Chapter 7 - Alone
Estelle wasn’t glad of the quiet that fell over the four as they walked towards the hospital wing. It gave her thoughts more space to spiral, even though she hadn’t been contributing to Harry and Ron’s conversation, it had been a nice background noise for her to tune into. Now the silence made her more on edge. She hadn’t lived with much fear or anxiety in her life before Hogwarts, and suddenly she found herself shaking before Quidditch matches, though usually it was from excitement. She hadn’t developed defence mechanisms for nerves, and while she hadn’t felt it before, she knew that what she was feeling was dread.
“I warn you. This could be a wee bit of a shock.”
Hermione’s body was frozen, lying uncomfortably on the thin mattress of the hospital bed. She was pale, hand out like she had been holding something, mouth parted in shock. It was like looking at a wax figure. Estelle’s mind was flooded, thoughts mixing around, jumbling over each other, but the one that stood out was simply ‘Hermione’. The boys stood still next to her, but Estelle didn’t look at their faces. She wasn’t thinking about them, she didn’t worry about them, or for them. She ran to her friend’s side.
“Hermione!” She cried, a loss for what to do. She slid to her knees, tentatively reaching out to touch Hermione’s hand, her Quidditch glove grazing her palm. It was cold. Why did it have to be cold? Her fingernails were fading purple, her lips were a paler pink, her cheeks lacked the usual joyful rose. She couldn’t do anything but murmur, “No. Hermione.” The others were exclaiming their own shock in hushed disbelief, but she wasn’t listening. She couldn’t do anything. She had tried to, though, and that was the worst thing. They walked around the castle with each other, Estelle wouldn’t let Hermione out of her sight, sticking by her side. Ron stayed with Harry, Blaise stayed with Nikolai, and she stayed with Hermione. But the one time she couldn’t be with her, the one time Estelle decided it was okay, Hermione ended up in the hospital, unable to move. Why did she make such a stupid mistake? She felt Nikolai’s familiar hand on her shoulder.
“Lea.” He spoke quietly, something calm filling his voice. Was he not sad? Hermione was his friend, too, so why wasn’t he sad? Why wasn’t he angry at her?
Estelle couldn’t bear to turn from Hermione when she felt him kneel down behind her. “It was my–”
“It wasn’t your fault.” He sounded so certain. He shook her shoulder. “Look at me, Lea.” She felt like she should be crying, she should have been crying, right? “Lea, regarde-moi.” (Lea, look at me.)
She turned to him and understood his position quickly. His eyes were wide and he was breathing quickly, but he was pushing through it because she needed him to be stable. And she knew this. Taking her hand off of Hermione’s, feeling her begin to part, she latched her arms around Nikolai’s neck. She still didn’t cry, she wanted to sob, but she didn’t. Was it that she didn’t want to cry in front of her friends? Maybe she was hardwired to not cry in front of her brother. Maybe she was still too much in shock to cry over Hermione. However much she wanted to.
“She was found by the library…” Pulling away from Nikolai, Estelle laughed ruefully. Of course she was by the library. “Along with this.” McGonagall moved to Hermione’s other bedside, picking up a hand-mirror from the little table. The twins stood, getting a better look at it. “Does it mean anything to any of you?” The reflection of the glass shone light across Hermione’s glassy eyes and Estelle took a short breath.
“No.” Harry answered, as the others shook their heads.
“Well, you had best all go back to your dormitories. I suspect there’ll be an announcement soon.”
****
Professor McGonagall had been right. All the Slytherin students loitered in the common room, lounging and chatting, oblivious to the growing danger pursuing the school. Nikolai had just finished telling Blaise and Millicent about the state of Hermione when Snape barged through the door, marching with the same majesty he had in that first Potions lesson of first year. His robes billowed out behind him, bringing silence when he stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
“In light of the attacks on muggle-born students, these new rules will be implemented.” He rolled out a scroll of parchment and read with a loud voice, “All students will return to their house common rooms by six o’clock every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher with no exceptions.” He rolled it back up quickly, always seeming as though he had better places to be, then regarded the students with a sneer. “The unfortunate instances are tragic. Let’s hope the culprit comes clean soon.” He clearly meant the opposite, but, Nikolai supposed, he was preaching to the choir in the Slytherin house.
Millicent put her hand on Nikolai’s arm comfortingly. “I’m so sorry about Hermione, Kai.”
“It’s alright, Mils. As mean as it sounds, at least she was only petrified.” He sighed, knowing that after Snape’s speech, he wouldn’t be able to get to the Gryffindor common room as easily, if at all. “I shouldn’t have left Lea. She won’t be thinking the same as me.” Along with not being able to leave the common room after six, Nikolai had a feeling that their plan to go to Hagrid’s would be moved from tomorrow to tonight. When they had left the hospital wing, Harry had decided that they would go to talk to Hagrid about the Chamber of Secrets the next night, but with the sudden clap down of the rules, Nikolai wouldn’t blame them if they moved it to tonight. He could go and check, stand outside their common room, but he wouldn’t even be able to get past Snape’s staring eyes from the dungeon, let alone dodge every other obstacle. He took a deep breath, deciding to get comfortable on the sofa next to Millicent, and convinced himself that the three Gryffindors wouldn’t even dare to leave the common room. Whether he truly believed it or not, he forced himself to calm down. They wouldn’t leave after Hermione had just been petrified and new rules had just been put in place.
“You alright?” Blaise asked.
“Yeah.” He took another deep breath. “Yeah.”
****
“We’ve got to talk to Hagrid. Now.” Harry said sternly.
“You heard McGonagall, Harry. We’re not allowed to leave the tower except for class.” Ron reasoned with him, but Estelle leapt at the chance to hopefully save more people.
“That’s never stopped us before.” She said, the glint slowly returning to her eyes, though the smirk didn’t follow. “How about we use your dad’s cloak?”
Harry nodded and Ron sighed. “We’re never gonna get any peace, are we?”
“I sure hope not.” Estelle smiled a little. Small, but there it was through the sadness that plagued her features.
Ron shook his head but grinned regardless.
Harry retrieved the cloak and they sat in the sofa nearest the door until the last student trailed off to bed.
“Should we get Nik?” Harry asked as they threw the cloak over themselves, shuffling closer to be fully hidden under the surprisingly large size of it.
Estelle thought for a moment. She knew the password to the Slytherin common room, or Klaus did, but then they would have to find his room and wake him up without any other Slytherin waking up. While she was sure they could explain it to Blaise, she wasn’t so sure Malfoy would let them wander without snitching, and from what she remembered Nikolai telling her, Malfoy was a light sleeper. It hurt her to say it, but she didn’t think Nikolai would be coming with them that time. “It’s not worth the risk.”
“You sure?” Ron assured, pushing open the portrait.
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
They stepped out onto the cold stone floor and began to hastily sneak their way outside to the grounds. They reached Hagrid’s hut having only had to dodge Filch once and Harry quickly rapped on the door. There was a moment before they heard Hagrid call out a trepid “Who’s there?” He kicked open the door and the three were met with a crossbow dangerously close to their noses. Having noticed Harry and Ron’s hesitation at the weapon, Estelle pulled the cloak off of them and they could see Hagrid visibly relax.
“What’s that for?” Harry asked, gesturing to the crossbow he held strongly in his hands.
“Oh, nothin’, just expecting– er… nothing. Come on in, I just made a pot of tea.” They followed him in and Ron closed the door behind them. Hagrid laid the crossbow carefully by a chair and began to pour the tea. His hands shook and the liquid flowed over the edges.
“Hagrid?” Estelle asked, worried for their friend. She didn’t believe it was Hagrid at all but she wondered why he was so obviously nervous.
“Are you okay?” Harry seemed to have noticed it too.
“I’m fine,” Hagrid said, pulling back from the teapot, “I’m alright.”
“Did you hear about Hermione?” Harry asked, glancing quickly to Estelle who took a shaky breath.
“Oh, yeah. I heard about that, all right. Are you all doing okay?” He looked at Estelle as well, even though he posed the question to the three of them. Estelle nodded hard and quick as the other two mumbled their agreements.
Harry swallowed hard and suddenly declared, “Look, we have to ask you something. Do you know who’s opened the Chamber of Secrets?”
Hagrid looked down, understanding the question and likely the question behind it. It might have even been guilt that crossed his eyes and for a moment Estelle was confused. “Now, what you have to understand about that is–”
He didn’t get to finish as there was a knock at the door followed by Fang barking loudly. They all jumped, even Estelle, who had been so engrossed in Hagrid’s response. The boys turned to the door quickly before back to Hagrid as he instructed, “Quick, under the cloak.” They rushed to do as he said. “Don’t say a word.”
They huddled in a corner as Hagrid retrieved the crossbow and opened the door.
“Oh, Professor Dumbledore, sir.” They couldn’t hear Dumbledore’s reply, but Hagrid quickly stood back to let him in. But Dumbledore wasn’t alone, another man followed him into the hut.
“That’s dad’s boss!” Ron exclaimed quietly and Estelle understood. “Cornelius Fudge.”
“The Minister of Magic.” She stated.
“Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business. Had to come. Three attacks on muggle-borns, things have gone far enough. The Ministry’s got to act.”
Estelle furrowed her brows, did he intend to take Hagrid away? Even after Hagrid’s response, Estelle didn’t think it was him. He wouldn’t have.
“But I never– you know I never, Professor.”
“I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence.”
“Albus, look, Hagrid’s record is against him. I’ve got to take him.”
“Take me? Take me where? Not Azkaban prison!”
The three looked at each other under the cloak, Ron and Estelle understanding the direness of the situation while Harry wordlessly seeked for answers.
“I’m afraid we have no choice, Hagrid.”
Estelle wanted to throw the cloak off and demand that Hagrid stay. Logically, she knew she shouldn’t and the urge was quickly silenced when the door creaked open. They couldn’t hear if the person said anything but when he walked in, they knew something bad was going to happen. Lucius Malfoy sauntered in as if he owned the place and Estelle felt her blood begin to boil.
“What are you doing here? Get out of my house!” Hagrid raised his voice but Malfoy seemed uncaring.
“Believe me, I take absolutely no pleasure in being inside your… you call this a house?”
Estelle wished Nikolai were here to pull her back because relying on her own self restraint was a risky business.
“No, I simply called at the school and was told the headmaster was here.” He turned to Dumbledore.
“And what exactly is it that you want with me?”
“The other governors and I have decided that it’s time for you to step aside. This is an order of suspension.” He pulled out a scroll and handed it towards Dumbledore. Fudge went to take it but Dumbledore held up his hand. “You’ll find all twelve signatures on it. I’m afraid we feel you’ve rather lost your touch.” How much more snide can someone get? Estelle thought. “Well, what with all these attacks, there’ll be no muggle-borns left at Hogwarts.” He turned and began to walk closer to the group of students gripping the cloak. “I can only imagine what an awful loss that would be to the school.” Even without the smile he gave himself, Estelle could tell he meant the direct opposite of his words.
“You can’t take Professor Dumbledore away! Take him away and the muggle-borns won’t stand a chance. You mark my words, there’ll be killin’s next!”
“You think so?”
Estelle recognised Hagrid’s mistake even though it was clear what he meant. He wasn’t a liar like Lucius Malfoy.
“Calm yourself, Hagrid. If the governors desire my removal, I will, of course, step aside.” Dumbledore wandered closer to Malfoy. “However… you will find that help will alway be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” Dumbledore’s eyes peered over his half-moon spectacles towards the corner that the three were standing in. Malfoy turned to follow his gaze in laced confusion before turning back and speaking haughtily.
“Admirable sentiments. Shall we?”
Dumbledore gave one last look directly into their eyes, which Estelle didn’t appreciate, since it was very creepy, and left with Malfoy as he said, “Fudge.”
Fudge nodded, moving towards the door. “Come, Hagrid. Well?”
Hagrid coughed loudly, obviously to get their attention. “If… If anybody was looking for some stuff, all they’d have to do would be to follow the spiders. Yep. That’d lead them right. That’s all I have to say.” Hagrid walked over to the door. “Oh, and someone’ll have to feed Fang while I’m away.”
As if on cue, Fang growled and Fudge regarded him with nerves across his face. Estelle wondered if he was afraid of dogs. The door closed behind them and the three of them threw the cloak off.
“Hagrid’s right,” Ron said anxiously, “with Dumbledore gone, there’ll be an attack a day!” Estelle couldn’t bear the thought. If Dumbledore wasn’t there, Hermione might have been worse off, and petrification wasn’t pretty in the first place.
“Look.” Harry began to walk towards the window. Ron and Estelle followed him but instantly took a step back when they saw the trail of spiders crawling up the wall. “Come on.” With determination on his steps, Harry picked up the lantern from the wall and opened the door.
“Really?” Estelle said meekly, knowing where this would be going.
“Come on, Fang.” Harry ignored her, calling for the dog. She sighed as she lightly pushed Fang off the chair, so he would follow. Reaching the outside wall of the hut, they watched as the spiders crawled down the wall and off towards the forest. “Come on.”
“What?” Ron asked in disbelief, his voice cracking.
“You heard what Hagrid said, ‘follow the spiders’.”
“They’re headed to the Dark Forest!” Ron exclaimed, voice squeaking. Harry turned to look at him, looking at Estelle next and he shook his head at her wide eyes and thinly taught lips. He started to march towards the Forest.
“Why spiders?” Estelle grumbled, following Harry as Ron stayed next to her.
“Why couldn’t it be ‘follow the butterflies’?” Ron whined. But they reached the edge of the forest quickly and began to delve into the thick trees.
The Forbidden Forest loomed large and imposing as Harry, Ron, Estelle, and Fang cautiously made their way deeper into the dense woods, following the trail of spiders. The silence was thick, broken only by the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the skittering of spiders crawling ahead. Harry, eyes focused and determined, pressed forward, seemingly unbothered by the creatures while Estelle and Ron, however, were another story entirely.
Estelle gripped her wand tightly, eyeing the spiders with barely concealed horror. A single spider sitting in the corner of her dorm room back at Gryffindor Tower was bad enough– but this? This was a nightmare come to life. The horde of arachnids moved in unison, their legs creeping and twitching in a way that made her skin crawl. She shuddered, staying as far away from them as possible. The only thing worse than the spiders was the thought that they were leading them somewhere. Why did it have to be spiders? Estelle thought bitterly, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her. She made a conscious effort not to step too close to any of the skittering creatures.
After what felt like an eternity of walking in silence, Ron finally spoke, his voice shaky. “Harry, I don’t like this.”
Estelle nodded quickly, her heart pounding in her chest. “Yeah, me neither. I mean, who follows a bunch of spiders and expects something good to happen?"
Harry, ever focused, shushed them both, his tone sharper than usual. “Shush.”
Estelle almost rolled her eyes at how much he sounded like their mother in that moment. Still, she begrudgingly kept quiet, though she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of dread that clung to her. Ron, on the other hand, couldn’t keep his fear in check.
“Can we go back now?” Ron’s voice was barely above a whisper, but the terror in it was unmistakable. Estelle gave a quick nod of agreement, though Harry didn’t see it. He pressed on ahead, more determined than ever.
“Come on.” He urged.
Estelle exchanged a worried glance with Ron, both knowing that they didn’t have much choice but to follow. After all, if they didn’t, Harry would wander off into more danger than necessary and might accidentally get himself killed, and neither of them could let that happen. The three friends, along with Fang, followed the spiders deeper into the forest. The further they went, the more ominous the surroundings became. The trees seemed to close in on them, thick with webs that gleamed faintly in the moonlight.
The group reached what looked like a tunnel, its entrance covered in thick spider webs, with no sign of an escape. Spiders of all sizes crawled along the webbing, their bodies clicking together, making Estelle’s stomach turn. Her heart raced in her chest, and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed Ron’s hand. His fingers closed tightly around hers, a silent exchange of comfort. He didn’t question the action, too terrified to care, and Estelle was grateful for the support, in place of her brother’s. They needed each other to get through this, even if it was just to stay sane. The tunnel finally opened up into a large clearing, surrounded by towering trees with roots that sprawled across the ground. Estelle would have thought it was beautiful– majestic, even– if she wasn’t paralyzed by the fear of being surrounded by thousands of spiders. Every movement of the shadows made her jump, her breath coming in short, uneven bursts. Her sense of unease only grew as they walked further into the open space. There was something off about this place, something that set her on edge. It wasn’t just the spiders– it was the feeling that they were being watched. She glanced around nervously, but saw nothing. Apart from the arachnids, of course. Still, the unsettling feeling clung to her, like an itch she couldn’t scratch.
As they approached the far side of the clearing, heading towards another tunnel, a raspy voice echoed from the shadows, making Stella freeze in place.
“Who is it?” Deep and commanding.
Estelle’s heart leapt into her throat. She hadn’t even realised she was still clutching Ron’s hand until she felt his grip tighten in response. Her palms were sweaty, but neither of them let go, her shaking seemed to match Ron’s. The voice had come from somewhere deep in the darkness ahead of them, and Estelle’s instincts screamed at her to run, but her legs were rooted to the spot, so instead she tightened her fist around her wand. She kept it lowered to avoid any possible provocation from the owner of the voice.
“Don’t panic,” Harry whispered, though his tone didn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Estelle shot him a look, her fear bubbling up into frustration. “Easier said than done, Harold,” she whisper-shouted, her sarcasm barely masking the terror coursing through her veins.
Harry looked at her oddly, but there was no time to argue as the voice spoke up again.
“Hagrid? Is that you?” The deep, raspy voice echoed from the shadows, making Estelle’s heart pound even harder. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to get away from whatever horror lay just beyond the dark.
But, in what Estelle considered a highly reckless move, Harry spoke up, his voice shaky but determined, “We’re friends of Hagrid.”
The silence that followed was deafening, but it was quickly shattered by the sound of something massive shifting in the shadows. A single, hairy leg extended from a dark tunnel, followed by another. And then another. Soon, an enormous spider’s body emerged into view, towering over them like a grotesque nightmare.
Estelle felt frozen in place. Her entire body seemed to lock up, refusing to move. Her mind screamed at her to do something– anything– but she couldn’t. She had never been paralyzed by fear before, but this was different. This was her worst nightmare, manifesting right in front of her. The spider– no, the monster was enormous, and it was all Estelle could do to keep herself from collapsing in terror. She shook her head quickly, a rushed move to keep herself from falling over from the lack of movement in her knees.
Harry, his voice wavering, addressed the creature. “And you… you’re Aragog, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” came the spider’s chilling response. “Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before.”
If Estelle hadn’t been so petrified, she might have corrected Aragog’s assumption with a sarcastic quip– or women– but she was in no mood for jokes. Not now. And she had a feeling that Aragog wasn’t a being who liked jokes.
“He’s in trouble,” Harry explained, his voice low but urgent. “Up at the school, there have been attacks. They think it’s Hagrid.”
As Harry spoke, Estelle felt Ron’s hand tighten around hers. She glanced at him and followed his gaze to the sides of the clearing, where more enormous spiders crawled into view, closing in, surrounding them like predators circling their prey. A chill span down Estelle’s spine as she realised they were truly trapped.
“That’s a lie!” Aragog’s voice boomed, snapping Estelle’s attention back to the creature. “Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets.”
Harry, seemingly undeterred, asked what Estelle considered an incredibly stupid question. “Then… you’re not the monster?”
Estelle wanted to slap Harry for that. Of course, he’s not the monster! But Aragog answered calmly, nonetheless. “No. The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveller.”
Ron, clearly on the verge of a full-blown panic attack, tugged on Harry’s sleeve again. “Harry,” he whimpered, his voice small and terrified.
Harry shushed him sharply, though even he seemed uneasy. Estelle, however, was firmly on Ron’s side. Something felt dangerously off. It wasn’t just her deep-seated fear of spiders, it was the very real sense that they were in grave danger. Her instincts screamed that this situation was about to go from bad to worse.
Harry, oblivious to the rising threat, pressed on with more questions. “But if you’re not the monster, then what did kill that girl fifty years ago?” If Estelle was in any worthy state of mind, she would have dragged him away from the impending danger by now.
“We do not speak of it,” Aragog replied, his voice grave. “It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others.”
“Have you seen it?” Harry asked again, his curiosity pushing him to continue.
“I never saw any part of the castle but the box in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here.”
Estelle’s mind raced, trying to piece together the clues. Her fear was momentarily eclipsed by a spark of understanding. The girl in the bathroom. And then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. "Myrtle," she whispered to herself. It all made sense– Moaning Myrtle had died in a bathroom. Could she be the key to the mystery?
But any fleeting sense of clarity was shattered when Ron whimpered again, tugging more urgently on Harry’s robes. “Harry!”
This time, Harry turned to him. “What?” he asked, exasperated.
Ron, pale as a ghost, pointed upward. Estelle followed his gaze, and her stomach dropped. Above them, more spiders were descending from the trees, their massive bodies hanging from silken webs as they lowered themselves toward the group. They were completely surrounded.
Harry, doing his best to keep calm, stammered out a response. “Well… thank you. We’ll just… go.”
But Aragog had other ideas. “Go?” The spider’s voice was slow and menacing. “I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid.”
Estelle’s heart stopped. Any sympathy she might have felt for Aragog vanished in an instant, replaced by raw terror. They were about to be eaten by an army of massive spiders.
Ron, voice trembling and full of desperation, turned to Harry. “Can we panic now?”
A spider the size of a small dog landed behind them, and both Ron and Estelle instinctively pulled up their wands, panic radiating from their stiff postures. Harry, in true Harry fashion, made a split-second decision that Estelle could only describe as utterly reckless– he swung his lamp at the advancing creature. The spiders, an overwhelming tide of writhing legs and gleaming eyes, continued to close in, their clicking mandibles filling the air. Her mind raced, trying to focus through the terror. Think, Lea, think! She needed a spell, something, anything, to keep these monsters at bay. Without fully realising it, her instincts took over, and she pointed her wand at the nearest spider, shouting, “Incendio!” A burst of fire shot from her wand, causing the spider to screech and skitter away, its legs curling in horror. The heat from the flame licked at the air, and for the first time since entering the clearing, Estelle felt a small glimmer of hope.
Harry, still swinging his lamp like a madman, finally dropped it and pulled out his own wand, realisation dawning on his face. Estelle saw his hesitance, and with urgency in her voice, she shouted, “Incendio, Harry! They don’t like fire!”
Her shout seemed to snap Harry out of his stupor. He lifted his wand and began to cast the fire charm, igniting the area with desperate flashes of flame. It worked– but only for a moment. More spiders were creeping out of the shadows, their numbers too vast to hold off with a few flicks of their wands. Estelle’s heart pounded in her chest as she continued to fire spell after spell, the spiders creeping closer despite their efforts. Ron stood between them, frozen with fear, his broken wand shakily pointing in every direction, but unable to cast a single spell.
Just as the situation looked utterly hopeless, a bright light flashed in the distance, growing stronger with each second. The ground trembled slightly, and then, like something out of a fever dream, a car came barreling through the clearing, scattering the spiders like leaves in the wind. The sight was so unexpected, so utterly bizarre, that for a moment, Estelle thought she might have imagined it. But no– it was real. The heavenly blue of the flying Ford Anglia came screeching to a halt before them, the car doors flinging open as if beckoning them inside.
“Let’s go!” Harry shouted, his voice breaking through the cacophony of spider clicks and screeches. He wasted no time in diving into the car, and Estelle didn't hesitate. She scrambled into the backseat, adrenaline overriding any lingering confusion from how this vehicle, the same car Harry and Ron stole at the beginning of the year, had come to their rescue. How on earth was the car driving itself? She barely had time to consider the question, though, because the spiders, undeterred by the car’s appearance, were beginning to swarm again, attacking the vehicle with vicious force. Stella felt the jolt of spider legs slamming into the sides, the sound of chitinous bodies scraping against the metal frame filling her ears. Her hands fumbled with the seatbelt, her breath coming in ragged gasps. “Seatbelt!” she muttered to herself, yanking it across her lap and clicking it into place. If this was going to be as wild a ride as she anticipated, she didn’t want to be thrown around the backseat like a ragdoll. She held onto Fang like a lifeline.
The car roared to life, and the tires screeched against the forest floor as it sped off, spiders clinging desperately to the sides, still trying to break through. The trees blurred past them as the car weaved and darted, dodging obstacles with an agility that Estelle would have found remarkable– if she weren’t still scared out of her mind. At some point, Ron managed to get them in the air and Estelle was thrown back, holding Fang tighter, half to stop him from damaging something, and half for pure emotional support. The jolts as the car bashed into trees jostled them all about and Estelle could only hope through her whiplash that Ron had some semblance of control over the vehicle. There was a lot of screaming, but she wasn’t sure who it was. Soon enough, the car made a hasty crash-landing on the grass close to Hagrid’s hut and Estelle could only thank Merlin they hadn’t died from the descent. The doors were flung open and they scrambled out quickly, Fang trailing after her.
As soon as Ron stepped out, he began to rant. “‘Follow the spiders’. ‘Follow the spiders’! If Hagrid ever get s out of Azkaban, I’ll kill him!” Before Harry could defend their friend, the car closed the doors with a slam and reversed back into the forsaken Forbidden Forest. “I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?” Estelle answered the question in her mind, but she didn’t trust herself to open her mouth without a stressed scream.
“We know one thing. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent.” Harry responded, still looking at where the car had disappeared.
Estelle let out a short laugh as she collapsed to the floor, arms holding her up as Fang circled her in comfort. Ron and Harry looked at her, watching her fall.
“Stella?” Harry asked, likely aware that ‘are you alright’ was not an applicable query at that moment.
“Yeah, of course he was innocent.” She said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll tell you what, though, I’m glad Hugo didn’t come. He gets really bad motion sickness.”
They waited for a moment until Estelle could get up off the floor before returning to Hagrid’s hut to drop Fang off and collect Harry’s dad’s cloak. Once they returned to the dimly but warmly lit corridors of Hogwarts, she felt like she could breathe.
Estelle pushed open the door to the Gryffindor common room, slipping in as quietly as she could, Harry and Ron on her heels, cloak bundled under Harry’s arm. The fire had long since died down to embers, casting a faint glow across the room, and the usual lively chatter was replaced by an unsettling silence in the emptiness. It felt wrong– unnatural.
“See you tomorrow, Stella.”
“Yeah, good night.” She waved behind her mindlessly as they creeped up to the boys’ dormitory. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the lack of mirth the room hadn’t seen before. Usually, the space was filled with warmth and laughter, the kind that could chase away any lingering worries or doubts, but tonight, it was cold, hollow, as if the very heart of the common room had been stilled. Maybe it was her heart that had stilled.
Opening the door to her dormitory, Estelle found that Lavender and Parvati were already asleep, their soft, even breaths the only sounds cutting through the quiet. Estelle felt a strange detachment as she moved through the room, like she was watching herself from the outside, a feeling she had never experienced before. Her movements were mechanical as she changed into her pyjamas, her mind clouded, overwhelmed by an unfamiliar feeling.
Alone.
She paused by her bed, her hands frozen in the act of pulling back the covers. Hermione’s voice echoed in her mind, clear as if she were standing right beside her. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth, Stella.”
Estelle let out a bitter, almost humourless laugh at the memory. Hermione’s reminders, her constant caring nature, had always been a source of both comfort and light-hearted snaps. But now, it felt like salt in a wound. She shuffled over to the bathroom, brushing her teeth in a daze and she had half a mind to respond to Hermione’s bodiless voice. The routine felt empty– just another action to fill the silence, and it didn’t chase away the hollow ache settling deep in her chest. Once finished, she climbed into bed, pulling the covers over herself. She tugged them closer to her chest but the warmth from the blankets did little to fight off the coldness creeping into her bones. She lay there for a while, staring into the darkness, her thoughts spinning and tangled.
Pushing herself up on her elbows, she drifted her gaze across the room, landing on the bed opposite hers– Hermione’s bed. The covers were pulled neatly up to the pillow and folded under the mattress. A weak smile dusted Estelle’s mouth, imagining Hermione graciously setting her bed before going to the Great Hall for breakfast, leaving her bed empty. But now, that’s all that it was. Empty.
Estelle couldn’t stop herself, the tears she had been instinctively holding back began to fall. She hadn’t intended to cry. She hadn’t wanted to break. But it was like the weight of the night had finally fallen too heavily, and she couldn’t hold it back anymore. The sobs came fast and hard, wracking her body as she sat up and hunched over, her hand clamped tightly over her mouth to stifle the sound. She didn’t want to wake Lavender or Parvati. She didn’t want anyone to hear and she didn’t want anyone to know. But the silence of the room only amplified her despair, the stillness making her feel more solitary than ever. Being a twin, Estelle had never truly felt alone– not in the way most people did. Nikolai had always been there, like a constant presence in her life. Even in their silences, she knew he was there, in reaching distance, and that knowledge had been enough. But now, in the deafening quiet of the room, without Hermione, without Nikolai, without the familiar warmth of her friends and their noise… the loneliness pierced her to the core.
She clutched the covers tighter, trying to ground herself, but the sobs only grew louder in her throat. She buried her face into her pillow, a pitiful attempt as her tears soaked the fabric through each moment that seemed to stretch on endlessly. The silence was swallowing her whole and it was suffocating. And for the first time in a long time, Estelle didn’t know how to make it stop. She had always been so strong, so resilient and so determined, always the one to pick herself up after a fall. But tonight, in the quiet darkness, all that strength felt far away, like a distant memory she could no longer reach.
She didn’t know how long she lay there, crying into the silence as time seemed to blur, the minutes giving way to hours. The room remained still, and for the first time in her life, Estelle Wolfe felt utterly, heartbreakingly alone.