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razzmatazzy-blog · 10 days ago

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Chapter 8: NORBERT THE NORWEGIAN RIDGEBACK

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

synopsis : It only takes one person to cause a ripple effect... when an orphan who remembers nothing from her past receives a letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she assumes she is getting pranked. But when Rubeus Hagrid shows up, she realizes quickly that not only is magic real, but she is a witch. Little does she know she is joining a class with the famous Harry Potter, the boy who lived, which will most definitely disrupt her education. Determined to catch up and maybe even discover who she is and where she came from, the young witch throws herself into everything with an open mind and passionate heart. However, sooner or later she must choose, will she cling to a past she's long forgotten or fight to save her hopes for the future?

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist:https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

Moved by Dumbledore’s words, Y/N did not seek out the Mirror of Erised again. Something within her also made her convinced she would never see it again anyway. That did not make it easier not to dwell on what she saw. Mostly on the fact that she still could not recall anything about her family, the feeling of knowing she had while looking in the mirror, sapped from her body. She began having nightmares. Of faceless people leaving her, then of the faces of those she knew melting off as they turned to leave her as well. The only bright spot was that now she had someone to share these worries with. Harry had confided that he had been having nightmares as well.

“You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad,” said Ron, when they told him about these dreams and the mirror. Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was horrified at the idea of Harry and Y/N being out of bed, roaming the school, and not returning in the morning (“If Filch had caught you!”).

The weeks that passed went on peacefully. Hermione had started drawing up study schedules and colour-coding all her notes.

“Exams are in ten weeks, Y/N”, Hermione said as they left Charms. “I am overrun by stress! These exams, they’re very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don’t know what’s gotten into me. . . .”

“You’ll be fine, Hermione”, Y/N assured her. “You’re the most prepared person I know”.

***

By Easter holidays, Hermione had practically moved into the library. Y/N made it her occasional residence, along with Harry and Ron, though she liked to switch up her study spots. The Ravenclaw reading room was also pleasant, though she and Padma spent more time following their own curiosities as opposed to studying. Harry and Ron, however, spent most of their free time in the library with Hermione, trying to get through all their extra work. Likely trying to make up for sleeping in Binn’s lectures.

One day, Y/N walked over to the library. She saw Ron return uncharacteristically with a pile of books.

“Dragons!” he whispered. “Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper’s Guide.”

“Hagrid was doing what?” Y/N chimed in with a smile.

“Oh, hello Y/N”, Harry said. “Hagrid’s always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him, and he was just here looking at these books about them”.

“But it’s against our laws,” said Ron. “Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709; everyone knows that. It’s hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we’re keeping dragons in the back garden — anyway, you can’t tame dragons, it’s dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie’s got off wild ones in Romania.”

“But there aren’t wild dragons in Britain?” said Harry.

“Of course there are,” said Ron. “Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who’ve spotted them, to make them forget.”

“So what on earth’s Hagrid up to?” said Hermione.

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper’s hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called, “Who is it?” before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them. Y/N let the others go in a bit before her, as she wanted to spend a few minutes petting Fang.

When she did enter Hagrid’s ten minutes later, it was stiflingly hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

“Hagrid — what’s that?”

But Y/N already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

“Ah,” said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, “That’s — er . . .”

“Where did you get it, Hagrid?” said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. “It must’ve cost you a fortune.”

“Won it,” said Hagrid. “Las’ night. I was down in the village havin’ a few drinks an’ got into a game o’ cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest.”

“But what are you going to do with it when it’s hatched?” said Hermione, ever the voice of reason.

“Well, I’ve bin doin’ some readin’,” said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. “Got this outta the library — Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit — it’s a bit outta date, o’ course, but it’s all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, ’cause their mothers breathe on ’em, see, an’ when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o’ brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An’see here — how ter recognise diff’rent eggs — what I got there’s a Norwegian Ridgeback. They’re rare, them.”

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn’t.

“Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,” she said. But Hagrid wasn’t listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire. So now they had something else to worry about besides exams: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It’s hatching. He had quickly run over to the Ravenclaw table to share with Y/N.

Ron and Y/N wanted to skip their respective classes and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn’t hear of it.

“Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?” whined Ron.

“We’ve got lessons, we’ll get into trouble, and that’s nothing to what Hagrid’s going to be in when someone finds out what he’s doing…”

“Shut up!” Harry whispered.

Y/N then noticed Malfoy was only a few feet away and very clearly listening to them. He had an awfully smug smirk on his face, but then again, he always seemed to. How much had he heard?

When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lessons, they hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited.

“It’s nearly out.” He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once, there was a scraping noise, and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn’t exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body; it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon’s head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

“Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!” said Hagrid.

“Hagrid,” said Hermione, “How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?”

Y/N then noticed a pale face with overly gelled and slicked-back blond hair in the window. She poked Hagrid to get his attention. The colour drained from his face.

“Someone was lookin’ through the gap in the curtains — it’s a kid — he’s runnin’ back up ter the school.”

They all gathered at the window. There was no mistaking him. Malfoy had seen the dragon. Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy’s face during the next week made Y/N, Harry, Ron, and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid’s darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

“Just let him go,” Harry urged. “Set him free.”

“Or at least find someone qualified to take him”, Y/N begged.

“I can’t,” said Hagrid. “He’s too little. He’d die.”

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. If this was too little, Y/N was dreading what the next few weeks had in store for them.

“I’ve decided to call him Norbert,” said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. “He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where’s Mummy?”

“Hagrid,” said Harry loudly, “Give it two weeks and Norbert’s going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.”

Y/N herself had been wondering what was stopping him. She couldn’t claim to know the arrogant, rude boy very well at all, but if her friends' accounts were anything to go by, he wasn’t one to miss a shot against them.

Hagrid bit his lip. “I — I know I can’t keep him forever, but I can’t jus’ dump him, I can’t.”

Harry had the brilliant idea to send Ron’s brother, Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania, a letter asking if he could take Norbert. Thankfully, Hagrid agreed to this.

The following week dragged by. Malfoy, who had never had any reason to notice Y/N before seeing her and her friends with Hagrid and the dragon, began shooting her smug looks. Looks that said ‘I have something over you’. Worse yet, Ron had gotten bitten by Norbert and ended up in the hospital wing. At least Charlie had finally written back, stating he would take the dragon. But somehow they would have to get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday.

“It’s not just my hand,” he whispered, “although that feels like it’s about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me — I’ve told her it was a dog, but I don’t think she believes me — I shouldn’t have hit him at the Quidditch match, that’s why he’s doing this.”

Y/N, Harry, and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.

“Oh no — oh no — I’ve just remembered — Charlie’s letter was in that book Malfoy took, he’s going to know we’re getting rid of Norbert.”

“It’s too late to change the plan now,” Harry told Y/N and Hermione. “We haven’t got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We’ll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn’t know about that.”

Saturday couldn’t come quickly enough. Malfoy had been making Y/N take notes for him in all the classes Ravenclaw and Slytherin shared, or else he might accidentally let a certain reptilian resident’s location slip. Y/N begrudgingly agreed, though by Saturday morning her hand was so sore she was mentally cursing Malfoy every free moment she got. They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn’t been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid’s hut because they’d had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he’d been playing tennis against the wall. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

“He’s got lots o’ rats an’ some brandy fer the journey,” said Hagrid in a muffled voice. “An’ I’ve packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that”, Y/N said as a spark from one of Norbert’s hiccups set the bear’s tail on fire. From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Y/N as though the teddy was having his backside torn off. She didn’t dare look.

“Bye-bye, Norbert!” Hagrid sobbed, as Harry, Hermione, and Y/N covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. “Mummy will never forget you!”

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another — even one of Harry’s shortcuts didn’t make the work much easier.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.

“Detention!” she shouted. “And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you —”

“You don’t understand, Professor. Harry Potter’s coming — he’s got a dragon!”

“What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on — I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!”

Y/N had to work extremely hard to suppress a giggle. The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. In fact, her hand no longer seemed sore as well.

“Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!” Hermione whispered joyfully.

“Don’t,” Harry advised her.

Yet, none of them could resist a good laugh at Malfoy’s expense. They waited while Norbert thrashed about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness. Charlie’s friends were a cheery lot. They showed them the harness they’d rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it, and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much. At last, Norbert was gone, and so was any reason for Y/N to be on Malfoy’s radar.

In all their glee, the trio had forgotten the invisibility cloak at the top of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch’s face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

“Well, well, well,” he whispered, “We are in trouble.”

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razzmatazzy-blog · 10 days ago

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Chapter 7: THE MIRROR OF ERISED

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist:https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

November arrived with a chill and signalled the start of Quidditch season. Not that Y/N cared much, she tended to bring her class reading to the matches. Apparently, though she had missed an exciting game, putting her nose in a book as Harry had nearly swallowed the Snitch. What Y/N hadn’t missed was the drastic improvement of Harry, Hermione, and Ron’s relationship. They were nearly inseparable now, being in the same house made that easy. Y/N couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy that she pushed aside. No, she would be happy Hermione was getting along better with her housemates.

Besides, Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. Y/N was hurrying back from Hagrid’s hut, she had taken to visiting Fang in her free time, and was disrupted by a snowball to the back of her head. As she whipped around, she saw the snowball magically reform in the air and whiz around her. Her eyes followed its path and she saw it, and multiples like it, pelt Quirrell in the back of his turban.

“Sorry, Y/N!” she heard a shout from the Weasley twins. They jogged up next to her, and Fred leaned down to say something with his hand covering his mouth. “Clearly, that was meant for Quirrell. Reforming, following, snowballs. Isn’t that brilliant?”

“As someone who was on the receiving end of that brilliance, I would have to disagree”, Y/N retorted. “If any of the Professors find out this was you two, you’ll be in detention until the snow melts”.

“Can’t you at least respect the artistry of the charm?” George chimed in.

Y/N stubbornly readjusted her scarf before admitting, “Well, it is a clever bit of magic, I’ll give you that”.

The Weasley twins looked entirely too pleased with themselves after that admission. Though it didn’t take long for Snape to catch them admiring their handwork and passing them off to Filch for detention.

Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Y/N had signed up. Christmas at Morningside was a generally depressing affair, even though the older girls tried their best to make it fun. Plus, Y/N wasn’t sure she could handle seeing Amanda in person and then having to leave her again. Every time she reads one of her letters, a wave of loneliness washes over her. But more recently, so has been a wave of guilt. She, of course, hadn’t been able to be truthful about what she was actually doing at Hogwarts. So, her response has grown shorter and increasingly generic, which has only added to her loneliness. From what she had heard, the only people staying for the holidays were Harry, Ron, and the other Weasley brothers. So her dormitory in Ravenclaw tower would be empty, and the common room practically barren.

The Great Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. Once the holidays had started, Hogwarts emptied out. At least Y/N got the prime reading nook in Ravenclaw which was usually occupied by older students. It had a lovely view of the lake, which was frozen over this time of year.

On the second day of break, Y/N had brought her reading down to the Great Hall to soak up the holiday spirit from the decorations. Harry and Ron had also decided to spend time in the hall and waved Y/N over. Ron also started teaching Y/N and Harry wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron’s set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family — in this case, his grandfather. That hadn’t mattered much, though, as it was obvious Ron was a very good chess player. Harry and Y/N did not stand a chance. Despite this, Y/N kept insisting on rematches, mostly so she wouldn’t have to return to her too empty dormitory.

On Christmas morning, Y/N awoke to two packages at the foot of her bed. She hadn’t expected anything. The girls sometimes got a little something back at Morningside, but there was no shot that anyone from Morningside knew how to send parcels by owl. Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper, and scrawled across it was: To Y/N, from Hagrid. It contained a small wooden jewellery box, which looked hand-carved. Y/N suspected Hagrid made it himself. There was a note inside that explained it was for the necklace she always wore, in case she ever wanted a safe place to store it. Y/N was profoundly touched. Her other present also contained candy — a box of Sugar Quills from Hermione. Y/N then felt very ashamed she hadn’t thought to get anyone gifts. It’s not like she had any money, but that had never stopped her at Morningside. She would have to come up with something to give them in return.

Christmas dinner was a spectacular affair. The Weasleys and Harry showed up in matching cable-knit sweaters, all in different colours with their initials, minus Harry’s.

“Our mum thinks we’ll forget our names,” George explained when Y/N asked about the sweaters. “But we’re not stupid — we know we’re called Gred and Forge.”

Everyone sat together for dinner, not separated by houses as usual. A dozen fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce — and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. Y/N could not have even dreamed up something so indulgent. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard’s hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him. Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to everyone’s amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

After dinner, Y/N joined Harry and the Weasleys for a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Y/N had cornered Fred and George and insisted that they teach her the charm they had used for the flying, following snowballs. While Y/N had managed to get them to fly, getting them to follow the right person had been tricky. So she had given up and just flung them while using the levitating charm, which was just as effective. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the warmth of the castle.

It had been the best Christmas Y/N could remember, so returning to her lonely room was unbearable. Try as she might, Y/N simply could not sleep. She decided she might as well try to read, but realised she had read everything she had brought up to her dormitory. Determined not to wallow in her sadness, Y/N decided to go down to the library to pick up some more reading material. If there was any day, patrols would be lessened, it had to be Christmas. So she plucked up her courage and snuck out of Ravenclaw tower into the library. She had picked out a fascinating book on Eastern European Folk Charms.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence! The shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note. Y/N immediately heard it was coming from the Restricted Section and crept over to investigate. However, it was pitch black in there, and Y/N heard footsteps approaching. She was definitely going to get caught. Then, out of nowhere, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed her, pulling her under some kind of sheet. Before she could scream, one of the hands covered her mouth, and the person shushed her. Y/N frantically looked at who had grabbed her and saw Harry’s familiar green eyes looking back at her from behind his round glasses. Y/N furrowed her brows in confusion — how could she have missed him? Then she nodded her head to signal she wasn’t going to scream. Harry then removed his hand from her mouth and grabbed her, leading her away from the sound of footsteps.

They passed Filch in the doorway; Filch’s pale, wild eyes looked straight through him, and they slipped under Filch’s outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book’s shrieks still ringing in their ears. Harry came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour, and Y/N nearly bumped into his back. They had been so busy getting away from the library, they hadn’t paid attention to where they were going. Perhaps because it was dark, Y/N didn’t recognise where she was at all.

“You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody’s been in the library — Restricted Section.”

Y/N felt the blood drain out of her face, and looking over at Harry, he looked white as a sheet too. Wherever they were, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to their horror, it was Snape who replied, “The Restricted Section? Well, they can’t be far, we’ll catch them.”

This was terrible. With how much Snape seemed to have a vendetta against Harry, if they got caught, they would probably single-handedly drain each of their houses of all their house points. They backed away as quietly as they could. A door stood ajar to their left. It was their only hope. Harry squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief, he managed to get inside the room without them noticing anything. Then Y/N followed close behind. They walked straight past, and Harry and Y/N leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before Harry noticed anything about the room he had hidden in.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket — but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn’t look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

Harry was the one to point it out, the odd object. It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohs i.

There was no sound of Filch and Snape now, and Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. He stepped in front of it.

“We should go, before they find this room”, Y/N whispered. “I wouldn’t even ask how you have an Invisibility Cloak. Let’s just go!”

But Harry was far too distracted by what he saw in the mirror to hear anything Y/N said. He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. He whirled around. He turned slowly back to the mirror. Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

“Mum?” he whispered. “Dad?”

Y/N was beyond confused. “Harry… what’s going on?”

How long Harry stood there, he didn’t seem to know. Y/N had to shake his shoulders to get him to remember she was there and look away from the mirror.

“Y/N, it’s the most amazing thing”, Harry said breathlessly. “I can see my family”.

He urged her to look into the mirror.

“See?” Harry whispered.

“Harry, I can’t see anything.”

“Look! Look at them all . . . there are loads of them. . . .”

“I can only see you.”

“Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am.”

Harry stepped aside, but with Y/N in front of the mirror, he just saw her reflection in her nightgown. Y/N was transfixed by her image. All around her was her family, and as she leaned further in, she could see in the background her friends from Hogwarts and Morningside. More amazingly, even though she had never seen the faces of the people in the front before, she just knew they were her family. Like she remembered everything, like they had always been there. Their images shifted, one moment they were dressed in Muggle clothes, the next they wore robes and had wands. Her parents smiled, and she could almost hear their voice reassuring her that they were always there for her, that they would always be together. Then, mirror Hermione, Harry, Ron, Padma, the other Ravenclaws, and the Weasleys all echoed the sentiment.

“Look at me!” Harry said. “Can you see all your family standing around you?”

“No — But I see my family, Harry! And they know me and I know them! I remember them!”

“What?” Harry looked shocked. Y/N tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry.

“Please, Harry, can I stay in front of it a little longer?”

“No, I want to see my parents”, Harry insisted as he gently moved her out of the way.

Y/N expression became panicked as she was removed from the mirror vision. She could no longer remember the faces of her family.

“Please, Harry, please!” She began to beg desperately. “I can’t remember them. Not again! Not again!”

A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn’t realised how loudly they had been talking. Y/N wiped the tears from her eyes, which she hadn’t realised had begun to form. Harry threw the Cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. Y/N and Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing — did the Cloak work on cats? After what seemed an age, she turned and left.

“If we take turns and stay quiet”, Y/N began. “Can we stay?”

Harry nodded as he pulled off the cloak. They had both finally found someone who understood. Y/N had found someone as alone as she was. They swapped places as long as the other could stand being away from the mirror. Some time later, they both passed out from exhaustion next to each other, with the cloak partly draped over them.

A soft cough woke both of them up with a start. It was morning now, and the room was bright. Y/N felt paralysed by anxiety. They looked up. Looking down at them was none other than Albus Dumbledore.

“So,” said Dumbledore, crouching down to sit on the floor with Harry and Y/N, “you two, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised.”

“I didn’t know it was called that, sir”, Harry replied.

“But I expect you’ve realised by now what it does?”

“It showed us our families, sir”, Y/N added.

“Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?”

They both shook their heads.

“Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror; that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?”

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, “It shows us what we want . . . whatever we want . . .”

“Yes and no,” said Dumbledore quietly. “It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You two, who have never known your families, see them standing around you. The mirror has a more potent impact on those who want most deeply. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, Y/N, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live; remember that. Now, why don’t you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to your day?”

Harry and Y/N stood up.

“Sir — Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?” Harry asked, and Y/N worried he might be pushing his luck.

“Obviously, you’ve just done so,” Dumbledore smiled. “You may ask me one more thing, however.”

“What do you see when you look in the mirror?”

“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks.”

Y/N and Harry stared back at him. No way that was the whole truth.

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”

Harry and Y/N left the room together, heading to the Great Hall. It was not until they had started descending the stairs that Y/N broke the silence.

“Harry, if you ever want to talk about your family, I’ll always be there to listen”, Y/N said nervously. “I know our situations aren’t the same, but if I could be so bold, I think out of everyone in the castle, we may have the best chance of understanding each other in this realm”.

“I would like that”, Harry said simply, looking Y/N in her eyes.

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razzmatazzy-blog · 13 days ago

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Chapter 6: HALLOWEEN

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist:https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

Halloween morning started with the smell of pumpkin pasties wafting through the halls. Y/N’s mood was already light due to this as she made her way to her favourite class, Charms. Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, which was a huge vote of trust on his part, considering the increased range of hazardous potential each student now had. Y/N was particularly excited for this, as if she knew how to make things fly, she would have been able to remove that tarantula that had ended up on her head on the train herself. Y/N was still tempted to get the Weasley twins back for that one, but thought she should probably see if she’s even able to be successful at the charm first.

Charms was with the Gryffindors, and while Hermione and Y/N did get to sit together, they did not get to choose their practice partners. Y/N was with Neville and was grateful for her fast reflexes as Neville’s wand movements were dangerously close to taking out her eye. Harry was with Seamus Finnigan, and Ron was working with Hermione. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. Y/N hadn’t been able to convince Hermione to cool her hostility towards the boys, not that she tried very hard. There was no point in encouraging her friend to make peace with two boys who obviously did not like or even respect her.

“Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve been practising!” squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. “Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f’ and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.”

It was very difficult. Y/N thought Neville was having the hardest time until she looked over at Harry and Seamus. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it — Harry had to put it out with his hat. Ron, at the next table, wasn’t having much more luck.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

“You’re saying it wrong,” Harry heard Hermione snap. “It’s Wing-gardium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”

“You do it, then, if you’re so clever,” Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, “Wingardium Leviosa!” Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

Y/N began clapping, “Well done, Hermione!”

“Oh, well done!” cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. “Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it!”

Ron was in a foul mood at the end of class, and Y/N had a bad feeling about it. She tried to usher Hermione out the door quickly, but she was held up by Flitwick. They ended up behind Ron and Harry, exactly who Y/N was trying to avoid.

“It’s no wonder no one can stand her,” Ron said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, “she’s a nightmare, honestly.”

Hermione knocked into Harry as she hurried past him. Y/N saw her face as she took off — and saw she was in tears. Before Y/N could get a word in, Hermione was long down the hall.

“I think she heard you.” Y/N heard Harry say, as he stopped in his tracks.

“So?” said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. “She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends in Gryffindor. Only Y/N tolerates her, and she must be a saint”.

“You’re a real troll, Ron!” Y/N snapped back at Ron, unable to restrain herself. “Are you really so pathetic that you can’t stand that Hermione may be better than you at Charms? Haven’t you ever even thought about how hard it must be for her to get used to not only a whole new school, but a whole new world?”

Harry and Ron at least had the decency to look embarrassed, but didn’t respond.

“No, I’m sure you didn’t.” Y/N’s tone cooled for her next reply. “You may think that her criticisms are a ‘nightmare’ as you say, but she really is just trying to help you in the ways she knows how”.

Hermione didn’t turn up for the next class, the Ravenclaws shared with Gryffindor, and wasn’t seen all afternoon. Y/N’s anxiety increased with each hour. On the way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast from Ravenclaw tower, Padma rushed over to Y/N.

“Y/N! Have you seen Hermione anywhere recently?” she asked.

Y/N shook her head. “Not since Charms, I’ve been worried about her.”

“Well, Parvati told me she saw her crying in the girls’ toilets. She also said she wanted to be left alone, but I figured she might make an exception for you”.

“I’ll try to talk to her.”

Y/N headed towards the girls’ bathrooms. Since everyone was headed to the Great Hall, all the hallways were empty, which was a rare sight to see. Y/N slipped into the girls’ bathroom and heard soft sobs from one of the stalls. Y/N gently knocked on the stall door.

“Go away, please”, Hermione choked out.

“Hermione, it's me, Y/N. Can you please come out and talk to me?”

“Please just go away, Y/N, go enjoy the feast. I’m sure the Ravenclaws miss you”, Hermione said sadly.

“Well, I’m afraid the Ravenclaws will just have to get over it”, Y/N said as she sat down next to the stall. “Because I am not leaving to go back to the feast until you’re ready to go with me. You shouldn’t let Ron’s stupid remark ruin your Halloween”.

While Y/N hadn’t managed to coax Hermione out of the stall, she did manage to goad her into a debate about proper wand care technique. This had the effect of distracting Hermione enough to stop her from crying. Suddenly, Y/N noticed an awful smell, a mixture of old socks and putrid public toilets. She plugged her nose in disgust.

“Ugh, Hermione, do you think you’d be ready to leave? The smell here is truly awful and getting worse!”

As the words left Y/N, the door swung open, and she heard the stomping of large feet. It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

“Never mind Hermione!” Y/N said frantically. “Stay in the stall and lock it!”

“Y/N?” Hermione questioned. “What’s going on?”

“Stay quiet and don’t move!”

Y/N managed to sneak around the slow-moving troll as it got distracted by its own reflection in the bathroom mirror. She grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but to Y/N’s horror, it was locked. Then she heard a horrible scream. The troll, due to its height, was looking over the stalls directly at Hermione.

Y/N was now truly beginning to panic. She could try to yell for help, but who would hear it? Everyone would be at the Halloween feast. Suddenly, the door lock clicked and was ripped open. In burst Harry and Ron.

“Y/N, you’re here too?” Harry said.

“Where’s Hermione?” Ron said urgently.

“She’s in the stall the troll is at!”

“Confuse it!” Harry said desperately to Ron and Y/N, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

“Flipendo!” Y/N used the knockback jinx on the bathroom’s bin. Due to the sound of both the tap and the bin, the troll turned towards them and away from Hermione. It hesitated, then made for Harry instead, lifting its club as it went.

“Oy, pea-brain!” yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn’t even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry and Y/N time to run around it.

“Come on, run, run!” Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn’t move; she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror. Y/N began to push her towards the door.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll’s neck from behind. Y/N then took the opportunity to push Hermione out the door before running back inside.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life. In the moment she had run out, Harry appeared to have shoved his wand up the troll’s nose.

Ron pulled out his own wand — not knowing what he was going to do, he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: “Wingardium Leviosa!”

The club flew suddenly out of the troll’s hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner’s head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Y/N managed to jump out of the way just in time. Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

Hermione, upon hearing the loud thud, reentered the room. “Is it — dead?”

It was Y/N who took the first step toward it and attempted to find a pulse.

“I don’t think so,” said Harry, “I think it’s just been knocked out.”

“I think you’re right, Harry, though I am not sure if I feel confident in properly identifying a troll pulse.”

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll’s nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

“Urgh – troll boogers.” Harry wiped it on the troll’s trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn’t realised what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll’s roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at them. Y/N had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.

“Don’t worry”, Y/N piped up to break the silence. “We didn’t kill it. I am pretty sure I found the pulse.”

“What on earth were you thinking of?” said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Snape had an unreadable expression, but was staring at Y/N. Then his countenance switched to a mean, piercing look towards Harry. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed. Why aren’t you in your dormitory?”

“Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me.”

“Miss Granger!”

“I went looking for the troll because I—I thought I could deal with it on my own — you know, because I’ve read all about them.” Hermione began in a small voice.

Ron dropped his wand. Y/N was shocked. What an absolutely ridiculous lie. I mean, anyone who knew Hermione knew she would never try to break the rules like that.

“If they hadn’t found me, I’d be dead now. Y/N tried to get me to hide while she attempted to distract it. Then Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn’t have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived.”

Y/N, Harry and Ron shared a look and tried to look as though this story wasn’t new to them.

“Well — in that case . . .” said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, “Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?”

Hermione hung her head. She looked truly crushed. Y/N knew how desperate Hermione was for the approval of the Professors, so this was really huge for her.

“Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this serious lack of judgment,” said Professor McGonagall. “I’m very disappointed in you. If you’re not hurt at all, you’d better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses.”

Hermione left. Professor McGonagall turned to Y/N, Harry, and Ron.

“Well, I still say you were fortunate, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor and Ravenclaw five points for sheer dumb luck. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.”

They hurried out of the chamber and walked together in silence until the point at which Y/N had to take another staircase to Ravenclaw tower. Before climbing the stairs in the opposite direction, she turned towards the boys.

“Thanks”, she said softly. “I don’t think I could have helped Hermione much without the two of you. We would have been goners”.

The boys shyly accepted the thanks. Y/N went on her way and had a much improved opinion about the two Gryffindors. Clobbering a troll with someone tended to do that.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #female reader #golden trio era #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #chapter 6 #archive of our own #slow burn #ravenclaw reader #hermione granger #ron weasley #padma patil #hogwarts fic

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razzmatazzy-blog · 13 days ago

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Chapter 5: TEA AND TROUBLES

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist:https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

The navy curtains blocked out most of the light, but having not drawn them closed in her exhaustion, Y/N was awoken to a stream of morning sun on her face. She went to change into her uniform and now noticed it had transformed to include blue accents on her robe and jumper, with her tie completely changing from black to having blue and bronze stripes. It livened up the all black ensemble. In her trunk, Y/N also found her timetable for the year, relieved that she had some classes that overlapped with the Gryffindors. Maybe she would be able to speak to Hermione then.

Then she pulled out the pointy black hat from the trunk. She turned to the girl in the bed nearest her, whom she recognised as one of the twins from the boat, as she held the hat by its pointy end. “Please tell me we don’t have to wear these every day”, Y/N said, not hiding her distaste for the ugly headwear.

“Don’t worry, those hats are only for more formal occasions, so you don’t have to wear them for class”, said the girl with an amused look. “I’m Padma Patil, and I’m guessing you weren’t raised in a magical household”.

“Is it that obvious?” Y/N said with a worried frown.

“Lots of people had come from Muggle families, and besides, we don’t get much of a head start magic-wise wise at least. Even if he had magical relatives that attended Hogwarts, we of course weren’t allowed to visit, so at most we get vague second-hand accounts. Plus, the staircases have a habit of changing on a whim, so navigation is a chore for everyone”.

Padma’s words made Y/N feel a bit better. They headed down to breakfast together, where Y/N was once again shocked at the food magically appearing on their plates. This was definitely going to take some getting used to for her. After breakfast, Padma and Y/N, joined by some of the other first-year Ravenclaws, decided it was wise to try to find their first class together. There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn’t open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren’t really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.

The caretaker, Mr. Filch, scowled at the group of Ravenclaws for ‘clogging up the hallway space’. Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp-like eyes just like Filch’s. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she’d whisk off for Filch, who’d appear, wheezing, two seconds later. The Ravenclaws learned that the hard way when, later in the day, they had the misfortune of running into Mrs. Norris while taking a wrong turn. Filch had given them another earful.

Classes themselves were both terrifying and fascinating. Terrifying because Y/N desperately wanted to make a good impression and make the most of her studies. It was all fascinating because, well, it was literally magic. There was a lot more to magic, as Y/N quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. It was all about intention and clarity of mental vision. You had to believe wholeheartedly in the spell you were casting, or else it wouldn’t work at all, or worse, do something unexpected. They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. This was one of the classes Y/N felt the most confident in, as at least in the first few lessons, it really wasn’t that different from Muggle astronomy. Three times a week, they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology with a witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. This also reminded Y/N of biology, creating Muggle comparisons helped her find her footing.

Another class that was similar to its Muggle equivalent was History of Magic. Except, of course, that it was taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. He had fallen asleep in front of the staffroom fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Even though most of Y/N’s classmates found it terribly dull, in fact, some even claimed they got their best rest from the droning of Binn’s voice, Y/N was grateful for the class. It helped fill in many gaps in her general wizard knowledge.

There were two classes that were all about casting spells that had no real Muggle equivalent. Transfiguration was taught by Professor McGonagall and involved switching one entity to another, though Y/N realised it was not nearly as straightforward as it had seemed. They began trying to turn a match into a needle, and no one in the class shared by Ravenclaw and Slytherin even got a slight change. Y/N had at least managed to get a twitch. Charms was by far Y/N’s favourite class after the first week, and luckily it was taught by the head of Ravenclaw house, Professor Flitwick. He was a short wizard who had a very tall stack of books he stood on to see over his desk. Ravenclaws had Charms with Gryffindors, so Hermione and Y/N were able to catch up a bit before roll call was taken. At the start of their first class, Professor Flitwick took the roll call, and when he reached Harry’s name, he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was by far her least favourite class, mostly because of how crummy a Professor Quirrell was. Y/N couldn’t understand how a man who was so jumpy was supposed to teach them how to protect themselves from a rogue bunny rabbit, much less any dark arts. Potions was class Y/N actually liked, it was just that the Professor, Professor Snape, did not seem to like them back very much. Not that he had a particular problem with any of the Ravenclaws, he was just so indifferent to them it was borderline insulting.

“Snape’s Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them, and it’s true!” Mandy Brocklehurst complained on the way out of the dungeons where Potions were held. “It’s so blatant and unfair, they got all the easy questions. It’s not like Flitwick is so biased”.

“At least he doesn’t loathe us as much as he seems to loathe Harry Potter”, Padma chimed in. Harry Potter, of course, was the subject of much curiosity around the school. For the first week, no matter where one turned they could hear some kind of whispering about him. “My sister Parvati is in Gryffindor with Potter, and she said that Snape was targeting him even worse than he normally does. It was relentless. She was pretty sure Snape made a severe dent in the few house points they were able to get so far”.

It was on Friday midday that Hagrid stopped Y/N in the hall. He enquired about how she was adjusting, and Y/N was touched that he would go out of his way to check in on her.

“I know ye get Friday afternoon’s off…” Hagrid trailed off. “Would ye like to join me and the other student I escorted to Diagon Alley fer a cup a tea? I have a feelin the two’ye would get along. And I’d have more time to hear ‘bout yer first week.”

Y/N happily agreed; she was glad to have something to look forward to. Plus, if her suspicions were correct and the other student was Harry Potter, well, she couldn’t say she wasn’t curious about the most famous student at Hogwarts. At fifteen to three, she left the castle and made her way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and Y/N had managed to speedily exit her last class to be able to find it. Y/N knocked on the big door, and Hagrid opened it while holding back a big, black, slobbering dog.

“Hang on,” he said. “Back, Fang.”

He let her in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of the enormous black boarhound. Y/N was momentarily frightened, but then, after extending her hand for the dog to smell and receiving a lick, she was calmed. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

A few minutes later, Harry arrived and he brought with him Ron. Fang once again got excited and started barking.

“Make yerselves at home,” said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.

“This is Ron,” Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

“Another Weasley, eh?” said Hagrid, glancing at Ron’s freckles. “I spent half me life chasin’ yer twin brothers away from the forest.”

“I can believe that,” Y/N muttered to herself. Ron and Harry looked at her with the transparent ‘why is she here’ question on their faces.

“Harry, Ron, I’d like ye to meet Y/N S/N”, Hagrid said. “I also escorted her to Diagon Alley as she was also raised with Muggles, but didn’t have a guardian who could take her shopping. I wanted to check in on how yer both adjusted”.

“We’ve actually already met”, Harry started. “On the train, Y/N was helping look for Neville’s toad”.

“Well, that’s great! Ye might find ye have a lot in common”, Hagrid said as he urged them all to try his rock cakes. The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Y/N, Harry, and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons.

“I heard that Snape has a particular vendetta against you, Harry. Is that true?” Y/N couldn’t resist asking.

Harry told them about Snape’s lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students. Y/N chimed in, except the Slytherins and Ron emphatically nodded.

“But he seemed to really hate me.”

“Rubbish!” said Hagrid. “Why should he?”

Y/N noticed Hagrid didn’t quite meet Harry's eyes when he said that. She wondered what that was about, but figured there was no way Hagird would tell her, and anyway, it wasn’t really any of her business. After some more conversation, Harry suddenly changed the topic.

“Hagrid!” said Harry, “that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might’ve been happening while we were there!”

There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn’t meet Harry’s eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Okay, so there was definitely something going on that Y/N wasn’t privy to. Y/N wondered what could possibly have been stolen, as Hagrid had emphasised when they visited, how difficult it would be to get in. What could be worth all the trouble? Harry, Ron, and Y/N walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they’d been too polite to refuse.

***

Hermione and Y/N spent their time after class in the library getting ahead on homework. Occasionally, they were joined by Padma, who would bring Parvati, or Mandy, but today they were alone. Hermione had just finished venting about how she was no longer speaking to Harry or Ron due to some unspecified selfish act that Hermione was unwilling to disclose, but she assured Y/N it nearly cost them a lot of house points.

“Well, selfishly, I can’t be too mad at Harry and Ron costing Gryffindor house points”, Y/N said to lighten the mood, though Hermione just frowned at her. “Because I am a Ravenclaw after all.”

“Sometimes I think I’m the only one in Gryffindor who actually cares about doing well in class and following the rules”.

“Well, if there were some way I could get you to defect to Ravenclaw, I know I would do it in a heartbeat. But I think you should give them another chance when you’re ready. They may surprise you.”

“It’s not just Harry or Ron”, Hermione says with a sigh. “I don’t seem to be able to get on well with anyone in my house. All the girls in the dormitory have become such fast friends except me, and I can’t understand why.” Y/N patted her on the back reassuringly, as she didn’t know what to say.

About a week later, Hermione and Y/N went down to the Great Hall to get mail together. Y/N had gotten into the habit of rotating where she sat at meals to keep Hermione company, without making her fellow Ravenclaws feel as if they were being abandoned. There was a grand big commotion further down at the Gryffindor table as Harry seemed to have gotten a Nimbus 2000 broom. He had become the youngest seeker of the century a week prior, but even after her first flying lesson, Y/N couldn’t really see the appeal of Quidditch. The girls turned to leave, leaving behind Malfoy and Potter’s apparent stand-off about the broom.

Somehow Harry and Ron got ahead of them on the stairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy’s obvious rage and confusion.

“Well, it’s true,” Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, “If he hadn’t stolen Neville’s Remembrall I wouldn’t be on the team. . . .”

“So I suppose you think that’s a reward for breaking rules?” Hermione angrily interjected upon hearing this. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry’s hand. Y/N internally groaned. She was beginning to see why Hermione had a hard time getting on with her housemates. The girl could not let anything bend.

“I thought you weren’t speaking to us?” said Harry.

“Yes, don’t stop now,” said Ron, “It’s doing us so much good.”

“Ron! That was out of line!” Y/N snapped. She may disagree with Hermione’s need to die on every hill, but she also wasn’t going to let anyone blatantly insult her.

Hermione marched away with her nose in the air. Y/N followed after her, trying to make her friend feel better.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #female reader #golden trio era #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #chapter 5 #archive of our own #slow burn #ravenclaw reader #hermione granger #ron weasley #padma patil #hogwarts fic

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razzmatazzy-blog · 14 days ago

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Chapter 4: THE SORTING HAT

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. Y/N instantly knew this was someone to admire. Anyone who could command such presence with only a look was impressive in her eyes.

“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.

“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.”

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was huge, grander than anything Y/N had ever seen. Not that she had ever been in very many grand buildings. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, and the whole castle looked like something out of a fairy tale or one of the legends surrounding King Arthur. Y/N then remembered that the headmaster had an ‘Order of Merlin’, could that mean that Arthurian legends were true? As Y/N passed a staircase that was made of gorgeous marble, she decided that she would definitely ask about this ‘Order of Merlin’.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.”

Y/N nervously tried to smooth her hair and adjust her tie. She decided to tuck her necklace into her shirt, as she wasn’t sure the stern Professor would approve.

“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said Professor McGonagall. “Please wait quietly.” She left the chamber.

“How exactly do they sort us into Houses?” Y/N heard Harry ask Ron, as she had caught up with their group.

“Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking”, replied Ron.

“Having met your brothers, I do have to agree that he is definitely joking”, Y/N muttered, not meaning to say anything aloud. She really hoped it wasn’t a magical competency test. While she may have read the course books, she clearly hadn’t done as thorough a job as Hermione. Hermione was whispering to Y/N very fast about all the spells she’d learned and wondering which one she’d need. Y/N quietly assured her that out of everyone, she was by far the most likely to do well. Y/N, on the other hand, what could she do? She barely knew anything about this strange world, and all of the oddities that had happened in her life were purely accidental. Wizardry required intent.

Before her anxieties became overwhelming, Y/N heard a yelp from the back of the crowd and turned to look. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: “Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —”

“My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name, and you know, he’s not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?”

No one said anything, so Y/N, compelled by the awkwardness of silence, replied, “Waiting to be sorted, sir”. A ghost wearing a ruff and tights smiled down at her.

“Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!” said the Friar. “My old House, you know.”

“Move along now,” said a sharp voice. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.” Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

“Now, form a line,” Professor McGonagall told the first years, “and follow me.”

Y/N had stood in line after Hermione, and they walked into the Great Hall, past some imposing double doors. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Y/N nearly forgot all the worries she had about being sorted; it was so beautiful. Nearly. Y/N looked up at the ceiling and tugged on Hermione’s robes, urging her to look too.

“It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.”

Y/N was really beginning to regret not picking up more books. Even though she and Hermione were both raised in the Muggle world, she was so far ahead of her in general knowledge. Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched and frayed, and extremely dirty. It was the exact kind of thing that if Y/N saw in an antique shop, she would assume it was haunted.

Everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat; she stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:

“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,

But don’t judge on what you see,

I’ll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There’s nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can’t see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you’ve a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You’ll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don’t be afraid!

And don’t get in a flap!

You’re in safe hands (though I have none)

For I’m a Thinking Cap!”

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

“So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” Ron whispered to Harry. “I’ll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll.” Ron, who was behind Y/N, leaned forward and said, “Seems you’ve got my brother all figured out”.

Y/N turned around and smiled. “I did try to warn you not to worry”. Though Y/N of course, did not disclose that internally she had been quite anxious as well.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment.

“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. Students all went up one by one and after and were met with thunderous applause after their new house was called.

“Boot, Terry!”

“RAVENCLAW!” The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

“Brocklehurst, Mandy” went to Ravenclaw too, but “Brown, Lavender” became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron’s twin brothers catcalling. When Y/N had first heard about the houses, she thought she would suit Gryffindor, but after spying Ron’s troublesome brothers at the Gryffindor table, she was having second thoughts.

“S/N, Y/N!”

Y/N stepped forward and could practically feel everyone’s eyes on her. The hat was dropped on her head and thankfully, she could barely see out from under it.

“Hmm,” said a small voice in his ear. “Difficult. Very difficult. You’re very bold, not afraid to speak your mind. A bit of a rebellious streak, good sense of humour. But very dedicated and serious at times. You thirst for knowledge both about the world, but also about yourself. . . . . So where shall I put you?”

Y/N thought of the dark witches and wizards that had come out of Slytherin, best to stay away from that. The troublemakers of Gryffindor, while she was sure a house Hagrid praised couldn’t be all bad, she did actually want to have enough peace to be able to learn. It was a school after all.

“Well, that narrows it down for me,” said the small voice with a chuckle. “ Better be RAVENCLAW!”

The last word was the only one shouted out loud across the Great Hall. She took off the hat and walked briskly toward the Ravenclaw table with her head held high. She gripped the hand of an older student with a firm handshake and sat down next to Terry Boot, who was next to the dark-haired boy on the boat earlier, whom Y/N now knew as Michael Corner, and across from Mandy Brocklehurst. Ravenclaw was the house of wit and learning, so Y/N was sure Hermione would join her in Ravenclaw. I mean, Hermione was by far the most bookish of all the students so far.

“Granger, Hermione!”

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. “GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. Y/N heard Ron groan all the way from the Ravenclaw table. Y/N was equal parts shocked and disappointed. Professor McGonagall had stated that houses were like families, and they did everything together. Would she even have time to see her new friend?

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, “GRYFFINDOR,” Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter, which Y/N attempted to shush at least at the Ravenclaw table.

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, “SLYTHERIN!” Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. It was dreadfully unfair that he had gotten into a house with his friends, or rather, bodyguards, and she had not.

“Potter, Harry!”

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. Everyone’s eyes were glued to him. Y/N felt another pang of sympathy for him. It must have added to the pressure. When the hat finally screamed “GRYFFINDOR,” Y/N nearly threw up her hands in frustration. Basically, every person she had spoken to was going to Gryffindor, and considering Ron’s entire family seemed to be there too, Y/N figured he would be there as well. Y/N could hear the Weasley twins yelling, “We got Potter! We got Potter!”

Ron looked sick by the time it was his turn to be sorted. A second later, the hat had shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!” Just as Y/N had expected. “Zabini, Blaise,” was made a Slytherin, wrapping up the ceremony. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. “Welcome!” he said.“Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”

“Thank you!” He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Y/N would have been more shocked by his odd word choice if she hadn’t conversed with ghosts earlier today. But seeing as she had an eccentric headmaster was the least unusual thing about the day. It bordered on cliche.

The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. Y/N had never seen such a spread. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. She helped herself to some food that looked the best, avoiding the peppermint humbugs.

“So — new Ravenclaws! I hope you’re going to help us win the House Championship this year. Slytherins have won the Cup six years in a row! It’s absolutely shameful,” said one of the Prefects, who later introduced herself as Penelope Clearwater. She was clearly a very dedicated Prefect and had a lot of house pride, with an intensity Y/N was unsure she would ever be able to muster.

After the meal, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. “Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.”

Y/N could guess who he was hinting at, and the direction of his glance confirmed it. Those Weasley twins sure were infamous.

“I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.”

The hall was initially quiet until Y/N and another student began laughing. Y/N stopped herself quickly and saw it was Harry who had also laughed. Clearwater had given Y/N a disapproving look.

“You should listen to Dumbledore S/N, the forest’s full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that.”

Then there was a singing portion of the feast that Y/N would have happily participated in, had she known any of the words to any wizard songs. The Ravenclaw first years followed Clearwater through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. The castle was like a maze, and Y/N wondered how she would ever remember how to get around. All she could remember was that they were somewhere on the west side of the castle and had climbed the spiral staircase of a tower. They had stopped at a door without a keyhole or handle, only a large bronze eagle knocker.

Clearwater knocked the knocker, and a clear voice rang out, “What has hands, but cannot clap?”

“A clock”, Clearwater answered decisively, and the door opened. She led the first-year students inside. “To get into the Ravenclaw common room, you have to knock the knocker and successfully answer the riddle it presents you with. Otherwise, you may end up sleeping outside.” Y/N was not reassured by that statement but was too tired to question it now.

The Ravenclaw common room was airy with high stone ceilings. It was a wide circular room with graceful arched windows, with bronze and blue silks that reached all the way up to the center of the ceiling. The ceiling was painted with constellations, seemingly accurate from what Y/N could tell. A tall statue of a beautiful woman made of white marble was directly in the center of the entrance. The label at the base of the statue said ‘Rowena Ravenclaw’. There seemed to be another small niche of a room off to one side, but Clearwater led the students to another pair of stairs, though smaller in the back. The girls took the staircase to the right, the boys to the left.

The girls found their beds, five four-poster beds with sky blue silk eiderdowns with navy blue curtains. Their school trunks had all found themselves at the foot of each bed. Y/N dug out her pyjamas and quickly changed, eager to get to bed. She soon fell into a dreamless sleep, peaceful among the comfort of new sheets.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #female reader #golden trio era #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #chapter 4 #archive of our own #slow burn #ravenclaw reader #neville longbottom #hermione granger #ron weasley

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razzmatazzy-blog · 14 days ago

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Chapter 3: THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

Y/N was determined to spend as much time with everyone at Morningside as possible for her last month and a half. She had tucked away all her new school supplies within a stylish black trunk she had also bought in Diagon Alley. She didn’t need magic to keep her roommates out, as it came with a regular lock and Y/N’s assurance that it was just regular old boring books and an ugly school uniform. The girls quickly ceased caring soon after.

In the evenings, Y/N snuck one of her new course books out of her trunk and took refuge in the dusty old reading room at Morningside. It was out of the way in the basement, so hardly any of the other girls went down there. Y/N always made sure to be back in her room by curfew, so no one even thought to go looking for where she scampered off to after dinner. Y/N began with A History of Magic, as it seemed like a sensible place to start for someone like herself who lacked magical context. The wizarding world was certainly a lot more complicated than she initially thought, from Goblin uprisings to blood supremacy, it seemed that magic did not bring about absolute peace; in fact, it seemed to heat up conflict. Despite this, Y/N was still dreadfully excited and was counting down the days to September first.

The day had finally arrived, and Y/N woke up bright and early at 8 o’clock sharp. She got dressed in jeans and a light pink jumper, unwilling to deal with the questions the oddness of her uniform would surely bring. Y/N meticulously double-checked she had everything on the list in the trunk. She gripped the hag stone necklace to check it still hung from her neck; it had become quite precious to her over the summer. As she slipped on her Mary Jane shoes, Amanda began to sleepily rise from her bed.

“Y/N?” Amanda said between yawns. “You promised you wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.” Amanda, now wide awake, jumped out of bed. “I can’t believe you would leave like that!”

“I wasn’t planning on it, Amanda, I swear!” Y/N claimed as Amanda pulled her into a hug. “I just wanted to wait until the last moment, so you could sleep. I know how much you hate rising early.”

“I know you said your fancy old school restricted calls, but you really have to write. I’ll simply die of curiosity!” Amanda released Y/N from her grasp, but still gripped both of her hands. “No one ever leaves until 16 here, but if anyone could, I knew it could be you. Make it count, for all of us.”

“I will, and I’ll write you as soon as I can”. Y/N heard the Head Matron calling for her. She pulled her trunk down with Amanda’s help and waved as the Matron rushed her out the door to her car. As much as she wanted, Y/N refused to look back, as she knew if she saw a hint of sadness on Amanda’s face, she may not be able to leave. Morningside was her home, no it was her whole world until she got that letter, and Y/N was unsure if she was ready to let it go. But the car didn’t wait for her to make up her mind, as it sped through the streets to her future.

They reached King’s Cross at half past 9, as the Matron in a surprising display of generosity and leniency allowed them to stop at a bakery for breakfast. In exchange, Y/N let her prattle on about what an honour this opportunity was and how it reflected so well on Morningside. She noticed that the more time passed this summer, the more details the Head Matron forgot about her new school, though she seemed not to notice at all. Y/N figured this was probably for the best. Or at least it would make her life a bit simpler. The Head Matron helped Y/N load her trunk onto a cart and wheeled it to the platforms.

“Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine. I have to go. I’ve been away from Morningside long enough, and no doubt the girls have already caused some dreadful mischief. Just wait here until your train comes and get on.”

Once again, Y/N was left to wonder if the Head Matron was able to read. The ticket clearly said platform 9 ¾, but before she could raise this problem, the Matron had already begun to walk away. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all. There were many people milling about, but none seemed to be looking for this mysterious platform. As the minutes ticked by, Y/N began to fiddle with her necklace. She suddenly had the urge to look through the hole in the center of the stone. As she brought it up to her eye, she glanced through it towards the space between platforms. Through the hole, she saw what appeared to be a door between the two platforms to another.

“That must be it!” Y/N mumbled to herself. She tentatively pushed her cart towards it. She looked through the stone again and sure enough, the other platform was still there. Y/N took a deep breath and, with all the confidence she could muster, she pushed through the barrier between the platforms. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o’clock. Y/N looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. She had done it. She mentally thanked Amanda for her gift, which turned out to be more amazing than she could have predicted!

Y/N looked up at a big clock and saw it was five past ten, so she still had practically an hour to change into her uniform on the train and get settled. Which, based on the crowd of young wizards and their families, she would need. In all the bustle of trunks, owls in cages, and the ripple of excitement, how on earth was Y/N going to find Hermione?! She decided that the train would be the most logical place to meet. After all, they would all have to get aboard at some point.

As Y/N boarded the train, she saw that many of the compartments were already full. Many with older students, already chatting amongst themselves. She passed a compartment that had younger students and what she assumed was one of their parents. Probably the blond boys with the aggressively slicked back hair. His mother was clearly fussing over and doting on him, much to his apparent embarrassment. His father looked imposing, with his snake-headed cane and long platinum blond hair. There were two other young boys in the compartment who looked like they wanted to snicker at the young blond, but they glanced at his father and perhaps thought twice.

Towards the middle of the train, more compartments were open. Finally, Y/N peered into one with Hermione. She had already changed into her uniform and tucked into a book. Magical Draughts and Potions this time.

“I heard you were saving a spot for me?” Y/N asked cheekily, pointing at the seat opposite Hermione.

“Oh Y/N!” Hermione said, looking up with a smile. “I’m so glad you found me. I had gotten here early in case my parents and I had a hard time finding the platform. Luckily, I spotted a student with an owl, and I know I could just follow them. I mean, who else but a wizard or witch would have an owl? Though I didn’t get one myself.”

“I haven’t got one either”, Y/N stated. “I had a less than stellar personal introduction to the species”. Hermione helped Y/N place her trunk in the space above the seats.

“I think I should change into my robes now”, Y/N stated as she looked out of the compartment. “Any ideas where the restrooms are?” Hermione pointed her in the right direction, and Y/N was able to finally try on her new uniform. The robes were all black, covering a white buttoned shirt, a black necktie, a grey jumper, and a black pleated skirt.

Back in the compartment, Hermione and Y/N filled each other in on their lives so far. Hermione’s parents were dentists, she had loved Muggle school, and they had been very pleased to learn she was a witch.

“And you really don’t remember a thing from before you were five?” Hermione asked.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Y/N said.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Hermione started. “Besides, it's great you’re bilingual. Think of many more spells you can learn. I’m sure there are many spells that would be terribly hard for me to learn to pronounce, that you would have no problem with”.

Before Hermione could continue, the train began to move. They both looked out of the window as the parents all began waving goodbye. Soon after departing, a round-faced boy with sad brown eyes opened the compartment door.

“Has anyone seen a toad?” He began. “I’ve lost him! He keeps getting away from me!” The distress was evident on the poor boy’s face. The toad must have meant a lot to him.

“Well, where did you last see him?” Hermione asked. “We’ll help you look for him”. And just like that, Hermione had signed them up for a train ride of toad wrangling. They left the compartment to retrace the boy’s steps.

“What is your name, by the way?” Y/N asked the boy. “I’m Y/N S/N and this is Hermione Granger”.

“My name’s Neville Longbottom”, he said shyly. Y/N internally pitied the poor boy for that unfortunate last name. She hoped wizard children were less prone to bullying based on names, but something inside her told her that was unlikely. As they searched, Hermione suggested they split up to save time. Neville and Hermione headed towards the back of the train, and Y/N continued in the opposite direction.

As Y/N walked into the train, she passed a woman selling sweets and looking longingly at the cart. It was probably good that she wasn’t in the compartment. She didn’t have money to buy anything anyway. She heard a lot of laughing and small screams from one compartment. Inside was a pair of red-headed twins who were messing with a tarantula by levitating it towards a boy with locs. Another girl was covering her eyes, but seemed to be laughing as well.

Y/N slid the compartment door open. “Excuse me…” Y/N began. “But have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one, and he would really appreciate finding him again.”

They all turned to look at Y/N, and with the speed at which the twin who was levitating the tarantula turned around, he sent the tarantula flying towards Y/N. It landed on her head, and Y/N had to steel every nerve in her body not to scream. However, she saw the glimmer of mischief in the eyes of the twins while they were messing around. Pranksters would never stop messing with her if she gave a grand reaction, she knew from experience.

“I’m afraid that’s the wrong species”, said Y/N, trying her hardest not to let her voice quiver. “Perhaps Hogwarts needs to give you boys a refresher on basic biology”.

The other two in the compartment began to giggle, and the twins looked slack-jawed. One made a motion with his wand and levitated the spider back into the glass box that the boy with locs was holding.

“You’re clearly not afraid of spiders then, little miss”, one twin began. “Not like our little brother, Ronnie-kins.”

“Your tie is still black, so you’ll be in his year”, the other said. “I’m George, and this handsome lad with poor wand control is Fred”.

“And no, we haven’t seen a toad, to finally answer your question”, said the girl, who then introduced herself as Angelina Johnson and the boy with the tarantula on his lap as Lee Jordan.

“Well, thanks for your help, Angelina”, Y/N said as she moved to exit the rowdy compartment. “And Fred, George, Lee, you may want to hide that poor spider before we get to Hogwarts. It wasn’t on the approved pet list, but I’m just a first-year student, so what do I know?”

Y/N looked down the hall and saw Hermione’s bushy hair among a small crowd that had formed around one compartment down at the end of the train. She headed over there, eager to see if they had found the toad. She passed the smug-looking blond boy she had seen earlier, flanked by the same two thickset boys. Though they all moved rather quickly away from the compartment that Hermione was in, with one clutching his finger. Finally, Y/N reached the compartment and she looked inside.

“I think he’s been knocked out,” another red-haired boy with freckles said to a boy with raven hair and round glasses. He looked closer and held up a fat rat that looked dead. “No — I don’t believe it — he’s gone back to sleep.”

Hermione noticed Y/N first. “Have you found the toad?”

“Unfortunately not”, Y/N replied. “Though I did meet a pair of troublesome twins who ended up flinging a tarantula at my head.”

The red-headed boy cringed at that. “Those would be my brothers”, he said with a pink tinge to his ears.

Ah, so this was ‘Ronnie-kins’. Who, upon learning that’s what his brothers introduced him as, turned entirely red in the face and quickly insisted his name was just Ron.

“You’ve met Malfoy before?” Ron said quickly, averting his gaze and looking towards the bespeckled boy. He explained that they had met in Diagon Alley.

“I’ve heard of his family,” said Ron darkly. “They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they’d been bewitched. My dad doesn’t believe it. He says Malfoy’s father didn’t need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.” He turned to Hermione. “Can we help you with something?”

“You’d better hurry up and put your robes on, I’ve just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we’re nearly there. You haven’t been fighting, have you? You’ll be in trouble before we even get there!”

“Scabbers has been fighting, not us,” said Ron, scowling at her. “Would you mind leaving while we change?”

“All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors,” said Hermione in a sniffy voice. “And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?”

Hermione and Y/N exited the compartment and headed back to theirs. “Hermione…”, Y/N began, “Do you know who ‘You-Know-Who’ is?”.

Hermione’s face darkened. “I guess A History of Magic doesn’t cover events that recently, and you didn’t pick up Modern Magical History or The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts. He’s a dark wizard who caused the first wizarding war; he targeted anyone who didn’t believe in his magical blood supremacy as well. He was defeated by Harry Potter, who you just met in the compartment, when he was just a baby.”

“What?” Y/N said in a hushed voice. “How can a baby defeat such a dark wizard?”

“No one knows for certain, but unfortunately, his parents died protecting him.”

Y/N felt a pang of kinship with Harry Potter in that moment. It wasn’t at all the same situation, as he had known his parents and lost them, while she hadn’t known her parents at all. But the end result was the same; they were both orphans. As they sat back in their seats, Y/N stared out the window and saw a large castle approaching. Harry must have been the other student that Hagrid had accompanied to Diagon Alley.

A voice echoed through the train: “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.”

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Y/N and Hermione stuck together so as not to be pulled away by the crowd. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Y/N heard a familiar voice: “Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there, Harry?”

Hagrid’s big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. “C’mon, follow me — any more firs’ years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!”

They followed the giant down a dark, small path. “Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “jus’ round this bend here.” Everyone gasped in astonishment. It truly was a sight to behold.

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. “No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Hermione followed Harry and Ron into a boat, and Neville quickly followed. Y/N had fallen a bit behind, then realised she wouldn’t fit into the boat. Everyone else was filling in the other boats, so before Hermione could even notice Y/N didn’t follow, she joined the boat next to them.

“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. “Right then — FORWARD!” And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. Y/N took a moment to look at her new classmates in the boat. There was another pair of twins, noticeably less chaotic than the last, and girls this time. There was also a quiet, pale boy with floppy dark hair who kept to himself, even in the small boat.

“Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

“Oy, you there! Is this your toad?” said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. Y/N witnessed nearly cry from joy and call out ‘Trevor’ as Hagrid handed him back his missing toad. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid’s lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

“Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?” Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #female reader #golden trio era #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #chapter 3 #archive of our own #slow burn #ravenclaw reader #weasley twins #neville longbottom #hermione granger

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razzmatazzy-blog · 14 days ago

Text

Masterlist: Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

AO3 link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

PS: Completed CoS: Completed PoA: Completed GoF: Currently Writing OotP: TBD HBP: TBD DH: TBD Post DH: TBD

warnings : canon-typical violence, eventual major character death

notes : Cross-posting from Ao3! It's my first fic, so any feedback would be appreciated! This is a reader-insert fic, where the reader is written as a cis girl with she/her pronouns. AO3 updates first on Fridays, I will update here afterwards.

Year One

THE GIRL WHO FORGOT

DIAGON ALLEY

THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

THE SORTING HAT

TEA AND TROUBLES

HALLOWEEN

THE MIRROR OF ERISED

NORBERT THE NORWEGIAN RIDGEBACK

THE FORBIDDEN FOREST

SUMMER BECKONS

Year Two

AT FLOURISH AND BLOTTS

SHRIEKS AND PIXIES

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

POTIONS AND THE POTION MASTER

THE DUELING CLUB

THE POLYJUICE POTION

THE VERY SECRET DIARY

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN

Year Three

THE LEAKY CAULDRON

THE DEMENTOR

TALONS AND TEA LEAVES

THE BOGGART IN THE WARDROBE

INTO THE INNER MIND

CLOSING IN

A FROSTY HOLIDAY BEGINS

LEGAL DEFENCES FOR FEATHERY FRIENDS

EXAMS AND PROPHECIES

CAT, RAT, AND DOG

THE WOLF’S RELEASE

THE LAST PRIVATE LESSON

INTERLUDE: NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM

Year Four

BACK TO THE BURROW

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #female reader #golden trio era #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #archive of our own #slow burn #ravenclaw reader #harry potter x reader #canon rewrite #legilimency #Seer reader

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razzmatazzy-blog · 14 days ago

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Chapter 2: DIAGON ALLEY

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

notes : Cross-posting from Ao3! It's my first fic, so any feedback would be appreciated! This is a reader-insert fic, where the reader is written as a cis girl with she/her pronouns. I only included the first chapter here, but I have currently posted through year three.

“It’s really very kind of you to escort me to do my shopping, Mr. Hagrid”, Y/N said with an edge of concern in her voice. “But, I haven’t actually got any money. How am I supposed to pay for everything?”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Hagrid, as we walked down the street. “D’yeh think yer Hogwarts won’t prepare for students like ye?”

“What do you mean?”

“Hogwarts has a fund fer orphans and others who have no funds of their own; some of the most prominent wizarding families contribute to it”. Passersbys stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the streets to the station. “First stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards’ bank. That’s where Hogwarts stores the fund”.

Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He loudly marvelled at the advertisement on the local bus and complained that the seats were far too small and uncomfortable. Traffic was also a source of fascination. Hagrid praised the patience of Muggles as he stated that wizards would just magic themselves around, above, or through. Y/N had a hard time imagining how going through the other vehicles would work, but she supposed her imagination was going to be stretched quite thoroughly during this outing.

After multiple transfers, Hagrid and Y/N finally got off the bus and began walking through the crowded London streets. “This is it,” said Hagrid, coming to a halt, “the Leaky Cauldron. It’s a famous place.”

It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. It almost blended into the street itself. Y/N did a glance around and wondered how she had missed it before. Perhaps that was a part of its magic; maybe it could only be seen by those who already knew it was there.

Y/N wondered why the Leaky Cauldron was famous. It certainly couldn’t be because of its impeccable hygiene or decor. She suspected it would bring a Muggle health inspector to tears. It was dark, dingy, with equally scruffy-looking adults smoking or drinking. Y/N had to restrain herself from covering her nose. She hated the smell of tobacco; she could never understand why adults insisted on smoking it.

Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, “The usual, Hagrid?” “Can’t, Tom, I’m on Hogwarts business,” said Hagrid. With that they headed towards the back of the pub into a walled, small courtyard. None of the patrons had given them a second glance.

Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall. “Three up . . . two across . . .” he muttered. “Right, stand back.”

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later, they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

“Welcome,” said Hagrid, “to Diagon Alley.” They stepped through the archway. Y/N looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.

Y/N was instantly overwhelmed by the rows of shops down a winding main road with colourful window displays showcasing all manner of wonderful, magical items. Robes, books, brooms, cauldrons, potions, owls, and more all fought to catch her eye. Hagrid practically had to drag Y/N down the road to head towards the wizard bank.

“Gringotts,” said Hagrid. They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —

“Yeah, that’s a goblin,” said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. “They run Gringotts, ”. The goblin was shorter than Y/N, with long, bony fingers. He politely bowed as they walked inside, Y/N, not knowing what was appropriate, quickly bowed back before scurrying after Hagrid. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

“Like I said, yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it,” said Hagrid. A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors, and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Y/N made for the counter.

“Morning,” said Hagrid to a free goblin. “We’ve come ter take some money outta the Hogwarts Scholarship safe .”

“You have the key, sir?”

“Got it here somewhere,” said Hagrid, and he started rummaging through his pockets. He pulled a great deal of things from his pockets, from dog treats to various candies to gardening tools, and altogether it looked like entirely too many things to fit into his pockets.

“Got it,” said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.

The goblin looked at it closely. “That seems to be in order.”

With that, Hagrid swiped all of his things from the counter back into his pockets, which from the outside seemed no more full than before. A goblin held the door open for them, called to escort them to the vault. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward, and there were little railway tracks on the floor. The goblin whistled, and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.

At first, they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Y/N tried to remember the way they went, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because the goblin wasn’t steering. Y/N’s eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but she kept them wide open, determined to experience every bit of this strange new world. She thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around. To her shock, she saw a great big dragon! “So those are real too!” Y/N thought to herself. She barely had time to let the fear of seeing a real fire-breathing dragon hit her before they whipped away further down.

They arrived, and the cart squeaked to a halt. Hagrid looked ill and practically jumped out of the cart, steadying himself on the wall. The goblin looked positively unbothered and gracefully exited. He strolled over to a large safe door within the wall and inserted the key. Y/N peered inside, where she saw mountains of gold, silver, and bronzed colored coins. Hagrid seemed to have recovered and went inside the vault with a bag.

“The gold ones are Galleons,” he explained. “Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it’s easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a term, we’ll keep the rest safe for yeh.”

One wild cart ride later, they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Y/N didn’t know where to go first now that she had a bag full of money. She had never really had money before, not that she had ever needed it. Everything she had ever needed was taken care of by Mornigside. She pulled out the letter she had received and decided this was probably a good time to be systematic. Y/N unfolded the piece of paper and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners’Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore Magical Draughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

“Hagrid”, Y/N said, turning towards the giant who still looked a bit ill, “Do you mind if we start with my uniform?”

“Might as well”, said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. “Can’t be worse than those blast carts”. Hagrid held the door open for the young girl and sat on a bench outside.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in periwinkle. “Hogwarts, dear?” she said, when Y/N was about to speak. Y/N nodded affirmatively. She wondered if the question was purely rhetorical or perhaps there were other wizard schools? I mean, if she believed there could be one, it was no longer that hard for her to believe there could be more. As she entertained the thought of other wizarding schools, Madam Malkin measured her.

But before she knew it, Madam Malkin said, “That’s you done, my dear,” and Y/N rejoined Hagrid. Y/N insisted that they get her books next, as there were a great many that all had interesting titles. They entered a shop called Flourish and Blotts, where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Y/N was already excited when the girls got the opportunity to go to the local public library, but this was truly something special.

“Oh, Hagrid, I can’t wait to start practising after reading some of these books!” Y/N squealed with excitement. “I want to at least learn some of the fundamentals before class starts on account of my not knowing anything about magic this morning. I’m afraid I’m probably so behind!”

“I’m not sayin’ that’s not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances,” said Hagrid. “An’ anyway, yeh couldn’ work any of them spells yet, yeh’ll have to wait te start in school.”

Y/N’s dejection was evident on her face. Her disappointment did not last long as she got her pewter cauldron, a sturdy set of scales, and a shiny collapsible brass telescope. As she went to a display table that was labelled “Hogwarts First Year Essentials,” she saw a girl about her age with her nose already within A History of Magic. She had bushy brown hair and a very determined look on her face.

“Excuse me”, Y/N said as the girl was blocking her reach from the last book on the table she needed to get. The girl jumped at her voice, as if she had exited a trance.

“Terribly, sorry to be in the way!” she exclaimed, obviously a little embarrassed. She closed the book quickly and looked up.

“It’s okay, I understand the impulse to start reading right away”, Y/N replied. “I want to start reading as soon as I get my hands on my books, too. Everything sounds so interesting, and it’s all so new to me.” The girl’s eyes light up.

“Are you a first year at Hogwarts too?” she asked eagerly, to which Y/N nodded. “I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, and nobody in my family is magical at all, so it’s all new to me as well. Who are you?”

“I’m Y/N S/N, nice to meet you”.

“Do you know what House you’ll be in? I’ve been asking around, and I hope I’m in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad. . . .” started Hermione, and Y/N gave a non-committal “I don’t know”. She made a mental note to ask Hagrid what the Houses were later. Y/N and Hermione had a pleasant chat as they queued to purchase their materials. Y/N was thrilled to be able to share the excitement with a girl her age. Everything in Morningside was a communal affair, joys and sorrows. Not that Hagrid wasn’t a great escort, but as he was a staff member of her new school, she felt she had to make a good impression.

“We should sit together on the train”, Hermione said as they exited the shop. “Promise me we’ll meet up at platform 9 and ¾ ?”

“Of course, I’ll have to pick your brain about A History of Magic, ” Y/N said, despite not knowing in the slightest what she was committing herself to. Hermione waved goodbye as she joined up with her parents, a kind but very confused-looking pair of adults.

Y/N turned to Hagrid, “What are the Hogwarts school houses?”

“Ah, School Houses. There’s four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o’ duffers, but —better Hufflepuff than Slytherin,” said Hagrid darkly. “There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin.”

“What about Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?” Y/N asked. “And how do I know which one I’ll be in? I don’t want to be in Slytherin then...”

“Don’ worry about it,” said Hagrid lightly. “ Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand.”

The mention of a wand took Y/N's mind off her house worries. This was definitely the most intriguing part of the shopping trip, even if she had to wait to do magic. The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Y/N looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of her neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

“Good afternoon,” said a soft voice that disturbed the tranquil peace of the room. An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

“Hello?” Y/N said as politely as possible, though it came out a bit awkward.

“Ah, yes,” said the man. “Yes, Hagrid, you've brought another student. It’s been a while.” The man looked me up and down, though not unkindly.

“I’ll be bringing another closer to term. This one here is Miss S/N”. Y/N turned to look at Hagrid, but he didn’t elaborate. She got the sense that it would be fruitless to push the topic. She’d meet them when the term started anyway. Y/N couldn’t help but wonder what they would be like. Another orphan like her? Did they already know about magic?

“Hmmm,” said Mr. Ollivander, giving Y/N a piercing look. “Well, now — Miss S/N. Let me see.” He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. “Which is your wand arm?”

“Hold out your arm. That’s it.” He measured Y/N from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and around his head. Y/N was growing quite sick of being measured today, even if the tape measure was doing it all by itself. As he measured, he said, “Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss. S/N. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another witch’s wand.”

“That will do,” he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. “Right then, Miss S/N. Try this one. Holly and dragon heartstring. Eight inches. Nice and flicky. Just take it and give it a wave.”

Y/N didn’t really know what Ollivander meant by wave, so she just flung her arm from left to right as fast as possible. Instantly, boxes began to fly off the shelves, following the curve of her arm. Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once. This began the long series of failed wands, which at best did nothing and at worst created an awful mess out of Mr. Ollivander’s shop. Y/N had no idea what was supposed to happen. Anxiety crept into the back of her mind. What if she wasn’t a witch at all? What if this were all a mistake, and she had to return to Morningside with the idea of wizards nothing but a fond memory?

Yet, the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. As if he could read her mind, he stated, “Not to worry, we’ll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, a pear wood wand with a phoenix feather core, 14 ½ inches, surprisingly swishy”.

Y/N took the wand, and all her fears melted away instantly. She was at peace, more so than she had ever been in her life. She gently raised the wand, and a silver glow blanketed the room. It was magnificent.

Hagrid whooped and clapped, and Mr. Ollivander cried, “Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good!’ Y/N paid seven Galleons for her wand, and she and Hagrid left the shop to a sunset. Hagrid helped Y/N to the bus that would take her back to Morningside, then handed her an envelope.

“Yer ticket fer Hogwarts,” he said. “First o’ September — King’s Cross — it’s all on yer ticket. See yeh soon, Y/N.”

Y/N got on the bus with her heaps of strangely shaped packages. As the bus pulled away, within a blink, the Leaky Cauldron and behind it Diagon Alley, were gone in a flash. The only thing reminding Y/N that this was no dream was her new school supplies. What was she going to tell all the girls? Surely they would have heaps of questions. They had never had any secrets between them before, but Y/N figured that secrets were part of the unfortunate cost of growing up.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #female reader #golden trio era #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #chapter 2 #archive of our own #slow burn #ravenclaw reader

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razzmatazzy-blog · 2 months ago

Text

Pear Wood Wands & Hag Stones Make Loyal Companions

full fic link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/64548817

warnings : canon-typical violence

masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/razzmatazzy-blog/786002024789622784/pear-wood-wands-hag-stones-make-loyal-companions?source=share

notes : Cross-posting from Ao3! It's my first fic, so any feedback would be appreciated! This is a reader-insert fic, where the reader is written as a cis girl with she/her pronouns. I only included the first chapter here, but I have currently posted through year two.

THE GIRL WHO FORGOT

The warm evenings of June in London were Y/N’s favorite and she thought them best enjoyed in the limited privacy afforded underneath the large willow tree in the courtyard. Evenings were perfect because they were after lessons, after dinner, but before lights out. The rare unmonitored time in Y/N’s young life. Despite the inherent loneliness of the life of an orphan, Y/N was almost never alone in Morningside Home for Girls. Nearly every minute of her nearly eleven years so far had been spent with the rotating roster of girls at the home under the watchful eyes of the matrons. Well, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration. After all she had only come to the orphanage at age five, but from Y/N’s perspective, it might as well have been her whole life as she didn’t remember a single thing from before she found herself on the steps of Morningside.

Not remembering had some upsides. It allowed Y/N to tell a new fanciful backstory for herself each time she introduced herself to a new girl. Each one was more unbelievable than the last. It had become her trademark, so much so that now the girls would look forward to what she would come up with each time.

“My parents were fair folk who swapped a baby for me, but the new family was a bit thick, and it took them five years to discover the switch! And by then it was much too late to track them down, so my Not-parents dropped me here”, was Y/N’s most recent tale to a wide-eyed six-year-old that had been dropped off last week. “If you don’t let me have the first pick of the biscuits, then I’ll use my fae powers on you as well!” Y/N said with a wink to the horrified expression of the little girl. The small crowd around them had erupted into giggles as the new girl gasped.

A breeze tickled Y/N’s cheek as she remembered that last bit of fun. Though she supposes it wasn’t strictly true that she knew nothing about her first five years. She clearly wasn’t English, at least not fully. Perhaps she could be partly, but the crucial bit of information from her past was that when she arrived on Morningside’s doorstep, she didn’t speak a word of English. To the confusion of all the matrons, she only spoke in tongues and could recall nothing about her past, spare her own name. English came quickly for Y/N though and before she knew it, she spoke as if she had lived in London all her life. And who knows, maybe she had? The matrons had no record of her in the UK or in any other country, so each option was equally possible.

“Y/N!” Amanda Pike yelled, peeking her head into the courtyard. “Come inside, you don’t want to be late for curfew!” Y/N’s head popped up and spun to face the older girl. Her cornsilk braids swung as she motioned Y/N over excitedly. As Y/N caught up with her and headed towards their room, she noticed a distinct lack of other girls milling about. Amanda held open their bedroom door and gently shoved Y/N through.

“Surprise!” a chorus of girls of all ages yelled out as they revealed themselves in the overcrowded bedroom. “Happy almost birthday Y/N!” They said in near unison. Jane Hedge, the oldest girl at Morningside, was 15, and held a small box in her hands that she passed to Y/N. All the girls looked expectantly at Y/N, eager to see her open it.

“Okay, okay, I’ll oblige”, Y/N said cheekily. She took the lid off of the cardboard box and peered inside, and saw a perfectly smooth stone with a perfect circle in the middle. “A hag stone?” Y/N asked. “How did someone find one that looks so nice?” She asked the group of smiling girls.

“Well you’ll have to thank Amanda here”, Jane stated as she pulled Amanda to the center. Y/N swept Amanda up in a big hug.

“Well you always have such magical stories and odd things happening around you. When I saw it on the side of the road during our excursion, I just knew it was meant to be yours”, Amanda said as Y/N released her.

“It’s perfect!” Y/N exclaimed. “I promise I’ll treasure it forever!” After all the girls wished Y/N a happy birthday and the excitement had worn down, all the girls not in room 3A shuffled out before a matron could scold them. As Y/N lay in her bed that night, she couldn’t help running her thumb over the grooves of the stone, thinking how lucky she was to be surrounded by friends on her 11th birthday.

***

The next morning, Y/N awoke with a sunny disposition. She practically flew out of bed and made it neatly in record time. She threw on some clothes and snuck out of room 3A, quietly so as not to wake Amanda or her other roommates. Y/N realized she would need some sturdy string to turn her hag stone into a necklace, which would make it easier to keep on her person at all times. The mail room was the likeliest room to have some, so Y/N headed there with haste. As she entered the small mail room at the front of the building, she heard a pecking noise at the window. Y/N investigated the odd noise and saw the most magnificent barn owl scratching and pecking at the window. Against her better judgement and all common sense, Y/N opened the window for the owl, as it was obvious it wanted to enter.

The owl burst through the window and Y/N pulled her arms up to cover her face, fearing an attack. Yet when no attack came, she lowered her arms and locked eyes with the owl. It had perched itself on the window sill and now Y/N could see it was holding a letter.

“What an odd thing for an owl to be doing”, Y/N thought to herself. As soon as she laid eyes on the letter, the owl seemed to acknowledge that she had seen it, dropped it, and headed off out the window. “Wait!” Y/N called after it, before realizing how absurd it was to try to talk to an owl. She reached down and picked up the fallen yellowish envelope. It was addressed in emerald green to Miss. Y/N S/N, Room 3A, Morningside Home for Girls, Cricklewood, London. She pulled out the letter and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss. S/N,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Y/N stared at the letter in shock. What on earth is Hogwarts? Witches? Wizards? Someone was definitely playing a very elaborate prank on her as revenge for all the stories she told to the newcomers. “Yes, that has to be it”, Y/N told herself. It would be best to keep this to herself, so as not to give the mystery pranker any satisfaction. “How on earth did they manage to rope an owl into their scheme?” Y/N wondered. However did pull this off, and had her begrudging respect. She tucked the letter into her back pocket and turned her attention back to finding some string.

After turning the mail room upside down, Y/N finally found some red string and fashioned the hag stone into a pendant. She headed to breakfast, determined not to breathe a word of this letter business to any of the girls or act like anything out of the ordinary happened. If they wanted a reaction out of her, they would have to do better than that.

Breakfast came and went with not a person acting odd or expectant, frustrating Y/N to no end. Would the pranker not reveal themselves already?! She was dying to ask them about where they got an owl. Yet, the day passed much the same as any other day. So did the next, then the next, and days turned into weeks, with the middle of July just having arrived. The mysterious letter and owl had almost faded from the top of Y/N’s mind. She would have thrown it out completely if not for her admiration of the beautiful emerald green ink. It was the prettiest letter she had ever seen, even if it was full of made-up nonsense. Not that she had any personal letters to compare it to, as she had never received one. Plus, Y/N could not deny that after the letter she had begun to notice owls more frequently. Up until that day, she had never seen one so close, but since then, nearly every other day she would see one just out of reach. It was as if they were waiting for her reply.

“No that’s ridiculous”, Y/N scolded herself. As wise and deep as the owl’s eyes looked, it was all just a trick of her mind. She was just noticing them more, maybe before there had been just as many.

The Monday of the 15th of July was one Y/N would not soon forget. She had been called to the Head Matron’s office after breakfast and upon cracking open the door she saw the biggest man she had ever seen in her life. He was tall and broad with a wild, bushy brown beard and looked as though he would have to bend down to get through the door frame.

“Hello there Miss S/N. I’m Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts” the giant man said with a kind smile and gruff voice. The shock on Y/N’s face could not be more evident. Hogwarts? The fake wizard school in the prank letter? Don’t tell me the matron is in on the joke as well?

“Mr. Hagrid has told me you received a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts around a month ago, is that correct, Miss S/N?” the Head Matron asked in her even, stern tone. Y/N couldn't say anything and just nodded. “Mr. Hagrid here has explained to me that Hogwarts is a boarding school for talented young students and is very selective. It has seven years and covers room and board, which would be longer than your time here, as a student graduate from Morningside at 16.” The Head Matron motioned for Y/N to sit down. “Miss S/N, I suggest you take this opportunity, as it is unlikely you will receive a better chance at an education.” Y/N was in shock. Was the Head Matron serious?

“Are you aware what type of school this is?” Y/N asked incredulously. The Head Matron gives a condescending look.

“Of course, I already mentioned it was a school for talented individuals. I can’t believe you would neglect to mention you were tested in school”, she had with a disapproving shake of her head. Y/N could not believe the Head Matron was glossing over the whole “wizard” thing. “I will step out to give you and Mr. Hagrid some time to discuss the details. He has also generously offered to accompany you to central London to shop for your uniform and books”. With that, the Matron left Y/N alone with the giant man.

Once the door had shut and Y/N had a chance to compose herself, she pulled the letter out of her bag. “Is this from your school?” Y/N asked, thrusting the letter towards the man.

“Yeah, that owl was from us”, he said. “Hope the owl doesn’t bite, butterscotch can be a bit temperamental”.

“Butterscotch?” Y/N asked, “Is that the owl’s name? Scratch that, the bigger question is, are you serious? Is there really such a thing as a school for wizards?” Y/N trepidations melted as she was overcome with curiosity.

“Well, where d’ye think we learn how to do magic?” Hagrid replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I am not sure if I believe you…” Y/N started “Did Suzy put you up to this? She hasn’t forgiven me for the time I told her I was Queen of the crows and they all actually charged her, I mean that was hardly my fault, just a funny coincidence!”

“Now that right there is an example of magic,” Hagrid stated plainly. “Ye did too influence the crows”. Hagrid sighs and pulls out a pink umbrella. “I can see ye won’t listen to what I’m saying without a demonstration”. He points the umbrella towards the Matron’s tulips in a vase, mumbles some words Y/N doesn’t catch, and turns them into a bundle of leeks. Y/N could hardly believe her eyes. Maybe the letter was real all along?!

“If magic is real, does the Matron know? How come I was always taught it was made up?” Y/N starts.

“Ministry o’ Magic ta’ blame fer that,” Hagrid muttered. “They created the statute of secrecy; their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there’s still witches an’ wizards up an’ down the country.”

“Why?” Y/N asked before adding, “And what’s a Muggle?”

“Why? Everyone’d be wantin’ magic solutions to their problems. Muggles are the non-magical folk.” Hagrid went towards the door and opened it. “I’m sure you’ve got many more questions, but I can answer yer questions on the way to Diagon Alley”.

Y/N got up, “ Is that like a wizard town?”

“It’s where ye’ll get yer school stuff, Matron allowed ye the day to get everything. Blimey! Ye still have the list don’t ya?”

Y/N pulled out another parchment from the envelope. “I suspect this is it?” Hagrid nodded affirmatively. So Y/N followed the giant out of the Head Matron’s office and towards the front door, waving to the surly Head Matron herself and the girls who noticed she was heading out the front door.

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