Chapter 5
Author's Note: So, yes, as you saw in the last chapter, I had Cedric reincarnate as a biracial chick named Hope. Why did I do this? Because I can. Despite Ced's reincarnating in a new body with a new name, I will do my utmost to preserve the character's personality. After all, what would be the point of a reincarnation story if I didn't?
Another note: Hope went to Wellesley because I went to Wellesley. Write what you know, yeah? :P
If there's anything you like or anything you want to see in this story, please let me know by reviewing!
Wellesley College Freshman Hope Marshall had many different athletic interests – skiing, snowboarding, tae kwon do, surfing, hockey, the list went on – but today, she was enjoying running near Wellesley's Lake Waban, hearing the fall leaves crunch under her feet.
"How are you so cheerful?!" moaned her friend Candace as they rounded the last bend of their 2 circuits around the lake, which amounted to a 5-mile run. "My sides are killing me!"
"I was pretending to be a unicorn," replied Hope nonchalantly. It was easy for her to pretend to be a unicorn, as she often had dreams about being a strong male unicorn prancing through an enchanted forest. Sometimes, there was even a female unicorn – and she'd once told Hope that she was pregnant and would soon give birth to a cute little foal.
Still, Hope didn't share her unicorn dreams with anyone because they weren't a relevant topic of conversation, she was pretty quiet to begin with, and if anyone actually knew the full extent of her dreams, they'd send her straight to the psych ward.
Hope and Candace stopped on the stairs between the Tower Court dormitory and Lake Waban so that they could stretch.
"Makes sense you'd pretend to be a unicorn," Candace teased. "You run as fast as a horse and you're super pretty."
"Uh, thanks. You're pretty attractive yourself," replied Hope. Hope had been getting compliments on her appearance for her entire life, but they still made her self-conscious. She was a pretty, biracial girl, 5'10" tall, with a lean, athletic build. Since she had excellent reflexes and endurance galore, she was looking forward to trying out for the Wellesley hockey team soon. Whenever she was engaged in an athletic activity, she contained her long wavy dark hair in a braid, but outside of that, it fell in deep dark brown waves to her elbows. Her skin had a tea-and-cream complexion and an adorable smattering of freckles across her well-shaped nose. Those freckles drew attention to the delicate structure of her cheekbones and complemented the overall shape of her face. But the real showstopper was her eyes – bright gray eyes that took in the world with curiosity an delight, and gazed back on the world with love and kindness.
Those kind gray eyes looked at Candace appraisingly as Hope told her, "You kicked butt today, you know that?"
"Thanks, girl. Now, I think we both need a shower. And hey, it's taco night for dinner tonight, and they have Tres Leches Cake for dessert. Want to get dinner after we shower?"
"Hmm, since this offer involves both my friend and also cake, then yes! See you downstairs in 30!" The two girls scampered off to shower.
Hope had fallen in love with Wellesley College when she visited the previous year and had refused to consider anywhere else. Since her high school grades were good and her essay about training to do aerial skiing tricks was interesting, she was a shoo-in.
Running around the lake was one of Hope's favorite things to do at Wellesley. It was home to a lot of magical creatures that Hope loved to observe – like the bowtruckles that inhabited every tree. That such a magical place even existed was astounding to her, like a kind of miracle. That it could be inhabited by muggles was extra interesting.
Hope had figured out the previous year that the magical world existed. She'd come across a wizard by accident when she was doing a trail run outside Burlington, Vermont, where she'd grown up. The wizard should have modified her memory, but since Hope could see magical creatures, he decided not to. And then he'd let her borrow some of his books on the magical world and on magical creatures. Brandon was nice like that.
And now that Hope was at Wellesley, she could still write him via muggle post and request extra reading material. Even though she wasn't technically a part of the magical world (she hadn't received a letter to enroll in a magical school), she still loved to learn about it. It was like she was privy to a great big secret!
She took a quick shower and made her way back to her dorm room to get changed.
And then a dream happened. But no, it wasn't a dream, because she was awake as she experienced it. She was the unicorn again, running through the forest at break-neck speed, and she could tell from the adrenaline and sheer terror coursing through her system that this was no joy run. She was fleeing for her life. Her breathing grew fast and labored, but then a man in a turban came out from behind a tree, pointed his wand at her, and shouted, "Impedimenta!"
Hope could feel the unicorn's body fall to the ground, as if she were the one inhabiting it. The creature was trembling and trying to get up, but to no avail. And then the man in the turban pulled out a knife and slashed right into the unicorn's throat.
Hope felt the icy blade plunge into her throat as if someone was really stabbing her there. The pain was unbearable. She could feel herself – and the unicorn – fading, but she held on for dear life and tried to focus on what was happening, so as to see as much as possible. She sensed that whatever came next, it was vitally important.
Her attacker was unraveling his turban now. The dying are said to abandon fear at death's door, but even as she felt the unicorn dying, Hope was terrified of what lay under that turban.
Her attacker turned around and another face, a terrifying face with snake-like features, stared at her from the back of her attacker's head. Its bloodshot red eyes stared greedily at the unicorn's bleeding throat. And then the face came down and drank straight from the bleeding wound, its cold lipless mouth inflicting a horrible suction upon the unicorn's skin.
That was the last thing Hope knew before everything went dark.
Hope awoke to beeping machines and blinding white light.
"Oh, thank God!"
"Mom? Dad?" Hope rasped. She tried to concentrate, but the light was still too bright. She wanted to shield her eyes, but with one parent holding each of her hands in a death grip, it was impossible. When she fidgeted, her parents dimmed the lights and helped her sit up.
"What happened?"
"Your roommate Andrea found you collapsed right outside your dorm room. She said you'd just come back from the showers when you suddenly started screaming and flailing, like you were possessed or something. Then, you passed on the floor. She called an ambulance for you right then."
"Is there something wrong with me?" Hope asked. Maybe she should've told someone about her unicorn dreams, if it'd mean she got treatment. Did she need antipsychotics or something?
"The doctors think you had a panic attack," explained her dad. "People have them sometimes, for no reason. This was the first one you've ever had, so the doctors aren't going to prescribe you anything or ask for a follow-up. They think it might've been a one-off. And there's no concussion, which is good!"
Hope nodded. That made sense. Something in her wanted to tell her parents about her unicorn dreams, but she held back. The doctors might not know she'd had a vision before she fainted, but they were probably right about this being a one-off incident.
"Your roommate brought you this folder of assignments you missed, along with a few notes from your professors. You can come home for a bit to complete your assignments and heal if you want."
"Can I stay with you for just a couple days, and then go back? I want to finish the first semester of classes, okay?"
"Okay, sweetie. We're so proud of you and we're glad you're okay. We love you so much."
"I love you too, Mom and Dad. I'm sorry about this."
Her dad gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. "Don't be sorry, Hope. When our daughter is in trouble, there's nowhere else we'd rather be than by her side."
A few days later, Hope Marshall was feeling normal, and even possibly ready to face her first round of college finals.
She hadn't had any unicorn dreams since her supposed panic attack, and she found she actually missed them. It was like part of her had died, or something.
But this morning, she awoke peacefully because she'd dreamed that she was visiting the unicorn's corpse and someone came to comfort her. That someone was an old wizard with long robes, a long white beard, long white hair, and bright blue eyes that radiated kindness and love from behind his half-moon spectacles. That someone had told her of the reincarnation of unicorns – and even had implied to her that she was a reincarnated unicorn herself. It was a lovely resolution to the unicorn's life.
But what did that dream even mean?! She had so many questions. Did unicorns actually reincarnate? Why would someone drink unicorn blood? She still didn't want to tell anyone about her unicorn dreams, but she needed more info, STAT.
She scribbled a brief letter to Brandon that read: "What do you know about unicorns?"
A few days after she'd written to Brandon, Hope sat in a corner of the Wellesley library with a copy of Beedle the Bard's History of Unicorns cradled in her arms. Her normally focused gray eyes were wide with shock and stared at nothing in particular, as though she was trying to focus her vision far enough out to get a look at the entire universe at once.
Three hours ago, she'd hid out here, intending to take just a quick peek at the History of Unicorns, only to get completely sucked in.
Unicorns are extremely strong magical creatures – they are able to lift enormous loads, they can run for days on end without tiring, and they have fought and overcome predatory beasts many times their size – even dragons!
Unicorn blood has magical healing properties, and it can save you even if you are an inch from death. However, drinking the blood of a unicorn will cause you to lead a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips. But it is said that unicorn blood is only cursed when it is unwillingly taken. There have been miscellaneous and disparate reports of wounded people coming across unicorns, in which the unicorns willingly scratched themselves and bled to save the injured; the injured in these stories all went on to lead happy and fulfilling lives.
No human can become a human animagus, but unicorns can transform into humans for a time if they wish to.
Brandon had included a note in the front of the book pointing out that most of what was written about unicorns was probably mere fancy generated by the Bard to get more people to take an interest in his stories. And yet, Hope believed every word she'd just read. She had no idea how, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was all true.
"Hey, girl! You okay? I was sure I'd see you at the lecture today since you love philosophy and there was cake!"
Hope shoved away her book on unicorns. "Oh, sorry, Candace. I was, ah, reading a really captivating book and lost track of time."
"Ah, I see! Was it on unicorns?" Candace teased.
"Better luck guessing next time," Hope replied as she pulled a copy of Pride and Prejudice out of her backpack and showed it around.
"Oh, but Mr. Darcy is absolutely a unicorn, isn't he?" Candace giggled.
"Oh, yeah, I guess! Listen, I've been sitting here too long. I feel like I need to go for a run."
"Well, don't forget that French House is doing a dinner tonight at 6 and you promised you'd come with me."
"I won't forget," said Hope with a wink. "Besides, what kind of person or creature would I be if I could run for over THREE HOURS?"
Candace gave her a quizzical look and Hope skipped off down the stairs. Any other day, Hope would be happy to join her and/or any of their other friends for a study-and-bitch-about-homework session, but the need to run was overpowering.
Hope wandered down to the lakeside trail and set her backpack down against a tree. Nobody stole at Wellesley, so she knew it would be safe. Then, without a thought, without changing into proper running clothes, Hope sprinted down the path as fast as she could.
She urged herself faster and faster. Then, she disappeared between the trees, and tripped over a fallen tree, landing on her hands. But suddenly, they weren't hands anymore and she hadn't actually tripped, because she was running on all fours and could feel hooves – hooves! – thundering beneath her. The ground flashed by, faster than it ever had when she'd run on two legs.
She ran and ran and ran through forests until she came to a pond in the middle of nowhere. She looked in the pond at her reflection, to gaze upon her other body. It was a shock, but not entirely a surprise, to see what she beheld: she was inhabiting the body of the strong male unicorn from her dreams. Somehow – she didn't know how – that unicorn was living on through her.
k