The Houses Competition - Round 3
House: Ravenclaw
Class: Charms
Category: Drabble
Prompt: (Song lyric) "Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark/Show me the places where
the others gave you scars" from Willow by Taylor Swift
Word Count: 999
AN: With a song called Willow, how could I fail to use the Whomping Willow? Warning for child-friendly discussion about scars and judging others.
Hogwarts Competition - Assignment #7
Ravenclaw
Care of Magical Creatures: Bowtruckles
Task #2 Write about someone at home in nature.
Word Count: 999
Rosie Longbottom loved her home. She lived in a huge castle in Scotland with her papa, the Herbology professor. Mummy would have lived with them too, but she died when Rosie was little. So it was just them two will all of Hogwarts to explore.
Rosie's favourite part of living there wasn't being friends with the headmistress (whom she was sure was actually a queen, living in a castle and all). It wasn't seeing a gazillion students. And it wasn't even the special hot chocolate from the house-elves.
No. The most special part for Rosie wasn't in the castle at all. It was the many plants and animals that called it home. There were unicorns, owls, and even thestrals who gave fun rides. Rosie imagined the invisible horses must be extra pretty with their huge silky wings, but she couldn't see them until she was older. Hogwarts even had a murtlap family living edge of Black Lake. The babies loved to play with her hair when she visited, and the mummy had lots of scratches. It reminded her of the marks most of the teachers had. Papa said they were scars from a war long ago. He didn't like talking about them though. No one did.
If Rosie liked animals, she loved plants! Every day, Papa let her come to the greenhouses to sing to the plants. He said singing helped them to grow strong, so she never missed a trip.
She sang while he worked with flowers, and the baby mandrakes loved Rock-a-bye Baby even if the earmuffs made singing hard. Devil's Snare loved sleeping to her lullabies, and whenever Papa took her near the forest, she sang about the ginormous trees. Rosie loved singing to plants.
She had many furry and leafy friends to keep her company, and Rosie couldn't be happier… mostly.
"What about that tree over there, Papa? She needs love too!" Rosie had asked one day, pointing to a tree all by itself.
"That's the Whomping Willow, Rosie." Papa bent down to her level. "I love that you want to make friends with everything. You're a lot like your mum that way, but I need you to stay away from that tree for me, okay? That tree could hurt you very badly if you got too close. Understand?"
Rosie didn't understand but nodded anyway. After being told she wasn't to get close to Whomp, she couldn't get the sad tree out of her mind. Every time it hit the ground with its long branches, she thought about the times when she would get so overwhelmed that talking was hard. Sometimes, the only way to be heard was to lash out.
To make things worse, some of the students were mean to Whomp. They dared each other to get close to the pretty tree and sent hexes at the trunk. Couldn't they see they were making Whomp upset? How would they like it if someone did that to them?
Finally, Rosie couldn't stand it anymore. Guilt ate at her for not helping. So one night, as Papa snored away in his bed, she slipped away to say sorry and sing Whomp a song.
Things looked terribly different at night; Rosie had almost changed her mind when a silky soft weight landed on her shoulders. It was a thestral!
"I can't go for a ride now," she told it, hugging a long leg close. "I'm going to visit Whomp. D'ya want to come with me?"
The long nose of her friend nuzzled at her hair and gave her courage.
Whomp was hitting the ground when they arrived at the hill, and big holes were left wherever the big branches landed. Before coming closer, Rosie began to sing. From the light of the moon, she saw the scars where students' wands had cut into Whomp. Tears welled in her eyes, and her usual song about ginormous trees changed to one about hurts and the magic of kisses.
Slowly, the crashing limbs calmed until finally, Rosie and the thestral could climb the hill.
"Don't worry, Whomp. I'm not gonna hurt you. You're safe. Ouch, they really cut deep, didn't they?" Rosie crooned, looking closer. It was too dark to see much, but she could tell that Whomp had lots of scars like the grown-ups. She hated that students made more. Moving slowly, she scooted near enough to reach a mark in the bark. "Can I kiss it better?" she asked before doing just that. Suddenly, one of the massive branches moved…
And scooped her up so that she could reach other hurts, big and small. After she had done all she could, Rosie resumed singing, safe in the bough of the tree. She sang and sang until, with a yawn, she fell asleep.
"Rosaline Longbottom!" Papa's voice roared. "You come here right this instant!"
With a thump, Rosie rolled into the grass, confused until she saw the tree. "Thanks, Whomp!" she cried, patting the branch that had been her bed.
"Accio Rosie's pyjamas!"
Suddenly, Rosie was jerked into the air, flying towards Papa.
"Wheeee!"
"Where's it hurt?" he demanded.
"Silly, I'm not hurt. Whomp's got lots of scratches though. She needs help!"
"That tree could've killed you! Half the marks are from its victims in the war!"
"That doesn't make Whomp bad! You and Queen Minnie have scars. Are you bad? All Whomp wants is a hug and love. All night, I slept in her soft leaves. Does that sound like a meanie?"
One of the more whip-like branches crept closer, almost as if it were reaching for the arguing duo. Rosie bent down to pet it and pointed to a burn mark in the wood.
"Is this how good plants should be treated?"
Papa sighed. "No, dearest. You're right. Tell you what. Let's get my care kit, and you can sing while I fix up your friend?"
"Yay!"
"One condition though: you're not to get too close without me present."
The tree and Rose quivered in delight.