okaaaay, I know it's been a hot minute since I put up the first chapter... it's a long story, involving multiple lost emails and locked accounts but I finally regained access to this account so all good! lol
hope you enjoy chapter 2 :)
A large cluster of eleven- and twelve-year-old kids stood huddled together at the foot of a wide stone staircase, waiting for someone to take charge and lead them into the Great Hall. Among them stood Charlie, Phoebe, and Leona, chattering in hushed but excited tones along with most of the other first years, discussing houses and classes.
"My family's been in Ravenclaw for generations," Charlie said. "I'm sure that's where I'll end up." She couldn't help but feel a surge of doubt in her mind as the words escaped her mouth, unsure of herself despite her show of confidence. What if she let her family down? She thought back to her father's mysterious comment back at King's Cross. Had he done something in the past that he thought people would be disappointed in? What if his misdeeds, whatever they were, were so heinous that she wouldn't want to be associated with him anyway?
She immediately shook the idea off mentally. Her parents were good, successful people. There was nothing they could have done to make her ashamed of them. Despite her petty squabbles with her mother, she was proud to be a part of her family.
"I suppose anything could happen to me, I've got no magical parents," Phoebe said thoughtfully. Charlie and Leona had explained the house organization to her during the transit between the train station and the school grounds. She seemed to grasp the concept rather quickly. "If I had to pick one…" she screwed up her face in obvious intense concentration, then gave up moments later. "Augh. I can't choose."
"Well you're in luck, since you aren't the one who chooses," Charlie reminded her in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"As long as I don't get put in Slytherin, I'll be pleased," Leona said, crossing her arms. "Bunch of backstabbers, if you ask me."
"Nobody did ask you though," came a voice off to the side. The girls all turned to see Scorpius glaring at them from over his shoulder. He was standing amongst a circle of other first years, none of whom Charlie recognized.
"The whole lot of them fought for You-Know-Who, the house should be abolished," Leona said indignantly.
"You can't be serious. Plenty of Slytherins fought against the Death Eaters and you know it, Lively, just because the gossip you hear from your brothers makes Slytherins out to be villains doesn't mean it's true." Scorpius paused, as if wondering whether his next comment was a good idea. "Besides, if we're talking about who fought for the Death Eaters—"
"Don't bring that up again, Malfoy, or I'll have to pummel you in front of our entire year," Leona said darkly. He pursed his lips but said nothing more, just rolled his eyes and resumed conversation with the other first years nearby.
Charlie and Phoebe looked on a bit awkwardly, unsure of how to react. Charlie, for one, felt Leona's vehement dislike of Slytherin was a bit old-fashioned. She knew the reputation of Slytherin House used to be linked heavily to Dark Magic and Dark Wizards like Voldemort himself, but based on comments from her parents, and her older brother, it seemed to have undergone some sort of reformation in the last decade, and didn't sound like that bad of a place to be. It certainly was infamous as a hub for networking opportunities, since the aging Head of Slytherin, Professor Horace Slughorn, had, years prior, founded and supervised the Midnight Club, the school's social and business fraternity for the most elite and ambitious students. Her brother had applied the year prior, but had been rejected.
"What was he talking about?" Phoebe asked, nudging Leona to get her attention.
"Well – it's nothing—" Leona muttered, clearly unsettled, when the crowd parted to reveal the smallest man Charlie had ever seen ascending the staircase. When he had reached the top, he flourished his wand, and an old, beaten-up hat seemed to appear almost out of thin air into his outstretched hand.
"First years!" the man exclaimed in a squeaky voice. The surrounding buzz of voices died down almost instantly. "I am Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw house, Charms professor, and your Deputy Headmaster. Your Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Please, follow me into the Great Hall!"
The small wizard turned towards the great double doors at the top of the staircase. Charlie felt a small thrill of excitement at the mention of her family's house; this would be her Head of House if she was sorted into Ravenclaw. As he walked forward, the giant doors swung open to reveal the Great Hall.
The first years stared around in excitement and awe as they followed Flitwick through the room. Logan's most vivid descriptions of the room could never have measured up to seeing the real thing in person. The ceiling didn't even appear to be a ceiling: instead, Charlie looked overhead into an exact replica of the night sky, complete with dusky clouds and a scattering of stars. Enchanted candles floated alight in the air, far above the ground. Four long tables were placed across the width of the room, with students sitting according to house at each table, and at the end was a wide wooden table at which the various staff members and teachers were seated. As the students arrived at the forefront of the room, they came face to face with the plainest and yet the most foreboding piece of furniture of all: the wooden stool upon which they would each sit as they were sorted.
Flitwick placed the old hat onto the wooden stool. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the cluster of first years let out a gasp of surprise as the hat shivered to life; a narrow tear above the hat's brim began opening and closing, and Charlie realized it was a mouth as it began speaking. She recalled her brother recounting the tale of his own Sorting Ceremony; the Sorting Hat sang a song describing the defining qualities of each house, and then the sorting would start.
Flitwick's high-pitched voice called Charlie's attention to the matter at hand: the hat had completed its song. "I will call your names one at a time in alphabetical order," he declared. His voice echoed throughout the Hall. "When your name is called, please come forward and sit on the stool. Once you have been sorted, take a seat at your new house's designated table." He extracted a rolled-up sheet of parchment from inside his robes and unfurled it, clearing his throat. "First up: Baker, Bathilda!"
An anxious-looking girl shorter than Charlie walked up to the stool and was sorted quickly into Ravenclaw, followed by "Bellini, Jolie," who also ended up in Ravenclaw. Next was "Bones, Sadie," who was sent straight to Hufflepuff. A few more unrecognizable names went by until Flitwick called out, "Delphine, Selia!"
Charlie watched as the girl calmly took her seat upon the wooden stool. She had platinum blonde hair that almost seemed to glow even in the brightly lit chamber, practically reflecting off the light from the candles. She walked with a certain ease as if she knew she belonged here. The professors seated behind her had all seemed to lean in towards her in interest, a few of them whispering among themselves. Charlie knew she had heard that surname before; she was unsure where or why… she looked around; even some of the older Hogwarts students were muttering to each other.
The hat wriggled on the girl's blonde head for a minute as it whispered its findings in her ear. She betrayed almost no expression as she sat in front of the entire student body, apparently unfazed by the longer amount of time it was taking for the hat to decide upon her placement. At last, the hat seemed to make a decision, and yelled out, "Slytherin!"
Flitwick lifted the hat off her head, and she trotted over happily to the Slytherin table, who met her with thundering applause; several of the older students scooted over to make room for her. Charlie made a mental note to ask someone what was so special about her; she had elicited quite a reaction from the staff table.
After a few more names were called it was Charlie's turn. Heart pounding, she walked forward more smoothly than she thought she was capable of, searching the Ravenclaw table for a familiar face as she proceeded towards the stool. Just before she sat down, she locked eyes with her brother Logan, who offered a supportive two-thumbs-up, and felt some of the pressure on her chest relax. She waited as Flitwick placed the hat atop her head, smoothing her robes down in an attempt to occupy her anxious hands.
"I see, very interesting… undoubtedly ambitious, but also a great thirst for knowledge… a clever mind… quite a strong personal drive to succeed, though... this may not be easy… hmmm…"
Charlie found herself white-knuckling her robes as the hat deliberated. She found herself renouncing her thoughts about Slytherin from just moments previously. Why would I want to be in Slytherin… my whole family was in Ravenclaw… I don't want to be a serpent…
"Alright then… I know where you belong… RAVENCLAW!"
Charlie practically skipped over to her table. She had never felt so relieved and excited. Her house clapped and cheered energetically – to include her brother – as she sat down among them, squeezing into a spot between a tall boy looking of Asian descent and a boy who closely resembled the one she had seen with the twins at the train station shortly after the Hogwarts Express' arrival.
"You're Logan Grant's sister, right? Cedric Campbell," the Asian boy said, slapping her on the back, as Flitwick called out the next name. "Ravenclaw Chaser, of course. This guy on your other side is Sebastian Boyle, Seeker."
"Welcome to the best house at Hogwarts," Sebastian said. He was tan, with messy light brown hair and bright blue eyes. Charlie heard the hat send another new student with the name of Harkwood to Slytherin.
Charlie laughed, a sound of both excitement and nervousness. She had been a Quidditch fanatic since she was about seven years old, despite her mother's wishes that she found a more "sophisticated" hobby; anyone who used their position on the Quidditch team to introduce themselves to her was okay in her book. While she had a lot to live up to with a Prefect for an older brother, no one in her family had ever been much of a sports prodigy, and she planned on breaking the family mold in that respect. It would be important to make a good impression on the people whom she hoped would be her future teammates.
"Thanks for the warm welcome," Charlie said as a newly sorted first year ran over to the Gryffindor table. "You two fifth years too?"
"Nah," Sebastian answered. "We're in third. Though, based on our incredible skill and prowess as wizards, we could probably handle fifth year classes just fine." He grinned. "Too bad they don't offer honors classes here."
"Honors classes?" Cedric raised an eyebrow. "What are you on about?"
"Muggle term," Sebastian shrugged. "Not important. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."
Charlie and Cedric exchanged an amused glance, then she turned her attention back to the forefront of the room.
Leona was sitting down upon the stool, and Flitwick had not even released the old hat from his fingers when it shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Leona hopped up from her seat and bounded over to join her new house, curls bouncing as she ran, where her twin brothers and their friend gave her a hearty welcome.
Following Leona, Scorpius was sorted into Slytherin. No surprise there. He took a seat next to some of the other new Slytherins.
"McKenzie, Phoebe," Flitwick announced. Phoebe almost tripped up the steps as she took her spot, looking nervous as all get out. To Charlie's surprise, the hat decided she belonged in Gryffindor, and she almost toppled off the stool in surprise at the hat's loud voice, but grinned widely as she joined the other Gryffindors. Charlie had thought she was timid and maybe a bit indecisive at first, but then again, she supposed it must take a lot of courage to leave the world you thought you knew behind in place of a completely new world; that was, after all, what muggle-borns had to do.
After the sorting of what felt like a dozen Weasleys into Gryffindor, the ceremony was complete. James' brother Albus had been sorted into Slytherin with Scorpius, to most everyone's surprise. He was sitting rather uncomfortably between Scorpius and an incredibly tall, bulky girl with a significant overbite at the Slytherin table.
Once Flitwick had retrieved the Sorting Hat and taken his seat at the staff table, a rather old witch wearing emerald green robes stood and a hush fell over the Great Hall.
"New students, welcome to Hogwarts; returning students, glad to see your faces again. For those of you who do not know, I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, and I will be your Headmistress at Hogwarts." A short but enthusiastic round of applause followed this statement. "Before we begin our feast, I have a few announcements to make. I would like to welcome our new staff members; Professor Thomas has agreed to take over the position of Transfiguration teacher until we are able to find a replacement for Professor Castellan after his unfortunate incident this summer. Additionally, please welcome Professor Zabini as our new Slytherin Head of House and Potions Master, as Professor Slughorn has decided it was time to go into retirement." Charlie heard a few whoops from the Gryffindor table at her first announcement. It was the two first years, Finnigan and Thomas; based on the similarities between Thomas and the professor, she surmised he must be the new professor's kid.
"Now, without further ado… enjoy the food!" McGonagall exclaimed, and as she sank back into her chair food seemed to materialize out of thin air. Cheers of joy and excitement arose from all around the Great Hall as the students heaped foods of all shapes, flavors, and colors onto their plates.
"Wouldn't complain about having magical plates like these at home," Charlie said in amazement as she poured gravy onto her mound of mashed potatoes. "My parents are…well, let's just say their cooking leaves much to be desired."
"Maybe they need to start teaching home economic classes at Hogwarts, so people actually know how to cook when they don't have a whole kitchen of house elves doin' it for them," Sebastian said around a mouthful of chicken leg. Cedric and Charlie looked at each other in slight confusion at the phrase "home economic classes," then shrugged and continued eating. Kids raised in muggle or half-muggle households said strange things sometimes.
The meal went off without drama. Charlie chatted happily with her new housemates; Cedric and Sebastian introduced her to the students surrounding them, to include some of their fellow fourth years across from them as well as other Quidditch players, as everyone tucked eagerly into their food. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the plates had emptied; whether it was through magic or simply because the Ravenclaw students had gorged themselves on the first night's feast, she wasn't sure. After another brief speech from McGonagall regarding class times and restricted areas, the students rose to their feet and began to file into the Entrance Hall.
"You'll be wanting to get out in front, you have to meet with the other first years before heading up to the Common Room," Cedric said with a friendly nudge against Charlie's shoulder. She nodded her thanks. "We'll be seeing you!"
Charlie hurried out past the slow-moving throng of students and saw a cluster of young, lost-looking boys and girls just through the doorway. They were standing next to Logan, so they must have been the other Ravenclaw first years.
"Char, there you are," Logan said as she approached the group. He flashed a quick grin at her. "Food alright?"
"Better than anything I've had at home, that's for sure," Charlie replied, returning his smile. She surveyed her classmates. There were three other girls and three boys standing there. They all examined one another, seemingly sizing each other up. Her competitive nature was already driving her to wonder who among them would be the top performer, both in and out of the classroom. Before she could introduce herself, her brother began to speak.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, I'm Logan Grant, Prefect of Ravenclaw House. You lot can introduce yourselves later, we're going to escort you to the Ravenclaw Common Room first," he said. "Let's head there now, beat the crowds. We've got a ways to go, it's all the way up in Ravenclaw Tower." Turning promptly on his heel, his robes swishing, Logan began to lead the first years out of the Entrance Hall and up a grand set of stone stairs.
As they made their way through the castle, Logan pointed out various portraits and features as if he were a guide at a popular tourist site. "Classrooms are down that hallway, they're in a different segment of the building than the dormitories to shorten travel times between classes;" "Take a look at that statue, it had a kill count of five Death Eaters during the Battle for Hogwarts in the Second Wizarding War, wouldn't want to get on his bad side;" "That clock's bewitched, some Gryffindor made it a few years ago so it always shows the time twenty minutes late, so don't rely on that to make it to class on time," and so on. Charlie was amazed not only at his random trivia knowledge, but also at the fact that he was able to guide the group of first years through this winding, climbing, maze of a castle so confidently. She supposed, after spending four years of school here, she would be able to navigate it just as well.
She tried to shake off her slight anxiety as they approached a tall wooden door at the top of a staircase. She was usually very sure of herself, but being in a new place today was giving her all sorts of self-doubt. She would feel better once she had proven herself a worthy Ravenclaw student in classes tomorrow, no doubt.
She realized the door they were approaching seemed to have no handle, no mechanism through which it would open. Puzzled, she looked up at Logan, who was significantly taller than her. He was already side-eyeing her with a poorly concealed smirk on his face. "You ready?"
"Ready? For what?" she asked, but he just turned away and reached up towards the center of the door, which she now noticed was adorned with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. He rapped the knocker on the wood a couple times, and to her surprise, the eagle began to speak, its melodic voice reverberating around the stone landing as the first years whispered in awe:
"If you use a Time Turner to go back in time and kill your grandfather, how do you exist?"
The first years had fallen into silence, watching Logan as he puzzled out the riddle in his mind. Charlie could practically hear the gears turning in his brain as several different emotions played across his face. Then, as if a lightbulb had appeared over his head, he flashed another grin at Charlie and looked over the huddle of quiet first years. "Anyone want to have a go?"
No one spoke. Logan chuckled. "Yeah, I remember my first riddle like it was yesterday. They seem confusing at first, but you'll get used to it, don't worry. It's all apart of being in Ravenclaw House, we take pride in our ability to think through problems clearly." Charlie watched as her brother took on an instructional tone of voice, as though he was a professor and they were his audience. It was a fascinating transformation from the usual idiotic brotherly antics she usually had to endure at home; she had not seen this side of him before, had even wondered how her seemingly daft brother fit in with other scholarly kids at Hogwarts. "The idea is not to be too narrow-minded about what the answer might be. You've got to be creative with your thinking."
It seemed like no one could come up with a solution. The first years all looked at each other, waiting for someone else to say something. Time travel paradox… Charlie knew the answer should be that it was impossible to go back in time to erase what would eventually create your own existence, but she didn't feel that "That's impossible" would be a suitable answer. Logan had said the answer should be creative…
"Multiple realities may be created by traveling to the past and influencing events that have already happened," one of the other students said. It was the Bellini girl, Jolie Bellini was her name.
"If you already exist in this world, the universe created you from nothing, and intended for you to act exactly as you did. Killing your grandfather is in accordance with that, and you can continue to exist based on the laws of the physical world," another student said, almost at the same time. That came from the pale, dark-haired boy standing closest to Charlie. She didn't remember his name.
"Both rationalized answers," the eagle replied, and with that, the door swung open.
Logan motioned to the first years. "Come on! You can go in first. I'll follow."
"But which one was the answer?" Jolie asked.
"Did we have it right?" asked the other boy.
Logan didn't answer definitively, just shrugged nonchalantly with a twinkle in his eye as they entered the Common Room. "Like I said, it's about creative thinking."
Muttering, frustrated that she hadn't been the one to solve the riddle, Charlie passed her brother and entered the Common Room behind her classmates. She'd have to be quicker on her feet if she were going to compete with the others this year.
She took in the Ravenclaw Common Room, though, with a completely different mix of emotions – she went from disappointment and frustration, to amazement and wonder as soon as she began to look around, quickly forgetting all about her struggle with the door's question. The room was massive, circular in shape, and open and airy, with high, domed ceilings and wide windows facing in all directions. She could see the castle grounds from up here, as well as the stars blinking at her in the night sky. The carpet beneath her feet was plush but satisfyingly firm; multicolored rugs were lain out throughout the room under the various seating arrangements, all apparently optimally set up for studying. Every wall had a bookcase of the same height and model, its shelves chock-full of parchment, inkwells, and tomes to peruse. A particularly cozy-looking niche off to the side of the room hosted an assortment of cushions and pillows, all facing a crackling fireplace.
"The quality of naps I take in that nook should be illegal," Logan stated, following Charlie's gaze. "Always when I should be studying, but every time I wake up feeling like I've just taken a Wide Eye Potion and could study for days without stopping."
"As if you've ever had trouble falling asleep anywhere regardless," Charlie commented, rolling her eyes. "Do we have to solve a riddle every time we come here?"
"Yup," he responded cheerfully. Charlie and the other first years groaned, but he just laughed. "That was my reaction too. The amount of times I almost had to spend the night outside the door, waiting for an older Ravenclaw to help me out… let's not talk about that." He rubbed his hands together. "Anywaaayy, boys, your dormitory is up that marble staircase to the left of the statue of our House founder, Rowena Ravenclaw. Girls, yours is to the right. It's late, get moving! Wouldn't want you to miss any part of your first classes tomorrow. Your schedules should be posted on the bulletins in your rooms, classes usually start each day at 8:30 or 9 AM though."
The first years began to disperse, heading in the direction he'd pointed them in. Charlie lingered behind. "What's up?" he asked when he noticed she was still hovering. "You should sleep too, it's past your bedtime." This last with an air of superiority. There was the brother she knew.
"I just had a question about something I noticed earlier," Charlie began, ignoring his snide comment. "I noticed one of the girls who got sorted into Slytherin, she… the staff seemed to be talking about her a lot when her name was announced. Is she Merlin's daughter or something? What was all that about?"
Logan's arrogant half-smile vanished from his face; his expression darkened. "Haven't you read the news, little sister?"
"I mean, obviously," Charlie blustered, "I keep up—"
"Well you're not doing a very good job. That was Selia Delphine, it was. Related to the Selwyns. Pureblood family, their line can be traced all the way back to the Sacred 28. Aside from her mother, the entire Selwyn family got robbed, and tortured to insanity about a week ago. Sent to St. Mungo's. No one knows who did it. Not the Daily Prophet, not the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, that we've heard of anyway. You're going to need to pay attention to current events if you want to be as successful as your big brother," he added at the end, making a poor attempt at humor after sharing the rather dark and depressing story.
"On that cheery note, off to bed with you. Mum would literally hex me if she knew I caused you to be up late, and sleep past breakfast on your first day. Good night," he insisted firmly, turning away to show he was done with the conversation now. She had thought to also ask him about their father's comment before she boarded the train, but perhaps another time…
Charlie watched him stroll across the Common Room to one of the round granite tables, around which a red-headed, freckled girl, a tan boy with styled hair and bearing heavy resemblance to Sebastian, and a plain-looking blonde boy sat huddled. Logan joined them at their table and entered into their conversation, all of them talking rapidly and excitedly, probably resuming some sort of exciting discussion from dinner. She considered her brother. They had the same chestnut brown hair, light brown skin, and tall, lanky frames, but that was where the similarities stopped. He was outgoing, popular, had always been good at making friends; he let everything roll off his back, whether during arguments with Charlie or his parents. Charlie felt like she struggled to contain her temper sometimes, and though she hated to admit it, she knew she could be a little… hard-headed. That was a good way to phrase it. Oh well, she thought, heading towards the marble staircase and trying to shrug off more nervous thoughts about how she hoped she could outperform her brother and her classmates. I'll be fine. Just gotta work hard and read and study like I know how.
One thing as for sure, he never babied her; other older siblings or her parents might have sheltered a youngest daughter from dark stories like the one he had just shared, but he provided the information without hesitation; that she would always appreciate. An entire wizarding family, lost… she couldn't imagine her own family meeting a fate as terrible as that.
She entered the girls' dormitory to find the other girls already in their beds, but still socializing. The four poster beds were arranged in a half-moon shape, with curtains of deep blue velvet framing the sides and powder blue quilted comforters atop the mattress. Charlie saw everyone's luggage had been deposited at the foot of their beds, carefully placed on top of a wooden chest with a padlock on the hinges. She quickly began changing into the set of pajamas that had been neatly set out for her, a beige and white striped button-down blouse with matching pants. They were slightly too short for her, hitting just above her ankles. As she changed, she listened to the ongoing chatter from the other girls; they seemed to be getting on well.
"…went on all summer long, I barely spent any time at home," one girl was saying. It was the anxious-looking girl from the Sorting Ceremony, though now she appeared quite at ease. "You'd think researching Hippogriff dung would be open-and-shut, but nooo, I had to spend my holiday examining all the samples and comparing them to other subspecies'… oh, hello!" She had noticed Charlie as she adjusted her trousers uncomfortably, and waved from her own bed.
"Hi," said Charlie.
"Who're you? I know most people around here, you look unfamiliar though. I'm Bathilda, my friends call me Bats," the girl said promptly. She hopped out of bed to extend a hand to Charlie.
Charlie got a good look at her as she came closer. "Bats?" she asked warily, shaking her hand. The girl chuckled, in a pompous sort of way. She had a slightly upturned nose, and large eyes, giving off the very slight impression of a pug.
"Yes, that's my nickname. I got lost in a bat cave as a kid, went in on a dare from Daisy here –" the other girls sniggered in the background – "and my parents had to come find me. It was all very embarrassing," Bats said in a way that implied zero embarrassment whatsoever. "Anyways, what's your name? Like I said, I'm Bats. That's Jolie Bellini, that's Daisy Davies. We all grew up round the corner from each other. Tell us your name?"
I would if I could get in a word edgewise, Charlie thought, forcing a smile. "Charlie," she responded, nodding at each of her classmates after Bats introduced them. Jolie was short, with dirty blonde hair and kind eyes. Daisy gave Charlie a once-over before returning the nod.
"You're Logan's brother, aren't you? I thought as much, you can see the family resemblance for sure," Bats went on, nodding to herself in satisfaction. "Must be nice to have someone here that you know. Jolie's got Ravenna of course, she's in Slytherin though, and in sixth year. Probably won't be seeing her as often as you and Logan would."
Charlie had thought Phoebe was a motormouth, but Merlin's baggy trousers this girl liked to talk. She looked, slightly incredulously, at the other two girls, but they seemed fine letting Bats do all the talking. They must be accustomed to it, having all known each other for years.
She settled under the covers as Bats returned to her bed, still chatting but now redirecting her attention to Jolie and Daisy. Staring up at the curtains above her, she dozed off to the sound of the chatty girl's voice, which gradually fell to a whisper as time went on. The flickering candlelight throughout the room automatically dimmed, through some magic with which Charlie was unfamiliar, and she found she could easily drown out Bats' voice by simply closing her eyes and sinking into her pillow. Perhaps that was another sibling similarity: like Logan, she'd never had much trouble falling asleep either.
The next morning, Charlie awoke at promptly 7 o'clock. Bats and Daisy still snoozed softly behind the curtains of their beds, having drawn them closed at some point last night; Jolie was digging through her luggage at the foot of her bed, already up and about and dressed in her school robes. She had donned Ravenclaw colors, too, with a tie of blue and bronze round her collar.
"Oh you're up!" she remarked, seeing Charlie stir from her bed. "Happy first day! We've got Herbology and Charms with the Hufflepuffs before lunch… then potions and flying lessons later. Should be fun!"
"What are you looking for?" Charlie asked, stifling a yawn as she rolled out of bed. She opened her luggage and pulled out the prescribed school uniform, laid it on the bed, and began changing. As opposed to the pajamas, everything fit perfectly well, though her pleated skirt was a bit longer than she would've hoped. "And where did you get the House uniform stuff?"
"Oh… in the chest, they appeared this morning," Jolie answered, avoiding the first question. Charlie checked her trunk, and sure enough there lay several identical sets of Ravenclaw robes, ties, and even socks. She figured they must have been Conjured there overnight, since the thought of staff coming in overnight was a little creepy.
The two girls made for breakfast together then, leaving Bats and Daisy still fast asleep in the dormitory. Charlie felt her stomach growling fiercely, despite the banquet from the night before; unfortunately, with all its twists and turns, the two quickly got lost in the hallways of the castle, and in no time, it was twenty minutes before the first class was scheduled to start.
"Ugh, we'd better get to class," Jolie grumbled as they examined the clock with some measure of panic. "Here, I think we passed by here last night… the Greenhouse should be this way…"
But by the time they'd found the entrance to the Greenhouse, the Herbology lesson had already begun. Somehow Bats and Daisy were fully dressed and sitting in rapt attention near the front of the long table in the middle of the room. How on earth had they gotten here in time…?
Charlie dashed towards the back end of the long table and sat, Jolie right behind her, both of them slightly out of breath. "Sorry Professor… we thought we'd be early," Jolie said. Charlie almost cursed under her breath, realizing they had referenced the bewitched clock that Logan had literally just warned them about the night before.
"Don't worry about it," the professor said breezily. He indicated the blackboard behind his right shoulder. "We've just gone over class expectations and supplies, and we're about to start discussing Puffapods as our first lesson." Charlie pulled a roll of parchment out of her bag and looked back up at the board; "PROFESSOR LONGBOTTOM" was written across the top in straight, neat lettering, but the rest of his handwriting was almost illegible.
"You can copy my notes so far," a voice across the table whispered. It was Leona, sitting next to her classmates; she slid her parchment over to Charlie as Professor Longbottom lectured. "I heard about Puffapods from my brothers this summer, I can afford to miss a bit of the lecture."
"Thanks," Charlie whispered back with a smile. First class, and she was already falling behind. She needed to up her game. Her mum had only the highest expectations for her family, and Charlie's school performance would be no different.
But as the day passed, her game was not upped much. Try as she might, Charlie felt disappointingly average in both Herbology and Charms. Despite having thoroughly researched what she believed to be the first year curriculum over the summer, Charlie struggled through the lessons that day; she dropped her Puffapod seeds everywhere, causing her tablemates to sneeze uncontrollably for minutes, and was given a heavy dose of homework from Professor Flitwick when she unintentionally used the Levitation Charm on pretty much every object except the feather she was actually aiming at.
Leona, surprisingly, excelled in the Greenhouse, seeming to accomplish every task given by Professor Longbottom in the blink of an eye. And Daisy easily managed the Levitation Charm in just a few minutes of practice. In fact, the Ravenclaw first year boys – Jacob Goldstein, Devon Patil, and Elias Clearwater – all successfully levitated their feathers within the course of the Charms lesson too. The only thing Charlie had an affinity for, it seemed, was doing the exact opposite of what she was trying to do.
"Augh!" she complained to Jolie as they sat for lunch. "I can't seem to do anything right."
"Give yourself a break. It's the first day," Jolie said, ladling some steaming hot tomato soup into a bowl in front of her and taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Easy for you to say, your nose doesn't still itch from exploding Puffapod seeds," Charlie muttered, morosely picking at the pasta salad she'd just dumped onto her plate. Jolie, mercifully, pretended not to hear this.
Potions class wasn't much better. Charlie wanted to make a good impression on the professor, who she assumed had taken charge of the Midnight Club following Professor Slughorn's retirement this summer, but the whole class was outshone by Selia Delphine, whose skills with a cauldron seemed to be unmatched. Besides, every time Charlie glanced over at the Slytherins' side of the room, she made awkward eye contact with Scorpius, a boy with whom she absolutely did not want to make awkward eye contact. His unpleasant facial expressions made her lose her train of thought multiple times.
Finally, finally, the day was at an end in the best way: flying lessons. Charlie practically ran up to the grounds from the dungeons, Jolie, Bats, and Daisy trailing slightly less enthusiastically behind. She passed Cedric and Sebastian on her way through the courtyard.
"In a rush, firsties?" Sebastian called after them. "Ahh, the age of innocence…"
"Shut up, you're barely more than a year older," Charlie heard Cedric reply with a laugh. She waved at them, but this was the class she definitely did not want to be late for.
It was the best part of her day – of her week, of her month, of her year. She'd been flying before, at home, but not as often as she'd have liked, with her mother restraining her from grabbing her broom every time weather was nice in order to avoid unwanted muggle attention. And she'd never had views like these. After the professor's initial instruction, they were free to roam about the Quidditch Pitch at their own pace. Charlie rode her broom up to a high altitude and took in her surroundings. The grounds stretched out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and beyond that, the Black Lake glittered mysteriously under the rays of sunlight. Hardly any clouds besmirched the azure blue afternoon sky.
She felt good in the air; she felt more sure of herself than she had in the classrooms that day, felt more confident now that she was finally doing an activity at which she excelled. She got to enjoy Phoebe's company too, as the flying lesson was shared with the first year Gryffindor students. Phoebe was highly uncomfortable on a broom, it seemed, which was to be expected from a muggle-born; but after some initial embarrassment on her part, she was able to pretty much laugh at herself throughout the lesson every time the broom tried to throw her off or flip her upside down. Charlie found her to be much more likeable than she initially expected; she was easy to make conversation with, openminded, and quick-witted.
The two of them walked back towards the Great Hall together afterwards, Phoebe chattering away as though they had known each other for ages.
"I haven't gotten to spend too much time with Leona since last night, you're lucky you got all morning to hang out with her. I've been doing okay meeting some new people though," she informed Charlie. "Rose Weasley is nice. You probably noticed her during flying. She was the one who showed me how to right myself while I hung upside down for dear life on that broom. She's pretty talented, as far as fliers go."
"Don't be giving away all our secrets now," a voice said behind the two of them. James Potter had appeared pretty much out of nowhere as they strode from the courtyard into the Entrance Hall. He put his arm around Phoebe's and Charlie's shoulders, ruffling their hair like they were his little siblings (a familiar behavior that Charlie had endured from Logan many, many times). "You're fraternizing with the enemy here, McKenzie. Watch yourself."
A light blush crept into Phoebe's freckled cheeks, and she ducked away, flattening the curls James had knocked astray. "I hardly think the enemy counts when she's not even on the Quidditch team…"
"Yet," Charlie added indignantly. She didn't mind James' arm around her shoulder as much; her family was oddly outward with their affections, and this kind of behavior she was used to; this was how people like her made friends. Still, she grabbed his hand and threw it back at him, not wanting to let Phoebe be the odd one out.
"Yet? So presumptuous," James said with a smirk. "Guess we'll have to wait til next year to have those flying skills put to the test."
"You must not have seen her flying around the grounds like a bird, Potter." Cedric and Sebastian had joined them, the five of them becoming a small group among many that had begun to drift into the Great Hall for dinner. Cedric gave Charlie a nod of appreciation. "Looking forward to tryouts a whole year from now?"
"Absolutely," Charlie answered, trying to pass off her excitement for cool confidence but failing miserably. She couldn't keep a smile off her face. At least one thing was going well for her today.
"Get lost, Gryffindors, we're going to talk strategy," Sebastian said. James adopted a false affronted expression, putting his arm around Phoebe again and leading her away to the Gryffindor table.
They did not, in fact, talk strategy. "Can't stand that git," Sebastian muttered under his breath as they took their seats.
"Really, why?" Charlie inquired. "He seems friendly."
"He's a cocky little git," he responded simply, taking an aggressive chomp out of his food as if to punctuate his words.
Logan slid into the seat across from them with his plate already full of food. "Sebastian is just mad because James outflies him every time we play Gryffindor –"
"Shut up!" Sebastian hurled his potatoes at Logan across the table; they smacked him in the forehead, right between his eyebrows. Logan wiped the food residue off his forehead with a nod and a smirk at Charlie as if to say, "My point exactly."
"Could be worse. Could be in Slytherin," Cedric laughed.
"Ah, yes indeed," Sebastian agreed.
"They're not… all that bad," Charlie said hesitantly. "I honestly thought the Hat was gonna put me in with that lot for a bit…"
"Come off it," Logan said in alarm. She wasn't sure if he was entirely joking. "I would've had to disown you…"
"I would never," Sebastian piped up, hand over his heart in mock seriousness. "Though as enemies, our love would be more forbidden. Like Romeo and Juliet. Or Dirty Dancing."
"First of all, that's my sister you're hitting on in front of me, I'm going to vomit," Logan replied, imitating a gagging noise over his plate. "Second, Dirty Dancing?"
"What? It's a classic!" Sebastian gaped around at the group; then, when no one responded, "Oh for the love of – nevermind, you magic folk are so uncultured!" Sebastian returned to attacking his food with a resigned sigh. He was probably used to his fellow students not understanding his muggle references, Charlie guessed with a grin.
"You all read the Prophet this morning?" Logan asked as he began his meal.
"No time…" Charlie mumbled, avoiding his eyes. "Why?"
"Apparently a Silverblood rally got a little rowdy in London yesterday night. Some cars got enchanted to drive laps around the city at top speed, hit a few muggles. No one died, but it was a fun little cleanup job for the Ministry, I bet, that's for sure."
"Silverblood rally?" she said. "What are they rallying for? The war is over. Has been over."
"Keep up, once again," Logan said loftily. "They've been getting more and more agitated for months now. Saying that pureblood families should be removed from government completely, is what they were rallying for the other day."
"Interesting," Sebastian replied. "I mean, you can't blame some of them, after what they went through during the war…"
"Yeah, but – making a scene in an area densely populated by muggles?" Cedric scoffed. "And how are they going to remove all purebloods from the Ministry? That hardly seems fair."
"They're just a bit radical, that's all," Logan said. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who think similarly, having grown up during the war, but are more amenable to rational behaviors and legislation. The Silverbloods don't have any real power, they're just a bunch of angry witches and wizards looking for revenge against people who had nothing to do with the war."
"They might soon, though," Sebastian added in a low voice. "My mum said she saw them recruiting or something in Diagon Alley last week, shortly before we went to get our school supplies. Apparently they're looking for a younger member group."
"Not sure where they're planning on going with that," Cedric said. "All the people in power at the Ministry are ancient. Not sure what kids fresh out of school are going to influence about those old folks' opinions."
The discussion was starting to go over her head, especially after having to cram knowledge about Puffapods, charms, and various potions ingredients in her head all day. Charlie finished her food and said goodbye to the boys, planning to drop her stuff off in her dormitory and perhaps head to the library to read more on levitation theory before bed. On her way up the spiral staircase, though, she rounded a corner and came face to face with Scorpius, almost knocking over the precarious tower of potions ingredients he carried in one arm while reading a book in the other. "Oh, sorry – oh, it's you," he said, his tone becoming cross as recognition dawned on his face.
"You say that like you even know who I am," she snapped at him. She knew why she didn't like him, based on the way he'd acted towards her new friends, but it was bothering her that she didn't know why he didn't like her. She'd hardly said a word in front of him before.
"Lively's little follower, aren't you?" he said, rolling his eyes, as if that was a sufficient explanation. "And you're a Ravenclaw, so I'm sure you think you know everything too, even better." He proceeded down the stairs, taking exceedingly special care to keep as much space between the two of them as possible as if she were carrying some sort of hideous infectios disease. "Whatever, I don't have time for this anyway."
If humans could emit steam from their ears like the Hogwarts Express, Charlie was sure she'd be doing so right there. What had his trousers in a bunch? He didn't know anything about her, yet acted like she was beneath him. And Leona's follower? Hardly! She didn't follow anyone –
"Hey, look, it's Charlie!" That was Leona's voice, as if on cue. She was climbing the spiral staircase too. "Care to join us for a bit of stargazing?" She was accompanied by Phoebe and her twin brothers.
"I'm going to study," Charlie said rather brusquely, more so than Leona deserved, but she wasn't following her, or anyone else, tonight. She stormed up the stairs, all the way to the Common Room, leaving the group behind in obvious confusion.
But when she got to the dormitory, she found she had lost the motivation to study, lacked the concentration required to get that spell down. In a huff, she dropped her books on her trunk, changed into pajamas, and crawled into bed. Later, when Bats and Daisy entered the dormitory, Charlie had already drawn her curtains shut, and dreamed of flying through the air on a broomstick while beating Scorpius over the head with a beater's bat, faintly smiling in her sleep.
Her fantasies were short lived. She was rudely awoken by the sound of the heavy velvet curtains being yanked back, after which beams of light blasted her in the face, blinding her from viewing whoever disturbed her sleep.
"Blindfold her, she's the last one," a voice said quietly, urgently, and before Charlie could react her vision was obscured by a piece of soft but thick cloth. She felt herself being lifted out of bed by multiple pairs of hands, and struggled against their grip in vain. She could hear whispers and mirthful giggles as she was carried, presumably out of the dormitory and down a set of stairs.
"Let me go! Let m—" In the middle of her protestations, one of her captors hissed out a quick "Silencio!" and she found she couldn't even hear the sound of her own voice any more than a muffled "hhmppph" as if someone had stuffed a rag in her mouth. She continued to resist but could not escape; whoever this was was very strong.
What in the bloody hell was going on? Charlie tried to get a sense of where they were, taking note of temperature of the air on her skin – cool, but not freezing – any changes in elevation – they were walking across a flat surface – she did not know the castle well, knew nothing of its layout, and had no idea how to figure that out in the moment –
Before she knew it she had been slammed into a rather uncomfortable chair and her blindfold was, finally, ripped off. For several moments, she had to blink away the brightness that now blinded her. She could only make out the shapes of people standing in front of her, as light flooded their silhouettes from behind; she could not make out any facial features, couldn't even tell the color of their robes.
"Welcome, Charlotte Grant… to hell."