Magnolia woke up from a dreamless nights sleep refreshed and rejuvenated. The bed she had was far comfier than any she'd ever laid on, and the shimmer of sunshine meeting her eyes in the morning was a welcome alarm.
What was unwelcome was the whispers.
" We're really roommates with her?"
" That's gonna be hard to get used to."
" Do you think she's nice?"
Magnolia pretended to wake up a few minutes after they'd changed the subject to how cute one another looked in their robes.
(Maybe she did belong in Hufflepuff, if she wasn't brave enough to face them, she thought dreadfully)
" I like your pins," she said, softly a few minutes after waking in an attempt to relate to her fellow housemates. She tried her hardest to crack a smile, but all her lips did in response was twitch into an anxious grimace.
Susan Bones turned bright red, but said nothing. When no one spoke as they finished getting ready, Magnolia rushed to put her robes on and get out of there, brushing her hair with her hand in the common room with nonsubtle embarrassment.
At breakfast, they were given their class schedule. And, she would add, it was full. They had classes to the wazoo, starting at 8:30 with Transfiguration, going into Defense Against the Dark Arts into Herbology with the Gryffindors (Yay!) before breaking off for lunch along with the scarlet crested house. They also had Defense Against The Dark Arts (or D.A.D.A) that morning, and discussed fervently how Professor Quirrell started the year stuttering about the magical theory behind defensive spells, and how his classroom smelled strongly like garlic. Apparently, Seamus Finnegan of Gryffindor had asked Professor Quirrell about his history in fighting a zombie, and the professor had turned so pink and fluttery he'd managed to turn the rest of the lesson about the weather.
" What's wrong with him?" Magnolia whispered to Harry, who shrugged. Professor Quirrell had a terrible stammering problem. Ron suggested that he'd been hit on the head fighting with trolls, but Magnolia couldn't imagine Quirrell battling against anything.
After a wistful goodbye to her Gryffindor friends, she went on to her next classes. In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall had turned her desk into a pig and back again. Despite the excitement it drove in the students, this was the only exciting thing to come from class, as the students were tasked with turning matches into needles. Magnolia had managed to turn her needle a pale grey color, and give it a sharp point, but missed the silver shine and eye that Professor McGonagall was looking for, and so was given scroll long homework along with everyone else in the class.
After lunch, they went to Charms class, taught by Professor Flitwick, who was short and joyful, and squealed Magnolia's name out during roll call, then Astronomy (evidently, their only astronomy lesson that would not be taught at midnight) to discuss their curriculum, then History of Magic, a class Magnolia would have found highly interesting if Professor Binns had not taught in lectures, with a slow, droning voice.
The following day, they had Charms, Herbology and D.A.D.A again before their lunch.
" What have we got after this?" Ron asked, lightly patting Harry, who was taking out their schedule. As the only one of their friend group in a different house, Magnolia blushed and checked her class by herself. Her next class, Potions, was to be shared with Slytherin. Magnolia groaned.
" At least you have Professor Snape," Hermione chirped. Harry and Ron looked less than enthused by her presence, but Magnolia had taken a great liking to her bushy-haired friend. At least Hermione treated her like normal, rather than someone to avoid, like her Hufflepuff roommates. " I hear he's brilliant."
" Are you joking?" Ron asked. " Snape's head of Slytherin house, and my brothers say he always favors them and hates everyone else."
This did not make Magnolia feel better.
Just then, the post arrived, where about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners and dropping letters and packages on to their laps. Yesterday Hedwig flew in to nibble Harry's ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note on to Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once.
Dear Harry and Maggie, (Magnolia blushed happily at being included) I know you both get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig. Hagrid
Magnolia watched as Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and gave it to Hedwig. She cooed, rubbed her beak on Magnolia's cheek and flew off.
Professor Snape had not been the kindest man when they met, but he had still saved them from the Dursley's for the last month of summer, and was the entire reason they were in Hogwarts in the first place. Magnolia was grateful above all else, smiling up at Professor Snape as he roll-called, even if he didn't look at her. The man paused for a moment.
" Magnolia Potter," he said, looking up at her with a strange, but mutely so, expression. She could imagine that frown of his being misconstrued as sad, but his eyes read nothing at all. She cleared her throat softly.
" Here," she said, giving him a small wave.
" I can see you, Miss Potter," Snape drawled. " Yes... Our unmistakeable new celebrity," he added with poison in his voice. Magnolia blushed.
" I wouldn't say - " She started.
" Participation is not necessary, Miss Potter, as you undoubtably haven't learned from your head of house, we do not require you to cheer us on as first years to the hat," he interrupted her. She blushed and became small in her seat.
After finishing roll-call, Professor Snape curled his hands in front of him, looking like a great cloaked bat.
" You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began eerily. Everyone hung on with bated breath. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. " As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to brew glory, bottle vengeance, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as my last class." More silence followed this little speech.
" Potter,' said Snape suddenly, so Magnolia jumped. It was glaring in her general direction. " What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
" I - I don't know sir," she whimpered.
She swore she heard the Ravenclaw side of the room chuckling as Snape walked around his desk and sat down, busying himself with his roll call sheet and other such papers.
" I see you are as useless a student as your brother," Snape said, not looking at her. " Clearly you thought not to open a book before coming to Hogwarts."
" I - I did!" She gasped out, affronted.
" Five points from Hufflepuff for speaking out of turn," Snape said, not looking at her still. " Let's try again. Mister Boot, where would you find me a bezoar, if I asked you to precur one?"
The class waited silently. Magnolia rose her hand indignantly. The stomach of a goat.
" I don't know sir, but Magnolia seems to have the right idea," said Terry Boot with a bit of a smirk. Prat.
" Five points from Ravenclaw for cheek," said Professor Snape. " It is clear to me Miss Potter - "
" Please sir, the bezoar comes from the stomach of a goat," said Magnolia impatiently. " Many replicates have been attempted, but none have succeeded where the bezoar has." The class was quiet, and Professor Snape was glowering. Magnolia, without her best judgement, continued, " I imagine someone will have to take one from your storage when you're done with me."
You could hear a pin drop.
" Ten more points from Hufflepuff," Professor Snape said. " And detention for Miss Potter for suggesting such a prospect, as much as I deeply sympathize with those who wish to poison my more impertinent students."
Magnolia did not speak for the rest of the class, but had caught stares from her fellow Hufflepuffs. This made her hide herself in her red hair, now curtaining her face, further, and she took notes with her nose so close to the paper she would not be surprised to find a smudge.
Dinner was always shared between all four houses, and Magnolia sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione again. As it turned out, rumours had already been spread about Professor Snape's Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw first year class, because Fred and George joined them, a look of mischief between them.
" You got detention?" George asked.
" Already?" Fred continued. Harry looked at her, agast.
" You got detention?" He asked.
" From Professor Snape," Fred answered. Magnolia was only just getting over it, and at the memory, blushed again.
" Yeah... He was awful, just like Ron said," she confessed. Ron was, similar to her brother, blanched.
" We heard you called him a slimy git," Fred said. Magnolia blushed harder, if even possible.
" I did not! He was asking the class some questions - Unfairly hard ones, and I rose my hand to answer after he suggested - Well, he suggested I didn't study before start of term..."
" A true insult," Fred added, grinning.
" And I just... Made a bit of a joke, that someone'd need to use a bezoar on me when he inevitably tried to poison me," she finished.
Hermione looked affronted.
" Magnolia, you can't just insinuate a teacher is going to poison you," she chastized. Ron, however, was wearing a grin to match those of his brothers.
" He just doesn't like fun, Hermione," he insisted.
" I don't think even we've got detention our first days," Fred sighed dramatically.
" You might really give us a run for our money," George said with a grin.
" He did the same in me and Ron - and Hermione's - class," Harry said. " He asked me three of them. I don't even know if they were in our books."
" Severely unfair," Ron agreed.
" They were in our books," Hermione said. "... But I'm glad I resisted the urge to answer his questions for you, anyway." She offered Magnolia a sorry grin.
" Won't be that bad," George said.
" Just organizing frog livers and spider eggs!" Fred finished as the twins walked off to join Lee Jordan and update him on the news. Magnolia wasn't sure she could handle them knowing her secrets, let alone the entire Hufflepuff first year class.
Needless to say, she ate with Gryffindor.
" Oh, no," she moaned suddenly. " Now I can't have tea with Hagrid with you guys this friday!"
ro here! i was really tempted to rewrite her (AGAIN) into slytherin, because of events that happen in book 4, but i'm not sure. let me know if you'd like to see that change, or if you'd rather her stay in underestimated hufflepuff!
oh magnolia. causing your own problems yet again. i love her :heartemoji:
also i know harry canonly has his tea with hagrid after his potions class but... sshh that's tomorrow actually /hj
another shout out to gryffindorgirl347's Potter Twins books! i didn't take inspiration from her, but I did remember she had quite a similar scene in her books of the twins congratulating a trouble making sister! you should try out her fics. she's still not done... fingers crossed she comes back to finish her Deathly Hallows fic!
thanks for reading as always, much love!