The older girl recovered too fast, too easily, spelling a sour turn for things. Charley, coiled with bitterness, waited uneasily for the coming punch or kick, but all she got for her efforts were a bunch of words. Same as before, if she was keeping track properly. And she had to be, far worse than a punch would await the urchin if she couldn't keep a few words straight or who said them.
Masking a grin, Charley leaned over and spit on the ground.
"Heard ya the first time," she answered, in case the loogey wasn't enough. Charley had ol' Horseface in a circle, but a bit of a deadly one at that. Without a good come-back, the girl might spin herself round and walk straight back into the Potts' shop. And when Mrs. Mann said she was good at turning people around, the urchin didn't think that meant sending them to the competition. "You got pretty big words for someone that's never been."
Charley would have remembered a face like this one, and the foul smugness that followed her. Not that she did from her own Hogwarts year, either. There were a lot of faces in that castle, most of them older and smugger, too. Someone new to magic had plenty of pranks and cheap laughs thrown their way, by now the urchin was used to people who reminded her of how little she knew. It used to bother her more then, now she just shrugged.
When Charley knew enough about enough, it was her who'd be laughing.
"'Course I went," she scoffed, not willing to let the suggestion get under her skin. Charley would rather have someone laugh at how little she knew than think she was a dullard, or an idiot. Missus Crouch and Mrs. Mann could prove how teachable she was, and how fast she learned. In a year or so, she might even know enough to run the whole shop herself. The urchin rolled her eyes, but her tongue had another lie ready that it was sure would invite something real from the horsefaced girl. A punch this time, or some different words anyway.
"I'm too dangerous to be allowed back, yaknow?" The urchin let her eyes go wide, like even she found it alarming. "Snuck into the Restricted Section an' learned all the real nasties, hexes and the sort." This kind of story usually worked better on younger children, the sort who hadn't gone to Hogwarts and could be confounded by its mystique. Then again, the girl had called her a liar, so Charley figured she might as well put on a good show for it.
She shrugged her shoulders, letting out a thoughtful sort of sigh. "Shouldn't even trust me near a wand, so I stick with plants, yeah?"
Masking a grin, Charley leaned over and spit on the ground.
"Heard ya the first time," she answered, in case the loogey wasn't enough. Charley had ol' Horseface in a circle, but a bit of a deadly one at that. Without a good come-back, the girl might spin herself round and walk straight back into the Potts' shop. And when Mrs. Mann said she was good at turning people around, the urchin didn't think that meant sending them to the competition. "You got pretty big words for someone that's never been."
Charley would have remembered a face like this one, and the foul smugness that followed her. Not that she did from her own Hogwarts year, either. There were a lot of faces in that castle, most of them older and smugger, too. Someone new to magic had plenty of pranks and cheap laughs thrown their way, by now the urchin was used to people who reminded her of how little she knew. It used to bother her more then, now she just shrugged.
When Charley knew enough about enough, it was her who'd be laughing.
"'Course I went," she scoffed, not willing to let the suggestion get under her skin. Charley would rather have someone laugh at how little she knew than think she was a dullard, or an idiot. Missus Crouch and Mrs. Mann could prove how teachable she was, and how fast she learned. In a year or so, she might even know enough to run the whole shop herself. The urchin rolled her eyes, but her tongue had another lie ready that it was sure would invite something real from the horsefaced girl. A punch this time, or some different words anyway.
"I'm too dangerous to be allowed back, yaknow?" The urchin let her eyes go wide, like even she found it alarming. "Snuck into the Restricted Section an' learned all the real nasties, hexes and the sort." This kind of story usually worked better on younger children, the sort who hadn't gone to Hogwarts and could be confounded by its mystique. Then again, the girl had called her a liar, so Charley figured she might as well put on a good show for it.
She shrugged her shoulders, letting out a thoughtful sort of sigh. "Shouldn't even trust me near a wand, so I stick with plants, yeah?"
![[Image: bZbZdaH.png]](https://i.imgur.com/bZbZdaH.png)