People Are Talking (Poppy)

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

Classes, as they always had been, weren't too exciting. Now that she only had a few more months left at Hogwarts, she had to make up her mind about what she was supposed to do—other than count the days until the next Hogsmeade weekend when she could get drunk. Things had been so much easier in previous years, and even the anxiety over NEWTs was beginning to get to Samira, too. Inevitably, she was going to wait until the last minute, unlike all of the students in her year who were doing things like applying for internships, networking, or hoping that they would be scouted for professional Quidditch.

She had every hope that something would just fall into her lap—no all-nighters required. Everything that Piper had suggested while they were out clubbing was probably not going to happen in reality, and—trying to get some guidance or something like that—Samira scribbled off a letter to her cousin Yasmiin in her composition book during Charms, which she shoved into an envelope as soon as she got back to her dormitory.

She wasted no time in getting the letter back out to the owlery, and she made it up to the top of the tower—as covered with owl pellets and the remains of rodents as it was—to see one of her classmates, Poppy Hargrave, already there. Sami had heard the rumors about what had happened to the Slytherin's older brother, though she had thought that it was an exaggeration at first; she hadn't thought that anyone had died in Hogsmeade during the dragons' attack, though she had heard that some people—including her own Head of House—had been badly injured. The feeling that she had gotten while walking down the high street on the morning after had been bad enough.

"Hi, Poppy," Sami said to the redhead, holding her envelope for her cousin up in a slight wave.

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy had written a letter to her parents, but had been procrastinating on sending it. After her conversation in the Common Room with Claudia, she had gone to see Professor Zabini to formally drop out of the NEWT level Herbology course. She was seventeen now, an adult in the Wizarding Worlds’ eyes, so she had some say in what she studied in her final year. Still, a part of her craved her parent’s approval, and she knew they wouldn’t like this.

Poppy woke from a deep sleep that morning, and finally grew the courage needed to make her way to the owlery. She did not own her own owl, so she would have to borrow a school owl. As she was making the selection she heard someone else enter the owlery and greet her. She recognized the voice; Samira, a Gryffindor student Poppy rather liked. She was someone to go to if you needed to let loose and have fun; perhaps that was what Poppy needed. “Hello Samira, anything interesting going on?” she greeted in return, nodding towards the envelope the other girl was holding.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

Poppy greeted her back, asking her if there was anything interesting going on. Aside from her sending her cousin a letter that she probably shouldn't have been writing when she should have been paying attention in class, there wasn't really anything going on, Sami thought. Well, there wasn't anything at that exact moment, anyway. They were at Hogwarts, though, and it wouldn't take much at all for something to come up. Someone or something would find a way to liven life up—for better or for worse.

"Not right now," Sami acknowledged with a shrug. "Unless posting a letter to my cousin counts?" Maybe it did count, depending upon Poppy's perspective. There wasn't much to do in the owlery, she didn't think, unless one happened to be an owl. In that case, the place was probably bird luxury.

Samira moved past Poppy to find one of the Hogwarts owls who would be willing and able to take her letter from her and off to Yasmiin. "…Do you want something to do?" she asked the other girl, wondering if she had asked because she was in need of a distraction of some sort, too. She knew that Poppy was a prefect, which meant that some of her potential suggestions were likely off the table. Still, that didn't mean that they couldn't have fun somehow.

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy gave a small smile and chuckled. “I suppose not, unless you’re proposing trouble in the letter,” she conceded, tucking her red hair behind her shoulder. She turned to leave the Owlery, letting Samira post her owl in private when her voice stopped her in her tracks. Did Poppy want something to do? Poppy could technically be studying for her NEWTS - Merlin knew she’d need the help on Herbology - but she didn’t find herself in a studying mood. Rob had been dead for over a month, and people still treated her with hushed voices and sympathetic arm rubs, which she hated. She hated Rob too; how could he have gone off and gotten himself killed when she still needed him? She knew the feeling was irrational and ridiculous, but it was a hard truth when she faced her feelings. “You know what? Yes, yes I do want something to do,” she finally agreed, turning back around to face Samira. “What do you have in mind?” she added as an inquiry.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

The Slytherin told her that she supposed that her letter to Yasmiin didn't count unless she was proposing some sort of trouble within it. Sami had to laugh a little at that, too, moving to find a bird.

Sure enough, there was a large brown owl whose eyes suddenly followed the envelope in her hands, snatching it up in its beak before she had even let go of it completely. There was a pause from Poppy, and Samira had begun to wonder if the other girl had just decided to leave rather than to take her up on her offer.

"You know what? Yes, yes I do want something to do," Poppy answered, to Sami's surprise, turning back to look at her. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, Madam Prefect," Sami grinned knowingly, "I wouldn't want to get you into trouble." She really did mean as much, in truth; she didn't want to push Poppy to do anything too outside of her comfort zone, not unless she wanted to. "But you look like you could use some fun, and I'm sure we can find something."

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy found herself returning Samira’s grin; she knew the Gryffindor was aware of what had happened to her family, but she was relieved she didn’t seem to want to walk on eggshells around her. That was how Samira was though, and she was thankful for that. “You know, the best thing about being a Prefect is I know how to evade trouble...or at least getting caught,” she told her, laughing despite herself. “I could certainly use some fun, and I know you know how to have it. Fun, I mean,” she added. She looked around the owlery, as if for some inspiration. “I’m assuming any ideas you have in mind don’t have standing around in the owlery as part of them?” she asked, smirking a little.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

"You know, the best thing about being a Prefect is I know how to evade trouble… or at least getting caught," Poppy remarked, to which Sami continued smiling. She hadn't realized that Poppy had such a rebellious streak, although she certainly didn't mind that it was showing itself. "I could certainly use some fun, and I know you know how to have it. Fun, I mean."

That was true. Sami was usually game for just about anything, and she usually didn't need too much convincing. She watched as Poppy looked around the owlery—probably to come up with a plan of some sort—but she wondered what in the world the Slytherin would come up with up there. It was dingy, to say the least.

"I’m assuming any ideas you have in mind don’t have standing around in the owlery as part of them?" the other girl smirked.

Sami shook her head. "No, erm… I wouldn't say the owlery is exactly up my street…" They would have a hard time with creativity there, too. "But the rest of the castle…?" Their options were greater, and Sami thought about it for a second before pausing, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "How many secret passages are there?"

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy wasn’t sure of the answer to Samira’s question. “Dozens, if not hundreds,” she replied uncertainly, shrugging her shoulders. Poppy wasn’t nearly as adventurous as her younger sister was, who had undoubtedly found every single passageway in and around the castle halls. Honestly, Aisling had probably found ways out of Hogwarts with her new stealth work she had been practicing. Poppy hadn’t seen her sister too much the past few weeks since they returned to school, but she did have a habit of popping out somewhere completely unexpected. “Did you have a particular passage in mind?” she asked, wondering where Samira was going with this expedition. If Samira knew a way out of the school...well they could get in terrible trouble, but at this point, Poppy honestly didn’t care. Perhaps some trouble would do her good.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

"Dozens, if not hundreds," came Poppy's answer, accompanied by a shrug. Samira had no doubt about that because it was Hogwarts; however, she only knew of a handful of the passages—mostly the standard ones—plus the Room of Requirement, which was hardly a secret anymore. "Did you have a particular passage in mind?"

"We could explore," she considered, "see how many we can find." That was a possibility, though it was also likely to lead them to more than a few dead ends. "I thought I'd found a good one once, on the fourth floor," Sami added, "but it looked like it'd been blocked for ages." It was disappointing, thought Sami; she would have loved to see where it led. "We could try our luck getting into Hogsmeade? Or we could always see what the Room of Requirement could do for us?"

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy considered the three options Samira gave her. The Room of Requirement was the least appealing to her, since she had used the room whenever she needed a few moments of quiet alone time in the past weeks. Exploring secret passages though, that sounded fun. “Where is the passage on the fourth floor, and what is it blocked by?” she asked curiously. She gestured to Samira to leave the Owlery; the hooting was getting a bit annoying. They walked down the staircases, pausing at times to allow the staircases to complete their move. Finally, they arrived on the fourth floor. “Right, shall we see if we can unblock this thing?” she declared, rubbing her hands together, even though she didn’t have a clue where to even start.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

"Where is the passage on the fourth floor, and what is it blocked by?" Poppy asked her, motioning for her to exit the owlery. Probably so that they could converse without the background noise of the owls and the less-than-wonderful ambience of skeletal mice on the floor, which Sami was happy to do.

Making her way back down the staircase of the tower, she answered her. "The passage is behind a mirror. It's all rocks and shite, like… It's completely blocked. Collapsed. We'd need to blast them or something to see what's there."

That hadn't seemed to deter Poppy, however; really, it seemed to be more motivational for her than anything else. Before Sami knew it, the two of them had made their way to the fourth floor of the castle.

"Right, shall we see if we can unblock this thing?"

Sami giggled at how eager Poppy was, although she wasn't sure how they would go about accomplishing it. "Alright, erm… If we can get past the mirror, blasting it all at once would risk damaging it even more…" They didn't need to wind up exploding the whole castle doing that. They just needed a way in, if they could get one. "Do you think we could use a Vanishing Spell on whatever's there?"

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy studied the mirror and shook her head. “Definitely no blasting,” she agreed; the structure seemed precarious and any large shocks would probably result in everything collapsing down around them. “Hmmm…. Let’s try a small section first, because I’m wondering if there’s structural damage if we move anything.” She pulled out her wand and pointed it up to the top corner of the rocks. “Evanesco,” she said, and a small portion of rocks disappeared.

At first nothing happened, then Poppy began to feel the ground quake. She took several steps back as the rocks next to the vanished ones tumbled down, landing squarely where she had been originally standing. “Ok so...maybe not vanishing?” Poppy said, feeling a little lightheaded. “Are there any other passages that lead out of here?” she asked, looking over at Samira with a curious expression.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

The idea of using a Vanishing Spell might have been a good one, but it wasn't successful in the slightest. When Poppy attempted to do the honors of trying to vanish a small area of the debris in their path, lest it result in structural damage, it only worsened. The rocks went away as intended, but more tumbled down in their place—right to where Poppy had been standing moments before.

Samira's eyes widened at the close call, and she nodded in agreement with Poppy that maybe vanishing rocks wasn't such a great idea.

"Are there any other passages that lead out of here?" the Slytherin asked her, since trying to get through that one obviously wasn't happening.

"Y-Yeah," Sami assured her with a quick nod. There were more, and they wouldn't result in serious injury. "There's the one to Hogsmeade on the third floor, behind the statue of the one-eyed, hump-backed witch. Let's hope the Aurors haven't sealed that one shut…" They probably had. "And then one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy on the fifth-floor corridor upstairs. I haven't used that one before, actually." She was willing to give it a try, but she would leave the decision to Poppy. "Upstairs? Downstairs?"

@poppy

[Deleted]

Poppy pursed her lips, trying to decide which one to go with. “I think the one eyed witch one; I’ve heard people talking about the Gregory the Smarmy one too many times to not think the Caretaker doesn’t have their eye on it,” she decided finally. Gregorys’ statue was a pretty well known passageway, and although she was sure people got away with it, Poppy was hoping to not get caught by the Caretaker this time around.

Leading the way, Poppy headed down to the third floor corridor, making sure there weren’t any suspecting students or teachers around. To her relief, they were alone. She made her way up to the one eyed humpback witch and paused. “Er…” she said, turning around to face Samira sheepishly. “Do you know how to open it?” she asked with a giggle.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

Early January, 2025

Poppy expressed her preference for the one-eyed witch route, given that more people—and likely the school’s caretaker among them—seemed to know about the Gregory the Smarmy passage. That was fair enough, and Sami made a note to never let it be said that prefects couldn’t also be mischievous.
 
It was the Slytherin, in fact, who led their way down to the witch statue in question. Sami looked around, as did Poppy. The castle was quiet, and there wasn’t anyone else around. While she knew that she would have to be careful, it was a relief to know that they weren’t going to arouse any suspicions from merely loitering near it.
 
“Er…” Poppy paused, seeming suddenly out of her element. “Do you know how to open it?”
 
Sami nodded. “Yeah. Here.” she nodded, stepping in front of Poppy with her wand out. Without haste, she tapped the statue. “Dissendium,” she cast, keeping her voice low. Just in case anyone did happen to be around, she didn’t want to be overheard. With the password spoken, the hump in the witch’s back opened up to reveal a narrow passage. Both she and Poppy would have no problem fitting through it, however.
 
She looked back to Poppy, grinned, and gave her a thumbs-up. “After you.”

@poppy