A Whole New Adventure

Part 14

Clarissa was gasping for air by the time she reached the 7th floor. There were barely any students in the corridor seeing as there was still classes going on. She tried to remember where the tapestry for Barnabas the Barmy was when James and Sirius showed it on the map. It didn't take long for her to find the empty span of wall that hid the room. Clarissa calmed her head and began thinking of what she needed, pacing back and forth.

"I need a place to do research about fiendfyre, horcruxes, and occlumency where no one can enter but me."

She repeated that in her head until a door started to form. Clarissa watched in awe as the intricate details of the door made itself known on the empty wall until it became a fully functioning entrance. She entered with no hesitation and was delighted when the room gave her a small library of sorts with a desk stocked with parchment and ink, along with a comfortable armchair for her to sit in. Noting the amount of time she had before class started, Clarissa did a quick glance at the books on the shelves. There were surprisingly quite a few books on fiendfyre and occlumency but not as much on horcruxes. She steered clear from the books that were locked by chains and were shaking, afraid that what happened to Harry in the first film will happen to her. She figured she'll tackle that once she has backup with her, just in case anything happens.

Satisfied with the room, Clarissa casted a Tempus charm and saw that there was only ten minutes left until class. Mentally saying a thank you to the room, the door appeared once again to let her exit. She carefully watched the door melt back into the wall to ensure no one can access it, even tapping the wall a few times to make sure. She started walking towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts class on the third floor at a brisk pace because she knew James must be nervous due to her absence. Clarissa thanked Rowena that she had to climb down stairs and not up this time. Although she wasn't late, there were already people sitting down in the seats as Professor Barrows had a class before theirs. Thankfully, James saved her a seat so she wouldn't have to sit with some stranger.

"Where did you go? Remus said you left all of a sudden," James asked right as she sat down.

Before she got a chance to answer him, Professor Barrows entered the class through her private office and began lecturing.

"I'll tell you later," whispered Clarissa and turned her attention back to the witch in front of them.

With a huff, James also followed his girlfriend's actions albeit reluctantly. The lesson was the same as the others Clarissa's had that day—going over the syllabus, review old material for the remainder of the week, etc. What she was most interested in was some of the material they'll be learning this year, which according to Barrows were: the Unforgivable Curses, Dementors, Nonverbal spell work, and the Inferi. The rest of the class was just theory review and although the students were disappointed with their professor's decision, she quickly placated them by saying that starting next week their Friday classes will be dedicated to practical learning and would likely extend an extra half hour into the night.
The rest of the class continued with quiet murmurs that may or may not have been related to topic they were supposed to be studying but Barrows couldn't have cared less seeing how it was only the first day back. Clarissa on the other hand was enraptured by her textbook, refreshing her memories with the hexes and jinxes she supposedly learned the previous year. She could feel James' stare from beside her, mentally telling her to explain her disappearance. The brunette girl thanked Merlin and Morgana when Barrows dismissed them for the afternoon because she couldn't take James' staring anymore.

Right when Clarissa finished putting her last book in her bag, James immediately dragged her out of the classroom.

"Prongs! Where are you going? Having a snog, are you?" Sirius teased as he watched the couple leave.