Gosbstone Event - Silver stone: Reunion
Optional Prompts: Hufflepuff Common Room, Witch Weekly magazine, Bowtruckle toy
Romance Awareness Month: You realise someone's your soulmate when you touch them.
Optional prompt: reunion
Serendipity Day: write about a chance encounter.
It was the Founder's Reunion Party - as the town criers were calling it - and Hogwarts was filled with witches and wizards of all ages. Godric Gryffindor had returned after completing a five year quest with the young but promising wizard Merlin, and his three friends were celebrating his return. The school was open to all four Founders' friends and colleagues, as well as returning students.
For eight year old Helena, the joyous occasion was not so festive. So far she had gotten lost five times and tripped over three staircases. A painting had even laughed at her, saying that the daughter of one of the Founders should know better.
Well, Helena thought, crossing her arms and pulling one of her best scowls. I don't live here, unlike that stuffy old monk. Easy for him to say. Plus he can just go off and play with the other portraits. I'm stranded in this place until Mam remembers that I exist!
She ventured down a corridor on the ground floor, hoping to find the library her mother boasted of. Apparently it had hundreds and hundreds of books, as far as the eye could see! Now that would be something worth having a party for, not loud and smelly Godric Gryffindor.
As she turned the corridor, she realised that she had come to a dead end. There was nothing there except a few rotten old barrels. Sighing to herself, Helena decided to jump on one of the barrels and kick her legs against the side as she planned her next move. What she hadn't planned on was the end wall swinging open like a door.
Opening her mouth in shock, Helena jumped down, making sure Twiggy - her Bowtruckle toy - was safely secured in her pocket. He had been the only toy her mother had given her, probably so that Helena could get used to handling delicate objects. Twiggy would snap and squeal if one held him too tightly.
Once Twiggy was firmly in place, Helena decided to go exploring. Maybe this was the secret library? After all, if Helena had helped build the school, she would have created a secret place where one could read books in peace.
Much to her dismay, the room didn't contain any books. It did, however, have several squishy armchairs and sofas that Helena had to try out. A fire crackled merrily in the hearth, and the room was decorated in warm copper hues. There were no sharp angles in the room, only round arches and circular doorways leading into unknown rooms. Before Helena could explore a little more, she heard a scuffle at the door.
Looking around, she was met with the sight of a slight boy of about five, wearing clothes too big for his body. He had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed to be looking for something, since his gaze roamed the floor. Eventually, he looked up and saw Helena staring at him.
'Who art thou?' he asked, his vowels polished in a way Rowena would approve of.
'I'm Helena Ravenclaw,' Helena replied, affronted that he hadn't recognised her immediately. After all, her mother was one of the four distinguished hosts of the event. 'The real question be who art thou?'
'Septimus, at thy service, my lady,' the boy dropped into a deep bow.
Helena decided that she liked this polite little boy.
'What be thou doing in this place?' she asked. 'Were thy parents at Hogwarts?'
'My parents be far too aged to have learned magic here,' Septimus shook his head. 'Three of my siblings are educated here at the moment.'
'Three?' Helena asked incredulously. 'Why, what a ridiculous amount of people! How doth thou find peace and solitude with so many siblings?'
'I do not,' the boy replied unhappily. 'I have six siblings in total, and Alfred and Claire are allowed to eat my food if I am not quick enough, since they plan on joining the Quidditch team at Hogwarts. Might I inquire as to where the kitchens are located?'
Helena felt a twinge of pity for Septimus. Her mother's presence might be oppressive at times, but she always had enough to eat. Now that she looked closely, he seemed to be more around her own age, rather than younger. He was merely skinnier.
'I do not know,' she replied regretfully, wishing that she had studied her mother's blueprints of the castle before the party.
Her hand went to her pocket to stroke Twiggy. Suddenly, she had an idea, though she hesitated in acting upon it. Looking at Septimus's woeful face, she decided it was time she be magnanimous.
'Here,' she said grandly, taking Twiggy from his safe nest. 'Taketh Twiggy. He may not be edible, but he has helped me in times of distress and… well, he may be of aid to thee as well. Be careful, though!'
Slowly, almost reverently, Septimus reached for the small Bowtruckle toy. His fingers inadvertently brushed Helena's as he did so, sending a jolt of electricity down Helena's palm and to her wrist.
Their eyes met, and Helena realised that Septimus had felt the same thing. She didn't know what it was, only that she had a renewed desire to help him find the kitchens. Had she read her mother's "Witch Weekly" magazines - only present in the Ravenclaw household because Rowena had decided to try her hand at cooking - she would have realised that this particular feeling was described intimately and accurately under the "soulmate" section.
In the meantime, Helena only knew that the library could wait. She had a new subject to study, and his name was Septimus.