Wonder

Chapter 2: Galling gossip

I waited until everyone had left he changing room and the stands before I made my way to the castle. I did not speak to anyone and I turned down Caleb's attempt to comfort me. Slowly, I walked over the grounds and shivered. It was cold and cloudy; it could start to rain any moment now. I sighed and pulled the hood of my sweater over my head. What a horrible day.
Little did I know it was about to get worse. The Entrance Hall was busy as always around this time of day. Students were heading towards dinner in the Great Hall and the corridor was filled with loud chatter and laughter. I kept my eyes on the floor and wrestled my way through the crowd. Suddenly, I heard screaming, but before I could turn around to see what is was, a jinx hit my shoulder and I got thrown forward. I landed on the floor with a thump and rolled over, groaning. The crowd had separated and I saw Claire standing there, her wand drawn. She had cried a lot and her face was contorted.
'Claire, what...'
But she cut me off. 'You could have killed him, you psycho!'
'It was an accident!' I defended myself.
'It was not! You hit that Bludger at him on purpose!' she screamed.
Hoping that she would not notice, I slipped my hand in my pocket and gripped my wand tight, ready to react if she would cast another spell. 'Yes, I did,' I responded, and the crowd gasped. 'But not with that intention! I only wanted to hinder him...'
'Densaugeo!'
I barely dodged the spell and felt the wind of its force in my hair. Quickly, I pulled out my wand and yelled: 'Expelliarmus!' The wand shot out of Claire's hands. She still tried to grasp it, but I said: 'Everte statum!' and she was thrown backwards.
'What is all this clamor?' a hoarse voice said and the crowd once again parted to reveal Professor Stainton. He frowned at me. 'Miss Van Coon,' he said, astonished. Then, his eyes travelled to Claire. 'Miss Davis! Explain yourselves!'
I kept my mouth shut and looked at Claire with a raised eyebrow. She started this; it was her responsibility to handle it. She shot me an angry look and said: 'Just a quarrel, sir.'
He narrowed his eyes. 'Were you two duelling?'
'No, sir.'
'Yes, they were,' someone in the crowd said. I would have strangled them if I knew who it had been.
Professor Stainton scoffed and said angrily: 'Detention, for both of you. And a loss of twenty house points for Gryffindor and Slytherin, for this utmost childish behaviour. Now, all of you, don't you have a dinner to eat?'
As Professor Stainton walked away, I wanted to go over to Claire and fight on (this time verbally), but someone grabbed the back of my sweater and pulled me into the crowd. Kaylee looked at me angrily. 'What did you think you were doing?' she hissed.
'I didn't start it! Claire attacked me.'
'I know! But you shouldn't have responded!'
I scoffed and wanted to walk past her, when I spotted Jesse standing behind Kaylee. My anger immediately got replaced by guilt and I stared at him, not knowing what to say. Should I ask how Noah was doing? Was that insensitive? Should I ask if Jesse was alright? I hated it to feel so awkward around him. Eventually, I said softly. 'I'm incredibly sorry. I never meant for this to happen.'
His expression was still concerned, but he sighed and said: 'I know. Let's just have dinner.' He glanced over the many heads, probably looking for Claire, but then proceeded with us into the Great Hall.

The following days were just as miserable as Saturday had been. Everywhere I went, whispers followed me. This had been the first great event to happen this school year, so I was the hot topic for all the gossip. On Tuesday, I walked into the library to study there. I had a free period in the afternoon and decided to use it properly, instead of wasting my time in the common room. I sat down at one of the long tables, got the books out of my schoolbag and picked up a pen. Yes, Hogwarts had modernised: pens were now customary instead of quills. Parchment, however, had still not been pushed out by normal paper. I did, however, use notebooks with lines in it, which was a relief. On a plain piece of parchment, I never managed to write straight lines. I had barely started my homework when I overheard a conversation from a group of second years who were standing behind some bookshelves. They were not particularly whispering.
'That was crazy!'
'She broke his spine. She literally broke his spine! She could have paralysed him!'
'Isn't he paralysed?'
'No, I think they could treat him just in time.'
'But she's just a girl, how could she be so strong?'
'She isn't. I think the Bludger was bewitched. Remember, Harry Potter once dealt with that too? It shattered the bones in his arms just like she did with his spine.'
'His spine!' someone repeated in awe.
'Or the bat was bewitched.'
'That can't be, she had hit multiple Bludgers in the game already before that happened.'
'But then the Bludger could not have been bewitched either, because it had been hit around multiple times as well.'
It stayed silent for a bit, and then, a nosy boy said: 'I'm just going to say what everyone's thinking. What if there's something wrong with that lady Van Coon?'
I had enough of it. I threw my stuff into my schoolbag and stood up. I walked towards the chatter and confronted the group. 'I'm flattered you consider me a lady,' I said coldly. 'Maybe next time, I'll hit a Bludger towards the stands, see who's laughing then, huh?'
The group stared at me wide-eyed, some actually had their mouths open. I turned my back on them and walked out of the library. Two seconds after I had walked away, the excited chatter started again. I rolled my eyes and already realised I had made another big mistake, but I walked on to the Gryffindor tower. I passed some classmates in the common room, but I ignored their stares.
'Hey. Hey! Lila!'
I turned around with a sigh, ready to make a snappy comment, when I realised it was Jesse who had called my name. 'Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't see you there.'
'No problem. Noah wants you to come by at the Hospital Wing.'
I frowned surprised. 'What? Why?'
'He doesn't hate you. Don't think everyone does. You still have friends.'
That warmed my heart a little. Just a little. 'But everyone else despises me.' I sighed. 'When should I come by?'
'Tomorrow afternoon, around four, he said would be a good time.'
'Okay, will do.'
We looked at each other silently, both thinking the other would still say something. I wanted to, but I didn't know what to say. Eventually, I put a hand on his shoulder and laughed stiffly. 'I'll see you at dinner.'
'Yep. See you then.'
I continued up the stairs to the girls dormitories and felt my heart beating quickly. I exhaled loudly and plumped down on my bed. I laid down on my back and stared at the ceiling. Guess I'd make my homework here, then. But I really wasn't in the mood anymore. I punched the mattress and sat back up again. Only then did I notice the owl sitting in the windowsill. It cawed softly and stuck out its paw, to which a letter was tied. I quickly took it off and inspected the letter. It just said my name on it. The letter was sealed with a wax seal and the letter L. I frowned, broke the seal and opened the piece of parchment. It said:

Dear Miss Van Coon,

I hope you are alright after the incident and are not drowning in guilt. I am writing this letter because I would like to discuss the incident that happened on Saturday in more detail with you.
I do not wish to reveal too much in this letter, but I believe it was not your fault that you hurt Mr Davis. Please join me in my office on Friday afternoon at three o'clock so I can explain myself further.

All the best,
Professor N. Longbottom

I read the letter again and then folded it back together. The owl flew away as soon as I had closed the letter and left me staring out of the window, wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean.

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Hi again! Second chapter finished, let me know if you liked it!

Just like the tags promise, I will be using several characters of the original HP universe in my story.  If you have any tips on how to improve my writing to stay more true to their original personality, don't be afraid to leave comments!