The common room was empty when Hortencia entered.. From what she could tell. The only sound was the clink of her shoes on the stone tiles and the occasional crackle of the green flames in the fireplace: they did nothing to make it any warmer.
The room wasn't nearly as formidable at day. Not nearly, it was even peaceful. Light scattered from the windows, coming all the way from the top of the Great Lake into the dungeons below. Hortencia pictured Chester, Julianne, and Layla sitting above the lake. The soft gleam would almost be comforting, if not for how cold it was in the room, it felt like the air was cautioning her to leave, she ignored this feeling.
She wandered toward the window, peering into the lake dreamily. She watched the silhouettes of seaweed swaying back and forth.. memories passed through her head as she sat. The silence was relieving.
She thought of her parents. Only for a moment. Their faces were blurry in her mind, they were such a distant idea. She thought of them, rotting in jail. She grimaced. Surely they weren't truly criminals. She'd been five at the time of their arrest, she couldn't remember what the officers were saying, she just new she saw them take them away, so she ran. Far..
The refracting beams on her face were shadowed for a second.
A large shadow.
Getting larger.
She backed away from the window slowly. A shape lingered closer, shroud in darkness, it's silhouette a blur. The being moved closer to her. It pressed up against the glass. Her eyes widened in terror. She thought she could die right there. She met the eyes of another living creature deep in the undergrowth of the lake. Living? No.. it couldn't be. She couldn't move, not a muscle. Its animated..no, reanimated body was a horror she'd never fathomed.
The being watched her. It titled its head to the side, exposed bone on its jaw. It knocked.
One
Two
Three times.
The being was rotted. Strands of what could only have been the remaining strips of flesh hung from its bones, akimbo in the water like ribbons, waving about. The eyes were round, sitting in an empty skull. Rags of fabric wrapped around the tattered bones. The creature stepped back into the darkness, slowly.
Silence. Pure silence in the room. She stared at the window. She wasn't even shaking, no, she was just still. Froze like a deer in headlights.
She felt a grasp on her shoulder. She whipped around forcing her fist into whatever monster it was. She stepped back, tense, prepared to defend herself. Her eyes darted over to the sound of its glasses skidding across the floor: mint bifocals. The being crouched over, holding its face, concealed by a curtain of auburn hair: The girl.
Hortencia furrowed her brows, lips curling in anger.
"What the hell do you want?!" She snarled, her eyes full of blind disgust.
Aedos looked up at her, she shivered a little. She wiped syrupy blood from her face that flooded from her nose, it glimmered on her cheek. Hortencia sighed. She forced herself to calm. Her shoulders hunched awkwardly.
"Sorry- fuck- uh-.." she thought it was best to change the subject.
"..did you see that thing? You- you saw that right?" Her voice shook a little. She laughed nervously.
Aedos nodded. She fidgeted with her hands a little. She took a step back.
"Cryptid of sorts." Her voice was very quiet. It almost had an echoey quality. "An undead cursed to live."
Hortencia thought for a moment.
"You could almost say it was a... 'curséd.. creature.. right?'" Her eyes lit up with an idea. Aedos nodded, sniffling. She held a hand to her nose, putting pressure on it. Hortencia looked down at the floor. "You- you'll be fine right? I- I have to go. See you." She quickly made her way, leaving Aedos standing by the window, her sleeve soaked in blood.
Aedos watched a drop hit the wooden floor.
*Pulimp*
Then another.
*ploub*
She knew the walk of shame through the hallway awaited her; she decided to get it over. She picked up her glasses from the floor, haphazardly putting them on with one hand. She pulled the hood of her robe up to best conceal her face. It did no good with the very obvious long orange hair falling out of it. She left the common room, hurrying to the closest girls bathroom.
Making her way to find her 'friends', Hortencia noticed groups of students rushing to class. She sighed. Her mission would have to wait. A little disoriented from her encounter, she searched for her next class.
Entering History of Magic, she took being early as a good opportunity to claim a seat in the back of class. People slowly arrived. The students sat about their desks, chatting as time slowly passed, the lesson was suppose to have started fifteen minutes ago. But where was the teacher? Suddenly from the ceiling a ghastly phantasm sunk down into the room from the ceiling: a man with deep wrinkles and what was obviously already white hair before he'd passed.
"..hello first years my name is professor Binns... this is History of magic.... Today we'll be learning about the 'Great goblin war of 1301.' Or as I like to call it... the 'goblin war of 1301'.... So we start in what at the time was Caledonia when-"
Professor Binns' voice was lethargic and monotone, sluggish in all ways. Despite speaking of blood and guts of war, he still managed to make it as interesting as 'watching mucus dry on a dead frog,' as the first years would gossip.
The lesson passed slowly, drearily, especially being a double period. As soon as it ended the students funnelled out of the room, desperate for escape. Hortencia caught sight of Chester leaving the class. She needed answers for what she'd seen. She reached out and tapped his shoulder.
"Chester! Hi." She forced a smile.
"Oh. Hi, Hortencia."
"Hortense is fine. Uh-... have you seen Layla? I... want to talk to her." She grimaced at the last part. She looked at him hopefully.
Chester was silent a moment.
"Probably her common room. We're not allowed in there though. Perhaps We could just.... Slip in unnoticed?" He raised an eyebrow. Hortencia smirked.
"Interesting. Alright. I've got a good plan. Follow me."
Rushing through the halls, the two headed to the bathroom by the charms room. They crammed into a stall. "Okay. Here's the deal. You'll say nothing about what I show you. Do you know any Gryffindors?"
"Hm.. there's Layla- oh and that girl Grace."
"That works.. okay.. Layla." Hortencia closed her eyes, picturing Layla's face in her mind, noting the features: pale skin, gray eyes, monolids, a scar on her cheek. She felt herself shift, suddenly feeling taller, straighter posture. She opened her eyes. She looked at her hands, white as snow. She held a hand to her face. She felt the bumpy ridges of a scar. She looked down at Chester.
"Wow. You look even shorter when I-" she stopped. She saw his face. His mouth hung open, his eyes wide. "Oh. Metamorphmagus. Don't tell." Chester kept staring at her. She caught a familiar light in his eyes, one that clearly said he was going to burst with excitement. He went to speak, she held a hand over his mouth, it muffled a shout. "Sh-!" He nodded, still bouncing with excitement. "Okay. Let's go. Come on."
She opened the door and walked out, trying to look as stern and unapproachable as possible. Chester ran ahead of her, leading the way. She caught up easily with her new, much longer legs.
YOU ARE READING
Hortencia Harding and the Draugr's wrath
Fanfiction"My parents are Portunus and Melpomene Harding. They are both in Azkaban. But I am not them and they are not me. I can forge my own path. I have to. Before I follow their lead."
