Chapter 7
5 weeks until the Tournament
"Clio – when, and why, did the Wizarding World begin to withdraw itself from the Muggle world?"
"It's not known for sure, but popular theories from Historians such as Alvilda Cauldwell date the withdrawal of the Wizarding World to approximately sometime before 993 A.D., around the time of the creation of Hogwarts. Her theory then goes on to state that the majority of people attribute the disappearance of Magical Culture to Muggles due to the hate and distaste spread by Salazar Slytherin, who was a prominent and intimidating figure at that point of history. However, she believes this to be highly unlikely and rather accredits the Magical withdrawal to the threat many witches and wizards felt from muggles, a hate that would later manifest in the Witch Burnings, most popularly shown in the 1300s. Bathilda Bagshot also agrees with Cauldwell's thoughts on the matter, but additionally credits the withdrawal to the threat some witches and wizards posed to muggles, as practical jokes on them were beginning to become more fatal – an example being Weir the Wicked; responsible for the torture and murder of over 200 muggles over the course of 880 to 882 A.D. It was a combination of all of these reasons that led to the Withdrawal of the Wizarding World form the muggle world."
There were five short weeks left of the first term. That was five short weeks left until the first round of the Tournament. Nerves were beginning to get the best of Albus, Viv and I, and thus we found ourselves one drizzly Saturday morning studying in the library. Panna and G were testing the three of us on our respective topics, alternating whilst the five of us simultaneously attempted to complete a particularly challenging Charms worksheet.
Panna quickly read through my notes. "Fantastic! Almost spot on. However, you should probably explain a bit more about Salazar Slytherin, and connect your example of Weir the Wicked a tad more, but other than that it was mega." She beamed at me.
I let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in my chair. "Okay. I'll make sure to do that. Thanks, Pan."
"No problem. G?" She questioned, looking towards the frizzy blonde haired girl seated next to her, currently almost being buried by a pile of textbooks.
G sat up and looked around blearily. "Whuzza?" She slurred, rubbing her eyes and smearing her eyeliner in the process.
Panna rolled her dark eyes. "Honestly, G. Sometimes I find it hard to believe you're the only one out of the five of us who's 17. It's your turn to ask Albus a question now." She reprimanded, cleaning the black smears under G's eyes with a quick 'tergeo'.
With a filthy look at Panna, G reached over and pulled out Albus' notes, buried underneath a pile of Herbology books.
Turning to the nervous dark haired boy next to me, she opened up the notes to a random page, closed her eyes, and pointed at a spot. Opening her eyes and looking at where her finger had landed, she cleared her throat importantly.
"Okay, Smellbus – "
"For the love of Salazar, can you please stop calling me that!" Albus exclaimed, running a hand through his already messy hair. Resisting the urge to pat it down, I busied myself with writing down an answer to a question on the Charms worksheet.
G sniffed haughtily. "No. You called me by my full name last night, so now you have to pay the consequences. On to your question – tell me about the origins and two dangers of what is nicknamed 'The Luck Potion.'"
Albus looked thoughtful for a moment, before answering.
"Felix Felicis, more commonly known as 'Liquid Luck' or 'The Luck Potion', was invented at an unknown date during the 16th Century by Zygmunt Budge. He deemed it the 'crowning achievement' of his career. The dangers associated with the consumption of Felix Felicis include that it causes recklessness, giddiness and dangerous overconfidence if taken in excess, which can lead to injuries and even death. It is also toxic if taken in high quantities and is not made to be consumed continuously." He answered with a furrowed brow.
G skimmed through his notes, before nodding. "Spot on, Smellbus." She said, turning back to her Charms worksheet.
Panna looked at her watch and let out a strangled, high-pitched noise and began to gather up her books. "G! Muggle Studies starts in two minutes! Come on! I'm so sorry guys, but we're going to have to go now. Albus, can you test Viv?" She asked, passing him Viv's stack of notes.
"Of course." He replied, skimming through the pile.
"G! Move your arse now!" Panna said, poking G's shoulder.
Rolling her eyes, G gathered up her books and bag. "Calm your tits, Pan."
"My tits will be calm if we arrive in time to class. Now, hurry up!"
With a hurried good bye to the three of us (who all had a spare), Panna left, dragging a complaining G behind her, as Madam Pince stalked out from behind a shelf and shot us a dirty look, as if we were the ones making all of the noise.
"Ugh, what an old bat." I said, watching the Velvet-clad librarian distastefully.
Albus snorted in agreement, before turning to Viv. "Okay, Viv, name four medicinal uses of Snargaluff pods."
As Viv answered, I let my eyes wander around the study area. A few groups of sixth and seventh years were milling around, most with their heads stuck in books and frantically scribbling down essays and notes. As I looked towards the entrance, I noticed a blonde haired Ravenclaw walk in and look around warily.
I waved a hand and gestured for him to come over. With an apprehensive look at Albus and Viv, he slowly walked over and sat down where Panna had been.
"Hey Scorpius. How are you?" I asked, smiling.
"Er, I'm fine. You?" He replied quietly, pulling out his Ancient Runes books and notes.
"Eh, I've been better. The stress of the Tournament really is beginning to hit me." I told him with a frown, stretching out my legs under the table.
He nodded and made a noise of agreement, before turning to his notes. For the few years I've known him through Saule and Epona, he's always been a man of very few words with a tendency to create awkward situations. Speaking of awkward situations, I looked at the occupants of the table to find them gazing at Scorpius in utter confusion.
I suppose I probably should have introduced him first. Well, better late than never.
"Oh, er, Scorpius, these are my friends Viv and Albus. Viv and Albus, this is my friend Scorpius." I introduced. Technically, Scorpius is more of a slight-acquaintance-that-I-occasionally-make-polite-small-talk-with-when-I-bump-into-him-in-the-Ravenclaw-common-room, but 'friend' is about ten times easier to say.
The three of them exchange awkward pleasantries, before averting eye contact and looking back at their respective study notes.
Considering Viv spends more time around plants than people, Albus loves his cat more than any human and Scorpius always has his nose stuck in a book, this really isn't that surprising.
Throw in the fact that I spend more time focusing on the past than the present, and we really make one hell of a group.
Fortunately, we were all saved from attempting to start a conversation by the arrival of another person to our mismatched group.
"Hey Al, hey guys." Rose Weasley said tiredly, dropping into the spare seat next to Viv.
"Hi." We chorused back. I noticed Scorpius looking at Rose with a funny expression, and her avoiding making eye contact with him.
"Er, do you two know each other?" I asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah." They both murmured, looking away from each other with bright red cheeks. I turned to Viv and Albus with a raised eyebrow. That wasn't suspicious at all. Viv mirrored my expression, but Albus was staring between the pair suspiciously.
Wanting to avoid a confrontation, I cleared my throat.
"So, Rose! How are you going with studying for Arithmacy for the Tournament?" I asked, taking in her dark bags and exhausted expression worriedly.
She yawned. "As well as I can be, I suppose. Mum's been refusing to help me organize study timetables but keeps forcing dad to try. I swear, the man hasn't studied a day in his life with the 'help' he's been giving me."
Albus scoffed. "Tell me about it. Mum's been okay but dad's complete shit. I've no idea how he actually passed any subjects whilst he was in school." He said, shaking his head.
"Well, he did defeat Voldemort. That took some brains." Rose replied, smiling.
"So did Uncle Ron." Albus retorted.
Whilst this cousin exchange was happening, Scorpius, Viv and I were awkwardly continuing our studying, not wanting to interrupt them. Despite being friends with Albus for a good two months now, we were still hesitant when it came to breaching the subject of his family. I sort of got the feeling he harbored some resentment towards certain family members due to initial reactions to his Sorting into Slytherin. This was all unfounded though, as he had yet to open up about it to us.
Descending into a comfortable silence, the five of us went back to our respective studying for a while. I was the first to break it, after I saw Zeph walk past our table.
"Hey, do you guys know how the others are faring? I just saw Zeph walk past then and he doesn't look too good." I said in concern.
"Zeph's terrified, but he's got a good grasp on the knowledge. He'll be fine." Scorpius reassured me quietly, putting down his quill for a quick break.
"Mint seems pretty excited from what she's told me, but I've noticed Bobbie's been a bit more touchy than usual." Rose told us, furrowing her eyebrows.
The four of us simultaneously let out snorts.
"'A bit more touchy'? Yesterday I sneezed whilst she was studying and she spent five minutes yelling at me." Albus replied incredulously.
Rose shot him a look. "That's not her fault, Al. She's obviously stressed, just like the rest of us."
Albus shrugged and stretched his arms behind his head.
"Well, how about Millie? Is she doing okay?" I asked him.
He shrugged again. "She's gone a bit quiet, but I think some of that has to do with left over resentment from the Quidditch match."
"You know, I think we should invite the others to study with us as a group sometime. It'd be nice." Rose proposed, twirling her quill around.
Viv groaned. "As long as that excludes Ramsbottom. You know, he found me in the Kitchens eating last night five minutes before curfew and lectured me about it for twenty minutes, meaning I ended up being out after curfew and then he gave me a detention for it! I can't stand the bloke." She told us, shaking he head as we all laughed.
"Well, if we're inviting all of the others, I suppose that means we should include Ramsbottom. It'd be rude to exclude him." I said, looking at Viv apologetically.
"If it helps, he won't say yes anyway." Rose said matter-of-factly. "He's convinced one of us is spying for another school."
4 weeks until the Tournament
"Most people prefer Arabian Horses, but I myself am more partial to Warm blood horses. Of course, they're all unique in their own way and I think they're all absolutely brilliant, but that's just my individual opinion."
Four pairs of eyes swiveled around to look at me incredulously. I offered my friends a shrug and continued eating my toast.
It was a dreary Monday morning, an hour before classes began. Saule had enthusiastically invited my friends along to our family breakfast, as she was very keen on meeting Albus, and also because her and Panna got along famously.
Epona, as per usual, was creeping them all out with her incessant horse talk.
G clapped her hands together. "Well, that was very insightful." She replied, shooting me a look as if to say, 'why are your siblings so fucking weird?'
I ask myself that question every day, G.
Epona gave her a serene smile. "What's your favourite horse, Geraldine?" She enquired, sipping her pumpkin juice.
"Well first of all, it's G. Not Geraldine, not Gribbles, and certainly not Geraldine Gribbles. 'Geraldine' just makes me sound like an utter twat." G shot back with an exaggerated shudder.
Panna broke off from her conversation with Saule to lightly smack G on the arm. "Oh, hush G. Just answer her question." She told her, before turning back to continue talking to my smiling sister.
G rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Okay, whatever, fine. I suppose my favourite horse is, er…. cold blood horses?" She replied hesitantly.
"Hm, that's an interesting choice. I don't like them as much as the horses that fall under the hot-blooded category, but I can definitely see the appeal." Epona said, nodding thoughtfully, her horse shaped earrings dangling around.
G looked at us in confusion and whispered, "That's an actual breed? I just made it up."
Albus, Viv and I all snorted into our plates.
"How about you, Albus?" Epona asked, delicately eating a strawberry. Meanwhile I'm sitting across from her, already on my third piece of toast with crumbs visible on the dark material of my robes. I glanced around subtly before quickly wiping them off.
I'm all class.
Albus looked up, startled. "Oh. Er, well I suppose I like the White Friesian the best." He replied, shrugging.
Now it was his turn to be stared at incredulously by four pairs of eyes.
He leaned away from us. "What? Lily's obsessed with horses too." He claimed, holding up his hands.
I grinned and winked at him. "Sure she is."
"I swear it!"
"Yeah, we believe you." G replied sarcastically.
"I'm being serious!"
"Sure you are." Viv giggled.
The rest of his protests were drowned out by our laughter and Epona's reassurances that "it's okay to admit you like horses, just embrace it!"
"Ooh! Post is here!" Saule exclaimed, pointing excitedly above her. I looked up and sure enough, countless owls of all different shapes, sizes and colours were swooping down holding various letters and packages.
My parent's owl Circe landed in front on me and hooted softly.
"Hey there beautiful!" I cooed, stroking her feathers before untying the letter from her leg. She nipped my finger affectionately before moving over to Saule and Epona to greet them.
G and Albus had also received letters, whilst Viv received her 'Unbeleafable' Herbology magazine courtesy of her monthly subscription and Panna had gotten 'The Quibbler'.
"What's the letter about?" Saule enquired, as both her and Epona fussed over Circe.
"Have they finally agreed to get me a horse?!" Epona asked, widening her dark eyes and slamming her hands down onto the table in her excitement. Circe screeched reproachfully at the sudden movement and Saule shot Epona a disapproving stare.
I rolled my eyes and opened the letter. "Chill, Pona. Let me read it first."
Skimming through the letter, I sighed as I handed it to my sisters. "It's just the usual. You know, 'keep up your grades', 'have fun', 'don't get into too much trouble', 'try to stop threatening people who don't like horses, Epona', etc, etc." I told them.
Epona sniffed delicately. "It's not my fault if Christopher Wood is a bumbling horter."
Horter
noun
1. A person that feels an extreme or mild irrational dislike towards horses
2. A person who experiences a lower level of intelligence than the regular homo sapien
3. Someone that Epona is guaranteed to dislike
Yes, Epona actually made up a word and a dictionary definition to match it.
This is what I have to live with.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't threaten people! It's not nice." Saule said, flicking her hair over her shoulder and shaking her head at her twin.
Epona glared at her. "I am not nice."
Sighing at their antics, I turned to my friends. I was about to ask Panna if I could look through The Quibbler briefly, before I caught sight of the look on Albus' face.
"You okay?" I asked in concern.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Er, mum's told me to invite you all over for dinner after the Tournament." He said, keeping his eyes focused on the letter.
Panna was the first to respond.
"I'm so sorry Albus, but I'll be in India visiting my Grandparents for the Christmas break. I'll be missing the Tournament, too." She told us all apologetically. We nodded in understanding; she had told us this as soon as we found out we were competing.
"And while I consider you a friend, I'd honestly rather die than spend any extra time around your brother. Seriously. I'd take avada kedavra any day over extended exposure to his inflated ego." G replied, shaking her head with a slight shudder.
Albus nodded. "Fair enough." He turned to Viv and I. "Er, how about you guys?"
"I'd love to. I'll have to check with mum and dad but I reckon they'll say yes." I responded with a smile.
"Same here." Viv said, giving him a brief smile before turning back to her Herbology magazine.
He nodded, looking simultaneously nervous and relieved. It was a strange combination.
"Okay, well I'll write back to mum tonight to tell her."
"Write back to mum about what?"
I looked up to see James Potter standing behind Panna and Viv, with Fred Weasley at his left. Cautiously darting my eyes towards G, I was unsurprised to see the murderous expression that had taken over her features.
Albus sighed from next to me. "What do you want?" He asked his cousin and brother flatly.
James held a hand against his chest in mock-offense. "What, I can't say hello to you nerds?"
G spun around, her blonde plaits whipping out behind her. "Don't call them that!" She yelled angrily.
"But G," Viv started, "you always call us that."
Despite the truth to that statement, that probably wasn't the best thing Viv could have said.
G scoffed weakly. "Well, er. I uh- I've got to finish my muggle studies essay before class," She offered, grabbing her bag and almost running out of the hall. We all watched after her, worried and confused.
"I should go after her." I said, half standing.
"I didn't know you guys had a muggle studies essay." Viv said to Panna, confused.
Panna sighed and stood up. "We don't. It's okay Clio, I'll go. I've got class with her first thing anyway." She said, giving us all a wave before leaving the hall after G.
James looked around us in confusion. "Was it something I said?"
The thing that troubled me the most about his statement was how he said it. From what I could tell, James seemed genuinely concerned that he'd upset G. I'd always thought their hatred was a mutual thing and as I thought about it, a horribly guilty feeling stirred around my mind. What kind of friend was I to not know that?
"Will Gribbles be alright?" Fred asked us, looking concerned as well.
"Well, she'll be going to Azkaban for murder if she ever hears you call her that." I replied, to the chuckles of Viv and Albus. "But Panna will talk to her, don't worry." I reassured them, though all I could feel was worry.
Albus rubbed his eyes. "Again, what in Merlin's name do you two want?"
"What, we can't just visit our favourite relative?" Fred said cheekily with a wide grin that showcased a truly frightening amount of adorable dimples.
"Cut the shit." Albus deadpanned.
Both James and Fred snickered like seven year old that had successfully stolen off-limit sweets.
"Fine. We just came to tell you all to avoid the third floor corridor near Mimbus the Marvelous at 6pm tonight." James said, an odd glint in his eyes. I rolled my eyes as I realized they were planning yet another prank. How those two haven't been expelled yet; I'll never know.
Fred then caught sight of Saule and Epona next to us, who had been having a quiet conversation of their own (most likely initiated by Saule who regarded it as the highest dishonour to eavesdrop).
"Ah! Appleberry twins. Because I like you, make sure you avoid the moving staircases near the Ravenclaw Common Room, okay?" Fred told them, as they both nodded in understanding.
With a surprisingly sweet smile towards my sisters, Fred turned back to James and nodded.
James nodded in return and turned to smile at all of us, before turning away.
"Smell ya later!" He shouted over his shoulder as they both walked away.
Yes, James Potter is a 17 year old wizard that still says 'smell ya later' any chance he gets. Sometimes the differences between him and Albus astound me.
However, what Fred said to my sisters suddenly came to my mind as I turned to the two of them in bewilderment.
"How do you two know Fred Weasley?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"I encourage him with his homework in the library. He's incredibly smart and I just help him to se that." Saule explained, beaming.
Well, that I can understand. Turning to look at Epona, no reason I could think of made sense. As far as I knew, Fred was not obsessed with horses and that was pretty much all Epona talked or thought about.
She picked up a strawberry. "I got him an O on a muggle studies paper he had on horses."
Ah, there it was.
A/N: Disclaimer – Harry Potter belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling – I own nothing!
Okay first off – I AM SO SORRY! It's been about ten days since my last update which is pretty poor on my part! I've been incredibly busy with Uni and it was also my birthday a few days ago so my writing in the past few days was pretty sporadic. I'd had half of this chapter finished and it took me a while to find motivation to finish the rest of it, but at last I did!
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews on the last chapter and for the faves and follows too! You guys brighten my day :)
To pettybureacrat – you'll definitely be seeing more of James, Lily and the other cousins in later chapters! James, Lily and Fred will probably have the most prominent parts, but I'm going to try and bring them all in! :)
Also thank you so much to 'reader' who pointed out I said 'penny' in the last chapter – I've changed it to sickle :)
Thank you so much for reading, and I'd love if you could leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter! Do you like Fred and James so far? Any theories on the tension between Rose and Scorpius? Favourite and least favourite characters?
I'll try to update sooner this time! I hope you all have a lovely day/night :) xxxx
