Telefone

Telefone

On Wednesday afternoon, after Arithmancy, Marietta studied in the library for one hour. Afterwards, she sought out her friends in the Ravenclaw common room.

She found them clustered around the second largest fireplace, just to the left of the arched stairway that led up towards the girls's dormitories. It was one of their favourite places in the castle, especially in winter. Marietta rubbed her chilled hands together and grinned.

Even though their spot lacked the elegant blue recliners that the other Ravenclaw students coveted, it was (they thought) still easily one of the warmest places in the castle. The rug that lay over the cold flagstones was thick and textured, and the house elves never failed to insure that the fire was roaring and bright when the five arrived after class. It was especially comfortable whenever Cho managed to filch cushions off the armchairs that the elder students always claimed; something she had, Marietta noted, managed to do today.

She walked toward them happily, only slowing when she heard Sara use an unfamiliar word. What was a - a telefone? Marietta paused by Hobsbawn's empty frame and frowned, listening to strands of her friends's conversation.

"I wonder..." Sara grinned. "Do you think he can use a telephone?"

"Probably not," Morgan said disdainfully.

Muggle studies, Marietta realised. They were talking about Muggle Studies again. She watched Emily shake her head and laugh, and then heard Sara reel off yet another string of alien terms.

Marietta narrowed her eyes and considered stomping back to the library. Hobsbawn would probably approve. He had been a wizarding genius who pioneered at least twelve vital medical spells, one of the most honoured Ravenclaws in centuries. He had also been a blood purist, a fact that wasn't well known.

Marietta sighed and joined her friends, hoping their Muggle conversation was finally over.

"It's not very hard," Emily was protesting.

"He probably doesn't even know what a telephone is."

She squeezed in between Cho and the flickering fireplace.

"Where have you been?"

Marietta held her hands to the flames, her lips curling into an involuntary smile. "I was in the library."

"Vector didn't set us any homework today," Emily commented, swallowing her giggles poorly as Morgan whispered "Bring, bring!"

Marietta picked up one of Morgan's magazines and began skimming the pages.

"It's extra research."

Sara groaned, barely bothering to look up from her textbook, but Cho giggled again and nudged her friend. "Oh?" she inquired, leaning over to grab an older copy of Teen Witch.

"Oh. You know. We were just comparing twelve and thirteen with the Gillespie method, linking it with historical usage in France. They favoured the Pierce method over there." Marietta shrugged. "Mostly I drew charts."

"I'm so glad I don't do Arithmancy," Morgan muttered.

"It's highly regarded by the Ministry."

Morgan mimed vomiting.

"And it's good experience too."

"It's not so bad," Emily said. "Way better than Divination."

"Bet it's not as good as Muggle Studies."

Marietta glared at Sara, but she was too busy flicking though the pages of her Muggle Studies textbook to notice. At least Cho wasn't obsessed with bizarre muggle diagrams.

Marietta shifted her gaze, looking left at her closet friends. Emily and Cho both collapsed as Morgan cheerfully announced "Bring, bring!" again and Sara promptly copied her. Marietta pasted a weak smile on her face before turning away, analyzing the other students in their year. At the other side of the common room, the boys were laughing too, framed by grey clouds beyond the window.

Marietta turned, resentfully, back to her friends.

Cho was the new Ravenclaw Seeker, but Sara could also be unnaturally observant.

"Awww, don't be jealous."

Marietta bit her lip and sat up straighter. Sara returned to her textbook, pausing over a passage of text on page thirty-seven. There was a large red diagram easily visible on the page: showing an object almost trapezium-shaped, and joined to what looked like a coloured banana with a glossy strand of twine. Marietta forced herself to look away, and brushed her curls over one shoulder.

"Everyone knows Muggle Studies is a soft subject."

Cho shifted on her pillow. "Actually, it's pretty interesting."

Morgan had lain on her back to watch the flicking shadows on the roof. "It's not bad, yeah."

Sara smiled nastily.

Marietta looked at Emily for support, but Emily's face was blank as she leant over Cho's shoulder, apparently lost in considering the benefits of certain hair charms. She swapped magazines with Cho and turned the first page carefully. Then she sighed, and looked Marietta straight in the eye as the conversation lulled. "I think everyone should take Muggle Studies, unless they're Muggle-born or something."

"Well, my mother says-"

"Your mother's a bigot!"

Sara closed her textbook. Cho seemed frozen between her two friends, unsure if she should offer support. Morgan's perpetually disinterested demeanour slipped away as she took a deep breath and slowly raised herself off the floor. Emily and Marietta didn't notice; they remained still, eyes locked.

Emily's face was as red as any Gryffindors', but it was Marietta who was the first to turn away, pointing her wand at the fire and muttering a charm to keep it burning strong. Sara reopened her textbook carefully, fingering through the pages with barely a whisper of noise. Emily turned pages randomly in Morgan's magazine, finally stopped over an interview with a celebrity called Dawn. She snorted.

"Merlin, look at him."

Emily pushed the magazine towards Cho. Marietta tried not to giggle as a topless Dawn winked at her from the floor. He was lazing on a sofa smothered with in silken cushions. Nearby, an elegant Witch perched on a feathery red chair, quill held in shaking fingers.

"Doesn't she look excited?" Morgan rolled her eyes.

Cho considered the image, her Seeker's eyes scanning the page quickly before handing it on. "He looks a bit like Lockhart."

"Yeah," Marietta volunteered. She showed the magazine to Sara before tossing the magazine back to Emily's outstretched hand.

There was the slightest pause, and then Sara began giggling.

The rest of the evening passed without event.

On Friday, after Arithmancy, Marietta usually studied for an hour. Usually she used the time to relax, to study without interference. Today, she spent twenty minutes browsing an unfamiliar section before claiming a lone armchair, nestled in a spider-webbed corner of the library.

Half hidden in her lap was a slim book called "Basic Muggle Appliances and Their Use". Her friends, if they found out, would approve. And nobody was likely to tell her mother.

Marietta smiled, and settled down to read.