Ravenclaw

Chapter 51- Rescue

Song for the chapter: Say Something by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera

A little Ravenclaw edit by Applesauce_25 :)

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     The morning was bleak, silent-- it was as if winter had came and ripped all life away from Hogsmeade. Except, it was the middle of summer, and the reason why the shops were closed, the place was deserted and the animals seemed to stop and listen, was because it was Rally Day.
     Rally Day was especially important to not only four crucial people, but the inhabitants of Hogsmeade and probably the rest of the United Kingdom-- Rally Day was the day people came to inspect and check out the soon-to-be fines school in the world, ever. Rally Day was when people from all over came to see how magnificent this castle truly is, how brilliant the teachers were, how critical and important magic education was.
     As Rally Day started, people began to quieten down to listen to the words the current President Of The Magical Community had to say to them, before the four founders began to speak and persuade, expressing their concerns, views and skills they were to teach.
     "This will be the start of an evolutionary change, where we will grow to become united and educated in the ways our fathers and their fathers before them would have wanted," President Lucifer Carmel said, his voice amplified with a spell for the thousands to hear. "Now, let me introduce to you, the renown smartest witch in Old E, the UK, and possibly the world, maybe soon to be President--" Carmel wiggled his brows,"-- Rowena Ravenclaw!"
     The crowd burst into cheers and applause rang throughout the valley, causing Thestrals-- though almost nobody saw any-- to fly up from the Forest that was forbidden and shoot back down again and the creatures inside to shrill and shriek. But nobody cared, for the woman who brought it all had stepped forward.
     "Sonorus," she said, and her voice amplified. as she gazed at the crowd. Fear flashed in her eyes for a second before she took a deep breath and smiled at the crowd, who were all waiting eagerly.
     "It was a simple, childhood dream." She said, and the crowd, consisting of over a thousand, maybe millions of people, listened with great interest. "I wanted to educate, to teach and help children the ways of magic, the spells and the tricks, the theories and enchantments."
     She looked at her friends and smiled-- they smiled back. "And it was the dream of my fellow companions, who, until now, have not parted ways with me." Flaura, dressed as her sister, looked back at the crowd. "And here we stand, about to achieve this dream, about to spread our knowledge to those who deserve it-- or at least, receive our acceptance letter."
     The crowd laughed at her joke, but Rowena Ravenclaw rolled her eyes.
     The innkeeper was shocked that his two latest guests refused to go to the school on Rally Day, but didn't put up fight-- he simply said, "Suit yerselves," and left Cepheus Lupin and Rowena Ravenclaw to do what they wanted.
     And do what they wanted they did.
     As Cepheus made sure the coast was clear, Rowena watched as her older sister played pretend and stole the one thing she wanted-- what was the point of trying at this point? She held back her tears-- her sister had taken everything from her, pretending to be her. She had Rowena's man, her dreams, everything, leaving nothing for her younger sister.
     "... My passion has always been everything from charms, to potions, to history, so I will be taking all classes to do with those, along with my dear, dear friend, Salazar Slytherin, who will be teaching Potions alongside me." She watched her sister speak, and a burning jealousy and anger built inside of her. She was supposed to be the one there...
     "Rowena," Cepheus said sharply, snapping her out of her daydream. Rowena casted one last furtive glance at her sister before following Cepheus into the grand oak doors of the school she luckily named so long ago.
     A gasp left her lips, and Cepheus let out a word of surprise that wasn't entirely appropriate-- the place was perfect! It had the staircases she had dreamed of having, with the change of where they lead to; the walls where over the years, paintings would adorn, since some were only bearing one or two each; she could see the staircase that would lead to the Slytherin common room, the stairs to Gryffindor common room, the route the Hufflepuff's and the long, spiraling one of Ravenclaw's.
     It truly was perfect.
     "This place is huge! We have to get a move one, people will be touring the common rooms, classrooms and halls, remember?" Cepheus reminded her. Rowena reassured herself that once this was all over, she'd admire the handiwork of her and her friends as much as possible. She took it in once more before joining Cepheus, running up the stairs that lead to what was supposed to be Professor Lilac's office.
     "... and now, I'd like to pass over the time to Godric Gryffindor, my beloved."
     The Rally could be heard through the walls of the school, and as they continued to scurry around the place to locate the Professor's office, Rowena felt emotional pain-- her beloved? Flaura's beloved?
I'll show her, she thought as they climbed another flight of stairs. I'll show her whose beloved he is.
     They ran around the fifth floor, opening the doors and slamming them shut when it wasn't the right room. Finally, they came across a door with only one simple label-- a carving of a lilac lily, Professor Lilac's favourite flower.
     "This is the one," Rowena whispered, as if afraid to jinx anything-- other than her sister, of course. She could still her Godric  speaking; three people left. Cepheus opened the door, both of them had their wands at the ready, and stepped in.
     The office was beautifully decorated to suit the Professor perfectly-- it had countless books that set on bookshelves that lined most of the curved wall and an elongated, beech desk, that almost went from one side of the room to another, had different instruments for potion making. It was the dream office of a Charms and Potions teacher.
There were several potion ingredients already laid out on a separate preparation desk-- along with a cauldron, of course-- as well as several papers that were scattered across the table in a mess.
"Find the broom closet," Rowena instructed, before stepping towards the long, wooden desk and examining the papers and documents that lay atop it.
"Teaching appeal... Animagus appeal... Work Permit... Ophichus Lestrange?!"
Rowena dropped the papers immediately. Ophichus was a Lestrange? Sweet, innocent Ophichus? Kind, nerdy, shy Ophichus, whom she thought wouldn't hurt a fly?!
The Lestranges were the most dangerous lot-- before the Slytherins put them back in their place-- and were a force to be reckoned with. They were self-centred and cruel, and any love that existed was purely love for the family name, not the actual person that stood before them. It was as if they knew no care, as if they knew no love.
But Ophichus did. Rowena never said anything, but she saw the way he admired her sister, she saw the way he would do anything for her, and just for her. Was Ophichus Lestrange, who had sacrificed so much already, really incapable of love and care?
Maybe he would be her saving grace, she thought. Maybe he'd turn everyone back onto the right side-- the side they should be fighting for. But that was a fat chance. Flaura was on the wrong side, and despite his kindness and possibility to love another, he loved Flaura, so he was bad.
"Mmff!"
Rowena looked behind her-- Cepheus had unlocked the small broom closet and had awoken Professor Lilac. He proceeded on to free her from her magical-- and non-magical-- binds and she finally spoke, gasping for air that hadn't entered her mouth for nearly eight months.
     "... thank you all for your undivided attention. I would now like to pass on the time to my dear friend, Salazar Slytherin."
     Rowena strained her ears as her indication that time was running out tensed-- Godric was angry, she could tell. He had gritted his teeth when he said 'dear' and Salazar's name. She heard the sound one too many times to recognise it expertly and frowned.
     What had happened when she was gone?
     Now wasn't the time to tell tall tales though-- the Professor wrapped her arma tightly around Rowena and enveloped her in a long hug. "My student! My dear, dear Rowena!" She croaked, as she hadn't used her voice for so long, tears leaking out of her brown pupils as she did so. "You saved me, my child, I knew you would!"
     She ran her hands across Rowena's face as Rowena held back her own tears of joy-- someone still cared.
     "Now's not the time to be sentimental," Rowena said, as Salazar stopped talking about himself--for once-- and brought her to the desk of potion ingredients.
     "Now's the time to tell me when Ophichus Lestrange will be back." Rowena moved to the main desk and started searching for more papers. Cepheus assisted the now weak woman, who answered Rowena once more. "Not in another month, dear. He's off settling some... family business." Professor Lilac sneered.
     Rowena breathed a sigh of relief. "Then we have one month to brew the potion I learnt from a French textbook. Interesting, the Europeans are."
     Cepheus and Professor Lilac furrowed their brows.
     "Since when did you learn French?"