Chapter 6: [Benetnasch] First day at Hogwarts

Summary:

impression or interaction?

Reedited2023/2/19

September 2nd, 1971, Wednesday

There was not a single word that existed that would be sufficient to describe life at Hogwarts.

There were the girls who shared a dormitory with Benetnasch. The welcoming feast had exhausted everyone, but somehow they were all still bright enough to have a late-night talk. Although they mostly just wanted to introduce themselves to one another, Benetnasch had been fascinated. They had each come from different places in England, all with different family backgrounds, but all of them were gathered there because of their magical ability.

The accents would be something to get used to. Being in the same room as Lily, Mary, and Marlene gave Benetnasch an almost exotic feeling as they chirped in their conversation. Lily gave off a middle British accent; the other two spoke with a Scots air, and herself in the tone of a southerner. All of them were on first-name terms with each other now, and Benetnasch insisted everyone call her Nasch, since it would be much easier.

She learned that it had been a huge shock for Mary when she first received the Hogwarts letter, as she had come from a non-magical family and until then had no idea that magic ever existed. Of course, strange things had happened around her every now and then since she was a child. Professor McGonagall had to visit them afterwards and explain to Mary's parents that she was indeed a witch. Everyone laughed when Mary mimicked Professor McGonagall's voice and did her imitation of her twirling her wand to turn a teacup into a turtle.

There was also Marlene, who was a half-blood like Remus. She told them how much fun it was to grow up in both worlds and how her parents would endlessly bicker about which was the best. This was even more comical to Nasch than the others, as she had also grown up sophisticated in both worlds.

Finally, there was Lily, who had no witch or wizard in her family but had become acquainted with one when she first showed her magical abilities: Severus Snape. He had approached her and told her what she was. He had been her only knowledge source for the magic world until then, indulging her through all her questions. Again, Benetnasch found that incredibly sweet.

In exchange, she told them about her upbringing, which included growing up in a semi-wizarding colony with both types of people knocking on their door, friendship with Remus, and riding a horse through the cliffy terrain of north Hampshire.

She stopped at that, not wanting to tell them of the lessons both her parents had engaged her with. They made her seem different somehow.

And it came as a new feeling for Benetnasch because, for once in her life, she wishes to be the same.

It would become especially weird if they considered the part where she had to fight for some of her lessons. Magic tutoring, as well as semi-chivalric education such as riding, hunting, and Latin, which were previously only available to the male muggle elite.

Benetnasch was very sensitive to her rights in claiming knowledge as equal to males in high society after acknowledging how her mother regained her ladyship. It was just two years ago that she got her first horse, and she has been relishing the sport of riding ever since.

She had hoped that she could learn to hunt eventually, maybe even someday becoming proficient enough to add aiming with wands to the recreation. After all, many of her ancestors had been knights, and she was confident they would have no trouble with her variant horseback archery.

On the other hand, with Latin, she had not been able to put too much mind into learning, although it was relevant to making spells. She just fancied the operational studies much more.

She would feel uncomfortable conversing in front of new acquaintances in this manner. It felt like babbling. So she wondered as she crawled onto her bed, under the covers, after their conversation.

She felt that all this time her mother had kept her cocooned in a valley behind mountains, cutting her off from the outside world. Yes, she was aware of the tension caused by dark magical movements by listening in on her mother's conversation with others, but this was far from the case. She was also overly enthralled with herself, and up until then, her life hadn't intersected with these girls in any way. So despite her excitement, she felt strangely aloof from them all the same.

However, that didn't mean she would keep to herself; she adored her new friends already.

The second day had been a completely new sensation.

There were one hundred and forty-two staircases in Hogwarts. It wasn't unlike hiking back home. Except instead of rounding a corner to be greeted by a bright opening to the clear blue sky and its magnificently shaped clouds, she was confronted by a series of talking portraits or coats of armor.

Anyone would be amazed at the liveliness of the place. The ghosts glided around the place full time, their silvery presence always surprising as they just melted through doors and greeted people on the other side. There were also the portraits that were vigorous in visiting each other; they make it even more difficult for anyone to remember their course.

Nasch would wonder how her mother had survived the place with her refinement. She'd have to jump up every trick staircase, be on time and sweat-free in every class, and dodge Peeves every time. He was the poltergeist, and he would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

And then there were the classes and their professors. Nasch knew some of them had been colleagues with her father, even friends, as he had taught at Hogwarts for ten years before she was even born. He was the astronomy professor and head of Ravenclaw house at the time. It was clear from the reactions that greeted her who had been there at that time.

The 2nd of September had been a Wednesday, and they started their morning lesson with a trip to one of the greenhouses, led by a squatty witch who introduced herself as Professor Sprout of Herbology. They were to learn how to take care of all the magical plants and fungi and find out what they were used for. It had been Nasch's favourite subject, as she cherished fond memories spent with both her parents in their own magical garden, and she had been a quaintly enthusiastic girl eager to handle anything that would try to weasel out of her grasp.

She was even besotted enough to raise her hand to one of the questions. She was awarded ten points when she sat back down, having put in everything she knew about the plant in her answer, all the while with a huge grin on her face.

She wasn't the least bit bashful about her condescending response, especially since it had been in herbology. She'd only been allowed a wand after she received the letter from Hogwarts; up until then, the most action in her magic classes was her groping a squealing plant and digging up soil, making her nails dirty.
Lily's smiling eyes met hers, and she received a thumbs up from beneath the table.

Nasch's grin was still in place when the class came to an end and someone tapped her shoulder.

She turned to see a smirking Remus, who then said, "Congratulations on your first points for Gryffindor! I'd say you've outdone yourself again; that last part of your answer was most certainly not from 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'."

His attention was caught by something behind her then, and he said, "Looks like Professor Sprout wants more interaction; she's motioning for you right now."
"I'll find my way just fine. You go ahead without me."

As she drew near, she saw that Professor Sprout was preparing her next lesson. She looked at her, hearing her footsteps. She took off her working gloves before putting both hands on her cheeks, tilting her face up to search into her eyes.

"Great job for your first lesson. Now, if you have any problem, any at all, and you wish to chat with someone, I'll most likely be at one of the greenhouses. I can even show you the more resourceful ones around here."

"Thanks, Professor." Nasch said, after softly leaning into her touch. She had a guess where all this came from.

She had charms and astronomy later that day, where both the teachers had paused a bit at her name, though few noticed, and Nasch's puzzlement was settled. They hadn't come as a surprise, because one was a Ravenclaw like her father, and the other taught her father's former subject and must have been aware of the master beforehand.

What did come as a surprise was when the astronomy teacher came up with the idea of setting up her and Sirius Black as partners in the class, as they were both "stars".

Nasch's mind was pestered by the same boy that morning, and she knew it had nothing to do with his and his friends' unfair treatment of Severus Snape, though it should.

No, it had something to do with his barking laugh and his rushing around, rippling the smooth waters of the student body, almost as if he was trying to ask people to draw their eyes to him. Still, she refused to be anything other than polite, and they exchanged pleasantries. That was weird in and of itself; in contrast to her earlier assumptions, he was extremely well-spoken.

They complemented each other well in their teamwork. Nasch knew she shouldn't think that a defense could justify their crude words to Snape, but she began to wonder what had led to that moment.