And then suddenly it isn't just a child's fancy anymore. There's an older couple showing up to Explain Things to her parents carrying a fancy letter on parchment- sealed with wax, even- and an entirely different kind of boarding school to attend. Her parents seem more confused and afraid than anything else, but the wizard couple is very insistently, politely persuasive. Vivian gets the feeling her parents don't quite know what to do with her. But having been presented with such a convenient answer, the arrangements are made.
She'll be attending Hogwarts in the fall.
It becomes obvious to Vivian very quickly that the helpful couple left a lot of things out. Until recently the school was, literally, a war zone. Perhaps they'd done it on purpose; they'd said something vague about fetching her "because the faculty were busy", but Vivian suspects belatedly that they really meant "because the faculty are recovering from an enormous magical battle, yes seriously." She doesn't tell her parents; they would worry, or pull her out of school, and she doesn't really think she'd be any safer if they did. She is, as always, quiet. The Sorting Hat puts her in Slytherin, and she gets quieter. She doesn't socialize, she doesn't answer questions about her home life, she spends as much time as she can in the library. Eventually the older students write her off as "one of those weird Asian witches", and she sees no need to correct them. She is a weird Asian witch. Better than a pureblooded snob, as far as she's concerned.
She does well in school. She's not inspiring awe and admiration in Ravenclaw hearts or anything like that, but when you do nothing but study you do well in school, and Vivian does little else. She likes the work, and doesn't feel the loss. She finishes year one, then year two. Her parents are pleased she's doing well, and don't otherwise ask questions; magic makes them uncomfortable. It certainly never occurs to them to ask if she's making friends. She's not, but she prefers it that way. She likes her cozy armchair in the library much more than the older Slytherins, that's for sure.
Her disinterest in socialization does not survive the onset of puberty.
Vivian isn't clear on when, exactly, she realizes that other witches are pretty. But other witches are definitely pretty. So Vivian starts attempting to meet some. Her studying starts moving closer and closer to other students' study groups. There's one group in particular, with a beautiful Ravenclaw witch her age... Vivian watches them. She's not the only one, this group is awfully famous so she doesn't stand out much, but she's still too shy. She tries not to stare as much. (She fails. She's so smart. And that smile.) She tries to at least stare at other girls. (More successful, but it's not a large student body; she only has so many options). And she worries and daydreams and panics that she'll say something and be crushed in the process. (She says nothing.)
But there's no one to talk to about this. Why can't she find any gay witches or wizards to talk to? She listens to gossip. She asks innocent questions when she dares. She only comes up with three names, in the whole school, and the two girls are dating each other. That's probably the only reason anyone knows about them at all, she decides glumly. This is just not talked about at Hogwarts. And it's not like she has friends to ask or compare notes with. She's "that quiet Asian witch" who doesn't make friends.
She decides that if no one is talking about it, she's going to make them.
She gets permission from the Headmistress. She talks Madame Hooch- on the principle that the flying instructor has the most free time- into acting as the faculty adviser. And she starts distributing flyers.
Queer/Straight Wix Alliance introductory meetup, Monday October 2 at 7pm in the Charms classroom. Cauldron cakes and chatting.
"Oh, my dad's friend from Hogwarts has a little theater in wizarding London and needed a girl about my age for a part. I barely remember it."
"Oh well, there goes my image of tiny you in your witch hat very seriously reciting Shakespeare."
"Well, I don't know any wix plays! He was the only one I could think of who might be famous enough to have crossed over."
"I've heard of him but I'm not sure if I had done before Miranda said where her name is from."
"I left Muggle school at eleven, I am not going to be much help. That's cool though! I'm named after an American actress, I think. What about you?"
"My flat growing up was near mostly Chinese families," Vivian says with a shrug. "Karen's not boring when your friends are named Wei or Li. Everyone here has interesting names, to me. And I like yours. Both of them."
The silence goes on just long enough to fluster Vivian, so she grasps at her easy excuse. "I should say hello to the newcomers," she tells Karen, waving at the table with the frogs; there are indeed a few newcomers. "Say hi, see what people think of the events, the usual. Any thoughts on the subject yourself?" She pauses for a second. "And... You're in my Runes class, right? Do you already have a study group...?"
"I've just been studying on my own. I'm... not really chock full of thoughts on. The subject. Unless there was a formal discussion topic posted somewhere and I missed it?"
This is not entirely true; Vivian has very good study habits. But Runes is not her best subject, and she would like a study buddy. Really.
The next week, the evening after the teacher assigns their weekly Runes packet, Vivian shows up in the library with her Runes books and nervously heads for Karen's usual table. Maybe she forgot? Maybe Karen's friends are here and won't want her to join? Why is socializing so hard.
Karen is sitting across from Miranda, who has a book on healing spells open and is intently writing an essay in ballpoint pen on a long roll of parchment. Karen has her Runes book and packet out and waves at Vivian.
She glances enviously at Miranda's pen- the last time Trelawney caught her with a pen she got a speech on the 'positive influences of feathered objects during the juxtaposition of Venus and Jupiter' and a bright purple quill- and turns to Karen. "Hi! Did you look at the assignment yet? I got stuck halfway through the second part, I keep getting five and eight mixed up."
"I looked it over! Five is a quintaped and eight is an acromantula, but yeah, it's not really at-a-glance obvious. I'm having handwriting trouble, mostly, she wants them all filled in and if I do that for inches and inches of parchment my hand cramps."
"And I only just learned what those are, too," Vivian sighs. "There's so much that's different." But she writes out the quintaped a few times anyway, and makes it extra large so she can circle its legs as a reminder. Then she takes a look at Karen's parchment. "Let me see you write one? Maybe if you write them differently, it'll be easier." She makes a face. "It helped in Chinese school, at least."
Vivian has strong opinions on stroke order. She draws the rune for five again, hums thoughtfully at it and Karen's, then makes suggestions. Top to bottom, left to right, longer then shorter- it doesn't work quite as well as it does in Chinese, the language isn't designed for it, but it's not nothing.