Lyra Black

Chapter Five:

On Halloween, Lyra was a mix of excited for Hogsmeade, and sad because of everything that went wrong on this day twelve years ago. She joined Padma at the Entrance Hall to turn in their permission slips. When she handed in hers, Filch looked at it suspiciously.

"Professor McGonagall signed this?" He questioned suspiciously. Lyra nodded,

"Yes, she's my godmother." Filch looked at her in surprise, but let them pass.

Lyra and Padma spent the day in Hogsmeade, and enjoyed themselves immensely, though Lyra was still slightly down from the weight of the day. She decided to take a walk before the feast, and be slightly late, so when they returned, she put her things in her dormitory, before quietly telling Padma,

"I'm going to be a little late. I need to take a walk, it's been twelve years." Padma smiled sympathetically at her and bid her goodbye, before going to the feast with the others. Lyra set out around the castle, completely lost in her thoughts. She was unusually dressed in grey leggings and a long-sleeved blue shirt. She was normally in her Hogwarts robes or something appropriate for the Black Family heir to be seen wearing, but not today. She didn't pay any attention to where she was going and nearly ran into a large black dog. The same one from her boggart. Her eyes widened and she backed up slightly, unable to tear her eyes away from the dog, whom she knew to be her father.

The dog looked up and surprise filled his eyes as he saw Lyra, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Lyra had absolutely no idea what to do. She had no proof her father had killed all those people, but she also had no proof he didn't. The grim-like dog whimpered, cautiously approaching her. She stared at his grey eyes, the same eyes that so many people in her family had, and cautiously reached out a hand and pet his fur. He whimpered again and licked her hand, making her smile slightly at him, before standing up again.

"I have to go. You really should too. I'm not entirely sure what the professors would think of a dog being in the castle." She said disapprovingly. He licked her hand one more time before bounding off in the opposite direction, leaving Lyra to stare after him. His animagus form looked so much like hers. The only differences were the size and color of their eyes. Her father's eyes were grey like so many of her family members, but Lyra's were the same startling silver color as her human form. Their fur was the exact same though.

Still, slightly in shock, Lyra slipped into the Great Hall, somehow without anyone noticing, and sank into the seat beside Padma. She was certain her father had done something stupid, as he had been running away when she found him. She only hoped it hadn't been too stupid. She had no idea why she had let him go. Well, maybe it was because of how little he looked like he was going to murder someone. She had seen his face when he saw her and he looked like he would have been crying had he been in human form.

She quietly ate the food from the feast, still thinking about him. She had wandlessly changed back into her school robes for the feast so she wouldn't look out of place. She was getting quite good at wandless magic actually. When the feast ended, Lyra returned to her dormitory and changed into a grey pair of sleep shorts and the same long-sleeved blue shirt from before. She also grabbed her sketchbook and pencils, before sitting down on her bed and waiting for news of her father being in the castle. 

Sure enough, ten minutes later, a panicked looking Professor Flitwick hurried into the tower and escorted them into the Great Hall. Lyra listened as Dumbledore told them the teachers would be searching the castle, before joining Hermione in a corner.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asked. Hermione nodded,

"Go ahead. You can come here, next to me. Did you hear what happened?" Lyra grabbed one of the squishy purple sleeping bags and dragged it over next to Hermione.