whirlwind [lily]

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

20 February 2026

The field trip to Hy-Brasil had been enlightening, to say the least. Gone was any sense of worry, replaced only with a feeling of giddy joy and wonder as she considered the path of her life coming forward. Pieces seemed to fall into place more easily now. Provided her NEWT classes went well, Brígh was sorted for curse breaker training. As long as no unforeseen circumstances came about (ie her father falling ill again), Brígh's final term at Hogwarts would be a breeze. The idea of graduating was only a small bit frightening - not being able to see Addy and Cheese every day was much more daunting. She hoped that the three of them would be able to catch up frequently, despite the fact that Brígh assumed she'd be travelling all over with her training.

With every ending came a new beginning. And even as her Hogwarts chapter came to a close, Brígh was excited about what came next. But for the moment, she had a few things to focus on. The main point being how she was going to get down to Hogsmeade more than once a month to see Aidan. Brígh considered herself a master when it came to sneaking about, but she had been caught on more than one occasion. There was one person she could trust to know the corridors and secret nooks and crannies of the castle better than herself - and she had been a resource at Brígh's fingertips all along.

Of course, Brígh's first choice would have been James, the Potter she was closest with. Well, now, considering things with Albus had essentially fallen apart. Brígh had never admitted that Lily frightened her a bit, especially with how intense the youngest Potter tended to be. She was a wild and chaotic source of energy, and Brígh needed that in order to accomplish her own selfish goals. After dinner finished, Brígh returned to the common room, promising to text Addy more later tonight with details. She hadn't told her friend about her plans to sneak out of the castle, as she knew that Addy would not approve. Brígh spotted Lily Potter in the common room, and sauntered over to her with a mischievous glint to her eyes. "Lily. Can I ask for your help with something?" said Brígh.

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

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Supposedly the trip to see a bunch of animals on some cool magical island was fun, but Lily hadn’t been allowed to go. Something about being held back once and how she needed to one-hundred percent focus on exams starting now. She had protested, of course, but she was reminded that she was lucky that she had Hogsmeade privileges as it was. Even a good word from her Uncle Charlie, who was now teaching Care of Magical Creatures (the only class she had passed the year prior, so she didn’t need to take it again), about how he would keep her close the whole time, didn’t pass. It seemed that it was probably a good idea not to allow her anyways, because of a long-standing issue that the druids on the island had with werewolves. She didn’t really care either way, though the castle had been virtually empty aside from the youngest students and herself. Whenever this sort of thing happened in the past, like if she was barred from a Hogsmeade weekend due to detentions, she ended up doing even less work than she normally did. A couple of days free to do whatever she pleased and with minimal oversight from the professors was easily the worst thing the school could be doing concerning her situation. Their loss though.

Because of this, she had slipped up a bit in some of her classes and it was now being recommended that she actually put the effort forth in the remaining months. Everything had gone well in the fall term, and everyone was expecting the same out of her during the spring term too. She knew the subject matter fairly well, having done it twice now, so it was more of getting the work done on time and passing the exams. Studying sucked, but here she was doing it anyways.

Leaving dinner early and immediately heading back to the common room for a few minutes of peace and quiet was starting to be so common place for her that it was sort of scary. She had never put forth this much effort in anything, except when it came to goofing off. As the rest of the Gryffindors started to file into the common room post-dinner, she closed the book she had been reading, and decided that was enough for the night. People would want to talk, and she wasn’t going to subject herself to a life of school work if it wasn’t going to make anything better for her. All she had to do was pass anyways.

As she was closing the book, she heard her name called, and looked up to see Brígh approaching her little table, asking for help on something. “Sure thing kid. Whatcha need?” she said brightly, as she pulled herself out of the study slouch she had been in previously.

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[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh scanned the common room for the youngest Potter, the one who she should have probably known best but was somehow least acquainted with. In truth, Brígh was intimidated by Lily, though she would never admit that. She sensed that Addy knew about this tidbit, but had never dared speak of it. Brígh had noticed that Lily didn’t bother joining the Hy-Brasil field trip, and wondered if there was a deeper meaning behind her absence, or if she simply didn’t want to hang around with the young riff raff. Even now, she looked poised to depart back up to the dormitory, eager for some solitude.

Calling her name, Lily looked towards Brígh who offered a tentative smile. With the revelations of the trip to Hy-Brasil, Brígh knew that she needed to find a way into Hogsmeade more than the allotted once a month. She was of age anyways, both in the muggle and wizarding world. It was barmy that she couldn’t visit the village as she wished to see Aidan. Though rather unfortunate, Brígh knew that Lily would be able to help her with her cause, especially with the added benefit of breaking some rules. Addy would probably die if she knew the extent of her scheming, but Brígh had more important things to consider. Lily straightened, addressing Brígh fondly as ‘kid.’ Brígh flinched slightly at the inflection, but powered on to reply. ”I need a way to get into Hogsmeade,” said Brígh, sliding into the seat across from Lily. She considered whether she ought to divulge further details before speaking further. ”It’s about a boy, naturally,” she added with a guilty twist of her lips. ”Have you got tips of any sort?”


lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

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Well this was certainly an interesting question. Lily definitely had ways of getting around places that were virtually unknown to others, mostly because of her possession of a certain fold of paper that had been passed down to her. She hadn’t used it at all this year, having gotten most of her fun out of it the prior one. That was only part of why she had failed, but it certainly hadn’t helped her case at all. It was trickier now with her mum working at Hogwarts, and tiptoeing around in the middle of the night while following a magical map’s directions wasn’t exactly the smartest thing for her to be doing in her repeat seventh year.

She grinned when Brígh mentioned that it was about a boy, and that brought millions of questions to the tip of her tongue, but she kept it shut up for the time being. This sort of rule breaking she could definitely get behind. Love was love after all! Not even Hogwarts’ magical barriers could get in the way of that. “Hmmm…” she hummed as she leaned back in her chair and tapped her quill against the edge of the table rhythmically. “There are definitely ways to, you know, disappear. If you catch my drift,” she said in a hushed tone that came more at a normal volume. Trying to whisper was impossible, and it wasn’t like anyone in the common room would really care. If they were smart, they’d stay away from her shenanigans by now.

“It depends on the time of day, mostly. Obviously you can’t just walk off the grounds and to Hogsmeade during a normal day,” she continued, “-but there are a few secret passages that could possibly get you to where you need to go.” There were two that Lily knew of that were still standing, the rest on her map being blocked off or inaccessible without some extra effort put into it. If Brígh had been a younger student, Lily never would have been caught giving this sort of advice out. These were her secrets, and the more people that knew, the more likely it was to come back on her. The fact that there were professors at Hogwarts that would most likely know of what she was talking about, namely McGonagall and her mum, if anyone was caught attempting the passages, all eyes would turn on her.

“I’d say the one is easier to go through without getting caught, but the likelihood of getting hurt is higher.” The one-eyed witch statue supposedly lead to Honeydukes – the willow to the Shrieking Shack. She preferred the latter and had only ever been in the tunnel for the former. Her Uncle George once let it slip that the Honeydukes passage essentially popped up in the basement of the shop. She wasn’t too keen on having a breaking and entering charge slapped on her and to lose the secret passage as well. “How fast can you run?” she asked.

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[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh was quick to reveal the true nature of her request, informing Lily that her need to sneak around was due to a boy. Well, not really a boy, but not quite a man. Aidan hovered somewhere between the two, suspended with a childlike wonder about the world and the responsibility of age weighing on him. Lily fixed her with an appraising look, grinning knowingly at her. She said nothing for a moment, then hummed out a thoughtful response. Brígh nodded eagerly, having already uncovered a few passageways that led to various different places within the castle. But she really needed a way to get into Hogsmeade - even though she’d just seen Aidan, she was itching to be in his company again. It had unfocused her mind, a complete and utter distraction, of which Addy was naturally disapproving.

Lily went on to divulge a few secrets, suggesting that there were actually multiple ways out of the castle and into Hogsmeade.. Brígh was floored by this discovery - how many times had she wondered how she could sneak out without attracting attention? ”Merlin, I never knew…” she said quietly, her eyes bright with the prospect of mischief. ”I suppose it will be a nighttime stroll, I’ve been practising disillusionment charms,” she murmured, more to herself than anything.

Brígh knew that it was risky asking Lily for this advice - if she was caught, especially by Madam Macmillan, or Lily’s mum, they would know exactly where she’d gotten her intel. The fact that Lily was willing to help her out was a testament to the fierce loyalty the members of Gryffindor held for one another. ”I really appreciate your help, you know,” said Brígh after a moment. Lily then asked her how fast she could run, and she grimaced. She knew Addy and Cheese were in much better shape than her, especially with all the Quidditch practice. ”Well, I won’t say I’m as fast as a unicorn being hunted for their blood, but I can definitely sprint short distances,” said Brígh uncertainly. ”Why is that?”

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

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“I have no idea what a disillusionment charm is,” Lily stated proudly, though realized in the moment that she probably shouldn’t be taking pride in that at all. If Brígh was practicing it, it was bound to be important for class, and therefore, exams as well. “Err…actually, which one was that again? Maybe I do know it.” The slight embarrassment that came from her admittance was something new for her, though she was getting used to it more and more when it came to schoolwork. Wracking her brain for what that charm could be wasn’t going to be of much use, as she was too caught up in the concept of telling someone new about her dirty little secrets. Even she kept these to herself, mostly as a failsafe if things got bad following a full moon. She hoped that never happened though.

Brígh answered the question about how fast she was, and Lily contemplated what that meant for a normal person. Not that her lycanthropy gave her anything extra in the way of speed, there were times where the boundless energy of the wolf was felt more than her own, so that had to be taken into account when it came to running head first at the Whomping Willow. A sprint at a short distance was good though, and Lily nodded her head in understanding. “Okay! That’s good, that’s good…” She wiggled her chair a bit closer to her roommate and cupped her hands around her mouth, leaning into the other girl’s ear so that she could give her secret away. “The Whomping Willow has a passageway underneath it that leads all the way to the Shrieking Shack.” Lily pulled away and comfortably leaned back into her chair again, a smug expression on her face. Obviously that was quite the unbelievable statement to make, but she had proof to back it up if Brígh was skeptical.

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[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh chuckled at Lily's proud statement. Brígh knew her housemate was clever than she let on, but still... there had been a reason she'd been held back. "That one where you kind of blend into the background. So you appear invisible but really you're like a chameleon," said Brígh brightly. "Useful. If you've not got an invisibility cloak," she added in an off-hand sort of tone. Brígh shared how grateful she was for Lily helping her out - the Potters were known for their flippant regard for rules. Brígh could appreciate that. Perhaps her and Lily were more similar than she had initially thought - she certainly taken after James more than Al.

Nonplussed, Brígh answered that she could sprint, but didn't really trust her stamina. Lily leaned forward, cupping her hand around her mouth as if the secret she was about to divulge was particularly juicy. Brígh leaned in as well, anticipation tingling in her finger tips. At Lily's whisper, Brígh's mouth dropped open in shock. "The - what?" she stammered, whipping her head around to stare aghast at Lily. She checked her volume, then whispered. "Under the whomping willow? But how would you get there?" she asked, her eyes wide as saucers. "Can you show me?" she asked when her initial shock had worn off and her curiosity had won over.

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

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What use was blending into the background for her? Absolutely not at all. Her existence was literally to be loud and obnoxious. Even she recognized that. A disillusionment charm probably wouldn’t work on her even if she had charmed her mouth shut, her body always moving regardless of what was going on around her. “Well, I don’t need either of those. If I get caught sneaking out, I just take the L and get the detention,” she shrugged. If she couldn’t be as stealthy as a ninja, then she deserved the punishment. This year she was obviously keeping it a lot more low key, considering the tradeoff of getting held back again would not be good for her at all.

“Yep!” she said happily, proud that the little secret of hers was finally out in the world. The details of the map were maybe the only thing in her life that wasn’t consistently and loudly broadcasted to the rest of the student body of Hogwarts. And that was because even she understood the sort of implications that secret passages onto the grounds could lead to. Now, it was sort of like getting slapped in the face by not having the map until this year, when she couldn’t effectively exercise the passageways without risk of expulsion, but she had still scoped them both out when she was on her own.

But Brígh wanted to know how to actually get under the tree and to the passageway. That was a little different than standing by idly. Lily chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought about the pros and cons of doing such a thing, and decided that it was now or never, because after this year she wouldn’t be able to legally try it out again. Getting yelled at by McGonagall as a student was different than what it would be like as a graduate. That actually sounded scary to her. “Err…I could, I guess. There are sort of three ways to go about it,” she started to explain. “The first is the hardest, which is running for the passageway. It’s hidden between the roots and almost impossible to do with the limbs swinging about. The second is by pressing a specific knot near the passage, which stops the willow from attacking. But you also have to be near it to do that. And the last is casting a freezing charm, which is sort of obvious and lasts for a while…” Personally, she had done the first. It was stupid and reckless, but she also wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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