𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛

Days turned into weeks, and soon Halloween had come and gone.
Lucille stayed friendly with the Prewett twins and spent every  with Dorcas.
The two girls took to studying together in the library from afternoon til evening.
They arrived as soon as classes ended, and stayed until the strict librarian chased them out. It was hard to spend time together when they couldn't spend the days together in a common room, which proved itself to be impossible as Slytherin House and Hufflepuff House hated each other.

The library was next to empty. The only students there besides the two girls were fifth and seventh years studying for exams.
"The textbook is teaching me more than Professor Binns." Dorcas said as she scrolled through their History of Magic homework.
"I like history," Lucille mumbled and chewed on her quill, she ought to get herself a new one,"it's better than Potions, anyway."
"Potions is great!" Dorcas said disapprovingly. "Professor Slughorn is my favourite teacher."
Lucille snorted and shook her head. "No way, he sucks."
There were worse professors than Slughorn, like their Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Carthy.
Still, Lucille couldn't help but feel that the Potions Professor didn't view his students like their own intellectuals but more like trophies, and his obvious favourite favouritism towards the Slytherins didn't help either.
"I bet he'll be our worst teacher once Carthy retires next year," Lucille said.
Dorcas sighed and collected her books. "This conversation isn't over, Lucy." She said, causing her friends to smile and pack her books.

They had only just turned a corner from the library when they saw a man marching off.
He wasn't a professor, and parents didn't come to visit their children.
"He must be interviewing for Carthy's job!" Dorcas whispered, nudging Lucille's arm. "Let's talk to him."
"Dorcas, no!" Lucille tried to protest, but Dorcas had other plans and dragged her friend over to the strange man.
The man, who upon arrival had looked frustrated, wore a charismatic smile once he saw the two girls.
"Are you going to be our new professor?" Dorcas asked, and Lucille thought she was very brave in that moment.
"No, I was just paying Dumbledore a visit." He said.
"My name is Dorcas Meadowes, and she's Lucy Winter." She said, introducing herself just the same way children always did. "What's your name?"
"I'm Lord Voldemort."
And in that moment, the two girls couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"You have a very funny name!" Lucille said.
That was when Voldemort's eyes turned red, and the girls both stepped back, suddenly scared inside of amused.
"I think you'll see that my name is no laughing matter!" He said with a stern voice and great restraint. "Goodbye Lucille, and Dorcas."
They both ran off just as Voldemort stomped away.
"How do you think he knew your name?!" Dorcas asked, put of breath, when the two finally stopped running.
Lucille shrugged. "Maybe because you introduced me."
"I introduced you as Lucy!"
"It can't be that hard to guess."

By next week, the visit from Voldemort had mostly been forgotten. Though Lucille occasionally still giggled when thinking about his silly name.
Between classes and trips to the library, her days were filled to the brim.
When Flitwick took her aside after class one day, she was convinced he had found out about last night's trip to the kitchens.
"Miss Winter," Lucille held her breath as she waited for him to give her detention, "you have shown exemplary skill in Charms."
"Thank you, Professor." She grinned, happy that those long hours in the library had been helpful for school as well as fun.
"I will be starting up our duelling club this Friday," He said, "I think you would find great pleasure in it. Challenges help keep the mind sharp."
Lucille didn't often feel proud, pride was after all the deadliest of all sins, but at that moment, she had never been prouder of herself. So once she was dismissed, she immediately had to find Dorcas and give her the great news.
Dorcas was even prouder than Lucille, and the two rewarded themselves with some pudding from the kitchens.

Once the two friends had found out that they didn't have to sit at their houses tables, they started taking turns on where to sit.
On the morning of the seventeenth of November, they were both sitting at Hufflepuff table for breakfast.
The morning had started off just as any other. Perfectly ordinary.
Lucille had dragged herself out of bed and walked to breakfast still wearing her nightgown.
Nothing seemed any different until the morning post arrived. The surflux of owls was nothing new, and the letters being dropped on top of students' breakfasts was something they were all used to by then.
"Luce..." Dorcas looked up from her issue of The Daily Prophet with a bewildered look. "You need to read this."
Lucille's eyebrows furrowed as she read the headline. "We're at war?" She looked up at her friend. "We can't be..."
It seemed unreal. She knew what war was like from her mother's stories, and this wasn't it.
Kids chatting with their friends with big smiles and tired eyes over breakfast. The Prewett twins planning their next prank over at Gryffindor table.
This couldn't be war.

Once the news about the war broke out, more students started taking part in the duelling club.
Though none knew what awaited them once they left Hogwarts, or what the war was about. They all wanted to be prepared.
What had once been less than a dozen students duelling for fun had now become fifty students preparing for war.
"You can't be making me duel a first-year!" Alice Fortescue, a third-year Hufflepuff exclaimed when Flitwick informed the group of their assigned pairs. "I'm supposed to be challenged!"
Dorcas grinned at Lucille as she stepped forth with her wand ready.
The usual bow took place and they got ready to duel.
Lucille danced around for a bit, only casting defensive spells, until Alice started getting too confident and careless.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Alice briskly fell to the floor, her body completely locked.
Lucille looked to Flitwick for confirmation that the duel had ended, and cast the finite charm.
"Alright, first-year." Alice smiled as she stood up. "You did good."
"Thank you."