With the castle asleep, the entirety of the names on the map were very sedentary, and it wasn't until Harry had moved his wand closer to the map, about to mutter mischief managed, that he noticed movement.
The movement was curious for a number of re...
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"PEOPLE BELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT TO BELIEVE."
Aulani learned very quickly that Hannah Abbott was a vital member of Hufflepuff, and her absence, still fresh in everyone's minds, was like missing the vital piece of a puzzle. Without her, Hufflepuffs, the people known for their ability to find, felt lost. So it was fair to say that there would be some resentment held against the girl that had come along just in time to replace her.
She was exposed to this the minute she entered the Hufflepuff common room with Ernie. It was a very homey, comfortable common room, filled with decorations of yellow, plants in the round windows, and a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff above the fireplace, and though Aulani knew she would normally feel comfortable in a place like this, something felt off. It was then that she noticed a boy with a hardened expression glaring over at the pair of them.
"Already replaced her, have you?" the boy accused, causing the smile on Ernie's face to quickly drop. The bustling room, filled with Hufflepuffs of all years happily chatting with their friends, fell abruptly silent at the brunette's words.
Ernie paused for a moment, watching cautiously as his best friend marched over to them. "Justin," he attempted to console, his voice just above a whisper, "it's not like that."
"It's not like that?" his friend repeated mockingly. Aulani wanted nothing more in that moment than to disappear. "Hannah's been gone all of two weeks, and the first new person that comes along to replace her - " he gestured angrily towards the American, at which Ernie stepped daringly forward.
"You can't put this on Aulani," Ernie insisted. Justin looked as though he wanted to respond, but held back, glaring once more at Ernie before he walked away, disappearing behind a round door that Aulani assumed led to the Boys' Dormitory. The entire room was watching the abandoned two carefully, as if waiting to see if something more dramatic would happen, but after nothing did, the atmosphere slowly went back to its previous state. Ernie turned to Aulani apologetically. "He's not usually like that," he started, still recovering from the argument. "Justin's just still upset about Hannah. We all are."
Ernie led Aulani over to Megan before excusing himself, hurrying out of the common room altogether. The time traveler looked after him as he went, an aching in her chest. From both the books and the interactions she's had so far, Aulani figured that Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, and Justin Finch-Fletchley shared a relationship that practically mirrored that of the Golden Trio, and though she didn't know them well, it physically pained her to see a group of friends so brutally torn apart. "He'll be alright," assured Megan, noticing Aulani's worry. "He and Justin have been arguing a lot lately, it's not your fault." Aulani looked thankfully at the hazel-eyed Hufflepuff, a character who was hardly, if at all, mentioned in the books. JK Rowling had paid such close attention to detail in her novels, but due to the fact that she was following the story of Harry Potter, there was a world of characters that didn't get the recognition they deserved. Megan Jones, an extremely compassionate and welcoming girl, was one such character. "Come on," she continued with a smile, taking Aulani's arm. "I'll show you the dormitories."
