"𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄?" Elias blurted at the sight of Professor Snape in their Defense Against Dark Arts class.
Raya and her friends had just gotten out of double potions, excited to see what new creature or curse Professor Lupin was going to teach them today. Of course, seeing Snape was not what they expected.
Snape raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
Elias gulped, "I mean... why are you here? Where's Professor Lupin? This is the Defense class, right?"
"Rest assured, you are in the right class, Mister Kane," he said drily. "As for Professor Lupin... he is ill today. I'm covering for him. Take a seat."
They made their way to their seats, a little wary at the sudden teacher change.
Snape's eyes narrowed at Raya as she sat in her usual spot at the front. She ducked down to avoid his gaze.
While she may be his star pupil in Potions, there was no hope for her Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not with Thomas taking the class as well.
"So unorganized," he muttered, leafing through the papers on Professor Lupin's desk. "He's too soft on you all. None of you deserve the marks you have."
"What are we learning today, Professor?" Thomas asked, distracting Snape from his slander of Professor Lupin.
"Hm," Snape put their assignments to a side. "I was thinking of going over some review topics, considering you lot haven't learned much with that horrible excuse of a Professor last year."
"You mean Mr. Lockhart?" Nathaniel asked.
Snape scowled. He opened the third years textbook, opening it to the last chapter. "Werewolves. Let's begin with werewolves."
Raya dropped her head against the desk.
"Miss Newbrooke?" Snape called her out. "Is there something you need to share with us?"
Raya shrugged, "Can we not, like, do werewolves right now? Or banshees? Or vampires? Or ghouls? Or anything that was features in Lockhart's books?"
"And why is that?" he asked, not at all pleased.
"Dude, I memorized three of his books," she told him. "Most of us have seen them reenacted enough times. I think we can review other things."
"You memorized three of his books?" Snape blinked.
"Not my proudest accomplishment," she shrugged. "But it was for questioning purposes."
"You've memorized Wanderings with Werewolves?" he asked.
"Yeah," Raya was wary now.
"Tell me, how much did you learn about werewolves from that book?" he asked. "Besides how to use a fake Charm on them?"
"Not much from the book itself, but the research to take down what he presented in the books taught me more than I ever need to know," Raya told him.
"How does a human become a werewolf?"
"When a werewolf's saliva mixes with a human's blood, they turn," she answered confidently.
"What's the difference between a werewolf and a regular wolf?"
"Shorter snout, human-like eyes, and a higher desire to kill," Raya said.
"How do you kill one?"
"What?"
"How do you kill one?" Snape asked, enunciating each word.
"Why would I want to know how to kill one?" she asked. "Werewolves are dangerous, sure. But they turn back into humans. They can be turned back using the Homorphus Charm. Worst case scenario, you turn it back to a human. Or blast them backwards."
Snape made an ugly face at her comment, and Raya was sure she would lose House Points.
In the end, he turned his attention to the rest of the class. "Thanks to Miss Newbrooke here, you've all got a new assignment. On two rolls of parchment, I want see why you should kill a werewolf instead of leaving it alive. And how to kill one. Three different ways. Due on Monday. Professor Lupin should be back by then. At least he'll have the pleasure of marking them."
Two days later, Raya and her friends headed over to watch the Quidditch game. Raya was still in a bad mood about the werewolf incident with Snape.
In fact, she'd decided to make an essay on two rolls of parchment explaining why shouldn't kill a werewolf. All of her friends had changed their own topics as well.
"Aren't they supposed to be versing Slytherin?" Elias asked. "That's what always happens."
Raya nodded, "Yeah, but the freaking Seeker still has a 'broken arm', so Slytherin demanded that their game is played only after he's healed."
"Are we cheering for Gryffindor or Hufflepuff?" Thomas asked on the other side of her.
"Both," she responded.
Raya was decked out in an assortment of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff clothes, trying her best to cheer both teams on equally. Thomas and Elias were dressed in normal clothes.
Rain fell over the field hard, and Raya had to bring out her omnioculars. Elias placed a drying and heating Charm over them, the three of them huddling together as the players finally rose up.
"Go Cedric!" Raya cheered, grinning at him.
The wind was so strong, it kept whipping Raya's hair in Thomas's face.
"Can you please tie it up — ugh!" he pulled Raya's hair out of his face.
"Hold," she held the omnioculars to Thomas, who held them for her. She tied her hair up, taking them back, "Thank you."
Roger climbed the stands, yelling to be heard over the rain and thunder.
"Slytherin has a new Chaser and Keeper!" he yelled.
"Who?" Raya asked. She hadn't heard anything about it recently.
"Miles Bletchley is the Keeper," Roger told her. "He's fast, but we can take him."
"And the Chaser?"
"You know Kayse Pierce, in fourth year?" he asked. "He's a Muggleborn, the only one on the team. I don't know how good he is, but he must be something if they let him on."
"I know him," Raya scowled in the general direction of the Slytherin stands. She remembered how he worked at the Quidditch store. "He definitely knows his way around brooms. I'm expecting an excellent flyer. We'll have to see how good he is at scoring."
Roger's face darkened, "I don't like that."
"Me neither," Raya agreed.
Roger head back to his spot, and Raya turned her attention towards the game. Gryffindor was winning by forty, but Raya couldn't see much of the game.
She watched as the other players fought against the winds, knowing they probably couldn't see well either. Raya listened, but she couldn't even hear Lee's commentary over the rain, and thunder, and wind.
After Gryffindor scored another goal — now up fifty — Wood had called a timeout. The two teams huddled, getting back onto the field a few minutes later.
Harry was flying better now, and as Raya pressed the omnioculars to her eyes, she realized he had made his glasses waterproof. Smart.
The game continued, and Raya watched as Harry seemed distracted for a second. She followed his gaze, but lightning flashed, obscuring her vision.
Her gaze caught on a small gold ball, Cedric spotting it a minute later. He threw himself at it, but Harry still hadn't noticed.
Oliver yelled his name, causing Harry to turn towards the Snitch. Cedric and Harry both sped towards it, putting on great bursts of speed.
Suddenly, the world slowed down.
Colors bled together, sound distorted. Raya looked at Thomas and Elias, who were feeling it too. Her gaze landed on the field where at least a hundred dementors stood, pointing up at Harry.
Harry made the mistake of looking at them, dropping off his broom. The crowd gasped, watching in horror as he fell to the ground.
Dumbledore was there immediately, casting a patronus to get rid of the dementors.
Raya looked back at the field in time to see Cedric catch the Snitch. He looked behind him, surprised Harry hadn't caught up, only then realizing that he'd fallen.
Dumbledore magicked Harry onto a stretcher and in the school. Within seconds, the field was flooded with students asking what happened, trying to get the details.
"Congrats," Raya pulled Cedric into a hug. "Oh, you're soaked."
"You're warm," he leaned into the hug.
"Heating Charm," Raya cast one on him.
"It wasn't a fair win," Cedric said. "I want a rematch. If it weren't for the dementors, Harry might've caught the Snitch."
"You won fair and square," Madam Hooch said. "We cannot do rematches. Everyone inside, now. The weather is terrible out here."
"Come to the library after you change," Raya told him.
"Alright," he said, still looking annoyed at how there was going to be no chance for a rematch.
"You don't see that every game," Elias muttered.
"Please tell me he's back," Elias stood outside their DADA class. "If we have Snape, I'm just gonna have a breakdown."
Raya poked her head in the classroom, silently praying for Professor Lupin.
"Oh thank fuck!" she exclaimed, walking into the class. "You're back! Finally! Don't ever fall sick again and leave us at the mercy of that monster."
Professor Lupin looked a little shocked, but also amused at Raya's exclamation.
"He's back," Elias poked his head in. He cheered when he saw Professor Lupin, "My bestie is back! Let's go!"
"Oh please, he likes me more," Nathaniel said as they made their way to their spot.
"Sure, after me," Thomas grinned, taking his seat.
Raya turned to Professor Lupin who was laughing lightly at their exchange, "I need you to swear you'll never leave us at the hands of Severus again."
"Professor Snape," Lupin corrected.
"You know he gave us homework?" Raya ignored his correction. "After I told him there were many ways to safely dispatch a werewolf, that annoying man made us all write two whole parchments on why you should kill one instead."
"And three ways how to!" Cierra added.
"A werewolf?" Professor Lupin raised a brow. "That was done last year, wasn't it?"
"Barely," Raya shrugged, leafing through her bag for her parchment. "We had a pretty incompetent teacher, and we didn't make it easy for him either. Snape said he wanted to do some review, and chose the last chapter. And then he just threw his own ideas on us, and refused to let us have any other opinion."
She pulled her parchment out and placed it on Professor Lupin's desk.
"Oh, you didn't have to—"
"—We did," Raya interrupted. "Snape asked us all if we did it this morning, and that man has the nose of a bloodhound. He can smell lies. Anyways, we did the essay, but none of us actually did what he told us to."
"What do you mean?" Professor Lupin asked as the rest of them began handing in their parchments.
"Well, none of us agreed with Snape," Thomas shrugged. "We can't write a whole essay — two parchments worth — about a topic we don't even believe in. So... we switched it up and wrote why you shouldn't kill a werewolf, and about the different ways you can actually help. Wolfsbane potion, different Charms, stuff like that."
"Please don't take off marks," Nathaniel muttered. "I need to do good in all of my classes this year if I want a new skateboard."
Professor Lupin cleared his throat, "Settle down, everyone. How many of you did the assignment Snape asked you to? Whether you followed his rules, or made your own?"
The entire class — Ravenclaws and Slytherins — raised their hands.
"How many of you followed his instructions?" he asked again.
All the Ravenclaw hands, and eight Slytherin hands went down. In the end, only two Slytherins had actually followed Snape's instructions.
"Well, since you all did the assignment, you all get five points each," Professor Lupin started. "You can hand it in if you choose. Just drop it on my desk. I'll go through them, and whatever mark you receive will only be a bonus mark. Anyone who doesn't want to hand it in, won't lose any marks."
Those who hadn't already handed it in, went to drop their parchments at Professor Lupin's desk.
"Alright, today we're gonna look over red caps," he announced. "Who wants to tell me about them?"
Thomas' hand was in the air before he finished speaking.
"All yours, Mister Pegas."
"Redcaps are dwarf-like creatures," Thomas began. "They like to live in places where human blood has been shed, like trenches. They can be dangerous to solitary Muggles, who they occasionally try and bludgeon to death."
"Excellent," he said. "Five points to Ravenclaw. Now, in Professor Snape's class, you all recently made a beautification potion, I believe."
"Oui," Raya nodded.
"Well, that was the first part of your lesson for the day," Lupin grinned. "I've got all of your cauldrons at the back. Go through them and find with one holds your potion. Spray bottles are on the shelves, fill them with your potion."
The Slytherins and Ravenclaws got up, filling spray bottles with their beautification potion. This wasn't a really hard potion to make, and Raya and Cedric finished theirs quite quickly.
Raya waited on her desk for Professor Lupin to give more instructions.
"We've got a nest of red caps in the dungeons," he said, leading them out of the class. "I was going to do this with my third years, but they haven't reached red caps yet. I thought it'd be a good topic of review for you."
"Woah, woah, woah," Kayse held his hands in a time-out position.
"Yes Mister Pierce?" Lupin raised a brow.
Kayse whirled on Thomas, "You said red caps like to live in places where blood had fallen, right?"
"Yeah," Thomas said warily.
Kayse turned back to Professor Lupin, "You're telling me blood has fallen in the dungeons. That's where our common room and dorms are!"
"Now, now," Lupin said calmly, even though the other Slytherins began to grow concerned as well. "Red caps will stay anywhere dark or gloomy. If even a drop of blood has fallen, from a small cut, or because someone hit their head, they'll immediately make nest there. I can assure you that the blood which has fallen near the dungeons is nothing more than a small cut."
Raya's mind went to Sirius Black.
He was bleeding a bit as he walked through the castle walls, and Raya had seen him in the Slytherin dungeons.
She remembered what Snape said, about not wanting Dumbledore to hire Professor Lupin. He thought Lupin was going to help Black.
Raya hated to admit it, but the fact that he mentioned the blood must've been a small cut, and how it had fallen in the dungeons, it just seemed too much to her.
She'd have to keep a closer eye on him.
The 'RAVENCLAW'S TOP SEEKER' shirts were back.
The Weasleys had found a new picture of her face, and were now selling, t-shirts, sweatshirts, crop tops, pants, socks, pins, and hats. Most students had bought the items because it was funny. Some cared about her Wronski Feint. But they all truly believed she was Ravenclaw's Top Seeker.
"Go easy on us, Rye," Cedric said to her.
Raya laughed, "Can't make promises like that, Ced."
"Captains," Madam Hooch called.
Cedric and Roger stepped forward to shake hands.
It was no secret that Hufflepuff had the worst team at Hogwarts. Cedric was their only good player, while the rest were barely even decent. Ravenclaw had the best team for the last two years, but with the rebuild happening this year, there wasn't much hope for them. Slytherin had a good team, but there was a new Chaser and Seeker for them. Since no one had seen Miles or Kayse play yet, they just had to assume they were good enough for the team. Gryffindor was probably the only good team this year. At the start of the season, they were expected to win the cup... and then they lost to Hufflepuff. They were still in the competition, but it would be harder.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the players took to the sky.
Raya wanted to cry because of how beautiful her Firebolt was. She hovered above the crowd and the players, gliding around just to admire her broom.
The weather was much nicer than the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff's game, so Raya could even hear the commentary.
"Roger to Raven — she's a new Chaser — who passes to Rico — another new Chaser — back to Roger — who shoots and scores!" Lee cheered. "The TripleR's have done it again! Ravenclaw leads forty to nothing!"
Raya rolled her eyes lightly as she continued searching the field for the Snitch. Lee was adamant on calling the three Ravenclaw Chasers the TripleR's. No one else seemed inclined to call them that.
Occasionally, Raya swooped down to help the new Ravenclaw goalie — Jia.
"Another excellent save by the Ravenclaw Seeker," Lee announced. "I think the 'RAVENCLAW'S TOP SEEKER' shirts should start saying 'RAVENCLAW'S TOP KEEPER'."
The score was one hundred fifty to forty when something caught Raya's attention.
She watched from the edge of her vision, as a large black dog stood in the stands. She remembered the black dog from practice before, and she was pretty sure it was the same one. Raya was half-tempted to fly around and check it out more closely when she spotted something gold behind the stands.
Near the top of the stands, fluttering behind a Slytherin's head, was the gold Snitch.
Without warning, Raya took off on her broom, flying right at it.
"And for some reason, Ravenclaw's Seeker is flying at the stands!" Lee announced. "There go a group of Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, rushing out of her way."
Lee had barely finished his final sentence before Raya had caught the Snitch, angling her broom upwards to just avoid hitting the top of the stands.
"RAYA'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Lee yelled into the microphone. "RAVENCLAW WINS! Would you look at her beauty of a broom? The Firebolt everyone. Goes from—"
"—Stop promoting brooms!" Professor McGonagall said from behind.
"Oh, alright," Lee sighed.
Raya held the Snitch high, grinning as the crowd cheered her on. She clambered off her broom once she reached the ground, resisting the urge to give it a kiss. Raya searched the stands, but couldn't find what she was looking for.
Maybe the black dog wasn't there at all.
REY WRITES!
thanks for reading!!
i had an exam yesterday, and completely forgot
to update, so sorry!
but raya and co. refusing to make an essay
about how to kill a werewolf is my fav
thoughts?
comments?
questions?
headcanons?
theories?