The Dark Lord, The Witch and The Time-Portal

XII - The Vault 00

Saturday, September 5, 1942

"I feel so stupid," Holly declared with a sigh, frowning at her reflection in the mirror. She was using the best clothes she received from Dippet, fit enough for a pure-blood heir witch from the 40s. They weren't the epitome of elegance, but too fancy and feminine for Holly's taste, making her feel extremely uncomfortable with herself wearing them.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, you look adorable!" Lucretia scolded her with a soft tone, staring the little witch's reflection with a smile. She was helping Holly to adjust the size of the clothes and also making few adjustments.

It was early in the morning, but Lucretia offered her help the night before after Holly said she had urgent business to attend at Gringotts. To avoid gossips about favoritism or special privileges because the Headmaster was giving her permission to visit Diagon Alley today, Holly created the excuse she was incarcerated in an illegal school just until few days ago and only now she could claim her rights and ownership of her vault as heir Portier. It was easier to sound convincing with half-truths and Lucretia was polite enough to not ask further details about Holly's past.

Holly had to dress well to present herself for the Goblins as the heir Portier and had to avoid taking too many risks or drawing unwanted attention. She needed to be careful, as far as she knew, not all the Goblins were aware about Time Traveler witches, even if Gringotts was indicated in her book as a 'place of help' for Time-Travelers.

"Do you want me to do your make-up too?" Lucretia offered with a gentle smile.

"Oh no!" Holly scoffed. "Make-up is too much, I will feel like a clown!" She sighed exaggeratedly with a grimace, Lucretia staring her completely clueless about what a 'clown' could be. The tiny witch was felling utterly uneasy to dress girly as a pure-blood lady. Part of her was just too used to wear comfortable masculine clothes (she spent eleven years of her life using Dudley hand-me-outs, triple of her size), and the other part had too much of a low self-esteem to feel really beautiful while dressing so nicely. Holly felt insecure inside a pretty dress and totally out of place. She remembered to feel a little like that at the Yule ball, but Hermione was with her to offer support and Cedric's company also made her feel comfortable. Besides, everyone at the Yule ball was dressing formally, unlike today, making her an easy target to be bullied. Even though she experienced being bullied or mocked by people in her life, it didn't mean she was truly used at it. She didn't care for people teasing her about her looks while she wasn't even trying, however being the only one who was dressing so formally at breakfast made her feel like an exposed nerve. It didn't matter some people called her 'pretty' or 'cute' sometimes, Holly always felt as an ugly duckling, her aunt Petunia worked very well in making her see herself as the ugliest person walking on Earth and she only felt secure after accepting that it was better to feel comfortable and far away from people who judged others based on appearances.

Lucretia sighed in frustration, as if knowing exactly what Holly was thinking. "Listen, Holly, I don't understand why you are so insecure, because you are adorable! Though as a woman I understand pretty well that sometimes we just don't feel on our prettiest days, but you need to act as if you are feeling like a queen. Don't let people notice your lack of confidence about your looks or they may use it as a weapon against you, specially the Goblins, they can be nasty if they notice you are nervous! It's a big deal that you are going to reclaim your rights as the heiress of your family!" Lucretia gave the sermon while combing Holly's hair, trying to make it more tamed.

"There are days I don't feel particularly pretty as well," Lucretia continued. "But you need to learn how to shield yourself and act like a queen," Lucretia raised an eyebrow at Holly's reflection in the mirror. "I thought it was a skill inherent of all girls in our House," Lucretia pointed out and Holly had the feeling her roommate had the same doubts as Tom Riddle about Holly being sorted in Slytherin.