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chapter thirty two | flamingo woman

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KAYA FOUND HERSELF currently sitting in the Prefect's carriage with Milo - surrounded by excited or nervous fifth years, as well as sixth and seventh years who, just like she had last year, wondered why they had to have another meeting, considering they already knew what they were doing.

Kaya's and Milo's job was to instruct the Prefects on what they'd be responsible for in the upcoming year - which was the same every year. Kaya took this chance to scan around and take note on who the new fifth year Prefects were.

Gryffindor was obviously Ron and Hermione. Slytherin was Draco Malfoy and, who she'd learned was, Diana Silverstone. Hufflepuff was Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott, and Ravenclaw was Anthony Goldstein and Marianne Shipman.

Milo made the mistake of insisting Kaya to start talking first, and to introduce them both to the new Prefects.

"Hi - oh my god, I'm sweating already, I'm going so red, like literally, don't even look at me, I'm so nervous-!" She finished her tiny ramble with a squeal.

Ron and Hermione raised an eyebrow - they'd never met nervous Kaya before. Draco gave her a judgemental look and was about to open his mouth to speak, before Diana stomped on his to stop. The others nodded, her fellow Hufflepuffs flashing her supportive warm smiles, and waited for her or Milo to carry on.

"Right," said Milo, taking over - much to Kaya's relief. "So, to begin with - I'm Milo, this is Kaya. We're your Head Boy and Girl for this year. Basically, you'll have a meeting like this every year, now, on the Hogwarts Express, obviously just with a different Head Boy and Girl each time-"

"Yeah, but we're gonna be nice and try to not make your meeting too long because we know you want to be back with your friends," said Kaya - still talking a bit fast, but starting to calm down, now.

"So, as you have seen, Prefects are chosen in fifth year and carry on to seventh year, and your duties are basically to patrol the corridors, make sure all students are where they are supposed to be, keep them out of trouble, and so forth," Milo continued. He glanced Kaya's way to see if she wanted to add, but she nodded at him to continue.

"Uh... what else... ah, so, you're allowed to take House points away from other students - but, it must be for a valid reason. You can't go around stripping points from houses if they've done nothing wrong, and consequences could result in you having your position being taken off you-"

"Of course, we know none of you would use it to your advantage," Kaya added quickly, her eyes flicking between the new Prefects as though she was making sure they agreed. Diana eyed Draco at this moment, as though to emphasise Kaya's point to him. Ernie and Hannah nodded enthusiastically, as though signalling for them to continue.

"Uh..." said Milo, deep in thought. "Is that it? Oh, you can give detentions as well, but, like, the same rules apply to them - only give them if it's absolutely necessary,"

"We'll have meetings every now and again," said Kaya. "You'll get when you're supposed to be on duty and where with your timetables tomorrow... so that's sorted..."

It was then an overwhelming sadness overtook Kaya's mood as her eyes darted towards where Cedric's seat should've been - which was replaced by another Hufflepuff boy in her year. She was dreading having to go on duty with him - he could never take the place of Cedric, or even get close to it. Even if he was a decent boy, and meant well, Kaya would automatically hate the fact she had to be on duty with him, because he wasn't Cedric.

She knew this was unfair on the boy, since he'd done nothing for her to have anything against him, but she couldn't help it. Cedric had done nothing wrong, too, and he'd died. Life just wasn't fair, end of.

And throughout the whole time she'll be on duty, she knows she'll be thinking of her friend who was supposed to be there with her.

Kaya tried her best to hide her fallen mood - after all, she was Head Girl, she was supposed to be professional in front of all these Prefects.

They continued to sit in the designated Prefects Carriage for a short while, answering any questions or explaining how things work - until they let the students all go, and the duo rushed back to the carriage holding their friends. This was one of the last times they'd be riding the Hogwarts Express - they wanted to be with their lunatic pals, not holding a meeting for some random students they were supposed to be 'setting an example' for.

Jaeden and Maisie had been sharing a compartment with Lee, Fred and George, to which Kaya was surprised the red-headed girl was still sane when she and Milo got back. Jaeden had been pestering everyone to play his 'stupid', as Maisie had called it, favourite game. Eventually, everyone gave in, because he was getting on all their nerves.

"Okay, okay," Jaeden was laughing from the previous round. "Kaya - cruise, marry, kill... Fred..."

"Oh, well that's boring," George interrupted.

"...Danny Zuko, Kenickie Murdoch,"

"Who are they?" Lee asked, exchanging frowns with both George and Fred.

"Oh, that's easy," said Kaya. "I'd kill Danny, because... well, I don't despise him, but I don't particularly like him either. He was a prick to Sandy,"

"Who?"

"And, I'd..." Kaya trailed off, turning to look at Fred, teasing him with a look that suggested she was deep in thought. "...hmm I'd have to go on a cruise with Kenickie,"

Jaeden did a fake gasp.

"You're telling me this is the day you finally pie Kenickie off?!" He said, pretending to be stunned. "I never thought I'd see it!"

"Who's Kenickie?!"

"You always used to marry him, no matter who else there was!" said Milo, joining in with Jaeden's teasing. "Your first choice was always 'marry Kenickie',"

"Who's Kenickie?!" Fred asked more frustratingly, now.

"He's off Grease, Kaya and Maisie used to wet themselves over him,"

"Oh," said George. "Why?"

"Cause he's fit!" said Maisie. "Danny pisses us off because all he does it treat Sandy like shit,"

"Exactly, Kenickie's a babe," Kaya nodded, before looking up at Fred, who was still a bit confused. "Hmm... I might just have to marry you, though," she said. "You might have just made the cut, somehow,"

"Oh, well, that's good to know," Fred said mockingly, with a grin. "That 'Kenickie' can shove it,"

"Poor Kenickie," Jaeden teased. "Okay, Lee, cruise, marry, kill..."

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The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as students crossed the flagged stone floor, heading to the Great Hall for the start-of-term feast.

The four long house tables were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could see a tiny glimpse of out of the huge windows. Candles floated in midair, and all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the hall, and the faces of students chatting eagerly, catching up with friends from over the summer.

There was again, a gap next to Maisie where Cedric should be sitting. Kaya eyed the spot with a solemn expression. She liked to think he was currently sitting there, in spirit, anyway. She liked to think he still had joined them in the Prefects carriage earlier today, and later he will accompany them to the common room. Kaya was still wrapping her head around the fact that he was actually gone.

"Who's that?" Maisie pulled a face, nodding towards the staff table.

Kaya followed where Maisie was looking and her eyes landed on a woman talking to Dumbledore. She had short, curly mouse-brown hair topped with a pink, knitted hat that matched the same taffy coloured cardigan she wore over her robes. She had a pallid, toad-like face and a pair of prominent pouch eyes that seemed to scan the students with a forced sweet expression.

"That's a face only a mum could love," Kaya blurted out, and Maisie snorted, before stopping herself and saying,

"Don't be horrible, she might be nice!"

"Yeah, that did sound a bit bitchy," Kaya agreed, now feeling slightly guilty for immediately insulting the woman. "My bad, old pink lady,"

It wasn't long before the Sorting Hat began its song - which was a bit darker this year, as though it was trying to give off some kind of warning. Everyone seemed a bit taken aback by it, and Kaya had easily found Fred's face in the crowd of Gryffindors, exchanging raised eyebrows with him once the hat had finished.

The sorting ceremony dragged on, like it did every year, until Dumbledore stood up ready to grab the hall's attention.

"To our newcomers," he said. "Welcome! To our old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it! T-"

"-Tuck in," Kaya and Maisie finished with a nod. They tried their best to sound perky, but chorusing Dumbledore's predictable words felt wrong without Cedric doing it with them. They could only hope he'd said it with them, wherever he was.

There was an appreciative laugh, and an outbreak of applause, as Dumbledore sat down and flung his long beard over his shoulder, so as to keep it out of the way of his plate. Everyone was delighted, as always, with the pies, dishes of vegetables, breads, sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice appearing on their tables.

"Where's the Yorkshire puddings?" said Kaya, frowning in concentration as she scanned the table. Maisie chuckled as she acknowledged the sense of 'deja-vu', her expression softening at the memory of Cedric sitting with them this time last year.

Kaya had been looking around for a good three minutes, until she realised they were sitting in a bowl opposite her - right in front of Cedric's seat.

"Thanks, Ced," she said, mirroring the same pitiful, warm expression as Maisie, gripping ahold of four and piling them onto her plate.

"He's definitely judging you right now for wanting four bloody Yorkshire puddings," Maisie nodded, and Kaya let out a soft laugh.

"He is," she nodded with a sad smile, her eyes becoming glossy as they fell onto the gap next to her best friend. But she wasn't going to cry - she can't cry, not right now. Not in front of everyone, she didn't want that - so she wouldn't.

There was a short silence as the two girls ate, until they resumed to their usual chatter, trying their best to think of something else other than the death of their friend.

It wasn't long until Dumbledore rose to his feet, yet again, and the talking in the Great Hall ceased.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," he said. "First years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know that by now, too,"

Kaya glanced over to the Gryffindor table and caught Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanging smirks.

"Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second-time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, of which all can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch's office door."

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,"

There was a round of polite, but very unenthusiastic applause.

"Oh my god, it's like Barbie threw up on her," Kaya said, eyeing up the woman, causing Maisie to frown.

"What's Barbie?"

"It was a muggle doll my mum bought for me to play with when I was younger. She always wore pink,"

"Oh,"

Kaya only ever had one or two Barbie dolls - her mother had bought her them for her fifth birthday - being a muggleborn, Cher thought Kaya might like them, and she was most definitely right.

Kaya was beginning to show magical abilities at that age, although they were extremely small, most of the time - and so when she'd accidentally sent her blonde doll in light pink clothing and a fur coat flying across the room without touching it, she was rather startled.

"Tryouts for the house Quidditch Teams will take place on the-"

Dumbledore broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge, causing Kaya and Maisie to exchange frowns. Professor Umbridge cleared her throat with a "Hem, hem," and it became clear she was intending to make a speech.

"Oh my god," Maisie chuckled, putting a hand over her mouth. "I'm getting second-hand embarrassment,"

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment. He sat down smartly, and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing more than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff weren't as good at hiding their surprise - Professor Sprout's eyebrows had raised so high, they disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall's lips were nothing but a thin line. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before, and many students began to smirk to each other - clearly this woman had no idea how Hogwarts worked.

"Thank you, Headmaster," she simpered. "For those kind words of welcome,"

Her voice was high pitched, with a ring that made Kaya want to slam her head into the table. She wore an extremely fake smile as she scanned the tables, and gave another little throat clearing cough ('hem, hem') and continued.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" she said through her false grin. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

Although, everyone Kaya could see was wearing a father dull expression. She wondered what Umbridge's perception of 'happy' was, in contrast to hers and any other normal person in the world.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Kaya glanced over at Jae at Slytherin table, who was wearing a very judgemental expression. The girl's eyes then flicked to Fred sitting with the Gryffindors, with whom she exchanged a perplexed look.

"I've never made friends with a flamingo before, so that'll be a first," Maisie whispered to Kaya, before they both lapsed into silent giggles.

Umbridge cleared her throat again ('hem, hem').

"Poor cow has a nasty cough," said Kaya sardonically, and Maisie put her hand over her mouth to cover her grin.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever-"

"Uh - where's this going?" Kaya muttered, glancing Maisie's way. She shared the same bewildered demeanour.

Kaya almost forgot Cedric wasn't here and flicked her eyes to his empty seat, too, as though to exchange some baffled look with him. The familiar stabbing pain resumed at the sight of his empty seat.

"-The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching,"

"Yes, we know what teaching is, you don't have to explain-" Kaya muttered. If Cedric was here, he would've told her to shut up, by now.

Professor Umbridge paused here, and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her, much to Kaya's amusement. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and she exchanged a glance with Professor Sprout, before Umbridge gave another little 'hem, hem' and continued with her speech.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress, there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress, for progress' sake must be discouraged, for our tired and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation..."

Kaya could feel herself growing more sleepy by the second, what with her full stomach and Umbridge's dreary ramble. Everyone was losing interest in whatever this woman had to say, as the quiet that always filled the hall when Dumbledore spoke was breaking up, as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling.

"...because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effective-ness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved-"

"She sounds like me trying to get the word count on my Transfiguration essay higher," Kaya snickered, and Maisie let out a silent laugh.

"She's giving Dumbledore a run for his money in speeches," The red-head grinned.

"Yeah, but at least Dumbledore's actually make sense,"

"-perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited,"

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped, and the staff followed his lead, though several only brought their hands together twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech - most, including Kaya and Maisie, not having listened to anymore than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore rose to his feet, yet again.

"Thank you, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her.

"That man's too nice, I'd have told her to shut her trap and save the useless speech for the lessons," said Kaya.

"Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."

Dumbledore continued to chat for a short while, until he dismissed everyone, and there was a great clattering and banging all around as students stood up. Kaya called a few first years over to direct them to the Hufflepuff common room, as many other Prefects did the same, and she headed over alongside Maisie to meet back up with Jae and Milo, eager to discuss the strange pink lady.

"And that's our last ever Welcoming Feast!" Jaeden called as he sauntered over.

"Bit strange, that woman, isn't she?" said Milo, who was also joined by the twins and Lee.

"Strange?" Lee pulled a face. "More like fucking boring. I switched off after the second 'hem, hem',"

The group all laughed.

"I think we all did," said Kaya, as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger passed - Hermione telling Ron off for calling the first years midgets.

"We'll see you all tomorrow?" said Maisie, as they all jolted roughly, being shoved by students making their way to their common rooms. It was difficult to talk right now, considering they were being bashed around.

"Yeah," George nodded, before they all headed off. Fred and Kaya held back a little.

"Goodnight," Kaya smiled at him, before being given a quick peck on the lips.

"Night, lovely," Fred smiled, giving her hand a quick squeeze, and she gave him a small wave, before separating off to her dormitories.

Fred watched the girl until she was out of sight.

"Sweet dreams, Bennett!" He called, flashing her a wink when she looked back. She mockingly blew him a kiss.

But when she finally turned her back to head off, Fred's grin slipped off his face and he couldn't help but feel a tad worried.

Because this would be the first time she'd be entering her common room at the start of a new year without Cedric by her side.

And he couldn't even imagine the pain she'd soon be feeling.

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