To Have Some Impact

[Aurora Night]

So far, Rory thought, her time at Hogwarts had been better than the soul-sucking cage she'd been expecting. Which was exaggerating, perhaps, but she didn't feel like revoking the description until she'd been here long enough to prove it either way. The fact that there were heaps of new people to hang out with was racking up some positive points, but the best part was definitely where she was right now. While she knew other first years were exploring the castle, Rory had instead headed straight outside as soon as she was able in order to find good places for her to escape to once the inevitable soul-sucking began. The lake in the near distance had been hard to miss, and so Rory had decided to head there first.

After testing out a few places along the shoreline, she found a comfortable spot and began thinking about the next letter she'd send home to her family. The first one, sent the morning after sorting, had simply read: 'It was Gryffindor. Stop the madness.' Rory was waiting until a few more interesting things had happened before sending another letter, however - she hadn't even learnt any spells yet, she thought, as she pulled her wand from inside her pocket and twirled it idly in the air in front of her.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette needed some air, so she decided to go outside for a bit. She had been busy exploring the castle, meeting other first years and being a friendly and fun girl to be around. It was exhausting. She wished she had a broom, the sky seemed a perfect place to escape to, but she didn't have one so she decided to take a walk. It was so weird to be here without her mother, she had never lived without her before. They'd only ever had each other, as her mother had often reminded her. Odette had no siblings, and she didn't know who her father was. She wondered if her mother missed her too, though she wished she knew for sure.

She had been idly wandering towards the lake, lost in her thoughts. She wondered if she should write her mother or if it would be too soon. She didn't want to bother her. A flash of orange snapped her out of her thoughts. There was a red haired girl sitting near the lake, and Odette was slowly wandering closer to her. Part of her wanted to turn around and leave quickly, but she wasn't sure if the other girl had spotted her yet. If she had, it would be weird for Odette to run away immediately. She would have to share a school with everyone around her for the coming years, so she had to hold up a good reputation. She secretly started to think there were too many people here, though, and it worried her slightly. At her old school it had been easy to be the popular girl, the girl that everyone liked or feared. But here? She was just one of many eleven year old girls. But she had to start somewhere.

She put on her smile and walked up to the girl near the lake. She was waving her wand, making Odette wonder if she actually knew how to use it already. There had to be some people that were taught spells at home, even if Odette's mother had always refused to do it. "Hi." She said, smiling down at the girl sitting on the ground. "Are you a first year too?" She glanced pointedly at the wand. "Are you going to do magic?"

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory looked up and offered a lopsided smile to the girl who had approached her. "Nah, I haven't done any magic since I was about seven - I don't know any spells." The magic had been accidental, of course, but she had delighted in the chaos it had caused for her parents. "I want to learn some hexes though, it's a really good way to stop people in my family from being annoying." Half-joking, half-serious threats were the standard form of communication on her mother's side of the family, and Rory had seen for herself the power just the mention of a hex could wield. Standing up, she stuffed her wand back into her pocket. "I'm Rory - first year," she added as an afterthought.

Now that they were on a level basis, Rory took in the girl before her. She hadn't seen her around before, which wasn't much of a surprise, really. After meeting a couple of girls in her dorm room, Rory was happy enough to hang around with them, making her Hogwarts experience more Gryffindor-coloured so far. It was great, but sometimes she needed some quiet time too - hence being out here. Having some less energetic friends to fall back on once in a while would be perfect. With this in mind, she gestured lazily at an undefined point further along the lake's shoreline. "Do you want to walk and talk?"

 

[Odette Madison]

A pity. A friend that knew spells could be very useful. Maybe she should start trying to befriend someone in a year above, though that was also a little intimidating. Odette liked to be the leader of any group she was a part of, and having someone older with more experience around would not help in that matter. Well, for now she would focus on this girl. The red hair was certainly striking, and she knew that if she was in a pageant competition with this Rory she would be at a disadvantage with her more common looks. But she wasn't. There were no judges around, and Rory wasn't competition. Well, not directly at least. Especially not if she could get this girl to be on her side. "Ah, too bad. I don't know any spells yet either." Odette said with a smile. "I do hope we learn one soon, there's a lot of useful charms." She privately agreed with Rory's desire to learn hexes, but she always automatically displayed herself in the least threatening way she could. It was hardly even a thing she did consciously anymore, it was almost always better to be underestimated.

Rory wasn't the shy, insecure type of girl Odette found easy to manipulate, but she never backed down from a challenge. Besides, she couldn't help but sort of like her boldness. It would be good to have someone like her around too, at least, as long as she didn't get too bold. "I'm Odette, I'm a first year too." She said. "And walking and talking sounds like fun." She tried her best to look grateful for the offer.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory barely gave Odette time to agree to the walk before moving off. "I think Charms is one of the first classes I'll have to do... but the useful Charms are the boring ones, right?" Rory was far more interested in the flashy and exciting things she'd be able to do with magic, and had tried not to think about the inevitable lackluster everyday spells she was sure she'd end up learning - although if they tried to teach her any cleaning charms she'd absolutely refuse. She was much more interested in classes like Potions - she'd heard that sometimes your cauldron could blow up if you weren't careful.

"So do you like Hogwarts so far?" Rory said, periodically switching her gaze between Odette and the view around them. "I didn't think I would 'cause of the whole school thing, but it's been alright. There's going to be heaps of fun stuff to do here." Turning around, Rory began walking backwards to get a better view of the Forbidden Forest. "I bet there's heaps of good trees to climb in the forest; I wonder how far you can see if you reach the top?" Glancing sideways at Odette, she grinned. "You don't look like much of a tree climber though."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette shrugged. "I guess they can be boring, but they don't need to be. I heard we can make things levitate, that sounds both useful and exciting." She found herself hoping the other girl would agree, but quickly pushed the feeling down. If Rory didn't agree with her, that just meant the other girl was wrong. Obviously. Charms was one of the classes Odette was most excited about, seeing her mother use spells around the house had always been a source of envy for her.

"I suppose I like it." Odette said carefully. She did, somewhat, but she still wished she was at Ilvermorny. She was certain no one there had to sleep in a dungeon. "It's somewhat... old. Isn't it? I mean, I like that it's a castle but they could have made it a little more modern. At least less drafty."

Odette followed Rory's gaze to the forest and wondered what was wrong with the other girl. She couldn't fathom why anyone would want to go into that dark, uninviting place. It was even called the Forbidden Forest, what more warning did you need? "I doubt you can see more from a treetop than from a tower in the castle." She said, a cool tone creeping into her voice. She didn't like that the other girl was assuming things about her, even if they were accurate. Odette wasn't much of a tree climber, no. It was a childish and unappealing thing to do. But she could have been if she wanted. "I don't think there's much of a point to that, especially considering you could get in trouble. I mean, it is forbidden for a reason."

 

[Aurora Night]

"Yeah, levitation's alright I guess." The side of Rory's mouth quirked up, suddenly remembering her uncle's favourite trick of suspending a dozen tiny dancing objects around someone's head in order to annoy them. So she'd make sure she paid attention in that lesson, at least. Give her Uncle Frank a taste of his own medicine. Returning her thoughts to the conversation with Odette, Rory considered the girl's opinion of the castle. "Yeah, they could totally fix it up, but I think wizards are way too traditional." She only knew this because it was something her mother liked to rant about from time to time. Preferring to keep the conversation in its rant-free state, she left it at that.

Rory shrugged at Odette's logic regarding the height of trees versus castle towers. "Probably." She swung back around, unperturbed, and resumed walking the right way round. Listening to the other girl, Rory had to smile. "But they didn't tell us the reason, did they? My Gran's always going on at me to 'employ critical thinking.'" She'd have to put that in the letter to her family; Gran would be proud. Glancing sideways, she continued, "Unless you've heard something about it?" Maybe there was some sort of gruesome story no one had thought to tell her yet.

 

[Odette Madison]

Well, at least they agreed on how old fashioned and traditional wizards were. It was really quite silly. Odette knew wizards and witches were obviously better than No-maj in a lot of ways, but they were awfully stuck in their ways. The castle did have a certain appeal, making Odette feel like a true princess from a fairy tale. But it also could have used some new wallpaper in a few places.

"I agree." She said, smiling a little. "I would love to redecorate." If she was in charge of this school, she knew exactly what she would change.

The forest was an annoying topic. The other girl was making Odette feel like a coward. So she didn't want to go into the scary looking place that was literally forbidden, why was that so weird? It could be filled with just about anything. Who knew what kind of monsters were in there? "They didn't give a reason, I suppose." She reluctantly admitted. "But I doubt they would say we can't go there without a good reason."

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory eyed Odette with interest at the word 'redecorate.' "Really? What would you change?" Although she herself hadn't thought much (or at all) about changing the aesthetic of the school, it would be cool to know how someone else would do it. Rory had always been interested in the fact that people were different from one another, and she had a couple of journals at home filled with observations of her family and neighbours. Odette had been nice enough so far, but a bit of a blank page. Rory was keen to find out what made her different from everyone else.

She was slightly disappointed that the other girl didn't know why the forest was forbidden either. "Oh, well. Maybe I'll find out at some point." Rory turned her head to smile at Odette. "The teachers are going to love you. You'll be able to get away with anything." Rory would have loved to be that kind of student, but unfortunately you generally had to be a rule-follower or get good grades. She didn't think she'd be any good at doing either of those things during her time at Hogwarts.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette hesitated, wondering how she should answer Rory's question. "Well, I would make things lighter. For a start. Everything's so dark in there, don't you think? More windows, furniture that's not falling apart from age..." She glanced at the other girl. "What's your Common Room like?" She asked. Odette had nearly started describing what she would do to change the Slytherin one, but she didn't really want to tell the other girl what that room was like without some information from her first. She wasn't sure if they were allowed to discuss the Common Rooms at all, considering they were hidden from other houses.

Rory's comment about teachers loving her almost made her stop in her tracks. Had this girl seen through her? Had she somehow figured out that Odette's entire goal was to make teachers like her so she could get away with more? But no, it seemed more of a gentle tease than an accusation. "Oh, I don't think I'll want to try getting away with anything bad." She said quickly to cover up her lapse. Ugh, that sounded fake and sugary even to her own ears. "I mean, I probably will down the line. For now I just sort of want to be careful." She added, hoping that it was convincing. It was partly true, Odette really did want to be careful, but she also already had a few plans in mind that she would definitely need to hide from professors. But Rory didn't need to know that.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory craned her head around to look back at the castle. "We're in one of the towers... that one, maybe?" she said, pointing. "The couches are all really comfy, and there's a big fireplace. Lots of red." Rory pursed her lips, thinking, but there wasn't much more she could add. She hadn't spent a lot of time in the common room as of yet, too busy breezing in and out as she went off on more exciting pursuits. "Wouldn't the common rooms all be the same, though? Is yours like that?" she said, trying to imagine her own common room in a colour that wasn't red.

The fact that Odette seemed to be planning to have more fun later on, rather than being labelled as someone to watch right from the first couple of weeks made Rory grin. She had never had a problem with rules, exactly, it was more the fact that a lot of rules she had come across in her life seemed to be aimed towards sucking all the fun out of life. She had always felt a little sorry for other children who had insisted on doing everything they were told, and was glad Odette didn't seem to fall too heavily into that category. Nodding, she said "Good idea, getting on the teachers' good sides. I can't be bothered doing that, I'd only be able to keep it up for, like, a week if I was really lucky." Kicking at a stone, she continued, "Pretending to be someone else is too hard."

 

[Odette Madison]

"Really?" Odette asked, aghast. The description of their common room sounded so much better than what they had to work with, it was unfair. "Ours is in the dungeon, it's real dark and gloomy." She complained. "It's like they think everyone in my house is a creeper that loves to wear black and sit in dark corners all day. It's ridiculous." Odette hadn't spent a lot of time in that dreadful room, preferring other places in the castle. The dorm was slightly better, at least the bed was beautiful and big, but still so gloomy. How was a girl like her supposed to shine in a dungeon?

Odette smiled a little at Rory's assessment of her, it wasn't inaccurate. "I wonder what our teachers will be like, if they'll be strict or not." She said, changing the subject a little. "Our head of house seems very strict, I think I wouldn't go to him with anything unless I really had to."

Pretending to be someone else is too hard. Odette nearly threw her head back and laughed out loud when that sentence left Rory's lips. Instead she made a small noise that could have been mistaken for a hiccup. Tell me about it. A voice inside her whispered, but she kept her mouth shut and her usual smile in place. It wasn't really that hard, you just had to find out what other people wanted from you and then be that.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory grinned at Odette's description of her school house. "Well, technically we're all wearing black, but that sounds like stereotypical Slytherin." Rory was familiar with the typical descriptions of the houses, having come from two families that were very intent on dragging each others' houses through the mud whenever possible. "My uncles say you can't trust a Slytherin as far as you can throw them - that they're all sneaky liars." She turned and looked Odette full in the face, continuing to grin. "But that's stupid, 'cause my dad was a Slytherin and everyone says he's the nicest guy they've ever met."

Leaning over to swipe at some long grass nearby, Rory grimaced. "They better not be strict. I'm going to have a hard enough time paying attention in class to begin with, I don't need them to make it any worse than it has to be." Straightening up she blew some hair back from her face. "Our head of house is really nice. But I bet she gets that 'disappointed mum' look if you get caught breaking the rules." Rory wasn't looking forward to that look, seeing as she was sure she'd end up in Professor Kingsley's office at some point in the coming years.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette huffed. "Well I'm not a stereotypical anything, I should get a nice room like anyone else." She said, clearly annoyed. "It can't be healthy, you know, living under the ground in a cold castle. If I get sick I'm sure my mother would be furious." Odette hoped she would be, at least. She wasn't sure about that at all. "And it seems silly to talk about a house like everyone in it is exactly the same, I'm not evil or sneaky." Was she? Maybe a little.

"Aren't you curious what the classes will be about?" Odette wasn't too excited about school either, but she wasn't willing to write it off yet. Hogwarts was where you learned real magic, to wield real power. So it couldn't be all boring and difficult. "I'm sure our lessons will be more interesting than a No-maj school. Did you go to one? I did, it was dreadful." She sighed. "I wish I had a Head of House like that, ours I would barely dare to even speak to. I think I'd die if he caught me doing something bad." But she knew he wouldn't, she was better than that.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory thought watching Odette getting annoyed about where her room in the castle was was great. It showed that the other girl was actually a real person, and not just some sort of walking-talking doll that only gave you pre-programmed responses from the same fixed expression. Her little sister had had a doll like that once, and Rory had hated the thing. "Like I said, house stereotypes are stupid. You should definitely try and redecorate your room anyway, that'd show 'em."

Stopping to pick up an oddly-shaped rock, she said, "Well, yeah, of course I'm curious. I've wanted to do magic, like, forever. But my parents can do it, so why can't they just teach me? I don't get why we have to have all these lessons and teachers and studying and 'no, you can't do this.'" Rory tried to affect a grumpy teacher voice for the last part of her sentence, before returning to her normal voice. "I never went to a muggle school - that's what you mean, right? I'm glad I didn't, if you thought it was terrible, imagine how bad I would have thought it was." She couldn't help asking the next question in disgusted fascination. "What made it so bad?"

 

[Liberty Kaelen]

Ignore

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette smiled at Rory's suggestion and she nodded. "I will, I've already started planning it. I'll try to make it lighter, more pleasant..." She stopped short, realizing she was getting carried away. It wouldn't be good to show too much of herself to this stranger, being open always made her feel vulnerable. "Do you fit the Gryffindor stereotype, though?" She asked, a small tease in her voice. "You seem like you might."

"I suppose you have a point, but if your parents are bad at magic that would mean you would learn bad magic. Here we can at least assume the teachers have a certain level of knowledge." She said. "Not trying to imply your parents are, but there must be cases like that." She sighed dramatically at Rory's question about her school. "Well, it wasn't really the classes that were bad. Or the teachers. More... the people. Some of them were just awful, but I suppose that happens in every school. I guarantee there are some bad eggs in our year too, so be careful." She didn't want to outright say Harleys name, because the chance that this girl knew her already was pretty big. But maybe if she planted the seed now, she could turn her against that terrible girl later.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory laughed, recognising Odette's teasing tone and instantly feeling on familiar ground. "Yeah, I guess I'm a pretty textbook Gryffindor. I think I just turned out that way naturally though." Dropping the rock she'd picked up, she smiled. "Do you know practically my whole family was betting on what house I'd get sorted into? I didn't really care, but heaps of them were Gryffindors too, and they were getting pretty passionate about it." It was strange that Rory had only just before been annoyed by this, but sharing it with Odette now just made her realise how funny it was.

She shrugged at Odette's assessment of the necessity of school. "Well, my mum's pretty good at magic, so I'd trust her to teach me, but I suppose you're right," Rory sighed. The other girl was pretty logical, and although she wasn't upset that Odette kept poking holes in things she said, she was starting to question her own acceptance of that logic - agreeing that there was a good reason for school to exist didn't bode well. Listening to Odette talking about the muggle school, Rory made a face in sympathy. "That sucks. Still, you're away from them now right?" she tried to reassure the other girl. "The girls in my dorm are all pretty cool. What are the ones in yours like?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette's eyes widened. "Really? Is it that big of a deal?" It was hard to imagine her mother caring that much about which House she was in, and that was the only family member she even had. A sudden surge of jealousy almost overtook her and she had to look away. Silly. Who cared about things like that? Not Odette, she was perfectly happy with her mother, who needed uncles and aunts and siblings? She quickly pasted her smile back on as she turned back to Rory, though she knew she had to change the subject quickly.

"Well. I'm mostly away from them. One of them actually goes to this school too." She shuddered. "I don't want to talk badly of them... but it's definitely someone I'm avoiding." She considered telling Rory who it was, but again decided against it. Rory had to share a room with Harley, and if Odette was honest she thought she was more the type to side with Harley than with her. But it would be really good to have a girl that close to Harley firmly on her side, so she would have to keep a close eye on this girl. "I think I should head back soon, but I liked meeting you." She smiled. "Let's hang out again sometime?"

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory shrugged. "It's just sort of something they do, they bet on everything. It's never very much money. To be honest, they only got so into it because they'd been talking about it for months. It was more like a house pride thing than anything." It was actually the most fired up Rory had ever seen them over their old school house. Most of the time the only hint she got that they'd been members was when one of them was wearing an old red and gold scarf during the winter.

Although frowning slightly at Odette's admission that she wasn't completely away from the awful people at her last school, Rory tried to be cheerful in her reply. "Well, hopefully you won't see them around too much, it's a pretty big school." Nodding at Odette's suggestion to meet up again, Rory smiled. "Sure, that'd be cool. I'm going to hang around here for a little while longer though, so I'll see you when I see you I guess."