First, I'd like to wish the happiest of Hogwarts birthdays to the girl who inspired Lanie! *gives you all birthday cake in celebration*
Second, this chapter might incite some flames. Just warning you and asking you to keep them to a minimum. Sound good? Thanks.
All right, on to the chapter!
"Aly!" someone hissed, shaking my shoulders. "Aly, Aly, wake up!"
I moaned and tried to bat them away, still half-asleep, and slurred, "Whozzit?"
"It's Lanie," the voice replied. "Wake up! You have to see this! It's an injustice!"
"What's an injustice?" I mumbled, opening my eyes and waving Lanie away.
"Quidditch has been canceled for the year!"
"What?!" Immediately I was awake, leaping from my bed. A stray matted curl fell into my eyes and I brushed it away hurriedly. "You have to be kidding!"
"Not kidding!" Lanie shrilled. "I woke up early this morning to start on that Transfiguration essay-"
"It's just like Descoteaux to assign us a foot-long essay the Friday after school starts," groaned Millie from across the room, throwing the curtains open and letting natural light in. Judging by the sun, it was really early- and of course homework was the only reason Lanie would be up this early on a Saturday. "He gets made Head of Slytherin House and he thinks he rules the world, that one-"
"-and I saw it on the common room notice board," Lanie continued as if Millie hadn't interrupted her. "It took up half of the space! Poor Kitty- she won't get to be captain her last year!"
I dressed hurriedly as Lanie carped about Quidditch. I didn't even have time to brush my hair or anything else before Lanie grabbed my wrist and Shawnee's wrist- apparently she'd woken Shawnee in the exact same way- and dragged us out into the hallway, down the stairs and out into the completely deserted common room.
The notice board was right beside the door to the commons, and sure enough a huge black-and-white flyer with orange lettering was plastered across most of it. Lanie pulled us over to it and let us read.
Students, I have canceled Quidditch for this year. It's going to be a cold winter and I won't have students catching their death of cold or getting hit in the face by Bludgers. I'm sure it won't affect you all that much; there are other pastimes here at Hogwarts. The Gobstones Club is open, I hear. –Headmaster Damien
"Almost no one gets hit in the face by Bludgers, and Madam Pomfrey is able to heal any injury that's out there!" I fumed, growing angrier by the second.
"I know!" Lanie grumbled. "It's the same reason we don't have Astronomy outside anymore. He just wants to keep everyone inside where he can watch us."
"At least we have Herbology outside," I pacified her, "and Care of Magical Creatures."
"For now," muttered my brown-haired friend.
We turned to Shawnee, who hadn't said a word. She was glowering at the poster. "He can't do this," she said darkly. "It's not fair. I'll make him let us."
"Shawnee!" gasped Lanie, horrified.
"If I go a full year- or more- without getting on my broom or playing as Keeper," Shawnee continued with a dangerous lilt in her voice, "I'll go barking mad. Don't tell me you don't feel the same."
I did feel the same way, but I wasn't going to go about 'making' people do things. "I love being a Beater, yes, but-"
"Lanie?" Shawnee interrupted.
Lanie shrugged. "He's Headmaster. And he's dangerous. You saw how scared Professor Fourier was Wednesday night. If Professor Fourier is frightened of him…"
We fell silent, nodding. That is true.
Just then, Kitty burst out of the door leading to the dormitories, leading Reuben and Zach in a very similar way to how Lanie had gotten me and Shawnee down into the commons. She stopped short when she saw the three of us clustered around the notice board. "You three heard, too?"
"Lanie saw it first," I said, moving out of the way so Reuben and Zach could see it.
"No!" Reuben breathed when he saw the big orange letters. I have canceled Quidditch for this year…
Zach pursed his lips. "He can't possibly do this."
"That's what I said!" Shawnee nearly shouted.
"But he's Headmaster," Kitty argued.
"And that's what I said!" Lanie replied.
I collapsed into the nearest armchair, sinking into the fluffy cushions. "What are we going to do without Quidditch?"
Kitty followed my example, sitting next to me. "Yeah… it's good that Isaiah isn't here to see this. He'd probably die."
I laughed a little. Isaiah Bramson had been my fellow Beater, one year older than the Chaser trio, and about the toughest guy to ever live. If this had happened last year, he'd probably have fought Headmaster Damien for Quidditch. (It was a great quality in a Beater.) "Maybe."
The people from the old Quidditch teams weren't the only ones who were horror-struck at the news. Sure, they were dismayed- I saw Nick in the Great Hall sadly brushing his fingers over the shiny surface of the Snitch that he'd probably nicked from the school last year- but anyone and everyone who was a Quidditch fan of any kind was shocked. The whole Great Hall was in an uproar during breakfast, everyone chattering to each other, people shouting across the Hall to their friends at other tables, and even more people comforting the ex-players. At least three people from each year (besides my own) came up to reassure me that Headmaster Damien would obviously reinstate the sport. One particularly friendly sixth-year gave me a big hug that squeezed all the breath out of me.
Brooklyn came back to Ravenclaw Tower with me after breakfast- Headmaster Damien, not surprisingly, hadn't made an appearance at the meal- to work on our essays with Lanie and Shawnee. She too was furious, her face scrunched up into a seemingly permanent scowl. We were sitting on the biggest couch, the four of us, working on our essays with the parchments spread out across the biggest crystal table when the second-year quartet came up to us. Raj was front and center, flanked by Annie and Nellie- and Sunny was there too, next to Nellie, her ever-present smile a slightly sad one.
"Don't worry, Aly," Raj said with a big grin. "Professor- oops, Headmaster- Damien will definitely bring back Quidditch." As he was talking to me, Annie and Nellie scurried forward to chat with Lanie and Shawnee (respectively), and Sunny smiled at Brooklyn. "Just try not to hit any more Bludgers toward the stands, 'kay?"
I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. "Gee, Raj, I'd nearly forgotten about that. Did you have to bring it up?" I'd apologized over and over to the quartet for my Bludger blunder the previous year, and although the girls seemed to have forgiven and forgotten, Raj never bypassed an opportunity to mention it.
"Of course I did," he laughed, and then he was gone along with Sunny, Nellie and Annie.
"Did you know they were Quidditch fans?" Lanie said to me out of the side of her mouth as we drew our parchments toward us once again.
"Yep," I muttered. Then I raised my voice and posed the question "Do you think magical objects that have been Transfigured into animals still retain qualities of that magical object?"
"So, like if a wand was transfigured into a tortoise?" Shawnee asked.
It took us a while to complete the essay, especially since Brooklyn was more cynical than usual and shot down a lot of our ideas. I didn't blame her for being bad-tempered; if I'd had Professor Descoteaux as a new Head of my House, I'd have been cross, too. But we did finish, just after lunch (which Headmaster Damien didn't attend, either), and after Brooklyn took off to hang out with her Slytherin friends Lanie suggested we take a walk.
The doors to the grounds were only one corridor away when the five of us (Millie and Helen had tagged along) bumped into a trio of third-year Hufflepuff girls. I recognized them all- Lindsey Frowseloure, Jessie Emerson and Kira Redman. Out of the three of them, I knew Jessie the best, only because people who knew both of us joked that we were twins. It could've been true- Jessie and I both had short light brown hair, but mine was curly and hers was straight. We both had green eyes and were tall (she was nearly as tall as me, and I was a year older!) and Jessie was super-smart. Anyone who ever met her always asked why she wasn't in Ravenclaw, but that was because she was the kindest and most cheerful girl you'd ever meet.
She also had a penchant for hugs, which was why I found myself being squeezed in her skinny arms. "Aly! I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been? Oh, I heard about Quidditch- I'm so sorry, he has to reestablish it- so how have you been?"
"Hi, Jessie," I replied, laughing a little. "I've been pretty good! Had a nice, relaxing summer. What about you?"
"Absolutely A-OK, as usual!" she replied cheerily. We watched Lanie and Kira- a short Indian girl with the longest hair of anyone at the school and a bit of a high-pitched voice- reunite, and Lindsey (who was a close second to Jessie in vivaciousness) struck up a conversation with Millie, Shawnee and Helen. "Were you trying to get outdoors?"
"Yes," I replied. "Are you guys going in the same direction?"
"No, we're heading back to the common room," Jessie said, sighing a bit dramatically. "The doors are locked, and we tried magically unlocking them but no luck. Must be our gracious Headmaster's way of saying you're not allowed outside."
"Shhh!" Kira reminded her almost instantly, waving her hands around. "Are you nuts? Remember what Professor Gedding told us Wednesday night during the party!"
"Let me guess- he told you it wasn't wise to have a party?" Millie predicted, smirking a little.
"Exactly," Lindsey exhaled. "How did you know?"
Lanie chuckled. "Let's just say that Professor Fourier and Professor Gedding might share a brain."
The Hufflepuff girls chortled and started to head back to their common room. We walked with them in the direction that we would have to go to get back to our commons, too, but just as we were about to say good-bye and head our separate ways, everyone heard a sob.
We froze. It was coming from the hallway that us Ravenclaws would take to return to the dormitories. Slowly, the eight of us tiptoed down the corridor. The sound of sobs grew louder and louder, and then started to fade away as we made our way toward the door at the end of the hall. So we crept back toward the middle of the passageway.
"Look!" whispered Kira, pointing gently at a dark grey statue of a wizard carrying a staff. Topping the staff was a real jewel, glittering blue in the lowlight. But Kira hadn't just noticed the statue; she'd noticed the boot-clad foot and patch of dark cloak peeking out from an alcove behind the stone wizard.
"Hello?" Millie voiced, poking her head behind the statue. "Oh… Lisa! Here, come on up. What happened to you?"
She pulled out from behind the statue a strawberry blonde Gryffindor who looked vaguely familiar. I squinted at her, knowing that I knew the girl's long nose and reddish-yellow waves from somewhere, but unwilling to ask because of her puffy blue eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," she managed between sniffles. "I- I just-" Then she caught sight of the blue jewel atop the statue's staff and dissolved back into sobs.
Millie and the Hufflepuffs surrounded the girl- Lisa- and started comforting her. Shawnee and Lanie scouted around and found an empty classroom, and Helen and I ushered Lisa and her consolers into it. After sitting the Gryffindor girl down, I managed to pause her tears and then asked her why she was crying in an empty hallway near Ravenclaw Tower.
"H-Headmaster D-D-Damien," she stammered, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief embroidered with the letters LF. Either her last name started with F or it was Lindsey's. "H-he took-" A sob that sounded more like a hiccup racked her body, and she stopped talking.
"What did he take?" Lanie asked patiently. "A pet? Something from home?"
Lisa nodded at that last part. "Yeah. A f-family heirloom."
"Why would he take a family heirloom?" Helen said to Millie, a bit louder than she should've.
Lisa glanced at her. "I-I don't k-know!"
"What was the heirloom?" Jessie queried good-naturedly.
Lisa swallowed hard. "A j-jeweled vial. It's b-been in my family for- for generations. My great-great-grandmother once b-brewed a love potion to give my great-great-grandfather, b-but he fell in l-love with her anyway. Then she started up her v-very own line of love p-potions, and that's what m-made the Ryall f-family famous."
"Ryall?" I said quickly, popping up from where I'd taken a seat on the edge of a chair. "You're Carter Ryall's sister?" Carter Ryall was a Ravenclaw boy one year older than myself, with hair that was just a shade redder than Lisa's. As soon as I realized that he was Lisa's brother, I started recognizing little pieces of her face- her eyes were the exact same shade of blue as Carter's, they had nearly identical noses, and each had only a couple freckles.
Lisa nodded. "An-anyway, the oldest R-Ryall girl of the youngest g-generation always keeps the v-vial. It's antique. B-but Headmaster Damien- he t-took it. What will- what will Gran say?" Tears welled up in her eyes.
Millie patted her back, glancing at me with confusion on her face. Why would e through that? she mouthed.
I looked back at her, just as baffled. What? I mouthed back.
She rolled her eyes and mouthed each word separately. Why. Would. He. Do. That?
Understanding, I nodded. Grabbing Lanie's and Shawnee's elbows, I pulled them out of the classroom. Helen tagged along- Helen wasn't particularly suited to matters that required much sympathy. As soon as I was positive Lisa wouldn't hear us, I turned to them. "Why would Headmaster Damien take students' things? It's almost like he wants us to hate him."
"Shhhh!" Lanie hissed, reminding me rather of Kira.
"Yeah- and why let Lisa know he took it?" Helen whispered.
"Maybe he didn't," Shawnee said bluntly. "Remember, we don't know what happened. For all we know, someone else took it and she's assuming it was him- or maybe he took it while she was watching. Who knows?"
"Alyssa," a voice drawled from behind us.
We froze.
"Oh, don't be so startled," the man said, almost lazily. "You knew I would catch up with you eventually." It was creepy, the way he pretended that only I was there. "You are, after all, one of my favorite students."
Slowly, I turned around. So did my friends. Headmaster Damien was leaning against the wall, apparently just having come out of a shadowy alcove we'd passed. His hair looked like shadows, his eyes like chips of ice that glittered at me. I forced a smile. "Um, hello, Headmaster."
He extended a hand and curled one finger towards himself. It was a clear call. Come here. Now.
I gulped and took a step forward- and so did my friends. I felt a rush of gratitude. He was headmaster, but he was still Professor Damien, and he'd always been so nice… but he was acting pretty strange. And my friends aren't scared to face him with me.
He waved his hands. "Alyssa," he said curtly, "you come with me. The rest of you are dismissed."
Lanie squeezed my arm as she turned to do her Headmaster's bidding; Helen sent me a frightened wince; and I caught a glimpse of Shawnee's equally worried face as I followed Headmaster Damien away from my fellow Ravenclaw girls.
He led me through the twisting school corridors before stopping in front of a stairway I recognized. It was the staircase that led to the Headmaster's office, only the stone gargoyle that normally guarded the stairs wasn't there. In its place stood two suits of armor who stood still, their lances crossed over the entrance to the stairwell.
"It's me," Headmaster Damien said in a low voice. The suits of armor uncrossed their spears and stood at attention as he shepherded me through the doorway that the lances created. Up and up we climbed, until he opened a doorway and we walked into a room with a desk and chairs. One of the two seats in front of the desk was empty, and the other was occupied by a boy with brilliant purple hair.
Purple?
And then he turned around.
"Eli?" I said, shocked. "Is that you?"
He cleared his throat, casting his eyes down. "Aly."
"Sit down, Alyssa," Headmaster Damien ordered, pointing to the empty chair. He then beckoned Eli to his side. "Come with me, Eli."
The Slytherin boy with the brilliant violet hair stood wordlessly and followed the headmaster out of the room. I was alone in Headmaster Damien's office.
So I stood up. It looked completely different from the years before, when Minerva McGonagall had been headmistress. The portraits that normally covered the wall behind the headmaster's desk were gone; instead, small tables stood all over the roomy office. About half of them were empty; the other half were cluttered with small antiques. I moved over to the nearest table and peered at the cluttered antiquities. Just on that table, there was something that looked like a cross between a teapot and a lamp; a small golden clock with the gilded edges carved in intricate, swirling patterns; a necklace made of hypnotic, color-changing pearls in a small, clear box; a pink plate patterned with paintings of lace and a moving kitten with a bow tied around its neck; a heart-shaped vial that shined and shimmered due to the blue-and-purple gems set in its glass; and a stack of embossed books that looked quite old. The jeweled vial caught my eye, and I peered at it more closely. Could that be Lisa's?
Looking around, I could see no other object that could be classified as a 'jeweled vial', so I picked the vial up off of the table and turned it around in my hands, then slipped it into the pocket of my robes. Glancing back at the table I had taken it from, I winced. If Headmaster Damien spied the empty spot on the table, he would know immediately that I had taken something. My eyes darted around the room, looking for something- anything- that could take the place of what was obviously Lisa's family heirloom.
Finally, my eyes landed on a pair of moon-shaped rings set with diamonds on a nearby table. They were small enough to not be missed from their table, but they were large enough to take up the space left by Lisa's vial if I rearranged the other antiques. I moved the rings and shifted the books and plate and necklace until the table seemed like it looked normal. I breathed a sigh.
Too soon, I heard footsteps. He's back! I nearly catapulted across the room and sat in my chair, hoping he wouldn't notice what I'd done. My heart was fluttering fast and my hair was drooping over my face in messy curls. I gulped, trying to pat it down-
Just as he opened the door.
I turned. "Headmaster?"
"Yes, Alyssa."
"W-why am I here?"
He crossed to his chair and sat, his torso, arms and head the only things visible behind the thick wooden desk. "I said it earlier, Alyssa. You are one of my favorite students. And by that, I mean that you are smart. Probably the smartest of the school."
My smile grew tight. That doesn't answer the question! Why has he called me here?
"You see," he continued, "if I am to rule this school as Headmaster, I need a group of students who are utterly loyal to me. When this generation of teachers dies- as we will, eventually- I need for those students to replace us." He leaned forward, his eyes burning and intense. "And I will need the leader of that group to replace me."
"Is that why you called Eli up here?" I asked, confused. Why's he telling me this?
"No, no, no, Alyssa," he said, laughing a little. (It wasn't a nice laugh.) "For such a clever girl, I am surprised you haven't figured it out yet. I am selecting you as my protégé, the leader of that group. You shall replace me when I die. Eli… he was only up here because of a small misconduct." But his eye twitched like he was lying.
"M-me?" I stuttered. "Um…"
"It is a great honor. I have already assembled the students whom you will lead. There are quite a lot of them," he informed me coolly. "You shall give your orders to five captains, who will then distribute those orders to five people underneath their command."
"So… I would be leading thirty people?" I asked, my mind racing. He must know I'm not going to do this! I wonder who the others are. Are they truly loyal to him? If so, how?
He leaned in. Our faces were inches apart and his eyes were burning into mine. "There is no 'would be', Alyssa Salinger. You heard what I said at the Sorting Ceremony." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It wasn't a joke."
"I'm loyal to you, sir," I said in the most convincing tone I could muster. Oh, no. How am I going to survive this year while pretending to fool everyone that I'm completely loyal to him.
He leaned back and smiled. "Good. In fact, why don't you meet your captains now? It's half past two; meet them in Classroom 4A- it should be abandoned- at three. Sound good, Alyssa?"
"Can't wait," I replied.
"Excellent. Now out."
I scurried from the room and down the stairs. Once I was sure I was alone, I felt in my pocket for the vial. It was still there. At least I'd done something right.
Well, now I'll be able to tell my friends what's going on in Headmaster Damien's world on a regular basis.
It wasn't much of a bright side, but I hurried towards the seventh floor. Before meeting Headmaster Damien's captains- whom I would probably have to fool too, since they were almost definitely loyal to him- I had to drop something off there.
So... happy birthday to the girl who inspired Lanie, and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please review!