“Thanks. We’ll see how successful I am with the traps, first.”

Jez gave a short nod. Hufflepuff House had the only Commons that had never admitted anyone from another house - not in over a millennium. But if people needed a home, if theirs was gone or closed to them, it only made sense that Hufflepuff would be the one to take them in. The concept spoke to some deep, innate part of her badgery soul. As odd as it would be to have a Ravenclaw in her old House, it would undoubtedly be much odder for Guenevere to be in someone else's. But Jez couldn't rush up to the towers to start dealing with traps and unknown perpetrators; if the Hat was on a recruitment drive, the castle entrance needed to be secured.

"So, Mkichaa, what are your plans now? Will you bunk here with us, or do you think you'll try the dungeons tonight?"

"No. I'm going to try the dungeons."


Guenevere was trying to be friendly, it seemed, but Jez wasn't sure if that was the right approach given Mkichaa's coldness towards her. Jez's instinct was to offer help to the former Slytherin, but she didn't think that was the right approach, either. "Send up a flare spell if you want reinforcements," she said, blandly, striking a balance between offering help and keeping a respectful distance.

Turning back to Guenevere, Jez nodded to the backpack lying forlornly near the table. "Got a tent in there you can use. Pretty basic, but there's a camp bed, shower, the usual. I'll be using a sleeping bag until the wards have been tried." Only then would she have confidence in them. She'd set them up when Mkichaa left.