August 15th, 1892 — Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop

Odessa was over the moon - her Papa would come along for her shopping trips! In fact, he'd taken a special interest in her now that she'd be starting at Hogwarts.

She happily complied with her father's instruction of finding the biggest, fluffiest, and nicest quills at Scrivenshaft's. Not that she didn't already own such quills at home. She had calligraphy lessons with her governess and she also kept a diary and wrote short stories in her spare time. She had quills of almost every color, but since she was starting Hogwarts and her father could afford it, she'd be getting all new quills just for that.

Odessa wanted to show her father an ornate quill made out of a phoenix feather to her father, but she saw he was busy talking with Mrs. Black. Some disappointment settled in the child. She wanted her Papa all to herself, but he was a popular person and the Blacks were family friends. The Black children were often her playdates and she picked Sirius Black as her ideal future husband, mostly because he was one of the few older boys she knew of that weren't directly related to her.

Not wanting to bother her father, Odessa continued to browse quills on her own. She spotted someone who seemed to be the same age as her, so she asked: "Are you going to Hogwarts, too?"

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Open to a future firstie or someone who looks young enough to be starting their first year at Hogwarts!

  

The days her mother announced that it was a Hogwarts shopping day had been some of the most exciting in recent weeks. Today, was one of the less exciting ones, but delightful none the less - paper, ink and quills! She had still dressed up as grown up as possible, her dark, naturally straight hair, tortured into curls. Her mother wanted no expense spared for Honoria's education - associating her with a better class of girl, would, in the end, bring her into the company of a better class of gentleman. Her mother was playing a long game.

She had made an immediate tally of the Hogwarts aged students in the shop as soon as she had entered, and her mother had steered her over near to where a young girl was perusing the stock near to Mister Pettegrew and was validated when the girl had asked her if she was for Hogwarts. Honoria nodded very enthusiastically. 'I can't wait!' she squeaked very enthusiastically, in a tone that her mother would disapprove of as too childish. 'It's so soon now!' it was all she could do to stop herself jumping up and down in glee.

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There was a time when Odessa might have shown her excitement that way. So... childishly. As the child that she was. Her governess had ensured to purge the child out of her, so at eleven she might act more like a girl of fifteen or sixteen, without the actual maturity and experience that came with age.

She smiled politely at the other girl, not wanting to spoil her mood.

"Which house do you think you'll be sorted in?" she asked one of the natural questions for people in their situation. Odessa's parents had both been Slytherins, though there wasn't necessarily pressure for them to follow in their footsteps.

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Honoria had had a hell of a year - she had been kidnapped, turned into a snidget and then into an adult - she wasn't entrely sure she was the same person she had been last year, so the idea who who she was, or the part of her the that might see was alien to her.

'I don't know ' she said, 'My father was a ravenclaw,.' she added, as though that meant something. she had discussed with Lou the differences between the houses, and broadly what they meant but the more she thought about the less clear she was about which house would be her eventual home. 'what house do you think you'll be in Miss Pettigrew?' Honoria asked pleasantly, adding a few quills to her little basket for purchasing.

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Odessa's mind went blank at the question. In truth, Hogwarts houses represented traits that nearly all people had. It was a matter of mindset more than a single personality trait.

"My parents were both in Slytherin and so was my governess." If not in Slytherin, most of Odessa's influences had been Ravenclaws. Based on that, it was very likely she'd end up in either House herself.

"The Sorting Hat can read minds, it'll understand us better than we do ourselves!"

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'Oh I didnt know it read minds' she said, her eyes widening 'I don't know what i thought it did but i suppose it makes sense.' she bit her lip. 'I can't think what of my thoughts would tell it about who I am' it was the sort of deep philosophical question that was probably beyond a 12 year old.

'Do you have the rest of your supplies?' Honoria asked again, 'and your pet? What are you bringing?' she pressed, definitely more interested in the animal situation.

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The Sorting Hat was thought to be all-knowing and terribly wise. They could evaluate a person better than they could themselves. Being only eleven, Odessa didn't have the complexity to think about how the Sorting might be somewhat deterministic and how it might be unfair to judge a person's character based on how they were at eleven. If anything, childhood and one's teen years were a time of constant reinvention. Odessa had been through her haughty and bratty child phase, her 'I love music' phase and now she dreamed of writing novels like Jane Austen. By the end of her first year, she could be dreaming of becoming a potioneer.

Pet talk was much less complex and Odessa smiled as she said: "I'll bring my cat, Cake! But Papa is also getting me an owl for my correspondence needs." If it wasn't for those needs, she wouldn't want an owl. She didn't like birds in general, their beaks and claws made her feel uneasy. "What are you getting?"

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'A cat too!' Honoria enthused, she could see the little creature in her mind, amber eyes and jet black fur. She didn't want a fancy breed or anything too fussy, just a regular old moggy. 'Cake is such a sweet name!' Honoria said fondly, 'How long have you had Cake?' She couldn't pick up on which gender the cat was.

Like her young companion, she too had no interest in a pet owl, they felt cold and impersonal to her. Her family kept 2 owls for his business and she liked neither animal especially well. They were working animals - not pets, one of them didn't even have a name as far as she could tell.

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Odessa smiled approvingly at the girl's pet choice. Cats were one of her favourite animals; she'd always be a cat person.

"I've had her for years!" she replied, then her eyebrows furrowed at the front as she tried to recall the exact number of years. It had been just after her mama's death. She made the mental calculation and replied: "Eight years to be precise." Cake was a bit on the older side as far as cat lifespans went. Odessa hated to think that one day she just wouldn't be there...

"Have you thought of any names for your cat?" she asked so she wouldn't have to think about her cat's mortality.

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'I don't know yet' she said honestly, 'I don't think I will know until I meet him - or her!' Honoria enthused. 'I want it to be pitch black, with bright green eyes' she explained, seeing it vividly in her head. 'I bet they will love playing with these' Honoria picked up a rather ornate ostrich feather and waggeled it, as one would to attract a cats attention, before adding it to her basket. 'Perhaps they can be friends with Cake.' she giggled.

'Do you have everything else sorted for school? I've had my first robe fitting already, I'll have another the week before we head to school, to make sure everything fits properly.'

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Cake was a lazy and friendly cat, so Odessa could see her getting along with the girl's future pet. She nodded in agreement.

"Almost everything - I got my wand today and all of the smaller things with Papa. I will go to Gladrag's for my robes with my grandmother and aunt. Oh, and my Papa is also getting me a broomstick." Odessa hoped that the girl wouldn't be one of those Quidditch-obsessed ones. She felt compelled to share that she'd get the type of broomstick some prospective professional players saved up for because at least it made her feel special for what she was getting. She felt no excitement about the use of the broomstick otherwise.

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'You already got your wand!?' Honoria exclaimed, 'What is it like?' Honoria's face was full of awe at the prospect of the other girl having already purchased her wand. 'Is it an Ollivander? Whats the core?' she pressed. If she was honest she wanted nothing more than to see it. She couldn't wait until she got her own. Perhaps she could talk her mother into bringing her to the wand shop after this and maybe she could get her wand too.

'Ohh I'm so jealous! I can't believe you have your wand already!'

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"Of course it's an Ollivander, what else could it be?" Odessa replied in a way that didn't mean to be judgemental - she genuinely wasn't aware of any other wandmakers existing. There was no other wand shop on Hogsmeade's high street, at least.

"It's twelve inches, chestnut with a dragon heartstring core," she then told the girl, having remembered her wand's specs by heart. The Ollivander employee had told her and her father all sorts of details about her wand, but she decided to keep that information for herself. Instead, she offered the girl: "It was a long process, I tried maybe ten different wands, before my wand chose me."

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'My Mama got her wand in Korea, it's a Hwangmok wand' she explained by way of answer, her mother was incredibly proud of her wand maker and she had assumed it was rather like Ollivanders - but foreign. 'But I think I'm going to be going to Ollivanders.' She added quickly, not wanting to leave the other in any doubt that she would be in possession of one of the fashionable wands! As impressive as she was sure her mothers wand was, she wanted to be English fashionable.

Honoria didn't like the idea of dragon heartstring wands, mostly because she rather assumed it involved killing the dragon! The unicorn tail hair and pheonix feather could both be got without killing the creatures! 'I hope I have a unicorn wand!' Honoria muttered, almost to herself than anyone else! Her nurse maid appeared at her elbow and she passed off the handful of quills to the lady to take them to the clerk to pay for them.

'Perhaps we shall see each other on the train?' Honoria said cheerfully, but was more of a question. 'Mama and Papa have a house in Hogsmeade, but we are staying in London for the season, and so I will take the train in September.' she explained, she often thought her mother preferred town to their country home, although her father was as like to find himself happy in the country as in London - long walks, riding and shooting were much more his speed than cards and the club.

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Odessa had little contact with other cultures, so the existence of Korean wand makers was news to her. She only vaguely knew that Korea was in Asia but nothing more beyond that. Having been brought up with colonialist ideals, she didn't think any Korean wands would be as good as an Ollivander wand, though they would be, no doubt, exotic! Still, she thought Miss Rookwood was lucky for the opportunity to get something British-made, because Odessa didn't know a world were Britain wasn't the best, if not the center of the world itself!

She nodded along politely at the girl's talk about the wand and then shook her head no at the question about the train.

"I live in Hogsmeade, so I will reach the station by carriage!" she said. It wasn't as magical and exciting as taking the Hogwarts express but she would hardly be the only child who wouldn't embark it. "But we can agree to sit together on our first Hogwarts class," she then added diplomatically, because the girl seemed keen to be friends with her and Odessa had liked her well enough. "At the very front of the classroom, so we can take better notes and answer all of the professor's questions first."

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It made sense, and she would probably be going be carriage herself if it hadn't been the season. She did wonder if Miss Pettigrew's mother was sick or something that they were staying in Hogsmeade and not travelling up to town for the season. Her mother, she was sure, would have strong opinions about a family that didn't take part in the demands of society, that it implied some manner of deficiency in one or other partner. Diane Rookwood had almost no time for the sort of 'low spirits' that seemed to over take some upper class women.

'oh yes! lets!' she enthused, delighted to have met someone already - she would be able to go home to Mama and tell her she already knew who she would be sitting with in class, and that her new friend already had her wand! So she should immediately go and get her wand!

'You never know! We might be in the same house!' this was perhaps Honoria's wishful thinking, 'Bet at the very least we can sit near the front and ensure we are top of the class' you can be a close second to me - she added internally, but she was at least pleased that her new friend was an enthusiastic about this as she was.

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