"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Two voices said, jumping out from behind the corridor Calypso rounded on. She screamed, causing a few people to look over in her direction, and clutched her chest as she stared into the smirking faces of Fabian and Gideon Prewett.
"Merlin, you nearly petrified me to death!" Calypso exclaimed at them, smacking their arms. The twins laughed and held out a tiny present for her. She eyed it suspiciously.
"Is she not going to take our present, Fabian?" Gideon asked his brother.
"It'd be rude if she didn't, don't you think, Gideon?" Fabian asked.
"It'd be very rude."
"This is a trap. I want you both to know that I know this a trap." Calypso said, but she took the present anyway and pulled the lid off. A blue puff of smoke exploded from the box and covered her entire face. It smelled sweet, like candy, but she coughed as Fabian and Gideon roared with laughter. "Pretty weak prank if the only thing it does is make blue smoke appear."
"That's not the only thing that's blue." Fabian and Gideon laughed before running off. Calypso's eyes widened and she ran into the bathroom, screaming in horror when she caught sight of her blue hair.
She ran out of the bathroom, face bright red, as she searched for the Prewett twins with a determined look on her face. She wasn't going to let them get away with this even if she got stuck with a month's detention as punishment.
She stopped in front of the Fat Lady.
"Albatross." She said.
The portrait swung open and Calypso dashed into the common room.
"Happy Bir — what happened to you?" Remus asked. He, James, Peter, and Sirius were seated on the floor of the common room around each other. Peter dove onto the ground to cover up the birthday present they were working on for Calypso when she stormed into the room.
"You look like a blueberry." James chuckled.
"Have Fabian and Gideon come 'round here? I want to give them a piece of my mind —" Calypso waved her curled fist around angrily as Sirius laughed and stood up from the floor. He placed his arms on Calypso's shoulders and guided her over to them.
"Calm down, Cal, we'll get them back."
"Really?" Calypso asked, her voice full of hope.
"Oh, yes." James said mischeviously. He slapped Calypso's shoulder when she sat down on the couch beside him. "Happy birthday, Callie."
"Thanks, Jamesy." Calypso turned to the boys, ignoring the way Peter was sprawled out on the ground. "So, how are we going to get them back?"
"Don't you think that if we prank them that they could just prank us again, and that'll create a never-ending cycle?" Remus asked. He smiled at Calypso. "Happy birthday, by the way."
"Thanks, Remus." She said brightly. "And, who cares? They deserve to be pranked."
"It'd start an all out war! And we know what happened the last time we had a prank war." Remus said.
"Ah, yes," James sighed wistfully, "The Great Prank War of 1972."
"Which I won." Calypso stated proudly.
"Only because you cheated." Sirius said.
Calypso gasped and kicked Sirius, making him fall over.
"I did not! I won, fair and square. I have the crown to prove it." Calypso turned to the boys. "Regardless of that, Remus is right. If we get caught and this spins out of control, the teachers will have our heads. So . . . we just can't get caught."
"What do you suppose we do?" Peter asked.
Calypso smirked evilly, her mind turning like cogs of a machine as a plan formed in her head.
Calypso and Sirius peeked around the corner where Fabian shamelessly flirted with a couple of Hufflepuff girls while Gideon stood next to him. She looked across the hall where James and Peter were hiding. Sirius flashed the boys a thumbs up and they rolled Dungbombs on the ground by Fabian and Gideon's feet. The girls backed away from them, pinching their noses in disgust.
Gideon gagged at the smell and Fabian glanced around for the culprit. Sirius yanked Calypso back by the collar of her robes and she took her wand out.
Remus was hiding somewhere underneath James's Invisibility Cloak and Calypso knew he would follow her lead. She peeked around the corner once more and saw the twins walking off in the opposite direction.
"One . . . two . . . three . . . Pullus!"
Remus and Calypso's spells went off at the same time and Fabian and Gideon turned into chickens at once. Calypso laughed when they turned to each other but she wasn't able to relish in her prank much longer because she saw Professor Sprout making her way down the hall towards the chickens.
Sirius pulled her arm and they ran off in the opposite direction, laughing so hard their stomachs hurt until the other three boys met up with them.
"Nice!" James high-fived Remus and Calypso. "Good thing we didn't get caught."
"Our alibis are solid." Calypso said. She glanced over her shoulder and looked at the first years that were munching on Remus's chocolate who could attest to their whereabouts.
"Mister Potter, Mister Lupin, Mister Black, Mister Pettigrew, and Miss Krane!" Professor McGonagall said, holding a flapping chicken in her arms. They straightened up when the Transfigurations teacher made her way towards them. "Do any of you mind explaining this?"
"Explaining what?" Calypso asked innocently.
"Yeah, we don't know anything about that chicken." Peter said. Remus elbowed him.
"You don't, do you?" Professor McGonagall asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Not at all. We've been here this whole time." Sirius said smoothly.
"Yeah, ask them." James pointed to the first years who readily nodded their heads.
Professor McGonagall glared at them and turned around, going back in the direction she came.
"Do you think she believed us?" Peter asked.
"Not at all." Remus clapped him on the shoulder and the five of them walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
"So, Cal, how does it feel to be fifteen?" James asked her.
"It doesn't feel very different from being fourteen." Calypso said, sinking into the couch. Peter picked up something from the ground and handed it to Calypso. "What's this, Pete?"
"It's your birthday present from all of us." Peter said, his cheeks turning pink.
Calypso examined it and realized that it was a snow globe, like the Muggles had! She had found out about it through Sirius because he took Muggle Studies and ever since she found out one existed she'd always wanted one.
"We enchanted it so that it changes with the seasons. See, now there are leaves falling because it's nearly Autumn?" James asked, pointing at the globe. Calypso lifted it close to her eye, gasping when she looked inside. There was a little castle and five tiny little figurines that were staring up at the sky.
"Is this us?" She asked.
"Yeah. It goes me, Peter, you, Sirius, and James." Remus said, pointing to each figure.
Calypso stood up with a smile on her face and pulled the boys in for a group hug.
"You guys are the best, I love it!" She exclaimed before pulling away from them. She shook the globe happily and watched as leaves fell on the five of them with a smile.
She left the Gryffindor common room a short bit after that for dinner. Dorcas gave Calypso her birthday present — a book that Calypso had been dying to read — and Pandora created a drink after Calypso that she let her try. She wouldn't reveal what the ingredients were, but it had flavors of blueberries, raspberries, and dark chocolate. All in all, it tasted pretty good.
She spent the rest of the night staying up late and chatting with Dorcas until Dorcas got tired and went to bed because 'she needs her beauty sleep' and that left Calypso to leave Ravenclaw Tower to meet with Professor Arcturus.
This wasn't her first lesson with him, but he had proven to be a little (if not, extremely) rude to her. He expected her to master Legilimency at a much faster rate than she had learned Occlumency at. He told her that she should be naturally-gifted at it, but Calypso didn't understand how she could be.
''You need to do better, Calypso. The faster you master this skill, the faster you will be able to protect yourself.'' Professor Arcturus said firmly to her. They sat across from each other in his classroom, an hour into the lesson.
''Protect myself from what?'' Calypso pressed. She was tired and had been doing the best she could. Plus, her mind was on the Quidditch practice she had in six hours.
''Don't play dumb. I know you're well aware of You-Know-Who and his followers and what they're capable of. This is not a game, Calypso. This is war and Dumbledore knows that. So, stop thinking about Quidditch and focus on the task at hand.''
' 'How'd you know I was thinking about Quidditch?''
''I'm a very skilled Legilimen, Calypso. I know when your mind is elsewhere. When you go inside my mind, I can't tell which means you're a pretty good Occlumen. The problem is that you don't know when to leave my mind, so after awhile, it gets obvious that someone's poking around in there. Go in quickly and then pull yourself out when you find what you're looking for. You need to ocus and clear your mind.'' Arcturus advised. ''Let's go again.''
Calypso directed all of her attention into entering her Professor's mind. Her eyes glazed over and an image of him as a boy appeared in her head. He was seated in the Great Hall at the Slytherin table beside a boy who was hunched over his plate and had black hair shrouding his face. Arcturus looked across the room to a Ravenclaw table where a girl with long brown hair and bright blue eyes was laughing with her friends. For a moment, she glanced up and looked at the Slytherin table and Calypso realized she knew exactly who this girl was. She pulled herself out of his memories.
"That was my mother." Calypso said.
Arcturus nodded his head.
"Everyone knew who Icarus Krane was, but he kept to himself and didn't have many friends outside of Slytherin. Your mother, on the other hand, was an exceptionally gifted witch. Everyone loved her and everyone was surprised when she took in an interest in your father." Arcturus explained. Calypso remained silent, thinking. "Your parents did love each other."
"But they're not together anymore." Calypso pointed out. "My mum has moved on and has found someone else. She loves someone else."
"Maybe so, but the kind of love your parents had for each other never dies. Sometimes relationships don't always work out or last for whatever reasons, but that doesn't mean the love ends there." Arcturus said.
Calypso didn't respond. She didn't understand how her mother could ever love someone like her father. Her father was cruel and mean, and that was all he'd ever be to her.
''Brooms at the ready!'' Hestia exclaimed at the last round of trials the next morning. The group had been cut down significantly until there were fourteen people left. Calypso looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Mirabella gripping her broom so tight her knuckles were turning white. She offered her a thumbs up when their eyes met before turning back to Hestia. ''Getting second place last year has made me more determined than ever to win which means that I will only be keeping the best of the best on the team. Every single one of thinks you have what it takes to make our team, now it's time for you to prove it. You have been divided up into Team A and Team B. Follow the rules, no cheating, and remember what we practiced. Score as many goals as you can and work hard. Everybody, up!''
Calypso got onto her broom and flew into the air. She took a deep breath to center herself before a rush of determination wash over her. She gripped her bat as Hestia stood over the box with the Snitch, Bludgers, and Quaffles in it.
''Begin!'' Hestia exclaimed, unlatching the chest.
Calypso flew towards the flying Bludger as someone trying out for Chaser took hold of the Quaffle. She swung her arm and hit the Bludger towards the opposing team, knocking one right off their broom.
''Nicely done.'' A fifth-year complimented her but Calypso didn't waste time replying.
She flew towards another Bludger while weaving her way through multiple flying figures. She knocked Bludgers out of the way of her teammates and noticed how much she had improved since the the beginning of last year.
''Watch it!'' An opposing member cried out when Calypso hit a Bludger at him. He flew past her and shoved her sideways off her broom. Calypso grunted when she fell over and grabbed onto her broom with one hand to keep herself from falling to the ground.
She winced as she tried to pull herself up but stopped when she saw a Bludger flying her way. She swung her arm back and hit it with all of the strength she could muster to keep it from hitting her. Her broom began angling towards the ground, but she wasn't about to give that player the satisfaction of seeing her fall.
Calypso swung her legs up and wrapped them around the bottom of her broomstick. She wrapped her other arm around her broom so she was dangling like a sloth. Calypso turned herself upright and flew towards a Bludger. She used her bat to direct it at the guy that pushed her off the broom.
''Take that.'' Calypso said with a smile.
''I caught it! I caught the Snitch!'' Calypso heard Mirabella scream. Calypso and her entire team cheered as the other team sighed in defeat.
Calypso flew down to the ground, a smile on her face.
Hestia marched towards the Beater that pushed Calypso off her broom.
''Lay a hand on someone like that again and you can bet I will do worse than just hit you with a Bludger.'' Hestia said angrily.
The guy rolled his eyes and limped off the pitch without another word. Hestia turned to the remaining members.
"I want to thank everyone for coming to trials and working hard, but there's not enough room on the team for all of you to play." Hestia said, her gaze sweeping over everyone. "Cassandra Yang is our Keeper; Ignatus Macmillan and Antoine Fierro are our two new Chasers; Calen Lancaster and Calypso Krane are our Beaters; and Mirabella Skeeter is our new Seeker."
Calypso breathed out a sigh of relief when Hestia called out her name. Her new teammates cheered and Mirabella stood with her jaw dropped open and her eyes wide.
Dorcas and Pandora ran out onto the field and brought Calypso in for a large hug.
"Congratulations!" Dorcas exclaimed when Calypso pulled away from them, a wide smile on her face.
She was happy that she had made Beater again and she was excited to get to know all of her new teammates. Hestia announced that their first team bonding would be Sunday afternoon and that their first practice would be Monday at dawn.
That afternoon, Calypso sat with Karma in the Hufflepuff common room. She had never been inside the Hufflepuff common room before, but it was nice and cozy, like she expected it to be. It was round and low-ceilinged, reminiscent of a badger's sett. It was decorated in yellow and black with highly polished, honey-coloured wood for the tables that she and Karma sat at. There was a colorful profusion of plants and flowers: various cactii stood against wooden circular shelves, many of them waving and dancing at the passer-bys, while copper-bottomed plant holders dangled from the ceilings and brushed the students hair when they passed under them. The room was bright, sunny, and warm, and Calypso quite enjoyed it.
"How have you been liking Hogwarts so far?" Calypso asked. They had books sprawled between them because Karma asked for Calypso to help her with Herbology. "Have you made any new friends in Hufflepuff?"
Karma nodded her head eagerly.
"Everyone is so much nicer here than they were at Beauxbatons and Illvermorny. Lately, I've spending some time with one of my roommates, Calla Valois, and Marlene's stopped by a few times to hang out. I was thinking about trying out for the Quidditch team this afternoon as Keeper so that I could have something to do, but I also befriended one of the Gryffindor Prefects, Frank Longbottom. He's a sixth year, I think."
"That's awesome. I'm glad you're fitting in." Karma smiled brightly at her.
"Thanks. I was so nervous about coming here because it's always weird going to a new school in a new country, but you've made it really welcoming." Karma said. Calypso waved her hand.
"It's no problem." She shrugged and turned to her work. "Now, onto the usage of bubotor pus . . ."
Calypso spent all of Sunday hanging out with Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter in the Gryffindor common room. At some point, James left to pull pranks on the first years while the other four watched and Lily came around a corridor, screaming at him for doing so. He landed himself a week's worth of detention from Professor McGonagall while the others laughed behind him.
That evening after dinner, she sat on the floor of the Ravenclaw common room with her Quidditch team. Hestia wanted them all to bond together which led to them playing a very intense game of trivia that the entire House it seemed gathered around to watch. Cassandra, Mirabella, and Calypso were on the same team but they were tied with Ignatus and Hestia while Antoine and Calen were one point behind them.
"Okay, everyone, settle down, settle down." Dorcas said when Hestia and Calen started screaming at each other. She cleared her throat and read from the card in her hands, "Remember to listen to the full question: Give the first and last name of the founder of Durmstrang, as well as who they were succeeded by and what this person established."
Calypso hit the enchanted buzzer in front of her instantly and a tune emitted from it. She smirked when Ignatus pulled his hand away because he wasn't fast enough.
"HA! In your face!" Cassandra taunted to him. Ignatus rolled his eyes at her.
"Calypso, answer." Dorcas nodded at her.
"Durmstrang was founded by Nerida Vulchanova and she was succeeded by Harfang Munter who established Durmstrang's reputation for emphasizing martial magic!" Calypso said.
"Ten points to Team Wildsmith!" Dorcas cried out and a first year changed their score on the scoreboard. Calypso and Cassandra high-fived each other, cheering loudly. "Now, it's time for the final question which will determine the winner. Each team must send a representative before I ask the question. This question is a two parter, so whoever responds must answer both parts correctly in order to win. The category is Diseases and injuries."
Calypso, Cassandra, and Mirabella huddled around each other.
"I'm bad with diseases." Calypso said.
"Me too." said Mirabella. "I don't know anything about them."
"I'll do it then." Cassandra said with a firm nod of her head. "We're going to win, I know it."
"Make us proud, Cass." said Calypso.
They pulled away from each other and Cassandra joined Antoine and Ignatus in front of everybody. Calypso caught some of the other Ravenclaws passing galleons back and forth between one another.
"A massive outbreak of this was one of several theories for why no one can remember the 1877 Quidditch World Cup."
Antoine slammed his hand down on the buzzer. Calypso groaned.
"Spattergroit." He said with a triumph look on his face as he glanced back at the other teams.
"Wrong." Dorcas laughed.
Calen's head fell into his hands and Cassandra slammed her hand down on her buzzer.
"Cassandra." Dorcas called on her.
"Cerebrumous Spattergroit!" Cassandra exclaimed.
"Correct!" Dorcas said. Calypso and Mirabella hollered for her. "Explain what Cerebrumous Spattergroit is and what it does."
"Cerebrumous Spattergroit is a virulent sub-strain of spattergroit. In addition to the regular symptoms of the disease, such as the formation of purple pustules on the skin, it causes severe confusion and memory loss." Cassandra answered confidently.
"And we have our winner!" Dorcas exclaimed.
Cassandra ran back to Calypso and Mirabella, who were on their feet, and hugged them while the common room cheered. They playfully bowed to everyone and Calypso went to her lessons with Professor Arcturus that night with a smile on her face.