Luminescence

Chapter Four

Althea's POV

Althea had never once considered herself strong, or brave for that matter. She wasn't entirely sure how she had made Gryffindor house, but nothing could change the fact that she had. If that's where she'd been sorted, then surely that was where she belonged, right? The house couldn't make mistakes, that much had already been made clear. To doubt the hat would be to doubt everything she had been told, and she wasn't about to question her professors. Surely they knew what they were talking about, as they were all adults and experienced in the matter.

It was as she made her way through the hall on a dim, rainy Tuesday that she realized that there might be some merit to the hat's decision. See, the girl had just turned a corner when she ran into a group of young boys. After taking in the sight of them, she immediately assumed they were all first years. A closer inspection brought her to the realization that these kids weren't quite getting along very well. Three of them hovered over a boy, who was just chubby enough that Althea could take notice of it. The boy was cowering beneath their gaze, and the other three stood menacingly over him. "Hey, what do you say we take all of his books and hide them around the school, Ledger?" One of the boys asked, and Althea furrowed her tiny brows at this. These boys were clearly bullies, and she wasn't standing for it. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, Hayes. You won't be needing those books, will you, Longbottom?" Said boy cowered even further, and tried his best to make his way around the others. He failed miserably though, and Althea inhaled sharply at his predicament. "Please just leave me alone." He spoke, voice shaky and eyes pointed towards the ground.

That's when Althea decided it was time to intervene. "Hey!" She spoke, determination filling her voice despite the fear she felt. "What's going on here?" She took a few steps forward to stand in line with the boy, who she'd presumed was younger. The boy looked over at her, thankfulness crossing over his features. "None of your business, so sod of, will you?" The boy who Althea believed was Hayes said bitterly. "No, you sod off. Get a move on before I hex you." Althea spoke, raising her chin defiantly. One of the boys whipped out their wand at this, and Althea immediately returned the gesture, pointing her mahogany wooded wand at the lot of them. "I said, get a move on, or it won't be pretty." She hissed darkly. One of the boys took a step back after this, and Althea reveled in what she believed was her victory until she realized the boy was looking some place over her shoulder.

She spun around quickly, only to find Professor McGonagall, who appeared to be thoroughly disappointed. "Ms. Whitlock, Mr. Hayes, what are you doing with your wands out? I hope you're not trying to start a duel on school grounds, as the head of your house I'd be quite disappointed in you if you were to do so, Whitlock." Althea opened her mouth, unsure of what to even say. "Um, well..." she started, but Mcgonagall swiftly cut her off. "I'm not in the mood to hear any excuses. Just get to your houses, the lot of you. It's almost past curfew. And I don't want to hear anytime soon that you've been dueling, understand?" The lot of them nodded at this, including the boy Althea had been trying to defend.

As soon as their professor had left, Althea turned back to face the other boys, who were all scowling in her direction. "Next time we won't let you off so easy, you got that, Whitlock?" One of them said, and Althea merely scoffed at this. "Yeah sure, whatever. C'mon let's get going." She said, turning to the boy she'd defended and grabbed him by the shoulder to lead him off in the direction of their house common room. She hadn't noticed it before, but she and the boy shared the same house. Althea wasn't sure how she hadn't seen him yet, but then again, the school year had practically just started.

"Thank you for that. I'm Neville, by the way. Neville Longbottom." The boy spoke as they made their way to the Gryffindor common room. Althea had long since returned her hand to her side, letting the boy walk freely of his own accord. "It's nice to meet you, Neville. I'm Althea. Althea Whitlock." The boy smiled at her, before responding with, "It's nice to meet you too, Althea."