The Goldstein Girl

2: Goldstein

Quinn followed the teacher to a table that was lined with wands. She waited in front of it until she was told she could reach forward. When given the rundown, she looked back at all the wands. There were many whispers coming up from each piece of wood, but they were jumbled. Talking on top of each other.

Quinn's eyes flicked across the table for a while until she heard one whisper stick out from the others.

"Smith..." it said, "Smith..."

The wand was a sleek wood with a fossilized leaf handle. She reached out to it and picked it up. A rush of warm air blew in her face and Quinn was quickly led to a table. She sat and examined her wand with admiration and wonder. She smiled wide as she realized that this was really happening.

She looked up and saw Porpentina across the dining hall from her. She was sitting alone, resting her head in her hands as she read a book. Quinn almost got up to sit with her, but before she could leave her seat a plethora of students filed into the room and started sitting in vacant spots around them.

Porpentina was now surrounded by older kids and Quinn was now sitting between two bigger boys, talking to each other as if there wasn't a person between them. Quinn snapped when they went to hug each other, squeezing her in a sandwich hug.

"Hey! There's someone here! If you want to catch up with each other, I can switch with one of you!" she told them.

They looked down at her. The shorter of the two finally said after a moment of somewhat silence, "Oh, hey. We're sorry. We didn't realize you were here. You're just so short and all."

Quinn stood up on the bench, "I may be short, but I have a weapon!"

She pointed the wand at the boy who spoke. The boys each laughed, and the taller boy said, "You don't even know how to use it!"

Quinn looked down at the wand in her hand.

"You're right. But I can still whack the shit of you." she said and proceeded to beat the shorter boy over the head with the wand. She hit them until they got fed up and moved to a different place.

Sitting down, she readjusted herself and went on like nothing had happened. Some people who had been sitting around her, mostly the girls, were looking at her with impressed looks. The guys sitting around were kind of scooting away slightly. Quinn looked across the hall and saw Porpentina staring at her, a look of shock plastered across her face.

She'd seen everything unfold.

Quinn waved, which made Porpentina blush and look away. The headmaster clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome back, returning students! And welcome, new students!" he announced, "Ilvermorny, please! Welcome the new kiddos!"

An uproar of applause rose from the returning students. Quinn smiled, but her eyes unconsciously flicked across to Porpentina. She sat holding her book in her lap, shifting uncomfortably in her place.

Quinn blinked away her ideas. It wasn't her business. She'd never even met her for real. But her thoughts couldn't help but keep going back to the thought of the anxious girl sitting on the other side of the dining hall. Suddenly, the empty dishes before them magically filled with food and Quinn's thought emptied of Porpentina Goldstein for a while.

She scooped some potatoes out on her plate, as well as some peas and carrots. Then, she grabbed some chicken and drowned the potatoes and chicken in gravy. Throughout dinner, Quinn got to know the people beside her. One girl near her showed her wear she can keep her wand when she doesn't need it.

Another kept complimenting her appearance, saying her eyes were very beautiful and her hair was her dream color and Quinn's freckles were adorable. She smiled and thanked her but didn't really like the compliments. She looked back across the hall a few more times during dinner and Porpentina was watching her every time. She only stopped when Quinn made eye contact.

Quinn suddenly knew for a fact that she wanted to know this girl.