Curious Seclusion [closed]

The muted giggles and hushed whispers floated around the room as Penelope twirled her quill in her fingers.

She had descended from the Ravenclaw Tower to the library, hoping to find some motivation in writing her History of Magic essay, but she only found herself distracted by the conversations and people around her. Some older girls huddled a table away, talking about some boy Penelope had never heard of, their tone annoyed and upset. Two Gryffindor boys a few seats away were pointing at something across the room and snickering wildly to themselves. Deciding that the essay was not going to be written after all, the brunette slipped the quill behind her ear, pushed the blank parchment away, and headed for the bookshelves.

Alone amongst the rows of books, Penelope found herself trotting playfully, her skirt bouncing around the tops of her knees, her fingers trailing the outside of the books. A melodic beat of steps and repetition echoed in her ears. She only stopped when a title involving mermaids caught her eye. She leaned in, gliding her index finger up and down the spine, feeling the indentions of the letters. With an intrigued expression coating her face, Penelope slid the book halfway out – before a noise paused her.

Morgana hadn't been at the library yet, which she was rather surprised of. Honestly, she had expected the library to be the first place she went, but alas. Well, no need to dwell on that, as she walked into the library stunned by the rows of bookshelves and millions of books. She felt a smile stretch her lips. Ah, books. They were like home to her. She walked over to the creatures section, always finding magical creatures to be extremely fascinating. For a while now, she had thoroughly enjoyed reading about Chimaeras and Manticores, despite what little stood about them in the books. She believed the creatures to be 'restricted section' material.

She did, however, find a book about the sea and about creatures living in the deep. She plucked it out and then walked around the shelf, so ensnared in the book that she didn't notice the huge one lying on the ground until her toe hit it and she stumbled over it, barely managing to keep herself up, and even more so, to keep the book safe. She straightened up quickly, regaining her composure, before her eyes landed on a Ravenclaw girl, who was looking at her. Morgana smiled softly.

"Sorry about that," she said kindly enough. She then saw the book the girl was holding. Mermaids? She looked back down at her own book. "I guess we share some of the same interest, eh?" she stated, a bit truer in her kindness now.

Once Penelope had been accepted into Hogwarts, her mother began spilling over with details: the houses, the meals, the lessons, the magic. The poor eleven year old, while intrigued, was overwhelmed with the amount of information. Her mother had laughed it off – she would learn about it all soon enough, don’t worry. But as the young girl skipped through the rows of books in the magical library, she abruptly halted at a book about mermaids because she couldn’t recall her mother saying anything about them. Penelope never knew merpeople to exist, but then again, why wouldn’t they? This entire world lingered only in the memory of her mother for ten years of her life.

She pulled the book out, but stopped when a thump made her doe eyes swing over to a Slytherin girl. Penelope jerked the book close to her chest, subconsciously defensive for some reason. There was a long pause in which the two first years merely stared at each other. The girl seemed vaguely familiar – perhaps they shared a class? The brunette found herself clenching her teeth, unsure of what to do. Luckily, the other girl spoke first, eyeing the book that was clutched in Penelope’s grasp. The Ravenclaw shrugged before stiffly flipping through her own book, glad to break the eye contact.

“I didn’t know mermaids were real . . .” she muttered into the pages, before she landed on a black and white photo of merpeople in the middle of the book. Their teeth were bared, and their eyes were angry. Choking back a gasp, Penelope glanced back up at the girl.

“I guess they're not as . . . friendly as I imagined.”

Morgana didn't react to the girl's obvious skepticism. She ignored it and knew that even Ravenclaws had problems with Slytherins. She didn't get why, though. This girl couldn't be much older than her, she actually looked like a first year herself. So how on earth did that add up? But then the girl visibly relaxed and started looking through her book. She landed on a page with a picture, and Morgana smiled.

"No, they're not. But there are many different types. Like the sirens, though they only live in warm waters, like in Greece, are beautiful and what you would expect merpeople to look like. Those here at Hogwarts is a bit different, though. Not to mention the fact that there are other tribes in Ireland and Scotland as well, and maybe even a difference between saltwater merpeople and freshwater merpeople," Morgana said, knowing this because she had really enjoyed reading about merpeople when she was younger. They literally screamed out magic, and when she was young, she wanted every proof of magic she could get.

"I'm Morgana, by the way. Morgana Gaunt. First year Slytherin," she introduced, stretching out her hand for the girl to properly say hello.

Of course Penelope knew the reputation of Slytherin students. Her mother had told her all about them – a specific one, actually. Her name was Joanie (or was it Jamie?) and she had been her mother’s adversary all throughout her career at Hogwarts. And she was – of course – a Slytherin. But her mother added an off-handed disclaimer at the end of this lesson: “They’re not all the same, dearie.”

However, Penelope thought that she was above such stereotypes. Besides, Ravenclaws were supposed to be studious, yet she finished her Potions homework the morning it was due. But she could not ignore the hum of her mother’s stories in her head as she eyed the girl across from her. The Slytherin did not seem much older than her, if at all, and she held a small smile on her lips.

And then she was speaking, informing the Ravenclaw about mermaids. Eyes wide, Penelope could barely listen through her embarrassment. Who was this girl, and how did she know so much? A burning spread in her cheeks as the brunette shamed herself for not paying attention in class. Once the girl stopped talking, Penelope found herself clutching the edges of the book she held in an attempt to control her shock. Finally, she directed her attention back down at the pages and managed to mutter a mere, “Oh.”

"Morgana Gaunt."

An outstretched hand lingered in the No Man’s Land between the two first years. This girl seemed nice, even if she was a Slytherin. She was the same age as Penelope, and seemed to have a thirst for knowledge like the eagle did. In fact, Penelope had a urge to befriend the girl – or at least try to – just to prove her mother wrong. With a wry grin, Penelope shut the book with a thud, and reached over to grab the hand of her opposite. Now there was no distance between them.

“Penelope Franklin. Ravenclaw first year. We should be friends.”

The small 'Oh' the girl produced at Morgana's statement about mermaids made her realize the inner struggle the girl was having with herself. Morgana supposed this feud between the Slytherins and the other houses went a bit deeper than she had expected. Honestly, she didn't know much about it, because her father had never cared enough about petty feuds and stupid behaviour. But maybe it wasn't that simple...

Maybe the void in the houses was much deeper than she had previously known...?

She noticed that her hand was hanging unnecessarily long in the air, but Morgana wasn't of the kind to find this embarrassing. She let the girl contemplate her way through things before she reached out her own hand, giving Morgana's a squeeze. Morgana smiled kindly.

But she was surprised at the direct 'we should be friends' part. Morgana wasn't one who claimed people to be her friends, even when she'd known them for years. But she also knew that people didn't appreciate that, so she shrugged it mentally off and let her smile widen.

"We definitely should," she said kindly.

She retreated her hand, and sighed. "Penelope, can you tell me about the feud between the houses? Honestly, I really don't get it, and my father didn't tell me much about it either," she said with a shrug.