Disclaimer: all place, characters and ideas belong to J.K Rowling. I own nothing except for Isabelle.
Chapter Two: Artificial Nocturn
Minerva McGonagall was a passionately fearsome Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She always wore a velvet gown in a rich, dark colour; today it was clair de lune grey, with long sleeves that trailed far past her hands. Her collar was tight around her neck, with no hair astray from the tight bun she had to pull back her thin face. Her stern voice reached far, scaring the tiny Ministry official who sat quivering in a chair beside Professor Dumbledore.
The Minister for Magic had sent an owl at six in the morning. He called for a meeting regarding the Daily Prophet which had been printed.
McGonagall was left distraught.
"It is an absolute outrage," she exclaimed, her hands shaking as she clutched the fresh printed Daily Prophet.
As a Ministry Official, it was Charles Picado's job to relay letters from the Minister. He was also the executive from the Muggle Protection Liaison Office. In this instance, all the training he'd been through hadn't prepared him for the Transfiguration's temper.
Picado sweated through his striped suit and raised a small finger. "P-Professor," Picado stuttered. She glared at him, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow as if she already knew his words meant absolutely nothing. His mustache shook. "I really did just come to assure that the rumours are not true-"
"For months," she interrupted, "attacks have been recorded and cast aside and finally something fatal occurs and it is only then that the Ministry pays attention and comes running to tell me there is nothing to worry about? Do I live on a different planet, Mr Picado? Lives have been lost and you are telling me the Minister for Magic cannot offer anything more... more definitive?"
Picado went beetroot red, his mouth opening and close like a fish. "I-I really am unsure of the Minister's motives at this moment. I just came to inform you that the printed report missed out some minor details."
"Minor details?!" McGonagall nearly screeched. She met Dumbledore's eye and tried to calm herself down. "Skeeter lied about the number of bodies, she's given false claims and has targeted the school. What if the attack wasn't meant to highlight this us, and now Skeeter has? Is the Ministry monitoring anything, at all? Or am I to assume the only one offering any sort of advice is Rita Skeeter?"
"Minerva," Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles. "Please, Mr Picado was just delivering a message."
"Albus," responded the middle-aged witch in the same testy tone. She walked to his desk in an elegant glided movement. "The entire village is gone and we have been left with... left with... rumours! It's disgraceful!"
The Ministry Official swallowed, his department was in muggle protection; used to dealing with petrifying creatures and criminals, confrontations with upset public was what really frightened him.
"My Lady," he quivered, "if it is the well-being of your students you are worried about, I-I can assure you that your students are safe."
"Safe? Safe?" She cried. "Did your department promise that to those dead muggles. Or, can I also be assured that you at least tried? Hmm, Mr Picado?"
McGonagall walked away from him then, her hand holding her forehead. Her lungs exerted shaking breaths, her chest far too tight. She was aware of the thousands of children under her care, and how much Hogwarts pushed it's boundaries to keep them safe. All those names she read out the evening before came flooding back, for Minerva could remember every single one.
"They were children there," she said, turning around with the swish of her cloak. "And if these... these monsters do not care for the lives of children then we can only assume that this village wasn't the end but the start of something far worse."
Picado tried to smile. "There is nothing worse out there, I promise you. The Ministry is aware that the targeted population was the muggle-born family who were on site. Your pupils are perfectly-"
McGonagall rounded on the stout man, her nose flaring as she screeched, "half of our students are half-blood and muggle-born!"
"Minerva," Dumbledore said calmly, rising from his chair. "I must ask you to lower your voice, our pupils still have not started their day, yet. We must control the rumours of this event, for they shall read the article but not have confirmation of it's truth."
"Oh, Albus. Don't they deserve to know what has happened? If the time has finally come then they won't be children anymore," McGonagall sighed, pressing a hand to her warm chest. "Their best interest is the truth-"
"They're best interest is safety, Professor. Safety we can provide," Dumbledore finalized. Turning to the timid Ministry executive, he said: "Inform Kingsley Shacklebolt in the Department of Magical Law and Protection that the school's boundaries are to be re-examined in January and if needs be then perhaps officials need to be stationed around the grounds when there's an indication-"
"When Albus-?" McGonagall cried.
"When there's an indication these attacks are targeting the school. Can you do that for me, Mr Picado?"
Charles Picado glanced between the two Professors, nodding curtly. He grabbed hold of the documents he'd laid out on Dumbledore's desk and crumpled them into his leather briefcase. With a loud pop, he disappeared from his chair.
Minerva stared at his vacant seat with forlorn expression, her thin lips parted as if the words died on her tongue. Looking at Albus for some reassurance, he was focusing on retaking his seat at his desk and she found none.
He picked up a gold-feathered quill and dipped it into an open inkpot, scribbling on a piece of parchment. The scratching was like music in the headache-worthy silence.
"Minerva," Dumbledore then said softly. "Breakfast is soon to begin. Would you like to join the students? Their day is beginning."
She watched him sadly, what was he thinking? Not about the attack, but what was whirring through that mind of his? Folding up the Daily Prophet, she lay it back on his desk.
"Of course, Professor," she said and departed.
Isabelle liked to watch Eris stretch himself out on her bed.
The bobcat created an ambience of comfort, the way his fur contorted and ruffled against the red bedsheets. His claws pummeled in the stream of sunlight peeking through the curtains.
When it was only him and Isabelle awake, the world seemed to still. You could concentrate on your breathing and sometimes if you listened hard enough the beat in your chest sounded like a real drum.
Isabelle exhaled and placed a hand on Eris' side. Compared to her olive skin, his bisque and azure fur made her feel incredibly boring. Every so often, he'd open his eyes and look at her; the big orange eyes glowing in the gentle light.
None of the others had woken up yet. Marlene was snoring gently to Isabelle's right, her arms splayed around her head in awkward angles, drool in the corner of her mouth. Whilst Lily and Amelia slept quietly for once, usually all of them were snoring except for Alice; she was always silent.
Alice was opposite Isabelle, and on top of her form was Elodie, her puffskein. The name was Greek for white blossom, which suited because the thing was ghostly pale. It was staring at Eris from across the room with it's beady eyes, expecting the bobcat to wake and lunge for it.
It never did. Eris was one of the few tamed bobcats in the school, he knew when to hurt something and when to leave it alone.
When she was eleven, still new to the wizarding world in Diagon Alley with her mother and father, they'd come across a hag selling Kneazles in a box outside The Magical Menagerie. Isabelle picked the tiniest one, which turned out to not be so small in the end; and definitely not a Kneazle.
She watched Eris for a couple more moments, not wanting to move him from his well-deserved slumber but unfortunately needing to. Climbing out of her four-poster bed, she wandered into the bathroom and got ready for the day.
After Isabelle was done, she wandered back to her bed. "Do you want to stay here?" She asked Eris after she was done. He pummeled the duvet with his eyes squeezed shut.
I guess I am running my errands alone, she thought.
Isabelle brushed her hair quickly and exited the dormitory, hurrying down the stairs and into the warm common room. September this year had been uncharacteristically chilly, with the autumn leaves fading into a moldy brown quicker than before. That meant the radiators would be scolding in the library, and that was perfect.
She hurried past the other Gryffindors and went through the portrait door to collect her timetable and return the books she'd borrowed over the summer.
Already in the common room were Sirius Black and James Potter, lounged on the leather chairs with dirt all up their trousers and robes.
Black's long legs were dangling off the edge of the seat, his dark hair fallen across his eyes in a sort of casual elegance James could not achieve. There was a streak of mud across his right cheek, a little bit in his hairline.
James' fluffy hair was matted with sweat, messier than usual; his round glasses were pressed into his face a little painfully as he lay on his front.
Neither noticed Isabelle or the other students coming and going. They were drifting in and out of sleep, eyes drooping as they battled the homely warmth of the fire.
"Always a killer," Sirius groaned, he rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His muscles ached, sore from how much digging had to be done this year.
James' eyes fluttered open. After the feast, they didn't return to their beds but separated from Remus and went to the Whomping Willow. Over the summer, it had a tendency to shove dirt into the doorway. Which meant it was a draining task to remove the soil and make the passage to Hogsmeade usable.
James and Sirius only returned after the sun had come up, and Remus was still fast asleep. Both boys guessed he didn't even know what they were doing on the first night of every school year.
He was always the first one in bed.
Sirius looked at Peter on the floor, in an uncomfortable position by the fireplace. His face was mushed into the rug, dirt smeared on his face. He'd attempted to help but was knocked out half way through by one of the branches, his body was flung so far that James and Sirius spent an hour trying to find him and then had to drag his unconscious body back into the castle.
So, he wasn't really asleep. He could've been in a coma for all Sirius knew.
He didn't give Peter much thought after that, instead he thought about how good it would feel to fall back asleep. The first day never mattered, teachers were settling into timetables and everything was slow; he could afford to skip the lessons.
Just as his mind was drifting off to the sweet smell of wood burning, he was snapped awake.
"Good morning, Evans!" James shouted, his eyes lighting up. When she ignored him and hurried past with Alice hooked on her arm, he deflated and met Sirius' eye. "She probably didn't hear me."
"Oh, she heard you. Pretty sure the whole school heard you too."
He huffed in reply, slightly annoyed Lily still wasn't replying to him at all and had turned to ignoring his existence. She'd done it before and he enjoyed the rush he felt from it, an odd feeling that made him think he was still getting a response of sorts from her.
James chewed the inside of his cheek and flopped back down. His lungs yearned for the taste of sour nicotine. "Skipping the first day?" He said. "How does that sound?"
"Bloody brilliant," Sirius' muffled voice erupted from the pillow he'd shoved his face into.
"McGonagall will come after us, though."
"Yeah, but we just simply cannot leave poor Peter knocked out by the fire. She'll think we're heroic or something shite."
James opened his eyes, he was so close to falling asleep that he felt as if he could stay that way for years. However, it was the first day and if they didn't move then detention at the start of term was something he didn't like the sound of.
Groaning, he rolled off the leather sofa and hit the floor with a thud. "Right," he said as he pushed himself up. "Padfoot, get up. What would the beginning of the school year be without us?"
"Probably quieter."
"And boring," James ruffled his hair. Sirius shot up, went to shove his friend, but hit air and tumbled off the chair. Laughing, Potter watched Black struggling to get to his feet. "Come on, you wet-wipe. Pretty sure we've got Charms, then Kettleburn. Oh, have you got the map?"
Sirius reached into his cloak, twisting his face up until he yanked out a squashed piece of parchment. He grinned.
They left Peter in the comfort of the Gryffindor common room, sprinting up to the boys' dormitories after one another.
Before Remus woke, they used the sink to scrub the mud off and told him that Peter had attempted to climb the girls' stairs: he'd slipped on the stone slide it formed and whacked his head; leavening him in a crumpled mess on the floor.
"I just forgot," Isabelle shrugged, throwing her bag on her shook her head with a faint smile.
"As per usual," Lily replied. "I have to say I'm surprised you even had dinner."
"I... hmph." she huffed.
They were walking out of the castle towards their third lesson, Care of Magical Creatures, a subject both had passed with Outstanding in their lesson took place just beyond the Whomping Willow, in a wide space that had been cleared of tall grass next to the Forbidden Forest.
It was Isabelle's favourite subject because the greenery surrounded the area like a tall wall, and sometimes you could see the golden dust of flitterbys.
There were also only thirty pupils in NEWT Care of Magical Creatures, a mixture of the four houses, which was rare - half of them were Hufflepuffs as Kettleburn was their Head of House, the rest were an even mix.
Isabelle looked down at her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander, it was worn and falling apart she'd read it so often. The first chapter was on rodents, which meant a relaxed hour.
The wind was soothing on the way to Kettleburn's lesson. Soon, it would be getting colder and Isabelle reminded herself to buy some extra socks next time there was a trip to Hogsmeade. There was no way she could ask her mother, the woman could barely send the owl itself.
Looking down to check on Eris, Isabelle smiled at him weaving between her legs. Every so often, he'd stop and roll around in the grass, rubbing his cheeks into the dirt.
To her left, Marlene was watching Eris with jealousy as she held onto a fat, grey owl.
Follet was a screeching bird. He'd been in the family since she was born, once belonging to her father and then being passed down. It was a miracle (some would argue) that he was still alive. Sometimes the fat thing would just sit and stare at people in the common room, unable to join the other owls because he was too aggressive.
Lifting a hand, Marlene went to offer him a treat but Follet started screaming. She clamped his beak shut quickly and hissed: "stupid bird won't shut up! He's got to be pushing fifty years old, I don't get why the thing won't just die, already!"
Lily looked at her, mortified. "Marlene!"
"Don't, Lils. I meant what I said - if I didn't, I wouldn't have said it." She looked at the bird on her arm with disgust, having stopped restraining his mouth. Follet gave Marlene a dirty look.
Suddenly, a tall Hufflepuff which bright brown hair pushed through Lily and Isabelle, reaching for Amelia Johnson. Henry hooked a long arm around Amelia's shoulders, pulling her forward. Isabelle remembered Black taunting her at the feast yesterday, she didn't understand how he could've known they'd gotten together unless Cordals had been blabbing. Hufflepuffs were sneaky gossipers.
He was the same height as her, their eyes meeting romantically. Isabelle shared a glance with Lily.
"How long?"
"Oh, I give it until mid-November."
"October," Isabelle replied.
"Five galleons?"
"Make it a butterbeer and I'll think about it."
"Deal, but only because I'll be right," Lily grinned.
Eris mewled softly up at Isabelle, seemingly forewarning her that he wanted to go off for a bit. She nodded, watching him sprint off to the Dark Forest. He ran through Amelia's legs as she was walking back to them, her hair ruffled and face flustered.
"Henry is an amazing snogger," she said dreamily.
"Well then, why would you leave him? He's all by himself now!" Marlene said, staring at Henry, now alone. "Mi corazón," Marlene cried, holding her cloak out as if it were a gown and gliding after Henry, "mi vida, me cielo. Mi amor!"
Isabelle laughed loudly, watching Amelia run after her friend with her fists clenched. There was a shriek and Marlene was yanked away from the group of Hufflepuffs, her Spanish harangue ending quickly.
"I'm going to kill you!" Amelia hissed, marching their friend like a scolded child. "Idiota."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just you usually ignore us when a person of interest turns up."
"I do not!" Amelia looked offended. They all shouted: "Yes you do!"
"Well, how do you know he was a person of interest?"
"You would've replied to me in English when I spoke Spanish," Marlene wiggled her thick eyebrows at her and teased, "but you used your mother tongue so that means your mind is full of pensamientos traviesos."
"How do you... How do you even know what that means?" Amelia demanded as they reached the clearing. "That's so disgusting!"
Lily looked at Isabelle, confused. "What does it mean?" She hid her snort from a bickering Amelia and Marlene, whispering: "Naughty thoughts."
"That's not too bad."
"No," she glanced at her. Amelia was still bright red and arguing with McKinnon. "But why did she get so irate about it?"
Lily started giggling, her hand going to her mouth so Amelia wouldn't turn around and start snapping at them.
"Yes, it's all very funny." A deep voice snorted unattractively. Isabelle looked up at Avery, a sixth year Slytherin. He pushed his way past, making sure to sneer his pointy nose at her. "What is so funny, little Belle?"
She froze, fumbling over what she wanted to say. Avery grinned, placing a hand to his ear. "What was that? Did you st-st-stutter?"
Her cheeks turned pink, embarrassed and unable to think of something to snap back. There was nothing worse than being in a house known for it's sarcasm and wit, but being the one person who couldn't form a sentence including any of it.
"Leave me alone, Avery." She mumbled, trying to side-step him to reach the other side of the class
"Leave you alone?" His face turned sour. "How can I? When you're ridiculous giggling is making my ears bleed. What was it then? A little muggle joke I won't understand? I don't understand how you could, have read the newspaper this morning?"
Isabelle frowned, her eyes falling to crumples sheets in his hand. "What? What do you mean?"
"Oh, no, the message isn't that obvious but it shouldn't take that long for you to figure out - don't all you muggles-"
Lily glared up at him. "Will you go away? Neither of us want to see, talk or have anything to do with you. So, do us a favour and just piss off!"
Alecto Carrow had been standing back from the bickering, a smug look on her ugly face. That was until Lily spoke, she uncrossed her arms and slid up next to Avery.
Isabelle had always thought she'd never seen a girl look so ugly. Her hair had been dyed over the summer, poorly. It used to be a moldy dirt-blonde but was now black; the roots were creeping in and made it appear her scalp was oozing with grease. Her brother, Amycus, looked the same. Isabelle remembered him on her sorting day, a lanky boy with long hair that cheered for Alecto when she was sorted into Slytherin.
Her beady black eyes landed on Lily. "How dare you speak to him like that." She drooled. "He's just trying to do the class a justice and get rid of you both, filthy little-"
Avery raised a hand to her, the left side of his lip raised in a sickened grimace. "Now, now, Alecto. Let's not going throwing names around." She quietened, giving him a quick glance. "Do you know what she was going to say, though? I'll give you ten points if you can guess."
Isabelle clenched her teeth together, not finding the amusement. She knew exactly what Alecto was going to say because she'd said it all before, it was an old game.
"So you do know," Avery smiled looking between Lily and the other Gryffindor. "You do know what you are. I guess... that makes it okay for you to say it now, Alecto. Go on."
Eris was at Isabelle's feet, hissing up at Avery as if he sensed the Slytherins' hostility. One of his paws were raised, thin claws emerging. She suddenly felt proud, a smile crept onto her face. Avery eyed the beast, turning his nose up.
"That shite creature gonna stand up for you? How long are you gonna wait before you actually do something instead of cowering back?"
There was a booming laugh which caught the Slytherins' attention. Looking behind them, they saw Kettleburn with James and the rest of them heading towards the class. The Professor appeared to be red with giggles at something one of the boys of said, an emotion the rest of the students could not relate with.
Glaring at Potter with an unfathomable hatred, Avery then hit Isabelle with an icy glare. "We'll see just who's laughing in the end." He threw the newspaper at her, she caught it just before it hit her face. "Just you wait, mudbloods, 'cause your friends ain't gonna protect you."
She watched him saunter off with Alecto on his arm, her ugly face pressed to his chest. Isabelle's own heart was beating furiously away, she hated speaking to them.
"Isabelle!" Millicent Gygars cried, hurrying over as soon as the Slytherins were out of earshot. "Oh, I saw them talking to you. What did they say? What did he give you?"
She held up the newspaper in her hands, confused. Amelia and Marlene had stopped squabbling and had hurried back, catching Avery's last words. All of the girls looked down at the paper, their eyebrows furrowed.
"What a load of shite," Marlene bit. "Don't let him get to you, he's the one who can't read more than five words - that's why hes only doing three NEWT exams."
Isabelle didn't laugh, she turned over the Daily Prophet in her hands, it's headline read:
HARROWING ATTACK IN HANGING GARDENS VILLAGE
Beneath the bold font was a single, large picture of several families huddled together. Their backs were to the reader, all of them staring up at a great fire burning away. It was on a hill, several buildings could be made out in the flames; a house, a granary and a church. The spire could be seen sticking out at an odd angle, moments from snapping off and collapsing into a pile of rubble like the rest of the town.
Lily moved around to stand next to her, a worried look on her face. "What is it, Bells? Why would he throw that at us?"
"Probably because he'd get expelled if he threw a punch," Marlene snapped, she tugged her sleeves up and pretended to start boxing. Follet tried to balance on her shoulder, his wings flapping wildly. "I'd like to see those prats try, I've been practicing my moves."
"Mar, they'll see you and then give you something to start throwing punches around."
"Good. I'm ready-"
Amelia gave her a hard shove. "Shut it, Marlene. He didn't throw it to do that. There's been an attack on a muggle village in Scotland."
"An attack?"
"Merlin, it sounds like they're attacking the Ministry. It's written so insensitively."
"Let me see," Amelia said heavily, saddling up close to Isabelle. "Ministry blunders... culprits not apprehended... lacks security... Dark wizards running unchecked... national disgrace... Who wrote this? Ah... of course... Rita Skeeter."
"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" said Millicent cried, her lower lip wobbled. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out trolls! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans —"
"Do us a favor, Millie," said Marlene, yawning, "and shut up."
"Hogwarts is mentioned," Lily's eyes were wide, Isabelle pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stared at the paper.
"Where?" asked Amelia, her hand began fiddling with the ends of her hair, Isabelle noticed she'd picked up that nervous habit back during their OWL exams. "I'm going to wring my hands around their necks if there's a single bad word!"
"No, no. No, it's not too awful." Isabelle tried to say calmly so she wouldn't exert herself. "Listen to this:
'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the village border expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen. However, sources say that Albus Dumbledore was ordered to the scene as the village was just under a hundred miles from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'
When she read out the final sentence, she frowned deeply. Under a hundred miles from the school seemed far, but Hogwarts was in the middle of nowhere so it must've been the closest thing yet.
"Nobody was hurt but 'Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods'. . . oh, no."
Millicent watched Isabelle with big eyes, chewing her thumb. "A body is meant to be seen, not all covered up."
Taking the Daily Prophet, Marlene tried to ignore the girl. "No, no. I heard Dumbledore talking to Hagrid earlier, they mentioned the Hanging Gardens," Marlene suddenly said. The girls looked at her and she nodded earnestly. "Yes. I did, Dumbledore sounded worried and I heard Hagrid ask about how many really died."
"And what was the answer? What did Dumbledore say?"
Marlene looked down at the paper. "I couldn't hear them, they disappeared to the fifth floor. I didn't think anything of it because I hadn't read the paper."
It was serious then, Isabelle thought quickly. Her chest became heavy, realizing that the attack was on muggles and if the dark mark was there then it was wizards who'd made them the target.
She gripped her forefinger tightly, exhaling.
"Ahem, Miss Williams. I hate to be an annoyance but you are in the way of the door," Kettleburn's voice came from behind her. She jumped and stumbled out of the archway.
Throughout the introduction to NEWT Care of Magical Creatures, Isabelle tried not to pay attention to the Slytherins stood on the opposite side of the circular area; Avery, Alecto and Wilkes. They sniggered at Kettleburn during his speech about the beauty of magic, and then his demonstration of Clabberts and Chizpurfles.
It took nearly forty minutes to reach the practical side of the lesson. Kettleburn split them into four, handing them all several creatures to examine. Isabelle was half way through her sketch of her clabbert when she noticed Kettleburn chasing after a pair of flying ones.
His yellow cloak flapped behind his body wildly as he brandished his wand to try and get James and Sirius Black to stop messing around. They were the ones who'd charmed their clabberts to wrestle midair and were howling with laughter until the end; only letting their animals down when they realised it was lunch.
"How did they managed to pass their OWLs?" Lily huffed, watching Remus run after Sirius and James. He gave Black a shove and their laughter echoed.
"Remus is smart," Isabelle said. "I'm not surprised he's in NEWT level but Sirius and James are two of the thickest boys I've ever met."
Lily snorted. "Do you remember in our Herbology exam they were passing notes to one another?"
"That's why they got an un-markable."
They continue to laugh their way up to castle over Potter and Black. It was mainly Lily who had an endless list of thing she found annoying about them. She dragged Marlene into the conversation, who had no choice but to listen to the rant.
Isabelle fell back from them, walking beside Eris at a slower pace.
"What was the message then, Williams?" Alecto sneered. He walked past her, turning around to drawl: "Or at least did you see the picture? Can muggles see them moving? I've always wanted to know."
Why couldn't they leave her alone?
Isabelle told herself to look down: Look at the ground and they'll leave you alone, keep your eyes on the floor and it'll be fine. She hurried in the opposite direction of the students heading off to lunch, not in the mood to eat anything.
Instead, she took a route which was a winding path down. The stairs were slick with wet mud, she nearly slipped several times and thanked Merlin when she reached the bottom. A blooming patch of baby pumpkins and cabbages sat outside the front of the gamekeeper's hut beside the dark forest.
Smiling at Hagrid's home, she took in the familiar round shape and mossy stones that built it's walls. The roof was a sloping, nearly flat cone shape with a chimney sticking out of the murky tiles; grey smoke was erupting from it. That meant good food, a warm hearth and all the comforts of a gentle giant.
It wasn't particularly big considering he was ten feet tall, but it matched his kind and inviting nature. Outside the dark oak door were a pair of galoshes and a crossbow, and on the windowsills either side were an array of baby goosegrass plants. She suspected he was growing them for NEWT potions' lessons, their syllabus started with creating a draught of anti-scurvy (a key ingredient was the goosegrass).
Isabelle knocked on the door and could smell fresh bread before the it opened. She looked up at him, three times her height and with a frizzy beard that didn't do well to hide his surpirsed smile. He was wearing a yellow apron and hideous pink oven mitts.
"'Ello Isabelle." He said loudly, waving a covered hand. She was right, he had been baking for there was an enormous loaf of brown bread on the table in the far corner of his living room. "And 'ello Eris, lovely to see yer both. No Lily today?"
"She was preoccupied by Potter again," Isabelle rolled her eyes. "I lost her on the way back from a lesson."
Hagrid gave a bellowing laugh, moving out of the way to reveal Dargis, a huge great dane which was the same size as her. It's solid body hit Isabelle in the stomach, knocking the wind out. She didn't mind though, a dog was a dog.
"Hello, gorgeous," she cooed.
"He's really missed yer, Bells. Summers are a little quiet here." Hagrid smiled broadly, petting Eris.
Her bobcat growled then when his eyes landed on the dog. Dargis stopped shoving himself at Isabelle, ramming into her side in an attempt to reach the other pet.
Eris hissed, flying past Hagrid and onto a shelf high against the wall. He sat there beside the pots and vases with a disgusted look on his face, staring down at the hound who'd attempted to follow and was pawing at the stone wall.
"Stupid dog," Hagrid sighed, wandering over to the kettle. "Cup o' tea? Or you goin' to lunch?"
Isabelle didn't like the sound of his second question. She clasped her hands together, "I'd love a drink, actually."
Hagrid asked her about her first day back, about her summer and where she went with her parents. It confused him to hear that people could fly in great contraptions through the sky when there was such thing as a floo network; whilst Isabelle found it funny, he kept frowning.
He seemed interested in what she had to say about the students as well, their behavior that morning and what they were talking about. When Isabelle told him about Avery and Alecto calling her a mudblood, he nearly spilled milk all over the side.
"They did not!" He said angrily. "Why, I'll go ter' Dumbl'dore about this!"
"Please, Hagrid. It means nothing to me, really," she smiled softly. Him getting angry met he wouldn't make a good cup of tea.
Dargis had stopped making noises for Eris and had gone to staring at him. From the rug, he sat with big blue eyes that were transfixed on the bobcat, his tail twitching slightly. The creature looked away from the dog, unimpressed; instead sniffing the objects that it was sat next to.
"... that Avery is a nasty piece o' work, Bells." Hagrid continued, returning with two giant teacups. They were blue with white spots, bigger than Isabelle's hands put together. She struggled with the hefty drinking, lowering it to her lap so it warmed her legs.
"I don't feel... upset that I'm muggle-born," she murmured. "But... Sometimes I wish I were pure-blood, then I could just stay invisible."
Hagrid gave her a sad look. "Don't go sayin' tha'. Look yer not gon' please ev'ryone yer meet. Is that what's worryin' yer'? Why worry when yer takin' care o' magical creatures, righ'?"
Isabelle smiled at him, he had a passion for all the animals on the grounds of Hogwarts. Once Kettleburn finally left, she would love to see Hagrid as the Professor. "Of course, it's my best subject."
He laughed, "nah, it's not. Slughorn's been sayin' that yer potions is brilliant."
"I suppose so. He's a wonderful teacher but it's ridiculously obvious who his favourites are."
"Bet yer one of them. So who cares."
Taking a big gulp of tea to stop herself from laughing, she fought not to nod. Slughorn had offered Lily and herself places in the Slugclub last year if they continued it into NEWT. However, they were going off topic, and the way Hagrid spoke about muggle-borns made her feel better so she wanted to bring it back.
"Hagrid," she said after a quiet moment. "This morning there was an article about an attack in a muggle village. And I saw you with Dumbledore, you were talking about it - I know you were. Are they rumours? Was there really... the mark?"
She didn't like lying to him. It was Marlene who'd seen the conversation but Hagrid didn't have to know that. The look Isabelle gave him was full of plea for truth, for a finale to whether muggles were being murdered again after a period of silence. The attacks over the summer hadn;t been murders, but wild claims of the imperius curse or seeing dark creatures down alleyways.
"Bells," he said sadly. "I don't wan'ta scare yer. Come on now, yer should be gettin' back to the school."
"Hagrid, please. If you don't tell me then Lily will come looking, and she's more aggressive than I am." He had taken to fiddling with his mug, awkwardly holding the handle so he didn't have to meet her gaze. "Hagrid," she said again, louder. "Was the mark there?"
The Dark Mark's name had been created ten years ago in an article by a muggle-born writer, no one had known what to call it before; just a skull with a serpent unravelling it's way through it's mouth. It was the bringer of death and hadn't been seen in the sky for several years.
The gameskeeper sighed and nodded, unable to look up. "Yer, Bells. Dumbl'dore said the mark was in ther' sky."
"So it wasn't just muggles that were attacked, there was a muggle-born wizard there too. Which means the attacks are real, and he... he's back-"
Isabelle went off in a tangled mumble, trying to figure out what the attack could mean. If He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named had returned then what would it lead to? Had another article been written like the one when Isabelle was a little girl.
"Alrigh' that's enough," Hagrid suddenly said. Isabelle looked up in surprise. "No more scaring yerself with this."
"Hagrid, I'm a muggle born. If they're being targeted again, what does this mean?"
"It means nothin'. Yer gonna give yerself nigh'mares." Hagrid said loudly, he stood up and went over to the sink with his empty mug. When Hagrid was under pressure, he had a tendancy to eat or drink himself to death.
There was a noise outside of students heading to last lesson and Isabelle rose to go to Charms. She didn't want him to be angry with her, she didn't want to be angry at herself either.
In silence, Hagrid opened the door but then put a giant hand on her shoulder. "My ol' dad used ter say 'there's some who'll hold it against yer, but they're not worth bothering with.' An' he was right, don't be ashamed of what yer are. That's what'll destroy yer, you'll be fine. Yer'll see."
The evening of Hogwarts' first day ended with a mellow atmosphere. It was still chilly but the days had not yet begun to shorten. As the sun finally began to set, it created a soft orange glow in the Gryffindor Common Room.
The yellow hues danced across the window pane and rugs, up the stone walls and tapestries. Once or twice, the first years caught the painting of Bartholomew the Brusque dozing off in the gentle warmth of the sunlight.
It was busier in the common room, after the feast many wanted to sit back and try to relax. However, that was proving impossible; countless professors had set lengthy homework tasks to kick start the school year properly.
Even Isabelle had been set a long parchment of freezing spell incantations to learn for Flitwick by Monday. It was difficult, several sixth years accidentally froze their fingers together before the feast and the rest had decided to eat first then commit failed attempts afterwards.
Amelia was huddled next to the fire, holding her foot up awkwardly to try and melt the ice between her toes before she went to see Henry. When Isabelle told that he'd appreciate the fact she'd pampered her feet for him, Henry know for definite she was the one. Amelia responded by throwing up her middle finger.
Thankfully, Isabelle hadn't frozen any limbs and was comfortably lay on Alistair's chest, a book balanced in front of her as she read. Listening to the thumping of his heart soothed her into a rhythmic mode of breathing; able to concentrate fully on the pages which took her thoughts.
Alistair had an arm hooked around Isabelle as she lay on his chest, he looked down at her reading, wondering what could be so fascinating that she was barely able to hold a conversation for more than a minute.
"Iz," He murmured, moving his hand to start stroking her hair. "Do you want to go back to Hufflepuff? The lighting it better there."
She shook her head, looking up at him. "I'm alright. When the sun goes down then we can go there."
"Or we can go whilst the sun is still up. Owens said he needed me to help with some Potions work," he raised an eyebrow. "Or you can help him, you're better than me at it."
She shut the book loudly, pushing herself into a sitting position. "You just want me to do his homework for you both, don't you?"
He grinned, leaning up on his elbows. "Well... when you put it that way it does sound-"
"Selfish."
"Selfish, but I'll love you even more if you did."
Rolling her eyes, she rolled back and leaned against the other side of the chair. "That's an impossibility. You should love me the most you can now."
"Please, Iz?" He begged. She didn't know why he hadn't mentioned it before, they'd already been in Gryffindor for hours. Isabelle went to protest but was bombarded with a flurry of sloppy kisses across her cheeks and nose. Ali pressed his lips to every inch of skin he could get his hands on, trying to pull her back to his chest. "Fine," she said, muffled. He didn't stop. Her small fists hit at his chest as she cried, "fine! I'll help him. Get off of me!"
"That is the most disgusting thing." Marlene's voice emerged from the common room entrance. Isabelle moved away from Alistair to see her come into view. "Move, midget." Marlene snapped at a first year sat on the leather seat beside the fire. The girl gave a squeak, scrambled to pick up her parchment and ink and disappeared to the girls' dormitories.
"I must say, you always have a way with words, McKinnon." Alistair said, running a hand through his hair. It was slightly shorter this year, but just as red; Isabelle liked how it matched his eyes.
"Shut it, Anscombe. I didn't storm in here for sarcasm. I found something out about the attack on Hanging Garden. They're not-."
"I am done with him! I am so close to losing my absolute rag. I swear on Merlin, Order First Class and all that is magical that I-" Lily Evans had been having a bad afternoon since she left Charms. She'd gone to the library to begin studying for the Potions lesson on Monday, but found herself trapped by James Potter. He'd thrown himself all over the desk to try and impress her but ended up spilling ink everywhere.
Barking the password at the portrait, she stormed in and furiously rubbed at her cheek which was stained with black, not bothering to greet her friends and interrupting Marlene with an exasperated screech.
Isabelle and Alistair stared at her, their mouths open slightly.
"What?" She snapped. "Can I not be angry? Am I really that transparent as a human being that I'm only seen as something for Potter to fancy?"
"Well, that's my cue to leave." Alistair's thick eyebrows were raised. He gave Isabelle a quick kiss, murmuring an 'I love you' before departing the common room to do his Potions alone.
Isabelle watched him go, then turned back to her friend with a defeated sigh.
"Do you want me to get rid of that for you?" Pointing to the huge mark of black ink on Lily's pale skin, she asked her. Lily nodded, embarrassed she'd scared Ali off. Isabelle murmured: "Tergeo."
Her red haired friends went quiet, taking a seat on the sofa with a controlled face. After a moment, she looked to Marlene, "you may continue."
Amelia crawled away from the fire, her black sock in hand. "Continue what? What's going on?"
"Marlene overheard Professor Dumbledore talking about the attack again. To someone else, not Hagrid. Although, I did go to him and asked what happened."
"You went to Hagrid?" They all asked in unison. "Without us?"
"I-I didn't like how Avery spoke, I just wanted to speak to him about it. He avoided my question, I couldn't get anything from him - he said I'd give myself nightmares. " Isabelle shrugged, she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth.
The girls frowned and turned back to Marlene who's face had become grave, she couldn't bring herself to look Isabelle or Lily in the eye. "It was dozens, it was the entire village," she dropped to a whisper. "And it wasn't because they were muggles, there was a muggle-born there."
References Made in the Chapter:
- The name 'Eris' I found in Hesiod's poetry. Eris was the Goddess of chaos, even though Eris is a boy, I like the idea of him being quite passive-aggressive.
- The conversation about 'Ministry blunders' is taken from the Weasley conversation during the Goblet of Fire! Kudos if you recognised it:D
- Dargis is a surname of Lithuanian origin. It is derived from words meaning ugly.
- The Hanging Gardens Village is a reference to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the world. They're surrounded by a lot of secrets and mystery as they were built around 290BC by Nebuchadnezzar II.
- Flitterbys are a species of moth in the Harry Potter Universe which hum and having glowing wings!
- "That meant good food, a warm hearth and all the comforts of Hagrid" is an adaptation from Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' - such a beautiful story which I HAD to reference.
- "A body is meant to be seen, not all covered up" is a real-life quote from Marilyn Monroe.
Replies:xxcaitlinxx - Thank you for finding it engaging! I really wanted a protagonist who has a life set up already, it makes it seem as if the build is more believable, so thank you for noticing:)
whoatherebuddy - I am literally obsessed with the Harry Potter Universe, I want to include as much detail as possible about all aspects. Thank you for reviewing my first chapter!
lannisterdebt - Thank you so much for saying that! It means the world hearing what readers think.
snoflakequeen - Exactly! Me too. I am in love with the building romance, the subtle feelings becoming more and the emotional side of how people feel. I like writing realistically and I also cannot stand reading fanfictions where the characters fall in love immediately.