Hey guys, I'm here with another chapter. Thank you so much for all the reviews, faves and follows. It makes me happy that I decided to write this. I'm sorry it took so long between updates; I've been working on one of my stories that I am more emotionally invested in. It's one of favorites to write as I have been working on it for almost 4 years. Don't worry though, this story is still on my priority list, even if it's not number one. There's not much else for me to say here, so enjoy!
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As the other kids at the table I was sitting at stood up, I did the same. I was exhausted from all the excitement and nervousness combined with the delicious and heavy food in my stomach. Hopefully they were going somewhere we could sleep.
It seemed the whole school was walking in the same direction, which made me wonder how we were going to find our common rooms. I had read that each of the four Houses had their own common room and their own way to keep other students from different Houses from coming in.
When we got to the Main Hall, I heard different voices calling out for different Houses, and the massive mob split into four as students split to find their Housemates. I listened for the voice calling for Hufflepuffs and walked towards the older student who had called out for us.
I waited as the other students in the same House and year as me gathered in one area. "Everybody here?" When nobody said anything he continued. "Alright, then follow me, we'll be going to your new home for the next seven years."
As we walked through the halls the other students started talking excitedly. I had no idea how they could be so energetic after that amazing dinner, I was ready to curl into a ball on the floor and sleep. I noticed that we were heading down stairs and wondered if we were heading into the dungeons.
I was surprised when we came to a stop in front of a stack of barrels. There were no doors visible so I was curious about how we were going to get in.
"Now as some of you may know from family or friends, the Hufflepuff entrance is the only entrance that doesn't require some form of password. Instead you must tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff, observe." We all watched as the teen tapped the barrels in the order he just explained. I was surprised when the barrel's lid swung open revealing a tunnel passage.
"You should also know that our common room is the only one who has never had someone from another House inside. If the wrong lid is tapped or the wrong rhythm is used, the intruder will be doused in vinegar and barred entrance. So make sure you remember the pattern and rhythm so you don't get locked out. Now everyone."
The entrance was surprisingly large. We did have to crawl on our hands and knees to get in the passage but it was wide enough for three people to crawl shoulder to shoulder. I hung at the back of the group, not wanting to draw attention to myself. We crawled up a slight incline and eventually came to another door. I was the last person to crawl through the door and closed the door behind me.
The room was round, earthy, low-ceilinged, welcoming and warm. There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copper, and overstuffed sofa and armchairs upholstered in yellow and black. There were circular windows that I couldn't see out of due to the darkness. The floors, rafters and panels were made of a honey colored wood and the walls made of a light tan stone.
There was a variety of plants scattered around the room, resting on windows or hanging from the ceiling. In the back, opposite of where we had entered was a large, honey colored wooden mantelpiece with carvings of badgers on it. Above it was a portrait of a woman I recognized as Helga Hufflepuff. On both sides of the wall were barrel lids that must have led other rooms. There were 7 on each side and placed in a zigzag fashion.
"The barrel lids lead to different dorms; your dorm rooms are the lid third from this door. The ones next to the mantelpiece lead to the bathrooms as well as the baths. The kitchen is also just down the hall from the entrance and the house elves will be happy to get you anything if you're hungry. There are a list of the common room rules in both the dorm rooms and here in the common room. Now, off to bed with you. You'll know which room is yours as your possessions will be in the room by which bed you have been assigned, sleep well and good night."
I followed the 14 other boys in my year to the door and waited for them to start going in. We crawled down an incline and came to a part in the tunnel. There were three different tunnels we could go in, and we had to figure out which led to our room. I followed 4 other boys down the path to the left, and climbed even more downwards before we got to a door.
As I followed the last person in, I looked around. The room was circular just like the common room, the room itself had darker tones to it. The bottom half of the walls were a light tan color while the top half were made of a brown wood. The trim and the floor were made of dark oak wood. The entire room was illuminated by warm copper lamps.
The beds were positioned in a crescent shape around the room and had a few feet between them. The beds themselves looked warm and inviting. They were large four poster beds covered in patchwork quilts. Besides the beds on the walls were copper bed warmers.
The other boys walked over to four of the beds, I spotted my trunk in front of the second bed to my left. I walked over to it and sat on the bed. I watched the other boys as they rummaged around in their trunks and started pulling things out. One boy even had a cat with him, laying on the pillow on his bed. The boy to my right pulled out a poster for a professional Quidditch team and put it up on the wall.
Eventually they all changed into their pajamas and pulled the curtains around to block themselves from view. I quickly changed into my own pajamas before grabbing the quilt and pillow, laying them down on
the ground. I laid down on the quilt and curled up into a ball, covering myself with part of the quilt before falling asleep.
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When I woke up I noticed my roommates were getting up and crawling out of the room. I yawned as I stretched out. The quilt was so much more comfortable than the ratty blankets that Master had given me to sleep with. I folded up my quilt and placed it back on the bed before crawling through the tunnel door.
In the common room I saw several students from the other years rushing around, getting stuff ready. I figured it was better to get ready then go eat. That way I wasn't rushing to get everything done and eat at the same time. I went back and grabbed my toiletries before going to the bathrooms.
I finished getting ready and headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. I was almost never allowed in the dining room back with Master, and last night was probably a special occasion. I did not want to risk being punished to sit and eat comfortably.
I came to a door that had a painting of fruit on it. When I didn't see any kind of door handle, I decided to just phase through it. I wasn't supposed to use my powers around others, but there wasn't anyone around to see. When I appeared on the other side, I became solid and continued walking towards the kitchen. I could just phase through the walls to get there but I didn't want to scare the house elves, Dobby had gotten used to my powers but it would probably scare the others straight.
I opened the door to the huge room. The kitchen was a gigantic, high-ceilinged room with five tables identical to the ones in the Great Hall, they were even in the exact same position. There were large quantities of pots and pans heaped around the stone walls on counter-tops and stoves. A large brick fireplace was set in the wall at the other end of the hall from the door.
I could see hundreds of house elves scurrying around getting stuff ready for the next meal. A few of them caught sight of me and rushed me, practically falling all over me.
"What can we help you with sir?" One of them squeaked out.
"Can I have my breakfast please?" I asked politely.
"Breakfast is served in the Grand Hall sir, there's still some up there right now." Another one piped up.
I shook my head in response. "I can't eat up there, my Master doesn't like me eating with him and the other wizards. At home I ate in the kitchen with Master's house elf." The house elves looked a little worried before nodded and scurried off.
One of them brought me a little stool to sit on while another brought me a plate piled with food. I tried to tell them that it was too much for me to eat but they were having none of it so I had no choice but to eat it. I started off eating quickly but I started to slow down about three quarters of the way through. When I finished I moved to wash my dishes but the house elves rushed over and took my dishes from me before I could get two feet.
I tried to see if the house elves needed help with anything but they kept shooing me away. Eventually one of them reminded me that I had classes to attend and I headed upstairs. I saw a few of my Housemates in my year walking out of the Great Hall. I followed behind them since I had no idea what classes I had.
As we walked down to the dungeon I wondered just what class we were going to. I was both excited and terrified to attend my first class. I was absolutely terrified of being in a single room with so many wizards and witches, and the teacher must be so much more powerful to be teaching others. But I was also really excited to learn from someone who did it for a living. I could read as many books as I wanted, but if I had no hands on learning, then I wouldn't really learn anything.
The students in front of me came to a halt in front of a heavy wooden door. I waited patiently for them to open the door and enter before going in myself.
The room was much colder than the main castle, and was a startling contrast to the Hufflepuff common room. Where the common room had a warm and homey feel to it, this place was cold and uninviting. The walls were made entirely of stone and the room was shaped sort of in an oval. It looked large enough to fit at least twenty other students. The walls were lined with jars filled with all kinds of things, like pickled animals.
In one corner of the room stood a basin with a gargoyle shaped faucet over it. In another corner was some sort of cupboard. At the front of the classroom was a blackboard.
Standing at the front of the blackboard was a man with black hair, a hooked nose and pale skin. The aura he gave off instantly made me want to cower and hide in the corner. I had to fight the urge to turn invisible in front of the entire class. Instead, I shrunk in on myself and scurried to a seat as fast as possible.
When the rest of the students finished filing in, the teacher called roll. As soon as he finished calling out everyone's name he started talking.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
He started calling other students out and asking them questions about different potions or potion ingredients. I had already pulled out my quill and parchment and was copying down what he was saying, He was still a brilliant teacher with years of experience, there was so much I could learn from him, even if he terrified me.
"Mr. Malfoy." I jumped in surprise at my name being called. "Since it seems you're more interested in writing rather than what I'm teaching, perhaps you already know what I'm saying." I shook my head in disagreement. "Tell me Mr. Malfoy, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Ooh, I knew this one, I had been reading it on the train. "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death."
"Correct Mr. Malfoy. Well, why isn't anyone else copying this down?" There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment.
After asking everyone a question about potions, he wrote down instructions for making a potion and had us start it. From the ingredients it looked like it was some sort boil curing potion. I was paired up with another student and we set out to making it.
As I weighed the pine needles and my partner crushed the snake fangs, I watched as professor Snape walked around, analyzing each group. When he came to my table he stopped, I froze for a second, petrified. However, my partner snapped me out of it by asking me to add the pine needles, potion making needed to be precise, and me freezing up could ruin it. This was my first potion and I didn't want to screw it up.
"Mr. Malfoy, meet me after class, I want to discuss your attitude earlier." I gulped in nervousness before nodding, I did not want to tick him off.
I sighed in relief as he walked away, the vibe he was giving off was absolutely terrifying, enough to even match that of Master's on his bad days. I was scared about him wanting to see after class though, I didn't think I had done anything to deserve being punished. Maybe he was like Master though and took anything as an excuse to punish me. There wasn't any way for me to know until class actually ended, all I had to do was wait and work on the potion.
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Welcome to the bottom everyone, did you enjoy? Any guesses on why Snape wants to see him after class? Is it really about how he acted in class or is it something elses?
So I used the description of the Hufflepuff common room, the kitchen and the dungeon from the Harry Potter wiki if anyone was interested. However, I did also get some ideas for it by looking up 'Hufflepuff common room.' As for the dorm room a lot of it was based off an image I got from looking up 'Hufflepuff dorm room.
Anyways, that's it for now guys. Love it, hate it, just review it! Buh-bye!