Trying to find a way up around the sides of the castle was a feat unto itself. Especially while trying to avoid the myriad number of poachers keeping a watch on the place. Even under Disillusionment, Alayna feared any one of them might spot her. She should have run after Natty as soon as she'd made a break for the door. Instead, she was trying to be silent as a mouse as she snuck past a pair of poachers chatting about their traps or something else that Alayna didn't care to pay attention to. They were at least distracted enough not to notice her.
In fact, she was lucky that none of the poachers noticed her as she climbed her way around the tower via broken walls, makeshift platforms, and even entering the castle. Alayna had thought she might run into Natty once she entered the castle, but the place was just as much a maze as Hogwarts was. So she just kept climbing up, searching the rooms of the castle along the way for possible evidence. Not that a whole castle full of poachers wasn't evidence enough. Seriously, Alayna wondered why the Ministry didn't crack down on Rookwood and his men when their operations were so obvious and out in the open.
Along the way, Alayna took out a few poachers that were by themselves in some of the rooms using Petrificus Totalus. Hopefully no one would come in and find them like that or the whole place would know someone was there.
"Come on, Natty. Where are you?" Alayna muttered as she reached the top of the castle. She had to still be on one of the lower levels then. She was about to head down when she heard something behind a nearby door. It sounded like...a hippogriff screeching.
Immediately she went through the nearby door to see what was on the other side. She had been right, it had been a hippogriff she'd heard. Two of them were chained to the roof of the castle, one with brown feathers and the other...
"Highwing?" Alayna gasped and hurried over to the white hippogriff. Highwing nuzzled her shoulder, prancing anxiously. "Hang in there, girl. I'll set you free." She started studying the chains that were clasped around the hippogriff's legs. They weren't terribly heavy, she could probably blast them off.
"I'm going to break the chain, it will be okay," Alayna told Highwing as if the hippogriff might understand her. She wasn't sure if it worked, but she thought for a few seconds that Highwing stilled so she wasn't moving around as much. Using a basic cast was enough to snap the chain apart. She did the same for the brown hippogriff too.
Just as she was breaking the chain on the brown hippogriff's leg, the door burst open and Natty ran through.
"We need to go!" Natty shouted, looking panicked. Alayna had turned her wand on her at first, thinking she was a poacher but her panic only turned to figuring out how they were going to get off of the roof. Highwing nudged her shoulder again, flapping her wings and prancing as though she were inviting Alayna to climb on. Right, there were two hippogriffs. They could fly off with them.
"Climb on!" Alayna told Natty as she climbed on Highwing's back. Natty looked hesitantly at the brown hippogriff who instead of feeling grateful for being freed, simply decided to flee. It ran to the edge of the roof and took off.
"Wait!" Natty shouted with no luck. Behind them, several poachers came through the door wands out and ready to start attacking.
"Time to go, Highwing!" Alayna used her wand to protect the two of them as a barrage of spells came at them. Highwing snorted and took off at a running start. Before she reached the edge of the roof, she leapt into the air and grabbed Natty by the shoulders. With just a few powerful flaps of her wings, they were soaring through the air and away from the poachers who shouted angrily behind them. Alayna tried to hold on tight to Highwing using her legs and digging her hands into her feathers. Highwing climbed higher after the brown hippogriff and deposited Natty on its back. A few screeches from Highwing and it seemed willing to help out now.
As they soared further from the castle and over the lake, Alayna laughed. She had thought flying on a broom was amazing. Riding on a hippogriff was just as incredible. The sun was just starting to set, turning the sky a bright orange and in turn the lake waters below reflected that color.
"This is amazing!" she shouted to Natty as the brown hippogriff slowed to fly next to Highwing.
"I've never ridden a hippogriff before. This is fun!" Natty shouted back. Highwing screeched and the pair of hippogriffs dove down towards the water until they were flying just above it. They curved in their flight pattern to circle Hogwarts castle, flying higher once more when they reached land. Highwing guided them back to the same clearing Alayna had first met her in and there they landed. Alayna slid off her back, giving her some well-earned scratches.
"Did you find anything?" she asked Natty.
"A letter to Harlow from Rookwood. Although, I worry it won't be enough for Officer Singer to act on," Natty sighed and pulled the paper out of her pocket.
"You mean she won't want to do anything," Alayna added. "I get the feeling the only way she would arrest Harlow is if he started attacking Hogsmeade itself."
"You're not wrong. But if we get enough evidence we could even go to the Ministry. They would have to do something then."
"Will they though, Natty? Everyone knows the poachers are in the Forbidden Forest. Everyone knows they go into Hogsmeade on the regular, but no one does anything. Who's to say they ever will?" Alayna didn't mean to be pessimistic, but she knew she was right by the expression that came over Natty's face.
"They have to. Once we have enough evidence." There Natty was again with her insistence. Alayna had to credit her for wanting to push forward even after almost being cornered by a bunch of poachers on a roof. And, of course, she still wasn't going to let her do this alone.
"Alright, we'll keep looking."
Alayna turned back to Highwing and the brown hippogriff then. Highwing had already escaped poachers once before this. Now this was two times she'd been caught by them. She stepped closer to the hippogriff and scratched her neck.
"Highwing, how would you like to come stay in a safe place where poachers won't be able to get you? Your friend too," Alayna asked. It was clear to her that Highwing really did understand her in some way. The hippogriff let out a few short screeches and nudged her.
"Alright, alright," Alayna laughed. "Don't worry, I'll let Poppy know where you are too and she can come visit." She pulled out the nabsack and vacuumed both Highwing and the brown hippogriff into it. She would have to talk to Poppy about keeping Highwing in the Room of Requirement to make sure she was okay with it, but she had a strong feeling she would.
For now though, she had Astronomy class to get to so she and Natty hurried back inside the castle. Alayna didn't even have time to take Highwing and her friend to the Room until the following day.
"I rescued two hippogriffs from poachers," Alayna told Deek the story when she arrived in the Room. "Although I'm worried having large magical creatures mixed with smaller ones might not be a great idea."
As if on cue, the Room began to shake in response to her thoughts. To their upper right, the bookshelves and part of the wall folded back to form an upper walkway instead. In an alcove up there grew a circular glass greenhouse, like a pumpkin from a certain fairytale that grew into a carriage.
"Another space!" Alayna ran up the stairs that formed in what had formerly been a small alcove with a statue. As soon as the space was done transforming, she entered the greenhouse.
The space beyond resembled the cliffside she had seen near Feldcroft. Stretching before her was a crystalline blue ocean with a sandy beach and rocky formations. Even the air smelled of salt making the space feel more real. To be honest, Alayna wasn't sure if these spaces were real or what.
"It's incredible. I might like this space even better than the other one," Alayna told Deek as he joined her.
"And there is plenty more space for magical creatures."
"I guess I need to get to rescuing more then," Alayna laughed. She pulled out the nabsack then and opened it up to let out Highwing and the other hippogriff. "What do you think Highwing?" Both of the hippogriffs began walking around, checking out their surroundings. Then within a few seconds they were taking to the skies and flying through the air.
"They like it," Deek said, clasping his hands together as he watched the hippogriffs with her.
"Yes, I'm glad. If you don't mind, I have a friend I might let come in. She's friends with the white hippogriff and she also loves magical creatures."
"Deek does not mind. You are free to use the Room as you wish. Deek would welcome another friend to care for the magical creatures."
"Thank you, Deek." Alayna smiled and turned to look up at the hippogriffs once more. She remained for a little while to make sure they were fully settled and taken care of and also checked in on the other magical creatures. Then it was back to the long list of things she needed to do like homework, talk to Poppy, talk to Fig, more homework, possibly a trip into Hogsmeade, etc.
Alayna felt like she never stopped, which was why the moments she had in the Room of Requirement had started to become so special to her. It was her space where she could do what she liked and just step away from the chaos of the world around her. It was a safe space. One that she was...a little reluctant to share with someone else even if that someone was Poppy whom she cared very much about. So, she put that off to the side for now. She hadn't had the chance to talk to Professor Fig yet about her encounter with Lodgok. Now that it was the weekend, she hoped he wouldn't be too busy.
"Professor?" Alayna knocked at his office door this time, wanting to make sure she wasn't interrupting anything.
"Come in!" came his voice from behind the door. "Ah, Alayna. I was wondering if you might be popping in sometime soon." Professor Fig smiled as he looked up from some papers and saw it was her.
"Yes, I haven't gotten many chances to talk to you since the trial," Alayna replied as she stepped into the room.
"We are both very busy people. But come sit, is there something in particular you wanted to talk about?" Professor Fig stood up from his desk and motioned for her to join him by the fireplace where he had two comfortable armchairs.
"I did, I went to speak to Sirona about Lodgok of course," Alayna started as she sat down in one of the armchairs.
"Oh yes! How did that go?" Professor Fig leaned in a little closer.
"I ended up helping Lodgok retrieve a goblin relic that he hoped would put him in Ranrok's good graces. I've not heard back from him yet though..." She worried about telling him that part. It was now almost a week and while she imagined it would take Lodgok some time to get information, to not hear anything was worrying.
"Hm, I see. It may take some time...we can only have faith. But if you trust him." Professor Fig rubbed his chin.
"I do," Alayna responded.
"Alright, we could always try telling Professor Rookwood and Rackham that and see if that will assuage some of their fears."
"I actually don't mind waiting a little longer." She wasn't too eager to rush into another trial after having to face that giant knight in the last one. Through her classes, she'd been learning new spells, especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she wanted to be more prepared. "I wanted to ask...I visited Feldcroft this past weekend too. Were you aware of the goblin presence there?"
"I had heard mention of goblins in that area, but I did not know it was that bad. What were you doing there?"
"I went with Sebastian to visit his family. There are goblins all over the place out there."
"Every time we speak of these things I feel I should remind you to stay out of trouble...but then I know that it will just be ignored," Professor Fig sighed. "Well, that is also fairly worrying. It sounds like Ranrok's followers are all over the place. How could it have grown this bad without the Ministry taking notice?" Fig muttered towards the end.
"That's what I wonder too," Alayna replied, thinking of Sebastian's uncle and how he'd once been an auror. "While I was there, I realized that Isidora used to live there. I even went to her house...or what's left of it. I found some fragments of a journal of hers." She pulled out the two entries she had recovered from the basement and handed them over to Fig who took a minute to read over them.
"Hm, interesting. It sounds like she wanted to be a healer, but to remove pain entirely?" Fig took a breath before continuing. "Healing magic can be very complicated and if not done right can have terrible consequences. Especially in regards to the mind or something like this."
"But it might be possible? Isidora might have found a way to do just that?" Alayna asked. "Perhaps that's why the Keepers won't tell me about it just yet, because it is difficult to wield?" Fig tilted his head, seriously considering her suggestion.
"It is possible, I suppose. There is so much we don't know about ancient magic and its capabilities. If it is related, it would certainly explain their secretiveness. They wouldn't want you trying to use it before you are ready."
"Yeah...I don't even know the first thing about healing magic. It's honestly not something I'm very interested in."
"I hear from Professor Hecat that you are excelling in her class. She told me you've talked to her about being an auror?"
"I asked her about it. I wanted to know more, but...I don't know it feels early to decide on something. I've only been in school for a few weeks!" A few weeks. It really was hard to believe it had only been a few weeks so far. So much had happened, it felt like months had gone by instead. Alayna already felt like she was adjusting to life at Hogwarts and her classes.
"Of course, there's no need to make a decision yet. There are plenty of things I am sure you would be great at." Professor Fig smiled. "So, we shall wait a little longer to potentially hear from Lodgok. If not, I would suggest we visit the map chamber anyway. In that case, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Alayna leaned back in the armchair wondering if she should ask Professor Fig her other question. Love was supposed to be complicated and maybe she wasn't meant to be asking so many questions about it. Trying to figure it out wasn't something someone was supposed to do, it just...happened.
"I think I could take a guess," Fig ended up saying with a knowing smile. Was she that obvious? Did that mean Sebastian knew too? "You had that same look when you asked me about Miriam before. Still trying to figure out what love is?"
"Um, well, sort of. I think...I like someone. But now I'm not sure if they might like me back." She didn't really want to admit that it was Sebastian that she liked. Alayna and Fig were close but that was perhaps a little too personal for her to share right now.
"Hmm, I see. My advice would be to go with your gut. If you like this person and pay attention, you may start to notice those same feelings in them," Fig answered.
"And what if my gut is wrong?"
"Then it is a lesson learned. You are only fifteen, Alayna. You don't need all the answers right now." Fig reached over to a place a hand on top of hers. "You may have countless loves before you find the right one. Miriam was not the first person I was in love with either, but I learned each time something new. So when Miriam and I fell in love, we knew it was right." Alayna smiled as she listened to Fig speak about himself and Miriam. Hearing about her was like hearing about a grandmother she never got to know. Even though they'd never met, she felt close to Miriam too through Fig.
"Will you tell me more about her? Every time you speak about her...she sounds amazing," Alayna asked. Fig smiled softly that look of love in his eyes.
"I would love to." He turned to look at the fireplace as he began to tell her stories of how they had first gotten together, the trials they went through in their relationship, silly little stories of their lives together. Alayna listened raptly the entire time, they sat together for what must have been a few hours until Professor Fig reminded her that she had studying and homework to do. Thanking Fig for his time, Alayna left his office and headed to the library to get some study time in before curfew struck and she had to call it a night.