Daily Life of a Little Badger

Morning sunlight streamed through the common room windows. Roy opened his eyes. Gabriel and Connor were still lost in sleep, while Cedric looked as though he had been awake for some time, casually reviewing his Herbology textbook in bed.

"Morning, Cedric."

Roy climbed out of bed, greeted Cedric, then sat down at his desk. He pulled out a quill and ink, took out a sheet of parchment, and quickly began writing something.

"Morning, Roy. What are you writing so early?"

Cedric set down his textbook and looked curiously at Roy, whose quill was flying across the parchment.

"Sigh, I thought about it last night and decided to write Aisling an apology letter. By the way, could I borrow your owl? I don't think handing it to her myself would be a good idea."

Cedric agreed without hesitation.

Roy was still not very used to writing with a quill. He dipped its tip in black ink and swiftly wrote across a large sheet of parchment.

Aisling:

Congratulations on being sorted into Slytherin. An outstanding young witch like you will surely find like-minded friends in Slytherin and learn many things. The Sorting Hat was even telling me yesterday that you are a very ambitious young witch.

That said, I need to apologize for what I said and did yesterday. You know I meant no harm. Just as I told Cedric, that is simply how I joke around. I truly do think you are a young witch with great power, but I am not, so I hope you can understand my joke.

I think you are a very good person. I could tell from how you treated Fred, George, and Cedric. But I truly am not a bad person either. I have never been your enemy, so I hope we can make up.

I am truly very sorry.

Roy Smee, 1989.9.2

After finishing, Roy examined it carefully and decided there were no problems. He took an envelope and stuffed the letter inside.

Roy thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and slipped five Galleons into the envelope as well. After all, Roy only had five Galleons and a few Sickles left.

Roy handed the envelope to Cedric's owl and instructed it to deliver it directly to Aisling Greenhilde of Slytherin.

The owl flapped its wings and flew out the window with the letter. Roy finally breathed a sigh of relief.

By then, Gabriel and Connor had gotten out of bed as well. Still bleary-eyed, they asked Roy what time it was.

Roy checked his watch.

"Still early, but we have Herbology this morning. Let's go have breakfast together."

Everyone agreed. Gabriel and Connor tidied up their things, and everyone grabbed their textbooks before leaving the dormitory together.

The Hufflepuff common room was rather noisy that morning because two third-year students' pet cats were fighting inside. Hufflepuff's little badgers normally did not wake up so early, but the sound of the cats fighting had awakened quite a few people.

A few first-years from the neighboring dormitory happened to come out as well. Roy called out to them, and the group headed to the Great Hall together.

As they left the Hufflepuff common room, Roy asked Cedric a question.

"What exactly is Aisling's surname? When she introduced herself to us, she said Greenhilde, but during the Sorting, she said her surname was Grindelwald."

Cedric did not really understand what the surname Grindelwald meant either. But considering that Aisling had come from Germany, he thought about it and made a guess.

"Maybe it's just a difference between German and English?"

Roy thought that made sense and did not dwell on it.

The little badgers arrived at the Great Hall in a group. There were not many people there yet. Just as Roy's group sat down, breakfast suddenly appeared on the tables.

Roy deliberately glanced toward the Slytherin table. It looked like Aisling had not come out of the common room yet.

He did not know whether Aisling had received the letter, but it had been sent, and she would see it sooner or later. Better eat first.

Breakfast at Hogwarts was lavish. Even Roy, who had never eaten breakfast before, could not help developing an appetite.

Roy piled a large helping of fried eggs and bacon onto his plate while listening to the older students tell the first-years about their first Herbology lesson.

Tonks, with her rainbow-colored hair, comforted the somewhat nervous first-years like an older sister.

"Relax. Professor Sprout won't be too hard on you. But watch out for that old bat Snape. He never gives points to any House besides Slytherin, and he'll think of every possible way to deduct your points. So don't be upset even if you lose points in Potions."

Fifth-year Nymphadora Tonks vividly imitated Snape teaching class. Her face slowly transformed into Snape's, her rainbow-colored hair turned black, and she drew out her words in a gloomy voice, copying Snape's tone.

"Owen Cauld—didn't you see the changes I wrote on the blackboard? Trying to be clever. Two points from Hufflepuff."

Tonks was a natural Metamorphmagus, and her imitation of Snape was so lifelike that everyone burst out laughing. Fortunately, Snape did not usually come to the Great Hall for breakfast, or Tonks would certainly have ended up in detention.

A Metamorphmagus's gift was inborn. Roy had asked Tonks about the trick to changing faces yesterday, but unfortunately, she had explained that it was a special magical talent.

"Come to think of it, don't I have some special talent too? Something called Ancient Magic?"

Roy suddenly recalled what Ollivander had told him in the wand shop, but he had read many books and had not found anything about Ancient Magic.

Who should I ask about Ancient Magic? Come to think of it, Roy only seemed to know Dumbledore.

Students from every House gradually arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast. Roy saw Fred and George sitting at the Gryffindor table, still constantly making faces at him and Cedric.

But Roy had no time to fool around with the twins right then, because he noticed that Aisling had arrived too.

Aisling entered the Great Hall with a large group of people. Expressionless, she walked at the very front, followed by several older students and Slytherin prefects.

As she passed the Hufflepuff table, Aisling's expression remained icy. From beginning to end, she did not spare Roy a single glance.

Roy did not know whether the letter had arrived, but he felt that Aisling most likely had not read it yet. Staring at the Slytherin table for too long did not seem appropriate, so Roy looked away and continued listening to Tonks and Owen share their experience with the first-years.

Tonks was widely recognized as one of the best students in the school, but unfortunately, she had spent so much time causing trouble that she had not become a prefect. Still, Tonks did not care much. She was Hufflepuff's most popular girl.

At that moment, second-year Teddy Buckman sat down at the Hufflepuff table, panting heavily, and mysteriously shared some gossip.

"I heard from my cousin in Slytherin that after returning to the common room last night, little Grindelwald from Slytherin put on an impressive display of power. She immediately gained a whole bunch of followers. Even the older Slytherin students are rushing to curry favor with her now. Did you see those people following behind her?"

Everyone looked in Aisling's direction. After hearing Teddy's words, they were all shocked by Aisling's strength. A first-year who could make older students feel inferior?

Owen looked somewhat worried. Slytherin had already won the House Cup for several years in a row, and now they had another little genius. What House would be able to compete with Slytherin in the future?

"Tch. Those cheating snakes in Slytherin have never had friends. They only know how to submit to power. When the Dark Lord was around, they had the most Death Eaters too."

Tonks had a very poor opinion of Slytherin. She was technically part of the Black family, but her mother—Sirius's sister—had been disowned by the family for marrying a Muggle. The Black family was widely recognized in the wizarding world as a Dark Arts family.

Owen's expression grew solemn. He knew the abilities and temperaments of those older Slytherin students. The fact that they were willingly currying favor with a first-year showed that Aisling was anything but ordinary.

"I think you'd all better be careful. Don't provoke Slytherin, especially if you're Muggle-born. Anyway, we won't be able to win the House Cup."