DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
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Chapter 11: Diamonds
""Put that wand away at once," he said curtly. "Ten points from Gryff-"
Snape looked towards the giant hourglasses on the walls and gave a sneering smile." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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One thing Hermione liked about the Hufflepuff house was that everyone showed respect to one another. Of course, there were banters and friendly arguments among classmates/roommates and close friends - and of course families (like Ced and Susan) - but everyone was respectful.
Everyone cleaned as they go into the common room and shared bathrooms and toilets. When Hermione stepped in the shower after Hannah Abbott, it was as if no one showered there. She found out why: there were reminders and instructions on how to cast the spell to dry the shower room for the next user.
"Imagine if the world is Hufflepuff," she whispered as she showered.
When she was dressed, she returned to their dormitory and Susan was waiting for her.
"Come on, Hermione, let me do your hair," she offered kindly from the seat in front of the vanity as Hermione put on her socks and shoes.
"My hair?" she was taken aback. No one ever offered to do her hair.
Susan froze, perhaps thinking if she offended her. "Um, well... I heard some students from other houses made fun of your hair..." she said carefully.
"Oh," she muttered and smiled. "All right, then, if it won't be bothersome to you." She went to sit on the chair in front of the vanity. Susan dried her hair with her wand and applied some kind of scented serum to her hair before braiding it.
"There you go."
Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and grinner broadly. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Susan," she turned to her friend sincerely.
"Don't mention it. Feel free to make me your personal hairstylist."
They laughed and went down together. They found Cedric, Ian, and Terrence waiting for them at the common room, all wearing their complete uniform.
Hermione quite liked the school uniform. Boys and girls wear Oxford shirts. Their tie depends on house colours. In their case, they wore yellow and black ties. Over their Oxfords, they wear a grey vest. Boys wear black trousers while girls wear pleated grey knee-length skirts and long socks. Lastly, they put on their school robe with the emblem of Hufflepuff House on the left breast.
"Come on, midgets, let's fill your empty stomachs," Terrence told them.
"We're not midgets," Susan rolled her eyes.
They walked in the basement hallway and Cedric went to Susan's side to squeeze her tightly to his side, making the girl complain again before letting her go.
"You're annoying!"
"But I'm your favorite cousin, Sue." Cedric just laughed and went to Hermione's side. "Slept well last night?" he asked, grinning broadly.
She craned her head to look up to meet his grey eyes. "Yes," she replied. "It's very comfortable in our room."
"I'm glad you're comfortable," he said kindly, his hands inside his robe pockets, but their shoulders were almost touching.
"I'll be writing to my parents later. May I borrow Harley?" she asked.
Cedric grinned. "Of course! Want me to go with you to the owlery?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I might need to take advantage of your height. I'm a midget, you know."
They laughed and Cedric fondly patted her head. "I think you lot in the Muggle world have growing potions."
"Oh, yeah, we have height enhancing vitamins. Mum and Dad gave me one of those years ago, but you're just so tall maybe that's why it's not obvious."
"Where is he?"
"That one with the tall redhead."
"Why are his glasses broken?"
"Did you see his scar?"
"Did you hear he lived with the Muggles?"
"Forget about that. Do you think he remembers You-Know-Who?"
When they reached the entrance hall on the ground floor, they heard people talking, and Hermione was sure it was about Harry Potter.
"I feel sorry for him," she whispered to Cedric. "I'm sure he doesn't want people staring at him, or his scar."
"Who? Harry Potter?" he asked because they could not see the boy everyone was talking about. She nodded. "Yeah, poor kid. I hope he does something that can make others stop talking about the night his parents died."
"Like what, do you think?" she asked curiously.
He shrugged. "Quidditch, maybe? His father was a Chaser. Saw his name in the Trophy Room last year."
They sat at the Hufflepuff table together and ate their breakfast. Professor Sprout started distributing their time-tables.
"Why do you have classes with Gryffindors?"
Hermione looked up to see Cedric frowning beside her, his eyes on her time-table.
"Why, is there a problem?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Usually, Hufflepuffs are paired with Ravenclaws and Gryffindors with Slytherins."
"Had it been like that in your first two years?" she asked curiously.
He nodded. "Yeah, and even during my parents' time. Dad said the headmaster attempted to make Gryffindors and Slytherins overcome the animosity. But it doesn't work, you know. Those two houses were always neck-to-neck in house points and Quidditch."
"And when we tried answering questions in classes, Professor Snape even told us, Hufflepuffs, that we should not worry about house points because we don't get the House Cup, anyway," quipped Ian in front of them with an unhappy face. Then, he stared at the hourglasses longingly which were located beside the double doors of the Great Hall.
"But Hermione, Justin said you must be very intelligent," said Susan on her other side. "Earn points for our house, will you?" she asked with doe eyes.
"Well, erm, I got good marks in my Muggle school, but I don't know here," she replied timidly.
Their conversation was cut by a loud, booming noise of a woman.
"Neville Franklin Longbottom! Why are you in Hufflepuff? Everyone in the family was in Gryffindor! Can't you take a leaf out of your father's book? You disappoint me!"
"Who's that?" she asked, looking around for the source of the noise.
Cedric poked her on the arm and jerked his head to the right side. "It's a Howler, from Neville Longbottom's grandmother, I think," he said in a low voice.
Her eyes searched Neville Longbottom. He was sitting a bit far from them beside Hannah. Her roommate was comforting the crying boy. Gryffindors, Slytherins, and even some from Ravenclaw laughed. But no one from the Hufflepuff table. Some of their housemates sitting near Neville said comforting words, and the others who were too far were just silent.
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Her first class was double Herbology and they didn't share it with students from other houses. Hermione didn't have a green thumb, but magical plants fascinated her. Of course, she had read her books in advance, but watching Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott (who were clearly fond of plants) while working made her imitate them. The pair already earned twenty points from Professor Sprout who looked very happy with them. Hermione, on the other hand, did not hesitate to answer the teacher's questions and earned ten points.
"I heard Hannah helped Neville to find his toad on Hogwarts Express, that's why they are that close now," quipped Susan beside her.
"Seems he has a knack for Herbology," she said. "I hope his grandmother becomes proud of him."
They only had Herbology in the morning, so after the class, Hermione went to the library to explore it for the first time and to write a letter to her parents, as well. Susan decided to stay in their common room, so she went alone.
On her way to the library from Greenhouse 1, she saw Gryffindors and Slytherins in the courtyard, arguing like kindergarten students. She spotted a group of Hufflepuffs on the other side, far from the arguing teenagers, just having fun - playing Exploding Snap and Gobstones. She wondered if the Ravenclaws spend too much time in the library.
She knocked on someone and saw that it was Harry Potter. His eyeglasses fell off the ground and it was broken.
"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, looking at him.
"Look where you're going!" said Ronald Weasley angrily.
"Three points from Gryffindor for yelling, Weasley," came a stern male voice. "The girl apologized."
Hermione looked up and saw Professor Snape - in his black robes with a cape and black curtain of hair. He saw Harry Potter's eyeglasses on the ground but just left without doing anything.
Hermione reached for her wand and pointed it at the broken eyeglasses on the ground. "Oculus Reparo!" she muttered in a low voice.
The eyeglasses were in one piece again and the Sellotape in the middle was gone. It was as good as new.
"Wow," she heard Harry Potter saw when she picked it up and offered to him. "Thanks," he said, reaching for it.
"You're welcome," she replied kindly. "Sorry again for knocking on you."
"Yeah, look where you're going next time," said Weasley again with a dour face. "Hufflepuffs," he whispered.
Hermione turned to Weasley and raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?" she asked casually.
"Hufflepuffs are clumsy," replied Weasley.
"Ron," called Potter gently.
"Hey, what's going on there?"
Hermione turned to see Cedric, Ian, and Terrence walking towards them, looking at Weasley and Potter fiercely.
"Nothing. I was just being clumsy and bumped into him," she jerked her head towards Harry Potter's direction. "His eyeglasses fell on the ground."
"His?" asked Weasley incredulously. "He's Harry Potter!"
She rolled her eyes. "And you're Ronald Weasley. And I'm Hermione Granger. Is he the Son of God?"
The three Hufflepuff boys chuckled.
"But it's fine, right?" asked Ian, looking at Harry Potter who was now wearing his glasses.
"Yeah, she fixed it," Harry Potter blushed.
Cedric placed a hand on her shoulder. "Really, Hermione? You're brilliant!"
"Thanks." She started walking again without saying anything to Potter and Weasley. The trio followed her to the castle. "I'm going to the library."
Terrence laughed. "All right, bookworm," he teased.
"I'll go with you," offered Cedric."
"Oh, yeah, you're her guardian here," teased Ian.
"Foster family," she corrected with an eye-roll. "See you."
Hermione did not protest. She didn't mind having a company. She didn't mind being with Cedric.
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The day went on. Hermione happily composed a letter for her parents, telling them that she got sorted in the Hufflepuff House. She told in detail about the Sorting Ceremony, and that she was welcomed nicely by her new housemates. She also mentioned Susan and Cedric being her foster family. Before retreating for lunch, Hermione and Cedric went to the owlery. The latter asked his pet Harley nicely to deliver Hermione's letter to her parents.
Just like this morning, Hermione was sandwiched between Cedric and Susan at the Hufflepuff table. In the afternoon, she had Potions with the Gryffindors. Professor Snape tortured Harry Potter by asking a lot of questions (from the book, Hermione noted with a shake of her head) and he didn't know the answers.
Professor Snape probably saw her disapproving look and asked her to answer. She obliged, and he looked satisfied with her answers but didn't award her house points. She didn't mind. Anyway, the older Hufflepuffs warned them about Professor Snape not awarding points to anyone other than Slytherins.
But that night, just before the curfew, Hufflepuffs stood in front of their house point hourglass. They had two-hundred points, second to Slytherins who had two-hundred and twenty.
"It was only one-hundred points earlier during lunchtime," muttered Ian with disbelief.
"Fifteen points were awarded this afternoon to seventh-years," said a Hufflepuff student.
"Ten points to sixth-years."
"Fifteen to the exhausted O.W.L. students."
"It's the first day of the year and you're exhausted?" a seventh-year prefect laughed. "Fourth-years?"
"Twenty, from double Herbology," someone said happily.
"Third years, ten points. Professor McGonagall wasn't happy when we entered her class," a female third-year said
"It was Professor Trelawney's fault," commented Ian. "She said Cedric's going to die before he graduates!"
Hermione turned to Cedric. "What?"
Cedric just smiled and shook his head. "Her Divination is rubbish. I am just taking the class to be able to work at the Ministry."
"And she predicts deaths every year," said an older student.
"Hey, what's with those Hufflepuffs?" she heard someone ask. She turned her head to the door and saw Potter, Weasley, and the Weasley twins.
"Guess they are too shocked to be in the second place for the first time in many years," said one of the twins but there was no malice in his voice.
"Second-years?"
"Ten points!"
"First-years?"
"Ten, from Professor Flitwick."
"That's only ninety. We earned one hundred points this afternoon."
"Maybe Professor Snape finally awarded someone secretly," giggled some students.
"Maybe. Anyway, let's be thankful to whomever that anonymous person is. Great job, everyone! Not bad for a first day," said a seventh-year prefect. "Off to bed, you trot!"
The students started leaving the Great Hall, but Hermione stayed, wanting to get a closer look at the hourglass.
"Hermione?" called Ced beside her.
"Gryffindors have rubies, Ravenclaws have sapphires, and Slytherins have emerald stones," she said, looking at the other hourglasses. Then she turned to the one in front of her.
"Diamonds for Hufflepuffs," commented Cedric.
"Do you know how they make diamonds in the Muggle world?" she asked.
"No."
"Diamonds are just pieces of black charcoal, that handled pressure exceptionally well."
"No wonder, Hufflepuffs are hardworking," Cedric said happily.
She looked up to him. "I'm glad I am one."