Freaks: Year Two

A Nice Gift

"Where are these letters coming from?!" Quinn exclaimed as they heard another group of Ravenclaws talking about it.

Gifford sighed. "No idea."

Both Gifford and Quinn had been trying to solve the one-word letters sent by a mystery person for a few days now, but there were no hints to who it could be. It was just one word after all. Hi or hello.

"Has anyone besides Penelope gotten one yet?" Quinn asked.

"Just her so far," Gifford answered.

"Maybe there is a pattern," Quinn tried. "We should find out everyone who has gotten a letter like this and see if they all have something in common. So...Penelope has gotten a letter and so has Anthony...what do the two of them have in common?"

"They're both Jewish," Gifford said with a shrug.

"I doubt that is the reason people are getting one-worded letters and I would have gotten a letter then," Quinn said with a shake of their head. "Do we know anyone else who has gotten a letter?"

"We would have to ask the older students," said Gifford. "No one else in my year has gotten one. We should ask some first years too."

"Then that is exactly what we will do," Quinn said and they quickly scurried down the corridor, Gifford following, trying to find any of the older students that had gotten a letter.

Harry was watching Jasper's most recent quidditch practice with a book in hand. Cara Finnegan was instructing them to fly laps while dodging bludgers and Harry always got nervous whenever one got close to any of the players afraid they were going to hurt themselves.

He was in the middle of a passage about the American school, Ilvermorny, (as he had been reading up on them more frequently as April was not too far away anymore) when he spotted someone near an area of the Slytherin quidditch stands.

Alabaster Jackson.

Harry shut his book, bookmarking the page on the four different houses, before quickly making his way to the Slytherin area of the stands as he thought this would be a good opportunity to ask about the next tutoring session and about the fact that they really just needed to talk.

But he seemingly had disappeared.

Harry sighed heavily, looking around the rest of the pitch but it was only the Hufflepuffs on the quidditch team and the first years Wyatt and Elijah, no one else. He was about to go back to where he had been sitting before when he heard a voice.

"...to Arthur. Merlin, many years previously, enchanted a sword, Excalibur, to be stuck in stone until the rightful owner tried to take it for his own. People did not know..."

Harry's brow furrowed as a part of the History Of Magic textbook seemed to be read out loud and he looked around, trying to find exactly where the sound was coming from and he started to climb the Slytherin stands when he realised it was coming from under.

"Erm...Alabaster?" Harry tried. He didn't know why but he had a feeling it had to be him.

The sound stopped and it was quiet for a couple of beats before Alabaster's voice went, "Hello...?"

"Is that you, Jackson?"

"Yes..."

"It's Harry."

"Harry Warbeck?"

"Yeah, do you know any other Harry's?"

"I do not."

"So...what are you doing...under the quidditch stands?" Harry asked.