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hphmmatthewluther · 9 months

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12 Months of Magic: July - Surprises

Just before the month is over, here's my @hp-12monthsofmagic post for July! Features an angy Cassandra and Jane having a surprisingly effective poker face.

What’s In a Name?

To say that Jane Luther had an interest in her extended family was something of an understatement. For the formative years of her life she had believed that the Luther family were an on the whole standard family without much going on, and that the name Luther was synonymous with the status quo. Then she’d met the Luther-Snydes, who to be brutally honest sort of blew the rest of her family out of the water. They had imaginations, they played together, they actually enjoyed themselves. Jane loved playing with her cousins, Rowan and Abigail Luther-Snyde, and loved listening to their parents’ stories of what they got up to at her age.

This curiosity extended to when she came to Hogwarts to learn magic. It seemed that a lot of people had heard about the exploits of Matthew Luther and his friends, and as a result a lot of them assumed that she was Matthew’s kid. They did share the same shade of brown hair, after all, and in time she had started off on her own series of adventures around the castle. It didn’t necessarily annoy her (in fact it often let her get her foot in the door when it came to starting a conversation), and she was happy to correct people who assumed incorrectly. There was, however, one downside to the Luther-Snydes being an extended family as opposed to immediate.

“I can’t believe I thought you might actually be their daughter!” guffawed Cassandra, not 24 hours after she, Jane, and her classmates had returned to Hogwarts for their second year. Surrounded by the Frey twins, she had immediately noticed Jane walking in for breakfast and proceeded to point her gloved finger at the girl before beginning to hurl insults her way.

“I mean really, it’s unbelievable that someone like you shares a surname with some of the greatest sorcerers to live.” she sneered.

Jane didn’t mind it too much; she’d had to deal with it for a few weeks at the tail end of their first year and now Cassandra was trying to get it going again. While her friends all looked aghast, Jane simply continued eating her breakfast.

“Oh, bother someone else for a change!” hissed Ivy, her hand ready to pull out her wand at a moment’s notice. Jane, however, shook her head.

“I get why she’d try comparing me to my wizarding relatives,” Jane explained. “They were really the talk of the school back in the 80s.”

Robyn, who had been eavesdropping from the Gryffindor table, came over with Kevin. “Hang on a second, this is what this is about?” she asked, her eyebrow raised at the gang of Slytherins. “A couple of wizards from the 80s?”

“Not just any old wizards!” Cassandra sighed, exasperated. “One of the greatest curse-breakers to ever live…Merula Snyde!”

Everyone else looked at her a little surprised. Except for Jane. Jane continued to eat her breakfast, chomping down on cereal with a smile.

Daniel cleared his throat. “I thought you were going for Matt-”

“Well that’s what a dimwit would go for because it’s her last name! I couldn’t care less if someone’s dad is Matthew Luther, but to have lived your life with Merula Snyde…”

Something changed as Cassandra continued speaking. She got a faraway look in her eye, a far cry from her normal arrogant glare. “She was the first one to try and crack the Cursed Vaults, Matthew had to be goaded into it by her, and she used that to her success! She never once followed the school’s dress code! Not once! She’s technically a Baroness of a province in Poland somewhere!”

Ivy chuckled. “Sounds like someone pays more attention to History of Magic lessons than they’d like to admit.”

Cassandra went slightly pink. “Don’t be silly. Those lessons make it all sound so boring. I grew up hearing stories about her, the way she’d break curses and not care what anybody thinks! She’s an inspiration to me! And thus, I would respect anyone actually related to her, and not anyone who’s her husband’s cousin’s daughter.”

Jane finally finished her breakfast. Putting down her spoon, she looked over at Cassandra. “You’ve thought a lot about how much you and her are alike, right? Both parts of Slytherin, both refusing to listen to anyone else, et cetera et cetera…”

“Of course!” Cassandra replied proudly. “While our fashion choices differ, the rest of our outlook on life is the same.”

“Sure, provided you’re talking about how she started out. As opposed to how she graduated Hogwarts as far less of a bully.” Jane said, simply, her expression indecipherable.

Cassandra simply scowled. “Oh, and since when were you such an expert on Merula Snyde, hmm?”

“Since talking to her during the summer.” Jane explained. “Their eldest son is coming to Hogwarts, so wanted to know what it was like…and if the kids were as mean as she was when she was young.”

“Th-that proves nothing! Nobody would want their own child to be picked on!” Cassandra screeched across the gap between Slytherin and Ravenclaw table, “If it weren’t for her “bullying” the Cursed Vaults wouldn’t have been broken! She was the most powerful witch at Hogwarts and knew it! She was better than everyone else! She was…she was…what?”

Jane had covered her mouth, presumably to hide her smile. Daniel, Ivy, Kevin and Robin’s eyes were all as wide as dinner plates. Fischer and Colby Frey slowly stepped away and ran. Cassandra slowly turned around to see a woman in her thirties wearing black combat boots, a matching black leather jacket over a red flannel shirt. But what was most striking were her facial features. She had dark pink eyes and short messy hair, with a flash of orange hair sticking out just above the midpoint between her eyes. Cassandra looked up at Merula. Merula looked down at Cassandra.

“To be honest…” she said, scratching her head with a smile. “A lot of that stuff was just for show.”

Cassandra had frozen like a deer in the headlights (not that she’d know what headlights were). She raised her hand up, waving it up and down as if that’d help her remember how to speak. “Y-You’re…b-but…that’s not…how did…”

Merula chuckled. “It’s all right. I was a lot like that when I was a kid. The same thing happened to me, actually, started mouthing off about how great I was right behind Professor Snape. It was unbelievably embarrassing.”

Cassandra blinked once or twice before asking a quiet, awed. “W-Why are you here?! D-Did Jane-”

“Jane suggested I come out here because I’d get to have some fun. Which I did. But now you get something that I would have killed for at your age: some decent pointers in the right direction.”

Cassandra took a breath, trying to collect herself. “I…I’ve always wanted to be like you…to take control of my own life and be on top after so long being…” she trailed off, scowling at herself. Daniel was going to say something, but Jane stopped him, shaking her head.

Merula nodded. “I heard, yes. The kids you were in a creche with…they made fun of your name?”

Cassandra stared at the floor. “Mmh…Vole…they said I looked like one, like some kind of weird rat.”

Robyn had to be stopped from supporting that claim by Kevin. Jane just stared, thinking about a time a few months ago when she’d seen Cassandra spend days agonising about a rash she’d got in on her cheek in Herbology.

Merula just nodded. “Kids will be cruel, especially if they find an excuse, even a flimsy one like that. I got flack for my name too. Snyde. People said it fit me too well, so I decided I’d try and prove them right. It never ended up making me happy. Look, I’m not gonna tell you not to pick on people, because that never works. I’ll just say that one day, you’ll find something that fills that hole far more than name-calling ever did.” she sighed, shaking her head again. “Eesh, that sounded cheesy. I’ve been spending too much time with Professor Khanna. Just…don’t take any crap but don’t be a prick about it. Easy enough?”

Cassandra nodded so fast that the Freys looked worried her head might come off. “Of course, thank you, um…but what were you doing here in the first place?”

Merula’s pink eyes wandered to the one table that hadn’t been involved in the conversation. Sitting there talking to a small group of friends was a boy with brown hair like Jane’s, but striking pink eyes like Merula’s too. “I just wanted to make sure Rowan was doing ok. As an ex-teacher I have those perks, see.”

Cassandra watched as Rowan looked at the group, saw his mother, and waved a little. He waved to Jane, too, but immediately looked away when it came to Cassandra. She scowled once more, but it soon faded. “...I’m…I should go to Potions…Mer-, um, Miss Snyde, thank you for the advice, I, um…” she looked around nervously, before:

“Could I get your autograph?!” she said, so loud that most people in the Great Hall almost jumped out of their seats. Jane looked on with a sense of pride, knowing that while Merula’s talk probably wouldn’t shake Cassandra out of her pattern of rumour-mongering about her friends forever, it would definitely leave her wide-eyed until at least lunchtime tomorrow.

#hp12mom #12 months of magic #hpma #jane luther #cassandra vole #merula snyde #rowan luther-snyde #ivy warrington #daniel page #robyn thistlethwaite #kevin farrell

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