Raylynx's POV
I was going through my lesson with Ollivander. He had set up four different wands on a table. I was to hold each one in my hand, identify its properties and then perform a spell as I saw fit. Later on, he told me there was a woman coming in for a wand fitting and that I could perhaps assist him. I felt nervous now, as though this were an examination that if I didn't pass, I wouldn't be able to assist him with the fitting.
I picked up the first wand, a lightly-colored wand with simple engravings.
I examined it closely by holding it up to my eyes, rolling it between my fingers, flexing it slightly and finally just holding it for a few seconds and letting its aura wash over me.
"Apple… and phoenix feather. Eleven…and a half inches long. Somewhat flexible. Agreeable, idealistic, and I think… slightly adventurous?" I guessed.
I tried hard to imagine what sort-of person would hold this wand, what inner and physical qualities they might have. If I could perform Legilimency on this person, what tendencies would I see in their mind? Well… probably a liking for light charms…
"So, suitable for charms work, I think. Filum Luminum!"
And a line of iridescently orange bubbles blossomed from the end of the wand.
"Adaptable is the closer word, not agreeable, but yes the measurement and analysis are generally correct," Ollivander critiqued. "Next."
I picked up a white wand with ornate detailing.
"White oak, dragon heartstring. Twelve and three quarter inches. Um, rather unyielding. Daring, dignified, and…efficient. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Expecto Patronum!"
My silver lynx soared out of the end of the wand, swishing its tail before disappearing.
"Very good! And the third?"
The third was a darkly-colored wand with a sapphire embedded at its end.
"Blackthorn, no, sycamore. The colored finishing threw me off. Um, core of… dragon heartstring, yes. Ten and a quarter inches. Rather firm. Hm… Imaginative. Quite…well, dominating, yet discreet. That's odd."
"Indeed, it is a curious wand," Ollivander agreed. "Continue. Which field of study it is most suitable to?"
"Dark Arts, I suppose."
"Try a spell."
"Oh, um. Cavum ignis!"
The wand flew out of my hand, spinning backwards and slammed into the wood behind me.
I felt embarrassed as I stooped over to pick it up and make sure no damage had come to the wand.
"Not comfortable with Dark Magic yet, I see," Ollivander remarked. "Try again."
"Yes." I took a deep breath. "Cavum ignis!"
A spurt of dark black fire burst from the edge of the wand, though the center of the flames burned a bright gold tinged red.
The fire went out but an outline of the flames still lingered on in the air...
"And the last wand?"
I picked up the wand. It felt slightly familiar…
"Holly and phoenix feather. Eleven inches. Nice and supple. Protective, engaging, quite… guiding, I suppose."
"Holly does have a certain aptitude for quests, yes. And the spell?"
"Give me a moment. Um… Expelliarmus!"
The first apple wood wand went flying off the desk and Ollivander caught it.
"Excellent!" Ollivander said, to my relief.
The door opened just then, and the little bell over the door tinkled. A very familiar woman walked in with her husband, who carried a small child in his arms.
"Andromeda," I said, startled.
Her eyes fell on me and she smiled warmly. "Raylynx!"
"How have you been? And Ted? And is that-?"
"Raylynx, come with me, please," Ollivander suddenly broke in and a feeling of dread sank into my stomach.
He led me to the back room where he scolded me. "She is a customer. Treat her as such, Raylynx. Do not forget your place."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."
"No matter. Go fetch me a collection of yew and blackthorn wands."
I did as he said, but it was only when I had pulled out the ninth box that I recalled something very, very long ago.
We entered the tiny store just as another young boy had discovered his rightful wand.
"Dogwood mixed with Aspen, phoenix feather, eleven and a quarter inches long", I heard the wandmaker declare.
A beautiful array of black and white ribbons shot out of the end of his wand. The woman who came with him, presumably his mother, for they shared the same aristocratic features and dark eyes, scowled and said nastily, "Dogwood mixed with Aspen, eh? Pitiful. We Blacks have always prided ourselves on choosing powerful Yew and Blackthorn woods only."
"How arrogant of you," the young boy snarled, "to think that you chose your wand. Don't you know that the wand chooses the wizard?"
I slid one wand out of the Ash section and then headed to the front where Ollivander who had just finished measuring Andromeda.
I laid out sixteen different boxes on the counter. Ollivander came and selected a blackthorn wand, but it didn't quite fit with Andromeda. The yew wand was even worse of a fit. The pile of wands tried grew higher and higher until finally Ollvander came upon the last wand I had set out. He was muttering to himself, "Yes, she is a phoenix feather core, most definitely, and needs something with a bit of prestige…"
Ollivander paused and then looked at me. "This is Ash, isn't' it?"
"Yes, sir," I replied.
"I asked for blackthorn and yew wands only."
"Yes, sir, but, I really think this wand is worth a try."
"No, I don't think that will be necessary. Please put it back."
"Mr. Ollivander," I said, slightly more aggressively. "I know Blacks usually wield yew and blackthorn wands only. But Andromeda Black is Andromeda before she is a Black. In fact, she's Andromeda Tonks now. So why don't you let her try an ash wand?"
Ollivander studied me for a long moment and he asked me, "Did you use Legilimency? You know you are only allowed to do that with permission."
"I didn't use Legilimency, sir. It's just that I know her. Or at least, I've spent time with her."
Ollivander seemed to be calculating in his head before he finally nodded and took the ash wand. "Very well. We shall see how this goes. Come watch."
He presented it to Andromeda. "Ash with phoenix feather, ten and a half inches. Moderately springy. Purposeful, prestigious, but modest."
Andromeda took the wand in her hand. Then, we all gasped as the most brilliant streaks of electric blue and silver lights erupted from the end of her wand and zoomed around the store before bursting into glittery dust and vanishing.
"This is the one," Andromeda said, smiling. "It's perfect, Mr. Ollivander."
"Strange," I heard Ollivander comment as Andromeda kissed me good-bye. I waved to Ted and then looked at Nymphadora, who sported bright pink hair.
"You didn't transfigure her hair, Ted?" I said, scandalized.
"No, no, of course not. She's a Metamorphagus, apparently," Ted said, smiling.
"That's amazing, that is," I said.
But remembering Ollivander's request that I treat my friends as customers, I bowed them from the shop formally, though with a promise of seeing them after graduation.
"Curious," Ollivander remarked again as he waved his wand and sent all the other wands flying back into their boxes.
"What is?" I asked, as I took the blackthorn ones back to their appropriate storage cabinet.
"Only three Blacks have ever broken the tradition of yew or blackthorn wands," Ollivander told me, "and the first time Andromeda Black came into my shop, the wand that chose her was a blackthorn wand."
"Really?" I said, surprised.
"Yes," Ollivander replied. "She must have changed quite a bit for an ash wand to fit for her. No wonder she came in for a visit. Her old wand must have stopped working fully for her."
"Can that happen?" I asked curiously. "Your wand stops working for you?"
"Yes, if you undergo a great chance in your outlook on life, the magic you use differs and the force with which you use magic differs, and therefore, your dialogue with the wand will differ. If you change so much, it will seem as if you wand speaks in a foreign language and the mutual quest for experience is broken," Ollivander explained.
"I've never heard of that before," I said.
"Well, as you may imagine, such changes are quite rare. Often times such change can only evolve through love and loss, both of, which I think, are inexplicably combined."
I felt that cold shard of ice pierce a part of my heart again. "Yes," I murmured. "Love and loss are inexplicably bound."
My feet hit the fireplace of Professor McGonagall's office. I climbed out, greeted her at her desk, and then went on my way, heading towards Gryffindor Tower.
Halfway there, I suddenly heard the voices of a boy and girl speaking with each other, their voices echoing in the empty hallway.
"I don't get it, why her? Any Slytherin would be better than her, or hell, even a Ravenclaw would be better."
"Remember, she was a good Seeker for Gryffindor."
"I know, but that's different from being a Champion. I don't think she's going to be able to fly through all her challenges. I hope she doesn't make Hogwarts look pathetic."
"Well, didn't her parents die or something? So does that make her brave? I don't know, but maybe they just took pity on her. Hell, maybe she's just such a boring, personality-less thing that even the Goblet, an inanimate object took pity on her."
"I bet it's Dumbledore. He takes any chance he can get to favor Gryffindors and Mudbloods."
Embarrassed and close to tears, I tried to find a place to hide but I was in the middle of the hallway. Still, I didn't want to be found like this. Desperately, I started running back the way I came, trying to find a little niche or statute I could hide behind.
"Ow!"
I ran straight into something where there was nothing to be seen.
Suddenly, a cloth was draped over me, extending from my head all the way down to my feet. I started to draw out my wand but somebody grabbed my wrist.
I looked up and saw James.
So I was under his Invisibility Cloak with him.
He brought his finger up to his lips and I silently turned on the spot to see the three Slytherin fourth-years turn the corner and come towards us. James slowly walked us over against the wall of the hallway and we pressed ourselves flat against the wall as they passed us, chattering away happily.
James looked down at my splotchy face and still slightly damp eyes and asked, "Are you that afraid of fourth years?"
"Yeah," I said, attempting to laugh, "yeah, they're terrifying."
I turned to him and trying to change the subject, I said, "But here you are, out past curfew again. Why do I always run into you after Ollivander's?"
"Well, because eight thirty is the prime time to do crime since McGonagall and Filch have to trade off shifts at this time," James explained.
"Clever rhyme- the prime time to do crime," I commented and then we both chuckled when we realized that rhymed as well.
"Anyways, McGonagall and Filch meet at the Entrance Hall to trade shifts, which means we've got a guaranteed thirty minutes to do whatever we want since we're on the seventh floor. We've just go to watch for Mrs. Norris and a couple different suits of armor or portrait subjects that like to tattle."
"Right, and how did you know McGonagall and Filch have this exact routine?" I asked him.
"Well, we just noticed the pattern on the map, so we-" James broke off awkwardly when he realized he'd mentioned the map.
"Listen," he said suddenly, "I can't be late. I promised the others I'd meet them by eight forty- five. And I'm sorry, but now that I've seen you I can't let you go. You might tell Lily or run into Mrs. Norris and then the whole thing'll be blown. You'll have to come with."
"Where are we going?" I asked as James linked our arms together and began to pull me along at a quick pace.
"Ravenclaw Tower," James answered and we turned the corner and quickly speed-walked down another hallway.
"James…" I hesitated and the pushed on anyways. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
"What?" James said loudly and I clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Shush, or you're going to get us caught, Invisibility Cloak or not!" I whispered warningly.
I dropped my hand away from his mouth and he immediately asked me, "How do you know about the Marauder's Map?"
"Sirius dropped it in detention one day. I picked it up unknowingly but when I spoke aloud, you all started writing back. And you were pretty mean, let me tell you. One of you, and I suspect that it was you, James, told me to sod off about the password to erase it since I was obviously a hopeless git."
James chuckled, "What did the handwriting look like?"
"I think it was pretty bold and had a lot of unnecessary flourishes…" I tried to remember as James began to pull us along again.
"That'll be Padfoot, then," James grinned.
"Sirius?"
"Yeah."
"His handwriting is a lot neater than I expected. And fancy."
"Yeah, well, he is a pureblood aristocrat, do remember."
"And you're not?" I asked as we began to climb up tight, dizzying spiral stairs.
"I am, but not like him. Well, I guess you can say we're different types of pure-bloods."
"Or just different types of people."
"Yeah- Oh, here we are."
We had (I, for the first time in my life) arrived at the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower. The other three were already there, standing behind a Petrified suit of armor. James threw off the Cloak. "Hey, mates. Sorry I'm late, I got a bit caught up."
"Evidently," Sirius said, looking disinterestedly at me.
Before I could stop myself, I replied, "Is that a problem?"
All four boys seemed to double take and look at me while in my head, I thought, What am I doing? What the hell am I saying?
When nobody said anything, I said rather lamely, "Well?"
Sirius scoffed and said, "I really don't care if you're here or not, Kingsley. Just don't get in our way."
"We've got to hurry," Remus cut in suddenly. "It's been over twenty minutes."
"If only we still had the Ma-", Peter began to say, but Sirius cut him off with a sharp glance.
I heard James chuckle slightly behind me, as we both knew I knew about the map.
"Right then," Sirius said, and he reached out towards the wooden door and knocked with the bronze knocker on the door shaped as an eagle.
Then, a soft, musical voice said, "What is the answer to all poisons?"
"What?" I said, startled. "Isn't there just a password?" I had no clue what the answer to all poisons was.
"No, of course not, this is Ravenclaw, home of the nerds," Sirius replied. "All right, people, what should we answer? If all five of us get this wrong, we'll most likely be caught by Minnie."
"What, why would we get caught by McGonagall? There's a chance she won't catch us," Remus said, frowning.
Sirius jerked his thumb over his shoulder and we looked back to see the suit of armor clanking off happily, wheezing as it went to tattle on us.
"But I Petrified it!" Peter said indignantly.
"It must not have been strong enough. That's all right, Pete," James said, laying a comforting hand on Peter's head.
"All right, I say… um, death", Remus guessed.
Sirius snorted. "Remus, I know you're not that great at Potions, but you don't have to be so pessimistic all the time."
Remus gave a baleful shrug and backed away.
Peter stepped up. "Um, Elixir of Life?"
The door still refused to open.
"Was worth a try," Peter said meekly, stepping back.
Sirius sighed and crossed his arms before replying in a focused voice, "A bezoar."
"Oh, right," James said, and we all expected the door to open, but it remained shut.
"Why not?" Sirius demanded of the door, and the same musical voice replied, "Bezoars only act as an antidote to most poisons."
"Well, then, the answer is that there's no answer!" James said, stepping forth. But the door still didn't move.
Sirius cursed as James turned to me. "Well, Ray, any thoughts. ?"
I shook my head slowly. "All poisons?"
"Maybe… maybe it's something that has to do with all antidotes?" Remus suggested feebly, and I shrugged. But something about the way he'd said those words… all antidotes… was so familiar. Then suddenly a memory clicked in my mind.
Last year, while studying for Alchemy, I had failed to understand a law on which Slughorn was sure to test us. I'd pretended to understand it while sitting with the seventh years, but I hadn't. In fact, even by the time the exam came around, I'd failed so miserably at remembering it that I'd resorted to remembering the entire law word-for-word and spitting it out. I hadn't got full marks on it, and Slughorn's corrections still lingered in my mind, in gaudy green ink. The law had been:
"Golpalott's Third Law," I said suddenly in a moment of understanding. "Golpalott's Third Law states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components. Instead, for all the poisons, the potionmaker must find that single ingredient which, when added to blended antidotes, transforms them near-alchemically into a combined whole which will counteract the entire blended potion."
"Or," I added, remembering Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix companion, "phoenix tears contain restorative healing powers and can often bring people to health even from the brink of death."
"Well stated on both accounts," the voice responded, and to our utter amazement, the door swung open.
"Merlin. That was quite a mouthful," James said happily. "I knew it was a good idea to bring you."
"Well done, Raylynx," Remus said.
We entered the room one-by-one, with me in the lead and Peter bringing up the rear.
It was a magnificent room, quite airy, with gracefully arched windows on every wall, hung with blue and bronze silk curtains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. There were overflowing bookcases and chess boards and books on every ornately covered table. There was also a tall statue carved from white marble. It the statue of a woman who was quite beautiful but slightly arrogant and intimidating. On her head was a sort-of tiara. Ravenclaw's Diadem, I remembered Flitwick saying to me many Christmases ago. There were words etched onto the diadem- Ravenclaw's motto of "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
When I turned back around, all four of the boys were busy enchanting books.
"What are you doing?" I said.
"Pranking them, obviously. Just because we have foreign guests doesn't mean we should forget to show love among the four Houses," Sirius replied.
Oh bollocks, I didn't actually think past the knocker's riddle. I forgot why we came here.
Refraining from face-palming myself at my own naivety, I took a seat on a cushioned chair and stared up at the gorgeous ceiling.
Minutes passed by and I closed my eyes. Something about this incredibly dream-like, airy-fairy room made me feel very sleepy.
In my haze, I heard somebody say, "Infari etla."
No, in Magical Theory we learned you never combine –ari with an –etla, it just doesn't mix.
"It's infari atlas, you idiot," I mumbled, eyes still closed.
There was a pause and then a hesitant voice said, "Er-right, thanks for that."
Shit, I said that out loud!
Horrified, I whipped around in my chair to see Remus enchanting a book to sprout wings and fly.
"Er-sorry, Lupin, you're not- I didn't mean… to call you an idiot," I said lamely.
Remus turned to look at me and gave me an amused smile, but his amber eyes were still tight and careful. He was most likely remembering that night I had harshly shoved him away from me. It was so hard to picture him as a werewolf, or even as aggressive, he was so reserved, so shy, though obviously, not without his mischievous, playful side, but he really was a werewolf, wasn't he? As evidenced by his nickname of-
"Moony."
"Y-yes?" Remus looked up, quite startled, though thankfully not offended, that I had used his 'Marauder nickname'.
"Oh." I flushed. "Nothing, just… I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry about that night when we were in the hallway and I practically shoved you off of me."
Remus stared at me, his expressions a mixture of confusion and grim seriousness.
I bit my lower lip nervously. Had I said something wrong? People don't normally react to apologies like this, do they?
"All done!" James said cheerfully, breaking the awkward atmosphere between Remus and myself. "C'mon, let's get out of here before we get caught."
Peter, Remus, and Sirius silently shuffled out of the Ravenclaw common room out into the dark hallway. James held the door open for me, but I turned to him and said, "It's not going to hurt them or anything, right? Your prank."
"Of course not, we're pranksters, not sadists," James replied as he slowly used his leg to slide me out the door before exiting himself and closing the door behind us.
We trooped down the stairs and came to a halt just before we came across the much longer hallways.
"Wait, don't panic, okay?" James said, and slid his hands over my eyes.
"What-?" I started, but James whispered very quietly in my ear, "Pete's transforming."
I immediately shut up and when James let go of me and said, "Right, so Pete's gone off to scope out the North End, and I'm going to go in my Cloak to scope out the East End. Ray, want to come?"
"Yeah, sure."
We hid under the Cloak and hurried down the long hallway, checking for McGonagall or Mrs. Norris.
"Sorry about that. Pete's real nervous about getting caught so we let him go ahead," James said to me.
"Why are you sorry about that?" I said, confused.
James shrugged. "I don't know. Just felt like something I should apologize for."
"Oh, well, you don't," I started, and then said a bit more acidly, "not for that, anyways."
"The prank's not going to hurt them, I promise. We just enchanted the books to fly around chanting Nerds! Nerds! Nerds! In the morning, all right?"
"That's not what I'm talking about," I hissed as we came to the end of the hall.
"Then what are you talking about?" James asked as we turned around and hurried back to Ravenclaw Tower.
"You know that morning where you pranked Professor Collins and the other houses by putting some strange ingredient in their drinks-"
"It wasn't strange, it was salt!"
"Well, whatever it was, Collins thinks it was me and now he's got it out for me. I swear, he positively loathes me. He forced me to sit next to an open window the other day and I thought I was going to freeze to death. When I asked him if it was some kind of punishment, he said shortly, 'Yes'."
James snickered. "That's great. An honest guy."
"Yeah, real great that he thinks I'm a stupid Marauder," I said as we pulled off the Cloak in front of Sirius and Lupin.
Sirius raised an eyebrow and said, "What's that a stupid Marauder?"
"Oh, Collins thinks she's one of us," James explained and then added, "Come on, coast is clear."
We began walking down the hallway when Sirius replied, "Oh well, don't worry, you're not."
I grimaced. Why do his marks always hit home? He doesn't even mean to be insulting, he's just… saying what he sees. Maybe that's why it's even worse. I thought we were getting closer, but however close we were to being friends, it's gone. Maybe it's because I stopped spending time with him or maybe it's because of his breaking up with Marlene, but I feel further away from Sirius than ever.
But to be honest, the thought didn't bother me as much as it would have last year. I felt a sigh of relief. Maybe I'm finally getting over him.
Two hands reached out and shoved me hard against the wall. When I gritted my teeth and bent down to pick up the books that had fell out of my hands, some Slytherin grinned down at me and said, "You, a champion? Pathetic." He sneered and walked off. I had some trouble with my temper, but I wasn't nearly as fazed by the aggressive Slytherin as I was with the passive Marlene, who, as I had gotten slammed and sneered at, hadn't done a single thing to stand up for me, except quietly step aside.
"Is she angry with me? She shouldn't be. She practically forced me to enter!" I said to Dorcas as we sat together at the library, doing Potions homework. Or rather, we were watching James Potter furiously smack Sirius Black in the head. ("Minnie said you already used that name, you dolt!")
"I know, I know that, but Marlene, she-" Dorcas sighed, "you don't understand."
"I shouldn't have let her," I moaned. "It's my fault. I'm an idiot, and now I'm going to display that to the rest of the world."
Dorcas glared at me.
"I'm not being dramatic, and you know it," I said. "There's no way I'm going to make it past this first task! The only reason I can stand to put up with all these snide remarks and bullying is because they're all right! I'm not ready! I'm not supposed to be Champion, Dorcas, I-"
"Will you shut up?" Dorcas snapped at me. "It doesn't matter whether you think you can it or not, the Goblet chose you. You have to compete. So we might as well prepare. What did they tell you about the first task, which, may I remind you in a week and a half, since it's the day after the Hogsmeade trip."
"Crouch said something about physical ability, logical reasoning, knowledge of magical creatures, and magical ability. But that's all he would tell us, since the first task's designed mostly to test nerve."
"Physical ability, well, not a whole lot we can do about that in a few days. Logical reasoning? I'm not too sure of myself. But knowledge of magical creatures and magical abilities we can work on for sure," Dorcas said.
"I'm not supposed to be accepting any help. You could get in trouble for this," I said hesitantly.
"Well, you don't have to accept it. But I'm going to force it on you anyways," Dorcas retorted.
"You know, if you get eliminated in the first task, you won't have the chance to embarrass us in the second and third one." I looked up to see a Ravenclaw boy who was feigning a look of wide-eyed innocence, as if he were genuinely offering advice.
"Right," I said dully. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Sod off, Logan," Dorcas snapped. "C'mon, Ray, we're getting out of here."
"You know him?" I said as we grabbed our things and left.
"Yeah, he used to be my and Jay's friend before he turned into a total twit. C'mon," Dorcas jerked her head, "this way. It's about time we checked on our potion."
"Oooh, back again, the naughty girls," Myrtle squealed when we entered the stall. She zoomed through me and I winced. When a ghost passes through you, it feels like someone dumped an ice-cold bucket of water over you.
Dorcas stirred the potion and sniffed it. "It seems to be right on schedule. Good job with the last step."
"Good job stealing all the ingredients out of Slughorn's cupboard. How'd you do it?" I asked Dorcas.
"Oh, it's easy. Simple Accio charm. He leaves his private stores wide open during Slug Club parties." Dorcas and Lily were still honorary members of the Slug Club.
"Can I tell you something ironic?" I said.
"Please do," Dorcas said, setting the cauldron to Level 7.
"You know how Marlene ripped my name off the corner of my Astronomy essay?"
"Yeah," Dorcas said, and I handed her a handful of crushed oak leaves. She threw them in before stirring counterclockwise one and a half times.
"I got a T on that essay. So when Dumbledore read my name off as Hogwarts champion, guess what was next to my name? My beautiful, over-achieving grade."
Dorcas laughed. "Merlin, that's brilliant, I love that."
I read the directions one more time before I handed to Dorcas the hellebore, powdered bicorn horn, and knotgrass. She added each of them in order three consecutive times.
When the potion turned a bright teal, we high-fived each other in success.
"So now we let it stew for one month on Level Four," I said.
"Oh, right. Blimey, we almost forgot to set the temperature," Dorcas said, reaching under the cauldron to change the setting.
I paused before I said, "Dorcas, do you feel bad about not telling them?"
"You mean, not telling the others we're going to attempt to be Animagi?"
"Yeah."
Dorcas shrugged. "A bit. But I think, in the end, even though we're all good friends, we're all different people and we have different relationships we each other. For example, I would understand if you choose to talk about more personal problems with someone like Alice rather than me or if you'd rather talk about… I don't know, Quidditch or something, with Marlene. I wouldn't be angry about that at all."
"Yeah, that's kind-of what I ended up thinking too," I said.
"Right then," Dorcas said, standing up and we headed to the sinks to wash our hands.
"You'll be back again, won't you?" Myrtle said, eyeing us beadily.
"In a month," I said, and we left.
Lily's POV
When I stepped in the library, I spotted Dorcas and Raylynx sitting together at a desk. I started making my way towards them when suddenly, a tall Ravenclaw boy stepped right in front of me and continued walking until he was right at their table. I hesitated, slowing down. I didn't know this boy. What was he doing with Dorcas and Ray?
Then, I heard him say, "You know, if you get eliminated in the first task, you won't have the chance to embarrass us in the second and third one."
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. I swear, we have the meanest people at Hogwarts.
A few seconds later, Dorcas and Raylynx were leaving the library in a rush, hurrying past everyone. I stomped up to the Ravenclaw boy. His eyes widened when he saw me and he suddenly smiled warmly, "H-hey, Evans. Looking good."
Oh, so he was like stupid James Potter, was he? One of those appearance-obsessed boys.
I knew exactly how to play with people like him.
"Want to come with me for a second?" I said sweetly, looking up at him from under my long eyelashes.
"Y-yeah, of course," he said, grinning a little sheepishly. I walked down a row of bookshelves until we were hidden from view.
"Here?" he said, starting to get a little excited. I could barely keep from slapping him in the face. Instead, I settled for jamming my wand into his chest.
"You say something to Raylynx again and I swear I'll hex you so bad you won't be able to flirt with a girl for weeks," I hissed into his face.
His gaping mouth and wide eyes betrayed his shock and when I shoved him away, all he could do was mutter, "Bloody hell" as he walked away.
Still seething mad, I turned away to give myself a few seconds to gather myself together before I left the shelves. Only, I was never given those few seconds.
"I always knew you were righteous, but bloody hell is right, that was something else. Still, I've always liked that about you. How you'd go chasing me down hallways after curfew if you got the slightest inkling I was going to pull a prank. Merlin, I love those moments. It's like you're desperately love me and can't bear to be parted from me."
"Potter," I said through gritted teeth, "please go away."
"Oho, I get a please, do I?" James said, ruffling his hair with his hand as he leaned against the bookshelf. I made to walk right past him but he stuck out his arm, effectively blocking my way.
"Ignoring somebody is rather rude, Lily love," James said.
"So is forcing your company on someone when it's not wanted," I retorted.
"Listen, I was just trying to be a nice guy and warn you about what a jerk Logan Atticus is. He made Hannah Hopkirk cry. Luckily, Sirius gave her a little pick-me-up but…"
"Yeah, listen, I got the memo, okay? So thanks," I said sarcastically and started to move past him again, but to my utter horror, he stopped me by stepping in front of me and getting on one knee.
"Potter, what do you think you're doing?" I said.
"Lily Evans, will you please-?"
"Ahhh!"
Raylynx's POV
"I reckon you didn't have to hit him so hard," Dorcas was saying sarcastically.
"Or that many times," Marlene added.
"In the face."
"Don't forget his stomach, arms, and dare I say it- his-"
"And I don't think the occasion warranted such a piercing scream," Dorcas interrupted Marlene.
"That echoed," Marlene quipped.
"For a good minute afterwards," Dorcas pointed out.
"And lost us House Points with Madam Pince."
"Head Girl," Dorcas shot Lily a severe look.
Even Alice, although she tried to give Lily a sympathetic smile, ended up in a fit of giggles.
"Okay, okay!" Lily said, flushing red. "I overreacted, I know, I'm sorry. I just don't want my first marriage proposal to be with Potter!"
"First? How many are you planning on having?" Marlene laughed and Lily shot her a nasty look.
I non-verbally thought glacien obstando! and flicked my wand up.
We all jumped and ducked when my spell shot a sharp-tipped icicle into the side of my bed, shattering my bed post and having the top of my bed collapse on that end.
"Ray!" Lily shouted, but I responded, coughing through the dust, "I'm fine! Fine!"
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Alice said, and the top of the bed lifted itself right again.
"Hold it there," Dorcas said. "Torum Reparo."
The bed fitted itself back together with a loud crack.
"Thanks," I said, ignoring Marlene's snort, which was clearly directed at my incompetence.
I tried another spell, one that seemed easier.
Corpus certque absconde! I thought hard, but suddenly the window to my right shattered into a billion pieces and we were left with a freezing late autumn night wind blowing into our dorm.
"Vitro Reparo!" Marlene shouted and the window flew back together into one piece.
"Sorry," I said meekly.
"Ray, I don't want to discourage you, but…" Lily began softly.
"I know, I know," I said, getting up from my bed and grabbing some more of the library books on my bedside table. "I won't wreck our dorm room, I promise."
I left our dorm and as soon as I saw the amount of people in the common room, I left that too. I started to walk around the castle, wondering where on earth I could possible practice for this tournament. A classroom? But what if somebody walks in? Or what about the loud explosions I'm probably going to make repeatedly when trying new spells?
When I came to a dead end on the seventh floor next to the painting with Barnabus trying to teach trolls ballet, I growled in frustration and began pacing. If I can't use the library, the common room, or the dorm room… What, should I just live in Moaning Myrtle's stall? I need a place to practice for this Tournament! I need a place where I can sit down and read about spells I might need and creatures I might possibly need to verse. I need a place that's properly soundproof, shatterproof, and no one can find me there… I need a place that's got objects I can aim at and- and…
My mouth dropped open and I blinked hard a couple times.
A door had appeared in the middle of the wall.
I glanced to my left and right, to make sure this wasn't some kind-of prank, but nobody was there.
I slowly touched the door to make sure it was real and it was, an iron door as compared to the stone wall it had seemingly been before. My hand found the knob. I turned it… pushed it open.
I found myself standing in a circular room completely made of thick eggplant purple carpet, save for glass lanterns attached to the walls, lighting the room. It was shaped like a tiny concert hall, I was standing at the top of a few steps that lead down to a wider area. Half the wall, including behind me, on the both sides, above, and even below the door was covered with all kinds of books, bearing titles like Challenging Creatures and Curses Against Them, The Dark Arts Outsmarted, and An Encyclopedia of Spells, Book 47.
On a mahogany table standing against the opposite wall was an assortment of objects to aim at, glass vases, and miniature models of dragons, and an odd assortment of weathered chess pieces, all lined up.
I could not believe my eyes. This has got to be a dream.
But hell, if it is, I'll take it.
I shut the door behind me and went down the steps until I was on the lowest level. I pointed my wand at the rook chess piece, "Stupefy!"
It seemed to seize up for a moment before falling over to its side.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The spell shot past the knight chess piece and hit the carpeted wall behind it, where it was soundlessly absorbed.
Wow, this is- Merlin's beard…
It looked like I had found my practice arena.
