The 'I' in Family

Chapter 12: The Common Room

Later that night

Nathan kept talking to Teddy for the rest of the feast, although Fern came over to them at one point (and she, like Nathan, was very surprised when she found out who Teddy's parents were) and she talked with them until going over to talk to one of the Prefects.

Fern believed Teddy when he said he wasn't a werewolf, thankfully, and she ran off to find El and tell her that. Teddy wasn't sure if El would believe him--hopefully she would-- but now all he had to do was convince... well, the rest of the school.

After the feast, the Hufflepuff first-years gathered in a clump by the end of the table by the Prefects. Teddy did a quick head-count and, including himself, there were only seven kids-- four boys and three girls. Unsurprisingly, it was a small group.

The two other Hufflepuff girls had quickly become friends with each other and were talking. The dark-haired boy from before, along with the other Hufflepuff boy, were in the back of the group, and Nathan, Fern, and Teddy were talking for the majority of the way to the common room.

Fern poked Teddy in the shoulder lightly when the group stopped and pointed. "Those are the kitchens right there," she whispered, pointing to a picture.

"How do you know that?" Nathan asked.

"My Mum was in Hufflepuff when she was here," Fern explained. "You tickle the pear right there and it lets you in." Then she smiled. "Well, she wasn't actually a troublemaker, but according to her, there was one in her dorm. They weren't exactly friends, but the girl got into the kitchens a few times to sneak food into the dorm, and she'd share sometimes."

Teddy had known about getting into the kitchens--George had told him that summer without Harry or Andromeda knowing-- but he wasn't sure how many other people had known. Harry probably knew, because he was still holding onto the Marauder's Map, and there was no doubt the entrance to the kitchens was on there.

"Cool," Nathan said. "We've got to go in at some point."

In front of the group, the male Prefect said, "Getting in is pretty easy, though because of that, we need to tell you how to get in once we're in the common room."

He tapped five times on the wall with a slight pause between the second and third tap, and the wall moved to reveal a large room that was mostly yellow. Older students were lounging on chairs and sofas, there were tables with chairs and a large space in the middle of the room with a yellow carpet.

Once the wall-door closed behind him, the Prefect turned to the clump of kids and said, "Getting in is simple: you tap out 'Hel-ga Huf-fle-puff," on the wall. Got it?"

Most of the kids nodded.

"Good," he said. "Okay. The boys' dorms are on the left side, and the rooms are marked with which year you're in. The luggage is already in all of the dorms. The girls' dorms are on the right side. The same about the dorms and luggage goes for you." Then he raised his eyebrows and added, "You may or may not know that there are... certain defenses if a boy tries to go into the girls' dorm. As of recently, the same goes the other way around. Don't try anything, or points will be taken off."

This time, all of the kids nodded.

Teddy followed Nathan to the boys' side and went into the first-year dorm room. There were four beds inside in a line with luggage next to the beds. The one at the very end had the initials A.D. on it, the next one was Teddy's, the one after that was Nathan's, and the last one had the initials T.D. on them.

"If anyone wants to switch, now would be the time," Teddy suggested.

The last boy--not Nathan or the dark-haired one-- crossed his arms over his chest and glared. "You're kidding me," he said.