Entry for "Herbology" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
Task: Write about one of the moments in your chosen character's life that signifies their transition to adulthood. Min 400 words.
Extra Prompt: Flower
Entry for the "Chocolate Frog Card Club" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
(Silver) Sir Cardogan; Challenge: Incorporate Sir Cadogan's portrait into your story.
Entry for the "Gringotts Prompt Bank"
Verbs: praise; allow; admit; fight; honor; ignore
"Oh, what a beautiful flower of a young woman that carries such a heavy weight on her shoulders," Sir Cardogan praised the Gryffindor girl as Fay Dunbar walked past his portrait. "Though in my days, women were not allowed to fight, I have to admit that I would have been honoured to have you by my side on the fields of war!"
But Fay just ignored the babbling knight and left the hallway, dashing into the next girls bathroom. She did not even bother to check if it was deserted before she allowed the tears to flow freely, her body shaking with sobs as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The left side of her face started to bruise already, and it looked swollen in the light of the chandeliers.
Fay could still feel the shock sitting deep in her body, but only now she slowly realised that Hogwarts was not the safe heaven it had once been to her and all her classmates. Hogwarts was under the reign of the Death Eaters now, and they did not care if they had to hurt children to demonstrate that they had the power now.
Only minutes ago, in her once beloved Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, she had been ordered to practice a painful spell on a boy from Second Year, and "Professor" Carrow had not hesitated to hit her right in the face with a book as Fay had refused to raise her wand against the Hufflepuff boy that had been shivering in fear.
Looking back, she had to admit that she had been clinging to false hopes for a long time – over the last weeks, she had told herself that it would not be as bad as everybody thought, that the other teachers were there for their protection...
How childish her thoughts had been back then. Today she had been forced to see that the time of shoving responsibilities away was over.
In the past, she had been more than reluctant to walk against the stream. One of the best examples probably was the fact that she had been literally the only Gryffindor student who had not been part of Dumbledore's Army. Not that she had not felt the urge to oppose against Umbridge back then, but she had just thought that it was not her task to do.
But today, she had finally realised that the teachers would not be able to do anything against the Death Eaters – they would be thrown out, and that would be even worse for the students.
No, it was time to stop relying on the adults, time to start acting. She was of age, and now she ultimately had to be have like a grown up, especially in these times.
Fay looked at her reflection with a determined expression, straightened her back and took a few deep breaths.
She would not be the one to watch while everything happened again. No, she would take over responsibility, and she would not allow these people to do as they pleased with her Hogwarts.
Immediately, she turned around on her heels and strode off, searching for Neville or Ginny, knowing that they were surely planning a resistance.
