thought Hermione, desperate not to look at Ginny and give away any body language for the lady of the house to pick up on. For all intents and purposes, Hepzibah appeared to be an eccentric, rather soft old lady, but they didn't know just how good a witch she might be under that, or how observant.
A minute later Hokey came back with a little box. "Hand it to Rose or Gin," instructed the elf's mistress. The elf did so, then took the vase away back to its safe place.
Hermione took the box from the elf and simply inclined her head to the creature, before opening the item. It took all of Hermione's resolve not to gasp or drop the item she held; for there was the Locket. It was the very thing that became a horcrux and which she, Ron and Harry had searched for to then destroy. At least in her hands now, it held none of the menace it would do in the future, once converted to a vessel to hold part of Voldemort's soul.
Ginny recognized the locket too, having come across it when cleaning around Grimmauld Place, and she knew what it would become as well. She hoped any change in her facial expressions would be construed as awe.
"That looks very old?" questioned Hermione.
"Oh it is, I can assure you," said Hepzibah, proud of her locket.
"The jewelled 'S' almost looks like a snake?" Hermione probed further.
"It does, doesn't it? Almost comes alive in the light. I'm sure it was the property of the Slytherin line, Salazar himself, in fact," said the Locket's current owner.
"Really?" Ginny said, putting on an easy gobsmacked reaction.
The puffed up old lady was immensely enjoying showing off to the young ladies in her sitting room. "I would hate for just anyone to get their hands on that!"
"We feel honoured that you're showing it to us," said Hermione, smiling. "An item of Slytherin...a founder of Hogwarts."
Ginny reverently laid the Locket back into its box and Hepzibah flicked her hand in the air and Hokey whisked the box away again to its safe place.
"I hope you don't mind me bringing this up," began Ginny, already seeing an opening. "But we heard another rumour about you."
"Did you now?" laughed the old lady, making her whole body jiggle.
"Seeing that locket made me remember, we couldn't not ask, so forgive us if we heard wrongly," said Ginny, the very embodiment of politeness.
"Ask away, Gin," said a very at ease Hepzibah Smith.
"We heard that you have Helga Hufflepuff as an ancestor. Is that true?"
"Hahaha!" laughed Hepzibah, sounding more like someone after several glasses of sherry than a cup of Earl Grey. "It's true!"
"It is?" asked Hermione, expressing a little overt awe as well. "That's fantastic!"
"It is, isn't it?" the old lady grinned, smugly. "To have the blood of Helga in my veins makes one feel very special."
I think she has more than Helga's blood in her veins, thought Ginny, I think she has Helga's lifetime of meals in there too! "I feel even more pleased that we've been able to meet," said Ginny.
"You never know, my dear," said Hepzibah. "We might be related, you do have my hair colour."
Except mine is real and yours looks like it was created at a bakery, thought Ginny as she just smiled back sweetly, and thank goodness you never said we have the same figure!
"To be related to a great witch or wizard like that," said Hermione. "Incredible." Time to push a bit further, she thought. "I've always thought Helga was looked down upon and wrongly."
"I agree," said the old woman. "Just because she didn't have the unpredictability of Salazar and his tempers, or Rowena's constant babbling nonsense of logic, or Godric's infuriating boldness and rashness of so-called courage, they always thought she was dull and average."
"We never thought that," said Hermione. "When we were first at Hogwarts, we didn't mind which House we were sorted into. Each were worthy and with their own strengths. I've often thought that Hufflepuff were the most accomplished. They didn't have one or two stand-out qualities, they had many; so many, that the other houses wouldn't have accommodated them very well."
"That's a very interesting take on the subject," said a genuinely pleased Hepzibah. "Which House were you in?"
Hermione took the lead, and decided on the truth. "We were both in Gryffindor...yes the infuriating bold lot," she chuckled.
"Well, we had to be, didn't we?" laughed Ginny. "We're such impulsive buyers, and that's one thing Gryffindors always were and are, impulsive!"
Hepzibah gave another momentous peal of laughter. "Very good!" she laughed.
It felt a little odd for Ginny and Hermione to almost talk against their School House, but this was not a regular conversation and they had to make sure their host stayed sweet and the centre of attention.
"Now you've let us know about your connection to Helga, I think we can feel safe in showing you something," said Hermione, her pulse beginning to race slightly.
"That does sound intriguing," said Hepzibah, as she jiffled her enormous frame in her armchair.
Ginny felt her chest tighten a fraction, also now aware to how close they were to action.
Hermione held her wand poised over her beaded bag. "It almost certainly belonged to Helga herself," she said. "It was amongst Gin's old late aunt's things, when the house was cleared a few years ago." She used "Accio Cup" and the little golden Cup flew up into Hermione's hand.
Hepzibah became alert, her massive bulk slumping forwards with her like a tidal wave, as she spotted the object. "It can't be? It's not possible?"
"What isn't?" asked Ginny innocently.
"That cup!" Hepzibah squinted at it as Hermione held it. "Hokey? Hokey, go and fetch the Cup!"
Shit, it's coming, thought Hermione.
Buggering bollocks! thought Ginny, this is it...it's happening!
"Might I have a closer look?" asked the old woman.
"Of course," said Hermione, as she levitated it over to Hepzibah.
"I thought there was only one!" the older woman exclaimed. "And I thought I had it!"
"So, are you saying you have one similar?" Ginny asked vaguely, although inside she was nearly shaking with anticipation, and desperate not to show it.
"Yes, you'll see. Hokey, where is my Cup?" Moments later the little old elf staggered into the room with the box holding the cup. "Let them see it then!"
Hokey gave the Cup to Ginny. "Wow, it's identical!"
"It is!" exclaimed Helga. "And you say yours was in an old aunt's belongings?"
"Yeah," replied Ginny. "Where she got it from, I have no idea."
"A pair?" said the still bewildered and shocked Hepzibah, as her plump hands caressed the fake Cup. "I mean to say, a PAIR?"
"I hope we haven't upset you?" asked Hermione. "We had no idea you owned one too. We just thought a real descendant of Helga would like to see it."
"A pair?" the old woman kept muttering. "My goodness to think of it...a pair? Would you sell it to me?"
"I'm sorry, no," said Hermione. What did she say about not selling items off? She obviously forgets such things when she wants something herself! "As you know yourself, to own a piece belonging to a founder of Hogwarts, one of the greatest wizards or witches of their Age, it's too special to sell. Just to own it is an honour and not something to take lightly, at any cost."
"Yes, yes, I understand," said Hepzibah, a definite sadness and sense of disappointment in her voice. "Still, I'm thrilled you showed it to me, I'm very pleased to have seen it."
We're going to have to do this soon, thought Hermione, Ginny better be ready.
We get the fake back, thought Ginny, then the elf will take the real one away...we really need the real Cup with the elf still in the room.
Surprising Hermione only a little, Ginny took the lead. "We'll soon have to be on our way again," the redhead said, almost sighing.
"So soon?" asked Hepzibah, still holding the fake Cup greedily.
"Unfortunately we signed up to work with the muggles for their war, we've got to move on again, later today," replied Hermione.
"The way I hear it, that war is over?" offered the stout woman.
"We still have things to clear up, paperwork, or some useless thing they'll find for us to do," sighed Hermione.
"Borgin mentioned your work for the muggles in one of his letters, I wouldn't have bothered myself, but there, I'm not as young as I used to be. I wouldn't be much use in uniform," chuckled the old woman.
I don't know, thought Hermione, they could have used you as a barrage balloon above London!
"Well, you'll be wanting your Cup back, won't you?" asked Hepzibah, reluctantly. "Are you sure I can't buy it from you?"
"Sorry. We'd love to say yes, but it means so much to us," said Ginny, readying herself.
Hermione handed the real Cup back to Hokey, as Ginny received the fake one back from Hepzibah and put it into the beaded bag. It was then, just as the elf was putting the Cup back into its box, that Ginny made a point of looking out of a window, and Hermione could sense the action as if she had second-sight. "It's very foggy today," said Ginny, casually.
"Imperio!"
"Imperio!"
As planned, Ginny cursed Hepzibah and Hermione got to Hokey. As luck would have it, Hepzibah had fractionally turned to look to the window, and Hokey was turned to pack the Cup in the box. If any memories were ever retrieved, deliberately or inadvertently, then there would be no trace that any wand had been used against the pair, because they'd been looking away, and the curses were almost silent.
Straight away, the two young women sent their victims to sleep, with their eyes shut, making no sudden movements. The old lady's face had turned and had sunk into her chins and the elf swayed on the spot.
"That bit went well," said Ginny, wiping a small bead of sweat from her forehead. "Now let's switch this bugger!" She retrieved the fake Cup from their bag and put it onto the coffee table.
Hermione opened the box containing the real Cup and immediately put that one into her beaded bag. Then Ginny handed her the fake Cup and Hermione fitted it into the box.
"What were we doing just before the curses?" asked Hermione, concerned. "I don't remember, exactly...I was concentrating so hard on making sure I cursed Hokey properly...and then getting these things swapped?"
"I was looking out the window and you were looking at the elf; not that different to when we actually cast the spell," said Ginny, calmly. Then she gave Hermione a warm smile. "Everything's under control!"
"Right, ready to go back?"
"Let's get this finished!" said Ginny. Together and almost silently, they lifted the imperius curses.
"What was I saying?" muttered Hepzibah, awake again, swivelling her head round.
Ginny still looked out the window, casually, as if they hadn't just done what they had. "We were talking about how foggy it was today."
"That's right, we were. I like it. Adds atmosphere! Makes it feel like the old days!" said Hepzibah.
Hokey the elf, wobbled slightly as she lifted the box containing the now fake Cup, to carry it away again. But, there was nothing odd about a doddery old elf wobbling while carrying an object.
"Well, it has truly been marvellous to meet you," said Hermione rising to her feet. "A descendant of Helga too! Thank you so much for agreeing to see us."
"It was a pleasure, my dears," the old woman said. "It makes me sad that I don't have my own descendants to pass my things along to, just some greedy fringe relatives. Mind you, some offspring can be terrible, you can never know how children will turn out. But at least there's still young blood, like you two sweet girls, determined to save our magical heritage."
"Oh, and of course, we won't breathe a word about our visit," said Ginny. "Or what you have shown us. As I'm sure you won't say anything about us."
"No fear on that account," said Hepzibah. "It's a tough and sometimes dangerous world we have to inhabit on our quest for magical antiques. That's why I hesitated and had to have some assurance from Borgin before I agreed to our meeting."
Ah yes, thought Hermione wryly, and we all know how far we can trust Borgin!
"You will visit again, won't you?" asked Hepzibah.
"If you'd like us to?" replied Ginny.
"I've enjoyed this so much," said the old lady. "At my age, I don't get to see many people and certainly not trustworthy ones with my interests."
"If we have the time, or are in the area, we'll try to drop by," said Ginny, feeling both the urge to gag from the sickly sweetness of it all, but also a little ashamed of the lies too.
"Bring some more of your collection to show me," said Hepzibah. "I'd love to see some."
"Okay," said Hermione, as she went over to the woman and shook a rather podgy, sweaty hand. Ginny did the same.
It was obvious that Hepzibah rarely moved from her chair, when she called for her elf again. "Hokey, see our guests out, there's a good elf."
Ginny could almost feel her legs shake, the events catching up with her, and Hermione's heart was still beating faster than normal. They didn't know it yet, but they'd been at the house for over two hours, and tiredness was inevitable.
"Goodbye!" they both waved to the old lady, as they went into the hallway again, following the elf. Even now, Ginny was still making sure to see what Hokey was doing and that she was not about to turn on them. Ginny didn't think it was likely, but it didn't hurt to be alert.
Hokey opened the door and they calmly walked out the front door, down the garden path, through the gate, back into the fog and a few yards back down the street...it was then they allowed themselves to really breathe.
"Are you sure you didn't have some Felix Felicis?" asked Ginny. "That went better than planned!"
"Nope, it was just us working the magic." Then Hermione sighed, as they continued walking.
"What?"
"It was sad," replied Hermione, thinking guiltily about some of the thoughts she'd had in the house. "She's a bit of an old windbag, but it's terribly sad. She's lonely. She's basically only got Borgin & Burkes' friendship because of her money. No family, not any that care about her anyway. It really is a tragedy. And to end up as another of You Know Who's victims...so sad."
Ginny thought of some of the throw-away comments she'd had in her mind about Hepzibah, but in truth, she too felt sad for her now. She was disconcerted to find she felt more sympathy for their host today, than she ever had for Auntie Muriel. "We can't do anything about it. But at least we got our...work done, with minimal pain to anyone."
"Yes," said Hermione. "Were you feeling okay in there? I looked at you a couple of times and you looked really pale?"
"I didn't know that. I will admit I was worried about my dream and why Harry named the elf," said Ginny, tiredly. "It played on my mind that Hokey might be tricky or be the danger we underestimated."
"From early on, I could tell she wasn't a threat to us. I wondered if that was what you were thinking about. I wish I could have somehow told you it was okay and saved you some stress."
"Nevermind, it's done with," said Ginny, still feeling relief. "It's a shame we won't be using the tent. Are we going back to those hedges now?"
"I thought it was well hidden, so we can Apparate back to the House," said Hermione.
"I'm really tired, now," said Ginny, feeling the stress of the morning hit her.
"We can take a nap when we get back," said Hermione, as she linked her arm through Ginny's. "You were brilliant again today, even with all that stress. It's like we're completely tuned in to each other. You took action just as I was thinking about it."
"It felt the same for me," said Ginny. "And you were as brilliant as ever."
"Not far now," said Hermione, as they both tiredly walked down the road, taking the turning to reach the field with the hedges. The fog was definitely less at this end of the village.
"Hermione," said Ginny. "Let's Disapparate together, then if we both get sleepy we'll end up in the same ditch, at least!"
Hermione gave a little laugh in response, as they neared the hedges. There wasn't anyone in sight, not so much as a cow, sheep or chicken, so they didn't make a small Apparating journey into the field and Disapparated on the spot to the back garden of Dumbledore's house in Godric's Hollow.
"Oh god!" said Ginny suddenly, as they stood in the safe familiar garden again.
"What?" asked a nervous Hermione, worried that Ginny had got a little splinched or something.
"We've got to talk to Mrs. Fussy-Pants again!"
Laughing, Hermione and Ginny made their way into the house, ready to contact Dumbledore once more, via his waspish mother's portrait.
A/N: A little disclaimer to this chapter. There might be some people that take offence to my 'overweight' jokes/comments. I always think if you can't laugh at yourself then nothing is funny. I'm definitely not as overweight as Hepzibah, but I'm a six footer with curves...ie: human! I also personally like women with a bit of flesh on them. But the fact is, if you're bigger than the norm, taller or wider, or different from the average in any way, the comments and thoughts will always be there from others...a fact of life. It doesn't make it right, but it won't ever change much. So use it and own it first, before others can use it against you! I made myself smile writing this, so I'm hoping the readers out there will smile too.
