Mary Smith and The Three-Headed Dog

22. A Glimpse Into Hell

"Music soothes the savage beast, but don't ever put a Cerberus guarding a Hellgate to sleep. In the tales of Merlin the Magnificent, his newest apprentice, an untrained seer, went mad. Apparently, he could hear the cries from the souls that had gathered on the other side. The presence of a Cerberus and its howl usually mutes this."

--Marietta Edgecomb

Chapter 22: A Glimpse into Hell

Clack.....clack....clack...clack...

The halls were really very quiet today. Not all the older kids had class Fridays, so it was quite surprising to see the halls so empty. Giggles and squeals could be heard from outside on the grounds while some played in the first snowfall this mid-November. My footsteps echoed as a couple of paintings spared me a curious glance but otherwise said nothing.

I was doing a very bad thing today. I was skipping class.

It was my DADA class. Ever since Halloween I couldn't stand to be around Professor Quirrel. He always seemed to be trying to corner me and get me alone whether during classes or in the hall. My savior came in an unlikely form.

Professor Snape always seemed to be nearby. He always happened to urgently need my attention, or Quirrel's, any time it looked like he might want to talk to me. It seemed, he said, I was so good at cleaning cauldrons during my last detention that he absolutely couldn't find anyone else to help him do it any better. That he must insist that I, specifically, clean each and every class issued test cauldron and, as a student aid, I may receive points for Hufflepuff House for my efforts. The...the...incentive...the incentive wasn't needed as I would have jumped at the opportunity to get away from two faced creepy Quirrel. Professor Snape, wasn't exactly warm, welcoming, friendly, talkative- he definitely was not talkative, but I suppose I wasn't really looking for someone to talk to lately.

You see, Snape's sudden demand on almost all my free time helped me to avoid two other people. Dean and Daphne were, in the beginning, patient. They seemed to get that I was in no mood to speak, especially after Leanne was sent to St. Mungo's. She hasn't returned yet.

But as days went by, Daphne became more and more demanding for answers. Dean seemed to be a good buffer for her pestering in the beginning, but soon even he echoed the same sentiments. That they deserved the right to know after having risked their lives to do something for no specific reason? I really wanted to tell them. Really, I did. But each time I worked up the nerve to maybe reveal, even a little of what was going on, my throat would close. Alarm bells would ring in my head and I'd suddenly feel dizzy or queasy.

So, I began avoiding them too.

It was easy enough. Student aid duties in the potions dungeon, WMAC meetings, flying lessons with Cedric, and after class Hufflepuff secret lessons, it almost felt like I was genuinely too busy to have a chat with them.

The cherry on top was Cedric and his increasingly watchful eye. I didn't always see him, but it was like I could feel that he was around a corner or behind a tapestry watching me. His attitude had changed somewhat. He was a little more...approachable. He didn't seem so quick anymore to dismiss what I had to say and was less condescending. When we returned the baby troll to Mah Mah that day, and I gave her back her birth totem, the older mother troll smiled at me. The brothers had a strangely violent family reunion of punches and kicks to their missing little brother, who laughed through the abuse. Mah mah approached only as far as Cedric allowed for her to and held out something to me. It was a club, almost shaped like a carnival mallet. I had to hold it with two arms, as it was a bit heavy. "A gift from my family. It is Un's baby raddle. This sort of thing can be useful to little Magi's such as yourself. Choose wisely." The little troll had bowed and led her family away. "Well done, Mary," Cedric smiled with a pat on the back. He made me carry the raddle all the way back to the dorms.