Saving Star - Book 2 in the Star of Gryffindor Series

Chapter 12 - Love is Like a Bludger to the Head

Sorry this took so long! I'm taking my permit test Monday, so I've been studying for it! And for some reason it took me forever to get this chapter started.

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Those detentions were probably the worst I'd ever had. Not because I had to do anything hard - I spent the whole time dusting Professor Pouri's office the muggle way - but because Professor Pouri spent most of that time lecturing me on the importance of rules and why I needed to change my attitude towards them (and my attitude in general, really). Of course, that only made me even more determined to break every rule I possibly could.

The worst part of the detentions, though, was that they were scheduled so I missed Quidditch practice, which Jaycee Bell was not happy about at all. With our first game against Slytherin coming up, and a new Chaser to train, I really needed to be there. Sure, Brooke and Albus could fill in for me, but neither of them was fast enough to be a Seeker. There was nothing I could do, though. As long as I behaved at least until our first game against Slytherin - just one week - everything would be fine.

"Behaving" was a lot harder than sounds.

The day after my last detention, Al and I were almost late to Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was most definitely Jaycee's fault, because she stopped us in the hall to tell me that if I didn't show up, she'd have Ryan Ham come back lead practice, just so he could yell at me. I told her that that sounded awesome; I loved Ryan. Jaycee just sighed and told me I needed to be there.

When Albus and I walked in, the only remaining seats were near the front, or one in the back next to Colette. We chose the front seats, of course. As we sat down, Professor Potter cleared his throat.

"Thank you for joining us," he said, frowning at us.

Albus's face got red and he slid down in his seat. I just smiled and said, "No problem, sir. Happy to."

Professor Potter shook his head at me, giving me the half-amused look he gave James whenever he was acting up like that. "Anyway, students, please open your books to chapter 5. We will be studying werewolves this week."

He paused as the rustling of pages turning filled the room. When it was fairly quiet once again, Professor Potter asked, "Does anyone know what a werewolf is?"

I glanced to the side to watch Rose raise her hand. Normally, she was one of the only ones who ever answered these questions. Most people were either not paying attention, or didn't want to answer in front of the class. At least, I hoped those were the reasons. Surely everyone knew what a werewolf was...

"Yes, Rose?"

"A werewolf is a human being who becomes a fearsome and deadly near-wolf every full moon. This is caused by infection with lycanthropy, also known as werewolfry."

"Very good," he said, smiling. "Your mother would be proud." Rose beamed.

The professor turned to address the rest of the class once more. "What Rose said is exactly right. Werewolves are humans who, through absolutely no fault of their own, turn into a near-wolf once a month, on the full moon. Now, today we're going to be talking about how they aren't truly dangerous normally, and how the prejudices against them are outdated and wro-"

Ciara's hand flew into the air.

Professor Potter raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"