Drapple

Hufflepuff Headquarters

Dear Log,
It is I, of course, Draco Malfoy.

It is after Potions (my last class of today) and I'm preparing to go to the Hufflepuff dorm rooms.

During lunch, the mail came and (as usual) my large eagle came delivering the package my parents send each month.

Ripping open the package, I found five boxes of chocolates, some Cauldron cakes, a few boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans and Chocolate Frogs.

Quickly, I raced back to my dorm room and put all the candy (besides two boxes of chocolate, three Cauldron Cakes, two boxes of Bertie Bott's and six Chocolate Frogs) and hid it in my chest.

I then raced back to the Great Hall with my arms full of the left over candy and headed over to the Hufflepuff table, ignoring the strange looks I was getting.

"Hi," I whispered to Katie Whittaker, Marcus Horton, Alfie McKay, Zoe Hove and Hannah Abbott.

"Hello!" all five of them shouted back merrily.

I smiled, though I was privately killing myself.

"I have a deal in mind, if you're interested," I told them all.

"Well, it depends on what the deal is," Hannah replied and all of the other Hufflepuffs nodded and repeated "Yeah, yeah, definitely" over and over.

"Can you guys tell me where your dorms are? I'll give you all this candy," I said, gesturing to it.

The group of them all whispered to each other, debating.

Finally, Zoe spoke for the group. "We accept," she said stiffly.

Hannah nodded seriously before pulling out a quill and using a napkin to write a very terrible map.

She handed it to me and I furrowed my brow as I attempted to read what it said. All I knew was that it was somewhere by the kitchens.

Alfie and Marcus eagerly went to grab the candy but I slapped their hands away.

"Not so fast!" I hissed. "What's the pass code?"

The entire lot of them looked at each other in confusion. "What pass code?" they asked together.

"The phrase you say to get in your blasted dorm," I said.

All five of them began laughing.

"Pass code?" Katie asked. "Why on earth would we need a pass code?"

"So that other houses couldn't get in your dorms ... " I answered.

Once more they all began to laugh.

"We don't have a password!" Katie said.

"Really?" I said.

I still can't believe their stupidity.

"Really," Marcus answered, grabbing one of the boxes of chocolates.

This time, I let them.

As I was leaving I heard Zoe say, "What an idiot! We would've given him the directions without the candy."

The whole lot of them laughed.

They may be stupid, but at least they're helpful.

I've managed to figure out where the Hufflepuff dorm rooms are, using Hannah's harshly drawn map.

I plan to leave as soon as I'm done with this entry. There I will explain my dilemma to the Hufflepuffs and hope they shall help me.

I am extremely excited to figure out where my Apple is.

In fact, I can no longer contain myself. I must leave now.

Farewell,
Draco

With that, I hid my journal under my bed with the pen.

I took the map and left the dungeons, glancing down at the map a couple of times to make sure I was staying on the right path.

Eventually, I found where the Hufflepuffs' dorms.

I pushed the round wooden door and walked into a cheery, yellow and black-filled room. Over-stuffed armchairs were sprinkled throughout the room and Hufflepuffs did their usual, mundane tasks.

And there were house-elves. Nearly one for each Hufflepuff student.

They were in groups, talking to one another and to the Hufflepuffs.

The whole lot of them seemed to be friends.

I saw Zoe and Alfie sat in a corner with a house elf and walked over to the odd trio.

"Hello," I said, smiling through gritted teeth.

Both Alfie and Zoe gave me cheery waves, but the house elf didn't exactly look ... Pleased.

"Good to see that you found us!" Zoe exclaimed.

I nodded. "It was pretty easy with the map."

"Good, good," Alfie said, jotting something down on a roll of parchment. He was probably doing Flitwick's homework.

"So, why did you want to come here?" Zoe asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Well, uh--" I began.

Alfie interrupted me by waving his hands and yelling "Marcus, lad! Over here!"

The dirty blonde boy came over, pulling his girlfriend with him.

A very pretty girl, Niomi had long, platinum blonde hair.

"Hello," I greeted the two dully.

They waved in response.

"So why are you here?" Zoe pushed, after pleasantries had been exchanged.

"Well, you see, the love of my life--"

"The apple," Zoe interjected, looking at me seriously.

"Yes, the apple," I answered. "My love went missing a few--"

"Niomi," a velvety voice that was oh-so-familiar said.

But where had I heard it before?