Chapter 10
Morgan accompanied Hermione into the Great Hall. They had been chatting about Professor Sprout's essay on Self Fertilizing Shrubs that was due on Monday. Morgan promised to meet up with Hermione after breakfast in the library to work on the essay together. They sat down across from Ron and Harry, who greeted them as they filled their plates.
"You look very pleased this morning," said Hermione.
"Oh, really?" said Harry in a slightly distracted voice. "Well there's Quidditch later." He started eating his eggs with a strange happy look in his eyes that had the other three puzzled.
"Quidditch practice can't be that great," whispered Morgan to Hermione. "Can it?"
Hermione shrugged and whispered back, "Boys will be boys."
Morgan noted that Ron seemed a little pale and nervous as he ate his bacon. He glanced up at them before turning to Harry and asking, "Hey, you don't mind going out a little earlier to, you know, help me get the feel of flying and everything."
"Yeah, sure."
Hermione frowned and cleared her throat. "Don't you think you should use this time to catch up on your homework – especially you, Harry. All those detentions have really put you behind!"
"I second Hermione," said Morgan. "I told you yesterday to take it easy with that hand, Potter. I know you have to use it during practice later today but its best if you didn't strain yourself."
"Oh, and writing a foot long essay isn't straining my hand?" retorted Harry.
"Well, at least you won't fail your O.W.L.s," said Hermione.
"Yeah, but we'll lose the House Cup."
Just then the morning post arrived. A brown owl landed next to Hermione's plate holding a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. Following behind the owl was Leita, looking slightly rumpled. She chirped happily as she landed on Morgan's outstretched hand.
"Is that a canary?" asked Ron, surprised.
"I didn't know canaries could carry post," said Hermione. "You'd probably have to bewitch the letters to be extremely light for it to carry it. What's its name?"
"Leita." Morgan untied the letter from her leg. "She belongs to my friend back home. We write to each other every day." Morgan held up a small piece of toast for Leita to nibble on while she opened the letter. She read Laris' letter and smiled. It seems Matthew finally got up the nerves to ask Laris out on a date.
Good for them, thought Morgan, folding the letter and tucking it into her pocket. She would've written a reply right away but didn't feel comfortable writing it with so many people close by.
No reply today? asked Leita in Morgan's head.
No, I will, just later.
Ok, then I'll hang around and wait for it.
"Hey, listen to this," said Hermione. "Mysterious Explosion at King's Cross and Platform 9¾."
"What?!" exclaimed Ron and Harry.
"The Ministry is conducting a thorough search of the remains of Platform 9¾, which had been destroyed by an explosion of unknown origins last night. Ministry officials say that a chain of explosions, beginning on Platform 9¾, continued on into the rest of King's Cross, causing so much destruction that the roof of the station collapsed. It's reported that there are over a hundred casualties – all muggles. Ministry officials say they can't explain what caused the explosion, only that it originated on Platform 9¾. It is possible this mysterious attack may be linked to the strange derailing of the Hogwarts Express while on its return journey to London earlier this week. 'There are no explanations for what caused either incidents,' said Minister Cornelius Fudge, 'but I have my suspicions that it is the work of Sirius Black, who is still at large.' The Ministry of Magic would like to remind everyone to steer clear of this man, if spotted, as he is a very dangerous man that had escaped from Azkaban two years ago. The Ministry also wishes to assure the parents of students attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that the platform and train will be repaired in time for the holidays."
"Bloody hell, what a mess," said Ron in disbelief.
Hermione nodded and opened the paper to read the other articles in the newspaper. "It's obviously You Know Who that's behind it."
"Yeah, but why would he attack King's Cross? It makes no sense. There's nothing to gain from it," said Harry.
"Maybe he was bored and felt like blowing something up," commented Morgan, sipping her orange juice. "You know, to let off some steam and what not."
The others stared at her like she was crazy.
"What?"
Harry shook his head. "Voldemort wouldn't do something like this for no reason. It's just not like him."
"Then who else could it be?" asked Ron (he had flinched when Harry said Voldemort).
Harry shrugged and got up. "Come on. Let's go practice some Quidditch or else we won't be able to stay on the team."
Ron nodded and rose.
"Fine, don't come crying to me when you two fail your O.W.L.s," said Hermione with her arms cross. When they had disappeared from sight, she sighed. "Those two…"
"So are you still up for tackling Professor Sprout's essay?" asked Morgan, grabbing her bag. "I'm off to the library."
Hermione nodded and folded up her newspaper. They left together for the library, with Leita perched on Morgan's shoulder, softly chirping a merry tune. They found a table in the Herbology section next to a window. Leita fluttered to the windowsill while Morgan unpacked her bag and pulled out some parchment and her quill.
Hermione came over with a stack of books. "Let's start with these as reference and we'll go from there."
"Okay."
A half hour of silence passed as the two girls worked on their paper. Morgan's concentration was broken when Leita spoke in her mind.
Look Morgan! Your friends are flying!
"Huh?" Morgan looked up to see Leita pointing with her wing out the window.
"Something wrong, Morgan?" asked Hermione.
Morgan stood up and looked out the window. Sure enough, she could see Ron's flaming red hair and Harry's jet black hair hovering in midair. From this distance, they were only blobs of color but they were zooming back and forth across a field that had three giant hoops on each end.
"Oh, I forgot we could see the Quidditch pitch from here," commented Hermione, who had come up behind Morgan to see what she was looking at. "Those two are really working hard out there."
"What exactly is Quidditch, Hermione?" asked Morgan. "I remember Dumbledore mentioning it in passing when we were in Diagon Alley…"
"You don't know what Quidditch is?" asked Hermione, surprised. "Well, don't let Ron or Harry catch you saying that. They'll think you've gone mental. Quidditch is a Wizarding sport. But honestly I don't think it's all that great."
"It's played on broomsticks, right?"
"Yeah and if you even mention the word 'broomsticks' to those two, they'll talk your ears off." Hermione returned to her seat and flipped through one of the books.
Wow Morgan, isn't that so cool? Mortals can fly on pieces of wood. I didn't think anyone could fly unless they had wings, said Leita excitedly.
Hey, I can fly, can't I? And you don't see me sprouting wings out of my back.
Yeah but you don't really fly. You just sort of … of… what's the word? Oh yeah, levitate.
Morgan snorted and rolled her eyes. Same thing.
She returned to her essay but barely wrote a sentence before she noticed Hermione was studying her from across the table.
"What's up, Hermione?"
Hermione hesitated for a moment but then began carefully. "You know, last night I woke up in the middle of night to get some water, and I noticed you weren't in your bed. I don't been to be nosey but as a Prefect I should warn you that wandering around the school after hours is against the rules. I didn't really sleep the rest of the night because since I know you're still kind of new to Hogwarts, I wanted to make sure you knew the rules. But then, you didn't come back all night; yet when I got up for breakfast this morning you were in your bed. What were you doing last night?"
"I was, uh…I was enjoying the night air on the grounds. I kind of, uh lost track of time and fell asleep." She smiled, trying to make it seem genuine, but one look at Hermione's face told Morgan she didn't buy it.
"Just be warned, Morgan. You could get into a lot of trouble for being out of bounds at night." And she returned to her essay without another word.
The rest of the morning passed in silence. Leita complained constantly of boredom, making Morgan's head pound. She kept telling Leita to be quiet but Leita soon grew frustrated and started singing. Granted she didn't sing very loudly but it was loud enough that it brought the librarian, Madame Pince, to their table. She scolded Morgan for bringing a pet into the library. She ranted on about how the library was a place of study not a zoo and immediately threw her out of the library.
Sorry Morgan. Leita fluttered onto Morgan's shoulder and chirped an apologetic note.
"It's okay. It's almost time to lunch anyways."
Hermione soon joined them and together they returned to the Great Hall. They sat down next to Ron and Harry, who were already halfway through their lunch. They managed a greeting in between bites and Hermione rolled her eyes at them.
"You know you two really should stop putting off your homework. If you keep this up, you'll never pass you O.W.L.s."
"Aw, come on, Hermione," said Ron with his mouth full. "Quidditch is important too. Besides, we have tomorrow to finish our homework."
Hermione huffed and started eating. She continued to cast glares at the two boys every now and then.
"How's your hand, Potter?" asked Morgan.
"It's fine. It doesn't hurt anymore."
"May I see it?"
Harry held out his hand while taking a swing of pumpkin juice with his other hand. Morgan undid the bandages and examined his hand. There was a faint white line where the words used to be but the skin was no longer broken. "Hmm, looks like it's all healed."
"That's great. Thank's Morgan."
Morgan nodded and returned to her lunch.
Leita chirped, trying to get Morgan's attention. When are you going to write Laris' letter?
When I have time –
"That bird still here?" asked Ron.
"Yeah she –"
"Harry! Ron! We're headed out to practice. Hurry up!" called Angelina, the Quidditch Captain. She motioned for them to follow her as she exited the Great Hall, followed by Fred and George Weasley.
"See you." Harry and Ron got up and hurried after her.
Hermione sighed. "I suppose we should go watch them. Ron could probably use the moral support, unless, of course you want to finish Sinistra's essay on Jupiter's moons."
"No, I finished that last night. I think I only have McGonagall's essay on Inanimatus Conjurus spell and I'm done," said Morgan, checking the list of homework assignment that she made during the week.
"Really? Wow, Morgan, you're ahead of me in homework," said Hermione in surprise.
They quickly finished their lunch and proceeded out of the Great Hall and onto the grounds, heading for the Quidditch pitch. Morgan gaped at the size of the stadium and how tall the stands were. There were already seven people flying about fifty feet in the air.
Morgan watched mesmerized as three girls tossed a red ball between each other while Ron waited in front of three hoops. Angelina leaned back and threw the red ball. Ron dived for it but barely missed as the ball flew through the right hoop.
"Gryffindors are losers! Gryffindors are loser!" chanted some people from the stands. Morgan looked to see a group of seven guys clad in green laughing and pointing at Ron.
"Oh lovely, the Slytherins are here too," muttered Hermione. "Come on, Morgan. Let's sit away from those idiots." They chose the stand closest to the Ron's goal posts. Hermione and Morgan tried to cheer him on, but the Slytherin's chants were drowning out their encouragements.
A half hour later, Angelina blew a whistle signaling the end of practice. Everyone seemed very down-spirited as they trudged off to the locker rooms. Worried, Hermione and Morgan ran down to catch up with them.
"I hope they didn't take those stupid Slytherins' chants to heart," said Morgan as she hopped off the last stair.
"Don't worry, we've never lost to Slytherin before. They'll pull through –"
"Well, if it isn't Granger and Risika," sneered Malfoy as he and the other Slytherins came down from the stands. "You Mudbloods trying to cheer on those pathetic losers?"
The Slytherins behind him sniggered.
"Shut up, Malfoy. You're just a sore loser," said Hermione.
"What do you know, Mudblood? You can't even fly on a broomstick. Quidditch is a pure blood's sport. Mudbloods and muggle-lovers like the Weasleys shouldn't even be allowed to play."
"You're just scared that they're going to beat you in the next match," said Hermione. "Come on, Morgan. Let's go." She turned and marched off to the locker room.
Morgan was about to turn and follow Hermione when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malfoy raise his wand. Morgan acted on instinct threw up a barrier around Hermione just as a jet of red light shot out of Malfoy's wand. The spell rebounded off Morgan's barrier and back at Malfoy, who was knocked off his feet and landed on his back in the dirt. When he sat up, angry red welts had covered his face and looking like a swarm of invisible bees had just attacked him.
Malfoy screamed in pain as his face burned from the welts, which were starting to swell.
"Next time have the guts to attack us in the face, Malfoy," said Morgan as Malfoy's team mates rushed him back to the castle. "Cowards," she muttered.
"Um, thank you, Morgan," said Hermione. She was looking at Morgan funny and it made Morgan feel uncomfortable.
"Er, maybe we should catch up with Potter and Weasley."
"Sure…" She was still watching Morgan with that strange look, partly curious and partly amazed, as they headed for the changing room where Ron and Harry were waiting.
The four of them had just sat down for dinner when Professor McGonagall came marching towards them.
"Uh oh, someone's in for it. I've never seen McGonagall so angry before," muttered Ron. "I hope it's not about Fred and George's Skiving Snackboxes."
"If it is then it would be your head she's after as well. You're their brother and you're a prefect," hissed Hermione.
Just then, Professor McGonagall stopped in front of them with her hands on her hips.
Ron gulped and paled. "Hello Professor –"
"Miss Risika, come with me, immediately!" she barked.
Morgan flinched and got up, her plate untouched, and silently followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall.
"What do you reckon she did?" whispered Ron with a bit of relief in his voice.
Harry shrugged.
"I have a hunch it has to do with Malfoy," said Hermione, thoughtfully.
"Malfoy? What's he got to do with her?" asked Harry.
"Well, it was when you two were still changing in the locker room. Morgan and I were coming to meet you when we ran into the Slytherins. And of course, Malfoy resorted to the usual insults, but we gave him the cold shoulders. But apparently, as we were leaving Malfoy decided to have a go at me, but Morgan blocked his Stinging Hex. It rebounded and hit Malfoy. His teammates rushed him to the Hospital Wing, and I suspect he exaggerated what happened so now Morgan's in trouble."
"What? That git! We should do something. It's not fair if she gets in trouble for one of Malfoy's stupid lies," exclaimed Harry.
"I think she can handle it, Harry," said Hermione. "Besides I don't think we can do much for her. It's between her and McGonagall."
Harry frowned down at his plate.
"Still it wouldn't be fair if she got detention for using a shield charm to defend a fellow Gryffindor," said Hermione. "Maybe we can persuade McGonagall to lessen her punishment if things go bad. I'm sure she'll listen to us. Ron and I are prefects after all."
Harry nodded and then changed to topic to homework with Ron. They discussed their 'battle strategy' for tonight to see which assignment they could get done before going to bed.
Morgan found herself in the Staff room where she was seated in an armchair and facing Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, who were looming over her.
"Do you know why you are here, Miss Risika?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"I suspect it has something to do with Malfoy?" replied Morgan. She'd finally gotten used to hearing her last name but she still flinched when McGonagall said it in that strict voice.
"Precisely," said Snape. "Mr. Malfoy just informed me of an interesting story. He and several other eye witnesses claim you cast the Stinging Hex on him while he was leaving the Quidditch pitch."
"He's lying."
Snape arched a brow. "Oh, really? But he has six eye witnesses."
"Hermione can vouch for me," said Morgan confidently.
"Strange, I recall Mr. Malfoy saying Miss Granger had her back turned when he was hit with the Stinging Hex." A small smile appeared on his lips.
Morgan frowned, not liking how this was turning out.
"And, as you know, it is against School rules to duel on the grounds, including the Quidditch pitch – and don't think you are excused from punishment because you are a transfer student."
"I never planned to use that as an excuse," said Morgan coldly, crossing her arms. "But it's hard to believe that a full grown man, like yourself, would believe the silly lies of a child like Malfoy and his cronies."
"Miss Risika, that is no way to speak to a teacher," snapped McGonagall. "Now, as your Head of House, I will have to decide your punishment. Seeing as you have no witness to support your version, I'm afraid I have no choice but to believe Mr. Malfoy's story. Ten points from Gryffindor and detention, Miss Risika."
Morgan frowned. "You know, there's a very simple way of proving Malfoy is lying." She turned to Snape. "You have the power to see into his mind, don't you Professor? What's it called again? Legilimency? Why don't you use that on Malfoy?"
Snape snorted. "Silly girl, it's against school rules for me to perform Legilimency on students."
"Use truth serum then. Add a few drops of Veritaserum to Malfoy's drink and question him."
"Again, that is against school rules. And may I inquire why you are so intent on proving you are correct?"
"Obviously it's because I don't like being punished for something I didn't do," snapped Morgan.
"Enough. Miss Risika, you will report to my office on Monday night at seven to serve your detention," said McGonagall. "You're dismissed."
Irritated with both of them, she stormed out of the staffroom with her hands balled into fists at her side. She couldn't believe she was being punished for that brat's actions. The injustice of it all!
Morgan made her way back to the Gryffindor common room, thinking darkly that if she ran into Malfoy on her way there she'd beat him to a bloody pulp. At least that way she can be justly punished. But to her dismay, she didn't meet anyone as she climbed the grand staircase to the seventh floor.
There was a chilly breeze that made Morgan shiver. Someone probably left a window open, she thought as she pulled her robes closers together to keep out the wind. Something hit her leg as another gust of wind blew through the corridor. It turns out it was a copy of the Daily Prophet and it was caught on her leg. Morgan stopped to snatch it up and glanced at the front page. It was today's paper.
She was about to fold it up when the picture on the front page caught her eye. Morgan had finally gotten used to pictures in this Wizarding world moving and leaving their frames but that wasn't what made Morgan pause. The picture of the destroyed platform was in black and white with ministry wizards running back and forth across the frame. But if Morgan looked closer, she could've sworn she saw some familiar runes etched in the broken stones. The picture was too small so Morgan couldn't get a clear view but those runes were disturbingly familiar. Her gut was screaming that it was sorcery but Morgan couldn't confirm it unless she had a closer look.
I'll have to go tonight, after everyone's gone to bed… Morgan remembered Hermione noticing her absence last night and made a mental note to set an illusion of herself before she left.
Morgan arrived at the ruins of Platform 9¾ around four in the morning. The journey had been a long one and Hermione had stayed up longer than Morgan anticipated. Morgan landed on a lamp post, disguised as a paragon falcon, but quickly shifted her form to that of a Great Horned owl. Using the bird's excellent night vision, she assessed the damage the platform had sustained. From a mortal's stand point, it seemed that the platform had been bombed several times but if Morgan's instinct was right, then this was just the after-effects of something more.
She located the wall that had been in the newspaper and swooped down, shifting in midair and landing silently in her human form.
It was dark tonight. Clouds obscured the half moon, shedding little light on the decimated platform. Morgan approached the wall in question carefully. She summoned her scry stone and concentrated on the wall, using her stone like a magnifying glass. The runes she had glimpsed from the newspaper appeared as red as fire within her scry stone as she walked the length of the wall. They were ancient runes that Morgan remembered studying at the School. But she had never really figured out how they worked. She only knew how to read and identify them.
The runes were the remnants of a spell that had been carved into the wall by a sharp object. These characters were the leftovers of a time spell. Morgan suspected the time spell had been cast on the entire station, causing the building to rapidly age and deteriorate. As Morgan examined the rest of the station, she noticed that there were scorch marks in the main part of the station. It looked like there had also been a huge fire on the muggle's side of the barrier.
Dawn arrived and the muggle detectives returned to the station to continue their investigation. Morgan took flight and found a dark corner in the remnants of the roof to watch. She managed to get some rest as the day dragged on. And whenever she was awake, she would listen in on what the muggles had discovered. But, as she expected, they could not determine the source of the destruction and were baffled by the results their scientists were receiving. How could the stones date over seven hundred years old? King's Cross Station had only been built a hundred and fifty years ago!
The muggles didn't leave the site until well after dark. Morgan ate the little food she had brought with her before continuing her work. By the time Morgan finished searching the entire station, it was nearly three in the morning. Morgan managed to identify two more sets of runes – one set had been carved on the other side of the barrier that hid Platform 9¾ from the muggles and the second set had been carved at the main entrance of King's Cross.
Rubbing her eyes, Morgan sat down to think. Rune spells were an ancient form of magic that the Sorcery no longer practiced. The knowledge of how to use them had been lost after the Sorcery went into hiding. If Morgan recalled, properly, it was several thousand years ago that the Sorcery created an artificial world to hide their race in. Much was lost in the chaos – knowledge of how to use runes was one of them. The council, which was made up of the clan leaders, had forbidden anyone from leaving their world; that law had only recently been abolished – about two hundred years ago if Morgan recalled properly.
Could this be the work of one of her people, wondered Morgan. But that would mean that he or she had knowledge of how to cast rune spells, which was impossible.
Maybe wizards know how to cast runes spells… Hogwarts does have an Ancient Rune's class. I suppose it is quite possible they somehow figured out how to do it.
Morgan could only hope so because the thought that another Sorcery was out here, on the prowl and deliberately causing destruction, was actually very frightening. There was only one rogue sorcerer that could be behind this and every Sorcery in their right mind knew who he was.
Redia.
He was the sole reason the Sorcery have been hiding for two thousand years. As the Sorcery's ancient ancestor who had broken free of his eternal prison, he was out for revenge. He was the reason their numbers had dropped so quickly. Redia had gone from world to world, massacring hundreds of Sorcery. Since he was their ancestor, his powers were ancient and more potent while the Sorcery's powers were diluted due to interbreeding with mortals. So if anyone could cast rune spells, it would be him.
But why would he be here? Why would he bother with destroying this train station? That was what was bothering Morgan the most. Surely it couldn't be him.
Morgan shook her head. Redia was probably somewhere on the other side of the universe. He had no business here. It was probably Voldemort behind all this destruction. If anyone in this world who would know of deadly spells, it would be him.
I better tell Dumbledore…
The sky was starting to lighten as dawn approached. Morgan shifted into a falcon and took off, heading back to Hogwarts. Unbeknownst to her, a crow had been watching her the whole day from the shadows. The bird shifted into the form of a man with blond hair and gold eyes. He was smiling cruelly as he watched the falcon disappear into the distance.