Elise had always known she was a Slytherin. Despite her parent's protesting, claiming that the sorting hat had made a mistake; she knew it hadn't, the sorting hat didn't make mistakes. When she had been sorted, her parents had been horrified. As their only child, it was expected that they would be happy for her to even be accepted into Hogwarts but as soon as the news broke of her sorting, their pride was shattered. Her golden family had just become a little bit more silver.
It had come to the point that Elise even had to hide her Slytherin uniform. Anything with Slytherin colours from school was banished into the garden and on many occasions, Elise had thought that was where she would soon end up as well.
"Elise. How many times have I told you, you do not leave your uniform lying around? We can't have your father seeing it, imagine his horror. You do remember what happened last time don't you?" Elise nodded, keeping her head down to avoid her mothers glare. She remembered all too well what had happened when her father stumbled across her Slytherin uniform only a few months ago. She had been upstairs packing her trunk to return to Hogwarts for her final term of that year when she knew something was wrong, she could feel it in the atmosphere. Her usually loud house was silent, not a single voice or movement existed in the whole house. When she finally found the courage to investigate, she found her father laying downstairs on the floor without a heartbeat. After visiting the local muggle hospital she discovered that he had experienced a heart attack from the shock, simply seeing her Slytherin tie was enough to stop his heart pumping blood around his body, it was enough to almost kill him, enough to make Elise extra vigilant about the location of her uniform.
"I'll move it, mother." She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her father, especially in his current state. Elise dropped her stack of books on their kitchen counter, quickly scooping up the pile of uniform and placing it on top of the stack before lifting the stack in her arms.
"Elise just take two trips for Merlin's sake. You're going to get yourself hurt and I'm not interested in looking after anybody else in this family." Her mother gave her a disapproving glance before collecting two mugs from the cupboard and, with one flick of her wand, filling them up to the brim with hot cocoa. "I'll be with your father Elise, have yourself packed by tonight, please. If you could take yourself to King's Cross it would be marvellous-"
"I can't." Elise found herself rolling her eyes at her mother.
"Yes well, since you can't I have to do it and I don't have the time." Her mother wasn't the most affectionate of people, even driving Elise to the train station seemed too big a task for her. "Looking after your father is a big enough job already, I can't be looking after you as well." Her mother didn't say another word, she didn't have to. Since her father's heart attack, everything had changed in their family, she barely felt part of it anymore. Elise watched as her mother left the kitchen, almost wishing she could be clung onto her arm again, following beside her like when she was a child. She missed her mother.
Elise took the pile of books and uniform into her bedroom, dropping them onto her bed immediately once she entered. Her mother was right, she should have taken two trips. Elise stretched out her fingers in an attempt to relieve the cramping in them before collapsing onto the bed beside her books.
She knew she needed to pack, if she didn't not only would she have to do it in the morning, she would also have to deal with the wrath of her mother. Elise pulled her wand from her pocket as she hesitantly sat up on her be. "Wingardium Leviosa." She waved her wand and watched as her pile of books took itself over to her trunk and slotted into one of the many gaps inside, her uniform quickly following suit. Elise was a light packer, lighter than everyone she shared a dorm with which she had quickly noticed as the years went on and their areas got messier whilst hers remained the same. She liked order in her life where order could be achieved and packing was certainly one of those areas.
After staring blankly at her trunk for almost an hour, Elise pulled out a scrap of parchment from her pocket and began to scrawl down a list. Although it felt like a burden, she knew ticking each item off would bring her great satisfaction. It took her longer than she anticipated to finish but eventually, her parchment was filled with every possible item she might need to pack for Hogwarts, each one assigned into a category to make packing even easier for Elise.
She started packing from the top of the list, bundling together piles of clothes from her drawers before levitating them over to her trunk. It didn't take long for her to finish packing, with few belongings and no interest in overpacking, she was done in record time. When it came time to close her trunk, she almost wished it could be smaller. Awkward gaps were stationed all around her trunk and she knew when the time came to put it on the Hogwarts Express, all of her neatly folded piles would be no longer.
"Accio Standard Book of Spells." Elise was too lazy to look for the book herself, and when there was magic that could do the same, why would she? She flicked through the book for a few moments before she opened up the page she had been searching for. Elise hadn't attempted the shrinking charm since second-year but with confidence like hers, she knew it would work: what she lacked in skill, she made up for with her alarmingly high confidence. She read over the page twice before dropping the book on her bed, keeping the page open so she could still read it if all went wrong.
"Reducio." She stared intensely at her trunk which remained its usual size. "Fuck." She cursed under her breath, she was sure it would have worked the first time. With another flick of her wand, she started moving everything from the trunk onto the bed, maybe it would work better empty. Elise took a deep breath in. "Reducio." She called again, this time it worked. Her once ginormous trunk shrunk down to a size she considered much more acceptable, albeit still a tad too large for her liking. With a smile, she moved her belongings from her bed back into her trunk before collapsing on her bed once again.
It wasn't until a few hours later that she awoke to the sound of her mother calling her name up the stairs. "Elise it's dinner time. Come downstairs."
Elise knew she couldn't hesitate when her mother called she had to answer. She rubbed her eyes and quickly made her way down the stairs. Once she was in the kitchen, she levitated three sets of cutlery alongside her as she made her way to the dining table where her family sat impatiently. "We've been waiting. You know dinner is always at six o'clock, you need to start arriving on time." Her mother's face was sour as she looked over at the levitating cutlery. "Elise, you could have just carried them."
"Yes but that would be boring. If I have a wand why wouldn't I use it." Elise took her seat at the table, opposite her mother, with a quiet sigh. She adored magic but her mother simply didn't understand it. Despite both her parents being pureblood wizards, they had never agreed with Elise's use of magic outside of Hogwarts. In fact, they both believed it was highly unnecessary.
"Your mother has made us a wonderful meal." Her father smiled at her down the table. He was right. Mountains of steaming potatoes sat on the table before them, accompanied by a selection of fresh vegetables, a combination that made Elise's mouth water. "She's been in the kitchen for hours, I'm so proud."
Her mother's face flushed a light coral. "It was nothing really. I just wanted to make something we could all enjoy together."
Elise tucked into her meal with the grace of a tiger pouncing on its prey. As soon as she started eating, her body craved more, a light rumble beginning in her stomach. "It's lovely." Elise barely finished her mouthful before she spoke.
"Elise finish your mouthful before you speak."
"Yes, mother." She turned to face her father who gave her a sympathetic glance. As much as he didn't understand, he tried to and that's what mattered.
"I got your OWL results in the post earlier this week. I must say I'm rather disappointed with your grade-"
"You opened them?" Elise didn't bother to finish her mouthful, she didn't care to. "They are my results. I worked for them and you just opened them before me?"
"I just wanted to see how you had done, my parents did the same to me. Your fathers' did the same as well." She appeared as though she had just been accused of a violent crime, rather than opening mail without permission. The coral from her face quickly faded to a whitewash.
"Well, you shouldn't have done it!" Elise's face began to flush. "You're unbelievable."
"Elise. You will not speak to me like that. You're acting like you don't want your results."
"Well, of course, I want them! I stay up every night for a month studying to not find out what I actually got." Elise rolled her eyes, her mother was unbelievable.
"No need to get stressed, Elise." Her mother's dainty fingers reached under the table, pulling up to reveal an envelope like the one Elise had got when she was accepted to Hogwarts.
Elise didn't breathe as she slipped her nail under the wax seal, which her mother had failed to close correctly after evidently forcing it open, only releasing a breath once she pulled the letter out from inside.
Dear Miss Elise Adrienne Harkley,
Below are the results that you achieved in your O.W.L. exams:
Astronomy: Exceeds Expectations
Charms: Oustanding
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Oustanding
Divination: Exceeds Expectations
Herbology: Oustanding
History of Magic: Oustanding
Muggle Studies: Exceeds Expectations
Potions: Oustanding
Transfiguration: Oustanding
If you have received Poor or above in any of your chosen subjects, please consult with the appropriate Professor to discuss resitting the examinations in the coming year.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Elise felt her fathers hand on her shoulder as she dropped the parchment. "I'm so proud of you Elise. So proud." He gave her shoulder a squeeze and for once, Elise felt content. She had worn herself out during the final few weeks of her fifth year at Hogwarts and it had all paid off. She could see the results she had been working for since she arrived at Hogwarts and nothing made her happier.
"Yes, well done Elise." Even her mother's lack of interest in her results, Elise's bubble couldn't be burst. She had achieved her goals and that's what mattered. Elise could feel the pride bubbling up inside of her.
"What subjects are you taking next year then Elise?" Her father leaned further into the table. She hadn't been able to talk to him about it before, her mother had forbidden talk of Hogwarts with her father but when he asked, she felt her heart glow. All Elise had ever wanted was to talk about Hogwarts with her family, to have someone show genuine interest in her education.
"I chose Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Muggle Studies." She could see her mother's eyes roll as she mentioned her final choice, muggles weren't her favourite topic of conversation. "I think I might want to work for the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol."
"Oh no, Elise. You'll be an Auror, as we discussed already." Her mother quickly chimed in. "Anyway, that's enough talk of Hogwarts please." She tucked into the rest of her meal without another word, her family quickly following suit.
Not another word was spoken until Elise cleared her plate. "I'm going to finish packing." She quickly scooped up her plate in her arms, carrying it to the kitchen in silence. She knew if she used magic to carry it, her mother would not be impressed. Once she had dropped the plate on the counter, Elise knew she could escape the comfort of her room and she couldn't move fast enough. Her legs moved faster than she thought possible as she raced up the stairs, not stopping until she threw herself into the comfort of her own bed. She glanced over at her trunk, her eyes scanning the vast variety of books that were piled up inside.
Elise was ready for Hogwarts and it was ready for her.