-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
It was uncomfortable for Iris at first.
Having the snake present.
But as Iris moved through the halls, she became used to it, eventually appreciating the cool feeling of the creature's skin as it wrapped itself first around her wrist, then her arm, then her neck.
Eventually, her wanderings brought her to a strange, locked door.
"I want what's in there," the snake whispered to her. "I need what's in there."
Iris reached into her robes and withdrew a key.
It didn't work perfectly, but with some finagling, she managed to get the key into the lock and turn it.
The door opened for her on silent hinges, revealing a brilliant white light.
When her eyes adjusted, she was able to see the contents of the room.
A mirror, it's edges coated in reddish flakes of something was tilted up towards a skylight, so that it reflected the light of the sun directly into the doorway.
It was a little too bright for her, but she felt the snake at her throat constrict slightly as it basked in the warmth of the glow.
The snake pulled its head back so that it could look up at her face.
Iris gazed down into its strange, red eyes.
"I'm sorry," it whispered. Then it bit her.
Iris cried out as she felt its fangs pierce the muscle of her shoulder.
She wobbled on her feet for a moment before dropping to her knees.
Something was tightening around her chest. It was quickly becoming hard to breathe. Her heart felt like it was being crushed.
-o-o-o-o-
Iris thrashed her sheets away and pushed herself up into a seated position.
Her right hand came to rest on her chest, where she could feel her heart pounding away.
She reached up to touch her shoulder.
No bite marks.
She let herself relax for a moment before she reached for her dream journal and muggle pen and began to record what she could remember of the nightmare that had woken her.
When she was done, she reviewed her notes, shook her head, and tossed the book back into its usual spot.
The latest dream was as obscure and weird as every other thing she'd put down into that journal, and the fact that it was more vivid than a normal dream didn't diminish how impossible it was to interpret.
Shirou seemed to think that the kind of repetitive, visceral dreams she was having were important in some way.
And that was honestly the only reason she continued to keep up with her dream journal. Nothing in her real life seemed to link back to the strange things that came up in her dreams.
She certainly would have remembered being in a cold, dark place filled with omnipresent eyes, warmed only by the thin scrap of fabric that shielded her from the gazes around her.
Idly, she twirled the pen around in her hand. Doing so in Hogwarts almost always made her chuckle.
It was a useless skill to begin with but was even more so in a school that primarily used inkwells and quills. But Iris had seen Shirou do it over the summer and had convinced him to teach her how to do it.
She spun the pen one more time, then tossed it over to sit with her dream journal.
It was still quite early. The sun had yet to rise, but there was no chance of her falling back asleep.
Shirou would probably already be awake... and training, most likely. But, she normally took Sundays off anyway and hadn't been planning to join him for training today. Not to mention that her body was still sore from yesterday's Quidditch match and subsequent Bludger shenanigans.
There were always alternatives though, and while anyone else in the castle would probably be less than happy to be woken up at this time in the morning, a certain three-headed dog was always happy to see her, whenever she showed up.
Quietly, she slid from her bed and dug through her clean laundry for some of her less nice clothing.
She had thrown away everything that had been given to her by the Dursleys when she realized that she could buy her own clothing, and had then proceeded to replace her entire wardrobe mostly in Gryffindor colors. Getting some lower end clothing had been important for her so that she would have something to wear when dealing with Fluffy and Otr.
As of now, none of her clothing could be described as 'ratty', though some of her new shirts could definitely be described as 'singed', or 'well-cooked'. Luckily the dog slobber just washed out.
She slipped into some of her 'animal care' clothing and quietly made her way down into the Gryffindor common room, stopping in confusion when she saw the girl sleeping on the couch.
"Ginny?" Iris asked quietly.
The red-headed girl mumbled and sleepily pushed herself up from the couch. A long thread of drool connected her face to the thin, black book she had been using as a pillow.
"Iris!" she squeaked out in surprise. Her hands flew to her hair, trying to straighten it out from the mess it had become from sleeping on the couch.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Ginny licked her lips, realized that there was still drool trailing down her chin and froze in mortification. She quickly rubbed her sleeve over her mouth.
"Did you stay too late at the party? I know Gryffindor always celebrates crazy hard when we beat Slytherin, but seriously..."
Ginny was shaking her head.
"Some prank by your brothers?"
Another head shake.
"... Reading a good book?" Iris nodded towards the black book that still had a small puddle of drool on it.
Ginny looked down at the book in surprise, then quickly acted to wipe away the drool from its cover.
She tentatively looked back towards Iris, then nodded minutely.
"Sun's not up yet," Iris told the girl. "You can grab a few more hours of sleep up in your bed if you want to."
Ginny nodded a bit and then scurried by Iris on her way to the girls' dorms.
Iris sighed. She tried to be nice to the Twins' younger sister, but the girl was unbearably shy and tended to hang out with students who would look at Iris with far too much hero worship.
She shook her head and made her way out of the dorms.
-o-o-o-o-
Iris crouched down next to the door to Fluffy's room.
She was also completely invisible, the crouching was more so that she could eavesdrop rather than it helping her to hide.
"How is Fluffy holding up, Rubeus?" Dumbledore's voice carried through the small gap under the door.
"He's doin' alrigh', Headmaster." Hagrid's voice probably would have carried through the castle's stone walls. "Bit bruised here an' there, but nothin' he won't have all healed up in a few days. Whatever tried to ge' pas' 'em must'a been real strong though, Headmaster. Fluffy doesn' normally bruise easy."
Iris scowled. She would have to stop by later, when there were no teachers around, to make sure that Fluffy was really okay.
"So noted, Rubeus. Did the intruder—"
Iris had to pull away from the door as someone walked up and yanked the door open.
"Headmaster!" McGonagall barreled into the room. "You are needed in the Hospital Wing! Students have been injured!"
Iris leaned into the doorway in time to watch Dumbledore's expression transform from contemplative to worried.
"Stay here, Rubeus," Dumbledore commanded as he maneuvered around some patches of torn-up floor to reach the door.
"Aye, sir,' Hagrid responded resolutely.
"What happened, Minerva?" The Headmaster asked as he left the room and kept walking.
Iris turned with Professor McGonagall and followed the two teachers.
"We aren't certain." McGonagall had to pick up her pace to keep up with Dumbledore, and Iris had to pick up her pace as well to keep listening in. "Three upper year students were found petrified near the Hospital Wing. Poppy remembers them as students that wanted to be around when Gildroy woke up, and Poppy had to keep kicking them out. They were found in front of one of the school's armors. One of them had Transfigured the shield into a mirror, and they were apparently fixing their makeup when they were frozen."
Iris stopped rigid at the news, then stumbled to catch up with the fast-walking professors.
"Have you sent for Severus?"
McGonagall nodded. "Poppy had one of the portraits send a message down to him. He should meet us there."
Dumbledore nodded, and the two professors didn't speak much more as they quickly made their way to the Hospital Wing.
"Headmaster!" A familiar voice called out as they approached their destination.
They turned to see Sella and Leysritt von Einzbern approaching at a rush.
"One of the portraits told me that students were injured," Sella said breathlessly. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Well," Snape's voice cut through conversation as he rounded a nearby corner. "What have our illustrious students done to themselves this time, that it warrants the attention of so many Professors?"
"Enough of that, Severus," McGonagall snapped as Dumbledore opened the doors behind her. "Three of our students have been petrified. This is no time for jokes."
Snape snorted disdainfully but kept his peace as he followed the other professors into the Hospital Wing.
"It is as I feared," Dumbledore mumbled as he took in the three students occupying beds in the room.
The three upper year girls were all strangely pale and unnaturally still. With the way they were posed, they looked like awkwardly realistic mannequins. One was frozen while putting lipstick to her lips. Another was running her hands through her hair, the strands of which were also strangely still. The last one had apparently finished her makeup and was posed with her head to the side, making a strange kissy face.
"Petrified," Sella whispered as she touched one of the students. "What happened to them?"
"We're not certain," Dumbledore said morosely. "But petrification is a very dark magic, and not easy to cast. No student could have done this, and I would be hard-pressed to think of many adult practitioners that could cast it onto three people at the same time."
"A gorgon then?" Sella asked.
Dumbledore paused to consider the Alchemy Professor. "You are well versed in magical creatures."
"A good Alchemist should know where her reagents come from," Sella replied. "Gorgon blood is used for various life extending concoctions."
"It's very expensive," Leysritt supplied.
"I doubt very much that a gorgon would be able to get into the school without any of us noticing," Dumbledore said.
"How did the troll from last year get in?" Leys asked.
"... Last year's Defense Professor snuck it in."
The assembled teachers turned to look at the other occupied bed, where Lockhart was still blissfully unconscious.
Sella shook her head and returned her attention to the three petrified girls.
"That is a discussion for later," she said sternly. "Mandrake Restorative Draughts are the cure-all for any kind of petrification, they should do, even for a case as serious as this."
"Indeed," Madame Pomfrey spoke as she stepped up to the group. "A rather delicate potion that we do not have in supply."
"I see." Sella turned to address Snape. "Leysritt and myself are proficient potioneers, should you need assistance with brewing the Draughts."
Snape scoffed at the offer. "Were I to make those potions, I have no need of assistance when brewing such simple things."
Sella stiffened in indignation and Leys actually growled slightly.
"What do you mean, Severus" Dumbledore spoke seriously, drawing all attention to himself. "When you say: 'were I to make those potions'?"
Snape shrugged. "Our supply of Mandrake Roots has gone bad, a bit early, but not unexpected. It is, after all, why we are having our students raising a set of them this year. We should be able to make the Draught when the new crop has matured." He eyed the frozen students. "I can think of no other potion which could deal with such a strong degree of petrification."
"I suppose," Sella spoke slowly, ice in her voice, "that when potioneers fall short, it is time for alchemists to step in."
Snape twitched, and Iris had to clasp her hands over her mouth to keep herself from laughing.
"You have a means for curing this?" Madame Pomfrey spoke up.
"It will take a few days to create, but it will not be difficult."
"Please do so," Dumbledore said. "If you need to take time away from your classes, I would be willing to cover some of your sessions. Though it has been a few years since I was last engrossed in the field. I fear I may have fallen behind the modern techniques."
"It is no trouble, Headmaster. It will merely be a task of many steps, many of them simply purifying and deriving ingredients for the final mixture. Between Leysritt and myself, we will easily be able to keep up with the students while we work on the petrification cure." She paused and placed her finger on her chin. "I have a student in mind that I may have assist with the creation as well."
Leysritt hummed in agreement, apparently knowing the student Sella was referring to.
Sella looked back down at the petrified students and frowned. "If there is nothing else, we will begin working on the cure immediately." She turned, and with one final sneer at Snape, walked out of the room.
Leysritt stayed behind for a moment, examining the stone students.
After a moment, she glanced around and saw that everyone was looking away.
With a quick motion, she tugged on Snape's robe, drawing his attention.
She placed her finger on her lower eyelid and then dragged it down and stuck out her tongue.
Snape blinked in surprise, and Leysritt returned to her normal neutral expression.
With a solemn nod to the other professors, Leys walked out of the Hospital Wing.
Iris watched with a grin on her lips as her favorite professors left the room.
A moment later, a loud yelp drew everyone's attention over to Lockhart's bed.
"Ow!" The grown man whinged. "My head..."
Iris rolled her eyes and took that as her cue to leave.
She pulled out her Messenger Book and penned a quick note to Shirou, letting him know to meet up with her.
It was mostly a formality. The sun still wasn't up on a Sunday, she knew where she would find Shirou. She began to make her way towards the Room of Requirement, receiving confirmation of her suspicions on her way.
Once the others were up, they would have to have another meeting. Things in the school were getting dangerous.