The next day, Molly took me to the laundry department to collect my school uniform. It soon became apparent as to why Molly was asking me those weird questions.
The staff member also asked me the same things because it turned out that in addition to the different coloured school ties, the Pure-bloods also have silver buttons sewed onto their school blazers and the Half-bloods get bronze buttons.
Why they would want to segregate everyone like that is beyond me because I thought the whole point of having a school uniform was so that everyone could all look the same, and blend in together to show we were part of the same team.
Molly also had bronze buttons on her uniform, because, like me, only her father was a werewolf. Her mum was a doctor. Molly had an older brother who worked in Switzerland, but he wasn't a werewolf because he was already born before their father got bitten.
The staff member grabbed a bag of bronze buttons then went over to her sewing machine, that's when I noticed on the shelf behind her were some gold buttons. They were so shiny, it was hard not to notice.
"What are those for?" I lowered my voice and asked Molly.
"What?" She squinted her eyes to get a better look, "oh, you mean the gold buttons? Those are for students with distinction."
"What kind of distinction?" I queried.
"If they happen to be really good at sports, or if they've maybe represented the school or the country in competitions, or if they've done exceptionally well in exams and won prizes that sort of thing," she added, "the Head boy and the Head girl and the Prefects usually get it too, but they kind of go hand in hand because in order to become a Head boy or girl or a Prefect you would have to get distinction first."
My eyes widened in surprise, this was all completely new to me, I've never heard of anything like it, it was like entering a different world.
"What do they do? Those Head boy and Prefects?" I asked curiously.
"They represent the school at events and they have a lot of power inside the school, they are pretty much in charge outside the classroom, they can give people trouble, dish out punishments, they can tell people to do things and people would have to do as their told."
Then I asked the most important question that had been playing on my mind. "Do you have to be a Pure-blood to get it?"
She frowned, "what? Distinction? No, I don't think so. As far as I'm aware you don't have to be to a Pure-blood to get distinction but the ones who get distinction are usually Pure-bloods, maybe it's just a coincidence?" She shrugged her shoulders.
We waited until my blazer was ready and I quickly changed into it. It consisted of a brown blazer, a white shirt with a brown tie, a pleated tartan skirt that reached down to my knees and black leather mid-heel pumps with black tights.
I looked like I could be Molly's sister.
The school building was a Grade II Listed building of Palladian architecture situated on the outer borders of West Sussex. To outsiders, it looked like a secluded old Country Manor House with high security and guarded gates. The grand and spectacular building sat on hundreds of acres of a meadow surrounded by scenic woodland and a river.
The building was owned by Revelwood family since the 1700s, and the current Headmaster was Professor Richard Revelwood. The school's coat of arms was a shield of red and green with pictures of a full moon, a wolf, two crossed swords and three five-point stars.
The red colour represented warrior or martyr; military strength and magnanimity. Whereas the green represented hope, joy, and loyalty in love. Beneath its coat of arms was the school's Latin Motto, which read "Ad summa nitor", which translated into "Strive for the highest".
When I'd arrived last night, it had already been dark and I didn't get a chance to see the school grounds, but now in broad daylight, it was bustling with people. Everyone was similar age to me, all dressed in school uniforms. The boys' uniform was similar to the girls' ones except they had to wear black trousers and flat shoes, but the colour scheme was the same.
Everyone seemed to be glowing with happiness, they were chatting excitedly and laughing loudly.
Looking around, I quickly noticed that the girls with green ties seemed to be much taller and prettier than the girls with brown ties. Their hair was long and shiny, it seemed to float in the wind like in the shampoo commercials. Even their skirts seemed to be shorter, or maybe it was because their legs were longer, I couldn't tell, but one thing for certain was that they all looked model-like.
It was a similar situation with the boys too. The ones with green ties appeared to be taller, more confident and overall better looking.
Were they already like that or did they become like that after they've had their transformation? I wondered.
"Do you enjoy sports?" Molly asked.
"Yes," I said, uncertain if walking could be counted as a form of sport.
Over at the tennis courts, people were playing mixed doubles. She watched with longing as they knocked a ball back and forth. Molly looked like she wanted to join them.
"Do you like tennis?" She asked.
"I don't know, I've never played tennis before. It seemed like fun though, I would be up for giving it a try." I said.
Then suddenly a white tennis ball rolled in front of my feet, I looked up and saw a boy with dark hair running towards us, his brown tie flapped in the wind. I instinctively picked up the ball and handed it over to him.
"Thanks," he muttered, panting heavily. He took the ball from my hand without even glancing at me and quickly started running towards a group of tall people standing by the cherry blossom trees.
Seemingly unaware of the commotion, Molly's eyes were still glued onto the tennis game. Not showing any signs of wanting to leave. I had no choice but to continue standing there and watch the game with her.
Moments later, I heard a small 'thud' sound. I turned around and saw a tennis ball lying on the grass.
"..."
I could tell it was the same one because it had the same "SAINT LAURENT Paris x Wilson" logo on it.