Wizard Love!

A few days later, Idina was eating toast and chatting to Helena when Aeschylus landed down beside her plate in a flurry of feathers, bearing a letter and looking extremely proud of himself. Helena was quickly distracted by her subscription to the Daily Prophet, so Idina read the letter to herself. It was a short letter, more like a note, really, but Idina knew by now that no one in her family was particularly fond of long conversation, so that was just fine, really.

“Dear Idina,

Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are extremely proud. I hope you’re settling in and making friends.

Everything is pretty much the same as usual here; except that Harry does seem to be living up to his namesake and getting into all sorts of scrapes. Please refrain from doing so whilst at Hogwarts, Idina, after all, as you’ll recall your father’s Hogwarts record was near perfect (as he is so very fond of reminding me – though what he got up to after his school years is another matter!)

I’m not saying you have to be a perfect student, but please try to stay out of mischief for this year at least. (That includes keeping away from the Dark Forest and any other parts of the school that may or may not be off limits, although I must admit it’s been a while since anything other than the Forest was classed as out of bounds for students, not since the Third Floor corridor was restricted in my third year.)

My other advice is concentrate in class, study hard for your end of year exams and just basically have fun. If you want to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays, just let me and your father know (we strongly recommend it; the Christmas feast is always a riot!) Either way, we’ll see you soon and please keep in touch.

Love Mum (and Dad and Harry)”

Idina laughed and tucked the letter away in her pocket, wondered just what exactly her father had got up to in his years after leaving Hogwarts. Albus Potter, James younger brother, glanced up at her. “What’s funny?”

She smiled. “Just my mum’s letter, that’s all.”

Rose Weasley, sitting beside her cousin, gave him a nudge. “You are so paranoid, Al! She wasn’t laughing at you!”

Albus flushed and went back to his bacon.

“Aw!” Helena sighed, causing Idina to turn to look at her. “Honeydukes is having a sale on Fudge Flies! Wouldn’t you know it? And we can’t go there for another two years!”

“Maybe you could ask an older Prefect to buy you some,” grinned Idina.

“I like Fizzing Whizbees,” said Lysander, randomly, picking at a sausage as though he thought it might attack him if he prodded it too hard. “But my grandad reckons they use newts eyes in the colouring.”

Idina and Helena exchanged a grimace.

“Watch it!” snapped a voice, suddenly.

Idina glanced up to see that Ivan Nott had just barged into James Potter, it seemed.

“You watch it!” James snapped, bristling.

“Or what? You’re gonna hex me?”

“I just might!”

“James, Dad said no!” cried his sister Lily, who was in Idina’s year, grabbing at her brother’s arm.

“Yeah, you’re right, Lil,” replied James, scowling at Ivan. “It’d be a waste of magic.”

“Coward,” snorted Ivan, stomping over to the Slytherin table.

“He’s just an idiot, ignore him,” Idina ventured.

James laughed as he sat down opposite her. “That’s one way of putting it! Do yourself a favour, Idina, and never get embroiled with Slytherins. They’re jerks.”

“Not all of them,” said Albus. “Dad says that some turn out alright.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll believe that when I see it,” sighed James. “Ok, so Professor Slughorn’s alright, but that’s about it, really.”

Idina said nothing, she simply glanced over at Blake. He too seemed to have seen the little skirmish and he met her eyes. Then, with a shrug, he looked away as his brother turned to elbow him and snap “Pass the marmalade!”

Idina tried hard to keep her head down when she was around the other Slytherins in class, but it was very difficult. Like those who had attended school with Harry Potter, they enjoyed showing off their supposed superiority, picking on the weaker man and ridiculing people who weren’t “Pure Bloods.” Idina prayed they’d never find out that her mother was a Half-Blood witch on her father’s side, otherwise she’d never live it down. It was stupid, though, she reflected; if it didn’t matter a wit was her mother’s blood status was to her father than why should it matter to anyone else. Her father had once said “Just because you’re Half-Blood, Muggle Born or Squib, it doesn’t make you any less of a witch or wizard,” and Idina was inclined to believe it.

She ran this past her friends as they sat studying in the library. Professor Conchrose had given them quite a bit of homework this week; two rolls of parchment on the laws of Transfiguration, and so they sat at a table surrounded by so many books that they had to stand up to address one another properly.

“Oh, my family are all Pure Blood now, but Dad says that way, way back in history we’re descended from Muggles and quite a few Squibs,” Helena said, matter-of-factly, scribbling away at her parchment. “Not that blood status matters to us, mind.”

“I think we’ve a few Half-Bloods here and there,” mused Lysander. “But then, my mum’s friends with people like Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, so none of us have ever cared about it.”

Idina nodded and went back to her work. Then, a sudden noise caused the three of them to look up.

“What is that?” asked Helena, getting to her feet.

“Don’t know, but it’s getting closer,” Idina observed, and then Blake hopped around the corner, moving as if his legs were fused together. Seeing Idina, he gestured helplessly, trying to keep his balance. “Help!”

“Leg-Locker Curse!” exclaimed Idina in a hushed whisper. “Who did that to you?”

“Who do you think?” Blake almost toppled and seized the edge of the desk to keep upright. “No one bother to stop and help me; they were all too busy laughing.”

“It is sort of funny,” Lysander said.

“Does anyone know the counter spell?” Idina asked.

“Oh, I do!” Helena puffed up, proudly. “My dad taught me! Hold on.”

Blake winced, preparing himself for something worse than a Leg-Locker jinx, but fortunately it worked and he steadied himself. “Thanks.”

“Your brother’s in fourth year, you think he’d grow up by now,” Idina sighed.

Blake shrugged. “Yeah, well...”

His voice trailed off wistfully and Idina was filled with a sudden urge to give him a hug, only she decided against doing such a thing in front of the others.

“Maybe you could tempt a Thestral to eat him?” said Lysander, blandly, turning over a page in his book. “They can sometimes be trained to eat human flesh, you know.”

Idina had a feeling that this statement, like so many that came from Lysander, was more theory than fact, but she didn’t bother correcting him.

Blake sighed. “If only! To do that, I’d have to go into the Dark Forest.”

“I wish we could,” said Idina, wistfully. “I bet there’s all sorts of interesting things in that forest.”

“But we’re not allowed,” said Helena. “I mean, in third year, maybe Professor Hagrid will take us but not on our own.”

Blake looked thoughtful. “What if the teachers didn’t know about it?”

“You mean sneak out?” Idina asked. “Isn’t that a bit risky?”

“So?” Blake rubbed his eyes. “I’m fed up with Ivan getting to me all the time! Maybe if I could just do something that he wouldn’t even think of doing for once, something really risky, maybe then he’ll lay off me!”

“It could be fun,” said Lysander, thoughtfully.

“You have to be joking!” Helena drew herself up to her full height. “Well, I’m not going!”

“Fine,” shrugged Blake, and then he turned to Idina. “How about you?”

Idina hesitated. Her mother had told her not to go into the Dark Forest. “Maybe we shouldn’t, guys. Helena’s right.” Helena gave them a satisfied smirk. “It’s called the Dark Forest for a reason, after all.”

“We wouldn’t have to go far inside,” insisted Blake. “Just on the outskirts.”

Idina wavered, slightly. “Well...”

“But we’d get caught!” exclaimed Helena.

“Shh!” hissed Madame Pince, passing by with a cart of books. “People are trying to study!”

The four of them glanced around the library, but they seemed to be the only ones in sight. Nevertheless they didn’t argue. “Even if the teachers didn’t catch us, what if we ran into Peeves or something?” Helena hissed.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it!” Blake said.

“Well, you two can go off and get yourselves expelled, but I’m not going to.” Helena swept up her books in her arms. “Come on, Idina.”

“Do you always do what she tells you?” snapped Blake, glancing at Idina.

Idina made a quick decision. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead and turned to Helena. “Sorry, Hel. It’s three against one.”

Helena sighed, theatrically, and swept out of the library. Blake grinned at her. “Great! For a second there, I thought you were going to chicken out on us!”

“So, do we meet outside the Forest, then?” asked Lysander, in a faraway voice.

“Somewhere in a corridor would be better,” said Blake. “Maybe here? Outside the library?”

Idina nodded. “Ok, but if anyone thinks they’re about to get caught, we should just go back to bed.”

“Fine,” Blake agreed. “I’ll see you two here at midnight.”

Idina still had doubts in her head when she went to bed. If they were caught, then her parents would surely kill her for taking such a risk. On the other hand, what was it her mother had said in her letter? “Have fun.” They didn’t expect her to be a perfect student, after all.

Midnight struck, and she slithered out of bed and dressed, quietly, snuck her wand into her pocket and crept silently out of the dormitory.

“Really!” hissed the Fat Lady indignantly as Idina opened her portrait and stole out into the corridor. “Waking a body at all hours of the night indeed!”

Idina ignored her and pressed onwards. Presently, however, she felt that she was being followed. She stopped in her tracks, and then when someone poked her in the small of the back, she jumped almost a foot in the air.

“Take it easy! It’s me!”

“Blake!” breathed Idina, catching her breath. “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry!” He grinned, guiltily. “Couldn’t resist!”

Lysander was already waiting for them outside the library, with...

“Helena?”

Helena sighed. “Look, I figured I wouldn’t be able to sleep for worrying about you guys so I might as well be worrying with you.”

“You know, this was surprisingly easy,” Blake muttered.

Together the four of them left the castle – again this proved to be easy – and shuffled down towards the forest. In the dark it looked even more foreboding and Idina felt doubts begin to fill her again. “Um, maybe we should go back,” she suggested when they were about half an inch away from the trees.

“I agree,” said Helena, stoutly, casting a fearful look back at the school.

“Oh, come on, we can’t wimp out now,” insisted Blake, his eyes shining with dark excitement. “Look, we’ve got our wands, what can happen?”

And, before anyone could stop him, he slipped into the forest.

“Blake!” Idina hissed, following him.

“No good can come of this,” sighed Helena, following.

“Wait for me,” said Lysander, following.

The forest was indeed dark and shadowy and all they could see were twisted trees, bumps in the ground and above a flurry of stars settled on the black imprint of night. “Well,” said Helena, cheerfully. “This was lovely. Now let’s go.”

Even as she said it, something crackled somewhere deep within the forest. “What was that?” Blake said, moving forwards to investigate. He was a fast mover.

“Blake, no!” hissed Idina, hurrying after him. Helena and Lysander stood where they were. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all,” Lysander mused.

“You think?” asked Helena, incredulously.

Idina caught up with Blake a fair few metres into the forest and she grabbed his arm. “Blake, this has gone too far! We should go back! We could get in serious trouble!”

Blake wrenched his arm free. “Have you never done one risky thing in your life, Idina?”

“This is too risky! We could get hurt, or killed!”

As if on cue, a flurry of bats shot towards them in the darkness and they both ducked to avoid the beating wings and sharp claws. “Ok, ok!” snapped Blake, as if she was responsible for the bats. “Jeez! Which way did we come?”

“Um...” Idina glanced over her shoulder. “It was that way...I think.”

“You think?”

“Hey, you were the one who went tearing off; don’t blame me if we’re lost!”

A yelp erupted from behind them. “Bats!”

That was Helena. “Yeah, it is that way,” said Idina.

She made to walk back but Blake grabbed her arm. Before Idina could ask what was up, he silenced her with a wave of his hand. “Do you hear that?”

Idina could. Something was padding towards them in the darkness, and she could hear a heavy, rattling breathing and then a pounding of feet, or was that her own heartbeat? At any rate she didn’t want to stay to find out. Grabbing Blake’s hand, she turned and ran, dragging him with her. Helena and Lysander, seeing them running towards them, took their cue and ran too. For a second it seemed like they would never escape the twisted tangle of trees, and then they broke out into the moonlight and pelted up the hill towards the school, not looking back until they were safely inside.

“What was it?” asked Idina, breathlessly.

Blake shook his head, panting. “I don’t know, but whatever it was...” He broke off, staring over her head.

“Well, well, well,” said the voice of Argus Filch behind them. Idina’s heart sank. “First years out of bed. Dear me, we are in trouble, aren’t we?”