clever solitary girl

"Such strong bonds and built so quickly are a very different and I think most precious form of magic that can be found in the world." It was at least a subtle praise though not encouragement for further rule breaking. He was surprised at her knowledge of transfiguration and with another smile and a nod, he agreed, "Yes you are correct. It seems you have a natural understanding of Transfiguration, a subject after my own heart," further encouragement before the inevitable correction that was on the way.

"While your friend is very lucky to have found you and so daring and devoted enough to break the rules for their happiness, I think that they might be more upset that you would have ended up at the doorway of detention having being caught breaking the rules." He peered at her over the rim of his glasses but the patient smile remained regardless. "A familiar exploring the castle is quite normal while they get used to their new home just as much as their student companions have to adjust. I think it likely Miss Tunabreath has found another cat who has befriended her as you have your friend." A gentle reassurance but from the sounds of it, it would not be enough for Theo's friend to settle.

Getting sent back to her dormitory with hot cocoa and without a detention -- but also, crucially, without Tilly Tunabreath -- was, as Pansy's nan would have said, better than a poke in the arse with a broomstick. And it was certainly the best deal Theo would get at this time of night, which she was intelligent enough to realize, so she looked up at the headmaster with an expression of gratitude on her face and said, "That would be very kind of you, sir, and may I say that I also appreciate your forbearance? I shan't be caught out of bed after hours again, I promise."

She could have said more: that Pansy wasn't a new acquaintance, but had in fact been Theo's best friend since the age of six; that Tilly Tunabreath wasn't a proper familiar, but merely a sweet, spoiled, and rather dim house cat; or that despite what Professor Dumbledore had said about the kitchens being out of bounds, Theo knew that the house-elves received their share of student visitors every year. She could have said, too, that the words be caught were doing a lot of heavy lifting in the promise that she'd just made -- after all, she was a Slytherin. But she kept those thoughts to herself, because those weren't the sort of things that the headmaster needed to know.

“ can you cast a patronus? ”

“ i saw muggle textbooks when i was visiting family for the holidays, and honestly? sure, i could maybe die falling off the stairs if i had a sleepwalking habit, but at least i’m not doing algebra right now. ”

“ do you think a dog animagi could have puppies? ”

“ how did you explain to your friends why you were switching schools? ”

“ sorry, all the other carriages are full, i’m sitting here whether you want it or not. ”

“ i wonder if there are people who can speak parseltongue but with like… bunnies. ”

“ i’m tired, and i want to go to bed, and i’ve been sitting here, trying to figure it out for like an hour, save me: what has a head but no body, but does have a tail? ”

“ what do threstals look like? ”

“ do you ever wash your cauldron? ”

“ trying to sneak into the forbidden section three times in a row is either the most badass or the most nerdy thing you’ve ever done. ”

“ if i go to hospital wing, i have to explain how i got it. i need to solve this with a spell. ”

“ no, i just never realised other people see the carriages being pulled by thin air. ”

“ when did you get the dark mark? ”

“ SOMEBODY CATCH MY TOAD! ”

“ mudblood. ”

“ who was the guy your boggart turned into? ”

“ where did you learn that? ”

“ sorry, but you couldn’t pay me to put my name in that thing. ”

“ do you still have that leaf in your mouth? ”

“ you’re the most injury-prone [quidditch position] i’ve ever met. ”

“ congratulations, head [boy/girl/pupil]. ”

“ imagine being a straight couple right now. ”

“ i’m going to have to fight my parents. ”

“ sorry, is this your owl/toad/cat? [they’re] beautiul. ”

“ do you think you could sneak to the astronomy tower with me tonight? ”

“ i actually haven’t asked anyone for the yule ball with me. ”

“ [name] got petrified, didn’t [they]? i’m sorry. ”

“ have you met the new DADA professor yet? how was it? ”

“ next time [name] pushes you again, i swear to god i’m hexing [their] arse. ”

“ i ate something and now my face is purple. i’m NOT coming out! ”

“ it’s vinegar. i knocked on the wrong barrel. ”

“ don’t look at me like that, i’m just trying to steal your body heat. it’s cold down here, okay? ”

“ how the hell can someone like you be in [house]? ”

“ come to think of it, i don’t think i’ve ever seen a ginger slytherin. ”

“ i didn’t even know i was afraid of heights before i came to this bloody school. ”

“ finding places to cuddle in would be a lot easier if we were at the same house. ”

“ are both of your parents muggles? ”

“ when you said you wanted to go to hogsmeade together with me, did you mean like… a date kind of ‘together’? ”

“ i wonder how many peole have banged in the room of requirements. ”

“ why must the plants sing? ”

“ sorry, you’re not getting the password from me. ”

“ have fun in potions. try not to punch anyone. ”

“ of course i’m fine. i mean, who wouldn’t want to be told they’re going to have a painful, grim death, on their first divination class? ”

“ are all [ravenclaws/gryffindors/slytherins] assholes, or is that just you? ”

“ dude, it was definitely two feet on vampires. how screwed are you? ”

"I don't know." Which was mostly the truth, but confessing his real reasons for coming here seemed hard; insomnia wasn't exactly a complicated reason for being out and about at this hour but admitting weakness?

That was difficult.

"It's peaceful out here at this time. I guess that's the main reason, ifthat makes sense. I don't know how else to explain it."

Harry snorted, there was something really amusing about the image. "Well I can't speak for everyone- but that would definitely have my quaking in my boots."

"There are times when my Slytherin Ice Queen reputation can be rather useful," Theo said primly. "I assure you that I wouldn't have bothered to cultivate it if I weren't getting something out of it."

For Harry Potter themed roleplays

“Right… I don’t think that was pumpkin juice…”

“Does anyone have the Charms notes from yesterday?”

“Who’s up for a relaxing swim in the Black Lake?”

“My best guess: there are lumps of tea leaves in your future.”

“I’m pretty sure food isn’t allowed in the library.”

“Curfew? Please. All the fun in the castle happens at night.”

“This bean is either cherry- or blood-flavored. I’m not sure I want to risk it.”

“No, I actually only get the Prophet for the crossword.”

“I think I may have ticked off one of the suits of armor…”

“Careful! I think there might be a boggart in there.”

“Whoever slipped that Ton-Tongue Toffee into my bag of regular toffee is dead.”

“Do you think anyone will notice that my potion had a, uh… minor explosion?”

“I was given the choice between Astronomy and sleep. I chose sleep.”

“It’s a niffler. I found it, and I’m keeping it.”

“It’s just butterbeer, it’s barely alcoholic.”

“Okay, how am I going to learn this spell when you keep interrupting me?”

“Oh, the bruise? No, it was just… a Quidditch accident.”

“Do you collect chocolate frog cards? I have Ptolemy and I’m looking to trade.”

“But would being a werewolf really be so terrible?”

“Don’t go in there. Peeves is at it again, of course.”

“You might want to step away from the Venomous Tentacula. Slowly, don’t spook it.”

“Has anyone seen my remembrall? Forgot where I put it.”

“Oh no… who on earth would send me a howler?”

He offered her a warm and polite chuckle on her reason for not going to Hogsmeade all the same. It was certainly a novel thing for third years to enjoy but admittedly with all the years above also heading into the village it would inevitably become over crowded and the queues for the favourite shops could test anyone's patience, especially while expected back at the school for dinner and curfew.

"I have never really been one for crowds either," Albus admitted, remembering previous excursions to more crowded areas and how easy it was for one faction or another to kick up a fuss, much like the Houses sometimes did, especially around quidditch matches. However getting pushed around in the corridors was less than good news and Albus let out a thoughtful hum.

"For such a large school the corridors can feel so narrow, it's true. I am sorry you are jostled around between lessons." It was of course not what he wanted for any student but he was sure he could come up with a solution, however, call it wisdom or just that he was very used to teenagers after a life time trying to educate them but he sensed he wasn't being told the whole truth.

However well-intentioned Dumbledore's questions might be -- and Theo was nowhere near convinced on that point -- the fact was that he was the last staff member Theo would ever consider confiding in, because she didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone outside of Slytherin House anymore. True, Professor Lupin had been kind to her when she'd fainted, but he hadn't even been at Hogwarts for two full months yet, so Theo wasn't ready to draw any firm conclusions. The jury, as they said, was still out.

But Dumbledore? Dumbledore had made his opinion of Theo's house quite clear, and he had done so in a way that none of the students in Slytherin would ever forget. He couldn't be trusted, for all that he had the manner of a kindly old man. Theo far preferred Professor Snape's acerbic sarcasm, because at least that was honest. The Potions Master did not suffer fools, and anyone who wasted his time with trivial matters would find themselves firmly rebuked for doing so, but Theo and her housemates all knew that if they were ever faced with a real problem, they could rely on Professor Snape. He wasn't like the rest of the teachers. He didn't leap to assumptions about students who happened to wear green ties.

"It is a large school," Theo agreed, "but there are quite a lot of students here. I mean, the corridors are bound to be crowded sometimes, aren't they? It's simply a matter of numbers, sir." With a shrug, she added, "The jostling is unpleasant, but I doubt most of it is anything personal."

Well, maybe. Theo was smart enough to see that some of it certainly was personal, but that was no business of Dumbledore's.

She wondered if he knew about what had happened in that first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with the Boggart. Probably, she thought, since the teachers surely must have be required to submit reports and such to the headmaster. That was how schools worked, after all. But Theo had no plans to bring up the incident, so unless Dumbledore decided to ask her about it directly, she would keep her thoughts to herself.

She claimed she wasn't looking for trouble at least and Albus offered her a chuckle in turn. "Often, it is trouble that finds us, Miss Nott." He gently pointed out but she didn't seem to be out of bed for a nefarious reason, eleven year olds were usually rather limited in that capacity after all and he believed in innocence until proven guilty.

"Since there doesn't seem to be any trouble around here for us to find, maybe you will explain to me why it is you're out of bed?" A soft and warm reprimand, he didn't want her shutting down on him and risking missing out on information that could prove very valuable. Perhaps she was intending to meet other students, maybe the duelling club had gotten ahead of itself and was staging some secret duel. The wonders and creativity of children when they were doing something they should not have been never ceased to amaze him and bring him such hope for the future, despite the looming darkness.

"Tilly Tunabreath is missing," Theo said earnestly, looking up at the headmaster. Then, because she realized how ridiculous that statement must sound to anyone who didn't know Pansy and her penchant for silly pet names, she explained, "That's my best friend's cat. She hasn't been seen for three days now, and my friend" -- just my friend, of course, because Theo wasn't going to implicate Pansy if she didn't have to -- "is in a terrible state. She's been crying all evening."

Fiddling absent-mindedly with the hem of her sleeve, Theo continued, "I asked her if she wanted one of the prefects to fetch Professor Snape, so that he could take her to the hospital wing for a Calming Draught, but she doesn't want to leave the dormitory, in case Tilly comes back while she's gone." That, and because Pansy was fastidious about her appearance and didn't want to be seen with a red nose and a blotchy face. But that was just one of her little quirks, and Theo wouldn't have her any other way.

"I was going to go down to the kitchens to ask the house-elves to make her some hot cocoa, and to see if they had a bit of tuna she could use to try to coax Tilly out from wherever she's hiding." A slight touch of defiance entered Theo's expression as she added, "I know I shouldn't be out after curfew, sir, but she's my best friend, and I hate seeing her so upset. And even if I were a fully qualified witch, I wouldn't be able to conjure tuna and a mug of cocoa. I mean, food is one of the exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, isn't it? Everyone knows that."

url edit → @slytherinbloodwhore

Harry couldn’t help but snort. Unkind might be a word for it but Harry wasn’t sure if it was the right word, but Theo clearly cared about Pansy, and he wasn’t going to be the kind of person that harrassed someone over their friends. “Well we all wear multiple faces. Merlin knows I did when we were in school.” Heir of Slytherin, Triwizard champion, a few other less than ideal ones. “I get it.” Which, admittedly, was a surprise. Maybe Hermione had finally gotten through him.

Harry raised an eyebrow- now that didn’t sound like the Pansy he knew, but Nott clearly had a different experience than he did, “You’ll forgive me if I have my doubts.” He finally said, because Hermione was the most loyal friend you could have, she had been the only one who had never abandoned him even when things became dire. Even when he’d turned his back on her in third year over the stupid broom.

But Harry wasn’t looking for an argument, so none of this was vocalized.

The memory makes Harry smile, a vision of a different Malfoy than he had gotten to know. “It sounds like a nice time.” Harry finally said quietly, his own thoughts going back to Ron and Hermione- memories of being saved from a life of loneliness when he was eleven years old. “Okay. We’ll start there.” Harry said finally, “Focus on Malfoy and Parkinson and then try to cast it.”

"Different faces were the norm in Slytherin, I'm afraid," Theo said. "I was always a little jealous about that, you know -- that you and Granger and Weasley all had best friends who still acted like themselves in public. I didn't like the Pansy or the Draco who came out in public very much. There was a reason I never ran with either of their gangs."

The catty, cliquish queen bee that the rest of the school had known wasn't the real Pansy. The real Pansy was the little girl who had come to play with Theo once a week, every week, in 1987, even though Theo had spent half of that year almost completely silent, unable to speak to anyone but her own father, and even then only barely. But Pansy had come anyway, without complaint, and hugged Theo hello, and had sat at the kitchen table, smiling and chattering as they colored together and drank hot cocoa. To this day, Pansy still had one of Theo's drawings from that year stuck on her bedroom wall -- a picture of the two of them holding hands, with the word FRIENDS up top in rainbow letters.

That was a good memory, so Theo focused very hard on it, calling up an image of the drawing inside her head, and said, "Expecto Patronum!"