Alone in the capital

[Izale Brai]

Izale tried not to let her lip quiver as she sat on the tuatara next to the bucket fountain on Cuba Street. It was school holidays, and there were kids everywhere. Some in groups, some with their parents. Izale felt like she was the only one alone. It wasn't meant to be this way. She was supposed to be spending the day shopping with her mum. But Mum had been called into work for a special select committee hearing, so Izale was alone, in the capital city, away from home.

To make herself feel better, she pulled the funny thick paper from her jacket pocket. Mum said it was called parchment. She read the words, familiar to her now, as she'd read them over and over again since the letter had arrived on her eleventh birthday. She giggled to herself, remembering the owl that had delivered it, and how Whaea had screamed when she'd found the owl in the girls' bedroom.

The letter was from a school she'd never heard of before. It was called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she was going there in the spring, to learn magic. It seemed so unreal. But it was true.

 

[Lilith Morgenstern]

Lilith was browsing through the items on sale, looking at the stalls lined up along the street. Her excitement bubbled up inside her whenever her hand dipped down and brushed against her jeans pocket, the old and worn parchment crackling beneath the back of her palm. It was just another reminder that she was following in her parents--her biological ones, that is--footsteps, becoming the witch that she was always meant to be, that had always been her right by birth. All the sleepless nights spent in mental anguish as she fretted about the chance that she wouldn't receive her Hogwarts acceptance letter seemed in vain now, when said letter in question was resting on her bedside table at home, folded neatly in half and weighed down by a paper weight. I mean, of course I would be accepted. It's not like I'm a squib, those poor souls, Lilith thought, her lips twisting into a mocking smile. Right now, in the light of her acceptance into the School of Magic, everything seemed perfect. The Slytherin grinned, her hand once again drifting down to grasp the last letter that her parents had given her before their death.

There was nothing unusual about her surroundings: just muggles dashing around and buying the goods on sale. Nothing...other than--what was that? A brunette girl (looking like she was her age, the pureblood noticed) with long hair reaching her middle back was sitting down on a car. While that was nothing out of the ordinary, the thick, crisp parchment in her hands certainly was. No muggle would ever be caught dead with a piece of parchment unless they work in the Egyptian gallery of the local museum, and the girl was way too young to be working there. The muggle clothes that she was wearing ruled out the possibility of her having lived in the Wizarding world. She was either a mudblood (muggleborn, Lilith reprimanded herself. The girl might have some redeeming qualities, in which case she would deserve to be a witch), half-blood or--like Lilith--a pureblood whose parents had died, leaving her in the orphanage. It was, naturally, more likely to be the former two options.

"Good morning," The witch greeted, walking over to the lone figure beside the bucket fountain. "I assumed that you've just received your Hogwarts Letter? If so, I believe congratulations are in order."

 

[Izale Brai]

Spoiler: OOC comment

Out of Character:

The tuatara is the big green lizard

Izale looked up when she heard the voice addressing her. She saw a pretty girl about her won age with brown hair and fine cheekbones smiling at her.

"How do you know about that?" she immediately accused. She'd never told anyone except her mother, not even her best friend, not even her other mother or her brothers and sisters, though she assumed her Mum had talked it over with Whaea, and Mum had said something about having to tell the kids when they got home.

 

[Lilith Morgenstern]

Out of Character:

Oops. I really am an idiot.

Lilith raised an eyebrow at the snappish answer. The girl seemed almost...offended by her words. Didn't she just offer her congratulations? That was something to be grateful for, not have it hurled back at her face. The witch narrowed her molten gold eyes at her, optics swirling with something dark, but nonetheless superficial. Oh, she wasn't really angry at the obvious barb--insulted, yes, but not furious. After all, the insult was mild at the worst, not to mention that it would be a waste of both effort and passion to get worked up for something so mere as a defensive comeback. It wasn't the best first impression, of course, but it wasn't anything dire either. The pureblood duly noted to watch her words around the girl.

"Isn't it obvious?" she drawled, daintily resting her bottom on the tuatara, beside her new companion, if you could call a once-met stranger that. Still, she rarely made much friends; Lilith suspected that it was mostly due to her volatile personality. Perhaps she could make more of an effort now, considering that they might meet up in Hogwarts. "I'm a witch, just like you. No need to get so defensive over that though. Many view it as an honor. After all, what wouldn't you give to be able fly in the skies freely, twist matter to your will and see into the future? And there's this upside about being able to hex all your enemies into oblivion." Her eyes twinkled with a spark of cunning mischief at the last part. Lilith, despite her rather superior manner, did have a rather cheeky streak as well, though she was far from a trouble-maker. It was just a matter of the right circumstances to show it. And, naturally, to act it as well.

 

[Izale Brai]

The second she'd said it, Izale realised how accusatory it sounded. The other girl narrowed her eyes but then seemed to shake off any offence, sat down next to Izale and started to talk.

"Another witch? Right here on the street? This is awesome," she thought. The things the girl was describing sounded incredible - like magic! Wait... it was magic! Izale was excited, but also confused.

"Flying? We can fly? That's so cool! But... how do you know all of this, and how could you tell I'm a witch, too? Is it really obvious? Did you get a letter from an owl, too? Did yours say something mine didn't?" Izale had a million questions. She'd never met a witch before.