A Dance of Dragons [CLAUDIA]

[Deleted]

March 2025

Poppy burst out of the Herbology greenhouses, breathing heavily. An anxiety attack, the professor had uttered quickly as she had rushed to Poppy’s side when the girl began to breathe hard and fast through her nose. Poppy had never been susceptible to these type of things before her brother died, but after the dragon attacks, and seeing his body, broken and lifeless, they had paid her visits in the most untimely manner. Todays’ attack happened to be in the middle of a lesson on the Venomous Tentacula and had almost caused her to be bitten by one. Fortunately her classmate had intervened before anything bad happened, and the Herbology professor sent her with a note to go to the Hospital Wing. That was the last place she wanted to go though; she had already seen the nurse twice in the past month for a calming draught, and she didn’t want to get addicted to the potion. She had heard tales about those who did, and she wasn’t about to follow in their footsteps.

Instead, she headed inside and went down the stone steps to the dungeon. Most people outside Slytherin house could hardly fathom why anyone would want a common room in the dungeon, but Poppy appreciated the dark glamour of the place. She said the password and hurried into the room, which was mercifully empty. She threw herself onto one of the large leather couches and stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember how to breathe. Deep breath in, one, two, three, and out, two, three. She felt her heart rate begin to slow back down to its normal pace. Poppy closed her eyes, glad that she didn’t have to haul herself to the Hospital Wing again. The sealed entrance to the common room slid open and Poppy reopened her eyes and turned her head to see who entered. “Hello Claudia,” she greeted, turning her face back towards the ceiling and closing her eyes once more. “Another attack, got me out of a painfully uneventful Herbology lesson though. Why my mother insisted on me taking it at NEWT level I could never care to understand.”

@claudia

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Claudia and classes didn’t go well together. Honestly had she wanted to drop out after her 5th year, the end of mandatory schooling, but she hadn’t been allowed. Even though it made perfect sense for her. She couldn’t focus in ballet when she had to pretend to care about potions. Okay, potions was a decent subject. Creatures maybe. Those were annoying. Claudia wasn’t an animal person. All that being said, Claudia only took the bare minimum when it came to classes. So most of her day was free periods during which she practiced ballet until she had to change into her robes and go to her next class. That was kind of what she was doing now. She had another class in 40 minutes, so she was going to change before she had to leave. But the voice from the couch stopped her. Poppy. A little smirk took over Claudia’s face when she heard Poppy explain what happened in herbology. While she didn’t want to be afflicted with those attacks, they were convenient when she didn’t want to be in class. “At least you’re using them to your advantage.” She joked.

@poppy

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Poppy chuckled wryly. “I suppose you could say that, she wanted me to go to the Hospital Wing again, probably for a calming draught. I’ve seen what that stuff can do though when someone gets hooked, and I don’t want that happening to me.” Her brother Rob would tell her to be strong, that she was a wolf not a lamb, but sometimes it was really hard to stay that way. She sat up a little, taking in Claudia’s outfit. “Dancing practice?” she asked, tilting her head to one side. Poppy loved to dance, but she wasn’t nearly as good as Claudia was. “I fully expect box seat tickets in my name when you become the youngest principal dancer for the royal ballet,” she noted, inclining her head in Claudia’s direction. Poppy tucked a strand of red hair behind her ears and sighed. “I wish I hadn’t picked up half the subjects I’m taking; what am I going to do with random plant knowledge while negotiating terms with foreign ministers?” she asked with a small pout.

@claudia

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Poppy explained that they wanted her to go to the hospital wing and Claudia nodded. That made sense that the teachers would worry about her in that way, but Claudia always trusted that everyone knew what was best for themselves and their own bodies, especially when it came to medical and mental things like this. She wouldn’t really judge Poppy, regardless of what she chose to do. “I get that.” she said along with her previous nod. Rather than head up to the dorm to change, Claudia walked over to the girl. “yeah. I was up in a spare classroom.” she replied. She wasn’t full leotard, thankfully. She never walked around the castle like that. She was simply in short, spandex shorts and a tight fitting tank top. She gave a small chuckle at the idea of Poppy wanting box tickets. “I’ll have my people call your people.” she smirked. Back on the subject of classes, Poppy said that she feeling down about the amount of classes she had and Claudia nodded. “I’m sure you could still drop out of them…” especially after what happened with her brother. She was sure the the headmaster would understand.

@poppy

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Poppy smiled at the people comment. If all went according to plan, she’d have her own assistant within the first five years of her Ministry career, some young upstart wanting to carve their way into the Ministry just as she was hoping to do now. Poppy was ambitious, to be sure, but she put in a lot of effort to get where she needed to be.

She considered Claudia’s next comment thoughtfully. “My mother wouldn’t be too happy with me,” she admitted, though truth be told her mother was lost in her own grief for Rob these past few months, that she may not even notice Poppy dropping a few courses. “Still, we’re halfway through the semester, so I guess it wouldn’t make sense to drop it. Nor would it look good on my records,” she countered, partly to herself.  Not wanting to talk about classes anymore, she changed the subject.  “Do you plan on going to that wizarding arts academy, or are you going to audition for the Royal Ballet itself straight out of school?” she asked.

@claudia

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“and you’re letting your mom make all your decisions still because?” Claudia asked, raising an eyebrow at her colleague. She wouldn’t judge, again, but it seemed like there had to come a point at which Poppy would need to stop caring what her mother thought about her and just make the decision on her own what to do with her life. “no I suppose it wouldn’t. she nodded. Though Claudia never cared about how her records looked. She understood the reasoning though. When Poppy asked about Claudia’s plans for after she graduated, Claudia simply shook her head. “No I’m already dance with and teach at the London Children’s Ballet.” She explained. “it’s not as easy as just auditioning. It’s all about who you know and who knows you. So I’ve got to network my way from company to company.”

@poppy

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“I’m not letting her make ALL of my decisions,” Poppy replied indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s just...the Ministry looks at the strongest applications only, and if I don’t have one of the core classes Hogwarts has to offer, what if it makes me look incapable?” she finally managed to say, resting the back of her head on the arm of the sofa. She nodded a little at Claudia’s explanation of teaching with the London Childrens’ ballet, and smirked at her last comment. “Yes, that’s all this world is isn’t it? Who you know, who knows you, who has the ear of whom,” she drawled, sitting up so she could tuck her legs under her. “My father being in the Ministry will probably help my application though, so I suppose there is some merit to the saying,” she said with a dry chuckle. “Do you want to be a principal dancer, or is it more your dream to teach and bring joy to the younger generation of ballerinas after you?” she asked.

@claudia