BY fates design

First challenge

November 24th.

The date brought Harry to the edge of his seat, his face twisting as he recalls the events of that day. Beside him, Ron's face is similar, an indescribable expression that looks like a fusion of embarrassment and pride.

This morning started as many had before, Cassiopeia woke in her dorm, Ginny and Luna either side of her in her bed, their hair braided in intricate designs to keep it secure through the night, and drool on their chins. Silently, she slipped from the bed, padding over to the bathroom to prepare for the day ahead. As she stood brushing her teeth, a flash of cyan light burst behind her, sudden warmth rippling through the air as a form twisted and took place on the counter before her. In its beak, was a letter, pink paper folded and sealed with golden wax.

Carefully, Cassiopeia broke the seal, unfurling the letter to reveal the slightly scrawled writing of a dyslexic child in faulty Ancient Greek. While brushing her teeth, Cassiopeia read over the contents of the letter, every word seemed to glow, infested with the childish excitement of the writer. Its content bore little importance in the grand scheme of life, but every event recounted on the page had been a tale worth telling to the young girl who wrote it.

From between the pages of the letter, something fell onto the counter, delicate and red. A flower, its petals scarlet and thin, devoid of all moisture. A poppy. Gently, she picked it up, holding it between two fingers as though it held the answer to the universe itself, as though she could hear it whisper in a voice familiar, now,  to only her ears. Glancing back to the letter, she scanned it again, looking for any mention of the flower. The answer came in the last line of the last page: 𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻.

Curious whispers and not so quiet speculations surfaced amongst the on lookers as they attempted to decipher the message.

Delilah sat quietly beside Cassidy, twirling a poppy between her fingers, watching the crimson petals flutter slightly with the movement like the scarlet wings of a red admiral.

The 'her' in question didn't need to be clarified, Cassiopeia felt a small, bittersweet smile tug at her lips as she finished brushing her teeth. Perhaps it was because Delilah had been the one to send the poppy, or perhaps it was because she did so without truly understanding the extent of what it meant, or maybe it was because she wished Delilah had known what it meant, that she had had the opportunity to know just how much those fragile petals were worth.

In truth, Cassiopeia had almost, almost, forgotten about it, the thought lingering far back in her mind like the ache of an old injury. Absently, her fingers went to the locket around her neck, tracing the engravings on its surface.

Taking a breath, she cleared her head, finishing getting ready, Lux stayed to keep her company, singing a tune that soon became repetitive but she didn't have the heart to silence the phoenix. Once she was washed up, she grabbed the letter and poppy as she went to get dressed, tucking them away in one of her jewellery boxes.

Today would be different, after all, today was the first trial of the Tri-wizard Tournament. Dressing, Cassiopeia pulled on a white shirt with a ruffled bow at the collar, a green pin stripped pinafore dress over top that tied at the back of her neck, as well as white tights and dark green heeled boots. Once she was dressed, she styled her hair up into a bun, securing it with a matching green ribbon and adding a single red poppy.

Euphemia let out a disapproving tut at the mention of the trials, clear distain written in the furrow of her brow and rise of her chin.

Back in her room, she found Ginny now awake, half sat up as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and drool from her face, Luna was still fast asleep beside her. "Good morning, Ruby." Cassiopeia greeted her with a smile, "why don't you get washed and dressed, the first trial will be today." She suggested, watching the ginger girl nod, stumbling out of bed and towards her bathroom.