A crash, a scream, and a thud.
Lavender Brown raced down a flight of half collapsed stairs, her wand clutched tightly in her hand. So far, since she had finished helping all the underage students out of the castle, she had not encountered any trouble. More crashes issued from the corridor at the bottom of the stairs and dust billowed up towards her.
She rushed off the staircase and into the corridor. A jet of purple light, which she avoided by diving behind a cracked statue, whizzed past her head.
Several feet away the squat figure of Alecto Carrow stood over a fallen student, her wand pointed at his chest. Lavender squinted to see through the dust and smoke filling the air and saw Ernie Macmillon, his chest rising and falling heavily, blood pulsing from a gash on his forehead.
Alecto cackled. “Think you’re brave? There’ll be no medals for you where you’re going.” An arrow of sickly yellow light shot out of her wand as Ernie lurched out of the way. It missed his chest but hit his thigh, causing him to cry out in pain. “Didn’t like that, did you, blood traitor?”
Still hidden behind the debris, Lavender watched the scene in front of her, unsure of what to do. Should she get help? By the time it would take to find someone, Ernie would surely be dead. Think you’re brave? She looked down at the Gryffindor badge pinned to her robes. You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart.
--
When Lavender was ten her mother took her to the cinema.
As they queued up in front of the booth marked ‘tickets’, Lavender dressed in an old frock that she had found in the family’s ‘emergency Muggle situations’ box, she turned to her mother.
“What are we doing here?” she asked, looking a man dressed in a funny-looking tartan jacket waiting in front of them.
Her mother smiled fondly down at her. “We’re here to see a movie.”
Still, Lavender was lost. “What’s a movie?”
“It’s something Muggles do for fun,” she whispered. “You watch a big screen and people act things out on it.”
“Oh.”
The movie featured a broad-chested, attractive man and a busty heroine. The woman reminded Lavender of her mother, beautiful and unflinching. There were some parts that she didn’t quite understand because she spent a large portion of the film wondering over the screen. It was like a giant photograph with sound. She had enjoyed it immensely.
“Did you enjoy it?” her mother asked her as they filed out of the cinema.
“I really did!” she beamed. “I don’t think I could ever be as brave or as pretty as she was.”
“Don’t be silly!” Her mother brushed a strand of hair off Lavender’s face. “You’re my little lioness!”
Lavender herself did not quite believe it, but she smiled anyway, glad that there was someone who thought she was brave.
--
“Abbot, Hannah!”
Lavender gazed up at the ceiling of the vast hall- it was unlike anything she had ever seen. Shiny stars winked down at her and the moon loomed, large and reassuring, in the distance.
The tall girl next to her was shaking with nerves; she had confided to Lavender during the boat ride that she was very worried she would not be Sorted into a good House. Lavender was a little nervous herself.
She thought of her parents. Her mother a brave Gryffindor, her father a Ravenclaw. She did not think she was at all brave like her mother or smart like her father. Where did that leave her?
Lavender jumped at the sound of her name being called; she hadn’t been listening. Swallowing her nerves, she hurried forward and sat on the stool. The old, dusty hat was placed on her head. It fell right down over her eyes. She hoped that the other people who had been Sorted before her had washed their hair recently.
Ah, yes. Let’s see what we have here.
She was surprised at the voice, but her father had told her this would happen. She waited patiently for the hat to continue.
You seem to have a strong sense of loyalty, as well as a fair amount of courage…
The hat was silent for a moment, then, We’ll make it… “GRYFFINDOR!”
The Sorting Hat was plucked off her head and she was shepherded towards the Gryffindor table. She was the first person to be placed there. Gryffindor… She would have never thought that she would be Sorted there.
Wildly happy, she sat down next to a handsome blond boy, blushed from head to toe, and giggled when he shook her hand in congratulations.
--
Lavender strolled slowly down the corridor, making for the library. She had just left the Room of Requirement after her forth DA meeting and was feeling very good about it. It had been the first time that she had ever successfully stunned anything.
She slowed her pace as she heard voices. It was not very late, so she would not be in trouble for being out of bed, but she would like to avoid any encounters with Filch or Umbridge, who were always patrolling the corridors lately.
As she advanced slowly, she could see two seventh year Slytherin boys standing in front of a girl up ahead. She was short and skinny, obviously not very old. Lavender crept forward quietly to hear what was being said.
“Are you deaf?” one of the boys demanded. “He said that it costs two Sickles to use these stairs.”
The young girl shook her head timidly. “I-I’ve taken these stairs before… you don’t need to pay.”
“Used these stairs before, have you?” the other said. “That’ll up your staircase tax to two Sickles and five Knuts.”
The girl’s eyes glistened in the lamplight. “I haven’t got any money,” she whispered.
The boys took their wands out of their robes. “Oh dear,” the tall one said. “That won’t do, not at all. What do you do to people who skip off on the staircase tax, Danny?”
Danny slapped his wand against the palm of his hand, causing red sparks to shoot from the end.
Lavender didn’t wait to hear what they did to people who skipped the staircase tax. “Leave her alone,” she said loudly. Her stomach felt like it was going to jump up her throat. They were seventh years, after all.
The boys spun around in surprise, afraid they had been caught by a professor, but relaxed when they saw it was only her. “Stay out of this, Gryffindor.”
The sound of her House name reassured her. “Why are two big Slytherins like you picking on a little first year?” she asked, trying to keep her voice level.
The tall boy laughed. “Would you rather we picked on you?” He directed his wand towards her.
Without letting herself think of what would happen next, she whipped her wand out of her pocket and cried, “Stupefy!”
The tall boy collapsed in a flash of red. Danny took one look at his friend, snarled something crude at her, and took off down the stairs, leaving the other boy sprawled in the corridor.
Lavender stood there for a moment, looking at the unconscious Slytherin, breathing heavily. She had just stunned someone! Umbridge would have her head for this. Shakily, she smoothed down her hair.
The girl looked even more scared. “Don’t worry,” Lavender said gently. “You won’t get into trouble.”
She nodded. “T-thanks for helping me,” she whispered.
Lavender smiled. “What House are you in?”
“Ravenclaw.”
“I’ll walk you back to your tower.” Thinking for a moment, she took her wand and levitated the stunned boy into a little alcove behind a tapestry, at the end of the hall.
They both continued on down the corridor, the boy not visible to anyone passing by. Lavender smiled to herself. Someone would find him. Eventually.
--
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart.
Lavender took a deep breath and jumped out from behind her hiding place. “Expelliarmus!” she cried, pointing her wand at Alecto.
The Death Eater’s wand flew out of her hand as she spun around in anger.
Lavender ducked back behind the rubble as Alecto produced another wand, probably Ernie’s, from her robes. “Crucio!” she shrieked. The spell hit the wall, smashing it to pieces.
“Tarantallegra!” Lavender grunted in retaliation, but it missed her victim.
Alecto laughed and advanced upon her, making a slashing motion with her wand. Lavender hissed in pain as she felt a long cut open across her chest. She stood over her. “Avada-”
But she did not get to finish the spell. A flash of white light filled the corridor and she crumpled to the floor.
Lavender looked up, her eyes wide with fright and shock at Ernie, leaning against the wall for support, holding the wand that Alecto had lost.
“Thank you, Lavender,” Ernie managed breathlessly.
As she headed down the corridor, towards the sounds of screaming and crashing, with Ernie leaning on her shoulder for support, she kept her wand pointed in front of her, ready for anything. She now knew that she was, truly, a Gryffindor.