1866 | The hottest, most humid day of the year is met with Cassandra's screams as she progresses through labor. Her contractions come quick with hardly any time between them to breathe. It's quick, perhaps the only mercy of the day, as the squealing mess of a daughter is followed by profuse blood loss. The midwives do all they can for Cassandra, but in the end they caution her from any further pregnancies. That Cassandra survived at all is a miracle, no need to tempt fate twice.
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1868 | Cassandra returns to work as the potioneer of the apothecary, leaving Penny and Harley firmly in the care of their nanny.
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1873 | Harley leaves for school in September. Without his bossy presence the London townhouse grows too quiet and, rather than spend her days wandering about aimlessly, Penny begins to squirrel herself away in her father's workshop.
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1874 | Penny's first display of magic comes just before Christmas. A cold front breezes through London and the poor cat that frequents their doorstep has nowhere to go. She's too short to reach the deadbolt to let the cat inside, but is pleasantly surprised when the lock moves all the same. Cassandra is furious that a feral cat is scurrying about their home and Duncan finds it hilarious. Unfortunately, as soon as the cat is trapped it's released back into the streets.
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1877 | Her Hogwarts letter arrives as expected and Penny's first order of business is to adopt her pet. Starley, a fluffy and grumpy kitten, is found in the back of a nearby pet shop. A lifelong friendship is formed that day, and when she's sorted into Hufflepuff the cat is happy to be nearest the kitchens.
She meets Nemo Fisk just after the Sorting Ceremony, sitting besides him at the long Hufflepuff table. He's awkward and quiet, but she likes him all the same. She picks him as her partner for all class projects and asks him to do homework with her until they become best friends.
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1878 | Despite being spared the witchhunt of 1877, Cassandra and Duncan decide to make the move the apothecary and family to Hogsmeade in the January. Remaining in London isn't worth the risk of death. Penny finds out about the move belatedly and is made furious by it, even if most of her school friends live in Hogsmeade now.
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1879 | The start of her third year sees Penny adding the two obvious choices to her class roster: Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures.
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1882 | Harley is among those drafted for the Hogsmeade Trail. He's a recent graduate, and Duncan does just about everything he can think of to swap places with him. However, there's nothing to be done and Harley leaves with his group. Stressed with anxieties for her brother's survival, Penny performs more poorly than expected on her OWLs, and, as a result, can only take four NEWT classes.
Harley survives, just barely so. Whatever he experienced on the trail prevents him from being comfortable in the Bartonburg home. He takes the money earned and the plot of land and builds himself a tiny home in Irvingly. The summer is largely spent by Penny navigating arguments between her parents and brother.
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1883 | While she adores flying, Penny has never had a taste for quidditch. She attends the house games to cheer on her friends, but it wouldn't be something she would be remiss to forego. That said, she does take a liking to a French player that stays in the inn near the shop. He's handsome and suave, and when he elopes with her dormmate at the end of the games Penny is crushed. Her friend doesn't return for their final year and follows her new husband back to France. Good riddance.
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1884 | The chastity cuffs distract her from studying for her NEWTs. (It's always something, isn't it?) Not because she has any intention of needing it, but because it's one more thing to fidget with. She performs poorly for her standards and realizes any sort of professional job is likely beyond her reach. At least there's the shop to fall back on.
Her crush on the Frenchman is forgotten during her debut at the Coming Out Ball. Nemo looks so dashing in his formal wear, and when he asks her to dance she can barely restrain her blush. Nothing comes of it, of course, but Penny remembers the dance fondly regardless.
The summer brings trial after trial for the citizens of Hogsmeade. First, the plague has her parents' packing her up and shipping her of to her aunt's home in the Highlands. While she's grateful to be spared the horror of the illness, not being there for the death of Nemo's mother eats away at Penny. She sends countless letters and extends numerous offers of visiting, but ultimately she's not there for him in his time of need. Then, the family's shop is destroyed in the fires. Their home is spared, mercifully, but it'll take months to replace all the potions and herbs, if not years.
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1885 | Penny's second season begins with a lackluster start. Truthfully, neither she nor her parents understand why they're going through the efforts aside from 'it's tradition', but they continue on regardless. That is, at least, until she has an accident leaving a ball in the floo. Rather than arrive at her home as expected, Penny is transported to a drunk bachelor's home that mistakes her for his lover. A fight breaks out between them, and she escapes by the skin of her teeth. Penny eternally swears both the debutante life and transporting by floo that night.
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1886 | The workshop in her parents' home is expanded for Penny's growing collection of muggle items. Her fiddling with the trinkets results in more than one mishap over the year, some leaving her with no eyebrows and others needing some assistance from Nemo. It's all in the name of research, though, so what harm can it really bring?
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1887 | A neighbor has a litter of puppies in the spring and Penny needed to take only one look at the doe eyed Cayley to know the small pup belonged to her. Cayley has limitless energy, leaving even the high spirited Penny struggling to keep up. She does, though, and the two bond easily.
The World Wizarding Fair resumes for the summer, much to her sheer delight. The science tents the year prior were so interesting that Penny nearly skips with glee on her father's arm as they venture forth. However, whatever joy she experiences is soon extinguished like a candle in blistering winds. The fair collapses, pillars falling on the exhibits and people alike. Penny is forced from the path of large stone piece by Duncan, only to turn and see her father is no more. Too stunned and horrified by the events to safely apparate away, she crouches by the pillar covering Duncan. Only ... for another piece of rubble to trap her beneath it. For two days.
She never speaks of those days. Not to her mother, not to her brother, not even to Nemo. Instead, she dives further into her obsession with tinkering and inventing. She works until her fingers are raw and bloody, leaving the workshop only to bathe and eat. This trend continues for months until it culminates in a minor explosion of soot and embarrassment. Penny still doesn't speak of the incident or her father, but at least she breaks free of the haze of grief.
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1888 | The fog descends on Hogsmeade. Penny and her mother close up the shop and hole up at home to wait it out. Wandering about in the midst is too dangerous, especially after losing Duncan only a year ago. She uses this time to toy with the various muggle items and artifacts Nemo has given her, each one more complex than the next.
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1889 | The mourning period for Duncan ends mid-summer, and Cassandra makes the decision to move the shop back to Diagon Alley. The Hogsmeade store has too many memories, she claims to a bewildered Penny, and it's high-time to move on. Faced with a future of flooing to London every day (as Penny adamantly refuses any notion of selling their Hogsmeade home), she reaches out to Mr. Elias Grimstone, a broommaker but an inventor nevertheless, and applies for an apprenticeship. She's always liked flying and the purpose would be reason enough to retain the Hogsmeade home. To her immense relief and satisfaction he agrees,and she begins working under him in the fall.
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1890 | Two small kittens are found early in the year near a deceased stray cat. Penny does the only natural thing and brings them both inside immediately. She christens them Marie Louise and Louis Jean, after the Lumiere Brothers, and forces Starley to accept them into the fold.
Her apprenticeship continues, with Elias and she finding a rhythm that works for them. She's made a few successful prototypes on her own, but none as worthy as the Oakshaft '79 (her personal benchmark despite Elias having far surpassed it). The only change to her status quo is Cassandra's new venture into a possible courtship. Penny rarely gets angry, but the news of this flirtatious customer is enough to make her see red.
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