(Coeus Black - PoV)

Draco is still grumbling, even after we leave the classroom.

"Ugh! Yes, I should have asked Flitwick to cast his spell again! I am well aware of that...now. But you know, maybe if you spent less time complaining about your bloody hair and more time practicing your spellwork you could be doing advanced practice too?" I suggest, finally shutting him up but earning a glower in return.

To be fair, he was able to fix his clock most of the time, but never perfectly.

"In Draco's defense," Wait, Daphne is defending him? "Having people randomly cast dangerous spells right behind you is rather distracting."

Draco nods at her.

She shrugs.

"Of course, every spell you cast is dangerous."

He hesitates a moment before conceding the point.

I open my mouth but pause as well, considering her words.

"Err...Was that a compliment, or...?"

...

Leaning up against me, Phoebe grabs my hand and starts laughing.

Daphne rolls her eyes.

Draco, and most others who are listening, give me weird looks.

Iris glances at me before giving everyone else a look.

That's a no then.

It's my turn to roll my eyes.

I totally think that was a compliment. I wrecked half of Slytherin with a Lumos.

How is making any spell dangerous not a good thing?

"Whatever. Where are we going anyway?" I ask.

"To class?" Draco totally not answers, giving me another look in the process.

I roll my eyes again.

"Well duh. I mean, I would hope so at least. I meant what class."

His look does not improve.

"You really don't know?"

*Sigh*

"Iris, where are we going?" I ask, not looking away from Draco.

"We have History next."

"Thank you, Iris."

Lifting a hand, I gesture in her direction.

"Was that so bloody difficult?" I ask Draco.

"I dunno, is reading the schedule that bloody difficult?"

"Yes, actually."

"What?"

"Yes. It is."

...

"Watcher may have torn a hole or two in mine when we were fighting," I admit.

Draco blinks at me.

"Watcher? Who is Watcher?"

"One of the unicorns down at Hagrid's. The oldest one."

Everyone, everyone, even the people who were chatting with each other, goes quiet.

"You...fought a unicorn?" Draco asks.

I shrug.

"Yeah. So? He needed the practice. Maybe next time...Maybe ne-"

"Ooooooh, what have. We. Here?!" A grating voice interrupts.

"Ickle Firsties!"

Phoebe's grip on my hand becomes crushing as quite possibly the worst-dressed man I have ever seen swoops down the hall to hover over us.

"Merlin's balls, do the fashion police have exorcists? That outfit is a crime against existence. I can't believe I actually agree with Filch, but you should be purged."

...

Why does everyone keep staring at me? They are all thinking it!

They have to be.

Right?

Peeves starts cackling.

"OhehehehehahahahahahaehehehahahahahaHA! I think the ickle firsty needs to learn some manners!" he shouts, pulling out a bag.

"And you need to learn some fashion sense! I know homeless people who dress better than you!" I shout back, pulling my wand as everyone scatters.

Everyone but Phoebe, who is hesitating.

Shit.

Narrowing my eyes, I look at Peeves as he pulls a vial out of the bag.

"Reducto" I blow the vial out of his hand as he pulls back to throw it.

The vial being the only thing I can hit.

Peeves is not like the normal Hogwarts ghosts, he can interact with the world, or not, when he chooses. And right now, he is intangible.

Any spell I know would go right through him. Even the bag and vials are semi-intangible. Spells can affect them, but I expect my hand would pass right through...until he lets go. And I get the feeling blowing up that bag would be a Bad idea.

"Oh, but that was a fun one!" he false pouts before grinning wickedly.

"I guess I will have to use a mean one instead! Hahahahaha!"

Laughing, he digs around in his bag without care, ignoring Iris's spellfire as she throws everything she knows at him.

"Don't hit the bag!" Phoebe urgently half whispers, just loud enough for the two of us to hear. "There is a lot, in there."

I grimace at the confirmation.

When did this menace get his hands on an enchanted sack anyway? And one that can go in this weird halfway state...

Holding her fire, Iris glares at the still-laughing idiot.

"Here we ar-"

I blow the red glass orb up the moment he pulls it out of the bag, causing the contents to splash all over the floor, bubbling and hissing menacingly.

"...Well, you are just no fun at all," he complains before smirking one more.

"But how long can you keep it up, hmm? Peevsie has plenty of tricks in here," he says, shaking the bag.

"Or maybe," he begins, swooping down closer to taunt/threaten us, "Maybe I should ju-"

Whatever he plans to say is cut off as Iris leaps forward, grabbing him by his stupid bowtie and dragging him down to punch him in the face.

While he is still intangible.

"st wait wh- OW! OW! What? No! Stop! AH! OW!"

Peeves wails as she, err, wails on him (despite her technique being terrible) before dragging him over to the window and throwing him out it.

Peeves.

Who can fly.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Who...could...fly?

...

Phoebe and I make our way over to her where she stands by the window, still breathing heavily as the other students slowly poke their heads out of their hiding spots.

"Iris," I begin, laying a hand on her shoulder, "You just punched a ghost. Punched it so hard it forgot how to fly."

She opens her mouth, hesitates, then closes it again.

I nod.

"Exactly. Exxxxactly."

Looking out the window, I take in the view, and the crisp air.

...

"You know, we have Binns next, right?"

She slowly turns her head to give me an incredulous look.

"I'm just saying. If he ever gets too annoying..."

"You know, Brother, you are pretty annoying yourself. And are a lot closer to a window right now," Phoebe interjects.

...

"Maybe we should get to class? We are probably already going to be late..."

Carefully edging away from dangerous territory, I pull the girls along after me.

...

Dragging Iris close as we (hopefully) head to class, I whisper in her ear,

"So cool!"


"Late."

Even Binn's admonishment sounds boring,

"Sorry, w-"

"Coeus Black, Daphne G-"

Is he just going to list everyone's name? And not even ask why?

...

Wait, he skipped Iris?

I speak up as soon as he stops talking, before he has a chance to wander off on another topic.

"Sorry Professor, Peeves jumped us. Then Iris punched him and threw him out a window."

"He, he isn't even joking..." a still-stunned Tracy speaks up. "Iris punched a ghost in the face. With her fist. Then threw him out a window. And he fell."

It feels weird to explicitly point out the ghost part when talking to one.

Especially when Peeves is, I think, not quite a ghost? Even if it is much easier to just call him one.

Binns pauses for a moment before looking back down at his desk, shuffling his notes.

"All students should take their seats."

...

Huh.

Shrugging, I head towards a free desk alongside Phoebe, dragging Iris along after us.

Stealing a chair from a nearby desk, we force her into the middle, taking seats on either side.

"Uh," she begins, looking at us.

"Shush. I doubt Binns will care. And if he does, you'll protect us from him, right?" I smirk at her and she blushes.

"I- err, umm,"

Laughing, I lean up against her.

"So cool. Seriously, you are ridiculous. I know you hate those stupid books, but you are even better than whatever nonsense they came up with!"

She tenses up when I mention the books, but Phoebe leans against her other side.

"He's right, Iris. You are amazing. What you did just now was spectacular."

Lifting her head, she looks Iris in the eyes.

"You are not "normal." And that's good," she says, booping her on the nose.

I blink.

"Normal? Why would anyone want to be normal?"

I snort.

"Normal is for Hufflepuffs. It's way better to be awesome!" Smirking, I lightly elbow her. "Like you!"

Blushing, she lowers her head.

Ah, Iris. You will get it one day.

Shaking my head, I turn towards the front of the class and...oh. Binns has already started his lecture.

Wow, we didn't even notice.

Eh, Iris is way more important than random details about...druids?

Bah. Idiots.

Weak, two-bit hedge wizards. Of course they never amounted to anything, they refused to even make books!

And Phoebe is a better seer than all of them put together.

ALL of them. Ever.

...

You know, the desks in Flitwick's class must have been reinforced for him to be stomping all over them like that. I wonder...

"This room has windows too, Brother," Probe warns me.

Damn.

...

Wait, the only windows here are the enchanted stained-glass ones!

"But-"

"I don't care."

...

I might drop my head to my desk, but I am absolutely not sulking.

I'm not!

...

Blast it Phoebe, what's the deal anyway? It's just a desk! And it's not like Binn's seems to care...

She takes a deep breath before looking over at me. Our eyes meet and I see.


The desk explodes.

...Crap.

Ok. Unfortunate, but honestly not a surprise. A common result when playing with an object's structure...or in general.

Future me mutters and shakes his head as he looks over the results before shrugging.

"Always next time, right?" he asks, looking over his shoulder and freezing.

Iris lays on the floor, mouth gaping with a wooden shard the size of an arrow through her heart.


A flash of Phoebe's eyes and then I watch the desk explode again. This time I see the jagged bit of wood tear Iris's throat open, the wound so ragged there is no way we can possibly hold it shut.


Another flash, an explosion, and all I see is blood.

Everyone...Everyone was hit this time.

I can't see what happened to Iris, but I don't imagine it was anything good.


The explosion is vastly stronger the fourth time, the heat enough to burn, the force enough to throw Fut- Not-me, across the room.

Again, I can't see Iris...and again, I don't think I really need to.


A glimpse of eyes and- Again, Phoebe? I get the pic- Wait, it works?

Not-Me pounds his fist on the desk.

"Ha! Look! It works! And on my first try too!" he crows.

Absolutely not Phoebe, looks down at it uncertainly.

"Really?" Fake Iris asks, reaching out and hesitantly poking it with a fing-

!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!


My breath catches and I jerk, coming out of the vision.

Panting, it takes me a moment to get my bearings.

Did I just...?

...

I lock gazes with Phoebe once more.

She and Iris told me about their talk with Dora after I pas- went to sleep, yesterday.

This...This is what she is seeing...all the time now...?

She nods.

...

We'll stop it. Whatever it is causing it, we will kick its ass and stop it.

Nothing and no one messes with my family.

Giggling lightly, Phoebe grabs my hand.

Her grip is tight.

Is she... scared?

It's been a long time since I have seen her afraid of something

Frowning, Iris looks back and forth between us.

"Err, guys?" she asks.

I shake my head.

"Later," I promise.

Nodding, she turns back to- Is she actually paying attention to Binns?

Huh.

That's...good, I guess. I suppose someone should be.

...

It would be better if anyone else could read her notes.

I swear, some of that looks closer to Infernal than English.

...

Phoebe, she isn't going to accidentally summon something with her bad handwriting, is she?

Phoebe pauses for a long, long moment before getting up.


(Daphne Greengrass - PoV)

I withhold a sigh as Phoebe approaches me.

Merlin, what now?

"Daphne, Iris needs calligraphy lessons. Nothing fancy, just the basics. What do you want?"

Oh. Oh, that actually isn't too bad.

I have seen her writing, she does need lessons. And unlike with many, it is forgivable. She grew up muggle, and so is struggling with a quill. I am sure (hopeful, at least) that she would be better with a...pen(?).

Unlike some people, she seems like a decent enough student, I don't think I would mind teaching her.

Hmm. What can I demand from Coeus fo-

Phoebe leans down to whisper in my ear.

"Needs lessons. You really don't want to know what might happen without them."

I close my eyes

Aaaand there it is.

Everything is perfectly normal and reasonable?

Oh no, there just has to be some crazy hidden in the middle.

I rub my head.

...

Also, Phoebe must not know me as well as she thinks.

I want to know.

...

"Tell me, and if you are right I'll do it."

...Gah! That was worded terribly. Phoebe will know what I mean but-

"Accidental. Summoning."

I freeze.

"Accidental spellcraft, really. But summoning has the worst collateral. Usually."

Her writing is so bad she can "accidentally" runes and ritual magic?

...I just watched her punch out a ghost. Coeus has a pet trunk and a wizard-eating trolley. This is not...that...unreasonable.

"Fine. I'll do it. Just..."

I wave a hand.

Standing up properly, Phoebe nods while straightening her robes.

"Don't worry, the rest of class should be fine. Brother was going to accidentally kill everyone, but I stopped it."

...

"Was...Was that supposed to be reassuring?" Tracey asks as we stare after her while she returns to her seat.

"...I am pretty sure it was," I admit with a sigh.

Blacks.