The Alias of Mrs Norris
"Really now Godric, Salazar. This is just going too far!" Helga Hufflepuff sat at her desk in her office eager to stop the argument her two colleges and friends were having.
"Salazar, you are simply being prejudiced! Muggle-borns and Half-bloods have just as much right to be here as your own children do!" Godric argued, his long wavy dark brown hair shaking as he spoke, arms flailing about everywhere. Salazar just stared at him a look of pure antagonism plastered on his face. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Rowena Ravenclaw.
"Honestly! This is childish! We have a serious matter to discuss and you two are squabbling about blood purity! Stop being 12 years old and come back to the present day!" the woman shouted. She let down her long black hair from the bun it had been in to relieve herself of her headache she had gotten.
Godric and Salazar glared at each other for the last time before taking their seats. No one, not any Gryffindors in Hogwarts or Godric himself, was bold enough to defy Lady Rowena Ravenclaw. Helga fiddled with her short curled honey coloured hair until everything was silent. She stood and cleared her throat.
"You know why I have called you here. Hogwarts, the school we built, is falling apart. We no longer have control over what goes on within these walls. Students are refusing to turn up to classes; fights are popping up left right and centre. We have tried everything, even things that would be frowned upon at any other time," she glared at Godric and the other two Founders followed her lead.
"I see nothing wrong with what I did. They were invading my personal space!" Godric said defensively. Salazar let out a snort of disbelief and ran his fingers through his dirty blond hair.
"Anyway, Rowena has made a decision that I think would benefit all of us. Rowena?" Helga beckoned her best friend over to her desk. Rowena strutted into position and began.
"We need someone on the inside. A student that is not only honourable, but also sly and fair. They must be skilled and smart enough to make the right decisions."
"Oh and I suspect you will have chosen one of Gryffindor's goons for this task?" Salazar scoffed. Godric gave an unhappy sideways glance at his 'friend'.
"Actually not. Nor is it one of my own students or Helga's. It is one of your pupils," Rowena smirked at the look on his face.
"On another note, why would a student possibly want to aid their teachers in such an incredible task? And who? Who can be trusted enough?" Salazar spluttered. A knock sounded at the door of the office.
"Yes, my dear, enter," Helga called out. The door opened and into the room stepped a cloaked being.
"Norene Norris." Helga announced. The 17-year-old girl took the hood of her cloak down, revealing her delicate rounded face. She pulled her hair out and undid her cloak. Her long silky chocolate locks flowed down her back with the occasional plait twisted in amongst it.
"Hang your coat on the hanger!" Helga chirped happily. Norene smiled slightly at her, showing off her crooked teeth. As she turned to the side they noticed her broken looking nose and thin faint scar running along her cheek.
"What in the name of St Mungo has happened to your face?" Rowena asked calmly. The girl's little smile fell and she turned to face them. They almost gasped when they saw her eyes.
One was a vibrant green and the other was almost an opalescent blue, unmatching in so many ways but also implausibly beautiful and striking.
"Some of the more thuggish of students happened to miss their desired target and unfortunately hit my face. Did I mention he was wearing his family crest ring?" she seemed mocking of her injuries, but in reality it was enormously painful. But she was in the presence of her house founder! She had to make a good impression.
"You see? This is exactly what I mean. Students are out of control. I fear the only way to regain power over our school is to have someone to act as our eyes and ears. She will be paid handsomely for her work-"
"What? Why? She is but a student! What makes her so special?" Godric cried out.
"She will be paid as it will take up the majority of her time and she will be expected to continue as our inside man… woman, for the rest of her adulthood and, if we succeed, longer," everyone looked blankly at Helga who shrank back in her seat.
"She possesses a talent that not even we hold. She is what I call an Animagi. She can transform into an animal at will." Rowena said as she gestured to where the girl used to be. In her place stood a small brown and black striped cat, a triangular shaped patch of darker fur above her eyes. The two male founders gasped in awe at their student.
"That is amazing. Extraordinary, outstanding!" Godric whispered. Salazar's eyes remained wide and he turned back to Helga and Rowena.
"And you expect this girl to keep an eye on this school and report to teachers for how long?" he asked. Norene transformed back into her human form, her face crestfallen that she had failed to impress her house's namesake.
"For as long as she is needed. That is to say, forever," Rowena said bluntly.
"How is that possible?" Godric asked his friend. Helga looked down, guiltily.
"We… we can slow her body clock and possibly give her the body renewal potion," Rowena faltered, looking nervous for the first time ever.
"You mean the completely untested, extremely expensive and rare body renewal potion?" Salazar pointed out, observing the girl who had basically given up her life for no reason other than her teachers asked her to.
"Yes, but she has agreed to accept the consequences of her actions," Helga sniffed, not entirely happy about Salazar being negative about the project.
"I'm sure this would be better suited for a boy, perhaps Merlin Wyllt?" Salazar said, stretching out across the chair he was perched on.
"His destiny is sealed. We cannot change that." Helga snapped, hinting to the blond.
"What do you mean Merlin's destiny is sealed?" Norene suddenly piped up, panic erupting in her mind.
"Oh, don't mind that, my dear. Nothing to worry about…" Godric trailed off.
"Noreen, you may go now. We will discuss this matter more tomorrow," Rowena interrupted before more questions were asked.
The girl grabbed her cloak and quickly did it up, happy to be out of their presence. She ran down the stairs to the lowest point and stomped through corridors.
"Parseltongue," she hissed at the door to her common room. The wall opened and she slipped through.
"Merlin!" she called out to her fiancé. A black haired boy popped his head out of the boy's dormitory.
"Rene! You're back! How did it go? Where they talking about you and me? Or was it about, you know - the animal business?" Merlin asked, lowering his voice so not to attract everyone else's attention. Slytherins did tend to be a little too nosey for their own good.
"The latter. Why on earth would they be talking about you and me?" a very confused Norene asked. He rolled his eyes.
"Because of our engagement! I mean, I only guessed that the teachers might have something to say about an eighteen year old and a 17 year old being prepared to marry!" Norene laughed at his statement. It wasn't exactly like any of them could do anything about it! It was a personal decision.
"Did you talk to them about how long you would be doing the job for?" Merlin asked, his face turning serious. Norene bit her lip. The couple had previously agreed that Norene would talk to her professors about continuing the job after school had finished. Merlin wasn't exactly too happy about the love of his life spending most of her days as a cat and living in school, her only break being during the summer holidays. She had neglected to tell him about the slowed age clock, fearing his reaction.
"Merlin, it's essential that I stay at school! I need to stop all of us becoming people that we shouldn't be! We no longer pay any attention to the rules of those in power! There is a reason for there being people in power! So we can learn from them and evolve into them! If there were no teachers, we would never grow, never prosper. That's not a world I want to live in, Merlin," her speech finished and left her fiancé open mouthed.
"But… I wouldn't see you," he persisted still.
Noreen laughed sadly. "Of course you would! Maybe not as often as the both of us would like but during the summer I will be there!"
Merlin scowled. "Fine. I can't stay angry with you. Something about your eyes, almost hypnotising…" he trailed off leaning in to kiss her cheekily. She batted him away.
"I have a bone to pick with you! During my time in the office, Professor Hufflepuff said something about your destiny being sealed. What is that supposed to mean? Do you know anything about this?" she questioned. Merlin visibly winced.
"It's complicated… It's not bad, but there was a prophecy. About me and the muggle, Prince Arthur." Norene gasped.
"The one from Camelot? The place where magic is banned from being practised and everyone found with it is supposed to be executed?" she seethed.
"Yes, but I'm sure it will all be fine, just try and stay calm, it's not like I'm going to do anything stupid," he pointed out. She gave him a look.
"Fine, but I'm going to bed. We'll continue this talk in the morning," With that, Norene stalked off to her dormitory to join her peacefully slumbering roommates. Merlin collapsed into the shiny and fresh looking dark green armchair beside the fireplace. He stared out of the window.
He loved the Slytherin common room. It was underwater, meaning the windows looked out onto the Great Lake, which cast a greenish glow into the place. If you were lucky, one of the special breeds of giant squids would pass by. Merlin told himself that if one passed by, he would give his love an ultimatum: the job or the marriage?
And if not, they would both continue their plans without a single complaint.
Not even a ripple in the waters came for hours and eventually, the long faced boy closed his eyes and slept.