The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 33: Philter of Love

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The Kind Hufflepuff - Second Year

Chapter Thirty- Three: Philter of Love

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Inside of a particular Hufflepuff dormitory in the girl's wing held excited chatter as they discussed their costumes for the day. Unfortunately, Halloween once more fell on a school day, and Cali had received a rather stern conversation with Professor Sprout regarding proper Hogwarts attire and was assured she could get dressed before the Halloween feast which was what the three girls were doing now.

Cali was dressing as a butterfly, a blue dress that reached an appropriate length with tulle and butterfly wings to match. Greta was dressing as a cutesy rat after having lost a bet with John about how long she could go without her favorite snack while Daisy was ecstatic about John agreeing to do a matching costume with her, with her dressing as a princess and John going as prince charming- though she still swore she didn't have romantic feelings for the older boy.

Greta was dressed in brown corduroy pants and a brown sweater, wearing mouse ears and using muggle sharpie to dress on her nose and cheeks. Daisy wore the most obnoxious pink dress that she could find alongside a golden crown, her muggle sisters who sent her the dress said they found the costume and thought of her. It was from Sleeping Beauty, a movie that had been released some time ago.

"We look so cute," Greta smiled brightly.

"Do you think John's going to like my costume?" Daisy asked nervously, which both the girls were quick to assure her that the Hufflepuff would love it.

"Guys, John is downstairs waiting for you guys," an older Hufflepuff informed the three girls, popping her head in as her antennas from her bee costume jiggled in place.

"Thank you," Greta told the girl, grabbing her wand and sticking it in her boots as the other girls grabbed theirs as well. "Let's go!" She ushered the other two of their rooms, heading downstairs to see a blushing John as he received stares and compliments from various Hufflepuffs.

"Hi," Daisy bounced up to the boy, her smile wide. "You look handsome," which Cali supposed was true, wearing a white and blue costume that contrasted Daisy's pink one. She wasn't sure they looked like a matching team, but the gold crown the boy was wearing did help the idea.

"Thanks Daisy, you look cute too," he told the girl before glancing at the other two. "You look cute too Cal. Greta, you look 'ight," he teased Greta who rolled her eyes at the boy's antics.

"Yeah whatever, you look like you should be kissing a toad," Greta snapped back, walking past them towards the Common Room exit, and Cali was quick to follow, quietly telling John that she thought he looked good as well before linking arms with Greta. "Do you think those Gryffindor boys will do anything?" Greta asked curiously.

"Do what?" Cali questioned.

"Not sure," she shrugged.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, it had magically transformed. The candles that typically littered the ceilings were now pumpkins with candles inside of them, casting menacing shadows onto the walls while the food filled the tables with abundance. Pumpkins lined the tables, and the desserts were all autumn themed with a particular focus on desserts than what would typically appear on the plates. Cali's first impression of the hall was that the house elves had done marvelous on the food, the wafting smell of chocolate and pumpkin filling the room.

As they sat down, they noticed another drink appeared in front of every student at Hogwarts of a pinkish liquid. Cali had hesitantly picked up the drink, smelling it and noting the raspberry scent. Upon inspection, she noticed the drink was bubbly and seemed to be a fizzy drink of some kind. She shrugged, knocking the glass against Greta's before they both took a sip.

Upon taking the sip, she placed it on the table and looked up to see Bertram Aubrey staring at her. It was in that moment that she knew that the boy was the love of her life, the person that she was meant to spend the rest of her living days with. She noticed the boy was staring at her with a similar expression to that of her own and blushed deeply. The blood rushing to her cheeks as they tinted a deep pink.

She moved her gaze back to where Greta had been, wanting to tell the girl that she had realized her feelings for the boy but instead saw that Greta was at the Gryffindor table, flirting shamelessly with Sirius Black so she turned to Daisy and John, but stopped short when she saw that Daisy had climbed into the boy's lap as they flirted shamelessly. She was surprised by the sudden change, knowing that usually the two of them were a lot less open about their feelings towards each other but shook it off, not even noticing that Regulus Black was standing behind her, about to grab her shoulder when she stood up herself, walking past the boy that she didn't even notice and towards Bertram.

"Hi Bertram," Cali giggled, her finger twirling in her hair.

"Hi Cal," Bertram scooted over to give her a small amount of space to sit beside him, which she happily took.

"Attention, attention students and professors," a voice rang throughout the Great Hall, and Cali reluctantly moved her gaze from Bertram to look towards Album Dumbledore. "I do believe that we all have been dosed with a common love potion named Philter of Love, meaning that the first person you looked at when you took a sip of that raspberry drink became the object of your affection, leading you to believe that they would be your true love. This will only last an hour, but please be mindful that you are under a love potion and these feelings are likely not real," he quickly explained, using his hand to stop a first-year boy from trying to hug his legs.

"So, this is a love potion," Bertram mumbled, nodding his head as he looked around the room to see older students making out and younger students fawning all over each other. "That makes sense," he told Cali, smiling as he traced his pointed finger along her jaw.

"What if my feelings are real?" Cali giggled, unable to comprehend that this might not be true.

"Come to me in an hour then," he whispered into her ear, causing a blush to spread across her cheeks.

"Will do."

With that, Cali decided to grab Greta who was now sitting on one of Sirius' legs while another girl sat on the other. He seemed to be embracing the attention while James Potter was sitting on the ground at Lily Evans' feet who looked thoroughly annoyed by his behavior. "Hi Lily," Cali greeted, looking between them confused.

"Being allergic to raspberries is beneficial, sometimes," Lily groaned to the girl. "I was the one that informed the headmaster of this idiocy. I can almost guarantee that this twit was probably the one behind this entire mess," the red head ranted, gesturing towards the boy that looked like a little kid being read his favorite story.

"Why would he drink the potion?" Cali questioned, glancing back at Bertram who was ignoring a Ravenclaw first year who was trying to talk to him.

"To hell if I know," Lily snapped, raising her hands to the sky in exasperation.

The hour passed eventually, and it wasn't long before the couples that had previously been planning their marriages or close to undressing each other in the middle of the Great Hall came to their senses. Immediately, Bertram Aubrey came to find the Hufflepuff who was comforting Greta who was thoroughly embarrassed when she realized what she was doing. "So?" Bertram asked the girl, almost hopefully as Cali cringed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly. "I'm just not ready for a relationship."

"I totally get it," he told her before Daisy came up and grabbed Cali and Greta's hand, demanding that they go back to their dorms.

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Fun Fact - Philter of Love is a potion within Dungeons and Dragons which wouldn't come out until 1974. My head cannon is that a lot of Dungeons and Dragons stuff is actually real in the Harry Potter world but many of it would end up being banned by the 90's like this love potion due to the nature of it.