Anna Black, The Girl Who Lived (Book 6)

15: The Slug Files

"You're late," said Professor Mavis boredly as Anna ran into the room. The class stared at her while she stumbled to her seat, her arms full of books and eyes tired. She wasn't used to waking up so early, as she had been skipping the class continuously for over the past month.

Regardless, she didn't sleep much anyway and any bit of shut-eye helped

After spending all night on the ridiculous amount of homework Professor Mavis had piled on her, she was completely and utterly exhausted.

"I'm aware," the girl muttered, slamming the piles of parchment on the front desk. 

"Maybe you shouldn't be tardy-"

"And maybe you shouldn't be a wretched old hag who likes belittling teenagers and making them do a month's work of homework in one damn night," spat Anna, her grey eyes colder than ice.

Mavis smirked. "Maybe you shouldn't have skipped my class for a whole month. Now if you're done making a fool of yourself, I suggest you should take a seat."

Anna gave one last glare before turning around and looking for an empty spot. First, her gaze landed on Caspar, who was sitting next to Luna. He gave a sympathetic smile before resuming his hushed discussion about Nargles with the blonde. Next, she saw Ron and Hermione - the latter giving her an extremely confused look, probably from her absence the previous night. Harry was on his own but practically radiated anger. Finally, she saw Reeve Waters, who was waving her over. 

She hesitated, remembering how Reeve had been at the Battle the previous year. The girl had been hysterical afterwards, then blaming of Evie. Reeve had been the only one she hadn't talked to since, and the mere thought made her nervous.

But she would rather choose a girl she was distant with than someone who was too close and angry.

"Hey Reeve," whispered Anna with a small smile, quietly setting her stuff down and lowering herself into the seat.

Mavis began her lecture but Reeve responded anyway. "Hi Anna, what made you come back?"

"I um...decided it was time," she lied.

"...and the witches were caught stealing from the vault. They were caught and blackmailed into joining the rebellion..." Anna gave a glare as she heard this tidbit from the lecture. It was so perfectly timed it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Ah, makes sense. You haven't missed much. Just a lot of sarcasm, detentions, and lack of teaching," said Reeve. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I'm pretty sure she's a drunk. She has this flask in her desk that she drinks out of between classes."

Anna's eyes widened and she suppressed a laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah. Honestly, she's a complete nutter. She won't tell anyone where she's from or anything else about herself. Anyone who asks gets detention. Heard she doesn't even show up for that either. She never leaves her room either."

"That's...odd...hey, you should tell someone, maybe they'll fire her," suggested the blonde with a smirk.

She received a sigh. "If only...apparently Dumbledore's fond of her. Oh, and a lot of the guys like her. Yeah, she's beautiful, but she's a real bit-"

"Detention, Waters!" snapped Mavis, stopping her pacing as she turned to face the girl. 

Reeve stayed silent but rebellion grew within Anna. "Professor, where are you from?"

"That's irrelevant information," she murmured, looking away. 

"Oh, really?" asked Anna. She caught a glimpse of something dark on the woman's arm...a bit of ink peeking from under the sleeve of her dark robes. "Sure you haven't been working for anyone in particular? Maybe Vold-"