This was the first time Snape had ever needed to travel so far.
That night, when he returned, he frantically stuffed anything he thought might be useful into the little bag Pandora had given him as a Christmas present.
After helping himself to some of Pandora's half-finished experimental products from the Room of Requirement and leaving her a note, Snape prepared to head to the kitchen for some food.
He walked back along the corridor, descended to the first floor, and followed the marble staircase down into the Entrance Hall below.
At the bottom of the stairs, a door on the left led to the Hufflepuff common room.
Snape pushed open the door and entered a broad, brightly lit stone corridor beneath low-hanging torches.
It was utterly unlike Slytherin's gloomy, sinister underground passageway, where daylight never reached.
The stone corridor was decorated everywhere with cheerful paintings depicting all kinds of delicious food. Even the torches bore cleverly carved badger patterns.
At the end of the corridor stood several barrels crammed into a corner. That was the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.
But Snape had no intention of going in. He had heard that many people had tried to sneak inside before, only to knock on the wrong barrel and end up drenched in vinegar.
According to Hogwarts' history, no non-Hufflepuff had set foot inside for nearly a thousand years.
"Oh, here it is." Snape muttered, stopping before a painting. It showed a huge silver bowl filled with fruit.
He held out his forefinger and gently scratched the large green pear in the painting.
The pear wriggled, chuckled, and in the blink of an eye turned into a large green doorknob.
Snape grasped the handle, pulled the door open, and stepped inside.
Before him was a large room with a