Chapter 6: Staring and Frappleberries

When I got to the bottom of the spinning staircase, the walls opened up once more. Waiting for me was the bushy haired girl, who I assumed was Hermione Granger. She looked a little bothered. She saw me standing there and smiled nervously, and then her expression became formal and polite. "Hello. I'm Hermione Granger, a prefect. I am to show you to the nearest bathroom," she said in a most cordial manner (like she always does).

"Hi. I'm Juls Enicola."

As I walked beside her, I noticed she was a little taller than me. Her manner was one of restraint, confidence and perhaps some grace as well. Her bushy hair was tied in a loose pony tail with a black scrunchie. She had a few freckles (though not as visible as Ron's) sprinkled on her nose. Her skin was fair and pretty clear. She held her head high and politely made small talk along the way.

"So, what House are you in?"

"Gryffindor."

"Oh, the same as me then!" she smiled.

Knowing I was a Gryffindor must've made her trust me, so she told me about life in Hogwarts. She would look me in the eye from time to time, and that made me feel good. It was a great relief to have her finally treat me like an equal.

"The teachers are nice enough but Professor Snape, the Potions Master and head of Slytherin, is quite biased towards students that are not from his house." she said.

"That's not fair!" I complained. I tried my best to act like I didn't know anything about Hogwarts and the people in it. Dumbledore didn't ask me to hide anything, but I know it would just make things awkward with other people. I was content with just having Dumbledore know.

"Oh, here we are then. Shall I go in with you? You can change in the stalls. I have to check my appearance," Hermione said.

The bathroom had white tiles and dark stained wainscoting. The stalls were against the walls and the sinks formed a ring around a stone column in the middle of the room. I got in a stall and started changing.

"So, how did you get here? You couldn't have Apparated," Hermione asked tentatively. So she didn't trust me completely after all.

"I really don't know," I answered, as I wore the sweater over the white shirt. I was wearing the clothes Dumbledore gave me and the Rasta beaded necklace I always wear. Ysa brought it back from Puerto Galera, and I thought I'd still wear something that reminds me of home. It didn't clash too much, thankfully. The wand Proffy Dumbles (as I decided to call him, just in my head of course) gave me was still in my shorts pocket. I wore the cloak again and put the wand in the left pocket. I folded my shirt and shorts and got out of the stall.

Hermione was turned from the mirror and looked me in the eye. Her brown eyes were practically glued to my darker ones and flashed as she asked,

"Are you telling the truth." She didn't say it like a question.

Well, I wasn't lying.

"Yes," I said and stared at her back. I was not one to be intimidated.

She seemed content and finally said, "All right then."

We got out of the bathroom and walked towards the Entrance Hall in silence. I barely noticed the curious people in paintings moving from one portrait to another, whispering. There were fewer students in the halls and I could hear the echoes of the castle's stone walls. I crossed my arms and looked forward as I walked, my shoes (probably charmed because they fit me perfectly) clapping against the stone hallway.

Finally, we reached the Entrance Hall and saw Proffy Dumbles waiting.

"Thank you Miss Granger. You may now report to your class. Little miss, I have contacted a possible sponsor. We are to meet her now," he said.

Hermione looked confounded, probably due to the "little miss" thing. But she stammered a "you're welcome" and gave me a nod. She ran up the Grand stair case and into a corridor till I could no longer see her.

Dumbledore looked at me and said, " Now, off to Elmshire."

Elmshire?

And we stepped out of the castle. We walked through a pathway in the grounds and he told me about my sponsor.

"She's a lovely woman. Very good-natured. She would love to put a deserving child through school," he said, "And she bakes a mean chocolate liqueur cake."

"She sounds nice," I commented. Obviously, there's more to this world than Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. I then realized that Harry hasn't been to all the magical places he could go. Boarding school can be a hindrance after all, even a place like Hogwarts. We finally reached a lone dirt road that seemed to stretch out into nowhere. Dumbledore took out his wand and fired a purple flare into the sky. He then put his wand back in his pocket and looked at me.

"Any second now…"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

A purple old-fashioned car pulled over in front of us. I could tell it was not an ordinary vintage car because it was emitting blue smoke. I sniffed and found it smelled peculiar.

"Is that… blue berry?"

"Frappleberry, a close yet much more magical cousin of the blueberry," he explained as we got into the car, " They look and taste much nicer than ordinary blueberries. In fact, Frappleberry bushes used to grow right next to ordinary blueberry bushes, but the Ministry had to have them moved to an unplottable place. Muggles tend to get at them and develop a bad case of the giggles. Not to mention a rather nasty rash. It was awful. You see, Muggles would giggle for hours on end!. The only cure was a good Alleviatus charm, and it was difficult to round up all the people who had to get Obliviated."

"Aww, poor Obliviators," I laughed. The inside of the car was caramel-colored leather gilt with mother of pearl piping and shiny brass handles.

"Yes, but it was good that Lineus "Mags" Copperpot developed a sort of fuel out of Frappleberry juice. He is the wizard who tinkers with Ministry cars so they don't break down. Wizards are usually no good with machines, you see. And Frappleberry gas makes it no longer necessary to fill up on petrol."

I imagined a cloaked wizard trying to pay the gas station guy with galleons. I laughed hard inside that my whole body shook.

"A liter of Frappleberry gas can take you farther than 1000 liters of ordinary petrol. And what's much nicer is that Frappleberry gas doesn't ruin the ozone layer, or give you lung problems. Rather, it's 'smoke' can unclog the most ingested of sinuses!"

"Muggles could use Frappleberry gas. They form majority of the world's drivers."

"Oh, but the absence of magic in their veins causes them to be unnaturally attracted to its smell. They would ingest it, and that would be fatal."

"Oh. Darn." I crossed my arms. So much for stopping global warming.

"We're here."