บท 21: Unpacking Identity
Cyrna looked away with a soft hum as she gave Prince a good scratch behind his ears. "It's probably because I saved his life once," she admitted freely, knowing that this would paint her in a good light. She grinned at him. "It was also the first time I'd used accidental magic." Not her first, but the story was more touching with this lie. "You see, around a year ago, this little one—" Prince nipped her finger and Cyrna retaliated by bopping him on his head—"Well, he was trying to get in through my window. But I was sleeping, so I wasn't about to open it, you see. Maybe he was trying to get back down, but he ended up slipping right off the ledge."
"And then you used your magic to catch him?" Harry asked, completely invested.
"Mhm! I couldn't reach him, and I didn't want to see it die, so I wished really, really hard for something to catch him. Before I knew it, the wind started blowing really hard. It caught the cat and lowered it to the ground. That was when I knew that I was like my mom—a witch." Cyrna cast an inquisitive look. "Did something like that happen to you too?"
"Well, there was this one time I teleported to a roof," Harry shared hesitantly. "And there were a few other times as well," he said vaguely, not wanting to get into the details since the cause for each of them wasn't something he wanted to explain. Thankfully, Madam Malkin swept back out just at that moment with their robes. Once they had paid for their orders, Harry turned back to the girl. "What about your dad? Was he..." Harry stopped, uncertain if the question was appropriate.
But the girl didn't seem to take offence. "He's a muggle; I'm a half-blood."
"What's a half-blood?" Harry had never heard that term before.
"It's when one parent is a muggle, or a muggle-born."
"Oh."
"Yup. So…" Cyrna trailed off after a moment of silence. "Do want to get the rest of our stuff together?"
Harry imagined that this was what it was like to have a friend at school. He could never make any, since Dudley had scared off anyone that acted friendly towards him. "Sure," he said, feeling just as excited as he'd been when he'd found out from Hagrid that he was a wizard, "But I have to wait for Hagrid first."
As if summoned by his thought, he saw Hagrid lumbering towards them, two large ice-creams in his hand.
"Have yer got yer stuff, Harry?" Hagrid's brown bushy brow lifted with pleasant surprise when he saw that Harry wasn't alone. "And who's the new friend that yeh've made?"
Harry suddenly realized he had never asked for her name. "I'm Harry... Harry Potter," he said. He was relieved when she didn't freak out over his name. "And you are...?"
"Cyrna Raine." She shifted closer to Harry. "I-I was just inviting Harry to go shopping for supplies with me."
"She's a first-year, like me," Harry explained to Hagrid.
Cyrna lifted her hand in a shy wave. "So… you're the Hagrid that Harry was telling me about?"
"He works at Hogwarts," said Harry helpfully.
"Oh. Hello, sir," Cyrna returned politely.
"No need ter call me sir," Hagrid guffawed, "A friend o' Harry is a friend o' mine." He reached out with his free hand to grasp Cyrna's and shook it heartily. "Call me Hagrid. I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts this year."
"It's very nice to meet you, Hagrid."
Harry and Hagrid went off to eat their ice cream. With plans to reunite at Flourish and Blotts. Cyrna set off alone to the bookstore. "Well, with that done and over with..." she muttered, running through the next item on her checklist.
.....
When Prince followed his human into a store that smelt strongly like the room in the mansion where she spent most of her time, Prince knew that his human would not be leaving this location for a while. Preparing to sleep for at least four hours, he hopped onto one of the cushioned seats in the shadowed edge of the bookstore, ignoring the gasp from the human seated on his left.
Or. He would have ignored her if he didn't feel a hand rest on him.
Instantly, he bristled, springing from his seat with a throaty growl. The other jumped with a short yell, but that was enough to draw his human's attention.
Books landing with a loud thud, Cyrna rushed towards her cat, ignoring the gasps and tuts from the customers as she blew pass. Reaching out, she grabbed Prince by the scruff, tucked him under her arms, and scrutinized the victim an appraising eye.
It was a girl with sickly pale skin, mousey brown hair, and hazel eyes rimmed by white lashes. Upon inspection, the girl's features quickly rearranged itself into something colder, and she straightened with a confidence in her demeanour that could only be trained. Cyrna suspected she was someone of import.
"Sorry about that," said Cyrna. "Prince isn't great with—"
"Do you mind? This is a bookstore! What is all this all this clattering about?"
Turning around, Cyrna saw a balding man in a fine suit. He was scowling, but his body showed eagerness for the confrontation. He tutted at them, meaty fingers playing with the ring on his other hand which held a cane. A sadistic asshole, Cyrna concluded in a split second. He was probably going to tear into them for the disturbance. Surveying the sudden silence of the other customers, it seemed that this was routine.
....
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