Wonder

Chapter 3: Harsh words

I had received another owl that evening. I was excited to see it and had thought it was another mysterious letter, but the reality was much more disappointing. The note had said the time, place and length of my detention from Professor Stainton. Tonight would be the first of two long weeks of detention.
It was a dreary Wednesday. It had been raining all day long and the lessons had been rather boring. Our last lesson was Defence Against the Dark Arts, which we had with the seventh year Ravenclaws. I sat next to Jesse and Kaylee sat next to Cameron in the back of the classroom. Professor Burke started the lesson with some theory on the Shield Charm. 'Now, before I give it all away, could someone come up with reasons why it is important to learn the Shield Charm?'
Julian, a Ravenclaw, put up his hand. 'To protect ourselves against flying objects, for example, sir?'
Professor Burke hesitated for a moment and then said: 'Yes, that is a possibility.'
'Oh, I know another one!' Isabella, who sat next to Julian, raised her hand too.
'Yes, miss Williams?'
'It could protect us against bewitched objects, sir.'
'Yes, that is more of what I was looking for! Three points to Ravenclaw. One never knows when they will encounter Dark magic and so it is vital to be able to protect oneself.'
As he continued speaking, I looked at Isabella's back with a murderous gaze. She was a thorn in my eye. Ever since second year, she decided she liked it to infuriate us with nasty comments. She seemed most innocent when making them and in fact said nothing insulting, but we knew she was implying an insult. Jesse nudged me. 'Ignore her. It's actually rather sad that she lowers herself to that level.' I sighed and wished I had just as much calm as him.
A Ravenclaw in front of us leaned sideward slightly and asked Isabella: 'Did I hear you had a theory on that bewitched Bludger?'
'Yes, quite a good one actually.' She smiled with fake virtue and avoided our gazes when she said: 'I think Mister Davis might have gone crazy again.' As the Ravenclaw gasped, Jesse tensed up and cursed under his breath. 'I do think this time it was worse, injuring his son like that,' Isabella added sweetly. 'I don't know if it would have been his intention, but it sure...'
Cameron cut her off. 'Will you shut up?' he snapped at her.
'What?' she said innocently. 'You know, I think it's bad luck that we only learn the Shield Charm in our seventh year. If we had been taught it earlier, poor Noah might not have been hurt as much.'
I breathed heavily for a second and then muttered: 'That's it.' I wanted to jump up, but Kaylee attempted to hold me down. Before anything could happen, professor Burke called to the back. 'Miss Van Coon, have you already decided on who you want to pair up with to practice the Shield Charm?'
Quickly, I thought of a plan. I smiled at him and said: 'Yes, I'll be going with Isabella, sir.'
Surprised, she glanced up at me. I gave her a sweet smile, but my eyes were cold as ice. She would pay for her words. Burke did not seem to notice any of the animosity. 'Good! I think you two can really teach each other a lot! Now class, pair up and move the tables to the side. Choose some space and take turns shooting a spell at the other, while the other attempts to cast a successful shield. Mind you, I want harmless spells. If I see any real harm done, two months of detention await you. This has to be a safe learning environment.'
Isabella stood opposite of me; the tables had been moved against the walls. 'Yeah, Van Coon, what are you going to do now? You heard it, only harmless spells.'
'Well, then you have nothing to worry about.' She did not like my calmness. Her smile had disappeared and she kept her eyes on me tightly. We did as we were asked and I attempted the Shield Charm first. It was quite easy, especially with harmless spells being cast at it. I had no trouble casting it successfully. Sadly, neither did Isabella. Behind us, Kaylee, Jesse and Cameron were closely eyeing us. They were probably worried I would do something stupid; although I believed Jesse was waiting for Isabella to receive some payback. When I once again successfully cast the Shield Charm, I took my chance. Faster than Isabella could react, I said: 'Rictumsempra!' and hit her right in the stomach with it. She began to laugh uncontrollably and clutched her stomach, as invisible forces tickled her mercilessly. Her laugh was not her usual, sweet laugh; this one was loud and inelegant. On top of that, she began to snort like a pig. More and more heads turned to find out where that sound was coming from. And then, she accidentally farted.
The class burst out into laughter as Isabella turned bright red. She was still laughing, but her face expressed her shame. Jesse came up to me and patted me on the shoulder. 'That is the best payback I could have wished for,' he said, with tears of laughter in his eyes. I grinned as I watched Isabella endure her ordeal. Professor Burke came to the back of the classroom with a faint smile and said resolutely: 'Finite incantatem. Okay class, that was all fun and games, but this is your proof that casting a proper Shield Charm is not that easy. Please continue practicing.' As he said those words, the bell rang and we left the classroom quickly to avoid Isabella's wrath. Kaylee gripped her stomach and clung unto my shoulder for stability. 'Oh, I will never forget the image of her face!' she laughed. 'That was golden.' We sniggered along and walked towards the Entrance Hall, when I remembered. 'I'll meet you in a bit.' I took a right turn and went down the stair case towards the Hospital Wing. My heart started beating fast, and it was not because of the stairs. I felt slightly nervous. I was not sure how Noah would react. I was not sure what I was supposed to say.
Nevertheless, I stepped into the room and exhaled deeply. I spotted Noah quickly: he was one of the two patients occupying a bed. I spotted him, but I barely recognised him. He laughed as I came closer and he saw my shocked expression. 'Looks bad, huh?' he said. 'They combined Muggle techniques and all kinds of potions and spells to reach "the optimal recovery". Their words, not mine.'
Noah's torso was wrapped in a large plaster cast. So were his legs and he had a neck brace to keep his body steady. 'I feel like a stick figure,' he joked.
I tried to hide my discomfort and asked: 'Does it hurt?'
'No, not at all. They kept me unconscious for a while until most of my bones had healed. All that is tormenting me now is the uncomfortable position when sleeping and boredom.' He grinned, but sighed when he saw that I could not see the fun of it. 'Listen, I do not blame you. It's Quidditch, after all. Sometimes, people get hurt. Severely.'
I shook my head slightly. 'This was not a normal injury. Madam Pomfrey said that Bludgers were not supposed to do this much damage. I could have paralysed you, a rib could have punctured your heart.'
But he waved it away. 'I'm fine. I can feel everything and probably move my limbs as well, as soon as these casts come off.'
'When will they come off?'
'On Friday. Enjoy it while it lasts; I will annoy you all again in the weekend.' I granted him a smile for his efforts to comfort me. They had not really worked, but I appreciated him trying. He cleared his throat and said: 'On a more serious note, I wanted to apologise for my sister.'
That surprised me. 'What? You shouldn't apologise for anything! You did nothing wrong and you are not responsible for her. She should apologise for attacking me and I should apologise for joining in instead of handling the situation maturely.'
'Have you not talked since Saturday?'
'Haven't seen her since Saturday, to be fair.'
He frowned. 'I don't like fights. Will you do something for me?' I nodded. 'I want you two to have made up by Friday. I just want to put this all in the past, because everyone is making it much more dramatic than it actually is.' I sighed and promised him I would.

After dinner, I trudged up the stairs towards the office of professor Stainton. I wondered what he had thought of as a detention. I also wondered if I would have to do something together with Claire; I was really not in the mood for that. I knocked on the doorpost and carefully walked through the open doorway into the candle-lit office. 'Professor Stainton?' I asked.
'Ah, yes, Miss Van Coon.' He was sitting in a large armchair; his face was tired. 'If you would please take a seat behind my desk.'
'Behind?' I asked, unsure if he actually meant that. He gestured me to continue and I did what he asked, really wondering what I was supposed to do. I sat down in the tall office chair. His wooden desk was organised neatly: books were placed in a straight pile on the far right corner, his pens were lined up next to a quill on the left hand. A box with letters stood on the far left corner of the desk.
He saw my gaze and said: 'Yes, that will be your detention tonight. I have several letters I have to urgently reply to, but I find myself unable to write an answer. I need you to write the letters for me; I will dictate what you are to write.'
I looked at him curiously. Why would he be unable to write? His hands looked fine; they were not wounded. I thought I saw a slight tremor when he went to stand up, but he held them tightly together and turned his back towards me, as he stared out of the window. 'Please take the third pen on your left and a piece of parchment out of the second drawer.' I did as he ordered and waited for further instructions. He muttered something under his breath. The man was quite old already and sometimes I wondered if he shouldn't retire. Last year, our Transfiguration class had been rather full and it seemed as if at times, he could not handle the pressure.
He cleared his throat. 'Please take the first letter out of the box and tell me who wrote it.' I took out the letter, read out the name and professor Stainton made a sound of recognition. He then started dictating and I wrote as neatly as I could. This process repeated itself several times for an hour, before an interesting letter came up.
'This one is from a Sir Randall Hyde, sir.'
'Ah, yes,' professor Stainton said softly. He scratched his head and sighed a couple of times, before starting to dictate. 'Dear Mister Hyde...' He fell silent and I hovered above the paper with my pen. He stayed still as a statue and after a minute or two, I cleared my throat. 'Professor Stainton?'
Suddenly, he moved again. 'Yes, yes, let the old man think.' He fiddled with his jacket and laced his fingers together behind his back. 'Firstly, I would like to thank you for your invitation. It has flattered me that you consider me to be a desirable colleague to strive towards your aspirations. I deeply share your sentiments and have always enjoyed cooperating with you. However, I must politely decline your offer. I have long pondered over the matter, but I cannot accompany you. For this, I have multiple arguments.'
Professor Stainton sighed and stayed silent for a couple of seconds, before continuing. 'My soul reasoned with me that we should not forget that I am employed in a post that I profoundly adore. I have not grown bored of this profession and I wish to remain teaching at Hogwarts until I age too far for me to have the ability to teach. More important, however, were arguments of my rationale. Excuse me for my harsh words, but I am shocked to have read what your words were implying. I understand the desire to evolve to the fullest extent. Every young witch or wizard craves more spectacles and ambitions to excel above all others. But one must not forget to remain humane and to not neglect virtues such as decency and respect. Therefore, I am also appalled by your suggested methods. In order to preserve my honour and integrity, I will not join in such practices.' He sighed and I raised my eyebrows. This letter got dark very quickly. Professor Stainton muttered: 'Start a new paragraph, please.' He dictated: 'I sincerely wish you the best and hope you discover superior approaches to accomplish what you aspire. Yours truly, Professor W. H. J. Stainton.'
I signed the letter and it remained awfully quiet in the office. I put the letter on top of the pile of other finished letters and reached out to the drawer to take another piece of parchment, but professor Stainton stopped me. 'That is enough for tonight, Miss Van Coon.' He had not turned around and did not seem as if he would say anything else. Plunged in thought, he stared out of the window. His lips moved as if he were almost saying out loud what he was thinking. I walked towards the entrance of the office and said: 'Goodnight, sir.' He did not react.
With a strange feeling, I walked away towards the Gryffindor Tower.

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That was chapter 3!
Honestly, I just want to say, I am quite proud of this chapter. This one feels like the least cringeworthy yet... at least the last part.

All I will say is: keep an eye out - this may seem random but it *might* be more relevant in the future...

(hahaha whoops I know that is cringy too but I'm just going to leave it there, bye :) )