A Furthered Conversation PV Muriel Carroll Clo

Muriel followed Bella into the library, enjoying its nice atmosphere. The many shelves full of endless books always quenched her thirst for knowledge the few times it’d occurred, and seemed to always have a sort of welcoming vibe to it. To her, the library was almost like a safe haven; a sanctuary that guarded anyone inside from the world’s problems, allowing for limitless fantasies and undisturbed thoughts.

As she sat down, Muriel gave the location an approving look; the table Bella had chosen was decently secluded, which would make it it easier for them to converse without causing a disturbance. The question given to her was rather difficult to think about however; she had a lot of feelings towards her house. But yet, the curious look on Bella’s face, along with her own opinion of her house, gave her the will to answer.

“Well...” She began, thinking thoughtfully about it. “I guess the best way to put it is that we all share the same thing in common: our eagerness to learn. Almost every other Ravenclaw I’ve met likes to learn about  things, no matter how or what kind of things, and I guess it’s what’s expected because anyone who doesn’t try to advance their knowledge of anything is given a strange look or two. I’ve also gotten the feeling that some Ravenclaws are very competitive, especially when it comes to homework, which can be stressful at times as well.”

“And I really don’t know what to think of the Sorting Hat. My mother told me that the hat never makes mistakes, but yet I have come across at least one person who didn’t want to be a Ravenclaw but rather a Hufflepuff.” Muriel continued, recalling a past conversation she’d overheard. “As for me, I think it made no mistake; I like my house. I believe that every house has its ups and downs, and the one it put me into most likely suits my personality better than the rest.” She finally concluded, though continued to stare at Bella.

“...But maybe the hat does make mistakes. ...Do you not like being in Gryffindor?” Muriel asked with a sad look on her face. She didn’t like the idea of her new friend being unhappy.

Bella listened avidly to what Muriel was saying about her house. It was clear that Muriel enjoyed being in Ravenclaw. She seems very smart, it suits her Bella thought with a warm smile. When Muriel had asked if Bella liked being in Gryffindor it took her a little by surprise. She had never really been sure what house she wanted to be in when she was younger, but she always had a sliver of fear that being placed in any of the houses could be trapping. As for enjoying it; Bella had found it difficult to relax even in her own dorm and have fun as she had nobody to do those things with. But now she had started to get to know more people and make some friends she was starting to enjoy it more.

"It's not really that I don't like it. It's difficult for me to explain really. My whole family have been in Slytherin for generations, besides one or two and even then it was decades ago. They were horrible people, including my parents, but I suppose that it doesn't matter how much you hate them because you still have their genes. That much Slytherin blood is always going to effect you and I just feel that the expectations of a Gryffindor, to always be brave and selfless, are a binding. And sometimes I'm just not those things. I don't know it's probably stupid..."

Bella trailed off. She wasn't sad. She didn't want to be in Slytherin, she felt it would have made her too much like her parents, she just felt that she wasn't living up to the expectations of a Gryffindor.

"No, no, that's not stupid at all!" Muriel replied back reassuring her friend, but at the same time still trying to figure out the right thing to say. She never would of thought that Bella's family was mostly Slytherin; she was so nice and friendly compared to how most Slytherins were known for being more sly and deceitful. Her story saddened her actually. It must be awful to live with a family that you hate yet carry their blood she thought, now understanding why Bella felt so out of place in Gryffindor.

"...Perhaps you come from a history of Slytherins... but I believe people can control who they want to be." Muriel began slowly, continuing to think. "Just because the majority of your family is Slytherin doesn't mean that you have to be... And even if you don't believe it yourself, I believe that you do live up to what being a Gryffindor means. I mean, you could've not forgiven me when I made you fall, or yelled at me or something like that, but you decided to forgive me anyway and even became my friend instead! That's pretty selfless, or at least noble isn't it?" She said with more fluidity because it was true. "Plus, I think it's pretty awesome that you're in a different house than the rest of your family; it makes you... unique!" Muriel finished, waiting for her reaction.

She hoped what she said would cheer up Bella, but at the same time feared that she might've offended her a little bit. She didn't want to dis or discourage the idea of being in the Slytherin house as not all Slytherins were bad, but at the same time noticed how Bella had called her parents "horrible."       

Bella listened to Muriel speak. The more she said the better it made Bella feel. She still wasn't sure about the bravery and selflessness but at least she felt like she wasn't completely in the wrong house. Muriel mentioning that the two of them were friends made Bella even happier. That was the one thing she has wanted over these past few weeks and it finally felt like she was going to fit in here after all.

Referring back to what Muriel had said about her being in a different house than her family Bella said
"I suppose it is unique. My siblings and I, we are all very close, are the first in our family to ever be in different houses. Some of them are still in Slytherin but they hate our parents just as much. And they're nice, Slytherins aren't always bad, but Felix was in Ravenclaw and Luna and Orion, they're twins in fourth year, are in Gryffindor too. They fit in there really well but they truly are very brave,"

Bella finished speaking and looked up at Muriel. She hoped that she didn't think Bella was weird or depressing when she spoke about her parents. She didn't talk about her parents a lot as it always made her sad when she did but she did talk about her siblings a lot. She was very close to them and loved them dearly. Bella realised that she didn't really know much about Muriel yet, besides her love of Herbology, or her family.

"What's your family like? You seem to know a lot about magic, are they all witches and wizards too?"

Muriel enjoyed listening to Bella talk about her siblings who seemed a lot better than the rest of her family. I'm glad she has at least a few people who she can connect to, she thought with a warm smile. They all seemed very interesting; she certainly wouldn't reject the offer to meet them one day if it ever came up. But when the question about her family came up, Muriel froze for a few moments before speaking.

"Umm... well... no, my mother is a witch, and my father is a muggle.... and that's all I know for sure." She said, staring down at the table, but forced herself to say something else. "I think my grandparents and most of my extended family on both sides are dead; my parents never talk about them so that's what I've assumed. And I don't have any siblings... I might have a cousin or two though... but they live really far away, and I've only heard a mentioning of them from my father, so I guess they must be muggles."

"...Everything I know about magic I learned from my mother; I used to follow her to St. Mungo's sometimes and watch her work, and on her breaks she told me facts and stories about the magical world. And ya... that's... about it." She finished on an awkward note, looking slowly back up at Bella and forced herself to give an indifferent shrug. "You can't miss someone you never knew though; my family is a rather small, but happy one..."

The truth was however that Muriel felt really insecure about her family; her parents never talked about anyone else, and she was too shy to ever bring it up. In comparison to Bella's huge family, she felt rather empty... and lonely. But I shouldn't feel this way. I've never met or knew them, so why should I feel like this?

Sensing the discomfort that Muriel showed when being asked about her family, Bella made a mental note not to bring it up to often. She was glad that Muriel appeared to have quite a good relationship with her parents, though she thought it must be tough not having any siblings. Bella couldn't imagine what her life would be like and where she would be if she didn't have any siblings. Certainly not in Gryffindor that's for sure. The underlying sadness in her tone while addressing the lack of family made Bella appreciate her brothers and sisters that much more.

"Maybe you could meet my siblings one day. Some of them go to Hogwarts as I said and I'm sure you would be accepted right into the family," bella had said in an excited and warm tone. She hoped that Muriel and her would become close enough one day to be able to call her family. Another small smile tugged at Bella's lips when Muriel said that her family, despite being small, was happy. It's nice to know that our friends are happy.

The slightly awkward finish to the story told Bella that maybe they should move on to another topic.
"How do you find sleeping in the dorms with the others. It was always a bit strange for me because I never really had the need to share a room when I was younger and even if I did it would only be with one of them. I imagine with no siblings it must have been a similarly difficult thing to get used to,"

Muriel brightened up at Bella's offer of meeting her siblings, causing a warm smile to form on her face again. She felt even warmer at the thought of becoming part of another, bigger family. It's like she can read my mind! she thought to herself. "Yes, that would be wonderful! And maybe you could meet my parents one day, they'd be happy to know that I made a friend and welcome you just as much!" She answered back, returning the offer. I should actually owl them soon; they'd want to know how I'm doing, she mentally reminded herself.

The change of subject relieved Muriel as Bella moved on to her unfamiliarity of sleeping in the dorms, which she nodded in agreement to. "It feels really weird for me too, the first night especially; I wasn't used to hearing seven other people breathing in the dark. I've gotten better at blocking it out though, but I just hope that none of them start snoring or anything like that." She replied, wondering if Bella felt the same way. She was actually a very light sleeper; the slightest sound of someone fidgeting in bed, or the footsteps of someone getting up to go to the bathroom could almost immediately wake her, which gave her a rather miserable night the first day.

"Do you have noisy roommates? So far mine have been decently quiet, which I'm very glad about." Muriel asked, trying to imagine what the Gryffindor dorms were like. She hoped that they were just as peaceful at night for Bella's sake. 

Bella nodded excitedly when Muriel had made her offer to meet her parents as well. It was nice that she could truly consider Muriel her friend now and she hoped that they could make good on those plans to spend more time together over the holidays.

Listening to Muriel speak about her dorm room, Bella was happy to find that she wasn't the only one who struggled. She laughed as Muriel mentioned that none of them had started snoring yet and gave a disapproving thought to the girl who sleeps opposite her and her persistent night time conversations with herself. But she definitely agreed that it was strange on the first night.

"My roommates aren't noisy necessarily. At least not intentionally. There's one girl who talks in her sleep a lot but I can usually sleep through it as long as I am already asleep before it starts. As for snoring I haven't really heard any yet. But I'm quite a deep sleeper. I've overslept more times than I would even by able to count if I'm honest," Bella gave an embarrassed, shy smile before adding "I actually almost missed the train on the first day of school," She followed it up with a small laugh.

Muriel raised an eyebrow at the story about the girl talking in her sleep. "That is a bit odd, perhaps frightening, at least to me if I was in your shoes." She'd commented as Bella continued. Fortunately, it seemed that Bella was a deep sleeper as she'd said, so hopefully it wasn't as bad to her as it seemed to herself. A small gasp then escaped her as Bella mentioned her tendency to oversleep. "You almost missed the train!? That must've been scary! And stressful! And... at least you made it though." She replied, noticing how Bella didn't seem to see it as a big deal and began to laugh as well.

"It's okay though, I've made more embarrassing mistakes. I got lost on my way to my first Charms class the other day... and instead of asking another student like a normal person would, I ended up talking to the Grey Lady instead." Muriel said with a sheepish grin. "I've never talked to a ghost before, but she was really nice... Have you ever encountered Gryffindor's ghost?" She asked curiously, recalling how each of the houses had their own ghost. Or am I just the odd-ball out that has better conversations with ghosts than other people?