#she had to deal with three potters one jacob and mc

[slytherinliththorne]

We were discussing this on discord the other day, after MC graduates Snape thinks he will finally get a break but oh boy was he wrong.

#can you believe in all my years in this fandom this is the first time ive drawn the golden trio #not saying that he deserves a break but yeah #i would be done too #just imagine poor mcgonagall tho #she had to deal with three potters one jacob and mc #hphm #hphm mc #hp hogwarts mystery #Harry Potter Hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery #Harry Potter #severus snape #hermione granger #ron weasley #jacob's sibling

[carewyncromwell]

[Ficlet] Gonna Hit Rewind

Hi guys! So this is a little drabble inspired by a prompt by my friend @drinkyoursoupbitch​, where I show what my MC, Carewyn Cromwell, was up to during a certain scene in the Harry Potter series! 

Before we begin, just a couple of notes --

Post-Hogwarts, Carewyn becomes a lawyer for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement -- you can read more about her life as an adult here, if you’d like! When it comes to the Order of the Phoenix, Carey-Bear doesn’t formally join, instead providing covert assistance while staying autonomous from Dumbledore (who she doesn’t really like as a person) and looking “subservient” to Fudge’s wishes. Later on, this becomes very useful after the Death Eaters take over the Ministry in 1997: when the Battle of Hogwarts begins, Carewyn actually helps take back the Ministry by placing Umbridge under citizen’s arrest and temporarily taking charge until Kingsley Shacklebolt is officially appointed Minister. Carewyn’s outfit in the sketch enclosed below is inspired by this design. Musical accompaniment for this ficlet were “Leave Me Alone” by Michael Jackson (for Carewyn’s conversation with that...certain family member in the aforementioned sketch) and “Turn Back Time” by Derivakat (which inspired the title of this drabble!). And in regards to Carewyn’s negative attitude toward Time Turners...that is 110% my mother talking. When we read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child together, she absolutely hated that it involved time travel, as she found the whole idea ridiculously confusing and illogical. (The whole climax of Prisoner of Azkaban was even her least favorite aspect of the original Potter books. 😂)

Hope you enjoy -- and much love, Soup dear! xoxo

x~x~x~x

“Down here, down here,” panted Mr. Weasley, taking two steps at a time. “The lift doesn’t even come down this far…why they’re doing it there…”

They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance to that which led to Snape’s dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes.

“Courtroom…Ten…I think…we’re nearly … yes.”

As Arthur Weasley rushed down the hall toward Courtroom Ten, he was unaware that in Courtroom Seven, the door of which was left slightly ajar, Carewyn Cromwell was speaking to her estranged uncle, the new head of the Cromwell Clan, at that very moment, nor that their conversation would ultimately determine Harry’s fate in that courtroom happening just three doors down. 

“You’re not supposed to be here, Blaise, and you know that full well.”

“I merely wished to speak with the Minister, little Winnie -- you are aware of how much our family still supports the Ministry and, by extension, your career, are you not?”

Carewyn fixed Blaise with a very cold blue eye. “And I suppose Lucius Malfoy speaking with the Minister down here mere moments ago had nothing to do with you making an unscheduled visit?”

Blaise cocked his eyebrows, his identically colored and shaped eyes narrowing under them.

“I can sense you trying to enter my mind, Winnie,” he said very softly, his eyes rippling like light blue flames despite the hardness of his face. “It won’t work. You couldn’t reach my thoughts when you were a girl, and you can’t reach them now.”

His voice became cooler, to the point of sounding condescending. 

“Whatever questions you have, you know your uncle would be more than willing to answer them, if you merely ask nicely.”

‘Answer’ -- ha! Carewyn thought to herself scornfully. Lie your face off, more like. But even so...if I’m going to get what I need, I need to keep him talking...

Carewyn went very quiet, considering Blaise carefully and her next words even more so. 

“...Are you or are you not associating with Lucius Malfoy?” she asked softly.

“You might recall that he and Father were business associates back in the day.”

“Of course I do. That’s why I’m asking. Or have you forgotten where Grandfather’s activities sentenced him -- where they sentenced you, until you were able to bribe the Minister to reduce the rest of your family’s sentences?”

“Our family, little Winnie,” Blaise corrected her, a notable, fiery edge to his voice.

You all may be related to me by blood, but you are not my family, Carewyn thought fiercely, but she once again bit her tongue. If she provoked his temper the way she was tempted to, he’d be less likely to talk to her. 

When she didn’t respond, Blaise continued. 

“Lucius Malfoy has always had a working relationship with the Cromwell Clan. It’s only natural that we speak from time to time, as two patriarchs of prominent magical families.”

“Magical families with certain reputations, you mean,” Carewyn said very coolly. 

“Cornelius Fudge thinks very highly of Lucius Malfoy.”

“And of you, thanks to your impressive acting. But that doesn’t extend to everyone else, and you know it.”

“Of course,” said Blaise with a very cool smirk. “That’s something we have in common, isn’t it, Winnie? Putting on a charming face to get what we want, and not caring who hates us for it?”

Carewyn didn’t care enough to argue this point -- she’d already had this sort of discussion with Rakepick several times back in the day, and she knew that it meant Blaise was not only trying to divert the conversation, but also was absolutely full of it. 

You’re acting like this fact makes us just as bad as each other, Blaise, but it doesn’t. Even if we have some similarities in our methods, that does not make us the same. I’ve never terrorized people to try to advance myself. I’ve never manipulated or forced anyone to join a criminal organization. I’ve never masqueraded as my nephew in order to try to manipulate my niece into selling her soul and her freedom just to save him. However much I’m not perfect, I’m head-and-shoulders above you, when it comes to the moral high ground.

But honestly, there was no point in arguing with people like Blaise. It wasn’t like she’d ever convince him that everything he thought was wrong -- that Muggles weren’t inferior, Charles Cromwell was an abusive monster, and everything he and the Cromwell Clan did to try to get Carewyn, Jacob, and Lane back under their control was reprehensible rather than justified -- and she didn’t feel enough passion to try. Especially not when there were more important things happening at that very moment...

Harry would be in the courtroom by now. She had to hurry.

Although Carewyn tried to keep her face stoic, her brain was working very fast. Her eyes drifted away, off toward the far wall of the courtroom where the Wizengamot benches were lined up.

“...Look,” she said slowly, her voice becoming a little softer, “my Legilimency has become very sensitive, in this line of work. It allows me to read people’s intentions and feelings very quickly, even when I’m not actively trying to. And Lucius Malfoy...he doesn’t see you as an equal, but as a pawn.”

Blaise’s eyebrows came down over his eyes, but he didn’t respond.

“You and the rest of the Cromwell Clan only got out of Azkaban because you were able to appeal to Fudge,” said Carewyn, “but if you’re associating with the wrong people, that could very quickly sour. Your position will become uncertain again, and you won’t be able to protect them -- especially if Fudge gets the kind of control over the Wizengamot that he wants...where charges and judgments are laid down based on favoritism more than legality. We’re already seeing it with how Fudge is now treating Dumbledore and Potter, after how much he always sucked up to them. End up outside of Fudge’s good graces, as they did, and the same might befall you. I realize that you and Malfoy...”

Are Muggle-hating bigots.

“...have similar politics,” she said at last very stiffly, “...but Lucius Malfoy’s politics are far more extreme than yours, and although the courts decided there wasn’t enough evidence to prove his methods were also...we both know that’s also true. If he falls, he will drag you down with him -- and if you take the fall for his actions, he won’t lift a finger to help you.”

Carewyn forced herself to look Blaise in the eye. 

“Grandfather’s dealings with R got you all in enough trouble. You bought yourself and the rest of...our family a second chance -- something many others did not get. Are you sure you want to endanger that?”

Blaise considered Carewyn very carefully as she spoke, his blue eyes boring into hers critically. By the end, they’d actually widened.

“...Are you actually expressing concern for us, Winnie?” he asked very lowly. 

Carewyn scoffed. “Don’t misunderstand me, Blaise -- I don’t really think you all deserved a second chance in the first place, after everything you’ve pulled.”

Her blue eyes became a bit more solemn. 

“But truthfully...I’m not that upset that you were released from Azkaban. Dementors...they’re wretched creatures. I’ve seen what they can do to people.”

Her expression darkened.  

“...I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, however terrible they are.”

Something confused and almost disgusted rippled over Blaise’s face, making his nose wrinkle.

“Ugh -- and here I’d thought you’d actually weeded out that weakness in your heart...”

Carewyn’s red lips came together tightly, but she didn’t reply. The two stared each other down for a moment, before Blaise finally exhaled.

“Very well, Winnie -- you want to know why I’m down here?”

He reached into his scarlet robes and pulled out a gold chain, on the end of which dangled a tiny gold hourglass. 

A Time Turner. 

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed upon it. 

“Lucius Malfoy has expressed quite a bit of interest in my old department, when we’ve spoken,” murmured Blaise. “One sub-section in particular -- one where records of magical predictions are kept.”

Carewyn’s eyebrows furrowed. “Prophecies?”

“They are truly a fascinating thing,” said Blaise, his voice sounding rather airy. “So much value is placed on them -- too much, one could argue...just as one puts too much value on all attempts at ‘future sight.’ Alas, the section of my old department that Malfoy was interested in was not my area of expertise -- my area was in the study of Time, specifically backwards-facing. We did occasionally dip into the study of forward-facing time magic, but more in the sphere of inevitabilities -- things that evolve naturally in nature, every season -- not human affairs. Unfortunately when I was there, there was an employee monitoring the perimeter of the section I meant to enter -- I couldn’t have explored further even if I’d wanted to.”

“So Malfoy wanted you to stop by your old desk and pick up something that might help him or someone else enter the Department of Mysteries?” Carewyn asked. “Why?”

Blaise shrugged. “He didn’t say.”

“And yet you have a suspicion as to why?”

Blaise’s eyes narrowed upon Carewyn’s face, not angrily, but almost darkly. 

“I may no longer work for the Department of Mysteries, Winnie, but I cannot discuss the more classified branches of their work too deeply. That is part of the Vow I made when I first joined the Department -- it forces me to speak in hypotheticals and vague descriptions more than specific details. But I fear no random stooge using this tool to try to enter my old department, whether Malfoy or otherwise. In fact,” he added with a smirk, “I would frankly love to see them try.”

He ignored Carewyn’s critical, confused expression and pressed on more seriously. 

“You’re not a stupid girl, Winnie. I know you know what’s really going on, under the surface. Me offering assistance to Lucius Malfoy early on is merely how I intend to earn enough favor to keep my family safe, should the worst happen.”

“And what is that?” asked Carewyn.

Blaise cocked his eyebrows again. “Ask your mother. She remembers the First Wizarding War just as well as I do -- how it all started before.”

He turned on his heel and headed for the door.

“Blaise.”

Carewyn speaking his name and sharply grabbing his arm holding the Time Turner made him stop. 

“If you wish to provide Lucius Malfoy useful information,” she said lowly, “you can tell him that that employee was not there by accident.”

Blaise looked back over his shoulder, startled. Carewyn closed her eyes tight, trying to block out the intense nausea rippling over her. 

“He’s there to make sure Malfoy’s superior can’t reach what he wants,” she murmured. “There are many more, just like him, all with the same goal. It doesn’t matter when you go there -- there will always be someone there who will keep him away from what he wants.”

Blaise stared at Carewyn, his eyes narrowing in bewilderment. 

“...Why are you telling me this?” he whispered. 

Carewyn swallowed back the lump in her throat. 

“I haven’t worked with time magic like you have...but people aren’t supposed to be in two places at once. That I do know. A lot of problems have been caused by people trying to mess with time. Mum told me that once in the 19th century, a whole bunch of people’s lives were erased out of existence, all because someone messed around with a Time Turner...”

“Ah, yes, Eloise Mintumble,” said Blaise, sounding as darkly amused as a bully might upon seeing one of their usual targets wearing a particularly obnoxious dress. “Tried to go back more than a few hours and ended up changing things so dramatically that she both erased 25 people out of existence and aged her body five centuries and died upon return trip. A rather fascinating case study.”

“You’re disgusting,” Carewyn said coldly. But she got back to the task at hand, her voice hardening. “Even if Malfoy couldn’t get what his master wants from the Department of Mysteries with that Time Turner, he could still do irreparable damage with it. If all Malfoy needs is assistance, to believe that you’re helping him and for you to earn enough esteem that the Cromwell Clan stays safe...then give him the intelligence I’ve given you. Don’t give him that Time Turner.”

Blaise raised an eyebrow, his lips spreading into a rather condescending smirk. “Why? Because it’s wrong, little Winnie? Because it’s illegal and immoral, and ‘not the right thing to do?’”

“I’m not foolish enough to appeal to you with morality, Blaise -- I know you don’t have any,” spat Carewyn. “I’m asking you not to do it for your own self-preservation. For the Clan’s. ...For your family’s.”

Blaise’s smirk actually slid off his face. Carewyn held his gaze as best as she could, even with how ill she felt. 

“I may not be one of those who takes turns standing watch in your old department,” Carewyn said very softly, “but Jacob is.”

Blaise’s face went rather white, and Carewyn knew she’d struck a cord. For as cruel, selfish, and immoral of a person as Blaise was, he still saw his family -- all of it -- like his personal belongings. And he “took care” of his belongings. He wanted complete control over them and, like Charles before him, he never respected them as people, nurtured them, or gave them any freedom...but Blaise didn’t want anyone touching “his things.”

The older man’s jaw clenched as a rather dark glint flashed through his eyes.

“...I see.”

His teeth still bared, he extended the hand holding the Time Turner’s gold chain and, very slowly, lowered it into Carewyn’s hand. 

Carewyn’s eyes softened in relief.

“Thank you.”

Blaise exhaled heatedly through his nose.

“Jacob always was a fool,” he growled, his voice full of resentment. “Risking his life for people like that Muggle filth who abandoned you and your mother -- ”

“Better than selling his soul and freedom to serve the person who locked my mother and all of you up like prisoners,” Carewyn shot back rather coolly.

Blaise’s eyes flashed angrily. “You will not speak ill of your grandfather, Winnie! Everything he ever did in his life was for us, including you, your brother, and your mother, and I will not have you forgetting that!”

“Crow that lie as much as you want -- it won’t ever make it true.”

Blaise seethed as Carewyn pocketed the Time Turner in her robes. Slowly, his temper cooled enough that his lips spread back out into a rather vindictive smirk.

“For the record, Winnie...Time moves in a loop. If Lucius Malfoy were to use the Time Turner after I give it to him a half-hour from now, the effects would’ve already been felt by us by now. We would have heard about someone having broken into the Department of Mysteries before our conversation even started. The fact that we are not hearing that means that he never receives the Time Turner from me. So, in fact, it was already clear that I would give you the Time Turner before I actually did -- ”

“Oh, shut your trap,” Carewyn said tiredly. Just listening to Blaise wax on was giving her a headache. “I don���t even want to try unpacking all that time travel rubbish. All I care about is that Malfoy and his ilk can’t try to mess with time, now or ever.”

She turned on her heel and strode for the slightly ajar door. Pushing it further open, she then looked back over her shoulder at Blaise. 

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to take care of. Stay out of trouble, or I will not hesitate to prosecute you.”

Blaise’s eyes were very cold even around his smirk. “If there’s anyone who should be warned to stay out of trouble, it’s you, Winnie. I’m not the only one who’s aligned themselves with people who could drag them down, if they fall.”

“Perhaps,” said Carewyn mildly. “But my friends will catch me if I fall, just as they have before. Just like I always catch them. That makes all the difference.”

She walked away, her heels clapping against the black tiled floor as she strode to the end of the hall, listening at the door of Courtroom Ten. She could hear several voices talking inside -- after a moment, she recognized two as Amelia Bones and Cornelius Fudge. 

“...certainly described the effects of a dementor attack very accurately. And I can’t imagine why she would say they were there if they weren’t -- ”

“But dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and just happening to come across a wizard! The odds on that must be very, very long, even Bagman wouldn’t have bet -- ”

“Oh, I don’t think any of us believe the dementors were there by coincidence,” said a very misty, serene voice from inside the Courtroom.

Carewyn’s shoulders relaxed, even as her eyes rolled up toward the ceiling.

Dumbledore. He’d made it in time. 

Exhaling heavily, Carewyn quickly turned back around and walked briskly back down the hallway, back upstairs toward her office. On the way, she walked by Blaise, who was now deep in quiet conversation with Lucius Malfoy, and Carewyn and Malfoy coldly stared each other down as she passed.

x~x~x~x

Carewyn hated keeping the Time Turner in her desk. She wanted to be rid of the thing immediately, but she knew she had to be patient. 

Around 11:00, just before lunchtime, Carewyn asked to borrow a Dungbomb from Tonks and covertly dropped off it just outside the Auror Department on her way back to her tiny office. The resulting smell resulted in the entire floor clearing out, until someone could deal with the smell. Carewyn herself, however, stayed in her office and powered through, spraying some Muggle air freshener to try to mask the smell. 

I forgot how much I hate Dungbombs, Carewyn thought dully. Oh well...desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

Keeping the files on a case she was working on open on either side of her, Carewyn read through them every-so-often as she pecked away at a letter she had to write. This letter had to be concise and to the point, if its recipient was going to know it was safe and exactly what she had to do, to help keep Harry Potter from getting unjustly expelled. 

Right on time, three hours after Harry’s hearing, Carewyn’s Legilimency picked up the feeling that someone was approaching her office. A moment later, there was a knock on her door. 

The ginger-haired lawyer exhaled heavily, her eyebrows knitting together. 

“Come in,” she said. 

Although she kept her voice level, she already felt a headache coming on. She knew who was on the other side of that door -- and sure enough, when it opened, in came tall, silver-bearded Albus Dumbledore, dressed in long midnight-blue robes. 

Carewyn’s eyes hardened as the Hogwarts Headmaster closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Carewyn,” Dumbledore said pleasantly. 

“You got my message from Tonks, then?” Carewyn asked. 

“To come straight to your office as soon as I arrived, but to not let anyone see me entering? Yes. Though I daresay the evacuation of this floor thanks to the smell of Dungbombs helped with that considerably,” said Dumbledore, and his light blue eyes twinkled. “I presume it has something to do with why some members of the Wizengamot were asking what I was doing back here so soon, and why Cornelius looked even more sour at my presence than usual.”

Carewyn’s face was twisted in a deep frown as she finally took the Time Turner out of the drawer and put it on top of her desk. 

“The time and place of Harry’s hearing was changed three hours ago, with no notice,” she said stridently. “The hearing originally scheduled for 11 o’clock instead was moved to 8 o’clock at 7:58 this morning. The letter was sent by owl to Privet Drive at 7:59, right before a second letter informing Harry that because he didn’t show up for his hearing, he was presumed guilty and therefore expelled from Hogwarts. Both letters arrived at 8:52. The Order wasn’t informed of the change until a little after 9, but was also informed by Arthur Weasley that you’d had the matter well in hand and had arrived miraculously early.”

“And so they felt no need to send me any post regarding the matter,” presumed Dumbledore with a dewy smile. “But in order for all of that to have happened, I will have to go back and ensure it does happen -- isn’t that so?”

Carewyn nodded curtly as she handed the Time Turner and a sealed envelope to Dumbledore. 

“Three turns back should be enough -- you don’t want to risk changing too much, by arriving too early, and I have a closed-door meeting with Chester Davies prior to that. Give this letter to me as soon as you arrive in the past. As soon as she...escorts you out, head straight for Courtroom Ten. You should arrive just after Harry does -- it shouldn’t raise as much suspicion if you make it to the courtroom after Harry, since he was already in Arthur’s office when he first received word of the change...”

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with some mischief. “Clever as always, Carewyn, my dear. You do the Order very proud.”

Carewyn’s eyes flashed. “I’m not doing this for you or your ‘Order,’ Dumbledore, as you know full well. Jacob was completely at R’s mercy after he was expelled from Hogwarts, and I don’t want to even think about where Potter might end up, if the same thing happened to him. And if Jacob’s guarding something in the Department of Mysteries, I don’t want to make it any easier for You-Know-Who and his goons to get the drop on him.”

Dumbledore’s calm didn’t shift, though his eyes did turn a bit more solemn. “And as always, Carewyn, your cleverness is only rivaled by your caring for others.” 

Rising to his feet, the Headmaster tucked the envelope inside his robes and then picked up the Time Turner. 

“I’ll be seeing you,” he said cheerily, “or, should I say, ‘I will have seen you?’”

And with three turns, he’d disappeared.

Carewyn gave an exhausted, groan-like sigh.

“I hate Time Turners,” she muttered to herself.

x~x~x~x

When Dumbledore appeared in Carewyn’s office out of the blue at 8 o’clock that morning, the ginger-haired lawyer reacted with a lot of irritation and suspicion. Those feelings weren’t helped when Dumbledore handed her the letter addressed to her, and yet written in a hand identical to hers.

Carewyn,

First of all, yes, I know you recognize this handwriting. This isn’t a trick -- it’s just the work of a Time Turner: specifically the one Dumbledore’s holding. On that note, ask him to hand it over and then smash it. We have more than enough problems in the here and now: no sense in adding more time travel rubbish to the pile. 

Now that that’s been taken care of, let’s get to business --

The time and place of Harry’s hearing was moved just a minute ago. It now starts at 8 o’clock in the morning in Courtroom Ten. Don’t worry, Arthur’s already been notified and is ferrying Harry as we speak, but Dumbledore needs to get down there right now. Kick him out of your office, nice and loudly -- there are people outside who could overhear, and you don’t want anyone to think you and Dumbledore are on good terms. Which, fortunately, you’re not. 

Now that Dumbledore’s out of your hair, let’s go over what you need to do -- 

Blaise has sneaked into the Ministry, specifically the bottommost floor near the Department of Mysteries, on Lucius Malfoy’s direction. No, Blaise isn’t a Death Eater -- just short-sighted and self-serving as ever. The point is that he has a Time Turner on his person, which he cannot be allowed to walk away with, under any circumstances. You’ll be able to catch him leaving the Department of Mysteries if you go downstairs in the next fifteen minutes. He’ll be meeting Lucius Malfoy around 8:30, in the middle of Harry’s hearing, so don’t let him walk away without getting that Time Turner away from him. Don’t come at the issue straight-on, though -- you can appeal to Blaise to give it to you willingly. Just keep him talking. Once you have the Time Turner, you can hold onto it until Dumbledore arrives in your office at the time that was originally scheduled for Harry’s hearing, so he can use it to go back far enough to arrive at Harry’s hearing on time. 

I know, this Time Travel stuff is absolutely bloody ridiculous. But at least this way Malfoy won’t be able to use the Time Turner Blaise stole to cause even more havoc. 

Burn this letter as soon as you’re done reading it. We don’t want anyone coming across it. 

Good luck. 

As for Dumbledore himself, he arrived at Harry’s hearing right on time, all according to plan. 

“Ah,” said Fudge, who looked thoroughly disconcerted. “Dumbledore. Yes. You --er -- got our -- er -- message that the time and -- er -- place of the hearing had been changed, then?”

“I must have missed it,” said Dumbledore cheerfully. “However, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early, so no harm done.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #harry potter #fanfiction #carewyn cromwell #albus dumbledore #cornelius fudge #amelia bones #blaise cromwell #lucius malfoy #time turners #AHHHHHH #YES IT ALL COMES TOGETHER #this took a while to write but it was worth it #but yeah my mum loathes time travel stories #she's a scientist at heart so the illogicality of them just drives her crazy #jacob honestly doesn't like working with dumbledore any more than carewyn does but he does see 'the greater good' of it #so he ends up being a guard not just for the prophecy but also later on for people escaping the death eaters #he likewise just barely evades ministry scrutiny enough to be able to hide people during the War #yes carewyn's choice ultimately does lead to negative fall-out like bode getting imperiused and arthur getting attacked by nagini #which of course carey-bear deeply regrets #but at the same time how much more damage might she have prevented? we'll never know #sometimes in war you have to make bad choices to try to mitigate even worse consequences :(

[averagesmw]

Penny Haywood x MC- A risk far too great

Game: Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery  

_____________________________

My stay at Hogwarts so far has been... interesting, to say the least

Unwillingly, I became responsible for breaking the horrible curses that came as a result of the Cursed Vaults. All in pursue of my missing brother, Jacob.

Not that I didn't want to save everyone or find my brother, but I didn't know it would be this difficult

However, when we entered the third vault and broke the sleepwalking curse, I thought I was getting the hang of it

...And then came the fourth curse

Not only was it difficult to understand, but this one got quite personal

See, this curse kidnapped students and trapped them inside the various portraits that decorate the school's walls. One of the victims happened to be the first-year Hufflepuff, Beatrice Haywood.

As in, Penny's adorable little sister

That is no way to be introduced to Hogwarts, I should know

But what weighed on me the most was Penny's reaction to this, she was devastated and obviously not the little ray of sunshine I knew and loved

Our adventures together were by far my favorite thing about all these years. We've grown to know each other so well, she even picked me to go with her to a dance

She provided all the happiness that I needed, but now, she was the one that needed happiness

Regardless, it served as a strong motivator to break the curse as soon as possible, which led me to this very moment...

Joined by Merula, Bill, and the new faculty member, Professor Rakepick, I was discussing the next step in our plan to enter the fourth vault. We were in the Courtyard as to not raise any suspicions

However, our plans would soon collide with my personal goals, and not for the better

...

"Now, who shall we take into the Cursed Vault with us?"

Rakepick asked us, making my mind start racing with possibilities

"Well, there are pros and cons to anyone we pick..."

We looked around at the people present in the courtyard. From Badeea to Tonks and even Barnaby, we discussed who could bring more to this table

Eventually, the sight of beautiful, blonde hair caught my attention. There she was, Penny Haywood herself trying her best to go on with her day

Always so resourceful and determined to help others, even now that she was the one that needed the help. Oh, Penny...

It was true that she could help but I...I just couldn't sentence to go into such a place, what if we lose? Or worse...

No, there was no chance I would risk bringing her along this time. I had to find someone else that could assist us

In my mind, I was already narrowing down the best candidates, although I didn't want to put any of them in danger, especially--

"What about Haywood? We could use her potion knowledge"

Merula's voice broke my concentration, I immediately turned to her upon hearing that

"Merula is right, Penny could help us brew a potion if we need it at the vault if we need it"

Bill added. The sole mention of her name in this conversation was enough to send shivers down my spine

I could even feel my breathing getting a bit erratic at this. But before anything else could happen, I threw a quick counter-offer

"B-But what about Charlie? He knows about dragons far more than any of us. W-We could use his knowledge more!"

Merula looked at me strangely. I subtly shook my head to her, telling her to back off on that idea with my eyes filled with worry

She seemed to pick up on this and gave me a subtle nod, putting her hand on her chin

For the last months, Merula and I had grown closer together as well. She might not admit it until earlier today, but we were good friends

In fact, she was likely the only person (besides Rowan) that knew about my umm... My opinion on Penny, hence why she understood my signals so quickly

"Now that you mention, he could help us defeat the dragon first. After he squeals at the sight of it"

For a split second, I felt relieved to have her on my side...then Rakepick talked

"While that is true, I agree that Miss Haywood could help us the most in this case"

She was quick to shoot down the idea, but why? Why send Penny into something so dangerous without even giving her time to prepare!

There was NO way I'd send Penny off like that, not her, especially after everything we've been through

"I don't think that's a good idea, professor. Penny has been quite unstable since the beginning of the year, she won't concentrate"

I responded with the first thing that came to my mind, just desperately trying to change their mind

"Or she could be perfectly motivated to give her best to save her sister"

"Hasn't Penny helped you with the other vaults before, Y/N? She has more experience in dealing with them"

Bill was not helping. Of course Penny tagged along a few times, but mostly when we knew that it wasn't incredibly dangerous like now

It's a dragon we're talking about! Not a Boggart or an Ice Knight

"Bill, we're not bringing her with us"

My friend noticed the sudden change in my tone and looked at me with a confused look

"Why not? Is something wrong with that?"

What!? Of course there was, Bill! You'd have to be blind not to notice!

My worry found a shield in the form of anger, but it was quickly released as I yelled out of pure emotion

"WE'RE NOT SENDING PENNY OUT THERE, THAT'S IT!!"

All three of my allies were taken back by this, even Rakepick. Taking a quick look at the rest of the students that were also there I noticed that they had all shut up and were now staring at me...even her

I couldn't deal with all of those eyes, not at the same time. What was I even supposed to say after such a display?

"I...I have to go. I'll be back for tonight, I promise"

Following what both my heart and mind were screaming me to do, I ran away back to the castle without looking at anyone

The place was awfully silent for a couple of seconds, but the chatter resumed shortly after, only a bit less intense this time

"Was it something I said? I've never seen Y/N have an outburst like that..."

Bill felt guilty, but he didn't even know why. Of course, it was always awful when you made someone react like that without knowing the reason

"Miss Snyde, you said before this conversation that Y/N is your friend, right?"

The teacher caught the attention of Merula, who was still looking at the door

"Yes?..."

"Do you mind explaining what was that all about, then?"

Merula was silent for a moment. She wouldn't tell the exact reason, but she was clever enough to coat it while technically not lying

"Well...I reckon to have one cursed Haywood was too much for L/N, maybe they don't want to get the other one killed. It would stain their pride"

"Y/N has been lacking sleep since this all began, too. They don't want anyone else involved in this" The Weasley added

"You may be right...Do you think you can talk some sense into them?"

Merula then spotted a certain blonde running into the castle, going in the same direction. Under a mask of carelessness, a genuine smile grew

"That won't be necessary, professor"

...

My instinct brought me to the Artifact Room, where I immediately closed the door upon entering and just got to my knees when my body was unable to continue

My hands rested on them as tears started to form on their own, despite my best attempts to stop them

Why was it so hard to understand that Penny was off the table?

Why was it so hard to understand that she was the last one I wanted to get involved?

Just...why?...

I felt my breathing adopt a slightly faster pace, but only for a couple of seconds. I was too busy fighting with my thoughts and just trying to make any sense of it to realize that someone had opened the door

By the time I knew it, someone was handing me down a potion

"Here, drink this"

That voice...

Not wanting her to see me like this, I looked over my shoulder to confirm it. Those beautiful blue eyes, the braided hair, the worry in her face...

I took the potion but didn't open it

"Penny? What's this?"

"It's a calming draught, I always have a spare one just in case"

"That's very considerate of you, b-but really, I'm fine"

Then she placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a sympathetic look

"I heard you scream my name in the courtyard, Y/N. You can trust me"

Of course lying wasn't going to work, I made a mess back there

Reluctantly, I removed the cork and drank the calming draught. Just by feeling it go down my throat, I could feel my thoughts become clearer and my breathing was slowing down on its own

"Thank you..."

I said handing her the potion, but then Penny sat down in front of me, trying to get a better look at me

"Do you want to talk? You know you can trust me, Y/N"

I sighed before nodding slightly. Taking a quick glance at her before immediately trying to look away

Might as well tell her now. This was about her after all

"W-Well...Professor Rakepick says she found a way into the Cursed Vault, it's a portkey that will activate tonight"

Her gasp made me look at her, she was visibly surprised by this

"Tonight? But those are wonderful news!"

"They are. Rakepick says we should take someone else with us, but then everyone started leaning towards you and--"

"I'm in"

Upon hearing this, I felt my heart take the hit, quickly reminding me of what I was fearing just a second ago

Despite being under the influence of that potion, distress was beyond visible

"What? No"

Penny gave me a puzzled look. Never before had I prohibited her to come with me on an adventure

What was particularly concerning was how quick I was to brush her off

"Why not?"

"Penny, it's far too dangerous! Even a bloody dragon will be there"

She picked up on my increasing anguish, but her own emotions were just as strong at the moment

"And yet you're still going, Y/N! That's no justification"

"Yes, because we've been chosen and trained specifically to deal with this! There's no telling what could happen if you go!"

"I want to go, I need to see it for myself when the curse is broken. Plus you could use my help!"

I shook my head in denial. I knew she of all people had a reason to go, but the risk was far too big for a reward that was still uncertain

"There are plenty of ways you can help us from here"

The Hufflepuff was growing frustrated by my attempts at persuading her out of this mission, maybe to the point of getting personal

"Why don't you want me to go? I need to save my sister!"

It hurt to see her so angry at me, but as I felt the effect of the draught vanishing, I too adopted a similar gaze

I felt the hairs on my arms raising once again and the heartbeat increasing, even my face was heating up

"You're too valuable to lose!"

"Oh? And why am I the one who's too valuable? Why isn't it Bill? Or Merula? Or--"

Blood rushing

Tears escaping

Voice raising and suddenly

"BUT I DON'T LOVE THEM LIKE I LOVE YOU, OKAY!?"

Silence

Pure and suffocating silence

It quickly took over the room as soon as my voice stopped echoing through

I myself couldn't help but cover my mouth in shock by what just happened. Not just because I raised my voice against Penny, but because of what I said

Did I really just?...

Oh no

Beyond shocked, I looked at her. She was speechless with her eyes staring at me in disbelief

"You do?..."

"I have to get out of--"

Once again, I tried to run from it, but it didn't work. My arm was stopped by her hand and her startled voice

"N-No, it's okay! Really"

I turned around to see her yet again, not able to even think of a word for her. For sure she would turn me down, or worse

But her smile, that gentle, warm smile was there. The same one she showed me whenever we were goofing around or brewing something together

It was there

And so was that soft gaze she had whenever I had done something stupid and she was trying to help me like...well... right now

But this time, it hit different

"I want to hear it from you, Y/N. Please" Her sweet voice practically begging for me to stay. I didn't find myself to be strong enough to deny her request

And so, against everything my mind told me, I stayed behind, with Penny

She asked me to carry on with what I said before trying to escape. Sighing, I complied

I figured that it could help her understand why I didn't want her to go, but also...I think I owed her an explanation for well, everything

I gathered my strength until finally, words started to come out

"The truth is that I...I fancy you, Penny. I've done it for quite a while now and not only am I doing this to dave Bea and the others who fell victim to this curse"

My eyes, while looking down at first, were now focused on her. I didn't care if she saw how bad I looked at the moment, I was talking straight out of my heart, throwing myself in the void and hoping for the best

"...I do it because I can't stand to see you so depressed, it breaks my heart"

"Y/N..." The sole mention of my name by her was almost enough for me to back off, almost

But she needed to know

"If I can't see you like this, imagine how I felt when everyone started leaning towards you to follow us into the vault. I can't bear the thought of something bad happening to you"

Before I knew it, Penny wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug as she hid her forehead in my shoulders. At first, I couldn't believe it, I just stood there with her warmth and allowed that familiar feeling of security and care wash over me

A heavy, broken breath left my body, felt like a weight had been pulled off

At least until I heard her voice again, still buried in my shoulder

"...If I go to the Cursed Vault, would you be by my side?"

That question caught me off-guard, making me end the embrace to look at her. Although I think I heard her protest this

"Of course I would. I wouldn't leave you to yourself" I answered almost automatically

"Then I have nothing to fear"

The way she smiled after saying that, was disconcerting

"Penny..."

"I'm going to trust you with a secret of mine, one that I've never told anyone before"

She motioned me to come closer, which I did. It took her a bit to talk, seems as if this was a heavy subject for her as well

"It's bad enough to have my sister trapped in a portrait like that, it's horrible"

Penny was the one to sigh after that, her fists clenching as well before those blue orbs of her stared me down

"...But it's even worse to see the one I love risk their life for all of us every single year. I can only pray that you come back in one piece and so far you have"

The one she...what?...

Now I was speechless. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink when she noticed my reaction, but it didn't take long for a small smile to return to her

"This time, I want to help you the way you've helped us. It doesn't matter if it's an Ice knight, an Acromantula, or a bunch of Bogarts..."

Then, I felt something reaching out for my hand, it was hers

This gesture provoked our eyes to meet one last time

"As long as we are together. There is no such thing as an impossible challenge"

The determination in her, so familiar. Now I understood what Dumbledoremust've felt when I ignored his pleas for me to stop chasing the vaults

"And when we return from this, we'll talk. I promise"

What came after was still something that I'm struggling to process

Penny pulled me towards her a little and then closed the distance herself, leaning in towards me. I felt a pair of soft, tender lips kissing my cheek

"Thank you for opening up to me. I mean it"

There was no butterbeer or oversized sandwiches that could persuade the blonde to leave this mission, I understood that now. She would get to experience the end of this  curse herself

And as we stood along with Bill, Merula, Rakepick, and even Ben, I made my new mission to protect her from whatever lurked inside that vault

But as we approached the portkey and her hand wouldn't leave mine, I understood that even in the face of incredible danger...

...She too, would have my back

#mc hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery jacob's sibling #penny haywood x mc #penny haywood x jacob's sibling #Year five

[imagitory]

Zut alors! Carewyn found a Black Quill in her brother’s room, which turned out to be...

...a notebook! And what very interesting things it said too...

Oh snap! So it seems Rakepick not only was working with Jacob before he disappeared, but has also saved MC’s life before! And yet even Jacob felt like Rakepick was only keeping him alive for her own reasons, which is exactly the vibe Carewyn got from her too. Was it that Rakepick suspected she could use Carewyn for her own purposes like she did with Jacob, or did she do it so that Jacob would trust her, or could it really have been out of sincere caring? Could it even be all three? Either way, Carewyn’s conflicted. Part of her is grateful that Rakepick saved her life, especially before she even knew who she was or had any reason to worry about her safety, but at the same time, she wants to know what she was being protected from -- namely, the “Cabal” Jacob mentions.

‘What is this Cabal?’ Carewyn is wondering. ‘What do they want? What is their link to R? Is R its leader?’ My girl is growing even more concerned that Jacob got into something way over his head and needs help, and at this point, it seems like Rakepick has some inkling of what that “something” is.

Ah, so Rakepick is an Occlumens. Guess we’re going to have to learn Leglimency!

No contest. Though I could see Carewyn doing all three, if she can only choose one, she’s choosing Rakepick.

Exactly the reason Carewyn wants to talk to her, Tulip! Carewyn is baffled about why Rakepick never said she’d been working with Jacob or that she knew Carewyn beforehand, as well as why Rakepick would’ve needed to protect her in the first place! Carewyn can understand why Rakepick wouldn’t feel the need to boast about saving her life, as Carewyn certainly wouldn’t ever feel the need to do that if she were in Rakepick’s shoes, but she also wouldn’t have kept valuable information about someone else’s sibling from them if she knew they were searching for them!

But yeah, this seems...odd. *scribbles some more semi-spoiler thoughts under a cut to save your timelines* When I next post, it’ll likely be about this “All-Wizard” Tournament event going on!

Overall, Rakepick has sort of become the Snape of this game, and of course she’s the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, so she can’t last at Hogwarts longer than the end of this school year. I have been spoiled on the major twists in Rakepick’s storyline (most notably what happens in the Vault in fifth year and what happens to [Redacted]) already, but even if I have, the question of Rakepick’s true loyalties still seems somewhat in the air. The perception I get is that Rakepick is considered a wholly terrible, selfish person at this point, but we’ve seen the Harry Potter universe throw out the twist of a good guy who’s really a bad guy actually turning out to be a good guy all along -- one trusted by Dumbledore and no one else too, for that matter. I kind of hope that Rakepick doesn’t follow the same trajectory as Snape, if nothing else than because it wouldn’t be very original...but there are a few alternate paths I could see Rakepick possibly taking in seventh year --

1) Rakepick is a selfish person, but not inherently evil, and she loves her apprentices in a selfish way. On the one hand, she tries to mold them to become more like her because she thinks it’s the only way they’ll survive in the world -- on the other, she’s extremely protective and territorial of them and will even stand against the Cabal in order to protect her “kids.” (In this situation, just the ones she’s actively expressed fondness for, like Merula and MC.)

2) Rakepick was corrupted by her own obsession for the Cursed Vaults, one she was coaxed to bring Jacob in on while working with the Cabal, but she grew fond of him and later of the other kids she took under her wing, including MC. This budding maternal instinct ended up coming into conflict with her loyalty to the Cabal, and so now she’s struggling to try to dislodge herself from them without getting herself killed and protect her “kids.” (This scenario would probably give us the most sympathetic interpretation of Rakepick.)

3) Rakepick, as a kid, was roped into the Cabal’s dealings, enticed by the ideas of immortality and glory that Jacob mentioned in another one of his writings. Only when she became an adult did she see the error of her ways, and when Jacob and MC ended up in the Cabal’s cross hairs, Rakepick tried carefully to keep the two out of the Cabal’s hands out of a noble desire to keep any other kids from getting manipulated like she did. Only problem is that Rakepick is absolutely terrible at empathy and communicating her true intentions, and so she kind of just stonewalled Jacob the way she’s now doing with Carewyn and is the sort to do terrible things in a misguided attempt to protect them, because “she knows best” and she can’t trust anyone else to do what needs to be done. (This could result in a morally gray character in the vein of Snape that would likely be interpreted many different ways by fans, but with a very different plot trajectory.)

4) Rakepick is a terrible, selfish person obsessed with the Vaults and their secrets, but when the time comes for MC and her to face off again, she will be overpowered and suddenly find herself facing down death at the hands of her own favored apprentice. For whatever reason, MC decides not to kill Rakepick, whether out of a desire to take down R or a desire to make Rakepick suffer a worse punishment than death (like, say, the Dementor’s Kiss). Rakepick would acknowledge the life debt she now owes to MC and end up sacrificing her life saving MC’s life later. (This could also result in a rather morally gray character, given that it almost solely relies on the “Redemption Equals Death” trope, which can spark a wide array of reactions.)

5) Rakepick is a terrible, selfish person who deludes herself into thinking that breaking the curses on the Vaults is the right course of action and is willing to use anyone and anything to achieve that goal, even work alongside R. She had hoped to groom others so they could join R in the future, maybe even help her supplant the current tyrannical leadership so she can lead it instead. Complications arise, however, when her favorite students confront her again. Depending on whether or not MC actively wants to kill Rakepick, the confrontation could either end in Rakepick’s death or imprisonment. (This one would probably be the most overtly evil scenario, and although it would be satisfying for her to receive justice, it could still make for a well-developed anti-villain, if written well enough.)

6) Rakepick is on a mission from Dumbledore to infiltrate the Cabal, which at one point had both Rakepick and Jacob wrapped up in its ranks. Jacob tried to fight back and get out of the Cabal’s reach, only to disappear while dealing with the Cursed Vaults. Rakepick, similar to Snape with the Death Eaters, tries to play up her past allegiance to the Cabal so she can protect everyone, MC included. (I like this one the least, again, because of its similarity to Snape’s storyline.) 

There’s suddenly a lot to think about...what in the world are you up to, Patty dear?

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #carewyn cromwell #patricia rakepick #jacob's sibling #jacob #jacob hphm #opinion #analysis #fan theory #severus snape #tulip karasu #hphm spoilers

[datmadginger]

The battle of Hogwarts from my MC's point of view and what he saw that night and how it changed him forever.

After 1 year of fighting in a rebellion against Voldemort and his death eaters I arrived back at Hogwarts along with Harry Potter and all of the order of the Phoenix members that were left alive being reunited with all my friends from my days school days at Hogwarts. The last time I was at Hogwarts Dumbledore was murdered by Snape and I left my post as defence against the dark arts Professor at Hogwarts to hunt Snape down for his betrayal and to start an army to fight back against Voldemort. As the order's members along with the wizards and witches that I recruited into the army I created along Merula and Charile Weasley we were ready to fight Penny was there for planing the mission with us but because our son's William age 3 and Robert age 1 needed one of either me or Penny there to look after them Penny choice too stay and protect them but she would say too Professor Mcgonagall if there is any students that dosen't want to fight in the battle against Voldemort send them to our family manor and she will protect them should we lose to the Death Eaters.

There were multiple different plans to deal with Snape one of them was that I would fight Snape in a 1 v 1 battle to the death which I am down to do because I want to kill Snape for betraying Dumbledore to Voldemort and what most of my friends colleges and students don't know is I have become extremely powerful thanks to knowing my family's history on both my Father's and my Mother's sides and with everything I learned in my curse breaking adventures with Bill Weasley or from my years as an auror before former minister of magic Fudge became incompetent and blamed Dumbledore and Harry saying they were lying about Voldemort being back at full power not long after i left the auror office Dumbledore offered me the Defence against the dark arts Job at Hogwarts in that same year Rowan became the new history of magic professor at hogwarts and he was still teaching here this year but with Hogwarts being under death eater control Rowan was being watched because three of his best friends were leading the rebel army against their master so he had to be careful but now that we are here too liberate Hogwarts from the death eaters as the plan was being finalised Ginny Weasley came into the room of requirement and told us that Snape knows that Harry is in hogwarts and that Jacob is here too take Harry to Voldemort and kill me at that moment the plan has changed I told Harry, the rebellion, the order of the Phoenix and hogwarts students and professors that are here to follow the plan we made but i won't be going with them because I am going to face my brother alone my friends wanted to help me but I told them that i have to do this on my own this is my fight I made the mistake of not stopping Jacob permently five years ago because of that he murdered Talbott, Andre and Charia and 100 other people in the last five year alone because i didn't kill him and that I will not let him kill anyone I care about again so please do not interfere my friends reluctantly agreed and decided to wait outside the great hall whilst Harry confronted Snape as they all left I used my mind to send a simple message to Jacob for us too meet in the seventh floor corridor and finish are fight from 5 years ago once and for all.

As I arrived at the seventh floor corridor I saw Jacob in his red robes that he uses to wear when he was trying to hurt my friends when I was at school he was the dark wizard known as R and Jacob was the person that attacked me in my 4th year at Hogwarts I knew Dumbledore had trained him before he murdered his best friend Duncan Ashe when he was at Hogwarts and Jacob almost destroyed the school because he blamed Dumbledore for our father's death Jacob would look at me and says " have you come back too stop me Niall ?" "Too save my soul ?" I looked back at Jacob and respond with " No I've come back too stop you once and for all Jacob because my brother is dead that are R killed the good person my brother was and it's my job too stop you and Voldemort." Jacob would then charge at with his sword at his side just like me Jacob received training by the Medjay but when Voldemort returned to full power Voldemort and Jacob lead an attack on the Medjay and killed all of them expited for me and Dumbledore at that point in time as the duel between me and Jacob went on I could tell that the injures that Jacob received in our last fight 5 years go were holding him back so I decided to press my attack leading Jacob to the astronomy tower as we reached the top of the tower we suddenly stopped fighting because we both could hear Voldemort's voice in are heads and he said " give me Harry Potter and I will leave Hogwarts untouched you have one hour. " After he stopped talking Jacob looks at me and says "give up little brother you can't win even if you kill me my master will kill you then he'll kill all of your friends then he'll kill your wife and son's for undermining his will." At that moment I lost it and felt the anger inside my grow and with a lighting fast movement I cast depulso at it's most powerful and it sends Jacob smashing him against the wall and then i yelling at him " I will never let you or that Fucking animal you call master touch my family if you or him go near them I will destroy the both of you and everything that the both of you are trying to achieve" Jacob looked at me and said "bring on blood traitor" and we resume are sword fight both of us are now no longer trying to stop the other and get them to join their side we are now trying too kill each other then I notice that there is a weakness in my brother fighting style that wasn't there 5 years ago and I take full advantage of his weakness and cut of his right arm below his elbow and Jacob shouted out in pain his sword fell out of his hand and out of the tower as I moved to finish him off still enraged about what he said he and Voldemort would do to Penny and my son's I heard the voice of one of my students it was Hermione Granger who was there with Bill and Charlie's younger brother Ron Weasley and Tonks was there also and they told me to stop to let him life and I thought to myself how naive can the three of you be do any of you have the feintist damn clue how dangerous Jacob is he if I let him life it could make things more dangerous for us because he is just as powerful as Dumbledore and Voldemort and that why I have too kill him I look Tonks in the eye whilst still having my sword placed at Jacob's neck I asked the three of them to give me a reason why I should spare Jacob's life and Tonks said too me " in the end Niall he is still your brother and I know what he done is wrong but if you kill him now how are you any better than him." I would say back to Tonks "Jacob is too dangerous to be left alive and he murdered 3 of our friends along 100 over people maybe more in the time that Voldemort has been back so we can't leave him alive he has to die for what he has done." After ten minutes of going back and forth with both ideas we decided that we are going to leave Jacob in the cursed corridor until the battle is over Hermione and Ron were about to head off to the chamber of secrets to collect a basailsic fang and me and Tonks were going to meet up with our friends in the clock tower courtyard to defend it from death eaters.

Two hours have passed and the bridge between the clock tower courtyard and the forbidden forest was destroyed in order to stop the death eaters from over running our position as my group make our way though the castle to get to the main courtyard along the way we run into the Carrow twins a brother and sister duo that are death eaters and my "replacements" as defence against the dark arts professors at hogwarts this year but from what Neville Longbottom told me before the battle started they were more interested in making the life's of muggle born students a miserable and anyone disagrees with Voldemort's way of thinking. In my group with me are Merula, Tonks, Lupin, Ginny, the Weasley twins, Neville and Charlie I tell them to take the long way around to the main courtyard and that I will deal with the Carrow twins myself as my group leaves I draw my wand and sword and tell the Carrows to stand down because if I wanted it they would both already be dead they look at me and both casted the killing curse at but I avoided it and then with my wand I create a massive lighting storm electrocuting both of them and as the storm subsides I stand over both of them the brother of the twins had lived and has massive burns on him but his sister is dead. I decided to put it to the back of my mind and focus on protecting Hogwarts from Voldemort and his death eaters because the sister of the Carrow twins was not the first person in this war that has died and she won't be the last one to die either and I admited to myself even though I know I have killed before in this war with that lighting storm spell or in none magical combat but I do not enjoy killing my enemy's I hate killing but I am not the naive 15 year old boy I was when I was a student at Hogwarts I watched people I care about die more than one in my life and if it means I have to kill every single death eater here too liberate Hogwarts to save my friends and protect my wife and son's I'll do it.

As I make it to the main courtyard it has started to rain really hard I see Harry, Ron and Hermione making there way down to the boat house and as I move thought I see four giants on Voldemort side making there way over the bridge and right to the courtyard then an explosion sends me back but didn't it didn't kill me as I get up I look over to where the explosion was and I could see Percy Weasley holding his younger brother Fred in this arms Fred Weasley is dead as I look down I become socked to my core I see Rowan dead with the lower have of his body gone someone had ripped this body of from the waste down then I see Ben dead and the had teeth marks in his body then I watched Barnaby die as he was eaten by an abnormal giant that solely lives to kill and eat people in that moment I become extremely angry I lose it like I never have before and I destroy the giant with two minutes then with the four normal giants that are still coming over the bridge I cast the lighting spell at it's most powerful killing all four giants instantly after that the death eaters fall back and Ginny, Charlie, and Merula make there way over too me shocked at how powerful i am after the giants are dead I went over too Ben, Branaby and Rowan tell them "I'm sorry I couldn't save you" Merula walked over telling to help get everyone dead and alive inside the great hall after that is done I go to place where me and Tonks left Jacob tell him that he has no way out that Voldemort will leave him too die so he might as well tell me what Voldemort is planing should he lose here and if he does I'll make sure that the true ministry of magic and there court's go easy on him but Jacob being as stubborn as ever choose not tell me anything and as I make my way up to the great hall I see Harry heading towards Dumbledore office and when I enter the middle of the great hall I see the Weasley family sat around Fred's body crying then I look down and see Lupin and Tonks dead and I fell my heart go numb because a few months ago Tonks gave birth to teddy and she made Penny godmother and with teddy staying with us I had to go I Penny needed to know what has happen too Tonks, Barnaby, Rowan and Ben they were her friends too and they were like family to us and there losing them is hurting me deeply I head out of the castle to the main courtyard and aperate to my family manor the moment I landed Penny ran out of the house and hugged me as we pulled apart and she saw me crying and I told her what had happened to Tonks, Barnaby, Lupin, Rowan and Ben and she broken down we held each other hour an after I would say to her " Penny it isn't over yet not by a long way please keep everyone save I'll be back the moment it's over." I could tell she didn't want me to go but she understood she told me she loves me and asked me to be careful I said that I would and left to Hogwarts wanting to finish this war once and for all kill Voldemort once and for all and move on with my life with Penny.

As I return to Hogwarts at dawn and make my way to the great hall most of my friends asks me where I went and I told them that I went to tell Penny what had happened to Tonks, Rowan, Barnaby and Ben which made the look down at the floor for a moment then Bill told me that Harry was missing I said that when I last saw him he was heading over to Dumbledore's office then Charlie says that the death eaters are coming over the bridge to the main courtyard and Voldemort is leading them I look at everyone and shout as loud as I can " Everyone get ready to fight the death eaters are coming back let show these animals and there sorry excuse for a master who there messing with." Everyone follows me out into the main courtyard then I hear Ginny Weasley say to Neville " who is Hagrid carrying?" Then Voldemort says "Harry Potter is DEAD." And Ginny Screams "NO" Voldemort would mock Ginny and I would stare Voldemort down ready to kill him for all the damage he has caused with Harry Potter now dead I am the only person left that can beat him in single combat Voldemort looking at everyone he says " Now is the time to declare yourselves come forward and Join us or die." I shout at Voldemort "I will never join you." "Your a murdering piece of shit and I'm going to kill for all the people you have murdered Voldemort you fucking animal."then me and Voldemort would engage each in a duel that shock the ground to it's core then Harry Potter came back from the dead and Voldemort stoped his duel with me and started attacking Harry with all his power then I would hit Voldemort with a powerful Depulso that sent him flying and I would say to him "Remember who your a opponent is before you attack someone else." Voldemort then apprates in to Hogwarts and I rush into the great hall and duel 5 death eaters at once and beating all of them with little trouble then person I hate just as much as Voldemort steps in front of me looking for a fight with me it is Grayback as we duel he boast about killing students in his werewolf form and professor feltwick in combat which makes me fight harder makes me want to kill him and I end up killing with my sword after I disarmed him of his wand after the woman who was like a mother to me Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix Voldemort's top Death eater and member of his inner circle then Neville Longbottom Destroyed the last horcruxe after not long after that we run outside to the main courtyard where Harry and Voldemort face off and Harry kills Voldemort leading the death eaters to fall back or give up we finally won but we lost a lost of good people to that monster but the war is finally over.

One year later and everything is starting to go back to normal professor Mcgonagall is now headmistress of Hogwarts Merula and Charile have started the UK's first dragon a protection park where all of our friends who are good with magical creatures that survived help out along with that Charlie and Merula have had there 3rd Child together and named him Barnaby Rowan Weasley so Sarah and Molly have a younger brother Percy Weasley got married to Penny younger sister Beatrice Haywood and Percy is going to run in the election to be the next Minster of magic Penny has become the new potions professor at hogwarts and I returned to my role as Defence Against the dark arts professor at Hogwarts and I also became the new head of Slytherin house along with I learned that Penny is pregnant with twins a boy and a girl and we decided that name them Ben Steven Case after Ben one of are best friend who gave is life a year ago and my grandfather is our 3rd son's name and for our daughter Penny Named her Scarlet Lucy Case after Penny childhood friend that was murdered by a werewolf and Lucy my cousin who was killed by death eaters at Bill's wedding almost two years ago and finally as for Jacob he was sentenced to life in Azkaban a few months after the war finished as he was taken away Jacob told me that I should of killed him because one day he'll escape and he will kill me for cutting his arm off and I responded by saying that if he dose escape I'll be ready for him because he and the rest of his fellow death eaters don't have Voldemort to protect them anymore after that exchange between the both us I've never heard anything about or heard from him since but I know he is planing to escape one day and when he does I'll be ready.

So this was my headcannon on the Battle of Hogwarts where my MC from Hogwarts mystery plays a part in the fighting I hope you all enjoyed this story and year 4 is taking longer than I first thought but it will be done with in the next month sorry for the delay and I do have one more short story planned but I'm going to let all of you pick between the Celestial ball or the battle between Niall and Jacob 5 years before the Battle of Hogwarts if you want the Celestial ball leave a like and if you want Niall vs Jacob leave comment.

#hphm battle of hogwarts #hphm fankids #hphm mc #hphm headcanon #hphm jacob #hphm penny #penny haywood x jacob's sibling

[randomminer]

Some More Hogwarts Mystery Asks: MC & Jacob

1) How did you come up with you MC’s name?

-Heard the first name in the background of a video game some years ago. I thought it sounded cool and remembered it when I had to name my MC.

-Then I tried to decide what muggle last name Svari would be drawn to. Sally Ride kept popping into my head, probably because it sounded so similar to Svari. After doing some research, I found out that Sally Ride did actually go into space the year before our MC went to Hogwarts. So naturally, Svari would have recently heard of her and maybe even started to idolize her. To the point she chose Ride as her last name.

-Svari's middle name was the first name of her paternal grandmother, Isobel McGonagall.

2) How did you come up with your MC and Jacob’s backstory (family, where they’re from, their relationship with each other, etc.)?

-I'd been playing around with Potter head cannon for as long as I've read the books. But when JK Rowling started giving very detailed backgrounds of her characters, I really liked McGonagall's story. Her mother leaving the wizarding world for love, her father loving his wife and accepting her background even though he was some sort of priest, excelling in Hogwarts, sadly breaking a muggle man's heart so she could stay in the wizarding world, getting a career in law enforcement and then teaching, eventually marrying but keeping her maiden name, loosing her husband, and just being an icon.

Anyway, I knew I wanted my MC to be connected to McGonagall somehow. And while McGonagall's story was very detailed, there wasn't much on her two brothers' lives other than they both had at least one child and the youngest of the two was killed by Death Eaters. I adjusted Svari's story to fit into all that.

Jacob was just a surprise 😂. I didn't know we'd be having an older sibling thrown into this. I had already thought up Svari's twin cousins, Mary and Garrett, and didn't want to get rid of them, so Malcolm McGonagall got an unexpected third child.

3) How did you come up with your version of Jacob?

-I've had to build Jacob's story off of what I'm learning about him in the game. He would be older than Svari, they were close, and she was obviously hurt when he disappeared. For the most part, I've just built Jacob based on the kind of cousin Svari would love to be around.

4) How does your MC cope with everything they’ve endured with Jacob, R, and the Vaults?

-Svari has had to deal with a lot of stuff in her short life. Her father is dead, her mother and cousin have disappeared, she's been sent away from her original family (the peri flock), she is constantly bullied for her non-human features, she has to be mindful of herself so she doesn't accidentally transform, and to top it all off, the freaking vaults!

It's enough stress to make anyone develop anxiety and want to live in solitude. But I think Svari takes her weaknesses and uses them for strength.

For example, a person may be to anxious to make a face to face order from a McDonald's cashier for themselves. But if a friend of theirs admitted they were also too scared to order, you can bet your ass that person will suddenly have the courage to step up and order McDonald's for themselves AND their friend.

Something about not wanting your loved ones to experience the same bad feelings you do makes people brave enough to do what needs to be done.

In Svari's case, she meets and befriends other magical outcasts like her. People who are half human, who have been turned, who are seen as lowly because of their differences. Wanting to spare them from the same feelings of inadequatacy, hopelessness, and shame gives Svari the will to get up and endure another day.

In turn, her human friends at Hogwarts, who see Svari for who she is and love her anyway, help her to see humanity isn't a heartless race. But rather is made up of individuals, some for good, some for I'll, and some who don't fit a category.

6) How does your Jacob cope with Duncan’s death?

-I haven't really developed Jacob's character much. I worry about making it match with the future plans of the game. But I imagine Jacob changed after Duncan's death. Probably started to withdraw from others, including Svari. He may have had a guilty outburst at some of them just before disappearing. I've tried to think of the possible outcomes JamCity could have in mind for Jacob. If he is in hiding or being held prisoner, I imagine he feels on some level he deserves the misery. Or if he is in a state of suspended animation, he probably doesn't feel anything. I don't know.

7) Describe your MC in 5 words or less &/or using 5 or less gifs

8) Does your MC have any sentimental items?

-Svari has three items she would hate to loose:

- the woven leather bracelet her mother gave her before she left for Hogsmead

- the fang necklace her Uncle made for fun and gave to her before his death

- her leather jacket, the first item she bought for herself

9) Describe your Jacob in 5 words or less &/or 5 or less gifs

10) Does your Jacob have any sentimental items?

-Jacob's mom, Teresa McGonagall, is a muggle born originally from a ranch in Texas, USA. Every Christmas and birthday, Garrett, Mary, and Jacob could always expect Texas themed gifts from Pop Pop and Nana (by muggle mail). Nana would go all out and send belt buckles, pecan candy, crosses made out of horse shoes, the Texas state flag printed on coffee mugs, spicy and BBQ flavored everything. But Pop Pop preferred to make the grandkids gifts, usually a little somethingthing made out of carved wood or knotted rope. The year after the twins would start Hogwarts, Pop Pop passed away from a sudden heart attack. While everyone was devastated, Jacob had been closest to his grandfather. That Christmas, Nana sent her usual gifts, but for Jacob, she also sent his grandfather's old bolo tie. Jacob never wore it himself, but it always had a place of honor hanging on the living room wall under Pop Pop's smiling portrait (the unmoving muggle kind). From the day he got it until the day he disappeared, Jacob would always give the bolo a quick touch as he was heading out the door.

11) What is your MC’s favourite store to shop at?

-Svari isn't one for retail therapy, but she loves window shopping in old book stores and antique shops. I think she may have also enjoyed visits to Honeydukes, Zonkos, and Weasleys with her friends.

12) What is your Jacob’s favourite store to shop at?

-I think of Jacob as interested in the secrets of the magical world. So he probably would have liked book stores or connections like Jae and Dung.

13) What is your MC’s favourite thing from Honeydukes?

-Svari likes the prank and sour candies

14) What is your Jacob’s favourite thing from Honeydukes?

-Jacob loves Chocolate Frogs and has quite the card collection.

15) Which Marauder is your MC most like?

-Svari would probably be most like James post Hogwarts. She looks out for the weak, is brave, smart, willing to give her life for others, and keeps her emotions in check. Something Sirius wouldn't do.

16) Which Marauder is your Jacob most like?

-Jacob is most like Remus, but not as sickly or submissive. He is very intelligent, has seen some shit, keeps to himself, but is kind.

17) Something your MC and Jacob like to tease each other about and use to embarrass each other?

-Svari and Jacob each have one parent from outside of the UK. Teresa McGonagall is from Texas and Roxanna is from the Middle East. The cousins both some times accidentally slip into that parent's accent. When they catch each other doing so, it causes roars of laughter between them.

18) A headcanon about your MC?

- loves muggle sci-fi tv (very much a Trekie)

- doesn't like wearing dresses or the color white (makes her afraid to move because she's worried she'll get it dirty)

- can brew potions in Acceptable to Outstanding grade levels, but can't cook to save her life

19) A headcanon about your Jacob?

- his patronus is an armadillo

- can play guitar, banjo, piano, and harmonica

- allergic to bee stings

20) A song for your MC and Jacob?

- probably something by Journey

#svari ride #hphm #mc #hogwarts mystery

[carewyncromwell]

I hate to be so down on Year 7 when it’s only just started, but...I gotta say, if the whole idea of Hogwarts Mystery is to be something of a fantasy for the player, allowing them to imprint on an MC that goes to Hogwarts and becomes Prefect and Head Kid and plays Quidditch and collects all sorts of pets and magical creatures and stuff...then wow, I guess a lot of people’s fantasies are different than mine. Or at least, the staff of Jam City’s.

Because here’s the thing -- when I was a kid, I moved a lot. The longest I ever stayed in one house was six years, and that was for my second middle school and all of high school. I haven’t even lived in one place longer than that since. I’d moved five times before I even started second grade. My life has always been very transient, which made it close to impossible for me to lay down roots...and, therefore, I made a lot of friends over the years who I’ve subsequently lost touch with after leaving the area. I never had my own Ron Weasley or Hermione Granger who stuck with me through thick and thin. A lot of the friends I’ve had in the past were fair-weather, and although I don’t angst over that much or anything because I do still feel fondness for the memories we had and I know I’m just as much to blame for not trying harder to stay in touch, I realize that that kind of stability and lasting friendship is something I’ve never really had in my life.

So for me, one of the things that appealed to me so much about the wonderful, diverse cast we meet through Hogwarts Mystery were the friendships our MCs would get to make. I wanted my girl Carewyn to have friends who would stick with her when times got tough -- who would give her just as much as she gave them -- who wouldn’t abandon her when she showed the sides of her that weren’t all that pretty. I wanted her to have a Weasley best friend, like Harry did...and that Weasley ended up being Bill, who I loved even while first reading the books and have only become fonder of since! I wanted Carewyn to find a warm, loving family of friends that she could love just as deeply as she did her mother and brother. Dueling and Quidditch and magical side quests are fine...but what I wanted most was for my girl to grow through reaching out to others and through them reaching back.

But this is one of the biggest problems I have with Hogwarts Mystery as a game and almost as a concept. Because MC is supposed to be a self-insert for the player, the game developers are reluctant to give MC too much personality, since it could potentially (and inevitably will) contradict how the player views their character. This means, though, that the game creators can’t write any compelling relationships between MC and the other characters that actually fuel character development and organic plot turns, because it would either make it so that every single choice the player makes has the power to change things (which would be a programming nightmare) or that the player has no say in how MC behaves (which would frustrate the player). And when relationships are about how two different personalities interact and bounce off of each other, it’s almost impossible to have interesting chemistry between one semi-fleshed out character and another nebulous and vague character that could be replaced by absolutely anyone. Add to that that the game almost always focuses on friendships that involve MC to the exclusion of all others, and it results in our diverse, potentially interesting cast of characters having no relationships that could really prompt them to grow and develop as people, at least not in an organic sense.

This is why we don’t see Ismelda softening as much as she probably should have, after coming to grips with her unrequited feelings for Barnaby and growing closer to Beatrice.

This is why we don’t see Cedric gaining more confidence, while bonding with Ben and/or Diego over wizard dueling.

This is why we don’t see Charlie learning how to trust again after Rakepick’s betrayal by connecting with other members of the Circle of Khanna like Barnaby and Liz.

This is why we don’t see Tonks and Tulip constantly bouncing off each other and doing pranks together, and maybe inspiring future mischief makers Fred and George in the process.

This is why we don’t see Ben, Merula, or MC having learned any lessons about keeping secrets or not trusting their friends after what happened to Rowan.

This is even why we’re all left wondering if every choice MC has made regarding Merula their entire school career had any impact on her at all, upon finding out she was the mole.

And this is why I’m rewriting year 6, because this is what that part of the story should’ve been all about -- cultivating that love and trust. After the events of year 5, MC and by extension their friends were scared. They’d been betrayed by an authority figure they’d trusted, who then proceeded to come back and kill one of their closest friends. Our response to that -- namely, the Circle of Khanna -- should’ve been fueled by fear’s worst enemy: love. It’s a theme familiar to the original Potter novels, that love is stronger than fear, and it’s one that I think just about anyone can draw strength from. MC brought their friends together physically, but did they ever bring them together emotionally? MC’s friends are willing to fight to get revenge for Rowan and capture Rakepick, but by the time year 7 starts, everyone is so focused on themselves that they won’t even take a minute to listen to MC when they asked the group to meet up and was clearly concerned about something. They don’t even care enough to hear what MC’s concern even is. That tells me that the answer to that question is no -- MC and crew created a whole friggin’ secret society, and yet the chains of camraderie they forged are as insubstantial as tissue paper. But then again, what do you expect, when MC only ended up needed three of the Circle’s members (Merula, Ben, and Barnaby) to deal with the Sunken Vault and only two (Jae and Tonks) to get a single shred of information about R?

So yeah, Jam City...I’ll respect whatever you want to do from here as much as I can, but it’s not canon for Carewyn Cromwell. Our plot lines have always diverged on several things (Jacob’s characterization and development, Carewyn’s mother Lane’s family being part of R, and how Carewyn reacted to the events in the Portrait Vault, for example)...but consider them formally divorced after the formation of the Circle of Khanna.

#looks like sophie turner is my new face claim for carewyn now #even if she's not a real redhead XD #hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm spoilers #personal #opinion #now you see why i have the tag 'oh boy here i go' on my home blog #analysis #jam city #carewyn cromwell

[averagesmw]

Penny Haywood x MC (1)-Drunken Mess

Game: Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery

Things to note: The reader is a Ravenclaw, Rowan is a chick in this

____________________

Drunken mess

The holidays, a joyful season where no room for evil, sadness or even anger existed. A time to spend with those you love and bond with them

...The thing is, I'm not exactly in good terms with my parents, mainly due to what happened to Jacob, my brother

His disappearance left them not sad or angry, but disappointed, and everything I do is often met with criticism

Bloody hell, I would almost say that I like Snape more than those two, almost

So yes, I chose not to go back home and instead, remain here, in Hogwarts warm embrace. Fortunately for me, I'm not alone

Penny Haywood, my friend, and perhaps crush and the school's popular girl also chose to stay behind, probably because of her studies, I honestly didn't ask. She didn't seem to be up for a talk

So what I did instead was to take her to Hogsmeade, to chat and relax in the smoky, but welcoming pub my friends and I enjoy so much, The Three Broomsticks

After a few rounds of Butterbeer and cherry syrup, my blonde friend seemed to be feeling much better than before

Currently, we were walking our way back to Hogwarts before the curfew was in effect

"You're talking your time with the snow, Penny"

I pointed out joking while I glanced back at her, seeing as her steps had no need to be fast at all, despite us being out at what could very well be the night itself

"It's not like we get snow around here every day, you know?"

Her gentle, warm voice provided me a justification that made me chuckle. She was right though, sometimes taking the time to appreciate things like that helped quite a bit

"Indeed, especially when it's not trying to kill us"

I tried to add a little something. We had not only discovered a cursed vault, but we stopped it together before our second year ended

Then she looked at me, with a sympathetic smile on her face

"That was ice, Y/N"

...Of course I know the difference, I was just testing her...yeah, that's it

'Tomato, tomatoe"

While I answered with the same joking tone, my words did earn a playful smile from Penny as well as one of the cutest giggled my ears had ever heard

"Someone had a tad too much butterbeer"

I couldn't even deny that, so we both ended up sharing a laugh at this. Once it gently died down, Penny's eyes widened slightly, I knew that look

She had an idea, and judging by the smile that accompanied it, it was mischievous

"Hey Y/N? What do you say to a snowball fight?"

Her idea took me by surprise. Not that it was bad, but I just hadn't thought of it before

"Right now?"

She nodded eagerly, already preparing a snowball herself

"Or is the Ravenclaw too afraid to fight?"

Her attempt to imitate Merula's usual taunts made me laugh so hard, I couldn't take Penny seriously at all. I swear, she always knows how to make me smile

"Alright, then, why don't we add a little punishment for the loser?" I suggested to spice things up, we were competitive enough as it was

"Yes! The loser gets to carry the winner all the way to Hogwarts"

That also surprised me. That punishment wasn't thought for her, not at all

So that tells me, Penny was going all out on this one. I soon found myself grinning at the idea, not backing down myself

"My, someone's confident"

This time I didn't get an answer, just her winking at me

Needless to say, slightly drunk Penny is not what I'm used to, but it could actually turn out to be really fun

And besides, we were already in a snowy place so...

"Alright, we'll fight. I'll even let you shoot fi-AGHH!"

I failed to finish the sentence as I felt a chilling sphere of ice hitting my face. It hurt, but not nearly as much as an intentional Flipendo would

"So that is how it is going to be" I pretended anger, but I was obviously playing around, joining the spirit of the game

I quickly got the snow off my face and looked around for the blonde only to see her already throwing another snowball at me. I managed to duck just in time and without even thinking, I put my hands on the snow to form my own projectile

When I went back up to take aim, I was hit yet again, this time in the chest. She was good

"You're falling behind, Y/N!" She taunted, proud she hit me yet again

"Just you wait"

And with that, I threw the snowball and she barely managed to dodge it. I took the time to make another one and threw it the same way, only for Penny to do exactly the same and who would've guessed? Our projectiles hit each other

We were impressed by this, but that was soon replaced with a burning desire to win

I managed to hit Penny in the stomach, quite carefully as to not actually hurt her, but hearing her yelp proved to be just so satisfactory I ended up laughing

"I got you this time, Haywood!"

I only called her by her surname when we were competing, like right now. She was surprised at first but being as adaptive as she was, Penny just laughed it off and grew a smirk as she prepared not one, but two snowballs

"Oh, you're going to get it now, blue!"

She also had a nickname for me, this one referring to the color of the house I was sorted in

My thoughts were quickly interrupted by another snowball to the face, throwing me off balance and surely making me drop my own snowball to recover

However, before I could even try, another pair were thrown to my chest and made me trip shortly after

The only thing I heard was laughter, from both her and me. I couldn't even be mad at her for going full commando on me

By the time I got rid of the snow, I was met with Penny already there, looking down at me, holding a snowball in her hands, grinning

"Guess I win, then"

"You wish-"

Again, interrupted by snowball hitting me, although this one was much softer than the others... mainly because she just dropped it on my chest from quite a short distance

"Alright alright, I'm wise enough to recognize my defeat"

I quickly swept the snow again and got back on my feet. It wasn't all that fun to lose, but compared to the duel itself, breathtaking would be the right word to describe it

"We should do this again some other time"

She nodded, finding herself too lost for words but regaining her breath just like me, we had indeed, given it our all to this duel

That's when we noticed how dark it had gotten, the stars decorated the sky without failure, the wind also explained to us just how much time had we spent outside the castle

"We should head back inside, don't want you to lose points because of me"

Penny was about to answer that when she realized that while I too lost a few points, I had practically figured out a way to gain them back, so prioritizing her came as no surprise to us

"Indeed...wait, you lost" Her attitude changed back to her playful self upon remembering our words before the snowball fight

"So?...oh, damnit"

And that's when I too, remembered what had I agreed to. My pride would be my own worst enemy sometimes

"Fine, a deal is a deal, and I'm a man of my word"

Penny had no time to react to my comment as I held her gently and actually managed to lift her. I was getting ready to give her a piggyback ride back home

She yelped, not expecting my actions on the slightest and honestly I wasn't either, guess I did drink more than enough butterbeer

"Y-Y/N! What are you doing!?" She was still surprised, but there was no hint of her disliking it, so I proceeded

"Doing my part, now hold tight"

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around my neck to secure herself, laughing nervously at this

"You know you don't actually have to do this, right?"

"I know, but I want to"

I stated without giving much thought into it, the way I said it took Penny back, I swear if we had more lightning I could've seen her blush

Or maybe it was my imagination, who knows. Either way, we parted back to our school and provisional home

It took her a couple of minutes, but the blonde Hufflepuff eventually got used to the idea of me giving her a ride back home without her blushing so much

Turns out Penny was surprisingly light, so I was able to take her back to the castle. She would sometimes tighten her grip on me without knowing it

Hell, we even had a normal conversation, ignoring the awkward situation I had put is in. I mean, Imagine seeing two students arriving fashionably late to their school, with one of them giving a piggyback ride to the other

Yes, not the usual Hogwarts kind of odd

...But it hardly mattered

It was one of the things one does without pondering it for hours, no, this came not from the mind, but maybe, from the heart itself

Soon enough we made it to Hogwarts, sneaking our way into the Entrance Hall, then walked up the stairs together as she asked me to put her down

When we reached the top, light snuck in, giving us a clear view of each other under the filtered moonlight

Normally, this place would still have quite a few students, but at this time, that was hardly the case, so we were effectively alone together

"I hadn't had that much fun in a long time"

She said to me with eyes heard to decipher. Was it gratitude? sadness? What could be hiding behind them?

I don't know, but it a became so clear the moment she embraced me, resting her forehead on my surprised shoulder

"Thank you, Y/N. For being there for me"

She muttered, a voice so soft it felt like it was going to break and yet, her words were so strong, so meaningful

The least I could do was hug her back, tenderly whispering in her ear

"I'll always be there for you, Penny. Always"

Did...did I seriously just said that? My mind had long lost control, it could only be guessed that my heart was pulling the strings, as those words would normally take me so long to say, let alone process

Just as fear was about to strike, Penny swiftly removed it by tightening her embrace. I could feel she was taking off a great weight from her shoulders, so I allowed her to continue

Not that I opposed a hug from her anyway, it was Penny Haywood, after all

After a couple of seconds, she let go of me just enough to let me see her face. Her bright eyes stealing all the attention and keeping it to themselves, her smile showing genuine happiness, so warm

I swear, I could look at her all day and never get tired of it

Penny chuckled and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before separating herself from me

"See you tomorrow, Y/N. Have a wonderful sleep"

She said in her usual warm, kind way as she gave me one final smile and parted ways with me

Of course, I could hardly believe what had just happened. It was a quick peck, but it was hers. If that wasn't the best I had experienced in the whole month, I don't know what was

As the night kept going, so had I and with much stealth as possible, I went to my tower, particularly trying to enter Ravenclaw's dormitory so I could get some well-deserved rest

I had to go up a few stairs and avoid that demon cat, Ms. Norris that always patrols the halls searching for trouble like if it were mice

Somehow, I pulled it off and found myself back on my bed, staring at the ground and when I realized, I had my hand on my check, the same place where I got a kiss

This day started off stormy, just to end on a high note. It's a lot to take in, but one thing is for certain

This day would go down my history as one of the most memorable, one way or another

#hogwarts mystery #penny haywood #penny haywood x mc #penny haywood x jacob's sibling