Serpentine [T.M. Riddle]

Interlude V: Assorted Letters Sent Over the Summer of 1940

cw: Spanish pejorative for indigenous/native persons that my fellow Mexicans are often way too comfortable using :\

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July 4, 1940

Hello,

I was surprised by your letter. But it's good that you're writing.

Everything here remains the same as it was when I left. I think, maybe, it will stay the same next year. And the year after that. If I went to sleep for a hundred years and woke up in the next century, it would remain the same. The consistency of the abbey is comforting. It's as if time doesn't pass in here. Most don't like it, but I have grown accustomed. And that is the same as it being comforting.

I do cook for the sisters, still. It is considered one of my chores. I enjoy it. Their diet isn't very colorful, though, especially now that the war is happening. We're lucky that we grow our own food here with the help of a greenhouse. I never thought I could have fresh tomatoes on English soil and have them taste good. It's wonderful. I mailed some to Elle when I was able to sneak away long enough to do so. If I'm able, I'll send a couple to you as well. I'll have to wait and see how the food is being rationed. Everyone is careful, and I don't blame them. Last night I had a dream that there was only the leather off my shoes left to eat. Considering how valuable leather is now, I hope it won't come to that.

Jobs are easy to come into now. Instead of an apprenticeship, I work at a restaurant owned by Spanish immigrants. They don't speak any English, and they're related to the Abbess, so it was an easy fit. I work after my chores are done most of the week, and never on Sunday. It's a place of community for the immigrants in the neighborhood (as well as beyond), but I'm not sure I belong there. My accent is different from all of theirs, and my features wrong. They say I look 'Indita', which is a phrase that I've come to learn means 'American Indian'. They say it with affection, but I do not think it's meant to be said with affection. Still, I stay silent.

I am an outsider everywhere.

September the first was strange for me too. At first, I was going to go up to Scotland with the rest of the children in my city, but instead of being taken on their train, I was taken to Platform 9¾ as always. Señora Rivera takes my education very seriously, I think. I don't know what she told the rest of the sisters here, but no one seemed surprised to see me return with my trunk. I don't ask questions. I don't know if I'll be returning here for next Yule Holiday.

Your dream is a very commonly occurring omen; a bird flying through the open window of your house means someone in the house is going to die. I've never heard of it happening in a dream, though. Was there anyone else in the house with you? Was the house your orphanage or another building?

Divination is a fine enough class to take if you wish to be able to read signs and omens, but once you reach past fourth year, you have to rely on what they call The Sight. I do not have this sight, so I do not think I will be continuing my pursuits there.

I would write more but I have chores to complete.

We are still not friends,

Ximena

...

7/6/1940

Dear Jon,

To this day I wonder if our parents made the right decision in their migration to Britain. I think I will continue to wonder until we are both buried in the earth. And beyond.

How is my brother? He continues to not communicate with me despite my scoldings. I swear he thinks he'll live forever. Rachel wrote back to me today. Both the Muggle and magical Americans are unconcerned with the war, on various fronts. I do not think they are eager to repair their foreign relations with the rest of us. Actually, I don't even think they know there's anything to repair. Americans are like that.