Going back

Liz sighed, curled up in a corner with a book. Yes, she had made friends that year at Hogwarts, but they were all with other friends in other compartments and probably wouldn't have sat with her, anyway. She wasn't even sure if she was moving on to second year--she had dropped in in the middle of the year, so she hadn't exactly learned everything. She sighed, adjusting her book.

The squeak of the compartment door opening made her look up, and she half smiled at the new person. "Hello," she greeted. "Need a place to sit?"

Hester pushed the door to the compartment open. She couldn't tell whether there was anyone in it. She poked her head around the door.

"Hey," she said softly, when she realised that it was occupied by a girl she hadn't met yet.

"May I sit with you?" she asked. "Everywhere else is pretty much full."

She waited for the girl to answer.

"Oh, I'm Hester, by the way. What's your name?"

"Sure," she agreed, scooting over to make space. She was a nice-looking girl, a little older than Liz herself. "Come on in. I'm Liz."

"So..." there was a momentary silence. Liz had no clue how to diffuse any awkward situations, so she simply said the first thing that came to her mind. "What house are you in? I don't think I've seen you around Hogwarts."

Hester smiled and sat down.

"I'm pretty sure you're in some of my classes. I'm in Gryffindor. How about you?"

She was happy to be making a new friend, even though the year was over. She hadn't made friends closely enough to anyone. She hoped that at the end of next year she would know someone well enough for them to visit over the holidays.

"Ravenclaw," she replied with a smile. The girl seemed nice enough--definitely better than a few Slytherins she knew--but you could never tell with people. "Maybe you are. I'm not very good with faces," she apologized. "What classes do you have?"

Suddenly, a large crack sounded from the hallway and Liz jumped. "What's going on out there?" she muttered, leaning over to try and see better through the glass.

"I'm in all of them," said Hester. I think I've seen you in my potions class at least."

Suddenly there was a large crack.

Quote :

"What's going on out there?"

"I don't know," said Hester, leaning over to get a better look as well. She could see shadowy figures through the translucent glass door. "Perhaps we'd better stay in here for a moment, wait a bit before having a look?"

She was supposed to be the Gryffindor here, the one who wasn't scared, but she still felt a shudder of fear, which she quickly shrugged off. It would just be some other kids messing about or something.

"Oh, yeah!" Liz brightened considerably at the news. At least she knew someone other than that bully who had been in her class...

She shivered. "I can do that," she agreed quickly, frowning at the dark figure. "Do you think they're dueling?"

She knew that she was supposed to be standing up boldly to whoever it was--that's what the heroines usually did in video games--but she couldn't bring herself to do much more than cower, especially when the person banged against their door. Whether on accident or on purpose, she didn't know and didn't care to find out. "This feels suspiciously like a badly-written horror movie," she frowned suddenly, straightening in her seat.

"I hate horror movies," said Hester, shuddering. "I know I'm Gryffindor, and I'm supposed to be brave, but there are a few things I'm really scared of, and horror movies are one of them."

She tried really hard to put the thought of horror movies out of her mind. Subconsciously, her hand moved to her shoulder, feeling the scar that had been there for years. It was almost a comfort now. Something that was a part of her. It showed that she had got through something, and that meant she could get through anything.

Without telling Liz what she was about to do, she slipped the door open a crack.

Liz watched Hester's hand move to her shoulder, staring at it curiously. "What's happening?" she frowned as the girl stood up. As she cracked the door open, she instantly jumped up. "I don't think you should do that," she protested.

Call her a wimp, but she did not want to do this. It was loud and kind of dark and just plain way too creepy for this. She half-wished that she were still absorbed in her book, blissfully unaware of the ruckus.

"It's fine," said Hester, peering around the door. Before she could see anything, the lights went out.

"Woah!" she yelled, jumping backwards as someone (or something) bumped at the door again. She shut the door quickly. Their carriage was now dark, and she could only just see Liz.

"Someone's messing with the lights," she said, reaching up to her shoulder again.

Liz sat, but found herself lurching upwards again as the lights went on. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'M GONNA DIE... She was a wimp. It wasn't her fault, but she worried and cowered and all of those things whenever anything remotely scary came her way. Obviously, this coupled with the fact she could barely see her own hand completely justified her high-pitched scream.

She closed her eyes as tight as was humanly possible and she was still scared out of her wits. "I noticed," she whispered in agreement to Hester's statement. "Tell me when the nightmare's over..."

Hester poked her head around the door again.

"I think they were fighting," she said, trying to see through the pitch black. It didn't seem like anyone was moving out there, not any more. Hester waited as moment, in case something happened that would enlighten her as to what was going on. Nothing changed. She shut the compartment door and peered at Liz through the darkness. She could only just make out the girl.

"Oh, hey, wait," she said, excitedly. "I learned Lumos in charms class..." She frantically tried to remember how to cast the spell, but all she could remember was failing at it.

"Lumos," she said, and a dim light lit up the end of her wand, before sputtering out into nothing.

"Well, bang goes that idea," she said miserably. "Some witch I am."

Liz peeked through her fingers (at this point, her face was buried in her hands) at Hester as she told her what she thought about the sounds. "Probably," she agreed at the girl's hypothesis. "But why? Did they dislike each other or something?"

She giggled slightly at the girl's attempt, slowly uncovering her face and watching her. "Don't worry," she assured, the smallest of smiles on her face. "It's not an easy spell. Let me try..."

After about five times of saying it, the tip of her wand finally ignited--not as much as she would've liked, but enough that she could at least see her surroundings. "You're going to have to undo this spell, because I absolutely cannot cast Nox," she said wearily; as if to prove her point, the wand's light seemed to become a bit brighter as she said the spell's name.

"Why do you think it's dark, anyways?" she wondered, glancing around; now that she had a light source, she was becoming less and less frightened and more and more curious. "Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?"

"Probably," said Hester. "Although it can't be a very good batch; it says on the tin it cuts out all light, so I doubt if it was proper stuff we'd have been able to cast lumos."

She frowned. She wondered what the guys out there were up to. She hoped that no one was getting hurt. Although it had sounded like muggle fighting, and compared to a wizard duel, muggle fighting was for wimps.

"Maybe they bought it from a pawn shop or something," she shrugged, feeling her way through the compartment, listening as another thump sounded against the door. "Why aren't they at least using wands?" she asked, dismayed. "Muggle fighting's so...barbaric." She made her way to the door, putting an ear to it in a vain attempt to hear what was going on, jumping back at yet another bump to the door.

"Perhaps they're first years," said Hester. "The dueling club was started for us, but no spells were taught. We didn't get past signing up. I doubt that they know enough to cause anything more than a few red sparks." She rolled her eyes. "I wish they'd shut up, though."

As if- well, as if by magic- the noises stopped. The silence was creepy.

"What- what just happened?" asked Hester.

"There's a dueling club?" Liz blinked. Why was she not previously aware of this? She shook the thought out of her head, though, and she listened carefully to Hester's description. "Still..." she frowned. "Surely they've learned spells in classes? We all have, right?"

Suddenly, an eerie silence enveloped the classroom; she tried her hardest not to shiver. "A teacher came and stop them?" she suggested. "Someone cast a silencing charm? They got over their differences and began to prance through a field of flowers together?"

"I doubt that by the end of first year anyone would have learnt spells for dueling," said Hester. "I certainly didn't, and I've done loads of classes."

She wondered what had happened.

"Probably a teacher," she said, "I highly doubt hat they'll have got over their differences just like that."

She laughed, but quietly. She didn't like the silence at all.