𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎

𝟶𝟶𝟺-𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚠

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Marilyn arrived at Hogsmeade station to find the Hogwarts Express already there and the other students were piling into the carriages. She put her trunk down with a pile of others before finding an empty carriage. She gave the thestral a pat before climbing inside. A few minutes later a redheaded boy she knew to be Fred and George's younger brother stuck his head inside the coach. His eyes went wide when he spotted her and he quickly retreated.

"We can't go in there," he hissed to Harry and Hermione.

Harry frowned, "Why not?"

"Because that scary Ravenclaw girl is in there," he muttered.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up.

"You mean Marilyn? You're scared of her?" She asked, pursing her lips disapprovingly.

"Well yeah, she's scary," Ron replied.

Hermione rolled her eyes and opened the door to the carriage.

"Do you mind if we sit?" She asked.

Marilyn looked at her for a moment, making Hermione slightly uncomfortable with her emotionless stare. Inwardly, Marilyn was slightly amused. Ron had been terrified of her, and yet he had never even met her.

"Go ahead," she replied.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and gestured for the others come in behind her as she sat down across from Marilyn. The others climbed in and all of them other than Luna looked warily at Marilyn, who didn't react.

"You're Marilyn, right?" Hermione asked as the carriage began to move.

Marilyn nodded. "I am. And you're Hermione Granger." 

Hermione nodded before she caught sight of the shiny badge on the older girl's chest.

"Oh! You're a Prefect." She realized.

Marilyn nodded, "Mmhmm, so are you and Ron." She replied and Ron jumped slightly at the mention of him.

"You know who I am?" He squeaked.

Marilyn's lips twitched. She supposed he didn't know she was Marvolo's sister. 

"My brother is best friends with your brothers." She responded.

"You're Marvol's sister?" He asked, relaxing slightly, evidently, Marvolo had mentioned her. Hermione and Harry were now eyeing her curiously, wondering why she hadn't been at Grimmauld Place like the rest of them.

"Yep, I'm a Ravenclaw though." She said and they nodded mutely.

After a few minutes of silence, Luna looked up from the Quibbler and piped up.

"Marilyn can see them too, you know, Harry."

Harry looked at Marilyn immediately. Her face was expressionless, but he could see a hint of sadness in her eyes that disappeared almost immediately.

"You can see those horse-things too?" He asked hopefully.

Marilyn gave a short nod before turning to look out the window, choosing to ignore the conversation around her, though she did listen slightly, taking note of everything they said.

Before long, the coaches pulled up to Hogwarts and Marilyn was the first person out of hers. She immediately found her brother at the side of Fred and George.

"Mary!" He exclaimed immediately as he hugged her.

Marilyn's expressionless face softened as she hugged her brother back. He kept a protective arm wrapped around her shoulders as they made their way up to the castle. They parted at the Great Hall, moving to their separate house tables. Marilyn sat down in her usual place near the staff table and slightly separated from the other people in her house.

Her eyes narrowed at Umbridge the moment she saw the woman. She already knew the woman would be awful. Her eyes moved to the Sorting Hat as it was brought in. After a moment of expectant silence, the hat moved and began to sing.

Marilyn listened intently to the new song, her dread growing with each word. The hat didn't sing of happy things as it usually did. No, this song sounded more like a warning. Marilyn would definitely be writing to Aberforth to tell him about it. A small frown crossed her face when the hat mentioned Slytherin. Marilyn was a Slytherin by blood, one of the three remaining direct descendants of him. Marilyn and Marvolo were both pure-bloods. Morfin had their father with another pure-blood, and both of their parents were pure-bloods as well. Marilyn and Marvolo were of purer Slytherin blood than Voldemort, actually.

"Well, that was depressing."

Marilyn looked at the place beside her that had previously been empty and she was entirely unsurprised to find Tom sitting there. She shrugged and nodded. She couldn't exactly talk to someone no one else could see in the Great Hall.

"The last time there was a warning like that was when I was in school. It was about Grindelwald." He continued and Marilyn's eyebrows shot up. 

She hadn't known there had been warnings anything like she had just witnessed before at all. Tom nodded at her facial expression.

"Yeah, if I were you, I'd heed that hat's warning. The thing's too smart for a non-sentient being."

Marilyn rolled her eyes at that and turned back to the front of the hall, where Albus was now standing. She listened absently to his speech, but she noticed at once when Umbridge stood up. Marilyn definitely disliked the woman. Very much.

She listened intently to the speech she made, refraining from running to see if the carriages had left yet so she could go back to Hogsmeade and pretend like Umbridge didn't exist. The woman's speech only confirmed what Marilyn already knew: The Ministry was interfering at Hogwarts. 

When the speech was over and Dumbledore dismissed them to go to their dormitories, Marilyn reluctantly got to her feet.

"First years, this way please." She called and a group of shy younger kids approached her. She did her best to soften her expression as she looked down at them.

"Alright, follow me please." She said and began walking primly out of the hall with the first years trailing behind her.

She led them up several lightly of stairs until she reached the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower. She explained everything she was doing as she knocked once on the door with the bronze eagle door knocker.

"What am I?" The door-knocker asked and the younger Ravenclaws exchanged confused glances.

"A question," answered Marilyn easily, earning looks of awe from the first years. 

The door opened and she led them inside, directing them in the right directions for their dormitories. When she was finally done, she let out a breath, scowling. She liked some parts of being a Prefect and she was good at it, but she didn't much like talking to people other than Marvolo, Turner, or Aberforth.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she remembered what all of them had told her.

This year she had to talk to people other than her brother and ghosts. 

Great.

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