Killer (Draco Malfoy)

4. Jinxed

Wednesday was Defense Against The Dark Arts, first thing in the morning. The whole sixth year was buzzing about it. The Slytherins had it with Ravenclaws this year and we all stood outside the door, every single person at least ten minutes early.

"Tell me again what the big deal is about Professor Snape teaching DATDA again?" Poppy asked, looking incredibly bored as we stood by the door. She wore her hair in a similar half up, half down style that was Bella's signature look and it made me cringe.

"Snape has been wanting this job for years. Dumbledore never gave it to him because he's... well... he used to be a dark wizard. I think Dumbledore thought if he ever put him in the position he'd go dark again. I don't know what changed his mind..."

"Maybe Dumbledore wants to get rid of him," an airy voice said beside me. I turned to see a white haired girl staring at the two of us. "You know, since it's a cursed position. No one lasts longer than a year. Haven't you ever noticed? Maybe Dumbledore wants him gone."

We both stared at the girl, stunned by what she had just said. I was about to reply when the door finally swung open. There was nobody standing to welcome us in but we knew what it meant.

It was strange to see Professor Snape outside of his usual dwelling in the potions dungeon. The room we were in didn't seem to fit his bellowing black robes and matching hair.

Snape wasted no time diving into the material we'd be learning over the year. He gave a lecture about the mind and how important it is for DATDA, especially for silent spell casting.

During his lecture my mind wandered more than once back to what the blonde haired girl had said. Had Snape been given this position as a death sentence? What had compelled Dumbledore to finally give the most vile teacher in the school the most dangerous position?

"Now, who thinks they're ready for a non verbal spell? Anyone?"

I knew it was bait. None of us were going to be ready after one hour long lecture about it. He wanted to make us fail. Embarrass us.

I saw Bella's hand shoot up, solitary. "Very well, Miss Hail. Do you remember the four key components to a nonverbal spell?"

"Wand movement, willpower, incantation and concentration." Her voice was high pitch and her chin was up and proud.

I rolled my eyes then glanced at my notes.

Correct.

"Come to the front of the class." She stood. "Now pick someone you wish to try a non verbal spell against."

My breath hitched before I ever saw her look at me. I could feel her satisfaction as her lips said my name and all eyes turned to me.

"Miss Wraith?" Snape asked, pleasantly monotone.

I could say no. My throat felt dry as sand. I could try to shake my head.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw my book at Bella's stupid pretty face and pull her curled blonde hair out of her head. If this would have been a boxing class I would have unleashed a fury that had been eating at me for the last several months.

My fear slowly turned to a boiling rage and before I knew it my body was on fire. My mind was blind as I grabbed my wand and walked to the front of the class room. My eyes narrowed at her and for a moment I saw a flicker of emotion that made my smirk.

Regret.

"I want you each to pick a jinx and ready your mind." I heard Snapes voice but my eyes were locked on to Bella.

What jinx could I use on Bella? Levicorpus? It would be fun to see her dangling up in the air by her ankle. Perhaps I could turn her into a duck. Neither harmful but humiliating nonetheless.

"Wands at the ready. Clear your mind of everything then open them to your magic. Connect with your mind."

I closed my eyes, feeling my thoughts drift away. My fingers tingled against my wand.

Don't do it Layla.

A voice came to my head. Her voice. Whispering in my ear.

"What?" My reply was breathless, nearly silent.

"Wands at the ready."

My eyes opened. I saw Bella glaring back at me.

It will make things worse, you know it will. You can't let anyone else see how powerful you are.

A lump formed in my throat.

"Begin."

Even if I'd wanted to jinx Bella, my mind hadn't recovered fast enough to get my shot in. My thoughts were still fully on the voice in my ear when a purple spark came from Bella's wand and hit me square in the face. I tumbled back bringing my hand up to the stinging sensation.

I cursed loudly but Snape didn't reprimand me. In fact, no one was speaking.

I opened my eyes to find horrified glances all directed at me. I turned to Professor Snape, who looked to be analyzing me. "Entomorphis," he spoke, stepping closer to me. "A valiant attempt but it appears to only have worked on half of her face, rather than the whole body. Done correctly it should Induce insectoid physical features upon the victim, such as feelers. Or in this case... half of the face of a moth.

My eyes widened. My hand shot back up to my face. Sure enough, there a black bulge where one eye should be and suspiciously fuzzy skin on one side of my face.

Bella didn't even try to hide her pleasure. I heard Poppy gasp and saw her with a hand over her mouth. Somewhere inside I knew this would be the moment she would realize she shouldn't be friends with me.

I caught a glimpse of my features in the mirror at the far wall and wanted to cry and punch Bella in the face at the same time. It would have been better if her spell had worked properly and left me looking like a bug, and not a freak with half a face.

"Don't fret, Miss Wraith, it should be gone in a moment or two. I doubt her cast was strong enough to last more than several minutes. You may both take a seat." I numbly walked to my chair and sat down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Poppy scoot away several inches. "Would anybody else like to give it a shot?"

The room was predictably silent.

"Very well. I want you all to practice clearing your mind and casting as your homework. You will write a list of each spell you try and how successful it was. You should see a slight improvement if practicing properly. Next class I want everyone to be prepared to cast a nonverbal spell, successful or not."

My hand went back up to my face. The fuzz was slowly disappearing and the bulge had gone down a little as well. I could hear Bella and Kali snickering in the corner.

"Don't pay any attention to them," I heard Draco's voice leaning in from behind me. "I know you could have done her worse if you'd tried."

His voice made me relax a little. At least there was one person in this room that didn't think I was a freak who deserved to be deformed.

My mind went back to Autumn's voice in my head. What would have happened if I had jinxed Bella successfully?

Everyone would think I was dangerous. I wouldn't have been laughed at, I would have been run from. There would be talk around the school about how I was tried to kill Bella. I was a killer, murdering girls for the fun of it. A psychopath on the loose in Hogwarts.

Autumn was right. Losing to Bella made me look weak. Vulnerable. It made people see me as human. It was a smart decision to let her jinx me.

Besides, I knew the truth. It didn't matter if anyone else did.

I was anything but weak.