The Legacy of Salazar

Rooster Feathers

Ginny Weasley frowned down at the match on her desk, chewing her tongue. She was supposed to be turning it into a needle, but she couldn't concentrate. Her head felt heavy, her thoughts sluggish. It'd be just her luck if she'd caught that flu floating around Hogwarts.

The girl beside her had already transfigured her match and was appraising the metallic needle with a dreamy look on her face. She was smaller than Ginny, with willowy arms and snow-white hair that fell in a straight sheet to her shoulders. She'd introduced herself as Luna Lovegood their first day in class together, hailing from Ravenclaw's house.

She was odder than the other Ravenclaws Ginny had met so far. She only had Transfiguration with them but they'd struck her as a grounded group—although she was quickly finding out that 'seeking knowledge' didn't necessarily apply to assigned classwork. But Luna had come across as untethered, daydreaming during lectures instead of rigorously copying down notes like Ginny would've expected.

Though it was frustrating that she'd managed to transfigure her needle before Ginny had.

Screwing up her eyes, Ginny raised her wand again. From just behind her, she heard Jeffery Kingston mutter something to Colin Creevey, both Gryffindor boys in her year, and her attention was diverted towards the conversation.

"Did you hear what they call her?" she heard Jeffery say, a snicker in his voice.

"What?" Colin had a habit of sounding excited regardless of what the subject matter was, kind of like an over-eager puppy.

"Loony Lovegood. Get it? Because she's so—"

Ginny gritted her teeth and whirled around in her seat. "You'd better not finish that sentence," she hissed, her eyes flashing.

She watched as Jeffery's eyes shifted to her still raised wand and visibly swallowed. "It's just what I heard," he tried to say with a weak laugh. It died at the look on her face and he added, "Sorry!"

Ginny held his gaze for a second longer before turning back around in her seat, clearing her throat meaningfully and turning her attention back to the match on her desk.

"You didn't have to do that."

Ginny started and glanced at Luna Lovegood, who was appraising her with wide eyes. They were light blue, almost grey.

"They're just picking on you because they can't figure out how to transfigure their needles," she said, shaking her head.

Luna stared at her for another moment, before breaking into a wide smile. The far-away look that was usually in her eyes had returned. "It's probably just the wrackspurts. I could see them all around those two. Do you want some help?" she asked, nodding towards Ginny's match.

Ginny was just wondering what on earth a wrackspurt was, when suddenly—she was sitting in the armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

She lept to her feet and looked around, her heart beating so fast that it hurt. What—what had just happened? Hadn't she just been in Transfiguration with Luna? No one else seemed to have noticed her sudden appearance, so she probably hadn't apparated. She didn't even know how to apparate!

Ginny glanced down at her hands and realized that she was holding her diary. There were several long red feathers clinging to her robes, and as she watched one of them fell to the floor. Her mind went blank. She bent down to pick it up, twirling the scarlet feather in her hand. She recognized it—a rooster tail feather, just like from the ones back home.

But how had they ended up on her robes?

Almost feverishly, Ginny brushed off the other loose feathers from her robes and tossed them into the fire and sat down again, swallowing hard. She couldn't remember anything after Transfiguration class—not leaving, not walking back up to Gryffindor tower, nothing.

She glanced down at the diary she still held in her hands. Had she said something to Tom? Her breath coming in shallow waves, she looked around for her bag and spotted it on the side of her chair. She dug out a quill and nestled the inkbottle in-between her knees. After opening the diary and smoothing out a random page, Ginny dipped her quill and wrote:

Dear Tom, I've got feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there.

She watched as the letters sank into the page, holding her breath.

Ginny, you were just telling me how you ran into Hagrid, swinging one of his dead roosters. Are you feeling all right?

The words faded back into the page a moment later, and Ginny leaned back into her chair. She had been a little off-colour recently, even Percy had said so. Maybe she was coming down with something.

I must have caught the flu that's going around campus.

Ah, well the Hogwarts flu season is starting. Take a nap maybe, or go to the infirmary. They should be able to fix you right up.

Yeah, I think I will. Thanks, Tom.

Anytime, Ginny.

She closed the inkwell and the diary, placing both in her bag. A glance at the clock on the wall told her that she had enough time to see Madam Pomfrey before dinner.