September 1st, 1894 - Hufflepuff Den, After the Sorting

Seeing both of her girls at Hogwarts now was a little heartbreaking. That before-school childhood was at an end, and though she was happy as could be for Eilish and Niamh, she was also a little sad for herself. Fortunately she had a bustling new batch of young people to look after and she was thrilled for the opportunity.

After the feast, Fiona had followed along with the prefects back to the Hufflepuff Den and settled herself into a corner armchair with her knitting needles. She had every intention of knitting a pair of mittens for each of the first years to start and then get around to the rest of the house if she could. Fee was a quick knitter, so she could probably do it before the weather turned, but she ought to get started! Toulouse was curled up atop her chair, watching the room at large. It was impossible to tell what her giant ginger cat was thinking, but she had to assume not much. He was sweet though, bless him.

The last thing she wanted to do tonight was dampen the mood, everybody seemed so celebratory, and so she was simply observing the students in their natural element. She wanted to get a good idea of the ebb and flow of the common room when everyone was around. "Oh Toulouse!" She gasped as he jumped off the back of her chair and approached the nearest student. "Don't mind him, he just wants attention." She assured the student gently and smiled softly.

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Open to any Hufflepuffs after the Sorting!

  

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As a youngest sibling, Hester hadn't expected much. She'd gotten mostly the basics for her time at Hogwarts, not even an owl — her father had insisted she didn't need one, since the school had owls, and so did the Hogsmeade post office. After that discussion, Hester had kept her desire for any kind of pet quiet.

So, of course, she was delighted when the massive orange cat approached her. "Hello, kitty," she greeted, easily settling on her knees to pet the cat, before looking up at the house matron. "What's his name?"

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set by LOU

deep in my bones, oh, yeah, i know — i am the champion

That was horrible, why would they do something like that to new students, that hat, it was just beyond awful and the girl felt like it was still on her. So she was a hufflepuff? She didn't really know what that mean, she had heard that slytherins were bad, and ravenclaws were smart but that was about it. After wiping away her tears from the sorting she followed the rest of the inductees down into the basement to find the hufflepuff den. The prefects had mentioned something about a knocking on something to get in, but she hadnt really been listening as her mind had begun to disassociate with her body and she just carried on past the older who sat in a chair until she could find her bed.

Margaret looked around the room, it was partially underground with grass on the other side, the longest of the stalks cast shadows that looked like bars in the morning sunshine. She say there for who knows how long, clutching her own arms together until she heard voices coming from the other room. Something about a cat? She thought about the cat she had back when she was a muggle, it was dark sooty gray and always looked like it had been in to something, she missed that cat. She leaned out a little to look into the main room, just about seeing the colour of a ginger tail and hearing the voice of another little girl.

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Fiona McCarthy Hester Frey

  

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Fee set aside her knitting for a moment, scooting forward to the edge of her chair, smiling at the young first year who had approached. "That's Toulouse, he's very friendly." Almost too friendly, he seemed to lack any sense of survival skills, if she were being honest. "And I'm Mrs. McCarthy, I'll be your house matron this year." It was still quite the sentence to say, coming back to Hogwarts at her age, but without either of the girls at home now, she wasn't sure what she would have done with herself.

"And you are?" It would take her a little while to get to know everyone, but Fee had always been good with names and faces, so hopefully not too long. She looked about the common room, already enjoying the buzzing of excited voices and friends seeing one another again. It was then she saw a little face poke out around a corner. Fee waved and smiled, hoping the little dear wasn't having a hard time. "Would you like to say hi to Toulouse too?" She invited gently as the large ginger cat and flopped dramatically onto his side, exposing his furry belly for scratches.

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   Margaret Wallace

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Maggie had been spotted snooping by the house matron, she knew what that role was from her times serving the rich houses, it was meant to be someone who took care of them. So although she briefly and shyly shook her head at the initial offer to greet the cat, she rethought herself and quietly reconsidered before nodding.

Maggie stood up from her bed and moved back into the common room where the others were, she still held her arms with her hands to protect her personal space. The cat noticed her too and when it engage her she smiled and reached out her hand. She did like cats, they were kind creatures and they kept the mice from getting in and running her clothes. This had lovely soft fur and purred when she stroked his head. "Hello you, I'm Maggie." Her eyes flicked to Fiona McCarthy too, subconsciously using this introduction to the cat so she didn't have to directly address the matron. "Do you live here with us?"

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Hester Frey Fiona McCarthy

  

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Eilish could have been in more of a rush to find her way to the Hufflepuff common room-- probably should have been, but there was so much to see even on the brief walk from the Great Hall to the kitchen-side hallway that she arrived more toward the trailing end of the train of students. In wide-eyed excitement she took in unfamiliar portraits and suspicious looking stones, tapestries which danced out their stories. Eilish was no much. The magic of it was not new to her, but every stitch of this castle thrummed with it. And it was a castle.

As such, by the time she arrived in the proper place her mother's cat was already sprawled upon the floor with a pair of girls about Eilish's age fussing over him. Typical of the brainless tom-- which he was, however much Eilish adored the cat. She very nearly skipped through the entryway, crossing the room without sparing more than a glance for the plush and lively decor. There would be time for that later. If Eilish and Toulouse had anything in common, it was their shared love of new friendships.

"Evening, Mama," Eilish greeted her mother with the flash of a grin and dropped to her knees with a little thud next to the cat. She was already busily scratching his fuzzy rump before she stopped to look at the girls she had joined. "Isn't he great? Careful, though-- he'll steal your scones straight off the plate if you're not looking."

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Fiona McCarthy Hester Frey Margaret Wallace

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   Hester Frey, Margaret Wallace

Hester giggled slightly as the ginger cat flopped onto his side. She focused her attention on ruffling Toulouse's upper belly, allowing Maggie to pet the feline's head, while she eased onto one knee. "I'm Hester," she said after a few moments, looking between Maggie, Mrs. McCarthy, and the newly arrived girl scratching at the cat's rump. "I like cats. Papa wouldn't let me have one, though. Said I'm too young."

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Fiona McCarthy Margaret Wallace Eilish McCarthy

The following 1 user Likes Hester Frey's post:1 user Likes Hester Frey's post
   Margaret Wallace

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set by LOU

deep in my bones, oh, yeah, i know — i am the champion

The cat purred as the girls fussed over it, Maggie did think it quiet adorable really. Another girl joined them, referring to the matron as Mama, was that her mother? She felt a sting of jealousy that this girl would get to see her mother every day where Maggie would not, but she could not let it show.

"When I was little we had a cat that dad got to chase away the mice living in our outhouse." she thought about the cat again and felt her hands digging deeper into toulouse's fur as if looking for something to cling to. She sniffed as she felt her tears trying to force their way back to the surface again, the cat nuzzling her hand helped keep her in check.

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Fiona McCarthy Hester Frey Eilish McCarthy

  

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Fiona took in the names as the girls introduced themselves to one another. There seemed to be quite a few young ladies joining her as first years this year, in addition to her Eilish. "Hello Poppet," she greeted her daughter with a warm smile before turning back to the girls. "Yes, I do. Just someone else to keep an eye on you and help you get used to school. It was a long time ago now, but this used to be my home too." Fee had nothing but good memories of Hogwarts and she was happy to be back. Hopefully Eilish and Niamh were alright with it. So far her youngest didn't seem to mind that they would continue to share a space and Niamh at least got to have her own space in her house. Their overlap wouldn't be too much, she assumed.

"Toulouse will be around for everyone to enjoy. He's very social. Eilish is right though, he does steal food." Which was why the ginger Tom was as big as he was, the little glutton. Fiona noticed the little Miss Maggie's sniffle, but Toulouse took care of it for her, by being a good distraction.

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The fifth year finally had everything in its place after the summer vacation and was excited to welcome the new den-mates as soon as possible. She saw the new matron sat in the room surrounded by youngsters and she smiled to herself before striding in to greet everyone. One of the other girls seemed a little distressed, it wasn't suprising, for most children they were away from loving homes for the first time in their lives. She remembered mixing her own excitement with moments of trepidation.

"I'm Antelope Grace, I'm in the fifth year." she gave a little courtesy to the new adult in their lives. "Your cat is gorgeous." she added, flopping to the floor with the first years, she tickled the the cat under the chin before addressing the other children.

"You can call me Jynx if you want. This den is the best place in the school, next is the greenhouses, if you ever need anything, or just want a friend, I'll probably be there if I'm not in class, ok?" She looked at the small group and then back at the matron, offering a warm greeting to the woman who would now live with them too.

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Hester Frey Fiona McCarthy Eilish McCarthy

  

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope

Fee smiled as an older student joined them. It would be good for the first years to have an older student, in addition to herself, to ask questions of. It had been a while since she had been at Hogwarts after all, so for the time being the older student would have a better idea of the day-to-day of the school. It wouldn't take her long, shuffling through the halls to make sure everybody got where they needed to be. With a variety of duties in her own daily schedule, Fee doubted she would be bored.

"I'm sure for a little while at least, Miss Grace will have more answers than I will, until I get my bearings." Fiona agreed with a chuckle. Toulouse was in heaven with all of the attention, happily sprawled on his back, belly open for all the rubs, purring audibly even from her seat a few feet away. "Have you darlings found your room yet? Getting settled into your own space is always the best part of returning to Hogwarts." It had always been nice to have a space of her own, but shared with her friends. The people were honestly always her favorite part of her Hogwarts experience.

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