Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl Chapter 50: The Depths of Winter
DISCLAIMER: Daria is the creation of Glen Eichler and is the property of MTV Viacom. Harry Potter is the creation of JK Rowling and is the property of JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I own neither franchise and neither expect nor deserve any financial gain for this work of fiction.
Positive reviews are always appreciated.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
Later on, Daria would have said that most of her first winter at Hogwarts was relatively uneventful, at least for her. School went on, she kept up with her studies and managed to absorb most of what her teachers were trying to teach her. Despite the fact that most of her classes had little or nothing to do with the subjects she'd studied in elementary school in Highland, she was bemused to discover that she was beginning to get a grip on most of this stuff. She wasn't sure if she could use much of it in the non-magical world (At least not in public), but some of the potions she'd learned had practical uses and she could already see practical applications for some of the charms and transfiguration spells she learned from Professor Flitwick and from Professor McGonagall.
She was less sure about the practical aspects of her astronomy class, although she did enjoy it. She also liked herbology: watching plants grow and stay alive despite the Highlands' rugged weather and chilly winter temperatures was quite a change from watching green shoots first shrivel, then turn brown and die as a result of west Texas' brutal summer temperatures. She saw no practical real-world applications for her flying class, but as a girl who'd grown up and watched The Wizard of Oz at least once a year, she'd envied The Wicked Witch of the West and her prowess with a broomstick. That must be the Mad Dog in me, she thought.
About the only class she didn't really care for was the History of Magic class. Most of her dislike came from her dislike of Professor Binns' teaching style and his dreary boring lectures, although she also disliked her textbooks' Euro-centric emphasis. She knew from her time in Highland that Europe wasn't the center of the magical world. The Africans brought over as slaves from Africa had occasionally retained some of their magic. The Native Americans' magic might not have been able to stand up to the devastating combined effects of imported diseases and firearms, but traces of their magic were still around if you knew how and where to look.
-(((O-O)))-
As promised at the start of Term, there was a Quidditch match scheduled for the third weekend in January. Hufflepuff was playing Gryffindor. Despite what she saw as her indifference to the game, she decided to go. Her dorm-mates were amused to see her settle in with some other Ravenclaws.
"Are you finally becoming a Quidditch fan, Daria?" said Dahlia.
"Either that or I like seeing idiots on broomsticks flying around in brightly-colored robes," said Daria. Anahita laughed while Marietta looked scandalized.
In truth there was much to be said about British Quidditch, at least the preliminaries. She enjoyed watching the pageantry. It was kind of fun to watch the teams circle the Pitch on broomsticks and line up against each other. The Hogwarts teams pulled out the stops, stopping short of playing "Land of Hope and Glory" and "God Save the Queen." By contrast, the teams she'd seen back in west Texas didn't bother with much formality: they were amateurs with limited budgets and most of what they spent their money on was brooms and other equipment. They did do fly-arounds and one team, the Ballinger Boomers, even had cheerleaders: mostly Squib or non-magical family members who'd come out to cheer for their relatives on the field.
As for the game itself, she had to give Quidditch some credits: it was a fast-moving game that lacked the delays and boredom she thought pervaded American football. It was also interesting to watch the players maneuver in three dimensions as they threw Quaffles back and forth to each other, block their opponents, and occasionally knock away bludgers. She still thought that Quidditch put too much emphasis on Seekers and Snitches. If she'd had her way, either Snitches would be abolished or the points given to catching them would have been drastically curtailed. In her opinion, 150 points was far too many. Forty to fifty would have been far more appropriate.
The walk to the Quidditch pitch was colder than what she'd been used to back in Texas. Daria guessed that the temperature was in the mid to upper thirties (She wasn't used to thinking in Centigrade) and it had been snowing off and on. Daria wouldn't have been surprised if it started snowing again. She was concerned about the wooden steps from the ground to the steps when she go there: ice could make them slippery and dangerous. They weren't. Someone, definitely not Argus Filch, had charmed them to stay dry, to Daria's considerable relief.
Sixty feet or so later, Daria found herself in the stands. The stands were already full, but Violet led the way over to an empty bench that could hold them and they sat down. Violet and Anahita had picked a good seats—benches, actually—not too close to the front and not so far in the back that they'd be chilled by cold breezes blowing in behind them.
The players marched out, mounted their brooms, and circled the field: lines of red and yellow. Madam Hooch threw the ball and the game started. And almost immediately, the fans started cheering.
"Come on Hufflepuff!" yelled Violet.
"Let's go, Gryffindor!" shouted another voice, this one male.
Divided loyalties, Daria thought wryly. Daria saw herself as a Ravenclaw, not a Hufflepuff nor a Gryffindor, and didn't know who to cheer for. She usually contented herself with applauding for Ravenclaw during Ravenclaw games, while ignoring Quidditch while other teams were playing. She was also on nodding-friendly terms with kids in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in some of her classes. On the other hand, she realized that she recognized at least three players on the Gryffindor team: Charlie Weasley, as well as his younger brothers Fred and George. She watched with her heart pounding as Charlie flew around looking for the Snitch and his younger brothers flew in and out of the aerial scrum, , occasionally breaking out to bat bludgers away from Charlie and their team's chasers. She didn't keep close watch on the scoring, save to note that both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor sent quaffles through the hoops. After a while, Daria found herself feeling cold and realized that she and her friends had been up in the stands for at least an hour and hoped that somebody would find the Snitch before midnight.
As the afternoon wore on, Daria was startled to see that not only had it stopped snowing, but that the clouds parted enough that a little sunshine was able to shine on the field. Looking away from the scrum making its way to the Hufflepuff Goal Hoops, she noticed a tiny golden flicker of light. She wondered if either the Hufflepuff or Gryffindor Chasers saw it. Her question was answered when Charlie Weasley peeled away and caught the Snitch after a brief chase, ending the game with a Gryffindor victory before Daria could contract hypothermia.
-(((O-O)))—
Monday evening found Daria at the library doing some research. She looked around for some space and found it at a table opposite a tall boy with thick, curly black hair, ruddy cheeks, and blue eyes. He was wearing a uniform with a Slytherin necktie and a Slytherin crest on his jacket. She stared at him for a while. The boy looked like someone she'd seen somewhere before: a book maybe? She thought about it, then decided that he didn't jog any other memories.
She briefly wondered if he'd noticed her. He favored her with an annoyed look. Daria decided that she didn't care. She sat down and began doing research. An hour and a half later she pulled out her pocket-watch and looked at the time. The library would be closing in fifteen minutes. She took more notes on her legal pad, She'd lately started taking notes using Muggle pens and note pads on the sly when she was certain she wouldn't be watched: they were cheaper than parchment and note-taking was faster. She put her pen in her pocket, hid the notepad in her satchel, then took the book she'd been reading back up to the front desk.
"The library is closing!" said Mrs. Pence. Back to the dormitory, she thought. She picked up her things.
The boy put away his notes and stood up to leave. He looked at her and smiled. "You know, you're the first member of the Barksdale tribe who didn't spend her time trying to flirt with me instead of studying," he said.
"I'm here to do research, not to play footsie," said Daria. "Besides, you're—what? Fifteen? Sixteen? You're too old for me."
The Slytherin boy laughed again, louder and longer this time.
"I've heard about you!" he said. "You're that Yankee girl over in Ravenclaw. The Barksdale that the Barksdales say isn't a Barksdale. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He took her hand and kissed it. "In case you're wondering, I'm Harry Prestwick. And to answer the usual boring question, yes, I'm descended from the General."
Which general, Daria wondered. She suspected that there might be some interesting family question.
"I'll bid you goodnight, Texas," he said. "We can properly introduce ourselves some other time." And with that, Harry Prestwick walked away.
A couple of days later, Lita Ashworth called her over.
"Texas, we need to talk," she said.
"OK," said Daria.
"I understand that you were seen talking to Harry Prestwick at the library," said Lita.
"After Mrs. Pince told us that the library was closing for the evening," said Daria. "We'd both been doing some reading and as we were getting ready to leave, he complimented me for doing homework instead of spending my time flirting with him."
"Anything else?" said Lita.
"I also told him in so many words that I wasn't interested in romance and that he was too old for me," Daria replied.
Lita chuckled at Daria's response.
"Did he proposition you?" she said.
"No," said Daria. "I don't think he's interested."
"Well, you might want to keep your distance," said Lita. "He's a lecher. It runs in his bloodline."
-(((O-O)))—
As January drew to a close, Daria got a card from Veronica wishing her a happy Groundhog Day. She smiled as she put it back in its envelope. She hadn't thought about Groundhog Day for a long time, not since well before she found out that she was a witch. Did they even observe Groundhog Day here? She didn't think they did: not that she thought that Groundhog Day was much of a predictor for either an early spring or continuing winter, even in a backwater like Highland. Still, it might be amusing to see what sort of weather they'd have in the Highlands and what she could reliably or not-so-reliably predict about the end of winter.
About six hours or so before Puxtawny Phil was customarily dragged from his burrow in Pennsylvania to predict the end of winter, Daria looked out the window to see whether the day would be clear or overcast. As it was still before dawn, Daria saw a couple of stars in the pre-dawn twilight and made her prediction: whatever it did in the States, Hogwarts was set for six more weeks of winter.
-(((O-O)))-
Two days later, Daria was reminded of another holiday she usually ignored when Majda Paderewsky asked her if she knew anyone who had any Valentine's Day cards. Daria stopped and thought about it. She knew that she didn't, she didn't think that Anahita did, nor did the Banks sisters. Somebody who could get to Hogsmeade Village might be able to get some, although Daria thought that "might" was more likely than "could." Then she thought about the Weasley twins. They reportedly had ways of smuggling illicit as well as licit things into school and she wouldn't be surprised if they might find selling Valentine's Day cards to be at least a marginally-profitable seasonal side-line.
"I think I might have a lead," she said.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
Author's notes: My apologies for the delay. I was finding it difficult to get back into the swing with Daria Ravenclaw and only found the inspiration to write this chapter.
I wrote this chapter to tide our heroine over from the start of the first phase of the Coalition attack on Iraq during the First Gulf War to just before Valentine's Day. As I was writing it, I came to realize that my view of Daria Lynn Morgendorffer (Black) had changed from canon. As I currently see it, the eleven year-old alternate-universe Daria is less cynical than her older canon counterpart, less jaded than MTV's Daria, but wary (and rightly so) of the idea of romance. She's still a first-year and won't turn twelve until April 9th.
I am also trying to cause this Harry Potter crossover to go in a somewhat different direction than it did in the canon Harry Potter story. To that end, I introduced another OC, a descendant of another character from another franchise, a forebear who was just about as unlike Harry Potter at his boarding school as you can get. I will leave guessing the forebear's identity as an intellectual challenge until I should write and post the next chapter.