Ascendio - Book 1

Chapter 8 - Chandler

Okay. I have no idea when this will go out. I am typing this before I even start the chapter, so let's see how that works out. Please check out my conversations tab, since I am basically redoing a ton of stuff on my account. Don't worry! Acendio will not be removed.

If anyone wants to go check out poptarts_are_lyfe, she has an awesome fanfiction about the Selection. And if anyone wants to check out Woofman1, he has an awesome Star Wars fanfiction. Let's get started then, okay?

My bed was cold when I slipped into it. I don't know if that was because I felt like a corpse, or because of the cold and moldy feeling of the dungeons.

Can people turn evil by living in these conditions? No wonder all the dark wizards come from Slytherin. We already live in a dungeon with lumpy beds.

I laid there and stared up at the water-damaged cieling, wide awake even after the tiring day. My thoughts were racing at a hundred miles an hour, circling around Cress's face as she left the dueling chamber. I knew Hufflepuff had Potions class after that, which meant she had left Tristan and Joyce alone... bold move. But I circled back to her face, her hard eyes softening and brushing away a tear as she walked away. Ran away. Raced away.

I turned over and buried my face in my pillow. It was really late, but I still just couldn't sleep. Rose had kept the people at lunch from teasing me too much, but she wasn't in my classes, so she couldn't help me fight off the people shooting paper wads and spitballs at my back.

So much for a first day.

The dull memory of the initiation device still pulsed in the back of my head, but I pushed it away. I didn't need to think about that, too. Not now. Maybe not ever.

The look on Cress's face--her thought process during the duel--the tears--her hatred of my house--she wasn't over the death of our friend... her death. By the hands of the Dark Lord himself. Or rather, the now-dead Voldemort.

The dead are dead, I think. There's no use to just let it take over your life and decisions. I was put into Slytherin House, and I've found that not everyone in there is a unforgivable-curse-spamming-maniac. Cress needs to see that. She needs to see my point of view. And Rose's. And Scorpio's.

There was a small sound in the hall.

I shook my head, turning on to my side. Probably a mouse. They might actually have rats down here. I should just get to sleep--and check my shoes for droppings in the morning--

Another sound. It got louder as it got closer, and this time it sounded like voices. I froze, hearing them step into the hallway that lead to the sleeping room that I shared with four other boys. Shutting my eyes, I tried to maintain breathing slowly as they came in.

"--Newbies won't know what hit 'em," a feminine voice said. I recognized it--it was the evil redheaded girl from when we first came into Slytherin common room. For the life of me, I couldn't remember her name.

"Yes, yes, perfect idea," replied a quivering voice. That had to be the dark haired boy from the same event. He had helped her. I couldn't remember his name either. I didn't really spend time with anyone but Rose and Scorpius.

I peeked open my eye just a bit to see two silhouettes enter the room. The hourglass one lifted up a wand and flicked it.

I could barely feel my head thud into my pillow as the world went black.

---

Waking up was not pleasant.

First of all, I was quite cautious of what those two higher years had been talking about before they knocked me out. "Won't know what hit them" didn't sound very good.

Secondly, my head felt like it was full of stuffing. My eyes were crusty and I could barely hear--whatever sleep spell the girl had put on me made me feel like I was sick.

I managed to pry open an eye, then another, and sit up. A boy across the dorm room was sitting up too, and he looked at me with crusty eyes and a runny nose. I let out a cough, and he replied with the same gesture.

A series of ruffling sounds echoed through the room as the other three boys got up. They, too, had the symptoms of a cold. I guess that girl had cursed us all with sickness--but how was that so bad? It would just be annoying. A cold couldn't keep me from doing anything.

I found out later that a cold was treated like a plague, especially if it came from the dungeons.

Our teachers looked at us with repulsion. Even Rose scooted back from me at lunch. Cress didn't treat me any differently than normal, but a few students with older siblings at Hogwarts whispered of a time when a disease spread over the whole school, not long after the Wizarding War. They said the faculty was going to have to do something about the dungeons, make them more livable--or there could be an outbreak.

Was that the girl's goal? An outbreak? That was not cool. I went over to the hospital, but one of the nurses said that the Doctor--someone called Max--wasn't around. "She's gone out for herbs," was her exact words.

So I spend my free period taking cold medicine and staying away from anyone I could. When we returned to the dungeon, the pathway to the Slytherin Common Room was barred by a couple of wizards. There were strange sounds inside, like a construction team meets fireballs and magic sparklers.

"We can't let anyone in during the process," the burly guard wizard said.

The thin wizard nodded in agreement. "Have to fix the place, keep out all the sickness. Can't have another outbreak."

So we slept in sleeping bags, right where ages ago students came to hide from Sirius Black--someone who wasn't actually the murderer they made him out to be. That got me to thinking that the girl's plot might not actually be what I thought it was... could she actually be doing something helpful? After all, our sickness had forced the staff to repair and revamp the Slytherin common room...

The next morning, we were all cured of our symptoms--much to the bafflement of the construction workers, who let us in to our new rooms with confused expressions. The water damage was gone, and so were the rat holes. We had new upholstery, a painting, and the fireplace had been cleaned. Having not seen the other common rooms myself, I couldn't compare it to anything; but it was definitely a big improvement.

We spent the whole night drinking WhizzPop and eating chocolate frogs by the fireplace, before finally remembering our homework and sleeping habits.

I finally made a few friends--the boys from my dorm room act much less nervously around me now that I know their names and stuff. And I can finally go to sleep knowing that I am not surrounded by strangers (mostly).

I laid in bed, nibbling on a chocolate frog until I drifted off to sleep. Absolute bliss.

It would've felt better if Cress was there.