Wanderings PV Bridget Collins Closed

@Katrina Walker

October 28th, 2019, 4:11 p.m.

Bridget was an incredibly busy twelve-year-old. Sure, there were certainly people her age who had more crammed into their schedules, but she still was undeniably short on time. She had her routine down--homework, Quidditch practice, eat dinner (most nights), homework. From time to time she would squeeze in a tree climb or curl up in the library with a fantasy novel, but otherwise she didn't stray from that progression. Today was different, though. For once, her homework was lighter, and if she was entirely honest, she just needed a break from it all.

Her feet had carried her down into the bowels of the castle, which did not make for a very picturesque jaunt but at least here she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. That was the thing about Quidditch--it required her to be loud, to be around social people, and to have to communicate and work with those people. Apart from Alexx, her sort-of rival, and Erin, who was plain terrifying, she didn't have anything against any of her teammates, but spending so much time around them was a bit taxing. The small girl was just considering turning back around as she had reached a portion of passages she wasn't familiar with when she heard a thud.

Bridget did not have a hero complex that spurred her to save the possibly endangered human (assuming it was a person) or nerve to go on adventures and chase down the source of the noise, but she did have curiosity and general decency if the sound was, in fact, made by a person. Rounding the corner to the source of the noise, Bridget found her. Sitting with her back against the wall was a girl she recognized and didn't exactly associate with happy times--Katrina Walker. But she didn't hate the other girl in the least bit--if anything she was the one deserving hate--and was beholden to her. That debt was what spurred her to crouch down and pick up the strewn books, returning them to their owner.

"Are you okay?" the brunette whispered, feeling even more awkward than usual as she breached the eerie silence of the dungeons. The Gryffindor girl possessed a look of having been in deep thought, or perhaps of remembrance of something that she didn't want to remember. Speaking of things one didn't want to recall, the snake thought back on their last meeting after some elitist Slytherins attacked her. Luckily, she had her wand back, although it hadn't been returned in a very nice manner. She had been returning to her dormitory that night, having given up on getting the precious length of wood back, when the hand she placed under her pillow was met with the unwelcome feeling of something wet. She had discovered her wand lying under her pillow, surrounded by mud. It had only taken a quick Scourgify to get rid of, but the message couldn't be erased. She knew what it meant now--the mud, the attack, them calling her a Mudblood.

With a slight shake of her head to reenter the present, Bridget looked over Katrina with eyes of concern. Why was she on the ground? Her knees were all red and dirty, which was odd. How exactly had she gotten here, to the deep and convoluted passages of Hogwarts' underground? She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, already feeling quite uncomfortable. Once again they were meeting on the ground in a deserted place with one of them helping the other. But what would come of it all this time?

As the figure turned the corner, Katrina breathed out a sigh of relief. The person was none other than Bridget Collins. A rather nice (and not scary) Slytherin Second year. Sure, she was a bit anti-social- but Katrina wasn't one to judge. Bridget didn't seem like one to easily approach, but she wasn't all that bad-- especially for a Slytherin. She was brunette with hazel eyes and whose stature was a bit on the shorter scale. Katrina didn't see her around much since they were in different houses and all. The last time they had met, Bridget had been attacked quite horribly by a gang of total jerks and Katrina had been the one to fix Bridget up. Sure, it had been awkward, but this was looking to be much worse.
Bridget bent down to help Katrina with her books and murmured to Katrina asking if she was okay. Katrina was a bit shaken up and the emotion bled into her voice causing her to stutter.
"Ya, I-i'm okay," she got herself to her feet and took the books from Bridget, taking the moment to compose herself "I just fell."
Katrina looked down the hallway and both directions looked identical. Bridget had come from the left but now she wasn't sure. Bridget tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and Katrina ventured out to break the silence.
"Do you know where we are? I am a bit lost. I took a wrong turn from potions." she bit her lip as her voice trailed off. Bridget wasn't that bad, certainly Katrina could muster up enough of her nonexistent "Gryffindor courage" to hold a normal conversation.

Bridget whipped around and started walking, while Katrina struggled to her feet and hurried beside her. Katrina was glad that at least one of them knew where they were going. It felt uncomfortable for the Gryffindor to trust that Bridget wouldn’t lock her in a room or purposely leave her even more lost then before. Katrina had to mentally shake those odd thoughts from her mind and refocus.

Her usually quite footstep resounded with loud clangs as the empty hallways echoed their sound. The sound of some sort of liquid dripping added to the eerie surroundings. Bridget didn’t seem like she was unnerved at all, but Katrina felt trickles up her spine and snuffed out the urge to shiver. After a bit, it seemed like the walls were shrinking and the torches were getting darker. Katrina closed her eyes and willed her darn imagination to just stay away.

The spooky ambiance toned down as Bridget spoke. “Well, I Uh. Am doing good I suppose,” Katrina had to remember that this a girl who showed (almost) no signs of danger even if she was a Slytherin.

“I have an outfit for the ball. But I’m not sure if I’m going to go or not.” she paused, “I remember the rumors after Blossom Ball...” Katrina was glad she didn’t go, but maybe the Masked Ball wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“How about you?” she let Bridget respond before asking another question, “What brought you down here anyways?”

@Katrina Walker

As Bridget led Katrina down the corridor, she noticed things. No, not just some things; her hazel eyes squinted through the darkness, seeing every little detail. The way the light disappeared, making it necessary for Bridget to cast Lumos just so they wouldn't trip. How, even then, the shadows seemed to swallow the light so they could only see a few feet in front of them. That the stones making up the hallway weren't uniformly hewn and that in some places large gaps between stones were filled with what appeared to be dirt. The cobwebs strung from the ceiling and the occasional rat scampering from one hole in the wall to the next. Shut doors with unknown purposes every once and a while. She was curious what was beyond those doors, but still she trudged on with an unexplainable gut feeling that there were more, better discoveries further in.

She was worried, of course, that Katrina would realize this was not at all the way out of the maze of dungeon corridors. even if she was lost, the Gryffindor would notice sooner or later they were going the wrong way, and what would Bridget do then? Lie, apologize and pretend she'd forgotten that it was actually the other way? Her stomach turned at the thought of lying to Katrina when the other girl had been kind to her when she didn't at all deserve it.

"I think I hear something," Katrina said. Bridget froze. She'd heard something? Bridget hadn't heard anything... and then she realized. Of course she hadn't heard anything because she'd been so caught up in using her eyes that she'd forgotten to pay mind to her other senses. Now listening carefully, she could hear something, and although she couldn't identify what it was, it was getting louder, coming closer.

Instinctively raising her already drawn wand, Bridget took a step back. And then they came. Flashes of bright blue zoomed around their heads. One of the things yanked at a lock of her dark brown hair, causing her to yelp in pain. Reaching up with her free hand, Bridget pulled her hair back towards her, but the thing wouldn't let go. With another tug she pulled the strand in front of her, and that's when she got a clear view of the thing. A pixie. She stood in shock for a moment, trying to recall what she'd learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts about them and wondering why one was down here. But her musing wouldn't last long as her wand was very nearly taken out of her hand. Losing her wand was not an option and with that newfound determination to keep her precious object, she tightened her grip. Both Bridget's hands now occupied, her attention divided between two pixies, and straining to see if Katrina was alright, the first pixie made headway in dragging her hair the other way. Acutely aware of her lacking physical strength, Bridget realized she wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer and she was not about to lost her wand or have her hair ripped out. But she was a Slytherin, was she not, a creature of cunning and resourcefulness and brain over brawn. Perhaps she wasn' strong enough to solve her problem, but she was smart enough. Within seconds of a little strategic thinking, she had a plan. Summoning every last bit of force for one final tug, she simultaneously brought her hair and the first pixie to the front and swung her wand arm up. The creatures collided and let go. One spiraled to the ground in a flash of cerulean because it had hit its head and the other she easily swatted out of the air.

Finally unoccupied, she turned to Katrina to see how she was handling. Rushing over, Bridget helped the Gryffindor extricate herself from the grasp of several pixies. "Are you okay?" she asked, but without even waiting for an answer her eyes began darting around, searching for an escape. The pixies she'd hit were starting to stir and two that had been hovering in midair, laughing at the prank, had finally ceased their chortling and had gained a malicious demeanor that seemed to scream 'It's our turn to attack." Maybe they were just pixies with an XXX Ministry of Magic classification, but Bridget was struggling to think through the rising panic. Finally, she recalled one of the doors she'd seen back a little ways. If they could just make it to the room in time and shut themselves inside, they'd be able to wait for the pixies to leave.

"Come on!" she said urgently, dragging Katrina back the way they came in a sprint. Arriving at the closed door that would save the day, Bridget frantically twisted the door handle to no avail. It was locked. Panic really settled in then... they would never be able to outrun the little flying creatures all the way back down that hallway... this was all her fault... she shouldn't have given in to her stupid curiosity... Katrina would hate her for sure now... what was she supposed to do? The small girl was dangerously close to tears. Then, she remembered she was a witch. She had a wand. She could unlock doors. Rushing through the wand motion and whispering "Alohomora", she flung the door open, pushed Katrina in, and slammed it shut behind them. Leaning against the wood and taking deep, calming breaths, she slid down the the floor. Finally, she met Katrina's eyes. "So. This was not actually the way back."

@Bridget Collins
Bridget cast Lumos beside Katrina. The little orb of light shone almost no light in front of them. Katrina followed suite. The two wand stood out before the duo. A glance at Bridget's face started Katrina. The horror of it replicated on her own face. The noises were getting closer. Katrina knew little about sounds as she had never encountered a magical creature in real life.

The sound began to sound more recognizable. With a jolt of terror, Katrina figured it out. Pixies. The little class XXX Ministry tricksters. She knew they were electric blue and the size of your hand. They would grab people by their ears and put them on buildings. The flying terrors zoomed up the tunnel instantly attacking the students. It was a puzzle in and of itself that these beasts were in the Hogwarts castle in the first place. Katrina had no time to think as things started happening.

One little beast reached out and snatched Katrina's journal. A few pages were torn out before she got ahold of it. She violently smacked them and sent them across the hall toward Bridget. She was handling two, one at her hair and another after her wand. With a bit of quick thinking, Katrina used her journal to smack another that was heading for the snek. The little blueberry went spiraling towards the floor.

Two clever pixies grabbed Katrina by the inner fold of her cloak. She screamed as they lifted her off the ground, the noise was lost in the little squeals of the terrors. She failed to ward them off with her kicking and screaming. She was hung from one of the put-out torches on the wall. She kicked against the wall to no avail. The little fluttering freaks laughed their heads off and the sight. The 12-year-old had enough and forcefully smacked the two to the ground with her wand. With another luck of quick-thinking Katrina came up with a plan to get herself down. "Diffindo!" The cloak tore in two efficiently. Katrina had another faceplant with the floor and another scream tore from her throat. She was free. Bridget turned to see her fall and asked if she was okay.

Katrina bashfully spoke, "Uh, huh. I think I now have a wizard creature I hate." Taking her cue. Katrina looked for an exit. Bridget called for her to follow as she took off the way they came. Katrina was dangerously close to tears as the wooden door Bridget found was locked. With Bridget's quick thinking, they were safely inside. Katrina melted to the floor with her eyes knee-level. She hugged her knees close and closed her eyes.

A few deep breaths later, Bridget spoke, "So. This was not actually the way back." Ya, we just came back the way we went was Katrina's first thought but then she saw Bridget's face. There was true worry and upset in her eyes. Then it all clicked, the hesitation, the unreadable expression. She must have been curious and heard the noise. Katrina was just an excuse to see what it was. After all the thrill that happened, Katrina was surprisingly not mad. She decided to make a friend out of it. Even thinking that was weird. She had an idea.

"I figured it out. But, hey- I got to meet a real magical creature. I assume you do know the way back though." Katrina added a smile and a joking cadence to smooth it over. She was not mad and she thought it was funny. The moment was smoothed over further as the pixies squeals passed the door and continued on.

"Phew," she breathed then she looked around the room, "Where are w- What's that?!" A tone of shock bled into her words. A large shape was draped with a white sheet. Unable to handle the suspense, Katrina tore the sheet off. It was beautiful.

The perfect glass mirror was shrouded in grey. It's perfect grey glass reflected the wall off to the side. There was gilded and ornate designs around the edges. Katrina's breath caught in her throat. Where they supposed to see this?

Reducio

BTW this RPG I have had to rewrite 8 times because my computer died XD!

@Katrina Walker

Miraculously, Katrina wasn't mad like she should've been. In fact, was she... smiling? And thanking her for getting to meet a magical creature? While Katrina began exploring the room, Bridget just stared in confusion at the other girl's shredded robes, puzzling over her reaction. Try as she might, the snake couldn't identify with a single good reason for Katrina to be nice to her, although she could definitely come up with a list of why the Gryffindor should be completely miffed right now.

What's that?" Katrina asked. The petite girl finally looked up, an unusual thing as she usually surveyed her surroundings immediately upon entering a room. Bridget followed Katrina's gaze, her hazel eyes landing on a large object covered in a white sheet. Katrina yanked the cover off, revealing an over-sized, ornate mirror. The brunette scrambled to her feet, quickly heading over to get a better view of it. The mirror was the only item of interest in the otherwise barren room. Upon closer inspection and a bit of squinting, Bridget made out the words 'erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi' along the top of the object. There was something familiar about the inscription that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Bridget would have continued to stare at those letters until she unscrambled whatever sort of code they were in, but then she looked into the glass.

With a sharp intake of breath, Bridget realized this mirror was not showing her reflection. No, the Bridget in the mirror was older looking. Taller too. And this Bridget had an aura of confidence the real Bridget was positive she'd never possessed in her life. Was that... a Prefect badge on her robe? And what model of broom was she holding? It looked much nicer than her Shooting Star, at least. Besides the new and improved broom, this Bridget was smiling so proudly that it was clear she wasn't a burden to her team. This Bridget didn't let her teammates fall or missed plays--in fact, this Bridget was an asset to her team.

The real Bridget widened her gaze to see what surrounded this version of herself. On either side were Thora and Katrina. It was odd seeing them in the same image as she wasn't sure if they'd ever met in their lives, but by the way they all looked so comfortable around each other, like there was no one in the world they'd rather be with, made it obvious they were friends. No, not just friends. Best friends. And behind them was her whole family. Not shying away from her, not looking disdainfully down their noses at the witch in the family. Her family was proud of their daughter. And Matthew was grinning, a hand on her shoulder. That Matthew didn't think she was a freak.

It was all so perfect. Too perfect. The real Bridget took a step away from the mirror, ripping her eyes away. How long had she just been staring at the glass? "Katrina... I don't think this is safe," she squeaked, but between how quiet the words had been and how Katrina was probably entranced by the mirror's image by now, she wouldn't hear her. Already frightening possibilities were racing through the 2nd year's mind. They were in a room far below the castle where student's were almost guaranteed not to go. The door had been locked and the mirror had been covered. It seemed as though no one wanted anyone to find the mirror... what if it was cursed? Hogwarts was bound to have picked up a myriad of magical items over the years, and some of them were probably works of Dark Magic. "Katrina..." she said again. She looked back up at the inscription. Now, more than ever, she needed to find out what this mirror was, and that seemed like their best clue.