[Great Hall] House Pride

[Neth Evans]

It had been a good day, cold if anything, but good none the less. The November chill had settled in and with his yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, Neth Evans few proud to be in the house he was. He could think of at least seven good reason why it was good to be a Hufflepuff. House pride was essential in an establishment like this, it kept people wanting to achieve and stay out of trouble ... on the most part, and that's what it was meant to do, Neth thought anyway.

Entering the Great Hall for dinner always gave you something to look at. The house colours were everywhere and the symbols of the different houses were out in full force. It was always good to see the Snake and the Lion and the Raven and the Badger, especially the Badger. Neth chuckled at himself as he walked between the two tables, looking for somewhere to sit.

There was a group of Ravenclaws that were speaking very loudly about something they thought to be important, obviously. Two began arguing about it, pointing fingers at one another as the others just sat and smiled at each other. Across their table there was a groups of Slytherins boys, seventh years Neth though, self-important and slightly pompous looking as blew spit balls at two Ravenclaw girls who were huddled over a copy of The Daily Prophet. On the other side of the room there were three Gryffindor's who were doing a sort of dance thing on their table, showing off their co-ordination for a gaggle of girls fawning over them.

Finding an empty spot at the Hufflepuff table and he sat down.

[Dean Hogarth]

Why could he have not been a Ravenclaw!

That is all that was passing thought Dean Hogarth’s mind as he absentmindedly tapped his quill against the edge of his desk in the library. His Potions essay now held no interest to him, he only had to write up the conclusion as to how, yet again, his potion had worked perfectly and for the umpteenth time this year he was finding it hard to word ‘I simply followed the instruction in the book’ in a way that Professor Vaid would not think he was taking the wet.

Everyone else in the library was still working away, their quills dancing over the parchment as they scribbled down the first words that came to their mind in the sheer want and determination to fill the rest of the parchment up and get to dinner before it got too crowded. The blue and bronze crests on the Ravenclaw’s robes taunted him from across the tables; he was just as intelligent as them! And he put it to good use; he put effort into his work they took their intelligence for granted and used it as an excuse to be smug over everyone else. Puffing out his cheeks Dean dipped his quill into the ink pot and quickly ended his essay trying to re-word his sentence in the best way possible. He doubted that Professor Vaid would care too much, he was just like Hubbles, as soon as he saw it was a Hufflepuff the bias kicked in and they could never do anything wrong, so it was not like he was really going to read what he had put.

That was the other thing Ravenclaw had, they had the best Head of House ever imaginable!

This internal debate of why he was in the wrong house had carried him from the library to the Great Hall where his eyes hopefully passed over towards the Staff Table in hope that he would see her. Alas it was only Professor Rutherford sitting as serious and stony faced as normal ignoring everything around him. Trying to not act too downhearted Dean made his way down the house table trying to look for a familiar face or an empty space, but although he would have preferred the empty space a familiar face appeared in the shape of Neth Evans first.

“Would you say I am witty?” Dean asked rather bluntly as he sat down opposite his fellow housemate, the force of his book filled bag hitting the table causing a few goblet to topple over and spill their contents.

[Kendal Montgomery]

If you went past the Hufflepuiff girls dorm room right about now you would hear three distinct different sounds. First there was a loud thump, then a groan, followed by a very audible sigh. Of course there was a good reason for all of these noises Kendal Montgomery occupant of the room was having a lot of trouble with her transfiguration assignment. The thud was her throwing her textbook across the room in agitation, the groan was a groan of anger, and the sigh was simply her way of saying she was giving up for the time being. Now in her seventh and final year at Hogwarts Kendal thought things would get easier, instead they just seemed to get harder. Staring across the room at her book on the floor Kendal smiled for a wee little bit feeling good about what she had done that soon turned into guilt and in no time at all the book was zooming straight into her hands and she placed it on the bed.

She needed to get away from it for a while sometimes you just have to step away from things sometimes give you mind the chance to regroup. So she figured she would go get some grub. The energy boost might help her as well. Leaving happily Kendal made her way though the halls trying to avoid paintings or suits or armor. You could never be too careful around the castle lately. Just getting from point A to point B without getting hurt was a miracle. As she saw the doors for the great hall she breathed easier.

Stepping through the doors was always something the Great Hall was usually buzzing with students and right now was no exception. Kendal like watching the going on at the other tables you could always either see thrilling conversations, heated arguments or just kids having a good old time. Kendal saw all of that just standing at the doorway. Not moving until some rude Slytherin made a pretty vulgar remark. Making a face Kendal walked away as fast as she could. The Huff table only a short distance away. The moment she reached she hear Dean Hogarth ask out loud if he was witty.

Kendal didn't know him well but from what she did know he was pretty smart. So she felt confident enough to answer "Yes I think you are very witty Dean, why do you ask by the way?" Sitting down her eyes shifting to him.

[Alicia Kennedy]

Pushing her brother, she giggled and attempted to run away before getting face planted by her twin siblings as they both tackled her from behind. Falling into the dried dirt from the lawns, Ali was finding it hard to breathe from all the laughing as her brother and sister began to tickle her once again. Taking a few sharp and deep breaths she took a while before she managed to actually speak.
"Stop, stop, stop!" she choked, still chuckling away as Bryn's hands teased her grazed her sides gently once again before he finally gave up and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to her feet.

"I thought I was going to pee my pants, that would make me look grown up wouldn't it?" she smirked, bending over and dusting the flakes of mud from her knees and forehead. It wasn't long before Brooke grinned at her and gave her a big sisterly hug, which slightly scared Ali as it was usually Bryn who would do that.
"Did you fall over Brooke?"
"No, why?"
"I think you must of, and hit your head...you're acting weird" she grinned before sticking her tongue out and getting a soft slap around the back of the head.
"Alright, I get the point i'll go" she smiled, waving at her older siblings before jogging off towards the Great Hall, blonde curls bouncing.

It wasn't long before she reached her destination and pushing open the doors, she soon found a little formation of Hufflepuffs on the table. Walking towards them she walked past before she made her way next to Neth and sat on the table, picking up a nearby Daily Prophet. Hearing Kendal speak, she looked up from the front page and looked over to Dean.
"If you were, you'd be in Ravenclaw" she smirked, her tone clearly joking with him.
"Hey guys" she finally greeted before greeting them with a big grin, still mud visible slightly on her face and clothes.
"But let's face it" she continued, slapping the half folded paper into her lap.
"Hufflepuff are the best house, we can't really be defined into one single personality trait" she smirked triumphantely.

[Neth Evans]

It had been completely accidental, of course, but it turned out that from where Neth was sitting he could see the Ravenclaw he’d bumped into a few days before, the Ravenclaw that he simply couldn’t get out of his mind. Maybe it was the way she saw him when she looked at him … maybe it was just because she was so beautiful. It didn’t matter, from where he was sitting everything about Rosalie was perfect. Sighing, Neth absently poured himself a goblet full of pumpkin juice and took a sip, not taking his eyes away from the Ravenclaw.

But his view was obscured. Someone sat in front of the fifth year and it took him a moment to come to his senses and focus on the person who’d spoilt his view. “Oy…” Neth moaned softly, still slightly in his trance but then he realised who it was. It was none other then a moody Dean Hogarth. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Neth thought about Dean’s question for no more then half a second before reflex took over and his mouth said, “no.”

The seventh year that joined them, Kendal Neth believed her name to be, disagreed. Neth laughed out loud, which he obviously hadn’t meant to do but it felt right that the laughter be shared and not contained. “You obviously don’t know Dean like I do …” Neth chuckled, reaching for his goblet without looking. It wasn’t there so he looked and to his disgust it had been knocked over. Dean’s heavy bag was obviously the culprit and Neth gave his friend a glare that spoke his irritation. “And I was just getting into that glass of pumpkin juice,” he complained.

While he was groaning away and refilling his glass, a fourth year sat next to him. This girl he liked very much. Ali was fun and adventurous and Neth very much liked that about her. “Hey Ali,” Neth said, leaning heavily away from Ali on the crest of his fist so that he could see Rosalie better, even if it was now the back of her head. The young girl went on about how wonderful it was to be in Hufflepuff but Neth didn’t pay much attention.

“I think being in Ravenclaw could be pretty cool,” Neth mumbled absently. Coming back to those he was actually sitting with, Neth sniggered, “and I’m pretty sure that’s what Deanie, here, thinks too … but for … very different reasons.” Neth was leaning on his fist again, looking over Dean’s shoulder at Rosalie. He didn’t mind if anyone saw, obviously, otherwise he wouldn’t do it. Sometimes Neth had no inhibitions.

[Dean Hogarth]

Hufflepuff the house where you find your true friends, where everyone is so nice and happy and it is fluffy bunnies and rainbows all the time, now cut to reality. The enchanted sky above was grey and overcast and now down at the Hufflepuff table there was a distinctively grumpy looking student. How hard would it have been to just comfort him, Kendal had, but no Neth has to be truthful, the flobberworm. Grinding his teeth together Dean reached out across the table towards the fruit bowl and picked up the greenest, juiciest looking apple he could find as he listened to what Ali had to say.

“Hmmm.” No matter what she said, no matter how joyfully or pleasant Alicia was it would still not change Dean’s mind. He was much more a Ravenclaw then a Hufflepuff so why the hell did he end up in this house. However something happened then that he had not expected, Neth agreed with him although Dean slight moment of joy was soon ended by what his ‘friend’ had to say.

“I…I…er…” Dean’s ears had turned a deep red as his head dropt, focusing on the apple that he had in his hands. “I d-do not kn-know what you mean.” There is was, the perfect reason why Dean was not in any other house but Hufflepuff, he could not tell a lie to save his life. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat he dared to look up from his slight sulking and look at the other Hufflepuff’s on the table. It was pretty obvious to anyone why Dean and Neth wanted to change house and whoever had caught Neth’s attention was doing a bloody good job of keeping it. Glancing over his shoulder Dean followed his dorm mate’s gaze to see who his siren was.

“R-Rosalie?” At first Dean was surprised, he never took her to be Neth’s type, but then thinking that he had no idea what Neth’s type was seeing that the topic of girls was never something the two talked about…in fact Dean did not talk much at all.

(Blarrr)

[Alicia Kennedy]

By the sounds of it, the idle chit chat had turned into somewhat of a political debate on whether Ravenclaw was the better house compared to Hufflepuff, and quite frankly Ali couldn't believe her ears. She stayed silent, stunned into it by Neth and Dean's words basically betraying their own house.

"Whoah whoah, back up, just...back up" Ali said, eyes closed with her fingers slapped against her forehead as she massaged slightly the oncoming headache. The pain soon disappeared.
"You're comparing this awesome house to that?" she said, flicking her thumb towards the Ravenclaw table. She then opened her eyes and flicked them from Neth to Dean and back again before looking at Kendal for reassurance on the matter.

"I don't know about you, Kendal, but I think these guys have gone a bit loopy" It was then that Ali followed Neth's gaze to meet the head of a Ravenclaw the same year as him. Alicia didn't know her name, but she was sure of what Neth was thinking about, and with a small impish smirk, she began to get up from the table and pretended to threaten to go over and tell her.
"Us Kennedy's do have big mouths sometimes, I wonder what would happen if I went and told little miss clever cloggs over there that she has an admirer" Ali giggled jokingly before sitting back down again. She was only kidding with him, but to be honest with the mess Hogwarts was in she wouldn't mind playing matchmaker.

It was mere seconds before her attention flitted back towards old nervous boots Hogarth and Ali raised her eyebrows with a sigh before leaning her elbows on her knees and cupping her chin in her hands.
"So Deany, baby. Who in Ravenclaw has caught your eye to make you wish you were in their house?"

[Dean Hogarth]

It was not a rare thing for poor Dean Hogarth to be called crazy or a bit of a loop, his silent nature and his habit of keeping things to himself automatically made him strange among the loud and extraordinary characters that walked the corridors of Hogwarts. As a result this meant that the very rare and occasional moments when the Hufflepuff did open his mouth and venture into conversation it was often seen as out of character and thus what he had to say was normally of no importance. Even now among his own housemates they seemed to snub his longing to belong to the wise old house of Ravenclaw.

Thankfully though for the present moment in time Ali was focusing her insults and remarks towards Neth and Dean was able to continue gazing at the empty spot at the staff table where one Professor Owen should be sitting, or at least he was until out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of blond walking down the centre aisle and as he turned his head to look the poor lad almost knocked over his glass of pumpkin juice. It was her.

Mouth hanging slightly open, tips of ears turning red as the Hufflepuff’s gaze followed every step, every bob of her long slightly curled blond hair and the way her eyes stood out in contrast to the overcast enchanted sky of the Great Hall. And then it seemed almost on cue that Ali asked him who his Ravenclaw crush was.

“N-No one.” He tore his gaze away from the Ravenclaw head of house, dropping his head to stare at the empty plate that was positioned in front of him. In his mind it was his way of not giving the game away (although his crush on Mrs Dia Hubbles was by now no real secret) but little did he know that his sudden actions, bright red cheeks and slight glum expression had even caught the attention of the Astronomy teacher in question. “T-There is no g-girl. I j-just like the Ravenclaw way.”