Round 7
IWSC
Mahoutokoro, Year 2
Muggleborn
(character) original character
(song) the gambler by Kenny Rogers
(setting) A new house (just moved in)
WC: 2331
THC
Ravenclaw, DADA
Standard
(word) indistinguishable
Thank you, LadyS and foolofatook, for betating!
Clara
"Clara! Wake up, you're late for your lesson!"
Groaning, she turned around and wrapped herself into her warm blanket, but her mom was tugging on it. Why couldn't she just let her sleep?
"Clara! I have work to do, you're not the only one living here!"
She really didn't want to get up. Clara had spent the entire night reading. Engulfed in the world of dragons and magic, she forgot about time. Her mom had confiscated her phone, but Clara preferred books in paper form anyway, far more reliable.
Not that she wanted, but Clara knew that she had to at least make an effort. It wasn't an easy time and her mom was already stressed out. Crawling to the bathroom, she got dressed, tossing her pajamas onto the ground.
Geography, she realized brushing her teeth. Her eyes went wide in horror. The teacher was going to quiz her, but Clara hadn't studied, and her mother was sitting on the other side of the table watching her. She was going to be mad if she failed…
"Clara! Why is the internet not working?"
She spat the toothpaste into the basin. "How would I know?"
"Because it's awfully convenient that things always stop working if there is something you don't want to do. I have never had those kinds of problems at work."
"That's not true! Last time, my phone broke down when I was playing this game and I was so close to winning." Clara shrugged. "Maybe we just have a bad connection."
"Glasfiber?"
She sat down opposite her mom. "My laptop doesn't have power."
"Clara," her mom said sternly.
"I did charge it yesterday!" She picked up the charger and plugged her laptop in. Her heart was beating faster. Maybe she should have studied, but her mom usually gave up quicker. "My screen is broken."
"This is a brand new laptop! How did you manage to break it again?"
"I don't know! I didn't do anything! It's just blinking!"
Her mom jumped up and put the laptop away. She tore a sheet of paper of hers and handed her a pen. "Then you'll have to do your exercises by hand. I'm so done with your antics. Just don't bother me. Someone has to do their accounting by hand because someone else broke the calculator."
Clara was sitting silently at the table. It wasn't her fault that the calculator exploded although it did save her from doing her math homework. Her eyes were glued to the sheet of paper in front of her. Did she really have to do everything by hand? Her mom didn't seem to be in the mood for arguing. Well, at least she got out of geography.
Sitting there not daring to make a sound she stared at the blank sheet of paper. This was so boring. Why couldn't she just go back to bed? What was she even supposed to do? The longer she stared at the sheet of paper the more it looked like it was moving. She really shouldn't have read the book.
Clara wiped her eyes and as soon as she opened them, she watched the paper turn into an origami crane. She couldn't believe her eyes. Blinking a couple of times, she slowly reached out for it. Shifting the paper crane in her hand, she still couldn't believe it. What was going on?
Startled by a tapping sound, Clara dropped the little crane. Turning her head she looked out of the window. Not believing her eyes she blinked a couple of times.
"Clara," her mom warned her.
"There's an owl outside the window — no, really!" She slowly stood up and walked to the window. The owl was still sitting on the window sill and looking at her by the time she reached the window. Even as she opened the window, the owl didn't fly away.
Instead, the owl flew past her through the barely opened window and landed on the table next to her mom. She untied a letter from the strange bird's leg.
Clara watched her mom read over it again and again not quite understanding what was going on.
"I knew it, I'm not crazy!" Her mom began laughing hysterically and Clara was even more worried. "I knew you were doing it on purpose, you're a witch!"
Her heart was racing as she stepped onto the stage. The entire school was looking at her as she sat down on the chair at the center. Clara didn't quite know what was going on, all she knew that this was important, this was the time that determined her future, here in a world she knew close to nothing about.
The hat barely touched her skull before announcing, "SLYTHERIN!"
Loud cheering erupted from the table and Clara's tie turned green. She eagerly joined them. These were her new friends, the people she was going to spend every day with. This was her new home and she couldn't wait to meet them all.
"Ezra Shacklebolt," an older boy introduced himself.
"Clara Miller."
"Miller? That's not a very wizardry name," a blonde girl next to her stated.
"No, it's not, they're not magical…" Clara said.
"You're a Muggleborn?"
Suddenly everyone was staring at her. She didn't didn't know what to do.
"Hm?" Ezra scratched his cheek. "It is highly unusual that a Muggleborn gets sorted into Slytherin. Maybe there has been a mistake."
"My grandfather was a Muggleborn," a dark-haired boy grumbled. He didn't even look up to meet her eyes. "I will forever carry this burden."
Clara swallowed hard. This wasn't going as she had intended. Why was she still a freak? "I'm adopted," she burst out without thinking.
Ezra looked at her for a moment. "That explains a lot, most of us come from a long line of Slytherins."
Not trusting her voice, Clara simply nodded. What had she just done?
Her eyes were falling shut. She could barely read the book in the dim light. All the younger students were already in bed, but Clara and Phil were still in the library.
She wasn't really reading, but rather turning the pages automatically. After all, Clara knew that she wasn't going to find anything in the Hogwarts archives no matter how long they were looking for it.
"I found it. I really did it!" Phil hugged her from behind and placed a kiss on her cheek. "That's it. Mary Burke had a baby around the time you were born. She was never married and left the country shortly after. Those records claim that the baby died, but that must be you."
Clara looked at the old documents. She didn't know what to do now.
"Come, say something, love, I found your real parents. You're a Slytherin just like your ancestors, isn't that cool?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm just overwhelmed that's all."
Clara placed her hands on Phil's eyes. "Don't look!"
Rainbow-colored rays of sunlight were reflected from the sizable diamond on her finger. It looked beautiful as the light danced through the room. On tiptoes, she led Phil into the house.
"And what do you think of our new home?" Clara was smiling broadly. "We're pretty far away from any Muggles and we have enough land that our children can play Quidditch."
"It's perfect," Phil said.
His lips captured hers and he pulled her into a kiss.
Clara was smiling at him. "I could get used to this."
"To the next 100 years together."
Even with magic, it had taken them quite some time to unbox everything. Despite the hard work, Clara couldn't stop smiling. Everything was going well. She had graduated from Hogwarts, bought a house, the wedding was next and soon they would be a family.
A knock on the door tore her out of her thoughts.
"What was that?" Phil asked.
"I guess we have a visitor." Clara stood up and opened the door.
"I've brought you pots and detergent." Her mom stepped into the house and hugged her daughter.
"Thanks, Mom." Clara grabbed her arm and dragged her towards Phil. "I want to introduce you to my fiancé."
Phil stared at her mom for a moment. She offered him his hand but he didn't take it. "Why are you still entertaining Muggles? I thought you were taking up with your real family?"
Clara's mom looked confused. "Real family? Clara, what is he talking about?"
She looked at the floor, fidgeting with her fingers. What was she supposed to tell her mom?
"We've contacted the Burkes. It's about time to repair the damage." Phil took a step towards her mom. "What were you thinking taking in a magical child? You took away Clara's ability to grow up in the world and with the family she belongs to."
Her mom looked shocked. She clearly hadn't expected to be attacked by her daughter's mysterious fiancé the moment they got introduced
"This is my daughter you're talking about. I am her family! I've been there every minute since I've given birth to her!" She turned her attention back to Clara. "Aren't you going to say something?"
Clara faltered, not knowing how to explain seven years of lies to her mom. "I'm sorry, Mom. I hadn't planned for it to go that far."
"I can't say how disappointed I am in you." She turned around and left.
"Mom, wait! I'm sorry!" Clara was running after her, but from the corner of her eyes, she saw Phil packing up.
She quickly turned around. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going," Phil stated. His eyes were dark as he shrank all of his belongings.
"You can't! What about us?"
"There is no us! You lied to me the entire time! I don't want anything to do with you!"
She grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving. "I'm pregnant," Clara blurted out.
"I don't care." He tore his arm from her grip.
"Phil, wait! Why are you making such a big deal out of it? It doesn't change anything. Just calm down and we're going to laugh about it tomorrow."
"You're the worst. I never ever want to see you again," he spat.
"Why are you acting like this? I can't even recognize you anymore."
"I could say the same. I can't believe I've fallen for the cheap tricks of a mudblood."
Tears formed in her eyes. "We're indistinguishable. Don't act as if you're all better than me. It's not like you're pureblood yourself."
With a loud crack he disapparated. Clara broke down sobbing.
Crying in her bed, she waited for Phil to come back and apologize. By tomorrow everything would be alright, she told herself, but the sun rose and Clara was still alone. With every gust of wind, hope rose, only to find it squashed again when Phil did not appear.
Phil wasn't coming back and if she was honest with herself Clara knew that. And after all the hurtful and degrading things he had said, she wasn't even sure if she wanted him to return. She just wanted things to get back to the way they were.
By evening, she realized that she couldn't stay in bed any longer. There were things she needed to take care of. What was she going to do with the house? And how was she going to pay her bills? Clara had the weird feeling that she couldn't just move back in with her mom.
Leaving the house she walked for an hour until she reached the nearest village. Clara didn't even know why she was here, but she couldn't stay at home either.
Sitting in the tavern, she watched a group of men playing cards. Whiskey flew by the liter and Clara would give a leg to have some. What was even stopping her? It wasn't as if it still mattered.
The thick smoke of the cigarettes filled the tiny room. Clara was coughing loudly. She had nowhere to go. How did she end up in this position?
One of the men dropped a playing card and she picked it up. The black ace was staring back at her. Clara's hands tightened around it. Not returning the card she walked away.
Clara could barely keep her eyes open. It had been a short night and the house was a complete mess.
The flames in the fireplace turned green. It was unusual for her to get any visitors that way since her parents, as Muggles, didn't travel by magical means.
"Phil! What are you doing here?" She pointed her wand at him.
"I could ask you the same thing. I didn't expect that you could afford to keep the house."
"Well, if one door closes…"
"So, it's been a year…" Phil looked around.
Clara's eyes never left his. She really didn't like him being here in her house. She instantly stood between her ex and the room where her boy slept.
He spotted the pile of baby clothes in the corner. "So, there really is a baby."
Clara shook her head. "You thought I was lying about something like that?"
"Well, I also thought you wouldn't be lying about your heritage."
"You're comparing apples to oranges." Opening the drawer she removed the ring and pressed it into his hand. "My autobiography, A Matter of Blood, will be on sale starting next month. Just a heads-up, in case you want to grow up or flee to Australia."
"You did what? Why in Merlin's name would you humiliate me like that? Do you have so little respect for my world? Parasites like you are the death of our society."
With her wand on his chest, she pushed him towards the fireplace. "What did you expect me to do? I was pregnant and my fiancé abandoned me. I needed to find a way to support myself and my family. I may be a mudblood, but I'm still a Slytherin."