Chapter 2 : The mystery thickens
The beginning of the school year having taken place on a Friday, the students were able to spend a quiet weekend at Hogwarts before classes started. On Saturday morning, while they were eating their breakfast in the Great Hall, they received the schedule of the classes they were going to take during the year and this particularly delighted Arcturus who had waited impatiently to know when Muggle Studies was planned.
"Finally !" He exclaimed while almost snatching the schedule from the hands of McGonagall who was doing the distribution for the Gryffindors. "Let's see on which day it is. We only have one lesson on Monday afternoon and that's it ! But that's not enough !"
"All the electives are planned that way for the third years since Hogwarts was founded." McGonagall replied sharply.
She then went to hand out their timetables to the other Gryffindors while Arcturus was slowly sliding down his chair with an annoyed air. As for Akira, she was more than satisfied with her schedule because contrary to Arcturus, she didn't want to do extra hours in Care of Magical Creatures since this class promised to be challenging, especially with the professor who was teaching it.
Akira was studying her schedule carefully when she received a big pat on the back that startled her. Turning around, she discovered that it was just Ana - the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team - who had undoubtedly come to talk to her about Quidditch.
"The selection to form the new team will take place next week on Saturday." Ana informed her as Akira was slowly recovering from her fright. "So if you want to be part of the team like last year, you better come."
"Of course I will. After all, I help the team win the Quidditch Cup and I want to do it again this year." Akira replied playfully.
"Don't get cocky. That's the best way to lose all our matches if we don't take our opponents seriously. Anyway, where are the other veterans of our team ? I want to see all of them at the selection since we were a rather good team."
Ana turned on herself and left Akira alone when she spotted Liz not far away.
"I almost forgot but with the beginning of the school year, the clubs will reopen and recruit members." Arcturus pointed out while covering his timetable with jam that was dropping from his toast. "I still don't know if I'll continue my Muggle sports club this year after the moderate success it had last time."
"Give it a try. There's a load of first years that might be interested in it, like the two that we met in the train." Akira advised him.
"You got a point. At least, it costs me nothing to let people know that this club exists. Well, it will cost me some ink and parchment but I think I can cover the fees." Arcturus replied as he seemed to have regained his good mood.
"Do some advertisement during Muggle Studies. That's the best place to find some members for your Muggle club." Akira added before shifting her attention back to her breakfast.
The rest of the weekend went smoothly. Since the students didn't have any homework yet, they took advantage of their free time to rest or in Akira's case, go flying over the Quidditch pitch which was still deserted as the game season hadn't started yet. Arcturus would have come with her – he even insisted to do so – but since he didn't intend to fly, Akira didn't see the point in letting him wait on the bench while she had fun. Therefore, she convinced him on doing whatever he liked during that time and met again in the Great Hall for meals.
With this arrangement, Akira found herself wandering in the hallways alone and when the latter were completely deserted, the strange feeling of being followed came back to her. But every time she turned around to see what was behind her, there was nothing. Afraid of getting into trouble like last year, she began to walk around the school only during rush hour to be sure she wouldn't be attacked as there were many witnesses around her.
Classes finally arrived as the weekend was coming to an end, much to the annoyance of the students who had grown accustomed to lazing in school. As for Akira and Arcturus, they had been eagerly waiting for their courses to start, especially to find out what Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies and Arithmancy were all about since they were new to them.
Akira didn't have to wait long since Care of Magical Creatures was held on Monday morning after History of Magic. It was perfect to go outside in fresh air to wake up after snoozing due to Binns drawling voice.
Akira left the castle to go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest where the course was normally held. Being able to leave the usual classrooms to go outside was one of the benefits of this course and one of the reasons why Akira chose it over the other electives proposed. The other reason was that it wasn't just about listening to a professor for an hour or casting a difficult spell that never worked the first time. Care of Magical Creatures was composed of practical exercises to learn how to take care of relatively dangerous creatures, which promised to be exciting.
Once Akira reached the forest, she found there a few students and Professor Kettleburn. The latter, who already had a long career in the field of magical creatures, was displaying an encouraging smile. It could have inspired confidence to join his course but the state he was in inspired the opposite. Indeed, Kettleburn was missing both legs and an arm that had to be replaced by prostheses. The terrible circumstances in which he lost limbs should have taught him to be more cautious around ferocious creatures but no, his prostheses were lacerated and burned as well.
Kettleburn was a living proof that magical creatures shouldn't be taken lightly and that didn't reassure the third year students enrolled in his class. Among them was Alice Fawley, the only girl from Gryffindor third year with whom Akira got along well. It was reassuring to find a known figure in this new course so Akira began to chat with her.
"Care of Magical Creatures reminds me of Herbology." Alice commented while the latecomers finally arrived. "After all, we also work outdoors with plants that can be dangerous."
"I had never seen Herbology that way but you're right." Akira agreed as she was happy to have found someone to share this course with since Arcturus wasn't there.
"It's nice to have more students than last year !" Professor Kettleburn said cheerfully as all the students were gathering around him for the beginning of the lesson.
Akira counted them and she found seven students of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw out of the twenty people from these two houses. She began to wonder if Kettleburn was joking but he didn't seem so as he was really pleased to have that many students.
"I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Professor Kettleburn but you surely already know me since you've been in this school for two years. Either way, I'm glad that you chose my course and I hope that you'll stay in one piece until your fifth year to take your OWL exam in this class."
"Because it's not usually the case ?" Alice whispered to Akira which made her smile.
But while this announcement amused the two Gryffindor girls, their comrades seemed worried by it and that didn't go unnoticed by their professor.
"I misspoke. No student who has taken my course has ever been injured to the point of not being able to complete his schooling. I can't promise that you won't suffer from scratches or superficial burns but it's nothing serious. Yes ?" Professor Kettleburn added after finally noticing the raised hand of a Ravenclaw student.
"Can we still drop this course ?" He asked hopefully.
"What are you saying there. You'll really enjoy my class, especially after I told you about the fascinating creatures we'll see during the semester !" Kettleburn replied enthusiastically but it made his students wince, specially when they had to open their book to find illustrations of very strange-looking creatures.
At the end of the lesson, the students left the Forbidden Forest while being puzzled over their choice for their elective.
"It changes from the animals we usually know. We're far from cats and frogs they sell on Diagon Alley." Alice commented as she and Akira were returning to the castle for lunch. "When I think that my parents wouldn't let me have a Pygmy Puff. If I showed them what we're going to see as creatures in this course, they'll buy me one on the condition that I drop Care of Magical Creatures right away."
"In my case, my father doesn't even know that I took this course and it's an advantage, otherwise he would pull me out of Hogwarts on the spot."
"How was that first lesson on magical creatures ? Do you still have all your fingers ?" Arcturus asked them jokingly when they arrived in the Entrance Hall.
"What are you doing ?" Akira asked him, frowning.
"Advertisement for my Muggle sports club." He proudly announced while hanging a piece of parchment on the wall next to the Great Hall door.
Once he was done, he gave the same sheet of paper to each of the girls and Akira found out that he had just written down the title of his club, the activities it offered and the places where to find him if someone was interested in joining it.
"You two want to register ? You would be the first one to do so." Arcturus informed them with a hopeful tone.
As Akira and Alice were thinking on a way to say no without hurting him, Filch got out of his office and froze in place when he saw all the parchments covering the walls. It was understandable that he was shocked as Arcturus went a bit too far and hung thousands of his advertisement around the hall.
"Vandalism on the first day of school !" Filch fulminated while ripping apart the sheets of paper he could get his hands on. "That won't go unpunished. I'll even make it an example to dissuade other delinquents to do the same."
"Let's get out of here." Akira whispered before pushing Arcturus inside the Great Hall with the help of Alice to avoid him getting into trouble as he still had a pile of his parchments in his hands.
After this incident, Arcturus stopped putting advertisement everywhere in the castle. Instead, he focused his energy on dragging his heavy suitcase full of Muggle objects to the classroom of Muggle Studies as this course was the first one of the afternoon.
"Thanks for helping me." He told Akira who took part in pushing the suitcase as he was pulling it.
They had arrived in front of the classroom's door but the latter was still closed as the lunch break wasn't over.
"Let's hope Dust will find a use in all of the Muggle objects I'm bringing because there's absolutely no way that I take them back." Arcturus said before cracking his back.
"You'll also want to get rid of this." Akira added, handing him the calculator she had bought on Charring Cross Road. "I told you that I'll bring you a Muggle object for your class so I kept my promise."
"Cool !" Arcturus exclaimed while looking at it more closely. "And… what is it exactly ?"
"It allows Muggles to do…" Akira began to explain but she was suddenly interrupted by Professor Dust who had just reached his classroom.
His surname was really appropriate for him as he seemed from another time. Unlike his colleagues who wore traditional wizarding robes, he was dressed in a beige tweed suit that made him look like a Muggle professor nearing retirement, with his white hair cut short and his voluminous white moustache which hid his mouth.
"Merlin's beard !" Dust exclaimed after putting back his thick glasses. "But it's a calculator ! And does it work by any chance ?"
"I hope so since it's new." Akira replied even though she didn't know about it since she hadn't thought to test it before giving it to Arcturus.
"What is a calculator ?" Arcturus asked in a puzzled tone.
"Patience, young man. We'll see electronics in fifth year." Dust replied.
"What ? In so long ?" Arcturus added with despair.
"This type of technology is too… sophisticated to be approached in third year." Dust told him while running a hand on his moustache.
"But that calculator isn't the only thing I have with me. I took other objects that I hope we'll see in class this year." Arcturus informed Dust before opening his suitcase, scattering its contents all over the hallway.
"That's quite a collection you have there." Dust said with astonishment as he was looking at each of the objects in turn.
"I took them especially for this class. You can keep them if you want." Arcturus told him.
"I would like to but I'm not allowed to." Dust replied with exasperation. "The situation is a bit complicated but to make it short, I already have too many objects. After all, I've been teaching at Hogwarts since more than thirty years and that let me time to get an impressive collection. However, I spot in the objects you brought some things that I would be interested in acquiring so if you agree, we can sort them out and I can take them."
"Sure !" Arcturus replied with a bright smile.
He then began to drag his opened suitcase inside the classroom as Dust was holding the door for him. Akira helped picking up what had fallen in the hallway and she handed the objects to Dust before leaving to let them sort everything.
With no class to attend while Arcturus was in Muggle Studies, Akira decided to go to the library to do some homework she had already received. She crossed the hallway to take the direction of it before stopping and turning around quickly. She had hoped to see something this time after being again overwhelmed by the strange feeling of being followed everywhere but she didn't spot anything. It didn't reassure her so she began to run until she reached the library. She passed the door and slammed it behind her more abruptly than intended.
"Do I have to remind you that the library is a quiet place ? Noises louder than whispers aren't allowed, as well as running !" Madam Pince said sharply to her in a low voice as Akira was slowly catching her breath. "If you can't respect these simple rules on the first day of school, I'll ask you to leave right now."
"I'll be quiet. I promise." Akira replied in a whisper before heading on tiptoes to a free table where she took out her books.
But she didn't have time to finish any of her homework as it was already time to go to Charms where she found Arcturus waiting for her. The latter seemed delighted with his course of Muggle Studies to the point that he would only talk about it, it was impossible to make him stop. Flitwick, his table neighbours and even Akira had tried on many occasions but each time, he would begin to speak again about Muggle Studies. At one point, Akira stopped listening to him and he became a constant noise in the background.
This non-stop speech lasted until Thursday morning with Arithmancy, the last elective that Akira and Arcturus hadn't taken yet. The course was given by Professor Watterston who was taking his subject very seriously, even a bit too seriously as he had already written several books on it. He also looked rather strict, with his short black hair perfectly flattened on his head and his eyes of the same colour that constantly went from right to left to scrutinize the slightest actions and gestures of each of his students.
For him, whispering, moving on his chair or loafing were a sign of disrespect towards him and his lessons, resulting in a stern look from Watterston at the guilty student. He really deserved his title of the toughest teacher in the school, even beating McGonagall who wasn't easy either. Fortunately for him, Arithmancy was a fascinating subject otherwise he would have no students in his class.
"I'm not here to teach such a complex subject to fourteen lazy people." He told his class after a student had asked his neighbour in a low voice to help him with the first exercise they had to do. "My time would be much more valued writing about my research and publishing articles for readers that actually understand Arithmancy. The only reason I'm teaching you is that I had to take that professor position to finance my research. I didn't really do it by choice so don't make me regret it."
This strange speech decided Akira to raise her hand to ask a question.
"What ?" Watterston said abruptly.
"Can we do the exercises in group ?" Akira asked him in a slightly shaking voice. "They'll be done more quickly and efficiently if we can compare our results."
In fact, she only asked this question so that they could be able to talk together and move around without triggering the anger of the teacher. To make Watterston accept, she even insisted on the fact that they would be more efficient if they could compare their results to not waste his precious time but the latter didn't share her opinion at all.
"No." He replied curtly while glaring at her. "Those who can't figure out how to do an exercise by themselves are doomed to fail in my class. That's a fact. All the students that were left behind during my lessons did miserably at their exam and you don't want to live the same fate, do you ?" He added in a threatening tone that left his students speechless.
After that, they were too afraid to ask another question so Watterston resumed his lesson while losing half of the class that had trouble to follow his explanations.
"Fortunately, we have fun in Cares of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies because this course is horrible." Arcturus whispered to Akira as they were leaving the classroom under the stern look of Watterston. "He kept staring at me after I dropped my quill on the floor and I didn't know what to do to make him stop."
"If you hadn't dropped your ink bottle in the process and smeared with ink the collection of his books that he was keeping preciously on a shelf next to your table, I don't think that he would have focused his attention on you." Akira replied even though she nevertheless shared his opinion that this professor was intimidating.
Arithmancy wasn't the last novelty for the third years since they also had a new teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was a woman - Professor Olhrom - who replaced Professor Morner who had left his post because of the low grades his students got at their exam. It wasn't a surprise since he gave his course apathetically with a gloomy tone that prevented his students from learning anything. Olhrom was still young – she must have been one or two years older than the seventh year students, with her blonde braid falling over her shoulder and her sparkling blue eyes – and visibly not suited to take on a teacher role yet.
"It's only when you're behind the teacher's desk that you realize what our professors had to prepare for their lessons." She told her students as she was going through a stack of papers that she had taken out of her bag. "It took me the holidays to organize the first five weeks of classes from year one to seven. That was more work than I had expected and I foresee several sleepless nights in the future to prepare the other weeks but I'm sure we'll manage somehow."
If any other professor would have said that to his class, his students would have been worried to fail their year for sure due to the teacher's incompetence. However, Olhrom's tone was so positive and full of energy that they were believing her when she said they would manage somehow.
"Don't worry. My Auror's training taught me to deal with all types of difficult situations. It was more focused on how to fight against Dark Arts than on how to prepare a course program but it's not going to be a problem." She added with a smile as she put her hand on the sheet of paper she was looking for.
"You're an Auror ?" Frank Longbottom asked her with interest.
"Not yet. In fact, I'm still in training but unlike my colleagues, I don't see myself going on the battlefield. Instead, I would prefer to train new recruits but to do so, I need to gain teaching experience and Hogwarts was a golden opportunity for me."
"It's win-win since Hogwarts needed a professor in Defence Against the Dark Arts for one year." Arcturus joked in a low voice as Olhrom was explaining to them what she had planned for this course.
"Definitely." Akira approved even if she wondered if someone so inexperienced could handle all these lessons in a course which was reputed to be extremely difficult.
This first week of new courses and new professors had been particularly tiring for the third years who had waited impatiently for the weekend. However, for those who wanted to join the Quidditch team of their house, they still had to pass the selection during it.
For the Gryffindors, it was taking place on Saturday afternoon. Akira was motivated to show her talent and shine on the pitch but she quickly became disillusioned when she realized that she was going to compete for the position of Chaser against James and his brand new broom. She had no doubt either that the latter had trained all summer when she had spent her time hunting monsters at the risk of her life.
"Good luck. You'll need it." James told her with a smirk as the aspirant Quidditch players were all gathered on the pitch while waiting for the selection to begin.
"You too the newbie." She replied coldly.
"Don't fight now. Keep that for the other teams we'll be up against." Ana advised them while passing between Akira and James as she carried the crate containing the Quidditch balls. "I would have told you to kill each other during the selection but since I need three Chasers, you might end up teammates. So play nicely with each other or none of you will join the team."
"Fine." James and Akira sighed.
"You better cause you're the only two experimented Chasers from last year since your two colleagues let me down." Ana informed them bitterly.
"They didn't let you down, they just finished their studies." Liz corrected her after joining them.
"I know but because of that, it changes the configuration of my winning team. So you three should better give your best to be part of the team this year." Ana said while pointing at Akira, James and Liz. "That will give me less work to form the new players and we'll perhaps have a chance to win again the Quidditch Cup."
She then shouted to all the Gryffindors on the pitch to be quiet as the selection was about to start. They were numerous as many Gryffindors seemed to want to join the team after its victory last year. But of all the potential Chasers, Akira only feared James who was, admittedly, an excellent player.
The selection began with the evaluation of the Chasers and the Goalkeepers. All the players for these positions took off as well as Ana who wanted to be at their level. The Quaffle was put into play and Akira and James would often keep it for themselves in an attempt to make the best impression to join the team. They would then try to score as many goals as possible as if it was a competition between them. However, that wasn't what Ana wanted to see to evaluate all the Chasers.
"Stop playing solo !" She scolded Akira and James after snatching the Quaffle from the latter's hands as he was taunting Akira with it. "I remind you that your position requires teamwork. That means making passes and letting the other Chasers play too. If you can't do something as simple as that, you don't have what it needs to join the team."
This remark had its effect and James and Akira swallowed their pride to follow their Captain's orders. Despite this setback, they were by far the two best Chasers on the pitch due to their playing experience. Even Ana had to admit it when she formed the final Quidditch team after having seen everybody play. She took both of them as well as Liz who crushed the competition by catching the Snitch after only two minutes. She admitted to have seen it earlier but she wanted to let the other Seekers have a chance to find it even if they failed miserably.
Finally, the only new players were a Chaser and a Beater. They both had the difficult task of finding their place among their colleagues, namely Akira, James and Ana who had the same position as them.
"Stay where you are, both of you." Ana said to Akira and James while all the other Gryffindors were leaving the pitch now that the selection was over.
Intrigued, Akira and James glanced at each other before returning their attention to their Captain.
"What did you have in mind today ?" She asked them reproachfully. "I've never seen you play that badly."
"Badly ? But you take us in the team." James replied while frowning.
"You know what I mean. You have the technique to be great players but you were selfish and you don't seem to get along. The job of the Chasers isn't only to score as many goals as possible. It consists also in playing in harmony and make significant passes among each other. So, I have a special training for you two to reach that objective." Ana added as James and Akira were afraid of what she might propose. "Starting today, you'll stop arguing with each other on the pitch but also outside the pitch. You'll learn to get along even if you don't want to."
"There's more chance that it starts snowing right now that I get along with this girl." James sighed while pointing at Akira. "She's completely hopeless."
"Speak for yourself !" Akira replied angrily.
"I didn't ask your opinion. If I catch you arguing with each other, you'll be excluded from the next match. It's clear ?" Ana threatened them while looking at them in turn.
"Yes." James and Akira agreed since they had no choice but to bend to the will of their Captain.
"Good. Then we'll start to train your team spirit right away." Ana said with a smile as they were both wondering what she was talking about. "Collaborate to retrieve the two Bludgers that are flying around on the pitch. I take care of the Quaffle."
Akira and James did as they were asked while Ana simply walked towards the Quaffle that she picked up as it was inert on the ground. Eventually, they managed to catch the Bludgers by combining their efforts but they weren't sure that it helped them to get along with each other. Now that all the balls were in their crate, Akira and James could leave the pitch as their friends who observed the selection on the bench went to meet them.
"Congratulations on being taken again in the team." Arcturus said to Akira once he reached her. "It wasn't really a surprise since you were the best Chaser among all the candidates and I'm not saying this to please you."
"I have to team up with James." She informed him in case he didn't already know. "That's the worst thing that could happen to me."
"You're exaggerating. He's not that bad." Arcturus told her to calm things down.
"Hey, Chitsute. Now that we're supposed to be the best friends in the world, I can give you some tips on how to avoid getting caught when you break the rules. It will also prevent Gryffindor from losing so much points." James threw at her before laughing with Sirius while Remus was giving them a disapproving look and Peter was blushing with shame at the implicit mention that they were breaking the rules.
"What did I just say Potter ? Get along with Chitsute or you're excluded from the next match." Ana told him angrily as she took the crate of Quidditch balls under her arm to put it away.
"I was just doing her a favour and to our house also. You'll thank me when Gryffindor will win the House Cup at the end of the year." James defended himself even though everyone knew that he had tried to provoke Akira.
James and his group of friends then moved away in the direction of the castle while Akira looked at Arcturus with insistence.
"On a second thought, James isn't the best teammate to have after all." He admitted while passing a hand through his hair sheepishly. "But the year is still long and nothing says that he won't change his behaviour by then, at least for the good of the team."
Akira didn't answer but she doubted it very strongly. James was already a nightmare last year so there was no reason for that to change all of a sudden.
However, Akira would only have to be around him on Saturday mornings during the Quidditch practices that Ana had planned. The rest of the time, she would rarely see James. She even forgot about him as a new week of classes started, accompanied by an impressive pile of homework that soon overwhelmed the third years, forcing them to work overtime in the library.
"Stupid… Arithmancy… homework…" Akira complained between her teeth as she had just spent the Friday evening finishing an extremely long and complicated assignment for this class. "I don't understand all these numbers. If at least it was standard calculations."
Even if she was lost in her thoughts, she heard an almost imperceptible creaking noise right behind her. She immediately turned her head to see what it was about but as always, there was nothing in this deserted hallway at such a late hour. Pushed to the limit by her Arithmancy homework and the fact that she had been wondering what was following her during two weeks, Akira decided to solve this mystery right away.
She rushed towards the door closest to her and threw it open but there was no one in that classroom. She did the same with the next door but there was no one in that room either. She then opened a third door leading to a broom closet but this time, two pairs of hands came out of the gloom, grabbed her by her wizarding robe and pulled her into the dark before the door slammed shut.
Hello dear readers,
So now, you've got an overview of all the new courses and teachers for this third year. That's what I like the most about back-to-school. Meet new people, learn new things and have new objectives after spending two months of holidays to take it easy. At least, that's the case during the first weeks. Then, the only thing that I dream about after spending my days at school and my free times doing my homework is to be again on holidays.
Anyway, Akira's in trouble right now. I don't know what grabbed her - or perhaps I do, who knows - but it's not a good omen. As if she needed this after spending only two weeks at Hogwarts but you'll know more about who is after her at the end of the month.