By: Alicorn
Author's Notes:
This was written on a dark night, after I sat, thinking about prejudice, war and Harry Potter.
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What happened in Hogwarts on that fateful day was not something that was common knowledge, though it had the potential to be.
Many were afraid of the ideas it brought out.
Quite a few were frightened, and the memories of the 'incident' were locked away forever, in some dusty corner of their minds.
Some would forget, seeing nothing but the rantings of an insane child.
But a few would remember.
A few would remember the strength in her voice, the wisdom in her ideas, and the sincerity in her eyes.
They would remember the day when their world lost its colours.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a simple trigger.
A young Gryffindor boy was walking through the corridors when he bumped into a Slytherin girl.
"Stupid Slytherin ...", he muttered, cursing a ready scapegoat.
Normally that would be the end.
This time, it wasn't.
Instead of ignoring his comment, the girl snapped.
"Stop it all of you! I've had enough and I'm sick of all of this crap!
I'm a person, a being, an individual, not a stupid, slimy thing! I'm not a bitch, a whore or a slut and I'm not an object!
I'm a young girl who is trying to live her life as her own.
Don't put me in a group, don't make me part of some collective evil entity because I am an INDIVIDUAL.
Why is this going on?"
"what?" asked a voice from the crowds that had gathered.
She broke her tirade to give a scornful glare at the offending voice.
"This bigotry of course!"
When she faced vacuous gazes, she sighed and explained.
"We're taught to hate each other, stereotype each other from an early age.
Gryffindors are all brave and loyal.
Hufflepuffs are slow and stubborn,
Ravenclaws are smart nerds,
And then there are the Slytherins."
She hissed, obviously angry.
"Slytherins are bastards who con and connive their way into any spot of importance.
Slytherins have no sense of loyalty, or family or friendship.
Slytherins are evil."
The girl gazed around at her gathering audience, quelling the whispers.
"Why do you think we're evil?
Why do you think that your 'evil' witches and wizards come from Slytherin?
I'll tell you why.
When I was an 11-year old student and sorted into Slytherin at the beginning of the year, I was automatically shunned, cast away from the other houses.
It didn't matter that I'd only met one or two people. It didn't matter that I'd done no one any harm.
The student body KNEW that I was innately tainted, evil, and must be avoided at all costs."
At that, she snorted sarcastically.
"If you were shunned, cast aside, ignored, and looked down upon, what kind of person would you turn out to be? Hmm?
You create your evil wizards! YOU not Slytherin house.
You force us to become introverts.
You develop our mistrust of others.
You break our souls and scatter them on the floor."
All that she saw around her were blank looks, without any comprehension.
"I didn't know ..." echoed anonymous voices from the crowd.
"Of course you didn't." She snapped.
"No one KNOWS until something happens, until some poor soul has cast itself over the edge, committed suicide, or gone homicidal."
She whispered sadly, "No one KNOWS until it's too late."
Looking up, she forged onwards.
"I've tried and tried to speak, but no one wants to listen.
This, this house system isn't promoting leadership, or love, caring, or kindness.
It is tearing us apart, separating us in between transparent walls that are miles wide.
Think about it, all of you.
We sit in the same hall day after day, live in the same building, eat the same food take the same classes yet, have any of you created any relationships between houses?
Do you ever say a friendly hello to anyone that's not in your house, other than for homework?
Gryffindors! Slytherins! How many of times have you seen red and gold near silver and green?
There hasn't been a friendship between our houses for eons!
The four founders were friends, they created the school together. If that's so then why aren't WE all friends? Why do our teachers, our parents, our role models build our inter-house competition?
I want to know why."
The girl looked down disdainfully at the crest that rested over her heart.
"I'm sick of these colours. I'm sick of being stereotyped, and I'm sick of being a thing. I want out of these colours! I want to get away from this mindless stereotyping! I'M DONE!"
With that, she raised her wand.
Her clothes flashed.
Now, everything she wore was black.
There was no hint of any colour at all.
No green, yellow, red, or blue. No crest at all.
Only black.
Her eyes flashed angrily.
"I'm not a Slytherin.
I'm not a Ravenclaw.
I'm not a Hufflepuff.
I'm not a Gryffindor.
I'm a person.
I have a name.
Take it or leave it, stay with me or shun me, but I will not answer to anything else again.
She added ominously,
"Ever."
Looking around, everyone could see that she meant her words.
"The only colour I will wear is black, because I am mourning.
I mourn for our seeing blindness, our hearing deafness, our screaming muteness.
I mourn for those of you will never drop your prejudices.
I mourn for you that are forced into the background, molded by society's harsh demands.
I mourn for our innocence and what will happen to it.
I mourn most of all for our souls."
She nodded grimly, with flashing eyes. Then, she walked away, leaving behind scorn, and anger, but also whispers, and thought.
Leaving behind a choice, a spark that would hopefully, one day, collapse the intricate web of hate that had built up over centuries.
She left knowing that one day, the walls of glass would shatter to a million pieces.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That night, some would say that they saw the girl at the top of the Astronomy tower.
Some would talk about how she seemed a night wraith, dressed completely in black.
Some would utter how they had seen her as she climbed over the guards on the balcony.
And a few would whisper about how she seemed so pure, so joyous.
They would breathe their descriptions of the ghostly wings that spread from her back, and how she smiled, closed her eyes and let go of the railing.
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Written in response to the 'veela-inc.' last words challenge.