Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The train slowly starts moving underneath my feet. I poke my head out of my window to wave goodbye to my family. My dad is slightly crying, my mom laughing at him even though she’s clearly fighting back tears, and my younger sister is waving goodbye as well, looking like she’s about to cry. 

My first year at Hogwarts. It’s really starting. I poke my head back in once I can’t see them anymore and begin searching for a room.

All summer I had been getting more and more excited for this day, the start of my journey to becoming a witch! A full-blown witch! I can finally learn all about potions, herbology and magical beasts! My shoulders sag a little at the fact that I have to wait two more years to be able to have Care for Magical Beasts, but it’ll all be worth it once I can. Speaking of 3rd year, that’s when I’ll be old enough to…

I walk past many full rooms, walking slightly quicker past the ones containing the oldest students. Finally an empty one. I walk in, set my stuff in the overhead bin and take a seat. Not long passes before a small knock sounds at the door. 

“Excuse me? Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full”

A girl with long, wavy, black hair and a slightly stoic face asks. I take a guess and say she’s a first year as well, from her looking my age and not sitting with any friends from the previous year.

“Of course! Go ahead” I smile. She moves to lift her stuff to the overhead bin and then sits down. We share a moment of awkward silence before she introduces herself.

“Vixen, Delilah Vixen. Nice to meet you” 

“Oh! I’m Sylvia Fern, nice to meet you too” I sputtered, having not expected her introduction due to spacing out.

We sit a little in silence again, not knowing what to say. 

“So-”

“Are yo-”

….

…

..

.

“What we-”

“Go ahe-”

We look at each other a little before we break into laughter. What an awesome start. 

“I guess we really both have a knack for making things awkward”

“I guess so”

After the Slightly Awkward start, we quickly fall into chatter.

Delilah is from an almost-pureblood family. They aren’t part of the sacred 28, however, they are distant relatives of the Gaunts. All of her family is Slytherin, though she herself doesn't want to be a Slytherin. Says she doesn’t agree with all the pureblood mania her family says. She’s almost entirely sure that her family is inbred, though she had never had the courage to ask.

I tell her a little about my family, like about my mom being a muggle and my dad a wizard. I also tell her about my sister, who’s starting Hogwarts in three years. When my dad had gone to Hogwarts he was a Ravenclaw, and my grandparents had been in the Gryffindor house. My dad’s always claimed that if my mom had gone to Hogwarts, she would’ve been a Slytherin.

Conversation flows so easily that we almost don’t change in time for Hogwarts. Looking out the window I see the magnificent castle that is Hogwarts. The black lake reflects the stars and moon, along with all the lights in the castle. Off in the distance, I see a huge tentacle spring up from the water, almost in a greeting. 

We both head off the train, going towards a huge man with a lamp.

“First years! First years over here!”

While we wait for all the first-years to get here, I spot two boys with bright red hair. They look identical, and my guess is that they’re twins. 

The group of first-years suddenly start moving, and we go towards the lake. 

The boat ride to the castle was amazing. We got to see the castle getting closer and closer. Looking over the side of the boat I see some movement in the water but chose to ignore it as we approach the boathouse.

The walk up to the castle was tiring, but the view was great. Once we finally get into the castle, I’m still amazed. The architecture is definitely old, nothing like the buildings you see nowadays. The big man, which I’ve now learned is called Hagrid, tells us all to go up some stairs until we meet a lady called Professor McGonagall. And we sure do. 

“Welcome to Hogwarts. In a moment, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before that, you will be sorted” Excited murmurs sounded around the room

“There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. In the time that you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will win you points, any rule-breaking will lose you points.” Professor McGonagall says, eyes gliding across students, stopping short on a certain pair of mischievous-looking twins. 

“At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup.” She says, looking across the students once more, almost as if she were trying to remember every single face. “The ceremony will begin soon”

After she takes her leave, the students softly begin speaking to each other.

“What are you hoping to get?” Delilah softly asks beside me.

“I’m not sure. Any house will do just fine, as long as it’s Hogwarts!” I smile. I’ve been dreaming of this day since I first heard of Hogwarts. I don’t really care much about where I’m sorted into. “What about you?”

“Well, anything but Slytherin Honestly” Delilah answers softly, almost as to not offend anyone hoping for Slytherin. Before I can respond, the ginger twins come up behind us. 

“Do you seriously not have a house you want to be in? If I’m not sorted into Gryffindor, I might as well leave Hogwarts” One of the twins says, the other humming in agreement.

“Well, If I had to choose… I’d probably want to be in Hufflepuff!” I declared. I had always had a love for magical beasts and plants, so since both professor Sprout and Professor Kettleburn* are Hufflepuffs, I figured that would be awesome. Plus, my dad keeps telling me that I act like I am Hufflepuff, so that’s probably true.

“Hufflepuff? Really?” The other twin inquired, a bewildered look on his face. 

“Y’know, Hufflepuffs are hard-working and loyal, not necessarily weak” Delilah reminded them. Before any of us could say anything else, Professor McGonagall came back.

“The hall is ready now. Please follow me” Turning around and heading for the door, we walk into the great hall. All the students neatly lined up in their seats made me a bit nervous, but I manage. I end up focusing on the ceiling. I can see the night sky projected on the roof, along with floating candles.

“Incredible” I gloat. I’ve only ever heard about it from my dad. I see Delilah slightly nod out of the corner of my eye. The end of the tables is empty, waiting for all of the students to be sorted and come sit.

Headmaster Dumbledore says a few words about the forbidden forest, though I don’t pay much attention to it. or much of anything said after that.

“Bletchley, Miles” McGonagall starts off listing the students. Each goes to the stool one by one in alphabetical order. My surname, Fern, made me one of the first students.

“SLYTHERIN” A few claps and cheers erupt from the Slytherin table.

“Davies, Roger”

“RAVENCLAW”

“Diggory, Cedric”

“HUFFLEPUFF”

“Fern, Sylvia” I jump a little at the mention of my name, quickly darting up to not make a scene.

“Hmmm… finally another Fern.” The sorting hat starts. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Fern here. You seem quite…. Loyal, oh yes. And quite kind as well…. Hardworking too… must be..“

“HUFFLEPUFF!” I flinch a little at how loud it is but quickly jump off the stool and toward the table full of cheering Hufflepuffs. I sit down and immediately am greeted with high-fives and welcomes. I sit nervously as I wait and see where Delilah is put. Unfortunately, her surname starts with V, so she’s towards the end.

“Johnson, Angelina”

“GRYFFINDOR”

“Jordan, Lee”

“GRYFFINDOR”

“Pucey, Adrian”

“SLYTHERIN”

“Spinnet, Alicia”

“GRYFFINDOR”

“Stimpson, Patricia”

“RAVENCLAW”

“Towler, Kenneth”

“GRYFFINDOR”

“Vixen, Delilah” My attention is once again on the hat. There are barely any left, only Delilah and three others, two of them being the twins from earlier. I wonder if they get into Gryffindor.

She goes up to the stool. She looks quite nervous. We gain eye contact and I smile encouragingly. Time seems to go slower

“HUFFLEPUFF”

She gives a big smile and heads towards me, sitting next to me. We give a side hug and pay attention to the last three kids. 

“Warrington, Cassius”

“SLYTHERIN”

“Weasley, Fred”

“GRYFFINDOR”

“Weasley, George”

“GRYFFINDOR”

Finally, everyone had been sorted. The two twins, who I’ve now learned are Fred and George, sit next to two other ginger Gryffindors, which I can only assume are their brothers,

Delilah and I talk with the other Hufflepuffs, both older and new. We talked a lot with a boy named Cedric, who had been the first Hufflepuff to be sorted. He seemed like a nice guy, and both Delilah and I had been delighted to talk to him. He was bound to be popular, considering his kind personality along with handsome looks.

Chapter Text

“Syl, wake up” I feel someone shaking me, but I ignore it because there’s no way it’s early enough for me to wake up.

“Seriously, we have to get ready to get to platform 9 ¾” Delilah shakes me again.

“Mnnooo… It’s too early” I groan in complaint.

“Syl, it’s 9 am, your parents asked me to get you.” Even though I couldn’t see her, I could feel her deadpan. 

“C’mon, Dee, just five more minutes. You know I only just recently finished th-” I groan, though quickly interrupted by Delilah.

“Bloody hell Syl, stop using that excuse. You successfully completed it over a week ago” Delilah quickly pulls off my blanket with the complaint. I groan at the sudden loss of comfort. 

“Dee! How dare you?! You give that back!” I get up, my long brown hair ruffled and my nightgown askew. 

“Nope!” Delilah quickly runs downstairs. I mutter some curse words and give up. I’ve never been the athletic type, so I didn’t want to bother chasing after her. I get dressed and brush my hair. I give up trying to style it, knowing it’ll just be all ruffled again later. 

Walking down the stairs to the kitchen, I spot Delilah and my sister, Celeste, chatting. 

The morning after Our sorting ceremony, Delilah received a howler from her mother. She had been furious that Delilah had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Said it was a disgrace to the family, and practically disowned her. The whole hall could hear the howler, and I could hear some snickers and agreements at the Slytherin table. A lot of Hufflepuffs had booed at the howler, quickly turning to comfort Delilah, to tell her not to be ashamed. Which, to be clear, she wasn’t. In fact, she had been smirking at the howler.

She didn’t care for her mother's opinion and had actually been looking for a reason to escape her grasp and ridiculous pureblood mania. Around Christmas, I had sent an owl to my parents, explaining her situation and asking if she could join us for the holidays, to which they had quickly agreed. Since then, she had basically become a part of the family, my parents seeing her as a third daughter, and Celeste seeing her as an older sister. She had also spent all the holiday at my house, where we shared a room. This only made the two of us closer.

“Merlin’s beard, Sylvia, took you long enough” Celeste sassed. I stick my tongue out at her and go over to ruffle her hair. She complains, hitting my hand away. 

“Stop you two, and get finished already, we have to get to platform 9 ¾ before 11 am.” My mom complains from the couch, and Dad chuckles at our behaviour.

“It’s fine, Miriam dear. Remember, the girls packed everything they needed yesterday, and the drive to the station isn’t too long.” My dad calms my mom, even though the drive is about 45 minutes. Her face softens, charmed by my dad's words.

“I know, I know,” Mom admitted. “Still, you two do need to get ready. Especially you, Sylvia, you still have dirt on you from all of the gardening you were up to yesterday.”

I roll my eyes at my mom, I don’t look that bad. Delilah and I both head up to our room and get the last things ready, packing last-minute things. 

I notice my books for Care of Magical Beasts and am hit with excitement. 

Last year, just before summer, all second-years had to choose at least two additional classes. I ended up choosing Care for Magical Beasts(Of course) and Muggle Studies. Delilah had gone with Care for Magical Beasts and Muggle Studies as well. Ever since she’d started spending her holidays with me, and was introduced to my muggle mother, she’d been interested in muggle things ever since. I had chosen Muggle Studies because it would be easy, and to be in the same class as Delilah,

Finally, I could start learning about magical beasts. I had already been researching them, and had read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them multiple times. We sadly didn’t have much with any beasts to do at home. Sure, we had our owls, and don’t get me wrong I absolutely adore them, however, it could be fun to meet some other beasts for a change. My mom would probably get a heart attack if we were to have a bunch of magical beasts running around.

“Remember to pay attention in the other classes as well, Syl.” Delilah reminded me, seeing my face full of excitement.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try” I brush her off. For the past two years, I had had trouble paying attention in some classes. Mostly when the subject wasn’t of interest. Charms class was fine because it had quite a few useful spells, but Defense Against the Dark Arts, however, was not a class I liked. Most students adored the subject, however, it didn’t really interest me. I didn’t like how violent the class was, and I didn’t want to hurt the other students when we were practising. I wasn’t planning on becoming an Auror, so it didn’t matter much anyway. 

“Girls! Get down here so we can get going” My dad yells at us, and we quickly head down and pack the car. We have a decently-sized family car. Our family weren’t super rich, but it’s not like we were barely scraping by either.

The drive there was nice. Delilah loved the car. I mean, she loved anything muggle, but still. We listened to some of my mom’s favourite bands from when she was younger. Bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Abba and more were often played whenever we needed some background noise. My mom had brought her record player with her when she moved in with my dad, so I had grown up with muggle music. Which I was actually quite grateful for. 

My mom parks the car just outside the station, and we get some rollers for our luggage. We go to the space between platforms nine and ten and make sure we have everything.

“Sylvia, you go first,” My dad says. I nod and place myself to run through. Once on the other side, I find a space not far from the entrance to wait for the others. First Delilah comes through, then Celeste, and then my parents. Muggles could access platform 9 ¾ if accompanied by a witch or wizard. 

We head towards the train before my dad stops in his tracks.

“Merlin's beard! If it isn’t Arthur Weasley!” My dad exclaims, heading towards a man with ginger hair. I recognize the surname from the troublemaker duo in my year.

“Axel Fern! How long’s it been? 20 years?” The man called Arthur Weasley pulls my dad into a hug. 

“And Molly Prewett! Or wait, I’m guessing you two got married?” My dad gushed, falling into conversation with the two. It seems like it was some of my dads' old classmates. 

I look around and spot the twins, along with what seemed to be their older and younger brother, along with a younger sister, all of them having flaming red hair. To the side, however, I spot a boy with dark brown hair and a pair of broken glasses. He looks back at me and we gain eye contact, in which I look away in embarrassment, not having meant to stare.

“And is this your daughters? Who did you end up marrying?” Arthur inquired, looking behind my dad at Delilah, Celeste and me. 

“Sure is! This is Sylvia, my eldest. And over there is Delilah, she isn’t biologically my daughter, but she might as well be. Both of them are third-years. And lastly, I have Celeste. She’s starting Hogwarts next year.” My dad explains, pointing to each of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Delilah smile a bit at my dad's comment. 

“And over here is Miriam, my wife. She’s actually a muggle” My dad added. The mention of my mom being a muggle makes Arthur’s eyes light up, and he looks like he’s about to ask her hundreds of questions before his wife, who my dad had previously called Molly, stopped him.

“Arthur, the train’s about to depart, you can ask her all of your questions after we’ve gotten them all onboard” Arthur’s shoulders sag a little, but he quickly turns back to his family to wish them goodbyes.

“Great to meet some old classmates again.” My dad sighs in contentment, quickly turning back to us to wish us goodbye. 

“Now remember, Sylvia, Delilah, have fun and don’t get into too much trouble” My dad smiles, giving us both a hug. After he hugged me, he pulled away and grabbed my shoulders. “And Sylvia, just because you’ve become an animagus, doesn't mean you can sneak out into the forbidden forest to meet the creatures out there or sneak around the castle at night”

I nod at his warning, which he had told me countless times before. I was probably going to ignore it, but he didn’t need to know that.

My dad came from a long line of wizards. However, we weren’t purebloods and never had been. There were multiple muggles, muggle-born, half-bloods, and even a few purebloods married into the family, making it quite a mix of people. And though we Ferns were very different from each other, we were known to be quite calm and patient. This contributed to our long-standing family tradition of being animagi. Whenever a witch or wizard turned 13, they were given the option to become an animagus, the art of doing so being passed down from generation to generation. There were records of this in the ministry since it was always reported, because, of course, no one wanted to risk a sentence in Azkaban. But even though it was reported, very few knew of this, courtesy of my father, whose animagus is an eagle. He takes care of the British archives in the Ministry of Magic. This way, only a few were even aware of the family tradition.

When I turned 13 in the spring of the last school year, I had chosen to wait till summer break to do it. It would be easier with the support of my family. And once summer finally came, I started the journey to becoming an animagus and succeeded. We had been incredibly lucky because there had been a thunderstorm in the summer towards the end. Once I had turned, and once again returned back to human, we celebrated it. Even Delilah had been offered to try, but she had refused. Said she didn’t want to carry a mandrake leaf in her mouth for a month. 

“All aboard! Train leaving in three minutes!” A loud voice is heard from the train, and we quickly collect our things so we can get on board. My mom pulls us into a quick bone-crushing hug before ushering for us to go. We quickly head to the train, showing our ticked as we board, all the heavy stuff already in another part of the train.

We walk in search of a compartment for a while, giving up on finding an empty one and looking for some friends in the meantime. We quickly find a compartment containing some other Hufflepuffs in our year, and we’re quickly welcomed. 

We fall into excited chatter with the others, catching up on what we did during summer break. And of course, gossip unfurls.

“Did you hear that Harry Potter is starting school this year?” One of the girls raved. Everyone gets a look of remembrance at the fact that the boy who lived is supposed to start this year.

“Imagine he gets sorted into Hufflepuff, perhaps we could finally get seen as people who aren’t goody-two-shoes or pushovers!” One of the boys says. It was true. Some people *cough cough* every other house than Hufflepuff *cough cough* seemed to think that hardworking, kind and loyal meant that we were weak, or that we would rat out students for breaking rules. Which was not true at all. We had just as many rule-breakers as the other houses had, we were just better at hiding it. We weren’t necessarily as competitive as the other houses, but that didn’t mean we were stupid.

We all sit a little in silence, thinking of the unfair treatment that we Hufflepuffs get.

“Well, even if he becomes a Hufflepuff or not, we’re still going to have a great year.” Another boy, Cedric Diggory, adds. He had always been good at lightening the mood if there ever was anyone sad. He had become the Hufflepuff seeker since last year, and he was damned good at it. Delilah had wanted to apply last year as a keeper, but the position wasn’t open. Luckily, the previous keeper had graduated the previous year, so she had a higher chance of getting the position she wants.

“You’re right. There are going to be plenty of other new students to welcome. That reminds me, Delilah, isn’t your sister coming to Hogwarts this year?” The girl who had brought up Harry potter mentions. This causes a slightly sad look on her face.

“Yeah. Though I haven’t spoken to her since I was sorted into Hufflepuff. My mother didn’t let me.” She mumbled. Everyone had been aware of her situation from pretty early on and had been in her full support. She’d told me previously that she had a good relationship with her sister. However, her sister had been more susceptible to their mother's thoughts and lies, so she wouldn’t be surprised if her sister hated her.

We quickly changed subjects after that, chatting about the year ahead. And before we knew it, we had arrived at Hogsmeade train station.

***

“That sure was a long ride! I need to move a little” One of the boys says as we leave the train, heading towards the thestral-pulled carriages. I had been able to see them since I was eight. I hadn’t seen anything traumatic, I had just been looking at my grandmother as she passed away in her hospital bed. I always thought the creatures were misunderstood. They were so pure and never hurt another creature unless it was for food or in self-defence.

I resist the urge to pet them before boarding the carriage, knowing it’ll look ridiculous to those who’d never witnessed death. The ride to the castle was slow, and I’d always wondered how we somehow made it there before the first years. Once we were there, we were allowed to quickly put any luggage we brought with us on the train to our common rooms, before we had to get to the hall. Delilah and I sit with our backs to the Gryffindor table, towards the front of the table. Even though we didn’t have a specific place we had to sit, the students in the same year tended to sit with each other. 

We sat patiently through the sorting ceremony, watching as each student got sorted into their house, and cheering extra loudly whenever someone got into Hufflepuff. 

“Potter, Harry” At the mention of his name, the whole hall went silent. Everyone was waiting to see where the famous boy who lived would be sorted. I could see the boy muttering something, before-

“GRYFFINDOR” The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers, and I could hear some students shout ‘We got Potter’. I chuckle a little at their competitiveness. We watch a few more sortings until a certain first year got called up.

“Vixen, Evangeline” I feel Delilah stiffen beside me, and I reach out to squeeze her hand, giving her a soft smile in support. I see multiple Hufflepuffs, both older and younger, glance at her. I look back to Evangeline.

“SLYTHERIN” My face is surprised when Evangeline doesn’t even spare a glance towards Delilah. I look at Delilah and see a hurt expression on her usually stoic face. 

“It’s okay, Dee, I’m sure it’s not too bad” I whisper to her.

“I’m fine, Syl. Besides, I have you and your family now” Delilah tries to look happy, though I can see the slight disappointment in her eyes. The sorting ends and the feast begins.

_________

That night I have a hard time falling asleep. I’m not entirely sure why, but I just couldn’t fall asleep. I think back on the words my dad gave me before we departed. I shouldn’t sneak out. I really shouldn’t. But I really just needed to get some fresh air. 

I sigh as I get up. Rules were meant to be broken after all. Besides, what people didn’t know couldn’t hurt them. No one was gonna think a butterfly was actually an animagus if I was even spotted in the halls. I just had to make sure to sit still if someone were to spot me. 

I look around as I stand up, everyone was asleep.

I close my eyes as I remember the feeling of transformation. I feel myself becoming smaller and growing wings. 

I start flying out of the room and fly past a mirror. My animagus is a green butterfly, a dark green that matches my eyes. I exit the common room and start heading towards the stairs leading towards the staircase. However, I don’t get far as I spot two students.

“I can’t wait to get some snacks from the kitchens. They’re always so good.” I spot the two Weasley twins walking in front of me, with a parchment of sorts in their hands. I quickly dart to the wall to sit still, hoping they don’t notice me.

“Hold on… Fred looks at this!” George, the one holding the parchment exclaims. Fred moves to look at the paper. A bewildered look crosses his face.

“Sylvia Fern? But… she’s not here” He looks around and I sit completely still. How could they see that I was here? Perhaps it was the parchment. I desperately wanted to look at the parchment, but I was scared they were gonna see me.

“The map is never wrong though… so how can it be…” George wonders, now also looking around. I was never gonna be able to escape if they kept standing there. “Isn’t she in our year? Hufflepuff?”

“You’re right… Wait look, she’s moving” I curse inwardly as I try to get away from them. Luckily it’s too dark so they can’t physically see me. But it seems that they have a map of sorts that can… see where people are? If I was gonna be out at nighttime, I was gonna have to be careful from now on.

Luckily, I get away. Returning to my bed, I eventually fall asleep thinking about what had just happened.

Chapter Text

The next morning at breakfast, I feel two pairs of eyes burning into my back. I try to ignore them, but I couldn’t help glancing behind me.

Fred and George were blatantly staring at me, not even looking away when I caught them. I look back at my food quickly, hating the unnecessary eye contact.

“Syl, is something wrong?” Delilah asks, seeing my nervous expression. 

I look around to see if anyone was within earshot before leaning in.

“You know how dad said I shouldn’t be sneaking out at night, right before boarding the train?” Delilah’s eyes widen.

“You didn’t-”

“I did. And it seemed that I wasn’t the only one.” I tell her about what happened in a low voice. Her eyes widen a bit at the story. 

“A map that can… see where people are?” She mutters back, about to turn to look at the twins.

“Don’t. They’re definitely suspecting something, and I can’t risk acting too suspicious. I don’t exactly want the whole school to know about me” I warn her, bumping our shoulders. She nods and we get back to eating.

For the next two months, I can constantly feel their eyes on me, analysing my every move. But the weird thing is, they never confront me, never ask me why I was out at night. Maybe it’s because they aren’t sure if their map, or whatever it bloody is, was telling the truth or not. Were they waiting for me to reveal myself? Do something that confirms their suspicions?

It wasn’t until a transfiguration class in November, that the twins seemed to figure something out.

We had just come from muggle studies, which I’ve found out the twins also share with Delilah and me, when we entered the Transfiguration classroom. McGonagall sat on her table in her cat form, waiting for everyone to show up. 

I quickly learnt that Professor McGonagall was an animagus as a first-year when she had turned from her cat form into her human form. I’d been amazed, and even more excited for when I could become an animagus myself. 

“Today” McGonagall starts once she’s on the floor in her human form. “We’re learning about animagi” 

There are a few mutters around the room.

“Could anyone tell me what it is?” She asks, eyes gliding over the room at the absence of hands until they land on me. She gives me a knowing smirk. I curse at myself inwardly. I should’ve realised.

“Miss Fern, care to explain?” I gulp a little. I couldn’t go into too much detail, could I? Would it be suspicious to the other students if I explained in great detail? Perhaps just a small explanation. The bare basics.

“Uh... It- It’s witches and wizards who have gained the ability to turn into an animal, Professor” I stammered, cursing at myself for not speaking clearly.

“Very good, miss Fern. 10 points to Hufflepuff.” She smiles. I should’ve known McGonagall was going to know. She had my dad in school as well, and probably my grandpa too, plus, with how perceptive she is, I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew of my family's traditions. And just the fact that registered animagi usually knew who else was registered, the occurrence of animagi being relatively rare.

She continued to explain and deepen what an animagus is. I don’t pay much attention, though, since I know most of it already. 

I hear some whispering behind me and I glance back. The Weasley twins sit right behind me. My eyes widen a fraction when I figure that they might’ve found out.

It’s not as though it was a huge secret that no one could know of, but us Fern just like to keep to ourselves. I didn’t want students suddenly asking me thousands of questions about being an animagus. It was enough that the twins had been doting on my every move, but for the whole school to know? I’d wish death upon myself. 

When class ended I quickly grabbed Delilah and pulled her out of there. 

“Bloody hell, Syl. I barely got all my stuff” Delilah complains. I stop and look around before facing her.

“I think they know” I mutter. Her eyes widen at my sentence, immediately understanding what I meant. It had been quite a common topic of conversation between us since the term started. We quickly hurry to the next class when other students start to exit the classroom.

***

As the end of the school day approached, Delilah tells me she needs to do something after class.

“Do something? What do you need to do?” I ask her as we leave the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

“It’s something with Evangeline. I need to talk to her.” Delilah explains. I look at her in concern but drop it. I know she can handle herself, even better than I can.

“Alright. See you in the common room?” Delilah nods at my question, smiling softly. We part ways as she heads to Slytherin's common rooms.

Instead of going straight to the common room, I chose to head to the transfiguration courtyard instead. There I can sit and read the homework I have. The courtyard is pretty empty, save for a few students sitting and talking. It’s a relatively cold autumn afternoon, and I’m grateful for me bringing my scarf with me. I sit down on a bench and start to read.

Out of nowhere, two people sit on either side of me, trapping me on the bench.

“Hey there, Fern”

“Mighty day today, huh?” They each ask me separately. 

“Uh… Hi, Weasley and… Weasley” I acknowledged, unsure of what to call them.

“You seemed to know an awful lot about animagi today in transfiguration.” George, I believe, nagged.

“I… uh, I’ve just studied them a bit. I do love magical creatures a lot” I try to save, but it can’t be helped. They both give each other a knowing look before they grab me, and drag me towards a more hidden part of the courtyard.

“H-hey! What are you-”

“You’re an animagus, aren’t you?” They ask me in unison once they let go of me, cornering me. I hesitate. If I told them, would it really be that bad? As long as they could keep a secret, I suppose it couldn’t hurt too bad. But then again, what if they were horrible liars, or really bad at keeping secrets? I keep going back and forth when I remember a certain object they had that first night of the term.

“Maybe. I’ll only tell you if you show me that map of yours.” I bargained. They look at each other, a silent conversation taking place between them. I stand awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt their legilimen-like conversation until they give each other a nod and pull out the parchment.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” They say in unison as they point their wands at it. On the parchment, some writing starts to appear. 'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the marauders' map’. I stare in amazement as they open the parchment to reveal, indeed, a map. But all over the map were names and footsteps shown. I notice Delilah standing in front of her sister outside of the Slytherin common room. I hope whatever they had to talk about goes well.

“It shows where everyone is at all times,” Fred says. 

“Wicked” I murmur

“Now, tell us about your animagus,” George says after they both mutter ‘mischief managed’ making the writing disappear.

“Alright, I suppose I do owe you” I sigh. I then start telling them a bit about my family, and how I just recently became an animagus. They both look amazed at my explanation. Commenting here and there.

“Well, what is your animagus? It can’t be something big, considering we couldn’t see you.” George asks.

“It’s a butterfly” I state. They both look shocked.

“A butterfly? Is that… Is that even possible?” Fred asks, looking at his brother in confusion. I grin as I transform into my butterfly form.

“That’s bloody wicked!” They exclaim. I fly around their heads a bit before returning to human form in front of them.

“Makes sense that we couldn’t spot you. Especially since it was dark.” George concludes, Fred nodding in agreement. 

“But” I start, making them have their full attention on me again. “You can’t tell anyone. I don’t want the whole school to know that I’m an animagus”

“Of course, as long as you don’t go around talking about our map,” Fred divulged, a serious look on his face.

“Hufflepuffs are known to keep secrets, how else do you think the kitchens remain untouched?” I shoot them a smile. Both of their eyes widen a fraction. 

“You don’t mean…” I smile and walk past them before they even get a chance to ask any more questions.

I walk to the bench and gather the books that had been forgotten when I was rudely dragged away, and head to the common room to meet with Delilah. 

Once I got to the common room, I got up the stairs to the girl's rooms, and into the room I shared with the other girls from my year. There I spot Delilah sitting on her bed, fiddling with her hands. I quickly put down my books and walk over to her, sitting down beside her.

“Are you okay? What happened” I confided, worried about what might’ve happened.

“It was as I thought. My… mother has told Evangeline lies about me, making me out to be some bad person. And… Even if it was what I was expecting, it just… hit me hard, y’know? For her to just… bark out insults, calling me a blood traitor. It hurt.” Delilah croaked out. I immediately spread my arms to offer her a hug when I see tears leave her dark eyes, which she accepts, resting her head on my shoulder. “I didn’t expect her to just… blatantly tell me she hated my guts”

We sit together like this for some time, while I wait for her to finish crying. I stay quiet while she vents, knowing she just needed to get it all out. 

“Not that I want to feed you any false promises, but, maybe she needs some time. To see that you aren’t some horrible monster. I don’t know if you can somehow reverse the whole pure-blood mania that your mother has fed her, but we can at least give it a try.” I concluded once she finished venting. She pulls away, wipes her eyes, and looks at me. 

“Would you really help me with that?” Delilah questioned. I smile brightly at her.

“Of course, that’s what friends are for, right?” Tears start to dwell in Delilah’s eyes again, though this time, they’re happy tears.

“Merlin’s beard, Syl, what did I do to deserve you” Delilah laughs, giving me one last quick hug.

“Anyways, the first quidditch match of the season is tomorrow,” I expertly divert the conversation, which Delilah laughs a bit at.

“Yeah, Gryffindor vs Slytherin. Did you hear that Harry Potter became the seeker?” Delilah inquires, quickly forgetting everything about the previous conversation

“What? But.. I mean, he’s a first-year? How can that be?” I pried. I didn’t pay much attention to the quidditch gossip. Of course, I showed up at the matches, but I didn’t pay much more attention to the sport than that.

“Yeah, he’s the youngest seeker in the past century. Apparently, he had expertly caught a classmates Remembrall after a 15-meter drop in front of McGonagall, and she allowed him to join the Gryffindor quidditch team” Delilah answered. My face is full of shock. From the sound of it, he was gonna give all other seekers a run for their money. 

“Seems like his 15 minutes of fame are going to last a little longer than expected,” I added. Once Harry had joined Hogwarts, I’d expected his fame to dive down, given the fact that he’s probably just some average 11-year-old. Delilah chuckles a bit at my comment.

She’d ended up being chosen as the Keeper for the Hufflepuff quidditch team. And if I was going to be completely honest, she aced the tests. Now both she and Cedric were a part of the Hufflepuff quidditch team. 

“We’ve gotta cheer for Gryffindor, can’t let the Slytherins win once again, getting away with all of their foul play.” Delilah had added, ending the moment of silence we had.

After that, we continued to talk until it was time for dinner.

_________

Standing in the Hufflepuff stands with Delilah and Cedric at my side and Gryffindor flags in hand, we wait for the match to begin.

“I’ve heard from some Gryffindor players that Potter is one of the best seekers they’ve ever had,” Cedric tells Delilah and me. “I wonder if I could catch the golden snitch before him in the next match”

“Well, let’s see if he lives up to his reputation before we assume anything” I advised, not wanting to give us either too high or too low hopes. 

Cedric had become a good friend of mine in the time that we’ve known each other. We weren’t best friends, be we definitely were good friends. We didn’t have much in common, but just being Hufflepuffs was enough for us to click quickly after meeting back when we first got sorted.

Before any of us could say anything else, the two teams began moving out into the field and flying around. We cheered at Gryffindor and waved our flag. For the first time, I notice that Fred and George were a part of the quidditch team. And from the look of it, they were beaters. I inwardly applauded their bravery for choosing that position. But, I suppose that makes sense, considering their house.

With the sound of a whistle, the match begins. In the beginning, the Gryffindors seem to be taking the lead, scoring points and stopping anyone trying to score in their own goal. There were a few times when brooms or bludgers had come a little too close for comfort, but we kept on cheering. 

However, things took a dark turn. Which, in hindsight, should’ve been expected of the Slytherin team, those sly bastards. The Slytherin captain takes one of the beater's bats and fired the bludger right towards the Gryffindor captain, who was the keeper. He falls to the ground unconscious, landing in the sand. I gasp, imagining that it must’ve hurt, but then start booing the Slytherin Captain. Quickly, the rest of the stadium, save the Slytherins, were booing as well. 

“I mean, I know that it’s allowed, but there’s no need to play dirty like that” I fume. I really didn’t get people who did that. Would they consider it winning if they played dirty to do so? Were they not ashamed? Both Cedric and Delilah voice an agreement, before they start shouting in support of Gryffindor, trying to keep their spirits high, which I, along with the rest of Hufflepuff, joined in.

The Slytherins score without a keeper at the opposite team's goal, and not long passes before they target a Gryffindor chaser, forcing her to crash behind one of the Gryffindor stands’ fabric, crashing to the ground at the bottom. Once again the crowd erupts in gasps and boos. 

The Slytherin teams keep shamelessly scoring at the empty goal, making the three of us once again annoyed. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Harry Potter at an instant speed towards what I can only assume is the snitch. But before he can get far, his broom instantaneously starts going haywire, as if it’s trying to shake him off.

“Is his broom cursed? What’s happening?” I panic a little. I couldn’t imagine falling off a broom at such a height onto the ground. It might’ve been grass, but it would still bloody hurt. 

I spot Fred and George moving slightly underneath Harry, getting ready to catch him if he were to fall. This made me reconsider something. 

Previously, I had thought the twins were ruthless, careless and only cared for themselves. But clearly, that wasn’t the case. Moving under Harry wouldn’t benefit the game, hell, it actually put them at a disadvantage. Perhaps, they really do care. I mean, I never saw them go too far with a prank, and no one ever got hurt badly, both mentally and physically. 

At some point, his broom stopped shaking him, and he was hanging on with just his hands. Somehow, he vaults himself up on the broom again and instantly chases after the snitch, which had not been caught by Slytherin yet. This made cheers erupt from the stadium, as everyone eagerly waited to see how it would turn out. 

The two seekers battle it out while chasing the snitch before it takes a dive towards the ground. They both follow after, glancing at each other to see who would give up first. To my enjoyment, the Slytherin seeker seems to give up first, and harry gets so close to the ground that I start thinking he’s gonna crash, but he pulls up in the last second. He does what I thought was impossible, at least for me, and stands up on his broom, reaching for the snitch. Just as he’s about to grab the snitch, he crashes. I’m close to thinking that he lost the snitch when he starts to throw up. 

To everyone’s surprise, he had caught the snitch. Just, in a more… innovative way, to put it kindly. He holds it up for everyone to see, and everyone, except for Slytherin, starts cheering ‘Go, go, Gryffindor’. 

Cedric, Delilah and I stay until the teams leave, where we begin to head back to the common rooms. 

On the way back to the castle, though, a voice that I’m starting to recognise calls out to me.

“Fern!” I turn around and notice the one and only George Weasley. Surprisingly, without his partner in crime. Both Cedric and Delilah stop as well, looking at George in surprise. I had yet to tell Delilah about my encounter with the twins. George moves closer until he’s within earshot.

“Can I speak with you?” George asks, glancing at my two companions. “Alone?”

“Okay” I turn around to the two, telling them to go ahead to the common room before me. They share a quick glance before nodding and walking off into the distance.

“What did you need?” I inquired with a smile, curious as to why he would call out to me. 

“I need your help with something. Something only you can do” He says, starting to lead me to a more deserted place. I look at him with a confused expression. Something only I could do? what would tha- oh. I think I get it now.

“I’m guessing it has something to do with me being an animagus?” I asked once we stopped a little way off the path.

“That’s right. You seem quite clever” He affirmed. A light blush dusted my cheeks at the compliment. Not because I like him though, simply because I couldn’t take a compliment. I give him a quiet ‘thanks’, urging him to continue. 

“We want to prank our friend Lee Jordan with a hair colour-changing potion, but one of the ingredients is hard to attain. We know snape has them. I wanted to ask if you would consider getting it for us. I would obviously owe you a favour” George pleads. I consider it for a moment.

“Would your friend be okay with these pranks? He wouldn’t get mad, right?” I ask. If I had to participate in a prank, I would want everyone involved to be able to laugh at it. George chuckles at my response.

“You really are a bloody Hufflepuff. But no, he won't get mad. This is actually payback for something he’s done” George looks vengeful as he seems to reminisce about what his friend had done to him. I smile a little. Thank Merlin.

“Alright, I’ll do it. What do you need?” George looks a little surprised by my relatively quick acceptance, muttering something along the lines of ‘guess Hufflepuffs can be cool’. I pretend not to hear as I wait for him to answer.

“I need thestral hair. If I could actually see them, I would get them myself.” He finally replies. I blink a little in surprise. Thestral hair? I didn’t know they could be used for brewing hair colour-changing potions. I smile a little as I realise.

“I’ll be able to get them without sneaking into Snape's office, so it should be fine,” I say without really thinking. Sometimes I forget people think being able to see thestrals is some horrible thing. Personally, I think it’s a form of comfort. I mean, they show up after you’ve witnessed someone die, which is usually traumatic or heartbreaking, maybe even both. So why else would they show up? The creatures truly were kind. George’s face drops a little in realisation.

“You… You can see Thestrals?” He asks. I think I see a worried expression cross his face, but I’m not entirely sure. Only then do I realise what he meant by that.

“Oh! Not to worry. It was a while ago. I sat in front of my grandmother as she took her last breath. I’ve gotten past it now, and see it as more of an opportunity than a bad thing” I smile. I truly wasn’t affected by it anymore. I hadn’t had much to do with my grandmother, so I didn’t know her well. Of course, I still cried at her death, but I didn’t think much of it anymore. I see his face soften a bit, he probably realised that I wasn’t bothered by it.

“Well, uh, how quickly can you get them?” George asks. I think a little. The easiest place to get the hair would probably be from the thestrals at the castle. To get to them, however, I would need to get to the stalls… 

I begin to devise a plan in my head. A good one at that. I smirk as I realise how easy it’ll be.

“I can have it ready by tomorrow after classes are done.” I disclosed. George smiles at that.

“Great, meet me at the same spot we interrogated you at the other day” He instructed. I nod at that and turn to walk away, going towards my common room.

Only once I’d returned to the common room did I realise I’d forgotten to ask why Fred wasn’t with him.

Chapter Text

“Tell. Me. Everything” I’m immediately cornered by Delilah in our room as soon as I enter.

“H-hold on-”

“No, I want to know. And I want to know now ” She demands, standing on her tippy-toes to try and intimidate me, still slightly shorter than me. 

“Alright, alright, sit down.” I usher her. She quickly sits down, eagerly waiting for my explanation. 

“So, yesterday, when you went to talk to Evangeline…” I tell her about the encounter. I hesitate to tell her about the map, but I’d already told her what I found out before the twins had asked to keep it a secret. Still wanting to respect their wishes, I only tell her that we were right about the map, and to not tell a single soul.

“Merlin's beard, Syl. Well, what did Weasley want with you earlier?” Delilah asks, curious as to why he called for me so suddenly. I shortly tell her about the prank. A slight look of concern crosses her features. 

“And you agreed? Syl, I know you believe in the best of everyone, but he could’ve lied. Besides, thestral hair in a potion? I’ve never heard of anyone attempting, much less even thinking about it” She warns me. Oh, yeah. I hadn’t thought about it. His face and body language had just seemed so… truthful. He didn’t seem like he was lying. It does lead me back to the question of why Fred hadn’t been there.

“Well… I don’t know. I mean, he seemed… truthful.” I profess, looking down at my fiddling hands. I had a habit of being a bit naive, always thinking the best in people, even if they hurt me. Delilah’s face softens. 

“Well, if you truly believe that he’s up to good, then you should do it.” She says, putting on a soft smile. Her sentence reminded me of the map’s code to reveal it, it being a promise to be up to no good. I ponder about what I should do, but figure that I’ve already promised to get it for them.

I wait until everyone in my room is asleep. Looking up, I spot the small window at the top of the room. Too small for any human to get through, but big enough for a butterfly.

‘ Depulso ’

I whisper the spell, the window softly opening a bit outwards. The gap was small, but should be big enough. I would have to remember to close it before leaving, the chill autumn breeze coming into the room. 

Transforming, I fly to the window, narrowly avoiding touching the window. Once on the other side, I momentarily go back to human form to close the window, before transforming into a butterfly again. 

I begin flying towards the forbidden forest. The trip takes a bit of time, my small wings not being able to fly fast.

Eventually, though, I make it to the forest. Last year, I had actually sneaked into the forest on multiple occasions, though that’d been much harder, with not being able to turn into my animagus. But, from my previous visits, I’d actually found the thestral herd. They had quickly come to me, allowing me to pet them. I assumed this was because they were well-trained.

I quickly find the herd and transform once I’m on the ground. Some of the thestrals jump a little in surprise at my sudden visit but quickly come towards me. I reach out my hand and mutter some quiet praise at them. My hand graces their smooth skin, feeling their bone structure.

“Hey, girl. I’m just gonna grab some of your hair, okay?” I mutter, my hand going towards the back of her head, feeling the short hairs she has on her neck. I pull out my wand, aiming it at her hair, and cast a spell.

‘ Parva crustae ’

With a small light, the spell makes a slight cut in the air, cutting some hairs off. I quickly grab the hair, putting it into my pocket. 

“Thank you” I mutter, leaning my forehead against hers. As I’m about to turn around, I notice a small thestral offspring. My face turns into a soft smile, and I gently throw a stick to it, which it starts playing with. I stay for a bit, greeting the others in the herd, before eventually, transforming into my animagus, and taking flight back into the castle.

***

The next morning arrives, and I lazily get out of bed, previously warm feet touching the cold floors, causing a shiver to run up my spine. 

It was quite a common occurrence to see me around the castle, clothes and hair unruly. I never cared much for how my clothes looked, knowing they will just be all messed up at the end of the day either way. 

I put on my white button-down, followed by my Hufflepuff sweater. The early November weather not exactly inviting. I still chose to wear a skirt, but I wore tights underneath like most other girls. My tie had been carelessly thrown around my neck, and my robe slid off my shoulders every minute or so. 

When I first started at Hogwarts, the professors had been a bit after me, wanting to fix my clothes. But, somehow, at the end of the day, my tie would be loosened, if not just taken off and later hung around my neck, dirt on me and robe halfway off. Eventually, they gave up trying to correct my uniform, having realised that it would only waste their efforts. 

Professor Sprout had been one of the first teachers to stop trying to fix my clothes. It was mostly due to her classes that my clothes had been as messed up as they were. One of my strong interests in life is herbology. I absolutely love the smell of the greenhouses, and the way the dirt feels on my skin. Because of said interest, I would often take off my robe and tie, as they were a bit constricting, to take care of the plants. I wouldn't hesitate to sit or lay on the ground to perfect my plant care. Besides, plants have more uses than most people would think.

And don’t even get me started on Care of Magical Creatures. I adore the elective. All the creatures that I got to meet and take care of. Due to my interest in magical beasts, I was pretty good, if I do say so myself, in the class. As Professor Kettleburn put it, I was one with the beasts, easily getting along with them when confronted in class. 

I put my hand into my pocket, feeling the thestral hairs lying there comfortably, reminding me of both my ventures into the night and the promise I made to George. I give Delilah a greeting before leaving for the great hall. 

I leave the entrance disguised as a barrel and start heading down the hallways. The halls outside our common room were dimly lit and filled with more barrels. I get to the spiral stairs and start heading up them. At the top of the stairs, I make a sharp turn to the right and head towards the hourglasses containing the points each house had earned so far. I spot the two twins standing at Gryffindor’s hourglass. One of them, George I presume, turns around when he hears me, followed by Fred.*

“There you are. ‘Was beginning to worry that you bailed on us” George commented, Fred bearing a surprised face once he saw me. 

“Bloody hell, you weren’t lying?” Fred marvelled. I grin a little. Guess he thought his brother had been lying when he told him that I agreed to help. 

“C’mon, Fred, have a little faith in me” George joked, nudging his brother, Fred returning the action. They continued to fight a little back and forth before I coughed. They both stop and look at me.

“Here” I look around before handing the hair to George. “If anyone asks, I wasn’t involved”

I then turn, walking into the great hall. Very few students were already up and eating, so it was easy spotting Cedric sitting at the Hufflepuff table, and I go to join him. I sit down and we start chatting, mostly about the upcoming Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor match. 

“Oi, tweak, I bet you’re too much of a coward to even get onto the fields. You puffs are all stupid, pointless, and might as well just leave Hogwarts” I turn around at the sound of a voice behind me, and am confronted with green and black robes. “Most of you are Mudbloods anyway”

I deadpan at him. I’ve experienced people being rude to Hufflepuffs before, but nothing quite like this. Not only did he just insult my dear friend Cedric, but he insulted all muggle-borns in the wizarding world. I can see a few others standing close by, laughing at his insults.

“Excuse m-” I stand up as Cedric is about to speak, simply walking over to the Slytherin. 

“What, a Hufflepuff can’t be proud? Can’t be ambitious, witty, brave, curious, smart or cunning? What’s so bad about us, that you can’t stand not insulting us? Are you obsessed? Or, what, jealous? Of all of our friends that actually care? Or maybe you’re jealous of Cedric because he’s better than you. Is it that? Because he’s smarter, more popular, nicer , than you? That’s not very kind, is it? Poor you, better sit down and take a breather before leaving, okay?” I spoke calmly with a smile, taking step by step closer as he nears the bench behind him, the back of his knees hitting the back of the said bench, forcing him down. I kneel to be at his height. “There you go, good boy.”

“You…you filthy blood traitor! Just wait till Snape hears about this!”

“Oh, that’s not right. I understand that you’re angry, but no need to lash out. How about some breakfast, yeah? Perhaps you’re just a bit hungry,” He then gets up, pushing me so I tumble back a bit, and storms out of the great hall, the few others with him going after him, looking back at me with glares. I take a breath before I turn and sit back on the bench with Cedric.

“Bloody hell, Sylvia, didn’t know you had that in you. You seemed quite scary right there” I hear him comment beside me. Only then do I really realise what I said and did.

“Oh, um… well, I don’t know what came over me. It’s just… hearing them insult you like that, along with all the muggle-borns in the wizarding world, just ticked something off. But, I know it wasn’t out of pure hatred. He was probably fed a bunch of pure-blood mania, and, as I said, was jealous of you.” I state, feeling my face become red. I could now feel the stares of people around the hall, knowing that the exchange wasn’t exactly quiet.

“Well, thanks for the compliments, by the way. I was just about to give him a beating, but you did much better than I ever could” He grins at me, and I laugh a little. Always the one to lighten the mood. 

“Excuse me?” I jump a little at the voice, and turn around, once again.

“I am so sorry for his behaviour. I know it might seem as it, but I promise not all Slytherins are like that.” An older Slytherin girl confronts me.

“Oh! You don’t have to apologize for his behaviour. But, I do appreciate it, so, thank you.” I smile. It really wasn’t her responsibility to apologize for him, he can do that himself once he’s realised what he’s been doing. Her face softens from that.

“Oh, and, thank you. For putting him in his place” The Slytherin girl says, winking a little at me, before going back to the Slytherin table. I turn around, and once again jump in surprise.

“You’ve got some guts, perhaps you should’ve been in Gryffindor,” George says from in front of me. Seriously, was everyone gonna start talking to me now?

“Nah, she’s too kind. Perhaps Slytherin, that was some insults. Or, maybe Ravenclaw? ‘practically analysed him in a second! Wouldn’t want to argue with her,” Fred discussed back. 

“But then again, she practically treated him like a lost child! Did you hear how nice she sounded? I would’ve been straight up yelling if not just hitting him if my house was insulted like that” George argued back. 

“You’re right. I bet you’ve already forgiven him, haven’t you?” Fred concludes, looking at me in question. 

“Well- Y’know what, yeah…” The three boys laugh a little, Cedric having joined in as well. 

“FRED! GEORGE, WHAT IN MERLINS NAME DID YOU DO? MY HAIR IS GONE !!??” Looking over at the next table, I see a boy I recognize to be Lee Jordan, with… wait, pink hair? I look in confusion as the twins break out laughing. 

“Gone? But… It’s pink- Oohhh…” I then realise. Thestral hair. Thestrals. Can’t be seen by people who haven’t witnessed death. Gotcha. 

“GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED! SHOULN’T’VE MESSED WITH OUR CLOTHES!” They both yell back in unison. I laugh, finding it quite hilarious. 

“Wait, did you say pink?” I heard George ask. 

“Y-yeah… the, pfft-... the thestral hairs,” I say between laughs. A look of realisation crosses both of their faces, and they look at each other. I see Lee Jordan running towards us, pink locks swaying as he moves closer.

“Did you get rid of my hair?!” He whisper-shouts, shaking both of their shoulders.

“No, it’s- it’s just invisible, to… hah … to most” Fred laughs. A look of confusion strikes Lee’s face, looking at George, who just continues to laugh as well.

“People who can see thestrals can… uhh, see your hair. Which is pink” I snicker, his eyes widening at my words.

“P-pink?!” He exclaims, grabbing at his hair. He can feel them, but not see them. Fred and George continue to laugh at him, Cedric chuckling and me smiling. 

“Blimey, Lee, it’ll wear off in a few hours-” 

“HOURS?!?!” Lee interrupted as George spoke, making everyone laugh even more. I could hear laughs coming from around the room. It was a great distraction from having all the attention on me. The three continue to playfully argue while Cedric and I watch. Eventually, Delilah comes over, confused about why one, there were a few Gryffindors at the Hufflepuff table, and two, what all the fuss was about. It was then that she notices Lee’s hair and laugh at him. I notice a small smile tug on Lee’s lips at her laugh. Oh? 

After my little ordeal with the two Gryffindors, we only grow closer. Every time I see them in the halls we greet each other, in class they sometimes choose to sit closer than before, especially potions, herbology and care of magical creatures* whenever we had those classes together. I also occasionally would help the two out with pranks, and they would help me out whenever I needed them to. Cedric and the two twins got along fine, but they weren’t necessarily friends. Delilah got along with the two quite well but had taken a liking to Lee more. And when I say ‘liking’, I mean liking liking. 

The Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor match had gone, well, badly. The one and only Harry Potter had caught the switch only a few minutes into the game and had ended the match. Ending in a 20 - 180, the game had earned Potter the fastest-ever catch of the Snitch. Which, if I was gonna be honest, made me happy for him. A first-year doing that? Absolute bollocks. Not to say we hadn’t played well. Delilah had done great for her first time on the pitch, and Cedric had been on the opposite side of the pitch, having not reacted quickly enough to catch the snitch before Harry.

The twins teased me a bit after that, but not to an extent which made it bad. I could always tell they were joking, just having fun, so I would often laugh along with them, and congratulate them for it.

Then came Christmas. My parents had chosen to go to visit my aunt for the holidays, and Delilah and I had chosen to stay at Hogwarts, wanting to try and see what it was like to spend Christmas here.

It was great.

The Hufflepuff common room had a few students who were here for Christmas, but the few of us here decided to have some fun. We would play games, go to the kitchen to get snacks (with permission from the elves of course), talk, and just have fun together. I also got to talk to some people from the other houses. All in all, it was super fun. On Christmas eve, there was a feast for any students that chose to stay. There were a total of 12 trees in the great hall, and the feast was amazing. We had all eaten way too much, so we, the Hufflepuffs, decided on just sitting and talking. 

The next morning, we woke up to presents at the foot of our beds. Delilah's family hadn’t sent her any gifts, just like the last two years. 

We begin opening them in front of each other. During our Hogsmeade visit, I had secretly bought a present for her, and she seemed to have done the same. I had given her a necklace with a small elephant on it. When I saw it, I was reminded of her. Elephants are known to be protective of their kind, and not attack until you come too close or put them or their family in danger. I explain this to her, and she puts it on with a smile.

I then open my present from her. She had given me a silver ring that looked like branches that were tied around my finger. In the middle was a butterfly. I look at it in amazement and put it on. 

“Thank you!” I chirp. Once we’ve opened all of our presents, we head for the common room. There we see some of the others, talking and showing off presents. We both choose to sit down to talk to the others. At some point, we choose to head to the great hall. Some students had already eaten and chose to stay back, some joined, and others simply wanted to wait. 

The hall had very few students still there, most choosing to go home to their families. All the Hufflepuffs that went down to eat all sit together, sharing what they got.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the doors to the hall open up, and a group of Gryffindors walk in. The group consists of Fred, George, their brothers Percy and Ron, and Harry Potter. They're adorned with hand-knit sweaters, all having their initials on them. Now, it was easy to tell Fred and George apart. I give them a little wave, and they wave back with a grin. The five Gryffindors all go to sit at their own table to eat breakfast. I then return back to my conversation with one of the fifth-years.

Chapter Text

Time flies at Hogwarts. One moment it’s Christmas morning, the next it’s in the middle of spring. Almost as if someone was skipping through a story…

It was April, the trees were sprouting and the grass became greener.

The school day is over, and Delilah Is at quidditch practice, along with Cedric. I’m bored out of my mind in the common room, having finished my homework, and am not sure what I want to do. I end up choosing to go on a walk around the castle.

The wind softly hits my face as I step out to the Viaduct Courtyard. The view over the black lake was stunning, and I end up getting lost in thought at the view.

“Oh, hey there, Sylvia” I turn at the voice. There stands George, books in his hands, alone. 

“Oh! Hi, George!” I beamed. It was a more regular occurrence to see him around the castle. But he was usually with Fred. “Where’s Fred? You two are always together”

“Well, he had some ‘homework’ to do. Though, I guarantee he just wanted to hang out with Angelina Johnson. He fancies her, he does” George complains, throwing himself at the bench beside me. “Where’s Delilah?”

“The Hufflepuff quidditch team has the pitch right now. We still have a match against Slytherin.” I replied. They said they were gonna make sure everyone was gonna come out okay. He sounds a little ‘ooh’ in realisation. 

“Yeah, those Slytherin bastards can’t ever play fair. They just ‘gotta hurt anyone in their path.” He sighs with a wince, remembering the times the Slytherin team beat them up. I nod as well, a bit concerned for Cedric and Delilah, especially with what happened with the Gryffindor keeper. I sit down beside him with a sigh. We sit a while in comfortable silence until George speaks up.

“My younger brother, Ron, along with his friends Hermione and Harry, all seem to believe Professor Snape is trying to kill Harry. I can’t tell what to believe, what do you think” I look at him a little in surprise. Kill Harry? Why would he do that?

“Honestly, I don’t believe it. Professor Snape might be strict and has some, well, questionable viewpoints, especially towards Gryffindor,” This earns a nod in agreement from George “But, I don’t think he’d kill a student. Besides, Dumbledore would know, wouldn’t he? Snape’s worked here for a while.” 

George chews a little on my words.

“They also said they saw him trying to sabotage Harry’s broom back at the Slytherin vs Gryffindor match. Y’know, when his broom went all… crazy, or something. ‘saw him muttering words while keeping eye contact with Harry, only stopped after Hermione set fire to his cape.” He states, a conflicted expression adorning his features.

“Couldn’t he have tried to counter-curse it? I don’t know, I was looking at Harry when it happened, but, to try and push Harry off of his broom to kill him? That’s a bit far, even for Professor Snape” I conclude. There was no way. I know Headmaster Dumbledore is practically all-knowing, so he wouldn’t let a person try and kill a student, would he? George again thinks about my words.

“I suppose you’re right. I won't be telling the trio, though, their minds can’t be changed” He chuckles, a soft smile appearing on his lips.

“Anyways, what’s the deal between Angelina and Fred?” I ask, curious as to why Fred chose Angelina over him.

“Don’t know, Syl,” The nickname rolls off his tongue so easily. “he suddenly started acting strange around her. My guess is he fancies her but is choosing to keep it secret. The Bastard always tells me everything except for this... But, the real question, is what’s going on between Delilah and Lee.”

I widen my eyes a bit at this. I had forgotten about their little glances and slight flirting. 

“That's right! I don’t know, Dee is refusing to tell me.” I complain. I had asked her multiple times about it, but she would just blush and say ‘It’s nothing’.

“Same, Lee is saying nothing, he is. It’s driving me insane. Also, Dee? So, Dee and Lee?” George responds. I chuckle a little at their ‘matching’ names. We sit in silence a little again when George questions me, out of nowhere;

“By the way, when’s your birthday?” My face bears a confused expression, wondering what made him think of that. 

“March 20th, why?” I reply, still confused.

“Wait, you’re older than me?” He exclaims, sitting up from his relaxed position. Seeing my confused face, he continues. “Mines April 1st. Just wanted to know” 

I nod at his statement and lean back against the wall behind me. I’m suddenly reminded of our encounter after the first quidditch match of the season.

“Oh, I suddenly remembered something. Back at the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match, when you approached me, why wasn’t Fred with you?” I ask, curious. It had bothered me for a little, seeing how they were usually always together.

“Oh? What, do you fancy him too?” George teases, which makes me blush and shoot up.

“N-no! I… it’s just, um, you two are always together, and, er, I was just curious, really!” I shake my hands in front of me, not wanting him to misunderstand. He chuckles a little at my behaviour. 

“Relax, Syl, I was only joking. He just took a bloody long time to change, and we weren’t gonna catch up to you at that point, so I went ahead of him. Also, I’m seriously surprised how you can go from a scary mother-bear when confronted with a Slytherin that insulted your friend to… well, this” He laughs at me, the latter comment only making me bury my face in my hands.

“I wasn’t thinking, okay? I just… I just couldn’t stand hearing him insult others like that, so I forgot how many people were in the great hall.” At the reminder of the whole thing with the Slytherin boy, I cringe a little. So many people were watching, and I heard people talking about it for a while after…

“Hey, hey, Syl, it was badass, no need to be ashamed.” He grabs my wrists and pulls my hands off my face, smiling. 

I laugh a bit to myself before changing the subject. 

“So, what are your plans for the upcoming Hogsmeade trip?” My face is still a bit red as I ask, but I choose to ignore it for my own sake. 

“What, wanna be a part of tho-”

“George!” I hit him in the arm at the comment

“Ow! Merlin’s beard you’re strong… Fred and I are planning to go into Honeydukes and stock up on sweets. We want to go to Funko’s fun shop as well, to get some more ideas for pranks.” George chuckles, defending himself with his arms. 

“You and those bloody pranks. As long as I’m not a victim to any of those.” I mumble. For now, I hadn’t fallen victim to any of their pranks. Which I was grateful for.

“You never know. When might we strike? Who might we strike?” He playfully teases me, making me roll my eyes and shake my head. 

We fall back into light chatter, such as what we’d done today. Before we knew it, it had become late, and dinner was approaching. We each went to our separate common rooms. 

Entering the Hufflepuff common room normally makes me feel all cosy. Usually, the fireplace is on, making the room warm and nice, and the sunlight coming from the ceiling windows makes it feel all nice and earthy. But, for whatever reason, something felt wrong. I couldn’t place my finger on what felt wrong, but, something did. 

I look around and nothing seems out of place. There are a few people chatting, and I spot some of the quidditch team on the sofas. No matter what I tried thinking about, that weird feeling wouldn’t go away. 

“Syl!” I jump a little at the sound of my name, shouted by the one and only Delilah.

“Oh, er, hey Dee. I just came back from a walk around the castle” I explain. She probably came back a bit confused about why I wasn’t in our room. 

“I- Wait, Syl? Is something wrong?” Delilah muttered, “You look a little… how do I say this … Pale? No, not pale, just… weird.”

“Oh- Um, no, it’s nothing… I just- Nevermind.” I smile. It was probably nothing anyway, I was just being paranoid. She narrows her eye at me in suspicion, almost trying to figure out what I was hiding. She eventually gives up and mutters a ‘fine’.

“Well, as I was going to say, I-”

“Delilah! Sylvia! We have to get to dinner!” Delilah was interrupted by our prefect. She, our prefect, had made it her mission to know everyone in Hufflepuff by name, and, so far, she was succeeding.

We both respond with a ‘yes ma’am’, which was an inside joke for the Hufflepuffs, and headed for the great hall. 

Dinner goes by quickly, filled with laughter and chatter. Once back at the common room, the evening passes as always, cosy chatter, games and warmth filling the common room.

But, for whatever reason, the feeling never leaves. At dinner, during games, trying to sleep, the feeling is always there. I try to hide it, but I can’t escape it. And as I lay in bed, I can’t help but think of one thing that’s bothered me the whole year.

Professor Quirrell.

Something about him seemed so… wrong . I couldn’t ever pinpoint what it was, but he seemed fake. Like he was playing an act, trying to convince everyone that he was pure and, well, innocent. I hadn’t had him for muggle studies the previous years, since I wasn’t old enough, so I didn’t know how he was previous to this year. But, still, something about him made the hairs on my neck raise.

The thoughts don’t escape my mind as I try to fall asleep, my mind coming to hundreds of different conclusions until I can’t take it anymore and decide to get up.

Sitting up, I take a look around and see that everyone is asleep. I stand up, still in my pj’s, and go out into the common room. 

I consider going out into the castle for a while, not wanting to get caught sneaking around at night. To my knowledge, only two professors know of my animagus form. It should be safe to go, but I’m still unsure. 

In the end, I bite it in me and transform so I can go out. 

I fly out of the common room, heading nowhere in particular. I just wanted to get some fresh air and get those unnecessary thoughts out of my head. 

But, it was weird. What exactly was it about him that triggered something in my brain? Was it that weird turban he suddenly began wearing? Was he hiding something in that? Am I just paranoid?

I end up somewhere, not sure exactly where. I’m in a corridor with doors on one side and windows on the other. I land on one of the windowsills, wings slowly flapping. 

A door suddenly opens, and I try to stay still so as to not seem suspicious. My small body is faced so I can see the hallway, and I spot the one person I couldn’t get out of my mind for the past hours.

Quirrell.

There, he looks around suspiciously before fully exiting the door. I’m about to fly away when he looks at me. His eyes look at me with such malicious intent, much different to what he usually does. His hand twitches, and slowly, he moves it towards me. 

The feeling worsens, and I quickly take flight. I was flying as fast as I could. Something about his eyes told me everything. He didn’t want to help a helpless butterfly stuck inside a huge castle, no, he wanted to harm a helpless butterfly. The way his open hand had reached toward me looked like he wanted to crush me in his fist. 

I turn a corner and spot a teacher. Severus Snape. The conversation I had with George about him trying to harm Harry popped into my head. 

Snape also notices me, a confused look in his eyes. 

“A butterfly? Or is that a moth…” He mumbles. Though his sight doesn’t stay on me for a while, because Quirrell appears before him. 

“Severus.” Quirrell greets, face becoming soft in an instant. Snape greets him back. As Quirrell is about to pass him, Snape interrupts. 

“You sure seem to be in a hurry, Quirinus” Quirrell stops at the comment, looking back at snape.

“W-well, I’ve got to get back to my room.” He stutters, fiddling with his hands. 

Snape says something to Quirrell, but I don’t hear it as I get too far away. Had my intuition been right? Or was I still just too paranoid? But, there’s no way he could’ve had any good intentions, he almost seemed to radiate some sort of… evil. Should I tell a professor? No, no, I can’t. If it is just all paranoia, then I would create a ruckus for no reason. I mean, Dumbledore would know, right?

And it wasn’t as if I had any proof. All I could do was say something about him felt weird, but not point to exactly what felt weird.

I fly back to the common room and back to bed. All the flying had made me tired, so sleep came fairly easily. Still, the thoughts just continued to plague my mind, nightmares haunting me most nights.

For the next few weeks, neither the thoughts nor the feelings escape my mind. I’m constantly paying attention to Quirrell, either consciously or subconsciously. He continues to play the role of an innocent and weak person, but it only makes me more suspicious. 

Now that I pay attention to him, his eyes doesn’t match his persona. 

His fake personality tells a story of a shy, innocent and weak man, who wouldn’t dare do anything wrong. But his eyes… his eyes tell a different story.

A story of a dark, cruel and despicable man. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to use one of the forbidden curses, someone who would follow the dark lord

I wasn’t sure this was true, so I didn’t tell anyone. I kept it to myself, not wanting to make a rumour that wasn’t true.

So when Professor Quirrell himself approached me, I couldn’t help but freeze.

“F-fern? I n-noticed that your g-grades from the end-of-term DADA exam could use some help. I-i could find you a tutor for the summer i-if you need it?” He had approached me on a Thursday afternoon, right as DADA had ended. 

“Um… I’m just not, er, a big fan of DADA, Professor. No offence. I don’t need a tutor” I tried to smile politely, my brain screaming at me to get away.

“A-alright. W-well, my door is always open…” Quirrell pauses as he looks at me, something in his eyes changing. His eyes narrow the slightest bit.

“Thanks, Professor. I, um, I should get going now” I smile as I gather my stuff and leave the classroom. I spot Delilah talking with Lee, but she quickly stops as she spots me.

“Syl? What took you so-”

“Can we go? I have some homework I’d like to get done.” I interrupt. She looks at Lee with a smile and gives a small wave, before looking at me with a concerned look.

“Homework? You finished that already, and we didn’t get any homework today.” Delilah commented once we’d gotten far enough away. 

“Umm… I just, I just need to get away from here.” I mumble, clutching my books to my chest. She once again looks with concern written all over her face, but she chooses to remain quiet.

Once we get to our room, she immediately sits me down.

“Ok, Syl, what in Merlin’s beard is wrong? You’ve been acting super weird the past few weeks. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t anymore. It’s always around Quirrell, did he do something to you?” She interrogates me, and just as I’m about to dismiss her, she interrupts; “And, please, just tell me the truth. You can trust me, y’know?”

Should I really tell her? I mean, I wasn’t sure if my intuition was correct or not. I didn’t want to make her worry for no reason. But, I suppose it wouldn’t be too bad to talk to someone about this. I give a sigh and signal for her to sit down.

“Well, a few weeks ago, when I first started acting weird, I suppose, I had gotten a weird feeling when I….” I tell her about everything that’s been going through my mind for the past few weeks. “...and, I just don’t know if my mind is making it up, or if something is seriously wrong.”

“Merlin, Syl. I… I’m not sure what we should do either. I mean, we just finished the end-of-term exams, and the school year is almost over. Should we tell Dumbledore? Or just wait till summer? We get a new DADA professor every year anyways.” Delilah inquires. I shrug.

“I’m not sure… what if I’m wrong, or that it’s all paranoia?” I express, completely split on what I should do.

“Syl, be honest, you’re always right when it’s about things like this. You’re so good at knowing what people feel that I sometimes wonder if you’re a legilimens.” Delilah pointed out. I wasn’t so sure about the ‘always right’ part.

“I don’t know, Dee. I don’t wanna create an unnecessary uproar if it’s all wrong... Besides, It’s not like I have any proof, and I’m not exactly able to pinpoint what I find so wrong about him.” I hesitate. I know telling a professor about this would be the best if it was true. But, I just couldn’t.

“I mean… If that’s how you truly feel, I won't try to force you.” Delilah responded even though I could see the conflict in her eyes.

“Let’s just… do something else, yeah? Get our minds distracted a bit.” I suggest, not wanting to deal with this any longer-

“Yeah… How about we go to the common room? Maybe play some wizards chess?” 

“Wizards chess? Sure, why not. We’ve never played together, have we?” And so we go to the common room and play. Time passes and eventually, it’s time for dinner. 

The great hall is like always, a lot of people are talking everywhere. When we sit down, I happen to not notice the two twins that are seated right behind me at the next table over. This was a fatal mistake.

Because as soon as I get my food ready, voices come from the vegetables nicely laid out on my plate.

“ I am a vegetable and I grow in the ground ” the vegetable was… Singing?!

“ Some people avoid me, but I am nutrient-bound ” My eyes start to widen as I realise what’s happening. The people around me are all quiet as they listen to the… surprisingly well-written song.*

“ Please don't ignore me, I am your friend

I am delicious, and my benefits never end

I am a vegetable, so colourful and bright

Please give me a chance, I can make your health take flight ”

It gets quieter and quieter as people start staring and trying to figure out what’s happening. 

The vegetables keep singing and I get more and more embarrassed. I hear a snicker behind me and I look back. It, of course, was the twins. My eyes widen as I realise that it’s their prank. That they pulled on me. George looks back at me after whispering with Fred, and we gain eye contact. This only makes him laugh more.

“You-”

“You should listen to the vegetables Sylvia, I’m sure they worked hard to create their songs.” George teases with a grin. I had gone three almost full years without ever being pranked. 

My face is flushed as more people start staring.

“I- What’s the counter jinx?” I babble, wanting the attention off of me.

“Thing is, there isn’t one. You gotta eat 'em up to shut 'em up.” Fred laughs at my reaction.

“Eat them?! I… I can’t eat them, no way!” I exclaim. There was no way I was going to eat something that was… singing at me.

“Well, guess you’ll have to listen to them sing until someone decides to eat them,” George answers. I mean, sure, someone's gotta eat it.

“Why don’t you eat them then? If you’re so adamant about eating veggies, I should be seeing some veggies on your plate, which there doesn’t appear to be.” I bargain. They can’t be talking about eating veggies if they never touch them…

“Fern’s got a point, you two” I hear Lee agree across from them. The disappointment at his betrayal was apparent on their faces. A few people also voiced their agreement, and since the twins can’t say no to a challenge, they end up doing it.

“What the bloody hell even are these veggies anyway?” Fred exclaims as the two come over. I grin as I grab my plate of singing veggies and pour it onto theirs.

“It’s called broccoli, Fred” I joke back. The look on their faces as they realise they have to eat broccoli is hilarious. 

“Finally you two actually eat some veggies, mom keeps asking me to just force some down your throat since you two don’t eat any” I see their older brother, which I’ve learned to be name Percy, say to them. The two are visibly disturbed as they start eating, and people around start laughing at their reactions

Eventually there are none left, and the two dramatically drink pumpkin juice to wash down the taste. I return to my food and start eating. I chat with the other Hufflepuffs around me throughout the rest of the feast, for once forgetting all about the feeling.

However, the news that we received the next morning made me sick to my stomach.

Chapter Text

The morning had seemed fine. Everything was normal, and everyone was excited about the summer holiday approaching. Delilah and I were lightly chatting as we headed for breakfast in the great hall, mostly about what we planned to do this summer, and how Celeste is starting next year.

Entering the hall itself also felt normal. People were chatting at each table, probably discussing their plans for the summer break.

Delilah and I move to our table, spotting the twins on their own. But, something was off about them. They weren’t happily chatting, rather, they were sitting in silence with worried looks on their faces. I glance at Delilah, and it doesn’t seem like she noticed the two, but I still just walk over.

“Hey… are you two okay? You look… worried.” I hesitate, not wanting to step over an invisible line. They look back in surprise as they hear my voice, clearly not paying attention to their surroundings. Delilah also stops and looks at the two.

“Um… well, it’s a long story, apparently. One we haven’t been told all of” Fred starts after having a silent conversation with George. 

“We woke up this morning to find out Harry, Ron and Hermoine had been out doing something in the middle of the night. Both Ron and Harry are currently in the hospital wing, Ron is gonna be released today but… Harry’s out cold. Annoying thing is, they aren’t telling us anything else.” George further explains. I stand in silence for a bit, processing his words.

“Out in the middle of the night? How do you know?” I ask, curious as to who told them.

“We saw Hermione this morning, alone. Which doesn’t happen often, she’s usually either with the two or studying. We interrogated her about it, and this is all she told us.” George answers, his own expression being one of worry mixed with confusion and wonder.

“That’s… weird. Well, update us if you find anything else out?” I ask, knowing I can’t get anything more out of them. Plus, I was hungry.

“Yeah, we will.” Fred smiles, both of them turning back to eat. Delilah and I then move to our own table to sit down and eat something. 

We mostly sit in silence as we eat, minds full of reasons as to what the trio could’ve been doing. 

I look around the hall, it’s mostly full except for a few students who may’ve already eaten or were going to eat. Though a certain person missing once again awakens that feeling. 

Quirinus Quirrell

He was usually at breakfast, which I knew from being constantly paranoid around him for the past weeks. But, this morning he wasn’t. Was it a coincidence that he wasn’t here the morning after the trio was out causing trouble? I mean, it has to be… at least I really hope so. He might’ve just chosen to not join breakfast today, right? Right.

“Are you okay, Syl?” Delilah breaks my line of thought, making me turn to her.

“Oh- uh, yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing” I answer. Delilah looks at me in suspicion but chooses to say nothing. Breakfast passes and we attend the last few classes of the year. 

I still don’t see him throughout the day. Not a single time. I even overheard some students talking about having a substitute teacher in DADA. The feeling gets worse as I hear more and more whispers and gossip about a missing Quirrell.

However, it was at dinner that I became sure of my suspicion.

At dinner, everyone was there at the same time, not like breakfast. I once again don’t see Quirrell in his usual seat. I try to ignore it, though, as we start to eat. 

The house elves had been really going at it the last few days, really trying to do their best. The food was even better than normal, and I was enjoying a pumpkin pie as Dumbledore stands up to say something.

“Due to some… unforeseen circumstances, Professor Quirrell will not be working here anymore. Because of this, any defence against the dark arts classes will be cancelled for the last few days of this school year. I will not explain in detail the circumstances, but I’m sure the news will eventually spread” As Dumbledore talks, I become sure. Quirrell somehow had to do with the incident with the trio, and he most likely wasn’t trying to stop the three from doing anything bad, at least not from the injuries seen on the three.

After a moment of silence, Dumbledore moves back to his seat. The hall fills with whispers and gossip. I look over to Delilah and she looks back with a confused expression. I nod towards the Gryffindor table, and her eyes widen.

“You don't think-”

“I do. And if I’m correct…” I hesitate. If I’m correct, it means I knew something that could’ve prevented the trio’s injuries, and possibly even a person’s disappearance. 

“Let’s… go somewhere more private.” Delilah hurries as she gets up and grabs my arm. I simply comply by getting up and following her. We get a few stares as we leave, but nothing too extreme, as we weren’t the only ones leaving. 

We leave the hall and quickly find a hallway that we go down, far enough to where we turn another corner and have enough privacy. 

“I’m not completely sure I get what you meant, so please explain.” Delilah hurries, looking around to check if anyone was there.

“Well… I just think it’s weird that Quirrell… well, disappears, maybe even… no never mind. He disappears on the night that Ron, Harry and Hermione go out and do whatever they were doing. That plus the weird feeling, the meeting that night and the three’s injuries… I just don’t think there’s a way that he was trying to, you know, stop them from doing whatever they were doing.” I explain, Delilah’s eyes widening more and more. “I just- I don’t think three first-years could’ve done anything to a professor that would make them full-on quit, or whatever the bloody hell happened. With their injuries, he wasn’t just trying to stop them, I think he was trying to kill them, like back when I saw him that night. What if... the three had been trying to, I don’t know… retrieve something that Quirrell also wanted, and they just so happened to meet him at the same time?

“And if all of that is true, I could’ve prevented this if I’d just told a professor. If I’d just told Dumbledore, this wouldn’t’ve happened. There wouldn’t be three first-years with injuries and a missing professor. If I just hadn’t doubted myself and told a bloody adult, things wouldn’t be this bad…” I croaked, tears starting to fall from my eyes. Delilah immediately grabbed me and brought me into a hug. 

“It’s not your fault Syl… you didn’t know he would do something bad, whatever it is he did.” Delilah comforts me. We stand like this for a while until I stop crying and pull back. I rub my eyes and immediately notice something once I remove my hands.

Professor McGonagall.

She was standing right behind Delilah, looking at us with a soft smile on her face.

“Professor! I-” I can’t get any words out as I face her, unsure of how much she heard. Delilah’s eyes widen as she turns to find McGonagall standing there. 

“Miss Fern, you do not need to worry. None of what has happened was your fault. Now, how about you get back to your common rooms and get ready for the evening.” McGonagall reassured with a small smile on her face. 

She then walks away as though nothing happened, leaving us both stunned. We both stand still, before moving back to the common room as McGonagall had suggested.

_____

Somewhere else in one of the many Hogwarts towers

“Are you sure about this, Minerva? That’s what she said?” 

“I’m sure, Albus. She was talking to her friend about the whole thing before either knew I was listening. I don’t believe she could’ve been so accurate either, with the limited information that has spread.” 

Dumbledore pauses as he remembers something

“Her father, Axel, was a lot like that too.” He turns around from the window to look at McGonagall, who was standing in the middle of his office, as he says, “Same with her grandfather and great aunt, Everest and Indigo, they were all very perceptive when it came to people. Even more so than me”

“You’re right, Axel sure was perceptive, even for being Ravenclaw. I think I overheard some gossip about an Everest and Indigo Fern when I worked at the ministry. They were praised for their perceptiveness when working with lawbreakers.”

“Hmm… Think it’s something to do with their family history? I know that the Ferns go a while back, I’m not even quite sure where they stem from…” Dumbledore wonders, walking towards his desk. “In fact, I do not know a lot about them. They’re quite secretive, always have been. ‘Fern’ isn’t a household name either, even though they’re all quite talented and have achieved all sorts of stuff.” 

“You are quite right about that. I only know of their animagus traditions from Axel accidentally revealing his form in front of me in his fourth year, where I had him explain to me how he knew the way to become an animagi, which took some convincing and a bit of threatening with expulsion. If he hadn’t, I would’ve been clueless.” McGonagall chuckles, the ‘threatening with expulsion part earning a raised eyebrow from Dumbledore. 

“In any case, I would like to know more about them. Just for the sake of knowing.” Dumbledore stands in front of his desk, fiddling with a few things. “Perhaps I have some records of some past students…”

Dumbledore moves to the back of his office and starts to look through stuff, making McGonagall smile at his antics. 

“Well, good night to you, Albus, I’ll be taking my leave.” McGonagall chuckles as she turns around and heads for the door.

_____

I still felt guilty. So incredibly guilty. I still felt like it was my fault that everything had happened, despite McGonagall’s positive words. 

And it didn’t really go away. 

Even once everyone knew what exactly had happened down in the dungeon, including me, I still felt guilty. I still felt like I could’ve prevented it. 

The guilt did take up less space in my mind than it had to start with, so I could at least be a little excited on the last day of school. 

The school day went by quickly. No one really paid attention, knowing we wouldn’t learn anything. Not like the teachers really taught anything the last few days, it was mostly just some repetition to make sure we wouldn’t immediately forget everything we learned.

In the afternoon, I found out that Harry Potter had woken up again. This caused some relief to flood through me since I’d been worried he wouldn’t wake. 

The Hufflepuff common room was full of people chatting, all excited for the end-of-term feast this evening. 

“Syl, what do you think we should do this summer? Maybe play some quidditch?” Delilah inquires as we sit on some of the sofas in the common room. 

“Dee, you know how bad I am at Quidditch. Maybe I could referee you and Celeste? She’s ecstatic to play, Dad told me she’s been begging for him to play with her. But he’s getting old and his joints are getting worse, which he wrote a whole page complaining about in the last letter.” I respond. I could fly on a broom, but I couldn’t do anything more than that. Quidditch wasn’t something that really interested me. I mean, it wasn’t as though I didn’t like it. I would always watch the matches, courtesy of Delilah and Cedric, and I knew the rules, I just couldn’t play. Besides, I’m a bit chubby and out of shape, so I don’t really fancy being active.

“That’s right. We also have to go shopping for next year at some point and go get Celeste’s wand and robes. I wonder which house she’ll get sorted into…” Delilah wonders, looking at me to see if I’ve got a guess.

“Hmm… Well, she’s quite adventurous, that’s for sure. She’s ambitious, always dreaming big… and she’s got the talent for it, too. Which she’s aware of, always confident and chivalrous. She’s a good friend too, I know she would always help a friend in need, no matter what.” I summarise. She was a good mix of the houses, but I think one stands out the most. “I’ve gotta say Gryffindor, her courage and chivalry outshine her ambition, cleverness and loyalty.”

“That… makes a lot of sense, actually. I’d of course hope for her to be in Hufflepuff with us, so we can help her,” Delilah starts, and I agree with her on that. “But, I know she can handle herself. Besides, it’s not as though she can’t talk to us, our tables are right next to each other, and I know that you have a lot of time if she needs help. Also, we both know some Gryffindors that could help her if needed.”

I nod at that. I didn’t doubt my sister for a second, but I do know how hard it can be when starting Hogwarts as a first-year. 

“Of course. And if she gets sorted into Slytherin or Ravenclaw, we’ll just have to be even more helpful.” I joke. I know that Celeste can easily make friends and that there are people in every house that would help a lost first-year. Delilah hums in agreement. 

We keep talking a bit about the summer and next year, until its time to get ready for the feast

“Seriously, Syl, you have to at least tie your tie.” Delilah grumbles while fixing my clothes. “And put that robe and hat on correctly, don’t just let it rest on your shoulders so it falls off constantly!” 

“Alright, alright… Mom ” I grumble back, flicking her hands away, fixing my tie and fully putting on my robe. The mutter caused a fake gasp of surprise from Delilah.

“Sylvia. Elvina. Fern.” Delilah fakes being offended at me, putting a hand on her chest. It was quiet for a bit until we burst into laughter.

“Fine, sorry… but let’s get to the great hall before the feast starts. And don’t use my full name like that again, it’s actually quite scary” I chuckle, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the room, leaving for the hall. We were the last to leave our room.

As we enter the hall, my shoulders sag a little at the green banners hanging from the ceiling. I didn’t have a huge problem with Slytherin winning the house cup again, but, they’ve just won so many times now. Plus, a lot of their points are from Quidditch, in which they are practically cheating. I see a faint look of disappointment on Delilah’s face as well.

We then head for our table. The hall is pretty full already, most students have found their seats and become busy chatting with others. We sit in front of Cedric and a few other Hufflepuffs and start chatting.

We talk about what we’re going to be doing over the summer, next year, and just other gossip from the last few days.

“Oh yeah, Sylvia, isn’t your sister starting next year?” One of the girls asks, putting the attention on me.

“Yeah, she is! Dee and I just talked about it earlier today too. She’s super excited, and won’t stop writing about it in the many letters she sent me in the past year.” I answer, a smile growing on my face. It’s actually a bit cute, how excited she is.

“Do you think she’ll be a Hufflepuff like us?” Cedric inquires, clear curiosity on his face.

“Oh, no, I don’t think she will,” I answer. Some of the students look at me in confusion. I take it that I made it sound like she was rude or something, so I quickly go on and explain my reasoning. “It’s not like she isn’t loyal or hardworking, her chivalry and courage just outshine everything else. I’m suspecting Gryffindor, though if not Gryffindor, it’ll probably be Slytherin. She’s quite ambitious as well.”

The others nod at my explanation. I didn’t talk a whole lot about my sister, not necessarily finding a point in time to bring it up. 

I had learned to not view the Slytherin house as the house of evil, knowing that there were plenty of good witches and wizards there, but I also knew that a lot of Slytherins weren’t exactly… nice. This was mostly because of the abundance of pure-bloods who always got sorted into Slytherin. Plus, one of the traits of Slytherin is ‘doing anything to get something they want’. Of course, like any other house, not all Slytherins possess all of the traits, so it wasn’t that everyone was ready to risk anything.

We don’t get to speak much more on the subject as the food appears on the table. Everyone is hungry, so we immediately start shovelling food on our plates. Once we begin eating, we eventually start chatting a bit again

“Sylvia, I don’t think I ever see you eating any meat, do you not like it?” One of the Hufflepuff boys asks after a bit of silence.

“Oh, well, I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t eat meat.” I reply honestly. I never really loved meat in the first place, and I didn’t exactly like thinking about the fact that I was eating a once very alive animal. I was okay with milk, eggs and other anime produce like that, but I just couldn’t eat the meat.

“Oohhh, that makes sense. I’m not sure why I didn’t figure that out, you love most if not all animals and beasts with all of your heart” He ends with a chuckle. I laugh along, also finding it funny how he didn’t know that after having known me for 3 years.

Not much time passes before we hear a faint ding from the teacher’s table, and Dumbledore stands up.

“Another year, gone.” he starts, the hall going completely quiet to listen to his speech. “And now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding.”

Everyone is silent as he speaks, showing just how much the students each respect Dumbledore.

“And the points stand thus:” Dumbledore continues as he looks around the room.

“Gryffindor in fourth place with 312 points.” I can almost feel the disappointment radiating from the Gryffindor table. Of course, they get a round of applause for the hard work that they had done. I look back and spot Fred and George with sad looks on their faces, and I feel bad for them. 

“Third place, Hufflepuff with 352 points” I’m not surprised at this since most Hufflepuffs, including myself, don’t aim to win the house cup. We mostly just spend our time here the best we can whether that includes winning house points or not. Another round of applause sounds, before fading away again as Dumbledore starts to speak.

“In second place, Ravenclaw with 426 points.” Once again a round of applause sounds. I’m surprised at how many points they got, and I could hear others feel the same way from the cheers that erupt.

“And in the first place, with 472 points, Slytherin house” To no one's surprise, Slytherin won the house cup, with outstanding points as well. A last round of applause sounds, along with loud cheers from the Slytherin table. The applause goes on for a while, until Dumbledore once again speaks up.

“Yes, yes, well done Slytherin, well done. However,” The hall again goes quiet, “recent events must be taken into account, and I have a few last-minute points to award.” 

Recent events? This grabs the attention of everyone, especially the moping Gryffindors, and people’s faces become perplexed.

Oh.

I take a guess and say that it’s the recent event that’s been all the gossip. The so-called ‘golden trio’s little adventure down in the dungeons.

“To Miss Hermione Granger, for the cool use of intellect, while others were in grave peril,” all the attention is now partly on Hermione as Dumbledore speaks, “50 points”

The hall is again filled with applause, especially from the Gryffindor table. That put Hufflepuff in last place, but I didn’t really mind it. There were a few short looks of disappointment at being in last place again this year on a few Hufflepuff faces, but it quickly vanishes as Dumbledore again speaks.

“Second, to Mister Ronald Weasley for the best-played game of chess, that Hogwarts has seen these many years,” this makes me wonder even more about what just happened down in the dungeons but put it to the back of my mind as Dumbledore announces the points, “50 points”

Once again, for the umpteenth time, applause takes over from the lone voice speaking. Winning 50 points for playing chess? Maybe I should start playing it more…

“And third, to Mister Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage,” he must’ve dealt with a lot if he’s winning points for having the traits of his won house, but I suppose not everyone, even if courageous, can have been so brave as to even impress Dumbledore. “I award Gryffindor house, 60 points”

“Wait, aren’t Gryffindor and Slytherin tied then?” Delilah comments, making everyone around us nod and look at Dumbledore, to see if he would add anything that would change the score.

“And finally” As I suspected, that wasn’t the end. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.”

I nod in agreement at this. It can be hard to argue or go against someone you think of as a friend.

“I award 10 points,” If this is for Gryffindor, it would change the score. “To Neville Longbottom.”

I smile a bit as the, now enthusiastic, Gryffindors start cheering, some clapping Neville on his back. I also start clapping, knowing that Gryffindor finally won the house cup.

“Assuming my calculations are correct, I believe that a change of decoration is in order” With a clap of his hands, Dumbledore changes the green and silver Slytherin banners, into red and gold Gryffindor banners. The change in colour makes the Great Hall feel much more vibrant and nice.

“Gryffindor wins the house cup.”

The Gryffindor table is the first to rise, clapping and cheering. Quickly, though, the other tables rise and take off their hats to throw them into the air in celebration of the end of the school year. This, of course, excludes the Slytherins, having just been robbed of their first place. I do feel bad for a few of them, knowing that there are some that earned points fair and square, but I also feel that it was well-deserved for others.

The Gryffindors all start giving high-fives, especially to the four that earned them the extra 170 points. 

And thus, my third year at hogwarts comes to an end. Though, the next few years would be full of surprises. A lot of them good, although, some of them will be horrible.

Chapter Text

As soon as Delilah and I step off the train, Celeste comes running up to us. 

She’s wearing her favourite pink and light green striped tee along with her jeans. 

“Delilah! Sylvia!” She shouts as she hugs us both at once. Delilah and I both chuckle and hug back. I look behind her and Spot Mum and Dad. They both approach us and I let go of Celeste’s iron grip. 

“Hi, Celeste” I smile as I mess a bit with her hair. She complains as she hits my hand away. She then turns to Delilah and starts talking about Quidditch.

“Sylvia, dear, oh how I’ve missed you,” Mum says as she approaches us, and pulls me into a hug. I’ve missed them all as well, not having been home for Christmas. Once my mom lets go of me, I turn to my dad and hug him.

“I trust you haven’t been breaking too many rules?” Dad chided once he pulled away, hands still on my shoulders.

“Well, depends on how you define ‘too many’...” I mumble, knowing I couldn’t lie to my father.

“Sylvia? What did you so?” He asks with squinted eyes, almost like he was trying to look closer to see any signs of lying.

“Just… a bit of sneaking out at night is all…” I say, looking away to avoid eye contact. He just chuckles at this and messes with my hair.

“As long as you don’t go out hurting others it’s fine. I’ll be honest, I might’ve sneaked out a bit when I first became an animagus too.” My dad confesses in a low tone, so as to not make others passing by hear. This makes me look at him with wide eyes, not expecting my dad to have been a bit of a troublemaker.

After we greeted each other, and Delilah and I said our goodbyes to the ones we needed to, we start moving. This time, my family had gone there by floo powder, so we gathered by one of the fireplaces put in the station for convenience, and start going home one by one. My mom is still not used to the whole floo powder thing, so she goes together with Dad.

Once home, Delilah and I put our luggage in our shared room. 

“I can’t believe it’s summer holiday already! I feel as though we’ve just started our third year.” I say as I spread out on my bed. I hear Delilah chuckle a bit beside me.

“That’s true. But, a lot still happened this year. And, for some reason, I’m getting a feeling that a lot more will happen in the next few years.” She comments as she also sits down on her bed.

“Yeah. Also, I wonder who’ll be the next Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.” I wonder, sticking my hand up into the air, looking at the ring Delilah got me. I shoot up at a sudden idea, making Delilah look at me with a puzzled expression.

“Do you think there’s a way to enchant our jewellery? Y’know, the ones we gave each other” I inquire, fully facing to turn her. 

“Hmm… well, highly depends on what.” Delilah looks up, a habit I’ve noticed she does whenever she’s thinking.

“I was thinking of some sort of way to contact each other. Like, even though we’re almost always together right now, it doesn’t mean we always will be.” I propose. The thought of having some sort of way to contact each other quickly makes me a bit excited.

“I’m not sure… well, not if it’s full-on sentences, maybe not even words,” Delilah concludes once she looks at me again. That makes me a bit disappointed, however, I don’t get to think more on the subject before she speaks again. “But, we can make them have some sort of signal?”

“A signal?” I ask, signalling for her to continue.

“Yeah, like the butterfly on your ring could flutter its wings or… lead you to me. And maybe the elephant on my necklace could make a noise? Or perhaps start floating in the direction that you are?” Delilah explains. I think about this for a second.

“It could be cool to get them to lead us to each other. Like if either of us were ever in serious trouble, and needed the other.” I say, considering the pros and cons. Not like there really were any cons, except for making it.

“Yeah, I think that would be best to do as well.” Delilah starts, and just as I’m about to start discussing how, she says, “However, there is a problem.”

This makes me look at her in confusion, and she sighs before explaining.

“We’re underage, remember? We can’t perform magic outside of Hogwarts until we’re 17. We have to wait for the school year to begin. Besides, I’ll need to check out some of the Hogwarts library's books for a way to do this.”

Oh. Of course. I always forget that we can’t practise magic outside of school. It also makes sense that she’d need to find some information about that.

“Alright, then! We’ll just have to wait. I’ll even help you find some books on it.” I smile at her, and she smiles back in appreciation. I don’t get to say anything else before a knock sounds at our door.

“Sylvia, you in here?” My dad beckons as he enters. “Oh, you’re both here, wonderful!”

I greet my dad as he saunters into our room and over to our beds, sitting on Delilah’s bed next to her.

“So. A few days ago when I was looking through some of all the stuff I’ve got laying around, I found this” He reveals a small box in his hands. He opens it to reveal a silver chain necklace with a locket on it. “It’s a family heirloom. My own dad gave it to me on my 14th birthday, but I’d completely forgotten about it, and I thought you should have it. So, take it as a late birthday present.”

I grab the box and admire the necklace. It has an oval shape with small, intricate carvings of leaves and flowers. I grab it and try to open it.

“Ah, no need to waste time by trying to open it. I’ve never been able to, and neither has my father, grandmother, great-grandmother and so on. My dad thought that it was because it’s become too old, but I think it needs a password. I’ve given up on trying to guess, though.” Dad stops me from trying, and I put it on instead. I then smile at my dad and thank him. He then turns to Delilah with an apologetic look “Oh, Delilah, I do apologize, but I don’t have anything for you.

“Oh! No worries, Axel, you don’t have to apologise for something like that. It’s a family heirloom, and I’m not exactly a part of your family” Delilah smiles, denying his apology.

“Don’t say that now, Delilah. You might not be my blood, but I still think of you as my daughter, and so does Miriam.” My dad reassures Delilah, and she smiles in thanks at him. 

We talk a little more with my dad, things that I hadn’t yet said in any letters. Like how the last few days of the year went by, and the thing with Quirrell. My dad is a little appalled by this but doesn’t touch more on it since there isn’t much more you can do now.

Once he leaves, I decide to take a further look at the locket. In the middle of the oval is a flower, with what looks like stems and leaves protruding out from it, along with a few more flowers here and there. A family heirloom with a passcode?

I sit and admire it for a long time, before biting it in me and start guessing.

“Open?” I guess, making Delilah look at me from her desk. She’d moved over to the desk to write a letter to someone. “Uhh… unlock?”

“Maybe it’s something connected to your family? Like your last name, or some traditions?” Delilah hints. I look up at her, and she’s turned to me. “Or maybe it’s in Latin?”

“Hmm… Fern?” Nothing happens, not even the slightest hints. “Alohomora?”

A burning heat suddenly emerges from the locket and I drop it in pain. Delilah looks in worry at me as I look at my fingertips.

“Bloody hell, whoever made this really wanted to protect it” I mumble, rubbing my hands with a wince at the pain. This, however, doesn’t give me less motivation. It actually makes me want to guess it more since there's obviously something important in it.

“Perhaps something to do with your animagus traditions?” Delilah suggest, moving to sit beside me after she’d finished writing her letter. I shuffle a bit to make space.

“Animagus” Again, nothing. “Maybe it’s too plain? I mean, even dad couldn’t guess it.”

Delilah nods and starts thinking. She reaches out her hand to try and hold it, but quickly pulls it away.

“Ow… I guess it’s only your bloodline that can touch it…” Delilah mumbled and I was about to grab her hands to look at them if it wasn’t for the fact that the locket vibrated. I look down at it, and Delilah looks at me with curiosity written all over her face.

“It… vibrated, when you said what you just did” I grab it again, and Delilah hesitantly moves closer to have a look.

“What… bloodline?” My eyes widen as it shakes a little again, as does Delilah’s. I look at her and she looks back at me, both wide-eyed. 

We keep making attempts at opening it, but eventually, give up as we don’t get any more hints.

A lot of the summer goes by like this. Whenever I had time, I would come up with a new passcode.

Of course, it’s not the only thing that I did during the summer break. Celeste couldn’t wait to learn to ride a broom, and since we lived relatively secluded, we could fly without being spotted by muggles.

“Syl! Catch!” I try to manoeuvre my body to grab the ball that Delilah threw at me, but fail miserably as I almost fall from my lack of grip.

“Ack..!” The ball falls as I cling to the broom, not wanting to splat onto the ground. “Do I have to be a part of this? I can’t catch a ball on a broom for the life of me…”

“You just have to not be scared of falling! I can tell that you’re always prepared to fall!” Celeste shouts down at me. She was considerably higher than me, and neither of her hands hold onto her broom as she looks down at me.

“That’s easier said than done! I’m terrified of falling, I’d much rather just be down there, gardening or… reading, even.” I complain, glancing down and immediately regretting it. It was so easy to fall down.

“Oh, come on, Syl, you’re, like, three meters off the ground. You won't get more than a bruise from that.” Delilah encourages. I look at her with a fake hurt expression, hoping that she’d at least be on my side. 

“Fine… I’ll play a little more, I guess. Just, don’t count too much on me, yeah?” I give in, not wanting to disappoint the two.

Delilah flies in front of our make-shift goal to practise as a keeper, Celeste gets in front of Delilah to practise shooting, and I get beside her so I can… well, try and help, even though they’re probably helping me more than I am them.

Celeste starts by throwing the ball at me, and I miraculously catch it. I celebrate a little at this, finally being able to catch the ball. I then try to throw it at Celeste who goes in for a shot at the goal. Delilah just exactly gets to it, using her foot to kick it away.

We continue with this for a little, and, somehow, I end up getting the ghost of it. Or, at least, understanding it, and getting more respect for quidditch players.

“All right… time out… I … need a break.” I muster out, slowly descending down to the ground. And just in time, Mum comes out the back door with a tray of sweets and some refreshing drinks.

“Girls! Come down from there and get some snacks, you must be tired from all of that.” She shouts at the two, before glancing at me wobbling over to the small outdoor table we have. “Oh, dear, sit down and have something to drink.”

Without much thought, I sit down and immediately grab a glass and start drinking. 

“Pumpkin juice? Did Dad get this?” I inquire, spotting the two others approaching out of the corner of my eye. 

“Yes, he bought some on his way back to work. I’d asked him to since it’s been a while since I’ve had some, and it isn’t really something you can get in… muggle… stores.” Mum answers, sitting herself down on one of the chairs. Dad even comes out at one point to enjoy the sunny afternoon and refreshing drinks with us.

“So, Sylvia, have you gotten anything on the locket?” Dad inquires after a moment of silence. I look at him a little in surprise, not expecting the question. He hadn’t asked anything after he’d given it to me.

“Umm… Well, when you first gave the necklace to me, Dee and I were discussing what the code could possibly be, and Dee said the word ‘bloodline’,” at the word, the locket, which was gently resting on my chest, vibrates a bit. This catches both Celeste's and Dad’s attention, “It vibrates. We also found out that anyone who isn’t in our family can’t touch it. Not sure if that would include Mum…”

“Bloody-” Mum smacks Dad’s shoulder at him almost cussing, “Ow, sorry, Miriam dear. But, that’s quite the discovery. Farther than I ever went…” 

He thinks a little about it, before concluding.

“It’s hard to rule anything out… but we do know it’s something to do with our bloodline.” As Dad says this the locket once again vibrates at the last word.

The summer break is full of this. I also do some gardening, write some letters, read a little, and just spend time with my family in general.

And when we receive our Hogwarts letters on August 12th, Celeste is overjoyed. Our dad, however, was not. 

“Seven Gilderoy Lockheart books? Each? My wallet hurts from just looking at it…” My dad complains, looking at Celeste’s letter.

“Gilderoy Lockheart? Who is he again? I think I’ve heard you mention him before…” My mom inquires, a puzzled look on her face. 

“Only the most arrogant, selfish bastard out there. He claims that he’s achieved a bunch of things, claims that would make him one of, if not the, most powerful wizard. But from his history, I’m mostly talking about his grades, there’s no way.” My dad grumbles as he hands the letter back to an overexcited Celeste. “He’s a handsome fella too, so it just makes it much worse. Most witches out there are head over heels for him.”

Dad once told me about him, and not to fall for wizards like that. All they are are liars and cheats, as he said.

“But why would we need this for school? Unless…” Delilah inputs. A sense of dread fills Dad’s face. 

“He’s going to be teaching us, isn’t he?” I break the silence. But if what my dad said is true, then, is he even qualified as a teacher? 

“... I don’t think you’re going to learn much in DADA classes this year,” Dad confesses, putting a hand over his head. 

“Dear, it can’t be that bad, right? I mean, the headmaster… Dumbledore, right? You’ve praised him many times, talking about how amazing and wise he is.” Mum comforts Dad, putting a hand on his upper arm. “He should know if somethings wrong, right?” 

They stand like this for a bit, Mum trying to comfort Dad a little. Celeste makes a gesture of faking throwing up, and Delilah and I laugh at this. Mum turns and gently hits Celeste on her head with one of the Hogwarts letters, mumbling a bit about how we’ll eventually do the same. 

“Aww, I’m excited for DADA though…” Celeste pouts, bearing a saddened expression, before her eyes suddenly light up. “I know! Delilah! You can teach me, right?!?”

I look over to Delilah and take notice of her nervous expression.

“Teach you? I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to do that…” 

“Oh come on! From what I hear, you’re really talented!”

“Well…”

They continue a bit back and forth before Delilah eventually agrees, and Celeste jumps at Delilah with a hug of happiness. 

We wait a few days with going to Diagon Alley. Mum and Dad said it’s so they can get their paycheck before having to buy all those things.

Finally, the day arrives. Delilah and I put on our cloaks that contain a small Hufflepuff crest, and Mum, Dad and Celeste put on their coats.

“Ok, so once we get there, you two go ahead to Flourish and Blotts and buy the books for all three of you. Here’s some money, it should be enough.” My dad hands us a sack of galleons with a sigh, my mom glaring a bit at the pouch. We found out what it would cost. All in all, it would be 105 galleons. When my mom found out how many pounds it was, 518, she went a bit mental. “We’ll meet you guys there. After we have bought all of Celeste’s supplies, you two just stay there after.”

One by one we once again use the floo powder in the large fireplace. Once we’re all there, we say our goodbyes and head our opposite ways.

We quickly spot Flourish and Blotts and head over there. The streets are pretty crowded, so we quickly enter the store without looking inside.

“Bloody hell, it’s packed in here” Delilah mumbles as we go inside. It’s true, there are dozens of witches and a few wizards filling the store. We step to the side to try and find the books we need.

It doesn’t take long to find them, as they’re on small stands all over the store.

“If it isn’t Sylvia and Delilah,” Someone quips behind me. I turn around to find the two twins I had been talking quite a lot with during last year and a bit over the summer through some letters. 

“Fred! George! Lovely to see you!” I greet, forgetting about the books behind me. I take a look at the two, and it seems like they’ve grown even taller than they already were. Both of them were wearing long capes that contain the Gryffindor crest, like the ones we were wearing except ours had the Hufflepuff crest.

“Out shopping for books? The list for books this year is mental…” George inquires, the latter comment being spoken with an exasperated tone.

“Yeah… We can just barely afford all the books. It takes most of my dad’s paycheck!” I complain a bit. It was brutal. I could only imagine how hard it was for the Weasleys, with how many there are and the little money that they have.

“And it’s Gilderoy Lockheart at that… I despise that man” Delilah complains, having agreed with my family’s complaints about him. This earns a slightly shocked expression when I nod at it.

“Don’t you fancy him? Most girls do… even our mum.” Fred comments, but before I can formulate an answer, the man himself shows up at the back of the store.

“Ladies and gentleman, Mr Gilderoy Lockheart” At the announcement, the witches at the front of the store swarms the back to be able to see him, the room filling with applause.

The way he walks forward in such a cocky and arrogant manner makes me want to leave and wait till it’s over. But, I’ll stay to see what he wants to say. 

He smiles and poses as the photographer from The Daily Prophet takes pictures before he halts at something he spots in the crowd. An arrogant smirk takes over from his previous ‘charming’ smile as he says;

“It can’t be. Harry Potter?”

I’m surprised at the mention, but then remember that he’s been staying at the Weasleys, as George had told me in a letter. As well as how he got there…

The crowd murmurs and the photographer grabs him and forces him towards Lockheart. Lockheart pulls him into a side hug and smiles. Though Harry looks more like he regrets being noticed. Lockheart says something to Harry, But I can’t quite make it out.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is.” Gilderoy Lockheart begins after a few pictures have been taken of the two. “When young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, magical me,”

He pauses for a moment and people start applauding again, which I find weird because nothing really has happened yet…

“Which, incidentally, is currently celebrating its 27th week atop the Daily Prophet bestseller list” He once again pauses for the applauds, I’m guessing for the dramatic effect before he continues, “he had no idea he would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works… free of charge”

Once again, applauding fills the small shop for the ‘kind’ gesture. Which was probably more of a trick to seem like a good person than an actual good deed, because if he was indeed good, he wouldn’t be making every single student buy his entire collection…

“I don’t believe that act he puts up. I’m guessing that the only reason we have to buy these books is so Gilderoy can earn money, and not to actually teach us.” I complain in a low tone, both Delilah and the twins hearing me.

By the looks of it, we’d have to wait with buying our books, since the store was flooded with women wanting their books signed. I then spot Harry making his way through the crowd before…

“Bet you loved that, didn’t you, Potter” A rude boy intercepts Harry from leaving the store. The boy grabs the attention of the twins, along with both Delilah and me. “ Famous Harry Potter. Can’t go into a bookshop without making the front page”

I’m a bit appalled by the rudeness of the boy, and I can feel the anger from all the Weasley siblings that have gathered. It looks to me as though the boy is just jealous.

A younger girl, I’m guessing Ginny, steps forward.

“Leave him alone.” This just made the boy smile a bit.

“Look, Potter. You’ve got yourself a girlfriend” The boy keeps smiling until a staff of sorts hits his shoulder and pushes the boy aside.

“Now, now, Draco, play nicely.” A man steps forward from behind him, and I can only take a guess and say that it’s Draco’s, as I’ve now learned, father. The matching slicked-back white-blond hair and malevolent eyes speak for themselves.

“Mr Potter” The man speaks with a smirk, before sticking his hand forth. “Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last.”

Harry grabs Lucius’s hand, before Lucius pulls Harry towards him, pushing Harry’s hair back to reveal his scar.

“Forgive me. Your scar is a legend,” Lucius says before he smirks and speaks lowly, “As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you”

“Voldemort killed my parents” Harry responds in a cold tone, backing away and taking back his hand from Lucius. His nerve to say the name of the man who must not be named makes a chill go down my spine. He sure is a Gryffindor. “He was nothing more than a murderer.”

“Hmm… you must be very brave to mention his name,” Lucius speaks my exact thoughts, making me a bit disgusted that I shared the same thoughts as a man who supports you-know-who. “Or very foolish.”

There is a pause as Lucius smirks, looking at Harry as if analysing him. 

“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself” Hermione speaks up. I look over towards the voice and see her standing next to Ginny, as does Lucius, but with an appalled look on his face.

“And you must be Miss Granger.” Lucius looks at his son in confirmation, to which Draco nods, a disgusted look on his face as he looks at Hermione. “Yes, Draco has told me all about you. And your parents”

Hermione looks towards said parents at another part of the store, conversing with Arthur Weasley.

“Muggles, aren’t they?” He looks at Hermione for a bit, before looking at the rest of the people here. 

“Red hair, vacant expressions.” Lucius grabs the book from Ginny’s cauldron. “Tatty, secondhand book. You must be… the Weasleys.”

He once again looks around, all of the Weasleys' faces bearing some degree of annoyance, before spotting Delilah and me.

“Delilah Vixen. It’s a shame you were sorted into Hufflepuff, I heard all about you from your father, Crescent. I also heard from Draco that your dear sister, Evangeline, is a friend of his.” He turns to us and looks at Delilah in pity. I can feel her tense up beside me, so I nudge her a little to comfort her. Lucius takes notice of this.

“And… I’m not quite sure who you might be.” Lucius looks at me with such malicious intent, studying every bit of me, like he was trying to figure out exactly what I was thinking. But I bite through it, not being able to stand seeing such mean things being said.

“Sylvia Fern,” I say. This makes Lucius think for a bit before realisation strikes his face.

“Ah, your father must be Axel Fern, yeah? I remember him from my Hogwarts days, Ravenclaw prefect during my second year… smart and quite talented… I heard he married some muggle. Pity.” Lucius comments, making my hands ball into fists before I take a breath and calm down.

“That’s right. Does there seem to be a problem with that, Mr Malfoy?” I inquire, putting on a polite smile so as to not seem like his words were bothering me. This just makes him scowl at me before looking behind him as Arthur approaches.

“Children, it’s mad in here, let’s go outside” Arthur hurries his children with a kind voice.

“Well, well, well, Weasley Senior.” Lucius greets, now completely ignoring Delilah and me.

“Lucius” Arthur greets back, clear annoyance on his face, obviously not wanting to converse with him right now.

“Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur, all those extra raids? I do hope they’re paying you overtime,” Lucius speaks. The way he talks and acts like he’s better than everyone else just because he’s wealthy is pissing me off. “but judging by the state of this, I’d say not”

Lucius gestures to the book in his hand. A face you could only describe as pure annoyance at the fact that Arthur exists takes over Lucius’s expression.

“What’s the use in being a disgrace to the name of Wizard,” He switches to an ironic smile, “If they don’t even pay you well for it?”

“We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of Wizard, Malfoy” Arthur talks back, face still full of annoyance.

“Clearly” The two exchange some looks before Lucius looks back towards Hermione’s parents. “Associating with Muggles”

Lucius drops the book that he was holding back into Ginny’s cauldron, a loud ‘clang’ sounding from the impact. But he didn’t just drop one book, he added another.

“And I thought your family could sink no lower” There is again silence between them. Lucius looks like he thinks he’s won and is above everyone else, and Arthur looks furious at Lucius’s comments. “I’ll see you at work”

He then turns around to leave, prompting Draco to do the same. But not before he says a little goodbye.

“See you at school,” He looks at Harry and Ron. As he leaves, he makes short eye contact with Delilah, sending her a dirty look.

“Oh, Miss Fern! How is your father? I’ve barely gotten the chance to speak to him” Arthur tries to break the silence and lighten the mood a bit. 

“Ah, he’s good. A bit frustrated at the choice of DADA teacher this year. But other than that, he’s doing great” I smile politely at Arthur, happy to change the sour mood. This makes a few of the Weasleys look less sour, delighted to not have to think about what just went down.

“We’ll get going now, kids. You two want to come along?” Arthur invites us. I spot George looking at me, almost a little expectantly, before I answer.

“Ah, I apologize, Mr Weasley, Delilah and I still have to purchase our books. The store seems a little less full now…” I decline with a soft smile. Arthur simply nods and ushers the group of kids out of the store. I take a last look at the group of kids and spot Harry looking at me with a curious glint in his eyes.

Delilah and I finally get the chance to buy the books we need. We don’t get them signed, as we don’t wanna go through the trouble since we don’t really like him all that much. Once we finish, we spot Mum, Dad and Celeste waiting outside and head out for them.

“Delilah! Sylvia! Look! I got my wand!!” Celeste gushes, swishing her wand in front of her.

“Celeste, we can’t see your wand if you keep manically swishing it around” I chuckle at her. This gets her to stand still, showing off the wand. I stick out my hand to grab it, and she hesitantly lets me see it.

The wand is pretty long, I’d say about 13 ¾", and the wand is very pretty to look at. The wand has a light colour, the handle almost looks like a type of marble, it then transitions to a light wood with some sphere shapes and other small details, to then be smooth. 

“It’s made of vine wood and dragon heartstring! It’s of supple flexibility” Celeste proudly exclaims. I give her back her wand and she continues to admire it. I shake my head at her with a smile. I remember back when I got my own wand as well, I’d been so excited.

Three years ago at Ollivanders…

I walk into the store and look around in awe. There are wands everywhere, from floor to ceiling. I don’t take many steps when an older-looking man steps forth from the back. 

“Ahh! Miss Fern, I knew you would be coming here soon. It only feels as yesterday that your father got a wand here…” Garrick Ollivander comes all the way up to the counter and looks at me. “Let’s get you that wand, yeah?”

He quickly moves towards me, going towards a wall and climbing some ladders.

“12", willow wood, phoenix feather, unyielding flexibility” he mumbles as he comes down and walks towards me, giving the wand to me. “Go on, try casting a spell”

I flick the wand and accidentally force some wands out of their places, making the boxes lie all over the floor. I quickly lay the wand back and apologise.

“No, no, don’t apologise… but this wand won’t do…” He again mumbles as he walks around the store, searching for a wand. “But maybe this might…” 

“9", alder wood, unicorn hair, supple flexibility” Once again, I grab the wand, do a little flick, and the small lamp on the counter shatters.

“Not this… perhaps… yes, that should do” He walks out of sight to the back of the store, only to come back with another wand. “10", apple wood, unicorn hair, quite flexible…”

I grab the wand and immediately feel a warmth spread within me. I take a deep sigh in contentment and close my eyes. This wand felt… familiar, almost. 

“That… is perfect. If you were to try another wand, I don’t think I’d be able to sell that one. It’s picked you .” He smiled, reaching out for my wand, wanting to pack it up. However, when I give it to him, Garrick immediately pulls his hand back. “Ow… I don’t think you’ll be letting another person lend your wand any time soon… best you put it in its box, yeah?”

Present day…

I remember the memory with a smile.

Once we’re finished, we head home. And a little less than two weeks later, we head towards Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

“Come on then, the train’s leaving soon. Give your stuff to the luggage assistant so he can put it on the train.” Dad hurries us. We’d been standing on the platform for a while, Mum and Dad saying goodbyes and giving especially strong hugs. We do as Dad says and come back to say our goodbyes once again. The goodbyes are short as there isn’t much time till the train departs, and we then head on the train.

“Can I sit with you two?” Celeste asks as we enter the train. I look at her in bewilderment at why she would ask that.

“Of course, you can, why shouldn’t you?” I ask, only looking behind me at her shortly because I was looking for an empty cabin. I quickly find an empty one and enter it, before putting my bag in the overhead bin. Delilah and Celeste follow along, putting their stuff in the bin.

“I don’t know... maybe you wanted to sit with some of your friends?” Celeste mumbles. I smile at her before putting my hand out and messing with her hair. 

“We wouldn’t leave you alone, Celeste, unless you wanted us to, of course.” I joked, and she quickly smiles again, regaining some energy, although nervous energy. We then sit down, Celeste and Delilah on one side, and me on the other.

“What house do you think I’ll be sorted into?” Celeste asks, looking back and forth between Delilah and me. 

“Hmm… I’d say-”

“Hello, ladies, mind if we sit here?” I look at the, now open, door as a new voice joins the conversation, and see Fred poking his head inside. Behind him is George and their little sister Ginny, the former waving at us.

“Oh! Hi, Fred, George and Ginny, I presume?” I smile, Ginny nodding at me. I look at the two others and they both nod, giving their okays. “Sure, come on in, there’s plenty of space.”

The three walk inside, put their stuff in the bin and sit down. Ginny sitting beside Celeste, George beside me and Fred on the other side of George. 

“Is this your younger sister, Syl?” George asks only shortly after they sit down. 

“Yeah, this is Celeste,” I affirm, nodding at her. “She’ll be in the same year as Ginny.”

Celeste gives a small wave to the twins, before smiling at Ginny, who smiles back.

We all fall into light chatter. Ginny and Celeste mostly talk to each other, getting to know one another, and Delilah, Fred, George and I talk about various gossip, all ranging from students on the verge of being expelled, to what our schedules are.

“Oh, that reminds me. Delilah, back at the bookshop two weeks ago, what was it with the Malfoys? How did he know you?” Fred inquires, this catching both Ginny’s and Celeste’s attention. Delilah stiffens the slightest, before taking a breath and telling them.

“My father and Lucius went to school together. With them both being in Slytherin and the same year, they quickly became good friends. Also, they both had that disgusting hatred towards muggles, muggle-borns and half-bloods. Essentially, anyone who wasn’t pureblooded.” Delilah starts. The twins both listen intently to the story. I knew where this was going, and I was still disgusted as I heard her tell the story. “So when they both graduated Hogwarts, they stayed in touch. And… well, they both came to serve under you-know-who”

I see the twins’, along with Ginny’s, eyes widen at this. They probably all had an idea that Lucius wasn’t a good person, but most likely didn’t know that he was a deatheater.

“When my mother and father had me, the Malfoys still didn’t have a kid. They became my godparents. But, when my parents and the Malfoys became pregnant at the same time, they both chose to make an agreement. An arranged marriage, between my sister, Evangeline, and their son, Draco.” She finishes, her hands clutch into fists at the story. She was also opposed to the whole arranged marriage thing. “And so when I was sorted into Hufflepuff… they called me a blood traitor, as you probably heard from the howler back then… and the Malfoys were removed as my godparents, the same time as my parents disowned me”

I give her a small, reassuring smile and nudge her leg with my foot. The others all look sympathetically at her, clearly not liking her situation. However, Delilah just shakes her head a little before looking at Celeste.

“I completely forgot that you asked us where we thought you’d get sorted before the others joined.” Delilah redirects the conversation, and Celeste is quick to go along, mostly because she was genuinely curious as to where she’ll be sorted.

“Isn’t she going to go to Hufflepuff with you guys?” Fred inquires, probably thinking that every wizarding family were sorted into the same house.

“Well, she could, but I don’t think she will” I answer, looking at Celeste, her looking at me with a look that was just begging for me to say it. I chuckle a little at her reaction before sharing my thoughts, “I reckon she’ll be in Gryffindor with you”

This causes a surprised reaction from the twins and a happy reaction from Celeste.

“Really? Then I might be in the same house as Ginny?” She exclaims in excitement, looking back at Ginny who also smiles in reaction. They again start talking amongst themselves.

“Why do you think so?” George inquires, Fred having the same look of curiosity etched onto his face as his brother.

“Well, she’s definitely hard-working and loyal, but she’s just much more chivalrous and brave. She’s also quite ambitious, with the talent to keep up with it, which leaves the possibility for Slytherin. She also has wit, but overall, she’s just much more of a Gryffindor than any other house” I conclude. The two stay quiet for a bit before looking at each other. 

“If you do a single thing that could possibly harm her, I will personally be coming after you. Chinese Chomping Cabbages* can hurt a lot if you don’t know how to handle them…” I mutter the latter sentence, a threat to keep them from pranking her.

“I have no idea what those are, but they sound… terrifying, honestly” Fred inputs, quickly forgetting any talk about pranking Celeste. “There you go, acting all scary again…”

I shake my head a little, laughing at their serious expression. 

“As long as it’s in good fun. She can take it, I know that” I smile, reassuring the two that I wouldn’t be too much of a helicopter sibling.

We chat all the way to Hogwarts, and as we approach, Ginny and Celeste go to the window to look at the beautiful sight. They both stare in amazement as they see the castle for the first time. 

“It’s… huge!” Ginny exclaims at the sight, and Celeste nods in agreement. 

As the train stops, we all get up and grab our bags. Ginny and Celeste changed at some point during the ride, but Fred, George, Delilah and I didn’t need to change just yet. 

“You need two to go to Hagrid, the big man with the lamp. He’s the groundskeeper here at Hogwarts.” I mention to the two as we exit the train, and they both head towards the group of first-years.

“Bloody hell, I wish I could take that boat ride again, it was amazing” Delilah complains and I nod in agreement. The carriages weren’t the coolest things to ride on.

The four of us go to one of the carriages and get on it. Someone else jumps onto the carriage, and I turn to spot Lee Jordan sitting next to the twins. I look beside me at Delilah and spot a slight blush on her cheeks, making me even more assured of who she’d been talking to with the letters over the summer break. 

The three boys quickly exchange hugs, glad to see each other after the summer break. The five of us fall into a conversation as the carriage starts to move. 

“I just remembered. George, you mentioned that Harry was staying with you, how did you get him there? Doesn't he live with those… ‘inhumane, pig-like, torturous muggles’, as you so kindly put it?” I inquire, sneaking in a sarcastic comment at his use of words to describe the family. 

“Well… We sorta stole Dad’s car, which can fly, by the way, flew it to their house, yanked off the bars they put in front of their window, got Harry along with his stuff into the car, flew Harry to the burrow, and got a scolding from Mum” George quickly explains. I stare a little in bewilderment as I tried to process what they just told me. I try to say something a few times but give up as I have nothing to say.

“Y’know what… I’m not that surprised. By you getting Harry, I mean. I am surprised at putting bars on his window, though…” I confess, not knowing what else to say. We chat a little more about the details of what happened before we eventually reach Hogwarts. 

We all go our way to our houses to change into our robes and get to the great hall for the great feast and the sorting of the first-years.

“You totally fancy Lee” I whisper to her as we’re walking towards the great hall along with all the other Hufflepuff students. Her face lights up and she smacks me on my shoulder.

“Syl! Be quiet!” Her face continues to be red as she says this, making me laugh.

“Please, no one heard. Besides, it’s obvious.” I laugh, and she looks at me with wide eyes. 

“Obvious?? Do you… do you think he knows? Does everyone know?” Delilah panics as she looks around at the other students, who were minding their own business, not paying attention to us at all.

“I don’t think he knows. Quite oblivious, he is…” I mumble as we come close to the hall. “But, never mind that, dinner’s soon, and we get to see Celeste sorted!”

“‘Never mind’?! Never mind, my arse…” Delilah grumbles as we enter the hall, quickly sitting down and getting ready for the first-years to enter.

The set of doors to the great hall open, McGonagall going first, followed by the first-years. I spot Celeste walking with Ginny, and I wave at them, and them waving back. 

One by one the kids go up, and we don’t wait long till we hear the familiar surname.

“Fern, Celeste” As her name is said, she jumps, waving at Ginny as she walks up and sits down, the sorting hat placed on her head. The hat seems to take a while with sorting her, before eventually exclaiming her house.

“GRYFFINDOR!” I start clapping and cheer her on as she goes to the Gryffindor table and sits down.

“Huh, I guess you were right, Sylvia” Cedric says before the next kid is called up. I smile and pay attention.

The sorting goes smoothly. Ginny is, not surprisingly, sorted into Gryffindor, to both her and Celeste’s delight.

Dumbledore holds the usual small speech, and the food appears. I grab a variety of things, of course avoiding any meat, before I start eating.

“I missed these feasts… Not that Mum can’t cook, but these are just next-level” I state, thoroughly enjoying my food. A lot of people around me nod in agreement at my statement, mouths too full to say anything. 

Eventually, we calm down a bit and start chatting, about the upcoming year, which houses we shared classes with and when. We even chat with some of the first-years, welcoming them to Hufflepuff. I notice a student adorning a less-than-happy face at the choice made by the hat.

It wasn’t uncommon to have disappointed students in Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff being the, in my opinion, most underrated house in Hogwarts, some were bound to be unhappy being sorted here. But, collectively as Hufflepuffs, we also managed to make them realise that it isn’t bad. We were happy to help and make sure that they understood what it meant to be a Hufflepuff.

As the feast ends, the prefects of each house start leading the students to the common rooms. Delilah and I get up after the first-years have left, and start heading for the common room, both being quite tired.

“Sylvia!” I turn around and see George, followed by Fred and Lee. “You were right about your sister, how did you know?”

“I mean, she’s my sister, I know her well” I state as Delilah and I wait up for the three to join us. We start moving once they are next to us.

“Aren’t you worried? Not being able to easily talk to her?” George inquires as we exit the hall. 

“Not at all. She can handle herself, and I can see that she’s already made multiple friends. Plus, it’s not as though it’s forbidden for us to talk, she’ll approach me if she needs something. I shouldn’t be doting on her every move, y’know. She’s allowed to live and have fun.” I answer in full honesty. “Besides, It’s not as if she can’t ask other Gryffindors if she has any questions.”

We approach the stairs leading down to the Kitchens and Hufflepuff common room, so we bid our farewells and part ways.

Once we’re alone, I nudge Delilah in the rib.

“Hey- Ow! What’d you do that for?” Delilah complains as she rubs her rib.

“I saw you and Lee walking together, better tell me the details before I force it out of you,” I demand while looking at her, her face red from the conversation.

“I- I’m not quite sure what you, umm, what you mean?” Delilah stumbles on her words, looking away from me. 

“C’mon Dee, you kept it away from me all of last year, you have to tell me. Besides, you know you can trust me, right?” I complain. We pass the portrait that leads to the kitchens, and she lets out a sigh.

“All right, fine.” She complies, but not before threatening me herself. “But you better not tell a soul, not even the twins.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” I laugh, putting my hands up in defence. 

“I just… he’s really nice, y’know? Even though he does all those pranks with the twins, he’s just so… considerate.” Delilah’s face reddens more as she starts talking about him, “I can’t help but fall for him. And it just so happens that he wants to talk to me too… he was the one I was exchanging all those letters with.”

“Merlin’s beard, Dee, I’m happy for you. You better go after him, you two would make a good couple” I congratulate her, and at the latter comment, she tries to smack my shoulder, but I escape her by running away.

“Come back here! You!” I laugh at her exclamation, continuing to the barrel, knocking five times, and entering the door. I can hear her behind me, getting closer and closer. As I enter the common room, I spot some other Hufflepuffs in our year and quickly run behind them.

“Sylvia? What are you doing?” The girl I hid directly behind asks, and I just shush and point towards the entrance, seeing a red-faced Delilah. The girl quickly realises and laughs. 

Though this brings the attention of Delilah, and we accidentally gain eye contact. She starts powerwalking towards me and I get up to get ready to escape again, but she’s quicker than I thought. She grabs a random newspaper and starts hitting my head with it.

“Ow! Wait, wait, wait! Ow!” I complain as I bring my arms up, shielding myself from the violence, “Merlin, Dee, sorry! Please, help! Get this cruel woman away from me!” 

Some of the others just laugh at us. It wasn’t unusual to see Delilah running after me, or vice versa. Delilah was much faster than me, so she often had a big advantage.

“‘Cruel woman’?! Sylvia, you’re the cruel one! Making me believe all of that…” Delilah halter her hitting, something catching her eye. I follow her line of sight and look at the newspaper that she randomly took. I move next to her to see what she was looking at.

On the front paper was a moving picture of a car flying through the sky. Wait… Flying car? Isn’t that…

“Didn’t the twins mention that they had a flying car…?” Delilah inquires, and I nod at that, before reading closer. 

“It happened after the train departed, so who was it…” I think for a bit before realising something. “I don’t think I ever saw Harry or Ron at kings cross, or the train for that matter. Merlin, I think I saw Hermione sitting alone, without the other two.”

“You’re right… I just thought the trio were together in one of the train cabins since they weren’t with Fred, George and Ginny.” Delilah agrees. I take a look around the room and notice a few first-years looking in confusion at us. I smile and wave at them before looking back at the paper.

“I hope the two weren’t expelled, that would be horrible for them. I’d take a guess and say they missed the train, and that, to them, this was the only way to get to Hogwarts in time.” I worry a bit for them. Being expelled in your second year would be devastating. Well, being expelled from Hogwarts would be devastating in general. Delilah hums in agreement before putting the newspaper down. 

She seems to forget what had just taken place moments before, and we join the others to chat a bit before heading to bed.

The next morning at breakfast, our worries were somewhat relieved when we saw the two sitting at the Gryffindor table. They don’t seem happy, however. Probably got a scolding from the professors.

We sit down and start eating as a large number of owls enter through the open windows. They all gracefully drop off letters to students except for one. This owl clumsily crashes into a milk jug in front of Ron Weasley. I can’t help but chuckle a bit at the clumsiness of their owl, remembering it crashing a few times whenever George had sent a letter. 

He cleans the owl off before grabbing a hot red letter from the owl's beak, which is smoking. 

“Look, everyone. Weasley’s got himself a howler!” A boy from the Gryffindor table announces, and people laugh at that. Another boy advises Ron to open it, having once ignored one himself.

He opens it, and immediately drops it as it starts yelling.

“Ronald Weasley!” Ron’s face is terrified as he hears his mother's angered voice from the letter.

“How dare you steal that car! I am absolutely disgusted !” The hall is silent as everyone listens in on what the howler has to say.

“Your father’s now facing an inquiry from work, and it’s entirely your fault!” The howler gets close to his face, which is still full of terror, and he tries to lean away.

“If you step another toe out of line, we’ll bring you straight home!” The howler then turns to someone a bit further down the table, putting on a much softer voice than before.

“And, Ginny, dear, congratulations on making it Gryffindor” Everyone now turns to Ginny, and I spot Celeste sitting beside her, eyes wide at the howler. She’d never seen one before. “Your father and I are so proud”

It then once again turns to Ron, only to blow a raspberry and then rip itself apart. The hall is quiet for a while before chatter fills the room.

“That reminds me of a certain first day of our first year,” Cedric comments, looking pointedly at Delilah, as we all figure out something to say. This makes us all smile, and Delilah quickly quips back in a joking way.

“Oh, come on, it isn’t my fault that my biological parents are a pair of bigoted, nasty, pureblood fanatics. I’m honestly glad she sent me that howler, because now I don’t have to deal with their utter bullshit anymore” I nod in agreement at her insult. I really couldn’t stand her parents either, but I wasn’t as outspoken as she was, since she knew them better.

We then continue to talk. Mostly about our upcoming lesson with Lockheart, and to see how good of a professor he really is.

Chapter Text

I’d been right about Professor Lockheart. He’s an arrogant prick, and he didn’t know a thing about DADA. I already didn’t like DADA classes, but he just made me hate it more. Our first class with him went a little something like this.

Delilah and I were walking up the stairs to get to the DADA classroom. We’d already had CMC, Potions and transfiguration, and now there’s just DADA, lunch and Herbology left. Around us were other fourth-years who had DADA at the same time as us. Entering the classroom, I’m immediately met with countless moving paintings and pictures of Lockheart, all with a smirk. I look at Delilah, and she looks back with a disgusted look.

“It’s good to be confident and all, but… Merlin, no need to push it in our faces.” Delilah whispers to me as we head towards a table, placed in the middle to the right of the room. I laugh at her comment, agreeing strongly. Of course, I support people being confident, but sometimes too much is… too much.

As everyone is seated, a few seconds pass before the door to the teacher’s office is opened, and Gilderoy Lockheart enters, standing on the little platform.

“Let me introduce you to your new, wonderfully amazing, defence against the dark arts teacher.” He pauses for dramatic effect before finishing his sentence, “Me”

The room is quiet, and I look at Delilah, and almost start breaking out laughing at her expression. It’s hard to describe how it looked, but it was full of disgust. Luckily, he doesn’t hear me as he continues his introduction.

“Gilderoy Lockheart. Order of Merlin, third class” He brags as he walks down the stairs, making me dread the upcoming year, fully knowing he was only going to be bragging the entire time. “Honorary member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five times winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award”

He smiles, almost in a way to prove himself, before continuing with his bragging, or, introduction, as he would put it.

“But I don’t talk about that. I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him” He then laughs in an awkward way, and I can feel the disgust filling my body at his arrogance. 

I hear a mutter behind me and look back to see Fred and George leaning in, mischief filling their face. I then spot the wand in George’s hand and shake my head before paying attention to what Lockheart was saying now. 

As he was walking towards his desk, he was talking about the dangers of the dark arts, and the importance to know how to protect yourself from them. 

Basically, he told us stuff we learned in our first year. 

I felt incredibly bored, he was just yapping and yapping about stuff we’d heard so many times before. It wasn’t until I heard another mutter and both felt and saw something fly past my head that I paid attention again. I looked to see what it could possibly be and saw that there was a large spider on Lockheart’s desk. At that moment, his back was turned and he didn’t see what happened. I sneaked a look behind me and spotted the twins holding in their laughter. 

Once I turn back, so does Lockheart. And the reaction he gave is priceless. 

With a shriek, he jumps back, running away from the table. This makes everyone break out in laughter. Some of the girls that had still fancied him also laughed, and from the looks of it, they didn’t fancy him much anymore. 

His face reddens in fury as he looks around.

“Who did that?! It is not funny!” His voice cracks, sending everyone into another fit of laughter. He clutched his wand and looks to be about to send a spell out at us when I see Delilah pull out her own wand.

“ Obli- ”

“ Expelliarmus! ” 

The wand flies to her, and she catches it.

“You shouldn’t practise magic on students, sir” Her face is pulled into a scowl as she says this, strongly disappointed at his reaction. “Learn to control your temper, and teach us actually relevant stuff instead. We heard this talk when we were first-years, which is three years ago.” 

His own face is turned to a scowl before he breathes and smiles his famous fake smile.

“Right, I was just trying to test your reflexes, Miss Vixen. Very well done, 10 points to Hufflepuff. Now, please, hand me my wand.” He tries to save himself, walking over to our table and holding his hand out. Delilah hesitantly gives him the wand but keeps a tight grip on her own. I smile in reassurance at her, she did the right thing.

Because it wasn’t a test. 

The rest of the class he just mostly talks about himself and his ventures. Sometimes they don’t add up, like him being in two places at once, or he just keeps changing the story.

As the class ends and we exit to get to our next class, Fred and George approach us. 

“That was wicked, Delilah!” Fred exclaims as we all four start walking out, Lunch being after this.

“Really?” Delilah asks as she looks at the two.

“Really! He was so embarrassed. I wish I’d reacted quicker, maybe I could’ve earned some house points then…” George answers, mumbling the last part, which made me laugh.

“Perhaps that’s the way to go in his classes, make him embarrassed. Then he’ll just pretend like that was the plan and give us house points” I half-joke, knowing that it was probably very true, and definitely the way to go if you wanted to earn house points. This makes Fred and George look at each other with mischievous grins.

“You’re a genius, Syl! This way we might win the house cup!” George praises me, and I laugh at their reaction.

“I had nothing to do with this if anyone asks” I joke back, knowing that they were gonna make the next year hell for Lockheart. We continue to chat as we head for the great hall for lunch.

The hall was full of students eagerly eating the food that’d already been served. In the middle of each table were trays full of sandwiches, fruit and crisps. Delilah and I wave a small goodbye to the twins, sitting at our table with the others from Hufflepuff.

Like always, we fall into chatter about the day, mostly about Professor Lockheart’s total freakout, and how much we dread the upcoming year’s DADA classes. 

As one of the others is talking about something, I take a short look around the room and spot Celeste. She was sitting beside Ginny, and conversing with the other Gryffindors in her year. 

I look back at my food with a soft smile. It was great to see my sister make friends so quickly. Even though I was sure she would fare well, it was nice to actually see it, making any worries quickly vanish. 

Lunch goes by quickly, though not quickly enough. It was the first Herbology class in this year, and I was beyond excited. The smell of the greenhouses was calming and nice, and the feeling of the plants and dirt was even better.

“What are you thinking about, Syl?” Delilah asks as we’re leaving the hall for the greenhouses before she answers herself. “Actually, I’ll take an educated guess and say you’re thinking about how great it is to be back in the greenhouses soon”

I open my mouth to express my dissent, but quickly close after realizing she was right. She has a smirk of triumph on her face at being right about me, and I roll my eyes before poking her rib. She stumbles in her step and looks at me in fake offence, reaching out to poke me and turning out victorious. I hit her hand away and we continue a bit back and forth like this until we reach the greenhouses, and my face lights up.

Entering the greenhouses, I take a deep breath and enjoy the smell of dirt and various plants. I spot Professor Sprout getting stuff for our lesson ready.

“Morning, Professor Sprout!” I exclaim, leaving Delilah behind to get to Professor Sprout.

“Oh! G’morning to you too, Miss Fern.” She responds, looking up from the pot she was taking care of.

“What are we learning about today?” I eagerly ask, excited to start Herbology classes again. My enthusiasm makes Professor Sprout smile, turning to face me fully.

“Excited for Herbology as always, I presume?” Professor Sprout smiles, getting the last of the things ready. She then does a gesture to get me to get to one of the tables. 

“Today you’re gonna learn how to take care of wiggentrees, and how to correctly cut their bark and twigs.” Professor Sprout revealed as she went to the end of the long table. “Since we don’t have that many trees, please pair up in groups of five.”

Delilah and I are immediately next to each other, and we look around to find three others for our group. I spot Fred, George and Lee also looking around, so I wave them over. I then feel an elbow in my rib, so I turn to look, only to see Delilah yelling profanity at me with her eyes.

“Ow… What’d you do that for?” I complain, rubbing where she hit me. She only rolls her eyes at this and doesn’t say anything as the three approaches. Oh. It was Lee, wasn’t it?

I gain eye contact with her and do a little wiggle with my eyebrows, making her face light up red, and she starts poking me. 

“Ow! Hey! Didn’t you already hit me enough today?” I complain with a laugh, trying to stop her.

“Oh boohoo, I’m not hitting you. Besides, it’s entirely your fault.” Delilah bites back, but before we can bicker more, the three are already here.

“Merlin, what’s with you two? Are you two fighting or something?” Lee questions as we gather by one of the wiggentrees. 

“No, no, we aren’t fighting. Dee’s just being-”

“Sylvia!” Delilah interrupts, about to hit me, but I somehow dodge in time. 

“I wasn’t gonna say anything, jeez” I reassure, sneaking in a poke in her rib. “That was revenge, you can’t hit me back!”

We’re silenced by Professor Sprout as she begins her lesson, teaching us all of the tips and tricks to handle the tree, like how to cut the bark and twigs for potion-making. 

By the time we start, my robe is already off, and my tie is loosened. I take a good look at the tree, to try and see where it would be best to get bark and twigs without damaging the tree too much.

“Does she always think this hard in Herbology?” I overhear Fred ask Delilah, to which she nods and shrugs.

“Yeah, she likes to see how to best harvest stuff from plants without harming them too much.” She explains, starting to get the materials ready. 

I move closer to the tree to get a better look and find some branches that seem to be in good condition. 

“It’s not the best time of year to be getting bark, but it should be fine. There’re a few branches that seem to be in good condition, and if we do it right, the tree won’t get harmed too much” I conclude, mostly collecting my thoughts out loud. I turn around and see Delilah getting ready to start harvesting, while the three boys look a bit confused.

“How do you know that from what Professor Sprout told us?” George asks, following Delilah’s lead after thinking for a bit. The other two follow George and also get the stuff for it.

“I pay attention in class, Professor Sprout has told us everything we need to know to be able to do this over the last three years.” I smile, grabbing the knife Delilah was holding out for me. 

I start by showing them which branches are best, and they all go to one to start getting the bark off. However, a small movement in the tree makes me halt.

“Wait, George, stop!” George jumps a little at my outburst, and I go over to his branch, slightly scooting him away. I get close to it, and my suspicion is confirmed.

On the tree is a bowtruckle, and it looks a bit scared.

“Come on, buddy, it’s alright. I’m just trying to help, maybe we can find a better tree? Are you one of Professor Kettelburns…?” I softly speak to the bowtruckle, my hand reaching out for it to climb onto. It’s a little hesitant but eventually climbs onto my hand. “there you go, let’s get you to a better place, yeah? Were you the only one?”

I see the other four in our group’s eyes widen at the bowtruckle that was now in my hand. The bowtruckle shakes its head no at my question, confirming my thought of it being one of Professor Kettleburns beasts.

“Is that… wait, what is it? I remember seeing it in Care of Magical Creatures… also, how did you spot that?” Fred asks, trying to remember what it was called,

“It’s a bowtruckle. It’s not uncommon for them to be in wiggentrees, so I was also trying to look out for one earlier. I didn’t see it at first because it was well-hidden” I explain, the bowtruckle climbing up my arm. “But then I saw it close to George, and even though they are very friendly, they are quite protective of their trees. If they feel threatened, they aren’t scared to poke your eyes out with their little sharp fingers.”

George’s eyes widen a bit at this, understanding that he could’ve been seriously hurt. I look at it as it’s climbing my upper arm.

“Anyways, I better talk to Professor Sprout about this. I don’t think there are any others here, but to be safe.” I say, gently letting down the tools, and walking towards Professor Sprout. I reach my hand towards the bowtruckle again, inviting it to climb onto my hand instead. However, it refuses and sits down on my shoulder.

“Professor Sprout?” I call, getting her attention. She was currently by a group of students, helping them figure everything out. She looks at me and quickly spots the bowtruckle on my shoulder. “I found this little creature. I don’t think there are any others, but perhaps you should check to be sure. Wouldn’t want anyone’s eyes to be poked out.”

“Oh, dear! I thought I’d checked them all. Was it just this one?” Professor Sprout asks as she moves closer, curiosity filling her eyes at its quick attachment. 

“Yes, Professor. I didn’t spot any other, and I think it’s one of Professor Kettleburns since it’s extra friendly and understood me very quickly.” I answer, feeling it leaning up against my neck.

“You won’t believe how many times I’ve told him to keep his beasts in check… well, let me take it to Kettleburn, yeah?” She reaches out for the bowtruckle, but it just hides in my hair. Both Professor Sprout and I become confused. Why was it so attached to me?

“Perhaps I’ll give it to him, I don’t have any more classes after this.” I suggest, not expecting to be able to hand it off to anyone. Professor Sprout agrees to this, clearly aware of the circumstance. 

I then head back to our tree to the group. Delilah takes note of me and gives me a questioning look. They’re all surrounding the tree, a branch in hand as they start getting the bark and twigs.

“It’s become attached or something, wouldn’t go with Professor Sprout when she suggested it. I’ll just hand it in when the day is over.” I answer when I get closer. I feel it shifting around to sit on my shoulder again, to then eventually climb into my breast pocket on my white button-up. 

“Are you not at all bothered by it climbing around you? Especially after what you told me about poking your eyes out…” George asks as he takes notice of the small green head you could see poking out of my breast pocket.

“Not at all! I’m not threatening it, besides, it seems to think of me as its… tree? or…  mother?” I answer, unsure of exactly why it’s so attached to me. I then grab a tool and find a branch to start getting bark.

“Wait, won’t you agitate it if you do that?” Fred asks just as I’m about to start cutting.

“I don’t think so, no.” I simply answer before cutting into the branch. The three Gryffindors stare at me as if I’m crazy, and I give them a questioning look.

“So, you’re telling me… that you didn’t know if it was gonna hurt you or not?” Fred asks incredulously, and I simply nod with a small, enthusiastic ‘Mhm!’.

“You’re either really brave, really reckless or mad. Maybe a combination of them all?” George comments, shaking his head at me. “And, Delilah, how are you just unfazed by this?”

“Do I really have to answer? I mean, It’s Sylvia, I’m not surprised by anything she does anymore” Delilah simply answers while she’s cutting the bark. The three look at each other before shrugging, in a way just accepting how it was gonna be if they kept hanging out with me. 

We continued doing what we were told to, the three doing better than I had expected. We chat about a variety of things, all ranging from if I’m ok in the head to what’s for dinner. 

By the end of class, my tie had been completely discarded, lying by my robes. I was left in my shirt, skirt, shoes and small socks. I didn’t wear my sweater-vest from it still being pretty hot out, so there had gotten some dirt on my shirt. This was also how the Bowtruckle was able to sit comfortably in my pocket.

“I even actually tied my tie this morning in hopes of possibly looking more put together…” I mumble as I grab my robe and tie, lazily putting the tie around my neck, and the robe on my shoulders. 

“Put together? You? Never!” Delilah laughs at my comment and I smack her shoulder lightly, to which she just complains about me being a bad friend. I roll my eyes at her as we exit the greenhouse. 

“I have to get to Professor Kettleburn with this little creature, wanna come?” I question, mainly directing it at Delilah. She stops for a moment to think before answering.

“Sorry, no. I have some reading I have to do in the Library” She enunciates reading in a way that makes me quickly understand. She was going to read up on the charm we wanted to put on our jewellery.

“Oh, ok. I might join you after I’ve handed it over, got some reading to do too.” I reply, about to head off to the CMC area on my own before I was interrupted.

“Wait, I can go with you? Fred is doing something else, and I have nothing else to do.” George says from beside us. I had almost forgotten that they stood beside us.

“Oh! Of course. Let’s go then, maybe we can catch him before he leaves for the castle!” I smile, starting to move backwards, waving my hand in a motion for him to follow me. Slowly, after saying bye to Lee, he moves towards me. I give a little wave and wink to Delilah, seeing Lee standing left with her. He starts getting close and I turn around so I’m walking forward.

“Can I see it again? The bowtruckle?” George asks after a little bit of walking. I look at him in surprise, but quickly pull my robe to the side to show the creature. It’s sitting with its head poking out of my breast pocket, looking curiously at George. I notice a slight blush on his cheeks, and he quickly looks away again. I look at him in confusion.

“Are you scared of it? I promise it won't harm you.” I reassure. He looks at me again, blush still faint on his cheeks.

“No, I’m not scared of it, it’s just… no, never mind.” George hesitates, choosing not to say whatever it was he was trying to say. I shrug inwardly, not knowing what that was all about. 

I mindlessly start talking about whatever was on my mind as we walk through the halls. George mostly stays silent as I talk, giving a few inputs here and there when needed. When we get to the Bell hall entrance I stop.

“Do you want to take the shorter route? We could cut across the grass on the grounds just outside here” I suggest, and he stops for a second, then nods, following after me. 

As we exit the castle, I’m immediately met by the sun on my face, warming my whole body up. I sight in contentment at the nice weather, it not being a rare occasion, but with fall approaching it was definitely appreciated.

We start walking across the grounds, walking past where the flying lesson would take place for first-years.

“Remember flying class? I was so horrible, still am” I reminisce, remembering all the times I rarely flew around, 11-year-old me being terrified of falling off.

“Oh, yeah, I remember. I even specifically remember you refusing to go higher up in the air, even though you were one of the first to get the broom up.” George chuckles at the memory. I also remember it. I’d been so terrified of flying.

“Yeah, and you and Fred were flying around as though it was just an everyday event. I was sorta jealous of your ability to just fly without care” I confess. It was true, when I’d seen them just flying around, not freaking out any time they had to make a turn, I was jealous of their ability.

“Well, it came as natural for us. Plus, we’d watched our big brothers flying around our backyard for years, and Charlie had even tried to teach us once, much to Mum’s dismay.” George tells, chuckling at his memory. 

Before we know it, we reach the classroom. It was a bigger hut located close to the quidditch pitch, and there were multiple pens both inside and outside. I spot Professor Kettleburn packing up for today.

“Professor Kettleburn!” I yell out when we get a little closer. He stops in his tracks, fake limbs glinting in the sunlight. He squints a bit before recognizing me.

“Ah! Miss Fern! Hello!” He hobbles closer, and I start walking a bit quicker to lessen the strain of walking for him. “And Mister Weasley too, what might I help you with?”

“Well, I found this little one in Herbology today,” I say, reaching for the bowtruckle in my pocket. It grabs my finger and lets me pull it out. “It was in one of the wiggentrees, and by the way it responded I assumed it was one of yours.”

“Oh! Woody! There you are! You’re right, this little creature’s been away all day, couldn’t find him this morning. I thought he’d run away from home!” Professor Kettleburn exclaims after he took a closer look at the bowtruckle. It willingly goes from my hand to his, quickly climbing up his arm to his shoulder. “Thank you for this, have a good rest of the day you two!”

I wave as we again begin walking, this time back towards the castle.

“I’ll be going to the Library to meet with Delilah, want to join?” I propose, hands behind my back as we converse.

“Nah, I need to get back to my common room. I promised Ginny I’d help her with something once we were both done with classes for today.” George answers, looking at the castle. 

“All right! Say hi to Celeste for me if you see her later, will you?” I request. George nods and we walk a little in silence. As we enter the door, we have to go our separate ways, 

I walk towards the library, looking around and admiring the architecture and paintings. Once I get to the library, I enter and start looking around for Delilah. I quickly spot her, though. She’s sitting at one of the desks, glasses on and reading a book.

“Hi, Dee!” I greet them once I get close, not wanting to get in trouble for yelling in the library. She jumps in surprise at my greeting, turning around and noticing me. She waves me over, and I set beside her.

“I might’ve found something, but I’m not entirely sure. Take a look,” Delilah mutters, pushing the book over to me. I look at the page she’s on, reading a bit of what’s on there.

“I’m not the best at charming objects but… it seems good,” I reply, pushing the book back to her. She continues to read and I look around, trying to find a book that could help.

A title catches my eye. It wasn’t one that I thought could help with the charm of our jewellery, but it might help with something else. Walking over to the wall it’s located on, I take out my wand and cast a spell.

“ Accio ” The book flies to my hand at the incantation. I take a closer look at the cover and am reassured in my thinking.

I walk back to Delilah and put the book down, sitting down on a chair in front of it.

“Ancient bloodlines?” Delilah reads the title out loud, the latter word shaking the locket. I nod, opening the book up.

“It’s for the locket, I’m trying to figure out what it could be,” I mumble at her curious glance. I turn to the page where surnames with F start. I keep flipping through the pages, each bloodline having some information on it. “It’s an old book, perhaps it has information that neither Dad nor I know of”

Delilah nods at my explanation, looking through her own book. I stop flipping through the pages as I take notice of what I was looking for.

The Fern bloodline.

I knew that our family line went far back, but had no idea we were ‘ancient’. I continue reading.

The Fern family stem from …g..a..f..

I sigh as I realized someone had removed what was supposed to stand there. I could only make out three letters, and they didn’t give me any clues. However, I continue to read.

They have a tradition of ......... and they’re known to......

I drop my head in the book as I realize someone has removed any important information from the book. Delilah takes notice of this and looks at me. I lazily push the book over to her, and she tries to read it.

“Why is it gone? Who could’ve done this?” Delilah questions as she tries to decipher what it says. She then pulls out her wand.

‘ Revelio ’ 

Nothing happens as she tries to cast the spell. She looks at me in confusion before shrugging and closing the book. 

“Well, I need a break from reading. What did you and George do when you were gone?” Delilah asks, taking off her glasses and putting them on her collar. I look at her with a questioning looks, wondering just what she meant.

“What do you mean? We were just handing in the bowtruckle” I answer truthfully, confused at her question. She rolls her eyes and leans closer.

“No, you dipstick. On your way to Professor Kettleburn, something happened, right?” Delilah inquires, squinting her eyes at me, daring me to lie.

“I- well, George did act weird for a short bit, but I don’t know why,” I confess. I hadn’t thought too much of it, expecting it to just be nothing. Delilah looks at me with eyes telling me to continue. “Well, he asked to see the bowtruckle and I did. But, then he just looked away,”

“Syl, how is it you’re so perceptive except for when it’s something to do with you?” Delilah asks, looking at me dumbfounded. I just look confused back at her, telling her to continue. “Syl, where was the bowtruckle placed?”

“In my pocket, it hadn’t left since Herbology,” I answer, wondering what she was on about.

“And, tell me, Syl, where is that pocket placed?”

“On my shirt? What are you trying to say?”

“Sylvia… where on your shirt?”

“On the right side of the chest?”

“Do you seriously not understand?... Merlin, Syl. Tell me, what is on your chest?”

“What’s on my chest? What do you- oooh” I finally realize what she was thinking. I feel my face become warm as my eyes widen.

“Wait, why would he look there? Do you… do you think he did it on purpose?” I whisper-yell at her, not wanting to be overheard. She rolls her eyes and looks at me.

“No, I don’t think he did it on purpose, he isn’t like that. But, he’s a teenage boy and… well, you’re a little more developed than most girls in our year.” Delilah answers as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I bury my head in my arms, my face still heating up. Delilah pats my back, laughing a bit at me. 

The rest of the day passes with Delilah and me reading in the library and attending dinner, before going to bed.