Chapter 3

59 1 0
                                    

"Ah, Dani." Torvus galloped up to the figure in the darkness. "It's been a while since we last spoke. How was the vault? Did you find your brother?"

"I did. And he's going after Rakepick now. You did hear about what happened to her, right?"

"Oh, yes, it was all the herd could talk about for a while. Anyway, what's up? Shouldn't you be doing your homework? Thought you'd be busy with NEWT classes."

"I guess it'll have to be vaults over NEWTs now. A student was found petrified just then."

"Ah. And we were saying that Mars was unusually bright tonight."

"Torvus, do you know who Professor Trelawney is?"

"The Divination professor? Firenze told me about her. Didn't know you took that class."

"I don't anymore, but she gave me a tea leaf reading just before Snape came in and told me about the petrified student." Dani repeated Trelawney's words to Torvus. "I know it sounds a lot like death, but is there some sort of hidden meaning? Like, maybe something in the wording?"

"Hm, I'm not sure, I'm not the best seer in the herd after all. Does sound a lot like death though, we can't deny that."

"Well, Rakepick did tell me someone was going to die last year, and nobody did."

"I can ask Firenze for his insight. Who knows, he may even be able to divulge some information you need for the next vault. I doubt he'll let another human like you just walk into our camp, though."

"Sounds good. What do I have to do?"

"You'll need to gather offerings to show your understanding and respect of our culture..."
************************************
"Here yeh go!"

Fang barked at the tray of rock cakes Hagrid set on the rickety table. "Would yeh like one, Dani?"

"Uh, no thanks, I have a Transfiguration assignment due tomorrow and McGonagall has already made it clear that she'd be even less lenient with her NEWT students."

"An' it IS gettin' rather late. Say hi to the centaurs for me."

Dani took the rock cakes and decided to take a detour to the courtyard before heading upstairs. There, she saw Badeea painting a picture of the night sky.

"Hey."

"Oh, I didn't see you there, Dani. What do you think of my latest project."

"It's nice."

"Painting motivates me in a way, you know? I've been feeling stuck on Trelawney's palmistry chart, so I came out here."

"I guess cursebreaking has officially become my escape from life, then," laughed Dani.

"Thought I'd find you here," said Talbott, sitting down next to the girls. "Badeea, really, how do you make the courtyard look so nice from every angle?"

"Practice makes perfect. Anyway, were you looking for Dani."

"Oh, yes." Talbott took some herbs out of his bag. "I was just doing some harvesting with Sprout. I took some of these in case Penny wanted them... Or the centaurs."

"Centaurs?" asked Badeea.

"I'm picking up offerings for the herd that lives in the forbidden forest."

"Then... Maybe they'd want one of these?" Badeea gave Dani a scroll of parchment, and when Dani opened it, there was a star chart on it. "I made an extra for Sinistra's class."

"That's a great idea," said Dani.

"And is that sage?" Badeea was now looking at Talbott's herbs. "I've seen those in Divination."

"Then I think the centaurs might like that too."

"It'd be cool if we got a centaur to teach Divination at Hogwarts instead of Trelawney," thought Badeea aloud. "Maybe they would give less homework."

"I thought Ravenclaws loved homework," said Dani.

"Let's be real, nobody remotely likes homework... Not even Ravenclaws. It's just that we're actually able to study and get stuff done and the other houses can't," joked Talbott.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Year 6Where stories live. Discover now