The Curse of the Lovelorn Locket

Chapter Two: Curses are a Girl's Best Friend

The name of the woman in the photograph was Miranda Morrowind, and the first thing she said was, "How did bushy hair end up in my line of descendants?"

Hermione frowned. "Are you a witch?"

Miranda laughed, flipping a strand of straight brown hair over her shoulder. "I'm a picture, silly girl. However, I am a memory of a witch."

"Like Tom Riddle's diary!" Harry looked as if he was thinking less and less of this situation.

"I cannot say that I've heard of this Tim person, but I am certainly more complex than a mere diary... after all, here you are conversing with me practically live and in person, rather than writing words on some static piece of paper... I was the greatest witch of my time, you know. Better at charms even, than Rowena, and she always thought she was so smart. I'm glad to find that it worked, though of course it worked; I performed the spell perfectly, I'm sure, even though I was under quite a bit of pressure at the time... what year is it?"

She said all of this very quickly.

"I think I see her resemblance to you after all," Harry said to Hermione.

She glared at him and turned to look back down at the locket, which was now dangling from her right hand, and told Miranda the year.

"Oh my! It took so long for the squibs to be weeded out of my family?" She sounded positively devastated.

"I don't understand," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I'm muggle-born. How could I possibly have a witch in my family? And did you say Rowena a minute ago? Did you mean Rowena Ravenclaw?"

Miranda sighed. "I was afraid of this. It's a long story, dear. Would you like to hear it now?"

Harry and Hermione nodded in unison, and the fact in the locket closed her eyes for a moment and then began to speak.

********

It was Godric's idea to start the school, but even he knew that he couldn't do so alone. He initially asked Rowena to help him because, at the time, she was his lover. She in turn suggested Helga because of her dependability and good cheer, and me because, well, I was simply cleverer than all of them. And even though Godric protested, I knew that Salazar's ambition and cunning would be more useful than Rowena's knack for memorizing facts in books and Godric's tendency to rush headfirst into whatever adventure was lying about. We all had our strengths and weaknesses, and it seemed like an excellent match for a team of educators. We were all very excited about the prospect of molding the minds of young wizards and witches, even if some of us had some different ideas about how that should be done.

Godric's and Salazar's arguments about who should be admitted into the school and whether the dark arts should be taught were the main controversy, and the other women and I largely stayed out of it. Rowena tended to side with Godric because she had some fanciful notion that she loved him, and Helga in turn felt the same way about Salazar, even though she refused to admit it. I could see the side to both of their arguments, so I tended to point out the flaws in their logic and make them both angry with me.

However, long before the school opened and this argument would break up the founders for good, there was another breaking that had very little to do with the school at all. As I said before, Godric and Rowena were lovers, but he seemed hesitant to marry her, which upset her to no end. I discovered one night, that the reason for this turned out to be that Godric thought... and I swear I had no knowledge of this until that night... that he was actually in love with me. He came into my room in the castle and kissed me. I told him that I couldn't possibly be with him, both because of my loyalty to Rowena and because I will in love with another man. He tried to change my mind, but I was steadfast, and he understood. He left, but kissed me once more. It was this kiss that Rowena saw as she was walking past my chambers. Neither of us noticed her.

Rowena was livid and immediately began plotting my demise. After all, it must have been I that seduced her perfect Godric, blinded by love as she was. She enlisted Salazar because she thought that he was angry with me for not siding with him about the issues with the school. She didn't know, because no one knew, that Salazar and I had actually been lovers for several months. We had kept it a secret to spare Helga's feelings, and because we did not want Rowena and Godric to think that we had formed a partnership against them in regards to the school decisions.

When Rowena told Salazar what she had seen, he was furious. He already disliked Godric, and this made things even worse. Somehow, she managed to convince him that it was I that had been the instigator; he had always been insecure about our relationship, accusing me of secretly loving Godric. Now he felt that he was justified, and that I was actually the whore that he had first taken me for. He was not a man that easily gave away his trust.

With both of them against me, it was easy to convince Helga that I was a threat. And when the three of them confronted Godric, he was too scared of losing Rowena to try to convince them that I was innocent. And when they met with me and told me that they wanted me to leave and no longer be a part of the school, no amount of my telling the truth could counteract the lies that they already believed. So I left, hurt and betrayed by them all, especially Salazar. That hurt me the most, because I loved him. But I was angry as well.

Disgusted with them all, I left the wizarding world. Not knowing what else to do, I opened a small shop selling herbs and remedies. The betrayal of my friends still stinging, I jumped into a marriage with a muggle man and ended up with children right away, barely realizing what had happened. I knew the moment I set eyes upon them that they were not magical, and it broke my heart. I stole away in the dead of the night and returned to the castle, where I planned to try to convince the other founders to have me back, and find out if there was anything that could be done about my children. I peered in through a window and saw them all together, Godric with Rowena, Salazar with Helga. The school had just opened and it was before Salazar and Godric had their falling out. They were all so happy, laughing, in love, and it just killed me.

It was then that I went out by the lake and put this charm on the locket. It would be activated when worn by a magical descendant, so that they could know my story, which I knew I could never share with my husband or children. I went back to this muggle family and lived with them for the rest of my days, not quite happy, but not miserable. I knew that someday magic would be back in my family... I never dreamed that it would take this long.

*******

When she was done, Harry and Hermione blurted out their reactions at the exact same time.

"You mean I'm descended from a founder?" she gasped, her eyes wide.

"You were in love with Slytherin?" he asked, his lips curling into a disgusted expression.

The small eyes in the locket shot daggers at Harry. "Well, he was quite good looking, you know. And there's something very attractive about that kind of power thirst."

"Sounds like Malfoy," Hermione muttered.

"Good looking, is he?" Harry looked annoyed.

"Don't be a twit," she said. "I'm not in the least attracted to him. He's too... slimy."

Miranda's eyes slid over Harry. "You remind me of Godric," she said.

He smiled a bit.

Hermione looked down at the locket for a moment. Despite her story where it seemed everyone but her was slimy (and this caused her to doubt its veracity a bit), she still felt that Godric had probably been a much better man than Salazar, just as Harry was a good person and Draco was a stupid git.

"We're both in Gryffindor," she told Miranda.

"Oh," the witch said neutrally. "I was wondering where my descendants would end up. I suppose it's as good as any. I probably would have guessed Ravenclaw... though my intelligence was always more practicality and quick wits than book smarts."

Not lacking for modesty either, Hermione thought.

"So if you hadn't left, there would have been a Morrowind house?" Harry asked, looking interested.

"Yes," she answered proudly. "And some good wizards and witches would have been sorted into it, I can tell you that. Not wishy-washy goody goodies like in Hufflepuff or boring bookworms like in Ravenclaw or... what term did you use? Slimy like in Slytherin." She shrugged and added, "And you have to admit, you Gryffindors tend to jump in with your sword first and think it out later."

Hermione's mind shot to Harry and Ron and found she couldn't argue.

"No," Miranda continued, looking dreamy. "My house would have been filled with the quick of wit and tongue, those approaching problems with courage and with deliberation. Probably the more interesting out of Ravenclaw and the more intelligent out of Gryffindor." She smiled at Hermione. "Like you, my dear."

Hermione blushed. "Did you have a banner?"

"Ah, yes... grey and black, it was. With one of the most courageous and cunning animals to represent us, of course... a wolf."

"You should get on nicely with Professor Lupin," Harry murmured.

Miranda didn't hear him. "Do you think I could have a look at the school? I can't imagine how much it's changed in this many years."

Hermione glanced out the window into the pitch-black night. "Perhaps in the morning; we're not supposed to wander the castle at night, and I'm actually getting pretty tired." Looking at Harry, she added, "And Lavender and Parvati will probably be back soon."

He took her hint. "I should be going," he said, standing. Glancing down at the locket dangling from Hermione's hand, he added, "Nice, er... meeting you."

"Likewise," Miranda responded with a charming smile.

Hermione watched as the door closed shut behind him.

"I certainly hope you don't fancy him," Miranda said immediately after he was out of earshot. "Gryffindors are nothing but trouble."

"Hey," Hermione said indignantly. "I'm a Gryffindor."

"Not anymore," Miranda said with a grin. "Now you're a Morrowind."

Before she could respond, the door flew open and Lavender and Parvati walked in, giggling hysterically, collapsing into a heap on Lavender's bed.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, quickly fastening the locket around her neck.

"Seamus just asked out Lavender," Parvati said confidentially. "But she's playing hard to get."

"What's the point in playing hard to get if he's already asking you out?" Hermione asked, frowning. "Isn't the point of a game like that to get him to like you?"

"Oh, you just don't understand, Hermione," Lavender answered, sitting up and smoothing out her robes. "You have to know the right trail to leave. If he comes sniffing after something and finds it right away, he'll stop looking."

Hermione turned away and rolled her eyes. "A fairy godmother's guide to catching a husband," she muttered. "Leave the shoe where he can find it."

Parvati poked her head over Hermione's shoulder. "That's a pretty necklace," she said.

Hermione grasped it instinctively, glad to see that Miranda was keeping quiet. She really did not want to deal with trying to explain it all to her roommates, particularly in their current mood. They would probably think the story was terribly romantic and start giving Miranda relationship advice.

"Who's the woman?" Lavender asked, peering at Miranda's picture.

"My great..." Hermione trailed off for a moment, not even thinking about how many "greats" she would have to add in order to make this an accurate statement. "Grandmother."

"She's pretty," Lavender said. "Hair the same color as yours." She paused and added, "I have a straightening iron, you know."

Hermione couldn't help but grin. They were nothing if not persistent. "I'll keep that in mind," she said.

Parvati yawned. "I'm going to take a shower and then hit the bed, I think." She made a face. "Classes tomorrow."

Lavender jumped up and fumbled for something in my bag. "Wait until you see this nighttime face cleansing potion that I picked up... it's amazing..."

Hermione watched as the two girls bounded out of the room, talking animatedly. She glanced down at the locket. "Those are my roommates," she said.

"Nice girls," Miranda answered. "The blonde one in particular. Good taste."

"I'm pretty tired, myself," Hermione said, rummaging through her bags for some pajamas. "Do you, um... sleep?"

"You can just close the locket," Miranda told her. "But open it up in the morning... I'd like to have a look around, hmm?"

"Of course." Hermione unclasped the chain and looked at the picture. "It's been lovely talking with you. Goodnight." She closed the locket and laid it on her nightstand.

It was an interesting charm, though she still didn't quite understand its purpose. It seemed strange to her that Miranda would put her memory into this locket just so that she could tell her story to someone, years after she was gone. She had told it... now what? Hermione couldn't help but remember Tom Riddle's diary... she wondered if Miranda had some greater purpose that she wasn't revealing.

Shaking her head, she slid into bed. She was being paranoid. After all, Miranda was family, and how comforting it was to know that there had been witches before her... and besides, the locket was only charmed, not cursed.

She closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber. She dreamed that she was a wolf.