Round One Submission Entry
written by gritandgrace


Pukwudgie Common Room
"Ugh! I can't believe the nerve of that ... that ... that absolute dingbat!" Queenie was seething. She felt ready to blow her top and everyone knew you didn't want to be around when a witch like Queenie went off. You could actually see the sparks jumping off her skin from her anger electrifying her magic. One touch and you just might regret it. But Queenie didn't particularly care what you or anyone else did at the moment as long as it wasn't with him. William Brown.

You see, we all know Queenie Goldstein. Anyone who has ever met her or is a friend of someone who knows Queenie, knows Queenie Goldstein. She's kind-hearted, extremely talented and most of all, vivacious. Queenie isn't a name - or a girl - you easily forget. But who's William Brown? Sounds like a straight to me. And he is, according to anyone that's met him. He follows the rules, gets good grades, performs perfectly adequately. So why is Queenie so upset with dear old William? Well, she put it best, because he is an absolute dingbat.

Let me take you back to where this all began.


Second floor corridor, Illvermorny Castle ... 20 minutes ago
Queenie had been minding her own business - for once - and was on her way back to her common room to celebrate with her friends before they all went away for the Christmas holidays when she had heard some noises from one of the classrooms. It sounded strange to her ... A girls voice for sure, but it was awfully breathy. She thought it was strange so she knocked on the door and opened it, when she saw a girl in the year below her from Thunderbird kissing Queenie's William Brown. Her William! I think you can guess what happened next.

No? Fine, I'll tell you. Queenie Goldstein yelled. Really, truly, heartily yelled. "WILLIAM JOHN BROWN HOW DARE YOU KISS THIS... THIS FLOOZY!" With a flick of her wand his tie was tightened extremely and the girl's hair turned purple, then white, then green before returning back to the rather bland shade of blonde it had been. The girl ran out before more permanent damage could be done. 'Smart girl.' Queenie thought to herself as she walked closer to William. With every step she took closer his teeth grew longer and his tongue fatter. 'Let's see another girl try to kiss him looking like this.' She grinned and then told him in a low, angry voice, "In case you couldn't tell William, we are done. And if I ever. I mean ever, hear of you treating another girl the way you so carelessly and disrespectfully treated me in this moment, I will personally and painfully make sure you will not have an heir."

His eyes widened and he nodded his head as best he could while also trying to keep himself standing upright with the new weight of his front teeth. Queenie spun around dramatically, as she's always wanted to be able to do ... under better circumstances of course, and stormed out of the classroom. Still seething, but feeling a bit better Queenie continued to her common room to find her friends and rant about what just occurred. If she was honest, underneath all of this anger she was broken-hearted. He was her first real boyfriend and they'd been together as long as she could remember. She'd been dreaming of their future after Ilvermorny and he ... hadn't. She knew she'd be fine, but the idea of starting over was daunting. 'At least I'll always have Teenie.' She thought as she stepped through the door of her common room.

Round One Submission Entry
written by Jessiqua


Queenie was a mere corridor away from the Pukwudgie common room when she stopped, foot hovering an inch from the stone floor. She placed it down slowly, the tendrils of legilimency creeping out of her cerebrum. The headache started. Clenched jaw, she oscillated between moving forward and remaining. Forward held Pukwudgie, her haven. In her room she could put on her wireless, losing herself to the audible voices and music, where her mind was free to roam from the daily restraints. But remaining here seemed necessary for the moment, because what she was picking up troubled her.

It was Milicent Davies in the broom closet. The Milicent Davies, who had spent the better part of three years tormenting Queenie, painting her as a freak. But right now the thoughts flooding from Milicent’s mind were concerning, streaming with despair and desperation. Reluctantly, Queenie closed her eyes to concentrate. Like a candle, the snippets of other thoughts around her flickered away until all that remained was Milicent.

Can’t fix it. What am I going to do? Can’t fix it. No way around. I can’t do it. Help me. Help me. Merlin, Help me.

Queenie opened her eyes, her vision blurred from a light curtain of tears. Milicent found every excuse to make Queenie’s Ilvermorny life awful, but how could she abandon anyone, even Milicent? The compassion of Pukwudgie house conquered any disdain for her tormentor. Queenie stepped towards the broom closet.

Round One Submission Entry
written by Lislchen


Was that…?

Queenie knitted her eyebrows together and turned her head, this way and that, to figure out just where exactly that sound had come from. Oh. There it was again. This time she spun around on the spot and headed back in the direction she’d just come from, determined to find the origin of the sound. It was close to curfew but that didn’t matter to her at the moment. This was more important. One more step, then she paused again. Looking up, Queenie found herself standing in front of a closed door. She could hear the sound more clearly now even though it was somewhat muffled. Either through the door’s material or because someone was trying to keep quiet. Perhaps a bit of both. There was a split second in which she hesitated before...swiftly reaching for the door handle and opening the door.

“Hey, I heard you-”

…

“A No-Maj?!”

See, it wasn’t that Queenie was trying to eavesdrop on other people’s private conversations, or, well, thoughts. But ever since a few months ago, it just happened. Recently she'd discovered that the connection was even stronger when the person she was interacting with was feeling emotional. Like this younger boy, sitting on one of the desks inside the empty classroom, was. She couldn’t recall seeing him around Ilvermorny but a quick glance at his uniform told her that that simply might have been due to him not being in the same house as her. Plus, she was in her fifth year now while the boy in front of her didn’t look older than twelve.

Speaking of said twelve year old boy, he was now staring at her, the tears glistening on his cheeks seemingly forgotten for the time being. It appeared that he was struggling to form words, whether that was due to what she’d just said or simply because he hadn’t expected anyone to find him like this, Queenie had no way of telling. In any other type of situation the way the boy’s mouth was literally hanging open would have been cause for laughter. As it were though, Queenie didn’t even feel like smiling. “But how…?” That question seemed to finally bring the boy out of his stupor and he quickly attempted to wipe away any wetness from his cheeks. “Go away!” His voice was shaking, yet it was still evident that he meant what he’d said. Wholeheartedly. However, there was a hint of wariness in his voice, perhaps even mild curiosity. He’d set his jaw and was glaring at her now.

Neither of which deterred Queenie.

In complete contrast to the boy’s request, she took another step closer, green eyes watching him curiously. “And he’s your friend?!” The boy’s own eyes grew larger at that question, his whole demeanor slowly changing from antagonistic to anxious, almost scared. “H-how- who are you?” He finally asked, instinctively leaning back to get some more distance between them; although, the movement was mostly symbolical. Queenie had come to a stop in front of him, not particularly interested in the question he’d asked her. “How did you meet him?” She wasn’t trying to be rude but ... what she’d just heard was simply a lot more interesting.

Where Queenie was stubborn, the boy clearly was too, however, so instead of answering her question he asked his own. Again. “Who are you?” This time Queenie blinked twice, apparently remembered her manners and held out her hand, a polite smile on her lips. “I’m Queenie. Queenie Goldstein. What’s your name?” Clearly somewhat taken by surprise by the sudden formalities, the boy instinctively shook her hand and gave a curt nod. “Chayton.” He dropped her hand quickly after that, however, almost as if her skin had electrocuted him. “How did you know?” Now, that question was something Queenie was going to have to answer she was starting to realize. With a sigh and an almost coy smile, she looked away for a brief moment before meeting his gaze again. “I heard it.” She nodded to his forehead. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- I just-” She didn’t particularly enjoy talking about this. Plus, she was incredibly curious about the No-Maj boy Chayton had been playing with over the summer. “What did your parents say? What about the law?!” Based on the look on her face, it was probably clear that she wasn’t particularly concerned with the legality of his actions per se. But the law was there for a reason.

Wasn’t it?

Chayton appeared to be taking his time to process what she’d just told him. Or hinted at. “You’re a...a Legilimens?” Naturally, he’d heard about those before but based on the look of disbelief on his face he hadn’t expected someone as young as Queenie to be one. She nodded quickly, working hard on not looking too impatient. But HIS thing was a whole lot more interesting! “Can you write to him?!” So, enough about her and back to Chayton and his No-Maj friend. It was his turn to blink now and it seemed as if her question actually made him remember just why they were both inside this empty classroom. His face fell and he quickly averted his eyes, away from Queenie’s curious gaze. “...no. My parents- they said-” Well, Queenie could guess what they’d said. That it was bad. That it was illegal. That he wasn’t allowed to ever see him again. It was just the way it was. “I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye.” Chayton picked at a piece of thread on his sleeve that had come loose, avoiding eye contact.

Watching the boy, Queenie realized that there was absolutely nothing she could say that would make him feel better. She reached out and touched his arm. Rappaport’s Law was something she’d learned about from a very early age. Perhaps not in so many words but she’d always been taught that she wasn’t allowed to interact with No-Majs. Because they were dangerous. Because they might hurt her. And everyone she cared about. Up until now she hadn’t even questioned the legitimacy of the law. Yet, here she was, feeling bad for a boy who was clearly incredibly upset that he wasn’t allowed to hang out with his friend anymore. And there was nothing she could do to change that.

So instead, she said something completely different, in the hopes of distracting him.

“You know what I heard the other day? Professor Rivera collects old No-Maj alarm clocks. Imagine all of them going off at the exact same time.”

No, it wasn’t particularly funny but it was the first thing that had come to her mind.

Smile, Chayton? Please?

Round One Submission Entry
written by Lissy Longbottom


Queenie Goldstein was having a bad day. A bad week, actually. She’d failed her potions exam (because she hadn’t studied for it) and she’d broken a nail during flying class. None of that, however, was nearly as bad as what she had just witnessed.

Chuck Anders had been kissing Dottie Rockwood in the library. In the Divination section, no less! That was where Chuck had held her hand and asked her on a date, and now, less than a day later, he was kissing another girl! In their section! The nerve of that spineless, heartless, no good two timer!

Queenie was devastated. This was the absolute end of the world. Everything was falling apart around her, and all she wanted to do was get back to her bed and crawl under her covers. She didn’t even feel like talking to Tina about it just yet - THAT was how upset she was. She'd spent the better part of the last hour in the bathroom crying, and now she had absolutely no tears left to cry. She was just ... numb.

Little did she know, her evening was about to get rather interesting.

As she walked back to the Pukwudgie common room, she heard something that grabbed her attention. At first, she’d thought she had been imagining it. It had been soft at first, just a small little meow that she was certain had been a figment of her own imagination. When she heard it a second time, though, she knew that it had to be real. Cats roaming around the school weren’t an unusual sight - but they didn’t usually meow like that. They usually kept to themselves.

She paused, and since no one else was around to tend to it - she decided to seek it out. Something about the small little cries spoke to her. Almost as if the poor little creature needed help. Maybe he - or she - was having just as bad a day as she was. Maybe it was hurt. Or maybe it was stuck somewhere. She had to find out!

She turned to her right, and heard the meow again. It was a bit louder now - she was getting closer. It sounded like it was echoing off of something. She came to a fork in the hallway and paused, waiting until she heard it again before turning to the left.

The meow was much louder now - she was sure she was practically on top of the source. Meow! The echo was loud and clear, and she realized it was coming from a nearby suit of armour. That explained what it sounded so odd. After looking over the suit of armour, it became clear that the cat was obviously somewhere in the suit. How it had gotten in there was beyond her.

After a bit of jiggering, she was able to pull the whole top torso of the suit off - and it was much heavier than it looked. She let out a little yelp as she stumbled backwards, dropping the whole thing loudly with a CLANG as she lost her balance.

Letting out an a grunt as she landed firmly on her behind, she stood up quickly, blushing and looking around. Wait, no one had heard that? It appeared the hallway was still deserted - and no one had seemed to be alarmed by the loud crash. How late was it? She hadn't even glanced at her watch since she'd left the library ... she looked down at her wrist. Yikes. She had only three minutes until curfew! No wonder it was deserted.

The cat! She’d almost forgotten! She peered in in to the bottom half of the suit of armour, which was still standing on its platform, and was greeted by a large, fluffy brown and white cat. It peered up at her with large yellow eyes, standing up on its hind legs to inspect her closer as she looked down at it.

As it stood up, Queenie let out a little gasp, covering her mouth in slight horror. This wasn’t a cat - it was a kitten. A very LARGE kitten. Those yellow eyes, and the coloring of the fur - it was obvious to her what it was.

It was a Wampus kitten!

There were so many questions going through Queenie’s brain. First, she thanked her lucky stars that she was smart enough to even recognize the creature in front of her. The only reason she knew about Wampus cats at all was the fact that they, like her, were capable of performing legilimency. As soon as she had learned the craft, she’d researched anything and everything about it, so naturally they’d come across her studies multiple times. She hated to think about what trouble she could be in if she didn't recognize it ...

Second, where was the full grown, murderous, carnivorous mother of this kitten?? Wampus kittens didn’t just show up in the middle of Ilvermorny. It had to have come from somewhere … and it had to have parents. Perhaps other kittens from its liter … which raised a whole new series of questions. What were Wampus cats doing here? Had someone let them in? Had anyone been hurt by them?

She probably should have run to notify someone. Just as she was thinking of doing so, the kitten stood up and used the edge of the now disconnected armor torso to jump at her. She let out another shriek as the kitten leapt in to her arms, and as a reflex, she wrapped her arms around it as it landed. Just as she thought the kitten was going to attack her … it reached up and licked her cheek before nuzzling against her cheek, purring as it did so.

Eyes wide, she slowly began to scratch the little thing behind the ears, which caused it to purr even more. She smiled a bit to herself, before remembering that she was currently in the middle of the corridor. Cuddling with a creature that was classified as one of the most dangerous wizard killers in existence; a creature that was definitely not supposed to be here.

She wasn’t sure where to start, but the most pressing issue - whether or not this kitten was going to try and eat her - seemed to have solved itself. For the moment, at least.

“Come on, let’s go back to my dorm and figure out what to do with you,” she whispered to the little thing before turning on her heel and hurrying back to her common room.

Round One Submission Entry
written by nicole black



The sun was still shining brighter than Queenie believed it had any right. School was still happening and the allure of sunshine, clear days, hot nights, and so much more, was punishment. She felt itchy under her robes, eager for freedom and promises the year had never kept. It was enough to make you go a little mad.

Maybe that was the reason she and Tina had been looking at each other with daggers in their eyes lately, or maybe it were just a part of growing pains like her daddy had said in his letter. There were whispers around her, but Queenie was used to them. Boys were often whispering around her, talking dung like they knew somethin’ she didn’t, exceptin’ she did know, and she knew more enough to give ‘em the regular friendly little brush off. A big smile. A dopey laugh. Sometimes that was all you needed to be left alone. Exceptin’ today the whispers wouldn’t go away. They buzzed and hummed, snickered and shushed and followed Queenie all through her walk to the commons.

Enough to drive ya mad. Enough, and enough. She turned sharply, ready to give the boys she expected to find a piece of her mind. Exceptin’ they weren’t there. No one was. Queenie switched one foot to the other, humming impatiently to keep her nerves down. People, not her, but people, sometimes said this part of the school was haunted. Not haunted like ya normal run-of-the-mill-ghost, but worse. Queenie didn’t know what was worse, she didn’t wanna know to-be-sure.

Tinie wouldn't-a run. Tinie woulda hopped back on her heel and traced her steps until she figured on out what was happening. Then, and only then would she have run. Where were all the promises now? The golden sun no longer felt a friend, for what kinda friend faded away just as ya needed them? Dusk swept over, coloring Queenie’s golden hair to bronze and painting shadows where none had been before. Eerie, but not silent.

Queenie shuddered as she passed closed room after room with voices growing closer after each step. Half the talk wasn’t even scary, more than half now that she thought about it. There was somethin’ idle to it, lazy even. Somethin’ about that irked Queenie real bad. (On later reflection - much, much later reflection - Queenie’d realize the majority of the ghost-problems were much-too-much like living-problems.) Clatter! Thunk! The door just behind her was thrown open and Queenie had the good sense to throw her wand at the ghastly figure of sixth year Scotty Thompson, closely followed by a red-cheeked Angel-Marie Tribbiani.

Boy, was the egg on her face.

“What’s the big idea, Goldstein?” Angel-Marie spat out while Scotty bent over to pick up the badly-aimed wand.

“My big idea? You two oughta talk.“ She laughed, light as air in a moment. “Who throws themself at-ta door like that?”

“Who throws a wand?” Scotty countered. He was big, buff and sharper than a thumb tack. Nobody didn’t know what he was doing with Angel-Marie.

“Dodging a question with a question is like putting two rights together to make a wrong.” Fast talking, Queenie plucked her wand outta the boy’s hand. How dumb, how thick. The dusk had turned Queenie into a creeper’s dream. To think all those whispers were from a sneaky couple a little too eager in their lovin’, Queenie coulda laughed herself to sleep.

Relieved, proud Queenie backpedaled her way between the couple, earning an unhappy yelp as thanks. “My common’s the other way.” She didn’t peek back, uncaring for the upper classmen or the perplexin’ looks they sent after her. The hallway, which before had felt so long, was barely a hop, skip and a jump now. To think she’d been afraid; what a laugh! What a gas! Queenie giggled to herself as she ran into the commons, eager to share her story with the gals of her dorm. The young witch would tell that story a hundred times that summer without even once a-realizing the whispers and snide comments hadn’t been words, but thoughts.

Round One Submission Entry
written by Slytherin Fox



That evening had started out uneventfully enough, but it didn’t remain that way for long. She had just been walking through the entrance way to Ilvermorny, the school she attended, when the craziness began.

The thing that gave it all away was the strange sound that she kept hearing. Queenie could have sworn that it was some kind of bird which was cooing, but she had never noticed any doves or pigeons or anything else that might coo, anywhere near Ilvermorny. It simply made no sense, and she even feared she might be losing her mind for a minute.

She was almost scared to ask whether anyone else had heard the same thing, if no one had it would confirm her worst fears. Still, she really HAD to know.

“Did anyone else happen to hear something weird last night?” she asked her friends Jessica and Jennifer (otherwise known as the double J’s). Unsurprisingly, there appeared to be no one who wanted to answer that question. There was no one who seemed willing to confirm whether it had been real or not. No one seemed to even want to talk about this. Now Queenie was starting to get really concerned.

At last, Jennifer finally spoke up. “I did hear something strange. It was like some kind of bird humming or something, which doesn’t really make any sense. I mean, birds sing and they don’t hum. Or at least some of them sing, I should say. The rest of them just make a lot of loud chirping sounds.” She has sounded reluctant to speak at first, but she finally said enough to make the whole thing clear.

Queenie didn’t realize until that moment that it was a sound more like a hum that she was hearing more than anything else. Now she actually had proof that she wasn’t losing her mind and that she was just as sane as anyone else! Tina was going to hate that, which only made it better. She was the perfect one whereas Queenie was the screw up. She wished she knew why her only sister disliked her so much. She almost felt like Tina was jealous of her, which was really crazy. She was never going to be as smart or talented as Tina, and she was sure everyone should know that by now, especially Tina. This was probably how she treated everyone who was “dumb as rocks” in her own words. They were all beneath her contempt, as Tina and her infamous crowd didn’t seem to her, as very nice at all. She had never wanted to be part of some big clique like her sister was and regarded it as phony and pathetic. Everyone was the same to her. A lot of people said that, but in Queenie’s case she really meant it. It was just pathetic how there were some girls who thought they were better than everyone else, especially those unfortunate females who Tina had the bad taste to declare as her friends. Queenie didn’t like any of them and tried to make sure she was nowhere around when any of them showed up as they actually scared her at times. It was unfortunate that Tina was able to fraternize with so many people but it mostly had to do with her poor choice of friends. They were all just mean, and most of them didn’t even speak to her at all. Actually, she supposed that was the one good things
#I She didn’t really want to be friends with anyone like that and couldn’t understand why Tina did. Social standing was obviously very important to her whereas Queenie could care less about that. She and her sister were as different as night and day. Was it any big surprise that they didn’t care much about one another? Queenie had never been stuck up and vowed that she never would be.

Distracted by her own thoughts for a moment, Queenie finally returned to the present and what was currently happening. It was that crazy humming sound that she kept hearing, the thing that was stuck inside her head.

Little did she know that she was in for a big surprise. The mysterious humming was coming from a traffic sign down on Dublin Boulevard and there was nothing to worry about. She finally realized that she needed to take her time and think it through before freaking out like that. She was going to do better next time, she was sure of it. But how could she be sure of anything? She seemed to blow things every time. Unfortunately, it seemed to be part of her nature and she was going to either have to live with it or find a way to change it.

It definitely felt like it was time for a change.

Round One WINNING Submission Entry
written by Cassirin



It wasn’t past curfew, but Queenie found herself slipping in and out of the shadows in the hall like she’d just escaped the hoosegow. Around a corner, up the stairs, a pause before crossing the patch of moonlight streaming from the Charms classroom. She crossed it like a frozen river, great sliding steps to the far shore of shaded safety. The dark felt safer, the light a constant risk of exposure.

She paused to listen if there was anyone else about. Not just to listen, but to hear. Queenie went still and slowly, agonizingly, removed the mental wall. It was just like a real wall, this fabricated idea that Queenie learned from her older sister Tina, and it came down like the genuine article. One brick removed, then another, and another, until the entire thing gave in on itself.

Voices poured in, and Queenie clutched the bundle in her arms closer to her chest. She always had to remind herself that covering her ears didn’t help. The voices weren’t real, or at least, they weren’t real to anyone else. They were all the whispered half thoughts and ideas leaking from the minds of her classmates, mixed together and cacophonous.

Someone a floor above was writing a love letter.

Someone a floor below had Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral stuck in his head, except that was the only part of the song he knew.

Someone was studying Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Runes.

Someone was crying her eyes out, rehearsing arguments in his head, reciting worst case scenarios.

Happy, sad, terrified… so many people and so many feelings. All at once. But it didn’t seem like any of those feelings were particularly close, and Queenie began to pick her way along the hall again.

The wall went back up, always harder than tearing it down, and it was likely the distraction of building an entire wall in her mind that kept Queenie from hearing that sound at first. Or maybe it was all the noise in her head – it was really hard to hear something quiet when everyone at Ilvermorny was thinking so loudly.

She was just feet away from the entrance to the Puckwudgie common room and safe passage for her bundle when she heard the singing. Softly, tunelessly, and it took a moment for Queenie to recognize the song. Everyone could carry a tune in their own mind, but less so in real life.

“Too ral loo ral loo ral too ral loo ral… too ral loo… too ral too.” Tucked into the tiny space between the stone castle wall and a stuffed chair was a first year Puckwudgie. Aidan Cobb. She knew him from around the common room, although she didn’t make a point of hanging out with first years.

Queenie froze, unsure of what to do with her hands. Her full hands, so it wasn’t like she could stick them into her pockets or tuck her short blond hair behind her ears. Maybe if she held very still, she’d become invisible. Was that a secondary side effect of being a Legilimens? Invisibility?

“Queeeeeeenie.” Apparently she wasn’t invisible. The first year made grabby hands at her, and Queenie inched backwards. “D’you know that song?”

“Sure, kiddo. I think there are more words, though.” None that she could think of at the moment… No-Maj songs were so weird.

Aidan scooted out into the corridor, and Queenie took another step back. No touching. Nope. Touching made the quiet thrum of his thoughts that much louder. Plus she wasn’t about to trust her bundle to those grabbing baby hands.

“I can’t remember anything else. What you got there? It smells… good.” Aidan lunged again, pulling back the starched white napkin and revealing the perfectly browned crust of a loaf of bread. Queenie had just spent hours perfecting the charms needed to mix, knead, and bake it, and she was on her way to deliver it. And no needy, hungry first years were going to talk their way into a slice of it.

Round Two Submission Entry
written by Lislchen


“NO!”

That came out a lot more forcefully than she’d intended. Instinctively throwing the younger Pukwudgie an apologetic look, Queenie took yet another step back. If possible, she wanted to avoid Aidan’s hands touching either the bread or her hand in the process. She already had that song he had been humming earlier stuck in her head, she didn’t need to be reminded of it again. Nor did she want to hear his praise over how good her loaf of bread smelled. Which, for once, she hadn’t heard him think about but had rather extrapolated based on the look on his face. He was basically drooling.

Aidan, being the excited first year that he was, wasn’t at all deterred by her exclamation, however. “That looks sooooooo good!!” His eyes were fixed on the bread in her hands as he took a small step closer again. “Can I…” Apparently yelling NO! hadn’t done the trick earlier so Queenie was slowly running out of ideas. She didn’t want to shove him out of the way after all but he was standing between her and the Common Room entrance. Queenie sighed, lifting the loaf of bread over her head a little to buy some more time before briefly closing her eyes.

One brick down, two bricks down, three…….

It all flooded her head at once, words merging, different tones, different pitches, different emotions; someone was very angry, someone else was reliving the memory of receiving a Howler from their grandmother. It felt like she was standing in the middle of a very busy train station, trying to make out one particular person’s voice. While she’d had quite a lot of practice by now, it still took Queenie a few moments to follow the right voice once she’d found it. It was like trying to catch a fly; you could hear it buzzing from somewhere around the room but by the time you were in that corner, its wings were already emanating sound from the opposite corner……….

…..BREAD!

It was a word she latched on to and quickly followed it until she was sure she was listening to the right person’s thoughts. That was when she opened her eyes again and looked directly at Aidan. Who...was still staring at the loaf of bread above her head. While trying to lean up high enough to reach it. Now, Queenie absolutely hated doing this and her sister would scold her for sure if she were to find out but she couldn’t think of any other way out of this situation. “It reminds you of what your grandfather used to bake early every morning, right?”

That surely got Aidan’s attention and he briefly abandoned his attempt of grabbing the bread. “..............I………...what?” And that was all Queenie needed. Just a second of distraction to quickly slip past him and through the door of the Common Room, to safety.

Running and building the wall simultaneously was apparently an impossible task, which was why Queenie was wrinkling her nose at the oncoming headache. None of which mattered, however. She’d made it. Her bread was safe and Ruth was going to LOVE hearing about all of this. She just had to make it to their shared dormitory.

Almost there...

Round Two WINNING Submission Entry
written by Jessiqua

Queenie let out a nervous laugh, hoping it was disguising her weariness. The end-of-day lethargy, not just physical but mental, was pounding down around her head. She needed a sleep, but first she needed to deliver her bread. And here was Aidan Cobb making grabby hands at her cob.

“Uh honey, you okay?” she asked, taking another step back. Why was he out here like a security guard singing that song?

“Oh fine.” It seemed the question popped something inside of him. Like a helium balloon meeting its demise with a pin. His shoulders slumped but he didn’t take his eyes off her bread.

Queenie looked at him. She could just… no, she didn’t want to do that. Besides, the bread was slowly cooling in her arms. “Okay well I’ll be around if you needa chat, okay hun?”

He made no move, not even as she slowly side stepped around him and into the Pukwudgie common room. She knew there weren’t many people in here, at least nobody that would bother her. A mug of cocoa and a sleeping draught would be her ticket to sleep tonight. But she could feel Aidan behind her. Ignoring him, she walked further into the common room, tucking the bread back in the starched white napkin the kid had pulled back. She had to run her delivery, but couldn’t very well do it with this kid behind her.

“What is it kiddo?” she asked as she turned around to face him.

He swallowed hard. “You know that song right? You reckon you could sing it with me?”

Sing it with him? “Well you see when I said I knew the song it was more that I had heard it. I don’t think I know the words to it.”

His face fell a little and she knew he was upset. Something was on his mind. But it was a castle with teenagers, everyone had things on their minds. Including her. “What’s wrong?” she asked with a gentle tone. Sure, she’d spent hours perfecting the mixing, kneading, and baking charms, she could spend a little longer perfecting the toasting charm.

“Come on Aidan,” she said, inclining her head to the fireplace, where the warm squishy chairs would comfort her body in the absence of being able to help her head.

“Y-you know my name?” he asked.

“Well of course, honey. Why wouldn’t I?”

He shrugged as he sat on the chair, “I dunno, I s'pose you’re older and you big kids don’t really know much about us younger kids.”

She gave him an empathetic smile. “I know they don’t. It was the same when I started too. But I’m not them.”

He studied her face a moment before giving her a smile. “I know. You don’t seem like them.”

“Now are you gonna tell me what’s going on or do I have to read your mind?” It felt good to be able to say if, even if Aidan would take it as a joke.

He giggled. And then his face fell. “I just miss home. That song, Too ral loo ral loo ral too ral loo ral…” he sang quietly, “My mom used to always sing that to me.”

Queenie could understand this. The only other person she had, only other family, was her sister. They weren’t even in the same house. She missed her a lot. “I miss my parents too. It’s good you have that song, you know? It’s something you can sing to yourself to remind you of home when you’re feeling most homesick.”

He hadn’t looked up at her, and she noticed the wet tracks running down his face. “What is it?” she probed, gently.

“She died a few weeks before I had to come to this stupid place.” He was emitting a mixture of grief and anger.

“Hun I’m so sorry.” What was she supposed to do now? She placed the bread on the table and scooted over to him, giving his shoulder a gentle pat. “You know, me and my sister lost our parents too. They died.”

Aidan looked up at her. “They did? And you had to come here all by yourself?”

“Well I had Tina, but besides her I was all by myself.”

“What did you do? Didn’t you feel lonely?”

Queenie smiled. “I did.” She dropped her voice and whispered “I used to get up at night and explore the castle.”

His deep inhale of breath made her laugh. “What did you doooooo all around the castle? Didn’t the Professors catch you?”

Queenie shook her head. “I got reeeal good hearing, I can hear for miles. First noise I heard, I went to one of my hiding spots. Sometimes I met one of the ghosts and got to talk to them. They answered some of my questions, you know. About what happened once they died. I think it helped me understand what happened to my parents.”

He had a look of deep concentration on his face, but he needn’t tell her what he was thinking. Anyone could have seen it on his face.

“No,” she said before he had a chance. “I’m not gonna help you break rules, Aidan.”

“But why did you tell me then?”

“Well I can’t stop you from doin’ it, I’m not a prefect. But I don’t wanna get in trouble.”

He did his sad face again, and even though she could see right through his facade, she rolled her eyes. It would be fun to get out of the common room. It was loud, with all those thoughts. “Fine. Just give me a sec, I need'a take this bread up.” She ran to the top of the girl’s dormitories, placed the bread on the nightstand with a quick note, and ran back to meet him.

“Rules.” Yes, Aidan, of course there were rules. “No speaking loudly. Professors will hear it. No touching of anyone’s things. No stealing, moving, destroying… nothing. You got it? Nothing that would break rules during the day. We’re exploring the castle as observers. You got it?”

He nodded with great enthusiasm, and all Queenie could do was take a deep breath and exit the common room with this unlikely partner in castle exploration.

Round Three Submission Entry
written by Slytherin Fox



Queenie was apprehensive from the beginning about taking on this new partner in crime, though she was relieved to see that Aidan was taking things pretty much in stride and not freaking out all over the place. He actually seemed fairly mature for a student of his age and as they moved through the corridors as silently as possible, all she could hope was that this behavior would continue.

Their route appeared to be going really smoothly, so smoothly that neither of them noticed the shadow of Professor Snape trailing behind them. It wasn’t until he walked in front of them with his arms raised to stop their progress that their troubles actually began. “Going somewhere?” he inquired in his usual harsh, cynical way, sending a chill down Queenie’s spine. “Keep calm,” she chided herself, glancing quickly at Aidan to make sure that he was with the plan. Whatever that plan might be!

“We were just studying in the library, Professor,” Queenie smiled innocently, glancing at Aidan quickly enough to see that he was doing the same thing, keeping cool and trying to stay undercover. There was no need for any further words, as they would surely get them into even more trouble.

“I’m sure.” The professor’s voice was cold and sarcastic, making it quite clear that he didn’t buy any of this. Still, he was making no efforts to detain them, and that was definitely a good thing.

“Have a wonderful night, Professor,” Queenie said as sincerely as possible, which did nothing but produce a scornful laugh. To her relief, he continued on his way without paying any further attention to her.

“That was close,” Aidan murmured softly, as if he were afraid of being heard and another possible incident resulting.

“You’re telling me!” Queenie whispered. They had been lucky so far, and all they needed was to have that luck continue for a while. She decided to rest for a moment before carrying on. Hopefully that might give the Professor good reason to stay off of her trail.

Eventually she and Aidan reached the area of the cafeteria. “Hungry?” Queenie asked, and wasn’t surprised by Aidan’s enthusiastic, “Yes!” It may have been after hours, but the cafeteria was often open for staff. Surely no one would notice the addition of a few students to the line! Everyone behind the line always seemed too absorbed in something or other to notice much of anything.

Thankfully Queenie had a bit of extra change on her, as Aidan apologized and said he had no cash of any kind on him. She ordered a stack of hotcakes with butter and molasses for herself, while Aidan decided on some waffles (which actually looked a lot more appealing than the hotcakes did). At least the smell from both items was buttery and delicious, so she really couldn’t go wrong. Then she noticed that there were chocolate donuts there, the kind with the thick chocolate icing. If this wasn’t the perfect place, it was difficult to imagine what that place might be.

“I could stay here all night and be perfectly happy about it,” she declared, stretching her arms out just a bit before emitting a soft, discrete yawn (at least she HOPED it was discrete!). As no one had turned their head to look over at her, she figured she had been successful in her mission. She really did feel like she could stay there all night, just stuffing her face and feeling completely happy and well cared for. It was nice and she found Aidan to be a very good companion. Some boys were just rude, but not Aidan. He just seemed like a good guy all the way.

“So, what did you have in mind next?” she asked casually. She didn’t mind a bit of further adventure now that she was actively involved. Things had been so boring around the school lately and she could certainly use a bit of excitement (perhaps even more than a bit!).

Round Three WINNING Submission Entry
written by sweetpinkpixie



Later, as a feeble attempt to cease Teenie’s steady stream of furious chastising, Queenie would attest this spontaneous adventure with Aidan Cobb as piece of her intricate need to be a giver. She had already disappointed him in denying him a taste of the bread not meant for him to begin with and then once more with the song, so her compassionate spirit could not take another frown on his face. She would be unable to answer her sister’s rhetorical inquiry of whether or not his smile and fleeting moments of distraction were worth it, her only responses being those trickling down her cheeks and in the tremble of her crimson stained fingers.

Later, for right now there was such a youthful bounce to their strides that their heels barely even grazed the floor as they stealthily slinked through the corridors and maneuvered staircases.

“What’s your favorite place you’ve explored?” Aidan asked as he slipped his hand in hers, cheeks glowing like embers in the fireplace back in their common room, as he looked up in unconditional admiration at the older blonde.

“Well, suga’, there was this one time I ----”

Queenie would never get the opportunity to finish her story to Aidan. The silence in the corridor was abruptly cut, like a hot knife through butter, by the thunderous voice of the headmaster’s urgent tone. “Another situation has arisen. All are to return to their common rooms immediately and await further instructions from your Heads of House.”

It felt as though she were wading desperately through dark murky water towards the sun and fresh clean air above the surface on the shore. Each undulation inviting more and more chaos into the fray. The next recession provided Queenie with the pause for a breath and her hand pressed firmly against the stone wall for stability while her fingers tangled themselves in the tassels hanging down from the tapestry overhead - much to the displeasure of its occupants who did not take well to having their scenery stretched. The next wave gained its momentum and soon crashed against the barricade around her mind. What had been small cracks in the foundation, allowing little leaks of distant thought, was demolished and an onslaught of noise drowned the young Legilimens’ mind and was only intensified by her own trepidation. Shrill screams and cries of terror, painful wailings, cautious words of encouragement, brave intentions … an obfuscated horde of voices crippled her senses and caused her knees to buckle.

“Q-QUEENIE?!” His voice was distant, disembodied, and she could not see the manner in which his eyes had widened upon looking at her for her own had rolled back inside her head. “Q-Q-QUEENIE!? Y-You...y-youcan’tleavemetoo ----”

His plea almost cut through the rest of the noise and her fingers twitched subtly when they felt his hand close more tightly around hers as he tugged urgently. It was Teenie’s voice, sharp and precise, that acted as the lighthouse to her mind lost to her dark seas. Stay safe. Let’s play sardines, Queenie. I will find you. Teenie’s voice was faint, a side effect of the thoughts traveling over the vast canyons of other voices between the floors that separated them, but the blonde heard it all the clearer.

“PLEASE!”

Her eyes rolled back and immediately refocused on the stained cheeks of the lanky younger boy before her. “It’s all right,” she cooed, bowing her head to kisses his moist cheeks softly. “We’re going to play a game.”

His lips parted to protest, no doubt to squawkily remind her that they were meant to return to their common rooms as the headmaster’s announcement droned on, but instead his fingers bore into the back of her hand enough to cause bruises. In the distance, a sickeningly slithering sound of something heavy and with scales dragging itself across the stone floor accompanied by the clawing of hasty talons herald the appearance of a growing shadow on the wall just down the corridor from where they stood.

“That’s the...that’s the…”

“This way!” Queenie hissed as she leaped across the hallway with Aidan’s hand protectively enveloped by hers. A quick glance over her shoulder earned the sight of the shadow shortening and having a more corporeal appearance, making her movements more frantic as her first attempt to open the broom closet’s door was in vain. The older Pukwudgie was swift in her second attempt, drawing forth her flour dusted wand from her pocket. “Alohamora!” she demanded, the key hole glowing a warm yellow before the handle was turned and Queenie pulled them both inside. Unfortunately slamming the door shut in her haste startled Ilvermorny’s intruder and the beast’s clucks caused the glass jars behind them on the shelves to tremble.

Backing up until she was pressed against those same shelves, Queenie’s arms went round his quivering form. Breaths heavy and hearts pounding like Bombarda with each beat, it was neither these nor those of the talons scraping against stone down the hallway capable of quelling the clamorous unrest in her mind. Impossible to place even one brick back in place, the blonde surrendered to her gift and began sieving through all the voices for the only one that mattered in this moment. Someone was screaming in agony about the serrated puncture wounds in their leg. Another hoping this meant classes would be canceled tomorrow because they had not yet even begun to study for their Arithmancy exam. Each voice was amplified by her own unrest and unstable state, but just as her knees began to buckle once more and her brow dotted in perspiration...she found her.

Let’s play sardines, Queenie. I will find you…

And Teenie always did find her.

Her breathing shallow and hushed, she gently combed her fingers through Aidan’s soft mousy hair. “We're just playing sardines,” she assured, his face twisting and eyes widening so that it was a wonder they were able to remain in his head at all. “Teenie will find us.”

Another screeching cluck and both realized that the headmaster’s announcement had ceased. A stillness took over their dark hiding place and, for the briefest of moments, she dared hope that the beast had continued on and down the next corridor. THUNK! They both screamed in fright as their limbs tangled around one another. THUNK THUNK THUNK! The strong pounding against the door was like a woodpecker’s relentless drumming in pursuit of an insect. His face buried in her bosom, cries muffled and tears caught by her blouse, a memory began to manifest itself in the forefront of his mind so vivid and loud that it was impossible for Queenie to ignore in her compromised state.

“It’s okay, ahote...don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts…” she parroted. Her voice then effortlessly wove itself into song, humming the same Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral as before. Though her own heart swelled, she soon felt him pull away and exhaled on a sharp gasp when she saw the look on his face. Stomach painfully churning, her already pale features faded until they rivaled that of the flour that dusted her cheeks.

“How did you know that? Only mom ever called me that!” he jeered. “Y-You’re in cahoots with that thing! You’re leading it straight to us! That’s why you’re acting so weird! You’re gonna let it kill me!”

“N-No! Aidan!” Queenie’s eyes widened and pupils dilated. “No, no, you've got it all wrong! I-I can explain! Ju---”

“No!” he exclaimed, swatting away her outstretched hand and taking four steps back to her two forward ones. “You’re a freak! Crazy! You’re crazy! I-I-I’m not stayin’ in here with you!”

She tried to reach out to him once more, but his feral instincts had his palms striking her chest like a sack of bricks and knocked her off balance so she went crashing into the shelves behind her. Brooms toppled over, glass jars shattered on contact with the floor, a steel bucket fell and struck her head. All was a blur and her hand pressed itself against something warm and crimson trickling down her temple and sealing her eye shut. She could just barely make out Aidan’s frantic form as he carelessly flung open the door, only to be greeted by spread wings and a swishing reptilian tail that knocked him square off his feet.

Her head pounded and she sunk to her knees among the broken glass, Aidan’s screams ringing in her ears so strongly that she moved both hands to cover them. She soon pulled her knees to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible as she rocked gently back and forth.

Unable to see anything happening outside of the broom closet and a prisoner to her own thoughts, she did not know that it was at this precise moment that Teenie had finally arrived and even managed to strike the beast’s bulletproof hide with a strong enough Knockback Jinx to spare Aidan of any irreversible damage. She was even less aware of her sister’s hands on her shoulders, shaking Queenie gently to try and wake her from her trance all the while assuring her that it was all over and that her and Aidan were both safe.

You’re crazy! You’re crazy!

Words that taunted her mind then and would in nightmares for years to come. Words she hoped to never hear spoken to ever again.