Reva's punishment from Professor McGonagall had been a bit of a harsh blow, she thought. While the other first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were taking flying lessons, Reva had to scrub dirty cauldrons clean, Muggle style. That was on top of the detentions she had to complete for Professor Snape, which were nothing short of horrific. He had her doing everything, from sorting frog eyes and placing them in preservative liquid with her bare hands, to cleaning the bedpans in the Hospital Wing. He had apparently suggested suspension, but McGonagall put a quick stop to that. Reva couldn't imagine getting suspended a week into school—that would certainly be the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to her.
But nothing hurt more than the absolute disappointment apparent in every line of the letter her mum sent by the next morning.
Revati,
I can't believe you got detention during your second week of school. Professor Snape said that you'd been quite rude to him, even going so far as questioning the safety of students in his care. Is everything okay? What is going on? You've always been such an obedient, mature girl that I've never had to worry about something like this. And I am worried, sweetheart. This isn't like you.
Reva, if there isn't a good reason for this, I will be quite upset with you. It's one thing to goof off and occasionally misbehave in class, but accusing your professor of intentionally endangering his students is a very serious thing.
The next two lines had been scribbled out, as evidently Anjali had decided against saying whatever it was she had originally intended.
I hope you will learn from the consequences of your actions. Again, Reva, I'm worried about you—this isn't at all like you. Please remember to respect your Professors, as they are there to advise and instruct you throughout your years in school.
Love,
-Mum
Reva had heard, of course, about Draco Malfoy's showdown with Harry Potter during their first flying lesson. She'd learned that Harry was apparently quite good at flying. And despite Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood's best attempts, all of Gryffindor House—and perhaps the whole school—knew that Harry Potter was the new Seeker for the house team.
The day it had happened, Reva was stuck cleaning cauldrons during their flying period (of course). But she'd caught up with Hermione during lunch, and her friend told her the whole story, not without a good dose of disapproval for Harry's actions. But just as Hermione finished, Draco Malfoy and his two friends came up to the Gryffindor table and started speaking with Ron and Harry. The conversation seemed quite unpleasant, but Reva knew the boys couldn't do anything with the teachers watching. Reva turned back to her food, deciding whatever rulebreaking the two of them were involved in, she'd better keep her nose clean—but Hermione, who'd apparently been eavesdropping, had different ideas.
"Excuse me," she said. "I couldn't help overhearing—"
"Bet you could," Ron mumbled, and much as Reva didn't like the way he was treating her friend, she had to admit he had a point there.
"You really mustn't go outside the common room after dark, you'll lose points for Gryffindor and honestly it would be quite selfish of you—"
"Well did you tell Revati that when she lost all of Gryffindor's points in one go?" Ron grumbled, and Reva felt herself flush with embarrassment. She opened one of her schoolbooks and pretended to read it.
"That was different, it was awfully noble of her to stick up for you and Neville, it wasn't selfish at all—"
"Well, either way, it's really not your business," Harry snapped, and he and Ron quickly finished eating and left.
Hermione returned to Reva, defeated and clearly a little hurt.
"Honestly, how could they be so stupid! I'm just trying to help them, and they're acting like I'm just this big nuisance they're stuck with! All I'm trying to say is that Draco Malfoy isn't worth losing house points for."
"Well—" Reva knew better than to point out that what Hermione had done had been rather nosy, so she switched gears. "If they're going to sneak out of the tower at night, and if they're going to be foolish enough to get caught, hopefully they'll learn their lesson without you having to teach it to them."
Hermione nodded, but she didn't seem convinced.
That night, Reva stuck around in the common room to give her friend some company. Hermione said she needed to finish the History of Magic essay due Monday, but she'd never spent so much time on one before. Still, Reva didn't question her friend's academic process and so stuck around in the common room with her, practicing the charm to change ink into different colors.
But at half-past eleven, she learned the real reason why Hermione insisted they stay up so late.
Harry and Ron, half dressed with their bathrobes pulled over their pajamas, crept down the staircase from the boys dorms. They hadn't noticed Reva or Hermione yet, and were nearly out of the portrait hole when Hermione said, "I can't believe you two are going to do this."
Harry and Ron jumped and whirled to face them. Anger crept across both their faces as Hermione continued. "I almost told your brother Percy about this—he'd have put an end to it."
"Go to bed!" Ron snapped, then whirled on Reva. "I can't believe you're in on this!" He said furiously. "Bit hypocritical for you to worry about me and Harry losing points, isn't it?"
"Leave it, Ron," Harry said, rolling his eyes angrily at the two girls. "Come on."
The two of them disappeared behind the portrait hole.
Hermione let out a groan, then grabbed Reva's arm and pulled her out of the Gryffindor common room with her. Harry and Ron looked even more irritated, but Hermione didn't let up. "Don't you care about the house cup? I don't want Slytherin to win, and you'll lose the points I got from McGonagall today!"
"Go away." Harry whispered, annoyed.
"Seriously, how can you get mad at us when your best friend is the one who lost us all our points!" Ron added.
"Hey," Reva muttered, affronted, "Leave me out of this!"
"That was different!" Hermione whispered. "Even if it was inadvisable," she turned an apologetic but stern look on Revati, the nonverbal equivalent of 'I told you so.'
"Just go back to the tower!" Harry whisper shouted at them.
"Fine, but don't expect any sympathy when—" Hermione trailed off as she and Reva took in the sight before them. The Fat Lady was gone, presumably to go chat with some other portraits or visit other parts of the castle.
"Now what are we going to do?" Hermione hissed.
"That's your problem," Ron said, and the two boys walked off.
Reva turned to Hermione, mouth open in shock. "You didn't have to finish your History of Magic essay, you just wanted to catch Harry and Ron!" she accused, a little upset. "You could have told me that's why we stayed up! You didn't have to lie about it!"
Regret flashed over Hermione's expression, before a more obstinate look took its place. "I'm sorry, Reva, but you would have told me to let it go!"
"Yeah, of course I would have!" Reva snapped. Then she sighed. "No point getting upset now," she murmured to herself. "I suppose we'll just have to stick with the boys."
They jogged up to Harry and Ron, who'd just reached the end of the corridor.
"We're coming with," Reva said.
"You are not!" Ron protested hotly.
"Look, if we get caught by Filch we can just tell him I had a nightmare and you lot are taking me to the Hospital Wing to get a Dreamless Sleep potion," Reva said, thinking quickly. "But if he finds both pairs of us on our own, he won't believe it."
"Or we could just tell him the truth," Hermione muttered, "That you two were sneaking off and Reva and I were trying to stop you!"
Reva fixed her friend with a stern look. "Oh, is that the truth?"
Hermione suddenly looked sheepish and looked to the ground. She opened her mouth to reply, but she never got the chance.
"Shh, all of you!" Harry hushed them. "I hear something."
Sure enough, a sort of scuffling noise was coming from in front of them.
"Mrs. Norris?" Asked Ron.
"No…" Reva frowned, squinting in the darkness. "It's—it's a person!"
At her surprised cry, the person, who'd been sleeping on the floor, all curled up and uncomfortable, woke with a start.
"Neville?" Reva said, baffled.
"Reva!" Neville whispered. He took in the other shocked faces. "Harry, Hermione, Ron! Thank goodness you found me!"
"What are you doing out here?" Asked Ron blankly.
"I—I forgot the password," Neville admitted sheepishly. Then he brightened. "But you could help me get in!"
"It's no use, Neville, the Fat Lady's gone," Reva said.
"We'll, er, see you later," Harry said. But before the four of them could move past their classmate, he got to his feet in a hurry.
"No, wait! Please let me come with you, I don't like being out here alone—"
Ron and Harry exchanged an exasperated look, then fixed Reva, Hermione, and Neville with an angry glance.
"If we get caught because of any one of you, I swear I won't rest until I learn that Bogies Curse Quirrel mentioned!" Ron threatened.
Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry quelled her with a glare and the five of them hurried along.
"Where are we going, anyway?" Reva whispered to Harry. He glared at her.
"Shut up, you'll find out soon enough!"
"Touchy," Reva murmured, but she didn't want to get caught either so she shut up after that.
They made their way to the trophy room on the third floor corridor. Reva looked around—she'd never been in here, but it was quite a sight. Cases and cases filled with trophies lined the room. She wandered over to a case at random, and a specific gleaming trophy caught her eye. T. M. Riddle — Special Services to the School. She felt ambition rise in her chest; she wanted to do something great for the school too, something that could get her acknowledgement in here. R. K. Kumar — Special Services to the School didn't sound too bad.
But then a noise sounded in the next room over, and Revati jumped. She looked around, panicked, at the other first years.
"Sniff around, my dear," came Filch's unmistakable voice, "They might still be here."
Reva felt her eyes widen, and she exchanged a horrified look with Hermione—there was never going to be a duel there, Malfoy had sold them out to Filch!
The boys had obviously come to the same realization, and an anxious Harry beckoned them all towards a different door. They followed him quietly, just barely making it out of the trophy room before Filch walked in.
"This way," Harry mouthed, pointing down a different hallway. The five first years clambered quietly down the corridor, and for a brief, beautiful moment, Reva thought they'd make it out unscathed.
And then Neville tripped and knocked into Ron, who in turn staggered into a suit of armor. Reva froze, horrified at the loud cacophony that erupted from there. There was no way Filch hadn't heard that.
"RUN!" Harry shouted, and from there it was a full sprint, the five first years flying down hallways and corridors Revati hadn't known existed. She was following Harry's lead, but she had a sneaking suspicion he didn't know any better than anyone else where they were. Next to her, Hermione yelped, and Reva reached out and grabbed her friend's arm, pulling her along.
At long last, they ended up near their charms classroom, and they stopped to catch their breath.
"I—told—you," panted Hermione.
"Not—the—time," Reva wheezed, hands on her knees as she bent over. She gulped in a big breath of air, feeling her heart begin to calm down.
But they weren't out of the woods yet, for Peeves the poltergeist came swooping by. "Out of bed so late? My, my, how naughty."
"Get out of the way, Peeves," snapped Ron, trying to bat him out of the way. Peeves didn't take too kindly to this.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" He shouted. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
"Great job, Ronald," Revati snapped as they all took off in another run. They made their way down the next corridor but were forced to stop at the sight of a locked door.
"Come on, come on…" Harry muttered, tugging at the handle.
"Oh, move over!" Hermione hissed, before pulling out her wand and saying, "Alohamora!"
The door clicked open and the five first years ran in with no hesitation. Revati held her breath as she listened for Filch's approach.
Peeves taunted Filch for a bit, but thankfully didn't give them away, and Reva breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the caretaker's footsteps recede down the hallway.
"I think we're okay," Harry whispered after a few moments. "Filch thinks—what is it, Neville?"
Neville let out a groan, and Reva turned to look at him in concern. He was pale and shaking, eyes fixed on something behind them. Slowly, horrified, Reva followed his gaze. Her eyes landed on a giant, three headed dog.
Reva shut her eyes, hoping she was just dreaming. But when she opened them, the dog was still there, all six eyes watching them in surprise.
"Oh, sweet Merlin," she breathed.
Next to her, Harry fumbled for the door. When he opened it, all five first years fell through to the other side—and just in time, too, as the dog let out a low growl and lunged at them. They slammed the door shut and ran up four floors until finally, they were outside Gryffindor tower once again.
The Fat Lady was finally back, Reva realized with a wave of relief, so they could finally go back inside.
"And where have you lot been?" She asked sternly, with more than a little surprise—it seemed she hadn't expected a bunch of first years to already start sneaking out at night within the first two weeks of term.
"Doesn't matter," Harry said hurriedly, "Pig snout!"
Upon hearing the password, the portrait swung open and the first years tumbled in, collapsing in the armchairs in front of the fireplace.
For a few minutes, nobody spoke. They were all too worn from the night's adventure, and shocked at what they'd seen.
"What are they playing at, keeping a thing like that locked up in the school?" Ron yelped at last.
"It needs exercise," Revati murmured to herself. "It's just a puppy."
"What?" Harry turned to her.
"It's a puppy," Revati repeated herself, her brow furrowed. "My mum's a magizoologist, and I saw a picture of a three headed dog in one of her books—Magical Creatures from the Mediterranean Region, I think. It's called a Cerberus, and when they're fully grown, they're about three times the size of that one." Her eyebrows scrunched together. "It needs to go out on walks, get some exercise, play around with other animals. They can't just keep it cooped up in there!"
The boys were sending her incredulous looks, as though wondering why her priority wasn't the fact that it very clearly wanted to use them as chew toys. Hermione tutted.
"Never mind that!" She shook her head. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
"The floor?" Harry said, an exasperated light entering his eyes. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was a bit focused on the three heads!"
"Oh, come on, don't any of you use your eyes?" Hermione snapped. "It was standing on a trapdoor—it must be guarding something!"
"Guarding something?" Reva repeated, puzzled. "What could possibly be hidden in the third floor corridor of a school that's so important that they have a Cerberus puppy guarding it?"
The five first years regarded each other with confused, astonished looks. This night hadn't quite gone the way anyone expected.
"Well—" Hermione got up, fixing Ron and Harry with a venomous glare. "I hope you two are pleased with yourselves! You could have gotten us all killed, or worse—expelled."
"Killed is worse than expelled, Hermione," Reva said automatically as she, too, got up and headed to bed. Her mind was spinning with the weight of the questions lingering in the silence, even an hour later as she finally managed to drift off to sleep.
What was going on? What was Professor Dumbledore hiding? And was the school safe?
hey everyone! hope everyone is safe and healthy! sending my love to you all!
thank you for reading!
-alidfi