The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Eight | Professor Binns

The next morning, Ariana spent twenty minutes staring out of the window. The other girls in her dorm were still asleep, the sound of their breathing being the only noise in the room.

The witch padded over to the tall window and sat on the cool stone ledge. She knew that, come tonight, the sky would be dark, with nothing but the stars and a full moon lighting the way.

She wouldn't be able to admire the view like she once could, and that hurt. Something that had brought her peace in troubled times now made her fear it, knowing it would trigger a brutal transformation and days of illness.

After staring at the dusky sky, Ariana performed her usual morning routine; had a shower, dressed, applied make-up to cover her ill face and prepared for her classes of the day.

By the time breakfast began at 07:00, she was prepared for her day of classes.

She, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat with each other, as if they would do anything else. As Ariana placed some toast onto her plate, Harry scooped bacon onto his own and Ron's.

"Double Divination?!" Ron exclaimed, staring down at the timetable he had just been issued. "That is cruel!"

Ariana chuckled. "Ron, why did you take Divination? Did you, Harry?"

Harry frowned at his timetable. "... Yes."

"Well, what did you two take?" Ron asked, looking at Ariana and Hermione as he ate scrambled eggs.

"I took Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care for Magical Creatures," stated Ariana, biting into some toast that had been slathered with raspberry jam.

"I too took Arithmancy, Care for Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes," added Hermione, biting into a slice of toast.

Just then, two owls landed by Hermione and Ariana. One of them carried the Daily Prophet, which Hermione eagerly bought. She dropped a knut into the pouch on its leg and took a newspaper, immediately opening it.

Ariana smiled when she recognised the owl Remus used to communicate with her. "I thought I'd be seeing you before tonight," she smiled quietly, running her finger down the owl's chest as it chirped happily.

The girl pulled the letter she had written from her bag and held it out for the brown owl to grasp in its talons. Without wasting any time, the owl blinked its bright eyes and hooted once, taking off.

As it usually did, her heart fluttered at the thought of her mate. Despite how much she had a built-in need to be in his company, Ariana felt like he deserved someone better than herself.

Once she had watched the owl fly off, the witch leaned over towards Hermione, who was by her side. Her friend positioned the newspaper so she could also read it.

Nothing shocking had happened. A few articles were dedicated to the people lost at the World Cup, and once was announcing the return of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"Has anything happened?" Harry enquired, munching on some bacon.

"No. They have announced the beginning of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, though," Ariana answered, finishing off a slice of toast.

"Yeah, well, it's quite important," said Ron, tearing into more bacon.

At his slight sarcastic tone, Hermione lowered her paper to reveal the girls' faces. Each of them looked completely unamused, emphasising this by raising an eyebrow each.

Ron and Harry both laughed at their friends, finding their identical expressions hilarious. The girls looked at each other and smiled, laughing along with their companions.

On a rare occasion, Ariana had, for a moment, forgotten about her troubles. During the next two minutes, she burdened, just happy. That barely ever happened.

Although, the beginning of their classes snapped them out of their conversational bliss.

Ariana double-checked her timetable, which told her that she had History of Magic. Thankfully, she had this class with her friends. Harry and Ron made a habit of playing games on the corners of their parchment.

Their teacher, Professor Binns, had been teaching for decades, and had died at in the staffroom. He continued to teach postmortem, but his voice often put his students to sleep within ten minutes while he droned his lectures.

Only Ariana and Hermione managed to remain awake, but even the white-haired of the two joined Harry and Ron occasionally.

Their introductory lesson was on the Goblin Rebellions of the past. This was something Hermione was particularly interested in, since she was a huge advocate for goblin rights.

Ariana was also a supporter, but not as avid as her friend. Something they did have in common, their support of werewolf rights.

As werewolves were considered to be 'filthy half-breeds' by some, restrictive laws were in place to keep a track of them. A Werewolf Registry existed, but no one wanted to come forward and admit that they were werewolves. Ariana hadn't been recognised as a werewolf, in order to protect her present and future.

It disheartened the witch to know that her future prospects were quite dull. At her best prediction, Ariana would be able to take menial jobs until her co-workers began to suspect Lycanthropy.

The white-haired witch was a true member of the house of the brave, so she knew that somehow she would survive. If not, she would die trying.

The lesson continued for an grueling hour, during which Ron had fallen asleep. Relief flooded Ariana's system when the bell rung throughout the school, signalling the end of the period.

Ariana packed up her quill, parchment and textbook. "Ugh. I can't believe in saying this, but Ron has the right idea."

Harry's head snapped around, staring at Ariana in a dramatic shock. "Ariana O'Connor bored in a class?!"

"Ha. Ha. Ha," said Ariana dryly, picking up her bag.

Ron had awoken with a loud snort, as Hermione had broke him out of his slumber again.

"Is it over?" Ron questioned, stretching.

Harry nodded vigorously, slinging his bag over his right shoulder. Ron quickly packed his unused things away, eager to get out of the class. If Ariana didn't know any better, she would of thought he was going to run out of the door.

"We have Professor Moody next lesson," stated Hermione, also prepared to leave.

"He's mad, Merlin knows how that's gonna go," Ron commented, hauling his bag up off of his desk.

"Well, we're about to find out," Ariana added, beginning her descent from the classroom. She and her friends moved through the castle swiftly, hoping that their new DADA Professor wasn't as terrible as their first and second ones.