01
* * *
"I don't think it's the newt's eyeballs that are the problem," said George rather loudly, as we stewed some ingredients to make our new product for our business 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes', we were trying to make jelly spiders that would take life form similar to chocolate frogs, so they would scurry around for a little bit before you could eat them. Yet, something wasn't quite right with the recipe.
"Shush!" I snapped. We had to be quiet when discussing our products because our mother, as amazing as she was, would take it all away. She isn't the greatest fan of our work, in fact, she's not the greatest fan of gags and jokes in general.
I wish she was, George and I want to make a living off of all of this and some support from her would be nice, but unlike her perfect son's, our older brothers, Bill, Charlie and Percy, we were not academically smart so anything we do is overshadowed by our lack in education. We are determined, however, we will be successful and we will show her just how amazing we are with our products. We don't need academic success, we have the brains and, dare I say, the beauty to go far in life! Mark my words.
George scratched the back of his neck, and dug into a small trunk we keep between ourselves full of little pots of different species and plants to which we pluck our ingredients from, pinching some phoenix ash and sprinkling it into the bubbling cauldron.
Charlie, our second eldest brother, lives in Romania and works with dragons, pretty wicked, right? He loves our jokes and gags, often sending some dragon scales or dragon hide, dragon claws, feathers, anything really in hopes it can aid us in our creations and we take them gladly. We are like magpies, except our shiny items are anything and everything we can get our hands on, we'll take it and trial it. If it doesn't work, then so be it, but if it does, all good in our eyes!
The mixture turned a deep orange from the phoenix ash, bubbling and hissing a lot more but soon settled down with a few stirs. "Try again," George instructed me to do so.
I picked up our mould and filled a ladle with the mixture and tentatively poured it into the mould. The mixture instantly set, thanks to a little adaptation of a muggle product called agar-agar which makes it into the jelly substance, we just added a little jinx that makes it set immediately. Smart? I know right! It was straightforward and easy to push the jelly spider from the mould and immediately it started to scurry over my arm, only around ten centimetres, however, before it flopped and I tried its taste.
"How does it taste?" Grinning I held out the half eaten jelly spider and he took a bite himself. "Brilliant!" George exclaimed and we high-fived. It was a wonderfully citrus flavour with a splash of orange, a tang of lemon and a whizz of pineapple! It was glorious to taste and fun to watch scurry.
"Well, Forge, we've done it again. Another new product to get on the market when we go back to school. As well as our skiving snack-boxes I think we'll be millionaires in the next year!"
"Hopefully, Gred, then we can stick it to mum! She'll have to be proud of us when we are rolling in money courtesy of our treats and gags. We'll be legends of Hogwarts-"
"DINNER!"
Mum's voice echoed through the house, setting off the portraits of the previous house matriarch- Walburga Black- oh, I forgot to mention our family were staying at 12 Grimmauld Place, the newly dobbed, headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. House of Sirius Black- no he isn't a mass murderer, he's actually innocent but in hiding until he can get clearance but that's a whole other story.
George and I stopped the cauldron from bubbling and hid it under my bed and the trunk of ingredients under his before we apparated down to the dining room giving mum as shock. She doesn't like us sneaking up on us now that we can apparate and do magic outside of Hogwarts. We find it hilarious to do it on purpose, though!
It was any old July 1st, we had just moved into Grimmauld Place, having flooed from Kings Cross Station as it was the day we started our summer holidays. We hadn't even been there for long, only around five hours or so and we were already causing havoc. Just how we like it and we planned on doing so much more, but we wasn't expecting another guest to join us that day.
Myself, George and our younger siblings, Ron and Ginny, along with Ron's friend, Hermione, went bundling into the dining room. Upon seeing the dark girl with wild curls, we all paused looking at her in confusion and wonder before turning to our mother.
"Why is she here?" questioned George, sparing a sideways glance towards the girl who sipped diligently at her mug of what I could only presume was pumpkin juice.
Mum spun on her heels and looked cross, "don't be so rude! Catina will be staying here just like we are this holidays. Sorry dear, for my son's unkindly welcome," she directed towards the girl who brushed off the my brother's comment.
Ron's eyebrows furrowed as he slumped into a seat, "you're that Slytherin girl aren't you? The one that Seamus fancied."
The Catina girl looked at him bemused, "yeah, I am a Slytherin and yes I am a girl but I don't have a clue who this Seamus sort is, so I don't know if he fancies me, darling."
Ron blushed at the 'darling' comment and refused to look at her again. This time Sirius spoke up, "you're a Slytherin?"
Catina nodded her head, "and proud of it" she claimed, "I don't care what anyone says, us Slytherin's are not all that bad. Malfoy, well he's a git, but some of us actually give a toss about other people."
She's fiesty, I'll give you that.
Sirius didn't continue on with the subject. He may have a prejudice towards people in that house due to his genetics and their affiliations with Lord Voldemort and his followers and would usually hate their guts but she was right. A small minority of Slytherin's are actually people with feelings, take his cousin, for example, Andromeda, Tonks' mother she is a good sort but that was an exception. I'm not so sure about this girl but I'm not feral, I have manners, so I guess I'll give her a chance? Maybe...
"Are you sure about that?" Challenged George, "because I am pretty sure you're the only one I have ever met that isn't preaching bloody murder."
She chewed the inside of her cheek, "then you must be blind, deaf and stupid because there is plenty of us who are not evil prats like you think we are."
Ginny sniggered, "he is all three!"
"Name some then."
Catina began to reel off plenty of names, counting them on her fingers as she went which, to be frank, impressed me and definitely some of the others as it was far more people than they had expected her to name, many of which must have been in the years below her in school because they didn't recognise all of them. "..Cas, Prop and Lulu ."
"As in Caspian Morgan, Prosper Byrnn and Luisa Yung?" I asked, guessing from the nicknames the girl had used. I have seen them around but didn't take much notice to the them because of the fact they sported green robes. I don't like Slytherin as I have already said but again, I have manners and she's gorgeous.
Yes, I said it. She's so beautiful, more beautiful than any other Slytherin I have seen. Her face was blemish free- I don't know how but I'd like to know because my spots have been getting out of control as of late. Her teeth were not crooked, once again, how? She seemed flawless, was this just a cover up for her ugly personality? Maybe, but we will see.
"Yeah, they're chill," Catina said, letting her black cat jump onto her shoulder and snuggle his nose into her curls and use them like a blanket.
Ginny bit her lip, "they're your friends, right? I have seen you with them."
"They're my best friends. Trust me when I say this, they are not terrorists like you may think. Neither am I! Do you think I would live with muggles if I hated them? No. I would not- Can you stop looking at me like that!" She cried towards George, "You look like you have just eaten a raw onion!"
"And? Is it wrong? Is it hurting you?"
Catina blinked a few times, her jaw clenching, "not physically but it is radiating distaste off of you which I don't like."
"Well, I don't care what you do and don't like." He spat.
Catina stood up, alarming the cat who leapt onto the table and stood in front of her with his back arched. "This is what I hate. Uneducated boys like you who generalise everyone based on one similar trait. I might be a Slytherin but Slytherin is not for the evil. It is for the cunning and the ambitious. If we were going on stereotypes from the past I would believe that Gryffindors are a bunch of prats who run into battle weaponless and wonder why they end up dying but no. I don't stereotype nor prejudise against people like you do! So why don't you climb off of your high horse, darling, and give me a chance to show you what a true Slytherin is!"
The room fell silent as Catina stood with her hands firmly on the table, her eyebrows arched and her jaw tightened. Even I, who would side with my twin on anything sat flabbergasted at the girls' outburst. Maybe she was right? Maybe we should give her a chance. Maybe... just maybe...
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top