The First Muggleborn
Chapter 5
The world was spinning uncontrollably. Flashes of colors flew past Arabella and she couldn't process whether or not her feet were still on the ground. Her lungs constricted and she fought to inhale, with no luck. This torture seemed to go on forever.
Then it was over.
Bella immediately threw herself on the hard ground and emptied her stomach, unaware if anyone watched her, and not caring. Tears streamed down her face as her retching turned to dry-heaving and gulps for air. It took a moment for Bella to realize that a hand was rubbing her back in soothing patterns.
"Would you get up? We have a lot to do today." The blonde looked up to the source of the voice and found Helena standing over her. It was Mistress Ravenclaw who was rubbing her back.
"Helena, be kind. Arabella hasna apparated before."
"Well, that's not much of an excuse for wasting our time."
Suddenly embarrassed of her grotesque display, Arabella scrambled to stand and took in her surroundings. They stood against a wall, in what looked to be a marketplace. Men and women, or rather, wizards and witches milled around the shops and socialized, just as any regular person would. If Arabella hadn't already known these people were all magical, she might almost have thought they were normal, although most were wearing a strange type of robe.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright? We can sit if you need."
"No, thank you. I'm quite alright. Where do we need to go?" Rowena gave her a scrutinizing look, before turning to Helena and nodding her along.
"First, you'll be needing your school robes. Simple black ones will do. Then we'll get your quills and parchment and books. You brought your supply list, right?" Bella nodded her head, only half listening to the woman walking beside her. Her main focus was on the marketplace around her. There were small children giggling near their mothers' skirts and running around, straddling broomsticks. There were also people who looked to be about her own age, who were carrying bags filled to the brim with wares. Some even carried brooms of their own. Bella made a mental note to ask what the fascination with brooms was. Hopefully this school didn't require its students to perform maintenance duties.
Snapping out of her trace-like state, Bella stubbed her toe on a step she hadn't realized was in front of her. Apparently, they had arrived at their first stop: Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, as the sign suggested. The trio stepped inside and was greeted by a young man, no older than 30.
"Good day to you. Ah Professor Ravenclaw! How good to see you!" The man beamed at the group. "And young Helena! I haven't seen you in ages. Are you beginning at Hogwarts this year? How exciting!"
"Yes, I'm very proud, Mabon." Rowena smiled back at him.
"And who's this? I haven't seen you before," Mabon asked as he spotted Arabella. Rowena looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to answer. Bella looked at the man before her and decided that he wasn't very threatening, so there was really no reason for her to hide behind her shyness.
"I'm Arabella Atterberry."
"Atterberry? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that family. Are you a half-blood?"
"A what?"
"A half-blood, lass. It means someone who has one magical and one muggle parent," Rowena explained.
"Muggle?"
"Non-magical folk."
"Oh…uh, no. I don't think I'm a half-blood," she told the shopkeeper. "Am I?" She looked back at the older woman for confirmation. The corners of Rowena's mouth perked up a bit and she looked back to Mabon.
"It would appear that Miss Atterberry's magic bobbed up from nowhere. Both her parents are muggles." Mabon's eyes seemed to grow ten times.
"Fascinating! You're sure? Neither parent is magical?"
"No!" Bella cried out angrily. How dare he suggest her parents were anything other than ordinary! Then again, she was one to talk. Mabon didn't seem to notice Bella's outrage, as he looked her over, as if some anomaly about her would make itself known. When none appeared, he sighed and strolled towards the back of the shop, with the two other women following him.
"You'll see I have several new fabrics to choose from since your last visit. Would you be interested in any?"
"No thank you, Mabon. We're only here for the school robes today," Rowena responded.
"Very well."
Arabella caught up to the group and watched as Helena stood on a small pedestal and Mabon began taking her measurements, directing a measuring rope around the girl with his wand. A quill and scroll floated next to him, presumably writing down the results. Arabella wondered how the quill knew what to write, but just reminded herself 'magic'.
After a few minutes, it was her turn. This really wasn't very different than getting fitted for a normal gown, expect the person doing the fitting wasn't crouched down below her. Bella gazed at herself in the mirror, finding nothing else to do as the rope traveled around her. In the reflection, she could spot fabric being magically folded and sewn and cut on the other side of the room. She would later come to learn that this was one of the robes that would be Helena's. Her own robes took only a short while longer to make, and before long, the trio made their way to the counter to pay for their robes.
"What's this?" Mabon asked once Bella placed some coins on the wooden counter.
"Er-payment, sir."
"Oh dear, this is muggle money, isn't it?"
"I suppose so…what other kind is there?"
"Magical, of course!" He responded with a bright smile. This man was far too happy all the time.
"Oh, of course," Bella droned, rolling her eyes. "Will there be a problem?" She hadn't really meant to snap this at him, but she was growing eager to just get home already. She had only interacted with three magical people today and they were already wearing on her nerves. Mabon picked a coin up and inspected it closely.
"I suppose I can take this payment. I'll have to exchange it at the Wizard's Council though. A bit inconvenient."
"So glad there isn't a problem, Mabon." Rowena smiled at the man. "I hoped there wouldn't be, given the number of half-bloods who must come in with muggle parents." He nodded hesitantly.
Their next stop was Amanuensis Quills, where the girls purchased their writing supplies, followed by Potage's Cauldron Shop. Neither shopkeeper had too much to complain about when handling Bella's muggle money, but did frown when they realized that they would need to exchange it later.
"I suppose the last requirement needed would be a wand. Almost done, dear." Rowena patted Bella on the shoulder before starting for their last destination. It was getting late in the day and she was very hungry. They hadn't stopped for any food and some of these shops were quite a far walk from each other. Bella wondered at Helena and Mistress Ravenclaw's stamina.
"Mister Ollivander?" Rowena called out once they entered the store. The shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen, but the group wandered to the shop counter regardless. "Gladwyn, are you here?"
"Yes! Yes, I'm here!" They could hear a voice calling out from the back of the shop, muffled by shelves upon shelves of long, thin boxes.
"Do you need any help?" Rowena called out again after he had not appeared for several moments.
"No, no. I'll be just a moment!" True to his word, Mister Ollivander stumbled from behind a significant pile of boxes with a broad smile gracing his pointy face. "Ah! Professor Ravenclaw! What a pleasure. Are we here for Miss Helena's first wand today?"
"Yes, she's most excited. Aren't you Helena?" Rowena responded, looking down to her daughter. Helena looked back with a slightly irritated expression.
"Of course I am. You wouldn't make one for me yourself."
"Helena, I've explained that wand making is very tricky work. Besides, it wouldn't do to have made a wand and it not choose you."
"Yours chose you."
"Yes, and I was very fortunate for that, but there was no way of knowing that would happen."
Arabella watched the exchange before her and couldn't help but wonder why Helena seemed so angry all day. Was she always like this? Bella certainly hoped not. It would make for a very unhappy year at school if her only friend was constantly ornery.
Their dispute ended and Bella could see from around Professor Ravenclaw's skirts that Mr. Ollivander was rummaging through some boxes stacked on a shelf to the small group's right. When he found whichever one he was searching for, he returned to the counter and placed the wand it held before Helena. The girl quickly took hold of it and waved it around.
"Hm. No luck with that one. Perhaps…" The old man turned back around in search of a different box from the pile he stumbled on earlier. When he found it, he held that too out for Helena. Unlike the first wand, however, this wand gave of a soft blue light when it touched Helena's fingers.
"This one. Thank you Mr. Ollivander," Helena told the old man curtly.
"Wonderful. So glad we found your match so quickly. Now, that will be five sickles, please."
"Of course, but we have Miss Arabella with us today as well. She'll be needing a wand too," Rowena answered politely. Bella peeked from behind the Professor, making herself more visible. The room was small and the clutter of boxes made it even harder to move around, but the man behind the counter did see her.
"Oh! Didn't see you there! Will you be starting Hogwarts this year too?"
"Yes sir," Bella firmly responded.
"Then you're going to need a wand! Let's see what we can do for you." Ollivander looked Bella over, making her a bit uncomfortable under the scrutiny, before he turned away and came back moments later with a box outstretched and a wand lying within.
Bella stared at the stick of wood, waiting patiently for her to pick it out of the box, which she did after a few moments. Mimicking Helena, she waved it around in a circle, with no effect. Seeing the disappointed look on Mr. Ollivander's face, she placed it back in the box and waited for another option to be presented to her. The old man closed the lid over the box and tapped a finger to his chin in thought, before he disappeared, once again.
"Do you have any interest in charmwork, Miss?" He called out from somewhere among the mess. Arabella glanced up at her future Professor in question, but received no answer.
"I don't know," she called back. When Ollivander gave no reply, Bella began to fidget in impatience. He returned but a moment later with a new box.
"Let's try this one." Arabella took hold of the new wand and went through the same motions as she did the first time. In fact, the eleven-year-old went through these same motions ten more times with no luck. The group was growing weary and Bella was getting crankier with every new stick this old man pushed in front of her. It had been at least two hours since they had walked into the store and there was now another patron waiting by the door.
The thirteenth wand was placed before Arabella without any accompanying encouragement. With a huff, the girl picked it out of the dusty brown box and waved it with an exaggerated flourish. So distracted was she, that she almost didn't notice the tingle that ran up her arm and the soft breeze that rustled her hair around her face.
"Acacia with unicorn hair core," Ollivander told the group with a small grin. "I must admit, I didn't know if it would like you, but I was getting desperate. A powerful wand, though. I think we can expect great things from you."
She stared at the wand in her right hand with wide eyes, as the two older occupants of the room smiled tiredly and Helena gave an impatient sigh.
"Are we going to wait for his wand too, or may we leave?" Helena practically growled, pointing at the boy who had been waiting for his turn with the shop keeper. Not wanting to incur more of her wrath, Bella thanked Mr. Ollivander with a genuine smile and the group paid for their new belongings.
Once outside, Arabella remembered what her mother had told her about making sure no one would openly accuse her of being a witch, and stashed her new wand away where it wouldn't be seen. Even though they happened to be in some sort of village where almost everyone was magical, Bella didn't want to take her chances of running into a priest lightly.
"Is your mother expecting you for dinner, or would you like to sup at our home?" Rowena asked Bella kindly.
"Do you live nearby?"
"No. We would need to apparate again," The Professor's expression gave away the memory of Bella reaction to apparition earlier in that day. "Perhaps you'd like to go home."
"Yes, I think that would be for the best," Bella responded, remembering for herself the horrible sick episode she experienced. She mentally prepared herself for it once again, knowing she would need to apparate just to get home.
"Come then, let us find a quiet spot to depart from." The two eleven-year-olds followed the tall woman to an empty alleyway, where they all held hands and disappeared with a loud crack!
"Bella dear! Are you alright?" Catherine exclaimed upon seeing her daughter bent over in a bush outside their front door.
"Dinna fash Mistress. She's just having a bad reaction to the mode of travel," Rowena told the harried mother who was holding her daughter's hair and rubbing her back.
"'Dinna fash'? My daughter is ill! I trusted you to keep her safe!" Catherine's face was growing red, despite Arabella's steadily decreasing heaving.
"My Lady, I can assure you she will be perfectly fi-"
"NO! Arabella will have no more of this. Come, dear, let us try and find something to settle your-"
"Mother!" Arabella managed to gasp out before it was too late. "I'm fine, really. I'll be alright. This happened earlier and I was perfectly fine after a few moments." She paused to dry heave into the bush once more. "I enjoyed myself today, mother. I got a wand!" The blonde brandished her brand new wand in the air and waved it around for Catherine to see.
"A what?"
"My wand, mother," Bella told her, pulling the wood close to her chest, suddenly remembering to be discreet. "I use it to do magic at school."
"Oh, I'm...glad you got your wand," Catherine was clearly uncomfortable having this confrontation in front of the two nearby witches, but turned to them to face her embarrassment. "It appears I owe you an apology. I thank you for taking Arabella to purchase her school things. Were there any other problems?"
"No ma'am. Although I'm sure Arabella must be famished by now. We haven't had a chance to eat."
"Yes, I'll be sure she has a proper meal. Thank you."
"Good then. We'll be off, yes Helena?"
"Yes, please." Helena rolled her eyes and took hold of her mother's hand.
"I'll send an owl soon!" Was the last thing Catherine and Arabella heard from the Scottish woman before she and her daughter disappeared once again.