Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Ten

Franklin wanted to ask Zakari what he knew about the Crow, but the child was all too excited with the Welcoming Feast and ceremony that he wasn't paying attention to the interpreter unless he needed something translated. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything of the sort that pertained to any code word that would follow up with the word Crow, but the other children at the Slytherin table seemed very knowledgeable. Franklin didn't know much about the Ollivander family. He wasn't even aware the Garrick had a daughter and a grandson until Dumbledore approached him.

Liz Ollivander wasn't much of a talk either, she was a beautiful woman, but judging by the tired look that was constantly on the woman's face, she was overworked and stressed out quite a bit. She was a single mother from what Franklin had put together as Zakari's father wasn't in the picture, but no one had informed Franklin as to where Zakari's father was.

All he knew was Zakari's father had been part of the Slytherin household at one point and it had been one of the main factors as to why Zakari wanted to be sorted into the house.

When the talking was done, the tables were filled with food, making Zakari's eyes become wide at the sight of all the food before him.

"Is all this for us?" Zakari signed to him.

"Yes." Franklin answered.

The child wasted no time in filling up his plate as he looked up and Jean sitting down at the Gryffindor table. She obviously had been right that she wasn't going to get into Ravenclaw like her mother but she seemed happy with her sorting just the same. She looked up from her plate and caught his eyes across the way, before offering a wave in his direction. He waved back before turning his head and catching Duncan who was resting beside him, eyeing him with his large eyes.

With no shame, the dog eyed some of the food on the table before looking back at Zakari. He didn't have the dog's food with him as his mother had packed it away in his trunk to feed him once he was settled in the dorms that evening. However, poor Duncan looked absolutely famished.

"Duncan is hungry." Zakari signed to Franklin before pointing to the dog. Duncan turned his head and stared at Franklin intently.

Franklin seemed unsure of what to do, but suddenly felt a small tug on the back of his shirt. He turned around to see a small house-elf standing behind him. He lowered himself to the house-elf's level to hear the creature better.

The house-elf didn't speak though, instead it held out a bowl with dog food up towards him. Duncan wagged his behind happily before leaping down from the bench. The house-elf and the corgi were nearly standing at the same height before the elf lowered the food bowl to the ground allowing the dog to eat. Duncan immediately shoved his face into the bowl and began to chow down.

Zakari before signing a thank you to the house-elf, who quickly disappeared.

Concerned with how hard it was going to be for Zakari to make friends with the obvious barrier between him and the other students in his house, Franklin attempted to get other students to converse with the boy but they didn't seem interested at all.

That was until one girl sat down beside Zakari, setting her plate down on the table. At first, she didn't say anything as she focused on her food quietly. Zakari looked to Franklin for a moment , puzzled by the girl's sudden presence and the other Slytherin students seemed just as surprised. Even Duncan had taken a break from his food to look at the girl. She had a cold look to her, her black hair was tied back tightly and braided down her back. Her cheekbones were sharp and she wore no smile on her face as her dark eyes avoided anyone.

Franklin shrugged his shoulders in response to Zakari's questioning look as they waited for the girl to speak.

"Clarke," was the first word to leave her mouth before taking a spoonful of her spoon.

The interpreter spelled out the name for Zakari but that was the only information she gave.

However, as Zakari lifted his hands to communicate, she turned her head to watch.

"What did he say?" she asked looking to Franklin.

Franklin chuckled. "He said he didn't know there were mashed potatoes somewhere on the table and now he wants some."

The girl looked down at her plate at the pile of mashed potatoes that she had piled on before looking over at the boy. She grabbed a clean spoon and his plate and got up from her spot. When she returned she placed his plate down in front of him and sat back down.

She watched as he just stared at the plate.

"Now what?" 

Zakari's hands lifted up.

"Uh..."Franklin scratched the top of his head awkwardly. "He said thank you, but he also said that next time you can just point it out to him, since he is capable of walking."

"He said all that?" The girl glared in Zakari's direction who was currently lifting a spoonful of mashed potatoes towards his mouth. Upon seeing the angry look on the girl's face, he looked to Franklin, trying to figure out what was said to make her upset. He thought against signing anything else, and instead offered her the spoon of mashed potatoes as a peace offering.

"What...what is he doing?" 

"He's trying to get you to eat." Franklin laughed.  She shook her head and pushed the spoon away from her gently. Zakari took it as a sign that he could eat it, and shoved the spoonful in his mouth with a smile.

Franklin decided to do a little investigating of the girl that appeared to be trying to make friends with Zakari, even though it seemed neither one of them were really good at it.

He learned that her real name was Eve Clarke, but she only went by Clarke because she hated the name Eve, especially when her mother called her Evie. She was a third year Slytherin student and while she wore a tough expression, she really was a nice girl. When she had noticed other students moving away from Zakari, she picked herself up and decided to sit with him. She told Franklin that no one deserved to sit alone and she exactly what it was like because upon her first year, no one had spoken to her.

They watched as Zakari smiled at one point.

"Eve," he spelled out. "I like your name."