Chapter 6 arrives!
I hope you all enjoy it! Jess found some neat references on how to properly describe a scene, so I hope I applied the advice properly!
Feel free to leave a review! but please, if you are going to point out something about it you don't like, please be specific! That way, I can try to use that advice to improve my writing :)
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.
The soft sounds of paws padding along the dirt ground slowly drew my attention. I spun around to face the newly worrying sound but they stopped as quickly as they started.
Grruuuuu…
A low growl sounded from behind me and I snapped back around to face the consuming darkness of the forest. I patted down my short's pockets.
Where was my wand?
My mind replayed tripping over the tree root; my stinging flesh a distraction to the now obvious loss of my wand.
It must have fallen out then, I realised.
My chest tightened, knowing that I was defenceless against whatever creature now stalked me.
Grruuuuuuuggg
I threw my hands up in front of me, barely able to see the glow of my skin in the inky darkness.
I took a tender step forward, heart pounding, and hoped that I could find something to help get out of here.
GrruuuuuuURTCH! OUW! OUW!
The sound of the pain from the thing propelled me forward; sprinting away from where I had stood.
That was right behind me! and something else is attacking it!
My feet pounded against the ground as I ran, my arms out in front of me, hoping that my sense of touch would warn me of any incoming dangers before I slammed straight into them.
The pained cries of whatever it was that had hunted me were the most horrific I had ever heard.
Sharp, piercing howls of pain that ended in gurgled groans caused me to smother my own cry of fear as I felt tears burn my eyes.
I ran and ran, tears begging to fall from my eyes. The cries of the animal lessened as my distance from the creature grew.
I slowed and attempted to catch my breath. My muscles throbbed painfully and my every breath was a jagged knife to my chest.
Eventually, I stopped running. Thinking I was safe I slowed and began to paw at my aching back.
I wished that It would stop hurting. I chastised myself for my earlier actions.
Two boney hands snatched at my ankles and pulled me away; causing me to fall flat on my face. I spat out a mouthful of dead leaves and fought for breath as I was dragged across the ground. I clawed at the earth, attempting to grab hold of something, anything, but I found nothing.
I screamed and cried out for help.
"Amanda!" A voice yelled over my screams, "Amanda are you okay? Amanda!"
The room was suddenly painfully bright and I fell a short way on to the floor.
"Amanda!" Hermione said, grabbing my flailing hands.
"Hermione!" I sobbed, "Help me!"
She let go of my wrists and pulled me in tight against her and I sobbed in to her mess of hair.
"Are you alright, Amanda?" She asked, attempting a soothing voice. I didn't answer. I could still feel the cold, boney grip of whatever it was that clawed at my ankles.
"It's okay," Hermione spoke softly, "You're safe."
We sat in silence for a few moments and I eventually stopped hyperventilating.
"Did you have another nightmare?" she asked and I nodded in reply. She stood slowly, helped me back on to my bed and poured out a glass of water for me. I sipped at it gingerly. Flashes of the realer than real nightmare pounding against my consciousness like a hailstorm.
I had to get my mind off the nightmare so I forced myself to think of the previous night; how Harry had changed his mind over the course of the day to let me use his cloak and I wondered if Hermione had a hand in his decision.
"Hermione," I croaked, my throat scratchy and sore from crying.
"Yes?"
"Harry gave me his invisibility cloak last night." I replied, "did you…?"
She shook her head.
"He came to visit Candice and I in the Library and told us that he left you in the Common Room but he left pretty quickly. I didn't get to talk to him at all until Dinner."
"oh.." I murmured. I took another sip of water and cleared my aching throat; It felt grated and raw.
"Do you want to go get some breakfast?" Hermione asked and I nodded.
"Get dressed, okay? I'll be downstairs." she said as she walked to the door, "take your time, Amanda. There's no rush."
The door closed and I heard her footsteps drain away. I ran my fingers through my hair and stomach felt tense as I looked around the room. It was empty and I felt a tinge of gratefulness that once again only few bore witness to my nightmare.
I doubted that I would actually eat at breakfast.
Hermione and I walked through the giant doors of the Great Hall, which was full to bursting with students. The air hummed with chatter and the clatter of cutlery and cups.
We sat opposite Candice, who was nursing a plate of bacon and eggs as she read over her Charms notes. Hermione refilled Candice's glass of water and poured out two new ones for us before dishing up her own breakfast. I studied the food on display; nothing looked appetizing so I ignored it for the time being.
"Where's Harry and Ron?" I asked Candice, who looked up from her notes with a startled expression.
"Well, they WERE here." She said quietly while looked around the table, "I guess...they left."
"Doesn't matter." I replied, "They'll show up eventually."
Candice set her notes down and started picking at her breakfast.
"What's the plan for today?" She asked us as she pierced an egg with her fork.
"I'm spending the morning at the Library to revise Herbology" she replied, "You two are welcome to join."
"Yeah, sure, why not." I agreed unenthusiastically. I picked up a piece of buttered toast from the towering pile that sat haphazardly on a decorated platter. I went to take a mouthful, but the thick layer of melted butter was almost sickening. I set it down on my plate and looked at it with remorse.
Candice cleared her throat and I looked up. She was staring at me over the top of her glasses.
"What, Candice?" I asked her suspiciously.
"Have you owled-"
"Not yet," I cut her off, "I'll do it today, okay?"
"Owled who?" Hermione asked; I had momentarily forgotten she was here.
"My Parents." I answered stiffly, "Candice wants me to send them a letter."
"See if everything's okay." Candice explained. Hermione nodded.
"Good Idea." she said, and looked at me to gauge my reaction, "Isn't it?"
I sighed, then I noticed Hermione's hair was still wet from my tears. I cringed and I felt slightly obligated to tell her, but realised that I actually wanted her to know as well.
"My parents are…" I began slowly but wasn't sure how to proceed.
My parents. What could I say about my parents? I loved them. I knew that. Did they love me?
I thought of the birthdays they missed, even though the presents were always piled at the foot of my bed when I woke. All the Christmases I had spent with my Aunt, and how they always managed to send me an owl with letters full of "We wish we could"s and "We're Sorry We're Missing"s.
"My parents are very busy." I said, "I'm...not very close to them."
"That's a shame," Hermione replied and thankfully left it that.
Candice gave me an apologetic look for bringing it up but I knew that she was just worried for me and wanted the same answers I did.
I felt hesitant to write to them because I knew I would get a reply and it would be full of apologises.
We're sorry we haven't written...we'll try more in the future...
I shook my head and felt determined to get my parents out of my head. I thought of tomorrow.
Monday. Classes. Work. Eventual boredom.
Draco.
My head snapped up and I turned around in my seat to examine the Slytherin table behind us.
I searched the students who sat there for the platinum blonde head of Draco Malfoy.
I saw his two huge friends Crabbe and Goyle but Draco himself was absent.
"What's up?" Hermione asked. I swivelled back around.
"Thought I heard my name," I lied.
"At the Slytherin table?" She asked, I shook my head.
"Who knows." I replied.
Hermione dusted the bread crumbs off her hands.
"Right," she said, "I'll go grab our things. You two can just head to the Library from here, okay?"
Candice nodded and ate more of her breakfast.
"Alright," I replied, and stared down at the lonely piece of toast on my plate.
We sat in the Library; the winter sun shone through the windows, showcasing the dust motes that floated through slanted beams of sunlight. Hermione, Candice and I sat at large table, reviewing our Herbology notes in silence. Well, they did. I already finished rereading what few notes I took in Herbology so I sat slumped, resting my face against the palm of my hand and watching the dust dance through the beams.
"Snargaluff's pods are best when fresh…" I heard Candice mumble under her breath.
I studied her; She sat back in her chair, holding the parchment out in front of her with her left hand and rubbing her right temple with the fingers of the other. She mouthed words as she read.
Hermione put her roll of notes down and stretched, catching Candice's attention. She glanced over but quickly returned to her notes, lips pursed tight as she started again with renewed focus.
"Oh, Amanda," Hermione started as she leant under the table to fish something out of her bag, " I forgot to tell you, Candice and I figured out what hex was used on your broom yesterday."
"Really?"
"Yeah, we were going to tell you last night at dinner, but you started talking about detention and…"
"You didn't stop." Candice finished. Hermione gave her a slightly humored look.
"What is it then?" I asked Hermione, ignoring Candice.
"Bombarda Retrasar, " Hermione explained, "Also Known as the 'Delayed Explosion.' "
She pulled out a small square of parchment and read its contents.
"Bombarda Restrasar. Hex; Used on objects. After applying, the next person to touch the hexed object will activate hex, which will cause object to explode at random. Not effective, as it goes off after a unforeseen amount of time. There is no way to find out how long it will take to explode. If used for harm, a person could touch the hexed object, leave, and much later the object could explode, injuring other, unintended victims."
"Well that's dumb." I stated, "It mightn't of gone off during practice at all and then have blown up the broom shed a week later."
"There have been cases where they've never gone off at all," Hermione said, "or, really, they just haven't gone off yet."
"Random, ay." I muttered and looked over at Candice, she was in the same position as earlier, notes in one hand, rubbing her forehead with the other but her eyes shut tight.
"Done, Candice?" I asked.
She threw the parchment down and rubbed her eyes; her fingertips underneath her glasses.
"Might as well be." she said, "I've read the last paragraph 3 times in a row."
"That's some intense revision." I joked and Candice chuckled.
Staring down at the bowl of chicken and sausage meat stew I had served myself, I debated silently whether or not it was a good idea to have done so. Candice had praised its taste but I didn't feel hungry enough to attempt it.
I felt someone sit heavily on the seat next to mine so I looked up and saw Harry and Ron looking pleased as punch as they picked out their lunch.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked them.
"Looking around," Ron said, his mouth already full of mashed potatoes.
"We went back to the Broomshed to look around for evidence." Harry translated as he finished scooping the last of the Shepards Pie on to his plate.
"Evidence?" Candice repeated, "Like, left behind shoe buckles?"
"That's awfully specific, but yeah, along those lines." He replied.
"Did you find anything?" I asked him. Would my potential harasser be sloppy enough to leave behind clues?
"We did find something," He said, "That lock is magic and can only be opened those keys the Head Teachers give the Captains of the Quidditch Teams."
"So, no ones gone into the Shed?" I asked sceptically, "My broom couldn't have hexed itself."
"I didn't say that," Harry said, "Just that someone who didn't belong to a Quidditch team couldn't get in; meaning that someone who apart of a Quidditch
team had to have entered the broom shed and messed with the brooms."
" 'The brooms'? " Candice asked, "more than one's been hexed?"
"We checked out all the other brooms; most of Hufflepuff and some of Ravenclaw had the same hex on them." He explained, "We had to go find their Quidditch Captains and tell them about it."
"So many stairs." Ron exclaimed as he scooped another spoonful of mash, "I'm so tired."
"Amanda isn't targeted?" Candice asked, looking relieved.
"Not directly," Harry clarified, "but its weird how we only had one broom of ours hexed while Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had so many. Gryffindor has been the only team in recent memory to defeat Slytherin but none of our brooms apart from Amanda's was hexed!"
"Were any of Slytherin's brooms hexed?" I asked suddenly, worried for Draco.
"No…" Harry said slowly, giving me a queer look.
"They were the only ones whose brooms weren't hexed," Ron explained, "So it has to be them."
Harry spoke about having to locate the Captains and how both had taken the pair to their house's head teachers. Ron mentioned how Zacharias Smith wasn't surprised by the development, claiming that the Hufflepuff players were being harassed by Slytherin between classes to the point of having Teachers involved.
I stared down at my stew again, utterly repulsed by the sight of it. I pushed it away from me and stared down at my lap as Ron made up grandiose plans for catching the Slytherins red handed.
"We'd have to know what they're going to do to catch them at it, Ron." Hermione corrected.
"It'll be easy to figure it out, we just have to mentally sink down to their level." He replied and drank deeply from his goblet of pumpkin juice.
"I'm going back to the common room," I announced as I grabbed my bag from under the table and stood up out of my seat.
"Wait," Candice said, "don't go alone,"
"You heard Harry," I replied, my temper beginning to flare, "This is an inter-house issue. I've probably been fine this whole time and scared for no reason."
"If it's an inter-house issue then you're just in as much danger as before!" Candice counted, "With potentially more people after you!"
"They're one house covering three others," I hissed, "they're not going to after a Gryffindor beater when messing with the House Captains would cause more damage."
I turned away and walked off before Candice had a chance to respond. I didn't turn around once as I stormed out. I stomped up the stairs in the Grand Staircase and fumed silently, a scowl carved onto my face. I felt so stupid and so selfish. How could I believe that it was only happening to me? How could I be so self-concerned?
"Periculum." I snapped at the Portrait of the Fat Lady, who muttered angrily at me as she swung open.
I climbed into the common room and and hurried up to the girls dormitory, slamming the door behind me as I dropped down on to my bed, tears threatening to escape my eyes.
"Ugh," I groaned. I was glad that I wasn't directly targeted but felt terrible about not realising that others were in danger. I felt selfish for thinking it was all about me. Stupid, even.
I laid on the bed and blinked away the angry tears, forcing myself to clear my mind multiple times as the guilt and anger repeatedly floated back in to my thoughts. Eventually, I closed my eyes and tried to relax but I fell asleep instead.
"Amanda, wake up!" A voice said as hands shook me.
"What?" I groaned, "what's going on?"
"It's nearly 5pm!" Candice said, "you'll miss detention and get in to more trouble!"
"Ughh…" I rubbed my eyes, "detention..."
I stood up, wobbled, and fell back down on to the bed.
Candice pressed a cup of water into my hand and I took a deep drink from it.
"Thanks…" I said slowly as I grabbed my bag from beside my bed and handed her back the glass.
I fished around inside my tote bag and felt the cool, silken texture of the cloak.
It took a moment to register that it was there.
"It's too late for you to get dinner from the hall," Candice said, "so I grabbed this for you."
She handed me a lukewarm sausage roll and I ate it quickly as she ushered me out of the dorm and down the stairs.
"Thanks Candice," I said to her again as I was about to climb out the portrait hole.
"It's okay, just hurry." She replied.
As I arrived at Snapes door I could hear his shoes echoing through the dungeon corridor as he approached. I almost missed the start of detention. I leant against the wall and pretended to have been here a while.
"You're not here to relax, Miss Marlin." Professor Snape snapped as he came in to view. I frowned at him but he didn't react.
"Follow me." He said as he walked past his office door and further down the corridor.
I followed him a short way to another door. He waved his wand and it opened, revealing our usual Potions Classroom...expect It was absolutely filthy. The whole room covered in the thick mess of red congealed potion, obviously spilled from the multitude of small, pewter cauldrons sewn all over the floor.
"There was a mishap in the first year class today." Professor Snape said, "and you're cleaning it up."
I gaped at the classroom as I entered. Professor Snape motioned to the corner.
"There is the cleaning equipment," he said, "I'll be back in 8 hours."
The door closed and I rolled up my sleeves, still in disbelief at the scene, and I set myself to work.
My knees dug painfully into the dungeon floor as I put all my weight against the scrubbing brush as I pressed it into the ground with a fierce determination. The thick mess of the potion came away in globs of red, tingeing the brush's bristles pink.
"What kind of 'mishap' was this?!" I said aloud in defeat for the millionth time, too exhausted to be angry.
I rinsed the brush off in the bucket of soapy water, also tinted red, and bought the brush back to the ground and started again. I was sure that the stone floor of the classroom would be forever stained a pale pink.
The door swung open and the tall form of Professor Snape sauntered in, looking over my work with distaste.
"You missed a spot, Miss Marlin." He said, clucking his tongue as he viewed the room.
After 8 hours of furious labour, I had only managed to clean a portion of the room. 4 of the 10 desks had been scraped clean while the others stood with the thick layer of scarlet sealing the wood off from the overbearing apple detergent scented air of the room.
I sat back, my face was hot and slick with sweat.
"Is it time to go, Sir?" I moaned, feeling as though I had run a marathon.
He looked at me with a mixture of disgust and pity as he nodded.
"Get your things and go," he said, "I'll do the rest."
I stood slowly, my knees cracked as I stretched my legs.
"Uggh" I groaned. I felt as if I had aged a million years.
I grabbed my bag and waddled out of the room. Professor Snape slammed the door shut behind me.
My hands, also stained an ugly pink, felt gross and slimy. I could feel small wisps of grime being rolled as I rubbed my palms together. I sighed deeply and rooted around in my bag for Harry's cloak, recognising it by its airy, silky texture. I pulled it from my bag and draped it over me. My vision became slightly clouded by the cloak's fabric, giving everything an opaque colouring. I left the dungeons and started a tired journey to Gryffindor Tower.
When I reached the 3rd floor I had to wait for the staircase to move into position so I stood quietly and huddled under the invisibility cloak. I heard the clacking of shoes from behind me and turned sharply, wondering who it could be.
The short figure of Professor Flitwick appeared at the top of the previous staircase and walked over to where I stood. As waited next to me, he hummed a tune quietly to himself. He sniffed the air one and gave a small smile.
"Apples." I heard him chirp quietly and realised that he smelt the detergent I had used. I had practically bathed in the stuff.
Suddenly, the staircase moved and slotted in to place. Professor Flitwick made a small, happy noise and became to ascend the stairs.
What was Professor Flitwick doing out at 1am? I thought to myself as I watched him climb the stairs; his progress inhibited slightly by his height.
I waited until he was halfway up before beginning the venture myself. When I was halfway up, he reached the landing and walked off. A second later, I heard the 4th Floor Corridor Door open and click close.
He's probably off to bed now, I thought, Probably had a meeting... or a midnight snack?
I was almost at the top when I heard a muffled thunk and the 4th floor corridor swung door open again. I looked up over the remaining stairs and saw a flash of colour through the cloudy barrier of the cloak as someone sprinted past the landing of the 4th floor staircase.
Whoever it was hurried up the stairs to the fifth and sixth floor; the sound of their footsteps disappeared as they ascended the seventh. I stood on the stairs, paralysed. Had Professor Flitwick seen them? I felt my stomach tense; Something was wrong.
All of that had happened in less than five seconds, no way the Professor hadn't seen them leave.
Slowly, I made my way to the door and looked through the open door to the 4th Floor Corridor.
A mere 4 feet past the threshold lay Professor Flitwick, sprawled out on the floor.
"Oh Merlin," I gasped. I stepped forward to help but remembered that I wore the cloak.
I pulled it off and shoved it into my bag as I approached my charms professor.
"Professor Flitwick?" I tried to stir him, "Sir?"
No response. A dark shadow covered half of his face. I leaned in closer to him. Part of the shadow reflected the moonlight and he smelt strongly of copper. I took a hard, sharp breath. He was bleeding! I didn't know any medical spells; this situation required a prefect or another teacher.
I rushed back to the door and spluttered for a second as I tried to think of something to say.
"H-Help!" I yelled out as loud as I could, "Professor Flitwick's been hurt!"
A moment passed and then the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from a staircase below.
Sure that someone was coming, I turned around and went back to the Professor.
I pored over the wound on his forehead. It looked deep and was bleeding steadily.
"What did you do?!" came the accusing voice of Draco Malfoy. I snapped my head around and saw him at the doorway, his wand out and pointed directly at me.
"No-nothing!" I cried, "I was coming back from detention and found him this way!"
Draco hurried over and examined the unconscious teacher. He pulled open one of the Professor's eyes; the pupil was constricted.
"Lumos." He said and his wand's tip produced a green light that filled the corridor. The Professor's pupil shifted as it dilated in response to the light.
"He's knocked out but alive." Draco announced quietly, "We need to get him to the Infirmary."
Draco wordlessly performed a levitating charm and slowly walked out of the room behind the floating form of the unconscious Professor Flitwick. I followed him and we began to descend the staircases.
"Go back to your Dormitory." Draco commanded. I shot him an angry look.
"No. I found Professor Flitwick, I want to make sure he's okay."
"He'll be fine." Draco grumbled.
"He was ATTACKED."
"How do you know that?" Draco raised his voice, "you said you found him this way!"
"I was walking back and saw the door smash open and someone run away." I explained.
"You're telling me this NOW?" Draco yelled at me, his face slowly turning red.
"I haven't had the time to tell you!" I yelled back, "and whoever it was is long gone by now!"
He paused for a second.
"Where did they go?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Up. Towards the 7th floor." I replied, watching the body of Professor Flitwick float down the stairs.
"Stay with me, then." He said, "If what you're saying is true then it's dangerous to wander off."
We hurried down the stairs in a tense silence, Professor Flitwick floating a few feet in front of us the entire time. Draco was red in the face with anger. He was itching to give me a hard time but kept his mouth shut.
When finally arrived at the the Hospital Wing I ran off to find Madam Pomfrey.
"Madam Pomfrey!" I called out, opening the door to her office, hoping she'd be inside.
"Miss Marlin?" Madam Pomfrey replied, "What's wrong?"
She had walked out of another room in her bedclothes.
"Professor Flitwick's been attacked!" I replied, "He's been hit on the head."
"Attacked?" she repeated in shock and I took her to Draco who had levitated the Professor to an infirmary bed. Madam Pomfrey examined the Professor, coming to the same conclusion Draco had.
She pulled out her wand and wordlessly healed his head wound.
"Is- Is that it?" I asked her, "Is he okay?"
"Yes, the wound has healed. He'll wake in his own time." Madam Pomfrey said, "just like you on Friday."
My hand reflexively flew to my neck and I rubbed at the skin. If I was okay after all that then perhaps after a crack to the head, Professor Flitwick would be okay too.
"The Headmaster needs to be informed." Madam Pomfrey said and turned to Draco, "Prefect, would you go and collect Professor Dumbledore?"
Draco nodded. He glanced at me briefly and then walked briskly away.
"What I can do?" I asked Madam Pomfrey, "I want to help."
"You need to go back to the Gryffindor tower." She replied.
"But I saw who did it!" I cried, "I mean, I saw a person...but, I didn't see.."
"Who it was?" She finished my sentence and paused a moment for thought.
"Very well. You can stay here. When Professor Dumbledore arrives, you can tell him about what you saw."
Madam Pomfrey turned and hurried off to her office.
I looked back to Professor Flitwick. He seemed healthier, though the blood was still caked to his forehead but the wound appeared to have been completely healed.
I sat down on the chair next to his temporary bed and felt racked with guilt.
Maybe, if I didn't have the cloak on, everything would be been okay?
How would that have worked? I thought, He was attacked in the corridor. The only thing that prevented you from joining him on the floor was the cloak!
I looked down at my bag, now sitting near my feet on the floor; inside sat Harry's cloak.
Thank you, Harry...This could very well save my life.
