Several upperclassmen stood at the front of the gathered Hufflepuffs, staring toward the entrance to their common room with unusually serious expressions.
After exchanging brief looks, they silently nodded to one another, and one student stepped forward while everyone behind him tightened their grip on their wands.
The entrance opened, and the older students immediately rushed inside with their wands raised, followed closely by the rest of Hufflepuff.
Considering how rarely the House moved together with this much aggression, anyone watching from outside might have assumed Hogwarts itself was under attack.
Instead, the supposed victims were sitting peacefully around a steaming cauldron.
Alistair, Cedric, Grimm, and the two students who had come looking for them all froze as an enormous crowd suddenly poured into the common room.
For several seconds, the only sounds were the bubbling broth and the footsteps of Hufflepuffs spreading throughout the room with their wands pointed forward.
Alistair slowly lowered the piece of meat he’d been about to eat, while Cedric stared at his Housemates as if he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or hide.
Grimm looked even more embarrassed, because he immediately understood exactly how the misunderstanding had happened.
Heaven knew what it felt like to be eating lunch peacefully one moment and have nearly an entire Hogwarts House storm in with enough wands to start a duel the next.
One of the older students finally looked at Grimm, then at the two students who had followed him earlier, and finally at the food covering the table.
“So let me understand this correctly,” he said slowly.
“The three of you disappeared from lunch because you came back here, found Alistair and Cedric eating this tabletop-boil thing, and then forgot to return?” Grimm looked away slightly, while the other two students gave awkward nods.
Cedric tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile.
Alistair decided that saying anything at all would probably make the situation worse.
The tension disappeared almost instantly.
Hufflepuffs throughout the room began lowering their wands as embarrassment replaced concern, and several students muttered about how ridiculous the entire situation had become.
They had marched through Hogwarts prepared to rescue missing Housemates, only to discover that everyone was perfectly safe and had simply become distracted by lunch.
Yet once their embarrassment faded, nearly every pair of eyes drifted toward the same thing—the steaming cauldron in the middle of the room.
The smell of seasoned broth and cooked meat had already spread everywhere, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to remain angry.
A senior Hufflepuff prefect suddenly pushed through the crowd with a furious expression.
“This has gone too far!” he shouted.
“Absolutely too far!” Grimm immediately stood from his chair, clearly preparing to accept responsibility and explain that he should have returned to the Great Hall.
Before he could open his mouth, however, the prefect walked right past him.
To Grimm’s disbelief, the older student dropped directly into his abandoned chair and stared accusingly at the food.
“You discovered something this interesting and apparently this delicious,” the prefect said, pointing toward the bubbling cauldron, “and the five of you decided to sit here eating it by yourselves?” He looked around with genuine indignation.
“Without telling the rest of Hufflepuff?” For one stunned second, nobody reacted.
Then the common room exploded into noise as dozens of students immediately agreed that this was clearly the real offense.
Alistair found himself surrounded by complaints from every direction.
Students demanded to know why no one had invited them, why Grimm hadn’t returned to tell everyone about the meal, and whether there was still any meat left.
Cedric’s face turned red as he tried to explain that the entire lunch had originally been Alistair’s way of thanking him for the steak from the previous night.
That explanation only produced louder protests about favoritism.
Alistair raised both hands and repeatedly apologized, but Hufflepuff’s collective outrage over being excluded from good food proved far more difficult to calm than a group of students holding wands.
“Everyone, listen to me!” Grimm finally shouted.
The authority of a Hufflepuff prefect still meant something, and the common room gradually quieted.
Grimm stepped into the center of the room and adopted the serious expression of someone addressing an important House matter rather than a lunch dispute.
“There’s no need to keep criticizing them.
After receiving a very thorough lecture from me, Alistair and Cedric have both realized the seriousness of their mistake.” Cedric immediately turned toward him in disbelief, while Alistair stared as if he’d just heard a completely fabricated history lesson.
Grimm ignored them both.
“More importantly, Alistair has generously agreed that everyone in Hufflepuff should have the opportunity to enjoy the same meal.” Alistair’s eyes widened.
He couldn’t remember agreeing to anything of the sort, but dozens of hopeful faces had already turned toward him.
Grimm gave him a reassuring smile that somehow also communicated don’t ruin this.
Alistair slowly closed his mouth and accepted that apparently he’d just volunteered to feed an entire House.
No wonder he’s a prefect, Alistair thought as Grimm continued speaking confidently.
Give someone authority for five minutes and they immediately learn politics.
Grimm began issuing instructions before anyone could object.
“Several of you go straight to the kitchens and ask the house-elves for more of the ingredients they prepared for Alistair.” He paused, glanced around at the number of students filling the common room, and reconsidered.
“Actually, don’t ask for ten more portions.
Make it twenty.
We have almost the entire House here.” A cheer immediately rose from the crowd.
“All first-years,” Grimm continued, raising his voice over the noise, “go to your dormitories and bring down your cauldrons—but only if they’re brand-new and haven’t been used for Potions yet.
I don’t want anyone spending Monday explaining to Madam Pomfrey why they accidentally ate traces of some failed potion.” Several first-years laughed and immediately began running toward the dormitories.
“Everyone else, stay here.
Alistair can show us how to prepare the broth and dipping sauces.” Alistair slowly turned toward Cedric.
“How did this become my responsibility?” Cedric grinned.
“You introduced the food.” “You’re supposed to be my helpful upperclassman.” “I’ll help eat it.” Alistair stared at him.
Cedric’s grin widened.
Grimm raised both hands dramatically.
“Today, Hufflepuff is having a tabletop-boil party!” This time the cheer was loud enough to echo through the underground corridors.
Within minutes, the common room descended into organized chaos.
First-years returned carrying clean cauldrons, older students began moving tables together, and several Hufflepuffs hurried toward the kitchens with instructions for the house-elves.
Others surrounded Alistair, demanding measurements for broth ingredients and explanations of the different dipping sauces.
Cedric, naturally, appointed himself responsible for supervising the meat.
Alistair immediately objected to that assignment, remembering perfectly well how little beef Cedric had left him earlier.
While the Hufflepuffs were enthusiastically transforming their common room into an enormous lunch party, the situation looked very different elsewhere in Hogwarts.
One of the students who had witnessed Hufflepuff marching out of the Great Hall with wands drawn had already hurried toward the Headmaster’s office.
Percy Weasley reached the corridor outside looking unusually flustered, only to find Madam Hooch, Hogwarts’s flying instructor, approaching from the opposite direction.
She immediately noticed his expression.
“Percy, what are you doing up here?” Percy turned quickly.
“Madam Hooch, I need to speak with Professor Dumbledore.” She studied him for a moment before answering.
“The Headmaster is hosting a small staff gathering to welcome Professor Ilona.
Most of the professors are inside, so unless this is genuinely urgent, you’d be better off coming back later.” Percy suddenly understood why the staff table in the Great Hall had been nearly empty during lunch.
He had wondered whether there was some sort of faculty meeting, and apparently he’d been right.
Unfortunately, that only made his news seem more important.
“No, Madam Hooch, I really need to tell them now,” Percy insisted.
“Something happened with Hufflepuff.” The seriousness in his voice convinced her.
Madam Hooch nodded and gestured for him to follow.
“Very well.
Come with me.” Percy straightened his robes as much as he could while walking, trying to regain his composure before entering a room containing nearly the entire Hogwarts staff.
The moment the door opened, however, his preparation disappeared.
Soft music played throughout Dumbledore’s office, and several professors were gathered around the newly appointed Professor Ilona.
Conversation moved easily through the room, occasionally interrupted by laughter as members of the staff welcomed their new colleague.
Professor Flitwick was speaking animatedly nearby, while Professor Sprout seemed to be asking Ilona something about her previous teaching experience.
Snape stood a little farther away with his usual expression of restrained disinterest.
Dumbledore himself remained near the side of the room, quietly observing everything through his half-moon spectacles.
Percy barely registered any of it.
“Headmaster!” he exclaimed the moment he spotted Dumbledore.
“Something terrible has happened!” Every conversation stopped.
Percy swallowed.
“The Hufflepuffs have rioted!” Complete silence filled the office.
Several professors blinked.
Dumbledore slowly raised his eyebrows.
Professor McGonagall reacted first.
“Percy, what exactly did you just say?” Her tone made it obvious that she was unsure whether she’d heard correctly.
Hufflepuff and riot were not words that normally appeared in the same sentence.
Percy suddenly became very aware that every professor in the room was staring directly at him.
Snape glanced sideways at the Gryffindor student and spoke dryly.
“Perhaps Professor McGonagall should first explain that good marks do not excuse barging into the Headmaster’s office without manners.” McGonagall immediately turned toward him.
“Thank you, Severus.
I’m perfectly capable of dealing with my own students.” She stepped closer to Percy before Snape could respond.
“Now, Percy, calm down and tell us what happened.” Having McGonagall beside him helped Percy recover slightly.
“Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, professors…I know how this sounds, but Hufflepuff really did march out of the Great Hall together.” He hesitated before adding the part that had caused the most concern.
“Almost all of them were carrying their wands.” Several professors immediately frowned.
Professor Sprout pushed through the group.
“My students?
What happened to them?” Her anxiety was obvious.
Percy quickly explained everything he’d witnessed: one Hufflepuff prefect leaving the Great Hall, two more students going after him when he failed to return, and finally nearly the entire House rising together and heading toward the common room with their wands drawn.
He admitted that he didn’t know what had happened after they left.
From his perspective, it had looked disturbingly like Hufflepuff was preparing for a fight.
Professor Sprout’s concern deepened, while Snape folded his arms.
“Remarkable.
I always assumed Gryffindor would be the first House reckless enough to organize an armed march through the castle.” His eyes briefly moved toward McGonagall.
“Apparently Hufflepuff has decided to surprise us.” McGonagall gave him a cold look, but Sprout spoke before she could answer.
“No, Headmaster, my students wouldn’t simply start a riot,” Professor Sprout insisted.
“They’re good children.
There must be something else going on.” Dumbledore gave her a reassuring smile.
“I’m sure you’re right, Pomona.
Percy has only told us what he saw, not what actually happened afterward.” His eyes twinkled with a hint of curiosity.
“Still, I must admit I’m interested in discovering what could persuade nearly every Hufflepuff student to leave lunch together with their wands ready.” Dumbledore started toward the door.
“Perhaps we should go and see.” Professor Sprout immediately followed, with McGonagall close behind.
Ilona rose as well and smoothly joined them.
“I’ll come too.
If there really is some kind of trouble, another wand may be useful.” Beneath her borrowed appearance, Vinda was already wondering whether Alistair had somehow managed to become involved in another unusual situation less than twenty-four hours after arriving at Hogwarts.
Once Ilona joined the group, several other professors began following almost automatically.
Professor Flitwick seemed genuinely curious, Madam Hooch turned back toward the corridor, and even Snape eventually moved after them rather than remaining behind alone.
What had begun as a small welcome gathering quickly transformed into a procession of Hogwarts professors heading toward the lower levels of the castle.
Percy hurried along with them, still convinced that they were about to discover some serious crisis.
None of them knew that the supposed Hufflepuff riot had already transformed into a House-wide lunch party.
And at the center of it all was Alistair Vance, desperately trying to explain to twenty students that they didn’t need to pour every seasoning in at once.