Summary: Blaise had a mission at Hogwarts and would use whatever his Sorting was to his advantage to achieve it.

Rated: K

Genre: General

Competition/Challenge Block:
Written For: The Houses Competition (Year 7); Monthly Challenges for All (Year 4)
House/Class: Slytherin/Muggle Studies
Task (Prompt): Standard ([Trope] Different House Sorting)

MC4A: FPC; Star; T3; Link; Sp Bingo (1E); Tr Bingo (3B); Hunt (Black Char); IC (Short Jog; Bucket Listing; Two Cakes; Eating Cake; Green Ribbon; Neurodivgerent; Ethic & Present; Lunar Era; Hufflepuff MC; Ravenclaw MC; Feathers & Such; Old Shoes)
Word Count: 1,722
Beta(s): VanillaAshes, Shy-n-great

Author's Note: I have chosen to portray that a House Sorting does not change the person. I have Blaise show he is still calculated and composed even as a Hufflepuff. I also made Blaise, Luna, and Madam Pince Fay because why not? :)

Quiet in the Library

Eleven-year-old Blaise Zabini had the patience of a saint. He was often told this by his mother and even once from one of her husbands. Blaise remembered him well because he was his favourite. The man's name was Elijah, and Blaise was seven when he entered the picture and was just shy of ten when he disappeared—like the others before and after him. It was a disappointment, to say the least, yet was a side effect of being a part of the Zabini family tree.

Waiting for his turn to be Sorted was going to be long and boring. Blaise didn't let it bother him because it gave him plenty of time to consider where he wanted to be placed, what he wanted to do with his time at Hogwarts, what he wanted to learn there, and most importantly, to fulfill his duty in finding a lost relic hidden within the castle walls.

He was taught to value a lot of different things; time was one of them, as well as knowledge, loyalty to those who deserved it, perseverance, and, of course, patience. Everything happened at its own pace, and rushing it never ended well.

Unfortunately, all of his mother's suitors overlooked that crucial detail when marrying her, and it was a hard lesson to learn when it escalated to a life and death situation. The Zabinis never tolerated betrayal, deception, or manipulation, and the price to pay for these mistakes was costly.

"Zabini, Blaise," the deputy headmistress announced.

Blaise stepped forward, being the only child left waiting, and sat stiffly on the hard stool. His violet eyes swept across the Great Hall before it was snuffed out by the darkness of the Hat being placed on his head.

"Ah, you are quite a fascinating soul, aren't you?" the gravelly voice of the Hat said.

Blaise could feel something prodding around in his head and he didn't particularly like it.

"Very sophisticated and refined. There's a lot of qualities about you—eager to grow with a certain fierceness underlying it. But where to place you that suits these unique traits?"

Blaise didn't bother to reply, not finding the need to, really. He already knew he'd be satisfied with whatever the Hat's decision was. Any House would suffice for what he was really there for.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The yellow-clad table erupted in applause, and Blaise moved to sit at the end of the bench with his new House. The valued traits of hard work and fair play could be quite the useful advantage.

Mother was proud of his Sorting, telling him about her great-grandfather being in the same House and how he thrived beyond everyone's expectations in it. She seemed confident that Blaise would follow in his footsteps.

One of the first things he did when he was free from the school tour was to head for the library. What better place to learn and search for what was lost than where books resided?

He approached the desk of Madam Pince and waited for her to acknowledge him.

"May I help you?" she asked, hints of a sneer in her tone.

"Yes, ma'am. I would like to be your assistant, if you'll have me," he said with such confidence it surprised the librarian.

"As if I'd allow a child to touch my books," she snapped back after a moment. "You lot are so irresponsible with them as it is."

Madam Pince gestured to a book on her desk that had the cover completely separated from the pages, exposing the hand stitched binding.

"May I?"

"May you what? Further ruin this poor thing? Absolutely not."

He ignored her and carefully handled the book anyway. Madam Pince's nostrils flared at the disrespect, but before she took further action, she froze, watching Blaise run a hand down the binding leaving a purplish glow behind. He then made quick work of reattaching the cover and sealing the spine before offering the repaired tome to her for examination.

"I have been repairing and mending books for a long time, ma'am," Blaise explained, "It's become a hobby of my mother's and myself. "

"Wh-what did you do?" she demanded, pointing at his hand. "Wandless magic from a child? Impossible!"

He held up his hand, moving it so his dark skin shimmered purple. "I'd thought you'd recognize someone of your kind, Madam Pince. We Fay should stick together, should we not?"

She was taken aback by this. Blaise knew that she'd purposely hid her true identity, and because of it, she'd grown bitter, obsessive, and possessive, deciding to nest within a school library to hoard over things not rightfully hers. This type of behavior was frowned upon among Fay, and it was a shame to see her corrupted.

"I believe you knew my great-great-grandfather Enzo Zabini? My mother told me he was quite fond of you. It's unfortunate you were expelled from the Garden, but I do give you credit for remaining hidden for so long. I'm sure you want to keep it that way?"

Madam Pince pursed her lips at this, half-glaring at him as she pondered on how to proceed. He clearly knew she was a wanted Fay, she did steal a very valuable book from their world, after all, and he was intending to find it. What's a better hiding place than in a massive library, after all?

"Fine," she huffed out. "I expect you to keep this entire thing to yourself. You will do exactly what I say, and I will be watching."

He nodded in agreement, knowing that the task at hand wasn't going to be an easy one. His mother spent her entire school career searching the library on her own for the same book to no avail, and he would have to start from scratch.

A year passed and Blaise had barely scratched the surface of the library. He shuffled down the aisles, pulling books discarded on the shelves or put where they didn't belong to place them on the cart that creaked slowly beside him as he walked. Being a volunteer librarian was interesting, to say the least, and something he personally found enjoyable whereas others found it mind-numbingly boring. Working under Madam Pince was a nightmare, Blaise knew she was suspicious of him the second he approached her his first year. His up front and factual conversation was the key to have her give in to his request, but he had to be careful to not be caught crossing any lines or breaking rules. Madam Pince would love to find any reason to bar him from the library, after all. Corrupted Fay were very vindictive when threatened.

He let out a grunt when lifting a particularly large tome from a table and lugged it onto the cart, pressing a button to have the cart return to the front desk, he pulled out a chair to rest. Being weaved into the far depths of library bookshelves, Blaise wouldn't be seen by Pince if he took a minute to catch his breath and log the rows he combed through.

Despite being so well hidden, Luna knew exactly where to find him if she wanted to. He saw her emerge from one of the aisles seemingly from nowhere, and he was glad to have the company. The two met immediately after her Ravenclaw Sorting, being drawn to each other due to their Fay magic, they became close quickly. He entrusted her with his task in finding a stolen relic, and she quickly enlisted to help recover it. It was rare to find Fay outside the Garden, but since both were only halflings, they weren't exactly welcomed there, either.

"Any luck?" she asked, taking a seat across from him.

Blaise figured looking in areas rarely touched by students would be a good place to start, and with Luna's help, things were moving steadily and efficiently along. He originally planned to go alphabetically through everything, but since Luna came into the picture, she found target specific categories to be more effective if Madam Pince did hide the book somewhere within.

"Unfortunately not. Though your guess to check the section on fungi was a good idea, the section was rather disgusting from the lack of activity and Madam Pince will be delighted to see it's now in pristine condition," Blaise said as he wrote in his record keeping tome. "I have a strong feeling she knows why I wanted to be her assistant."

"Perhaps, which means moving the target is a high possibility. Knowing you've tended to that area, maybe she will think it will be a good new hiding place. Though she's definitely smart enough to not guise it with Fay magic because we'd certainly trace it if so," Luna reasoned, fiddling with a strand of her hair. "It could also be in the restricted section, in which we really would have a dilemma, won't we?"

"It is something to keep in mind, yes. But with your insight and my dedication, we will find what was taken," Blaise assured.

Luna nodded. "It would be nice to be able to visit the Garden freely and have the acceptance we deserve. My mother used to tell me that the rejuvenation is quite lovely to experience, like a cleansing to your magic."

Blaise smiled. "That sounds remarkable. I know my mother could use that. The string of bad luck is starting to take its toll."

"Yes, that is a shame." Luna looked down one of the long aisle of books. "If only Madam Pince surrendered and returned there as well. Maybe she could still be saved."

"She stole the book to create Faerie Gardens, Luna," Blaise explained, "Taking something like that from the High Fay because you don't agree with the rules shows there is nothing to save, unfortunately. The best we can do is to not fall into the darkness like she had and find it to return to them and earn their respect in turn."

"I suppose you're right. Wanting to create a new place for selfish reasons is not the proper way," Luna said, nodding.

If it was one thing that the Zabinis were good at, it was having patience. Matched with the Lovegood's natural ability of perception, they had the right tools and teamwork needed when attempting to outwit an old, clever, corrupt Fay that was Madam Pince.