𝒯𝑜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝐵𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈

June 3rd, 1994

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝐹𝒾𝓋𝑒

"Does anyone have a tampon!"

When anyone was not only awake before Iris but up and dressed... something was severely wrong. And the severely wrong thing that morning was the first day of exams, the one thing that sent Valeria Collins into a frenzy.

Shouting and cussing as she stomped her way around the room, she awoke her roommates with a start. Iris even shot up to frantically look around, lost as to what was happening. And when she realized it was only Valeria, she groaned as she plopped back down, "I have a box under the sink."

Valeria could be heard as she stomped into the bathroom, rummaging under the sink as she muttered about the injustices of the world.

From there, Tracey would get up, grumbling about losing an hour of sleep. Adding to the needless noise of the room as Sally attempted to force herself back to sleep.

Iris, on the other hand, would just lay there in bed. Mind-wandering as she allowed herself a moment to recognize a growing pit in the bottom of her stomach... something was coming...

~~~~~~

When Iris hadn't spent any time studying for exams, not one person around her thought to worry about it much. Iris was a horrible student. That, anyone could see. That, everyone knew. She couldn't sit still more than a minute, constantly slept in classes, argued with teachers... a horrible student. And yet, she was great at doing just enough to still be in school. She wrote essays, she performed in the actual practice of spells, she answered questions. Hell, she could even recite word for word the events of any Goblin Rebellion.

Iris Blackwell was terrific at magic, and she knew the wizarding world. Maybe it was the years of homeschooling. Maybe it just was natural to her. Realistically it was a combination of the two...

But no one worried when Iris didn't study because she knew it all and would perform in exams because it was necessary to pass along. And she knew how to pass along. It was annoying to everyone around her how easy it would be for her, but they didn't worry...

Until she walked out of the Transfiguration exam, announcing that she refused to do said exam...

Apparently, transforming a teapot into a real, breathing turtle was against her own moral code. It was, in her opinion, cruel to the turtle that would be given life only to eventually have the spell wear off and switch back to a teapot. Which, to be fair... making life out of inanimate objects... does seem fairly complicated and, well, wrong.

But she did instead turn the teapot into a turtle plushie... she even handed it off to Theodore at lunch with a smile, "McGonagall called me back to take it. She still doesn't seem all too impressed."

He deadpanned her when she gave it to him, "Power is wasted on you."

Giving him a big grin as he placed aside the plush, she corrected, "Safer."

And then she turned to eat, the scolding from her roommates as they joined the table falling on deaf ears.

Their hopes for Iris passing third year would be somewhat restored when they went to Charms after lunch, her a bit too eager when Flitwick asked them to pair off and perform a Cheering Charm.

To the surprise of the girls, Iris and Theodore choose not to pair up. Iris pairing with the nervous Gryffindor Neville Longbottom and Theodore with Vincent Crabbe. An outstandingly intelligent decision on both of their parts... or stupid, maybe. Because each clearly chose to take the route of a guaranteed messed-up spell being sent their way, but neither would have to worry about having to laugh uncontrollably. A risk that would give good results.