"Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders!"
"What the HELL is a Hufflepuff?"

~A Very Potter Musical

It's Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. Meet Giselle and Penny, two previously unknown Hufflepuffs who join the DA. They're not so unknown after that...

"Wow," Giselle whispered in awe, looking around.

It was called the 'Room of Requirement.' So she had been told, anyway. Here was where a select group of students was to be educated in Defense Against the Dark Arts, as that nasty woman Umbridge was hardly teaching them anything like that in the 'real' class.

"This is cool, right, Penny?" The red-haired Hufflepuff girl asked her friend, this time at normal speaking volume. "We're actually part of an underground association. We're going against the law!" She laughed at the thought.

"Hey, Ginny, you're finally here!"

Giselle glanced over at a tall, red-haired boy in surprise when she realized that she was being addressed. "Uh, sorry?"

The boy's own eyes widened in surprise when she looked at him straight-on. "Oh, sorry about that. Thought you were my sister--red hair and all that. Never mind, wasn't looking!"

"Fred!" Another boy's voice called. "Get over here and help me fix this gag. Ron's going to be in here any moment!"

"Sure thing!" And the boy who'd mistaken Giselle for his sister jogged away to the side of a boy who... looked just like him. Giselle blinked in surprise.

"There are two of them?" She questioned Penny, just to make sure she was seeing correctly.

"Yeah, this is cool," Penny answered. Maybe to Giselle it was just cool. Giselle was beautiful and a lot of Hufflepuffs, not to mention people from other houses, liked her. Penelope St. Clair was a bit of a nobody, though, and to her, this was much more than "cool"; it felt a little like acceptance.

In any event, Penny loved Defense Against the Dark Arts, though the only competent teacher they'd ever had was Professor Lupin. She didn't even mind that he was a werewolf, because he was nice to her. He was nice to everyone, really. She was hoping to learn a lot from Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Penny would never admit it, but she'd occasionally wished she was the Girl-Who-Lived or something of the sort. People might actually talk to her and know her as something more than Giselle's best friend. She felt bad after thinking that, though. Harry Potter had a lot on his plate and she didn't really envy him for that.

Really, she was lucky to have Giselle as a friend; then again, Giselle was fairly lucky that Penny would take the time to explain things in DADA and Potions. Penny didn't mind because she knew Giselle wasn't using her or anything.

Penny stood near Giselle, a little nervous because she wasn't used to doing things that were against the rules. "There are two of them," she answered. "Fred and George Weasley. They're very...well known. They make those Puking Pastilles and such."

She was starting to get just a bit impatient. There were probably fifteen people in the Room already and more would be coming. Harry and his friends weren't here yet, but Penny really wanted to start already. She couldn't wait to see what these meetings were going to be like.

"Oh, is that them? I've heard of them, but I've never seen them around before." Giselle laughed at the mention of the Puking Pastilles. There'd been an incident in class with that gag candy only yesterday.

Noticing her friend's uptightness, Giselle linked her arm through Penny's. "Hey, lighten up," she murmured, smiling reassuringly. "You've got me here, okay? And this Room, nobody but those who are looking for what it's being used for can find it. That's what I know of it, anyway. It'll be FINE. Am I ever wrong?"

She grinned at the irony of her statement. But then again, she didn't really mind making fun of herself.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to know where Harry is, would you?" A nervous-looking boy came up them; from his demeanor he had apparently been asking almost everyone this question. "He's late, and... well I was just thinking--"

"Neville, don't worry. I'm sure Harry's all right. Perhaps he ran into a Wrackspurt and that is why he isn't here yet."

Giselle stared at the pale-haired girl who was reassuring the boy called Neville... if in a strange manner. "What are Wrackspurts?" She whispered to Penny, who would probably know.

"Thanks." Penny smiled back, feeling really lucky at the moment. "Well..." she jokingly replied to Giselle's question, as if she had to think on it. "Never when it matters," she said, seriously.

Penny chuckled when Luna Lovegood tried to reassure the boy who ran in, whose name was apparently Neville. "It doesn't really matter what they are, or rather, what she thinks they are. That's Luna Lovegood--but some people call her Loony. She has the ridiculous notion that the creatures she speaks of actually exist, so most people just smile and nod," she explained in hushed tones so the girl in question couldn't actually hear.

"Which is not to say she's not a nice person, because she is; she's just..." Penny trailed off, unable to think of an adjective. She'd actually talked to Luna a few times because they'd both stayed at Hogwarts during the winter holidays one year and Giselle hadn't--well, to be honest, Luna had talked to her, and she'd been rather shy but did respond.

She wondered where Harry was, too, but she didn't feel comfortable enough asking anyone like Neville was doing, so she just waited.

In any event, they wouldn't have to wait long since Harry was standing outside the door, with his two friends beside him, rather afraid to walk into the Room. He'd never taught anyone before and he had no idea what to do.

Giselle laughed and squeezed Penny's arm. "Aw, you're so sweet, Pen."

Luna had been gazing at a spot on the ceiling quite intently after telling Neville that she thought she sensed a Wrackspurt was in the Room with them, but looked down again and smiled at Penny. "Oh, you think I'm nice? Thank you very much! I'm glad you think that. Many people don't," she continued matter-of-factly, "but it's all right. I think it's just because they don't know me."

The pale-haired girl shrugged in a care-free manner and drifted off towards the door of the Room of Requirement to continue waiting for Harry.

Hermione, meanwhile, was chastising her friend. "Harry, hurry up! Everybody is probably in there already and waiting for you. You agreed to do this, remember? Do want to get caught standing around out here?"

"Oh, uh, you're welcome," Penny answered, "people, um, tend to judge people a lot...before they get to know them..." she said, trailing off due to slight embarrassment. She normally didn't talk that much in front of many people and was unused to it. Apparently Luna didn't care, as she seemed perfectly happy waiting for Harry.

Harry regarded his friend, and sighed. "You're right, of course, 'Mione. I don't want to get caught. Remember, though, this was your idea," he accuse lightly--his tone belied the fact that he did not actually blame her. Ron, standing on the other side of Harry, clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You can do this, Harry. Everyone knows you're brilliant at Defence."

"I guess so, yeah. Thanks, guys," he replied, then opened the door and strode in to the Room. It looked perfectly suited for their needs, of course. Everyone seemed to have been waiting for him to arrive, so he felt slightly badly that he'd taken a while dealing with insecurity. It didn't look like anyone particularly cared, though; he just saw excited faces.

"Alright, everyone, um, welcome to the DA," he started, rather nervous. "Everyone knows that Umbridge is a rotten professor, so, er, I hope this will help everyone to learn better Defence techniques, and maybe actually pass the OWLS." He chuckled and saw grins directed at him. This wasn't so bad, perhaps. "Right, so, maybe we should all introduce ourselves first in case some people don't know each other? I'll start. I'm Harry Potter and I'm a fifth year Gryffindor." Ron, next to him, went next. "I'm Ron Weasley, and I'm a fifth year Gryffindor too."

"I'm Hermione Granger, a fifth year Gryffindor, as well."

"Fred Weasley! Seventh year Gryffindor."

"George Weasley. Same as Fred."

A brown-haired girl spoke up. "So you're related to Ron...?"

A sudden POP burst through everybody's eardrums, and a puff of green smoke descended onto Ron's head. Soon, his entire face was a lovely shade of emerald.

"Yep! He's our own little Ronnie!"

"He loves his older brothers, right, Ron?"

Everybody in the room burst into laughter. Even Hermione could not hide a small smile, though she soon managed to frown in Fred and George's direction once more.

"Hey, lighten up, Hermione... Just an ice-breaker, you know?"

"And it worked, too!" George grinned.

Neville, meanwhile, was edging away from the twins as inconspicuously as possible.

"Uh, hi!" Giselle spoke up, still giggling a little. "I'm Giselle Mortimer. I'm a fifth-year Hufflepuff. I'm kind of nervous, since Defense Against the Dark Arts isn't my best subject, but... I'm willing to give it my all," she added hopefully.

Fred and George cheered. "Hey, it's not failing that counts, it's not trying at all!"

"You two would know," Hermione sighed. "If there's anyone I know who doesn't give up on the first try for anything, it's you. Especially with your pranks."

"That's so true, Hermione," Ginny Weasley agreed, shaking her head at her brothers' antics. She was further along in the bunch, though, so she gestured to the girl next to Giselle to continue.

Penny blushed lightly. "I'm Penelope St. Clair," she told everyone, quietly, nervously fingering her mousy brown hair, "but you can, um, call me Penny." She looked down, then remembering she'd forgotten to state her house and year, so--"Fifth year Hufflepuff," she added, "and I really like DADA."

"Well that's great! I really like DADA too," Harry replied, wanting the girl to feel at-ease.

Introductions continued.

"Hey, I'm Ginny Weasley, and I'm a fourth year Gryffindor," Ginny said, when it was finally her turn. "Really, though, I don't know these people," she joked, gesturing at Fred and George.

((Have we forgotten anyone important? Yeah, I think I'll be alright with playing Ginny.))

Luna waited serenely until almost everyone had introduced themselves before speaking up. "Hello, everyone. My name is Luna Lovegood. I am a fourth-year Ravenclaw."

Neville seemed to realize too late that he was the only one who had not introduced himself. "Uh, N-Neville Longbottom. Fifth-year Gryffindor." His face flushed red from the long pause that had ensued before he'd spoken.

Hermione looked around, then nodded slightly. "Well, now that everyone's introduced themselves, why don't we get started, Harry?"

She gave her friend a pointed look before subtly pulling out her wand. She aimed it at Ron's face and pronounced, "Scourgify!"

...Nothing happened.

She glanced over at Fred and George, who were smirking. "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you, Hermione?"

"Could you get that green... whatever off before the lesson starts?" She asked in a weary tone of voice.

They only chuckled and turned away, showing absolutely no remorse over the state of their younger brother's face. George called out merrily, "So, Harry! What's first on the agenda?"

Harry opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words, at first. Then he closed his eyes for a moment, opened them again, and said, "Well, one of the most important things in a duel of any kind is keeping calm, as much as you can. If you're not calm, you won't be able to remember anything. So, we're going to start with something pretty basic, Expelliarmus. After you all learn it, everyone's going to split up and use it against each other, while the Room hopefully provides extremely loud music which could be a distraction." Sure, that would work. A couple of groans ensued at mentioning Expelliarmus, since it was such a "basic spell", but Harry added, "Never doubt simpler spells. This one kept me alive."

He turned to Fred and George. "Seriously, guys, could you get this stuff off Ron's face?"

Ron nodded wildly in agreement, afraid to open his mouth in case the stuff would turn him into an animal or something.

Fred rolled his eyes, but complied, taking a tin out of his pocket and handing it to Ron. "Put some of that cream on your face, Ronnie-kins. Should take it right off."

"Well, it SHOULD, anyway," George added with a smirk.

"Don't take our word for it."

"And why am I not surprised by that...?" Hermione sighed. She then clapped her hands, calling out, "Well, let's get to work on what Harry said. Harry, do you want everyone to line up?"

Luna calmly drifted over to spot somewhere near the front of the group and drew her wand. "I'm ready whenever you are, Harry," she uttered with complete confidence in the Gryffindor apparent in her voice.

Giselle, not wanting to be left out, grabbed at Penelope's hand to drag her to the front of the room as well. "Come on, star student. Ready to show your skills?" She teased.