"What are you doing?" questioned Remus from his spot at one of the tables. He'd been studying for the upcoming end-of-term exams, hoping that James, Sirius, and Peter would eventually be inspired enough to join him. However, the sound of something bubbling and the odd puff coming from the area near the roaring fire had gained his attention. (Y/N) appeared almost innocent, sat on the floor, surrounded by bits and bobs, a piece of parchment, quill, and ink to one side with her bubbling cauldron before her.
Lily, Marlene, and Isolde were close by, on the sofa opposite the fire, catching up after another long day. From what Remus had heard, it appeared as if they were quizzing each other, helping each other study for the same end-of-term exams. Now and again, one of them would look over to (Y/N), quietly minding her own business, but they didn't interfere outside of asking if she was okay.
"Experimenting," replied (Y/N), as she gently added a powdery substance to the boiling liquid before leaning back just enough to avoid the poof that emanated from the cauldron. Remus shook his head before returning to his studies, keeping an eye on his curious-minded friend as the girls surrounding her did. He soon determined the potion was another way to cause chaos later or another attempt at creating something new, similar to the previous month's fire powder.
Isode soon let out a chuckle upon noticing (Y/N) was noting the ingredients she added to the experimental potion and tallying every time someone asked her what she was doing. Once again, the muggle-born wondered why the Sorting Hat had placed (Y/N) in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. (Y/N) had the intelligence to fit right into the house, even more so when her older brothers had also been sorted into the house in the years prior. She was always trying to master some spell or charm, even if it was far more advanced than what she was learning. She liked a challenge and always kept trying until she eventually succeeded.
An ear-piercing shriek rattling throughout the tower soon shattered the comfortable quiet that had fallen over the common room. Allegra soon stormed down the spiral steps from the girls' dormitories. In her hands was the sparkling dress she intended to wear to her upcoming date with James, which she'd sneakily tricked him into. The sequin dress had shrunk until it resembled a top; long claw-like tears had also shredded the chest and sleeves.
Isolde attempted to focus on studying after realizing what her entitled twin had been shrieking about. Everyone else looked at Allegra with confusion and startlement. Sirius and James shared identical looks of bewilderment upon returning from the library. Both joined Remus at his chosen spot, their hair alight with colorful but harmless flames. On the other hand, poor Peter had stopped in terror and frozen in fear at the shrieking, almost confused like everyone else. He hadn't found the will to ignore the commotion like others had.
"You're fire powder works," called Sirius, placing the dusty books Remus had sent him to find on the table. (Y/N) offered a small chuckle upon seeing Sirius and James. She quickly noticed they had attempted to put the flames out. The flames should have been a deep purple, similar to the color her hair went when she was up to something mischievous. Instead, the flames that harmlessly adorned Sirius' hair were a silvery blue, similar to his eyes. James' had turned a flamingo pink, the color of the potion he'd been trying to brew in class that afternoon.
Wordlessly (Y/N) waved her wand and extinguished the harmless flames; her grin grew as she wondered how many others had found the playful powder. She knew, eventually, the flames would burn themselves out; she'd designed them so they'd only last an hour or two. At some point, it registered with those in the common room; Allegra had stopped screaming and shouting about her sequin date dress being ruined. Instead, she stood silently between the two groups, looking between them as if bewildered at how they could ignore her when she had something important to say and a culprit to find.
"Did you succeed in casting the Patonus Charm?" asked James, recalling returning from detention the week prior, only to find (Y/N) sitting on the back of the sofa attempting to castle the difficulty; she'd got a few silvery whisps but nothing more. "I'd wage anything your patronus will be as crazy as you when you finally conjure it," he announced, noticing Allegra had become intrigued at the mention of advanced magic, as was typical. After all, She thought she was the most powerful witch of the second year. (Y/N) however, she simply shook her head at the question asked. She hadn't succeeded yet but wasn't about to give up either. Eventually, she'd work out where she was going wrong.
"You mean if (Y/N) can cast it," began Allegra, her comment rude and dripped with arrogance. "That's advanced magic; most adults can't cast it," she added with the same tone, this time with a smug smile painted across her lips as her judgemental eyes landed on the metamorphic witch in question. (Y/N) didn't notice, though. Instead, she continued with the potion she'd been quietly brewing for almost an hour, once again neglecting to study in favor of settling her curiosity.
"When," corrected Remus calmly; Allegra grinned upon hearing his voice, believing she'd finally gained his attention. Still, when she turned her attention to him, a huff escaped her; Remus hadn't even taken his eyes from the book he'd been reading, not even spared her a glance. "(Y/N)'s smart; she'll figure it out eventually. After the fire powder last month and the sinkhole last week, there's little doubt she'll succeed sooner or later," he added, with pride quietly ringing through his voice. The witch in question was his friend, who had kept his secret since working it out the year prior. On top of that, she always spared the time to help him during full moons, regardless of the potential cost of doing so.
"I'm the most powerful witch of our year," declared Allegra again, ignoring James' comment with a simple If you say so. Everyone knew Allegra severely lacked skills with charms and potions; she struggled with even the simplest of spells, mainly due to her unwillingness to listen if the subject wasn't about her and what she wanted. "If I can't cast the spell, then no one else will be able to either," she continued, looking to the group of girls near the roaring fire as if trying to determine which was the culprit responsible for shrinking and ruining her sequin dress. She intended to curse the one responsible once she had decided which hex to use.
"You can't even cast the reparo spell to fix your precious dress," voiced Isolde, reaching her wits' end with her twin sister's attitude. Almost instantly, an awkward and uncomfortable silence fell over the common room. No one dared utter a word as the Smith twins began to stare at each other as if silently declaring one another their enemy.
Despite most avoiding the twins when they got into sibling rivalries and arguments, no one could deny how different they were or how much they'd both changed. Whereas Allegra had been branded the entitled brat of the pair, Isolde was the helpful one anyone could talk to. Surprising to most, though, was the lack of a bond between the sisters; there was no inseparable mentality between them, and their personalities were as different as they were as fraternal twins. They were like day and night, the sun and moon.
Allegra soon pulled out her wand, pointing it at her twin before loudly attempting to hex her with the Bat-boggy hex, which she'd seen plenty of students across all years cast for fun and with so much ease. Much to Allegra's horror, nothing happened; the only sound was James and Peter's stifled laughter, (Y/N)'s bubbling potion, and the sound of pages of a book being turned. Isolde, however, only looked at Allegra with confusion; pity shimmered in her golden eyes, too, that her twin could fall so far and struggled to cast even simple spells a first-year could do.
Having settled over the common room, the tension was soon shattered by a loud, deafening bang, followed by the surprised yelp from (Y/N) as she was hurled backward. Lily and Marlene quickly left the comfort of the sofa, running to the window close by where (Y/N) had landed after colliding with the stone wall. Besides an expression of confusion, shinged hair, and a blackened face, (Y/N) appeared all right.
Sirius and Remus soon joined the trio of girls, working together to pull (Y/N) back to her feet, all noticing when she winced in pain and held the back of her head again. The group shared concerned glances before Lily instructed both boys to help (Y/N) to the hospital wing, if only to ensure she had no long-term injuries or last effects from the explosive potion. She, Marlene, and Isolde would do their best to clear up the mess the blast had left in its wake and explain to the prefects and Professor McGonagall what happened when they inevitably came to investigate the source of the explosion.
"Come on, let's get you to Madam Ponfrey," worded Remus, leading (Y/N) from the common room with help from Sirius. All three left just as Allegra began throwing her customary tantrum. Now, she wasn't the center of attention. The trio managed to dodge a few books and other objects the muggle-born threw their way as they left; it wouldn't be long before she started to scream, shout, and attempt to curse and hex people who dared ignore her again. "So, who got to the dress?" he asked when the trio turned onto the moving staircase, and he was confident Allegra hadn't followed them in an attempt to escape McGonagall's ire and reprimand.
"Isolde," admitted (Y/N), her voice bearly above a whisper and akin to a pained moan. Still, she remembered when Isolde had admitted to tampering with the dress shortly after Allegra had bragged about the date she had tricked James into, the same way she had tricked a Hufflepuff boy sometime before. "She said she did it to avenge Marlene and help James get out of the date," she added, ignoring as her hair began to change, turning a dark emerald green, the shade associated with pain.
"That beat James' ideas," voiced Sirius, hoping by getting (Y/N) to talk, they'd distract her from the obvious pain; after all, he and Remus were about the only reason she could even stand, let alone walk. "He had excuses like Quidditch Practice on his list and was thinking of giving her Frogs Spawn Soap in hopes of getting out the dreadful idea of a date," he added, being thankful his comments during detention had put him on Allegra's I hate you list, mainly because she'd left him alone for the most part, aside from a comment here and there.
The three soon turned off on the first floor; the constant sound of the clock pendulum swing filled the corridor as they headed toward the hospital wing and Madam Ponfrey's office. The trio suspected McGonagall would have arrived at the tower by now to investigate the course of the bang and ensure everyone was okay. No doubt she would have stopped Allegra's useless tantrum again.
"With luck, my next experiment will be less explosive," chuckled (Y/N), at least displaying her curiosity hadn't been dampened despite the painful side effects even if she was faced with explaining what happened, recovering from any injuries and thinking of a suitable name for the potion, she was sure her mother would be proud of. Remus could only roll his eyes at (Y/N)'s comment while Sirius chuckled, suspecting there was little anyone could say or do to dissuade her or her curiosity and mischief.
"Is there anything you can't do?" casually asked Remus, the words seemingly falling from his lips before he could stop them. The moment they did, Sirius shot the usual but infamous expression he sent everyone who asked stupid questions, the same on James and Peter had been on the receiving end too many times to count. (Y/N) however, seemed amused by the question, likely having realized he'd not meant any offense by it.
"Stay out of trouble," replied (Y/N) with honesty. If she wasn't curiously experimenting with spells and potions, she was causing chaos and mischief around the school. Living up to the title caretaker Pringle had bestowed her with, the Bane of Hogwarts. After all, she was always in detention for one reason or another. Her brilliant mind could win Gryffindor points, but her mischief often led to the typical detention and losing house points.
Another light bout of laughter soon escaped (Y/N), tainted with pain again. This time, however, it was a question many had asked her siblings since she started attending the school the previous year. How, in the name of magic, were her siblings, Qimir, Joaquin, and sweet Helena, related to her? After all, they were so different; Helena was kind and gentle, fitting for a Hufflepuff student, although Joaquin was mischievous. He'd yet to reach (Y/N) levels, whereas Qimir, her eldest brother, barely had a sense of humor; the two were opposites.
"Professors still wonder how Helena and I could be sisters," commented (Y/N) with slight laughter. Helena was a fourth-year Hufflepuff, a member of the quidditch team, a future prefect, and a friend to everyone. She loved spells, charms, and potions, like their mother, but she wasn't known to frequent detention or cause mischievous trouble, although she had knowingly allowed several students to walk into the line of fire when it came to the prank war.
"I'm still trying to figure out how you can ace classes, study, and experiment with things while still finding time to cause mischief and chaos and attend quidditch practice," voiced Sirius, recalling (Y/N) had successfully made it on to Gryffidor's team that year, alongside himself and James, all three were chasers.
The trio soon entered the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey quickly instructed Remus and Sirius to aid (Y/N) onto one of the beds, at least before she kindly dismissed them and sent them back to the common room. The matron wasted little time in questioning (Y/N) about what happened, if only so she had a better idea of what she was dealing with and what had caused the injuries the curious teenager had sustained.
