Chapter 3
Two weeks into the school year, Barty was having more fun than he ever had before. If he wanted to eat something, he could eat it. If he wanted to stay up late, he could. And if he wanted to play a game with his friend, he could, because he had friends, actual friends.
As they shared a room he had gotten the closest to Regulus and Evan. Evan was hilarious. The teachers didn’t seem to like him much, since he would talk to, and make laugh anyone he sat next to. Regulus was quieter than Evan and him, but he would whisper sarcastic comments into his ear during class, which also made him laugh.
He laughed a lot, Dorcas called him an easy laugher. Barty didn’t see any issues with that. Talking about Dorcas she was really annoying in a fun way. They would argue all the time about everything. The best food, the best class, the worst teacher. And then there was Pandora, she was a bit odd, but so nice. He hadn’t thought it was possible to be this nice.
He had written to his mother and told her all about how awesome his new friends were. She had written back telling him she was proud of him for making friends but that his father disapproved of his choice in friends. He didn’t want his son to be too close to dark wizards like the Blacks and the Rosiers.
Was his father’s opinion going to change anything, no. Barty couldn’t care less, especially if his father couldn’t even be bothered to write to him himself. If anything, it made Barty want to stay friends with them more.
“What’s wrong?” Evan asked. Barty had been frowning at his letter. “My father,” said Barty, “He ruined my mother’s letter with his opinion.” Evan grabbed the letter and read it. “Oh dear, we can’t be friends anymore. Guess you’ll have to spend all your time with Dorcas now.” Barty rolled his eyes. “I don’t care what that man thinks,” he said. Evan smiled, “Good.”
Regulus walked over, “Do you guys want to go see the Gryffindor quidditch tryouts with me?” he asked. “Sure,” answered Barty, “But why?”
“My brother is trying out so I’m going to go boo him,” he said.
“I told Dora I would meet up with her, but have fun,” said Evan. He started leaving, but turned around before going through the door and added, “I hope your brother falls on his ass.” Regulus smiled, and Barty laughed.
The Gryffindor team had many spots to fill. They needed a new seeker, two chasers, and a beater. The seekers went first. Only three people were trying out for that spot. He didn’t know any of them but that was to be expected. Two of them were in the younger years, third years if he had to guess, and not very good. The older girl was the clear choice, she was decent at least. Some of the players looked unpleased by that, she was probably a seventh year, which would mean they’d need to replace her next year.
Next was the beater tryouts four people tried out including Regulus’ brother. Sirius was honestly quite good. Regulus said that he had gotten a lot of practice by hitting balls into their mother’s expensive vases and that numerous windows were collateral damage. Some of the others were good but there were high chances Sirius would get the spot. He’d at least be a backup.
Up last were the chaser tryouts, 6 people were trying out. Out of the bunch, one was pretty bad, two were decent, and three were quite good. James was part of that group, the good group. He was amazing. James was supper fast and his aim was really good. If he didn’t get a spot it’d be because the captain was stupid.
Barty cheered and James turned his head and smiled when he saw him. When the tryouts were over both James and Sirius walked over to them. “If it isn’t Baby Black and Baby Snake, come to cheer for us, have you?” said James.
“I was cheering,” said Regulus, “Cheering for you to fall off your broom and crack your skull open.” James' eyes widened in shock as Sirius softly shook his head exasperatedly. Then James burst into laughter. “So it’s true what they say about short people being angry,” he said as he patted Regulus’ head. Regulus kicked him. But honestly, James was right, Regulus was short. James was a full head taller than him, and it wasn’t like it was just because he was younger because Barty was only a couple inches smaller than James.
“I thought you were super cool,” Barty cleared his throat, “I mean, you were really good. You’re totally going to get a spot on the team.” Regulus looked at him like he was a traitor, probably because James was apparently his worst enemy.
He grabbed Barty’s arm and started pulling him away. “We need to go,” said Regulus “Sirius, you were decent. Goodbye,” he added as an after thought.
When they got out of the older boys' range of hearing, Regulus bitterly said, “You’re not allowed to make friends with James.” Barty frowned, “Why not? I can do what I want.” Why did people keep trying to decide who he could and couldn’t be friends with? Was he not allowed to choose for himself? To think for himself? He wasn’t. He never had been before, so why would it start now?
“He can’t steal you too,” exclaimed Regulus. Steal him? Did he think James stole his brother from him because James and Sirius were best friends? “You’re ridiculous,” said Barty, “You know you don’t own your brother right?” Regulus blushed brightly, “Of course, I don’t think that. And this has nothing to do with Sirius, I just hate Potter.”
“Yeah well, you don’t own me either. You don’t get a say in who I decide to be friends with, no one but me gets a say in who I’m friends with,” said Barty. Regulus looked down, “Sorry,” he muttered.
They walked in silence the rest of the way to the library. Evan, Dorcas, and Pandora were sitting at a table with a couple books, their half finished homework having been abandoned long ago. “What are you talking about?” Barty asked.
Pandora looked up from the book in her hands, “Etymology,” she answered. He had no clue what that was. “Name meanings?” said Regulus. Pandora nodded, “I found a couple books about it in the library and I find it very interesting.”
“Wow, the Hogwarts library really has everything,” said Barty. “Guess what my name means?” said Evan. “Dumbass,” he answered. Evan laughed, “Sure, because Evan would mean dumbass, and not Bartemius.”
Pandora jumped in, “The welsh version means young warrior and the Greek version means noble birth.” Dorcas grinned and leaned towards him, “Very pureblood prat, isn’t it?” Evan hit her in the arm. “Dora, please tell me Dorcas means cocky asshole or something,” he said. Dorcas hit him back.
“It means gazelle,” said Pandora. “That could be an insult,” Barty stored it in his head. Dorcas objected, “Gazelles are cool!”
“What does my name mean?” he asked. Pandora flipped through a couple pages, “It comes from the biblical name Bartimaeus, and it means son of honor.” Barty clenched his jaw, son of honor, really. His father sure didn’t think it was an honor having him as a son, not that Barty felt honored to be related to his father in any way.
“Hey,” said Pandora, snapping him out of his thought, “Did you know that the last name Crouch is a variation of the name Cross. Interesting, right?” Barty shrugged, “Yeah, I suppose it is. She smiled, “From now on, I’ll call you Cross.” Barty’s brows furrowed, “Why?” he asked. “Isn’t it better than Crouch?” Pandora answered. And well, she had a point.
“What about Regulus, what does that mean?” Evan asked. Before Pandora could look for it Regulus answered, “It’s the brightest star in the lion constellation, also called Alpha Leonis. People call it the heart of the lion. In Latin it means little king.”
“Do you also like etymology?” Pandora asked. “I guess. Almost every member of my family are named after stars. I really like stars,” he answered. “Cool,” said Evan, “What stars are they named after?”
“Well, Sirius is the brightest star in the Canis Major constellation. It’s the brightest star in the sky, actually. It’s derived from the ancient Greek word Seirios, which means glowing or scorcher. In Greek mythology it’s Orion’s dog. My father’s name is Orion,” started Regulus. Wasn’t that kind of messed up, to name your son after your dog. Although, it was still better than naming your son after yourself.
Regulus continued, “My oldest cousin’s name is Bellatrix. The star is also known as the Amazon star and it’s the third brightest star in the Orion constellation.” Pandora perked up, “Did you know Bella is the plural form of the Latin word bellum which means war, and also the feminine singular form of the Latin word for beautiful. And of course trix is the latin feminine suffix,” she said. That was a pretty awesome name. But what did she mean of course? That wasn’t really basic knowledge unless you spoke Latin.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just got excited,” said Pandora. “It’s alright, feel free to cut in,” said Regulus, “Where was I? Right, my cousins. The next is Andromeda. Which is both a constellation and a galaxy that were named after a character from Greek mythology. Most stars are. My last cousin is the only one not named after a star, but it still comes from Greek mythology. Her name is Narcissa, it’s derived from Narcissus, a guy that fell in love with his reflection and then transformed into a flower, a daffodil.” Both Barty and Evan snickered a little at that.
Regulus continued, “And then there’s Alasia, it means linked by the sea, of and by the sea, and by a land said to be kissed by the sea.”
“Who’s Alasia?” Barty asked. Regulus looked at him with an odd amount of shock and almost terror in his eyes. “What?”
“I thought you only had three cousins, so who’s Alasia?” he asked again. “Well…” Regulus started, then he turned to Pandora and asked, “What does your name mean?” He was clearly avoiding the subject. Barty wasn’t going to ask since Regulus clearly didn’t want to talk about it, but it only made him more curious.
“Oh,” said Pandora, “My name means ‘the all-endowed’, ‘the all-gifted’, ‘the all-giving’. It comes from the Greek myth of Pandora’s box. I think it’s quite cool. My brothers names are also quite cool. There's nothing exactly for Rabastan but it probably comes from Rastaban the name of a star in the Draco constellation. The star was name after the Arabic phrase ‘Rās al-Thu`bān’ which means head of the serpent. The star is also called Alwaid which means who is to be destroyed. The name could also come from the Germanic words ‘Hraban’ which means Raven and ‘Stein’ which became stan in old English and means stone. Now Rodolphus is the latin form of the Rudolf which comes from the Germanic ‘hrodwulf’ meaning famous wolf. The name could also come from Rodophus which is Greek for rosy-cheeked. I find it quite funny.”
Pandora kept talking about names for the next half hour. Congratulations Regulus, subject successfully changed.