I watch Amanda leave, not sure what to think. Madeline sits down brushing bits of paper off the Gryffindor table. Erica looks very conflicted, Luka looks pretty confused and the other Gryffindors around us seem awestruck. Not that they weren't surprised before but still.
"Did you want to keep that?" Madeline asks Erica with a smile.
Erica smiles back weakly. "No, of course not."
"What did it say?" I ask curiously.
"I'll tell you later." Erica mutters.
"Don't worry about it," Madeline says, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her or you. In fact, it's better for you if she doesn't know."
"Was it your Aunt Madeline?" Luka guesses. Madeline scans the floor, takes a few bits of the torn letter and rips or places pieces to spell a single three letter word. Yes.
"Was the letter about- umm- their friends?" I ask, hoping Madeline and Erica know I mean the death eaters. I don't like this kind of conversation where everything has to be subtle and gently spelt out.
"No. Nothing like that." Madeline mutters. She looks to Erica as if seeking permission. I frown. What if Bellatrix is threatening her daughter? Surely even she isn't that evil?
"It was about my house. I was asked about my first day in Slytherin. She wanted to know how it was and everything. The most she's ever asked me about myself is where my room was. I mean, I'm normally such a disappointment to her." Erica says, almost casually.
"But Erica," I pause. "You aren't in Slytherin."
"Which is the problem. She expects me to be in Slytherin."
"So why couldn't Amanda see it?" I ask, "I mean, if it was just about your house..." I trail off. I realize how stupid what I just said was.
"Definitely not because she signed it and no one here's supposed to know about her." Luka replies sarcastically. At least this makes Erica smile.
"Thanks for tearing it up for me." Erica smiles, "Are you sure it was worth the detention though?"
"Yeah," Luka jokes, "Couldn't you do something more classy like call your owl over, tie it to his leg, scream 'shoo!' and be like, 'the owl did it not me!'"
We all grin at that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Me and Luka are doing well, Erica's doing okay and Madeline... well. She flicks her wand madly, trying to get it right.
"You aren't saying the incantation," I point out.
"You don't need to say incantations for spells to work," She pants.
"You don't?" I wonder aloud, having only been just introduced to my first defensive and dueling spells in the past thirty minutes or so. I'd never cast anything before this class and yet I'm better at this than Madeline. She's been with wizards all her life. I can't help but smile.
"It's easier if you say incantations. Non-verbal magic is hard. We're only first years, we can figure it out later," Luka reminds her. He's the best in the class so far.
"Let's try again." I mutter.
"Which spell?" Erica asks.
Due to the whole 'dark lord' thing, the defense against the dark arts stuff is featuring more of the dueling and defensive spells. Snape is not a great teacher though. He constantly is taking points from Gryffindor and awarding points to Slytherin. Madeline and Luka have taken to pretending to be angry or fighting when Snape does something unfair and bursting into snickers after. Snape pretends not to notice, as if he reprimands Luka he has to punish Madeline too, meaning Slytherin losing points. So far he's taught us a few spells and we've been left to practice. Madeline is the only Slytherin on this side of the room. If it wasn't for her, I'd be imagining a line splitting the two houses apart. Madeline off-sets the image though.
YOU ARE READING
(A Harry Potter Fanfiction) Just Add Magic
Fanfiction*Important Note: This story has a strong chance of either being completely rebooted or discontinued. I wrote it many years ago back when I was in grade 7 or so. It is cringey as anything and completely for fun. I'm keeping it published because some...
