Ascendio - Book 1

Chapter 5: Crescentia

Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin--

My brother is a Slytherin. He's my twin. Am I a Slytherin, too?

--Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin--

Why, why did he have to be with the devil house? The death-eater house? The cursed house? The house that spawned those monsters--the monsters that killed our--my--friend--

--Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin--

"Are you okay?"

Tristan's voice echoes through my head, dispelling the thoughts--but I know they'll be back. I turn to him, about to tell him how worthless a question that is, when I see the concern written all over his face. I wilt a bit, bite back my retort, and shake my head.

"I-I'm sorry your brother is in Slytherin," he says.

"But it worries me," I reply, and hold up my shaking hands. "I don't want to be like a Slytherin, but how do I know I'm not one of them if my twin, my other half, is one? How do I know he won't turn out like the others, all twisted and sad and evil?"

Tristan holds up his hands, stopping me. "Hold on a sec," he says, his face caught between anger and confusion. "You think just because Chandler is a Slytherin, that means you are one too? And that all of the Slytherins are twisted people?"

I turn my head away, and I can hear him sigh. He steps into my line of sight.

"I'm really sorry, Crescen--Cress. But you're being really silly."

Silly?

"You're not like your brother," he explains. "He's cold, and cryptic, and kinda... distant. You... You're happy, and nice, and cute, and--" he stops dead, face flushed. "I mean, you're twins, and you look alike, but you're not... the same...?"

I nod furiously, my face as red as the ties of the Gryffindor students. "You too. I mean, yes. Yes. Thanks." I walk a bit faster, trying to leave Tristan behind, but his legs are too long and he keeps pace with me.

Eventually the flushed look fades from my face. I started to pay more attention to the hallways, trying to memorize the path from our tower to the Great Hall. Our house took a pair of stairs upward, passing murals and portraits on the walls. Movement flickered from the corner of my eye, but every time I glanced at the paintings, they were perfectly still. None of the student's mouths are moving, but I could hear a steady murmur coming from somewhere.

We turned off on a landing and squeezed into a smaller hallway. We were somehow in the basement, below the kitchen (if the delicious smells were any clue) and the walls were made of a warm stone. There was a wooden door in the corner, partially obscured by barrels. The tall boy who had led us here (Head Boy, I thought) walked up to the door, and tapped in a familiar rhythm. As the door slowly swung outward, the boy turned to us.

"To open the door, you must tap the door in the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff," he said. "Now, follow me."

The Hufflepuff House was round, earthy, and had a low ceiling--sun shown down from circular windows near the top of the walls. I could see grass and flowers outside, and a bit of dandelion fluff flew through the window. Burnish copper glinted from the shadows--perhaps armor?--and when I looked up, I could see various plants hanging down from the ceiling. There was a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff on the far wall, and underneath it, a smaller picture of Professor Sprout. A few overstuffed sofas and chairs, colored in yellow and black, were adorned with a few students, busy at work or... sleeping.

"Wow," Tristan said. I looked over at him, and my mouth dropped a bit. The copper lamps behind him were so detailed and beautiful--and they had a pretty good effect on his hair. I shook my head. Nope, nope, nope. Focus on something else.

Two doors in the back--those must lead to the dormitories. Copper bed warmers hung on the walls--I fully expected more to be in the dorm rooms. A few people were huddled around the fire, draped in yellow and black patchwork quilts that seemed impossibly poofy.

The tall boy turned to us. "Welcome to Hufflepuff house. All we ask is that you try not to make much of a ruckus while you're here--we try to keep it quiet."

"Quieter than the Ravenclaw's libraries!" A short, slightly plump boy called from one of the sofas. The students near him chuckled, but the tall boy shot him a glare.

He turned around partially and gestured to the round doors. "Through here are the dorms. Boys to your left, girls to your right. You'll find your belongings on your beds. And no switching," he called after us as we swarmed towards the doors.

I waved goodbye to Tristan, turning towards the inside of the girls' dorms. The door shut itself, blocking out the noise of the Common Room. Most of my new roommates had already gotten adjusted, and sat on their beds, unpacking their trunks or playing with their familiars.

My familiar!

I rushed over to the only unnoccupied bed, which was barely holding up my overpacked trunk. I shoved it aside, revealing a little pet cage. I peeked inside, and found a little pair of black eyes holding my own. I let out a sigh of relief and opened the cage, releasing my pet martin.

While Chandler had gotten a husky--small but vicious, that pup--I had gotten a brown furred martin, with fuzzy orange belly fur. Martins were famous for their cleverness and quick movements, and with their abundance of energy they made the perfect reserve if you were straggling in a battle.

While Freya--which was what I had decided to call her, since Chandler had called his husky Freyr, who was Freya's brother--climbed on to my lap, I stared at my trunk. I really, really didn't want to unpack right now. Absentmindedly stroking Freya's fur, I looked around the room at the other girls and found a pair of eyes meet mine.

The girl walked over to me, and gave me a smile. "Hi there," she said quietly. "I'm Isla. I noticed you have a martin... may I pet him?"

I smiled. "Sure. It's a she, actually."

The girl--Isla--smiled back, the tiniest of grins. "What is her name?"

"Freya."

"A very couragous name," Isla noticed.

While she began to pet Freya, I looked her over. She had skin the color of light wood, but her hair was as dark as the shadows in the dungeons. Isla had a slim build, kind of awkwardly skinny, but I could tell she would fill in just fine. Her eyes seemed off, like the light brown color could pass for amber, and she had braided her long hair into neat plaits that drifted past her thighs. Her perfectly white teeth, when she smiled, seemed really light against her features. I was jealous of her appearance--she looked beautiful, without seeming to try.

"What is your familiar?" I asked her, trying to look away from her perfectness like I had Tristan's. They were perfect for each other... but I had the feeling that Tristan wouldn't like someone so distant.

Isla gave me a secretive smile, and pulled open one of the large pockets on her khaki shorts. A little head popped out, as colorful as a rainbow, and puffed a bit of steam at me. "He is a Chinese Dragon. His name is Duokai, and if you translate it from Chinese, it would say 'colorful'."

I smile, and reach out to pet the minuscule dragon. "He's wonderful."

Isla gives me another flash of teeth--I think I might go blind. "What is your name?"

"Oh!" I blush, realizing how rude I must've seemed. "I'm Crescentia, but my friends call me Cress."

Isla gave me a sly look. "Are we friends, Crescentia?"

"We can be!"

She stretches out her hand to me, and I grasp it. "My friends give me the name of Izzie. I do not really know why," she adds. "but I hope we can be... friends."

As I tuck myself into the warm, fluffy quilts of the Hufflepuff girls' dorm, I think of my new friend. Perhaps life without Chandler won't be so bad after all. And, well, that's someone to help me with my homework!

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Hey there guys! I just wanted to put my source for the Hufflepuff Basement down here, so you know I'm telling the truth about this section of the castle (I kinda forgot about it!). Here's the link: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Hufflepuff_Basement