Calla Potter

by LeFoxxx

AU. Calla Potter has always been hiding. From bullies, from the Dursleys, from the teachers who only ever noticed when she didn't pay them rapt attention. But she is also the twin sister of Harry Potter, the so-called Boy Who Lived, and when they begin at Hogwarts, she must come out of the shadows and face the world, no matter what it means for her.

43. Tea and Runes

To her surprise, Calla was the first one up in the morning. Lisa and Mandy were both still snoring in their beds, though Daphne stirred the same time as she did and stretched, yawning loudly. "Morning," she said brightly, and loud enough that Sue rustled from her bed, turning over to glare at her sleepily.

"Morning," Calla said in reply. Matilda quirked her head up at her from the floor, and she gestured for her to come closer. She butted her head against Calla's hand affectionately and gave a small purr. "Have a good sleep?"

"The best," Daphne said cheerfully. "I always sleep best here." Lisa gave a loud snore. "Well, when I can't hear that racket, anyway."

Calla giggled, and clambered out of bed. Matilda gave a purr of protest, wrapping herself around her ankles. "I need to get ready," she told the cat sternly, receiving what may have been a smirk in response. She rolled her eyes as Daphne laughed.

"Matilda," she cooed, bending down at the end of Calla's bed. "Here, kitty." Matilda's gaze swivelled between her and Calla for a solid minute before she let out a purr and unfurled himself quickly, sprinting over to Daphne. She scooped her up in her arms and grinned at Calla triumphantly. "She likes me. Don't you, kitty?"

Calla giggled, dragging her brush through her hair. "I'm still her favourite."

"You sound jealous," Daphne sang, as she turned on the spot with Matilda still in her arms. She gave out a loud mew of indignation, awakening Isobel.

She swore loudly and fell back onto the bed to sleep. "I'm going to get ready," Calla announced, skipping over to their bathroom. "Don't scare my cat, please."

When she came out, Isobel was up and padding about aimlessly, searching for 'my... my toothbrush' which she did not manage to find until half an hour later, at which point Lisa, Sue and Mandy had gone on ahead to breakfast and the other three were crowded in the doorway waiting impatiently for her to find the damn thing.

"I'm so tired," she complained as they made their way out the common room, rubbing her eyes.

"Same," said Padma drowsily. Daphne gave her a light shove with her shoulder. "What was that for?"

"To wake you up."

Padma glared. "I am awake, thank you very much."

Daphne pressed her lips together and caught Calla's eye as the two held back giggles which Padma was incredibly irked by and which Isobel was seemingly too tired to notice. "I don't know how you get up so early," Isobel said.

"I rise with the sun," Calla said, and Daphne giggled. "It illuminates me."

Parma's stomach rumbled, shattering Calla's dramatics. "I think that means it's time for breakfast," she said, as they turned towards the stairs.

"I just hope I've got the right books for today," Calla said. She'd put in Divination, Ancient Runes, Herbology, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, in the hope that at least two of them would be a morning class and she wouldn't have to go back to the dorm until lunch.

"Daphne!" shouted a voice from across the hall. "Calla! Padma! Isobel!" The four of them turned around to see Susan Bones hurrying over to them, a tired-looking Hannah Abbott trailing behind. "How are you? We didn't get the chance to speak last night - are any of you doing Ancient Runes later? The only other from our house is Wayne, and he doesn't talk to me much and he's friends with Michael who's studying it, and I need someone to sit with so I'm not awkwardly on my own." She said this very quickly, and by the end was quite red in the face.

"We all are," Daphne said delicately. "Well, Isobel, are you?"

Isobel nodded. "I didn't know what to do but Mum thought it'd be interesting. Apparently we're part Viking, but I'm pretty sure everyone in Scotland says that."

"We can share a table together, then," Padma offered, and Susan beamed. "And I think Anthony's doing it too."

"Thank goodness," Susan said. "I was so worried I'd end up on my own. Hannah's abandoning me for Arithmancy instead. And Muggle Studies."

"I think it'll be fun," Hannah said defensively. "I don't know much about them."

"They're pretty boring, to be honest," Isobel said, and Calla nodded her agreement. "Apart from TV. It's definitely the best thing about it."

"Also a better coin system," Calla put in, and Isobel nodded fervently.

"That too." She turned and grinned. "Thank you, Calla."

Calla smiled back, and they slipped into the Great Hall. She waved at Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, and said goodbye to the Hufflepuff girls as they sat down with Ravenclaw.

"We got our timetables," Lisa said, handing the pile of them over. "Muggle Studies first thing." She and Mandy both pulled faces. "I'm dreading it, to be honest. Any of you doing it? Sue is, too."

"No way," Isobel laughed, taking the timetables. "I bet it'll be boring as anything."

"Hardly anyone does Muggle Studies," Daphne said with a sympathetic look at them.

"I think Hermione's doing it, though," Calla said, and Sue groaned.

"Granger?" Sue shook her head. "There's no chance of even being top of the class with her! And she's muggleborn, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Calla said. "Don't know why she took it."

"She said it'd be interesting to look at from another perspective," Padma reminded Calla, who laughed.

"Maybe. I'd much rather be in Divination, anyway."

Lisa gave a snort of laughter. "Divination? Really? I heard old Trelawney's a fraud."

At that, Calla felt rather defensive. "Well, I think she's lovely."

"You would," Mandy said, with a giggle. Calla's cheeks flames and she turned to Padma.

"What do you think of her?"

"Haven't met her yet," Padma said neutrally, taking a slice of toast. "I'm sure it'll be fun. I know Parvati's really excited."

Calla huffed, aware of the look Lisa was giving her. "Good. I am too." She ate her toast with a lot more aggression than usual.

When it came time for first period, Harry and Ron came over, Harry looking a lot more eager for Divination than Ron did. "Isn't Hermione coming?" Padma asked, lookin over their shoulders.

"Dunno," Ron said, turning around. "She was beside us a second ago. Must have ran on ahead."

"You feeling any better?" Calla asked Harry quietly, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess. You?"

She wasn't sure, but she said, "Yes," anyway. "Did you speak to Hagrid last night?"

Harry nodded, breaking into a broad grin. "He's so excited! I can't wait until Care Of Magical Creatures, we have our first class this afternoon."

"Ours isn't until tomorrow," Calla told him. "You must be in a class with Slytherin or Hufflepuff."

"Probably Slytherin, knowing our luck," Harry muttered, and Calla laughed.

"Rather you than me, definitely."

"Are you excited for Divination, then?"

She beamed at her brother. "Oh, you know I am! I don't know how Trelawney teaches classes, obviously, but she's really nice, even though she is a bit weird, too."

"Do you know the way up?" Ron asked, turning back to them. "You've met Trelawney before, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Calla said. "It's a bit of a walk up to the tower, but there's a shortcut near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom if you ever come from that part of the castle. Follow me," she told them, and strode on ahead to lead their way.

The walk to the North Tower was still long, and tiring, but they were the first ones to arrive and they had time to spare. The rest of the students arrived in drips and drabs, until finally Seamus, Dean and Neville turned up and, as if on cue, the trapdoor above them swung open, very narrowly missing Neville's head. No one quite seemed to know what to do, until a ladder dropped down and Calla, sensing everyone else's trepidation, made to climb it and emerged in Professor Trelawney's familiar classroom. Padma, Harry, Isobel and Ron came up behind her.

Though the room looked much as it always did, the layout of the tables was a little different than Calla remembered; they were low tables, with about three or four seats clustered around them and teacups set out. "Padma!" called Parvati, and tugged her sister over to sit with her and Lavender Brown. Padma sent Calla an apologetic smile as she went to sit by them.

Just as the others dithered over where to sit, Hermione appeared suddenly at Calla's shoulder and scared the life out of her. "Where did you come from?" she asked, jumping.

"What do you mean? I just came up the ladder behind you." Hermione smiled. "Haven't you gotten a table yet?"

"I'll sit with Michael and Terry," said Isobel, leaving the four of them to take seats around a low table near the front of the classroom.

"Where even is Trelawney?" Ron asked, looking around for any sight of her.

"She'll be out in a minute," Calla said, taking out her books. She glanced at the teacups, and gathered they were going to be divining from them, which wasn't something she was entirely good at, but supposed she could become good at. It worked primarily with images, but they could be very subjective when viewed within the lens of omens, which she thought was likely for a third year's class.

Just as she thought this, the trapdoor swung loudly shut and Calla whirled around to see Professor Trelawney coming through the gauzy curtains at the edge of the classroom. Her hair was wild and frizzy, and with her giant glasses and silk green shawl, she looked rather like a beetle, with such massive eyes she ought to be able to see everything. "Welcome, children," she said in a dramatic voice. "How nice to see you all in the physical world at last." Calla beamed. Ron looked like he might start laughing. "Sit, my children, sit," she said, gesturing to Neville, Seamus and Dean who were all standing agape at the back of the classroom.

"Welcome, to Divination," Professor Trelawney said, settling herself in an armchair at the front of the classroom before a fire. "My name is Professor Sybil Trelawney. You may have seen me before, or you may not. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my inner eye." Though Calla was grinning, everyone else seemed to be just staring at Trelawney blankly, as though not quite sure what to make of her.

Trelawney rearranged her shawl delicately, hardly noticing everyone's reaction - or rather, lack of reaction. "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all the magical arts. I must warn you now that if you do not have the Sight, there may not be much that I can do to help you. Books will only take you so far in this field." Hermione looked very concerned by this, and there were a few chuckles at her expense from around the room.

Calla, on the other hand, was rather looking forward to studying something she did have a natural knack for; there were so few that she really felt she could do. "Though many witches and wizards are proficient in creating loud bangs and causing sudden disappearing," Trelawney went on, "few have the Gift of the true Sight. You, Boy," she said suddenly to Neville, who went very white, "is your grandmother well?"

"I - I think so," Neville said. Calla looked at him nervously.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," Trelawney told him, and Calla shivered. Neville made a whimpering sound which Trelawney seemed quite unconcerned by; she simply went on with speaking. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. We will start this term devoted to the study of the tea leaves, and after that we shall practice Palmistry. By the way, my dear," she added to Parvati, who startled, "beware a red-headed man."

Parvati looked at Ron and quickly shuffled her seat away. Padma looked torn between whether to laugh or not, and instead pulled a face of incredulusity at Calla. "What are you going to do, Ron?" Calla asked, giggling though she suspected Ron was not the red-headed man who Parvati ought to be wary of. Maybe she'd get caught breaking rules by Percy Weasley, who as Head Boy would certainly take it upon himself to get her in trouble.

"Nothing!" Ron protested.

"In the second term," Trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball - if we have finished with fire omens, that is. In February we shall be disrupted by a nasty bout of flu; I myself will lose my voice." Calla made a note to be careful about germs in February. "And around Easter, one of our number shall leave us forever."

That sent a shiver down her spine. Calla couldn't help but glance at Harry, who also looked worried, and she couldn't blame him. What with their track record, the odds of one of them being the one to leave them forever were too high. She hoped, then, that it didn't mean death. Maybe someone would leave the class, and that was all. She hoped. But she couldn't ignore the tense looks of everyone else, too; a good portion of the class seemed to be looking at her and Harry. Lavender Brown looked particularly sorrowful.

"I wonder, dear," Trelawney said to Lavender, then. "If you could pass me the silver teapot on your left?"

Lavender seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she handed over the teapot, setting it down on the table before Trelawney. "Thank you, my dear," she said. "Incidentally, the thing that you are dreading, it will happen on Friday the Sixteenth of October."

All the colour drained from Lavender's face yet again, but Calla leaned forward. Now Trelawney was discussing specifics, of a sort anyway. She'd never been able to date her own predictions or visions. It was fascinating to see, even if poor Lavender had gone white in the face. Calla made up her mind that if she ever had to deliver a prediction like that, she would be a tad more delicate than Professor Trelawney.

"And my dear," she said, turning to Calla, "the answers you seek may not be found by the means you hope for."

"Oh," Calla said, not totally sure what answers she was seeking, though she supposed if she wanted answers on anything she'd want someone to just tell her. "Thanks?"

"Now," Trelawney went on, "I want you all to divide yourselves up into pairs. Collect a teacup, bring it to me to be filled, then sit down and drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with your left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, turn it upright and give it to your partner to decipher. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you to offer assistance in reading your cups. Oh, and dear," she added, catching Neville's arm as he made to move, "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select a blue patterned one? I'm rather fond of the pink, you see."

Neville's eyes bulged, and Calla stared at Trelawney, in awe at the ease with which she gave out simple predictions and warnings. It was like it was as easy as simply seeing something, no side effects, just knowing or feeling. One day, she told herself as she went to get her teacup filled, she'd be able to See so simply. Calla had just filled her teacup when there was the sound of china breaking and sure enough, Neville was standing staring at it. "One of the blue ones, then, dear," Trelawney said, bustling over with a dustpan and brush to tidy up the mess that had been left.

Hermione looked shocked that Trelawney's prediction had come true and Calla smiled mistily at her as she sat down. "Trelawney really knows what she's talking about," she said, taking a sip of her tea, "don't you think?"

"I think it's a bit creepy, to be honest," Ron said in a low voice.

Calla drained her cup and swilled the dregs. "It's just guesswork, I'm sure," Hermione said, frowning. "She can't possibly have known that Neville was going to break his teacup."

"But she did," Calla said, turning her teacup upside down. "It's quite amazing, really."

Hermione huffed as she swilled her tea leaves. "It is a very imprecise branch of magic."

Calla shrugged, feeling defensive of the subject already. "Seems precise enough to me. Harry, I'll swap cups with you?"

"Sure," Harry said, shrugging as they exchanged cups across the table. Hermione pursed her lips as she switched with Ron.

"What can you see in mine?" Calla asked her brother, who frowned.

"A lot of soggy brown stuff, mostly."

Ron snorted and Calla pursed her lips, trying not to laugh. "Very helpful, Harry."

"What d'you see in mine, 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"Tea leaves," Hermione said bluntly and this time Calla rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that's all I see, too. Oh, wait," Ron said, flipping through his book, "there's... That looks like a book. It means... You're going to learn. Well, we already knew that."

"You've got a sort of small bird," Harry said, frowning. "Maybe you're going to learn to fly?" Calla glared at him.

"No."

With a laugh, Harry went on, frowning, "And there's a... Sort of a gun? Or a cannon, I think it's maybe a cannon. That means... Extreme emotions. So you're going to fly, and be very emotional about it."

"Great."

"Well what can you see, Calla?" Harry asked, grinning at her. She looked into his cup, pursing her lips as she looked at it from various angles.

"Well, this looks to me like some sort of animal, I'm not sure what. You've quite a few animals here, actually, that looks like a falcon." She frowned down at her book. "That means you have a deadly enemy." Calla flushed. "Fantastic. We knew that anyway. Right... This looks like a tree without branches?" Looking through the book, she tried to find it, but couldn't. "Maybe it's just a log? Oh, that means success, Harry, that's really good! Maybe it means success against your enemy!" She smiled, feeling comforted by that idea. "And this... I don't know. Maybe an acorn, that means an unexpected windfall. And this is some animal, it's definitely a mammal." She flicked through her book. "Maybe a dog? That means loyalty and generally positive relationships, so that's good, too. You have quite a nice teacup, actually, Harry."

"May I have a look at that, dear?" Trelawney asked, coming to Calla's shoulder. She nodded, surprised, handing it over.

"Ah, the falcon," Trelawney said. "My dear boy, you have a great enemy."

"Well, everyone knows that," Hermione said, laughing. Calla shot her a look. "Well, everyone does know about Harry and You-Know-Who. You said it yourself, Calla, we all knew that already."

Trelawney frowned over the cup. "Ah, here... The club. I see an attack." That was a much graver prediction than the one Calla had seen; she supposed that was the log she'd imagined. "And the skull," she went on. "Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup." Calla's stomach twisted. She hadn't seen the same as Trelawney, but none of this sounded positive at all.

Trelawney let out a startling gasp, clutching ather heart. Calla hastily took the teacup back from her and stared at it. "My dear," she said, pointing at Harry with a shaking finger, "you have... The Grim!"

Calla looked at the cup. That sounded like the Grim Reaper but she didn't imagine the stories of the Grim Reaper to look like a dog. "What's the Grim?" she asked Trelawney, frowning. She hadn't come across that yet, but it didn't exactly sound positive. "Professor?"

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim! That grey spectral dog that haunts the graveyards... My children, it is an omen, the worst omen... The omen of death!"

A chill shot through Calla and she shuddered, looking nervously at Harry. He'd gone quite pale, as had everyone else. Lavender Brown had clapped her hands to her mouth. Omens were very subjective, Calla knew that, and the Grim didn't necessarily have to mean Harry's death. And everything was still subject to choice; choice was always far more important than fate. They just had to be careful.

"Let me see that," Hermione said, going around the back of the table and peering into the teacup. "I don't think it looks like the Grim," she said flatly.

Professor Trelawney looked at her with scrutiny, narrowing her eyes in dislike. "You'll forgive me for saying this, my dear, but I sense very little aura about you, my dear," she said. "Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future." Hermione bristled, cheeks going pink. "You have a very closed mind, my dear."

Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor, had come over and was glancing into Harry's cup. "It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, tilting his head and squinting, "but if you look at it like this, it looks a bit more like a donkey."

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" Harry said hotly, standing up. Everyone looked away, apart from Hermione, and Calla sighed.

"You're not going to die," Calla told him flatly. "Omens," she whispered, "can be very subjective." The Grim didn't necessarily have to mean death.

"I think we shall leave the lesson here for today," said Trelawney, wrapping her shawl around her. "Yes... Yes, pack up, please. And Calla, dear, will you stay back a moment so I might speak with you?"

Calla stifled a groan; not because she didn't want to speak to Trelawney but because she really didn't want to deal with Professor Snape if she was late for Potions. "What have you done?" Ron asked, staring at her.

"Nothing, Ron," she muttered. "It's what I will do, I suppose."

She grabbed her bag, packing away 'Unfogging the Future'. "Can you tell Professor Snape I'm talking to Trelawney, if I'm not there by the time class starts."

"Sure," Padma said. "See you."

She ducked down the stairs with Isobel, Michael and Terry, and Calla waited at the table as the rest of the class filtered out. Eventually, she and Trelawney were the only ones left. "My dear," Trelawney began, "Professor Dumbledore has again requested that I tutor you personally in the study of Divination. And I foresee that it will be very beneficial."

"I hope so," Calla said, smiling. "How do you predict so easily, Professor? Earlier it was like you could just tell things and say them, like it came so naturally."

"Confidence, my dear," Trelawney told her mystically. "To believe in the future you must first have faith in your own mind and your own magic." She smiled. "Might I take a look at your teacup?"

"Sure, Professor," she said, handing it over.

Trelawney looked at it for a very long moment. "There is a cockatoo," she said. "I see struggles in relationships and strong emotional hardships. And a capsized boat, there, at the bottom... A portent of great danger on a perilous journey." She looked at her. "My dear, I do fear for you, with a cup like this."

Calla shivered. "What else, Professor?"

"A spilled inkpot; creativity, but not without barriers. But you shall overcome your difficulties, one way or another, if you tread your correct path." She handed the teacup back with a faint smile. "All is not terrible."

"Well, that's good then," Calla said weakly. "When would you like me to see you for tutoring, Professor?"

"Ah, any evening would do. Though I feel my Inner Eye is most awake on a Monday evening."

Calla smiled. "I'll see you on Monday, then, Professor." She went to leave and then turned back. "Oh! And can I have a note to say I was with you. I have Professor Snape for my next class, and -"

"Say no more," Trelawney said, conjuring a slip of parchment. "Professor Snape has a very murky aura. I have always find him closed off to the true Sight and its potential. It is a shame, that is one who may have most need of its warnings." She scrawled something on the parchment and handed it over to Calla. "Go on, now, dear. But I dare say you will make it in time if you take a less tread path."

"Thank you, Professor," Calla smiled, nodding as she headed down the ladder and walked as quick as she could through the little shortcut that took her past the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She smiled at Uncle Remus quickly as she passed, and darted down a hidden staircase that would take her to the Potions classroom.

She arrived, panting, just as Snape stepped outside to let everyone in. He frowned at her but didn't comment on her hasty arrival. "You made it," Padma said, rather flatly. Calla frowned at her.

"Padma and Isobel told me what Trelawney said in your Divination class," Daphne whispered. "You don't think it's true, do you?"

"I don't know," Calla whispered back nervously. "I - I don't think it can be, or rather I don't want it to, but Trelawney knows what she's talking about." She shuddered. "I just have to hope she's not right."

"Quit your whispering, Miss Potter," said Snape as they passed him. Isobel rolled her eyes.

"Sourpuss," she muttered once they were out of earshot.

Calla took a bench with Daphne, taking out their cauldrons. Isobel had offered to share with her, but she had a habit of experimenting a bit when it came to the instructions, and Padma had drawn the short straw. Snape was his usual dour self as he set them their work, creating an Antidote to Common Poisons. But the classroom, especially the Ravenclaw half, was unusually subdued, and the students who'd been in Divination were all clearly shaken; Terry, who was usually brilliant at Potions, managed to take half of Anthony's left eyebrow off by adding too many mistletoe berries on too high a heat.

"Today's work has been even worse than usual," Snape said at the end of the lesson, after failing everyone except Lisa and Michael, who he said had scraped an Acceptable. There hadn't been much wrong with Calla's except it was too dark and was apparently more likely to poison someone again than to cure them. "Might I ask why, or have you all simply lost brain cells due to laziness over the Summer?"

"We Ravenclaws have just had our first Divination class, Professor," Michael said and Snape pursed his lips.

"I see. Divination, I must say, is a very imprecise branch of magic. I suppose someone is due to die by the end of the year?" Everyone looked at Calla. "Miss Potter?" He didn't look quite as nasty as she thought she would have; he seemed himself rather bothered by the discussion of Divination.

"My brother, Professor," she said, pushing down the part of her that still wanted to make a very rude gesture at Snape.

"Well," he said. "We shall have to see then, if Trelawney's prediction will come to fruition. Might I ask in what form she predicted this?"

"Tea leaves," Calla said. "Which I suppose can be very imprecise."

"Ah. It was not true prophecy, then." He nodded at her. "Well, to make up for this class's general lack of competence, you will each write me twelve inches on how to correctly brew this antidote and what you should have done differently today. And I expect that focus and common sense when it comes to predictions made by Sybil Trelawney will be included there. Dismissed."

They all packed up hastily and headed up for lunch. "Twelve inches!" Daphne moaned as soon as they left. "It's only the first class!"

"Did you see his face though?" Padma asked lowly. "He actually looked quite bothered by what Trelawney had said."

"Apparently he has a very murky aura," Calla told them, giggling. "That's what Trelawney told me."

"It must be awful though, every year having a colleague tell all their students one of their classmates is going to die."

"Well, Harry isn't going to die," Padma said firmly. "First of all, Calla won't let him." Calla smiled, flushing; but it was true. "Second of all, omens are subjective and they only really show the possibility of death. Right?" Calla nodded. "So he'll be alright. He always is, anyway."

"Yeah," Daphne agreed. "Don't worry, Calla."

They entered the Great Hall and Calla waved over encouragingly to her brother, who looked extremely gloomy between Ron and Hermione. "We've got Ancient Runes after lunch, haven't we?" Padma asked, fiddling with the strap of her bag.

"You have," Daphne said. "I have Arithmancy."

"Oh, how was Muggle Studies, by the way?" Calla asked, remembering suddenly.

"Well," Daphne said, pausing, "I didn't expect it to be, but it was actually really interesting! We just did some basic stuff and a sort of overview I suppose, but Muggles are actually really fascinating. Calla, you'll have to show me the Muggle world at some point."

"What, all of it?" Calla giggled. "That might take a while."

"Well, I want to see a television anyway. And a - a computer, I think that's what Professor Burbage said it was called? She says they're very rare and she hasn't gotten her hands on one yet, but she'd really like to see it."

"Dudley has a computer and a television," Calla told Daphne as they sat down. "I don't really know how computers work, because Harry and I were never allowed anywhere near it, but they're pretty big. They're like massive blocks of... Computery stuff."

"Computery stuff," Padma repeated, lifting her eyebrows. "That was very technical, Calla."

"Shut up," Calla muttered in response, taking a ham roll from the table platter.

When lunch was over, they headed out and Calla pulled out the Marauder's Map in an alcove, trying to figure out where the Ancient Runes classroom was. "So, if we go along the Defense corridor..." she said, frowning, "and then up that passage, that should bring us out by Charms, and then the passage around the corner should take us to the floor where Runes is on, and then along from there is the classroom." She and Padma exchanged looks. "Well, I guess we might as well try."

"Unless we get lost and fall down a trap stair," Padma muttered, but she laughed as they headed along the corridor, with the map tucked safely into Calla's top pocket.

They did manage to find Ancient Runes in the end, bumping into a very lost-looking Susan and Zach on the way there. "I'm glad you know your way anyway," Zach said to Calla as they stood outside the classroom. "How do you always know your way?"

"Intuition," she said, grinning. Zach laughed.

"Right, keep your secrets then."

Though they were the first ones to arrive, it seemed that Ancient Runes was actually a very popular subject; along with the five of them, Isobel, Lisa, Mandy, Terry, Anthony and Michael also came along, as did Wayne Hopkins, Arran Tegan and Justin Finch-Fletchley of Hufflepuff. Calla nodded at Justin, who smiled back at her warmly now he didn't think she was a murderer like he had last year. "Well, then," said a warm woman's voice. They all turned around to see a tall, pale woman with small silver glasses and long, braided blonde hair. She smiled at them. "Are you all here for third year Ancient Runes, Yes?" They all nodded. "Fantastic. I am Professor Bathsheda Babbling and I will be your teaching for your time in this subject. When you enter the classroom, please stand at the front and take out your books. I have assigned you all seats and marked each of your desks with the Runes which correspond to the first initial of your name." She beamed at them and Daphne, Padma and Calla exchanges excited glanced. "Please come in."

The Ancient Runes classroom felt like going back to the age in which Hogwarts was first built. A fire flickered in the corner, but the stones were covered in various inscribed Runes and various tapestries hung around the walls, all of them with Runes going around the edges. "Woah," Calla breathed.

Professor Babbling smiled as they lined up. "Please use your copies of Spellman's Syllabary to find the runic alphabet and then your initials. Anyone who doesn't have their copy with them, you may use one of the spare copies on my desk. Some of your initials also will not have direct counterparts; in this case I have used phonetic means to decide on the Runes."

There was a scramble between Mandy, Wayne and Michael to get their hands on the two books on Babbling's desk. Calla flicked to the page with the alphabet they were using - it was the Elder Futhark runic alphabet, which she remembered from her light reading was a Proto-Germanic form of Runes. While Daphne and Padma managed to find their Runes almost immediately - D translated to 'dagaz' for day, and P translated to 'perth' for luck - there was no direct correspondent to C. Remembering what Babbling had said, Calla set off in search of the desk with the 'kaunaz' rune - meaning ulcer - which represented the Latin letter K. It was a sort of arrow facing to the left, but made of only two lines, like the mathematic symbol for lesser than.

Her eyes combed the desks until she found it, between the desk where Zach was sitting and another with a rune made of three lines, joint together sort of like a Z turned on its side and with long vertical lines. "What rune are you?" Calla asked Zach, leaning over.

"Algiz. Means sedge apparently, but I've no idea what sedge means."

Calla laughed. "I went with kaunaz for K, so I hope I'm in the right place."

"Doesn't that mean ulcer?" Zach asked, and she nodded solemnly. "Sucks to be you."

"It's not a direct translation," she said, pursing her lips and holding in a laugh. Zach shook his head.

"Alright, let's go with that then."

"Oh, here it is!" Calla turned to see Susan slump into the desk next to her. "I couldn't find it anywhere. Sōwulō, for sun."

"Kaunaz," Calla replied. "Ulcer." Susan winced.

"Poor you."

Once everyone had settled into their seats, Professor Babbling went around the class asking everyone what rune they'd gone to, to ensure everyone was in the right place. Isobel had the rune 'isa' for ice, Michael and Mandy both had 'mannaz' for man - which Professor Babbling explained was gender neutral in the case of Runes from that age, with the prefixes wyr and wif denoting men and women, respectively - Terry had 'teiwaz' which was the rune of the ancient god Tyr, Lisa had 'laguz' for water, Anthony and Arran both had 'ansuz' which meant god, Justin Finch-Fletchey had 'jera' which Babbling told them could mean both year and harvest depending on the context, and Wayne Hopkins used 'wunjō' meaning joy.

"From this simple exercise," Professor Babbling told them, "we can see that Runes from larger, well-documented and translated societies can often be used and understood with ease. For this year's class we will use primarily Elder, Anglo-Saxon and Younger Futhark runes, however you all also ought to be aware of various other Runes and runic alphabets, as well as symbol used in magic. Irish Ogham script, for example, holds a lot of magical energy and power, however the Pictish Runes, while powerful, have only been translated to a very small and very uncertain extent, and have no Rosetta-stone type translation method as a lot of other alphabets do." Calla scribbled down the main points from that, making a note to look into Ogham script.

"In addition, many Runes have both literal and symbolic translations. 'Eihwaz', for example, literally means 'yew tree' but can also symbolise defense. Some, though few runes, also translate to create roughly the same energies as some magical spells, though it is very difficult to work with this for most wizards. We will in this class focus primarily on the theoretical study of runic translations rather than putting them into practice, however the understanding behind its relation to magic will prove very useful to other areas of Magical study."

Calla smiled; something more theoretical she thought would suit her very well. Professor Babbling spoke for another ten or so minutes about the various methods of translation and the importance of primary multilingual documents and scripts in allowing for modern translation work, before she set them a task of perfecting their writing of Runes. "Runes require very precise lines," she explained. "There are thousands of Runes we use, and I don't expect you know every single one, but it is essential that you can perfect the primary alphabet we use. Once you have the alphabet down, I'd like you to start spelling your names. Please do this by phonetic translation - the letter 'a' is not always pronounced the same, so if you are uncertain about translation please only ask. You are here to learn, after all."

Calla got to work quickly on trying to perfect her lines. Some Runes were definitely more difficult than others; while 'isa' was much the same as the Latin letter 'I' and was just a vertical line, the rune for 'p' had a lot of squiggly lines at the top and bottom, and she kept making the 'mannaz' rune uneven wen the lines crossed over. At the end of the lesson, though, she felt she was beginning to get the hang of it, even if it did feel a little like going back to primary school and learning her letters and numbers - it had taken her five year old self ages to learn how to write the number five the right way round.

"I didn't really mind that, actually," Daphne said cheerfully as they left the classroom.

"It is really interesting, isn't it?" Calla replied, swinging her bag excitedly and nearly skipping her way to the stairs as they headed back to Ravenclaw Tower to change before dinner.

They got changed still chattering about the class - Sue, who was the only Ravenclaw in their year who hadn't elected to study Ancient Runes, seemed rather put out about it. Though they started a bit of the Potions essay before dinner, no one really felt much like doing it, and Calla set about unpacking her trunk instead.

When they got down to dinner though, it was to see a very large cluster of Slytherins from their year all sitting deep in conversation. "What's going on there?" Padma asked Daphne, who shrugged.

"I don't know. I think Slytherin had Care Of Magical Creatures with Gryffindor earlier; I hope nothing happened." Calla turned around sharply to look at the Gryffindor Table, where Harry, Ron and Hermione were deep in conversation.

"It doesn't look great," Calla said.

"I'll ask Pansy after I've eaten," Daphne said, and Calla nodded.

"I think Harry and I are going to see Remus after dinner, anyway," Calla told them. "I'll ask him what happened then."

They all ate rather quickly, and afterwards Padma headed back up to Ravenclaw Tower with Isobel, while Daphne sauntered over to sit with the Slytherins and Calla met Harry. "What happened in Care Of Magical Creatures?" she asked him as they set off towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor. "We see all the Slytherins huddling together and thought there might have been some sort of incident."

"Draco Malfoy got himself clawed by a hippogriff," Harry said gloomily, and Calla gasped.

"Oh no! How?"

"He didn't listen to instructions, of course. He insulted it and he got hurt, just like Hagrid warned him. But it'll be Hagrid that gets in trouble for it." He frowned. "We haven't seen him since."

"I'm sure it'll be alright," Calla said, though she was worried too. "Surely if you all are witnesses."

"Hopefully," said Harry gloomily as they reached Remus' office. Calla knocked gingerly and a moment later the door swung open.

Remus smiled at them. "Ah, I was wondering when the two of you would arrive. Come in, come in." They followed him inside, and Calla stared around the room. It was filled of varying creatures in tanks and in cages, and even more in moving pictures. He had what looked like a globe spinning, but with massive brass rings around it. "I haven't quite unpacked yet," Remus said, "but Dumbledore's provided me with a lot of materials and equipment for teaching use. That's a Grindylow over there," he told them, pointing to the tank where a very strange creature sat, dozing.

"It's amazing," Calla told him, beaming as she and Harry sat down in two of the cozy armchairs by the fireplace. She tucked her bag in beside her.

"Do either of you want anything to drink? I've got tea and pumpkin juice."

"I'm alright," Calla replied, and Harry agreed. Remus poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and settled into the other armchair. "How did your classes go? I don't think Ravenclaw has Defense until Monday."

"Oh, I think they went well enough," Remus said mildly. "I had a N.E.W.T. class today which was quite nice, though worryingly small. I don't think many of my predecessors were too efficient in preparing students for exams, so I'm going to have to revise how I look at subjects. For instance, what topics have you two covered so far?"

Both Calla and Harry looked at each other blankly. "Um..." Calla started.

"Cornish pixies," Harry said, sounding very uncertainly. "Sort of. It was a disaster."

"I can't really remember what Quirrell taught us, to be honest," said Calla, frowning. "He mentioned vampires a lot, though."

Remus shook his head. "I see I have a lot to work around. No matter, a challenge is always fun. But enough of Defense, how did your new classes go today?"

They glanced at each other a moment before launching into the story of that morning's Divination class. When they were finished with the story about the Grim, Remus appeared to have gone quite pale. "I thought it was just a dog," Calla said, "but I don't think the Grim necessarily is a bad omen, right? It doesn't mean Harry... I mean, omens are just omens. They're not definite, and they are really subjective." She's lost count of how many times he'd told herself that today.

"The two of you still ought to be careful," Remus said slowly, like he was weighing his words. "Calla, you know too, that Divination ought not to be taken lightly or to be dismissed."

"Oh, I know, I know!" Calla assured him. "But I don't think we should panic, either."

"It is weird, though," Harry said, frowning. "I keep seeing it everywhere, on the cover of the book about death omens, and on Magnolia Crescent-"

"Magnolia Crescent?" Remus asked sharply. He looked between them hastily. "What did you see on Magnolia Crescent?"

"It was this massive black dog we saw," Calla explained to him, watching his face nervously. "It was the night we'd run away after blowing up Aunt Marge, and we didn't know what to do. I went to go and pet it because it seemed like a stray and I wanted to see if there was anything to identify its owners, but then the Knight Bus came. It seemed lovely thoug, not like an omen of death." Remus had paled even further now; Calla stared at him. "What - what's wrong?"

"You ought to be more careful," Remus told her in a low voice. "Not all animals are harmless."

"I know, but it was only a dog, and I knew it wasn't going to hurt me."

"Both of you," Remus said, "promise me that if you see a dog like that again, you stay away. Yes?"

"But why? If it's not the Grim-"

"Promise me," Remus said firmly, and they both nodded hastily, though Calla was still awfully confused. "Thank you." Then he smiled briskly. "What about your other classes? Calla, you'll have had Ancient Runes, won't you? And Harry, you were in the Care Of Magical Creatures class with the Malfoy boy, weren't you?"

"Ancient Runes was fantastic!" Calla told Remus, beaming. "It was really interesting, Professor Babbling's so helpful and she told us about loads of different Runes and languages and alphabets, but she said that we'd be mainly using the Elder Futhark alphabet. It's really interesting, though, because everything has different translations. Like, they have direct translations, so the letter K translates to 'kaunaz' which is written like a sort of roof turned on its side. Like that." She traced it in the air with her finger. "But it also has a physical meaning, which is ulcer, and lots of them have symbolic meanings, so its is pain." She grimaced. "There isn't a direct counterpart to the letter C for Calla, so my phonetic translation is kaunaz."

Remus laughed. "Well, I suppose it is very interesting anyway. You don't happen to know the translation for R, do you?"

"I think it's raithō," she told him. "But I can't remember what I means. H is hagalaz, though, and it means hail."

Harry didn't seem particularly impressed but he nodded along. "Did you hear about what happened in Hagrid's class, Remus?"

"Yes, I did. Madam Pomfrey asked me to help her care for the wound - I used to help her out sometimes when I was at Hogwarts - but I think he'll be alright. It's Hagrid I'm worried for. He seems awfully upset about the whole ordeal."

"Will he get in trouble?" Calla asked anxiously.

"It's not his fault! Malfoy didn't listen and we were all told exactly what to do!"

"I'm sure you were," Remus said calmly. "But I'm afraid Lucius Malfoy may not see things that way, and he does still hold a considerable amount of influence at the Ministry of Magic."

"It's rubbish," Calla muttered.

"I quite agree," Remus told her. "But unfortunately it is the way things are. What we must do is support Hagrid, yes? We ought to help him to defend Buckbeak; and I doubt Dumbledore will allow him to lose his position. The appointment of teachers is his power, not the Ministry's."

"That's good, at least," Harry said. He fidgeted and then asked, "Uncle Remus, I was wondering. No one else seemed to have fainted on the train yesterday." Uncle Remus' face fell slightly. "I was wondering... Do you know why that might be?"

Calla didn't want to think about the Dementors any longer - whenever she did she just felt cold and sick and horrible - but it seemed like Harry was determined to discuss the matter. "Neither Of you should be ashamed of it," Remus told them gently. "Dementors tend to prey on people's worst memories; and I think we can all agree that you two have been through a lot more than most children your age."

"But that doesn't mean we should faint," Harry said. "And no one else did!"

"Harry," Remus said, "what you must understand is that it is not your fault, nor your weakness. On the contrary, the two of you are incredibly strong people to have gone through what you have." He smiled at them, and clapped a hand on both their shoulders. "And I am proud of the two of you. You are not weak."

But the rest of the night Calla still couldn't shake the undeniable fact that she was. In many ways that Harry wasn't, more than just fainting due to Dementors, her magic was weak, too. When it was time to leave before curfew ended, she hung back a moment and asked Remus, "Why am I so bad at magic?" He blinked. "I know you say not to think of ourselves as weak because of the Dementors, but I... I think we both know I'm not very good at magic. Harry is, he's brilliant, but I'm-"

"You're an amazing witch," Remus said.

"No I'm not," she replied, the back of her eyes stinging. "I know I'm not but, I just want to know why. Because Harry's Harry and everyone always says Mum and Dad were great but I'm... I'm not. I'm not as good, I'm not good at all."

"This isn't the time to worry," Remus told her gently, hand warm on her shoulder. "You're only thirteen, Calla."

"Yes, But- So's Harry." There was a lump in her throat as she spoke. "When the Dementors came, I felt like I had when I was in the Chamber of Secrets. Like I was so weak and I couldn't do anything."

"You saved Ginny Weasley's life last year," Remus said. "And you didn't do that with a magic you were born with, but with your own intelligence, and your persistence and your bravery and quick-thinking. That's a sort of strength that sets you apart, Calla. You are by no means weak." Then unexpectedly he hugged her and she tried not to cry. "You need to believe in yourself."

"I'm trying."

"I know. And there are many things you can learn, too, if you are worried about magic - though you don't need to be. You're a smart girl, Calla."

"Thanks," she said, wiping her eyes. Remus handed her some tissues and chocolate.

"You know, I did rather enjoy Divination when I was your age, though I wasn't particularly good at it. That was before Trelawney taught it of course. It takes a very gifted witch to have the Sight."

"Yeah, well, I think that's about my only gift."

"Now, why would you say that?" Remus asked sternly. "You have a great many gifts, Calla."

"You have to say that, you're my godfather."

"I say it because it's true," Remus told her.

Calla nodded, picking up her bag. "Thanks," she said quietly. "I'm going to get back to the dormitory before I end up breaking curfew."

"Do you know the shortcut by-"

"By the tapestry of the Warlock Convention Of 1652?" She nodded and Remus smiled at her. "It's really useful."

"Yes, I always found that it was. Well, sleep well then."

"I'll have to do this Potions essay when I get back, too," Calla said. "Snape's getting us to write an essay about how badly we all did in class today." She shook her head. "I swear he's getting meaner. Was he always like that?"

Remus just laughed. "Get some sleep, Calla. I'll see you tomorrow."

Author's Note: Happy New Year, all! And it's a new year for Calla too; I'm really excited to write this section as Prisoner of Azkaban is actually my favourite Harry Potter book (though it's followed very closely by the Half-Blood Prince). I hope you all enjoy!