Vamp looked at the clock in the corner of the room. They had been here for around an hour. So far only Pitin and Cutie were able to form fully corporeal patronuses.
Harry was deeply impressed and found that he had fallen into deep thought.
The class had suddenly gone quiet, looking at Harry. He once again had the look that something was bothering him.
He jerked back to reality, realising that everyone was looking at him.
"Uhhh, that was really good, but it's getting late. Classes tomorrow, off to bed."
In small groups the students thanked Harry, asking when they were doing this again.
"Soon." He replied.
And slowly the mysterious little room emptied as everyone made their way to their common rooms.
Pitin followed Vamp and Cutie out of the room. But before they where at the door she turned around and asked again in a very timid voice. "Mr. Potter, if you don't mind, why are we getting this extra class?"
"Too bed, Pitin!" He shooed her away.
'Nearly as bad as me when I was at Hogwarts.' He sadly smiled to himself once everyone had gone. He exited through the door and it disappeared behind him as the velvet curtains closed and shrunk into nothingness, leaving the boring blank corner of room.
Vamp yawned. "Well it's quarter to 10. I need to finish my Herbology assignment."
Vamp and Pitin both hiked up a large staircase in a very strange pattern of footsteps so as not to anger it.
As Vamp did so, his wand fell from his pocket and rolled to the bottom of the stairs.
Pitin went down after it going gingerly from step to step. She retrieved it and retuned it to Vamp. "That is some odd wand wood what is it?" They continued up the steps to a long hall full of butterflies. "Mine is Unicorn Hair, Mahogany, 8 inches."
"Mermaid Scale, ash, 10 3/4 inches. I heard you picked your's up at Ollivanders, that strange place in London."
Said Vamp, enjoying the conversation after hearing so many weird stories about this Ollivander.
They paused at a statue of a large chameleon, and at once a small chameleon appeared in front of them.
Pitin leant in closer and whispered something into its ear.
The statue swung away and they entered the common room.
Cutie walked alone down a hall leading to her own common room. It was a little chilly in the castle now that summer was officially over. Twirling her wand in her fingers she wondered why Harry wouldn't tell them what the purpose of the classes were. Surely it couldn't be just an advanced class. As he watch people perform he seemed to be looking for something, but Cutie had no clue what it was. Yet. She finally reached the falcon statue and murmured the word to it. It beat its stone wings once and soared just over her head, giving her entrance to the Calisto common room. Cutie entered her dormitory, said goodnight to a few other girls and fell asleep on her bed, without even taking off her shoes.
"Pitin. Vamp. What are you two doing up at this time of night." Pitin and Vamp froze in there steps. Pitin considered just dashing with Vamp into the common room and slamming the door behind them. However she slowly turned around to face Professor Nulmit and take what's coming to her. "Hello Professor, Sir, Nulmit we where allowed to take and extra class with Mr. Potter and he showed us how to conjure a patronus. Sir." She had decided that in this case the truth was the best. However it didn't help this time "I highly doubt that Ms. Kathleen. Ten points for lying and detention to both of you for being out of bed after hours."
"What was she doing waiting outside our common room?" Whispered Vamp once she was gone.
"Detention! I curse worms into her socks!" Said Pitin in a strangely polite and lady like voice.
The both stepped into the common room. A few people sat at tables and there was one girl sitting in the arm chair by the oddly coloured fire, on closer inspection it was Evy who had somehow managed to get back from the lesson in practically no time at all.
"I'll just get my Herbology textbook. What are you doing?" And Vamp headed for the boy's dormitory.
Pitin yawned loudly and went to her own room. She turned the light down to dim and took of her shoes but as she looked out the mirror she noticed a lone penguin making its may across the grounds. As she lied down on her bed she decided that the day hasn't bin a total loss and her fantasies of battling death eaters with Harry Potter slip of into dreams of battling death eaters with Harry Potter. Then they turn into a bunch of other weirder dreams that have no importance except in deciphering her unconscious worries.
Vamp rushed up stairs again, rummaged through his draws as silently as possible the picked up a small origami frog and brought it back down to the table he was studying at.
'If only Pitin could see it.' He thought to himself. "Ah, shouldn't you be studying?" And then she stairs at the frog pointedly.'
"It jumps and everything." Said Vamp sarcastically; putting a finger down on the paper frog and making it jump. He looked around just realising he said that out loud.
He scribbled something on the frog, tapped it with his wand and whispered to it "Cutie, Calisto common room."
The frog jumped away and under a crack in the brickwork.
Cutie, still sleeping on top of the covers, shoes and cloak still on could have been in a coma for how heavily she was sleeping with her arm hanging off the bed. Until the origami frog hopped into her open hand.
"AHH!" she screamed, flinging the frog across the room and knocking over a picture frame. Luckily no one else was in the dormitory. After actually waking up and getting her heart rate back to not sounding like a bass drum, she tiptoed around the broken glass and picked up the frantic paper frog.
"Cheese! Take a pill. I only chucked you across the room and into a glass object that is apparently prone to shattering. Nothing to worry about." she grumbled as she held the still-hopping frog in her hand as she carried it back to her bed. Recognizing Vamp's handwriting she thought aloud "Oooh, I didn't know he could do that. Gotta make him teach me" and tried unfolding the paper frog. But it squawked like a parrot and tried to hop away. Sighing, Cutie grabbed her wand and used it to open the frog. There was nothing written inside. Grabbing a quill from her nigh table she wrote on the inside of the frog "Oi...what's up? And why are you waking me up" and re-folded the frog. Not knowing what the actual spell was, she whispered to the frog "go back" and put it on the floor.
Vamp waited until the frog came back. It jumped onto his table, slightly dirty and ragged; he wondered what had happened to it.
Unfolding the frog, he read Cutie's message then scribbled his reply.
Just seeing if you were awake. Have you seen Prof. Nulmit this evening?
He lifted his quill and the paper refolded itself into the frog. It's paper face angled at Vamp in a somewhat restless way. Vamp nodded and the frog went off again, under the crack in the brickwork.
Vamp closed his heavy Herbology book, and looked around. The common room was deserted apart from himself and Evy who was busy at work.
Feeling that it wasn't smart to go back to sleep until Vamp sent the frog back, Cutie opened her Charms book and started looking for the spell to let her make her own message-animals. The frog, looking impatient and very rumpled after two-refoldings hopped onto the textbook and let out a huge croak.
That was fast. Cutie thought to herself as the frog unfolded herself so she could read the message. Taking her quill out again, she wrote:
No, I haven't seen her at all tonight. But I did have that odd feeling of being watched as I walked back to my common room after the extra class. It might have been the portraits though. Or maybe Choey, she did get back just after I did but I didn't think she knew that shortcut. Why do you ask? You make it sound like something's up.
The last word was smudged as the frog decided that enough was enough. It refolded itself and hopped off the bed and into a crack in the floor, leaving Cutie biting her bottom lip in puzzlement and anxiousness.
Vamp had gone upstairs into the dormitory to replace his book.
The frog jumped its way upstairs and onto Vamp's bed as he read Cutie's message. He quickly scribbled something down.
Professor Nulmit was outside our common room after we left Potter's class. She was strangely on edge and she snapped at us. It could be that she is jealous of Harry; I mean he could do her job in his sleep. I'm bored. Wanna go for a walk? If so meet me in the bubble room. Either way, send the frog back; it will know where I am.
Vamp walked out into common room, paused for a moment, trying to remember a spell.
"Clarius" he whispered and his robes dimmed and become sort of clear and see through.
I really need to get an invisibility cloak. He thought to himself.
Choey came running up the stairs to the her dormitory and found Cutie reading what appeared to be a paper frog.
"Um...may I ask what you're doing?" Choey asked as she flopped down on the edge of her bed.
"Reading," Cutie replied simply.
"I can see that!" Choey replied, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, wasn't that Patronus lesson so cool!"
Cutie nodded, still reading the paper frog. She then got up without a word and started walking towards the door.
"Hey, where're you going?" Choey asked. "I wanna come! Hey wait!" But Cutie had already left. "Nobody tells me anything!" Choey sighed, then after thinking for a moment, disillusioned herself and got up to follow Cutie.
Pitin woke up with a start. Her pulse was very fast as she had bean dreaming about the bogart telling every one her darkest secret. She was very unnerved so she grabbed a pot of not yet hot coco. She went down to the common room to heat it up over the fire and saw Vamp leaving! She couldn't let him get Knocturnes in more trouble so she quickly disillusioned herself and follow him to the bubble room.
Choey hurried along the corridor behind Cutie, not making a single sound in her slippered feet. A couple times Cutie paused, as though she heard something and Choey would hold her breath until Cutie continued walking again. Finally, Cutie stepped through the door of the bubble room...and then closed it behind her. Curses! Thought Choey angrily. Now what am I going to do? Searching her mind for any spell that might help her, she finally remembered one that her cousin had taught her when she was only six..."Minisculus!" She immediately shrunk down to the size of a cat. She slipped under the door into the Bubble Room to find Vamp, Pitin, and Cutie conversing softly.
Pitin looks around the bubble room. It is within this room that over half the short cuts around Pheonix Eye reside. She spotted Vamp and the other and proceeded to chew their ears off. "What the blazes do you guys think you are doing sneaking around a this hour? I mean, Vamp we already have a detention do you want to see the light of day again?" She continued like that for several hours until she wore herself out.
Sweety was sitting in the library, whistling and doodling in her book... she was drawing little hearts around two names, one was hers, one wasn't.
Cutie, Pitin, Choey and Vamp all stood in the middle of the bubble room, the orange bubbles dancing around them in candle light, giving off an eerie orange glow much like sunset although it was much past midnight.
"Well" Vamp started. "I was only going to ask Cutie if she though anything was wrong with this extra class, but since you guys are here I can ask you too." There was a slight silence, and then Choey jumped in. "And we will be snooping around obviously. Right?"
She looked at everyone inquisitively.
"Why else would we be out of bed?" Said Pitin, twirling her fingers through her short hair with a smirk on her face.
At this time Sweetie was coming back from the library. She had been studying late, and the librarian mustn't have noticed she was still in there.
She walked past the bubble room on the way back to her common room and hearing the feint whispering,
Sweety stopped, "What the?" She thought and poked her head in the bubble room. She wasn't in here often, so even though she knew they were there the bright orange bubbles still surprised her. "Hey guys... what's going on?"
"You might as well join us." Said Cutie.
"Is that popcorn I can smell from your bag?" Said Choey, with her nose in the air like a lunatic.
"Are those love hearts on your book?" Said Vamp blankly, not thinking about what he just said then silently looking apologetic afterwards.
"MY POPCORN!" she clutched the bag protectively against her, "None for you!" She decided to ignore Vamps comment; the best way to avoid answering a question was to just pretend it was never asked.
"Have a seat." Vamp conjured a chair for Sweetie.
They spent the next five minutes telling Sweetie about why they were up, and why Professor Nulmit was such a "Sock puppet!" (As Pitin had put it)
"Why are you up so late?" Asked Cutie, when the conversation on whether "Nulmit smells more like an old sock puppet or a new puke socket" had ended.
"Humph." Sweety said, thinking, "That's odd. Nulmit has never given me a problem before. Maybe its because I haven't been giving her enough trouble." she grinned evilly, "and I was studying and fell asleep on my books." She said simply.
"Anyway, Nulmit's been acting much stranger than usual." Said Pitin.
"So what are we waiting for now?" Said Vamp getting to his feet. "Now's the perfect time for snooping…And I'll stop using that word!"
Pitin and Cutie stood up and Choey made her puppy dogs face while pleading for popcorn!
"You want to come Sweetie?" Said Cutie.
Sweety still clung to the popcorn, "Of corse I wanna come, I love spying-BACK YOU VULTURES!" she held her wand like a sword and tried to fight them off.
"We have to be quiet." Pitin reminded them.
"We will get more done if we go in groups." Said Vamp.
"Agreed."
Sweety and Vamp teamed up, roughly doing Disillusionment charms on each other.
Cutie, Pitin and Choey went in a group of three.
Vamp could tell it would take a lot to keep them quiet!
Sweety grinned; "Alright, lets do some spying!" she quickly walked down the halls, behind tapestries and statues, up flights of stair and down some, with vamp right behind her the whole way. Soon they were right outside the teacher's office. "Ok...lets see..." she jiggled the handle, but it was locked, "Alohomora." it still wouldn't budge. "Hmmm, looks like she has something to hide..." she thought for a second, "wait! I know!" she opened her mouth and took out one of the wires on her braces, bending it just so and inserting it into the keyhole. In seconds there was a "click" and the door swung inward. "Heh heh heh..." she chuckled, replacing the wire in her mouth.
"Nice work." Said Vamp deeply impressed, I knew that muggle book of dentistery you were reading in History of Magic would be of some use.
The teacher's office was fairly messy in most parts. Even while the teachers were asleep the filing had been bewitched to do itself, so papers silently flew across the room as the moonlight flooded in from the large solitary window.
"Which one's Nulmit's desk?" Said Vamp, closing the door behind him.
She shook her head, "No idea. And I'm afraid my braces can't fix this problem..." she sighed, "lets start looking." she went to search the first desk, then stopped, "Wait, they might be bewitched. You know, teachers being paranoid about kids changing grades and all..." she thought, but no ideas came to her, "we have to search the desks without touching anything..." she shook her head, it was impossible.
"Good point." Said Vamp.
"I don't think Harry or Nulmit would keep anything of real importance in here anyway. There's always a chance of another teacher finding it."
They were about to leave when they heard the door creak open.
"Quickly!" Whispered Vamp. And he pulled Sweety behind the opening door.
"Jingle bells, this place smells!" Came Choey's voice.
It was only the others.
"Nulmit laid an egg!" Sweety chimed in, stepping out from behind the door. "Hey guys, find anything? We haven't had any luck."
"This is the weirdest thing, talking to people you can't see." Said Pitin.
They had all done pretty shabby jobs on disillusioning each other. Things like elbows and the bottom of their robes could still be seen, but just barely.
"Well if you guys are still up for a stroll, I have to send a Penguin. Wanna join me?" Said Vamp.
"Sure!" Sweety said enthusiastically, "Who you penguining?" she sung 'Jingle bells, this place smells, Nulmit laid an egg.' over and over in her head, it was stuck there now, amidst the other million and some odd songs stored away in her files.
"One of my many fans." Vamp replied sarcastically.
The other didn't ask twice.
The walk to the penguinary was relatively quiet, just small talk. Vamp liked the castle at night. The many rooms changed after dark, some doors became visible, and some paintings changed form.
Something caught his eye in one of the corridors, taking his mind away from Sweety's brace trick and how well that would work with his fangs.
There was a large mirror at the end of a small alcove like room in the corridor.
Sweety didn't notice Vamp pausing until she ran into him, "Oof, oh sorry buddy." she followed his gaze, "Whatcha looking at? Is it interstin'?" she asked, interestedly.
"A mirror?" Said Vamp vaguely.
By this time Choey, Cutie and Pitin had stopped and come over to see what the big attraction was.
Bang!
The students whipped their heads around to origin of the noise.
It was a second year Shadows student.
Not seeing them because of the disillusionment charms and the dark, she had tripped over Pitin's robes.
Sweety nearly jumped out of her skin, "Holy shiza!" She exclaimed, "Let's get outta here!"
The girl picked herself up, but didn't move. She remained standing on Pitin's robes, as if she was in some kind of trance.
Sweetie, Choey and Cutie all went to Pitin's aid. Vamp however looked the girl straight in the face.
Her eyes were blank, as if she actually was in some kinds of trance.
She was now off Pitin's robes and continued walking in the direction of the penguinary.
"Is she sleepwalking?" Whispered Choey.
"With a letter in her hand?" Said Pitin.
The students' hearts were beating like earthquakes.
"We should probably get back to our common rooms. In case anyone else heard the commotion." Said Cutie.
Sweety shook her head grimly, "Oh no. I'm not going back. No way, no how. I have to know what this is all about. Even if I get detention." Once sweetie's curiosity was perked, there was no un-perking it
"No way, not now! We are five feet away from a broken in teachers office. Did we even relock it?" Said Vamp in a serious yet hushed voice.
"We can get back to our common rooms if we can make it to the sixth floor, then back to the bubble room!" Said Cutie, also no longer her calm self.
Sweety just waved her wand and the door resealed itself, her eyes were still fixed stubbornly on the student. "I'm going." she said firmly, "If I get caught, that's my fault."
Sweety followed the kid determinedly. One thing she was proud of about herself, once she had a goal, all else became obsolete in its importance to her. She had to know what this kid was doing, if not it would bother her and bother her until she went mad! Well, madder than she already was.
"Now's not the time Sweety!" Said Cutie.
Vamp seconded Cutie, "If it's something really big, how much to do want to bet this girl is doing this more than one night a week! I'm going to bed, it's two o'clock." And with that he turned down a small spiral staircase hidden behind a large Chinese style vase, decorated with falling pink lotus flowers that actually moved.
Choey just stood there staring at the flowers for a while then decided to follow Sweety.
"Night Vamp..." she said quietly, still following.
Getting back to the common room around two o'clock, Vamp un-disillusioned himself and went to bed.
He pondered on what had happened tonight for a while before falling deep asleep.
He hadn't slept for long before Pitin bewitching gobstones onto his bed had waked him.
He changed into his robes and met her down stairs.
"Ready for breakfast?" Pitin said in the overly cheery voice she used purposely to scare Vamp.
"Sure...is bed provided?"
Sweety was in the breakfast hall, poking her bacon with a forlorn expression. And Sweety adored bacon, so the fact that she wasn't eating it was like a big neon sign saying, "I'm angry, leave me alone." She had almost gotten caught last night and didn't get to find out what the letter was about. She glanced up at the staff table to see the headmistress talking animatedly to Mr. potter with a huge goofy grin on her face. She was always so giddy around him, which was nice because she wasn't so strict then.
Vamp and Pitin sat down at the Sweetlins table, pushing aside many students just to sit next to Amber (not being her usual 'Sweety' at the time).
"So what did you get up to last night?" Said Vamp still a little tired.
Someone from the Calisto table had called Pitin over so she got up and left Vamp, Sweety and the massacred bacon to themselves.
Amber glared at the bacon thinking, 'Its all your fault...' out loud she said, "stupid artery clogging sin-bucket." then picked up a piece and stuffed it whole into her mouth, "god, I love you!" she then remembered vamps question, "oh! Uh, I got caught. No more to it. We'll have to try again."
Vamp raised an eyebrow.
"Who caught you?"
The bell rang for first period. And the usual clutter of students exiting the hall commenced.
"Oh, great, History first up. Tell me the whole thing there."
And Vamp quickly left for the Knocturnes table.
Sweety started for the classroom, halfway out the door she dashed back and grabbed a handful of bacon and munched on it joyously all the way to class, where she sat in the back.
Vamp arrived to class relatively late, snuck through the door while the teacher was writing dates on the board, and sat next to Sweety (who had somewhat cheered up a little.)
"So who caught you...and where?" Vamp had a grave feeling about the teachers lounge, but remembered Sweety had sealed it last night.
"I said I ALMOST got caught." she smiled, "well technically he DID catch me, but he pretended like I wasn't there and let me go, he didn't even take points."
"You jinxed Harry Potter! You threatened him to let you go? He needs new glasses? How did that happen?" Said Vamp awestruck.
But then he thought for a second. "Where exactly did you run into him?"
"Just outside the penguinary. He was sending a letter too." she smiled, "And I didn't jinx him. Not that I could, I'm sure he could block anything I had for him anyway. Though I'm sure the handy dandy, all purpose, metal, teeth rearranging straightening device could have aided me somehow." she winked and indicated her braces.
Vamp laughed out loud then quickly quietened himself, realising where he was.
He gave Cutie a small, indicating his small fangs. "Or these?"
Vamp didn't want to get Sweety upset or angry again about mentioning why Harry had been sending a penguin at that hour of the morning, or why he had bothered to use a penguin- Vamp could of sworn he had seen him around with a white barn owl.
Sweety was smiling to herself, not noticing Vamps thoughtful expression. She hummed a tiny bit and started to flip through her book to the page the teacher had said, right past the page with the hearts on it.
The rest of the lesson went past fairly silently, Vamp slowly writing down random notes while looking out the window, Sweetie drawing on her notebook.
"Now for 10 house points, who was the first Merperson ever to be allowed an account at Gringotts?"
Someone in the front raised their hand.
"Fraljefhaud...uhh"
"Tauteeevskic." Vamp finished for him mindlessly.
"Good, 10 points each."
Sweety still wasn't paying attention, she had a quick quotes quill taking notes for her and her head was off in neverland with Peter Pan and the lost boys, looking forward to care of magical creatures today. They were supposed to start dragons. They wouldn't get a real dragon unfortunately, but it would still be wonderful!
Choey's hand was about to fall off from taking constant notes and her head was spinning with meaningless names and dates.
It was all she could do not to cheer when the bell signalling the end of History class rang.
"Please tell me it's Care of Magical Creatures or something interesting next," she said tiredly as she joined Vamp, Sweety, Cutie, Evy, and Pitin leaving the class. "I swear, if I have to sit through one more class like that I'll...oh forget it!" she finished as the rest cocked their eyebrows at her. Choey made this statement every day leaving History class, but she never did anything.