As Rayne introduced herself, I let out a soft sigh. Now that she has agreed, there isn’t any way for me to get out of this without putting forth a minimum few weeks of effort. With an owl planned for tomorrow and an off to bed, the young Gryffindor was off presumably to her tower.
I guess I should head back to my dorm as well. Walking down the stairs of the astronomy tower to the fifth floor, I cut back heading to the west side of the castle. There are footsteps and I freeze. What if it is Professor Barkridge is walking around? She is a stickler for the rules and I am sure she will find at least one that I am unknowingly breaking. I will have detention scrubbing cauldrons for a week.
“Nox.” I whisper to extinguish the light coming from my ten and three quarter, walnut and unicorn hair, reasonably supple wand that I had been using to navigate the corridors. Continuing to press forward to my common room, I would bound from and to suits of armor. Reaching as far as I feel is safe, I stop to catch my breath. I listen for footsteps, their sounds are growing louder and clearer. Instead of a professor, I can hear the voices of two students. Maybe they are prefects? At this point, it is better to just get is all out of the way. I grip my wand as I turn around the corner.
“Lumos.” I say. As my wand’s tip begins to glow, I throw the light out above the students. Confirming there was only the two that I heard, I also notice they are not wearing perfect badges. The two Gryffindor boys look as stunned as I feel. The face of boy on the right quickly shifts as they see me.
Raising his wand, I hear him shout, “Expelliarmus!”
“Protego!” I counter while barely raising my wand in time. I don’t have time to keep my eyes on the last spell. I look at the boys. The one on the left is clearly at a loss. Whatever their plan was, a duel was not it. I see his wand twitch and the other wand flies to his hand from the ground several feet away. There is an awkward pause as their stares turn from stunned, to confused, and eventually resting on concern.
“That will be ten points from Gryffindor for duelling outside of class. Now straight of to bed with you two.” I cringe as I hear the voice of Ravenclaw prefect Kaine Sephiran. “As for you, Chuck, that is five points from Ravenclaw too. Now into the common room without any excuses.”
I obediently follow my orders. One thing about Kaine that I have come to realize is his perception is always the right one. Even when he is wrong, he is always right. I travel up the stairs and into my dorm. Three of the guys are already asleep, yet Mortimer Grimsbane is wake with books scattering across his bed. I have to give it to him. The kid doesnt even let Astronomy or sleep cut into his study time.
I strip down and crawl into bed. Even with all that excitement, I am just too exhausted to be bothered to care. It is what it is. With that, it only takes a few moments to fall asleep.
The morning light is already illuminating the room as i wake up. Its another late start for me this morning too. I do my morning ritual and rush off to breakfast. I sit down at the Ravenclaw table among a few fellow fourth years. “Charlie, what was it that Professor Sinistra wanted with you?”
“Charlie?” one girl questioned as she turned to notice me. “More importantly, what is this that I hear about Ravenclaw losing 5 points due to you dueling?”
At that same moment there is a voice from behind me, “Hey, Glad I caught you.” It was the Gryffindor girl, Rayne. She hands me a note and continues talking. I halfway hear her but my attention splits as I listen to all the gossip already starting.
There is a whisper, “I guess we know what that fight was over now.”
“If I’m not around, just send it by owl.” Rayne finished saying.
Eager to stop the unanticipated attention as much as she seemed eager to return to her ordinary schedule, I respond with a surprising crack in my voice, “I’ll be sure to get back with you by the end of the day.”
As soon as Rayne left, I grab a couple items to eat on the go from the table. While I like attention, they say too much of a good thing is never good. To make it even worse, none of this attention is positive energy. Arriving at my first class on Wednesdays, Transfiguration, nearly 45 minutes early, I pull the note from Rayne out of my cloak. I cant help my smirk as it simply covers the same information as she asked in the Great Hall. I plot out my class schedule and explain that my only opening are after three any day and every day. What ever days work best for her schedule are fine with me.
If only i had an owl, i wouldn’t have to travel to the Owlery. I should run into her at lunch too. On the other hand, I fold the parchment into a small triangle before reaching into my cloak to retrieve my wand. “Avifors.” The paper turns into a sparrow and flies away. It may not be an owl, but the charm works well enough to pass notes around school.
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