Author's Note: Written for…
Daily Weird Prompt Competition. Prompt: comic books
Alter Ego
Penelope worried about fitting in about a million times in a day, which was rather impressive considering the majority of her thoughts were dominated by corrections in her pronunciation of spells and the way she held a wand.
Mostly she preferred to stay quiet about the things she loved back home; her television programs and extensive music collection. There was always the chance that someone wouldn't understand – that they'd think she was weird, and not worth the time it took to train her compared to the kids with magical families in her year.
It was made harder being in Ravenclaw because everyone expected her to be smart and already know the answer to everything and most of the time she felt like she was barely getting the answer right.
The only thing that seemed to help her hang on and keep her homesickness at bay was the stack of comic books she'd impulsively hidden in her trunk five minutes before leaving home. She never dared take them out when her dorm mates were up and about, or carry them out in the open. But sometimes when everyone was asleep she could draw her bed curtains and slip out her miniature torch and reread her favorite Superman comic. On weekends she'd take Aquaman to the lake and hide it behind a textbook.
After a few months at school, Penelope became so comfortable with having a comic nearby that she always had one hidden in her school bag. It was second nature to slip it in there before breakfast, even if she didn't feel the need to read it. In fact, she completely forgot that it was there sometimes.
So when she was paired with one of her dorm mates, Celia, during Charms and she asked to borrow a quill, Penelope kicked her bag to the girl to look through without a second thought.
"What's this?" Celia whispered, pulling out an Avengers comic. Flitwick was busy on the other side of the room, teaching a redheaded boy how to perform a tricky jinx.
Penelope's eyes widened as she saw the book in her friend's hands. She briefly wondered how bad it would be if she snatched the comic and set it on fire. Probably pretty bad, she decided, considering that particular book belonged to her brother.
She found she couldn't actually speak or move for the rest of the lesson. Celia, on the other hand, completely ignored Flitwick and flipped through the comic, stifling giggles every few minutes.
They were the last ones out of the classroom because Penelope hadn't heard Flitwick let them out and Celia hung back to help her pack up her books.
"This is amazing," Celia told her excitedly, still flipping through the comic as they headed to lunch. "Do you have more of these?"
Penelope smiled and nodded shyly, still too nervous to speak properly.
That night she shared her comics with all the girls in her dorm and promised to bring more back after Christmas break.