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last online May 11, 2024 1:52:20 GMT -7
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Nov 10, 2017 22:15:31 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2017 22:15:31 GMT -7
The logistical nightmare that had resulted from the decision to send everyone home from Hogwarts earlier than planned couldn't have been worse for anyone than it had been for Oona O'Toole. Not only had she had to explain to her parents about the “accident” that had caused all of them to leave before they had even started their exams, but she had been saddled with having to work out a plan to get home. If it were any other year, she would have traveled between London and Dublin with one or both of her parents, as she always had. Because she was Muggle-born, too young to Apparate, and didn't have a Portkey or a connection to the Floo Network, however, she had two options: Either she could find some way to get herself back to Dublin, or she could wait until her mother could get to London in a few days' time.
Knowing that her parents would never agree to let her travel by Muggle means back to Dublin on her own at just fourteen, she had proposed to them that she would stay at the Leaky Cauldron for five nights—waiting until the weekend, when she could meet her mother on the Muggle side of the pub and return to Ireland with her. Besides, from Oona's standpoint, the idea hadn't been without its perks—not having to put pressure on anyone else to stay with them and exploring Diagon Alley more than she ever had before.
It was the second full day of her summer, but getting bored was out of the question with Flourish and Blotts' being so close by. Oona had double-checked the shop's hours when she had stopped in the day before, in order to make sure that she could get the most out of her time. Not an hour later, she had already written down a dozen titles worth buying and about a dozen more that she considered reading if they were available in the school library. How, though, could she ever narrow them down?
That would be the ultimate test, she thought, though it was one at which she was perfectly content to fail. Taking the list of titles with her as she walked back towards the Leaky Cauldron, Oona read over them once again, not minding in the slightest where she was walking.
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last online May 11, 2024 1:52:20 GMT -7
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Nov 13, 2017 15:21:34 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2017 15:21:34 GMT -7
It felt strange, journeying through Diagon Alley on her own. The last time Saphira had been to the hidden wizarding town had been shortly before her first year at Hogwarts, when the professor told her she was a witch and whisked her away to a land of magic. Saph distinctly remembered that day, from the order of the stores she had gone to for supplies, to the exact number of wands she went through before finding her own. Much like Hogwarts, the magic of Diagon Alley was to be admired.
Saph looked at her watch. Her parents would be arriving at the Leaky Cauldron soon to pick her up and bring her home for the summer. It was still saddening that the school year had to end on such tragic terms. Saph was especially frustrated that she had spent so much time diligently studying for exams, only to have them cancelled in preparation for sending the students home early. Saph wasn't sure she was ready to go home. She loved her parents, but being away from the world of magic felt like trying to breathe without oxygen. And since she couldn't practice magic at home, she couldn't prepare for the next school year.
Sighing, she continued walking through Diagon Alley. She stopped at the Magical Menagerie to get treats for Ace. He loved the little vegetable-flavored treats, and Saph was more than happy to spoil him. As continued her journey, peering curiously into all the windows of every shop, reveling in the beauty of the magical world around her. So, of course, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. It wasn't until much too late that Saph looked ahead, just in time to run into another girl. She stumbled back and fell flat on her butt. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you," she apologized quickly.
@oona
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last online May 11, 2024 1:52:20 GMT -7
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Nov 16, 2017 12:04:10 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2017 12:04:10 GMT -7
There was no opportunity for Oona to avoid what came next: Either someone collided right into her, or she collided right into them. However it had happened, Oona didn't know; she had been walking along and hadn't seen anyone—at least not until she felt another person hit her.
The other girl, she saw, fell onto her bottom. Oona was thankful to find that, despite stumbling a little, she had managed to keep her balance and avoid the same fate as the other girl, whom she recognized as a Hufflepuff in the year above her whose name she couldn't place.
“I'm so sorry. I didn't see you,” apologized the older girl. Her appearance alone didn't do much to jog Oona's memory as to her name; there seemed to be quite a few blonde Hufflepuffs.
Before she could say anything, Oona realized that the worst had occurred. Though she hadn't fallen, the list that she had been carrying had flown from her hands in the collision. She wanted to look around to see if it was still within her reach—that it hadn't blown away for good, in other words—but she knew that she needed to make sure that the girl with whom she had collided was unhurt.
“Sorry,” Oona told the girl, too. “I was looking at my list of books,” she explained, trying to recall as many of the titles as she could. “Are you alright?”
@saphira
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last online May 11, 2024 1:52:20 GMT -7
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Dec 18, 2017 16:08:59 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2017 16:08:59 GMT -7
Saph began picking herself up as the other girl uttered an apology. Her face was bright red as a result of her falling, and she stared at her feet as she stood up and brushed herself off. "I'm fine," she said quickly, still not able to look at the other girl. How could she be so clumsy? She hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention. "What about you?"
Finally looking up, she noticed sheets of paper fluttering away in the wind. "Um, I think your..." Without finishing her sentence, Saph took off after them, dodging around witches and ducking under wizards in order to reach the papers. She snatched one out of the air, whipped around and grabbed the other as it flew at her chest. Smiling to herself, she returned to the girl and held out the papers. "I think I got them all," she said brightly, her embarrassment forgotten. She stared at the girl, realizing that while she recognized the girl as a Hogwarts student, she had no clue what the girl's name was. "I'm Saphira," she added with a smile.
@oona
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last online May 11, 2024 1:52:20 GMT -7
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Dec 18, 2017 20:28:07 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2017 20:28:07 GMT -7
The girl into whom she had collided said that she was fine and asked Oona if she was alright, too. Oona nodded, assuring the girl that she was fine. “I'm not hurt or anything,” she told her. The only thing that had been “hurt” was her list, probably long gone already.
No sooner had she spoken of it than the other girl spoke up. “Um, I think your…”
“Oh!” Oona interjected, spotting the list's pages at about the same time as the Hufflepuff did. Before she could chase after them, the blonde girl was already on her way to grab the sheets, weaving past plenty of other shoppers to do so. Oona watched in awe as—miraculously—the blonde retrieved them.
“I think I got them all,” the girl told her as she held out the list.
Oona, who still couldn't believe that the girl had actually done what she had, took the list back from her gratefully. “Thank you,” she replied, eagerly making sure that everything she'd written down was there—and it was. “I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost this…”
She looked up as the blonde girl introduced herself. “I'm Saphira,” she said.
In turn, Oona introduced herself. “I'm Oona. Thank you again for saving my list, Saphira. You're in… Hufflepuff? I think?”
@saphira
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