Noyade | Rabastan Lestrange [2] ✔︎

09 | REPUTATION

The leaves on the trees surrounding the castle slowly started to fall, covering the ground with a carpet of different colours. To Phoenix it almost seemed like nature was desperate for change – just like she was. At first there had only been remarks about her, whispers in hidden corners, but over the weeks people had started to bump in to her on purpose, making her books fall to the floor on various occasions or calling her out and hexing her in the hallways. She often wondered whether they didn't have anything better to do or think about. Her thoughts often shifted to the lists filling almost a whole page with names of people that had gone missing or were found dead, which the Daily Prophet had started to publish. The numbers were horrendous and constantly rising. While Hogwarts had remained untouched since the battle in which Will had passed away, the world seemed to turn into pure chaos – chaos, which she basically supported according to the mark on her left forearm – and her fellow students had nothing better to do than pick on her.

Maybe it was simply easier to think of ways to make her feel uncomfortable and unwanted than to be confronted with the truth outside of the safe walls of the castle.

By the time Halloween came around, Phoenix had enough. Jack was right; ignoring her peers wouldn't get her anywhere. However, accepting her powers was harder than she had thought, especially when the boy who had always done his best to make her feel special, now spent all of his energy on ignoring her.

But Phoenix didn't need Rabastan to be strong.

She simply needed to prove that to herself, him and everybody else. However, it was easier said than done. Often times, she found herself trying to gather the strength to speak up or use her abilities freely, but then she once again ducked her head and tried to become invisible. Even the thought of going against the other students in any way, verbally or physically, made her hands tremble. She couldn't help but see the flaws which they pointed out - at least the ones that were true – and she always ended up doubting herself.

The first time she used her abilities freely for a small thing, was in mid-November. Regulus was sitting next to her on a desk in the Transfiguration classroom, which left his feet to rest on the chair. He was complaining about how the sleeves of his jumpers somehow seemed to have shortened over the past few weeks. The way he dramatically expressed himself with wide gestures made his sister grin, as it was rather hard to take his complaints seriously.

"I'm sure one of the guys in my dorm has shortened the sleeves on purpose. Who does that? I mean, everybody sits on their bed every once in a while and thinks, 'Oh, hey, why don't I just shrink my mate's clothes?' Also it's the most stupid prank I've ever heard of," Regulus explained, his eyes indicating that he was deadly serious. "But if I find out who did it, I'll throw all of their stuff in the Black Lake. That's what happens when you mess with me."

Phoenix' grin only grew wider as she remembered how he actually used to solve his problems when they were little. Whenever they had fought and he had realised that he was going to lose he had left the room, leaving Sirius to puff out his chest victoriously or her to continue playing peacefully, before coming back with their mother in tow. He had never been good at getting revenge, much to his dismay, as their older brother had been a natural at anything that involved a plan for mischief. However, she had to admit that their mother had been a rather intimidating technique to solve arguments.

"What if you simply grew out of them?" she pointed out. "Will you throw your own stuff into the Black Lake?"

Regulus gently kicked her leg. "Oh, shut up. Only Ravenclaws get to be know-it-alls. Since you're an ordinary Slytherin, you don't get to point out things that totally make sense as soon as somebody else says them, but I'd never think of on my own because their too simple."