"Are you the daughter of that gambler and the son of that drunkard from Spinner's End?" Petunia asked, her tone innocent yet laced with the unconscious cruelty of a child.
Severus and Camelia glanced at the two sisters and could tell from their appearance that they lived in clean, comfortable circumstances. Faced with such children, the pair, who had felt a bit awkward to begin with, now felt even more ashamed of themselves.
*Will they dislike us?* Camelia’s heart sank. For the first time, she felt an urge to run away. But then, a thought hardened within her. *No, there's no need. I was never a good kid anyway, was I?* she thought.
With this realization, she felt a sense of relief. She turned her head to check Severus's reaction. His lips were pressed tightly together, his eyes cast downward, and his hands, hanging at his sides, were clenched into fists.
"Petunia! How could you!" Lily, sensing the sudden tension in the air, sounded annoyed with her sister.
"It’s alright, Lily—may I call you that? Actually, what your sister said is true," Camelia said with a soft, slightly awkward smile.
"Of course you can, Camelia!" Lily winked playfully at her.
In no time, they were chatting away. "When Snape mentioned wizards earlier, was he talking about that kind of wizard? Are you a wizard too?" Lily asked.
"We are both wizards," Severus said, gazing into Lily’s green eyes with a touch of irrepressible pride.
The four of them sat under a tree and continued their conversation about wizards.
"If I’m a wizard, then Petunia must be one too, right? We’re sisters!" Lily said, grabbing Petunia’s hand excitedly.
"I think she’s just a Muggle. Muggles rarely produce wizards, after all," Severus said with a hint of disdain, taking his revenge for Petunia’s earlier remark.
"I’m not going to be some freak like you two!" Petunia, stung by Severus’s words, stood up and tried to pull Lily away. "Lily, it’s late, we need to go back!"
"Hey, hey—all right, Petunia. See you tomorrow, Camelia. Goodbye, Severus," Lily said, unable to resist her sister's pull as she was led away.
The next day was another clear, sunny morning. Camelia and Severus were on their way to the spot they had agreed upon the previous day.
"Hey, you two freaks, where are you going? Going to the ditch to fish out your crazy mother? Hahahaha—" A group of neighborhood bullies blocked their path. The leader, the tallest and strongest among them, spoke with a mocking, contemptuous smirk.
There were five or six of them, and most looked sturdier than the two children. The leader’s fist looked as big as Camelia’s entire face.
*It looks like he could flatten my face with one punch,* Camelia thought as she stared at his fist. She looked from the burly boy to her own and Severus’s thin frames, suddenly at a loss for words.
The difference in physical strength was vast, but she thought they were two young wizards—they should be able to win. She felt a surge of excitement, even eagerness.
But when those words left his mouth, a wave of rage swelled in her chest. *Yes, crazy. I am a freak too.*
She stood where she was, and a wind began to whip up around them. It stirred the leaves on the ground, and slowly, those leaves began to shimmer with a silver light.
Severus watched Camelia in shock. Her sudden outburst left him at a loss. *She looks like she wants to kill them all,* he thought with a jolt of fear.
*No, this won’t do. The disturbance is too great; it will attract the Ministry of Magic.*
"Stop, Camelia, stop!" he shouted urgently, struggling against the wind. "You’ll be discovered!"
"Monster! Waaah, I want my mommy! This monster is terrifying! Boss, are we going to die? Help us, boss..." The group of children cried out in terror. In truth, any normal person would be frightened by such a supernatural display.
"What happens if I’m discovered?" Camelia asked with a malicious smile. She felt a surge of violent impulse, a desire to destroy everything. Their words had left a hollowness in her heart—a void that the wind seemed to pass right through—and she felt an urgent, violent need to do something.
"Stop it, you hot-headed idiot! You’ll draw them here and get us into trouble! Stop it this instant, Camelia Groen!"
Severus could no longer tolerate his impulsive, Gryffindor-like companion. *How could she just use such large-scale magic? A magical fluctuation this strong will draw people from the Ministry. I don't want to be on their watch list before I even start school! This reckless fool is going to end up in Azkaban one day! Idiot!*
Camelia was someone who listened to reason. Though she didn't quite understand why it would bring them trouble, she knew that basic trust in a friend was necessary. She stopped.
"Why would it be trouble? They're just a bunch of Muggles," Camelia said with genuine, innocent confusion, as if she were speaking of killing a few rats.
"I’ve told you before, using magic carelessly attracts the Ministry," Severus said, his face expressionless. "I don’t believe you didn’t know." He felt as if he had just discovered a cold-blooded streak in his friend, leaving him at a loss for words.
Camelia glanced at the group of bullies, who were huddled together on the ground, clutching each other.
"I know, but aren't they just a bunch of Muggles?" she asked, still failing to understand.
Severus was momentarily choked by her response, looking at the genuine confusion on her face. He hadn't expected Camelia, a Muggle-born, to be even more indifferent to the lives of Muggles than he, a half-blood wizard, was. He suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, fearing his friend might end up in Azkaban if she wasn't careful.
"They are just Muggles, yes, but this will cause us trouble. We might not be able to get into Hogwarts," Severus said, knowing exactly what mattered to her—she hated trouble, and she desperately wanted to go to Hogwarts.
"Fine. Let’s go find Lily then; they should still be waiting for us," Camelia said, convinced. She knew her actions were wrong—just as the books said, she was committing a crime—but she didn't really care. *I suppose I’m still too young; it would just be a nuisance,* she thought.
Ever since she learned about magic and Hogwarts, she, like Severus, had been impatient to grow up, to learn magic, and... to become stronger.
Seeing her turn to leave, the terrified children scattered in a panic.
"It seems we can still count on the brilliant Miss Groen to realize she’s already caused us enough trouble," Severus said, rolling his eyes in frustration.
"And what of it, Mr. Freak? I think we’ll be at Hogwarts soon enough, and besides, I didn't actually do anything, did I?" Camelia smiled at his grumpy expression, deliberately mimicking the affected, aristocratic tone she had heard from the wealthy in church.
She was met with a glare.