Hello my dear readers!
I am updating and a month or two hasn't passed in between my chapters! Oh Gods, the world must be ending xD
Anyways, I would like to thank all of you who've stuck by me and all of those who are reading the story now… I regret to tell you that we are almost at the end of this one, though.
Anyways, thank you all who faved and alerted and ESPECIALLY all of you who have reviewed!
Your reviews are the things that make me spit out chapters faster xD
Onto the story!
Nina Simone (Cover) – I put a spell on you (1965)
As the story of the fall of Sarah Millard's skirt spread like wildfire through the school, the epic deed remained unclaimed, even by the Weasley twins. Of course, there was an occasional student that clapped Jack on the back in the hallway or generally congratulated her on her 'brilliant control of the Rip-And-Drop Charm' at some point. If there came any good from the screaming reaction of the more stuck up half of the Gossiping Duo, it was Angelina's obvious bout of happiness.
Otherwise, life at Hogwarts was fairly ordinary. Jack couldn't help the giddiness that had overtaken her at the fact that the end of their first year was slowly coming closer and closer. Sure, that meant that she would have to leave her new friends for a while, but it also meant that she would travel with the Bats again.
If there was one thing that Jack had missed at Hogwarts, it was the numerous adventures and insanity of the Ballycastle Bats. She sometimes found herself listing off their birthdays and planning what to buy them (she was very big on presents of all sorts). Normally, they exchanged a letter or two, but the players were often very busy. Mostly, it was Captain Sherwood or Charlotte sending her an update or asking about her classes and friends (the former about her 'small' obsession with the Alp and the latter about boys).
Jack had been attempting to force Fred to find out more about the Alp, she claimed that she had figured out the origin of the creature, so he should find out how to stop it. But, this was still an active argument in-between the two, and it wasn't the only one. They were still debating whether an ogre or a troll would win in a fight. Also, the two had shared quite a few conversations about the current success of the Wimbourne Wasps and their recent change on the Seeker position.
And, finding them arguing wasn't neither worrying nor uncommon for their friends anymore. "No, this is a bad idea." Fred jogged to catch up to Jack as she descended on a determined path down the corridor.
"No, this is a great idea." The young witch retaliated sharply as she turned sideways to evade a couple of giggling third year girls.
"Bloody hell." Fred murmured, catching Jack's elbow and stopping her. "I wasn't too keen on spending my evenings in the library with you, but it wasn't directly harming anyone." He then made sure to lower his voice even further. "This… This is stupidity at its best."
"Why?" Jack shrugged him off, throwing her hands up. Fred noticed with caution that her nose was wrinkling, the same way that it usually did before she either fired a curse at him or threw a book in his direction. "We have searched through the whole library, even asked Madam Pince, mind you, and have found nothing else on the Alp!"
Fred snorted. However, it was true. Since their beautiful guess about the nature of the creature that they were dealing with, the two had agreed not to go to any Professors with this knowledge. Instead, they had done further research. Fred wasn't sure why, but he wasn't ready to let go of the late night evenings with Jaqueline Knight yet.
She was a peculiar little thing, feisty and easy to anger. Also, she had the strangest of views about different things. Perhaps it was her knowledge and love of the Muggle world? He wasn't sure why, but the redhead rather enjoyed her company. It had become one of his most favorite parts of the day. After spending his whole day with his twin and Lee Jordan, planning and plotting one thing or another, he enjoyed the exasperation that the smaller witch showed at his prowess.
"There is still that book that you said that we could order." Fred argued, adamant not to give in. Even though they had found only a Muggle book about the Alp, the twin was willing to risk it. Muggles, as ignorant as they were, often caught snippets of the real creature behind the front. Despite the origin of the book, there could still be clues there that the wizard and the witch could easily recognize. Jack frowned further, annoyance crystal clear on her face. "What?"
"I just don't understand." The short witch threw her hands up again. "Why should I spend my allowance on a book that will give us some, possibly false, information, when we can just go to the source?"
"We are not involving her ad that's final!" Fred finally raised his voice, getting more angry than frustrated.
"And why in the world shouldn't we involve our DADA Professor?" Jack's light eyes flashed as she got into Fred's face in her anger.
"Because- Cause- argh!" The redhead mussed up his hair with his hands, the amount of sleep that he was getting finally showing on his face. "I don't know… I just don't trust Vasilescu, alright?" There was a moment as the two first years stared at each other in the, now empty, hallway. To anyone who looked, they would've seemed a tad too serious for their age. "Just- just, humor me?" When the small witch stayed silent, her anger obviously gone, Fred asked again. "Alright?"
"Fine!" And with that, Jack stormed off down the hallway to her next class. Which she was late for.
X
Luckily for her, Vasilescu was late as well. "You seem stressed." Scott Lawrence remarked as he plopped down next to Jack in DADA. She gave him a pitiful look, causing him to smile, showing his dimple. "How about I don't ask about it and instead you help me with something?"
"I don't think that I can help with anything in this class." Jack laughed. "Or did you forget the last time I was trying to explain why my spell was working and yours wasn't?" Lawrence paused a moment, remembering the incident. They had been learning the mechanics of The Knockback Jinx which Jack had miraculously managed to cast. Then, she had tried to explain to her partner what she had done and get him to repeat it. The two first years had blown out the windows of the classroom 31, making Vasilescu transfer the chattering class to the other space in the North Tower (class 104). The incident had caused them to be banned from using their wands until the end of class.
"Nothing of that sort, I promise." Lawrence chuckled. "There will be no explosions involved here." He raised his arms in mock-surrender, like Jack had seen criminals do in Muggle police movies.
"Fire away then." The short witch felt her earlier somber mood lifting. She was already forgetting about the fight that she had had with the more insufferable of the twins before her last period.
"Alright." Lawrence said, taking a sigh. "Promise me that you won't laugh, first." Jack smiled at this, already tempted, but nodded regardless. Lawrence pulled up his uniform sleeves, which Jack was used to seeing lowered almost all the way to his fingers, and showed his arms to her. The small witch managed to somehow contain her laughter and turn it into a small cough.
Lawrence have her a glare (which looked a bit too strange on his normally smiling face), but said nothing as she made him turn his hands so that she could see his forearms better. They were splattered with ink splotches, which looked remarkably like Dalmatian spots on the boy's skin. There were smudges on the side of his hands where they would touch the paper as he wrote.
"You tried to transfigure yourself into a cheetah?" The small witch teased, not being able to hold back her small smile.
"Ha ha ha." Lawrence laughed humorlessly. "Can you help me or not? I'm used to Muggle pens which dry fast, and I've really been trying to work it out on my own until now, but this is getting ridiculous!" The boy explained, getting more and more desperate in both his voice and face as he spoke. A Gryffindor boy that had entered the classroom just then laughed at Lawrence's arms as he passed. The poor Hufflepuff swiftly pulled his sleeves down.
"I can try?" Jack caved, sympathizing with her friend. "But I make no promises on the rate of success." She grinned and then pulled her bag into her lap. "Let me try and find you a tissue, shall I?"
Something hit their table with surprising accuracy, stopping just in front of Lawrence. "Here you go, Mister Lavrence. Do take better care of your vriting." Professor Vasilescu glided gracefully to her table. Head held high, as if she hadn't just thrown a wet cloth at the poor student. "Today ve vill continue to practice the Knockback Jinx, this time in actual implementation." Vasilescu took a chalk piece and wrote out the motions and chant for the Jinx on the board. "Do not forget to make this small hooking motion right here-" The Professor pointed with her long finger at the end of the motion of the spell. "If you do so, I'm afraid that ve vill be forced to change classrooms once again." She gave a pointed look to Lawrence (who was furiously scrubbing his arms) and Jack (who was already waving her wand about).
The class snickered. Jack managed a partially guilty expression and ducked her head downwards. "Maybe you should just scream, ickle Howler?" Fred Weasley was obviously sitting right behind her.
"You'll be much better at bursting the glass with your dulcet tones." His twin added, and Jack could practically hear the grin on his face.
"She will be a true hit, right Gred?"
"Without a doubt, Forge."
"Veasleys." Vasilescu had heard them. "As much as I appreciate your humor, I'm trying to have a class here."
"Don't stop on our account, Professor." One of the twins commented, but Jack couldn't tell them apart once they had stopped calling her by her nickname.
"We truly enjoy your voice as well, Viorica."
"Do, keep talking." They ended together with identical, cheeky grins.
Vasilescu actually laughed, a melodic, enchanting sound that rang out through the classroom, silencing all chatter. Jack felt her jaw drop. She hadn't had the opportunity to hear the Professor laugh properly until now. And, it was quite a sight. The woman looked at least five years younger as she chuckled.
"Hov vould you tvo feel abot helping me out after class, then? To hear more of my voice." The woman smiled at the twins and then turned around swiftly, moving towards her desk. This had obviously been no request. Vasilescu had given out her fist detention of the year. "Please, set up the classroom for practicing." The Professor opened a cupboard to reveal a pile of pillows and then sat at her desk, letting the students move the tables and set the pillows on the floor.
"Shall ve begin then? Pairs of four, please." The twins quickly walked over to Jack and Lawrence, grinning. This was going to end badly, the small witch thought. "Nov, tvo are practicing the spell and tvo are vatching and looking for mistakes. You vill svitch at my signal. Begin!"
X
"He sent Scott to the Hospital Wing?" Alicia asked with an incredulous tone. The young with had skipped their DADA class to get her Potions essay done on time. Knowing Vasilescu, the woman wouldn't hold it against her.
"Yes." Angelina confirmed, laughing. "You should've seen Lawrence's face! He was in absolute shock when his ears swapped places! And it didn't stop there." The dark skinned witch couldn't help herself, she burst into another fit of giggles.
"It's not funny, Angelina!" Jack complained from behind her friends. "It was horrible… Everything that was symmetrical on his body exchanged places right in front of our eyes." Alicia felt a chill go down her spine.
"Do you think they did it on purpose?" The witch asked, wondering. Surely, the twins wouldn't harm anyone seriously. They were just pranksters!
"I really hope not." Jack said, frowning. She waved to her two friends and then lowered herself in her seat in the front for Potions. Her partner, Dmitry, sat next to her in complete silence soon after. Professor Snape was already in the front of the classroom, flicking his wand about. He made a long string of letters appear on the board and then turned to the class. Suddenly, they all went silent.
"Well." He droned in his usual uninterested manner. "Today I have a task that even the most idiotic of you should be able to complete." He tossed a look at the Weasleys and then his cold eyes passed over Jack (who had managed to explode another cauldron last Friday). "There will be no Potion crafting involved, so open your books to page two hundred and seven. You will find the ingredients to a potion there."
Jack quickly complied, opening her Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger and beginning to hunt for the proper page. Her partner seemed to have already found it, so she glanced at his book, only to see that it wasn't about Potions at all. It was an advanced Transfiguration book. As soon as Jack bent her head in an awkward position to see the title, Professor Snape spoke again.
"Miss Knight, do you have a cramp in your neck from Quidditch?" He asked coldly and then continued. "Oh, forgive me. I forgot that you can't play Quidditch in first year." The man made every single word sound as sarcastic as possible, making Jack's cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Perhaps it's from sleeping on your Potions book while attempting to learn something?" The young witch stayed silent, hoping that he would switch his focus on someone else. Usually, she was pretty good at staying off hi radar, despite the fact that he knew her father from school.
A loud bang sounded in the back and Jack turned around quickly, like most of the class, trying to find the source. The Slytherin girl sitting next to the last window had her hair changing color like Christmas had come early. Once she noticed the damage, she burst into tears.
"Miss Evercreech, it's only a simple spell. Stop crying you silly girl and go to the Hospital Wing." The girl jumped up, as if burned by her chair and then headed out as if a Hungarian Horntail were on her heels. Jack ducked her head into her book, trying to look invisible. Thankfully, Snape seemed to have forgotten about her altogether. "Because of this idiocy, you will now copy the whole chapter on the Wiggenweld Potion."
Jack pulled out her parchment, ink and quill and got ready to write. She glanced at Dmitry, who was searching for his ink. She placed her in the middle of the table.
"What was that book about?" She asked the Russian next to her in a whisper. When his icy blue eyes met hers, she was partially shocked.
"Transfiguration homework." He replied curtly and then lowered his bag, preparing to start writing. Jack covered her ink bottle with one hand.
"Not first year." She told him with a frown. Dmitry opened his mouth to answer, but a droning voice cut him off.
"Do you now know what silence means, Miss Knight?"
X
"Jaqueline." The girl in question stopped short, saying a quick goodbye to Alicia and Angelina. Her friend had a new crush which she was all too eager to tell them about. Some fourth year Ravenclaw, apparently, he had the looks of Gilderoy Lockhart, the famous handsome wizard writer.
"Yeah?" The small witch asked, a bit surprised by the fact that Dmitry was voluntarily speaking to her outside of Potions class.
The Russian boy fidgeted, looking around nervously. "We are required to complete the assignment on the Wiggentree bark before Saturday." He said in his unusually deep voice. "If you could tell me which time would be best for you to work?"
"Can't we do it separately and then just combine the essay in the end?" Jack asked, glancing back towards her friends, who had been joined by the twins and Lee Jordan by then. If she ran, she could still catch up with them before they went to the Great Hall.
"Professor Snape specified that we were to do it in pairs." The Slytherin replied, a little dejected. "I wouldn't be asking otherwise."
"Of course you wouldn't be." Jack sarcastically remarked. "Can you come to the library tomorrow after History of Magic?"
Dmitry shook his head in silence. "I don't have History of Magic tomorrow. Which period have you got that class?"
"Second."
"That sounds agreeable. I have Defense then." The boy replied, nodding and looking about once more.
"I'm not interested in your schedule." The small witch replied with spite. "You better hurry up and run off, someone might see you talking to me." And with that, the girl turned around, walking off without a word in anger.
X
It was dark and cold. And Fred knew this scenario a bit too well. He shot up from his desk, looking around quickly. He knew this dream a tad too well. He remembered going to bed last night. Why was he in the DADA classroom?
A chill ran down the wizard's spine and he realized that he would need to figure that out later. For now, he needed to get out of the classroom. That much he knew. The windows were cracked a little bit, as Vasilescu usually left them after class, to let the air in. Fred ran towards them first. However, a sound stopped him as soon as he got close.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
From his left. The boy looked, only to see a pale, elegant hand with long nails, knocking on the window. It extended its finger and then slowly beckoned him forward. Despite the screaming of his mind in protest, the wizard's legs moved on their own accord. Fred reached into the back of his pants, looking for his wand, and was more that relieved when he grasped the warm, magical wood. He pulled it out, putting it in a defensive position in front of him.
The finger stopped calling him. Instead, it extended, a single long nail dragging down the old glass of the window pane. Fred shuddered at the screech, but didn't react otherwise. The hand was something new. He was used to the closed rooms. To the darkness. But this was something different. He tried to remember all the things that Jack had told him about the Alp, but couldn't seem to recall the details.
The finger of the pale hand then pushed the window pane, opening the small gap further. And Fred bolted. He ran to the door, whispering 'Alohomora' over and over as he managed to push the through the entrance easily enough. He ran down the familiar corridors, vaguely aware of the tapping and screeching that was following him.
He reached the portrait of the Fat Lady in record time and quickly woke her up with a yell. "Gillyweed! Gillyweed! Come on! Open!"
"What? What?" The Fat Lady jumped a little, startled from her nap. "What do you think that you are doing out here at this time?" She scolded as soon as she realized what was going on.
"Gillyweed!" Fred repeated, getting increasingly frustrated, as he could still feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up in terror.
"I should tell about this to Minerva McGonagall!" The portrait complained as it swung to let the frantic first year through. The redhead clambered in, as if Professor Snape was behind him and didn't stop until he reached the dark dorm room.
The door creaked as he opened it, panting from his recent run. For a second, Fred stood still, frozen in the middle of the room, waiting. Silence greeted him, paired with his roommates' steady breathing. They were all asleep.
The reality hit him like a ton of bricks and Fred felt his legs give out as he fell onto his but on the floor, leaning against the dorm door. This hadn't been a dream. He thanked Merlin and Circe in his head that he hadn't taken a nose-dive out the window, like Jack had told him that she usually did. That wouldn't have ended well for him.
For a couple of moments, that seemed like eternity for him, Fred sat still, just calming his breathing down. He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. They needed to get rid of the bloody thing, and as soon as possible. Next time, he may not be as lucky to be so logical. The twin stood on shaky legs, his whole body trembling from the aftermath of adrenalin that had allowed for him to make it this far.
The dorm was warm from the old heater in the middle, but it seemed ice-cold to the young wizard. He shook off his robes, changing into his pajamas (with a broomstick pattern, which were flying about) and placed his wand on his nightstand, where he could easily reach it. However, as soon as Fred got into his bed, he felt the cold sheets wrap around him and changed his mind.
The redhead jumped off of his bed and then tiptoed over to his twin's, changing the position of his wand to his twin's nightstand. He smiled to himself as he felt the outline of George's wand when he placed his. They really were alike in some things, while in others they were completely different.
Fred pushed away the drapes around George's bed and climbed in, completely silent. He wasn't surprised when his twin started waking up and then then yawned loudly, taking in the situation. The two brothers had slept in the same bed for the longest of time, never feeling quite right with being apart. It was only after they had turned eight that Mrs. Weasley had insisted on getting another bed and making them separate. Still, the two would often jump onto one and then plan and plot pranks late into the night together.
"You ok, mate?" George asked, after yawning once more. "You look like you've seen a Boggart." He remarked, smiling a tiny grin. Trust his twin to tease him, Fred frowned.
"Not a Boggart." He murmured, snuggling further into the warmth that his brother had made under the blankets. Fred shut his eyes for a moment, just taking in the safety that he felt next to his other half.
"You were out with Jack?" George whispered, careful not to wake their dorm mates. Fred gave a light shake of his head. "Were you actually looking for that thing? That… Alp?"
"How do you-" Fred chuckled. "Of course you know." He settled on. "I don't remember. I just woke in our Defense classroom."
"How did you get there?" George frowned, slight worry in his voice. "You don't know." There was a short silence in between the brothers. "Are you sure it's an Alp?"
"Knight is."
"Why aren't you?" George insisted. "You're letting Knight make you doubt your instincts, Freddie." His twin was frowning. "If you think it's not an Alp, then it's not an Alp."
"She's pretty convincing." There was another moment of silence between the brothers. "I think it's a vampire." Fred admitted in a tiny voice.
"A vampire?" George seemed to contemplate the idea. "It's possible. What are the 'symptoms' that you are finding in the victims?"
"Vivid dreams, forgetfulness, they disappear for a certain time and don't remember it, the screeching in the hallways and light-headedness." Fred listed off. "I've also seen a black panther in my dreams, which wakes me up, but Jack hasn't. And, tonight, I found out the origin of the screeching." Fred paused. "It was a pale hand, with no body."
George hummed, thinking. "Well, it could fit for a vampire, no?" He asked.
"Vivid dreams, Georgie." Fred reminded him.
"There's a lot of things that we don't know about vampires, Freddie. Especially the pure bloodlines from Transylvania." As soon as he spoke, the twins looked at each other in realization.
"Vasilescu." They said in unison.
Dam dam daaaaaam!
Ok, I'm done gloating now… I've had this image in my head for sooooo long! Like ahfib;rbvlbbrejdf YES!
Fun fact: I read that Rowling was planning a vampire teacher in the early stages of Harry Potter and couldn't resist…
Has anyone noticed that Vasilescu doesn't use a wand at all?
Anyways, onto the reviews:
Let me start with the Guest who reviewed on chapter 6, I believe that I forgot to answer this last time: Thank you for reading! Jack's father used to be a professional Quidditch player for the Ballycastle Bats, after an injury that made it unable for him to play, he was offered a position as a coach on the same team. Now, he is their coach/manager :) Hope that you are still enjoying the story!
HenriaSownbinder: I'VE MISSED YOU TOO! I'm so sorry, I've been going through a writer's block with the depressed state of mind… I just didn't want to force such a good story and make it weird xD
I feel so happy that you liked the last chapter and that you were so excited to read it :3 It makes me wanna write all the time!
However, did they figure it out? Mwahahaha~
Thanks :) I'm feeling loads better (I've actually updated four stories in the last 20 days and started one new one, which makes me sooo happy!) This site is sometimes the thing that keeps me going :D It's been present in my life for the last eight or so years xD
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
lilnudger82: I'm glad that you liked it!
Savage Kill: You wonderful, wonderful creature! I love you! I love your review! You are mostly spot-on with your observations, hopefully, this chapter gives you even more to think about?
I promise that the agenda of the 'Big Bad' will appear until the end of this story, and perhaps it will even connect to the sequels later on :D
Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter!
Anna5678: Hello and welcome to the family! I hope that you're still enjoying the story :)
sammxo2: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! I was sooo happy to get them :)
Anyways, I'm glad that you enjoy the slow-burn, I want to develop Jack slowly, as well as my versions of Fred and George. Also, more OCs that will come later :D
Demonglass? I don't think that I've read it… I have the unfortunate case of living outside of US, which means than we mostly get books in my native language :( However, I've done a lot of research on fairies xD Unseelie Court was only one part of it :D
Here come the update, along with some more information about Professor Vasilescu :) Now, evil or not, what do you think?