Day 12: Encounters

Birds chirping, warm sunlight; today was a another typical Tuesday, typical enough that something you'd expect at a Muggle school would overjoy the students: the professor was "sick".
"Today's Potions Class will be cancelled as Professor Sharp will be busy with a special assignment from our Esteemed Headmaster himself."
In truth it was most likely another case of Headmaster Black needing secret brewing: glittering moustache wax; enchanted pommade, who knows?

Sighing in relief upon reading the notice on the House Board, Margaret left the Common Room book in hand, planning to spend a quiet day studying by her lonesome, hoping today would be an uneventful day but bracing for the unpredictable: she was studying at Hogwarts, after all.
Walking, and reading, down the corridors, the Gryffindor remembered words that made her sigh. "Meet me in the Undercroft"
Perhaps it was the powerful, ancient magic permeating the Castle walls, summoning coïncidences and aligning the stars, perhaps it was her trademark bad luck: Sebastian Sallow was facing her, looking at her expectantly; what was he doing there in the middle of a deserted corridor at 05:30? Interrupting the girl's thought, the boy spoke up, his trademark cocky grin spread across his face: "Ready to meet me in the Undercroft?"
Stifling her laughter, Margaret nodded and followed the boy silently, secretly cursing his slow pace and admiring the Castle's beautiful interior on their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Tower.

Enjoying this unusually warm morning, a lone Hufflepuff student was sitting on the Courtyard fountain, a large grin on her face as she scribbled romantic stories in her notebook, taking her eyes off the paper only to look at the sky longingly before giggling quietly and resuming her storytelling. She felt inspired, something was in the air today; love? Romance? "Aren't those the same, though?" she thought.
Trying to find the perfect ending, the girl lifted her head from her notebook and looked around the courtyard: having spent longer than she realized on her romantic fiction she realized a few other students had joined her in enjoying the morning warmth, she scanned the area looking for inspiration, perhaps a kissing couple?
Blushing slightly, she shook her head and resumed her search: a couple of Jobberknolls flying and pirouetting in unisson, a large shadow diving towards her... Both curious and anxious, she squinted and the shape, recognizing some sort of bird... A bearded vulture?
Spreading its large wings, the creature slowed its descent not too far from the young student before erupting in an oddly artistic puff of greenish smoke: a tall man was now standing in front of her, his clothes gracefully draping his statuesque body without exposing his modesty.
"Woah!" exclaimed the girl.
"Good morning, miss" replied the man, a warm smile on his face.
"Hello! I've never seen you around!" her eyes were sparkling with admiration.
The man's smile turned into a grin as he answered bluntly "Slytherin Head Boy." her eyes went wide "Ten years ago."

Not far from them, a small group of students whispered among themselves, ready to prank young Zaila Freeman: the projectile full of ink would ruin her robes, her notebook, and make her look like a nerd in front of the Seventh Year. Carefully aiming, a Ravenclaw boy shouted "Depulso!"
In the blink of an eye, the man pushed the Hufflepuff to the ground with his hand and snapped his fingers at the source of the sound: a strange blur enveloped the group as the ink bomb splattered against the obstruction and painted them like a toddler would a pristine wall.
Stuck inside the bubble, the bullies coughed and spat ink while trying to escape; meanwhile the man offered his hand and an apology to the girl.
"You alright there, girl?" he asked, patting her head; she nodded furiously, embarrassed.
Waving a wand that would look more at home at the hands of a Hag or a Dark Wizard with a grim look in his eyes, the man pulled the three boys by their underpants with a silent Accio.
"I would expect you have a good reason to attack a Ministry official, young men." he hissed, while the student flailed around in panic, blurting apologies while Zaila stuck out her tongue at them.

"Leonard! What is the meaning of this?!" Yelled Professor Weasley in surprise, walking briskly towards the wailing rainbow of bullies.
"Justice." he answered bluntly, discreetly pointing at the Hufflepuff with his eyes.
"Oh. I see..." she looked at the trio with an accusatory glare from above her glasses "Thank you, but please remember you are no longer Head Boy, Leonard, these matters should be left to faculty member." the man answered with a childish "Oops" gesture.
"As for you three, follow me." she added, threateningly.
Looking at the four of them leave, Leonard elbowed the small girl gently "She always liked me."
Twirling his horrifying wand, the man walked towards the Quidditch Pitch, leaving the Hufflepuff wordless, but not thoughtless.
"Those eyes... Why are they so familiar..?"

Growl
Sebastian was stopped in his track by a hand on his arm, turning around, he was met with Margaret's inexpressive face and those mesmerizing pale green eyes presenting a pretty looking pastry. "Eh, I'm fine." he said, greedily grabbing the offered food and shoving it in his mouth hungrily. "Why are you eating it, then?" wondered the girl.
Resuming their walk, Sebastian left a trail of crumbs behind them "I can't wait to show you the Undercroft" he said, mouth full of cake. "Ominis showed it to my sister Anne and I in our first year." he looked around, was he lost..? "A nice, quiet place to practice spells." he added, turning towards Margaret's face, wiggling his eyebrows.
Getting the crumbs off his robes and rubbing his hands in front of a strange looking armoire, Sebastian looked around for signs of Ominis and flicked his wand "Keep this a secret."
Having kept her silence all along, Margaret simply nodded and stepped inside.

Scratching his chin, Leonard stood in front of a caged bathtub... And a tied up Ravenclaw girl..? He squinted and lit up his wand.
"You are aware the tub is empty?" he blurted. "M-Margaret..?" replied a voice, weakly.
The man laughed out loud "Atta girl" he thought, smiling at his daughter's silliness. "Incarcerous? Kids these days..." he muttered, waving his wand and freeing the girl.
She stood up shakily and approached the locked door. "Oh I recognize your face from the yearbook... Evalyn Halliwell?" said Leonard, squinting.
"No! Euphemia!" pouted the girl. "Well, excuuuse me, Euphemia." he said, waving his hands "My eyes aren't what they used to be..." he added, mimicking an old man voice.
"My eyes aren't what they used to be!" mocked the girl before yelping in surprise as a hole opened up beneath her feet, she fell on her butt right next to the man, on the other side of the cell.
"Well? Off you go." Leonard shooed her out of the dark room, she scampered off, rubbing her sore butt.
Rubbing his hands together, he looked at the caged appliance. "Enchanted Bathtub, we meet again."
A grin on his face, he flicked his wand and freed the misunderstood menace. "Stynkerin no more."

Proudly displaying what looked like an abandoned cellar rather than a secret training area, Sebastian's voice boomed as he proudly announced "Welcome to the Undercroft!" quickly realizing Margaret was still standing near the entrance, he beckoned her closer "This is the perfect environment to get ahead in your studies, especially if your textbooks come from the Restricted Section." he wiggled his eyebrows again.
Margaret's unimpressed look was only disturbed by the visible movement of her biting the insides of her mouth as she readied her wand.
"Confringo!" he waved his wand and lit up a large round shape hanging from the ceiling. "Here, let me show you..." Margaret nodded, quickly flicked her wand three times and lit up the other three... Things?
Excitement quickly erased disappointment as Sebastian's face lit up "Say..." he approached the Gryffindor slowly "What else can you do?"
Thinking for a second, Margaret answered "I have something... Stand back."
Looking around the room for something to most likely destroy, the girl pointed at a sturdy looking statue of a dragon. "Geminio. Accio."
Her monotone, quiet voice still sent shivers down Sebastian's spine, or maybe it was the excitement?
"Hit it." said the girl, bluntly.
"Huh?" replied a confused Sebastian, she waved her wand and a powerful explosion hit the dragon right between its eyes, only leaving a black mark on the stone.
"Oh." Sebastian dramatically yelled "Confringo!", leaving a similar black mark on the statue.
Neatly folding her robes and pulling up her sleeves, Margaret approached her foe. "Incendio." Sebastian chuckled. "Incendio Duo." green flames burst out of her wand and enveloped the dragon, filling the room with a dangerous smell.
"Duo?!" exclaimed Sebastian, he was interrupted by another spell. "Incendio Tria." a powerful burst of blue flames blasted the statue; meters behind the girl, Sebastian covered his face from the bright light and intense heat, a completely different smell filled the room along with an eerie noise.
He looked around the room, squinting and waiting for his eyes to accommodate to the darkness: the statue was gone.
Excited, the boy exclaimed loudly "You melted that statue?!" the girl nodded.

Sitting in an empty corridor, Leonard was throwing a puffskein with an enchanted suit or armour, waiting for something, or someone?
"Leonard Megamelons! What a pleasant surprise to see you here! Are you still doing this?" said a ghost, the man bowed silently and set the puffskein in his lap, petting the overjoyed creature.
Coughing in embarrassment, the suit of armour returned to its very demanding duty of standing still as his companion relaxed with the purring ball of fur in front of him.
Mouth agape, a familiar Hufflepuff who had been observing him skittered over, hands held out, holding a large bright red apple. "Thank you for earlier, Mister."
The man chuckled, ruffled her hair and accepted the fruit silently; he patted the stone bench three times, exactly like Margaret called her cats, and the girl sat down right next to him, wagging her legs dreamily.
"You're Margaret's brother? Megamelons, that's her name, she's my friend!"
The man laughed loudly, his hilarity echoed through the hallways. "Her father, Margaret's my little girl."
Zaila blushed "But you look so young!"
"...It's a long story." he looked out of the window longingly. "Have you seen her?" he said, but the girl shook her head.
Leonard sighed. "Stay here! I'll look!" quickly interrupted the excited Hufflepuff.
Or at least she tried, before she tripped on something, somebody, who had the very odd habit of sleeping anywhere, especially in the middle of empty corridors, a Slytherin boy; gaunt enough to be a Gaunt, named Ominis, despite not being ominous.
"What's the meaning of this?" he grumbled, trying to sound more angry than embarrassed. Zaila was paralyzed.
"My boy, I'm afraid you've been pranked." said Leonard with a stern tone, trying to salvage Ominis' decorum, he pulled him up his feet with a firm hand and dusted his shirt off. Squatting next to the girl laying on the floor, he half-whispered "Did you find Margaret? Is she hiding under the carpet?" the embarrassment quickly turned into laughter as the girl ran down the corridor.
Still smiling, he turned towards Ominis and reassured him "This never happened." He sat down again, biting into his fruit while Ominis left the corridor, slightly confused.

"I can't believe it..." Ominis clicked his tongue at the "sight", the entrance to the Undercroft was littered with crumbs. "This is how you get rats." he thought, before noticing there actually was a rat.
Meeting the rodent's eyes, he slowly approached the curious creature creeping among the crumbs; the encounter was cut short by the very familiar sound of the armoire opening: two blank faces stared at each other, one not seeing in front of it, the other not looking in front of it.
"How did you get in there?" he blurted, angry and frustrated at his recent humiliation.
"Mhm." hummed Margaret wordlessly. "What kind of answer is that?" he thought?
Looking at everything but the boy in front of her, the Gryffindor noticed a familiar rat and discreetly lowered her bag to let it climb in, behind her, the characteristic loud footsteps of Sebastian approached. Margaret stepped aside to let him pass, a new passenger resting comfortably in her bag.
"This was supposed to be our secret Sebastian." said Ominis, sternly. Sebastian opened his mouth to protest but he was interrupted by Margaret. "Hello, Zaila."
Ominis frowned and pushed Sebastian towards the Undercroft. "Let's talk about this in private." Shrugging and smiling like a doofus, Sebastian waved at the two girls while his friend poked him down the stairs until the entrance closed itself and engulfed the two of them in darkness. "How could you leave me in the middle of the corridor again..!" scowled Ominis, half whispering.
Pulling the tall, pale girl by the hand, the energetic Hufflepuff smiled on her way back to the corridor. "There's someone looking for you!" was all she said.
All that awaited Margaret was the heartbreaking sight of the girl's smile turning into disappointment as she read the note left on the bench. "Tell me where to meet you."
Swishing her quill on the piece of paper, Margaret answered her father; she wiggled her slender fingers at the sad girl to get her attention before blowing on the paper: it folded beautifully into a graceful bird and flew towards her father, somewhere.
"Thank you." said Margaret, bluntly, quickly turning back and leaving the corridor.

Though the first half of the day was not what she had expected, Margaret spent the afternoon in peace and quiet, studying with her rat friend, sometimes interrupting the schoolwork to exercise or chat with a girl that seemed to appear out of thin air; a relaxing and uneventful afternoon.
"There you are, the Megamelons girl!" said a voice behind them, the two girls jumped in surprise "Which one? Her? Mine?" thought the Hufflepuff "Which one? Hers? Me? thought the Gryffindor.
Clanking and creaking, an odd looking enchanted suit of armour approached the duo, bowed loudly and left, struggling a little with the rough terrain.
The two girls shrugged at the odd encounter.
Leonard's mind wasn't something his daughter expected to understand and he loved that fact.

Sitting on the pier, a lone white haired girl with a rat on her shoulder watched the beautiful spectacle of a spectral Thestral dancing and prancing across the surface on the lake while the sun slowly traded places with his pale and gentle sister.
Behind them, the sound of steps in the sand broke the silence, a man approached them, his knees popped loudly as he sat down next to Margaret, grabbing her by the opposite arm and planting a kiss on her head.
Confused, the rodent's mind raced "What is happening?" she thought, should she attack him? Is he abusing her friend? She wouldn't let him. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the man's wand, he pointed it at the lake as she was about to pounce him and a beautiful blue light erupted from the eerie catalyst.
A spectral Peruvian Vipertooth joined the Thestral in its dance as the man held the Gryffindor tighter. The rat's eyes moved up the man's wand towards his face and those pale green eyes she could recognize anywhere: Margaret's.
"How is mother?" said Margaret, in English, for some reason.
"She misses you." answered Leonard. "But I thought you might want to see her." he turned his wand towards his daughter and his patronus rubbed against the girl's face.
"That's a cute pet rat." he said, holding out his hand.
The curious rodent sniffed his hand and climbed on, he chuckled at the tickling feeling of the animal exploring his shoulders and smelling him, exposing his warm and gentle soul; despite this, she felt uneasy; he smelled like nothing, like a predator; a hunter; a killer; someone who doesn't want to be found, and his flawless and statuesque appearance betrayed his skill. Yet her friend was relaxed... Or rather not as tense as she would've expected.

Smiling gently, Leonard pulled treats from between his fingers like a carnival magician: salty crackers; vegetables and cheese; and offered them to the animal.
The three of them stayed by the lake for a while, sharing snacks, giggling at the tickling of a small mammal climbing around them and wordlessly bonding. Though he was glad to see his daughter, Leonard's heart was heavy: he missed how she used to hug back, how she used to smile, how she wouldn't stop talking; he held his daughter tighter and rested his cheek on her head.

Free of wariness, the little rat climbed around the father playfully, trying to get him to giggle and enjoying the pettings from the two Belgians, perhaps uninhibited from being a rat, the Hufflepuff felt a twinge in her heart whenever Leonard looked at his daughter, she felt something was wrong, she felt his sadness.
Letting out a very recognizable sigh, Leonard stood up, resisting the habit of kissing animals he gently placed the rat on his daughter's head with a mischievous smile; he grabbed her shoulder with the intention to kiss her goodbye but stopped in his tracks at the sight of his daughter's blank face.
"I'll make sure to bring your mother next time." he said, his back turned on the duo, before apparating away.

Slipping from between her friend's fingers, the rat quickly climbed to her cheeks and rubbed her face against them affectionately.
"Thank you." whispered Margaret. "I'm tired, sorry." she grabbed the rodent and gently placed it on the pier. "You can use the key tonight. Goodnight." added the pale girl, before whispering "Sorry."

Sneaking out of sight, the rat turned into a blushing girl, angry with herself, ashamed of herself, laughing and wheezing as she entered the secret cottage, feeling like banging her head against the wall would be a sensible thing to do.
Lost in bad thoughts even after a shower, the Hufflepuff's train of thought was thankfully interrupted by a soft knocking on the door, followed exactly one minute later by the door opening and an overencumbered Gryffindor.
"...I brought supper." she said. "There were people in the Common Room and I felt bad because I left you alone but I didn't want you to be mad at me and you looked kind of sad... And I thought we could sit around again and you could talk to me..?" she trailed off, interrupted by an uneasy but warm smile on her pale friend's face. Margaret returned an equally awkward smile.