CHASER 3: Brachiosaurus: Write about a character whose attempt to help ends negatively for the recipient/s.
Optional:
(Color) turquoise
(Dialogue) "Aww, does somebody need a hug?"
(Color) light grey
August 28, 1965
When Andromeda leaves for Hogwarts this week I am going to be stuck in this house with Mother and Father all alone. It was bad enough when Bella left, but what am I going to do without Dromeda? I mean, she annoys me to no end, so I won't have her making fun of me anymore, but iI will be by myself with my parents until Christmas. Who will sit with me when they have that crazy wizard over? It's always fun giggling with her about how moony Bella gets whenever he comes over. I mean, he's cute and all, but he sure throws off this creepy vibe. Like he's not 100% human.
I guess I'll have my own room finally! I think I heard Mother talking with one of the elves about redecorating the nursery into a room for one of us. It'll be so nice to not have to hear Dromeda yapping in her sleep about Mick or John ever again!
August 29, 1965
Ugh, I did it again! My stupid hair! It keeps changing stupid colors! I got so mad at Dromeda because she was packing my silver hair combs to take with her to school. She said they are hers, but I know they are mine. She lost hers right after we got them last Christmas. We ended up getting into a huge fight, and then she just started laughing at me! I had no idea what was going on until she told me to go look in the mirror.
Thankfully, I was standing over the sink in our bathroom when I saw it; because I was so upset, I almost lost my lunch. My hair! My beautiful wavy, chestnut hair had turned turquoise?! Turquoise! Like the color of the Mediterranean, or the stained glass in the mermaid window over my bed... Or like... the blue in a peacock feather! Turquoise! I was doing everything in my power not to cry when Dromeda came running up to the bathroom door taunting me. "Aww, does somebody need a hug?" What a jerk! I wanted to scream at her, but I knew it would only egg her on, and the last thing I needed was someone else in the house finding out about my small problem. If Mother had seen it she would have just Avada'd me! She has already said if I change my appearance one more time she will banish me to my room until I come of age. Luckily, she went with Bella to get new robes today. I'm going to try and get Bella to help me tomorrow if it doesn't "self-correct" tonight. Merlin I hope it does.
August 30, 1965
I woke up this morning hoping for brown hair, but of course it wasn't! It was still a bright, shiny turquoise. As soon as I saw it, I ran into Bella's room. She has always looked out for me, and today was no different. Since she can do magic outside of school now she has been on the lookout for guinea pigs. At least Bella wasn't as mean today as Dromeda was yesterday about my hair. She tried to help me, but it did not work. Like, at all! We sat around in her room for a few hours in the morning trying all sorts of spells from the stack of Enchantress Digest she had been holding onto. The first one was a tincture that used copper shavings, mandrake root, and Billywig Sting Slime. I thought I was going to die when she made me drink it. Eww, I choked it down and we waited for half an hour for the fast acting potion to activate. My hair turned even greener. We think it was the copper. Instead of staying the dark coppery color the tincture started as, it turned a greenish color. We were thinking that maybe it had oxidized. Then there was the glamour. That one stung, and all it did was make it brighter. I was giving up hope when Bella remembered Mother's hair potions. She snuck into her cupboard and nicked a couple jars that were just sitting there, ready to go. You should have seen us! Bella was spreading this weird goop through my hair. The smell was awful; like turpentine mixed with dirt and peonies. Every single thing it touched turned ebony. Except my hair, of course. After she was done, it had this weird brownish-green gleam to it. I mean, I guess if I were cheering for a Slytherin Quidditch match, it would work. However, I don't think I can duck my parents until I start school next year.
I stayed out in the far gardens after Bella did all the damage she could. Bella told our parents that we were not feeling well, and had asked to allow the house elf to bring our dinner to us. We ate on the small table in her room, like we used to when we were little and there were important guests over. She also threatened Dromeda that if she wanted to be alive to attend her first class at Hogwarts, she had better keep her mouth shut about my hair. Oh, how I will miss Bella always looking out for me. I can't believe tomorrow will be my last full day with my sisters before they leave me.
August 31, 1965
Well, it didn't go back to normal last night either. I had to tell Mother this morning. She was so mad! Not only did I mess up my hair, the potions Bella nicked were the ones she was going to use today on her own hair. We both had to spend our last day in separate rooms. Mother was able to get my hair less green, but I still wasn't able to get it back to the same brown as my sisters. Since I was stuck in my room all day I asked Dromeda to grab me a book from our library. I spent almost all day going through it and stumbled across this passage:
"As a Metamorphmagus, you may be able to make more permanent changes to your appearance. These are most often times done unintentionally, with undesirable outcomes. However, if one takes the time to learn the fine art of Metamorphagi, you can become anyone you want. You begin by focusing your energy on one attribute. Once you have isolated the physical appearance you are hoping to change, you need only think "apparentia perpetualis" while visualizing the change. While you are beginning, you may find you need to actually have something to look at; as in another person, object, or photo."
I snuck over to Bella's room to get a few Enchantress Digests to look through. I found this picture of a woman with beautiful whitewashed blonde hair. It took a few tries that only made it lighter, but eventually I ended up with gorgeous straight blonde hair. Hopefully, Mother will be okay with it. If it is permanent she won't have to worry about me changing it all the time, right? Since it's only hair, and not anything structural with my face I'm hoping I'll be safe. Although, maybe once I'm at Hogwarts I'll be able to make small changes like that and she would never know!
September 1, 1965
We made our annual stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour so we could have ice cream together one last time before everyone leaves for school. I got lemon and huckleberry, and it was so yummy! As we were packing up, Bella announced that she forgot her wand at home so Father had to go back with her to get it. They almost didn't make the train! When we all finally got to the station, Mother and Father were running around making sure Bella and Dromeda had everything stored away, so I went off to see if I could find Isabell Greengrass; her older brother is in Bella's year.
And then I saw him. The most handsome wizard in the entire world! It was his hair that caught my attention- an even brighter blonde than mine. He was wearing a beautiful dark grey suit, and his crisp white shirt had the finest emerald green pin striping. My feet just walked right over to him, and I could do nothing to stop them! I said hello, and like the gentleman he most certainly was raised to be, he bowed over my hand and kissed the back of it. Lucius is a first year just like Dromeda; I remember him from some of the events I've had to attend with my parents. Maybe because of my new hair, the four inches I grew this summer, or the fact that I have (as Mother so eloquently puts it) blossomed this year, there was no flash of recognition in his eyes.
His eyes, oh his eyes. They are light grey- almost silver, and when he looked at me, I could barely breathe! I could stare into his eyes forever and never be tired of them. He told me he will be sorted into Slytherin, just like everyone else in his family. I just have to make sure I am sorted into Slytherin as well next year. Being Sacred 28 my chances are good, but could you just imagine being sorted into Hufflepuff? I would die of embarrassment! I asked Bella to keep her eyes on him, and make sure no one else gets to him before I get there next year. She said she owed me for all the trouble we got into yesterday. I hope he comes home for Christmas; I am not going to shrug off going to the station to pick my sisters up this year! I wonder if he will remember me. I am counting down until then. 107 days, December 17th, each day will feel like an eternity until I can look into those light grey eyes again.
Narcissa Malfoy, oh it looks even prettier than it sounds.