perhin (perhin) wrote in perhin_fics, @ 2008-04-23 12:33:00 |
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Current mood: | busy |
Set Me Free
Title:Set Me Free
Rating:PG
Summary:The story of one of Hogwarts portraits!
Lady Elizabeth sits alone in a corridor near the Ravenclaw tower. Many times during the nigh you will hear someone crying around two o'clock. Ravenclaws up late at night will come to this lost and lonely hallway to console this sad woman, thinking it to be one of their own. Surprise they are when they find it to be a painting.
Elizabeth was a muggle-born witch in the mid-1800s. Before she was sent to Hogwarts, she was taught etiquette, French, simple arithmetic, history, literature, and music and dance. Her parents were astounded when a snow white owl flew into their tea room at four in the afternoon and dropped a letter into little Elizabeth's lap.
As she read it aloud to her parents, they were suspicious but proud. Her father wanted to know more about this Hogwarts school of learning, and where it was located, and what sort of things his daughter would be taught. Her mother was concerned if she would be taken well care of, if it was clean, and if this school had a good reputation.
A week later the same owl came again to inform them that they would be escorted to a Hogsmeade, a little village near Hogwarts, and that closer to school they would be taken to Diagon Ally, so Elizabeth could buy her school things.
They family was treated with respect and even Elizabeth's mother was impressed. As the time came to get her wand, her father went with on the trip. His face lit up when a stack of wand boxes moved over neatly.
Every Christmas, Easter, and summer holidays Elizabeth would come home showing her parents her new talents. Then it was not outlawed. By her sixth year she was a prefect, and her seventh a head girl for her house, Ravenclaw. "Nothing but a perfect child," her father would say. "I have a perfect little girl. Nothing else I could want."
Perfect, yes. Wonderful, yes. Top student in her year; she received 10 O.W.L.s and seven N.E.W.T.s. She was to be the new Charms teacher for Hogwarts. She was seen as perfect in every way, just like her father said.
As a graduation present, her mother had her portrait painted. She loved it so much, she brought it to Hogwarts with her. There it began to move and talk to her. She was talking to herself. Elizabeth was introduced to talking paintings years ago, but it was odd to see yourself talk to you. It wasn't like a mirror. Herself would sometimes leave the frame, sometimes returning with friends, or not returning for days. Elizabeth would search for herself during the night, finding herself on the fifth floor with a knight or in the dungeons with some ladies having tea.
The thought of herself moving around the castle and another Elizabeth made her mad. She would sit on her bedside and look into the mirror and see if she could touch her own hand. She would look behind it, trying to catch herself.
Soon she found herself sleeping in her frame. She grabbed the painting and locked it her closet. Elizabeth heard herself screaming to be set free. She would dream that the she was locked inside the closet banging on the door, starving, living in rags. Her body would be sucked into the painting and only her eyes could move.
One Friday morning, her friend and colleague, Professor O'Hearly, knocked on the door. After many tries, she found the door to be open. Elizabeth was to be found no where. She didn't see her anywhere else that day or again. There was a school wide search. Soon people were looking allover the countryside.
Years later, the new Headmaster found a painting stored deep in a closet. He pushed his half-moon shaped glasses up his nose, and smiled at the painting.
"I know of a lovely place for you," he said.
Elizabeth no longer leaves her painting. She sits quietly in it, sometimes giving the Ravenclaws advice about Charms and etiquette. But late at night you can hear her crying, wanting to be set free from her frame.