Monday, 22 November 1976

Lena wanted to throw up. She had just gotten her exam back from Binns and received a T. All Lena wanted was to be alone. She couldn't go back to her dorm room. She had not spoken to Maggie and Ava since Friday and she did want them to see her cry. Lena had rushed to the second-floor girls bathroom. It was the only place that Lena could think out that could be empty. She figured it would be the best place to wallow in self pity and despair. It turns out the second-floor girls bathroom was not the best place to do that.

Lena stood in front of the mirror and sniffled. Her face was red and blotchy. She turned on the faucet and cupped her hands beneath it to splash water on her face.

"Why are you crying?" A young voice asked from out of nowhere.

"Holy shit!" Lena screamed. "Hi, Myrtle."

"So why are you crying? No friends."

Lena paused. She wasn't sure if she did have any friends at the moment. But, she wouldn't Moaning Myrtle know that though.

"I have friends."

"Then why are you crying? I was crying about Olive Hornby teasing me about my glasses when I died here."

"…Are you saying that I'm gonna die here?"

"No… well maybe. I'm just trying to relate to you."

Lena frowned. "Please don't relate to me about crying and death. That's the least comforting thing I can think of."

"Oh, so you think you're better than me?"

"No! I'm just not finding this conversation that comforting!"

"So what happened? Did someone dump you?"

"No."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"No."

"Did you fail?"

Lena took too long to deny it and Myrtle took the opportunity to run with it.

"You did! You did! You did," Myrtle chanting gleefully.

"Shut up, Myrtle."

"Let me guess you got a P! Oh no, a D!" Myrtle cackled.

Lena was fuming. She was clenching her hands into fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Shut up."

"Oh, it's worse isn't it. You got a T! You got a Troll! It makes sense, I suppose. Hufflepuffs have always had the most stupid students."

In that moment, all Lena could think about was everyone who called her stupid— Ivy Willams, her childhood classmates, teachers, Myrtle. She hates how much more time she put into her work than her other classmates died and she still did poorly. She hated that she was not talking to her friends. In a fit of rage, Lena looked at herself in the mirror and punched the mirror.

Lena was in too much pain to hear the door creak open as she screamed, "Oh, fuck!"

"So, why are we going to the second-floor girls bathroom?" Peter asked his friends as they huddled under James' invisibility cloak.

"Well, Padfoot and I want to dye everyone's skin purple—".

"So everyone looks like grapes," Sirius said, cutting James off.

"I'm sorry, why?"

"We're bored," James said simply.

"Anyways, I said the best way to do it would be to introduce the dye through the pipes," Remus explained.

"Now, be quiet. We need to sneak by McGonagall," Sirius said.

Peter made sure McGonagall was not looking in their direction as the door creaked open. Peter was utterly shocked to find his sister screaming "Oh, fuck" with shards of glass caught in her bloody hand.

Minerva McGonagall was standing outside second-floor girls bathroom when she heard "Oh, fuck" echo through the corridor. The Scottish professor turned around to find the bathroom door slowly closing. Her instincts to save people kicked in as she rushed to enter the bathroom.

McGonagall stared at the scene in front of her. The mirror Lena Pettigrew was standing in front of was smashed to pieces. In the center of the crack were traces of blood. Lena was standing with shock in her eyes as she clutched her bloody, glass-covered hand. Myrtle was floating in the air and laughing gleefully.

"Did you just punch the mirror?" McGonagall asked incredulously.

"No," Lena said hesitantly, "I just found it like that."

"Really?" McGonagall said doubtfully, "Then why is the glass stuck on your hands."

"Ummm…I tried to pick it up…"

"Lena, the glass is on your knuckles. No one picks up things with their knuckles."

"Fine! So I punched the mirror!" Lena exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "…But it's only because Myrtle possessed me!"

"I did not, you liar!" Myrtle retorted.

"Shut up, Myrtle," Lena cried. "Fine! She didn't so much possess me as provoke me!"

Minerva McGonagall sighed. She thought Peter was the Pettigrew that did idotic things, not Lena.

"And why, may I ask, did you punch the mirror, Miss Pettigrew?"

"It's because she's stupid!" Myrtle cackled.

"Myrtle, shut up! It's just… I got another exam back from Binns and… it didn't go well. I didn't handle it well," Lena said as her eyes watered.

"May I see the exam please?" McGonagall said kindly.

Lena sniffled as she passed McGonagall the paper.

"I got a T and I have already gotten a ton of P's and a handful of D's. I'm gonna get a P, maybe even a D, in this class if I can't pull a bunch of E's out of my arse. Fuck, sorry I said arse…and fuck. I should just drop out of Hogwarts. I'm not smart enough for this school."

To Lena's surprise, Minerva McGonagall pulled her into a hug. "Lena, you're a very intelligent woman and you belong at this school. Your dyslexia does not make you any less intelligent than other students."

McGonagall looked down at the exam in her hands. "And this exam is ridiculous. Anyone without dyslexia would struggle to read the Goblin names."

Lena snorted in reply, appreciating McGonagall's comment.

"Now, let's go have Madam Pomfrey fix you up."

James whipped off the invisibility cloak as soon as Lena and McGonagall left. "Wormtail, your sister just punched a mirror!"

Before Peter could say anything, Myrtle floated over and said, "It's because she's stupid."

Peter growled. "My sister is not stupid. She has dyslexia. That doesn't make her stupid."

"…Uh what is dyslexia?" Sirius asked.

"Basically, it makes letters and numbers jumbled and she has trouble reading."

"Why haven't you or her ever mentioned it before?" James asked.

"She's embarrassed about it and hates people knowing. Some of her old schoolmates who knew used to say shit like she couldn't read it or she was stupid."

"She's brilliant. She shouldn't be embarrassed," Remus said, frowning. He hated it when someone spoke ill of Lena or if Lena thought ill of herself.

"Yeah, I know. I've been telling her for years. Look, I'm gonna go check on her," Peter said.

"I'll come with you," Remus said, trying to hide his eagerness to see and comfort Lena.

"No. She's upset enough as it is and she'll only be more upset if she knew you all know."

Peter waited outside the Hufflepuff dormitory waiting for Lena to come back after visiting the Hospital Wing.

"Hey, Lena," Peter said as his sister appeared.

Her face was no longer red and blotchy but a light pink. Her brown eyes were bloodshot and tired. Her previously bloodied and glass-covered hand looked as it usually did, thanks to Madam Pomfrey's handy-work.

"Hey, Petey," Lena said in a small voice that was rather unlike her. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw what happened."

"Saw what happen?"

"I saw you punch the mirror and speak to McGonagall."

"What!? I was alone with her when it—"

"We were under the invisibility cloak."

"We?" Lena asked, emphasizing the single word. "You were with James, Sirius, and… Remus?"

"Yeah…" Peter trailed off, seeing the panic in his sister's eyes.

"They know?" Lena said, her eyes boring straight into his soul.

"They do, but they don't care."

"But I do."