Eligible for the April 2018 Writing Challenge

April 16, 1888 - Hogwarts stairway case

Potions class had been an absolute disaster today. They had been working on a wide eyed potion and Sisse’s had exploded right at the end of class. One moment it had been happily bubbling the next it had gone boom! Her robes and hair had been drenched and Professor Valenduris had been kind enough to send her to the Gryffindor rooms so she could make herself presentable again. At least classes were done for the day.

Sisse had been hoping to return to the common rooms and claim a wash basin before she ran into anyone. But she wasn’t so lucky. She was trooping up the stairs, dripping potion on the carpets, when another person barrelled right into her! “Excuse me.” Sisse piped as if she were the one at fault. Hopefully the other person hadn’t gotten too much potion on them.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

What do you get when you cross pubescent children, a common area for said children to meet, and anything - literally anything? A giant mess! That's what.

Woopy was certain students had no idea what happened in the common rooms whilst they were in classes. He suspected they thought it was just magic that caused all of their dirty clothes, untidy beds, loose sheets of parchment, and old ink pots to suddenly find themselves neat and tidy. Which was a novel thought in and of itself.

It was - strictly speaking - magic. Though there was still a lot of working that went into maintaining the castle. Woopy often elected to focus on the common rooms when there were the least amount of people traipsing around the halls which, for all intents and purposes, was exactly what was supposed to happen.

Running down the stairs from the tower, as Woopy rather enjoyed these stairs when they were quiet, Woopy found himself not only knocking harshly into someone, but covered in some form of potion.

Startled, Woopy apparated onto a nearby painting; clinging onto the frame and hanging from it with one hand.

He stared at the girl who looked rather apologetic for a few moments before jumping down and glancing behind her; she'd left a trail.

"Look!" He exclaimed, now sounding more annoyed than scared, "Stupid witch leaving potions everywhere! Stupid witch not know potions go in pot! Not person!"

Flailing his arms around with quite the dramatic flair, the house elf shook his head and cast the cleaning charm on himself before moving to inspect the girl closer.

Practically pressing his nose against her clothing, Woopy shouted with a shrill tone, "Now Woopy must tidy this up too!"

He stood back and glared at her, "POTIONS GO IN POT NOT PEOPLE!" He shouted once more, wanting to drive the point home, his arms crossed expectantly.

  

The person (thing?) had been there for a moment and then disappeared and Sisse was left staring blankly at the space it had been, wondering at those big yellow eyes that had stared at her. What had happened? Her cheeks were warming up at the situation but she looked around in confusion. Surely she hadn’t just run into someone and they simply vanished. It couldn’t have been a ghost, Matthew swore they were cold when one walked through them. So what had it been?

A second later her question was answered by a loud yelling from the wall. Her eyes widened as she noticed the house elf hanging from the picture frame of a large fat old man who glared at the creature so close to his proximity. Sisse might have politely pointed this out to the house elf it he hadn’t been yelling at her.

It took her a moment to realize what he was yelling at her and she felt her blush deepen. It was likely her fault that the potion had exploded, but it certainly wasn’t like she had done it on purpose! She knew that potions went in cauldrons she wasn’t daft! Sisse could feel tears building in her eyes, but ladies didn’t cry. And they didn’t lose their tempers, she reminded herself, feel angry at the creature. Instead she tried to straighten up the best she could and keep her tone was wavering with either anger or the threatening tears. “I’ve very sorry. I didn’t mean to make such a mess. My potion blew up and I was just trying to get back to the common room to clean up.” She tried to explain. She doubted either the elf or the portrait would be particularly happy with this explanation.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Timidly, the girl apologised and Woopy couldn't help but glare at her. His eyes squinted until they were practically shut and he folded his arms. Of course she didn't mean to! Why would anyone mean to get potion all over themselves!?

Woopy had to admit, though, that her reasoning for running kind of made sense. Woopy would want to clean himself too if he was a lowly wizard that had no idea how magic worked! But he did and that's why he was now dry and she was still wet.

"Woopy don't care! You get potion everywhere and now I have to clean. Woopy was almost shouting at this point and he didn't even notice the painting glaring toward him.

"Close your eyes!" Woopy demanded and though he wasn't happy - was he ever? - about having to clean more than usual, it was his job and he was loyal to the castle, if nothing else.

Once she'd closed her eyes, Woopy snapped his fingers and the potion began to dry out, leaving behind a faint soapy aroma.

"Okay now Woopy has cleaned you. Stop making mess now!" The house elf hadn't gotten any quieter.

  

The house elves in the kitchen had been quite kind when Sloane, Calla, and herself had found them. This house elf was anything but. Sisse stubbornly stared at him through his scolding as she might an elder scolding her. But he really wasn't being awfully fair. Her pout deepened and her face grew redder. "I really am sorry." She tried again. "I didn't mean to create more work for you." Really she hadn't, truthfully.

The house elf just kept glaring at her from his position hanging on to the picture frame and then in a blink of an eye he was right in front of her. Was it really necessary to yell? She was sure he could be heard floors below them. But she listened. After all he worked for the school and that afforded him a position of respect in her eyes, no matter how horrible he was. Moments later she smelled... soap? Sisse opened her eyes to find all traces of potion now gone. "Oh." She almost smiled, "Thank you. "

The house elf kept yelling but this time he didn't seem to be insulting her. "I won't. " She promised. She started on her way up the stairs but paused after only a step and turned back around to look at the house elf. "Do you need help " She really did feel bad and she figured it due punishment for having been the one mess them up in the first place. But it didn't mean she liked the horrible little elf any better, but maybe if someone were nice to him he'd be nice too.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Woopy didn't care for her apologies in the slightest.
Sorry didn't stop potions going everywhere.
Sorry didn't stop her from running into him.
Sorry didn't give back the last few moments of his life.

Woopy could see her pout and cheeks flare red and he couldn't help but think she was about to transfigure into a red-hot piece of coal. At least a piece of coal was infinitely more useful than this little human witch was being right now.

"Woopy no care! You made mess and now I have to clean and you don't care!" Woopy huffed loudly and cleaned the girl - she was still within Hogwarts and as much as it pained him, he still had to look after her. As with every person in the castle.

Her thanks was accompanied by a gentle smile and that sent Woopy over the edge yelling once more about cleaning and mess and silly witches.

Her next words, however, threw him a little. She stopped a few steps above him and turned before offering to help and for a split second, Woopy could swear he felt an emotion that wasn't his usual anger, annoyance or general apathy. It was something he couldn't put his finger on.

Alas, that feeling was for just a moment and it was quickly surpassed by a feeling of offense. Of course! Why else would she offer to help!

"And now you think Woopy not good at cleaning so you think he needs help!"

It was at this moment that Woopy realised what exactly he was doing and though, to him, it was completely justified; she was his superior.

"Agh. Woopy is sorry. You silly witch are just too stupid to not make potion go all over. I will clean." Woopy said almost sympathetically, scratching harshly into his right arm for speaking out of turn.

As angry at her transgression as he was, the house elf knew he'd be in a lot of trouble if he were caught shouting at her. He was most assuredly get fired. So he began to reign it in, kicking at the ground as he spoke.

  

The look on Sisse’s face was one of complete shock. How had he come to the conclusion that she thought he wasn’t good at cleaning. She squared her shoulders ready for more berating from the creature but it seemed Woopy - after all that was the name he was yelling, wasn't it? - had a change of heart.

An apology was not what she expected, although she still didn’t like being insulted, she felt as if the elf weren’t quite as mean as he had been only a moment before.

She didn’t dare offer to help him again and instead stood there bewildered for a moment before she noticed that he had grabbed his arm and even Sisse could see the nail marks embedded in his flabby gray skin. “Oh no! You’re hurting yourself.” Genuine concern layered her tone as she took a voluntary step forward. She had never liked people being in pain and certainly wasn’t sure what to do with them beyond take them to the Hospital Wing but at least she could offer that since he was, after all, cleaning up her mess.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

"Woopy spoke out of turn!" He snapped at the witch before lowering his arms and turning to the small trail of potion climbing up the stairs. The red marks on his arms stuck out plainly against his pale skin.

It didn't take long before he was climbing down each step and carefully casting the cleaning charm on each; ensuring each step was completely rid of any potion residue. After all, who knew what kind of potion she had been trying to brew and what kind of effect it would have on the centuries old wood and stone of the school.

After about the fourth step, Woopy looked up to see the young girl still staring at him. Had she never seen a house elf before? By this point, the elf was more than a little confused though she was at least being civil toward him - which was a rare occurrence.

"Why you make potion go everywhere? It is messy and hard to clean! What potion?"

Woopy may not have been a potions expert but he knew a little and any insight into the potion would at the very least allow him to figure out if any further charms were necessary to make sure the whole school didn't blow up!

  

Well that wasn’t a very good reason for hurting himself, Sisse’s mind was quick to judge, as she realized what he meant by speaking out of turn. He had grumbled and turned back to his work, but Sisse didn’t like to see the welts on his arms. “Won’t you at least go see nurse?” She asked tentatively, she expected him to start yelling again.

The creature continued his work and Sisse was surprised by his question, although not by his complaint. “It was an accident.” She admitted bashfully. “A wide-eyed potion.” Apparently not one that was really very effective as it hadn’t affected her in the least since the explosion.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

The little witch child seemed to be very curious about Woopy's behaviour. Did she not know that he had to punish himself when he did things wrong? Such as the case a moment ago.

Though as he turned to go back to work, she continued to pester him - and about seeing a nurse no less!

With a loud groan, Woopy moved to her and held his arms out. As he did so, he blinked and nodded and his scratches appeared to heal. Woopy wasn't good at many things, though magic was a particular skill of his.

Hoping to change topics from her apparent obsession with his behaviour, Woopy enquired about the potion - A Wideye Potion. Nothing rather dangerous then, though he suspected this witch was going to have trouble sleeping tonight.

"How you explode that!? Woopy huffed as he returned to cleaning - doing it less cautiously now that he knew it was just a standard awakening potion.

As he cleaned he continued to grumble, "Stupid Phineas making little witches make potions! Should ban them! Woopy always cleaning them up and cleaning all the mess and always continues and never ends. Woopy bets stupid witch will just explode another and Woopy will have to clean it!"

  

Sisse stated wide eyed as the house elves injuries healed themselves before he started back to work, but she remembered her manners enough not to inquire further.

He set back to work apparently surprised that she had managed something like that and Sisse's cheeks grew warm. She'd already felt silly enough at what happened.

Moments later he was back to his grumbling and complaining and Sisse felt it was time to head back to the common room. Classes would be letting out soon.

"Thank you Woopy. " Sisse told the house with sincerity before she turned and headed back to the Gryffindor tower.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom