Kaitlyn quickly nodded in confirmation. “Yes, I did. It wasn’t that different, as I had to share dorms there. It was a Catholic all-girls boarding school, though, so I was surrounded by girls all the time.” That was definitely not a bad thing at all. “There were some weird classes, by comparison to Hogwarts,” she explained. Such as her etiquette classes. In addition to interacting with other people, it was also where she learned about etiquette, parties, and hosting and participating in tea parties. Not to mention her politeness.
As Aston mentioned about not practicing religion, Kaitlyn nodded. She rarely, if ever, mentioned her own views. She grew up as a Catholic. While some of her views differ now, that was still the basis for most of her young life thus far. The past could not be so easily erased, for better or for worse. The smile on her lips widened at Aston’s mention of spending a lot of time at his father’s library. She nodded energetically. “I love libraries! I spent a lot of time at the boarding school’s library and in the closest library branch I could find in London.”
While Kaitlyn loved to read about educational topics, especially her newest obsession with magical plants, there were plenty of muggle books and genres that she loved. Science Fiction and Fantasy were by far her favorite genres. Yet, that didn’t stop her from loving other books. True Crime, Thriller, Mystery, and even Romance! You’d be very hard-pressed to find a book she didn’t enjoy reading.
Demeter’s nose twitched as Kaitlyn petted her. The young Mist Hopper hopped over Kaitlyn’s leg and onto the seat cushion next to her for now. Demeter sniffed at Rosales and twitched her nose again. Kaitlyn glanced at Demeter and giggled. It was always a joy to see her pet interact with other pets. While she never tried to hide her bunny from interacting with other pets and animals, she still had to be very careful. Mist Hoppers were notoriously very small, and Demeter was no exception to that fact. She fit easily into her pocket, which was both cute and troubling. It meant that she needed to watch Demeter when the Mist Hopper wasn’t safely in her hands or in her pocket.
Kaitlyn’s eyes grew wide at the mention of magical creatures, like Hippogriffs. To be fair, she was very new to learning about magical creatures. Being a muggleborn, she had never seen any before Hogwarts, and her first two years at Hogwarts were mostly dominated by trying to learn what all of this magical hubbub was about. Er, that was not entirely accurate. A lot of her time was also spent second-guessing social interaction and overthinking.
“Oh, riding a Hippogriff sounds like it would be exciting. And terrifying. Kind of like riding a broom.” She chuckled. “I do wonder about that, too, Aston. I love sketching in my notes. My Herbology notes are full of sketches of the plants. I hope I’ll be able to sketch the creatures accurately enough. It may put my drawing skills to the test,” she observed. Kaitlyn never assumed she was an expert at drawing. At the young age of thirteen, the teenager knew there was plenty more to learn about art. That didn’t stop her from trying, of course!
Turning to Aston, Kaitlyn beamed. “That’s so cool! I’m glad Quidditch is turning out to be very exciting for you. And, being a co-captain for all three teams? That sounds so awesome! I’m sure you’ll be great at it!” Ever since she first started at Hogwarts, she never subscribed to the house rivalry that seemed to naturally occur. Would she root for Slytherin when the time came? Of course. But that didn’t mean she needed to be against the other houses. She frankly didn’t care about that at all.
Kaitlyn nodded at Siobhan’s comments about Quidditch. “Ah, I’m not that knowledgeable either. I know enough to enjoy watching it, at the very least,” she remarked with a nod. Would she ever be comfortable enough to play it? As the saying went, never say never! If she could be comfortable racing on a broom at high speeds, throwing balls around, and catching them high up in the air shouldn’t be too big a stretch.
A giggle danced on Kaitlyn’s lips at the mention of Muggle Studies. “It does sound like an easy ‘O!’ Part of me wants to only take classes that I know would challenge me. And yet, I also want to take every class available. So, yes, I’m probably going to take it. It will be interesting to hear how we are seen,” she agreed. It had been difficult to communicate properly when she first started at Hogwarts, as many of the pureblood and half-blood students didn’t know much about muggles. It certainly didn’t help that she was painfully shy and stuttered.
At the turn of the conversation to wandless magic, Kaitlyn blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. The term seemed to take her a few moments of mental processing. She had heard of wandless magic before, yes. It wasn’t a topic she was terribly knowledgeable about. Frankly, she wanted to learn how to cast spells correctly, first, without adding the complexity of utilizing magic without her wand. The stick certainly grew on her over the few years she spent at Hogwarts.
28.3 cm Chestnut Wood with unicorn hair core.
At the time, Kaitlyn had not understood anything about her wand. She had been curious in the Hogwarts library, however, and had researched her wand. At least, to the best of her ability. There was still so much she didn’t know. Chestnut wands were naturally attracted to those skilled with magical beasts, Herbology, and flying. Paired with the unicorn hair core, it could signify a strong sense of justice. More specifically, unicorn hair cores are faithful and are strongly attached to their first owners. While she had no idea how much of that matched her personality, she could feel her wand easily abide by her magical casts.
Kaitlyn tilted her head to the side. “Wandless magic,” she repeated. “I’ve heard of it, and it does sound interesting! But, I’ve also been trying to get more confident casting spells with my wand first. Or even just more confident in general, before even attempting to learn such an ability. It does sound useful, though,” she smiled. She shrugged her shoulders at the mention of the draw of her wand from the Wand Shop. “I was mostly confused and very scared at the time. I can’t say I registered if I felt drawn to my wand. Although it appears to have matched with my love for Herbology.”
