Beasts & Battles
"She's in much better spirits, I'd say!" Poppy exclaimed, remarking on Persephone playfully fighting another kneazle in the pen. Enoch felt proud, in a way, having become so close with the cat-like beast over the couple weeks he spent keeping her company. And he was also glad to see Poppy so happy from it. Watching her as her eyes gleamed with excitement made his smile grow wider.
"It's thanks to you for having faith in her," Enoch replied. Poppy gave a shy smile and looked away.
"You helped me a lot, and I'm so grateful for it." Poppy stood up from kneeling and lightly dusted off her robe. "You're a good friend, Enoch. I feel like I can rely on you for anything."
Enoch would be lying if he said he didn't feel good from such a compliment. Especially coming from Poppy.
"And because you did such a favour for me, please, if there's anything you need I'd be happy to help."
Enoch thought for a moment at her request. Anything he needed? It's not like he really needed anything, plus he helped her out because she's his close friend. He didn't feel like it was much of a 'favour.' Either way, he thought about it. And it wasn't long until he thought of something he could ask her.
"There is something you could help me on, actually."
"Really? What is it? I'm sure I can be of help to you."
"Professor Howin is coming back from her trip tomorrow. I need you to find out where she went and what she did."
Poppy looked confused. "Find out what she did on her trip? May I ask why? And also, how do you know she's coming back tomorrow? I don't remember her telling us..."
"It's a lot to explain. But since you know Professor Howin better than I do, I'm sure she'll give you more information on her trip. Can you do that for me, Poppy?"
"I mean... I'm sure I can try." She paused. "You aren't getting yourself into trouble again, are you?”
Enoch smiled fondly. “Of course not, Poppy.”
Ominis was getting better, at duelling at least. With his regular practice at Crossed Wands he was getting the hang of trusting his wand and his reflexes. Both Enoch and Sebastian were proud, watching their friend every practice in the background. Even Lucan Brattleby was getting impressed by how well Ominis was maintaining himself. And as each day draws closer to the tournament, the more time they spend at the duelling club.
"I'm a little worried," Sebastian said, bringing Enoch's attention away from watching Ominis duel a Hufflepuff boy. Enoch and Sebastian were sitting against the wall in the middle of the room with a perfect view of the duel, their legs out in front of them.
"Worried? About what, Ominis?"
Sebastian sighed, bringing his knees up to his chest and relaxing his arms on top of them. "It's this month. I feel like we're not as nearly prepared as we should be."
"He's making good progress," Enoch defended Ominis. "And Howin's back from her trip, so once we can figure out what she brought back, then we should be perfect, right? I mean, what else can we do?"
Sebastian thought for a moment. "What if we put him under the imperius curse?"
Enoch was taken aback. "What? No. We made that promise to him to never use the unforgivables again, especially not on him.
Sebastian snickered. "Says the one who used the imperius curse on him in the first place."
"I did what I had to do at the time." He paused. "And I regret it. I would never do it again. You shouldn't even be offering that."
Enoch scolded Sebastian, baffled by the fact he'd even brought up the unforgivables and Ominis in the same sentence, with how much they were trying to rekindle the trust they had before. Sebastian just listened, enjoying the scolding in a way. He couldn't help but show a smile as Enoch grew agitated.
"Regardless, I'm sure Ominis is more capable than that. You need to have faith in him. You're his friend."
Their conversation was cut short as Sebastian's focus went to a tall, blond boy who entered the room, looking around inquisitively. He nudged Enoch and gestured towards the boy, forcing him to look as well.
"Isn't that," Enoch whispered to Sebastian. "The Beauxbaton champion?"
"I believe so," Sebastian whispered back, following the boy with his eyes. "I wonder what he's doing here, or how he even found this place."
It wasn't long until the champion got the attention of most of the students in the room, and once he did so he decided to finally speak up.
"So this is your little duelling club, eh?" He put a hand on his hip, looking smug. "Who's the best dueller here? I want to see him."
"Me?" Sebastian whispered to Enoch. Enoch side-eyed him. "Or you?"
"Don't get involved." Enoch grabbed Sebastian's shoulder to ground him. "You worry me."
Sebastian couldn't help but smirk at what he took as a compliment and let Enoch go instead. But as Enoch began to approach the boy, he looked past him and formed a condescending grin. “Well, if it isn’t Hogwarts’ prized champion.”
Enoch turned around and saw Ominis standing a few feet away fixing his shirt that had come untucked during his duel, but he stopped after hearing Aloysius.
“I was wondering when I’d be able to run into you,” the Beauxbaton boy continued, strutting over towards Ominis. “I’ve heard... things about you. Not bad,” he paused and stopped walking. “But not good either.” He had a look on his face that Enoch could only describe as cynical and undermining. Sebastian now stood right behind Enoch, and Enoch was prepared to hold him back, knowing that he was already ready to fight this boy for Ominis.
“I haven’t heard good things about you, either,” Ominis retorted. “The posh boy who thinks he’s better than everyone else.”
“Well, I am better than everyone else. The cup chose me to be champion, didn’t it?” Ominis stayed quiet, and Aloysius continued. “The cup chose you, too, so that means you have to be good, right? How about we test that?”
Sebastian moved, but Enoch held him back by his shoulder. “Let Ominis handle this himself,” he whispered to Sebastian.
“Fine,” Ominis answered confidently, taking his wand back out.
Enoch gripped Sebastian’s shoulder tight to keep him back, but also because he himself was feeling nervous, too. He bit his lip as he watched Aloysius take his own wand out and get in position. The Beauxbaton boy exuded a type of arrogant and relaxed energy, whereas Ominis had his brows together, seemingly trying to look confident himself.
Lucan Brattleby walked over to the sideline in between them, also looking a tad anxious. “Ready?” He called out, glancing at the both of them. “Begin.”
“ Stupefy! ” Aloysius called out without missing a beat. Ominis successfully blocked it. “Maybe you’re not as bad as I thought you were,” Aloysius said.
Enoch and Sebastian stood back, watching the duel unfold. The boys casted spells back and forth, unrelenting. Ominis clearly had shown massive improvement in his duelling skills. Regardless, Aloysius seemed to have an edge. He dodged and deflected with such ease Enoch couldn’t help but be impressed. It was no wonder he became the Beauxbaton champion, he clearly deserved it, no matter how arrogant and cocky he came off as.
But the duel wasn’t lasting long, as Ominis was starting to get a little overwhelmed. He started to slip up and lose his balance, making a lot of near-misses. And eventually Aloysius made one last, perfectly calculated cast that sent Ominis flying and landing about ten feet back. Everyone in the room gasped. Enoch grabbed hold of Sebastian once again as he tried to run to his rescue.
Aloysius stood with his wand at his side grinning triumphantly. “This is who Hogwarts believes to be the best champion? You can’t even last one minute in a duel. And to think I had even a little bit of faith despite your... problem."
Sebastian got out of Enoch's grasp and was up in Aloysius's face within a second.
"He has no problem ." He pulled his wand out and held it at his side. "And if you want to say one more thing about him, I'll take care of you myself."
Aloysius laughed. "And who are you? His friend? His protector? Is he so fragile he needs protection? The Hogwarts champion?"
Sebastian shoved his wand into Aloysius's neck. "I'll show you who's fragile."
Enoch hurried over and grabbed Sebastian's arm, pulling it down and away from Aloysius. Sebastian tried to struggle out of his grasp, but Enoch fought back. "Sebastian, stop it."
Aloysius glared at Enoch and looked him up and down. He scoffed. "I'll see myself out." And with one last drip of disdain on his words, he backed away and left the room.
Sebastian was seething, and Enoch just sighed and patted his shoulder. "Drop it. It's over."
"I don't like that guy," Sebastian said quietly, as his eyes were still fixated on the door Aloysius left from.
"I know," Enoch said. He left Sebastian's side and went over to Ominis, who was sitting on the ground twirling his wand in his hands. "Ominis," Enoch said, stopping in front of him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he responded quietly.
"Don't feel too bad. That guy was a tosser."
Ominis said something so quiet Enoch couldn't hear him.
"What was that?"
"I'm complete rubbish. I couldn't hold my own, not even with another student. Another champion."
"You can't let that eat at you, Ominis. Let's just get some more practice. You have time."
"No, more practice isn't going to help. Don't you understand there's just limits that I can't reach?" Ominis put a hand on his forehead and ran it across the top of his head, letting a couple strands of hair fall from being slick back. "I can't do it. I am in way over my head."
"Ominis..."
Sebastian was still standing where Enoch left him, staring at the ground before hearing the door open again. He glanced up and saw none other than Poppy enter the room, looking around. For Enoch? He thought. Of course it's for Enoch .
"Someone's here for you," he spat, not turning away. Behind him Enoch turned around, confused, before laying eyes on Poppy at the other side of the room.
"Poppy!" He called out, passing Sebastian to head over towards her.
"Enoch, I have good news!" She smiled.
“Seriously, Enoch, just where are you taking us?” Sebastian asked, exasperated. Both him and Ominis were following behind an excited Enoch through the castle. They had to take big strides to keep the tall boy’s pace as he was almost practically running through the halls.
“Just trust me, okay?” Enoch couldn’t contain his excitement as he glided through crowds of students, not ever looking back to see if his friends were still following him.
“This is about what Poppy was talking to you about at Crossed Wands, isn’t it?”
“Yes, now keep up! We’re almost there.”
Finally the three boys walked up the last flight of stairs and entered a seemingly empty hallway with a large tapestry taking over one of the walls.
“Trolls in tutus?” Sebastian asked as he looked up at the huge depiction of dancing trolls.
“Trolls?” Ominis asked, even more confused.
“Not that.” Enoch grabbed both of the boy’s shoulders and turned them around. “ This. ”
And at that second the stone of the empty wall in front of them began to shift and morph into a large, wooden door. Sebastian’s eyes grew wide as he watched it happen.
“What is this place?” He asked, astounded. “And how come I’ve never known of it?”
“What is what place?” Ominis asked, growing impatient.
“It’ll be easier to explain inside,” Enoch said with a huge grin as he approached the door and opened it. He looked back at his friends, still smiling. “After you.”
Inside, Sebastian was completely baffled, looking all around the stupendous room with various statues and paintings and artefacts everywhere. Ominis walked ahead and began to graze his hand over a stone statue of a woman.
“I don’t understand,” Sebastian began. “What is this room?”
“It’s called the Room of Requirement,” Enoch explained, walking over to the other side of the room. “Professor Weasley showed me this place last year as a way to get further ahead in my studies. It’s supposed to help students with whatever they need.”
“And we’ve just been going to the Undercroft all this time...”
“But this isn’t the part I wanted to show you.”
Sebastian looked at Enoch confusedly. “What do you mean?”
Enoch smiled once more. “It’s over here. Follow me.” Enoch walked over to the glass entryway at the end of the room that had various plants coming out of its edges. The light peering in was so bright the boys had to squint their eyes as they got closer. Reluctantly, Sebastian and Ominis followed Enoch through the entryway, or exitway, as they started to notice wind nipping at their faces as they walked through it, and what felt like dirt underneath their feet.
“Are we outside?” Sebastian asked, looking up at the blue sky above him. “But weren’t we just in the astronomy tower?”
Enoch put his fingers in his mouth and whistled, getting Sebastian’s attention. Ahead of them started marching a massive creature their way, and Sebastian quickly pulled out his wand. Enoch motioned for him to put it away.
“It’s fine. He won’t hurt you.”
“Isn’t that...” Sebastian started as the creature grew closer. “A graphorn?! What are you doing with a graphorn? And how is it inside the castle?”
The graphorn stopped right in front of them and nodded at Enoch, Enoch patting his nose in return. “Ominis,” he started as he turned to Ominis, standing behind Sebastian. “May I have permission to take your hand?”
“Why?” Ominis sounded nervous. “What are you going to do?”
“Just trust me, okay?” Enoch grabbed ahold of Ominis’s wrist and led him over to where the graphorn was and slowly lifted it up high enough to reach its nose. He gently placed it on the hard skin of the creature and let him pet it softly.
“What is this beast?” Ominis sounded scared, wanting to take his hand back from the rough feeling of its skin. The graphorn exhaled sharply and the blow hit Ominis’s face, causing him to wince and back up, falling backwards onto the ground.
“Just what Sebastian said: a graphorn. A supposedly extremely aggressive beast found in Eastern Europe.”
“It is an extremely aggressive beast,” Sebastian retorted. “How the Hell did you tame one?”
“What, do you not have faith in me?” Enoch smirked at Sebastian, looking proud. Sebastian swallowed hard and looked away.
"Why did you take us here?" Ominis asked, now standing what he believed to be a safe, six-feet distance away from the beast. "What does this have to do with Poppy?"
Enoch smiled softly at Ominis. "Poppy found out what beasts Professor Howin retrieved for the first task."
"And they're graphorns?" Sebastian asked, still sounding like everything was too crazy for him to believe.
" One of them is a graphorn." Enoch lost his smile. "That's the bad part, I don't have access to the other ones."
"Well, what's the other ones?"
Enoch sighed before answering. "Erumpent and re'em."
Sebastian's eyes grew wide. "All XXXX classified beasts? What, do they want to kill the champions?"
"So this is it..." Ominis spoke melancholically. "I am going to die..."
"You're not going to die, Ominis. That's why I brought you here, so you can get firsthand experience with one of the beasts. An advantage the other two champions won't have."
"But there's three different beasts. One for each of us, right? What if I don't get the graphorn? What if the other two are worse?"
"What are they even doing with the beasts anyway?" Sebastian asked.
"Subduing them?" Enoch thought aloud. "Getting past them? Retrieving an item from them, maybe? Either way, Ominis needs to know how to handle one." He stopped and began petting the graphon beside him. "It's a one in three chance he gets the graphorn. I believe we should take that chance."
Ominis heaved a heavy sigh he held deep within him and grabbed at the fabric of his robe. "I have to do something. If it's the best chance I have, then I'll take it."
"Don't worry, Ominis," Sebastian said, putting his hand on his friend's back in reassurance. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure you get through this. Believe in us."
Ominis looked in thought for a moment, before cringing his face and forcing himself to smile. "I believe in you."