The Shadow of Slytherin

The mirrors

Outside on the terrace you find Leander Prewett with a few other Gryffindors that chat until their eyes fall onto you beside Garreth.

"What are they doing here? Garreth, I told you, Gryffindors only."

"It's all right. We can go somewhere else," you reply, the door already opened while Garreth stands there, arguing with Leander, his narrowed eyes on you. Although you had once chatted with him like with a friend, he has grown cold. You do not know why, but it does not bother you enough to ask. "I heard there is a cabinet of mirrors, down in the library. I'd love to see that."

"It does sound intriguing," Ominis admits, following you back down the stairs where you hear students scream when Atticus and Imelda run at them, the masks on their faces. "They seem to enjoy themselves."

A set of hands grabs you from behind, pulling you to the side of the stairs towards the brazier. "We do. Trick or treat, Morningstar," Alex croaks, the cloak wrapped around your body to prevent you from moving.

Wiggling around, your hands behind your back as Alex holds them still, you grin, "I'd prefer the trick, but I can feel the treat."

The hands clapping together, Akira takes off his mask, the young Gryffindor on his shoulders, also dressed in a black cloak with a mask on. "Wanna switch positions, Morningstar?" He winks at you while Alex releases you from his grasp, your arms before you as you chuckle and lift Alex off the ground.

With Alex thrown over your shoulders, you approach the stairs. "Your turn," you say as you spin around for him to see where you are when you tilt his legs causing him to struggle as he clings to your back. Laughing, you lower him onto the ground and take the mask from him. "Let me show you a proper trick," you state as the hood slips over your head, the dark cloak floating above the ground when you lift your hands and reach out to Alex's face, gesturing as if to take off an invisible mask.

The eyes closed, you focus on a spell you have read in one of the dark arts books that you found in the RoR. Although it requires a lot of focus, the incantation does not have to be painted into the air or spoken out loud, but properly enunciated and clear inside your mind.

A spiral with three lines through it, a short line from the right, a long line from the upper left and the third line underneath. "Go ahead, Alex, trick or treat?"

Hesitant, Alex raises his hand to your face. "Trick?" he asks, staring at the green light behind the mask. Upon removing it from your face, a scream escapes his lungs and even Akira steps back.

Underneath the hood, a set of green glowing eyes surrounded by greenish fog has taken the place of your head. Were your mouth used to be, white silhouettes stare at Alex, almost like teeth, sharp, but hidden behind a veil of green. "How do you like that?" you inquire, stepping closer while Akira lowers the Gryffindor boy off his shoulders who kicks with his foot as your appearance frightens him.

"Salem!" Atticus yells, approaching you from behind, but when you turn, he lets out a yelp and stumbles backwards, the arm held out to prevent him from falling down the stairs. "What have you done?"

The mask placed back on your face, you speak the reverse spell in your mind and remove the mask, your bright golden eye in its original place. "Do you like it? Alex wanted to see a trick."

"Not that," Alex mutters, taking another step back.

His face close to Akira's arm, the small Gryffindor boy clings to Akira's sleeve. "We don't have to learn that in class, do we?"

"We are not even taught that in school," Imelda states, her arms crossed. "Sallow teach you that, Morningstar?"

The wand pointed in your direction, Ominis steps from one foot to the other. "I have never experienced Sebastian using a spell of that kind. Salem must have found it in the restricted section."