NOVEL WEB Okay Hufflepuff might not be as bad as I thought- Gura
The Great Hall fell silent- far silent than it had before. Nobody dared breathe as the last echo of the hat bounced against the walls. Before the silence could get any more unbearable, someone started clapping and that set off the rest of the hall and the Slytherins. It was a belated few seconds that I realized I was the one that set off the clapping.
Harry got off the stool and approached the Slytherin table, where I saw and barely heard Draco accost Harry. The Sorting was soon back on track after that, and Ron was sorted into Gryffindor. I clapped along with Harry as Gryffindor burst into applause. Once the last person was sorted, the stool and hat were carried off by McGonagall to a side room and Dumbledore rose, gaining everyone’s attention.
“Good evening, everyone! I would like to say a few words before our feast begins.” Dumbledore cleared his throat. “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian! Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch! Floccinaucinihilipilification! Thank you!”
Food shimmered into being on the plates, but I was more concerned about something else, “Did he actually pronounce them all correctly?”
“Haven’t heard half those words, but I believe so,” Cedric said, piling food onto his plate.
“I know he did pronounce supercalifragilisticexpialidocious correctly, I taught him that. And I think he pronounced the town name correctly- been a while since I’ve heard someone say it. But the other two I have no idea where he picked up.”
“Wait- so those are actual words? They’re not just gibberish?” a student to my left asked. A fellow first year, I think.
I nodded and swallowed my mouthful of food. “Yeah. I know supercalifragilisticexpialidocious means something like fantastic or good, and the third word he spoke is a town name in Wales.”
“Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, you mean?” The students listening in stared at the student who spoke up. “I’m Welsh and live nearby.” Everyone went back to eating.
“Yeah, I’ll never try and pronounce that. With my luck I’ll bite my tongue.” I ripped into a piece of meat as I said this. Totally-not-subtly showing off my sharp teeth in the process. I caught several people eyeing me warily after that.
“I hope this isn’t terribly rude- but. But I’ve been wondering- what are you?” I looked at who asked, and it was the first girl that got sorted- Hannah Abbot, I think.
“I don’t mind. I’m an Atlantean!”
“Atlantean?” the girl with red hair asked, brows furrowed.
“Yeah- people from Atlantis-”
“Atlantis is real?!” I heard someone exclaim.
I looked over at the speaker. “Yeah? It sunk like, a long time ago, and the only inhabitants are Atlanteans like me- people with fish or ocean-life features that can breathe underwater. I’ve got a tail, teeth, and gills of a shark. Others might have the carapace or claws of a crab, or lobster.” I slapped my tail as I talked, making more than a few people realize that it was there, just covered by the robes. “Now, I’ve never been to Atlantis- at least not that I can remember, since I’ve got amnesia,”
“You have amnesia?” Cedric asked.
“Yeah? I can’t remember past like, July, so I’ve had to relearn more than a few things. Also why I’m attending Hogwarts!”
“How come we haven’t seen more Atlanteans?” someone asked- I’ve got to learn people’s names at this rate.
“They’re very reclusive. Dumbledore told me that the only other Atlantean he’s met is their ambassador to some big council thing I forgot the name of.”
“If they’re reclusive, how’d you end up here?”
“Part of how I got my amnesia- woke up in the infirmary here after being found out on the lawn, all torn up.” I felt the top of my tail fin and the scar ridge. It was still there. “Don’t remember past anything before that.”
The conversation continued on, all of us chatting as a big group together. Eventually the food faded away and was replaced by dessert, which set off another set of chatter and feasting. Even that faded after a while and Dumbledore rose from his chair, spreading his arms out towards the gathered students.
“Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts, both returning and new students. Now that we are all fed and watered, I have a few start-of-term announcements to make. Firstly, I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest has its name for a reason, and that is because it is forbidden.” He looked at the Gryffindor table tellingly. “Secondly, our caretaker Mr. Filch asked me to remind our students that no magic is to be used in the hallways between classes. Thirdly, Quidditch tryouts are being held in the second week of the semester. Anyone interesting in playing for their house should contact Madam Hooch.” Dumbledore’s face grew serious as he spoke the final announcement, “And lastly, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds this year for repairs.”
Dumbledore’s gaze wandered over the students, as if to impress the seriousness of it. Suddenly, it brightened as he flicked out his wand.
“Now that announcements are over, it’s time to sing the school song!” he flicked his wand before he started pulling on a ribbon that appeared at the end of it. Once it was fully out, he flicked his wand again and the ribbon fixed itself into words above the staff table. “Now, pick your favorite tune, and off we go!”
I barely thought as I started belting out the words to the song, the school’s singing being the worst thing to assault my ears, but my voice lent itself to my own singing very well. Halfway through singing, I realized that the Hufflepuff table were almost synchronized in their singing- only the first year students were singing a different tune.
As the Weasleys were the last ones left, I asked Cedric, “Did Hufflepuff plan that?”
Cedric grinned. “Yeah, we’ve been trying to make an actual tune for it, since before I got here. I believe we’ve tried to have it changed, but have always been denied.”
“Huh. I’ll have to ask Wulfric about that.”
The Weasley Twins’ rendition of the song finished and Dumbledore wiped a tear from his eye. “Ah, music. A magic greater than all we do here. Now, bedtime.” He waved his fingers in a shooing motion. “Off you trot!”
The older students rushed out the doorway as a mob, leaving only the prefects and the first years. The remaining prefects gathered their respective first years and began to lead them through the hallways towards the dormitories. The Hufflepuff group followed alongside the Slytherins before we made a turn down a different hallway.
Our prefect, who introduced himself as Gabriel Truman, chatted as we walked through the hallways. “The Hufflepuff dormitory is the closest to the Great Hall than any of the other house dormitories. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors are up in high towers somewhere- Ravenclaws accessed by a raven knocker, and Gryffindors accessed by a location-changing portrait. And the Slytherins live in the dungeons, far enough that you go below the lake. Our dormitory, by contrast, is in the same corridor as the kitchens.”
We turned into a corridor which held a couple paintings and barrels and other supplies at the far end.
Gabriel waved his hand at a portrait as we passed it. “This portrait is the entrance to the kitchens- tickle the pear and then pull the handle and it’ll open. You can go in there and ask for snacks from the house elves, and they’re more than happy to serve. I’ve done that loads of times if I’ve missed meals or feeling hungry.” We reached the end of the hallway and slowed to a stop in front of several barrels. They were plenty wide and tall- enough that I could probably fit in one if I crouched. “Our dormitory is the most protected of the four houses- Gryffindor and Slytherin have passwords and Ravenclaw has a riddle. We have a defense system that if you get it wrong, it spills vinegar onto you. How to not get doused in vinegar is simple: knock to the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’ on the barrel second from the bottom, in the middle of the second row. For those of you more musically inclined, it’s one, two, three-and-four. I’ll show you.” Gabriel pointed at the barrel rows, counted up twice and then looked across and moved over to another barrel. He knocked on the barrel and we saw the barrels move apart.
The other prefect moved in, and the barrels closed again. He grinned at us as he waved at the barrels.
“I want a few of you to at least try before we move in- I know we’re all tired, but the anti-intruder defenses are down in the face of so many Hufflepuffs as well as it being the first night here. Once you knock in the correct pattern and get it to open, you can go ahead in and Lindsey will direct you from there.” He smiled again. “So, who wants to go first?”
The First years murmured among themselves before I decided to step up. “I’ll go.”
He gave me another grin, “Good, now remember- two from the bottom- middle of the row.”
I checked for the middle of the row first, before standing in front of it and counting up two- and hesitating. “The second row from the bottom, right?”
“Yeah.”
I took a breath and- “One, two, triplet,” I chanted to myself. The pillar that held up the columns of barrels split and revealed a passage between them- into a dimly glowing room.
“Good job! Go ahead in, Lindsey will tell you what to do next. The passage will close after a few seconds if nobody enters after the password is done correctly,” Gabriel added.
I nodded and made my way in- squeezed it felt more like since it was a narrow path. But it wasn’t a very long one as it opened up into a low-ceiling room, softly lit lanterns hanging from the beams, even as dim moonlight shone from various windows. A low-burning fireplace was sitting between two large circular windows which held a field of various flowers and grass- at least from what I could tell of the moonlight that illuminated it. Couches sat in front of the fireplace with a low coffee table on a plush carpet between them. Desks, chairs, and small tables were on the opposite side of the room, with a couch or plush chair every so often. The desks were pushed up to the wall with a window directly in front of each one, and the tables and chairs were laid out somewhat haphazardly- as if they were moved often enough that nobody bothered to have them set in a particular pattern. Behind me, on the wall where the entrance was, a cork noticeboard was hung up with various notes and drawings pinned to it. It was bare for the most part other than the drawings and a couple of papers. Plants were everywhere in the room; in small wall alcoves, hanging from the ceiling beams, on the ceiling beams, sitting on tables, sitting in windowsills, tall-standing ones sitting on the floor- everywhere. I could barely identify a few- and I think more than a few of them were aloe plants, which had me wondering if burns were common.
Lindsey, the other prefect, was reclining on one of the couches, buried in its plush. She looked up when I had entered, a surprised look on her face. “Huh, that was faster than expected. It usually takes longer than that for the first years to make their way in.”
I scratched behind my ear sheepishly. “Might be because I’m bolder than most. Honestly thought that the hat would’ve put me in Gryffindor rather than Hufflepuff.”
“Huh. Well, we’re glad to have you anyway. Let’s wait for the rest of the first years to get in before we continue. Don’t want to repeat myself twenty times. Go ahead and take a seat, though.”
I took a seat in one of the side couches, right as the entrance opened again and another first year walked in. Lindsey repeated the same information to her, and soon enough all the first years were gathered in the Hufflepuff common room.
Lindsey stood up from her seat to stand in front of a seven-way half-circle branching path. “The way dormitories work in Hufflepuff is that each year has their own hallway. At the end of the hallway is a communal room with doors to your individual room. Bathrooms are on both sides, separated by gender. Boys’ on the left, Girls’ on the right. We, as Hufflepuff, are putting a lot of trust in you that you won’t do anything foolish to break that trust. Even though there are enchantments in place to protect your privacy, it’s up to you to not break that privacy.” Lindsey gave us all a serious look.
Gabriel spoke up after a moment, “Now, we’ll let you get settled in. Choose a door, and that will be yours for the rest of your stay at Hogwarts. Meet us here in the morning so we can lead you back to the Great Hall for breakfast. There are alarms enchanted in your bed that you can set for different times. Breakfast starts at eight and ends at eleven, so try to get here at around nine to nine-thirty. If you don’t manage to make it, just ask another prefect or upperclassman and they’ll be happy to guide you.”
They let us go after that, and all of us trundled through the small corridor into a circular room that had a few chairs and tables, with a fire pit at the center of it all. The group spread out and claimed rooms; I claimed the closest room on the right. My name engraved itself into a bronze plate on the door, but I found myself too tired to care. At the same time, my trunk and other objects appeared in the room- the trunk sitting at the foot of the bed. Tiredly changing out of my robes and day clothes into my pajamas, I found the notch for the alarm, set it, and passed out on the bed.
