Halt and Goblet of Fire

It was 1985 and before the Sorting Hat could say Slytherin, Joe MacMillan said "I want Hufflepuff."

In the Great Hall Joe sat down with the other newly appointed Hufflepuffs. His chosen seat was beside Gordon who was obsessing. Gordon, in trying to impress the cute redhead in Gryffindor, made a joke about how his name was Gordon, "as in Crabbe and Gordon" forgetting not only that the reference should have been "Crabbe and Goyle" but also that these two wizards would be the cause of great turmoil at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the near future. This was of course only according to the irrational tea leaves of adjunct professor Trelawney but it seemed in poor taste all the same. The joke worked like social polyjuice potion, tasting bitter and turning Gordon into a real clown. Somehow the red headed witch still smiled. It was beyond anything anyone could understand. Even Gordon himself wondered if he'd used a love potion on her and just forgot about it. He'd been using a lot of potions in the last 20 months and couldn't remember all of them. Gordon turned to Joe with all of these preoccupations clear to read on his conjunctivitis cursed face.

Joe's concerns were elsewhere and more focused. His thoughts were divided in two between both the house points in the hour glass and the short haired girl in Ravenclaw. Joe MacMillian had a plan for obtaining house points but nothing for her. She couldn't be understood by his understanding. She was raw talent incarnate. Like being hit with a spell, any spell, Joe's thoughts went still when thinking of her. Joe didn't know the particulars of spells well enough to diagnose this frozen feeling but he knew he had to be with this Ravenclaw. Gordon leaned over to inform Joe that the spell he's thinking of is most likely the freezing spell "Petrificus Totalus." All that did was anger Joe and strike Yo-Yo dead with a glacial blast.

Gordon's insufferable fucking up succeeded in bringing Joe's mind back to his objective, and if he'd ever admit to being helped, it also inspired a new goal. Before the year was out Joe would find a way to freeze the house points in Ravenclaw's hour glass forcing a merge with Hufflepuff. Also, before returning home for the summer to deal with his private and troubled past, Joe MacMillan will win the short haired Ravenclaw for himself. As sure as Voldemort's impending return, there was no spell to cure the scars on his body but maybe, just maybe, this Ravenclaw could cure his loneliness.