Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl Chapter 52: March
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 don't own either franchise. This work is written for amusement and ego gratification, not for profit. If you like it, consider writing a positive review.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
The war in Iraq was over by the end of February, at least for Britain and the United States. Daria was greatly relieved: she'd continued to have more visions while the war was going on. Her visions stopped when the shooting did. Even so, Daria continued to have nightmares off and on for a couple of weeks afterwards.
In the meantime, she'd heard back from her parents and from the Fink-Nottles. Her Dad and Mom were still doing fine and they missed her. Her Mom said that she was getting along with her work and that she was working to get certified for federal cases. Her Dad said that he was taking correspondence classes on marketing and that he was taking cooking classes. Daria smiled when she read that: if Dad got better with cooking, they wouldn't have to order so much of Highland's horrible take-out food.
Her sisters also sent letters. Quinn said that she was doing well with schools and was keeping busy. Daria smiled and wondered about Quinn's schoolwork: she suspected that Quinn was busier with making friends and being popular than with studying. Ronnie said that she missed her and that she wished that she was able to come back for Easter, causing Daria's eyes to tear up. She realized that Ronnie was only a kindergartner, but hoped that she had a better attitude than Quinn did when it came to studying. Ronnie also said that she was doing some exploring, which made her start to worry: their house on River Run Cove was in a safer part of town than Whirlwind Drive, but there were still rattlesnakes and also coyotes, not to mention two-legged predators.
She then opened the Fink-Nottles' letter. Yes, they were staying in town during the Easter holidays and that she'd be welcome to stay with them as a house guest. Daria gave a sigh of relief: she'd be able to take a long-overdue break from the Wizarding World.
Daria had returned to Potions Class even before the Gulf War had ended, running on Calming Potion and a determination to keep going and not get distracted even as the occasional scene of shock, explosions and fear tried to distract her. Her second wartime potion was not one of her better ones: she struggled to keep her attention focused and had to let her lab partner Tabitha do the timing. At the end of it, they brought their potions up to Professor Snape, who looked at their samples, marked an "A" on his parchment, then waved them along.
"I think we passed," Daria said in wonder. "I'm surprised."
"I think we did," said Tabitha. "We held it together and we got it done."
"Goin' to the Library after this?" asked Tabitha.
"Yeah," said Daria. "I need to research for that essay we're supposed to produce for Professor Sprout's class next week. She's pretty easy-going but she likes it when you put in at least a little work."
The girls walked into the library and, after a little direction from Madam Pince and a Seventh-Year student acting as an assistant librarian, set to reading about the uses and life-cycles of a couple of plants commonly found in the southern part of the UK.
Daria smirked as she read through the description of an herb called a Pixie's Heart, a plant described as being commonplace near riverbanks and the edges of marshy areas. The author said that it tended to grow well, was easy to care for, and that the only major concern for the witch or herbalist between planting and harvesting it was the necessity of weeding around it. I suppose it's true around here, she thought, but plants like Pixie's Heart would have a hard time coping with the dry heat and sparse rainfall common to most of West Texas. Some river bottoms might be moist for a few days or even a week or so after spring rain, but would be baked dry by early July.
"Agonywilt," she muttered.
"Pardon?" said Tabitha.
"Sorry," said Daria. "I'm thinking about what would happen to a Pixie's Heart back in Highland without a lot of love and care. It would be dead in a couple of days."
Tabitha chuckled. Daria had told her about the weather in her part of Texas. Hot and dry much of the year, although it could be windy, too. She couldn't imagine living out there.
-(((O-O)))—
During the second week of March, Daria got distracted by an article in The Daily Prophet. A Celtic witch, her Roman husband, and their children materialized in a small English market town's High Street. The Prophet, true to form, resolutely ignored the cause for the Romano-British family's leaving their time and place, preferring to concentrate on the details of the family's arrival in a much-changed Britain nearly seventeen centuries later and bystanders' reactions. Daria knew little about Roman history but suspected that either the husband or his relatives had found themselves on the wrong side of some political quarrel and that he or his wife tried some ritual to escape their pursuers. Well, they'd succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Daria tried to imagine the local coppers trying to question the new arrivals and giggled. She then wondered if she'd be seeing some of their kids at Hogwarts in a year or two. Or would they go to someplace in Italy? Who knew?
-(((O-O)))-
After Potions Class, Daria got hailed by someone unexpected. "Oh, Daria, can I talk to you?" said Julia Darling.
That was unusual. Daria couldn't think of any reason why Darling would want to talk to her. Despite the fact that she was coming to enjoy potion-making, she knew that she wasn't one of her class's outstanding potion-makers. Nor were she and Darling particularly close: they knew of each other but had different friends. She wondered what the Slytherin girl wanted.
"I'm busy right now but I should be eating lunch in the Great Hall about 12:30," said Daria. "Meet me at the Ravenclaw table?"
"All right, I'll see you then," Julia replied.
"I wonder what she wants?" said Tabitha.
"I don't know, but if she wants to watch me do some trick shooting with western six-shooters, she's liable to be disappointed," said Daria. "I left them at home."
"Do you own any six-shooters?" said Tabitha.
"No," said Daria, "and I don't plan to buy one. It would be too dangerous to keep them in the house. Guns and small children can be a dangerous mix. One of my sisters is ten and the other is five."
Daria was seated at the Ravenclaw table when Julia walked over and greeted her an hour and a half later. Dahlia and Anahita looked at her and grinned. They'd had very little to do with Julia outside of classes.
"Excuse me," said Daria, rising. "I said that I'd talk to her."
"Is this private or public?" she asked Julia.
Julia looked around. "It's a little private," she said.
Daria motioned for her to follow, then walked down a couple of benches. "Good enough?" she said.
"It should do," Julia replied. The girls sat down. "You're from Texas, right?"
"I am," said Daria.
"The reason I'm asking is that my Mum might be doing some filming there this summer for a television program," said Julia.
"I should warn you in advance that Texas is a very big place and that Highland is out in the boondocks," said Daria. "So if your Mom is filming in Dallas or San Antonio, we're not likely to see each other."
"No, my Mum said that if she does do some filming, it will be out in West Texas someplace," said Julia.
"You know, there's a lot of West Texas, too," said Daria.
"I didn't know," said Julia. "Mum didn't say just where she'd be filming."
"Well, if you do end up in Highland, you're welcome to visit, but don't expect high culture, great conversation or gourmet cuisine," said Daria. Especially not with Dad's cooking. "Also, I'm not going to be using magic that much this summer. My parents and sisters are Muggles and I don't want to tick off the Aurors or the Bureau of Human Services."
"The Bureau of what?" said Julia.
"It's one of the MACUSA's social agencies," said Daria.
"Oh," said Julia.
"But if we are in Highland, I promise to look you up," said Julia.
Daria wondered if she would. Well, we shall see, she thought.
-(((O-O)))—
Daria grew anxious as the start of the Easter holiday drew nearer. She asked Cuthbert what sort of arrangements his parents had made for picking them up at King's Cross, but Cuthbert replied that they hadn't told him yet except that they'd pick him up at King's Cross. Daria supposed that they'd be taking another train to another town after they arrived in London. She suspected that they'd also have to change stations and wondered which one they'd be using when they left for the Fink-Nottles' new house. There was nothing to be done except to wait for Cuthbert or his parents to fill in the details.
Cuthbert caught her at dinner and filled her in on some of the details. The Fink-Nottles were now living in a small town close to Birmingham. The Fink-Nottles would meet them when they got off the train at King's Cross, then they'd go over to Euston Station and catch another train there. Daria was learning that this was the typical sort of roundabout travel that Muggleborn students had to make at the start and end of term as well as for holiday break. Oh, well, she thought. At least it got her out of the castle.
She wondered what it would be like staying with the Fink-Nottles. It wouldn't be a long visit: Easter break was a little over a week long, starting just before Palm Sunday and ending just after Easter. There was also the matter of dealing with the Fink-Nottles themselves. She liked Mr. Fink-Nottle, but Mrs. Fink-Nottle was more stand-offish. Also, she had a harder time keeping up with Cuthbert's enthusiasms. She hoped she was up to it, or at least up to being a good sport.