When Delphi returned to the dorm for the day, she saw Tahlia standing there. She began to turn around when Tahlia spoke.
"Don't you dare run away from me Delphini Naga Riddle," Tahlia said bitterly.
Delphi internally groaned and turned on her heel back around to Tahlia.
"What are you going to do?" Delphi asked in a dangerously icy voice. "Scream at me some more about how I was stupid to reveal everything? Well, I'm sorry, but there's some mistakes I just have to make for myself."
"I wasn't going to scream at you," Tahlia said pointedly. "I might disagree with you, but I'm not going to fight you. I don't want to fight my best friend."
"I don't want to fight you either," Delphi admitted. "Can we just leave it alone? Just for a while?"
Tahlia pursed her lips, then nodded.
"Of course."
They sat on Tahlia's bed, saying nothing at first.
"Did you ever get Mr. Ravenwood's essay done?" Tahlia asked, quite suddenly pretending to be normal-as if either girl would ever be normal again.
"Yeah, I did it Friday night," Delphi said as she dived across the bed and stretched her arm to reach the notebook on top of her trunk. She flipped it to the right page and then looked up to see that Tahlia had drawn her sword and was shaking as she held it an inch away from Delphi's neck.
"Tahlia?" Delphi murmured, afraid. She saw the cold, hard look in Tahlia's eye and ducked. She heard the hiss of metal barely missing the top of her head, and she blasted the window open with her wand.
As Tahlia slashed again, Delphi jumped out into the dark courtyard, landing in a roll surprisingly well for a jump off the fifth story. She whipped around to see Tahlia at the window and pulled out both of her wands. Tahlia then leapt out the window, and Delphi became afraid.
"Get out of my friend!" she screamed, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good. "Leave her alone, you coward! It's me you want!"
"You're cleverer than I would've guessed, Riddle," Tahlia sneered. "Then again, I did know your father personally. . ."
"Face me yourself!" Delphi screeched.
A wicked smile spread across Tahlia's face, twisting her once-kind features.
"Expelliarmus!" Tahlia just raised her blade and the sword absorbed it.
Some words that Delphi would never say flashed through her mind as she decided began to back away, and then turned tail and ran as spells barely missed her, zipping over her shoulder as she'd occasionally look back and retaliate as well as she could without hurting her friend.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Delphi screamed, knowing that it wasn't even lights-out yet.
That was, ironically, when others started running out, teachers and students alike.
Tahlia held her own for a few moments, using her sword and wand in tandem to fight back, but she was quickly overwhelmed. The sword spun out of her hand and fell to the ground and she was disarmed just as a teacher cast a Binding Spell.
"Miss Riddle, Miss Kostidanova-Raeh, what is the meaning of this?" Dean Delancey demanded as she stormed across the lawn.
"Something's wrong with Tahlia! Someone is possessing her!" Delphi cried, suddenly aware that she was indeed crying.
"Possessed?" Delancey approached Tahlia cautiously and blinked with recognition. "She's Imperiused. Tahlia-Tahlia, can you hear me?"
There was a struggle that came out in the faintest of nods.
"I need you to fight it," Delancey said. "Your mother and father would've wanted it."
At that, any hint of Tahlia was gone and whoever was possessing her just kept writhing.
"We'll keep her safe," Dr. Jekyll assured Delphi as he began to take her away.
"Is she going to be okay?" Delphi asked.
"I don't know," Dr. Jekyll admitted. "I don't know."
Delphi returned to her dormitory to see a note on her desk with a single inky black feather.
Be careful, Augury. We are watching.
Delphi stood there, paralyzed by fear as she saw her boggart again and heard her threats.
"I-I'm not the Augury," she whispered. "I won't be."
She then realized that the feather had greenish edges to them-an augury feather.
She found the strength to back away and was shaking.
She found me, Euphemia found me somehow-
Well yeah, dumb-dumb, she knew you went to Ilvermorny-
But why would she do this? I need to tell someone now!
She immediately slammed the bell on the top of the bedside table that would call any Ilvermorny staff member into a dorm room-an emergency measure.
Dean Delancey arrived first, taking the evidence with a heavy sigh and promising to look into it, even though it was clear to Delphi that Delancey thought it was all in her mind.
How dare you, how freaking dare you, Delphi seethed privately, thinking of all the times that the Rowles had alluded to her mother's insanity-something they thought to be inevitable for her.
She lay in bed, clutching her amulet with her wands beneath her pillows, afraid for what tomorrow would bring. The only soothing thing was the stars themselves shining through the window that now had extra charms on it.
She fell into a deep, troubled sleep with dreams of auguries and red-eyed snakemen and cackling aristocrats.