10. cautious plans

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when ricky rushed back towards the entrance of the castle to get to his first class - which was care of magical creatures - he saw ashlyn emerging from the dining hall and as soon as she saw him, curiosity and suspicion flooded her face.

"where were you coming from?" she asked

ricky shrugged his shoulders "no where. bathroom."

"that's two different answers." the girl told him with a raised eyebrow

ricky rolled his eyes playfully "relax, ash. i didn't do anything."

"if you say so..." ashlyn mumbled as she adjusted her bag "i've got to head to herbology. i'll see you at lunch?"

ricky nodded "sounds good." he waved her goodbye as he began walking his way towards the edge of the forbidden forest which was where his class took place.

care of magical creatures had always been ricky's favorite subject ever since he attended his first class at hogwarts. ever since he was little he was fascinated by magical creatures in the wizarding world and books referring to them were the only ones he read with interest and by choice. he never showed off how much he loved it though. people were already surprised as to how he could get good grades in school and he didn't need them questioning how someone of his personality could be so interested in a topic like this.

as he continued his way down, nearing the forest, he couldn't help but think back to him and nina's encounter. it bothered him that she'd caught him because truthfully, he was following her to try and figure out more about the entire thing he'd heard her talk to ej about the other day. he didn't have any actual proof that ej was a death eater and that she was somehow linked to them, which drove him to try and find it.

but she heard him. he obviously wasn't discreet enough, so he was going to try and use their little potions assignment as a way to try and get information too. he couldn't sit still knowing that there was a possible threat at hogwarts...especially with these dangerous times that were brewing around them. hogwarts was the safest place in the wizarding world, and he didn't want that to change.

"good morning class!" professor kettleburn exclaimed with a wide-eyed grin. he was a rather short man with silver hair and a mustache to match along with a bandage wrapped over his face to cover one of his eyes. he had almost all of his limbs missing but one and a half — one arm and half a leg — due to his recklessness and adventures in the past. but no matter his appearance, he was a joyful man with a great sense of humor.

"today we will be studying about diricawls." professor kettleburn beamed "now, who can tell me about them?"

ricky confidently put his hand up, seeing a few people around the class look through their books and others just listened in

"yes, mr bowen." kettleburn nodded encouragingly

"well...the common name for muggles are dodo birds and they're thought to be extinct since they're flightless in the muggle world, but we know they're still alive because they can apparate at will." ricky answered

professor kettleburn nodded again happily "excellent! very well said!" he said "take ten points for gryffindor."

as ricky smiled back, professor kettleburn went on to introducing the points and objectives of today's lesson, and though ricky had forced himself to focus on the tasks and information the professor would give them, he couldn't help the back of his mind wandering off to something else entirely.

+

with ashlyn, seb and big red in the dining hall for lunch, they were waiting for their friend while whispering urgently on something.

"ash, we are not going to go shopping for school supplies at hogsmade." big red sighed heavily "we have a gigantic library in this school!"

"yes, but i need to find something specific," ashlyn pleaded

"yo," ricky greeted as he slumped down next to seb who was calmly humming under his breath as he ate his food and amusingly watched the two red-heads bicker.

"ricky, tell ash that we're spending our hogsmade trip at the hogs head for butterbeer, then at honeydukes." big red said simply

"oh, we can take ash to her shop." ricky nodded and the girl beamed happily while big red's jaw dropped. but ricky's smirk widened "but she has to spend time with us at zonkos."

ashlyn suddenly glared at her best friend and big red laughed triumphantly "i hate you." she mumbled

ricky just winked at her and chuckled while he began serving himself his lunch

"so, how come you took a while?" ashlyn asked

"oh." ricky mumbled "uh, i had to ask professor flitwick something about the homework."

"you don't do homework." big red said "and besides didn't you have a free?"

ricky opened his mouth to retort "i do my homework when i have to."

"yeah, and the charms essay isn't due in for another week." big red replied

ashlyn looked at him as ricky's eyes darted away for a split second and she looked back to where they went before turning back to him in realization.

"oh, tell me you didn't."

ricky furrowed his brows "what—"

"tell me you're not following them and trying to figure out what they're up to." ashlyn whispered in a low tone as she leaned forward

seb and big red glanced at each other nervously

"ash—"

"ricky!" she exclaimed quietly "they're not good people and you snooping into their business is going to make them suspicious and you're going to get hurt."

"i have a plan!"

"any sort of plan is stupid!" ashlyn replied with a frown "i know they're lot. and if what you're saying is true, then there's a really good chance of this outcome being something terrible."

"but if we find proof, we'll know how to prevent it from being terrible." ricky retorted "come on, ash. i'm careful."

"and what plan did you say you had?"

"simple." ricky stated "i'm paired up with salazar for potions—"

"WHAT?!" big red and seb exclaimed in surprise

"didn't i tell you guys?" ricky inquired

the red-head and blond boys shook their heads and ricky shrugged

"well, i am. and it sucks, but the light in the situation is that she's the one i'm trying to find more about, so since we'll be working together, i can get the information." ricky explained

"okay, and what if you don't get the information?" seb questioned

"yeah, cause i don't know if you've noticed or anything but nina salazar isn't exactly the friendly talkative type." big red added

ricky grinned "just leave it to me."

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⏰ Last updated: Apr 23, 2022 ⏰

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