Ivory

[Chapter 10]

I was eleven years old. I was walking down the streets with my best friend, Hermione Granger. We were holding hands and moving in synch while walking towards the local bookshop that she wanted to check out. She was such a nerd. We were both too smart for our own good and that's what brought us together.

Apparently, there was a science book about stars or something in the shop. I myself wanted to go to the bookshop because I wanted to read up on reptiles and amphibians. I've always been drawn to animals and they've always been drawn to me. In fact, I had a chameleon on my shoulder and a wolf at my side. 

She was the smart kid who knew everything, and I was the weird kid who could talk to animals. She was quizzing me on specific snakes while I quizzed her on the constellations. We were laughing when I saw three boys come into view in front of us.

"Hey, look guys, it's that freak!" the first boy said, pointing at Hermione and laughing. The boy's name was Darell. He was kind of a jerk if you couldn't already tell. He'd always find a way to pick on us with his stupid friends.

"I'd advise you to shut that big mouth of yours," I hissed. Darell looked at me with a judging look.

"You know, Kylan, you used to be a really cool guy before you decided to associate yourself with this freak," he replied. I could feel Hermione's grip tighten.

"It's okay," I whispered to her. "You'll be fine." I gently slipped my hand out of her grasp and turned to Darell with a smirk.

"You're not the only one with friends, you know," I told him. He scoffed.

"Who would want to be friends with you?" he snorted. I just smirked more, a dark glimmer in my eye. I turned to the wolf behind me. (Darell always thought it was a dog and that it was harmless.) 

"Kill him," I growled softly to the wolf. The wolf snarled in response and jumped towards the three boys. I saw the pure look of terror on Darell's face before all three of them sprinted the other way.

"Hey, Hermione," I said nudging her. I pointed to the visible moon in the blue sky. "Tell me which visible craters are on the moon right now."

I conjured a small telescope out of thin air and gave it to her. For some reason, I've always been able to make objects appear when I wanted them to.

While she was inspecting the moon, I saw the wolf ripping the three boys to shreds. The wolf looked back at me expectantly with blood dripping from its maw.

Hide the bodies, I transmitted to the wolf. It nodded in response and began to drag the bodies away.

"I think I see the Mare Crisium," she told me. I took the telescope away from her eye gently. I smiled at her.

"I think the bookshop is up here," I told her. She took my hand again and we continued to walk the streets. I saw the wolf come back. Its maw was still red.

"He must have gone into the woods," I lied. "I think he scraped his mouth." I prayed that Hermione would agree.

"Aww," she said, petting the wolf, "are you okay?"

I smiled. "And here we are," I said, pointing at the book shop. I saw the wolf walk into an alleyway, probably looking for more food. I was about to open my mouth when I heard the wolf howl. I turned back to the alley where I found the same wolf bleeding out.

"Don't!" Hermione said, her voice shaking with fear. "Kylan, I feel that something bad is about to happen."

I didn't listen to her and sprinted into the alleyway. I tried to stop the bleeding. I tried to do something. I couldn't let him die. 

Suddenly, I saw a black cloaked man appear out in front of me. He grabbed me by the wrist so tightly that it nearly cut off the circulation. I yelped as he pointed a straight, wooden stick at me. He had unusually bright gold eyes.

"Vulnus," He muttered. I felt an invisible sword slash me in the chest as I crumpled to the ground, gasping for air. I whipped my head around to find a very terrified Hermione. I tried to tell her to run, but no sound emitted from my mouth.

The man turned to her and a jet of green light shot out of his stick towards her. Her eyes widened as the force knocked her back. 

"Hermione!" I screamed.

I woke with a scream. As my vision cleared I saw Professor Astra standing over me with a smirk on her face. I saw her turn back to the rest of the class.

"You see," she told them. "The charm plunges the target into a nightmare or bad experience from their life immediately. Repeat after me, Somnum Exterreri."

"Somnum Exterreri," the class repeated. I stood up immediately, trying to shake off the embarrassment. I stepped off the platform and joined the crowd.

"Are you okay?" I heard a voice ask. I flinched so violently I almost fell over as I saw Hermione. I felt relieved as I observed the worried expression in her eyes. I was relieved she was still alive. "You look frightened."

"I'm fine," I replied shakily. She looked at me skeptically. "I'm fine, really." I looked back at the front of the room where Professor Astra was droning on about a new charm that I already knew.

I literally ran out of the classroom when the class ended. I ran so fast that I collided with someone.

"Ouch," I muttered. I looked up to see who I rammed into. It was Lewis. I apologized and sprinted down the hall to Herbology.

"Where the hell are you going?" Lewis called.

"Herbology!" I shouted back. Lewis looked at me confused.

"Dude, we have Pain Tolerance class."

"Lewis, that's not a class," I told him. He looked at me even more confused.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Never better," I replied. I dug out my schedule to show Lewis that he was wrong. When I glanced at the class, my eyes widened. Sure enough, the class was marked down right after Dueling.

"That's impossible," I mumbled. Lewis just grabbed my shoulder and lead me down the hall. We approached a door that I don't remember existing.

Lewis pushed open the door and a blast of chilling air greeted me. I almost shivered as I made my way to a desk.

"Hello, there," a voice said from the front of the room.

You've got to be kidding me, I thought. The man's eyes were unusually golden. In fact, he looked exactly like the man in my dream.

"My name is Professor Redrum," he said.