~ In which a shy Hufflepuff falls for a certain redhead Gryffindor that changes her life. ~
Disclaimer: I only own Katherine, Alden, and other original characters not found in the original HP world. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
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6th year, Katherine Ollivander watched the Weasley twins run from Filch, the squib caretaker. She smirked at the man's face, which was covered with huge pimples. Katherine wished she had the courage to pull pranks and talk back to teachers. The Weasley twins were what she wanted to be like. Funny, outgoing, sociable. Katherine, on the other hand, was a stereotypical Hufflepuff that liked to keep to herself and watched from the shadows.
Katherine entered the Great Hall, walked over to the Hufflepuff table, and sat next to her best friend, Cedric Diggory. Cedric and Katherine were childhood friends. The Diggory family lived next to the Ollivanders near Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England. Cedric and Katherine would run into the Weasleys from time to time due to their closeness in homes, but a friendship never arose from their surprise meetings.
"So have you put your name in the goblet yet, Ced?" Katherine asked as she took a bite of a biscuit.
"No, but I plan on doing it today," Cedric replied happily.
Hogwarts was hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year. The Beauxbaton Academy and Dumstrang were staying at the castle. Everyone was excited for the champions to be picked. Katherine hoped it would be Cedric. No one deserved the prize money more than he did. Cedric was such a kind soul who cared for everyone. He was too modest for his own good.
"Oh, guess what the Weasley twins did to Filch today!" Katherine giggled. Cedric raised his eyebrows. "They made his face break out in enormous pimples!"
"Did they get caught?" Cedric asked while laughing.
"No, but I did see Filch running after them. The poor man can't catch a break." Katherine had still not stopped laughing. "The way he was running was priceless!"
Cedric watched as laughter overcame his best friend. He smiled at her. She was usually quiet and didn't laugh much, but the Weasley's shenanigans always seemed to put a smile on her face. After breakfast, the pair of friends headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Their new professor, the ex Auror Mad-Eye Moody, was quite the teacher. On the first day, he taught them about the Unforgivable Curses. Mad-Eye even showed the younger kids, which took a toll on them. Neville Longbottom was pretty shaken up from what Katherine had heard. Katherine and Cedric took a seat in the back of the class; she didn't want to be called on by Mad-Eye. He really scared her, and Katherine hated to be put on the spot. As Cedric and Katherine talked, she heard two voices sound from behind her.
"Look at that, Georgie. Someone took our seats," Fred jokingly said. Katherine faced them and grabbed her stuff.
"Sorry," Katherine murmured while getting her bag. Then she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
"Don't listen to Fred. He was only joking," George smiled. He took Katherine's books out of her hand and placed them on the table. Katherine gave a small smile and sat down.
'How could I be so stupid! Sorry? Really Katherine? You can do better!' She thought to herself.
"So Cedric, are you going to enter your name in the goblet?" Fred asked. The twins seated themselves at the table in front of the Hufflepuffs.
"Yeah. I'm gonna do it tonight," Cedric replied. "It sucks you guys can't enter. I know how much you wanted to."
"Who says we aren't?" George flashed a mischievous smile.
"Dumbledore does," Katherine blurted out. As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she wanted to kick herself.
"Isn't there an age barrier around the goblet?" Cedric asked, thankfully taking the attention off of Katherine. "How would you be able to enter your name?"
"Oh, you know, an aging potion. Freddie, Lee, and I are going to drink it right before entering our name tonight." George answered. Katherine laughed to herself, drawing the attention of the twins.
"What's so funny, Ollivander?" Fred asked. Katherine felt her face turn red as she looked up at the twins.
"Well, I don't think a simple aging potion would help you. Dumbledore's too smart for that," Katherine quietly replied.
How far was she going to dig herself?
"Yes, but it's so simple, Dumbledore wouldn't even think of it!" Fred exclaimed.
"I promise you it won't work," Katherine giggled.
"Wanna bet five shillings?" George smirked.
"Do you have that kind of money, Weasley?" Someone asked. Katherine looked at the table next to hers and saw Adrien Pucey and Graham Montague. Katherine glanced at the twins and saw that their hands were balled in fists.
"Just ignore them. Don't give them the satisfaction," Katherine whispered. The twins looked at her and weakly smiled.
"That's wise advice from a Hufflepuff," Pucey snarled. Katherine ignored them and talked to Cedric, Fred, and George. The Slytherin boys threw some more insults but eventually stopped when they knew they weren't going to get the reaction they wanted.
Mad-Eye started to talk about the Imperius Curse. The origin, the first time it was cast, blah, blah, blah. The professor began to pick students to perform the curse. Mad-Eye called on Pucey and told him to use the curse on an insect in the crate. Pucey seemed highly excited to do it. He grabbed a spider and performed the spell. Pucey smiled as he dangled the bug in the air and threw it against the window. Mad-Eye told him to finish and looked for his next victim. Katherine kept her head down, not wanting to get called. Sadly, the avoidance of eye contact made her the perfect student to call on.
"Miss. Ollivander. Come up and do what Mr. Pucey just did," Mad-Eye growled. Katherine's eyes widened, and she looked at Cedric. He just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not comfortable with doing this, sir," Katherine said meekly.
"You'll have to speak up," Mad-Eye grunted. Katherine felt her heartbeat quicken.
"I'm not comfortable with doing the spell," Katherine said a little bit louder.
"I don't give a damn what you're comfortable with. You want to be ready for what's to come? Then get up here and do the curse!" Mad-Eye demanded. Katherine shook her head. "Fine, you'll be seeing me in detention tonight."
"Professor, I don't think that's fair," George started.
"Life isn't fair, Mr. Weasley. You can get detention as well. 8 o'clock sharp," Mad-Eye shouted. George looked back at Katherine and smiled at her.
'Thank you,' Katherine mouthed.
The class went by with Mad-Eye grunting about more spells, dark magic, and the upcoming tournament. The next class was Care for Magical Creatures with Hagrid; Katherine loved class with the half-giant. He was her favorite teacher, and Katherine loved magical creatures. Katherine skipped alongside the twins and Cedric to Hagrid's hut.
"Hi, Hagrid!" Katherine said when she saw the tall man sitting outside his hut.
"Hiya Katherine. How are yeh?" Hagrid asked as the girl pet Fang.
"Good! Thank you for asking. How are you?" she smiled at Hagrid.
"Good. I'm excited fer today's lesson. I have something special planned! Come over, an I'll show yeh," Hagrid started to walk, waving for Katherine, Cedric, and the twins to follow him. Behind Hagrid's hut was a pen with a black skeleton-like horse.
"Oh! I've seen these before! They're the things that move the carriages. What're they called?" Katherine asked in amazement. She walked up to the creature and pet it; the boys looked at her like she was insane.
"Katherine, are you going crazy, mate? There's nothing there." Fred said.
"Ah, she ain't going crazy. Just wait until the lesson. I'll answer all yer questions then." Hagrid stated, laughing at the boys' confused stares at Katherine. The rest of the class filled near the pen, and Hagrid started his lesson. "Today, we will be learnin' abou' Thestrals. Some can see em, and some can't. Ter, only people that can see em are people who've seen death."
A lot of students gasped, including the twins and Cedric. Katherine could feel their eyes on her. She looked at the Thestral and thought about her Mum. Katherine's Mum had died when she was five due to her being sick. Her mother had always had a weak immune system, so when she caught a mysterious disease, she died rather quickly.
"Don't make a fuss. Back ter the lesson, Threstrals are the creatures that pull ter carriages when yeh return to school. Thestrals are social creatures who live in herds. Dead clever, they are." Hagrid went on about the creatures.
Throughout the class, Katherine felt the boys' eyes on her still, so when class ended, she rushed past them and made her way to her next class. When Katherine arrived at the Potions classroom, she sat near the back. Snape was at his desk and looked up when he heard footsteps enter the room.
"Miss. Ollivander. Why are you so early for class?" Snape's deep voice scared Katherine.
"Just wanted to get a good seat," Katherine lied. Snape kept his eyes on her for a while longer until he went back to a paper he was reading.
