Chamber Born

Seated on the train, Ginny and Pansy were quickly joined by Hermione.

“Hello,” she said, rather out of breath and carrying a large orange cat.

“Granger, you don’t have to run everywhere. It’s not dignified.”

“Yes, hello to you too, Parkinson.”

Ginny went to help Hermione with her trunk, but Pansy beat her to it, taking the cat and handing it to Ginny, before helping Hermione lift the trunk. Finally, a flustered looking Hermione sat down. Just then, the compartment door slid open.

“Hi…” Harry Potter said, clearly uncomfortable. “Umm… Mind if I join you?”

“Sure,” Hermione said, immediately. He lifted his trunk and placed it on the trunk and sat down next to her.

There was an awkward silence before, a moment later, the door slid open again.

“Harry, mate, the twins—” Ron broke off at the sight of who Harry was sitting with. “What are you doing?”

Harry seemed to steel himself.

“We already talked about this, Ron.”

“Yeah, but just Hermione, not…” Ron trailed off as Harry glared at him. “Fine, have it your way.” Ron shot Pansy and Ginny an angry look, Hermione an awkward one, and left. Harry sighed and leaned back into the seat.

“How was your summer, Harry?” Hermione asked while Ginny pet the cat.

“Good… blew up my aunt, got to stay in Diagon for a few weeks.”

“I did see you!” Ginny exclaimed. “Swore I saw you on the way to Mr. Mulpepper’s.”

“You blew up your aunt!?” Hermione interrupted, looking horrified. Harry laughed.

“Sorry, not like that.” He made an expansive gesture and blew out his cheeks. “Like a balloon. Accidental magic. She’s alright.”

Hermione shot him a sympathetic look.

“How were your summers? New pet, Hermione?”

“This is Crookshanks,” she said, taking him from Ginny. “Isn’t she adorable?” Harry made a face, but quickly covered it before Hermione could see. Ginny thought however that Crookshanks was kind of cute, in an ugly sort of way.

Ginny excused herself halfway through the train ride—Pansy, for some reason, looked a little annoyed by then, and Harry and Hermione were mostly catching up. She went and found Luna and Astrid. Ginny had to bite back a laugh at Astrid’s splotched robes. Pansy was going to kill her. Luna, to Ginny’s surprise, looked a little sad.

“Hey!”

“Hello,” Luna said in her typical dreamy tones.

“Ginny!” Astrid said, looking very excited. “Do you have a list of all the potions you can sell in Knockturn and where to sell them? I got permission from my parents to buy some startup ingredients.”

“Oh, yeah, I can give it to you, as long as you don’t try and steal my business.”

Astrid grinned. “Just give me a list of the ones you don’t typically brew.”

“Deal.”

Suddenly, the train jerked to a halt. The windows began to fog up and Luna grew very pale, her eyes widening in obvious fear.

“Luna, what’s wrong?”

Luna didn’t respond and Ginny moved to sit next to the girl, hoping to offer some comfort.

But then Ginny felt something. It felt like something was being leached out of her. Cold seeped into her—the kind of cold that settled into your bones.

She was pushed down the stairs and felt her ribs and wrist break. She didn’t scream. Screaming only made it worse.

She was healing overnight again, her bones painfully righting themselves. She desperately hoped for her gift to stop. If it stopped she would be separated from the other children while she recovered. She was weak. Helpless.

She was watching as Harry Potter stood where she normally would with her family.

“Ginny!”

“Ginny!”

“Astrid?”

“Oh, thank god. You’re alright.”

“What—what happened?”

“You and Luna fainted. There was this thing. Horrible. Kind of looked like a Nazgûl.”

“A what?”

“Muggle thing. Made me feel… pretty horrible. Here, let me help you up.”

“There was… this place. With all these horrible children. I’d never been there before.”

Astrid looked at her oddly.

“Just now?”

Ginny nodded.

“Maybe it has different effects on different people?”

“It does,” Luna said quietly. She was curled up in the corner of the train, shaking. Astrid went over to her and hugged her and Luna leaned into it gratefully.

“It’s okay.”

“Dementors feed on bad memories. On misery. The more you’ve had… the worse it is. It’s also speculated that certain people are just generally affected more strongly than others,” Luna said softly.

“You were talking…” Astrid said. “Luna. Why didn’t you tell me it had gotten that bad?”

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked, but she felt she knew the answer.

“I… don’t know. It’s just the way some people are. Lots of nargles, you know.”

Astrid smiled slightly, still holding the girl with one arm. But then her expression hardened.

“That doesn’t mean its alright for them to hurt you. Until we figure out a better way, you’re staying by one of us.”

“Better yet, who are we talking about? And how bad are we talking?”

Luna shook her head.

“Luna, tell me who it is,” Ginny said in a low tone. Luna finally relented.

“Marietta Edgecombe… and Marcus Belby.”

After that, she wouldn’t speak.

“It sounded like they’ve cursed her and have been forcing her to sleep outside the common room,” Astrid added. Luna didn’t correct her.

Ginny stood up, a little unsteady on her feet.

“I’ll be back.”

Astrid looked as if she wanted to go, but finally nodded.

Ginny knew what both students looked like. She scanned each of the compartments, until finally, she found them. They were unfortunately sitting with two other older Ravenclaws.

“Pans.”

“What is it.” Pansy looked out of sorts. Harry was being partially supported by Hermione and looked as pale as Luna.

“Marietta Edgecombe and Marcus Belby bullied Luna all last year.”

Pansy stood up immediately.

“Wait, what are you going to do?” Hermione asked nervously. Pansy drew her wand,

“What do you think?”

They left without another word, Ginny’s rage driving her on as she led Pansy to the compartment.

“Let me handle the introduction,” Pansy said softly. She began tracing her wand in a complicated pattern. Finally, she finished with, “Ossus Incarcero.”

There were yells from the compartment and Ginny gaped at the ribcage-like bones that had burst from behind each of the students from the seats in the compartment, binding them to their seats. Ginny flung open the door after a moment.

“Vespertilio Mucus.” Ginny flicked the end of the wand movement and Marietta Edgecomb screamed as boogers in the shape of bats erupted from her nose and began to attack her.

“Putresce,” Pansy said, making a slashing and then circular motion with her wand. Marcus Belby looked on in horror as his skin began to blacken on his left hand.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” a pretty girl, Ginny recognised as the Ravenclaw seeker, bit out as she struggled against her constraints.

“If we hear anyone has touched a hair on Luna Lovegood’s head, hidden her possessions—”

“—Looked at her in a way we dislike,” Pansy added.

“We will make the petrifications look like a nice holiday.”

“You fucking brats,” Marietta hissed, still under siege by her on mucus.

“I didn’t—” the girl said in confusion.

“—which is why we didn’t hex you,” Ginny replied in an icy tone.

“Marietta wouldn’t…” The girl trailed off as she saw her friend’s face. “You didn’t.”

“I’m not really interested in your drama,” Pansy said. “Are we clear?”

Belby nodded immediately, but Marietta looked outraged.

“Well, we warned you.” Pansy shrugged, closed the door, and then lifted her bone constraining spell. There was some kind of commotion in the apartment, but no one stepped out of it as they walked away.

“You have to teach me that spell,” Ginny said.

“Sure, but it’s not usually so useful. It takes a while to cast and you have to alter the wand movement for the amount of people you’re casting it on. It also doesn’t work if there isn’t a hard surface nearby. It’s actually a specialised transfiguration.”

“Morgana, you sound like Hermione.”

“Do you want to learn the spell or not?” Pansy said in annoyed voice that was belied by her rather pleased expression.

“Definitely.”