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Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 1312

Hogwarts Assignment 6 - Notable Witches and Wizards, Task 4. Write about a muggleborn receiving prejudice or hate. (Colin Creevey)

Warning - Bullying

Heart Of A Lion

Colin was excited.

The word seemed inadequate for the emotions inside of him, but he didn't have any other words for how he was feeling. He was practically vibrating with eagerness to just go already, because he wanted to begin his adventure.

Magic school.

He sometimes still wondered if he should pinch himself to see if this was all a dream, but he'd done so repeatedly on the day that the lady—Professor he should say—came to his house in a lime green witches hat and told him and his dad that Colin had been accepted into Hogwarts.

Professor Sprout had been lovely, and she'd told him all about Hogwarts, where she was the head of Hufflepuff House. Colin thought Hufflepuff sounded like a good house—fair, and just and loyal. Who didn't want to be those things?

He really liked yellow, too.

"Come on then," his dad said, nodding at the door. "Do you need help getting your trunk into the car?"

Colin shook his head and opened the front door, tugging his trunk out behind him. It was huge, and heavy, and the floor was slippery from the rain, but he persevered with it, dragging it down the pathway to where their car was parked. His dad opened the boot and stood patiently to the side as Colin tried to lift the trunk into the boot of the car.

Until, "Uh. I think… I can't lift it, Dad?"

Laughing, his dad hefted the trunk into the boot of the car and closed it, nodding to the car. "Are you going to sit in the back with Dennis on the way?"

Colin nodded immediately. "Sure, Dad. He's… he'll be okay, right? Without me, I mean?"

"He'll be fine," his dad promised, clapping him on the shoulder. "Get in the car, I'll go and get him. He's sulking in his bedroom."

Colin sighed but nodded, climbing into the back seat. He worried about his little brother. Dennis had been so quiet this summer, just waiting for Colin to leave. It was awful, and more than once, Colin had asked their Dad if he should stay home.

He startled slightly when the door opened and Dennis climbed into the seat beside him, as their dad got into the driver's seat. Dennis strapped himself in and then looked at Colin mournfully.

"You okay, Den?"

His little brother nodded, and Colin sighed.

"You're gonna be just fine, you know? And I'll send you loads of pictures, I promise. I'll write all the time, and I'll be home before you know it!"

Dennis just nodded again, and Colin bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from telling his little brother off. The last thing he wanted was to go to school with Dennis angry at him.

"You'll be fine," he repeated for lack of anything else to say. He reached out for Dennis' hand, and was a little gratified when Dennis clung to him immediately.

They didn't talk again, and Colin watched the streets he'd grown up on fade away. It would be a while until he saw them again.

…

The Hogwarts Express was amazing. If this was just the train, then Colin couldn't even begin to think about what the actual school would be like. A little woman had just been by Colin's compartment with a trolley, offering up chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties, and Colin hadn't known what to get for the best.

The doors opened again, and Colin perked up, hoping it was other first years for him to talk too. He'd been hoping for company, and had wondered about trailing the corridor of the train himself, but he hadn't wanted to be a bother.

Standing in the doorway to his compartment were three older boys, each of them donning ties in green and silver, the colours of Slytherin House. Colin had made sure to memorise all of the details like that from Hogwarts A History, since he was hoping to have things to talk to people about.

The middle boy was the shortest, and his light blond hair was slicked back against his skull. It seemed to shine in the glare of the overhead lights. The other two boys were larger set and looked quite… grumpy.

"Who are you?" the blond boy asked, rather rudely in Colin's opinion. Something about the way he was looking at Colin made him uncomfortable.

"Colin Creevey," Colin answered, holding his hand out to shake.

The boy wrinkled his nose and looked down at Colin's hand as though it were covered in dirt. Colin pulled his hand back in, unsure.

"Ew. Mudblood. Well, get out, we need this compartment."

"But…. I was here first," Colin said, leaning back against the wall.

"And you've already stunk it up quite enough," the boy agreed. "You'll learn that Muggle-Borns are second class citizens at Hogwarts—you might as well get used to it now."

Colin wilted, but before he could stand up, one of the larger boys moved into the compartment and tugged on his arm, pulling him from his seat. He was shoved forcibly from the compartment, and the door was closed firmly in his face.

He bit his lip hard to try and quell the tears threatening to fall. For the first time since meeting Professor Sprout, Colin began to doubt his excitement.

Maybe he didn't belong here, either.

He'd often gone unnoticed in school back home, but it had always been fine because Dennis was there to keep him company. He'd hoped it would change at Hogwarts but…

Maybe being unnoticed was for the best.

He walked away from the compartment, until he found a quiet bit of corridor and then sunk down to the floor, making himself as small as possible as he leant back against the wall.

He'd hoped that going to Hogwarts would help him feel like he finally belonged somewhere, but he doubted that now.

He didn't belong here after all.

…

Colin sat on the stool, wondering who to speak to about going home. He didn't want to be here, no matter the talking portraits or the ghosts or the magic.

He wanted to go home.

A hat was placed on his head, falling down to cover his eyes. Colin almost jumped out of his skin when the hat talked to him.

"You are not ready to go home, Mr Creevey," the hat said.

Colin scowled. I am, I am, I am, he thought back fiercely.

"You're not," the hat disagreed. "You are…. You are meant to be here. This is where you will stay. Those boys you faced today, they are not an example of the majority of the people you will meet at Hogwarts."

I don't care, Colin thought, though he knew he sounded petulant now. I want… I want to go home. To my dad, and Dennis, and to people that won't be mean to me for something I can't help!

"Muggle children can be as cruel as wizard children," the hat argued. "And I believe you are aware of that, Mr Creevey. I see every thought you've ever had. I see how protective you are of Dennis, how brave you can be in your defence of him. You have the heart of a lion. I believe that the colours on your tie, can only be those of GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted to the hall, and as the hat was removed, Colin looked down to see his tie was now striped red and gold.

He glanced at the Hufflepuff table before he turned to that which was cheering and clapping up a storm.

Well. At least he wasn't in the same house as those horrible boys. Maybe… maybe he could stay. Even if it was only for a little while.

His dad hadn't raised him to quit so easily and, well, he had promised Dennis some photos.

Written for:

Showtime - 12. Doubt

Scamander - 8. Someone who often goes unnoticed.

Film Festival - 9. Lime Green

Funfair - Decoration - Hanging Decoration, 1. Witch - Uncomfortable

Galleon - Hogwarts Express

Trick or Treat - Treat - Banana - Slippery

Masque - Glitter - 5. School Tie

Pumpkin Toss - Medium - Pumpkin Pasties

365. 278. Shine