Chapter Four
With a full stomach and after a rather long day. The prefects began to lead the first-years to their common rooms. She gave a quick wave as she walked the opposite way of Myrtle Warren. Following behind the older Hufflepuff students. She did wonder what her common room would be like however just at her mind began to wander. A stark reminder that she was in a magical castle entered her mind as the stairs began to move; she gave a gasp; holding the bannister as if it was for dear life. She didn't let go, even when it stopped; she found herself going further down into the castle. Her mood only lifting when she was on ground level again, walking past the entrance to the kitchens; the Hufflepuff prefect stopped to address the students...
"Now to enter and this is for your own protection. We have to enter the right barrels...Lucy Norris; I would like you to watch as you are our one and only new face this year"
Her fellow students stood aside to let her pass through. She watched the prefect tap certain barrels and made sure to concentrate. The basement door swung open on the final tap. Lucy giving a joyful gasp as a beautiful and bright corridor was revealed. The prefect held his hand up as if to say "Do not enter" and so everyone stayed. The basement door slammed shut again.
"Right...Lucy, you have to do this by yourself now; show us all"
Looking around at the prying eyes, she stepped forward. Recalling the barrels that he tapped. He watched (as did they all) however they all looked away on the last barrel. Lucy made a mistake and she was suddenly doused with vinegar, she fell back slightly.
"Oh no!" Lucy blurted out; her eyes felt like they were burning and rubbing them against her robes only made it worse.
"No matter. No matter at all...let's try again. Lucy, you were doing so well for your first try. You just need to do it again" the prefect ordered.
Adjusting her eyes again (and her brain to come to that). Lucy approached the barrels again. She began to think even harder as she didn't want another load of vinegar to spray into eyes. Her second attempt was another failure and she once again was too slow to back away. A loud clutter of noise was suddenly heard behind her as her fellow Hufflepuffs had sat down now; predicting this to go on for another ten minutes.
"Third time lucky" the prefect said; not believing his own words.
Third try...fourth try; Lucy had tried to look away but the prefect would remind her that it's daft to look away when you're trying to remember a code. How do you know you tapped the right one if you look away? It did go on for ten minutes as expected; the students joked that the house elves would have made breakfast by the time they got in.
"Yes! Well done, Lucy; twenty-secondth time!" the prefect shouted; he was very happy it was over.
The basement door had reopened at last. The students getting up again as they sighed a breath of relief. They all clambered into the hallway and into the common room. Lucy felt safe and warm in here as she made her way in and looked around the room. A lovely smell of flowers and plants filled the air. A fire was burning in the corner. A portrait of Helga Hufflepuff was hung proudly in the centre as she waved to the students.
"Lights out very soon" the prefect announced; making the boys and girls split into two.
Lucy found herself following three other girls into one of the dormitories. She was sharing with three other girls as the four-poster beds came into view. Her cat 'Mr Filch' was laying on one of the beds. Another cat was laying on the bed in the far corner, a black cat. The other girls had pet owls and they were in the owlery. One of the girls began to close her curtains on her bed and soon all of them followed her lead.
"Nightgown on, Norris" a voice was heard from the next bed over. The girl in question suddenly doing just that.
She almost forgot that it was nearly time for bed. After all of them were dressed in their nightgowns. They introduced themselves to Lucy, they were all a year older than she was. They were called Poppy Gold, Victoria Abbott (great-aunt of the future Hannah Abbott) and Ruth Fisk. Lucy liked these girls and finally felt like she found a group she belonged to. The Hufflepuff house really seemed to speak to her and she had no doubt the 'Sorting Hat' made the right choice.
"I was so scared on the train. I thought I was going to faint from nerves" Lucy told them all; explaining her story thus far.
"Well this year does make one feel nervous. I know you won't understand Lucy but did you notice how many Slytherin's we had this year?" Victoria asked, changing the subject to the elephant in the room.
Lucy gave a nod; she did notice but what did it mean? She didn't know. The expression on the other two girl's faces made her realize it wasn't good. Poppy and Ruth were invested in what Victoria was saying. They had been many Slytherin students this year, fresh faces; Tom Riddle stood out among them.
"I knew Eileen Prince and Abraxas Malfoy would be sorted into Slytherin however this Tom Riddle. I have no idea who he was...Did he give you the creeps or was it just me?" Ruth asked in a quiet tone; like she was scared of him overhearing.
"There was nothing in his eyes, no nerves or pride or even sadness. Nothing" Victoria agreed.
"Perhaps he's putting on a front" Lucy suggested.
Though the three girls shook their head. They didn't think so. No child could put on a front as good as that. He really did just seem to feel nothing and that was the thing that scared his fellow students the most. It wasn't natural and it unnerved most of them.
"I do hope we are wrong because if we aren't. I can only imagine what sort of a wizard he's going to be" Poppy spoke up.
"And did you see Eileen Prince? Now you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her. She looks like would make even the boys shiver" Victoria said; getting under her covers as the lights began to dim.
Lucy shook her head slightly at this.
"No. Eileen's just sad about something. Please don't be harsh" Lucy pleaded. Making them just give a shrug.
They thought she was being too generous, even for a Hufflepuff. The lights began to dim even more and soon the room was pitch black. As Lucy began to close her eyes and fall into a deep sleep. She could hear some voices still as the other girls carried on their talk but she was too weary to listen and so she fell asleep.
...
Lucy looked at her classes in slight confusion as she ate her breakfast that morning. This wasn't anything she had ever seen before. Broomstick flying, potions, history of magic (this was the only class she understood), charms, defence against the dark arts (this one worried her the most), astronomy and herbology. She was looking at her classes for the day when she suddenly felt a bit of food thrown at her back. Making her look backwards as she seen a sniggering Slytherin boy. That black-haired boy from the train...
"Oh I'm sorry Mudblood, thought you were the compost bin. I heard you Hufflepuff's sleep in a garden"
"I'm not rising to it" Lucy replied firmly.
This boy walked towards her closer as he sat next to her. Trying to intimidate her and he very much did. Lucy broke eye contact but could still feel his eyes on her, waiting for her to pack up and go. This boy was the young 'Nott'. His first name being Geoffrey. Lucy didn't feel like she could move and she just sat there as he edged closer towards her; waiting for her to go.
"Nott!" a voice suddenly shouted; making Geoffrey break eye contact at long last.
"Abraxas. I was just letting Lucy Norris know she's not welcome. Because she's not, is she?"
Not getting the reaction he was after. He felt himself being pulled up by Abraxas as he dragged him from her and leaned close to his face to avoid being overheard as he mumbled..."Don't let them know, Tom Riddle has a plan"
Making Nott give a simple nod, he himself looked suddenly intimidated. He just gave a scoff as if to make out he wasn't bothered. Lucy watched as the two boys walked out of the hall. Eileen Prince was watching from afar as she had witnessed the small exchange; she gave the two boys a nod. Still no smile though. She pulled her black hair over her eyes again before too leaving. When she was alone, Lucy put her head on the table and began to sob; trying to avoid anyone seeing her crying. She felt a hand nearby and a tissue being placed besides.
"Don't let them get to you. Oakleigh has plans for them"
Oakleigh being the caretaker. Recognizing that voice, Lucy looked back up as she took the tissue and wiped her remaining tears. Argus Filch was stood there with a cane of his own now (along with a broom). She just gave a sad smile at him, placing the tissue into her robe's pocket. Argus sitting besides her as he began to show his cane.
"I can use this to any misbehaving students, so Oakleigh has told me. Don't you worry. Nott and Malfoy will get it...I would say Prince too but I will leave the girl to Oakleigh" Argus explained.
"You wouldn't"
"I would and I can. I know you have these in muggle schools too. It's my job and as long as Headmaster Dippet permits the use of corporal punishment. I will enjoy having something over those rotten dregs"
"Argus"
"No, no need to 'Argus' me; it's permitted"
And with that, Argus made his way out of the hall; cane in hand. He actually liked Lucy however a part of him liked that small bit of authority he had now too. As a squib, he never could have predicted he would have any authority over wizards and witches. He suffered in early childhood and now as he had reached eleven, he was ready to gain back some control he lacked.
...
The first lesson of the day was about to start. Lucy found in her timetable that she was sharing with a mixture of other first-year students from different houses. A man was standing at the foot of a dozen or so old broomsticks. As he instructed the students to all stand besides one each. This was the 'Flying Instructor', 'Professor Leofwine Jacks'. He was an elderly man with a grey beard that almost touched the ground. He was wearing red robes which looked as old as the broomsticks themselves and his red hat looked firmly stuck to his head. Leofwine had refused to retire, he had taught broomstick flying since Dumbledore was a lad. Though he was a skilled Quidditch player during his younger days; played for England. Leofwine looked across at his students, holding onto his walking stick.
"Hello first-year students. My name is Professor Leofwine Jacks and I have been teaching broomstick flying for over sixty years. So any questions, you may come to me" Leofwine paused slightly; looking at the young faces...
"Remove your hair from your eyes, girl. You can't fly blind" Leofwine quickly demanded.
Making everyone suddenly turn to a red-faced Eileen Prince. As she rather reluctantly pulled her hair away from her eyes. The Slytherin's realized right there and then that they would get no special treatment from Professor Jacks. Though he was a Gryffindor. Lucy felt slightly better as it made her think that just because the other students are scared of the Slytherins, doesn't mean the professors and staff are. She was stood between two Gryffindor boys during this lesson and they were nice as pie to her. The instructor was explaining to them how to mount the broom and not before long, a chorus of students were saying...
"Up!"
Professor Jacks watching them with his beady eyes. He was saying things like "Keep focus" and "Let the broom know you mean it".
"Up!" Lucy commanded for the umpteenth time.
Some students had already got their brooms up and they did look smug. As they watched the remaining students try and get their broomsticks up. Eileen Prince, Myrtle Warren and Lucy Norris were the last three left.
"Up!" Myrtle shouted louder; the broomstick finally came up to her hand. She gave a self-satisfied grin.
"Up!" Eileen Prince hissed; as if she was insulted by the old broomstick.
She did not want to the be last student unable to get their broom up. Both Eileen and Lucy managed to get their broom up within seconds of each other. It was too quick to judge who was last and that was a relief to Eileen.
"Excellent...Now I wish for you all to mount your brooms please. Now watch me" Professor Jacks instructed.
The students opened their mouth a little bit in surprise. Was the elderly professor really going to fly himself? Notts muttered to Malfoy
"Watch the old fool fall from his broom now"
Professor Jacks mounted on his broom and informed them how to not slide off. Myrtle looked she was panicking again. Fall of?! No, she would surely die in some freak broomstick accident. He gripped tightly onto his broomstick and the elderly man lifted from the ground; the muggle-borns were very impressed as they watched him fly around them. He may be old but he hadn't lost his love of flying, his long beard looked as if it was floating in the wind. He received claps and cheers from the muggle-born students as he landed. The pure-bloods and half-bloods had saw this before and therefore it wasn't anything special. Hence why they weren't clapping or cheering.
"Thank you...thank you but there's really no need. Now go on, it's your turn"
Lucy gave a quiet whimper before mounting her broom. She was just as nervous as Myrtle. She gripped tightly onto her broom and kicked the floor which resulted in her broomstick rising from the air. Her feet dangling below her as she gripped onto her broomstick tightly. Looking around at her fellow students (most of them smiling like the Cheshire cat). Even Eileen Prince cracked the smallest smile as she looked down at the ground.
"Oh my...I may fall and break my neck" Myrtle spoke.
"We can only wish" Geoffrey Nott replied; he couldn't help himself.
The students were soon instructed to land back safely on the ground. They all did this with little trouble however Lucy felt like she wobbled a little bit on the way down. Most of them were still grinning as the broomsticks were once again lined up on the grass. That was quite amazing, even for those students who weren't really into Quidditch. It was just handy to be able to do.
...
TBC