𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 - 𝙝.𝙥. ⚯͛

𝘃𝗶- 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗂𝗏𝖺𝗅 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗎𝗑𝖻𝖺𝗍𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖽𝗎𝗋𝗆𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗀

╰┈➤ ❝ [author's notes] ❞

first of all, thank you so much for your continued support on this story; I appreciate you all so much! sorry this chapter took a bit longer— I didn't want to rush through it. 

also, until future notice, I won't have a scheduled posting day (it used to be Sunday), but there will still be a chapter posted each week and it can vary from any day between Friday- Sunday. thanks for understanding <3 

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

╰┈➤ ElSIE'S POV

September came and went by in a haze. The world was washed away in grey as continuous downpours kept the castle grounds sodden and muddy, the students soaked from head to toe as they walked from one outdoor class to another.

Every evening before dinner, it had become routine for Elsie to accompany Harry to the Owlery where he was awaiting another response from Sirius. Apparently, Harry had written to Sirius early one morning to try and convince him not to return to Hogwarts and that his scar was fine, but Elsie had a hunch Sirius would come to keep an eye on Harry anyway.

Harry wasn't too happy with the idea of Sirius being out in the open when he was still being hunted by the Ministry, so Elsie did her best to reassure him that all would be alright. Since Harry didn't have Quidditch practice right now— the one thing Elsie knew would help take his mind off things— she helped distract him in other ways; she let Harry talk himself hoarse about Quidditch, ramble on about how much he loathed Snape, and sometimes they went for long walks around the castle without saying a word, simply enjoying each other's company.

When they weren't in classes, most of the Gryffindors' time was spent in the common room; the fourth-years had been given lots of extra work from all their professors— Professor Binns assigned weekly essays, Professor McGonagall assigned them the task of transfiguring a hedgehog into a pincushion, and Professor Flitwick had them read three books to prepare for working on Summoning Charms (something Elsie was very much looking forward to). Not to mention, Professor Moody had all third years be put under the Imperius Curse daily until they could fight it off properly. It took Elsie a few days to be able to shake off the curse completely, unlike Harry, who had succeeded on the first day.

But more taxing than all of these assignments combined were the huge Skrewts they had to observe in Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class. Half the students had burns all over their hands and arms, including Elsie, who had received a particularly large burn on her forearm when her Skrewt had blasted off unexpectedly just as she was dropping some grubs into the crate.

Though Elsie's days were busy, her nights up in the dormitory were peaceful. Lavender Brown, one of Elsie and Hermione's roommates, took it upon herself to make sure that they all found a balance between studying and relaxing; twice a week she would host a girls' night which consisted of applying facemasks, painting each other's nails, and chatting into the night for hours.