Darkest Desire

10. It's Not my Cup of Tea (NEW)

Aurora found herself having a bad case of 3:00 am guilt, the one where she would lie in bed, wide awake and unable to sleep, while replaying inside her head all those things she didn't do right. Because, as she had come to learn, nothing solved a bad case of insomnia like a nice warm glass of regret, culpability and self-reproach.  

Guilt was a rather dreadful feeling, as she'd long ago come to believe, and her unacceptable outburst after Mad-Eye Moody's inhuman demonstration did little to relieve her of the feeling of unease that was keeping her from catching a good night's sleep.

If she hadn't felt guilty before about her outburst, she now sure did. Snape had taken it onto himself to just completely ignore her, not even acknowledging her existence whenever she was in his presence. Which was quite the accomplishment since she saw him more than five times a week. Alchemy and Potions were rapidly becoming her least favourite subjects, and Aurora still felt uneasy about DADA with Mad-Eye Moody. Severus's refusal to acknowledge her presence only added to her unease and restlessness, and made it almost impossible for her to focus. She should have handled herself better, she reproached herself, she should have controlled her feelings in a manner more befitting her station. But offering the Dungeon Bat an apology didn't occur to her once she saw the turn his behaviour towards her had taken, annoyance at the man's insufferable detachment towards her overriding any feeling of guilt as her pride came in the way of her remorse.

With her current disposition not allowing her the enjoyments of subjects she would have otherwise  loved, Aurora found herself drawn to the classes of Transfigurations and Ghoul Studies. Both were taught by Professor McGonagall, and Aurora soon found a way to interact in an almost amicable manner with the strict Professor. As long as she listened and payed attention during the classes, and didn't slack on her assignments, the two of them got along just fine. And when in the weeks that followed she mastered some of the more difficult spells in Transfigurations and even read up on Poltergeists and Ghosts in her own time, Minerva actually gave her one of her rare smiles.

As a teacher, Minerva was a strict disciplinarian, maintaining control of her students with a stern hand that made her someone not to be crossed.  Aurora could appreciate the direct and straight-forward approach the Transfigurations Mistress applied to all her classes, and soon excelled in all manners relating to transfigurative magic.  McGonagall, seeing the ease with which the young witch mastered some of the harder aspects and complicated spells, slowly felt her unease at not knowing the full story behind Aurora's admittance to Hogwarts seeping away and being replaced with a tacit affection for the bright young woman.

 "Ghouls, as opposed to what some might believe, are not Beings. Beings are one of the three classifications used by the Ministry of Magic  to catalogue the various magical creatures that inhabit the wizarding world, the other two being Beast and Spirit" McGonagall was explaining during what was proving to be another interesting lesson of Ghoul Studies.

The subject, as Aurora had quickly come to learn, wasn't merely about Ghouls, the ugly creature that resembled a slimy, buck-toothed ogre, but also about Ghost, Poltergeists and other entities that weren't usually covered by classes such as Care of Magical Creatures. 

"The definition of a Being is 'any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws', and has had a long and troubled history" Minerva continued to explain. There were only five other students there, three Ravenclaws, a Hufflepuff and one Slytherin, five being the absolute minimum required to teach a class at Hogwarts. Most of them were sixth and seventh years who had chosen the class as an extra-curricular activity since it was a nice addition to their curriculum if they wished to further a career at the ministry at for example the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, or even something as specific as the Ghoul Task Force or Spirit Division.