"Nosce Te Ipsum"
Know Thyself
Chapter Two: "The Exchange Program"
By: Shinga
Disclaimer: All mine… er, except for Blaise Zabini and Hogwarts and the whole Harry Potter universe… besides that, though, mine. Nyeh.
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Ursula and Agnes ignored each other throughout the day, as per usual, but did exchange meaningful glances at lunch and in the halls. At lunch Agnes sat with Margaret, who was deeply involved in a book.
"Is that it?" asked Agnes, setting her backpack down and leaning over the table to glance at the pages.
Margaret squeaked and abruptly slammed the book shut, rushing to set it back in her bag. Her small face was flushed. "No!" she said. "I haven't gotten to see Mr. McNeil yet today. I don't have a Defense lesson, so I'll have to wait until dinner to get him in a free moment."
"Wait until after he eats," said Agnes with a knowing nod, sitting back down on the bench. "I heard that's when he gives in the easiest."
Margaret's eyes widened in horror. "Agnes, where did you hear that?"
"I overheard a 12th grader saying that," said Agnes. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I just happened to pass by when she said that… her friends were laughing pretty loudly. I didn't stay to find out why."
Margaret blushed again. "I see," she said, shaking her head slowly. "Have you seen Ursula today?"
"Sure, in the halls and stuff. I only have two classes with her… Potions and Charms," Agnes said.
"You should come to breakfast more often," said Margaret accusingly. "I sat with her today. She was near tears when we talked more about Laura. That poor girl is distraught over her loss… you could be a bit more sensitive to that."
Agnes blinked rapidly. "I don't know how… it's not as if I have a lot of people experience," she said defensively.
"It would do you some good," said Margaret. "Ursula is a good person… you should get to know her better."
"I doubt she would like that."
"You never know," said Margaret with a huff.
Agnes set her hands in her lap and chewed on her bottom lip. "So… what was that book you were reading?"
Margaret blushed deeply. "It's nothing," she said quickly.
Frowning, Agnes finished her sandwich and stood up. "Herbology is a bit early today, so I need to go. Don't forget to talk to McNeil!"
"I wouldn't forget--" Margaret began to say, but Agnes had already left.
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Agnes ended up sitting beside Ursula at dinner. They didn't speak much, at least not beyond the customary 'how are you' type of conversation. Ursula looked unnerved and rather stoic at times. Agnes avoided questioning anything personal… she didn't really feel it was her place to do so. She always figured if she asked about some one's feelings, she'd be smacked… even though Margaret managed to pry into the emotions of a complete stranger and somehow come out of it unscathed. It was one talent Agnes did not possess.
"It's kind of scary, if you think about it," said Ursula, unprompted, as she poked at her vegetables with a fork.
Agnes blinked. "What is?"
"Putting yourself in Laura's position."
For a long moment, Agnes reflected silently. "I'll have an easier time placing myself when what happened makes more sense."
"I guess so," said Ursula thoughtfully. "But if it is a curse, which I'm sure it is, think about it. Can you imagine changing how you look, feel, act, remember?"
"No," said Agnes. "I really can't. But I've never wanted to, so that might be part of it."
"Wanted to?" Ursula asked, taking a bit of her steak.
"I've never wanted to be pretty or popular… it just seems to be too bothersome," said Agnes. "Haven't you noticed? All the pretty girls seem to be too distracted by boys and friends to ever have time to appreciate the better things in life. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. It seems like it'd get old."
"Don't you want to be pretty though? The envy of women, the desire of men? Do well in school without trying, have fleets of talents at your disposal?"
"If life is too easy, what's the point in it?" asked Agnes with a shrug. She stood and stretched. "I need to go change and wait for Margaret. Do you want to come with me?"
"I'm almost done," Ursula muttered, not looking up from her plate. "I'll be along later."
Agnes nodded and left Ursula to her meal. The mess hall was always the noisiest during dinner, but at least today wasn't Friday. Fridays were always the worst. Once outside of the cafeteria, Agnes breathed in relief. She didn't do well in crowds… she hadn't succumbed to panic attacks for near five years now, but she still preferred less people.
The hallways were blissfully empty. She spotted Mrs. Robins in one of the classrooms she passed by. The teacher smiled and waved and Agnes waved back.
Margaret hadn't showed up in the room yet. Agnes took advantage of the time alone to change out of her skirt and blouse and into more comfortable attire. In a considerably more confident mood in her loose t-shirt and jeans, she sat on the bed and picked up her notebook. On it was Runes notes, but she started doodling various animals on the corners.
The door opened and Margaret stepped in, looking forcibly calm. Agnes stared at her, or more exactly the large black book tucked under her arm.
"Is that it?"
"No," said Margaret flatly. "It's the tragic story of two young people having a torrid love affair in France." She sighed. "Yes, it's it." She set the book down on her bed and opened it up to a page marked by inserts of notes. "I haven't had time to read it, but I did find it. Give me a moment, all right? By the time Ursula gets here, I'll have finished reading and I'll give you two an idea."
Agnes nodded an agreement. Margaret didn't bother to change out of her uniform as she sat with her legs folded on her bed, leaned over the book with intense posture. Agnes watched her sister and admired her. She always took things so seriously, and if anyone could figure this thing out about Laura, it was Margaret.
Several minutes later Margaret sat up with a thoughtful hum. "This is definitely weird," she said.
"Tell me," said Agnes.
"I'll wait until Ursula gets here," said Margaret. "Though it's only one page, its implications are… interesting, and varied. It could mean anything."
"Stop being so vague," said Agnes with a huff.
"I'm sorry, but…" Margaret shook her head in a bewildered manner. "This whole thing is vague!"
Agnes started to question that when the door opened. Ursula stood in the entrance, still in uniform, her chin raised stubbornly. Her eyes were oddly cold and she glanced from Agnes to Margaret when her demeanor suddenly changed. She became desperate-looking and somewhat tired. "Anything?" she asked thickly.
"Sit," said Margaret calmly. "And I can read this to both of you. We'll discuss the hints in it afterwards."
"You'd make a good teacher, Maggie," said Ursula, and Agnes twitched. 'Maggie'? Ursula sat down on the end of Margaret's bed, again making it lean heavily down. Margaret didn't topple this time.
Margaret mostly ignored Ursula's comment, but managed a small glowing smile. It vanished when she heaved the book onto her lap and cleared her throat.
"The curse has no name," she began darkly. "This curse was cast at an unknown time, by an unknown wizard, and for unknown reasons. It is tied to Hogwarts only, and bars it from outside influence. None shall pass its gates without suffering the consequences. There will be joy abounding, love entwined, tragedy engulfing, and hate glowing. All of these will overflow, and they shall remember no more. But such happiness will lead to death, and such sorrow will pass from the minds of all those who once knew them."
After a long pause, Ursula made an odd choking noise. "That's it? That's all it said?"
"That tells us nothing!" Agnes added.
"No, it tells us more than we knew," said Margaret sternly. "While we have no idea the name, or origin, we know that a curse in Hogwarts is what killed Laura."
"We guessed that much," said Ursula, but sounding less vindictive.
"What's with the bad poetry part?" Agnes asked. "With the joy, love, tragedy and hate and happiness leading to death and sorrow or something?"
"That happened to Laura," Ursula answered her. "At least, I guess it did… with her becoming smart, talented and beautiful, with her boyfriend and all that… then dying."
"Oh," said Agnes, with a thoughtful expression on her face. "'And they shall remember no more'… that may have been the memory loss. Laura thought she had no friends here, and this was a terrible abusive school, when nothing like that happened."
"She was happy here," muttered Ursula.
Margaret nodded, apparently shaken. "So I guess this proves this curse is real," she said.
"Real?" Agnes inquired with a frown.
"This book is a book of legends and myths," said Margaret. "Stories to scare little kids, more or less… but its restricted anyway. Some of the stories could lead to kids running off and testing old curses, which never turns out good. This particular curse, which we now know is real, is old, and probably overlooked… so much that it became just legend. It may have not been too public to begin with."
"It may be why we don't ever do exchanges," said Ursula.
"It's dangerous over in Britain right now," said Agnes. "I wouldn't think they would anyway."
"What do we do with this?" Ursula asked of them. "Do we tell the faculty?"
"No," said Margaret, surprising them both with her tone of finality. "There's no point… they probably know. We can keep this to ourselves. There's nothing anyone can do about it. I'm sure the Headmaster of Hogwarts knows… maybe they're doing something about the curse now."
"Yeah," said Ursula uncertainly. "Yeah, you're probably right."
Agnes said nothing.
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Two weeks passed by with few mentions of Laura. Rumors stopped spreading through Enrichment Magic fairly quickly and kids found new victims of gossip very quickly. Agnes kept up with her schoolwork and found it gradually easier to get back into the routine of studying and passing. Her grades remained respectable and she remained as studiously anti-social as before.
But there were differences. Now Agnes had some one to talk to outside of Margaret. Ursula was becoming somewhat less defensive and short-tempered with Agnes, though Agnes' naiveté often irritated her to the point of scathing remarks and glares. Often the three of them ate together and stayed in the sisters' room… Ursula's new roommate was never exactly up for company.
In the middle of the third week since Laura's death, the teachers announced at breakfast that they had important news, and that everyone had to attend dinner that night to hear it.
"Maybe they decided to finally get rid of these silly uniforms," said a tall, pretty girl nearby Agnes that morning.
"Totally," said her equally stunning friend. "They think just because we're witches that we can't have taste. Like, whatever! This skirt is too long… girl, I have legs. I should so show them."
"I know, for real!"
"I doubt that's it," Agnes interjected. They stared at her in confusion for a moment before laughing and walking away. Agnes couldn't help but be slightly annoyed by their assumption. What was wrong with the uniforms, anyway?
She caught up with Margaret and Ursula after breakfast in the halls before class. "Did you hear?" she asked.
"Yes," said Margaret. "Some important news at dinner." They all exchanged uneasy glances.
"Maybe it has nothing to do with Laura," said Ursula. "It's been three weeks already. People move on quickly here."
"It won't do to sit here and worry about it all day," said Margaret, nodding her head firmly. "We're to go about our day and not think on it." She said this confidently enough, but even Agnes could tell she didn't intend to ignore it.
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Dinner was noisier than ever. Everyone in the school, it seemed, was present. The chatter had become a droll growl and Agnes vehemently hated it. She rarely had strong feelings for much of anything, but the thick air consisting of the sweat of a couple hundred people was not her idea of fun. She sat crouched close to Margaret and Ursula, her head framed by her usual twin braids, a scowl on her face.
"It isn't so bad, Agnes," said Margaret, keeping a hand on her older sister's arm. "It'll be over pretty quick, most people only want to hear the announcement and then leave… then we can eat dinner normally."
"They'd better," Agnes sulked.
Soon the Principle appeared and most the room silenced in surprise. The Principle was a short, balding man dressed in a crisp Muggle suit, his small eyes a dark color, from what everyone could see. The Principle made a rare appearance and usually just signed papers from the privacy of his office, leaving everything else to the teachers. Generally no one cared much for him.
"Greetings, Enrichment students!" he said, with a cheery grin that silenced the remaining conversationalists. "It's been quite some time since I've talked to the lot of you. But today I have an important and amazing announcement to make!" He grinned around for effect. Quite a few people coughed. "After much deliberation, Enrichment Magic School and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have decided to do an official student exchange for next year!"
Mixed reactions filled the room. Mostly, no one said anything, but a few groups mingled with gasps and squeals of delight. Agnes, Ursula and Margaret merely exchanged startled glances.
"We'll have a sign-up sheet on the bulletin out in the hallway by the cafeteria," said the Principle. "If you want to spend a school year in one of the most acclaimed magic schools in history, sign your name! No one under 8th grade will be allowed, and we have ways of knowing how old you are when you sign up, so no funny business."
The rest of what he said was unimportant. He merely went on and on about how lovely the 'campus' was, and how the classes were similar to that here, etcetera etcetera.
Agnes was suddenly not hungry. Judging by the looks on Ursula and Margaret's faces, they weren't either. After the Principle was done talking, Ursula was the first to start to leave. The sisters followed closely behind.
Once in the privacy of Agnes and Margaret's room, Ursula whirled around and nearly exploded, "Are they insane? Do they have no idea what happened to Laura? Some one else will die, you bet your asses on it!"
"Calm down!" Margaret said, though clearly shaken. "Surely the Headmaster of Hogwarts has fixed things by now or else they'd not be crazy enough to risk the life of another student."
"Or would they?" Ursula snarled. "These Hogwarts guys may be more perverse than we know! Laura told me she approached the teachers with her worries and none of them did a damn thing!"
"They could have been affected by the curse!" Margaret argued, standing by Ursula, looking up at her pleadingly. "Maybe they didn't pay attention because they didn't see the changes as being abnormal!"
"Some one is going to die!" Ursula nearly shrieked.
"Enough!" Agnes shouted, silencing the large girl marginally. Ursula, still breathing erratically, plopped heavily down on Margaret's bed. Margaret sat by her and placed a comforting hand on her massive shoulder. "Ursula, I agree with Margaret. I don't think the faculties would be irresponsible enough to do an exchange with that risk still in place."
"But you don't know that," Ursula snapped.
"I do," said Agnes with a confidence she didn't feel. "And to prove I believe that, I'm going to sign up."
Now even Margaret was staring at her uncertainly. "Agnes… er…" she said.
"No, Margaret, you're right," said Agnes. "It's safe… otherwise they wouldn't do it. I'll sign up. Surely a lot of people will, so I probably won't even be picked, but even if I am, I'm fine with it. I trust them."
After an almost emotional pause, Ursula coughed. "You're just as nuts as those morons in charge," she said.
"I'll worry," said Margaret. "But I'm just scared. I think it'll be fine. Go on and sign up, Agnes."
Agnes nodded, once again filling them with confidence by emptying it out of herself completely… not that she knew how that worked, but it did. Margaret smiled and Ursula didn't look as angry anymore. Agnes left to go to the sign-up sheet.
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Two weeks passed and Agnes almost forgot about her name on the sign-up list outside the mess hall. Around sixty people had signed up after owling their parents for permission first, which Agnes had pretty much forgotten to do, but she did owl to let them know she'd signed up. Lucky for her, they approved of the choice heartily.
Ursula had cooled over the course of two weeks. Margaret, Agnes assumed, was a bit part in this. She spent a lot of time consoling the bigger girl, and they spend a considerable amount of time together. Agnes spent her time studying for tests and doing her homework, unaware of the implications she'd signed up for two weeks prior.
The morning of May 5th had more students gathered for breakfast than any other day in the history of Enrichment. Agnes picked a table farther apart from the thicker crowds of people, Ursula and Margaret sitting on either side. Margaret was clutching Agnes' hand nervously.
The Principle once again stood up in front of the student body, this time dressed in dark blue wizard robes, perhaps in honor of the more tradition-based Hogwarts. He raised his hands for silence, a calm smile on his face.
"We have chosen our exchange students!" he said, not exciting near the response he probably wished for. His smile faltering slightly, he continued, "Joining us in the fall semester next year will be young Blaise Zabini, fresh from Hogwarts to be educated in the brilliant ways of the US wizardry!"
Ursula began to snicker… obviously she found the Principle amusing, or disagreed with the appraisal of US magic. Agnes was just annoyed.
"And the student to be sent to Hogwarts for their next year," said the Principle, rubbing his hands together for suspense. "Agnes Marshall!"
A few confused individuals clapped, not recognizing the name, and Agnes sat in her seat, her pale face ashen. Ursula's eyes were wide with horror as she stared at Agnes, and Margaret gawked with her mouth hanging open.
"Where is Agnes?" asked the Principle, seemingly unaware of the awkward silence. "She is here, is she not?"
Agnes' arm rose almost without her consent. Her pale cheeks grew hot.
"Ah, there, in the back! Let's have a hand for the winner of our exchange program!" The Principle prompted the students by clapping loudly. They followed suit and several people craned their necks to get a look at Agnes.
A girl at the next table laughed towards Agnes. "Wow, couldn't you just die of the embarrassment?"
"Of all the badly times jokes…" Ursula said, and Agnes nodded mutely.
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