❝ MERLIN'S GHOST! ❞
❝ I MEAN, YOU'RE NOT WRONG. ❞
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Albany Bronwen was no Chosen One by any means, but being haunted by the ghosts of the greatest sorcerer of all time and a former king had to count for something, right?
❃ in which a lone...
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CLASSES BEGAN AGAIN FAR TOO SOON. New Year came and went in a flash, and with it finished the last of their holidays. Albany wasn't delighted about returning to the daily dreaded student life; class and homework took up so much of her day that it left her with little to no free time. She was desperate to find out as much as she could about the connection between Evander's watch and her use of old magic, and how Faith had gotten involved; but getting back into the flow of school came with the unfortunate reminder of the tournament, and she needed to crack down on deciphering the egg.
Her life in school since the publishing of Rita Skeeter's horrid article had been stressful, to say the least. The way in which her actions had been described elicited a response from most people upon seeing her in the halls that was the magical folk's equivalent of Muggles screaming "witch!" at women they didn't understand and considered a threat. Naturally, since half of the people muttering about her were witches themselves, such a term didn't really work. Instead, she was referred to in a variety of colourful and vicious insults, and she would be lying if she said they didn't hurt her.
Her fellow students either feared or resented her, and the theories of what she had done to George were never-ending. Many were saying he was now under her control, which she found ironic. A guilt weighed on her shoulders, however; as much as she didn't want to struggle through it all, the last thing she'd wanted was to pull George down with her, but now with every whisper of her name, his accompanied it. People were worried for him, wanted to save him, even. Albany wouldn't have been surprised if a protest rose up against her campaigning for his freedom.
George, bless him, handled it as well as anyone could expect him to, though Albany had a sickening feeling with every "piss off!" he yelled at students approaching him to ask if he was alright, the more he was confirming their suspicions. The more often they were seen together, the worse the rumours grew.
Most frustrating was that Albany could do nothing to disprove the theories. She wasn't very well about to tell everyone her true heritage; that was bound to make things worse. She hadn't even explained things to Lee, Angelina or Alicia, though to their credit, they trusted her and didn't ask too many questions.
Not everyone shared their kindness. Her fellow champions — even Harry, to some extent — had grown extremely distrustful of her. She had a feeling they thought she was cheating in the tournament; Krum scowled every time he saw her in the halls, and Fleur would toss her hair over her shoulder and walk the other way. Harry was too wary to approach her and find out what was really going on. She wondered if Ron had said anything to him to put him off — the Weasleys were very protective of their own, she had come to realise. The day after the article had come to the light, she'd fallen victim to an upsetting Howler from Molly Weasley.
Albany hadn't cried over the vicious yelling she was subjected to, but she wanted to. Fred and George's mother had demanded she stay far away from any of her children, and never speak with them again. A few comments had been made about Slytherins, too, and though she usually brushed such things off, this time it stung. While the twins assured her that they obviously weren't going anywhere, and Fred immediately got to writing back to his mother in protest, she couldn't deny that it had been a heavy hit.
