When at last I thought I had him forever, he slipped through my fingers again.
When at last I thought I could find that ray of sunshine in the sudden storm, it disappeared behind even darker storm clouds.
There was no way I could continue chasing th...
I took a glance at my sister as we left the Artefact Room together, her head bowed deep in thought with every step. None of what Ben said made any sense to either of us--at least, to me, it still seemed really far-fetched. How could he suddenly become invincible to everything that screamed terror? Did that really factor into what made a good protector, or was he being seriously reckless with his limits?
"Who's Sickleworth, again?" little Em asked me quietly, her sleeves no longer covering her nose. "Rakepick's Niffler?"
"Yes. An innocent agent in the story," I said. "Why he would let Sickleworth roam free again just as we've taken him back in, I wish I knew. I just hope he isn't still attached to Rakepick."
Little Em simply nodded as we stepped outside, and that was when I saw the blood on her sleeves--soaked up by the black fabric, but still visible with the huge dried stains.
"Yikes. Looks like they gave it to you hard," I murmured, pulling out my wand and tapping it on the stains. "Tergeo."
And the spell quickly siphoned off the bloodstains, leaving the black robes good as new.
"You don't mind me being in Hufflepuff, right? That would mean we're in competition for the House Cup," little Em said quietly.
I shook my head. "No, of course not. All I care about is your safety, little Em. Just take care of yourself, and everything will be fine."
I just wished I could bring myself to believe that.
The two of us then entered the Training Grounds, where a lone witch was casting relentless spells at the training dummies. I could see the glint of rage flash in her violet eyes, her brown hair sticking up even wilder than before. For someone who had been a victim of the Cruciatus Curse, I was surprised to see her standing at all, determined to fight back. Perhaps that was the Slytherin in her, or the Death Eater in her lineage. I wasn't sure. Either way, seeing her like this made me terrified of her all over again.
"And that's Merula," little Em noted with a nod. "Remind me to steer clear of her whenever she's around. She looks as bad as Eunice."
I nodded silently as I approached Merula first, signalling for Emily to wait while I talked with her. I could only imagine that Merula was still stingy with all the events from last year, but how bad would she take it? Was it as bad as Ben said?
"Ben said I would find you here trying to pulverise Training Dummies," I started cautiously.
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Merula did not turn at the sound of my voice. She stiffened at the mention of 'Ben', however. "New Ben talks too much."
Fair enough. At least I was able to get a reaction out of her.
"His new...outlook will take some getting used to," I commented uneasily.
Now that made Merula whirl around to glare at me, though she spared no glance at my little sister. "Enough small talk," she barked. "What do you want?"
