Chapter 8
I had fallen asleep on the couch by the fire the night before and
awoke unusually late the next morning. I looked up to find Harry,
Hermione, and Ron sitting around the room on the upholstered chairs.
"Good morning!" Hermione said cheerfully
I didn't answer, but instead sat up and folded my arms; acting
uninterested in Hermione's greeting.
"What do you want?" I snarled
"Ron and I wanted to apologize for the way we acted. Everything
happened so fast that we weren't really sure who had attacked Harry.
Then when we saw you covered in his blood well we thought..." Hermione
looked down embarrassed.
"You thought I had done it. Right? Don't always act on your first
preconceived notions; some things can end up being... false," I snapped.
"When Harry explained we felt just awful." She gave Ron a hard nudge
in the ribs. He scowled back at Hermione then mumbled, "Yeah, sorry."
"It doesn't matter," I sighed.
We all filed silently down to the breakfast table. A nervous chatter
aroused as soon as I sat down. Don't they have anything to do but
gossip! About that time the owls filtered into the room. Farris
swiftly alighted in front of me. He didn't have a note. Dameon. I
wonder what he's doing right now. Wait, I don't have to hang around
till he writes me! I took a pen from my pocket and began to write on a
napkin: Dear Dameon,
I've been thinking about what you said last night. Everything you said
was true. And I wish to see you again, if it would be possible. Write
as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Raven
"Did you hear? The new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher is
arriving today!" Ron exclaimed
"Well that's good. I'm getting sick of the substitute, Mr. Casion.
He's so boring! And he is running over stuff Lupin already taught us,"
Dean Thomas prattled sarcastically.
"I think it's beneficial. I mean it's not like any of you listened
during Professor Lupin's lectures, so maybe you'll learn something
this time around," Hermione frowned.
I had been taking note of this conversation when I noticed that Farris
had scarfed down my bacon and was starting on my eggs.
"Hey I didn't say you could eat all my food!" I laughed as I tied the
message to his led, "Now take this to Dameon." I stroked his head as I
spoke then he flapped his great tawny wings and took off.
After breakfast we traveled as a group down to the dungeon where we
were to have potions class with Snape. I sat down by Hermione.
"Hope Snape's not in one of his crappy moods again! God he just grates
on my nerves!"
"Now, Raven. It's best not to provoke him." She said coolly.
"Whatever you say," I rolled my eyes.
The door closed slowly almost making no noise and a swift footstep was
heard on the floor. We all turned to find not Snape, but professor
McGonagoll approaching the head of the class.
"Professor Snape will not be attending class today, but you will find
your work on the board," she stated.
"Good! I hope that git got eaten by the giant squid!" Ron whispered
The entire class broke into giggles and Professor McGonagoll stared
disapprovingly. The rest of the class period we were left alone so
basically we all just goofed off and none of us did any real work,
except for Hermione, of course. When Potions ended we headed upstairs.
Next was DADA class. All of us were excited to see who the new
professor would be. I had been hearing some interesting stories about
this position. One year the teacher had been a servant of Voldemort
and another had been a werewolf. It was about ten after the hour and
still no teacher had arrived. That's when the door swung open to
reveal a disheveled wizard with graying hair and worn robes.
"Professor Lupin!" about the whole class yelled in unison
They all raced from their seats to greet him. I was the only one who
stayed seated in order to observe this new comer. There's something
different about this one. His ragged dress symbols he travels a lot;
possibly running from something... or maybe just from himself. I think
I'll keep an eye on you. And if you dare make a move towards Harry or
any of the others... I'll slit your throat. I could feel my face twist
into a silent snarl. About that time everyone went back to their
seats.
"It's good to be back at Hogwarts and thank you all for the warm
welcome!" He grinned, "But I'm afraid we're terribly behind in our
class work so we will be going through the book at a rather fast rate.
If any of you have questions about the material we covered just come
to me after class. Now please turn to page 12, Irripsums and Portals."
"Portals?! I don't see how they could be dangerous. Aren't they just
used as a form of transportation?" inquired a Ravenclaw sitting in the
front row.
"Ah yes, that is a very frequent misconception," Professor Lupin
instructed, "Some portals are used for traveling from one place to
another, but others can very treacherous. The portal is the outside
hull to an inner dimension called an Irripsum. Once you enter the
portal you would be placed under a high level of sorcery that
constricts your mind to a state of hibernation. It's an unexplained
phenomenon, but while you are inside the Irripsum you don't breath,
your heart doesn't beat, you don't age, but your body remains intact.
Another words you could call it tomb, because once inside you can't
escape. Although there have been written accounts by the merpeople of
a person that carried the power to release those trapped in such a
portal. They said that when the people, once released, from the
Irripsum had gained extraordinary powers. The destruction they caused
was so extensive that from that point on the person born with the
ability to open the portal was branded as a warning. But of course
that is only a myth and very few actual portals exist. Your homework,
which you may now begin, is to research one of these portals and be
able to state where it was discovered and three distinctive markings
on it."
"This is the first assignment that actually has been easy since I
arrived here," I told Hermione.
"It will get harder, but he's still pretty lenient in terms of
homework. He's also the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we
have ever had. He let's us have a lot of personal experience with
defending ourselves against magical creatures instead of just studying
them in books," Hermione commented as she continued to flip through a
heavy leather bound book. I didn't work at all that class period, but instead sat and thought about Professor Lupin and his lecture. Hermione seems to know this man. If she's so comfortable around him then I guess he couldn't be that bad, but none the less, he must still prove his trustworthiness to me. Is what he said today true? Will my abilities hurt so many? I can't let that happen, it seems my only choice is to keep running, even in death.
I had fallen asleep on the couch by the fire the night before and
awoke unusually late the next morning. I looked up to find Harry,
Hermione, and Ron sitting around the room on the upholstered chairs.
"Good morning!" Hermione said cheerfully
I didn't answer, but instead sat up and folded my arms; acting
uninterested in Hermione's greeting.
"What do you want?" I snarled
"Ron and I wanted to apologize for the way we acted. Everything
happened so fast that we weren't really sure who had attacked Harry.
Then when we saw you covered in his blood well we thought..." Hermione
looked down embarrassed.
"You thought I had done it. Right? Don't always act on your first
preconceived notions; some things can end up being... false," I snapped.
"When Harry explained we felt just awful." She gave Ron a hard nudge
in the ribs. He scowled back at Hermione then mumbled, "Yeah, sorry."
"It doesn't matter," I sighed.
We all filed silently down to the breakfast table. A nervous chatter
aroused as soon as I sat down. Don't they have anything to do but
gossip! About that time the owls filtered into the room. Farris
swiftly alighted in front of me. He didn't have a note. Dameon. I
wonder what he's doing right now. Wait, I don't have to hang around
till he writes me! I took a pen from my pocket and began to write on a
napkin: Dear Dameon,
I've been thinking about what you said last night. Everything you said
was true. And I wish to see you again, if it would be possible. Write
as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Raven
"Did you hear? The new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher is
arriving today!" Ron exclaimed
"Well that's good. I'm getting sick of the substitute, Mr. Casion.
He's so boring! And he is running over stuff Lupin already taught us,"
Dean Thomas prattled sarcastically.
"I think it's beneficial. I mean it's not like any of you listened
during Professor Lupin's lectures, so maybe you'll learn something
this time around," Hermione frowned.
I had been taking note of this conversation when I noticed that Farris
had scarfed down my bacon and was starting on my eggs.
"Hey I didn't say you could eat all my food!" I laughed as I tied the
message to his led, "Now take this to Dameon." I stroked his head as I
spoke then he flapped his great tawny wings and took off.
After breakfast we traveled as a group down to the dungeon where we
were to have potions class with Snape. I sat down by Hermione.
"Hope Snape's not in one of his crappy moods again! God he just grates
on my nerves!"
"Now, Raven. It's best not to provoke him." She said coolly.
"Whatever you say," I rolled my eyes.
The door closed slowly almost making no noise and a swift footstep was
heard on the floor. We all turned to find not Snape, but professor
McGonagoll approaching the head of the class.
"Professor Snape will not be attending class today, but you will find
your work on the board," she stated.
"Good! I hope that git got eaten by the giant squid!" Ron whispered
The entire class broke into giggles and Professor McGonagoll stared
disapprovingly. The rest of the class period we were left alone so
basically we all just goofed off and none of us did any real work,
except for Hermione, of course. When Potions ended we headed upstairs.
Next was DADA class. All of us were excited to see who the new
professor would be. I had been hearing some interesting stories about
this position. One year the teacher had been a servant of Voldemort
and another had been a werewolf. It was about ten after the hour and
still no teacher had arrived. That's when the door swung open to
reveal a disheveled wizard with graying hair and worn robes.
"Professor Lupin!" about the whole class yelled in unison
They all raced from their seats to greet him. I was the only one who
stayed seated in order to observe this new comer. There's something
different about this one. His ragged dress symbols he travels a lot;
possibly running from something... or maybe just from himself. I think
I'll keep an eye on you. And if you dare make a move towards Harry or
any of the others... I'll slit your throat. I could feel my face twist
into a silent snarl. About that time everyone went back to their
seats.
"It's good to be back at Hogwarts and thank you all for the warm
welcome!" He grinned, "But I'm afraid we're terribly behind in our
class work so we will be going through the book at a rather fast rate.
If any of you have questions about the material we covered just come
to me after class. Now please turn to page 12, Irripsums and Portals."
"Portals?! I don't see how they could be dangerous. Aren't they just
used as a form of transportation?" inquired a Ravenclaw sitting in the
front row.
"Ah yes, that is a very frequent misconception," Professor Lupin
instructed, "Some portals are used for traveling from one place to
another, but others can very treacherous. The portal is the outside
hull to an inner dimension called an Irripsum. Once you enter the
portal you would be placed under a high level of sorcery that
constricts your mind to a state of hibernation. It's an unexplained
phenomenon, but while you are inside the Irripsum you don't breath,
your heart doesn't beat, you don't age, but your body remains intact.
Another words you could call it tomb, because once inside you can't
escape. Although there have been written accounts by the merpeople of
a person that carried the power to release those trapped in such a
portal. They said that when the people, once released, from the
Irripsum had gained extraordinary powers. The destruction they caused
was so extensive that from that point on the person born with the
ability to open the portal was branded as a warning. But of course
that is only a myth and very few actual portals exist. Your homework,
which you may now begin, is to research one of these portals and be
able to state where it was discovered and three distinctive markings
on it."
"This is the first assignment that actually has been easy since I
arrived here," I told Hermione.
"It will get harder, but he's still pretty lenient in terms of
homework. He's also the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we
have ever had. He let's us have a lot of personal experience with
defending ourselves against magical creatures instead of just studying
them in books," Hermione commented as she continued to flip through a
heavy leather bound book. I didn't work at all that class period, but instead sat and thought about Professor Lupin and his lecture. Hermione seems to know this man. If she's so comfortable around him then I guess he couldn't be that bad, but none the less, he must still prove his trustworthiness to me. Is what he said today true? Will my abilities hurt so many? I can't let that happen, it seems my only choice is to keep running, even in death.