Hailey's first week of classes pottered (haha) along unremarkably. To Her glee, her celebrity status was not much of an exaggeration, as people seemed to go out of their way just to see her, peering into classes, and doubling back in hallways, and she soaked up the attention. It was a good thing she had Sophie, who, true to her word, became practically unnoticed while hiding within Haileys much stronger presence, or she might never get to classes otherwise. The school seemed to be designed to be hard to navigate, with strange fake doors, moving staircases, not-so-secret passageways and an irritating Poltergeist.
On top of this, Hailey was having a bit of trouble with the schools magic classes. Wizard magic, in Haileys opinion, was irritatingly precise and inflexible, a far cry from the elegant and flowing magics taught to her by Yukari, or the bombastic and wild magics she had picked up from Marisa. More than once she has over or undercharged what should be simple spells in frustration and causing minor accidents including setting fire to a match she was supposed to be turning into a needle during transfiguration. It was a good thing she was enjoying all the attention because all this wand waving was starting to rub her the wrong way.
There was also classes like astrology, and herbology, which thanks to Rans 'extensive' curriculum, Hailey had no real difficulty in. Indeed, for astrology she was hideously overqualified.
And then there was History of Magic, which Hailey liked a lot. It was dull as dishwater, but the atmosphere was perfect for napping, and Sophie wrote very extensive notes that she let Hailey copy.
Defence against the dark arts was a total joke though. The teacher, professor Quirrell, was a nervous wreck. It was clear to anyone who talked to him that he wasn't fit to defend anything, much less teach anyone on how. Hailey wondered if he was simply a placeholder, and the school was looking for someone more qualified. Hailey could think of about five off the top of her head, and two of them were her age.
There was also Malfoy, who seems to have taken a serious dislike toward Hailey, despite being in the same house. He takes almost any chance to belittle her, which Hailey was all too happy to return. It seems that there was a divide that was appearing between the first year Slytherins, those who liked Hailey with her infectious charm, charisma, fame and cuteness, and those who sided with Malfoy due to his family, ideals and money. The older Slytherins didn't seem to get involved apart from watching with amusement whenever Hailey and Malfoy met in the common room or corridors, and traded words and insults.
On the first friday morning during breakfast, Hedwig arrived with the morning post, with a note from Hagrid. She scratched Hedwig under the chin as she read the letter.
Dear Hailey,
I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?
I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.
Hagrid.
"Who's Hagrid?" Sophie asked reading over Haileys shoulder.
"He's the groundskeeper around here, you know, the big guy who took us on the boats." Hailey said, penning a response (She had no idea why they insisted on quills when Ballpoints were a thing).
"You know him then?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah, I met him on my birthday, while I was buying my school stuff, he bought me Hedwig as a present. He apparently knew my folks, may they rest in peace." Said Hailey, giving hedwig both the reply and some bacon for her trouble. "He's a pretty cool guy."
"I guess if I got an owl as pretty as that, I'd be pretty fond of him too." said Sophie, watching hedwig fly off. "Mind if I tag along?"
"Sure," said Hailey, who had gotten used to Sophie tagging along wherever, at least when she doesn't disappear off to who knows where.
"Umm…" came a meek little voice from beside her.
Hailey turned to her other little tagalong.
Lily Moon put other wallflowers to shame. If Sophie could be considered invisible, Lily was downright non-existent. She had taken to following around the pair, for reasons hailey didn't know. And unlike Sophie, Lily was practically glued to Hailey. Not that Hailey really minded having her around, as she was mild mannered enough, and was occasionally helpful, especially in charms, which she seemed to be ahead of the skill curve, at least among Slytherins.
"You can come too if you like." Hailey said, already guessing the question.
Lily smiled gratefully. It seemed that whatever the reason, she really wanted to be around Hailey.
They finished breakfast and stood up.
"So what have we got now?" Hailey said as they walked out the great hall.
"Double potions class with Gryffindor." said Sophie, "Its down in the dungeons. The head of Slytherin, Professor Snape teaches it. Apparently he favours Slytherins so it should be easy."
"Cool." Hailey said, putting her hands behind her head. She had never really cared for alchemy too much, at least whenever Marisa wasn't involved. Marisa did fun stuff, and there was a lot of mushrooms and explosions involved. However she had quite a good knowledge of chemistry, thanks once again to Ran.
Outside the classroom, they met not only with most of the first year Slytherins, but the Gryffindors too, including the ones Hailey met on the train.
"Oh hey Ron," Hailey said, walking up to the tall red head, "Haven't seen you since the sorting. Grats on getting into Gryffindor by the way."
Ron looked at Hailey uncertainly, as if he wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but said, "Err, yeah, thanks I guess."
"What's with that reaction?" Hailey said, getting pouty, "Come on, just because I'm in a house full of snakes doesn't mean I bite…" Hailey stopped and thought, "At least not often anyway."
Ron laughed nervously. Internally, after the little episode on the train, and Haileys unusual sorting, Ron was more and more uncertain about what to think of the petite girl. She seemed friendly and cheerful, but that didn't seem to change the fact that she felt incredibly… off. Even now as she giggles at her own joke, she felt… dangerous.
At this point Malfoy decided to interject. "What an Earth are you doing? By associating with that sort of riff raff, you make the rest of us look bad. I know it might be difficult you you, but at least try to have some standards." he said with a sneer. Several of the other Slytherins sniggered.
Hailey was not impressed. "And I asked for your opinion… when?" Hailey said, hands on hips, "Geez, why do you gotta be such a Malfoy?"
Malfoy stopped smirking. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Hailey tilted her head, and starts counting off on her fingers. "You know, unpleasant, rude, self-entitled, buts in when he isn't wanted, ect… you know, your general state of being." She made a shoo-ing motion, "So if you could just stop 'being' that would be great."
Hailey had been saving that one for about three days, and the look on Malfoys face made it well worth it. The was sniggers from a few Slytherins and most of the Gryffindors.
To salt the wound, Hailey licked her finger and put it on Malfoys shoulder, and made a hissing noise with her teeth.
This action however seemed to confuse Malfoy more than anything. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You figure it out." said Hailey, disappointed by the lack of reaction, walking over to rejoin her friends in line. Leaving Malfoy to try and figure out just how he had been insulted.
Ron knew one thing for sure, Hailey was far more tolerable than Malfoy.
Potion class started with Professor Snape taking attendance. He was a tall man, with dark hair, and cold black eyes, which swept across the room as he ran down the list. He stopped when he reached Hailey.
"Ahh yes, our new... Celebrity." he said softly.
Hailey shared a glance with Sophie, who shrugged.
He finished the roll, and he put it aside.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making." he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death, if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
Hailey could practically hear that girl Hermione's eagerness from here.
"Weasely!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"What?" said Ron.
"Answer the question!" Snape snapped.
"Err… don't know sir." Ron mumbled, ears going red with embarrassment.
"Why am I not surprised?" Snape sneered, before rounding on another Gryffindor. "You! Finnegan, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Hailey watched disinterestedly, resting her head in her hand, as the irish kid got dressed down by Snape. He was one of those teachers eh? She let her gaze drift to Hermione, who had her hand high in the air. Not particularly bright of her to be honest. Snape clearly wasn't looking for answers, just people to show up. Of course he isn't going to ask you, as you clearly know all this stuff. Hailey wonders if anyone else is going to be on the chopping block.
"Potter!" Snape called out rounding on her, "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"Eh?" said Hailey, straightening up in surprise. "Me?"
"There isn't any other Potter here, don't think you will get special treatment in this class girl." Snape said.
Hailey could hear Malfoy and his goons snickering in the background. So much for him favouring Slytherins.
Unluckily for Snape, Hailey knew this one. "They are the same plant sir, its scientific Genus is Aconitum and there are over two hundred and fifty species found mostly in the mountainous regions of the northern hemisphere, and is famed for its toxicity. Other names include Aconite, Leopard's bane, Mousebane, Women's bane, Devil's helmet, Queen of poisons, or blue rocket."
This stopped Malfoys laughter. Hailey shared a quiet low five under the desk with Sophie.
If Snape was surprised by the comprehensive answer, it didn't show. "Very well, but at least try to pay attention when I ask you a question. Next time I expect an immediate answer, I do not appreciate lollygagging. For future reference, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
As everyone rummaged for quills and parchment, Hailey watched Snape with something borderlining interest.
He didn't like her, that much was clear, but there was something else under there. Something only a creature like Hailey could pick up.
Grudge.
Deep, heavy, Grudge.
Something about Hailey rubbed Snape entirely the wrong way.
"Pst, Hailey, are you ok?" Sophie whispered while Snapes back was turned, "you're kinda breathing heavily."
Hailey forced her breathing under control. She had gotten too excited, and it had started to show.
"I'm fine." said Hailey, "Just spaced out a bit."
Sophie didn't look convinced, but held her tongue as class commenced.
Class passed pretty unremarkably as they made a potion for curing boils. The only incident worth noting was the toad boy somehow melting his cauldron, and getting covered in angry boils. After that, both Hailey and sophie decided to be a lot more careful, and keep a respectable distance from their cauldron. The incident had left Snape rather irritated, and the look Snape shot Hailey was as if he wanted to blame her somehow for the boys problem, but she was sitting too far away.
And there it was again, delicious grudge. Hailey swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Hailey, are you sure you're ok?" Sophie said.
"Fine, why do you ask?" Hailey said, adjusting her collar.
"Well your eyes for a start." Sophie said.
"Hailey blinked, before giving her temple a light slap. Blinking rapidly, she forced her eyes to lose their predatory slits. "Sorry they… do that sometimes." Hailey said lamely, her mind too full of fog to come up with anything better.
If sophie was concerned before, she was downright suspicious now. Nevertheless, she held her tongue.
At the end of the session, Snape dismissed them, and everyone filed out of class.
All except Hailey.
"You coming?" Sophie said.
"Give me a sec." said Hailey, "I want to ask the professor something. Can you wait for me outside?"
Lily Looked like she wanted to say something. But Sophie covered her mouth and gave a winning smile. "Sure, We'll be right outside."
She frogmarched Lily out.
Hailey walked up to Snape.
"What is it Potter?" Snape said, not looking up from tidying up his desk, "Please keep it brief, I have to prepare for another class, and I do not wish to waste my time."
"You hate me don't you." Hailey said, grinning. "Why?"
"Excuse me?" said Snape looking up.
"You heard me just fine," said Hailey, "Why do you hate me?"
Snape staired long and hard at Hailey. "Even if this was the case, why should I bother telling you?"
Hailey shrugged, "Whether you like it or not, you are my teacher, and my head of house, you are stuck with me for about seven years. We might as well… clear the air, find out exactly where we stand with one another." Hailey couldn't hide the excitement in her voice.
Snape kept staring. "And I suppose you won't leave me alone until I tell you?"
Hailey nodded.
Snape sighed. "Well then, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's not you I hate, rather your late father. We had what one might call a mutual dislike, and then he had the poor manners to die. I am probably not the first to tell you that you have inherited one or two traits from him. I am merely taking out my pent up aggression toward your father, sorry to say."
"Oh." said Hailey, who couldn't hide her disappointment.
"Yes. Oh." said Snape, returning to organise his desk. "Sorry to burst your self-important bubble, now do you mind running alo…"
"Want to make it personal?" Hailey said suddenly.
"Excuse me?" said snape, looking up again.
"I'd rather not be a proxy for your issues with my dad," Hailey said, starting to weave her powers of hatred into her speech. "So how about we make it official." Hailey leaned forward, presenting a cheek. " Come on, hit me."
Snape leaned back. "What!?"
"Come on, punch me, slap me, curse me, whatever. I'm a tough girl, I can take it." Hailey said, tapping her cheek, and grinning madly. "I won't tell neither. If you want a beef, I'm more than happy to oblige." there was a pause, the only sound being Haileys elevated breathing "Come on, do it ya wuss, You said I remind you of my dad, so this should be easy for you. Come on, hit me, Hate me!" She intensified her powers, attempting to overwhelm Snapes restraint.
Snape stared down at Hailey as if he just seen her for the first time. Indeed, he wasn't sure quite what he was seeing or feeling from the child, especially with the red haze descending upon his vision.
He shook his head to clear the strange fog that had descended on his mind. He had no idea where Hailey had gotten this kind of advanced mental magic from, or why she was using it on him. But decided whatever this situation was, it needed to be diffused. He did the only thing he could think off.
"I'm afraid miss Potter, that I can never truly hate you. At least not in the way you want me too." Snape said, surprisingly gently.
Hailey blinked, not expecting this. Even after all that power, he still wasn't going to hit her? She regained some of her own restraint and straitened up, still panting. She then asked the only question she could think off, "Why not?"
Snape sighed. "Because you also remind me too much of your mother, for me to ever truly hate you."
With this, Haileys fire was extinguished. "My… Mother?"
"Yes, your mother… she was… a dear friend, once upon a time." said Snape "Do you get the picture, or do I have to spell it out for you?"
Hailey shook her head. "No, I get the picture."
"Good," said Snape, "Now kindly get out of my classroom, before I throw you out."
Hailey sighed, "yes sir." and turned to leave.
"I guess I'll leave him alone." Muttered Hailey as she closed the door behind her. Just her luck, the damn man loved her mother.
"Hey Hailey, how was it?" Sophie said, cheerfully.
A little too cheerfully, Hailey thought. Now that she was thinking clearly, there was no way Sophie didn't eavesdrop on that entire conversation. Hailey wondered if she might have to blow her secret early just to get Sophie to keep her mouth shut (not that she would mind, but she doesn't want to risk disappointing Yukari by blowing it so early).
But for the time being she seemed content not to ask, and the rest of the morning passed uneventfully, until it was time to see Hagrid.
Walking across the grounds to the large hut on the edge of the forest. Hailey leading, she knocked on the door.
There was a booming bark and a scrabbling at the door, making Lilly jump.
"Back, Fang Back!" Came Hagrid's voice through the door, before he opened the door a smidge to peer out.
"Hang on, Back Fang!"
Hagrid let them, while holding the collar of a huge boar hound.
Hagrids cottage was a single room affair, with a warm fire and large bed with a patchwork quilt.
"Make yourself at home," said Hagrid, letting go of the dog's collar, who immediately started lavishing the trio with affection.
Hailey went for her usual greeting of Hugging Hagrids leg. "Hello Hagrid, cosy place you got here."
"Thanks," said Hagrid, patting her head, before regarding the other two. "And who are your friends?" He sounded friendly enough as he said it, but there might have been a hint of suspicion.
Hailey disengaged from Hagrids leg, and pointed them out. "These are my roommates, Thats Sophie, she's more of a listener than a talker, but she's fun to be around. And That's Lily Moon… she's cool I guess."
Lily waved shyly, and Sophie stepped forward. "And you are Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys. Nice to meetcha. Haileys spoken fondly of you."
This seemed to placate the giant somewhat. "Has she now?" He seemed to think for a minute before he spoke, "I'll be honest, I'm not particularly fond of Slytherins, but you seem like decent folk. Any friends of Hailey are welcome in my home. Come on, let's have a cuppa tea, and tell me about yourselves."
They all sat down, and Hagrid served tea, and some incredibly hard fruitcake, that only Hailey could chew without difficulty.
"Wow ths shns ah hrd." Hailey said, her mouth full after finishing her second one. Earning weird looks from Sophie, as Lilly tried in vain to bite into hers.
"Now I already know well enough about Hailey," said Hagrid, "but what about you girls? What's yer stories then?"
"I'm no one special," said Sophie, soffening the cake with her tea. "Me and Hailey just clicked at the start-of-year feast."
"Oh come on, everyone came from somewhere," said Hagrid, "Who were yer parents? Did they go to Hogwarts?"
"No," said Sophie, "They studied abroad."
"Don't bother, Hagrid," said Hailey, giggling, "Sophie's pretty tight lipped when it comes to personal stuff. Now if you want to get her talking, talk about other people."
"That a fact?" said Hagrid, Looking at the girl in question.
Sophie shrugged, "Not everyone is an open book. I prefer my life to be a locked dairy."
Hagrid didn't look to happy, but Hailey caught his eye, and she stood up in her chair to whisper in his ear. "To be honest, she has a good reason for not talking about her parents, something that would make her rather unpopular with the other slytherins… something about blood, if you get what I mean."
Hagrid looked confused, before it dawned on him, and he looked on Sophie with a bit of respect. "Well, I suppose I can understand wanting to keep that close to yer chest, especially around that lot."
Sophie looked rather annoyed, "Did you have to tell him?"
Hailey shrugged. "I'd rather my friends get along with each other."
Hagrid decided to move the conversation along a bit, and turned to Lily who was once more out of the loop, and looked rather lost with the conversation. "And what about you. Lily wasn't it? Got anything you would be comfortable sharing?"
"Umm…" vocalised the shy girl, "What would you like to know?"
"I suppose… How about your Family? I vaguely recall a Moon attendin' school back in the day. Cyrus Moon, I think he was. Any relation?"
"He… he was my father," Lily said quietly.
"Thought so," said Hagrid. "A Hufflepuff boy. Nice lad as I recall. What's he up to these days?"
Lily flinched, "He's… he's dead."
There was an awkward silence. Lily looked down at the table.
Hagrid leaned over the table and put a massive hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have asked. Are you gonna be alright?"
"I'm… I'm fine," said Lily, "It was a long time ago." she forced a brave little smile, "I'm just happy Hailey lets me hang around."
"Ouch, now I just feel bad." muttered Hailey. In her mind, Lily had just been upgraded from random tag-along to 'too pure, must protect'."
One thing sorta bothered her though. "Wizards sure put a lot of stock on family huh?"
After everyone's rather shocked expressions, she realised she was being insensitive and quickly clarified, "wait no, I mean, I was curious why that was the first question you asked, Hagrid, and wizards seem to care a lot about their family name."
Despite the awkward delivery, everyone was more than happy to move away from the topic of dead parents.
Hagrid scratched his chin in thought. "I suppose that is a fact. My guess is it stems from the fact that the wizarding community is a small one, and there are a lot of big families with strong ideals, and ties with other families. I guess sometimes, it's easy to figure out where you stand with someone, if you know their family and where they stand with yers."
Hailey frowned, "I'm not sure I like that. I never even met my parents. I'm basically only a Potter by name. I don't like the thought that people will treat me differently based on a family I never knew."
"But people already treat you differently Hailey," Sophie pointed out, "Girl who lived, remember?"
"Oh, right." said Hailey, knocking on her temple with her fist, and poking her tongue out.
"I gotta say, I understand why you might feel like that. But it still hurts a bit to hear you talk about yer folks like that." Hagrid said.
Hailey looked rather awkward. "Well it's not that I don't like them or anything, may they rest in peace. Its just… I never knew them. They were dead before I could even remember. Its kinda hard to feel anything for someone I never even met. I am thankful, I wouldn't exist without them after all. But apart from that gratitude, my family consists of a surname and some relatives who hate me."
Hagrid sighed, "Like I said, I understand, and I don't blame yer, I'm sure if Lily and James were here they wouldn't blame you either. They would just want to you to be happy. Sorry fer bringing it up.
"It's alright," said Hailey, shrugging. "But enough of this heavy stuff, in your note you said you wanted to know about our school week, well wait until you hear about what happened in my first transfiguration class…"
With the conversation moving onto less loaded waters, they chatted away the rest of the afternoon about their school week, Hagrid warming up to the two girls, and inviting them back any time. They walked back up to the school.
"Isn't he cool though?" said Hailey.
"He is very big." said Sophie. "I wonder why…"
"Ehh, who cares." shrugs Hailey, "Maybe he's dutch. Come on, let's go back to our room, I could do with some chill time."
"Didn't we just spend a few hours, drinking tea and chatting?" Sophie said, laughing.
"Hey, you can never have too much chill, Sophie." Hailey said, with mock wisdom.
When they opened the door to their room, they were greeted with Chen lying in front of the fire, purring softly to herself.
"Chen?" Hailey said.
The cat girl noticed them come in and languidly stretched, and stood up. "Hope you don't mind me starting the fire, it's so damn cold down here, and you were taking fooorever."
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you all week." Hailey said, walking up to one of her oldest friends.
"A friend of yours?" Sophie said, looking curiously at the strange cat girl.
Chen looked Sophie up and down. "Whats this, a new friend? Don't tell me you are trying to replace me Hailey?"
Hailey laughed and punched Chen in the arm, "I couldn't get rid of you even if I wanted to. Sophie, Lily, this is Chen, my long time partner in crime."
"Do you go here too? I don't remember seeing you at the sorting." said Sophie, extending a hand.
"Oh I was there, just not being sorted." Chen said, accepting the handshake. "I'm not a student, I'm just here to help my Mistress and make sure Hailey stays in trouble."
Sophie raised an eyebrow, "Don't you mean, out of trouble?"
Chen gave a cheshire grin. "Now where's the fun in that?"
"So what brings you down here?" Hailey said, bringing herself back into the conversation.
"Oh right, I got a message for you from Ran." Chen said.
"Ran? you mean that extracurricular teacher?" Sophie said.
"Ain't you told them Hailey?" Chen asked.
Hailey shrugged, "I can't say it ever came up."
"Ran is Haileys personal Tutor. The only reason she's at Hogwarts is to continue Haileys education." Chen said.
"By the way, What's with this whole 'extracurricular class' thing?" Hailey pouted, "I was never told about it, I thought she was only here to teach me."
"It was that Dumbledore guys idea. Since she was going to be here, he thought the student body could benefit from her extensive knowledge, and you know how enthusiastic Ran is when it comes to teaching." said Chen. She nudged Hailey in the ribs, "Whats the matter, jealous that you have to share Ran with everyone else?"
Hailey pouted harder. "Just tell me the message."
"Your wish." Chen said Pirrowetting until she stood in the center of the room. She then closed her eyes, and when she opened them, her brown eyes were replaced with Rans golden ones, and when she spoke it was with Rans voice.
"Chen, are you listening? Good, now memorize this message: Hailey, Your lessons will be starting this weekend, the first one being tomorrow But we will be treating it was a test class for the other students. It will be starting at two in the afternoon, but I expect you by one, as you will be helping me running this first class, and I need to run you through some things. Don't worry about finding the classroom, Chen will take you there. Good to know you are already making some friends, feel free to bring along Miss Roper and Miss Moon should they wish to come. Did you get all that Chen? Good, Now go find Hailey please, and then return. I have some wo..."
"...aaand that's the message." said Chen in her normal voice.
"On a saturday?" Whined Hailey.
"Hey, no use bitching to me, I'm just a messenger," said Chen who was now lying on Haileys bed, "Man, being a school student must suck huh? I bet you miss being as free as me!"
"Sure make yourself at home." snarked Hailey. Crossing her arms and huffing.
"Way ahead of you." Chen said, stretching out across the bed.
Hailey huffed louder, and walked over to her trunk, and throwing it open, climbed in, and slid down a ladder.
After a moment of silence, some music could be heard from down the hole.
Sophie shared a glance with Lily, who was equally mistified, and she peered down into the open trunk lid. Where there appeared to be a room. After a moment's hesitation, she climbed down, followed by Lily.
In the trunk, was a medium sized room, with a dim electric lamp. The walls were covered in shelves and posters.
There was a large television against one wall, with a VCR and what Sophie recognised as a SEGA Mega Drive, which Hailey was using to play Space Harrier II.
"Oh hey Guys." said Hailey, reclining on one of the big poofy sofas. "Welcome to my portable lair, make yourself at home. I'd give you the tour but I'm kinda miffed at the moment."
"What is this?" said Lily, her shyness forgotten in her interest in the TV.
"Its Space Harrier II, its a shoot em up. Its pretty cool." Hailey said.
"I don't think that's what she meant Hailey." said Sophie laughing, before explaining. "Lily, this is a television. It's a muggle device for watching movies, serials, or as Hailey is currently using it for, playing games."
"Muggles can do that?" Lily said, awed.
"Geez I keep forgetting how backward wizards are." Hailey said, pausing the game and looking up at Lily, "Technically the television can't do it all on its own, it needs input from elsewhere, Like the BBC, VCRs, and This Mega Drive."
"Mega Drive?"
"Hailey got up and walked over to the TV, and pointed to the console, "It's a game console, made by SEGA, and its totally kickass." said Hailey becoming her usual peppier self as she lost herself in enthusiasm. "Its SEGA's third console, and I love it to bits. It's got better sound, better graphics, and the games are nearly as good as the ones you can play in arcades… Hey do you want to give it a try? Not necessarily this game, this one's a bit hard for a beginner." she said, taking out the game and going over to one of her shelves, "Lets see… no, no no no, god no… Ah!" she finally exclaimed, pulling out a cartridge. "I got this new game before coming here, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. It's the hottest release! It's called Sonic the Hedgehog."
Lily seemed to be having trouble keeping up with all this information. "Ah… You don't have to… I mean, I'm not sure if I will be any good..."
"Nonsense, I haven't played this game either, we'll learn together." said Hailey, placing the game into the machine, "We can take turns!"
"You just want someone elses score to beat." said Chen, poking her head upside down from the ladder.
"Don't be mad just cuz you suck at games." Hailey said, poking out her tongue at the cat girl.
"Oh no you didn't." said Chen sumasulting down into the room and throwing herself on the other side of the couch, "I'm on next, let me show you some cat like reflexes."
"Hey you're on third at most." said Hailey, "Lily is going first, I wanna teach her how to play."
"Oh, you don't…" Lily tried, but was pulled onto the couch by the other two.
Sophie watched in amusement as the enthusiastic girls tried to teach Lily a game they had never played, and contented herself with having a poke around the room.
Dumbledore looked up as Snape walked into his office. "Is there anything I can help you with Severus?"
"Sir." said Snape, "There is something seriously strange with Miss Potter."
"In what way, might I ask?" In truth Dumbledore had been noticing a lot of strange things with Hailey, but he wonders what Snape has seen to make this so urgent.
Snape crossed his arms, "For a start, have you seen her teeth?"
Bonus:
"Fan of 'Doctor Who' are you?" said Sophie, looking at the large poster on the wall.
"Yeah, specifically the fourth, he's the best." said Hailey, as Chen was taking her turn.
"I can't say I've had a chance to get into it. I don't really watch a lot of TV. Could never really find the time." said Sophie. "From what I've seen it looks pretty cool.
"Fair enough, if you like we can watch some when we have time. I have some of them on tape."
"Ummm… What's Doctor who?" said Lily innocently.
The two girls looked at her as if she had just grown a third eye.
"And you call yourself British." said Hailey with scorn.
"Huh…?"
And Thus is Haileys darkest Secret is revealed… She is a SEGA Fangirl!
Small reminder that the first Harry Potter book was set in 1991, and therefore this was a thing that was possible for someone to be. You would not believe the amount of research I performed to check the different consoles that were available, and what games were out at the time. I settled on SEGA not out of any kind of loyalty (My first console has a N64, followed by a PS1, and have spent a majority of my life PC gaming), but rather that Neptune is my favourite Character in the Hyperdimension Neptunia games.
But Yeah, Hailey is a bit of a geek, who knew?
As for all that nonsense in the Dungeon... If you haven't already figured it out, it will be explained in greater detail… eventually.
By the way, I have made a small habit of replying to reviews that ask questions about the story because I like responding to readers, which is something that can only be done in this online chapter-by-chapter format. But do you guys think I should respond directly to the reviews with PMs like I have been doing, or should I respond at the start or end of the chapter, Like I have seen other writers on this site do. Which does everyone prefer.
I was told by my proofreader that this chapter can be slightly awkward. I've done my best to un-awkward it, but it's up to the reader if I did a good job.
Edit: I finally fixed Hailey's mistake about the MEGA DRIVE, you can stop screaming at me now.