New Discoveries (Closed to James Riddle)

Morgana had heard a lot about the big tree outside of the castle from Mordred, but she hadn't gone to see it yet. And she really wanted to. Honestly, a huge tree that wants to destroy everyone who gets near? Everything that went through Morgana's mind at that was 'challenge accepted'. She grinned at herself as she left the Slytherin common room, dressed in the school uniform.

When she got out, she found that it was a soft chill in the air. She wrapped her cloak around herself and picked up her pace, walking towards the covered bridge, through the Stone Circle and continued on until she saw a single, solitary tree rising tall from the ground. She stopped a good distance away from it, studying it.

"Interesting," she muttered to herself, wondering why on earth a school would plant such a tree when it could easily kill the person coming close to it. She had read somewhere that students were banned from getting close to it when a kid almost lost his eye. She shook her head softly. You never knew the minds of teachers, that was for sure. She looked around, liking that it was so soft and quiet here.

Until she heard the crunch of a branch.

Morgana recognized the guy. She couldn't quite remember his name. She had a feeling it started with G or J. She was terrible with names, so no wonder. She had met him when Sydney had been down. She chose not to comment something rude like 'you think I don't know that', but decided to give him a small smile and took a step away from the Whomping Willow. "I know. I've heard a lot about it from ... people. Anyways, thanks for the warning," she said kindly.

She didn't want to get into trouble, but she had a feeling she hadn't been standing close enough to the tree for the professors to react on it. Sure, she could be wrong. After all, she had pretty much just arrived at this school. She didn't know what most knew. Especially about rules. She never took much care of them, never really bothered to follow the orders of others, as proven by how many muggle schools she had been to until she reached the age of eleven.

"Ehm... without being rude or anything, but what was your name again?" she asked innocently on the outside, while being rather annoyed at herself on the inside. Why couldn't she just remember a simple name? Seriously. Maybe she needed to make a mind palace like her father had...

Morgana smiled at him when he introduced himself. "James. Okay, I'll remember it this time," she said. And honestly, it shouldn't be so hard. James was a very easy and good name. She'd remember that. And he had remembered her name. She gave a nod at the small question, even though it sounded more as a statement.

She then shook her head. Sydney had been really crushed. "Don't mention it. I didn't know what I was doing at all. You did a great job, though," she said softly, "I hope she's going to be fine."

Honestly, when it came to feelings, Morgana was pretty much a stranger. She could care for people, yes, but until now she hadn't felt anything strong enough to cry for. But she was only eleven, much could still happen, she was sure. She then looked down the pathway from which James seemingly came from.

"Where had you been, by the way, when you saw me?" she asked, wondering what was down there. She couldn't remember, which wasn't so weird. With a castle this big and so little time to memorize it, something was bound to slip her mind.

Morgana nodded. "It seemed like, when previous hostilities between the Ravenclaw girl and Sydney were fixed, Sydney felt a great deal better. I don't know," she said with a shrug. She really didn't understand. "But, yes, she seemed to feel a better."

Morgana looked where James was pointing. A lesson then? She was going to take Care of Magical Creatures, so she hoped it was fairly interesting. She was very fond of animals, though, which wasn't very usual for a person with sociopathic tendencies. But she didn't complain. "Is it a good subject? I'm taking it myself," she said.

She looked at the hut and remembered the tales of Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. She had found him fascinating, being a half-giant and all, though she didn't get why he was allowed to be a teacher at Hogwarts, due to his blood. But she didn't know him, of course, he was well dead before she learned the name 'Hogwarts'. So, maybe he was, a great man, or something.

The Quidditch Pitch had been of an interest to Morgana, but she hadn't seen it up close yet. She smiled when he pointed the way. "I would've liked to play for the team, but I'm not sure what the rules are. I mean, they must have a team already, but it would be great to try-out. But can first years compete?" she asked, not quite sure, knowing that it had been a rule against it before, but she had no idea what it was now.

She gave a short laugh. "Really?" she asked in a friendly sarcasm, looking at the castle walls, "I had no idea." Though she hadn't been here long, at all really, but she did know much of her way around the corridors. Not all of them, of course, she had not had the time to walk through the entire castle, but she had no problem memorizing the way. She remembered stuff she wanted to remember. It was a good ability she used often.

She liked that James was being so nice. He seemed like a proper person. And she wanted to get to know him. "James, what's your family name?" she asked. Maybe she had heard it before. She knew a lot about other wizarding families.

Aylee, that was her name. Morgana wondered briefly what the quarrel had been all about, but she quickly discarded the thought; she didn't want to know, really.

Morgana nodded. Mythological creatures were her favorite kind, so she knew she'd enjoy CoMC as a subject, but she was curious about the teacher. She hadn't met her yet. "What about the professor. Is she all right?" Morgana asked, knowing from the name she had found that it was a woman.

Quidditch did seem like a good sport, and honestly, Morgana loved to be in the air. She had tried a broomstick once, and she had been completely astounded by how much of an impact it had on her to be up in the air. She then gave a nod. "I'll talk to her as well. But I think I'll try out. Honestly, it can't really hurt, can it?" she said with a soft smile.

Morgana noticed how he shifted, how his smile evaporated when she asked for his name. Her polite side told her to tell him that he didn't have to say it if he didn't want to, but her not-so-polite side told her to say nothing. She was too curious to let it pass now. He seemed to really not like his name, whatever it was. And then he said it. And Morgana's chin dropped and her eyebrows rose up to her hairroots. She had never in her life lost control of her face, but, damn, she wasn't expecting that! However, she quickly regained her composure and took a breath.

"Riddle, huh?" she asked. The thing wasn't that she judged him, the thing was that they had the same horrible ancestry. Though, she suspected that he couldn't be Tom Marvolo Riddle's grandchild, given the psychopathic man didn't have the feelings to fall in love, not that anyone knew what he'd be capable of doing to a random woman, but still... She knew he'd think she was judging him if she used too much time to think about it, but seriously, what was she to say? That Voldemort was her granduncle too? Seriously, was that even a word?

"Are you muggleborn?" she then asked, wanting to get rid of the idea that he might be Voldemort's own blood, even though that would mean that they were related.

Morgana nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds legit. I think I have seen her around, if I'm not mistaken," she said calmly. At last she thought so. She had seen someone around the common room who weren't a student, and she suspected that it wouldn't really be a random professor.

When James talked about flying as scary, Morgana gave a small nod. She had ridden a broom before, and it had been scary at first, but then it had simply been hilarious. "I had a broom for children when I was younger. It only lifted around five feet of the ground, but it was extremely cool, though scary at first. The first real broom I tried was this summer past. And that was scary, but much more fun. And I think I've got the hang of it. I mean, I can always get much better, something I plan on, but I don't think it's scary anymore," she added quickly, not wanting to be taken as a showoff.

James wouldn't meet her eyes when he replied that he was indeed a muggleborn. But there was something he was not telling her. But she didn't want to push him. He seemed uncomfortable enough as it was. She knew what he was going through, though Riddle might be a bit more frowned upon as it was Voldemort's actual last name. She sighed and snapped her fingers. She didn't know why, but she was a bit frustrated that he couldn't just look her in the eyes.

"Don't be ashamed of who you are, James," she said, softly, yet strictly, "It's not your fault. As long as you don't wind up killing a thousand people, I'm sure everything will be fine." She gave him a small smile, feeling a bit like an idiot for telling someone older than her to do something. She hoped he wouldn't see it the wrong way. "I know what you're going through, though your name might be more easily recognized by the students here at Hogwarts. Mine is more, subtle, but I guess, given the fact that you are a muggleborn, you don't really know much about the Gaunt name yourself?" she said.

But she didn't wait for a reply, and continued: "My great-great-grandfather was Marvolo Gaunt, my great-grandfather was Morfin Gaunt. Morfin Gaunt was the uncle of Voldemort. My grandfather was Voldemort's cousin. I am related to Voldemort, and I'm not proud of it. What I am proud of, is that I am also a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin and I can speak parseltongue. Snake-language, if you didn't know. So, hey, maybe we're related in some bizarre way!" Morgana then shook her head. "But that's not really possible, if you're not a direct descendant of Tom Marvolo Riddle yourself," she said with a shrug. Inwardly, she hoped that she was making him feel better, and not worse.

Morgana was pretty relieved when she got a 'thank you' and not a 'piss off' reply. She always found people who respected that others could be right, even when they were younger than you, were good people. Not that she had suspected James to be anything but. Even so. She just smiled at him and gave a shrug. "No problem," she said kindly.

She wasn't surprised when he said that one of the professors had told him that Riddle didn't have children. But it had been extremely cool to randomly find someone at the school she went to that happened to be related to her. But it was cool that she had found a guy who was related to the same horrible person, though on each sides. And the fact that they would be doomed to walk the earth with weird glances shot in their direction at the mention of their names... It kinda meant something to Morgana.

She sighed. "Yes. Though the students do not. They don't always recognize the name. Some have even randomly stated that 'wow, that's a dark and cool name'. It's funny really. But pureblooded students do give me a cross glance at times, though I don't think they're judging me deliberately. They're just trying to figure me out or something. But when I'm out in the magical world with my father... If I introduce myself to an older man or woman, the person frowns and a look of fear crosses their eyes. Then they walk away quickly. It's annoying," Morgana finally stated with another, but bigger sigh.

Morgana listened to what James was saying. It must've been really confusing, coming to Hogwarts with no knowledge of magic. Morgana, who had grown up with that kind of magic, had felt confused herself, but she was sure it had been nothing on what James had felt. She was a bit surprised that people who had magical parents wouldn't recognize the name 'Riddle'. It had become a random fact that she had picked up from some newspaper that Voldemort's real name was Tom Riddle. But maybe people just didn't read the paper. She suspected it wasn't that usual that eleven-year-olds did that.

"It must've been really confusing. The whole magic-part, I mean, not just the Riddle-part?" she asked softly. "And the professor... He seems pretty smart. What subject does he teach?" she then added, wondering about that professor a bit. He seemed not to be the first to judge, but that could be because he didn't want people to judge him, just like Morgana wasn't judging James. All people were hypocrites in some way, including herself.

She smiled at him. Yes, she would prove the world wrong. She knew she could do that if she set her mind to it. And she was sure she wouldn't be the only one. Maybe the name 'Gaunt' and 'Riddle' would be respected as a good name once. Her father was working for the Ministry, if he made a breakthrough, they would be on a good way, and if she continued that road, she couldn't imagine why they wouldn't be able to clear their name.

"Agreed. I think we need to make things happen for ourselves. If people want to judge us, then that's their problem, but maybe we'll be able to prove them just how wrong they are. I really want to do that," she said with a grin. "I love to prove people wrong," she added contentedly.

Morgana listened to what James said about when he first came to Hogwarts. She found it surprisingly interesting to listen to a muggleborn's perspective. She hadn't had a problem with talking to muggles when she was younger, and she still didn't care about it. Magic was magic to her, it didn't matter what inheritance you might have. But when his voice grew thick she wasn't sure if she found it funny that he would crack up about that, or if she felt sorry for him. It had been hard for her too. And she decided to be nice about it.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Leaving home... That was had hard cracker. I kinda worry about my father and stuff. I mean, he can totally take care of himself, but he's so bloody good at making enemies out of people he has no need of making an enemy out of. He's just so ... blunt. And direct. I mean, seriously, he steps on my toes all the time..." she said with a sigh, "And I'm usually the one who apologizes to people he annoy, and when I'm not there... Honestly, I can only imagine how many people dislikes him now, I am sure I can't count it on my fingers," Morgana rambled. Honestly, she was kind of her dad's little girl, and she idolized him in so many ways, but the enemy thing... Honestly, he could annoy a Buddhist just by looking at him!

But she noticed that James was glad she changed the subject away from going to Hogwarts for the first time. And she listened to what he was saying about professor Umbranox. She would have him as a teacher. But appearance was the one thing she was good at judging people by. The way they looked, the way they moved, every little quirk. She could tag onto that and read a person like a book.

"Well, it's good to hear that. Honestly, I'd rather have a weird teacher in DaDA as long as he knows what he's doing, than the coolest person in the world, who does not know what he's doing," Morgana stated softly.

Morgana nodded. "Yes," she said. James seemed a bit interested in the topic though. Morgana figured he didn't know much about the Ministry. "He works in the Department of Mysteries," she added. She wondered what she'd be able to tell him about that, though. There were plenty things there that shouldn't be spoken of. Even though Morgana had no idea of what it was herself.

"Do you know much about the Ministry?" she then asked him, wondering if he had talked to anyone about it. She knew the function of it, and she knew most of the Departments, but she was far from knowing all about it. She was sure there were some corrupt politicians and the like, but she had no idea what really was going on there.

Morgana nodded to what he said, not knowing too much about it. "Well, the entire thing is pretty complex. I'm sure you've read up on the general idea," she said, considering the fact that he was a third year. Honestly, she'd be surprised if he hadn't read a bit about it.

"As for the Department of Mysteries. Well, it's called that for a reason," she said, "The people who work there, like my father, are called Unspeakables. They don't have an identity, kind of, though it isn't hard to figure out if one person is or isn't an Unspeakable. Anyways, I haven't got a clue of what's going on there. That's the stupid part. I can't really discuss what my father does during the day, since he can't say anything either way. But, what I do know is that they perform a lot of experiments and research stuff. What they research and what they experiment, I have no idea," Morgana said softly. She was extremely curious about it, though. Maybe she'd have to become an Unspeakable when she grew up herself.

"But what about your parents? What do they do?" Morgana asked, not really knowing much about muggle professions.

Morgana could see that James was intrigued by the Department of Mysteries. And who on earth could blame him? The fact that they researched what could become one of the most important findings in the world was nervewrecking, and the fact that Mordred couldn't tell Morgana was beyond annoying. Of course, she understood, but she would really like to know more. After all, research was something she found extremely interesting herself. Well, like father like daughter, she supposed.

She nodded. "College," she mumbled. She wondered if he had a case of the 'like father like son'-disease himself. "Would you want to teach?" she asked. She wondered briefly if his mother was all right, if she was sick or something, and she couldn't work because of it. She supposed it would be nice of her to ask about it, show that she cared, but at the same time, it might hit too close to home for her liking. But then she sighed.

"Is your mother well, or is there a reason for why she doesn't work?" she decided to ask. Then she added: "And if that's too personal, then you don't need to answer that."

Morgana nodded. She then frowned. "What does one learn in Arithmancy? Is that one of the third year subjects?" she asked, knowing some of the lessons one could take at Hogwarts weren't available for the first or second years. And though she liked to keep up with everything that went on around her, she really didn't prioritize the subjects she couldn't even take yet. At the same time, she wasn't sure if Arithmancy was one of those subjects.

Morgana smiled. "I see. She must be a dedicated mother," she said with a smile. The smile faltered when he asked about her mother, but not necessarily out of sadness, more the seriousness of the situation. "No, she doesn't. She's dead. She died giving birth to me," Morgana explained softly.