The Hufflepuffs are different now than they were when Zacharias was a student.

The whole world is different now, but he notices it most in his Houselings.

There are 46 of them, and they are hard workers, loyal and true to each other and Hogwarts, and all of them hard as stone.

When Zacharias was a student, he had to convince his Housemates not to call him Zach. He had to sneer, and sniff, and poke at Ernie and Hannah until they realized he wasn't one to tease. No one teases his Houselings now, and they make sure of it all on their own.

When Zacharias was a student Gryffindors were loved, and Slytherins were hated, and Ravenclaws ignored Hufflepuffs in favor of study. Now the Hufflepuffs push in beside the others, and though they toil harder, they are noticed just the same. There is a wall, in the Hogwarts graveyard, and though the names of Gryffindors litter its length, and Slytherins and Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs fill it to bursting. It's always the foot soldiers who get decimated.

Zacharias spends one evening a week tutoring his Houselings in hexes, and another on medical charms. Elenor, Owen, Laura and Kevin's parents pooled their galleons and gave him the Pomona Sprout Memorial Herb Garden. He spent six weeks dismantling and reapplying the Great Hall's ceiling charm, so he could nestle the garden in the corner of Helga's Study (Salazar wasn't the only one with secret chambers;) no Badger under his care will die from a lack of training, lost in the Forest and away from adults.

Zacharias remembers when Justin walked around shaking and afraid of Petrification, or death. He remembers when death came at last, and Justin had a smile on his face, and pulled Horace Stebbings and Lucas Summers after him. If the basilisk came now, Justin would sneer like Zacharias, and use his wand as naturally as any pureblood to send it packing.

If Justin were alive.

Bill and Draco worry at Hermione sometimes, at Harry. They prod them, and Remus does as well, and Ginny Lupin, when they aren't tied up with Charlotte. They try to soften them, to pull them from their shells.

Zacharias tries to push his Houselings all the more inside.

Severus knows what he's doing, he's fairly sure. Severus always struck him as knowing a lot, about life and survival and Hogwarts. Severus knew how to blend into shadows, how to suppress ambition and go unnoticed and live to be seen in the future. Now that he is Headmaster, little escapes his attention.

When Zacharias was a student, the Hufflepuffs were weak, and no one wanted to be them who had a shot at being anything else. Before he took over as Head of House, he had a long talk with the Sorting Hat, and now his charges know that accepting others is not synonymous with rolling over and getting killed.

Zacharias remembers flying with Cedric, one glorious year. Cedric, who beat Harry Potter to the golden snitch. Cedric, who won the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and never got to show his parents the trophy.

None of Zacharias's students is a spare.

Zacharias remembers a lot of things, and few of them are kind, but then no one is kind to Hufflepuffs except their own. He remembers laughter and teasing and shadows over his shoulder, coldness and darkness and Death Eaters stalking his Housemates, one by one, spilling their blood on the ground and it ran just as red, just as pure, but still they came and still they killed, and Cedric was only the first.

Of course, it started long before Cedric. It started with Muggles, and envy, and open hands met with flames, and the Friar who speaks of forgiveness speaks also of smoke, and burning, and voices screaming in the dark. It started when Helga herself lay dying in the Forest, and rejected Salazar's promise of vengeance, and continued through the ages, and somewhere along the way "just and loyal" turned into "merciful and soft". It was said once that a badger crossing behind you was lucky, but if it walked in front, if it stopped and scratched the earth before your path, you were bound to death as though a Grim had trod upon your grave. His students march proudly, heads held high, and no one forgets now that badgers are carnivores.

Zacharias remembers Susan's face, when he slid a diamond on her finger. He remembers her lips against his, whispering promises she never lived to keep. He remembers blood on their bed, her blood, and a baby too small to survive, and the Dark Mark rising over their chimney. He remembers her laughter, the shy smile that appeared when he kissed her, the soft touch of her skin. His Houselings come to him like that, when the Hat first calls their name. When they leave for home in June, it is still there, beneath the surface, but he is there as well, a hardness in the eyes that keeps them safe as he wasn't able to keep Susan.

The Hufflepuffs are different now than they were when Zacharias was a student.

Life is different now, but it is there, and witches and wizards are filled with it, and guard it as they didn't know to do when Zacharias was young.

The world is harder now, and the Hufflepuffs with it, and Zacharias watches them grow stronger, as he did, and remembers his Housemates, and walks along the Mourning Wall each Christmas, and doesn't cry.