Chapter 38
Saturday, September 5, 1992-Ravenclaw fourth-year girls' dormitory, Ravenclaw Tower, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Somewhere in Scotland
Things were strange for the fourth-year Ravenclaw girls before Patricia grew a tail. Patricia's fourth-year Ancient Runes had been replaced with third-year Divination on her timetable, leading to a comedy of anger that somehow resulted in Professor Lockhart's blond curls being turned into bright pink flamingo feathers and Marcus Flint getting a week's detention with Professor Sinistra. While that was going on, Violet had gotten a letter written on an oversized oak leaf and delivered by a white raven. Seconds after she finished reading it she'd turned as pale as one of the ghosts and Grace and Noe had needed to take her to Madam Pomfrey for a Calming Draught. Then Noe got her own letter that caused her to be so much more withdrawn than normal that a fifth-year boy nearly sat on her in the common room because he didn't see her in the chair. The only one of the girls who was still functioning close to normal for the first week of school was Grace, and she was getting sick and tired of making sure that her roommates made it to class on time and didn't hex anyone.
Then Patricia came back to Ravenclaw Tower with a tail. It was black, fluffy and very distracting when it was visible. Patricia was not happy.
"I can't get rid of it." Patricia's tail lashed furiously across the surface of her bed, unhampered by her two-piece pyjamas. "Professor McGonagall says it's a good sign that I'm ready to start preparing for a full transformation, but I can't get rid of it."
"No one will see it when you have robes on," Grace said, trying to calm her friend down before someone else ended up with feathers for hair.
Patricia scowled. "But everyone will notice when it doesn't stop wagging." As if to prove her point, her tail came around her body and hit her elbow. Her scowl deepened and her tail wagged even faster.
"You're starting to look like Snape." Grace looked at her other two roommates. "Doesn't she?"
Violet made a non-committal sound and shrugged, still looking out the window. If Noe made any noise it was too quiet for Grace to hear, but she was at least looking up from her book.
Grace narrowed her eyes. This was getting ridiculous. She picked up her wand from her nightstand and gave it a sharp wave that always created a sound like a firecracker going off. The three other girls looked at her with wide eyes.
"I've just about had enough of all of you! Patricia, you know that Professor Flitwick is getting your classes fixed so stop being such a git!" Grace rounded on Noe and Violet. "And you! Stop moping and tell us what's wrong so we can fix it! We're your friends, damn it! Talk to us!"
Grace gave them a minute to process what she had said. Just a minute, while she tapped her foot impatiently and glared at all of them.
Patricia was the first to break. Her entire body seemed to sag into her bed. Even her tail was drooping. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Bad week."
"We know that," Grace said. "Just don't take it out on your friends next time."
Patricia nodded. Grace decided not to mention that her ears were now furry, pointed, and positioned on the top of her head. That was a problem to deal with when Patricia wouldn't be easily prodded back into practically breathing fire.
Noe was next. She put her book aside and pulled her knees up to her chin. "My parents want to move back to Japan."
Grace, Patricia, and Violet stared at her. "What?" Patricia exclaimed. "Why?"
Noe shrugged. "They don't think I'm being intellectually challenged. Mahoutokoro is a better school than Hogwarts, but I think they actually want to go back because Chichi hasn't had a job for a year and Haha's job doesn't pay enough for us to keep our house." ('Chichi' and 'haha' meant 'father' and 'mother' in Japanese, respectively. The other girls had learned that a long time ago.)
"What!" Grace said. "I thought your dad was working at the Ministry."
Noe shook her head. "He got replaced by someone named Bulstrode." Never mind that he'd been in that job for fifteen years, only ever missed one day of work (when Noe was born), was well-liked by his coworkers, and had the best performance in his department (Department of International Magical Cooperation, International Magical Office of Law). He wasn't a British pureblood, so he could be kicked out as soon as a new pureblooded Hogwarts graduate wanted his job. And with being fired from the Ministry of Magic on his record he wouldn't be able to find anyone else to hire him unless he went into Knockturn Alley.
Patricia was making sounds that Grace was fairly certain were swear words in Mermish and her tail was lashing back and forth again. Nothing was growing feathers though, so Grace decided to let her be. She would be doing the same if she had a tail and knew Mermish.
"How can we help?" Grace asked.
Noe looked downcast. "I don't think you can."
Patricia stopped swearing and glared. "Nonsense! We drove a teacher out of the school, we can...we can...do something!"
Violet made her first contribution to the conversation. "Are they just thinking about it or have they made plans?"
"No plans yet," Noe said. "They want all of us to decide over Christmas."
Patricia sighed. "So we have time. We'll figure something out, we're Ravenclaws."
Well, a statement like that means quite a lot at Hogwarts. With Noe's problem as good as solved, she, Patricia, and Grace turned to look at Violet.
"Vi?" Grace asked. "The letter?"
Violet took a deep breath. "From my dad."
Patricia frowned and rubbed her forehead. "Now I'm confused. Are we talking about the letter on a leaf?"
Grace raised an eyebrow. "You actually noticed that?"
"It was a giant leaf being carried by a white raven. Who wouldn't notice that?" Patricia looked back at Violet. "That letter was from your dad?"
"Er, my real dad," Violet said.
The third-year and fifth-year Ravenclaw girls could be forgiven for thinking that one of the fourth-year girls had set their room on fire. They all decided not to worry when the screaming stopped after a few seconds.
Noe was wide-eyed and silent and Patricia seemed unable to speak in anything but Mermish, so Grace asked the question that all of them wanted to know the answer too. "What do you mean your real dad?"
"I mean that my stepdad lets me use his name because he's a second son and has three nephews so there's no way I'll inherit but my mum was pregnant with me before they met," Violet said quickly.
Patricia wrestled her mind back into English. "So, who is your dad?"
Violet told them.
"Oh," Grace said, very quietly. "Why'd he write to you?"
"He wants to meet me," Violet said.
"Oh," Patricia said. "Do you want to meet him?"
Violet hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Then you should talk to the Headmaster," Patricia said. Grace and Noe agreed.
"I...I guess so." Violet looked properly at Patricia for the first time that night. Her eyes widened. "Why do you have a tail? And cat ears?"
"I thought those were fox ears," Noe said.
Grace shook her head. "I'm pretty sure they're from some kind of dog. They emote."
"What?!" Patricia felt around the top of her head until she grabbed one of her ears. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Letter received by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore on Wednesday, September 23, 1992, written on an oak leaf and delivered via white raven
Albus
Expect my arrival on All Hallows' Eve.
H