When the Wind Whistle

Chapter 9: Madman

By the time Harry finished the remaining research paper, it was already lunch time. He gathered the books and papers that were scattered across his bed and placed them on the nightstand. He got up, stretched his limbs, and picked up his discarded school robes on the floor.

He left Gryffindor Tower. waving the Fat Lady goodbye, she went straight to the great hall.

As he skipped to the hall, he hummed the familiar tune that was played on the music locket. He hears the chatter of the students as he nears the dining halls. Entering, he looks to where his friends are seated. While searching, his eyes caught a certain blonde's. He couldn't help but blush. The ravenette looked away, feeling smitten by just seeing the blond boy. He slapped his face with both of his hands to make himself stop flushing.

"Harry! "We're over here!"

Looking up, he spotted Ron waving to gain his attention. He dropped his hand and went towards the long table. He sat down next to Ron, and across from him was Hermione. He reached out to pick up the meal in front of him. Before he could take a bite, Hermione bombarded him with questions. "Where were you this morning?" Harry was about to answer but was cut off with another question. "Did you make it to your classes?" Again, he tries to answer. "I–"

"Did you skip classes again?" Hermione cried out. The ravenette sighed and just nodded his head, knowing he couldn't lie to his friend. Hermione gaped and preached about the importance of grades and studying. Harry half-listened to the sermon.

He ate as Hermione scolded him. Even though it's tiring to hear Hermione, he feels happy knowing he has friends who care for him so much. They chatted about things such as Ron telling them about how Seamus managed to somehow screw up a charm spell, making them spend the whole class trying to reverse the spell. Harry chuckled at the tale.

The group of friends spend the rest of the lunch chatting with the other or with each other.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being spied on—more specifically, Harry was being spied on.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Harry stood up from the stool. Gathering his bag, he and his friends went to their next class, which is defense against the dark arts. They made it to the classroom; inside, some students were already sitting down in their respective seats. Harry and Ron went to their table, second from the front of the class, and prepared for their lesson.

To their right side, Hermione is seated with a random Sytherin. Her books were on the table, and she had her quill and paper ready. Since they had a few minutes to spare, he tapped Dean's shoulder to get his attention. The young boy turned his back, now facing Harry. "Oh, hey, Harry." Dean greeted him. "I didn't expect you to come to class today." Harry greeted Dean back before asking his question. "Yesterday, you said your lessons on Care for Magical Creatures were about selkies, right? Dean nodded, not knowing where this was going. "Is there—I don't know—anything else more interesting about the lesson?" Harry asked. "Actually, there was." This caused the ravenette to be intrigued. "Apparently, selkies have this magical coat that helps them transform from humans to selkies." Dean enlightened the curious boy.

"This coat acts as a shield for them. Any harm would not come to them as long as they wore the coat. It's also said that they are soft and fluffy, like touching a cloud." The boy rambled. Harry listened as his mind wandered back to the stolen coat.

"However, because they are heavily guarded by the ministry, the odds of simply seeing a selkie coat are zero. Hell! Even looking for a selkie is zero percent." Dean informed the boy. This caused the raven to be dejected a little.

All chatter stopped as their professor, Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody, walked in. Dean faced the blackboard, fearing Moody's presence.

As usual, he greeted the class and proceeded to the lesson. However, today Alastor decides to teach the students something else.