Elise could barely breathe at the sight of the dangling pupet hanging from the air.
"Who is that?"
Both her and Millicent stepped backwards, their feet crunching the snow beneath them. "W-what?"
Hanging several feet above the air was Katie Bell, her mouth wide open, her eyes bloodshot. Her scream was the only sound that could be heard, it was chilling, more so than the crisp winter air, more so than the snow pouring down onto Elise's bare skin.
Elise watched as the scene before her unfolded, Katie's friend grasping her ankles tightly, trying to pull her back to the ground, the three figures before her rushing to their side. It was chaos. Screaming, shouting, the sounds of footsteps against the snowy ground. Her hair danced violently in the wind, her face eerily placid.
Katie let out another terrible scream, thrashing and screaming as her body fell back down onto the snowy ground with a soft thud. As soon as she hit the ground, her eyes rolled back, deep into her skull.
"Come on-." Millicent tugged at her arm, "we should go."
But Elise couldn't pull herself away, everything she was watching was like a movie. By Katie's side, someone reached down, taking something from her possessions and a few moments later, Hagrid appeared by her side, taking her in his arms. Despite his distance from her, his voice bellowed through the crisp air, "get back! All o' yeh!"
In a few short moments, the scene before her vanished, Katie Bell's lifeless body being carried away by Hagrid, a group of students following close behind.
Elise blinked rapidly, wiping away the heavy sleet that had collided with her face "what just happened?"
"Something we shouldn't question." Millicent shook her head, somehow, it meant nothing to her. She was able to shake it away with just a move of her head.
"But-"
Millicent cut her off, "no buts Elise."
Elise couldn't remove the image of the wailing girl from her mind. Somehow, it was locked in there, as though it had been permanently burnt into her brain.
On the walk back to the castle, it was all she could think about. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Katie's haunted face, screaming out for help. Although Millicent seemed unfazed, Elise certainly couldn't say the same.
Every step she took closer towards the castle made her heart pound, it all reminded her of when she had found her father that fateful day. The eerie silence followed by screams. Elise had never screamed so much. No magic in the world had prepared her for what she had seen, all she could do was sit and hold her fathers hand while she waited. She had felt so useless. It was something she hoped she would never feel again.
So now, given the opportunitiy, Elise needed information. She needed to feel helpful, even if she wasn't truly. Elise wanted to know everything that had happened to Katie Bell, including who had done it to her. She simply had to know.
There had been so many events occur at Hogwarts that she had simply brushed under the rug. She had been too young to even understand the events that unfolded during her first two years, and by the time she reached her third year, all she had was fear. Hearing that a serial killer had escaped did not make her feel curious, or brave, or intrugued; instead, all she felt was afraid. Elise could barely utter a single word that whole year.
Come the Triwizard Tournament, her curiosity had begun to grow, but she lacked the abilities to fully understand what was happening around her. By the time she came to return for her second term she found herself deep in a pit of sadness after her fathers tragic accident. Not an ounce of curiosity could blossom in the dark abyss of her depression. All Elise could feel was blank.
This time, she was ready. Curiosity was brewing inside of her, coarsing through her veins, and now an mystery had unfolded that she was itching to solve.
"Find anything good in Hogsmeade today?" Daphne asked the duo as soon as they entered back into the dim lit common room.
"We got a few sweets," Millicent began, opening up her bag and revealing her haul. "I got the most but Elise..." She turned to her expectantly.
"Yes," she jumped, reaching into her own bag.
"So I have a few Mice Pops, Bertie Botts..." Millicent trailed off, listing her haul as she revealed each one.
Elise nodded, "yeah, yeah, the same." Haphazardly, she showed off her small collection of sweets.
"Then we got some butter beers-."
"Disgusting!" Daphne exclaimed in response, "they're so sweet."
Millicent rolled her eyes, "that's the whole point Daphne!"
"I couldn't even stomach the thought of a butterbeer," Pansy added curtly., "they taste so horrible."
"I suppose you prefer some firewhiskey-"
"What?!" exclaimed Millicent, "when have you tried firewhiskey?"
Pansy scoffed in response, "some of us... Prefects get special privileges."
"I have to go..." Elise said, standing up and leaving the common room without another word. Nobody would even notice she had left, they all seemed too enthralled in their own lives, but Elise had to know what had happened to Katie Bell, she had to investigate. She had witnessed a girl possessed, and had been given no answers. Millicent didn't even seem fazed, and she knew that none of the Slytherins would care to investigate with her, they all simply watched as the world around them fell apart.
Elise made her way around the castle, wand in hand as she crept through the labyrinth of halls. She traipsed through the castle until she knew exactly where to go - Katie had to be in the Hospital Wing. With haste, she made her merry way.
"Merlin-" she heard a voice call out as her body collided with another.
"Watch where you're going!" She yelled, pulling herself away until she realised who it was. "Oh," Elise sighed, "Draco."
"Elise." He kept his voice low, staring down at the ground.
"Where are you off to? Everyone's in the common room..."
Draco shrugged, "I had a detention."
"Another one?" Somehow, Draco had found himself in detention every week, a stark change from his golden student act the year prior. "How do you even keep getting them?"
He shrugged again, mumbling before turning hot on his heel and stalking down the hallway away from her.
It was clear Elise would get nowhere further with Draco, their converstaion ending before it had even begun. Knowing where she needed to go, Elise made her way up to the hospital wing.
Peering around the corner, Elise could see two figures sat at the end of a bed, one lifelessly laying in the other bed.
"It's just awful isn't it," Katies friend, Leanne shook her head. "Why did it happen to her?" She pleaded to Madame Pompfrey, looking over at Katie, who lay lifeless beside her, her blank eyes staring up at the sky.
"Do not worry Leanne, she is in the best place, we have Healers from St Mungos on their way, they will do all that they can!"
"All they can?" Leanne's mouth fell open, "but she will be okay?"
"Professor Snape has managed to staunch the curse from progressing any further, but we may not know for a while. It appears," Madame Pomfrey grimaced, "it is too soon to tell." She turned away, moving to tend to Katie, her wand raised. "Episkey," she spoke softly, watching as the grazes on Katie's body began to heal slowly. Although to the untrained eye, Katie now appeared to be well, Pomfrey could see the curse in Katie's eyes. Her once brown eyes were a deep black, her blood coarsing through her body with a greyish tinge, her skin jaundice. Although she would do all she could, Madame Pomfrey knew that until Katie was in St Mungos, her chances were limited.
Elise looked over at Leanne, who sat with a tear in her eye. "Leanne," she spoke, slowly moving into the Hospital Wing without a second thought, "what happend to her?" If Elise was going to get information from anyone, it would be a first-hand witness.
"E-Elise?" She took a moment to recognise the Slytherin, shaking her off once she did. "Why do you care?" The two had barely even exchanged a word since starting Hogwarts, and any words they had, were certainly not positive.
"I saw it," Elise looked down to the end of Leanne's bed, "mind if I?" Leanne didn't respond so Elise took her chance, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "I saw her, fly into the air. She was screaming." She shivered as she recalled the memory.
"She picked up this stupid package-"
"Where?"
"In the Three Broomsticks, she came out of the toilets with it. She must have been Imperiused, she said it was for someone in Hogwarts... a surprise...."
"A surprise?" Elise raised her brows, "who for?"
Leanne shook her head, "she wouldn't say." Tears had began to form in her eyes, "but she was adamant, she had to give it to them. And thats when she started screaming. You need to go." She said firmly, "I've already told everyone everything."
"Who?"
Leane shook her head, "Elise just go."
But Elise needed to know, "who else have you told?"
"McGonagall, Dumbledore isn't even here." She shook her head, "get out of here Elise, please." Her words cut through the air harshly, "get out of here."
Elise startled. Leanne had always seemed so quiet, so calm, but right here in this very moment, it was as though a storm was coarsing through her veins.
"It's the fault of people like you," she rolled her eyes at Elise's uniform, "that things like this happen at Hogwarts."