It was a delicious feast; the Hall echoed with talk, laughter and the clatter of knives and forks. Lilleth, however, was actually eager for it to be over, as all she wanted was to have a shower and go to bed. Or just go to bed. She was so exhausted that the rest of the evening all blurred into one, and before she knew it, the food had disappeared and the prefects were calling all the first years over to them.

"Is this all of you?" asked the girl, smiling cheerfully at them. "Good feast?"

"It was awesome." said one of the boys.

"It always is." said the boy prefect. He wasn't the same one that had come around to Lilleth's compartment on the train after the dementor had attacked, but he looked nice enough. "Anyway, my name is Otto Haywood, and this is my prefect partner, Pat Stimpson. You can come to us with any problems you have, as well as the other prefects in the other two years. But now, I'm sure you're all very tired, so we'd better get down to the common room."

Many of the first years nodded, and they followed the two prefects out of the Great Hall and to the right, where there was a set of stairs going down to the depths of the castle. They didn't go down too far before they turned off into a simple corridor with a very low ceiling, quite different to the other places of the castle that they had seen so far. There was a small nook in the right hand side wall, with many barrels hiding it from view. Before they went into the smaller area, Pat stopped and pointed at a painting of a bowl of fruit not too far from them.

"That's the entrance to the kitchens." she said. "Tickle the pear in the bowl of fruit and you'll be taken down there. The house elves are all very friendly, especially with us Hufflepuffs. We're all down there quite a lot."

"Midnight feast, anyone?" said one of the other girls jokingly, prompting a small laugh out of everyone standing there.

"Now, the way to get into the common room is very different to any of the others." said Otto, indicating the barrels. "There's no password and it doesn't change. Instead, you must tap this barrel, two from the bottom and in the middle of the second row, in the rhythm of 'Hel-ga Huff-le-puff', which will make the lid swing open, exposing a passageway that will lead to the basement when crawled through."

"But make sure you do it right." said Pat with a warning tone. "If the wrong lid is tapped or it's tapped in the wrong pattern, you'll be doused in vinegar and barred access."

"Really?" asked one of the boys, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Otto offered with a teasing glint in his eye.

"No thanks." said the boy hurriedly.

Otto and Pat laughed, and Otto quickly tapped out the rhythm so they could all see, and just as he said, the lid of the barrel swung open and the sides fell apart, exposing a small, narrow tunnel through which they could see light at the end. Well, it wasn't that small. Perhaps for a seventh year, it might be a bit of a tight squeeze, but for them, it was rather large.

"Off you go then." said Pat, looking at Piper and Lilleth, who were at the front of the crowd, although they weren't entirely sure why.

Suddenly feeling slightly nervous, Lilleth took a step forward and bent down on all fours, crawling into the tunnel. She was closely followed by Piper and the other first years, through the tunnel that must have been at least three or four metres, until they finally reached the common room.

It was enormous. Round and earthy and low-ceilinged, with round windows at the top looking out at the ground and green grass and dandelions. There was lots of burnished copper about the place, and many plants, which either hung from the ceiling or sat on the windowsills. There were overstuffed sofas and chairs that looked like pillows scattered around the room, upholstered in yellow and black. On the far wall, there was a large, honey coloured, wooden mantelpiece with carvings of badgers on it, which was located underneath a portrait of the house's founder, Helga Hufflepuff. A fireplace was underneath the mantelpiece, crackling busily and dancing excitedly at the sight of the new visitors. Two round, wooden doors that looked much like the tops of barrels sat on either side of the room, which Lilleth supposed led to the dormitories.

Soon, all of the other first years and the two fifth years were gathered in the common room.

"The common room will be where you spend probably quite a lot of your time." said Pat. "It's where most people like to do homework, if not in the library. It's comfy, warm, and with other people in it, will feel quite a lot like home. Probably one of the friendliest places in the entire castle."

"And Professor Sprout, our Head of House, is also the Herbology teacher, so she likes giving us new plants every so often." Otto added. "Some of them just sit there, but some of them dance or sing if you ask nicely."

"You'd all better get to bed." said Pat. "Lessons start tomorrow morning, bright and early. Girls, you're on the left. Boys, you're on the right. And no midnight feasts." she added sternly, although she was still smiling. "First doors in each tunnel."

She pointed at the two barrel doors on either side of the common room just as the older students began to come in.

"I'm so tired." Lilleth said to Piper, grinning.

"Same." said Piper. "Come on, let's go to bed."

The other three girls had already started going up to the dorm, so they followed them over to the barrel, which – while not very tall at the entrance – opened up to reveal a regular set of stairs at a good height for all students, even burly seventh years.

The first door on the left had five names on it:

Lilleth Black-Lupin

Missy Mitchell

Piper Rossi

Mira Stainton

Ella Macmillan

All were written in swirly handwriting with leaves branching off each letter and blowing in an imaginary wind. It was a regular door, rather than a barrel, but what it led to was anything but regular.

Much like the common room, Lilleth instantly felt at home as soon as she stepped inside. Copper lamps cast a warm light over the five four-posters, all of which were covered in patchwork quilts in all shades and patterns of black and yellow that looked as if they had been there over a hundred years. Copper bed warmers hung on the walls, presumably in the case of cold feet.

Lilleth, who had never known a place like it, was astounded. The pantry she grew up in paled compared to this. If the Gryffindor common room was anything like this, she now understood why Harry hated coming home for holidays, and not just because of how horrible the Dursleys were.

"This place is fantastic." said one of the girls, whose mouth had dropped open in shock. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Me neither." Lilleth breathed. She was completely starstruck by the room.

"Are you two muggleborns?" asked one of the others in a strong Scottish accent, a large smile spreading across her face.

"I am." said the girl who had spoken first. "My name's Missy."

"Me too." said Lilleth. "Not that my name is also Missy." she corrected herself quickly, grinning. "But I'm a muggleborn too. And my name's Lilleth, but you can call me Lilly."

Of course, Lilleth had no idea what her blood status was, not knowing her parents. But it felt simpler than saying, 'I grew up with muggles but never knew my parents and the only real family I have is a boy who probably isn't even related to me but is sort of my brother'.

"I'm a halfblood, but I still can't believe any of this." said Piper, laughing. "And I thought my dad told me everything about this place. What about you?"

"I'm Ella." said the Scottish girl. "My older brother is in Hufflepuff too. He's shown me so many pictures, although it is all still quite staggering."

Something suddenly brushed up against Lilleth's leg, and she jumped at first, but then realised with a sigh of relief that it was just Mourka greeting her happily, and she bent down to scratch him fondly behind the ears.

"Is that your cat?" asked the last girl, who hadn't introduced himself.

"Yes." said Lilleth, and she picked him up around the waist and allowed him to wrap himself around her shoulders. "His name's Mourka."

"I love cats." she said wistfully. "But I could never get one of my own. Mother doesn't like them."

"Perhaps he could become the dorm cat." Lilleth suggested. "What's your name?"

"Mira." said the girl.

Lilleth looked down at her cat.

"I hope you've been paying attention." she said sternly. "You're going to be spending a lot of time with all of us."

He yawned boredly and flicked her ear with his tail as if to say, 'you doubt me?'