#aprilprompts2021

[demig00ddess]

Sleeping Beauty

Charlie Weasley x MC

A/N: The 5th day of the HPHM April Prompt Challenge 2021 by @stupendousbookworm !

I know I'm late, but from a small sketch it turned into a completely unplanned full chapter that perfectly fit into the storyline.

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CHAPTER FIVE

AROMA OF AMORTENTIA

1989

End of the first semester.

The Potions classroom was in an unusual state of excitement. The girls whispered conspiratorially and occasionally giggled. This was due to the fact that for the third lesson in a row they studied love potions so that interest in the subject increased dramatically. Emma had even heard that the sixth-year girls who had not chosen the Potions for the NEWT were sighing and complaining in frustration. She wasn’t interested in this topic, there were many other ways to subjugate the will and mind of other people, and she didn’t want to discuss guys. Maybe another time Emma would have kept up funny conversations with her classmates, but she had been in a bad mood for a long time, so she sat alone at her desk, painting a piece of parchment.

“We’re finishing the topic of love drinks and potions.” With the appearance of Professor Snape, all conversations immediately died down. “Today we’ll turn to the most powerful and dangerous of love potions. Which one, Weasley?”

Emma had seen Charlie run into the dungeon a moment before Snape and sit on the Gryffindor side. Now he was hastily spreading his textbook and inkwell on his desk.

“Em… Amortentia, sir?” Snape nodded in displeasure.

“Amortentia is known for being the most powerful love potion in the world. It is forbidden in the magical community and its use is strictly punishable by law. Also, Amortentia is a very difficult potion to prepare and therefore is included in the list of required potions for passing the NEWT in my subject. Apparently, the Ministry thinks you’d rather learn how to brew it from a potion master than try to poison your victim yourself,” Snape curled his lips in a smirk. He waved his wand and instructions appeared on the blackboard, written in small, even handwriting. “Everything you need to know is indicated in the textbook, here are additional recommendations for brewing. I don’t expect anything worthwhile from you, but by the end of the lesson, your potion should at least show its basic properties. Who will list them?”

There was silence in the classroom, and the pages of books rustled. In Potions class, rarely did anyone dares to answer at will.

“Anderson,” Professor Snape was walking past her desk.

“The potion has a pearlescent colour, its steam rises in curls and it has a special smell,” Emma tried to remember, yesterday before going to bed she leafed through the textbook. “Amortentia smells for everyone of what they like best.”

“Five points to Slytherin, for the fact that at least someone bothered to open the book before class. The potion is complex and time is short, so today you work in pairs. You can get to work now.”

Emma cursed to herself, she could use some help. But she had sat down alone and now watched blankly as everyone split into pairs. A Gryffindor girl with a long braid, whose name Emma kept forgetting, came up to Charlie, who was also sitting alone. They started talking about something. Emma winced and turned away. Lately, she often watched Charlie from afar. If earlier the abundant attention of girls to him amused her and served as a reason for harmless teasing, now they began to annoy her.

Lost in thought, Emma set up the cauldron and began rereading the textbook, looking for instructions for the first step.

“Can I join?” Charlie sat down beside her, laying out the ingredients for the potion.

“But what about um…” she shook her head towards the girl with the braid, who was already sitting with another Gryffindor.

“Sarah?” Charlie was embarrassed. “I told her that we agreed to work together. You won’t chase me away, will you?”

He made a plaintive face, making Emma laugh.

“One more sound from your side, Anderson, and you can be free for today,” said Professor Snape.

“Let’s start,” Charlie whispered. “I’ll crush the claws, and you can cut the roots.”

They worked incredibly well together, understanding each other without words. Emma admired how he skillfully handled the knife, crumbling the ingredients.

“If you brew potions as well as you cook, then we already have an excellent mark in the bag.” Charlie chuckled at her words and poured pearl dust. Emma immediately stirred it three times, added the moonstone and put the lid on the potion.

Time passed very quickly. Snape was right, Amortentia was really hard to prepare, they couldn’t be distracted for a minute. By the end of the class, there was a cauldron of mother-of-pearl shining liquid in front of them, exuding a pleasant aroma.

“The colour is right, the steam rises in curls,” Charlie said, checking his textbook. “It remains to check the smell. Smell it. Do you feel anything? You have to distinguish between several smells that you like.”

Emma poked her nose into the cauldron, in which Amortentia was slowly bubbling. It smelled of freshly brewed coffee with hints of spice and tanned leather at the same time. She felt herself breathing very slowly, letting the heady scents fill her lungs. Emma tried to smell something else, but it was all drowned out by the familiar herby cinnamon-tinged scent of Charlie, who was bending down next to her.

“Coffee and leather,” she replied, forcing herself to move away from the cauldron.

“That’s all?”

“What do you mean 'that’s all' ?” Emma asked a little sharply. Charlie shrugged and glanced at the textbook.

“People usually can smell several things. About three or four. Maybe you didn’t scent it enough? Try once more.”

“I told you I smell. Maybe the potion is wrong?”

“No, it’s something with you,” Charlie said stubbornly. “The potion is correct, as described. We made it together. Take a good sniff.”

“I’m not even going to! If you want to, check it yourself.”

“I can’t,” Charlie was confused.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with you today? Do you even care what we’re doing?”

“So maybe you should have work with Sarah back then. Or better with Penny! Then everything would have worked out for sure,” snapped Emma, ​​resentment seized inside her, making her want to cry or hit someone. It was not her fault that she could only smell a couple of smells. Or was it? Maybe she didn’t smell what she liked because she didn’t love anyone? Maybe it meant that she was generally incapable of loving someone since even the most powerful love potion did not work with her to the end?

“What does Penny have to do with it? You’re acting weird!” Charlie was indignant.

“Says the one who is interested in dragons more than people. I’ve always been weird. Or did you mean mad?” Emma blurted out the last sentence too loudly.

“I warned you, Anderson,” came Snape’s cold voice.

“I’m done now, Professor,” she said through clenched teeth. “This stupid potion doesn’t work anyway.

“Crazy girl,” Charlie muttered.

She filled a bottle of potion, signed it, and set it on Snape’s desk before storming out of the classroom.

~~~~~~~~~

Emma was sitting in her room and cleaning her bag and textbooks by magic. In the Potions class, she shoved the inkwell into the bag with such force that it shattered and poured emerald ink all over the contents of the bag. She was angry with herself and her outburst of gratuitous wrath. Over the past couple of months, she and Charlie have grown quite distant from each other. He didn't invite her for Christmas, although he and Bill had always invited her to the Burrow a month before the holidays. They stopped chatting and talking to each other about everything, and it depressed her. And then also this stupid fight.

Emma got to her feet, she didn’t want to go straight to Charlie, but there was another person she had been avoiding lately. She needed to talk to Penny.

Penny was sitting in the library, surrounded by books about the magical properties of West Wells herbs. She was so engrossed in her research, biting the tip of her quill, that she didn't notice Emma landing on the bench next to her.

“Emma?” Penny didn’t even try to hide her surprise; they practically didn’t communicate for a couple of months.

Emma hugged Penny and sighed heavily. She had to deal with everything she said and everything she thought.

“Hey, what happened, dear?” Penny stroked her back affectionately. Emma felt even nastier at heart. After avoiding Penny for a long time, her friend was still worried about her.

“Penny, I’m sorry,” Emma hid her face in an embrace.

“Emma, what’s wrong?”

“I… I’m just a terrible friend and a terrible person,” Penny looked at her in surprise but didn’t interrupt. “I really didn’t mean to avoid or hurt you. And I was being selfish with you. I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore. But you’re my best friend, and Charlie’s my best friend. And all I want right now is for you to be happy together.” Emma was blinking frequently, not letting her tears come out.

“First of all, I’m not offended at all that you’ve been avoiding me. Sometimes we need to take a break from communication, I understand everything. And secondly, me and Charlie together?” Penny asked, startled by the tirade.

“You are a lovely couple,” Emma smiled, wiping her reddened eyes with her sleeve.

“But,” Penny giggled awkwardly. “We’re not a couple, Emma.”

“What?”

“I don’t like Charlie in this way, and indeed,” Penny threw a laughing glance at her friend. “He doesn’t like me either."

“But…” Emma felt a pleasant warmth spread over her chest, she felt a little easier and wanted to smile. “But you are constantly together. And Charlie said that you became very close. And… So you’re not a couple?”

Penny grinned and scratched her nose with the tip of her quill.

“Is that what Charlie said? Oh, he should be better at choosing his words. We really got close, but it was because of you.” Emma looked up at her in surprise. “After Rowan passed away, you were emm… in a terrible state. Avoided everyone, refused to talk, didn’t sleep or eat, and tormented yourself. I couldn’t bear it, and Charlie, generally went crazy, seeing you like this. Anyway, we tried to come up with something that would cheer you up, bring back our usual Emma. But you didn’t want to talk to Charlie, and was running away from me — ”

Emma interrupted Penny with an impetuous hug. She gasped with such pressure but responded to the hug. They sat for a long time, in silence, under the displeased glances of Madame Pince. Finally, Emma pulled away.

“And what about you two became close?”

“We didn’t really talk to him before, except when you were around. Not all your friends are friends with each other. And now we’re hanging out because he asked me to pull him up on potions.”

“Now I feel like an even more terrible person,” Emma sighed heavily and looked away. Penny smiled affectionately and tucked in a strand of hair that had strayed from Emma’s hair.

“Good people make as many mistakes as bad people. The difference is that they find a way to fix them. And since you came to talk to your best friend, then you are definitely not a bad person. You and Charlie had a fight, aren’t you?

Emma groaned (Madame Pince shushed her indignantly) and buried her nose in her friend’s shoulder, now their quarrel and her resentment looked even more stupid.

“We were brewing Amortentia on Potions.” Penny’s eyes widened excitedly. “And Charlie said I can’t smell only two smells.

“Usually people can smell at least three,” said Penny. She took thought and chuckled cheerfully. “Was Charlie around?”

“Yeah, he climbed into the cauldron with his instructions. You know, he smells like a little bit of grass and cinnamon, so he interrupted the whole smell of the potion!”

Penny giggled, unable to stop. Madame Pince shushed at them again and headed towards them.

“What?” Emma frowned uncomprehendingly, looking at her laughing friend.

“I just wonder what Amortenia smelled like for him.”

“I don’t know, we had a fight and I left,” she bit her lip. “I need to find him and apologize. What a fool I was!”

“Get out of the library if you don’t know how to behave properly!’ Madame Pince hissed at them. Emma apologized in a whisper, hugged Penny goodbye, and went in search of Charlie.

~~~~~~~~~

It took her a long time to find Charlie. He was flying alone over an empty Quidditch field. Emma waved her hand, attracting his attention, and, waiting for him to come down, ran to hug him. But something stopped her and she froze right in front of Charlie, gazing into the snow-covered field.

“Is everything all right?” there was concern in Charlie’s voice, but his tone remained cold.

“I wanted to apologize. I was out of sorts and lashed out at you, even though it wasn’t your fault. I couldn’t have done the potion without you. And anyway…” Emma wanted to say, ‘Anyway, I couldn’t have done it at all without you’, but the words stuck in her throat. She felt herself blushing, her face seemed to burn so that the snowflakes melted before they reached her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

“Apologies accepted,” Charlie replied dryly. Emma winced, it would be better if he yelled at her. But he lowered the broom and sat down directly on the snow. Emma without thinking twice sat down opposite. “I never thought you are mad.”

“I know,” Emma nodded, crushing the bitterly cold snow in her hand. “I like your fascination with dragons.”

“It seems only you,” Charlie grinned, Emma also smiled slightly.

“Maybe Hagrid, too,” Charlie laughed at her comment.

“Well, I’ll have to talk to someone about dragons when Hagrid’s busy. And you’re the only candidate.

“Best friends, then?” Emma asked timidly, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Of course best friends! Never stopped being them, snowflake!” Emma laughed, she always liked that nickname. Charlie frowned, noticing that she again walked in the cold without gloves. He took off his huge warm mittens and put them on her. “You’ll freeze your hands off someday!”

“Nah,” Emma smiled again. For the first time in a long time, she felt so light and good that she wanted to laugh and sing. Charlie was smiling too, noticing her good mood.

“Oh, I completely forgot to ask. Are you free for Christmas? I wanted to call you to us,” he offered embarrassedly. Emma shook herself off the snow.

“Mom will still be in America, so I’d love to! I can’t miss your mom’s Christmas pie!” They both laughed, dispelling the last drops of tension between them.

The two of them wandered through the snow for a long time, until they were chilled and hungry, and Emma felt that her feet were completely wet. Having rolled down the last time from a large ice slide, they went to bask.

“Have you smelled our Amortentia?” Emma asked as they reached the castle.

“Yeah, we did a good job. I checked, although I already knew what it would smell like.”

“What it was?” she asked, not hiding her curiosity.

“An extinct fire, a forest, a pumpkin pie, and,” Charlie paused a little, smiled at her and blew a snowflake from her eyelashes. “A frosty winter morning.”

“You certainly have taste,” Emma laughed.

“That’s for sure,” Charlie smiled again, not taking his eyes off her.

With these words, they entered the castle.

#aprilprompts2021 #hogwarts mystery #sleeping beauty #emma anderson #charlie weasley #penny haywood #hphm #hphm mc #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hogwarts #hphm charlie #harry potter universe #harry potter #hp #hphm characters

[indigobackfire]

HPHM April Prompt: Day 7

Prompt # 7 - MC's first kiss

@stupendousbookworm | Uuuhhh, I might have to cheat on this one, because my MC's first kiss was not with her #endgame love interest — spoiler alert, it was with Ben, — but I had written some of this already and it's WAY more exciting. So Barnaby's and Indigo's first kiss together. One day late but I had to do it ;P

An arrogant Gryffindor challenges Barnaby Lee to a fight the old way, and when defending Indigo's honour is more important than keeping himself out of trouble, he can't help himself but accept.

And when amends have to be made, their feelings might come into the light.

Characters: Indigo×Barnaby, Chiara chameo.

Timeline: End of year five-ish — I haven't even got half way through year five so if anything sounds out of place I just haven't been there yet.

Content Warning: Violence, blood.

///

"What did you say about her?" Barnaby asked the cocky Gryffindor one year below them, Derek Vonner. Impressively snob for a muggleborn and infamous for his arrogant attitude.

Indigo and Chiara who were having a chat in the courtyard with Barnaby, and who also overheard the insults shared a look, but before they could say anything, the boy smirked and continued. "I said she's a lunatic and an imbecile." He looked straight at Indigo. "Your cursed vault insanity is bringing all of Gryffindor down, just like your brother did."

Indigo couldn't be bothered, it had been a while since someone had made this big of a fuss about the vaults and her brother, but then again, it wasn't the first time. She was somewhat hurt but not much fazed by it.

Barnaby standed like a wall between them. "Now, you offend her, you offend me."

"Is this a threat?"

"If you want it to be."

Indigo stepped beside the two who were standing face to face. "Guys, please, he might've offended me, but dueling is still prohibited out of the club."

"Please, Barney," Chiara pleaded with her soft voice.

"And I'm still Gryffindor's prefect so-"

"Silencio," Vonner casted nonchalantly with a flick of his wand towards Indigo. "Just shut up, wil you?"

Barnaby became livid in a way nobody, not even the Slytherins, have ever seem him like, gripping the cocky Gryffindor's cardigan by the collar.

While that happened, and more people surrounded them, Chiara undid the silencing charm and made sure she was okay.

"Hey, I still mean it, no dueling!" Indigo shouted once she had her voice back.

"Why don't we resolve this the muggle way then?" Vonner suggested with a smirk.

Not Indigo nor Barnaby had much muggle blood in them, but they both knew what that meant. Chiara scooped closer to Indigo, afraid the boy might pull out a knife or something of sorts, but it was simpler and safer than that.

"Barney, please," Indigo said when she saw the shine in Barnaby's eyes — they were much alike in this aspect, always hungry for a fight.

He handed her his wand. "Hold this for me."

And Vonner imitated the move offering his wand to one of his friends who were laughing excitedly at the scene. He also took off his cardigan and cracked his knuckles to set the mood. Vonner, at least by the looks of it, seemed like he could stand against Barnaby in a fight — reasonably strong and tall.

But too much of a show off or perhaps watched too many fighting movies, as while he bounced around and mumbled threats under his breath, Barnaby punched him cut and clean.

Chiara gasped, but Indigo had to hold back a laugh from how funny and gracious it looked.

But the Gryffindor wouldn't stay down for long, swinging for the first time which Barnaby swerved, then again hitting him on the side of his face making a loud sound when his fist meets his jaw. But it's when Barnaby moved his mandible with a loud crack to get it back in place that everyone cringed.

The Slytherin then smiled in a way that would've fooled even Indigo into thinking he's a wicked boy, raised his eyebrows and while Vonner stepped forward for another punch, Barnaby swerved again, hitting him right on the stomach in a way it pulled sounds of wincing from the small crowd. Vonner curled to his knees with the pain.

"Seems I'm quite good at the muggle wa—"

Vonner thought quick and while Barnaby was distracted, swiped a leg behind his feet and pulled him to fall on his back. Vonner straddles him and begins a punching fest that makes even Indigo's stomach turn.

Barnaby's face became as red as Godric Gryffindor's soul. Covered in blood.

"Is the Silverwood bitch worth the beating, you himbo!?" He shouted at Barnaby's face nearly spitting.

But Lee is stronger and in a single blind punch makes Vonner draw back. With a swift move of his leg, Barnaby inverted the scene and pushed the boy to the ground and punched his ear with force.

Vonner stopped for a moment, holding his ear and writhing in pain and dizziness. Beside Indigo, Chiara moans in agony.

"Make them stop, Indigo. He could've damageed his ear!"

While Chiara's speaking, Vonner reacted and started trying to retaliate without much success. With his face pressed down to the ground, one foot awkwardly kicking Barnaby's leg, there isn't a chance for him. And Indigo knew that Barnaby had the strength to knock him out cold if he wished to — if he loses his control.

"Barnaby!" She shouted.

He looked at her with sweat dripping down his forehead, those tiny green eyes still sparkling. He stepped back leaving room for the boy to sit up, letting down his guns, to which Vonner responds by punching Barnaby straight on the mouth.

And before either of them can do something about it a shout cuts through. "The cat's out of the box!" Which every Gryffindor knows, McGonagall is making her way there.

And while most rush to get themselves as far away from the confusion as possible, the three friends stand there frozen. Vonner stumbles his way out of the courtyard followed by his friends, and despite his terrible attitude, Chiara can't shut down the healer inside her.

"You mind if I go check on the boy?" She asks Indigo hastly. "I know you can take care of Barnaby but those idiots... I wanna check if his hearing is okay, he could've hurt his eardrum."

"No problem and don't worry about us, if needs to see Madam Pomfrey, make sure he does."

Indigo kneels by Barnaby's side while Chiara runs after the others. He's still taking the blow from the punch, his torn lip bleeding — besides his nose and eyebrow.

She runs a thumb over his bruised cheekbone making it dissapear with some magical focus. "You are such an idiot, Barney."

"I've been told that before."

In the low murmur of the courtyard in which people are still watching the two of them from the outskirts, they can hear the tap of McGonagall's heels on the stones getting louder, his eyes widen.

"You are so screw—" she began saying.

But with a single pull, gripping her loose tie, their lips met and with all the adrenaline overflowing in his bloodstream, he couldn't feel a drop of pain, just the ecstasy of finally kissing her. A built up of years, months in which every second counts, but now meant nothing, because he was kissing Indigo bloody Silverwood.

In her stomach, the flutter of wings made her nearly dizzy as his lips move ever so softly over hers, the taste of his blood seeping through when she corresponded, taking the collar of his shirt in a fistfull, a low hum coming from her throat.

It's the third time McGonagall called their names when they finally attended to her angry reprimand. "What on Merlin's name is going on here? And what happened to you, Mr Lee?"

They both raised to their feet.

"I punched him," Indigo spits out.

Minerva's eyes widen. "Wha— Punched him? What for?"

"Because—"

Barnaby wiped the blood off his chin only to create a smear. "I asked her. To punch me. I did. I wanted to see what it felt like. The first times were too weak then I asked her to do it again. She just went a little too hard on the last one, but it's okay," he spoke nearly without a pause.

She looks at Indigo flabbergasted. "Is that it, Miss Silverwood?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him, professor. We're friends after all. We were being idiots to say the least."

"Mr Lee is then sweating like that because?"

They share a look. He shrugged. "Because I'm hot?"

She looked at them more confused than ever before, wondering at what to make out of the scene and their explanation. She scanned the courtyard but everyone was making a not so good job of pretending to mind their own business. Yet people all around watched perplexed, some laughing, some anxious to see what Minerva would do to them.

"And the... public display of... affection? Right here on the open of the courtyard?"

"That's my fault," Barnaby promptly said. "Couldn't help myself."

"Right… I'm not punishing you for the punch as it was… consensual, nor for the kissing as it isn't technically prohibited in school grounds, but for the scene you cause. This is no behavior for a prefect. Specially Gryffindor's prefect."

"I'm sorry, professor. I promise none of the sort will ever happen again."

"I do hope so. Detention tonight for both, I'll send an owl with your due obligations."

"Sorry, professor," Barnaby said, looking down at his feet.

"Sure, Mr Lee, just… clean yourselves up. There's blood all over your faces."

Barnaby raises his head and looked at Indigo's face, his blood on her lips like smudged lipstick, a deep shade of red burning on her cheeks.

***

"Why did you kiss me, Barnaby?"

They had moved away from the crowds, by the edge of the forest, sitting side by side on a stone bigger than an Acromantula. She hadn't gotten news from Chiara, but hoped she had the situation handled or else it would blow on their faces sooner than later.

"So professor McGonagall would think that was what we were doing before," he said proud of himself. "I saw it in a... what did she call? A film Penny showed me over the last school break when I visited London."

She would've been a tad jealous of that if she didn't know Penny's obsession over Skye Parkin which was a bit too intense for just some regular Quidditch supporting.

"Well, that I was kinda aware of, but com'on, Barney. Come clean, what did you really do it for?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"I'm not mad, I just wanna know why."

He looks her in the eyes. "Because I wanted to. I've been meaning to do that for a while. Because I really really like you. For the longest time."

"Me?" He nodded, confused at her confusion. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I tried to show you but you never seemed to notice. Also cause I remember you saying you liked Charlie last year and then you helped Ismelda try to get to me."

She sighed. "I had a crush on Charlie but I kinda gave up on it, everybody knows he only cares about dragons and will probably marry one." He laughs softly. "As for the Ismelda situation… I felt bad for her and she seemed to like you a lot, and maybe on the right occasion you would have liked her too."

"I couldn't like her, not because of anything she is or is not, but cause I liked you."

She stared at him for a moment, her heart racing in her chest making all that silence very loud. She had closed his cuts with her wand, the little crust of dried blood over them as the last sign not to mention the bruise on his jaw, legs and clavicle she wasn't able to vanish entirely due to her nervousness. Still, he continued to look as breathtaking as always.

"If only you had told me," she said finally looking away.

"I was convinced you wanted someone smarter. I'm not the brightest, you know that."

"Since when do you like me?"

He smiles, a faint blush to his cheeks. "Uh… I always had my eye on you. But I guess when you stood up for Ben against Merula our first year. It was so brave. But then she convinced us to hate you, to fight for those stupid vaults. I turned my admiration into anger."

First year, they were kids and she didn't remember much of him from that time except from the sorting hat ceremony and the lake crossing. And the fact that with one look she knew, at that tender age, that he would break many hearts. Sure enough, she was right — didn't expect, though, one of those to be hers.

"Must've been fun to spy on me then," she laughed, nudging his shoulder, "back in the third year. Well, up into the point you straight up told me."

"It was worth it. I did memorize your schedule after a while, better than anything from any class. It was a good excuse for my fixation." He laughed a bit louder. "And when you tried to fool me with your clones?"

She laughed too. "We spent so long on that Polyjuice potion, only for you to ruin it all this quick."

"I could still tell which one was you because… I just knew you." He took her hand in his, much bigger and both warm. "I would still know you with my eyes closed."

She rested her head on his shoulder, solid like bedrock, and held back his hand.

"But then you tried to convince me to leave Merula's side," he continued, "I was the happiest I could've been. I was just playing hard, y'know? You could've convinced me with way less."

"You did tell me your life's story in one sitting over a glass of butterbeer."

"I wanted you to know me. The whole school knew Indigo Silverwood the Hogwarts curse-breaker and how her brother did this and that, and I was so jealous cause I wanted you for myself, to know your secrets and your dreams. When I couldn't have that I chose to give what I wanted from you."

She was one breath away from breaking into tears. "Sometimes I wonder if they love me or hate me."

"Who cares? You know, I was completely fallen when we duelled for the first time. You were so fierce and talented and cunning. I swear I would've won if you hadn't mesmerized me."

And with that she breaks down, she could take the love confession but the correct use of big words to describe how he felt, made her heart go into a pace so fast, her chest was hurting. "This isn't fair!"

"What?" He asked embracing and comforting her.

"That you look so dreamy and that you're telling me all these wonderful things while the only thing I can tell is that I never even tried to approach you that way because I never thought I'd have the chance."

"Why wouldn't you have a chance with me? We've been friends for ages."

"Because you're the most handsome guy in all of Slytherin, not to say the sweetest, most caring, most loyal, the strongest, the kindest, and half the school is in love with you and I'm by far not the best looking one of them nor the most considerate, dragging you all into this cursed vault and R dangers."

Barnaby's stomach is flooded with butterflies at her words, wanting more than anything to melt in her arms.

"I'd go anywhere, fight anything for you. I think you're the prettiest and smartest and my favorite person, I don't know how you didn't see that." He took a deep breath. "Didn't see that... I love you, Indigo."

She looked up at him, his eyes glowing green and wild like the Scottish highlands, cheeks a shade of pink, lips wet and red. She brushes her thumb over them. "Barnaby," she whispered getting closer.

"That's me."

She rested a hand on his shoulder and pulled him nearer until their lips are touching softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. The taste of yearning came clear to her as he pulled her even closer to him, parting his lips, seeping his fingers into her hair, holding her face as if she was water about spill from his palms.

When they parted, both pulling for air, he looked at her like he discovered the answer to a charade, like a niffler before a pot of gold, the way he looked whenever she complimented him. Indigo felt like she did flying on the back of a hippogriff when she looked at Barnaby. That boy, buckwild, alive, beautiful, and in love.

"I love you too," she said without having to think much, because it was true. And one doesn't have to think much to state the skies are blue or the grass is green. She loved him before she could call this love romantic.

He smiled and hugged her to the point of nearly crushing her in his strong arms.

"Oh, okay. Barney, you're stronger than you think, love."

He let her go. "Oh, sorry."

Without thinking much, she ran a hand down his biceps which gave him tingles in his stomach. "Poor Vonner to be on the other side of your fist."

He crossed his arms. "Pfft. I don't like hurting people, but I was over my head and he deserved it."

"Let's leave him behind us." She took his hand and uncrossed his arm. "Perhaps we should go out some time."

"Tonight," he responds automatically with a smile.

"We have detention tonight, B."

"Oh, yeah. We can have a detention date then. A datention."

She snickered. "Alright. Anywhere we're together is the best place I could ever be."

#aprilprompts2021 #hogwarts mystery #hphm #indigo silverwood #barnaby lee #fanfic #hphm ships #first kiss #barnaby x mc

[stupendousbookworm]

HPHM April Prompts 2021 - DAY 1

Today is the first of April, which means three things:

1 - the start of this prompt month

2 - the Weasley twins' birthday (happy birthday Gred and Forge!)

3 - It's april fools day mfs

Let's begin with the first prompt of the month!

*clears throat*

Today, we'll be focusing more on MC themselves, so we get to know them better.

Prompt # 1 - Write a paragraph or illustrate about an incident in MC's sixth year, when they went pranking with the Weasley twins, just to be caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris. How does MC escape?

Points to remember:

- Talk or draw a few of MC's characteristics that helps them escape Filch's office

- Slytherin and Ravenclaw MCs have an advantage here

- Remember that the Weasley twins must play a crucial role here

- House traits are very important

- Writers: this is to be written in 3rd person POV in past tense

For example:

MC slowly creeped through the dark halls, Fred and George closely following behind them. "Ready, you two? bring out the dungbombs" MC whispered. MC waved their wand and-

All right, that's an example. Remember to be very creative with this.

- For artists: if in case, you're drawing a magical prank item like a dungbomb, have a reference. It's better to have the picture coloured, and any paper or canvas size is okay. Remember to watermark your work once you're done, or even just sign it. Don't let any mf try to steal your work

- Your MC is unique, and belongs to you. MC is like your child, and remember to do them justice!

- Tag me (@stupendousbookworm) and use the hashtag #aprilprompts2021. I'll reblog asap.

- Don't forget to have fun. You have the whole day (24 hours) to work on it :D

Au revoir mes amis

#aprilprompts2021 #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #mystery kids of hogwarts #hphm mc #fred weasley #george weasley #happy birthday weasley twins #jacob's sibling

[lifeofkaze]

And Day 7 of @stupendousbookworm April Prompt Challenge as well. Wow that got longer than I expected! Lizzie’s first kiss actually wasn’t with any kind of romantic interest, but with her best friend Charlie under some peculiar circumstances. Enjoy!

Prompt # 7 - MC's first kiss

Lizzie’s heart was racing as she ducked around a corner and out of sight, Charlie close on her heels. They pressed themselves against the wall, trying their best to remain silent, as they waited for the air to clear.

After a few moments, Charlie’s little twin brothers Fred and George raced past them with a bunch of mistletoes in hand. They would have only needed to look over their shoulder to see them standing against the wall of the Burrow, trying to catch their breaths, but they were to preoccupied with the thought of finally ‘helping’, as they deemed it, Charlie and Lizzie to find to each other to even notice.

The way they had been hounding them with mistletoes ever since Lizzie, Bill and Charlie had arrived for the Christmas break would have been endearing, if Lizzie hadn’t been part of their objective and if it hadn’t made both of them seriously uncomfortable. Apparently, not even his family did believe Charlie when he told them time and time again that Lizzie and he were nothing but friends.

The twins were deadest on winning Lizzie over as their new sister, so returning into the mayhem that was the Weasley home on Christmas Eve sooner than they had to was probably a bad idea. Instead, Lizzie and Charlie wandered through the garden on their way to the gap in the hedges that lad to the vast field unfolding behind the property.

Lizzie leaned against the small shack where the family kept their old broomsticks. She watched as Charlie expertly picked the lock on the door with one of Lizzie’s hairpins; he had done this countless times before.

“I don’t even know why they’re so insistent,” she complained as she followed him into the shack to pick out a broom for herself. “It’s not like we ever gave them any reason to make them believe there’s something going on between us.”

Charlie shrugged as he rummaged around for the old Quaffle that had to be lying around somewhere. “Don’t be angry with them, Snidget,” his muffled voice came back to her as he dug behind a heap of blankets. He smiled triumphantly as he held up the dusty Quaffle and tossed it over to Lizzie. She caught it with one hand and rolled her eyes at him. He would never stop with these stupid nicknames for her.

“They just like you, you know? Ginny’s the only other girl in the house and she’s still so small. Everyone gets excited by new faces.”

“Yes, I know,” she sighed. “But it’s annoying anyway.”

She waited by the door for him to catch up to her. They were on the verge of leaving for the field when Charlie suddenly cursed under his breath.

“Those cunning little brats!”

Lizzie followed his gaze; her eyes went wide as she realised what the twins had tied to the doorframe. They must have known Charlie and Lizzie would long for a game of Quidditch sooner or later.

The mistletoe was swaying slightly in the breeze coming through the open door and Charlie looked at her apprehensively.

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

Of course she did. “We could just walk away,” she proposed, “no one but us knows we’re here.”

But Charlie shook his head. “That sounds like bad luck.”

She rolled her eyes at him once more; she hadn’t taken him to be the superstitious guy.

Setting the Quaffle and her broomstick aside, she stood in front of Charlie. He looked at least as uncomfortable as her at the idea of kissing his best friend. Neither moved to initiate anything so they just stood there staring at each other for a moment.

As both of them started to move at the same time, their coordination was off and Lizzie bumped her forehead against his nose. They cursed silently, rubbing at their hurting faces before laughing awkwardly.

“One the count of three?” Lizzie suggested.

Charlie nodded in agreement as he let go off his nose and put his hands on her shoulders. Lizzie glanced at them for a moment before she began counting.

“One.”

She locked eyes with him; he seemed to be just as nervous as she was.

“Two.”

Lizzie stood on her tiptoes while Charlie inclined his head towards her.

“Three,” she whispered before closing the remaining distance between them.

It took them a moment to position themselves in the right way; Charlie’s lips were much softer than she had expected them to be as they first brushed the corners of her mouth before meeting her lips properly. It still felt awkward to kiss her best friend, but not half as bad as she would have expected.

The broke apart after a few more moments. Lizzie quickly stepped backwards as Charlie let his hands drop from her shoulders. His freckled face was positively glowing with redness.

“Well, that was that,” he mumbled. “Wasn’t too bad, was it?”

Lizzie shrugged, her fingers playing with the long braid hanging over her shoulder. “It was alright I guess.” She peeked up at him. “Was that your first- “

Charlie nodded before she could finish her sentence. “What about- “

“Yeah, mine too.”

They were silent for a moment. “Better not tell anyone about it, right? Fred and George would freak out,” Charlie sighed.

Lizzie felt relieved that he had apparently had the same thought as she. She held up her little finger for him to take. “Agreed. Pinkie promise to never tell anyone what happened today?”

Charlie grinned down at his best friend as he hooked his finger under hers. “Pinkie promise.”

#aprilprompts2021 #lizzie jameson #charlie weasley #aob

[gaygryffindorgal]

HPHM APRIL PROMPTS 2021 - DAY 2

Prompt # 2 - We all know that MC is the hero of Hogwarts. But what if they weren't? What if MC was evil? Illustrate or write a paragraph about your MC, except they're evil.

I missed the first day but I’m here to offer you a very, very heavily canon-divergent au in which Verna has lost just a little bit of too much. These prompts are the courtesy of the awesome @stupendousbookworm

HPHM fic: One May Smile, and Smile, and Be a Villain

Summary: Verna has lost her friends, her brother, and her touch on reality.

Characters: MC, Merula Snyde, Wormtail, several random Ministry workers.

Pairing: OC/Merula Snyde

Warnings: Murder, violence, blood, arguing, unreliable narrator.

1994:

"We're done here," said the tall, dark-haired woman and stepped over a shape lying on the ground. The man with her flinched out of her way, as if the mere air around her was painful to stand in. The woman scoffed. "Pathetic, Wormtail. Clean up this mess," she said and with a loud pop, disapparated.

The man called Wormtail was left behind in a vast room, but he was not alone. Three shapes were laid out on the floor. Two of them unmoving. One was trying to reach out a hand, plead for help. Wormtail didn’t have a wand so he stepped closer and loomed over the man. "Please, please don't-" the man began, but speaking was clearly painful after what the Lady did to him. Wormtail wrapped his hands around the man's throat and squeezed.

After the deed was done, he set the place on fire. It was an old mansion, belonging to an esteemed wizarding family, with a long history of holding important Ministry offices. Wormtail watched as the flames engulfed the house and hoped that the Lady would be pleased. ~ The dark-haired woman apparated into a beautiful room, decorated with paintings and flowers, and Victorian furniture.

She set down her cloak on the back of an armchair and called: "Merula? I'm home!"

Not a hint of the previous malice was detectable in her voice. She smiled, as another woman entered the room, shorter, and somehow timid-looking next to the first woman. Her hair had outgrown its intended shape and her eyes looked tired. "Rough day at work?" Merula asked. The first woman nodded, and her smile didn’t falter even for a fraction of a second. "A lot of cases, I don't know what's gotten all these dark wizards on the move..." "Come here," said Merula and the woman walked into her open arms, embracing her. Later, when they were lying in their bed, Merula wanted to ask about the blood splatter on her lover's shirt sleeve. Or the way she cringed away when Merula touched her right shoulder. But she'd always been a coward so she said nothing. ~ The Ministry was trying to hide the murders. It didn’t matter. She didn’t care about causing hysteria. She only cared about revenge. Everyone she loved was gone. Everyone but Merula. And she’d do anything to keep her safe. Anything. Up to and including working with that wretch Wormtail. She had found him wondering Knockturn Alley, delirious and lost. At first she had felt sorry for him. Now she didn’t feel anything. Every kill became easier than the last. Initially, the killing curse hadn't obeyed her and so she had had to resort to more creative methods. But the longer she hunted for the people on her list, the easier it became. Still, she preferred to switch it up sometimes. She liked to see them realize that death was coming. They deserved to realize it. Avada Kedavra was too easy. Too painless. These people were the reason her friends were dead. These people were the reason Jacob would never get out of Azkaban. These people were the reason Merula was being hunted every single day of her life. They deserved to suffer. ~ The woman was terrified. Her wand gone, she was trembling but refused to stand down. "You killed all the others?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes. The woman with the dark hair stepped closer and pulled her hood down. "You're.. you're Verna Malinda? No- no there must be some mistake-" "You put my brother to Azkaban for killing Rakepick." Verna said, voice steady, cold even. She was holding her wand loosely in her hand, as if this was all just a bit of fun. "I was just doing my job!" the woman sobbed. "Yes, well... that's too bad." "Please, please don't do this! I can help you! I can help you get him out!" "No, you can't." "Yes I can! I can, I swear-" "You can't because you'll be too dead to do anything." Verna sliced her wand through the air in a swift, brutal motion. Seconds later, the Ministry official was lying on the ground, her throat slit. "Disgusting," Verna muttered and turned to leave but instead of an empty alleyway, she saw someone standing there, at the entrance to the alley. "Who's there?" she asked, pointing her wand towards the figure. It moved from the shadows, inching towards her. It was Merula. She looked shocked. But also furious. "What the fuck have you done? What was she talking about?? Who have you killed?" she demanded, face twisted in an expression of betrayal. "I..." "Don't fucking lie to me." Verna sighed. She didn’t have time for lies.

"I killed everyone who covered up the murders of our friends. And everyone who put Jacob to Azkaban." "You're insane." "You're telling me?" Verna asked, not moved by Merula's anger. "You tried to kill me multiple times at school, I don't think you have the moral highground here." "Fuck you! I changed! I worked to be a better person and I did all of it for you!" Verna shifted her weight around and crossed her arms. This was becoming complicated. "Merula, let's talk about this back home," she suggested. The dead woman's blood was beginning to seep through her boots. "What's your grand plan, huh? What's your endgame?" "I'm going to kill Dumbledore,” Verna said, simply. Merula stared at her in disbelief. "What? You'll get yourself killed!" "Maybe. But I can rage against the Ministry all I want, nothing’s going to change as long as that man keeps putting children at risk." "Fuck! You gotta be kidding me!" Merula cried out, frustrated, disbelieving, furious. She ran a hand through her hair and she looked beautiful. Beautiful but tired. Verna raised her wand and stupefied her. She didn’t have time for this, she had a plan to follow.

#aprilprompts2021 #hphm #hogwarts mystery #harry potter hogwarts mystery #merula snyde #hphm fic #*my writing #*mine #verula #mc x merula #yeah so uhhhhh evil!verna rights!!! #who else agrees she should just 100% straight up murder dumbledore? #uh idk what this even is sdkjflsdkjf i just started writing and this came out #sorry if it makes no sense besties #hopefully u can still enjoy verna completely losing her shit and murdering people :DD

[hphmmatthewluther]

HPHM April Prompts 2021, Day 9: The Next Generation

@stupendousbookworm ‘s prompt month continues, this time with a look at what the future holds. Meet Rowan Peter Luther-Snyde, and his brother, Abigail Anastasia Luther-Snyde, but not only that, a very special second cousin of theirs...(and by that, I mean my HPMA MC!)

Prompt # 9 - FANKIDS! fankids! FaNkIdS! FANKIDS! Any hphm player must have come up with HC's about MC and (Love Interest)'s children. Do whatever you want with this prompt.

“Right, now, what can’t we do while we’re there?” Matthew asked, looking down at a 6 year old girl with long brown and ginger hair, wearing a blue t-shirt and jeans.

“We can’t talk about magic, ‘cause they’re Muggles!” she squealed, “But we can’t call them that! Because they’re Muggles!”

“Good! And we came there by car, didn’t we?” said Merula as she grabbed a bag from the coffee table.

“Yep! Lying is fun!” Abigail Luther-Snyde exclaimed, causing the two adults to look at each other.

“I mean, she’s not wrong...” Merula admitted. “Oh, come on. You’re just jealous we can tell lies and you boys can’t.”

“I can lie!” a boy’s voice said from upstairs. Merula smirked.

“Right, are you almost ready then?” she asked.

“Y-Yeah, of course...” he said unconvincingly.

“Daddy, why can’t we tell the Muggles about magic?” the girl asked. Merula looked at the two of them.

“I’ll handle Rowan. You explain your favourite part of the Wizardry to her.” she ordered, before climbing up the stairs. “Rowan, if it’s your swimming trunks you’re looking for, I’ve got them right here!”

Matthew smiled at his wife, before looking down at his daughter. “Now, you know I don’t like lying, and I don’t think you do either.”

Abigail pouted. “It’s a bit fun...”

“Yeah, I know it is.” Matthew confessed, “but if we tell them about magic, they’ll just panic. They’d uproot everything wizards and witches have. If it is going to happen, it has to happen slowly, peacefully.” he explained.

“How slowly?” she asked.

“I don’t know, really.” said Matthew, “We’ve started with some magical creatures, like Diricrawls, but I honestly can’t say how long it’ll take. Though, it’ll probably be in your lifetime.”

“Aw, that’d be great!” said Abigail, jumping up and down.

“But don’t worry about that. Just enjoy the barbecue. You’ll get to see your Grandad Peter, won’t you?” At the mention of her grandfather, she started running around in circles.

“Yeah! He’s so cool!” she exclaimed, as Merula and Rowan, a thin ten year old boy with short brown hair came down the stairs, “And he’s way nicer than Nanny Lucy.”

Matthew sighed. “Yeah. He is. Come on, let’s get going.”

Matthew took Abigail’s hand, and then Merula’s. The two adults nodded, and the Luther-Snydes disapparated.

They re-appeared in an alleyway near some train tracks, and headed towards Grandad Peter’s house.

“Dad,” said Rowan, “Is anyone we know going to be there?”

“Well,” began Matthew, “Your Grandad will be there, obviously, and Uncle JJ, and your cousins, too.”

“But they’re not really our cousins, are they?” he asked.

“They’re your Grandad’s brother’s grandchildren.” Merula explained, “I think that makes them second cousins, but I’m not totally sure.”

They came up to a semi-detached house with a green door. “Ah, memories...” Matthew mused, “I grew up here, you know.”

“Yes, Dad, you tell me every time.” Rowan reminded him.

“Daddy, can I ring the doorbell?” Abigail asked. Matthew nodded, picking her up slightly so she could reach the button.

“I still think it shouldn’t be called a doorbell.” said Merula quietly, “I mean, there’s no bell, for goodness’ sake!” It didn’t take long for Peter Luther to open the door.

“Grandad!” both children exclaimed, running in.

“Hello! Oh, you’ve got tall, haven’t you?” he said, letting them all in. “And how are you two?”

“Never better.” said Matthew, “How about you, Dad?”

“Ooh fine, fine.” he said, closing the door. “JJ’s already here, he’s in the garden.”

Matthew nodded before heading down the corridor, passing a Muggle newspaper which read: ‘Return of the Dodo: Scientists find new variant of the long-thought extinct bird in Mauritius’.

“Were we really that late if JJ’s here before us?” Merula said to him, guiding her and the children down the house.

“I don’t think so...maybe he left too early.” he thought aloud. It wasn’t in JJ’s nature to be this early to family gatherings. Matthew found himself nervous.

“Don’t worry.” Merula reassured him, noticing his unease. “Don’t let this ruin today. Chances are he’s just getting his life settled after all that time adventuring with Olivia and Pascal. We should be happy he’s here.”

Matthew nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. As always.”

Merula blushed. “‘Course I’m right. Now, let’s enjoy this barby-queue, or however you say it.”

Matthew couldn’t help but grin as they walked out into the garden.

“Wow, Sunflowers!” Abigail yelled as they came out onto a relatively well-kept lawn with several flower beds to the side, a greenhouse in the back and a smallish apple tree in the middle. Being relatively well-off is fun, Matthew thought to himself, watching Abigail roll across the grass.

“Dad, when can we eat?” Rowan asked. Matthew had to stifle a laugh.

“Rowan, we’ve only just got here!” Matthew reminded him. “Look, it’ll be soon, I promise. Ah, there’s-”

Coming up to them was a man taller than Matthew with long brown hair hair and a simple black leather jacket . Matthew tried to read his expression, but his face was still.

“Ah, hey Matthew, Merula.” he said, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his face, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

A few feet away, Rowan and Abigail were watching the adults talk.

“Why does Uncle JJ always wear that coat?” she asked.

“Dunno. Maybe he just likes it.” Rowan suggested. “You always wear those clothes.”

“Do not! I sometimes wear my green trousers.” she said indignantly. “But they’re in the wash after Spencer did a poo on them. Come on, let’s explore!”

“Grandpa Timothy and Grandma Anna’s  garden is way bigger, though.” Rowan reminded her, moving towards a large group of bushes, with a path leading to the greenhouse between them.

“I know, but this one has more stuff!” Abigail exclaimed, “Their garden is just lawns. That’s only fun when you can jump in the cut grass and chuck it at each other. Plus, I’ve never been here before!”

“Yeah, because you can’t keep a secret.” Rowan informed her. “You had to stay home because you’d go blabbing to the Muggles.”

“That’s because I’m too nice.” she said sweetly. Rowan rolled his eyes. “What? I am! Everyone likes me, even Duncan does!”

Rowan sighed, admitting defeat. “Yeah, and I don’t know how you pulled that one off, considering Duncan’s-” he was about to say invisible, but as they came to the greenhouse they saw there was someone there. It was a girl who looked about a year older than Rowan with light brown hair, gazing at the flowerpots. She looked up at them.

“Don’t stop me.” she said, “Who’s Duncan, and why’s he so hard to impress?”

“He’s-” began Abigail, but Rowan stopped her.

“He’s a horse.” he explained, “Our other grandparents...they, um, own horses. Duncan’s sort of, um, difficult.”

The girl stepped forward. “So, Great Uncle Pete is your grandfather then?”

“Yep. I’m Rowan, and this is Abigail.”

“How’d you know he was our Grandad?” Abigail asked, slightly confused.

“Well, he said ‘other’, so I could guess.”

 Abigail gasped. “Wow, you’re almost as smart as our Dad! I’d bet you’re a R-” Rowan coughed suddenly, “a, um, really smart person, yeah!”

“Thanks, I guess...” said the girl with a little suspicion. “Oh, I’m Jane, by the way. Jane Luther.”

“So you’re one of our cousins!” Abigail yelled, “Yay!”

“Indeed I am.” Jane said. She looked down at the young girl. “Does- do your parents let you dye your hair?”

“No, I came like this!” she announced proudly.

“Wow, lucky…” she muttered before looking up at Rowan, “So, what are you doing here?”

“We...wanted to look around, you know...” he explained, “They said the food’s not going to be ready for a while.”

“Uh, I know, why can’t they start already?” Jane complained, “It’s stupid.”

Rowan nodded at that. “So, where are your brothers and sisters?” he asked. At this, Jane’s smile faded.

“They didn’t have to come. Mum and Dad said they were old enough to choose. And they still wanted me along, even though I’m eleven in a week.”

“Hey, so are you, Rowan! He’s ten next Saturday.”

“That’s so weird, my birthday’s on Saturday too!” she exclaimed, “What are the odds of that happening?”

“I dunno, one in a billion maybe?” Rowan suggested.

“One in a bajillion!” yelled Abigail. “So you’re birthday buddies! That’s so cool! Wish I had a birthday buddy...who isn’t an abr...um, a horse.”

“Having a horse as a birthday buddy would be cool.” Jane thought aloud. Try a horse with wings, Rowan found himself thinking.

“I wish your brothers and sisters were here. They’re really missing out!” Abigail said, choosing a nearby tree to climb. “Plus making new friends is fun.”

“You’d think so, but they’re all moody teenagers.” Jane fumed. “Honestly, when I’m a teenager I’ll never be that moody.”

“Yeah!” said Abigail, “Happiness forever!” she said, before starting to climb her chosen tree.

“Hear, hear!” said Rowan, before joining the tree climb. Jane watched them for a moment, before shrugging and climbing up too, easily outpacing the other two. They each got to a high solid branch and paused to take a breath.

“You’re really good at tree climbing.” Rowan said between breaths.

“I try my best. Sometimes it feels like the tree wants me to climb it, like it pushes me upward.”

Rowan nodded, though there was something about that statement that got him thinking. After all, his father did very much the same thing all the time, often leading to brilliant deductions from him. But he was having fun, so he kept it in the back of his mind. From there, they moved up the branches until they were near the grown-ups, who were all deep in conversations.

“Say, did you hear that stuff about the dodo?” Jane asked them. Another bell went off in Rowan’s head as Abigail shook her head. “Well, they were this flightless bird that were found in the Victorian times, and we thought they had gone extinct. But luckily we found some more recently! They say they’re having difficulty getting ahold of one for study, but they’ve decided that they’ll just leave them be and give them all sorts of animal protections.”

“Aww, that sounds great!” said Abigail, “I mean, it’s not like it's easy to catch something that vanishes!”

Rowan almost fell out of the tree. Jane brought her hand down to catch him, but he just so happened to grab a hold of another branch, which allowed him to pull himself up.

“Careful there, Rowan.” Jane said, breathing a sigh of relief, “Almost took one mighty tumble. Anyway, the dodo!” Abigail gave Rowan a look. Rowan gave one right back at her. Each of their looks meant the same thing. You idiot, what if she realised?! But they each turned back to her when they realised that she had stopped talking.

“Wh-What’s wrong?” said Rowan, nervously. Jane pointed at a tree at the far end of the garden.

“He’s still got Christmas lights up...It’s June, and he’s got...” she trailed off, before climbing back down and racing over. Abigail and Rowan glanced over to see a tree at the other end of the garden to see a tree filled with red lights, that looked somewhat pretty in the dusky sky. But their father had taught them about every Magical Creature there ever was, and they knew exactly what this meant.

“Clabberts!” They said together, before rapidly climbing down the tree.

Some way away, Matthew and Merula were still talking to JJ, as well as Matthew’s cousin Oliver, and his wife Rebecca.

“Well, Pip, I’m impressed. You’ve done awfully well for yourself.” JJ said, smiling.

Oliver nodded, “Yeah, I mean I knew you were well off, but...”

“Really, it’s not that big of a deal.” Matthew said, his hands raised. “It’s just-”

“It’s just you have a good job and my family is filthy rich.” Merula butted in, causing everyone to laugh.

“So,” said Rebecca, “You’ve got two of your own, have you?”

Merula nodded. “I only saw one of yours, though...”

Oliver sighed. “Teenagers. Not much you can do to get them to listen to you, is there?”

Matthew gave a forced laugh, “Glad we haven’t had to deal with that just yet.” he said, scratching his head nervously. “I imagine Jane will be going to secondary school soon, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Not long now. We’re sending the applications soon. The ones in our area aren’t...well, the local comp was good enough for me and you, weren’t they?” he said to Rebecca. Suddenly, Rowan and Abigail ran past them.

“Now what are they up to?” Merula wondered aloud. The sun was setting, and the sky grew darker. She looked at them. They weren’t running out of excitement. “I’ll be right back,” she said before moving towards them. Matthew started to follow her, but JJ put a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait.” he said. “This needs to happen.”

Matthew’s jaw dropped, before pulling JJ’s hand off of him before running off after Merula. JJ sighed before following, with Oliver and Rebecca moving towards the action too.

“JJ, what’s happening?” Oliver asked nervously.

“...Oh, nothing to worry about...probably.” he said nonchalantly, before running in the direction of his brother.

Rowan and Abigail found Jane near the foot of the tree, looking up at the lights.

“It’s odd...” said Jane, “Why hasn’t he taken them down?”

“Jane...” said Rowan nervously, “You should get away from there.”

“Why?” Jane asked, a thousand thoughts obviously flying through her head. She did back away, but only slightly, and she kept her eyes on the tree. “Hang on a minute...”

“Jane, wait-”

But she had seen it. There were no Christmas lights hanging in the tree after all, but several small lizards, with their pustules flashing red whenever they expanded in size. At once, they all looked down at the three children.

“Oh, gosh...I’ve never seen...but that’s...” Jane stammered, moving her hand forward towards one. Rowan immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him. All the lizards’ pustules flashed bright red, before diving at the children, ready to bite.

“NO!” said Jane, as Abigail and Rowan braced for impact. But it never came. They slowly lowered their arms to see about a dozen of the lizards frozen in mid-air above them. Rowan looked at Abigail. She shook her head. Abigail pointed at Rowan. He shook his head. They both turned to Jane, who still had her hand in the air. It was glowing ever so faintly.

“What? I don’t...I don’t…” she stammered, stepping forward, her eyes looking between her hand, the lizards, and the Luther-Snydes, hoping for an explanation.

“Oh...” said Rowan. “Jane...you’re a...”

“Does that mean we can tell her?” asked Abigail, eagerly, “Does it? Does it?”

“T-Tell me what?” said Jane, nervously. “Tell me what?!” At that moment, Merula appeared. She looked at her children, then at the Clabberts, then at Jane.

“Ah...” she said, stepping forward. “Fancy that.” Soon, Matthew arrived, followed by JJ, Oliver and Rebecca. Jane looked back at her parents as she held the many lizards in mid-air.

“Hey, Uncle JJ, hey Dad! Hey, Oliver and Rebecca!” Abigail shouted, “Look! Look! Jane’s a witch!”

“I’m a what?” she asked incredulously, before Matthew moved forward, taking a long wooden stick out of his pocket and pointing it at the lizards.

“You can relax.” He said, calmly. “I’ve got them.” Jane dropped her hand and the glow faded; the lizards dropped for a moment before rising back up to the same level.

“Hey, JJ.” said Matthew, scowling at his brother. “Care to explain?”

Before he could say anything, there was a wumpf noise. Rebecca had fainted.

***

“I told you the book moved on its own!” Jane was saying an hour or so later in between mouthfuls of hot dog, “And I told you about the cow that turned green! And that owl I saw with a letter in its talons! And the alleyway that vanished! And that weird pink thing with cat ears!”

“Well, how were we meant to believe it?” Oliver retorted, “It’s not exactly believable.”

“And now you have seen it for yourself.” said JJwistfully, who was now without food as punishment, “It’s a wild ride, huh?”

“And you can button it.” said Merula, pointing her wand at her brother-in-law. “And if you ever risk my children’s health to prove a point again-”

“-Mum, they were just Clabberts-” said Rowan.

“-Then I will put you back in that portrait for another eight years, got that?”

JJ nodded rapidly, looking down at the ground. “So it’s true then,” Jane said, “What Abigail told me. I’m… a witch?”

Matthew nodded. “It definitely seems that way. I mean, so’s she. And Merula.” he said, pointing to his wife and daughter. “And me and Rowan are wizards. I mean, you can choose to be called a wizard if you want...”

Jane shook her head. “Witch is fine.” she declared. “What...what does that mean?”

“All sorts.” said Peter. “I remember when Matthew and JJ got their powers. Both seven years old, they were. Matthew spent a week on the ceiling.”

“That would explain a lot.” muttered Merula. Matthew smirked back at her.

“But how? When did this happen?” asked Rebecca, who had a blanket around her.

“She was born this way.” Matthew explained. “See, my mother was a witch, which sort of increased the probability of me and Jacob being a witch, but our great grandmother on Dad’s side was a witch too. Which meant there was always a chance.” he concluded.

There was a silence. “Dad, does that mean she’s-” Rowan began, but Merula shushed him.

“Well, why didn’t anyone tell me?” asked Jane. Matthew’s expression soured.

“They were going to. Legally, they have to tell you you’re a wizard on your eleventh birthday. Though the magic usually starts revealing itself in the run-up to the day in question.”

“I see...” said Jane, sitting down on a deck-chair.

“I...I know this is a lot to take in.” said Merula, “I just wanted to say...thank you. You protected my children.”

“They were Clabberts, Mum, they were harmless-” began Rowan, before his foot was squashed by Abigail jumping on it.

“Thanks so much, Jane!” she said, “And we’re sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, we just weren’t allowed to...Dad, can I tell her everything now?”

Matthew smiled at his daughter, pushing her hair out of the way of her face. “Absolutely.” he said, a grin on his face.

“Yippee!” she squealed, jumping on the spot, “Rowan, you too, make sure I don’t miss anything!”

“Right, yeah.” he said, sitting on the next deckchair along. Jane looked at both of them.

“You know, even without magic you guys are the best cousins I have.” she said, a genuine smile on her face. “Okay, Abigail. Fire away.”

“Right! So, first, there’s an entire world of wizards out there, with their own money and everything! And loads of magical creatures, like the Diricrawl! Which is actually what the Dodo always was, but it can vanish like I said it could, and...”

The conversation lasted until midnight, when the Clabberts began to croak and illuminate the garden. Jane smiled. “Right, magic...” she said, “I could get used to that.”

#aprilprompts2021 #hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm fanfiction #hpma mc #hphm mc #magic awakened

[whatwouldvalerydo]

HPHM April prompts day 8 - Gender bend

If Talia Hayes was a guy. Had a lot of fun with this one @stupendousbookworm so I decided to also write some facts to show how different a male version would be:

- Rough drawing from his first appearance in the Auror training camp. If you think he looks bad, you should see the other two

- Very reckless, as opposed to the female counterpart, he is a little piece of s***

- More prone to violence, flourishes when he needs to use his fists

- He makes it known he is a Crane right off the bat, not hiding his real identify any longer. If his enemies want to come for him, they know where to find him

- Hates Dumbledore and Snape in equal measures for saving his life, ungrateful for the most part

- He is more alike to his father, Constantine Crane than he cares to admit, but would flip his lid if someone ever mentions it

- Swears a lot, smokes,but never drinks alcohol, he needs his mind as sharp as it can be

- He does get paired with Talbott Winger, but in this case, they rarely see eye to eye. They fight for 80% of their time spent together.

#Aprilprompts2021 #fiction #gender bent #Talia Hayes #hogwarts mystery talbott #talbott winger #hphm #hphm fanfiction #late night enchantments

[the-al-chemist]

I just caught up on @stupendousbookworm ‘s prompt about the sorting, and although I’d already written about Artemis and her experiences at the Sorting Ceremony, I found the prompt really interesting and it made me think about Artemis and how her personality fits with the different houses.

Artemis wanted to be in Ravenclaw, like her brother before her. Unfortunately for her, the Sorting Hat had other ideas...

At the end of the day, Artemis just isn’t a Ravenclaw. It’s not that she’s stupid, she just isn’t much of a thinker or a studier. To me, that’s why she and Rowan work so well together.

The Sorting Hat tried to place Artemis in Gryffindor, and although Artemis would have been well-placed there, I don’t think this would have been good for her in the long run. Artemis has many Gryffindor traits, but these are mainly her faults: her hot temper, impulsivity, and tendency towards heroics.

Being in Hufflepuff and having the influence of the girls in her dormitory brings out the softer sides of Artemis’ personality, and makes her a better and less chaotic person all round.

Here is the scene for anyone who is interested in reading about the time Artemis Hexley met the Sorting Hat:

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #aprilprompts2021

[that-scouse-wizard]

Lion or Badger?

Day 3 of the April Prompts by @stupendousbookworm

Prompt - In most fans’ head cannons, the sorting hat may have had a difficult time placing MC in a house. The choice would be between two houses. In the end the sorting hat places MC in their current house. If MC were sorted into the other house, how different would things be?

A/N: David was actually a hatstall between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor already, so I just went of that idea for the combination. Also, enjoy Year1!David. Hope you guys like it!

“David Willows!” Professor McGonagall called at last. This was it, he was the very last first year to be sorted. Plenty of students were anxious for the welcoming feast to begin, once he was done they could get to that. Though that wasn’t the main reason why people were looking at him...

“Isn’t that Hall’s brother?”

“The crazy one who went after the Cursed Vaults?”

“Merlin help the house that gets him, Gryffindor’s reputation suffered enough.”

They had no qualms about discussing him so openly, David gritted his teeth at that. He had hoped to finally stop being compared to Jacob, he got enough of that at home, seems he would have no such luck escaping it. Evidently, people didn’t forget these things easily.

Striding past the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, he caught just the briefest glimpse of Rowan Khanna over on Hufflepuff. Unlike most others, she seemed genuinely eager to see which house he would get into, giving an encouraging grin. Most likely, it was in the hopes that he would be sorted into Hufflepuff too. He could only give a nod of acknowledgement.

He honestly had no idea why the girl seemed so determined to be his friend but at least she hadn’t been nasty to him.

All eyes were on David as the sorting hat was placed on his head, its voice soon echoing through his skull.

“Ah, Jacob Hall’s brother. Let’s see what I have to work with here then-”

“Not Gryffindor.” David muttered under his breath, that was the last thing he needed.

“I see.” The hat pondered, “Well you do have ambitions suited for a Slytherin but would you go far enough to see them bear fruit? Creative with a good mind, Ravenclaw could do you well or would philosophical discussion bore you too much? No neither of them will do. That leaves Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.”

David supressed a frustrated sigh at that, God’s sake this stupid hat was annoying.

“Loyalty is what you value most, that would take you in Hufflepuff.” David calmed a bit at that, anything was better than his brother’s house.

“However,” Oh no... “You also have a strong sense of reckless bravery, somewhere inside. Just because you are in young Jacob’s house does not mean you cannot carve your own path.” That was little consolation to David as the hat readied announcement.

“I think I’ll put you in... GRYFFINDOR!”

The reaction was lukewarm at best, only Charlie Weasley managed to clap a bit before stopping when he realised he was the only one doing it. Some students from other houses looking at the lions with obvious pity. 

David trudged over to his assigned table, feeling sick, almost swaying in his step. At least if he were in Hufflepuff he might have had some relief from being seen as Jacob’s brother. In Gryffindor, there was more than likely someone with a bone to pick.

He gave his best attempt at mustering an apologetic look to Rowan. For whatever reason she had said she would look out for him. How could she do that when they were in different houses?

He slumped onto the table, elbow resting on it as he put his hand to his cheek. He barely glanced over at the food, happening to catch that he was being stared at. Specifically, by a blond-haired boy, another first year though David didn’t recall the name. Though the boy sitting across from him seemed concerned, David was certainly in no mood to feel judged.

“What are you lookin’ at?” He snapped harshly, causing even a few older Gryffindors to turn their attention to their end of the table.

The boy looked startled as he stumbled over his words, “Oh... well... u-um... I-I was just wondering if you were alright?”

“Fine and dandy.” David scoffed caustically.

“Hey, David come on, he was just trying to be nice.” Charlie interjected gently.

David huffed at that but stuck his hand out, “Thanks for asking, I’m David.” He introduced half-heartedly. 

“B-Ben. Ben Copper.” The other boy said, tentatively taking the outstretched hand as if it would rip his arm off.

Okay... not the best first impression to his new house mates and to be honest he was still sceptical but maybe, just maybe he could make it work.

#aprilprompts2021 #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm #jacob's sibling #david willows

[demig00ddess]

The 9th day of the HPHM April Prompt Challenge 2021 by @stupendousbookworm !

Prompt # 9 - FANKIDS! fankids! FaNkIdS! FANKIDS! Any hphm player must have came up with HC's about MC and (Love Interest)'s children. Do whatever you want with this prompt

The Burrow's front door creaked softly, letting Emma and Charlie through.

"Mommy! Daddy!" from the living room came the sound of feet and a second later 6-year-old Amelia crashed into them at full speed. Charlie grabbed her in his arms and threw her into the air. Amy laughed happily. "Grandpa, Chris and I went to a Muggle cinemaya!"

"It's called a cinema, honey." Mr Weasley came up to them. "Chris fell asleep in the living room."

"I'll take him," Charlie put his daughter down and disappeared into the next room.

"There was an huuuge portrait," Amelia said, spreading her arms to show the size. "And there were lots and lots of people running around doing things. And when I said hello to them, they didn't even pay attention to me."

"Very rude of them," Emma laughed and ruffled her daughter's hair. "Did you like this cinema?"

"It was just amazing!" Mr Weasley was as delighted as his granddaughter.

"And also," Amelia lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper and widened her eyes. "I saw Albus. He's so small!"

"Ginny came to see us," said Mrs Weasley, who had appeared with Charlie. He was holding a sleeping son in his arms.

If Amy took after her mother, then Christian was an exact copy of his father. A few strands of red hair fell across his serene, freckled face. He looked like a real angel.

"Thank you for sitting with them," Emma smiled at her mother-in-law.

"We were happy to do it, dear! They grow so fast!" Mrs Weasley blinked frequently and hugged Emma. "Did you have a good anniversary?"

"Oh, sure! Everything went very... calmly" she threw a cheerful glance at Charlie. He only grinned in response.

Before they left, Mrs Weasley, despite all the objections, handed them a small pot of food and a huge pie.

"How will you get home?"

"By the car."

"A magic car?" Delight lit up in Mr Weasley's eyes.

“No,” Emma was always amused by his interest in Muggle inventions. - We borrowed it from friends.

As he sat the sleepy Christian in the car, Charlie asked his wife.

"Everything went very calmly?"

"I couldn't tell your mom that we rescued baby dragons from illicit trade, and then illegally smuggled them into the sanctuary," Emma grinned. Charlie wilted as he sat behind the wheel.

"Sorry. I messed it up today."

Emma looked at him carefully, smiled and kissed him softly.

"It was one of the best days of my life, love. Now, let's go home before Amy gets sleepy, too."

#aprilprompts2021 #hphm fankids #hogwarts mystery #charlie weasley #emma anderson #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm mc #harry potter #Weasley

[lifeofkaze]

Yay, time for Day 4 of @stupendousbookworm April Prompt Challenge! Loving this one today (naturally.)

Lizzie’s love interest is her teammate and Quidditch captain Orion Amari. They have been friends ever since she joined the team in her second year but started to develop a (mutual) crush on each other in Lizzie’s 5th / Orion’s 6th year but there are some things keeping them from getting together of course, where would be the fun otherwise.

I don’t want to spoil their story, as it’s still in progress but for those of you reading, this scene is set some time between Chapters 15 and 16.

Prompt # 4 - Who is MC's heartthrob? How did they meet? What do they have in common, and what do they disagree on?

Lizzie leaned forward with a deep a deep scowl and tapped the tip of her nose lightly. Her eyes darted over the chessboard in front of her in a vain attempt to find a way to escape the inevitable checkmate in three draws Murphy had just announced. All these years of playing with him, and he still made her look like a complete fool when it came to chess.

“It’s no use, Liz,” the blonde commentator grinned at her smugly, “in all of the 437 matches we’ve played since we met, you only beat me once; and even then I was distracted, because my mind was occupied with training Ravenclaw’s promising new Beater, which led to me making the fatal mistake of letting you take out my queen and drive my king into a wedge which I still can’t believe you managed to this day – no offence,” he rambled in the quick fashion so unique to him as Lizzie raised her eyebrows.

“What I want to say is, the chances of you turning this game around are only at around 2,67 %, if any; you are too impatient with your manoeuvres,” he looked past her as Lizzie felt someone stepping closer to the footstool she sat upon cross-legged. “Wouldn’t you agree, Orion?”

“I’m afraid, Murphy has correctly identified the root of your tactical disadvantage,” the warm and deep voice of her Quidditch captain sounded from behind her. “Where your burning determination is an asset when we are playing, it lets you miss what is evident to a balanced mind. Like this, for example.”

Lizzie’s breath caught in her throat as Orion leaned forward, one of his hands supporting his weight on her stool, the other reaching past her as he set her knight on a different position that blocked Murphy’s rook on its path to her king.

Murphy scowled at him. “That is cheating,” he declared sullenly.

Orion laughed and Lizzie could feel the tips of his hair tickling her neck; he hadn’t straightened up again. “How can advising a friend on how to improve her set of mind be cheating?”

Murphy had just opened his mouth to reply with undoubtedly another statistic or quote from some rule book, when a panicked “Wotcher!” sounded through the Common Room.

In the next instant, the firecracker Tonks and Skye had been tampering with shot through the air in between them; the chess pieces hopped off the board complaining loudly while Murphy quickly leaned back in his wheelchair to evade the colourful sparks trailing behind it.

Startled by the unexpected assault, Lizzie had recoiled abruptly; the sudden shift of her weight made her lose her balance, however, and before she could do anything to catch herself, she found herself falling backwards.  

She didn’t stumble to the ground though; instead, she crashed against Orion’s chest with force, who brought his arms around her instinctively to keep her from falling. Lizzie could feel the muscles of his arms tense as he supported her weight. Her breath hitched and she could feel her heart pounding against her rib cage as he chuckled into her ear; his breath ghosting over her neck made her shiver inadvertently.

“Be careful, Chaser, I still have need of you.”

Lizzie tried to overplay her flustered condition as he helped her back into an upright position by giving him a mocking smile. “Of course you do; wouldn’t be much good playing Slytherin without me next week, would it?”

He gave her that crooked grin of his that would one day be her undoing if she didn’t learn to get herself under control around him soon.

“Exactly,” he smiled as he reached past her once again to set her chess pieces back on the board. “My performance would be gravely unbalanced without you.” 

#aprilprompts2021 #hphm #hogwarts mystery #quidditch #orion amari #lizzie jameson #quidditch squad #the quidditch squad

[demig00ddess]

The 2nd day of the HPHM April Prompt Challenge 2021 by @stupendousbookworm !

Evil MC, ​​that was interesting. I'm so sorry for Emma.💔

"I really don't know anything!" Ben mumbled plaintively, pressed against the wall.

"Come on, Cooper, don't make me pull out my wand. Have you heard of a spell that can turn your insides out? I always wanted to try it on someone," Ben squeaked in fright, closed his eyes and twitched weakly.

"What's going on here? Ben, are you okay?" Charlie came up to them, Ben nodded and ducked behind him. "Leave him alone, Anderson."

Emma walked over to Charlie and gave him a scornful look. They were almost the same height. The corner of her lips twitched as she noticed his frayed, rolled-up trousers.

"Listen, Weasley. I like you, so this is the only time I will warn you. Don't stand in my way. This mudblood knows something and doesn't want to tell me. Gryffindor doesn't teach you how to share?"

Charlie frowned and took out his wand.

"Watch your language, Anderson."

Emma moved closer to him, so that their noses almost touched. She didn't even bother to get her wand out.

"What are you going to do to me, Charles? Will you attack an unarmed girl? Very brave, isn't it?" She gave him a cold look. "Although, what else can you expect from a blood traitor."

Charlie blushed to the tips of his ears and pointed his wand at her face.

"At least one more word about my family — "

"I kicked your big brother's ass, and I'm going to kick yours," Emma was furious and narrowed her eyes. "Get out of my way!"

She shoved Charlie aside with her shoulder and walked away down the hall, cursing the red-haired idiot.

Emma wasn't alone for long, she was surrounded by several Slytherins. Barnaby dragged her into an empty classroom and stood in front of the door, blocking the exit.

"What did Cooper tell you?" Merula folded her arms, enjoying her superiority. She'd learned long ago not to meddle with Emma without her henchmen.

"He said that you can go to hell," Emma spat.

"I will, right after you go after your brother and go missing or, better, die."

"At least he's not rotting in Azkaban like your parents," sneered Emma.

Merula's fist landed squarely on her cheek, and Emma tasted blood in her mouth.

"I'm warning you, Anderson. You can come over to my side. But when I get to the Cursed Vaults, I don't want to — "

"I don't care what you want, Snyde. I don't care what all of you want! Everyone thinks I'm mad, and that's how I'll be. If I have to, I'll go against you, against all your friends, and against the whole damn Hogwarts!"

Emma pulled out her wand and Merula involuntarily backed away. For a second, Emma enjoyed the fear in the eyes of her rival. Then she threw Barnaby aside, clearing a passage, and headed for the exit. Opening the door, she glanced over her shoulder.

"I'm on my own side."

#hphm #aprilprompts2021 #emma anderson #hogwarts mystery #hphm mc #harry potter hogwarts mystery #ben cooper #merula snyde #charlie weasley

[hphmmatthewluther]

HPHM April Prompts 2021: Day 7: When Your Reflection Plots Against You (Part 3)

What is this, a crossover episode?

Okay, so funny story! The end to the story I’ve been doing recently and today’s prompt are about the same thing, so I sort of have to have them both be the thing for today because yeah! Part 1/3 Part 2/3

Anyway, onto...

Prompt 7: MC’s First Kiss

When Matthew finally came to, he had a pounding headache. He pushed himself up with the guitar case, getting back onto his face, before noticing the mirror. He wasn’t in it. Of course, Matthew thought, I’m the reflection now. He looked behind him, hoping to see where that light had come from. There was nothing. Apart from him, the bathroom was empty. Suddenly, he heard a door creak. On the other side of the mirror, in the real world, Charlie Weasley had walked in. Matthew moved towards the mirror.

“Charlie!” he tried, but to no avail, “Charlie!” 

But there was nothing. It was like he was a ghost. Actually, I’m less than a ghost now. He sighed, moving back towards the guitar case. With nothing else to do, he picked up the instrument and slung it onto his back, before leaving the boys’ toilets. It occurred to him that he needed to find Edwin before he did anything too embarrassing, or before he got to his friends.

It was bizarre to see the halls of Hogwarts empty, but with all the same buzz of people moving up and down. It was rather like there being a conversation happening in the other room, but you couldn’t for the life of you find that room. He tried to marshal his thoughts as to where Edwin would go with his body. The lake, obviously, he thought to himself. But something rather strange happened to this alternate Hogwarts as Matthew approached the school grounds. What should have been the quidditch lesson area and the whomping willow, and the Forbidden Forest, was instead an inky black void, with large tubes of light jutting into it from various windows. It was solid, and Matthew couldn’t pass through it. A good way away he could see the grass around the Black Lake.

“So I can’t go anywhere that isn’t reflected.” he deduced aloud. Matthew tried to relax his breathing. This was just another riddle, and he would have to solve it. And for that, he’d need to focus.

“Shut up, Barnaby!”

Matthew twisted around, noticing the images of Merula, Ismelda and Barnaby hanging in the air through a small shield-shaped window. A Prefect’s badge, Matthew thought before leaning in to take a closer look.

“What is it?” Barnaby asked quietly.

“I just...I thought I heard him...” Merula said, her violet eyes scanning the corridor.

“Who?” asked Ismelda, irritated at having to stop.

“Luther, of course!” she snapped. Matthew’s eyes widened. “He was saying something about reflections...”

“Yes, I’m over here!” Matthew yelled. He didn’t care how it had happened, he was just happy that it did.

Merula moved up and down the corridor. “Luther, where the hell are you?!”

Ismelda and Barnaby watched, both very much confused by all of this.

Matthew felt relief wash over him. “Merula, I’m-”

“I’m right here.” came his own voice. Coming into view from the side of the badge was Edwin, wearing his body.

“Oh, there you are.” she said stiffly. Matthew watched as Edwin flicked his braceletless hand at the badge, and he knew he had placed a Silencing Charm on it. Matthew could only pray Merula could sniff Edwin out.

“What’s got you so happy?” she asked with a scowl on her face.

“Oh, nothing really...” Edwin said absentmindedly. “Anyway, what did you want?”

“W-What did I want?” she asked incredulously. “You’re the one who called me over!”

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t.” he said, shrugging. Matthew felt a surge of anger at him.

“Yes you did!” said Merula, exasperated.

Edwin cocked his head, then turned to the other two Slytherins, “Did either of you hear anything?”

“No, I didn’t.” said Ismelda.

“No, nothing.” said Barnaby. 

“Well, there you go.” Edwin concluded, “Maybe you’re hearing things.”

“I am not!” Merula yelled, going slightly red.

“Sure. Whatever.” he said, running a hand through Matthew’s hair, “So, you going down to the lake later?”

“W-What? No...” said Merula, confused. Barnaby, however, nodded.

“I am! It’s gonna be great fun!” he exclaimed.

“I don’t care.” Ismelda sneered.

“Mm, it’s just that everyone is going to be there. And I thought, seeing as you can’t go to Hogsmeade, you’d want to go to a party when you could.”

Matthew felt his heart break as he saw Merula’s expression. This wasn’t fair. Nobody treated his mortal enemy like this, especially not someone like Edwin.

“F-Fine, I’ll go.” Merula conceded. “C-Come on, you two.” They stepped into the inky void, Merula wearing an expression that Matthew knew all too well. Fear.

“You could have been a bit nicer, Matt.” came a voice. Matthew realised just which Prefect’s badge he was looking through. And Edwin had no idea.

“Oh...I guess I could.” he admitted, “But I got her to go to the party, and isn’t that what matters?”

“It does if she doesn’t actually want to go.” said Bill Weasley, “You of all people should know that.”

Edwin shrugged, before heading into the void too. Bill must have followed him, for the Prefect badge vanished too. He had to get to the lake quickly, and find Merula and tell her what was happening. From there, however, he was at a bit of a loss. Maybe if he got the book back and managed to reveal the ink, he could find a way to return to his body. That would explain why he didn’t want me to get the book back, he thought. But before all that, he had to actually get to the lake in the first place. He looked up at the tubes of light which splintered the void. Matthew grinned. He’d had an idea, and it wasn’t half bad. He headed up towards Ravenclaw tower at breakneck speed, avoiding the void that appeared in corridors with less mirrors. Eventually, he found his way up to the door to the Common Room. The Eagle knocker looked up at him.

“You are here, yet you are not here.” it said. “Curious. Now, I am at the start of every race, the end of every Bludger, and in the middle of Paris. What am I?”

Matthew thought for a moment, before smirking. “R.”

The eagle nodded, before the door opened.

“Hmm, that’s odd.” said Rowan,as Matthew came in. “ Wonder why the door’s opened...” Matthew sighed as he and the other Ravenclaws looked up and saw right through him.

“I’ll tell you when I get out, Rowan.” he said. There was no reaction. Matthew headed up to his dormitory, where he found his Cleansweep resting against his four-poster bed. He reached for it, hoping, and while his left hand went straight through it, his right hand gripped the wood, the silver bracelet’s carvings glowing as it happened. Matthew grinned, before looking back at the mirror. In it, he could see the Black Lake out the window. He also saw the Cleansweep floating in midair. This gave Matthew another idea. He crept back down to the Common Room, and saw the Ravenclaws’ expressions of pure shock at a floating broom.

“Hey, isn’t that Matthew’s Cleansweep?” said Andre. Matthew couldn’t help but grin as he twirled the broomstick in his hands, causing it to spin. Then, he started to back up into the boys’ dormitory. Rowan, Andre, Tulip and Talbott all followed it until they came to Matthew’s four poster bed. He used the broom to wave at the four, then tried to make a beckoning gesture. After that, he hopped on and flew out the window, leaving them flabbergasted as the pilotless broom headed towards the lake.

It was an odd sensation, flying down a thin strip of the Hogwarts grounds, going over a small fraction of the Whomping Willow, watching students blip in and out of existence. He sped down the hill until he was over the lake, when he noticed a large gathering of students reflected in the water near the shore. He saw that there was a table with food laid out before them. He slowly moved down a few yards away, landing his broom and resting it against a nearby tree. He couldn’t risk Edwin finding out he was here again. Matthew shook his head. He had hoped that third year would be a little less eventful than last year, though he should have known that this would be impossible. Rueing his bad luck, he headed towards the party, not registering four Ravenclaws show up behind him.

“I’m so glad you all made it!” he heard Penny cheer, as the party got underway. At least, it did in the waters of the Black Lake. Matthew, meanwhile, only had a few feet of ground to work with before it gave way to the void. He saw people enter and exit the darkness, until he finally saw Merula. He knew he couldn’t just talk to her, as much as he wanted to. No, he had to find another way. Then, it occurred to him that he had Edwin’s guitar on his back. He set it onto the floor and undid the zip on the leather, before pulling it open.

For an acoustic guitar, it was pretty impressive. It had several magical runes on the wood, and the strings were a brilliant blue, just like the ropes which had pulled him through the mirror. He silently thanked his father for being part of a band when he was younger and pulled out the guitar, putting the strap around his shoulder. Even from here, he could see Edwin moving everyone’s groups away from the lake, especially Merula’s. Matthew had been where she was several times before, feeling like everybody knew how to act at a party except for you. Matthew gritted his teeth,  moved towards the lake, both him and the guitar invisible, and started to play.

A A A A, D D, Em Em Em Em, D D…

***

Merula looked up, hearing the sounds of a guitar. It wasn’t a song she recognised, so she assumed it was some Muggle music. She could recognise the chords though. A A A A, D D, Em Em Em Em, D D… though she couldn’t see anyone playing. She walked through the students, ducking out of the way when she saw Matthew. He was talking with Chiara and Penny, but it didn’t look like how Matthew usually talked. Normally, he was reserved, quiet, a little hunched over. Not here. No, here it reminded her of some of the irritating sods in Preston’s gang. Merula scowled, before heading towards the music. Strangely enough, it seemed to be coming from inside the Lake… but that couldn’t be…

“Psst, Merula!”

She looked down into the water. There was her reflection, but next to it stood Matthew Luther, with a rune covered guitar.

“Don’t look at me!” he hissed, “Turn around and act like you don’t see me!”

Merula obeyed, turning on the spot. Secretly, she had been hoping for an explanation for his behaviour today; he had been amicable enough at first, but over the last few hours or so he had become rather cocky and boastful.

“Merula, that isn’t me.” he said, still playing the guitar, “That arse took my body!”

Her eyes widened. “He’s a changeling?!”

“If...if that’s what they’re called, yeah.”

Merula found it in her to smirk. “Really Luther, I forget how little you know about the Wizarding World.”

“It’s not my fault our Defence against the Dark Arts teachers have been rubbish.” he remarked.

“Eh, you’re not wrong there, they have been awful.” she admitted. “So how the hell did this happen?”

“Long story short: Some guy named Edwin appeared in the mirror saying he was trapped and needed help escaping.” Matthew explained, “I agreed, though I didn’t realise just how I’d be helping him.”

Merula stared at Edwin. Yes, she saw it now. It was like a Metamorphmagus had turned into him, or someone had used Polyjuice Potion. That’s why she’d felt so uncomfortable around him. Because it wasn’t Matthew. “So, how do we get him out?”

Matthew looked a little surprised. “Oh, I thought you’d suggest leaving me here.”

She laughed, genuinely, before shaking her head. “Luther, if I left you there this Edwin would have to be my rival. And I don’t like the sound of that at all. You’re my mortal enemy, Luther, and nobody gets to doom you for eternity except me.”

Matthew grinned through the water. “Thanks, Merula. Now, do you have anything reflective on you?” She shuffled through her pockets until she pulled out a silver comb.

“By the way, since when could you play guitar?” she asked, as Matthew appeared in the comb.

“Oh, my Dad taught me. I just know a few songs, though, not much.” he confessed.

“Alright...” began Merula, nervously moving towards the throng of students, “What do we do?”

“There’s a book in my bag called The Ramifications of Our Reflections.” Matthew explained, “It has some text in invisible ink that Edwin really didn’t want me to see, to our best bet is grabbing the book and finding out what it says.”

“Ah, so we’re stealing from him!” she declared quietly.

“Well, no, it’s my book!” Matthew yelled, before adding, “Well, it’s technically Snape’s, but he took it from me, so there.”

They neared the pile of everyone’s bags, and Merula bent down to grab hers, before manoeuvring towards Matthew’s satchel. Slowly, while eyeing the changeling, Merula bent down and grabbed the book, quickly placing it in her own bag. She took a sigh of relief, and quickly walked away.

“Now what?” she whispered, before seeing Ismelda.

“This party's boring. I’m heading back to the common room.” she declared.

“Good idea.” Merula said, walking with her. 

“Don’t worry, she can’t see me.” Matthew reassured her, “Now all we need to do is heat up the book and we can see the information.”

Merula nodded as they headed away from the party, but they were stopped on their way back by Edwin.

“Hey, wh-where you going?” he asked, his usual cocky demeanour in full swing.

“We’re leaving.” Merula declared, “This party is boring, and you shouldn’t have invited us.”

Edwin stared at her for a moment. “Is that so.” he said, not even trying to make it a question.

“Yeah...I’m leaving now...bye.” she said, heading off. Ismelda looked at her, then at Edwin.

“Wow, she really doesn’t like you.” she said, “What’d you do to her?”

“I would worry more about what I’m going to do.” Edwin growled.

“Merula...” Matthew began, “Get to my broom. It’s right by the lake.” When she looked at the comb, confused, Matthew just shouted “GO!” and that got her moving.

She sprinted back down the hill, where she saw the Cleansweep resting by a tree. She grabbed a hold of it and saw Edwin racing after her.

“Just wait a minute!” he yelled, as Merula kicked off the ground. Matthew quickly put the guitar onto his back as the ground fell beneath them, and soon they were soaring over the grounds once again.

“Now how’d she know the broom was there?” Rowan asked aloud. “Matthew, do you-”

“Curse them!” Edwin bellowed, heading off after her, wand in hand. Ismelda hissed.

“Oh no you don’t...” she muttered, running after him. Bill stood nearby, very much concerned.

“Something’s going on here...” he deduced, before joining the chase. Of course, Merula and Matthew had the advantage of having a broomstick, which allowed them to get to the other side of the school in very little time. They ended up on the second floor, just above the Great Hall.

“Nobody uses these toilets.” Merula explained, “Myrtle’s always kicking up a fuss.”

They headed into the girl’s bathroom, which was oddly quiet.

“That’s strange.” said Merula, “I wonder where she’s gone.” Matthew appeared in a mirror near the sink.

“That was close.” he admitted, looking on as Merula pulled Ramifications out of her satchel. “Now all we need to do is heat it up and we’ll be set. Be careful though, we don’t want to set it on fire.”

“Right.” Merula said, placing the book on the ground. Matthew moved closer, appearing in a puddle of water. “Incendio Parvus!” A small flame appeared on the tip of Merula’s wand, which she moved down towards the paper. “Hey, it’s working!” she said excitedly.

“Great! Find the part about freeing people from mirrors!” Matthew implored, placing down the guitar.

“Okay, okay...” she said, flicking through the pages.

“Um...Merula...” Matthew began, “Sorry for dragging you into this.”

“Hmph...it’s...I mean, it wasn’t you, was it? It was that changeling who was the arse.”

“I know, but I made the deal with him...” he lamented.

“Yeah, I know, but...” she paused, looking over at Matthew’s puddle. “Oh come on. He gave you what you wanted, right?”

Matthew considered this. “Yeah. I guess he did.”

Merula smirked again. “What’d you even ask for?”

Matthew suddenly looked nervous. “I...um, I just wanted advice. We’d had that argument yesterday, and so I was just...I didn’t want to make things worse every time I saw you, or anyone else.”

Merula frowned. “Th-That’s it?!”

“Yeah...that’s it.”

She looked at him through the water, before bursting into laughter. “What?” he asked, more confused than ever.

“Sorry, it’s just...” she paused to wipe her hair out of her face, “It’s weird how little you trust yourself. I mean, you make friends all the time. I’m the one who can’t make friends and can’t go to Hogsmeade.”

Matthew frowned at her. “You don’t have to talk about-”

“It’s alright.” she reassured him. “I-I just...it’s my aunt. She says I’m not doing well enough in Defence against the Dark Arts.”

“But that’s not fair, the teachers are total tw-”

“I know that.” said Merula, “But my aunt thinks that I need to revise more...and she’s my legal guardian...so...”

“Merula, I’m sorry. You know...if you wanted to, I could give you a hand with...you know, studying and stuff.”

“Is that so?” she said, flicking through the pages with her other hand. “I don’t know...we’re mortal enemies. I don’t know how I’d feel about- Ah ha!” she exclaimed suddenly, “Freeing those trapped in the Reflected Realm! Bingo!”

Matthew craned his neck to see, but to no avail. Merula seemed to notice. “Oh, right, sorry. If a wizard or witch has been trapped within the Reflected Realm, they must be freed by breaking the contract forged between them and a changeling. To do this, one must return to the mirror of entry, destroy the surface they made the deal with and recite the phrase “Contractus est inanis. Corpus meum.” From there, the changeling will return to the Reflected Realm once it touches any reflective surface.”

“Brilliant!” said Matthew, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Merula extinguished the flame. “Okay, okay! You remember the phrase, right?”

“Course. Contractus est inanis. Corpus meum.”

“Good. Where’d you make the deal?” she asked, packing the book away.

“The boy’s toilets. Sixth floor.” This caused Merula’s face to scrunch up.

“Look, it won’t be for long. Once I get to the mirror, we can leave right away and find Edwin.” he explained.

“...Fine. I’m gonna get you for this one day, Luther...”

“I hope you get the chance, Merula...I really do...”

A minute or two later, Merula had made her way to the sixth floor, and was standing right outside the boy’s toilets.

“C-Can’t I just wait outside?” she asked. Matthew nodded, before heading inside on his own, the guitar still on his back. He instantly came back out.

“I’m afraid you can’t, Merula.” he said nervously. Merula groaned, before poking her head into the room. Standing in the U-bend, in front of a large magical field, was the body of Matthew Luther, and the vile grin of Edwin.

“We meet again. I’m so glad I don’t have to hide from you anymore.” he said. Matthew sneaked into view on one of the nearby mirrors, glaring at the sphere.

“Listen to me, Edwin. I am the Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts,” Merula announced, “,and unless you vacate my mortal enemy’s body this instant, I will rain hell upon you!”

Edwin stared for a moment, before bursting into maniacal laughter. “Ooh, that’s a good one! I see why Matthew likes you!”

“I’m getting to that mirror, Edwin,” declared Matthew, “And you won’t stop me.”

Edwin pointed Matthew’s wand at Merula. “I somehow doubt that. I haven’t had a wand of my own in so long, I-”

“You still don't!” Matthew butted in.

“Silence!” Edwin yelled, sending Charm after Charm at the various mirrors. Merula watched as Matthew tried to mouth his words, before opting for a simple hand gesture. Merula pointed her own wand at Edwin.

“Sorry, I don’t take orders from you.” she sneered. “Flipendo!”

A burst of magic shot out of her wand at Edwin, who quickly moved out of the way, before yelling “Incendio!”, causing fire to leap towards Merula. She moved quickly out of the way, before pointing her wand back at Edwin, but he was faster. “Petrificus Totalus!” he shouted, sending a wave of paralysis at Merula, who felt herself fall to the ground. Matthew leapt towards the field of magic. He stepped through it, ending up on the other side with relative ease. Oh, the joys of the Reflected Realm, he thought to himself before reaching the mirror. Now he had to destroy it. He loosened his silver bracelet until it became a sort of fisticuff around his hand, and pulled back his arm.

“No!” roared Edwin, pointing Matthew’s own wand at him. “CRU-”

“Expelliarmus!”

Matthew’s wand flew out of Edwin’s hand over to the other side. Into the room came Rowan, Bill and Ismelda. But it wasn’t them that fired that disarming spell. It was Merula.

“It’s funny.” she said, “I never bought into that ‘wand chooses the wizard’ crap. But I think it well and truly has this time...changeling. Now, Luther!” she yelled, as the three newcomers looked around confused. Matthew took the bracelet and bashed it into the mirror. There wasn’t a scratch on the silver, but the mirror cracked into a thousand pieces.

“Contractus est inanis. Corpus meum!” he recited, as the several shards of the mirror began to glow. Blue ropes appeared between Matthew and Edwin, which snapped in two with a loud twang. Rowan pointed at the mirror. 

“Matt! What are you doing in a mirror? With a guitar?” they asked, flabbergasted.

Edwin glared daggers at his double. “Matt...my guy Matt...” he snarled, wiping the hair out of his face. “If you think getting that mirror broken was difficult, you’ll have one hell of a time putting me back-”

“Glacius Maledictus!” Matthew yelled, having picked up his wand. His bracelet glowing, ice began to coat the floor of the toilets. Perfect Ice.

Edwin looked down at his blue reflection. Matthew looked back up at him.

“...It’s a fair cop.” Edwin admitted. He looked at Merula. “A very fair cop...You know what Matt, I’ve changed my mind about you. You’re no coward. You just needed a push is all. And here I am to give it to you.” he stepped forward to Merula, grinning. “It’s been fun. You’ll thank me later.” Edwin leaned forward. There was a great flash of light, and Matthew was pulled up from the ice and into the motion. When he opened his eyes, his lips were on Merula’s. Rowan audibly gasped. Ismelda actually stopped picking her nails. Bill took a deep breath, knowing what was about to come next.

“Uuurgh!” They both said, disconnecting instantly, Matthew bringing a hand from behind Merula and her placing her feet firmly back on the ground. They both, however, couldn’t hide their very red faces.

“Oh, that bastard!” Matthew groaned, wiping his mouth.

“Yuck, yuck, yuck!” said Merula, spitting onto the ground. Suddenly, they heard his laugh. Rowan pointed downwards. Inside the glass was a boy in denim and a flannel shirt, scowling.

“I was just the first of the monsters of the mirrors.” he announced, “There’ll be more, trust me! And when they get out, they’ll-” “Incendio.”

There was a horrifying screech as the ice suddenly melted, until the bathroom floor was covered in water. Then there was silence. Ismelda smiled, before placing her wand back into her pocket. “That’s for messing with my friends.” she droned, before turning to Matthew. She looked at him for a moment, before slapping him across the face. “And that’s for kissing Merula.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Matthew said, rubbing his cheek, which was red for a completely different reason to Ismelda. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two figures appear in the mirror for a moment, nod, then vanish.

“Ok, now can someone please explain what’s going on?” Bill asked.

“I can try.” said Matthew, stretching his jaw. Merula was still a bright pink, and was still wiping her mouth. “Was I really that bad?” he snickered.

“It was...just a surprise, Luther.” Merula said stiffly. “Don’t worry. I won’t slap you. Just don’t get any ideas.”

Rowan looked at them all, aghast. “Sorry, but are we overlooking the fact that Ismelda just killed a man?!”

***

“So, in summary...” said Dumbledore, sitting at his desk, “It’s been quite an eventful day or two for you, hasn’t it?”

Matthew nodded rapidly. They were all now in the Headmaster’s Office, along with Professors Snape, McGonagall and Flitwick.

“I am just glad that you are okay, Matthew.” squeaked the smallest wizard. “Changelings are very dangerous forces of nature.”

“I would like to remind Mr Luther,” sneered Snape, “That the next time he sees something unusual in the mirror, he is to come straight to a Head of House...and that goes for all of you, too.”

The students all nodded. “Well, if that’s everything,” said McGonagall, “I do believe you will all need sleep after a long day like this.”

“Minerva is correct.” said Dumbledore, “Though, if you have any questions or concerns...”

“Actually...” said Merula, “There’s one thing I still don’t understand. Why was I the only person who could see Matthew in the Reflected Realm?”

Dumbledore smiled. “Now that is a very interesting stroke of luck. You see, a very powerful Artifact of Protection can sometimes lend its protection to others around them. It is likely that Matthew’s bracelet,” he explained, leaning towards the boy, “Has seen your connection as the closest, and has decided to protect both of you. And perhaps, more. I imagine Mr Khanna was unable to find Edwin while he was in Matthew’s body for a reason.”

“So...what does that mean?” asked Merula

“It means you, Matthew, are Merula’s Artifactidal Guardian.” he declared. Matthew looked down at his bracelet. Was that why he gave it to him?

“Hang on...how much of a guardian?”

Dumbledore’s eye twinkled knowingly. “Enough of one, Matthew.” he said.

Merula looked at him, turning a little pink still. “What does- What do you-” But Matthew understood. He pulled out the sheet that the riddle was written on, as well as his pen, and began to scribble on the back of the parchment. Then, he gave it to Merula. She read it. Her jaw dropped.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I Matthew Luther, Artifactidal Guardian of Merula Snyde, hereby give her permission to visit Hogsmeade.

Merula passed the letter to Dumbledore in silence, who read it and nodded. “Very well. Now, off to bed, chop chop.”

As they all walked down the stairs, Matthew felt Merula grab his shoulder.

“Thi-” she stammered, “Th-Thank you, Matthew. I don’t… You know, I-”

“Don’t worry about it, please.” Matthew said, smiling. “This changes nothing. You and I can still be mortal enemies.”

Merula grinned. “Gotcha.” she said, smiling. “Also...um...that was my first kiss.”

Matthew nodded. “Oh. Um...mine too.” He could see something flicker over her expression after that.

“Oh...well, I’m going to say it was with you, because if I don’t it would have been with Edwin, which is even worse.”

“Yeah, I understand.” Matthew said, a smile forcing its way onto his red face. “Well...there’s another Hogsmeade trip tomorrow...see you then...”

“Y-Yeah...see you then.” Merula said, before marching off. It took only a few days for them to get back to their usual bickering selves, but people noticed that for some reason they never argued and never insulted each other when they were in Hogsmeade. The few who knew why kept that secret close to their chests.

#aprilprompts2021 #hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm fanfic #merula x mc #jacob's sibling #merula x jacob's sibling #ismelda murk #barnaby lee #rowan khanna #bill weasley #hphm mc #hphm oc

[lifeofkaze]

Okay, I didn’t want to do this at first because my MC actually exists solely in the Quidditch timeline, but it also didn’t leave me alone the whole day, so, here’s Prompt #2 from the April Prompt 2021 challenge by @stupendousbookworm

Warning: swearing and a really, really nasty Lizzie. I didn’t know you had that in you, honey.

Prompt # 2 - We all know that MC is the hero of Hogwarts. But what if they weren’t? What if MC was evil? Illustrate or write a paragraph about your MC, except they’re evil.

The door of the Hufflepuff Common Room flew open with a bang and smashed the pots with newly budding plants that stood beside it.

Lizzie strode in, her face like thunder and positively fuming, and kicked it shut behind her. Her eyes searched for Rowan, who had cuddled herself into one of the plush armchairs at the far end of the room.

As she stalked over to her, people hastily gathered up their bags and other things from the floor; it was better to not get into Lizzie’s way when she was in one of her moods.

Rowan’s head perked up as she saw her friend approach and gulped at the furious look on the other girl’s face. Lizzie had always used to be a temperamental person. But when she had joined the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and discovered her natural talent for the sport, she had changed a lot. The fame and praise had really gotten to her head.

“Why’s our place occupied?” Lizzie demanded in an authoritative voice.

Rowan’s gaze flickered to the first-years happily enjoying trading chocolate frog cards in front of the fireplace and nervously pushed her glasses further up her nose as she closed her book. “They were here first, I didn’t want to disturb them.” Her voice, confident at first, quieted down to a sheepish whisper and she shrunk in on herself as she saw the withering glare Lizzie shot her.

Without another word, Lizzie spun around and stalked over to the three children. She jerked her head, motioning for them to get the hell off of her seat.

One of the first-years spoke up sullenly. “You don’t own this place, find somewhere else to sit!”

Rowan grimaced. He shouldn’t have said that.

And true enough, Lizzie stepped forward with a suddenly dangerously sweet smile. She knelt down in front of him and leaned closer.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked calmy.

The boy shook his head.

“Then take note,” her face darkened again, “I’m the fucking star of your Quidditch team and if I want to sit here, I’ll sit here. Now, move!” To drive her point home, she took the chocolate frog card he had been clutching from him and ripped it clean in two.

The boys practically scrambled over themselves to get off the sofa and fled the scene. Lizzie slumped into her now unoccupied seat while Rowan sat down next to her, careful not to provoke her any further.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” she asked very cautiously.

Lizzie was silent for a moment and Rowan prayed she hadn’t said anything wrong.

“She trumped me,” Lizzie finally snarled, brows drawn together in a scowl. “Can you believe that? Parkin trumped me during our friendly.” She snorted in contempt. “Amari actually told me to learn from her. As if there was anything she could do that I couldn’t.”

“But she has a lot of experience, you know,” Rowan tried to respond timidly.

Lizzie looked up at her sharply. “Do you doubt my me?” she hissed.

Rowan shrank back into her seat. “No, I’d never.”

“Good.”

Lizzies gaze returned to the flickering flames in the fireplace. “I’ll show them,” she muttered more to herself than to Rowan while her fingers crumpled the ripped chocolate frog card into a ball. She flicked it into the fire and watched with satisfaction as its edges caught fire, reducing it into ash in the course of mere seconds.

“I’ll show them,” she whispered again, “what it means to mess with Lizzie Jameson.”

#aprilprompts2021 #evil mc #lizzie jameson

[stupendousbookworm]

HPHM APRIL PROMPTS 2021 - DAY 2

Woah, it's already the second of April! It's time for the second prompt

(Sorry, I was a bit late cuz I went out with my friends for some Starbucks)

Like I've mentioned, the first few days will be about trying to learn more about your MC

Anyhow, on to the second prompt:

Prompt # 2 - We all know that MC is the hero of Hogwarts. But what if they weren't? What if MC was evil? Illustrate or write a paragraph about your MC, except they're evil.

Points to remember:

- How is Evil! MC different from normal MC?

- What makes MC evil?

- Is there a house change?

- Is there any characteristic change in MC?

- Do they still continue to find Jacob?

- Writers: as always, write in 3rd person POV in past tense

For example:

Before the sorting hat even touched MC's head, it shouted "SLYTHERIN!". MC smirked, and walked off to the Slytherin table as their Hogwarts uniform adopted the shades of green and silver. MC's whole family was sorted into Slytherin, and they certainly weren't going to be an exception-

I think you get the point

- Artists: draw your normal MC on one side, and draw Evil! MC on the other. Emphasize on their differences.

- Make sure you be creative with this, because there's a lot of possibilities with this prompt.

- Tag me (@stupendousbookworm) and use the hashtag #aprilprompts2021. I'll reblog asap.

- Don't forget to have fun. You have the whole day (24 hours) to work on it :D

#aprilprompts2021 #evil mc #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #mystery kids of hogwarts #hphm mc #jacobs sibling

[whatwouldvalerydo]

HPHM April prompts 2021 - Day 1 by @stupendousbookworm

Since Talia Hayes never met anyone from the gang apart from Talbott for a brief moment during her limited stay at Hogwarts, I had to stop for a hot minute to think. But she did meet the twins in chaper 17 of Late Night Enchantments, titled Mischief Managed, so I used this as a sort of continuation.

Peering over Talbott’s shoulder, Talia’s eyes turned to slits as she set her gaze on the Weasley twins enjoys breakfast at the Gryffindor table “Still mad they used Boggarts as a prank?”

Looking over at Talbott, she shook her head “What is up with them? Bill appears to be the exact opposite of those mischievous kids.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he just tilted his head, mind digging up numerous pranks he himself witnessed during his last year at Hogwarts “Truth be told, maybe we have a thing or two to learn from them. You know in case we need to prank Jasper and his hoard of brainless monkeys.” he smirked.

Throwing her head back, Talia actually let out a loud laugh, the very idea tickling her funny bone. Jasper would deserver each and everyone one of those pranks for what he put them through “You’re right.” Getting up, Talbott cocked a brow, suspicious of her intentions “And after cracking my belt against their butts yesterday, perhaps this can be a way to make peace.”

With a confident strut, her feet led her near the two boys, who stopped giggling, their eyes widening to indescribable proportions as she sat down, requesting to partake in the pranks they had planned for the last day of the school year.

“Does this mean you will teach us your animation spell?” Fred beamed at her, a large smile lighting up his eyes.

“Looks like you two still haven’t learned your lesson.” Talia grinned back at them “So what were you planning for Filch?”

True to her word, she did accompany the twins, them mumbling something amongst themselves if to trust her or not. After all, they didn’t know her, they barely knew Talbott and now the woman he came with suddenly wanted to help them with their final prank with Filch? What if she ratted them out? But what if she helped them since she was more versed in spells than them? What if she was just curious?

Opening the door to Filch’s office, George and Fred took off the backpacks they had “Come on, we need to place these all over the office.” Working quickly, they carefully placed small bags of colorful powder inside file cabinets, under the desk and every corner they could possibly find.

Turning around on his heels, Fred clapped his hands together “So we enlarge them and then BOOM!”

“BOOM!” George beamed.

“BOOM!” all three froze, stealing glances at the door as Filch quickly opened them, Ms. Norris hissing showing off her teeth “I have you now you filthy kids."

“Well now, this is interesting.” Talia chuckled, Filch quickly realizing he did not have a name to address her by as he did not know who the girl in front of them was “Obliviate.” Her wand came out, spell leaving him in a daze as they slipped by, shoving him inside, Ms. Norris trying to scratch George.

“That bloody cat is a menace.” Only to receive a slap upside the head from Talia.

“Language. Now, please.”

The twins pointed their wands towards the ajar office door, powder bags exploding causing Filch to scream as they ran behind a corner to assess their handy word, snickering along the way. As him and Ms. Norris came out covered in bright colors, they almost gave away their locations as Filch took to the corridors yelling out curses and chanting torture methods one by one.

By the time she found Talbott, she was laughing, holding on to her stomach. Detailing the events, he listened carefully "But water would make a bigger mess. Oh and glitter, you can never get rid of that stuff. Creative right?"

"Careful Talia, your Ravenclaw is showing."

#Aprilprompts2021 #hphm talbott #talbott x oc #george weasley #fred weasley #fred and george #argus filch #mr filch #talia hayes #late night enchantments #Prank