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Ragna Potter

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Notes:

I don't promise constant updates, but I can assure you none of my stories are abandoned 🙂

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

 

 

“Huh? Either our friends have multiply or they have grown fatter overnight based on how much space they are taking,” Ragna commented the moment they enter the Great Hall and headed towards the Ravenclaw table as usual. 

 

“Ragna you can’t say that!” Hermione seemed really scandalize at her comment while Lily and Sally giggle behind them. Ragna was always being blunter when interacting with others and Hermione always seemed scandalized by it. 

 

“Wait, I take it back. We have more badgers in our mist,” Ragna warned her friends as she realized there were more students wearing the yellow and black ties that represented Hufflepuff. 

 

She became tense, hoping that Justin and Wayne didn’t think it was a good idea to suddenly introduced wizarding raised children into their group that was completely muggle raised. However, it took only a second for Ragna to recognize that the other Hufflepuffs were also muggleborns. 

 

Since school started she had been paying attention to names and faces, observing students when they thought no one was paying attention to them. It was always good to know a bit of something about everyone so you weren’t taken by surprise. It was not possible to know everyone, of course, but Ragna tried her best to keep herself inform about those in her year and the year above her. 

 

“So, have the badgers come to rule over the eagles?” Ragna drawl the moment she got in hearing distance, acting like a pureblood with her nose up in the air. “I am afraid if that is the case we will have to fight it out because we lions are in charge over the little eagles.”

 

There was a groan behind her, no doubt from Hermione, and even though she didn’t see it, both Sally and Lily were looking adorably confused as they looked at Ragna like she had lost it. The arrogant dominant personality she was going for was completely shattered by the Gryffindor girls behind her making the whole thing more ridiculous and… Terry snorted.

 

That seemed to be the cue for everyone else as some giggle, others laugh, and some protested that no one was ruling over the eagles, thank you very much. The tension which Ragna had noticed the moment she got into a hearing distance of her friends disappeared. The new Hufflepuff students present seemed a bit bewildered by the whole thing and didn’t know if they should join in the joke or if they should take it seriously.

 

“So, I am Ragna Potter and this is Hermione Granger, Lily Moon, and Sally Smith, little lionesses at your service,” Ragna introduce them as she took a seat and so did the other girls. “The others have introduced themselves, right?” 

 

It was supposed to be a rhetorical question but it seemed like the others actually had not gotten around to introducing themselves by the awkward silence that descended again. 

 

“Well, this is Justin and Wayne-“

 

“Oh, shove off Ragna,” Wayne playfully pushed her slightly to the side for pointing out the obvious since they were the ones who brought the new first years students to their group.

 

“-and this is Terry Boot, Micheal Corner, Isobel McDougal, Mandy Brocklehurst, Stephen Cornfoot, and Oliver Rivers,” Ragna continued introducing them like Wayne had not interrupted her. 

 

“Um, right,” Justin clear his throat. “Guys, this is Roger Malone, Megan Jones, Marrybell Black, and Sally-Anne Perks -all muggleborns like us.”

 

Ragna didn’t bother correcting Justin since technically she wasn’t a muggleborn but she didn’t mind being label as one. She did wonder about Marrybell Black since she knew there was a Black family full of pureblood fanatics. It made Ragna wonder if there was a connection there or if it was just a coincidence.

 

“Not that I mind them being here but…” Micheal trailed off not sure how to finish his sentence without sounding rude or mean.

 

“…why are they here?” Oliver finished Micheal’s sentence bluntly, getting a nudge at his sides for his bluntness and slightly rude words.

 

“Ha! And you think I am the bluntest one in our group!” Ragna could not help but exclaim at Hermione who was right next to her. That got her looks from her friends but she ignored them blithely.

 

“Well, we had a fight with the rest of the Hufflepuff first years,” Wayne started hesitatingly, shooting Justin a concerned look.

 

“What happened Justin?” Ragna asked more seriously. All of her playfulness disappeared so suddenly that her friends blinked in surprise.

 

Justin took a deep breath before he started telling them what happened last night after they left the Great Hall after dinner. “Some of our dorm mates didn’t like that we spend so much time with you guys and that we basically spend all of our weekend with you, so Wayne and I suggested we play some board games -magical and muggle ones- to get to know one another better. We went to the common room and invited the girls to play with us too. Everything was going fine until Zacharias, Susan, Megan, and I started playing ‘Sorry’ and both Zacharias and Susan kept on having trouble unlike Megan and me who had more experience playing it. 

 

"Zacharias insulted the game saying that it was a stupid game anyway, invented by stupid muggles. I grew angry and told Zacharias it wasn’t like some magical games were not stupid either. Quickly our fight escalated and more people got involved, Susan tried to calm down Zacharias by basically saying we didn’t know better and that it was their responsibility to help us understand the magical world. Some older Hufflepuff stepped in and tried to diffuse the fight but before they could Zacharias ended up calling me a mudblood, and I didn’t know it was a big deal until I saw the reactions of the older students and those raised in the wizarding world.

 

“Apparently it’s a muggleborn slur, used by racists wizards. It basically means that our blood is mud and we are tainted… b-but I don’t understand why- I don’t understand h-how- It j-just doesn’t make any sense…” Justin kept it together until the end where he tried to keep his tears at bay and looked so confused and lost. 

 

The newer Hufflepuff students didn’t know what they expected the reactions of the others to be but they were surprised by the rage that seemed to consume the whole group. They had asked Justin and Wayne at some point during their first week if they had known each other before Hogwarts because the whole group seemed so close already but Wayne and Justin had admitted that they only met some of them on the train ride for the first time and the others they met for the first time during breakfast on the first day of class. 

 

Justin and Wayne didn’t understand that part of Zacharias and other of their housemates' reaction was due to jealousy. Just the day before, the rest of the Hufflepuff first years had witnessed the large group of mixed friends having the time of their life outside playing football, a muggle game. Part of them wanted to be involved in what appeared to be such a close group of friends that were making a name for themselves already among all Hogwarts students -first year through seventh year students. 

 

But it was taunting to approach such a large group of friends that seemed very close to one another. Many times Megan, Roger, Marrybell, and Sally-Anne had wanted to tag along with Justin and Wayne when they made their way toward the Ravenclaw table, but both boys never invited them to tag along so they kept quiet. The four muggleborn Hufflepuffs knew that it wasn’t only them in their house who wanted to tag along -hell, they knew some other first-year students from other houses wanted to be part of the group too, but it was clear that unless you were invited you were not welcome. 

 

That morning when they all sat down at the table, following after Justin and Wayne, it didn’t escape their notice that the other members of the group didn’t seem to know what to do with them. 

 

“Um, hi…?” Was the awkward exchange of greeting between Justin and Micheal Corner. 

 

It wasn’t until Ragna Potter appeared breaking the silence with a dramatic entrance that the awkwardness subsided. It wasn’t until then that the new badgers were welcome into the group and realized that Ragna Potter was the leader of the group and it didn’t matter who invited them into the group unless Ragna Potter approved of them.

 

“Where are you going?” Stephen asked Terry who had suddenly gotten up, breaking the new four Hufflepuff out of their thoughts. 

 

“To punch Smith on his face,” Terry declared like it was no big deal.

 

“I will punch Macmillan!”

 

“I call dibs on Bones!” Oliver and Ragna called out at the same time as they both jump up from their seats eagerly. 

 

“You will do no such thing! You could get suspended for fighting!”

 

“Sit down, all of you! None of us will go punch anyone in the face!” Hermione and Micheal seemed to be the only ones reasonable enough even in their anger to speak senses into the other’s ears.

 

“Party poopers,” Ragna sat down pouting and the other two reluctantly followed her lead. Stephen who had been halfway up, ready to follow after the other three, hastily sat back down. 

 

“Hey, guys, what have we miss?” Dean came up with Will at his side. 

 

The whole group to look at Dean dumbfounded as they realize that Dean and Will didn’t know what was going on since Dean liked to sleep in and Will decided to wait up for him so both of them came to the Great Hall pretty late for breakfast.

 

“See this is why I told you, Dean, you should wake up earlier. Now you miss on all of the drama,” Ragna groaned, dreading having to have the whole conversation again. 

 

In the end, Dean and Will were not told right away what had happened because they all had to rush to eat some food and rush off to their class. Dean and Will had no idea what was going on but they follow the girls’ lead as they practically shield the six Hufflepuffs from the rest of the Hufflepuffs as they headed towards History Class since they shared that class together. 

 

Ragna easily maneuvered everyone so that Sally and Lily, Dean and Will, and Hermione and her cut a line between Justin, Wayne, Roger, Megan, Sophie, and Sally-Anne, against the other Hufflepuff first years. 

 

During class, it was Sally and Lily who informed Dean and Will what they had missed during breakfast by passing notes between each other. Will and Dean became indignant about what they heard, of course, and somehow their notes turn out to be an exchange of ideas for retributions… Not that anyone knew about it until later when Ravenclaws and Gryffindors got together after Charms.

 

“Go ahead without me, I want to ask Professor Binns something,” Ragna told her friends after waving goodbye to their Hufflepuff friends who didn’t share the next class with them. 

 

“You want to talk with Professor Binns?” Dean asked aghast since it may have only been a week of class but they all knew that their ghost professor didn’t seem to know what was going on around him.

 

“What do you want to ask him?” Hermione asked curiously.

 

“We can wait for you, we don’t mind,” Lily added.

 

“Yes, I want to speak with Professor Binns, I will let you know later, and don’t wait for me -go on now or you will be late,” Ragna replied to all of her friends at once and when they realize she was right they rush out of the classroom.

 

“Professor Binns, I was hoping to talk to you.” Ragna approach the history professor who seemed startled to be addressed directly when everyone left him alone.

 

“Ah, yes, can I help you, Miss…” Professor Binns trailed off confused.

 

“Miss Potter, Professor Binns. I was hoping you could tell me the history of mind-reading,” Ragna didn’t beat around the bush and asked her question.

 

After thinking about who she could approach she decided that Professor Binns was her safest option simply because he would be the least likely professor to gossip about her. She couldn’t go to Professor Snape for obvious reasons, Professor McGonagall was too close to Dumbledore for her liking, Professor Sprout would be concern about why she would be asking about mind-reading abilities, and Professor Flitwick would most likely make a comment about it to someone else. Professor Quirrell was under suspect of reading her mind, so he was out too.

 

“You see, I recently learned that some wizards and witches have the ability to read minds and it got me thinking about other abilities that only certain wizards and witches seemed to possess. I tried to find more information in the library about them but couldn’t find anything. So I was hoping you could tell me the history behind such gifts.” 

 

In case Professor Binns spoke to someone Ragna wanted to give him the impression she was interested in learning about magical gifts in general instead of the ability of mind reading. 

 

“Gifts?” Professor Binns seemed to ask himself softly. “Yes, I supposed you could call them gifts…”

 

“Professor Binns?” Ragna question again when it seemed his mind was somewhere else instead of their current conversation.

 

“Oh, yes, Miss…?”

 

“Miss Potter,” Ragna repeated again more amused than annoyed at the Professor in front of her. 

 

“Miss Potter, unfortunately, history doesn’t tell us much about those magical… gifts. But you can learn more about them in the restricted section in the library,” Professor Binns informed her. 

 

“But I can’t enter the restricted section in the library without a signed slip from a professor. Can you sign a permission slip for me to enter the restricted section Professor Binns?” Ragna asked slyly, making sure to look innocently curious at the professor with a hint of hopefulness. “Only for a day is fine.”

 

“A day... a day... a day? A day won’t be enough… you will need at least one week to find something, yes, a week sounds good.” Professor Binns furrow his eyebrows together his mind seemed to be somewhere else even as he stared at her.

 

“The permission professor?” Ragna reminded Professor Binns when the ghost professor seemed to have frozen in time. 

 

“Oh, yes, the permission, the permission,” Professor Binns seemed to wake up from his frozen state and floated around his desk to stand behind it.

 

“The stamp is there Miss Potter,” Professor Binns gesture to one of the drawers, and Ragna made her way behind the desk and opened the drawer to find different types of stamps. It made Ragna realize how she never questioned how her ghost professor was able to grade their assignments when he couldn’t touch anything but her question was answer now.

 

The stamps had the letter grades O for Outstanding, E for Exceeds Expectations, A for Acceptable, P for Poor, D for Dreadful, and T for Troll. There was also one last stamp that had the professor’s signature. 

 

Professor Binns guided her to where the permissions slips were put away and Ragna stamped her own permission slip. She couldn’t help but think that it would come in handy in case she ever needed a professor’s signature for something. But it also made her feel guilty so using poor Professor Binns like that so she blurted out the first thing that came into her mind.

 

“Professor Binns, if you don’t mind, I can help you grade assignments,” Ragna offered thinking it was a good trade-off for the favor Professor Binns was unknowingly doing for her. She did wonder who had graded their assignments before since Professor Binns could not have lifted the stamps. There was also a possibility that they were given a grade at random too and Ragna didn’t know how to feel about that. 

 

“You, know, I could come after dinner and grade student’s assignments,” Ragna explained again when Professor Binns only blinked at her. “If you explained to me how you grade assignments I can grade your papers.” 

 

She didn’t think that it would take too much time with her ability to read, so volunteering a couple of minutes of her day to grades papers didn’t sound that bad. 

 

“Grading… yes, grading papers, that sounds like a good idea. After dinner then, Miss…?”

 

“Miss Potter, Professor Binns.”

 

“Right, right.”

 

Ragna just shook her head and label it a lost cost and after getting a slip excusing her lateness to class she headed towards Charms class. 

 


 

“So how are we going to slip them the potions?” Lily pointed out a good question that needed to be answered for their plan to go smoothly.

 

After Charms class they had headed to the library to figure out what they were going to do, to get back at the Hufflepuffs who made their friends cry. Surprising everyone, Lily and Sally were coming up with the most humiliating ideas. Dean and Will had apparently tamed some of their wildest ideas. 

 

They thought about spells but they were ruled out quickly because most spells could quickly be canceled out so they started talking about potions since the results would last longer. 

 

In the end, they actually agree on making a potion that would partly transfigure the first-year Hufflepuffs into a certain animal and would make them sound like their perspective animals when they tried to talk.

 

For Smith, they decided to turn him into a donkey. Bones was going to be turned into a dog. Abbott was going to be a pig. Macmillan was going to be turned into a rat. Entwhistle was going to be turning into a sheep.

 

It was pretty self-explanatory as to why a certain someone was going to be a certain animal. A rat for a traitor, a dog for a bitch, a donkey for an arse, a sheep for a coward, and a pig for… well, for a pig. It was a very good plan to get back at them but the first problem was finding a potion that would give them the results they wanted, and they quickly realize that there wasn’t a potion that could provide them with similar results.

 

Ragna told them she was going to worry about that part and after a couple of minutes of her murmuring to herself and writing things down things, she gave them a list of ingredients that they needed. Their Ravenclaw friends were going to make sure to get the ingredients that they didn’t have, from the potion cupboard that contained all types of potion ingredients, when they had potion class which was actually in the afternoon. 

 

They thought they had all angles cover until Lily pointed out a good point.

 

“I could turn myself invisible and pour it in their food without them noticing it,” Ragna offered a solution first.

 

“You can turn yourself invisible?” Terry asked excitedly.

 

“Well, I know there is a spell for it which will be easy to find and master,” Ragna shrugged her shoulders.

 

“We will do that!” Hermione volunteered herself and the rest of the Gryffindors. Dean and Will did not look too thrilled but grudgingly agreed since it was for a good cause. 

 

Ragna agreed to Hermione’s help even if it would have been faster for her to do it because it would keep Hermione busy and out of her hair for a while. 

 

“Remember not to tell the rest about our plan,” Ragna reminded her friends as they enter the Great Hall. They didn’t want to tell the others in case they were caught, they didn't want their Hufflepuff friends to get in trouble and they also worried that their friends would tell them to stop before they could carry out their plan if they knew about it.

 

“So I think I am going to be helping Professor Binns grade assignments,” Ragna blurted out as she took a seat next to Megan Jones. She wanted to roll her eyes at how obvious her friends were being about the fact that they were hiding something from their other friends by being uncharacteristically quiet. 

 

“Wait, what? Since when?”

 

“Is that what you stay after class to talk about?”

 

“I didn’t think students were able to grade other student’s assignments?”

 

“Actually, how has Professor Binns grade assignments before? He is a ghost?”

 

Her piece of news seemed to open a topic of conversation and everyone started chiming in. Roger, Megan, Marrybell, and Sally-Anne needed a bit of encouragement to get them to talk but by the end of lunch, Ragna was happy to see that they were more relaxed around their group.

 

Ragna didn’t think they were ahead of their peers, but after their lunch conversation, she could see just how much their group had learned in one week compared to other first years. It really felt like they had been at Hogwarts longer.

 

After going to class in the afternoon Ragna ended up going to the library to start her research in the restricted section. Madam Pince ended up being a very intimidating woman that Ragna swore never to cross, the lady basically interrogated her when she showed her pass sign by Professor Binns. 

 

“And why would Professor Binns give you a pass to the restricted section?” Madam Pince narrow her eyes at Ragna who shifted a bit her weight from one foot to another.

 

“Um, I-I stayed after class today and asked Professor Binns if he could tell me about the history behind magical gifts like… like you know, speaking to snakes or reading minds. He didn’t have an answer for me but said that I could find more information in the restricted section so… so I asked him for a pass and he gave it to me…”Ragna trialed off. Only one piercing glare from her and Ragna spilled the whole story. For a moment Ragna wonders if she was crazy that she found the witch’s glare more intimidating than Professor Snape’s own glare, she mentally swore never to tell Professor Snape about it.

 

“I only asked for a pass for today but he said I wouldn’t find anything in one day so he gave me a pass for a week,” Ragna added in a rush before Madam Pince could start imagining the worse about her. 

 

“You will not be able to take out any books in the restricted section no matter what the permission slip says, understood?”

 

Ragna couldn’t nod fast enough. “Yes, ma’am.”

 

Madam Pince gave a short sharp nod and headed towards the restricted section to open the gates with the little Gryffindor hurrying after her. Madam Pince had seen Ragna Potter many times in the library, the young girl would visit the library at least once in the day. She had seen the little lioness always finding a reclusive spot that hid her from the view of mostly everyone, Madam Pince didn’t think the girl knew that her favorite spot had been also her mother’s favorite spot.

 

Ragna Potter had a funny habit of grabbing a few books and after a few minutes, she would return them. The girl reminded Madam Pince of Lily Evans who also seemed to randomly pick something to read. Many students usually favor one magic branch and muggleborns usually searched about the new world they had just entered, but soon their interest would dim and they would lazy around just like the rest.

 

Lily Evans had not been like that. The girl had a thirst to get her hands on everything she could read. Her wonder of magic never dimmed like so many other muggleborns who came before her and after her. The girl would jump from one section to another. One week she was interested in transfiguration and the next week she would be reading books on alchemy which Madam Pince doubted the young girl could understand at such a young age.

 

Madam Pince had a gut feeling that her daughter was going to be the same. It would be harder for Ragna Potter, however, because she seemed to have a shorter attention span than her mother. She barely spent any time with a book before she was putting it in its place again. That was why she was allowing the girl into the restricted section. She didn’t think the young Gryffindor would get much out of her visit to the restricted section with how short of an attention span she had.

 

She really didn’t. So she wasn’t planning on telling anyone about the innocent curiosity a first-year student had. Madam Pince was sure that after the girl had her glance into the restricted section her attention would go away. She was going to have a talk with Cuthbert though, honestly, letting 11-year-old children into the restricted section.

 


 

Ragna Potter was having a horribly busy week and it was only Wednesday night. It was only the second week of school and she didn’t understand how things could have stacked up so fast.

 

She had to find time to brew the potions and a place she would not be discovered so she hadn’t had much sleep the day before, which was alright because she didn’t sleep that much anyway. 

 

She was researching over the matter that the house-elves had brought to her attention. She was spending any of her spare time she could in the restricted section because who knew how long she was going to have to wait to get back inside. Thankfully she was halfway through the entire section.

 

Of course, that meant she wasn’t spending too much time with her friends and she couldn’t be there to smooth things out. Roger, Megan, Marrybell, and Sally-Anne were not in the secrets the rest of the group was in, like the fact that Ragna could speak to snakes or that they thought Ragna may have a claim over Hogwarts. They didn’t know that teachers could read minds and they definitely didn’t know what Ragna told the group on Sunday about Headmaster Dumbledore. They didn’t even know that the rest of the group knew more hexes than they should know.

 

All of those secrets were making things rough for the four new Hufflepuffs in their group to feel welcome. Sometimes conversations would come to a sudden stop when they realize that the Hufflepuffs didn’t know about a certain topic and it made the Hufflepuffs feel unwelcome into their group. If that wasn’t enough, Justin and Wayne were feeling hurt because they knew the rest of the group was keeping a secret from them.

 

They probably thought the others were keeping things from them because of the new members of their group, but that was not the case. At least that one misunderstanding would be clear up pretty soon enough since Ragna was rushing to the Great Hall with the potions in her hand.

 

Hermione had gotten in Ragna’s case after she found the spell to make someone invisible, basically demanding to know where and what Ragna was doing at all times in the day. Ragna was able to distract her momentarily by asking her to research magical gifts which was the excuse she used with Professor Binns and Madam Pince and thankfully her trick worked because Hermione wasn’t bothering her too much now that she had a topic to research.

 

The only time in her day that Ragna actually felt calm was after dinner when she went to Professor Binn’s class and graded the assignments for the day. The first night she went took her longer than she expected to take her to get things done but that happened because Professor Binns had to tell her how he graded assignments and what the topics and requirements were for certain assignments. 

 

It was only after she was finished that she found out a sheet that held the rubric on how to grade assignments and a calendar that clearly wrote down the assignments assigned to what class when. Ragna just stopped herself from groaning out loud for not looking for those in the first place which would save her a lot of time. 

 

The second night she went, she flew through those assignments and actually had time to finished her homework that was assigned that day and the day before. It had been only two days but it was a routine Ragna was finding very appealing and soothing.

 

“Where is Ragna?” She heard Justin asked from the Ravenclaw table as she poured the potions into the specific victim in the Hufflepuff table that was right next to it.

 

“Um… in the library?” Ragna wanted to slap her hand on her face and groan at Dean’s response. Not only did he hesitated but he ended up sounding unsure too which made it obvious he was lying.

 

“Oh,” Justin answer sounding so sad that Ragna didn’t hesitate to slap Dean’s back head to get him to say something.

 

“Ow!” Dean exclaimed as his head bounce forward a bit.

 

“Dean? Are you okay?” 

 

“I-I mean…”

 

Ragna didn’t hear what excuse Dean came up with as she rushed out of the Great Hall to undue her invisibility spell and then slipped back into the Great Hall this time visible. 

 

“Hello everybody,” Ragna greeted her friends as she sat down between Megan and Roger purposely so that maybe she could get to know the four Hufflepuffs better. 

 

“Ragna you’re here!” Dean exclaimed sounding relieved before he got suspicious. “Hey! Did you-” Dean started to say with an accusatory finger pointing her way.

 

“Did I what Dean?” Ragna asked innocently since they all knew to keep the secret from their Hufflepuff friends so Dean couldn’t mention her hitting him while invisible. 

 

“Never mind,” Dean sulked for a bit before being distracted by something Oliver said.

 

Conversation continued after that, Ragna was good at multitasking conversations and including everyone in a conversation. She was in the middle of a conversation with Marrybell, Sally-Anne, Lily, and Sally about unicorns out of all things when a loud shrink was heard through the whole Great Hall and everyone stopped and turn to look at the end of the Hufflepuff table that contained the first years.

 

Smith was standing up spitting fire (not literally) and was more noticeable out of the others because of it. His nose and mouth had expanded out to resemble those of a donkey but the rest of his face was normal. His ears grew extremely long to resemble donkey ears and since he was standing up everyone facing his back could see the donkey tail. When he tried to shout no doubt to offend everyone in his anger and embarrassment all they heard was a donkey’s noise. 

 

The other four Hufflepuffs in the Hufflepuff table had also partly transfigured into their animals. Everyone in the Great Hall knew that the prank wasn’t in good nature, it hadn't been in good fun. No, they could see the prank was meant to humiliate the recipients, it was a prank of revenge. Ragna made sure that there was no mistake of the intention of the prank so she may have gone a step further than the others knew about. The words ‘glutton’ ‘coward,’ ‘traitor,’ ‘bitch,’ and ‘arse’ were written on their forehead in what look like a rash. 

 

Someone in the Gryffindor table snorted first. Ragna’s money was one of the redheaded twins who Ragna quickly learned were Fred and George Weasley, the infamous pranksters of Gryffindor. 

 

Then someone else snorted in the Slytherin table, then a chuckle, and then everyone was laughing at the display of the five Hufflepuff first years. Bones and Smith turned red with anger and embarrassment for being humiliated so publicly as they rushed out of the Great Hall. Abbott had burst into tears and was actually the first one to run out of the Great Hall. Macmillan and Entwhistle rushed after the rest of them with their shoulders hunch and their heads bowed. Professor Sprout, the Head of the Hufflepuff House rushed after her young badgers looking worried but with a disapproving frown on her face. 

 

“Ahem,” Headmaster Dumbledore clear his throat as he rose from his chair calling order to the Great Hall. “We will investigate the matter of this prank, if the guilty party could step out and take responsibility I can promise their actions would be taken into consideration when assigning them an appropriate punishment.”

 

Complete silence filled the room as no one even moved or spoke out. Dumbledore let a disappointed sigh as he continued, “Very well… I must remind students however to take caution when pranking. Pranks are good and fun as long as you don’t take it too far.”

 

He sat down and dessert appeared on the table for everyone to dig in. The spectacle that happened with the first-year Hufflepuffs was what everyone was talking about. 

 

“Did you do that!”

 

“Ragna!” 

 

Ragna was hiss at from all sides as everyone wanted an answer.

 

“Act normal, do not turn to look around, but everyone is glancing our way because they suspect we did it,” Ragna whispered to them as she calmly grabbed some strawberries to eat. “We can’t have this conversation here because someone may overhear our conversation and we would get in trouble. We will talk about it after dinner but Justin, Wayne, if you are questioned -you did not know anything about the prank, you didn’t have a part in it, and you don’t know who did it.”

 

Ragna may have only called Justin and Wayne out but it was obvious that she was also addressing the other Hufflepuffs. Everyone gave a tense discrete nod as they grab some dessert to eat.

 

“Follow my lead,” Ragna whispered to them before speaking in a more normal volume. “I agree, whoever did that went overboard. It made poor Hannah ran out of the Great Hall in tears.” Ragna knew that not talking about what everyone was talking about actually made them look guilty.

 

“I wonder who could have done such a thing? How do you think they even pull something like that?” Will asked, figuring what Ragna was doing before any of the others. 

 

By acting shock that someone could have done such a thing, they threw the suspicious away from them. Reminding people that to pull something that advance would require more years of learning, thought Will was a good idea too. In order to survive in his home life, Will learned a few tricks to get away with things and not get punished so it wasn’t so surprising that he was the first one to understand what Ragna was doing. 

 

Conversation between them eventually pick up and everyone became less tense. The most affected appeared to be Hermione and the badgers. The other quickly seemed to go back to normal. When students started to leave they finally got up themselves, making sure to not leave too early or linger too much. Ragna refused to even look at the Professors’ table but that was not unusual. 

 

“Okay, one question at a time,” Ragna warned as they gather in Professor Binns’ class since Ragna headed that way since she had to grade assignments. 

 

Professor Binns was who knows where and the classroom didn’t have any portraits so they could talk freely. Ragna actually sat behind the Professor’s desk as her friends gather around the first front desks, some stood and some sat on the desks. 

 

“Did you guys do that?” Justin demanded to know before anyone else could go first.

 

“Yes.” Ragna saw no point in lying now that the prank was over and done with but by Justin’s surprise expression he expected them to lie about it.

 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Wayne asked, everyone, heard the hurt in his voice clearly.

 

“It wasn’t because we didn’t trust you,” Ragna address those insecurities first. “We decided not to tell you because we didn’t want to get you in trouble in case we were caught. If you are questioned, which you are probably going to be, you can deny having any part in the whole ordeal with confidence.”

 

“So all of you guys did that?” Roger asked looking at the whole group.

 

“Yep, I brew the potions, the rest of the Gryffindors searched for a spell to make me invisible, and the Ravenclaws stole some potions ingredients during their potion class,” Ragna was happy to credit the others for the whole prank too. 

 

“Why?” Marrybell asked looking sincerely confused.

 

“Because you are our friends of course!” Micheal exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world, finally, someone besides Ragna explained. 

 

“Sure, we kind of just met two days ago -unlike Justin and Wayne- but you are already our friends and that means we got your back,” Lily added with the others nodding in agreement. 

 

“Don’t you think that it was too much just because they called us mudbloods?” Sally-Anne uncomfortably asked, shifted her weight from one side to another.

 

“That was me,” Ragna quickly claimed the responsibility. “I added the part that wrote those words in their foreheads without telling the rest of them that I was going to do it. So I take full responsibility for that.”

 

The prank in itself would not have been so cruel if not for the crude words on their forehead, so Ragna would take the whole blamed for that. 

 

“And the prank wasn’t because they call you mudbloods-“

 

“Wait, it wasn’t?” Mandy asked confused and she wasn’t the only one.

 

“Well, only partially,” Ragna relented. “They did insult you, but a prank that mean, just for an insult would be too much. The slur mudblood doesn’t make sense, we all learned in school that we all bleed red, so using the word mudblood to insult us is pointless -at least in my opinion. You have to understand that only you can let that word have power over you if you actually take it to heart -which you shouldn’t. 

 

“But I am getting carried away. The reason why the prank was so harsh was because they were hypocrites. They pretended to be your friends while looking down on you. You trusted them, you put an effort to befriend them. I know Justin and Wayne were always conscious about spending time with them like deciding to eat breakfast and dinner at their table instead of with the rest of us. Friends don’t do that, friends don’t put their friends down, they don’t look down on them, they aren’t cruel, and they don’t break their trust.

 

“I am not an expert in friendship because believe it or not you guys are my first friends, but it didn’t sit well with me what the other Hufflepuffs did to you, so I may have gone too far with the prank, but if I could do it again I would not change it. In my opinion, they deserved it.”

 

Ragna wondered if she should feel guilty for manipulating them. She didn’t mean to manipulate them, she was just telling them the truth but she could see how her words ease whatever guilt or concerns they had over the prank.

 

“We may have known you for just a short amount of time Ragna but we couldn’t ask for a better friend than you… I couldn’t ask for better friends than any of you,” Isobel gave them all a shy smile.

 

“Here, here!” Dean, Oliver, and surprisingly Roger all proclaimed at the same time. The others nodded in agreement. 

 

None of them had experienced the type of friendship they had with one another. Some like Ragna, Lily, and Will never made friends because their abusive situations at home prevented it. Others like Hermione, Terry, and Micheal were too smart compare to their peers making a barrier between them and other children in the form of intimidation and jealousy. 

 

Others like Justin, Wayne, Marrybell, and Isobel never could make sincere friends because those that befriended them mostly did it because they came from families with money. Some like Dean, Oliver, Roger, and Stephen were made fun of because they were not interested in ‘boy’ things. Dean and Oliver liked football well enough but they also liked to draw and paint respectively. Roger preferred to play the piano at recess instead of going outside to play and Stephen preferred to read fictional books in the library. 

 

Others like Megan, Sally, Mandy, and Sally-Anne were raised by a single parent and had to help raise their younger siblings so instead of hanging out with friends they made sure to clean their house up, help their siblings with their homework, and make sure food was on the table when their parent came home exhausted so they didn’t have to worry about it. 

 

“So, since you are part of our group of weirdos it’s only right that you know that I can speak to snakes, it’s called Parseltongue and people who speak it are considered to be Parselmouths. Salazar Slytherin was one of them and so was Voldemort so it’s considered a sign of a dark witch or wizard, so please don’t tell anyone.” The four Hufflepuffs seemed startled at the piece of information but nodded at her wide eye nonetheless.

 

“You should also know that last Friday we gather together and I taught everyone some hexes in order to protect themselves which I think you should also learn…” Ragna trailed off as she eyed the others, expecting one of them to volunteer to teach them.

 

“I will teach them!” Hermione volunteer happily stepping forward and because she did she did not see the apprehensive stares she got. Hermione was intelligent (there was no denying that) and eager to learn and to spread her knowledge, but she got frustrated when others couldn’t grasp concepts as fast as she could.

 

“I will help too since I was basically your right-hand man,” Dean joked as he stepped forward and Ragna sighed internally with relief. 

 

“We will too,” Justin indicated to himself and Wayne. 

 

“Great! How about tomorrow an hour before dinner? I will arrange the same room we used so that it’s ready for you,” Ragna suggested.

 

“And where will you be at?” Mandy asked curiously.

 

“Right, there is another thing you guys also have to know. During my potion class, I learned that Professor Snape can read minds-“

 

“What!” The shock expressions and explosive reactions from the four new badgers did not disappoint.

 

“Yep, apparently some wizards have the ability to read minds and Professor Snape is one of them. I am not sure about who else but I suspect the Headmaster also has this ability. I don’t know yet if it’s something you are born with or if it’s an ability you can develop. To avoid your mind being read I would recommend not looking at them in the eye because I think you need to maintain eye contact for it to happen. But don’t make it obvious that you are trying to not look at them in the eye, look at their eyebrow or their nose or just to the side… that just keep you safe for the moment.”

 

“And if we look into their eyes by accident?” Roger question.

 

“I would recommend thinking about a flying elephant, a dancing bear, the lyrics to your favorite song, your favorite Disney princess, reciting potion ingredients, or reciting the alphabet,” Ragna suggested from the top of her head. “…What?”

 

“We really shouldn’t be surprised by the random things that your mind comes up with,” Terry shook his head fondly, the others snicker knowing that it was the truth.

 

Ragna cleared her throat awkwardly before continuing, “Anyway, since I learned Professor Snape can read minds I have been trying to find more about it and I finally got a pass to the restricted section-”

 

“What!” Hermione, Micheal, and Terry exclaimed while the others just looked surprised at the news.

 

“How did you get a pass?” Micheal demanded to know.

 

“I asked Professor Binns for a pass on Monday.” Ragna wasn’t going to explain exactly how she got her pass.

 

“That’s why you stayed after class to talk to him!” Sally exclaimed finally the pieces were falling into place.

 

“Yep,” Ragna agreed with a nod.

 

“Did you make a deal? Is that why you are grading his assignments now?” Dean asked curiously.

 

“That’s unethical!” Hermione blurted out looking scandalize that a teacher would make such a deal.

 

“No. I asked for a pass for the day and he gave me a pass for the week so I felt bad that I wasn’t doing anything for him so I volunteer to grade his assignments,” Ragna explain much or less what happened.

 

“Anyway, I will be in the restricted section trying to find a way to block someone from reading my mind which is why I will not be with you guys teaching you the hexes I taught everyone else,” Ragna informed them before she could be interrupted.

 

“Right -so you guys are studying ahead, you are practicing magic outside of class in secret, you found out Professor Snape could read minds, and you are currently trying to stop him from reading your mind. Is there something else we need to know?” Megan asked sarcastically.

 

“Why, yes,” Ragna answered blithely, ignoring Megan’s sarcastic tone. “We played charades with the house-elves and came to the conclusion I may own Hogwarts.”

 

The fourth Hufflepuff first years waited for the punch line but when none came they ogle Ragna like she was from a different planet. 

 

Ragna wasn’t sure about telling them about that secret since it was bigger than the other secrets she revealed but if Ragna revealed the fact that she may own Hogwarts later on, the four Hufflepuff could feel hurt that they weren’t told. It would also get in the way of developing a strong friendship among each other. Plus, she was sticking with what she told the hat. She was hiding in plain sight.

 

“You guys can explain the rest, I have to start grading papers.” She dismisses them and like good minions, they should have left the room to hold their conversation somewhere else it wouldn’t bother her, but they were not minions. 

 

They were friends. Her friends. So she did not mind when her friends found comfortable spots in the classroom as they included Roger, Megan, Marrybell, and Sally-Anne in everything they had learned in just a week at Hogwarts. She kept an ear out in their conversation as she graded papers -keeping in mind to not fly through them as she would if she were alone. 

 

Having friends took work and at times was inconvenient, but Ragna would not change it for the world.

 


 

Ragna was right, Professor Sprout called Justin, Wayne, Roger, Megan, Marrybell, and Sally-Anne into her office the next day to interrogate them on the prank of the night before. The fact that they had not known anything about it and took no part in the planning made it easier for them to answer the Professor’s question.

 

Marrybell, apparently, threw a hissy fit, acting all offended and indignant since they were the victims of the slurs from the other four Hufflepuffs and instead they were been treated like the villains. 

 

The gossip of what happened that night lasted for a couple of days until the next big news came along. Until then they were given speculating looks from the students and suspicious looks from the professors. No one had proved though, so they were never punished. 

 

By Friday afternoon the new badgers in their group were caught with their spell knowledge like the rest of the group. The whole group actually learned a spell that would throw paint out of their wand, once it landed it would look like a splash of goo. 

 

Ragna thought it was a good thing for them to spend time together to get used to one another even if she, unfortunately, could not be there. So on the latter half of Friday afternoon, she left the restricted section in the library to expand the room they were hanging out in. Using the same spell she used in the train compartment to do so and transfigure the chairs and tables into long but somewhat thin mats that she stood up. She created some simple tunnel tubes and slopes along the room too. She made sure to pad the floor and walls so that no one would crack their skull and then she returned to finish reading the restricted section. She wanted to play their version of paintball but she knew it was more important to read as much as she could so she didn’t stay to play with them.

 

Not only did Ragna thought they would have fun but it would also help them bond. It would also, hopefully, help them dodge spells. They would see it as a game but in real life, those skills could come in useful. 

 

She didn’t go to the Great Hall to eat dinner, she read none stop because she knew her time was running out. She was almost finished reading every single book in the restricted section but she knew after some mental calculations she would not be able to complete her goal. 

 

She did find the answer to her question though. The reading mind ability was actually called legilimency and those who practice it were called legilimens. The reason why such information was in the restricted section and not available to any student was because it was illegal to practice legilimency. So Professor Snape actually broke the law when he read Ragna’s most outer thoughts. 

 

Most people would not have even noticed a breach that light in their thoughts, but somehow Ragna had felt it and she speculated that maybe it had something to do with her complicated mind. Legilimens had better time breaking into someone’s mind if that person was simple-minded but with Ragna’s genius mind that was definitely complex and multi-layer, it made it so that she felt the attack and warned that someone was trying to read her mind.

 

Now, she was determined to protect her privacy. Occlumency was the act of magically closing one’s mind against legilimency. A person who practiced this magic branch, especially the art of closing one's mind was called occlumens. Overall the branch of magic was called the mind arts. 

 

The key to occlumency was self-control. Not to wear their emotions in their sleeves and practically wear their thoughts in their foreheads. It would explain Professor Snape’s personality since the man never smiles. 

 

Except she was sure Headmaster Dumbledore was also a master occlumens and yet he had the whole grandfatherly facade going on -which was when Ragna realize that she was answering her own question. It was all a facade. Professor Snape’s unapproachable and unpleasant facade was just that, a facade.

 

She hypothesis that Professor Snape wasn’t an overall emotional person in nature so he chose his mask to be based on his natural personality but he wasn’t a completely unpleasant person. He appeared like he didn’t care so he probably did. A master occlumens after all would not construct a mask completely different from their true personalities because it would be too alike having a dissociative identity disorder which would be too tiring to maintain long term and it would probably scar the person mentally, damaging the mind. 

 

It was all hypothetical, of course, and she wanted to talk with her friends about it but she hadn’t had the time to do so. She left the library just a couple of minutes before curfew -stopping by the room her friends occupied to hurriedly put it back to how it was… and cleaning it- before she headed towards the Gryffindor common room where her friends were waiting for her with a napkin with some pastries since she missed dinner. 

 

No one had cared before or done that for her so it warmed her heart that her friends bother to bring her something. Hermione had been curious about what she had learned (even if she was dropping dead with exhaustion after performing magic) but Ragna decided she wanted to tell them when the whole group was gathered.

 

In the morning Ragna was able to get some things done like grade Professor Binns’ assignments which she did not grade the day before. She finished any homework she had and work on her universal study guide. She definitely had made a good study guide for potions class for all seven years. She also completed her astronomy study guide for the five years they had to take it. Her study guide for History for all seven years was also finished. What she had left to complete was charms, transfiguration, herbology, runes, arithmancy, and defense against the dark arts class.

 

“The brooms can feel your intentions, Hermione. If they sense your fear they will feed off of that and something will go wrong,” Ragna reminded Hermione as they walked towards one of the courtyards in the back of Hogwarts to their first flying lessons.

 

The announcement had been posted on their bulletin board apparently but with how busy they had all been they completely forgot about it. Ragna did not even check the bulletin board but she made a mental note to start doing it in the morning to not miss out on anything else. 

 

The positive side of having forgotten all about it was that it gave Hermione less time to panic. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws would have their flying lesson the next day in the afternoon while Gryffindors and Slytherins were going to have their lesson first because it would get the tension between the two groups over and done with instead of escalating. 

 

“I don’t want to fly! Humans are not meant to be so high up in the air, if they were we would have wings instead of arms!” Hermione hissed like an offended cat.

 

Ragna, Lily, Sally, Will, and Dean could only stare wide-eyed at Hermione before Ragna couldn’t hold it back and let out a snort. 

 

“I didn’t know you had such a sense of humor Hermione,” Dean teased as he and Will chuckle and Sally and Lily giggle. 

 

“I am serious,” Hermione whined and they could see that she was one step away from stomping her feet in frustration which was something Ragna would be more likely to do.

 

“Don’t worry Hermione, no matter what happens you will have us all there,” Sally tried to soothe her friend as the others tried to keep themselves from cracking up.

 

“That’s right, we will be there to pick each other up and cheered each other on,” Lily added.

 

“Exactly Hermione, what could go wrong,” Will added.

 

“You just jinx us,” Dean informed Will.

 

“I didn’t know you were superstitious Dean,” Lily said shooting the boy a curious look.

 

“Well, not really…” as Dean explained Ragna turn to whisper to Hermione.

 

“If you fall I will catch you, alright. I will make sure you don’t get hurt, okay?”

 

Hermione stared into the green eyes of her friend and knew that Ragna meant what she was saying. “Okay,” Hermione breathed out, relaxing a bit more. 

 

She felt confident in Ragna’s ability and something in her gut knew that she could trust her friend.

 

They were the last to arrived and had perfect timing since Madam Hooch was just seconds behind them. Ragna purposely made sure they were the last to arrive because it would mean spending less time in the presence of the Slytherins. So far she had been lucky and she hadn’t found herself alone with any of them.

 

“Good afternoon, class.”

 

“Good afternoon, Madam Hooch,” everyone replied dutifully as they all stood next to a broom.

 

“Welcome to your first flying lesson,” Madam Hooch started off. “Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say, ‘up!’” 

 

Ragna didn’t like Madam Hooch’s teaching style from the very beginning. She seemed to be in a hurry and instead of calming the nervous students she was making them jumpier. Madam Hooch forgot how it felt for first-time riders since she had been teaching the same things for so many years, but that didn’t excuse her actions.

 

“With feeling!” Madam Hooch shouted as she started walking down the line and students started shouting ‘up!’

 

Hermione took a deep breath and peeked at Ragna who was actually looking at her back calmly before Hermione nodded to herself and practically glare at the broom and shouted, “Up!”

 

It was a coincidence that Hermione shouted at the same time as Dean, Will, Sally, and Lily and they all got their broom to fly to their hand with a snap. Ragna shoved Hermione’s shoulder playfully as the girl stared at her hand holding the broom in surprise. She gave the rest of her friends a thumbs up and actually high-fived Lily who was on her other side.

 

“Up,” Ragna spoke normally and the broom lifted up to her hand without a problem. She completely ignored the stares her friends were getting and the glares she was receiving. 

 

“Nicely done, any of you have flown before?” Madam Hooch asked as she came to inspect their grip.

 

“We are all muggle raised professor, so we never had a chance to fly on a broom before,” Dean explained for all of them. 

 

Madam Hooch nods thoughtfully before she continues on. They snicker when Ron Weasley gets smack on the face with his broom, and smile a bit too smugly when Madam Hooch correct Draco Malfoy’s grip and saw that there were some purebloods who were having more difficulty getting their brooms up. It made them feel good that they had proof that they were getting better at understanding magic, even better than those raised in the wizarding world. 

 

It was because they understood that magic was sentimental and aware at some level that they knew what Madam Hooch meant when she said ‘with feeling’ unlike the other students. It encouraged them to continue pursuing their thirst for knowledge and coming up with more questions. 

 

“Now, once you’ve got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. And grip it tight, you don’t want to be sliding off the end. When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle… 3… 2…” Madam Hooch blows her whistle and Neville Longbottom immediately lifts off. 

 

Ragna knew it wasn’t going to end up pretty by how frightened Neville looked. It wasn’t like he was trying to show off like some students were thinking as they called his name annoyed and asked him what he thought he was doing.

 

“M-M-Mr. Longbottom -Mr. Longbottom!”

 

“AHH!”

 

“Mr. Longbottom!” 

 

“Down! Down! Ahhhh!” Neville tried to command the broom with his voice which was not possible as he soars away and made Ragna wonder how the boy didn't know that. “Help!!!”

 

“Come back down this instant!” Madam Hooch demands and Ragna wants to slap a hand on her face at how useless the instructor was being. 

 

It was their first lesson, of course, Neville would not know how to get the broom down, and just by screaming at him to bring it down would not change the fact that He. Didn’t. know.

 

Neville soars through the sky and hits a wall, conking along it and then scooping off while screaming his head off. He begins to zoom back towards them and Madam Hooch finally gets her wand out but no spell comes out!

 

“Ragna do something!” Hermione practically screams in her face.

 

“What?” Ragna asks her startle, not expecting Hermione to expect her to do something about the situation.

 

“Save him!” Hermione yells and Ragna opens her mouth to continue the conversation by asking her why she should do anything to help when there is an adult, but pauses to take Hermione in. 

 

The slightly older girl looks pale and sickly. Clearly, Hermione’s fear for height was something that was not lightly, it may actually be considered a phobia -something that would paralyze the girl with fear. 

 

“Alright,” Ragna sighs pulling out her own wand and tracking it on Neville she shots an ‘arresto momentum’ a few feet in front of Neville so that when the spell reaches the distance Neville would be passing just by. 

 

True to her aimed the spell hits her target and Neville slows down immediately. The boy stills look frightened and still grabs the broom for dear life but he stops screaming at least. Ragna’s mind comes up with solutions and drops them in seconds as she tries to find a way to get Neville down. 

 

Three seconds later Ragna mounts her broom with a sigh and zooms to Neville’s broom and doesn’t have a problem grabbing the front of the broom to help guide Neville’s broom down. She came up with different spells she could use to get him down but with how fragile the school brooms were she didn’t think it was a good idea to expose them to more magic.

 

“Don’t let go,” Neville pleads as he continues to grab the broom tightly. 

 

“I won’t let go, Neville, I am going to get you back on the ground safe and sound,” Ragna soothes the poor startled boy. “Neville, can you tell me what dittany does?”

 

“Um, d-dittany i-is a powerful h-healing herb a-and can be eaten r-raw to cure shallow wounds,” Neville stutters an answer calming down as he focuses on the subject he is good at. 

 

“Good Neville, good. Now, why shouldn’t you eat the leaves of the Alihotsy tree?” Ragna asks as they come closer to the ground. She knew observing the students would come in handy.

 

“B-because they caused uncontrollable laughter,” Neville sighs in relief as his feet touch the ground and answers her question.

 

“Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Potter, are you both alright?” Madam Hooch hurries towards them with the rest of the class on her heels. 

 

“I am fine professor,” Ragna answers her promptly and steps around her to go stand next to her friends. Madam Hooch nods at her response before focusing on making sure Neville was alright.

 

“Great flying,” Will whispers to her as he leans over Hermione’s back and gives her a smile. Dean sends her thumbs up and Lily and Sally only shoot her a smile.

 

She had flown exceptionally, especially for her first time, but she received no cheers which didn’t surprise her -she wasn’t on friendly terms with the rest of the Gryffindors and the Slytherins would never cheer for her. She could practically feel the hostility radiating from the snakes. 

 

“Thanks,” Ragna replies before turning to look at Hermione. “You okay?”

 

“I should be asking you that,” Hermione murmurs back.

 

“Nah, I was on my element.” It was true enough, the moment her feet left the ground and she felt the air through her hair she had become addictive. She was itching to try more dauntless moves in the air and she really desires to find out just how high she would be able to fly on a broom.

 

“I am good,” Hermione replies after a minute had gone by which made Ragna think she was not going to get an answer to her question. “Thanks,” she adds looking grateful.

 

“What are friends for?” Ragna shrugs her shoulders and sends her a wink with a cheeky smile making Hermione reluctantly smile. 

 

Madam Hooch returns to the group with a more calm Neville and Ragna knew that if there was no adult the Slytherins would be taunting Neville at that moment. However, they kept quiet since Madam Hooch was present. 

 

Neville gets to sit down for a while Madam Hooch tries to get the rest of the class up in the air again. They take their positions again and Ragna makes sure she is right in the middle of her friends so that she could reach any of them in equal distance in case a situation arises. She definitely doesn’t trust Madam Hooch anymore.

 

There are no more accidents after Neville’s little panic. Dean, Will, Lily, and Sally admit that flying on a broom is actually fun but were still not confident in their flying skills to go higher than about 10 feet high. Hermione on the other hand only flies 4 or 5 feet above the ground and Ragna actually walks around holding her broomstick to guide her around in a random pattern to get her used to the feel on a broom.

 

“You know I wish I had Justin’s camera to take a picture of you right now. You look a cat when it's hissing with its hair up and nails digging in whatever surface they are standing on,” Ragna comments to Hermione as she continues to walk around holding onto Hermione’s broom.

 

“I do not look like a cat,” Hermione hisses offended proving Ragna’s point further but at least Ragna was able to distract her. Some Slytherins were trying to discretely make fun of Hermione and she knew the older girl was letting the taunts get to her. 

 

“I am sure your parents would get a good laugh when they see the picture,” Ragna continues to comment like Hermione had not talked.

 

“You can’t show them that!” Hermione tells her horrified by the prospect, just imaging her parents' reaction. They would probably coo over her like she was 4 years old again.

 

“We should probably always have a camera lying around to take pictures of moments like these and then we can make an album full of our most memorable moments,” Ragna tells Hermione thoughtfully, warming up to the idea. 

 

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Hermione denies a bit too fast, showing her horror at the thought.

 

“You are right Hermione, I will see where I can buy a camera,” Ragna pretends to not hear Hermione.

 

“Are you pretending to talk to me but actually talking to yourself?” Hermione asks irritated.

 

“I am listening to you Mione,” Ragna snickers at her friend's obvious irritation. 

 

They are silent for a moment as they observe Dean and Will try to hang upside down their brooms and almost falling over. Meanwhile, Lily and Sally are flying close to the ground collecting pretty flowers. Once they were allowed to fly around Ragna had shepherd her group of friends away from the rest of the group which ended up being a good idea because some Slytherins had tried to fly close to where their group was to throw them off, hoping to make them fall off their broom.

 

“You can go, you know,” Hermione tells her.

 

“What?” Ragna turns to look at Hermione confuse.

 

“You have been watching over us, especially me, and you haven’t had the opportunity to fly.” It was true enough, Hermione had seen how Ragna watch over all of them with alertness, always quick to help one of them if they appeared to be having even slight trouble controlling their broom. She even stopped flying once the other four were okay to guide Hermione around.

 

“Go, I am done flying for the day anyway,” Hermione nudges her friend when she seems to be about to protest. To prove her point Hermione dismounts her broom but Ragna still looks hesitantly as she turns to look at Dean, Will, Lily, and Sally. 

 

“Hey guys, Ragna is going to fly!” Hermione calls attention to the others who quickly make their way towards them and dismount their broom to come to stand where Hermione and Ragna are standing.

 

“Are you really?”

 

“Finally! I want to see some real flying.”

 

“Aw, you are finally going to fly? That’s great!”

 

“Come on Ragna, we want to see you fly!” Her friends encourage her to get on her broom. They had seen her blissful expression when she flew to rescue Neville and they knew that Ragna was dying to fly again but she took their safety seriously and had stayed with them instead of flying off.

 

“Go on,” Hermione physically pushes Ragna to her broom that was laying on the ground. The sun was starting to go down and Madam Hooch was no doubt going to be calling their lessons off soon. 

 

“Alright, alright,” Ragna finally agrees chuckling. 

 

She mounts her broom and hovers three feet above the ground and turns to look at them unsurely but they shoo her off and she gives them a big smile before she shots off.

 

“Whoa!” Dean and Will exclaimed at the same time seeing her speed away faster than they expected. By then the whole class is paying attention to her soaring through the sky. 

 

She flies in a straight line where the sun meets the earth with her arms wide open, the wind making her hair fly wildly behind her, and laughing so joyfully that Hermione and the others could only stare in awe at the picture she makes. 

 

She rolls over so she flyings while she is hanging from the broom upside down -just like Dean and Will had been trying to do moments ago and had failed. She goes a step further and let's go with her hands so she is only hanging onto the broom with her feet and legs at a very dangerous height. The broom still moves but at a slower speed, like Ragna wants to savor the moment forever.

 

Her hair hangs down, pulled by gravity, and she laughs her head off. Hermione doesn’t know how it was possible but even many meters away she is able to see Ragna’s eye suddenly get a devious glint. 

 

One moment Ragna is hanging upside down, the next she is sitting upright. She never looked away for a second, but Hermione doesn’t know how exactly Ragna was able to upright herself. 

 

Absentmindedly Hermione and her friends approach the rest of the group that have all landed and are looking at Ragna -as she flies higher and higher in the sky in a direct vertical line- along with Madam Hooch. 

 

“Just like her father.” Hermione doesn’t think Madam Hooch meant for anyone to hear her but Hermione does. She stores that piece of information to tell Ragna later because Hermione has her suspicious that her friend doesn’t know much about her parents.

 

They watch as Ragna becomes smaller and smaller… and smaller until they have to squint to see her against the darkened sky. The uniform makes her blend in more and the only way they don’t lose sight of her is by her hair, the red clashes against the blue of the sky. Hermione is sure if there had been clouds in the sky Ragna already would have pass through them. 

 

In an insane moment, she wonders if Ragna is trying to see if she can fly into outer space with a broom. Madam Hooch narrows her eagle-looking eyes to the sky and Hermione ponders if they don’t only look different but also give her a sharper sight. 

 

…Then Ragna is falling. She is coming down in the same straight vertical line she went up -but at a dangerous speed, gravity pulling her down even faster. Hermione fears for a moment that Ragna is going to catch on fire like those rocket ships that come from outer space do when they enter the earth’s atmosphere. But she doesn’t. Instead, Ragna and the broom seem as one as she spirals as she comes down in a straight line, it reminds Hermione of those oval balls that spiral when thrown in the air -the ones used to play in American football. 

 

Her observation goes out the window when she realizes an important fact -the ground is coming closer and Ragna is not slowing down. Madam Hooch must have realized that too since she pulls out her wand and pushes through the children on her way to get closer to Ragna but -she doesn’t do anything! Her wand is in her hand, pointing in the right direction, and yet she doesn't cast a single spell!

 

Others around Hermione scream and shot in fright and in alarm. Hermione wants to scream along with them but her scream seems to be stuck in her throat. If she had turned to look at her friends she would have seen Dean and Will looking horror-stricken, pale, and shaking. Lily and Sally were holding each other, tears streaming down their cheeks. 

 

‘No, not my first friend! Not Ragna, please not her!’ Hermione screams in her mind as her friend gets closer to the ground -100ft… 60ft… 20ft… 10ft… 5ft… and then Ragna pulls up! 

 

There is no loud ‘bang’ as Ragna connects with the ground. There is no big pile of mush that used to be her friend. There is no blood -no pain. Instead, Ragna lazily flies in a horizontal line as she softly lets her hand touch the grass before she dismounts her broom and throws herself in the grass and Hermione can see her chest rising up and down rapidly as she stares at the sky with the most peaceful look in Ragna’s face that she has never seen.

 

The moment Ragna is off the broom the poor broom comes undone, the twigs seemed burned and frost covers some parts of the long wooden part of the broom. Everyone is completely still, not recovering from thinking they were going to see someone splash to their death and not seeing it. 

 

“M-M-MISS POTTER!!!” Madam Hooch recovers first and switches from concerned professor to piss-off professor. “What were you thinking! Pulling such a stunt could’ve gotten you killed!…”

 

Madam Hooch continues to rant but Ragna doesn’t appear trouble by it. She still contains her peaceful presence as she listens to the teacher's rant. Hermione wants to do something -maybe scold her herself for the stunt she pulled or pull her into a bone-crushing hug to make sure that she is real. But Hermione instead stays in her spot, just like the rest of the others, and takes her in because her friend is not dead.

 

Ragna Potter is alive and breathing. She is being scolded by their professor but that’s okay because she is okay. Hermione doesn’t know what she would do if she lost her friend. Ragna had been her first friend, the first one to talk to her on the train and to invite her into her group of friends. Ragna was her crazy blunt friend that knew how to ease the tension by saying something weird that made them all question her sanity. 

 

Ragna, who hugs a house-elf and let it cried on her shoulder not caring one bit when even Hermione would have hesitated for all she wanted to bring better working conditions to house-elves. Ragna, who always stepped in before arguments could get out of control. Her friend, who didn’t mind sharing her knowledge with them and trusting them. Ragna, who didn’t mind sacrificing her flying time to stay with Hermione because she knew Hermione was terrified of heights.

 

“…and you are banned from flying without strict supervision!” Ragna finally lost her peaceful expression when she hears the last of Madam Hooch’s rant.

 

“But Madam Hooch that is so unfair!”

 

“Not one more word Ms. Potter or I will ban you from ever flying in Hogwarts grounds!”

 

“… can you specified what you mean when you say strict supervision?” Ragna asks after a moment of silence and if Hermione was in the right state of mind she would have groaned and slapped her hand on her face at her friend’s habit of putting her foot on her mouth. 

 

“Miss Potter!” Madam Hooch was close to shrinking and Ragna finally understood that she shouldn’t push the professor any further.

 

“Alright, alright, I am going,” Ragna huffs as she practically stomps back to them. Sometimes Ragna was very childish but it was an endearing quality because it never came out as bratty.

 

The moment Ragna gets close and realizes how shacking they are all she forgets all about sulking and narrow her eyes as she throws the other students a suspicious look like they were the ones at fault for their condition.

 

“Are you guys alright? Are you hurt?” Ragna asks them looking closely as if she can spot any injuries on them.

 

Hermione produces a choking sound, a mixture between a sob and a laugh, because of course, Ragna would put their needs above her own. She would not care that she almost got herself killed and even forget about her previous anger about not being allowed to freely fly. 

 

Hermione is the first one to launch at her, Lily, Sally, Dean, and Will only a step behind her and for a second Ragna’s eyes widen, and takes a half-step back in surprise before Hermione is crying on her shoulders. 

 

“There, there, I promise I won’t fly that recklessly anymore,” Ragna promises them as she tries to comfort them. It’s funny how their tears were quick to guilt-trip her into giving up flying while Madam Hooch’s rant entered one ear and came out the next ear. 

 

It takes a while for them to call down and by then Madam Hooch has thankfully ushered the other students away. After they got control of themselves they were embarrassed enough as it was without having others gawking at them. 

 

“Did you know that wizards have never thought to explore space, unlike muggles? Muggles are interested in seeing if they can find a planet similar to earth but I bet if wizards really expand in their astronomy branch they would surpass muggles because they could find a way to make a planet habitable without as much trouble as muggles would have if they tried…” Ragna continues to spout random thoughts and facts as they slowly made their way towards the castle. Her ramble of words actually soothes them and puts them at ease.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

Marrybell Black is a special gift to LazuriteLuxCaelum!

Hope you all enjoy💜