That single statement sent the entire Ravenclaw common room into a frenzy, questions were fired from everywhere and there was no doubt that Claire Morgenstern was enjoying all the attention this gave her. There were people crowding around her amazed that she knew before anyone else in the house.
Not long after Claire sent the entire Ravenclaw house into a fit Professor Flitwick appeared ordering everyone down to the Great Hall. A few other Professors followed close behind, being sure every student got there safely. Ravenclaws were the last house to arrive, every other house was already seated at their assigned tables and whispering loudly amongst themselves about Sirius Black.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professor McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors in the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."
Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing. . ."
One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.
"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.
The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling anyone who was still in the dark what had just happened.
"Do you think we're in any real danger, Matilda?" asked Luna as Percy shouted for everyone to get into their sleeping bags.
Before Matilda could even answer she heard a Gryffindor whisper, "How did he get in?"
"Maybe he knows how to Apparate," said Padma, a few feet away. "Just appear out of thin air, ya know."
"Disguised himself, probably," said a Hufflepuff fifth year.
"He could have flown in," suggested Dean Thomas.
"No, he couldn't have just flown in!" Said Matilda turning to face a crowd of Gryffindors, becoming irritated by all the uneducated theories. "The castle is protected by more than walls, there are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. You can't just Apparate in here!"
Many people were stunned into silence, except Hermione, who stood nodding in agreement.
"I'd like to see the disguise that could fool those dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all secret passages, they'll have them covered. . ."
"Not entirely," squeaked Matilda, disagreeing with Hermione, causing those around the two girls to take a warning step back. "Animagi, perhaps all of you should have been listening to Professor McGonagall instead of worrying about when Potter here is going to meet his maker, then you'd have known that a skilled wizard could very much so disguise themselves and potentially sneak past the dementors."
"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from silvery ghosts, who were drifting about talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars. What with that, and the whispering that still filled the hall, Tilly felt as though she were sleeping outdoors in a light wind. She was scrunched in between Luna and Padma who was also lying beside her sister Parvati. Harry was laid directly across from her, heads so close they were almost touching.
Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet. Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep. Professor Dumbledore came in. Tilly watched as Harry watched him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling between the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. Percy was only a short way from Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tilly, who quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore's steps drew nearer.
"Any signs of him, Professor?" asked Percy in a whisper.
"No. All well here?"
"Everything under control sir."
"Good. There's no point in moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."
"And the Fat Lady, sir?"
"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently, she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."
The door of the hall creaked open again, and more footsteps were heard.
"Headmaster?" It was Snape. Tilly and the others kept quite still, listening hard. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."
"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"
"All searched. . ."
"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.
Tilly rolled her eyes as she noticed Harry raising his head very slightly off his arms to free his other ear.
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
Tilly carefully kept her head buried in her arms, so she could see what was happening without getting caught; Dumbledore's back was to him, but she could see Percy's face, rapt with attention, and Snape's profile, which looked angrily.
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before—ah—the start of term?" said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation.
"I do, Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like a warning in his tone of voice.
"It seems—almost impossible—that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed—"
"I do not believe a single person in this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply. "I must go down to the dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."
"Didn't they want help, sir?" said Percy.
"Oh yes," said Dumbledore coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."
Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore left the hall, walking quickly and quietly. Snape stood for a moment, watching Dumbledore with an expression of deep resentment on his face, then he too left.
Tilly looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. All three of them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry ceiling. "What was all that about?" Ron mouthed.
...
The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Charms class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub.
Tilly had heard from Ron that The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Apparently, nobody was very happy about that because he spent half of his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he supposedly changed twice a day. Tilly thought that he sounded as if he fit in with the Gryffindors quite well.
Tilly had noticed that Harry had other problems though, and none of them were about Sir Cadogan. Teachers had found excuses to walk along corridors with him, leaving it impossible to have any worthwhile conversations with him. Even Percy Weasley started tailing him like an annoying guard dog.
"I do feel bad for him," sighed Hermione as she and Ron sat with Tilly in the library, "I've heard Professor McGonagall is thinking about taking him off the Quidditch team, which seems reasonable but. . ."
"She won't do that," scoffed Matilda, as she read something assigned by Professor Flitwick in the last Charms lesson, "Professor McGonagall loves Quidditch and isn't it true that she handpicked Harry for the Gryffindor Seeker? She isn't going to do anything to jeopardize Gryffindor from winning the Cup."
"I think the two of you are missing the most important part of everything," said Ron surprised that Hermione and Tilly were discussing Quidditch. "Sirius Black was in the building, and he's a huge threat to Harry and the rest of us!"
Tilly rolled her eyes as she began to pack away her tools, "Ron, is Sirius Black in the castle as we speak?" Ron shook his head no, Tilly stood from her seat, pulling her bag up to her shoulder, "then I see no threat right now."
With that Tilly quickly seen herself out of the library, leaving Ron who was surprised by Matilda's reaction, she usually sees this as an issue that needed the be discussed. Ron looked over at Hermione but all she could offer was a shrug before gathering her things and leaving as well.
While walking down the hall, Tilly began readjusting her bag as it had started to slip off her dainty shoulders the further she walked down the corridors. Not paying any attention to where she was going, Tilly felt her body collide with another, surprisingly a smaller body, a scrawny body.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" the small girl stopped picking her things up from the ground to look at who she had just collided with. Once her gaze met Matilda the girl quickly stood from the ground letting out a nervous laugh. "Oh, my god, you're Matilda Winters, I'm so sorry for running into you – I wasn't um – I didn't see you."
Tilly watched with amusement in her eyes as the small girl she knew to be Estella Morgenstern fumbled for words.
"Wow, you Morgenstern siblings appear everywhere in this castle, don't you?" said Matilda, bending down to pick up a quill that had landed near her foot. "Your parents must be like rabbits."
Estella didn't catch the innuendo as she was so nervous standing there in front of Matilda Winters. She felt slightly uncomfortable but extremely excited and intimidated, for she had never talked to Matilda before and has always admired her from afar.
"Oh no, you've met my other siblings?" Estella asked with a long sigh as if all her chances of being Matilda's friend had been ruined.
"Being that three of them are in Ravenclaw, yes, I've met them," Matilda said as if she was almost bored, "you also have a sister, Daisy, the one who is always with Draco Malfoy for some odd and unknown reason."
Estella nodded as she hung onto every word that Matilda spoke. She wouldn't speak though, the smallest Morgenstern girl only continued to nod, making Tilly become uncomfortable.
"Well. . . I should be going," said Matilda slowly, beginning to walk backwards down the hall.
"Oh! I'm Estella Morgenstern!" she said loudly, just remembering she hadn't introduced herself.
"I know." Matilda smiled, before turning away and walking down the hall, leaving Estella standing, frozen in her spot, pinching herself to make sure she hadn't just dreamed this interaction.
Tilly, looked over her shoulder as she walked away just to be sure that Estella Morgenstern didn't try following her back to the Ravenclaw common room. When she finally made it, she instantly noticed Luna sitting on at the furthest window, drawing on a canvas.
Just as Tilly went to approach Luna a voice calling her name stopped her. Rolling her eyes in annoyance she turned to come face-to-face with Asher Morgenstern. It's like she can't catch a break with these siblings. "Matilda, it feels like I haven't seen you in forever," Asher said walking up to her.
"Yes well, you have Quidditch and I have been busy with important matters," Matilda replied with a tight smile. "I don't see how we could ever find the time to interact, perhaps it just wasn't meant to be."
A small laugh sounded from behind her and due to the glare that Asher sent over Matilda's shoulder, she could guess it was the more tolerable Morgenstern twin, Bentley. He never annoyed her and is always there to be the one to pull Asher away when he sees that his brother is annoying her. She silently appreciated Bentley for his help.
"How about our next outing to Hogsmeade we go to Honeydukes for some sweets," smiled Asher, he has a charming smile, and even Tilly knows that but looks are far from all she's looking for in a boyfriend. Truthfully, she wasn't even looking.
"Well, we could meet up one weekend at Hogsmeade, and stop by Honeydukes for some sweers," he smiled hopefu
If she had been like every other girl though, Tilly would have fallen for his charm every time he smiled at her like he is now—looking at her as if she's the only girl he sees, staring straight into her eyes, and inflating her ego.
"I'm sorry, but I can't," said Tilly, with no sign of disappointment in her bored tone.
"Oh, no, why?" he asked, genuinely worried.
"You see, I really just – I just really don't want to," she told Asher truthfully.
Tilly seen no reason to lie to him and keep giving him false hope. She's never given him false hope and he never seems to take the hint and leave her alone. He doesn't even go for other girls at the school, hoping one day he'll get a chance with Tilly.
Bentley burst out laughing from the place he stood behind Matilda, distracting Asher. Tilly took the window and walked away, not wanting to have to make up any excuses as to why she couldn't go out with him or hang out with him.
The rest of that day went by in a blur, Tilly spent most of it with Luna who excitedly talked about the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Originally it should have been Gryffindor and Slytherin but from what she heard from Harper, Draco's arm is still healing after the incident with Buckbeak. Both Winters girls had rolled their eyes and scoffed at the blatant lie. It was obvious it was due to the poor weather conditions predicted for the game, and Slytherins didn't want to risk their chance.
...
As the days went on the weather had worsened. Just a day before the anticipated Quidditch match the winds reached howling point and the rain seemed to fall harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. Tilly who was probably the least bit enthused by the Quidditch drama surrounding the castle noticed the Slytherin team was looking very smug indeed, and none more so than Malfoy.
All anyone seemed to be able to talk about was the Quidditch match tomorrow. Harper, was overly confident in their new seeker for the Hufflepuff team but she may be biased since it's none other than Cedric Diggory. Even in classes the students wouldn't stop talking about the first match of the season.
After meeting with Dumbledore for their weekly tea time Tilly made the usual route to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Upon entering the class, she noticed the normal excited chatter was gone and had been replaced with silence and looks of confusion. As Tilly made her way up to the front of the class to take her usual seat she seen Snape, standing there, wearing a smug look on his face. Tilly wondered if something had happened with Professor Lupin, had Snape done something to take his position?
Without saying a word of where Professor Lupin was Snape started class as if everything was normal. Tilly looked over her shoulder at Hermione and Ron, wondering if they'd know something but the only things they offered her was a shrug and the same amount of confusion as she had. Professor Lupin was not Matilda's favorite Professor, but he was sure higher on her list than Professor Snape, much further up. She had already suffered through Potions with him, and now a class she enjoys will be taken over by the menacing man as well.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I—"
Harry pulled the classroom doors open and dashed inside the room.
"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down."
But Harry did not move, he stayed where he was.
"Where's Professor Lupin?" he said.
"He says he's feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile. "I believe I told you to sit down?"
Harry still didn't move, he remained put in his spot.
"What's wrong with him?"
Snape's black eyes glittered.
"Nothing life-threatening," he said looking as though he wished it were. "Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty."
Tilly watched harry walk slowly to his seat and sit down. Snape looked around at the class.
"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far—"
"Well, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows," said Tilly quickly listing off the lessons they've been through already.
"And we're just about to start—"
"Be quiet," said Snape coldly, cutting Hermione off. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."
"He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Dean Thomas boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class.
"It's true sir, he is the first truly competent Professor we've had for this class." Daisy Morgenstern, spoke out in agreement surprising many of those around her.
Lavender Brown's eyes almost popped out of her head as she leaned over and started whispering to Neville, and Draco quickly shot a warning glare at her, but much to Tilly's liking Daisy Morgenstern did not back down from her statement.
Snape looked more menacing than ever.
"You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you—I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows..."
"Really?" asked Matilda, finally deciding to take up for Professor Lupin. "I don't see why, because in the learning guidelines for first year students neither of those things are listed as required learning or even suggested to study."
There were a few gasps that came from the back of the classroom along with a few snorts of laughter. Matilda though kept her gaze strongly focused on Professor Snape as she awaited his rebuttal argument, but he said nothing back.
Tilly watched as he flipped through the textbook, to the very back chapter, which he must know they hadn't covered.
"Today we shall discuss—werewolves," said Snape.
"But, sir," said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, "we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks—"
"Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around again. "All of you! Now!"
With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books.
"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" said Snape.
Since last year Tilly had developed a fascination with books on werewolves and for a long time it was all she wanted to read. This was not a subject she needed to read more on or bush up on. So, she raised her hand high in the air earning an eye roll from Snape.
"Anyone?" Snape said, just as Hermione's hand shot up as well, he continued to ignore both Hermione and Matilda. His twisted smile was back. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between—"
"We told you," said Daisy suddenly, "we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on—"
"Silence!" snarled Snape. "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year level class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point in informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are. . ."
"The werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. You're going to have to be more specific with the question, Professor," said Tilly, who had now just taken her had out of the air, deciding to just answer him.
"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Winters," said Snape coolly. "Five points from Ravenclaw for being an insufferable know-it-all."
"Five points because I answered a question that you didn't want anyone to know the answer to because you want to continue slandering Professor Lupin." said Tilly crossing her arms angrily over her chest.
"I don't need another word out of you Winters," scolded Snape. "I understand that many teachers find your insufferableness charming, but I find it and you annoying."
Turning red with anger Matilda clenched her fists that sat on her lap and looked down at the textbook laying on her desk. Her hands and whole body shook, wanting to throw something back at Snape, and not words this time either. Ron who is also normally annoyed with Matilda's constant persistence to be right, said loudly, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"
The class knew instantly he'd gone too far. Snape advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its breath.
"Detention, Weasley," said Snape silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."
As Snape walked away from Ron, Tilly turned to face him, offering him a sympathetic and grateful smile.
No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin.
"Very poorly explained. . . That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia. . . Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three. . ."
When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back.
"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."
On Tilly's way out, she whispered a quiet thank you in Ron's ear making him smile and believe that this detention may be worth taking up for Matilda. She had ended up beside of Hermione and Harry while leaving the classroom. Everyone waited until they were safely out of earshot, then burst into a furious tirade about Snape.
"Snape's never been like this with any of our other Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, even if he did want the job," Harry said to Hermione. "Why's he got it in for Lupin? D'you think this is all because of the boggart?"
"That sounds like a rubbish reason to act towards someone like Snape does Lupin," said Matilda with a scoff, she pulled an old book from her bag, flipping pages. "I found this in the library after leaving Professor Lupin's office when everyone else went to Hogsmeade, it's a yearbook, I believe he's a seventh year, same as Snape. I have a theory their feud goes further back than we do."
Harry took the book from Tilly and began to examine it himself, he stopped when he came across a name reading, James Potter. "You can keep the book, I've finished with it. Just be sure to return it before it's over-due." said Tilly noticing the look on Harry's face as he looked down at his father's photo.
"All I know," said Hermione with a long sigh, "I hope Professor Lupin gets better soon. . ."
Ron caught up with them five minutes later, in a towering rage. "D'you know what that arse is making me do? I've got to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing. Without magic!" He was breathing deeply, his fists clenched. "Why couldn't Black have hidden in Snape's office, eh? He could have finished him off for us!"
"I sure would like to finish him off," grumbled Matilda, finding a slight excitement in the thought of taking on Severus Snape. "As for the bedpans Ron, I'm terribly sorry that you got in trouble, but it does mean something to me that you decided to speak in my defense, so, thank you."
Ron smiled, and his cheeks turned a deep shade of red, not noticing his change in demeanor Tilly waved goodbye to the three friends and started towards the library where she was to meet Luna after class.
Tilly helped Luna with her potions homework that Snape had assigned her and the rest of the class. It was something that she remembered doing last year, and it still proved to be easy for her to work out.
"Matilda?" Luna asked, looking up from her parchment.
Tilly too looked up from a scroll of parchment, already working on the homework that Snape had just assigned, "Yes?"
"Would you happen to know, what is the matter with Professor Lupin?" she asked innocently, "Professor Snape was nothing more than vague with the entire class this morning."
"Professor Snape didn't tell our class what was wrong with him either, but I do know that Professor Lupin has been feeling under the weather for a while now." Matilda confided in her best friend. "Remember when I was with Harry while mostly everyone was away at Hogsmeade?" Luna nodded. "Well, Snape had brewed him a potion that he wouldn't reveal to Harry and me—all he would tell us was that he's been feeling a bit off-color."
"So, you believe whatever was wrong with him then, is what is wrong now?" asked Luna.
Tilly didn't answer right away because she was still hypothesizing what the issue is. She doesn't know if Snape had done something to the potion of if Professor Lupin truly is ill.
"I could see in Professor Lupin's face that something other than being ill was bothering him, and the way Professor Snape spoke today it just felt like he was trying to tell us something. . ."
"Tell you what?" Luna whispered as she eagerly leaned across the table to get closer to Tilly.
"It was like he was trying to tell us that Professor Lupin is a werewolf."
...
Luna woke Tilly up the next morning, excited for the upcoming game. Tilly had already made it clear that she was not going to be attending, she would not risk getting sick just to sit and watch people fly around on brooms. Besides, there is no chance on seeing Malfoy fall off his broom since Slytherin isn't playing.
As the left their room and started towards the Great Hall for breakfast the noise of the storm got even louder. Tilly knew better than to expect that the Quidditch match would be cancelled though, for as long as she's been here a match has never been cancelled due to weather complications.
After they had finished breakfast and people started heading out onto the fields to prepare for the match, carrying their large umbrellas, Tilly said a quick goodbye to Luna before heading for the library. She had already finished all her weekend homework yesterday while in the library with Luna.
Also, as of yesterday she couldn't get the thought of Professor Lupin being a werewolf out of her head. She knew the theory sounded absurd and almost impossible but the evidence that she didn't even know she had gathered all lined up to support the absurd theory.
His boggart had been a bright sphere that Tilly told Lavender was a moon as a mere joke but now it seems almost plausible, the potion that Snape had made him, that Lupin said was incredibly complicated could have been Wolfsbane Potion which is known for relieving the worst symptoms of being a werewolf, and what made the theory even more believable is that the night before Lupin was absent in classes it just so happened to be a full moon.
Snape had been the one to plant the idea in her head. Yesterday in class as he spoke about not being able to spot werewolves and the way he spoke about Professor Lupin in the same context made her think that he was trying to discreetly tell the entire class that Professor Lupin is a werewolf. She knew she couldn't go and ask Snape or anyone for that matter, no one would believe her. Also, if Lupin was a werewolf Dumbledore would be sure to know, and due to the castle rules, he wouldn't have been hired.
Tilly thought about asking Harry to find out, because she's noticed a bond between Professor Lupin and Harry, but it was unlikely he'd believe her. After hours of coaxing and explaining to Luna she was finally able to convince her to consider the theory and if Luna finds it hard to believe then no one else would believe her at all.
For hours Tilly went on trying to prove her own theory wrong, which is something that she's never done. This theory sound crazy even to her and even though she knows that she is always right she doesn't want to be right about this. She wants to find another clue that will lead her in another direction, something better, something more believable, and something that won't cause Professor Lupin to have to leave Hogwarts.
Finally, having had enough of looking through yearbooks and reading even more into werewolves she plopped down on a hard, wooden chair and slammed her book closed, putting her head into her hands.
"Having a hard time with something?" a small voice asked, Tilly looked up, slowly meeting the gaze of a nervous looking Daisy Morgenstern.
"Being right about everything has proven to be a blessing and minor curse for me," Tilly sighed, leaning back into her chair with a sigh.
The blonde Morgenstern let out a light chuckle and she looked around the almost empty library before finally deciding to sit in the chair across from Matilda. "Could I be of any assistance to you? Not that you need it."
Tilly looked across the table, realizing right now is the longest the two have ever spoken to one another. She also just remembered that she too has a type of bond with Professor Lupin, a different one than Harry, but a bond nonetheless.
"I highly doubt it, the information I've found is hardly believable to the most complex of minds such as my own—I can only imagine how someone like you would take such a theory." Tilly chuckled, as she shook her head at the bright-eyed blonde sitting across from her.
"You're probably right," said Daisy with a small laugh, nodding in agreement. "My average mind probably would collapse if a brilliant one like yours couldn't bare it," as she spoke Tilly watched as she tucked her hands into the long sleeves of her knitted sweater.
Tilly noticed Daisy becoming more at ease the longer they kept talking. Her posture wasn't as tense and on guard as it was when she first sat down, and she's been able to maintain a normal amount of eye contact.
"Well, I see no harm in amusing ourselves with it," said Tilly, deciding to let Daisy hear only some of her theory. "You're close with Professor Lupin, yes?"
"Uh, yes? I would say I am," she said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. She wondered why Matilda suddenly had such an interest on her relationship with Professor Lupin.
"You wouldn't happen to know of his sickness, would you?" asked Matilda, watching as Daisy became even more confused. "You wouldn't know exactly which illness it is he has contracted or what type of potion Snape has been brewing for him?"
Daisy opened her mouth to speak but closed it just as quickly. She was thinking of the right thing to say next. Something that wouldn't make Matilda believe that she thinks that her theory is incorrect but also something that would make her sound like she was bashing Professor Lupin.
"I know nothing about Snape making any potions for Professor Lupin," she told Matilda, and she believed Daisy. "I just know that I too think it's a bit suspicious as well and while I truly adore the teachings of professor Lupin, I don't believe it's an actual sickness either."
Tilly nodded, surprised that Daisy Morgenstern, Draco Malfoy's best friend is agreeing with her. Even though Tilly chose to withhold much more information, she liked that she at least had one person on her side.
Looking over at Daisy, Tilly found it surprising that she wasn't at the Quidditch match with Draco and the rest of the school.
"So, Morgenstern, why aren't you at the Quidditch match with the rest of the school?"
"Didn't you hear?" asked Daisy, surprised that Tilly was in the dark about what happened out on the field. "The game had been cancelled, dementors invaded the field, Harry was hurt, I believe he's in the infirmory."
Tilly's eyes widened, because of her obsession over this theory she had missed an immense amount of drama. She began to gather up her things, wanting to be sure that Luna was alright and in a sane mind set.
"I should go see if Luna is okay then," said Tilly standing from her seat. She offered Daisy a friendly smile. "It's been nice speaking with you, perhaps we can do it again sometime?"
Tilly didn't let Daisy answer though, for just as the words left her mouth she quickly began heading for the exit of the library and down to corridors towards the Ravenclaw common room. On her way there she found herself wondering if Daisy Morgenstern would have lied to her just to protect Lupin. She decided to push the thought aside, wanting to hear all about the Quidditch match drama.
........
This is probably one of my worst written chapters in this book.
I'm soooo sorry!