The Hufflepuff common room was located in the underground section of Hogwarts Castle. Its entrance was hidden among a stack of large wooden barrels in the corner to the right of the kitchen corridor.
The way in was simple. All you had to do was tap the bottom of the second barrel in the second row to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff's name. The lid would then swing open, revealing a passage you could crawl through into the common room.
Unlike passwords, which changed frequently, and riddles, which were updated every time,
Hufflepuff was the only house at Hogwarts to use a fixed password to open its entrance. Memorize it once, and it would work for seven years. It was certainly very convenient.
"Remember, it's Helga Hufflepuff. You must get the order right."
Harris, Hufflepuff's Prefect, stood before a group of first-years and demonstrated the correct tapping sequence at one-third speed.
"Um... what happens if you get it wrong?" a little boy in the crowd asked timidly. "I... I've never had a very good memory. If I get it wrong, does that mean I won't be able to get into the dormitory?"
"Worse than that!"
Harris walked over to the barrels, tapped one of them twice at random, then quickly darted out of the way.
Almost at once, a flood of vinegar, reeking of acid, came pouring down, drenching the spot where he had been standing.
"As you can see," Harris said, waving his wand to clean up the vinegar on the floor, "if you get the tapping sequence wrong, another barrel lid will burst open and drench the intruder in vinegar.
If you don't want to smell sour for the rest of the day, you'd better remember the right sequence. It's not that difficult."
Harris demonstrated the correct sequence twice more before leading them through the passage.
At the end of the passage was a simple, circular room. This was the Hufflepuff common room.
Compared with the Great Hall, the ceiling here seemed very low, probably less than three meters high. Soft yellow-and-black sofas lined the room, and the walls were decorated with all sorts of interesting plants.
Kyle looked around with interest.
Besides the common ornamental plants, there were quite a few rare and valuable ones. He recognized Rue, Dittany, Golden Silk Hoya, Wind-Whisper Grass, and Wind-Bell Sunflower.
The Wind-Bell Sunflower in particular, sitting in the very center of the common room, was worth around three hundred Galleons, if Kyle remembered correctly—and it was almost impossible to find for sale.
The Golden Silk Hoya beside it was a little cheaper, and you could buy one in Diagon Alley for just 279 Galleons.
Using rare plants worth two or three hundred Galleons as decorations—Professor Sprout really was a renowned Herbology expert in the Wizarding World. Now that was what you called understated luxury.
Kyle fought the urge to carry them all off and, with a will of iron, turned to look elsewhere.
A large, honey-yellow wooden mantel carved with badgers had been built against the wall. Some jars and other things were arranged on top.
According to Prefect Harris, the jars were filled with sweets and other snacks for the young witches and wizards to help themselves to.
A portrait of Helga Hufflepuff hung above the fireplace.
She was a cheerful-looking witch holding a golden cup.
By then, students from the other years of Hufflepuff had begun to trickle in. They greeted the first-years warmly and offered them all kinds of snacks as welcome gifts.
Kyle received quite a few as well. His robe pockets were full of colorful candies and candied fruit—enough to last him more than a month.
"So, what do you think? The Hufflepuff common room is nice, isn't it?"
Cedric came over to Kyle and clapped him on the shoulder. "The other houses don't have such a comfortable place."
"Oh, it's Mr. Diggory." Kyle brushed the hand off his shoulder with an annoyed look and said blandly, "What, aren't you worried Professor Snape will get the wrong idea this time?"
"Don't be like that, Kyle. I was just putting on an act for other people," Cedric said with an awkward grin. "Our friendship is unbreakable, I swear."
After hearing that explanation, Kyle looked even more disgusted and hurried to put more distance between them.
Still, he knew Cedric had only been joking earlier, so he wasn't actually angry.
Even if what he'd said just now had been really asking for a punch.
And what did he mean, putting on an act for other people? Did Cedric actually think he was Harry Potter, and that Snape was always paying attention to him?
What was he thinking...
Kyle curled his lip in disdain, but for some reason, Cedric's behavior just now seemed familiar. Especially that shameless way he'd gone with the wind and furiously passed the blame to someone else. Kyle felt like he'd seen it before.
But who?
Kyle racked his brains, but couldn't figure it out. In the end, he gave up.
Maybe, possibly, it was the Weasley twins.
As more and more people filled the common room, Harris ushered the first-years onto the sofas. He said that the professor had asked him to go over the Hogwarts rules with them ahead of time, and that it would also give everyone a chance to get to know one another.
Then he and another female Prefect went to the kitchen next door and brought back some biscuits and several large glasses of fresh juice.
That was one perk of Hufflepuff's common room being close to the kitchen. The other three houses didn't get that kind of treatment.
Before long, the table in the common room was piled high with all kinds of snacks.
"Welcome to Hufflepuff!" Harris said warmly. "There aren't many rules at Hogwarts. You just need to remember these few.
"First..."
While Harris was speaking, Kyle looked around. He soon spotted Kanna at the very edge of the crowd and quietly edged over to her.
"I was out of line earlier," Kyle said softly. "I'm sorry."
Kanna was clearly startled. When she looked up and saw Kyle, she said quietly, "No, you don't have to. It was partly my fault too. I'm so stupid. I should've realized you were joking.
"There's no way Hogwarts would use... use... that spell to sort people into houses."
Kyle shook his head and said seriously, "That's not the same. A joke is only funny if both people find it funny. If I really scared you, then I was definitely in the wrong, so I have to apologize."
Seeing how serious Kyle looked, Kanna bit her lip, then lifted her head and said earnestly, "Then I accept your apology."
With that, she gave him a punch on the arm.
"Now we're even."
As for how hard she'd hit him... it wouldn't even have been enough to knock the dust off.
"Not quite. Wait a moment."
Kyle smiled, then picked out all the prettiest brown candies from his pocket and handed them to her. "These are an apology gift. Once you take them, we'll be even."
"Mm, okay..."
Kanna accepted the candy and popped one into her mouth right in front of Kyle. Then she held out her little hand full of sweets to him and smiled. "Here, have some."
"No, no." Kyle shook his head repeatedly and muttered, "What kind of decent person eats Licorice Candy? Even a Swallow-tailed Dog wouldn't touch this stuff."
"Crunch!"
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