Behind the Shadows [Book One]

Chapter Seven:

[[A/N: This chapter is very rushed, simply because as I said before, this is a "short" story, most chapters will be rushed because I plan to cover all of Amaryllis's Hogwarts years in here, so just be warned and try not to be upset that the chapters cover so much, I'll slow it down whenever important things happen  c: ]]

 Chapter Seven: 

Classes began, and days passed while I continued to do my very best to ignore my older brother.  Honestly, whatever it was he was trying so desperately to say to me, I didn't want to hear.  He tried to pass me notes, he tried to stop me in the halls, corner me in the Common Room and every time I would manage to find a way to get around him.

The guilt of ignoring my older brother ate away at me, he had always been the person I looked up to, the person who always protected me.. and now I wanted nothing to do with him.  

You have every right to, he did leave you alone with your abusive family, my mind would whisper whenever I began to feel bad for dodging Harry when all he wanted was to talk to me.  But still, I couldn't make myself stay anywhere near him.  

Though my Harry problem was rough, the entire overall experience was beautiful.

The professors at Hogwarts were all rather amazing.. well most of them were anyways.  

Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration, she was stern but patient as well, and she never turned away from a student in need of help.  Professor Flitwick was in charge of teaching Charms to the students, he was a small fellow but always seemed happy, and as the days went on I realized he was one of those professors who almost never issued out detentions.  

History of Magic was taught by a ghost, which took a great deal of getting used to, the poor Professor Binns seemed to have no idea he was actually dead and also had no qualms about walking through students.  How he could walk through students and not realize he was dead was beyond me but I didn't bother asking questions. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was full of himself, and I realized that all the books we needed for the class were ones he himself had written, and all he talked about was his stories, what he did and what odd things he came across.  

Astronomy was taught every Wednesday by Professor Sinistra, she was quite a beautiful woman but always seemed very unenthusiastic when talking about anything other than stars and planets, she always seemed most at home with a telescope to her face.  Herbology was an odd subject, I never saw the importance of plants, unless they were edible but here.. some of them moved, screamed, could be used in potions designed to kill, or make someone fall in love; Professor Sprout taught that.  She was a no-nonsense type of woman, who always went straight to the point, never beat around the bush, and wouldn't take any flak from the students.  

The Potions professor was none other than Professor Snape, who, despite our previous time together, continued to act as if I was no more than a student.  I wish I could have said I viewed him as no more than my Potions professor, however that wasn't the case.  I'd come to see him as not only the man who taught me what I know about the wizarding world, but as the man who saved me.  He was my hero, not just a professor.  

Last but not least were my flying lessons, which were terrifying.  I'd always been scared of heights, ever since my cousin Dudley had shoved me down a flight of stairs, and it took me nearly a week just to get the courage to lift the broom itself up off the ground.  By that time, most of the other students had learned to lift off, take off, turn and most could even do a few simple tricks.  They made it all look so easy but to me it was the hardest class I'd been forced to endure.

"No, no, you have to say it more forefully than that.  Don't squeak at it, you must command it!" Madam Hooch yelled from a few yards away, directing it at me as I continued to try and make my broom lift off the ground.  The most it did was spin around, whacking me in the back of my leg.  I stumbled, falling to my knees as the stupid piece of wood stopped turning and laid perfectly still.  

Everyone continued to bring up how Harry Potter was so amazing at broom-riding, how he was the youngest Seeker in ages, how our father had been amazing at Quidditch (which was a sport that could only be played by broom riding) and.. I felt like a failure, which couldn't have possibly helped my broom skills any.  

Standing back up, I stared down at the hunk of wood and straw, placed my hand above the handle and -as forcefully as possible- commanded it to come up. 

It slammed into my upper arm with a loud slapping sound before falling back onto the ground.  I clutched my arm, glaring at the stupid thing before glaring at Madam Hooch who kept telling me how to do it.  

I decided then and there, brooms weren't for me, and despite it being a class I had to take, I walked away.  I didn't want to have anything in common with my older brother anyways.

***

It didn't take me long to figure out who were my friends, who I should never be friends with, who the troublemakers were and who the class clowns were.  

A small, squeaky blond haired boy named Colin Creevey, who always seemed to want to take pictures of my brother (and sometimes even me), and two second year Hufflepuff twins Amy and Alan were my only friends so far.  Anyone who was in Slytherin seemed to be completely unfriendly, and apparently Gryffindor looked down on befriending them, so I suppose that worked out for the best.  Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley seemed to be the biggest trouble makers, my brother and Draco fought a lot. Last year, according to rumor, Harry, Hermione and Ron took down a troll that had gotten loose inside the castle.  The class clowns, whom apparently always played jokes on everyone else were the Weasley twins.  A pair of rather handsome ginger boys who seemed to enjoy confusing everyone around them on which one was Fred and which one was George.

Hogwarts was.. different.  I'd expected some sort of normalcy but as the weeks went passed and they turned to months, I realized that would never happen here, not with so much magic swimming about.  

Then came the attacks.  The first came on Halloween, and on November 1st, everyone was talking about how Mrs. Norris, the caretakers pet cat, had been petrified and.. surprise surprise, Harry Potter was right in the middle of it.  

Of course, despite how much I disliked my brother, I knew without a doubt that he would never harm another living creature if he could help it, so I knew he couldn't have done it.  

November 7th, Harry's arm was rendered useless during a Quidditch game, which just furthered my knowing that Harry couldn't have possibly done it because November 8th, my best friend, Collin was petrified.  

Professor McGonagall took down all the names of the students staying at Hogwarts over winter break not long after, I was one of them as I had no reason to go back to the Dursley's or Marge's house when I didn't absolutely have to. Unfortunately, my brother felt the same way and I knew that once winter break came, there would be no escaping the 'talk' Harry had so badly wanted over the months.  

Three days before end of term, a boy named Justin and Gryffindor's ghost were petrified.  

That's when the rumors of Hogwarts shutting down came around, and honestly the words spoken by the children at school terrified me.  I didn't want to have to go back to my regular life, full of abuse and neglect.  I loved it here, where the teachers cared about you and the students did their best to make you feel welcomed.  I loved feeling special, in a world of billions of people, I was one of very few graced with magical powers and I didn't want to give up learning how to use them.

Truth be told, I never wanted that to end.