๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ผ๐ต๐ฎ๐ โ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐
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โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ .:ใปยฐ โ ยฐใป:. โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ผ๐ต๐ฎ๐
๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ท๐๐ ๐น๐พ๐๐๐: ๐ซ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท๐ฎ๐ญ
แดแด แดกแดสแด
๐ข๐ฎ๐ฝ โ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ธ๐พ๐ผ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐น๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป โ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฝ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐น๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ปโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ .:ใปยฐ โ ยฐใป:. โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
๐ฒ๐๐๐ธ๐๐๐, ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ธ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐น ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐น๐, ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฝ๐๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐.
๐๐พ๐น ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐๐ ๐ถ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐น ?
๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐พ๐๐๐๐. ๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฝ๐๐๐. ๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ธ๐ฝ๐พ๐๐.
๐๐ท๐ญ ๐ ๐ด๐ท๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ.๐๐ธ, ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ ๐พ๐ฒ๐ซ๐ซ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป
โโโโโโโโ โ โโโโโโโโ
โ โ โ โ Ahh, September First. The day every Hogwarts student heads to Platform 9ยพ to begin another year of school. The summer was quiet, perhaps too quiet. It seemed as though all the drama was finally settling and would be left behind. No pesky app would bother anyone. ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐ผ, ๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ, ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ต๐ช๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐ช๐ป, ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฝ ? No, no. ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ ๐พ๐ฒ๐ซ๐ซ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป will not go away so easily. Most people had even deleted it off their phone, but that doesn't change the notification that pops up when the train pulls into school. A foreboding welcome back message is accompanied by a massive attack on various students. Now instead of watching the first years get sorted and catching up with your friends, you are dealing with the fallout of all your summer shenanigans being leaked publicly. Good luck trying to unpack your bags quietly when everyone else is trying to unpack just what terrible things you did when you were away . . .
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๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
โ โ โ โ โWell, arenโt you a bit troublesome?โ Victoire chides, but it is not some goofy cousin or wandering first-year at the end of her judgment. The young pup continues to nip at her fingers that once gently scratched behind his ears. She canโt help but giggle at his antics. Another little one yawns and rests its paws on her outstretched leg. Despite the evening chill settling in, she feels nothing but warmth. The Forbidden Forestโs pack lounges peacefully around her. After all, it is the seventh year that she has traipsed among them. They might even have missed her warm smile { and even warmer snacks } over the long summer months.
โ โ โ โ Lupines.
โ โ โ โ Certainly not human. But not quite wolf. The alpha lays behind her, radiating heat and security. When Victoire entered the forest, she was greeted by the beloved leader almost immediately. Even from a distance, she could sense Victoireโs distress as if it is her own. After all this time, they have an instinctual connection with one another. The witch can still fondly remember all those years ago when she first transferred. The sorting event sent her spinning; she didnโt feel anything like a Gryffindor. โDo you remember too, Otrera?โ she hums. The alpha opens an eye to answer her call. Though she will never be like a pet, she did learn the name Victoire wanted to give her almost immediately. Although it seems impossible to convey that Otrera was the creator and first Queen of the Amazons, Victoire likes to think that she took to the name so easily because she could feel how well it suited her.
โ โ โ โ Otreraโs soft whimper seems to convey that she knows exactly what the silly little witch means. They can all recall the day that Otrera brought a human into their midst for the first time.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ .:ใปยฐ โ ยฐใป:. โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐
โ โ โ โ It is all going to happen again. Her house will hate her. Victoire will be tormented. She will be alone. Before she can even think through her actions { a trait she fails to recognize in the moment of being very much like her Uncle Harry }, she is running out of the castle. Running into the woods. Running away from Hogwarts to . . . anywhere. Nowhere.
โ โ โ โ She does not get a hundred yards into the dark, twisted trees before cold yellows eyes stop her in her tracks. The intelligence behind them is haunting. Of all the animals she has encountered, this one is the first she finds alone, on accident, in the middle of a terrain she has no place being in. { But it is far from being her last. }
โ โ โ โ โWhat are you?โ she whimpers, fearing that the creature may actually reply to her. Words do not fall from its fanged mouth; however, it seems to understand the question. And Victoire already knows the answer. She has read the book on the Forestโs creatures and heard the rumors of the pack of unnatural wolves that inhabit it. If two werewolves mated while they were transformed, that union created a unique species, as beautiful as they are deadly.
โ โ โ โ The lupine creeps closer, sniffing at her shoes, her robes, her hair. At only thirteen, the giant wolf nearly looks Victoire in the eye. She is frozen in fear; it could take her life in an instant. One bite to the neck will finish her. Why is she so stupid? Why did she go to one of the most ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ท places on campus within hours of arriving? Perhaps she deserves this fate . . .
โ โ โ โ Victoire refuses to shut her eyes. If this is going to be the end, she will at least face it head-on. { This one, eventually, dawns on her as a show of true lioness courage. } The dark snout nudges against her chest. Her scream only barely chokes out between pursed lips, but no attack follows. It shoves her again. And again. Back in the direction from where she came. Back to the safety of the castle.
โ โ โ โ โVous, vous ne comprenez pas.โ She cries. ๐จ๐ธ๐พ, ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ญ๐ธ๐ทโ๐ฝ ๐พ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ฝ๐ช๐ท๐ญ. Her emotions get the best of her; she doesnโt realize she talks in French. โJe ne peux pas y retourner. Ils ne m'accepteront jamais.โ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ทโ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ. ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐โ๐ต๐ต ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐น๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ฎ. But it does not matter what language she speaks. Her emotions tell the lupine all it needs to know. It circles behind her, now drawing her forward. Victoire has no reason to trust it. If she were smart, she would run. However, she lets the giant, terrifying beast lead her further into its territory. Further away from anyone that could hear her screams for help. And though she does not admit it, this is the safest she has ever felt.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ .:ใปยฐ โ ยฐใป:. โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ โ โ โ โHeโs back, you see.โ
โ โ โ โ None of the canines have to move for her to feel acknowledged. She knows they are listening. She appreciates how calm and collected they are. It is their passive nature that kept her sane so often through her time at Hogwarts. Yes, they are fearless warriors that can destroy most creatures in a momentโs notice. But seeing them together, so clearly secure in their power and ability as individuals and in the pack, always reminds Victoire of her own strength. { Well, and maybe a tinge of sadness that the Wotters donโt feel like the same kind of family that accepts her so wholeheartedly. } It inspires her to keep her head on straight and not let her emotions run away from her. She can be the calm woman that Hogwarts always knows her to be, but she can also be secretly prepared to strike at any second. True strength is more powerful when it speaks for itself, rather than being flaunted about.
โ โ โ โ Victoire takes a deep breath, steadying her heart, before continuing, โThe same boy I told you about it. Cried about. I just . . . I used to think he was the greatest friend I had. Perhaps the only true one. The only one who loved me for me. But he did what everyone always does. Once they get what they want from the pretty Veela, they run away. Iโm just an impressive story in a list of conquests. And . . .โ
โ โ โ โ There they are again, those cursed tears falling silently down her face.
โ โ โ โ โIt just hurts that after everything, he couldnโt even say goodbye. He ran away and left me behind like . . .โ A deep sob closes up her throat. She doesnโt want to cry, but now that it has begun, there is no holding it back. Otreraโs weight shifts to curl even tighter around Victoire, who has slipped so low that she is practically lying across the forest floor. โI guess I was wrong all those years. I mean I always knew I wasnโt a Ravenclaw.โ A low, solemn chuckle escapes. Victoire is deflecting, bottling up her emotions to ignore them like she always does. She uses her dark robe sleeves to wipe gently at the water pooling in her eyes. No one can see her running makeup later and know she isnโt truly made of us.
โ โ โ โ The forest remains eerily quiet, as if to remind her that it, too, wants to respectfully listen. That she is safe here. A silent, soft breeze curls into her new blonde hair, testing that the new color still hides the same girl inside. ๐ฃ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฎ, ๐ต๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ, it seems to say with its tender touch. ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ. But Victoire can only choke out one last phrase before the weight of her feelings crushes her into silence.
โ โ โ โ โIf Te - he could just leave like that, I must have meant . . . nothing to him. I thought I loved him, and he barely cared that I existed.โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ .:ใปยฐ โ ยฐใป:. โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ โ โ โ The breakfast chatter is ignited with rumors. Each house seems to have their own theory as to what caused the strange, loud howling during the night. More than a few students had woken up to its cacophony. Were they welcoming the students back? Warning of something terrible? Simply enjoying themselves? Theories abound and grow more absurd as the meal drags on. But, strangely, the girl who claims to care the most about magical creatures is eerily silent. Perhaps because she knows what they were doing.
โ โ โ โ It was a favor to her, their beloved Victoire. Screaming alongside her. Drowning out the noise of her own pain so that no one would be talking about the strange sound of a girl crying instead. Maybe she refuses to think about why wolves feel such a close connection to her instantly. Maybe she canโt even look towards the professorsโ table in the Great Hall. But she knows the truth of last night. Because the lupines are the only ones that really know her. And perhaps the only ones that really love her.