The Girl from the Prophecy Card
A few days later, Umberto met with Professor Gregor. “Professor, according to Liam Wren, Lara Guishar says we missed the Dark Magic book. It was there and we missed it.”
Professor Gregor pursed his lips, and ridges formed all up his high forehead. “That may be so, Calais. It wouldn’t be the first time that I overlooked contraband during an inspection. Dark Magic artifacts especially like to stay hidden.”
“Should we try again?” asked Umberto, eagerly.
“I won’t move against Dennison again without more evidence. Despite how credible I deem Guishar’s testimony, I’ll need more than that. I’m sure the opportunity will present itself. Dennison has rarely gone more than a few weeks between incidents. He’ll be in trouble again soon, and we’ll use that as our pretext to search through his possessions once more.”
Dennison, however, had suddenly transformed himself into a model student. Per Umberto’s demand, neither Dennison nor anyone from his troop attempted to court the First Year boys again. They avoided conflicts with Patrick Wren and the Gryffindors. To everyone’s surprise, Dennison was the first to suggest they get ahead on their schoolwork. He was particularly adept at Arithmancy. Though it hurt his pride, Aiden continued to lean on Dennison to help him through this notoriously difficult class.
The other Third Years were not convinced that Dennison had truly changed his ways. The incident with the First Years quickly reached Alyssa’s ears, and one morning as they waited for their Defence class, she accosted him.
“Dennison, what’s this I hear about you wanting to be a Dark Lord?”
He smiled smugly at her but did not answer. Freya jumped in with, “I heard he was using the title ‘Lord Mahglin.’ The original Mahglin was betrayed by Morgoth and came to nothing!”
He gazed proudly at them. “I am reclaiming and redeeming the title. You may not fear me now, but you will. Someday, everyone will fear me.”
“I will never fear you,” snapped Alyssa.
Benedict placed himself between the two girls. Patrick came on Alyssa’s other side. Meriko and Bell was there, too. Dennison gave Benedict a hard, warning glare before surveying the group with condescension. “Someday, Alyssa, even you will fear me.”
“As I recall, Lara Guishar, our school prophet, said you were dying young,” said Alyssa. “I’ll take my chances.”
McGonagall and Gregor were concerned that Dennison was talking about becoming a Dark Lord, but neither of them took any significance from his choice of title. They correctly surmised that he had found it in his History of Magic textbook and left it at that.
Lara Guishar, however, was deeply troubled by it. The title was accursed. The original Mahglin had betrayed others and had been in turn betrayed. A heavy weight of Dark magic had since lain upon that title. Others had shunned it for centuries. Dennison, by using it, had brought this Dark curse upon himself. Lara tried to warn Dennison by placing a prophetic doom upon him, declaring he would fail in his ambitions, and that love would undue all that he attempted. A few months later, Dennison took Baingarden’s Oath, an oath Slytherin boys make, promising not to ever harm their Slytherin sisters. Lara had looked into Dennison’s heart, and she knew he had no intention of keeping that oath.
These three potent magical forces, the Curse, the Prophetic Doom and the Oath Spoken in Vain, had combined into a single element of dark magic, an evil seed germinating within the young boy. It was this force which hid the forbidden book from McGonagall and the prefects, even as it lay on the stone floor before them.
Dennison continued to walk the straight and narrow path. He avoided trouble and kept up on his schoolwork. McGonagall and Gregor moved on to other more pressing matters. Lara watched him every day and waited with a growing sense of dread.
A month passed. The rains fell in unrelenting torrents, swelling the lake and flooding the paths to the greenhouses. Professor Greenleaf and Mr. Hagrid moved their Magical Creatures class to Mr. Firenze’s room. Still, it was cold and damp with the room open to the air on one side.
Claire Quillan, Q to her friends, stared out at the falling rain, shivering, her arms tight over her chest. Going to Herbology later is going to suck. The rain was making her depressed. Worse, she hadn’t gotten a letter from home in over a week. Everyone’s forgotten about me.
Professor Greenleaf showed them a Lorelei, a beautiful woman with blue green hair who stood out in the rain and sang for them. She wore a moss green dress and her skin was faintly green. Her voice was angelic, and her eyes were like flashes of sunlight on water. I can see why men drown trying to be with a woman like that.
After a quick lunch, she went up to the library and took six inches of notes on Lorelei from her Magical Creatures textbook, then took some time looking over her transfiguration notes. She was falling behind on her latest project, transfiguring a twig from the Forbidden Forest into a silver letter opener. Her opener still had a twig-like bend in it. The blade wasn’t flat enough to open an envelope, and instead of being silver in color, it was more a metallic green.
During Transfiguration, she took dutiful notes on Professor Meadows’ lecture, then set about trying to straighten the bend in her letter opener. She was so focused on her task that she hadn’t realized that her class was over and the Professor had dismissed them.
She put away her books, notes and project and dashed downstairs. In the Entrance Hall, students were milling about, socializing between classes. Walking quickly, Q skirted around a group of girls. Her mind was on the storm and the cold, wet walk out to the greenhouses.
Two metres from the doors, she slipped on the slick tiles. Her feet went out from under her and she fell straight down onto the stone floor. A blinding pain shot up from her tailbone all up her spine. Her bag burst open at the bottom. The corner of a textbook was now poking through, along with a quill. Her eyes welled with tears.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” One of the girls standing nearby helped her to her feet. “Are you alright?” she asked. Q tried to speak but only a sob came out. The girl put her arms around Q as the tears began to fall. The pain of the fall, the embarrassment, the stress of her classes, and her homesickness – it was all too much at that moment.
A calm, steady voice was in her ear. “Can you check her out? She fell really hard.” Softer, in Q’s ear, she said, “My friend is in Healing Arts. She’s going to give you a look over, okay?” Louder, to someone else: “Can you fix up her bag? That book is coming right through the bottom.”
Another girl’s voice, low and soft: “Nothing’s broken. I’m giving her an analgesic spell.”
“Are you feeling a little better?” asked the first girl. Q nodded. “Your bag’s as good as new.” The girl wiped Q’s tears away. Q found herself gazing into the green eyes and freckled face of Stacy Hind. Q gave a little flinch. God, if you only knew what I’ve done to you.
Stacy gave Q another hug and a peck on the cheek. “Are you off to Herbology?” Q nodded. “Careful out there,” said Stacy. “It’s raining cats and dogs.”
Q stepped away. She picked up her bag and gave Stacy a shy smile. Steeling herself, she drew up her hood. She gave one last look back to Stacy and her friends before opening the great doors and going out into the rain.
Stacy watched her go. Her heart had gone out to the girl right away. Holding her while she cried, that warm soft place in Stacy’s heart had only grown bigger. Stacy watched as the girl put up her hood and girded herself for the cold, rainy air.
Suddenly, Stacy’s breath stopped. For a moment, she was frozen in place. The world fell away from her as the girl’s face, her sad, somber look, burned into Stacy’s mind.
Around her, her friends were casting spells, drying the floor to avoid another accident. Stacy turned to Lara and said, “The girl! Do you know who that was?”
Lara shook her head. “She may feel a little sore when the spell wears off, but she should be fine otherwise. She didn’t break anything. I think she was just startled and embarrassed.”
“No. I mean, I’m glad she’s fine, but ….” Stacy dug into her bag and pulled out a card, about five by seven inches. It was a card from Lara’s prophecy deck. On it was a picture of a girl, her hood drawn over her hair. “Look!” said Stacy. “The girl from the card! That was her!”
Stephanie and Monique gathered around her and looked at the card. “Oh my gosh,” said Monique, “that was her.”
“How long have you had that card?” asked Stephanie. “A year now?”
“Almost,” said Stacy. “I’ve been looking for her ever since, and there she was, right in front of me. And I don’t even know her name.”
“She was obviously heading for the greenhouses,” said Stephanie. “So, who has Herbology right now?” None of them knew for sure.
Lara said, “Morwena will know. If anyone will know who’s in what class and when, it’s Morwena.”
Morwena and her friends were sitting at a table in the library. Their books and parchment were out. Morwena was working on a history assignment for the next day. Next to her was Rhiannon. Tess and Pauline were on the other side of the table, with their backs to the door.
As the four Hufflepuff girls approached, Rhiannon gave Morwena a nudge. She looked up from her work and smiled. “Hello,” said Morwena, pleasantly. Tess and Pauline turned around. Without standing up, Tess slipped her arm around Stacy’s waist for a brief hug.
Stacy blushed. She had no idea how to begin this conversation. She shot a panicked look at Lara, who nodded. “We were just talking to a girl down in the Entrance Hall,” said Lara. “She had a bad fall on the wet floor. I gave her a quick look over. I think she’ll be okay, but I’d like to check in with her later.”
“Who is it?” asked Morwena.
“That’s the thing,” said Lara. “We don’t know. None of us recognized her. She was heading for the greenhouses.”
Morwena pursed her lips. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a ledger. On it was printed a full schedule – who was in what class on each day of the week. “Herbology 4, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. She’s either a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw.”
Lara looked sidelong at Stacy, who nodded. “We have a picture of her,” said Lara.
Blushing brightly, Stacy reached out and set her card on the table. Morwena’s eyes were alight. “Is that one of your Prophecy Cards, Lara?”
“Yes, it is, so be careful not to touch it,” said Stacy.
Stephanie moved around the table so that she was behind Morwena. Looking straight at Tess, Stephanie saw a jealous scowl flash across her face. Morwena’s exclamation drew the attention of Umberto and Gordon. Monique watched as they silently approached the table. Monique noted the creased brows and the look of worry in their eyes.
Morwena, on the other hand, peered down at the card in confusion. “I’m not sure who this is.”
Pauline said brightly, “It’s Q!”
“Oh, you’re right,” said Morwena. Looking up at Stacy, she said, “I’m sorry. I see, now. Her name is Claire Quillan. Some people call her Q. She’s a Fourth Year Slytherin girl. With her hood up, and that shadow across her face, I just wasn’t sure at first.”
Stacy reached over, plucked the card off the table and set it into the pocket of her robe. Umberto asked, “That’s one of the Prophecy cards? You get to keep it?” Stacy, her face still bright pink, shook her head no. “A special Hufflepuff privilege?” offered Umberto. She nodded.
The Hufflepuff girls went to another table to study. When it was time for dinner, they brought their books down to the Badger’s Den. “Let’s look for her again at dinner,” said Lara to Stacy. “I’d like to make sure she is alright, and you can talk to her then, too.”
“Tess knew who that girl was,” said Stephanie, darkly, “and she didn’t say anything. She didn’t look happy about this development. Anyone could see you’ve got a crush on this girl now.”
“Umberto knew her, too,” said Monique. “He looked worried. I’ve never seen him look that way about anything. He’s usually so unflappable.”
Stacy rolled her eyes. “It’s just the Slytherins being secretive. They’re that way all the time.” She was too loyal to Tess to take Stephanie’s observation to heart.
As she sat down to dinner at the Great Hall, Stacy looked over at the Slytherin table. All she saw were black cloaks. She would learn, Claire Quillan was hard to spot when she did not wish to be seen.
Half the girls at that table have long brown hair. Is she going to disappear on me again for another year?
At the Slytherin table, Morwena noted Stacy looking in their direction. She said, “Claire? Lara told me you had a bad fall in the Entrance Hall this afternoon. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, said Q, blushing. “I made a complete fool of myself and busted my bag open, too. Some Hufflepuff girls came to my rescue.”
Tess, her elbows planted on the table, arms crossed over her chest, leaned towards Q with a menacing glare. “Stacy Hind took an interest in you.”
Q gave Tess a nervous, wary look and shrugged. “I fell on my ass, okay? I was embarrassed. Hind was right there. She helped me to my feet and gave me a hug.” Though she didn’t dare look over at him, she knew Umberto was listening. She spoke loudly and clearly enough for him to hear her.
“Your face was on one of Guishar’s Prophecy Cards!” said Pauline, excitedly. “I’d never seen one before. I’ve always been too chicken to ask Lara for a prophecy.”
“How does a girl get her face on one of Guishar’s Prophecy cards?” asked Tess.
“You have to ask the deck a question,” answered Morwena. “Then you draw a card and it shows you the answer.”
“So what question is Q the answer to?” asked Tess.
“Who just fell in the Entrance Hall?” suggested Pauline.
“That’s not a prophecy, though, is it?” snapped Tess.
“I really don’t know how the deck works,” said Morwena. “Pauline may be right. They may have just asked the deck who she was.”
Q finished her meal in silence. After dinner, she slipped into the crowd of students leaving the Great Hall, successfully avoiding Stacy Hind again. Down in her dormitory, she lay on her bed listening to music on her phone, as the kids back home in East Barnett did it. She checked her diary and saw she had a message from Umberto.
Umberto had given her the diary and used it to send her messages. It was a more secure way to communicate than Witchter, the wizarding world’s social media app, and unlike conversations, this could not be eavesdropped upon.
His note was short. Why did you avoid Stacy Hind this evening?
She let out an exasperated hiss. Aren’t you smart enough to figure this out? She wrote: Tess was being a pill. She was acting all jealous over this. I don’t need that kind of trouble.
Propped up against her pillow, she waited as Umberto composed his response, which formed before her eyes in Umberto’s clean, flowing hand. Tess has no grounds to attack you. The Hufflepuffs are merely concerned for your welfare. You need to speak to them.
Q felt a sudden tightening in her chest. Her breath was caught in her throat. What about this Prophecy Card thing? How is my face on that card? I wasn’t buying Felwich’s answer.
Umberto’s words slowly formed onto the sheet. You’ll have to ask Hind to find out.
Q’s anxiety rose another notch. I can’t talk to her! She’s going to want to be my friend. Maybe even more than a friend. But I spied on her! How can I act like that didn’t happen?
She could hear Umberto’s stern words in her ear as she read his response. Felwich and I spent years developing our relationship with these Hufflepuffs. Do not jeopardize our work by spurning them. They are reaching out to you in friendship. You must speak to them. How you deal with the spying matter is up to you. If you tell Hind anything at all, tell her the truth. Hufflepuffs do not tolerate lies and liars.
Q snapped the diary shut and slipped it into her nightstand drawer. She lay down flat on her back and stared up at the flickering green lights on the stone ceiling. Closing her eyes, she recalled Stacy’s hug, her soft voice in her, and the quick kiss she gave to Q before they went their separate ways.
I don’t know how to do this, Q thought to herself. I can’t tell her the truth, and I can’t not tell her, either! What am I going to do?