Hufflepuff Common Room

Gryffindor's common room was in a tower, said to have many revolving staircases; Slytherin's common room lay beneath the lake, with roaring fires burning in its fireplaces year-round to ward off the damp; Ravenclaw's common room was located atop a tower, its ceiling painted with stars. From there, one could not only gaze out at the surrounding mountains, but also observe the night sky without making a special trip to the Astronomy Tower; Hufflepuff's common room was beside the Hogwarts kitchens. Badgers liked to burrow, so like the kitchens, their common room was underground. As the night deepened, the castle began to grow quiet, yet the kitchens remained bustling, with at least a hundred House-elves hard at work.

A good House-elf was not supposed to be seen. They used invisibility magic around wizards, but in the kitchens they all revealed themselves. The moment the young wizards appeared at the kitchen entrance, countless large, watery eyes turned toward them. The Muggle-born wizards, who had never seen them before, gaped in shock. After a brief silence, they were treated like royalty, as House-elves held all kinds of exquisite food over their heads and presented it to them.

"What do you do with the leftovers?" Pomona asked with a smile, addressing the House-elf serving her. It froze in astonishment, then, as though it had done something terribly wrong, threw itself against a pillar and began banging its head against it in punishment.

"Bad Nini, bad Nini! Making Miss think she was being served leftovers."

Pomona simply disliked waste. After all, there were still many poor people in the world who did not have enough to eat. But seeing Nini like that, she could not be bothered to say anything more. She merely took a plate of cookies and left the kitchen.

The prefect did not take them straight back to the common room. On the way, he also led them around the classrooms where they would have lessons the next day. The castle's layout was complicated, but miraculously, most Hufflepuff first-years remembered the way. Yes, the staircases were confusing, but how could they possibly be more disorienting than a forest? This was Hufflepuff's talent, though most people were unwilling to believe it.

The common room entrance was in the same corridor as the kitchens. As long as one stayed within the corridor, nobody cared what they did. Hufflepuffs often held parties, and the upper-years were still celebrating after the first-year feast. From time to time, people could be seen moving between the common room and the kitchens. The little badgers' common room was the only one at Hogwarts without magic to repel intruders. There was no password, either, nor any complicated maze. After passing the huge painting of a feast at the kitchen entrance, there was a pile of barrels set into the dark stone on the right side of the corridor. As long as one tapped the correct rhythm, the common room door would open. Even if they got it wrong, they would only be drenched in vinegar. Pomona truly wondered whether such defenses could really protect the students inside.

Because people were constantly coming and going, the common room door was practically left open. Pomona followed an older boy into the common room.

Hufflepuff's symbolic element was earth. The first thing that came into view after entering was a huge tree suspended in midair. It pierced through the ceiling and grew up to the second floor; only its roots and trunk were visible on the first floor, while its canopy seemed to be above. The stairs to the girls' dormitory were on the left, and those to the boys' dormitory were on the right. Hufflepuff valued equality, and the common room had a perfectly symmetrical layout. The only difference was that the girls' study area was filled with tropical vegetation and parasitic plants, while the boys' side resembled snowy mountains. The room was not lit by candles or torches, but by thousands upon thousands of fireflies. The place had been arranged to resemble the wilderness as much as possible. Generally speaking, Gryffindors excelled at Transfiguration, Slytherins at Potions, and Hufflepuffs at Herbology. Sooner or later, they would have to venture into uninhabited forests in search of undiscovered herbs. Learning wilderness survival skills early was therefore incredibly important to Hufflepuffs.

The Hufflepuff common room had everything from flowers the size of a hand to mushrooms as large as chairs. Each dormitory was divided into semicircular little barrels like a honeycomb, with comfortable nest-shaped beds inside. By the time Pomona returned to her dormitory, all her roommates had already arrived. Their luggage had been placed by the door, but none of them hurried to unpack. Instead, they sat on their trunks and chatted.

"Hello," Pomona said stiffly.

"Are you that half-blood Veela?" asked a girl with shoulder-length curly hair.

Pomona did not know what words could describe how she felt.

"You're not as pretty as the stories say," another girl said softly in a shrill voice.

"My brother said you cast magic on yourself." Another girl with short hair sat cross-legged on the floor. "You didn't do anything wrong, so why hide your face?"

"To avoid trouble." Pomona shared the cookies she had brought with them. "Especially from Slytherin. Have you heard what they did to Rubeus Hagrid? They snapped his wand."

The girls gasped.

"I heard he's still at Hogwarts," the curly-haired girl said in a lowered voice. "Everyone believed he was the one who killed Myrtle. Only Dumbledore pleaded for him. Now he's our gamekeeper."

"Do you believe he did it?" Pomona asked. "I heard he's a half-giant."

"My brother says giants are naturally cruel and bloodthirsty." The short-haired girl hugged a pillow. "But Hagrid is just a soft-hearted big fool."

Everyone except her burst into laughter.

"Hello, Pomona. I'm Mary Locke." The curly-haired girl held out her hand.

"Susan Turpin." The short-haired girl extended hers.

"Jane Weasley." The girl with the shrill voice also held out her hand. "Can you dance like they do in fairy tale books?"

"Since there are giants who aren't cruel, there must also be Veela who can't dance." Pomona's expression did not change. "My talents lean more toward plant magic."

The truth was that, as long as there was no prejudice, Hufflepuffs were easy to get along with. Or perhaps Pete had simply found her particularly easygoing roommates. Rule Sixty-One of the Hufflepuff Code of Conduct: when someone trusted you to keep a secret, forget what they had told you. Those three girls truly forgot that she was a half-blood Veela and spoke with her as if she were an ordinary girl.

They chatted until late at night. Only after the prefect warned them that they would not be able to get up the next morning if they did not sleep did they return to their beds.

To protect everyone's privacy, the nest-shaped bed even had curtains. It truly helped her out. After drawing them shut, Pomona dispelled the spell on her face. Then, by the light of the fireflies above her, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. What had changed? She had actually begun to care about her appearance.

She took out the letter her father had written to her again.

Were other people's eleven-year-old years like hers?