Chapter Three: Hagrid's Hut

Nellie was unable to sleep her first night in the castle. As a matter of fact, she was unable to sleep most of her first week. She was excited and overwhelmed with all the new material they were learning. She loved most of her classes and teachers with the exception of Binns, Snape, and Quirell, who sent chills down her spine whenever he turned his back to her. Herbology was her favorite class by far. It was one of three classes she had with Gryffindor, which meant she got to see Harry and Ron, and it was fascinating to learn about the plants that adorned the Hufflepuff common room and dormitories.

By Friday, Nellie was exhausted and couldn't wait for the day to be over so she could get some much needed rest. Nellie joined her Harry and Ron for breakfast at the Gryffindor table.

"Morning, boys." She said flinging herself into a seat next to Harry.

"Morning." They chorused with long looks on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Nellie asked, as she buttered her toast.

"We've got double potions this morning." Harry said.

"With Slytherin. I heard Snape particularly favors them." Ron groaned.

" 'Course he favors, them Ron. That lot is just as unfriendly as he is. Snape's pretty awful, but Potions itself is alright. Try to stay on Snape's good side and you'll be fine." Nellie assured them.

"Snape, good side?" A red-headed third year who Nellie assumed to be Ron's brother said sitting across from her.

An identical boy who she now recognized from the train sat next to his twin and said, "Don't reckon she's talking about the same Snape that teaches Potions here, do you, Fred."

"Couldn't be, George. Snape's got no good side." Fred said.

Nellie glared hard at the twins. "He can't be all bad. Can he? Besides, he can't do much to you unless you do something wrong, right?"

"She's a Hufflepuff, George." Fred said.

"Doesn't know the half of it, then. Snape hates everyone, yes, but he particularly hates the Gryffindors. They've had the most rivalry, but if you want to go on thinking Snape's good then go on you'll learn. We best be off, but remember, Ron, we warned you." The boys got up and left leaving Nellie, whose face had turned red, fuming behind them.

"Don't listen to your brothers, Ron. Potions will be fine." Nellie said.

They continued eating until the morning mail arrived, and a note dropped onto Harry's plate.

Harry scribbled a reply to whoever wrote him the letter and gathered his things. "We best be off, too. See you later, Nellie."

"Bye." She said, and she gathered her own things and left to meet her Hufflepuff friends before class.

"Morning, Nellie." Lilith said with a grin. She couldn't wait for their first class which was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Morning." She replied with a silent groan. She heard from Ron that their first class they spent silently reading about snails.

The group of girls, which included Rose, Lilith, Meredith, and Nellie, sat near the back and talked amongst themselves until a nervous voice from the front said, "P-please b-be quiet. If y-y-you would, O-op-open y-your bo-bo-books to ch-chapter o-one and s-summaries th-the uses o-of sn-sn-snails."

The class groaned and opened their books, unhappy about spending a double class doing this. By the end of the class, Nellie had only managed to write a few sentences which was better than Rose, who wrote nothing.

"Why did you even bother with that assignment? It was rubbish. Snails are useless." Rose complained.

"They have their uses I suppose." Nellie said. "But not many." She added to Rose glare.

"Well, we've got to be learning something better next. Come on, Rose we've got to get to the library before lunch. Bye Nellie. Bye Lilith." Meredith said heading off with Rose.

"Let's go back to the common room." Lilith said, eager to ditch her books.

The two ambled upstairs discussing the classes they liked and disliked.

"How could you not like Herbology?" Nellie gasped, entering the common room. "Looking at all this makes me want to learn about plants even more." Lilith shrugged.

"I'd rather focus on the spells. Plants aren't as fun."

Nellie shrugged and waved at her brother, who held up the letter from their parents that she still hadn't responded to. 'Later.' She mouthed. She was supposed to send her parents a letter after the sorting, but she kept putting it off, in favor of exploring her new home, but she knew her mum would have her head if she didn't write soon. The girls put their books in their room and Nellie went on to the Great Hall without her friend.

She sat at the Gryffindor table and pulled out some parchment to start a letter to her mum and dad while she waited for Harry and Ron.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Sorry I haven't written. Hogwarts is

amazing. I've never seen anything

more beautiful in my life. I'm sure

Ced told you I'm in Hufflepuff, but if

he hadn't then now you know. I've

made friends with some of the girls in

my house and, you won't believe this,

Harry Potter. I met him on the train and

him and Ron Weasley are my closest friends.

They are Gryffindors though, but we hang out

when we can. I miss you terribly and I can't wait

to see you at Christmas. I promise I'll remember

to write more. I love you.

Love,

Nellie

"Fred and George were right." Someone said suddenly.

Harry and Ron sat down on either side of Nellie.

"Snape's horrible. The worst. He took points off Harry just for breathing!" Ron yelled.

"I highly doubt that was his reasoning, Ron." Nellie replied.

"Pretty much. He's vile."

Nellie sighed and turned to Harry. "I'm sorry about Snape, Harry."

"It's fine. Want to come with us to Hagrid's?" Harry asked.

"I'd love to, thanks."

At five til three, they made their way down the grounds to Hagrid's hut. When Harry knocked, they heard a great commotion inside the house and an abundance of barking. Then a booming voice yelled,

"Back Fang, back."

Hagrid pushed the door open just enough for them to see his face, "Hang on. Back Fang!" He yelled. The dog backed off and Hagrid let them inside. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasant were hanging from the ceiling, a tea kettle was boiling on the fire, and a massive bed covered in a patchwork quilt sat in the corner. "Make yourselves at home." Hagrid said as Fang ran over to Ron and began licking his ears.

"This is Nellie," Harry said gesturing to her as she got down to pet Fang. "And this is Ron."

"Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest." Hagrid poured them tea and offered them rock cakes which nearly broke their teeth. They pretended to enjoy them as they told Hagrid about their first lessons. Harry told Hagrid about his disastrous Potions lesson and ended by saying.

"But he really seems to hate me."

"Rubbish! Why should he?" Hagrid said, and even though Hagrid wouldn't meet Harry's eyes as he said it, Nellie gave Harry and Ron an 'I-told-you-so' look that reminded them of Hermione, the know-it-all witch in their year.

"How's your brother Charlie? I liked him a lot-great with animals." Hagrid changed the subject.

"He's working in Romania with dragons." While Ron talked about Charlie, Harry showed Nellie a news clipping from the Daily Prophet.

Gringotts Break-In Last Night:

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31, July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied that same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you" said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

"Hagrid! The Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday. It might have happened while we were there!" Harry exclaimed.

There was no doubt Hagrid didn't meet his eyes this time. He grunted and offered them more rock cake.

The three walked back to the castle soon after for dinner with their pockets weighed down by rock cakes that they had been too polite to refuse. Harry seemed to be in deep thought, so she chatted with Ron on the way to the castle. However odd Harry seemed to be acting after reading that article, the trip to Hagrid's had definitely been the best thing to happen to Nellie all week.