Aye.. Gonna have a problem

Estelle smiled, convinced that her theory was correct; London being a city with many Muggles and few magical animals, Corvus couldn't have heard of kelpies! What surprised her a little, though, was that Corvus's parents hadn't told her about them; after all, her own parents used kelpies to scare her when she came back soaked from playing in the river with the Muggle children of the village.

So focused on solving the "mystery" surrounding Corvus's lack of knowledge about kelpies, Estelle didn't pay much attention to Corvus's scars. Her eyes lingered on them briefly, finding them pretty, and then returned to the lake. Her mind raced with questions before finally forming THE question Corvus dreaded: "Your parents never told you about them? Strange.. It s also an Irish creature..” Estelle didn't mean to ask the question intrusively, but she understood that it was for Corvus, who didn't really seem to want to talk about her parents.

Wanting to make amends, Estelle tried to change the subject: “Yes, my parents are nice, but a little too nice actually. I assure you, if I could, I would swap them with yours!”
By Merlin's beard, why did she always have to speak before thinking?! She had just started talking about Corvus's parents again!

Estelle exclaimed, "You're a Muggle-born? Awesome! There was one in my village, he was super interesting, I think he's finished his studies now! Do your parents know? Or is there a ban? You went to the Ministry of Magic then, right?" She was very curious about Corvus's life now (perhaps too much so). Too engrossed in her questions, she hadn't paid much attention to the use of the past tense in Corvus's sentence.

Estelle's little brain finally calmed down when she saw Corvus becoming increasingly distant. She lost her smile as she realized her mistake. Estelle tended to be too carefree, and it caused her a lot of problems. It was then that the word "were" came back to her... Were Corvus's parents dead...?

Estelle was mortified that she hadn't stopped talking sooner. "I'm sorry, Corvus, I didn't mean to make you talk about your life like this! I talk too much!" She slapped her forehead to punish herself for being so stupid before daring to look at Corvus. You’re not too angry, are you? To be honest, you’re the first person I’ve spoken to since I arrived here… So I don’t want to lose you just because I spoke without thinking… If you’re upset, I promise I won’t bother you anymore and I’ll make it up to you!”

Estelle was very pleased that she hadn't upset her friend. She wanted to show her her gratitude and was about to show her her drawings when she heard Corvus insulting herself. Oh no, absolutely not!

"You're not a bastard! I just pushed your boundaries. If you don't want to talk about it, it's because you have your reasons, and if you're reacting like this, it's because even your body isn't ready to talk about those reasons yet!" She smiled at her. "Let's forget about this parents business and talk about hobbies!"

Estelle took out her drawings and one of the Muggle books her friends from the village had given her when they learned she was applying to a boarding school. "What I love is drawing and reading. Besides that, I speak French, so my friends gave me this," she said, showing her book, "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas, an old French author. “I know it must have seemed strange to you that I didn't make the usual remarks about your Muggle origins, but in fact I spent my childhood with Muggle children so I don't care, I'm not like those girls from earlier.”She mimicked the haughty expression of Slytherins before bursting out laughing. ”And you, Corvus? What do you like? Do you have friends outside of school?”

Estelle was in paradise; apart from chess, which she didn't understand at all and the only time she had tried to play it her cousin had beaten her and enchanted the game so that the pawns would attack her (a small childhood trauma that had pushed Estelle to never play chess again), Corvus had the same interests as her! ”I love everything when it comes to reading! You see my necklace? It's a kind of Gate to the Faraway that lets you go to the library in my grandmother's castle! You'd love it! The library is gigantic; there are magical books and Muggle books, on every subject imaginable, and even a wizard's chess set and an old music player—a jutebox, I think it's called!"

She talked about it a little longer before remembering that her friend had said she spoke Italian and a little French. “C’est vrai ?Trop bien! Could you teach me a few words?”

Estelle really liked Corvus; she was very kind and put up with her despite her temperament. Besides, for once, she hadn't yet shown how clumsy she could be. Remembering Corvus's request to see her drawings, Estelle took them out of her bag to show them to her. They were mostly drawings of plants or animals annotated in French. Estelle explained to Corvus that French was a tradition from the noble side of her family that had remained, and now it was a bit of a secret language for the Allens, slipped in everywhere. For Estelle, it was in her notes on her drawings; for her mother, it was on her potions; and for her father, on the walls of the house. Estelle also thought that Corvus absolutely had to come to the Highlands one day.

Estelle was very impressed to hear Corvus speak Italian. To her, Italian was an even more beautiful language than French, and she was delighted that her friend had agreed to teach her a little of it. She blushed with pleasure at her friend's compliments on her drawings; it was the first time she had ever shown them to anyone.

Estelle continued chatting with Corvus about this and that for at least two hours before noticing the amber reflections on the lake and the setting sun. They fell silent to observe the lake, and Estelle picked up her pencil to draw Corvus. She found her friend very beautiful, and the scars on her face added a special charm. She would have liked to highlight them in her drawing, but since Corvus didn't seem to like them, and she wanted to give the drawing to her, she simply sketched them lightly before focusing on the landscape behind her, which she painted in watercolor.

The sky was beginning to darken, which didn't help Estelle with her drawing. She thought it was a failure compared to what she saw in real life; Corvus was much prettier in person! Estelle sighed; at least she had managed the landscape. As she worked on the background, with the forest and the reflection of the sun on the trees, she saw Corvus's eyes widen in surprise. Estelle looked in the direction Corvus seemed to be looking but found nothing. "What's going on?"