A Dance In The Moonlight

Chapter Seventy-Five- Last First Day

After throwing on both of our uniforms and collecting what we would need for the day, Poppy and I made our way directly to Professor Sharp's classroom. The halls were empty except for the occasional staff member showing up and telling us good morning in passing. In the doorway though, we could already see Sebastian and Ominis sitting and watching while Professor Sharp yelled at Garreth for knocking over a bottle of troll boogies. It was clear even from here, Garreth was still half asleep.

I could feel my heart beat pick up and the sweat building on my forehead. Nobody hadn't seen me or Poppy yet which gave me the perfect chance to hide real quick. I pressed my back against the wall by the door and took deep breaths to try and calm myself. I almost wanted to blow this off entirely. To run and never turn back.

"Merlina? What are you doing?" She whispered, standing in front of the doorway still.

"I don't want to enter. What if Ominis told Sebastian?" I whispered back to Poppy.

"They're best friends. Of course he told Sebastian. Now let's go. We have more important sh-"

"Poppy? What are you doing?" I could hear Sebastian ask. Professor Sharp had stopped yelling at Garreth and the silence was louder than any words could ever be.

"I'm... I'm waiting for Merlina to fix her robe. It was tucked but it's fixed now. Right Merlina?"

One deep inhale and exhale escaped out of my nose before confirming out loud. She grabbed my hand, more likely to make sure I didn't run rather than support, before dragging me into the classroom. Both Sebastian and Ominis stood, smiling at us along with Garreth getting excited to see his fiancé.

"Well now that we're all here. I was curious- have any of you seen this symbol?" Professor Sharp asked, holding up a piece of paper with a terrible drawing on it.

On it had an armored first gripping onto a wand with rays of light coming off of it. Sebastian and Poppy both raised their hands at the same time. Both Professor Sharp and I glanced at Poppy, completely confused as to where she would have seen it.

"Merlina and I... we may or may not have taken down a dragon fighting ring in our fifth year. On a table, there was an envelope that was sealed with a wax that bared that symbol. What is it?" She asked. I didn't even see it and was shocked she did.

"That's weird... Professor Sharp and I also saw it at a dragon fighting ring this summer." Sebastian answered as well, resting his index finger upon his chin.

"Well Edward sent this to me after I explained to him what Sebastian and I had seen. He's going to try and become a spy to find out who this, as Sebastian stated you call them, Puppeteer is. We believe this is the symbol they're using." Professor Sharp explained. Silence filled the room once more. This Puppeteer has been pulling strings for more then a year if the symbol was also being used at the fighting ring the poachers and Ranrok used.

"Professor Sharp... if Rookwood was working with the Puppeteer, could Harlow have any knowledge of them as well?" I asked, glancing up at him.

"Isn't he in Azkaban though? We wouldn't be able to talk to him to figure it out." Ominis pointed out.

"That's not true though," I argued immediately. "My fifth year, I saw Azkaban with my own eyes. Professor Sharp is an ex auror. He would be able to get him and I in to question Harlow."

"Merlina makes a good point. I'm sure I could pull some strings to do it. Give me time to see if I can. Just in case- you five come to my class after dinner tonight. I'll teach you all a spell most go through their lives never using. I have a feeling though each of you will need it though."

"Which is?" Garreth finally spoke, after picking the last bogey off of the ground.

"The patronus charm or more known as expecto patronum. It conjures your spirit animal to defend you." Professor Sharp answered but keeping his eyes focused on me.

He didn't need to say it for me to understand his secret message loud and clear. I remembered Helen Diggory using the spell when the Dementors tried to attack us. If we were to get in to talk with Harlow- I needed to know it. Or who knows how deep the Puppeteer's influence went. It could run deep in the vein's of the Ministry itself.

"Anyways all of you leave my class and go get breakfast. We'll talk more of this later."

We did as Professor Sharp demanded, leaving his class but we didn't get far. We sat on the fountain outside of the library, trying to catch Garreth up on everything. Honestly, I felt bad that he didn't really know anything until this moment but he was kind of a loud mouth idiot. How were we supposed to trust he wouldn't blab to anyone else? The only thing we refused to tell him of was of my special abilities including the ancient magic.

"So why are we just standing around and letting her stroll around the school? She should be arrested!" Garreth shouted before Poppy slammed her hand upon his mouth. Nobody was around but it was better to be safe than call more attention upon ourselves.

"We need solid proof. Plus, she could lead us to the Puppeteer." Poppy answered quietly before removing her hand.

"Oh... I suppose that makes sense. So we need to wait to hear from the Ministry whether Professor Sharp and Merlina can go to Azkaban? Can we do anything in the mean time?"

"I... I do have an idea but I'll need Ominis for it." Poppy answered. Ominis' ears perked up as he turned his attention towards her.

"Me? Why do you need me?" He asked, completely confused.

"Well to be quite blunt- I'm assuming you being blind means your other senses are heightened. The teachers have meetings every two weeks to discuss students and other things. Perhaps they know more than they let on or the Puppeteer will reveal themselves without realizing. You and I are going to hide in one of the cabinets and listen in on the meeting." She informed.

"Poppy- that's genius!" I shouted, my voice bouncing off the walls.

One could only hope Professor Sharp gets word before then. I was about to say something else when Sebastian got up and also slammed his hand on my mouth. With the silence, we could hear Professor Weasley speaking to Professor Chang as they both were making their way down the stairs. The castle rang, signaling it was time for us to enter our classes.

"I guess that means Garreth and I need to go back to Professor Sharp. We'll see you all in a bit." I answered before waving goodbye to the rest of our friends.