[1989 Pt.13]

[Last day of Hogwarts, 1990.]

It was the last day of Hogwarts, and Nathan sat in the Great Hall, watching the Slytherins celebrate their victory in the House Cup. He clapped enthusiastically, along with the other two houses.

Alan, who was sitting next to him, said, "All the cunning goes out at the moment they win. The snakes are too overjoyed to worry about being humble in victory."

Jacob smiled and retorted, "And you're too sad to be gracious in defeat."

Alan frowned at Jacob's retort and said, "I wouldn't be bothered much if the game was fair. But it was rigged in Slytherin's favour from the beginning."

Orion, who had earned the nickname 'The Conciliator' from Nathan, due to his habit of acting as a middle ground during arguments, said, "Then you shouldn't care. The cup doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"

Nathan shook his head and said,"It's not about the benefits, Orion. It's about the bragging rights."

Alan nodded in agreement with Nathan's words.

"Why are you so bothered by it?" Jacob gave Alan a scrutinizing look as he asked the question before saying, "If I remember correctly, you're the one who lost the most points for our house."

Alan blushed slightly. Nathan knew that it was because Tonks had complained the day before about how Slytherin had been on a winning streak for the past few years.

"Well, those inbred idiots are too smug for my liking," Alan said.

Nathan frowned and looked at Jacob, who looked annoyed and grumbled out , "I'm a pureblood too, you git."

Alan shrugged helplessly before replying, "Well, your family must have had some sense then. You don't have any murderous tendencies so you are alright in my books."

Nathan couldn't help but chuckle. He knew that Alan was just trying to get a rise out of Jacob, but he couldn't help but agree with him. The Slytherins were a bit too smug for his liking.

But even though he was disappointed that his house hadn't won the House Cup despite his presence elevating his house's points, Gryffindor had too many points due to the Quidditch cup while Slytherin had Snape so the elevation he had provided did not matter much.

"Let us go, we still have the end-of-year meeting with Professor Sprout."

----------------------------- ----------------------- ---------------------

[Hufflepuff Common Room]

Nathan found himself in the common room of the Hufflepuff House after the house cup award ceremony.

Professor Sprout stood before the first-year Hufflepuffs in the common room. Nathan and his peers waited eagerly for her to speak.

"Many of you are wondering why I've invited you here," she began, "You've spent this year in Hogwarts, and if fate wills it, you'll spend six more years here away from your home and family. Hogwarts houses are often said to be your family within these halls, but the other three houses don't always adhere to this saying. They focus too much on their disputes, both within and outside their houses. Our house, on the other hand, actively promotes unity and takes steps to prevent bullying."

Professor Sprout looked at the first years, gauging their understanding. Nathan and his peers nodded in agreement.

"Many of you have probably heard other students call our house the one where the duffers reside," she continued. "The house filled with children none of the other founders wanted."

The first-years froze, glancing at each other. Nathan decided to speak up. "Yes, we have."

Professor Sprout nodded before saying, "According to the Sorting Hat, we are not brave, not intelligent, not cunning. We are the house of the students that three of the founding members of Hogwarts declared unremarkable.

So why did Helga Hufflepuff take us to Hogwarts and teach us magic herself? Godric Gryffindor asked the same question that you're all thinking about right now. Any guesses as to what her answer was?"

The professor waited for a reply, but when she received none, she declared with a proud smile, "Madame Helga said that children weren't supposed to be intelligent or brave or cunning. All they needed to be was children that could freely choose whatever they wanted to be and do whatever they wished as long as they were safe and happy while doing it. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, not even the founders of Hogwarts themselves. You just have to work hard, be dedicated, and love what you're doing to the best of your ability."

Professor Sprout made a gesture with her hand, and a short stack of parchment that had been resting on one of the many circular tables of the common room started to float towards the surprised first-years. The parchment he received, Nathan noted, was a list of people, locations, branches of magic and a small introduction.

"Being intelligent makes the path certainly easier, but no man, wizard, or muggle has ever achieved true greatness by being lazy and uncommitted to their goals. No knight, magical or otherwise, has slain the monster without swinging their sword a thousand times outside of battle. And no politician has ever only given a speech once. Dedication is the most important thing you need to succeed."

Nathan smiled unwittingly as the memory of Jason speaking in front of the mirror in a very pretentious way appeared in front of his eyes. He agreed with the wisdom behind her words. After all, how many geniuses had Nathan seen falling behind their peers thanks to depression, lack of a goal, or simply being content with mediocrity as he himself prepared for the administrative service examination. Nathan believed that a single opportunity and ample of motivation was all it took to make a man into a legend.

"This house will treat you as a member even if the founders themselves deem you to be without any traits they liked. And you are neither the first members of this family nor will you be the last. The parchment I have given you is a list of wizards who studied at Hogwarts and joined Hufflepuff. They have long finished their studies in this school.

Hogwarts teaches subjects that can be taught to a large class easily, but it is very difficult to try and teach things that require individual lessons for things that require attention from a master of a craft. It was a long time ago that one of our many members realized this and created what he liked to call the 'Summer Crafts Club'. Here, Hufflepuffs teach things that you can learn only through experience gained over the years. Things like magical combat, alchemy, ritual magic, enchanting, battle transfiguration, wandlore, creature handling, languages, history, etc. can be learned with the help of people that have learned from their own seniors since the club's founding."

Alan raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Waynewood?" Professor Sprout asked.

"So, we learn things like these from Hufflepuff students who have already finished Hogwarts during the summer holidays? What about the muggleborns?" Nathan realised that Alan was probably a bit uncomfortable with the idea of ditching his parents during the summer holidays and suddenly he realised that the summer club did not seem all that appetising if he got no time to spend with his family.

Their head of house nodded in an understanding manner before saying, "Whichever teacher you contact will make arrangements so that you can learn what they have to teach you while allowing you time with your family.

All of you when you finish Hogwarts are given the choice to contribute to the club. Some of you choose to donate money to help the other members teach people like yourself, some of you choose to teach them things you have learned from the club, or some of you choose to help students by offering them jobs, becoming investors, etc. It is perhaps the most beautiful thing to see when first years like you grow up and help the ones that have taken your place."

Professor Sprout smiled at the first-years and said, "Read the parchment and contact any of the people you want to learn under. If they agree then you will be able to learn things that aren't taught at Hogwarts. Needless to say, this is a house secret that you are not to tell anybody outside of the house."

They all nodded and she said, "Treat them with respect since they will be teaching you things that most people would have to pay a lot of gold to learn. And above all, enjoy yourself learning things you like. That is all I had to say children, it is time that you pack your trunks for this year is at an end." 

---------------------------------------------------------------

A|N:

Hope you all liked the chapter since this was the wrap-up of the year of 1989. And if you did like the chapter then drop a few powerstones so that I can increase my rank in the power rankings.

If you like the fic then join the patreon and get up to 10 chapters in early release- P(a)t(r)e(o)(n).com/dukeofvirtue  [Remove the brackets and copy into a search bar for checking out my patreon page.]