Forbidden

Chapter two

We spent most of the ride in silence, breaking it only when a plump little witch came around selling food.
The girl was still ignoring me, even after she had finished her paper.
"What do you have against me?" I ventured at last.
"What do you mean?"
"You won't talk to me, and you acted as though not having wizard parents automatically makes you lower class."
"In many wizarding communities, it does."
"Why?"
"Because."
"What's your name?"
"You asked me that already."
"Yeah, and you didn't answer."
"Whatever. My name is Seren D'Vilkas, I'm eleven; my birthday is in June. I live in London. I have one older brother. I'm a pureblood, intend to get into Slytherin house, and join the Quidditch team as Seeker. Long term plans include world domination and my own wizards robe designer brand. That good enough?"
I nodded.
"But what's a Slytherin? And what does Quidditch mean? And what's a Seeker?"
"Ugh. Don't you know anything? Hogwarts is divided into four houses: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. I'd best advise you not to become a Gryffindork. You're a Muggleborn, so you stand almost no chance of getting into Slytherin. Ravenclaws are ostensibly intelligent, but I'll let you make that judgement. Hufflepuffs are allegedly hard workers, but haven't actually accomplished anything others would consider worthwhile. Quidditch is simply the best sport ever created."
"But what is it, and how do you play? And what's a Seeker?"
"It's played on broomsticks-"
"That sounds awfully dangerous," I cut in. "Don't people get hurt? How high are they flying? Isn't it uncomfortable to sit on a narrow strip of wood?"
"Stop worrying so much! Of course, people do sometimes get hurt, but not often, especially at school. They don't usually fly that high up, only a few hundred feet, at most."
"Exactly! A fall from that high could kill a person! Is there, like, a cushioning spell over the ground beneath them? Or do they all have parachutes, or something?"
Seren looked confused.
"What's a parachute?"