The entire day, Arlene's head was filled with problems and thinks to think about.
She thought about Sage's date with Lee the next week, she thought about the Hogwarts Weekly, about how her mother was going to react upon finding out that she had fainted, about those damned dementors and about Sirius Black.
But mostly, she couldn't keep the thoughts of Kreacher and the Infiri out of her mind.
She knew that she wasn't going anywhere thinking about Kreacher, he was, after all, a person and there were no documents or no sources of information whatsoever. So instead, she focused on the Infiri.
She scanned 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them' from cover to cover, it said nothing about Infiri, which meant only one thing. They were classified as dark magic.
There was probably a ton about them in the restricted section, but she needed a pass to get in, and non of the teachers were stupid enough to give one to a student as troublesome as Arlene.
But then an idea hit her. Lupin.
He was the DADA teacher and probably knew a lot about dark art, she could simply ask him. Of course, she could risk him questioning where she heard about it, but anything was better than going insane trying to figure out what it means.
Thankfully, when Pomfrey released her from the hospital wing that day, her first class was DADA.
Not thankfully, there was a chance lupin was still, well, supposedly sick.
Arlene knew that the man wasn't ill when he said he was and that he was a main suspect in the 'Who Let Black In?' game, but she also knew that all these accusations were made by Snape, and she's rather taste her foot than trust a word that comes out of that man's mouth.
But Arlene didn't have much time to dwell on it, as she realized that she forgot one issue.I
The stairs.
Arlene was late, she had missed the them.
She goarned as she threw her bag on the ground and dropped next to it, might as well skip the lesson.
Her plan to sit there and sulk was ruined when someone stumbled upon her.
That 'someone' being a cat.
Crookshanks marched to her lap and started purring.
A smile started to make its way to Arlene's face as she scratched him behind his ear, causing him to purr even more.
"Where's you friend?" she asked him, not really expecting him to reply.
She sighed and ran her hand through her hair "She's probably in DADA, I just left the Hospital Wing a few hours ago and I forgot the schedule of the stairs." She told the cat, sounding more as if she was talking to herself.
Suddenly, Crookshanks stood up and started to walk away.
Alarmed, Arlene pushed herself up and started to follow it "Crookshanks?" she questioned.
The cat turned a corner and Arlene went after it, Crooskshanks finally stopped and turned to look at one of the painting.
It was the portrait of Elizabeth Burke, one of Arlene's ancestors.
She remembered finding the painting in first year, she was excited to finally meet another member of the family. But she was let down when she started talking to Elizabeth.
Unlike the painting of Circe that ignored everybody or the Fat Lady that guarded the Gryffindor entrance, Elizabeth never missed a chance to encourage Slytherins to be purist, so Arlene simply started avoiding that corridor.
Crookshanks was a smart cat, that was obvious, but standing in front of the painting who was about to insult her, Arlene didn't understand what he wanted to show her.
Everything cleared up, though, when Crookshanks stood on its hind legs and rested its paws on the wall, then pushed the painting to the side.
Elizabeth started making noises of protest when the canvas swung to the side, revealing an abandoned corridor.
Arlene picked up Crookshanks and stepped into the corridor, staring with awe while she closed the door of the portrait.
She looked at the cat with amazement "How did you...."
She trailed off, Crookshanks was a smart cat, but he was still cat. There was no way that he had discovered the shortcut all by himself.
'He probably used to belong to a previous student before he ended up in the pet store' she told herself, trying not to focus on the countless gigantic spider webs all over the place.
When Arlene finally reached the DADA classroom, she found Harry, Ron and Hermione, all waiting outside the door.
Hermione's eyes widened when she saw her cat "Crookshanks!" she exclaimed "I thought I left you in the dorms!"
"I found him near the moving stairs," Arlene told her, handing her the cat "I don't know how he got there, though."
Arlene was shocked when Hermione was only initially surprised, her cat had gotten itself out of the dorm, down the tower stairs, out of the tower and three floors down, not to mention the secret shortcut incident.
But she reacted as if that was normal, which left Arlene questioning Crookshanks' peculiarity.
She gave them a confused look "Why are you guys standing here?"
"We're praying to the gods that Lupin is back." Ron grumbled, obviously not happy with their current substitute.
Harry opened the door a peak warily, then his face lit up "It's safe." He announced.
Proffesor Lupin was back at work. It certainly looked like he had been ill, his robes were hanging more loosely on him and there were dark circles beneath his eyes; nevertheless, he smiled at them as they took their seats, and then everybody burst into an explosion of complaints about Snape's behavior, Arlene being the most flamboyant.
"He gave me and Weasley a detention because he asked a question then called Hermione a know-it-all when she answered!"
"Didn't even explain the lesson! "
"Changed my mark on last month's assignment to a C!"
"Two rolls of parchment!"
Lupin frowned "Did you tell him that we haven't covered werewolf yet?"
Arlene laughed angrily "Did we tell him? We were basically yelling it at him!"
"He wouldn't listen!"
"Said we were really behind-"
"Two rolls of parchment!"
Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face.
"Well, I'll speak to Snape, you don't have to do it." he reassured them, standing up to write on the board.
Satisfied, everybody got out their books and had a very enjoyable lesson while badmouthing Snape at every chance possible.
Professor Lupin had brought along a glass box containing a Hinkypunk, a little one legged creature who seemed as though he was made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless looking.
Arlene noticed the absence of most of the Slytherins, she guessed they didn't do the essay and were expecting Snape to be substituting again. Even though Snape has shown clear favoritism over the years and would let a lot of things slide, she guessed he wouldn't be okay with his entire house not doing the homework.
She shook her head with a smile, sometimes it feels as if Slytherins all have a hive mind.
Suddenly, Arlene felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Hermione, which was surprising since she almost never talks in class.
"I got you Paper Towns." She whispered, handing her a book, which if Arlene didn't know belonged to Hermione, would've thought it was brand new.
She took it with a smile and turned to book over to read the summery.
"This sounds awesome." she whispered back.
Hermione nodded enthusiastically with an excited grin, 'you'll love it' she mouthed, but her attention was snatched when Lupin asked a question.
"Lures travelers into bogs," explained professor Lupin, as they took notes "you notice the lantern dangling from his hand? Hops ahead, it has powers similar to the Sirens' voices, people involuntarily follow the light, then-"
The bell cut him off, everybody started collecting their things and heading for the door, everybody except Arlene who simply placed her notebook inside her bag and approached the professor.
"Wait a moment, Harry," Lupin called. "I'd like a word."
Harry doubled back and watched Professor Lupin covering the Hinkypunk's box with a cloth.
Sensing a conversation, Arlene quickly spoke up.
"Sir? I have a question."
Lupin nodded "Of course, can you wait for just a moment?"
Patient was not a word to describe Arlene; nevertheless, she nodded.
"I heard about the match," said Lupin, turning to Harry and starting to pile books into his briefcase, "and I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?"
"No," said Harry. "The tree smashed it to bits."
Lupin sighed.
"They planted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it. No broomstick would have a chance."
"I get that this is a magic school and all, but why would they plant a tree whose main purpose is fucking things up?" Arlene asked, voicing one of the many questions that she had about the making of the castle.
"Security measures." He answered vaguely, but before Arlene could question it any longer, Harry spoke up again.
"Did you hear about the Dementors too?" he said with difficulty.
"Yes, I did, I don't think any of us have seen Professor Dumbledore that angry, I suppose they were the reason you fell?" Lupin asked
"He wasn't the only one affected," Arlene told him "the Hospital Wing witnessed its busiest day."
"Yes, but there was thousands of them. Don't you remember the train? I passed out just because one got close to our compartment." Harry argued, then turned to Lupin.
"Is it just something with me? Am I just-"
"It has nothing to do with weakness," said Professor Lupin sharply, as though he had read Harry's mind. "The Dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don't have."
A ray of wintry sunlight fell across the classroom, illuminating Lupin's gray hairs and the lines on his young face.
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. You have nothing to feel ashamed of."
"I still think somebody should take them to Disneyland," Arlene announced "if there's one thing I learned from 'Trolls' is that happiness is not something you take, it's something you have." She continued, sounding like a six year old.
Lupin chuckled but the frown remained planted on Harry's face.
"When they get near me, I-"he stopped and swallowed "I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum."
The humorous mood of Arlene's previous joke quickly vanished and a blanket of awkward silence fell upon them.
"Why did they have to come to the match?" said Harry bitterly, breaking the silence.
"They're getting hungry," said Lupine coolly, shutting his briefcase with a snap. "Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up, I don't think they could resist the large crowd around the Quid ditch field. All that excitement, emotions running high, it was their idea of a feast."
"Azkaban must be terrible," Harry muttered, Lupin nodded grimly.
"My mum went there few times, she told me that the fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but the walls and the water are not what imprisons them, it's their own heads." Arlene said as the memory of her mother coming home like she had seen a ghost came back to her.
Lupin nodded "Dementors are able to lock people inside their own minds, they build bars of your fear and make you incapable of single happy thought to keep you going. Most of the inmates go mad within weeks." He added.
"But Sirius Black escaped from them." Harry said slowly.
Lupin's briefcase slipped from the desk; he had to stoop quickly to catch it.
Arlene frowned at his surprised reaction, she couldn't help but remember all the evidence against him.
"Yes," he said, straightening up, "Black must have found a way to fight them. I wouldn't have believed it possible, Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long."
"You made that Dementor on the train back off," Harry said suddenly, as though just remembering it.
"Yeah," Arlene agreed, remembering it too "with the silvery thingy."
"There are.. certain defenses one can use," said Lupin slowly "But there was only one Dementor on the train, the more there are, the more difficult it becomes to resist."
"What defenses?" said Harry at once "Can you teach me?"
"Yeah me too." Arlene asked.
"I don't pretend to be an expert at fighting Dementors, quite the contrary-"
"But if the Dementors come to another Quidditch match, I need to be able to fight them-"
"I refuse to pass out a third time." Arlene added, crossing her arms in a stubborn manner.
Lupin looked into their determined faces, hesitated, then said, "Well, all right, I'll try and help. But it'll have to wait until next term, I'm afraid I have a lot to do before the holidays, I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill."
Coldness filled Arlene from head to toe, but she decided to take the chance to prove to herself that Snape was wrong.
"Judging by the amount of chocolate Madam Pomfrey would've given you in all that time that you were gone, I'm surprised that you haven't turned obese yet." She commented.
Lupin laughed "Oh yes, I know she means well, but someone needs to tell her that chocolate is not an actual medicine. Thankfully, I wasn't in the Hospital Wing, although she insisted to come check on me every once in a while."
It was like a huge weight was taken off Arlene's shoulder, Lupin wasn't a liar, Snape was just a jealous asshole. All was right in the world again.
The two were leaving when Lupin called out.
"Ms. Black Burke, didn't you have a question?'
Blushing in embarrassment as she realized she had forgotten about the reason she stayed behind in the first place.
"Yeah, what are the Infiri?"
You know when you say something and then you instantly know you shouldn't have when you see the expression on the other person's face? Yeah.