Chapter 8: What I Wear Is None of Your Business!

After asking portraits and suits of armor for directions, Lys arrived outside the History of Magic classroom. Class hadn't begun yet, with students still chattering in the corridor.

"Snivellus, look at that greasy mop you call hair - can't afford proper shampoo from our family's shop?"

That was the black-haired boy with glasses. Evidently, their animosity had followed them from the train to school.

"Damn you, Potter. That pin-sized brain of yours can only survive on your family's fortune."

That was Snape. Lys had always thought this black-haired, black-eyed boy possessed quite a sharp tongue.

"Stop it, both of you just stop!"

That was red-haired Lily. Lys didn't particularly like her - she seemed to be the cause of Snape's argument with them on the train. Yet now she stood beside Potter.

Shrugging, Lys crouched in a corner, immersing herself in her reading book while waiting for class.

Somehow, the conflict spread to her when Black mocked Snape's robes for being salvaged from a rubbish heap.

A nearby student muttered that the Black girl in Slytherin wore even more threadbare robes!

Lys quickly stood up, attempting to avoid the confrontation, but evidently failed.

While Potter and Snape traded barbs - "Snivellus!" "Pin-brain!" - Sirius Black stormed over to Lys, demanding to know her connection to his family.

Lys could only recite what her father had taught her: "My father is Allen Black, my mother is Senna Black. Our family only immigrated to England during my grandfather's generation, so we're likely not closely related."

Sirius Black scrutinized her familiar grey eyes with suspicion.

"If we're not related, then keep to yourself and stay quiet in your corner. Look at what you're wearing - is that rat skin?"

Lys felt anger bubbling up. She had been minding her own business in the corner, and though worn, these were the first clothes her mother had ever bought her.

"What I wear is none of your business!"

"None of my business? That slum-rat garment you're clutching offends my eyes! And people's whispers assault my ears. You rat-skin! You reek of poverty just like Snivellus - it's giving me a migraine."

A sickly-looking boy pulled him away before he could continue his tirade.

"Sirius, it's wrong to attack people over circumstances they can't control. Class is about to start, let's find our seats," Lupin said, dragging Potter along as they passed.

Lys heard Lily Evans' "James Potter, you're nothing but an arrogant toerag!" while fighting back her tears.

Hogwarts was so cold, and she was feeling slightly ill.

Sitting alone in a corner of the classroom, Lys had no classmates beside her. She glanced at the troublemakers, then at Lily and Snape sitting together, before opening her reading book to decipher words from the textbook.

Another class concluded without understanding a word the ghost professor had taught.

Finally, time for lunch. Having missed breakfast from oversleeping, last night's dinner felt like a distant dream - how else could she be this famished?

Lys followed the crowd to the Great Hall for lunch. When steaming dishes materialized on the table, she barely contained her delight.

She lifted a goblet of thick yellow liquid with uncertainty - what was this? No matter, she needed something to wash down the bread threatening to choke her.

"Ugh!" What was this concoction? The texture was thick and slimy. She managed not to spit it out only by remembering Snape's reminder about table manners.

She couldn't risk further rejection - her roommate hadn't even woken her for class this morning. She didn't want to wander the castle alone forever.

She straightened her posture, studying the elegant bearing of the older students as they dined. Though her attempts weren't quite perfect, at least it wasn't as shocking as the previous night.

Snape was absent from lunch, but she could hear the boisterous laughter from the Gryffindor table.

Lys gazed up at the clearly enchanted ceiling - it was a brilliant day, and she longed to explore outside while she had the chance.

The castle must look even more magnificent in daylight.

Stepping through the great doors with her wand in hand, Lys ran freely across the expansive grounds, past the Black Lake, the Quidditch pitch with its high goalposts and surrounding stands, and in the distance, a cozy cottage with smoke curling from its chimney.

Everything here seemed wonderfully different from home.

Lys wondered who inhabited that cottage, since it stood right beside the Forbidden Forest - the very place Professor Dumbledore had warned at last night's feast would bring "a most painful death" to any who dared venture within.

After running to her heart's content, Lys found a shady tree and lay down on the grass. She hadn't had a chance to properly examine her dormitory last night - she hoped the dormitory windows had a view of this magnificent tree. It reached so high into the sky!

She carefully extracted her reading book from her robes, gently opened it to the middle pages, and continued her determined study of words.