I walked slowly across the wet grass. Before I sat down, my eyes strayed to the whomping willow that was planted five years ago. I wondered why it was planted on the school grounds when I came to Hogwarts, because Professor Dumbledore warned us not to get too close to it.
I sighed softly and my eyes wandered back to the Black Lake. I was alone because most of the students were at dinner or in their common rooms. Hardly anyone appreciated the beauty of nature at Hogwarts and so, especially at dusk, I have space for my thoughts and my books.
I loved it here and yet sometimes I felt a little lonely. Just yesterday, I witnessed this year's house distribution. The Sorting Hat put me in the brave Gryffindor house. But sometimes I caught myself questioning that decision. For a few moments, he ended up wavering between Slytherin and Gryffindor house. Because in addition to the courage that the hat saw in me, it also found great ambition in me. But I was pleased with his final decision. The fact that the table of the House of the snake, with its sullen looking students, was very off-putting to me as an 11-year-old first year. And I come from a Muggle family, so how was I supposed to settle into Slytherin?
But I don't want to think about my parents now. Because of their constant fights, I was so happy to finally get away from them. Besides, I made some friends with two girls of my house during the first years of school. Mary Macdonald and Alice Fortescue were very friendly and also good for fun.
But since Alice had been seeing a lot of her new boyfriend Frank by the end of the last school year, she hardly had any time for me. And Mary seemed very distant since she was attacked by Mulciber with black magic before the summer vacations. This was an immense shock to me. It was the first time that the teasing at Hogwarts had reached such tragic proportions. I hate to remember her eyes widening in shock and horror, and the sneering laughter of Mulciber and Avery as I watched idly what they were doing to her.
We were all used to witchery in the corridors, but never had anyone been hurt so badly that they had spent several weeks in St. Mungo's. Just the thought of not being safe at Hogwarts made me uneasy. I liked it here so much. Why did students have to be so mean to each other? Why couldn't you dissect and help each other, or at least leave them alone? But all of a sudden, I was snapped out of my thoughts. I saw something wriggling in the air.
I walked slowly toward it with a pounding heart. Then I realized what, or rather who, it was.
A boy with dark hair was hanging in the air. His wand lying on the ground a bit away and his slender white legs kicked up in the air, his pants hung between his ankles so I could see his greying underpants. I couldn't help but grin a little at the sight.
"Can I help you, Severus?" I asked without being able to suppress the amusement in my voice.
He growled and I drew out my much-loved wand of hornbeam, dragon heart fiber, 13, 5 inches, slightly springy. I still remember exactly how the two of us found each other in the Ollivander store. This hornbeam wand chose me the instant I touched it. Ollivander opined that the Wood only chose wizards and witches with a single, pure passion, which the wand maker kindly called a vision that would almost always realise.
"Liberacorpus.", I shouted loudly. Severus Snape crashed to the ground. He quickly straightened up, , pulled up his pants, grabbed his wand and looked at me challengingly.
I eyed the boy with the black and somewhat unkempt hair. I knew him from class and the library. He was a Slytherin and we had barely spoken until that day. But we were both some of the few who stayed at the castle over Christmas while others visited their families.
He wore a very worn cloak, as did I myself.
"Are you trying to thank me by putting a curse on me?", I asked seemingly unconcerned. Why was he so suspicious? Was it because I was a Gryffindor?
"I don't need help from someone like you!" he replied excitedly. He clenched his mouth and pushed his lower jaw forward slightly. His eyes sparkled hostilely. But I didn't avert my gaze, I held it.
"What do you mean by that exactly?", I pressed out hostilely, even though I knew exactly what he meant. Anger rosed up inside me. My muggle ancestry was nothing to be proud of. But I didn't want to be ashamed of it either, or I certainly didn't want to justify it.
"I don't want anything to do with a mudblood like you. Just leave me alone!", he hissed between his teeth. I closed my eyes briefly in irritation.
"With the greatest of pleasure. But maybe you should ask yourself how long you would have hung around here without me. Where are your purebloods when you're hung up here? Doesn't seem to interest any of them, does it?"
That hit him, and I'm proud to say that I stand my ground. Something I never would have done in the past. But I wanted to change this school year. I wanted to be more myself. And I knew there was more to me than it appeared on the outside.
He grumbled and curled his thin lips. In his gaze I saw anger, but also something else. Was it resignation? I didn't care in my own anger at his insult, however, and I walked past him. I jostled him with force against his shoulder, so that it hurts even me.
I would not put up with this insolence any longer. Especially not from such a conceited Slytherin. I noticed his probing gaze between my shoulder blades as I walked further along the lake to reach my bush, behind which I was hiding my book.
I had to take a few deep breaths before my anger subsided. Why was the boy so hostile? On the other hand, how long had he been in this compromising situation? Then I laughed at him too. How would I have reacted? Probably not very accessible either, but such a gross insult? No, definitely not.
But over my thoughts, my anger at Severus Snape fizzled out and I could devote myself to my reading. Completely undisturbed and in peace, just as I preferred.
Two days later, I was walking my usual path to the lake at dusk. As I rounded the whipping willow with great arcs, someone suddenly caught up with me.
"Catherine! What are you still doing down here at this hour?", asked the friendly and bright voice of Lily Evans. She tossed her shoulder-length dark red hair back. Her startlingly bright green eyes looked inquiringly into mine.
I cleared my throat and quickly showed her the book on medicinal herbs, which I really wanted to read without being disturbed. I thought about what I could say to her without being rude.
"Oh, I just want some quiet from the noise in the common room. I think, Sirius and James have been up to something again and are making a racket with it now." I replied quickly.
"Yeah, I'm annoyed by it too and I was thinking about finishing my History of Magic essay here. I don't have much left. Are you done yet?", she asked. I nodded, glad that I was right in guessing the noise level of the common room and the cause.
"Maybe you can still help me with the ending? I'm unsure of the exact interpretation of the abrupt ending of the 1612 Goblin Riots." she asked me kindly.
I nodded again and we began a conversation on the subject. Although History of Magic was not my favorite subject, I was quite good at it, as in all subjects. But Lily Evans was an excellent student herself and it was fun to discuss the subject matter with her. We walked back to the common room together, engrossed in conversation. I didn't feel like she really needed help with her ending. But I was a little happy about the contact with her. So far, I've always been very reserved. After all, she was always surrounded by students vying for her attention. So, I never felt like I was interesting enough for her company.
I looked sideways at her as she spoke. She had a very pleasant way about her somehow. Something that inevitably fascinated people. I wondered what exactly it was when suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow moving. Immediately, my hand jerked to my wand. I wanted to be prepared if Mulciber was now targeting me. But Lily quickly stopped me.
"Don't worry, it's just Sev. He's my...a friend of mine."
Their connection made me a little curious. A Slytherin- friends with a Gryffindor, who is of Muggle descent. I hadn't heard of that before. After all, it was known that both houses couldn't stand each other. I was told that by Alice before I had ever set foot in the castle. Why exactly was it that way? I had the oath it already started with the feud of the founders among themselves. Had they introduced the house cup on purpose to increase competition among themselves? Sometimes I didn't understand why it makes so much sense to immediately separate students from each other. Weren't we all children looking forward to life full of magic?
"Sev, are you sneaking up on me?", Lily asked him with a smirk. He gulped. I could see in his eyes how his head was working.
"No, I just wanted to run to the library to return a book. It just so happens that I saw you." His voice was quiet, but also piercing. Somehow, I liked it. But I also heard the lie clearly from his words. His eyes betrayed him.
"What are you doing at the lake... with that one?", he inquired, his suspiciousness for me now becoming clear. I wondered if it was just because of my muggle family that he was so unpleasant towards me.
"Stop it, Sev! Catherine is in our year in Gryffindor, very smart and kind. Besides, when we talk, it's my business. Why do you ask so often who I'm talking to and when?"
I was pleased to hear her say I was smart and kind, because that's not how I tended to see myself. But I was too tired to witness a confrontation, so I interrupted their raucous conversation to say a quick goodbye and went up into Gryffindor Tower.
In the dormitory, Lily woke me, though she got into her bed quietly.
"Catherine? Are you still awake?", she whispered when she noticed my restless movements.
"Yeah." I said half asleep. I wondered, why she was seeking conversation with me. After all, we hadn't started much so far.
"I'm sorry, Sev was so dismissive. He's ridiculous that way sometimes. But actually, I get along with him very well. Except just the typical problem in the Slytherin house."
"Why are you friends?", I asked curiously. It was really a question that had been on my mind as I fell asleep. They both seemed as different as night and day.
"We've known each other before Hogwarts. He's helped me a lot with finding my way in this new magic world." she said not without a certain joy in her voice.
I tried to imagine her situation. I had few friends as a child, but none were close enough to stay with me while growing up. But I too would have wished if someone had accompanied me to this new world before my first visit from Hogwarts. Dumbledore had explained a lot to me and my parents. But hearing about it from someone his own age was surely something else entirely. So, I had read some books. But I felt very insecure and unprepared.
"You can really use that as a muggleborn witch at first. But he's a bit... odd.", I muttered tiredly.
"Yes, but I really like him. I just need to work on getting him to break away from his black magic friends and finally understand that all these thoughts of pure blood are pure crap." Oh, so that's it. Like some other Slytherins, he was drawn to black magic. Hence this bad word against me. But why didn't he care that Lily was Muggle-born?
"Mh, I will never understand how one can turn to black magic like that and have such views." After a short pause, I asked, "And are you actually a couple?"
"What makes you think that?" she wanted to know. Her voice now showed a certain uncertainty. I didn't see her in the darkness, but I could hear her stirring uneasily under the covers.
I wondered if I had crossed a line with my question. But my curiosity was simply too great. And at the same time, I also wondered why I was so interested in the relationship between her and the Slytherin boy.
"Well, he seems very fixated on you, and you've said several times now how fond you are of him." I replied quietly.
She fell silent and I realized that our conversation was over. Although I would have liked to find out what exactly was going on between the two of them now, I quickly fell asleep.