A True Hufflepuff

Chapter 1 - An Unexpected Guest

Susan Bones lay in bed, sunlight streaming through the open window. She savoured the peaceful sound of birds chirping and the smell of the summer morning breeze. Too soon the neighbours would wake and the serenity would be broken by the various Muggle noises. But for now, she could relax and pretend nothing was wrong with the world. She could pretend that You-Know-Who was still gone, that the wizard world was safe, and, most importantly, that her OWL results were not winging their way to her house, due at any moment.

Susan had been dreading their arrival since she had taken the exams. These tests would not only determine her future, but also prove to some of her more pretentious relatives that she was not worthless. She had arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry five years earlier fairly confident. After all, she was from a wizarding family. Susan knew there was nothing to be afraid of. She even had a relatively good idea which House she would be in. For almost 700 years, witches and wizards of her family had been Sorted into Ravenclaw, and Susan had done fairly well in the Muggle primary school that her parents had insisted she attend. "What do we have here?" the Sorting Hat had whispered into her ear. "A very good mind, and very hardworking and loyal. Only one place for you." This was it, Susan would become the newest Ravenclaw, she was sure of it! Imagine her horror when the stupid hat shouted "Hufflepuff!" for everyone to hear.

Susan's parents had been very supportive and encouraging, and most of Susan's relatives had tried very hard to conceal their disappointment. Others, however, including much of her mother's family, made no effort at all. In fact, one of the first pieces of mail she had received at school was from her Uncle Peter, telling her that she was an embarrassment to the family and demanding to know how she could be so inconsiderate and stupid.

Her nerves were nothing compared to those of her best friend, Hannah Abbott, though. She had become the first in their year to require a Calming Drought and then, during her Transfiguration practical, she had turned the ferret she was supposed to be vanishing into a flock of flamingos. She had assured Susan that this tiny little mistake was the least of her problems, though.

Slowly, the air started to warm up, and people started to move around outside. Susan could hear a car starting next door and children laughing across the street. Her peaceful quiet was gone and she began to grow aware of the world around her. Knowing that her mother would scold about the open window, she quietly rose out of bed and closed it. Just in time, too, she thought as her mother opened her bedroom door.

"Awake already, Susan?" she asked, surprised. "I thought I'd have to drag you out of bed!" Susan was normally a heavy sleeper and often stayed in bed as long as possible, but times had changed. That early morning solitude was too valuable to sleep through.

"Well, as long as you're awake, we may as well get to work!" Mrs. Bones said cheerfully. How can that woman be so happy about cleaning? Susan wondered. "And come away from the window, dear. You never know when a dark wizard will decide to drop by!" she scolded.

Susan sighed quietly. Ever since the Ministry of Magic had finally decided to admit that You-Know-Who had returned, the Daily Prophet had been printing articles like "Protect Your Home in Six Easy Steps!" and "Cursed - A Story of Terror." After only a month, Mrs. Bones had developed a strange sort of paranoia. She was convinced that Death Eaters lurked around every corner, but didn't see any reason to be worried or anything less than maniacally cheery. The revolt of the dementors and the escape of several recently caught Death Eaters from Azkaban didn't help matters. And she had made it her mission in life to keep busy over the summer. For most, that wouldn't be so bad, but Mrs. Bones' definition of "busy" was driving Susan mental.

She and Mrs. Bones had been cleaning the house every day while Mr. Bones was at work at the Ministry. They had just finished cleaning the attic, which had become infested over the years with everything from doxies to giant spiders. There was even a boggart hiding in one of the ancient trunks that littered the floor. So day after day for almost three weeks they had lugged cleaning supplies and dust-bins up the steep, narrow staircase at the end of the upstairs hall. Today they would begin cleaning the cellar, which hadn't seen the light of day, and hadn't been cleaned, in over five years.

"Remind me why we have to do this?" Susan demanded as she headed back to the kitchen with Mrs. Bones for lunch. The work wasn't at all fun. Stray puffskeins had found a hole in the cellar door and had invaded and multiplied, and now were reluctant to leave their nests. Susan somehow managed to herd up the fuzzy creatures while Mrs. Bones patched the hole. Susan knew that she probably looked horrible. Her long, dark braided hair and light skin were undoubtedly grey with dust and her brown eyes most likely had that glazed look she got when she was bored or had been doing the same thing over and over for too long. Unfortunately, there was still at least an inch of dust, dirt, grime, slime, and dead insects covering almost everything.

"I've told you before, dear," Mrs. Bones answered happily. "We need to make sure there aren't any dark wizards hiding in our house. Plus, we've needed to clean this place out for years. And, as an added bonus, we'll have a place to hide if we're attacked!" My mother is completely mental, Susan thought. Does she really think we won't be found if we hide in the cellar?

More than a week passed, and Susan and Mrs. Bones finally finished cleaning the cellar and fixing the walls and shelves. Susan was sure she would have lost her mind weeks ago if it hadn't been for her friends. She received letters from them almost every day telling her of their families' paranoia and preparations. Hannah wrote that her cousin had told her that a Death Eater was lurking outside her window. She had gotten so jumpy that she almost hexed the cat! One of Susan's other close friends, Ernie Macmillan, had boasted that his family was in no danger because they had cast over a dozen protective spells on the house. Susan couldn't help but laugh when she read their letters. She worried about her friends, but she knew that they were probably safe. After all, their parents were trained in magic.

It was her other friend, though, that Susan was most worried about. Justin Finch-Fletchley was a Muggle-born, so the only way to protect himself and his family would be to breach the Statute of Secrecy and violate the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. Not only was his family vulnerable, they were also ignorant. The families of Muggle-born students had not received warnings and guides from the Ministry, as wizarding families had. And Justin was afraid that if he told his parents of the danger, they would refuse to send him back to school. Susan had heard that something similar had happened to Seamus Finnigan last year.

It was during the weekly de-Gnoming of the garden ("We can't have those Muggle neighbours catching sight of them, now can we!") that Susan first saw the owl. It swooped low and dropped an envelope on the ground at her feet, then soared away. She recognised it as an owl from the post office. Knowing that Justin was the only one of her friends without an owl, Susan opened it quickly. Her stomach clenched painfully as she read.

Susan,

Someone broke into our house while we were out. The police think it was a common burglar, but nothing's missing and the neighbour said she saw someone wearing a black hooded cloak through a window. Can we stay at your house?

-Justin

Susan read through the letter again to make sure she was reading it right. Why would Death Eaters search his house? she thought. What could they have been looking for? She rushed over to where her mother was happily waging war against the gnomes. "Mum, would it be alright if my friend Justin and his parents stayed at our house for a few days?" she asked, praying that she wouldn't ask why.

"Why of course, dear. That would be lovely! And we could use the extra help around the house. After all, with your father working such long hours, it's just been the two of us. A few extra wands would be wonderful!" Mrs. Bones gushed. Susan's hopes sank slightly. She had never told Mrs. Bones that Justin's parents were Muggles; there had never been a reason to. She hoped desperately that it wouldn't change her mother's answer.

"Well, actually, Mum, er, Justin's a Muggle-born," she began hesitantly. "His parents are, well, Muggles. They can't do magic."

"That's quite alright, dear," Mrs. Bones said sympathetically. "We'll just have your father see if he can get an exception to the Statute of Secrecy. After all, their son is a wizard! It shouldn't be a problem. Why don't you go write a letter to him now?"

Susan breathed a sigh of relief. As she hurried inside, she heard her mother say, "Poor dears. How do they manage without magic?" Susan rolled her eyes, found some parchment and ink, and set to writing. First she scribbled a quick note to Justin, telling him that it would probably be fine, but that they needed to sort out a few things with the Ministry. Then she wrote to her father, leaving out most of the details and practically begging him to help. Last, since it was least urgent, she wrote short letters to Hannah and Ernie, telling them what had happened. She thought it was best to tell them, even though she knew that Hannah would worry and Ernie would make ridiculous recommendations about how to protect Justin. Susan called over Artemis, her Tawny Owl, who perched on her shoulder and held out her leg.

"I have a long trip for you," she told the owl as she attached the letters. "I need you to deliver a letter to my father, then one to Justin, and then letters to Hannah and Ernie. Can you do that? It's really important." Artemis hooted quietly to show that she understood and flew out the window.

Before long, Mrs. Bones entered the kitchen for lunch, but Susan couldn't sit still long enough to eat anything. Instead she paced around the kitchen, glancing out the window every time she passed it, as if expecting to see Artemis back already. After a while, Mrs. Bones went back to the garden, leaving Susan alone. She could hear the faint squeals of the gnomes as they sailed through the air and the sounds of the ordinary Muggle life in the street, but the house was quiet. In fact it seemed to be pressing in on her, smothering her, magnifying every sound, making the tick-tock of the wall clock seem sinister and threatening. Susan began to jump at every slight noise. You're turning into Hannah, she scolded herself angrily. Next you'll be hexing the neighbours!

Just then, saving her from impending madness, Susan heard a rustle of wings, and an owl swooped in through the open window. However, the letter was not from Mr. Bones. It was stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and she realized that the owl had been one of the school barn owls, not her father's owl, Orion, a Long-eared owl. "Ugh, I don't care about my booklist right now!" Susan shouted to the empty house in frustration. She tossed the letter unceremoniously onto the table and soon forgot about it.

After almost two hours of pacing and squinting at the sky, Susan realised that she would not be receiving an answer any time soon. Her mother encouraged her to be optimistic. "Why don't you go find a place for our guests to sleep?" she suggested. Susan nodded and slowly went upstairs.

Mrs. Bones had discovered a very tricky problem. Where would Justin and his family sleep? There was always the spare bedroom, but it wouldn't fit all three of them. She supposed his parents could sleep there, but what about him? She looked around for inspiration and her eyes landed on the staircase to the attic. Susan quickly hurried up the stairs and got to work moving around the old trunks.

By the time the attic was ready, evening had fallen, and it was time for dinner. Susan walked back down to the kitchen, feeling much more hopeful than when she had left many hours ago. When she walked in, she saw that her father had returned from work.

"I have good news," he told her. "The Minister is allowing your friend and his parents to stay at our house, and we're even allowed to use magic. It shouldn't be too much of a change."

"Thank you so much, Dad!" Susan exclaimed happily. "Has Artemis returned yet? I need to send Justin a letter to tell him that they can come. When can we get them here? How will we get them here?"

"We'll need to use Floo Powder," Mr. Bones told her. "They can't Apparate, and there isn't time to arrange for a Portkey, but I was able to get them connected to the Network before I left the office. We need to arrange a time to pick them up. Artemis is still out, but you can borrow Orion."

"Thanks, Dad," Susan said as she rushed off. She wrote a quick note to Justin, telling him that she and her father would meet him at his fireplace at noon the next day. She asked him to be sure he had a fire going by then. Susan read it and, laughing, realised that it would seem very odd to Justin's parents. She tied the letter to Orion's leg and watched as he shrank away into the distance.

The next day at five 'til noon, Susan and Mr. Bones stood in front of the fire in their kitchen. Mr. Bones checked to make sure he had enough Floo Powder to get everyone back home, and then nodded at Susan. She took a pinch of the silvery stuff, threw it into the flames, stepped into the now-green fire, and called out "Justin's house!" She closed her eyes as soon as she felt herself start to spin, and, before long, she fell out of the fire and into Justin's living room.

Susan was very conscious of the fact that Justin's parents were staring at her in shock, and she quickly picked herself up off the floor. She walked to where Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley were standing and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Susan Bones. It's nice to meet you," she said. "And this is my father," she added as he stepped out of the fire.

The two adults looked almost afraid of her, but they shook her hand anyway. The four of them were saved from a very awkward silence when Justin entered the room. He called Susan over, and she gratefully left her father and her friend's parents to find something to talk about.

"I'm glad you came. What do you think?" said the curly-haired blond quietly, gesturing to the room. It looked as though someone had taken the entire house and held it upside down, then shaken it a few times. Furniture was strewn across the floor, and the contents of drawers had been dumped. Family portraits had been pulled off the wall and broken glass was swept into a corner. It was like a disaster zone.

Susan wasn't sure how to respond, but she figured it was best to be safe. "It's a very nice house," she assured him, "but the Death Eaters really messed it up."

"So you think it was Death Eaters, too?" he asked, glancing nervously at the parents, who were by now deep into conversation about who-knows-what. Susan had no idea why.

"Of course," she said. "Who else would be wearing a black hooded cloak?" Her eyes followed Justin's gaze. "Did you tell them?"

"Of course not. I don't think they would have believed me. As far as they know, the magical world is a happy place where everyone gets along. I just suggested that we stay somewhere else in case the criminal comes back. Did you tell your parents?"

"No, I figured it was better not to. I wasn't sure how they would react. You know how my mum is. She would probably be convinced that you were going to attract the Death Eaters to our house. But I think we should tell them when we get home. That way your parents won't find out from mine about the war and my parents won't find out from yours about the house."

"Good idea," he agreed. "The sooner the better, right? This place gives me the creeps."

It ended up being a very difficult journey home. Justin had never travelled by Floo Powder, but it wasn't hard to explain. His parents, however, were very reluctant to step into the fire. Watching their only son disappear into the flames couldn't have helped, either. But after much coaxing and a little pleading, they managed to convince the two Muggles to try it.

The conversation that followed their arrival in Susan's kitchen was none too pleasant, either. Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley were angry when they discovered that Justin had been keeping the truth from them, but their anger disappeared when what he had told them sank in.

"A boy died?" gasped Mrs. Finch-Fletchley in horror.

"But the other boy, the one with the scar, is still alive?" Mr. Finch-Fletchley asked. "And he taught you how to defend yourself from this madman?"

"Yes!" Justin exclaimed. He was beginning to become frustrated. Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley didn't seem to be able to grasp the facts that were so important.

"But why didn't you tell us, dear?" Mrs. Finch-Fletchley asked. She seemed very confused.

"Because, well, I thought you wouldn't let me go back to school. I didn't think you would understand." Then followed the sort of corny hugging that one sees in the cinema as Justin's parents forgave him. In fact, Susan could have sworn that Mrs. Finch-Fletchley had tears in her eyes. And as much as she didn't want to ruin the moment, or rather, as much as she wanted to keep the peace, she spoke up.

"Mum? Dad? I have a confession to make, too. Do you remember that it looked as though Justin's house had been searched?" Mr. Bones nodded. "Well, it had been, by Death Eaters, or at least Justin thinks so, and I agree. We have no idea what they were looking for, but I think you'll agree that they're safer here?"

Mr. Bones nodded thoughtfully, but Mrs. Bones let all her emotions (and there were quite a few of them) out.

"Oh, you poor dears!" she exclaimed dramatically. "That must have been terrifying! If you need anything, anything at all, let me know." Then she rounded on Susan. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded angrily. "I think your father and I had a right to know! What if something had happened while they were here? What if they're being followed?" This had obviously not occurred to Mrs. Finch-Fletchley, who turned very pale very fast. "Not that I think you are," Mrs. Bones assured her kindly. "If the Death Eaters wanted to get rid of you, they would have already." This didn't seem to cheer her up.

"Susan, I understand why you didn't tell us, but this was something we needed to know." Mr. Bones was a lot calmer than Mrs. Bones. "It's more serious than you just hiding things from us. This needs to be reported to the Ministry. If You-Know-Who has started attacking the families of Muggle-born students, then things are getting worse more quickly than we had thought. I don't think even Dumbledore predicted this."

"But what's a Muggle-born, and why are these people attacking them?" Mr. Finch-Fletchley asked, confused.

"A Muggle-born is someone whose parents are not wizarding folk. They have no history of magic in their families." Susan hoped that Mr. Bones would keep control of the explanations. At least he knew how to not frighten their guests. Mrs. Bones, however, was not concerned about that in the least.

"A lot of wizards think that Muggle-borns are less worthy than pureblood wizards," she said matter-of-factly. "There are some that truly hate them and try to get rid of them. I believe there was an incident at the school a few years ago, wasn't there?" She looked over at Justin, whose eyes widened in horror. It seemed he hadn't told his parents anything.

"What happened?" Mrs. Finch-Fletchley whispered fearfully.

"Students were petrified! But it was far worse last time. Fifty years ago, a girl was killed. She still haunts the toilet where it happened." Mrs. Bones was talking as she was telling a ghost story.

Mrs. Finch-Fletchley gasped. "What happened this time?"

Mrs. Bones opened her mouth to tell the story, but Mr. Bones spoke first. "Four students, a ghost, and a cat were petrified by a basilisk over the course of the year, and one girl was almost killed." Seeing the confusion on the two Muggles' faces, he quickly explained. "The basilisk causes instant death to anyone who looks into its eyes, but those who look at it indirectly are only petrified; frozen in time."

Mrs. Finch-Fletchley grabbed her son as though for support. "You must have been terrified!" she exclaimed.

"Not for very long," Justin said darkly. "I didn't last passed December." Mrs. Finch-Fletchley began to cry. Evidently, this was all too much for her.

Susan stared fixedly at the table. She felt very awkward just sitting there while Mr. Finch-Fletchley tried to calm his wife down. Susan finally decided she couldn't handle it any more and said, "Justin, why don't we bring your bags upstairs?" It was more a plea than a question, but he was more than willing to leave.

"Well, that was awkward," he said. "I hope they find something else to talk about."

Susan nodded, but she honestly didn't think they would. Her mother was far too dramatic to let a subject so full of stories go. But Susan had other, more immediate problems on her hands. "We ran out of rooms," she began a little hesitantly as they started up the stairs. She didn't know for sure how he would react. "Is it alright if you stay in the attic? We just cleaned it, and I promise there's nothing living in there. It's actually kind of nice."

"That's fine," Justin assured her. "The farther I am from my parents, the less time I have to spend with them. I don't know how they'll react to life in the wizarding world." Susan didn't blame him. Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley seemed like such normal Muggles. Life at her house would probably be a bit of a shock to them.

Susan left Justin to unpack his things and rejoined the adults in the kitchen. Sure enough, Mrs. Bones was talking about the last time You-Know-Who was in power, and all the horrible things he had done. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley had finally calmed down a bit, but both she and her husband were listening with wide eyes and a dazed expression. Mr. Bones just sat shaking his head, as though he had given up trying to reign in his wife.

When Justin came back down, he seemed to want to get the adults off the subject. Susan saw his eyes scan the room for something, anything, to talk about. As they landed on the table, a mischievous grin crept onto his face.

"So, Susan," he asked in a would-be casual voice that didn't quite conceal his curiosity, "Did you get your O.W.L. results back?"