POV: SAYORI

"Wow, that's so cool! Even the drawings move! How do they even do that?!"

"Magic. Shut up."

"No- and the art is so weird, they don't look at all like normal comic books! Why's it all black and white?! Why're their eyes so detailed?!"

"It's not a comic book, it's manga! Go away."

"No- what's the difference, anyway? Oooh, I like that one, she's pretty! What's her name?!"

"Minori. Leave me alone."

"No- hey, d'you reckon Harry Potter likes comics…?!"

Moving at a pace so soft and discreet that I was sure I could easily be referred to as completely invisible, I gently peeked around the corner of the archway I was hiding behind one last time, just to make absolutely sure 'The Target' was still within range.

Immediately I spotted them, dead ahead at the end of the corridor on one of the many spacious window sills all around Hogwarts. I'd seen many students using these spots as makeshift benches all over the place- their low placement over the floor and their curvature made them an ideal place to sit when you just needed a bit of space with a great view to study by yourself- or, as was the case here, with a partner!

I felt the lower half of my face twist itself into a pleased smirk as I took in the small pinkette from afar, sitting with her legs crossed and her back leaned up against the smooth glass behind her. A very jaded expression bordering on annoyance lined her elfish face as she glared determinedly down at the open, bright pink manga clutched in her fists.

Sitting right next to her was a boy so remarkably tiny that he made even Natsuki look tall in comparison. His short stubby legs dangled over the edge of the window sill, kicking against the stone wall below in ongoing, rhythm-less beats. He had scruffy, light brown hair and a face that exuded raw excitement as he craned his neck high as he could to peek over Natsuki's shoulder. A very large, rectangular and heavy-looking camera was resting on his tiny chest, strapped around his neck.

"-I love comic books, I have a ton of them at me dad's!" The boy continued unrelentingly. "Spider-Man, Ninja Turtles, X-Men- once, me and me brother even got to peek at a Punisher issue before dad noticed! You know Punisher?! He's this guy with a skull on his chest who shoots criminals so they die! Dennis had nightmares for a week straight afterwards, but I only had them for three days, it was awesome! I wonder if Harry Potter could read it!"

"Manga…" Natsuki growled exhaustedly, in a voice that suggested she'd repeated herself at least twenty times already. "…is not the same… as comic books!"

As the boy divulged into another rapid-fire stream of words asking why the two genres weren't the same, I retreated back into my hiding corner. My satisfied smirk however, remained right where it was.

Bingo. I thought. She's right where we want her.

I snapped my fingers soundlessly, forming my hands into make-believe guns that I aimed directly at the person next to me- giving her our carefully planned "go ahead" signal.

On the opposite side of the carved archway, Yuri swallowed nervously, for some reason looking anything but confident in our Master Plan. With a skeptical glance, she quietly mouthed the words "are you sure?" at me- or at least, that's what I thought she was trying to say. It wasn't like I was the best lip-reader in the world, but it made more sense than "ah, bonjour!"

Regardless, I flashed the go ahead signal again, a bit more firmly this time. This prompted a relenting sigh before she finally nodded and reached into both her pockets, pulling out a bright pink wrapped toffee from yesterday's Hallowe'en Feast in one hand, and a pale wand in the other.

My smile broadened as I watched Yuri lightly tapping the toffee with her wand, and near inaudibly muttered the words "Wingardium Leviosa."

The toffee rustled slightly before gracefully rising from Yuri's palm as if pulled upwards by an invisible string. As my heart began beating faster, I thought about how smart I'd been to have Yuri perform the spell- with how excited I was getting at seeing my Master Plan becoming reality, chances were high I would've flubbed it midway through.

I looked on with bated breath as Yuri swished and flicked her wand forwards, directing the floating candy through the archway and into the corridor, towards our target. It took all of my willpower to contain a giggle of anticipation and keep silent. This was it. We'd done the thing exactly right, and all we needed now was to wait for her to take notice.

However, she didn't. Someone else had beaten her to it.

"…wooow!" I heard the boy's awestruck gasp, interrupting his own completely unrelated tangent. I could easily imagine his amazed, wide-eyed stare at the toffee drifting ever closer towards them, and could practically see him feverishly tapping Natsuki's shoulder to get her attention. "Suki, Suki look! Up there!"

"Put down the camera, Colin." Natsuki commanded tiredly. "And stop calling me Suki!"

"But look!" Colin urged. "What is that?! Candy?!"

I then heard two faint sliding noises in tandem, informing me that both boy and girl had left the window sill, quickly followed by approaching footsteps.

Yes! I thought ecstatically. It's actually working!

There was a low rustle of crinkling paper being unwrapped, and then a brief pause.

"What is it?!" Colin's voice asked again.

"There's a note attached to it…" Natsuki mumbled softly. "Says 'follow for more,' but the 'for' is just the number four."

I flashed the finger-gun signal at Yuri again, who quickly dug up another wrapped candy, and repeated the spell. This time, she made it drift enticingly just in front of our archway.

Once again, it didn't take long before another ecstatic outcry could be heard from Colin.

"Look! Look, look, look! There's another one! That must be the 'more' the first one talked about!"

As the sound of footsteps came closer, I silently gestured a shaking thumb at Yuri, another signal we'd established previously. We both quickly dived out of sight behind two gigantic empty armor displays, as we waited for Natsuki to enter and grab this candy too. I hoped Yuri would remember the plan well enough without my guidance and keep the lures going all the way to the Literature Club.

But then, something unexpected happened.

"Colin, wait. Natsuki instructed sharply, and the approaching steps abruptly died before they'd even crossed the archway. Before I even had time to wonder what was going on, she spoke again in an overbearingly mocking tone.

"Just how dumb do you think I am, guys?!"

Carefully, I peeked over the marble stand of the armor display, seeing Yuri echoing my move across from me. Her purple eyes nestled between the metal feet of the armor were wide with panic as they glanced towards the archway.

I wanted to mouth words of comfort, reassuring her that Natsuki was bluffing and there wasn't any possible way she could have figured out our Master Plan. But then, Natsuki's commanding voice rang out again.

"Accio candies!"

Stunned in place, I watched as our remaining bait of a dozen or so wrapped Hallowe'en toffees rapidly darted out from Yuri's hiding spot, zooming through the air like pellets from a rainbow slingshot directly towards Natsuki's voice.

There was an overwhelming, deafening silence for a bit where my brain worked overtime in trying to come to terms with what'd just happened. I never got that far however, before a long shadow was cast into the corridor as Natsuki willingly entered, carrying with her an open purple rucksack overflowing with our candy, and an exceptionallysmug grin.

"Seriously, Yuri?" The pinkette snickered, looking directly at my armor stand. "That was your big play here?"

"It- it was S- Sayori's idea!" Yuri confessed at once in a shrill voice, standing up and revealing herself, eyes screaming out her guilt and shame. I groaned under my breath as I recognized our defeat and followed suit.

We were treated to one of the most condescending looks I'd ever seen on Natsuki as she looked us both over in turn, calmly unwrapping the first toffee Yuri had sent out.

"Thanks for the free candy!" She bowed sarcastically, throwing it high into the air and caught it effortlessly with her mouth. "Been looking for excuses to practice my Summoning Charm!"

I gave a hesitant smile, trying my hardest to make it look like this had been our plan all along. If we wanted any hope of succeeding with our mission, keeping her in a good mood was vital.

"Uh- no prob, Nat!" I shrugged casually. "Glad we could help!"

"Wow, hey guys!" Came a familiar squeaky noise as Colin waddled up to Natsuki's side. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?! Was that your candy?! Your hair's purple! Can I take your picture?!"

"Uhm, I- I'd rather you n- not, if that's o- okay…" Yuri stammered shyly, idly brushing some hair in front of her blushing face as some kind of very ineffective camouflage.

The boy either didn't hear or simply didn't care about her lack of consent as he'd already raised the oversized camera to his face and aimed it straight at her face. She was saved however when Natsuki casually lunged a hand to the side, grabbed the lens' nozzle and firmly lowered the device again.

"Remember what we talked about, Colin." She warned, a light shadow of annoyance clouding her otherwise gleeful face. "Absolutely no pictures when you're around me!"

"But she's so tall and pretty!" The boy protested unabashedly, causing Yuri to flush up even further and redouble the efforts to conceal her face from view.

"I don't really care. You can take all the pictures you want of me, if you'd like!" I offered, immediately gaining Colin's full attention as he let out an excited, high-pitched squee of joy, zipped under Natsuki's arm to close the distance between us and wasted no further time in abusing his camera's trigger button.

Wanting to give him the best material to work with, I grinned as wide as I could and planted my hands on the back of my head and hips, trying to copy the poses I'd seen on women magazine covers at the shops.

"Anyway…" Natsuki said tersely, shaking her head in disapproval at the multitude of clicks and flashes I was receiving from the hyper-enthused first year. He must have lowered the brightness function a bit since the first day, as they weren't nearly as blinding as Natsuki had told us- though they did still sting my eyes a bit. "…were you guys seriously planning on luring me all the way back with a trail of floating candy? Do I look like Crabbe and Goyle to you?"

I blushed and pushed my fingers together, feeling awkward.

"Ehehehe… sorry." I giggled. "You're right, we shouldn't have done that. No more clever schemes from us."

"Right…" Natsuki scoffed, biting down on another caramel. "'Clever scheme.' Let's just call it that."

"Cards on the table, then." I moved on, serious now. "Would you please give the Club another ch-"

"No." Natsuki refused before I could even finish the question.

"Club? You guys have a Club?!" Colin piped up, momentarily ceasing snapping pics of me. "What's it about, comic books?! Can I joi-"

"No!" Natsuki repeated, a bit firmer this time.

"B- but…" I blinked, trying to recover. "W- why n-"

"Simple." Natsuki spoke over me again, and swallowed her mouthful. "Here, I'll spell it out for ya: Monika. Fucking. Sucks! Case closed, buh-bye, see ya again never!"

"Uhm…" Yuri began unsurely. "D- don't you think that's just a bit… narrow-minded?"

"Narrow-minded?!" Natsuki sputtered, snapping her head towards the taller girl, disbelief etched on her face. "She was the one who said Mud- I mean, that word! That's like, the textbook definition for narrow-mindedness!"

"But she apologized!" I argued. "To me, Yuri, and Hermione Granger!"

"Wow, good for her!" Natsuki said, unimpressed. "Still not buying it. She's just trying to save face after the fact, but it's all fake garbage."

"But… you haven't even heard it?" Yuri pointed out hesitantly. "You've run away every time she's tried approaching you."

"I know. And I'll keep doing so." She announced proudly. "Don't you guys get it? This isn't some tiny little 'oopsie-daisy' you slip up with and then erase again with a few dragon tears and saying 'sowwy!' You don't come back from this. She's done, and if we never speak to each other again, it'll be too fucking soon!"

"Natsuki…" I groaned again, lightly exasperated. While I loved her just as much as any of my friends, it could get so frustrating when she got all stubborn like this!

"Don't 'Natsuki…' me!" She huffed, placing both hands on her hips.

"Can't you just hear her out?" I tried diplomatically. "You don't have to forgive her, you don't even have to say or do anything at all. Just listen to her for like, five minutes, tops?"

"No." Came her flat response. "I don't want to give her even the slightest opportunity to manipulate me again!"

"Manipulate you?" Yuri repeated, furrowing her brows. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act like you don't know!" Natsuki rolled her eyes impatiently. "It's all she ever does! She pretends to be this 'normal, regular schoolgirl' who's 'totally not evil at all!' but it's all lies! A façade she puts on to get into yer head and make you think that 'hey, maybe she's not so bad after all!' when really she's just like any other stinking Snake! And she's good at it, too! So good, she even had me fooled for a while! I'm not letting her do that to me again!"

"It… kind of sounds like you're scared you might forgive Monika if you heard out her apology…" Yuri suggested musingly, only to go pale and trail off after a deadly glare from Natsuki.

"I'm not scared of her." She drawled, voice dripping with venom. "I'm just… Ugh, look, it's like this: There're clear, defined lines that separates everyone on earth. The few good people like Neville Longbottom, Sayori, and mostly you, Yuri…"

"Pardon?" Yuri frowned, but was spoken over.

"…and then we have the bad people, the ones nobody should ever waste their time talking or listening to, because spoiler alert, they're fucking bad!" Natsuki finished. "Now, can you guess which side Monika falls on? I'll give ya a hint- it's not the good!"

"That seems... remarkably simplified." Yuri commented with restrain.

"Thank you!" Natsuki smiled as though she'd received the highest of praise.

"All because she said one word?!" I snapped, interrupting a winky-face pose for Colin in order to fix her with a look. "Natsuki, that's stupid!"

"Is not!" She stood her ground defiantly, meeting my eyes head on. "Look, it's not just the word, but the mentality behind it! By saying it, she's basically announced her hatred for you, Colin, Granger and every other Muggleborn at Hogwarts!"

"Me?!" Colin exclaimed, glancing up from his camera with an impressed look. "Cool!"

"Not cool!" Natsuki corrected furiously. "Scram!"

The boy remained where he was, ignoring her command.

"Monika doesn't hate me." My voice was harder than I'd intended. "And I don't hate her, either."

"-TT-" Natsuki scoffed spitefully. "You should…"

"I just don't get it." I scratched my head, genuinely trying (and failing) to follow her logic. "You're so cross with her for saying the word, but you won't listen when she tries to say sorry. What do you even want her to do?"

"Nothing." She replied, harshly. "I don't care what she does, as long as she does it as far away from me as possible!"

"Since when did you become such a champion for Muggleborn rights, Natsuki?" Yuri asked curiously.

"I'm not." Nat denied. "I just know anyone using the M-word deserves having their arse kicked, simple as that. What I don't get is why you of all people would be so quick to forgive her!"

She pointed at me, almost accusingly.

"Me?" I clarified, confused. "Why would I have a problem? I didn't even know what Mudblood meant until recently!"

"What's a Mudblood?" Colin asked curiously. Nobody answered.

"Really?" Natsuki narrowed her eyes at me, suspiciously. "You're telling me you weren't even the least bit bothered?"

I paused briefly, considering her words.


A tale of Mopey Girls and Handsome Boys.

"…Sayori? You okay?"

The Mopey Girl flinched lightly in her seat before glancing up from her barely read copy of Gadding with Ghouls. She found a tall, brownhaired boy standing behind her, looking down with a look of mild worry on his handsome face

She swallowed a lump in her throat before lighting up into a big, bright smile that everyone would love.

"CD, hey!" She exclaimed cheerily. "Uh y- yeah, I'm fantastic, it's so great to finally be back! What about you, did you have a good summer?"

But the Handsome Boy didn't smile back, instead narrowing his brilliant grey eyes as he flickered between her and her book.

"Yeah, summer was fun…" He replied briefly, and sat down next to her on the yellow sofa. "Uh- by the way, you might have an easier time reading that if you turn it the right side up…"

Eyes widening in shocked realization, The Mopey Girl's head snapped back to look at the pages before her, only to discover all the letters were indeed upside down. With a face quickly going a bright, embarrassed red, she shakily flipped her book around, correcting the mistake.

"Ehehehe…" She let out a giggle that was just a bit too high-pitched. "Whoopsie, t- totally didn't notice! This is d- definitely easier, thanks Cedri-"

"Come on, Sayo." The Handsome Boy's voice was serious, but mercifully soft-spoken. Clearly he didn't want to make a big deal out of this which she did appreciate despite it all. "I can see something's up. It's your first day back at school, and you're sitting here pretending to read instead of bouncing around the place. Why don't you try and tell me what happened?"

Recognizing that she didn't really have any other options, The Mopey Girl let out a great, relenting sigh before speaking up.

"Do... do you know if it's possible for someone to steal all magic from another wizard?" She asked quietly.

The Handsome Boy's handsome brows furrowed, staining his beautiful chiseled features with an ugly frown. Why couldn't he just smile instead? She liked it better when he smiled…

"I… don't really know. Maybe?" He admitted unsurely. "It'd have to be some pretty powerful dark magic though."

The Mopey Girl didn't respond, merely glancing away from the boy to mope further. She knew her own frown would be way worse than his, and didn't want to gross him out with such an unattractive sight. That'd just be selfish…

"Why do you ask?" He inquired further after a tick.

For a moment she considered not telling him, to instead make up some story rather than telling the truth. But she quickly discarded the idea, knowing he would easily see through any of her lies just as he'd done with the upside down book.

"…do you know what a 'Mudblood' is?" She asked quietly, chancing another look up at him.

She wished she hadn't.

The Handsome Boy's eyes widened with shock, his face going a deathly pale as though he'd just witnessed some terrible crime. Staring intensely, he reached out to place a shaky hand on her shoulder in a move she wasn't sure was meant to calm HER, or HIM.

"Did someone call you that?!" He asked urgently. "Who?!"

"Uhm… j- just…" She stuttered, starting to get frightened. "just… some girl…?"

She didn't want to give up her name. Though the Handsome Boy normally got on quite well with the Pretty Girl, something told her he wouldn't be quite so forgiving in this case…

"A Slytherin?!" He clarified with a sneer.

She could only nod haphazardly. The Handsome Boy looked outraged, but not at all surprised.

"Okay," he uttered his next words in a voice of forced calm. "Here's what we're going to do. Tomorrow at breakfast, I want you to point them out to me. Then, I'll go have a talk with her in private-"

The muted anger in his tone made it clear he had no intention of talking to anyone. He suddenly paused as though something had just dawned on him.

"Wait…" He said slowly. "You… said a girl did this?

She nodded weakly.

"Uhm- okay then." He said, strangely forlorn. "I… probably shouldn't talk to her then- wait, I've got it! Chloé Ditty's Beater on our Quidditch team, she's pretty strong! I'm sure she'll be more than happy to have a word with this Snake if I ask her-"

"No!" The Mopey Girl protested, surprising The Handsome Boy as well as herself. "I don't want you or anyone else to 'talk,' or 'have words with,' or whatever to anyone at Slytherin because of me! Just… leave it alone!"

The Handsome Boy looked taken aback by the outburst, which only made her feel even worse. Why did she always have to make everyone so miserable just by being around them? Mopey Girl? More like Moodkiller.

"But Sayori…" He started again, shakily. "We- we can't just let them get away with saying these things. You have to report it to someo-"

"Is it true?" She asked quietly.

"…what?"

"Is it true?" She repeated, more firmly this time. "Did I really steal my magic from someone else?"

"I- no!" The Handsome Boy established adamantly. "Of course you didn't, that's ridiculous!"

She frowned, unconvinced.

"Then how come I'm a witch when nobody else in my family is?"

The gaping, flabbergasted expression on his face wasn't pleasant at all to look at, and she did feel guilty for continuing to dump this on him. But, the damage had already been done. She might as well go all out.

"…I- I don't know!" He finally sputtered helplessly. "It's just… a thing that happens sometimes! I- I'm not exactly an expert on it!

"So it could be true, then?" She clarified, emotionally empty.

"No! Absolutely not!" He said, and The Mopey Girl could hear the impatience and frustration growing inside him. She was probably starting to get on his nerves, annoying as she was. "C'mon, Sayo, how would you even pull something like that off?"

"Y- Yuri once told me young witches and wizards can do really powerful magic that even adults have trouble with." She explained, her voice quivering.

"I mean… I guess?" He replied unsurely, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "I've never heard about anything on this scale before, though…"

"Maybe I did it when I was really small and nobody noticed." She suggested vaguely. "Stole the magic from an ACTUAL, Pureblood witch and kept it for myself…"

She could just picture the faceless child before her, living in the magical world but doomed to a miserable life where they'd never be able to cast a single spell. All because of her.

"Sayori, please, listen to yourself!" The Handsome Boy pleaded. "Even IF that was possible, which I highly doubt it is, you wouldn't have been able to steal magic without having magic yourself!"

She didn't reply. He sighed.

"Look, I'm a bonehead." He admitted. "Complete rocks-for-brains here. Someone once told me I had the IQ of a guacamole, and more often than not I think they might actually be right."

"What?!" The Mopey Girl exclaimed, scandalized. "No, that's not true, you're one of the smartest guys-"

"Ha!" He interrupted with a short bark of a laugh. "I'm really, really not. If Cho wasn't sweet enough to take pity on me and help me over the holidays, there's no way I would have even passed my second year. Point is, I'm a dummy. If you want the hard, scientific explanation for why kids from Muggle homes are sometimes born with magic while other Wizarding kids are born without it, she can do a much better job than I can."

She wasn't sure how to respond to that. So, she didn't.

"That being said, even I know Muggleborns like you aren't thieves." He said, kindly. "It's just a stupid, false fact spread around by jerks who're a lot dumber than me, if you can believe that!"

Gently, he positioned a finger on the chin of her downcast face and softly directed it up at his.

"Trust me, Sayori." He said gently. "You didn't steal your magic, and neither did anyone else at Hogwarts. Okay?"

The Handsome Boy had such a nice, sincere and convincing smile. The kind of smile you just wanted to trust and believe in, no matter what it might tell you. The Mopey Girl loved to watch it, and would do just about anything to keep it from disappearing again. A smile like that should be protected at all costs.

"…yes." She lied with a convincing one of her own. "You're right, Cedric."


"…nah, not really." I denied, shrugging casually. "Didn't get to me at all, honestly."

"Hmph." Natsuki scoffed back, crossing her arms. "Whatever. I'm not rejoining the Club or talking to her again, and that's final."

I groaned again in disappointment, but recognizing the stubborn finality in her voice. At this point we'd probably have better luck convincing Peeves the Poltergeist to write and share poems with us than we had at changing Natsuki's mind.

But I wasn't about to give up that easily and leave empty-handed. I'd planned to spend time with Natsuki today, and by golly, that's what I was going to do!

"…fine." I relented with a sigh. "But can we at least stay here with you, then?"

"Why?" Natsuki eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Have you arranged for her to suddenly come waltzing in and start spouting off so-called 'apologies' at me?"

"No…" I shook my head, regretfully. "Moni's just sitting all alone in the old Club, waiting for us to bring you. I should probably go tell her you won't be coming after all…"

"Nah, don't do that." The pinkette snickered. "Just let her stew in there for the rest of the day. It's what that bitch deserves!"

"Uh- right…" I awkwardly shifted on the spot, sending a quiet thought of apology towards Monika. "No, it's just that… we've really missed you, Nat. We used to be able to catch up at the meetings, but now-"

"Yeah, yeah sure! Whatever!" She sighed dismissively. "If it means you won't dump all these fucking sob stories on me, by all means, stay! Maybe you'll be a decent distraction from this damn parasite!"

She grabbed her newly stacked candy bag and turned heel, venturing back towards the window sill she'd been sitting at before. As she did, Colin beamed at us.

"She means me!" Colin mouthed, pointing proudly at his own face. "I'm the parasite!"

I returned his smile, a little unsure what to make of this relationship, and followed Nat.

"Don't really know what you hope to get outta this." The girl shrugged as she climbed the sill again. "It's not like I make for very fun company or anything…"

"Rubbish! You're the funniest witch I know!" I brushed her off. "I just wanna know what you've been up to, how you've been doing, that kinda stuff. Wasn't the Hallowe'en party yesterday just fabulous?! All those pumpkins, and skeletons and-"

"Did you hear about what happened to Mr. Filch's cat?" Yuri suddenly interjected, bringing my rambling to a screeching halt.

"Well, duh. I don't live under a rock." Natsuki responded, with mild interest. "What a way to go. I mean, obviously I didn't like the damn furball, but to be killed and strung up for all to see… Eugh. Someone must've gotten a reeeal bad detention from him…"

"W- wait. Mrs. Norris's dead?!" I gasped, shocked. "I didn't get a good look myself, buh- but Cedric told me she was just sleeping?!"

"She's not dead." Yuri shook her head eagerly. "But she's not sleeping, either. She's been petrified."

"Huh, that a fact?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "Then what's all the damn fuss about? The Body-Bind spell only lasts for like an hour, and it's easy to undo. Frankly I'm surprised the cat doesn't get cursed more often."

"This wasn't the doing of some meager spell." Yuri denied again, her demeanor completely changing to one of odd excitement as she went on. "I got a close look at her myself, and heard what Professor Dumbledore told Mr. Filch. This was the work of very dark, very powerful sorcery!"

"Uhm, okay. D- does that mean she'll make it, or…?" I asked, feeling my body shivering. Talking about this was making me very uncomfortable, but Yuri and Natsuki seemed pretty invested in it so I just had to endure it. Maybe we could chat about something a little lighter afterwards, if I was lucky.

"Oh yes. Professor Sprout's already preparing a healing potion with the Mandrakes we re-potted earlier." Yuri nodded offhandedly.

I sighed in relief.

"A potion like that'll take some time to get ready though." Natsuki frowned. "The better part of a year, if I had to guess…"

My relief vanished on the spot, replaced with more dread.

"And all the while, the perpetrator remains unknown and at large…" Yuri said, almost gleefully. "A most fascinating turn of events…"

"Yeah, that's… certainly one way to describe it." Natsuki said, giving the taller girl a weird look. "Say, wasn't there something about a message left behind at the scene as well?"

"C- Cedric told us not to look and go straight to bed." I said mechanically, reluctantly remembering the end to yesterday's night. The large crowd of students gathered in the dim hallway, all of them whispering and gasping under their breaths as they craned their necks trying to get a better view of the scene in front.

The whole thing had reminded me of an event a few years ago, where there'd been some kind of car accident on the way home from kindergarten. Police cars and ambulances had been all around the scene, flashing bright lights at anyone passing by, which naturally gained the attention of one Tiny Sayori. I'd only managed to catch a brief glance at some men in vests carrying something (or someone) on a stretcher before who must've been Uncle Dan firmly told me to look away.

I'd been a good girl and buried my face in my hands at once, but at that point my imagination had already run wild, providing me with scary images of what it might've looked like which then supplied me with plenty of fuel for many weeks of nightmares.

"Yeah, didn't get a good look at it myself, either." Nat shrugged. "Too many people around at the time, and apparently Filch has been guarding the area ever since. No way to get close enough now."

"I did!" Colin Creevey suddenly exclaimed, making me jump. "Harry Potter was standing right next to it and I'd been looking for him all Hallowe'en, and then suddenly he was there so I got a picture!"

"But of course…" Natsuki drawled, as Colin bent to his knees, rummaged a big in his bag, and pulled out a large, laminated folder which seemed to contain some of the pictures he'd taken since arriving at Hogwarts.

It couldn't have been all of them, since the stack was less than three inches thick.

"Professor Lockhart convinced Professor Snape to let me develop some of my film in his dungeon, so now they move and everything!" He explained excitedly, and withdrew one square, almost shiny picture and waved it about. "I only realized what was going on at the wall behind Harry afterwards because for some reason the lens decided to focus on the cat instead of him! Wanna see?!"

His hand shot in my direction, offering me the image.

I swallowed voicelessly, not really sure if I should. Sure I was curious, but it was the same kind of curiosity I'd had in the car years ago, urging me to ignore Uncle Dan's instructions and look at the ambulances. The kind of curiosity I knew I'd regret afterwards.

Uncle Dan wasn't here right now, but I could still hear his warning voice, dissuading me from looking, telling me what a bad idea it was.

With a deep breath, I took the picture, and braced myself.

I was then thrown back in time to the night before, landing in the gloomy hallway outside the Great Hall which was now all lit up by the camera's flash. True to Colin's claims, there was a blurry, darkhaired silhouette at the forefront of the scene who must've been Harry Potter, though his features were so obscured and out-of-focus that he might as well have been faceless. The shape seemed to be trying its best to nudge out of the frame.

But right behind it, the background was captured in such sharp and excruciating detail that I could practically count each little strand of fur on the thin Mrs. Norris, pitifully suspended from a torch bracket by her tail with large, staring eyes.

Overcome with nausea and sympathy on the poor animal's behalf, I forced myself to look at the message painted on the cracked stone wall instead, even though that sight was hardly any more pleasant with its large, trickling red letters from a substance I firmly decided had to be Cranberry Juice;

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

"Cool, innit?!" Colin brought me back to the present with another eager grin. Determined not to let it show how much the image had disturbed me, I merely nodded silently and passed on the pic to let Natsuki have a look.

"Huh." She shrugged after a few seconds of looking, her voice betraying no emotion. "So that's the Chamber I've been hearing people yammering on about. Any of you guys know what the deal with that is?"

"N- no clue." I said, still working on bringing my own trembling voice under control. Why couldn't I be as cool as Nat?

"A- actually…" Yuri's muted voice was also trembling, but unlike me her struggle seemed to be centered on keeping her ever-growing excitement contained if the wide, disconcerting smile on her face was any indication. "If- if you want to know more about the Chamber of Secrets I have just the thing…"

She bent her knees to gently slide the loose rucksack (still identical to Nat's) down her shoulder, unzipped the opening, and proceeded to pull out a large, thick and old-looking library book. With barely controlled excitement, she flashed its reddish-brown cover at us, embroidered with a familiar emblem and bright, yellow text;

HOGWARTS: A HISTORY
By Bathilda Bagshot

"Understandably enough, this book has been in very high demand since yesterday's events…" Yuri explained, taking a seat next to Nat on the window sill and began paging through the yellowing pages. "In f- fact, I managed to pick up this very last copy just as Hermione Granger entered. She, uhm, didn't seem too pleased."

"Niiice!" Natsuki grinned back, sharing the triumph. "So that means Yuri- three, Hermion- one! She's never gonna get the lead at this rate!"

A frown briefly clouded Yuri's features as she paused mid-page turn.

"You're… keeping a tally between us?" She asked.

"You're not?" Natsuki retorted, looking genuinely befuddled.

Yuri blinked, hesitating.

"Wh- what is the one point she's scored over m-"

"Guys!" I interrupted, unable to contain my anticipation any further. "Chamber of Secrets, remember?"

"R- right, of course!" Yuri blushed, and recommenced her paging before landing at a small section point over halfway through the book, cleared her throat and started reading aloud:

"Ahem… 'Fanciful Fables and Ludicrous Legends: With an establishment as ancient as Hogwarts Castle, it is inevitable for certain myths and folk-tales to take hold in the common subconscious of the Wizarding population and fester. One such rumor has lingered around much longer than any other, so much so that even though it's been demonstrably proven a hoax on numerous occasions, many witches and wizards still casually bring it up to me at tea-time with the deceptively innocuous justification of "what if…?" Even by just mentioning this in a book entirely dedicated to real facts, I fear bringing even more credibility to such bloated fiction, but alas, as a historian I'd be remiss if I didn't chronicle the overwhelming impact this supposed "Chamber of Secrets" has had on-'"

"Sheesh, we get it already!" Natsuki scoffed impatiently. "Bloody hell, you'd think the story might come out of the book to bite us if we aren't careful enough! I've seen fewer disclaimers on the Acid Pops at Honeydukes!"

"Please, go on." I encouraged Yuri to continue, ignoring Nat's outburst.

"I'll just, uh… skip the rest of the intro." The lavenderette gave a nervous gulp and moved her finger further down the book's withered page. "Here we are… 'the legend goes as follows: It is said that when co-founder Salazar Slytherin parted ways with his three other companions, he didn't actually stop his teachings at Hogwarts. Rather, he constructed in secret a hidden underground Chamber somewhere beneath the Castle's foundation where he could continue his lecturing of those he deemed worthy enough to attend- the so-called "Pureblooded" wizards.'"

"What a piece of sh-" Natsuki commented, but interrupted herself suddenly to give me a strange look of alarm. "-you okay, Sayori?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, 'm fine!" I hurriedly assured after my body had given a small, involuntary flinch at the word 'Pureblooded.' "Keep going, don't mind me!"

"'Legend has it that only a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself would have the power required to re-open the Chamber and continue his legacy. And, to ensure nobody unworthy would take step within its halls, it is said that he put a monstrous creature of unimaginable power to guard the place, one that in due time would purge the entirety of Hogwarts Castle for those of "impure" descent.'" Yuri finished. "And from then on it's just the author making more disavowals to the story's validity and speculations about the gullible nature of modern Wizarding society."

There was a brief period of quiet where even Colin was silent before Natsuki finally broke the spell.

"So in short, Slytherin's been a twat right from the beginning." She concluded firmly, crossing her arms. "Colour me surprised!"

"So, uhm…" I hesitated lightly, worried I was gonna be seen as daft when I asked this. "…d'you guys think it actually happened? Could there be a Chamber of Secrets?"

"It is certainly a fantastical tale…" Yuri said, shrugging mysteriously. For some reason, she looked like she was enjoying herself immensely. "All we know for sure is that someone has used powerful dark magic far beyond what should be possible for any students at Hogwarts, and left behind a written confession about opening the Chamber. Though that hardly counts as solid evidence, I am of the opinion that all myths have at least some kind of basis in reality."

"I can see it being true." Natsuki said. "A super-duper extra secret club house for the Snakes to scuttle down and discriminate against other witches and wizards? I mean, they're easily evil enough to do it. And I bet I know who opened it, too!"

"Who?!" Colin gasped breathlessly, mouth agape.

Yuri too turned towards her, eyebrow raised.

"Surely you can't be referring to-"

"You bet your arse I am!" Natsuki exclaimed confidently. "C'mon, open your eyes! It's so obvious a frickin' baby could figure it out! Monika is the Heir of Slytherin!"

Another stunned silence followed in the wake of her words. Then, Yuri snorted with laughter.

"I'm serious!" Natsuki frowned in dismay at Yuri's reaction as her laugh slowly faded into muted clucking.

"Y- you don't think your judgment m- might be just a tiny bit clouded by recency bias, Natsuki?" She managed to ask with some difficulty.

"Am not!" Nat denied fervently. "Look, it makes sense! I've heard stuff about the Winthers, they're an old family! With how long ago this Salazar bloke lived, he could have easily been some great-great-great-great-grandfather or whatever! She decided to play things cool in her first year to get a feel for the place, and now she's letting loose by revealing her secret heritage! It all fits!"

"It 'fits' because you've sanded away all the complexities of the puzzle pieces." Yuri shook her head, still smiling. "I'm sorry Natsuki, but with an argument like that you could make just about anyone out to be Slytherin's Heir! Even, say, Harry Potter!"

"Well, that's just silly." Nat scoffed. "One of Potter's best mates is literally Muggleborn, so clearly he's not enough of a git to open it. Yet another trait Monika has in spades!"

"My point was you can't possibly prove someone's family ties this far back." Yuri calmly refuted. "Salazar Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago. Historians aren't certain if he even had any descendants to speak of."

"So what you're saying is, there's a chance…?" Natsuki suggested with a smug, cat-like grin. Yuri gave a reluctant sigh.

"Sure, all right. Monika could be the Heir." She shrugged rather aggressively, voice filled to the brim with sarcasm. "And you know what, why stop there? Let's just say that I am the however-many-greats granddaughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, just as you're a descendant of Godric Gryffindor and Sayori shares a secret heritage with Helga Hufflepuff. After all, we're obviously at the center of everything, and the entire Wizarding World revolves solely around the four of us!"

"Yeah, could be." Natsuki shrugged, willfully ignoring Yuri's exaggerated tone. "Though, personally I'd prefer we didn't share the spotlight with Monika."

Their bickering went on like that for a while, and I caught stray words like "obtuse" and "know-it-all" before getting kinda bored and tuning them out. I supposed I should be happy they'd managed to fall into their old habits again so effortlessly, but I couldn't help feeling it was a darn shame they weren't doing so in our actual Club.

With my 'Master Plan' squashed by Natsuki's effortless genius, and her continued insistence on not giving second chances, I just wasn't sure what else I could even do. It'd been so nice when Madam Pomfrey had finally discharged me and I'd learned Monika and Yuri had made up all on their own, but… it just wasn't the same without Natsuki there too.

I had to rack my brain and figure out something to change her mind. Maybe if we tried luring her with something even more delicious than Hallowe'en toffees? Only trouble was finding any food at Hogwarts she couldn't already get in spades from all the feasts.

But even if we did manage to get them in the same room together, what then? What was to stop Natsuki from just outright cursing Monika, or turning heel and running away? How was I supposed to just make them sit down and talk, work out their issues and get back to the way things were before all this 'Mudblood' rubbish?

Was it even possible to get back to a point before that?

I found myself hating that word, not because it offended or insulted me or anything like that, but because it'd decided to throw such a huge wrench in the relationships I'd spent so long building up last year. What had it done that for?! Such a flippin' meanie word!

While Yuri and Natsuki continued their back-and-forth argument about who the best candidates for the Slytherin Heir were, (with Natsuki now suggesting a large-scale, three-way conspiracy between Monika, Snape and Gilderoy Lockhart) I found my gaze slowly drifting elsewhere, idly searching the hallway for some kind of magic multi-tool fixing gadget to all my problems.

Although I couldn't find a tool like that, I did spot something else. A vague glinting coming from somewhere within Yuri's opened bag, like a glass surface reflecting light from the late afternoon sun. And curiously enough, I thought I noticed… movement, as well? It was subtle and impossible to make out if it hadn't been for the light calling attention to it, but the harder I looked, the more I thought I could make out the motions of something quick, scuttling and… alive inside the purple rucksack.

With slow footsteps as if moving through a dream, I approached the bag, hypnotized with curiosity. It didn't even occur to me that I was snooping around my friend's personal things as I got down on my knees and stuck a hand inside its depths. Surely Yuri wouldn't mind if I just had a quick look, right? She'd opened the bag herself, that was practically an open invitation for any of us to have a peek at… was it a kitten she had inside? I thought I'd seen something hairy. If that was the case, then she was like, required by law to show it to me. Mrs. Norris excepted, no cat in my presence would go un-petted if I had a say in the matter!

But it wasn't the soft, delightful fur of a purring hat I felt my hand closing around. Instead, I felt the hard and smooth surface of glass against my fingers, like a soda bottle- only much larger and thicker.

A jar? My thoughts suggested vaguely as I slowly raised the object from the bag. Does Yuri carry around special marmalade for her breakfast toast…?

But there wasn't any jam contained within the jar. In fact, as I lifted it higher and noticed the tiny, pinprick-sized holes stabbed into the plastic lid, I thought it was completely empty.

Until the hairy creature inside lunged forwards, ramming its whole, eight-legged body directly towards my face!

It definitely wasn't a kitten.

From here on, things got a little bit confusing. I could distinctly remember three things happening very, very quickly, almost simultaneously in fact, but since everything melted together into a whirling blur of events, I couldn't know for sure in which order they actually happened in. I mean, I could guess where they fit into the timeline based on context clues, but it might not be 100% accurate.

Here's what I do know; there was a loud, penetrating shriek flooding the hallway, deafening everything else just as my arms moved on pure instinct, violently hurling the jar as far away as possible.

From somewhere far away, barely audible over the overwhelming screaming I'd heard Yuri's warning voice, exclaiming "Sayori, no, careful with that…!" just half a second too late.

And lastly, I recall the determined look in Natsuki's eyes, not even blinking as she drew her wand, and bellowed "Wingardium Leviosa!" while the jar was still airborne- a place it would remain, frozen half a meter above the solid stone floor that I had no doubt would have otherwise shattered the jar into a thousand pieces and freed the thing hiding inside it.

The "thing" of course being the massive, dinner plate-sized spider, feverishly clawing on the clear, floating glass with its long front legs while baring its needle-sharp pincers at us. As though it was still trying to leap onto my face and bite me.

The high-pitched scream of panic continued ringing in my ears right until I sensed Natsuki walking up from behind me, still (thankfully) maintaining her levitation charm on the jar, and planting a firm hand over my gaping mouth.

"Sayori, please." She whispered in my ear, not unkindly, but without much warmth either. "Would you kindly shut up?"

The scream which had apparently belonged to me was muffled greatly before eventually dying off, leaving each of us free to stare in absolute silence at the contained horror suspended in the air.

Right until Colin bravely stepped forward, quietly raised his camera and clicked it at least ten times in the span of three seconds and then got even closer to the jar to find a better angle.

Natsuki flicked her wand once in silence, making the jar gracefully descend and land on the floor with less noise than a feather.

Still without saying a word, Colin laid down flat on his stomach right in front of the thick container and recommenced snapping pictures of the creature inside, not even flinching when it started lunging threateningly towards him.

"Okay." Natsuki finally said, her voice one of strained calm as she begrudgingly pulled her hand off my mouth. I was very tempted to start screaming again- I felt I hadn't even scratched the surface in expressing my fear yet- but somehow, I managed to swallow it. "Yuri, I'm not going to lie. Even for you, this is freaky."

Though the pinkette was addressing the girl still sat on the windowsill with the history book in her lap, none of her attention left the spider for even a second.

A resigned sigh could be heard behind us as Yuri closed the book and got to her feet again.

"I… can explain."

"Yeah, I sure fucking hope you can!" Natsuki exclaimed shrilly. "Why the HELL are you carrying live, giant spiders with you?!"

"Hey, what's an 'Aragog?!'" Colin's squeaky voice suddenly piped up before Yuri had a chance to reply. We all looked at him.

"…Ara- what?" Natsuki asked.

"The spider!" Colin clarified, gesturing at the jar like someone who wanted their uncle to look at something really interesting on TV. "It keeps mentioning 'Aragog' over and over!"

"What are you babbling about now?" Natsuki groaned reluctantly and walked closer, bending down to inspect the spider closer with a revolted expression. It wasn't long before her face went deathly pale. "…the hell?!"

"W- what is it?" I asked cautiously, only for her to wave me over to join them. I hesitated somewhat before finally accepting that it probably wasn't breaking loose from the jar anytime soon, and joined them.

After Natsuki motioned for me to get closer and listen, I nearly gasped again.

Very faintly, I could hear just the lightest of noises coming from within the jar itself. At first, it just seemed like faint, muffled clicking in sync with the spider's vibrating front fangs, but the more I strained my ears, the more I thought I could make out what sounded like actual words intertwined with the clicking!

"Humans… release me! Need to… escape…! Don't want… Aragog… as enemy…!"

Ever since I'd first arrived at Hogwarts and crazy, incredible things became the norm, I kept thinking nothing would surprise me anymore. And yet, the place seemed determined to prove me wrong every single day.

"Uhm." I said, looking over at Yuri for some kinda confirmation that I wasn't going crazy. "The s- spider is. It's talking."

"Yes." Yuri confirmed, nodding gently. "It is."

I nodded back, feeling some relief for her clarification.

All right then. This is actually happening. The spider is talking. Sure, okay, why not.

"Cool." I croaked.

"Super cool!" Colin emphasized breathlessly.

"Explain." Natsuki growled impatiently, staring daggers at Yuri. "Where did you find this thing, why are you carrying it around with you, and how is it speaking?!"

With another sigh, Yuri carefully picked up the jar while ignoring the spider's fruitless efforts to bite her hands, and placed it gingerly on the windowsill we'd all just left behind.

"I found it last night." She finally said. "I noticed a long line of other house spiders all appearing to flee from the location of Mr. Filch's cat and the message on the wall. I'm sure I don't need to explain why this specimen stood out to me among them."

I swallowed a lump in my throat as I once again took in the absurd size of the jet-black critter.

"I was going to release it outside later today." Yuri went on. "After I'd finished helping Sayori with… this. I just wanted to have a chance to examine it a bit closer, first."

"But… why?" I asked, unable to contain myself. I absolutely understood why Yuri would have taken notice of the enormous spider- what I didn't get however, was why instead of running away screaming and call out for the immediate evacuation and possible air-strike of Hogwarts like I would have done, she'd chosen to not only capture it, but actually carry it around in her own bag like it was nothing more than an interesting trinket.

"Uhm, well…" She hesitated slightly, not meeting my eyes. "It's just… sort of fascinating, don't you think?"

"No, it's fucking weird." Natsuki declared, shaking her head in exasperation. Yuri blushed heavily. "But we're all ignoring the big deal here. Why the hell does it talk? Spiders don't talk!"

I breathed out a small sigh at that, relieved that talking spiders wasn't another one of those things in the wizard world that everyone else found completely normal. I wasn't sure if I would have been able to handle that…

"Uhm, well, certain species do." Yuri countered meekly, flushing every ounce of my relief out with the bathwater. "Although they are exceptionally rare. I've been trying to find more information in the library, and I believe I've identified this one. Acromantula."

"Gesundheit." Natsuki commented dryly.

"It's what their species are called." Yuri scoffed. "They're a highly intelligent, highly venomous species of arachnid, known only to the Wizarding World."

"V- v- v- venomous?!" I sputtered, suddenly even more anxious of the jar's inhabitant. "L- like, killing people venom?!"

"Indeed." Yuri replied casually. "Once they reach adulthood, they could easily be quite deadly to humans."

Quickly, I darted around Colin's tiny frame for safety. "There're giant, deadly spiders roaming around Hogwarts?! Yuck!"

"So is this the thing that attacked Norris then?" Natsuki eyed up the spider again, inspecting it in a whole new light. "Did you seriously catch the monster of Slytherin's Heir in a damn cookie jar?!"

"No." Yuri shook her head. "Acromantula don't petrify their prey, and even if they did, this one is far too small to attack anything larger than a rat. Their venom only really becomes potent once they reach cat-size."

That was probably meant to be calming and reassuring. It didn't quite have that effect.

"It's going to get bigger than that?!" Natsuki screeched with an outraged glare.

"Why, of course." Yuri nodded calmly, as though she wasn't explaining anything more alarming than the colour of the sky outside. "From what I've read, this is barely more than a hatchling. In some reported instances, they have been shown to reach sizes even greater than fully grown cattle. Amazing, is it not?"

Still speechless, Colin raised his camera again with eyes so wide open they looked close to popping out of his head.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Natsuki said, and I sympathized greatly with the vaguely greenish tinge spreading across her cheeks. "Please, just… put it away. Now."

Yuri obliged, and deposited both the jar and book back into her bag, zipping it securely shut. But even with the monster spider out of sight, I still had immense trouble getting rid of the tingling sensation on my arms and legs, like hundreds of tiny invisible creepy crawlies holding a dance party all over my body.

I shivered at the idea. My brain could be really cruel sometimes…

"I heard it mention the Forbidden Forest to me numerous times, along with this 'Aragog.'" Yuri went on, her breathless tone like that of someone who'd been dying to tell someone all of this for weeks, but hadn't found a way to bring it up naturally before now. "I have a theory that this one is just a Scout for a much larger colony residing in there!"

"Oh, joy." Natsuki drawled, not even making a vain attempt at hiding her disgust. "Thousands of giant spiders living just a stone's throw away from us all, and Yuri's started talking to them. How wonderful!"

"I wouldn't really call it 'talking,' personally." Yuri frowned lightly. "I've been trying to ask it questions, but it wouldn't really respond beyond muttering vague warnings and threats. It seems… startled, for some reason."

"Gee, I wonder why. Could it possibly be because a giant human kept it locked up in a big jar?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow.

"No, I don't think so…" Yuri denied the claim, ignoring the jab. "Although I haven't been able to learn much from it, it just didn't seem as frightened of me as it does… something else."

"Could-" I started quietly, having to lick my drying lips before trying again. "-could it be scared of… whatever the thing that attacked Mrs. Norris was?"

"That's similar to my own hypothesis." Yuri confirmed with a nod.

There was tense silence for a bit among the four of us, but I could tell we were all thinking the same thing.

What kind of creature could be terrifying giant spiders?

"…welp." Natsuki was the first to start speaking again. "I've gotten an idea for a new poem, so thanks for that, I guess. Other than that, I vote we never speak about this again."

She was clearly trying her best to sound off-handed and casual, but her chalk-white face and vaguely shaking voice told a far more honest story. I could hardly blame her, really.

Although Uncle Dan had once explained spiders were actually really cool and very important for eating all the annoying flies and mosquitoes of the world and I shouldn't be afraid of them, they were still far down on my list of favorite animals in the world. I had way too many harrowing memories from my old school of getting chased around the halls by the boys who'd dig up bugs to scare me, like M-

Oh my gosh, what is wrong with you?! I mentally screamed at my own train of thought after inevitably jolting on the spot. Stop thinking about HIM already!

I forced myself to disregard all the useless thoughts and get back on track.

"B- but don't you think this is terribly exciting?!" Yuri suddenly exclaimed, her face bright red and hopeful with genuine optimism as she looked at us. "This could be a big clue to discovering the truth about the Chamber of Secrets, I think I might be onto something big!"

I tried smiling back at her. Despite my unease and general queasiness at the Petrified cats, giant spiders and bloo- cranberry juice messages, I couldn't deny my love for mystery stories. I mean, I could never really solve them myself, but it was always really fun watching others put the clues together and be baffled at how smart and brilliant the detectives were.

Plus, I couldn't remember ever seeing Yuri this thrilled before. How could I not support that?

"Totally!" I exclaimed encouragingly. "Oh- I bet if we all put our heads together with Monika, we could easily solve this case!"

"Yeah!" Colin agreed, nodding along harder than a metalhead at a rock concert (Uncle Dan was a big fan.) "Let's ask Harry Potter too, I'm sure he could help!"

Natsuki on the other hand, didn't seem quite as enthused. She dryly looked between the three of us, eyes narrowing.

"Pass." She said devastatingly, and picked up her manga anew. "You guys have fun though."

"You're… not even the least bit curious about the Chamber?" Yuri tried prodding.

"Sure I am." Natsuki shrugged. "But not enough to investigate giant spiders and working with her, sorry."

I frowned, disappointed.

Worth a shot…

"By the way, a word of advice-" She then interjected suddenly. "I'd suggest keeping this 'investigation' of yours on the down-low. Don't yammer on about it to everyone."

"…why do you say this?" Yuri asked, frowning.

Natsuki gave her a long, weirdly serious stare which slowly became more and more uncomfortable until at last she spoke in a hard, accusatory voice:

"Because you opened the Chamber of Secrets, Yuri!"

Though my eyes widened in shock, it was nothing compared to Yuri's reaction. The lavenderette's face went deathly pale as her purple irises shrunk to tiny pinpricks in her eyes. She even seemed to jump a little.

"W- wha- N- no, I d- didn't-" She sputtered helplessly.

"Awfully interested in this Chamber, aren't you?" Natsuki continued brutally, pointing a finger at the taller girl. "Knowing the history, borrowing books about it, studying the lore. Why, you're practically an expert! And now you're even carrying around the monster that attacked Norris! I mean, could you make it any more obvious?!"

"B- but it couldn't- I t- told you- Acromantu- its venom d- doesn…!" Yuri attempted, but seemed unable to utter full sentences.

"Yeah, yeah, so you've said." Natsuki nodded, grimacing darkly. "But are we just supposed to believe that?! A monster is a monster, Yuri, and you're carrying more of them than like, ninety-nine percent of the students here, explain that! Or better yet- explain your family tree! Go on, who were your ancestors? Can you prove Slytherin wasn't part of it way back when?!"

"Y- y- you know I c- c- can't!" Yuri managed to stutter out, her voice desperate and shrill. I'd seen her close to this state only once before last year, when I'd found her shaking under a table from a panic attack. I reached out to hold her hand only to have her recoil away at my touch.

"Oh, well, isn't that convenient!" Natsuki went on. "I wonder how Filch will react when I tell everyone that you attacked his beloved c-"

"Natsuki!" I finally snapped, aghast at her behaviour. "What are you doing?!"

She quieted at last, looking at us. Yuri was trembling where she stood, looking close to crying.

I caught Colin standing a bit to the side, slowly lifting his camera- only to lower it again immediately when he met my eyes.

"…sorry 'bout that." Natsuki finally muttered, softly. "Went a little overboard there. Think you got the gist, anyway."

"What was that?!" I was appalled. "Why would you think Yuri of all people opened the Chamber?!"

"I don't." She denied. "Yuri's not a blood-fanatic Snake, obviously she didn't open any stupid chambers. But it sure sounded convincing, didn't it?"

I furrowed my brows, not understanding what she was getting at.

"Now imagine how much more intense that would've been with a full mob of the mindless, mouth-breathing idiots at Hogwarts, repeating those same arguments and foaming at the mouth for your head." She said, turning on Yuri again. "Is that what you want? Do you think you could convince a crowd like that of your innocence?"

"I- I…" Yuri hesitated anxiously, still shaking all over. I wanted so badly to give her a hug and comfort her, but I held back. Now seemed like a pretty bad time to try and touch her. Then, she lunged forward, grabbed her bag and turned on the spot with a low "…e- excuse me…"

She stomped off, rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

I glared at Natsuki, as close to angry with her as I'd ever felt. I could accept her being furious with Moni, holding grudges, calling her names, whatever. I didn't agree with her, but with all I'd learned about the Mudblood word these past weeks, I supposed she was somewhat justified.

But Yuri though? She was totally innocent in this! What right did Natsuki have to take her anger and frustration out on one of the sweetest, gentlest girls at Hogwarts?!

"Good thing she picked the correct bag this time…" Natsuki muttered with a light shiver.

"What did you do that for?!" I demanded, just barely suppressing the urge to yell at her.

Natsuki returned my stare with a grim expression before replying quietly.

"I… needed to show her how dangerous it can be to poke your nose in this kinda crap."

"…huh?" I asked, still none the wiser.

"You saw how Yuri was acting just now. Giddy like a kid at Christmas when a cat was Petrified. Behaviour like that's going to raise some eyebrows around these parts!"

"So?" I scoffed. "Who cares what people think?! She just… has a special interest, that doesn't make her evil!

"And normally I'd agree with that, one hundred percent." Nat nodded fervently before elaborating. "But we're still reeling, Sayori. It's only been twelve years since The War ended, and it wasn't that long ago when evil witches and wizards where hiding all around us, ready to strike at any moment. People are understandably a wee bit sensitive on the topic of dark magic!"

I didn't know how to respond to that. I was still so ignorant when it came to historical events in the Wizarding World (which wasn't helped at all by Professor Binns' classes,) but I thought I could vaguely remember something about a very scary bloke with a name starting with a "V," who'd somehow been defeated when he'd tried to kill Harry Potter as a baby.

I miiight've been skimming a bit on some details there, but it was honestly so hard to keep track of it all. I knew you weren't supposed to say V-man's name out loud in public which didn't make it any easier to remember, funnily enough!

Natsuki let out a heavy sigh before continuing.

"I absolutely hate it when idiots make fun or judge me for the stuff I like, but I've learned to roll with it." She went on, gesturing at her open manga as she hoisted herself back onto the windowsill. "Also, I curse anyone dumb enough to try. But this is Yuri we're talking about. The same girl who planned to leave Hogwarts after a few morons started pointing fingers at our hair. You saw how she nearly just cracked after a taste of what she could expect if she started showing her baby monster around school…"

I was thrown off a bit when I saw her glancing off in the direction the taller girl had gone, and noticed her hard and rough expression softened into what looked like… genuine concern?

"…you still didn't have to be such a meanie about it though!" I argued weakly. "You really upset her just now!"

"She'll get over it. It wouldn't have been nearly as effective if I'd gone easy on her." She disagreed with a shrug. "Trust me, if people actually started suspecting she had something to do with the Chamber, it would have been so much worse. She literally wouldn't last a day here."

I swallowed, reluctantly aware that Natsuki was not only making sense, but an actual good point as well. I wasn't going to admit that though.

"Don't get me wrong, obviously I want Monika or whoever opened this Chamber caught." Natsuki went on. "But not by Yuri. She needs to leave this sort of stuff to those who can handle the pressure."

"Like whom?" I asked, a bit surprised with how much calmer my voice had become.

"Who else?" She said, cringing. "Harry Potter of course."

Colin's already bulging eyes doubled in size, and he gulped in a massive breath of air.

"Did you say Harry P-"

"ZIP IT!" Natsuki hissed through clenched teeth, her face turning red and livid in the blink of an eye. Colin's voice died abruptly and he awkwardly peered down again to fidget with his camera settings. Once she'd made sure he'd been silenced, she went on in a more level, albeit terse tone.

"If past events are any indication, chances are Potter and his pals are already knee deep in this, so no reason for anyone else to get involved and risk their neck. Before the end of the year, I'm willing to bet he'll make an outrageously stupid attempt to solve it, cock it up, lose 'alotta House points then stew in shame for a bit before trying again, accidentally succeed, and everyone'll love him again. Oh, and naturally make a big spectacle of it as usual."

"But you can't know that'll happen for certain!" I tried.

"Oh, but I do." Natsuki stated adamantly, and I could hear the finality in her voice. "I know people, and they never, ever change."

My heart went heavy with disappointment. I had the feeling she wasn't just referring to Harry Potter anymore.

With Yuri gone and Natsuki burying her face in the manga again, I knew our pseudo-meeting had all but concluded. There wasn't really much else I could do here right now besides going back to Monika still waiting in our old Club for us to bring Nat. By now, I was sure she'd already guessed there weren't going to be any breakthroughs today.

And yet, I remained where I was. I wasn't sure if I could describe the feeling properly, but it was a bit like the urge I got when I visited a sweets shop only to find they were out of the candy I really liked, so I ended up buying another brand I didn't like as much just because I'd gone there.I needed to get at least something out of this meet-up with Nat before I left again, however unlikely that seemed with every passing second.

Might as well give it a go.

I cleared my throat.

"So, uh Nat… I'm sure you already know about the Quidditch match this Saturday, right? Gryffindor VS Slytherin?"

She gave a short grunt of acknowledgement, devoid of any enthusiasm. That wasn't unexpected for Natsuki, whom I knew was proud to announce her utter indifference to the sport.

"Well…" I struggled a bit finding the right way to say this, before deciding to just go ahead. "It's Monika's first match, and- and I'd like you to watch it!"

Natsuki jolted upright, her pink eyes blazing with indignant fury. Her mouth opened wide, and would probably have gone on to spout out heaps and heaps of bloody protests if I hadn't spoken first.

"You don't have to talk to her, root for her, or even interact with her in any way whatsoever."I clarified hurriedly. "Just… please watch her play? I'm not asking for more. It would just really mean a lot to me if you would do that."

She stared at me for five eternal seconds without saying a word. It took every ounce of my courage to meet her eyes head on without blinking.

She owes me after what she just did to Yuri. I justified the demand in my head. However good her intentions were, she needs to at the very least give me this!

Then, finally, Natsuki slowly pulled away to glare down at her manga again, still without saying a word. She did, however, give another vague grunt.

I turned abruptly and walked away before she had a chance to clarify the response. My heart was pounding, my hands were clammy and I could feel a shortness of breath in my chest. Despite this, I couldn't suppress a light, triumphant smirk.

The grunt had been identical in every way to the one that'd come before. An unfeeling sound of complete passiveness that could in no way whatsoever be interpreted as agreement.

But, it hadn't been a 'no,' either.

I'll take it!