They were dropped off at Platform nine and three-quarter at precisely half ten. Rebekah shoved most of her unnecessary belongings in a trunk and Hedwig's empty cage sat on top of the trolley. Emperor trailed behind her as Hedwig sat on her shoulder.
Everyone made their way down the hallway of the express, wanting to get the same carriage as they did last year. They opened it and found three older years there, making a lot of noise but silencing when the doors opened.
"What do you want?" One of the girls snarled. "Go away."
Rebekah and her group stood shocked for a moment.
"She said go away!" Another said, snorting a little too hard. "Did you see Burke's hair? She tried to bleach it the Muggle way and it turned ginger. Ginger! And no amount of charms can fix that rat's nest."
The last girl stood up and glared at the group of Slytherins. "For fuck's sake. What do you want? An autograph or a photo or something? Can you just leave already?"
Farley quickly came out of her compartment next door. "Why are you yelling?"
"Fuck off, Farley," The main girl said. "It doesn't concern you, just get these kids away from us!"
"Come on, I'll take you all to the main carriage," Farley gestured. "You don't want to be bothered by such riffraff as them, eh? No point tryna get through their heads that they ain't that important, not like you, Potter."
"Eh, what? Which one of them is Potter?"
"Well, you won't find out," Farley said and escorted the group to an open carriage. There were several booths placed against both walls with a walkway between it. The windows were large and the curtains were completely open. On each side, there were four booths and Farley walked up to one of the middle booths, making the teens that sat there move.
"Sit," Farley said and then turned to the booth behind them. "Oi, Fabius. Look out for Travers, Hopkins and Corner from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I have a feeling they'll try something with these lot."
When they arrived at Hogsmeade station, carriages were pulled by Thestrals and two of them dragged the carriage right up to Rebekah. It was the mated Thestral pair from last year and they looked healthier than ever. The female sneezed into her face again while Rebekah's friends yelled for her to get in. The night was clear so the carriages were roofless and they could admire the sky.
Rebekah left Hedwig's cage with her trunk, telling Hedwig to get comfortable at the Owlery while they waited for dinner to finish. She would find a way to get Hedwig into her dorm room with Emperor and herself; she didn't like having the owl so far away from her.
She wasn't far from the entrance of the Great Hall, not even a few metres away from where she saw a purple-red flash. Emperor jumped in front of the light and his body collapsed suddenly, twitching as his shaded fur slowly fell off in clumps. One of the young Gryfinndors saw and screamed as Emperor's naked limbs turned into a mist.
"What is it, Miss Brown?" McGonagall appeared from beside the screaming girl pointing at Emperor. "Oh, dear. Everyone in the Great Hall, take your seats, students. Miss Potter, stay."
Everyone trailed past Rebekah as she made her way to McGonagall. Emperor began to lose even more fur and it fell off, disintegrating as it reached the floor. She was angry, very angry but she was more concerned about Emperor for the moment.
"Oh, what happened to him this time?" Kettleburn said as he came out of the hall, taking a good look at Emperor.
"Not Quirrell or a bludger this time," Rebekah said, quickly quieting her tone. "I saw a purple-red flash from one of the students, they aimed for me I think but Emperor sensed it and stopped it."
"I believe it was the hair loss curse," McGonagall said and sighed as she watched his fur drop off. Emperor sat down and began to scratch his head with his paw, more clumps came off. He stood and quickly shook himself, all of his fur came off and left him bare.
He didn't look like himself. He was a shadow of himself, the edges blended in as the torch flames flickered. There was no colour in his form, only a pair of glowing pink orbs for eyes. Emperor hissed and his pearl white teeth showed in his shadow form.
"Oh, I think he'll be fine," Kettleburn said and crossed his arms. "Being a Bakeneko, he's more resistant to spells."
Emperor turned his head to face Rebekah as he began to walk towards her, each step made him bigger and bigger until his head reached Rebekah's. He touched her forehead with his own, then curled the rest of his body around her as she stroked his head.
"He says he's fine but his fur won't grow back for at least a day or more," Rebekah muttered as she cuddled his neck lightly. "Professors, can I stay in my dorm for dinner? I don't feel comfortable having dinner when I was just attacked by two spells."
"Two spells?"
"Hair loss and the Jelly-Legs curses," She twitched for a moment. "If anything important is said, I'll have one of my friends tell me. Please?"
"Off you go then," McGonagall said, watching the first years walk in. "Go to your dorm and rest. One of the House-Elves will bring you dinner tonight, but I want you at breakfast tomorrow morning, Miss Potter."
"Of course, Professor," Rebekah nodded and smiled gratefully. "I'll make sure that I'm on time as always."
She sighed as Rebekah realised she missed her dorm. The comforting warmth from the fireplace and the cool glare from the waters. She stood before the semi-circular glass wall, staring out into the Black Lake waters. There were no longer two sofas, it turned into one long and curved sofa with extremely soft cushions and pillows. The coffee table was still there but a flat surface underneath it appeared, some sort of storage area.
Rebekah changed into shorts and a tank top, relishing in the warm blanket on the sofa as Emperor lounged next to her. He was still a shadow of himself, only pink eyes floating in his form but he still felt like himself, albeit colder as Rebekah stroked his back. Propped on her lap, she skimmed a finger down each sentence of The Book of Morgan Le Fey.
She couldn't read much of it at Malfoy Manor, she didn't know if the walls had eyes or not. She read some at the beginning of the summer but Emperor always sat on her lap and swatted the book away. He didn't allow her to read it in the Dursley house, she could feel her Magic well up in her chest each time she read it. It was such a pleasant feeling but it was like when she was angry, she really didn't want her Magic to explode needlessly.
Mell came to the glass and waved to be allowed in, floating above the coffee table as she spoke of her adventures of the summer. Her mother allowed her to visit some Merrow family in the Irish waters. She said they looked so much alike but Merrow Merpeople had thicker skin and bulkier heads. Mell rambled on for an hour or two, Rebekah put a bookmark in the volume and listened to her. It was quite entertaining to watch her be so happy and cheerful as she spoke of her distant family.
She whined when one of the Merpeople guards came. "I don't want to go home!"
The armoured guard gave her a strange look and signalled for her to move. He nodded at Rebekah and she nodded back in respect. She felt sorry for anyone who had to deal with Mell. Rebekah allowed the guard in.
"Thank you. Come, Mell," His voice vibrated in his large bubble of water, he had lowered his long spear and held it by his waist. "Your mother has requested your return."
"It's what, only eight?" Mell huffed and crossed her arms, her green hair flicked as she turned her head. She really didn't want to leave, she missed Rebekah and had so much to tell her.
"It's half ten, Mell. Go home before your mum becomes angry." Rebekah gave her a look. Merchieftainess Murcus wasn't a mother you wanted to cross, nor did Rebekah as she knew a mother's fury could be ruthless.
"She won't be angry with you, Rebekah, she loves you!"
"Yeah but if you don't leave when she says to, she'll make sure you come less often," Rebekah had a fair point. Merchieftainess Murcus wouldn't want anyone to disobey her, even if they were her daughter. She wouldn't have disobedience by anyone as it would be seen as a weakness in the Colony.
"ARGH!" Mell's hands flew up in rage. "Fine."
The guard sighed with relief as they both floated to the glass, it opened at Rebekah's command and they left.
Rebekah went back to reading and cuddling Emperor as he tried to swat Hedwig's wing. She hooked herself to the back of the sofa and kept dipping her wing down to Emperor's forehead, barely touching him before bringing it back up. Rebekah told them to play nicely and they jumped off of the sofa in an instance.
Emperor was the size of a normal Maine Coon and was digging his back paws into the ground, gaining grip as he lowered himself to the floor. Hedwig stood on the floor, flurrying her feathers back as she raised her wings. Emperor pounced and barely caught the owl in his mouth, even Rebekah knew he wasn't going to eat her.
He didn't like the taste of birds.
He trotted back to the sofa and laid back down, placing Hedwig between his front paws gently and then smothered her in licks. The owl didn't appreciate the drool and she hawked her disapproval at him. He understood and gave her one last, sheepish lick, placing his head on top of hers.
"Your fur is starting to grow back," Rebekah said as she realised Emperor looked a little greyer than before, his fur was slowly appearing from the shadows.
"Meow." He said, sending a ripple of vibrations through the disgruntled owl. She hooted fiercely and nipped his foreleg sharply, he hissed in pain and Hedwig quickly flew to her branch by the bed. She turned her head one-eighty and almost glared at him without moving.
Someone knocked at the door with force and frustration. It vibrated loudly and Rebekah jumped, quickly opening to find Tracey Davis, red-faced with a First-year girl under her arms. She was crying pathetically and Davis had no idea how to handle a crying girl.
"You know how you helped me when I was crying last year…"
Rebekah rolled her eyes at Davis' hopeful look. "Come in before you wake up Pansy. I'm not dealing with her if her beauty sleep is interrupted. Go sit by the windows. Do you like cats?"
The girl nodded and shuffled to the sofa. The young girl was several inches shorter than Rebekah and had a glass look in her brown eyes. She cried silent tears but she was shivering from being so nervous.
"Emperor, comfort." Rebekah pointed to the girl and he quickly made his way there. She began to cuddle a normal-sized Emperor as he purred and rubbed his face into her hands, calming her down slowly. After Rebekah saw that she was calm enough, she turned back to Davis. "What happened?"
"First Slytherin in her family. HalfBlood with a MuggleBorn father. All of her family had been in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor and so she's scared that she'll disappoint her family and get disowned," Both Second years gave the girl a look of sympathy. "I don't know what to do with her. She was crying in the common room after everyone else went to their beds. You know I can't stand leaving someone when they're crying!"
"Yeah, I know," Rebekah sighed but gave an affirmative nod to Davis. "I'll see what I can do. I'll escort her back to her room after she's better. Go to bed, Davis, you look like you need it."
Rebekah sat on the other side of the sofa, watching the waters outside through the translucent glass. It was almost midnight but Rebekah didn't complain. Several long candles flickered in the room as Talpey came in with a tray of tea and a dozen biscuits.
"I thought you would like some tea, Miss Potter," Talpey said carefully. "I thought it best. You haven't eaten yet and so I provided some biscuits too. Please call if you need anything else."
"Thank you, Talpey," Rebekah glanced at the House-Elf and nodded. "Your judgement was correct."
He popped away with a satisfied nod. Rebekah turned to the girl and asked if she wanted tea when answered, Rebekah began to gently pour some into the china teacup. She carefully placed a spoon of desired sugar and a little bit of milk, handing it saucers and all to the girl trembling under Emperor's affections.
She took a sip, then said in a thin voice, "Daisies are my favourite."
Rebekah looked into her own teacup as she sipped at it, a beautiful daisy design was painted onto the china. It matched the body of the teapot with a narrow line that was a daisy chain.
"Lavender is mine," Rebekah placed the cup on the saucer gently, it clinked softly. "What's your name?"
"Annie Shaw…." Her calm face teared up, reddening with her tears. She sobbed as Emperor rubbed his face into her palms.
"Why are you crying?"
"My family will disown me!" She spat at Rebekah, her eyes blurred with her crying.
Rebekah hummed. "Why would they?"
"Because I'm a Slytherin!"
"So?" Rebekah scoffed. "A quarter of the whole school is, there is nothing wrong with the Founder of our House."
"My parents were both in Gryffindor,"
"So were mine,"
"All of my siblings are in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, no one in my family has ever been in Slytherin. It's the Dark House for the Dark Wizards and Witches."
"Why is it the Dark House?"
"Because everyone who gets sorted here becomes fascinated by Dark Magic."
"What is the alignment of your Family House?"
"My mother's family has always been Light."
"My family has been Neutral but then my father turned it Light. Since then, I've turned the House back to Neutral."
"Why?"
"Why not? Why would you completely exclude half of Magic just because it doesn't align with your moral standing? Why would you limit your learning when there is so much to understand. Dark Arts are not just about killing or hurting others. People were scared because of what it can do, not what it will. It depends on the intent of the caster," Rebekah paused for breath. "Being a Slytherin does not mean you will be evil or become a Dark Witch. You are Human, you will be tempted by the Dark Arts. The important thing is what you do with your choices. What do you want to be when you're older, Shaw?"
"I want to be a MediWitch but Mother says that I should become a Healer,"
"Not a bad choice, I thought of it but then I realised that I don't like people enough," Rebekah said and made Shaw snort. "Yeah. I might become a Duelist, or a Potioneer, or a Professional Quidditch player. I don't know yet."
"That's a lot." Shaw stopped her pathetic crying and began to become calm with the situation, finally understanding.
"It is. I can afford to keep my options open." Rebekah placed her cup down and the whole try disappeared. "We've gone off-topic. You need to understand that being a Slytherin will not prevent you from doing what you want. The great Merlin himself was in our house, much like his enemy, Morgana Le Fay. One was the greatest Wizard we know and the other is a powerful Dark WItch. See? Being a Slytherin does not make you Dark. I would know."
"But my parents said that anyone who is a Slytherin is power hungry so they go for the Dark Arts to get what they want," Shaw scrunched her face in confusion.
"Some of us are power-hungry but so are Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. We are the House of ambitions, Shaw, we do what is needed to get where we want." Rebekah stood up from the sofa and started pacing. "Just because one of us wants to be Minister of Magic, doesn't make them power-hungry. We are the House of shrewdness and cunning, ambition and self-preservation. Enough of this, it's almost past midnight and we both need sleep."
"Yeah, I'm tired," Shaw said and got up. "I can't believe we get our own rooms. Yours is just so big compared to mine."
"Hogwarts accommodates the wants and needs of its students. We Slytherins get a little bit more attention." Rebekah showed her to her dorm. "Shaw, if you need to talk, you know where my dorm is."
"Yes, thank you…." Shaw just realised she didn't know her name. "Hey, what's your name?"
Rebekah had already begun to retreat, she called over her shoulder, "Rebekah Potter. Good night, Shaw."
Rebekah got back to her room and dismissed the animals off of the sofa. "Time for bed. I need to get up early tomorrow and I need sleep. If I find a single mouse from either of you, you both will be sleeping outside. I will find a way."
Somehow, the animals' faces dropped in dread. She'd done this before, threatened them and they still did whatever they shouldn't have. She went out of her way to punish them for ruining her sheets, making them sleep alone on the other side of the room and away from her. The feline and bird quickly made it up to her, they didn't like being so far away from her.
Next to her bed, Hedwig's cage hung. It was a weaved cage, hanging by three chains from the ceiling. It was completely silent as Rebekah nudged it firmly and it began to rock. Emperor turned kitten-sized and jumped into it, Hedwig pulled him under her wings and fell asleep easily.
She still found a lion-sized Emperor in the bed the next morning, Hedwig snuggled into his neck fur.