Hello again!
Enjoy chapter 2! [Recently revised as of 9-22-18]
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters…Rihanna & Samuel.
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The red bag
Dumbledore's office was a treasure-trove of organized clutter, with all sorts of magical bobbles, devises, and trinkets from different origins just oozing with history and secrets. The walls were covered with shelves upon shelves of books, scrolls, and stacks of papers practically begging for curious students to read them. They were also covered with many portraits of people she assumed were former headmasters and mistresses of the school, ether sleeping or whispering to each other about the new girl and her father. The actual room itself was made up of stone, giant throw rugs, stain-glass windows, candles/torches and tapestries.
"Are we in an actual castle?" Rihanna asked in awe.
"Why, yes we are Miss Hale. That's very perceptive of you." He smiled kindly at her. " Now, if you and your father will step this way, we can get down to business."
He led them over to his desk, conjuring two extra chairs, and sat down.
"Tell me Miss Hale—"
"Um, Sir… would you mind calling me Rihanna or Rain? Military people always call me by my last name and it really bugs me… no offence."
"It's quite all right, Rihanna, I understand. Now, tell me, how much about this school and your transfer here do you already know?" He asked.
"Well, not much really. I mean, I know that the creation of the Ilvermorny institute, back in the states, along with its four houses was inspired by Hogwarts… Oh, and I know you wear uniforms."
He gave a small chuckle.
"Well then, we have quite a bit to cover before this evening."
He went on into more detail about the school's four founders, the houses, the sorting ceremony, and the point system for the house cup. This was followed by the school rules and expectations, who/what the prefects are as well as who the heads of each house are.
"I see it says here," he shuffled some papers, "you were a fifth year at Ilvermorny?"
"Yes sir."
"I think it would be best if we put you with the fourth years so you can be with students your own age."
Rain took the statement like a slap in the face.
"WHAT?!"
"Yes, think it would be for the best. Though, I understand it will be frustrating to retake some of the same classes, so your professors will allow you to focus on more advanced coursework if you wish."
"I don't understand why—"
" Ilvermorny students start at age 10 whilst students here at Hogwarts do not start until they are age 11."
"Oh." She sank into her chair, looking upset.
Her father tried to comfort her.
"It won't be so bad, Rainy. It might even make things easier for you, you know, give the other students one less reason to bug you with questions about your life. I know that's the part you hate most about our moves."
"You're probably right, plus, I would enjoy the advanced workload options I guess…"
Her father could sense that something ells was bothering her now.
"What is it Rainy?" He prompted in concern.
"What you said about the students asking personal questions... it reminded me. My secret... when the students at Ilvermorny found out about my condition… I was shunned by a majority of them. They became nervous or disgusted at the very sight of me. 'The prejudice bustards.' " She whispered the last bit to herself. "I don't know how I would have made it through the last few years if it wasn't for the close circle of friends I managed to somehow keep. The one's that didn't ditch me even though they were picked on for still talking to me… I refuse to let that happen again!" She glanced franticly at Dumbledor. "I understand the need for the faculty to know Sir, but the students can never find out."
Dumbledore looked at her with sympathy.
"I assure you, Rihanna…the members of my staff are all very trustworthy. No student shall ever find out shy of you telling them yourself, witch for your sake, I hope one day you can trust someone enough to do so. A person should be loved by their friends no matter how different they are."
"I hope you're right, Sir. I would give anything to make friends with people who love me for all that I am, and nothing less. I promise I'll try and make these next few years work." She smiled to herself, feeling a little better about the situation.
Mr. Hale was proud of his daughter for being so accommodating. He knew this new school year was going to be hard on her. This prompted him to ask...
"Uumm, Sir… From what you said a moment ago…I'm guessing it's safe for me to assume that Mrs. Cromwell has informed you of Rainy's condition in its entirety?"
"Ah…..yes she did." Dumbledor confirmed.
"She should be fine as long as she takes her tonic every day. Also, well…. I'm afraid this move has stressed her out, so she might need to take it more than once a day for a while. I leave that decision up to her though, as she knows how much stress she can handle better than the teachers do."
Rihanna rolled her eyes and smirked. 'Way to make me sound defective dad…. At least I know he cares about me…. He's such a good father.'
"Yes, we will have everything under control. I've mentioned that the teachers have been already informed, but is there anything they should know in case of an emergency?"
"Yes. Three things actually." Piped in Rihanna.
"Keep bleeding students away from me, watch my eyes… if they turn black, that's bad… if I'm severely injured and I mean severely, just like others of my kind I'll need…..well…. you know…
She trailed off shyly knowing that last bit would probably get her kicked out before she's even accepted.
"Thank you. I'll inform the staff immediately." He said calmly.
"What?!" Rihanna and her father gasped in unison. Rihanna glanced at her father. He had been holding his breath as well.
Rihanna was confused.
"That doesn't disgust you or anything?
"It could pose a challenge, but we will cross that bridge if we come to it."
'It's official… I love this guy!' thought Rihanna.
"Now, there is one more thing we have to discuss. Sense you have arrived a little late in the school term. I'm sure you've heard that Hogwarts is hosting Europe's Triwizard Tournament year.
"Sweat! Wait…not sweat. I thought that was discontinued centuries ago because of the massive death toll." Rihanna was confused again.
"It was, but we discussed it with the ministry of magic and we have agreed to try and bring it back. With more safety precautions in place of course."
"Okay, cool! Sign me up!" She said excitedly.
Her father looked a little uneasy at the idea.
"One of those safety precautions is an age restriction. Only students who are at least 17 years of age will be allowed to participate."
Rihanna's father let out a small sigh of relief. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed though.
"Lame! Oh well. I guess it should be fun to watch at least." She conceded.
Dumbledore smiled appreciatively at her. She took the news of the age restriction better than most of the other students.
"The other schools, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, will be arriving this evening. When they enter the great hall, they will give a small demonstration of magic as a means to introduce their schools. We thought it would be an interesting treat to show the other schools how we sort students into their houses so you will be sorted after they have entered."
"Okay…." Rihanna said nervously. 'Just what I need… all eyes on me…oh crap!'
They spent the next half hour creating her class schedule and discussing their locations. Looking at his watch, Samuel was shocked to see how late it was.
"I think it's time I report to the base before they declare me awol." He stated, half jokingly.
"Ah, quite right. I believe we have covered everything Rihanna. I will let you and your father say your goodbyes."
"Thank you Sir." She escorted her father back to the fireplace. "Well, good luck dad. You remember how to use my owl, Tessa, right? Cuz you know I'll be sending you letters like crazy."
They both laughed knowing how awkward her father is with owls and the whole wizarding mail system. They then hugged each other.
"Ouch! Not to tight hun!" Samuel yelped, laughing again.
She quickly let go.
"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly.
"It's okay hun. You know, I should be the one wishing you luck."
"This isn't my first move dad. You know I can take care of myself." She assured at him.
"I know." He agreed as he ruffled her hair.
She grimaced and quickly smoothed it back and punched his arm playfully. They hugged again and she smiled preparing to say what they always say to one another as their family's goodbye.
"Love you, miss you…" she started.
"Hope to see you soon." He finished affectionately . "Oh, and Rainy….."
"Yeah, dad?"
"I packed your tonic stash in the usual red snake-skin bag."
"Oh, right! Don't worry, I'll keep it charmed and hidden." She reassured him.
"I know, but do me a favor." He looked at her seriously now.
"What is it?" She wondered intently, noting his expression.
"Please, take one now, while Dumbledore is escorting me back. Your eyes are going black… best have another later tonight as well, just in case."
She gave him a thoughtful look.
"Okay dad."
He kissed her forehead.
"Alright Sir, we're good to go." Samuel called over to Dumbledore who had gone to the upper level of his office to give them their privacy.
"Off we go then Chief Hale. Rihanna, please wait here for a moment. Professor Magonagle will arrive shortly to escort you to where you will need wait outside the great hall for the sorting ceremony.
"Yes Sir, professor."
….
While she waited, she opened her red bag to retrieve a vile of tonic. The bag was a gift from her mother before she died. Her mother had charmed it so you could fit anything in it. She happened to notice that her father had packed what looked like several hundred of the small vials (each containing about a cup's worth). Her grandparents (on her mother's side) must have helped him.
She popped the cork, lifted the vile to her lips, and took a sip. As the warm liquid slid down her throat like silk, a rush of energy, pleasure, and satisfaction flowed and tingled throughout her body, strengthening her…. She quickly downed the rest, savoring the delicious feeling.
'Guess he was right… I really did need that.'
Licking her lips, she re-corked the vile and placed it back into her bag.
"Well, bag, I guess it's time to charm you…. let's see…the usual should do. I miss my lovely Jasper anyways."
She pulled out her 12 ½", Holly wood wand with a Dragon heartstring core (that had a Surprisingly Swishy flexibility) and taped the bag two times.
"Serpentectrum."
The bag twitched and transfigured into a blood red snake with black eyes and a slightly black tinted belly that was small enough to wrap around her forearm.
~"Hello there cutie! I've missssssed you."~
She taped Jasper's head and then her own, whispering another spell.
~"I can't have anyone ellsss communicating with you now can I? I know being a parsssssall tung issss rare, but with a housssse called Ssssslitherin, I can't rissssk it."~
The spell allows the two of them to communicate in parsal tung telepathically instead of verbally, though they can still speak out loud if they wanted… though they usually only did that in privet.
~" I've misssssed you assssss well."~ The snake hissed back to her affectionately.
She smiled, sighed, and hissed back.
~"Between you and me…. Tonight'sss going to freak me out…. Thissss ssschool year isss going to be crazy, weird. I can already tell."~
He hissed and wrapped himself reassuringly tighter around her wrist.
~"You'll be fine."~
~"Aawww, thank you!"~ She kissed his head. ~"Ssso now we wait."~
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Ta-da!
Chapter 2 is done!
Looking forward to your input…