Restoration

Chapter Twenty-Four

***

Making their way through the crowded hallways early in the morning, a large group of first-years awkwardly bumped into older students, who expected the younger witches and wizards to make way for them. Some of the younger ones, mainly Slytherins, absolutely refused to move away, until they were violently pushed against the wall, or to the ground.

Elara stood at the sides, observing the commotion. She thought about intervening when a third student got pushed away so hard she thought she heard some bones crack, but then again, she remembered how older students treated her when she was in her first year. Shoving them back and forth, it felt like they weren't human beings but sacks of potatoes. And it got better as they got older when the students would pick on another generation of first-years.

"That's enough, Crabbe," Anthony raised his voice as Vincent Crabbe mimicked another crying first year.

"Nah, don't think it is," Crabbe dismissed him, looking for another victim.

Anthony could remember the exact moment he witnessed Vincent get pushed to the floor so hard he twisted his ankle. It was an older boy from Slytherin who'd made him stumble and lose his balance. And after all these years, one would think that Vincent would learn and aim to do better, not worse. But Anthony had observed how cruel some of the Slytherins had become in the past year, and he wouldn't have any of it.

"Let me have some fun with him, champ," Elara gently reached for Anthony's hand, stopping him before he could physically deal with the problematic student.

Upon thinking about it, Elara realized if there was someone she could truly trust at Hogwarts, who would expect nothing in return, it would be Anthony.

She believed he sent her the anonymous note, explaining that Harry had been spilling all details of her reality shifting to Dumbledore. He also always have protected her and her ugly secrets, and even when they were fighting, he broke into the Slytherin chambers at night to warn her about the danger.

"Entertain me," Anthony playfully winked at her, backing away.

"What are you two up to?" Luna suddenly appeared behind them, giving them a fright. She had a tendency to disappear and appear in complete silence, sneaking behind her two friends. She was glad once she noticed their relationship went back to normal.

Smirking at each other, Elara briefly lifted her wand, making sure it was still hidden underneath her cloak.

"I challenge you to do it wand-less," Anthony added. He had noticed that Elara was not an extremely smart witch, but a powerful one as well. Like many others, he had seen her use magic without the help of a wand, which he had never seen before.

"Alright," Elara handed him her wand, "Slugulus Eructo," directing her to look at Vincent as she mouthed the slug-vomiting charm.

At first, nothing happened, and Anthony opened his mouth to make a dig at her failure, but then Vincent grabbed his throat as his face turned green. He began vomiting all around him, with students screaming in disgust and, ironically, finally moving away from him willingly. Once they realized he was bewitched with a nasty little charm, the hallway erupted in laughter, pointing their fingers at Crabbe. Even Luna quietly chuckled, although raised an eyebrow when Elara asked them about their thoughts on her little performance.

It felt like they were just young children again, carelessly playing around and having fun. Until a ghastly scream echoed through the hallway.

A first-year girl screamed at the top of her lungs as she opened the doors to the Potions classroom, staring at something on the ground. And as her friends followed her, they all screamed in fear as well, running away. One of the prefects made his way to the doors, realizing what they had just witnessed.