Chapter 7: Deep Mysteries
After lunch, Simon and the rest of the first year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws began making their first History of Magic lesson.
"Good, History. I'm a little tired, maybe I could get a nap in this class," Hugo spoke.
"You can't nap on your first class in History of Magic," Alice chided.
"Why? I heard it was a dull class," Hugo argued.
"It's History, Hugo. It's supposed to be boring," Simon joked.
The trio entered the classroom and were surprised to see that Professor Binns was a ghost. Once they all sat, Binns automatically began lecturing in a monotone voice.
This time Simon didn't take notes because he was pretty much falling asleep and bored. He found the professor's voice boring and toneless. He wasn't the only one falling asleep, most of the class was pretty much asleep, and the professor seemed to not care. Hugo was already passed out while Alice was trying to take notes with her eyes closing and head drooping.
Simon yawned and decided to take this time to write his letter. He pulled out some parchment and ink and began to write:
Dear Bill Ollivander,
I was wondering what you have found out about my wand? Strange things are happening and I need to find out what's going on.
Sincerely,
Simon Ares.
Simon folded the letter and put it in the bag and waited for class to be over. Once it was over Simon quickly grabbed his things and left class.
"Simon?" Alice said as she and Hugo quickly ran after him. "Simon, where are you going?" She asked once they caught up to Simon.
"To the Owlery," Simon answered, but then stopped. "Which I don't know where it is." He turned to Alice and Hugo. "Do either of you know where the Owlery is?" he asked.
"This way," Hugo said, moving past Simon who followed the redhead with Alice. Minutes later, Hugo led his friends into the owl invested Owlery.
"Wow, do they ever clean this place?" Alice said disgusted at how dirty the Owlery was.
Hugo shrugged while Simon looked around for his owl, Hermes. Soon enough, he saw his black horned owl sitting on a perch high up. Simon lifted his arm. "Hermes, come," he said. Hermes saw his owner and flew own landing on Simon's arm. Simon then pulled out a letter. "I need you to take this to Bill Ollivander," he said to Hermes who looked like he gave a nod. He then took the letter in his beak and then took off in flight.
"To Bill Ollivander?" Hugo repeated. "Why are you writing to him?"
"To learn more about my wand," Simon answered. "Come on, let's go to dinner." Alice and Hugo nodded and began making their way back to the castle for dinner. After dinner, the trio separated and headed up to their dorms and went to bed.
He was running, running as fast as he could. He needed to get somewhere before something bad happened. He tripped and fell on the ground. Pain seared through his hand and saw that it was pierced with a stick. He groaned. He then heard some rustling and turned around. He saw something huge coming towards him. It was running on four legs. The only thing he could see was the outline of its huge body, its red eyes and white fangs. It jumped on him, and before he felt pain or anything else when suddenly, everything went blank.
Simon's eyes shot open as he bolted upright. That was a weird dream; he thought shaking his head then wiped the sweat off his forehead. He looked outside and saw that it was still dark outside. He looked at his watch that lied on a small table next to his bed, and it said 4:27 am. Simon lay back down and stared at the canopy of his bed. He tried wondering about the dream he had just came out from, but he had already forgotten what it was about.
Since he couldn't go back to sleep, Simon got out of his bed and left the first year dorm quietly. He walked down the stairs and started walking towards the fireplace, but before he got there, he tripped over something or rather someone because it had squeaked and fell to the ground. Simon quickly sat up on his knees and looked to see what he had tripped over. He heard a tiny groan, looked to his left, and saw it. It was some kind of weird looking creature. It was really short, hat huge pointy hears and big round tennis ball sized eyes. It was wearing a t-shirt with a Hogwarts crest in the corner, with pants and shoes as if were dressing casually. The creature shook its head, got up, and looked at Simon and looked a little scared.
"I am sorry, sir," it said as it bowed its head in shame as if he was in trouble.
Simon looked at it, bewildered by the creature's behavior. "Don't be, it was my fault," He replied. "I wasn't looking at where I was going, so no need to worry about it." The creature looked up at Simon and smiled. "Mind if I ask what kind of creature are you?"
The creature beamed. "I am a house elf, sir." It answered proudly.
Simon nodded. "Please don't call me sir, I'm only eleven," he replied.
"What do I call you then?" asked the elf.
"Simon, Simon Ares is my name," replied Simon holding out his hand. "What do I call you?"
"My name is Dizzy, Simon," answered the elf and shook Simon's bigger hand. Simon finally smiled; he liked this creature already. Simon sat down on the couch, and waved Dizzy over to join him.
"You sound very educated Dizzy. How old are you?" Simon noticed.
"Oh yes. I am 11 years old," Dizzy answered, crawling onto the couch to sit next to Simon. "The Hogwarts house elves are taught to read, write, and have magic classes during the summer breaks," he exclaimed.
Simon nodded. "Why not have the same classes as us during the year?" He wondered.
"Well for a few reasons," answered Dizzy. "Because our elven magic is different from Wizards and the political wizards would not allow it."
"Well you could have other elves to do the teaching for you guys, that way you could be taught everything you need to know, right?" explained Simon. Dizzy shrugged.
"If we do that, then who will clean Hogwarts?" asked Dizzy.
"So that's what are you doing up at 4 in the morning," said Simon. Dizzy nodded. "Why?"
"That's what we house elves do, we clean the castle."
"So, there are more of you?" Simon asked. Dizzy nodded. "So is that all you guys do is clean?" Dizzy tilted his head when Simon called him and the elves, guys.
"Yes we do, we don't have anything else to do in life," answered Dizzy as he bowed his head.
"I'm sure there are some elves that do other things than clean," Simon said. Dizzy slightly nodded and glanced at Simon who noticed. "What is it that you really want to do, Dizzy?"
"Me?" asked Dizzy. Simon nodded. Dizzy jumped off the couch with a fierce look in his eye. "Someday, I want to be a Hero like the Great Free-Elf Dobby or the Great Wizard Harry Potter!"
"Who is Dobby?" Simon asked out of curiosity.
Dizzy sat back down. "Dobby is the hero of the House Elves. In the Elven history, Dobby was said to have worked for the worst family ever, The Malfoys." Dizzy said as if the word Malfoy was poisonous. Simon nodded for him to continue. "He was miserable as they had treated Dobby like Troll Dung, but then one day, the great 12 year old Harry Potter tricked Senior Malfoy into freeing Dobby."
"That's pretty cool," Simon said.
"Oh yes, Harry Potter was a great and noble person he was," said Dizzy then continued his story. "After being freed, Dobby worked for Hogwarts and was the paid one Galleon a month like we are today but we get 4 Galleons a month."
"Ok, so when does he become a hero?" Simon asked curiously. Dizzy smiled.
"When Harry Potter was 17, he was trapped by the Malfoys," he said with venom in his voice. "Dobby appeared and saved Harry Potter and his friends and even got himself a little revenge on his old owners, but then he was murdered by an estranged and insane witch."
"That's horrible," Simon commented.
"Yes most defiantly." agreed Dizzy. "Dobby died a Hero. And when we found this out, the house elves changed their minds, wanting to be free just like Dobby, and some years ago, with the Help of Harry Potter and a Woman named Misses Hermione Weasley and others, all elves around the world have been freed, but with limitations."
"What kind?"
"We can't go to school with wizards or have wizard jobs," answered Dizzy.
Simon nodded. "What are the other jobs house elves do?" He asked.
"We do have elves who run shops and stuff for the house elves, and some wizards do come to them, and we have a transportation service that will take you wherever you want, and we have elf teachers, but only during the summers and Christmas breaks," explained Dizzy then shrugged. "That's all I know."
"Wow, a lot has changed since then," Simon said. Dizzy nodded in agreement. Dizzy then looked at the watch he was wearing.
"I have to get back to work now," said Dizzy.
Simon nodded a little sad having to end the conversation. "It was nice chatting with you, Dizzy. You should visit often so we could talk more."
"As well as you. I work in the kitchens during the day, and they are located behind a portrait of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear," said Dizzy holding up his finger doing a tickling motion. Simon nodded and waved goodbye. Dizzy waved back then snapped his fingers and vanished with a pop. Wow that was cool, he thought.
"What the hell was that noise?" asked someone behind him. Simon looked behind him and saw an older student who just arrived looking around wondering where the noise came from. Simon shrugged, and the older student left common room. Minutes later as Simon sat on the couch in warmth, other students started coming out of their dorms dressed in their school robes and heading out to breakfast. He looked at his watch which said 7 o'clock. Wow, me and Dizzy must have talked longer than I thought talked for a long time, Simon thought.
Simon jumped off the couch and walked up to his dorm. All of his roommates were already up and getting dressed except Joey who was slowly dragging himself out of bed and towards his trunk that lie beside his bed. Simon walked to his trunk and started to pull out his robes so he could get dressed.
"Where were you?" Hugo asked as he walked over to Simon. "I woke up an hour ago, and you were not in bed."
"Did you check the common room?" Simon asked.
Hugo shook his head. "Never came to mind," he shrugged then sat down to put on his dress shoes.
"I was in the common room talking to a house elf," said Simon as he was putting on his red and gold tie.
"Really? What was he like," asked Hugo obviously interested about house elves. Simon grinned and launched into his story about what Dizzy and he had told him. All of his roommates were listening intently, even Joey, while walking down to the common room, carrying their bags. The thing he didn't tell them was the location of the kitchens. He wanted that to be just to himself, at least for now. He might tell them eventually.
"Amazing, sucks that they don't get to have school during the year," said Raphael.
"Yeah, it would be a great benefit for them and if they could have more jobs," added Hugo.
When they got to the common room, Alice was already standing by the door with her backpack over her shoulder waiting for them. She smiled when she saw them or to Simon who was clueless as to why she was looking straight at him.
"Good Morning, Simon," Alice said as she began walking next to Simon and Hugo.
Simon smiled. "Morning," he replied.
"Hugo," Alice greeted.
"Oh, my morning is going to be great," Hugo said sarcastically. "No need to wish me a good one."
Alice and Simon laughed. "You didn't give me a chance," She said.
"Come on, let's get some breakfast," Simon said. His friends nodded, and the trio left Gryffindor tower and arrived minutes later at the Great Hall, sitting at the edge of the Gryffindor table.
"So what do we have today?" Hugo asked his friends as he poured himself some juice.
"We have Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts," Alice answered. "Oh, and we have Astronomy tonight!"
"Sounds like an easy day," Simon said as he then began to eat his cereal.
"Sounds like a long day," Hugo replied. "But it's filled with learning and fun. My cousin, Fred, told me DADA was a fun subject."
After breakfast, Simon, Alice, and Hugo made their way to their Transfiguration lesson. For half the class, Simmons lectured on chapter 1, and for the second half, the students were told to try and change their matchstick into a needle. Some of the students got it on their third or fourth try. Hugo easily figured it out on his second while Simon was surprised to see that it had worked on his first try. Alice, however, was having difficulty and still hadn't gotten it quite right. She even accidently made on of the legs on Abby Clark's desk.
After Transfiguration, the Gryffindors went to Charms class with the Ravenclaws. Simon was lagging behind fiddling with his stuff in his bag and walked in to find that a Ravenclaw had already sat by Hugo and Alice. Simon looked around and saw that there was a seat available next to Gabriel Smith, and sat next to him. Halfway through the class, Simon was listening and taking notes when he noticed the book in front of Gabriel. He wasn't reading it, it was just there.
Simon looked at the cover. It had a man dressed in ancient Greece clothing, and he was fighting against a monster combined of three animals: a lion, goat, and snake. The man was fighting it off a horse with a spear and shield.
"It's Ares, God of War," Gabriel whispered to Simon, who looked up at him. "He's fighting off a chimera."
"Did you say Ares?" Simon asked. Gabriel nodded. Simon nodded back and turned his attention back to the professor wondering if there was something special about his name or that it was just a coincidence.
After lunch, it was time for the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's first class of Defense against the Dark Arts on the third floor. Simon sat next to Alice in this class while Hugo sat next to Penelope or Penny, a fellow Gryffindor.
Moments later, the professor entered. He was wearing a three-piece suit without the jacket and his sleeves halfway rolled up. He light brown hair, brown eye, and a face like a child, meaning he looked very young.
"Good Afternoon Class!" said the professor loud and clear. There were a lot of mumbles and murmurs. Simmons raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come on, I know you lot can do better than that. Let's try it again, and this time with feeling! Now, Good Morning Class!" he said even louder.
"Good Afternoon, Professor," the whole class said loudly.
"Now that's much better," said the Professor. "I am your Professor, Nigel Wolpert! Now, I won't call the roll, because I want you to introduce yourselves so I can know who you are, and how bout you tell a fact about yourself. Let's start here," he said as he pointed at Simon who reluctantly stood up.
"Uh Hi," said Simon as he stood up and waved to the class. "I'm Simon Ares, and many people don't know this, but I'm an orphan but I'm also a pure-blood wizard," he said and some of the students began to whisper. "Yes, both my parents were magical. Oh, and my last name Ares; it's the name of a Greek god, the God of war." Some peopled watched in interest as Simon sat down. And then Alice introduced herself, and so on and so on.
"Now that we're properly introduced let's start class, but I'm sorry today because we won't be doing any magic today cause I will be lecturing," the class groaned. "Aw come on class, it won't be too bad," said Wolpert. He then sat on top of his desk.
"Okay, well, welcome to your first Defense against the Dark Arts Class! I hope that you are all excited to begin learning about protecting yourself against the evil forces of, well, evil! Alright, and if you are looking for the Boring Ole Safety class, this is not it. I promise!" said Wolpert with enthusiasm. "DADA is a class taught here at Hogwarts that focuses on defensive techniques to block spells, charms, curses, hexes, and jinxes cast by other wizard and witches to counteract the Dark Arts, and to protect you from dark magical beasts and creatures." Simon sat up straight and listened thoroughly as he thought that this class was so much more interesting than transfiguration. "Now, let's get to the basics. I want to use our first class as a sort of introduction post, let you know what I my expectations are of this class and see what you want to learn. I will be making the major decisions but for the most part I want you all to have a say in what we learn! I also want to make sure that I cover some creatures/spells that everyone will be interested in! I don't want to be the next Professor Binns!" Some of the students laughed, knowing how boring Binns could be.
Wolpert then lectured about the difference between the dark arts and light arts. Why there are dark arts and about defense. He also talked about what they would be learning in the later days, starting with protection spells. About an hour and 50 minutes later, he was finally done lecturing and the children finished taking some notes, and class was over.
"You know, this may be the best class ever," Hugo said as him, Simon, and Alice exited their DADA class together.
"We still have Astronomy tonight," Alice said. "Maybe that'll be another great class, but it doesn't start till midnight, so, what do you guys wanna do?"
"Let's go down to the grounds," suggested Simon.
Simon, Alice, and Hugo made their way to the grounds and out by the lake and sat down. They all looked out over the lake enjoying the scenery.
"I'm bored," said Hugo a few minutes later.
"Well, what did you expect us to do," said Alice. "Swim in the lake?"
"Well, not sit around and do nothing. I want to do something," said Hugo as he stood up.
"Like what?" Simon asked as he looked up at Hugo.
"I don't know, play Quidditch," suggested Hugo as he shrugged.
"Can't do that you git, we're not allowed to have brooms," said Alice.
Hugo sighed, lied down, and stared at the sky, using his bag as a pillow. Simon stretched out and looked towards the Forbidden Forest, and then saw movement. He turned his full attention to the forest. For a few seconds, Simon didn't see anything. He was about to turn away when he saw it again. There was something moving in the forest. Simon stood up, and only Alice noticed because Hugo had his eyes closed.
"Simon?" said Alice as she looked to where he was staring at. Simon didn't answer back; he just started to unconsciously walk forward. Hugo opened his eyes when he heard Simon's named called. He looked up to see Simon walking slowly to the forest with Alice right behind him. Hugo stood up and ran after them.
Simon then saw more movement and saw it the outline of it. It looked big, about the same size as him and had four legs like a dog or something. Simon, Hugo, and Alice were now at the edge of the Forest. Simon and Hugo looked in curiously while Alice looked nervously and grabbed on to Simon's arm, and the trio slowly walked into the Forest and looked around.
"Simon, Hugo, come on we're not supposed to be in here," Alice said. "Let's go back, please."
"What exactly are we doing in here?" Hugo asked.
Simon didn't answer back. "Simon?" Alice whispered frighteningly.
"Hold on, okay?" Simon replied as they walked in farther.
"Come on Simon, Let's get out of here," suggested Alice who was now scared. Simon looked around and saw no more movement, and nodded.
"Okay, fine," said Simon as he turned towards her and Hugo. "Let's get out of here."
They started walking out of the Forest when they heard a thump that came from right behind the three first years, who stopped suddenly. Simon, Alice, and Hugo froze but then slowly turned around, all of them looking afraid, Alice way more than Simon or Hugo. They fully turned around and saw it. It was a giant spider that was looking at them as if it was angry and hungry, that's when Alice screamed.
The spider looked at her, and then jumped at her first, and landed on top of her, pushing Simon and Hugo away. Alice's eyes were closed tightly and she was whimpering. Simon and Hugo panicked and didn't know what to do so Simon instinctively picked up a small thick branch and swung it at the spider. It hit the spider with a thud. The spider, now angrier than before, looked at Simon. The spider jumped at him, but Simon jumped out of the away just in time. He pulled out his wand racking his brain for something to use which was difficult because he had yet to learn anything. The spider quickly turned around to face Simon, and stared at him with hunger with its eight eyes. Simon heard his, and Alice's named being called, sounding like Hugo, but that wasn't on his mind at this moment.
Then it just suddenly popped into his head. The spell that he had heard on the train had come to mind. Simon then stared the creature down with determined and nervous eyes. He started breathing steady and pointed his wand at the spider. The spider looked at the wand, then at Simon. He was waiting for the spider to jump. The spider suddenly jumped at him, and Simon took this as his chance.
"Impedimentia!" Simon yelled.
The green spell soared and hit the spider, which caused it to freeze in midair, but not for long as the spider then fell, but stood back up to jump at Simon once more only to be blasted away into pieces. Simon covered his face as he was covered with spider blood and guts. Seconds later, someone started walking over as Hugo and Simon ran over to Alice, they all froze when they saw who was coming and just tried to catch their breath. Simon turned to see who it was. It was Professor Simmons. He had an unreadable expression on his face.
"You know, for wandering into the Forbidden Forrest you were forbidden to go into, I could give all three of you detention for the whole year," said Simmons when he had stopped in front of the three Gryffindors. Two of the boys gulped while Alice was still too afraid to do anything. "But on the other hand, the way you handled that was pretty admirable." He then looked at Alice. "Mr. Weasley," called Simmons. "Take Ms. Longbottom to her dorm so she could sleep it off." Hugo nodded and took Alice by hand and led her out of the forest. Simmons looked at Simon who was looking down. "Mr. Ares." Simon looked up at the Professor. "Let's take a walk," he added and began to leave the forest. Simon took one last look at the spider pieces, wiped his face, and followed the Transfiguration Professor.
Simon and Professor Simmons were walking near the lake. Simon was feeling nervous as Simmons was very calm.
"So, Mr. Ares," started Simmons. Simon stared at the ground, nervous about what was going to happen. "That was an amazing act back there in the forest, but you put Ms. Longbottom, Mr. Weasley, and yourself in danger by going into that forest." Simmons finished sternly.
Simon snapped up to the Professor. "But, Sir, I stopped the spider..." but he didn't finish because Simmons put his hand up to silence him.
"Yes you stopped the spider, but it over came that magic," replied Simmons. Simon lowered his head. "You have to look at the different scenarios. What would have happened if you went in there by yourself? What would have happened if the spell didn't work at all? What would have happened if you were too afraid to move and couldn't help Ms. Longbottom? Or what would you have done if I wasn't there to save you?" Simon kept quiet and thought about those questions and felling somewhat guilty. "You can't just rush into certain or dangerous situations without thinking them through." Simon nodded with his head still lowered. "Mr. Ares, I have yet to get to know you, but I'm sure you're a great student." Simon looked up to this. "Let me tell you a story.
"In the year 1996, a 15 year old boy made the similar mistake you did. You see, he was having weird dreams, and in one of those dreams, he saw his godfather being tortured by Voldemort himself. This was happening in the ministry's department of mysteries. So he tried to get in contact with his god father, but couldn't and instead of contacting a teacher or another member of the Order of the Phoenix, the boy escaped from Hogwarts with 5 others to go to the ministry to save his godfather." Simon raised his eyebrows. "So when they got to the ministry, His godfather wasn't even there, neither was Voldemort. Voldemort only showed him that vision because he needed something in the ministry but wouldn't get it himself. Then they were ambushed by about 12 death eaters, or Voldemort's followers," corrected Simmons at Simon's questioning glance. "Only 2 of those 6 were still conscious or still able to fight when the Order of Phoenix showed up. And the boy's godfather showed up to save his godson, but then something very awful happens. The boy's godfather gets killed." Simon looked shocked.
"How?" he asked.
"He was killed by his own deranged cousin with the Killing curse and fell through the Veil of Death," answered Simmons, and looked at Simon's questioning glance and smiled. "Look it up." Simon nodded. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
"I think," answered Simon with a thoughtful look, and then shook his head. "No, I don't."
"Rushing into things you don't fully know about can cause dire consequences," explained Simmons. "You, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Longbottom all could have gotten hurt, or worse, eaten by a spider." Simmons shuddered. Simon gave a half smile of guilt then looked back down. "What drew you into the forest anyways?"
"I saw something moving in there," answered Simon. Simmons' mouth twitched up but nodded. "And it didn't look like a spider either. It only had four legs and was pretty big," he finished. Simmons continued to look at him, but Simon just shrugged.
"Next time, you should warn a teacher," instructed Simmons. Simon nodded. "There are many dangerous creatures in the forest."
"Like what?" Simon asked curiously. Simmons rubbed his chin as if he was thinking.
"Well, giant spiders of course, unicorns, centaurs, thestrals, vampires, werewolves..." said Simmons obviously trying to scare Simon who rolled his eyes.
"What's a thestral?" he asked.
"It's kind of a skeletal horse with wings. Blood attracts them to you, only can been seen by people who've seen death," explained Simmons. Simon nodded and the two looked up and saw the sun starting to set. "It's starting to get late, you should head back to your dorm and I expect you have Astronomy tonight." Simon nodded and began walking way, but stopped and turned back to the Professor.
"Sir?" said Simon. Simmons turned and looked at him questioningly. "Was that a true story you told me?" Simmons gave small smile and gave a nod. "Was it you in the story?" Simon asked.
Simmons just stared back at Simon and then said, "Get back inside, Mr. Ares."
Simon sighed and nodded. "Okay, see you later, Professor." He turned back around, and returned to the castle.
Simon entered the common room and heard some clapping and whooping. He looked up. Nearly every Gryffindor was clapping and whooping, and it sounded like it was for him. A set of familiar looking boys walked up to him grinning like mad men. One of them had black hair and brown eyes, and the other was dark skinned with the same colored eyes both the same height; one James Potter, the other Fred Weasley.
"Well done, mate," said Fred. Simon looked confused.
"I can't believe it, mate. You fought a giant acromantula and with only one spell cheesy spell no less," said James. Simon raised an eyebrow and looked around and saw Hugo smiling and giving him thumbs up. Simon rolled his eyes and sighed.
Fred then picked up a piece of spider off of Simon's shoulders. "Look, James. Spider guts," he said.
"Amazing," James breathed out, taking the guts from Fred.
"Yeah, it's fascinating, but who told you about the spider incident? It's only been like an hour," he asked though, already knowing the answer.
"Oh we have our sources," answered Fred with a mischievous glint in his eyes, patting Simon on the shoulder. "We should go; we have things to do, right James?"
"Right, Fred," James said, and began to leave, but stopped and turned back. "Oh, and another thing." Simon looked up at James and Fred. "I think you should watch out for August."
"Who?" Simon asked.
"August," Fred repeated. "That would be Alice's older brother. Once he hears you took his little sister in to the Forbidden Forest, he won't too happy about it."
Simon swallowed hard. "Alice's older brother?" he whispered. Fred and James nodded, and then left the younger boy to his thoughts.
Simon gulped and sighed then walked over to his friends. He walked up to Alice first, who was being comforted by Penny.
"Hey, are you all right?" He asked Alice.
Alice looked up at Simon and stood up, sniffling. Her eyes were glistening with tears and hands clenched into fists. She came face to face with Simon. At first, Simon had a weird thought she was going to kiss him, which was even weirder because why would he think that, he was only eleven; but she did the opposite, she slapped him with a nice loud smack. Simon held his face where it was now stinging. There were a few kids laughing in the background. Simon looked shocked, so did Hugo and Penny. Alice suddenly ran up to her dorm possibly crying from what had almost happened earlier in the forest.
"What in the world was that for?" asked Simon holding his face where it was still stinging. Hugo shrugged while Penny stood up and answered him.
"Maybe it was because you took her into the forest where she almost got eaten by a spider," answered Penny as she followed Alice to their dorm. Simon looked at Hugo who shrugged again.
"Sounds about right I guess," agreed Hugo. Simon looked confused for a moment, and then started getting angry.
"She didn't have to follow me in there she could have just stayed behind like a good little girl," Simon growled angrily.
"Hey don't growl at me, I'm not one you should be angry with," Hugo said back. Simon sighed and nodded.
Later that night, it was time for their first Astronomy class. Simon, Hugo, and the other first years grabbed their telescoped and were escorted by a couple of prefects all the way to Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower of Hogwarts, meeting with the Hufflepuffs and Professor Sinistra. On the moonlit platforms, there were no desks or chairs.
"Come, come," Professor Sinistra said, waving the students in, standing next to a large telescope. "Pick a spot and set up your telescopes and point the up at the stars." Everyone did so. Simon and Hugo were in the middle of the group where Simon noticed that Alice sat with the other Gryffindor girls at the front of the group. "Now, look into your telescopes, and tell me what you see," Sinistra said.
Simon looked into his telescope seeing many stars, and the moon. "I see star," Joey spoke up.
"Those are not just stars you're looking at," Sinistra replied. "Those are constellations, and planets, and planets' moons! You are looking at the future!" Simon and Hugo shared a puzzled glance as the Professor continued to talk about Astronomy.
Simon looked through his telescope, at the moon which happened to be full, when suddenly; he felt a prick in his lip. Simon hissed, opening his mouth and touched the inside of his lip, where he felt the prick. He looked at his finger and from the moonlight, he could see a drop of blood, but that's when he noticed his fingernails. They were elongated and pointed.
"What the –"He breathed out as his heart quickened in fear.
"Hey, Simon," Hugo said, causing Simon to jump. "Check this out, I found a comet." Hugo straightened up and looked at Simon who quickly pocketed his hands, hearing a rip.
"What?" He said.
"I found a comet, want to see?" Hugo asked.
Simon quickly shook his head. "No, no thanks," he said.
"Okay," Hugo said, the continued to look through his telescope, "But you're missing out."
Simon turned away and looked at his hands. They were the still claw-like. "What the heck," he said to himself, instinctively licking his teeth, feeling that some of them were pointed. Simon opened his mouth wider and touched his teeth which were definitely now fangs.
"Simon?" someone called. Simon snapped around and saw Lori Thomas. "Are you okay?" she asked, mostly noticing Simon's eyes, which were glowing. "Your eyes are glowing." Hugo, Raphael, and Joey heard her and looked up at Simon.
"Whoa," Raphael said in awe. "They are glowing."
"That's cool," Joey said. "How are you doing that?" he asked walking towards Simon.
"Stop!" Simon hissed. "Don't come any closer!"
"What? Why?" Joey said. Simon didn't answer, as he looked around for the exit.
"Simon, are you alright?" Hugo asked, as more and more students wondered what was going on. "Simon?"
"I'm fine," Simon answered.
"Whoa, why do you sound different?" Raphael asked.
"Students, what's going on?" Sinistra asked loudly. "You're supposed to be listening and learning!"
"Something's wrong with Simon," Joey pointed out.
"What? What is it?" Sinistra asked, as she began making her way through the students. "What's wrong Mr. Ares?"
"It's nothing," Simon replied, covering his hands. "I'm fine, really. Just go back to teaching."
"Alright, then," Sinistra said, turning around. "Alright, children, back to the stars." Simon sighed through his nose in relief, thinking to follow up on the mystery later and looked through his telescope seeing the moon again. And suddenly, he felt pain in his ribs. He screamed out, grabbing his ribs. Everyone turned back to Simon. "Mr. Ares, are you sure you're alright?" Sinistra asked.
"Yeah," Simon groaned out. "I just need to go to the restroom."
"Okay, fine," Sinistra said. "Mr. Weasley, help escort Simon to the bathroom." Hugo nodded and turned to his friend.
"Si – "
But Simon was already on the move down the stairs. "How did he get there so quickly?" Hugo spoke and then ran after Simon. Hugo was dunning down the stairs and looked down seeing Simon was already halfway down. "Simon!" Hugo shouted, and quickened his pace. Minutes later, Hugo exited the tower just in time to see Simon turn around the corridor towards boys' restroom. "Merlin, he's fast," Hugo breathed out and began running towards the restroom.
A couple of minutes later, Hugo finally entered the restroom, breathing heavily. "Simon?" he called.
"I'm fine," Simon said from a stall.
"What happened back there?" Hugo asked, walking up to the stall Simon was in. "Something's up, I know there is."
"I'm fine, Hugo, really," Simon replied.
"Come on, Simon," Hugo said. "You can tell me anything. I want to help."
"Alright, okay, but you can't tell anyone! Promise me!"
"Alright, I promise," Hugo replied, and then the stall door was unlocked. Hugo slowly pushed the door open, and his eyes widened at what he saw. His eyes were the bluest, his fingers were claws, his ears pointed out, and his teeth were fangs.
Simon looked up at Hugo. "What's happening to me?"
A/N: There you are, chapter 7. Deep Mysteries. What is happening to Simon? Why does Simmons know some of Harry Potter's past? Is that really common knowledge? What do you think? And why is Harry looking into Xander Simmons? Who is Xander Simmons? And What is with Simon and these visions? What kind of wand does Simon wield? Find out next time on Simon Ares: Mystery Boy! Haha.
