☽☽☽
ATHENA HAD FEVERISHLY TRIED to avoid Gilderoy Lockhart since the dreaded Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, he seemed to be wherever she went. He'd be lurking at the bottom of the astronomy tower after her lessons were finished, he was waiting by the great hall doors once breakfast was over.
She'd taken to sitting up on her hidden windowsill whenever possible. Athena would take a book and sit in the cold with a heating charm around her. Athena liked the peace and quiet out there, she'd occasionally see a flying lesson or a quidditch practice but not much else.
Other than that, she liked to adventure down to the Hartland's cafe for a warm drink and a good conversation. Usually, the cafe had been her safe space. Hazel could talk for England and Athena therefore didn't need to put any input in about her own life.
However since seeing Remus' shadowed figure walking away in the rain, Athena had been more nervous to go down there. She knew that he was going more regularly now and she couldn't blame him. The Hartland's had been his friends before hers yet the thought that she could bump into her struck more fear in her than the idea of a large monster walking around Hogwarts.
It seemed everyone was getting a little too comfortable in the school at the moment. The last attack had been back in December and when Athena heard students talking about the chamber, she heard them talking about how they believed everything was fine now.
It's not that Athena didn't want this to be true, the problem was that she was very sure it wouldn't be so easy to rid the school of this threat. After all, the monster hadn't just died off all of a sudden and Lockhart definitely hadn't simply scared it off like he'd suggested.
The students who had been petrified were still up in the hospital wing, hidden at the back and out of view from any curious prying eyes. The mandrake draught wouldn't be ready for another few months and Athena wondered why people weren't so bothered by this anymore.
There were still two young boys lying completely immobilised in the hospital wing yet it seemed that as long as everyone else was ok that the situation wasn't worth worrying over.
Personally, Athena was no longer naive enough to believe that everything was simply over. She knew better and she knew that the chamber hadn't just closed again. It wouldn't be that easy.
Unlike everyone else, Athena was walking around with a light edge in her eyes as she tried to spot any sign of trouble of danger. She wasn't arrogantly pacing around and laughing as though they were in a normal year at Hogwarts. Athena was using all her senses in an attempt to sniff out the monster before it struck again.
Trelawney seemed to share the same ideas as her. Athena wasn't surprised, Sybil liked to expect danger even if she was miles away from it. However Athena was glad that not everyone had forgotten about the fear that had infected the school only months ago.
☽☽☽
Athena lay her head back against the wall, shutting her eyes and listening to the gentle call of the birds flying around in the trees. The sky was a soft powder blue, the clouds threatening to take over with their curse of rain.
She was back sitting on the windowsill mainly because she had just seen Lockhart standing outside of her office obviously waiting for her to return. Athena hated conversation with him at the best of times but today she was already exhausted.
Her head felt as though someone had hit it with a hammer right at her temple. Vision slightly hazy, she'd been gifted by one of her familiar headaches. Athena was used to the prickling and burning sensation in her mind however it didn't make it any easier.
She opened her eyes and squinted from the light that met her. It seemed the sun had come out again from behind its cloud. It waved at her, casting a golden light over her skin but did nothing to quell the pain in her head.
As she was thinking that she should probably get back to her office and hope that Lockhart had left, Athena heard running footsteps and loud yells. She pushed open the window with force and stuck her head into the corridor.
None of the students passing seemed to notice her. They'd come running out of a classroom and the hallway was now congested.
"She's frozen!"
"Is the monster still in there?"
"Of course not or he'd be frozen too"
Athena's heart began to race as her stomach dropped. She went to clamber out off the window ledge and as she did so, she spotted a taller figure coming to see what all the noise was about.
Eleanor Lupin towered over the first years and frowned at the skittish behaviour. Her long hair tied back and her glare narrowed as she stepped into the classroom.
Athena hopped off the ledge and she heard a loud yell echoing against the stone halls. Pacing forwards, she shoved past the classroom door and saw that Elle had stumbled back a few paces in her surprise, hands now clasped over her face.
Turning, she saw exactly why Elle had reacted the way she did. Lying on the floor was a figure so stiff that she could have been a statue.
"Alicia" Elle murmured. The girl had dark curls spread out over the floor behind her, a look of complete terror and sadness riddled her wide brown eyes.
Athena had taught her before, the Gryffindor chaser was in fourth year just like Elle. They were obviously close, there were tears in Elle's eyes as she stared at her.
Looking around the room for some sign of anything at all, Athena spotted something that made her skin pale. The mirror stood tall, golden decorations around the edges and a shimmering surface that was showing the wall behind it.
Athena had thought and hoped she would never see this mirror again. The mirror of ersied. She wondered what it was doing there. It had been down in a deep part of the castle protecting a stone the previous year however Athena doubted that was necessary anymore.
However, putting it in an empty classroom seemed like a bad idea. The mirror was addicting, worryingly so at times. Athena herself has sat before it on the stone cold floor for longer than she wanted to admit.
"She must have seen it through the mirror" Elle pointed out, looking at how the girl lay exactly in front of it.
"Interesting" Athena mused. She dared not go any closer towards the mirror. If she saw the reflection there might be no dragging her away.
"Go get a teacher" Athena turned to Elle, "McGonagall or someone, we need to get her to the hospital wing"
Elle nodded, blinking away her pearly tears before she turned and pushed past the first year students who were now all crowding around the door to get a good luck.
"Get out of here!" Athena snapped angrily with a glare. The students looked to her as though challenging Athena. They didn't move, that's for sure.
"Didn't you hear me?" Athena murmured angrily, "get out unless you want no house points left!"
This seemed to do it. The small children scuttled in the other direction however their absence didn't provide any solace. As they left, Athena's eyes landed on a figure who had just arrived. The person she wanted to see least of all, Lockhart.
"Another one" he gasped, "I just walked by here before! If I'd stayed I could have fought the monster off!"
"Yes I'm sure" Athena sighed, "do me a favour and go get McGonagall or someone?"
"And leave you alone? It isn't safe!" He exclaimed. Athena looked up at him in indignation however he didn't seem to notice. The man was already pacing around the room with his periwinkle robes flowing out behind him.
"It can't be that big, this monster" he began with a calculating look.
"How'd you figure that?" Athena asked in a bored tone,
"Well someone would have seen it" Lockhart pointed out. Athena didn't reply, she was glad that in this moment Elle came back with McGonagall rushing behind her.
"Oh goodness" McGonagall gasped, "and you found her miss Lupin?"
"Yes" Elle nodded, "I think some students got her before me... first years"
"Yeah Hufflepuff first years" Athena added, "they're gone now, I sent them away"
"Probably for the best" McGonagall sighed, "just when things felt like they were getting back to normal... help me get her up to the hospital wing Athena?"
"I can help professor!" Beamed Lockhart,
"It's alright Gilderoy, I assure you" McGonagall smiled coldly.
"Are you ok Elle?" Athena turned to the young girl who was still staring at her friend with a lost expression.
"I will be yes" Elle nodded, "I better go tell the others"
The girl turned and walked out of the room with her head hung low.
Together, McGonagall and Athena lifted the girl into the air. Gilderoy rushed forwards to help however McGonagall shot him such a stern glance that he took a few steps back with an almost ashamed expression on his face.
They took her all the way up to the hospital wing, trying to avoid as many people as possible.
"I'll go inform Albus" McGonagall murmured as they placed Alicia down on one of the back beds. Madame Pomfrey was looking over her now however there was nothing that the woman could do.
Athena wanted to ask why the mirror of erised was sat in that random classroom, she wanted to tell Dumbledore that he was an idiot for placing it where anyone could find it.
However she supposed it wasn't the right time. The gold of the mirror had infected her mind yet again. She saw herself standing in front of it. She saw her friends surrounding her with jovial smiles and uncaring laughter. Athena would do anything to feel the heartbreaking happiness that she'd felt just looking at them again.
Athena knew better. She knew what would happen if she saw that reflection again, she would never leave. Right now the school needed all the help it could get. She switched her concentration back onto Alicia and looked at the way that her eyes looked like glass.
She wondered if those who had been petrified realised what was going on. She wondered if they could still think. Athena had been in a coma for a brief period of time and it had been one of the worst things that she'd ever experienced.
Athena hoped that they didn't realise what was happening to them. She imagined that they were simply sleeping, that they'd been placed on pause like a trivial tv show. Really she didn't know what to believe she just hoped that the fate wouldn't be shared by anyone else anytime soon.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 1845
Published- 5th May 2021
(Yes this part is
mainly for cinnamon dreams )