Day 1 : Herbology

Margaret was agitated; she tossed and turned, going back and forth between being barely awake and barely asleep. Did she eat something bad? Her stomach did hurt; was it because she ended up having a roommate, one she shared a room with more than a hundred years ago?
In a daze, she could barely process anything, her mind ignoring everything but the pressing need to fall asleep; her hardship came to an end when she felt a familiar weight on her chest, when the mass started vibrating loudly, helping her fall into slumber.
Going back and forth, the girl enjoyed her matagot's embrace, only to temporarily wake up to the menacing sight of a guitar sitting next to her roommate's bed. The drastically different atmosphere between the two rooms woke her up every time she "switched".

Fed up with her struggle, the young girl stretched herself awake, regretting she didn't wake up with Margot; she turned towards her augurey still asleep on its perch and smiled. She clicked her tongue as she stepped on the cold stone floor, thinking of the wooden floorboards she already missed dearly.
The room was drab, cramped, cold and the pale dawn sun barely illuminated the dormitories through the large windows; she did find herself enjoying the view as her mind wandered, thinking back to the things she experienced, wondering how different things would be this time, wondering why Liz was also here.

Losing a bit of time traversing the unfamiliar castle layout, she made her way to the lakeshore, barely able to contain her smile; skipping down the stairs she noticed the familiar faces among the portraits, ghosts and gargoyles not only ignored her but looked away, as if afraid.
A hunched man yelled in her direction; the sound made her jump but she assumed it wasn't meant for her, he attempted to run after her but couldn't catch up as she increased her pace the closer to the courtyard she got.
Opening the large doors with a flick of her wand, she took a deep breath and smiled: In front of her, instead of the beautiful grassy courtyard she was used to stood a long bridge and a precipice; her smile turned into a frown as she wondered what could have happened to disfigure such a beautiful landscape.
Grumbling in her mind, her thinking was interrupted by a sight she didn't expect: matagots.

Having made a few friends, she came back to the castle after a few hours of exercising and spellcasting feeling satisfied; she walked slowly towards the Herbology "classroom", a box of Every Flavour Beans in hand reminding her of her mother.
Standing in front of the greenhouses, she rolled her eyes and sighed. The wonderful and magical place she used to love was nowhere to be found; it looked like something out of a Muggle's garden save for the dragon shaped structures.
"What happened to this place..?" she thought; she checked her watch, turned back and sat down on a stone bench.
Sighing and rubbing her eyes, the girl reminisced; she felt odd, those places; that time; they weren't really gone, but she couldn't help it; she felt betrayed by her own heart: did she really care about them? What about her fellow students?
Margaret was overwhelmed by powerful negative feelings swirling inside of her, stabbing her all over as her mind took over the bittersweet nostalgia and convinced her of the "harsh truth", whether is was really true or not didn't matter. She stared ahead, blankly, letting herself be convinced.
"Purrrrrreow!" A grey tabby cat rubbed against her leg.
"Hello." she said, waiting for the cat to look towards her; she tapped on her thighs to invite the feline on her lap.

Finding Margaret sitting on a stone bench with a very pleased Headmistress, Professor Longbottom jumped in surprise, and with a smile approached the unusual duo.
"Good morning, miss. Early bird aren't we?" said the young man.
"Hello." she glanced at him quickly before averting her gaze: He was a beautiful and muscular manly man, his face marred by unfortunate dentition that gave him a gentle, comforting paternal aura.
He scratched his chin, unsure what to make of the cat clearly having the time of its life getting its stomach rubbed.
"You..." he cleared his throat "Ahem! Class will be starting soon, Greenhouse 1."
"Sure" she answered, perhaps too softly for the man to hear her as he hurried away.

Waiting for the students to enter, Margaret kept caressing the cat on her lap, feeling uncomfortable from the gawking students loitering in front of the classroom. The feline purred loudly until it noticed the time, disapprovingly jumped off and left.
Preemptively annoyed at the looks she'll get for being the last in class, Margaret pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The distinctive atmosphere hit her all at once, it was warm, hard to breathe and surprisingly bright; the loud chatter stopped for moment and all eyes turned towards her.
"Silence, please." ordered Professor Longbottom "Welcome, Margaret, see me after class."
The girl curtsied quickly and slithered towards a lone spot; which happened to be next to the green witch and the twins.

"For our first lesson we will be studying a beautiful but powerful flower: Moly." Professor Longbottom unveiled a black-stemmed white flower.
"Now, this plant is not only beautiful but also useful, it is one of the ingredients used in the brewing of Wiggenweld Potion. Any questions?"
A cocky Slytherin student raised his hand "Is it true that Luna Lovegood married Newt Scamander's grandson, not you?"
"Please don't interrupt class with gossip. My wife Luna and I love each other very much and there isn't anyone named Newt Scamander." answered Professor Longbottom, sighing.
He waited for any shy hands to rise then proceeded with his lesson.
"In addition to today's plant I will also teach you a very useful spell: Aguamenti." flicking his wand he produced a gentle spray of water.
"Any volunteers?" he asked, smiling.
No answer.

Neville Longbottom looked around the greenhouse and spotted Margaret, she was the only one not looking in his direction. Having been in what he thought were her shoes he knew the power of being made confident; he invited her next to him. "Margaret."
She approached quietly, avoiding gazes and fidgeting with her hands.
"Don't be nervous." he whispered warmly.
"She looks like the flower!" said the painter girl, beaming; Margaret didn't react.
"Now, grasp your wand gently and-" the white haired girl interrupted him by wordlessly spraying the flower with her fingertip.
Flabbergasted, Professor Longbottom stood next to her, mouth open; a few students shared his surprise; a few including the green witch scoffed; and others, including the painter cheered.
Margaret winced, she tried getting away but her teacher held her by the shoulder, a wide smile on his face. "You truly are a gifted witch! 50 points to Gryffindor!"
She didn't react, her eyes focused on something right outside the greenhouse, staring at her.

"Are you alright?" whispered the gentle man, before looking at the same spot and gasping: a pale thestral foal was staring at his student. He felt a pit in his stomach upon realizing the two could see each other.
"It's alone..." half-whispered the girl, looking almost sad.
"Professor?" asked a student, wondering what they were staring at.
Jolted awake, Professor Longbottom turned back to his audience "Ah, it's nothing, don't worry about it... I need to have a word with Hagrid, please practice Aguamenti for bit." he answered, leaving the greenhouse hurriedly.

"Showing off in front of your Head of House, aren't we, Megamoly?" harrumphed the green witch.
Margaret looked at the plant.
"Megamoly... That's clever." she answered quietly, not giving the girl a look.
"Don't ignore me!" snapped the blonde.
"I'm not." she replied bluntly.
"What were you staring at, your friends?" snickered one of the twins.
"There was a thestral foal."
"A wot?"
Margaret waved her wand, producing a warm blue light; her heart and mind filled with thoughts about Margot and her parents; the light rapidly formed into a majestic creature, its presence warming the hearts of the students and mesmerizing them.
The greenhouse fell silent, none of the students noticed the teacher had returned, none of them could laugh at how silly he looked with his buck-toothed mouth wide open.
"Merlin's beard!" exclaimed the young man.

The inexperienced teacher was conflicted; the girl's back to back performances were short of a miracle, and her being able to see thestrals was concerning, but because of her none of the other students practiced the spell like he had asked them to; he also didn't want them to resent the shy girl for being responsible for an extra assignment.
Having made a decision, he concluded the class noting they would practice the charm again next time and waved the excited students away.

Alone in the greenhouse with her professor, Margaret waited patiently; he did ask to talk to her after class.
"So... Is there something you want to tell me? As your Head of House I pride myself in being as supportive of my students as possible, especially Gryffindors."
The girl looked around. "What happened to the Greenhouse? It... wasn't like this before... With professor Garlick..."
"Professor Garlick? What kind of name is that? I've always known these greenhouses." he answered, puzzled.
"Sir... Your name is Longbottom, mine is Megamelons..." she grimaced slightly.
"Touché."

A brown haired boy knocked on the glass door.
"Ah! There he is!" said the gentle man, letting the student in with a wave of his wand.
"Professor." nodded the boy.
"Margaret, meet Elliot Evers."
She glanced at the boy, nodded and looked away.
"Shy one, isn't she?" remarked Elliot; she sighed.
"She is... Which is why I thought you would be the perfect mentor for her." Professor Longbottom smiled, observing the white haired child.
Margaret was chewing nervously on her cheeks and pinching her fingers, her hands hidden by her sleeves. A mentor? Already she dreaded having to spend time with a stranger.
"Of course Professor." the proud boy's interest was piqued, just how special was that girl? The sorting hat's words still ringed in his head "You again?".
"Wandless magic, Patronus conjuration, she's a prodigy!" declared the proud Head of House, grabbing the girl by the shoulders. "Like father like daughter!" he chuckled.
"Him too?" she thought, wondering how or why everyone knew her father.
"Impressive." smiled Elliot.
Noticing Hagrid waving at him through the greenhouse, Professor Longbottom left the two students to get to know each other.

"Strange man, isn't he?" commented the boy.
"Mhm."
The two students stood silently for a minute.
"Not much of a talker are you? But you get things done. I like it." he remarked.
"Mhm."
"Do you know how unusual it is to conjure a patronus at your age? Even Harry Potter couldn't do it." The boy's flattery fell flat.
"Who?"
"Harry Potter, the boy who lived, defeated Voldemort, everyone knows him." he replied, quizzically.
"I don't. Voldemort? Is that a graverobber? A necromancer?" the girl looked confused.
Taken aback, the boy stammered. "...No. The Dark Lord."
The girl shrugged.
"What is wrong with this kid?" thought Elliot. "Let's walk." he said.

Side by side along the lake shores, they talked, or rather, Elliot interrogated the taciturn child.
The usually confident star student felt a shiver down his spine, he couldn't understand why but the girl next to him scared him; excited him; made him restless. She was something, he was sure of it. Everything about her was unusual; after walking and talking with her for a while he realized she wasn't just shy, there was something wrong with her: she was too cold, experienced, clever, wise, aloof.
The boy's imagination was running wild, imagining all kinds of futures for such a prodigy, all kinds of pasts that could explain how an 11 years old was capable of both seeing thestrals and casting a thestral patronus; maybe she was vampire?
He was exhilarated, great things were coming; he could use a young genius ready to be molded to his ideals; blissfully unaware of what he was really dealing with.
Glancing next to him he was surprised to find the girl was missing; he looked around and spotted her knelt next to a tree petting a matagot.
"What am I thinking..." he thought to himself, smiling at the innocent creature.
He slowly approached her, the matagot enlarged and hissed him before bolting away.
The girl clicked her tongue, he felt compelled to apologize and did so with a bow.
"Can I go now?" she asked.
"Sure, just... Let me..." he reached inside his bag. "Here, you should join a Social Club, expand your social circle, you never know."
She grabbed the parchment and placed it inside her bag without looking.
"I'm serious. Do it." he insisted.
"Whatever." she thought "Have a nice day." she said before making her robes disappear with a swish of her wand and sprinting towards the water; she jumped in with a loud splash.

"Fascinating." he thought, a smile on his face.