A Farewell and a First Step Open

◦ P O S T ◦ #5 ◦

Odette stifles a giggle as she watches Sadie’s face pink the more she tells the witch about her parent’s love story. Objectively, she can admit it is pretty romantic, but hearing it so many times definitely made it lose a bit of its sparkle. Although, she still secretly hopes to have a love like theirs someday.

Munching on her chocolate frog is just the thing to satisfy her hunger. The decadent fudge is made all the sweeter by the look of sheer terror painting Sadie’s face. Ah – she forgot the blonde witch was raised like a Muggle. Odette probably should have warned her before offering a piece, but this presents a rather fun opportunity.

“Don’t worry, the frogs don’t feel a thing. Eating them before they escape is the best part!” Odette grins nonchalantly, slowly popping the rest in her mouth to prove her point. As she swallows, she urgently points to Sadie’s chocolate frog, still clutched tightly to her chest in fear, and urges, “Quick! Bite it before it runs off! Hurry!”

Unable to hold back, Odette bursts out laughing, “Sorry, sorry! I’m just messing with you. Chocolate frogs aren’t alive. They’re just charmed to jump around like real frogs for a laugh. I wasn’t lying when I said eating them before they escape is the fun part!”

Still looking a little rattled by the incident, Sadie begins talking about her brother and Odette wipes her fingers on her skirt. The sweet taste of chocolate lingers on her tongue as she turns her attention back to Sadie’s question. The brunette witch idly wonders if she went too far with her teasing, but considering the blonde hasn’t run off to a new compartment yet, she figures she must be doing something right. Still, she can’t help thinking that she’s not very good at the whole making-new-friends-thing.

“My brother’s name is Max. He’s 21 and recently decided to ditch me so he could move to France as an apprentice broom-maker.” Odette pouts, still wishing she was able to sneak off in his luggage, “I miss him loads, even if he’s pretty cocky and bold. Though, I suppose that’s par for the course with most Gryffindors.”

Tilting her head thoughtfully at Sadie, she wonders, “What Hogwarts house do you think you’ll be sorted into?” Remembering the chocolate frog incident earlier, Odette quickly explains, “Er– Students are placed in one of four houses that aligns most with their values: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw.”

1 September, 2024

Sadie stared at the packaged chocolate frog she was clutching to her chest, letting Odette's words of comfort wash over her, but it was still so strange. She could picture the squirming little thing Odette had eaten, and she imagined the fear it might've felt had it actually been alive.

Sadie struggled with the box, and soon she was holding her own squirming frog.

"It really doesn't feel a thing?" she asked uncertainly before finally giving in a taking a bite of one of its legs, but then the other legs kept wiggling, so she had to ungracefully stuff the whole frog into her mouth, coughing slightly as she swallowed it.

"Why would they do that? Can't they just make chocolate bars, like normal confectioners?" she sputtered, her cheeks pink from a mix of embarrassment and the struggle of swallowing a whole chocolate frog without properly chewing.

Sadie caught her breath, thumping her chest a few times to make sure her lungs still worked. She breathed, and, satisfied, finally spoke again.

"So your brother's an apprentice broom maker?" she asked, finally feeling her thudding heart begin to calm. "Muggles don't really have broom makers. We have factories that make lots of brooms at once. Thousands of them, I'd say."

Perhaps it was inappropriate to call herself a muggle, since her grandpa was pureblooded, and her grandma was a Veela, but Sadie's mum was a muggle, and Sadie hadn't known about magic growing up, so the label certainly fit.

"What are those houses?" Sadie asked curiously, then clarified. "What are the values, I mean? I think Ravenclaw would be quite good, because I'd sure love to learn how to fly. I think it'd be very convenient to just sprout wings and fly wherever you want to go."

Outfit: A black pair of trousers, littered with patches, a purple jumper with frayed edges on the sleeves, and a pair of black shoes that were designed to go with her school uniform