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Seungyeon jolted awake, sweat slicking her forehead and back. For the third time in a row this week, she was plagued by the same nightmare. She could still feel the rough gravel under her knees, smell the smoke clinging to her nostrils, hear the gasp of the guard after she had collapsed after hearing the news: an explosion in a bad section of the mine had caused structural support failure, killing all those in the tunnel. Among the lost: her mother, her father, and her two older brothers.
At the tender age of fourteen, she was forbidden to do any work by her father. Her brothers sometimes teased her for being the only one to stay home while everyone else contributed to the funds—but when she called their bluff, even they insisted she stay home. She did her best to keep their small hut clean, organized, and warm for their return. Her days were fulfilled when her family returned to freshly prepared food on the table, down-turned sleeping mats, and the roaring hearth.
On the fateful day she lost her family, she felt the very ground shake. Dread began to weigh her stomach down as she took the pot off the fire and rushed outside. Many others filled the streets, their faces reflecting her confusion and concern.
Seungyeon and the others were ordered back to their living quarters, awaiting notifications from the security team. She mindlessly went through her routine, praying that she would hear her brothers once again, and feel her mother’s embrace. But, alas. Midway through cooking some fried rice, a tall man with tired eyes knocked on the door, hat in his hand.
What happened next, she still couldn't describe well. Something stirred in her chest, and the table next to her was suddenly a pile of splinters.
According to the Magical Theory professor, he had been following a trail of ancient magic, trying to find its Wielder. Upon seeing a massive spike on his tracker, he happened upon a hysterical young girl and a shell-shocked security officer. He knocked the guard with a muttered, foreign word, and convinced him that Seungyeon was being taken away to serve as a maid across the country, in some random East Coast state she’d never heard of.
When Seungyeon resisted going with Professor Fig, he produced a letter written in both 한글 and English. It was an invitation to study at a school of magic in Scotland. Recognizing this was a way to claw out of her unfortunate circumstance, she agreed.
That was how Seungyeon found herself in the Hufflepuff girls’ dormitory, trying to catch her breath. She needed some fresh air, she decided. Pulling on some shoes and her traveling coat, she shoved her wire-rimmed glasses on her face and grabbed her wand. With the frequency that she did this, she had gotten quite good at being quiet. But one of her roommates still stirred as she moved across the room to the round door. She froze, hoping whoever it was would simply change positions.
No such luck. Poppy sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her bleary vision ghosted over Seungyeon’s dressed appearance and she beckoned the newest fifth-year Hufflepuff to come closer.
“Seungyeon,” Poppy said, low and deep. “Where are you going?”
The sweat that had collected on her back was still damp on her waistband and she pondered how much to tell her friend. A chill was starting to spread up her spine, despite her thick coat. A pair of gloves would be good.
Seungyeon moved to the trunk at the foot of her bed, but a hand on her arm halted her progress. Oh, right. Poppy had asked her a question. “Had a bad dream, and I just need some fresh air.” She also spoke quietly next to Poppy’s ear, not wanting to rouse the others.
The grip around her left arm disappeared, allowing her to grab the thin-but-warm dueling gloves splayed across her trunk. She had a bad habit of leaving her gloves everywhere, even though she told herself to only leave them in her coat pockets.
With her gloves on, she resumed her goal of silently getting the door open. Her pureblood or halfblood peers may have opted for a more magical tactic, but she found more satisfaction doing things the old-fashioned, Muggle way. Or “No-Maj” way, as she would say. Luckily, the grease she had applied to the hinges did their job beautifully. The Kitchen Elves had admitted it was one of the stranger requests from a student, but were happy to give her a giant block of used, clarified cooking grease once they heard her plan for it.
Just as she tried to close the door behind her, she felt pushback from the other side. Poppy slipped through, now wearing her favorite lace-up boots, her dark leather “adventure coat”, Seungyeon’s house scarf, and a pair of light brown leather gloves.
“Poppy?”
“You didn’t think I’d let you go alone, did you?” Poppy’s dark brown eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight of the common room. “Someone’s got to keep you out of trouble.”
“What, like you’re the person for that?” Seungyeon threw back as she descended the stairs. As if she hadn’t led them to a tent filled with Ashwinders and poachers.
Poppy flicked her arm. “Just tell me where we’re headed, you ass.”
“The Astronomy Tower. Nice and quiet. Not a lot of patrols there, either.” Seungyeon tapped the wood at the entrance, where the panels moved aside to let them out.
The halls were silent as the two Hufflepuffs moved their way to the tallest tower in the school. It paid off in the end, despite the distance. An endless stretch of night sky dotted with stars greeted them as they climbed the last flight of spiral stairs.
Seungyeon felt her shoulders relax as soon as her eyes fell on the Scottish landscape. She almost succumbed to the tears that had built up at the base of her throat, but remembered she had company at the last minute.
Instead, she let her eyes wander across the light dusting of snow on the trees and across the large fields of grass. Her long, deep breaths came out as puffs of steam, almost like a young dragon. Her weary frame sagged against the railing; the chill from the wrought iron seeped into her forearms through her buff-brown coat.
Poppy wrapped an arm across her waist. “Would you like to talk about it?” She knew when something threw off Seungyeon’s equilibrium and could tell when no one else did. She even knew before Seungyeon was aware, sometimes. Perhaps a lifetime of befriending animals made her a master of nonverbal communication. She was gentle with her approach, like when they were working with Bowtruckles the other day in Beasts class.
Seungyeon shook her head. “Not yet.”
“All right.”
“I appreciate you being here, however.”
“Oh, that I know.” Poppy smirked. “You would have petrified me and tucked me in, otherwise.”
Seungyeon rolled her eyes, not bothering to verbally confirm Poppy’s surety.
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