"You got bigger!" Val cheered as we both looked into the large mirror in my room. I had indeed grown taller, but I could only scoff while feeling his body coiling all around my arm.
"Speak for yourself," I said, noting how Val—who used to be only around three feet in length when I met him—had grown a foot over the second year, and now another foot over summer. His coiled body had even started to cause slight discomfort with his weight.
"You're getting too heavy for me…" I sighed with a smile, glad that he was growing big and strong.
Val gasped, slithering his body closer to my chest instead. "No! I can be smaller again!"
I laughed while patting his scaly head. "Just not putting all your weight on my arms is enough."
Val chirped as he constricted his body around my waist. I took another glance in the mirror, sighing while thinking of the last year.
"Are we not gonna see Abarrane and Gaynor soon?" Val asked worriedly over my sighing. We were both excited to see them again—Gaynor wanting to stay in the chamber to make it her more permanent nest, as well as becoming famous for being the first of her kind to eat their mortal enemy.
I shook my head while getting dressed in my school robes once again. "No, we'll see them soon. Along with Pansy."
Pansy was the real reason for my sighing. Things had been bumpy last year, our friendship threatening to be torn apart. Pansy was truly lost after learning how 'pureblood' was a term that could not describe any wizards at all. I was surprised by how logical it all was after she described it to me—surprised that I hadn't already figured it out for myself.
'For me… my parents hate all magical creatures, but I knew they were wrong. So I had that doubt for my whole life. It's nice to have some vindication,' I remembered saying to her, only to have her happily joke about how she knew things I didn't. We discussed in secret the falsehoods of our house's beliefs, after the rough patch in our friendship. With a new foundation of understanding, we slowly grew more accustomed to one another again.
However, there was still one thing I was keeping to myself—my newly discovered lycanthropy. Hiding the belief in equality, or the truth about Slytherin House, was one thing. But my own strange curse was something much different. I had a monster living inside me. One that I had luckily kept tame—so far. But I never even remembered the transformations. I should have memories of the time inside that monstrous body after shifting back, but I never did. My parents never uttered a word about werewolves, and I knew better than to ask now.
My blood was truly cursed—but cursed in what way, I didn't truly know. I searched the school library for any other cases like mine, but found nothing. That left me to wallow in the anxiety of something I could neither understand nor control all summer.
I stared at my face in the mirror, looking deep into my own eyes. I could see the lingering hue of green under my usual blue irises. The new meaning behind my eyes reminded me in every reflection that something laid further underneath—beyond my skin.
During the time we were rebuilding our friendship, Pansy had asked about my eyes, and I quickly lied—the same lie I had once believed myself, about it being magical overcharge. I could see in her gaze that she didn't fully believe me, but her smile never dimmed. Somehow, in our fight, Pansy had decided to accept my lies—not as a personal attack toward her, but as something more of my character.
A knock at my door caught my attention. Val quickly slithered down my chest, hiding from my mother entering inside.
"Oh my! You have grown so fast!" she cheered with a sense of sadness, wrapping me into a tight hug.
"Morning, Mother…" I sighed, my face pressed against her chest.
She let me go and flicked my ear, making me wince in pain. "You don't have to grow up so fast! You're not too old to still love your mother!" she said, wagging her finger at me with a frown.
A smile slowly formed, seeing my mother's affection. Even despite knowing what I was, she still loved and cared for me. The lies, perhaps, were just as much for my peace of mind as her own. I returned her hug, just as my father entered the room with our house elf.
He had his usual stoic expression as he handed me a small, enchanted box. "Your medicine," he announced, and I glanced at the golden engraved musical box—enchanted to be larger on the inside. I stared at the box, now knowing that it was perhaps more than just the "headache medicine" he claimed it was.
During summer, I held off taking the potion for as long as I could—the splitting headache growing more intense as the moon rose outside my special chamber. Once I could feel myself beginning to shift, I could wait no longer. I took a swig, and a wave of fatigue overtook me—I could no longer keep my eyes open. Waking the next morning, I found the room the same as usual: partially destroyed, with broken brick, torn mattress, and shredded sheets.
I nodded at him, thinking back to the past events of my own testing, while Nalby opened my case to carefully place the box inside with the rest of my things.
"Thank you, Father," I said, silently pondering what was inside that medicine I'd been drinking before the beast would emerge. I only knew that some of the ingredients included wolfsbane, lavender, and a few others. My best guess was that it was some kind of sedative—a very strong one—that kept the beast tired, and sedated enough to mostly laze around. With that idea, I felt much better about myself, and the safety of my classmates.
My father silently motioned me to follow, while my mother stroked my hair, caressing and fiddling with it into pristine condition.
Inside our luxury car, driving to the train station, my mother began making conversation.
"You have all your books?"
I nodded, remembering myself placing them in my luggage.
"Really… How could that Headmaster think giving students a book like that was a good idea?" she grumbled—obviously talking about the strange book of magical creatures my parents had tried excluding me from. The book was enchanted to be much like a vicious beast, likely meant to keep students cautious of magical creatures at all times.
My father sighed, shaking his head. "Fools…"
My mother nodded, then turned to me. "Now if anything happens in that class, you send us a letter with Howell, and we'll take care of it."
I nodded at her worried expression, before looking toward Howell in his cage, screeching at me. I avoided her gaze, doing my very best to hide my pure elation that this class was required this year.
After taking a parking spot made specifically by the Ministry for witches and wizards to drop off their children, I glanced at the empty space where the Malfoys usually sat.
I suppose we're a bit early, I thought with a shrug, before my mother tapped my shoulder.
I grabbed my handkerchief and placed it over my mouth, following her silent instructions. My mother nodded, grasping my shoulder tightly as we walked through the sea of Muggles, attempting not to get any "filth" stuck to us.
At the platform, the plentiful sounds of people shuffling about, saying goodbyes to family, and exchanging excited greetings with friends filled the echoing halls in a symphony of noise.
"Anything about that beast class bothers you, and we'll get you transferred out of it," my father said with his usual frown, my mother nodding right beside him.
I could guess that they didn't want me hearing about werewolves—trying to push me away from the truth of my own being.
Not knowing whether I should be upset with them for keeping my condition a secret, I simply nodded with a smile, waving goodbye to my parents as I entered the train.
I made my way to my usual train car and opened the door—only to be met with a surprise in the shape of a blonde girl sitting in my seat. Pansy and Draco weren't there yet. I had come early, so it was expected, but I had no idea who this person was.
I frowned, leaning against the now closed door.
She turned to look at me, her sky-blue eyes shining despite the rainy weather outside—like a little piece of the azure sky had been placed into her gaze. I glanced down past her wavy blonde hair to the marking on her robes. A raven-adorned crest was sewn onto her chest.
At least a second year, she'd already been placed into a house—and Ravenclaw at that.
"What are the likes of you doing sitting in my seat?" I asked, my poisoned tongue striking as my mask quickly snapped itself back over my face.
The girl tilted her head, studying me silently—a sudden thought of her strange mannerisms matching another certain quiet girl I knew. I frowned at her, wondering why she'd be at the end of the train cars if she'd already had a year to find others in her house to sit with.
"My friends ran out of space…" she said, continuing to stare at me, studying me. Her voice was calm and light.
I sighed, avoiding eye contact, a portion of me uneasy with her stares.
"Well, for someone as popular as you, I would imagine that another car of acquaintances would suit you much better than this one."
I glanced at her, only to find her azure eyes peering deep into me in silence. The mumblings of others entering the train continued as the only noise between us—frozen in silence. On
ly after what felt like minutes of her gaze did she finally speak.
"I'm happy sitting here…"