𝒯𝑜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝐵𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈

November 5th, 1993

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝒾𝒻𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

The days following Halloween had been... tiring, to say the least.

The school was first thrown into a constant hum of chatter as everyone threw themselves into talk of the murderer Sirius Black. Theories of how he ended up inside the castle. From conspiring with dementors to turning into a flowering shrub, just about everything had been spoken into the tense air of the Hogwarts Castle.

The Gryffindor portrait had been switched from the Fat Lady to an extravagant knight named Sir Cadogan and his fat grey pony. Iris had met him once on one of her many walks through the castle, and she was very content with the fact that it was not Slytherin's entrance dealing with any sort of changes.

Harry Potter was experiencing the worst of it all; after all, Harry was the most obvious target, so he had to be escorted all about the castle. The teachers watched him like hawks. And if it wasn't a teacher, it was the oldest Weasley that was still in school, Percy Weasley. Despite their mended relationship... Iris wasn't ever too keen to hang around the boy long. Not with so many authority figures around.

And almost poetically, the weather had taken quite a turn. The wind brought in the clouds quickly, and despite the near-constant howling of the wind, the clouds still filled the sky. Grey and dark. The rain was on and off. But when it was on, it hit hard.

~~~~~~

The sky flashed white as Iris began tapping slowly on the table.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Thunder steadily rumbled through the castle.

Iris was locked onto the window as she and Theodore sat in the back of the DADA room. They arrived early, or rather, Theodore arrived early, and Iris just followed. She had been on edge all morning. Moody and dazed. The air around her was thick, suffocating. Her tone when she spoke all-powerful. Her presence demanding.

People seemed to learn their lesson after the first few moods Iris went through; it was always easiest to just allow her to exist in whatever way she pleased. No comments or questions from anyone else.

The sky flashed again, and on cue, Iris began tapping.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Thunder cracked, almost seeming to move the castle.

The door burst open, and in walked Severus Snape. His robes billowed behind him as he strutted to the front, "Professor Lupin is feeling too sick to teach today. I will be your teacher until he feels fit to return."

Iris lazily shifted her attention to the man as he took the spot behind the desk. Her eyes narrowed as he began rummaging through the papers and drawers. Speaking up, her voice cut into the silence of the room, "Hinkypunks. We are supposed to be starting Hinkypunks."

Snape's black, cold eyes darted to the girl; straightening, he addressed her, "And in all your infinite knowledge do you know where Professor Lupin leaves his lesson plans."

Iris rose an eyebrow, "Well, seeing as we have for the most part been following the third year standard curriculum as set by your Ministry, you could probably open the book on that desk to the marked page and probably find the word Hinkypunk somewhere on said page."

Snape's eyes narrowed, "For the most part does not inspire confidence. I was there to see that your first lesson was Boggarts, which," he glanced over the Table of Context of the book, "Is after Hinkypunks. Clearly, you weren't following any sort of plan."