⋆𝐃𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠⋆ - 𝐓.𝐌.𝐑

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫

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At first, she was worried she wouldn't be able to afford this ticket to freedom, a list of equipment that sprawled on for 2 pages and felt like a prison wall. Arithmancy Professor Zephyr Rhombus – "neither Madame nor Sir, Miss Warren" – assured her that there was a fund for those less fortunate, and she was eligible for a grant of 30 Galleons – wizarding currency – to be used at her discretion.

Professor Rhombus was also the head of Ravenclaw – they gave her a thick booklet named "Wizarding Basics for The Muggle-Raised"  that explained quite a few of such offhanded remarks. They took her and Jacques to Diagon Alley – how clever – and gifted her, her train ticket, as well as instructions on how to get to platform 9¾, before departing so she could shop on her own – "independent little thing, aren't you? Blessed be".

In the end, everything was bought second – or hell, even third – hand, barring her wand, of course. That purchase had made for a rather dramatic tale; at first, the measuring tape kept noting exaggerated measurements – as if she wasn't an utter midget – then, it felt as though she had burnt through the store's entire supply before that creepy fuck – Ollivander – shakily handed her the right wand. Slightly springy Elder wood with Banshee hair core, 11 inches – which should've been too long but felt well balanced in her hand. He gave it to her for free and without flourished speeches on its abilities – which she later learned were his signature – under a promise that she'll never turn it against him.

That meant that Elizabeth had around 11 galleons and 10 knuts to spare, which she splurged on an eye correcting potion – "covers both genetic and magical causes!" – from the apothecary on Botanic Alley (again, clever), and various thrifted books from Knocturn Alley where she assumed people left her alone because she looked like one of the resident hags, Jacques refuted her assumption and claimed it was because he was incredibly intimidating when he tried to be.

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On september first, Elizabeth spent the entire train trip alone in her compartment, almost completely undisturbed, other then the time a yellow cladded – Hufflepuff – prefect busted the door open because,"I thought there were people shagging inside, sorry little firstie". The boat trip was rather unremarkable, she couldn't remember who she sat with but she remembered the first glance of the castle – the glorious feeling of ancient magic surrounding her, that and a quick glimpse of the giant squid passing under her boat.

Once inside, they were greeted by the Deputy Headmaster, a garishly dressed wizard named Dumbledore. She would've commented on his speech if she could remember it, but in his vicinity, everything was drowned out by her innate bullshite O' meter going off the charts. "𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐌𝐲𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞!" and the sniggers that followed, was probably the only thing jarring enough to knock her out of an oncoming panic attack – because, her vibe sensitivity wasn't new but it had never caused her psychic damage before.

She was sorted into "𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐖!" after the hat – "my name's Allistor, little swan" – had debated at length between that and Slytherin. The first meal at her table let her know exactly why a pack of ravens was also named an Unkindness, because these insipid, Ivory Tower  little cunts who had never known hardship in their lives, had already decided that she was a good bullying target due to her looks and name. She had to spell herself clean at least 3 times from various childish food attacks before they were herded up, up, up to their dorms.

The knocker's riddle was rather simple – "𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐀𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐦 𝐈?" – but she stayed silent and the prefect had to answer it herself after a few minutes of silence from the group. They were directed to their dormitories with an undertone of disappointment that night but she couldn't bring herself to care. The second she found the bed delegated to her, she warded it with what she remembered from a delightful Borgin and Burkes find, and dashed off to the showers.

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She couldn't avoid her new year mates at every turn however, meals were hell and lessons too, even though she continuously kept her head down. They took her introversion as a sign of weakness when it was in a fact a warning – and they decided to ambush her, Margot Droope tugging at her braids to halt her while Olive Hornby shot numerous stinging hexes at her. For whatever reason, the hexes didn't bruise her skin – which meant she couldn't go to the Medical Wing without making it seem like she was lying – so she fixed her pathetic body on her own, trying not to cry at the amount of hair that fell out in the shower (she was used to it now, but back then it had been a lot).

The next day marked the arrival of The Warren Virus to Hogwarts. Madame Hippocratea Goodacre marveled at the sudden arrival of 12 new patients from various houses – mostly Ravenclaws and Gryffindors – with unexplainable, oozing red hives, into her care. Rarely did anyone gain scars, but such sudden rises in Med Wing capacity would make recurring appearances throughout the next seven years. And if anyone managed to link it back to her? Well, she'd had worse than Ignatius Prewett calling her a "Plague Rat".

Besides, the need for such reminders of her Harbinger status became more and more infrequent as the years flew by and her classmates lost their courage – Second Year marked the rise of "Musty Myrtle"  and other such nicknames to compensate for their bruised egos. She got used to battling Slytherin's Adonis incarnate for the title of Top Student each year. Though, she had never once spoken to him, she had other – more profitable – endeavors to concentrate on. Elizabeth had also kept up with her ballet training, in a wicked room near Ravenclaw tower that the House Elves had pointed out to her.

She did come to miss Jacques though, as she only came back for summers at his insistence – the breakout of World War 2 had affected him deeply, and he wanted her as far away from the blitz as possible. She would've cursed the Wix surrounding her for their ignorance if they didn't have their own war to worry about, a dark lord named Grindelwald terrorizing Europe Proper wasn't something to ignore either.

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A/n. A pack of ravens is also called a conspiracy! but that didn't fit as well :/ plague rat Myrtle is a lovely mutation of the plot that I didn't expect but she's such a girlboss.