(Cindy POV)
Minerva McGonagall was standing at the entrance of my house. Now I had talked about this to my parents and made sure that they act accordingly so that the Hogwarts teacher wouldn't know that I use and have used magic. Otherwise she would report me to their corrupt government and my parents didn't seem to like the wizarding world after reading more about their laws and unfair society rules. That's why when Minerva arrived she was received politely but not too kindly.
Afterward, she took me around Diagon Alley to get my supplies. I received money from my parents to be exchanged at Gringotts Bank however we were not starting an account there for me. Though I was curious about an inheritance test so I might later do that but that would probably turn negative since my family are Filipinos and let's just say that mine have been poor for generations.
We went wand shopping and fixed the other stuff for school which I do not care about them they're useless to me. The spell books that had a variety of spells are the only ones I truly needed. However, in order to nog receive Dumbledore's interest I really needed to stay low.
My parents dropped me off at the train station as they kissed me goodbye. While I sat in the train I wrote in my "FaceDiary" something that I and Hermione came up with. It sort of like Facebook. You could write messages to each other and also put in pictures for everyone who had a FaceDiary to see. It worked like this. The book or diary contained about four hundred pages. Each page was for a friend. When you gained a friend you would see their profile picture and yada, yada, stuff that Facebook that you could scroll down using your finger. On the back side of the friend's page, you could write a message that would stay unto the diary before becoming invisible after five minutes. that's how we could communicate fast with each other. When you wanted to become friends with someone your FaceDiary has a specific ID that would be written into the register in the front page so that you could simply tap their number and suddenly your friend's page would turn up in your FaceDiary. This was something I was gonna introduce to the Hufflepuffs but make it into a house secret.
I went to sit at an empty apartment that I charmed with a "Notice-me-not" charm as I went to sleep. When I woke up the train was already moving and let me just tell you the surprise I saw. I saw Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley sitting in the opposite compartment. My heart almost stopped. Thank God they didn't see me. Also I felt sorry for Harry Potter for not knowing the truth about his life but at least he looks good enough to really be called a healthy child.
Suddenly my view was distorted with the appearance of Draco Malfoy who opened the door of the opposite compartment and started to insult Ronald Weasley who Harry had suddenly become friends with. No offense to Harry but he should really be wary around strangers. Though with the fact of how he was treated by his relatives it is no surprise that he finds more comfort in strangers.
I put on my earring that could communicate with Hermione, my parents and pretty much whoever I wanted to speak with who had the same kind of earring. Speaking of my parents they must have returned home to the Philippines and started their own farm there. Chili farm and a wine yard were what I had heard from them. They even bought their own airplane just to fly over there. Though the airplane was cheap when they bought it because it was practically broken. With our magic we made the airplane whole again and even it expanded the inside. Luckily the muggles that worked as stewardess and pilots had to write a silence contract. Also, there was some real magic invoked in our contracts. Real silence was real silence.
"Hey, Mione", I said.
"Hey, CL. Aren't you on the train right now?".
"Yes, and guess what. Harry Potter is sitting in the opposite compartment".
"No way!".
"He is. He is sitting together with his new friend Ronald Weasley".
"Weasley? From one of the pure-blood families".
"Yep, and I sure hope Harry realizes that he should avoid him".
"Why? Isn't it good that he found a friend".
"But that's the weirdest part. When he asked Harry if he could sit with him since it full in all the other compartments he lied. In fact there was an entire carriage that was empty of people. In other words, there is no way him meeting Harry is a coincidence".
"You think there is something going on in the background?"
"Yes, and I bet it has something to do with Dumbledore. You see, remember how we always read that Harry Potter, the savior and hero was being raised comfortably away in hiding Dumbledore lied. Harry Potter has even told Ron Weasley that he was abused by his relatives".
"Wow, that old man is shady but then again that whole society is corrupt. I'm glad I was out of there. By the way, Beauxbutons is so much better than Hogwarts. They have actually combined American wizard technology with old magic. It's just too fascinating".
"I'm glad you like it over there. See you during the weekend?", I said.
"See you then, bye".
After my conversation ended Malfoy was red in his face as he stormed away.
When we arrived at Hogwarts during the evening the place was more beautiful than they described in the books and showed on the movies. There was magic in the air singing and welcoming us. We already felt at home. I sat in a boat together with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott as we bonded during the ride.
Then everything pretty much happened according to the movie. Harry and Ron in Gryffindor, Susan and Hannah in Hufflepuff, Draco in Slytherin and then there was me. My goal was already to get into Hufflepuff so I chanted the house name in my head so many times. The hat immediately put me there without any questioning. I high five both Hanna and Susan and down next to them as I smile at the rest.
When it was time for dinner I asked quietly the houseelves of Hogwarts if I could have some kinilaw. Kinilaw was my favorite Filipino dish because it was spicy and would make you cry if you're not used to it. My new friends thought it was weird and I would have agreed with them that it was if I never knew about it before.
After dinner, we were taken to the House dorm that lied beside the kitchen. Unlike the other houses, all Hufflepuff students had their own dorm room with our own bathroom. I was so right about this House. We were explained the rules by the prefects. We should stick together and not cause problems. In the mean time I placed some of my board games in the common hall for the housemates to use if they ever got bored. I also placed some of my books unto the shelf that was against the wall. Some were curious about this so I simply told them that they could freely use them and share with each other. The books I placed included law books but also biographies written by muggle-borns. Then there was a spell for daily need like shrinking spells or spells to refresh yourself if you ever wake up late and don't have to shower. Well, only time will tell how useful these will be. The occlumency spell however was something I knew the older ones would use.
Because classes were so boring I simply blanked out and kept quiet in the background. Hannah and Susan had reacted to my lack of diligence but I told them that it was better to self-study and I showed them the reason why. I showed them books and reports on how Hogwarts education have become simpler and simpler. In other words these classes are nothing but jokes to what are magic are truly capable off.
"It's as if someone is trying to cripple our magic", I told them and let them theorize about it.
And they both concluded that they understood what I was saying. They went off and asked the older Hufflepuffs and showed them my books and reports about the school that had been made by authentic government workers. As for how I got them stayed a secret. After reading these the older ones started to read the other books I had and it left them angry and broken. Most muggle-borns realized that they were in debt to Gringotts Bank others dreams of entering the ministry, earn a lot of money and have a happy family were crushed. When the truth is presented it is hard to believe but when the proof is shown you will have to accept reality. Ever since then everyone learned occlumency and took their futures even more seriously.
"It's not like we can't leave school right? I mean isn't it against law to force students to go to only this school?", one muggle-born Hufflepuff witch said.
"Unfortunately you can't leave school according to this biographic and the law book", Cedric Diggory said.
All the older members sat around a big table as they sat and discussed the news that they should have known but never got to.
"Apparently the only way to leave school is through death. The moment we accepted those letters and entered Hogwarts we are bound to this place magically for seven years".
"They can't do that! It's should be illegal right?".
"No, not according to the law. However, apparently, it would be illegal if it happened to a pure-blood".
"What!", everyone were so upset about this. "This is so unfair".
"We need to ask the teachers", one suggested.
"With this information, I don't think I even trust them anymore".
"But just to make sure that it is true".
The oldest Hufflepuff students got confirmed by both Minerva McGonagall and Pomona Sprout that it was all true and everyone seemed to be filled with despair. What was the point of studying so hard if you would never reach far in the wizarding world anyway? You might as well just drop out and enter a muggle school. However, when the only way to drop out is by death that was no option either.
"I really don't know what I should do", Rue Ferret who was a muggle-born asked herself.
I heard similar questions in the common room as I sat and practice my Patronus Charm. My patronus apparently was an owl and it loved to fly around specifically Cedric Diggory for some reason. When they looked at the patronus and then me I was suddenly asked by Maurice Slumber another muggle-born if I knew how to solve their problem.
"Easy, just wait out until your last year fake a degree and enter a muggle university. If you give me your contact information I will help fake your muggle lives. Trust me a lot of muggles who have questionable lives do this. Or you can think of starting your own business but that would only add more debt, wouldn't it?".
"You're a muggle-born too why aren't you worrying?".
"Well, I didn't take a loan and I already run a business with my friend".
"Wait you're only eleven-years-old. Is that even legal?".
"Well, the business is under our parents' name however my friend and I are the ones doing all the work".
"What type of work".
"Company secret".
"Okay, how much do you earn".
"Roughly around two million pounds a year right now".
"What the hell", Rue Ferret said shocked than she recollected herself before running up to me and falling down to her knees in front of me. "Please, help me".
"Fine, tomorrow is Saturday so I will show you our company. We could use more workers anyway. However, I need everyone to take an oath so repeat after me one by one: 'What happens in Hufflepuff stays in Hufflepuff'. Repeat after me starting with you Rue".
Then all the Hufflepuffs took the oath properly. Everyone felt the oath take place as they all received the electric shock.
When the next day arrived I invited all the older ones who would graduate to my room. After closing the door I pulled out a door that would lead to an apartment. After that, we would go through another door that would lead towards a glass building underneath the sea. It was warded like hell. Then they were led towards the conference room. Actually, the glass building was made by the Sahara sand which I had transported and shaped into glass windows that build this whole place up by using glue and magic. The building looked like a box on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Since it was only just me and Hermione in this company we didn't really need much space but after this, we would. The fresh air runes blew in more oxygen as more people arrived. We all sat around a long table as we waited for Hermione. Apparently, she had decided that she was also going to hire some of the people from her school too.
I widened the space and put out vocal enhance runes that would work as microphones or a better version of those devices.
Once I saw her enter from the door we had just entered from I got up and hugged her as well as greeted the french Beauxbaton students. She brought in three people while I had ten.
Before we started the meeting we made everyone sign a contract of confidentiality. We gave them some time to read through it and ask about some of the points around them.
After everyone had decided to sign it we started to explain our simple business. At first, everyone was against since they thought it was illegal. However, Hermione explained to them about the loophole in the law. Basically, it was only illegal if magic was used in an area around muggles that could make them suspicious. We used illusionary spells as well as high walls to cover what we do inside the house and outside. If the Aurors couldn't catch or get wind about someone using magic we wouldn't need to worry about getting caught. Besides, it didn't matter anyway since it is not against the law to create businesses. Heck, even the purebloods use their magic in the muggle businesses they own. Besides the estate business, we were also working on making an international bank. We already had the papers ready so all we needed was to get it going. In fact, the whole estate business was so simple that anyone could do it. That's why everyone needed to sign so that they wouldn't create competition for us. As for the salary… I was too generous but also strict and made sure that the house elves that would monitor them would make sure that none of them slacked off or their salary would be cut.
Hermione and I were both the CEO's for this company while the rest became divisional chefs or managers. We divided the assignments to everyone and made sure that everyone got a communication earring for quick calls.
When everyone came back to Hogwarts they seemed more relieved and that's what made the other older Hufflepuffs more curious and tried to ask but all that the graduates could say was that their financial issues would be solved. When people asked the 7th graders about the earring they also said that it was a company secret. Everyone seemed jealous. In order to sooth the atmosphere I introduced the "FaceDiary" to everyone in Hufflepuff and that they could buy it for only ten galleons.
"It's a lot of money. Can't you make it cheaper?", some asked.
"I can't but there is another way to pay".
That made everyone become more interested.
"You need to donate some blood to me".
It all horrified them.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. There are other ways to use blood than for dark magic and rituals, you know".
"Then what other ways are there to use it?", a 5th year asked.
"Well, for medical purposes. If you lost an arm or a leg you could probably regrow it by using the DNA in the blood cells. My friend and I tried it on a dog who had lost his leg and it worked. Because the leg was a perfect fit the body accepted it naturally. It took some time for the neurons to be trained but eventually, the dog could walk as it used to before".
Some of them looked confused about the DNA. Most of them were pure-bloods who never got to visit the muggle world and know about this. However, they did understand that the blood could be used for healing, so why not donate some?
I ended up with twenty litters of total blood from everyone who donated it just to get their own "FaceDiary". It paid off eventually. The book helped everyone get closer to each other too. In fact, this whole secrecy that was only known to the Hufflepuffs made everyone in the House bond. All the new knowledge also made the older house members more confident but we all agreed to keep everything a secret. So, the only way not to lie and feel guilty is by not revealing anything in the first place. Not reveal that you have a secret but just stand in the background and keep your eyes low and not stand out. From my books, they even learned how to make charms that would lead anyone's attention to hurt them away. This way none of the Hufflepuffs would get bullied by the other houses.
Dumbledore didn't suspect a shit and that was good. Meanwhile, with the new spells, we made our house a lot livelier. I wanted a sound room where I could sing Karaoke. In fact, Cindy in this universe had a natural talent for singing. She was Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celiné Dion combined. She might even have had the chance to become a singer if she wanted to. Though I doubt that she would survive the uprising war that was coming.
The 7th graders all used an empty dorm room to get out into the muggle world by using the doors I created. I taught them how to create their own door so that they could carry it around with them all around and connect it to the doors in that apartment somewhere in London. We even had a house-elf sit in an apartment all day and note down who went through which doors and so on. Everyone seemed to love their jobs though. It was fun working with them too. Especially since we all got to travel and have fun over the weekend before returning to the common rooms. Of course, I also sold some of the communication earrings to the 4th, 5th and 6th graders too. They all loved it. The first years, except, who had only heard about bad things about Hufflepuff actually were the proudest to be in the house now due to all of these new inventions that only we used.
While none of the teachers suspected that anything was different with the Hufflepuffs even with their earrings on, people observant enough began to suspect. The Ravenclaws seemed to want to be into the secret or whatever there was but we simply told them that there was no such thing as a secret. Then they tried to use the girls to seduce the boys but they had sworn an oath of secrecy.
Percy Weasley had also begun to suspect something about the Hufflepuffs. The girls and boys had gotten beautiful and handsome and gotten an ideal body yet it was strange how none of them were being approached. The Hufflepuffs had also kept more to themselves and almost only studied with each other. Percy figured that they had placed some notice-me-not charms after class so that they wouldn't be approached by other houses and not get insulted or bullied.
(Cedric Diggory POV)
With all the secrecy going on we Hufflepuff really started to understand the Slytherins a lot more. We felt smug but we also held ourselves back and made sure to not stick out. With the unfair laws of this world, no one dared to anger a pure-blood anymore or else they would risk their whole family's lives. They weren't Gryffindors that could afford to act recklessly.
"Okay, spill it Diggory. What are you Hufflepuffs up to?", his childhood-friend Percy Weasley came up to him.
"I do not know what you are talking about", I had to pretend and it hurt that I had to lie to him. I didn't want to lie to a friend.
"Okay, so I'm gonna pretend that everyone who got O in every subject is not from Hufflepuff. I'm gonna pretend that you Hufflepuffs still seem like cowards or that none of you have gotten ridiculously more beautiful and none of you look upon us as smugly as if you know something we know".
Shit, everyone had already blown our cover.
Cedric really didn't want to expose my housemates nor lie to my friend so I did the only thing I could do…
"In other words Diggory you're putting the problem with your friend on me", I nodded as she looked at me judgingly.
The eleven-year-old girl eyed Percy who eyed her back and had a dumbfounded look on his face and I could already tell what he was thinking about.
"Sure we can tell him and let him in on everything we know but before we do that he need to learn occlumency", she got up and handed Percy the spell book and made Cedric teach his friend before they could let him in on the secret. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Percy to master the spell. It showed that he was truly a hardworking person that already had crammed in the foundation of studying a spell.
"Okay, Percy Weasley now take the oath. Repeat after me: What happens in Hufflepuff stays in Hufflepuff".
He repeated the words and I saw that he got the same electric shock we all got.
"To begin everything with…", then she went on about the Gringott Banks, the unjust laws of the magical government and the corruption going on. The scam of no one being able to leave Hogwarts until the last year since we all were unknowingly signing on a contract as we soon entered the school and are now bound to the place until the 7th year. She told him about how Hogwarts teaching had changed over the years. How it had become worse every decade. The teaching material spoke for itself. Then she explained about the theory that someone is truly trying to extinguish all magic by having incestual relationships among pure-bloods as it seemed to cripple the magic core of their future child. She explained that the true reason why muggle-borns are hated is that they are the obstacles in the government's way. Wizards and witches only made out of 10% of the whole planet's population. That isn't a lot and if there were fewer magical children born every this could almost make their whole population extinct. New blood kept the magic stronger as the negative part from the pure-blood parents would be balanced out. I had read about DNA and genetics from Cindy's book and that has made me really to look down upon pure-bloods as well as pity them.
Once Percy learned this he understood why Hufflepuff have suddenly changed. To learn that they would have no decent jobs if they are muggle-borns and even end up in debt for a lifetime that could pass on to their children is horrifying.
Now in order to make sure that we were able to pay our debts back Cindy along with the other Hufflepuffs as well as Beauxbatons students have created an international bank. A bank where they could take out money and exchanger currencies wherever they are from the world. It was a bank for muggle-born people that struggled with Gringotts Bank as well as muggle banks. Each Hufflepuff member have put a tiny amount of their money into the bank. That money would later be invested in muggle funds and shares that would raise their own money. They would later get back money whenever they wanted to stop investing and take out money instead. Magic was also used to predict how the shares and funds would go. Luckily they had hired capable people that would make sure to switch funds and shares quickly.
I had already gotten back twenty times the money I let the bank invest into. And I had only invested 40 galleons and that came back as 800 galleons. I split the money later and invested half while saving the other half for in case of an emergency.
After Percy let the information down unto him I was allowed to show him how we got out of Hogwartz and enjoyed the world outside during the weekends. I showed him my earring and he seemed to want one too. In the end he payed ten galleons for one.
After this Percy began to spend more time with me and Hufflepuffs.
Like Cindy had once said before:
People bond over secrets.