Lyra Hogwarts

VII

Flying class. The one class Lyra was not looking forward to.

'Why,' you ask? Well, it would have to be because her father just so happened to be the Flying Instructor while the regular one, Madam Hooch, was away.

Just her luck.

She didn't know what had happened all those years ago, when she had disappeared from the house. Lyra had not spoken to any of the Potters since arriving at Hogwarts, so she had no idea if they even remembered her.

While for a different reason, Lyra was not the only one dreading the lesson. Neville shared her dread, mostly because he was clumsy enough as it was with both feet on the ground. 

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The lesson had arrived, and Lyra was walking down to the Quidditch pitch. She was walking alone, mostly because she hadn't really made much of an effort to socialize with her housemates. 

She was lost in her thoughts when something barreled into her back, sending both her and whoever it was that ran into her down the last of the stairs. "Oof!"

Rolling over so she wasn't on her stomach, Lyra could now see the person that ran into her. Red hair and blue eyes were the features she immediately noticed, before the yellow on her tie stood out. One of the 'Puffs.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and offering Lyra a hand. Taking it, Lyra shook her head.

"It is not a problem," she said softly. Most of the school knew her to be soft spoken, and the rumors had been true. "I am Lyra. Who are you?"

The girl answered while fixing her tie. "Susan Bones. You're in Ravenclaw, right? We have flying class with you."

"Yes, but we will be late," Lyra pointed out, leading to the unlikely pair sprinting through the castle to reach the pitch on time. Susan was basically Lyra's opposite; loud, outgoing and unafraid to speak up. 

Lyra preferred the quiet, was not all that fond of socializing and would generally only speak up when there was an opening or it was desperately needed. But that incident was the foundation for a wonderful friendship, though neither knew it.

The lesson went like any other, though Lyra was on edge the whole time. Who knew what James Potter would do if he knew that she was his missing daughter. Did they even know she was missing?

Neville had informed her that the Gryffindor-Slytherin flying lesson had been a mess. Between Samuel trying to show off, Draco Malfoy making the class all the more difficult and the terrible brooms; it was no wonder.

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Everyone knew Halloween had arrived when they woke to the scent of pumpkin pie and saw the decorations placed sporadically along the halls.

Most people were excited for the arrival of the feast, Neville included. Lyra, on the other hand, would have preferred it if she could just skip Halloween.

The night marked the beginning of the Potters forgetting her, and the start of six lonely years in the manor.

But Neville and Susan were nearly jumping up and down in excitement, and Lyra couldn't bring herself to change that.

So she attended the Halloween feast, after a day filled with classes. She'd been especially fond of Charms, the levitation spell was always fun to practice. She was sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table, as the others in the house were still no more than acquaintances.

She loved the Hogwarts feasts, and clearly Nova agreed. The sneaky cat was hiding under the table, happily eating the scraps Lyra would pass her. It seemed like a normal dinner.

Until the Defense Against Dark Arts Professor sprinted in.

"TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" he screamed, "Thought you should know." he collapsed in a faint.

'Ouch, he's going to have a bruise later,' Lyra winced as the man had fallen directly on his face.

The Headmaster had stood up, hands raised for silence. "All students will return to their dormitories," he boomed, "Prefects, please gather your houses."

Lyra frowned. The Slytherin common room was in the dungeons. Did he want them in more danger?

She took a breath, "Headmaster, the Slytherin common room is in the dungeon!" Lyra called from her seat.

This led to everyone stopping in their tracks. The Headmaster nodded, after a moment. "All students will stay here," he declared, "Prefects will organize each year group."

He and the staff left directly after, and the hall was relatively calm as they were moved into their year groups. That was when yet another person came running and screaming into the hall.

Samuel Potter and Ronald Weasley were sprinting through the doors, a troll lumbering after. "Help!" Samuel shouted between screams.

The Prefects looked panicked, one nearly being hit by the troll's club before they began moving all the students further into the hall. None of them made any move to stop the troll at all.

Lyra gave up on the last of her hope, she would have to deal with this herself. She broke away from the group of first years, wand out and pointed at the troll's club.

'Bombarda,' she incantaded quietly, the spell shooting out and colliding with the club. It disintegrated.

The Prefects and older students got the idea now, after having a first year do more than them. Cries of 'Bombarda!' came from all around the hall.

They would be unlikely to kill the troll, but lucky to injure it. However, it seemed the troll was simply getting more an dmorw annoyed, as evidenced by the way it swung its arms and fists.

It nearly hit one of the third years, a Ravenclaw girl of whom Lyra was rather fond of. She was down to earth, and despite Lyra's less than open personality she had always smiled and greeted her.

Lyra stepped forward again, wand aimed directly at the troll's head this time. 'Defodio' she called out, the jet of light carving directly through the trolls head.

It fell, landing with a crash, and Lyra swayed lightly in her feet. Hogwarts needed to learn that these 'thank yous' and 'welcome backs' were going to make her pass out.

Neville and Susan, it seemed, thought she was swaying because of magical exhaustion, and darted to her sides.

The professors came running in before they could say anything, looking from the troll to the bject of the other students gaze.

"What on earth...?"

1075 words

Hello anyone, I apologize for the delay in this chapter being posted. I am currently two weeks into the four weeks of tests, and I haven't had the time to write until now. Anyway, a longer chapter today! Hope that makes up for the wait.

Stay safe all!