A House at Hogwarts is one family. At least, those were the words of Professor McGonagall that the first-years quoted while we walked from the end of the feast to the Hufflepuff common room. Despite the joy of admission, the children could not ignore the news that the school would be guarded by Dementors of Azkaban. If their anxiety was purely emotional, mine came from knowledge found in books and from the sensation of the creatures' magic. And yes, I walked together with the first-years, but in fairness, it is worth noting that Hufflepuff students basically walked in one crowd, hiding real worries and fear in their eyes behind ostentatious friendliness, smiles, and cheerful conversations.
No one had attacked me with questions yet, although at the table during the feast I was accepted easily, without excesses into unnecessary caution or, conversely, friendliness. The prefect, Cedric Diggory, was a fairly tall brown-haired boy with unruly hair and a polite smile that seemed stuck to his face. On the way to the common room, he spoke about various little things regarding these gloomy stone corridors of the school, about the best way to get to the Great Hall, and about when and where one could get from the main tower where all the staircases move.
"And here," Cedric pointed with his hand to a large still-life painting, "is the Hogwarts kitchen. To get in there, you need to tickle this painted pear."
He pointed with his finger but did not do anything.
"The entrance to our common room is already very close."
Indeed, we walked another ten meters, turned a corner, and saw large wooden barrels stacked on top of each other horizontally. They were so large that an adult could crawl through one, only bending slightly.
"Here is the entrance."
Although there were guys from other years with us who obviously knew exactly how to get into the common room, right now they stood nearby and waited for Cedric to demonstrate to the newbies how it should be done. He knocked in a strictly defined rhythm on one of the barrels, and the bottom of another opened like a door.
"There. The sequence must be observed. Come in," the prefect waved his hand toward the passage with a smile.
The House common room reminded me of something too strongly. A low dome-shaped ceiling with slightly sloping walls, an abundance of shelves with pots in which the most diverse plants grew, cream-yellow colors with an abundance of wood trim. The common room itself was not exactly in the dungeons; through high-placed round windows, one could see the grass growing by the castle walls. It looked like a basement floor, a dugout; call it what you want. A multitude of the most comfortable deep sofas and armchairs, massive but small wooden tables, a monumental fireplace, and... And again, round doors behind which, as I see, passages to the girls' and boys' rooms were hidden. These aren't dwarven halls; this is some hobbit hole!
Everyone except me and the first-years wandered off in different directions, splitting into groups by interest. Although, most likely, many would go to sleep, for fatigue and relief could be read in their eyes; native walls will protect. For us, Cedric read a speech about what a wonderful House Hufflepuff is, how friendly and hardworking everyone is here, and that there is a certain Gryffindor-Slytherin conflict in the school. Because of this conflict, we need to "keep a finger on the pulse," and if there is a desire to be friends and communicate with students of these Houses, always keep in mind the possibility of arrogant aggression from Gryffindors and cunning setups from Slytherins, because, to universal sadness, many consider our House a den of dim-witted dullards.
"Hector," the prefect addressed me familiarly, having instructed several students to settle the first-years beforehand. "You are enrolled immediately in the third year, aren't you?"
"Precisely," I nodded seriously in response.
"No need to be so formal," Cedric continued to hold the smile on his face.
I do not know why, but it did not seem natural to me. Or rather, not so much unnatural as forced. Yes, that fits better.
"Let's step aside," he invitingly pointed to a free sofa, on an armchair next to which a terrifyingly decent guy of my age with a hellishly neat parting of dark hair looked boredly into the fireplace.
"Justin," Cedric addressed the guy sitting in the armchair.
"Huh? Yes?" the guy looked at us. "Cedric. Did something happen?"
"You could say that," the prefect turned to me. "You see, Hector, it is customary in our House that for the first while, newcomers go to classes and breaks with prefects or responsible persons. For the purpose of familiarization with routes, the castle, classrooms, and things like that."
"I seem to understand what the difficulty is," I nodded again, mirroring Cedric's smile.
My gesture made him freeze for a moment, but he continued speaking almost instantly, and it seemed to me that he even nodded at something.
"Of course, usually we attach someone from the seniors to the same first-years for the first while, but this is all strictly voluntary, and this year there won't be free seniors for the first-years even one-to-one. Not to mention a third-year. Justin..."
Diggory turned again to the guy listening attentively to everything.
"You won't leave a new comrade in trouble, will you? Will you help Hector get settled?"
"Us?"
"Yes. You, Justin, Zacharias, and Ernie."
"Our schedules might differ."
"What? Ah, yes, how could I forget. Hector, what elective subjects did you choose?"
"Electives? No one told me anything about that."
"Hmm..." Cedric thought, while Justin sat calmly, shifting his gaze to the fire in the fireplace. "But you have educational literature for all subjects?"
"Yes. For absolutely all of them. And even that jaw-book for CoMC."
"Jaw-book?" the prefect was surprised, looking questioningly at the flinching Justin.
"Terrible book," the guy grimaced. "At first I was greatly surprised. But now, knowing that Hagrid will be the teacher, I understood the reasons for the appearance of exactly this book in the lists."
For now, I only had to shift my gaze from Cedric to Justin, playing a simple but understanding and restrained boy. Although, I am one. And that book is indeed amusing; big, with an eye, and behaves like a huge living jaw. I realized almost immediately that it needs to be stroked on the spine to open and read calmly; a very characteristic ridge on the spine.
"Got it," Cedric smiled again. "Hagrid is indeed peculiar. Look, Hector. You need to choose two elective subjects. Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy."
"In that case," I thought for a brief moment. "CoMC and Ancient Runes."
"Unexpected combination."
"Yeah," Justin nodded. "Everyone with us chose CoMC, Divination, or Muggle Studies. No one is interested in the rest. Hector, why CoMC and Runes?"
"One can figure out other subjects oneself; the books there are quite understandable. Learning about animals happens best in contact with them, and books on Runes are too abstract. Muggle Studies, well... You understand yourself."
"That is true," Cedric nodded. "A dubious subject for a Muggle-born. Regarding Runes, I will talk to other prefects. And one more question. How are you with magic?"
"Practice in subjects? Or theory?"
"Yes to both questions."
"Learned all the theory, no practice at all. But I learn quickly."
"Hmm, let's check," the prefect smiled again and, taking a wand from the inner pocket of his robe, pointed it at a sheet of parchment lying on the table nearby.
The sheet quickly and without any effects turned into a feather.
"Take out your wand and cast the Levitation Charm on the feather."
Taking the wand out of the holster on my forearm, which I hadn't even noticed making myself from my mother's old worn boot that was in a box prepared for disposal, I made the correct wave, released control of magic, and pronounced:
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Crumbs of my magic rushed to the wand and left it in a peculiar plume, wrapping themselves around the feather. Yes, it flew up and hovered successfully over the table, obeying the movements of my wand. Only I did not feel any special structuring or anything else. Magic in an almost unchanged form seemed to envelop the feather, leaving a simple communication channel for interaction. What is happening? What for? Why? Nothing is clear, but it is very interesting.
"Excellent," Cedric nodded with satisfaction and smiled at me. "And you haven't tried this spell?"
"No. Just like other magic in the program."
"Impressive," Justin looked with interest at the hovering feather, and I decided to cancel the charm. "You are just like Hermione, casting almost without practice. Then we will cope with the material quickly."
"By the way," Cedric clearly perked up, and even sat somewhat more importantly. "You, Hector, aren't by chance a relative of Hermione Granger?"
"Yes. Brother. Does it matter?"
"Not particularly," Cedric shook his head, but Justin had a different opinion.
"Well, she is the best student not only in the year but generally. Everything is always perfect in studies."
"Alright, guys," Cedric got up from the sofa, and we followed him. "I won't keep you any longer. If I peeked at the schedules correctly, your studies will begin tomorrow with Potions."
"Oh, no," Justin groaned, causing another smile from the prefect. A kind one, for a change. "Let's go, Hector. I'll show you the room. And don't worry about sorcery. We will definitely help and review it ourselves."
We left the gradually emptying House common room, passing through round doors into a corridor with several more doors. And yes, also round. Hobbits, honestly!
The room into which I was settled with the other guys from the third year was executed in the same light color scheme as the House common room, and the windows were just as round. In four of the six deep niches were fairly large wooden beds with yellow canopies, like the lining of the House students' robes, and one could fence oneself off from the common space with a thick curtain, creating a decent personal corner. Also in the niches, there was space not only for a bed but also for a trunk, and there was even a small table with a chair here. The room itself was quite spacious and could boast a large table, chairs, a sofa, armchairs, and two of the remaining niches were clearly turned by a student's hand into a nook for various small things that found no place in the room.
"Yo!" a blond boy, whose hairstyle was a mirror copy of Justin's, waved a hand to us and Justin. "Hector, right?"
"Yes."
He and another boy got up from chairs and approached, extending a hand.
"Ernie Macmillan, pleased to meet you."
"And I," spoke the second one, practically a blond, "am Zacharias Smith."
"Hector Granger," I shook hands with the guys.
"Talk? Or sleep?" Zacharias examined us with a tired gaze.
"Sleep, of course. Potions tomorrow."
"On the first day? Nightmare!" the guys got upset in sync, and Justin pointed a hand at my school trunk standing next to the bed in one of the niches.
"Looks like you were assigned here. Now we have four guys in the year."
"And girls?"
"Two."
"So few?"
We began preparing for sleep, and at the same time, I found out where the full bathroom is here, except without a shower or bath; the first is shared and located at the end of the corridor, and the second does not exist in principle. Well, if one does not count the pool for prefects.
"They say," Justin pronounced when everyone was already settling into beds, and Zacharias had generally passed out immediately, not even closing the curtain to his nook. "That the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties were very meager for children. So our peers are somewhat fewer than there were in past years."
"And what happened?"
"They say a whole civil war by local standards. By numbers, it is not impressive, but considering the extremely small population of magical England, translating this into percentages and coefficients..."
"Speaking smartly..." a pillow literally whistled from one niche to another.
"Ouch..."
"Go to sleep already, huh..."
Morning in the new place caused me absolutely no trouble whatsoever. The elf had been in wanderings for long hundreds of years, and met every day in a new place. Part of the dwarf's memories, however, became a little despondent from the excessive similarity of the layout and design of the House common room with the dwellings of hobbits. Damn it... It seems a dwarf is a dwarf, but how strongly I want to call him a gnome!
I woke up earlier than everyone else, for the schedule and the habit of following it is an ineradicable thing. Quickly warming up, I went to the shower room, where a couple of guys were trying to bring themselves to their senses after an obvious drinking bout, placing their heads under streams of cold water. Paying no attention to myself, I carried out all hygiene procedures and returned to the room. The guys are still sleeping. But time waits for no one! If one believes the schedule that I found among Hermione's books and notebooks, it is almost breakfast time. Spotting some metal round tray on the table, I took it and the spoon lying nearby. The simplest magical construct for amplifying sound, a swing, a strike.
The ringing of metal stood throughout the room.
"Rise and shine!" another strike. "You'll sleep through Potions!"
The last phrase reached the consciousness of the guys much better than the ringing of iron and began its subversive activity there, undermining sweet sleep. The guys jumped up and like sluggish somnambulists headed to the shower. Of course, they returned quickly, looking at me with obvious dissatisfaction.
"We'll be late, or we'll have to eat breakfast in a hurry," I shrugged, not embarrassed in the least.
Justin walked to his niche, took out his wand, and conjured Tempus, revealing an illusory clock face.
"True enough."
Quickly putting on the school uniform in the form of trousers, shirt, tie with House colors, a dark sweater with sleeves and the Hogwarts crest, and a robe with a yellow lining, we went out into the common room. The atmosphere reigning here was lively, but students did not linger for long, leaving immediately as they waited for their comrades or finished preparations, packing everything necessary into school bags.
"And I thought I would have to wake you," the prefect approached us from the side with that clearly trademark smile of his.
"No need," Zacharias looked gloomily at me, having not considered it necessary to somehow order his curly blond hair. "Hector already woke us in the cruelest way."
"And what way, if it's not a secret?"
"Banged on an iron tray like a madman and shouted 'Rise and shine!'."
"Pfft," the prefect waved it off. "That's nothing! I know a tricky spell, I'll show you later, Hector..."
"Don't!" the guys shouted in chorus, almost jumping back half a step.
"Okay, jokes aside," Cedric took several thin sheets of parchment from the inner pocket of his robe and handed them to us. "Your schedules. And this..."
He held out another sheet to me.
"Indicate the chosen elective subjects. Such forms were filled out in the second year, but, you understand yourself."
"Of course. Is there a quill?"
We stood almost at the exit from the boys' wing, the round doors of which continued to annoy me. Hope I get used to it. But that is not the point; next to us stood a table on which there were many various stationery items and other small things. Inkwells and a couple of quills were found here. We approached exactly this table, and placing the application on the table, I deftly took the quill, dipped it in the inkwell, and just as deftly filled it out.
"Wow!" Zacharias could not refrain from an admiring exclamation. "My father would have erected a monument to me in my lifetime if I had such chic handwriting!"
"Indeed," Cedric nodded with a smile. "The invitation letter from Hogwarts looks like cheap waste paper after something like this."
"It just happened somehow."
It is not surprising; there are many small things that the elf did throughout his entire life every day, and writing with a quill is among them.