(Lidia B - Hey guys I'm back! I just want to say thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to alerts for the story. The past 2 years were crazy ones but reading the reviews really pushed me to keep going. I know this chapter is almost filler so I'll be dropping Chapter 36 soon too. You guys are amazing! Thank you again! I'll be answering any questions left in previous reviews in 36.)

"Your average Cerberus can live to be 150 years old. They have these long lives since their mating habits are…difficult."

-Albus Dumbledore

Chapter 35: Be the Isistius Brasiliensis

It was February 17th. I woke with a gasp as cold water splashed across my face and up my nose. The shock to my system was closely followed by a second sharp stinging across my cheek. I couldn't see and my face burned.

"What was that for?!" I could hear Susan gasp. We were still in the ceremony room. I could feel the grass beneath my legs faster than I could clear the water out of my eyes. I caught the blurred image of someone walking out. That feline strut looked familiar… "Um…you okay?"

I wasn't even sure if I was fully awake yet. Was Susan Bones speaking to me? I rubbed my eyes again. "Wh-what happened?"

"Ernie's guide Sarah just dumped a bucket of water on you and gave you a pretty hard smack," she explained with a frown while staring at the door. "She didn't say why. Didn't even wake Ernie either."

The commotion did though. The group of four stirred, rubbing their eyes and stretching their arms. "I wonder what I could have done to upset her though? We don't speak? I don't talk to Ernie either…" More like Ernie doesn't talk to me.

"Don't think it's anything you've done." Susan gave one last squint toward the door before picking at the dried blood on her hand. "I'm not sure what that was all about but word of advice?" Ain't too many people been itchin' to give me advice lately. And I suppose I haven't been making too many good decisions on my own. "Watch your step. Nothing here happens for no reason."

Was this advice? I didn't really understand. Was this an English thing?

But soon I was going to find that she wasn't wrong.

On February 18th, I was walking out of the kitchens on the way to class in the morning. That same cat woman roundhouse kicked me into a pile of rice sacks. It wasn't as nice of a cushion as it sounded. I had a bruise on the left side of my ribs bigger than her dress shoe. Where had she appeared from? Why did she do it? I would have asked her, but I couldn't breathe. Susan helped me up that day. When I saw her later in the common room her arm was purple.

On February 19th, I climbed down the divinations rope ladder, and it snapped. I'm not sure how it happened but it did. Me and Hannah Abbott were the only ones on it at the time. We fell from the tower to the floor. I sort of landed on her a bit so she got hurt the worst.

On February 20th, I woke up in the middle of the night to a bag being placed over my head. I could feel multiple hands dragging and pulling at me. When my arms were finally let go, I immediately ripped the bag from my head. "What the heck?" I shouted now covered in mud. I was lying next to the lake. My footie pajamas had chunks of dirt in them now. These were my favorites…

I didn't realize it immediately but the other five Eligibles were lying there in their pj's too. Similar black bags that they had tugged off. Susan was furious. In a complete change from her concern just days ago, this time her eyes were shooting daggers at me. She stood up on her good ankle- the other one was yellow from a healing bruise- and made her way to me. Unlike before when she helped me up, this time she hoisted me up by my fuzzy collar. "I should rip you apart!"

I've had enough of people just yanking me around. Susan was tall but she wasn't so scary. I planted both my hands directly on her face and pushed until she dropped me and stumbled back. "Don't ya touch me you giraffe!"

"You just tell your stupid guide to back off!"

"I haven't even seen Cedric in days!"

Justin scoffed from where he was sitting on the ground with his back to us. His neck was bright red. "Her guide?" he asked, "Do you know what your guide has been up to?"

"Stuff it Flinch-Flinchy."

He whipped around on his feet, and now we could all see his black eye. "Bugger off Bean stalk!"

But I was riled up. I wanted to punch something. I wanted to just crush a-a-a rock to sand. I'm just so angry. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't help myself. "AAAAAAAAARGH!" I charged at Susan and tackled her to the ground. My dad would have been proud. I could picture him now yelling at the TV during the Rose Bowl. "First down! Let's go!" Susan's elbow immediately came down on my back. Once. Twice. Three times. I let go and raised up on my knees to grab her by the hair. She grabbed back.

"You're both mental!" I could hear Ernie shout.

I didn't care. We rolled and rolled locked in each other's hair pulling back and forth. Her thumb scratched me in the forehead. I threw an elbow in there. She pulled a leg up to try and kick me but they were too long. Good idea though. I brought a leg up to kick her in that long centipede stomach of hers. She yanked back and forth, winding my neck around like a mutt on a leash.

"You stupid Yank! Let go!"

"You let go!"

Neither of us did. We rolled some more until I could feel water and wet stones beneath us. We were rolling into the lake. Ernie and Zach broke us up before we had the chance to drown.

Ernie backed off Susan with his hands in the air. Two of his fingers were in splints. "I think it's clear to see this is a test. Of what I'm not sure. But if we're in agreement that we're all tired of the abuse, I have a plan."

Oh, so much for that plan. On February 21st, all us Hufflepuff first years stuck together. We didn't go to class alone, we didn't eat alone, we didn't go to the toilet alone, and didn't get beat up alone either. But that is to say, we still got beat. Hannah, Susan, and I were in the bathroom when we were ambushed. I was dragged over to the baths by my detangled hair. "The buddy system?" Cat girl smirked. "How cute." Then I went under. I think they called this wave-boarding? Just when I thought I'd run out of breath she'd pull me back up to catch a breath. It's like she knew exactly how much air could fit in my lungs. It was one Mississippi second yanked out of water. My arms flailing, slipping right off of her uniform sleeves. The brief glimpse of Hannah knocked out in a corner, water flying out of and into my eyes. Back under. Was she wearing heels? She was really going to kill me in her heels.

There's this little shark, hardly looks like one. I saw it on the discovery channel. It really looks more like a fish. Because of ocean pollution, the sharks are forced to look for food closer to the shore. And this little shark is like a ninja. It will swim up on anything so harmless looking and small- swim up on a seal or a whale or a person, and take a perfect deep circle chunk out of anything and I'm just trying to say I bit her. Be the shark, Mary! BE THE SHARK!

I could hear the muffled yelp she let out but I didn't let go. Instead of trying to push I now used my arms to hold her legs together and bit down harder. I wanted that perfect circle chunk. My chest burned. I needed air but I held on further. I could feel her punch me, but they hurt less under water. My vision webbed black at the edges. I must have passed out because when I finally came to, Susan was standing over me. I choked up a bit of water. "What happened?" I finally croaked.

Susan extended a hand to me with a smirk on her face. "You're a lunatic is what happened." She hoisted me up from the ground. "I reckon she's going to hold a grudge about that mangled leg. Quick, help me carry Hannah."

If you're looking for me to make any sense of what happened over the past few days, but I can tell you that…the screaming stopped for the first time since that night.