#legillimens

You and Sirius have been friends for a few years now – just friends – but in the last couple of months both your feelings have changed, taking a romantic turn.

It started slow for you, catching yourself stealing glances at his beautiful face during lessons, finding his jokes genuinely funny and lighting up every time you laid eyes on that gorgeous, radiant smile of his.

Before long, you came to the shocking realization that you have fallen for your best friend – and that you were surely doomed to a life of heartbreak seeing as he only thought of you as a friend and nothing more.

And unlike other girls, you could actually state that fact with full certainty.

You’ve been born with a rare ability : you were a Legillimens, meaning that you could hear other people’s thoughts, and not always intentionally.

It was a strange ability, one you’ve grown accustomed to over the years.

Many times you’ve wandered the corridors of the castle and heard what you thought were people right by your side, yet when you turned to look, no one was there. They were thoughts coming from different Chambers, from various people.

And such was the case with your best friend during your current lesson. You didn’t mean to pry, you actually did your best to avoid his thoughts as much as you possibly could at all times – something you did with all your best friends - in fear that you would intrude on their privacy, but now Sirius‘ were loud enough that you could hear them from the other end of the room you two were in.

‘Y/N, how about you and me an…no, scratch that. It sounds horrible. Come on, Sirius, you can charm every girl in this entire castle with one look, you can ask your best friend on a date!‘

The last comment got an eye roll out of you, but still, a huge, surprised smile tugged at the corners of your lips.

To say that you were taken aback when you heard your name would be an understatement. Did that mean he fancies you too?

You never thought that he would return your feelings, let alone want to date you.

But this shy side of him you were hearing now, this was quite flattering.

‘Hey, Y/N… yes, definitely better’ the voice in his head sounded less frustrated this time around ‘would you… maybe… if you want… uh… go out..on a date…with me?“

You had to physically restrain yourself from awwing out loud and answering his question since you were in the middle of Potions class, but you were beaming.

Sirius Black returned your feelings.

It felt wrong every time you overheard other people’s intimate thoughts, but this time the guilt was a lot smaller in comparison to your happiness.

He wanted to ask you out, but the thought made him nervous.

You chewed on your lower lip, lost in your mind, and didn’t hear the bell announcing the end of the lesson until a tall figure leaned against the wall to your right.

“Ready to go, Y/N? We have a few essays to write for tomorrow, so we’d better get started on them.”

You stirred back to reality and nodded, smiling in Sirius’ direction.

“Yes, of course, let’s.”

You got up and packed your stuff quickly, exiting the class with him and joining the rest of the Marauders on the corridor.

The second he laid eyes on you, James furrowed his brows.

“What’s got you this happy, Y/N/N?“

You shrugged and started walking towards the Library.

“Nothing in particular, Jamie, I’m just excited for the weekend and the opportunity to wander off the castle grounds. It's been entirely too long.”

He grins, one that Remus matched perfectly. You knew exactly what was on their minds without needing to look, they were excited to go to Zonko’s and stock up on prank items.

*

Three hours later, you let out a groan and sprawl yourself all over the library table.

“If I never hear the word ‘war’ again, it would be too soon”

The boys laughed and shook their heads, adding the finishing touches on their own History of Magic essays about the Giant Wars. James finished first and nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw the time.

“Blimey, I’m late again for Quidditch practice! This essay took forever. I’ll see you guys after!“ he yelled the last part on his way out, earning a bunch of giggles from the rest of you and a harsh shushing from Madame Pince.

You sighed and changed your position, your head now resting on your arms, yet this time you stole cheeky glances at Sirius when you were sure he wasn’t looking.

He is most handsome when he’s focusing like that, hair slipping in front of his face, shielding half from sight, tongue sticking out all cute when he’s deep in concentration...

‘Maybe ask her now. She’s right in front of you, come on, this is your chance…’

Sirius tilted his head and glanced at Moony, who was filling his third parchment with his beautiful and neat handwriting.

‘Or after Moony leaves too… or maybe kick him out somehow?'

You started giggling at his last thought and that got weird looks your way from both boys. You blushed bright red and shook your head, waving them off.

“Was trying to set up a plan for a prank on Pince. Though I think I may have gone too far, and it’s not doable either“ you replied quickly, to cover your mistake.

The boys have known about your gift from day one. After all, you weren’t about to hide from your best friends, were you? But they were also counting on your promise to stay away from their heads, so they never worried about you reading their minds before, and nothing changed now.

Remus shrugged and went back to writing while Sirius chewed on the end of his quill, a habit that you found quite adorable. They were none the wiser, thank Merlin. While entertained and endeared beyond measure, you did not want to embarrass Sirius.

Twenty more minutes have passed before Remus put his quill down and gathered the now four scrolls of parchment and stuffed them in his bag.

“I think I’ll go and catch up on some sleep now, if you don’t mind, I can still feel the last full moon’s effects on my joints” he said and muffled a yawn “Pads, you coming up too?“

Sirius hummed and looked up from his own essay, now covered in doodles on the edges.

“Hmm? No, I’m good, Moons, I’ll actually stay a bit more and compare some Charms notes with Y/N/N” he said and winked your way, making a faint blush appear on your cheeks.

Moony smiled and got up, stretchinghis arms as he went.

“Suit yourselves” he said and he was out the door a moment later.

“So… “ you started and fumbled for your Charms notes in your bag, but Sirius’ hand on your wrist stopped you mid movement.

“No, I… the Charms notes were just a pretext, I’m sorry. Truth is, I wanted to ask you something and I wanted you alone for that.”

His whispered reply was accompanied by a tinge of pink to the tops of his ears. You held back a smile and focused your attention on the boy in front of you, raising a brow expectantly.

“Would you like to… maybe… if you want, I mean, you don’t have to… I mean… “ he groaned and buried his face in his hands “would you want to go with me… maybe tomorrow….“ he stopped again and his blush intensified, increasing your urge to coo and cover him in kisses.

His flustered state, as much as it melted your heart, made up your mind, so you quickly put him out of his misery.

“I would love to go on a date with you, Sirius” you said softly, taking his hand in yours and drawing small circles on the back of it.

He frowned in confusion, which made a guilty expression appear on your face.

“Your thoughts have been pretty loud today, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

Although his cheeks were beet red at this point, he couldn’t help but chuckle and pull you to his chest, holding you tight and pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Well, I’m quite glad they were, I don’t know if I’d have been able to properly ask you otherwise."

Note the “cleverness” and “ready mind” mentioned by the Sorting Hat needn’t always come in the form of a bookish nerd, as Luna Lovegood, Sybil Trelawney, Profeesor Quirrel and Professor Lockheart are all Ravenclaw. Wanda may not spend her free time studying or watching the Discovery Channel, but she does spend much of it experimenting with her powers, and letting her imagination loose. When faced with unbearable loss, she wasn’t immediately able to face her grief head-on, like a Gryffindor; nor, as a corrupt Ministry leader lied, did she try to resurrect her lost lover; instead, she escaped into her own mind, imagining up an (almost) complete fictitious life for herself and Vision, in a matter of seconds, without even realizing she was doing it.

Wanda is capable of impressive courage, ambition and loyalty, to be sure; but all of those things have wavered, when her reality was turned upside-down. She shed years of indoctrination after reading Ultron’s mind and seeing the grim truth. (And yes, she can read a machine’s mind! That’s a Ravenclaw right there.)

Durmstrang Experiments

Wanda and her twin brother Pietro were born to wizarding parents, in the tiny European nation of Sokovia. Wanda was a born Legilimens, like Queenie Goldstein, able to peek into others’ minds without having to perform any spells. A poor family, their father made ends meet by enchanting posters and lobby cards of old Muggle sitcoms to play out entire episodes, which he then sold to Muggle-enthusiasts in the wizarding world. Their home was decimated by a spell invented by Tony Stark, who never intended for it to end up in the claws of banshee terrorists. The twins ended up in a crap Muggle orphanage, which only intensified their prejudices. By the time they entered Durmstrang, a school infamous for professors that supported Dark Magic and even Voldemort, they were ripe for indoctrination and radicalization.

Due to Wanda’s being a Legilimens, the twins were selected for a dangerous experiment by their headmaster Professor Beowulf Von Stucker. Using the Mind Stone, the twins were to be fused with their wands. Wanda’s first name suddenly became very appropriate, a la Remus Lupin. Wanda merged with her phoenix-feathered wand, transforming the born Legilimens into a powerful human/phoenix hybrid. Her telepathic powers were enhanced, and she gained many powers of a phoenix, including flight, inhuman strength for her levitation spells, and being nearly indestructible. Being part wand also made her able to do wandless magic with no effort. Pietro, meanwhile, was merged with his Veela-hair wand, making him a human/Veela hybrid, and gifting him with a Veela’s dancing speed and silvery hair.

(A very special thanks to AlasterBoneman for the idea about Wanda's wand being integrated into her body.) Order of the Avengers Wanda and Pietro are finishing up their first year when they cross paths with the Order of the Avengers, and they don't exactly make a good first impression. Their vitriol against the Avengers and Tony Stark makes very little sense, especially given that Wanda is a telepath, and should easily see they aren't the villains (not to mention how much she has in common with Natasha, whose life story Wanda personally digs up). But, the twins are still only about eleven, and kids that age can be pretty stupid. The Avengers trace Loki's confiscated broom-scepter to Durmstrang, where the dark wizards from the Order of Hydra are keeping it. Wanda, having recently studied with a Boggart, uses her Legillimency to make the Avengers relive their traumas. Tony's fear shows Wanda that he clearly wants to protect the world, and yet she makes the very un-Ravenclaw decision to keep pursuing "revenge." Her plan inadvertently leads to Tony and Bruce accidentally creating a dangerous and ear-bleedingly-irritating gargoyle named Ultron, who the twins personally work with. Wanda even shocks Bruce into green-wolf form, and sends him on a rampage through one of the dormitories at Durmstrang (but it's not her or Pietro's House, so she could care less). Finally, after much too long, she puts her mental powers to some use, and reads Ultron's mind. That's when she puts two and two together. By then, Ultron has unleashed an army of Cornish Pixies to levitate Durmstrang Castle miles into the air, planning to drop it in an explosion of magic that will alert the Muggles to the existence of wizards. Huddled in a swaying castle tower, she confesses her guilt to Hufflepuff Clint Barton. Clint invites her to redeem herself by joining the Avengers. Durmstrang is saved, but sadly, Pietro takes a killing curse for Clint and another first year. wrought with grief and guilt, wanda begins her second year of schooling at Hogwarts, where--after an unusually long time on the stool--she is sorted into Ravenclaw. Her lonely mood is raised slightly when she finds the attractive new Golem, Vision, hovering to the Ravenclaw table alongside her.

The Scarlet Witch Hunt

Perhaps living on her own for a while is what finally helps Wanda regain the confidence to think for herself. When Vision suggests that they both drop out of their respective schools and just run off together, she urges him against the idea. When Vision senses a disturbance in his Mind Stone, she inspects it for him, but reports, “I just feel you.”

They are interrupted by a rude crowd of Trolls under their window, calling for Wanda’s blood. She’s fine to ignore them, but Vision—ever the logical Ravenclaw—is compelled intellectually argue with the Trolls in his lady's honor.

“Wanda is a redemption-seeking-antihero like Tony, who she has not expressed any hatred for since the Ultron fiasco—not even during the whole ‘Civil War’ calamity! In fact, of everyone on Team Cap, she was the least awful to Tony! The only verbal exchange between them during the whole drunk Quidditch match was a brief pout about being 'locked in her room,' which she had no problem with until Hawkeye came and pressured her. She was literally the only person in the Squid prison not insulting him! And just a few minutes ago, when I wanted her to run away with me, she was telling me to keep my loyalties to Stark, and when the news reported him missing she was visibly scared for him! Seriously, where are you Trolls even getting that she still hates Tony?”

One Troll with particularly long horns shouts back, “Well what about that cleavage and slutty red leather? Tony Stark was never a slu—er, wait…”

Vision is now standing in the window frame, unbuttoning his fly.

“Vision?” Wanda asks nervously. “What are you doing?”

A glittering, purple stream poursd out from her boyfriend’s “better wand,” threatening to deface the crowd below.

“Vision no!” she cries, quickly containing the violet river in an energy ball.

Steady hand…    she carefully lifts the ball of glistening liquid higher and higher into the air. …Not gonna screw this one up—

“I say Wanda, is that a giant flying donut?” Vision asks curiously.

Wanda glances up, and there is indeed a gargantuan space donut in the night sky, coming right for them. The strange sight distracts her, causing her hand to slip—just as she’s levitating Visions liquids right over said donut.

This enchanted pastry is in fact the vessel of some of Thanos’s most vicious minions. And Wanda has just drenched them in Vision’s you-know-what.

While Wanda gasps behind her hand, Vision suggests, “Let’s go for a walk.”

On their way down the quiet lamp-lit streets, they are soon stopped by a group of Thanos’s putrid goblin children, currently slightly more putrid than usual.

A blue female goblin roars, “Now you’ve really succeeded in pissing us off!”

Before she can stop herself, Wanda blurts out, “Pissed off? Smells more to me like you ‘been pissed on!”

Somewhere, a boxing bell dings, and a badass wizard’s duel begins.

Just when Wanda and Vision are cornered, a train passes by, causing all parties to freeze dramatically for no apparent reason. Wanda tries to make her body move, to take this opportunity to blast her opponents, but some force has her glued in place, as low music hisses theatrically throughout the night. The train passes, to reveal a shadowy figure, posing heroically. Instead of shooting the figure with a hex, one of the goblins simply throws a spear, which the figure catches expertly. Wanda and Vision both know that there is only one person on the planet would could make an entrance with this much ham and cheese.

Steve Rogers dramatically stepped into the light, revealing his fluffy new beard, and the duel gets a bit more epic.

Oh Snap

In the wizarding nation of Wakanda, Black Panther’s brilliant sister Shuri does her damndest to save her fellow Ravenclaw, and safely remove the Infinity Stone from Vision’s forehead. Sadly, Thanos’s forces overwhelm her, and Wanda is forced to kill her lover--the last family she has left. Many would assume only a Gryffindor would have the resolve to do this, but a Ravenclaw’s wisdom and pragmatism can go a long way.

Ever the sadist, that purple f*ck Thanos uses the Time Stone to resurrect Vision and kill him again, in front of Wanda, and even has the gault "comfort" her in a patronizing manner.

And yet, she’s not so distraught when Thanos’s Dusting curse comes for her. It could be that she’s so despaired by now that she welcomes death. Or maybe the half-phoenix simply doesn’t react to dissolving into ash the same way other beings might…

…in any case, she is resurrected over the summer by Bruce Banner. Vision, sadly, isn’t. In her grief, Wanda accidently traps herself and the entire school of Hogwarts inside the Mirror of Erised, but that's another story entirely. 

Wand, Broom and Patronus

Cherry wood is associated with some of the most powerful and lethal wands.  Phoenix feather wands are considered to have the widest range of magic, and are among the post powerful, yet also the most difficult to tame. 

The red-billed firefinch is one of the few bird species where the females sport some red coloring. These birds are tiny and quiet, but very active. They are flexible about where they live and with whom; they can mix with other bird species, and can live in the wild or captivity, provided they always have plenty of space. Their nests are different from other birds', having a dome shape and being low in bushes. Not unlike the hidden fortress Wanda creates, to hide her family. These crafty birds also build mock-nests to fool predators.