Agena

by JErosion

Under the ever watchful eye of Professor Dumbledore. The Last Heir of Slytherin walks the halls of Hogwarts. Now, with his guilding hand he hopes to correct a mistake he made nearly half a century before, with the girl's father. Chapter 14 up.

14. Chapter 13 Year 1

Agena

JErosion

Chapter 13 – The Truth in the Details – Year 1

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She almost skipped as she went down the stairway. Agena was very happy to say that she was completely finished with her Charms Exam. And since there was little reason for Professor Flitwick to keep her there, he had allowed her leave the classroom to spend the rest of the day as she pleased. The only problem with this arrangement, was the awkwardness she felt in being the first one in her class to rise from their desk in order to turn the exam in.

As she stood up to deliver her test to the Professor, she heard Daphne make a small and very telling whine. In all likelihood her roommate wouldn't be joining her anytime soon. And Daphne wasn't the only one to make a sound because she had finished first. She heard one Hufflepuff boy mutter, 'No way.' And when she walked past Pansy Parkinson, the girl had the audacity to try a tripping hex on her. But Agena had no reason to worry. Since they weren't allowed to have their wands out during the written portion of the test, Pansy's attempt at whispering out a hex was feeble at best. But even then Pansy wouldn't have been able to manage any real spell work in front of Professor Flitwick. Despite his diminutive stature man was very sharp, he wouldn't miss such an errant curse, nor would he miss where it had come from.

Professor Flitwick squeaked happily as she handed her test to him. Her cheeks colored slightly as he said that he knew that she would have been the first to complete the exam. And while his eyes began to scan over her answers, Agena turned her head back towards Pansy and flashed her a victorious smile. Pansy just gave her a sour look, then again with the way her nose turned up she always had a sour look on her face.

Agena couldn't say that that the test was easy. It was just that she... knew the material and didn't have any trouble answering any of the questions. Beside most of this was just memorization. She already knew that she had earned an Outstanding on her Charms Practical. But that's merely just half of how their grades were determine. A practical exam and a written exam. Both grades were averaged to make a final grade. Agena figured it was done that way to allow those who knew the material to catch up if they had trouble preforming the actual spells, and vice versa. Meaning those that made the top grades were people who knew both the material and had the ability to preform the spells.

It seemed that after her detention in the forest everything had gone by in a huge rush. Her her end of year exams had come much faster than she had expected. Even most of the older students had become bogged down by their preparations to take their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. But none of it was really a problem for her. Aside from a little extra reading for History of Magic she didn't really feel the need to do too much. She reviewed most of the material by tutoring Daphne and a few others in her house.

In truth, Agena would have preferred to use her time learning some new spell or perhaps continue with her experiments on that one bit of magic she had been working on. She was much more aware of the actions she took while she was in the forest. As well as just how her magic had flowed out of her wand when she had cast it on that... thing. In fact she was very sure that she could reproduce the spell again.

She could have gone down to that unused dungeon classroom and practiced on her own. But given the volatile nature of that spell she was reluctant to try it without the presence of Hollis or Annette in the room. The memory of what she had done to her cousin was still fresh in many peoples minds. Ultimately she just didn't want to risk expulsion by burning down part of the school.

The morning after her detention Professor Snape had called her back into his office. As soon as she sat down, he began to question her on what happened the night before. She told him as much as was willing to. She left out certain details, her procurement of those unicorn hairs for one. She didn't want to risk having to give them up. Also she felt the need to omit the part were she used that spell to fend off that creature. She just skipped ahead to the part were the centaur had appeared and sent the monster fleeing into the forest.

But truth be told the Professor wasn't interested in the small details of her walk with Harry Potter, he wanted to know about that thing that attack her and the Gryffindor boy. She did her best to tell him everything that she could remember about it. The dark cloak it wore, the jerky and slithering movements it made and the creature's red eyes. But when she mentioned the eyes, Professor Snape's face changed and his eyes became very distant for a moment. He then dismissed her before she could relate the rest of the story.

She could tell that something about her description of it had bothered him. She was bothered as well. At the very end she was almost certain now that that thing had spoken to her in Parsel Tongue. But that knowledge just left her wondering just what that thing was? It had a human shape, but at the same time it's movements were anything but human. So was it a serpent or a human? Or was it something in between? Or something that was neither? She tried browsing some of the books in the library, trying to see if she could find any reference to what it might have been. She even went as far as to borrow The Greengrass Field Reference from Daphne.

Of course is should be noted that book wasn't exactly something one could take with them into the field. It's size and expense made it more of a desk reference than anything else. But the information it held was far more complete that what was found in that other book by that Scamander fellow. Unfortunately even Daphne's book hadn't been much help. The closest things she could find in that book was a reference to a race of intelligent creatures know as Nagah. But there had been no sighting of them in over a thousand years. And even then the last recorded sightings were all in India and Southeast Asia.

Whatever it was, Agena couldn't say. But all she could do was think back about the way Professor Snap had reacted. Before she had left his office that day, she saw him staring at the wall rather blankly. But also... he was holding his left forearm with his right hand... It was odd, but it looked like that arm pained him in some way.

Agena's feet fell on the third floor landing. She was about to turn towards the next length of stairs down when she paused and looked over at the closed door on the wall. It was the third floor corridor, the one that was off limits. She remembered what Hermione had told her. That on the other side of that door was a giant three-headed dog. Her Gryffindor friend had later mentioned that it's name was Fluffy. She also said that it belonged to Hagrid. That wasn't too surprising, Nymphadora said that he had a great love for large and dangerous animals. For a brief time he was also the owner of a dragon, so why would it be odd that he would be owner a Cerberi.

She stepped quietly up to the door and pressed her ear up to the wood. She couldn't hear anything on the other side. So she took a few steps back and looked around the stairwell. It looked like she was the only one around. She then pulled her left foot back and then kicked the door as hard as she could manage without breaking anything. The door rattled on it hinges and she then quickly put her ear back up to the door. She could hear a deep growl from the other side, actually she could hear two of them. There was another sound beyond the door, that of a heavy chain being dragged across the floor.

She stepped back from the door and looked around again. She pulled out her wand. She looked at the door handle. She had never seen a Cerberi before, she reached out with her free hand and jiggled the handle. It was locked. Again she peered around the large stairwell, there wasn't anybody else in sight.

"Alohomora." she whispered. Agena then heard the lock click inside. She had about to place her hand on the handle, when she stopped. This was the sort of thing that would only invite trouble. Then again she had never seen a three-headed dog before. She eased the door open as slowly as she could, hoping the door hinges would make as little sound as possible.

She didn't have to open the door that much, before she caught sight of one of the Cerberi's back paws. She didn't risk opening the door anymore than what she already had. The dog was enormous. it's back paw was wider than her shoulders. And if she opened it anymore it might attack. She pulled the door closed, and did it much faster than the pace she had used to open it. As a result the iron hinges of the door squeaked and popped, notifying the beast that someone was there. She heard a series of deep barks echo from the other side of the door.

When it grew quiet again, she checked the door again she found that it had relocked itself. She stepped back from the door and was ready to resume her path back towards the Great Hall, when she stopped. A tiny little thought twisted corners of her mouth into a guilty smile. She turned back towards that door and raised her wand and zapped it again. She heard the tumblers click inside the door. It was unlocked, but it would not open unless somebody depressed the door handle. She then resumed her path down the stairs.

When she arrived Great Hall, she found it only sparsely populated. A few students dotted each table. A few older students that had the good fortune of having a free period, sat together in small study groups. Dinner wasn't being served yet. But the tables did have trays on them that held kettles of hot water, along with saucers and teacups. In addition the trays also held a several small tins each containing a tea bags of different flavors. She opened a few of the metal containers, testing the tea bags inside by smell. Eventually she settled on one and poured some hot water into a cup.

While the tea bag steeped, she pulled two books out of her bag. The first was the notebook that she had been using to record her progress with that spell of hers. The other book came from the school library. It was a rather complicated tome that dealt almost exclusively with Spell Theory. Unfortunately the book's rather perplexing language kept her from understanding everything that it contained. While Agena was confident that she would be make the magic flow out of her wand to repeat her spell, she felt that it might be better if she had some words she could say with it, in order to make it easier.

Agena was afraid to admit it, but the book she had found may just be too much for her to handle. Now she did find one section of the book that held a great amount of promise, it spoke of spell modification. The book even gave two examples of spells she was already familiar with.

The first was a summoning spell, which she had seen Hollis demonstrate during one of their sessions. Point you wand and then utter Accio, and the object you pointed at should float though the air to where you were at. But if you were to want to summon something specific or something over a greater distance, you would have to add the name of the object to are intending to summon. If she just said Accio when she pointed her wand at the tea tray, it might cause any one of the objects on the tray to come floating her way. Now if she were to add a modifier to the spell and say it as Accio Sugar. Then just the sugar bowl should fly her way. A lot of it had to do with how focused the caster was.

Then there was the Wassi spell. That cause targeted objects it was cast on to fly away form it's caster, or to shoot out from where they were held. Like the summoning spell, a modifier was needed if you wanted to target a specific object or for to cause the targeted object to move away with greater speed and force. The only requirement of the Wassi spell was that the modifier word end with a vowel sound. It was a simple concept.

The book went on to explain that this principal could be easily be applied other spells. The key seemed to lie phonics and in syntax. While pronunciation was always important, one must know the meaning behind the words. Because simply changing a consonant to a vowel can open a spell up to modifier words. Of coarse the book also warns that you could open yourself up to the possibility of having a what was normally a safe spell to literally blow up in your face. And the more words that were present in s spell the more likely that making changes would cause instability in the spell.

Agena took hold of her tea cup, the hot water inside had turned into a deep gray-brown. She smiled as it's rich aroma touched her nose and then took a sip. Without the benefit of sugar or honey the tea was bitter and uncompromising. And more refreshing, or so she thought. She always drank the first couple of sips without sweeting it. It was just something that she did.

As she drank she wrote down various points of interest in her notebook. She was merely making notes on information that might prove useful later. She wouldn't be trying any of the things she had read anytime soon, maybe when she had more time and had finished her work with Hollis she might give it a try, but until then they would just remain as footnotes.

Eventually she had to put her work away, as the population of the Great Hall grew too much for privacy's sake. It wasn't until about twenty minutes after the last class bell rang that Daphne came shuffling in with the help of Tracy Davis. Daphne's legs wobbled as she picked them up to cross over the bench. And when she finally sat down, she fell forward. Her head landed on the table with such a tremendous thud, that Agena's tea cup rattled against it's saucer.

"Daphne! Are you alright?" she asked, with great concern over her roommate. When the girl didn't answer she looked toward Tracy for some explanation.

"I don't think she did well." The blond girl said. Her statement cause Daphne to make a small whine.

"Oh, dear." She patted Daphne's back. "Come on, we did all that studying together I'm sure you did alright."

She made another whine and wiggled her shoulders. Apparently Daphne wasn't so confident. It wasn't too much longer she had to pull Daphne up right. The tea trays vanished from sight and they were replaced by the heavy trays that held plates and silverware for dinner. That meant that their dinner would follow shortly. Daphne may have had a rough time, but her day would become worse if a plater filled with a roast were to appear right where her face was.

When their supper was served, Daphne just picked at her her food. And every time she addressed the girl Agena had to call her name several times in order to get any reaction from her. Normally Daphne was the source of most of their meal conversations, and in her current state that left both her and Tracy, with few things to talk about. But Agena wouldn't have done much talking anyway, she was keeping her eyes on some of her house mates.

Honestly she was a little paranoid when it came to certain groups students. Those that hung around the Quidditch team. There was Pansy's circle of friends. A group of fourth and third years that were led by a boy named Hobbs. And most of all, there was Draco's little click. She knew that some measure of a retaliation was going to come from him at some point. He came from the sort of people who didn't let things go.

And speaking of which, she saw him and those two cretins he hung out with approaching. She didn't think they were coming for her. They had just finished eating and were heading back to do whatever it is that they did. It was just that they would have to pass her in order to leave out of the exit the Hall. She smiled. A guilty sort of smile.

"Daphne" she patted the girl's shoulder.

"mmm." Daphne grunted. She didn't really take her eyes off of the food she was pushing around. So Agena could only accept the girls vague utterance as a yes.

"I'm gonna need you to watch our stuff. Me and Tracy are about to do something."

Daphne just grunted again.

"What?!" Tracy whispered in shock, she had heard her name being used in conjunction with 'doing something.'

"I'm serious, I tell you!" Agena said suddenly over Daphne's slouched form. Tracy's eyes grew wide with confusion. "Then entire room was filled with gold!"

"w-w-What are you..."

"shhh!' Agena interrupted her, before she turned away and narrowed his eyes. "You need something... cousin?"

The blond haired boy looked taken back, but she would have to guess that he had heard what she had said. Before Draco could react she stood up and moved away from the table.

"Come on Tracy." she took a hold of the bewildered blond's hand and pulled her up, and then processed to drag her out of one of the Great Hall's side entrances.

"w-What's happening?" Tracy cried. Agena quickly pushed her towards an archway that led to some stairs that could take them all the down to the dungeons. She looked back towards that entryway that they had come out of. A moment later she saw a thin shadow move into the beam of yellowy light that came from the Hall, then two larger shadows joined it. Excellent.

She waited a second later and then moved herself and the still very confused girl that was with her into the stairwell. She had to make sure that he had seen them.

"I'm really sorry, Tracy." she apologized, in a hushed tone.

"w-What... what is this all about?" she asked confused as to what was happening. Her hair had moved out of her face for a moment. Agena could see that her brow was furrowed in worry.

"I'm just pulling a little prank on someone, but I'm gonna need your help to pull it off."

"mm... a prank?"

"Yeah, I just need to play along. So, can you ?"

"i-I..." she hesitated. Her head drooped, covering most of her face with her hair. Her balled up hand came up to the side of her face in a nervous gesture. But she then nodded.

Agena smiled and then turned her head towards the doorway they had just passed though. They were out there, she could feel them. Moving closer, inching forward with quiet footsteps.

"You remember what Professor Dumbledore said at the beginning of the year." Agena started with a clear voice. "That the third floor corridor on the right hand side of the school was off limits."

Tracy was still for a moment before she nodded. But that wasn't what Agena had meant by playing along, so she made a circular gesture with her hands and mouthed for the girl to say something.

"Ah, yeah." she squeaked. "It's off limits for everyone who... Who did not want to die a horrible death."

Agena smiled. That was what she was looking for.

"Right. Well when I got out of Flitwick's class I was starting my way down to the Great Hall when I overheard Filch talking with Professor Dumbledore. They were talked about how a bunch of Goblins from Gringotts were coming in tonight to count what was on the third flood. And then I remember what the Headmaster said about that corridor. So I went over to the main stairwell and I went up to that door. It turns out that it was unlocked, so I opened it up and took a look inside."

She paused on purpose. To peak some interests of those that were listening.

"What was in there?" Tracy asked on queue.

"Gold as far as the eye could see. And they weren't even stacked neat or anything, they piled up on the ground in these huge mounds. There was so much there you could fill up your pockets and nobody would notice. I even nicked a hand full."

"uh,... r-Really?"

"Yeah, I thought about getting more, but once dinner was over, but the hall would be full up with other students. And by the time it thinned out, it would probably be past curfew, not to mention those goblins would probably be here."

"Are you... going to go back?"

"I don't know," Agena said. "I already got me some... And if I go back I might get caught. Did you want to go?"

Agena shook her, trying to signal to the blond girl the answer she wanted her to give.

"umm,... No... I really don't... I don't want to take something like that..." Tracy said, preforming beautifully.

"Well, no worries then. Just sit with me and Daphne on the ride home. When the snack trolley comes along everything will be on me," Agena said try to sound jovial. She turned to look at that door way. Draco wasn't there. He had moved away. She waited a moment. She moved over toward the archway and peered out into the hall. She caught sight of the three boys, they were walking away slowly from where she and Tracy were at.

Both Crabbe and Goyle were huddled close to Draco. Their heads lowered slightly as he was no doubly telling them what he had just overheard. The trio was heading towards the main stairwell. She couldn't have planned it better. She ducked back into the stairway and waited a little, she would have to follow them. Otherwise she wouldn't know if they really fell for it or not.

"Um, Agena. Was that it?"

She turned and smiled at her. Then in an act that caused the thin girl to squeak, Agena wrapped her arms around her in a firm hug.

"You did great."

Tracy blushed at the praise. Agena then quickly led the girl out of that stairway and back towards that side entrance of the Great Hall.

"Listen, I'm gonna follow them. Its probably better if you go back and check on Daphne."

"w-Wait!" The Davis girl protested. "What's in that corridor?"

"Agena?"

Both Tracy and Agena turned to find Daphne shuffling up to the entry way. She had a big frown on her face.

"Did I hear you say something about a room full of gold?" she asked uncertainly. If she wasn't so pressed for time she might have laughed at the girl's delayed reaction. But Agena didn't have time to explain what was happening.

But Agena didn't have time to explain. She had to follow them before they got too far ahead. Agena just apologized and said she would tell them both later before she ran off. By the time she reached the stairwell they had already reached the the upper lengths of the second floor and were about to reach the third. Agena quickly ascended the stairs, clinging to the walls so that she was less likely to be noticed.

One might ask, why she was doing what she was. But there was no nice or simple answer for it. She like to think that she was preforming an act of justice. She had been given detention for defending herself and her work. Not only did she receive detention but she also took Draco's place in the detention that he was suppose to have served that night. However in the weeks since she had served her detention, Draco had yet to make up for his original infraction. His detention was suppose to rescheduled. Yet he was the one walking around and going unpunished. And as far as Agena was concerned, that was just not right.

She tried to be cautious in her pursuit, by ducking into shrunken doorways and archways that existed from point to point along the stairways. She it seemed that she didn't have to try too hard to keep from being seen. The largest of the group, Goyle, was trailing behind the other two, and he didn't even look back once to see if there might be someone coming up behind them. But she moved out of the cover once they had made it up to that third floor platform. She positioned herself so that she could see them.

And then it occurred to her, that on some level, that maybe, just maybe, this wasn't such a good idea. On the other side of that door was a giant three-headed dog. She wanted to give Draco a good scare, and if those two idiots that followed him around got caught up in it too,even better. A best one of them might even need to a change of underwear when it was all done. But then again, that was a giant three-headed dog in there. And there was a good chance that they could get hurt, or killed. And if to prove that idea, the air above her was filled screaming. And that screaming was followed by the booming barks of three-headed beast. All three of the boys went crashing to the guardrail on that upper platform.

A feeling of relief fell over her, as well as a sense of victory. They didn't get hurt, just got scared shitless. And that was exactly what she wanted. And then a white beam of light shot from an upper level and flew towards that door, when it hit the entire wall shook as the door slammed shut.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!" A voice bellowed from even higher above. She thought for a moment that it was Professor McGonagall, as she was the only teacher that she knew of at this school who was capable of applying such fury in their voice. But no, this voice was male. The teacher flew down the stairs at such a fevered pace, that if it weren't for the white gloved hand that steadied him on the railings, he would have gone tumbling end over end.

But there was Professor Quirrell standing taller and looking more fearsome than she had ever seen during the course of the year. And the three boys, already frightened by their exposer to the dog, cowered even more before him. Was that really Professor Quirrell? Somehow he had transformed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that they should have had. But why now?

"All three of you know that corridor is off limits! You were all told at the beginning of the year! You could have gotten killed! Now get up!" the Professor yelled, as he pulled Goyle up to his feet. The boy still in shock from his ordeal with the dog began to flail about. And in doing so, he grabbed a hold of the Defense teacher's forearm.

Quirrell yelled again, and tossed the boy towards Draco and Crabbe nearly knocking the two back on the floor.

"I don't want to see the three of you anywhere near this door again! You hear?!" he growled loudly. "If you even think about it, I'll hand the lot of you over to Filch!"

With that the boys began to half stumble and run down the stairs. But Agena's eyes stay fixed on the teach she wasn't sure she had ever seen before. And then he turned and saw her. At once his face faltered, changing to that of fright.

"c-Culverin? Ah,... What are you doing here?" the anger that was in his voice had also seeped away.

"I heard screaming" Agena answered quickly and evenly. She also had wand in her hand, although she couldn't rightly recall exactly when she had drawn it.

"t-There's nothing t-t-to worry about. Y-You s-should just go back t-to you dorm."

"Yes, sir." she said, and then looked to her left where a paler than usual Draco was walking up. He looked confused and angered. Not too surprising considering what had just happened. And it was just occurring to him now that he had been duped into going into that chamber. She glanced back up at that platform and saw that Professor Quirrell had disappeared.

"What you... full of gold. You lied!" she heard the accusing voice of her cousin.

"And you should know better than to eavesdrop." She said without turning to him. She still stared up at that platform.

"You... your going to pay for that!" Draco seethed.

"Something is happening." Agena said, ignoring the threat.

"What?" he asked after a pause.

"Or something is about to happen." She speculated outloud. She then walked away, ignoring the confused and angry questions that came from her cousin, about what she had meant. But Agena could tell that something was about to happen, she could feel in the air. Something involving that door lend to that third floor corridor.

When Agena had returned to the Great Hall, she found herself facing a rather thorough interrogation by Daphne. The Greengrass girl was back to her usual energetic self. The dreary mood that had taken hold of her earlier that evening, had largely passed with the intervention of a little food and time away from a writing desk.

She held nothing back as she recounted the details of her evil deed. She started by revealing what lay on the other side of that door on the third floor. Tracy seemed especially aghast, considering the role she had unknowingly taken in Agena's prank. She was still had a thing about not offending any of the pure-blooded members of their house. Daphne's reaction was completely different.

"A doggy!" She exclaimed brightly, using a voice that was an octave higher than usual.

Agena stared blankly at her roommate, wondering if the girl had even heard the giant or the three-headed part that made up the animal's description. But Daphne did ask her how she knew about the... doggy. Agena told both girls that she had learn about it though Hermione Granger.

How the Gryffindor girl along with a few of her house mates had accidentally run into that chamber in an effort to escape that horrible old Mr. Filch. Despite having known this for several months, Agena had never really thought about taking a look inside that corridor. In truth she had nearly forgotten about the dog altogether, at least until she had walked past that door earlier when she had finished her test in Flitwick's class.

Agena then told them that after she had seen the dog herself she had come up with the idea of pulling the prank of her cousin. She did leave out her last minute concerns that the boy and his friends could have gotten killed. But on a certain level she knew that wouldn't happen. From what she had been told and from what she had seen, the young Malfoy was just like his father. And that alone meant he would escape just in time to avoid what would most certainly be a most gruesome fate.

And to her expectations Draco escaped with nothing more than disappointment and a bruised ego. But truth be told Agena was more distracted by the thing that happened with Professor Quirrell. Agena wouldn't have believed it, had she not seen it with her own two eyes. Something wasn't right. But something about him had never seem right to her. He gave her a queasy sort of feeling that she couldn't really put her finger on. But if she had to describe it, she would have to say that it felt... it felt... foul.

And the way he yelled at Draco, it didn't make sense. How many times had something potentially dangerous occurred right before him and he do nothing about it other than look for another authority figure? How many times did he just cower before his own students? So why the sudden change? Why so angry? It couldn't have been just because of that dog. It had to be something else.

But there lay an important question. Why would such a creature even be put inside of a school like that? Unless... Unless it was to guard something. What other use was there for a three-headed dog? Even in legend, Cerberi were reputed to have been used to guard the gates of the underworld. So what could be so important that one would dare to utilize such a beast?

Like she had told her cousin, something was about to happen. She couldn't explain why she felt that way. It was just that she did. And she felt that it had something to do with Professor Quirrell and what ever the Cerberi was guarding. But what?

And as much as she thought about it, she was missing something. Some vital clue that would put everything together. But the more she thought about it, the further the solution seemed to get. She had plenty of uninterrupted time to think about it. The Slytherin dormitories were particularly quiet, as the pressures that exams brought had induced a certain amount of lethargy in her house mates, causing them to retired to their rooms right after dinner.

Those in their third year and above had as many as four additional classes, compared to what first and second year's had. While Agena was pretty sure that she could manage any additional workload. There were those in her year who couldn't handle what classes they had now. She considered Daphne for a moment and hoped that she didn't do too poorly on any of her tests.

But most of her evening became devoted to the mystery surrounding Professor Quirrell. But despite her best efforts nothing really came to her. She eventually just resigned herself to just go to sleep and not worry about it. There were many other things to worry herself with. But her attempts at getting some rest did not last long. As no sooner had her head hit her pillow, she bolted back upright.

One tiny little detail had just snapped into place. She yanked aside her bed curtain and reached for her want. An instant later she was hopping towards the door, with her bathrobe on one arm and both of her slippers in one hand. She chided herself for not have seen it earlier. It was so obvious now, she had stared right at it.

She had to see Professor Snape, but at this hour she wouldn't be able to do it on her own. And there was only one person who could help her. She ran as fast as she could, she didn't even pause to put her slippers on. She was in such a hurry that her mind didn't even register the cold and dampness of the floor below her. In fact she was going so fast that she nearly passed up the door she was was trying to reach.

She skidded to a halt, or at least skidded as much as one could against such a floor. She cried out as she stumped her toes against an uneven section of the flagstone floor. She staggered back, hopping on her other foot until her shoulder went into the oaken door she had stopped in front of. Trying to regain her balance she grasped blindly at the door handle, but in doing so she hit the door knob with enough force that caused the door to swing open, leaving her to fall to the floor. It whole thing might have been comical if her foot didn't hurt so much.

"Agena?"

She swung her head around, hearing the voice of the person she had come to find. Annette was at her desk, her legs were folded up so that her heels touched the chair cushion. A small book lay open on the desk. Agena noticed that her nightwear was surprisingly muggle, for someone who came from one of the old families. But she shook the thought out of her head, she had more pressing issues.

"Annette! I need your help, I have... you wear glasses?" Agena trailed off, momentarily forgetting what she had come to do. Annette immediately pulled the thin oval frames off of her face.

"They're for reading," she said uncomfortably, her face colored as she made the claim. And then sound very much like Professor McGonagall "Now you care to explain what you are doing on my floor at this hour?"

"I... I need you to take me to Professor Snape!" She exclaimed. She tried to stand back up, but she hissed as she put her weight on her left foot. Apparently she did a little more than just stump her toes.

"What did you do?"

"I think... I think I might have broken something." She whined slightly, her eyes watered as pinpricks of pain shot up her leg. Annette sighed and eased herself off of her chair. , a strode over to Agena. She bent down and took a hold of her foot and looked over the appendage with some scrutiny. Her little toe and the one next to it were puffy and red.

"Can you wiggle any of them?"

Agena gave it a shot. But she cried out as those two digits failed to comply with her mental commands.

Yep, broken. I guess that earns you a trip to see Madame Pomfey."

"Wait! I can't go to the Hospital Wing yet! I have to see Professor Snape!"

"Whatever for?"

"It's important! It's something that he has to know."

"Can it wait until morning?" Annette asked, suddenly sounding a little annoyed.

But Agena shook her head.

"No, it can't wait."

"More important that broken toes?"

"More important!" Agena said nodding her head.

Annette frowned.

"What is it?"

Agena took a deep breath. What could she tell her?

"I... I really can't explain all of it. I just have to tell the Professor, he'll know what to do."

"Alright." Annette said after a bit of a pause. The older girl then stood up to her full height. "I'll take you, but your gonna have to get there under your own power."

At first Agena wasn't sure what Annette meant by that. But as it turned out that there was no ambiguity behind her words. Annette didn't even so much as raised her wand to help Agena as they moved through the Slytherin common room and then into the dungeons.

Agena grimaced as she followed the older girl, but she held in every gasp and every tiny sound of discomfort. As she followed Annette kept glancing back at her as if she was testing her. And Agena wasn't about was determine not to break. As they progressed further into the dungeons, Agena noticed a small smile that seemed to grow on Annette's face. Like there was a tiny bit of pride that grew with every step they took. Or... it might have been because that deep down inside... Annette was secretly a sadist.

The only real consolation Agena had was the cold dampness of the stone floors had numbed her foot a great deal, but even then it didn't numb everything. So tried very carefully to just to use the heel of that foot. The cold seemed to her foot to a ghastly shade of white... Well, everything except her those two toes had. They seemed content to change from the irritated pink they were earlier to an ugly shade of purple. Agena cast a begrudging look at Annette's back.

"So, Professor Snape has an apartment down here?" she asked quietly. She was aware that they were getting closer to were their classroom was located.

"What was that? You changed your mind, and want to go to the Hospital Wing instead?" Annette asked looking back back over her shoulder.

"No!" Agena snapped. "I just didn't know... that the Professor had a room down here too."

"He doesn't," Annette replied. "Most of the lodgings they have for teachers have are scattered about on the upper floors.

"Then where are we going?"

"Snape doesn't have an apartment down here, but he does have a private lab."

"But... How do you know if he'll be there or not? He could be asleep or something."

"That's possible. But knowing the Professor, he'll still be working. He's like one of those people who can get by with just three or four hours of sleep a day."

As they approached their Potions classroom, Annette suddenly led her down a dimly lit corridor that spurred off of the main hallway. It wasn't long before the older girl came to a stop in front of a dark wooded door that had an ornate knocker set in it's middle. Agena then watched as her guide reached for the heavy iron ring and gave the door three loud raps.

Agena waited for a moment, before she frowned at the blond. She had quickly come to the conclusion that the Professor wasn't in, and they would have to seek out wherever his lodgings were. But just as she was about to voice that opinion, Annette raised her hand in shushing motion. The older girl had an ear turned towards the door and she was leaning sideways towards it. And after a brief pause she smiled and then stepped back from the door.

Then there was the loud click of metal sliding against metal. The door creaked open allowing the warm glow of firelight spill into the hall. As her eyes adjusted to the light, Agena was then treated to the sight of Professor Snape, with his long hair pulled back into a ponytail. And if that wasn't enough the Professor was also wearing a long leather apron and gloves that went up past his elbows. Both of the protective articles appeared to be made out of dragon hide.

At first Professor Snape stared at Annette and then slowly brought his heavy gaze to Agena. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Then her teacher's eyes dropped down to the floor and to her uncovered foot. Snape then gave the glove on his right hand a hard tug. Once he had managed to free that hand he then slipped it underneath his apron and then pulled out a silver pocket watch.

"Seeing as it is already a good two hours after curfew," The Professor said as gazed into his watch. "I suspect you must have a very good reason for knocking on my door."

"Well..." Annette started. "You see, our dear Agena here has broken a few of her toes. I was taking her up to the hospital wing. But she seemed rather instant that she must speak to you about some matter."

Then the spot light was suddenly thrown onto Agena. She tried to speak but with both people staring at her she found that she had some difficultly speaking. Her teacher's face grew expectant and then angry as her hesitance grew into seconds.

"Well?" he demanded in a raised voice. Annette even chirped in comment under her breath. Sometime before morning would be nice.

"I-its... its about my detention from the other day." she began. "The thing that had tried to attack me and that Potter boy... before the centaur came changing out of the woods...I hit it with a spell... that monster...

"What do you mean you were attacked!? I didn't hear anything ..." Annette began to question, but Professor Snape raised his hand silencing her.

"That thing... I hit it with the same sp... the same magic that I had used on Flint during Halloween... And then earlier, after I had finished dinner I saw Professor Quirrell up in the main stairwell, he was hanging around that door to that off limit corridor... And he was acting kind of strange... But the thing is... I saw his arms... they were all bandaged up, and I started to..."

"...his burns." The Professor interrupted in a distant voice. His face changed again, and Agena saw, if just for a moment, a look of fear. Immediately the Professor darted away from the door. With his sudden absence the door began to drift open. Agena's eyes darted around the strangely octagonal room. Cauldrons, scales, and other alchemic devices adorned the shelves that lined the walls. In the center of the room was a heavy stone table that was very much like the ones she worked around in her potions class. And sitting on that table was a cauldron, who's contents were emitting a rings of blue-gray smoke.

The was a sudden woosh and a flash from the left side of the laboratory. Professor Snape stood hutched over in front of a fireplace that was on the left side of the chamber. She watched as he then leaned into the cackling green fire.

"Headmaster? Professor?! Professor Dumbledore?!" His voiced echoed from within the fire. A moment later he wretched his head out of flames muttering "...of all the times to be away."

He quickly strode across the room, untying his apron and yanking off his remaining glove as he went. He stopped in front of a small desk and began to rifle though the contents of it's single drawer. From her angle it was difficult to see what he was doing, but she could see that he was handling some sort brown box or possibly some sort of envelope. And with delicate movements he pulled some out of the dark container. Whatever it was, it was slender and shown with brilliant orange glow.

He held out in front of him, holding it between two of his fingers. Agena then saw the man pull out his wand. She heard the whispers of some sort of incantation and then he touched the tip of this wand to it. With a flash of fire the thing he held vanished.

"Ms. Yaxley." the Professor called as he began to stepped quickly in their direction. He reached to the back of his head and pulled the hair tie free of his head. "Escort Ms. Culverin to the hospital wing and then return to your dormitory immediately."

With that he swept past them, his wand drawn. His look was determine and almost deadly. She really didn't know what sort of man he was. And on some level she didn't want to know. For the first time she considered that man wasn't always a teacher. That maybe at some time in his past he had been something much darker. Like a predator.

"Well... come on." Annette told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. There was a degree of uncertainty in her voice. Agena began to hobble along side her, when the Prefect spoke again. "So? What this monster business all about?"

Agena stopped and gave the girl a frown before she started to walk again.

"I don't know if I want to tell you. You've been rather mean to me, since I fell into your room."

"Oh? And you wouldn't have been mean to someone who burst into your room in the middle of the night?" the older girl argued as she walked next to her.

"It wasn't like you were asleep or anything. Besides it was an emergency! And... I have broken toes!"

"I would have gladly have levitated you all the way up to the hospital wing."

"Yeah, but you made me walk all the way to the Professor's lab!"

"That because you wouldn't tell me why you had to talk to the Professor."

"And if I told you that I though Professor Quirrell was a monster that had attacked me during the detention I served, would you have believed me?"

"Ok... Probably not." Annette admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.

"And if it has escaped your attention, I'm still having to walk."

"Oh, sorry about that... It's just that the spell is a little complicated and I need a moment to prepare for it. And... nothing helps me prepare like hearing the details of what happened during someone's detention."

Agena scowled at her.

"Your full of shit."

Annette just nodded.

"Yes I am. In fact thats one of the ways you get to become a Slytherin Prefect.

Agena shook her head and started to hobbled away. Annette followed closely behind her asking her for information of what had happened. They wound up arguing all the way up to the hospital wing. Annette gave up once they made it to the hospital wing, she didn't seemed to want to keep the argument going in front of the resident healer, Madame Pomfrey.

Madame Pomfrey however took one look at her foot and immediately began to give her a tongue lashing for not having come to see her sooner. The Healer seemed to be able to tell that she made a detour on the way up. But after a few minutes that all change as Professor Snape came bursting into the room. Behind were as two others. The first was that Weasley boy, he looked to be unconscious and was floating lazily behind the Professor. And right behind him, and looking completely frantic was Hermione Granger.

-

Author's Note: Well it's the first chapter of the new year. At this point there is probably only one or two chapters left in the year and then it will be on to Agena's second year at Hogwarts. Also I'm splitting my time between this and other projects that I'm working on. So there. Please Review!