Chapter Eight
That night is awful. The two birds are screeching, their respective owners are yelling at each other – Godiva gave up on silencing them after the fourth time. At some point Wilburh starts crying... I want to hit something.
And now Morgana's growling...
Fuck detention. I want to sleep. I grab Morgana and make my way to the door to find some quiet place to sleep.
“WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?”
“Somewhere quiet so I can sleep.”
“HOW DARE YOU! It's after curfew. You aren't allowed outside!” (Weren't you the one bitching about how a curfew is unnecessary and it doesn't apply to you just a few days ago, Willard?)
“Then be fucking quiet and let me sleep!”
“What's 'fucking'?”
I hit my head against the wall at Aldith' question.
“It's a curse, well, a swear word... Now, can you two be quiet and silence your birds – let them out to fly or something. Otherwise, I'm leaving.”
“It's after curfew.” Way to state the obvious, Willard.
“So?”
“We can't let them outside.”
“Why not?”
“We're not allowed outside.”
“Then ask a house elf to take them outside.” Thanks, Godiva.
“I'm not going to let an house elf touch Bird!”
Godiva looks at me, sighs, grabs her pixie and asks me where we're going.
Willard is yelling at us that we can't leave and Godiva silences her one last time. Luckily for us, Willard does not step a foot out of the dorm room. She only soundlessly curses after us.
We end up in an empty room with a couple of love seat-like chairs and a fireplace. We each claim one of those as our beds for the night. Morgana curls up on top of me and it's finally blissfully quiet.
In the morning we return to our dorm to change and grab whatever we may need for the day. The other three are still sleeping and the room is half covered in feathers.
Godiva goes straight to the Great Hall while I step outside for Morgana. When I enter the hall there are four people there apart from Godiva – Cepheus, Eridanus, Nero and a girl I don't recognize. Apart from the unknown girl, they're sitting in a group. I sit down next to Godiva. Eridanus and Nero ignore me but Cepheus looks me over in disdain.
“So, I heard you're the muggle-born.”
Finally. Someone that gets it right the first time. I smile at him which he seems to find disconcerting.
“Yup. That's me.”
“You're awfully blasé about it.”
I snort. “You're a wizard.”
“Yes?”
“Well, you're awfully blasé about that.”
He stares at me and I roll my eyes.
“Seriously, why do you people expect me to... I don't even know what you do expect. I am muggle-born. There's nothing I can do about that. I didn't choose it any more than you choose to be a wizard.”
He is really impressed by that. Not.
“I told you she wasn't completely hopeless.”
Eridanus looks from his cousin to Nero in confusion.
“Humph. We'll see.” And with that he dismisses me and returns to his breakfast. Godiva sniggers but refrains from commenting. I sigh, it's too early for this shit.
I eat my breakfast in peace until the infirmary crew arrives and Merlin sits down next to me. The second he's seated he starts talking a mile a minute. I automatically tune him out, I don't even need to make strategic sounds as if I'm listening, he talks on on his own.
“Ms. Ollivander, Ms. Wulfric? A word please.” Godiva and I look at each other and simultaneously sigh and make our way to Godric.
“Yes, Professor?”
“I heard you broke curfew.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well... we repeatedly asked Aldreda and Aldith – Ms. Willard and Ms. Peverell – to be quiet and for them to quieten their pets. They ignored us.”
“We even suggested that they could ask an elf to take their birds outside because Will-- eh, Ms. Willard said that their birds felt trapped and they couldn't take them outside themselves since it was after curfew... They declined.”
“So we found ourself a quiet place to sleep a corridor down from the dorms.”
He sighs. “I see. The curfew is there for a reason, girls, but this time I'll overlook it. Don't do it again.” He walks away muttering about needing an owlery or something.
We both return to our seats... or at least we planned to but they are taken now. By Willard and another girl that followed her around yesterday no less. What a bitch.
As a result we end up next to two of the younger students, one of which looks at me in fear. Godiva rolls her eyes and I choose to ignore it for now. The second boy is more courageous even if it takes him about five minutes.
“Y-you're the non-magical.”
I sigh. Not again. “No, I am not.”
He looks confused enough for me to take pity on him. “I am a witch. Ergo, I am magical. But my parents weren't. I'm muggle-born.”
“But... but... muggle and magic don't mix.” I have to repress a snigger at Godiva's murmured doesn't.
I shrug. “I wouldn't know about that.”
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Take that up with Professor Gryffindor.”
“It's not natural.”
“Really?” I raise a brow. “And here I thought only muggles said that about magic.”
He gasps and pales. Apparently that kid doesn't speak sarcasm. And now he thinks I'm against magic. Great. I'm studying magic for crying out loud! I like magic. Love it, even.
The boy grabs his friend and drags him as far away as possible.
Thunk. I drop my head on the table.
“Godiva?”
“Yes?”
“Wake me when those idiots grow up.”
She laughs at me. Traitor.
Suddenly I miss my friends fiercely. I miss being able to talk freely. I miss being understood without having to censor myself. I miss their brand of sarcasm and cynicism. I miss... them. I miss the ranting about university. I miss the afternoons spent cooking together. The times we've watched (and dissected) movies. I miss... not having to navigate a virtual minefield. I miss being able to be crazy and have it not matter because they can be just as crazy if not more. I miss the hour long discussions about everything and nothing.
Godiva is nice and Myrddin is a puppy but they're not... I miss Mona. I miss Mimi – even if she'll kill me for being here. I miss my Green Carrot. I miss...
Merlin reminds me of the little brother I never had but he's not him either. Even if I haven't seen Nick in ages, Merlin reminds me of him. Rather of the little boy I grew up with until his family moved out of the flat beneath ours.
Ugh. Enough with the self-pity. It won't help me any. I shake my head and sigh.
“What do you think, which lesson's will we have today?”
Godiva blinks. “Hmm... Not sure. Arguably Charms and Duelling. Or maybe... Well, it won't be Astronomy at this time of night and I doubt they'll teach us Rune Magic before people have learnt how to read and write. No need to overwhelm them with two sets of letters.”
I nod. “Makes sense. Though I somehow doubt we'll learn any duelling spells yet... Then again, it's Go-, eh, Professor Gryffindor.” I should really stop calling them by their first names in my head. It's gonna get awkward otherwise. Especially with Rowena and Salazar. And.. damn, I did it again.
Godiva's looking at me weirdly then shrugs.
Godric announces that we'll have Duelling with him, the Second class will have Charms with Helga and Third Class will have Latin with Salazar.
Merlin attaches himself to my side again as we follow Godric outside. Godric leads us to an empty field behind the school and tells us to run laps. Gah. I hate running. Or jogging. Or most sports actually.
I am one of the five that immediately start. A couple of others follow us hesitantly but the majority remains standing around, staring at Godric. I'm too far away too hear them – running is surprisingly easy in this body – but I guess they're asking him what good running would be. This being Duelling lessons after all. Wizards. It seems that even in this time they rely too much on magic.
They start running by the time four of us five have already done one lap. It's freaking weird being that fast and not being completely out of breath. My stamina used to be pretty much non-existent, but now... Running almost comes easily. I end up running alongside a boy of about eleven years of age. Not Mer-- dammit. Not Myrddin for a change. He was in the second group and after knowing him for the last couple of days I am actually surprised that he hasn't tripped over his own feet yet... Aaaand he's down. Apparently I spoke (or rather thought) too early. How that boy managed to survive so far without breaking his neck is a mystery. Even more a mystery, how does he turn into, well, Merlin? He's such a klutz.
WAH! I almost trip myself when something brushes my leg. Morgana has started to run alongside me. They really need to find a solution for all the pets. I love her, but that could've ended badly. And she isn't the only pet that decided to accompany its owner. Somehow I doubt this is going to end well... A lot of running and a bunch of predators... How much that at least one will think that one of the students or their pets is its prey?
Wizards really have no common sense.
I'm on my sixth lap when I hear growling and hissing somewhere behind me. I look back and yep, there are two cats (kneazles?) attacking some sort of rodent. Oh, no, correction. Two cats and a fox are attacking a rodent. Well, they pretty much instantly killed it. Great.
As if on cue a small girl who had a front row seat for that débâcle starts crying. For a moment I contemplate turning around and jogging over but then I just continue on and hope that someone else will take care of her. If no one has by the time I pass her on my next lap, maybe then I'll do something.
Luckily by the time I pass them again, there are a couple of students clustered around her and Godric is berating the owners of the other three pets. That are currently fighting over and eating the rodent. Yuck. They could at least get the poor girl away from there. At this rate she won't even have something to bury.
Godric tells us to keep running laps and to KEEP A TIGHT LEASH ON YOUR PETS! Yeah, right, its not as if any of us actually has a leash or anything the like. And then he drags those three remaining pets and the four owners inside the castle. Great idea. Leave the rest without any supervision. Since you obviously can't trust the students.
I sigh and grab Morgana. I will complete my laps while carrying her then. She is not amused. Ouch. By the time she settles down and accepts being carried, my entire arms are scratched. You're not a cat!
A few of the students with smaller pets had the same idea and so about half of us are now running while carrying our pets. This is exhausting.
About ten minutes (fifteen? I have no clock, and guessing is seldom accurate) and a literal cat fight – that was stopped by one of the Peverell twins grabbing them both by their neck and spreading his arms so that they couldn't reach each other any more – later, Godric returns. And he is angry.
He tells us to gather round and spends the next... I-don't-know-how-long yelling at us about our pets. He's almost frothing at the mouth. I don't really understand half of what he's saying but it makes most of the others cower so I guess it's working.
I'm a bit bored. Yelling isn't going to help any. Yeah, sure, getting yelled at isn't exactly nice. At the very least it's uncomfortable. At least I am uncomfortable (and bored). But the yelling itself... They are children. Yes, they'll be scared. Maybe. But that won't change anything. He can go on and on yelling at them about it. They might regret it, might want to prevent it from happening again, but they are children. Many of them are too young to think of a workable solution themselves. Hell, quite a few of them are probably swamped at caring for a pet in general. (They don't even manage to take them outside.)
Oh, now they have to hand in an essay on what they should've done differently. Seriously, Godric. They can't even write yet! Oh, he amends the punishment. They have to think about it until tomorrow and give him at least three examples of how they should've handled it. And the founders will set something up for where to keep the animals during lessons, and how to watch them. But that doesn't mean that they are relieved of their duty. They are still responsible for their pets and their pets action – as are we all.
He then sends us all back inside for lunch even though its too early. All the others drudge into the great hall, I'm the only one that goes to take a shower, well, a wash as far as I can tell.
When I enter the hall for lunch its still early – I ask Bipp and he tells me that it's still “two candle fulls” till lunch, whatever that might mean exactly. Do they have hour candles? I sit down next to Mer... Myrddin. God, that name thing is exhausting. He promptly asks me where I was and looks at me like I'm an alien when I tell him that I got cleaned up.
The hall is loud. Everyone is talking over each other. I should've gone to the library instead. Ten minutes later, that's what I do. Luckily Myrddin is too busy discussing the difference between cats and kneazles with the two kids on his other side to catch it when I excuse myself for the library. I like Myrddin, sure, but that doesn't mean that I want to expose the library to his klutziness unnecessarily. He'd probably manage to burn it down or something.
I call for an elf and ask them if someone could look after Morgana for me – the elf nearly falls over its feet trying to ask (and not quite getting the courage up to do it, so he's stuttering a whole lot) if he could introduce her to the elflings. Elflings. As in Baby house elves. Suddenly I want to meet them too. What do they look like? How old are they? How do they age? But not now, probably. I give her permission (half expecting Morgana to return with a lot of braids in her coat) and then enter the library and search for something to read. I find an interesting potions text and settle down in that corner of the library to read.
I'm halfway through the introduction when someone enters the library – Rowena. Err, I should probably call her Professor Ravenclaw in my head. Judging by how well that works with Merlin/Myrddin, it's gonna take a while until it sticks. She settles down near the entrance.
By the time I start on the first chapter, someone else bursts into the library.
“GODRIC! What did I tell you about running in here?”
“We need to do something about those pets.”
Rowena's answering sigh is long-suffering. “In what way?”
“I don't know. I called the others here.”
“They have lessons!”
“Yes, and?”
“They are teaching.”
“We were.” Enter Helga, who doesn't seem happy about being called away from her teaching.
“What did you do now, Godric?” Salazar sounds pretty resigned.
“I didn't do anything!”
“Godric.” Not sure if it was Helga or Rowena, but that sounded like the crack of a whip. Scary.
“What? I didn't do anything. Some students couldn't control their pets and they killed another.”
“THEY KILLED A STUDENT???”
“No, they killed a pet. Relax.” Don't tell Helga to relax, she has every right to react like that the way you said it...
“What exactly happened.”
“They attacked and killed it, Salazar.”
“Details, Godric, details!”
“Three pets, a cat, a kneazle and a dog attacked a rodent. It died.”
I don't know about the cats but that was definitely a fox and not a dog.
“And you didn't do anything?!” Wow, Rowena can sound accusingly. It makes me want to cower and apologize and she isn't even talking to me.
“They were running laps, I was on the other end of the field.”
“You do realize that you have to keep an eye on them, right?” She somehow manages to sound even more accusing.
“I did. I was too far away.”
“Whose pet died?” Of course it's Helga who actually remembers the students.
“Young Ms. Ash.”
“Ioanna, oh, that poor girl.” Yup, Helga mothers everyone. But I guess in this case she's right.
“I told you, letting them bring pets was a bad idea. Most of them aren't capable of looking after them. Especially the younger ones.”
“Salazar's right, you know.” Helga sighs. “I talked to the elves yesterday, or rather they talked to me. They spent half their time cleaning the hall ways because the students don't take their pets outside. At least most of them don't. We need to establish a set of rules.”
“We need a solution for what to do with them during lessons anyway. I can't teach potions with them running around. And I doubt they're not both endangering and in danger during other lessons. We really need to fix up a system.”
“You're right. I thought we had, but if they attack each other like that, we obviously can't put them all in the same room.”
“Speaking of the same room, we should arrange some kind of aviary. Two students slept in an empty room next to the dorms last night instead of their dorm, because their room mates' birds were fighting...”
“They should've let the birds out.”
“Yes, well, it was after curfew and the others refused to let an elf take the birds outside, Salazar.”
Okay, now I feel really bad for listening to this. I mean, it was weird from the beginning, but now that they're talking about us...
“Then they should've called the elf themselves.”
“Maybe.” Rowena seems to be somewhere between annoyance and resignation.
“But that isn't the point. The point is, this can't go on.” I agree with Helga (not that I'm part of the conversation... I really shouldn't be listening to this).
“So... we'll build an aviary?”
“Well, it's not as if this castle doesn't have enough towers. And I could probably charm the room to make the birds more docile, less likely to attack each other. Godric can transfigure some perches. Salazar, some runes to bolster the charms?”
“I could make a runic network to work in concurrence with your charms, yes.”
“But that only covers owls and such. We still need to find a solution for the rest.” Rowena reminds the others, “Obviously we can't put felines and rodents into the same room...”
“We could let house elves watch them.”
“In theory sure, but even they aren't omnipotent, Godric. We can't put them all on pet watching duty and with the amount of pets there are, we can't just let one or two watch over them.”
“Well, they'd only have to look after the non-birds.”
Rowena sighs. “Still, the point remains. We have several cats, rodents, at least one wolf, a fox, pixies – yes I know the Ollivander family knows how to tame them – but... most of the animals here don't mix.”
“The wolf isn't much of a problem, Honoria seems to have her well in hand” Wait, what? “but the fox was involved in the death earlier.”
“Seriously Godric, what the heck is it with you and Wulfric?”
“Ms. Wulfric.”
“Yes, yes, Rowena. Ms. Wulfric then.” Okay, I really, really shouldn't be here and listening to this.
“Honoria has nothing to do with what we're discussing right now, could we please stay on topic?” Whoa,that's no little amount of venom in Helga's voice.
“So we need to set something up so that we can keep predators and their prey separate.”
“Yes. But we can't really throw the predators together either.”
“A variation of the runes-charms network?”
“Wouldn't work. At least I doubt it would suffice.”
“But with the addition of guard elves?”
“Well, it could be a start.”
“But it only takes care of half the problem. While it's nice to know where to put their pets during lessons, we still need to develop a stricter set of rules. It obviously isn't enough to tell them that they're responsible for their pets – to feed them, to watch them, to let them relieve themselves outside.” Why did Salazar agree to become a teacher? He doesn't seem to like children at all. And there's Helga to our rescue!
“Some of the older ones already do that, like Cepheus Black – and with him his cousin – and Nero Selwyn. Honoria Wulfric. Sigurðr Fell.... The younger ones don't seem to know that that's what they should do.”
“They don't really know when and what to feed them either.”
“I wish their parents had taught them that.”
“They didn't. They probably figured their children had observed what they did, only they didn't.”
“They're children.”
“Yeah, and parents are blind to the faults of theirs.”
“Salazar...” Rowena's try at reprimanding him sounds rather resigned, as if they'd had this, or at least a similar, discussion before, several times.
“So, rules. What rules? Take them out two or three times a day to let them do their business? Feed them at breakfast and dinner? - Or not, as some of them eat rather gruesome and it might kill some of the younger ones' appetite?
“Feed them before breakfast and after dinner? Take them outside, then feed them.”
“I should probably start teaching them a vanishing or cleaning spell to get rid of the waste early on.”
“True. After they learned enough that we can be sure they won't set anything on fire instead.”
“They aren't that bad, surely?”
“I had to send three to Gabriel in my first lesson... Some are that bad.”
“That was a first lesson, it's to be expected that they're worse.”
“I appreciate your optimism, Helga, but I don't think that's all it is. Let's talk again, after you had your first Charms lesson.”
“I already did.”
“When you had them with all three classes.”
“Besides, you shouldn't have jumped in like that, Godric.” Rowena interjects.
“But theory is boring.”
“It would've given them the basics.”
“And they'd have thought that Transfiguration is a boring class.”
“Godric! You---” Rowena is interrupted by a house elf popping up to tell them it's time for lunch.
Once I'm sure they are a secure distance away from the library I return my potions text and make my way to the great hall – without Morgana, because when I called the elf to return her, he asked (after I ordered him to ask his question instead of stuttering around) if I would leave her with them for a bit, because the elflings fell asleep on her (and she is sleeping as well).
The hall is completely chaotic. I have no idea what the students did while they waited for lunch, but they somehow managed get burn marks on the ceiling and the pets were busy as well.
I find a seat barely a second before Godric yells for silence. Contrary to the announcement of the lessons however, it's Rowena who begins to speak.
“We have told you before that you are responsible for your pets. You have to feed them, watch them, occupy them and clean up after them. Take them outside if they need to go. Always keep an eye on them! If you don't, you will have to do extra chores.
“I don't know whose pets made this mess, so this time the elves will take care of it. But this is the last time. From now on – Mr. SELWYN!! kindly keep your snake from strangling your neighbour! – from now on you will clean up your pets' messes. Take them outside so that they don't dirty the hallways, if they do clean it up. Manually or ask an house elf for help – but that is only acceptable until we taught you the necessary spells. NO trying spells out on your own. You could behead your own pet by accident if you do it wrongly.”
Gods, Helga's expression is precious. I want a camera for this. The way she looks when Rowena talks about beheading a pet... Hilarious. And kind of justified. But hilarious nonetheless.
Rowena goes on explaining what they're expected to do in caring for their pets and some of the consequences (chores, detention, their pet being sent back to their homes) if they don't do all that.
She manages to put most students off their food. She's a bit graphic in her warnings – well, not really graphic but she's very, very blunt.
I'm one of those still eating. I had no problems eating dinner and breakfast during a Jurassic Park marathon (something me and my cousin did several times, always planning to watch all three and ending up watching the third during breakfast). Hearing about a decapitated pet isn't that off-putting after that.
At the end of her speech, lunch is over as well and we're lead to our classes again.
On the way there Merl-- dammit, Myrddin (am I ever going to learn?) is badgering me about where I was. I lie and tell him that I went outside for a bit (Helga is within hearing range).
Once we're seated Helga begins with a short introduction on what Charms actually are (mainly not Transfigurations).
She gives a few examples and demonstrates them. Some variation of an Engorgio, a colour changing charm, a Levioso which will be the first spell she'll teach us and an Accio which we'll learn later on.
The Levioso is a simple levitation or rather hover charm. The object you levitate hovers in the air but you can't move it. Laaaame. Why can't we learn a proper Wingardium Leviosa? Oh, right, it probably hasn't been invented yet. Meh.
She demonstrates the proper incantation (levi-O-so) and the wand movement if one can call it that. One needs to tap the object one wants to levitate.
“But be careful. The pronunciation is levi-O-so. You need to pronounce it exactly like that. Mispronunciation can end deadly or at least in severe injuries. It shouldn't happen with any of the spells you'll learn any time soon. But keep in mind, Cornelius the Elder conjured an anvil on top of himself when he drunkenly tried to light the candles in his bedroom. Cleopatra Malfoy III accidentally killed her husband when she summoned a knife through him. Caligula II blew up his mansion when he tried to lock the front door.
“Small hiccups will always happen. It happens. Sometimes you don't pay enough attention, sometimes you don't know the spell well enough. The wand movement is just as important as the pronunciation. If you mess that up, your spell can have unintended side effects.” (That could explain my blue Lumos?)
“It happens. Salazar – Professor Slytherin – once blew up a vial he wanted to seal. I once accidentally turned my dagger red, when I summoned it. Stuff like that will happen. Don't let yourself be discouraged by that. Take it as motivation to do it right the next time.
“However, that doesn't mean that you can slack off! Try to get it right the first time. Most likely, that won't happen and you'll need a bit of practice, but that's normal. Now. Put your wands away. I want you to practice the pronunciation a couple of times before you try the spell for real.”
She walks around correcting the pronunciation of each of us before she lets us pick up our wands again. She conjures balls of wool for us to practice on.
First thing I see – a couple of students pushed their balls off the table when they try to tap it with their wand. (I managed to drag Merlin into the last row this time.) Surprisingly, Merlin is not one of them.
The pronunciation of the boy in front of me makes me wince. He did fine when he didn't have a wand but with it he seems to be too nervous.
Oh boy. I can't help but stare at the purple polka-dotted rabbit he managed to summon?, conjure?, transfigure? Helga stares at the kid in amazement. Then she smiles at him, congratulates him on that interesting piece of magic, and corrects his pronunciation again. She exchanges the rabbit for a new ball of wool.
“Levioso.”
Holy crap. My ball of wool hits the ceiling with enough force to leave an area of impact – and it's still hovering there. Merlin yelps next to me which makes some of the students turn – one of them almost poking their neighbour in the eye. Helga stares for a moment before she asks whose ball of wool that is. Merlin, the little traitor, points at me.
Her expression when she looks at me is intriguing even if I can't interpret it. “I see. Can you cancel the spell?”
Eh. No idea. Technically shouldn't my shock about how powerful that levitation was, have stopped it? I'm not really concentrating on making it hover any more, you know? How would I even go about it? Lower my wand? It wasn't raised in the beginning. A counter spell? I don't know any. A Finite? I don't now the -
Holy... It fell. Why? How? What did I do that worked? And why the hell is half the class staring at me?? Practice your god-damn spells. Stop gawking at me!
Helga tells the others to continue practising then she turns to me and tells me to try again.
My second try ends up like the first one. After the third one Helga tells me to stop for now because she fears I'll put a hole in the ceiling. How would that even work? It's a ball of wool! … Then again, a ball of wool shouldn't have made any impact in the ceiling. Magic is weird. Was it the force of the spell instead of the object itself? It wasn't intention, certainly, for I had no intention of doing any more than making that ball hover... Did I overpower the spell? I didn't even try t put a quarter of the force in this spell than I did in the transfiguration yesterday – not that I have any way to measure the power put in a spell.
Why isn't Wingardium Leviosa invented yet? I managed that spell (somewhat). And I can't even cheat – Helga still has half an eye on me and there's no way I could disguise the wand movement for that charm as tapping the ball.
But sitting around doing nothing is boring. I mean, I can't even write fan fiction to pass the time, nor do I have something to read. Hell, I can't even doodle. I can't... This is ridiculous. Seriously, that spell can't be that hard.
The only reason my next try doesn't hit the roof is that I cancel it a split second after I cast it. (I'm not quite sure how, but I think it was some version of a Finite). Still, the ball of wool was halfway up to the ceiling by the time it drops down. Magic is scary. Cool and epic and awesome, but kinda scary too.
It takes me a couple of more tries like that until I figure out how to kinda control it. Kinda, because I want to levitate it by maybe five to ten centimetres and it hovers a bit higher than at my eye height, but it's a start.
By the end of the lesson I somehow managed to levitate it properly although I have no idea why or how exactly. It works but don't ask me for the mechanics of it. (Wingardium Leviosa still would've been easier – and it has more uses.)
Due to our seats at the back, Myrddin (I got it! … this time) and I are one of the last ones who leave the class room, scrap that we are the last ones, because he almost fell over a chair. Helga leaves after us and she congratulates me on my progress. Why? I completely fucked that spell up, how is that good? Nonetheless I thank her and make my way outside (after retrieving Morgana). Once she's done – and Myrddin's kitten as well – we go to dinner.
In complete contrast to yesterday's dinner, the hall is practically buzzing of noise. I sit next to Merlin and a boy I don't know and opposite Aldith. I can't really understand what any of the three is saying. I've been to discos that have been quieter. I think. I'm not much of a disco person.
When dinner comes to a close – some are leaving, others are still eating and I'm waiting for Merlin to finish – Nero Selwyn drops into the space left open by Aldith' leaving. For some reason, his normally dark reddish brown hair is black today. Well, I say normally, for all I know he could be a metamorphmagus, I've only known him for what? Two days basically. Well, one really.
“So, I heard you're good at charms?”
I shrug. “Depends on your definition of 'good'.”
“She can't be good. She's non-magic.”
Nero looks the boy next to me up and down pensively.
“You're a Fell, aren't you?”
“Yes, So?”
“Ah.” He sounds as if that would explain everything. Maybe it does – but not to me. What does it matter if he's a Fell?
“Well, I'm think it'll be interesting to see how you turn out.” and with that he leaves again. What was that about?
Merlin just shrugs at me and asks if I want to go exploring for a bit – before curfew and all that. I nod and follow him – even if I already explored the castle a bit, I highly doubt that I found all there is to see and besides, everything is better than having to spend time around Willard. Gods, I've been here for how long now and there's already someone I really can't stand... and I share a dorm room with her... yay.
Exploring the castle with Myrddin is interesting – and kind of dangerous. He almost got himself skewered. Sure, the castle isn't as student-proofed as it could be (and why should it) but he really takes the cake. Falling down the stairs almost hitting a statues spear or halberd or whatever that thing is. He is awesome at dodging mid-fall though.
By the time we return to the dorms, I'm the one who's black-and-blue. I tried to stop him from falling down another set of stairs and I took a tumble instead. At least I managed to stop him though, if I failed at that, the whole thing would've been even more embarrassing.
And once I enter my room I immediately want to turn around again. Those two rotten birds are still inside the room and fighting again.
I want a four-poster like in canon (or is it only fanon?) where you can shut the curtains and spell them silent. No curtains for us here. I wonder, would it be any use to charm the pillow? I could put that over my head at least.
Telling them to do something about their birds, I walk to my bed and drop down. Ouch. I must've hit one of my bruises. Should I have gone to the infirmary? Maybe but isn't it kinda ridiculous to run there for every little thing? Oh well, too late now. I'm not leaving again. Wilburh is stuttering around – she's probably also trying to tell them to settle down – and Aldith and Willard are, judging by their faces, about to yell at each other again. Brilliant.
I could kiss Godiva. She walks in, takes one look at the scene and yells at the two to stop it. If they don't, she'll call an adult.
Now Willard is yapping at Godiva but at least the bloody birds are silenced and Aldith takes hers to a window. Apparently Julius was mostly kept outside at her home as well. He normally slept in a tree next to their house.
Willard is still refusing to let Bird (how unimaginative is that name anyway?) outside for the night. She doesn't even use the excuse of not letting a house elf touch her owl, which is stupid anyway if you ask me, she flat out refuses. Luckily that bloody owl settled down as soon as Julius was out of the room.
It tried to screech at Morgana but her growling back put an end to that. Now it's blissfully quiet... if you discount the fact that Willard is ranting at Godiva and Wilburh and Godiva are changing at the moment. But at least it's not as loud as it was.
By the time Aldith is back, we're all settled down for bed – apart from Willard but who cares about her.
