School life was turning out to be everything they'd ever dreamed of. Although, they'd only been in school for more than a month, both Frankie and Tom were already doing extraordinary things with their new lives. Most of their professors simply adored them. They were both well-behaved students and did all of their work to nearly a machinelike perfection. Tom was particularly gifted in Herbology and his adherence to Professor Beery's no-nonsense policies earned him early notoriety. His meticulous nature earned a lot of high praises and house points in the greenhouse. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Merrythought, was rather fond of Frankie's spellwork. She was apparently a natural at jinxes, which Tom had to make sure to file away somewhere in case he ever found himself in a fight with her. Professor Slughorn was a particularly avid fan of the both of them. Frankie and Tom had easily become two of his most favorite students. Their table was even starting to get the nickname of his 'star table'. Quin still constantly needed help and was always fighting with Tom, but they always managed to finish first and brew their potions perfectly.
They were also managing to keep their promise of taking walks every Sunday and discretely continue their friendship. Rain or shine they were out there, talking under the tree by the lake. It had become their sort of secret spot they would stop at to catch their breath, before making the hike back up to the castle. For the moment, everything in their lives was peaceful and right. Well, almost right, in Frankie's case. Still unbeknownst to her, she had recently made some very powerful enemies.
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"Frankie, is someone still playing those childish tricks on you?"
Daphne and Frankie were walking down the many staircases to breakfast together, as usual. It was Halloween morning, and the school was decorated with pumpkins in every nook and cranny. There were even some in the air hovering above them. Daphne was normal with the new décor, being raised in the middle-class of the wizarding world. However, she noticed that instead of her droopy tired eyed morning self, Frankie was looking around madly at the sights. It was almost to the extent, that she looked paranoid, rather than excited. It was as if she thought there was someone after her, which was sadly not as crazy as it sounded.
"Yes, but it hasn't been too bad. Honestly, I'm alright." Frankie smiled, stopping her wild gaze. It was only because she was not used to the sight of the floating pumpkins and the actual ghosts grazing all over the halls. She'd never had a real Halloween before. In the muggle world, she heard that kids would dress up like witches and ghosts. They wore colorful masks and paraded the streets asking for candy. However, Frankie was never allowed to participate in such simple escapades of a joyous childhood. She had to stay inside. Even on a night celebrating freaks and spooks, she was forced to remain hidden. Her frantic behavior was simply her eagerness to see what Halloween would be like in the wizarding world and celebrate the holiday.
However, Daphne was right, as well. Frankie might've been a tad on her guard.
Ever since October had started, odd things had been purposely happening to her. One morning, as she was just about to say good morning to Tom, her tongue curled up into a ball. He stared, as she awkwardly sputtered at him, trying to say a simple hello. Whatever had tied her tongue was strong enough to last the entire period. It was a horribly unpleasant couple hours. Then, just yesterday morning, she was walking with Tom to Transfiguration and she fell over. He blamed it on her utter clumsiness and helped her up, but Frankie had claimed it felt like her legs turned to jelly. Similar incidents had been happening frequently throughout the month and she still didn't know who or what was causing them.
"It's probably just Rodger." Daphne reported, as they were beginning to sit down at Gryffindor table. Frankie sat down next to her, picking out and taking a bite of a piece of toast from the pile in front of them as she did so.
"You're probably right..." Frankie replied, sounding a little unsure. It was like Rodger to tease her about her height and the fact she didn't know simple things around here, but it was unlike him to play pranks like this. Also, he hadn't been anywhere near the incidents. Fifth year classes were generally on the other side of the castle.
Who could be doing all this?
Frankie put down her toast and got up again. She had lost most of her appetite by this point. She abruptly decided to go to Potions earlier and perhaps see if Tom was there. He usually didn't enjoying having breakfast and went to class early instead. She was halfway to the classroom when she heard the sudden clacking of footsteps behind her. She turned to find Quin, looking extremely out-of-breath. He'd obviously run after her, "Good morning! Off to Potions as well?"
"Yes. I was hoping you might help me with the Cure for Boils. I think I've been adding too much Horned Slug." Quin replied, trying to sound casual, as he was rolling his sleeves back up to how they usually were.
"Of course!" Frankie exclaimed. They were about to start walking together when they heard another storm of running on the stone floor. Lyra took one gasp and held the rest of her exhaustion in, like the composed lady in waiting she was supposed to be.
"Frankie! You'd said we'd walk together this morning."
"Did I?—I'm sorry. I must've completely forgot."
"Oh. It's you." Quin looked surprised to see her. They'd been in class together for nearly two months now, yet he looked as if he were seeing her for the very first time. Lyra stumbled to come up with a clever retort, so Frankie decided to answer for her.
"What's the matter, Quin?" she asked. She didn't want to have to defend Lyra from him too. She thought it was just the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin rivalry rearing its ugly head once again, but it wasn't. Not this time.
"Nothing..." he mumbled. He quickly changed the subject, before Frankie inevitably asked for more information. "Are you two going to the Test of Courage tonight?"
"Daphne and the other girls mentioned that the other day. However, I'm not sure if I'm attending." she answered.
"But, you have to go. It's an old school tradition." Lyra argued. Quin nodded in approval.
"What if we get caught by Pringle?" Frankie gulped. Apollyon Pringle was the grumpy caretaker of the castle, in charge of making sure that everything was clean and tidy. He also patrolled the corridors at night to make sure that no students were wandering in the late hours. Punishment was known to be severe if you were to get caught. Even more severe than Mrs. Cole's punishments. "We could get caned if we aren't careful."
"We won't. It'll be so late that he'll have already clocked off patrol and gone to bed."
"And what about the professors?"
"They know it's sort of an unofficial tradition and won't get involved. They probably did it too when they were our age." Quin insisted. They entered the hazy dungeon and after giving a small wave to Professor Slughorn they headed for their table. Tom was already sitting there reading the book without interest, not acknowledging their presence with so much as a glance. However, an eyebrow raised when he realized that they were not two, but three this morning.
"Fine, but if we get caught I'm going to blame you." she groaned, pointing at him accusingly.
"I'll take your lashings. I swear on it." he laughed. She laughed and smiled along with him, but the worried soul in her didn't want it to have to come to that. She was definitely more used to physical punishment then he was. Mrs. Cole is a big supporter of any kind of lashing, except when it means 'copious amounts of food'. "We aren't going to get caught. Don't worry."
"What are you two blathering on about now?" Tom asked. He acted irritable but was actually curious as to what they could be talking about that might get them into trouble.
"The Test of Courage. It's a challenge for first years that the higher years came up with centuries ago to see if you can really survive at the school. The goal is fairly simple. You just walk down to the dungeons, leave your candle, and walk back. The higher years leave traps and pranks to scare you and your partner." Lyra explained, attempting to integrate herself back into the conversation.
"You should join in the competition too, Tom! Maybe we can be partners." Frankie added. Lyra and Quin's faces both sunk at this prospect. Tom noticed this and smiled.
"I suppose I have nothing better to do."
Potions class started shortly after. Professor Slughorn gave them parchment with the recipe for 'Witch's Brew', a funny joke potion to which he found while perusing a muggle magazine. He'd discovered that when brewed by different witches and wizards, they always achieved different results. Frankie created a dark black potion. It looked like a liquified galaxy that sparkled with speckles that looked like little emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Meanwhile, Tom had somehow managed to produce a thick golden mixture that spit up golden sparks every other minute or so. The potions were uselessly pretty, but they ultimately thought it was a fun class.
The day went on with Halloween-themed classes. In Herbology, they learned how to grow pumpkins with magic. Apparently, the gamekeeper had a bit of pest trouble this year, so all the Herbology classes' pumpkins would be decorating the Great Hall that evening. History of Magic was more of like a Muggle Studies class as they learned of the muggle's adaption of Halloween from the wizarding world.
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Finally, after the fast and easy round of lessons, it was time for the Halloween feast. The students flooded into the Great Hall, gazing at all the decorations. The cloudy cathedral ceiling was filled with candles and the pumpkins grown by the students. All the pumpkins were different. Some disfigured, contributed by the first years, and some too big or too small. It certainly made the school look a little more unique then it usually was.
"Oh look, Tom. There's mine and there's yours."
Frankie had managed to find him in the crowd shuffling in and was pointing to a spot in the distance. Somehow, she also successfully managed to identify theirs among the hundreds that floated above them. Their pumpkins were a few feet apart and both seemed to have an abnormally bright glow. She had suggested they pour a little of Tom's gold potion and see if anything would happen. The effects might've been magical, or just the glitter of the uselessly pretty potion. Even in pumpkin form he looked unamused and was glaring wickedly down at everyone, while Frankie's looked extremely happy and had a large, even grin.
"Yours looks good, compared to all the others." Tom stated, still staring up at them.
"Thanks!" she smiled. It was one of his best compliments so far. The two were soon separated as the flow of the crowd pushed them in the directions of their own respective house tables.
The feast was full of candy and rich food that Frankie had never even heard of. There was bizarre sounding candy like Acid Pops, Sugar Quills, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Treacle Fudge, Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Slugs, and Liquorice Wands. She made sure to try at least a little of everything. Her favorite turned out to be the Crystallised Pineapple. These canary yellow, powdered sugar-coated, gelatinous lumps. The boys in Gryffindor went practically mad on a sugar rush. Frankie was unsure how they were at the other tables, but guys like Rodger Day were chugging down Cauldron Cakes like it was the last time they were ever going to see food. However, it was easy to tell who had been scarfing down candy at the end of the feast. They could hardly even walk they were so sick. Just as Frankie and Daphne were walking out Quin, Monty, and Ethan had to literally grab onto them for balance.
"Ugh, I can't walk. I'm dying." Quin mumbled, weakly as he grabbed onto Frankie's shoulder for much needed support. Daphne was having trouble too, with both Monty and Ethan holding onto her. They tried many tactics to shake them but sending them flying off a moving staircase seemed a little much. There really was no use in escaping them, so they decided to trudge onwards and lend them a hand. The five walked up most of the stairs to the common room, with much struggle.
"Get off me, you leaches! It's your own fault for stuffing your fat faces." Daphne shouted at them collectively. She tried to shake Monty and Ethan again, but it was no use. They were only one staircase away, when suddenly the weight was lifted from them. Rodger had snuck up from behind and plucked the leaches off. He looked like such a model prefect with three first year students collapsed on the stone floor, groaning in agony at his feet.
"She's right." Rodger dictated, to the dead pile of bodies. Although, he wasn't one who could act all high and mighty. He had acted just like them at the feast. The only reason he wasn't rolling on the ground was because of the four years of previous experience under his belt. Finally, after much hardship, they'd made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Rodger shouted the password, which today was 'Billiwig', and she swung open immediately. "Now, you three get up to your own dorm and leave the girls alone. They'll be plenty of time to cling to them when you're taking the test later."
The newly freed girls ran up to their dorm, before the boys could re-attach themselves again. Although, now that there was a plush common room couch to sink onto, they were no longer necessary. As soon as they arrived upstairs, Daphne and Frankie began to prepare with the other girls for the contest. Since it was one of the only opportunities to escape their witches' robes, there was a lot of outfit deciding to be done. Frankie had decided on a white frilly lace dress with matching mary jane shoes. The dress had belonged to her mother and was one of the only normal clothes she had that wasn't a hand-me-down from the orphanage. They spent the rest of the time till midnight strategizing different spells they might use to help them to the end.
They all went downstairs, at a quarter to twelve, to join the others and left immediately. Rodger and Alice led the first years to the front of the Great Hall, where the other houses first years was waiting for them. What looked to be another fifth year was wearing a dusty old cape over her regular uniform, a Hufflepuff tie hung loose around her neck, along with an old fashion witches' hat over her corkscrew pigtails of dulled gold. A black mask was placed on her face, in a meaningless effort to hide her identity.
"Alright firsties, time to choose a number out of the hat!" she smiled, holding out a similarly fashioned hat to the one she was wearing. All the first years took slips of paper out of the hat and unfolded them. "Find the same person with your number and they will be your partner."
"What number did you get?" Frankie inquired to Tom, the second they had both gotten their numbers. She had gotten the number 3 and Tom had 7. "Aw, that's too bad—Well, good luck finding your partner. I'll see you in the morning then."
"Good evening, Frankie." Lyra greeted, walking out from the group towards her. Tom immediately swerved in the other direction, like he was intentionally trying to avoid her. She didn't take notice and continued to talk to Frankie, as if he hadn't been there. "What number did you get?"
"Three." Frankie smiled, trying to not look too down about Tom's sudden swerve away and the fact they weren't going to be partners. It was odd. Did he have something against Lyra, or was it mere coincident he turned just as Lyra greeted her? How could he have something against her when they were housemates, and she was so nice? However, a lot of Tom's grudges didn't seem to ever be entirely warranted.
"Really? I've gotten three as well. That means we're a pair!" Lyra exclaimed, latching on to Frankie's arm. Everyone quickly found their partners. The pairs were: Belle and Castor, Quin and Peter, Daphne and Monty, Katya and Magnus, Malfoy and Marie, and Tom and Ellyn. Sara, Ethan, and Victoria ended up a three-person group because the other half of the forty first years chickened out last minute and had probably gone to bed.
"Everyone grab their partner and get ready to go!" Rodger Day shouted. He was holding the waxy bag of candles, while Alice held the maps, as their furthering contributions to the contest. Most likely all the others had run off to get into place. The first years all lined up in their pairs, got their candles and maps, and left one at a time for the dungeons.
The contest had begun. One could tell the higher ups were doing a good job this year, as gradually all the first years had to retire from the contest. Quin and Peter were scared by a "zombie" walking at them. Belle and Castor were scared in the middle of a hallway, by a third year Slytherin lying motionless in a pool of blood. Daphne and Monty ran back because they crashed directly into Nearly Headless Nick by surprise. He hadn't even been participating in the contest. He was just out for a late evening stroll. Sara, Ethan, and Victoria got caught in a big net trap and were forced to retire. Frankie and Lyra walked together down the dark corridors, seemingly the only two left. They were stopped by many traps, but none of them scared them or caught them. They were almost to the dungeons.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing. Ellyn gets so scared over things like this." Lyra stated, looking around for any signs of danger. Frankie held the candle and the map, while Lyra was the eyes of their team looking out for traps and tricks. The two appeared to be a decently well-matched pair. However, that was only because Lyra made it so.
"Well, she has Tom with her. I'm sure she'll be alright." Frankie responded. Tom never got scared of anything and weirdly, just by being in his presence, she never got scared of anything either. It had somehow become impossible to be scared around him, even though he was commonly considered to a great horror himself.
"I didn't know you knew Tom so well." Lyra smiled. Her smile came out maniacal and sinister. Luckily, Frankie was too invested in the map to notice the scariest thing she'd encounter in the dark so far.
"Really? We sit together in all our classes. He's my best friend, you know." Frankie went on, her head still buried in the map. It was kind of odd that Lyra didn't know about her and Tom's friendship, but she supposed none of the other Slytherins really did. She had hopes that would soon change.
"You must have known each other before school began, then?" Lyra questioned.
"Yes. We've lived in the same orphanage for a few years now. It's a muggle orphanage and, since we're the only two people with magic there, it was kind of hard not to become somewhat close." Frankie reported.
"How interesting a story you share together..." Lyra answered. They were exactly who she thought they were. They didn't know her, but their existence plagued Lyra's feeble heart. It was something trivial that she was still debating mentioning, but she'd run into the pair before. It was a chance meeting in London, during Christmas time, that had brought them into her life much sooner than this. He was the boy in the snow, with the courage to approach a deliberately lost girl and try to help her. While Frankie had been the girl with a sickeningly optimistic smile whom he had left her for. It made the heart of her hate grow even deeper, to think how close they were. Lyra envied that connection, ever since the first moment she saw it. Then, suddenly, she turned her attention to Frankie's locket and picked it up in her hand. "Is he the one you have in there?"
"Well, kind of." Frankie replied, stopping as so Lyra wouldn't "accidentally" choke her. Lyra clicked the locket open and there was Tom and Frankie, dancing together in the tiny frame. Lyra stared at it, trying not to look in puzzled bewilderment and keep a neutral, uninterested expression. Who was this boy? Certainly, not the brooding boy who harbored darkness in his soul, the boy she believed would lead the Slytherins someday. How could this girl reduce him into such a state, without his fronts or defenses? She didn't understand. "Tom gave it to me, but it's not really like that. He's my friend—"
"Let's take a little detour, shall we?" Lyra stated, suddenly turning towards a staircase to their right going down.
"But the map says to go this way." Frankie claimed, pointing to the left corridor of stairs.
"It'd be much faster if we go this way though. Trust me. Slytherin dorm is in the dungeons. I know where I'm going." Lyra insisted. Frankie nodded, and she let Lyra lead the way down the right set of stairs. They stopped in front of a dungeon and Lyra opened the door. She indicated for Frankie to go inside to place the candle. As Frankie walked into the doorway, Lyra shoved her to the ground and closed the door. She got up immediately and shook the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"What's going on?—Let me out!" Frankie screamed, at the small, barred window in the wooden door.
"I don't think that I can." Lyra sighed, crossing her arms, acting a little like she didn't have a choice in the matter. The nice Lyra who she had just known up until a few minutes ago was gone now and had been replaced by an angry resentful witch. She was glaring at Frankie with a tremendous amount of contempt.
"I thought we were friends..."
"Friends? You and me? Don't make me laugh." Lyra smirked, letting out a small chuckle at the concept. It only figured that Frankie wouldn't know anything, growing up as muggle scum. Someone needed to teach her how things worked in the wizarding world. "Slytherins and Gryffindors can't be friends."
"What do you mean? I have Tom and you—"
"I meant exactly what I said. You can't be his friend. And you sure as hell can't be mine..."
Lyra disappeared into the darkness. Frankie fell back to the ground after a small trial of shaking the rusty handle. She sat in the dungeon with only the dimming light of her candle to keep her company and soon it would be gone as well. There was a huge dirt stain on her dress from when Lyra had pushed her to the ground and her wand was long gone. Lyra had probably taken it sometime ago. She seemed pleasant and kind, until they had started talking about Tom. The intentional swerve, the casual line of questioning, there was something else going on between them. As her candle extinguished in a hopeless flicker, a new source of light emerged from behind her. The dungeon was filled with glowing human skulls that were growing out of the stone floor like gothic sunflowers. They illuminated the bleeding walls and rusted chains. They were surely just props, all put up for a terrifying show, but Frankie would admit that she was more than a little horrified. She didn't want to have to stay there all night. There was pretty much no one else still roaming around the castle, however, she knew she couldn't give up just yet. Frankie started yelling for help. Surely, there was someone that would hear her.
Tom and Ellyn were the last group making their way to the dungeons. Tom didn't really speak to her, unless it was to warn her about an obvious trap she was about to trigger. Since he wasn't partnered with Frankie, he just wanted to get this whole thing over with. There was no fun in any of this if he couldn't make Quin writhe in jealousy or watch him piss himself in fear. Suddenly, there was a far off scream for help from the depths of the darkness. Ellyn jumped and clung to his shoulder.
"What was that?" Ellyn trembled, holding onto Tom's arm even tighter.
"I don't know." Tom responded, trying to listen to the voice. He walked a few steps closer and the voice stopped crying for help and screamed a sharp and terrified pitch. He didn't know why he didn't before, but Tom recognized the voice now. "Frankie..."
"I'm sure it's just a prank. They've clearly been caught. We should just head back to the common room before we get into trouble." she reckoned. Tom could see the desperateness in her eyes to keep him with her and he knew what was most likely going on. This wasn't part of the event and Frankie's horrified scream was real. He shook her off and glared at her with dangerous hatred. How could she have gone along with something like this? Tom didn't really know Ellyn, or any of those annoying girls from his house, but he didn't know they would sink as low as to do something to Frankie. After he was satisfied with her guilty expression, he went running into the darkness to the dungeons. He followed her voice. Now, he could hear it was arguing with someone. Tom could see the faint glow through the bars of the door and shouted, "Alohomora". Thankfully, he had read of a spell that unlocked doors in his Charms textbook. The door swung open immediately and, without even seeing who had saved her, she ran into his arms. She either somehow just knew it was him, or she didn't give a damn about who'd come to save her and was just grateful someone had come at all. Tom hoped that she could tell the difference.
"Tom—thank goodness it's you." Frankie sighed, in relief. While Tom was usually very adamant he never be touched, even by her, he let her have a moment. Tom could feel her slightly shaking, as she clung tightly too him. There were many glowing skeleton flowers, teetering closer despite no breeze to beckon them, and the freshly oozing blood seeping out the stone walls. Then, there was also the cackling poltergeist coming halfway out the wall, as well. She was brave, but surely must have been at least a little bit scared by all this.
"What happened?" Tom asked.
"Well, first I was yelling for help, and then Peeves here scared me half to death," she laughed. Although, ghosts were about as common as spiders at Hogwarts, the school had one poltergeist. An amortal being of pure chaos. According to various sources, Peeves is considered to be "the most notorious and troublesome poltergeist in British history". Tom was thankful this was his first and only encounter with him so far. Peeves had been in ecstasy all day. Halloween was his favorite holiday. He made himself solid-looking, once more and floated above them. "Thanks a lot, Peeves."
"Think nothing of it, ickle firstie!" Peeves laughed, tipping his bell hat to her. Odds were he had been going around scaring a lot of kids that day and didn't even have to agree to appear in the test. He'd stumbled upon her by chance. Once he was seemingly content with his mischief, Peeves disappeared into the wall, cackling madly.
"I don't give a damn about the bloody poltergeist. I meant, why are you trapped in here? What happened?" Tom demanded, trying to hold back his anger at her lack of seriousness in this moment.
"I lost Lyra in the dark and one of the higher years must've locked me in." Frankie assured him. She didn't want him worrying and making a fuss over nothing. She didn't truly understand herself, but Lyra must have had her reasons. "I'm fine, Tom."
"Come on, I'll walk you back to your common room." Tom sighed, taking up her hand and leading her out. He knew that was a lie and he had a hunch of what the real story was, but now was not the time to question her about it. It wasn't her fault. They walked back up to the seventh floor where they could hear the voice of the Fat Lady, quite loudly and very clearly.
"I tell you kids every year not to do this, but does anyone listen to me?— No! You all go gallivanting around the castle after hours with reckless abandon. Do you know how many secret passages this castle has?—Countless! It'll take them days to find her. Oh, something dreadful must've happened!" the Fat Lady went on. They saw Daphne waiting silently in front of the portrait, while the Fat Lady was on a wild rant about the competition to her. She noticed the two walking up the steps and ran over immediately.
"Frankie, where were you? Is everything alright? What happened to you?" Daphne whispered, trying not to attract the attention of anymore portraits. The Fat Lady's ranting had pretty much most of the surrounding portraits awake and staring, whether they cared about the matter or not.
"I'm still a little confused about that myself. I'm not exactly sure." she answered, vaguely. The two said goodbye to Tom and disappeared into the portrait hole. All the Gryffindor first years, as well as Rodger and Alice, were waiting on the couch and in the armchairs. They were probably debating on fetching the teachers and being the ones who ruined the competition forever. However, Frankie and Daphne entered, and they all immediately jumped up in relief.
"Are you well?" Castor asked.
"What happened to you?" Elric inquired as well. Frankie was slightly shocked to find him and Castor among all the rest, let alone being the first ones to ask about her. Despite being fellow Gryffindors, she didn't think they cared that much, considering they'd only shared a few conversations.
"I lost my partner and Peeves locked me in a dungeon." Frankie replied, going with her official story. It was a lie, but telling the Gryffindors what actually happened would have consequences. What Lyra had said about Gryffindors and Slytherin not being able to be friends was the only thing that seemed perfectly plain to see. This was about the rivalry. If she told them a Slytherin locked her in a dungeon, they'd probably swear even more vengeance on the house.
"We've been so worried—were you scared?" Katya asked.
"Not really." she replied. It wasn't really all that scary, thinking on it now, mostly confusing, and frustrating.
"You're pretty tough, aren't you?" Quin joked. Frankie nodded and gave him her best face of confidence. She wasn't going to let this confusing mess get the better of her. Frankie was going to remain strong and pull through this. Whatever this happened to be.
"Alright, the contest is over, and shortstop is back. Now, it's time for bed." Rodger commanded, letting out a big convenient yawn. Alice rounded up the girls and Rodger the boys and everyone said their goodnights and went up to bed.
The next morning, sadly, was Tuesday and everyone had to get up early for classes. Frankie rushed out of the covers, after having slept for an extra ten minutes longer than the other girls and rushed to get ready. The rest of the girls were already going down for breakfast while she was still in her pajamas. She quickly got on her uniform, hoping she would still get a chance to eat. Frankie had been straightening the hem of her robes, when she noticed the small paper bird sitting on her nightstand. She unfolded it and read the note inside.
"I'm sorry. I won't try to explain to you the stupidity of the girls in my house, but it was my fault you got locked in the dungeons. They won't be bothering you anymore though. I'll make sure of it.
P.S Meet me after breakfast. I managed to retrieve your wand for you. It's not broken, but Lyra's neck soon will be...
-Tom"