just a tiny bit of story
This doesn't even go anywhere in particular; probably I will find an actual substantive chunk of story and reuse it. But it occurred to me that my Hogwarts fusion thus far has a tragic lack of a) Winifred b) ghosts, and the connection was bizarrely easy to make. I feel sure there has to be a plot purpose to this somewhere.
-------
There had always been something a little disconcerting about Winifred. She was short and chubby, quiet and bookish with a particular knack for Arithmancy; her brother's complete opposite in every way, except that they shared the same fair hair and pale eyes. And yet, despite her round face and golden curls, the girl never quite looked cherubic; there was something far too solemn about her that Hilary was fairly certain was not native to twelve-year-olds, or ought not to be.
For all their differences, Winifred worshipped Jerry, and he adored her. She had, apparently, badgered him into teaching her to fly when she was eight--though Hilary had difficulty imagining her doing anything so unrestrained as badgering--and he in turn had nearly burst with pride when she had been Sorted into Ravenclaw. All the same, Hilary felt a little sorry for Winifred's luck in relatives. Despite being so fond of Jerry--honestly, because she knew him so well--it wasn't difficult to imagine how a small girl growing up with Jerry for an older brother and the Duchess for a mother might have turned out so quiet and neatly self-contained. Might, in fact, have found it easier to form a rapport with the ghosts at Denver than with the living members of the household.
For if there were anything Winifred were noticeable for, it was her ability to get on with the Hogwarts ghosts. Not that it was difficult to get on with Nearly Headless Nick or the Fat Friar, but it was generally apparent to Ravenclaw that the Grey Lady--kind, but generally much more reserved--had a particular fondness for her. What was more, Maya Strathairn, one of Slytherin's Beaters, had once sworn heartily to Hilary that she had not only seen Winifred in conversation with the Bloody Baron but seen the Baron smile. But even Hilary had limits to her credulity.
It wasn't that Winifred wasn't a perfectly nice girl, or didn't have her share of friends, or was even particularly morbid. She just happened to get on specially well with ghosts, in the same way some people get on specially well with dogs or Fanged Geraniums.
-------
Comic later tonight or possibly tomorrow morning, because currently busy watching things that terrified me when I was little.
-------
There had always been something a little disconcerting about Winifred. She was short and chubby, quiet and bookish with a particular knack for Arithmancy; her brother's complete opposite in every way, except that they shared the same fair hair and pale eyes. And yet, despite her round face and golden curls, the girl never quite looked cherubic; there was something far too solemn about her that Hilary was fairly certain was not native to twelve-year-olds, or ought not to be.
For all their differences, Winifred worshipped Jerry, and he adored her. She had, apparently, badgered him into teaching her to fly when she was eight--though Hilary had difficulty imagining her doing anything so unrestrained as badgering--and he in turn had nearly burst with pride when she had been Sorted into Ravenclaw. All the same, Hilary felt a little sorry for Winifred's luck in relatives. Despite being so fond of Jerry--honestly, because she knew him so well--it wasn't difficult to imagine how a small girl growing up with Jerry for an older brother and the Duchess for a mother might have turned out so quiet and neatly self-contained. Might, in fact, have found it easier to form a rapport with the ghosts at Denver than with the living members of the household.
For if there were anything Winifred were noticeable for, it was her ability to get on with the Hogwarts ghosts. Not that it was difficult to get on with Nearly Headless Nick or the Fat Friar, but it was generally apparent to Ravenclaw that the Grey Lady--kind, but generally much more reserved--had a particular fondness for her. What was more, Maya Strathairn, one of Slytherin's Beaters, had once sworn heartily to Hilary that she had not only seen Winifred in conversation with the Bloody Baron but seen the Baron smile. But even Hilary had limits to her credulity.
It wasn't that Winifred wasn't a perfectly nice girl, or didn't have her share of friends, or was even particularly morbid. She just happened to get on specially well with ghosts, in the same way some people get on specially well with dogs or Fanged Geraniums.
-------
Comic later tonight or possibly tomorrow morning, because currently busy watching things that terrified me when I was little.