The summer wind was moving her hair while Cora was focused on looking at the ball ahead of her. There was no one guarding the football net a few feet away from where the eleven-year-old was standing. The garden at the back of her house wasn't that big, but it was perfect to practice her kicking, and since she was an only child, Cora didn't require too much space.
Knock, knock
Cora took a breath before kicking the ball perfectly into the net. There was nothing Cora loved more than football, apart from running. Since she was just four, she had started to love playing football. Cora still remembered when she went with her mother, Vivianne, to buy the practice net. It was probably her favorite thing she possessed. Since she had it fixed in her garden, she had played with it for at least one hour a day.
Knock, knock
The girl ran to take the ball again. She was looking forward to meeting her friend Tyler, with whom she played football once a week, thrice a week now that it was summer.
Cora had known Tyler since first grade, and they had gotten along immediately. Even though Tyler was very shy, Cora didn't mind.
She was ready to kick the ball again when her mother's voice reached her, making her turn to the door.
"Cora," she said with her arms behind her back, "Have you listened to a word I've said?" Her mother could be very strict sometimes, not as much as Cora's aunt, but she could be, and the girl was hard to tame sometimes, but she was learning to restrain herself.
"Sorry, no," Cora said honestly, but the knowing look on her mother's face let her know she was not in trouble.
The woman took a deep breath, but her lips turned into a small smile. Then she pulled something from behind her back. Vivianne was holding a letter in one of her hands, and Cora could recognize the handwriting from where she was standing.
"Do I have to go to Hogsmeade again?" Cora asked, surprised. She had gone the previous month, and she was doing well. There hadn't been any accidents in over a year, and Cora was very proud of herself.
"Darling, focus," her mother said, turning the letter so Cora could see the front. It was different from the others her aunt had sent them. The girl's eyes widened at the sight, and she saw a sigil on the letter.
"Is it from Hogwarts?" Cora asked with a smile, walking closer to her mother, who nodded her head with a smile. Cora took the letter in her hands and read the words written in green ink:
Ms. Cora McGonagall
Living room,
N. 19, Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey.
She got admitted, and now it was official: Cora McGonagall was definitely going to Hogwarts.
"So cool," Cora said, reading her name again. "I have to go," she finally said before giving the letter back to her mother and turning to pick up the football ball.
"What… Where?" Cora heard her mother asking as she followed the girl into the living room.
"I'm going to play football with Tyler and the guys," she said, pulling her hair back into a high ponytail.
"Aren't you even going to open it?" Vivianne asked puzzled, looking at her daughter, who was putting a bottle of water in her bag before putting the ball in as well.
"We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of Hogwarts," Cora said, smiling in her aunt's voice while heading to the door. "You need a wand, stuff from Diagon Alley, and a cat, a toad, or an owl." At that, the family owl Marshmallow opened his gray wings.
"See?" Cora said, pointing at the owl. "Even Marsh knows all of that. Aunt Minnie never stopped to repeat that I would go to Hogwarts when I'd turn eleven." Cora fixed the bag on her shoulder before turning to her mother, who looked at her, almost defeated, knowing the girl wouldn't stay in the house even if she were chained to the floor.
"Not running again, Cora," Vivianne said. "Play and then get back."
Cora nodded. "Copy that," she said, making her mother smile widely. "I'll be back before lunch."
"Good girl," her mother said before turning to walk to the kitchen.
"Bye, Mum," Cora said before turning to the photo next to the TV. It was her parents' wedding day, they were hugging and smiling at the camera.
"Bye, Dad," she said before opening the door and running out.
Little Whinging was a normal neighborhood. As a muggle neighborhood is supposed to be, her aunt Minnie always said. Cora liked it, though. Vivianne had lived in their house since she was a child, and so did Cora. Muggle house, muggle school, and muggle mother. Cora frequently even forgot she was a witch if it wasn't for the owl who brought her aunt's letters and a few accidents Cora had caused due to her powers. Her aunt told her that even Cora's father had some problems with magic, like most of the young witches and wizards.
Robert McGonagall was Cora's father. He had met Vivianne almost by mistake, but they fell in love fast, even though he was ten years older than her mother.
Cora was walking fast to Tyler's house, which was just a few houses away, at number 3 of Privet Drive. Tyler had a very pretty house, but Cora and her friends usually played somewhere else since Tyler's neighbor was Dudley Dursley.
Dudley was eleven, just like Cora, and he was known among the children of that street because he and his friends liked to bully almost everyone, even his own cousin, who, unlike Dudley, was very quiet and rarely got out of the house at number four. His name was Harry if Cora remembered correctly.
She was almost at Tyler's house when a strange noise made her turn. Cora frowned at the sight of Mr. Dursley kneeling in front of the door, trying to close the letter hole in the door. She eyed him, noticing how much Dudley looked like his father, fat with small eyes. Cora shook her head, turning to knock on Tyler's door.
Her friend opened almost immediately.
"Hi, Cora," he said with a smile.
"Hey, are you ready to go?" she asked, waving her hand to Tyler's mum, who was speaking on the phone.
"Yeah," Tyler said. "I'll just grab the bag, and then we can go." Cora nodded, smiling, before Tyler got back inside. She waited at the door, turning again towards number 4. Now, even Dudley's mother was out. She was tall and skinny with an extremely long neck, and she seemed nervous looking at her husband, still kneeling on the floor.
Her mother had spoken to the Dursleys sometimes. They always tried to seem like the perfect normal family, but they always turned out very awkward, according to Vivianne. Just awkward people could have generated someone like Dudley, according to Cora.
"What in the world is he doing?" Cora asked as soon as Tyler stepped out of the house, and she heard him make a sarcastic noise.
"Who knows?" He said "They've been acting strange since yesterday" Cora saw Dudley's mum looking their direction and widening her eyes before waving to them trying to hiding her nervousness. The two of them waved back with fake smiles before starting to head to the park.
"Maybe they are just afraid of the wolf" then Tyler started to laugh "They think it will enter the house from the postbox" Cora rolled her eyes amused.
"Again, with the wolf?" She asked turning to her friend.
"Say what you want" he replied "People saw it and they said it wasn't a dog" Cora laughed.
"Grey and howling, how do you call it?" Tyler asked sarcastically.
"Not. A. Wolf" Cora said before start running "Come on, let's see who is faster".
A wolf in Little Whinging. How people could believe such thing? Someone had seen an animal running in the neighborhood for years so everyone was sure it was a wolf and always looked behind their backs when they walked in the street. But it was ridiculous. There wasn't a wolf in Little Whinging.
This is the second character to be introduced!
Let me know what you think about Cora in the comments!
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There was nothing better than a book; to Cordelia, it was like living hundreds of different lives in hundreds of different places. On her lap, she could feel Charm's muzzle nuzzling her every now and then. Cordelia spent hours reading in her chamber, next to her bedroom there was a room just for her books, a chair in front of the window which faced the forest where the Malfoy Manor was. In that room she spent most of the day, not just reading but even painting, it was what most gave her peace.
A knock on the door made her look up. "Miss Cordelia, miss," Dobby's voice came from the other side.
"Come in, Dobby," Cordelia said, seeing the sweet house elf picking in with his head. The moment he stepped in, Charm ran to him, waving his tail happily, but the elf stood still with a nervous expression.
"Is everything alright?" the girl asked, putting her book aside. Dobby nodded, messing with the dirty cloth he used to dress. Cordelia could already imagine what was the reason behind Dobby's nervousness.
"The master wants to see you," he said in a trembling voice. Cordelia took a breath before fixing her skirt with her hands.
"Alright, then," Cordelia said, heading to the door. "Thank you, Dobby." She smiled down at the house elf before patting Charm's head, letting him understand to follow her. Dobby was a sweet elf, and many times, Cordelia's cousin, Narcissa, had told her how much her husband, Lucius Malfoy, didn't approve of her being kind to a servant. Still, Cordelia was; nonetheless, Lucius didn't spend so much time with Cordelia, and in all honesty, the girl couldn't care less what the man said. He had never been polite to her for all her life. Cordelia knew too well what he was after, after all.
The Malfoys Manor was huge, made of white and black stones, and Cordelia's chambers were on the other side of the house. That allowed the fourteen-year-old to have a lot of alone time, which she didn't mind, apart from meals or when guests arrived.
Cordelia ran, giggling, watching Charm follow her happily. Charm was her two-year-old pup; Cordelia had bought it with her own money and brought him home. Her nephew, Draco, didn't like him very much, like his father. Narcissa allowed Cordelia to take Charm, just if the girl was the one to take care of it personally. They even managed to get Cordelia to bring him to Hogwarts with her.
"Still in your nightgown, I see." Lucius's voice made her stop on her track, knowing how much the man hated when she ran around the house. Cordelia looked down from the top of the stairs, and her gaze fell on Lucius sitting on one of the black leather chairs in the living room. He was dressed in black with his snake shaped cane in his hand, his blond almost white hair was tight in a low ponytail. His eyes were on her, and they were looking at her sternly.
"It's ten in the morning," Cordelia said, walking towards him.
"You should act like a Black is supposed to do," Lucius reproved her like he was a Black himself.
"Did you want to see me?" she asked, doing her best to be polite.
But before he could answer, Narcissa's voice made her turn her head. "Cordelia," the woman said, looking at her up and down. "Why aren't you dressed yet?" Her cousin was wearing a dark green dress, and her blond hair was hanging over her shoulder.
"I was reading," the girl said, looking down at her white gown.
"This is an important day," Narcissa said, walking closer to her husband, who didn't seem as excited as his wife. "We are going to buy Draco's wand," she said proudly, thinking about her son. Draco was three years younger than Cordelia, and he had just received his letter a few days back. There was nothing Narcissa loved more than Draco, and sometimes Cordelia found herself wondering if her mother loved her that much or if she was cold as Lucius was.
"Should I come too?" Cordelia asked, looking at her cousin.
"You live in this house," Lucius said with a vicious tone, standing up from his chair. "And if I recall correctly, we are your guardians, which means that if we say you are coming, you are coming."
"Guardian of a guest," Cordelia muttered, turning to get back in her chambers and get dressed.
"What did you say?" Lucius demanded while Narcissa held him by the forearm.
"Nothing," Cordelia said, taking a breath before start walking, but Lucius' voice made her stop again.
"And don't wear that Gryffindor scarf of yours," he said, almost disgusted. He never forgave her for being sorted in Gryffindor, like it was her fault. She liked her house, but it didn't matter how many times Cordelia tried to make the Malfoys change their minds about it, they never did.
Life with the Malfoys wasn't easy, unlike many people could think. Two fellow Gryffindors from her year back at Hogwarts always said that she had everything, but they were the lucky ones: they had a big family and so much love. Cordelia had no parents and brothers anymore, and her only relatives always reminded her that she wasn't a Malfoy but a guest. Her cousin Narcissa was warmer, as much as a Black in Malfoy could be, she had never been a mother to her, her attentions were only for her son; not that Cordelia blamed her for that.
"What do you think, Charm?" Cordelia asked, finishing to fix the red shirt that her best friend Sienna had sent her for her birthday.
Charm barked happily. "I think you are right," Cordelia said with a smile. "He said no scarf; he didn't say anything about shirts." She then gave Charm a kiss before walking out of her chamber, closing the door to prevent Charm from getting out.
"You are coming too?" Draco's voice made her turn before she could step down the stairs. He was walking towards her, fixing his cape on his shoulders. He looked so much like his father: same blond, almost white hair and grey eyes.
When he got closer, he looked at her shirt. "Why do you always have to make him angry?"
She smiled at the boy. "It's just a shirt, Draco. We can't always wear green now, can we?"
They walked down the stairs in silence before Cordelia looked at Draco and asked, "Excited?"
"Of course," He answered, eyeing his father, who was standing not so far from them. "It's my wand." Cordelia nodded, eyeing him; he noticed her staring, so he turned to her. "Why? Weren't you?"
"Of course I was," she said, remembering how happy she was when she bought her wand; that object meant that she was finally going to school, and she couldn't be happier. "But there is nothing wrong if you aren't," Draco nodded his head silently, deep in thought. Sometimes, he acted like a spoiled child, but sometimes, he just acted silently and nervously, most of all when he had to spend time with his father. Cordelia and Draco weren't exactly close, but she could see how lonely he was, even if he was too proud. The two of them weren't that different after all.
"What have you thought?" he asked suddenly. "When you were sorted in Hogwarts."
Cordelia thought of that moment, and she smiled. "I was thinking about the ceiling."
Draco frowned. "Ceiling?"
"In Hogwarts, the ceiling of the Great Hall seems like a sky," Cordelia said with a smile. "I've never seen anything more beautiful."
Draco looked at her as if he wanted to be sure she wasn't lying. When he was satisfied, he nodded, from his expression she could tell he was deep in thought and somehow, she could wonder what he was worry about.
"You know that there is nothing wrong in not being sorted in Slytherin, right?" Draco looked up at her, and then his gaze fell on his father, who was not so distant from them.
"I will be a Slytherin," he said, then his Lucius looked in their direction.
"Draco," he called out harshly, making the boy shift. "Hurry up, we have to go."
"Yes, father," Draco almost whispered before walking towards his parents. Cordelia looked at them before her and took a breath. That was a rich life, not a happy thought. She would have liked to run away from that place, but to go where? For now, Hogwarts was enough.
And here for you Cordelia!
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