Ari left the field and headed back to school, immersed in her daydreams of flight and space exploration. But her pleasant fantasies were interrupted by a nasally, high-pitched voice behind her. Ari paused mid-step on the stone stairs and looked over her shoulder. A smirking Malfoy was walking in between Crap and Boil. "That'll show Potter," Malfoy was saying. "He'll think twice now before messing with a Malfoy. I reckon McGonagall's sending him on the train right now as we speak. I can see the Daily Prophet headlines already: 'Boy Who Lived gets expelled from Hogwarts and becomes a house-elf for his Muggles.' That'd sure be something, wouldn't it?"
Malfoy and his cronies laughed. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard, and Ari wrinkled her nose. "What's a house-elf?" she asked.
Malfoy glanced up at her, and his look of surprise immediately morphed into one of the deepest scorn. "Oh, it's you, isn't it?" he sneered instead of answering her question. "Barging your runny nose into conversations that don't concern you again, eh? Well, here's a piece of advice for you — why don't you just shut up?"
"You first, you ugly mole rat!" she retorted, firing up at once. Malfoy's mouth dropped open.
"What did you just call me?" he said furiously.
"An ugly mole rat!"
Malfoy let out a scream that was so high and babyish Ari burst out laughing. But the laughter dried up in her throat when Crap and Boil unstuck themselves from Malfoy's side and advanced on her menacingly. Ari watched as they flexed their huge arms, their towering forms plunging her in total shadow. "What are you going to do, huh?" she blustered as the trolls cracked their ham knuckles. "Wanna fight, don't you? Just 'cause I said the truth? Yeah, right, I doubt you'll be able to do anything to me, but you can sure try!"
The words had barely left her mouth when the two trolls pounced. She felt arms grabbing onto her, throwing her back. She screamed and saw her life flashing past her eyes as she toppled to the ground.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
A thunderous voice broke through the whirlwind in her head. Ari gasped and weakly climbed to her feet. Snape was storming into the entrance hall in a cloud of black. He looked even angrier than Professor McGonagall when she had marched down the field earlier. Ari could just feel the rage emanating from him like the force from a cyclone, and all the students in his proximity shrank away from the tornado's path. But as he approached them, she placed her hands on her hips and looked demandingly at Snape.
"Crap and Boil attacked me!" she declared. "They tried to kill me! Yeah, that's right. I almost just died! They're bad and dangerous and belong in jail, not school! You need to lock them up right now!" She punctuated each word with a stamp of her foot.
"No!" Malfoy shrieked, thrusting his paw at Ari. "She started it, sir! She called me a mole rat!"
"Actually, I called you an ugly mole rat," she corrected.
Malfoy let out another scream and Snape's yellow, pockmarked face contorted to unnatural positions as he swooped his hooked nose over Ari. "Ah, so it always comes back to you, doesn't it?" he sneered. "Just why am I not surprised? You really just can't stop yourself from running that filthy little mouth, can you?"
"That's right!" she said unabashedly, glaring into Snape's evil slit eyes.
"Conceited, odious brat!" he spat, his eyes flaring up demonically. "How would you feel if I ripped those lips right from your grubby face and preserved it in a jar? That'll really give you a reason to gloat, won't it?"
Ari gasped and slapped a hand to her mouth, thinking of all those weird slimy, bodily parts she had seen floating around in Snape's potion jars. Could it be that they were actually human remains from the students he had maimed/killed? "But you can't do that!" she exclaimed through her hand, her eyes wide. Malfoy snickered and Snape continued to smile diabolically. "That's illegal!"
"Lawfulness is irrelevant in regard to putting down noxious vermin such as yourself," he responded, his voice smooth as butter. She had no idea what that meant, but glowered at him nevertheless. He just thought he was so slick, huh? Just like one of those villains from storybooks! "You want to try and see? Cross me one more time then, dunderhead, and you'll regret that you were ever born with a functioning voicebox."
"No way!" she growled, and now her hands went to clutch protectively at her throat. "You won't get away with this!"
"Don't you dare underestimate what I'm capable of," he hissed menacingly. "That'll be ten points from Gryffindor and a detention for being an insufferable pest. Now begone, pest, before I get rid of you myself!"
Ari gave him one last dirty look before swaggering away, more than happy to leave the company of the toad and the mole rat. They just thought they were so great, huh? But it didn't matter! Because at the end of every story, the villain always lost. Snape would have a real surprise for him coming when he got fired and all his evil plans were foiled. And then finally Snape's poor victims, or at least what was left of them, would get some much-deserved justice!
Ari was feeling tired out after flying class, so she returned to her dormitory and took a quick nap. Then when she woke up she played with her birdie and puppy on her bed. Later, they looked out the window together and talked about Ari's first flying class.
"So we actually got to ride on broomsticks and fly on them," Ari explained, while birdie and puppy stared at her with wide, eager eyes, "and we couldn't fly very far, or go to outer space, but it was still really fun. The funnest thing I've done in my life, probably. I felt so free! Now I know why you like flying so much, birdie."
"Oh, yeah!" Birdie chirped excitedly, flapping her wings. "The world gets so much bigger when you fly. It's like you can do everything and anything."
"No more annoying windows to block us," Puppy agreed, "and we can go wherever we like… just the feeling of the sun and the wind…"
"I know, right?" Ari said excitedly. "But I guess I like looking out the window too. It's relaxing. And it reminds me of home. We had the best view out there." She let out a wistful sigh as she thought of her cozy bedroom and small window — her first gateway to the outside world.
"The window view at Hogwarts is nice, too," Puppy added. "I like the mountains. They look so strong and rocky. I'd love to climb up them."
"Me too," Ari said. She started to say more, but then something outside her window caught her eye, and she gasped. "Hey, do you all see that? Is that…"
"It looks like an owl!" Birdie squeaked excitedly.
Yes, it was! And the owl was flying towards her, closer and closer, and she could clearly see that there was a paper attached to its leg. It must have been a letter from her dad! She let out a shriek of delight and flung open her window, and the owl swooped gracefully inside. Ari's hands shook with excitement as she untied the letter and opened it up.
Hi Ari,
This is me, your father. I wanted to write and see how you're doing. How is school so far? Professor McGonagall tells me you've been enjoying all your classes so far and situating well for the most part. Is that true? Are your classes going okay? Are you able to understand everything? Are you eating well? Sleeping well? Are you feeling healthy for the most part?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm just a bit worried. But please let me know how you're doing, and if you're feeling all right! Life at home is the same usual routine. I've revisited my woodworking set these days. I stopped working on it a while ago, but decided to pick it up again once you left for school. Maybe if you'd like, we can work on something together when you come home for the holidays.
Sam has been having fun with his snake and takes it outside to play in the grass. He's named it "Nameless," by the way. He said he couldn't decide on a name, so he ended up embracing his indecision. I had a real laugh when I heard that. Your brother sure is funny, isn't he? How about your Prince? Is he doing well?
Let me know how you're doing. We love you and miss you dearly. Write to me anytime you need it.
Love, Dad
"Look, it's a letter from Dad!" Ari squealed, showing Birdie and Puppy. "He wants to know how I'm doing, and he's talked about what he and Sam are up to — I'm gonna go reply to him! Just wait one moment!"
And she placed Birdie and Puppy on her bed so she could work on her letter. She whipped out a paper and pencil from her trunk and began scribbling furiously:
Hi Dad,
Everything is going super good right now, I'm eating sleeping and studying well, and I like all my classes so far. Except for Potions. That's the class where you cook things in cauldrons and mix it around. And the class is okay but not the teacher. His name is Snape and he's really mean, probably the meanest person in the whole wide world. He's really evil and ugly and he tortures and yells at us all the time. He looks really mean, too. He wears all black and he has a really wrinkly, greasy face. Plus a big nose. He's like a villain from one of those stories you read us, Dad. I don't know how they let someone so evil in our school. But don't worry, it's okay, because I talked to Professor McGonagall and she says she's going to fire him soon! So soon we'll all be happy and there will be no more bad people in our castle. Yay!
Anywho, Prince is doing good too. He's living in the Owlery, that's where the owls live, and the Care of Creatures teacher is taking care of his broken wing and giving him food. Nameless is such a weird name though. I knew Sam was going to choose a weird name for his snake the moment he bought it. And yeah, I'd love to do more woodworking things! Is that the thing where you sculpt things out of wood? I bet we could make a lot of wooden things, since we've got a lot of trees back home. Trees are made of wood, right?
I love and miss you too. I can't wait to see you again!
Love, Ari
And she folded the letter in four neat quarters and tied it up real good to the owl's leg. "Give that to Dad, okay?" she said, stroking the owl's wing. The owl gave a low, understanding hoot before spreading its wings and flying away. Ari let out a dreamy sigh and watched it fly away, closer and closer to Dad. She imagined him also standing at the window back home, searching the skies for her owl. She hoped it wouldn't take long for the owl to deliver the letter… and she hoped that Dad would write back soon, too.
After another long, tiring week of classes, Ari was looking forward to the weekend. For once she wouldn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn and could finally sleep to her heart's content.
But when she roused on Saturday morning, groggy and disoriented, it was still dark outside, and an incessant tapping sound filled her ears. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, and suddenly noticed an owl pecking at her window. Her heart did a somersault when she saw a roll of parchment tied to its leg. Finally, her dad replied! She was just about to die waiting!
She bounded to the window and opened it up. But when she unrolled the piece of parchment, her eyes were assaulted with a strange, spiky scrawl. It hurt her head just looking at it. What in the world? Had her dad fallen asleep while writing this? She squinted and had to take a few minutes to decipher the chicken scratch.
Miss Rossi,
You are to report to the entrance hall this evening at seven o'clock sharp for your detention. Filch will be there to give you further instructions. Do NOT be late, or it will be the last thing you do.
Professor Snape
She groaned, the bubble of hope in her chest bursting as fast as it came. What a pain! So she had been interrupted from her beauty sleep only to get yelled at by Snape some more. And not only that, he was going to torture her with detention. She had totally forgotten about that detention he had given her this Thursday — but just why did he have to remind her about it in the worst possible way? Waking her up at six in the morning and assigning her detention on a Saturday?! Now her weekend had been totally ruined.
But as she squinted over the letter again, she noticed an unfamiliar name: "Filch." Now who in the world was Filch? Maybe it was a misspelling of Professor Flitwick's name? Or maybe Snape's handwriting was just so bad she couldn't understand what it said. Well, either way, she would find out for herself soon enough.
And at seven o'clock that evening, while everyone else was relaxing in the common room and chatting with their friends, Ari headed down to the entrance hall by herself. When she descended the marble staircase, she spotted a haggard man standing in the entrance hall, an equally mangy cat at his heels.
"There you are!" the man boomed when he saw Ari. The cat stopped and swiveled its head toward Ari, its yellow eyes gleaming eerily. "About time you showed up!"
"Who are you?" Ari demanded. "Are you Filch?" She took in the strange man, who was filthy and shabby from head to foot. He had weird bulging eyes and lank, gray hair that hung down like frayed curtains. He sure was ugly, almost as ugly as Snape! Maybe they were long-lost brothers?
"That's Mr. Filch to you!" he barked. "And you will address me as 'sir' — no buts!"
"Yes, sir no buts."
"Ah, you think you're so funny, don't you!" Filch bellowed as the cat slithered between his legs and glared at Ari. "But no, no you're not, you're just a disgusting little sneak! I will not tolerate your impudence, you hear me? Professor Snape tells me you've been running your mouth and stirring up trouble like the nasty wretch you are. If I were him, I would've put you over my knee till your bottom was black and blue — so consider yourself lucky that a detention is all you're getting!"
But Ari was too busy looking at the flea-bitten cat to pay attention to what the man was ranting about. "Is that your cat, sir?" she asked, pointing to it. "Why's it look like that? Does it have some sort of disease?"
"She has no disease!" Filch snarled violently, while the cat gave a loud hiss. "Mrs. Norris is perfectly fine and healthy — unlike you! You children are just a filthy cesspool of snot and germs, inside and out."
She pouted. "I was just asking—"
"Shut your gob!" he spat, shooting her a filthy glare. "If you try to slander my dear Mrs. Norris again, I'll drag you up to my office and you'll be getting familiar with the end of my cane! Is that clear?!"
"Yes, sir," she answered. She had no idea what he meant by the end of his cane, but from the way he said it, she sure didn't want to find out.
"Now follow me," he ordered. "Professor Snape has quite the task set in store for you, just you wait. Oh yes, it will be wonderful…"
And with an evil chuckle, he led her up the marble staircase, all while his cat flashed threatening glances at Ari. Her heart hammered in her chest as she trudged alongside them, all sorts of horrible scenarios racing through her mind. Maybe Filch was going to take her to Snape's dungeon and hang her up and whip her — or maybe he was going to take her to Crap and Boil's boxing ring and have them beat her up again!
So Ari was surprised when Filch suddenly stopped beside a bathroom and handed her a grimy toothbrush and a bucket of weird-smelling bottles. "What's this?" Ari demanded, peering inside the bucket.
"You have to clean all the toilet bowls, of course!" Filch said, an evil smile spreading across his scraggly face. "They're as dirty and disgusting as you, so you'll feel right at home. You'll be scrubbing every inch of that bowl from top to bottom by hand — no magic. And you aren't allowed to leave until you've cleaned up every last one. Did I mention you're not allowed to use magic?"
She sighed. All right, so she just had to clean up some toilets. That wasn't so bad… way better than being whipped and beaten up.
But it turned out, cleaning toilets was a lot harder than she had thought. For starters, it proved to be long, tedious work as she scrubbed out the porcelain with the tiny little toothbrush. Her muscles were cramping up from the nonstop scrubbing, plus the pungent smell of cleaning chemicals made her feel all dizzy and queasy.
"This is too hard!" Ari complained after five minutes of cleaning her first toilet. She sat back on her haunches to wipe her face and take a breath. "And it smells bad!"
"Shut up and get to work!" Filch barked from the outside of the stall. "I'm sick of hearing your whiny voice!"
"But—"
"Shut up!" he snarled again. "Breathe another word, guttersnipe, and I'll just sort you out by my own hand!"
Ari scowled and reluctantly continued scrubbing, growling under her breath. Ugh, what a pain! Cleaning toilets was such a pain! Filch was such a pain! No wonder Snape had made Filch in charge of her detention. He was just about as mean and evil as Snape himself!
After what felt like forever, Ari finished cleaning her first toilet. But Filch checked her work and with a nasty smile said that there were still stains underneath the lid, and she needed to clean off all the stains in order to be done.
"But it's underneath the lid!" Ari protested. "You can't even see it anyway, what's the big deal?"
"Don't talk back to me, wretch!" Filch snapped, while his cat hissed meanly at her. "I told you that the entire bowl must be scrubbed clean in order for you to be finished. Is the entire bowl cleaned? No. So, you are not done!"
"But—"
"Shut up!" Filch boomed, spittle flying from his mouth. "Talk back to me one more time, and I'll dunk your head into the toilet!"
Ari scowled, her insides burning. What an annoying little dirt ball! Thinking he could boss her around and threaten her — sure, he was working on Snape's orders, but still, he just seemed like an inherently nasty person to be around! Between him and Snape, she wasn't sure who was worse!
For the rest of the detention, she painstakingly scrubbed at all the stubborn stains and crammed her toothbrush in all the nooks and crannies. And then when Filch would check her work after each toilet, he had great satisfaction pointing out the stains she had missed. She would have to take another ten minutes scouring those spots until Filch finally deemed it clean.
It was by far the longest and most horrible night of Ari's life. She had never done anything so tiring, so difficult. By the time she had finally finished scrubbing the millions of toilets, her neck and arms felt like jelly. Plus, her nose was so burnt-out with bleach fumes she couldn't smell anything else.
But what was more, Filch said that she still had another detention to complete, and she needed to report back in the entrance hall the next evening. Great, just great! She couldn't even enjoy her weekend now that it was filled up with toilet scrubbing!
Ari was still cursing Snape and Filch in her mind as she trudged back to the common room, her muscles screaming with pain. She felt a bit better after taking a long, hot shower, but was so exhausted she could only flop in bed like a ragdoll.
As she drifted to sleep, vague thoughts of home floated through her tired brain. Oh, how she wished to be back home all of a sudden. Back there, she never had to clean toilets or do anything hard or gross or painful… No, every day she would have fun playing and gardening and cooking with her dad, and he would smile and tell her what a good job she had done. But she had none of that here. She had spent the entire night scrubbing toilets till her muscles ached, and all she got in return for her efforts was Filch yelling at her. And she had to do it all over again tomorrow. Just thinking about it made her bury her head in her pillow and cry. It just wasn't fair!
Tbc
