To those who celebrate, hope everyone had a good Christmas!
Chapter III: The "Caged" Thespian
The first week of November brought with it the first signs of winter. Due to this, many students took the opportunity to enjoy the relative comfort of the outdoors before the chill of winter set in.
Vaughn and Giuliana were among those students, sitting on some rocks near the edge of the Great Lake. Both of them had brought out some personal items; for Giuliana, her pleasure reading and Vaughn his diary. The potions they had brewed had helped them finish loads of homework for the future, allowing them to focus on relaxing. Giuliana had taken the time to check out a bunch of pleasure reading from the library, while Vaughn jotted down new ideas in his diary. He was currently trying to figure out how to shorten the length of the migraine that followed consumption of the potion. It would also help to shorten the effect period of the potion, but that was for an idea he wasn't quite ready to share with Giuliana. On another page were different names he was thinking of naming the potion, though none seemed promising.
Around them, students were gathered in groups. Houses didn't seem to matter to most of them, as Vaughn observed Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and Slytherins coexisting peacefully. Some Gryffindors intermingled, but as usual, they tended to stay amongst their own pride. Either that or taunting other students, as the infamous Weasley twins were known to do. Vaughn had learned early on to stay away from them and whatever "joke" they had concocted that week. Vaughn had heard that the Weasley family lived in a giant shoe, but wasn't sure of the veracity of that claim. It had come from Draco after all.
Down by the Great Lake's was the largest gathering of students, a mix of students from all Years and Houses, though the center of attention was on the Seventh Years. Surrounding them, their audience was shouting and cheering for the main event.
SQUID BAIT!
SQUID BAIT!
SQUID BAIT!
Squid Bait. An annual tradition at Hogwarts. Vaughn thought it a silly one, but that's how many traditions were he supposed. It began as a dare to see who was brave enough to stay in the Great Lake the longest with the Giant Squid lurking about, supposedly a horror of the deep. Unfortunately for the creator's intentions, the Giant Squid was very friendly and seemed concerned for the students. Instead of dragging them down to their watery doom, the Giant Squid used its tentacles to place students back on land. The game had then morphed into the annual tradition of Seventh Years rushing into the water the first week of November.
A remnant of the original game remained however. If the Squid grabbed a student and lifted them back to shore, that student was declared "Squid Lord" and given a faux gold crown with a squid on it, turning them into a bit of a celebrity at Hogwarts. The last Squid Lord had been crowned five years ago and many in Hogwarts were eagerly awaiting a new one.
While technically Fifth and Sixth Years were allowed to participate, the Seventh years typically gave them a hard time and if any of them did join they tended to be separate from the group. This was the Seventh Years show, a rite of passage before graduation for many of the students. Last one remaining in the water "won." As they prepared to enter the lake, Vaughn watched as the male students stripped off their shirts, laughing and playing along with the crowd's jeers.
Vaughn couldn't keep his eyes off the older boys, though he tried hard to not look suspicious. His eyes were drawn particularly to a Seventh Year Gryffindor with blonde hair and nice abs. Vaughn did his best to keep his eyes downwards as he tried to understand how to distil Toadstools and Frog Brains better and why he felt the way he felt while looking at the half nude Seventh Years boys.
Before long, the older students had charged into the water, forty or so in total. Two of them immediately left the freezing water, a pair of Ravenclaws, as the crowd cheered or cried out in disappointment depending on their House loyalty.
Vaughn was distracted again by a voice calling out for them. Looking in front of him, Vaughn saw his friend – really Giuliana's friend if he was being honest – rushing towards them. Giuliana gasped in excitement when she saw her and slid down the rock. "Lisa!" Giuliana shouted, rushing over to meet and hug her. Vaughn offered her a wave as they walked back to him.
"Hey Lisa." Vaughn offered, not bothering to get down off his rock. Lisa didn't seem to mind, instead climbing up the rocks gracefully to join him as Giuliana retook her position.
Lisa Turpin. Half-Blood and Third Year Ravenclaw. Giuliana and him had met her second year in class and had begun to bond. This year, they shared Charms, Astronomy, and Herbology with the Ravenclaws and Lisa had a habit of sitting next to them so she could talk to Giuliana and occasionally Vaughn. She was nice, though the two of them weren't close. Vaughn did know that her wizard father had a decent job in the Department of Magical Transportation's Portkey Office while her Muggle mother was a stage actress. Vaughn hadn't been certain of what that meant, and when he asked his father, he learned that it carried certain "negative connotations." When he told Giuliana about this, she had been livid.
'That is not true at all! Absolute rubbish! And it's not like your father is always an authentic source! Remember when he told us he had diadem of Zorya the Evening Star in your family vault at Gringotts? Rubbish!'
But perhaps the most noteworthy feature on Lisa was the modified pixie dust she placed on her black and blue robes. The dust on her robe's arms and chest sparkled soft colors in the light, and Lisa liked to claim they changed to reflect her mood. Originally, Lisa had the dust placed on her shoulder, but some older Gryffindor girls had mocked her and said she had pixie dandruff. Unlike ordinary students who might be deterred, Lisa simply switched the dust's location. Vaughn admired that courage.
"Well, I just came from the most, absolute, complete nightmare of a faculty meeting!" Lisa exclaimed, throwing down her school bag and plopping down on a rock in front of Giuliana and Vaughn.
'Flair for the dramatics, as always.' Vaughn thought.
"Oh no! What happened?" Giuliana asked, feeding into the Lisa show.
"Well, as you know, I have been trying to get this drama club off the ground completely by myself!" Lisa said, working herself up into a frenzy. Her arms had a habit of flailing when she spoke, causing the dust to glisten every direction. "And of course, I wanted everything to be above board. So, obviously, the first thing I thought I should do was to go and speak with Professor Flitwick! But of course, I suddenly couldn't get a meeting with him!"
"Obviously a conspiracy afoot." Vaughn muttered.
"Why is that?!" Giuliana said, swatting Vaughn's leg while Lisa looked away.
"Well, he says," Lisa began, voice soaked with suspicion. "It's because he had to meet with Sixth Year students who were upset with their O.W.L. scores, but that sounds like rubbish! He's the Head of Ravenclaw and he's always told us we can come to him whenever. And he doesn't even grade the O.W.L. exams! But now, suddenly, the one time, the one time, I need something from him and suddenly he's nowhere to be seen! Nowhere to be heard from!"
'You see him in Charms class.' Vaughn thought. 'Why not just talk to him after?'
"So, I got upset, naturally, and did what I always do when I get upset. Sing a portion of my favorite song, Stairway to Heaven by the exquisite, extra-ordinary band, Led Zeppelin."
Vaughn and Giuliana sat there puzzled by what she had just said. They exchanged a look of 'probably a Muggle thing' and returned attention to Lisa, only to be horrified to find that she had begun to sing said ballad. And quite loudly. The students down by the lake looked up at them curiously, murmuring with smiles among themselves while the two Slytherins could only smile awkwardly back and wait until Lisa finished.
Finally, it ended and Lisa took a deep breath, eyes closed, and silent for a moment. Then she continued. "So, with that in mind, I made another appointment, scheduled for today."
"Well, that's fantastic." Giuliana offered, recovering a bit from the impromptu song.
"Well I thought so too! Until I got there and listened to Professor Flitwick go on and on and on about how we couldn't pull a drama department together! He said there weren't enough students! He said there wasn't enough interest to get a department together! He said there wasn't the funds for the department! Well, if this school can pay out the rump for Quidditch and buying the Slytherin team Nimbus 2001s then why can't it spend a single sterling on theater?!"
Again, Vaughn and Giuliana were silent. How did Lisa not know that Draco Malfoy's father had paid for the Nimbus'? Draco had been quite loud about that fact. And what in bloody hell was a sterling?
"Ah well. I shant expect anything less! Mum always said that school never gives money to the arts. The people who run it are too stodgy and uncultured!" Lisa shouted, turning her eyes to the heavens, arms raised up. The pixie dust on her robes was emitting a soft red hew. "Is this how I begin my great stage career?! Stymied at every turn by stodgy Heads of Houses and a school with a horrendous song like Hoggy Warty Hogwarts!?"
Both Slytherins chuckled at that. It really was a bad song. "Well, that sounds horrible, Lisa." Giuliana comforted. "So, Flitwick didn't like anything you said?"
"Oh no, he actually quite liked the choir idea." Lisa huffed. "But that wasn't my idea, just something he came up with. Said it was an idea he's had for a long time, whatever that means."
"Well there you go!" Giuliana encouraged, looking excited at the idea of a school choir. "Maybe you could join if he gets it up and running. You could be the star there!"
"I mean… obviously." Lisa replied, smiling at the thought. "Mum got her start in her secondary school's choir. I could as well. And Professor Flitwick did seem very taken with the idea. So, I guess I'll organize that club! Naturally, both of you will have to join of course!"
"I would love too!" Giuliana exclaimed. Vaughn remained silent. He had never sung for a crowd, but he doubted he'd do it well. A pang of jealously erupted as he imagined the two girls having fun without him.
"Well what about your drama club? You weren't asking for a department, just a club." Vaughn said. "That should take care of the funding issue."
"You need a professor to oversee things. Professor Flitwick could have done it, but I'm sure he'll be more committed to the choir idea. I mean, who else could I ask? Professor McGonagall? Professor Snape?! The man is so drab I could only put on tragedies and even then, he'd still hate them!"
"You could always do it secretly. Or just say it's not a club but have people come join. There's plenty of free rooms in the castle you could use." Vaughn proposed.
"Secretly? Like you two and your potion brewing?" Lisa asked, a knowing look on her face now. Vaughn felt his jaw tighten and he spun his head towards Giuliana. She looked back sheepishly.
"I might have mentioned something to her." Giuliana admitted.
"Oh, I think it's brilliant!" Lisa complimented, placing a hand on Vaughn's arm as she leaned in, her lips inches from his ear. "And your potion is brilliant too." She whispered.
"You gave her the potion?!" Vaughn hissed at Giuliana.
"We weren't using it. And I still have two more, you have three! And she won't tell anyone, will she?" Giuliana asked.
"Absolutely not!" Lisa assured, pulling away from Vaughn. "A performer should never give away her secrets. I'm just glad it helped so much with the work. I got so much done that I can focus on getting the choir up and running. So many flyers to make, so many people to invite! And the auditions! What a nightmare that'll be! Oh, and I can focus on making a drama club for you too, Vaughn. I would love to do Macbeth. It has witches and magic in it, betrayal, tragedy, emotions! Everything for a good play."
"That sounds marvelous! I loved reading it." Giuliana remarked, bringing up the gift Lisa had just given her for her fourteenth birthday. She really had loved it, in particular the three witches who taunted Macbeth with predictions of the future. It had hurt that Vaughn's own book gift, Magical Beast and Beings of North America, had been less well received. Giuliana had commented on her desire to visit America often enough, but apparently not enough to want to read a book about it. She had been nice about it and gave all the proper remarks, which caused Vaughn to laugh and lie, saying it was a cover until her real gift came. What followed was an expertly carved stand for a crystal ball, which Giuliana had loved as much as Macbeth. Hopefully his parents didn't keep tabs on how little monthly allowance he had left.
"I'm so glad! You could play one of the witches if you want too!" Lisa said. "Only problem is that a lot of the parts go to boys. Such is the way of Shakespeare. But, I could easily change some of the boy parts to girl parts. It's not as though any witch or wizard would know!" She laughed at that and then rose from the rock. "I'm off to begin plans for the choir club! And then afterwards, to continue my quest for to bring some culture to this school! Oh, I should make sure Professor Flitwick actually wants to do the choir. Adieu!"
Like a fairy out of a story, Lisa skipped away, her robes flashing colors of pink and white. "She is so bizarre. I love her." Giuliana commented. "So much energy, and she never seems to calm down."
"We could make her a Calming Draught." Vaughn proposed.
Giuliana looked at him, eyes narrowed. "We won't learn how to make that until next year. Besides, I think that Lisa's personality shouldn't be tamed. She has a lot of good ideas!"
"And a lot of batty ones." Vaughn replied, which earned him another swat on the knee. "Besides, come on, I've looked at the recipe. Calming Draught isn't that difficult. Sure, we can't find the supplies as easily on the school grounds, but we can order from Diagon Alley or get the ingredients on the trip to Hogsmeade next month. We also haven't looked at the student pantry yet."
"I don't think that's wise, Vaughn."
"Well, you're apparently giving out our supply to whomever, so why do you care about what's wise?"
Giuliana's chest tightened with indignation. "Lisa is not 'whomever,' she's a friend. Our friend. She won't blab, and the potion came from my share of it. Why are you so cross about this?"
"I am not cross." Vaughn said, unable to convince himself of that. The afternoon at the Lake had been a rough one. The confusing sight of the Seventh Year boys without shirts, the lack of progress on finding a way to shorten the effect of the potion, Lisa's stentorian voice, and knowledge that Giuliana apparently shared a strong enough connection with Lisa to talk about their secret potion brewing was a lot, to put it mildly. Vaughn began gathering up his supplies and rose from the rock.
"Where are you going?" Giuliana asked.
"A walk, if that's ok." Vaughn replied sharply, sharper then he anticipated. Giuliana looked hurt by the tone, causing Vaughn to close his eyes and force himself to calm down. He could certainly use a Calming Draught even if Lisa Turpin didn't. "Sorry, I don't know what's the matter with me. I'm really sorry."
"It's ok. Just cheer up before dinner, ok? We can play some chess tonight in the common room, huh?" Giuliana offered. She knew what upset him, and Vaughn didn't like that. He did appreciate the concern though.
"Ok, I'll see you at dinner." Vaughn replied, hooking his school bag over his shoulder and holding onto his diary closely. Giuliana smiled back at him, a big grin that Vaughn couldn't help but return before turning to climb down the rocks. As he did, cheers of joy and rage erupted from the lake shoreline. The second to last of the Seventh Years was out of the water, a Hufflepuff, grabbing quickly for her wand to cast a warmth charm while fellow Hufflepuffs wrapped her in already warmed blankets. The last Seventh Year in the lake was a Gryffindor, who cried out in triumph as he exited the lake. A mob of fellow Gryffindors cheered for him and swarmed him to congratulate the winner, oblivious to anyone else there.
'Bloody Gryffindor.' Vaughn thought, and continued on his way.
Lisa Turpin is a mentioned character in Sorcerer's Stone as a First Year sorted into Ravenclaw. She's never mentioned again. So, why not give her some personality?
For a boarding school, I'm shocked at the lack of extracurriculars that Hogwarts seems to offer. For the most part, it seems the students spend their time in one of three ways: going to class, studying, or hanging out with friends. Now, Harry wasn't the most observant student, so we have some conflicting reports on whether or not there are any actual extracurricular clubs at Hogwarts. Based on the novels, it appears there are clubs for all the major classes taught (Harry mentions a Charms Club and Potions Club), but whether these are fan clubs for the subject or an extension of the class, I can't say.
The majority of non-educational clubs only appear as background posters in the movies. Since I'm working to keep this story close to true canon (i.e. the books) I'm discounting these clubs (sorry to the Frog Choir, Slugs and Bugs Club, and the Rat Race Club (?)).
Because of this, I'm assuming Hogwarts does not have a theater program. I also believe this since we have no indication that the Wizarding World has a big arts scene. Of course, in a way, this does make sense for Witches and Wizards. When you can just flick your wand and an instrument can start playing whatever tune you want, learning how to actually play the instrument seems a bit small. Also, you can totally see how this plays into a class system where rich Witches and Wizards will buy expensive instruments to show off to their guests and then have the instruments play whatever melody best fits the mood.
Next Up: A Hufflepuff our prodigy is smitten with
As a side note: why doesn't Hogwarts have a student run newspaper or publication? If they did, it would for sure help break down the House cliques and maybe, MAYBE, teach students about good journalistic ethics and how not to make government propaganda. They certainly won't learn that if they work at The Daily Prophet.