Books and Bloodstatus (Open)

Willow sat in the courtyard under a large willow tree, her name sake. As always she had a book in her hands, this one borrowed from the library, it was entitled "The Battle of Hogwarts". Although she usually hated history, this pertained to the school and had actually come up in one of her classes. She sighed frustratedly, why was who someone was born to so important in the wizarding world? She didn't belong in the muggle world despite being muggle born, yet with all this about blood status, did she really belong here either?

Harry Potter had won and had apparently told his own children that he didn't care what house they belonged to, so long as they did their best and they were happy. One of his best friends was muggle born. Maybe blood status isn't so important but the skill of what witch or wizard is? It was all very confusing to her. She finished the last page and closed the book firmly. "Well that was no help..." she mumbled to herself, "now I just have more questions!"

Elita was walking slowly through the courtyards on her way back from lunch. She tried to avoid people as often as she could these days. She was afraid of getting hurt more than she'd been the last few years.

However, she saw a young girl, probably a firstie she thought, sitting under a fairly large tree. She couldn't help but walk over and plop down beside her as she noticed frustration. Usually, she was good a calming people down and she was curious to see if she still had that power.

"I'm Elita," she spoke softly to the girl.

Willow startled in surprise as a much older student plopped down beside her and introduced herself. "umm... hi" Willow stammered. She may be good at answering questions in class, but that was different than talking to people. "I-I'm Willow." Her frustration vanished but was now replaced with her usual nervousness around others. Animals and books? She was great with! People? Not so much.

"You'll grow out of your nervousness soon. I've been here since I was 9 and I was just like you and I still am." Elita said hesitantly. She smiled, but her eyes clearly showed that she was not happy at all. In her eyes were sorrow and fear. She hoped the young girl, Willow wouldn't notice. She didn't want to scare her on her first day of school.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Elita said as casually as she could, mustering a small smile.

Willow smiled warmly, at least this girl was friendly! "Thank you." Her voice was a little more confident now, friendly even. She frowned a little, she was always good at reading the emotions of others. "You seem sad, what's wrong?" She tilted her head curiously, her own troubles forgotten in wanting to help this girl she just met. By the colours she was wearing she was of Slytherin house, but that never bothered Willow. She had been sorted into Hufflepuff for a reason, for her love and respect for others.

Elita shrugged it off. "Just some things at home, no big deal really. My older sister betrayed me and my adopted mother to go live with the women who Crucio'd me twice two years ago and killed our parents and join the Dark Wizards." Her face fell as she looked at the young girl.

Hufflepuff. That would explain why she's so caring and soft spoken. Elita had a special admiration for Hufflepuff, she was never quite sure why she'd fit into Slytherin. Maybe she was ambitious or there was some hidden quality about her that hadn't been uncovered yet.

Willow's mouth and eyes widened in surprise as Elita explained. "Wow... um... I'm so so sorry!" She said worriedly as she straightened her face and looked at this girl. She hoped she wasn't going to hate her or something from bringing up something so horrible. "I can't even imagine what that would be like to go through, if you ever need to talk or anything just let me know." She placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. She didn't want the girl to think she was heartless, she certainly wasn't, she just didn't know what else to say. She thought maybe the girl was struggling in a class or got into an argument with someone... she was simply blindsided but the answer she got.

"It's okay. Most people don't understand. I mean, normal people, they...they don't have to go through any of this. I feel like this is all happening because I'm a Seer. Truth is, I'd rather be normal. I'd almost rather be a Muggle." Elita said with a hint of frustration to her voice as the girl gave a gentle, heartfelt squeeze to her shoulder.

She picked at the grass not knowing what else to say. Then, noticing the books, she offered the girl help on her classwork.

Willow shook her head. "No you don't want to be a muggle, I used to be a muggle and it was horrible and boring! Hogwarts is so much better. The wizarding world... I feel like I belong here!" She smiled softly gathering up the books and put them in her bag. "Oh, this is just some extra research, not for class work... I'm trying to get my head around why blood status is so important here. I mean, why does it matter if you're muggle-born or not? Can't I be just as good of a witch as anyone else?" It was her turn to look at the grass and sigh.

It's not. People think it's nice to put down others because of their blood status when really, anyone can be powerful. Muggleborns have the ability to rule just as much as Pure-Bloods. Your blood status doesn't define you. Elita smiled at the girl. She tried thinking of other ways to explain what blood status was actually for but couldn't think of any.

"You have the potential to become a great wizard, Willow.

Willow smiled at Elita warmly. "Thank you Elita, that makes a lot of sense. After all Hermoine was a muggle-born and she was one of the greatest Gryffindors. I'm not going to give up, I'm going to do my best!" The first year puffed up happily.

"So, what year are you in?" She asked with a smile, perhaps changing the subject now was best. "I'm a first year in Hufflepuff."

"I'm a fourth year in Slytherin, though I've been here since I was nine under special cirumstances." The girl said. People always tend to be amazed by how long she'd been here until she tells her story. Usually then, they feel bad that they've been so interested.

Six years later, and the fact of losing her parents still bothered her deeply. She never even got a chance to meet her mum, but quite often from Ella she had been told that she looked just like her.

Willow nodded a little. "Oh." She didn't want to pry into this girl's life. She simply left the conversation at that. She began to pack up her books and looked to Elita. "So what classes are you taking?" She asked softly. Her mind was still aflutter with the topic of blood statuses and she was curious about why Elita had been here so long but she was too shy and nice to pry.

"All of them."she replied dryly hoping she didn't make the other girl feel bad. She watched as she gathered her books. She really disliked talking about her courseload, it made her really agitated as most classes were either lame or a joke. She really was beginning to sound like Ella.

"Oh..." Willow said softly as she finished packing up her things. "Well, I should be going, nice to meet you Elita!" She said this politely as she could, the girl seemed nice enough but there was just something about her that got under Willow's skin. What could it be? Willow certainly didn't know.

"Nice to meet you too Willow!"the girl called out as she sat on the bench alone. There wasn't much left to do so she figured she should stay out there for a while. It'd been 2 years now since she'd actually left an indoor area.