Hufflepuff Concerto
Because not all Hufflepuffs are boring. Set in the year of the Tri-Wizard Cup. Hannah Korvil, a young mage, is forced to go to a wizarding school against her will. Enter Dennis Creevy... let's sit back and see what happens, shall we?
NOTE: Everything you recognize from Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The Tragyl's should they appear (which they eventually will), are my sister's(Dhrelva). Everything else, like the Korvils, are mine.
Chapter Two: Huffing Stuff
What was decided, stayed decided. The very next day Hannah's mother had whisked her off to Diagon Alley for school supplies. It was about as uneventful as trips into the wizarding world got, and even managed to verge on dull. Hannah was too sulky to notice anything interesting, anyway. Her mum tried to cheer her up with a copy of Hogwarts, A History, but it did little to change her feelings on the matter. The man at the wand shop had risen his eyebrows when she entered with the mortifying comment, "A Korvil wants a wand... curious."
"Oh, I don't want it," she was quick to correct him, but she'd said it quietly and she didn't think he heard her. Either that or he'd ignored it. Either way, she had ended up with a wand. She didn't like it much, and by the way it had glowed a flickering, angry red when she'd held it, she doubted very much it liked her any better. It did have the benefit, however, of being the only one in the shop that wasn't set on zapping her, so the old man had let her buy it.
In the following weeks, she had been careful not to let her mom catch her reading the book about Hogwarts. It was hard. She'd had to wait until late at night to steal glances at its mysterious moving pictures. Her curiosity made her. She didn't really want to look, didn't really care to know what mere wizard children did or how they learned. She was just looking for clues as to how to convince her parents to change their mind. Really, she was.
Just in case her mother was spying.
But she hadn't found anything to convince them before the dreaded morning had arrived. Hannah fought back a little flutter of excitement despite herself. Hopefully her mother hadn't noticed. She focused on remaining sullen for the taxi ride. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of the London train station, holding a ticket to Platform 9 3/4.
"Your uncle went to Hogwarts, you know," her mother was saying as Hannah bungeed her suitcase to the luggage rack. Her mother had been passing the time telling Hannah every detail she knew about the school. It wasn't a lot, though, so she kept repeating herself. It was just as well, since it made it much easier for Hannah to feign disinterest. Their poor taxi driver, though. At least he had found new passangers and escaped the train station and the woman set on telling the same story in twenty different ways.
"Mummmm," Hannah growled once she decided she'd heard the story enough times to tell it to her great grandchildren after she died complete with gesture and expression. She lightened her scwol to a somewhat puppy faced pleading glare, "Could we please talk about something else?"
"Of course, dear," she continued right where she left off. Hannah sighed and tipped her luggage cart up on its wheels. Her mother took the hint and lead them away from the roadside without missing a syllable. Hannah followed. She had trouble keeping up until she realized that her cart was far easier to pull than push.
Navigating the crowd proved to be problematic once they reached the platforms. There were so very many people. A muggle here wearing the strangest assortment of tattered things, a group of teenagers there saying goodbye to mums and dads, and a probable mage across the way, guiding his son toward Platform 9 3/4. Indeed he was a mage. Well, a wizard, actually. Hannah recognized him from the Daily Prophet. Lucious Malfoy. Well, of course, Hogwarts was good enough for even the best wizards. Hogwarts, A History had said so. Not that she had managed to read through most of it, or anything. She didn't even want to go to the school. She had only been curious enough to take the time to look at all the pictures and skim through some of the more interesting sections... or the first paragraphs of the more interesting sections. It was painfully dull. Who would actually want to go to a wizarding school anyway?
Hannah flicked her eyes toward her mum to see her reaction, if her coverup had been good enough. She wasn't where she ought to have been.
Where had she gotten off to? Panic swelled almost immediately... there were so many people. She'd never find her. Even Mr. Malfoy had vanished. Where was she? What if she had left already, leaving her to find the platform alone.
Oh! There! Her mother was waving to her from near Platform 10. She hurried to her.
"I thought I lost you!" Hannah breathed when she reached her. In her relief, she slipped up, "Did you see Mr. Malfoy?"
"I did. He's already on the platform. His son goes to Hogwarts, has been for a few years now. Many of the great wizarding families do," her mother all but winked at her.
She knows, Hannah frowned, resisting the urge to sigh tragically for her long suffering. Why couldn't she keep one little secret, just once? Her mum was supposed to feel guilty about sending her only daughter away. Not... not... not whatever her mother was feeling instead. Then again... The Malfoys! At Hogwarts! She wouldn't have believed it, even if the book had spelt it out for her. The Malfoys were... well, they were famous, weren't they?
Famous for wizards, anyway, her sulky side added, cautiously gauging her mother's response.
But if her mum was spying again, she didn't let on. She just shooed Hannah through the very solid looking brick wall between platforms 9 and 10. And then they were there. Platform 9 3/4. And there was the Hogwarts Express. It was a big, pristine, beautiful engine. Every bit as lovely as the pictures in Hogwarts a History. Part of her had hoped those pictures had been misleading just so she continue to be rightfully indignant.
And the students! There were so many of them and not a single one she recognized. Rather different than Holyoke's PreElemental Chapter where the entire school had only 60 some students. Two classes for each grade. Six in a class. Why, there was her entire school several times over on this Platform, and that didn't even include parents and the kids already on the train. Her mother, she noticed, eyed them warily. They eyed her warily too. They knew what the crescent on her tiara meant. Mind mage. She could, and probably was reading all their thoughts. Hannah was glad, for once, that her own tiara only had a little snowflake-like star on it.
They dropped off her luggage and Hannah turned to her mother. It was time for her to go now. For the first time that morning, her mum was lost for words. Hannah swallowed. She was afraid to say anything at all. Her silence, she was increasingly certain, was the only thing keeping her from breaking out in tears. She wouldn't be home again until Christmas! It was too far. Why didn't mum let her stay home, at Holyoke. It wasn't even a boarding school. She could live at home.
"I wish you could stay too," her mum replied to the thought, "Just trust us for once, Hannah. You don't want to be at Holyoke."
"Why?" she couldn't keep the demanding note from her voice, though she did try.
"You'll like Hogwarts," her mother gathered her into her arms and squeezed. Hannah felt her mounting resentment drain away with her mother's rather urgent tone, "Make us proud. Study hard, and write to me... be good, play nice," she stiffened and held Hannah away from her giving her a pointed look, "Don't set anyone on fire." Yes, be good and play nice, indeed.
Hannah swallowed, "I'll try." It had been necessary once before...
"You will," her mother insisted, adjusting Hannah's tiara so it hung properly in the top center of her forehead, "I don't want any letters from Dumbledore about you terrorizing the other children."
"Yes, mum."
Her smile softened, "I love you."
"Love you too," Hannah squeaked and pulled away, "Bye!" She fled onto the train, leaving her mum to wave after it. Not gonna cry, not gonna cry. Moments later the door closed behind her, and the Hogwarts Express huffed away from Platform 9 3/4.
"I am on the Hogwarts Express," Hannah stared around, dumbfounded. The train's hallway was positively brimming with activity. Returning students bounced around greeting old friends with joyful exclamations. One group seemed particularly interested in a boy who'd shot up six inches over the summer and now towered over them all. Each cabin seemed to be having it's own thrilling discussion and the seats all seemed to be taken. Finally, at the very end of the hall, she found a cabin with an empty seat.
The three boys looked up at her as she peered in and she suddenly became very self conscious. She felt a very deep desire to run and hide, and she might have if she had somewhere else to go. She wished fervently that she did.
"M-mind if I join you?"
The two bigger guys looked to the blonde with the slicked back hair and pointy nose. Belatedly, she recognized him as the boy who was with Mr. Malfoy. Too late to back out now. He smirked, sizing up her silky light brown robes, and long red hair woven into a complex array of braids. Finally, his grey eyes came to rest on her forehead, and she knew he was looking at her tiara.
"A Korvil," he looked about to laugh at the prospect, "At Hogwarts?"
"Hannah, if you please," she forced a winning smile. Even not seeing it, she could tell it was weak. How did he know she was a Korvil? Maybe wizards didn't know that most Korvils had crescent moons, not snowflakes. Or maybe hers was just the only known mage family that actually still wore the silly things. "And you are?"
He looked at her outstretched hand but did not take it, "Draco Malfoy," he motioned with his chin, ever so slightly, to the two brutes across from him, "Crabbe, and Goyle. Fourth year."
"Ah," Hannah blushed furiously, looking from one to another. Three of the most well known wizarding families represented right in the room and all three years above her. And she'd gone poking her nose in and asking to sit down and... she swallowed, "There aren't any other seats."
"You don't want to sit here, Korvil."
"No?" her heart sank as she tried, too late to surpress a nasty thought about people in general who seemed to know what she wanted so well. Instead, she said, "I should think it'd be an honor to sit beside a Malfoy."
"Would you?" Draco sniggered, responding only to the spoken part. Oh yeah, he wasn't a mind mage. Good thing. Crabbe and Goyle laughed too. Hannah had a feeling they were laughing at her more than at what either of them had said. It wasn't really an unfounded worry, either, as Draco's next words were, "Well, let me rephrase that then. I wouldn't be caught dead next to a Korvil, much less a first year girl."
"Oh. I see," yes, that was exactly her paranoia. Hannah wondered if she could vaporize in shame. Either way, it didn't seem to be happening fast enough. Her cheeks reddened.
"You're not going to cry now, are you?" Draco taunted as though crying were the very most reprehensible thing she could possibly do just now. She watched him, wanting to storm off but somehow unable to leave. Her feet didn't seem to want to move. "What are you waiting for, Korvil? Go on." Malfoy gave her a long look that made her insides twitch and waved his hand in an imperious shooing motion. Hannah bolted.
"Not quite a Gryffindor, is she?" she heard Crabbe's remark even halfway down the corridor. Their laughter redoubled. They were loud enough that some of the other students were beginning to take notice. Hannah's reflexes betrayed her and she was forced to wipe a glob of tears from her right eye.
Faces turned politely away, going back to hiding in their own cabins. Hannah found the bathroom and hid there until a seventh year girl came in and asked her if she was alright. She invited her to join their cabin.
Fortunately, it was in the opposite direction as Malfoy's, and Hannah was spared the shame of walking past it. Molly, as the seventh year's name turned out to be, was already wearing her Hogwarts uniform. It had a funny patch on it that she recognized as the Huffing Stuff crest from her book.
The other three girls in the cabin also sported the Huffing Stuff insignia. Their eyes all got big and they smiled a little foolishly when Molly introduced her new little friend. There was an empty seat next to the one called Kay, and she moved down a little and they managed to make enough room for Hannah and Molly to both squeeze in.
"Is this your first year, Hannah?" Niobe asked, showing her straight white teeth. She reminded Hannah of her babysitter back home. They asked her all sorts of questions, "Do you have any siblings?", "Who did your braids?", "Are you the first to go to Hogwarts?", "Are you scared?", "That's a cute tiara.", "Do you know about the sorting?"
"A little bit," Hannah tried to remember what her book had said. She had been kinda tired when she was reading it. Not that she had read it. Nor that she had wanted to, nor that she wanted to even go to the school. Not that anything about the book had been even the slightly bit interesting... not that she had to pretend anymore. She took a deep breath, "The Huffing Stuffs are boring," the girls giggled. Hannah faltered a little, but kept going, "the Ravens are, um, black. The Hippogriffs," they were laughing uncontrollably now, "are... well, they're... Hippogriffs, I guess. Dangerous, maybe? And the Snakes just kinda slither around."
The girls took a couple minutes to regain control over themselves. Just as they had almost calmed down, Kay snorted, "Hippogriffs," and they'd all dissolved into giggles all over again. Hannah smiled uneasily, not quite sure what they were laughing at. The Houses had completely baffled her when she read the book. Why would anyone want to be a Huffing Stuff? At least the others were all animals.
She was particularly mortified when Kay gasped, "She's adorable!" But at least it was out loud. She smiled a little at that.
Finally, Elsa, the girl next to Niobe, gained control of herself, "It's not Huffing stuff, it's Hufflepuff," she explained, grinning, "Hufflepuff is known for its loyalty and hard workers, not being boring," Elsa glanced at the other three girls and leaned in with a stage whisper, "though we do have that reputation, too. But don't tell the other girls I said so." The others pretended to look offended. Elsa sat up and continued normally, "And then your Hippogriffs are actually Gryffindors."
"So they're like griffins?"
"Not quite, no. They're known for their courage. And the Slytherins are not snakes, though they have one on their crest, and they are supposed to be very devious and ambitious. What was the other... oh yeah, the Ravens. That was closer. They're Ravenclaws, though, and they're just brilliant."
"Oooh," Hannah grinned sheepishly, still not completely understanding the use of being a raven's claw over being the raven itself. But the girls seemed absolutely delighted with her anyway. Having heard such interesting fabrications about the Houses, they decided to pass the time quizzing her on other details about Hogwarts. If they were looking for more of the same, they got it. Hannah had, admittedly, never been very good at remembering things. Everything in her memory about Hogwarts turned out to be equally garbled, and that's if she'd understood it correctly to begin with. Hogwarts, A History had been well above her reading level. Not that she'd tried to read it, of course.
As the train ride went on, she started to enjoy telling the seventh years about the Great Hallway's staircases that randomly changed into fireplaces, and the ceiling that was enchanted to look like the Head Master. They didn't seem to care that it was all wrong, and they even took the time to correct her on most of it. The truth was just as puzzling as her fictions, though, and she secretly suspected they were teasing her. If they weren't, Hannah fervently hoped she would be sorted into Hufflepuff. Not that she was interested in it.
If they even made it to the sorting, that was. The weather was awful when they finally changed into their Hogwarts uniforms and left the Hogwarts Express. Hannah had debated long and hard before removing her tiara and unbraiding her hair. If she wanted to make friends, she decided, she ought to at least try to look normal. Even if she didn't want to go to the school, there was no point in unnecessarily attracting the attentions of her grade's bullies until they already had their favorite victims picked out.
But her hair stuck out at such odd angles from being so long confined, that she'd almost put it back in before Niobe pulled a comb out of nowhere. The older girl took unwarranted delight in combing out and braiding Hannah's red tresses into a single simple braid that ended abruptly at her waist.
As it turned out, it wouldn't have mattered even if she'd just left it down. The rain was so heavy it would have straightened even the most crimped of hair in seconds. Hannah's cabin mates bid her good-bye and good luck and headed off to their waiting carriages. A massive giant of a man was yelling for all the first years to follow him. They boarded boats, half sunk with rain water, and rocked across the water. Hannah tried to huddle deeper in her robes to shield herself from the wind, but it was a lost cause. The further from the shore they got, the more dangerously the boat swayed. A wave jolted them, and the mousy haired boy next to Hannah toppled over the side.
Hannah tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat. She couldn't see him anywhere. She leaned over to peer closer at turbid waters.
"Away from the side!" the giant shouted over the wind. A huge black mass was coming towards the surface. This time her scream escaped as she jumped backwards. It barely poked out from the water before it had vanished again. Hannah stared at where it had been. Had it gotten that boy? Frozen, she barely saw the man pull him out onto the boat.
The giant threw his coat over the boy and had him sit back down. Hannah grabbed his arm protectively, he looked so much younger than the rest of them, "Are you okay?"
He looked completely bewildered, "I am so... lucky!"
Hannah choked as particularly large wave caught her in the face. She wondered who would be next to barely survive their watery grave... assuming, of course, they didn't all freeze to death before they had a chance to fall out of the boat. The castle didn't seem to be getting any closer, and the lake wasn't getting any calmer. She felt her panic rising like it had in the train station when she thought she'd lost her mother.
But the sopping wet boy beside her caught her gaze, "It was so cool! Wait till I tell my brother!" he was positively beaming at her now, barely noticing the thunderstorm going on around them. He was completely beside himself, though from shock or glee Hannah was no longer certain.
She kept a firm grasp on his arm until they reached the far shore. She told herself that this was because she was afraid he would fall overboard again and not because she herself was terrified. He tried to distract her by telling her about his brother, Colin, and how he knew Harry Potter. At least, that's what she thought he was saying, but he was so excited he could barely make sentences so it was hard to tell.
By the time they reached the castle-like school everyone was just as wet as Dennis, Hannah's new found friend. With a little effort, she even managed to undo her vice grip on his arm enough for him to wriggle out of it. Finally inside, Dennis gazed openmouthed around as the big doors closed behind them. A very dry and warm looking teacher introduced herself as Professor McGonagal and made a little speech. Hannah took the time to wring some of the water out of her braid, and noticed others doing the same with their robes. The floor around the group was quickly becoming a massive puddle. Professor McGonagal noticed their stirring, and made a point to mention that soon enough they would be in the Great Hall and it would be warm and they would have hot food. This got everyone's attention and she led them off.
By the time they stopped in front of what Hannah could only assume was the entrance to the Great Hall, they had at least started leaving footprints rather than streams of mud and water on the floor. Dennis was all but bouncing in the oversized fur coat the big man had lent him.
The doors opened. It was beautiful. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky, and stars gleamed and sparkled, just like Niobe had said. The moon was at a 3/4 crescent just like outside would have been if it hadn't been so cloudy. Hannah followed the other first years up the center aisle. There were two very long tables on either side of them and all the older students watched them with interest.
They lined up at the front of the room, facing the other students. Hannah grinned toward the Hufflepuff table, looking for her cabin mates. Niobe and Molly waved, but she didn't have time to find the other two before Professor McGonagal put a stool out in front of them. On the stool she placed an old hat. It sang, just as Molly had said it would. Then the students were called up, one by one, to be Sorted.
"Ackerly, Stewart!" Professor McGonagal read the first name. Stewart walked nervously up and picked up the hat. The stool looked fairly high next to him, but he managed to sit down without either falling over or knocking it over. A fair accomplishment for someone shaking as much as he was.
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted. The boy, Hannah and the rest of the first years jumped. He took off the hat and joined the table cheering particularly loudly. Alright, so that was all they had to do. Put the hat on, and go where it told you to. She glanced at Dennis. He didn't seem nervous at all.
Hannah waited, shivering, for her turn. Dennis was among the first names called and he eagerly joined the Gryffindor table. Now Hannah was uncertain. Did she want Gryffindor or Hufflepuff? Not that it mattered what she wanted as the hat would decide where she belonged. The Sorting thing was almost making sense to her by the time Professor McGonagal reached her name, "Korvil, Hannah!"
Stepping forward, she heard someone at the Slytherin table cough loudly. She wondered if the snickers heard coming from there were real or just her paranoia. Then again, from her experience on the train, where Draco Malfoy was involved, there was no such thing as paranoia. She did what all the others had done and tried very hard not to look as shaky as they had, with the exception of Dennis of course.
"A Korvil," the hat stated in fascination once she placed it firmly on her head.
"Yup," she thought back at it.
"Hmmm," the Hat mused. She threw her sulkiness to the winds. Somehow, a Hat deciding her fate wasn't as bad as her parents.
