Rash and Judgments (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 9)
Title: Rash and Judgments (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 9)
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Rating: PG13 for language
Summary: The aftermath of the first night
Notes: Just a little bit of a chapterlet before we get into the meat of it. I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Four Houses / Previous Chapters / Adaptations
"It's a bloody joke, is what it is," said Alan Runcorn.
"If it's a joke, I ain't laughin'," grunted Wendell Redmond. The two, along with fellow Slytherin purebloods Kimberly Green and Tarren Orlo, were seated in the corner of the Hogwarts Potions room awaiting the arrival of Andromeda Tonks for their first Potions class of the new school year.
"She has no leg to stand on," Runcorn explained, just loud enough for the other groups of chatting Slytherins and Gryffindors to hear. "No leg to stand on at all. She has, what, one year under her belt, and all of a sudden she expects us to put up with her nonsense?"
"Yeah, no kidding," said Tarren, along with Wendell the two large boys who had bracketed Runcorn the night before. "She's got no respect from any of the Slytherins."
As he spoke, the second group of Slytherins glanced across the classroom at the boasting purebloods. Galatea Davis opened her mouth to toss a comeback, but was kicked under the table by one of her classmates.
"Do you really want to start an argument with those idiots?" asked Robin Tuesday under his breath. Galatea hesitated, then shook her head in resignation before returning to her conversations.
"I mean, say what you will about Alcahest," Runcorn continued. "He might have treated them like they were, you know, one of us. But at least he didn't put them on a fucking pedestal like Tonks does. I swear to Merlin, its like she thinks they're better than we are."
"Well, that's because they are better than you," yelled James Potter from his own clump of Gryffindors. "Hell, Runcorn, the gnomes in my grandmum's garden have more brains than you."
Chase Quentin and Nicholas Hopkirk burst into gales of laughter, which Nancy Sprague and Melody Callahan joined, albeit a little more subdued after seeing the way Runcorn was glaring back at Potter. Even the other group of Slytherins chuckled, but stopped quickly when Runcorn jumped to his feet, his wand raised and his teeth bared. He opened his mouth to chant a hex, but stopped as the dungeon door opened with a boom.
"No dueling in class, Mr. Runcorn," said Andromeda Tonks shortly as she entered the classroom. "Twenty points from Slytherin. Everyone find a seat. That doesn't include the top of the table, Mr. Quentin."
"Sorry, ma'am," said Chase, jumping down from the tall work station. Alan, meanwhile, tried to kill James Potter through sheer force of will, but James only gave a huge, toothy grin and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously at the Slytherin before pairing up with Chase and turning to the front of the class.
"Now if everyone is settled," Professor Tonks said pointedly to Alan, whose lip twitched once before joining Kimberly at their table, "I'll start by telling you what you already know, and what you'll be hearing many, many times in the coming days. This is your O.W.L. year. Because of that, your classes will become exponentially harder than they have been in the past. For many of you, you will be returning next year for me to teach you N.E.W.T.-level potions. I won't fool myself into thinking that you will all return, nor should you fool yourselves into thinking that it will be a walk in the park to earn your way back. But focus hard, bear down, and don't give in to the temptation of failure. Pass your O.W.L.s with flying colors, and make not only me, but Professor Alcahest, proud of your efforts. Now..."
"Laying it on a little thick, isn't she?" Chase whispered to James.
"Mr. Quentin?"
"Yes, ma'am?" Chase said with a jump.
"Bad start."
"Sorry," he said, turning back to the front.
"Today," Tonks continued, "we will be mixing a Blood-Replenishing Potion. It's not in your textbooks, and it is also complicated enough where I won't expect a perfect mix from anyone. In addition, in order to prepare you for the O.W.L.s, and to make sure that your minds are properly tuned this morning, all instructions," at this she tapped her wand on the blackboard, which became covered with instructions, "will be given in the Continental Standard. Formulas are in the back of your books, and I trust you packed your abacus?"
There was a wave of groans interspersed with yelps of panic as the students dug through their bookbags to pull out their additional equipment.
"You have one hour to translate and prepare," said Tonks. "Extra ingredients are in the front of the classroom. And begin."
There was a shuffling of paper and a murmur of conversation as the paired students began to work their way through the foreign measurements presented to them.
"Well, you heard about Lupin, didn't you?" Kimberly asked Alan, continuing their conversation quietly enough to not be heard over the clicking of the surrounding abaci. "He actually married one of them."
"Ted Lupin actually married a Mudblood?" whispered Tarren from the table in front of the witch and wizard. The four had only been at Hogwarts for one year with Teddy Lupin, and had barely known him outside of watching his performance on the pitch, but it was enough for them to despise the respect he received from the rest of the school.
"No, worse," Kimberly said darkly. "He married a Muggle."
Tarren and Wendell gagged in disgust, but Alan could only absently scratch an itch on his arm. "It makes sense, doesn't it?" he said. "Tonks's whole bloody family has a screw loose. Mudwallowers and blood traitors, the whole lot of them. Lestrange was the only sensible one, and she died for the cause. Even her other sister turned at the end to save her own tail."
"Malfoy," Tarren snorted. "What a fucking waste. You saw the sign-up sheet for the Quidditch tryouts, right? Little Shit N' Piss thinks he actually has a chance."
"How are the calculations going?" asked Professor Tonks loudly as she passed the two tables. "I see your parchments are still blank."
"Just fine, Professor," said Kimberly, putting on her sweetest voice and her falsest smile, which only went so far through the snaggle of her teeth. "We're trying to do them all in our heads. Better practice."
Tonks raised a skeptical eyebrow. "We'll see what you have at the end of the hour," she said, and continued her way around the classroom.
"You two," said Alan even more quietly to Tarren and Wendell, "make him regret ever trying to make the club, alright?"
The two huge Slytherins, both members of the current Quidditch squad, chuckled menacingly.
"We probably should get to work, though," said Kimberly. "This potion's a breeze, but--"
"Bloody hell!" Alan groaned, his fingers continuing to dig at his arm. "What is--"
"Problems, Mr. Runcorn?" asked Professor Tonks, turning back to the table.
"My arm," Alan said through gritted teeth. "Itches.... It's..."
"Let me see," she said, pulling his gouging fingers away from his bicep. "You may have spilled some ingredient on it."
"I haven't used any bloody ingredients yet!" he yelled. "What do you think you're doing to me, you bitch?"
"Ten points, Mr. Runcorn," said Tonks shortly, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a smattering of red welts. "Hmm... Doesn't look like a reaction to any of the ingredients. More like..."
She was cut off by a snorting chuckle from the front of the class. She turned around to see both James Potter and Chase Quentin spin back towards their work, but not before seeing James stick his wand in his pocket.
"More like a hex," she said. "Mr. Potter, five points from Gryffindor."
"Professor!" both James and Alan yelled at the same time.
"He was having a go at Teddy!" James yelled.
"Why does he only get five points?" Alan yelled back. "I got ten, and I didn't do shit!"
"And one night's detention for you both," she continued, tapping Alan's arm with her wand, vanishing the boils immediately. "In the future, Mr. Runcorn, if you plan to insult my family, I would suggest that you do it at a safer distance from me. Perhaps the Gobi Desert. Forty-five minutes!"
Runcorn gave the professor a murderous glare as she turned back to the class, which had fallen silent to watch the disruption. As they quickly jumped back to their work, Alan quickly scribbled a note onto his parchment and handed it to the table in front of him before reluctantly returning to his work.
Malfoy gets a night in the hospital at tryouts, Tarren and Wendell read. Potter gets a week's stay during your match. MAKE IT HAPPEN
---------
"Do you think he went to Hogwarts?" Hermione Toots asked.
"Who?" both Drystan Bunker and Scarlett Scamander asked as the first year Hufflepuffs wandered through the halls.
"Professor Forseti," Toots clarified. "You don't really think he went to Hogwarts?"
"Oh, yeah, he's definitely from around here," said Harry Norley. "Didn't you notice the thick Scottish brogue on him?"
"He sounded more Swedish to me," she said.
"Sarcasm, Hermione," said Norley.
"Oh."
"He did sound Swedish," said Hugo Weasley. "But Forseti... That's Italian, isn't it?"
"But why's he working at Hogwarts if he's not from here?" Toots continued.
"Do you think he went to Durmstrang?" asked Su Li.
"Do you think he knew Krum?" asked Scarlett.
"Maybe he played Quidditch with Krum," said Norley excitedly. "That'd be wicked! He's old enough, isn't he?"
"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Drystan asked Gopal. "Wait, never mind," he said as Gopal opened his mouth, "you probably do already know. Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" he repeated to Jessica Dawson and Ella Todd, two more fellow Muggle-borns.
"Look, if he's from Italy he probably went to Beauxbatons," said Aiden Towler. "If he's from Sweden or Norway or wherever then he probably went to school in Trondheim. Why don't you bloody ask him next time we're in Defense?"
"I can't ask him," said Toots quietly. "He's... He's a bit scary, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he looks like the type that'll tear your arms off if you ask him something not related to the lesson," said Hugo.
"Oh, come on," Towler snorted. "I don't think he's that bad."
"Well, why don't you ask him, then, Towler?" said Norley. "Be a man, eh?"
"Towler!" Scarlett exclaimed.
"What?" Aiden said with a jump. "What was that for?"
"I just remembered where I know your name!" said Scarlett, slapping her forehead. "It's been poking my brain since last night. Does your dad work for the Ministry?"
"Yeah?" Aiden said carefully.
"He used to work for my dad!" said Scarlett, backhanding Aiden on the arm. "Rolf Scamander?"
"Oh, yeah, probably," said Aiden. "Dad's been in a lot of departments. Moves around a lot."
"My father's head of Magical Creatures," Scarlett explained to everyone. "I heard him talk about some guy named Towler a lot."
"I think he was out of Magical Creatures, what, five years ago?" Aiden said with a shrug.
"Um, guys?" said Gopal, looking around. "I hate to break up the big reunion, but do we know where we are?"
The ten Hufflepuffs stopped in their tracks. "We're... We're on our way to Charms, aren't we?" said Hugo uncertainly.
"Yeah, but I thought we'd be there by now," said Gopal. "The prefects said it's fourth floor, third hallway to the left, second to the right.
"I thought it was third floor," said Su Li, "second hallway to the left, third to the right."
"You people don't know what you're talking about," said Norley, "It was... was it second fourth to the left?"
"Bloody hell," Hugo groaned, leaning against the wall. "We're lost."
"No, we're not," said Scarlett. "Are we?"
"Hugo!"
Hugo Weasley jumped back to his feet and looked down the hall to see an equally perplexed group of Gryffindors moving towards his group. His cousins Matilda Weasley and Lily Potter were jogging towards the Hufflepuffs, with Gideon Weasley and the other six Gryffindors trailing close behind.
"How are you?" asked Lily when the two groups merged.
"Alright," said Hugo. "You?"
"We're lost," said Matilda, and Lily shrugged helplessly. "Do you know where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is?"
"We just came from there," said Hugo.
"Brilliant," said one of the Gryffindor boys. "We'll just backtrack you lot."
"Wouldn't trust that," said Su Li. "We're lost, too. We couldn't even tell you which direction we came from."
"Staircases change, hallways disappear," Gideon groaned. "Who designed this school?"
"The Riddler, probably," said Drystan, "but I wouldn't put it past Jigsaw."
A few of the students from both Houses chuckled while the other half looked at Drystan, perplexed.
"Forget it," said Gopal to the purebloods. "Muggle joke. Bad one. Where are you all coming from?"
"Charms," said three Gryffindors.
"Which is just where we're going. But, let me guess..."
"Couldn't tell you which way we came from, either," said Matilda. "We're pretty hopeless."
"Yeah, welcome to the club..."
"Your dad didn't give you the map, did he?" Hugo asked Lily as the two Houses talked amongst themselves. "The Marauder's Map?"
"Oh, God no," said Lily. "You think he'd trust putting that thing in a place where James could get to it?"
"Good point," said Hugo, biting his lip and scanning the hallway. "Damn..."
"So how are you doing?" asked Matilda seriously, touching Hugo's arm. "I mean, really?"
"Rose was all bent out of shape after you got Sorted," said Lily quietly. "Obviously, she was hoping you would be with us. We all were."
"I know how she feels," said Hugo. "But I'm doing fine. Seriously. I had a talk with some people, and they're all really nice, you know?"
"Yeah, but still," said Gideon, even more quietly, "Hufflepuff..."
"Better than Slytherin," said Hugo. "We'll meet up this weekend, alright? Until then, let Rose know that I'm fine. I'm starting to enjoy myself with this lot."
"Alright," said Lily uncertainly. "If you're sure..."
"I'm sure, I'm fine, whatever," Hugo shrugged. "Can't change what happened, so make the best of what you have, right?"
"Look, we'd better get moving," said Norley loud enough for everyone to hear. "We'll backtrack the Gryffindors, Gryffindors will backtrack us. Might not work, but it's a good enough start."
"Well, look at it this way," said Gideon. "Class can't start without the class, right?"
Four Houses / Previous Chapters / Adaptations
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Previous Chapters
Rating: PG13 for language
Summary: The aftermath of the first night
Notes: Just a little bit of a chapterlet before we get into the meat of it. I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Four Houses / Previous Chapters / Adaptations
"It's a bloody joke, is what it is," said Alan Runcorn.
"If it's a joke, I ain't laughin'," grunted Wendell Redmond. The two, along with fellow Slytherin purebloods Kimberly Green and Tarren Orlo, were seated in the corner of the Hogwarts Potions room awaiting the arrival of Andromeda Tonks for their first Potions class of the new school year.
"She has no leg to stand on," Runcorn explained, just loud enough for the other groups of chatting Slytherins and Gryffindors to hear. "No leg to stand on at all. She has, what, one year under her belt, and all of a sudden she expects us to put up with her nonsense?"
"Yeah, no kidding," said Tarren, along with Wendell the two large boys who had bracketed Runcorn the night before. "She's got no respect from any of the Slytherins."
As he spoke, the second group of Slytherins glanced across the classroom at the boasting purebloods. Galatea Davis opened her mouth to toss a comeback, but was kicked under the table by one of her classmates.
"Do you really want to start an argument with those idiots?" asked Robin Tuesday under his breath. Galatea hesitated, then shook her head in resignation before returning to her conversations.
"I mean, say what you will about Alcahest," Runcorn continued. "He might have treated them like they were, you know, one of us. But at least he didn't put them on a fucking pedestal like Tonks does. I swear to Merlin, its like she thinks they're better than we are."
"Well, that's because they are better than you," yelled James Potter from his own clump of Gryffindors. "Hell, Runcorn, the gnomes in my grandmum's garden have more brains than you."
Chase Quentin and Nicholas Hopkirk burst into gales of laughter, which Nancy Sprague and Melody Callahan joined, albeit a little more subdued after seeing the way Runcorn was glaring back at Potter. Even the other group of Slytherins chuckled, but stopped quickly when Runcorn jumped to his feet, his wand raised and his teeth bared. He opened his mouth to chant a hex, but stopped as the dungeon door opened with a boom.
"No dueling in class, Mr. Runcorn," said Andromeda Tonks shortly as she entered the classroom. "Twenty points from Slytherin. Everyone find a seat. That doesn't include the top of the table, Mr. Quentin."
"Sorry, ma'am," said Chase, jumping down from the tall work station. Alan, meanwhile, tried to kill James Potter through sheer force of will, but James only gave a huge, toothy grin and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously at the Slytherin before pairing up with Chase and turning to the front of the class.
"Now if everyone is settled," Professor Tonks said pointedly to Alan, whose lip twitched once before joining Kimberly at their table, "I'll start by telling you what you already know, and what you'll be hearing many, many times in the coming days. This is your O.W.L. year. Because of that, your classes will become exponentially harder than they have been in the past. For many of you, you will be returning next year for me to teach you N.E.W.T.-level potions. I won't fool myself into thinking that you will all return, nor should you fool yourselves into thinking that it will be a walk in the park to earn your way back. But focus hard, bear down, and don't give in to the temptation of failure. Pass your O.W.L.s with flying colors, and make not only me, but Professor Alcahest, proud of your efforts. Now..."
"Laying it on a little thick, isn't she?" Chase whispered to James.
"Mr. Quentin?"
"Yes, ma'am?" Chase said with a jump.
"Bad start."
"Sorry," he said, turning back to the front.
"Today," Tonks continued, "we will be mixing a Blood-Replenishing Potion. It's not in your textbooks, and it is also complicated enough where I won't expect a perfect mix from anyone. In addition, in order to prepare you for the O.W.L.s, and to make sure that your minds are properly tuned this morning, all instructions," at this she tapped her wand on the blackboard, which became covered with instructions, "will be given in the Continental Standard. Formulas are in the back of your books, and I trust you packed your abacus?"
There was a wave of groans interspersed with yelps of panic as the students dug through their bookbags to pull out their additional equipment.
"You have one hour to translate and prepare," said Tonks. "Extra ingredients are in the front of the classroom. And begin."
There was a shuffling of paper and a murmur of conversation as the paired students began to work their way through the foreign measurements presented to them.
"Well, you heard about Lupin, didn't you?" Kimberly asked Alan, continuing their conversation quietly enough to not be heard over the clicking of the surrounding abaci. "He actually married one of them."
"Ted Lupin actually married a Mudblood?" whispered Tarren from the table in front of the witch and wizard. The four had only been at Hogwarts for one year with Teddy Lupin, and had barely known him outside of watching his performance on the pitch, but it was enough for them to despise the respect he received from the rest of the school.
"No, worse," Kimberly said darkly. "He married a Muggle."
Tarren and Wendell gagged in disgust, but Alan could only absently scratch an itch on his arm. "It makes sense, doesn't it?" he said. "Tonks's whole bloody family has a screw loose. Mudwallowers and blood traitors, the whole lot of them. Lestrange was the only sensible one, and she died for the cause. Even her other sister turned at the end to save her own tail."
"Malfoy," Tarren snorted. "What a fucking waste. You saw the sign-up sheet for the Quidditch tryouts, right? Little Shit N' Piss thinks he actually has a chance."
"How are the calculations going?" asked Professor Tonks loudly as she passed the two tables. "I see your parchments are still blank."
"Just fine, Professor," said Kimberly, putting on her sweetest voice and her falsest smile, which only went so far through the snaggle of her teeth. "We're trying to do them all in our heads. Better practice."
Tonks raised a skeptical eyebrow. "We'll see what you have at the end of the hour," she said, and continued her way around the classroom.
"You two," said Alan even more quietly to Tarren and Wendell, "make him regret ever trying to make the club, alright?"
The two huge Slytherins, both members of the current Quidditch squad, chuckled menacingly.
"We probably should get to work, though," said Kimberly. "This potion's a breeze, but--"
"Bloody hell!" Alan groaned, his fingers continuing to dig at his arm. "What is--"
"Problems, Mr. Runcorn?" asked Professor Tonks, turning back to the table.
"My arm," Alan said through gritted teeth. "Itches.... It's..."
"Let me see," she said, pulling his gouging fingers away from his bicep. "You may have spilled some ingredient on it."
"I haven't used any bloody ingredients yet!" he yelled. "What do you think you're doing to me, you bitch?"
"Ten points, Mr. Runcorn," said Tonks shortly, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a smattering of red welts. "Hmm... Doesn't look like a reaction to any of the ingredients. More like..."
She was cut off by a snorting chuckle from the front of the class. She turned around to see both James Potter and Chase Quentin spin back towards their work, but not before seeing James stick his wand in his pocket.
"More like a hex," she said. "Mr. Potter, five points from Gryffindor."
"Professor!" both James and Alan yelled at the same time.
"He was having a go at Teddy!" James yelled.
"Why does he only get five points?" Alan yelled back. "I got ten, and I didn't do shit!"
"And one night's detention for you both," she continued, tapping Alan's arm with her wand, vanishing the boils immediately. "In the future, Mr. Runcorn, if you plan to insult my family, I would suggest that you do it at a safer distance from me. Perhaps the Gobi Desert. Forty-five minutes!"
Runcorn gave the professor a murderous glare as she turned back to the class, which had fallen silent to watch the disruption. As they quickly jumped back to their work, Alan quickly scribbled a note onto his parchment and handed it to the table in front of him before reluctantly returning to his work.
Malfoy gets a night in the hospital at tryouts, Tarren and Wendell read. Potter gets a week's stay during your match. MAKE IT HAPPEN
---------
"Do you think he went to Hogwarts?" Hermione Toots asked.
"Who?" both Drystan Bunker and Scarlett Scamander asked as the first year Hufflepuffs wandered through the halls.
"Professor Forseti," Toots clarified. "You don't really think he went to Hogwarts?"
"Oh, yeah, he's definitely from around here," said Harry Norley. "Didn't you notice the thick Scottish brogue on him?"
"He sounded more Swedish to me," she said.
"Sarcasm, Hermione," said Norley.
"Oh."
"He did sound Swedish," said Hugo Weasley. "But Forseti... That's Italian, isn't it?"
"But why's he working at Hogwarts if he's not from here?" Toots continued.
"Do you think he went to Durmstrang?" asked Su Li.
"Do you think he knew Krum?" asked Scarlett.
"Maybe he played Quidditch with Krum," said Norley excitedly. "That'd be wicked! He's old enough, isn't he?"
"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Drystan asked Gopal. "Wait, never mind," he said as Gopal opened his mouth, "you probably do already know. Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" he repeated to Jessica Dawson and Ella Todd, two more fellow Muggle-borns.
"Look, if he's from Italy he probably went to Beauxbatons," said Aiden Towler. "If he's from Sweden or Norway or wherever then he probably went to school in Trondheim. Why don't you bloody ask him next time we're in Defense?"
"I can't ask him," said Toots quietly. "He's... He's a bit scary, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he looks like the type that'll tear your arms off if you ask him something not related to the lesson," said Hugo.
"Oh, come on," Towler snorted. "I don't think he's that bad."
"Well, why don't you ask him, then, Towler?" said Norley. "Be a man, eh?"
"Towler!" Scarlett exclaimed.
"What?" Aiden said with a jump. "What was that for?"
"I just remembered where I know your name!" said Scarlett, slapping her forehead. "It's been poking my brain since last night. Does your dad work for the Ministry?"
"Yeah?" Aiden said carefully.
"He used to work for my dad!" said Scarlett, backhanding Aiden on the arm. "Rolf Scamander?"
"Oh, yeah, probably," said Aiden. "Dad's been in a lot of departments. Moves around a lot."
"My father's head of Magical Creatures," Scarlett explained to everyone. "I heard him talk about some guy named Towler a lot."
"I think he was out of Magical Creatures, what, five years ago?" Aiden said with a shrug.
"Um, guys?" said Gopal, looking around. "I hate to break up the big reunion, but do we know where we are?"
The ten Hufflepuffs stopped in their tracks. "We're... We're on our way to Charms, aren't we?" said Hugo uncertainly.
"Yeah, but I thought we'd be there by now," said Gopal. "The prefects said it's fourth floor, third hallway to the left, second to the right.
"I thought it was third floor," said Su Li, "second hallway to the left, third to the right."
"You people don't know what you're talking about," said Norley, "It was... was it second fourth to the left?"
"Bloody hell," Hugo groaned, leaning against the wall. "We're lost."
"No, we're not," said Scarlett. "Are we?"
"Hugo!"
Hugo Weasley jumped back to his feet and looked down the hall to see an equally perplexed group of Gryffindors moving towards his group. His cousins Matilda Weasley and Lily Potter were jogging towards the Hufflepuffs, with Gideon Weasley and the other six Gryffindors trailing close behind.
"How are you?" asked Lily when the two groups merged.
"Alright," said Hugo. "You?"
"We're lost," said Matilda, and Lily shrugged helplessly. "Do you know where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is?"
"We just came from there," said Hugo.
"Brilliant," said one of the Gryffindor boys. "We'll just backtrack you lot."
"Wouldn't trust that," said Su Li. "We're lost, too. We couldn't even tell you which direction we came from."
"Staircases change, hallways disappear," Gideon groaned. "Who designed this school?"
"The Riddler, probably," said Drystan, "but I wouldn't put it past Jigsaw."
A few of the students from both Houses chuckled while the other half looked at Drystan, perplexed.
"Forget it," said Gopal to the purebloods. "Muggle joke. Bad one. Where are you all coming from?"
"Charms," said three Gryffindors.
"Which is just where we're going. But, let me guess..."
"Couldn't tell you which way we came from, either," said Matilda. "We're pretty hopeless."
"Yeah, welcome to the club..."
"Your dad didn't give you the map, did he?" Hugo asked Lily as the two Houses talked amongst themselves. "The Marauder's Map?"
"Oh, God no," said Lily. "You think he'd trust putting that thing in a place where James could get to it?"
"Good point," said Hugo, biting his lip and scanning the hallway. "Damn..."
"So how are you doing?" asked Matilda seriously, touching Hugo's arm. "I mean, really?"
"Rose was all bent out of shape after you got Sorted," said Lily quietly. "Obviously, she was hoping you would be with us. We all were."
"I know how she feels," said Hugo. "But I'm doing fine. Seriously. I had a talk with some people, and they're all really nice, you know?"
"Yeah, but still," said Gideon, even more quietly, "Hufflepuff..."
"Better than Slytherin," said Hugo. "We'll meet up this weekend, alright? Until then, let Rose know that I'm fine. I'm starting to enjoy myself with this lot."
"Alright," said Lily uncertainly. "If you're sure..."
"I'm sure, I'm fine, whatever," Hugo shrugged. "Can't change what happened, so make the best of what you have, right?"
"Look, we'd better get moving," said Norley loud enough for everyone to hear. "We'll backtrack the Gryffindors, Gryffindors will backtrack us. Might not work, but it's a good enough start."
"Well, look at it this way," said Gideon. "Class can't start without the class, right?"
Four Houses / Previous Chapters / Adaptations