Hogwarts Again - A New Generation
Ch 11 - Hogsmeade
DISCLAIMER: Oh, don't you all know already? Neither Hogwarts, nor the Wizarding World belongs to me.
It was time for the first Hogsmeade visit at last. Daisy was... excited didn't really cover it. They lined up in the Entrance Hall, and Professor Flitwick lectured them on how they shouldn't try anything rash or stupid that would result in anything fatal, to behave well, blah blah blah. They all nodded and set off to Hogsmeade.
Daisy wasn't disappointed. Though their mother was a witch, she'd never taken her children to Hogsmeade before. They had only heard of it from her and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. There were shops and houses everywhere. There was Zonko's joke shop, the Three Broomsticks, the Post Office, Honeydukes... Daisy could go on and on and on about the village's beauty. It had, in short, everything.
Daisy was all eyes and ears. Robert filled the twins in on all the shops and the residents, though they knew about most already. They bought some sweets at Honeydukes, and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for Dad Dudley as promised, some pranking items at Zonko's that James needed, but also for themselves. (They were currently planning a prank on the fourth years. They were so high and mighty around younger students that the Pranksters of Ravenclaw, or 'the POR' as they called themselves, decided they needed to be brought down a peg or two.)
They drank some butterbeer at Madam Rosmerta's (they were awesome) and overall had a lot of fun at the village. Daisy loved it all. She loved anything to do with the Wizarding World, though of course, she loved Muggles and their ways, too. (Those rubber ducks were cute and squeaky.)
Daisy was now jumping up and down in excitement. Robert said they were now going to see the Shrieking Shack. She couldn't wait to see it. The villagers said that the place was haunted and other Pureblood wizards had told her the ghosts there weren't as friendly as the ones at Hogwarts. And that was exactly why she was dying to see the shack. Of course, they wouldn't go inside, Daisy didn't want to take those kinds of risks too early in term. They were just going to see the shac from a distance and observe if any haunted sounds came from it.
"C'mon already," said Ivy impatiently. Robert was still not leaving the Three Broomsticks. "You're taking too long. It's just butterbeer. How long can it take to drink? Come on. Fast, fast, fast, fast -"
That was when Daisy heard the whispers.
"- Dursley, isn't it?"
"What are they -"
" -Muggle -"
Two girls about her own age, though probably second years, stood there. A girl with curly black hair, tanned skin and gray-blue eyes. And the other one had stringy bright yellow hair (Daisy thought she was a metamorphmagus) and amber eyes.
The two girls were staring at the twins with wide eyes filled with surprise, shock, uncertainty and curiosity. What was going on? Daisy nudged Ivy in the ribs and told her in whispers what she'd heard. They were just whisper-arguing whether or not to go to the two girls and ask what was wrong, when someone tapped Daisy in the shoulder. It was one of the two girls. The girl with curly black hair, tanned skin and gray-blue eyes.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said with an apologetic look in her eyes. "But my friend and I really want to talk to you two. You are Ivy and Daisy Dursley, right?"
"Um... yes," Ivy answered uncertainly. Daisy was now confused. How did these girls know their names?
"Can we go inside? It'll just be a little chat." The other girl, the one with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, was looking excited at the prospect of talking to the twins, which just made Daisy even more confused. Why did she have a bad feeling about this?
They walked inside and sat at a table again. The two strangers asked if they would like some butterbeer, and Ivy answered that they'd already had some.
"You are Dursleys?" asked Black-Hair again. "Oh, I'm Haley, by the way, and this is Chloe."
"Uh, hey...?" Daisy was now really, really confused. And uneasy. And exhausted by her long day. Did she mention confused? Yeah. "And yeah, we're Dursleys. Is there a problem with it?" She did not mean to sound so impolite, promise.
"Oh, no," said Chloe. "Not at all. We're just curious, that's all. Is your father really a Muggle?"
Well, that was unexpected. "Yeah, why?"
"Well, you seem very friendly, the exact opposite of your father. It's just intriguing."
"...My father is not unfriendly...?" Ivy's response came out more like a question.
Haley and Chloe looked surprised. "Dudley Dursley, isn't it? Well, from what we heard, he was plenty unfriendly to his cousin, no offense to you two."
"W-what did you hear?" Daisy wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. This was beginning to scare her. Clearly, these two must be speaking of someone else, not her father. But her father's name was Dudley...
And then the two girls launched into the story of how Dudley Dursley, a fat walrus-like boy had bullied Harry Potter when he was young. Honestly, Daisy didn't understand much of it. But from what she did understand, her father had been a bitch and not at all nice to Uncle Harry. They must have made up, she thought. It's hard to believe they were rivals in childhood, they seem so friendly whenever we see them.
"..." That was the reaction to the story. Both Ivy and Daisy seemed stunned, and they didn't say a word.
"Where, in Merlin's name, were you two?" Robert had probably thought they'd gotten lost or something. "I looked everywhere!"
"Uh, Three Broomsticks," said Daisy. Ivy still looked too shocked to say a word. "You were there, too. Didn't you see us?"
"I thought you went outside," he grumbled. "Also, why does Ivy look like she's about to throw up?"
"Uh," Daisy looked to Ivy for permission. She always went by what her twin said, though not if she felt what she was doing was really wrong. She did have some backbone. Ivy didn't say anything now. So Daisy shook her head and said, "Later. Let's go to the Shrieking Shack now."
There wasn't much to do once they reached the Shrieking Shack. They just had to sit down behind a rock quietly and observe the shack. After about twenty minutes of very quiet watching, Ivy grew impatient, strode up to the shack and started rattling the door, which was boarded up. Robert and Daisy hurried up to her and Daisy shoved her twin aside, using a simple charm to get rid of the boards, and the unlocking charm to open the door.
The three crept silently past the hall, but there didn't seem to be anything here. So, they proceeded to go upstairs. Robert led the way, Ivy behind him, Daisy bringing up the rear. But there wasn't anything here, either. Except for a Gryffindor scarf hanging on one wall, supported by a rusty nail. And a big black stain on the floor. Which might have once been red.
Blood...?
Did- did someone die here and become a ghost and haunt this place? Is that why the villagers boarded up the shack? Because they were afraid of whatever ghost was here? If so, where was the ghost? Not that Daisy wanted to meet them. She'd had enough of annoying ghosts who'd died horrible deaths (Myrtle's story of how she died was very sad, though).
After staring at the supposed blood stain for a few seconds, the three decided they had better get out of this shack before it's occupant came back.
When they reached Hogwarts after their Hogsmeade trip, the trio went straight to the Ravenclaw common room.
"If I have it, I don't share it. If I share it, I don't have it. What am I?" the musical voice of the knocker asked them as soon as they knocked.
"Food," Ivy didn't miss a beat. She was looking straight at Daisy.
"Oh, shut up," she said. So what if she almost always took Ivy's food? They were twins! Besides, Ivy always returned the favour. The knocker was currently congratulating Ivy on her quick thinking, though it wasn't exactly what it had in mind. (Did eagle door knockers have minds?) Focus, she told herself. "Err... the answer... Is it a secret?"
"Correct," The knocker said. "Though your sister is correct, too, in a way." The door swung open.
As soon as they'd settled down in a corner of the common room, and Rebecca had joined them, Daisy recounted to them how they'd met Chloe and Haley and they'd told the twins the story of how Uncle Harry had lived with their grandparents since he was two, how they had abused him, how he had grown to hate them, how they'd grown to hate him, how he'd left them just before the real war, and how the two girls had been surprised that Ivy and Daisy were magical, as their father was a Muggle. They'd asked if he had married a witch and when Daisy confirmed that he had, they'd said, "I didn't think he would actually marry a witch, seeing as he hates anything to do with the wizarding world."
Daisy didn't pretend to understand anything. But she knew one thing. She wanted to know the truth. Immediately after recounting everything to Robert, she left the other three to discuss everything and went to the Owlery to send an owl to her parents saying they were coming home in a few weeks, for half-term holidays.
When they reached home, she would know everything. And by 'everything,' she meant everything.
And that night, when she went to bed, there was a voice in her head, What if your father really did hate Uncle Harry?
And another voice answered, He couldn't have. Or they wouldn't be friends now.
But she drifted into sleep before she found out which voice won the argument within her.
A/N: Love it? Hate it? Review, please?