Potter Problems

The next day, Letti's newfound popularity had only grown with the expulsion of Trey McCormack. Suddenly, everyone wanted to talk to her and be her friend.

Well, not everyone. The Gryffindors remained as bitter and unfriendly as they had the day before. Letti was honestly okay with that - she was not fond of all this new attention. She kept to herself, even in the Great Hall, only chatting with Cassie. In the halls, on the way to class, Lorcan and Lysander flanked her like two guards, helping to keep others at bay. She appreciated how quickly her friends came to her aid.

It was worse in her first-year classes, not only because her friends weren't there to hold back the aggressively-friendly younger students who were smitten with her for standing up to the resident school bully, but also because she had to deal with the contempt of Lily Potter. No more was this apparent than in Transfiguration class.

"Okay, everyone, now that we've established that the proper way to hold your wand is not at the end, let's pair up to practice changing the match into a needle." Professor Patil said this with a large amount of exhaustion in her voice. Max Diggins had nearly lit himself on fire.

After a moment of confusion where multiple students tried to pair up with Letti, Professor Patil ultimately chose the pairs. "Miss Lunetti and Miss Potter, why don't you two work together."

Letti looked over at Lily, who let out a dramatic, unhappy sigh. Not entirely sure of how to react, Letti just sat down and got to work. It was not easy. After fifteen minutes, the end of her match was only slightly silver.

Lily hadn't fared much better - though she had managed to turn her match entirely silver, it was still exactly the same shape. She was becoming increasingly frustrated with the effort, practically smacking the desk with her wand.

"I don't think breaking your wand is going to help," Letti joked. She hoped that lightening the mood might bridge the gap between them.

Instead, it only seemed to make things worse. "Mind your own business," Lily said. She went back to assaulting her match.

Letti frowned. "I was only trying to make a joke."

"Yeah? Well it was a bad one."

"Girls? How are we faring?" Professor Patil wandered by and broke up the tension. She was excited about Lily's progress ("The closest one so far!") and ambivalent about Letti's match. Letti was glad for the interruption. It didn't seem like her interactions with Lily were going to be positive any time soon.

It got worse at the end of class, when they were putting their failed matchsticks away in a small storage closet. Letti made the mistake of thinking it would be a nice thing to take Lily's to the closet for her, and went to pick hers up from their table. Since Lily was already reaching for it, however, Letti's hand merely slammed into hers, making it look like she was trying to slap Lily's hand away.

"What is your problem?" Lily snapped.

"I-"

Professor Patil was near them in a flash. "What's going on?"

"Letti just smacked my hand like a crazy person!"

"No, Professor, I was just going to take her match to the closet for-"

"Yeah, right!"

"GIRLS!" Professor Patil's voice became booming. "Both of you, that is quite enough. Lily, it sounds like Letti was just trying to do something nice for you; there is no need to be so angry with her over that. Letti, in the future let's try to ask before we just grab at things in front of other people." She looked at both of them. "Are we better now?"

Lily crossed her arms and scoffed. "Of course, Letti just gets away with anything now."

"But I didn't-!"

Professor Patil put a hand out, and they stopped talking immediately. "I don't want to hear about it any more. You're both acting extremely foolishly. I have half a mind to take points away from both Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"But-!" Letti huffed and sat back in her seat. It wasn't fair for her to be in trouble. She had been trying to do a nice thing!

The entire affair put her in a sour mood, which did not go unnoticed later by Professor Malfoy.

Letti had attended her detention promptly as instructed, arriving at Professor Malfoy's office as soon as dinner in the Great Hall had ended. She knocked on his steel door, but nobody answered. Confused, she looked down the hall. His classroom door was wide open.

Curious, she stepped inside and found that Professor Malfoy was rearranging the room entirely. Desks had been pushed to one side, cabinets and dressers sealed with magical locks, and a mountain of pillows had been arranged at one end. He was not alone: Albus Potter was helping him, stacking books safely off in a corner.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Professor Malfoy looked up. "Ah, you're here! Excellent, and prompt as well. Good. If you weren't here for detention I might just have awarded some points to Slytherin house. Come in, come in." He waved his wand, and a final row of desks waddled over and flipped on top of another row.

Letti stepped in nervously. "Is this all...for me?"

"Of course!" Professor Malfoy strode over to his desk - which had not been moved - and grabbed a mug of water, downing it in one gulp. "I want to make sure we have a safe space for you to practice with."

"Oh." She shuffled awkwardly - she did not like being the center of attention, and yet it seemed like everyone wanted to focus on her lately. She turned to Albus. "Are you in detention, too?"

Professor Malfoy explained as the boy shook his head. "No, he just comes to my office to study and get some peace and quiet. I'm quite glad for his help tonight, though, and he has promised not to tell a soul what is transpiring here."

"Was I not supposed to tell anyone? I...might have mentioned it to my friends."

"That's fine, Miss Lunetti, and I'm sorry for the mixup. What I meant was, should something embarrassing to either one of us happen during your training, he has promised not to divulge such moments to the general populace."

Albus lounged in a desk and took out a phone. "Respectfully, sir, I only promised not to say anything if anything embarrassing happened to Letti. I made no such promises about you."

Professor Malfoy looked at him disapprovingly, but did nothing other than roll his eyes. "Letti, if you could please stand over by the pillows, please, and set your wand on that shelf right there."

As she did so, he continued talking. "Our goal here is to see if we can get you to control the powers you have, as a result of that mark of yours. From my understanding, you have conducted wandless magic through it a total of five times, yes? Yes. The problem is that each of those times, you did so unintentionally."

"Well, not entirely, sir…" Letti mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, during the duel yesterday, I sort of meant to use the Air Gust spell against McCormack. I know I had my wand and everything, but I didn't say the words - I actually don't know the words."

Professor Malfoy rubbed his chin. "Hmm, that does make it seem likely that the mark had a part in it. But given that you had your wand with you, we might also be able to assume that it was merely regular wandless magic. Regardless, there is a noticeable trend of lack of control that we seek to remedy here."

He grabbed several rubber balls from out of his desk. "We spoke yesterday about how the mark seems to have a spell memory, as you were able to generate a perfect Shield Charm during the duel. Given that this is both a useful spell to have on hand and is by far the safest one for us to practice, the Shield Charm is what we will try and have you replicate here tonight."

Letti eyed the rubber balls warily. "Erm...how, sir?"

He noticed her glance and chuckled. "Don't worry. I do not intend to cause you any harm. I'll toss them gently." He threw one underhanded to her, slowly enough that she could catch it. "See? No injury will come to you. Now, move into position and let's begin."

Letti shifted herself to stand just in front of the pile of pillows. "Now, I want you to think about creating a shield," Professor Malfoy said. "Imagine the bubble forming around you, protecting you from danger."

"But if she's not really in any danger, won't that make it more difficult?" Albus asked.

Professor Malfoy grinned mischievously. "Our minds are often better at tricking us into thinking we are in danger, more often than we are actually so. But, if you insist…" He waved his wand. "Obscuro."

Letti's vision suddenly went completely dark. "Hey!" she cried out.

"It's just a spell effect," Professor Malfoy comforted. "But in the meantime, use this to help you. Think in your mind about something frightening."

She felt a rush of air as something flew past her ear. Letti shuddered. Not seeing what was going on was frightening enough.

"Think, Miss Lunetti! Something that scares you, something that keeps you up late at night!"

She focused as another ball bounced past her right arm. Something frightening? Well, there was her fear of public speaking, but she didn't think that was what Professor Malfoy wanted her to think about. It certainly wouldn't get her to generate a shield. There was her ongoing feud with Lily that the other girl had started for seemingly no reason…

Another ball bounced past her, and Letti swatted at it angrily. "No!" Professor Malfoy called. "You are not on the offensive. What you think of is something you cannot fight against."

Something she couldn't fight against? She thought about her duel with McCormack. She had zero ways to really fight back against him, not without the luck of her mark. She had no idea what damage his first spell might have done to her. And then there was…

A flash of memory. The hellhound, snarling, muscles bristling to attack. The scythe-like appendages stabbing forward as it launched itself at her…

Letti fell back, crying out. She realized a moment later why Professor Malfoy had set up a pile of pillows - it lessened the pain of her fall. She struggled against them, unable to see.

She heard someone say something, and the darkness around her eyes was lifted. Professor Malfoy and Albus Potter were staring at her, concern stretched across their faces. "Are you okay?" Albus asked.

She nodded glumly. "I just...got scared." She looked up at the professor. "I thought of the hellhound. Sir...what is it exactly? Why am I so scared of it?"

Professor Malfoy's shoulders fell, and he nodded solemnly. He went around to his desk and took out a piece of foil, unwrapping it to reveal a bar of chocolate. He split a piece off and handed it to Letti. "Here, eat it. Chocolate always helps after something frightening." Then, after thinking a moment, he handed the remaining piece to Albus. "Might as well."

He pulled a chair over and sat down. "Hellhounds are a new creature," he explained. "In fact, the only time anyone can recall anything like them is at the beginning of the Calamity. There are certainly records of creatures called hellhounds," he added, "but none match the description of what we first saw fifteen years ago. They are not pleasant, to be sure - monstrous, ravenous hounds insistent on the destruction of, well, everything." Professor Malfoy sighed. "We faced many of them during the Calamity, as they often appeared in packs. And they weren't even the worst - there were Gargantulas, Behemoths, and plenty of other horrors unleashed upon the world." He took a deep breath. "The hellhound frightens you so much, Letti, because it is meant to. Hellhounds were often the first creatures to appear before a major attack, howling and picking off those unlucky enough not to be indoors already. I can't tell you how many strong wizards balked at the sight of even one. Fearing it is nothing to be ashamed of."

Letti finished eating her chocolate. Despite his words, she didn't really feel any better.

He seemed to sense this, and turned the tables. "Alright, my turn. What were you thinking about a moment ago that made you so angry?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's dumb."

"I apologize, but I must insist. With your ability, anything that might invoke an emotional reaction like that is important."

Letti tried to remain silent, but his insistent gaze broke her down. Finally, she let out an exasperated gasp. "It's his sister," she said, pointing at Albus.

"Who, Lily? What's she done?"

"She hates me!" Letti fell back against the pillows, feeling thoroughly silly. "She keeps getting mad at me for little things, and she won't tell me why she's really upset. Yesterday she told me I should know why she doesn't like me, but…" She turned away from him, embarrassed.

"Oh." Albus shrugged. "Well, that one's actually pretty easy. It's because you remind her of Dad."

There was a moment of awkward silence as Professor Malfoy looked between the two students. Then, clearing his throat, he stood up. "We're going to need some more chocolate, I gather." He shuffled his way back to his desk and withdrew another bar.

"Wait, you mean...I remind her of Harry Potter?" Letti gasped, bewildered. "How? I'm nothing like him!"

Albus let out a cold laugh. Letti didn't like it. "Letti, you are so much like our father. How can you not see it?" He began counting on his fingers. "Let's see: first, a weird mark that makes you special. Check. Next, managing to get everyone's attention all the time. Yep, dueling McCormack definitely did that. Check. Third, seeming to be naturally gifted at just about everything. Check. And lastly, having 'good guy aura' all about you. Check." He looked at her sarcastically. "Did I miss anything?"

"I'm not…" Letti crossed her arms and pouted. "I'm terrible at potions! And math. And I don't try to get everyone's attention all the time."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. The thing is, whether you agree with it or not, you remind Lily of our dad, and that's not a good thing."

"Why not? Isn't he an awesome wizarding hero?"

There was a muffled snort from Professor Malfoy as he gave them each another piece of chocolate. Albus continued, "Yeah, and that's exactly the problem. None of us could possibly expect to compete with him. Both he and Mom expect way too much from all three of us." He bit into his chocolate. "Look at James. Dad practically worships Granddad, and expected James to be this awesome model student. It's no wonder he's a complete trainwreck - there's no way he could possibly live up to Dad's expectations for him. And then there's me-"

"Albus, we talked about this," Professor Malfoy interjected. "Learning to be more constructive and positive is going to-"

"I know, I know." Albus sulked. "Trust me, for once I'm not going to be all depressing about myself. But look at my name: Albus Severus. First name is after some crackpot former headmaster of Hogwarts who, from what I read, basically only trained up Dad so that he could die to Voldemort, and my middle name comes from some guy who had an obsession with my grandmother and abused my dad all the time…" He paused. "Huh, my mom really had no say in our names, did she? No wonder she's leaving him."

Professor Malfoy choked on a piece of chocolate. "Ginny is-"

"Oh. Right. Yeah, Mom's leaving Dad. Moving back in with Grandmammy and Grandpappy." Albus shrugged. "They're keeping it hush-hush; don't want it in all the papers until it's finalized, I guess."

Professor Malfoy took a deep breath. "Okay, well you and I are definitely going to chat about that later at some point."

Albus nodded. "Anyways, the point is that, me and James, we're disappointments: James has never lived up to the impossible standards Dad gave him, and I'm in friggin' Slytherin. Lily is basically his 'last chance' to have a child that lives up to his legend, and that's a lot of pressure for her. How do you think she feels about seeing you come in, then, someone who probably looks exactly like the type of daughter our dad would actually be proud of?" He took a deep breath and ate another piece of chocolate. "For the record, I hold none of that against you. It's not your fault you come with some magical baggage, and you're already way nicer than Dad has ever been."

Letti looked down at her feet. "So...what do I do then?"

"About what?"

"About Lily. How do I get her to be...how do I get her to stop hating me?"

Albus shrugged, a mouth full of chocolate. "I'unno. Sometimes people just hate each other. Look at Professor Malfoy and my dad. You two still dislike each other, right? Man, anyone else feeling jittery?"

"I think that's enough chocolate for one night." Professor Malfoy stood up and returned the sweet to his desk. He seemed on edge. "And to address your question: we were enemies when we were in school, yes. But that changed after the war, and certainly changed during the Calamity." He returned to them and spoke to Letti directly. "If there is one thing I've learned, it's that school feuds are...unnecessary. Yes, as Albus so crudely pointed out, sometimes people do simply dislike each other. That is a fact of life. But I do not believe you have to simply live with it. People can change, for better or for worse. Those who seek conflict can sometimes be turned by showing them acts of kindness or mercy."

Letti was confused. "So...be nice to her, is what you're saying?"

Professor Malfoy nodded. "I would suggest having a frank conversation with her about your troubles with each other. It will be hard, but if you keep a cool head, I believe you find your problems at least partially resolved." He clapped his hands together. "Now, I think that is enough for one night. Both of you, off to bed. And don't think you've gotten out of this training, Miss Lunetti," he added. "You still have six more days of detention, and I intend not to disappoint the headmistress. Now, go on!" He waved them away.

The next morning, Letti woke up determined. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cassie asked her, as they walked towards the Great Hall.

"Absolutely! Professor Malfoy said I needed to have a frank conversation with her."

"And you think that having this frank conversation in the Great Hall, in front of the entire school is a good idea?"

"Oh." Letti hadn't considered that. "Maybe having it somewhere else would be better."

"Why not the Wild Zone? Weren't we going there during lunch anyways?"

"Yeah, but that was to show Hagrid the egg!" Letti was exasperated. "He might actually know what it is, and I wanted to show it to him and Professor Irwin!"

"You can't do both?"

Letti sighed. "Fiiiiine. I guess that makes sense, anyways."

"Plus if it turns out the egg is some sort of legendary creature that only responds to you, Lily will know you're even more special!" Cassie teased, poking her friend in the shoulder. Letti jokingly let out another exasperated sigh. It was hard to be frustrated when you had a good friend by your side.

At the Slytherin table, she worked on her new plan. She needed to contact Lily somehow, and let her know that she wanted to talk to her. The easiest way would be to just tell her directly, but Letti worried that then Lily would want to have their conversation right then and there, and that would be no good - plus, as Letti scanned the Gryffindor table, she couldn't find her. Option two would be to pass a paper note to her, but other students would see and since she wasn't in the Great Hall, how would she pass it to her?

The final option required her phone. Technology was a little finicky at Hogwarts, she had found - though Headmistress Patil had lifted many of the magics that concealed Hogwarts and thus made technology accessible, the sheer amount of residue magic hanging about the place still caused cell phones signals and Wi-Fi to go a little haywire. Still, it was the best alternative to her other plans.

She opened an app called MagMeet - it was the 'in' social media site for witches and wizards, and nearly everyone at Hogwarts seemed to be on it. Despite not friending Lily, she could still message her there. She chose her words carefully, wanting to make sure there was no way Lily could misinterpret them.

Hey. I know you don't like me, but you seem nice and i want us to be friends. Maybe we can talk about what's bothering you? We can meet at the Wild Zone (beneath Hagrid's hut) during lunch.

Terrified, she hit send.

For some reason, she had expected an immediate reply. Yet by the time lunch rolled around, she had heard nothing back. Had Lily perhaps not received the message?

Frustrated, she went back to the Slytherin dorm, donned oven mitts Henrietta had sent her, and picked up the egg. It was as it had always been: hot, smooth, and utterly boring. For once, though, Letti was glad for a little boring - she wasn't sure what she'd do if the egg hatched. Would she even be able to keep whatever creature lay inside?

She was walking in front of the Great Hall when he accosted her.

It was James Potter, fury on his face. "You think you're so damn important, huh?" he shouted. "Think you're so cool for getting my friend expelled?" He pointed his wand in her face.

Letti stood frozen, terrified. If he tried to hex her, she would have zero methods of protecting herself. She said nothing.

"Oh, and now you think you're too to answer me, is that it? Let's see if you talk now." He smacked the egg out of her hands. "Ow!" he cried. The part of his hand where he had struck the egg was now home to a red welt.

Letti didn't care about his injury, though. She watched in horror as the egg flew out of her hands, landing against the cobbled steps of the Great Hall…

...and bounced down each and every step to the bottom.

Every bounce felt like a lifetime. The egg made a metallic ringing sound whenever it struck the stone steps. Letti felt her heart stop. All of that mystery, a potential legacy left to her, all for nothing.

The egg's journey finally came to a stop at the bottom of the steps, rolling along a little longer until little Jesus Morales stopped it with his foot. He stooped down to pick it up, but recoiled upon touching the hot surface.

Letti rushed down as quick as she could and scooped it up, turning it over every which way. Somehow, despite bouncing several dozen times on the Hogwarts steps, the egg was completely unharmed. Not a crack, not a blemish, scarred its surface. "But how-?"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

Professor Patil stood at the top of the stairs looking very cross. She glanced from James to Letti. "Well? Explain yourselves!" Behind her, several other teachers and interested students were gathering.

"It was an accident, Professor, honest!" James Potter's voice had taken on a soft, innocent quality. "I was just walking down to get some fresh air and bumped into her."

Professor Patil glanced disbelievingly at him, then turned her attention on Letti. "Well? Is that what happened?"

Letti was about to say something when Cassie's voice came ringing from behind her. "Absolutely not! James knocked the egg out of her hand and was being a jerk!" She stood next to her friend. "He's totally lying." A few students nearby nodded their heads in agreement.

Professor Patil turned to James. "Care to explain yourself?"

He merely shrugged and held his hands up in surrender.

"Come with me," she said harshly. "I think it's time you and I had a nice long conversation about your behavior." She walked away down the hall, James following closely behind, his head hung low. As the crowd began to disperse, Letti noticed one person in particular whose attention was focused solely on her.

Lily.

Letti's shoulders fell when she saw the other girl's expression. It was pure hatred.

"I'm sure it weren't that bad," Hagrid said when she finally arrived. They were sitting in his hut in the Wild Area, an almost complete recreation of the one on the Hogwarts grounds, albeit not ruined. Lysander was already there, having missed the whole affair. Lorcan and Professor Irwin were outside looking at grumpkins.

"You should have seen her, she was furious," Letti moaned, collapsing back into a chair. "She hates me. First I got McCormack expelled, and now her brother is in trouble. It's all my fault."

"Not yer fault they acted improp'ly," Hagrid said. He moved a giant teakettle from the fireplace to the table. "Yer aren't responsible for the actions of others, Letti. Tea's ready!" he shouted to. "Now, les' get a good look at ye." He put on giant oven mitts and picked up the egg from its place on the table, where Letti had left it.

He rolled it over in his hands, examining every minute detail. "An' ye say it bounced down the steps o' the Great Hall?" he asked. "I'm impressed. No' a scratch on it!"

"Do you know what it is?" Lysander asked.

"I 'unno," Hagrid said. "I though' it might be a phoenix when ye firs' described it to me, but it's too big. Migh' be a dragon egg, but I've never seen one wi' this pattern before. Randolph, what do you think?"

Professor Irwin had just entered the cabin. "Hmm?" he said, taking a look. "Well, I don't entirely know. Let's see here." He reached to pick up the egg from Hagrid's hands.

"Wait!-" Letti cried out, but it was too late. Professor Irwin yelped upon grabbing the egg, and it slipped from both his and Hagrid's grasp, falling on the ground and rolling just beside the fireplace.

"No' a worry." Hagrid scooped it up with his giant oven mitts and showed it to them. "Didn't hurt it one bit."

Professor Irwin was busy healing his hands, holding his wand gingerly in one hand and then switching with the other. "Very interesting. Yes, well I'm afraid I have to agree with Hagrid on this one. It's def'nitely not a phoenix, and doesn't match any dragon pattern I know. I'll have to do some digging, see if I can find something in some record books. You've got yourself quite the mystery there, Miss Lunetti."

She nodded solemnly. That seemed to be all she had these days.

After leaving Hagrid's and returning the egg to its place by her bed, the rest of the day passed glumly for Letti. Every time she tried to talk to Lily - in the hopes that maybe she could reconcile with the girl and make things better- she was always ignored. The rest of Gryffindor house continued to shirk her and pretend she no longer existed, which turned out to be pretty rotten. And at detention, she once again proved to be an utter failure at controlling the power of her mark.

When she finally returned to her dorm, she flopped on her bed, exhausted. More than anything, she needed sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

Tick tick.

What was that?

Tick tick.

A metallic tapping sound was coming from across the room. It seemed to be coming from the window. Letti groaned. It was probably just some bored lake denizen.

She was about to turn back to her pillow when she noticed something wrong. The egg was normally atop the trunk at the end of her bed, safe and sound. But now, it was…

"Cassie!" she shrieked. "Cassie, wake up!"

Cassie sat up from her bed, rubbing her eyes. "Zwhat?"

"The egg! It's missing!"

Cassie shook herself awake. "Wait, but how?! It was there when I went to bed!"

Letti started throwing her normal robes back on. "I don't know, but it must have been one of the Gryffindors. They want revenge after I got James in trouble and everything!" Cassie started getting herself dressed, nodding in agreement.

Tick tick.

Letti heard the sound again, but ignored it. She didn't have time to deal with some annoying lake creature right now.

Tick tick.

"Um...Letti?" Cassie's voice was quiet. "I found the egg."

Letti's eyes widened, expecting the worst. But the egg was just there, inside their room, quietly tapping against the glass. It had been the source of the sound all along. That was not why Cassie and Letti were so shocked in that moment, however.

Sticking out from the two tiny holes in the bottom of the egg were two yellow, taloned bird legs.