My Life as a Background Hufflepuff

Two

Winteria sat on the Hogwarts Express, bewildered. 

Her mother was as confused as she was when the letter came. Her father, however, was suddenly more happy then Winteria had ever seen him. He revealed that he was a Squib, a non-magical descent of magical parents. Two days later her grandparents came to visit, congratulating her and telling her their own stories at Hogwarts. They also went with her to Diagon Alley to get her supplies and accompanied her to King's Cross, too.

Now, her dad and his parents were outside on the platform, waving at her—Mom couldn't come, due to the fact that she was a plain Muggle and did not want to ruin Winteria's experience with her ignorance. Winteria, on the other hand, was just frightened. 

No matter what she had seen and heard, magic just seemed kind of distant. Scary even. Winteria was constantly jumping from the surprises that the wizarding world brought her, and perhaps it was because of her fear of being different rooted so deeply in her, even though Winteria knew this was where she belonged, she still felt odd and embarrassed. Suddenly, Winteria wondered what her friends were thinking of her back home. Had Mom given their neighbors a good reason why she's would not be seen much seven years from now? Surely, Mom would say that her daughter went off to some boarding school for gifted children. But Winteria knew that when she came back home, she would have to face all these questions from her old friends...or would she? Would they forget her in her one year's  absence?

Things just seemed to be too confusing and piled up in Winteria's brain. She leaned back into to soft compartment seat, rubbed her temples, and sighed. When the  train began to move she allowed herself to look outside the window for just one fleeting view of her family, then closed her eyes and tried to block out the new commotion in the train.

Just then, the compartment door opened. A girl was standing in the corridor, struggling with a large trunk. 

"Can I sit here?" asked the girl rather shyly.

"Sure," replied Winteria.

The girl smiled. Winteria stood up, helped her get the trunk in next to hers, then sat down as the girl did the same on the seat opposite her. She had long red hair tied back into a plait, a slightly round face, and was already in her school robes.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Winteria Davies," Winteria replied. "It's a weird name, I know."

The girl merely smiled. "I think it's pretty creative," she said. "My name is Susan Bones."

They shook hands. "What House do you think you'll be Sorted in?" Susan asked.

"I dunno," Winteria said. Her grandparents told her a lot about the Houses: Gryffindor, bravery; Hufflepuff, loyal; Ravenclaw, witty; and Slytherin, ambitious. "Probably Hufflepuff. My grandparents were in that House. My dad is a Squib, though."

"Interesting," Susan said, nodding a bit. "Probably Hufflepuff for me too. Did you hear, Harry Potter is supposed to be in our year?"

"Who's Harry Potter?"