The Next Great Adventure, Yeah Right Albus

Meeting Lily... Again

Phyllis has grown into a child and her features were no longer the indistinguishable mess that all babies have. Phyllis counted herself lucky to not have inherited Tobias' beak of a nose this time around. Instead, she got her mother's petite, straight nose. Other than the nose her features didn't change much, they just took on a softer and more stereotypically feminine look. She was still pale with black eyes and long, greasy, black hair. Her face was still long and slim and decorated with sharp cheekbones and thin lips. She was almost a perfect copy of her mother. Something she was particularly happy about.

Since she was no longer a poor, weird, and ugly boy but a girl, who while was not the prettiest thing in the world definitely was not ugly, she was not bullied anywhere near as badly. Phyllis does not think she would be able to stand a bunch of snot-nosed brats trying to bully her. Especially since she still had the mindset of a grown man who taught snot-nosed brats for a living.

Her primary school life was much better than she remembered it to be. She was not completely ostracised by her peers, there were a few girls who even tried to befriend her. Though she didn't acknowledge them. The only person in the world who she would lower herself enough to suffer through the inconsequential ramblings of a child for would be Lily.

On top of some of the other children being nice to her, there were teachers who seemed concerned when she would return from her semi-regular absences from school still sporting a bruise or cut. That one she would blame on the double standards of the period. In the 1960s if a boy had cuts or bruises it was because he was a troublemaker out picking fights but if a girl had them she was abused. Sexism truly was a nuisance that wasn't helpful to her even when she had been a man.

Phyllis sighed as her teacher once again sang through the ABCs with the rest of the class. Year one was far more boring than she remembered it to be. She and Lily weren't even in the same class and with the teachers whispering about how fast she was learning and how it may be beneficial for her to skip a grade, they may never be in the same class. She was itching to meet Lily again, it had been well over twenty years since they had last spoken. She just wanted to be Lily's friend again and that would be significantly harder if they were never in the same class. If things played out the same way as they had in her previous life her mother would not allow her out of the house unsupervised until she was seven. That means another two years until she could search for Lily outside of school.

The bell signalling the end of the day broke Phyllis from her thoughts. As the other children excitedly made their way to their parents or the playground Phyllis went toward the school's library. Her mother had heard rumours of Tobias being fired today and told her she would have to stay after school. Even as her mother told her she would pick her up as soon as she could, Phyllis could tell the woman was worried she would not be well enough to do so.

Phyllis pursued the shelves trying to find something of substance to read. It was a primary school and most of the books reflected that. However, reading them would still be better than sitting around idly, or even worse joining in the romping about of children on the playground. She would much rather be practising her magic right now but there was no area near the school with enough privacy to do so. She has not been able to practise casting at all in this life. Her mother was always around and she would not risk blowing up herself and the house just to see if she could get her magic to respond. She was not some imbecilic Gryffindor with no sense for the safety of herself or those around her. The only Gryffindor she ever met who didn't rush into things was Lily.

Phyllis shook her head clearing away her previous thoughts and turned her gaze back to the bookshelves. There was nothing that grabbed her attention. Nothing that really interested her. She thought to hell with it and picked a random text from the shelf. Though she went for one of the larger books, she didn't want a book that would only hold her attention for ten minutes.