It was a perfectly normal day in the castle. The students were all in their classrooms learning, the teachers teaching, the ghosts spooking. Boys cockily flung spells at one another, and girls gossiped in the backs of classrooms. At the front of one particularly filled classroom, Professor Dumbledore had begun to doll out ravens and frogs for the latest transfiguration lesson, cautioning the students to be careful as the animals had a taste for human flesh. The class laughed good naturedly as Dumbledore gave a small frog pointed teeth with a flick of his wand. Nothing out of the ordinary at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Alright, students, when performing the glitter spell, you merely wave your wand like so," he waved his wand in a clockwise circle before stabbing the air twice, "and uttering aloud the incantation lucidus. This will cause the animal to gain a glittering sheen to its skin or feathers. Be careful, now, Miss Janette."
The whole class turned to the blushing Louisa Janette, who sat covered from head to toe in a glittering layer of skin. She glared angrily at Mateo Crowler, the class genius, who smirked at her as he twirled his wand through his fingers.
Dumbledore smiled at Louisa, and then at Mateo.
"Thank you Mr. Crowler, for performing an almost flawless lucidus spell. I'll ask you now to reverse it and to change our lovely Miss Janette back to normal since it appears that you can mange on your own without my instruction." Although Dumbledore's tone had never changed from that of one carrying on a politely interesting conversation, a layer of ice seemed to have flashed through the air, and Mateo turned even redder than sparkly Louisa. He muttered a quick apology as Dumbledore rolled up the sleeves of his robes and returned his attention to the class at large.
"Now, the counter-spell is simple…" He began, the twinkle in his blue eyes growing brighter as he had Mateo reverse the spell on Louisa and then cast it again on every member of the class as the students giggled and glittered.
However, one student was neither glittering nor glittering. She sat slumped against the back wall of the classroom, spectacles slipping down her thin, pale nose. She had messy black bangs and two braids on either side of her head. It was clear that she would be considered quite pretty if it were not for the sad and angry look that wrinkled her features-not to mention the dark circles under her red, cloudy eyes.
Professor Dumbledore beamed as his students attempted to cast the new spell on to frogs, onto ravens, and onto fellow classmates. His twinkling eyes swept the room until they came to rest on the sniffling be-spectacled girl sitting in the back.
"Miss Myrtle, wouldn't you like to try out the spell on your frog?" He asked kindly, zooming a frog towards her from the front of the room.
She looked up nervously and then glanced over towards a table of girls who were eagerly casting spells on their animals.
"I suppose…" she said in a barely audible voice.
"Wonderful!" said the Professor, hurrying towards the back to help her.
"Now-just wave your wand like I showed you!" He watched as she carefully twirled her wand and muttered the incantation. But instead of covering the frog a glittering sheen, she ended up turning the professor a particularly bright shade of blue.
"S-s-sorry, I-" She stammered as Dumbledore cut her off.
"Oh how thrilling! Sometimes we try to do one thing and something different and spectacular happens instead! Let this be a lesson to all of you-life can throw you surprises, not everything can be planned and perfect. You may even find yourself to be delighted and surprised by the result of your mistake!" He smiled round at them all, revealing navy blue teeth.
"Now, Mr. Crowler, the counter curse please!" Dumbledore marched off towards Mateo, beaming all the while.
Myrtle put her head down on the desk- she messed up simply everything!
The group of girls sitting at the table to the right of her snickered.
"Inept little nuisance." Whispered one girl loudly, glancing indiscreetly in Myrtle's direction. "Messes up a perfectly interesting lesson with her inarticulate bumbling when it comes to even the simplest of spells…" The speaking girl was lean and tall with shiny brown hair that tumbled down her back in a waterfall of luster. She had cute dimples and freckles that made her the envy of every girl at Hogwarts, even the older students. She sat atop the desk, dangling her wand as she flicked the glittering spell lazily at her frog.
"I'm going to name you Myrtle." She said loudly, staring at the frog. "I bet you can cast simple spells and brew potions. I don't even have to tell you to croak." The gaggle of girls surrounding her giggled themselves silly as Dumbledore (with random patches of blue blotching up his now semi-normal skin) returned to their area of the classroom.
"Girls," He began pleasantly, "I'm going to have to ask you to stay after class with me today."
The pretty brown haired girl went silent. "You mean like for a detention?"
"Some may call it that…" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "But I would prefer to think of it as a whole hour of time during which we may get to know each other better. The professors here rarely get to spend time being updated on the latest styles of music and fashion trends. What an enriching hour we shall have!" Dumbledore strode back up to his desk and sat down (still smiling) as the class chaotically threw more glittering spells around him.
"I can't stay after today!" the girl whispered dramatically to her friends from behind her hands, "I'm almost completely certain that Tom wanted to ask me out to the next Hogsmead trip today!" She threw herself down onto the desk while her friends muttered sympathetic words and patted her softly on the back.
Myrtle slumped further down in her chair, attempting to cover the blush that had flung itself across her face at the mention of a certain Tom Riddle. Tom was constantly intertwined with her thoughts. His presence at the school demanded notice, yet he was never arrogant. He was smart, charming, and quite handsome with his ruffled brown hair. He was simply amazing.
The girls giggled and sighed and gossiped. They abused myrtile alittle more and then returned to their Riddle talk.
Dumbledore finally released the class and de-glittered the recipients of "accidental" spells. Myrtle hurried out of the room, head down and books clutched tightly to her chest.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned the corner and into the corridor where she spent free periods. It was always empty-well almost always empty, anyway. For as Myrtle looked up, she say a tall robed figure with dark brown hair standing with his hands pressed against a wall about a meter or so in front of her. Myrtle's breath caught in her throat as she realized who the boy was and she stumbled over a bottle of ink that had been left on the floor (probably by Peeves). She fell to the ground, covered from head to toe in blood red ink. Her books flew all about the corridor and the glass of her spectacles shattered, the frames coming to rest upon the feet of the dark-haired Tom Riddle.