Disclaimer – This story is based on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J.K.Rowling. Anything you recognise is hers. Anything you don't is mine. Simple!
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In the name of Helga: Year One
shewhodares
The Feast
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As Dumbledore sat down, cheers arose from all corners of the Hall. Even the Slytherins clapped – although this may have been for the arrival for the food than for their Headmaster.
The food itself appeared magically on platters every foot or so along the table – huge, steaming tureens full of vegetables were accompanied by massive joints of succulent roast pork, tender roast beef that glistened in its juice and lamb smothered with tangy mint sauce. There were potatoes cooked in every way possible, but mostly rich, full to the brim gravy boats in the shape of swans, trays piled high with chicken legs and for reasons known only to the kitchen staff – humbugs. Mint ones. What on earth they were for was anyone's guess.
For a minute or so, it all went quiet as the astonished new students buried their plates with the main course and began to tuck in. If this was what all the food was like at Hogwarts, they'd be needing plenty of exercise to keep fit. The excited chatter soon resumed, however, when Sally-Anne decided to try an experiment.
"I'm dying to know why they put humbugs in with all of this savoury stuff. Seems a bit weird to me."
"Does anything about this place not seem weird?" Ernie reasoned.
"Good point."
"Hey, they might be magic. Dare you to try one!" said David, a glint in his eye.
"I know that look – do you know what they are?"
"Might do!"
Sally-Anne sighed with an air of mock resignation. "Alright then, seeing as you're too much of a wuss to try it yourself – "
"Am not!"
"Try one then! Same time as me!"
They each picked a humbug from the pyramid in the centre of the table and eyed it suspiciously.
"One, two, three!"
The sweets were quickly thrown into their mouths, causing them to gasp as the sharp flavour of the mint spread over their tongues.
"It's, it's, it's cold!" Sally spluttered. "It's, ooh! Look!"
Appearing on the table in front of them were more platters – this time of quiches, savoury tartlets and funny looking pastries in the shape of cauldrons. The new Hufflepuffs were baffled – and remained so when their Head Girl exclaimed in surprise.
"So that's the trigger!"
For a few seconds, there was silence.
"What are you on about?" said Verity, her eyes narrowing. "The trigger for what?"
"For the vegetarian meals!" Kat cried, her bright eyes shining as she smiled. "They only started making them when I was a first-year, but they never told us how to get them!"
"So what have you been eating for the past six years?"
"What everyone else has, silly!"
Verity slowly shuffled along the bench away from her friend. "You're really starting to scare me, you know that?" she said, before whispering to the group in a voice just loud enough for Kat to hear – "You might have to keep an eye on her. She might be Head Girl, but she's not entirely sane." Her words were received with a smattering of giggles from the Hufflepuff Ten, and a friendly cuff round the ear from Kat.
"Oi! That was uncalled for!"
"No it wasn't." Kat finished her main course with a swallow and gestured with her fork to the roof above them, where the Fat Friar was happily floating about with the Grey Lady – the ghost of Ravenclaw House. "Do you think we should ask the Friar to come down and sit with us? He could have a chat with this lot!"
From the far end of the table, Rebecca's tiny voice piped up. "Who's the Friar?"
"The Fat Friar - our house ghost. You'll see him about the castle for the next seven years, so you'd better start getting to know him now." Kat replied with a sigh. "He's a right softy when it comes to this House. I'm going to miss that, actually."
Rather conveniently, the Friar had chosen this point to break off his conversation and focus his attention on the students below. Hearing his name, he waved his arms with excitement and glided downwards, coming to a stop a foot above their heads. He crossed his legs as if sitting down, and beamed at the dazzled youngsters. "So, these are our new students, Miss Kiely?" The Fat Friar was always polite.
"Yes, Friar. Shall I introduce them?"
"Ooh, please!" he said, as if nothing would delight him more. "Please do!"
"Right" Kat paused, deciding where to begin. "We've got Hannah, Rachel, Susan, Rebecca and Justin on this side, and over there" – she gestured again with her fork – "we've got Julian, Ernie, David, Sally-Anne and Antony. I think they'll do Hufflepuff proud, Friar."
"I'm sure they will!" he grinned cheerfully. "Do you all know each other yet?"
Ten people shook their heads.
"Come, come, we can't have that! Why don't you all introduce yourselves properly? That'll be nice!"
Ernie and Rachel exchanged a look across the table. "Well" Ernie said, "me and Rachel live next door to each other back home, don't we? Um, all our families were Hufflepuffs, I don't think we've had any relatives in another house."
"Speak for yourself" Rachel retorted. "Great-Aunt Bathilda was in Ravenclaw!"
"Ah yes, Bathilda Bagshot! I remember her – wanted to write books for a living, I believe!" the Friar recalled.
"She wrote our History of Magic textbook" said Rachel. "Can't say I've read it yet, though."
"Oh, I'd be careful not to say that to Professor Binns then, if I were you" chortled the elderly monk. "Once he sees your surname on the register, he'll assume you're an expert on the subject! Pity it had to be History your great-aunt was interested in, it's a frightful bore!"
"Not unlike Binns himself" murmured Verity, giving Rachel a sly wink.
"So, is your aunt really famous then?" inquired Sally-Anne, who was particularly awe-struck at the notion of having powerful magicians in the family.
"I'd say she's more well-respected than famous" was Rachel's answer. "She's like most witches, really – not the type to look down on someone just because they're from a non-magic background. So how did you find out you're a witch?"
Sally-Anne shrugged her shoulders. "You tell me. I was in the car going to see my step-dad –"
"You've got a car?" Ernie cried. "Wow!"
"Ssh!" Rachel said, kicking him in the shin. "What happened?"
"An owl followed us for a few miles before we knew it was there. It gave me my Hogwarts letter and flew off again. First thing I'd ever heard about it, really."
"That's kind of like what happened to me" Justin declared. "Except for the bit about the car."
"So your parents aren't magical either?" Sally-Anne asked.
"No" he replied firmly, shaking his head and his loose brown curls with it. "Mum and Dad wanted me to go to Eton – that's a private school in London" he added, seeing the blank looks on the faces of Ernie, Rachel, Susan and Julian, "but instead of getting a letter from them, I got one from Hogwarts. Simple as that."
Susan Bones shook her head in amazement. "That must have been so weird for you!" she said. "I don't know how I would have felt."
"Ah, of course – a Bones!" cheered the Fat Friar, clapping his pudgy hands together. "I suppose you've always known about our world, have you?"
Susan responded that she had. "Thing was, I was terrified that I'd still get rejected and let all my family down – every one of them came to Hogwarts!"
"I totally know how you feel" said Julian sympathetically, as students across the Great Hall began to get up and move between tables, visiting friends and relatives in other houses. "All my family's magical, and I honestly thought I was a Squib for a minute, the owl took so flipping long to come!"
Susan took a sip from her goblet of pumpkin juice and contemplated what Julian had just told her. "Do you have any brothers or sisters here? I only had a cousin, but she graduated last year. I'm on my own."
Julian grimaced. "A brother. Alan. He's alright, but he teased me all summer about ending up in Slytherin and the whole family hating me, or something like that."
"I knew my ears were burning!"
A tall, thin boy of about fourteen approached the Hufflepuff table, wearing robes trimmed with Gryffindor red and gold. He smirked at Julian and stood behind him, ruffling his hair. "I do wish you'd give me warning when you're going to talk about me, brother. It's only fair I can defend myself, after all."
"Should have thought of that – you Gryffindors are into defence and all that stuff, aren't you?" Julian shot back, sticking his tongue out at the visitor. "Everyone, this is my pain-in-the-backside of a brother, Alan."
"Nice to meet you all" he said, acknowledging his brother's housemates. "Seriously though, don't give me stick for being in Gryffindor!"
"Mum and dad did."
"Ooh, touché! The hat just decided it was about time someone bucked the family trend, is all."
"Says the one! You told it not to put you in Hufflepuff!"
"Damn, how did you figure that one out?" Alan replied cheekily, patting his brother on the shoulder before turning to look at the Head Table. "I'd better be getting back, looks like they're about to make the last announcements. Good luck anyway, I'm glad you got in here. You and the Gryffindors have loads in common – but I'll let you find out what for yourself."
Those were the last words he said before heading over to rejoin Gryffindor at the table on the far left. He hadn't been in his seat for more than a few seconds before Dumbledore himself rose, causing the whole school to calm down in silent awe.
"Just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you. First of all, I would like to announce the names of our esteemed Head Boy and Girl. If they would like to stand up when I have called their name - your Head Boy, from Ravenclaw House, is Mr Ryan Malloy!"
Two tables over, the students burst into a roar of approval, something the Hufflepuffs thought was the closest the dignified Ravenclaws would ever come to going really wild. At the top of the table amongst their new first years, a very good looking boy stood up, struggling to contain the huge grin that was threatening to expand across his face. His hair, appropriately, was as black as a raven's wing, and short – as could be seen when he tried to sneak a look at the Hufflepuff table without being noticed.
Dumbledore spoke again.
"And your Head Girl, from Hufflepuff House, is Miss Kat Kiely!"
Kat, it seemed, was as desperate to contain her pride as Ryan had been. Pandemonium broke loose on the announcement – with the eruption of applause so loud it nearly lifted the enchanted ceiling – but concerned with fixing her now truly collapsed bun, she barely noticed the pleased grin on her fellow Head Student's face.
"Yes, thank you everyone" Dumbledore said, smiling kindly. "The rest of the staff and I are certain that Mr Malloy and Miss Kiely will do an excellent job. You may sit down, now."
They obliged, with Kat seemingly glad to be out of the spotlight for a while.
"Also, first years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
"I wonder who he could be talking about" said Kat dryly, as Dumbledore glanced at the Gryffindor twins who had been catcalling Lavender Brown.
"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between the classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."
"Pity first-years can't have brooms" grumbled Ernie. "I would have tried out otherwise."
"Finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
"That's a new one" said Kat, clearly puzzled. "Wonder what that's all about."
"I'm not bothered about that" replied Verity. "I'm just gonna remember it for when I try and murder Professor Snape."
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore bellowed. Picking up his wand, he deftly conjured a lengthy golden strip that formed itself into some rather bizarre lyrics. "Everyone pick their favourite tune, and away we go!"
At different paces and volumes, the school burst into song.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts"
The three girls sitting in the middle of the group, Rachel, Rebecca and Susan, sang like an old Muggle blues group – finger clicks and all.
"Teach us something please!"
Julian picked up their tune, and deliberately sang in a low, gravelly voice, which made them all laugh.
"Whether we be old and bald, or young with scabby knees"
Ernie, Antony and David shouted the words at the top of their voices, aiming to cause as much noise as humanly possible.
"Our heads could do with filling with some interesting stuff, for now they're bare and full of air, dead flies and bits of fluff!"
The remaining three – Justin, Hannah and Sally-Anne – could only sing faintly has they attempted to restrain impending giggles.
"So teach us things worth knowing, bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest, and learn until our brains all rot!"
On the last line of the song, the Hufflepuff singers finished with a flourish, and breathed in sharp, shallow bursts as they waited for the rest of the school to catch up. Over at Gryffindor, some students took almost a minute to complete their song, but it was such a success that Dumbledore himself appeared to be their biggest fan.
"Music!" he cried, looking as though he'd enjoyed himself more than anybody. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
There was a sudden rush as the older students left their seats and exited the Great Hall. When the crowd had diminished, leaving only some Prefects and a few stragglers, the new Hufflepuffs rose from their places and followed Kat through the heavy double doors.
The Seventh Year turned left upon reaching the Entrance Hall, where they had left the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws behind. The stone-floored corridor was lined with oaken panelling, which looked dark and gloomy in the night-time candlelight.
"Hang on a sec" Kat said, gesturing for them to move to the side of the hallway as the Slytherin first years passed, accompanied by their prefect. "Let this lot through. Evening, Dippet" she quipped, addressing the menacing looking Slytherin boy with a nod of her head.
"Kiely" Dippet replied, leading his charges past with only a thin-lipped smirk by way of acknowledgement.
"That was rude!" Justin said angrily, his instilled sense of etiquette kicking in. "What was that all about, anyway?"
"Probably doesn't want us to see where they're going. Each House's living quarters are in a different part of the castle, you see – well, they might be. They could all be next to each other for all we know. The important thing is that the entrances are hidden."
"Really? By magic?" Hannah's eyes flew open in surprise. It seemed that this castle had more hidden secrets than she'd first thought.
"Sort of. There's a password, anyway." Kat paused. "Ernie – have they all gone?"
Ernie checked. "They've just turned right and gone down some sort of sloping corridor."
"The dungeons! I knew it!" Kat laughed, clenching her fist in triumph. Seeing the blank looks on their faces, she explained. "Professor Snape is the Head of Slytherin, and his classroom is down in the dungeons. Makes sense that their common room's going to be down there." She sighed. "Still took me seven years to figure it out, though".
Satisfied that the Slytherins were well out of sight, Kat turned and faced one of the wall panels. "See this panel here? Remember it." She felt the smooth wood beneath her long fingers, as if hunting for something. "Got it." Pressing down on a slight indentation, she stood back again as the panel slid away – just like the compartment doors had done on the train. The First Years were quickly ushered through the gap that appeared, and the panel shut behind them with a soft thud.
They were in some kind of ante-chamber, which clearly wasn't used to holding so many people, as the group had to huddle together to avoid being squashed against the wall. Ahead of them was another doorway – but Kat didn't lead them through it. Instead, she led them towards and down a steep spiral staircase that was tucked away in the corner. The patter of many leather shod feet echoed in the confined space of the granite stairwell, which itself appeared to go down at least fifty feet. Upon reaching the bottom – where there was another darkened corridor - the Head Girl stopped to allow the remainder of the tired youngsters to catch up, and drew her wand from underneath her robes.
"Lumos".
Suddenly bathed in warm, yellow light, the students could see two more entranceways – separated from each other by fifteen feet of blank stone. One was covered in a giant painting of a bowl of fruit (which they were later informed was the entrance to the kitchens – information they were told to keep to themselves), the other, not unlike the cliff-face through which they had entered Hogwarts, was a thick curtain of ivy. Strangely, it could sense the presence of people, and the middle strands formed themselves into a twisted, gnarled mouth.
"Password?"
Muggle born Justin and Sally-Anne would have fainted in shock, had they not seen the antics of the Sorting Hat earlier that evening.
"Brassica oleracea".
With that, the ivy gathered itself up and drew away sideways, like a thick curtain, and having nervously edged past it, the new Hufflepuffs got their first glimpse of what would be their common room for the next seven years.
The Sett, as it was known, began with a fat rectangular shaped chamber, complete with a domed ceiling. Being underground, it was surrounded completely by earth – although you wouldn't know it, as the floor and ceiling were lined with wooden paving, and the walls with the same solid granite that made up the staircase. Dotted about the place were groups of armchairs and tables, vases of flowers and greenery on each one.
In the centre of the room stood a little marble-topped coffee table, surrounded on three sides by comfy looking brown leather sofas. On its other side was the fireplace, where a ball of flames burned in the grate. Though what they were feeding from, and where the smoke was going, was a completely mystery. Their light bounced off the walls, sending speckles of colour across the bright yellow tapestries that hung there.
Spanning the entire length of the room, one of them depicted a pretty woman with hair that fell in red waves across her shoulders, smiling as she reclined on a sofa. Curled up at her feet was a badger that looked out them all with eyes almost human like in expression. The others showed the Hufflepuff crest – the very one that they would soon sport on their robes – and a writing desk, no-one sitting there, yet with a quill inked and poised.
At the Head Girl's request, the older students had left for bed early, so the first-years could become accustomed to their new surroundings, and the silence, marred only by the crackling of the fire, was overwhelming. Falling out of their single file, they followed her to a door that was cut into the granite next to the fireplace.
The dormitories.
"Welcome", Kat began in a light and airy voice, "to the Sett. Your home for the next seven years, so hopefully you'll like it. This is the room where we're all supposed to do our homework when not in the library, but normally ends up being used for parties instead."
David snickered in appreciation.
"The plants are symbolic. Our Head of House is Professor Sprout, who teaches Herbology. She's brilliant at what she does, and encourages everyone to do try and be the same. It's hardly surprising that plenty of Hufflepuff graduates leave with honours in her subject – despite what certain people say about us."
If she didn't have their attention before, she did now.
"Yeah – the Hufflepuff reputation. Most of you have either come from Muggle families or families where the majority of people were in Hufflepuff, which is great because you were more open minded to what being one of us meant. You actually listened to the Sorting Hat. Thing is, from certain quarters there's a lot of prejudice. I implore you – don't listen to it."
Kat breathed in deeply before continuing.
"People accuse us of being boring or useless. Why? Being in Hufflepuff is great. You heard what the Hat said. We're just. If justice and fairness didn't exist, there wouldn't be a shred of happiness anywhere in the world. We'd live in a pretty miserable place."
"We're loyal. True, some people claim to be loyal when they're just sheep. But true loyalty – what we all have – is hard to find. It means you value your friendships and relationships enough to do what's right by others. Do you realise how difficult that is? It's just as brave and noble to be loyal as it is to go off and save the world. Respect Gryffindors for what they do. But remember that loyalty is the glue that holds our lives together."
"Then there's people who claim that we're just duffers. That we're not very bright. That's another idea you can throw out the window. If you work hard enough, you get what you fully deserve. Whether that's full marks or half marks or whatever, being the best you can be is what counts. So don't begrudge the Ravenclaws their ability – but remember that you can be as good as them at something, if only you try."
"I suppose you've heard that all Slytherins are evil, too?"
The eleven year olds in front of her nodded.
"Forget it. Slytherin House might have produced some awful Dark Witches and Wizards, but if you tar them with the same brush, you're just as bad as we're told they are. We're Hufflepuffs, remember, that kind of behaviour is not what we're about. There's nothing wrong with ambition and cunning – as long as it's held in balance, and as long as it's used for good."
"Last term, we had a massive party down here. Thing was, we were a bit too loud and Filch reported us. Professor Snape taunted us for weeks in Potions – saying we'd got detentions for nothing, why bother celebrating when we'd done nothing special? After all, we haven't won the Quidditch Cup for ten years, and the House Cup for fifteen. But you know what? In Hufflepuff, we don't need any of that. It's nice, but it's not everything. We love our history, we love our friends, and most of all – we love life. That's the best thing of all to celebrate."
Leaving them to think about what she had said, Kat gripped the doorknob and pulled it tightly. The corridor behind it appeared to be a tunnel bored deeply into the earth – completely round, with circular wooden doors every ten feet.
"Follow me."
Doing as they were told, the five boys and five girls walked behind her for about thirty feet. Passing the seventh, fourth and third years' dorms, they eventually reached their own – the boys' front door painted in black and yellow stripes, the girls' with polka dots – and it was then that they actually realised how tired they were. The long journey from London, the nervousness of the Sorting and the copious amounts of food devoured at the feast had exhausted each and every one of them. In fact, Antony was already pushing the door open to inspect his new room before the Head Girl placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Can I rely on you?" she said. "Can I rely on you to believe in yourselves and your housemates?"
The look in her pale eyes was one more serious than she had ever had before, and the urgency in her voice was also something new. The first-years' reactions, however, were more positive.
"Course you can!" quipped Antony, removing her hand from his shoulder and shaking it warmly.
Ernie returned an open-mouthed smile. "Just you try and stop us!"
"We're with you" Justin said, Julian and David agreeing with him.
"And don't you dare forget us!" cried Rebecca. "No way are we letting the side down!" The other girls nodded firmly in support.
Beaming with pride, Kat looked at each youngster that stood around her. The future of Hufflepuff.
"I'd better leave you now, then. I think you'll be needing your sleep!"
With that, she left them to return to her own dormitory – pointed hat sitting proudly on her head, and robes swishing gently about her ankles. As she walked, she acknowledged the message her heart gave – that the new intake would grow to be very special men and women indeed.
* ~~ THE END ~~ *
A/N: Hmm, a weaker ending than normal I think, but it'll suffice. If I went on any longer, those poor kids would be falling asleep on their feet : ) Anyway – next chapter, the gang start lessons. There were two winners to my last contest – Wannabe Hobbit correctly identified the identity of part of the Nott family, and Kat Hallowell spotted why it was significant in relation to the last chapter. So, Wannabe Hobbit's idea for a lesson will be the next chapter, and, when I come to it, Kat gets to pick a scenario for another chapter I'm planning. So thanks a lot to those two, and Rachel, your idea was noted and approved of, so it'll happen when I have time to write some more!
Because, you see, for the next week I'm on a trip to Canada, so I won't be able to take my fanfic writing materials with me : (. Hopefully, if ff.net is willing to let me upload tonight (as it hasn't for the past week or so), this and my tenth chapter of TMOTN will keep you going!
Kisses, hugs, and –what's that line again?
*~ shewhodares ~*