Chapter 7
Rapunzel didn't mean to set fire to half the Potions classroom, but that's what happened on her first day of class.
It was her first class, and Rapunzel could not wait to finally be able to use magic for the first time. Potions does not directly involve using magic, but in order to make an effective potion one must use magical ingredients. Thus, Rapunzel was trembling with excitement when she was handed the snake fangs she had to crush to make a potion to cure boils. However, when she was stewing her horned slug, she allowed the cauldron to get too hot and it exploded in flames. Alec Montoni's hair caught on fire, and several other students' belongings started to burn. Professor Zehir was able to douse the fire quickly, but quite a bit of Montoni's hair was smoldering.
Naturally, this caused Professor Zehir to take away twenty-five points from Ravenclaw. Rapunzel apologized profusely to those whose belongings had been harmed and tried to apologize to Montoni, but he simply turned away in a huff. She received a zero on her first in-class assignment and was given extra homework.
The rest of the morning would have been extremely interesting, if Rapunzel was not continually shunned by her classmates. Eager to make friends, she tried to chat with her fellow Ravenclaws when walking from class to class, but they all ignored her attempts at conversation. When allowed to pick seats in class, all the Ravenclaws would avoid sitting next to Rapunzel.
At lunch, when it could be seen by all the Ravenclaws that they had zero house points despite several students gaining some, it quickly spread around the table that it was the first year Rapunzel's fault. So Rapunzel sat at the edge of the table, away from her peers.
Merida entered the Hall with Tatiana and some other Gryffindors. She happened to glance in Rapunzel's direction. Rapunzel looked at her with sapphire-green eyes, and Merida could tell that she was evidentially in quite some distress.
Merida stopped for a moment. So many times, she too had sat alone and watched as all her classmates walked past without a second glance in her direction. She always had tried to catch one of their eyes, but it was if she was invisible.
She thought how scary it must be for a first-year to sit alone on the first day. Merida had sat alone so often that it hardly made a difference as time passed, but she knew that many wizard children were kept at home and never went to a proper school prior to Hogwarts.
"Merida?" asked Peigi. "Aren't you going to sit with us?" Merida looked at Peigi briefly and then back at Rapunzel again.
"No, sorry," Merida said. She walked resolutely over and sat across from Rapunzel. Rapunzel looked up at her in surprise.
"Hi, I'm Merida," Merida simply stated.
"I'm… Ra-Rapunzel," stuttered Rapunzel. She so wanted to make a good impression!
"Rarapunzel?" Merida repeated. She giggled. "Is that really your name?"
"Oh, no, sorry," said Rapunzel. "I meant to say Rapunzel."
"Rapunzel? Still sounds like a type of radish or something," laughed Merida.
"Oh, I never thought it was weird sounding," Rapunzel said, tucking a hair behind her ear nervously.
Merida stopped laughing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of your name," she said, looking at Rapunzel beseechingly. "Forgive me?"
Rapunzel looked at her quizzically. "Oh! Erm, of course," she said, smiling.
Merida smiled back, and said, "You have a very nice smile, you know."
"Thanks," Rapunzel responded.
Merida looked at the other Ravenclaws around the table, who were looking at the pair and frowning. "What's with them?" she asked.
"Oh, I kind of… caused a fire in Potions," muttered Rapunzel, looking down at her hands in shame.
Merida burst out laughing, causing some of the Ravenclaws looking on to frown more severely. "You caused a fire!" she hooted. "Ah, that's brilliant," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "On the first day and everything!" She continued to laugh. Rapunzel blushed, thoroughly embarrassed. Merida saw and assured her, "I don't mean to laugh at you again. I swear I'm not trying to be mean." She leaned back, crossed her arms, and smiled. "You just don't seem like the type to set fires."
"I didn't mean to!" Rapunzel insisted.
"I believe you, no worries," replied Merida, still smiling broadly. "But really, you are a bit of a screw-up," she laughed.
Rapunzel saw that Merida was merely teasing her, like her mother often did. She began to laugh too, to Merida's surprise. "You're right, of course," she said. "Great way to make a first impression, I guess."
"Fire is the best way to make a first impression," said Merida seriously. She kept a straight face until Rapunzel started to giggle, and then started laughing again.
One of the other Ravenclaws, a third-year named Sibil Volunt, leaned down the table. She tapped Merida on the shoulder, and having attained the girl's attention, said, "I know you're a first year, so you probably don't know, but since you're not a Ravenclaw you shouldn't be sitting here."
Merida looked at her disdainfully. "Oh? And what are you going to do about it?" Merida stared at Volunt until she decided to turn and talk to her friends. Rapunzel looked at Merida with awe.
"You're brave," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to say that."
"Well, I guess that's why the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor," said Merida, smiling. She reached over and grabbed a leg of chicken.