Pomona has to supress a smile as she hands timetables out to the first years who weren't at dinner. Their return to the school was more than a little memorable. She noted that Minerva sent a disapproving glare at the Twins, she should really let her know what happened over breakfast. She also informs the new dragons and phoenixes that they will be sorted in the morning. Then, with Jamie, she goes to the Realm of Magic to learn Simian herself. Fortunately, L seems to be in a more forgiving mood, and just has them reading books. After bidding Jamie good night, she heads to the potion supply shop and barters for the seeds for a few plants that she's never seen before, as well as their version of mandrakes. In exchange she trades away a few seeds from her personal collection, only those that are safe to grow in a garden for the moment, but still magical seeds.
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Once their bonded have gone to sleep, Sunbeam shows Solar, Ember, and Spark to the headmasters chambers. The paintings in the office find out that they are in fact susceptible to flash blindness, especially if it happens 4 times in a row. Unfortunately for Albus, he was working on adding the enchantments to counter flash blindness to his glasses when they arrive. This causes him to score a scratch right through several very important runes that were already there. Not that he notices until later, as he's rolling around clutching his eyes in agony as four fulgent flashes of light go off one after the other. Fawkes on the other hand, panics and flames out a moment too late and the three new comers have his trail. Sunbeam returns to her bonded's sleeping area and falls asleep perched on the back of the chair.
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During breakfast the next morning, everyone watches as the headmaster staggers in through a side door and slumps down in his chair. His clothes are dishevelled and his hair and beard uncombed. When he reaches out an unsteady hand for a goblet of coffee and knocks it over, Professor McGonagall leans over.
"Are you alright Albus? Only you look as though you've not slept."
"I haven't."
"You normally send me a note if you're going to pull an all-nighter on some project or another."
"I wasn't. It was Phoenixes. Fawkes and, no I don't want to remember. Trust me, they are loud, and demanding. I left Fawkes passed out on my desk. I'll be OK, I just need coffee." He reaches for another cup, and spills half of it before he gets it to his lips.
"No you won't, now are you going to come with me to the hospital wing, or am I going to have to call Andromeda over to give you an official diagnosis and have you dragged there in front of the children."
"I'll go with you, just remember I can't go through the main doors for some reason, so we need to take the long route round."
He manages to make it out of the hall under his own steam before collapsing against Minerva with exhaustion. She kindly casts levicorpus on him and he fights to stay awake in the supine position the spell transports him in. Being laid on a hospital bed is almost his undoing, but he has important things to be done today, such as the wizengamot meeting this afternoon. He's vaguely aware of Poppy saying something about a potion working yesterday, so Albus should test today's one instead, before a bottle is put to his lips and he drinks the potion.
Suddenly he feels even more tired, and his bladder's full, stomach rumbles, and he feels like somethings missing from his life. Severus says something about a bad potion, and Poppy confirms that his vitals have all changed somehow. Another potion bottle is placed to his lips and he allows it to slide down his throat. That doesn't help, as he feels even worse, if he doesn't get to a loo soon, he's going to embarrass himself, but he doesn't even have the energy to get out of bed. Poppy and Severus talking sounds so distant. His eyes close on their own, and he forces them open again with shear willpower. A third potion is poured down his throat, and he feels energy moving through him and rejuvenating him. Suddenly he feels like he's just had a full nights rest and a satisfying meal with friends.
Sitting up he gets out of bed and walks over to Severus and gives him an awkward hug.
Severus looks uncomfortable as he returns the hug and says, "It looks like the third potion worked."
"Thank you Severus." Albus then moves over to Poppy and embraces her in an awkward hug, "Thank you Poppy. I'll be going now if that's OK."
On his way out he sees his Deputy, and embraces her in an awkward hug. His journey back to his office is somewhat slower than normal as he hugs every student and staff member he meets on the way.
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Once the headmaster has left the hospital wing, Severus turns to Poppy with a smirk. "Well, I think we can confirm that drinking too many alchemical potions one after the other can curse you. Though I've never heard of a curse like that."
"Indeed, if I hadn't known it was a possibility I would have disregarded the magical residue that's currently clinging to our headmaster, as it looks completely benign."
Minerva walks over, "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, one of the Hufflepuffs made an alchemical potion that fills all of your 6 basic needs. Severus tested a potion yesterday and we confirmed that it does clean you up, he also felt energised. He's been up all night so that we could test a second potion later this morning. However, Albus coming in like that was the perfect opportunity to test its efficacy. We were warned however that we shouldn't drink more than 2 potions in a row, as we'd run the risk of being cursed. However, the success rate of the potion was supposed to be such, that a second dose would counteract a bad potion. Pomona told us that it was the first time they'd successfully brewed the potion. Severus, do you think it could be the inexperience of the brewer that lead to the high failure rate?"
"It's possible, though we ran every diagnostic we could think of on the potions and couldn't detect any differences between them. So I think this is one of those times where I have to say I don't know enough to give you a qualified answer."
"Fair enough."
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Harry and co are waiting outside the DADA classroom when he nearly recoils as the smell of spoiled something assaults his nose. Turning around to find the source of the smell, he sees green smoke rising from the red head from the train. Immediately his wand appears in his hand, a spark of magic already illuminating the end as he says in Simian, "Clean that slob."
He's not sure which one start giggling, but Sally-Anne, Megan, and Daphne all giggle behind him.
The red head says, "Thanks mate. I knew you were a true friend. I didn't shower specially because of that."
Harry gags and tries to move behind the other Hufflepuffs to get away from the slob. Fortunately, Xingwei opens the classroom door at that time and invites them all in. The other three dragons are already seated in the back of the classroom, as the sorting was postponed till the evening they didn't have a position in the school. Harry made sure that he stayed in the centre of the pack as the red head tried to follow him to the desks. He ends up seated next to Justin, which is far preferable to sitting next to the slob.
The lesson itself is an absolute disaster, as the professor has such a bad stutter that he's unintelligible. It's so bad that harry searches for a subtitles option in his interface to no avail. By the end of the lesson, the general consensus amongst the Hufflepuffs is that this is going to be a class where they need to learn it the hard way through their own research and hard work.
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Their next class is Charms with Professor Flitwick, fortunately this class is with Slytherin so the slob is nowhere to be found. Somewhat disappointingly, the Slytherins all sit on one side of the classroom.
The professor spends most of the class going over the theory of the spell that they're going to cast, though there doesn't seem to be much of that to Harry and Hermione's disappointment. One he finishes the theory, Hermione puts her hand up.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"What else can this spell do?"
Professor Flitwick frowns, "Why, nothing. It's the simplest spell we teach, and it's main use is to get you used to making your magic do stuff."
Hermione frowns and makes a note on some parchment.
"If there's nothing else, I'd like you all to lift your wands to just above eye level and say Lumos."
Harry raises his hand, "Professor, don't we need safety precautions?"
While Harry is asking that, Hermione takes a couple of pairs of cheap sunglasses from her book bag and passes them down the desks. When Harry finishes speaking she takes his glasses off and hands them to Daphne to wear.
"Why would we need safety precautions? It shouldn't produce more light than a candle."
"Well, this is the same incantation that Ollivander asked me to use in his shop, and it seemed problematic then."
Seeing the upcoming problem, the three non-assistant dragons conjure darkness around the heads of their charges and friends as the class says, almost in unison, "Lumos". The room is suddenly lit by the light of 9 white phosphorus flares all going off at the same time. A couple of the Slytherin students were paying attention to the actions of the Hufflepuffs, and had their eyes screwed tightly shut. However, for the rest of the students, the effect was immediate and painful. Alas for the professor, his goblin heritage left him far more suited to dark tunnels than pure blood humans. As a consequence he was especially sensitive to the sudden increase in light. When the screams of agony starts, Harry immediately says "Nox." Before calling out loudly to the classroom, "Everyone that's not blind, say 'Nox' to extinguish your wands. Don't open your eyes yet, as I'm going to send Sunbeam for a nurse. Sunbeam, could you get the school nurse please?"
A Fulgent flash of light later, Sunbeam leaves a screaming Severus Snape in the hospital wing as she absconds with Madam Pomphrey. It doesn't take her long to heal the flash blindness, however Professor Flitwick needs to be taken to the hospital wing to have his retina's regrown.
After that lesson, the four phoenixes corral their humans and friends into a room where, with the aid of the dragons, tell them that they're going to fix their eyes so they can't be blinded by bright lights. All of the first year Hufflepuffs agree to this once Spark bares her claws and scratches a couple of ½ inch deep grooves in the stone floor. While they're doing that, Harry checks his notifications to find one saying.
You have discovered the School of Illusion magic.
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The lesson that they have with Simeon, Professor Sprout, and Jamie, in the evening is much more satisfying to Hermione. Though, apart from Daphne, the others disagree. Harry on the other hand, doesn't get to start studying inferniate as he planned. Instead he is crowded by the other first years, begging for the chance to learn the same magic once it's clear that it's not being taught in English. A scattering of older puffs are hanging around to see what his response is going to be.
He doesn't disappoint, as he tells them all that they will need to speak with Professor Sprout to arrange a time to go through the process they'll need to learn the language, and also get the direct connection to the Realm of Magic. By some process of hivemindedness the entire house almost spontaneously agree that this is going to be an unofficial Hufflepuff house secret.
Over the next several weeks, nearly the entire house will have gone through the dual rites of ascension and humiliation that is involved in gaining both the magic and the ability to speak Simian. By the time the last Puff has gone through this, the Realm of Magic has become an unofficial extension to the Hufflepuff common room. The consensus throughout the house is that they are all attracted to the Realm of Magic because learning their magic only requires hard work persistence and practice. As everything is laid out clearly, and their spell tomes don't assume that you have prior knowledge, instead each one lays out the processes needed to use the spell in its entirety.
It would become so popular, that an enterprising Scalluxe would open a new store between the broom and potion store, one that sold only apprentice level books, brooms, wands and common familiar orbs. They would also sell sundries such as writing supplies, drinks, and sweets. What sets them apart from the other three stores is that they'll take Wizarding currency in payment and their stock will always be on display behind glass. Sufficient glass to prevent L from using burguriate to make off with things when she was running low on her own supplies.
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The next day is their first Herbology class with Ravenclaw, and Professor Sprouts love of the subject clearly shows through, as does Harry's. Apart from getting to meet the Ravenclaws, there's not really much to say about the subject.
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The big surprise for those who grew up in the magical world is Potions with Gryffindor, which is the next lesson. Not only does Weasley have a scruberoo applied to him again, he also tries to ingratiate himself with Harry. Once they get into the classroom, instead of being given a recipe and told to get on with it, there is a chopping board with sharp knives beside them. In a basket to the side there is a wide variety of fruit and vegetables.
Andromeda strides to the front of the class, "Everyone's got a desk, good. For the next couple of weeks we're not going to be brewing any potions. Instead we are going to make sure that you all know what the various terms and definitions in standard potions texts mean. To save money, we're going to be practicing with food from the kitchens. The elves have informed me that they'll be using the food that you chop for dinner, so try to make your cuts even please.
"First of all, I want everyone to gather round my desk. I'm going to demonstrate every technique you need to use today along with the correct way to use a knife."
Once everyone gathered round she continues.
"The first thing you need to know about using a knife, is that you should always keep a finger on the blade. This is because many knives have round handles, or have handles where it's not easy to tell the orientation of the blade. Your finger then tells you exactly where the edge of the blade is pointing. If you're using the tip of the blade, such as for scoring, splitting, or some very fine slicing, place your index finger along the spine of the blade as if you're pointing down the blade. In all other cases, that finger should be pointing down the blade.
"The second thing to know, is that when you're using the belly of the blade, you should use your other hand to guide where the next cut is going to be. To this end, you'll curl your fingers into a crab shape, so that the tips are under the last knuckle of the finger. The side of your knife will then touch that knuckle. As you can see with this carrot, this allows you to put together a smooth motion and with practice allows for very precise and even cuts. Now everyone back to your desks, I want you all to cut two carrots into slices. I want even slices not quick slices.
"Weasley, the carrots are for practice not for eating. Potter, swap with Weasley. Weasley, from now on, until I'm happy with your performance you will sit at the front of the class where I can keep an eye on you."
In that lesson they learnt what the terms slice, dice, cut, and crush meant and how to perform those actions on different types of material.
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In the afternoon, they had History with Slytherin. Harry knew it was going to be bad when he got a bored moodlet as soon as the professor opened his ghostly mouth. The class was as bad as he thought it would be, and it was through sheer willpower that he was able to keep his eyes open through the entire class. The lesson itself was on the first goblin rebellion of 600ad shortly after the formation of the British magical society. As a class, the Hufflepuffs decided that, like DADA, this was a class where they were going to have to learn the subject the hard way, with Hermione the only dissenter.
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Transfiguration on Thursday morning was notable, to start with it was with the Gryffindor's and Ron wasn't there. Without Ron there, there was a far more even split of seating spearheaded by Susan as she starts talking to lavender brown and Padma Patel. Harry ends up talking with Dean about art as while they wait for the class to start. The cat sitting on Minerva's desk with her name tag available when he focuses on her is a fair give away for what's going to happen at the beginning of the class.
Ron finally turns up puffing for air as he used an uncommon, for him, amount of energy running to the classroom, "Oh thank Merlin, Professor McGonagall isn't here yet."
The cat sitting on the desk looks over at Ron before leaping off the desk and transforming into Professor McGonagall.
"Maybe I should turn you into a pocket watch, so that you can always tell the time?"
"I'm sorry I'm late Professor, I got lost." Says Ron in a grovelling tone of voice.
"Maybe a map then, that way you'll always know where you are. Take a seat and pull out your parchment and ink.
"Welcome to Transfiguration. In this class you will be learning the art of changing one thing into another. The art of transfiguration can be exceedingly dangerous, so anyone that fools around in my class will be leaving and will not be welcomed back. To start the class I will be going over some of the dangers involved, and things you should never do. Such as eating, or trying to feed anyone transfigured food. Our courts treat such an attempt as attempted murder, that's how serious it is. There are exceptions to this, which will be covered in later years. For the moment though, treat any such transfiguration as deadly.
"The second thing is that Human Transfiguration is a NEWT level subject, if I catch anyone trying it before then. I will see you expelled."
Megan puts her hand up, "Professor, when L was teaching us, she turned me into a Porcelain duck, was that transfiguration?"
"If you're talking about the person I think you are, no that was a different school of magic. One thing that you will find is that there will appear to be overlap between different schools of magic. The animation charms that you'll be learning with Professor Flitwick often seem like transfiguration. However, the method that they use to achieve their effect is different to the one used by transfiguration. It could be considered to be like painting and sculpting, or making a plane out of folded parchment or a similar one out of wood.
"In general, Transfiguration is about temporarily change one thing into another. Note the word Temporarily there. This is why it is so dangerous to eat transfigured food. Imagine that I turned this book into a sandwich."
She taps the book and a delicious looking BLT appears in it's place.
"What do you think would happen if you ate that?"
Ron raises his hand, "I'd be very satisfied?"
Minerva shakes her head, "Anyone else?"
Hesitantly Sally-Anne raises her hand when she sees that neither Harry, Hermione, or Daphne are raising their hands, "it would turn back into a book somewhere in your body. I'd imagine that the best case would be it happens in your stomach."
"2 points to Hufflepuff. Indeed. If the transfiguration only lasted a few minutes, you would indeed have a stomach full of book, a book that was much larger than the sandwich. Something that while uncomfortable is unlikely to be immediately fatal.
"Today we're going to be covering the matchstick to needle transfiguration. Once I've finished going through the theory, you will attempt the spell until the class ends. Your homework will be to successfully cast the spell and write 6 inches on how the spell works."
Harry puts his hand up, "No Mr Potter, this spell doesn't do anything else. Though it is reversable. Something that you will find is that our spells tend to be very focused, but also only take a small amount of magic. Some of the spells that we find in old tomes, tombs, and archaeological sites were more flexible, but they also required far more magic to cast. As such they usually straddled the line between Rituals and Spells. Don't bother asking about Rituals, as we no longer teach them here. If you wish to know why, either ask Professor Binns or look it up in the library." – soft enough that most of the children couldn't hear her she adds – "Merlin, it's almost worse than teaching a class of Claws."
The poor unfortunate that was sitting next to Ron signalled urgently to Harry trying to get him to cast Scruberoo on Ron. However, Harry sent meaningful glances towards Professor McGonagall.
Apart from that, the class went swimmingly. Many of the Hufflepuffs got the spell the first time, when they did they immediately started working with their house mates, and then their classmates. Once Harry was able to cast the spell, he received a notification informing about discovering the Transformation school of magic.
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The first years found out why their Thursday afternoons where free when they were up at 11pm trudging up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower for their lesson that night. It was a tired group of children that went to bed just after 1am that morning. Harry was up at 6am as normal because of Lin-Z, as a consequence so was Neville. So, the first thing he did was tiredly cook up a batch of Potion of Plentiful Needs using the interface. Once he was finished he drank a portion directly from the cauldron, and held out a ladle for Neville to do the same. He then bottled up the last two portions before starting a second batch. He makes a mistake with that batch and it turns into an unrecognisable mess, the fumes of which knocked Harry out for a few minutes.
Groaning, Harry comes to, the flames of the cauldron flickering in front of him. "Professor Sprout, he's awake."
Putting his hand on the side of the cauldron to help himself up, he shakes his head to clear the cobwebs that are clinging to his thoughts. As the wooziness leaves him he can see that he made a mess of the potion. A quick injection of magic clears out the cauldron, and he's about to start another when Professor Sprouts firm voice stops him.
"Oh no you don't, no more brewing until we know what went wrong and Madam Pomphrey has looked over you."
"I already know what went wrong, I lost control of the flow of magic in the cauldron, and the backlash knocked me out. It's in the second about ways the potion can go wrong, Hermione's borrowing the tome so I can't show you right now."
"Never the less, until you've been seen by Madam Pomphrey, you are not to do anymore brewing. After that, the minimum that I require is that we check with one of the sages to ensure that's all that went wrong."
"Well, I can already tell I haven't attracted a curse, as you're not shouting at me or being mean. You're not cringing away from me, and I don't stink. They're also listed in the tome."
Reluctantly, Harry ends up sitting with Professor Sprout as they wait for Madam Pomphrey. It doesn't take long for her to turn up with a tall thin man in black robes. To Harry, his most obvious trait is that he has greasy hair that curls with green mist. As he approaches, Harry makes a face as the smell hits him.
To avoid problems Harry pre-empts any comments by saying, "Excuse me sir, would you mind if I cast a cleaning spell on you, as something in your hair is reacting badly with me."
The man seems to be about to issue a scathing retort, but a glare from Professor Sprout quells his response. Instead he visibly calms himself before cocking his head to one side, "You may."
A quick cast of Scruberoo later, and the man no longer has any wisps of green smoke, "Thank you sir."
"Not at all, it was an interesting experience."
Madam Pomphrey casts a couple of spells at Harry before saying, "He looks alright now. You say he was unconscious?"
"Yes, Mr Longbottom fetched me from my office at around 6:50 and Mr Potter was lying beside the cauldron unconscious. I immediately sent an elf to you, and waited by the entrance while Mr Longbottom kept an eye on Mr Potter. There was also a murky brown liquid in the cauldron that seemed to have fumes coming off of it."
Harry says, "I'm fine, all that happened is that I lost control of the potion, and the backlash knocked me out. If I made a minor mistake, then it would have hexed one or more of the doses from the potion. I'm also not cursed, as there are only three curses you can pick up while brewing. These are the Curse of Unwarranted Hostility, the curse of Repulsiveness, and the Curse of Uncleansable Stench. Nothing went wrong when I drank the potion, as I don't have either the Curse of Uncleansable Stench or the Curse of Awkward Embraces. Look, let me brew it again and you can all watch. As this was the second brew I did this morning."
The man says, "I say we let him try. If he's right, then the potion will turn out fine. If not, then… After all, Madam Pomphrey will be here to monitor him."
"Please, I know what went wrong, and while I can't promise not to make the same mistake again. The only way to make less mistakes is for me to practice. And my year mates will be waking up tired soon, so I'd like to have another batch done, and be started on a third by the time they're ready for breakfast."
Pomona frowns, she knows that she's close to the point where he'll either acquiesce or he will just go to the Realm of Magic, and she'll have lost his respect forever. Or she could allow a recognised Potions Master to 'persuade' her into letting him try again.
"Very well, I'll allow you to try again under supervision. However, if you brew unsupervised again this year, I will have Simeon or L remove the Cauldron. Supervision, is a prefect, teacher, recognised expert, or one of the Sages."
"Yes professor, are there any prefects that tend to be up around 6?"
"Not that I know of, however I am normally in my office, or out at the green house. It's easier to tend to plants at that time of the morning."
"Oh, don't I know it. That's why I started waking up at that time to start with."
"Well, you should probably start as Potions Master Snape, and Madam Pomphrey aren't going to want to hang around forever."
Harry goes over to the cauldron and clears it out again just in case. He then decides to be a little flashy with the beginning, so fills the cauldron by sweeping his hand over the top of it rather than just touching it. Next, in goes the apple, and he watches as it breaks apart to spread evenly throughout the cauldron. Lighting the flames with his magic, he summons the ladle and begins to stir while monitoring the magical flows in the potion. He makes minor adjustments with his own magic, and major adjustments with the ladle. Occasionally, he'll sprinkle a little more magic in where it's a little thin. This brew goes successfully, and he's left with a deep blue potion filling the cauldron.
Snape bends over the potion with interest clear on his face, "Is it OK if I touch it?"
Harry shrugs, "Sure, it's finished and stable. Just don't put any magic into it, otherwise you might hex the whole lot."
Snape dips his hand in it, "It feels like mist."
Harry nods, "There's only actually around 4 doses of potion in there. The rest of it is magic holding it into suspension. When I bottle it up, I draw a dose of potion out of the cauldron. If you watch, you'll see that the potion level doesn't appear to drop until I've taken two doses."
Harry bottles up the potion and sets them with the other two.
"How did you make the potion?"
"The apple was the catalyst for the magic, after that it's all about detecting and controlling the flows of magic during the brewing process. If I make a minor mistake, the potion will fail, a major mistake and I'll probably be cursed as well. A slight mistake will only be visible in the resulting potions. Mine come out at a poor quality because I'm so new at brewing, which means that there's more slight mistakes."
Snape nods, "Much like I make higher quality boil removal potions than students do."
Clearing out the cauldron again, Harry starts on his third batch of potions.
He's around half way through that batch when Hermione comes out of the corridor to the first year dorms rubbing her eyes. Professor Sprout indicates the six potions with her hand, "Mr Potter has been busy this morning trying to make sure that all of you are well rested for the day. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the limitations on consuming that potion."
Hermione yawns, "No professor, though I have come to an interesting note about the Repaireo spell. I've got it mark" a yawn makes the rest of her sentence unintelligible, but she hands a book to Professor Sprout with a few book marks in it, before she takes one of the potions and downs it.
"Oh my, that will be useful. I think I know what spell I'll be researching next."
Snape looks over her shoulder briefly, and then frowns when there is absolutely nothing recognisable about that alphabet.
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With only two potion failures out of all the batches Harry brews that morning, the Hufflepuff first years skip breakfast and are all bright eyed and bushy tailed at their classes that day.
At lunch time, the Weasley twins launch their first prank of the year. It affects everyone that sits at the Hufflepuff table, and inflicts them with a babbling spell and transfigures their clothing into one of three quite embarrassing styles. As all of the first years are caught by the spell, Harry decides to take some revenge once it's ascertained that it was actually the twins. Especially given that they miss their first afternoon class as Madam Pomphrey tries to undo the spells that were used.
Locating them in Manage worlds, he selects one of them and gives them a feminine figure and the deepest voice he can. The other one, he gives the highest female voice he can and a preference for female clothes, a need to sit down to pee and the ability to get pregnant. As an afterthought he gives the first twin the same ability to get pregnant. When they are escorted into the Hospital wing halfway through the first class of the afternoon by Madam Hooch, everyone in Hufflepuff immediately knows just who got the twins back. Every single one of them chooses to keep schtum about it, as they all feel that it's poetic justice for all the fairly mean pranks they've played.
That evening the Twins enter the Main hall to much laughter from the other houses. They wear their new conditions with pride. Fred, the one with the baritone and feminine build, casts a Soronous and says, "Whoever did this to us, well played, well played. We will find out who you were and, after we've begged to be turned back to normal, try to include you in our future pranks."
Their embarrassment doesn't end there though, as a school owl wings it's way over to them with a package in it's claws. When they open it, it unshrinks into two packs of pads and two boxes of tampons. A whispered conversation seems to occur between them and their girlfriends, which ends up with the girls laughing and moving to sit on either side of them.
The hall itself goes silent as Professor McGonagall comes out of a side door carrying the sorting hat and stool.
"Good evening everyone. As everyone has probably noticed, we've had some unscheduled additions to our fine school. We can now claim to have the largest concentration of phoenixes in one place in the entire magical world with 5. The previous record was 4 on a reserve in Central America, set 130 years ago. All 4 female phoenixes heads swivel to look at her when she says that. Due to their rarity, the nesting locations of phoenixes are considered state secrets, so that's the most I can tell you at the moment. We also have three other personal aides that need sorting. If any of the phoenixes wish to be sorted, please perch on the stool here and I will place the hat over you."
With a screech Spark launches from Jamie's shoulder and lands on the stool, the hat shouts, "Hufflepuff Moral Support!" Ember is the next one to go, and the hat shouts, "Hufflepuff wrangler." Finally Solar lands and the hat shouts, "Hufflepuff enforcer? Eeep!"
"With the phoenixes sorted, Shenjing, please come and sit on the stool."
Once she's sitting, Minerva carefully places the hat on her head, minding her horns. The hat takes a good five minutes deciding what to do with her. Finally it calls out, "Personal aide to Sally-Anne Perks."
While people are muttering about her position, Kuanwei and Wulian are both made Hufflepuff Teachers Aides.
After a couple of days, Harry bows to pressure, and restores the Twins physical traits, and gives them the same voice again. Though he leaves them with the ability to get pregnant as a lasting warning. He also sends a note to the girlfriends that if they want to have the ability to make them pregnant, just give each other a hug at dinner tonight before hugging your boyfriend.
For the Hufflepuff first years, the 2nd and 3rd week of the term go much like the first.
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Alicia and Angelina were both sat on Alicia's bed along with one of their dormmates while the other 3 were sat on the next bed along.
Brenda shakes her head in disbelief, "You lucky bitches. Not only have you got rid of the monthly monster, you've also managed to snag your boyfriends for good."
Alicia nods emphatically, "I know, it's great. And all we had to do was hug each other then hug our boyfriend. It's not as if we don't do enough hugging on the quidditch pitch. I was wondering how we were going to know it worked, but when I wet my knickers by pulling them to one side cos I was in a hurry at breakfast. I can pee standing up for the moment."
Angelina nods too, "Me too, though that will probably only be temporary. I can't wait to see the twins faces when they need to deal with cramps for the first time."
Susan nods, "Oh, yes. Sweet, sweet, payback. Do you remember last year when they stole all of our supplies?"
Brenda shudders, "Oh Morgana, I tried to forget that. I got a weeks detention from Snape because I got blood on my skirt."