The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 53: First Night at Hogwarts

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The Kind Hufflepuff - Year Three

Chapter Fifty- Three: First Night at Hogwarts

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Summer was over faster than Cali had hoped for- the remaining weeks spent at the Potter household was full of relaxation as she got to know her small green friend better. She realized pretty quickly that he cared, perhaps, a little less about her and more about the locket but it was kind of nice because it resulted in the small creature to always be around- even if at a distance. 

She had even spent the train ride with her best friends, excited for the new school year as they gossiped about the puberty changes happening in both themselves and other girls and boys in their year. They spent a decent amount of time pointing out everyone who had grown substantially taller until it was time for them to get off the train and onto the carriages that were guided by invisible creatures.

Being in her third year at Hogwarts, Cali had to admit that the awe of the school that she attended had begun to lessen- not quite as mesmerized by anything as she found that she'd rather catch up with her friends. Greta had been telling her a story about this muggle that she came across in a cooking class over the summer and they had both completely missed that the Sorting Hat had already finished it's song for the year and the sorting had already begun. 

"Crouch, Bartemius." Cali recognized the name- well, recognized who she assumed to be his father's name- to be the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry and craned her head to see the boy, a small skinny fellow with mousy brown hair that almost looked too short for his own good walking up to the Sorting Hat. After a few moments, the hat confidently announced his house to be "SLYTHERIN!" causing the table of Green and Silver to cheer loudly, and Cali's eyes met Regulus' as he waved politely to her as he remained seated, a calm in the storm of excitement.

"I shouldn't be surprised by that," Cali hummed.

"Why is that?" Daisy asked curiously, and Cali giggled when she realized Daisy was holding John's hand tightly.

"His father is the head of the Magical Law Enforcement, father has complained about him a time or two," Cali shrugged.

"What's to complain about?" John now asked, curious.

"My father and Crouch Sr. do not exactly share the same view points- and with the war that's been happening, that kind of thing is important."

"Oh, so his father is a dirt bag?" Daisy guessed, and Cali gulped and didn't respond to that, instead turning her attention back to the sorting.

"Lovegood, Xenophilius." A white haired boy began walking to the podium.

"That's a Ravenclaw," Greta declared and Cali nodded in agreement, happy that somebody changed the topic for her.

It wasn't long before the sorting was over and Cali hummed in confusion, "Is every year the batches getting smaller?" Cali asked the group who shrugged in response.

"I think we're just paying less attention," John admitted.

"I suppose," Cali hummed for a moment before shrugging.

"Have you spoken to Regulus yet?" Greta asked the girl curiously, sharing a glance with Daisy.

"We agreed to meet later in the Kitchens," Cali shrugged. "To talk about our summers without the prying eyes and ears."

"Besides the house elves, you mean?" Daisy giggled.

"They're welcome company," Cali assured the girl. "Truthfully, I think Regulus may enjoy their company more than I do."

"You mean to torture them?" John rolled his eyes, and Cali sighed in response, rolling her eyes.

"John, you frankly know nothing about Regulus and that was a really nasty thing to say," she snapped at the boy.

"I'm not so sure that you know anything about him either," John countered. "He's a Slytherin yet you treat him as though he's one of us. Newsflash Cali, he's not."

"I never once claimed he was a Hufflepuff," Cali argued.

"You've implied that he was kind, loyal even," John argued.

"Oh, I'm sorry? Are you an idiot? Uncreative? Are you afraid of your own shoelaces? Do you lack any interest in having a career in the future?" Greta interrupted, asking the boy questions in fast succession. 

"What are you going on about?" Daisy asked, her eyebrows furrowed and John nodded in agreement, also not understanding Greta's point.

"Her point," Cali sighed, "is that you feeling as though a Slytherin is incapable of having personality  traits that a Hufflepuff would have implies that you're incapable of having any traits from any other house," Cali explained quietly. "That you can't be smart and creative like Ravenclaws, that you can't be brave and stick up for your friends like Gryffindor, that you aren't ambitious like Slytherins," Cali added after a moment of silence.

"He's a Slytherin," John stressed. "He's not kind!"

"You don't know him," Cali seethed, standing up suddenly as she shook her head. "You're not being very kind yourself," before she stormed out of the Great Hall.

A few hours had passed and Cali had stayed relatively silent even after her friends joined her in the Hufflepuff Common Room. Upon their entrance, she had stormed into the girls dormitory where Greta joined her briefly, trying to coax her out of the room to spend time with everybody but Cali had refused. The bowtruckle also seemed relatively annoyed with Greta, blowing a raspberry at the girl before she finally left the room. 

When she realized the time, she threw on her Hufflepuff cloak and made her way towards the kitchen, smiling for the first time in quite some time when she saw that Regulus was already waiting for her. "Regulus," she breathed out. 

"Cali," he smiled brightly, standing up just in time for her to wrap him into the tightest hug. 

"I know that we saw each other on the train," Cali sighed into his chest, breathing in the scent of eucalyptus and sandalwood before she pulled away from the boy, "But I've really missed you."

"Yes, well, you did decide to spend the summer break with my brother," Regulus joked.

"My parents were all too excited to let me go off with the Potter family," Cali mumbled, "It was weird. Almost like now that Bertie is out of Hogwarts, they don't care about me at all."

"That's not true, your family loves you. Bertie loves you," Regulus immediately assured her before they told the house elves that they would like vegan chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin juice. "I actually saw Bertie myself this summer," Regulus hummed.

"You saw Bertie?" Cali seemed surprised by this news.

"Yeah, he was at Bellatrix and Rodolphus' home for a meeting or something. My parents went as well, I spent time with some of the other kids my age but the whole thing was really odd."

"Bertie hung out with the kids?" Cali guessed, and Regulus shook his head.

"No, he had attended the meeting."