Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 9

As usual, Isabella was up before anyone else. She came up with an idea.

All these dreams and random sentences, she should write them all down in a journal. She was never the one to keep journals, but maybe she could try it out and see if it makes better sense.

She did buy a journal from Flourish and Blotts along with her other books, but she was saving it for making her exam schedules. 

Oh, whatever. She'll manage with parchment scrolls. This was more important.

Isabella sighed, sitting in the empty common room with the empty book open in front of her, a quill in her hand.

The sky was still dark, and the birds hadn't woken up yet. It really was way early. But she couldn't sleep, so she had to come up with something to do.

Alright. 

To start with, she should write down everything she knew about Hogwarts. Then came Diagon Alley. She was also aware of Gringotts. . .And dragons.

It was the weirdest mental image ever, but she could see a huge scaly green dragon perched on top of the snowy building.

Wow. . .That's unexpected.

Then there were these four kids. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville. 

She sure did not know them from her old schools. She never made any friends, mostly because no one wanted to be friends with her. She did have a tendency to make things awkward real fast. 

The kids looked like they were first years, like her and they were in the halls of Hogwarts. So, they obviously went, or are going to Hogwarts.

Only one way to check. She'd have to sneak a glance at a teacher's register. Slughorn was easily distracted, and if she could get Black to keep him busy it would be a piece of cake. 

Flitwick literally stood on his register sometimes, to see the whole class better.
Sprout's register was kept between a set of dangerous tentacled plants and that would cause a hubbub.
Binns never really cared.
Stealing from McGonagall was the last this she wanted to do.
Professor Broadmoor who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts always locked back the register once he finished rollcall. 

Slughorn it is, then. 

What else did she know?

"Oh, that one too," she muttered as she scribbled down the random sentences that ran through her mind sometimes.

There was this strange sentence. —"Isn't seven the most powerfully magical number?"

"You'd be mad to try and rob it."— That was about Gringotts.

An involuntary gasp left her mouth when, without warning, her head started hurting painfully yet again. 

Maybe she should get it checked out in the Hospital wing. 

And of course, this time too, she had been treated to yet another random sentence. But this time it was a continuation of the one about Gringotts.

"Gringotts is the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts."

Isabella snapped her journal shut and slammed her head on the wooden table.

Why on earth was she the one having this?! Couldn't it be anyone else?! And it didn't even make any sense! 

"Ugh," Isabella heaved herself off her chair and went to the nearest window and threw it open.

The sun was yet to rise, but the sky had grown lighter. The air was crisp and carried the smell of the dried leaves from the forest that surrounded the place. If she were to walk through the forest, she could listen to the twigs snapping and leaves crunching under her shoes. October was approaching and she could feel it in the air.