Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All characters/settings/lore are the property of their respective owners.
So last week I decided to proofread my previous chapter at 1 am. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: don't proofread my chapters at 1 am. Thank you to everyone who pointed out the errors. I've updated the chapter to remove the errors and make it flow better.
"And then he took points off Ron just for answering the question right! I mean, why would you ask a question if-"
"Hailey! Focus on the patient!" Louis ordered.
The pig she was operating on gave a weak squeal as Hailey nudged the piece of metal in its ribcage with her elbow accidentally.
"Sorry!" she whispered hastily to the animal. Her face flushed red in embarrassment, this surgery had not gotten off to a good start.
For whatever reason, the Foundation ran an experiment that led to a pig being stabbed by a shard of metal. Rather than let it go to waste, they gave it to SCP-049 who had tasked her with trying to clean and close the wound and (maybe) save the pig's life.
"Could you finish this quickly? I don't like the look of all that blood," Alice pleaded from the corner of the room. She was sitting on a small stool in her favourite floral dress trying not to be sick. Louis didn't experience emotion like a human so he was more resistant to her effects. Because of that the Foundation had allowed her to sit in on Hailey's medical lessons, a safe 10 metres away from the operating table. Hailey strongly suspected Louis was testing her mentally by allowing Alice here.
"Sorry Alice. I'll have the shard out riiigghhhtt… now!" Hailey said, yanking a jagged piece of metal from the wound triumphantly. A sudden gush of blood from the wound hit her in the eyes, causing her to stumble and drop the metal piece to the floor. She wiped her face with her equally bloody gloved hands.
"Ah, damn it!" Hailey exclaimed, reaching over to cover the bleeding wound. A bit of blood had even made it past her white apron and splattered on her faded green dress. Behind her, Alice's brown skin had turned pale and she looked like she was about to throw up.
Louis watched silently from behind her, his silvery bird-like mask hiding any emotions he might have had.
The pig squealed in pain as Hailey disinfected the wound, forcing her to hold it still. She pulled out a needle and thread to stitch the gash closed and wrapped bandages around the wound to stop the bleeding. It wasn't her best work, and it was a far worse job than any actual doctor would perform, but the pig would live. Provided it didn't die from the blood loss or infection. Or Louis decided to use it for his research.
"You were distracted," Louis stated accusingly.
"I know, but it's just been so exciting going to Hogwarts and I really want to tell you about everything and I've made so many new friends like Neville and Ron and the classes are really inter-"
"Hailey, as a doctor I must advise that you remember to breathe," Louis drawled. "I know you are excited, I feel the same way every time I make a breakthrough. But medicine, especially surgery, requires focus. You will never be able to battle a plague as insidious as the Pestilence with a divided attention! You should have been ready to treat the wound the moment you extracted the metal intrusion, now the patient has lost an unsafe amount of blood. I can sense the Pestilence within the animal has worsened, your inattention nearly killed it."
Looked down at the tranquillised pig, Hailey struggled to feel more than a twinge of guilt for nearly killing it. Sure she felt disappointed in herself and shame for failing in the eyes of her mentor, but she couldn't bring herself to feel much towards the animal she had been treating. Had she not been directly responsible for the pig's state, Hailey doubted she would feel guilt at all. Living in Site 19 had done strange things to how she felt empathy. Like most people who spent more than a few years here, Hailey had learnt to suppress unwanted emotional attachment to avoid triggering guilt or empathy within her. It helped insulate her from all the trauma that came with living in the SCP Foundation.
"I know, I'm sorry Louis," Hailey apologised as she cleaned the blood off her hands. "It won't happen again."
"Failure is the greatest teacher. Next time, you will remember to focus."
She let her thoughts wander as she cleaned up the table and took off her medical equipment. This had not been the first time Hailey had operated on a live animal, nor had it been her first failure. But it was the first time her own inattention had nearly caused a death. Hailey was young, her ability to shield herself from unwanted attachment was not as bulletproof as that of the older Foundation workers. The fact that she could blame herself for it's condition created a moment of emotional attachment to the pig. But just as quickly as the connection came, it was washed away along with her guilt. Right now, she couldn't view the pig as anything more than an object she failed in fixing.
Hailey considered this learned ability of suppressing attachment to be both a blessing and a curse. She knew it would be impossible for her to stay sane without it, but at the same time a part of her wanted to feel emotions like a normal person. Like her human friends. Ron, Hermione and Neville could never watch an animal die so callously. She usually liked being abnormal, but emotions were supposed to be a universal constant. It made her feel evil to know that she could just switch her humanity off and on like that.
"Is the blood gone?" Alice interrupted. She had resorted to covering her eyes for the last part of the surgery. "I am really regretting coming here. You didn't tell me your medical lessons would be so bloody!"
"I've cleaned most of the blood away now," Hailey answered her friend. "You can open your eyes."
In retrospect, Hailey should have made sure the bindings on the pig were more secure. When Alice opened her eyes, the first thing they instinctively sought were the black eyes of the animal on the table. All she wanted to do was to check that the blood was gone, instead Alice found herself making eye contact with Hailey's patient.
The pig squealed in anger, wriggling itself from the bindings too quickly for Louis or Hailey to react despite the wound in its side. Black eyes burned with a crazed hatred as the pig bounded towards Alice, snarling through the pain of it's injury.
Before it could reach the target of it's hatred, the animal collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, coming to a sliding stop at Alice's feat. Hailey didn't have to check to know the animal was dead.
"Oh not again," Alice moaned. "I'm sorry guys, I made eye contact with it."
"It's quite alright, young one. The body is fresh, it can still be used for research," Louis assured, collecting the body and placing it back on the table. "I guess that concludes our lesson."
"See you next week, Louis!" Hailey shouted, wrapping her arms around him.
"SCP-053 and SCP-5536, please exit the containment unit," the intercom blared.
"Bye Louis, it was nice meeting you. Sorry again for killing your patient," Alice apologised as both girls waved goodbye to doctor. Hailey grabbed Alice's hand and disappeared in an explosion of blue light.
They reappeared outside the containment unit. Alice had to be caught by Hailey to prevent her from falling over.
"Why can't they just let us leave through the door like normal people?" Alice grumbled as she regained her balance.
"I think they believe it's safer if they keep the doors shut and make us teleport out," Hailey theorised. "I'm not complaining, it's the first time I've been able to teleport all week without the fear of throwing up."
They picked themselves up and began walking to Alice's containment unit. Two guards trailed far behind the girls, keeping out of range of Alice's abilities.
"So how is this Hogwarts place? Made any new friends I ought to know about?" Alice asked.
"Well there's Hermione, my cousin who I've told you about. Then there's Ron and Neville, my two new friends. Ron's nice, funny and smart, though he'll definitely deny it. Neville is shy but is very caring. Both of them are really good people."
"Oo, Hailey has some guy-friends! Are they cute?" Alice giggled, but it seemed slightly forced.
"They're just friends, Alice," Hailey insisted, blushing slightly at what her friend was implying. "Besides, I'm 11. Way too young for any of that."
The two girls glanced at each other and smiled. It really had been too long since they'd had the chance to hang out together. They walked together in companionable silence before Alice decided to break it.
"What is it like out there, with all those people?" Alice blurted suddenly with wide and hopeful eyes that made Hailey's heart break.
If there was anybody who deserved her selective empathy, it was Alice. With the exception of brief moments with her researcher Dr Williams, Alice had never experienced proper human interaction until she met Hailey. For the first 8 years of her life Alice was utterly starved for human contact, the only constant source of comfort being weekly visits of SCP-999 just to keep her from succumbing to depression. It made Hailey's own upbringing with the Dursleys seem heavenly by comparison.
"Most of them are too star-struck and annoying to be friends with just because I killed the leader of magical ISIS, through no prowess or skill of my own," Hailey recounted, deliberately exaggerating the bad parts in an attempt to make her friend feel better about not being able to go. "The others are really mean to either me or my friends. Apparently there is some kind of magical hierarchy in the Wizarding World and people born to non-anomalous parents like Hermione are at the bottom. Ron and Neville's families are called traitors because they stick up for people like Hermione."
"That's awful! Surely there is something good about being at Hogwarts?"
They paused their conversation for Hailey to teleport them into Alice's containment unit now that they were in range. Her friend collapsed onto her pink bed sheets and tapped a spot next to her, asking Hailey to sit down.
"Some of the lessons are interesting, but the Foundation has way cooler ones. Honestly, Hogwarts is kinda overrated," Hailey insisted as she sat down next to Alice.
"I know what you're doing, Hailey. When you were with Louis, you couldn't stop talking about how exciting it was going to this school. You don't have to pretend it's awful because of me," Alice sighed, letting herself flop limply onto the bed. "I know I'll never be able to have a normal life. But what kind of friend would I be if I resented that you've been given the opportunity?"
Hailey twisted herself until she was looking directly at her friend. She reached out to grab Alice's hand and give it a squeeze like Hermione had done for her earlier that week.
"Alice, I'm an abnormality too. And no matter what happens, I'll always want my best friend in my life. So if I get to have a normal life you are sure as hell are going to be right there with me!" Hailey promised with watery eyes.
"That's nice Hailey, but we both know why I'll never get the chance. You're anomalous because you have cool powers like teleportation and those love-bonds you can create. I have a curse that makes it impossible to be around others without causing them to become homicidal and die trying to kill me," Alice sobbed, burying her head in a pillow. "How can I ever be normal if I kill everything that comes near me?"
Hailey let go of Alice's hand to bring her into a tearful hug. She stroked her fingers through her friend's brown hair, letting Alice cry into her shoulder.
"I have faith that the Foundation will figure some way around that. I'm proof that it's possible to be immune to your abilities. How about your meditation training? Last I heard you managed to get calm enough for somebody to spend an hour around you!"
"So I get one hour to be around people, provided they don't touch or look at me and I manage to keep perfectly calm for that long? Why can't anything just be easy for me!?"
Alice was now sobbing into Hailey's chest, soaking her shirt with tears. She wailed and tightened her grip on Hailey, who was now holding Alice close to her as of trying to leach the sadness away.
A sudden feeling of rage washed over Hailey, but she resisted it. The last thing Alice needed right now was for the only person she thought completely immune to her abilities attacking her. Alice was emotionally distraught, in this state even Hailey could be affected.
"It's progress! Four years ago I could barely teleport 30 metres, now I am getting close to 800. This calming program has only been running for a year. One day you could have full control over your abilities just like me. You're a good person Alice, with so much to offer anybody lucky enough to be your friend. It would be a crime against God for you to spend your life alone."
Alice didn't say anything, she just kept crying into Hailey's shoulder. The two girls held each other for another hour, before Alice's cries faded and she succumbed to exhaustion, falling asleep in Hailey's arms. She laid Alice down gentle on the bed, tucking her in the way Achilles did for her when she was younger.
"Hailey, can you come outside please?" a familiar voice whispered quietly from the speaker in the corner of the room. Hailey ducked into Alice's small bathroom to teleport away, to make sure the bright light didn't wake her.
Outside Alice's containment unit, Hailey was caught by a pair of strong arms that wrapped around her stomach.
"That was a good thing you did in there, muffin," Achilles praised, using his pet name for her. "I'm very proud of you."
She could just make out the face of her father in the dim light of the corridor. The lights of the humanoid containment sector would get brighter and dimmer throughout the day to simulate day and night. It was a half-hearted attempt to make the area feel more natural. But right now, Hailey didn't care about that. Instead, she returned her father's embrace.
"Thanks dad. How long have you been here?"
"Oh, I arrived a few minutes after you. But I didn't want to interrupt. Alice looked like she really needed you to herself."
Hailey broke out of the hug and sat down on the floor, motioning for Achilles to do the same.
"Dad, do you ever think Alice could live a normal life?"
"I wish I knew. Lizzy says that emotional control could help extend the time people can spend around her, but there is no guarantee that Alice will ever master her ability," Achilles confessed, causing Hailey's smile to falter. "But she is looking into another method of controlling Alice's anomalous effects."
"I hope you're not sharing classified information, Akil. I could get into a lot of trouble if our supervisors found out I shared that with you," a female voice accused playfully from the darkness. Hailey could barely make out a pale woman with shoulder-length blonde hair standing further down the dark hallway dressed in a simple white blouse and brown skirt. But hope blossomed in her chest once she recognised the woman. If anybody had a way to help Alice, it would be Dr Elizabeth Williams. She was the closest thing her friend had to a parent.
"Good evening, Elizabeth" Achilles greeted the woman. "What are you doing up so late."
"I came to comfort Alice. The sensors in her containment unit picked up heightened distress levels," Dr Williams replied. "But it would seem that your daughter beat me to it. I must thank you for that, Hailey."
"Is it true Ms Williams? Can you really help Alice?" Hailey asked. Her green eyes were wide and full of hope, staring right into the Dr Williams' blue ones.
"Yes Hailey, we are looking into something. It's highly classified, only people directly involved with SCP-053 know what the plan is. I had to fight the O5 Council for permission to do this. There is no guarantee it will work and it comes with a lot of risks. I would ask that you don't mention any of this to Alice. If it fails…" she trailed off, letting the last sentence hang in the air.
"Now muffin, it's getting late. You should get to bed," Achilles insisted. "I will walk you to your room."
"Um, dad, is it alright if I sleep in Alice's room tonight? I don't want her to wake up and find I'm not there."
"I suppose that's a question for Ms Williams, isn't it?" Achilles said, nodding pointedly at the still standing woman.
"Can I Ms Williams?" Hailey pleaded.
"Well I suppose so. Alice will be emotionally fragile now, it would be good for her to have you around," Ms Williams agreed after sharing a brief look with Achilles.
"Thank you thank you!" Hailey gushed, teleporting to wrap her arms around her legs. She then turned back to Achilles.
"Good night, dad!"
"Good night, muffin. Have a nice sleepover. I'll be here to collect you in the morning."
She kissed him goodnight and teleported into Alice's room, pulling out the spare mattress they kept for situations like this and collapsing into it. A small part of her realised that she'd forgotten to talk with Achilles about her nightmare, but she decided that it could wait until tomorrow. For now, Hailey had other things to ponder. Whatever it was that Dr Williams was planning, she prayed it would work. Alice had suffered alone for too long. If this worked, she could be one step closer to realising her dream of living a normal life surrounded by friends and family.
Hailey drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a world where all her friends could come meet Alice, and she'd never feel lonely again.
"Hailey, wake up!" Alice shouted, shaking her friend out of her slumber.
"Alice? What time is it?" Hailey murmured as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"It's 7, the Foundation wants you back at that school in an hour."
"Oh, I must have overslept. Long night I guess," Hailey groaned. She got up out of bed and shook out her tangled hair.
"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. You must think I'm such an emotional mess," Alice apologised, looking down at her feet in shame.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, that's just what friends do. Besides, you weren't the only thing person I was talking with last night. After you fell asleep dad called me and I met up with him and Dr Williams outside."
Alice giggled melodically, smiling for the first time in days.
"And how did that go? Were they acting friendly with each other," she hinted, referencing their age-old campaign to set their respective head researchers and parental figures up with one another.
"They have cute nicknames for each other! Dad called her "Lizzy" and Dr Williams called him "Akil". The only person I know who are close enough to call him that is his sister," Hailey gushed, grinning excitedly.
"See? I knew they would be perfect together!" her friend beamed, looking like the perfect image of childhood happiness. Alice's happy smile could melt even the coldest hearts.
"I'm sorry I ever doubted you. So, when do you get your wings, Cupid?" Hailey laughed playfully. She didn't truly know if her father and Dr Williams were romantically involved, she'd let him tell her on his own time, but it made her happy to see Alice happy. Hailey suspected that her friend compensated for her inability to form relationships by trying to create relationships between other people. If that made Alice feel just a tiny bit happier, it was fine with her.
"When I get my best friend a boyfriend of her own, of course!" Alice giggled, pretending to draw back a bow and shoot her in the heart with an imaginary arrow. Hailey feigned collapsing back on the bed in pain. "Now you really should be leaving, you've got a lot of friends and cute boys to meet at Hogwarts!"
Hailey got back up off the bed, doubling over with laughter. Alice soon joined her, laughing like she didn't cry herself to sleep just a few hours ago. The room seemed a bit brighter now, both girls could almost forget what happened yesterday.
"Well I shouldn't keep them waiting," Hailey joked. "Seriously though, promise me you'll take care of yourself, OK? I'll be back next week hopefully."
She pulled Alice into a hug, holding her for a few seconds longer than necessary, but neither of them were complaining.
"I promise! It was nice seeing you again, Hailey. Love you!"
"I love you too, and I hope you never forget that."
Hailey pulled out of the hug and gave Alice one last smile before teleporting away. When the blue light faded, Alice was left alone in a containment unit that now seemed just a bit more lifeless and empty without her friend near her. She sighed and collapsed back into bed, listening to the faint hum of the facility.
Site 19's lower levels were quite possibly the greatest technological achievement of the SCP Foundation to date. Using highly classified and anomalous technology, a small bubble of existence was forced to exist simultaneously at multiple locations, only able to be accessed from 7 different Foundation facilities spread across the planet, designated Site 19-A through to Site 19-G. This uncertain region of space, designated Site 19-H by the Foundation, was lauded as the perfect macro-containment unit. There were 7 ways in, but only one way out. If you tried to leave Site 19-H through any means but a highly experimental quantum tunnelling device, every atom of your body would be violently torn apart and scattered across the observable universe. This small area housed some of the most dangerous and destructive anomalies known to mankind, things that the Foundation would fight tooth and nail to keep locked away from the world. At any point in time, the quantum state this facility existed in could be manually collapsed, deleting Site 19-H and everything held within from existence.
It was also the place Hailey Mardas called home.
Right now she was waiting patiently with Achilles at Site 19-E (located deep in the frozen wastelands of Greenland) standing in awe before four titanic curved metal pillars covered in runes that hung over a deep bowl-shaped hole, forming a sphere. The whole device was at least 10 metres across. In the centre of the sphere, a small ball of light floated gracefully. Workers scrambled to connect thick electrical cables to the wall and flick activation switches to prepare the device for use. Light from massive flood lights on the ceiling cast strange shadows on the machines and vehicles all carefully parked in the hanger.
This room contained the Foundation's first ever Spatial Dislocation Device (SDD), a bleeding-edge piece of magitech capable of transporting a person to any matching device at the push of a button. The Foundation was kind enough to let Hailey use the only existing pairs of SDDs to go back and forth between Hogwarts (along any cargo the Foundation needed sent between Europe and the United States). Which was fitting, considering Hailey helped build the damn thing. Or at least her anomalous ability did. The Spatial Dislocation Device was originally based on the Floo Networks used by the Wizarding World. Using a complex fusion of technology derived from SCP-1290, magical enchantments and research into Hailey's own anomalous ability, the Foundation created a method to easily travel large distances. The O5 Council had already approved for more SDDs to be built across the world.
Hailey watched in awe as bolts of electricity jumped from the pillars to the ball of light in the centre of the device. With each bolt, the light expanded until it reached it almost touched the pillars keeping the ball contained. Runes lining the pillars ignited in vibrant green flames (which reminded Hailey of the green fires at the Ministry of Magic), halting the light's expansion and focusing the image in the light enough for her to see the other side of the portal. She could just make out a grey sky and snow-capped mountains on the other side.
"The Spatial Dislocation Device is ready for use. All personnel, please stand clear."
Hailey and Achilles ducked out of the way as a convoy of massive freight truck rumbled down the hanger. The trucks didn't even pause before driving straight through the portal and disappearing. Achilles held her hand and joined an orderly line of scientists and workers walking through the portal after the trucks had passed. An icy gust of wind blew snow through her hair as they approached, forcing many Foundation personnel to shield their eyes. When they got to the portal Hailey closed her eyes and let Achilles guide her through, feeling a sharp tug on her spatial senses when they crossed the edge of the portal and she stepped out onto the tarmac of Area 192.
When Dumbledore told her he was going to apparate her to a nearby Foundation facility, she didn't expect it to be so beautiful. An inch of snow covered the ground, crunching under her shoes. Small concrete buildings were scattered around the facility, dwarfed by the picturesque Scottish mountains that loomed over them. Snowflakes swirled around her stocking-covered legs, carried by the cold breeze that made her hair stand on end. Her father directed her away from the line of people and onto a winding concrete trail that took them far from the rest of the facility. They passed large artillery pieces, each trained on the small building in front of them. The Foundation clearly didn't trust the wizards to not abuse this small gap in their anti-apparition wards.
"You must be enjoying yourself," Achilles said from next to her. She smiled and nodded in agreement. Ever since the Foundation had let her go outside during the Montanan winter, she had fallen in love with the snow. Hailey was a firm believer that there was no better type of weather than snow.
She pondered just teleporting them both into the room, but decided against it. Hailey rarely got the chance to just enjoy nature, and she didn't want to cut it short. A ten minute walk in the snow with her father would be nice, she wouldn't get to see him for another week. She realised she had yet to tell him about what happened on her first night at Hogwarts. But despite how much the nightmare had terrified her, nothing had happened since to indicate it was anything but a one-time thing. Compared to what Alice had gone through yesterday, Hailey felt kind of childish worrying over something as simple as a bad dream. She didn't want the Foundation thinking she was unstable and taking her out of Hogwarts. Besides, Achilles had better things to spend his time on than a bad dream.
"Is something bothering you Hailey?" Achilles asked as he opened the door to the small cabin. He could see that she was thinking very hard about something. Was she really that obvious?
"No dad, I'm just thinking about what Hogwarts is going to have us doing this week," she lied. He raised his eyebrow at her, clearly not entirely buying her story.
"If there's something you want to tell me, I'll listen to you. I'm your dad, it's my job," Achilles offered. He waited for Hailey to respond, but she remained silent. "OK then, I won't press further. You can tell me whenever you feel comfortable."
The hurt in his hazel eyes almost made Hailey spill out every detail of her nightmare to him, but she held her tongue. It was the best for everyone. Achilles was an amazing father, but he would always worry about her. If she told him about her dream, he would spend the next week frantically researching every possible cause. She didn't want to put him through that.
"Oh, there was something I was supposed to give to you," Achilles said, handing her a small wrapped package from one of the pockets on his snow jacket. "Open this when you're alone in the dormitories."
A crack reverberated through the room, causing Hailey to almost drop the package in shock. She caught it before it could hit the ground and stuffed it in her pocket then turned to address the Headmaster.
"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore."
"Ah, good morning to you too, Hailey," Dumbledore greeted her with a friendly smile. "And you must be her father?"
"That would be correct," Achilles confirmed.
"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts," he said as he shook Achilles' hand.
"Achilles Mardas," her father replied, nodding politely to the Professor. "I trust you will keep my daughter safe at your school?
"I assure you, Hogwarts is perfectly safe. We will take good care of her," Dumbledore reassured, smiling honestly at her father.
"That's good to hear," Achilles hummed. He turned away and kneeled down to Hailey's eye level, gently holding both of her dainty hands in his larger tanned ones.
"I want to see you here next week in one piece, OK? Whatever it is that's bothering you, just remember that you have me supporting you no matter what."
"Thanks dad. I'll be here next week," she promised. They exchanged hugs and goodbyes before Hailey accepted Dumbledore's hand and apparated back to Hogwarts with him. They appeared with a crack atop the Astronomy Tower, Hailey easily recovering from the apparition. It was certainly different to her teleportation, but it still felt the same.
"Now, you should rejoin your friends. I believe if you hurry, you might catch breakfast," Dumbledore smiled at her. She grinned back at him and raced down the tower, eager to see Hermione, Ron and Neville again.
Hailey might have been less eager to see her friends again if she knew how much they were going to question her. In retrospect, it was pretty stupid to assume she would be able to avoid this, she did basically just leave without warning after breakfast on Saturday. Ron especially seemed particularly curious about where she had gone to.
"So what were you doing that required you to leave school for a night?" Ron asked as he picked at a piece of bacon absentmindedly. There was an accusatory tone in his voice, but he was scanning her over like he was looking for an injury. Neville was just looking at her like he was relieved she hadn't left them.
"I had some business to attend to back at home. Remember how I told you the magical community I live with in Montana don't like outsiders? Well they conduct a weekly ritual for protection over the village, and I'm required to attend. Professor Dumbledore apparated me out of the school." she explained, glad Ron couldn't detect her lies as easily as Hermione. Then again, what she told him was pretty close to the truth.
"It's true, I've seen them do it," Hermione added after noticing Ron's skeptical look.
"I'm sorry I left so quickly, next time I'll give you more warning," Hailey apologised to both Ron and Neville before he could question her further.
"Well make sure you do. Neville and I were bloody worried!" he shouted, looking at her with a serious look in his blue eyes. "But I'm glad to have you back mate, school's not as fun when you're not around!"
The four friends laughed, falling into the same patterns as before Hailey had left. Though she noticed happily that Ron and Hermione seemed to talk more freely with one another. They were a long way from friends, but it was progress! That night, Hailey retired early to the dormitories to examine the package Achilles had given her. Carefully, she unwrapped the brown paper.
A small polaroid camera rested on the palm of her hand. A small note was taped to it, which she tore off to read.
1: Find a concealed spot someplace you can easily access that will not be discovered by others
2: Use the included camera to take a photo of this spot, making sure there is at least 30cm of space in front of the camera.
3: Make sure that nothing obstructs this spot.
4: Return the camera next week
5: Check this spot periodically
6: Burn this note
So they wanted to use Iris' ability to communicate and send her things secretly? Clever, whoever wrote this letter managed to tell her exactly what the Foundation was intending to do without mentioning them or SCP-105.
She took out the camera and laid down on the floor. The space under her bed was being used for storing her trunks, but if she positioned them right she could leave a space in the middle free for her to use. Crawling under her bed, Hailey pulled out the camera and snapped a few pictures for good measure.
"What are you doing?" a voice asked from above her. Hailey scrambled out from under the bed but signed with relief when she realised it was only Hermione. She was holding the Foundation's note in her hand which Hailey guiltily realised she had left on her bed.
"I needed to do something for the Foundation. You know Iris, right? She has the ability to look at photographs and see what is happening at the place where the photograph was taken or even reach through and touch objects in the photo. So the Foundation is going to use that to allow us to communicate. They'll pass notes or something through the photo and I'll reply by hanging up small notes they can read."
"Oh, that sounds useful. Would you like me to get rid of the note for you?" Hermione offered, placing the note on the stone floor. She pointed her wand at the piece of paper, not waiting for Hailey to respond.
"Ignis Aqeria!" she shouted, incinerating the note in a burst of blue fire.
"Wow Hermione, that was really cool! What spell was that?"
"Bluebell Flames. I learnt it over the weekend," Hermione answered, blushing slightly from the praise.
"Do you think you could teach me that? I'll need to know how to destroy the notes I get sent." Hailey pleaded, giving Hermione her best puppy-dog eyes.
"Wait, really? Sure! I'll be happy to help you!" Hermione agreed. She noticed that Hermione seemed very pleased that Hailey had agreed to let her teach her something.
She launched right into the lesson, eagerly demonstrating the wand movement and the correct pronunciation of the words. Hailey mimicked her movements carefully. She had to admit, her cousin was a remarkably good teacher. Hailey had managed to produce a small controlled fire in only an hour of practice, before the arrival of Lavender and Parvati forced them to stop. The four girls talked amongst themselves for a while before one-by-one they each crawled into bed. The moment Hailey's head touched the pillow, she fell into a peaceful sleep.
A/N: Sorry this chapter is shorter than usual, I had a lot of things to do this week. The Foundation scenes took longer than I anticipated, so I didn't have time to write the flying lesson scenes like I wanted to.
One thing I hadn't really addressed yet was Hailey's character flaws. She was raised differently from Harry, it follows that she would have a different personality and thus flaws. Hailey's upbringing in the Foundation helped her grow out of the impulsivity earlier than Harry, but also caused her to develop new flaws. Mainly the ability to switch off her empathy. Most of her friends are killers and I'm not going to skim over that. This isn't to say that she is a psychopath, her relationship with her friends show that she is a very empathetic person. But for people Hailey doesn't know or considers evil, she would find it very hard to feel empathy towards them if she doesn't choose to. This selective empathy also comes with a secondary flaw: Hailey often views herself as evil. She is aware of her flaw but knows that if she felt empathy like a normal person she would be consumed by guilt, so she will not attempt to conquer that flaw. But this makes her feel even worse because she views this as selfish. Expect this secondary flaw to play a part in any future romantic relationships.
And if this chapter didn't make it clear, Alice (SCP-053) is going to be a main character. I think I did an alright job characterising her.
Hoodedgenius98: Hailey isn't an animagus. Sorry, but I don't want to suddenly introduce a power now and be all like "oh yeah she had this all along".
Pinks99: Yeah thanks for that, I fixed up the typos now.
Yukine-ren: Thanks for keeping it to yourself, I appreciate it. If you want to confirm your theory you can PM me.
PasiveNox: Cheers for sticking around.
Fast Frank: I wouldn't know. I'm playing around with the idea of Hailey and the SCP Foundation going full Ghostbusters on Peeves and Binns. Who you gonna call? The Foundation!
Guest01: Cain. He can't be injured while Able can be sent back to his box. Able probably tries to stab Cain but the injury is transferred back to Able because of Cain's anomalous ability.
DodemGM: Thanks, I'll definitely be including more of Draco's interactions with the group next chapter. He's going to play a big part in this story. I've fixed the McGonagall line now, along with a few other errors. The chapter should make more sense now.
Once we get to the fourth book, the actual main antagonist is going to become a far more present threat.
That Neville idea is pretty good actually. I think I might be able to come up with a good basis behind that scene using something similar to this.
That could work. But there wouldn't be much Hailey and Hermione could tell the Foundation that Dumbledore couldn't tell better. Instead I'm going to have them both capturing artefacts for the Foundation instead. The Philosopher's Stone would make a nice SCP.
Good idea. I already have plans to include the Groups of Interest in the fanfic. The Chaos Insurgency won't play a big part in the main plot, but certain other Groups of Interest such as the Global Occult Coalition, Horizon Initiative, OBSKURA and groups associated with the main antagonist will. That isn't to say the Chaos Insurgency won't play a part, but they won't play a big one. And yeah, they have wizards working for them. Pretty much every Group of Interest does in this alternate world.