The Whomping Willow

The afternoon rain did not stop after all. The originally outdoor Care of Magical Creatures class was swapped with History of Magic, taught by a ghost named Binns.

Time had no meaning to the dead. In his monotonous voice, he recounted ancient events irrelevant to the living. The Hufflepuffs, too full from lunch, and the Gryffindors, who had expended too much energy in Flying Class, were sprawled across their desks asleep. Only a few were truly listening, including Lily Evans. Pomona noticed that, unlike herself, Lily was not surrounded by three other girls. Thinking of Snape, who was always clinging to her, and her pretty face, Pomona suddenly felt deeply sympathetic toward her situation.

Witch was not a good word. Who knew whether some mad Muggle might suddenly lose his mind and tie her to a stake to drive out evil?

During the Middle Ages, several plagues swept across Europe and nearly wiped out humanity. The Church's power grew unprecedentedly strong, and it established the Inquisition, using "legal" means to eliminate dissenters and those it considered demonic. When Hogwarts was founded, all of Europe was deeply hostile toward wizards. Under those circumstances, four wizards decided to establish a school far from Muggles to train young wizards. Those four were Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff.

The parents and siblings of Muggle-born wizards were ordinary people. For all sorts of reasons, they might inform the Church or others equally ignorant of magic.

Being betrayed by family felt utterly awful, because they should have been the people one trusted most. On the train, Lily had once mentioned that she had a sister named Petunia. If neither of them had any sweets, they could get along peacefully. But if one had some and the other did not, it was hard for the one without them not to grow jealous.

If it were only sweets, Hufflepuff's solution would be to share. Unfortunately, magical talent was not candy. It could not be shared.

Poor Lily.

Pomona was terribly saddened. Lily could not simply abandon that irritating Snape, which meant she could not fit in with Gryffindor. If she had not associated with Slytherin, the girls would have pretended to be generous and friendly by befriending a beauty like her. Now they had a suitable excuse to isolate her openly.

Yes, that behavior was childish. But they were all only eleven. Compared with the kind of people who acted one way to someone's face and another behind their back after growing up, this was practically honest and endearing.

"Why are you staring at a girl?" Susan leaned over and whispered in Pomona's ear.

"Why did you switch seats with Mary?" Pomona said listlessly. This class was making her sleepy too.

"Jane keeps looking at James Potter," Susan said in the same listless tone. "Mary is looking at Sirius Black. They're friends now."

Everyone knew how prominent the Black family was, but Pomona had not expected Mary to be so fanciful.

"I want to join the Holyhead Harpies. They only recruit witches," Susan said.

"I don't know, Susan. I'm not really interested in Quidditch," Pomona said listlessly. What was so fun about so many people riding brooms and chasing a tiny golden ball?

"When we're in fourth year, the seven hundred and eighth Triwizard Tournament will be held. We really enrolled at the wrong time," Susan continued.

The Triwizard Tournament was held once every five years. For fourth-years busy preparing for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels, it truly was a missed opportunity.

"Don't worry. You can come back to watch after you have children."

Susan sighed and slumped onto her desk. "Once you get married and have children, you can't play Quidditch anymore."

"Do you know where this year's Triwizard Tournament will be held?"

"Beauxbatons," Susan said. "Don't you read the papers?"

Pomona's heart stirred. She wanted to take this opportunity to visit Beauxbatons.

Four years from now, the situation should be better than it was now. Too many questions plagued her, though the prerequisite was that she could handle her Ordinary Wizarding Levels while competing in the Triwizard Tournament.

Devoting her time and energy to her studies would mean far less fun. She loved Hufflepuff's cheerful atmosphere, but she wanted to take a path different from ordinary people.

Looking at the pearl-white ghost on the podium, Pomona remembered what Madam Sprout had told her.

If she wanted to love someone, she first had to determine whether that person was worth loving. She could not be deceived by appearances. She needed to learn how to judge people, and that was precisely what Madam Sprout hoped Pomona would learn from the Fat Friar.

A friar had come to a school full of wizards and become a ghost. What could be stranger than that? There was also the Bloody Baron, Peeves, the Grey Lady, and Nearly Headless Nick. She had a feeling that some past events lay buried in the ghosts' memories. Since she had been born a witch, she could not keep filling her head with romance like an ordinary girl.

"Are you going back to the common room to do homework after class?" Pomona asked Susan.

"No... Can I copy yours after you finish it? ^_^"

"Then you have to come to the library." Pomona smiled along with Susan. "In exchange, there's something I'd like your help with."

"Go ahead," Susan said readily.

"What's the best broomstick right now? Could you ask your parents to buy one and send it to Hogwarts?"

"Easy. Leave it to me." Susan patted her chest in assurance. Pomona could not help sighing. Just as Madam Sprout had said, kind and compassionate people made friends easily. But how loyal those friends were was something that needed to be tested.

Pomona looked toward the Gryffindors. Aside from the fixed pair of James and Sirius, there were now two more people beside them, probably their dormmates. One was a tall, gaunt boy with a deathly pale face. The other was the short boy who had once shared a boat with Pomona. He was the one who had failed to keep his balance and nearly caused her to fall into the lake. Luckily, Snape had pulled her back, or she would have become the laughingstock of the entire year before Walter.

"Are you looking at James Potter too?" Susan asked, clearly displeased.

"The person beside James Potter—the one lying on the desk and looking very tired." Pomona asked Susan, "Do you know who he is?"

"Who?" Susan stared for quite a while. Clearly, she was not suited to being a Seeker.

"Never mind," Pomona said absentmindedly. Looking at him gave her a strange feeling. Her mouth tasted bitter, not like chocolate, but more like some kind of medicinal herb.

"He looks terribly unhealthy. How could Dumbledore allow him to attend Hogwarts?" Susan finally realized whom Pomona meant.

"Maybe Professor Slughorn's potions can change his constitution. I've heard that quite a few potions have miraculous effects," Pomona babbled.

"How could that be?" Susan stroked her chin, seeming to contemplate a bad idea.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm wondering whether I'd become as good as William Duncan if I drank Polyjuice Potion mixed with his hair."

Even a girl like Pomona, who had no interest in sports, knew who William Duncan was. He was the Seeker for Puddlemere United, the oldest Quidditch team. Most importantly, he was a man.

"Hey, look! What's that?" A Hufflepuff boy was gazing out the window. A witch was planting a tree on the school grounds. She used a growth spell, and the sapling quickly grew into a large tree.

"Whoa." The knowledgeable Hufflepuffs gasped in amazement. The awakened Gryffindors sniffed disdainfully and went back to sleeping on their desks. Binns, meanwhile, noticed none of it and continued teaching his unheard lesson.

"It's a Whomping Willow," Susan murmured. "Why would the school plant something so dangerous?"

"Maybe it's to strengthen the castle's defenses." Pomona lost interest in it as well. "Anyway, as long as we don't go near it, we won't have to worry about getting hurt."

Susan lost interest too. The two kept chatting for a while, but in the end they could not withstand the call of sleep and, like everyone else, laid their heads on their desks and fell asleep.