Chapter Text
Chapter Six: The Lion’s Den
The Gryffindors climbed the many stairs leading up to the tower. Angel huffed about halfway up and looked at Hermione. “How much farther?” she asked.
Hermione looked at her. “Gryffindor Tower is on the seventh floor,” she replied. “It’s a good workout.”
“Speak for yourself,” grumbled Ron.
“Oh, honestly Ron,” sighed Hermione. “You have to climb several staircases to get up to your room at your own home.”
“Doesn’t mean I like climbing all those or these stairs,” Ron huffed.
Harry rolled his eyes as the two of them started bickering. “And off they go,” he sighed.
Angel looked at him in amusement as she fell in step with him. “Do they do this often?” she asked.
“Too often,” chuckled Harry as they continued their way up. “Gets a bit annoying sometimes really. I’ve just learned to tune them out when they do. Don’t get me wrong I love the pair of them but sometimes I feel like a third wheel, you know?”
Angel nodded. “I can understand that,” she said. “I felt like that last year when Flavia had a boyfriend but that only lasted a month. He cheated on her.”
Harry looked at her surprised. “Really?”
Angel laughed lightly and nodded. “Yeah, she hexed him so bad he had to spend a week in the hospital wing.”
Harry chuckled as well and changed the topic. “So, what’s America like?” asked Harry as they continued to climb the stairs.
Angel gave a light shrug. “Different than here, that's for sure,” she said. “The big cities like New York make London look like a small town. Not many historical sites are so close together either. It also takes a lot longer to get to places than here. From Maine, which is where my family lives, to New York city where MACUSA is located is about eight to ten hours if you drive by car. We have to use portkeys to get to the other side of the country. If we wanted to go to California for example we’d need a portkey. Course, you could go the muggle way and take a plane. Way too far away to try and apparate and the floo network doesn’t connect that far. Floo networks are per-state or region travel only. meaning you can only travel by floo within the state or region you live in. Take New England for example, you can floo anywhere in New England. Texas, however, is bigger than New England and so that's one of the few state only floo networks. Mom and Mother would have to use a Portkey every day to get to work at MACUSA since they deal with a lot of international cases. Dad stayed more so at the local branch but would have to go away on certain cases.”
“You know about cars and planes?” asked Harry in surprise.
“Yes, I know about cars and planes,” Angel giggled. “Another difference between Wizarding Britain and Wizarding America is we don’t shy away from muggle technology, considering MACUSA is smack dab in the middle of New York city where there is technology everywhere. There is actually a whole division in MACUSA dedicated to making Muggle technology like computers and things like that work in the wizarding world. I believe they call it Magitech.”
Harry laughed a little. “Yeah, we could definitely use that here,” he said. “Plus, I don’t really like traveling by portkey… then again I’ve only ever done it twice.”
Angel giggled some more. “I get it,” she said. “Portkey is not my favorite way to travel either. I prefer to fly even if it takes longer by broom, much faster than a car though. You could get to MACUSA in half the time by broom than by car. Just think of all the things you’re missing by portkey travel. Flying is more scenic.”
“Flying would definitely be preferable to portykeys,” said Harry with a grin.
The two continued to make small talk the rest of the way to Gryffindor tower where the password was given by one of the older years, and they all clambered inside the portrait hole. Angel looked around the room with its warm colors and cozy looking couches and chairs. There were large windows on either side of the room let in moonlight, adding a cool tone to the warmth of the fireplace and oil lamps gave off. Medieval tapestries covered the walls along with what seemed to be hundreds of portraits.
The massive fireplace to the right of the entrance stood tall along a circular tower wall with the crest of Gryffindor above it. Two large lions that were taller than Angel stood on either side of the hearth. In front of the fireplace was a squashy looking red leather couch. More plush, comfortable looking couches and armchairs were scattered about the room, with the occasional table or two. There were bookcases and cabinets dispersed along the walls, globes and nicknacks everywhere, and mismatching oil lamps were scattered about.
Opposite the entry was an arched doorway leading to two sets of stairs between tower turrets. There was a large Gryffindor banner above the arch way in what looked to be a balcony. Looking further up, there were two large candle lit chandeliers and multiple hanging lanterns from the rafters above. Angel smiled when she saw an owl or two jump from one rafter the other. Multiple Gyffindor and Hogwarts banners draped down the walls from the rafters as well. Harry couldn’t help but smile at the awed look on Angel’s face as she took in the room. Their attention however was quickly stolen by the Weasley twins as they approached Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Angel.
“Welcome to Gryffindor,” said Fred as he stood in front of them.
“Where anything can happen,” said George as he slung an arm over his twin.
“I don’t think you guys were properly introduced at dinner,” said Harry as he gestured to the twins. “Angel, meet Fred and George Weasley,” said Harry.
“My older brothers,” huffed Ron with a roll of his eyes.
Angel smiled at the twins and ignored Ron. “Nice to officially meet you,” she said and held out her hand to shake.
“Pleasure is ours,” said Fred as he took Angel’s hand and kissed the back of it.
“Don’t hog her to yourself,” said George and he kissed Angel’s other hand causing her to giggle at them.
“Look at that Georgie,” said Fred.
“We got a laugh,” said George.
“And a smile,” said Fred.
“Charming smile,” said George.
“Beautiful smile,” said Fred.
“Alright you two that’s enough,” said Angelena Johnson as she pushed the twins away from Angel. “Sorry about them.” She gave Angel a wink then proceeded to drag the twins away by their ears, each complaining like toddlers. Angel laughed more as she watched them go.
Hermione rolled her eyes. “Come on, I’ll show you the dorms,” she said, then looked at the boys. “I’ll be back soon.” The boys gave her a wave before they both crashed on the couch in front of the fire.
Hermione led Angel through the arched doorway and up a couple of steps. “Our bulletin board is here,” said Hermion as she pointed to a board on the left. “The password to our common room changes every fortnight and it gets posted there.” She then led Angel up the spiral stairs on the right to the girls' dorm. At the first landing there were two more sets of stairs, one going up, the other going down.
“Bathrooms are on the next floor down and around the corner,” said Hermione as she pointed to the right, “is a door to a balcony that overlooks the common room. Our dorm is one floor up.”
They continued up the stairs to what had to be the top of the tower and stopped at the landing. To the right was a door and to the right of it, nestled in the wall, was a basin of water with a towel and a kettle hanging over it on a chain. There was a small seating area just outside the door with a couch, a coat rack, a bookcase with piles of books on either side on the floor, another globe, and a dresser with a bowl of apples on top. The apples looked fresh and Angel nicked one for later as they entered their room.
The room was round in shape with four beds. The ceiling was tall and you could see the many rafter beams as they criss-crossed and attached to six wooden pillars to hold up the roof. A large round stained glass window with a lion was nestled high on the wall above the first of four, four poster beds The beds were spread evenly around the room each with its own dresser, wardrobe, nightstand, and writing desk. To the right of the door and around the corner was a square alcove with a seating area and a private dressing screen.
“This is our dorm,” said Hermione. “I have to say it’s a bit bigger than last years, we had one of the lower floors.” She moved to the first bed on the right side.
The two beds on the left side were already occupied by two other girls who looked up at them when Hermione spoke.
“Hello, Angel, right?” said a pretty Indian girl. She walked around the first bed and over to Angel where she held out her hand. “I’m Parvati Patil.”
Angel shook her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
The second girl also came around and stood by Parvati. “And I’m Lavender Brown,” she said. She was a pale girl with curly blonde hair. “Your stuff is over there but if you want to switch beds with any of us, you're more than welcome to.”
Angel looked over to the last empty bed where her pink truck was sitting at the end of it. “That’s alright,” she said. “That one works just fine.” She looked at Lavender and smiled.
Lavender smiled back then went back to her own bed to finish unpacking. “How do you like Hogwarts so far?” she asked.
“It’s nice,” said Angel as she walked over to her bed and put her creature case on it. “It’s a bit different from Ilvermorny. My school was not nearly as big though it wasn’t too much smaller. The sorting ceremony is also really different.”
“How so?” asked Hermione as she sat on her bed petting Crookshanks.
“Well, you walk into this large room just as you enter the school, the rest of the school looks down on you from balconies,” said Angel as she sat on her bed. She was making large hand gestures as she spoke. “You stand in the middle of a circle that has four statues around it. Each statue represents a different house. If the statue thinks that you fit their house they’ll start moving, or in case of the house of the Horned Serpent, its gem would glow. If more than one house statue starts moving, you get to choose which one you want or feel you best fit into. After we are sorted, we go into another room where we get to choose or are chosen by our wand.”
Hermione tilted her head, perplexed. “You got your wand at the school?” she asked.
Angel looked at her and nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “We don’t get our first wands from a shop like you do here and we’re not allowed to take them home for holidays either. They have to remain at the school.”
Lavender looked aghast. “Seriously? You weren’t allowed your wands?”
“It wasn’t really that big of a deal,” Angel replied. “It was the school’s and the government's way of ensuring we didn’t do underage magic during the holidays. Not that that really stopped us. I just used my mom’s wand during the holidays to practice.”
“I couldn’t imagine having to leave my wand at school,” said Parvati as she clutched her wand to her chest.
Angel sighed and flopped on her bed. “After coming here, I had to get a completely new wand cause the school wouldn’t let me take mine with me,” she said. She took her wand out of her sleeve and held it above her head to look at it. It was a pretty wand for sure with its smooth light tan colored wood. There was a gold filigree design carved into the handle. She loved it most because it kept the original color of the spruce wood.
“How come?” asked Lavender.
“Because I haven’t graduated yet,” said Angel. “They did say that if I ever go back to Ilvermorny I can have my wand back, that they will reserve it for me. If I don’t go back, then they will send it to me after I graduate from here.”
“So, you’ll have two wands then…” said Lavender with a look of confusion.
Angel got up from her bed. “Potentially,” she said. “Having two wands can be a good thing though. Catch your enemies off guard.” Smirking she used her wand and unshrunk her creature case then put it on the floor to open it.
The other girls watched as Angel stepped into the case and disappeared inside. Soon as Angel’s head disappeared all three girls rushed over and looked down into the case. As they looked, they noticed a ladder leading down to hardwood floors. They could hear Angel moving around inside; a bucket being picked up and deposited on a hard surface, bottles clinking together, drawers being opened and shut, and Angel’s heels clicking across the floor as she walked around.
“Angel?” called Hermione softly. Angel’s head poked into view as she looked up at the girls. “Wh… what are you doing?”
Angel smiled up at them. “I have to tend to my creatures,” she said. “I’ll be back up in a little bit.” With that she disappeared from sight once more. They listened as her heels clicked against the floor then faded after a door was opened then shut. The three roommates looked at each other before going their separate ways. Lavender and Parvati went back to unpacking their belongings.
Hermione changed into more comfortable clothes before she left the dorm and headed back downstairs to join Harry and Ron. She joined the boys on the couch, settling between them. By the looks of their clothes, they too had gone to their rooms to change. Both boys were wearing their night clothes, Ron a pair of loose fitting pants and a tee shirt and Harry a tee shirt that was way too big for him and the striped pajama pants the school gives to all the students only his were most likely from the year or so before as they were too short in the ankles.
“You know,” said Hermione as she tugged on the end of Harry’s pants, “you should really buy yourself some new clothes. You have the money.”
Harry sighs. “We’ve been over this Hermione,” he said. “How would I explain an entirely new wardrobe to my relatives? I can’t use the excuse that the school has funds for students to buy clothes. That excuse only works on the school supplies. If they find out I have money they’ll try and take it from me.”
“You could hide them in your trunk,” replied Hermione. “They don’t go through your things, right?”
Harry shrugs. “Not that I know of, but I’d rather not risk them one day randomly deciding to go through my things and find them. The few things I have now are fine.” Hermione went to protest more but a scream from upstairs cut her off.
Everyone in the common room looked to the stairs to the girls' dorms as Lavender and Parvati came running down, looking terrified out of their wits. A moment later Angel came down the stairs looking exasperated, a hand on one hip and a book in the other. Angel must have changed as well as she was wearing a pair of mint green sweats, pink bunny slippers, and a pale pink t-shirt that said ‘Angel’ across the chest. Yes, the t-shirt was a bit corny cause Angel was her name, but it was one of her favorites.
“Seriously?” said Angel as she rolled her eyes. A small deep blue creature with six legs, multiple spines along its face and body and razor-sharp teeth sat on her shoulder. There were also lighter blue markings with red rings going down its body.
“What is that thing?” screeched Lavender as she cowered in a corner with Parvati.
Angel dropped her arm and sighed heavily. “He’s a Chupacabra,” she said, then made a rolling gesture with her hand, “make sure you roll the R. They're native to the Americas and believe it or not they are actually quite docile. There are quite a few wizards in the Americas that keep them as pets.”
“Don’t they drink blood?” asked Lee Jordan as he sat between the twins on a chaise lounge.
Angel crossed her arms. “Yeah, so?” she asked crossly. Lee just held his hands up and looked away. The Chupacabra’s gold eyes darted around the room as he took in his surroundings with everyone staring at him. He chittered softly and hid himself in Angel’s hair which she had taken out of her braid, his tail wrapping around her neck.
“What’s his name?” asked Harry as he looked at them.
Angel glanced at Harry and gave him a smile. “His name is Chewy,” she said and made her way over to the couch. People stepped out of her way as she walked over and plopped herself next to Harry. She carefully untangled Chewy from her hair and set him down in her lap.
Harry leaned closer and held his hand out to Chewy. “Hello there,” he said. Chewy tilted his head at Harry and leaned forward to sniff his hand. After a moment of looking at Harry, the Chupacabra nuzzled into his hand causing the boy to grin.
“A lot of people are afraid of Chupacabra’s because of the way they look,” said Angel as she watched with a smile, “but they’re actually very gentle. They have a strong desire to be wanted which makes them also very sensitive because many people fear them. They’re extremely loyal.”
“I think he’s pretty cool,” said Harry. Chewy preened under the praise. “Can I hold him?” Angel nodded and gently placed Chewy in Harry’s lap. Harry smiled and patted Chewy’s head, the chupacabra soaked up the attention with a contented purr.
“How many creatures do you have in that case of yours?” Ron asked Angel, looking around Hermione.
“A fair few,” Angel replied as she thought about the exact number. “I have creatures from all over the world because my family travels a lot due to mom’s job. She takes care of a lot of international cases, so we get to see a lot of cool places. Earlier this summer before we came to London we were in Africa. I got a new creature while we were there.”
“What did you get?” asked Hermione curiously.
“A Runespoor,” said Angel. She ignored the shocked glances from people that were listening in to their conversation. “He’s just a baby and hatched a couple of weeks ago.”
“That’s a type of snake, right?” asked Harry as he continued to pet Chewy who was now napping in his lap. He recognized the name Runspoor from their readings in first year.
Angel nodded her head and smiled. “They’re three headed snakes and they’re endangered. Newt Scamander has done a lot to save many magical species from growing extinct but that still doesn’t stop people from poaching.”
“That’s really awful,” commented Hermione.
“It was my father’s mission in life to stop magical poaching,” she said.
Harry paused in his petting of Chewy to look at her. “Was?” Angel simply looked at him and nodded but said no further. Instead, she curled up, leaning against the arm of the couch, and set her book in her lap opening to a page she had bookmarked. Harry stared at her for a moment, it was the second time she referred to her father in the past tense and he couldn’t help feeling a pit of dread in his stomach at what that could mean.
“What are you reading?” asked Hermione in curiosity, breaking the tension she didn't realize was in the air.
Angel looked up from her book. “Newt Scamander’s newest field journal publication.” She held up the book titled Magical Creatures of Asia. "It was published just over a month ago."
"Are you one of those people who read for fun?" asked Ron. He looked at her incredulously.
Angel looked at him in bemusement. "Yes?"
Ron groaned and dropped his head on the back of the couch. "Great," he groaned. "Harry, we have another bookworm on our hands- oof." Harry and Angel laughed as Hermione smacked Ron in the stomach.
The rest of the evening went by quietly. Both Hermione and Angel were in their seats, books in hand. Ron and Harry had moved to a table to play a round of Wizard's chess. Chewy settled himself on Harry’s shoulder. The Chupacabra would chirp when Harry made a good move and growl slightly at a bad move. It helped; Harry was able to last longer than he ever had in chess but despite the help he was defeated yet again. It was close to midnight before they all called it a night and headed off to bed, Chewy once again perched on Angel.