Yer A Witch, Gura

As the train trundled onward, I pulled my legs onto the seat before starting to fiddle around with Bloop’s bubble. At first it was changing the density of the bubble, before I went onto various geometric shapes, and from there to euclidean shapes, or something near enough to that.

Harry was watching, entranced, while chatting with Ron- who had joined us not too long after I entered. I had gotten Bloop trapped in a strange combination of a Celtic knot and a Gordian knot when Harry asked, “Er- Gura, what exactly are you doing?”

It was then I noticed that I shifted how I was sitting six different ways to Sunday- I was upside-down with my head hanging off the seat. Idly glad that I chose to wear shorts that day, I answered Harry’s question, “Messing around with Bloop’s containment bubble. It’s also a training exercise for me, training my uhhh fine control.” I flipped Bloop’s bubble around a few times on my finger, watching it spin around.

“Fine control for what?”

“Hydrokinesis- water control, basically. I would’ve done my trident exercises as well, but I need a big open space for that.”

“It’s incredible to watch her train,” Ron commented. Harry’s eyebrows rose, either in surprise or interest I couldn’t tell.

“I usually wake up super early to do it, which mentally hurts me, but I’ve gotta keep up my training somehow.” I blew out a breath of air, bubbles rising from my mouth before popping in the air.

We fell into silence after that, me continuing to mess around with Bloop’s bubble and the other two… doing something. A trolley laden with sweets came by not too long after, and Harry bought a load of everything. As we all took some to chow down on, conversation started back up again.

“Ron told me you were staying at his house for the summer, I thought you were at Hogwarts?” Harry asked.

“Mmm,” I hummed before swallowing the candy that was in my mouth. “After Madam Pomphrey- the school healer- had cleared me, I had my own room there for a few weeks while I adjusted. It was only a few weeks ago that Dumbledore decided to have me bunk with the Weasleys.” I popped a different piece of candy into my mouth. “Hm. Wonder if I’ll get my own room again or I’ll have to bunk with the other students.”

We moved on to other topics after that, whittling away at the pile of candy piece by piece. The train ride continued on peacefully, only interrupted by someone asking if we’ve seen a toad. They left after we said we hadn’t, and not five minutes later, he comes back with someone else asking about it. Deciding we weren’t going to get any peace unless they found his toad, I decided to help. And by help I mean I went to go find Percy and get him to help. We failed to find it in any meaningful amount of time. Percy had said he’ll keep an eye out for it, as well as alert the teachers and other prefects. We thanked him before making our way back to my compartment.

As we approached, there was a commotion in the doorway. “-and what do you mean by that?”A high, prissy voice said.

“Exactly what I meant,” I heard Harry reply.

Hermione looked like she was going to rush up there righteous guns blazing, but I held her back with a grin. As the two in the compartment argued, I waltzed up a grin on my face and hands in my pockets. “Well dang, looks like you got yourself into a hairy situation, huh?” I heard a thump nearby but ignored it.

“Yeah, it’s a bit hard to swim out of,” Harry replied back, grinning back at me.

The person Harry was arguing with was looking between us with confusion. Their light blonde hair was styled almost elegantly, if it weren’t for how much gel I could see glimmering off the lights. Surprisingly quickly they regained their bearings and posture, “And who might you be?” they asked.

“Gawr Gura, Shark. First name Gura.” I held out my hand while smiling showing off as many teeth as I could.

The hesitated a second before grasping it. “Draco Malfoy, first name Draco,” they said almost hesitatingly. We gave the handshake a firm shake.

After releasing, I asked, “So, what exactly’s going on?”

Draco waved a hand at Harry, “He says he’s not Harry Potter, whereas Weasley says he is.”

I took a look into the compartment at Harry. “Yeah, he’s not.”

“He has to be! He has the scar!”

“Scar? First time I’ve heard about a scar.”

“But- all the- they said that…”

“Look, Harry’s been out of public eye since Voldemort’s defeat until his arrival in Diagon Alley a while back- how would anyone know if he has a scar or not?”

“But- all the newspapers- and my father- said that…”

“Look, Drakey,” I pat him on the shoulder, “you can’t trust everything the intern- newspapers say. Sometimes errors are made. Especially in a hectic time like right after Voldemort was defeated. With how a whole bunch of people were released from the imperius- like your father- and misinformation going wild, it’s highly likely they made the scar story up so that people will be obsessed over that instead of the kid himself.”

Draco was staring to look overwhelmed and I almost felt bad. Almost.

“Look, just forget about this whole scar and Harry Potter business. Just live your life like how you want and not go chasing after some kid who’s in the same year as you. You’ll probably end up meeting sooner or later. Patience is a virtue, after all.”

“A-alright, I guess?”

“Great!” I grinned, all teeth. “It was nice meeting you, Draco, but I want to spend some more time with my friends and eat candy before we arrive at Hogwarts. Hope we can become friends in the future, though!”

“Yes. I will see you around, then,” Draco said regaining some composure, before leaving with his two lackeys. I waved goodbye before walking into the compartment and flopping down into the seat.

“That was fun,” I commented.

Harry was looking contemplative, Ron was thoroughly confused, Hermione was also contemplative- though on a lesser scale, while Neville was calming down. I reached over and grabbed a few snacks to munch on while the calm silence lingered around us. Hermione’s face was making several funny expressions, so I amused myself by watching them.

“Gura,” Harry started before pausing. I looked over at him. “What you said… is it true?”

“What I said about what?”

“About my scar and stuff.”

“Ah. No clue.”

Harry blinked several times in confusion at that. “Wha-” he voiced.

I tapped my temple. “Amnesia, remember? I don’t remember anything from before I woke up in Hogwarts’ infirmary. All that I said was conjecture and bullshitting of the highest degree.”

“You never told me you had amnesia,” Harry said.

“I didn’t? I thought I did- Ron, did you know? I lived with your family for like, a month.” He shook his head. “Huh. Oops. Well now y’all know.”

A smooth voice interrupted whatever was going to be said next with, “We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your belongings on the train, they will be delivered separately.”

“That’s our cue to leave,” Hermione said, standing up. She and Neville had their robes on already, where me, Harry, and Ron didn’t. We said our goodbyes as they left, and as a parting gift she pointed out a bit of dirt on Ron’s nose.

Ron looked a bit miffed, but asked, “Has that been there the whole time?” Me and Harry nodded.

“It’s been there since this morning,” I added. “You can see if you can get it off easier with the water from the lake.”

“Wait- can’t you just-”

“No. You’re not going to contaminate my water. Now out, I need to put on my robes.” I pushed them out the door before they could argue. I quickly put on my robes before exiting and letting them change. It was hectic outside the compartment, with students rushing up and down the hallway, shouting this way and that.

I was let back into the compartment not too long after I exited. I freed Bloop from his euclidean hell, but not before finding out he was roughly halfway to escaping it himself. Which was rather impressive since I didn’t even make an exit. We heard and felt the Hogwarts Express coming to a stop, its whistles blowing as the low rumble slowed to a gentle rumble.

We made our way out of the compartment and into the hallway where we met a rush of people heading towards the doors of the carriage. We were swept up into that tide, jostled around as we made our way outside. I took a deep breath of the damp night air and felt myself relaxing slightly.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years, over here!” A voice boomed over the noise of the crowd and train. I perked up as I recognized it, as did Harry. We rushed over to where Hagrid was waving a massive lamp over the crowd.

“Hi Hagrid!” I shouted over the noise.

“‘Ello, Gura!” He greeted with a smile. “And Harry! Firs’ year, around me! Follow me!” He shouted again. We followed him as he walked past the massive gates and into a hidden side-path in front of them. “Watch yer step now! It’s a bit slippery!”

It was dark enough between the trees that we couldn’t see where we were going, only Hagrid’s voice and the students around us kept us on the path. The path was slippery enough that I had good traction on it, even if my feet were covered by shoes, that Harry and Ron clung to me while I made us a path down. Every so often as I glanced up, I could see the gold-to-purple hues of the setting sun shrinking away, while the stars starting glittering as they slowly appeared.

“Watch yer step! You’ll get yer first look at Hogwarts ‘round this bend!” Hagrid said, thankfully not shouting as he did before. The students that were in front with Hagrid ‘oohed’, which made the rest of the students start rushing ahead to see. I grinned a bit as it happened, swept up in the tide again. Thankfully, nobody had slipped and fallen.

As we rounded the bend, Hogwarts, seated upon its cliff, gleamed majestically. I smiled as it gave off an almost-homely feeling from all the warm lights that glittered upon it.

“No more n four to a boat!” Hagrid said over the sudden chatter that erupted, bringing attention to the small fleet of boats that were sloshing by the lakeside.

A spark flashed in my mind as I looked around. “Oh hey I recognize this place.” I looked behind us, at the dark-obscured path. “So that’s where that path led, huh?”

“Gura?” Harry asked.

“I told you I lived at Hogwarts for a few weeks after I woke up, yea? Well, I didn’t stay cooped up in the infirmary the whole time- I explored the castle and outside it as much as I could. Especially the lake, since water is kinda my natural environment. Though I could do less with the Giant Squid calling me Princess.”

“Why does it call you Princess?” Harry asked as Ron also asked, “There’s a giant squid?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what type of Squid it is, and it’s harmless to people. It might show a tentacle or two on the ride over.” I sat down in a boat alongside Harry and Ron before answering Harry’s question. “And the reason why it calls me Princess is because I’m apparently the Atlantean King’s daughter, so practically all ocean or water-based lifeforms call me that. I don’t even remember being a princess, because, again, amnesia!” Harry and Ron looked at me wide-eyed. I waved my hands frantically, “Please don’t start calling me ‘your highness’ or whatever- I literally don’t remember being royalty at all. As far as I’m concerned, I’m Gawr Gura, Shark.”

Harry and Ron relaxed as the boats set off, pulling us towards Hogwarts.