Chapter 18: Back to School
No crying this time, but still a sense of goodbye when Pinkie sat on her trunk at Kings Cross station. She was hugging Alfie, as she sneakily put a sweet in his pocket. He was growing up so fast!
She passed the barrier with a hop, skip and a jump, to find the obvious silhouette of Millicent Bullstrode close by. Millicent must have flooed in early since she was munching on some Kentucky fried chicken.
“Muggles are awesome.” Millicent said as Pinkie sat next to her.
Pinkie already knew that of course, but still wondered how Millicent came to this insight.
“I know right! Look what I got for Christmas!”
She pulled out a bright green jump rope from her pocket. “I don't think wizards would invent the jump-rope.”
Millicent had no idea what she was looking at. It just looked like a long bright-green rope with some handles. She wondered what the jump bit in the word was used for. She ate the last of her chicken.
Millicent was about to clean her fingers on her robe, realized she's a witch, and cleaned them with a spell instead. “Come on let's go on the train!”
xxx
With much enthusiasm, Millicent started telling Pinkie about her Yule.
Apparently there was a party planned at the Greengrasses, but Millicent and her sister didn't go. The Bullstrode elders instead decided to go alone, since Mildred felt a little under the weather.
Turns out that her sister was just pretending, and she basically kidnapped Millicent along in an adventure. They went to a muggle theme park.
They had a special Christmas celebration there, and the fun lasted until well after dark. It was the first time she went on a rollercoaster ride. She still had the photo in a secret drawer in her desk at home. Her sister was screaming hysterically, while Millicent looked manic with excitement.
Best Yuletime ever.
Pinkie listened to Millicent story with rapt attention. Living vicariously through her friends adventure, and asking questions at the appropriate intervals. They swapped stories about which rides were the best. Pinkie told Millicent about a ride she was in once, that actually let you hang underneath the rails.
That sounded simply amazing to Millicent and she really wanted to go.
The two kept swapping stories when Pinkie noticed Daphne looking in on their booth. She had her hand on the handle but then she was called away. Not long afterwards, Hermione joined them.
She stowed her trunk right next to Millicent’s and Pinkie’s and sat down.
“Chocolate frog anyone?” Hermione said. “Harry has send me so many and I don’t think I can eat them all.”
Well, suffice it to say that the other two needed no further prompting. Pinkie and Millicent held their hands out and each got quite a bit more then they bargained for.
The room got quiet as the girls were munching on chocolate frogs. Hermione's card collection had grown exponentially. She was only missing Helga Hufflepuff, Morgan le Fay, Schtoltenheim Reinbach III and Nicholas Flamel. She really liked the educational value of these little cards. Ron would probably like to trade some of them with her when they got back at Hogwarts.
xxx
The train stopped at Hogsmeade as it had done countless times before. It’s passengers stepping on the platform happily.
Hagrid was there to guide the first years to the carriages and Pinkie was glad that they didn’t have to ride the boats again. It was getting rather nippy and snowy and a plunge in the black lake wouldn’t do her any favours.
“The candy didn’t work. He’s still big.” Pinkie said to Hermione.
“Yeah, I did some research actually. Turns out he’s a half-giant.”
Millicent butted in. “Well of course he's a half-giant. Look at the size of him.”
The girls reached the carriages that would take them to Hogwarts.
Pinkie saw them being pulled by skinny horse like beings with big leathery wings.
They glowed with a very soft pale light, almost imperceptibly, and looking at them gave Pinkie a conflicting feeling of both otherworldliness, and homeliness.
She eagerly ran ahead and petted one on the snout.
“Uhh Pinkie, what are you doing?” Millicent asked as Hermione was standing behind her with one leg already inside the carriage, eyebrow raised.
“I'm petting the horsey, see?” She glided her hand through thin air.
Hermione and Millicent shared a look. Hermione stepped out of the carriage again. “There's nothing there, Pinkie.”
“Yes, there is.”
Millicent stepped up. “No, there isn't.”
“Yes there is, look.” Pinkie held a cupcake out to the animal.
The the eyes of Hermione and Millicent the cupcake disappeared in to thin air in two distinct bites.
“Magical Merlin!” Millicent gasped as she jumped backwards.
Pinkie giggled. A different horse next to Millicent started sniffing her hair and nibbling on it.
Paralyzed with fear Millicent implored Pinkie to do something about this with her eyes. The creature seemed unfazed by the frightened reactions of this new two-legged curiosity and continued it's exploration. “Sniff-snuff.”
Millicent could feel the breeze of it's breathing without actually hearing it's breath. It was very disconcerting.
Pinkie distracted the scaly-horse thing by petting it’s mane and whispering in it’s ear.
“She says your hair smells like pine-needles.”
“Th-th-that’s nice.” Millicent looked scared.
Pinkie asked the winged horse to stop playing with Millicent's hair and the creature reluctantly complied with a short whinny. To Pinkie it sounded like an ordinary horse noise. To Millicent and Hermione however, it sounded like a ghostly distorted sound echoing from somewhere very distant.
“Can we please go in the carriage now?” Millicent asked.
Hermione nodded and opened the door. Most of the other students seemed to be in their carriages already.
Pinkie petted the horse once more on the snout before entering the carriage as well. The ride on the way back to school was filled with questions from Hermione and Millicent. Why could Pinkie see them but they couldn’t?
Hermione swore to find some answers.
When she found them, later that evening in the library. She decided against inquiring on where and when Pinkie saw someone die.
xxx
Over the next couple of months Pinkie settled in a pleasant routine. Classes were helping her improve her magic very slowly, but improve it did. The wingardium leviosa spell worked reasonably well, not as good as most, but still pretty well.
Transfiguration and defence improved slowly too. Mostly because Dumbledore and McGonagall made the lessons fun and interesting. Something a certain spectral teacher could learn a thing or two from.
Pinkie usually slept like a rock through history of magic... It was rather nice actually.
Quidditch practices came and went. Flying was fantastic and soon she found herself winning more and more seeker battles. The limiting factor was her broom. Pinkie didn't really mind it herself, Quidditch was just for fun after all, but her team disagreed.
They found solace in the fact that Harry, who was found to be an excellent seeker in his own right, didn't have a decent broom either.
That all changed on the day that Harry had his first match. A big package was flown to him during breakfast. It had to be carried by four owls and it’s shape implied it’s contents.
It was a brand new broom. A nimbus 2000.
A high end broom made by the Nimbus Racing Broom company. Filled to the twig with the latest and greatest in aviation enchantments, comforting charms, control trims and flight stabilizers.
It was the best broom available on the consumer market. Professor Snape didn't miss the wink that the deputy headmistress shared with Harry. They were rather obvious.
The Gryffindors won the next match against Slytherin to Harry's delight.
Snape made sure that the training of the new Slytherin seeker was expedited.
That meant more hours on the pitch... Which was awesome! Pinkie still hadn't played a real match yet though.
She was being toted as the Slytherin secret weapon, even though they knew she wasn’t any better then Terrance, they knew that the mystery could add to their advantage.
Still, Hogwarts wouldn’t be Hogwarts if there weren’t some adventures to be had. Pinkie heard of just such an adventure when rumours started flying about Harry sneaking out of Hagrid’s hut with a baby dragon.
When she later asked the Gryffindors about it, they denied it ever happened. Pinkie didn’t relent however, and soon she heard the whole tale.
Hagrid had won a dragon egg off of a mysterious, turban wearing stranger. The stranger seemed friendly enough, being particularly interested in how the grounds of Hogwarts were secured. Apparently he worked in security as well.
When the egg was hatched they quickly discovered that dragons grow very fast and that wood is indeed very flammable.
It was with great sadness in his heart that Hagrid had to let the little fellow go. The thought that Norbert had a lot of other dragon friends to play with, did lift his spirits.
On a less happy note, Pinkie observed a scary change in the other Slytherins. Draco, Pansy, Theo, and to a lesser extent; Crabbe and Goyle.
They had turned very cold towards her. On the outside they were civil, but on the inside it was like there was nothing at all.
Like she shouldn't exist.
During these times Pinkie, Daphne and Millicent spend a lot of hours in the music room. Goofing around and trying to find the silliest instrument that the room provided. It did a lot to cheer up Pinkie and in truth, the other two needed that too.
There was a lot of laughter in these moments. Daphne's power-honks as well. In here she could really let loose.
Of course Daphne never really interacted with the other girls in public. Trying to pretend to be as aloof as the others was starting to seriously grate on her.
Life was meandering this way like a river, until one day...
xxx
The great hall was crowded. The end of term exams were looming and many students had their books out for study. Some of them were eating while others were just staring into space or discussing a particular hard subject with each other.
Daphne was standing near the entrance.
On one side of the Slytherin table she saw Pinkie with her friends, on the other, Draco and his. The contrast between the two couldn’t be more different. Pinkie shared the table with people from other houses. There was Lisa Turpin from Ravenclaw, Hermione from Gryffindor, some girl from Hufflepuff she didn't know and, of course, Blaise and Millicent.
It was a rowdy bunch.
Meanwhile at the other side of the table it was a much more dignified affair. The pureblood children ate daintily with their books closed until their food was finished. Haughty disdain prevalent on their faces.
She suddenly felt like she stood upon a mountain ridge. If she fell down one side there was no way of returning to the other. How was she supposed to know which side was right?
In the end she decided to follow her heart.
“Can I sit here?”
Blaise kicked the chair opposite him.
“Have a seat.”
Pinkie raised her head from the book she had pretended to fall asleep in. “Oh, hey Daph. Take a load off. We’re pretending to be pretending to be studying.”
“...What? Don’t you mean just ‘pretending to study?’”
Some of the other children started to chuckle.
“I said what I said.” Pinkie said sagely.
Daphne was well acquainted with Pinkie’s shenanigans at this point so she got her transfiguration homework out.
“Well, I hope you don’t mind that I’ll do some actual studying?”
Lisa fumbled with her glasses.“Most of us are actually doing that.”
“Speak for yourself.” Millicent said. “I’ve seen enough books to last me a lifetime.”
Hermione looked up. She’d never heard such blasphemy in her life. “The books did nothing wrong!”
The group stared at her for a moment.
“Sorry, force of habit.”
Thing settled into a pleasant groove like this. Sometimes people would ask a question about a subject. Sometimes people just complained about something. It was at this time that an owl swooped in and landed in front of Millicent.
She presented the leg to her that had a small note attached. Millicent, not really knowing what to expect, took the note and read it.
It was a note from her mother.
The others could she her expressions change from happy, to sad, to something undefinable, to resigned in rapid succesion.
“My sister is getting married.” She said tonelessly.
“Hurray!” Pinkie popped confetti from her wand and jumped up, yet the mood around the table wasn’t very joyful, rather it was thoughtful.
“...Hurray?” She said as she sat back down.
Millicent was staring at the letter like it she was tasting something bitter.
“...Why didn’t she tell me?”
Pinkie saw the signs of someone about to cry. She stood up and walked around the table to give Milly a hug. “Who’s she marrying?”
Millicent had to look at the letter again to make sure. “Some guy called Eric Flint… Ugh, I’m gonna be related to Marcus.”
“So, why are you sad?”
“They don’t deserve her. And after the wedding… I’ll never see her again.”
“Oh silly, I’m sure it won't be that bad.”
Daphne, ever the realist, gave her two knuts, “Actually, it very well could be that bad. It all depends on the contract signed.”
Pinkie gave Daphne a look that shouted: ‘You’re not helping.’
“Then again your sister is very pretty and smart. I’m sure that she would have some say in who she will and won’t meet.”
Sadly, that did not have the desired effect. Millicent started to burst into tears.
“Stupid aristocratic codswallop! Why can’t we just be free?”
People could hear the outburst from across the room. They had created quite a scene. The other Slytherins didn’t appreciate it, but Millicent couldn’t care less.
With the letter clutched in her hand, she stormed her way towards the dormitories. She was going to write a strongly worded letter to everybody. The groom, her sister and her parents, could all expect some angry looking owls.
Pinkie had followed Milicent to their room, so Pinkie was within easy reach to borrow Owlicious.
“Now, listen here Owlicious. You keep pecking ‘em till they give you a letter. You hear me? I want answers. I want some, Merlin be flipped, respect!”
“Hoot!” Owlicious couldn’t quite make a salute but he sure tried.
Millicent shrunk the letters and tied them to his leg. “Go!”
He flew through the Hogwarts dungeons, up the stairs and straight out of an opened window. He had some angry pecking to do.
xxx
“Why did you sit with them?!” Pansy was irate. It was like she genuinely believed that she had a right to Daphne’s seating choices.
It was so obnoxious! Why hadn’t she noticed these things when she was younger?
“I thought it would be the smart thing to do.” Daphne said with an eye roll. “I’m sure you’ve noticed their group has started growing. I wanted to see what’s what.”
“Well… I don’t like it!”
“Excuse me?” Daphne gave Pansy a hard stare. It was extremely effective with those icy-blue eyes of hers. Pansy shrunk a little despite her best efforts.
“You seem to be labouring under the illusion, that I owe you some sort of explanation. That I am somehow beholden to you. Well, I do the things I do for my own reasons in my own ways. And I don’t owe you anything.”
“...You and your schemes. What are planning now?”
“That’s for you to find out.”
Really, there were no schemes.
So when Daphne saw them chuckle about Millicent, when she got her bad news from home, Daphne went to her room that night with a sense that these people really could sod right off.
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Yay, its back!
yay
Peck some dunnderheads Owlicious!
so , Daphne is Honesty? [brutal honesty] while Millie is Loyalty. Hermoine is essentially Magic or Harry.
I'm a little surprised it's not listed in Hogwarts: A History about the stress?
"Why can't we just be free?"
You can and you are but freedom comes with costs, what you are complaining about are the requirements and restrictions one has to abide by to be a noble and have access to everything your family has at their disposition.
The problem with freedom is that every action has a cost and everyone choose to be hold in some way to keep the things they don't want to lose or to avoid the responsability that comes with it
The Weasley family is an example of that in the HP universe. They are blood traitors, an Ancient and Noble family made up of purebloods but they have no prestige nor position in Britains high society because they choose to bear the consequences instead of getting in line.
10926065
It looks like a good thing but no one think about the possibilities.
It is just an owln, there is nothing stopping a fullgrown mage from turning it to charcoal or hurting it in other ways for daring to attack them.