Chapter Fourteen: An Obvious Rumour
The clickety clack of the Hogwarts express echoed throughout the train. Amber and Casey sat in their compartment silently, partly due to them having nothing much left to talk about since they both spent Christmas together, and partly because Amber was still disappointed in Casey because she decided to dress in masculine clothes for their ride back to Hogwarts.
"Hurry up CJ or we're going to miss the carriages." Amber snapped.
"Just a sec Amber. Let me finish putting on my shoes." Casey replied.
"CJ nobody takes 10 minutes to put on their shoes. Hurry up or I'm heading back without you."
Amber stormed out of their compartment and disembarked from the train closely followed by dishevelled Casey who nearly tripped on her untied shoelaces. Casey's dawdling did have an effect however and when Amber exited the train she found that most of the carriages had gone only leaving about a dozen students left on the platform.
"Hey Amber, CJ! Come with us!" Oakley Bones waved from the carriage he was currently sitting in. He was accompanied by two of his partners in crime Vince and Zack. Amber stopped dead in her tracks and shared an awkward glance with Casey.
"I don't know Amber. They probably just want to probe me with questions." Casey whispered to her.
"Come on it'll be fine; they'll find out everything tomorrow anyway." Amber whispered back.
"That doesn't mean they can't go spreading rumours around tonight." Casey shot back. "Remember what they did to me last term."
"Look we're back at school now, so if they do something stupid you can give them a taste of your Jelly-Legs curse."
"I'm starting to think you're a bad influence on me." Casey replied with a smirk. "If Saffron was here she'd be kicking you up the bum right about now."
"Good thing she isn't here then." Amber laughed, before grabbing Casey by the hand and pulling her towards the carriage.
The carriages as per usual were being pulled by seemingly nothing. The two girls boarded the carriage and Bones his and crew shuffled around to make room for their fellow first years.
"Good evening boys." Amber said cheerily. "So where's Peter?"
"Ahhh…. Hi Amber." Vince said slightly taken back by Amber's nicety. "He stayed at Hogwarts with his sister over Christmas on account of his parents going to visit his brother in India."
"I didn't know Peter had a brother as well as a sister."
"Yeah he does. Works as a curse breaker over there." Vince revealed. "Apparently he got banged up when he tried to undo some dark magic on the Taj Mahall; since he couldn't travel his parents went to see him instead."
"That doesn't sound like fun." Amber responded.
"Nope. Especially after all the stories we hear from Peter about his crazy brother." Bones reminisced. "How about you two though. I heard you both had some 'fun' over the break."
Casey let a small 'Epp!' when Bones made his comment causing everyone in the carriage to look at her with a weird expression. This in turn caused the poor girl to blush furiously whilst she buried her head in her hands.
"Yeah… we got up to some 'fun' as you called it." Amber covered for her friend.
"Really? Because the way we heard it CJ here nearly got his but kicked out of Hogwarts." Bones jibbed. "What did you do CJ, Jinx someone so hard you knocked them out?"
Casey's face went white and Amber gasped when she heard Bones give his quip. The boys were too busy laughing to notice the girl's reactions.
"CAN IT!" Amber yelled at the boys whilst kicking them all in the shins, causing the laughter to die down almost immediately.
"What the hell Amber we were just making a joke about the…." Vince started before he realised neither Amber nor Casey were laughing. "Wait, that actually happened!?"
"Yeah." Casey softly uttered. "I accidentally Cursed/Jinxed my dad after… some stuff happened."
"Blimey. No wonder Noah said to give you some space." Zack marvelled.
"Why would Noah ask you guys to give CJ some space?" Amber curiously asked.
"You don't know? Noah was the one who told us to give CJ a break." Zack clarified. "Since Peter couldn't join us for the holidays we asked Noah to hang with us. We were going to ask you CJ but Noah said you were dealing with the aftermath of some hearing."
"But how did Noah find out." Amber unintentionally said out loud. The boys all shrugged. They had no idea.
"Wait what was Noah's last name again?" Casey curiously asked the group.
"Abanel. Why?"
"That's it." Casey uttered. "The scary guy at my hearing last's name was Abanel. That was probably Noah's Dad!"
"Noah's Dad was at your hearing? Sucks man. He can be a bit intense." Bones replied.
"I know… I found out the hard way." Casey mumbled, her voice noticeably dropping.
"Speaking of this hearing thing you had to go to, we were chatting a bit with Noah and we," Bones pointed to the other boys in the carriage. "Were wondering if thi….."
"And I'm going to stop you right there." Amber interjected cutting of Bones abruptly. Amber had a feeling she knew were this conversation was going and was going to do everything in her power to head it off at the pass.
"If you are about to ask CJ how s…" Amber paused briefly due to Casey vigorously shaking her head. "They got into the girls dormitories. I swear to god that I am going to kick your shins so hard that you'll be feeling it till next week."
"But…."
"Feeling. It. Next. Week." Amber punctuated each word viciously.
"Okay, okay we won't ask." Zack said trying to salvage the conversation. "We were just wondering if it's related to the hearing thing that CJ had to go to."
"It was, in a way." Casey replied much to Amber's surprise, she wasn't expecting her friend to offer up information without a fight.
"Really? Because there's a pool going around and we just wanted to know to get ahead on it. We'll cut you in on the profits if you give us the heads up." Bones weaselling his way back into the conversation.
"Argh!" Casey groaned. "Seriously guys I don't want to talk about it."
"You heard her!" Amber yelled back, kicking Bones. "And that's horrible starting a betting circle on CJ; you should be ashamed of yourselves."
"We didn't start it, honest!" Vince defended, oblivious to Amber's earlier slip up. "It was a bunch of 5th years; we just wanted to earn a few honest Sickles."
"All of you just drop it! Can we please just talk about something normal like school or something?" Casey quickly added before Amber could launch into another tirade.
With Casey shutting down the conversation the topic did in fact move onto the subject of school with each individual complaining about which subjects they liked the least. During the walk back up to the Castle Oakley and the other first years gave their condolences to Amber and Casey when Amber told them that Lizza wasn't coming back to Hogwarts. They had to stop for a bit so Amber could have a cry which nearly set Casey off as well.
A weird vibe filled the Common Room once the 1st year Hufflepuffs entered through the barrel. Once the two dozen or so occupants realised who had entered everyone seemed to slow down their conversations to see what was going to happen.
Amber quickly grabbed Casey's wrist to prevent her from running off like she did last time. Amber couldn't imagine what was running through her friend's mind at this very second. It had after all been very exhausting 3 weeks and during that time Casey hadn't stepped foot back into the Hufflepuff Common Room.
"You can do this." Amber whispered in her best friend's ear, with a whimper answering it.
"You coming CJ?" Vince asked, as the 1st year boys were about to head into the boy's dormitories.
"Um…." Casey stammered.
"You guys go on ahead. We'll catch you at dinner." Amber cautiously interlocked her arm with Casey's and pulled her towards the girl's dormitories. Hoping that the encouragement would get her moving.
It did so and as they moved every eye in the common room followed them. Amber opened the door to the girl's dormitories and as they stepped through the thresh hold; she could feel Casey stiffen beside her. But just like the last time, when Casey stepped through the door she was welcomed.
"CJ?" A stunned Juliet asked as she stood in the hallway with some of the other 5th year girls who were in an avid discussion about Professor Longbottom no longer teaching at Hogwarts.
"Hi Juliet. Love to stay and chat but we have to get changed for dinner." Before Juliet could even offer a retort Amber and Casey hurriedly entered the 1st year's dorm room and closed the door with both young witches collapsing onto the ground.
"Well that could have gone worse." Amber finally said after releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"What!? How could that have gotten worse? Everyone was staring at us like we were some carnival sideshow." Casey exclaimed.
"Well no one called you any names and Bones and his nincompoops didn't give you any grief on the trip up." Amber reasoned.
"We have very different views on what amounts to 'giving us grief' Amber." Casey challenged before turning to take in the room before her. "So this is the girl's dorm huh? It looks just like the boy's dorm, except cleaner."
"What did you expect? Rows of ribbon and lace with the walls painted pink?"
"I guess?" Casey said before helping Amber off the floor. "So, I take it that bed is mine?"
Casey walked over to the third bed in room which had her trunk at the base of it but that's not what gave it away. Amber's bed and dresser were covered in her possessions so it was easy to tell to which one was hers, it was Lizza's bed that gave the contrast. The Australian girl's bed had been completely stripped down to the point of the mattress being removed, and all of Lizza belongings (including her trunk) were absent.
"She's really not coming back, is she?" Amber sniffed.
Amber sat on the edge of her bed trying desperately not to cry again. Casey came and sat next to her whilst Amber just leaned into her best friends shoulder.
"You and Lizza are the first real friends I've ever had you know." Amber said after a long silence. "I really thought we'd be the kind of friends that go on adventures."
"We still are friends Amber we're just a little further away." Casey quietly responded.
"CJ she's literally on the other side of the world." Amber whined.
"I know Amber, but remember what you told me when you moved here from Canada. Places aren't that far once you take Magic into account."
"Maybe…"
In the end Amber and Casey didn't much feel like going to dinner so they barricaded themselves in their room for the night and went to sleep pretty soon after. Amber tossed and turned in her bed all night before she eventually got up and ignited their room's hearth. She had grown so accustomed to the warmth that followed Lizza around that she couldn't sleep without it.
Amber sat curled up on the floor with the quilt from her bed wrapped around her whilst she stared at the flicking flames. Her thoughts drifting to what Hogwarts would like without Lizza.
Amber woke the following morning from a pillow been thrown at her by Casey. She had slept last night albeit not that well and her back was hurting from sleeping on stone. The rude awakening didn't help either.
"Why are you sleeping on the floor Amber?" Casey asked after Amber regained consciousness from having a pillow thrown at her.
"Good morning to you too CJ." Amber shot. "I couldn't sleep last night so I decided to sit up. I guess I feel asleep on the floor." Amber yawned.
"I'ma just gona go ahead and pretend that's normal. So, what do you want to do about the bathroom, you want a shower first or second? Just please don't be like Vince and skip it until the evening, I have to actually sit next to you all day."
"Eww, as if I would skip my morning shower." Amber said slightly offended. "I normally have one before Liz so I… so I think I should have mine first."
"Okie Doki then, more of a sleep time for me." Casey replied before slamming her head back down into her pillow to catch some more sleep, much to Amber's bemusement.
Amber gathered up her clothes for the day and entered the bathroom for a nice refreshing shower which did wonders in not only helping her improving her mood, but also ease the soreness from sleeping on the floor. She hoped it would have the same effect on Casey once she had hers, Amber had a feeling she would be a little wound up this morning.
"You're turn." Amber said upon exiting the shower and throwing back the pillow Casey threw at her earlier.
"Okay jeez, I'm not like Liz. You don't have to drag me out of bed like you do with her." Casey said before gulping at her mistake.
"It's okay. Go have your shower."
Casey got out of bed and spent the next 10 minutes rummaging through her trunk, backpack and, dresser looking for something. Amber was sitting on her bed brushing out her hair when Casey finally gave a loud groan in frustration.
"Is there something wrong CJ?" Amber said trying to suppress her giggles.
Casey stopped what she was doing and froze in place before turning to Amber. "Where are they Amber?"
"Where's what? I have no idea what you're talking about." Amber's snickers only intensified as Casey's anger towards her grew; an action that told Casey exactly what she wanted to know.
Casey snatched up her wand and marched across the room furious, pointing her wand at her friend accusingly. "Amber Jade McKinnon, I swear to all that is holy, I am going to Jinx you into next week if you don't tell me where they are."
"Where what are?" Amber said nonchalantly. She was still brushing out her hair and completely ignoring the fact that Casey had her wand pointed at her.
"You know what." Casey snapped, getting more frustrated. "Now give me back my pants!"
Amber finally cracked and laughed a little at her friend's antics before crossing her arms across her chest. "Jinx me all you want CJ. I'm not telling you were I hid them."
The two stared at each other and Casey's grip around her wand tightened. Just when Amber thought Casey was about to fire off a spell, her arm dropped to her side.
"BITCH!" Casey yelled. She then threw her wand onto the bed before gathering up her new school uniform.
"You're welcome." Amber sang as the door to the bathroom slammed closed.
The two friends walked to breakfast with Casey giving Amber the cold shoulder, she was still mad at Amber for the stunt she had pulled. Luckily for them nobody had noticed the pair leave their dormitory so they managed to slip through common room unnoticed.
"I hate you."
"Let's hear you say that when your birthday rolls around." Amber smirked.
Amber was grinning ear to ear with her first accomplishment of the day and took a small amount of delight seeing her friend no longer hiding her true self. Even if said friend was being particularly stubborn this morning, not to mention fidgety.
"Quit pulling on your tights they're not going to fall down." Amber chastised.
"Hey, you're used to it." Casey grumbled. Once again pulling on her tights. "I don't know how you're so comfortable with wearing them."
"I've been wearing them all through Primary school remember. Besides they're really comfy on a cold day."
"They are kind of warm." Casey blushed.
The pair rounded the corner into the foyer and the entrance to the great hall came into view causing Casey to freeze in place.
"Come on CJ, it'll be fine. It wasn't so bad last night and this morning you did fine." Amber encouraged. "Just take it one step at a time."
Amber watched her friends breathing accelerate whilst she desperately tried to maintain her composure. "I'm sorry Amber but I don't think I'm ready to head in there just yet, besides I'm supposed to see Professor McGonagall this morning."
"CJ, you can't keep putting this off, the longer you wait the worse it'll be."
"I'm not putting it off, I promise. I really do need to see Professor McGonagall this morning." Casey pleaded. Amber looked into her friend's eyes and saw that she was in fact not lying.
"I'll see you in Potions." Amber sighed, she the gave her friend a hug, and then walked into the great hall.
The great hall was an unusual bustle of activity this morning as various students caught up with each other to discuss their holidays. Even the few teachers that were in the hall were engaged in idle chitchat. Amber found a spot down the far end of the Hufflepuff table away from most of the other students and began grabbing her self some breakfast. She was just biting into some eggs on toast when Nocturne came flying in a dropped a simple letter on her plate sending scrambled eggs everywhere.
Dear Amber and CJ,
Hi girls, I'm sorry I'm not there with you at Hogwarts…. Yesterday was particularly sucked when I realised tomorrow you both would be returning to Hogwarts without me.
I still don't know if you'll forgive me about the decision I made. I don't know if I can forgive myself…. My mum has barely even looked at me in the past 2 weeks; she's still upset I rejected Hogwarts. She really wanted me to go to the same school as her.
No matter my choice someone loses. Am I a bad person because I made the choice that would make me the least sad?
Anyway as it turns out school over here is 6 months ahead of you guys so I'll skipping ahead to 2nd year in a few weeks; I've been studying like mad to catch up. I'm still super excited to go to Watarrka though.
My cousin Balun and my friend Taliyah have been helping me to catch up, we've known each other for forever. I do wish they'd stop making jokes about how dumb I am though, I'm only 6 months behind after all and I can still cast spells that they can't.
I'll get them back when we go out flying though. They stand no chance keeping up with me and they know it, so it's all in good fun.
You both will be fine without me after all you both have helped me way more than I have ever helped either of you. You are some of the best friends I have ever had.
Thinking of you both,
Your friend,
Liz
P.S. CJ if anyone gives you crap about being a girl, tell them that I will personally come back over there and give them the biggest ass kicking they've ever had.
Amber finished the letter from Liz with mixed feelings. She was still angry with her that she had stayed in Australia, but also felt sorry for her for all the pain she was feeling. At least she's a little happier Amber thought to herself.
Before Amber could really process what Lizza had written in her letter Lucy and Juliet slid onto the bench in front of her.
"What do you want Juliet?" Amber said with little more venom than was probably warranted.
"Amber you wound me," Juliet asked with mock hurt, before she managed to catch Amber's expression. "Did we catch you at a bad time?"
"I was just reading a letter I got."
Before Amber realised what was happening Juliet had grabbed Lizza's letter and had started reading it. Juliet and Lucy only managed to read the first few lines but that's all they needed to see.
"What the hell Juliet." Amber shouted, snatching the letter back off the senior girls. "You can't just go around reading other people's mail."
"Whoa… Lizza isn't coming back to Hogwarts?" Juliet bleated out. "I was wondering why she wasn't with you and CJ yesterday."
"Well it's none of your business." Amber snapped. "Buzz off so I can finish my breakfast and find CJ."
"Speaking of CJ," Lucy remembered. "We have a question about him."
"I'm not feeding either of you anymore gossip." Amber said flatly. "You'll just have to go find someone else to fuel your rumours."
"Amber darling, we do our very best to fact check anything that might come past our ears." Lucy said elegantly, earning eyebrow raise from Amber. "Seriously Amber we do, that's why we are here. We were on our way to breakfast when I swear I saw CJ heading up to the third floor wearing a skirt. We tried to catch up, but dam that kid can move."
"And since we can't find out straight from the horse's mouth we're asking you," Juliet continuing on from Lucy. "Your CJ's best friend, and with what happened last term, not to mention last night has got a lot of people talking and we just want to know what's going on, you know, to help clear up the confusion."
"No, you just want to make a quick Sickle." Amber shot back. "I know you both have a bet on what's going on."
"We don't…"
"Don't deny it." Amber fumed, her anger rising. "I talked to Bones last night so I know you helped orchestrate it. If you want to know what's going on with CJ you'll have to ask her."
The moment the words escaped her lips Amber hands shot to her mouth. Unfortunately, this time Juliet and Lucy picked up on her slip up.
"Her?" Lucy said curiously.
"So, CJ is a girl." Juliet said with a devilish smile. "I knew it. Bones and Sharp are going to be so pissed that they lost the bet."
"Well that's sort of… true." Amber said quietly before immediately regretting it.
"What do you mean sort of?" Lucy asked, stopping her celebration with Juliet.
"I… I really shouldn't say. CJ made me swear not too until s… until she was ready." Amber said ashamed. "She's going to Jinx for sure for saying what I've said to you already."
"CJ is transgender isn't he?" Juliet asked quietly so nobody else around them could hear.
"Yes she is." Amber said emphasising the correct pronoun. "Please don't out her just yet, hopefully she'll come out and say it at lunch. So please a few hours that's all I ask."
"Alright we'll give you till lunch." Lucy conceded.
"Trans huh?" Juliet clucked. "Do you know if anyone picked that Lu?"
"I think a Ravenclaw boy did." Lucy mused. "He'll make quite a score if it's true."
"Ergh," Amber grimaced. "How can you talk so casually about bet like that? It's disgusting. And you call yourselves Hufflepuffs."
Feed up with Lucy and Juliet, Amber rose from her seat before grabbing an apple off the table and made her way down to the dungeons. When the Potions room came into view Casey was standing out the front already talking with a couple of Ravenclaw's who were waiting for class to start. Amber was surprised not to see Noah talking to his potion partner like they usually did before class. The contrast between last term and today was strikingly different.
"Hey Amber," Casey said with a lopsided smile.
"Hey CJ, what are you lot talking about?" The tone of Amber's voice immediately putting everyone else on guard.
"CJ was just telling us why he…. I mean why she's dressed like a like a girl." Gail Page one of the Ravenclaw girls awkwardly replied. "Sorry CJ, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
"It's okay; it took me some time to get used to it." Casey admitted.
"It's not okay Casey, it's rude." Amber said defiantly. "She's not dressed like a girl Page, she is a girl. How would you like it if I started calling you 'Mr Page' and started referring to you as 'him'?"
"Not very good I guess," The Ravenclaw said shyly. "Sorry again CJ."
Amber stared at Casey; if Casey wasn't going to stand up for herself she would do it for her.
"You do look a lot cuter now though," Bianca Trusworth complemented. "Way better than when you were a boy. What did you do with your hair?
Amber was about to jump in again before Casey cut in before her. "My sister styled it for me with some help from Amber's Cousin. You think it looks alright?"
"Yeah! It totally suits you, that braid is so cute!"
"Thanks. I wasn't sure if…"
"Holy crap! The rumours are true?" Oakley Bones and the rest of his sortie finally walked up to the Potions classroom, only for their jaws to hit the floor when they saw Casey.
"And what rumour might that be." Amber's aggression taking them totally all off guard.
"Ahhhh…" Was all the boys were able to produce.
"Well go on spit it out."
"Well…. Um, we were just surprised to see CJ dressed like a chick." Vince nervously replied. "I mean someone said he was walking around in a skirt at breakfast but I didn't believe it until I saw it just now."
"SHE! Isn't dressed like anything!" Amber spat getting right up into Vince's face. "She's a girl, so of course her uniform includes a skirt. Or do we need to take another trip to the Common Room to prove who she really is."
"Amber, please calm down." Casey said pulling on her arm.
"No, these four dunder heads have been giving you crap since we started school and I'm sick of it."
"Amber we're sorry we didn't know CJ was a tranny."
The moment the words escaped Oakley's lips everyone knew he had messed up big time, including Oakley himself. Casey slumped against the wall and the Ravenclaws stepped back shocked. Amber though was truly terrifying. In years following the incident outside of the Potions Classroom everyone would always say: Do not make fun of Casey in front of Amber.
"Everte Statum!"
Amber caught everyone off guard and whilst Oakley was fumbling for his own wand he was sent flying. The only problem was that - Amber being Amber - wasn't all that good with spells. So when she sent her jinx at Oakley it also backfired and sent her sprawling backwards with the same amount of force.
Both students landed with a 'thump', the wind being knocked out of both of them. The bang from the spell alerted Professor Slughorn who had opened the Potion room's door to see what the entire racket was about.
"What's going on out here?" He asked as he surveyed the chaos outside his Potions room.
"Ah, nothing to serious Professor." Zack said, whilst he quickly tried to come up with a lie on the spot. "Oakley bet McKinnon a Sickle that she couldn't knock a ball down the hallway. She accidentally backfired the spell which rebounded sending her and Oakley flying."
"Dear me, you should really keep those kinds of games to the school grounds." Professor Slughorn warned. "Well then Amber did you manage to knock ball down the corridor?"
"Huh?" Amber dizzily responded before she realised the opportunity she had. "I managed it. Surprisingly."
"Those practice sessions with Professor Hackle must be paying off then hey, Amber." Professor Slughorn joked. "Well then Bones what are you waiting for? Pay up, a bet's, a bet."
Bones looked pretty miffed at what transpired but a swift jab to the ribs from Vince reminded him that Zack's quick thinking had not only just saved Hufflepuff points but had also saved them from detention. He coughed up the Sickle to Amber begrudgingly.
"All right then class come in we have a lot to cover today."
Potions class was tedious.
Amber was forced to pair with Casey and Noah since Lizza could no longer be her potions partner, making her the odd one out. Amber found that without Lizza helping her out, her Potions were now no longer as perfect as they once were. She didn't realise how much she relied on Lizza casting the incantations for the potions and Casey as well as Noah were as equally as hopeless when it came to them.
Amber wanted to talk to Casey whilst they worked but with Noah being a third wheel it became difficult. This was compounded by the fact that Noah was doing his absolute best to keep talking to a minimum. The whole situation was rather awkward. It wasn't until after Charms class that Amber finally got to talk to her best friend.
"Finally! I thought Professor Flitwick would never let us leave, I'm starving." Amber announced as they left charms class.
"I'm not that hungry. I think I might head back to the dorm for bit." Casey replied.
"Oh, no you don't. I've talked to your sister and she gave me specific instructions to make sure you ate something every day."
"And what if I'm not actually hungry."
"Yeah right," Amber scoffed. "You skipped breakfast this morning AND dinner last night. Plus, you barely took one bite out of the apple I brought you this morning."
Casey was about to make a retort until her stomach decided to commit high treason and let lose the loudest growl that Amber had ever heard.
"I rest my case." Amber said triumphantly.
"Fine, I'll go get some lunch." Casey conceded. "But only if promise not to do something stupid like you did this morning."
"Sorry…." Amber apologised after weighing up what happened in her head. "It was kind of dumb, wasn't it?"
"I appreciate you sticking up for me Amber I really do, but, you got to stop being so aggressive about it." Casey scolded. "Dammit Amber why are you so pushy all of a sudden."
"I don't know. I… I guess with Liz not here anymore I figured I had to step up and be your new body guard." Amber admitted. "You know, like how Liz protected us last term."
"I can fight my own battles Amber and I'm not always going to have you around to back me up; I need to be able to stand on my own two feet."
"Okay I get it. I'll back off."
"Thank you." Casey said relieved.
"There is one other thing though that I need to tell you before lunch." Amber sheepishly revealed.
"What have you done this time Amber?" Casey sighed.
"I… I… I didn't mean it I swear. I accidentally let slip to Juliet and Lucy that you were girl, then they all starting pressuring me and… and then I accidentally said you were Trans, then they said that'd give you till lunch. Then the thing with Bones happened… Please don't Jinx me!" In true Amber fashion, her admission came out in a rush of near incoherent words.
"Can you stop meddling for like 5 minutes Amber?" Casey placed her index figures on her temple and began messaging them.
"So…Sorry," Amber sniffled.
"I shouldn't be angry with you. And yet I am." Casey vented frustratingly. "I know logically that everyone is going to find out about my transition eventually and that'd it better to just come out and tell everyone as soon as possible. But everything just keeps getting more and more messed up."
"Hey it's not all bad." Amber sympathised. "The rumours have done their rounds already so it won't be much of a surprise once we get to the great hall."
"Here's hoping." Casey half chuckled. "Let's get this over with."
"So, um, are you still going to Jinx me?" Amber nervously laughed when they resumed their walk to the Great Hall.
"Of course." Casey grinned. "I'm just now going to do it when you least expect it."
Amber was in fact correct. Nobody was all that surprised once they reached the great hall for lunch. In fact, Amber thought it was a little anti-climactic, after all it was the speculation and uncertainty that made rumours so interesting. So, once it was revealed that Casey identified as a witch and that's how she bypassed the Castle's dormitory charm everyone kind of just went 'okay then' and either went to collect their bet or walked off, their curiosity satisfied.
A few stuck around to ask Casey what it was like switch from 'Wizard' to 'Witch' most of whom were Ravenclaw's who were far too curious for their own good. Better yet even fewer students had any sort of remote issue with Casey's change and those that did more or less used it as ammunition to poke fun at her blood status.
By the end of the day Casey's transition was old news and the rumour mill moved onto more mundane topics. It wasn't until nearly 2 months later that it started to pick up again.