WELL EVERYONE! HERE IT IS! The Final Chapter to Hufflepuff Hazard! I know it's been a while and this chapter is a bit long, but at long last, I thank you all, my dear readers for your patience. Enjoy and let the magic guide you home

Chapter 14
Transfiguration, Final Prank, Family and Summer

June 9th, 1990
Library - Secluded Corner

The library was silent; save the scratching of quills on parchment and the hushed whispers of the Lot as they studied hard for their exams—their exams were in a week—Thomas and Clover had their noses in Potions books; Holly, Amos and Mia had theirs in Charms; Weave, Peter, Cedric and Irys had theirs in History of Magic; Jamie had his in a Defence tomb, he looked worse for wear, the full moon had been the night before, yet he was still determined to study for his exam and ace his Defence exam.

Annie was scribbling furiously on her parchment, her bright violet eyes looking from her parchment to the Transfiguration textbook propped up in front of her. Her pink tongue stuck out from the side of her mouth as she thought hard. She started scribbling again, then she thought once more, her quill tail tickled her nose and she sneezed; Clover and Irys giggled quietly when Weaver jumped in surprise. Jamie looked over his book and smiled at Anna. "Bless you,"

Anna smiled back at him. "Thanks Jamie," she then turned to her ebony haired friend, whom sat right next to her. "Sorry I scared you Weave, my fault," she giggled. "My quill tickled my nose, my bad." Everyone giggled and Anna joined in, they knew Anna was clumsy and had the tendency to tickle her nose with her quill when she wrote.

"It's all good Annie, but honestly, you just about gave me a bloody heart attack, nearly fell out of my chair." Weaver admitted, Anna giggled as did the rest of the girls; the boys chuckled. Anna heard two things then, she heard Jamie sniffing the air and Spirit jumped upon her shoulders and hissed at the entrance to their little sanctuary.

Jamie's eyes flashed a liquid gold as he looked over the Lot horrified. "Slytherins," he mouthed. Anna's wand was the first drawn as she cast a quick Muggle Repelling Charm around their sanctuary, they all heard the ascending footsteps approaching. Suddenly, Valeria, Justin and Travis appeared.

Anna felt Clover behind her and lent her best friend a hand in quietly seating herself beside the curly haired witch. Anna took Clover's hand and squeezed it to show support, Clover was grateful at least one of her friends knew her suffering. Anna quickly waved her wand and cast a strong Silencing Charm.

"Val, let's go, before Pince has our asses." Travis whined.

Val hissed at him. "Quiet, Bloodwell, I know they're here, I heard them giggling just a few seconds ago."

"They're twelve first year students," Justin said, he looked directly at Anna as though he knew she was there. "How do all twelve of them disappear from thin air? They aren't that skilled at magic yet."

"I don't care how bloody skilled they are, Justin! You know as well as I do that they have Cloud with them, that Mudblood knows N.E.W.T level jinxes and charms." Val huffed as she turned on her boyfriend and his best friend. "I saw them in here! I swear I did!"

The Lot was lucky for the strong Silencing Charms; when Val had called Anna a "Mudblood", all the boys had stood, their hands clenched into fists. Jamie's eyes were liquid gold and he was growling.

Anna let go of Clover's hand, stood up and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down; her eyes shifted to a bright lilac and the werewolf's eyes slowly shifted to their pale green hue, he whined and pulled her in for a hug, throwing another growl in the Slytherin's direction.

Travis stepped forward, standing up to her. "Give it a rest Val," he told her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go before we get in trouble." and with that Travis and Justin dragged Val away from the corner. Anna quietly made sure they were gone before she lifted the Charms.

The Lot was silent, all their studying and parchment forgotten; Jamie was still growling and the werewolf was the first to speak. "She had no right to call you that," he growled his eyes returning to liquid gold. Anna returned to him, her eyes still a bright lilac—at the sight of her eyes, James visibly calmed down—the werewolf's eyes slowly shifted back to normal and he let out a sigh as he hugged her once more.

"Jamie's right," Clover spoke up looking furious. "Earheart had no bloody right."

Anna turned around to face her friend; the curly haired witch was the only one out them all who was calm. "It doesn't bother me, they can call me a "Mudblood" all she likes." when Anna herself had said the word, the rest of the Lot looked shocked. "Oh don't act like it's an Unforgivable cause it's not. When I was younger my parents used to tell me an old Muggle saying when people would make fun of me for being different. "Sticks and stones may break my bones; but names will never hurt me." Earheart can call me a "Mudblood" all she likes, it doesn't hurt nor does it bother me; if she thinks that of me, then let her believe what she wants, she doesn't know me."

The witch finished her speech and the Lot said nothing just in case she wasn't done, when they realized she was done; Irys spoke up. "It may not matter to you, Annie, but it matters to us. Jamie and Clover are right, she had no right to call you that. That's the lowest a bloody snake can go, especially to us Hufflepuffs."

"She needs to be taught a lesson," Al spoke up, Anna gave him a look knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Yes, kitten, we're going to teach her a lesson. She's going to regret calling you that, now everyone come closer and here's what we're going to do . . ."

{~}

Dungeons - Slytherin Corridor

"Now everyone knows the plan?" Mia whispered, everyone nodded; Holly and Weave were practically bouncing with joy as to what they were about to do. "Alright Annie, go ahead."

Anna smirked and waved her wand over the empty wall in the dead end corridor. "There, it's done, now we wait." Anna put the same spell upon their corner with her strong Silencing Charm as the Lot waited, laughed and did whatever.

"Oh! Here they come!" Mia exclaimed after a while. "Annie, it's Val." Anna beamed and ran up front to join her friend.

"What's the password again?" someone asked.

"It's "Basilisk"—wait where's the door?" Val said bluntly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world before she looked around extremely confused.

"Did we take a wrong turn?" a third year girl with bright red hair asked.

"What's going on here?" a Slytherin Prefect appeared.

"We can't find the door," someone said sheepishly. "Should we get Professor Snape?"

"No! Do you think that git will be impressed when he finds out his entire fucking house can't locate their bloody Dorm." the Prefect snapped.

For the rest of the night, it took both Prefects working hard to keep the others from tearing one another apart, the prank had been so worth it in the end. When Snape arrived he got rid of Anna's Charms, yet didn't seem angry; he actually smiled as if recalling an old memory from his childhood and an old childhood friend.

The Lot was still hidden in their hidden corner, Anna's wand keeping her charms active; Jamie stepped forward his wand drawn as he helped her keep the wards up—just in case Snape turned on their corner and cast a "Finite!".

The Silencing Charms on their corner were weak; Holly, Weaver and Amos had their wands drawn and were doing their best to stabilize the charm. The Lot had to whisper in order to speak.

"Clover, point your wand to that wall," Anna whispered pointing to the wall behind them all, Clover did as she was told. "Ok now say the incantation: "Apperium."."

"Apperium." Clover whispered and the wall opened to show a secret passageway.

"All of you take it, it leads to the kitchens," Anna told them, her whispering urgent.

"Annie we're not leaving—" Anna cut Jamie off with her free hand, silencing the werewolf.

"Go." she said firmly no longer whispering. "I can't hold it much longer." she whispered once more. They did as told, the Lot ran through the passage. "Go Jamie. Hurry." she whispered to the werewolf whom was rooted to the spot, his wand still helping hers keep the wards up. "Hurry, it won't stay open forever," she gave him a look of urgence and her eyes flashed a molten silver, a colour he'd never seen before. He nodded firmly and ran, he ran through the passage and it closed behind him.

When Anna turned towards the Slytherin Corridor; only Snape remained. He was looking directly at the corner, directly at her. She lowered her wand and the wards disappeared with it. She became fully visible to him and—much to her surprise—he smiled at her. "The little vixen, you are." He smiled at her. "Come." he told her; his voice not monotone nor low, but sincere and somewhat joyful.

She silently followed him, her head low; she knew she was in trouble, but Snape didn't look like he was upset with her like he would've been if the rest of the Lot would've stayed. She knew he would've given the rest of the Lot detention for the first month of next year, which is why she told everyone to run—except her—she knew Snape was fond of her, for an unexplained reason, maybe it was because she excelled at his class, or because she was never late, or maybe because Minnie forced him to be nice to her—whatever the reason—she would never know, maybe one day she'd find out, but for now she knew not.

{~}

Potions Classroom - Snape's Office

When the office door closed loudly behind her; she jumped in surprise, Spirit layed on her shoulders, having found her owner trailing behind her Potions Professor looking defeated and in trouble. The fluffy feline had bounded from the floor to her little witch's shoulders and purred, Anna smiled sadly at her favourite feline and returned her gaze to the ground, her smile fading.

"Sit down," Snape told her, gesturing the chair in front of his desk; she sat down and removed Spirit from her shoulders. Snape looked startled at the feline, having not noticed her before, he smiled at the feline after examining her from afar for a moment. The eyes are different, he thought to himself in a defeated sigh.

Upon hearing her Professor sigh, the witch spoke up. "I know I'm in trouble Professor, I did it all on my own," she lied, her eyes flashed green. Snape recognized the shift and knew she had lied, but said nothing about it. "I did, what I did to teach one of your Housemates a lesson for calling me a "Mudblood"," Anna added and Snape winced at the word and how easily the little Muggle-born witch had said it. Anna noticed the word bothered her Professor. "It doesn't bother me Professor, but she still needed to be taught a lesson. I thought maybe pranking the entire House would've been a good enough lesson." the little witch finished, her expression blank as she stroked her felines head; the sound in the room was only of Spirit purring.

Snape thought it over for a moment before he spoke. "My dear, what was the charm you used to do your prank and to hide yourself?"

Anna let a small smile appear on her lips, it disappeared a moment later. "A Muggle Repelling Charm with a simple Notice-Me-Not, sir."

Snape nodded, impressed. "Wise choice, yet very impressive, I daresay, especially for a first year. My dear, those two charms have never been used together, much less for a simple prank that exceeded even my expectations. You are not in trouble my dear, but don't let me catch you doing it again. You may go."

Anna looked at her Professor, shocked. "B-but Professor, you won't dock points or give me a detention?"

Her Professor shook his head with a smile. "No my dear, in fact you reminded me of an old friend from when I attended Hogwarts as a boy, you always have reminded me of her."

Anna smiled then. "What was her name?" she asked, her 11 year-old curiosity getting the best of her.

He smiled. "Vixen," he sighed in content as though thinking of an old, distant and favoured memory. "You remind me of her, from the moment I met you, you've reminded me of her." he added and Anna smiled.

"You can call me Vixen, if you want Professor, it doesn't bother, I'm honoured to remind you of her." she said and Snape thought it over before nodding. "I like making you smile, it seems you haven't smiled in a while. Good day Professor." she added before she left the office, Spirit in her arms.

Snape sighed in content, smiling. "Good day, Vixen." he said to the empty office.

{~}

Kitchens

When Anna entered the kitchens with Spirit, and was immediately drowned by the Lot with questions.

"Did you get detention?" Jamie was the first to speak up, he hadn't wanted to leave her, but the urgency in her tone when she'd told him to go, forced him to go and when he had wanted to turn around the wall had sealed itself shut and he couldn't open it again.

"Did he yell at you?" Al asked, examining the curly haired witch up close. She simply smiled at him and gave a little giggle.

"How many points did he dock?" Peter squeaked—he squeaked when he was either scared or nervous—, he must've been both; since he got 150 Points to Hufflepuff for properly answering and explaining Witch Burnings in History of Magic.

"How much trouble are you in?" Irys and Clover asked nervously together, the unison of words at the same time didn't make them laugh anymore; it was quite a normality now.

"Was he furious?" Weaver asked nervously; hoping to Merlin her best friend didn't suffer from the Professor's wrath; having already met it several times over the year.

"Why are you laughing?" Anna was indeed laughing as she shook her head.

"I'm not in trouble," she told them as she sat down on one of the stools. Winky and Tilly immediately appeared with breakfast for her, the rest having eaten after they ran through the passage. Winky and Tilly simply smiled at the Lot and said nothing. The rest of the Lot was either gobsmacked, shocked or confused. Anna giggled, "He didn't yell, I didn't get detention, he didn't dock points, he was actually impressed." Anna laughed in triumph.

"What do you mean by; "He was actually impressed."?" Tommy spoke up in confusion, Anna looked at him, she was beaming.

"He told me, I actually exceeded his expectations, especially as a first year. The two charms I put together to hide us and the Slytherin Entrance to their Common Room and Dorms, have never been used together, especially for something as simple as a House-Wide prank. He let me off with a warning and told me his expectations were exceeded." The Lot smiled at Anna then and they celebrated their victory at an end of the year prank.

June 13th, 1990
Hufflepuff Common Room - Girls Dormitory

Anna woke up to find the dorm empty, she checked her watch to find it was well past nine. She sprang out of bed and got her uniform on, she was about to walk out the Dormitory door when she heard the familiar "Hoot!" of an owl, she turned and beamed at the beautiful barn owl perched on her bed post.

She stroked the owls feathers. "Hello Luna," she said softly; she looked down and found a small envelope attached to the birds leg. She rid the owl of her post and filled up the small water dish upon the headboard; Luna silently flew to the dish and drank. Anna read the front of the letter and gave a small "Oh!" she recognized the penmanship anywhere. "Mum." she whispered as she tore the envelope open and the letter fell upon her bed.

Anna quickly picked it up and read.

Dear Tassiyanna,
I know it's been a while since I've written to you, I've been gone on business out of the country and just arrived home only an hour ago and found Luna and a bunch of letters from you. I truly am sorry for not telling you about my trip, but it was urgent and I had no time to write. I had to leave immediately. I hope school is going alright. Minerva just sent me a letter telling me that your first year is almost up. She will be dropping you off by Floo, whatever that means, on the 22nd. I miss you darling, I'll see you soon.

Loves,
Mum

June 20th, 1990
Transfiguration Classroom - Transfiguration Exam

"Avifors." Anna said as she pointed her pinewood wand to the small vase, it instantly transformed into a little blue bird, it chirped at the little witch happily as though saying 'Thank You.' She beamed at the little bird and held out her finger, the little bird hoped on her finger and Anna smoothed out the feathers on the side of the little blue jays head, it chirped happily in response and nipped at her fingers affectionately.

"Well done, Miss Cloud," McGonagall smiled down at the little witch, whom beamed up at the old witch. "You may keep the bird, but remember, don't lose her or your grade will suffer. I'm only warning you dear, don't worry. Just don't lose her. You may go," Anna nodded and gave Minnie a final smile before she left the office with the little bird on her shoulder.

The door closed behind the little witch only to open once more a moment later. "What about Spirit, Minnie? She already doesn't like Luna, if Luna were this size," she held up the little bird. "Spi would've ate her. She'll eat this one." Minerva thought it over for a moment before she nodded in agreement.

Minerva waved her wand over the little bird, it shimmered for a moment before it became normal once more. "There," Minerva smiled. "Now if she tries to eat her, she won't be able to, don't worry dear, it won't hurt her."

Anna beamed. "Thanks Minnie." the little witch said thoughtfully as she took her seat once more and let the rest of the Lot do their exam. Naturally, Irys, Holly, Amos and Jamie aced it right along with Anna, Irys' bird was black and white was no bigger than a chickadee; Jamie's was a golden yellow and resembled a canary; Holly's was a dark red and resembled a cardinal; Amos' resembled a mini hawk—Anna gasped at the sight of it "That's a baby hawk owl!" she exclaimed—. Mia, Al, Peter and Weaver had almost aced it, Minerva smiled at them anyways happy with their almost-success; either way she was proud of all of them.

{~}

Hufflepuff Common Room

"Here Weave," Thomas smiled shyly as he handed her a small—no bigger than his hand— solid black semi-acceptable wrapped present with a beautiful golden bow. "This one's from me, wrapped it myself manually because I couldn't find a charm to help. I hope you like it."

She took it from him with a shy smile. "Thanks Tommy," she opened it and opened the little box inside and gasped before she pulled out a silver chain with a bronze Beaters bat and Bludger as the pendant. She immediately put it on and hugged him tightly. "I love it!" The Lot heard her whisper as he hugged her back just as tight.

Suddenly, Holly squealed with excitement and the Lot turned to catch her flinging her arms around Amos' neck, his hawk coloured eyes closed as he hugged her back, his face suddenly buried into the crook of her neck. Jamie hugged Anna from behind, her arms came up and wrapped around his neck, his nose went to her neck and he silently inhaled the scent that was chocolate, orchids and Sugar Quills; the scent that was her, he loved giving her hugs because he loved the scent that reminded him so much of home.

Anna and Jamie hadn't told anyone about their kiss, neither kiss; not their first nor their recent. The Lot may share many things, but everyone has their secrets, they mostly shared them with Anna, so Anna knew most of the Lots biggest secrets, she kept them and knew where as well as when not to give advice or show support.

Anna knew that Weaver had been rejected by Fred and was now crushing on Thomas and Thomas returned the infatuation.

She knew that Clover was infatuated with a Slytherin, the very same Slytherin that was dating the witch that had called her a "Mudblood".

She knew that Al hated his home life and she gave him comfort and showed support whenever he got a new letter from them, the rest of the Lot didn't know why Al would break down the moment a new letter with the silver cursive writing that Anna had become accustomed with and knew it was his mothers.

She knew that Jamie loved Chocolate Frogs and kept a secret stash under his bed for the nights before, during and after the full and new moons; for the nights he couldn't sleep.

It was the Sprout Twins birthday, the Lot was celebrating it in their Common Room, the rest of the Hufflepuffs were allowed to attend the party, but not many showed up, the fair few that attended were Tonks, Emma Stone, Mya Stein, the entire Mischiefous Lot, the Weasley Twins even attended—with Anna's invitation of course—, Travis Bloodwell was present as well—due to Anna once again; the pair had become good friends when they had a run in with one another one night, both had been snooping around the corridors at night and Anna had saved both their hides when they heard Filch coming around a corner, Anna had panicked and dragged him down a secret passage, the pair had been good friends ever since—, even The Fat Friar was floating around the Common Room happily.

The day couldn't have been better, the Lot were having a blast, especially the Sprout and Weasley Twins, whom all decided to shoot loads of Fire Bangers out the window and into the evening sky.

The sky exploded in a sea of various colours, it truly was beautiful; Anna was sitting on a fat yellow window cushion, looking out the window as she absentmindedly pet the fluffy black feline in her lap, she felt Jamie behind her as she watched the fireworks. She felt him sit behind her, his arms wrapped around her neck hugging her from behind as the pair together watched the night sky explode with colour; she sighed in content and smiled. This really was a fine first year, Minnie; as always, you were right, she thought to herself as the sky exploded with a gold and silver big finish Fire Banger, it was beautiful, then as quickly as it had come, the sky faded to black once more as the stars continued to light up the night, the waning crescent was high in the sky, fading out a few stars.

June 22nd, 1990
119 Pebble's Trail Cottage - Residence of Charles, Mary and Tassiyanna Cloud

The fire erupted into green flames, Mrs Cloud jumped out of her chair with a slight yelp of fright, but instantly calmed when she saw Minerva and her beloved daughter step out of the flames. "Mummy!" Anna exclaimed as Spi jumped off her shoulders and the little witch ran to her mother having missed her dearly, Mary looked at the cat and smiled, she beamed at her daughter and caught her midair, spun her around and hugged her tightly.

"Oh my baby!" Mary said as she showered her daughter's face with kisses, before she gave her daughter a big kiss on the forehead, like Elinor from Brave with Merida at the end of the movie, when Anna had been younger she loved that movie and wanted to learn archery, she knew some, like how to shoot and not loose the arrow, but she couldn't hit every target like Merida could.

Her father still wasn't home yet, but in that moment she didn't care, she was home. When her mother set her down, Anna turned and ran to Minnie; hugging the witch tightly. "I'll miss you Minnie, see you on the 1st of August." Minnie smiled thoughtfully and kissed the little witches head. The little witch beamed up at her Professor and jumped slightly when she heard her mother make a small yip of surprise when Spirit jumped upon the Muggle's shoulders and purred happily.

{~}

July 28th, 1990
119 Pebble's Trail Cottage - Residence of Charles, Mary and Tassiyanna Cloud

As Anna layed on her stomach in front of the hearty fire in the sitting room as Spirit purred and rested on the little witches back, Anna scribbled a birthday letter for Al. The little witch couldn't conceal her excitement about returning to Hogwarts within the week, August the first couldn't come any faster.

Dear Al,
Happy birthday love, I do hope they're treating you well over there. You know I'm here if you ever want to talk. Mum and I are doing well, I hope you and your younger brother are doing alright with your Mum and all. I sure do hope you like your present.

Can't wait to see you and everyone else.

Love,
Anna

As Anna struggled to her feet after she managed to shake Spi of her back, she made her way over to Luna, whom was perched in her cage—the cage door wide open, in case the barn owl wanted to stretch her wings—. Anna tied the letter and a small parcel to the owl's leg and addressed the letter to Al; the beauty gave the witch an affectionate nip on the ear, stretched her large brown wings and took flight out the open window into the fading of the sunset.

Spirit appeared on Anna's shoulders and the last thing that came to the young girl's mind was: What will next year be like? . . .

~ The End ~
~ But This is Only The Beginning ~

Quick A/N: I'd like you all to know that I will be continuing with the storyline and that Anna will keep seeing Minnie each August 1st and will whisk the young witch away to Hogwarts to see her friends and learn more. Just because this part of the story is over, doesn't mean that it's over for good. We still have six more years to go! Loves, T. T. Zoldy