Heather could only feel irritation after the end of her first week. So she had a staff rather than a normal wand to cast magic. It shouldn't be that big of a deal! Sure they fell out of fashion over a hundred years ago, but she could still cast magic and that should be all that mattered!
So far there had only been one genuine attempt to confiscate her staff, and it ended rather poorly for the teacher who attempted it. Snape was out of the hospital wing after a few days, so it wasn't like any real harm had been done.
How was it her fault that her focus was tempermental and only allowed her to hold it, much less use it?
The teachers were making a fuss about nothing, in her opinion.
With the staff...
"Did you get a reply from Ollivander?" asked McGonagall curtly.
The uproar over Heather Potter carrying a staff instead of a wand was only just starting to simmer down, especially after the display the staff gave when Severus attempted to confiscate it on the grounds he thought she was trying to be impressive.
"Garrick confirmed the story Ms. Potter gave about none of the wands working for her, and that he was the one to suggest she search the Potter vaults for something that did," said Dumbledore, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Considering she has shown enough control that she is able to shrink it on command, I think the best we can hope for is to ask that she kept it at 'wand-length' during classes."
"I suppose it's fortunate she was sorted into Ravenclaw... I can help her with her control issues and wand movements after class hours," commented Filius.
The fact Heather Potter had to use a staff instead of a wand showed she had a much larger core than the average first year. Which meant her spells would require a lot more control, otherwise she would overpower even the simplest charm.
It was bad enough when someone overpowered something as basic as a simple lumos. The thought of what could happen if she cast a levitation spell and put too much power into it was the stuff of nightmares.
Two weeks later...
It was the first flying lesson of the year, and because of an unexpected cold Heather was stuck with the Gryffindor/Slytherin class. Annoying, but she could live with that.
Since she used a staff instead of a wand, Professor Flitwick said that he would show her the basic charms that would allow her to fly without a broom.
First she had to get past the basic lessons.
Heather stood between Neville Longbottom and the mis-sorted Ravenclaw Granger.
The girl hadn't gotten any better when it came to learning tact since the train, but thankfully she wasn't in the same classes as the girl.
Heather took one look at Neville and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax. Not everyone is meant to fly," she said gently.
"I'm going to fall off, I just know it."
Heather eyed the brooms. Neville's was slightly more frayed than her own, and something told her it was twice as temperamental. Not something a first time rider needed.
While Madam Hooch wasn't looking, she discreetly swapped the two.
"What are you doing?" hissed Hermione.
"Doing my best to insure his broom doesn't fly off when he isn't ready," she hissed back. "This one has more cracks in it and I think it's more finicky about it's riders. The last thing he needs is a temperamental bike."
Hermione blinked, before understanding the analogy. A broom was nothing more than a magical bike and it made her look at her own speculatively.
If she pretended she was riding her bike at home, maybe she could get through this lesson.
Heather's broom was one of the first to jump to her hand, though she was quick to lash out and grab Neville's robes when he almost took off from nerves.
"You alright?" asked Heather.
Neville nodded, rather pale. That was far too close for his liking.
Eventually everyone was in the air, though Heather stayed close to Neville.
The poor kid was so nervous that he kept an iron grip on his broom, and failed to notice some bauble falling from his pocket.
Heather swooped in like a hawk, grabbing it out of the air and flying closer to him.
"Do you want me to hold onto this until we're back on the ground?" she asked.
Neville stared at the Rememberall his grandmother sent him that morning, before he nodded to her. He didn't feel confident at all with taking his hands off the broom to reclaim his bauble.
Unseen by the children, Hooch discreetly marked Potter as a natural seeker. She grabbed that Rememberall with ease, despite the fact the sun was hitting it. She made a note to tell Flitwick, before continuing with the lessons.
The two Gryffindors were so nervous that Heather tried a rather unusual tactic to take their minds off of things.
She broached the topic of Victorian flower language, which she had been reading last night.
Hermione latched on to the idea immediately, and after a moment Neville quietly added his knowledge of the subject, which was rather vast.
The two easily followed Heather's lead and were a little less nervous about flying, though they still gave their brooms wary glances.
Heather had to blink at the way Hermione and Neville tentatively sat next to her at the Ravenclaw table.
"Um...not to be rude or anything, but why are you sitting here?"
"I think it's because they haven't found any friends, and you're the first to show the slightest bit of interest in talking with them," commented Penelope.
She was a prefect, and while they were Lions she did keep track of the firsties. As such she had noticed the relative isolation of the two lions from their own house, particularly Granger. The girl should have been sorted into Ravenclaw with how much she liked books.
Seeing the hopeful expressions in their eyes, Heather had great difficulty turning them away.
Especially Granger.
Instead she pulled out a book about mundane plants, and tentatively started talking about them. It didn't take long for them to enter into a very hearty debate that lasted all the way until the end of lunch and well into dinner. Heather couldn't help but notice the way the two relaxed slightly around her, particularly Neville.
He still had trouble with the practical work, as his wand was disinclined to cooperate.
By the time Halloween rolled in, Heather could honestly claim the two as her friends. Even if she had to tone down Granger's enthusiasm for studying and her even worse habit of repeating books verbatim.
Not everyone enjoyed having minutia crammed down their throats, and Heather had noticed that wizards were rather lazy when it came to studying. So long as they got a good grade in the subjects they liked, they didn't particularly care about exploring how far they could push their magical limits.
The Pure bloods were an extreme example of this, and sadly it was infecting the mundane-raised students as well.
Heather wasn't really feeling into the holidays. It had little to do with the fact her parents were murdered on Halloween (though that certainly didn't help) and everything to do with the fact her 'family' insured she never really got into the spirit of any holiday. Ever.
It really didn't help that she felt like she was going crazy growing up because she kept seeing things the adults insisted weren't real. Like little fairies that carried off teeth or that massive kangaroo who was nudging the eggs into their hiding spot.
The expression he had when he saw her that one year when she was kicked out of the house overnight was rather funny, but she didn't particularly like his attitude with the way he reacted when she asked him why a kangaroo was playing with eggs when it was supposed to be a rabbit.
She didn't care what he said... bunnies weren't supposed to be six feet tall with weird tattoos, a funny accent and boomerangs.
Heather was rather bored with the whole thing, and despite the feast being mandatory she decided to skip out on it. And if the teachers tried to call her on it, she could honestly claim she didn't feel like celebrating on the anniversary of her parents murder.
That was sufficiently awkward enough to shut anyone up.
As she sat up on one of the many, many bookshelves in the common room, she relaxed and allowed her mind to wander while she read another one of the fiction novels she had borrowed from her fellow Ravenclaws.
It was around eight when everyone returned, and it took her a moment to realize they were in a panic over something.
Why were they talking about a troll in the castle?
"Has anyone seen Potter?" said Penelope in a bit of a panic. They couldn't afford to have Potter killed by a troll on their watch.
"I haven't seen her since lunch," said Edgecrombe.
"She wasn't at the feast," said Chang.
"Where is she?" said Penelope concerned.
She had come to view Potter as sort of a little sister. The girl was a tomboy, but she was fiercely protective of her fellow first years regardless of house and she had a mischievous streak that was a far cry from the almost bullying the Weasley Twins did.
As the prefects started to panic, Heather had to hold back her own amusement.
"Um...did none of you think to look up?" she commented loud enough for them to hear?
"Oh thank Merlin! Have you been up there all night?" asked Penelope with relief.
"Well yeah... it's not like I wanted to go to the feast anyway."
"Why not?" asked Roger.
"Why would I want to celebrate the anniversary of my parent's murder?" asked Heather confused. "I mean my relatives never encouraged the idea of magic in our house, so I never really got the point of the holiday to begin with."
On the plus side, the prefects weren't going to chastise her for avoiding the feast.
"So what was that about a troll?" asked Heather, changing the subject.
"Quirrel came running into the feast screaming about a troll in the dungeons. Since there isn't any reason for a security troll to be here, that means it's almost certainly a feral one," explained Penelope. "The Headmaster ordered everyone back to their dorms."
Heather sat up in alarm.
"But the Slytherin dorms are in the dungeons, and the Hufflepuffs usually take the same route as them! Are you telling me he actually sent those houses towards trouble?!" said Heather.
"How do you know where their dorms are?" asked Chang.
"I talk to some of the Hufflepuffs, and the Slytherins actually like me cause I busted the twins a few times when they were setting up some really humiliating pranks before they went off. There is a difference between pranks that are good fun and those that are borderline bullying," said Heather with a scowl.
Mostly that was Blaise, Nott, Daphne and Tracy though. What had started as a half-joking request to learn Italian swiftly turned into a rather odd friendship. She had hopes to introduce her Slytherin friends with her Gryffindor ones soon.
She was not happy that the Slytherins had a near miss with the troll, and that it had injured three students because the headmaster didn't stop to think about the fact that their dorms were in the dungeons.
At least none of them were her friends.
Heather was not happy, but the Slytherins were. So was Snape oddly enough.
"What...is going on here?"
The twins were stuck to the wall with ice, and evidence of an attempted prank were on the ground. By this point, the fact Heather Potter had an affinity for ice spells was very well known. She had an almost instinctive knack for the element.
Snape looked at the prank items on the ground, and realized that Potter had just busted the twins in a rather embarassing prank on his snakes.
Though that didn't explain why Potter bothered to freeze the twins to the wall and retrieve the first prefect she could find.
"A prank stops being a prank when it's no longer in good fun. Humiliating others to make yourselves feel superior only makes you a bully," said Heather flatly. "Dropping snow on someone without warning is a good prank... turning their skin green for hours is cruel and unusual. What if someone had an allergic reaction to the potion you used? You could be responsible for sending them to the hospital!"
"But they're Slytherins!" said Fred defensively.
"What about the first years? What have they ever done to you to deserve such a mean-spirited prank? They're just children!" said Heather furious. "You two need to either grow up or develop a better sense of humor, rather than harass other students because of something as stupid as 'house rivalry'!"
The twins looked far from chastised...then again they had heard others tell them off about their pranks for years and it had never sunk in. It would likely take something drastic to make them get a reality check.
Heather turned to see the odd look Draco Malfoy was giving her.
"What?"
"Why would Dumbledore's protege care about what happens to us?" he asked confused, voicing the same question all the other Slytherins wanted to know.
"Dumbledore's protege?" repeated Heather baffled. "I've never even met the guy, much less trained under him. Besides, we're all Hogwart students...why should I care about something like house placement when the hat makes a spur of the moment decision when we're eleven? People do grow up and develop other traits than the ones he cherry picks after all."
Dead silence from the Slytherins. Seeing Snape had the twin's punishment in hand, she went back to the library. There was a book on beginner runes that she was hoping was actually in that Blaise had recommended that she wanted to check out. If it was good she planned to buy it later.