Disclaimer: I do not own Moriarty the Patriot/Yuukoku no Moriarty or Harry Potter.
A/N: I hope you enjoy reading.
Once Upon a Prophecy Vol. I
First Year
Chapter THREE:
"Tie"
Opening Theme: Double Trouble/Lumos! (Hedwig's Theme) by The Dark Side of the Moon.
Sunlight seeped in through the windows, replacing the moonlight from the night before. A lump underneath the covers of the four poster bed didn't even stir, the person still fast asleep and dead to the world.
Another but tinier lump rested against the other's head. Upon hearing someone approach, Sonata lifted her head up while her eyes were still closed, ears bent back. When she finally opened them, she saw a girl hovering around the bed whose fluffy red hair fell down her back in thick curls.
Without any warning, the girl grabbed the blanket and threw it back, exposing the person who was the larger lump in the bed. In response to having her warmth taken away, Rion began to move, one of her hands fumbling around in an attempt to find the blanket as her eyes remained closed.
When she couldn't find it, she reluctantly opened her eyes, squinting them in the light as she saw for the first time the other person near the bed.
The other girl, whose name was given as Kerry Sawyer during the Sorting Ceremony, continued to look at Rion with a dull look in her teal eyes.
"It's time to get up, Winters," the tone, as well as the lack of emotion in her eyes, made her words come across as rude and somewhat snooty.
Having a feeling that Kerry didn't mean to sound as such, Rion brandished her signature bright smile with her body now sitting up in her bed. "Okay. Thanks for waking me up, I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome."
And with that Kerry sauntered off to get herself ready for breakfast and classes.
After getting out of bed, Rion also set about to do just that as Sonata watched the former's every single movement. Brushing and flattening the light blonde strands that had ended up sticking up in the air from her constant moving while sleeping, the girl began to tie the scarlet and gold tie around her neck underneath the collar of her white button up, finding the task to be quite difficult for her.
It was the last thing she needed to do, and she listened as the door to the girls' dorm room was opened. Amity and her sisters were already completely dressed, their own ties knotted the way they were supposed to be. Seeing Rion's struggle with her tie, Amity took a step forward to help her when Serenity reached out one of her hands to stop her older sister continued advancement.
Amity had just glanced over her shoulder at the middle sister when Rion's voice surged forth. "It's okay, Am. I got this. You, Ser and Ver can go ahead to the Great Hall. I'll catch up when I'm done."
"Are you sure?" Amity's voice communicated her doubt. It wasn't as though she didn't necessarily believe that Rion couldn't do it on her own, but given the fact that the girl was having trouble with doing it spoke of the possibility that she'd proceed to struggle with the task.
Rion nodded, positively beaming. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Go ahead, I'll be there soon."
The slightly older girl still had an unconvincing look on her face even as she left the room following after Serenity and Verity who exited out and into the small hallway first. The door was closed, leaving the other Gryffindor alone with her final task.
As she went back to attempting the knotting of her tie, her aunt's instructions on how to manage one fluttered through her mind. When Rion questioned Rebekah on why she knew, the woman answered with: "I help your uncle with his sometimes. Not that he can't do it himself, it's just something I do in order to spend even a little bit more time with him."
Rion's eyes had shined. "Mum would do that for Dad! She'd often help him with his ties whenever he had an event that he was invited to attend. Dad would say that he didn't know anything about a tie just so he could see my mum at a closer distance. Mum knew he was lying, but I think she still did it anyway for the same reason you have for helping Uncle Boris."
Rebekah had laughed genuinely as she, too, remembered those moments happening in the past.
The girl continued her ministrations to futility as she failed again to knot the tie correctly.
Rion's face contorted into a troubled frown, fingers still fumbling with the fabric. She was determined to do it, but that determination didn't mean she'd manage to actually get her tie ready before leaving the dormitory.
Sonata watched her human companion struggle while sitting leisurely upon the plush covers of Rion's bed. It was the only thing the kitten could do given the fact that she didn't have opposable thumbs, and therefore couldn't offer any practical help in the girl's endeavour.
Her mismatched irises observed how Rion released a noise of triumph, a victorious smile stretching the corners of her mouth wide. However, upon getting a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Rion realized that what she thought she had done was the complete opposite.
The tie that was around her neck was once again styled in a heap of an unidentified shape.
A disappointed, although comical, sound escaped her as her smile literally turned upside down.
While in the Great Hall, every single student was currently seated at their respective tables, partaking in the grand feast that was laid out for all to enjoy. While idle chatter floated into the air from everywhere, two students in particular who sat at the Gryffindor table waited for a particular person to make her appearance.
She hadn't shown up yet, and the duo were wondering where she was when classes could eventually be starting, and so she wouldn't have much of an opportunity to sit and eat at a leisurely pace.
It was then the person in question finally arrived, and just when the two fifth-years were about to greet her, their eyes had veered down toward her neck where her tie was lying in a haphazard mess. It didn't resemble any one of the different knots that were used, instead looking as though she had just thrown the material around her neck, said 'screw it all' and then rushed out of the common room in a haste.
"Yo, Rion," said Mark, smile wide and playful, practically bordering a grin. "You don't look that great. Did a pixie have it out for you or something?"
Rion released a confused noise before she followed his and Roy's gazes downward. Realization soon hit her after. "Oh! No, actually, I just can't tie a tie."
Mark nodded. "That's understandable. Girls don't usually wear ties, do they?"
"Well, some boys do and they can't even do it properly," muttered Roy, though Mark could hear the other fifth-year loud and clear from how close they sat together.
The prefect soon lifted himself from his seat to approach Rion who just stared up at the redhead in wonder. Stopping directly before her, Roy asked permission and didn't move until he was granted it, hands coming to help Rion fix her tie so it actually looked decent.
Rion watched with utter fascination as Roy's hands moved in a swift and skilful manner. He instructed her on how to do it while he was performing the movements, waiting patiently for confirmation that she heard him before continuing with the explanation.
Mark observed the scene with a playful shine in his russet coloured irises.
Once Roy was finished helping Rion, he sat back down at the table.
"Thank you, Roy," said Rion, smiling brightly.
He returned the smile. "You're welcome, Rion."
As she came to take her own seat near the duo, Mark glanced over at Roy who felt the other boy's eyes on him quite keenly. With a sigh, and a sinking feeling in his gut, Roy questioned Mark on why he was looking at him and in that particular way.
Mark's smile turned into a grin, the kind that Roy didn't like seeing at all. "That was very cute, the way you helped her."
"She needed it. And what's so cute about coming to someone's aid?"
"I'm just saying it was cute. You don't have to get so defensive about it, Prefect, I was only stating a fact."
Roy grumbled under his breath as soon as Mark called him prefect, the topic of discussion eating her food incognizant of what was being said.
As soon as Mark shifted his gaze up and toward the far end of the room, he called out, "Well, it appears the pigeon brigade has arrived."
From the opened windows of the Great Hall, a flurry of bodies and feathers of all colours came swooping in, tubes attached to their bodies with soft, thin but durable fabric. Each one lowered themselves down toward many of the students who were still in the process of eating their breakfast.
Rion looked up, food temporarily forgotten in favour of seeing what this 'pigeon brigade' was all about. When she did, her bright emeralds widened upon catching sight of a very familiar figure covered in snow white feathers making her way toward the girl.
A grin lit up the eleven-year-old's features. "Odette!"
Rion lifted herself up and out of her seat, extending an arm in the pigeon's direction. Odette didn't hesitate in landing on it, gently wrapping her talons around it so she didn't fall off. She soon began to slowly make her way up the girl's arm to settle upon her shoulder where she intended to rest for a good portion of her time before heading back to the Winters estate.
With Roy's help, who had already procured his own letter gifted to him by a family member, Rion unrolled the paper in order to read the words scrawled along the parchment. Her eyes quickly trailed over each word, taking them in with a sense of happiness.
The handwriting was no doubt her uncle's, the neat, fancy cursive giving it away. Boris had written to her about how well he, Rebekah and Octavia were doing. He wrote about how he was hoping she was doing well even though it hadn't been a full day yet since she had left to attend Hogwarts.
Boris told her that she shouldn't worry about any of them but instead she should focus on her studies as they were very important, especially when it eventually came down to her future career.
She nodded along, agreeing wholeheartedly with his sentiment.
After having read the letter, breakfast went by relatively quickly with Rion going much slower and eating less than what she had the night before, causing Mark to crack a joke about her sudden loss of appetite. Getting the feeling that his words really were just a joke, Rion laughed good-naturedly, replying with a slightly self-deprecating remark.
When the bell rang signaling the beginning of every student's first class for the day, Rion bounded up and out of her seat followed by Roy and Mark, who were attending the same class together considering they were both not only fifth-years but also Gryffindors.
"Well, Rion," said Mark right before he and Roy fully made their way out of the Great Hall, "good luck with your first class. I heard you along with the other first-years have the Ice Queen herself as your very first professor—really and truly good luck, and I'll see you at your funeral later."
The eleven-year-old canted her head just as one of Roy's hands was formed into a fist to then be bumped against Mark's temple, a mild form of reprimanding the other boy. Mark lifted one of his own hands to rub at the spot that had been hit, lips twisting to allow a silly grin to form.
Roy frowned, clearly displeased by Mark's ability to remain jovial in his disposition despite being scolded for his behaviour.
Throwing a glance over his shoulder, it was Roy who decided to say something then. "Don't take some of the things he says to heart, Rion. He's someone who'll joke about even the most darkest of things and wholeheartedly believe it's funny. With him, what you see is truly what you get."
"Aw, Roy," Mark grinned, not at all disconcerted with the other boy's words, "how mean. But, you're right. Absolutely, one hundred percent correct."
Roy sighed, eyes of oceanic blue closing. "I know and it doesn't make me feel any better to be right, either. . ."
During the entire exchange between the fifth-years, Rion only smiled while observing the friendship the aforementioned boys shared.
As the duo left for their class together, Roy getting slightly exasperated with Mark's strongly carefree demeanour, Rion was approached by Amity and her sisters. Serenity had a wide grin on her face, slinging her arm over Rion's shoulder while she also began to lean a great amount of her body weight on the slightly younger girl. Amity noted that her sister should be careful and not put too much of herself on Rion so the latter didn't end up falling to the floor.
Serenity responded by taking some of her weight off of Rion.
The quartet made their way out of the Great Hall to meander their way to their first class, with Rion stealing a glance over the shoulder that Serenity was still leaning on to look for a particular person. She never got see them as she was swiftly led away.
"All right, everyone," Zelda's voice was loud as she spoke, twin blues looking to each student in turn as she stood at the front of the classroom, a certain glint shining in her eyes, "I hope the lot of you have come at least somewhat prepared, for I am a strict professor and I do not tolerate frivolity and goofing off."
The first-years whose first class had luckily, or unluckily depending on one's view and opinion, happened to be charms which Zelda had noted upon meeting the children for the first time that that was the subject she taught, sat back in their seats and watched the woman silently, not a one making even the barest of peeps.
She was dressed similarly to how she had been the day prior with her hair styled the same way as well. Her wand was held delicately in her right hand, fingers curled gently around the wooden object as though she was afraid she might damage it if she held onto it even just an inch tighter.
The room itself was small with rounded desks where the students sat encircling both the left and right sides. Behind Zelda was a large window where the light from the morning sun came in to provide illumination for everyone. This class was designated for the first-years of both Gryffindor and Slytherin, and the members of each house took up the separate ends with the exception of William who sat with Rion and the other Gryffindors.
To Zelda's left while facing the only door, Rion sat with her back straight and shoulders squared. Her countenance was serious, quite unlike her typical self which was usually so cheery and somewhat boisterous. On her right was Amity who sat next to her sister Serenity who was then sitting by Verity on her other side. And then on Rion's left was William, the boy's attention currently focused upon Zelda while the woman continued her speech.
"Today we'll be learning a simple spell that will come most in handy if you ever find yourselves in the dark without a candle to light, among other things," said Zelda, her wand hand lifting into the air.
Suddenly the room was blanketed in a dark veil, causing gasps and hiccups of surprise and shock to leave some of the students. In their panic, some gripped the edges of the desks tightly while others remained still, not moving in their acute fear almost as if they felt they'd be swallowed whole in the darkness if they did.
The noises persisted until the blonde spoke one word, loud and concise without a hiccup of a mistake.
"Lumos!"
A bright but small light soon illuminated the portion of the room where Zelda stood, providing a little bit of relief as sighs escaped some of the aforementioned students. The light was situated on the tip of her wand, and it looked uncannily similar to what the Muggles referred to as a torch, but without the requirement of batteries to power it.
One only needed to know magic and to be able to cast the charm in order to have a free and easy way of lighting their darkened surroundings.
To disable the Wand-Lighting Charm, she called out another word that was different from the other, the light vanishing just as quickly as it had been conjured, once again plunging the room into complete darkness.
The curtains that had been drawn previously were soon opened, allowing the morning sunlight to seep back into the room and illuminate it very generously.
Looking at each student in turn, Zelda said, "Now, I want you all to do exactly as I did: hold out your wand and say 'Lumos' as precise as possible. I recommend to either close your eyes or hold the wand away from your face so you don't end up damaging your retinas."
The children did as instructed, lifting their wands off the surface of their desks to begin practicing casting the Wand-Lighting Charm.
At varying points, the word Lumos left the students' lips, but not everyone was able to produce a light at the tips of their wands. For some it took many tries while for others it was either instantaneous or it was on the second attempt.
While William had gotten it on his first try, and Amity and her sisters took three tries to successfully cast the charm, Rion was having a bit more difficulty with it. She waved the wand exactly as she was supposed to, and her pronunciation of the incantation was as precise as she could manage, but for some reason it refused to work for her.
Across from where Rion sat, Lionel laughed a bit under his breath along with his friends at her plight. The other two boys, however, weren't very subtle in their execution as the attention of some of the other students was pulled in their direction.
Zelda snapped her head over to look at the trio, disappointment and disapproval mixing together as they showed upon her face. "What are you snickering about, Drake, Tiffen, Pearson?"
The boys in question instantly stopped their quiet chime of laughter.
"I believe I told you, and everyone else, that I don't tolerate frivolity and goofing off in my classes. Did I perhaps stutter when I was informing you three of that fact?"
Lionel sat up straighter in his chair, expression carefully neutral. "No, ma'am."
"Exactly. Now, perform the Wand-Lighting Charm like you're supposed to."
Ignoring the goings-on in front of them, William observed Rion's hand movements very closely. Once he caught sight of what she was doing wrong, he immediately began helping her in executing the charm properly. Rion was, in fact, waving her wand just a tad bit off center, and when she finally managed to do it the right way thanks to his instructions, a light appeared at the tip of her wand just like all the others.
Rion smiled as she stared straight at the light, incredibly happy that she was able to cast the charm even though she needed direct help in the end. A hand came to cover her eyes from her left, Rion's face showing confusion until she realized why. Glancing over in that particular direction, her eyes of freshly polished emerald made contact with melted gold.
Amity raised a brow, silently questioning the other girl's sanity since Rion had been looking directly at something that could irreparably damage her eyesight.
Rion smiled in a sheepish way, shoulders slightly raised.
It wasn't long before Zelda gave out the order to disable their charms by shouting out the same word that the woman had moments prior while also enacting the hand movements to accompany the incantation. One by one, each of the lights twinkled out of existence.
For Rion, casting the counter-charm to the Wand-Lighting Charm was much easier. The light was swiftly extinguished, and her happiness upon being able to perform the spell was very visible and infectious as many of the other students that saw it produced smiles of their own.
With her sky shaded blues looking to each student as they managed to 'turn off' their lights, Zelda said, "Not bad for those of you that just performed those charms for the very first time in your lives, even though for most of you it took more than your first three tries to accomplish it."
Rion didn't need to be told explicitly that she was one of the many students that fell under that specific category.
She was silent, listening to her aunt's words intently and with her earlier seriousness, though her posture deflated.
"Once everyone is officially finished with their classes for the day, I highly recommend you all to continue practicing both the Wand-Lighting Charm and the Wand-Extinguishing Charm in your common rooms back to back and as many times as need be until you have finally comprehended them."
She continued with, "And now, I'll teach you another useful charm that all wizards and witches should be aware of and capable of casting."
Without any further words, Zelda lifted her wand into the air to once again demonstrate a new charm for her students to learn.
The Gryffindors' next class was accompanied by the first-years of Hufflepuff House.
As the children sat in their newly designated seats, they listened as their professor of History of Magic spoke about the beginnings of magic and how it came to be in their reality. Though, the information that was given was somewhat speculative given how wizards had been around for as long as Muggles and so some of their written works had ended up being lost to time. Especially the knowledge about the very first wizard, or wizards, that had come into existence millennia ago.
Many of the students nodded off as they continued to listen to the professor's words. Rion wasn't exempt from this, finding her eyes closing every now and then before she hurriedly snapped them open. It was only ten in the morning but the fact that the teacher's voice as well as how he used it wasn't engaging at all, it induced the need for sleep within his students. Instead of serotonin, the professor was administering melatonin which was counter-productive to teaching a lesson.
Sitting next to Rion once more was Amity who appeared more engaged than some of the other students. She wasn't alone in this as there were others that actively took notes and paid very close attention to the words being spoken, making sure to remember them for the upcoming exams once winter term came to a close.
Seeing that the blonde Gryffindor was nodding off again, the brunette shook the former's shoulder firmly but gently. It did as intended, waking Rion back from an almost dead sleep. Green locked with yellow and the owner of the former smiled sheepishly, shoulders raised a bit. Amity just shook her head, a fond smile stretching the corners of her mouth up.
The lesson proceeded as usual with the occasional student falling asleep and then being woken up in some fashion.
For most of the students, lunch period could have come sooner.
As soon as they were all finished with their second classes for the day, everyone huddled together to make their way to the Great Hall. Friendly chatter sprung forth to fill the empty air with noise, something that wasn't always welcoming to others' ears.
Nonetheless, those who didn't find pleasure in loud sounds that consisted of peoples voices ignored them as they simply meandered on their way.
Entering the Great Hall, it didn't take the students long to take themselves to their respective tables just as they had done that morning for breakfast. After sitting down and partaking in the food that had been presented to them, some of the students lifted themselves to their feet to explore more of the castle which was something that would not be granted to them at any other time except for lunch period and the weekends.
Rion was one of the many that had done so, and Amity and her sisters didn't hesitate in joining her. The quartet walked on, looking out through the windows and opened parts of the wall that looked into the courtyard and vice versa. Twin emerald scanned the vibrant grass as its tips were pushed by the wind, a small but strong looking tree providing some shade from the sunlight that they had been graciously graced with this day tucked away in a corner.
Many of the students decided to enter and spend the rest of their break in the courtyard, taking up the space that had once been empty.
Passing it by, Rion continued onward with no particular destination in mind. She soon became swallowed whole by the sea of people that was flowing along the corridor.
And in their distraction, Amity and her sisters were unaware of this fact.
Climbing a set of stairs and then another and another, Rion proceeded her exploration on her own even as the appearance of the other students dwindled so much that there was no one else around except for herself. Undeterred, she strode down a different corridor and saw many doors littering the walls.
In her curiosity she began opening up the doors, finding a lot of them to be old and unused. When she opened one door in particular, she had done so only a little when a very familiar sight caught her eye.
Rion's eyes twinkled as she stared at the grand piano gathering dust in a section of the room. The room itself was clearly abandoned and hadn't been touched in a long time. Cobwebs were in the corners and the dust as mentioned before covered a vast amount of the space within, not just the piano.
And speaking of said stringed instrument, there were other instruments situated in an area not too far from the piano. Violins, guitars, flutes, oboes, even harmonicas. It didn't take a genius to know that this room had once been a music room.
Just as she was about to open the door wider in order to enter the room, her intention being to play the beauty that was still in her focus, the sound of footsteps from behind gave her immediate pause.
Instantly, Rion whirled around with wide eyes as fear at having possibly been caught doing something she shouldn't gripped her heart acutely. Her bright greens were met with narrowed, displeased almond brown irises.
The face that held them was twisted in an expression that made Rion want to run away as far as possible. It was one of both disapproval and scorn. Scraggly brown hair of a similar shade to the person's eyes fell around her face. Upon the woman's shoulder was a cat, one that was much bigger than Sonata, who was clearly an adult with silvery white fur encompassing her entire body.
The cat meowed and Rion lamented how it didn't sound at all welcoming to her ears.
Just when Rion made a slightest bit of movement, the cat reacted, hissing in a swift and intimidating manner.
The girl balked, hands flying to her chest to grip the lapels of her robe as though that would keep her safe from the animal's ire.
A cool voice that was laced with the aforementioned emotions surged forth. "And what do you think you're doing here. . . Winters."
The woman had paused to take a quick peek at Rion's nametag that was plastered on the other side of her robe opposite the emblem of her House. And the supposed question didn't at all sound as such. It was a statement, one that even Rion was able to pick up on despite her inexperience when it came to certain social cues.
"Um, I was just. . ."
She started stumbling over her words, a clear sign that she was unsure how to proceed.
The woman spoke once more, "These rooms are off limits to students. If you don't want to get a detention on your very first day here, I highly recommend you turn tail and go back to where you came from."
From a corner of her heart, Rion felt as though the woman wasn't just meaning to go back down to the ground floor where the former had originally been.
The eleven-year-old frowned, silent.
Waving her hand in a shooing motion, the woman said, "Go on, then! And don't let me catch you around this area again."
Rion's feet moved quickly, taking her away from the scary woman and her scary cat.
A thought so foreign to her that she was surprised it had even fluttered past in her mind appeared.
As she hurried her way down the three flights of stairs she had previously climbed, Rion thought—
Don't worry, ma'am. I won't let you catch me next time.
The next morning had come quickly for those who were in bed at the designated time.
Rion was up all on her own which jolted Sonata awake who wasn't expecting the girl to literally jump up and out of bed. She rushed around, brushing her hair and replacing her comfortable, cozy pajamas for her school uniform. When it came time to don her tie, Rion was once more met with resistance as she struggled with getting it right.
Which caused her to arrive at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall with her tie as another weird mass of nothing. Roy, upon seeing her, politely beckoned her over to help her again with it. She immediately made a beeline for him, standing still to patiently wait as he set about to fix her mess.
Mark observed the repeated scene from his perch at the table, playfulness shining in his twin russet browns and stretching the corners of his mouth up.
Roy thought idly to himself that the other boy better keep his mouth shut or else.
As if having sensed the prefect's train of thought, Mark decided to give him what he was so eager to avoid. And so the other fifth-year began to coo annoyingly at the redhead's adorable gesture in coming to Rion's rescue once more.
"So kind of you, Prefect. So nice."
Roy grumbled incoherently under his breath just like he had done yesterday.
"It's always good to help a princess whenever she needs a knight in shining armour to come and rescue her from her fortified tower. Could this be the beginning of a sappy and cliché love story? One that everyone needs to experience in their lives at least once, even if it isn't forever?"
Oceanic blue glowed with a dangerous light as Roy snapped his head over to glare at Mark. This look didn't deter Mark though, of course not, because said fifteen-year-old was just getting started with his teasing.
And if it ended with him down under ground somewhere, he could live with that.
Because torturing his best friend in the ways that said best friend preferred not to be tortured was a hundred percent worth it in the end.
When Mark opened his mouth to autograph and seal his own death certificate, the 'pigeon brigade' had arrived to deliver everyone's morning mail once again. Mark's mouth promptly closed, eyes zeroing in on a particular pigeon who was making its way toward him at a blinding speed.
He stuck his arm out and the pigeon didn't hesitate in wrapping his talons around it, graciously taking it to perch upon. A tube was strapped to the pigeon's back, the letter from one of Mark's family members safely tucked away inside it.
The fifth-year hurriedly took the cap off to then remove the piece of paper from inside.
As his eyes quickly skimmed the words that were written on it, a shout of utter happiness escaped the Gryffindor girl. It startled both Roy and Mark who were focused on their own individual tasks: Mark reading his letter and Roy still tying Rion's tie for her.
"Odette!" Rion did what Mark had done and threw one of her arms out for said pigeon to land on.
Odette had once again come bearing a letter that was no doubt gifted to Rion from her precious uncle. She wondered what it was going to be about this time, and in her restlessness and curiosity, Rion began to move a bit in place. She remained relatively in place as Roy had no problem in finishing up the tie.
Contemplating whether or not it would be inappropriate to tuck the bottom of it inside her buttoned cardigan, Roy thought against it and instead gently pried Odette from Rion's arm so the girl could tuck it in on her own.
After she did, he handed Odette back to her with the pigeon's orange irises staring at Roy as though he had just suddenly turned into a pigeon himself without warning.
He bowed his head slightly in her direction as if to silently apologize for his rude behaviour.
As expected, Odette didn't have anything to say in response.
Everyone in the Great Hall that had been gifted a letter were eating their breakfast while reading whatever their family or friend had sent them. It was calm and peaceful, no one stepping out of line or causing any trouble.
Until a loud yet excited and happy cry shattered the tranquil silence.
The sound scared both human and pigeon alike. As the humans jumped in their seats and allowed their eyes to stare at her, the pigeons took flight with the sound of their wings flapping accompanying her shouts.
Odette was not exempt from this, taking to the air just as swiftly as her companions had done. She remained hovering by Rion's side though, refusing to leave the Gryffindor alone.
Seemingly unaware that she was disturbing the peace that had once been, Rion persisted in her cries of joy and even did small jumps in her unbound excitement.
A voice called her name from across the way, effectively causing the eleven-year-old to cease in her noises and jumping. When she whipped her head over to see who it was, bright emeralds collided softly with melted gold.
With her chin resting on the heel of her hand as her elbow was propped on the surface of the Gryffindor table, Amity raised a brow as though silently asking the girl what all the commotion was about.
No sense of hesitancy was in her steps as Rion dashed her way over to Amity's side. Odette continued following after the former loyally. Seeing Rion's approach, Amity moved herself out of her seat to stand beside the table to await the other Gryffindor's official arrival.
Rion's hands held on protectively to the letter as she said, "Am! It's amazing, it's wonderful!"
"Okay, hold on. Take a deep breath in, let it out and then tell me what's gotten you so. . . excited."
At this point, the word 'excitement' didn't even cut it anymore. Rion was practically over the moon with what she had just been informed about.
"Here, read it! It's from Uncle Boris about Aunt Rebekah."
Amity took the proffered piece of parchment and allowed her eyes to read the words scrawled across it in neat, fancy cursive. Her eyes went wide. "Miss Rebekah finally had her baby. . ."
Rion nodded rapidly, grin lighting her features exponentially. "Yeah!"
The letter had indeed inform Rion that Boris and Rebekah's newly born child was a boy, something that the former had been saying herself for a long time all the way up to the baby's actual birth. No one was truly aware if he was a boy, every single bit of such a possibility was pure speculation and for the girl it was a mere feeling she had gained.
Boris and Rebekah, like some other couples, had purposefully kept the gender of their first child a secret as they wanted to be surprised when it was actually revealed. So, the fact that the baby was a boy was both a surprise and not a surprise at the same time.
Amity read more passages, therefore being informed of other things.
For instance—
"They named him Torin," noted Amity out loud. "Mr. Boris said that it's supposed to be Irish and have the meaning of 'chief.'"
Rion nodded. "Yep! Uncle Boris and Aunt Rebekah chose it to honour my dad's heritage."
"Oh, yeah. . . Uncle Magnus was Irish, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he was!"
In the distance, Clarion had watched the entire scene all the way from when Rion first exhibited her happiness to her jog over to where Amity had come to stand. A fond smile stretched the corners of her mouth up.
Deep violet glanced over to her left, seeing that Zelda's eyes of sky blue were trained on her niece. The look in them appeared far away, almost as though she, too, was somewhere else instead of in the present moment.
Upon hearing her name being uttered by the older woman, Zelda peered over. "Yes, Professor Duvall?"
"It's wonderful, isn't it?" asked Clarion, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Boris's baby has finally graced this world with his presence, and you have now gained a nephew."
Zelda was silent after hearing that.
She shifted her head so she was once again staring at Rion, said girl grinning from ear to ear as she talked to Amity.
The dungeons of Hogwarts castle were exceedingly cold, even more so than the rest of the structure as a whole.
After having descended the stairs from the ground floor and down into said dungeons, the first-years of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw found themselves in front of the door that would lead them into the classroom where Potions class would take place for first period.
They opened the door and entered the room where immediately a scent of an unidentifiable kind hit them head on. The children wrinkled their nose at the smell, some even bringing their arms up to cover their passage ways for extra measure.
There were many tables with chairs littered around the room as well as cabinets where questionable things were placed in jars. The items within them were quite clearly animal parts, and some of them even appeared to be moving. Almost as though they weren't yet dead.
Some of the children shuddered at the thought.
A woman was also seen standing near a huge cauldron that was further into the room. A mist meandered from the liquid inside the black object and up, intermingling with the air around them. Purportedly that was where the weird, vile stench was originating from.
The woman that was currently stirring the contents had long, silky, black hair that cascaded down her back in a neat braid. Any and all strands were kept away from her face so they didn't obscure her vision and make her task harder than it needed to be.
Without question this woman was most certainly the first-years' Potions professor.
She looked over at them finally, eyes of silvery grey looking as if she was seeing right through the children and into their very souls. This made some of the children swallow thickly.
"Well," she said, her task temporarily forgotten as she focused her entire attention on her new students. "It's about time you arrived. I was almost about to call it a day if you hadn't come before I just laid eyes on you."
The aura she gave off was similar to and yet dissimilar from Zelda. The coldness that permeated the tone of her voice took hold of her features but unlike the Charms professor, this woman was really and truly cold.
Just like the room itself. Maybe that's why it was so freezing in here?
The students looked troubled by this piece of information. Did the professor just say that she was actually going to cancel their lesson if they had arrived later than now?
It was quite obvious from this first initial meeting that this woman wasn't going to be a very popular educator among the student population.
The name she had given upon her introduction after the Sorting Ceremony fluttered through the children's minds.
Completely abandoning her own cauldron and whatever potion she had been brewing in it, Freesia Talbot slowly approached them as the cold, distant look in her eye never receded.
With a neutral frown, she announced, "Let us commence the lesson, shall we?"
The children did as instructed when they were told to take their seats at the tables whereupon they would place their own cauldrons and the utensils used along with it. Rion sat with Amity sitting on her left just like yesterday while Serenity and Verity were positioned on Rion's right and Amity's left, respectively.
Purposefully ignoring that fact for the sake of her sanity, Amity focused her eyes on the professor who proceeded to inform everyone what they were going to try—keyword try—to make during this particular class.
"Today we'll be brewing two potions with one being the antidote to the other. The Sleeping Draught and its counterpart the Wiggenweld Potion. Get your cauldrons, utensils and ingredients ready, and we shall officially begin."
And thus the lesson really did begin.
Throughout the entire duration, Freesia went around looking over her students' shoulders to monitor their progress as well as to see if they were doing it right. Or wrong. Whenever she did catch sight of something amiss, the Potions Master was quick to say a few words which, given the tone of her voice, were incredibly harsh and unnecessary.
Some of the students upon hearing her evaluation had whatever confidence they did have swiftly disappear as though it never existed at all. For others, the woman's words only spurred them on to actually get it right.
This caused panic to root itself inside Rion's heart. Looking over at Amity, she asked in a very low voice, "Amity, am I doing it right?"
Amity leaned over to peer into Rion's cauldron. "Are you unsure about what you're doing?"
"I don't know. I think—"
"Is something wrong over here, girls?"
The sudden, chilling voice of their professor promptly caused the girls to flinch, their eyes widening in their almost catatonic shock. They weren't focused on her steps which were becoming closer and closer until they abruptly stopped right behind them.
Rion felt as though her heart would leap straight out of her chest and do twenty laps around the courtyard just to be free of this confrontation. The thing was, she knew she had gotten something wrong—perhaps all of it—and didn't want the professor to see and know. Because she was afraid of being harshly evaluated just like the others.
When Freesia had made her way over to the table where Rion sat, she instantly zeroed her silver grey irises upon the girl's hands and the contents of her cauldron. They narrowed visibly, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop exponentially.
Everyone felt it, which is why it was no surprise when, even though most of them were seated at three other tables, the other students maneuvered themselves further away from where Rion's table in particular was located in an attempt to create more distance.
The Potions Master stared at the liquid with her icy gaze but her tone was surprisingly neutral in contrast. "Need a spot of help, Winters?"
Rion didn't know what to say. "Well. . ."
"Are you unaware of how to make the Sleeping Draught? With your family background, I figured you'd be more capable than any of my other students to do so."
Rion decided to be honest even though she had a feeling that the end result was not going to be something good. "Actually, Professor Talbot, I don't know how to make it."
"Is that so? A shame. After all, if I recall correctly, your entire maternal family were very smart, at least academically. Your mother, especially, was very adept at brewing and creating potions. I had thought that you'd be the same."
Rion went silent, eyes blinking rapidly. Her heart continued to run a marathon behind her rib cage.
Freesia feigned surprise. "Was I wrong? Perhaps your skills lie in other subjects, then. I'm also quite curious as to how your parents would've reacted to hear that you were sorted into Gryffindor House instead of Ravenclaw or Slytherin, after all, Gryffindor is so far below the other two."
The implication behind her words were easily heard by the students. The air in the room became incredibly awkward and dense after that opinion was given.
Freesia fluttered away without a hint of hesitation, the ends of her robe flowing out from behind her. The woman made her way over to another student's side, completely disregarding the rest of the Gryffindors that were around Rion as if the professor believed that they weren't worth her time. Give her previous statement to the blonde Gryffindor, that wasn't very far from the truth.
Upon arriving at a familiar redhead's side, Freesia directed a smile toward the girl that she hadn't given to any of the other children so far during the class.
It was actually decent instead of condescending.
"Monica," the woman greeted with a tone that sounded as sweet as sugar, "how is your potion brewing coming along?"
Monica offered a smile of her own, but there seemed to be a slight crookedness to it that only a select few could actually see.
Releasing a huff of annoyance, Amity veered her gaze over to Rion who was still staring unblinkingly at her cauldron. The liquid inside was long forgotten now as the latter appeared to be sinking deep, deep down toward a place that Amity felt she wasn't able to go.
She placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder, effectively snapping the blonde back to reality.
They exchanged a look, with Rion smiling as she gave assurance to Amity about the former's state of mind. Amity, however, didn't believe her. Rion was many things but amongst the things she wasn't, this one in particular was seen by anyone and everyone.
Rion Winters was a terrible liar.
It was pretty warm inside the greenhouse. Perfectly understandable given the fact it housed the school's precious and priceless plants. Both for cultivation and teaching purposes.
But it was much more welcoming than the freezing hell they had been subjected to during Potions. Both room and person wise. In fact, the children had no qualms in rushing out of Potions and back to the ground floor. Anything to get away from the woman who exhibited an unrestrained and scornful attitude toward all of the ones who she had an idea weren't a specific kind of wizard.
Upon leaving the castle, the students were instantly met with their Herbology professor who proceeded to lead them into greenhouse one.
"Hello, everyone," said the first-years' Herbology professor. "If you have possibly forgotten my introduction at the Sorting Ceremony, my name is Gavin Finch and I will be your Herbology professor for your entire duration at Hogwarts."
A man of average height, Gavin had pale blond hair neatly styled on his head with the strands long enough to cover his ears from view. His irises were a striking orange, like that of the freshly ripe fruit that went by the same name. They stared at the children's hands, noting satisfactorily that they were wearing their protective gloves and in the right way.
His students were standing a good distance away as Gavin stood near a group of potted plants that had a brown stem and vine-like tendrils that had multiple leaves decorating them. They moved around all on their own, and seemed to be grasping for something that wasn't there. Structures that appeared very similar to sharp, pointy teeth could also be seen.
Overall, whatever the plant was it was certainly a scary looking one. And judging by how Gavin had specifically instructed his students to keep a few feet worth of distance between them and the plants, they had to be undeniably dangerous too.
"Over here we have what is known as the Venomous Tentacula," said the professor. "These plants are highly dangerous, hence why you will not be handling them at present. Instead I will inform you about its magical properties and its peculiarities so you will be able to protect yourselves if you ever run into them outside of the school."
Gavin maneuvered closer, and it was not any of the students' imagination when one of the vine-like tendrils had suddenly centered upon him as though laser-focused.
Seemingly not paying any attention to it, he casually jutted one of his thumbs over his shoulder in a way of pointing at the plant. "These guys are, as their name suggests, venomous and this venom can stun and even kill whosoever is injected with it. The way they do so is by biting."
The next action was so quick that once the students had blinked, Gavin had already swiftly swerved out of reach when the very tendril that had focused on him lunged for his arm. His expression didn't show any form of alarm or panic, instead appearing serene and at ease despite the fact the plant had actually made a grab for him for a not so benevolent reason.
A series of mystified sounds escaped some of the students, their eyes wide at the scene that had just taken place in front of them. The fact that they almost witnessed a murder on only their second day at Hogwarts quickly settled in their hearts.
Gavin allowed his orange irises to fall upon the Venomous Tentacula that had lunged for him, a sharp glint of parental disapproval shining in them. "Now, that was uncalled for. I could've used the Severing Charm on you but I chose not to. Do be grateful for that, would you?"
As expected the plant didn't say anything back. It did, however, motion its 'arm' as a way of beckoning him over. And also as expected, Gavin refused.
"You are a very bad Venomous Tentacula, and don't think I'll be gifting you any Puffskeins any time soon."
He talked to the plant as though he was the one that had given it life. And maybe that was indeed the truth as Gavin had been the one to pot them, observe them and give them the necessary nourishment to allow their current growth. The Venomous Tentacula, however, seemed to think that using him as nourishment was the most effective way of communicating its gratitude.
Gavin, as well as the students, would greatly beg to differ.
Keeping a much safer distance from the Tentacula after that fiasco, the professor turned his eyes toward the children. "Is there anyone here that can tell me what typically makes up the diet of a Venomous Tentacula?"
It didn't take long for someone to raise their hand, and Gavin didn't waste any time in gesturing his approval for them to speak.
"You said it yourself: Puffskeins," said Gerald Tiffen, a haughtiness to his tone that was so loud it graced everyone's ears.
Amity slowly—excruciatingly so—turned her head to look at the Slytherin. Her expression in response to what he said was as readable as a series of text written in a book.
William had also settled his gaze on Tiffen but remained silent, instead choosing to witness what would come to pass.
Confused and generally unaware, Rion stood while having the distinct feeling that something was amiss but she hadn't the slightest clue on the details as to why.
Even Lionel didn't say anything as his disappointment shrouded his body like a thick mist.
Gavin smiled, amusement twinkling in his eyes. He purposefully looked down toward the boy's nametag. "All right. . . Tiffen. Can you tell me what else the Venomous Tentacula eats?"
". . . Um. . ." was what ended up leaving Tiffen. His face contorted to show his lack of knowledge as he appeared to grasp at straws within his mind.
The smile on Gavin's face never left. "Tiffen, are you perhaps unaware of the plant's peculiar tastes? If so, just say it. There's no shame in being wrong from time to time."
Tiffen frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
"Just as I said. Anyone else among you that can inform me of what Tiffen is unable to?"
After looking around to see if anyone was going to raise their hand, William did it and was instantly called upon by Gavin.
William lowered his hand back to his side. "The Venomous Tentacula is said to have three things in particular that make up its diet: Chizpurfles, Doxies and humans."
When the word 'humans' fell from his lips, some of the other students were quick to give a right start in shock. Consternation appeared on their faces for understandable reasons, after all, they were human themselves.
Tiffen was baffled. "Chizpurfles, Doxies and humans? What about the Puffskeins?"
When William glanced over to meet Gavin's twin oranges with his ruby-like irises, Gavin nodded as a way of silently giving the boy the go ahead.
William looked at the other Slytherin boy. "Puffskeins aren't apart of a Tentacula's diet. I believe Professor Finch said that to see if anyone would 'prove him wrong,' so to speak."
"'So to speak?' That was exactly what I was doing," said Gavin. "And, unfortunately, Tiffen had failed to correct me and instead believed my words without question, meaning that he hadn't done his studying prior to coming here. Otherwise he would've known the truth and called me out on it despite my position as the professor who should know as much as possible about the subject he's teaching."
Tiffen's face blossomed red immediately at the call-out.
"Here's some words of advice to you all: do not trust anyone so easily no matter who they are. Even myself. If you believe that just because I'm an adult and an educator at this school that I should be trusted, you're far off. There are people who will deceive you in any disguise, both literally and metaphorically."
Someone raised their hand. Gavin expressed permission for them to speak.
"Isn't that counter-productive, Professor?" asked Amity, genuinely curious. "If you tell us not to believe and trust you, then why should we do so when you tell us not to? That sounds bonkers to me."
Said man smiled. "That's why you need to discern on your own who you can trust or not. Just be aware: no one deserves your trust right from the moment you've first met, no matter what the person may tell you."
Pivoting on his heel which effectively showed his back to the Venomous Tentacula, who appeared to be looking at him with the same focus as before, Gavin laid his eyes upon a different plant, one that didn't look so. . . dangerous as the other one.
"Now then," he began, holding a pot with one in particular that had already been planted prior, "does anyone know the magical properties and peculiarities of the Bouncing Bulb?"
As night fell on to all of the inhabitants of Earth, Rion bounced in every step she took as she followed after her fellow first-years through a corridor where they would then walk up a staircase to the tallest tower in the entirety of Hogwarts castle.
They were on their way to their final class for the day, which was beginning to become the next day once the clock struck midnight, and this class in particular was one that Rion had been looking forward to ever since she had been graced with her attendance letter earlier that year.
Without missing a beat, she hurriedly ascended the stairs where they stretched on for a while before a door finally came into view. One of the students ahead of the group opened it, and the group was immediately met with the cold and chilly air of the night. The wind blew past, playing with the strands of the children's hair as well as fluttering the ends of their clothing so the fabric looked as though they were performing a simple yet captivating dance.
A figure stood near the structure overlooking the grand expanse of the surrounding area. The person was dressed in similar garb to the other professors and this one in particular wore a hat upon their head. Whether it was for warmth purposes or maybe just for fashion, or because the person preferred it, none of the students knew for sure. And some of them didn't worry about such a thing anyway.
Whoever it was soon turned on their heel so they were facing the children. Upon seeing their face, the children were met with a kind smile that also shined in her burgundy irises. The woman beckoned them forward calmly, and the students walked over almost as though they were hypnotized to do so.
When they arrived, the woman's smile never wavered as she addressed them. "Hello. So, you're some of the first-years that my fellow faculty members have been telling me about."
It was silent, no one else releasing a single peep.
"Just in case you've forgotten about my introduction two days ago, I'll do it again," she bowed, her hat threatening to fall off of her head and onto the tower floor. It was a funny sight for some of the first-years. "My name is Viridia Fraser."
The students introduced themselves in turn.
Viridia straightened out of her bow. "Shall we begin your first Astronomy lesson, now?"
Each student was designated a spot to stand, not too close to the edge of the tower but not too far where they'd have to strain their eyes in order to see even with their telescopes. Standing in the same position that Viridia had been standing before the children arrived, Rion stared unblinkingly at the multitude of stars that shined and twinkled in the darkened aerial ocean.
Her eyes reflected the stars' majesty, and she remained still and unmoving with her telescope situated in both of her hands. Rion just watched them, some twinkling out of view while others persisted and there were even new ones that showed up seemingly from nowhere. It was difficult to remove her gaze even when she heard the tell-tale sign of someone approaching her from the right.
Finally, and with much reluctance, the Gryffindor looked away from the beauty that surrounded everyone to lock eyes with a very familiar pair of red irises.
She smiled. "Hey, Will."
William returned the gesture as he came to stand next to her. "You look taken by the sky, Rion."
"Yeah," said Rion, veering her eyes back to the aforementioned expanse of dark blue. "It's really pretty. Look at all of the stars. . . There's so many of them. And I think I recognize some of them."
Bringing her telescope up to one of her eyes, she then pointed to one cluster of stars in particular with William's eyes following where her finger was indicating. "That one's called the Teapot. It was my mum's most favourite asterism."
William blinked, curiosity taking hold. "Why was it her favourite?"
Rion removed the telescope from her eye. She looked over at him as a smile of fond remembrance stretched the corners of her mouth wide. "Because it's in the constellation of Sagittarius. . . the same sign my dad was born under."
The Slytherin blinked once more as he ruminated over Rion's words.
It sounded so simple, the reason. The sole reason for Rion's mother to favour a certain thing just because it reminded the woman of or had some indirect significance to someone she loved. It sounded so simple and yet. . .
A smile came to William's face as Rion kept her eyes on the aforementioned asterism. He lifted his own mini telescope to look at the same scene the Gryffindor was staring at, the both of them settling into a calm and tranquil silence together.
Ending Theme: Aloysius by Cocteau Twins.
Fun Fact: In the original, actual Harry Potter version of this story, Rion had been sorted into Slytherin House.