Ivory

[Chapter 13]

I didn't exactly know where we were supposed to be gathered as we didn't exactly have a hall that we could gather in. Hermione and I wandered the halls aimlessly when I saw everyone. We immediately rushed to the crowd and followed them. We didn't exactly know where we were going but we followed anyway.

We ended up in Professor Astra's classroom. My eyes widened as I saw the scenery. The usual old, monotone room was transformed into a hall that rivaled Hogwarts'. I was stunned by the sheer size of the place. I knew that there are charms to enlarge enclosed spaces but this was beyond my expectations.

I walked to a corner of the room, taking in every aspect of the place. I glanced at the grand staircase that appeared out of thin air. I saw a familiar figure walk down the staircase. I felt my jaw drop and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that the figure was Cora.

When she met my gaze, she flashed me a small smile. She maneuvered through a sea of adolescents as she tried to walk over to me. When she eventually got to me, I felt my heart hammer in my throat. She looked me up and down, her aquamarine eyes studying me. She didn't speak as she traced her finger over a cut that sprawled diagonally across the middle of my nose.

"Redrum?" she whispered. I nodded my head.

"Y-yeah," I replied. She finally backed away from me and smirked at my nervous gaze. She let out a small laugh as she slapped my arm.

"You're not allowed to gawk at me, Kylan," she said. "And, for the record, you don't look to bad yourself."

I smiled sarcastically at the comment as we linked arms and walked to the center of the room. There was music playing but all the sound was drowned out as Cora took both my hands and swung me onto the dance floor.

"Woah, what the hell are you doing," I said nervously. She laughed as she started to dance. I shuffled my feet awkwardly as I tried to fit in with the other people around me. Cora laughed as she took out her wand.

"Tarantallegra!" she said. A small jet of light flashed out of the mahogany weapon. I suddenly felt my legs move without me controlling them. I yelped in surprise as my feet did random shuffles and patterns. I almost rammed into numerous people while trying to control my legs. For some odd reason, I couldn't remember the jinx that removed the spell.

Cora took my hands again as we spun in circles. We were pretty much the center of attention at this point. The most powerful wizard in the school, and the resident doctor who never left the infirmary. It was a rare and amazing sight.

We spun until we were dizzy and danced until it hurt. We eventually made our way over to the relaxing area and drink stand. I saw Alex and another girl there. In fact, I also saw Hermione and Weasley.

As soon as Weasley saw me, he motioned to Hermione to walk away. Hermione and I stared at each other for a minute before she walked away awkwardly. As soon as I saw them dancing and laughing, I felt bitterness and bile rise in my throat. I swallowed it down as Alex waved to get my attention. He passed me a bottle of liquid I didn't recognize.

"What is this?" I asked. Alex just looked up blissfully and muttered something about the birds or something. I'm guessing he was pretty drunk. I looked down at the bottle. When I looked to my side, Cora had left. I looked back at the dance floor at Hermione and Weasley.

I turned away and took a swig of the unknown liquid. Instantly, my insides felt like they were on fire and it felt like there was poison residue on my tongue. I didn't really care, though. In fact, I merely kept drinking the damn bottle until I felt like I'd throw up.

When I looked up, all the noise was drowned out by an eerie sense of blissful silence. It felt peaceful, yet claustrophobic. The burning in my body hadn't stopped and it felt like my brain was going into overtime. 

It was until someone gently rested a hand on my shoulder did I realize that there was nobody left in the room. Weird. I simply shook off the feeling and looked at the person behind me. Take a wild guess at who it is.

If you guessed Hermione, then you'd be correct. "Hello, there," I said to her. She looked at me concerned.

"The white streak in your hair has grown quite a bit," she told me. I smiled at the obvious remark.

"Thanks, didn't see that in the mirror this morning," I replied sarcastically, getting up. My body disagreed, as I immediately lost my balance and partially tumbled into the brown haired girl.

"Can you use magic?" she asked me. I glared at her.

"Hermione, I'm half drunk and I have slashes on my body that are bewitched to open," I told her. "Of course I can't do magic! My wand will sense my weakness."

Hermione scoffed. "If you say so. What's your room number?" she asked me. I finally stood successfully.

"Room 381," I replied.

She nodded. "Introitus!" she commanded. I saw a rectangle open up in front of us that served as a passage into my quarters. I staggered into my room. I immediately snapped my fingers and my clothes turned into pajamas. I released a breath as I realized that my chest wasn't burning because of the alcohol. I saw a deep shade of crimson bleed through my soft shirt.

I turned away so Hermione wouldn't notice. "You can go now," I told her. I didn't hear her move away. In fact, I heard her move closer to me.

"Kylan, your back," she said. I felt blood soak through my shirt as I gritted my teeth. "You need medical assistance, Kylan!"

Anger swelled in my veins as I whipped my head around. Her eyes widened when she saw my face. "Kylan, your-"

"Shut up and leave!" I cut her off.  She paused as a hurt look crossed her face. 

"Leave!" I repeated. She finally understood what the simple word meant and she turned around. She walked through the passage with one last look of concern. As soon as she left, I deflated. I flopped on my bed as the blood from my shirt soaked the sheets. My vision started to swim. Although I knew it was risky, I took out my wand.

"Vulnera Sanentur," I muttered. I repeated the incantation three times as I felt the wounds knit themselves together.

I simply slumped my head against the pillow as I listened to the chirps of the crickets and the whispers of the thestrals. Time flew as I stared at the ceiling. When I saw yellow streaks of sunlight across the ceiling, I hopped out of bed.

I snapped my fingers and my usual Ivory robes materialized on my body, replacing my pajamas. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that my eyes had changed. There was now a glowing golden ring around my pupil that faded into a deep blue. I looked at myself in disgust; my eyes reminded me of Redrum.

I strode out of my room to my first class of the day which was Pain Tolerance. I hate life. I walked down the same long hallway as the marble hallway seemed to appear around me. I pushed open the familiar door to reveal the class being tought.

"Ah, Mr. Orval," Redrum said. "It seems that because you came late, you think you're great at this class. Come over here and demonstrate a new curse."

I'm screwed, I thought as I walked to the front of the room.