The sudden silence at Flourish and Blotts' first floor gained the four purebloods' attentions at the second floor. It should've been noisy as it was earlier due to Gilderoy Lockhart's presence. But now, there were only hushed whispers.
Anastasia and Draco looked down through the loft's barriers as they sat behind them, swinging their legs through the barrier's wide openings. Lucius and Lexter were behind them, also observing the silence below.
" Hey, it's Harry. ", said Anastasia as she spotted the familiar boy in the middle of the crowd, along with the Weasleys.
The three perked up at that and looked for the boy. But there was no need for them to look as just a second later, Lockhart suddenly dived towards Harry and grabbed his arm. He then pulled him to the front as the crowd erupted with applause and cheers upon seeing the two stars.
Harry looked like he had eaten a dish as bitter as dragon's shit and spicy as dragon's intestine.
" Hmp! Of course he's the reason for all of this! Again! Always that Potter... ", Draco sulked.
" Now, now, Draco. Why don't we go down and... Greet Mr. Potter? ", said Lucius with a spiteful tone. Lexter raised one of his eyebrows in return.
The four then made their way downstairs all while Draco continued to mutter about Harry's undeserving popularity.
" Ladies and Gentlemen- "
Lockhart's voice soon faded out from the blue-eyed girl as she drifted off towards the entrance where Fred and George can be seen conversing and laughing at something. Or someone.
" Fred! George! ", Anastasia called out as she attempted to pass through the crowd.
The twins stopped their conversation and looked around yet stared back at each other when they couldn't find anyone who could have possibly called them.
" Was it just me or did I hear Anastasia? ", asked Fred.
Said girl is still attempting to pass through the crowd all while trying to jump to take a look at where the twins are. Just as she was starting to get close to them when an adult had bumped into her, causing her to fall down to the ground.
Though annoyed, Anastasia managed to ignore the rude stranger who didn't even bother apologizing and instead tried to get up, only for her hand to be stepped on by the same stranger that bumped onto her. The adult, who was clueless that he had caused someone to fall, only noticed the girl on the ground when a scream suddenly erupted from below. It was loud enough to catch everyone's attention in the shop.
" Ow! Ow! Fu- Get your foot off! ", Anastasia exclaimed.
The man hastily got his foot off from the girl's hand and helped her get up, all while apologizing profusely.
What used to be a loud crowd turned into hushed whisperings again. Harry, who had been arguing with Draco, took his shock to his advantage and pulled Ginny, Ron, and Hermione away.
" Glasswaters' symbol on her outfit? "
" Isn't she a Glasswater? "
" That man is bloody done for. "
It was also this time that the twins have finally noticed her.
" Ana! ", Said Fred as he swept the girl away from the man. " What happened? Are you alright? "
" How in Merlin's underwear did you end up on the ground? What were you doing down there earlier? Did you drop something? ", asked George.
" Children! What happened? ", Mr Weasley asked as he appeared by their side.
Anastasia's face has turned red from embarrassment at this point. Gosh, she doesn't want to imagine what she looked like earlier on the ground! So embarrassing! Why do embarrassing things keep happening to her?!
" Dunno. We just saw her getting supported to stand up by a man. ", said George.
" Her hand is a bit bruised. ", said Fred as he inspected the girl's hand.
" Miss Ana, ", Said Lexter as he larted the crowd and walked towards the red-faced girl. " What happened? Are you hurt? "
" It's nothing serious. Just, had a stranger who accidentally bumped into me. I fell to the ground and the stranger accidentally stepped on my hand. ", Anastasia explained, trying to be as quiet as possible. How and when did Harry and his friends even get to their side?
Anastasia then felt a strange tingling and cold sensation on her hand. She looked at it and found that it was now held and being healed by Lexter. Though he did not seem to have a wand.
" Wandless magic? ", asked Hermione.
Draco and his father was busy arguing with the poor stranger at the back.
" You're right, Miss Granger. ", Lexter answered.
" Woaaahh... ", Ron awed as Anastasia's hand healed by absorbing the magic. " That's bloody amazing! "
Harry looked clueless. " How do you do wandless magic? ". The bruise was now completely healed.
" Hmmm... ", Lexter brought the back of his palm to his chin. " I can't really say. It depends on the person. I was able to do wandless magic by pouring out my emotions accidentally when I lost my wand during a duel. But for others, they experienced different things. It can be very difficult and can end up in.... gruesome ways. ''
" I've also read from Magic Casting Volume 3 that other regions of the wizarding world don't need to use a wand because they started using magic without it in the past. Just like wizards and witches from Theiogeia. They mainly use their hands but sometimes, they use staffs. Never wands. ", Hermione added.
Lexter seemed to brighten at the girl. " You're right once more, Miss Granger. It's good to know that there's still someone out there who knows so much about magic beyond our region. "
Hermione smiled shyly.
Anastasia feared that the two would become book buddies and immediately got in between them.
" I once made a flower wilt without a wand. You think that was wandless magic? "
" That's not wandless magic, George. The flowers just hate your presence enough for them to wilt. ", said Ginny.
Everybody let out a playful laugh while George playfully pouted at his little sister.
The Malfoys were still arguing with the poor man.
Anastasia and Lexter soon split up with the Weasleys and Grangers to go home. They left the Malfoys behind while they weren't looking. A good opportunity, Lexter said, which Mr Weasley agreed on.
They rode their Carriad on their way home, which was a carriage without a horse. It moved on its own and listened to the owner's instructions. Inside of it was far larger than how a carriage should look like. It was like a 4x4 room. And it moved very fast. For some reason, Anastasia could remember a strange engine sound and loud beeping noises, and a faint :
'' Turn left! Turn left! "
" HAHAHAHHA! "
" Let's go faster! "
" It's a green light! Fucking stop! "
Lexter tutored her while they waited to arrive home, as the Glasswater Manor was very far from Diagon Alley. It usually takes them 25 minutes at this speed. 15 minutes if it was on its fastest speed.
" This one's wrong. It's not red. If you pour the juices of three garlic mushrooms inside a boiling pot of grimhook berries, the soup will end up red. But the question here says ' if you pour five juices garlic mushrooms inside a boiling pot of grimhook berries. '. ", said Lexter , emphasizing the words three, boiling, and five.
Anastasia now understood. She ignored how many garlic mushrooms were written. Usually, people who made Throat Cleanser Berryshroom Soups use three garlic mushrooms to get the correct outcome. But the question was made to confuse people who don't analyze the question and only looked at the key words.
She quickly erased her previous question using an ink eraser and replaced the word with brown.
" Now that's correct. Don't forget to analyze each questions first before answering. "
Anastasia felt proud at the results. Her only mistake was the Berryshroom soup question. Everything else had been right. She truly felt grateful for Lexter.
Lexter then looked up as if sensing something before stopping the Carriad with a movement of his hand. Anastasia made herself busy by reading another book as he got out of the carriage. A few seconds later, Lexter came back with two people. It was Theodore and his mother, Anemone Nott.
Mrs Nott looked quite embarrassed as she sat down before regaining herself and talking to the young girl. " Pardon us for the intrusion, Anastasia, honey. My husband was busy with his work and was going to pick Theo and I quite late until you two spotted us. "
" It's nothing, Mrs Nott. We are glad to help. ", said Anastasia with a polite smile before returning to her book.
Mrs Nott then glared at her son before telling him to sit in a hushed voice.
" Go! Sit beside her! "
Theodore refrained himself from rolling his eyes before sitting down beside Anastasia.
It was quiet for a while. Mrs Nott has fallen asleep while Lexter buried his face to a newspaper. Theodore finally couldn't stop himself from resisting to look at the young girl. He quietly moved his eyes to the girl and found her reading a book which he knows is this year's 4th lesson.
' How is she so far already? ', Theodore asked himself.
He then noticed the papers on the coffee table in front of them. It looked like reviewers. Most of them had about seven to 4 mistakes. The one that was on top of the rest had a single mistake.
He doesn't know why but there was an uncomfortable feeling that was starting to form in his chest. It was always there whenever he looked at the girl ever since their first year at Hogwarts started. And he blames her for this.
Theodore finally looked away with a glare.
Anastasia has read almost half of the book when the carriage stopped moving. Mrs Nott awakened from her sleep and gestured Theodore to stand up.
" Thank you for giving us a ride home, Anastasia, sweety. We'll see you soon. ",Mrs Nott said with a smile before thanking Lexter and walking out of the Carriad with her son.
After that, the Carriad moved again.
" Still not talking to Mr Nott, huh? ", asked Lexter.
Anastasia remained silent.
When they arrived home, they were greeted by Aranel along with the elves Lax and Rod.
Lax and Rod accompanied Lexter to his office while Aranel assisted her to her room.
" Did you buy everything you need, Ana? ", asked Aranel as she warmed the bathwater inside the bathroom.
" Yeah. Probably much more than what I need. Lexter and Mr Malfoy went crazy buying our school supplies. We don't even do our notes that much in Hogwarts. ", said Anastasia as she stepped inside the bathroom, now changed into a bathrobe.
" Oh, you met with the Malfoys? "
" Yeah, Draco and Mr Malfoy. "
" Then I assume you had fun? "
Anastasia cringed at that, remembering the events from earlier. She does hope she doesn't end up in the Daily Prophet.
Aranel laughed at her expression. " What's with that look? Did something happen. "
The younger girl just sighed as she dipped in the bathtub while explaining the events from earlier. Aranel was behind her, washing her hair and laughing once in a while.
" Oh, is Father still not home? "
Aranel halted from drying her hair before responding. " He's still in France. He has gotten busy there and probably won't be home to send you off to Hogwarts. "
Something tells Anastasia that Aranel is also upset just like her.
" It's okay. I still have you and Lexter, right? "
Aranel stared at her for a moment before smiling sincerely. " Yeah. We're still and always here. ", she said as she ruffled the younger girl's hair.
That night, dinner was different.
What used to be a little girl eating alone by the long dinner table, now two people joined her. And soon after, almost everyone in the manor joined the little girl to eat.
That night, dinner was filled with stories and joyous laughter.
That night, the little girl didn't cry herself to sleep.
That night, a certain butler and maid giggled softly as they watched the girl sleep peacefully before closing the door, now not having to worry about her.
That night, the Manor workers' hearts clenched for the little girl as they knew what was about to come.
[<>]
A little girl slept peacefully on her bed. She unconsciously clutched her blanket tighter as wind brushed her face due to her balcony door opening. The door creaked gently, not enough to wake the little girl. The curtains flowed dramatically upon the person's arrival.
A lady entered the room. She glanced around before her eyes fell upon the sleeping little girl. Hesitantly, she walked towards the bed and sat on it.
The lady brushed her fingers through the little girl's black hair. The little girl's hair glowed golden upon the contact. The lady lowered her head to the little girl's face and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
The unknown lady's wavy blonde hair flowed along the wind. Her blue eyes glistened with tears as they slowly ran down her cheeks. She buried her face to the younger girl's now shining blonde hair as she wept silently.
That night, a lady wept silently to herself.
That night, the same lady vanishes like a ghost.