Introducing~ JMP!

Normal Jimin goes to a normal school and makes some perfectly normal friends. s aren’t a thing. Neither is house hostility, for once.

(15&) Jimin centric + various individuals

A/N: One of my buried ideas from before. I took it and ran with it. Next thing I knew, I wrote a whole lot of stuff I never intended, but rather like. Thus, part 1 of 2, the ideas that were never part of the original ideas. This one’s more like school-life happenings (do people call this “slice-of-life”? no idea), feel free to skip if it’s not your cup of tea. Hopefully I’ll get around to something you’ll like later.  =]

(And yes, I realize that none of these people are the from the groups I’ve mentioned/tagged. Oops)

Come the first of September, Jimin’s ears are buzzing with gossip on the Hogwarts Express. She doesn’t have any siblings to prep her for school with outlandish and exaggerated stories of their triumphs. Nevertheless, she mingles easily with the other first-years. Her carriage compartment mates decide to play a game to break the ice. Jimin loses but has fun all the same. A motherly voice calls out to the students as a trolley wheels down the corridor. Jimin rummages in her bag for some coins to pay for snacks as her punishment.

The woman beams at her from behind the liquorice wands. “Hello dear, what can I get for you?”

Jimin returns to her compartment with arms full of sweets and sandwiches. Four cauldron cakes are balanced on top of the pile — a freebie from the trolley witch to wish her good luck in her first year. One topples down and knocks the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans off the side too. BamBam catches the box before it overturns and spills everywhere. Yerin snatches up the pastry from the floor just as Jimin steps forward. Yugyeom helps spread out the food on the small table.

The three resume their conversation, but Jimin is too focused on her lunch to listen.

“— tried flushing his cloak down the toilet! Myrtle threw a fit,” BamBam cackles.

“Excuse me?” Jimin interrupts, pumpkin pasty unwrapped halfway.

Yugyeom wipes a tear away and takes a deep breath. Jimin expects an explanation but he only laughs louder. She turns towards the perfectly sane Yerin.

“BamBam’s brother, Jackson, wanted to pull a prank on Eric by stealing his clothes and discarding them in Myrtle’s bathroom,” she said between giggles.

“I’m sorry, but who’s Eric?”

BamBam raises an eyebrow. “Jeez, how long have you been zoning out? I didn’t think I was that boring,” he whines.

“Boy, this day ain’t lit until I have my meal. Check yo’self.” Jimin gestures from his head to his feet and back up. The compartment fills with laughter.

“Anyway, Eric Nam and Jackson are frenemies of sorts, he’s actually our neighbor too. Eric usually hangs around three other students—Ailee, Amber, and Kevin. They’re not exactly pranksters, but they’re a really odd bunch. Each one is from a different house. Not that that’s bad, but it’s not exactly common either,” BamBam shrugs. “I heard they’re more like class clowns, minus the stupid.” 

Jimin mulls over this information for a good two seconds before she hears simultaneous expressions of disgust and approval. Yerin marvels at her strawberry flavored bean. Yugyeom gags and huffs “bogey” in between swigs of pumpkin juice. He coughs after BamBam slaps his back, looking very proud of himself for helping.

Jimin spots a few owls flying outside their window and the conversation diverges to the topic of pets. The rest of the train ride is spent comparing wands—though Yugyeom’s is a family heirloom made by Gregorovitch, reciting random incantations from their textbooks, and gambling leftover treats with other compartments. Jimin finally notices the darkening sky outside and figures they’re almost there.

A prefect knocks on the door to their compartment and sticks her head in, her small silver badge clinking against the door frame. “We’ll be arriving in fifteen minutes. Make sure to pack up your things and change into your robes. First-years head to the left when you exit the train. Don’t worry about your trunks, someone will retrieve them for you.” She looks absolutely thrilled to be telling them this, her eyes disappearing into crescents. Another girl in the corridor nudges her while fixing her loose emerald and silver tie. She nods at the students from behind the prefect, a laid-back smile on her lips. They leave down the corridor and the four in the compartment pull their uniforms out from the luggage rack above.

When they hop down the steps onto the platform, throngs of students flood past them towards the empty carriages lined up at the edge of the village. Jimin trips over someone’s foot into Yugyeom and he propels forward. A male student catches him by the shoulders and steadies him.

“Woah there, are you alright?” he asks Yugyeom, who sheepishly nods back. The streetlights illuminate the student’s silver badge and Jimin glimpses a tint of blue somewhere. She also notes how his ears protrude out a bit, the light from behind making the flesh glow pink.

The prefect directs them down the path, blocking them from being knocked over by taller students. Before Jimin can read his name tag to thank him properly, he turns around to help those left on the train. They grasp onto each other’s arms and wrists as they weave past the crowd in the opposite direction.

“Firs’-years, over here! Gather ‘round the docks!” A voice booms over the chattering. Jimin veers to the right a bit and the others trail behind her. A large shadow looms over the groups of tiny students. Jimin halts in her steps, but is relieved when the man swings his lantern around to brighten up the area, revealing a disarming grin and twinkling beetle black eyes.

He clears his throat and the conversations dissolve into silence. “Welcome to Hogwarts! I’m Hagrid, Keeper of Keys an’ Grounds here. I’ll be guidin’ yeh to the castle by boat across the Black Lake. I bet yer all excited to be— oiy, you! Don’t go stickin’ yer hand in the water, you’ll bait the giant squid up.” The Keeper of whatever backtracks when he sees the boy’s eyes widen to the size of tea saucers and retracts his hand like he’s been scalded. “I-I mean— well i’s not dangerous at all, but I’d really rather not hafta pull yeh out of the water. Yeh wouldn’ want to be drippin’ puddles all o’er when yeh get sorted.” The boy squeaks a “no.”

Hagrid continues his introduction and helps the students into the boats. He then clambers into his own, twice as large and even then, seemingly too snug for just him. The vessel dips a foot more into the water.

“He’s not gonna sink, is he?” Jimin mutters between clenched teeth.

“He better not. There’s no oars. We can’t get to the castle without him,” BamBam replies.

The boats move on their own with Hagrid leading the fleet. Jimin spots the boy from earlier inspecting the water, though he can’t see anything with the lantern lights reflecting off the surface. Her eyes flicker to something moving behind his boat, and she swears she saw the edge of a tentacle. She doesn’t worry for long as Yugyeom directs her attention to the magnificent castle up ahead.

They gently draw in to the shore and some first-years struggle to climb out of their wobbling boats. Hagrid walks along the dock lifting students up effortlessly. He offers Jimin a platter-sized hand as she nearly slips off the edge.

The students crowd around the stone steps of the castle when the large oak doors swing open, revealing an old but nowhere near senile witch with a tall stiff pointed hat, who leads them inside. She’s not unwelcoming, it’s more of a cross between intimidating and authoritative. Her posture demands attention and respect, her tone of voice even more so.

“Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts. In a few moments, you will follow me into the Great Hall where you will be sorted before the Start-of-Term Feast.” The professor emphasizes the importance of camaraderie within houses, and implies a strict adherence to respect between them. It tickles her mind a bit, but the thought doesn’t grasp onto anything.

It isn’t long until Jimin is shuffled into a line along the wall of the Great Hall. Half of her cohort is staring up at the bewitched ceiling, the others are fidgeting with their robes while waiting for their names to be called. Her new friends leave one by one to be sorted into houses.

“Park, Jimin.” She barely sits on the edge of the stool when the hat announces its decision. Before she knows it, she’s gliding over to the long table under the yellow and black banners. Yerin happily makes room for her on the bench.

Someone on her right lightly wraps their arm around her shoulders. “Congratulations and welcome to Hufflepuff!” It’s the prefect from the train. “If you ever need anything, you can come to me. The name’s Ailee.”

“Jimin.” She thinks she’ll like being at Hogwarts.

~|~|~|~

The first week of term, Jimin feels like she has a fairly good grasp on everything. No homework is due until next week. She hasn’t caused any trouble. She even earned a few house points for participating in class. Things are going smoothly, until she turns the corner and finds herself at a dead end corridor. She looks out the nearest window facing the grounds. How the bloody hell did I get onto the fourth floor? She backtracks to a busier intersection.

She waves her arm above her head as if hailing a cab. “Excuse me, but could you—”

A student zooms past her panting heavily. “Sorry, but I’m going to be late and I can’t risk another detention already! Really sorry!” He shouts behind him and disappears around the corner.

Jimin huffs and wishes there was a map with a “You are here” sticker. Five minutes ago, she had taken a staircase that had split into two adjacent ones without knowing which she came from nor which she took. When she tried going back, they led to a solid wall. Jimin thought this place was a bit too lively for her liking.

She feels a tap from behind. “I heard you trying to flag down that student earlier. Are you— Oh! Jimin, right?” She nods, surprised that Ailee found her but relieved nonetheless. “Did you need something? Maybe I can help you out. On second thought, shouldn’t you be in class now?” The prefect looks more worried than angry. Jimin doubts she’ll take house points away for loitering.

“Actually, I’m trying to find the training grounds. I’ve got Flying class with Madam Hooch in five minutes. But it seems like the stairs are being sassy,” she pouts.

Ailee laughs, not out of mockery, more like in understanding. She leads Jimin down some corridors and through a tapestry or two. They’re outside the castle in no time. In the distance, Jimin sees students lined up next to brooms lying on the grass. She thanks Ailee, who gently nudges her towards the class and walks back into the castle.

Yerin fusses over how she disappeared after going to the bathroom. Jimin is about to reply when Madam Hooch blows her whistle to silence the class.

~|~|~|~

It’s Friday and Jimin has the afternoon off. She takes the chance to wander around the grounds before dinner. The greenhouses look serene without students dodging Venomous Tentaculas or skidding around heaps of dragon dung fertilizer. She keeps to the gardens as the air inside the houses is unbearable. The breeze is comforting, not the biting chill it was a few days ago.

She’s examining a strange fuzzy potted pod when something ruffles a patch of nearby daisies. Her wand slides down her sleeve into her hand as she steps forward cautiously. She uses the tip to probe into the patch and push some flowers aside. In the midst of the plants are three small animals. The one closest to Jimin puffs up the spikes on its back a bit. The two behind it halt their nibbling of a daisy and stare up at her in fear. She feels slightly guilty for intruding on their meal time, but she doubts they’re welcome in Professor Sprout’s gardens.

“L-lumos,” she says hesitantly. The tip of her wand flashes for a fraction of a second. All three pairs of eyes switch their focus to her wand. “Lumos,” she says more confidently. Her wand tip lights up and doesn’t fade. The leader of the animals inches forward towards the light, intrigued and visibly less aggressive. Jimin thinks it resembles a hedgehog from a pet store. It paws at the light and the quills on its back flatten completely.

Jimin slowly presents her hand, open palm in clear view of the hedgehog. It has time to notice her and reject her advances, but it doesn’t. She’s able to get close enough to pet its head softly. Seeing she means no harm, the other two hedgehogs crawl forward and under her hand to be pet. She conceals her wand in her sleeve before gently picking up all three animals. She also plucks a few daisies for them to nibble on. They curl into a ball at a sudden shout from behind. Jimin cranes her neck to see who’s calling her.

“Hey! I don’t mean to bother you, but have you seen any Knarls around? Some of them made a break for it in this direction. They particularly like eating daisies.” He nods at the garden in front of them.

Jimin turns around fully and the boy sighs in relief at the row of spiked balls in her arm. “Oh thank goodness, you found them. I was worried that I’d have to skip dinner looking for them.” The boy reaches out for the leader (Knarl, was it?) and scratches behind its ears. It uncurls itself and the other two do the same. They seem to recognize the student since they start crawling out of Jimin’s arm and onto his palms. The smallest of the three nearly falls, but she catches it in time. He thanks her and she’s about to hand it over, but it settles itself comfortably in her own hand. He leaves it be.

“My name’s Kevin. I’m a fourth-year in Gryffindor,” he greets.

“Jimin, Hufflepuff first-year,” she replies.

“Pleasure to meet you, Jimin. It seems like that Knarl feels pretty safe with you. Mind helping me bring them over to Hagrid’s?” he gestures over to the hut near the edge of the forest. She follows him out of the gardens onto a pathway, fallen leaves crunching beneath their feet.

“Hagrid keeps the keys, grounds, and creatures?” Jimin jokes

“Actually, he does,” Kevin laughs. “He teaches some sections of Care of Magical Creatures. Even if he didn’t, he loves all kinds of fantastic beasts, regardless if they breathe fire or bite. If anything, that makes them even more adorable in his eyes.” He says this in a lighthearted manner though Jimin thinks he is being completely honest.

She learns that Kevin isn’t actually in Hagrid’s class, but he spends a lot of his leisure time helping out with the creatures kept for the subject. He’s not wearing a cloak and the sleeves of his shirt are rolled up casually. Jimin sees various light scratches, bite marks, and a burn or two. She wonders just what kinds of creatures students study at Hogwarts.

Reaching the end of the path, they meet the gamekeeper who unlocks a wooden and mesh pen where a bunch of Knarls are exploring or cuddling. Kevin and Jimin place the three runaways safely inside. Kevin walks into Hagrid’s hut and sits down at the table pouring tea for everyone like it’s routine. Jimin joins them, not for the last time.

~|~|~|~

Hagrid’s place becomes the default hotspot for tea time. Kevin always arrives before her. Sometimes Ailee tags along too. Random late afternoons begin with sighs, fill with laughter, and end with a plate of untouched but appreciated rock cakes. Occasionally they have self-counseling sessions.

Two weeks after returning from Christmas break, Jimin trudges through the door soaked from falling in the snow and sneezing three times before greeting everyone inside. Kevin pours the tea and hands out tissues. Ailee casts a sort of drying spell over her clothes. Hagrid wraps her in a blanket four times her size. They all tell her to get something from Madam Pomfrey. She can’t stomach healing potions very well so she’d rather tough out a cold the ol’ muggle way. However, Jimin is known for having a positive outlook. She figures, the only way to go from here is up.

“How were your Charms and Potions practicals?” Evidently, she can sink a couple inches lower.

Seeing your failures is one thing. Acknowledging them is another. Sharing them is out of the question entirely. Jimin doesn’t notice she’s grumbling to herself until she feels Ailee rubbing her back apologetically. The prefect has been nothing but helpful since they first spoke, so she can probably shed some light on this matter.

“I don’t know why I can’t do anything. I read all the chapters, I practice all the motions, I ace the written exams, and nobody wants to focus on getting it right more than I do. But no matter what, it just doesn’t work for me.” She wonders at what point in her complaining did she face-plant on the table. She doesn’t have the energy to shift her head sideways to breathe better.

“I know someone who could tutor you. He actually tutored me when I had trouble with Transfiguration,” Ailee suggests. Jimin’s head snaps up in her direction as if she’d been electrocuted. Can she please stop proving Jimin wrong? It’s getting a bit depressing how often it happens.

“She’s even top of her class now,” Kevin pipes up.

“I’d be happy to help you out too. You know, for convenience, since we’re in the same house and all.”

“Is he in your year? Both of you have to prepare for O.W.L.s though.” Jimin would hate to be a pesky, needy first-year.

“He’s not in Ravenclaw for nothing,” Ailee scoffs. “Besides, the basics shouldn’t be too taxing for us.”

Kevin nods in agreement, sipping his tea. “He’d probably see it as an opportunity for review anyway.”

“Well if it’s not a bother, I’ll accept.”

“To our mutual success!” Kevin ups the cliché level with a toast, their small cups clinking against Hagrid’s pot-sized mug.

The tea tastes less herbal than usual and the rock cakes smell a bit like cinnamon sugar. Jimin thinks she’ll brave a Pepper-Up Potion when they return to the castle.

~|~|~|~

Ailee suggests to meet up the following week. Jimin notices her carrying more textbooks than necessary on her way out of the common room in the morning. After grabbing a quick bite for lunch with Yerin, she makes her way up to the library. Madam Pince scans her up and down until she’s satisfied with Jimin’s lack of hidden treats on her person. The boy behind her isn’t as lucky.

She sees Ailee beckoning her up to the second floor with enough enthusiasm for them both. The sound of a quill scratching on parchment grows louder as they pass several rows of bookshelves. In a secluded corner, Jimin sees the back of someone sitting at a table with books strewn about and two bags pushed off to the side. A yellow accented tie lies on top of a black cloak, haphazardly thrown over the back of a recently vacated chair.

Jimin is about to introduce herself but holds her tongue when the student stands up to face them. She recognizes him as the prefect who saved Yugyeom from ruining his face on the pavement back in September (obviously it wasn’t her fault to begin with, of course not). The sunlight filtering in through the window panes makes the boy’s ears glow pink.

He pushes his glasses up and smiles warmly. “Hey, I’m Eric. You must be Jimin, Ailee’s told me about you. Pleasure to meet you,” he says.

Something comes rushing back as they shake hands. BamBam’s distant voice echoes in her head. “Toilet…” she mumbles.

“Uh… Pardon?”

“You had your cloak flushed down Myrtle’s toilet,” she thinks out loud. When she finally realizes her mind-to-mouth filter has taken a vacation, she sees Eric’s wand pointed at Ailee, who’s cackling without making a single sound. Eric’s ears turn a more opaque red shade and he stares at the floor. Jimin fears that she’s greatly offended her tutor-to-be, but she catches the faintest of smiles on his lips before he dramatically rolls his eyes.

He flicks his wand at his fellow prefect when she calms down. Ailee’s breathing suddenly seems quite loud.

“Silencing charm,” Eric explains as they sit down.

“So does the applicant meet all of your standards, Miss?” Ailee inquires, leaning over so much in her chair that her body is nearly parallel with the table. “If not, we could…” She makes an exaggerated gesture across . Eric shifts his eyes between the two, wringing his hands in mock anxiety.

Jimin flicks her hair over her shoulders in a very unladylike fashion, having reached a decision. “I would like to hire you, good sir! Your services would be greatly appreciated!”

“Very good, m’lady, very good! I shan’t disappoint.” They bow dramatically to each other and daintily shake hands. Everyone holds in their laughter lest they be thrown out.

~|~|~|~

Jimin and her friends happily leave Potions with top marks on their summary reports. An older students whips past them and apologizes over her shoulder for nearly crashing into Yerin by the marble staircase. While everyone files into the Great Hall, she makes her way towards the library.

One of the corridors seems more crowded than usual as she struggles to squeeze past the loitering students. When she finds a pocket of open space leading to the next intersection, she hears cheering off to the right further down the corridor. She turns back to see the student from the dungeons standing on a bench. With a huge grin, the girl leans back and lazily bobs her shoulders up and down, her arms dangling limply at her sides. When she straightens up, she shuffles left and right to the beat of the surrounding students’ claps.

“Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na, na~, na-na-na-na. HEY!”

“HO~” the crowd cheers back.

“HEY~”

“HO~”

“Just let it all go and SHAKE THAT—”

Peeves takes advantage of the assembled victims to throw their hats everywhere and overturn their robes. There’s a mixture of laughter, yelps, and whooping. Filch’s gruff voice bounces off the walls as he (most likely) shoves students aside to see who’s making a ruckus. The girl on the bench takes this as her cue to leave and the crowd parts like the Red Sea.

“Long live AMBEROCIOUS!” she shouts, running past Jimin with a champion’s fist held high in the air.

It takes Jimin a good fifteen minutes after the corridor talent show to get to the library. As soon as Filch showed up, students fled in any and all directions. Peeves did his absolute best to make everything worse. Several suits of armour were harmed in this event. She narrowly avoided a flying helmet by slipping into a passageway behind a tapestry that Ailee showed her.

Madam Pince scrunches up her nose at the sweaty and panting student, but allows her to enter. Jimin shuffles up the stairs and heads to a familiar secluded corner. Just between the bookshelves, she sees Kevin wave her over. He mutters “muffliato” when she gets close enough. As she rushes past the narrow opening and into the corner space, she sees Eric in a headlock and Ailee leaning against a bookshelf with no intention of helping her friend.

“You owe me three butterbeers, and a bonus treat from Honeydukes for catching Filch’s attention!” Amberocious says, not loosening her hold.

“But none of. Us… Were!… THERE!” Eric huffs, his tone getting squeakier and breathier. He taps frantically on the girl’s arm and she loosens her hold a bit.

“Maybe not, but I still have a witness,” the girl says. It takes Jimin a moment to realize everyone is staring at her.

Ailee pushes herself off the bookshelf and walks closer. “Wait, really? You saw Amber dancing in the corridor?”

“Uh… Yeah. There was a crowd singing along and everything. Peeves made a mess of the place and Filch went ballistic. I’ve never seen students scatter that quickly before,” Jimin recounts. The girl, Amber, gives her a triumphant grin.

“And for not believing me, you now have to buy something for my faithful follower!” She gestures at the first-year with her free hand. Jimin has no idea when she joined a denomination of any sort, but if there’s free food involved, why not?

“Fine! FINE!” Amber frees Eric and does a victory jig. He turns towards Jimin looking extremely ruffled. “I won’t reward you for supporting this bloody idiot. That, however…” He glances at the paper in her hand. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is that an O on your cumulative Potions report?”

The older students gather closer to congratulate her. Kevin high-fives her, expressing his never-wavering faith in her abilities. A proud Ailee and Eric give her a combined bear hug, and Ailee squishes her cheeks for good measure. Even Amber clasps her hand and bumps shoulders with her.

Two weeks later, Jimin is conversing casually with Hagrid as he tends to his pumpkin patch. Four students amble up the path having just returned from their trip into Hogsmeade. Amber hands her a butterbeer and a package of Fizzing Whizzbees. Eric offers a drink to Hagrid as well. They spend the warm afternoon talking and laughing inside the hut.