Hi all!
Hope your day has been good. This is the last chapter of second year. I hope you all enjoy. 3
The castle was nearly completely dark, total blackness only held at bay by the light from a few scattered stars and the dying embers produced by the torches mounted on the walls, their enchantments for a never-dying-fire long faded. All the students had returned to their Common Rooms hours ago. Well, all except one Slytherin boy who had snuck out of his dorm room in search of the Transfiguration Professor.
Somehow the castle like this, quiet and dark, was spookier then it had been on Halloween when all manner of monsters had been scattered throughout the labyrinth of stone and staircases. Magnus supposed it was the lack of other students around that bothered him, the absence of laughing and chatter or good-natured arguments between friends on their way to their next classes. Just eerie silence.
Magnus turned a corner; the boy was taking the long way to the Transfiguration classroom in hopes he wouldn't run into any Prefects. It had been several months since that eyeless monster had tossed Merlin's Ring to him under the alias of Asmodeus' property and ever since then Magnus had been debating with himself whether or not to tell Ragnor. Initially, Magnus hadn't mentioned it to his guardian because while being lectured about going into the Forbidden Forest sucked, he'd just been too scared. Scared of what that ring meant about him. Scared that if Ragnor found out Magnus had something that had once been his father's, the Professor would finally start to see Magnus as everyone else did, then days had turned to weeks and months had passed before the boy knew it and that small little dragon had become a welcomed constant in Magnus' life. He'd grown fond of it.
Admittedly, The Slytherin had a weakness for things that didn't leave.
Magnus gripped one hand on the cold rail of the great staircase as he started climbing the enormous marble structure that stretched high into the castle. The boy paid extra care to where he stepped, the marble stairs were littered with traps, one wrong move and the Slytherin would be stuck there until morning or at least until one of the Prefects on a patrol found him and well, let's just say the boy would prefer jumping into the Black Lake instead of that.
But Magnus had to risk getting caught because the Slytherin didn't know if he'd have the courage to get rid of the ring tomorrow and that little dragon he'd grown to care for was - had been - Merlin's Ring and Magnus knew he, a thirteen-year-old wizard, probably shouldn't have it. Logically It should be locked up in a vault somewhere, someplace secure so no monster could ever control it again.
The boy turned the last corner, being careful to pay attention to what objects were in his path, students tended to drop rubbish, broken quills and all sorts of knick-knacks wherever they fancied around this area and any loud noise, say the crunch of a quill under a boot, wouldn't only attract fellow wizards but also Peeves the poltergeist. A fate worse than death.
Eventually, by some miracle, Magnus managed to reach the Transfiguration classroom without getting caught, trapped or lost. A sliver of warm light was spilling out into the hallway as a result of the door not being closed completely. It was late at night and everyone in the castle, student and teacher alike, were sleeping. Yet Ragnor, ever the odd-one-out, was still in his classroom no doubt hard at work. Just as the boy had predicted.
Before Magnus could open the door and no doubt receive a harsh-yet-well-meaninged-scolding the Slytherin was stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice that most certainly wasn't Ragnor's.
"She's furious. You do understand how dangerous that is, correct?"
Professor McGonagall
"Of course, I do but she has no reason to blame us, no evidence, she can't do anything." Ragnor's voice, though Magnus could only hear it faintly through the wood of the door, was his no-nonsense-this-is-Hogwarts-business-voice.
Magnus disliked that voice. inherently.
The Slytherin had been in the process of backing away from the classroom door, about to turn around and head back to his dorm because breaking curfew to chat with Ragnor was one thing but being spotted by the Headmistress wouldn't only get him into trouble but it would reflect badly on his guardian too. However, Magnus had been stopped from making his hasty yet noble retreat when the boy had accidentally heard what was said next.
"The ring was stolen under her watch, Minerva. Not ours. We returned the artefact, we put a barrier around the forest, no student or staff member has entered Fairy Territory. We did everything, it was her fault. Not ours."
Magnus froze.
The boy glanced down at the silver dragon curling around his pointer finger. They couldn't be talking about Merlin's Ring because he hadn't stolen it….
A chill washed over Magnus because that monster had given it to him.
"Well regardless, the Queen blames us." Professor McGonagall started, Magnus would have sworn he heard a trace of fear in her voice. No one would ever believe him though.
It felt like Magnus had been trying to put together the pieces of an annoyingly complex puzzle this whole time not knowing what the final product would look like, but it was as if someone had finally shown him the complete photo and Magnus could suddenly see how the pieces fit together.
One of his father's zealots had tossed the dragon ring to him - believing it was rightfully Magnus' - before running off to lead the centaur herd away. meaning It must have stolen it from the fairies. Magnus had a feeling Simon would be very proud of his detective skills, he'd read some Sherlock Holmes novels as per the other boy's insistent requests. Ragnor's words had also confirmed what Magnus had already suspected, that the dragon ring was also that mysterious artefact of mystery that Ragnor had been unnecessarily secretive about.
The fairies, they wanted it. Merlin's ring.
What the actual fuck had he gotten himself into?
"Why in Merlin's name would we give it to her then immediately steal it back?" Ragnor sounded tired as if the Professor didn't have the energy to even think about the situation, let alone deal with it. He sighed before continuing. "What's she going to do?" The Transfiguration Professor asked, concern evident in his voice. Almost as if he was afraid of the answer.
"The Seelie Queen has informed me that since she's feeling benevolent this century." Magnus hadn't thought he'd ever describe the Headmistress as sounding sassy but here he was. "She'd continue to search her territory and only come looking for the ring amongst our lands when she's completely certain none of her subjects are in possession of her precious ring." Magnus could practically hear the sneer the Headmistress no doubt wore.
"Well did you tell her that if we find it, we'll make sure the artefact is returned to its rightful owner?"
There'd been a lot of revelations today, Magnus wasn't sure of a whole lot but one thing he did know for certain was that he wasn't going to tell Ragnor he was in possession of the ancient ring anymore. The Transfiguration professor would just give it to the fairies and Magnus didn't know why but his magic turned ice cold in his veins at the thought. The Slytherin didn't know what he'd do with the silver dragon, but he knew somewhere deep in his bones that the fairies should never have it.
He'd ask Alexander what to do, Magnus resolved. Over the last two years, Alec had become his soundboard, his confidant if there was anyone Magnus trusted with this it was his Alexander and-
His Alexander. Where in the name of the seven circles of hell had that come from?
Magnus decided these were probably thoughts for later when he heard the Headmistress start to speak again. "Of course I did Ragnor, but I seldom think she believed me." At this point, McGonagall sounded just as tired as Ragnor, "The ring isn't even hers technically." The Headmistress muttered as if she was a child trying to get the last word in on an argument.
"Well its last owner was Asmodeus, so the owner can't really get any worse than that." Ragnor muttered and something inside of Magnus' heart collapsed. That foolish, naive illusion that Magnus had built himself that Ragnor somehow didn't care about the terrible things Magnus' father had done collapsed like a dying star. The boy didn't want to dwell on any of the panicked thoughts that popped into his mind. Did Ragnor blame him like everyone else? did the older man see Magnus as nothing more than his father's legacy? Did the Professor regret taking him in?
"Ragnor…" the Headmistress sounded hesitant. "Do you think there's even the slightest chance Magnus is involved somehow?" She sounded sorry for asking. Sorry for making Ragnor consider the possibility. The silence that followed made Magnus wish he was anywhere else.
"No." Ragnor decided on saying after a few moments. "He's got a knack for getting into trouble and a talent for magic the likes of I haven't seen in years yes….but Magnus is nothing like his father."
It was as if a crushing weight had been removed. Magnus almost let out a sigh of relief but then he remembered he was eavesdropping on a conversation and really, really should have left ten minutes ago because the Slytherin was playing with fire and sooner or later he was going to get caught.
The boy started to quickly back away from the door only to realise his shoelaces had been tied together. Magnus toppled over and collided hard with the cold stone floor.
Peeves really was a hideously evil little prick.
The worst part was that the boy was sure Ragnor and McGonagall would've heard the loud thump produced by his collision with the ground. Sure enough, not a moment later Magnus heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door, the boy struggled desperately to undo the knot the ghost had created but the hallway was dark, and the stress and fear of the situation made the Slytherin's hands shake meaning untying the knot before the door opened was downright impossible.
The boy's ears heard the creek of the wooden door being opened fully and suddenly Magnus was bathed in the square of light that stretched into the hallway from the Transfiguration classroom.
Magnus froze, the boy didn't even dare breathe as he stared up at Ragnor, who was in the doorway. Magnus felt sick with guilt. The Slytherin had been eavesdropping on their conversation. He'd actively betrayed Ragnor's trust.
Maybe he was exactly like his father.
The boy waited for his guardian to say something, anything. Magnus almost wanted to be yelled at, anything was preferable to utter silence but instead, the Professor didn't even meet Magnus' eyes which was somehow worse than any scolding.
"What was it Ragnor?" The Headmistress asked, the boy could hear her voice much more clearly now, the fear that was there was unmistakable.
"Nothing." Ragnor responded sounding skeptical and Magnus almost made a noise of surprise but the boy bit down hard on his tongue to stop himself.
"I thought I heard something though." Professor McGonagall said appearing in the doorway as well, to survey the hallway for herself.
"As did I." the Transfiguration Professor responded and they both continued to look out into the hallway, looking straight through Magnus for a few moments more. The Slytherin's muscles were starting to ache as a result of staying completely still in quite an uncomfortable position for so long. However, after what felt like an eternity, the door finally closed and Magnus was once again thrust back into the shadows and darkness of the hallway. Well, it was almost dark, save for a faint blue glow that was coming from somewhere nearby.
The boy glanced down to his left hand at the dragon ring there, almost out of habit at this point, to find its eyes open and glowing an almost painfully bright blue. The boy could feel power radiating from it in waves.
It had its own magic, somehow. The metal dragon must have made him Invisible (as a cloak would) or done something akin to it as a way to protect him and at this point, Magnus was so emotionally drained that he didn't have the energy to be surprised by Merlin's Ring anymore.
He'd definitely have to tell Alec about all this too. After exams obviously. Finals were next week and most of their grade was on the line and it wouldn't do much good to worry about all this until after.
They'd figure it out together or at the very least his friend could offer Magnus some much needed reassurance or advice.
When he'd initially arrived at Hogwarts, Simon had really only seen the differences between the wizarding school he was at and the mundane one he'd been planning to attend. However, now that he was a little older and not fighting change with both tooth and nail anymore the boy found himself finding a lot more similarities.
Hogwarts for all its gothic aesthetic and old-fashioned technology - that made Simon feel like he was in a fantasy novel most days - really wasn't all that different from a mundane boarding school. Well, except for all the magic and the fact that no one could recognise a Star Wars reference to save their life.
As much as wizards were different from Muggles, their teenagers certainly acted the same way his sister had when she'd been having to sit exams. Wizards, it turned out; still got snippy when exhausted, came up with ridiculous excuses to avoid due dates and stressed out about their workloads just as well as any normal human.
Right now It was that magical time of year when all the students of the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry were being tested on how much they had learned and though the seventh and fifth years had it the worst with O. and N.E. it seemed all the students, no matter the year level, were a mix of stressed, worried and anxious.
Simon included.
in a last-ditch effort to calm himself down, the Hufflepuff boy forced himself to take many deep breaths as he waited outside the Charms classroom before his exam. Professor Flitwick had all the Hufflepuff second years lined up outside waiting for their names to be called and their knowledge tested.
Alec was waiting behind him in the line, the other Hufflepuff was fiddling with his willow wand. The raven-haired boy had said two words to Simon when he'd tried to start a conversation with him. Stop talking.
Even though Simon's attempt at starting a conversation had been more than 50 words as the Hufflepuff boy did have a tendency to not stop talking when he was nervous and right now Simon was really nervous, he was still a tad hurt by Alec ignoring him.
"Simon Lewis." Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice called from within the room and when had he gotten to the front of the line?
The boy entered the Charms classroom. Large windows, blackboards and bookshelves lined the walls, it had three rows of currently empty wooden desks, all facing the teacher's table, behind it sat Professor Flitwick who looked almost comical sitting in a large upholstered chair with a high back. On the desk in front of the Charms Professor sat a simple apple.
"Welcome Mr Lewis," the head of Ravenclaw house said as Simon took the unoccupied seat in front of the man's desk. "You completed the theory part of your exam yesterday, now the practical aspect awaits." He gestured to the apple. "Your task; to use the Shrinking Charm on the apple and then use the Engorgement Charm to return it to normal size." He smiled at Simon as if what he was asking didn't make the Hufflepuff's heart try to break free from his rib cage.
Reducio was the incantation for the Shrinking Charm and Engorgio was its opposite, Simon knew the spells and what their wand movements were, he'd memorised those, but that didn't really help his situation a whole lot.
The Charms Professor turned over the golden hourglass on the left of his desk and nodded at the second year boy, indicating that Simon should start the spell any moment now.
The boy hadn't done great in his Transfiguration exam, they'd been asked to turn their familiars into water goblets, unfortunately, Yossarian had kept his tail, one paw and his pair of annoyed looking eyes after Simon had performed the spell. Needless to say, the boy had ended up with a very angry water goblet and a below average on the practical part of the Transfiguration exam.
Simon pushed those thoughts from his head, the boy had long since accepted he'd never be as gifted with spells as Magnus or Alec or that he'd never have Jace or Clary's gift for connecting with their magic, but Simon had put in so many hours fighting to catch up with them. Most days of the week he'd been in the courtyard practising and the Hufflepuff would be damned if he let all that work be for nothing.
He could do this.
"You should probably consider starting, Mr Lewis." Professor Flitwick said with a voice of concern and the Hufflepuff boy glanced at the hourglass realising with a jolt of shock that a quarter of his time was already gone.
The boy raised his Rowanwood wand at the blood red apple, feeling a bit like Glinda the Good Witch. Simon's hand shook slightly and the Hufflepuff boy tried to calm his nerves. "Reducio." the wizard muttered and he felt a slight tug surge through him as his wand tried to manifest his magic in the physical world. Nothing happened to the apple though. Simon took a deep breath and shut his eyes. He could do this. "Reducio."
After a few moments of hoping and some silent prayers to Yahweh, the boy opened his eyes to find the apple was no bigger than a button.
"YES!" Simon exclaimed in a mix of frantic joy, relief and surprise. The boy jumped into the air in a burst of excitement. "That's what I'm talking about!" His smile was almost painful.
Simon was brought back to the real world when he heard Professor Flitwick clear his throat and Simon's face started to burn hotter than the fire in the Hufflepuff common room.
"Half a minute left, Mr Lewis." The Ravenclaw said, there was a small smile on his face and a light in his eyes, something purely happy at witnessing a student get a spell right.
"Right..um...yes.." Simon stuttered before he raised his wand again.
In the end, he'd managed to make it grow back to half the original size but the apple had also turned a sort of purple colour but at the end of the day, Simon considered that exam a win.
They were officially done with second year now and at this point, the large scarlet steam engine that took them to and from the castle had become quite familiar to most of their cohort. Thus, finding an empty compartment wasn't too much of a challenge this time around.
Alec thought that the journey home on the Hogwarts Express passed relatively similar to last year. They all complained about the recently finished exams. Jace and Maia had an argument about the relevance of question 4 on the theory part of the defence exam and himself and Clary both agreed, something that rarely happened, that the Potions exam expected too much in such a short amount of time, much to the annoyance of Magnus and Simon.
Then the topic of conversation moved onto what electives they'd all choose for year three. Clary and Maia were both adamant on taking Care of Magical Creatures, Simon was pretty sure he'd take Arithmancy, Jace and himself were thinking about studying Ancient Runes and Magnus….
Magnus hadn't really said much this whole trip.
Out of the corner of his eye, Alec watched Magnus fiddle with the silver ring on his left hand as Clary tried to convince Jace to take Care of Magical Creatures with her. Alec knew his brother would cave and accept the redhead's request sooner or later. Jace was crushing hard.
Upon noticing him looking Magnus sent Alec a half-hearted smile that didn't quite reach his eyes before the Slytherin forced himself to re-join the conversation.
Yesterday, Alec had been in The Owlery sending Telum and Angelos home early - they both hated their cages and the bumpy ride home on the train - when Magnus had found him and told the Hufflepuff all about that terrifyingly dangerous ring.
Magnus had told him everything and then looked at Alec in a way no one ever had and asked what to do, Magnus was scared, the Hufflepuff could see that, he hadn't known what to do and so he'd went to Alec for help.
And the truth was Alec was scared too. the prospect of Magnus having something the fairies were hunting for, something the Professors wanted to give back, made Alec feel sick with worry but Magnus had told him that he couldn't give it back. And if the Slytherin said they shouldn't have it then Alec believed him. The Hufflepuff trusted Magnus more than anyone.
Magnus had confessed to him in that drafty stone tower that, though he couldn't give it to anyone Magnus was afraid to keep Merlin's Ring because ever since he'd come to Hogwarts the Slytherin felt like he'd been walking in the footsteps left by his father, Magnus told Alec that choosing not to throw it in the Black Lake or lock it up in a vault somewhere felt too much like taking another step on that predetermined path.
Alec would've set the world on fire if it meant driving away the darkness and fear in Magnus' eyes.
Alec hadn't been able to give his friend any great advice, he'd told Magnus to trust his gut and do what he thought was right. Alec had also reminded him to remember that he wasn't anything like Asmodeus.
"You know I'm always going to be here for you, Right? No matter what." He'd asked and Magnus had agreed without hesitation. The Hufflepuff had just wished he could've done more, instead, they'd headed down to the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast, Magnus' Ring vanishing somewhere along the journey.
Speaking of. "Did anyone else think McGonagall's leaving speech was freaking unnecessarily ominous?" Simon asked. "It felt like something straight out of Independence Day." Everyone including Clary gave him a confused look, "You know the 1996 movie, the amazing one."
The confused looks continued, some turning to annoyance.
"Regardless, Simon's got a point." Jace said but continued speaking so fast no one could react to him saying those words. "I mean the whole; Darker times are coming for your generation, your world is changing and in years to come I think some of you might find yourselves being challenged in ways you never expected but I know in the end you'll all persevere." He did a high-pitched voice in an attempt to impersonate the Headmistress and Alec wondered if McGonagall would either laugh at its inaccuracies or transform Jace into a two-headed frog if she ever heard it.
"Yah, like chill, we know puberty is a thing, you don't need to remind us." Maia muttered causing Clary and Simon to giggle.
The rest of the group continued to banter and poke fun at McGonagall's words while Alec met Magnus' eyes. The Hufflepuff could see his own thoughts reflected in them, darker times were eventually going to find them and Alec knew that Magnus - because he was Magnus - would end up right in the centre of the chaos and Alec would be there too because whatever metaphorical or physical darkness Magnus was going to face, Alec would be right by his side, no matter what.
"Or you know, she could be trying to warn us of the upcoming apocalypse, either or. You never know." Magnus said while snatching one of the Chocolate Frogs Maia had brought from the trolley.
The Slytherin and Alec had both agreed not to tell their friends about everything because the more people that knew the easier it was for one of the Professors or, Merlin forbid, the Fairy Queen to find out.
"Well according to my sister puberty is probably worse than the apocalypse so I'll gladly take the Hunger Games or Ready Player One instead." Simon replied with a smile only to realise that most of them wouldn't get the references. "Mark my words, one day I'm going to force you all to watch something. Probably Star Wars"
"Merlin Save us." Jace said causing Simon to frown.
The group of friends continued to bicker and chatter and laugh until the scarlet steam engine arrived at Kings Cross Station. Alec glanced outside the window to see the crowd of families eagerly waiting on platform 9 and ¾ and sighed. Though the boy's heart leapt at the thought of seeing Max again after months of talking through letters, Alec's stomach sank at the realisation he'd have to spend months at home with his parents, months away from Magnus.
The six of them got off the Hogwarts Express and goodbyes were said until someone spotted their families, Alec had been taken completely by surprise when Clary had pulled him into a quick hug that ended almost as quickly as it had started before leaving with Simon, though they didn't really get along Alec couldn't say he hated her.
The next to leave had been Maia. She'd hugged Magnus, waved to Alec, flipped off Jace, then disappeared into the hustling and bustling crowd.
Jace had exchanged a quick goodbye with Magnus before the blonde had walked over to where the first years were standing, in search of Izzy. Alec turned to the Slytherin, a sad smile on his face, "See you in September then." Most friends arranged times to meet outside of school over the holidays but though Alec's parents had basically disowned him the Hufflepuff knew they'd sooner forgive him then let someone with the name Lightwood be friends with a Bane.
"I'll count the days."
"Don't get yourself into too much trouble, Magnus." Alec muttered pulling the Slytherin into a tight hug.
"No promises." Magnus replied after a moment, before pulling away one hand still on Alec's arm. Magnus looked at him in a strange way for a few seconds before taking a breath and starting to speak. "Alexander I-"
But Alec would never know what Magnus had been planning to tell him because at that very moment Max Lightwood had burst through the crowd and exclaimed; "Alec!", Interrupting what Magnus had been saying, before running over to his older brother.
"Hey, buddy." Alec replied and knelt down to remove the height difference between himself and his youngest sibling so that Max could hug him properly, Alec glanced up at Magnus and sent the other boy an apologetic smile witch the Slytherin waved off.
"I missed you." Max said with a bright smile that only a 6-year-old could manage, after breaking free from the hug.
"I missed you too." The Hufflepuff replied before ruffling Max's hair, mostly because the youngest Lightwood hated when his older brothers did that.
Max, seeming to remember there was another person nearby, turned to Magnus and held out his hand in a greeting. "I'm Max Lightwood." He gave a toothy smile, looking every bit the perfect, pure-blooded son of a high wizarding family.
Like who Alec used to be.
"I'm Magnus." The Slytherin replied, deliberately choosing not to include his last name. Max didn't seem to notice though.
"Are you one of Alec's friends?"
"Yeah, he's one of my best friend."
"Cool! I can't wait to go to Hogwarts and meet some new people," Max tended to babble when he met new people though. "Most of the other kids my parents want me to play with are older than me and the Blackthorns are boring.". Max muttered before his eyes widened in shock. "Please don't tell them or my mum I said that." Max begged the boy under the assumption that Magnus would associate with the same families theirs' did because he was Alec's friend.
"You have my word." Magnus responded trying not to laugh at Max's pure distress and Alec didn't know why the sight of them getting along so well made him almost giddy. The Hufflepuff would never show it though.
Max smiled at him before turning and looking back at the crowd for a moment, "Alec, there's Jace and Izzy, they're already with mum and dad," he pointed to the group in question before grabbing his older brother's jacket sleeve and starting to walk over to them, dragging Alec, his helpless victim, after him.
The Hufflepuff turned his head while walking and mouthed I'm sorry to Magnus and the Slytherin just laughed to himself before waving goodbye to him.
I'll see you soon
Woo! That's second year done, only 5 more to go! haha
Question: Anything specific you want to see in third year (i.e what electives, situations, more of something, less of something, Ect)