AN: Poor Amelie just can't catch a break.
The message and the Chamber of Secrets dominated the talk among the students for days after Hallowe'en, both inside the common room and outside. Some proclaimed that a curse had been unleashed on the castle, while others, like Riyan, surmised that the writing on the wall had been a cruel prank. One persistent rumour was, that Salazar Slytherin had used the chamber, and the monster within, to attack those he deemed unworthy of studying magic.
"And no points for guessing who he meant by that," Justin Finch-Fletchley growled into his muffin during breakfast.
"Muggleborns, half-bloods, anyone who wasn't part of the old families," Hannah Abbott went on while peeling an orange onto her plate. She shared a nervous look with Justin, who only shook his head.
Polly seemed unfazed, asking, "Are people really that hung up about it?"
Hannah scoffed. "Try being in the same year as Draco Malfoy and his ghouls, and you'll never hear the end of it. At least he got detention for what he was shouting when he saw the message."
Amelie glanced over to the table in green, where the blonde Seeker seemed to be in good spirits.
"It's all of them, really," mumbled Justin, following her gaze. "Almost all the dark wizards that followed You-Know-Who came from Slytherin."
Amelie nodded thoughtfully, using the distraction to make a slice of buttered toast slide from her plate into her napkin.
Hannah look to their end of the table and asked, "The snakes in your year haven't given you any trouble yet?"
Scratching her head, Polly replied, in between spoonfuls of cereal, "I honestly forgot they're even there. They just sit across the room in Charms and History, not doing anything."
Now that she thought of it, Amelie couldn't recall having spoken a single word with any of the Slytherin students. For a moment she wondered what would've happened if the Sorting Hat had decided to send her to their table instead. She shuddered.
Hannah sighed, pushing her orange peels aside. "Honestly, I'd give anything if it meant I wouldn't have to hear Malfoy's whiny voice every day," she remarked, tossing the napkin onto her plate.
Amelie's eyes wandered back to the Slytherins, where Malfoy seemed to be talking loudly to the bubble of other second-years that seemed to surround him at all times. 'Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!'
She turned back to the others and suggested, "Do you think Malfoy did it? The message and Filch's cat, that is?" The Hufflepuffs around her seemed to consider this for a moment.
Hannah grimaced, pondering the idea, before answering, "I guess it's possible. But if he truly was Slytherin's heir, I doubt he'd be able to keep his gob shut about it." She leaned closer and added more seriously, "At any rate, you lot should be keeping an eye out." Hannah looked meaningfully from Amelie to Polly, even sending Justin a nervous glance.
The worsening weather kept them indoors and even the first flying lesson of November was cancelled. "Can't they enchant the brooms to be water-proof?" Polly grumbled. Raising her wand, she snapped, "Diffindo!" and sent a sharp, blue arc of light into the wilted pumpkin they were using for target-practice.
Walking over to take his turn, Riyan remarked, "They can't also make them wind-proof without defeating the point of learning to fly."
After-school charms practice had started picking up again. Practising the Severing Hex had offered plenty of opportunity for them to master the Mending Charm as well, while Polly's aim improved enough to hit the intended target instead of carving up the chairs or tables around it.
They had considered inviting the other first-years to come as well, but the old classroom was already just barely enough for the three of them. Their skills in Charms had not gone unnoticed and Flitwick seemed to be delighted every time they managed to pull off a spell perfectly on their 'first try' in class. It was just as well he hadn't seen the state of their practice room the day after they had begun with the Fire-Making Charm.
Polly slumped back into her chair, before reaching into her bag to unwrap a piece of treacle tart she'd swiped from the Great Hall. "You think there's something to it? What Hannah said about Slytherins going after 'muggleborns'?" she asked between and during bites. Amelie shrugged. The books, even Hogwarts: A History, had been vague on the entire subject.
"I don't know," Riyan offered, "but they are definitely really stuck up about hating everything to do with muggles. Probably got told by their parents to not even talk to anyone not from a pureblood family."
The entire topic felt odd to Amelie, sounding more like the old Pride and Prejudice sort of books, she had tossed back onto the heap at the foster home after slogging through the first chapters.
Polly nodded, "But your parents aren't like that, right?"
Chuckling and pushing the pitiful remains of the pumpkin into the rubbish bin, Riyan answered, "No. I mean, my mum's family has lived in Britain for almost three hundred years and the Patils are pretty well known." He shook his head. "But if you went around India calling yourself 'pureblood' people would just look at you funny. I mean, Baji Rao was a muggle, but any wizard or witch would love to claim he was their ancestor."
The threatening message on the wall had left many of the students on edge. Down in the Hufflepuff den, rumours had begun circulating regarding the identity of the 'heir'. Amelie found herself being badgered for information almost every time it came up.
"You think it might be Potter?" Justin asked her one day, as they were walking back from dinner. She considered mentioning the disembodied sounds she had heard, but decided against it.
Amelie scratched her head and replied, "I don't think so. I mean, his friends were there too and they didn't know anything either." She perked up as she remembered another bit of information. "They did mention that they were at some celebration for one of the Gryffindor ghosts. Maybe we can ask the Friar if they were really there."
It took them a while to find the plump Hufflepuff ghost, but he corroborated what Amelie had heard in Lockhart's office. "Dark things are happening," the Friar mumbled, "you pups best stay together and be vigilant."
The weekend came and with it a damp, muggy atmosphere that made people's heads throb, sending them dragging their feet to Madam Pomfrey for a pepper-up draught. Polly needed no potion to be a bundle of restless energy, when the three of them were walking down to the Quidditch pitch that Saturday morning. Today was the day of the duel between the two rivals, Gryffindor against Slytherin. It was no surprise, to Amelie or Riyan, to see their friend wearing a red-and-yellow striped scarf.
"It's just right, to support our school-mates in Gryffindor," she chirped as they took their seats.
Riyan nodded slowly, before remarking, "And it clearly has nothing to do with the fact that if they beat Slytherin, then Cholderton and the team have a better chance to still win the cup, right?"
The two teams walked out onto the pitch and their captains shook hands, seemingly trying to crush each other's fingers. Shortly after, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the game was on. Polly eagerly joined the chorus of Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors cheering them on. Like in their game against the Hufflepuffs, the Slytherins took full advantage of their superior brooms and soon began building a lead in the score. Thick drops of rain started falling from the dark clouds above, turning the match into a sluggish mess.
"What the hell is going on over there?" Polly cursed, pointing to a trio of broom-riders, all wearing red. It looked like Harry Potter was being chased around by a bludger, while the Weasley twins had their hands full trying to keep it away from him.
"They're cheating, a bludger isn't supposed to be that persistent!" Stomping her feet, Polly looked absolutely furious, but she didn't seem alone in her assumption. A time-out was called and the Gryffindor team huddled together. Madam Hooch walked over to speak with their captain and soon they were back in the air.
As both teams returned to their positions and the game continued, they spied Potter flying off on his own, dodging the mad bludger in a zig-zagging pattern of sharp turns and loops. Polly was gnawing her fingernails, watching the Gryffindor barely avoid getting hit. "Absolutely mental!"
An incoherent roar was spreading through the audience and Amelie could see why. The Slytherin seeker, Draco Malfoy, was hovering in the air with the snitch floating right by his head. Potter had clearly spotted it and was distracted enough that, on its next pass, the bludger slammed directly into his right arm.
There was a collective gasp when he started sliding sideways off his broom, only barely hanging on. Next to Amelie on the bench, Linda had buried her face in her hands, covering her eyes. The muttering of the crowd rose into another roar as Potter shot forward, straight towards Malfoy. Letting go of his broom completely, he went into a sharp dive, following the glimmering trail of gold just inches ahead of his outstretched hand. His fist closed around the winged ball just moment before he hit the ground.
"He got it!" Polly shrieked.
Teachers and other players started crowding around Potter's prone form, his arm clearly broken. Professor McGonagall's magically amplified voice echoed across the stands. "All students back to their common rooms!" Shielding herself against the rain, Amelie followed the others back into the castle.
Polly seemed to be stuck in a state between shock and amazement, muttering, "Hoppin' mad. He just went straight for it." A grin spread across her face as she went on, "And did you see Malfoy? Floating around like an idiot and not even seeing the snitch when it was basically half-way up his nostril."
Amelie shook her head and sighed. "You think someone was trying to attack him? Potter that is," she wondered aloud as they commandeered a sofa near the fireplace.
Polly nodded, "Definitely. Someone messed with that bludger."
Shuffling over from the entrance tunnel, Riyan plopped down next to Amelie. "Oh man... I just heard that Lockhart went and tried to fix Potter's broken arm." A creeping sense of dread seemed to spread over the Hufflepuffs within earshot. "And he did, sort of," Riyan went on, "mostly because there's no bones in Potter's arm any-more."
Amelie grimaced, shuddering at the mere thought.
"But they can fix that, right?" Linda voiced, rubbing her own arm as if trying to keep it from falling off.
Patricia nodded and explained, "Yes. I broke my leg when I was four and they healed it over night."
The wet chill of the rain was slowly evaporating in the warmth of their common room as the hours ticked away and night fell on the castle. Polly and Riyan were playing Gobstones, while Amelie was leafing through Hogwarts: A History and looking for any information regarding the Chamber of Secrets. Suddenly, a large number of students came walking in through the tunnel, talking loudly amongst themselves.
Patricia looked up and asked, "What's wrong?" One of the older students at the front shrugged and replied, "No idea. They just rounded everyone up and sent them to their common rooms."
It wasn't long until Professor Sprout stepped into the den behind them. The surge of questions directed at her quickly subsided when she raised her hand to silence them. Sprout took a deep breath and addressed the anxious crowd of Hufflepuffs.
"I know there will be rumours, so I'll cut straight to it. A student has been attacked and was left petrified," she announced gravely, before raising her hand again to quell the rising whispers and frightened muttering.
"We do not yet know how it happened, but we will be able to cure him once the Mandrake extract is ready. For the time being, I strongly urge you to not venture into the corridors after dark and to stay with your classmates. The prefects will see to it that nobody does anything foolish or reckless."
She nodded to Haywood and Truman, who tried to put on brave expressions. Someone called out, "Who was it?"
Professor Sprout sighed. "Colin Creevy from Gryffindor. He was alone in a side-corridor near the Hospital Wing. Now, I want all of you in bed by the hour. Together we'll see this through."
Despite Sprout's instructions, the nervous chatter continued well into the night. Wild theories were thrown around and even when they finally withdrew to their dorms, Linda and Patricia kept whispering to each other in hushed tones. By Monday morning, all conversation revolved around the attack on Colin.
When they met the Gryffindor first-years on their way to the greenhouses, they seemed anxious, but relaxed when they saw Amelie and the others in their yellow-trimmed robes. Riyan walked closer and asked if they knew anything more about what had happened, but they seemed as clueless as the rest of them.
"He talked about bringing Harry something from the Great Hall," a red-robed boy said.
A girl near him rolled her eyes and snapped, "Not this again! There's no way Harry Potter would attack people. It makes no sense. After all, he was the one who defeated You-Know-Who!"
Amelie blinked and asked, "The chamber really has to do with this?"
The Gryffindors exchanged a few concerned looks. "Well, supposedly the curse in the chamber came from Salazar Slytherin. And Colin was muggleborn, so..." Amelie was uncomfortably aware that people were looking at her and Polly, as well as two of the Gryffindors.
Snorting dismissively, Polly crossed her arms and snarled, "I'm not afraid of some stupid monster or something."
Riyan winced and gave her an unconvinced look. "I don't think not being afraid is enough," he muttered.
While Polly seemed undeterred, Amelie let her eyes wander, thoughts swirling around her head. She found Ginny Weasley standing nearby, looking visibly shaken. Amelie recalled that she'd always been sitting next to Colin during Flitwick's class. Putting on what she hoped was a reassuring expression, she stepped closer and began, "I'm sure Colin will be fi-"
A peculiar scent hit her nose and Amelie stopped dead, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. It was faint, just barely perceptible over the regular scents of the castle and its people, but it unmistakeably came from Ginny. She swallowed nervously, trying not to stare directly at her. Despite being oddly unappealing, Amelie instinctively understood what it was.
The smell of blood.
Winter eventually came to Hogwarts and with it a thick blanket of snow. The word did not even come close to capture the astonishment Amelie felt when she saw the postcard-worthy transformation of the landscape around the castle. Snow in London had always meant wet stickiness and piled-up mounds of half-melted ice, painted black by dust and loose chippings from the roads. The sight was almost enough to make them forget about the fact that Colin Creevy was still lying, immobilized, in the Hospital Wing. By early December they had decided to cancel their plans for practising charms in the old classroom, much to Polly's chagrin.
"It just feels like we're hiding," she had complained, when Riyan proposed sticking to their regular homework for the time being. Excursions outside of the common room had become rare and most of the time they would stick with the rest of the first-years. Amelie was not too concerned about herself, but she couldn't stand seeing Linda or Patricia too frightened to go anywhere by themselves.
A sort of black market had sprung up among the students, selling alleged protection charms or monster-repelling potions, until the prefects caught wind of it and clamped down on the shameless profiteering.
During the second week of December, Professor Sprout went around the common room and wrote down the names of students who'd be staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. Amelie raised her hand without hesitation. Staying in the Leaky Cauldron would be utter boredom compared to Hogwarts, even with monsters and curses running around. Riyan and Polly were slower with their decisions, but eventually they too decided to stay, much to Amelie's delight.
By Thursday, a notice had appeared on the common room board advertising for a duelling club in the evening. "We should definitely go," Polly proclaimed firmly. The past weeks had done nothing to weaken her resolve when it came to facing down Slytherin's monster. Riyan agreed and Amelie would sooner eat garlic than pass up the opportunity to learn and practice more spells.
When they made their way to the Great Hall, later that day, it seemed like most of the school had the same idea. Students from every house and every year had shown up. The house tables had been removed and in their stead, a large stage occupied the centre of the room.
Amelie wondered who would be leading the club, when she heard Polly say, "This is going to be so- ah bollocks!" Her head spun around and Amelie felt her heart sink. Walking up on the stage were none other than Snape and Lockhart.
"Why them?" Polly whined and Riyan mumbled, "I would've taken Binns over this."
Strutting to the centre of the stage, Lockhart waved his arm to silence the crowd of students. "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me?" A few people shrugged, most avoided eye-contact.
"Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, please see my published-" Behind him, Snape loudly cleared his throat.
"Ah, yes. Ahem, let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin." If looks could kill, Snape would've already taken out Lockhart and likely the stone wall behind him.
"Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him, never fear," Lockhart added with a wink. Enough looks were being exchanged to make it clear, that losing Snape would not exactly be met with an outburst of grief from the student body.
The two men turned to face each other, before bowing, Lockhart with lots of unnecessary flourish and Snape rather unenthusiastically. They raised their wands like fencing swords and squared off. Lockhart prattled on, "As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."
Polly leaned over to Amelie and mumbled, "I wouldn't be so sure of that."
On the stage, Lockhart began counting down from three. The moment he finished, both wizards swung their wands, but it was Snape who attacked first. He snarled, "Expelliarmus!" and red bolt of light shot forth, hitting the unprepared Lockhart in the chest and sending him flying into the wall. A cheer came from the green-robed side of the hall as he crumpled to the floor.
Dazed and dishevelled, Lockhart scrambled to his feet, laughing nonchalantly. "Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm. As you see, I've lost my wand- ah, thank you, Miss Brown." A Gryffindor girl had walked up and sheepishly handed him his wand back.
"Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy, however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see."
Amelie rolled her eyes and turned to Polly, who seemed more than amused by the demonstration. "This was already worth it," she snickered.
Lockhart seemed to notice Snape's deadly glare and went on, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me."
They soon found themselves paired up, seemingly at random. Amelie was matched against a Slytherin first-year, Devon Harper, who appeared less than pleased to be duelling her. "Face your partners! And bow!" Lockhart called out. Straightening up, Amelie turned towards Harper and gave a simple bow. The boy's head barely moved.
"Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents. Only to disarm them, we don't want any accidents," Amelie heard Lockhart shout over the commotion. With a sudden knot in her stomach, she realized that they had never actually practised the Disarming Charm. Judging by his smug grin, Harper had been taught before he even set foot in the school. "One... two... three!"
"Expelliarmus!" he snarled, shooting a bolt of red lightning at Amelie's shoulder. Before she knew it, she had shifted her body aside, dodging the spell, but nearly throwing herself off her feet from the momentum. Harper glared at her and immediately followed up with, "Rictusempra!"
The Tickling Hex hit her in the stomach, but instead of doubling over, Amelie only felt herself twitching a bit. She took advantage of Harper's confusion and quickly readied her wand, pointing it low. "Accio shoe!" Amelie shouted and watched with relief when the spell took hold and pulled Harper's foot out from under him.
The Slytherin boy was sent flying onto his back, hitting the ground hard. Amelie's joy was short-lived when, an instant later, the black leather shoe smacked her in the forehead.
Around them, the duelling practice had quickly descended into anarchy. Green smoke was covering half the area and there was hardly a pair that hadn't suffered casualties. While most were awkwardly apologizing to their partners, some required others to pull and keep them apart. Harper had awkwardly picked himself off the floor and seemed ready to curse Amelie, when Lockhart spoke up again.
"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells. Let's have a volunteer pair. Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?" Justin and the Gryffindor boy looked at each other, nodding awkwardly, before moving to climb onto the stage.
Snape's oily voice drawled, "A bad idea, Professor Lockhart. Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox." Longbottom turned a bright shade of pink, but Justin refused to back down.
With a nasty smile, Snape turned around and asked, "How about Malfoy and Potter?" The two students in question were still glaring at each other. It seemed like they would need no convincing.
"Excellent idea!" Lockhart gushed and beckoned them onto the stage. He leaned down to sputter less-than-helpful advice to Harry, while Snape whispered into Malfoy's ear. Amelie shuffled closer to get a better look. Soon, they both walked up onto the stage and assumed their positions. Putting his hands on his hips, Lockhart shouted, "Three... two... one.. go!"
Malfoy barely waited for the signal, before raising his wand and yelling, "Serpensortia!" A large, black snake burst from the tip of his wand and landed with a dull thud on the wooden stage. It quickly raised its glistening body, hissing and ready to attack. Around them, students backed away, some letting out startled screams.
Snape lazily walked up and sighed, "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it." Harry seemed frozen, staring only at the threatening reptile slithering across the ground.
"Allow me!" Lockhart announced with insufferable confidence, before snapping his wand at the snake. Instead of vanishing, it was thrown into the air with a loud bang and landed, unharmed but twice as angry, right in front of Amelie.
It raised its body and opened its mouth, baring two dripping fangs, even longer than her own. Amelie clenched up, but her eyes never left the snake. Was it even real? Did snake-venom affect vampires? She didn't have time to ponder those questions, as she suddenly heard a second set of hissing. Amelie looked up and saw Harry Potter standing over the snake, his lips moving but instead of words, they seemed to produce only a quiet hissing and snarling.
To her surprise, the creature seemed to obey and promptly curled itself into a spiral, watching the young Gryffindor closely. Amelie blinked, when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled back.
"Leave her alone, Potter!" someone yelled, who turned out to be Justin. He was furiously glaring at Harry, while Polly was still holding her arm. There was an odd, hushed silence in the hall, even after Snape stepped forward and vanished the snake with a wave of his wand.
"Let's get out of here," Polly mumbled and Amelie found herself following along. Most of the Hufflepuff first-years, as well as Justin and Hannah, were also leaving.
It wasn't until they were pushing her through the tunnel and into the common room, that Amelie asked, "What happened there?" Polly just gave her a concerned look and shrugged. They sat down on their usual sofa, while Justin kept pacing angrily.
"We should've known it was him!" he spat.
Riyan crossed his arms, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, before saying, "Potter must be a parselmouth." The other Hufflepuffs around them gasped, but some just nodded, exchanging cautious looks.
Amelie shared a confused glance with an annoyed Polly, who turned to Riyan. "I'm assuming that's bad somehow," she grumbled, unhappy with being left hanging.
Taking a breath, Riyan answered, "It means he can talk to snakes. It's considered ominous, especially at Hogwarts, because Salazar Slytherin was also a parselmouth. That's why their house has a snake as a symbol."
Amelie silently took in his explanation. It was true that Potter had spoken to the snake, but then it had stopped moving. She bit her lip and immediately regretted it when she almost pricked herself on her fang.
Justin was back to pacing and ranting. "So he's the heir and now he's running around doing Slytherin's bidding. Attacking anyone who isn't a pureblood."
At her side, Polly grimaced and shook her head, pondering, "But I thought Potter defeated Volde-whatever as a baby. Why would he be doing the same thing? And isn't one of his friends from a non-magical family too?"
For a moment it seemed like the wind had been taken out of Justin's sails. He flailed his arms, grasping for words. "But he just tried to have his snake kill your friend! How can you say that?"
Polly crossed her arms, clearly losing her patience, and remarked, "You mean Malfoy's snake."
Amelie could feel the situation escalating. "I-" she began and suddenly felt all eyes on her. Swallowing nervously, she continued, "I know it looked bad, but I don't think he told the snake to attack me. It just rolled up and did nothing."
Before Justin could start up again, she raised her hands. "I'm really grateful for all of you standing up for me, really. But I just don't think Potter is the one doing this." Amelie's thoughts dwelled on red robes and the smell of blood.
Straightening up, she went on, "I talked to him and the other two after Mrs. Norris was petrified, and they seemed just as clueless as the rest of us." 'Except for the strange noise', Amelie added quietly. "So," she continued awkwardly, "I think we shouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly. Professor Sprout said we'll see this through together."
For a moment, there was only the quiet crackling and hissing of the fireplace. Amelie felt awfully exposed with everyone watching her, but when she looked up, she saw Riyan slowly nodding. A few of the others, including Linda and Patricia mumbled in agreement, and even Justin let out a sigh in defeat and nodded.
Relief washed over her and Amelie felt herself relax, just as Polly wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Awww," the blonde swooned, squeezing her in a tight hug, before adding, "And if anyone tries anything, I'll hex them from here to Dover."
The school was once again abuzz with speculation the following day, but at least Amelie's awkward call for caution seemed to have spread beyond the common room. The hilarious disaster of the duelling club quickly began overtaking Potter's newly discovered ability as the topic of choice during breakfast or lunch.
A note from Professor Sinistra informed them that the last period of Astronomy, before the end of the term, had been cancelled due to the ongoing blizzard. Amelie and most of the others were busy finishing up their school-work, when she noticed that her copy of Hogwarts: A History was nowhere to be found.
"Where did you last read it?" Polly asked, tossing a gobstone towards the circles on the game board. Amelie racked her brain, recalling the passage she had been reading while Riyan almost set the rubbish bin on fire.
Standing up, she remarked, "It must be in the old classroom. I'll just run over there and grab it." They didn't seem to keen to let her go, but Amelie waved away their concerns and stepped out of the common room.
The corridors seemed to get exceptionally chilly during the winter, yet despite the icy draft, Amelie didn't feel too bothered. As expected, her book had slipped off the table in the old Charms classroom and been overlooked when they had left. Snatching it up, she made her way back towards the common rooms.
The windows in the hallway didn't seem to be all that well sealed. Most of the torches on the wall had been extinguished by the cold wind. Trudging through the gloom, Amelie heard faint voices down a side-passage leading towards the Central Hall.
It was hardly a detour, so she decided to take a look. Drawing closer, she could barely make out the voices of Justin as well as Harry Potter, who seemed to be talking somewhere in a corridor to the left. '...thought she was being naive...' A worried knot formed in Amelie's stomach. Hopefully Justin hadn't gone and tried to pick a fight with the Gryffindor, in spite of her words.
Just as she was only one more turn of a corner away, the horrible hissing and scratching started up again. It seemed to be coming from all around her, not unlike the night of the Hallowe'en feast. A set of footsteps was coming closer. Before she could decide what to do, there was a heavy thump behind her. Amelie whirled around, briefly spotting someone wearing Hogwarts robes before-
Yellow. Deep, bright yellow burned itself into her eyes, setting her body on fire. She felt her throat trembling as she screamed, but no sound could be heard. The world shrunk to a single point and there was only darkness.