Chapter 3 : Horrifying trick-or-treating
"If I invited you to this meeting today, it's to take stock before the first Hogsmeade trip of the year which promises to be full of rule violations, as always." Eric announced in a solemn voice as he was pacing around an empty classroom requisitioned for the occasion.
"Uh, okay. But I have a question." Arcturus intervened after raising his hand high in the air. "Why are we the only two here ?"
Indeed, Akira - who was sitting next to him at a table in the front row - didn't need to turn around to know that the rest of the classroom was empty. Even though Arcturus and her weren't the only ones responsible for maintaining order in the Gryffindor house. There were also two sixth years and the Head Girl. However, the latter had clearly not been invited by Eric to this boring meeting.
"Because, you're real disasters." Eric continued while coming to a stop in front of them. "Let's call this as it is. You still have a long way to go to be decent Prefects. You don't even know how to give a proper punishment !"
"Normal, we're still at the learning stage." Arcturus replied more for himself but Eric heard him anyway.
"It's been six weeks that you're at a learning stage !" He announced as they were in the middle of October. "Even the fifth-year Prefects of the other houses aren't that slow to learn, and I weigh my words."
"Even those of Slytherin ? I heard that the girl repeated all of her years twice." Akira pointed out.
"Even them. In fact, I don't know anything about the Slytherin house because I have no contact with the Head Boy and Girl but those of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are formal, their new recruits are much more competent than you." Eric announced with disappointment. "If that continues like this I'm about to go see McGonagall and even Dumbledore to find people who can replace you. But I'll give you another chance. Just one so that you can prove to me that you're not incompetent. And it will be the supervision of the Hogsmeade trip."
"What ?" Arcturus exclaimed while half-rising from his chair. "We're putting into play our position as Prefects during an outing instead of having fun like the other students ?"
"In short, yes. Because that day when the students are overexcited is conducive to many misbehaviours and as the Head Boy of Gryffindor, I want to avoid them all."
"It's impossible to avoid everything. At best..." Akira began before Arcturus interrupted by grabbing her shoulder before pulling her towards him.
"We'll be the best employees that you've ever seen, boss." He assured Eric while Akira was pushing him away so he would let her go.
"Good. In that case, listen carefully to the instructions that I'm about to give you before applying them on the field." Eric said while grabbing a piece of chalk.
He then proceeded to write down each point on the classroom blackboard so that Arcturus and Akira would memorize them better. Basically, he was asking them to give detention and send back to the castle any student who was fighting, insulting each other, stealing from the shops, ... . The list was long and would go until getting a punishment for speaking a little too loud which would disturb the inhabitants of the village.
Akira found these instructions completely stupid, not to mention that she had other plans for this outing. And very important ones since it was her first meeting with Rookwood to get guidelines regarding her work for Voldemort. So it was fair to say that scolding a student who had sneezed a little too hard was secondary.
But Arcturus wasn't sharing her opinion. He wanted to do everything he could to live up to Eric's expectations so that the latter would finally consider him a Prefect worthy of his badge. Therefore, he was more tense than usual on the next Saturday morning where the Hogsmeade trip was taking place.
The sky was grey, the air cold and a fine mist was covering the ground. However, this didn't discourage the students of third year and above from leaving the castle. The youngest – so the third years - were particularly euphoric after hearing their older peers talk about this wonderful place during two years. And Eric didn't like that.
"Keep a particularly sharp eye on them." He recommended to Akira and Arcturus as the latter lined up to show Filch their signed authorization.
Then, Eric slipped away to do the same on his side.
"What does that mean exactly ?" Arcturus wondered while frowning. "That we have to follow these third years everywhere to make sure that they don't do anything stupid ?"
"Surely. And we should split up to be more efficient." Akira suggested as she just wanted to be alone to go see Rookwood.
"Forget about it. We already have to spend our free day enforcing the law, I refuse to spend it far away from you."
"Then, we should head right away to the Hog's Head Inn. I'm sure that all the troublemakers have arranged to meet there on this gloomy October morning."
"You know what ? I'll pass my turn to keep my breakfast in my stomach. You can go and I'll meet you at Honeydukes in about ten minutes." Arcturus replied after having displayed a look of disgust at the thought of going to this awful place.
"Okay, let's do it like this." Akira agreed as she had got what she wanted.
Once they reached Hogsmeade which was mysterious with its streets made deserted by the bad weather and the fog that was covering the ground, Akira and Arcturus each went their separate ways after promising to meet up a little later.
Now rid of her kind but cumbersome comrade, Akira didn't need to find a pretext or an excuse to get in the Hog's Head Inn and rush towards the table that Rookwood was usually occupying. Wondering what he might want from her this year since she hadn't received clear instructions on the matter, she stopped at his level apprehensively, making Rookwood looking up with disdain from the Daily Prophet that he was reading to pass time.
"Finally you're here." He said reproachfully while folding up the newspaper on the cover of which was an article about Voldemort's fast rise in the wizarding world. "Starting from today, you'll have to stop slacking off and get back to work because we want you to get close to Dumbledore."
""Get close" ?" Akira repeated with astonishment. "What about spying on him ?"
"With the special training that you underwent this summer, you'll have no trouble joining his group without him suspecting anything because you'll hide your true intentions."
"His group ? You mean the Order of the Phoenix that he created ? But, I'm only fifteen and a student. He'll never want to recruit me for a position there." Akira pointed out rightly.
"Dumbledore did send you to the Ministry in the Aurors department for the last Christmas holidays. So if you ask him in a particularly persuasive way, I'm sure he'll include you in his group opposing the Dark Lord and that's what we need right now. To gather more information about his plans from the inside. Just don't get caught. We didn't spend two painful months training you for you to screw everything up in a few seconds." Rookwood warned her in a threatening tone.
"Easier said than done. Because it's Dumbledore who you're asking me to lure. The greatest wizard of all time."
"He won't have that title anymore when the Dark Lord will take power. But that day will come only if you do your job properly." Rookwood replied coldly. "Now, get your little grey cells working and come up with a plan to get yourself recruited. And as soon as it's done, keep me informed about your discoveries during the Hogsmeade trips. It's not more complicated than that."
"It's much more complicated than that." Akira grumbled under her breath.
"What ?" Rookwood said as he hadn't heard her properly.
"I said "okay"." Akira lied as she knew that it was better to not annoy him.
"And in case you find that task impossible and need some motivation, remember that the Dark Lord has the ability to bring back to life your friends who died in combat. If you succeed, your dearest wish will come true. If you fail, you'll join them in the grave." Rookwood threatened.
Akira didn't care about dying. But the reward that Voldemort had promised to offer to her a long time ago was something that she wanted more than anything else in the world. Therefore, she would bend to his will, no matter what it was.
Now that the message had been transmitted, Rookwood left the dark and dirty Inn. Akira was about to follow in his footsteps when she tripped over the leg that a customer had suddenly put in her way.
"Hey ! Watch out !" Akira called after nearly falling over.
But she froze on the spot when she discovered who made her stumble. Indeed, once he had raised his hat that was hiding his eyes, she immediately recognized Deloney, her Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor from last year who was formerly a virulent journalist. According to the latest news, he had started a new career as a freelance journalist and given his teacher's position to Halstoy, a mysterious Professor with a face hidden by the hood of his long midnight-blue wizarding robe - which was completely hidding his body from head to toe, leaving only his mouth visible - and who was nowhere to be found outside of his classes which were focused on magical creatures that he liked to hunt alone as a hobby.
During Akira's Defence Against the Dark Arts exam with Deloney, the latter had wanted to know why Akira had missed part of the year, as well as why she was behaving so badly the rest of the time. He had threatened to find out by any means and Akira hadn't worried too much about it, thinking that he would no longer be a teacher at Hogwarts the following year. So her shock was immense when she saw him there, sitting at a table in the Hog's Head Inn while sipping tea from a cup of questionable cleanliness.
"Well, well, well. What are you doing here Miss Chitsute ? You're not filling your pockets with candies, or buying dangerous stuff from Zonko's shop like the rest of your friends ?" He asked in a curious tone.
"I'm on my way out." Akira replied curtly which was the truth. "Now, leave me alone."
"What did this man who you spoke to want ?" Deloney insisted as he wasn't ready to drop a scoop like that. "Rookwood, right ?"
"Nothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find Arcturus."
Except that Deloney wasn't done with her yet and he wouldn't let her go until he got his answers.
"Seeing you in this strange establishment, talking to strange customers. We could think that you're preparing a dirty trick."
"What do you want in the end ?" Akira threw at him after having enough of his insinuations.
"Find the truth as the professional journalist that I am. And incidentally finish my tea." Deloney added before taking a sip of the scalding beverage.
"I already told you the truth. I'm not doing anything wrong. And you better drink your tea before it gets cold instead of bothering me."
"Is there a problem ?" A gruff voice suddenly asked behind her.
Turning around, Akira recognized the bartender of this place and the latter was displaying an annoyed look that was undoubtedly intended for Deloney, from whom he wasn't taking his eyes off.
"No, everything is fine. We're just chatting." Deloney replied in a conversational tone.
"Take me for an idiot. You're going to stop bothering my customers, and pay your tab now." The bartender advised him angrily.
"What tab ? I rarely set a foot here." Deloney defended himself.
Taking advantage of their argument dragging on while the bartender threatened to ban Deloney for life from his Inn if he didn't pay - which was difficult because as a freelancer, the latter was earning very little money - Akira slipped away without wasting time.
Now in the foggy street of Hogsmeade, the oppression that she had felt at the Hog's Head Inn vanished suddenly, only to return when she thought about the mission that Rookwood had just entrusted to her. It only completely disappeared from her mind when she collided with a Hogwarts student who was leaving Zonko's shop and who couldn't look ahead because of the huge cardboard box that he was carrying in front of him.
"Ouch." Akira said while taking a step back as the student did the same.
Putting his box to the side to reveal an annoyed expression with his mouth open - probably to reprimand the person who had just jostled him - the boy fell instead silent after seeing Akira's Prefect badge pinned on her chest as Eric had insisted that she wears it even on this weekend day.
"Sorry." The student said in a hurry before leaving the place with his box still preventing him from seeing anything.
Figuring that it was more fear than harm, Akira let him go even though Eric would have surely expected her to give him detention and send him back to the castle right away. Instead, she went to Honeydukes where Arcturus was waiting for her, looking at all the new items but without buying anything because his money was limited this year.
After having remedied to this situation by paying for everything that pleased him, they visited each shop in Hogsmeade before calling it a day and returning to the castle.
This break in the school year was welcome for the majority of students because it was a pleasant change from homework and classes. These moments were rare, and the next one turned out to be Halloween as the school was getting ready for this party which was taking place on a Thursday this year.
As usual it was celebrated in style, with a feast and activities such as carving pumpkins that would decorate the Great Hall as well as a show of trained bats that were forming shapes in the sky. Except that this year after dinner, two fourth-year Ravenclaw students named Henry and Carl had decided to keep the young first years busy with a trick-or-treating. This consisted of searching the whole school until curfew to get their hands on a treasure that would be a mountain of sweets. According to the two boys, three-quarters of the loot was coming from their pockets and the rest was the small contribution that each student had to give to participate. At first glance, this activity seemed harmless. But Eric still decided to send Akira and Arcturus to supervise it so that nothing happened.
"No other Prefect was put on that case. So why us ?" Akira angrily asked as she was following the Head Boy along a hallway after he had given them this boring task.
"Because that's how it is." Eric replied annoyingly. "It's a simple mission and the perfect training for you two to keep an eye on these young people who can become overexcited by their quest. If nothing bad happens tonight, I'll keep you. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what ?" Arcturus asked as he wasn't reassured about the fact that the Head Boy didn't finish his sentence.
"I'll let you guess. Anyway, I'm counting on you and don't forget. The treasure hunt starts at eight o'clock in the Entrance Hall. Don't be late and don't disappoint me again."
On this, Eric rushed at lightning speed into a secret passage hidden behind a painting, leaving the two Gryffindors completely stunned.
"I think that… it's still going to be fun." Arcturus commented to cheer them up.
But he was wrong as the fateful hour had finally arrived. In the hall, dozens of first years from all the four houses had gathered and were chatting happily among themselves, visibly impatient to start and fill their pockets with sweets.
The noise level had become such that Akira and Arcturus had started to debate - by playing rock-paper-scissors - on who would ask them to be quiet. However, it wasn't necessary as Carl and Henry had just arrived on the third step of the large marble staircase, causing general silence.
"I think that everyone is here." The first one said while his colleague was scanning the list of registered students. "In that case, we can begin. As you know, you must find a treasure hidden anywhere in the castle. But in an accessible hiding place to avoid any accident according to Flitwick's request. The only thing that I can add is, go have fun ! And be fair of course. We don't want you to cast spells at each other. The game will end at curfew, so you better be back in your common rooms at that time to not get into trouble. Any question ?"
One of the first years dared to raise his hand after noticing that none of his classmates was doing so.
"Yes ?"
"And if no one finds the candies, what happens ?"
"Excellent question." Henry said while rolling up his parchment of names to put it in his pocket. "In that case, no one wins them. But we're thinking about sending them to St. Mungo's Hospital to sick children since my dad works there."
Not happy about not seeing again the sweets that they had given for the inscription but nevertheless telling themselves that they were going to serve a good cause, the first years murmured among themselves before falling silent again when Henry continued to speak.
"But there's no reason for you to not find them. And to give you enough time to do so, we'll start right away. On your marks, get set, go !"
Immediately, all the students started running in all directions, whether alone or in small groups. Only Akira and Arcturus remained motionless and Carl as well as Henry got down the stairs to join them.
"I hope you two won't interfere with this trick-or-treating. It's reserved for first years only." Carl warned them with a serious tone.
"We know that." Akira replied as she had never thought for one second doing it.
"It's a shame because I think it's a brilliant idea to have fun on Halloween." Arcturus pointed out after watching the students walk away with envy.
"Yes, well, stay out of this." Henry told him rather dryly. "We're the organizers, we're the ones who manage the problems. In the meantime, you can stay here in the Entrance Hall to make sure that no student goes to the Grounds because the sweets aren't outside."
On this directive, the two Ravenclaws went up the stairs, climbing the steps four at a time while leaving the two Gryffindors alone. The first half hour spent in the Entrance Hall – whose door leading outside was locked as Akira and Arcturus discovered - that had become deserted as night was approaching was really painful. But nothing compared to the next half hour as everything was completely still.
"Carl and Henry didn't say anything about going upstairs to stretch our legs. After all, we've the right to take a break, right ? Besides, Eric wants us to keep a close eye on the first years so we'll do that as well." Arcturus pretended as he had started pacing because of the lack of action.
Akira was sharing his opinion, so they climbed the marble staircase and began to wander in search of the students in their care. They spotted some here and there, the latter looking for candies in classrooms, armours and even in the trophies of the Trophy Room.
Akira and Arcturus weren't the only ones to supervise the students that evening. Filch and Mrs. Norris were also keeping an eye on them, muttering threats or hissing to the euphoric students every time they would see one. However, they had no reason to get into such a state as everything was going perfectly fine.
Well, at least until the fourth floor. Because when Arcturus and Akira reached it, they were welcomed by shrill screams.
"What's going on ?" Arcturus asked while freezing in place as he was visibly worried.
But Akira didn't say a word. Instead, she followed the direction of the shoutings before stopping when two terrified first years passed her in the opposite direction.
"What's... happening to them ?" Arcturus wondered after running to join her which earned him a stitch in his side.
"I don't know. Something must have scared them because they looked absolutely horrified." Akira commented as she was as stunned as him by this strange behaviour.
"No wonder. This castle gives me goosebumps at night. And even more so on Halloween." Arcturus added while scanning the surroundings plunged into darkness with a worried look.
"Let's continue to monitor the floor. Maybe we'll find out what put them in this state." Akira suggested as she started walking again.
However, they were unable to find any threat. On the other hand, they once again crossed paths with students screaming at the top of their lungs and running away. It was becoming worrying and Akira as well as Arcturus thought that they had found the cause of this sudden frightened state after spotting a group entering an empty classroom and coming out of it completely scared to death as the slower ones were left behind.
"What's going on here ?" Akira wondered after stopping in front of the door left open by the group that they just saw run away.
"I don't really want to know. How about we go take a look at the fifth floor to make sure everything's okay there ?" Arcturus suggested as he was literally shaking with fear.
But Akira didn't listen to him and she entered the room without waiting, forcing Arcturus to follow her because he didn't want anything bad to happen to her. Except that the classroom was empty. After a quick tour, they couldn't see anything scary.
"Probably Peeves played a bad joke on them before leaving through one of the walls. Shall we leave as well now ?" Arcturus begged in a small voice.
But Akira felt that something was wrong. Because you don't run away at full speed from a deserted and normal-looking room. To be sure that everything was alright, she went towards the furniture and began to open all the drawers and cupboard doors.
"There's nothing. Let's go back..." Arcturus insisted before suddenly stopping when what looked like a person sprang out of a desk drawer – even if it was way too small to accommodate anyone – and contorted itself in a disgusting way to put its limbs back in place.
Well, rather a person in an advanced state of decomposition. Its bones were visible under the shreds of flesh and tendons attached to its joints, its clothes were nothing more than rags and its face - whose eyes were missing as well as many teeth - had a dislocated jaw that was only held on one side.
For anyone who didn't regularly see dead people like this, this sight was absolutely horrifying and particularly sickening. Arcturus was in this case and he started screaming even louder than the first years they had just crossed path with as he was realizing what had just materialized before their eyes. Akira on the other hand was ready to put this creature back in its drawer as she took a fighting stance. But before she punched the arm that this thing was stretching towards her, her colleague grabbed the collar of her wizarding robe and dragged her with him out of the room.
"Leave me alone ! I'm going to get rid of this creature once and for all." She told him as he was slamming the door behind them before leaning against it to make sure that this thing wouldn't follow them.
"No… way." He replied in a small voice as he was completely short of breath after this fright. "We'll... rather seal the door... and leave it... like that for... the years to come."
"Don't be stupid. It's just a rotting corpse. Or a living dead if you prefer." She corrected right away after seeing him turn pale at this morbid description. "We learnt how to neutralize this kind of thing in Defence Against the Dark Arts. That's not a big deal."
"Maybe, but... only in a book. Not... in real life." Arcturus rightly pointed out.
"Do what you want. I'm going back inside." Akira declared while advancing towards him.
She then forcibly pushed him out of her way and opened the door to discover that the room was empty, to her great astonishment. Thinking that the dead person had probably returned in its drawer, she approached it under Arcturus' terrified gaze.
"Akira, no ! Come back here." He begged her in a murmur.
But realizing that his pleas wouldn't make her change her mind, he reluctantly joined her. And when she put her hand on the drawer handle, he covered his eyes with his hands before spreading his fingers to see what was going to happen.
Akira opened the drawer sharply but instead of seeing the corpse contort itself to face them again, she found that it was empty. Not the slightest trace of the dead person, not even a bone or a piece of flesh.
"Phew, it's gone." Arcturus said out loud while letting out a sigh of relief.
"Yes, but to go where ? We didn't see it escape in the hallway and we're on the fourth floor, which makes any escape through the window impossible."
"Except that this thing is dead. A ten-meter fall won't hurt it."
"Maybe, but no windows were opened when we entered the room again. So it must still be somewhere here." Akira added while scrutinizing the place.
"And it's fine where it is. Let's get out of here before it jumps on us again." Arcturus suggested as he was starting to shake like a leaf.
However, Akira didn't follow his advice. Determined to put an end to this dead person wandering, she frantically began opening every drawer and cupboard that she could find. And as she opened the door of one of them, the corpse that she was looking for came out of the cupboard, half falling on top of her in the process. Once again, Arcturus screamed at the top of his lungs as Akira took two steps back from the creature while remaining perfectly calm. Drawing her magic wand in a flash since using her ninja skills wasn't possible in front of a witness - Arcturus, not the living dead - she pointed it at the putrified corpse that was limping towards her and she disintegrated it with an Exploding Spell, making it fly into pieces all over the room.
Small parts of the corpse were literally everywhere, and even on the two Gryffindors. Akira didn't mind, peeling off the pieces of flesh and tendons that had clung to her clothes, but Arcturus wasn't as strong as his colleague as she heard behind her the dull sound of someone collapsing on the floor. And indeed, when she turned around she saw Arcturus lying unconscious on the ground.
Now on her own, Akira crouched down where the corpse had been standing a few seconds ago to examine what was left of it as it was littering the floor. An element then began to wrinkle her. Indeed, the inside of the bones was solid and pure white instead of being porous and yellowish. And the flesh and tendons looked more like thick clay covered with a viscous substance rather than real muscles and ligaments.
"This isn't a real corpse." Akira concluded as she took a piece of muscle that she was then able to model like clay while its red color as well as its viscous liquid that were covering it to make it look real remained on her fingers.
She was completely sure of it when she took a bone and broke it in two, making it produce the characteristic sound of a hard plastic object being broken. It was probably the work of someone with malicious intent and Akira thought that she had discovered the culprit behind all of this when she noticed that among the debris of the fake dead corpse were candies scattered throughout the room. The candies from the treasure hunt.
"I hope for Carl and Henry that they didn't do it." Akira got angry while thinking about the poor first years who had been traumatized by this vision of horror.
Now, she only had one desire. To confront the two Ravenclaws about it.
"Hey, Arcturus. Wake up." She said to her colleague while starting to shake him after crouching down next to him.
Finally, the latter slowly emerged and straightened up as best as he could while passing a hand over his head.
"What happened ? And why am I on the floor ?" He asked while scanning the room with a disoriented air.
But when his eyes landed on the pieces of the dead corpse that were everywhere – and also on him - his memory came back all of a sudden. Starting to breathe unevenly at this vision of terror, he ended up fainting again which exasperated Akira who needed his help to go talk to the two Ravenclaws that were behind this mess. Not wanting to leave him alone in this room after the trauma that he had experienced, she dragged him into the hallway by one leg before leaning him against a wall.
Then, Akira went to find Henry and Carl throughout the school. She eventually found these two idiots on the fifth floor. Half laughing, they were scanning the stairs leading down to the fourth floor, probably to see the first years that they had managed to frighten to death fleeing in the floors above. But their smiles quickly faded away when they spotted Akira who was charging at them with a disgruntled look.
"Why did you put in place such a horrible plan ?" She scolded them while throwing the piece of clay that she had picked up at Carl's head which earned him a grimace of disgust as it was still all slimy.
"We don't see what..." Henry tried to say but he fell silent when Akira grabbed him by the collar of his wizarding robe.
"I recognise you now. You're the guy that I bumped into at Hogsmeade with a big box in his arms. And let me guess, there was this fake corpse inside, that you then filled with the sweets that the first years had to find ? What was that for ? To traumatize them for life once they will find it ?"
"No. If you really want to know, it was an ingenious way that we found to get free candies." Henry admitted to her bluntly. "Because none of these young students would have found them. If they weren't scared by an Inferius jumping on them all of a sudden, they still didn't know enough spells to stop this bewitched plastic corpse. And if they had the good idea to go get a Professor, the latter would find nothing because our living dead was reaching a new hideout everytime it was found. It was the perfect plan to collect candies for Halloween without breaking a sweat or opening our wallets, as we never planned on giving them to St Mungo's hospital contrary to what we told to these naive first years."
"It wasn't that perfect since I've unmasked you." Akira replied in a furious tone while shaking Henry with force. "You deserve detention to clean the mess that your monster left in the classroom where it was hidden, as well as a denunciation to Flitwick who let you organize this trick-or-treating after thinking that it was a harmless game. Knowing him, he'll be out of himself that you did such a fright to these eleven-years-old students who were too young to see a living dead in this state of decomposition. But, I'm ready to let you go with this if you give to these first years all the candies that you have in your possession. And also if next year, you organize again one of these trick-or-treating games but without any trick. Just a harmless hideout to discover."
"All the candies ? But, there's a few Galleons worth of treats... . Okay, okay, okay." Henry agreed as Akira was tightening her grip on his collar which made him suffocate. "We'll do what you want but don't rat us out."
"Good." Akira said while finally letting him go. "And you'll give Arcturus a chocolate frog as well. He was so traumatized by this experience that he really needs one."
Nodding, Carl and Henry ran off before Akira got the idea of choking both of them for their behaviour. The latter was still mad at them but she had to admit that they had managed to create a real Halloween party according to her standards that were very high. And she would remember it for a long time because she had rarely got the opportunity during this special day to blow up a corpse filled with candies.
Happy Halloween everyone !
Okay, it wasn't really a trick-or-treating. More like a treasure hunt but maybe if the first years had asked the corpse to give them the candies or they would play tricks on it, it would have cooperated. Or not. Anyway, I hope your own trick-or-treating went well, not like the one of these poor students. Because they were a bit young to face such an awful creature, unlike Akira who already saw many stomach-turning things in her life as a doctor and ninja.
For her, this putrified corpse wasn't a real nightmare, but getting close to Dumbledore is. What can she do to succeed in this mission ? Because it's easy for Rookwood and Voldemort to tell her "go get a job in Dumbledore's group". But at fifteen years old, she's not fit for such a position yet. So she'll do as always, give it a try and hope that nothing will blow up in her face in the next chapter coming at the end of the month.