Silens I Chapter 15
What does it feel like to be left out?
Like a snake coiling around your heart, which grows harder and turns into stone.
Nothing can heal it
Nothing can heal
Your heart of amber
Encasing what you once held dear
And now has only killed them.
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But the venom from the snakes
from the blue-eyed snakes that I call
my friends
have only made me take life seriously
and begin to dissolved my heart of amber
ever since I saw them
I realized
I'm not alone
and that
maybe
just maybe
I can help them change
and then change with them
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I stood outside the window,
on the grass,
watching the kids play,
and thought,
they haven't been hurt and they never will be.
But when I am, my heart will only shatter.
The amber will break,
and all of the emotions encased inside
will finally be free.
The end of the school year was steadily approaching. I kept on teaching Toby and kept on being taught. The leaves had turned fully and most of the trees around Hogwarts had lost them. Over Halloween, nothing eventful happened except the ghosts trying to share creepy death stories from friends with the students. The scariest one I heard was about a witch whose heart got torn out, thrown into a fire, and left to die. The witch was called Heartless Havard (her last name) and she took the trouble to come from Wiltshire and tell us the story. At my looks of disgust, she grinned.
The only other important thing, besides the feast, was the announcement of a dangerous man scouting around Hogsmeade. John Handison I think they said. McGonagal said a short little thing about him, then told us if the situation got worse protection measures would be taken. "For your safety," was the only reason she gave.
As Christmas break drew closer, I wrote again to Mum. It was a chilly morning when I woke up, again a weekend. By the way, my weeks were as boring as ever. McGonagal had called in Wyvern Moody to help me with all my subjects (ya right, 'help me') but it wasn't going anywhere. I complained, and she said she'd try to find a suitable candidate after Christmas ended.
Here's the letter:
Dear Mum,
Things have been going ok. Tom and Lucas are good friends. In fact, they're basically my only friends at this point. I can't really figure it out, but something odd is happening here at school.
Oh! Yesterday a Daily Prophet reporter came by. He said he'd come back today. Any tips on deterring them? It annoys me.
Last thing: I'm having private lessons with a complete idiot: Wyvern Moody. Seriously who named himself that?! Gah…
Hope anything's good at home.
Your pygmypuff,
Asia!
I sealed the letter up, realizing how dull it would sound, but I didn't care. It was the last weekend before break, so basically, since it was a Saturday, tomorrow we would be heading back home. I hadn't seen Tom but twice before this time, but I had seen Lucas mostly every day.
I walked into the courtyard, which was empty except for some shady 7th Years hanging out near the fountain. I recognized one of them to be Ace, because Tom had pointed him out to me a few times before. Ace was chillingly dark in my opinion. To some he might have been attractive, I guess, but he was too... goth for me. Too much black.
He turned.
"If it's not Asia, the little studious bookworm," he said. It was the first time I had heard him talk.
I looked at his coldly.
"Hm. I guess being smart renders you dumb," he said, with a smirk, referring to the fact I wasn't talking. People who can't talk are called "dumb" people, but I don't agree with that. His friends smiled in the background at his "clever" wordplay.
"I heard you've already passed your O.W.L.S," he said. It was true, I had taken them on Halloween as like a challenge. McGonagal had suggested it, and I passed with nearly a perfect score. I told her I'd take them again when I was older just so I could get a perfect score, but she had I had passed, and it was done.
"Yep," I said coldly. "And how about you? How old were you when you finally passed?"
"The average age for taking them," he said.
"That's great. Just means you're as average as everyone else. Now stop bothering me." I turned away but he didn't relent on his teasing.
They say every Slytherin knows dark magic. I knew that wasn't true, after all, for all I know, Lucas can't use it. But Lucas could be an exception to that rule.
Ace's dark eyes went milky white, glazed like a zombie's. He stretched out his hand, black and green coils snaking their way up his arm and into his hand. His friends stopped laughing and watched with fright.
"I'm not average," he said, at least that's what I thought.
I looked around: no one was looking out the window, no one else was in the courtyard. I turned and faced him square on. "You'll be sorry if you do that," I said. "I'm special in more ways than just one, you know."
"And how's that?" he sneered.
I stretched out my arm and coils wrapped their way up my arm. Green and black, just like his. He hesitated, but finally whipped out his wand to yell the incantations for some horrible magic. He missed with his spell, since I leaped out the way.
Then he went again. This time it hit me.
Almost.
"Huh? What happened?" Ace said, twirling around.
I laughed, slinking along the floor, my tail held high. I turned in a spin, and turned back to human again. Ace had panicked, thinking he had cursed me into nonexistence. He was much taller than me, so I hid behind him as he panicked. His friends pointed me out, and he panicked again: it was more of a comedy show than a life-or-death-battle.
At least, it had been until up to this point.
He had spotted me, and without saying a word, he whipped his wand in a downward spiral. I stayed frozen, waiting. On the ground, veins of green starting inching towards me. I leaped out of the way as they faded.
I glanced at the window. Someone was there. Someone with white-blond hair and ice-pale skin.
The courtyard became flashes of green as Ace attempted hit me with his spells. He was clumsy, and wasn't aiming right, but they were hard to dodge in themselves. No one had noticed yet. I was starting to get worried, his spells were getting more and more on target.
"PROTEGO!" I shouted experimentally. It did nothing against his spells. Now, it seemed to be a game. He was regaining his composure, and getting much more elegant with aiming and hitting.
Finally, I raised my hand, pointed my wand dead center at him, and muttered a few words.
"ASIA!"
It was Tom and Lucas, Lucas running blindly along behind Tom. As they approached me, my spell hit Ace dead center, knocking him out. I looked at them and said,
"Hiyya guys!"
Tom scowled. "What the heck are you doing?"
"Your roommate tried to pick a fight with me," I said.
Ace's friends leaped forward. "You'll pay-" they shouted, but I stopped them.
"He's not dead, only knocked out. He'll come round in a few minutes."
He did, but when he woke he had no recollection of the events. I noticed that his eyes turned back to the blackish color they were. He only remembered teasing me and didn't remember the fight, and it hit me.
Was he hit with Imperio or something? Had someone been controlling him?
Ace sat there. "Hey," he said absently.
McGonagal stomped out. "ABERNATHY-LOVEGOOD!" she yelled. "WHAT THE H-"
"I think someone cast Imperio on him, Prof.!" I said. "His eyes were milky white and-"
She froze, like something had registered with her. She muttered, "Of course," and helped Ace up. "Come with me," she said to me, Tom and Lucas. "I think I've figured it out."
We looked at her blankly, but went.
This was going too fast for me. She had figured it out?
When we reached the Hospital Wing, McGonagal told us to come to her office when we got back from break. "Don't let this worry you, we have it under control." she said.
"Does it have anything to do with Handison?" asked Lucas out of nowhere.
McGonagal seemed stunned. "Yes, yes it does, but please don't try to pursue him. I don't want another Harry, Ron, and Hermione type accident," she said shortly, then let us leave.
Tom looked at me. "Why didn't you run?"
"Is Ace always like that?" I said over him.
"He's... a bit annoying." Tom said offhandedly, wrapping his cheap coat around him. It was freezing cold after all.
"Hm," I said.
We all thought long and hard. Something was wrong with Hogwarts, but we didn't know what yet.
"Are we gonna investigate?" I asked slyly.
"No!" said Lucas, "Don't get hurt!"
I looked at him and he seemed to be looking back at me. "Don't worry, if we stick together, we won't," I said, and Tom made a small little smirk.
"Okay," he said.
"We can talk about it more tomorrow on the train ride home," I said, and Tom nodded.
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Next chapter after Knight's will be the train ride, and the next will be the birthdays? No idea, LOL. Just freehanding over here, got this done in maybe 30mins? Los of ideas come first thing in the morning! Excited for your chapter Knight!
