Chapter 41

Ari's POV

I continue to stare at my dad, who is parading around as Professor-turned-replacement-Headmaster Seamus Finnegan, through narrowed eyes, only easing up when Freddie grabs my arm and squeezes lightly. I manage to glance over at him and see that he's seems a bit uneasy, almost nervous, before looking back at my dad. "How long have you been here, dad?"

My dad places a hand on his chest and gives me an almost endearing look that I know he's faking. "How long has it been since you called me dad?"

I roll my eyes and scoff angrily. "Not long enough. Seriously, what are you doing here? How long have you been here?"

Finally, Freddie finds his voice, a hint of panic in it as he speaks. "Are you lot attacking the school? Is that why you're here?"

My dad looks at Freddie and disregards him immediately, looking back at me curiously. "What rumors have you been spreading about me, dear girl?"

I clench my teeth and fists in an attempt to calm down, then indignantly respond. "No rumors, only truth. Now… WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

He smirks at me while glancing behind me and saying to nobody in particular, "Looks like you did a little recruiting of your own! Shame, really, that Landen is still alive. He had been quite a thorn in my side…"

I pull out my wand and aggressively point it at his face. "ANSWER THE BLOODY QUESTION!"

He looks at me and his smirk turns into a small sneer before morphing into pretend shock and offense as I hear the sound of someone rapidly approaching behind me. "MISS BRIGHTON! LOWER YOUR WAND IMMEDIATELY!"

I hesitantly look back and see Professor McGonagall sprinting toward Freddie, my dad and me, with Al, Landen and James tailing behind her. Her face is full of panic and her wand is outstretched toward me and my dad, the grey bun on top of her head bobbing up and down as she runs through the corridor, approaching u rapid speed. Once she reaches us, she shoves my wand down, shooting me a look of disappointment before turning to "Seamus" and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Seamus, are you alright?"

He places a hand over his heart and takes a deep, calming breath. "I am now, Minerva. If you hadn't gotten here when you did, I have no idea what would have happened…"

McGonagall turns to look at me again, anger painting her every feature, and asks, "Miss Brighton! What has gotten into you that would make you think threatening a teacher would ever be okay?"

I shake my head, completely in shock, and look over at Freddie, who's expression matches my own, before managing to stammer out, "He… He's-"

"Seamus" cuts me off before I can manage anything else. "She was rambling on about how she thinks I'm her father! She's delusional, Minerva! Completely mental!"

I clench my fists and stomp my foot loudly. "HE'S-"

McGonagall turns around again, this time holding up her hand to silence me. "Miss Brighton, enough! You've done enough! Miss Brighton! ARIANA! DO NOT WALK AWAY WHEN I A-"

I place my wand back into my pocket and turn back to McGonagall and glare at her, stopping her mid-sentence before I clench my teeth together tightly and squeeze my hands into tense fists as I stomp away angrily. I can hear "Seamus" thanking McGonagall again for showing up when she did, and hear him talk about what an annoyance I was while she was gone, and how he feared for his life. I scoff loudly, rolling my eyes as I march through the corridor and go outside, heading straight for the Forbidden Forest.

Despite the name, I'd been in that forest so many times since I'd gotten to Hogwarts that it didn't seem very "forbidden" anymore. It was more like the "Casually Visited Forest" than anything else.

On my way to the forest, I ran into Monroe, who managed to get out, "Hey sl-" before I pulled out my wand and waved it at her, causing her (and a few unsuspecting students nearby) to drop to the ground, their entire bodies stiff like boards.

I continue to march on, jumping when someone grabs my shoulder and spins me around. "WHAT?!"

Brittany holds up a finger at me and raises her eyebrow sternly, while Landen stands behind her and barely manages to contain his laughter. "Okay, I'm going to have to ask you to lose the attitude. I don't want to help you if you're going to be snippy."

I clench my teeth and stare at her plainly, being sure to remain quiet, which she takes as a cue to continue. "Second, what the hell just happened? What did we I miss?"

I take a calming breath and tuck my wand behind my ear before responding. "He's here, Bri. He's been here the entire time and I didn't even see it…"

She looks at me in disbelief, her mouth hanging open in shock. When she doesn't respond, Landen takes it upon himself to ask the question that's been bothering me most. "How long?"

I shrug my shoulders, letting out a frustrated sigh in the process. "I'm… I don't know, Lan… I'm guessing it was after I got back from my trip to America, but before Andromeda took those recruits into the forest…"

Landen takes a moment to contemplate what I've said, then releases a loud sigh. "We have to get out of here…"

Brittany and I both shake our heads at the same time, however, I'm the one who speaks. "We can't leave the students here. We can't leave them here all alone with him…"

Landen scoffs before angrily asking, "Then what do you suppose we do?!"

I throw my hands up in exasperation and groan. "I DON'T KNOW! I just… I don't know…" I look over at Brittany and shakily sigh. "Bri, what do we do?"

She opens her mouth to respond, but the voice that I hear comes from past her. "We bring the fight to him, of course."

I stare at Freddie as he joins our strange circle. "Easier said than done, Fred."

He shakes his head while wrapping an arm around Brittany's waist. "Not exactly. He seems like a prideful man. We just have to find a way to use that to our advantage."

I sigh again and shake my head adamantly. "As I said, easier said than done."

"No, it's really not."

I roll my eyes as James, Al and Eli all join our group. "What did you have in mind, James?"

He looks around at everyone, as if the answer to my question is obvious. "We just have to challenge him in front of his recruits…"

Finally Brittany decides to chime in. "But we don't know where they meet! How would we even be able to do that?"

Al grins deviously as he speaks. "We'll have to follow one of them…"

Brittany frowns, crossing her arms tersely. "But who?"

I tap my chin thoughtfully then grin. "We'll all pick one to follow and we'll tail them for the rest of the week, making note of everywhere they go."

Eli smirks while speaking. "That could work…"

Brittany, once again playing devil's advocate, speaks up. "But what if we get caught? What then?"

Freddie tightens his grip around Brittany's waist and looks around the group, making eye contact with each of us. "We won't get caught. We have too much riding on this. Too much at stake…"

Eli clears his throat and asks, "But who's going to follow who?"

I shake my head and say, "I don't care who you lot follow, but I'm going to follow Darkbloom."

Alright y'all! I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I figured out how I want this story to end. Yay! The bad news, is that the end is drawing near. Only about two or three more chapters left until its over. :(

As always, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and opinions about this chapter! Also, how do you feel about how close the ending is? Are you nervous about how I plan to have it end? You should be! ;P

I appreciate all you lovrly readers and followers sooo much! Honestly, I dont think y'all will ever know how much I appreciate you all. I love all of you tons! :)

Thanks,

-Tx :)