Amisty desperately tried to push the taunting voice to the back of her mind, to no avail.
It repeated over and over in her head, echoing. She reached her friends, placing a reassuring hand on Ron's back before stepping out of Harry and Hermione's way.
Hagrid's house was only a few steps away before the door opened, revealing a slightly disgruntled Gilderoy Lockhart.
"Quick, behind here!" Harry whispered urgently after spotting the Professor, tugging Ron behind a bush.
Amisty, noticing Hermione's reluctant expression, grabbed her arm and dragged her along.
"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing! If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one -- I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, goodbye!" He raised his hand in farewell before strutting away toward the castle.
They waited there for him to cross the field, then at Harry's signal, pulled Ron up to Hagrid's cabin.
Amisty rapped on the heavy, oak door, tapping her foot impatiently. He opened it in an instant, a irritable expression on his face that quickly melted into a happy one at the sight of them.
"Bin' wonderin' when you'd come ter see me -- come in, come in -- thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again --" He waved them inside.
Harry and Hermione helped Ron to a chair. Harry explained what was happening quickly, to which Hagrid didn't look the slightest bit worried.
That must mean it wasn't that bad of a curse.
"Better out than in. Get 'em all up, Ron," He dropped a copper bucket in front of the redhead, patting him on the back.
"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop. That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand -- " Hermione rambled, her fingers fidgeting.
Amisty gave her a reassuring hug before helping Hagrid in his mission to make them tea.
Fang gave her a quick tap on the hand with his wet nose, then padded over to where Harry was sitting.
"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, petting Fang behind the ears.
The boarhound's tail wagged wildly.
"Given' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well. Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle," Hagrid replied sourly, placing the teapot he was holding on the table.
"I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job -- " Hermione began defensively.
"He was the on'y man for the job. A'n I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now," Hagrid interrupted, pointing with his chin to Ron, who was leaning over the bucket, as he held out a tray of treacle toffee. "So tell me. Who was he tryin' ter curse?"
Amisty looked over to Harry, knowing she wouldn't be able to explain without a stream of colorful words leaving her mouth, as she took a piece of the sweet and placed it in her mouth.
"Malfoy called Hermione something -- it must've been really bad, because everyone went wild," He got the hint.
"It was bad. Malfoy called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid," Ron piped up, his voice scratchy, before bending over the bucket yet again as more slugs escaped.
"He didn'!" Hagrid snarled, his coal black eyes glinting.
"He did. But i don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course --" Hermione started.
Ron looked up again.
"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of. Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born -- you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards -- like Malfoy's family -- who think they're better than everyone else because," A slug fell out of his mouth and he threw it into the bucket, "they're what people call pure-blood. I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom, he's a pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."
"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," Hagrid grinned.
The said girl flushed, cheeks stained red.
"It's a disgusting thing to call someone. Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out," Ron got out, diving back under the table.
"I can't believe he said that! Of all the insults he picked that." Amisty growled under her breath, digging her nails in her hand.
No one heard her.
"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron. Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter the school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble," Hagrid spoke a tad louder than normal so his voice could be heard over the vulgar splats of the slugs dropping in the bucket.
Amisty thought about it.
It was most likely true, but the thought of Mr. Malfoy's face matching Draco's furious expression made her laugh quietly.
"Harry. Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?" Hagrid asked suddenly, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes as he spoke.
"I have not been giving out signed photos. If Lockhart's still spreading that around -- " He started indignantly.
Hagrid burst into laughter.
"I'm on'y jokin'. I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'" Hagrid thumped Harry on the back, whacking him to the table.
"Bet he didn't like that," Harry replied, steadying himself from the impact and massaging his chin.
"Don' think he did. An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go," Hagrid continued, amused. "Treacle toffee, Ron?"
"No thanks. Better not risk it," Ron held up his hand, appearing to have recovered from the curse.
"I'll take his share!" Amisty smiled innocently, her eyes brightening at the thought of the sweet.
"No, no, no! You're not going to be keeping me up all night on sugar!" Hermione protested, shoving the plate away.
The green-eyed girl just danced around, snatching up a piece and shoving it in her mouth with roguish grin.
Harry, Ron, and Hagrid all laughed cheerfully as Hermione's face fell.
"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," Hagrid headed out to his garden after their laughter ceased.
The four of them followed, and Amisty's eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sight. There were patch of massive pumpkins growing, each roughly the size of Fang.
"Gettin' on well, aren't they? Fer the Halloween feast... should be big enough by then," Hagrid smiled, tapping on of them lightly.
"What've you been feeding them?" Harry asked incredulously, his eyes not leaving the monstrosities Hagrid called 'pumpkins.'
"Well, I've bin givin' them -- you know -- a bit o' help -- " His voice trailed off and he shrugged, scratching the back of his neck.
Amisty looked around, catching sight of Hagrid's pink umbrella. S
he nudged her friends, jerking her head in the direction of it.
"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose? Well, you've done a good job on them" Hermione commented, her voice laced with distaste and laughter.
"That's what yer little sister said. Met her jus' yesterday," Hagrid turned to Ron, eyes twinkling. "Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house. If yeh as me, she wouldn' say no ter a sighed -- "
Amisty sneakily left Harry's side, collapsing into a primarily silent bout of laughter next to Ron.
His face had broken into a wide grin as he too fought
"Oh, shut up," Harry groaned crossley, his cheeks tinged with pink.
Amisty winked at Ron, which resulted in him snorting, sending a mass of slugs onto the ground.
This only made Amisty laugh harder.
"Watch it!" Hagrid dragged Ron away from the pumpkin patch, inducing another round of laughter from Amisty.
-=+=-
Lunchtime came about, so the four said goodbye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle.
Ron only hiccupped once or twice, bringing about two tiny slugs instead of the great amounts from earlier on in the morning.
"There you are Potter -- Weasley," Professor McGonagall called, walking toward them just as they entered. "You will both do your detentions this evening."
"What're we doing, Professor?" Ron asked, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle another belch.
"You will be polishing silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch. And no magic, Mr. Weasley -- elbow grease. And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," The Professor replied sternly.
Harry's eyes widened.
"Oh no -- Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room, too?" Harry asked hopelessly, his tone verging on pleading.
"Certainly not. Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you," And with that, she walked down the hallway.
They walked into the Great Hall, Ron and Harry dejectedly, Amisty and Hermione quite cheerfully even though Hermione was still distraught over Amisty's sugar intake.
When dessert came round, she swatted away her hand, shaking her head.
"Filch'll have me there all night. No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning," Ron sighed, pushing his food around his plate.
"I'd swap anytime. I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys. Answering Lockhart's fan mail... he'll be a nightmare," Harry replied sorrowfully.
Amisty and Hermione traded looks.
"They brought it upon themselves," Hermione mouthed, looking only the slightest bit sorry for the two.
"To be fair, they're not too clever, the car was probably the only option in their minds," Amisty mouthed back with a teasing grin.
Hermione chuckled quietly, rolling her eyes at the joke. In her moment of distracted, Amisty snuck a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
Harry caught her in the act, raising an eyebrow. She smiled sweetly, earning an amused grin back.
Hermione hadn't noticed. Mission accomplished.
-=+=-
Amisty was sitting in the common room, pouring over her spell books as she worked through her homework.
There wasn't much of it, but she had been stalling the entire day to get it done. And now she was paying the price.
With one last flourish of her quill, she was finished, so she turned to the photo album she had taken down as well.
Opening it up to a random page, she took in the largest photo of five. It was of her mother and father, they looked like they were around their lower twenties in this particular photograph... and another young woman who she couldn't quite recognize, but there was a spark of remembrance in the back of her mind.
She was wearing long, flowing black robes, her hands concealed behind the sleeves. But despite her curious clothing, her eyes were a sparkling hazel.
Her hair was a coffee brown, falling in gentle curls all the way down to her mid thigh. She smiled up at Amisty, revealing one of her hands to wave.
Her smile was small, but radiated warmth and tenderness.
Who was this woman?
"You're still working?" A familiar voice asked, followed by the sound of the painting swinging closed.
"Just finished, actually," She replied tiredly, closing the photo album and placing it on top of her books. "How was your detention?
"Dreadful! You would think there wouldn't be too much, but no. Once one pile was done up came another!" Harry groaned, his head falling into his hands as he took a seat next to her.
"I suppose it could be worse?" Amisty offered, struggling to keep a straight face at his predicament.
"It's not only that though. There was this voice..." He explained what happened at his detention. About the mysterious voice that only he, not Lockhart, could hear.
How it whispered: Come... come to me... Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me kill you... By the end of it, Amisty was shivering.
"That's... disturbing," She declared at last, thinking hard about what on earth the voice could be.
"It sure is," Harry nodded, then he got to his feet, covering his mouth with his hand to smother his yawn. "Well, I'm going to head up to bed. Goodnight, Amisty."
"Goodnight, Harry," She smiled, gathering up her books and parchment before walking up to her own dormitory.
Dropping her belongings atop her trunk, she crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her.