Triwizard Murderers (#1)

     The next few days when they were all acquainted, she witnessed owls flying and swooping down the Great Hall to deliver messages.

     A lot of owls swooped dangerously near the food and some exploded to the mashed potatoes and grapes. Cole’s owl dived into the watermelon punch in front of him in the Ravenclaw table. Lilith only laughed as he angrily took his letter from its mouth and read it while bathing in pink watermelon juice.

     He removed himself from the table and knocked on the table in front of George and Lilith. “I’ll see you in Hagrid’s House.” And stormed out of the Great hall with a big loaf bread on his hand.

“Where is that?” Lilith asked George after they snorted at him looking silly with Clairen, his owl.

“It’s near the Forbidden Forest. Do you know who Hagrid is?”

“Not really.” Lilith said, “Only from Harry Potter’s biographies.”

     George shook her head. “He was Harry’s good friend. He was also Dumbledore’s student. But history never wrote him down very much. He died around twenty years ago—giants live very long lives.”

“He could have lived a very bright life. But one that was not told by history.” Lilith said, deep in thought. George could only agree.

     Moon suddenly comes in the Great Hall, his tall frame catches everyone’s attention. Moreover, he carried two owls with him. Plant and another dark owl. It had matte black feathers and white socks, the transition between the two colors were gradient and smooth, like a monochrome sunset.

Moon stopped at Lilith and George's seats. “Your owl.” He looked at Lilith.

“Huh?” She said, seemingly unable to catch up.

“I got you an owl. She’s a present.”

“I don’t need one. I don’t write to anyone.”

“Well you have friends now. You’ll write to us.” George said. “Besides you seem like a well-read witch. I think it would be exciting to read your letters.”

“Why are you doing this?” Lilith asked Moon, her neck stretched out to look at him. He was simply too tall. His brown skin against the sunlight behind him look holy. His lean muscles jutted out his white shirt and Plant rests on his shoulders, quietly deciding whether he liked Lilith or not.

“I want to be your friend.” Moon said with starry eyes and almost smiling mouth. “I thought I made that clear?”

“Yes, I guess so.” Lucia had grown into being weary of the people around her. In every school she went to—muggle or not subjected her to mistreatment.

She named her owl Persephone. The Greek goddess of death, Hades’ one love.

     Inside Hagrid’s cottage, they spent the morning after breakfast a little early for History of Magic. Moon made them some tea. It was eucalyptus and the moment it hit Lilith’s lungs she flung herself outside and lost her breakfast.

“I saw Professor Porta healing Nine. The smell was disgusting.” She told them after refilling herself with her favorite pecan pie. “What was the letter?” She asked Cole.

“It was Mr. Areda, he bid us good luck for the Triwizard Tournament. And he invited me and Moon to their house this summer.” Cole snatches an almond from Moon’s hand. “Of course I’ll write back to introduce you.”

In an instant, Lilith’s face lit up like a candle, “Would you really?”

“Of course! From the looks of your face you’d go with us anywhere.”

“I really would,” She agreed, in between chews. “Never had close friends.”

“Imagine the fun we’ll have in my house. It would be a mess and it would be amazing.” George muses. “Oh, let’s go shopping after this school year, why don’t we, Lilith?”

Lilith smiled brightly in return. Then suddenly Cole remembered that in a few months after the first Quidditch cup, Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons: Academy of Magic would arrive in Hogwarts.

“They’re all going to be intimidating. Especially because they’re not playing in home ground.” Moon said. “Hope we’ll learn enough this year and get picked.”

“And I hope we don’t run into Death Eaters’ children, I heard their practically breeding bad children in other parts of Europe.”

“Five years later Hermione Granger’s promotion as the Minister of Magic, she declared that Hogwarts and all wizarding schools would start admitting students for their first years at age fourteen and no younger. She added: Students that are half-blood and/or Muggle-born are allowed to take primary classes at any Muggle school or Primary wizarding school of their choice.” Professor Milligbean said. “Madame Granger said that Hogwarts was a dangerous school. But dangerous was part of learning, but not to the extent of young kids being killed by Death Eaters.

Now who can tell me their thoughts on this?”

     A girl in a dark ponytail raised her hand. She clearly knew the answer based on her starry look. “Yes. You.” Professor Miligbean said.

“It’s Malfoy, sir.” She corrected him.

“I don’t care. Let’s hear your thoughts.”

    Lilith bit her tongue on the right side of her mouth the way she does when she tried to keep her cool. She ought to not get Gryffindor minus points. “Granger was right. Hogwarts had started becoming more and more dangerous for witches and wizards after Voldemort—“ people around her gasped. Even generations later, he’s still addressed as You-Know-Who, “reemerged during Harry Potter’s academic years. Moreover, Granger also opened more job opportunities as witches started building primary schools for young witches and wizards.”

He nodded. “Three points to Gryffinfor.” He pointed at Lilith and continued with his lesson, “Two years later, it was announced that Triwizard Tournaments will continue and will allow two students in each schools.” He paused dramatically. “What was the name of the event where it was proclaimed?”

“Yes Nicholas.” Cole stood up confidently and said, “The Mourn for Molly.”

“Excellent. Four points to Ravenclaw if you can explain why it was named Molly.”

“Madame Granger’s mother-in-law’s death was the week she ought to announce the changes in Triwizard Tournament. Molly Weasley, whose maiden name was Molly Prewett was a powerful witch and a loving mother. She was famous in Hogwarts before she left and she married Arthur Weasley. It was rumored that she was to be an Auror if she hadn’t married early on in life. According to stories, she was so strong that even Albus Dumbledore was impressed, her specialty was non-verbal magic,” Cole said, “Not a lot of wizards and even aurors are capable of them because it needed mastery and power.

“Four points.” Miligbean said, obviously pleased. “Can anyone here tell me what Hermione Granger failed to do?”

No one knows. Hermione Jean Granger was perfect. The magical world never flourished better than when Hermione was a minister. She became a legend—a hero all the little girls looked up to her. However, Lilith knew the answer to Professor Miligbean’s question. He meant it as an insult to her.

Lilith raised her hand once again. “Yes, Malfoy.” Professor Miligbean said the name with deceit.

“Hermione Granger failed to imprison and persecute the Malfoys.”

“Three points to Gryffindor. That’s correct.” He rocked his big square head up and down. “Until now, the Malfoy clan walks on land. All free and unprosecuted of their murders and their curses.” He looked at her, his long nose flaring. “Some even walk among us.”

     However, Lilith shared the same anger towards Malfoys as him and as everyone in the wizarding world. She hated them but she also knew Miligbean was trying to provoke her so she smiled at his sharp angled face. Her eyes fluttering with foxiness, her smile was captivating and mischievous. “Bothered much, Professor?” She asked him.

     The professor vanished into thin air and appeared in front of her. “I’m telling you Miss Malfoy, do NOT challenge me.” He pointed his wand in her eye but she refused to budge. His bushy eyebrows knitted together even further, his nose seemed to get larger as he gets more and more angry at the undaunted student.

     She pushed away Professor Miligbean’s wand, and looked around at her mates. Moon looked at her, his face unreadable. He’s realizing how insane she was to cross a professor. Seeing Lilith look the Jove Miligbean straight in the eyes made him finally crack into a smirk. She had a talent for messing up and she was brave. The Sorting Hat did not lie.

“Don’t think for a second that you can taunt me without losing to me, Professor.” She batted her eyes at him and gathered her things. “If you have bad blood with my former family, dig out their graves and make them pay.” She finally stood and looked at her friends who nodded. They all gathered their things and walked out.

“You have a lot of nerve for a poor kid.” Miligbean said, finding his voice again somehow. He had returned to his desk somehow while they gathered their things.

     Lilith, insulted and embarrassed walked to him and said, “I’ll make you lose your job, Professor. You better pack it up before I make your life miserable here in Hogwarts.” It was the last straw for him. He couldn’t be any angrier than he already is that his big red face almost exploded.

Professor Miligbean disaparated. He had left the classroom.

     Lilith then broke into tears and left the room running, her mind was too clouded to be able to use her wand. Moon and George followed her towards Hagrid’s cottage and Cole stayed behind to get their things.

Before she reached Hagrid’s hut, she ran out of breath and collapsed on the wall beside her.

     She heaved and sobbed. And when George touched her shoulder to comfort her, she shoved it away. Lilith never seemed to stop, even as Cole managed to arrive after, she was still heaving for air.

     They dragged her to the shabby house of Hagrid, it seemed to comfort her—after all it was the coziest place in Hogwarts. It used to house a half-giant so the ceiling was large and high, the furniture was handmade and soft (soft enough that a half-giant could be cozy that is). Lilith curled up in a ball in Hagrid’s favorite couch which was the one with the biggest bum dent on it, her favorite chamomile tea rested on her knees.

Cole stood up and paced. “What the fuck was that Lilith?” He was bothered that he couldn’t help but shout.

“What?” She said weakly.

“That wasn’t normal. That looked like a panic attack.” He placed his head on his hands. “I saw your feet shake and twist under your seat.”

“You have anxiety don’t you?” Moon asked, George had already told them how Lilith would pace at night when she can’t sleep or how she dismantled her four poster drapes thread by thread unconsciously.

They all looked at her with worry but it unsettled her even more. “Should we visit Maddie?”

     Maddie is Moon’s best friend. She’s an old witch with an obsession over roasted pumpkin slices, pumpkin seeds and the color of pumpkins in autumn. It was nearing September and she just can’t wait to carve pumpkins and haul them up the hospital wing entrance.

“Professor Porta.” George curtsied. “Good day.”

“Are you with Moon?” George nodded and the older woman groaned.

“Why do you keep showing up?”

“Maddie! I missed you too!” He opted for a hug but she stopped him, he offered a bag of pumpkin seeds instead and her eyebrows shot to her hairline.

“Oh dear. Pumpkin seeds! You shouldn’t have! Cole, you’re here too. You did so well on the test last year—“She saw Lilith and her face fell into horror.

“Maddie, it’s my friend Lilith.” Moon said, shaking the old witch’s arm to rid of her trance.

“Hi, I’m Lucia Malfoy. They call me Lilith.” She extended an arm and Professor Porta met it with hers.

     While they stared to each other—Professor Porta’s eyes were misty and Lilith’s were shy—Moon pressed his sides to Cole and whispered, “She declined my handshake when we first met, but she took Maddie’s” George might have caught bitterness in his tone.

“If you just had let George shake her hands, we would have been friends right off the bat. She obviously trusted women and women only.” Cole replied and Moon’s face immediately turned sour.

     George overheard their conversation and flushed, she tried to hide it by averting all their attention to Professor Porta and Lilith who were both too awkward to carry on a conversation. It was Lilith’s fault; she was too shy.

“So what’s wrong?” Maddie asked, observing everyone from head to toe.

“We wondered if you could you examine whether she has anxiety or not?” Moon said, smiling sweetly to his aunt.

Porta takes Lilith’s hand gently and guided her to a bed. “You’re experiencing anxiety?”

“Yes. Like Mum. She just had a panic attack.” Moon answered for Lilith and Porta snapped her eyes to Moon who wouldn’t stop talking. “You’re not the patient.” She spat. “I’ll kick you out if you don’t shush.”

     Porta took too long to speak to Lilith so they skipped all their next subjects until lunchtime. With a Medical Pass of course. By the time they went back to the hospital wing with Lilith’s pecan pie and roast beef, Professor Trelawney and Professor Porta are standing by the windows and talking in a hushed manner.

     The three friends delivered her food to Lilith and she ate away. “Professor Porta diagnosed me with anxiety.” It was the genuine nonchalance that only Lilith, among them, would express. “But they have been talking about something for such a long time now.”

“I wonder what’s it about.” George muttered, the two women looked very absorbed in their debate. They were so absorbed that they let out some phrases loudly. “I told you no, Madeline.”; “She could be ready!”; “Even I would not be ready if it was me.”; “Elizabeth, the sooner the better. You have to understand.”

They turned around to Lilith eating a mouthful of pecan pie with George and Moon strangling each other and Cole pretending not to know any of them.

“I think Professor Porta already told you your condition. I’ll inform your subject teachers as well. You can count on that, Lucia. And—“

“It’s Lilith, Professor.” Porta told Trelawney with one eyebrow raised.

Albeit taken aback, Trelawney regained her easy manner. “Lilith?”

“Moon gave her a nickname.” Porta murmured.

“Ah, Lilith it is then. I forgot what I had to say,” She placed both hands on her cheeks, “Silly old me. Well then, I hope you all enjoy the coming House Cup. That is all.”

She looked at Porta who nodded as if she was defeated.

“That is all.” Professor Porta agreed. “You may go. George, stay here.”

Trelawney disappeared instantly with a smile towards Moon. Soon after, Lilith along with the two.

“Yes Professor?” George asked quietly.

“No one’s listening outside dear, it’s alright.” George sighed, loosening up her throat and brushing her robes. She still wore her male student uniforms and she hated them but felt like she had no other choice.

“I heard what Cole said and I saw how you reacted.” Porta smiled sweetly but George’s face fell. “Do you think he just said that because I was around?”

     With a face full of concern, Porta replied, “Cole is not like that George, you know that. He understands you as well as Lilith and Moon.” Then Professor Porta went ahead and gave her a full lecture about invalidating her gender identity and check-up. George finally left the hospital wing with her pink Med Pass on one hand feeling grateful and loved. She met up with Lilith in the library without Moon and Cole. “Where are the boys?” She said with a little unease, she hoped Lilith didn’t catch it, but she did. She didn’t show it though, she knew George well and she isn’t handling things very well at the moment.

“Ravenclaw and Slytherin had Defense Against Dark Arts and Transfiguration so they went there. We’ll have Potions next so we should study a little bit.”

“You sound like Moon.” George said with a smile. Finally a smile.

     The Potions Master, Ivan Quigley is a handsome young man. In his late twenties, youngest of all the teachers and an overachiever in his time in Hogwarts. He teaches as well as Severus Snape but his morals is nowhere near the hero’s alley. So at Potions, they were to make two identical potions: The Waft of Peace and War Granter both of which are considerably dangerous to consume by anyone. The potions are now considered illegal to be reproduced without the supervision of a professor or an authorized figure by the Ministry of Magic. Anyway, it would be difficult to reproduce, all the ingredients it needed in order to be created are scarce.

“How was War Granter used?” Professor Quigley asked silently, as if he’s talking to the people in front of him only. But the class could hear him clearly as a crystal.

Cole and Moon raised their hands. They met each other’s eyes and sneered.

“Mr. McCornell.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Cole said as he stood up, he had a very mocking gaze towards Moon, and answered: “War Granter was used by Grindewald’s followers. It turned them into powerful savages but their magics were short-lived. They died soon after they drank the potion.” Cole paused, “So what they did was, they placed very young and very old witches and wizards in the frontlines. They would raid the houses, raid the Ministry, terrorize Muggles and they fought first. They died first too. The very young and very old became human sacrifices. It was terrible.”

“Five points to Ravenclaw.” Said Professor Quigley. “And what about The Waft of Peace? Yes, Lovegood.”

     Moon looked at Cole competitively. “The Waft of Peace is almost the same as the War Granter. Not only the composition, but also how it was used. During Dumbledore and Grindewald’s war, the good witches and wizards—“ He stops and corrects himself, “The ones that claimed to be good, at least made The Waft of Peace. They made witches and wizards consume it as a drug or as a vitamin, in turn they would turn into peaceful creatures, almost like zombies that cannot be hurt or killed. Grindewald’s side were bad and Dumbledore’s were good but the people that forced those witches and wizards to consume both were the monsters. That war produced so many regretful ghosts. At Grindewald’s defeat, there were carcasses of bodies on the ground—they weren’t completely dead. So they all decided to kill them completely, it didn’t work because their ghosts still walked among us now.”

“Five points to Slytherin. Good explanation Mr. Lovegood.” Professor Quigley then starts his discussion. He instructed them to go to page ninety-seven of their books and sketch the plants on the page from memory. Inevitably though, when he can’t stomach the drawing’s he would see, he would go in the blackboard and draw it for them. Moon shook with laughter but Cole grunted—he was already doing well without the assistance.

“Ms. Malfoy, please explain how to brew the War Granter.” Moon and Cole watched Quigley drop his book on his table with a loud bang and turn to the two witches. The two friends who didn’t even know that George and Lilith had Potions class today, turned around.

“They’re late again.” Cole moaned as soon as he sees them both with bags slung on their shoulders and faces trying to be stoic. They clearly just had a laugh before entering the classroom.

“More house points for us to take.” Moon muttered in response.

“Okay,” Lilith said, “But please let us take our seats first, Professor Quigley.”

“No.” He said firmly, his lips are already thin from grimacing. “You will exit my class if you’re not able to answer—no, I made up my mind already—and I will take ten house points for each of you.”

     Lilith stood tall and implored George to do the same. “I apologize, Professor. But we’re not always late because we cause ruckus. We came from the library to do research.” People laughed because not one of them actually sees George study. Quigley closed his eyes in anger and said, “Just answer my question or get out of my class.”

“For the War Granter, you have to crush silver wattle or mimosa’s petals with a dull knife, the blade should never cut through the petals otherwise it would bleed. Then the remains should be bathed in wolfsbane wine for two weeks. The powder it would produce should be blue after scorching it in a cauldron, then asphodel should be added. Before sundown, Asteraceae’s yarrow should be added to the cauldron whole. That is how War Granter is made. It tastes like a regretful soul according to the ghosts from the war of Grindewald and Dumbledore.”

     Ivan Quigley’s eyes bore into Lilith’s. Anyone else other than Moon would not have the stomach to stare back but Lilith did. “You make take a seat. And can you tell us how The Waft of Peace is made, Mr. Areda?” He looked at George, Lilith and Cole stood up without letting a beat pass and Moon watched George’s face drain of color.

“It’s Ms. Areda, Professor.” Cole said politely but still standing.

“He’s a man.” Quigley said with a very wicked glint in his eyes, Moon realized that it was greed and he was provoking them for his own entertainment.

“She’s a woman and you must address her as one.” Lilith said it with a steady and small voice that matches Quigley’s. Everyone heard her, everyone paid attention.

“You will not tell me what to do." He said, pointing at Lilith. "Mr. Areda was born a man so I address him as a man.”

“Lilith.” Moon warned while eyeing her twitching fists. She should not go overboard. But Lilith does not tolerate ignorance and transphobia. “You looked like a rhino when you were born but here we are calling you Professor.”

That shut him up. She grabbed George from the back of the room and helped her put her things in order. George, however, refused to sit down. “At midnight when Asteraceae’s yarrow is at its healthiest, it should be pressed in marble until the red juice comes out.” She started with teares in her eyes that refused to fall. “Dog’s Vane and wolfsbane wine shall be infused with lilies and poured into the cold cauldron of yarrow and boiled. The water should disappear and then silver wattle’s petals should be placed on top of the dried potion. Then the maker should close the lid while it’s all hot and that’s it. The way it will be consumed is if the witch or the wizard will place their heads on the mouth of the cauldron and drown in the smell off the potion.” George had said and she finally sat down. Lilith and Cole grabbed both of her hands underneath the table. George almost felt better.

Later that night, when George didn’t say anything after the Potions class and even in dinner where shou would normally bicker with Moon, Lilith decided to bring it up.

“Hey, George.”

“Yeah?” George braced herself from confronting whatever hate she felt towards Quigley. Every positive feeling she felt from talking to Professor Porta had gone up in flames.

“I genuinely hate my uniform. The skirt’s just too much.” Lilith sat up to look at her friend lying across the room. “Mind if we trade?” She asked.

George beamed. “Are you serious?”

“You know I wouldn’t ask if I’m not.” Lilith swung her feet to the side of her bed and hopped off to get her uniforms. George cheered up again after that.