CH9 - House of the Badgers

Edmund and his five year mates followed the fifth-year Hufflepuff prefects quickly on their short legs, as they led them through the twisting and turning hallways. Twice over, Edmund thought they had made a wrong turn, feeling sure they had been through the path before. From the looks on those next to him, he knew they weren't feeling much better.

However, the prefects walked with a confident gait nonchalantly, pointing out rooms and features as they came across them.

As the two fifth-years began slowing down, Edmund noticed a massive painting of a bowl of fruit, and the delicious scent of bread being baked.

'The kitchens,' he deduced. 'So we must be close to the common room as well.'

Sure enough, several minutes after walking past the extravagant artwork, the group of eight reached a series of barrels of varying sizes haphazardly placed against the walls in a stony dead end.

Small casks lined the walls in their entirety, stacked atop one another stably, letting out the sweet fragrance of honey, and hints of wax. These casks were interspersed with three massive drums, each tall enough to let a man Hagrid's size through without having to bend over.

"Pay attention now! Gather around," the male prefect announced, turning around to show his face properly for the first time.

'Cedric Diggory,' Edmund startled.

The boy was the epitome of adolescent charisma. Light brown hair wavily splayed across his scalp that matched his eyes perfectly. He had a thin narrow face with small lips and nose. All of it paled in front of the wide smile he had stretching across his face, which seemed like it had been permanently stuck to its place.

'That means his birthday must be within the next two months if he was only a sixth year when he put his name in the Goblet of Fire,' Edmund surmised, preserving the information in his mind.

"The entrance to our common room lies within the last drum at the end of this corridor," Cedric began in a low voice as if to prevent any eavesdroppers from listening in. "To enter, you must simply tap out the password on the smaller barrel to the right of it, one above from the bottom.

*Rat, tat, tat tat tat,* he demonstrated on one of the other barrels.

"Have you got it or should I do it once more?" he asked as if they were five rather than eleven.

The group looked at one another's faces before simultaneously deciding to indulge the older boy. They nodded their heads vigorously.

"Hmmph!" Cedric let out, though his eyes betrayed his amusement. "Alright, Alright... If you get it wrong you'll be in for a nasty surprise. If it's easier, you can just tap out the syllables for 'Helga Hufflepuff,' that's all I'll say."

The female prefect picked up where the other had left off, tapping on the correct barrel this time.

Edmund watched as the large drum split open down the middle, both sides sliding outwards, giving way to a large circular doorway. Walking in, he looked around in awe, barely hearing the prefects speak, their voices tinged with obvious pride.

"Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room!" they announced together, giving them a minute to take in the sights.

The room was vast, much larger than Edmund had first thought it would be. House pride was clearly demonstrated with black and yellow couches, armchairs and all manner of sitting areas sprawled everywhere, providing ample space for hundreds of students to congregate. But what was most impressive was the earthiness of the entire space, a major change from the dank basement only a few feet outside.

There were plants everywhere, overflowing and taking over all the space. Potted cacti sat on shelves on the wall. Large plants were placed on the floor everywhere. Vines were going up the staircases and across the ceiling.

The walls were an easy-on-the-eyes yellow, with incredible wood detailing filling up most of the space. The wood itself was also honey-yellow, fitting the theme of the room perfectly. There were small windows made of stained glass mosaics on each side of all of the doors, with the mosaics forming beautiful sceneries of nature.

Even the central chandelier was made of hundreds of copper pots, each filled with various magical plants that could give off light, providing the room with an ethereal feel. However, most of the light in the day would come from the windows that spanned all along the top five feet of the circular common room walls. Altogether, they bathed the area with golden light, plants growing ever so slightly more wildly in the places where the rays of light directly hit.

Off to the side, there was a gigantic fireplace, with a massive rug next to it bearing the Hufflepuff insignia. The mantle, made of the same honey-yellow wood, was covered with detailed etchings of dancing badgers. Atop it, a still portrait of a plump woman in all yellow robes sat watching merrily, a drink in her hands in an ornate golden chalice, and a broad smile on her face. It could be none other than Helga Hufflepuff.

Students were leaning over the railings on the second-floor balcony, amusing themselves with the reactions of their new housemates. Noticing this, Edmund turned to face back to the prefects with a snap, realizing he had gotten lost in his observations. The pair, however, were smiling, clearly having expected this outcome.

Clearing her throat, the female prefect continued.

"My name is Patricia Stimpson, and that doofus is Cedric Diggory," she pointed first to herself, then to her counterpart.

Cedric gave a little half-wave as everyone's eyes turned to him, his permanent grin becoming a little wider.

"This is the Hufflepuff common room, and it'll be your home for the next seven years. Judging by your reactions, though, I don't think any of you have an issue with that?" she asked happily.

"WOOO!" one of the boys stood next to Edmund cheered wildly, as everyone else laughed at the ridiculousness of the question.

"The boys and girls dorms are on opposite sides of the common room, boys to the right, and girls to the left," Patricia continued. "Each floor up the flight of steps corresponds to the next year's level. That means you all are lucky enough in your first year only to have to climb one flight of stairs each day."

Everyone cheered, as Patricia laughed.

"Enjoy it while you can," Cedric cut in, "your suffering only increases each year."

"If you felt lost coming down here, don't worry!" Patricia consoled. "For the next two days, us two will be helping you guys get to the Great Hall and back, so make sure you're here on time in the morning at 8:00 AM," she warned.

"In case you don't know because you haven't bothered to crack open 'Hogwarts, a History' till now," Cedric teased, "dormitories are shared! Try to get along as best you can, because you're all about to become intimately familiar with one another in the entirety," he laughed crassly as he winked.

"Yes, thank you for that wonderful introduction," a soft voice cut in from behind their group as Cedric blushed furiously.

Edmund turned around, looking up to find Professor Sprout. She looked at each of them carefully, as if memorizing their faces, before nodding firmly once.

"I just wanted to come here to let you know that your classes tomorrow will include Charms, Transfiguration, and History of Magic," she said, her eyes twinkling. "I thought I'd save you and your prefects a trip rushing back here after breakfast to grab your books."

"Now that I'm here," she continued, cutting off the small chatter, "I might as well make some small announcements. The bulletin board in the corner also mentions it, but I am available in the office to the right of the fireplace every Saturday between 1 and 4 PM, if any of you wish to have a chat. If there is something urgent, don't hesitate to find me, or come up to the high table at mealtimes," Sprout said warmly, before her face turned serious.

"I want to make it clear from the beginning, that any notions of blood supremacy or discrimination will not be tolerated in our house. I wish I could say that I can ensure you won't have to deal with it at all at school, but unfortunately, I don't have the power to do so. The Board of Governors is the ultimate ruling authority at Hogwarts, and it is their belief that slurs are not a valid reason for any punishment beyond detention," she said sympathetically, her voice sad.

"It is not my intention to sadden you, or to lower your spirits, but simply to warn you. You are in the house of badgers, and badgers stick together for one another. No matter what happens, you will not be alone," she said cheerfully. "Now, I'm sure you're all exhausted from a long day! Off to bed with you lot, pip-pip!"

Edmund's eyes met with Cecilia's, before he began moving to the other end of the common room, where his other two roommates were already chattering. One, the boy who had whooped in excitement earlier was waving his hands frantically as he talked. The other, was quieter, but listening calmly rather than shyly.

The two noticed his approach and broke off their conversation. The louder of the two came up to Edmund with a grin on his face, his hand outstretched.

"The name's Jeremy Todd, I'm a half-blood, and I'm sooo excited to be here 'cause my family's always been in Hufflepuff, and they've always told me stories—" Jeremy began yammering happily.

Edmund chuckled, before shaking his hand. "Edmund Cole, not sure about my blood status but I'd guess muggle-born, also super excited to be here," he replied back.

The quieter boy came up as well, offering a handshake that Edmund accepted.

"Ben Cooper, muggle-born as well. Nice to meet you," he said, with a faint smile on his face.

"So what do you think about magic?" Jeremy immediately began talking again. "I mean, I've seen my dad messing around with enchantments since before I can remember, and it's still so cool for me. I can't even imagine discovering it for the first time!"

"It's amazing!" Edmund exclaimed.

"So cool!" Ben sighed dreamily at the same time.

All three of them began laughing.

"How long have you known you're a wizard?" Ben asked Edmund curiously.

"Well, my birthday was just last week, so it was a bit of a whirlwind ride for me," Edmund explained honestly.

"Wow... I'm not sure if I'm sympathetic or jealous!" Ben explained, before clarifying. "I mean one week is a really short time, but my birthday's in October, and I had to wait eleven months to practice magic after I found out I was a wizard!" he whined.

"HA!" Jeremy snorted. "Well that makes me, Jeremy Todd, the saddest of us all!," he chuckled while pointing both his thumbs at himself.

"Todd? Todd as in Todd's Trunks?" Edmund asked, recognizing the name from his trip to Diagon Alley.

"That's right," Jeremy confirmed proudly, his nose lifting up to the sky. "Dad's really good at what he does, you know? The amount of spatial magic he knows is basically unmatched!"

"Fascinating," Edmund said, genuinely meaning it. To work under such a man would be a dream.

They finally reached the door to their dorm, flinging it open.

"Well, I'm glad there are only three of us," Ben said, as the other two nodded agreeing.

The dormitory was perfectly circular, just like the common room, with windows along the top, easily openable to provide owl access. There were three single poster beds aligned equilaterally, their heads facing the stone walls. House colours were displayed clearly, with a central black and yellow patterned rug, and yellow curtains on each of the beds. Each person had one bed, and one desk to themself, making division of space fairly simple.

The door to the bathrooms was on the opposite side of the entrance to the dorm. Opening it, Edmund was grateful not to be greeted by a view of the urinals or showers head-on. A small privacy wall was present, so people peeking in from outside of the dorm wouldn't get an eyeful accidentally.

Showers and toilets were communal, but there were so few of them this year that they could dedicate one of each to themselves.

Either way, Edmund would not mind. Tom had grown up entirely in a shared space, with little privacy for himself.

Everyone quickly opened their trunks that were already waiting for them, changing into their flannels. After a round of good nights, the lights were flicked off, and the window curtains were drawn, leaving the room dark.

Once the curtains to his own bed were drawn, with a whispered Lumos, Edmund ducked under his covers and continued reading, his eyes unable to leave the pages.

Classes were tomorrow, but that didn't mean Edmund couldn't do with a little more learning.