he is next to your wall
Fred and George descended noisily from the first carriage with Lee, talking animatedly.
‘Ready for another year of mischief?’ Lee joked.
‘Now, now, Mister Jordan, you would not assume that we actually enjoy the wrongdoing?’ George asked seriously.
‘Yes,’ Fred continued, ‘we did have the misfortune to get caught in series of, er… misunderstandings last term but we do hope to be better understood in the future…’
Lee turned back and saw what he was expecting; Percy Weasley was standing just behind him, looking sternly at the three of them. They hurried to the main entrance, cracking into loud laughs, and headed straight to the Great Hall. They were the first to enter it - except for the one person who was already at their table. They drew closer, but they couldn’t recognize the girl. They took seats near her and Fred extended his hand genially.
‘Hi, I’m Fred, and this is George and Lee. I don’t think I know you.’
‘Hi, I’m Cybele,’ she said beaming. ‘Er, I’m a new-comer actually, second-year.’
‘We’re third-years, nice to meet you. You come from another school, then? Have you been Sorted yet?’
Now, what the heck does he mean by that? Cybele thought frantically, wondering wildly if she should be offended. She looked at them stupidly. The Lee boy had already left her as a bad job and was peering into a large box he had carried in with him.
Great, she thought, I didn’t even manage to make it one minute into a civilized conversation. This is going to be painful…’
‘The Sorting Hat,’ George said helpfully, ‘has it placed you in a House yet?’ She could tell he was wondering if she had a brain problem or something, but it helped nevertheless.
‘Oh, yeah, the Hat. Yes, I’m in Ravenclaw.’
The boys exchanged a look that did not seem good, and George kindly gave the final blow.
‘Then you’re a bit lost; the Ravenclaw table is two tables down, see, with the blue and bronze decorations.’
Cybele was resigned to make a total idiot of herself in front of three senior students and readily stood up, determined to save face and to leave to her table with a brave smile and a thanks, when the Fred boy decided that the situation was not quite embarrassing enough. He offered his arm in an overly gentleman-like manner and pompously declared, ‘I shall escort you back to your table, then, if you are determined to deprive our House of your charming company,’ with a comical flourish.
Well, it was actually quite nice, and she didn’t have a choice rather than to play along at that point. She took his arm bowing slightly and answered, ‘Yes, thank you,’ in the most dignified way she could.
But before they could leave the table, Lee purposefully tipped his box in her direction and a huge hairy spider fell out and tried to re-establish its balance, slipping on the waxed wood, inches from her.
‘Wait, you haven’t meet Phil yet,’ he said with a mocking grin.
Cybele could tell he was hoping her to yell or jump or disgrace herself even further, and she thought nastily, Well, too bad for you, Lee-boy, but this won’t work.
‘Beautiful,’ she said, propping a delicate finger under the beast to help it re-establish its balance.
She bent to let her face much closer to the giant spider.
‘Good evening, Phil.’
She then turned to Fred, whose arm she was still holding coolly. The three boys looked impressed, even Lee, after he looked just a bit disappointed for a second.
‘This way, please.’ Fred resumed in his pompous way, this time genuinely smiling at Cybele.
‘See you around!’ George called enthusiastically. She smiled back at the two boys, thrilled to have won them over after such a pathetic beginning.
‘We may need your help with the monster, Cybele, it’s totally out of control,’ Fred whispered urgently in her ear on their way.
‘Anytime!’ She could not help but grin.
The Great Hall had quickly filled with students and the Ravenclaw table was quite full except for one end, just as were the three other tables. Fred seemed to know some of the youngest students and he bowed to them before taking leave of Cybele with flourishes, helping her to take seat among them.
Now, that was quite an entrance, she thought.
Cybele put on her full uniform and a Hogwarts robes in the morning, as she had noticed that Cho, Lucia and Marietta had theirs ready.
The evening had not gone bad at all after Fred had escorted her to her table. The small group of Ravenclaw second-years had proven to be nice and open. They had asked a number of questions but, even if she did answer quite vaguely to some of them, she had managed not to sound too awkward.
The Sorting, as they obviously called it, had started after the Hat sung a ridiculous song, and a handful of first-years took their places at the end of their table. She had been happy to welcome them just like the older students had. They all walked back to the Ravenclaw Tower together and the three girls who would share her dormitory had been really nice.
They were almost ready now, and she did not know if she should wait for them or if that would be just pushy. She decided to casually leave first with a, ‘See you at breakfast!’
‘Hey, Cybele!’
She turned back at the door, hopeful.
‘You’re leaving without your wand!’ Lucia was pointing at her bedside table.
‘Oh… thanks.’
She grabbed the wand and ran out.
On her way down, she thought about the previous afternoon’s song lyrics. She was still holding her wand. Every single student she had seen so far were holding their wands or kept them in a pocket and popped them out every so often, checking them, shaking them at each other. When you’re wandless, you’re useless, was that what the song said? There were so many things she would like to learn more about, but she couldn’t ask her new friends without raising suspicions or looking stupid. She would meet Professor Snape, but she doubted he would waste his time answering questions about the Wizarding world. If only Eslis were a bit free.
She was the first in the Great Hall. No, there were three boys at the far end table; Lee, Fred and George, actually. She wondered if she should pass by their table to say hello, or just go for hers and sit down and just wave if she could catch their eyes, but then what if they thought she was snubbing them? She cursed herself. Why did she have to be so awkwardly shy sometimes?
As she was stuck at the entrance, George spotted her and waved her to come, which she gratefully did.
‘So, how’s Ravenclaw? Any hope to see you come over after all?’
‘They’re cool, my roommates are really nice. How’s cohabitation with Phil?’
‘A nightmare. Care to join us for breakfast? We need help. Badly,’ Lee said.
‘Yes, almost as much as the pleasure of your delightful company,’ Fred added pointedly, resuming his gentleman game and actually giving his friend a scolding look.
She sat down next to Lee.
‘So, where did Phil come from?’ she started.
But the boys were keen to ask her more about herself and they sat there getting to know each other better until their breakfast appeared on the table. She waved at the girls when they entered the Hall and she thought they gave her a curious look. I hope they’re not on bad term with these boys, she thought, dreading the answer. Then she was introduced to some Gryffindors, who she found gave her the same curious look… not hostile, but...
She decided to try the boys. Fred and Lee were deep in some joke.
‘George,’ she called, ‘I don’t mean to be paranoid or what, but coming from abroad and all… You would tell me if I did or ate something I shouldn’t have, right? Because people look, what, taken aback… or…’
Now Fred, Lee and George also looked taken aback… ‘God,’ she thought. But it was something else.
‘How do you know he’s George?’ Fred asked.
‘Well, he is,’ she answered sternly.
‘No, I’m George, actually, but never mind,’ Fred tried.
‘No, you’re not,’ she confirmed calmly.
‘How do you do that?’ Lee asked. ‘It took me months to start distinguishing them and if they want they can still confuse me any day.’
‘Are you gonna answer my question or not?’ she asked.
‘Miss Philius,’ McGonagall called at this point. She had walked up behind her. Fred, George and Lee suddenly became engrossed by their cereal. ‘Professor Flitwick was looking for you, how come you are not at your House’s table, is anything wrong?’ She did not leave time to answer and handled a piece of parchment. ‘This is your time table for the term, Miss Philius. I suggest you join your fellow Ravenclaws, they will be familiar with the classroom locations.’
‘Thanks, Professor.’
The boys now looked up from their bowls.
‘Are you related to Flitwick?’ George asked, referring to her family name.
‘What? No. It’s his first name isn’t it?’ She looked down at the parchment and spotted it.
‘Besides, the spelling’s not the same, his has been Latinized.’ The boys assumed a vacant look at this last statement.
‘I’d better join the girls,’ Cybele said, rising from her chair.
‘Hey, mind coming over to us to look into the Phil problem?’ Lee called. ‘What about Friday? Nine at the Gryffindor’s common room.’
‘He means nine in the Great Hall,’ George corrected. ‘I’ll pick you up. Honestly, be practical,’ he hissed to Lee.
She rushed to her table and sat down next to the six other Ravenclaw second-years. The girls seemed in deep private conversation, and giggling. Ben was talking with his elder brother and other older boys further. Archie and Pete, though, were peering over their time tables.
‘This is the Monday from hell!’ Pete was complaining.
She looked down at her timetable. Monday was packed with double classes.
‘How’re the teachers?’ she asked conversationally.
‘Well, the Potions master is an absolute nightmare. Mind you, the guy knows his stuff and you can learn in his class, but he’s just disagreeable for the fun of it, apparently. Quite nasty, really,’ Pete provided.
She looked down at her time table. Professor Snape. Well, she would see for herself.
‘Then Defence Against the Dark Arts,’ Pete continued, ‘impossible to know, right? It just changes every year. Last year’s girl was an Auror from the Ministry, just on a one year replacement. She was all right’
Here she was lost again. Auror? Wait, Auror, like yesterday’s maniac…
‘We just have one hour for lunch,’ she noticed.
‘Yeah, and then two more double classes in the afternoon, deep in mud outside,’ Archie added depressingly.
‘Let’s go, we’ll be late and get changed into bats by Snape.’ Pete took the lead.
She had made acquaintances easier than she thought she would. Obviously it would take time to ever become really close to anybody as the groups were already formed for one year and she persisted at being shy and awkward. However, the real integration challenge had turn out to be the magic and the classes.
She had relished in being able to act herself, but then there had been this all wand and spell business. Sure magic was part of witches and wizards, but they weren’t magic; they were performing it. They were wearing it on the outside, in their wands. She simply was growing to hate the little wooden stick. She was finding herself playing pretend in all her courses.
Potions had been all right. For sure, Professor Snape proved to be very disagreeable in class, especially to the soft Hufflepuffs they were sharing class with. He obviously loved potion brewing but she was not sure about the teaching. And he was ignoring her so well that she could have wondered if she was real! But she immediately liked the topic because it did not use wands, except for stirring, which was a real, not fake, action.
She would not tell it to Archie and Pete, or anybody as it was, but she was very likely to consider Monday her favourite day, as most classes were not focused on wand work. She was actually learning things in Potions and Herbology. Defence Against the Dark Arts, though, consisted mainly in performing very easy things but having to memorize a movement and a spell in Latin to go with it in order to fit in… Besides, the teacher was jumpy and smelled weird.
Most teachers had already set homework the very first week and the Ravenclaw second-years had made a group and settled together in the library after lunch. Cybele gratefully hung out with her new Gryffindor acquaintances in the Great Hall instead, but most of the Ravenclaws went back to the same library table after dinner too, and she went to join them then. She felt already so much in a routine; it was a very comforting sensation.
On Friday evening, Cybele and Ben were the first ones to get back from the library, around eight. Ben pestered her about the Potions essay all the way up and then left her to join his brother and his friends. She sat in a comfy armchair near the fire and started feeling, as usual, very self-conscious. Nobody she knew was around and she felt awkward sitting alone and purposeless in her armchair. She should have taken a book from the library.
As she could really not stand it, she took out her three essays and read them again. That took about ten minutes. So she stood and brought back her bag up from the dormitory; she would go and borrow a book from the library on her way to the Great Hall, where she would meet George. She magically changed into dark blue docker trousers and a soft grey woolen sweater as her brass watch appeared back around her neck, before she went down. All second-years were back in the common room now, but Cho, Lucia, Marietta, Archie and Pete did not see her pass and she reached the door dreading that they would find her rude to have left like that. She had not manage to bring herself to come to them and interrupt their lively chat just to tell them where she was going… she felt the familiar burning sensation in her stomach that followed an access of shyness.
Madame Pince, the librarian, was not the most helpful person. It was more like she was guarding a jail, really; the fewer books that left the shelves, the better, in her point of view. She was presently scolding an older student for asking for a title she could not find. She was the third adult she had seen here yet who was not quite fit for her job, with Professors Snape and Quirrel. Obviously magic did not simply save the day. On witnessing that, she decided she would try to wander in the library by herself instead of asking.
It was a beautiful place: a huge room, all the length opened on tall delicate arched windows and the arched ceiling painted with famous historical magical scenes. Behind Madame Pince’s large counter was also an encaged restricted section, as to reflect the librarian’s own interpretation of the place.
Cybele went left and started to stroll among the shelves, reading the brass tags. She found it right at the bottom: literature. There was a handsome display of two shelves. She wondered if this would be wizarding literature or Muggle classics. Picking up some of the unfamiliar volumes and reading the back covers, she realized it was a mix, in alphabetical order, regardless of the Muggle or wizarding origin of the book. Muggle literature was in a wizarding edition, though, with lengthy introductions to enable sorcerers to understand the context of the Muggle classics. She picked up two wizarding volumes: a novel about the adventures of a potion brewer hero in the sixteenth century which was rated on the back cover as “impressively documented “ will take you in the depths of Muggle’s alchemists mysteries” and a compilation of tales, entitled Legends of the Wandering Wands.
Cybele ran out of the library, it was past nine already. She ran all the way to the Great Hall, which was closed, but still waited for five minutes before George appeared and led her to the Gryffindor Tower, where she was again copiously stared at with what looked like curious disbelief upon her entering. They immediately made for the corner where Fred and Lee were discussing over the large brown box. Both boys beamed up at them.
‘How was your first day, Tourist?’
‘Fine...’ Cybele had not seated yet and a lot of Gryffindors were still looking at her. She through of trying and ask again the question left without answer the first morning by McGonagall’s interruption.
‘About the other day…’ Cybele gestured to a group of staring older Gryffindors who quickly looked away when the boys spotted them. Understanding drew down the three boys’ faces.
‘Oh, that, the Houses,’ George started.
‘You did not have Houses in your old school, did you?’ Fred asked.
‘I was taught at home.’
‘I see,’ George continued, ‘well, it’s not too usual that people from other Houses come to our common room,’ he explained.
‘Or sit at our table,’ Fred added.
‘We’re happy you do it, mind you!’ George added quickly.
‘But it’s unusual enough to make Ravenclaws and Gryffindors do a bit of staring. Just don’t take it personally,’ Fred concluded.
Cybele felt relieved that even though she had done something against the norm, she at least knew what. It did not sound that bad anyway; therefore she could take the slight attention it was drawing. She sat down among the boys, near Lee’s famous box.
‘It’s getting frantic,’ Lee was explaining. ‘Now if we open the box it just fights its way out as fast as it can.’
‘Well, then I suppose we’ll just have to let it loose outside, no?’ Cybele answered. ‘Let me look.’
Lee opened the box just enough to make out the shape of the spider. Its numerous eyes were glittering and it passed a shaking hairy leg out. Cybele pushed it gently back and closed the box.
‘The problem is,’ George started hesitantly.
‘What?’
‘Well, we don’t know if it’s really safe,’ Lee finished.
‘How did you even get it? Found it?’
‘In a way of speaking…’ Lee started.
‘Lee’s parents are zoologists,’ Fred explained.
‘Lee tries to live up to the family tradition,’ George went on.
‘And fails miserably,’ Fred completed.
‘Thanks,’ Lee said gloomily.
‘Anyways, half of the books in the magical creature section are written by his family members or ancestors, actually,’ Fred resumed.
‘Lee’s mother is a Scamander, they’re famous here,’ George added.
‘So, you stole poor Phil from your parents’ lab?’ Cybele asked in disbelief.
‘Er… technically… yes… There were so many of them at the time, I guessed my parents wouldn’t see the difference; and as far as I know, they didn’t.’
‘Wow, they were many like this one?’
‘Well, that’s the other problem: when I stole it a week before term started, it was really tiny, you see.’ Lee was making a ring with his thumb and finger.
Fred chuckled when he saw Cybele’s horrified face. .
‘It’s a baby!’ Cybele cried.
George started to chuckle too.
‘And it’s growing… fast!’ she stuttered.
They nonsensically burst into laughter, soon followed by Lee.
‘I really don’t see what’s so funny!’ But Cybele was soon laughing too. It felt good. The Ravenclaw second-years were nice and bright, but not really fun. Archie and Pete were nice and engaging but just too polite, the girls were charming but too much on the girly giggling side and Ben was downright distant. None of them were as warm as Lee, Fred and George. Communicating with them was easy and fun, guaranteed as long as one was not haughty about being teased.
‘Seriously,’ Cybele resumed later, ‘I don’t think it’s feeling all right closed in this box. We’d better find out more about it and how to get rid of it. Any ideas?’
‘Well,’ Jordan started, ‘the fact is, we’ve been doing some reading…’
‘… Which has resulted in a monstrous find,’ Fred admitted.
George summoned a thick library book and handed it to Cybele.
‘Monstrous Creatures and Some Whose Existences Have not yet Been Proven,’ she read.
‘Page seven, if you please,’ Lee invited.
‘Acromantula?’ she read.
‘Seems it could be that, yeah,’ Lee confirmed.
‘Right, it doesn’t sound like anything we cannot handle! Says a nest of them can reduce a Hippogriff to bones in less than five minutes. We just need to find a nice fat Hippogriff, whatever is that, to distract it while we let it loose on the school grounds!’ Fred and George laughed at that, but Lee looked a bit sick.
‘A Hippogriff is larger than a horse, I saw one once,’ he said.
‘Oh! And I assume Acromantulas are in the “existence already proven” category?’ Cybele asked.
‘Well, yes, it is, what do you think?’
‘They say here that Acromantulas can talk,’ she advanced.
‘We could test that!’ Lee said enthusiastically.
‘I don’t know, it may be too young,’ George reminded the group.
‘But we may check if it understands! Look, what does it eat?’ Cybele asked.
‘Well, we’ve been feeding it owl treats for a while now and it takes it…’
‘Right, give one here,’ she ordered.
She placed the hermetically sealed owl treat in her back pocket and slightly opened the box.
‘Hey, Phil, we got something to eat for you, here. I have an owl treat for you; it’s in my back pocket.’ She opened the box more. ‘Come and take it, would you?’
The large spider jumped on her lap and quickly reached a long hairy leg to her back pocket to drag back the owl treat. It was eaten with the paper in a split second and Cybele pushed Phil a bit roughly back into its box, fearing it would make for one of their limbs next. She peered back through the book.
‘It says that only two magical spiders can understand human languages,’ she recited from the book, ‘Acromantula and Histiomantula. Histio is a legendary vampire spider, existence not proven. I don’t think it would relish on owl treats, anyway. That leaves Acro…’
‘That leaves how we get rid of it,’ Lee corrected.
‘What about coming clean to your parents?’
Lee looked at her with an air of disgust.
‘All right… Do you know anywhere we could go and ask about where the animal could be safely released, without being immediately reported to Hogwarts?’
Fred and George caught each other’s eyes and started grinning.
‘Knockturn Alley,’ they said together.
Lee gave a wide smile.
‘Hello, I’m a foreigner!’
‘Well, it’s a Wizarding street in London where most shops would occasionally deal with illegal stuff, so they don’t ask too many questions. We’d better pretend we are interested in buying or selling, though, as they are not exactly the helpful lot otherwise,’ George provided. He turned to Fred and Lee.
‘How do we get there without our parents ever finding out?’
‘Well, can’t we sneak out this weekend?’ Cybele asked.
‘Wow, kids can do that back in your country? Wicked!’ Lee exclaimed. His face fell, however. ‘Couldn’t dream of it, here. The only way to get out is with a note from the family, if we go back to them during the weekend, for example.’
‘So, you guys could ask your parents to go back and we would sneak out for an hour or two…’
‘That’s gonna look fishy; we’ve been here only one week; why should we want to get back so soon?’ Fred was mused. But then Lee jumped up.
‘The Wuthering Wands!’
‘What about them?’ Fred asked.
‘The Wuthering Wands! They have this concert in what, two or three weeks? We could pretend we won tickets from the radio! We haven’t been in detention yet, so no reason our parents would say no, we’ll just pretend to go and have a full two hours of violent heavy metal to investigate Acromantulas in Knockturn Alley!’
‘Brilliant!’ the twins exclaimed.
‘Let’s just hope they keep Phil under control until then…’ Cybele thought.