Chapter Three: Snakes and Lions, Cats and Dogs
As the days went on, Daphne began to notice several things, first and foremost of which was that Draco Malfoy was an absolute menace. He just would not shut up about all his supposed achievements, and Crabbe and Goyle would always just chuckle appreciatively like the dumb muscle they were.
Pansy Parkinson seemed to want to ingratiate herself to Malfoy as well, though to Daphne's amusement she didn't seem to enjoy having to pretend to agree with everything he said.
Millicent Bulstrode had clearly decided to double down on her brawny physique to keep people from bothering her.
Annabel Runcorn, other than Parkinson, didn't seem to see any need to humor Malfoy and didn't really associate with any of them, preferring to work on her own whenever she could.
Tracey Davis had turned out to be quite nice, though Daphne wasn't sure if she could really call her a friend. Even though she was friendly, she remained guarded and mostly only spoke when spoken to.
Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, meanwhile, seemed to find enjoyment in annoying students from other Houses, to the great amusement of many of the older Slytherins.
Daphne hadn't spoken to Potter anymore since the first Potions lesson, though they did usually exchange small smiles when their eyes happened to meet. Snape had continued to take points from Gryffindor for stupid reasons, and Daphne occasionally deliberately answered his questions wrong when he did, to make sure that Slytherin at least wouldn't get too far ahead from it.
Malfoy was not impressed by her defiance. "What is your problem, Greengrass? Here Professor Snape is trying to help us win the House Cup, and you're sabotaging us," he said in the common room after one such incident.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't like that kind of bullying. It serves no purpose other than to make everyone hate us. I know your father just pays his way out of trouble, Malfoy, but he'd be a lot wealthier if he simply invested some time in learning to be tactful," she said.
Malfoy shrugged. "That's in the real world. What's anyone going to do to us here? Dumbledore isn't going to fire Snape, so why not have some fun tormenting Potter and his friends?"
"Because where else but here are we going to learn subtlety? Think of the chances you have here to make an impression on people. Do you want everyone to think you're a petty child who needs his betters to solve his problems every time?"
She was going a bit heavy on the formal talk, and she was well aware that words like these, coming from an eleven-year-old girl, wouldn't make much of an impression, but she had to say something.
Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "Be careful who you're insulting, Greengrass. You wouldn't want my father to hear of this, would you?"
Daphne scoffed. "Thanks for proving my point for me, Malfoy."
Without waiting for a reply, she pushed past him and left the common room. She wasn't really sure where she was going, since she wouldn't have any more lessons that day, but she decided to head for the library to cool down a bit.
When she arrived, she was surprised to find that she wasn't the only student there. The Granger girl sat alone at a table, surrounded by several open books, furiously taking notes. Did the Gryffindors really have that much homework?
She approached the table. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked.
Granger looked up, clearly not expecting to see a Slytherin, of all people, asking to join her.
"Sure," she said after a moment of hesitation.
She cleared away some books from one of the chairs so Daphne could sit down.
"So…why did you want to sit here?" Granger asked, looking at all the empty tables surrounding her.
Daphne shrugged. "No real reason. My housemates were getting on my nerves a bit. I guess I didn't expect anyone else to be here at this hour," she said.
Granger nodded slowly. "I see. I guess we're in the same boat, then. My housemates were annoying me as well. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. I know you already know that, but still, first impressions and all."
She held out her hand and Daphne laughed. "Are all you Gryffindors like this?" she asked.
Hermione cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"After the first Potions class, Potter introduced himself in the same awkward way. Anyway, I'm Daphne Greengrass."
She shook Granger's hand.
"Well…Harry and I were raised by Muggles," Granger said. "Maybe that's why we seem a little…inexperienced?"
"Harry Potter was raised by Muggles?" Daphne said in astonishment. He was one of the most famous wizards in history! Any wizarding family would have paid to take him in. Why would he stay with Muggles?
Granger nodded earnestly. "Yes, his aunt and uncle. They're his only living relatives, apparently…"
She looked troubled. "Only he didn't seem to like it much there. And he was wearing really old and baggy clothes too. I felt a bit sorry for him."
Daphne didn't respond immediately. She'd sat down next to Granger on a whim, but she was learning all kinds of interesting things about the Boy-Who-Lived now. This might end up being worth her while.
"What's he like? Potter, I mean," she said.
"He's…nice, I guess? A bit too keen on breaking the rules, if you ask me, but that might just be Ron Weasley's influence. Sorry, I…I don't know him that well."
She sounded almost apologetic, and Daphne wasn't sure if it was because there was something she didn't know, or if she would think that Daphne would be disappointed in her.
"It's okay," Daphne said. "I don't really know my housemates that well, either. I know some of their families, but not what they're really like."
Granger's look suddenly changed into that of a student hearing about an interesting new subject. "Ooh, I've read about the old wizarding families, but the books only say so much. I know that there aren't many pureblood families left, but the ones that remain are usually wealthy and influential."
Daphne nodded. "Usually, yes. The Weasleys are an exception."
Granger nodded eagerly. "So I gathered, but why? I tried asking Ron but he wasn't very knowledgeable about it, and Neville wasn't comfortable talking about it; I could barely make out a word he was saying."
Daphne hesitated for a moment. She knew why the Weasleys didn't have much money, but it wasn't really a comfortable subject to talk about and she fully understood why Longbottom had tried to weasel out of it. Still, she didn't want to lie to Granger, either.
"You're Muggleborn, aren't you?" Daphne asked.
Granger nodded. "Yes. Does that…does that matter?" she asked.
"It…does and it doesn't," Daphne said after another moment of hesitation. "See, some families take a lot of pride in being purebloods, to such a degree that they believe purebloods should be the only people who have magical powers. The Weasleys were a family who always strongly opposed that view, saying they were proud of their Muggle ancestry and that magic belongs to everyone."
Granger was silent for a moment. "So…I guess the view that purebloods are somehow superior is prevalent, then?" she asked rather flatly.
"Among the old pureblood families, yes. The wizarding world at large…I don't think so. There are far more half-bloods than purebloods. The problem is that the old families have a lot of money and influence, so it sometimes seems like the entire wizarding world follows their views," Daphne said.
"What about you?" Granger asked.
"My family is pureblood, but we don't believe in pureblood supremacy," Daphne said. "It just doesn't make sense to. Look at Dumbledore. He's a half-blood and he's the most powerful wizard in the world. And if you look at the family trees of the pureblood families, you'll see holes in certain places, where it's almost certain that Muggles or half-bloods were involved."
Granger still looked uneasy, and Daphne sighed. "Sorry. I didn't want to depress you," she said.
Granger quickly shook her head. "No, no! Don't worry about it. I'm glad I know." She smiled weakly. "The Muggle world doesn't have a great track record with prejudice either. It's sad that the wizarding world has something similar, but I guess it's just a human trait…"
"What's the Muggle world like?" Daphne asked on a whim. It wasn't likely she would ever venture far into the Muggle world, but she knew it was much bigger than the magical one, and the more she could learn, the better it would be.
Granger seemed delighted by the question, her short moment of dejection now replaced by eagerness to tell Daphne everything she knew about her world.
Daphne was shocked at how fast the girl could talk, but she had to admit that even at Granger's tempo, the information was all concise and to the point, and she struggled to remember as much of it as she could.
It was much later when Granger finally stopped talking, and Daphne's head was spinning from the sheer volume of information she'd just heard. She wouldn't be surprised if she now knew more about the Muggle world than the magical one.
"Oh goodness, the time!" Granger said. "I'm sorry I kept you here for so long! We'd better get back to our common rooms…"
She began to pack her books, and returning the ones from the library to their shelves.
Daphne got up to help, and soon they were out of the library.
"It was nice meeting you, Daphne," Granger said politely. "I've learned some interesting things today."
Daphne smiled. "Same to you, Gra– Hermione," she said.
It was odd to use her first name, but since Hermione had done it first, she figured she might as well.
"Say hello to Po– Harry for me when you see him."
She wasn't really sure if she should be on first name basis with Harry, but he probably wouldn't mind, would he? It seemed to be a Gryffindor thing, anyway, and hadn't the Sorting Hat almost sorted her into that House?
Hermione giggled at Daphne's corrections and said, "I will. Good night!"
A few days later, an announcement was posted in the common room that flying lessons would begin the next Thursday, and the Slytherins would be having their lessons together with the Gryffindors.
Daphne felt a bit apprehensive when she saw the notice. She wouldn't mind a lesson with the Gryffindors not given by Snape, but she wasn't sure how her housemates would react to the news.
Malfoy, in any case, had already begun bragging to everyone how good he was on a broom, and Daphne had to bite back quite a few sarcastic remarks. While she wasn't much of a flyer herself, her mother had been on the Quidditch team in her own school days, and when she'd seen Malfoy practicing his flying at one party at Malfoy Manor, she'd regaled Daphne with a long list of everything he'd been doing wrong, which he only got away with because of his high-quality broom, which had training enchantments on it to boot to make it easier to handle.
Daphne was itching to throw all of those things in his face, but she decided not to, in case a better opportunity would come along at a later moment. Besides, she should at least give him the chance to humiliate himself first, right?
That Thursday afternoon, Daphne and the other Slytherins made their way down to the practice grounds, where twenty brooms had already been laid out. They each stood next to a broom, waiting for the Gryffindors and their teacher.
The Gryffindors arrived first, chatting animatedly among themselves. Daphne could see that some of the looked quite nervous.
She saw Harry and Hermione and smiled at them, and they returned the gesture.
Ron Weasley seemed annoyed that two of his friends were now in contact with a Slytherin, but he didn't say anything.
Daphne ended up standing next to Hermione, and Harry just beside. "Have either of you flown before?" she asked quietly.
Both of them shook their heads.
"I've read a lot about it, of course, but…" Hermione shrugged a bit helplessly.
"I've only dreamed about flying," Harry said. "It was on a motorbike, not a broom, but still."
Daphne was glad she'd asked Hermione about the Muggle world, or she wouldn't even have known what a motorbike was. It seemed like a less likely thing to fly than a broom, but then, dreams weren't known for their realism.
"I've done it a couple of times. I prefer solid ground, though," Daphne said.
She saw Weasley looking more and more frustrated that his Gryffindor housemates were talking to her, and she was just about to ask him about his flying experience, both out of genuine curiosity and the desire to mess with him a little, but at that moment Madam Hooch, the teacher, arrived.
She instructed everyone to stick out their right hand over their broom and shout 'Up!', and soon twenty voices shouted, "UP!"
Daphne saw a couple of brooms jumping into people's hands — her own among them — but many others barely twitched, and some, like Longbottom's, hadn't moved at all. Hermione's broom had merely rolled over, but Harry's had eagerly leapt into his hand.
She grinned at him to show her approval, and grinned a bit wider when she saw Weasley scowling at her from behind Harry. He did have his broom in his hand, though.
Madam Hooch instructed everyone on how to hold their brooms, and Daphne had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing when Hooch told Malfoy, in no uncertain terms, that he was holding his broom entirely the wrong way.
She instructed everyone to mount their brooms and get ready to take off, but while she was still counting down, Longbottom had already kicked off.
"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted, but Longbottom clearly wasn't in control of his broom, and Daphne already saw him sliding off, falling nearly twenty feet and hitting the ground with a resounding thud.
Madam Hooch hurried over to him and helped him sit up. "Broken wrist," she muttered. "Come on, boy. It's alright, up you get."
She faced the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."
She and Longbottom left the pitch, and they'd hardly left when Malfoy started laughing.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?"
Many of the other Slytherins joined in, but Daphne just shook her head in disgust and shot an apologetic look at Hermione and Harry.
Malfoy walked over to the spot where Longbottom had fallen and said, "Look! It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."
He held up a glass ball, which Daphne recognized as a Remembrall.
"Give that here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly.
Malfoy gave him a nasty smile in return. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about…up a tree?"
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but before he could snatch the stone Malfoy had already leapt on his broom and taken off.
"Come and get it, Potter!" he shouted.
Harry grabbed his broom.
"No!" Hermione shouted. "Madam Hooch told us not to move! You'll get us all into trouble."
She looked pleadingly at Daphne for help, but Daphne was all in favor of Harry going after Malfoy. Someone had to take that annoying git down a peg, and on a broomstick it certainly wouldn't be her.
Harry kicked off from the ground and soared into the sky after Malfoy, and to Daphne's — and everyone else's — astonishment, it looked like he'd been flying all his life. He easily steered his broom to hover across from Malfoy.
"Give it here," Harry called at him. "Or I'll knock you off that broom!"
"Oh yeah?" Malfoy said, attempting to sound confrontational but looking scared even from where Daphne was standing.
She grinned a bloodthirsty grin. Malfoy was going down, and he knew it.
Harry charged Malfoy, who only barely dodged the attack.
Several people clapped. If her housemates hadn't been there, Daphne would've been doing the same. Her expression probably said enough, though.
Hermione looked torn, glancing at all of the other students in turn, but clearly unable to decide on a course of action.
Knowing her housemates were looking at Harry and Malfoy, Daphne took a step closer to Hermione and softly said, "Just trust Harry. He can handle this."
Hermione looked uncertain, but Ron, seemingly forgetting that Daphne was a Slytherin for a moment, nodded vehemently.
"Yeah, he's got this," he said.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry said loudly.
Malfoy glanced from Harry to the Remembrall, then shouted, "Catch it if you can, then!"
He threw the ball high into the air and quickly flew back down, leaving Harry to go after the Remembrall.
Daphne shook her head in disbelief when he dived after it. There was no way he was going to catch it — except he did.
Somehow, at the very end of the dive, Harry snatched up the Remembrall in his hand, just in time to pull up his broom and fall off safely.
"HARRY POTTER!"
Daphne looked in the direction of the voice and saw Professor McGonagall striding across the lawn.
"Never — in all my time at Hogwarts — how dare you — might have broken your neck —"
The other Gryffindors rushed to his defense, and Daphne wanted to open her mouth to speak on his behalf as well, but Professor McGonagall dismissed all the protests and ordered Harry to follow her.
Daphne watched them go with a pit in her stomach. At the very least Harry was sure to be docked a massive number of points.
Hermione looked partially like she wanted to say 'I told you so', but mostly just worried. When she met Daphne's eyes, though, she gave her a reproachful look, as if she were blaming Daphne for not stopping Harry. Well, she wasn't about to back down now.
"Come on, Hermione," Daphne said softly, hoping that her housemates were still too busy laughing at their apparent victory to look at her. "Harry did the right thing and you know it."
"He broke the rules!" Hermione said stubbornly.
"And sometimes doing the right thing involves breaking rules," Daphne said, a bit impatiently.
"Harry might be expelled, don't you care about that? And he could've gotten himself seriously injured just now!" Hermione said indignantly.
"Yes, but he didn't," Weasley said. "I can't believe I'm agreeing with a Slytherin here, but she's right. Malfoy is a git, and Harry is apparently a really good flyer. Besides, he won't be expelled. …Will he?" he added, with a questioning look at Daphne, who could only shrug in reply.
As a Slytherin child of Slytherin parents, she certainly knew that people at Hogwarts had gotten away with a lot of rule breaking, but she had no idea what would be grounds for immediate expulsion. She couldn't imagine this being one of them, but Professor McGonagall, unlike Snape, didn't play favorites. If what Madam Hooch had said was true…then Harry might very well find himself on a train home.
"Potter is going down tonight," Malfoy seethed, pacing around the common room after dinner. "I don't know how he managed to avoid getting expelled, but no matter. I'll see to it that it happens tonight anyway."
"What did you do, Draco?" Parkinson asked.
Daphne was glad that someone actually on Malfoy's side had asked the question; if she had done it Malfoy would probably have become suspicious.
Malfoy grinned. "I challenged him to a duel," he said. "And what's even better, the Weasel is going to be his second."
"Oh, how sneaky," Parkinson simpered. How she managed not to vomit was beyond Daphne.
"It gets better," Malfoy said. "There isn't going to be a duel. I'm simply going to tell Filch there will be students in the trophy room tonight at midnight. They'll be caught, and then they'll be expelled for sure."
He laughed, which Crabbe and Goyle took as a cue to laugh as well.
Pansy followed along, but stopped rather quickly. Daphne saw her giving a mildly disgusted look at Malfoy, but Malfoy didn't notice, being too busy gloating.
Daphne frowned. Harry clearly hadn't been expelled yet, but if he'd truly agreed to a duel — and she had no doubt that he had — there was a good chance he might still be kicked out. There were still a couple of hours until midnight. What could she do?
She glanced around the common room. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for, but when she spotted a familiar figure at a table in the back of the room, she got an idea.
"Excuse me, er, Miss Farley?"
She honestly wasn't too sure on how to address a Prefect, and when she saw Farley's amused look she wondered if that was the same expression she'd used on Harry and Hermione.
"Greengrass, right? Just 'Gemma' or 'Farley' is fine. What can I do for you?" she asked.
"Er, Draco Malfoy is trying to get a couple of Gryffindors expelled. I'd like to stop him, but I don't know how," Daphne said.
In normal Noble House politics, straight up accusing anyone of underhanded tactics was simply not done without solid evidence, and a firsthand account didn't count as that, but this, as Malfoy had helpfully told her not too long ago, wasn't normal Noble House politics. This was school. And in school, ratting out a bully was the right thing to do, in her opinion.
Gemma grimaced. "Ah. Remember how I told Malfoy off on the first day? Well, the next day Snape took me aside to say that I had to be more lenient with him."
She looked annoyed. "I don't know what skeletons he has in his closet that Lucius Malfoy knows about, but Snape seems determined to stay on the Malfoys' good side. If I confront Malfoy, he'll just go to Snape and overrule me," she said.
Daphne's face fell. There went that plan.
"But that doesn't mean I can't help you," Gemma went on with a mischievous smile. "Our House might not be able to help, but maybe Gryffindor House can. Professor McGonagall is stern, but fair. If you go and talk to her, she might be able to sort things out. No promises, of course, but it's your best bet."
Gemma checked her watch. "She'll probably be in her office."
Daphne thanked Gemma and turned around to leave.
"Oh, and Greengrass?"
Daphne shot her a questioning look.
"I think Slytherin has a good student in you."
Daphne felt her face heat up a bit, so she inclined her head in thanks and quickly left the common room, hurrying towards Professor McGonagall's office.
She knocked on the door and heard a stern, "Come in," from inside.
She entered the office, and Professor McGonagall managed to give her a curious look without ever changing her stern expression.
"Miss Greengrass?" she asked.
"Good evening, Professor," Daphne said. "I, er, wanted to ask you something."
"If this is about your Transfiguration homework–"
"No, no. It's, er, about Draco Malfoy, actually, and it also involves two students from Gryffindor, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Daphne said.
Professor McGonagall closed her eyes for a moment. "What's it about?" she asked wearily.
"Well…Malfoy has challenged Harry to a duel," Daphne began.
"And naturally, Potter accepted with Weasley as his second," Professor McGonagall said. "Do go on."
"Well, yes, he did. But Malfoy has no intention of showing up. He wants to tell Filch where to find them and get them expelled," Daphne said.
"Of course he does. I take it Professor Snape is not inclined to do anything about the situation?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I don't know, Professor. I asked our Prefect, Gemma Farley, and she said my best bet was to talk to you."
"Did she indeed? She's a credit to her House, then."
Professor McGonagall sighed. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Miss Greengrass. I will see what I can do. A point to Slytherin for honesty and integrity. Now, you should go back to your common room. You've done all you can do."
Daphne thanked Professor McGonagall and headed back to her common room. Despite the reassurance, she didn't feel like she'd changed anything at all. In fact, Professor McGonagall's reaction had seemed a lot like the common platitudes in Noble House politics.
Besides, what could McGonagall really do? She couldn't punish Malfoy for something he hadn't done yet. She could — and likely would — talk to Filch and the Gryffindors, but there wasn't much chance either would listen. Harry and Ron were still likely to go out, just on the off-chance that Malfoy would show up anyway. Bravery to the point of recklessness was a signature trait of Gryffindors, after all, and Harry had already shown he possessed plenty of it.
Well, if they were going to get themselves in trouble, she'd go with them. She knew where the duel was supposed to be held, and she was confident she'd be able to sneak to the trophy room. She'd just hang out there for a short while, check if Harry and Ron would show up, and warn them away if they did. Easy.
She wasn't quite sure why she was so adamant to help Harry and Ron, but after the stunt Malfoy had pulled earlier, she knew that whatever else happened, she wanted to work against him, and one way or another she was going to do it. Perhaps the Sorting Hat really had been onto something when it had suggested putting her in Gryffindor.
The castle wasn't quite as friendly at night as it was during the day. Every sound echoed treacherously in the hallways, and made it hard to tell where the noise came from. Most unwelcome to someone trying with all her might to remain unseen.
Still, she seemed to have luck on her side for the time being, and she managed to reach the trophy room with a couple of minutes to spare. She crouched down around a corner, periodically checking over her shoulder to see if someone was coming.
She felt her heart beating in her throat. If she got caught, she'd have a lot of explaining to do, and she really, really wanted to prevent that. Well, too late to back out now. She was already there, and she'd stay until the Gryffindors had either shown up, or would definitely not be coming.
Not much later, though, she saw people sneaking into the hallway from the opposite direction — but there were four of them, not two.
She quickly made her way over to them, holding up her hands as a sign of peace. As she approached, she saw that in addition to Harry and Ron, Hermione and Longbottom were there.
"Daphne? What are you doing here?" Harry whispered.
"Malfoy's tricked you. He won't show up. Didn't McGonagall tell you?" Daphne whispered back.
"Ha, I knew it," Hermione whispered smugly.
"You tipped her off?" Ron asked.
Daphne nodded. "I heard Malfoy talking about his plan in our common room. Filch was going to bust you and–"
She fell silent when she heard a muttering voice approaching.
"Won't be coming, won't they? We'll see about that… no good students keeping honest people from their nights. I'll find them. Ought to give them the whip, really…"
"Come on, hurry," Daphne whispered, beckoning the Gryffindors to follow her, away from the voice.
As soon as they rounded the corner, however, they nearly tripped over a scrawny cat with bulging eyes.
"Oh, crap," Ron muttered. "Please don't call your master," he pleaded with the cat.
Mrs. Norris, however, looked at him reproachfully and began to yowl.
"RUN!" Harry yelled, and all five of them sprinted past Mrs. Norris down the corridor, not caring to look whether or not Filch was behind them.
They turned corner after corner, until they suddenly ran into a massive door…and found that it was locked.
Behind them, they could hear Mrs. Norris meowing loudly, leading Filch in their direction.
"We're doomed," Ron said helplessly.
"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled.
She pulled Harry's wand from his hand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora."
The door swung open, and the five of them quickly entered the room, shut the door behind them and remained as quiet as they could, listening for Mrs. Norris's meowing and Filch's heavy footsteps.
"Can't be in here, my sweet. That door's been locked all year. And if they are in there…well…"
Filch laughed, and Daphne could swear that Mrs. Norris laughed along with him.
"That…did not sound good," Daphne whispered when she heard Filch's footsteps stomp away.
"I wonder what he meant by– Neville, stop pulling on my– oh."
Harry was looking in the direction Neville already had been looking, and now Daphne, Hermione, and Ron turned to look as well.
They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.
It stood, staring at them, with bared teeth, and Daphne thought the only reason it hadn't eaten them yet was because it had been unable to decide who to get first.
Harry grabbed the doorknob and turned it, and the five of them stumbled out and spilled into the forbidden hallway in a tangle of limbs. Harry scrambled to slam the door shut, and they took off running.
At one corner, the Gryffindors made to turn right while Daphne kept running straight, so she shouted a quick, "See you!" at the others, and was just able to see Harry's wave in reply before they were out of sight.
She ran all the way to the common room, fortunately not meeting Filch along the way, and was still panting when she dropped into her bed, more thankful than ever that the curtains on the four-poster beds had muffling enchantments on them so her dormmates wouldn't hear her.
When the rush of what she'd just experienced began to wear off a bit, she only had two thoughts in her head. One, that adventure had been entirely insane, yet completely worth it, and two, that dog had been standing on some kind of trapdoor, meaning that whatever was down there was very, very valuable, and she wanted to know what it was.
And so ends the third chapter. All of these three were written at the same time, in a single day, and edited just minutes before going up, as is my general style. Now, I just hope I can keep it going. It's been too long since I really got into a story, and this is one where most of the plot has already been invented for me. In any case, let me know what you think, and until next time!