Disclaimer: I do not own Hogwarts, Harry Potter, or any other places or characters, etc. in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series.

Rated: T

Chapter 10: Knights

"You tell her that she better watch herself next time. We'll let her off the hook for now, humf!" That was Trix's voice for sure. Looks like I just missed the party, because I could hear a whole bunch of people go out the door. I peered a little out of the hole to see my stall door was opened, probably banged open, but before I could investigate more I heard movement. One person remained, and that person sighed and walked into my stall. It was Madrie. I felt sorry for leaving the mess for her to clean up. It was not a nice thing to do to a friend, but I am not used to having friends. I mean, I have been in the same room as her for five years, yet it is this year that I really got to know her, because of the buddy thing. I was unsure as to be grateful to Tom for that, since it was unintended. Madrie was pulling out some soaked clothes from the tub, my clothes. Good, my property did not suffer too much damage, because a little water could not do too much harm. As Madrie wringed my clothes dry for me, I swiftly slithered past her feet into the hall. I transformed and peered into back into my stall. "Madrie, I'm sorry for not giving you a hand, I didn't know they would bother you so much, too."

She jumped. "Where were you?"

"Hiding, until Trix's temper goes down… My mother is going to be mad now… I'm supposed to be in good relations with that brat."

"A-huh… Thank goodness my family is from the south, we do not have much contact with you pure blood northerners so I just need to maintain good relations with everyone on an equal basis. No need to pay extra attention to the Blacks for me, since they really cannot affect my family besides claim how our standards have dropped because of all the mixed marriages. I seriously am starting to miss my sister-in-law, she made good cakes even though there were no magic to it. Trix said some horrible things, about all the ways she could curse you for showing attitude to the Black family. It's horrible the ways you can abuse magic."

That was Madrie's second speech of the day, and that in itself tells you how much of an unusual day it was today. On a usual day, she would have stopped at 'A-huh'. Madrie was still trying to wring the clothes dry. "Stop. Here, give them to me. Aguaciutto."

"Where did you learn that from?" inquired Madrie, when I took my clothes from her and with a twist of my wand dried the clothes with a short incantation.

"I read too many books." Without a house elf, you tend to learn a lot of things. That was the truthful answer, but I did not really lie, because I do read a lot of books.

"Hmm… I'll let you change then." And she left without another word, like normal, with her luminous brown curls bouncing as she went. I changed and returned to my dormitory after dumping my laundry. I took out my Ancient Runes work. I put my arm on the table, and my hand in hair as I tried to translate the passage. I had no idea how to even start. In class it makes sense, but when I do it on my own, I swear my homework is written in a different language than the one taught in class. It's all a conspiracy to make a student's head spin. Why did I take Ancient Runes again? Oh yeah, to see if I could find anything related to the ancient curse my family and I are under.

"Do you want help with that?" Madrie was standing behind my shoulder. "I'm from Egypt, you know. My family has to deal with many ancient inscriptions, and runes. It would be no problem for me."

"I thought you were only good at Herbology."

"Thanks."

"I mean, it seemed to be the only subject you liked."

"Yes, but I am skilled in Ancient Runes. Just don't want my parents to know that I am that good at it. I want to do some Herbology stuff in my future, not pore over ancient scriptures like my father usually does. If they see that I do not have skill in Ancient Runes, then I am free to do what I please. I will not be bothered or 'convinced' into becoming a part of the family business."

"You know, you are talking a lot today."

"I know; my mouth's starting to hurt from all the strain. It's been an odd day. If things get worse, my parents might take me home. I am so far from home as is; they rather have me close than to have my life at risk here even if it means I will have to stop my studies. And if I have to leave, my parents will take it upon themselves to educate me, and there will be no end to the Ancient Runes work I will have to do then. It's all they know how to teach. So I am kind of on edge about all this heir and monster stuff, because it might put my dream to become a herbologist at an end. I told my parents in the last letter that the monster is only targeting mudbloods, and that I will be able to safely study. They replied saying accidents can happen and that the heir may attack me because my sister in-laws are muggles. Yeah… huh… Thanks, I feel a lot better now that I have told someone. You want help or not?"

"Sure," I smiled back weakly, patting her hand; it's what my mother did to me when she wasn't wailing. It was comforting. I wish I had simple enough problems to share like that. Madrie was great help for I was done in no time. Madrie went to tend to the young plant she had brought into the dormitory last week. I took up a book that I had gotten from the library. It was about the many uses of wolf bane. I glanced up at the time piece then at Madrie, she smiled back in understanding. It was noon, lunchtime. Hungry as I was, having vomited earlier anything that was in me, I wondered if the other half of the day would be mercifully normal.

"Slytherins! To the common room, now, hurry up!" It was Slughorn. Maybe we were going to go to the Great Hall for lunch. I followed Madrie down to the common room. "This is the decision the Minister of Magic Leonard Spencer-Moon and Headmaster Dippet has come to; students will now be escorted class to class in groups by the knights in armour. If you miss your knight escort, be sure to catch up with it. And buddies must make sure their partner is there with them in the group or must stay behind with them. If your buddy is with the group, you are not required to walk beside them. That is an amendment for those of you having difficulties with your buddy, which reminds me that I am also to now consider new buddy pairings for those of having difficulties to the extent as to want another buddy. The knights will now be patrolling the school at night, and they are told to take anyone they see after 7."

Professor Slughorn took a pause, "Yes, be glad that the Headmaster decided not to send you all to your dormitories earlier. Many of the Professors wanted you all back to your Houses after dinner. Two teachers will be sleeping here in each House now on. Professor Amardo and I will be the teachers for Slytherin. And all Quidditch practices are to be supervised by the Head of House." Slughorn sighed in the direction of the Slytherin Team Captain after he said that, as Professor Slughorn will now have to get up early in the morning so the Slytherin team can go to practice.

"Before every meal, the knights will escort you to your houses and from there after a five minute intermission the knights will escort you to the Great Hall. After the meal, each house is to follow their knights back to their house. Now for the seniors, meaning the fifth, sixth and seventh years, you may find you will not have an escort to your class, since we have only a limited number of knights, so you are to proceed to your class as usual with your buddy. Juniors-"

"Professor, how do we not have enough knights? They are everywhere in this castle!" It was a seventh year girl, whose name was on the tip of my tongue, but alas I could not remember. But I could remember that the girl was a scaredy-cat, most definitely not a Gryffindor. Last year she had bumped into a door while walking down the hall and screamed. It was quite an embarrassing scene. She looked like someone had walked over her grave. Even I was not as absent minded as to walk into a door that had been held open for the whole day, every day of the year. Professor Simfon liked keeping his classroom door open so everyone could hear his music class as they walked down the hall, even if it was not always music to the ears. This year though he kept his door closed. Who would want a blood thirsty monster that is threatening the school to be attracted in by a symphony?

"Well, Hogwarts has grown remarkably since the time the knights were stationed to protect us in a time of need. So we are a few short. And you seniors know how to protect yourselves more than the juniors, so all the juniors' classes will be covered. And since each class means there are two knights for each house, a good portion of the knights will be busy. And there are far more different senior classes than junior classes, meaning more classes but fewer students per group to cover for the senior years. So the Headmaster and Minister of Magic saw that they had best focus their defences around the youngest and least experienced of the school. If any juniors are found purposely avoiding their knight, their house will lose points, they will earn themselves detention and they will be questioned as to why they were avoiding their knights."

"It is terrible what has happened, and I would like the house of Slytherin to be showing the proper respect to the victims. I do not want parents and the other houses muttering about how uncultured the Slytherin house is being. It may be the heir of the founder of this house that claims to be doing all this, but do not forget that it is your classmates, your teachers, the very fabric of your life and this school that is being affected. Look at me lecturing away, it's not like you all have been through enough already, Professor Merrythought and Dumbledore must be rubbing off on me with all their logical explanations… By Merlin's beard, how much those two discuss things… " Indeed, people were talking a lot more than they usually do today, I thought. There was a rap on the entrance. "Ah, it's time for lunch and that would be our escort."

A whole bunch of silver armoured knights lined the walls of the dungeon just outside of the Slytherin Common Room. They were silent. It was strange. It took a second for it to click to me as to why I felt that the knights looked so odd; it was because they were not breathing. They seemed to have no life at all, like they were the same statues around the school as always, except that they were moved down to the dungeons. The Slytherin house filed out behind Professor Slughorn, and was silent at first watching the knights, wary.

Who knew if the knights had enough life in them to actually watch back from the faces hidden by their helmets? I had never wondered about the knights before and wondered if there was a book in the library about it. Was the knights animated armour or souls of past knights restricted to haunting from within their armour? That is if the second is even possible, the only way you could make the dead alive, besides being a ghost, to my knowledge is to make them an Inferi, which is extremely dark magic. It is such a complex piece of magic that I thought then that I would never see such magic ever in my life. I would have been right had I not have fallen in love with a certain someone.

Some of the more adventurous of us Slytherins tapped on the metal of the knights as they marched alongside with us to the Great Hall. But none of us had yet developed the nerve to speak casually, so it was a rather quiet and solemn walk with only the buzz caused by many people whispering to disturb the silence. It seemed much was the same with the other houses, only the Gryffindors seemed slightly more thrilled at seeing the knights of Hogwarts come to life. Well, it's hardly any surprise considering knights are the iconic breed of the brave. As I entered the Great Hall just after the Gryffindors, I even overheard one sixth year Gryffindor saying, "-knights are supposed to be over a century old, and possibly created at the time of the Hogwarts founders."

"Really, Minerva, do you reckon they were real knights from back then though?"

"No, maybe representations of the great knights of the time, but I hardly think Augusta-" and the two friends veered off towards the Gryffindor table. I watched them go, as I headed to my table. The brown haired girl I think is the prefect my fellow house members tend to complain about being rather bossy and strict when she monitors the halls. Of course, the prefects do not monitor the halls now, only rarely do you see a prefect walking down the halls alone. So her name was first name was Minerva, with the family name Kilburne, if I recall correctly. It was not a name on the Pure-Blood Directory, but she was not muggle-born. Perhaps she had muggle blood mixed in somewhere back in the bloodline.

Goodness, I was becoming like Walburga and her obsession with knowing the bloodlines of people. Ever since Tom asked me to pick out the Tao twins I have been analyzing all the blood purities of random people that pass by. It was important to know as if they were pure-blooded I could save them from Tom's wrath. Take Madrie for example, her family name Hadras was not on the directory but that was because it was not a British pure-blood family but an Egyptian one. Though with the fact that both her brothers married a muggle, the Egyptian directory, if there was one, will probably cross that name from the list.

As I settled into a spot on the Slytherin table, I realized that in my pursuit to sit afar from the annoying Sly Sisters I had sat next to my estranged cousin. Second year Eileen Prince was my cousin through my father's sister. And since the connection was through my father's side, we did not acknowledge each other. As the Darcini family blamed my mother for my father's abandonment of the wizarding world, and we were not about to go and beg to be acquaintances. Sad perhaps, but we acted as if we had forgotten the family gatherings we played together when we were young. Both of us were quiet, as neither of us were bothered to fix our families divide. Actually the only person that attempted to salvage it was my sister Aurora, the second child in my family, quite simply because loved to stir up a little drama. She wanted to hear all the family gossip from my father's side of the family, as it was far more to be found among them than my mother's much smaller side.

I soon had my attention diverted to the teacher's tables. The Minister of Magic was present, standing beside the Headmaster. "Students, if I may have your attention please. I know you are worried, maybe frightened and hungry. It is all the more reason that you pay attention closely now."

The Headmaster paused to ensure he had the attention of every student, "Hogwarts is under attack from within. Things will not be able to continue as it always has in the past at Hogwarts. The sooner the culprit is caught, the sooner we can put all this behind us. Whoever you are, I ask you to listen to what I have to say. What is to gain by ridding the world of magicians? How does a wizard of pure blood have any more potential than a wizard with tainted blood? What about not having pure blood rid you of the right to live life to the fullest or even lose you the right to live? If you have had personal issues with the wandless, then I am telling you now, as your headmaster, as an old man who has lived many years, this is not the way to resolve or overcome that issue. Why must others be punished for your misgivings about Muggles? Stop this, and we will clear up issues. We will not send you to Azkaban if you cooperate with us now, but if you do not within the next 2 days then the Ministry will not hold back on their verdict for the crimes you have committed. You will most certainly be at the very least condemned to Azkaban. Now the Minister of Magic, Mr. Spencer-Moon would like to have a few words with you."

He talked about pretty much the same thing as Headmaster Dippet; he was beseeching the culprit to confess. He went on to explain how there would now be a ministry official always present at Hogwarts starting tomorrow until the ordeal is over. Anyone who has any information concerning the tragic events happening was to speak to the ministry official. He encouraged the silent wide eyed students staring at him to have courage and speak out on any information they have on. I sneezed. My sister Aurora always talked about how someone must be thinking about you when you sneeze randomly. I think she got it from her in-laws because my mother never talked about it. Anyways, I had a distinct feeling it was Tom, probably worrying about me going to have a conversation with the ministry official.

When the minister finished, the headmaster commenced lunch. I turned to my plate, and causally glanced around my table to find Tom looking at me with a dangerously dark look. I debated smiling back at him to reassure him. But when I saw Trix looking at from me to Tom, I ignored them both and served myself a mound of food. I was starving, and if I was to deal with those to two anymore today I do not want to do it on an empty stomach.

Classes remained to be cancelled for the day, and the school seemed like it was mourning. Whether if it was over the recent tragic events or the fact that all the houses were cooped up, it was hard to tell, but it was all together sombre. It was good for me because I spent most of my time reading beside Professor Slughorn in the common room while he read as well. It kept Trix away, and Tom was nowhere to be seen. Thus, I happily finished reading about the various uses of wolfbane, without having to deal with Trix or Tom. Slughorn at some point woke up and answered some questions with homework for anyone who cared to ask.

The knights escorted us to dinner, and I avoided sitting anywhere near Trix and Tom. Everyone seemed to be in a sour mood, for there was a lot of grumbling. After dinner, I was back beside Professor Slughorn with another book. He spoke a little with some of the seventh years about some of the careers they were considering. But not long after, he fell asleep in one of the couches. Just before seven o'clock, Professor Amardo came in and sent the rest of us to our dormitories while grumbling about the fact that he had to sleep in the common room. Professor Slughorn snored on. I watched Professor Amardo transfigure one of the other couches into a bed, as I climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Thank goodness, the day had finally come to an end.

.

Note: Minerva Kilburne is different from Minerva McGonagall