Heron

“Is this it?” 

“No.” the two ginger boys said in sync. “They have 5 white spots on the bottom layer, followed by 4 black on the second.” explained Fred. 

“Always?” 

“Always.” George confirmed. 

“You know, if this doesn’t work and McGonagall finds out...” Lee began.  

“No need to worry, we spoke with Hagrid.” Fred cut him off. “He said these parts of the forest are fine, as long as we don’t go any further.” 

“What exactly did you tell him we’re doing?” 

“We told him we’re collecting junba-” Fred tried to speak, but a loud bone-chilling screech interrupted him. 

“Wh-what was that?” Lee immediately dropped the small basket he was carrying. 

The three students felt more scared now that everything had gone quiet again. They shared a look, and after they regained their cool and took out their wands, slowly began to move in the direction of the scream.  

“Has this house always been here?” George said. 

“I don’t recognize this place. How far into the forest are we?” Lee’s voice was shaking. 

“We shouldn’t be more than fifteen min-” Fred turned, his eyes widening. The trees were unfamiliar and dense, the bushes tall. The exit of the forest nor the path they had used could be seen. 

“Wh-what should we do?” Lee was hoping that the twins who were always brimming with confidence would have a plan like usual, but they too were unsure. 

They didn’t have to wait long, as a sudden loud crunch sent them running straight into the manor, slamming the door behind them. 

“ Col-col- what was the damn spell?!” Lee screamed frantically as he held the door. 

“ Colloportus.” the twins cast in unison and a loud click could be heard. 

“What do we do about the windows?” 

“The locking charm is just as effective against a wizard.” George grabbed Lee’s arm. “Above.” he said and once Fred had grabbed the other arm, they both dragged Lee upstairs. 

They went into a room at random, once again shutting it behind them, and dragging the drawer that was next to the door in front.  

“Fred, George....” 

“What now?”  

Lee didn’t answer but just pointed towards a corner of the room where two bodies lay. One of an old house elf with extremely bushy eyebrows and a goatee, clutching the dead body of a phoenix. There were red crystals protruding from the elf’s ears, mouth and eye sockets with thin streaks of blood around them. The three fell to the floor, Lee vomiting at the horrific sight. 

“I thought phoenixes were immortal.” Fred was on the verge of tears. 

The shock that was running through the three Gryffindors prevented them from hearing the downstairs door opening and someone walking up the stairs. Only once the unfamiliar entity was standing on the other side of the door did they realize. Despair and hopelessness filled them, they couldn’t even raise their arms in a futile attempt to defend themselves. They couldn’t move a muscle. They couldn’t hear what was said behind the door. They couldn’t believe they would die. 

“F-Fred...” George managed to let out, hoping he could say one last thing to his brother, but the door opened, and an even greater shock overcame him. “Y-you’re from R-raven...” 

Orion’s eyes had bloodlust in them. He looked at the twins, then Lee, then the two bodies in the corner.  

The three Gryffindors couldn’t hear a thing. Orion had cast a spell, and everything had gone dark for them. 

---  

“I can’t believe that’s how I die.” two voices called together in the darkness. 

“George?” 

“Fred?” 

“Lee?” 

“George?” 

"Lee?"

“Fred?” 

“ Lumos.” Lee raised his wand, never being happier to see the Weasley twins. “Where are we?” 

“I don’t know, it seems like-” 

“FRED!” George tried to warn his brother about the giant suit of armor that had raised its sword. 

Once again, the three closed their eyes to prepare themselves for the impact of the attack, and once again they found themselves in a different place. 

“WHAT’S HAPPENING?” Lee was on the verge of a breakdown. 

“Wait...wait...” the twins grabbed their chests and leaned on one of the walls, sighing in relief. 

“WHAT?” 

“We’re in Hogwarts.” 

---  

“Alone?” 

“Yes, sir.” Orion lied, not knowing whether it had worked. 

Dumbledore walked into the room, lightly pushing Orion back, his eyes not moving away from the two corpses. 

“Terrible...” he crouched near the bodies, the tip of his wand almost touching them. “Such... dark...” he seemed deep in thought. “It is no easy task to take the life of a phoenix. Not only because they rise from their ashes, but because they can teleport away at a moment’s notice.” Dumbledore turned towards the boy. 

Orion stood quiet, solely focused on the crystals coming from the house elf’s eyes. 

“I’ve never seen such magic.” the headmaster placed his hand on Orion’s shoulder and in a mere instant they were in his office. 

“Ah, headmaster,” began one of the portraits, “DON’T YOU DARE THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN, HAWTHORNE.” Phineas Black said, but didn’t wait for the order to go away, and left the room by himself. 

With a deep sigh Dumbledore slumped into his chair. He took off his half-moon glasses, rubbed his eyes, then took out a large book.  

“You’re probably wondering how I got there so fast. I know you spend your time in the forest, so you must have heard something. This,” he opened up the book, “is the Hogwarts Registry. It contains the names of every current student and member of staff. Here.” he flipped through the pages and showed Orion his name. “When something happens to a person whose name is in here, the book begins to glow.” he sat in silence for a bit. “I know you won’t tell anyone about this incident, but I have to warn you that no one should know of it.” he brought up a bowl that had the same type of candy he’d given Orion at the beginning of the year. 

Instead of taking one, Orion reached into his pocket, bringing out the piece he’d received and placed it into the bowl. “Good night, sir.” 

“Orion,” Dumbledore stopped him just at the door, “I hereby forbid you from entering the forest. Whatever lurks there is not for you to deal with.” 

Without saying a word, Orion left the headmaster’s office and just in front of it he saw the three Gryffindor students who were also in the Aurendale manor. 

“You’re that stu-” began Lee. 

“ Obliviate.” Orion cast swiftly. 

“You’re that- who are you?” 

“I think he’s a Ravenclaw student.” the twins said. 

“Um... yeah.” the three turned away, scratching their heads. “What were we doing here?” 

---  

“I wish, I wish, I wish that that werewolf had eaten him.” 

“As if he’s been toe to toe with a werewolf. He couldn’t even handle a few pixies.” 

“I feel sorry for Potter. To get dragged in every class, it must be a horrible experience.” 

“Ah, boys, I was just looking for you.” 

“Hello, captain. What’s up?” Silas and Caspian greeted Ingrid. 

“This Saturday, it’s Gryffindor against Slytherin. I don’t want to belittle Hufflepuff, but those two teams are what we should be worrying about the most. I want you absolutely free for the weekend. After the match we’ll be working on a strategy and on Sunday we’ll be practicing it.” 

“I have a question.” Silas said as though to a teacher. 

“Yep?”  

“When and against whom will our first match be?” 

“Our first game is in two weeks against Hufflepuff. You don’t have to worry though, we usually have the edge against them, though with Murph gone....” she went into a quick think. “Either way, don’t worry, unless something goes wrong, you won’t have to play. No, wait, that sounded rude. You get what I’m saying though. As I said – FREE. FOR. THE. WEEKEND. Go do your homework.” 

“Terry, please, you heard Ingrid, we have to be free.” Silas begged for the boy’s History of Magic essay. 

“Listen, you know I know that you’re fully capable of doing it yourself...” 

“Mhm?” 

“And you also know what you were signing up for, joining the team.” 

“Mhm?” 

“You can’t rely on me helping you out every time. You’ll have to work harder. You know, just like you said the other day.” Terry said cautiously. 

“About that...” Silas suddenly reddened up, “I’ve been meaning to apologize for shouting at you guys. I don’t know what came over me. You are right, though. I should do as I said.” he quickly got back to reading the book he’d picked up about Asian Magic Laws. 

“Would you look at that.” Caspian nudged Silas. 

“What?” Silas was curious but continued reading. 

“Your Gryffindor friend and his mates are going into the Restricted Section.” 

“What?!” Silas almost snapped his neck. 

“Ahem.” though Terry was equally eager to find out how and why a bunch of second-years got through Mrs. Pince, he made sure to remind the two of their assignments. 

“Yes, mother.” Caspian joked, making the table start giggling. 

Just as quickly as they’d gotten into the Restricted Section, the Gryffindor trio hurried out. 

---  

“AND THEY’RE OFF, GRYFFINDOR GET A HOLD OF THE QUAFFLE FIRST, A NICE PASS TOWARDS THE RIGHT AND-” Lee’s loud casting made it very difficult for the two newbies to hear Ingrid’s live analysis. 

“YOU SEE, JUST LIKE I TOLD YOU-” Ingrid shouted, “POTTER IS QUITE FAST, AND HE’S GOT A GOOD EYE. THOSE SLYTHERIN BROOMS WILL BE A PROBLEM.” 

Caspian and Silas who were leaning forward, squinting their eyes so they could hear their captain better ( A/N: I know what I said) suddenly felt a hand poking them in the ribs. Emer was paying zero attention and instead was offering the rest of the team snacks. 

“EMER, I SWEAR, IF YOU – HEY, THAT BLUDGER IS OFF. IT SHOULDN’T BE TARGETING A SINGLE PLAYER OUT LIKE THAT.” 

Two minutes later a timeout was called by the Gryffindor team who were now trailing sixty to zero. It didn’t help that the weather had also gotten worse and it had begun to rain heavily. 

“Do you think he’s gonna be fine?” Silas asked Emer. 

“WHAT?” the audience, the rain and Lee’s casting made it nigh impossible to hear the person beside. 

“DO YOU THINK HE’S GONNA BE FINE?” Silas repeated. 

“WHO?” 

“POTTER.” 

“BEATS ME. IF IT WAS US DOWN THERE, INGRID WOULD HAVE ALREADY COMPLAINED ABOUT IT TO HOOCH AND WE WOULD HAVE FORFEITED THE GAME. WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, THEY’RE ACTUALLY GOING TO TRY. MANIACS. IF YOU THINK INGRID IS PASSIONATE ABOUT QUIDDITCH, YOU SHOULD SEE WOOD.” 

Just as she had said the two teams once again kicked off from the ground and into the sky, this time the Weasley twins going away from Harry and letting the bludger chase him freely. 

“AND THE GAME – RESUMES? WHAT? WHY?” Lee was just as confused as half the students; the other half celebrating that the game continued. This was such a shock, even McGonagall didn’t try to scold the boy. “AND HARRY POTTER CONTINUES TO DODGE THE ROGUE BLUDGER, OOOH THAT NEARLY GOT HIM. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, SLYTHERIN HAVE ONCE AGAIN GOTTEN POSSESION OF THE – NEVERMIND, THE WEASLEY EFFECT CAN BE SEEN HERE, THEY’RE FINALLY IN THE GAME AND A PRECISE BLUDGER HIT WILL SEND THE QUAFFLE INTO ANGELINA’S HANDS. IT SEEMS MALFOY IS SAYING SOMETHING TO POTTER AND – OH NO, HARRY IS STAYING STILL, THIS IS – OOOOOH, A NASTY HIT FROM THE BLUDGER. THAT ARM DOES NOT LOOK GOOD TO ME. HE SOMEHOW RECOVERS FROM THAT AND IS HEADING STRAIGHT TOWARDS MALFOY, NO WAIT – THE SNITCH. IT WAS LOOMING RIGHT ABOVE THE SLYTHERIN SEEKER, WHO WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH -” 

“LEE!” McGonagall’s voice finally rang out, as it usually did in matches involving Gryffindor. 

“HARRY POTTER IS BARELY HOLDING ONTO HIS BROOM, HIS HEALTHY HAND REACHING OUT, BUT HE’S APPROACHING THE GROUND QUICKLY, IF HE DOESN’T PULL UP, HE’LL - OH, THAT’S - THAT’S THE SNITCH IN HIS HAND, THE GAME IS OVER, SEVENTY TO ONE HUNDRED SIXTY FOR GRYFFINDOR. SOMEONE SHOULD PROBABLY CHECK UP ON POTTER, NO?” 

In only a minute, twenty people had gathered around the boy who was lying in the mud, rain falling onto him. If he didn’t go to the hospital wing for a broken arm, he’d be going for a cold. 

“Meet you guys in the common room.” Ingrid finally didn’t have to shout, everyone in the stands was quiet, awaiting the announcement on Harry’s situation.  

“Oh, no.” Silas hid his face behind his hands once he spotted Lockhart lifting his wand. 

---  

“No more visitors.” Madam Pomfrey pushed everyone out of the room. 

“It’s all Lockhart’s fault.” Ron said. 

“It was because of the bludger that Harry’s hand was broken.” Hermione unexplainably defended the teacher. 

“Is he fine?” Silas approached the two. 

“Hi, Silas. Madam Pomfrey isn’t allowing people in.” Ron said just as the Ravenclaw boy put his hand on the door. “His bones were all gone.” he rolled his eyes, making sure Hermione could see it. 

“I’m going to the common room.” she turned around and stormed out. 

“I just can’t understand how she still has respect for him.” 

“Yeah. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask, I saw you guys enter the Restricted Section. What did you get?” 

“Uhhh... gotta go.” Ron said quickly and went the same direction Hermione had. 

“What was that all about?” Caspian scratched his head. 

“I don’t know, but they’re definitely hiding something.” 

---  

“Oh, dear. Did you hear? Colin’s petrified.” 

“He was muggle-born too.” 

“It’s just like Malfoy said, those with ‘ impure blood’ are in danger.” 

“I’m a half-blood, am I in danger?” 

“A lot of students are.” 

“What will Dumbledore do?” 

“Surely the Ministry will get involved.” 

“Will they close down the school?” 

Though those questions kept going around the corridors, the days passed, and without another victim the murmurs slowly began to die out. Caspian and Silas, who were both purebloods, were more worried about their upcoming game, even though nothing indicated that they would participate in it. Nonetheless, Ingrid made sure they were preoccupied with training.  

“You’re doing good, boys, I can see a lot of improvement. Nightingale, make sure you practice those swings and Stormcloak – you need to make sure you’re always flying at top speed, even when looking for teammates to pass to. Other than that, you’re golden.” Ingrid always made sure to instruct the players after each session. 

In contrast to how the two second-years were feeling, the weather on the day of the match was clear and peaceful. Only a few patchy clouds decorated the sky. In comparison to the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game, the tribunes were much calmer and ever the slightest emptier. What Ingrid had not predicted was that Hufflepuff’s seeker Cedric Diggory was on par with Cian who had left the year before. Even though Cho was probably close in terms of speed, Cedric was far better in technique. The Ravenclaw seeker didn’t give up easily, however, and made sure that at the very least she followed her opponent closely, preventing him from catching the snitch first. In the end, Cedric had managed to catch the small golden ball, but Ravenclaw had managed to score two goals too many, thanks to Ingrid and Emer’s hits which always managed to prevent Hufflepuff’s plays. 

“That was close.” everyone sighed at the end, wiping the sweat they had built up. “Cho, good job stalling that boy, I definitely underestimated them.” said Ingrid. 

The praise didn’t reach Cho, who was the first to leave without saying a word. 

“It was only her first game, she did really good. I wonder why she is mad.” 

Ingrid knew the answer but decided not to share it. “Make sure you rest well tomorrow. We continue training on Monday.” 

“Can’t we celebrate at least a day more?” Emer moaned. 

“No. I need you in top shape. We’ll be playing Gryffindor next.” 

“Isn’t that in like five years?” 

“It might be a while, and that’s why I need you to keep in shape. We were good today, but the Weasley’s are just as good beaters, so we’ll have to rely on Cho for that match.” 

“I mean we are better.” said Emer. 

“Don’t get cocky.” 

To make up for the length of the last two chapters, I managed to convince my kind sister to draw Orion (in his later years let's say). Please follow her on IG @pxubvy