Disclaimer – I borrowed some ideas for this chapter from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which is JKR's. Bits you don't recognise are mine. Simple!
In the name of Helga : Year One
Shewhodares
Constant Vigilance
There were times when the Hufflepuff common room, nicknamed 'The Sett', was a hive of activity. In the early mornings, when the students headed out past the ivy curtain on their way to breakfast, it was very much one way traffic. At other times, the domed room was full to the brim with excitable people having a party – as Verity, Chaser on the house Quidditch team had told the first years, this was any time they lost a match by less than two hundred points. As Professor Snape perhaps unfairly had taken to pointing out when said student returned to Hogwarts triumphant after the holidays, these were events none too plentiful.
This, however, was neither one of those times.
The clock on the wall next to the mantelpiece read "much too late" as Susan Bones beavered away at her History of Magic essay at a worktable in the corner. She sighed as she looked up at the oil lamp hanging up the ceiling, staring into it as if searching for an answer that definitely lay within, if only she looked hard enough. The light drew her gaze back downwards to the sheet of parchment upon which it pooled, bringing her attention back to the task in hand.
Pausing as she scratched the tip of her nose with the bright blue quill in her hand, she leaned forward and struck out a word in the title. "The importance of pureblooded wizarding families and the establishment of the current magical world – discuss" was what it had said, making the situation unremarkable for two reasons. One, it was an essay for Professor Binns, who, having been long dead, was a traditional sort. Two, she was not, and disliked having to separate herself from her Muggleborn friends using the concept of one type of heritage being "purer" than another.
A stupid idea, she thought, putting "old" in its place. She didn't relish seeing the expression on Binns' pallid face when he saw her spot of editing, however. She growled quietly to herself as she threw down the quill in frustration.
It's been nearly four hours and I'm still nowhere with this!
A sudden gasp behind her made her jump, gripping the side of her seat in fear as she turned to see its cause. The danger was non existent, however, as the sound originated merely from a sleeping Justin expelling air from his lungs as he slept uncomfortably on the sofa in front of the fire. She smiled at the sight – he and Rebecca had spent the day pouring over maps of the country, debating whether the geographical origins of the families going furthest back in history had anything to do with it, and of so, how on earth they were going to use the information gathered. Scotland now furled around Justin like a blanket – the other side of the map pulled down by Rebecca's head, which covered the English Channel.
The only one of their group who wasn't present at that point was David, who had stormed out of the room earlier that evening saying something about seeing a man about a Niffler. That boy, Susan had muttered to herself before attempting to continue with her homework. Refusing to ever work late into the night as his friends did, she simply assumed that he couldn't sleep and had gone for a midnight stroll around the castle. He'd been doing that a lot recently, the increasingly odd behaviour that had unnerved Sally-Anne before Christmas still manifesting itself on occasions even though it was now nearly Easter. What Susan didn't know was that the further into the school year they got, the more often her housemate had been plagued by nightmares of horrors perhaps only she could imagine.
One last glance at the glowing lamp above her was enough to convince the red-head of the course of action she needed to take. Taking the quill back between her fingers, she touched it to the parchment and began to write.
"Ancient magical families often worked together in alliances. Any aspect of the wizarding world today at which you choose to look will depend on which familial alliance you choose to examine in detail. For example, the Pinkstone family combined with the Prewetts in order to make relations between the magical and non-magical communities run more smoothly."
It had to be said, this bright idea of hers was brought to her by a list of family lines and friendships listed in the back of 'A History of Magic'. She was sure that the author's granddaughter, Hufflepuff's very own Rachel Bagshot, wouldn't object. In fact, Rachel's tolerance for her elder's specialty was so low that she'd probably have suggested it herself, were she not curled up next to the coffee table, empty bottle of butterbeer in hand.
Susan grinned to herself in triumph as she finished the paragraph with a flourish, before turning back to the notoriously dull tome in front of her to seek more people to write about. In their tiredness, however, her eyes had skipped over a group of three surnames listed together before Pinkstone, that the author had chosen to capitalise and annotate with the words "highly significant to the movement aiming for greater power for wizards. Also, longtime opponents of the Pinkstone-Prewett alliance."
The names were Malfoy, Moon and Nott.
THE END
A/N: My apologies for the long time in getting this chapter up – over Christmas I was deserted not only by my muse but by the notebook in which I had the rest of this fic entirely planned out. Oops. Still, I've changed some of my ideas and now I think forthcoming chapters are even better than they would have been. And I did get this chapter done all in one evening, so go me (even if it was at the expense of getting reading for my French Law essay done, I had no inspiration for that anyway). For those of you who've read the whole story, the ending should be ringing alarm bells. Let's hear what ideas and thoughts you have about the new developments…review! Go on, you know you want to ;)
Shewhodares
PS – chapter dedicated to the lovely Hayley (Lucy Lupin) for mentioning the possibility of more "With a Little Help From my Friends" and writing a fun Arsenal FC ficlet, and to Gin (Ginevieve) for being heaps of fun. The both of you have been very supportive when it comes to fanfic writing and otherwise, and I appreciate it very much. Hugs for all!