📍Hogwarts, SW&W - August 1993
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The young witch met the Headmaster's blue eyes with shock. This wasn't in the brochure!
"Okay, sure. I'll sit here and you'll… judge me?"
She was unaware. Sorting customs were different between schools. Beauxbatons had three houses. To be sorted, you would launch an arrow with your name engraved on it across a room then it will burst into your assigned house colours. Illvermorny had a ritual circle with the house's coat of arms carved into wood and would light up to assign one of four houses. Hogwarts… didn't seem to have either of those things.
Tiffany sat curiously as Headmaster Dumbledore approached her with a frumpy-looking hat and asked her to wear it. She took it tentatively and placed it on her head, delighted when it started speaking.
"And who are you?"
"I'm Tiffany Williams, Mr Hat."
"You're a bit old to be sorted."
"Well, it's better old than never, I suppose."
"You suppose. I don't think that's how that saying goes."
"How do you know? It's a no-maj saying. Do you go out to the mundane world?"
"No, I usually sit in the office and write songs."
"You write songs?"
"Oh yes~ For the first year's welcoming feast, I traditionally sing a song."
"Can I request a song?"
"You want me to sing you a song?"
"Of course! If it's a tradition."
"Okay…"
The hat began to sing and the staff looked over in amusement, watching as the mature girl they just interviewed clapped excitedly.
"How wonderful. Do you only write songs about Hogwarts? What about creatures? Or bakeries?"
"Don't know much about bakeries or creatures. Except for Fawkes, maybe."
"Fawkes? Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix? Are you good friends?"
"No. That chicken is not my friend." She giggled.
"Okay, no friends and no going outside. Would you go… If you had it your way?"
"… maybe. You remind me of a friend I once had, I miss him very much-."
"Well, I hope I honour your friend's memory."
"I'm sure you will. GRYFFINDOR!"
"Thank you for your time, Mr Hat. If you wish to travel with me, I extend an invitation at any time. Just make your way to me and we'll go hunting!"
"Hunting?"
"Hunting for adventure!" The hat laughed.
"You're a good lass, I will remember."
"Okay, goodbye Mr Hat."
"Goodbye, Tiffany Williams."
She gave the hat back to the Headmaster and smoothed her hair.
"It's well set dear," Professor Sprout commented, "Your hair is very beautiful. I've always wanted to dye my hair."
"It's never too late to try, Ma'am. And my hair is natural. My hair was originally all black but after I was blood adopted, my adoptive parents' hair colours kind of mixed itself in."
Tiffany was very calm, already used to the gossip about her hair. It did anger her as a young child but as she grew older, she realised that their curiosity was mostly harmless. The malicious comments came from jealousy and were an even lesser reason to be angry.
"I would suggest a temporary colour spell, one you can change at will if you don't like it. There are wizardry hairdressers you can go to for a consultation." She slipped her a salmon-coloured card with 'Eden's Boutique' in cursive gold and a set of coordinates.
"This is one of my mother's boutiques. They do hair, hair removal, hair treatment, spa treatment, scar treatment, wardrobe consultations, manicures and skin care. They use both magical and non-magical procedures."
Professor Sprout took the card with interest. She wondered if the young witch also went there, her hair was a beautiful blend of black and white, with silky-looking curls that Pamona could only wish for at her age.
"This sounds like a relaxing day out!" McGonagall commented, looking over her own card with gleaming interest. She wasn't one for luxury but the thought was nice.
"It sure is. This branch has only been opened a month and with the card I gave you, you can get a free treatment procedure of your choosing." She also handed one to the other professors.
"And these as well." She handed out a different card. It was the same design as the previous one but with a more subtle colour scheme.
"This is another one of my mother's stores. A novelty store for all things wixen. Cauldrons, scales, quills, premium inks, wax melts, custom stamps, jewellery, rare potions, potion ingredients… Most of these have been legally imported internationally using private channels and have almost a non-existent market in Britain. If you use the spell, 'Revelio' with a wand tap, it will give you a list of what is in store at the moment. The cards are updated once a week but sometimes shipments come in earlier and you can get it before the masses know about it."
Professor Snape looked intrigued as he scrolled through the items list. He paused every so often with disbelief then continued to scroll a little slower. Professor Flitwick was armoured by the novelty, flipping the card over and over in his hands.
"The charm work is incredible, can I ask how it works?"
"It is one of my brother's inventions, though I don't understand it too much so I hope not to butcher what I know."
"It's inspired by the mundane catalogue. The cards are linked using runes to a master card, which isn't really a card but more a lodge of items. The master card will have an entry with the name of the product and the total amount in stock and the cards are charmed to reflect that in a compact formatting. Products are updated every week and stock is tallied every day."
Tiffany happily pitched and answered questions about her family's businesses, eager to please and hopefully retain some loyal patrons.
"I'll be sure to visit your mother's boutique. Something about a spa sounds very enticing."
"Sir, I will warn you. With how magnificent your hair and beard are, I can only pray they ask before they start playing with it."
"I look forward to it. And to your new school year, Miss Williams." Tiffany shook Headmaster Dumbledore's hand, shocked by the spark of magic that stung the Headmaster's hand. She rushed to apologise only to be casually waved away by the elder.
"Your magic stung me. Not as a threat but more like a warning. How peculiar." Tiffany nodded, not expecting it to happen but it made sense.
"The same thing has happened when I've met some others as well. We, mother and I, theorised that it was my magic's defences, but the research wasn't too deep. So far, all I know is I am hypersensitive to magic and animals seem to like me." She paused, "I can only assume that your magic frightened mine, even if I am not in danger, it will still act with caution."
"That may be so. I do apologise for making you feel danger."
"No, you don't feel that way. You feel very kind. If not, tired." Dumbledore gave her a smile and she left it at that. She bowed and bid farewell to the others while Professor McGonagall escorted her away.
"She's a good one, that one," Flitwick noted and there were murmurs of agreement. "I'm excited to see her duel. With the way her coach has been describing it, it will be interesting."
The staff moved out of Dumbledore's office and to another staff meeting room, where some other professors were waiting for them.
"So? Was she a brat?" Professor of Muggle Studies, Charity Burbage asked, her face lighting up when the Heads of House walked in.
"No. The opposite. She's very charming." Pamona Sprout defended. She proceeded to show off her card that even Septima Vector, Professor of Arithmancy, looked over with wide eyes.
"Well well well, not sure how I feel about a blatant bribe." The owner of the card snatched the card close to her chest and narrowed her eyes.
"I'm a respectable professor of Hogwarts. I didn't get a bribe."
"Is it not a bribe? Those membership cards are highly exclusive. It takes more than money to get them."
"Well, lucky I have more than money. I have a student with beautiful hair who wants me to have beautiful hair too."
Pamona was a Herbology teacher. It means more than once she's sacrificed aesthetics for practicality and slowly has forgotten what it is to pamper herself. She was very expectant of these services.
"The cards are yours to keep. She gave them to you as gifts." Dumbledore intervened sagely.
"Do we get cards?" Professor Burbage asked tentatively. Dumbledore waved and spread out a deck of cards, one of each landed in front of each teacher, even Filch and Hagrid got them.
"These were complementary services by Athena Williams herself. Her daughter would not act without her say-so…- Now we must start our meeting."