Severus's Pensieve

Disclaimer: Weasleys are red, Ravenclaws are blue, I don't own Harry Potter, and neither do you.

Chapter 4: A Lesson to be Learned

1981 ---

Marci's breath came in ragged gasps as she found herself supported by the corridor walls just outside the Hufflepuff common room. Although she was stuck ten years in the past mentally, her feet still found their way home. It felt as if she was still coughing up the water from the lake. She couldn't catch her breath. Her lungs wouldn't work properly and it felt like her heart was being crushed by one of Hagrid's larger relatives.

Dry sobs heaved their way out of her chest and she felt herself slide down the wall; her head fell between her legs and her body convulsed with agony. She fought the tears that were threatening to spill down her face, trying to regain control of herself and her emotions. Nothing seemed to help, though. All she could do was let the pain run its course.

It could have been ten minutes or ten hours. Marci didn't know. Her sobbing had stopped and there was a puddle of tears between her feet. Finally she started to regain composure and catch her breath; the corridor smelt faintly of mint and cloves. It made her stomach turn. When she felt like she could stand without fainting, she did. With a flick of her wand she evaporated the evidence of her break down. Smoothing out her robes she took to the stairs, hoping to make it to her quarters without encountering a soul, human or ghost. The last thing she needed was for Peeves to come along and spread around the castle that Wee-little-Lynch was crying like a baby in the corridor outside the common room like she was a third year again.

Luckily she did make it to her door without any sign of Peeves or another living being. She lived in a remote part of the castle, on the third floor, far from prying eyes. Marci valued her privacy and preferred not to live alongside the other Hogwarts teachers in the Staff Corridor. She burst through her door and headed straight for the small half bathroom under the stairs. Quietly she doused her face in cool water, hoping the puffiness in her eyes would disappear so she could make her announcements in the Hufflepuff common room. For good measure she brushed her teeth and straightened her ponytail. Loping upstairs, she took off her teaching robes, which were covered in dirt from the green houses, and changed into clean jeans and a t-shirt. She finished off her outfit with a casual black robe. When she was satisfied no one would notice the slight red tint to her eyes, she stepped out of her safe haven and headed back to the common room.

*~SP~*

Marci entered the round porthole that lead to the Hufflepuff common room. She descended the stairs towards the soft glowing light. When she reached the bottom she looked out over her old home. It was as if she were stepping back in time. The room looked exactly as it had on her first day at Hogwarts: round and full of couches, chairs, and study tables. Marci was glad the smell of cloves and mint had stopped haunting her; she took in a deep, cool breath of air.

Students were scattered across the common room, some studying, some gossiping and some playing Wizard's Chess or Exploding Snap. She stepped further into the light of the fire and cleared her throat. Those nearest her looked up and a few smiles broke out among the students. "May I have your attention please, O noble house of Hufflepuff! I would like to call a house meeting. Prefects, please go up to the dormitories and round up anyone up there. I'll send a message to Madam Pince asking her to send any students lingering in the library back down here." Marci took out her wand, pointed it up the stairs and said, "Expecto Patronum!" A silvery blur took off up the stairs in search of the old librarian.

When Marci was sure that most of her house was gathered before her she began.

"As most of you are aware, Halloween is coming up." She watched as some of the younger students bounced in their seats, excited for their first Halloween Feast. "You also may be aware that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is also still very active right now." Marci let this sink in a little. It wasn't very often that professors spoke of the war going on between Dark and Light. "I assure you that you are safe at Hogwarts. The castle has every possible protection around it. Regardless, Headmaster Dumbledore has decided that in light of the Death Eaters' activities and that they favor Halloween as a night of mischief and mayhem, he is going to place a school wide curfew on Halloween." Marci paused, waiting until the inevitable sighs and complaints died down.

"Why would we need a curfew? Didn't you just say that the castle was perfectly safe?" Karri, a fifth year, asked from the back of the room.

"I did, and you are. Regardless of your safety, the headmaster still has the ability to enforce a curfew at any time for any reason and in his wisdom he has decided that Halloween is not a night for young minds to go wandering around the grounds." Marci paused, waiting for another question. None came. "Also," she added, "I would feel better knowing all of you are safe in our common room that night as well." Marci still knew plenty of the current Hufflepuffs from her time at Hogwarts and those that she didn't, she had earned their respect. The head of Hufflepuff was known for her compassion, understand and empathy. She was also known for her no-nonsense policy when it came to rule breaking and disrespect. Marcella Lynch demanded respect but also gave it in return.

"Since I know how it feels to be confined to this lovely round room, I have decided to throw you a little Halloween party." The common room broke out in a round of cheers and excited chatter. It wasn't often that the students of Hogwarts were granted a real party. "Although, I would like to theme our little party," she added.

The room got silent at this, waiting to hear what their head had thought up. "I want us all to get to know a culture that we may not be familiar with but that may be of infinite importance in the future. A culture you should get to know and respect; a culture that you should find the beauty in, like I do. A culture you should find worthy of your protection. We're going to have a Halloween party, muggle style." Some of the Hufflepuffs who were raised in muggle homes or communities let out a whoop and others stared as if Marci had lost her mind. In turn, Marci stared back at those who were more skeptical and raised a single eyebrow. "I want all of you to keep an open mind. There are going to be a lot of fun activities. I've arranged for the kitchen elves to send up a fine feast for you. Muggle candies and treats, traditional muggle food, and punch, including my personal favorite, orange juice. I am sure you guys are going to love it. So I want each and every one of you to start thinking up a costume. Well be having a little friendly competition. The house will be voting on different costume categories: best costume, most original, silliest, scariest and most muggle-ish. I expect you all to dress up. Any questions?"

Three hands shot up in the air. A first year named Amanda asked, "Does our costume have to come from, like, muggle books and stuff?"

"Great question. No, your costume can be anything, magical or muggle, although I challenge each of you to do some research and pick something from muggle culture."

Michael asked, "Can we get some butterbeer, please, professor?"

"Absolutely not. I will not tolerate any kind of alcohol at this party. If I even get a hint of alcohol, I'll stop the party and whoever is responsible will have to deal with the Headmaster. Halloween is a night to keep all our senses clear and alert."

The third hand went down. "Wonderful, now on Halloween, the feast will begin at 5:30 and end at 7. Sharp. I expect the Prefects to round up the rest of Hufflepuff and escort them down to the common room. Our party will start at 8. I will know if you do not come right back here after the feast. Do not test my patience with this please. Anymore questions?" No one moved. "Alright, you're excused." Still no one moved. An awkward silence fell over the students. Marci knew something was wrong; she just couldn't put her finger on it. After a moment she said, "Alright, what is it?"

You could hear a cricket sing if there were any here. Finally, the seventh year head girl, Emilia Scones, stepped forward. She cleared her throat and looked at her shoes. Obviously the whole house of Hufflepuff had something on their mind, something they had all been discussing together. "Uhm, ma'am, it's about Samantha," Emilia finally said.

Marci should have known. Her face filled with compassion and concern. She took a seat in an empty chair, still facing her house. "I know this was a really difficult day for you guys," she began. Marci hadn't even thought about how Samantha being gone would affect the rest of the house. "I know you guys probably miss Samantha a lot. I'm sorry she chose to leave." In reality, Samantha had been forced to leave the castle. Dumbledore was afraid that Samantha's life would be targeted by any number of students who had Death Eater parents. He was also afraid that Samantha may be a danger to other students, as her parents had just been caught in Death Eater activity, and may not be as innocent as he suspected.

"We miss her," came a voice from the students, Marci wasn't sure who it belonged to.

"I miss her too, just like I'll miss each of you when you leave," Marci said, settling in to her chair.

"Professor, are we really safe?" asked a small first year boy. "What if there are Death Eaters in the castle and we don't know about it?"

"Even if there were, you would still be safe. Any Death Eater that has enough nerve to try something under Headmaster Dumbledore's nose, or the noses of the other professors, is crazy. Our highest priority is your safety. Please always remember that."

A rather ruthless voice came from the back; it belonged to Rhyn Boyd, a rather cruel fifth year. "Why didn't Samantha get sorted into Slytherin if her parents are Death Eaters? Isn't that stupid hat supposed to wheedle out the good and the bad?" A handful of heads nodded but even more glared at Rhyn, obviously the ones who were closest to Samantha.

Marci was shocked. She knew most students were scared of the Slytherins as the house did have a more negative reputation, but she hadn't expected this blatant prejudice. It made her angry, but she remembered her confrontation with Mad-eye; if the adults couldn't put a stop to their prejudice, how did she expect their children to?

"Rhyn, I expect more tact from you in the future," Marci replied icily. "I also expect each and every one of you to judge a person by their character, not by their house affiliation." Marci gazed around the room. "I know reputations are built for a reason but they are not always true. Can someone in here please give me the reputation of one of the other houses?" Marci had turned a very negative conversation into a learning opportunity, like any good teacher.

It seemed every hand in the house went up. Marci pointed to a random face in the crowd. A third or fourth year boy piped up and said, "Ravenclaws are brainiacs. They know everything."

"That is indeed true," Marci said, putting on her teacher voice. "Ravenclaw does value an inquisitive mind. Many of the students in Ravenclaw themselves value education and knowledge. Not all of them are as studious as others. There have even been Ravenclaws that have failed a class or two, even failed an O.W.L. or a NE.W.T. Not everyone can be a good student in every subject. We all have our own strengths. Mine is Herbology and Potions. I am horrible in Transfiguration and Divination. Those aren't my strong points. Who has another one?"

A girl up front replied, "Gryffindors are snotty and stuck up. But they're also very brave. In Care of Magical Creatures, they are always the first ones to touch the really scary stuff."

"Sandra, that is a great observation. Not all Gryffindors are as brave as you might think. Bravery comes in many forms. Some are brave when meeting new magical creatures. Some are brave by befriending those who others will not; others are brave by sticking up to bullies on another's behalf. What else?"

"Slytherins are all Death Eaters!" someone yelled. It was a girl this time.

"That's it," Marci said vehemently. "The next person to attribute a negative connotation to a Slytherin gets detention for a month. I am not joking." That silenced the snickers real quick.

When Marci had caught a hold of her temper she quietly asked, "What about Hufflepuff? What do people say about us?"

200 faces stared back at her. No one wanted to answer this question. Finally, someone yelled, "Hufflepuffs are the greatest, ever," and left it at that.

"That's an interesting thought, but I don't think it's very accurate. I can tell you what I heard about Hufflepuff when I first came to Hogwarts." Marci raised her eye brows, challenging her students.

"Fine," she said curtly. "I heard that Hufflepuff was the charity house." She let that sink in. "Do you feel like a charity case being in Hufflepuff?" A hundred or more heads nodded back at her. "Exactly, we are not charity. Our house is known for its kindness, its compassion, and its love for other people." Marci thought long and hard for a good explanation of these qualities.

"Going along with our theme for the party, let me take an example from my experience growing up in the muggle world," Marci said, settling even deeper into her chair. This could be a long night, she thought. "Well, in the muggle world, there are people called social workers. Their job is to help people in need. When families can't afford to feed their children, social workers help find them money for food. When someone is sick but can't afford to go to hospital, they find them insurance to cover the costs." Marci looked around, hoping her example would sink in. "They help people; they care for peoples' needs. That's what Hufflepuff is all about. We care and love other people. No matter who they are or what they are going through, we show kindness, and empathy, and love."

A small hand went up in the front row. Marci strained for the name of the girl in her head, but nothing came forward. "Yes, dear," she asked.

"Are we even supposed to be nice to the mean kids, the bullies?" she asked, genuine curiosity playing across her face.

"Of course, what kind of person would you be if you were only nice to those who were nice to you?" She looked around seriously. "Even the Death Eaters do that, guys. Don't we want to rise above their standards?" This time most of the heads nodded in response.

"We don't want to be like the Death Eaters," a small boy said. Again 200 heads nodded in agreement.

"That's right Jacob, we don't." Marci stood up and steeled her voice. "And we don't have to be. We can show kindness to anyone, regardless of their blood status, regardless of whether they are a wizard or a muggle." A smile played across her face because Marci could see she was getting through to her students.

"So, can we make a commitment, as a house, as a family, to stand up for what Helga Hufflepuff, our great founder," -Marci lifted her hand above her head and pointed to the portrait of their founder that sat above the mantle- "believed in? To be loving and kind to every person we encounter, regardless of who they are and what they believe? Let's make our founder proud!"

A hundred cheers went up in the air while other students kept quiet, looking at one another skeptically. As the roar died down Marci added, "I did not expect all of you to buy in to that, but as your head of house," her voice grew serious, "I expect you all to treat each and every student in this castle with respect. Regardless of what house they come from. Do I make myself clear?"

Her whole house nodded, knowing she meant business. "Good, now if you have any questions or want to discuss anything, please come talk to me. I'll be here tonight for as long as you guys need me."

Marci ended up sitting in the common room well into the night watching her beloved Hufflepuffs slowly trickle off to bed. She caught up with a few of the seventh year students who had shared this common room with her while she was a student and played a riveting game of Wizard's Chess with a particularly gifted second year. Now she was sitting alone, looking around the round room, and thinking about how much she loved this place and how it truly felt like home to her. It was easy to fall back into memories of her first experience in the common room.

September 1, 1971 --- First Year

John, the Slytherin prefect, had given them the password to the Hufflepuff common room and quietly turned back towards Slytherin, leaving Marci and Jeanne facing a wide round hole in the wall. It was easily tall enough to let in a person five times Marci's height and wide enough to allow three people to enter side by side. Beyond the porthole, stairs led down to a plush grey carpet. That was all the two girls could see. Jeanne looked over at Marci with excited eyes and tugged on the other girl's hand. Marci sat rooted to the spot. This was it. She was about to see where she was going to spend the next seven years of her life. For once, Jeanne was the courageous one. She took the first step down and looked up at Marci.

"Come on Marc, it's ok. This is our home. Remember what Professor McGonagall said, this is our family now." She tugged on Marci's hand until the other girl obediently took a step down. That one step broke the tension in Marci and she looked up, giddy with excitement, and the two girls raced down the stair well. When they reached the grey carpet, Marci looked up. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she dropped Jeanne's hand.

"Whoa," was all Marci could say.

When she looked over at Jeanne, she almost laughed. Her friend's mouth was gaping like a fish. It was obvious both girls had had some reservations about living underground. Marci was sure the common room was going to look like the rest of the basement and dungeons: cold, grey stone. No windows. No natural light. But that could not be said of the Hufflepuff common room.

It was obvious the room sat at the base of one of the huge spires that rose from the castle. It was perfectly round and two stories high at least. At the top of the huge round wall were perfectly round portholes that looked out onto the Hogwarts ground. It was obvious that the lower part of the common room was underground as the portholes showed an expanse of green grass at ground level. Marci felt a slight breeze brush past her cheek.

Jeanne leaned over and whispered, "That's the ventilation charm. My aunt told me about them. The common room will always smell fresh and clean." Sure enough the little breeze smelled like fall leaves and fresh grass.

The girls walked into the room proper, trying to take it all in. Both of them started to turn in a slow circle, looking around, miming the shape of the room itself. Throughout the room were large, over stuffed couches in mix matched colors of yellow and black and green. There were low tables scattered about and a number of straight, winged back chairs. On the far side of the room were seven tables set up side by side. Jeanne pointed to the tables and said, "That must be the study area my aunt told me about. She said it's got silencing spells all over it and it's the perfect place to tell secrets."

Marci bounced on the balls of her feet, excited. "Let's go test them out! Come on Jeanne, I've never seen a silencing spell before!"

She tugged on her friend's hand but Jeanne was rooted to the spot, staring up at the walls. Marci followed her gaze and gasped in amazement. How she had missed it before, she wasn't sure. The round wall was covered in art work. The whole of Hogwarts was covered in portraits sure, but these were different. Each piece was done in shades of yellow, orange, red, grey, black and white. The art ranged from horrible to exquisite. It looked like the sun had exploded on the grey walls of the common room.

"Tut, tut, what are you two doing down here?" Marci and Jeanne jumped a little in surprise, they were sure they had been alone but a girl with frizzy hair and thick glasses was standing just outside a circular doorway leading off somewhere. "I know I told everyone to go to bed well before midnight." The girls just stood there. "Don't stand there like a couple of toads with your mouths open. What are you still doing up?" she demanded.

Jeanne was the first to recover, though she cowered behind Marci a little. "We-we got left behind when everyone left the Great Hall and ended up lost in the dungeons for hours until, until, until someone doing rounds found us and took us here."

The tall girl looked like she was trying to figure out if she was getting the wool pulled over her eyes or not. She squinted down at them, trying to look fierce but Marci thought she just looked constipated.

"How in the world did you get into the common room without the right password?" She looked smug, like she'd caught them in their lie.

Neither one of the girls wanted to get John in trouble so they didn't say anything.

"Well, out with it, how'd you get in?"

Marci was fed up being treated like a criminal. She squared her shoulders. "The person who brought us down knew the password and we promised not to tell anyone who he was. We won't break that promise," Marci said, glaring at the girl.

"Fine," she said primly, "What are your names? I'll simply have to report you to Professor Sprout. She can deal with your insolence."

The girls replied with their names at the same time.

"Hum, well regardless, you should be in bed. I'm Francis, Seventh year, Prefect. What are you two gawking at?" She obviously picked up quickly on the girls' distraction due to the common room. "Perhaps you really did just get here. That'll mean you missed my speech." She looked a little put out by this. "I'll paraphrase for you quickly and then it's off to bed. The common room is open for studying and socializing for first through fourth years until nine p.m. For fifth through sixth years curfew is at eleven p.m. Seventh years," Francis said, sticking her nose up in the air, "don't have a curfew. The weekend curfew for first through fourth is midnight, fifth through seventh years don't have a curfew on the weekend. Regardless you're not allowed in the corridors after the school curfew, at nine p.m. The Prefects and professors do rounds each night to ensure that rule is not broken"

Jeanne walked over to the wall and put her hand out and gently touched the art work there. "Ah, I see your fascination with our decorations. Unbeknownst to most of the other students at Hogwarts, Hufflepuff has always been a very talented group of students. Art is a highly respected pastime in our common room. Over there is the supply room. It's stocked with art supplies. Anything you could want to use to create a masterpiece will be in there. Feel free to use whatever you like. The house elves will clean them at the end of every night. No need to wash them up yourself. Next to the supply room is a soundproof room, if you play any instruments you can practice there. Hufflepuff has always been a very talented bunch, indeed."

The girls meandered around the room, listening to the Prefect's speech. Marci noticed the wall near the stairs leading to the portrait hole. It was the only section of the long wall lacking color; it was completely black and white. There were photos covering every inch of the brick.

Francis came up beside Marci as she admired the photographs. The girl touched one and Marci looked closer. It was a picture of a miniature Francis and an older girl. "This," Francis said, her voice becoming softer, "is me and my sister. She was a sixth year when I was a first. She was brilliant, wanted to be a politician you know. Go into the Ministry. She was aiming at being the Minister of Magic one day. She was Head Girl, and Quidditch Captain." A sigh came from deep in Francis's soul. "I miss her."

"What happened to her?" Marci asked, thinking about how sad the other girl sounded.

"She disappeared, just a few months after she graduated from Hogwarts. She was interning with the Secretary Privy. She left for work one day and never showed up." Francis sniffled a little.

"I'm really sorry Francis. My dad disappeared when I was a baby. I know it's not the same but I know what it's like to miss someone."

"I'm sorry for your loss as well." Francis shook her head a little. "Where was I? Oh yes, the girls' dormitory is right there, on the left, the boys' is on the right. Boys are not allowed in the girls dorms."

"What about girls being in the boys rooms?"

"You don't have to worry about that, once you get half way up the stairs, you won't want to go any farther." Frances turned back towards the wall of photographs.

"I love these photos," Francis said in a whisper, touching another one of a small boy. "It's a living testament to the students who use to live here. Some of these pictures go back to the early 1400s. It is not common knowledge that the wizard who created the photography charm, that transfers an image to parchment and allows the contents of the picture to move, was from Hufflepuff." Marci looked farther on down the wall and realized that some of the pictures did in fact move, others did not. "There's a dark room, over there, it's got a password on it so that no one walks in while someone is developing, it's 'aperture'."

Jeanne walked up to the other two girls and stared at the wall. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.

Francis broke the silence. "Well, you will all have plenty of time to explore the common room more fully tomorrow, now it's off to bed. Go through the girls' dormitory porthole and follow the passageway a ways. At the end of it you'll find a room with a placard on the door that says first years and has a list of names. Find the door with your names on it. That's your room. Go straight to bed. I believe you two girls are in the same room. I don't want you to wake up your other three roommates. You can unpack tomorrow. Breakfast starts at 7:30. Classes start at 9. You will get your schedule tomorrow morning. Now off to bed." Francis tried to scowl at the girls but didn't quite manage it.