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CHAPTER ONE. the crane crafter. ( paper crane no. 757. )
Every chapter is a day. Every day is a crane.
EVERYONE AT HOGWARTS KNEW HER NAME.
Some say a name is the most important factor about a person. That it's not just a word your parents chose for you, but a power you take hold of and mold for yourself. A name can mean many things and take on many roles and it distinguishes a person's entire being from birth and gives them purpose. By naming, we build emotional and psychological bonds and indicate affection with one another, such as using endearing nicknames like 'honey' or 'darling'. Names give us an identification; a sense of self and belonging, as you can't call someone 'it' or 'that person' when referring to them. One's name may bring you pain and grief, or it may be the sweetest sound you have ever heard, nothing of which saccharine nectar could compare. A name is arguably the most significant thing about a person.
Kale McKinney believed his children's names should have meanings — well, one of his children's did. His youngest child, Altair, got an Arabic name meaning 'bird' or 'flyer' stemmed from the fact a pigeon accidentally flew into the Hospital Wing of St. Mungo's a few hours after his birth. In Ancient Astrology, this was an indication of a good omen. Though while many would take that as sheer dumb luck — or not even luck at all — Kale was a believer that all things happened for a reason. He believed that pigeon meant something that day- he didn't know what exactly, but he hoped he'd realise eventually, come time.
While his eldest, however... well, her name was originally for fun and games. You know, for a laugh. Since his own father had named him after a plant, he thought it was best fit to keep the tradition in the family tree. So perhaps one day, when his daughter would have children of her own, she would carry it on. Therefore, he named her Mint. Mint Rosé McKinney.
Talk about favouritism.
Though Kale didn't realise how much his daughter's name would impact others.
Throughout her years at Hogwarts, Mint had accustomed many names. Some were a lot more basic and standardly than others, while the rest were complicated and made her feel like a master necromancer when all she did was fold paper. But, who was she to complain? She wouldn't be lying if she confessed it raised her ego by a drop in the bucket. Albeit, one name beat them all. Honestly, she didn't know how the name had started; a whisper in the passing wind, but by the middle of her fifth year, the whole school knew her by it. It was just three words.
The Crane Crafter.
You see, nobody could figure out why she began. No student, no teacher - even no creature - could decipher the unexplainable mystery behind why Mint Rosé McKinney made tiny paper cranes.
Fourth-year was the beginning. She'd constructed a slightly messy, crumpled paper crane and handed it to the first-ever on her list: a fifth-year Gryffindor boy, who'd seen it as a confession of love and had boldly rejected her, right then and there. Mint had tried explaining she wasn't, in fact, infatuated with him and frankly hadn't known of his existence until her random list of Hogwarts occupants. Flash-forward: he hadn't taken it well and discarded the crane to her face with his obnoxious friends laughing behind. Other students mocked her peculiar hobby, while very few thanked her for the unanticipated gift. Even on multiple occasions, when people would ask the purpose of making them, Mint would shrug with a sad smile and respond with the same puzzling and unexplainable words: "To get my wish."
