Crucio - A love story

2. The innocent

Hey Eloise,

Sorry about Ominis, I'm sure he said some unpleasant things upon discovering you near the Undercroft.

He's all bark and no bite though, so don't worry too much.

Meet me after dinner? I've got something exciting we can work on.

- Sebastian

- ♔♕♘ -

Upon opening her first owl post for the day, she was pleasantly surprised by Sebastian's message. If not also a bit nervous about the prospect of yet another evening spent with the freckled Slytherin.

The messages swarmed around in her head for the first half of the day and lunch, but the spell was finally broken by her sweet-faced friend Poppy.

"You okay?" She asked smilingly as she walked up to Eloise, joining her in her trek to the first care of magical creatures class. "You seem dreamy today."

"I'm okay, thanks for asking Poppy." Eloise smiled at her Hufflepuff friend.

"I'm so excited about this class." The small girl beamed. "I've been reading up on magical creatures my whole life."

"I've noticed." Eloise chuckled, giving her an affectionate smile. "What with all those posters on your side of the room."

"Sorry about that." Poppy smiled shyly. "My gran sent me off with loads of them. She loves magical creatures as much as I do."

The class went by fairly quickly, and Eloise had to admit this was one of her favorite classes yet. They learned the basic care for animals such as Puffskeins and kneazles. which apparently made for fine companions.

"Hey, stop that!" She heard Poppy shout near one of the small enclosures. "You're hurting her."

"Oh shut it, Peculiar Poppy." Two students laughed. "It's just a worthless little rodent."

"Her name is Persephone!" Poppy exclaimed angrily.

"oooh, Her name is Persephone." The Slytherin student mocked, laughing with his mate.

"That's really not funny." Eloise stepped up, defending Poppy.

"Whatever." The students scoffed as they finally stalked off.

"I'm sorry about that." Eloise offered. "That was awful, what they were doing."

"Those two don't belong anywhere near this class." Poppy sneered. "Thank you for saying something." She offered a small smile.

"I just couldn't stand there and watch them harm the poor thing," Eloise explained.

"We're of the same mind." Poppy smiled. "Actually, in light of that, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Poppy led Eloise through several dirt roads surrounding Hogwarts Castle before stopping at a clearing between some sparse trees. There, she put her fingers to her mouth and whistled once shortly.

A shrill cry sounded before the booming of wings invaded Eloise's space. Before her landed a white Hypogriph.

"There you are, girl." Poppy laughed as she went up to pet the massive beast. "Her name's high-wing. You can come closer if you like, but always bow first."

Eloise did as she was told and was quickly accepted by the magnificent creature. "She's absolutely beautiful." Eloise breathed, softly touching the feathers on its wings.

"I'm glad you got to meet her," Poppy said, feeding High-wing some pellets. "You're the only person I've told about her."

"It's an honor." Eloise smiled. "It means a lot to me, Poppy."