Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

No one ever truly knows or appreciates how normal their life has been thus far until their life is drastically changed in what seems to be in the blink of an eye. One minute, their life is exactly as it has been for what seems like forever, and then the next, everything they had known about the world isn’t even remotely true.

Coraline Evans’s life was exactly like that. Since she moved to London’s Lower District a little over four years ago, Coraline’s life had been entirely mundane and, quite honestly, very uneventful. Each day that passed was almost an identical copy to the day before.

28th of August 1890. It had been a cooler August evening, thanks in part to the light breeze that passed through the streets in the Lower District. Coraline stayed at the Sir Jameson Finishing School for several hours after the end of the day’s lessons to get a bit more caught up with her classmates in her needlework. In the four years she had been required to attend the Finishing School, she had yet to truly gain any kind of skill in embroidery. Thus, she was constantly forced to stay at the school many hours after everyone else had gone home in an attempt to make her current piece even the slightest bit passable.

In her frustration of trying to get the piece to come together, she had completely lost track of time, causing the afternoon to slip away into the late evening quickly. It wasn’t until a loud crash echoed through the alley next to the school’s building that Coraline looked up, and her eyes widened once she realized how late it had gotten. She quickly threw her belongings together into her rucksack as she darted from the room and out the front door of the school.

Once she made it out onto the main street, Coraline slowed her pace to catch her breath and to try to keep her wits about her. There were only six blocks between her current position and the home she was staying in, but as a young lady walking alone after dark, it felt more like a thousand blocks. Coraline grasped her elbows tightly and pulled her arms against her chest for some semblance of security. However, as the first whistle echoed down the empty street, Coraline’s breath caught in her throat.

“What’s a pretty lady like yourself doing walking down the street this late at night without a fine gentleman accompanying you,” a gruff voice questioned from directly behind her.

Coraline’s sheer terror almost caused her to stop walking, but the rational side of her brain overrode that thought and forced her to continue walking quickly. She continued looking straight ahead, desperately hoping that if she ignored them, they would leave her alone. Only two blocks left.

Her focus on the home in the distance was quickly shattered as a hand reached out and clamped around her left bicep. Coraline didn’t even have time to turn her head to her left before the hand roughly dragged her into a dark, narrow alley. She attempted to regain her footing to pull her arm out of their grasp, but the hand continued to drag her before releasing their grip to throw Coraline into the brick wall like a rag doll. She barely managed to put her arms up in front of her to lessen the impact of the wall before she collided with it and was roughly turned around and pinned to the wall. The hand that had dragged her into the alley was now tightly wrapped around her throat, barely loose enough to allow her to breathe.

“That’s better. Now, let’s try that again, shall we?” Coraline grimaced at the burning smell of alcohol on the man’s breath as he leaned his head closer to hers.

“I was trying to be a gentleman, offering to accompany you home, and you try to ignore me?” He roughly stated with a clear accusatory tone, causing fear to continue to rise within Coraline.

She didn’t answer him for a myriad of reasons, though it was primarily out of fear of saying the wrong thing and angering him further. However, saying nothing did the exact opposite of what she was hoping would happen.

The man raised his other fist and aimed it to smash into Coraline’s face, causing her to close her eyes and cower from his incoming fist. However, the blow never landed. Coraline hesitantly opened her eyes to see that the man’s fist was just hovering a few inches away from her face. His fist seemed to have a very faint white glow surrounding it and almost seemed to be blocking his fist from getting any closer to her. She quickly opened her eyes fully and just stared at the man in front of her in utter confusion. His teeth were tightly clenched, and he was visibly straining, but the faint glow didn’t budge.

Suddenly, his fist dropped down to his side, causing the faint glow to completely disappear, and he seemed to relax slightly. Coraline just continued to stare at him, confused, as he brought a finger up to point, several centimeters away, at her face.

“Whatever games you think you’re playing, just know that they certainly won’t save you. You’re mine,” the man spat at her and moved his finger forward as if to jab it into her face, but his finger was instantly stopped a few centimeters away from her cheek. The same faint white glow appeared once more around his finger, seemingly blocking his finger from coming any closer to her.

Coraline blinked rapidly, trying to process everything, but it only left her more confused. She hadn’t moved at all, so it couldn’t be coming from her; how could she, with one of his hands still tightly clasped around her throat? She quickly glanced to her left and right to see if there was possibly anybody else around who was seeing what was happening.

“That’s it! You’re dead!” He yelled as he pulled his hand back and launched his fist at her face.

Coraline’s eyes widened, scared that his fist would meet his mark this time. Suddenly, a bright white light seemed to explode outward from her and forcibly threw the man away from her into the brick wall across from her. Coraline gasped at the release of his hand from around her throat, immediately taking deep breaths in an attempt to steady herself. However, her knees went weak, causing her back to slide down the brick wall until she sat on the ground with her knees tightly pressed against her chest.

Despite knowing that once he regained his composure, she would be in danger again, her body just wouldn’t move from her spot on the ground. She just stared at him, unblinking, for what seemed like an eternity until her brain started processing again to realize that he hadn’t moved once since he was thrown against the wall. Her body started moving without thought, shakily pulling her up off the ground and out of the alleyway. She couldn’t even bring herself to check to see if he was alright, too overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

Coraline’s feet quickly carried her to the home on their own accord. She barely even processed herself entering the home, saying a vague apology to the matron at the desk for her tardiness or locking the door to her assigned room immediately after entering. She stood there with her hand still resting on the door handle and took several deep breaths to try to calm down.

As the pounding in her ears started to lessen, an uncomfortable sensation of wrong seemed to wash over her entirely. She couldn’t figure out where the sensation was coming from as it felt like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It seemed as though the sensation was a bubble closing in on her, slowly seeping through her clothes and into her skin. As her body absorbed the sensation, it no longer felt uncomfortable or unfamiliar, but rather, a warm and comforting feeling coming from deep inside of her.

Coraline sighed lightly as her body relaxed to a state of peace that she hadn’t felt in years. Dazed by the warm feeling inside her, she set her rucksack down on the nightstand next to her bed and slowly switched her day clothes to a pair of pajamas. By the time she had fully dressed in her night clothes, she could barely keep her eyes open, and her head kept rolling forward as she simply just didn’t have the energy anymore to keep it upright. She collapsed forward onto the bed, landing on her stomach, and was fast asleep before she even had the chance to pull a blanket over herself.

-----

A loud knocking sound echoed through her room, pulling Coraline out of her dazed state and back to reality. She sat upright on her bed, slowly blinking as she tried to fully wake herself up and take in her surroundings. Upon realizing just how bright her room was, her mind snapped back to normal, as it had to be afternoon for her assigned room to get that much sun. She dragged herself over to the door and opened it to see the matron of the home, Mrs. Campbell, standing there mid-knock with a deep scowl on her face.

“Well, it’s about time you opened the bloody door, Miss Evans! I was beginning to think I would need to contact the police if you continued not to open the door!” Mrs. Campbell scolded sternly.

“Police? What are you talking about, Mrs. Campbell? You just saw me last night when I came home late,” Coraline stated, entirely lost as to why the matron was being so stern with her.

“Last...last night?” Mrs. Campbell questioned, her eyes widening just slightly, “Miss Evans, that was Thursday night, and it’s currently Sunday afternoon! No one had seen or heard from you for almost three full days, and your door remained locked the entire time!”

“But...” Coraline trailed off at a loss for words.

“Regardless of what day you think it is, make yourself presentable as you have a visitor waiting for you downstairs. I’ll get a plate put together for you when you join us,” Mrs. Campbell’s lips pressed into a tight line, and she gave a curt nod before walking away.

Coraline stood there in the doorway, still stunned by everything that had happened in such a short time frame. Whatever happened that night caused her to sleep through three nights without interruption, but still left her slightly exhausted. She also had to remind herself that Mrs. Campbell stated she had a visitor, which was equally as confusing as her ability to sleep through three nights.
In the four and half years of being a resident at the home for young girls, she hadn’t received a single visitor as she had no one outside of the home to visit her. Coraline found the coincidence that both those happened at the same time to be a little strange but brushed it off in favor of taking a quick hot bath and becoming presentable for a visitor.

She moved as swiftly as she could, getting ready so that she wouldn’t upset Mrs. Campbell further. She dressed in a simple light brown blouse with a dark brown tie and paired it with a plain brown skirt that matched the color of her tie, which went down to her mid-calf. Since Mrs. Campbell didn’t state what type of dress would be appropriate for the visitor, she assumed she was safe to wear a more casual ensemble instead of pulling out her nicer pieces in formal colors. As she walked out of her room and made her way down the stairs, she quickly twisted her white-blond hair into a simple bun so her hair was out of the way.

Once Coraline made it down to the main floor of the home, she was immediately ushered into the sitting room by Mrs. Campbell. She gestured to the elderly man with light gray hair sitting on one of the couches wearing a strange style of blue clothing that Coraline had never seen before. Coraline looked at the elderly man hesitantly, unsure about what this could be pertaining to, but after a slight nudge from Mrs. Campbell, she crossed the sitting room to him. Her fingers fidgeted with the sleeves of her blouse as she approached, but she was still able to remember her manners to be respectful to the man.

“Good day, sir. I apologize for the wait, I was not expecting a visitor,” Coraline greeted with a small smile, which caused the elderly man to look up at her.

“No issues at all, Miss Evans. You had no prior knowledge of my visit today so it is perfectly understandable,” He gave a small smile as well and gestured for Coraline to take a seat on the couch across from him, “Your matron, Mrs. Campbell, was more than happy to accommodate my wait with tea and biscuits.”

“I’m glad that your wait wasn’t terrible then, sir. What can I do for you, Mr. -”

“Fig. Ah, now it’s my turn to apologize as I didn’t introduce myself sooner. My name is Eleazar Fig, and I am a Professor at a special boarding school called Hogwarts.” He paused for a moment to gauge her reaction to his introduction as she poured herself a cup of tea, but when she showed no signs to indicate she knew about Hogwarts, he continued. “I am here on behalf of the Headmaster to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts for the upcoming term.”

Coraline was lifting her teacup to drink when she paused completely with a single raised eyebrow at him. She waited a few moments to allow him time to take back his words, but when he showed no signs of recanting his words, she set the teacup back on the table between them.

“Forgive me, Professor Fig, but I think you might be mistaken. I’m no one special, certainly not special enough to attend a special boarding school,” Coraline awkwardly clasped her hands in her lap, unsure where the conversation would go.

“Ah, and that is where I will disagree with you. I know for certain that you must be special, or you wouldn’t have been admitted to Hogwarts,” He paused for a moment, then repositioned himself a little closer to the edge of the couch and slightly leaned forward before continuing, “Hmm. Let me ask you something, so humor this old man for a minute, would you? Has anything ever happened that you couldn’t explain or done something that you couldn’t explain?”

Her eyes widened just barely, so little that if one weren’t looking for it, they never would have noticed it before blinking rapidly several times in surprise. Professor Fig, however, noticed it, and even though Coraline hadn’t said anything, he knew that she had experienced things she couldn’t explain. He didn’t say anything to allow her more time to process things, so instead, he picked up his teacup and returned to a more relaxed seated position.

On the other side of the table, Coraline’s mind was fracturing as she tried to process the strange things that had happened had come from her. Her eyes zoned out as she thought back to Thursday night and the faint white glow that prevented the man from hitting her. Could that glow have come from her? Suddenly it was like her mind knew exactly what he was talking about and flashed through several other memories from the past four years of things that had happened that she had just dismissed.

Coraline’s eyes zoned back to reality and flickered to make eye contact with Professor Fig. To her continued surprise, he was completely calm, just sipping his tea with what seemed to be a slightly mischievous glint in his eye. She didn’t need him to even say anything to know that there was some truth to what he was saying and that the weird things that had been happening were truly coming from her.

Professor Fig knew the exact moment Coraline realized and accepted what had been happening, so he casually set his teacup down on the table to resume the conversation. “Those experiences that happened that you can’t fully explain are caused by magic. Accidental magic technically, but magic nonetheless.”

“Magic? Are...are you saying that I can do magic?”

“Yes, Miss Evans. You are able to do magic and, therefore, a witch.”

“So when you say Hogwarts is a special boarding school, you’re actually saying that Hogwarts is a boarding school for witches?”

“Witches and wizards, aged eleven to seventeen, attend Hogwarts to learn how to control their accidental magic and how to properly harness that magic. Normally students start their magical education at age eleven; however, you will be starting as a fifth-year, so you’ll be with the other fifteen-year-old students.”

Coraline paused mid-sip of her tea when Professor Fig mentioned her age, caught off guard by how much he already knew about her. She wasn’t sure if it was worth asking about, despite her curiosity, or if it was just one of those things simply explained by magic. Ultimately her curiosity won.

“Sir - if I may, how do you seem to know so much about me already?”

Professor Fig smiled at Coraline’s perceptiveness, though still slightly surprised that she picked up on that detail. The other students he had introduced to the wizarding world prior to their start at Hogwarts didn’t bat an eye at his knowledge of their information despite never meeting them before.

“I don’t know as much as you might think, Miss Evans, but I’ll indulge you with the information I know.” He paused to wave his hand over the teapot on the table before refilling his teacup with steaming hot tea. Coraline gasped in surprise at the casual display of magic but said nothing to allow Professor Fig to continue.

“The Hogwarts Book of Admittance and Quill of Acceptance adds students' names that possess true magical talent to the list of their starting year. The Quill is often more lenient on what counts as magical power, opting to accept anyone with any level of magical ability, whereas the Book requires a larger display of magical talent before the student’s name gets added to the book.”

“The Book and Quill are sentient?” Coraline blinked rapidly as she processed that before muttering to herself, “Well, that’s certainly an unusual way to get accepted to a boarding school.”

Professor Fig chuckled lightly, “Yes, the founders of Hogwarts enchanted the Book and Quill centuries ago when the school was first built in order to keep track of each generation of magical children that would eventually grace the halls. My suspicion is that your accidental magic in the past hadn’t been strong enough for the Book to officially accept you until your most recent accidental magic experience.”

Coraline rested her saucer and teacup on her lap as she fidgeted with the edges of the saucer. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he was referring to what happened on Thursday night with the man but was hesitant to give all the details of what occurred. Professor Fig subtly tilted his head a bit upon seeing her immediate change in body language in response to asking about the accidental magic occurrence. His heart dropped as he realized that something had happened to her to cause the accidental magic, so he changed his approach to ask for details.

“Now, you needn’t tell me anything about what caused the accidental magic if you don’t want to, but are you able to tell me if I’m correct in my assumption that this time it was a much stronger display of magic?” Professor Fig finished off his cup of tea and then discarded the teacup on the table.

Coraline relaxed a bit, mostly relieved that she wouldn’t have to talk about what happened just yet. She nodded, “Yes. The last time something happened, I could just feel that something had changed, but I didn’t know what. This time, it was obvious something different was happening when I could see the soft white glow surrounding me.”

“I see. That would definitely be recognized as a stronger display of magic. Moving on from the past, let’s focus on what comes next, shall we?” He clasped his hands together in excitement with a wide grin spread across his face.

Coraline couldn’t help but smile at his excitement, also grateful for the subject change, “Please.”

“Excellent. Well, I guess we should probably start with this then,” Professor Fig stated as he reached into his coat to pull out a small white envelope and passed the envelope across the table to Coraline with a small grin.

Coraline took the envelope from him and turned it over to reveal a dark red wax seal with Hogwarts and what she assumed to be the Hogwarts crest adorning the seal. She hesitated for a moment before opening the envelope, briefly glancing up at Professor Fig before returning to the envelope to reveal the letter inside.

-----

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Miss Coraline Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a fifth-year student. Preliminary supplies have been collected for you and will accompany you on your journey to the castle. Term begins on 1 September.

As you may be aware, the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery prohibits the use of magic by those under the age of seventeen outside school. However, due to your unique circumstances, the Ministry has graciously agreed to allow Professor Eleazar Fig to help you hone your spell-casting before escorting you from London to the castle for the start-of-term feast and the Sorting Ceremony.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Weasley
Deputy Headmistress

-----

Coraline furrowed her eyebrows as she looked back up at Professor Fig, slightly confused. She took a breath and parted her mouth to speak until Professor Fig interrupted her train of thought.

“I’m sure that you have lots more questions; however, I believe it might be time to move this conversation to a bit more private location,” Professor Fig stated as he watched the other young girls in the home filter through the sitting room as it got later into the afternoon.
Coraline briefly glanced over her shoulder to look around the sitting room before turning back toward him, nodding, “Of course, Professor, we can continue this conversation in my assigned room.”

She led Professor Fig to her assigned room in silence while clutching the letter in her hand, knowing that any conversation they had would be best discussed behind closed doors. Once they made it to the room, she gestured for him to enter the small room first to allow him the additional moment to look around her room before continuing. She turned to close the door behind herself and heard a small whooshing noise behind her. As she turned back to Professor Fig, her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the appearance of a plush tan armchair in the spot that previously had her standing mirror.

Professor Fig chuckled lightly at her expression as he took a seat on the armchair and gestured for her to take a seat on the bed, “A transfiguration spell, quite handy when there aren’t enough chairs for everyone.”

He paused to allow Coraline the time to take a seat on the bed, then continued before she could chime in, “We’ll get to your questions in a moment if you don’t mind indulging me for a bit. I would like to go over a couple more things in case they answer your questions but also help you transition to the wizarding world a bit better.”

“Of course, sir, whatever you think is best.”

“Excellent. As you read in your letter, tomorrow is the first day of the new term. Normally students travel to Hogwarts via the train as the school is located in the Scottish Highlands; however, I got permission to take you to Hogwarts in a…more direct…manner. That way, we have a bit more time before departing to get you caught up a bit more.”

Coraline nodded, prompting Professor Fig to continue once more.

“Unfortunately, since we are scheduled to travel to Hogwarts tomorrow afternoon, we have very little time to acclimate you to the wizarding world. I’ll try my best to make it easier, so I’m not just throwing you into the deep end without teaching you how to swim,” Professor Fig lightly chuckled.

-----

True to his word, Professor Fig did his best to briefly cover as many diverse topics of the wizarding world as he could think of so that she could at least recognize the references to them. Coraline hung on his every word as he talked about the wizarding world for several more hours, absolutely fascinated with every aspect of the wizarding world. However, as the daylight slowly disappeared from the room, Professor Fig decided to wait to teach her some wand work until the morning.
“Well, Miss Evans, I think I’ve overloaded your brain with information for tonight. I’ll return in the morning to collect you so we can work on a bit of wand work before our journey to Hogwarts. I have already collected all your required supplies for your classes, but you’re welcome to put together anything else you might want to take with you.”

“Sir, um…” Coraline hesitated for a moment before finally taking a deep breath and asking, “Will I have to come back here?”

Professor Fig furrowed his eyebrows, confused at why she was hesitating so much to ask, but also the fact that she was hesitating to ask in the first place.

“Only if you want to, Miss Evans. We can discuss your lodgings for the summer holidays when we start to get closer to that time if you decide not to return here again,” He said with a small smile, hoping that his words would ease her worries at least a little bit.

Coraline sighed in relief and nodded, “Thank you, Professor.”

“I’ll be back to collect you in the morning, Miss Evans,” Professor Fig nodded once more to her as he exited her room.

He quietly exited the group home she resided in, deep in thought the entire time as he walked. He returned to the dark alley he had arrived in earlier, and after checking to make sure the coast was clear, he apparated away.

Chapter Text

Coraline woke up bright and early compared to the day before as she was both too excited and too nervous for the day to come, so she barely got any sleep. Her mind was preoccupied with thinking about the endless possibilities of what the wizarding world would truly be like. So instead of staying in bed thinking, she started putting together all of her belongings into the trunk she had brought with her when she moved into the group home four years ago. As she fluttered around her room, putting her things together, she also made sure to set aside one of her nicer outfits to wear during their journey. Since Professor Fig mainly focused on general information about the wizarding world the night before, she was unsure of what to expect when they actually got to Hogwarts. Thus she decided to wear a slightly nicer outfit in order to hopefully give a good first impression upon her arrival.

Eventually, Coraline settled on a simple long-sleeved white button blouse with plain black buttons loosely secured under the collar of her blouse, a short dark red tie that stopped at about mid-chest. She donned a long dark red skirt that went down to her mid-calf and a thick dark brown belt securing the skirt to her waist. Lastly, she added a thin set of gray stockings and a small, plain pair of black buckled heels and set aside a thin, rugged tan leather overcoat to put on as she left the group home to help chase away the slight chill of the cool London morning.

Coraline mindlessly watched her reflection in the mirror of the bathroom as she twisted parts of her white-blond hair that extended down to her lower back and added the twisted strands around the large tight bun at the base of her neck. Right as she went to place the pins to keep the style together, her mind re-focused on her reflection, and she paused as she picked over her appearance.

Despite the progress Coraline had made in the past four years in learning to accept her altered appearance, the prospect of switching to an entirely different society caused her to hyper-fixate on every little imperfection on her face. Her eyes raked over her pale white skin dotted with very faint freckles. To her disappointment, her skin continued to lighten the longer she stayed in London due to its dreary weather. The only part of her appearance she actually liked was her bright electric blue eyes that she had inherited from her mother, as they seemed to sparkle a turquoise color in the light.

Her gaze lingered on the rough, jagged scars that covered the majority of her left cheek and traced the long, thin scar that extended over her left eye and ended about halfway up her forehead. Her fingers twitched and moved toward the bun at the base of her neck to undo the hairstyle before she paused once more. She hesitated, unsure if wanted just to keep her hair down to try to hide the scar for a bit to avoid the inevitable stares or if she should just leave her hair up since everyone was just going to stare at her scars eventually anyway. Her fingers twitched once more; however, this time, they nimbly added the pins into her hair to secure the bun.

A knock at the door to the bathroom pulled her out of her thoughts, and she quickly gathered all of her belongings. Once she opened the bathroom door, she was greeted by the sight of another of the young girls who lived in the group home.

“Your visitor from yesterday is here again, Coraline. Mentioned that he wanted to speak to you in your room. Shall I send him up?” The girl tilted her head to the side as she spoke, a small smirk on her lips.

“Oh, yes, please. Thank you.”

“Hmph,” the girl scoffed as she gave Coraline a once over before turning around and heading back downstairs.

Coraline returned to her room to pack away her personal items while she waited for Professor Fig to make his way upstairs. She had left her bedroom door open as she didn’t see a point in closing it just yet. This allowed her to hear the subtle creaks of the stairs as Professor Fig arrived at her floor.
“Professor Fig, it is good to see you again,” Coraline stated with a small smile and nod.

“And you as well, Miss Evans. I figured your room would be the best place to work on your wand work until we need to be at the meeting spot for the carriage to Hogwarts.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Good,” Professor Fig stated as he closed the door to the room and returned to his spot on the transfigured armchair.

Coraline nervously moved her trunk to the side and took a seat at the edge of her bed, facing Professor Fig. He reached into his coat and pulled out a long, dark brown wand from the inner coat pocket. Coraline watched his movements with wide eyes as he rested the wand in both hands and held it in front of himself.

“This is your temporary loaner wand until you are able to get your own wand. That way, you’re still able to practice using a wand and able to participate in classes tomorrow,” Professor Fig stated, then held the wand handle out to Coraline to take.

Coraline cautiously took the wand from him and gently turned it around in her hands as she looked over all the intricate details carved into it. She couldn’t believe that she was holding an actual magic wand, let alone about to learn how to actually use said magic wand. As she looked the wand over, Professor Fig pulled his own wand out from a different pocket inside his coat.

“Let’s begin.”

For the next few hours, Professor Fig went over the basics of spell casting and proper wand movements. Despite the limited time they had before their journey to Hogwarts, Professor Fig didn’t want to skip the fundamentals of magic just so Coraline could get to the more powerful spells quicker. Time seemed to fly by faster than normal as she practiced, which caused Professor Fig to frequently check his pocket watch to ensure they hadn’t gone over their allotted time.

He checked his pocket watch once more as Coraline continued getting used to the wand movement for the Basic Cast, “Unfortunately, we will need to continue reviewing the basics of spell casting at another time as we need to make our way to the carriage if we don’t wish to be late.”

Coraline gave a small nod as she stood to finish putting her trunk together. Professor Fig stood as well and transfigured the armchair back into the standing mirror it had been previously. Since Coraline was still putting her belongings away into her trunk, Professor Fig made his way back towards the door of her room.

“I’ll let you finish your packing on your own as I need to speak to Mrs. Campbell regarding your departure”

Coraline briefly looked up at him with a small smile, “Thank you, Professor Fig. I’ll join you downstairs promptly.”

He nodded in response and made his way downstairs to locate Mrs. Campbell. Coraline swiftly moved around her room to tidy up her room as she put her last few belongings into her trunk. Once her trunk was fully packed, she set the trunk by the bedroom door and stripped the bed of the linens so that it would be easier for the maid to change the room over for the next inhabitant. She set the stripped linens in a pile outside the bedroom door, grabbed her trunk, and looked back into her room one last time.

She briefly glanced around the room, then closed the door behind her and made her way downstairs to meet Professor Fig. He stood in front of the desk in the main lobby of the group home, speaking to Mrs. Campbell. As Coraline approached them, Mrs. Campbell turned toward her with a small smile.

“Miss Evans, I’m so pleased that you have been able to reconnect with your grandfather,” Coraline raised an eyebrow at Mrs. Campbell’s words and briefly glanced at Professor Fig before returning her attention to Mrs. Campbell.

“Thank you, Mrs. Campbell. I greatly appreciate your hospitality these past few years, I’m not sure where I would be if not for you and this home,” Coraline politely stated, completely avoiding the comment about Professor Fig being her grandfather.

“Yes, thank you again, Mrs. Campbell,” Professor Fig smiled at the matron once more before he turned toward Coraline, “Shall we?”

Coraline nodded to Professor Fig and gave another kind smile to Mrs. Campbell as she followed the professor out of the home. Once outside, Professor Fig led the way to their destination and turned down a narrow back alley nearby.

“Grandfather?” Coraline chuckled with a teasing smile at the professor’s reasoning for taking her with him.

Professor Fig laughed lightly as well, “I figured that would be the most believable cover story as to your departure. Are you alright carrying your trunk on your own?”

“Yes, sir. I’m able to carry my trunk, it’s not heavy at all.”

Even though the many back alleys they walked down were completely empty, Professor Fig steered the topics of their small talk away from anything to do with the wizarding world. Instead, he focused the conversation on Coraline’s education thus far. Of course, Coraline would have preferred learning more about the wizarding world, but she understood that they weren’t supposed to talk about the wizarding world in the presence of muggles in order to protect the secret of magic. That had been a rather long conversation the night before, as Coraline had questioned the necessity of continuing their conversation in the privacy of her room.

As the conversation regarding Coraline’s education slowed, and they continued their walk in silence, Professor Fig offered a change in subject, “A good friend of mine, George Osric, will be meeting us at the carriage. He owled me a few days ago asking to meet as he had something important to discuss. Hopefully, he’s alright with you being there for the conversation.”

Coraline nodded but didn’t respond, opting to walk in silence as she gazed at the different buildings they walked past since she had never visited this part of London before. After they turned down yet another back alley, she was quite relieved at the sight of a large, dark wooden carriage parked off to the side. Her arms were aching slightly from the weight of her trunk, but she had been determined to transport her trunk to the carriage on her own. However, she had foolishly made that decision before finding out how much of a journey they had to go on in order to get to the carriage.

“Ah, wonderful!” He turned toward Coraline with a small teasing smile, “I was beginning to wonder that I had taken a wrong turn and gotten us lost!”

Coraline chuckled lightly with a smile and a small shake of her head as she continued to follow behind the professor. As they approached, Coraline marveled at the simple wooden carriage while Professor Fig looked around at their surroundings.

The sides of the dark wooden carriage, under the windows and the door, had been painted a burgundy color with bright gold accents. Under each of the large square windows on either side of the door were small, gold metal engravings of the Hogwarts crest. The most surprising part of the carriage was that it looked exactly like the other carriages that graced the streets of London, except for the small difference of the carriage not having any horses connected to it. A young man stepped out from behind the carriage, pulling Coraline’s focus away from the design of the carriage.

He had a wide grin as he approached them, “Welcome back, Professor Fig. I took the liberty of loading all of the belongings you set aside onto the back of the carriage.”

“Thank you, Todd. I believe we only need to add Miss Evans's trunk to the back of the carriage and wait for George to join us before we will be ready to depart. Shouldn’t be too much longer now.”

Todd nodded to Professor Fig before he turned toward Coraline and gestured to the trunk beside her with a questioning expression.

“Oh, yes. Thank you, Mr. Todd,” politely smiled and nodded to the young man, mildly relieved that someone else would move the trunk onto the back of the carriage.

Professor Fig followed Todd to the back of the carriage, quietly muttering to himself as he went. Coraline pulled the loaner wand out from the pocket inside her overcoat and gently turned it over in her hand. As time got closer and closer to getting to Hogwarts, the more nervous Coraline got. Unconsciously, she twirled the loaner wand in her right hand with ease as her left started to fiddle with the sleeves of her coat. Once Coraline’s trunk had been loaded onto the back of the carriage, Todd made his way up to the driver’s seat at the top of the carriage while the professor glanced over all of the belongings again. Finally, he gave what seemed like a definitive nod to the carriage and made his way back over to Coraline near the side of the carriage.

“Ah! It appears we are almost ready to depart. We are just waiting on George now,” he stated as he watched her twirl the wand in her hand, almost as though it was second nature.

He continued, “It’s a pity we were only able to work on wand movements and not on casting any spells before we get to Hogwarts. However, I am convinced that you will quickly be able to catch up to your peers, regardless.”

“Thank you for your confidence, Professor Fig,” Coraline stated with a small smile as her left hand slowly stopped fidgeting with her sleeve.

“Well, I’m quite sure I’ve never seen anyone take so quickly to a second-hand wand before. You’ll be a force to be reckoned with when you get your own wand.”

Coraline chuckled briefly as her gaze fell to the ground at the continued compliments, “I look forward to that, Professor."

Suddenly, a loud popping noise caused Coraline to cut herself off to turn towards the noise. Professor Fig also turned to look toward the noise, and a broad smile crept up as he took in the man standing before them. Where there hadn’t been anyone a moment ago stood an adult male facing away from them with dark brown hair and a tan overcoat. She opened her mouth in confusion at the sudden appearance of a new person and turned to ask Professor Fig about it when the newly appeared man started talking to them.

“Oh!” there was a momentary pause as the man turned around to face Professor Fig and Coraline, “Eleazar!”

“George, it is good to see you, my friend! Glad my rather cryptic description of our location did not thwart your finding us,” Professor Fig stated with a smile as he approached and shook his hand.

It was like a light bulb turned on inside her head as she realized that this must be Professor Fig’s friend, Mr. George Osric.

With a slight chuckle, Mr. Osric responded, “I’ve apparated to more vaguely defined destinations than this.” He paused momentarily to purse his lips before continuing, “Though, I confess I may have miscalculated slightly on my first try. Gave quite a fright to some theater-goers in the West End.”

He gave another small chuckle and a grimace in response to his words, which caused Professor Fig and Coraline to give a slight chuckle as well. Despite not fully understanding what apparition was just yet, she had a feeling it had something to do with his spontaneous arrival at their location.

“It’s been much too long. When I received your owl, I must say I -” Professor Fig started to say.
“Best not speak here, Eleazar, hmm?” Mr. Osric quickly interrupted Professor Fig’s words before he could say too much. He looked around at their surroundings to see if anyone was around, seeming a little panicked.

Coraline raised an eyebrow at Mr. Osric’s reaction to Professor Fig’s words. While she had already previously internally guessed that whatever conversation Mr. Osric wanted to have with Professor Fig would occur during their travels for the sake of time, she was certainly not expecting that kind of reaction. She briefly glanced at their surroundings, even though she doubted anyone would be able to overhear their conversation besides Mr. Todd. Well, at least she hoped that was the case, as she wasn’t entirely clear just yet on the limits of what magic could do. She turned to gauge Professor Fig’s expression as he was thinking over Mr. Osric’s words before he responded.

“Of course. Why don’t we speak en route to Hogwarts? We have a start-of-term feast and a Sorting Ceremony to get to.” He turned towards Coraline for the last part with a smile, knowing she was probably eager to get moving to see Hogwarts as soon as possible.

Mr. Osric gave a curt nod, “Wonderful idea. As long as your young charge here doesn’t mind me tagging along.” He gestured and then turned towards Coraline as he spoke with a kind smile. However, she could see that behind his small, kind smile was a clear expression of concern, causing her to internally question what exactly this conversation would entail based on his reaction.

“Not at all, sir.”

“After you,” Fig responded, gesturing for Coraline to board the carriage first through the now-opened door.

Before boarding the carriage, Coraline turned towards the small white owl with the tips of its feathers a light brown as it rested on top of the luggage at the back. With a small smile, she gently brushed her hand over some of the feathers on its head which caused the little owl to hoot happily. Once she had boarded, Mr. Osric gestured for Professor Fig to board next, allowing him another moment to look around the alley again nervously before boarding.

“It’s been ages since I’ve been to the castle. Would be good to see the old pile of rocks,” and with that, Mr. Osric boarded the carriage and closed the door behind him.

Mr. Osric quickly sat across from Coraline and Professor as a loud snapping noise echoed from the front of the carriage. Coraline’s head swiftly turned around to look out the small window between Professor Fig and her as the carriage jerked forward. The carriage started to gain momentum as it rolled down the street, and Coraline gasped as the carriage showed no indications of turning despite the large building directly in front of them. She was about to warn Professor Fig about the building when all of a sudden, the carriage jerked upwards. The carriage lurched into the air and steadily rose to miss all of the surrounding buildings.

Coraline quickly switched over to the window on her right, jaw dropped as she watched the stunning bird's eye view of London despite the thick fog that seemed to blanket the city. The carriage quickly left the dreary weather as it continued to rise into the sky until they reached bright blue sky where the carriage leveled out. She was shocked that their means of transportation wasn’t just a carriage ride but rather a flying carriage ride; Professor Fig had conveniently left that small detail out. However, his previous comment about them taking a more direct route to Hogwarts started to make more sense now. She continued to watch the clouds with a bright smile as Professor Fig and Mr. Osric reacquainted themselves.

“Glad I caught you before you left for Scotland,” Mr. Osric stated.

“Just barely,” Professor Fig responded.

“And who is your traveling companion?”

Coraline tore her eyes away from the clouds outside the carriage and turned her attention towards Mr. Osric, “I’m Coraline Evans, sir, a new student at Hogwarts.”

Mr. Osric questioned, completely surprised, “New?”

“Yes sir, I’m starting school as a fifth year,” Coraline stated with a small smile, her excitement shining through her eyes as she spoke.

“How extraordinary.”

“It is indeed. None of the faculty has ever heard of anyone starting their magical education at Hogwarts so late.” Professor Fig chimed in.

“Nor have I.”

“Of course, as the other fifth years have been integrated into the wizarding world for at least four years now, the Headmaster asked if I could get Miss Evans up to speed at least a little bit before the term begins.”

“You couldn’t have asked for a better mentor, Miss Evans. Professor Fig is not only an exceptional teacher but also a remarkably intuitive - and gifted wizard,” Mr. Osric smiled at Coraline as he spoke while Fig waved him off and shook his head lightly.

Coraline smiled lightly in response. Despite the brief background into the wizarding world the night before and the little bit of wand work, they had gone over that morning, she agreed that he seemed to be a very knowledgeable wizard and a good mentor.

“Mr. Osric is prone to flattery. I daresay it’s one of the reasons he’s risen so far in the Ministry,” Fig chuckled, and then it was Mr. Osric’s turn to wave off the compliment. Coraline was quite grateful that Professor Fig had talked a bit about the Ministry last night, which allowed her to keep up with the conversation better.

“Speaking of the Ministry, have you seen this?” Mr. Osric pulled a newspaper from his coat pocket and held it in front of Professor Fig and Coraline to read over.

Professor Fig just sighed after quickly scanning the front page of the latest edition of the Daily Prophet about Ranrok and the possibility of a goblin rebellion. On the other hand, Coraline was completely starstruck by the moving picture front and center of the paper. She watched, completely fascinated by the moving picture of what she assumed to be Ranrok, the goblin referenced in the article, as his head moved about with an angry expression on his face for a few moments before resetting.

“I have. Opinions differ as to how great a threat Ranrok really is.”

As Professor Fig spoke, a flash from something outside the window brought Coraline’s attention from the newspaper to the clouds next to them. However, she could only see more clouds in every direction she looked, so she chalked it up to being nothing more than a trick of the light and returned to the conversation.

“Although I’ve yet to convince my colleagues at the Ministry, I believe he is a significant threat,” Mr. Osric paused for a moment before sighing, “And it was your wife, Eleazar, who alerted me to his activities months ago.”

Professor Fig’s eyes widened slightly at this, “Miriam? How?”

Mr. Osric sighed again, “She wrote to me about Ranrok before she died - wondering what the Ministry knew about his activities. Before I could respond, I received this,” Mr. Osric slowly pulled out a small metal, cylinder-shaped capsule with intricate designs in light blue and gold, “It was the last thing she sent to me, Eleazar.”

He slowly passed the capsule into Professor Fig’s awaiting hands before continuing, “It came via her owl but with no correspondence. I can only assume -”

“That she had to get rid of it quickly to keep it safe,” Professor Fig quickly stated as he slowly moved the capsule around, studying it.

Coraline was instantly intrigued by the intricate metal gold flame-like symbol that appeared to cover the capsule’s opening; it felt familiar despite not recognizing it. As she stared at the capsule, the symbol in the center started to give off a familiar soft white glow.

As she stared at the glow from the symbol, Mr. Osric continued, “Presumably from Ranrok. I cannot open it; whatever magic protects this is powerful indeed.”

Coraline easily picked up the frustrated and disappointed tone that engulfed Mr. Osric’s words as he spoke. That internal minor observation wasn’t enough to pull her focus from the glowing symbol as it seemed to pulse and then start glowing even brighter than before.

Professor Fig continued to rotate the capsule in his grasp, “It looks like goblin metal. That symbol -”

Coraline interrupted him, slightly impatient that no one else was commenting on the increasing glow coming from the symbol, “Why is the symbol glowing?”

Completely confused, Mr. Osric and Professor Fig quickly turned to face Coraline, who continued staring at the capsule with confusion and fascination. The two men exchanged a brief glance before responding.

“I don’t see a glow,” Professor Fig stated slowly.

“Nor do I,” Mr. Orsic responded, continuing to look between Professor Fig and Coraline with confusion.

Professor Fig hesitated momentarily before passing the capsule to Coraline. She gently took it into both hands, looking up at Professor Fig briefly as he slowly removed his hands from the capsule. As soon as his hands were entirely removed from the capsule, the glow on the symbol pulsed even brighter than before as the capsule opened to reveal a large golden key with the same flame-like symbol crafted at the top. All of their eyes widened slightly at the sudden change of the capsule.

“Merlin’s beard! How did you -?” Mr. Osric started to say as Coraline slowly reached toward the capsule to grab the key.

“Wait! We do not know what -” Professor Fig interrupted, quickly taking the capsule from Coraline’s hands to examine its changed state.

However, he could not examine it for long, as the back half of the carriage with Mr. Osric suddenly ripped away from the front half of the carriage. A massive light gray dragon with a glowing, dark red metal collar around its neck, was revealed holding the back half of the carriage in its mouth. Coraline’s eyes widened, shocked and horrified at the huge dragon holding part of the carriage with Mr. Osric still sitting frozen in his seat.

She was momentarily relieved to see the small white owl that had been perched at the back of the carriage was able to fly away unharmed but quickly refocused her attention back to the dragon and Mr. Osric. The front half of the carriage abruptly lurched down, causing Coraline to grip her seat in a blind panic.

“Hang on!” Professor Fig shouted over the roar of the wind, struggling to hold onto the remaining part of the carriage himself.

The dragon moved its mouth, causing Professor Fig and Coraline’s eyes to snap away from their half of the carriage and up to the half with the dragon. Suddenly the dragon smashed its mouth together, which completely destroyed the remainder of the carriage and presumably killed Mr. Osric instantly. Coraline’s hand flew to her mouth as she let out a horrified scream.

Neither Professor Fig nor Coraline could truly process Mr. Osric’s death yet, as the carriage suddenly lurched downward again. The hand that had moved to cover her mouth immediately thrashed around in search of some kind of support to hold onto as the carriage headed into a deep nose dive. Her head whisked around to look out the small front window to check on Mr. Todd, but she was unable to focus on him as her eyes widened, completely terrified. A small startled scream clawed its way out of her throat at the sudden materialization of five thin black, bone-winged horse-like creatures that seemed to be attached to the front of the carriage by long reins that Mr. Todd tightly grasped.

The dragon roared loudly, causing both Professor Fig and Coraline to snap their attention away from the front of the carriage and back to the dragon. It opened its mouth wide as an orange and red glow started building in the back of its throat, only getting brighter and brighter with each passing second.

“Jump!” Professor Fig yelled suddenly, leaping from his seat in the carriage as the dragon started to ready itself to attack.

Coraline was right behind him, jumping as far as she could mere moments before the dragon’s fireball collided with the carriage remains, shattering it to smithereens. She didn’t catch a glimpse of Mr. Todd as she twisted and turned in an uncontrolled free-fall, so she could only hope that he managed to get away safely. Professor Fig was in an uncontrolled free-fall right alongside her as he wildly thrashed his arms in an attempt to get a hold of the situation. Then it seemed like time stopped for a split second as they both locked eyes on the open capsule free-falling before them when the key slipped out.

“The key!”

Professor Fig immediately began reaching for the key, only his fingertips brushing against it slightly before it was pushed away. Somehow in his attempts to reach the key, he had managed to roll over so he was no longer falling backwards. Coraline’s mind went completely blank in complete fear as the dragon roared again. Her body seemed to act on its own as she managed to roll over onto her stomach as well and looked toward Professor Fig and his continued attempts to reach the key. Another loud roar erupted from the dragon, and Coraline could feel it getting closer and closer to them each second.

“Give me your hand!” He yelled over the howling winds, then managed to clasp his hand around Coraline’s wrist tightly. He extended his other hand out toward the key, “Accio!” The key quickly flew into his hand, which caused the pair to disappear with a pop as the dragon forcefully bit down on their previous position.

Chapter Text

Professor Fig and Coraline reappeared with another pop and crashed onto the ground below them. Neither of them moved for a bit, trying to catch their breath and attempting to process what had just happened. Professor Fig was first between them to start moving, bringing himself to a kneeling position.

“Miss Evans, are you alright?”

She started moving slowly and eventually attempted to stand up from the awkward position she had landed in. A searing pain shot through both her legs, causing her to stumble and fall back to the ground with a small pained cry.

“You’re hurt,” it wasn’t a question but rather an observation as he slowly brought himself from his knee up to a standing position.

“Perhaps a bit.”

He quickly pulled out a small vial with bright green liquid from a pocket in his coat and held it out to Coraline, “Take this. It’s Wiggenweld Potion. That stuff will right you in a second.”

Coraline initially hesitated as the bright green liquid seemed unsafe to consume. He noticed her hesitation and gave her a slight nod of assurance. She slowly reached up and gently took the vial out of his hand. She grimaced briefly before quickly downing all the contents in the vial and instantly noted a comforting warmth spreading throughout her body.

“What happened?” She timidly looked around the cave-like structure where they had landed, not recognizing the location.

“Poor George, I can’t believe he-” Professor Fig’s voice was soft and pained as he started speaking but quickly changed to a louder, angrier voice.

“What the hell got into that damned thing? Attacking a carriage mid-air? A typical dragon would never!” He began to pace a bit as he attempted to understand why the dragon acted like it had.

“Professor?” She didn’t receive a response at first, causing her to continue, “Sir? Where are we?”

This prompted him to stop pacing and take in their surroundings. Confusion spread across his face as he didn’t recognize their surroundings either.

“I’m not sure, but that key you discovered was a portkey.”

“Portkey, sir?” It was quickly becoming more apparent just how little Professor Fig had been able to tell her about the wizarding world before their attempted journey to Hogwarts.

“An item enchanted to bring whoever touches it to a specific place.”

She attempted to stand up again and was much more successful this time, able to stand fully upright.

“I’m feeling better, sir, if you want to look around a bit.”

He nodded, “I would, but first,” he pulled out a few more Wiggenweld potion vials from his coat pocket, “I think it’s vital that you keep a couple of Wiggenweld potions with you, just in case.”

He held them out to Coraline and gestured for her to store them in the pocket of her overcoat. She hesitated to take the vials from him, genuinely concerned about putting glass vials in her pocket.

“Professor, what if I fall and land on the vials? I don’t want to risk breaking them.”

“You needn’t worry about that; all potion vials are enchanted with an unbreakable charm to be perfectly safe in your pocket.”

She visibly relaxed at his words but suddenly felt embarrassed to have asked since it was probably just standard knowledge for the wizarding community. She quickly tucked the vials into her coat pocket to avoid any further delays.

“Stay close; we’ve no idea who created this portkey or why.” Professor Fig looked over at her briefly, Coraline nodding in confirmation.

They started walking down the path before them, noting as they walked that they seemed to have landed in a small rocky cave littered with various animal skeletons and minimal vegetation. Upon reaching the cave’s opening, they abruptly stopped, their eyes widening as they took in the vast scenery before them. They were on the edge of a massive cliff overlooking the raging ocean directly below them, with a mild breeze blowing by. Their view to the left was completely blocked by a sharp rocky incline toward the top of the mountain they were inside.

“How far did that portkey take us?” Coraline exclaimed in confusion, having never seen anything like the scenery before them.

“Farther from London than the carriage traveled. We’re somewhere in the Scottish Highlands.”

“You can tell that from the regular-looking rocky mountainside and expansive ocean before us?” Coraline was quite surprised that he was able to recognize their approximate location so quickly.

“I spent a lot of time studying the Highlands with Miriam during our travels.”

Not far from the edge of the cliff, in the middle of the raging ocean, was a small island that mostly consisted of a colossal natural stone pillar that easily reached a hundred meters tall. About halfway up the stone pillar, however, appeared to be ruins of a manor of some sort. Looking between the island and the cliff edge closest to the island, Coraline noticed the remains of a supporting structure of some kind, though presumably a bridge.

Coraline pointed at the small island, “Sir, those ruins. Do you think -”

Professor Fig interrupted, having had the same train of thought, “- The portkey was meant to lead us there? I do.”

He turned towards Coraline, “This has not been the day either of us expected. But Miriam sent that portkey to George for a reason, and I believe that she - and now George - died in pursuit of whatever it was meant to lead to.”

He paused for another moment, trying to come up with ideas about what this trail would lead to. Coraline took a deep breath and continued taking in the peaceful scenery a bit longer, knowing that things may not stay that way for long.

“If you’re sure you’re alright and wouldn’t mind indulging me, I’d like to look around.” He hoped she would agree to look around for some answers, but he would apparate them away if she weren’t comfortable with it.

Coraline nodded with a small smile, equally invested in understanding what it all meant, “Absolutely, sir.”

“Good,” he smiled brightly at her, “let’s see if we can find a path, however faded it may be.”
Immediately they were able to find a narrow path against the side of the cliff and carefully set off down the path; one wrong step could lead to falling off the side of the cliff and down to the rocky ocean below.

“Mind your step!” Professor Fig called back to Coraline as she traveled behind him to reduce her risk of falling off the cliff.

“Where do you suppose your wife got the portkey that brought us here?”

“A good question. Miriam spent years searching for evidence of a long, forgotten form of ancient magic.”

Suddenly the path they had been following reached a tall ledge that passed under a small waterfall. Professor Fig quickly grabbed the top of the ledge and pulled himself up and over the top. Coraline watched how he climbed onto the ledge before she copied his movements and climbed over the ledge herself. Once at the top of the ledge, Coraline briefly paused to look up at the waterfall as it cascaded down the side of the cliff; only a bit of mist sprayed them from the light breeze that ran alongside the cliff.

“Ancient magic?” Coraline questioned as they set off again.

“Yes. Powerful magic wielded by a rare few that seems to have been lost to time.”

They came upon a short ledge with a path below them and easily jumped down the small distance to continue following the path.

Professor Fig continued, “Hogwarts castle was built by, and is itself a stronghold of, that ancient magic. I don’t know where she came into possession of the portkey, but I am certain it was to do with that search.”

The pair stopped as the path abruptly ended at another sharp cliff edge and took in their changed view of the scenery before them. Coraline marveled at the beauty of the small section of the Scottish Highlands they were located in and immediately hoped that she would be able to visit more of the Highlands in the future. Professor Fig stepped closer to the cliff’s edge and looked down, searching for a path leading them to the ruins. He spotted a faded, crumbling path below them that seemed to lead directly to the island.

“Ah! There’s the path below. This way!” He turned towards the ledge and swiftly climbed up.

“Sir, why was your wife searching for evidence of lost magic?”

“Miriam wanted to understand why such powerful magic disappeared from the wizarding world - spoke of the good it could do.”

They slowed their pace as they came across a few ledges they needed to climb down as they continued to follow the path. Professor Fig opted to jump down the ledges as it was quicker and required less effort. Coraline, on the other hand, opted to climb down at a slower pace to prevent hurting herself if she landed badly in the heels she was wearing.

He continued, “But magic is no different than any power; what really matters is the one who wields it.”

“Is that ice?” Coraline questioned, though she had a feeling that it wasn’t normal ice since she couldn’t see through the dark blue color that clouded inside the material.

“It’s not cold enough here. It appears to be a sort of enchantment,” he paced a little while studying the obstacle before them, “Someone wanted to block this path.”

“I think they might have been successful thus far,” Coraline snickered lightly, causing him to turn towards her with a judgmental expression and a small shake of his head before continuing.

“Let’s put some of that wand work you practiced earlier to the test. Aim your wand at the center of the enchanted stone and focus on performing a basic cast.”

Coraline pulled out the second-hand wand from the inside of her coat and took a deep breath to calm her sudden nerves. She pointed her wand toward the middle of the enchanted ice, focused, then lightly swished her wand a few times, sending multiple basic casts at the enchanted stone. The basic casts easily shattered a majority of the enchanted stone, and as the shards fell toward the ground, they melted away as if they had never been there in the first place.

“Excellent! Let us continue then,” Professor Fig gave Coraline a proud smile for her accomplishment.

Previously hidden behind the enchanted ice was a muddy slope with no other way down and connected back up with the path they were following. They exchanged a momentary look at each other before sliding down the muddy slope.

He chuckled slightly as he stood up, “That was rougher than I had expected it to be.”

Coraline laughed lightly as she stood up as well. Professor Fig pulled his wand out from his coat’s inner pocket, which caused Coraline to raise an eyebrow, and swished his wand in Coraline’s direction before swishing his wand at himself.

Professor Fig looked back up at Coraline as he returned his wand to his coat pocket and noticed her confused expression, “A cleaning charm, quite helpful in removing surface-level grime.”

He gestured behind her, and Coraline immediately looked down at the back of her skirt to see that it was no longer caked in mud from the slope. Coraline hummed lightly and nodded her head approvingly. Professor Fig started walking down the path once more before gesturing to the numerous pots that lined the sides of that section of the path.

“Feel free to practice your basic cast to your heart’s content on the abandoned pottery lying around. I have a feeling no one would have any objections to that.”

Coraline shook her head lightly, humored by his comment, before swishing her wand to perform her basic cast on the pottery as they continued walking down the path. She focused on her wand movement to ensure she was doing it correctly each and every time she cast the spell.

“Your wand work is improving every cast, Miss Evans,” Professor Fig smiled.

“Thank you, sir.”

Coraline returned his smile before tucking her wand back into her coat pocket, as she had already grown comfortable casting the spell. Moments later, they came across another cliff edge and carefully approached it to avoid going down the steep drop down to the ocean below. They watched the rough waves crest and crash into the rocky stone cliffside that seemed to continue into the horizon. It was quite daunting for Coraline to see just how small they were compared to the towering rocky cliffside all around them.

Professor Fig was the first of them to look away from the ocean and immediately located a ledge following the sharp turn of the path. Coraline turned toward Professor Fig once she noticed his movement and watched as he took a few extra steps into climbing up the ledge in order to get more upward momentum. Once he regained his footing at the top of the ledge, Coraline readied herself to copy his movements.

“Really regretting wearing a long skirt today,” she muttered quietly to herself as she took the extra steps to gain momentum to climb up the ledge. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the hard part, it was negotiating with her skirt in order to throw her leg over the side of the ledge to be able to stand up at the top of the ledge.

Finally, she was able to stand up at the top of the ledge and was greeted with the sight of the cliffside they had just traveled against, as well as the small opening for the rocky cave they had landed in. They were both stunned to see just how minuscule the cave truly was in comparison to the sheer size of the cliffside. The slight breeze that they had been following since the rocky cave started to get stronger as they stood there watching the scenery, causing the edges of Coraline’s coat to flap upward.

A quiet clattering noise near her pulled Coraline’s attention away from the cliff side and down to the path under her feet. She had to do a quick double-take as she realized that directly below them was the path they had been following immediately after the slope. She glanced around them and hummed lightly at the realization that the path had seemed to form a cloverleaf-like shape, and neither of them had noticed.

“There! To our right, we’re almost there,” Professor Fig called out as he pointed to the ruins on the island directly to their right.

As they continued walking down the path, getting closer to the edge, the breeze continued to get stronger and stronger. They both quickly put their hands up to protect their faces as they crept closer to the edge.

Professor Fig called out to Coraline, “Steady yourself!”

Coraline did her best to stand in a strong stance to keep herself from moving, but between the heels and long skirt, she was unable to effectively ground herself on the dirt path. The forceful winds caused the torn flag at the edge of the path whipped about violently, and Coraline unwillingly started sliding a tiny bit to her right.

“Reparo!” Professor Fig shouted as he swished his wand around.

Large stone chunks rose from the ocean below and fell into place to recreate the stone bridge and stairs leading up to the ruins. Even though she was primarily focused on attempting to keep herself from sliding, Coraline watched in amazement as the stones moved about, following the command of Professor Fig’s spell.

“Well, that’s certainly a handy spell to know,” she muttered as Professor Fig tucked his wand back into his coat and carefully followed him across the newly recreated bridge.

“Almost there!”

To both of their surprise, as soon as they made it to the other side of the bridge and climbed up the stairs to the ruins, the wind ceased. Coraline immediately stumbled a bit, not expecting the sudden decrease in force from the wind. She was much slower than Professor Fig as they walked up the stairs to the manor, too stunned by the grand architecture of the remaining structures of the manor.

It was clear that whoever had built the manor or had ordered its construction was wealthy and had lived a luxurious lifestyle. Aside from the extremely remote location, the remains of the manor towered over them as they were easily two to three stories in height. There was no roof or supporting structures for the top of the manor, which alluded to the possibility of the original manor being much taller than what remained.

As they crossed the threshold into the manor, Coraline’s jaw dropped. High up on the walls directly across from them were three large window frames that were once fully stained glass windows. However, only a tiny fraction of the stained glass remained in the windows, and as the sunlight passed through the glass, beautiful reflections of blue and yellow light danced across the stone walls.

Coraline furrowed her eyebrows, confused, “Why would someone have built this here?”

“I suspect they valued their privacy. That portkey must have led us here for a reason; look around to see if you find anything out of place.”

Professor Fig climbed the few short steps up to the cracking stone mural on the wall directly below the frames of the three stained glass windows and lightly ran his fingers along the mural, studying it. Coraline walked over to lean against the cracking handrail for the small staircase he had ascended and fidgeted with her stockings and heels in an attempt to make them a bit more comfortable.

“I must say, Professor, if I had known we were going on an adventure before getting to Hogwarts, I would have worn an outfit better suited for exploring!” Coraline joked with a broad smile, causing Professor Fig to look over at her briefly before returning his gaze to the mural while shaking his head with a slight chuckle.

Once Coraline had adjusted her stockings and heels, she walked around the ruined manor. She carefully looked over each of the structures that remained, intrigued as to why those structures had been preserved thus far but not other structures. Her eyes traced the vines of ivy that had grown along the stone walls, looking for any patterns that would give away any hints as to what they needed to look for.

Eventually, she made her way over to the left side of the manor, continuing to look over all the details of the manor that she passed. However, she halted in front of a stone statue in the middle of that section of the manor. The statue was of a male with a long pointed beard down past his collarbone, who wore a set of long flowing robes and held up a sphere in his left hand in front of his face while he clutched a thick book against his side on his right side. Unlike the rest of the manor, the stone statue showed no signs of damage or deterioration, only a slight greening from nature.

“Professor, this statue -” Coraline started to say with a slight tilt of her head as she continued to look it over.

Professor Fig looked over at Coraline and the statue, “This may have been his home.”

“I agree, but I think this statue is important for other reasons. The statue is basically in pristine condition compared to the rest of the ruins here.”

Professor Fig looked back at the stone mural once more before he walked over to Coraline, also intrigued by her observation. As he ascended the short staircase up to the raised platform with the statue, he was quick to agree with Coraline’s findings that it was, in fact, odd. They both stood there for a moment, pondering what it could mean until Coraline looked off to their right and gasped.

“I can’t believe I missed this earlier,” Coraline said as she turned away from the statue and started walking off.

At first, Professor Fig furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at Coraline’s words, but after he turned his head to the right to look at whatever Coraline had spotted, his eyes widened a bit. Directly to the right of the statue was a stone path that led behind the room they had been in. He was a bit surprised that it had taken them both so long to realize there was another path that was almost completely visible from the threshold of the manor they had crossed earlier.

Coraline led the way down the path, staying as close to the stone wall as possible since the path was slanted and crumbling at the edge that jetted out from the island and over the ocean. At the end of the path rested a raised small circular stone room, a few steps up from the path they followed to it. Surprisingly, the architecture of this stone room was quite different from the main section of the manor. In the main section of the manor, the walls had been built using thick gray stone blocks, which allowed it to have a loftier feel. However, this section of the manor used much smaller stone blocks that gave Coraline the impression that the walls had been built with cobblestones instead.

In addition to the change of stones used to build the structure, the windows were also significantly different. Gone were the large window frames for intricate stained glass windows, and instead, there were miniature arch windows that were much more common, even in the muggle world. It was abundantly clear to Coraline that whoever had created the portkey to bring them to the ruins wanted them to find this room as the next clue in their journey.

Professor Fig and Coraline briefly glanced at each other as they approached the short staircase to ascend to the different-styled room. Once at the top of the staircase, the small cobblestone wall directly across from them started to glow white faintly. As they continued to approach the cobblestone wall, the dark blue enchanted stone that had blocked their path earlier quickly spread to cover the entire cobblestone wall.

“How odd. Why would someone have conjured that enchanted stone here?” Professor Fig questioned as he reached toward the enchanted stone but left his hand hovering a small distance away from it so as not to touch it.

For Coraline, the enchanted stone began to change from the hazy dark blue color she was starting to grow accustomed to and into a slightly blurred room with warm lighting. Naturally, she was unsure what this meant as it certainly hadn’t happened at the last enchanted stone wall they had encountered.

“And how is there a room behind it?” Coraline questioned, causing Professor Fig to pull his hand away from the stone wall and back to his side, then turned his head toward Coraline.

“What room?” He asked as he glanced between the dark blue enchanted stone wall and Coraline’s confused expression, “I don’t see anything.”

As Coraline continued to study the room, she could see through the blurry enchanted stone. She noticed that the architecture was quite luxurious, including what appeared to be a large glass chandelier and white marble-like flooring.

“It looks like a luxuriously decorated room with a warm glow and a large glass chandelier in the center of it,” Coraline stated as she squinted at the enchanted stone to determine more details of the blurry room.

Professor Fig’s head tilted to the side slightly as his eyebrows furrowed in deep confusion since he was unable to see anything besides the dark blue hazy coloring. Coraline suddenly gasped lightly as she leaned back away from the wall with wide eyes. Suddenly, in the center of the enchanted stone appeared the symbol that had adorned the outside of the portkey container, glowing a bright white.
“There’s that symbol again, glowing like the portkey container!” Coraline exclaimed as her hand rose slightly to ghost over the glowing section of the enchanted stone. She hesitated to fully place her hand against the stone just yet, unsure if she should.

“Lead the way, Miss Evans,” Professor Fig stated with a small nod.

She nervously took a deep breath, glanced at Professor Fig once more, and then fully placed her hand on the glowing symbol.

Chapter Text

Bright sparks of white light flew off the enchanted stone as Coraline’s hand rested on the glowing symbol, and then the enchanted stone disappeared from the stone wall entirely. It took a couple of moments, but the lighting slowly shifted from the harsh, bright lighting from the ruins to the low, warm glow Coraline had seen in the room beyond the enchanted stone. Both Professor Fig and Coraline took a step back from the stone wall in complete surprise at the sudden change and hesitantly turned around as the lighting shifted.

“Godric’s heart!” Professor Fig exclaimed as his eyes widened at the scene before them.

Coraline just stared in complete disbelief that the room she had seen through the enchanted stone was actually real, let alone a location that they could visit. The warm glow that lighted their location, indeed, came from large white and gold glass beaded chandeliers that hung from above. At first, Coraline assumed that the chandeliers were just connected to the ceiling above them; however, upon further inspection, she realized that it technically wasn’t a traditional ceiling at all. Instead, it appeared as though the room they were in was built into a cave of some sort, with the ceiling being the natural rock formations of the cave.

She was also surprised to see that she had been somewhat right about the flooring of the room, as cream, gold, and brown marble with swirling patterns adorned the floor. Large marble columns with gold accents were placed around the center of the room in a circle, with a thick cream-colored marble trim connecting all of the columns together. The combination of the different colored marble pieces, the gold accents, and the natural rocky texture of the cave gave the room a stunning natural but luxurious feel.

Coraline moved her gaze away from the main structures of the room to see that on the other side of the room was a smaller, circular room blocked by large golden metal gates. Curiously, in front of the middle section of the golden gates sat a tall, dark brown wooden desk with a large, gold metal floor lamp on each side of the desk.

“Where are we?” Coraline asked, turning her head slightly towards Professor Fig. He rested his hands on his hips and scoffed in disbelief.

“I don’t believe it.”

He briefly glanced at Coraline, then cautiously started walking towards the desk in front of them. She loosely followed behind him to allow herself to do a small spin to continue taking in the beauty of the architecture. Moments later, they arrived a few steps from the desk. They had expected something to happen in response to their arrival at the circular room, yet, nothing happened.

“Hello?” Coraline called out, hoping to trigger a response of some kind.

The response they received, however, was certainly not the type of response that they were expecting. A loud snore echoed throughout the room, startling both of them. Professor Fig recovered from the snore the quickest, stepping closer to the desk before politely clearing his throat. After several more times of attempting to politely wake up whoever was snoring behind the desk by clearing his throat, with zero results, Professor Fig started to get a little impatient.

“Ahem!” His voice was almost a shout, startling the goblin behind the desk as they gave a small yelp. The goblin’s head peaked over the top of the large book resting on top of the desk, eyes widening as he took in the people standing before him.

“It can’t be,” he paused, blinking in surprise, “just a moment, please!”

The goblin disappeared behind the desk again, soft muttering echoing through the air, causing the pair to briefly share a look before returning their gaze back toward the desk. The goblin reappeared on the ground from behind the desk and approached the pair. Coraline blinked rapidly in surprise at the full appearance of the goblin, as she had only briefly seen a small snippet of the goblin Ranrok on the front page of the Daily Prophet newspaper back in the carriage.

The goblin was up to about her hip in height with large pointy ears, large, dark black eyes, a full set of sharp pointed teeth, and nails that had to be at least an inch long. His physical features took a moment for her to get used to, and she hoped that her face didn’t portray her inner ramblings to the goblin because she didn’t want to seem disrespectful. After a few moments, she realized that the goblin wore a dark gray button-up shirt, a light green suit vest with a yellow tie paired with black dress pants, and brown loafers. A very drastic difference from the intricate metal armor Ranrok had worn around his neck in the picture in the Daily Prophet.

“Welcome to Gringotts Wizarding Bank,” the goblin swept his arm to the side and gave a deep bow, “I am Egnar. Vault number twelve, I presume?”

Coraline was surprised once more, taken aback by Egnar’s bow. She wasn’t entirely sure why he had bowed to them, especially since his bow was a complete ninety-degree angle, so she didn’t know if she was supposed to bow back to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that Professor Fig had not moved an inch to return Egnar’s bow, but she was trying not to come off as disrespectful, so she gave a respectful head nod with a small, polite smile. Egnar was taken aback slightly by Coraline’s respectful response to his introduction, as most wizardkind looked down upon goblinkind.

At first, Professor Fig had been caught off guard by Egnar’s question but quickly attempted to cover it up by crossing his arms over his chest and responding, “Precisely.”

“The key?”

Egnar extended his hand towards the pair, beckoning them to hand over the key, causing Professor Fig’s eyes to widen slightly as he wasn’t sure what to do. Thankfully, Coraline slightly leaned towards him, attempting to be discreet as she whispered under her breath to him.

“Your wife’s portkey, professor?”

A moment of realization washed over him as he processed her words before quickly shaking his head to bring himself out of his stupor. He pulled the large golden key out of his coat pocket and passed it to Egnar.

“This way then,” Egnar gestured for them to follow him.

Professor Fig started to follow Egnar before stopping to look at Coraline, “Stay close.” Coraline nodded.

They approached a dark, metal landing platform with a singular bright, white sphere glowing on top of the metal railing for the landing platform. In front of the landing platform sat two thick cylinder metal rails about two meters apart with the supporting structure underneath. Coraline’s earlier theory that they were in a cave of some sort was quickly proven correct as the landing platform was entirely surrounded by the natural gray rock terrain. Off to the left, the metal rail track disappeared into a circular stone tunnel. Egnar raised a hand to his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. A few moments later, a small metal train cart traveled down the track out of the circular tunnel on their left.

The train cart had giant wheels positioned at each of the four corners of the cart to sit on top and below the metal rail to prevent the train from falling off the track. In the middle of the cart was a large black metal cylinder with massive support beams that connected the two back wheels together and the two front wheels together. Each side of the cylinder had two red plush seats with a gap between them for a small metal ladder up to the driver’s seat on top of the train cart.

Coraline’s only hesitance with the design of the train cart was that there was no platform of any kind underneath the side seats. She could only hope that there was some magical charm in place to prevent people or things from falling down from the cart.

“After you,” Egnar stated as he gestured toward the cart.

Professor Fig then turned toward Coraline and gestured for her to board the cart first. Coraline didn’t particularly want to be the first one to board the cart as she wasn’t entirely sure how even to board the cart to begin with. However, she proceeded to carefully maneuver herself into the red seat on her left to allow Professor Fig to maneuver himself into the seat on the right. Once Professor Fig and Coraline were situated in their seats, Egnar gracefully climbed into the driver’s seat on top of the cylinder in the cart.

Chuckling, he stated, “Keep your hands inside the cart if you don’t wish to lose them.”

He pulled a couple of the levers in front of him and caused the train cart to start swiftly moving down the metal rails. Coraline watched with fascination as the wheel supports freely spun around them, allowing the wheels to follow all the twists and turns of the track, with the central section they were sitting in remaining stationary.

“How many vaults are there in Gringotts?” questioned Coraline.

The track exited the small cavern they had been traveling in since the landing platform, revealing an expansive cavern that looked bigger than all of the districts of London combined. They passed numerous giant pillars around the cavern that seemed to have dozens of little openings that she assumed to be vault entrances and several other metal rail tracks for more train carts. Coraline’s eyes darted around the cavern, attempting to take in as many sights as possible.

“Hundreds. In fact, you’ll see quite a few on our way to vault number 12. As we speak, we’re just beneath the main lobby. The vaults you see now are the newest.”

Professor Fig asked, “Are private entrances to the bank common at Gringotts?”

“They are most uncommon. Only one with great wealth, power, or both, could have arranged such a service.”

Since Egnar seemed comfortable sharing information about the bank with them, Coraline immediately wanted to ask about him bowing to them earlier. She hesitated to ask the question, unsure if he would be open to answering it, but she wanted to learn more about the wizarding world, so she just decided to go for it.

“Egnar, if I may ask, why did you bow when you introduced yourself earlier?”

Egnar paused at her question, completely surprised, attempting to figure out Coraline’s intentions behind the question. He had never heard of anyone from wizardkind to directly ask a goblin about the etiquette standards goblinkind followed.

Professor Fig quickly said, “My young friend here is still relatively new to the wizarding world and hasn’t had a chance to learn anything about goblinkind.”

Unseen by Professor Fig or Coraline, Egnar’s eyes widened slightly at this revelation, now better understanding her slight hesitancy towards him. Despite her attempts to be subtle in her surprise about Egnar’s actions leading up to that point, he had seen the slight, almost imperceptible differences in her demeanor as he introduced himself. This was a skill that all of goblinkind possessed as it was essential in ensuring the security of the bank, along with numerous other security measures.

At first, he had assumed that her changes in demeanor were her attempts at covering her distaste for goblinkind. It was no known secret that the majority of wizardkind looked down upon goblinkind, only viewing them as a necessity in services. Professor Fig’s explanation that her actions and questions came from a place of curiosity and an attempt to learn about goblinkind caused Egnar to start to view Coraline in a very different light than he normally did for wizardkind.

“I see. Goblinkind uses bows for many different reasons, including as a greeting. A deeper bow is used as a sign of respect. You both came to Gringotts via that private entrance. Therefore, you must be tied to the wealth and power of the ones that originally arranged for the entrance.”
Coraline nodded in response, thinking about his words as she returned to watching their surroundings. A short time later, they started going downhill through a small tunnel explicitly created for the train cart track.

Egnar stated, “You’ll want to take a breath.”

Professor Fig’s head whipped around to face Egnar, quite surprised and confused, as the train cart exited the downhill tunnel, “A what?”

His head whipped back around to see the track heading directly for a small waterfall. Egnar only put a hand up to block his face while Professor Fig and Coraline hunched over and tucked their heads just as they passed under the waterfall. Ironically it took them longer to prepare for the waterfall than the singular moment it took to travel under the waterfall. They remained utterly soaked from the waterfall for a few moments before the water completely evaporated, so they couldn’t even tell they had gone under the waterfall to begin with.

It then dawned on Coraline that Egnar’s comment to take a breath did not come from a state of necessity but rather as a slight teasing comment that can come off as malicious. The same applied to his earlier comment about keeping all extremities inside the cart to prevent their removal.

Professor Fig turned to Coraline with eyes wide from realization, “That waterfall washes away all enchantments; it’s a security measure.”

Egnar chuckled, with apparent amusement at Professor Fig’s realization, “Experienced the Thief’s Downfall before, have you?”

“Heard of it.”

“These are the lower vaults we are passing now.”

Curious about their travel time since they had rolling down the track for quite some time already, Coraline asked, “How deep are we going?”

“Vault number twelve was commissioned shortly after Gringotts was founded over four hundred years ago. It resides in the deepest part of the bank. Settle in. We’ve quite the distance to go still,” Egnar stated as he pulled a few levels in front of him to steady their pace as they headed into another longer downhill section of the track.

What seemed like just moments late, the train cart started to slow as they turned around a corner and approached a landing platform. On the landing platform stood a goblin wearing a dark blue guard uniform, complete with bright gold embellishments. The glowing, dark red band around the goblin’s right bicep, however, caused Coraline to become a bit suspicious of this goblin. The guard raised his hand toward their slowing train cart. Professor Fig and Coraline exchanged a brief confused look; Egnar had just stated they had a while to go, yet, they were stopping already.

Coraline looked behind the guard to see that the landing platform was quite large, with stone archways through the middle of the platform that connected to create a roofed structure over the landing platform. Further behind him was another train cart track, empty, with several vault doors located on the far side of that train cart track. She guessed that track was part of the main tracks from the main lobby of the bank, based on all the vault doors relatively close together.

Once the train cart fully stopped at the landing platform, the guard spoke to Egnar in a deep, gruff voice, “Vault number?”

“Vault number twelve,” Egnar gave a small, almost nervous chuckle, “Momentous day.”
The guard waved their cart off with a grunt, “On your way.”

Coraline continued to stare at the guard suspiciously as their cart started gaining momentum away from the landing platform. After the guard and the landing platform were no longer visible, she went to look away but quickly looked back once she noticed a train cart traveling along a track directly parallel to theirs. The timing of that parallel train cart arriving across from them seemed suspicious since there hadn’t been another train cart in sight when they were at the landing platform.

Suddenly, she could see the driver of the parallel train cart, and her eyes widened as she watched the guard from the landing platform repeatedly look over to their cart until his track veered to the right and into a tunnel. She immediately leaned towards Professor Fig and whispered to avoid Egnar from overhearing.

“Professor,” he gave a low hum, leaning slightly toward her to hear, “the metal armband that guard was wearing was glowing.”

Professor Fig’s head quickly turned to her in surprise, “Like the glow you saw on the portkey container?”

“No, this was a dark red glow. I saw the same glow on the dragon’s collar.”

He frowned at this revelation, a bit confused as he couldn’t recall the dragon wearing any kind of collar. His reaction confirmed Coraline’s suspicions that seeing that dark red glow here so soon after the dragon attack wasn’t good.

Egnar interrupted before they could continue, “What was that?”

“We were just wondering about that goblin back there,” Professor Fig quickly stated, not knowing if Egnar had overheard their conversation or if he was aligned with the guard.

“He watches over the oldest section of the bank; rarely anyone goes there anymore.”

For the remainder of the journey to the vault, no one spoke. Egnar was focused on driving the train cart. Professor Fig crossed his arms over his chest as he pondered the connection between all of the events that had occurred thus far. Coraline continued looking around the section of the large cave they were traveling through, still completely stunned by the sheer size of the cave system the bank resided in.

Eventually, the train cart started to slow as they approached another landing platform identical to the previous ones. Connected to the small dark metal landing platform was a short staircase down to a metal walkway that led to a large, stone circular entryway platform in front of the vault door. Coraline looked around them and was surprised not to see another landing platform or vault entrance anywhere. Clearly, all of the vaults in this section of the bank were for extremely wealthy wizards or wizards in exceedingly good standings.

“Here we are,” Egnar stated, motioning for Professor Fig and Coraline to get off first.

Thankfully, exiting the train cart was much simpler as the landing platform was directly under their dangling feet, so all they needed to do was stand up. Professor Fig promptly started walking toward the vault door once he exited the cart, with Egnar and Coraline loosely following behind him.

At first, Coraline had assumed the vault door and the entryway platform were floating due to magic; however, as she walked across the circular stone entryway platform, she realized that wasn’t the case at all. The entryway platform had been carved into one of the many towering natural stone pillars in the cave, allowing the pillar to support the vault and entryway platform.

“When was the last time this vault was accessed?” Professor Fig asked as paused near the vault door to look at their surroundings.

“A goblin has been stationed at my desk for hundreds of years. In that time, no one has visited vault number twelve until today.”

Coraline paused as Egnar spoke to trace the columns that had been placed around the circular entryway platform, all the way up to the natural rock formations hanging down from the top of the cave system. Looking back down to the entryway platform around her, Coraline was unsurprised by the slight deterioration and broken stone of the large stone walls built for the vault since it had been a very long time since the vault had been built.

As she made her way towards them, Coraline commented with a bright smile, “Momentous day indeed, Egnar.”

Egnar’s head quickly turned towards Coraline, eyes widening a small amount as she approached them in surprise at her callback to his comment to the guard at the previous landing platform. Even though he knew that she held no prior resentment to goblinkind due to her recent arrival to the wizarding world, he still wasn’t expecting her to understand how important their visit was to him and the previous goblins who had served at that desk, waiting for their arrival.

Once Coraline was only a few paces away from them, Egnar slid the key into the lock. They all watched as the many locks on the vault door began to disengage one at a time until the door swung open with a defining click.

“Vault number twelve,” Egnar stated as he stepped away from the opening to the vault, gesturing towards the door with his arm.

“Thank you for your help,” Professor Fig stated with a very small bow and a nod to Egnar before he stepped into the long, narrow vault.

Professor Fig immediately started examining the contents of the vault as he waited for Coraline to join him inside. Coraline stopped directly across from Egnar and bent at her waist to drop into a deep bow similar to the one Egnar had given them upon their arrival.

“Thank you for your assistance and knowledge, Egnar.”

Egnar’s mouth parted in complete surprise at her words and bow, but he quickly gave a toothy grin and bowed back at her. She nodded to him once more with a bright smile as she stepped into the vault, starting to look around it as well.

The vault's interior was relatively simple looking, which surprised Coraline. After the intricate style of architecture from the ruins, she expected the inside of the vault to be much more grand. Instead, the vault’s interior was primarily rough gray stone, a simple cobblestone floor, and the natural rock formations covering the entire ceiling.

The only detailed part of the vault was the brass vault door and stone blocks surrounding the door; however, that was included with each of the vaults, so it was nothing special. The vault had a long narrow corridor with 3 separate stone bookcases on the walls of both long sides, yet all of the shelves were relatively empty, only containing several unassuming goblets and small bunches of lit candles scattered on some of the shelves.

“What do you suppose we should look for?” Coraline questioned with furrowed eyebrows as she looked around the vault.

Professor Fig turned, looking back toward Coraline and Egnar, “I’m not sure; Egnar, I wonder if you might -”

Egnar was quick to interrupt Professor Fig’s train of thought, “The instructions for vault number twelve indicate that I am to grant access to the holder of the key, then close the door.”

Coraline had turned toward Egnar as he spoke, which allowed her to catch the small nod Egnar gave in her direction. Egnar swished his hand, causing the vault door to close quickly, and then re-engaged the locks. Professor Fig attempted to reach the door before it closed; however, it closed too quickly.

Egnar’s muffled voice came through the vault door, “Best of luck to you both.”

Professor Fig took a deep breath before sighing as Coraline turned back around toward him.

“Professor?” Coraline questioned with slight panic creeping into her voice.

“That was certainly unexpected,” he muttered lowly in a tone Coraline didn’t recognize, though she could still perfectly hear him.

Coraline blinked rapidly at his words as she tried to determine whether it was worth making a slightly snarky comment but quickly realized that her fear of staying trapped in the vault was overruling the rational side of her brain. So instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself in order for her to think rationally enough to help them get out of there. To her bewilderment, he didn’t seem entirely fazed by their predicament, which was strange considering his earlier reaction to the dragon attack.

“There must be something here, even if we can’t see it,” Professor Fig stated as he lightly rested his hands on his hips, thinking, “Ah, of course! The perfect opportunity to teach you the revealing charm, Revelio.”

He pulled his wand out from his coat pocket and motioned for Coraline to do the same. She quickly did so as she moved to stand next to him.

“Let’s see what we’re missing, shall we? Copy my wand movement, then say the incantation, Revelio.”

Coraline nodded and watched as he made a small, half-arching movement in front of himself, moving his wand from a horizontal position to a vertical one. After he demonstrated, he gestured at her to copy the wand movement. Once she did the wand movement correctly, he nodded for her to give it a try.

She took a deep breath and then said, “Alright, here goes. Revelio!”

From her wand burst a transparent light blue force field, quickly expanding outward. She smiled brightly at the success of the spell before noting a subtle gold shimmer that seemed to move across the entire wall of the other side of the vault like a wave before disappearing. She gasped quietly, then extended her arm out to point at the wall with her wand as she spoke.

“There! I saw something shimmer on that wall ahead of us!”

Professor Fig briefly smiled at her excitement for successfully casting the spell before returning to a more relaxed expression as he continued.

“Move a bit closer and try again. Your casting of Revelio won’t reveal anything too far out for now. But, as you get stronger with the spell, as well as your spell casting in general, your spell will become more powerful, allowing you to reveal more at a further distance.”

Coraline nodded as they stepped closer to the wall and took another deep breath.
“Revelio!”

The light blue force field burst outward from her wand once again, immediately passing through the wall in front of them, revealing a large enchanting archway with a smaller door inside it. The door itself was made of teal and gold marble that looked like waves going across it, with gold metal strips running down from the top of the door to the bottom.

Around the door and inside the archway were intricate gold metal patterns with swirls and triangles. The trim of the archway itself was made out of stone, allowing it to easily blend into the wall beside it to create a stunning addition to the relatively simple vault interior.

“Well, that’s a start. There’s that symbol again. I don’t suppose you see a way to…” Professor Fig trailed off as they walked up to the door till they were only an arm’s length away, unsure of how to word what he was trying to say.

“This symbol is glowing as well, just like on the portkey container and in the enchanted stone at the ruins,” she stated and turned her head toward him.

“If what you can see reveals the way forward, then I daresay we are about to discover the secret of this vault! Lead the way, Miss Evans.”

Coraline reached her hand out to the symbol in the middle of the doors and hesitated as a quick wave of deja vu washed over her before disappearing without a trace. She took a deep breath to gather her courage and pressed her palm flat against the glowing symbol.

Chapter Text

Pitch-black darkness. Neither Professor Fig nor Coraline had expected the glowing symbol to plunge their surroundings into darkness upon activation. Coraline gasped lightly as she felt the cool metal sensation from the glowing symbol disappear into dust, causing her hand to slip forward through what had previously been the door.

“Lumos!” Professor Fig immediately stated, causing the tip of his wand to burst with light allowing them to see their surroundings.

Gone was the small, narrow corridor from the vault, having been replaced with an expansive room far beyond what they could see with the light from Professor Fig’s wand. White stone columns so tall that they couldn’t see the tops of them were all symmetrically placed a few meters apart, giving no clues as to where they would need to go.

“Hmm. This is no ordinary vault. I suspect we will need to earn our way out of here.”

“What do you mean, ‘earn’ our way out? Do you think this is some test?” Coraline questioned as she turned to face him.

“I do, but to what end, I can’t say,” he paused for a moment, thinking.

“You should cast Lumos as well. It’s a fairly easy spell but extremely helpful in situations like this. Do a small, gently flick with your wand pointed upwards with the incantation Lumos to cast it.”

She nodded and gently flicked her wand, “Lumos!”

The tip of her wand burst with light, immediately chasing away some of the shadows around them, allowing a bit more visibility with their surroundings. She gasped softly in excitement at the spell casting properly.

“Perfectly executed, Miss Evans. When you want to extinguish the light, you can gently flick your wand again with the incantation, Nox, or cast another spell. Now, stay close. There will be no disapparating if things go poorly.”

Professor Fig did a small circle around himself; with all of the stone columns identically looking, he was unsure which way to go.

“Revelio!” Coraline swished her wand again, extinguishing the light that was coming out and replacing it with the transparent light blue force field of the revealing charm. It passed through several of the columns surrounding them but did not reveal anything that would help them determine the way forward.

“Hmm. That was a good try, though I doubt the maker of this place would allow it to be that easy to progress.”

“Eh. It was still worth trying, just in case. Lumos!”

Eventually, they just started walking in a random direction, hoping they were going the right way. Neither of them was sure how long they had been walking until Coraline spotted bright white magic swirling up from the floor several paces ahead of them.

“I see something up ahead!” She briefly pointed toward it with her wand before raising her wand back up and walking toward the swirling magic.

Professor Fig scanned the room around them, confused as he didn’t see anything, “What is it?”

“That white glow again, but on the floor this time,” she said slowly, confusion heavily lacing her voice.

He followed behind her as she led the way to the swirling magic that was brightly glowing white, arriving in a circular area without any columns. She paused upon reaching the small puddle of swirling magic on the ground, staying a few steps away from it, unsure what to do. Professor Fig could only watch as she attempted to figure out what to do next since he still couldn’t see what she was looking at, despite standing directly beside it.

Finally, she decided to step onto the small puddle of swirling magic, watching as the magic changed to swirl around her figure instead. Without even thinking, her body leaned over, pointing her wand to the ground, and then quickly moved to point her wand at the ceiling. The swirling magic followed her wand without hesitation and exploded into the air around them with a bright white glow, similar to the blue force field from the revealing charm.

Coraline immediately dropped to one knee as soon as the magic exploded into the air, having been caught off guard by the unfamiliar power that flowed through her. The white glow disappeared, causing the room to go dark once more. However, this time it wasn’t complete darkness as the enchanted stone from the ruins suddenly covered the ground below them and gave off a soft blue glow.

“Lumos!” Professor Fig looked around their changed surroundings until noticing Coraline hunched over on one knee, “What happened?”

“The magic started to swirl around me, and it’s like my body just knew what to do, pulling the magic from the ground, through me, and into the air.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, sir. I’m fine.” She stated as she stood up, finally observing their changed surroundings.

“You seem to have caused the floor to change to that enchanted stone from the ruins,” Professor Fig stated as he started at the lightly glowing dark blue stone below them.

“That statue-” Coraline started to question, pointing her wand toward the distorted image of what she assumed to be a white stone statue.

Professor Fig looked around again, trying to locate the statue she was seeing, “What statue?”

Unknowingly, Professor Fig stood directly in front of the distorted image of the statue with his wand still glowing from the illumination charm. The light from his wand caused the statue’s armor to give off a faint light blue glow.

“I see some sort of statue, but only as a distorted image on the floor.”

She stared at the distorted image of the statue for another moment before realizing that it wasn’t just a distorted image but rather a reflection of a statue they couldn’t see yet.

“Revelio!”

Suddenly a statue identical to the distorted one on the floor appeared in front of them, above ground. The white stone statue seemed to be of a warrior knight as the stone heavily resembled a full armor set, complete with a long sword. The statue rested on one knee, its back slightly hunched as its arms reached above its head so the hands could tightly grasp the sword's hilt. With the sword’s hilt above its head, the blade was aimed straight down, and the tip of the blade barely rested on the floor.

Coraline gave a small chuckle and stated slightly in amusement, “Well, that time it worked.”

“I presume this is what you saw reflected in the floor?” Professor Fig smiled with slight amusement lacing his voice.

“It is. The reflection is still there, but the position doesn’t match the above-ground statue.” They both began to walk around the statue, examining it slowly for clues, with Professor Fig still providing light from his wand.

Immediately, Coraline threw her hands up in surprise, “Wait! When you moved, the reflection turned toward the light!”

Professor Fig immediately stopped moving and weighed the possible outcomes of what could possibly come next.

“I’ll let you line the statues then. But first, I think it is important that I teach you a couple of basic defensive spells since we don’t know what will happen,” he paused momentarily.

Coraline gave a curt nod in understanding.

Professor Fig continued, “Good. I shall teach you the protection charm, Protego, and the stunning spell, Stupefy. Let’s start with Protego.”

Coraline nodded once more as she moved to stand beside him to copy his movements better. Exactly as he said, the protection charm’s wand movement was quite simple, only requiring the wand to be flicked downward while held across the caster’s body. He nodded once he saw her correctly copy his wand movement before continuing his lesson.

“Now, remember that the protection charm won’t block all incoming attacks; it doesn’t make you invincible. There are still many attacks that can break through shields; I won’t get into that now, as that's a much longer lesson.”

She flicked her wand downwards in front of her chest, “Protego!” A transparent purple bubble-like force field instantly appeared around her, shimmering with magic.

“Excellent job, Miss Evans. The stunning spell, Stupefy, temporarily incapacitates your opponent, allowing you to attack them more easily. It’s also very helpful in managing enemies if a group attacks you.”

Professor Fig showed Coraline the wand movement of the stunning spell and how to easily transition from the protection charm to the stunning spell. They could only practice the wand movements for now, but Professor Fig felt more confident in Coraline’s ability to defend herself should things go downhill.

He gave a small sigh of relief before nodding in her direction, “Your lead, Miss Evans.”

She nodded, “Lumos!”

Coraline walked around the statue with her wand glowing and lined up the swords on both statues so it could become the perfect reflection. A bright white glowing line appeared on the ground from the tip of the sword toward her and extended far beyond what she could see. Slowly the statue rose from its original position on its knee to a full standing position.

“That defensive magic lesson was well-timed, Professor!” Coraline exclaimed as she watched the statue lift the sword in its hands before lowering it back to the ground with a tap.

Immediately, bright blue magic started swirling about, causing the braziers on the columns on the outside of the circular area they were in to ignite with a bright white flame. As the braziers flickered to life, a swirling force field of pure white magic expanded from the columns creating a circular arena that they were now trapped in. Several more stone statues, like the one they just interacted with, began dropping into the circular ring, each landing with a loud echoing thud. All of the new statues stood up in sync and began advancing toward Professor Fig and Coraline.

Professor Fig sprung into action immediately, easily throwing offensive spell after spell to destroy the statues as they approached him. Coraline stood there stunned for a moment, watching him as he fought them, and immediately couldn’t wait till she would be able to fight like that herself. Her gaze was pulled away from his fight, however, as several statues started advancing toward her. She quickly cast the protection charm as one of the statues raised its sword above its head to attack her, causing the sword to harmlessly bounce off her glowing purple shield. As the statue faltered at her counter, she clumsily dropped and rolled out of the way as another statue moved to attack her previous position. More statues continued dropping into the ring to replace each one Professor Fig destroyed, causing Coraline to switch to a more offensive strategy to help destroy the statues.

Despite not knowing any offensive spells, Coraline was quickly able to hold her own as she easily transitioned between the stunning spell, protection charm, and basic cast to keep herself safe but still destroy the statues. The entire battle was a whirlwind for Coraline as she stopped trying to overthink the spells and started acting on instinct.

Once Coraline sent a basic cast at the last remaining statue, causing it to shatter and disappear from the ring, the pure white magic creating the force field started to swirl violently. Several braziers’ flames were extinguished from the violently swirling magic, causing the circular ring to slowly get darker and darker with each one that blew out.

“Stay close!” Professor Fig yelled over the roar of the swirling magic. Coraline moved to stand beside him, both of their wands out, ready for whatever was coming next.

Suddenly, the magic imploded in on itself, snuffing out all of the light, leaving complete darkness once more, and the roar from the swirling magic reduced till it was eerily quiet. The rapid pounding of her own heart and quick breaths from the adrenaline of the battle were all that Coraline could hear.

“Professor! Lumos!” She looked around at her surroundings wide-eyed, not seeing Professor Fig anywhere, “Professor, where are you? This isn’t good.”

The circular arena of sorts that they had just been in had been replaced with the seemingly endless rows of white stone columns in every direction. Coraline didn’t even bother casting the revealing charm just yet, knowing it wouldn’t give any clues about where she needed to go.

“Where am I supposed to go?” She whispered to herself as she started slowly walking in a random direction, with her wand raised so she could see where she was going.

A few moments later, she noticed that with each step that she took, the ground underneath each foot rippled with swirling magic, as though she had stepped in a puddle of water after a rainstorm. As she continued walking, the swirling puddles of magic started to give off small white glowing sparks that traveled a few meters away from her to her right before disappearing.

Coraline’s eyes widened, “They’re leading me somewhere.”

She immediately changed directions to follow the wisps, even picking up her pace slightly to get where the wisps wanted her to go sooner. Eventually, off in the distance, she saw the same swirling magic coming from the floor she had seen last time.

“Ah. So that’s where they’re leading me. That glow again.”

Coraline reached the swirling magic, this time not hesitating as she stepped into the middle of the larger puddle of swirling magic and pulled the magic from the floor into the air with a burst of bright white light. She stayed standing upright after interacting with the swirling magic, as she was starting to become adjusted to the sensation of the magic flowing through her. The enchanted stone spread over the ground once more and gave off the same faint blue glow. She quickly noted that instead of only one reflection of a statue, there were 3 of them spread out in the shape of an arrow.

“Revelio!”

The three statues immediately appeared above ground in the kneeling position with their swords pointed downward in front of them.

“This will certainly be a challenge,” Coraline whispered to herself as she took a deep breath.
Once she had her thoughts together, she stated, “Lumos!”

The reflections immediately snapped to face the direction of the light from her wand, and Coraline adjusted her position to stand in front of the statues, facing the swords. She remembered from the previous statue that once the statue had properly aligned with the reflection, a bright glowing line appeared on the ground. Looking back down at the reflections, she realized that all three statues had followed the light from her wand together, meaning they all needed to be lined up simultaneously. She quickly moved directly in front of one of the statues, causing it to align and create a glowing light in a straight line on the ground.

Coraline walked along the glowing line away from the statue until suddenly, two more glowing lines intersected with the one she had been following. She turned back toward the statues to watch as they rose from their kneeling position and tapped the swords to the ground simultaneously. She swished her wand in hand lightly as she readied herself for a fight with an unknown amount of statues. The swirling magic exploded outward, lighting the braziers surrounding her and creating the force field to trap her in the circular ring.

“Well, this is certainly one way to get a hands-on last-minute crash course in magic before getting to Hogwarts,” she said with a chuckle and a slight smirk as the first statue advanced towards her.

Like the previous fight, Coraline easily transitioned between the two defensive spells she knew with the basic cast, allowing her to skillfully manage the multiple waves of statues that dropped into the ring, to the point that she lost count of how many she had fought already. Exactly as Professor Fig said, the more she cast the spells, the more comfortable she became with them, almost becoming second nature.

She hit the last remaining statue with a powerful basic cast, shattering it to smithereens before the remains disappeared completely. The swirling magic surrounding her in the force field intensified once more, causing all of the braziers to extinguish as the wind roared and the magic of the force field blurred. The only light source came from the swirling magic as it glowed brilliant bright white until it imploded with a pop, plunging the room into complete darkness and silence yet again.

“Seriously? Again? I hope Professor Fig is alright. Lumos!” She muttered under her breath.

With a heavy sigh from her exhaustion slowly building, Coraline started walking in a random direction, not even bothering to really study her surroundings, knowing they would be the same as before. After a few meters, the ground below her began to ripple and produce glowing white wisps that flew off to her left. She changed directions to follow the wisps and picked up her pace till she located a bright white glow off in the distance.

As Coraline reached the source of the bright white glow, her head tilted to the side in confusion at the presence of a different type of statue a couple of meters behind the swirling magic puddle on the ground. Unlike the armored statues she had battled earlier, this statue bore a close resemblance to the fire-like symbol she had seen several times by this point.

Several light blue strands of stone sculpted like swirls starting from the ground and rising up several meters with a soft white glow illuminating each of the strands of stone. Coraline hesitated before stepping into the puddle of swirling magic, concerned the swirling statue would turn into another statue to fight, but ultimately decided to just get it over with. She pulled the swirling magic from the ground and directed it into the air, exploding with bright white light.

Instead of another statue to fight, the swirling statue instantly melted into a liquid that fell down to the floor before rising to create a stone archway. The stone archway was nearly identical to the archway at the beginning of the vault, the only exception being no double doors inside the archway. Coraline stepped up to the archway, examining the grand room that appeared on the other side of the archway. Before she went through, she briefly looked to the side of the archway and quickly did a double-take upon realizing there was nothing behind the archway.

She looked back and forth between looking through the archway at the slightly muddled view of a grand room and to the side of the archway where she could only see the other side of the room she was currently standing in.

“Whoa, that’s cool.” Coraline breathed out before finally stepping through the archway into the grand room.

Coraline’s eyes widened as her jaw dropped in surprise as she took in the full view of the grand room. The entire room seemed to have a dark blue glow to it, which made it slightly harder to see all of the intricate details around the room. Despite the lower visibility, Coraline was still able to identify that the room was circular but easily several times larger than the small circular areas where she had fought the statues.

The room itself was made from the same dark swirling teal marble that the hidden doorway in the vault was made from. At each of the corners, where the walls connected to give the room its circular shape, were towering teal marble columns that gave the appearance of swirling magic. In addition to the marble columns surrounding the edge of the room, there were several small free-standing golden metal braziers placed against the walls.

Coraline cautiously moved further into the grand room on high alert for the possibility of danger from more statues. She wasn’t entirely trusting of the possibility that there weren’t statues ready to attack her just because she couldn’t see any just yet. She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should cast the revealing charm. But at the same time, she knew that if there really was a threat in the room with her, she wanted to be aware of its presence sooner than later.

“Revelio!”

Her eyes darted around the room as she watched the transparent force field expand outward from her and let out a sigh of relief when nothing suddenly appeared. She continued looking around the room as moved a bit further into the room and continued to marvel at the stunning architecture around her. Now that she was further into the room, she noticed the light from the braziers around the outskirts of the room illuminated the gold accents around the room. The gold seemed to twinkle as the fire danced inside the brazier, which only added to the almost ethereal effect that the room had.

Eventually, Coraline dragged her attention away from the details on the edges of the room and focused on what she needed to do next to advance further to find Professor Fig. She blinked rapidly in surprise as she realized there had been a slightly raised circular platform in the center of the room that she had somehow completely missed. Coraline approached the platform and cautiously moved toward the strangely shaped stone fixture at the center of the platform.

“What’s this?”

Coraline’s grip around her wand tightened subconsciously as she crossed the platform to stand next to it and realized it was just a simple stone basin filled with a cloudy liquid. Floating above the basin was a small silver object with intricate designs that closely resembled the design of a locket. She looked around the room again, checking for any other options to progress through the room, before finally reaching up to grab the floating locket with her left hand.

Instantly, a loud thudding sound of something moving echoed through the grand room, causing Coraline to whip around with her wand raised, trying to locate the source of the sound. She let out a small sigh of relief upon seeing the same set of doors from the beginning of the vault opening to reveal Professor Fig.

“There you are, Miss Evans! How did you... What is this place?” Professor Fig stated as he walked into the grand room, slowly spinning around himself to examine all of the architecture.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I found this locket floating above that - basin,” Coraline stated as she lifted her left hand a little to show Professor Fig the locket as he approached her.

“That is no mere basin. That’s a Pensieve for viewing memories,” Professor Fig stated as he stepped up onto the platform and moved to stand beside Coraline.

Without looking away from the Pensieve as he studied it, he tucked his wand into his inner coat pocket to free his hand. Coraline tucked her’s into her coat pocket as well, knowing that if the professor felt comfortable enough to put his wand away, they were in no immediate danger.

Moments after she tucked her wand away, Professor Fig briefly turned his head to look at the locket still in Coraline’s grasp before looking back at the Pensieve.

“I wonder...” Professor Fig muttered as he moved his hand toward Coraline with a questioning look.

Coraline immediately passed the locket into his hands, allowing him to fully examine the object for the first time. He didn’t observe it long before pulling the cap on top off and pouring the contents into the cloudy, swirling liquid of the Pensieve.

“Follow my lead.”

Professor Fig took a breath as he gripped the sides of the Pensieve before lowering his face into the cloudy liquid. Coraline hesitated to put her face into the Pensieve, not entirely certain how she would be able to breathe with her face in the liquid, but ultimately, followed the professor’s lead by lowering her face into the cloudy liquid.

~~~~~

Professor Fig and Coraline watched as an elderly white man with a long gray beard in floor-length dark blue robes suddenly appeared. The man had his right arm raised above his head, swishing his wand around himself, causing many decorative structures to rise from the ground with the same bright white glow Coraline was used to seeing. Both of them were stunned by the elderly man’s ease in creating the decorative structures to form the stunning architecture of the room they were in. Their view paned outwards to reveal another man with his arm above his head, swishing his wand while wearing a poofy red and gold long-sleeved tunic, hat, and floor-length cape.

Once everything matched the architecture of the room Professor Fig and Coraline were standing in, the second man tucked his wand into a pocket hidden on the side of his pants.

“All is in place.” The second man stated.

“The portkey is well hidden?” The first man responded as they both slowly walked towards the Pensieve basin in the middle of the room, stopping on opposite sides.

“Perhaps too well. I wonder if the path we’ve created -”

The first man quickly interrupted as he had similar thoughts, “May be impossible to follow? It will only be impossible for one who cannot see traces of ancient magic - as I can.”

“Your ability to see what others cannot see, will not be enough, Percival,” He paused for a moment before continuing, “We are entrusting the one who embarks on this path with powerful secrets, with knowledge that others will do anything to obtain.”

The first man, now known as Percival, continued, “Yes, and if we are correct, Charles, the witch or wizard who completes the trials, will have proven themselves worthy of that knowledge and the responsibility accompanying it.”

“We’ve done all that we can.” The second man, Charles, stated with a sigh.

Percival reached his arm up to point his wand at his temple. As he pulled his wand away, a string of bright white light followed it until the string of light fully separated from his temple. He lowered his wand and directed the light string into the top of the silver locket Coraline had found. The view zoomed out quickly and then completely disappeared as the memory ended.

~~~~~

Professor Fig and Coraline quickly pulled their heads away from the Pensieve once the memory ended. Coraline raised her hands to her face, prepared to wipe the liquid off her face, only to discover her face was completely dry as if she never put her face in the liquid.

“That’s what you’re seeing? That glow that surrounded them?” Professor Fig stated as he slowly moved to stand next to Coraline.

“Yes, sir.”

“Astonishing.”

“Can I see magic?”

“Traces of an ancient magic, to be precise. The magic that Miriam had always believed existed but could never -” he trailed off as he started to pace, deep in thought, “Miriam, and perhaps George, died in pursuit of knowledge that has been dormant for centuries. And you, it seems, are the key to understanding what. We would -”

Professor Fig cut himself off once more as they heard banging noises from the door he had entered before they viewed the memory. As the banging noises continued, they started hearing muffled talking that slowly became louder and clearer.

“It all looked rather different than it did a moment ago.”

Coraline’s gaze snapped towards the door, immediately recognizing the muffled voice through the door as Egnar’s, despite the little time spent with him.

Professor Fig motioned with his hands for Coraline to stay where she stood next to the Pensieve as he slowly walked to stand in front of her. He quickly tucked the locket into the pocket on the inside of his coat as he continued taking a few steps forward.

“Someone’s coming,” he stated in a low, grim voice.

A muffled second voice was heard through the door, “Who were they?”

“I don’t know. But sir - you shouldn’t be in here,” Egnar’s muffled voice came through the door once more before it opened with a loud bang.

Four goblins walked into the room. The one in front leading the group had bright red eyes and wore black metal armor with intricate carvings that Coraline couldn’t make out due to their distance. To the lead goblin’s right walked the guard of the lower vaults with the glowing red armband from earlier. Behind the guard was a goblin wearing standard clothing and a much smaller amount of the same black metal armor the lead goblin wore. Lastly, on the lead goblin’s left walked Egnar, slightly hunched over and noticeably nervous of the other goblins he walked in with. The group of goblins walked into the room, stopping a few paces away from the raised circular platform Professor Fig and Coraline stood on.

The lead goblin spoke with a deep, gruff voice, “I was right.”

Professor Fig immediately took a couple of steps towards the edge of the raised platform, disdain heavy in his voice, “Ranrok.”

Coraline’s eyes widened in realization; the lead goblin was the one from the front of the newspaper Mr. Osric had shown them in the carriage. She also quickly took a couple of steps forward to stand a little closer to Professor Fig.

“Seems my reputation precedes me. I was beginning to think no one would ever visit Rackham’s vault,” Ranrok drawled as he took a couple more small steps toward them.

“And why are you here?” Professor Fig stated in a confident, threatening voice as he pulled out his wand, aiming it at Ranrok. Coraline quickly drew her wand as well, but in a much less confident manner than Professor Fig did.

Ranrok held up his hand in a clear dismissive gesture, “No need for that. Just give me whatever it is you found here, and we can let bygones be bygones.”

Professor Fig’s grip on his wand tightened, causing Coraline to worry about the events that might unfold. However, her gaze quickly shifted to Egnar as she watched him put his hand on Ranrok’s shoulder before speaking.

“Sir,” Egnar gestured towards Professor Fig and Coraline giving a small nervous chuckle, “They had the key to the vault.”

Ranrok’s head turned slightly towards Egnar as he spoke, causing Egnar to flinch and step back as he finished speaking.

“Choose your next words wisely,” Ranrok drawled as his anger clearly rose.

Egnar stammered for a moment before continuing, “- I only mean that the instructions for vault number twelve were quite clear,” he paused for another moment, eyes briefly darting towards Coraline, “Sir, I must insist. I was only to grant access to the one with the key, and you didn’t have -”

Ranrok interrupted Egnar with a very impatient and angry face, growling as he lifted his arm, causing his armor to glow a deep red. Egnar was lifted into the air with Ranrok’s arm and then thrown to the ground with a sickening crack as Ranrok dropped his arm. A small horrified squeak slipped out of Coraline as Egnar fell to the ground, and her empty left hand covered her mouth as tears prickled her eyes. She just stared at Egnar’s lifeless body laying on the floor with wide eyes as she attempted to fight back the tears and return to a more composed state.

“I have no patience for traitors. Now, where were we?” He stated firmly, turning his head back towards Professor Fig and Coraline.

Professor Fig spits back with his own anger, “I’m not giving you anything.”

“Mmh. Well, perhaps your young friend here will be more helpful,” Ranrok smirked as he gestured toward Coraline.

Coraline’s gaze shifted from Egnar’s body to Ranrok, with fear starting to settle into her bones as she tightened her grip around her wand once more and willed her hand to stop shaking. Professor Fig did a small side glance back at Coraline before turning back to face Ranrok again, seemingly weighing his available options.

Professor Fig then threw a wordless spell at Ranrok with a continuous bright red beam of magic, causing sparks to shoot off as it made contact with his armor. Professor Fig hesitated at the lack of results from the spell but held the red beam of magic at Ranrok. Ranrok responded with his own blast of red magic, which sent Professor Fig and Coraline flying into the wall on the other side of the room, rolling slightly as they landed on the floor.

Suddenly the room went completely dark as the blue glow that had caused the lower visibility was snuffed out; the only light now illuminating the room was from the braziers against the walls. The teal marble flooring of the raised circular platform shifted into a swirling liquid as an enormous stone statue emerged from the swirling liquid in a kneeling position, brandishing teal and golden metal armor that glowed bright blue with ancient magic.

Ranrok took a step back in surprise as the statue rose to its towering height of at least fifteen meters with a sword at a minimum of ten meters long. The statue immediately started using its enormous sword to attack the goblins; the goblins attempted to fight back as their armor glowed dark red from their magic use.

On the other side of the room, Professor Fig and Coraline struggled to get up from being thrown into the wall. Coraline was able to get to her feet first, immediately turning to help Professor Fig to his feet as well, as he coughed deeply. She looked up at the massive statue, scared at its sheer size compared to them, and frantically looked around the room for a way out. She spotted an archway nearby, and once Professor Fig could stand on his own, she quickly ran over to it to ensure it was truly a way out.

Back with the goblins, one of Ranrok’s spells hit the statue in the middle of its chest, causing it to falter and take a couple of steps back directly toward Professor Fig as he stood there with his wand out, dazed. Coraline reached the archway, seeing a glimpse of what appeared to be a forest, immediately knowing the archway could take them away to safety.

“Professor! I know a way out!” Coraline shouted toward him with a sweeping motion to get him to come over.

The statue bumped into the wall directly beside Professor Fig and regained its footing. Spotting Professor Fig, the statue swung its massive sword in his direction, but he easily ducked out of the way. However, the momentum behind the statue’s swing caused the sword to fully rotate, embedding itself into the pillar next to it, crumbling the pillar instantly.

“Professor!” Coraline cried out again desperately as the crumbling stone started falling around Professor Fig. With pained grunts, he quickly turned and ran to Coraline and the archway. Once he reached her, she placed a hand on his shoulder and another on the archway, porting them away from the room mere moments before a chunk of stone slammed down on their previous position.

Similar to the stone wall that had brought them from the ruins to Gringotts, when they reappeared in the forest, one of Coraline’s hands was still resting on the stone wall inside the archway. Coraline sighed in relief that they had successfully managed to away relatively unscathed.

“Are you alright, Miss Evans?”

“Fine, sir. Are you?”

“I’ll live. I’ve never seen so powerful a goblin before. He seemed wholly unaffected by my magic,” Professor Fig stated as he tucked his wand back into the pocket of his coat and took a couple of steps to check their surroundings.

Looking around at the unfamiliar forest, Coraline asked with a tired sigh, “Where did we end up this time?”

She was utterly exhausted from everything that had been happening so far that afternoon, and she just wanted to sit down for a long while as the pain from her heels was starting to take a toll on her. She really hoped that wherever they had reappeared, it didn’t require much walking to get where they needed to go next, but since they were in the middle of a forest, she doubted she would get her wish.

Professor Fig started chuckling lightly with a bright smile as he put his hands on his hips, staring in complete disbelief, “It can’t be.”

He paused briefly, turning towards Coraline before continuing, “It seems those who set up the Pensieve, the locket, and the path to both, wanted someone with your ability to end up here.”
He gestured to the lamp post a few meters in front of them at the crossroads of the dirt path they stood on.

“And where exactly is here?” Coraline questioned as she read over the signs on the lamp post, not recognizing any of the names.

Professor Fig gave Coraline a wide smile and pointed to the sign that faced the path they were walking down, “Hogsmeade Station, Miss Evans. Come. We’ve got a Sorting Ceremony to get to.”

Chapter Text

Professor Fig and Coraline walked in silence along the dirt path toward Hogsmeade Station, which Coraline was grateful for. She needed at least a little bit of silence in order to start processing everything that had happened since she first met with Professor Fig in her room at the group home. That meeting seemed like a lifetime ago by that point, it was honestly quite hard for her to believe that it had occurred just that morning. 

Eventually, the path slowly started to transition from the rough, uneven dirt they had been walking on thus far to a smooth, dark gray stone. Then, after passing through a rather thick patch of evergreen trees, Coraline was able to get her first glimpses of Hogsmeade Station. Even though it was starting to get dark, Hogsmeade Station remained brightly lit by the numerous lanterns spread throughout the area. To Coraline’s surprise, it looked exactly like the few other train stations Coraline had seen previously. Though she suspected it was a bit more upscale than typical train stations located in the middle of nowhere.

 
Located in front of the train station was a large roundabout that had a few carriages with the same dark-winged creatures that had been pulling their carriage earlier. Coraline looked over at Professor Fig in a bit of a panic as he led them toward the main entrance of the train station. She desperately hoped that Professor Fig didn’t mean for them to take a carriage from the train station to Hogwarts; she definitely didn’t think that she would be up to riding in a carriage again any time soon, if at all. A surprise dragon attack during one’s first time riding in a flying carriage certainly ruins any motivation one might have in traveling in a magical carriage ever again. 

As if he could sense her panicked glances at him, Professor Fig turned his head toward Coraline as they continued walking and was confused by the obvious panicked expression on her face. At first, he had assumed that her panic was coming from the possibility of a threat but quickly realized the issue when she briefly glanced over at the carriages before looking back at Professor Fig. 

“If it’s alright with you, Miss Evans, I was thinking we could take the Floo Network to Hogwarts. A much quicker way to get around, and we wouldn’t need to take another carriage ride.” Professor Fig stated with a small reassuring smile.

Coraline visibly relaxed at his words, letting out a small sigh of relief. She smiled and gave a small nod in agreement, glad that he didn’t call out her obvious hesitance about taking a carriage. Instead, he led her off to the side of the front entrance of Hogsmeade Station, where they came across a metal plaque with a stone bust of a woman’s face about halfway up the wall. Underneath was an inscription with the name Ignatia Wildsmith and a small metal bowl of sorts extending out from the wall with a strangely beautiful dancing green flame inside the bowl. 

“This is a floo flame location, it’s connected to a massive network of floo locations all over Wizarding Britain. We can discuss more about it at a later time, but for now, let’s get up to the castle so we hopefully don’t miss the Start-of-the-Year feast.”

“Very well, sir,” Coraline stated with a smile and a small nod. 

“For now, what you are going to do is stick your hand into the flame, and no, it won’t harm you. Floo flames aren’t actual fire; they just have the appearance of flames and give off a very low level of warmth when interacted with. So, once your hand is in the flame, you clearly say the description of where you want to go, and it will take you there,” Professor Fig laughed lightly at Coraline as her jaw dropped in surprise, and looked back and forth between him and the floo flames in complete disbelief.

“That’s incredible, Professor!”

“Indeed it is. The location to say is ‘Hogwarts Entrance Hall.’ Make sure you say it clearly so there’s no risk of accidentally ending up somewhere else. I’ll let you go first, so in case you mess up, you’re not stuck here by yourself.”

Professor Fig gestured for Coraline toward the flames and gave a small reassuring nod for encouragement. Coraline took a deep breath as she stepped closer to the flames and hesitantly reached her hand out to the flames. As her hand passed into the flames, a startled gasp escaped her, surprised but also entranced by the strange feeling of a subtle warmth surrounding her hand.
After one last brief look over at Professor Fig, Coraline said, “Hogwarts Entrance Hall.”

One second she was standing in the dark outside at Hogsmeade Station, and then the next, she was stumbling into a large, brightly lit stone room. Coraline blinked to clear the disorientation as she regained her footing. She hadn’t known what traveling by floo flames would be like, but she certainly was expecting it to be more rocky than what had happened. To her surprise, it only took a few moments before she had righted herself from all of the disorientation she had originally experienced. She was confident that after a couple more trips using the floo flames, she would definitely get better at her recovery after her arrival. 

Coraline started to look around the Entrance Hall she had arrived in; Entrance Hall was definitely an excellent name for it as it seemed to connect to many different areas. A moment later, Professor Fig appeared where she had arrived just moments previously. 

“Excellent, I see you successfully arrived at the correct location in one piece,” He chuckled lightly, causing a small smile to appear on Coraline’s face. 

“Indeed, Professor.”

“Well, Miss Evans, welcome to Hogwarts. This way to the Great Hall,” Professor Fig gestured for Coraline to follow him once more as they walked toward the giant wooden double doors off to their left. 

He continued as they walked, “Now…I need to study this locket as soon as possible, but first, I must contact the Ministry. They need to be informed about what happened to George
 and be warned about Ranrok.” 

“Professor…if you don’t mind, would you be able to find out if Mr. Todd managed to make it to safety after the dragon attack?” Coraline had hesitated at first to ask the question since there was a large possibility that it wouldn’t bring good news, but in the end, she needed to know. 

“Of course, Miss Evans. I’m positive that he was able to apparate to safety, but I will make sure for you. In the meantime, though, I ask that you keep all that happened after the dragon attack between you and me.”

Professor Fig pulled open one of the large wooden doors and gestured for Coraline to enter first. It appeared as though it was a secondary entrance room before they actually reached the Great Hall.

“Absolutely, Professor,” Coraline stated with a small nod.

Professor Fig nodded once more and walked up to the second set of giant double doors in front of them. He gently pressed his ear against the wall for a few moments before he pulled open one of the doors and poked his head through. Not long after, he pulled his head back through and moved to stand across from Coraline. 

“We somehow managed not to miss the Sorting Ceremony,” he stated as he pulled his wand out from the inner coat pocket and swished it in Coraline’s direction, “I’m no expert, but that seems more appropriate for your Sorting.”

Coraline watched in complete amazement as the outfit she had been wearing all day seemed to melt away and be replaced with what she assumed to be the Hogwarts uniform. The short tan overcoat had been replaced with a black robe that clasped in the front and extended all the way down to her ankles. Her simple skirt transformed into a dark gray woven skirt that stopped at her knees as opposed to the mid-calf length skirt she previously wore. Lastly, a matching dark gray plaid button-up vest had been added over her white blouse, and her tie adjusted colors to match the dark gray of the vest and skirt. She was stunned at the transformation of her clothes and that her being at Hogwarts was truly a reality now. However, her stunned state quickly evaporated when she realized her stockings and heels remained the same ones she had been wearing all day. 

“Wait a minute. You could have changed my heels out for some footwear a bit more practical for the locations and situations we found ourselves in?”

Professor Fig froze, certainly not expecting that kind of question, “I-uh…”

“It’s alright, Professor. I was joking…a little…so definitely don’t expect to see me wearing heels anytime in the foreseeable future,” Coraline said with a teasing smile at the professor’s reaction. 

He sighed deeply while shaking his head, “Onto more current events, prepare yourself to meet the Headmaster - Phineas Nigellus Black.”

“Wait…what?” Coraline looked at him with wide eyes as the doors to her left suddenly opened, causing them both to turn towards the doors. 

In came a tall, lean gentleman with black hair, a well-trimmed beard, and what appeared to be a permanent scowl carved into his face wearing a fitted black and green tailcoat set. Coraline briefly closed her eyes with a silent groan, immediately knowing that the Headmaster definitely wasn’t going to be a fun person to be around if his demeanor and body language held true. 

“Fig - nice of you to join us,” the Headmaster sneered, causing his scowl to somehow deepen further as he stepped closer to Professor Fig and Coraline, “ The Sorting Ceremony’s over.”

Coraline’s gaze snapped over to Professor Fig, her eyes widened slightly in fear of what was going to happen to her since she missed the ceremony. 

“There were…complications,” Professor Fig vaguely said, briefly turning his head towards Coraline at the mention of complications before returning to face the Headmaster. It was clear that he hadn’t figured out just yet how much he wanted to disclose about their journey to the castle. 

“Complications?” The Headmaster’s brows furrowed slightly, the impatience and annoyance in his voice only growing. 

“It seems the goblin problem has -” Professor Fig started to say before he was cut off. 

The Headmaster groaned, “Enough. Goblins. I’ve no time for rumors, Fig, and I’m rapidly losing whatever patience I had left.”

Professor Fig looked as if he wanted to continue talking to rebut the Headmaster’s words but instead chose to purse his lips and look down for a moment before making eye contact with the Headmaster again.

Turning towards Coraline now, the Headmaster continued, “If you’re lucky, we might still be able to get you sorted this evening.” He quickly turned and started walking back towards the doors to the Great Hall.
Professor Fig paused momentarily and watched Coraline as she started to nervously follow the Headmaster. He cleared his throat loudly to get her attention; Coraline turned around to face him.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said briefly, allowing Coraline to nod, then continue following the Headmaster into the Great Hall. 

The Headmaster’s pace was quick as he practically seemed to storm across the Hall to the other side, forcing Coraline to quicken her pace so she wasn’t left behind in the middle of the room. It didn’t help that nearly everyone in the Great Hall had turned their heads to watch their trek from the doors to the other side of the room, causing Coraline to falter a couple of times in her quick pace, completely unused to that many eyes on her at once.

“Professor Weasley! We’ve one more to be sorted,” the Headmaster stated before moving off to the side, seemingly uninterested in Coraline’s sorting. 

Coraline hesitantly climbed the three short steps up onto the small circular section of the raised platform that stretched to the wall opposite the grand doors she had just entered through. In the center of the circular section of the platform sat a single, simple wooden stool. Surrounding the stool, on the outer parts of the platform, were tables configured in a U-shaped pattern around the circular section, with a few handfuls of teachers seated behind it.

“Welcome, Miss Evans. You’re just in time. Have a seat,” Professor Weasley said with a polite smile, gesturing to the wooden stool in front of her as she gently held an old, beat-up-looking brown hat. 

Coraline took a deep breath before walking over and sitting on the stool. She watched as Professor Weasley approached her and gently placed the hat on her head. While she may have had no idea what would occur during a Sorting Ceremony, she certainly didn’t expect it to include putting a hat on top of her head; especially when the hat started talking in a low, gruff voice that seemed to bounce around inside her mind. 

“Ah yes, I’ve been expecting you. A legacy student such as yourself will draw many eyes your way once the truth comes to light. You’re a bit older than the other students I have sorted who are just starting their magical education, for I am the Sorting Hat. It will be a difficult challenge for you to catch up to the other students your age; however, I see you possess many traits that will help you down the path to greatness.”

Coraline blinked rapidly in surprise at the unfamiliar voice suddenly speaking in her head, as she couldn’t even begin to understand how that could be possible. As she started to process what the hat was saying, she quickly became even more confused as to what it meant by her being a ‘legacy student.’

The Sorting Hat chuckled deeply at her thoughts, “Not to worry, Miss....Evans, everything will become clearer in time. In addition to your challenge of catching up to the other fifth-year students, it seems you also have the challenges of learning more about the wizarding world and about yourself.” He paused momentarily, allowing Coraline to think on his words some more before continuing, “Hogwarts has much to offer a student like yourself, and what you learn in class will prepare you for challenges outside of the classroom as well. I know that you would thrive in two of the houses, but based on current affairs, I know exactly which of them I should put you in.”

Like a switch being turned off, the low, gruff voice went from bouncing around inside Coraline’s mind to shouting for everyone to hear, “Better be - RAVENCLAW!”

The rest of the students in the hall broke out in cheers upon the announcement of Coraline’s sorting, creating a shy but happy smile to appear on her face. Professor Weasley took the Sorting Hat from Coraline’s head just before she stood up, then moved forward to stand across from Coraline. She pointed her wand at Coraline’s uniform, and with a swish, her vest and tie changed from the dark gray color to dark royal blue with the addition of the Ravenclaw crest now proudly displayed on her robes.

Professor Weasley guided Coraline down to the Ravenclaw table and then gestured for her to join the small group of girls about halfway down the table who were smiling and waving her over. Professor Weasley gave her a small encouraging nod before she headed back to the front of the tall to sit at the Faculty table. Coraline nervously made her way over to the girls, barely able to take a seat to the right of a girl with black hair tied up in a bun, before the Headmaster started addressing the students.

“Majority of you are aware of the unfortunate injury on the pitch in last spring’s Quidditch final. I had originally ruled for this year’s Quidditch season to be canceled; however, I was overruled by the Hogwarts Board of Directors. This year’s Quidditch season will, regretfully, continue as planned,” Headmaster Black stated with a clear disappointed sigh. 

Cheers erupted all around the Great Hall at his words, overjoyed that the Board was successful in preventing Black from canceling Quidditch. Even though Coraline had absolutely no idea what Quidditch actually was, it had to be a good thing based on the enthusiasm of everyone present, including some of the teachers.

“With that being said!” Headmaster Black loudly exclaimed over the cheering, causing the cheers to fade to silence quickly as their attention returned to the Headmaster, “You will do well to remember that you are here to focus on your academic futures. Extracurriculars like Quidditch are a privilege and must be treated as such. Now, let the Feast commence!”

Instantly, all of the tables in the Great Hall were covered with a large variety of food dishes. Coraline’s jaw dropped as she gasped in surprise at the sudden arrival of the platters of food, plates, goblets, and cutlery perfectly laid out along the table. She had never seen so many different options for food available at once, let alone the sheer magnitude of quantity of food that was present throughout the Great Hall. The other Ravenclaws sitting around her chuckled lightly at her reaction while they began working together to serve the different food options to each other.

 
“Hello! I’m Samantha Dale, but everyone in Ravenclaw just calls me Sammie. You’re the new fifth-year, right? Welcome to Ravenclaw,” the girl to her right said with a grin as she offered a crumpet to Coraline. 

Coraline took the crumpet from Sammie’s hand and placed it on the plate in front of her before looking back up at her. Sammie’s black hair had been loosely pulled back into a low bun with a small strand of hair framing the sides of her face, and thick black eyebrows rested above her dark brown eyes.  

Coraline smiled lightly, “Yes, I’m Coraline Evans. It’s nice to meet you, Sammie. Does everyone know about me being new to Hogwarts in my fifth year?”

She nervously looked around the Great Hall, smile faltering a bit at the possibility that everyone already knew exactly who she was.

“Hmm. Yes and no. Word got out during the train ride here that there was a new student starting at Hogwarts in the fifth year with no prior magical education, but we didn’t know it was you specifically since you weren’t on the train. Sorry about that; Hogwarts is a bit of a rumor mill.”

Sammie grimaced lightly before focusing on scooping some pot roast out of the cauldron in front of her and placing it on her plate. She looked over at Coraline questioningly as she held the ladle over the cauldron. Coraline nodded and moved her plate closer to the cauldron allowing Sammie to scoop some pot roast onto her plate.

“I imagine that my absence on the train didn’t help matters either…or my late arrival to the Sorting Ceremony…” Coraline trailed off as she took a bite out of a potato, humming lightly in amazement at the rich flavor the potato gave.

“Word also got out on the train about a dragon attack of some kind on the carriage you and Professor Fig were traveling to Hogwarts in, though I’m not exactly sure how a student found out about that so quickly,” the girl with directly across from Coraline added, causing Coraline to choke lightly on her bite of food.

Coraline coughed deeply as she tried to clear her throat to breathe normally again. The girl across from Coraline grimaced apologetically at the reaction she caused her to experience.

“Oh, sorry! I should have waited to say anything till you finished your bite. My bad. I’m Robin Miller, by the way, a fifth year like yourself,” Robin said as she quickly moved to fill Coraline’s goblet with water from the available pitcher nearby before passing the goblet to her. 

Coraline took a sip and some deep breaths allowing her body to calm down enough to return to normal breaths. Once she felt stable enough, she raised her gaze and made eye contact with Robin’s amber eyes under her slightly furrowed eyebrows. Coraline took in Robin’s concerned expression across her bronze face as a strand of her umber-brown hair fell over her eyes since it was just shy of being long enough for her to tuck behind her ear. 

“No, no, it’s perfectly fine. I just wasn’t expecting people to know about it already; you just caught me off-guard, is all,” Coraline said with a small dismissing wave of her hand, hoping it would help to move on from the topic of the dragon attack, “It’s nice to meet you, Robin.”

“And I’m Devin Finch, one of the new Prefects this year. Sammie, Robin, and I will be your dormmates for the rest of your time at Hogwarts, and we’ll help make sure you get caught up knowledge-wise as fast as possible.”

Devin sat to the right of Robin with a wide smile across her fair rose-colored skin, causing her bright jade eyes to sparkle with excitement. Her dark ginger hair loosely laid down her back, so long that the ends of her hair extended past what was visible from the other side of the table.

“It’s lovely to meet all of you, and thank you for offering to help because I’m definitely not as prepared for this as I would have preferred to be,” Coraline said with a small sigh but tried to remain positive.

The rest of the feast seemed to blur together as they talked about the different foods offered during meals, the enchanted ceiling that showed the beautiful night sky in stunning detail, and they pointed out the professors and other faculty members that were seated at the head table so Coraline could start putting names to faces. They also attempted to start explaining Quidditch to her, but she got distracted by the notion that the entire game was played during broom flight, which practically blew Coraline’s mind as she tried to imagine how the game worked. 

Coraline was beyond overjoyed at how welcoming and accepting Sammie, Robin, and Devin had been since she sat down next to them. She also greatly appreciated that none of their gazes lingered or even mentioned the large scar across her face despite it being highly visible, with her hair pulled back into a loose bun. As the Feast came to a close, Headmaster Black stood up to address the students once more.

“Now, with the feast out of the way, I’m sure you all have plenty to do before classes tomorrow.” He made a slight sweeping motion with both arms, but not a single person in the Great Hall moved.

He continued in a much more forceful manner and another sweeping motion of his arms, “I said - I’m sure you all have plenty to do before classes begin tomorrow.”

The older-year students quickly started getting up from the benches and making their way out of the Great Hall while the fifth-year Prefects from each house started to gather their house’s first-year students together to lead them to their house common room. Coraline wasn’t sure what to do at first, but thankfully Devin got her attention and pointed over toward Professor Weasley.

“It looks like Professor Weasley wants to speak to you first, so she’ll most likely walk you up to the common room afterward. We’ll wait for you there so we can show you around a bit before heading down to our dorm.”

Coraline nodded her thanks to Devin and slowly maneuvered against the flow of students exiting the Great Hall until she reached Professor Weasley, standing off to the right in front of the faculty table. 
“Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Evans. It’s lovely to meet you officially. I’m -”

“Professor Weasley! Would you be so kind as to show our new student to the Ravenclaw common room?” Headmaster Black interrupted harshly, turning toward Professor Weasley for a brief moment before turning back around and heading off before she had the chance to reply. 

“I shall see to it, sir,” She stated to the Headmaster’s retreating figure before turning back to Coraline, “As I was saying, I’m Professor Weasley; a pleasure to meet you.”

Coraline smiled, “Nice to meet you as well, Professor.”

“As Deputy Headmistress, it is my distinct honor to show you to the Ravenclaw common room and tell you a bit more about life at Hogwarts. Right this way,” she gestured for Coraline to follow her as they leisurely started heading out of the Great Hall.

The majority of the other faculty members and students had already exited the Great Hall, leaving only a few groups of stragglers that moseyed their way out as they continued catching up on each other’s lives. They had made it about halfway across the hall when, suddenly, all of the platters of food and cutlery disappeared from all of the tables. Coraline’s mouth parted in surprise at the sudden display of magic; Professor Weasley looked back briefly, noticing Coraline’s facial expression, smiling and chuckling lightly. 

“All of the leftover food and dirty cutlery is taken back down to the kitchens to be cleaned and stored for future meals. You’ll get used to everything appearing and disappearing in no time, it just takes a little bit to get used to magic being embedded into everything within the Wizarding World.”

As they approached the exit to the Great Hall, Coraline had to do a double take as she realized both sets of the large double doors were fully opened, allowing everyone to easily exit the hall. They continued through the Entrance Hall; Coraline watched, fascinated, as the other students seemed to spread out in every direction from the Entrance Hall. 

“It’s quite unheard of for a student to begin their magical education as a fifth-year. It will be a bit of a challenge since you have a lot of catching up to do, but I’m certain you will make quick work of it.”

Coraline grinned, her eyes shining with excitement, “I’m looking forward to getting started with my studies.”

Professor Weasley chuckled as they entered a wide-open, brightly lit circular tower that was so tall Coraline couldn’t even hope to see how tall it actually was. The professor led her to the left side of the tower, confusing Coraline as there was nothing in front of them; in fact, the walkway seemed to stop with no railing or anything to block people from falling off the opening. However, Coraline quickly discovered why there was an opening by the sudden appearance of a stone staircase precisely connected to where the opening was.

The professor immediately started climbing the stairs at its appearance while continuing their conversation, “Spoken like a true Ravenclaw. Now, this here is the Grand Staircase Tower. As you just saw, the staircases in this tower like to change, but a staircase will always appear as soon as someone gets close enough.”

 Coraline internally groaned in frustration as she looked up the Grand Staircase tower and realized that she was in for a ton of stairs to climb up. She muttered under her breath to herself as she followed the Professor up the stairs, “I’m never wearing heels again after this.”

“There are seven main classes that all fifth-years are required to take: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic, and Astronomy. I’ve also added you to the upper year’s Flying class so you can learn how to properly fly on a broom. All that’s left is to determine your two electives.”

“I understand what you mean now, Professor, when you said it’s going to be a challenge to get caught up to my classmates.” Due to her exhaustion from the day’s events, Coraline struggled to keep up with the Professor’s quick pace up the stairs, having to constantly motivate herself to keep going so she could take off her shoes sooner.

“Indeed, you have a lot of work ahead of you; however, I am confident with the help of your dormmates, you’ll be adjusted in no time. I recommend asking them about the available electives to help you narrow down which of them you would like to take. I’ll also let them have the privilege of showing you more of the school and telling you the stories behind things.”

Coraline was quite thankful when Professor Weasley veered off the staircase to a small alcove that connected to a long, narrow corridor. She practically sighed in relief at the break from climbing up the stairs, even if they still had to keep walking an unknown distance. However, she did a quick double take when she noticed a floo flame location tucked into the corner of the overlap between the alcove and the long corridor. If she hadn’t traveled with Professor Fig via the floo network earlier from Hogsmeade Station, she probably never would have noticed it. 

“Professor, there’s more floo flame locations throughout Hogwarts?” Coraline questioned, genuinely confused as to why they were walking to the Ravenclaw common room when they could have just taken the floo network.

Professor Weasley looked back at Coraline, surprised at her knowledge of the floo network, “Professor Fig introduced you to the floo network during your travels?” 

“Yes, ma’am. We used it to get from Hogsmeade Station to the Entrance Hall quicker since we were already late to the Sorting Ceremony as it was.”

They reached the end of the corridor, and Coraline internally groaned in frustration that, once more, they needed to climb up more stairs. She really hoped that she would be allowed to use the floo flames to get around the school quicker cause she definitely didn’t think she was going to have the energy to go climbing up and down the stairs all week after everything.

“Hmm, interesting. Yes, there are several floo flame locations all across Hogwarts; however, they are restricted and require permission from a professor to be accessed. If all of the hundreds of students in attendance had access to the floo network and used it all at once, disastrous accidents would be inevitable.”

“Understood, Professor,” Coraline stated as they started climbing up the spiral staircase inside a smaller circular tower than the Grand Staircase Tower.

After a few moments of going up the stairs, Professor Weasley continued, “This is Ravenclaw Tower, home to the Ravenclaw common room and dormitories.”

Ravenclaw Tower, so far, was quite simple in design compared to the extravagant architecture she had seen throughout her travels earlier. The walls were completely bare, except for one small alcove carved into the gray stone wall, which only held a white marble bust. When they reached the top of the Tower, Coraline was surprised to see that the gray stone walls and staircase had changed to a dark brown wooden entryway. The sides of the entryway held floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with all manners of books, scrolls, and various trinkets. The focal point of the entryway was a large door situated at the top of a short wooden platform, similar to the platform in the Great Hall, that was made from a combination of wood and metal. In the center of the door was a large gold eagle statue with its head turned to the side and large wings spread wide, blocking the door from being able to be opened.

Professor Weasley gestured toward the door, “This is the Ravenclaw Doorknocker which grants access to the Ravenclaw Common Room. You must solve a riddle to enter. I won’t be of much help; I’m afraid this sort of thing has always confounded me.”

Coraline hesitantly approached the stairs up to the platform with the Doorknocker, unsure what to expect. Suddenly the head of the golden eagle statue turned toward her, asking, “Who lived longer, the ghost or the poltergeist?”

Coraline’s eyes widened in concern, unsure if her minuscule knowledge of the supernatural would help her with the riddle since she couldn’t rely on her magical knowledge.

“Hmm…a ghost or poltergeist? A non-being can never have been?” She asked, even if she wasn’t entirely confident in her answer; however, the eagle’s wings folded in front of its body, and the Doorknocker swung open. She grinned brightly at Professor Weasley in excitement at her success.

Professor Weasley chuckled lightly at Miss Evan’s response, “Well done. I’m certain your dorm mates are waiting for you in your common room to show you to your dorm. I recommend not staying up talking all night as you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Professor Weasley.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Evans. I hope you enjoy your first night at Hogwarts. Sleep well.”

Chapter Text

Coraline stepped through the wooden door into the Ravenclaw common room, immediately noting how different the architecture was outside the Ravenclaw Doorknocker and in the small entryway inside the door. A large magnificent stone eagle statue embedded into the stone of the wall in front of her took her breath away. The large stones in the wall nearest the eagle had been angled to look like the eagle’s feathers. She took a few steps into the entryway, allowing the Doorknocker to close behind her with a soft click. As the stones portraying the eagle’s feathers got farther out from the eagle’s body, the stone blocks returned to the typically horizontal pattern. 

Looking up, she was absolutely enthralled by the entryway ceiling, with the dark blue paint and the gold astronomy designs. She tore her eyes away from the ceiling and slowly walked up the winding staircase on the eagle's right to a large open circular room she assumed to be the main section of the common room. The common room was dazzling, using the perfect mixture of the dark blue, gold, and white color scheme of the Ravenclaw house. All of the architecture was a subtle blend of white stone, marble, and wood planks giving the common room an almost ethereal feeling, which was only amplified by the accents of gold filtered about. 

“Coraline!”A small feminine voice called out from across the common room, breaking Coraline from her trance of staring at all the architecture and designs. 

Coraline shook her head lightly to clear the thoughts from her head temporarily and looked around the common room for whoever called out for her. She finally spotted Devin waving her over to the couch on the far right side of the room that Robin and Sammie were resting on with her. Coraline smiled lightly and walked over to them, still gazing at the sights around her. 

“Hello again. The common room is stunning!” Coraline happily stated, causing them to beam brightly. 

Devin gave a small chuckle as she stood up to move to Coraline’s side, “We had a feeling you would absolutely love the common room, and this isn’t even the entire common room!” Coraline’s jaw dropped in surprise, and immediately looked around to see what the rest of the common room would look like. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to explore everything there is to the common rooms another time. But, for now, we’ll take you down to our dorm and show you where the bathroom is,” Devin smiled lightly, nodding her head for Coraline to follow her. 

Sammie and Robin stood up from the couch to follow them as they walked under a white, tall wooden archway. Coraline openly gaped at the change in color scheme for the wide circular room in front of them. Unlike the first part of the common room, where the architecture was primarily different white materials, this new part of the common room featured warm brown wooden architecture with a slightly different design plan. Devin, Robin, and Sammie all chuckled lightly with wide smiles at Coraline’s wonder of the common rooms. 

“The boy’s dormitories are down the staircase to the left, and the girl’s dormitories are down the staircase on the right with the two knights standing guard,” Robin said, pointing to the two sides. 

Coraline partly knitted her brows together in confusion as she looked at the knights, “Why are there knights guarding the girl’s side of the dormitories?” 

Sammie briefly explained, “It’s just an extra security measure preventing any boys from accessing the girl’s dorms. All of the houses have slightly different versions of it; ours just happens to be knights.” 

Coraline nodded slowly, understanding, and followed Sammie and Robin down the brown wooden staircase. Devin walked beside Coraline, allowing them to move like a small pack.

 
“You kind of lucked out by starting at Hogwarts in your fifth year regarding dorm locations in Ravenclaw. We only have to go down one flight of stairs to reach our dorm and then only one more flight of stairs down to reach the shared bathroom.” 

“Yup, so here’s our dorm, but we’ll go in there in a minute. First, we’ll stop at the bathroom so you can get familiarized with it a bit before getting distracted in getting our dorm set up.” Robin stated as she pointed to the door with a small gold metal plaque engraved with a large five.

They moved down another flight of stairs, arriving at the next floor with a door on both sides of the staircase. The door on the right was identical to the door to their dorm, except for the gold plaque stating third-years. The door directly next to them on the left had a small metal plaque as well, but this one had the silhouette of what she assumed to be a witch. 

Robin pushed open the door to the bathroom, revealing a massive light blue and white tiled bathroom. All four of them entered the bathroom and moved off to the side as they looked around to allow other students to access the bathroom. Coraline was stunned at the sheer size of the bathroom, but since all of the female Ravenclaws shared the same bathroom, the size did start to make sense. 

Numerous light blue toilet stalls lined the right wall, and a small handful of bathing rooms lined the left wall. Directly across from them was a sizable tiled half-circle wall jutting out from the wall, taking up a considerable amount of space in the bathroom. The rounded wall featured numerous sinks, mirrors, and lots of counter space to store personal items while using the amenities of the bathroom. 

Coraline turned to her friends with a wide smile, “I’m definitely starting to see why everyone doesn’t mind being here for schooling nine months of the year.” They all laughed with wide grins as they exited the bathroom to return to their dorm. 

“Yeah, Hogwarts really is something else,” Robin commented as they started climbing up the stairs. 

Once they got to the floor with their dorm, Devin, Robin, and Sammie moved to the side of the stairs so that Coraline would be the one to open the door and walk in first. Coraline moved to open the door, her hand resting just above the door handle when she hesitated and looked back at her dorm mates. Sammie gave her a small nod of encouragement, and that was all Coraline needed to lower her hand onto the door handle and push open the door. 

To say that Coraline was mesmerized by their dorm was a gross understatement entirely. All of her favorite parts of the common room were perfectly reflected in the architecture of the dorm room. She took a few small steps forward to allow the others to enter the room while she was stuck in a trance of pure happiness since she would be able to live in this dorm for the rest of the school year. 

The dorm room was shaped like a quarter of a circle, with the door nestled into the corner of the room to take full advantage of the room’s size. Immediately to her left was a white stone wall littered with numerous free-floating shelves and a decent-sized brown wooden table with 4 chairs. To her right, directly next to the door, was a coat rack that she assumed would be for hanging their robes, as well as four small closets, all made from the same warm brown wood from the common room. Identical to the entryway ceiling, the dorm’s ceiling was dark blue with countless gold twinkling constellations. Coraline hoped the constellations glowed once the lights turned off. 

Then there was the main focus point on the entire dorm rooms, the beautifully crafted wooden bunks for them to sleep on. In order to fully utilize all of the available space in the dorm, the beds had been organized into two sets of bunk beds that sat against the curved wall across from the door. As Coraline walked around the room a bit to look at everything, Devin, Robin, and Sammie removed their cloaks from their shoulders and hung them on the coat rack by the door. 

“The drapes on each bunk have been enchanted to be completely soundproof when closed and attached with the clasp. Allows for much more privacy if you ever need to get away from people for a bit,” Sammie stated as she walked over to the piles of trunks stacked in front of the table and pulled hers off the top of the pile. 

Devin quickly chimed into the conversation, “What Sammie is hinting at but won’t actually just say is that you could cast Sonorus on yourself and scream, and we wouldn’t be none the wiser.” 

“Speaking from experience, Sammie ?” Coraline teased with a bright smile as she looked back towards her dorm mates briefly before asking, “I’m assuming Sonorus makes your voice louder then?” 

“Basically, all Ravenclaws have done the clasped curtain scream when things get exceptionally frustrating within their first year at Hogwarts. It’s almost like a right of passage in Ravenclaw if you’ve done it, despite no one actually being able to hear the scream,” Robin stated with a proud grin as she pulled her trunk off the pile next and moved it to the side slightly so Devin could access hers. 

Devin shook her head lightly at Robin for forgetting to explain the charm too, “Sonorus is a magnifying charm that is most often used to make voices louder in Quidditch matches so everyone in the audience can hear the commentary.” 

“I see, another of those random but surprisingly helpful charms,” Coraline muttered lightly to herself but knew that the others would be able to hear her just fine. 

“Anyways, since you’re brand new to Hogwarts, you should get first dibs on what bunk and closet you want!” Sammie said excitedly, clasping her hands together. 

“Oh, okay. Um, maybe a top bunk, then? I’ve never slept on a top bunk before, so maybe that one?” Coraline nervously pointed to the top left bunk, hoping she wasn’t taking someone else’s preferred bunk. 

“That is perfect, actually! I’m the only other one out of us that likes the top bunk, so that bunk is all yours!” Robin stated excitedly and immediately moved her trunk closer to her top bunk to start unpacking. 

Coraline watched from where she awkwardly stood in the middle of the room as Devin and Sammie dragged their trunks over to the bunks they wanted. Devin took the bunk below Coraline’s, and Sammie took the bunk below Robin’s. The three of them seemed to almost waltz around each other as they moved about the room setting up the various items they had brought with them from home. 

Since Coraline didn’t have any belongings to put away, having lost everything during the dragon attack, she just removed her robe to hang it on the coat rack. She slowly removed her heels, happily sighing in relief once they were fully off, then carefully placed them under the coat rack, unsure where else to put them for the time being. Then she sat down on the plush navy blue rug and leaned back against their shared table to continue watching her dorm mates move about the room. 

Eventually, Robin and Sammie unpacked all of their belongings from their trunk, and Robin cast a charm to raise their empty trunks up into the storage space above their individual closets. Once their trunks were tucked away, Robin grabbed a change of clothes from her closet and headed towards the door before stopping to turn back towards Coraline with an eyebrow raised in confusion. 

“Coraline, don’t you want to change into some more comfortable clothes to relax in while we tell you more about Hogwarts?” Robin was genuinely confused about why Coraline had only removed her robe and heels as she sat on the floor in her full uniform. 

Coraline looked down at her lap and fidgeted with the sleeves on her blouse, “I, uh- don’t have any other clothes to change into?” 

Her dorm mates immediately paused, suddenly feeling embarrassed with themselves for forgetting that Coraline had lost all her belongings in the dragon attack on her way to the castle. Devin was the first to recover from her self-embarrassment, immediately shuffling over to the closet next to hers that they had decided to be Coraline’s. Pulling open the door to Coraline’s closet, Devin was quite relieved to see several different uniform pieces as well as a good selection of other outfits for various occasions. 

Devin turned toward Coraline with a bright smile as she opened the closet door wider for her to be able to see inside, “Seems like Professor Weasley has you very well covered with various different types of outfits. It even looks like she also got you some basic supplies for classes tomorrow.” 

Coraline stood up from the floor and walked over to the closet in disbelief, “This is all for me? But how did she know where to put all of this, especially in this closet out of the four in here?” 

“Chances are that she had the clothes put in that closet since it's the closest to the door, and the rest of us just so happened not to pick that one as our own. It’s a funny coincidence, though,” Robin stated as she looked over Coraline’s shoulder into the closet. 

“Well, go on! Grab a pair of pajamas, and we can all go up to the bathroom together then,” Sammie stated as she grabbed her own pair of pajamas. 

All four of them gathered everything they needed and headed down to the bathroom to start the process of turning in for the night. However, they had no intentions of actually going to sleep anytime soon. Once they made it back to their dorm, Robin immediately chucked her belongings into her closet and climbed up onto her bunk to organize her things on the shelves. Sammie started fussing over this potted plant she had brought from home, trying to figure out where she wanted to put it. 

Devin decided to help Coraline sort through the supplies for class so she was ready to go in the morning. They both were quite pleased to see that Professor Weasley had set Coraline up with a brown book bag, a few rolls of parchment, an inkwell, and two feather quills. Devin helped Coraline bring the supplies over to the table so she could easily add all of the supplies into the book bag. 

“Great golden gobstones!” Sammie suddenly stated, getting quite frustrated as she continued to fuss with her potted plant. By this point, Sammie had brought the plant over to the shelves attached to her bunk, directly next to the large stained glass window. 

“Golden gobstones?” Coraline questioned, looking away from her school supplies to glance over at Sammie. 

Sammie chuckled slightly as she continued fiddling with the plant’s orientation, “My own little expression. I brought this Dittany seedling from home and want him to feel cozy. Dittany is amazing, isn’t it? So much healing power in such a little plant.” 

Devin chuckled lightly as she started sorting her own book bag, “Sammie’s got a thing for plants, as you can definitely tell.” 

Sammie mocked Devin’s laugh, causing Robin to burst out laughing, almost falling over to her side from laughing so hard as she sat on her bunk. Coraline laughed as well, with a wide grin at their antics, already in love with the friendship they shared. 

Coraline slowed her laughing as she recalled her conversations with Professor Fig, “Is Dittany used in the Wiggenweld Potion?” 

“It is! Looks like someone’s been studying up on their potion making,” Sammie walked over to their table to nudge Coraline’s side as she spoke with a proud smile. 

“Actually, Professor Fig told me about Wiggenweld Potion earlier today.” 

Robin sat back upright as she worked to control her laughter, chiming in, “Of course! I heard you were studying with him before term.” 

Devin also spoke up, “He’s an enigma, Fig. He teaches about Magical Theory, yet he seems to know a lot about practical magic.” 

“I don’t know if I would exactly call it studying with him before term, but he does know a great deal about...” Coraline hesitated briefly, unsure how to say it without giving away too much, “Uh, different forms of magic.”

“I hope he was able to teach you a bit more than just Wiggenweld Potion,” Sammie commented over her shoulder. 

Coraline sighed as she looked down at the table and fiddled with one of the sleeves on her top, “No, we barely had any time to over the basics of spell-casting before our journey to Hogwarts. At the moment, all I really know is a small handful of basic spells and that Wiggenweld can heal minor injuries.”

Devin, Robin, and Sammie exchanged brief concerned glances, unsure where to start helping Coraline catch up to their level of magical knowledge. To their relief, Coraline continued rambling and provided a direction to start. 

“Oh! Professor Weasley also mentioned that I should ask you all about the different electives offered so she can finalize my schedule in the morning.” 

Devin’s face lit up at this and swiftly moved to her closet to grab some of her books before returning to the table. 

“That is the perfect place to start! Picking your electives is a critical part of figuring out what you want to do after Hogwarts.” 

Robin laughed lightly at Devin’s enthusiasm as she climbed down from her bunk and briefly stopped at her own closet to grab a couple of textbooks before moving to take a seat next to Coraline at the table. Sammie stopped fiddling with her plant to grab her own books off the shelves in her bunk and moved to sit next to Devin and across from Robin. 

“There are six options of electives for fifth years. Normally students start their electives in third year and continue building their knowledge until their O.W.L.s at the end of the fifth year,” Robin stated. 

Sammie shook her head lightly at Robin before continuing for her, “There’s Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Magical Theory, and Muggle Studies. You grew up in the muggle world, right?” 

Coraline nodded with a small inkling of where Sammie was going with this. 

“Then it’s definitely not worth your time taking Muggle Studies. Magical Theory might not be the best use of your time right now, either. Besides, you need to learn more about the wizarding world first so you stop looking like a Mooncalf gazing at the moon, at every little thing around the castle,” Sammie teased. 

While she might not know what a Mooncalf actually looked like, Coraline knew it was definitely a reference to her staring wide-eyed at every little detail of every single thing she saw. Coraline blushed as she looked back down at the table again, slightly embarrassed by her own actions. 

Devin lightly smacked Sammie’s arm with the book in her hand, giving a sharp but playful look, “Oh hush, leave the poor girl alone! We all looked like Mooncalves for at least the first month after arriving here, and we all came from wizarding families.” 

They all broke down laughing at this, holding their stomachs from laughing so hard at each other. It took several minutes to get themselves together and stop laughing enough to continue going through the different electives. 

“You’ll want to pick a subject you are genuinely interested in so it’s easier for you to focus on your studies for the subject to do well on your O.W.L.s at the end of the school year in June,” Sammie stated as she flipped open the Ancient Runes book in front of her.

Coraline furrowed her eyebrows, “O.W.L.s? Owls?” 

“Yup, Ordinary Wizarding Level exams are taken at the end of the fifth year and help to determine what classes you can take in the sixth and seventh years as well as what type of career you can pursue after Hogwarts.”  

“No pressure or anything, but fifth year is an extremely critical year in your schooling.” Robin chimed in as she leaned back to rest against the chair and brought a leg up onto the seat. 

Coraline grimaced at how busy she was going to be between catching up to her peers and studying for her O.W.L.s, “What timing on my part.”

“So Arithmancy is essentially using numbers and symbols representing those numbers to make predictions. Divination is similar as it also studies prophecies and predictions, but they decipher those from less reliable sources like tea leaves, crystal balls, and other methods,” Devin briefly explained. 

“Devin’s a bit biased since she takes Arithmancy but not Divination like I do. I also take Care of Magical Creatures, where we study about all of the different magical creatures in the wizarding world and how to take care of them, hence the name,” Robin joked with a teasing smile toward Devin before turning toward Coraline as she wrapped her arm around her leg drawing it closer to her chest to rest her chin on. 

“Ancient Runes is essentially learning to recognize the numerous different types of runes and the runes from various cultures in order to decipher their meanings. The last two electives are the ones I don’t recommend you take, Magical Theory and Muggle Studies,” Sammie stated before pausing to gauge Coraline’s reaction to the information. 

Deep in thought, with eyes somewhat widened, Coraline slowly processed all of the information she was receiving all at once. Even though she was only getting a small snippet of information about each of the electives, it was enough for her to mentally weigh the pros and cons of taking each course. 

Eventually, she asked, “Even though you don’t think I should take them, what are the last two electives about?” 

“Magical Theory focuses on understanding the history behind certain spells, such as the translation of the incantations, who created the spell, and a more in-depth look at more of the uses for the spells. Whereas Muggle Studies looks into the history of the muggle world and some the advancements they have come up with on their own.” 

Coraline slowly nodded as she retreated back into her own mind to think about the different classes. With Sammie’s recommendation of not pursuing Magical Theory or Muggle Studies, she truly only had four options to choose from. Care of Magical Creatures sounded incredibly interesting and definitely beneficial for her to learn more about that branch of the wizarding world. For her second elective, her gut was practically screaming at her to choose Ancient Runes in order to better understand the ones she would inevitably come across. 

“Care of Magical Creatures sounds like a lot of fun, and maybe Ancient Runes? Both of those sound like good classes to introduce me to more parts of the Wizarding World.” 

“Yay! Those are great choices, and you’ll have an elective with all of us then!” Sammie cheered, waving her hands lightly in excitement.

That was just the catalyst they needed to talk about all manners of sorts late into the evening and even into the early hours of the morning. It hadn’t taken any of them long to adjust to being comfortable and friendly with one another. Sammie, Robin, and Devin were beyond overjoyed to be able to add Coraline into their little group as they quickly discovered just how funny and smart she was despite the unfortunate events surrounding her arrival.

Coraline was quite slow in getting out of bed the following morning, despite her excitement about starting classes. They had done exactly what Professor Weasley had warned them not to do, stay up until the early hours of the morning talking. Even though she knew that she would definitely be quite tired throughout the day, she wouldn’t have done anything different as she got to know so much about not only her dorm mates but also Hogwarts in general. 

Out of the four of them, Devin was up the earliest to get up to the common room to help the other Ravenclaws get ready for classes to start. Robin and Sammie headed off to the Great Hall for breakfast next after Coraline encouraged them to go without her as Professor Weasley was going to escort her back to the Great Hall. 

Despite the numerous different variations of the uniform available to her, thanks to Professor Weasley, Coraline opted to just wear the same outfit that she had worn during the feast last night. She doubted they were the exact same articles of clothing she had actually worn the night before since Sammie had explained the house elves a bit and their roles around the school. She did, however, more than eagerly skip right over the heels and over to a pair of dark gray leather ankle boots, a much more practical option given the layout of the school. Coraline had been quite relieved when the other girls mentioned that they weren’t required to actually wear their robes on top of their uniforms and immediately opted to leave their robes hanging in their dorm.

After giving her uniform another quick once over in the mirror in their dorm and smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles, Coraline grabbed her book bag off the table and headed up to the common room. To her surprise, there were still a few students milling about the common room. She looked around with wide eyes and a small spin around herself, completely in awe at what the common room looked like during the day. It seemed as though the common room shined with the sunlight reflecting off the gold accents, giving the common room an almost ethereal vibe. She headed over to the side of the common she didn’t have a chance to fully explore the night before, with its dark brown wood and towering bookshelves. As she looked around, she pretended not to hear the very obvious whispers from the other Ravenclaws about her. 

“Must be...different...starting Hogwarts in your fifth year,” whispered one of the younger-looking girls who rested on a plush armchair in a small group, attempting (and failing) to take secret glances at Coraline as she walked around the room.  

“Can’t imagine starting a new school this late,” whispered another of the students.

Coraline rolled her eyes lightly at the group’s failure at subtlety and continued to pay no attention to that group, as she didn’t really care what they thought about her. She did, however, take notice of a student in the corner of the common room between one of the walls with bookshelves and the windows on the other side of the wall. He had warm brown skin and dark, onyx-colored hair that slightly fell to cover part of his face as he intently looked through the telescope in front of him; he didn’t even notice at first that Coraline had walked over to him. 

As he stepped back from the telescope to make notes on the parchment in his hand, he noticed Coraline watching him, “Why, hello! Would you like to take a look?” 

He gestured toward the telescope with a bright smile. Coraline nodded with a small smile of her own as she leaned down to look through the telescope though she wasn’t expecting to truly see anything interesting with the sun up, blocking the constellations. However, she was quickly proved wrong as she gazed at the constellation he had been studying, picking out each star of the constellation though she didn’t know what constellation it was. 

“Can’t see too much in the day. Well, except for stars like Canopus, Vega, Arcturus, and Sirius, which is the one you can see currently.” He rambled, his excitement about the constellations clearly shining through his eyes.

Coraline only smiled brighter, “It’s stunning; I had no idea that you could still see some constellations during the day with the sun up. I’m Coraline Evans, by the way, the new fifth year.” 

“I’m Amit Thakkar. It’s a pleasure to have you in Ravenclaw. Never met someone who’s been so close to a dragon before,” He gave a small, nervous chuckle as his smile dropped before looking down at the rug below him, worried she would react poorly to his comment. 

“Can’t say I recommend it, frankly,” she gave a small, awkward chuckle, causing Amit to look back up at her as she continued, “It’s nice to meet you, Amit. I take it you like Astronomy?” 
Another wide, excited smile crept onto his face as he spoke, “Oh yes! There is so much to be learned from the stars. Also, there’s something about the open air and the night sky above the tower. It’s invigorating.” 

He paused momentarily as Coraline smiled brightly at his excitement, “You will adore Astronomy. Professor Shah is incredibly knowledgeable.” 

“I look forward to taking Astronomy; it sounds very interesting.” 

“You will be enthralled with the Astronomy Tower. Plus, a quality telescope can show you things you never dreamed of.” 

“I look forward to seeing you in class then, Amit.” 

“You as well, Coraline. Oh, and speaking of class, I better get down to the Great Hall so I have enough time for breakfast and get my schedule for the year.” 

Coraline exchanged a smile and nodded to Amit as he packed up his supplies and headed out of the room. She continued to walk through the dark wooden section common room, passing the stairs that led to the dormitories before stopping, confused. A tall male student with unkempt, curly black hair, pale white skin, and dark circular glasses standing behind a grandfather clock. She started to walk up to the student to ask what he was doing when he pulled out a small brown ball from his book bag and threw the ball onto the floor between two Ravenclaw girls relaxing on a pair of armchairs. Suddenly, green gas erupted from the ball, causing them to quickly get up from their seats while waving a hand in front of their faces. 

“Eek! What is this?” 

“Ugh, someone threw a dungbomb! Let’s get out of here,” the girls quickly exited the common room after collecting their book bags. 

The student finally turned towards Coraline with a frown, “That wasn’t quite the reaction I wanted. Ah, well.” 

Coraline arched her eyebrow in confusion, “What did you even throw at them, and what did you expect would happen?” 

“A dungbomb, it's a magical stink bomb that gives off a terrible odor. I suppose I hoped it would lighten the mood. Ravenclaws can be a bit on edge for the first day of class.” 

She was even more confused now, “Setting a smelly stink bomb next to other students was your idea of a funny joke? Is that a normal occurrence in the Wizarding World?”

He opened his mouth to retort but quickly closed his mouth and shook his head lightly before changing the subject, “I’m Everett Clopton, by the way. You seem downright calm next to some of the other Ravenclaws - and you survived a rather harrowing trip here!” 

Coraline internally grimaced at the implied reference to the dragon attack, “That’s one way of putting it, I guess. I’m still a bit on edge myself and a little nervous for classes to start.” 

“You needn’t be worried. Truly, there’s no reason to be nervous. Most of the professors are firm but fair. I mean, not all of the tricks I play are as simple as a tossed dungbomb, and I’m still here.” Everett stated with a wide smile, showing clear pride in his tricks and jokes.

“Wait...did you say most of the professors are firm but fair?” 

Everett chuckled lightly and gave her a small wink, “I’ll let you figure that out for yourself. Anyway, I should wander off before someone traces that dungbomb back to me. It was nice meeting you, Coraline.” 

He grabbed his book bag off of the floor next to him and made his way out of the common room. Coraline remained standing next to the grandfather clock, her mind racing from her introductions to Amit and Everett, unsure what to make of them just yet. 

While Coraline was lost in her thoughts, a male student walked up to her with a large Prefect pin attached to his robe, “Hey there, you must be the new fifth-year Ravenclaw, right? I’m Mahendra Pehlwaan, the other Ravenclaw Prefect besides Devin.” 

Coraline jumped slightly, startled at the sudden conversation so close to her, but quickly recovered and turned to face him. “Yes, that would be me. I’m Coraline Evans. Nice to meet you, Mahendra.” 

“It's nice to meet you as well, Coraline. I just wanted to let you know that Professor Weasley is waiting for you just outside the Doorknocker. I recommend not making her wait too long.”

 
Mahendra gave Coraline a kind smile as he gestured towards the staircase off to their right that led out of the common room. Coraline nodded her thanks to him and nervously clutched her book bag as she headed down the staircase and out of the Doorknocker. Exactly as he had said, Professor Weasley was waiting off to the side of the Doorknocker to allow a better flow of traffic in and out of the common room. 

“Good morning. I trust you’re ready for your first day at Hogwarts?” Professor Weasley stated as Coraline approached with the door closing behind her. 

“I think so. I still can’t believe that attending a school dedicated to magic is my reality now,” Coraline said with a bright, excited smile.  

“Well, you are truly here, so make the most of it. You only have one first day at Hogwarts,” she paused for a moment before continuing, “Now, in light of your unique situation, joining us as a fifth-year, you’ll need to catch up with your classmates and not fall behind.”

The Doorknocker opened behind Coraline as a couple more Ravenclaw students exited the common room, prompting Professor Weasley to usher Coraline to the side a bit more while they continued talking.

“After much discussion with the Headmaster and the Department of Magical Education at the Ministry, we’ve devised something extraordinary to ensure your success,” She grabbed a thick brown book with the Hogwarts emblem engraved onto the cover off the top of a pile of books next to her, “Here you are.”

Coraline gently took the book from Professor Weasley’s hands, inspecting the cover carefully. Suddenly the metal latch on the side of the book sprung free, and the book burst open. From her surprise at the latch breaking, Coraline stopped holding the book; however, the book began floating mid-air on its own. All different types of papers flew out of the book with all different shapes and sizes, some with writing and some without. Brown sparks of magic erupted from the book as well, circling the papers that flew out until all of the papers and sparks suddenly got sucked back into the book, latching shut and landing in Coraline’s awaiting hands. 

Coraline stared at the book with wide eyes as she slowly processed the magic from it, “What is it?”

“It’s a Wizard’s Field Guide. It will help you to keep track of what you’re learning so that you master all that’s expected of a fifth-year. You would be wise to take full advantage of this exceptionally valuable resource.” Professor Weasley stated as she gently pointed a finger in the direction of the book to further emphasize its importance.

Coraline clutched the book against her chest, “Thank you, Professor. But, what do you mean it will ‘keep track’ of what I’m learning.”

“Perhaps seeing it in action will answer any questions you may have. Walk with me, and we shall put it to the test. This way.”

Professor Weasley led Coraline down the stairs of the Ravenclaw entryway, “The Guide will give you opportunities to practice your magic and educate yourself about wizarding lore. I certainly would have appreciated something like it when I was a student.”

“Do I get to keep the Field Guide as a resource, or do I only have access to it this year?” Coraline hoped that wouldn’t have to give it back at the end of the year if it was truly as helpful as Professor Weasley alluded to.

“The Field Guide is for you to keep. I imagine it will continue to be a valuable resource to you for the remainder of your time at Hogwarts, maybe even after.” Coraline gave a small relieved sigh at the Professor’s words, happy that she wouldn’t have to commit all of the contents to memory before returning it in June.

After traveling down about a flight of stairs, they stopped at a white stone bust sculpture resting on a ledge carved into the wall next to the stairs. Professor Weasley turned towards Coraline and gestured to the bust. 

“Why don’t you cast Revelio on this bust and see what details the Field Guide can provide.” Professor Weasley stated as she gave Coraline a reassuring nod.

Coraline shifted the Field Guide over to her left hand in order to pull her loaner wand out of her book bag.

“Revelio!” A Field Guide Page briefly appeared before disappearing into the Field Guide Book in Coraline’s left hand. Coraline opened the Field Guide, quickly flipped to the section for the Field Guide Pages, and read the information provided.

“Ravenclaw Bust - This bust was created in honor of Ravenclaw House and resides in the lofty Ravenclaw Tower.”

“Clever, isn’t it? Keep your eyes open for more opportunities like that, inside and outside of the castle,” Professor Weasley stated.

Coraline closed up the Field Guide and tucked both the guide and her wand into her book bag at her side before looking back up at Professor Weasley. She nodded once at Coraline, and they continued walking down the stairs of Ravenclaw Tower. 

Once they reached the bottom of the staircase and entered the narrow corridor leading to the Grand Staircase, the Professor continued, “Did your roommates help you come to a decision regarding what electives you would like to take?”

“Yes, Professor. I was hoping to take Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. They sounded the most interesting but also provided a good foundation for other important parts of the wizarding world.” Coraline glanced over at Professor Weasley with a small, nervous smile as she adjusted her grip on the strap of her book bag.

“Excellent choices. Miss Evans. I will update your class schedule before it gets passed out during Breakfast.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“You are most welcome. Now, you’re scheduled to attend both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes today. Afterward, I’d like to be sure you get to Hogsmeade to replace the supplies you lost on the way here.”

Coraline sighed lightly in relief at the news of visiting Hogsmeade, “Thank you, Professor Weasley.”

“A lot to absorb on your first day, and you have much to learn. Happily, your professors have agreed to create additional assignments for you outside of class. You’ll be up to speed in no time.”

They walked down the rest of the Grand Staircase in relative silence, allowing Coraline to have the opportunity to look around the room. All of the available space on the walls of the Grand Staircase Tower seemed to be covered in hundreds if not thousands of portraits of all sizes. The possibility of centuries' worth of knowledge contained within all of the portraits was absolutely incredible to Coraline. As they exited the Grand Staircase and entered the Entrance Hall, Professor Weasley began talking once more. 

“Judging by your adept use of Revelio earlier, I’d say Professor Fig succeeded in at least showing you the basics in the limited time you had together.”

“He did, Professor,” Coraline stated slowly, unsure where the Professor was going with this. 

“He’s been terribly vague about the events preceding your arrival - specifically, about what happened after that awful dragon attack. I suspect there’s more to the story than a search for belonging and an extended trip to the castle.”

Coraline’s fingers twitched and fiddled with the strap of the book bag, “We did take a bit of a deter on the way here in the hopes of understanding what had occurred, but beyond that, there was nothing else, Professor.”

Professor Weasley raised an eyebrow, not entirely believing that nothing else had occurred, “Hmm…Well, I presume Professor Fig has his reasons for keeping the details to himself for now.”

As if he had apparated to their location, Professor Fig appeared from the lower section of the Grand Staircase Tower and headed toward them.

“Speak of the devil,” Professor Weasley muttered lowly as he approached them before quickly switching to her regular talking voice to address his arrival, “Professor Fig, your ears must have been burning.” 

“Oh?” Professor Fig questioned, quite confused about what that had anything to do with.

“Yes,” Professor Weasley provided no more details about her comment, swiftly moving on, “You seem to have provided Miss Evans with a solid foundation in the basics of spell-casting.”

“Ah. I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit there, Professor. Miss Evans has a rare aptitude for magic, it seems.” Professor Fig turned his head to glance at Coraline as he spoke with a small, proud smile tugging on the edges of his lips.

“Hmm. Well, I’m just glad you both arrived in one piece. Perfectly good boats and carriages to Hogwarts, and you chose to fly in the path of a dragon.” Professor Weasley stated, her unwavering gaze trained on Professor Fig.

“I wouldn’t say I chose the dragon’s path Professor,” Professor Fig responded with a teasing tone, causing Coraline to have to fold her lips in order to prevent the small snicker of laughter building in her chest from escaping. The professor quickly returned to a more serious tone, allowing Coraline the opportunity to regain her composure, “Rather, unfortunately, it would seem that it chose us.”

“Very well. Enough chit-chat. I must get the students’ schedules passed out before Breakfast ends,” Professor Weasley turned back toward Coraline, “Good luck to you today, Miss Evans, and remember to use your Field Guide; it will be invaluable to you. I will also use it to keep up to date on your progress.”

“Yes, Professor,” Coraline stated with a small head nod. 

“I believe Professor Ronen is planning on giving your first assignment directly after Charms; then come to my classroom before you head to the Great Hall for lunch so we can arrange your visit to Hogsmeade this afternoon for those supplies.”

Coraline nodded once more and watched as Professor Weasley gave Professor Fig a small nod before she headed into the Great Hall. Coraline turned toward Professor Fig, smiling.  
“It’s good to see you, Professor.”

“And you. I’m glad our paths crossed this morning before you immersed yourself in your studies,” he paused briefly before continuing, “Did I hear you and Professor Weasley discussing a detour?”

Coraline sighed and refused to meet Professor Fig’s eyes, knowing that she shouldn’t have said anything, “I didn’t want to lie to her, Professor, so I just mentioned that we took a detour in order to understand what happened. I didn’t tell her anything else, though; I think she suspects we’re not being entirely forthcoming.”

“Yes, well--Professor Weasley is a brilliant and astute witch. It was right to keep the details of our detours to yourself for now. We don’t know where this path we’ve embarked upon will lead. It may require a bit more--flexibility--with your time than she would approve of. And she may feel obliged to share details with the Headmaster that would be better left between us.”

“Understood, Professor,” Coraline nodded. 

“Good. Now, as capable as you are, I believe your ability obliges you to be well-trained. Happily, you have the benefit of an exceptionally skilled team of witches and wizards to guide you.”

“I look forward to working with my professors to further my knowledge,” Coraline smiled as she released her grip on her book bag and lightly clasped her hands in front of her.

“Now, sounds like you’ve quite a day ahead of you with classes and a trip to Hogsmeade for supplies - including your own wand. You’ll enjoy Mr. Ollivander; he’s an exceptional craftsman and a good friend.”

He paused for a moment as a group of students passed them at a relatively close distance, then continued once they were far enough away, “I shall reach out when I have more information about our mysterious locket, and I did hear from Todd. He managed to escape unscathed before apparating to the Ministry of Magic, which is why everyone knew about the attack so quickly.”

Coraline let out a sigh of relief at the news of Mr. Todd being safe, extremely happy that the attack didn’t claim another casualty.

“For now, focus on your classes and pay attention. More than your O.W.L.s may hinge on the magic you are able to master within these walls.” 

“Thank you, Professor,” Coraline stated with a small nod.

Professor Fig gave Coraline one last smile and nod before heading out of the Entrance Hall, leaving Coraline standing alone as she nervously faced the large double doors leading to the Great Hall.

Chapter Text

Coraline squirmed slightly as she watched the other students filter through the doors to the Great Hall for breakfast. She was infinitely more nervous now than she was when she arrived late to the Sorting Ceremony the night before. Nevertheless, she took another deep breath and followed the other students into the Great Hall. She walked down the side of the Ravenclaw table, looking for her dorm mates until she finally spotted Devin’s long ginger hair at the end of the table closest to the Faculty table. As she approached her dorm mates, Sammie spotted her, immediately waving her over to sit beside her.

“Coraline! It's about time you were able to join us! I was beginning to get worried I would have to fifth-wheel on my own for the entire Breakfast this morning,” Sammie said with a wide grin and patted the bench area next to her. 

After sitting down in the spot next to Sammie, Coraline quickly noticed two students next to them from other houses. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she did not expect members from other houses to be sitting at the Ravenclaw table. 

From across the table, Robin saw Coraline’s confused expression, laughing lightly, “Coraline, I believe some introductions are in order,” she gestured to the dark-haired Slytherin sitting directly next to her, “This is my girlfriend, Imelda Reyes. The ginger-haired Gryffindor Mooncalf staring at Devin is her boyfriend, Garreth Weasley.”

At the mention of being a Mooncalf, all four dorm mates burst out in laughter, causing Imelda and Garreth to lean forward to look at each other, slightly confused by the four’s antics. 

A couple of moments later, the confused expression on Garreth’s face morphed into one of realization, “Oi! I am definitely not a Mooncalf!”

“Sure, lover boy, whatever you say,” Sammie teased with a bright smile as she grabbed herself another piece of toast.

Coraline’s eyebrows furrowed as she couldn’t figure out why his name was familiar until her eyes widened with intrigue as she tilted her head slightly, “Wait, Weasley? Like Professor Weasley?” 

“Yup, she’s my aunt,” Garreth responded with a small smile as he reached across the table to add a scoop of eggs to his plate. 

“What’s it like having a professor that’s your aunt? Is it weird?” Coraline asked as she surveyed the different food options around her, trying to decide what she wanted to have first.

“She tends to treat me as if I’m a first-year student and likes to keep an annoyingly close eye on me. But she means well, so it's fine.” 

Garreth shrugged, clearly used to the professor’s hovering. Coraline hummed lightly in understanding and added some eggs, toast, and fruit to her plate. 

Imelda looked Coraline up and down with a small smirk, clearly sizing her up, “So, you’re the new fifth-year. Quite a dramatic entrance during the Sorting Ceremony last night, and then you also have the dragon attack rumors. Enjoying the attention?”

It was now Coraline’s turn yet again to embody a Mooncalf at Imelda’s statement, completely caught off guard to the point she was frozen in place by the sudden questioning about the dragon attack once more. Granted, she probably should have expected the dragon attack to be a constant topic throughout the day, as a dragon attack like that rarely ever happens. However, it was definitely not an event she wanted to keep being reminded about, especially since it resulted in the death of a long time friend of Professor Fig. 

“Oh hush, love, leave the poor girl alone for at least today; she’s my friend and my dorm mate. Let her get her bearings together before you start sizing her up,” Robin shook her head at her girlfriend’s antics. 

“I wasn’t sizing her up! I was just asking -” Imelda started to try to defend herself but quickly stopped talking with a small, sheepish smile on her face after a single glance from Robin. 
Coraline began to recover from her surprise, slowly moving to continue eating the few fruit slices she had added to her plate to allow the others to sort things out themselves. 

Devin shook her head lightly as well before briefly turning toward Coraline, “Pardon Imelda, she can be a bit overbearing at first; you’ll get used to her soon enough.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, Imelda. The dragon attack was definitely not the greatest experience. I knew my arrival would receive some attention since I’m starting as fifth year with no prior magical experience. But, truthfully, I’m not entirely comfortable with all the attention my arrival has been getting.” Coraline immediately shifted her attention back down to the various fruit slices remaining on her plate, not wanting to see the result of her words on her friends’ faces.

Devin, Robin, and Sammie’s gazes softened slightly at Coraline’s words. They recalled that even last night, when they talked about her time before getting to Hogwarts, Coraline only focused on the instruction she received from Professor Fig and nothing else. Even though they had only interacted with Coraline for a few short minutes, both Garreth and Imelda could tell that there was a lot she was choosing not to say. All of them silently decided not to bring up Coraline’s travels to the school in order to allow her to share the details if and/or when she was ready. 

The tense atmosphere hanging above them quickly disappeared as they returned to their breakfast, especially when Professor Weasley arrived at their group to deliver schedules. She moved swiftly and silently as she passed out all of the parchments of schedules to their respective students. 

They eagerly took their schedules from her, and everyone in their group, except for Coraline, worked together to move all their plates and dishes away from the central area between them. Once there was a decent amount of space cleared off, they all laid down their schedules and moved with clear practiced synchronization as they figured out what classes they all had with each other.  

“Well, we all definitely have a decent amount of classes with one another, which is automatically a better start to the term than last year,” Devin smiled in relief once they all finished comparing their schedules.

Sammie looked over Coraline’s schedule and nodded as she handed it back to her, “Professor Weasley was able to put together a pretty good schedule for you; almost all of your classes have at least one of us with you.”

Coraline grinned, happy to have at least one of her friends in most of her classes to help her until she was better caught up on her magical education. 

“Well, if you guys are done eating, I think we should probably start moving toward our classes,” Devin stated as she started packing her things back into her book bag.

Robin agreed in a teasing tone, “Yeah, probably a good idea, especially since we will definitely be moving at a very leisurely pace with our little Mooncalf over here stopping to look at everything.”

Coraline gasped in fake betrayal from Robin’s teasing, “You wound me, Robin!” 

The six of them gathered their belongings and slung their book bags over their shoulders before walking toward the grand doors of the Great Hall with wide smiles on their faces. Robin, Imelda, and Coraline waved goodbye to the others once they reached the Entrance Hall to head towards the Astronomy Wing on the other side of the castle. Coraline trailed behind Robin and Imelda at a loose follow as the couple held hands, completely distracted by the wondrous sights around them. 

Coraline barely processed Robin calling out the names of the various areas they walked through before coming to a complete stop in the middle of a bridge to truly take in the scenery around them. Since she arrived at Hogwarts after it had already gotten dark, she couldn’t fully see and take in her stunning surroundings. From the captivating beauty of the enormous stone castle itself to the alluring forests of the Scottish Highlands surrounding the castle, Coraline could have sat on one of the benches on the bridge all day and not grown tired of the amazing views. 

She didn’t even realize how long she had been gazing at all the sights until Robin yelled out to her, effectively pulling her from her daze, “Oi! Mooncalf! Get a move on, or you’re gonna be late for your first class at Hogwarts!”

Coraline shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, realizing Robin and Imelda were on the other side of the bridge already, and blushed out of embarrassment. She held onto her book bag and jogged over to them with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, got distracted,” Coraline lowered her gaze from her friends, worried they would be cross with her for holding them up. 

Imelda lightly bumped her fist against Coraline’s shoulder as she smirked, “I see why the other girls kept referring to you as a Mooncalf; you certainly aren’t getting rid of that nickname anytime soon.”

Robin wrapped her arm around Coraline’s shoulders with a bright, teasing smile as they continued walking, “And that is why Devin insisted we started walking to class so soon.”
Robin left one of her arms wrapped around Coraline’s shoulders to keep her on track to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and her other hand lovingly held Imelda’s. 

Once they arrived at the Defense classroom, Coraline was immediately fixated on the enormous dragon skeleton hanging from the ceiling with its head facing the front of the classroom and the tail coiled near the exit. Despite the bones of the wings being slightly folded inward, its wingspan still covered the entire room’s width. The multiple large stained glass windows on the left wall brightly lit the room, causing the dragon skeleton to almost glow. 

Coraline’s eyes were suddenly pulled away from the dragon skeleton as Robin removed her arm from around Coraline’s shoulder, bringing her attention to the duel occurring in front of her. Down the center aisle of the classroom dueled a Gryffindor male with slicked-back ginger hair on the far side of the room and a male Slytherin with untamed dark hair closest to Coraline with his back to their group. Imelda immediately guided Robin and Coraline off to the left side of the classroom to keep them away from the flying spells of the duel. All of the other students were gathered around the dueling pair as they waited for the professor to join them and start the class.

“Stupefy!” The Slytherin yelled.

The Gryffindor responded with the protection charm, which completely blocked the Slytherin’s spell, before responding with his own stunning charm, “Stupefy!”

The Slytherin also blocked Gryffindor’s spell with a protection charm of his own before casting several more non-verbal spells in quick succession. Coraline’s jaw dropped slightly in surprise that the Slytherin boy was able to cast a spell without saying anything. The two students seemed very well matched as they continued to send almost the same spell combinations back at each other, with the only exception being the Slytherin’s ability to cast non-verbally.

“Is that all you’ve got?” The Slytherin taunted before sending a more powerful non-verbal spell.

The Gryffindor blocked the spell from hitting himself but ended up re-directing the spell up to the large creature's skull above him that was attached to the ceiling, knocking it loose. The skeleton quickly began falling down toward the Gryffindor student and, in his panic, only dropped to a crouch where he had been standing.

 Out of the upper room connected to the classroom stepped an elderly woman with light gray hair wearing a light blue dress, quickly casting, “Levioso!”

Another student to Coraline’s right cried out in surprise as the skull started floating with a purple glow less than a meter away from crushing the Gryffindor, “Professor Hecat!” 

“Perhaps you’d be good enough to blast each other to pieces on your own time. I get new students every year, but I only have one Hebridean Black skull.”

Professor Hecat spoke in a firm, no-nonsense tone as she held the charm that kept the skull hovering off the ground while she slowly walked down the stairs from the upper room, “It was a token from the Great Poacher Raid of 1878. No doubt you’ve heard of it.”

Once she reached the ground floor, she lifted the skull all the way up till the skull was reattached to the rest of the skeleton on the ceiling. Coraline, and many of the other students, took this pause in Professor Hecat’s speech to quickly find a desk so as to not get in trouble this early in the term. 

“Now, you may be asking yourself how an old woman like me single-handedly took out the largest poacher ring in eastern Wales and lived to boast about it.” She paused for a brief moment before continuing, “knowledge.”

Coraline was hung on every word that Professor Hecat said, excited by the clear wisdom and power the elderly professor possessed. By this point, only a small handful of students remained standing, including both the Gryffindor and Slytherin from the duel, who still stayed on opposite sides of the room. Professor Hecat reached the middle of the classroom and then turned back around to face all the students as she continued.

“To the wise, age matters very little. Today, we will review a spell that has saved me from death at the hands of Dark wizards more times than I care to remember: Levioso.”

The Gryffindor scoffed with obvious displeasure at their lesson for the day, “Levioso? The levitation charm?” 

“Levioso!” Professor Hecat said as she faced the Gryffindor, causing his entire body to suddenly be lifted off of the ground, “A surprised opponent is a weak opponent. Care to defend yourself, Master Prewett? No?”

Coraline snickered lightly, as did many other students, as he had been lifted about a meter off the ground with no way of defending himself despite his wand in his hand. Professor Hecat released the levitation charm allowing Prewett to drop to the ground; he quickly scurried off to a seat in the corner of the room in embarrassment. 

“One thing I’ve learned as an Unspeakable is the value of simplicity, especially in the heat of battle. Now, let's practice what we’ve just learned-starting with something small.”

Professor Hecat summoned large teal feathers onto each student's desk, motioning them to practice the levitation charm on the feather. She made her way over to Coraline’s desk with her wand out and wordlessly instructed Coraline to copy her wand movement of a simple swish and then flick. Coraline nodded once toward the professor in gratitude for not making a scene of teaching Coraline the spell, while it was clear everyone else had already learned it previously.

“Levioso!” Coraline flicked her wand, causing the same purple glow to appear as she gently lifted the feather off the desk and into the air. 

A wide grin spread across Coraline’s face in pure excitement at successfully casting the spell on her first try. She glanced over at Robin to see that her friend was also grinning proudly at Coraline’s quick progress before looking back up at Professor Hecat, who nodded at her success and then moved to walk around the room to check on the other students. 

“Now, let's try something a little larger,” Professor Hecat stated once she checked on all of the other students and summoned a training dummy to the center of the room. 

Swishing her wand again, Professor Hecat wordlessly pushed all of the desks to the sides of the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Coraline noticed a light-brown-haired male Slytherin student who was leaning against his desk until Professor Hecat moved the desks, causing him to stumble slightly.

Once all of the desks were out of the way, Professor Hecat motioned for Coraline to approach the training dummy first, “Cast Levioso first, then the Basic Cast. Remember, a surprised opponent is a weak opponent, as Master Prewett so artfully helped me demonstrate earlier.”
Snickers lightly echoed around the room at Prewett’s expense as Coraline approached the training dummy.

“Levioso!” She swished and flicked her wand, causing the training dummy to rise as she quickly flicked her wand once more, casting the Basic Cast that sent the training dummy flying across the room before crashing onto the floor. 

“Well done, Miss Evans. Miss Miller step up,” Professor Hecat stated with a small nod to Coraline before gesturing her to move to the side to allow the other students to practice.

 
Professor Hecat continued to cycle through all of the students in the class until everyone had practiced, then moved the training dummy out of the way into the corner of the classroom. Coraline stood near the front of the group of students who were crowded around the professor.

“Very good, but the best way to practice is by dueling. We’ll start with Miss Evans and Master Sallow,” she gestured to Coraline and to the dark-haired Slytherin standing next to her, “Duelists, take your marks.”

“Time for a proper Hogwarts welcome,” Sallow taunted as he walked past Coraline to take his mark at the front of the classroom, leaving Coraline to smirk lightly as she walked toward the back of the classroom. 

Both Robin and Imelda gave her encouraging smiles as she walked by, but once Coraline passed them, Imelda leaned toward Robin and whispered quietly.

“This will not go well for our little Mooncalf.”

Robin silently agreed, worried for her friend to be going against the current reigning Hogwarts dueling champion in her first-ever duel. However, Imelda’s use of “our Mooncalf” did not go unnoticed by Robin, who chuckled lightly at how fast Imelda was warming up to Coraline.

“Now I want a fair duel, using only Levioso, Protego, and the Basic Cast,” Professor Hecat stated loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear as she raised a narrow dueling platform up underneath Coraline and Sallow’s feet as they got ready.  

Coraline was caught off guard by the ground suddenly rising below her to create the dueling platform. It was covered with a dark blue cloth with gold accents that marked the sides for each duelist. Sallow moved to stand in what she assumed was the more traditional dueling stance since several other students had taken the same position when going against the training dummy. Despite her momentary falter from the creation of the platform, Coraline quickly steadied herself into the comfortable fighting position she had discovered while at Gringotts. She was determined to show everyone that she could hold her own in dueling, even as a new student at Hogwarts.

“You may begin,” Professor Hecat stated with a single nod.

 
Immediately, Coraline cast the levitation charm at Sallow, followed by 3 small basic casts in quick succession while he was still in the air, causing him to land roughly on the dueling platform several paces from where he started. Coraline’s slight smirk graced her face once more, suddenly much more confident in her abilities against her classmates as this was quite simple compared to the statues at Gringotts. Numerous small gasps could be heard from all around the classroom, each of them in equal disbelief at her apparent ease in beating him.

 
“This can’t be your first duel,” Sallow huffed as he got back onto his feet, in complete disbelief at her ability to gain the upper hand over him. 

“Let’s just say I’m a quick learner,” Coraline taunted, her smirk growing ever wider at Sallow’s fluster.

She knew she could easily finish off this duel with another levitation charm as he got back to his feet, but she decided to allow him to make an offensive pass at her in order to gauge his skills better. Sallow stepped forward to return the same spell combination she did to him, but she easily absorbed his incoming spells with a small protection charm.

“Protego, that complicates things,” Sallow muttered; once again taken aback as he wasn’t expecting her to know how to cast the protection charm, let alone a protection charm so powerful that it absorbed his spells.

“I do enjoy a lively duel,” Professor Hecat said with a proud smile at how well Coraline was doing in her first duel. 

Coraline did the same spell combination again, but in even quicker succession, effectively levitating him before he even had a chance to think to cast the protection charm. Sallow fell off the dueling platform from the power of her spells, making her the match-winner. All of the other students in the class were completely stunned at her ability to defeat the current reigning dueling champion of the school effortlessly.

“I think our little Mooncalf will be able to catch up to the rest of us in no time,” Robin whispered teasingly in Imelda’s ear, a wide, proud smile adorning Robin’s face as she watched Coraline get down from the dueling platform. 

Sallow approached Coraline with a small smirk before she was able to join Robin and Imelda, “Not bad for a beginner. You give as good as you get.”

He gave her a small nod before walking off to stand next to the light brown-haired Slytherin to watch the rest of the matches. Coraline made her way over to Robin and Imelda with a shy smile.

“You have to tell us tonight how and when you got so good at dueling,” Robin gushed excitedly. 

“Little Mooncalf, you know why the other students are making a big deal of your victory, right?” Imelda questioned.

Coraline’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, completely unsure what Imelda was getting at, shaking her head lightly. 

Imelda’s eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise but quickly changed to a large, proud smirk, “Sebastian Sallow is the current reigning dueling champion for the entire school! He’s never been bested in a duel before; your effortless win was a massive statement to everyone!”

Coraline was completely stunned by this new information. While she did want to show the other students that she could hold her own despite being the new student, she most certainly wasn’t expecting to hold her own enough to have yet another topic for people to gossip about her. She didn’t even truly process Imelda’s or Robin’s match as she tried to wrap her head around this new situation she found herself in. 

“Alright, that’s enough spectacle for one day. Class is dismissed.” Professor Hecat stated at the end of the last match. 

Robin nudged Coraline’s side to pull her out of the trance she was in, “Professor Hecat wants to have a word with you before you leave; we’ll wait outside for you.”

Robin nodded her head in Professor Hecat’s direction for Coraline, then gathered her book bag and walked out of the classroom with Imelda.

“I put you on the spot Miss Evans, and you rose to the challenge; ten points to Ravenclaw.”
“Thank you, Professor Hecat. Glad to have the opportunity to practice,” Coraline smiled slightly at Professor Hecat’s praise, proud that she was doing good enough to get recognized.

“If what I’ve seen today is any indication, we can expect great things from you. I demand excellence from my students. They are capable of achieving it - and they must achieve it.” 

Professor Hecat paused momentarily before continuing, “A classroom duel is one thing, but battling Dark wizards - or as ever more likely, goblins - is a different kettle of Grindylows entirely.”

“Understood, Professor,” Coraline stated, though she had no clue what the significance of the comparison was.

“I advise you to keep practicing whenever possible. Perhaps Mr. Sallow will have some ideas for you,” Professor Hecat stated with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “Again, well done today, Miss Evans. I shall reach out soon with additional assignments.” 

Coraline nodded to Professor Hecat respectfully, allowing the professor to move on to the other students with questions milling about. Coraline collected her book bag from her desk, draping it over her shoulder as she headed towards Sebastian in the back corner of the room, on the way toward the exit of the classroom.

“Nice work,” Sebastian stated as she approached him.

Coraline smiled lightly, “I enjoyed that.”

“That duel was quite something. Everyone will be talking about it,” Sebastian stated as a matter of fact, knowing that his being beaten for the first time ever would be major gossip throughout the school before the next class even began. 

“It was certainly good practice. I’m Coraline Evans.” 

“Practice? It felt more like I was dueling an expert. Sebastian Sallow, by the way. I didn’t expect a new student to be so deft with a wand. Then again, perhaps this wasn’t your first duel.”

Coraline hesitated briefly, unsure if she wanted to lie by saying it was her first duel or by stretching the truth a bit about having dueled before. But, she was supposed to keep the events of their journey to Hogwarts to herself until they knew more, so she opted to lie for now.

“That was my first duel, I’m glad I was able to do as well as I did.” 

“Be coy if you like, but I know better. Magic requires intention and talent. You know, you might be a perfect fit for a certain exclusive, unsanctioned dueling organization.”

Coraline hesitated again, torn between decisions. On one hand, she knew getting extra dueling practice would help keep her alive, especially with Ranrok most definitely coming after her. But on the other hand, she was very concerned about getting involved in an unsanctioned club out of fear of getting in trouble for it. Gone was Coraline’s confident demeanor and words as her eyes flickered to the ground and her hands fidgeted with the sleeves of her robes. 

Sebastian’s gaze softened at her clear change in demeanor, internally worried he did something to upset her, but still continued, “If you want to get the most out of your time at Hogwarts, you’ll need to break the rules occasionally. Whether it’s joining a secret dueling club or sneaking into the Restricted Section of the Library - you just have to be clever enough not to get caught.”

Coraline took a deep breath and looked back up at him, “Thank you, Sebastian. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. It was a pleasure chatting with you. I’m sure I’ll see you soon. Perhaps somewhere ‘unsanctioned’. We’ll see if your performance today was sheer luck - or actual skill. Find a Gryffindor named Lucan if you’re interested; he’s normally in the Clock Tower Courtyard after classes end most days.”

Coraline nodded with a small smile and headed out of the classroom to meet up with Robin and Imelda. Exactly as Robin said, they were waiting for Coraline just outside of the classroom, leaning up against the wall. Imelda was the first of the two of them to notice Coraline approaching, nudging Robin’s side lightly as she pushed herself off the wall. 

Coraline’s head turned slightly to subtly watch Sebastian walk out of the classroom and down the steps out of the corner of her eye. Despite Coraline’s decent subtleness, Imelda still noticed the glance, and immediately a wide smirk appeared on her face

“A good chat with Sebastian, then?” Imelda teased, causing Coraline’s head to whip around to face her with the widest eyes possible.

“I-uh...He-” Coraline stumbled through her words, trying to figure out exactly what she wanted to say.

“Hmm?” Imelda hummed teasingly, her smirk growing at how innocent Coraline was acting.
Coraline took a deep breath, “What do you know about an unsanctioned dueling club? Also, what’s a Grindylow?”

“Nice going, Mooncalf. You got yourself a personal invitation to join the Crossed Wands club. That’s not an easy thing to accomplish.”

Robin linked her arm with Coraline’s, “Come on. We’ll tell you about both as we walk. Gotta get going so we can drop you off at Charms.”

 They walked down the staircase immediately next to the Defense classroom and across the lower section of the Defense Tower. They headed toward the staircases that would take them to the main floor of the Tower, and since Robin no longer had her arm wrapped around Coraline’s shoulders to keep her on track, she could fully take in the sights of the Defense Tower.

The architecture was quite extravagant and clearly spoke to the long history of not only Hogwarts but of the wizarding world as a whole. With dark brown marble and accents of teal and golden carved marble spread throughout, the Tower had quite a lavish feel to it. There were also numerous ancient artifacts, sculptures, skeletons of various beasts, and moving portraits of important figures from wizarding history. Robin started speaking, pulling Coraline’s attention away from their surroundings.

“Grindylows are these terrifying pale-green water demons with multiple horns, pointy teeth, multiple larger tentacles for legs, and smaller tentacles with a powerful grip for fingers. Not only are they terrifying visually, but they are also ridiculously massive. One full-grown Grindylow is about half of our height,” Robin shuddered lightly as she spoke about them, clearly not a fan of the creatures.

Her description of the creatures caused Coraline to pause momentarily, extremely confused, “Wait, so what did Professor Hecat mean when she said ‘different kettle of Grindylows?’ Wouldn’t a Grindylow be much bigger than the kettle? Let alone having multiple of them in a kettle together?”

Robin opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it and tilted her head to the side, now equally confused, “Honestly, I never even thought about it like that. It's just one of those phrases I heard a lot growing up, so I never bothered really to think about it. But yeah, now that you mention it, what does that phrase even mean?”

Imelda just closed her eyes and brought her fingers to her face to pinch the bridge of her nose while she lightly shook her head at their antics, “Well, if that’s not confirmation of why our little Mooncalf is in Ravenclaw, I don’t know what else could. She hasn’t even been in the wizarding world for a full twenty-four hours and is already questioning the logistics of casual everyday wizarding phrases.”

Both Coraline and Robin started laughing loudly with the widest grins at Imelda’s annoyance at their antics. Thankfully their arms were intertwined to help hold them upright while laughing so hard, or they definitely would have tripped and fallen to the ground multiple times. To Imelda’s relief, Coraline and Robin had stopped laughing so much after about two sets of staircases and returned to being at least a bit more serious. Eventually, they stopped after the last staircase in the middle of the room, standing before a large set of double doors. Robin unlatched her arm from Coraline’s with a small smile. 

“Well, this is my stop. I have to head over to the Bell Tower Wing for History of Magic, so I won’t be able to walk with you up to Charms. But Imelda has Magical Theory with Professor Fig next, which is only a floor below yours, so she’ll help you get there.”

“Thank you, Robin. We’ll see you for lunch then,” Coraline said with a bright smile.

Robin smiled back at her and then moved to Imelda’s side to give a quick kiss on the cheek and mouth a silent apology for their actions before heading through the doors.

Imelda shook her head lightly while chuckling and turned toward Coraline, “Come on, Mooncalf, let’s get you to class.”

“Are you just going to call me Mooncalf from now on?” Coraline questioned as they continued walking through the grand room. 

“Yup. I have no doubt that no matter how long you’ve been in the wizarding world, you’ll still look at every single magical thing wide-eyed in amazement.”

Coraline grumbled and rolled her eyes at Imelda’s response but didn’t deny it cause she was most likely spot-on with that prediction. Imelda led Coraline up a wide switchback staircase that was tucked in a back corner of the grand room as she continued. 

“Anyways, Crossed Wands is a student-run dueling club that operates out of the Clock Tower by a third-year Gryffindor named Lucan Brattleby. It’s supposed to be a secret, with only the people who get invited in allowed to know about it, but secrets never stay secret for long within Hogwarts.”

Coraline blanched slightly, immediately concerned about word getting out amongst the students about her ability to see and interact with Ancient Magic. She could only hope that if a student did find out about her ability, they kept it to themselves. At least until Professor Fig and her had an opportunity to figure out what it all means.

“So I’m guessing that means my win over Sebastian in our duel has been spread throughout the entire school already?” Coraline grimaced, knowing that if she wasn’t already the biggest talk in the school from her late arrival last night, she most certainly was now. 

“You do catch on quick, don’t you?” Imelda said with a smirk as she stopped at the top of the stairs on the third floor and pointed toward the corridor in front of them.

 “We’ll head up to the Charms floor in a second, but I wanted to point out that if you follow the corridor in front of us, you’ll find Professor Fig’s classroom for Magical Theory on the right. Figured you might want to know where that was, with him being your mentor and all.” 

Coraline nodded in appreciation; now, she didn’t have to look for it the next time she needed to meet the professor. Imelda motioned for Coraline to follow her as they headed up the last flight of stairs in that staircase to reach the Charms floor. 

“This is the Charms floor, with the classroom through that door on the left there,” Imelda pointed to the open door on their left with students filing in and out of it and motioned for Coraline to continue following her. They continued up the lone couple of steps to reach the main room of the Charms floor. 

Gesturing to the spacious circular lounge area on their left, “This is the Seventh Floor Lounge, excellent for studying since it’s super close to Professor Ronen if you have any questions, and that staircase ahead of us takes you up to the Astronomy Tower.”

“Thank you, Imelda, for showing me all these classroom locations. I really appreciate it,” Coraline said with a kind smile as she looked around the room. 

“All good, I’ll meet you back out here after class to meet up with Robin before we head to the Great Hall for Lunch. Word of advice, little Mooncalf, don’t get too distracted by your surroundings, I wouldn’t want you to be late for your first Charms class,” Imelda smirked and winked before heading back down to the Magical Theory classroom. 

Coraline shook her head lightly with a small smile and continued looking around the room. As was every other room in Hogwarts she had been in thus far, the Charms floor was equally dazzling. With teal walls, dark brown wood accents, and stunning stained glass panels, Coraline was enamored with the intricately designed architecture of such a small space. The walls were filled floor to ceiling with numerous moving portraits of all different sizes and colors, with their occupants moving about animatedly.

The Lounge area was easily Coraline’s favorite of the entire Charms floor and maybe even of the entire Astronomy Wing. Comfortable-looking sofas, armchairs, and several large tables for students to study at were spread throughout. The ceiling of the Lounge had been enchanted to create floating copies of several constellations, making the Lounge almost look ethereal. Coraline was suddenly pulled out of her daze when a familiar voice echoed throughout the room.

“If it had been an honorable duel, slimy Sallow wouldn’t hold a candle to my dueling skills. But that’s just how Slytherins work; they cheat their way to victory,” Prewett scoffed loudly, clearly still very upset with how his duel with Sebastian went at the beginning of Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

“Sure, Leander, keep telling yourself that. Come on, we’ll be late for Charms if you don’t get a move on,” responded a female Gryffindor with wild, curly brown hair and large round glasses as she grabbed ahold of Leander Prewett’s wrist and dragged him towards the Charms classroom. 

Coraline quickly followed after them, not wanting to be late to the class herself. 

Chapter Text

As Coraline walked back towards the Charms classroom, she noticed that numerous incantations for different charms had been etched into the walls of the Charms floor in gold, spells that she would hopefully start learning about soon. She continued following her Gryffindor classmates into the classroom and immediately looked around the room in complete awe. 

The Charms classroom was nothing like the Defense of the Dark Arts classroom, as this classroom had tall arched ceilings, candlelight chandeliers, and more incantations etched into all of the walls. On her left was a tall grand staircase leading to an upper room of some sort, but the door was closed, so Coraline could only be left wondering. To her right was a long walkway down the middle of the classroom, with two platforms on both sides of the walkway and four desks situated on each platform.

Coraline quickly spotted Sammie sitting at a desk in the first row on the right side of the walkway, but all of the desks on the first row were already filled with students from the other houses. Sammie noticed Coraline’s hesitation and realized that she had forgotten to save her a seat. She gave Coraline a small, sad smile and mouthed a silent apology for not saving her a seat. Coraline continued nervously looking around the classroom for an open seat but couldn’t tell which ones were actually taken, with many of the students standing in groups chit-chatting with one another. Suddenly, a voice called out from behind her.

“Here - behind you,” Coraline turned around to face a dark-skinned female Gryffindor pointing to the seat beside her with a bright smile, “There’s an open seat here.”

Coraline smiled as she walked up the platforms to the desk in the back row, “Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m Coraline, by the way.”

“Hello, I am Natty. You must be the new student; have you met Professor Ronen yet?”

Coraline shook her head and parted her mouth slightly in order to ask what the professor would be like, but was quickly interrupted by the sound of a door closing and a throat clearing from high above everyone. At the top of the grand staircase that went to the upper room stood an elderly male wizard with his hands resting against his hips, wearing bright purple and gold robes, along with a matching cap. Despite the distance between them, Coraline was still able to take note of the man’s graying, wispy short hair poking out from underneath his cap along with his neatly trimmed but equally graying mustache and beard. His arrival caused the many students standing at their friends’ desks to scurry back to their own desks as quickly as possible, causing Coraline to easily connect the dots mentally that the elderly wizard must be Professor Ronen, the charms professor. 

“Ahem. Shall we begin?” Professor Ronen questioned with a small sweep of his arms. 

With a small chuckle, he began descending the stairs, “Welcome to year five of Charms. Now, this will be a crucial year in your education on the art of Charm work, but I am confident that we will take hold with the passion and rigor requisite of such a challenge.”

Coraline couldn’t help the large smile on her face as she watched Professor Ronen move about the room, clearly passionate about Charms and keeping his students engaged with his lecture. He moved down the center walkway with an almost skip in his step as he made sure to turn to face both sides of the walkway as he walked. Once he reached his desk at the end of the walkway, he turned once more to face the entire class.  

“Before we begin, can anyone here tell me the difference between the incantations of the Color Change and Growth Charms?” 

The color drained from Coraline’s face, fearful of being called on to give the answer without knowing about either charm. Natty subtly slid The Standard Book of Spells, Year 5, across the desk for Coraline to look through, which she was immensely grateful for. 

“Anyone? Anyone? Hmm?” Professor Ronen prodded as he searched all of the students’ faces, hoping for an answer from at least one of them.

Coraline started to feel the slightest bit better that none of the students who had been taking the course for the past four years could give an answer either. So she started thumbing through the textbook in front of her, hoping to find the charms mentioned to start learning a bit about them. Professor Ronen continued to look around the classroom, disappointed by the student’s lack of response before he caught sight of Coraline with the open textbook in front of her. 

“Ah, ah, ah, ah. I am afraid it is too late to study now,” he reprimanded as he summoned the textbook from in front of Coraline.

Coraline blushed slightly and looked down at her desk from the embarrassment of being called out like that. She had wrongly assumed that Professor Ronen would look the other way regarding her reading the textbook to catch up to her classmates, but it seems that she was sorely mistaken.

“Hmm - my, the summer months must have really taken a toll on you all,” He chuckled lightly at himself, “By the looks of it, you all spent your holidays practicing Obliviate on one another.”

Professor Ronen walked back down the middle aisle of the classroom, continuing his speech, “Do you even remember how to perform a basic Summoning Charm? Hmm?”

He looked around the classroom once more, watching as multiple students looked down at their desks to avoid making eye contact with the Professor.

“Hmm - well, it seems that we are in dire need of review. Everyone get into pairs and take positions on opposite sides of the classroom.”

Natty and Coraline exchanged a brief glance, then a small nod, negating the need to ask to become partners. The other students around the room began looking around and silently forming partnerships while Professor Ronen continued.

“Now, let’s put those textbooks to use as the blunt objects you so believe they are and take turns summoning them out of one another’s hands,” Professor Ronen sent the textbook back into Natty’s awaiting hands.  

As the students started gathering textbooks and moving to separate sides of the room, Professor Ronen called out, “Only one book will be needed per partnership, Miss Dale. Thank you. Get into place now, everyone.”

Natty immediately handed Coraline the textbook and then moved to the other side of the classroom after motioning for Coraline to remain by their desks.

“Now, to perform the summoning charm, hold your wand arm straight out in front of you while pointing your wand at the object you want to summon. Then clearly and precisely, say the incantation ‘Accio’ and draw your arm back in order to bring the object to you. Any questions?”

Professor Ronen paused for a moment to allow the students to speak up, but no one did, so he continued. “Those of you with the textbook, hold it out directly in front of you so your partner can summon it. Take turns summoning it from each other in order to get more comfortable with the charm. You may begin.” 

Coraline held the book slightly away from herself for Natty to summon. With the backward flick of her wand, while saying Accio, the textbook flew out of Coraline’s hands and over to Natty. She then gestured for Coraline to give the charm a try. 

“Accio!” Coraline said as she copied the backward flick of her wand, causing the textbook to fly out of Natty’s hands and back into her own. Both of them grinned brightly at each other’s success. 

“That is not bad,” Natty stated.

They continued to go back and forth to practice the charm, constantly summoning the textbook out of the other’s hands. Professor Ronen maneuvered back towards their side of the classroom while they practiced, and after Coraline successfully summoned the textbook out of Natty’s hands yet again, he turned toward her with a bright smile and his hands resting on his hips. 

“Miss Evans, you are a swift learner! I see a lot of potential - but remember, potential is nothing without practice. Keep at it; you might just rival Miss Onai here!”

Coraline and Natty exchanged another bright smile at his compliment, with Coraline grateful to have proven herself capable after the embarrassment with the textbook at the beginning of class. 

“Very good, everyone. Well, as you all seem to have the basics down, and it is an exceptionally lovely day, I was thinking that we might have a little excursion outside for a spot of fresh air. After me!”

All of the students exchanged excited glances before quickly dropping the textbooks down onto the desks and following after the professor. The professor kept up a quick pace, swiftly navigating the class to a new part of the castle that Coraline overheard to be the Bell Tower Wing and out onto the lawn in the large open courtyard. Coraline was near the back of the group of students as she kept getting distracted by every little magical thing she passed as they walked through the castle.

“I’ve always found that fun goes hand in hand with mastery, as I’m sure the Quidditch players amongst us would agree,” Professor Ronen stated as he came to a stop and turned around to face the group of students.

“So, what better than a bit of sport to put our prowess with the Summoning Charm to the test? Right?” Professor Ronen turned back around to face the empty lawn before them and began dramatically swishing his wand above his head. 

Coraline’s jaw dropped as numerous planks of wood flew into view and created a several-meter-long rectangular raised platform with four main sections, each colored to a different house. As the raised platform got closer to completion, three large, heavy dark blue spheres suddenly appeared and dropped down onto the platform at the far end. More planks of wood continued to fly toward Professor Ronen, creating a smaller second raised platform a little over a meter away from the first one. Once both platforms were completely built, Professor Ronen climbed the three steps up onto the platform and turned to face the class with a small, proud chuckle. 

“So, why don’t we have our newest student, Miss Evans, start us off?” He said with a smile as he looked through the crowd of students and gestured for her to come up to the platform once he spotted her. 

The other students filtered off to the left side of the platforms, with some of them taking a seat in the grass to watch as Coraline nervously walked up onto the platform. Professor Ronen stepped off to the side, allowing her to stand in the middle of the small platform. 

“Very simply, cast Accio on one of the spheres, and relinquish your charm at the last possible moment. Now, think of this like - Gobstones, if you will. But instead of throwing the marbles out, you are summoning them toward you.” 

Unfortunately, Professor Ronen’s reference to Gobstones made zero sense to Coraline as she didn’t exactly know what Gobstones were beyond Sammie’s little expression of ‘great golden gobstones.’ So she assumed that the reference must make more sense to the other students who actually knew what he meant. 

“The trick is to pull the sphere as far as possible, but not a bit more, or it’ll fall, yes?” 

Coraline studied the large platform before her. Each section in front of the spheres was a different color and had a different number painted in white in the middle of the section: red said ten, yellow said twenty, green said thirty, and blue said fifty. Immediately following the blue section was the end of the platform, where the sphere could easily just roll off the platform and onto the grass below.

 
“Now, I could keep talking about theory all day, but practice is the best professor. Show us how it’s done!” Professor Ronen gestured for Coraline to begin. 

She took a deep breath and cast the summoning charm on the first sphere. She released the charm once the sphere crossed into the middle of the yellow section causing the sphere to start to slow as it crossed the green section and into the blue one. The sphere reached the platform's edge at a very slow speed, causing it to teeter for a moment before inevitably falling off. Coraline’s face flushed lightly, her eyes falling to the grass in front of her as she took another deep breath to calm herself. 

“Not to worry. Try again, but this time release the charm a bit sooner, and you should have better luck,” Professor Ronen instructed with a kind smile.

Coraline looked back up at the remaining spheres on the other side of the platform, determined to get them both into the blue section. She cast the summoning charm on the middle sphere and released the charm as soon as it crossed into the yellow section. The sphere started to slow and come to a stop in the middle of the blue section. Coraline smiled lightly at her success, with her smile only growing upon hearing some of her classmates applauding her efforts. She quickly cast the charm again on the final sphere, releasing it at the same time as before, causing the final sphere to stop in the middle of the blue section as well.

“Very good; five points to Ravenclaw. But there’s certainly no sport in playing without some friendly competition. Miss Onai, would you care to give Miss Evans a bit of a challenge? Come on up.”

Natty got up from where she had been sitting on the grass and made her way up onto the platform. As she walked over, Professor Ronen reset the blue spheres Coraline had practiced on and summoned a set of dark red spheres to join Coraline’s dark blue spheres at the start.

“Miss Evans, you’ll be the blues, just as before, and Miss Onai, you are playing the red. Clear?” 

“Yes, sir,” Coraline said with a small nod.

Coraline motioned for Natty to summon her sphere first, half because she was trying to be courteous and polite and half because she wanted to see Natty’s tactics. 

“Be sharp,” Natty stated as she summoned her first sphere, effortlessly stopping it in the blue section.

As she expected, Natty had excellent control of both the charm and the timing of when to release the charm so the sphere would easily stop in the blue section. Coraline quickly summoned her first sphere, canceling the charm at just the right moment, causing the sphere to stop in the blue section right next to Natty’s.

“Excellent control there,” Professor Ronen complimented, causing a bright smile on Coraline’s face at her clear progress with the charm.

Natty moved to her right slightly and summoned her second sphere, stopping it as it rolled into the blue section, “There we go.”

Coraline walked to the left side of the platform to summon her second sphere and was barely able to get it into the blue section after releasing the charm a bit early. 

“That is how it’s done!” Natty glanced over at Coraline with a bright smile as the other students cheered them on.

On their last spheres, both Coraline and Natty easily guided them into the blue section, causing them to tie with perfect scores of 150. Coraline laughed slightly in surprise and excitement at her accomplishment of being able to tie with someone who had been practicing the charm much longer than she had. 

“A perfect score for both of you! Remarkable! Let us make this a bit more interesting, shall we?” Professor Ronen swished his wand, creating two rectangular boxes that rested on opposite sides of the platform. The rectangular boxes began periodically moving to the opposite side of the platform, causing them to cross in the middle as they went to the other side.

“I think we are well past interesting at this point,” Natty chuckled lightly as she moved around the platform, trying to find the right spot to summon her first sphere. 

“I’ll say,” Coraline smiled with a small chuckle. 

“Enough chatter - focus now; you will need it!” Professor Ronen said, prompting Natty to begin the match in order for the other students to have a chance to practice as well. 

Natty and Coraline summoned their first spheres, with Natty’s stopping in the blue section and Coraline’s stopping in the green section for only thirty points, compared to Natty’s fifty. They then summoned their second spheres. Natty’s sphere stopped in the green section, while Coraline’s sphere barely managed to cross over into the blue section.

“Nicely done,” Natty complimented as she stepped up to summon her final sphere, stopping it in the green section.

“Not exactly your typical lesson, is it? Not that I mind,” Coraline stated with a smile as she summoned her final sphere; however, it ran into one of the moving boxes causing the sphere to stop in the green section. She was a bit disappointed in herself for causing the sphere to run into the box but was ultimately happy that she was able to tie with Natty once again. 

“Well done on both of your matches, Miss Evans and Miss Onai. Alright, who’s next? Hmm. How about Mr. Fell and Mr. Crowley? Come on up, gentlemen.”
Natty and Coraline smiled at Professor Ronen once more, then headed off the platform as a small white-blond, curly-haired Hufflepuff and a tall Slytherin with short dark red hair approached the platform for their match.  

While most of the other students made small talk with one another while watching the matches taking place, Coraline chose to focus on the techniques the other students were utilizing in their matches in order to improve her own spellcasting. While the students rotated to prepare for the next match, Coraline used her loaner wand to practice all of the wand movements she had learned thus far to get more comfortable and consistent in the movements.  

“Excellent summoning, everyone! Now, I believe everyone has gone at least once, correct?” Professor Ronen quickly scanned all of the students sitting on the grass, ensuring everyone had gone before continuing, “Wonderful! Let us head back to the classroom so everyone can get to lunch on time. After me!”

As they started the long trek back up to the Charms classroom, Natty came over to Coraline’s side with a bright smile, “Good matches back there! I must admit, I think I underestimated you. Took me weeks to become proficient with Accio; well, it took me weeks for me to get anything right when I transferred here. It gets easier, I promise.” 

Coraline smiled brightly at Natty’s words, glad someone else could relate even a little bit to her strange situation, “That’s good to hear. It’s been a lot to try to process in such a short time frame.”

“To put it lightly. I remember how I felt when I first arrived. I transferred here from Uagadou just before my fourth year. My mother received an offer to teach Divination here. Before I knew it, we had left Uganda and were halfway around the world at a new school in a new country.”

“There are other wizarding schools? Is Uagadou the same size as Hogwarts, or is it larger?” Coraline questioned, excited to learn more about the wizarding world. 

Natty laughed at Coraline’s very obvious excitement for learning more about her former school, “Uagadou School of Magic is the largest wizarding school in the world. So, yes. Bigger than Hogwarts, but it never seemed intimidating or overwhelming to me; it always felt like home.”

“Is Uagadou a castle, like Hogwarts?”

“It's address is ‘Mountains of the Moon.’ It is not so much a castle as a beautiful edifice carved out of the mountainside. I remember the first time I saw it. The mist was so thick I could barely make out anything at all. And then it just materialized before me, this enormous school that seemed to be floating in mid-air.”

“Wow! That sounds incredible! This may be an odd question, but is magic the same there as it is here?” Coraline worried briefly that she might have insulted Natty with her ignorance regarding all things magic-related. 

“Hmm. Mostly, yes. But I did have to learn how to use a wand when I arrived here. Hardly anyone at Uagadou uses one.”

Coraline’s jaw completely dropped at Natty’s statement in complete surprise, “You can cast spells without a wand? Like, that’s actually something you can learn to do? I thought you could only cast spells with a wand since everyone I’ve seen uses one.”

“Oh yes. I find wandless magic to be much more instinctive. Not to mention, it is quite convenient if one is without a wand. I must admit, however, that I am growing quite fond of using a wand. It seems very dramatic.”

Coraline laughed, causing Natty to laugh with her, “It is quite dramatic, isn’t it? Can anyone learn how to do wandless magic?”

“Oh yes, takes a good amount of dedication and practice, but anyone can do it. I’m guessing you’re interested in learning wandless magic one day?” 

“I want to learn about as many different types of magic as possible while at Hogwarts,” Coraline stated with a smile as they entered the Charms classroom, “Anyways, thank you for telling me about Uagadou, Natty, it sounds like an amazing school.” 

“Thank you for asking. Although I do miss Uagadou, I am glad to be here at Hogwarts,” Natty smiled as they returned to their seats from before their outdoor excursion.

“Class is dismissed. Gather your things on the way out,” Professor Ronen stated once all of the students returned to the classroom, “A word if you would, Miss Evans?”

Coraline gathered her supplies into her book bag and slowly began moving down the platforms and toward Professor Ronen but paused for a moment upon hearing Sebastian start talking to the Slytherin male with light-brown hair next to him as they left the classroom.

“Of course, you can use Accio on humans. If you’re so inclined,” Sebastian stated with a small smirk.

“Well, you’d be using it on clothing, to be precise, Sebastian. You know it won’t work on humans,” responded the light-brown-haired Slytherin with his wand held in front of him with a small glow emanating from the tip as he walked out the classroom door.

Coraline remained where she stood for another moment to allow the other students in front of her to clear out before continuing toward Professor Ronen. 

“You wanted to speak with me, Professor?”

Professor Ronen nodded as he turned away from his desk to face her, “I did. I trust your first Charms lesson lived up to expectation?”

“Well, an outdoor competition wasn’t exactly the lesson I expected, sir,” Coraline chuckled lightly with a small smile.

“What charm is there in the expected? You did well, managing to tie with a gifted student such as Miss Onai,” Professor Ronen smiled brightly at her, proud of her accomplishments within her first Charms class. 

Coraline briefly looked down at her shoes at the professor’s compliment, “Thank you, Professor. I enjoyed the matches.”

“Miss Onai is always a fierce competitor. However, I sense that she is a bit distracted of late. Pardon me, I shouldn’t have said that,” Professor Ronen paused momentarily as if to clear the air of his previous statement. 

“Now, Professor Weasley has asked that your professors give you instruction outside of the normal curriculum to help you catch up to your classmates a bit quicker and help you prepare for your O.W.L.s at the end of the year. Thus, I would like for you to return here on Tuesdays before dinner to learn and practice the charms from the lower years. What do you think of that, Miss Evans?”

“That seems like a great idea, Professor; I appreciate your assistance in helping me catch up.”
“Professor Weasley also took the opportunity to inform me you’ll be going to Hogsmeade after lunch, so I would like to go over the exceedingly useful Mending Charm, Reparo, for a moment. It fixes things right up and makes a broken object good as new in the blink of an eye.”

“That will certainly come in handy.” 

Coraline recalled Professor Fig using the Mending Charm while they were exploring the ruins. If the path they were following was anything like those ruins, then she would most likely need to be proficient with the Mending Charm to help make things a bit easier on herself.  
“More frequently than one would imagine. Your adept use of the summoning charm earlier tells me that you clearly know your way around basic charms already. So, let us give the old Mending Charm a try, then, shall we?”

Coraline immediately moved to stand beside the professor and pulled the loaner wand out, ready to copy the professor’s movements. He smoothly demonstrated the swish into the swirling motion necessary for completing the charm, with Coraline easily able to replicate the movement. Wordlessly, the professor gestured to a broken vase resting on top of a nearby desk and prompted Coraline to try out the charm. 

“Reparo.”

Coraline swished and swirled the loaner wand just as she had done a moment ago, causing the broken pieces of the vase to rise and reattach themselves to the main part of the vase. 
“Nicely done. Works like a charm, doesn’t it?”

Coraline chuckled lightly at the professor’s odd humor but was mostly proud that she was able to master yet another spell easily.

“I won’t keep you any longer, as I’m sure you're eager to get to lunch and Hogsmeade later this afternoon.  We will pick up this little lesson next Tuesday, but for now, I’ll see you in class on Thursday.”

“Thank you, Professor. Have a good lunch.” 

“You as well, Miss Evans.”

Coraline smiled and gave a small nod before heading out of the classroom to meet with Imelda. Exactly as she had said, Imelda was leaning against the wall opposite the classroom door, talking to Sammie. Upon seeing Coraline, Imelda pushed herself off the wall and crossed the hall over to her, with Sammie following her. They swiftly started making their way down the stairs in order to meet back up with Robin before heading to the Great Hall for Lunch.

“So, little Mooncalf, did you make it to class on time?” Imelda teased as they rounded the corner of the stairs to continue heading down.

“Ha ha, Imelda, very funny,” Coraline responded dryly with a small smile.

“Sorry that I forgot to save a spot for you, Coraline. It completely skipped my mind. But I guess it worked out alright in the end since you were able to make a good friend of Natty.”

“Yeah, it definitely did work out well. Especially since she’s a transfer student too, she can better relate to my experience, at least a little bit.”

“Oh, true. I forgot she transferred in last year,” Sammie recalled as they exited the winding staircase and crossed the Defense Tower.

“Is Professor Weasley’s classroom on the way to the Great Hall? I need to check in with her to get to Hogsmeade this afternoon.” 

“How exciting, your first trip to Hogsmeade! If you don’t think your meeting will take very long, once we collect Robin, we can stop at her classroom on the way,” Sammie grinned as she seemed to start walking with a skip in her step.

“Let’s be real here. The meeting with Weasley isn’t going to be very long; it’ll be the actual visit to Hogsmeade that will take forever cause little Mooncalf is just going to get so distracted over the smallest things,” Imelda snickered with a small smile before spotting Robin leaning against the marble railing next to the door she had gone through previously to get to History of Magic.

Robin smiled brightly as their group approached her, immediately intertwining her hand with Imelda’s and giving her a small peck on the cheek in greeting. 

“Hi, Robin. We’re taking a small detour on the way to the Great Hall so Coraline can speak with Professor Weasley real quick,” Sammie explained as they started walking down to the first floor of the Defense Tower. 

“Ah, gotcha. How did Charms go?” Robin nodded lightly.

“It was definitely an entertaining class like Defense. We went outside to play this game with spheres using the Summoning Charm. It was a lot of fun.” Coraline said with a bright smile. 
“Oh, Summoner’s Court! I’m so glad he brought that back this year. Everyone adored it last year, even founded a whole club for it.” Robin grinned, clearly looking forward to her own Charms class later in the week.

The others continued to chat with each other about how their other classes that morning had gone, but Coraline chose to walk behind them in silence to enjoy the atmosphere the castle offered and just listen to how her friends described things. It didn’t take long for them to exit the Defense Tower on the ground floor and walk across the Transfiguration courtyard over to the Transfiguration classroom that was tucked away in the corner.  

“We’ll wait out here for you, Mooncalf,” Imelda stated as she gestured for Coraline to head into the Transfiguration classroom.

As Coraline walked to the door of the classroom with a small smile, she briefly heard Sammie comment on the Mooncalf nickname.

“Have you just adopted Mooncalf as Coraline’s new name, Imelda?” Sammie asked, clearly amused.

Coraline shook her head lightly with a small smile spread across her lips as she pushed the door open and entered the classroom. She immediately saw Professor Weasley sitting at her desk across the room in the middle of a conversation with a small being, no taller than the height of the desk, with large floppy ears.

“What about the room, Professor?”

“I was thinking the same thing, Deek. Perhaps you could help -”

The door to the classroom finally closed with a click, gaining the attention of the small being, “Oh, excuse Deek.” They snapped their fingers and instantly disappeared.

“Ah, there you are, Miss Evans. I trust your first classes went well?” Professor Weasley questioned as she stood up from her desk to make her way across the room toward Coraline.

“They did, Professor,” Coraline smiled lightly as she clasped her hands together in front of her.

“I heard as much from Professor Hecat and Ronen. It seems Professor Fig taught you quite a bit during your brief deter near - what was it you said? Some ruins? I’d wager there’s a good deal more to your travels here than what you’ve told me - isn’t there?”

Coraline hesitated as she was definitely not comfortable continuing to lie to Professor Weasley about her travels yesterday. But she didn’t want to risk getting in trouble with Professor Fig for giving details after he explicitly said to keep things between them, so she didn’t know how to appease both sides. Coraline moved her gaze from the professor and down to her shoes before eventually deciding to be vague and putting the responsibility of telling Professor Weasley about their travels back to Professor Fig. 

She took a deep breath and sighed, “I want to tell you more about what happened yesterday during our travels, but Professor Fig asked me to keep the details to myself while he works on understanding everything that took place.”

Professor Weasley started to say something, but Coraline quickly interrupted her as she kept her gaze trained on her shoes, not wanting to make eye contact with the professor as she continued.

“Forgive me, Professor, but that’s all I’m going to say for the time being because I don’t want either of you to get upset with what I say or what I don’t say,” Coraline kept her gaze on her shoes, not wanting to see the Professor’s expressions just yet.

However, if Coraline had looked up at Professor Weasley, she would have seen the Professor’s gaze soften, and concern etched across her face at Coraline’s words. The professor was more than surprised at Coraline’s reaction and eventual response to her questioning but recognized Coraline’s hesitation as something more than just wanting to appease both her and Professor Fig. Immediately, she knew that it was not worth this kind of reaction from the young girl if she brought up yesterday’s events again in the future. Clearly, whatever happened yesterday was of great importance if both Coraline and Professor Fig were working this hard to keep the details to themselves.

“I see. Regardless, you must continue to build upon what you’ve learned. I’ve asked your professors to work with you outside of your normal class time to help hasten your ability to catch up to your peers.”

“Yes, both Professor Ronen and Hecat mentioned they would be assisting me,” Coraline stated as she finally looked back up at Professor Weasley, relieved that the professor was moving the conversation away from yesterday’s events.

“Wonderful. Now, regarding the trip to Hogsmeade I mentioned earlier. I’ve already owled some of the shop owners there and had them set aside the necessary supplies you will require for your classes.”

“Thank you, Professor. I appreciate you arranging that for me.”

“In addition to your supplies, Mr. Ollivander will connect you with the perfect wand. You’ve managed your classes well with a borrowed wand thus far, but you’ll find the magic you cast with your own wand to be far superior.”

“I’m eager to get to Hogsmeade, and I’m really looking forward to getting my own wand,” Coraline smiled brightly. 

“Very well. I’d like you to make your first visit to the village with a classmate from a different house to help you make more connections. I believe it’s important to make connections within every house at Hogwarts.”

Professor Weasley paused momentarily to allow Coraline to ask any questions she might have had. Since Coraline didn’t speak up, she continued, “I hear you had quite entertaining classes with both Sebastian Sallow and Natsai Onai. Perhaps you would like to go with one of them?”

“I’d like to go with Sebastian, please.”

“Glad to hear it. Mr. Sallow is a capable young wizard, and he knows the area. He’ll keep you well clear of any of Victor Rookwood’s undesirables en route."

“Rookwood?” Coraline questioned, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“A rather unsavory local. Best to avoid him and his associates - including his ‘right hand’ of sorts, Theophilus Harlow - if you can. I’ll arrange for Sebastian to meet you in the Bell Tower Courtyard after lunch; that way, you’ll have plenty of time to eat lunch with your friends before you head out for the afternoon.”

“Thank you, Professor. However, I do have one small question regarding the supplies I’m to pick up.”

“Go on, Miss Evans.”

“The shop owners have set aside the supplies for me to pick up, but I haven’t any money to pay for the supplies.”

“Ah, I forgot to go over that part. The supplies set aside have already been taken care of in terms of payment.”

The professor paused for a moment as she went back to her desk, grabbed a small pouch from one of the drawers, and held out the pouch to Coraline once she returned to her side. Coraline’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion but ultimately took the pouch from the professor’s hands.

“This pouch contains some funds from the Hogwarts vault available to students who do not have wizarding money of their own, as well as funds from the Ministry of Magic for compensation for your lost belongings and the tragedy you witnessed yesterday. You’ll find that there are more than enough funds in there for you to buy whatever else you might find useful for your schooling.”

“Thank you, Professor. Again, I truly appreciate you taking care of this for me.”

“It’s my honor, Miss Evans. Now, I’m sure you and your friends would like to get to lunch before heading to Hogsmeade. Please make sure to check in with me once you’ve returned so that I know you have safely returned to the castle.”

“Of course, Professor. Have a good lunch.”

Coraline smiled and nodded to the Professor as she clutched the pouch before turning on her heel and heading out of the classroom to join her friends. 

Chapter Text

Lunch was quite similar to breakfast as Sammie, Robin, Devin, Imelda, and Garreth excitedly shared all of the major events that had occurred in their morning classes. When Robin started talking about their Defense Against The Dark Arts class, she turned to Coraline so she could talk all about her duel with Sebastian, but it was immediately obvious that the blonde’s mind was elsewhere. Imelda started to try to get Coraline’s attention but was quickly stopped by the other Ravenclaw girls, allowing Coraline the opportunity to sit with her thoughts and process everything that had happened thus far.

It wasn’t until the other students were starting to pack up their belongings to head to the next class that Devin gently nudged Coraline, bringing the girl’s attention back to the Great Hall. Coraline was beyond grateful that her friends didn’t make a big deal out of her lack of attention in their conversation; just another thing that Coraline absolutely loved about this small friend group she found herself in. When the group had reached Central Hall and was about to split ways, they accepted Coraline’s request to head over to the Bell Tower Courtyard on her own without any sort of arguing. While Devin may have internally disagreed with Coraline, knowing that it would be extremely easy for her to get lost on her way, she recognized Coraline’s need to explore and find things for herself. Thus, the others left her to find her way to the Bell Tower while the rest of them headed off to their next class.

Coraline was able to find her way rather easily, as it did help that they had gone to the Bell Tower Courtyard during Charms class for Summoner’s Court. And exactly as Professor Weasley had said, Sebastian was leaning against the wall to the left of the large, ornate doors that led out to the courtyard. As Coraline crossed the main floor of the Bell Tower, Sebastian pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand in front of the doors. 

“Ah! My new ‘charge.’ I’m told you’re in dire need of supplies and that you require an escort to show you around Hogsmeade, Coraline,” Sebastian stated as he tilted his chin up, a smirk pulling at his lips.

Coraline smiled and laughed lightly, “You are indeed correct, Sebastian. Professor Weasley thought it’d be best to have an escort for my first trip to Hogsmeade.”

“Well, I shall endeavor to be the very best of escorts for you then. Shall we?”

Sebastian pulled open one of the large doors and gestured for Coraline to enter the courtyard first. Another small smile graced Coraline’s face as she shyly tucked a small strand of hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear and stepped into the courtyard. A moment later, Sebastian reappeared at her side and led the way down the path toward the large stone wall and the open gate. 

“I’m glad Professor Weasley asked me to accompany you today,” Sebastian finally stated after a long stretch of silence as they walked through the open gate and out onto the wide stone bridge. 

“As am I. Thank you, by the way, for agreeing to,” Coraline stated, taking a moment to look over at him before looking down to adjust her grip on the strap of her book bag that was draped across her chest.

“Of course! Besides, you’re the only one who’s ever bested me in a duel. So the way I see it, I’d be wise to keep an eye on you.”

“Very wise thinking. You sure you shouldn’t have been placed in Ravenclaw?” Coraline teased with a wide smile.

“Very funny, Evans,” Sebastian bit back with an equal level of teasing.

“Oh, back to last names, are we, Sallow?”

Sebastian shook his head, his shoulders moving slightly in silent laughter, allowing a natural lull to settle over them. Coraline took the opportunity to look at their surroundings past the stone bridge they walked along. Now being a bit away from the castle, Coraline was able to see Hogwarts in its full glory, and it was far greater than she could ever imagine. This view of the castle also brought upon the frightening realization of just how unbelievably massive it was, far beyond what she had explored thus far. She was starting to understand why her friends had been a bit hesitant about walking to the Bell Tower on her own, with how easy it was to get lost due to its size. 

“I’m still surprised that a professor would willingly entrust me with anything, given my detention record.”

“Spend a lot of time in detention, do you?”

“Just enough to keep me well-rounded. Speaking of detention, my role as your escort to Hogsmeade might’ve saved me from one.”

“Glad I could be of equal service to you, but how were you almost going to get detention?”

“Madam Scribner, the librarian, was on the hunt for me - as is often the case. Professor Weasley came to retrieve me and convinced ol’ Scribner that I had somewhere to be.”

“I see. So, how did you manage to get on the librarian’s bad side then?”

“Well, I suspect it’s a matter of differing opinions. She thinks I shouldn’t be allowed in the Restricted Section, and I, on the other hand, am inclined to disagree.”

“Ah yes, I can definitely see where the differing opinions come into play.”

As they walked, the polished stone bridge transitioned to a worn, dirt path with low stone walls marking the sides of the path. In some places along the wall, stones were missing, and others were a bit rough around the edges, with vines and moss swirling and covering large parts of the stones. Beyond the stone walls to the left was a large, dense forest with frighteningly tall trees that were easily three to four times Coraline’s height. The trees were so tightly packed together that she was completely unable to see past the second row of trees into the forest. Suddenly, a large crashing noise echoed through the valley, startling both of them.

“Merlin’s beard! From the Forbidden Forest! Look!” Sebastian cried out.

Coraline glanced over at the section of forest to their immediate left, confused, as she couldn’t see anything worth that kind of reaction, but a flicker of movement in the sky drew her gaze upward. She gasped loudly, her feet coming to a halt in order to watch the beautiful, white feathered creatures fly across the sky above them. 

“Quite a sight, isn’t it? You certainly don’t see that every day.”

“They’re beautiful! What are they?"

“Hippogriffs. If you’re taking Care of Magical Creatures, then you’ll learn all about them.”

“I’m certainly looking forward to that lesson then.”

Further down the path, they came across a small group of students gathered against a stone wall that was bordering the path they were on. Coraline recognized the dark-skinned male Hufflepuff that stood closest to the path with his arms crossed in front of him from her Defense class earlier, but couldn’t remember his name. Directly next to him stood a female Slytherin with rich black wavy hair that tapered off just past her chin. And then leaning against one of the stone columns of the wall was Leander Prewett, a scowl etched into his face. 

“Do you think Poppy’s already seen the Hippogriffs?” The Hufflepuff questioned in a high voice. 

“Likely already named them, too,” the female Slytherin said with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, ‘Prancehoof’ and ‘Sugarfoot,’ no doubt,” Prewett scoffed with a shake of his head. 

As they passed the group of students, Sebastian turned his head toward them to acknowledge them while still continuing to walk.

“Plummly. McDowell. Prewett.” 

Sebastian nodded once to each of them as he recited their last names in a dull, monotone voice. Only the female Slytherin, now known to Coraline as McDowell, turned toward them and acknowledged their presence.

“Sallow. Newbie.” She nodded at Sebastian, clearly reflecting an understanding as housemates, but openly smirked mischievously at Coraline. 

Since Plummly and Prewett didn’t seem too thrilled about the duo’s temporary presence, Coraline opted to only give them a polite nod before continuing to follow after Sebastian. Once they were a bit further away from that group, Sebastian casually pointed at the large, dense forest the hippogriffs had flown out of previously.

“To the left is the Forbidden Forest. Out of bounds to all students.”

“Hence the name,” Coraline snorted lightly at her own joke, causing Sebastian to look over a her with a wide smirk across his face.

“Precisely. They think it’s too dangerous. I think they need to have more confidence in our defense abilities.”

Coraline shrugged, “I reckon there’s more to it than just being dangerous.”

“And that’s why you’re the one wearing blue and not me,” Sebastian huffed. 

“Is it normal for students to leave the castle often to go to Hogsmeade?” Coraline questioned after they passed another group of students, this one seemingly returning from the village. 

“First and second years aren’t allowed to go beyond the castle’s borders. Third and fourth years can only go to the village during the official supervised trips with permission from a parent or a guardian. Those normally happen on Saturdays about once a month. Then fifth-years and higher are allowed to visit the village or leave the castle whenever they like, granted that they don’t skip class or their grades don’t drop.”

“I guess starting as a fifth-year does lead to some nice perks aside from the insane amount of catching up I need to do.”

“It does indeed.”

Sebastian stopped once they reached some ruins made out of red bricks that might have been a cottage or a watchtower at one point and pointed off into the distance.

 “Ah, look over there. You can get your first glimpse of Hogsmeade from these ruins.”

Exactly as he said, Coraline was able to see numerous roofs and chimneys of the various buildings in the village. It wasn’t very much, but it was enough to grow her level of excitement at seeing what the village was actually like. Coraline grinned and continued traveling down the path with a slight skip in her step as she went. Sebastian smiled and shook his head lightly at her antics and followed after her, knowing that he had acted in a similar way during his own first visit to the village. Seeing the distance that they still had left to go caused Coraline to be quite grateful that she wore the short gray leather boots instead of the heels that she had worn during her travels yesterday. 
“Have you had much of a chance to explore the castle?”

“Not much, but from what I have been able to see so far, it’s positively enormous.”

“It is as that. I’ve been there for five years and barely scratched the surface. Loads to see. Places to discover.”

“Oh? Any you’d like to share with the class?

“Perhaps one day. I can’t go around telling you all of my secrets already now, can I? Got to keep some kind of an air of mystery. Besides, you still haven’t told me how you became so good at dueling.”

Sebastian had a wide smirk across his face as he looked over to Coraline, expecting her to have a smile and ready with a witty comment regarding her dueling prowess, but instead, she seemed to shrink into herself, as if she was cowering away from a dark cloud. Her eyes fluttered downward, suddenly finding the dirt path much more interesting than looking around at their surroundings.
Seeing such a drastic change in her demeanor, Sebastian decided to switch to a different topic in hopes of bringing back Coraline’s joyful and teasing nature; they were going to Hogsmeade, after all. Just from that shift in behavior alone, Sebastian was able to recognize that Coraline had secrets of her own that heavily weighed on her that she wasn’t ready to divulge yet. Thankfully, one of the carriages normally used to take the students from Hogsmeade Station to Hogwarts was heading toward them, allowing Sebastian to steer the conversation toward that. 

“I’ve always thought thestrals pulling the carriage a bit grim. Though I suppose most people don’t actually see them at all,” he stated as he turned his attention away from Coraline and fully onto the carriage that was nearly at them. 

They both moved to the left side of the path so the carriage would easily be able to pass them, giving Coraline the chance to see the thestrals up much closer than she had previously. 

“You can see them too?” Coraline questioned softly, not taking her eyes away from the creatures as they continued pulling the carriage down the path.

“Unfortunately. But you’ve seen quite a bit yourself first-hand too-”

Coraline’s eyes whipped away from the thestrals to glare at Sebastian, “My past is not something that needs to be discussed.” 

Her firm statement left no room for Sebastian to argue, not that he had wanted to begin with, but the message was reinforced loud and clear when she walked right past him to continue following the path toward the village. 

“Of course. Sorry, didn’t mean to pry. Hopefully, the rest of your year isn’t as eventful.”

Sebastian had to jog a few steps in order to catch up to Coraline to continue walking at her side.

 
“Careful, wouldn’t want you jinxing my year on the first day,” Coraline said softly, trying to reignite her witty and teasing behavior to lessen the tension that was spreading between them. 

As if he could sense her intentions, Sebastian joked, “Oh yea, wouldn’t want that, now would I?”

The dirt path transitioned once more to a light gray cobblestone, marking their proximity to the village. Luscious trees and ferns began to line the edges of the path, with tall, dark lampposts positioned every few meters. Wooden benches also started to become more frequent along the sides of the path, allowing the wayward wizard a chance to sit and enjoy their surroundings.

“Look up ahead; there’s Mr. Moon, the Hogwarts caretaker. He looks a bit worse for wear.”

A little way in front of them, a man with neatly combed-back black hair wearing a dark maroon and gray suit and robe set seemed to stumble and sway as he moved down the path towards them. 

“Hopefully, he’s alright,” Coraline stated, slightly concerned for the caretaker as the amount of swaying he was doing was certainly not within the realms of normal. 

Once they were within a few steps distance from the man, Sebastian called out, “Hello, Mr. Moon. Have you met our new fifth-year, Coraline Evans?”

“Pleasure to meet you (hiccup), Miss Evans. Though you both might want to turn back Mr. Sallow. Turn and (hiccup) run. It looked right at me. Eyes big as saucers.”

Sebastian and Coraline exchanged a brief, confused glance, unsure of what Mr. Moon was talking about. 

Sebastian sighed and spoke in an almost annoyed voice, “What did, Mr. Moon?”

“Demi-(hiccup)-guise. Ugly and hairy and terrifying.”

Sebastian openly scoffed and rolled his eyes, clearly dismissing Mr. Moon’s concerns. So Coraline gave a small smile and spoke to the caretaker in a calm, soft voice.

“Why don’t you head back to the castle where it’s safe, Mr. Moon? We’ll be right behind you.”

“Very good, Miss Evans, (hiccup) very good,” Mr. Moon stated as he started walking down the path back towards the castle, occasionally stumbling over his own feet. 

They stood and watched him for a moment before turning and continuing their walk toward the village. Sebastian was the first to speak, effectively shattering the silence that had fallen over them. 

“A demiguise? I don’t know what he put in his pumpkin juice today, but he’s obviously had too much of it. I’ve never seen Mr. Moon in such a state.”

“I’m starting to think I need to make a trip to the library this weekend to look up the different creatures in the wizarding world with how much everyone’s been referencing them already,” mumbled Coraline.

Sebastian still heard her all the same, causing him to chuckle lightly. 

“Mr. Moon is quite the character. My sister Anne thinks he’s lovely, but I’d say he could improve a bit as a caretaker.”

“Oh, is your sister in Slytherin too?”  

“She is - or rather, she was. She’s not well at the moment, but she’ll be better soon and back at Hogwarts.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that, I hope she gets better soon.”

Coraline looked over at Sebastian and gave him a small, sympathetic smile, to which Sebastian just gave a short, curt nod in response. Then, finally, they rounded the last corner of the cobblestone path, allowing them to walk right up to the main bridge leading into Hogsmeade. Immediately after the bridge, both sides of the walkway were filled with shops and townhouses made from stone, decorations of all kinds hanging from the various lampposts spread evenly throughout the street, and numerous witches and wizards of all ages fluttering between the shops and talking amicably amongst themselves.  

“Honestly, if one could bottle the magic of this place. I don’t know if it’s the shops or the people, but there’s just something about Hogsmeade. We all flock to it like moths to a flame.”

“It’s amazing,” Coraline breathed.

They continued walking till they reached the end of the main street, stopping once they got to the crossroads of sorts that led to the other parts of the village. Coraline’s eyes darted back and forth at their surroundings, wanting to soak up every single detail around her. 

“Weasley told me you had a list of things to get - a wand and some other bits?”

“Yes, quite a few things, I believe, in order to replace everything that was lost.”

“Perfect. I have to pop into a shop to find something for Anne, but I can do that while you’re at Ollivanders. Wouldn’t be a very good escort if I abandoned you to your shopping on your own, now would I?”

“Fair enough, but don’t blame me if you get bored following me around all afternoon.”

“And miss out on your charming personality? Never.” Sebastian paused for a moment before continuing, “So what all do you need to get besides a wand?”

“Um, let's see.”

Coraline ruffled through her book bag, locating the small pouch Professor Weasley had given her. Directly inside the pouch, resting on top of the coins, was a short scrap of parchment with a list of all the shops she needed to visit to pick.

“Tomes and Scrolls for spellcrafts and textbooks, Ceridwen’s Cauldrons for a cauldron and scales set, J. Pippins Potions for recipes and potion ingredients, and The Magic Neep for seeds and gardening supplies.”

“Excellent. We passed Tomes and Scrolls and Ceridwen’s Cauldrons on our way, so we might as well get that one out of the way first.”

“Alright then, lead the way.”

Sebastian led her back toward the main bridge they had crossed just moments ago but didn’t actually go onto the bridge. Instead, he turned toward the last shop on their right, its front covered in peeling greenish-teal paint and golden accent points. On either side of the steps leading up to the main door were towers of thick books stacked on top of one another, some of the stacks were clearly held up by magic to keep them from falling over with how tilted they were. He climbed up the three short steps to the front door, pushing and holding it open for Coraline to enter the shop after him. 
“Hello, welcome in. Ah, Mr. Sallow, good to see you again.”

Coraline squinted, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting in the shop compared to the harsh light from the sun outside. Directly across from them, behind a desk polishing an object of some kind, stood a dark-skinned man with a graying beard and mustache wearing a sharp bronze and gray suit with a matching bowler hat. He spoke with a charming tone and a kind smile, causing Coraline to smile lightly in response. 

“Good to see you as well, Mr. Brown,” Sebastian replied and gestured for Coraline to move further into the shop. 

“Hello, sir. I’m Coraline Evans. Professor Weasley told me to come here to pick up some spellcrafts and textbooks.” Coraline stated as she slowly approached the man’s table.

“I thought I might be seeing you sometime today. Welcome to Tomes and Scrolls; I am the proprietor here, Thomas Brown. Pleased to meet you, Miss Evans. ”

Coraline politely nodded, “Pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Brown.” 

Mr. Brown briefly held up a single finger before turning toward one of the bookshelves behind him, grabbing a stack of books off one of the shelves. He turned back around and placed the stack of books on the table between them. 

“Here are the required texts for the main fifth-year classes, as well as the required texts for Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. Give me one moment to grab a copy of the spellcrafts from the back room.”

Mr. Brown disappeared into the room off to the left behind the desk, allowing Coraline the opportunity to look over the covers of the books he set in front of her. Each book had a small slip of parchment attached to the front, listing the class the book belonged to: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 for Charms, An Intermediate Guide to Herbology for Herbology class, Hex, Jinxes, Curses and Counter Curses for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Intermediate Potion-Making for Potions, Every Wizard’s Guide to Intermediate Transfiguration for Transfiguration, An Astronomer’s Guide to the Stars for Astronomy, 101 Magical Beasts for Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes: The Intermediate Edition for Ancient Runes. 

A moment later, Mr. Brown returned from the back room carrying two parchment scrolls and a small cloth bag. He set the bag on the desk and immediately began moving the stack of textbooks into the bag.

As he added the two parchment scrolls into the bag, he asked, “I’m guessing you haven’t had a Conjuring lesson just yet, with it only being the first day of term?”

“You are correct, Mr. Brown.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have one soon enough. Conjuring is magic at its purest, creating something out of nothing. Of course, it is not without complexity, but that is where my spellcrafts come in. Stay the course, and you could soon impress even Professor Weasley.” 

Mr. Brown gave Coraline a knowing look, his eyes almost twinkling as he nodded once.
“That’s certainly something to aspire to, Mr. Brown. I look forward to that day.”

“Indeed, Miss Evans. Now, I’ve taken the liberty of adding the featherweight charm and a minor extension charm to this bag, as I am sure you have lots of supplies you still need to get.” 

Mr. Brown lifted the bag off the desk and held it out for Coraline to take. She gasped lightly as she took the bag into her hand, surprised by just how light the bag actually was despite the many textbooks added to it. Both Mr. Brown and Sebastian smiled and chuckled lightly at her response. 

“Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?” Mr. Brown asked as he looked between Sebastian and Coraline. 

  
Sebastian shook his head, causing Coraline to look back at Mr. Brown with a small smile, “I think that’s everything. Thank you for your help, Mr. Brown. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“You as well, Miss Evans. Until next time.”

Sebastian led the way back to the front door of the shop, pulling it open for Coraline to exit first before following after her. Coraline immediately kept walking straight ahead after going down the steps in front of Tomes and Scrolls toward Ceridwen’s Cauldrons, which was conveniently located directly across the street. Similar to Tomes and Scrolls, Ceridwen’s Cauldrons had numerous cauldrons stacked on top of each other along the walls of the storefront. She pushed open the door to the shop and held it open for Sebastian to walk through with a slight smirk across her face causing Sebastian to shake his head lightly at her. 

Mere steps away from the front door of the shop sat a large cauldron on top of a raised stone fire pit, it’s contents bubbling away and giving off green smoke, tinting the entire shop green. Sebastian led the way around the cauldron up to the large table against the back wall where a young, dark-skinned male with a short afro wearing a striped dark blue shirt and dark brown apron was fiddling with the till on the table. As they approached the table, the man looked up and almost seemed to frown at them.

“Hello, welcome in. What can I get for you?”

Coraline was a bit slow in responding to him as she looked over the list to make sure she knew what to ask for, “Hello, I’m Coraline Evans. Professor Weasley sent me to pick up a cauldron and scales set.”

“Perfect timing; I just set your supplies aside for you. One standard pewter cauldron, size 2, and one set of brass scales,” the man stated as he roughly moved a large black cauldron from the counter off to the side over to the table they were standing at. 

Coraline’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the large cauldron, unsure if it would actually fit in the bag Mr. Brown had given her. 

Sebastian only chuckled at her response, “Hold open the bag, Coraline. Don’t worry, both will fit inside the bag quite easily.”

She hesitated but ultimately held open the bag and watched in amazement as Sebastian dropped both the cauldron and the scales into the bag without even a shred of difficulty. She glanced up at Sebastian, her eyes still wide in shock and disbelief. 

“Never underestimate the power of a good extension charm,” Sebastian stated to Coraline before turning back toward the man with a short nod, “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Anderson.”

Mr. Anderson tilted his head and then nodded at both of them, his eyes narrowing, as Sebastian wrapped his arm around Coraline’s shoulders and ushered her outside. Coraline looked back over her shoulder at Mr. Anderson, confused, before looking up at Sebastian, unsure why he was hurrying them out the door so quickly. Once the door closed behind them and they stood in the middle of the street, Sebastian removed his arm from around Coraline’s shoulders and took a step back.

“Sorry, Mr. Anderson tries to be friendly at times, but most of the time, he strongly dislikes interacting with most people and isn’t one to hide his displeasure.”

“Then why run a shop in Hogsmeade? That seems a little counter-intuitive.” Coraline stated as she readjusted her grip on the bag with all her supplies. 

“It’s not really his shop, it’s Mr. Ceridwen’s. Mr. Anderson is just Mr. Ceridwen’s apprentice in the art of cauldron making, but he’s left in charge of the shop when Mr. Ceridwen goes to make his deliveries.”

“Oh.”

“It’s best to keep your visits quick and simple if he’s the only one there. Anyway, I think we still have two more shops to visit, right? J. Pippin’s and Magic Neep?”

Coraline nodded, “Yes.”

“Alright then, let's get a move on.”

Sebastian walked alongside Coraline as they walked down the street, then pointed to the left of the street that branches off from the main one. This side street had no shops, but rather filled with small two-story townhouses on both sides with carts full of wares strewn about and clotheslines hung between houses completely covered in various clothing pieces. The side street curved slightly before opening up to a large, surprisingly steep stone staircase and another side street to their left. 

He pointed at the other side street, “That’s Hog’s Head Alley, most notable for the Hog’s Head pub at the end of the street and the small docks behind it. It’s not the most respectable place; The Three Broomsticks is a much better place to go if you fancy a Butterbeer.”

The alley certainly did not seem like a place Coraline would want to willingly visit; it gave off a strange dark feeling, making her slightly uncomfortable standing there. Thankfully, Sebastian moved on from the alley quite quickly. They went up the steep staircase, and immediately at the top, Coraline was able to see a purple wooden sign saying J. Pippins Potions hanging down from the upper part of the shop. The front of the shop was almost exclusively purple between the wood of the door and the surrounding wooden walls, with the only bit of non-purple within the stained glass windows, including the window within the main door itself. Similar to Ceridwen’s Cauldrons, numerous cauldrons of all sizes and colors were stacked under the stained glass window and hung from the corner of the shop. Coraline chuckled lowly to herself as she realized the colors featured in the stained glass matched the colors of each of the Hogwarts houses.

As she stood and stared at the exterior of the Potions shop, Sebastian took the opportunity to move around her to open the door to the shop, a faint sound of a bell jingling could be heard from the movement of the door. He looked back at her and noticed that she hadn’t moved from the spot where she stood. 

“You coming, Coraline?” Sebastian questioned, raising a single eyebrow in curiosity.

Coraline shook her head lightly, effectively clearing the thoughts from her head before looking back up at Sebastian. “Yes, sorry. Got distracted.”

Sebastian followed Coraline into the shop, allowing her to look around the small, cozy shop. Clearly, the person who ran the shop had a strong interest in the color purple, as it was a constant feature throughout the room. However, unlike the exterior of the shop, the interior was filled with numerous other colors as well from the different woods used to create the several supply cupboards and bookshelves and the various potion ingredients strewn about. 

“Oh, thank goodness. When I heard the bell, I thought you were Miss Lawang - not that she deigns to come here.”

Coraline pulled her eyes away from the shelf of various ingredients that was directly next to the front door on the left and turned toward the till on a small wooden table against the right-hand wall of the shop. Behind the till stood a tall, pale gentleman wearing a formal purple and gold suit vest with a plain gray apron tied around his waist. He had fading light-brown hair, a pair of silver spectacles resting on his nose, and a small smile tugging on his lips.

“Though - I don’t believe I’ve your face before either, Miss.” His head then turned toward Sebastian, his smile growing slightly in recognition, “Good to see you, Mr. Sallow.”

Sebastian gave the man a curt nod and a slight smile, “You as well, sir.”

He then turned his attention toward one of the tall shelves against the wall, allowing Coraline the chance to interact with the man on her own. 

Coraline took a few small steps toward the man, who was most likely the shop owner due to the formal purple vest he wore, and nervously clasped her hands together in front of her skirt. 
“Hello, I’m Coraline Evans and it’s my first time in Hogsmeade, actually. I’m new at Hogwarts.”

The man’s head tilted back a bit and slightly pursed his lips in surprise at Coraline’s words.

“First time in Hogsmeade? Well, Parry Pippin, at your service, and this is J. Pippin’s Potions - Potions for All Ailments. You’ll have read it on the sign, of course, but grandfather always made me say it in full. How may I help you today?”

“Professor Weasley sent me to collect some recipes.”

“Ah yes, I set your things aside immediately. I suspected that if you’re anything like I was at your age as a fellow Ravenclaw, you’d want your potion supplies. Is it not the most fascinating art, potion-making? Rivals anything you can do with a wand, I’ve always said.”

Coraline tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, “Potions can really be that powerful and versatile?”

 “They may not be as showy as spellwork, but make no mistake, they are just as powerful. They can heal, destroy, and protect - you’ll discover all of this soon enough,” Mr. Pippin stated as he grabbed a few loose pieces of parchment off the shelf attached to the table with the till.

He quickly flipped through the pieces of parchment, presumably checking to make sure they were all there before setting them down on the table to the side of the till for Coraline to take.

“That’s incredible! I knew that there was a potion that could heal, but I didn’t realize there were so many different types of potions.”

A small, soft chuckle was suddenly heard from behind Coraline. She rolled her eyes at Sebastian’s antics before turning her attention back to the shop owner. 

Mr. Pippin’s eyes briefly flickered over to Sebastian before softening as he looked at Coraline, a small smile tugging on the ends of his lips, “I’m confident Professor Sharp will get you up to speed with the rest of your classmates in no time.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pippin. I’m certainly looking forward to my potions lessons,” Coraline gave a small nod to him as she grabbed the potion recipes off the table and gently set them inside the bag with the rest of her supplies. 

“My pleasure, Miss Evans. Now, you just come on back anytime you need something or have any questions, and I’ll happily help you out.” Mr. Pippin stated as he lowered his head ever so slightly to look at her from the tops of his eyes, then tilted his head to the left to glance over to Sebastian, who had moved to stand behind Coraline while Mr. Pippin spoke. “You too, Mr. Sallow.”

Sebastian only nodded and then moved toward the door to open it, the bell at the top of the door jingling slightly at the movement.

“Thank you again, Mr. Pippin,” Coraline said as she turned and headed out the open door.

“You both take care now.”  

Coraline stopped and turned back toward the storefront after only a few steps, waiting for Sebastian to join her. He gracefully let the door close behind him and quickly moved across the street to stand at her side once more. 

“Alright, only the Magic Neep left for supplies.”

“Well, lead the way, humble escort,” Coraline teased.

Sebastian shook his head with a roll of his eyes and led the way around the corner of J. Pippin’s and onto a dirt path. This surprised Coraline as she somehow completely missed seeing the path as they walked over to J. Pippin’s, but also that the neat and orderly gray cobblestone just abruptly stopped to switch to the dirt pathway. On the left side of the path sat a few stone benches surrounding a floo flame location. She squinted her eyes as she looked over the stone carving and was just barely able to make out the words ‘West Hogsmeade’ just about the platter with the flames. She didn’t say anything, choosing to only follow after him as he walked along the short dirt pathway and toward a large cobblestone bridge. 

As they crossed the bridge, a faint sound of rushing water could be heard, causing Coraline to detour to the left edge of the bridge to look at their surroundings. Not far in front of the bridge where she stood resided a small wooden dock platform with a stream of water passing under both the bridge and the dock. Given their relative closeness to the alley Sebastian previously mentioned, Coraline easily assumed the small wooden dock must be the Hog’s Head Docks. Then far off in the distance, behind the building connected to the docks, was Hogwarts. Each time she got a glimpse of the castle, Coraline couldn’t help but be amazed at it, still in complete disbelief that she now lived and studied there. 

The faint sounds of chatter from up ahead of the bridge caused her to turn and realize that Sebastian must have already made it to the other side of the bridge. She quickly hurried across the bridge, and immediately on the other was a tall metal pole with a swirl at the top, holding a fading green sign that read ‘The Magic Neep.’ A group of adult wizards crossed the dirt road in front of her and then turned to head over the bridge, making Coraline have to wait a brief moment before she was able to cross the dirt road herself. 

Coraline carefully climbed the stone steps that just barely stuck out of the dirt hill leading up to the shop; the last thing she needed was to accidentally trip and fall by rushing too much. Once she made it to the top of the steps, she was able to see Sebastian standing a few steps away from a man sitting on a wooden stool in front of a small wooden cart filled with several different types of cut plants.

“Ah, Mr. Sallow!” Called out the man on the stool, “Good to see you, I hope your summer was kind to you.”

“Eh, I’m happy to be back at Hogwarts again,” Sebastian responded as he folded his arms in front of his chest. 

“Sorry to hear that, Mr. Sallow,” the man then turned his head toward Coraline as she walked up to stand at Sebastian’s side, “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you before.”

The man had a thick mustache and a long, graying beard that reached the top of the dark brown apron he wore around his neck. Under the apron, he wore a green plaid button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black rubber boots that went all the way up to his knees, and a loose brown cap. He certainly looked the part of a farmer or a gardener if the cart of plants behind him was anything to go by.

“I’m Coraline Evans, sir. I’m here for the seeds Professor Weasley arranged for me to collect.”
“Ah. The dittany seeds for the new fifth year. I take it that’s you, then, Miss Evans. Merlin’s beard. Starting Hogwarts as a fifth-year. You must be positively reeling from it all.”

Coraline nervously clasped her hands behind her, allowing her fingers to fidget out of sight, “A bit, but I’m choosing to see it all as one big adventure.”

“Well, bravo. Not everyone has the temperament to take things as they come,” the man’s eyes darted towards Sebastian for a brief millisecond before looking back at Coraline and continuing, “Name’s Timothy Teasdale, by the way. And this is my shop, the Magic Neep. I keep the cart out here because I like a good chat. Can’t very well be in the thick of things if I’m hidden away inside now, can I?”

“I suppose not.” 

“In addition to seeds, I have plenty of plants for sale. I grow everything myself. My specialty is potion ingredients - even Pippin purchases from me.”

Coraline just smiled, not entirely sure how to respond to that, but thankfully it worked in her favor as Mr. Teasdale leaned back on his stool and grabbed a few small, white packets off the edge of the cart next to him. He then held them out for her to take. 

“Here you go, a few packets of dittany seeds to use in your Herbology class and personal pots if you so please.”

She carefully took the packets out of his hand and gently placed them against the potion recipes in her bag, then pulled out the list from Professor Weasley while checking the contents of her bag to ensure she got all the supplies the Professor listed. She let out a small sigh of relief after she successfully crossed off everything on the list and closed up the bag to hang from her shoulder. 

“I’m sure you’re eager to explore the rest of Hogsmeade, so I’ll let you get to it. But, of course, feel free to come on back if you ever need more seeds or other plants. That goes for both of you.”
Coraline gave a small, shy grin, “Thank you, Mr. Teasdale.”

Both Coraline and Sebastian turned around and started heading back toward the bridge and the main part of Hogsmeade. They walked in silence across the bridge, following the same path from before, and it wasn’t until they reached the top of the steep staircase that either of them spoke.

 
“I’ll take you over to Ollivanders, and while you’re getting your own wand, I’ll head over to the shop for my sister.”

“Thank you again for escorting me to all of the shops; I’m positive that I would have gotten lost several times trying to find each of the shops.”

Sebastian swept down into an exaggerated bow, somehow still able to continue walking as he did so, “It’s been a genuine pleasure to accompany you.”

Coraline laughed and smiled widely, so much so that she brought a hand up to lightly cover her mouth as she laughed. Sebastian had an identical wide grin on his face as he stood up to his full height once more. They continued walking down the side street that they had taken to get to J. Pippin’s earlier, allowing Coraline to get a better understanding of how to get from the shops near the back of Hogsmeade over to the main street of the village. To Coraline’s surprise, once they did make it back to the main street, Ollivander’s was the first building to their immediate left. 
The shop was primarily made out of a light gray stone that could almost be mistaken for cream-colored stones, with warm, brown wooden signs, windows, and doors. Just above the door was a faint sign that read ‘Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC.’

Sebastian gestured toward the store once they stood in front of it, “Off you go. Mr. Ollivander is most likely already waiting for you inside. When you get done, take those staircases off to the left of Three Broomsticks and follow the road till you reach the main square. You won’t miss it, and I’ll meet you there.”

Coraline nodded, her nervousness taking over, causing her fingers to fidget unconsciously as she continued staring at the shop front.

“Relax, Coraline. Mr. Ollivander will find the perfect wand for you in no time,” Sebastian stated as he tilted his head to the side and slightly downward with a small smile, secretly amused at Coraline’s nervousness.

She took a deep breath, then walked forward to push open the door, causing a small ring of a bell, and let the door close behind her. The inside of the wand shop was much smaller than any of the other shops she had visited, though Coraline suspected it was due to the large shelves on both sides of the shop that were filled to the brim with long, thin boxes. The warm brown wood from the exterior made up the entirety of all the structures inside, giving the shop a warm, honey-like feeling. She took the moment of silence as an opportunity to remove her bag of supplies and book bag off her shoulder and gingerly hang them on the coat rack next to the door.

Suddenly, a pale head covered in wispy white hair appeared in the open archway at the back of the shop, “I’ll be right with - Ah! It’s you! Um, just a moment, please.”

Coraline’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, quite confused at how the man seemed to know who she was already. A moment later, the same man walked out from the back room and effortlessly lifted a part of the table connected to the till, revealing a walkway for him to come to the front of the shop. 

Now standing directly in front of her, Coraline was better able to soak in his appearance. His wild and wispy pure white hair was only on the back of his head as the top of his head was primarily bald, and he had a mustache and beard, but the beard was only on the sides, leaving his chin bare. A pair of wire spectacles sat on the top of his nose, and a warm brown wand was tucked behind his ear. He wore a dark gray and black suit set and a red leather overcoat with a small gold pin in the shape of an ‘O’ and a line through it attached to the lapel. The man certainly had a grandfather-like aura to him

She cautiously started to say, “Hello, sir. I’m Coraline Evans, and I’m here for -” 

“For a new wand, yes.” The man interrupted before giving her a wide grin, “It’s about time.”

“Yes, I - about time?” This surprised Coraline. None of the other shop owners she had interacted with thus far hadn’t been able to immediately tell who she was; it was only after introducing herself and asking for the supplies that they understood.

“Well, you’re our new fifth-year student, are you not? Oh, what am I saying? Of course, you are. Gerbold Ollivander’s the name! But, of course, you’ll have heard of the Ollivanders, I’m sure. Finest wand-makers in the world. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Evans, truly. Now, come with me. Let’s find you the perfect wand, shall we?” Coraline stared at him, slightly intrigued but also concerned by the way he seemed to know far more than he was letting on.

She didn’t even have a chance to reply before Mr. Ollivander moved to stand in front of one of the shelves, immediately sorting through them as if he were looking for something specific.

“Hmmmmmm. No, no, no, not you -”

Finally, he pulled a light green box out of the middle of one of the shelves, causing the other boxes that had previously been stacked on top of it to fall and fill in the gap.

“Ah, yes-yes. Holly and unicorn hair, ten and a half inches - you might do,” Mr. Ollivander muttered to himself as he moved back towards Coraline and opened the box.

Once he stood in front of her again, he took a thin, pitch-black wand that was completely smooth out of the box and held it out for her to take. 

“Here, give this one a try. Go ahead, swish!”

Coraline took the wand out of his hand, and after he gave her a small, encouraging nod, she lightly swished the wand in front of her; however, nothing happened. Her eyes darted over to Mr. Ollivander, slightly concerned that nothing happened.

“Hmm, how odd. Once more. Come on, really swish it.”

She took a deep breath and gave the wand a bigger swish. The wand, unexpectedly, flew out of her hand in a shower of bright yellow sparks causing her to take a small step back in surprise. 

Mr. Ollivander reached a singular arm up and effortlessly caught the flying wand before tucking it back into the box, “Well, this isn’t a good match at all, is it?”

He carefully placed the light green box back onto the shelf he had gotten it from before moving to a different shelf entirely. After a few moments, he looked up at one of the higher-level shelves, a shelf that he certainly wouldn’t reach without a tall ladder if he was a muggle, and gently swished his wand. A bright red box was drawn out from the highest shelf in the shop and slowly lowered itself down to him. 

“Ah perhaps - yes - hawthorn and dragon heartstring, thirteen and three-quarter inches,” Mr. Ollivander muttered to himself as he walked back toward Coraline. 

He held out a wand with thin strips of a dark greenish-gray color that twisted and spiraled around itself, “Let’s give this one a try.”

Coraline took the wand from him, and without needing prompting, she swished the wand. A large cracking noise echoed throughout the shop as the glass ball of the lamp on the table completely shattered. Without hesitation, she quickly put the spiral wand back into his hand so as not to break anything else. 

“This is proving to be trickier than I had anticipated. How perplexing.” He put the spiral wand back into the red box and then flicked his own wand in the direction of the lamp, causing the broken pieces to mend themselves while he levitated the box back up to its shelf. 

Once the box was safely back on its shelf, he stood there for a moment muttering to himself as he slowly stroked his mustache, clearly deep in thought. Then it was like a light bulb went off in his head as his eyes widened and moved toward a shelf directly behind where Coraline stood, forcing her to spin around herself to keep watching him. His hands started sorting through the ivory-colored boxes on the slanted shelf just above Coraline’s head before his fingers came to a stop on one of the boxes at the bottom of that slanted shelf. 

“Ah. There you are. Yes, I think you might be the one. Aspen and phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches, nice and swishy.” He pulled the box out of the shelf and quickly opened the box for Coraline, “Here, take it.”

Inside the box was a beautiful pale brown wand with several thin rings across its length. As she reached into the box to take the wand, it almost felt as if the wand was calling out to her, wanting her to take the wand into her hand. With wide eyes, Coraline’s fingers wrapped around the slightly thicker part of the wand and pulled it out of the box. A small burst of pure white magic seemed to burst outward from Coraline in response to the wand, and a feeling of warmth and comfort fell onto her like a blanket. 

Mr. Ollivander gasped and clasped his hands together, a look of wonder on his face. “Extraordinary. Another wand, another beginning of a bright and magical future. Now, how did that feel?”
She couldn’t take her eyes off the wand, completely entranced by the very different sensation that the loaner wand gave. “Good - different, but it felt incredible.”

“A match. Your connection seemed particularly powerful. The right wand will learn from you just as much as you learn from it.” He smiled at Coraline, enjoying watching her expressions of emotions toward the wand.

“Really?” She finally pulled her eyes away from her new wand to look over at Mr. Ollivander, surprised.

“Of course. And a phoenix feather core is terribly selective. This will be an excellent match indeed. And the bond between you and your wand should only grow stronger. Do not be surprised at your new wand’s ability to perceive your intentions - particularly in a moment of need.”

As he spoke, he tucked his wand back behind his ear and moved through the table’s walkway to stand on the other side of the table to face her. Coraline’s eyes tracked his movement, and she turned toward the table to face him as well. 

“That sounds wonderful, Mr. Ollivander.” Coraline shrunk into herself ever so slightly, “I do have a small question, but it might be a bit silly.”

“Of course; ask away!”

“You store your wand behind your ear. Is that something anyone can do with their wand? Or even something similar to that?”

Mr. Ollivander smiled and chuckled lightly at her sudden shy curiosity, his eyes sparkling with a knowing look. “Yes, tucking your wand behind your ear or even storing it in a fashionable hair bun, for example, is perfectly acceptable and does nothing to hurt it. Your wand is far more durable than you think, Miss Evans.”

She perked up at his words, her mind already thinking up several ideas of alternate places to store her wand beside in her pocket. “Thank you, Mr. Ollivander.”

“Come see me again if I can ever be of further assistance,” he stated as he tilted his head downward slightly, causing him to look at her through the top of his eyes, which seemed almost to sparkle mischievously. 

Coraline smiled and nodded at him before turning and heading towards the coat rack to gather her bags onto her shoulder to leave. Once outside, she looked down at her new wand in her hand before tucking it into the pocket in her skirt. She looked around the street but saw no signs of Sebastian, so she started making her way up the staircases past The Three Broomsticks and Zonko’s Joke Shop toward the main square of Hogsmeade. 

Chapter Text

The main square of Hogsmeade was indeed quite hard to miss as the street Coraline was following went under a large stone archway that connected two buildings together on opposite sides of the street, which revealed a large, open square. Several shops of all sorts of different colors lined the outskirts of the square, with several carts and signs positioned just outside some of the shops. At first glance, if Coraline hadn’t known ahead of time, she could have mistaken the square as that of a muggle village. However, after a closer look, she was able to recognize the presence of magic in the square. Dancing pink and blue cones of cotton candy in the front windows of the green and pink shop called Honeydukes, the never-ending moving pictures on the front pages of the newspapers stacked at a pop-up shop to her right, the wall on the front of the post office completely covered by shelves with perches for owls and the drastically leaning buildings that could only be held up by magic. 

Coraline smiled brightly, her eyes wide with wonder as she took in all of the sights around the square. A part of her desperately wanted to visit each and every shop before heading back to Hogwarts, but she had a feeling that Professor Weasley would want them back at the castle before dinner. So, instead, she opted to go sit at the small outdoor seating area directly in front of the tea shop, two buildings over. But she wasn’t able to get far in that plan as a familiar voice called out. 

“Well, well, well. I see Mr. Ollivander was able to get you matched with a wand fairly quickly.”

Coraline spun around to see Sebastian sauntering up to her from the same street she had just walked along mere minutes ago. “It took a couple of tries, but it worked out in the end. Did you get what you needed for Anne?”

“I did. So, I suppose the world is our oyster now…” Sebastian said before trailing off as a loud thudding sound started to echo throughout the square. 

Both of the Hogwarts students looked around, confused, trying to identify where the sound was coming from, but saw nothing amiss. Several of the other people around the square stopped what they were doing and turned toward the large opening that faced the river, equally as confused. However, they didn’t need to wonder for long as suddenly a massive gray beast of some sort came running around a corner before leaping into the middle of the square with a deafening thud. The beast was protected by intricate metal and leather armor tightly strapped to its body and held a large wooden club tipped with sharp metal. 

Coraline, on the other hand, was far more concerned about the fact that the beast’s armor had the same dark red glow as Ranrok’s and the other goblins’ armor from Gringotts. The constant re-appearance of the red glow did not sit well with her, especially since it seemed to follow her wherever she went. The beast roared loudly causing the dark red glow to briefly flare in intensity before returning to the normal level.

Sebastian whispered under his breath, but still loud enough for Coraline to hear, “Troll.”

Her eyes widened, and she adjusted her grip on her new wand as her head snapped toward Sebastian at the identification of the beast. She didn’t keep her gaze on him for long as the shouts and thudding of spells from the other townspeople making contact with the troll’s armor forced her to pay attention to the situation at hand. The troll turned toward the group of townspeople that had assembled around the square, swinging and smashing its club into the ground in an effort to hit them. 

Coraline was so caught up in the commotion of the fight that she hadn’t even noticed Sebastian had drawn his wand as well until a burst of fire flew past her left side and exploded on the troll’s armor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him ready to send more spells at the troll but faltered as it fully turned away from the other townspeople and started heading towards them with its club lifted. Sebastian cursed his luck under his breath and sent two more bursts of fire at the troll, which only caused a slight twitch in its shoulder. 

“Bombarda!” shouted a witch in a dark blue cloak and top hat set that now stood at the front of the group of townspeople on the other side of the troll. Her spell caused a loud, fiery explosion that seemingly hit the troll square in its back as it stumbled forward a few steps before whipping around to face the townspeople. 

The witch glanced at the two other adults on either side of her and shouted, “Draw the troll away from the buildings! Away from the village!”

Immediately, the entire group of them began running down the side alley between Honeydukes and the tea shop, continuing to throw spell after spell at the troll to keep its attention on them as they went. Once the troll disappeared around the corner after the group, Coraline and Sebastian lowered their wands and let out a small sigh of relief. However, their celebrations were short-lived as the loud, ground-shaking thudding echoed around the square once more. The sounds of stone crashing and glass shattering from behind them caused them to whip around and be confronted with a second troll, just as angry as the first. While the first troll utilized the natural wide opening of the square to make its entrance, the second troll chose to plow through the building to the left of Scrivencraft Quills.

Both students immediately raised their wands at the troll before nervously looking around the square to see if anyone was around to help. However, to both of their surprise, the square had completely emptied out leaving them on their own. This greatly confused Coraline as she had expected the loud commotion the troll had caused would have drawn people back to the square, yet no one came. The troll turned toward them, roaring loudly, and without any hesitation, immediately charged at the students. Coraline reacted first, quickly jumping and rolling off to her right, out of the troll’s way as soon as it started charging, while Sebastian took a few extra moments before sprinting off to his left. 

The troll charged halfway across the square, giving Sebastian and Coraline time to ready themselves before it turned back around to face them. She quickly took the opportunity to remove her book bag and the bag of supplies from her shoulder to rest them against the wall of the quill shop, where she hoped they would be out of the way and not get damaged. Sebastian started shouting incantation after incantation, continually bombarding the troll with attacks. Despite learning two new spells that morning, Coraline suspected that neither would affect the troll much, if at all, based on how the troll reacted to Sebastian’s spells. Instead, she opted to continue her strategy from Gringotts of rotating between Stupefy, Protego, and the basic cast. The troll turned around and began moving back toward them as it swung and smashed the club into the ground, attempting to get to them. 

“Are we weakening him at all?” Coraline shouted as the troll continued to plow through the square, seemingly taking no damage from the myriad of spells Sebastian cast at it.

 
“Keep at it! We’ll wear him down eventually!” Sebastian shouted back as he ducked under the troll’s swinging club again.

Coraline and Sebastian continued to dance around the troll, continuing to repeatedly cast spells at it while also trying to keep their distance from it. However, on one of the troll’s charges, Coraline was able to roll out of the way in time, but Sebastian didn’t move fast enough. 

“Sebastian! Watch out!” Coraline screamed right as the troll made contact with the boy, sending him flying into the rubble of the destroyed shop. 

Not wanting the troll to hurt Sebastian more than it probably already had, Coraline began throwing basic casts one after the other with even more force than she ever had, channeling all of her emotions into the power of the spells. She didn’t even realize it at first, but her magic began to strengthen and reach out on its own. A stream of pure white magic shot out from the tip of her wand, latching onto a loose piece of rubble nearby, and then her body automatically moved to swing the piece of rubble, sending it flying at the troll. Her mind wanted her to pause to figure out what she had just done to cause the rubble to soar into the troll’s back, but her body continued to throw loose pieces of rubble at the troll in an attempt to get its attention away from Sebastian. It took a few hits, but finally, the troll turned away from Sebastian and charged at Coraline. 

She was ready for it, immediately dodging out of the way and sprinting over to Sebastian. Coraline let out a small sigh of relief seeing Sebastian maneuvering to stand on his own, happy that he was mostly alright. Regardless, she still pulled out a small vial of Wiggenweld potion from her skirt pocket and turned towards him. 

“Sebastian, catch!” Coraline tossed the vial into Sebastian’s awaiting hands, then quickly went back to throwing more rubble at the troll. 

While she didn’t see it, she assumed Sebastian drank the potion as he suddenly appeared next to her, looking a lot stronger than he had when he was trying to stand. 

“What was that?” Sebastian called out, looking over at her in confusion, having never seen a spell like what she was doing. 

“A taste of its own medicine!” Coraline responded vaguely, still unsure herself. 

Sebastian didn’t bother to question it further yet, instead moving to resume sending bursts of fire and small explosions at the troll. “That’s right, you lumbering lout!”

Their combined efforts caused the troll to start stumbling occasionally and increasingly struggling to swing the club with any kind of force. It moved as if it wanted to charge at the two students, but it only caused the troll to stumble further, now staggering away from them. 

“It’s faltering! A few more hits should do the job!” Sebastian shouted out, a small smirk tugging on the edges of his lips as he continued casting. 

The troll stumbled once more, having completely lost its balance as it teetered on one foot. Coraline pulled her wand back, expecting to grab another piece of rubble, but instead, the tip of her wand started to glow brightly with little bits of swirling magic around it. She gasped lightly, instantly recognizing it as the same type of magic she had interacted with at Gringotts. The glow briefly flashed in intensity, causing Coraline to make a scooping motion with her wand before pointing it at the troll. Blinding white magic burst from her wand and collided with the troll, making it explode into a cloud of dark gray dust and purple sparks that blew away until there was nothing left. 

Now that the troll was gone, Coraline was able to see the group of adults that had led the first troll out of the square making their way over to them. Leading the group was the witch in the dark blue cloak and matching top hat, who stopped directly in front of Coraline and Sebastian, looking between them in surprise and complete disbelief. 

“Goodness! A second troll? Did you two take on a fully-grown troll…by yourselves?”

Coraline stared at the witch, confused, before glancing around the square to see that it was still completely empty beside their group. As much as Coraline wanted to make a witty comment about her and Sebastian being the only ones around to actually deal with the troll since it took a group of three adults to take care of the first one, she knew that it wouldn’t be productive to say that. Besides, the last thing she needed was to make even more enemies in the wizarding world so early into her arrival in the magical community. Instead, she lightly clasped her hands together in front of her skirt and gave a small smile.

“It appears to be that way, ma’am.”

“Merlin’s beard. Are you both all right?”

Coraline looked over at Sebastian with her head slightly tilted as she didn’t want to outright ask if he was indeed all right since it seemed as though only she knew about his unfortunate collision with the troll. He glanced over to her as well, giving a small nod to reassure her that he was indeed alright. She gave a small nod as well before turning back toward the woman in blue. 

“We are, thankfully, and we’re glad that we were able to help keep the damage to a minimum.”

The woman scoffed but still held a polite smile across her lips. “I’d say ‘help’ is a bit of an understatement. Nerve like that? The makings of an Auror, if you ask me. What were your names again?”

“Sebastian Sallow and this is Coraline Evans, the new fifth-year.” He stated, resting his hand on his chest as he said his name before gesturing toward Coraline. 

The woman nodded, “Officer Singer. Well, you both certainly have a bright future ahead of you.”

Coraline looked around the square once more, watching the two other adults wave their wands to start putting the area back together. “Is there anything else we can do to help, Officer Singer?”

She shook her head and raised a hand at the two students, “Thank you, but let us take it from here. You both should enjoy the rest of your Hogsmeade trip before you need to return to the castle.”

“Very well,” Coraline stated. They exchanged another round of nods between the three of them before Coraline turned toward Sebastian. He parted his lips to speak, but someone else beat him to it. 

“Hello there, Mr. Sallow! A moment if you would.”

Coraline looked over to her left to see a man in an extravagant pink suit standing under the awning of the store named “Gladrags Wizardwear,” waving them over. 

“I’ll go see what he wants.”

Coraline nodded, “Let me just grab my bags, and I’ll join you inside.”

Sebastian gave her a curt nod before heading over to the man, who smiled brightly at his approach. He threw an arm around Sebastian’s shoulders and escorted him inside the store. Coraline watched their interactions with a small smile, then quickly made her way over to her bags that were still safely resting against the side of the quill shop. She picked up her bags, put the strap of her book bag over her head to rest against her chest, and placed the strap of her bag of supplies on her left shoulder before making her way across the square to the shop he had gone into. She pushed open the door to the shop and stepped inside, immediately seeing Sebastian leaning against the corner the man in the pink suit stood behind, his head turned toward her. 

“Mr. Hill here was just singing your praises,” Sebastian stated with a wide smirk. 

Coraline only rolled her eyes at him and approached the counter, “Hello, sir. I don’t believe we’ve met; I’m Coraline Evans.”

The man was certainly the most peculiar person she had ever seen before, which was saying something since most of what the other wizards wore was quite different than the simple but sophisticated outfits the muggles wore in London. His deep, rich pink suit jacket and vest were covered in little cream-colored flowers and paired with several clothespins of various colors, along with a sharp red handkerchief in the jacket’s pocket. He had pale skin that had a noticeable pink twinge thanks to his suit, mousy-brown hair slicked back into strangely shaped quaffs, and a pair of metal spectacles clasped on his nose. It was quite clear to her that he was more than comfortable in their presence as he casually stood behind the counter swishing a honey-brown colored teacup in his hands. 

“Allow me to introduce myself: Augustus Hill, clothier extraordinaire. I should like to thank you for your remarkable bravery in fighting those trolls.”

“I’m just glad that Sebastian and I were in a position to help,” Coraline responded diplomatically, slightly unnerved that Mr. Hill had most likely watched the troll attack from the safety of his shop while she and Sebastian did all of the work to dispatch the troll. 

“Frankly, you deserve an Order of Merlin! Nonetheless, I own Gladrags Wizardwear, so instead, I’ll offer you a new set of robes that you can wear when you don’t need to be in uniform as a small thank you for your help today.”

Coraline made a mental note to ask Sebastian about what an Auror and an Order of Merlin were during their walk back to the castle to better understand the importance of the references being made to her. Especially since everyone just kept assuming she knew what they were, negating the need actually to explain them. 

In response to his offer, she shook her head, “That’s very kind of you, Mr. Hill. But I can’t accept robes that I didn’t pay for.”

“Nonsense, Miss Evans. I insist. Now, let’s find a style you like, shall we?” Mr. Hill gestured to the large racks off to the side, inviting her to look through his selection. 

Coraline was still hesitant to accept Mr. Hill’s charity of a free robe; however, the realization that she no longer owned any clothing to wear besides her uniform pieces forced her to give in to the offer and thumb through the available colors. Out of the corner of her eye, as she moved over to the racks, she could see Sebastian’s shoulders moving up and down in what she assumed to be silent laughter. She had no idea as to what would cause him to laugh like that, but all she could hope was that he wasn’t laughing at something she did. Instead, she focused her attention on the numerous patterns and colors hung on the racks before finally settling on a simple, dark teal cloak with faint dark gray swirls at the edges of the fabric. She pulled the cloak off the rack and moved back over to the counter, gently setting the cloak down for Mr. Hill to see. 

“Ah, an excellent choice, Miss Evans,” Mr. Hill stated with a smile as he switched his teacup to his left hand, pulling his wand out from the inside of his jacket and swishing it at the cloak. 

Immediately the cloak levitated up off the counter, removing itself from the hanger and folding before landing in Coraline’s awaiting hands. She stared in wonder at his display of magic for a few moments, a task that was already quite simple to complete, made even more simple by just a single wave of a wand, before tucking the cloak into the bag with her supplies. 

“I suspect you’ve got a sharp eye for fashion. Be sure to stop by whenever you’re about,” Mr. Hill stated with a nod at Coraline as she turned toward her companion.

“Thank you again.”

Sebastian gave Mr. Hill a small nod before heading over to the door, holding it open for Coraline to exit.  Once both of them were outside and the door closed behind them, Sebastian turned his head toward Coraline with a smile.

“I’d say we’ve earned a butterbeer or two, wouldn’t you? Might help me forget that I was almost pulverized by a troll.”

“Almost? I’d say that’s a very optimistic view of that,” Coraline teased with a wide smirk, positively entertained to return the favor of laughing at one’s expense. 

He sighed, looking down at his shoes and shaking his head lightly. “You’re going to hold that over me for a while, aren’t you?”

“Oh, absolutely. Especially since you said, what was it? Needing to keep an eye on me since I’m the only one to ever bested you in a duel?”

Sebastian gave her a pointed look out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.

“Anyway, yes. I definitely think we’ve earned a butterbeer.”

With one last shake of his head, he gestured towards the main street out of the square, directly to the left of Gladrags, making their way out of the square.

“Perfect. The Three Broomsticks is just this way. Assuming it isn’t utter bedlam in there, you might even meet Sirona Ryan, the owner. She’s a good one to know.”

They hadn’t even made it halfway down the street when they noticed a man in a tall black top hat and dark purple overcoat scanning his surroundings before slipping down an alley to the left. Sebastian and Coraline exchanged a glance, both immediately suspicious as the man practically exuded an energy of being up to no good and not wanting to be followed. Neither of them spoke, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, and gave a quick, curt nod to each other before slipping across the street past the alley and behind a low section of roofing that covered them entirely. As she glanced down the alley to watch the man, Coraline realized that it wasn’t really an alley at all but a wooden L-shaped staircase that connected the street they were on to the lower street on the other side of the building. He reached the platform where the stairs turned, stopping in front of something that she wasn’t fully able to make out. She also noted there was another man leaning against the wall of the building that was directly next to the platform, with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing a dark green pinstripe vest and a matching dark green bowler hat. 

“You said you could get the girl when she came to Hogsmeade. That all you needed was a distraction,” echoed a hushed but eerily familiar voice.

Coraline’s eyes widened as she realized exactly who the gruff belonged to, which was only further solidified when the man in the purple overcoat shifted slightly to his left, allowing her a clear shot of seeing Ranrok standing in front of him. Suddenly, the glowing red armor the troll wore made a lot more sense.

“I gave you a distraction!” Ranrok growled, causing his wispy gray brows to furrow tightly and a deep sneer showing his yellowed pointed teeth. 

The man in the purple coat clenched his fists and hissed, “I just watched a student take down your ‘distraction.’ Who is this girl? What are you not telling me?”  

“All you need to know is that if you cannot get to the girl, then you have no value to me.”
The man shifted to his left once more, allowing Ranrok to easily look over his shoulder and up to Sebastian and Coraline hidden at the top of the stairs. Coraline’s breath hitched as she made eye contact with him, immediately turning toward Sebastian with a frantic look.
“We need to go, now,” she whispered and made a shooing motion with her hands at Sebastian. 

They scurried away from the alley, back onto the main street they had been walking down before, and down the main staircase leading to the lower entrance of The Three Broomsticks as fast as possible. It wasn’t until they reached the bottom of that staircase that they finally slowed. Sebastian briefly glanced behind them before turning toward Coraline. 

“Did they see us?”

She glanced over her shoulder, thankful that none of the occupants from the alley had appeared behind them in the street, and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
 He stopped and rested his hands on his hips, “What was that goblin doing with Victor Rookwood?”

Coraline’s head snapped toward Sebastian, her eyes widening as her mind started trying to piece things together and the significance of it all. Finally, she spoke slowly as if in complete disbelief of her own words, “Ranrok is working with Rookwood?”

Sebastian’s hands fell off his hips in surprise before he raised them to lightly rest on his head as he realized the implications of what she had said. “The goblin from the Daily Prophet? I knew I’d seen him somewhere!”

They weren’t able to say anything more as voices and heavy thudding sounds suddenly started to filter into the street behind them. Both Sebastian and Coraline whipped their heads around to look back at the exit of the alley to see a sliver of the top of Rookwood’s black top hat slipping into the street. They exchanged a quick frantic look as the voices started to get louder.

“Quickly! Let’s get inside the Three Broomsticks,” Sebastian hurriedly pointed at the alcove for the pub directly to their left that sat at the crossroads of several of the streets throughout Hogsmeade, and they both took off towards it. 

Sebastian led the way, and immediately, once they made it to the alcove, he threw open the doors to the pub and gestured for Coraline to get inside. Once they were fully inside, Sebastian let go of the doors, causing them to swing closed with a loud thud. Coraline looked around the pub in wonder and gave a small sigh of relief at the warm and comforting feeling the pub gave. It seemed as though whoever built it preferred a wooden interior, as nearly everything around the room was made out of woods of several varying colors. The entire right side of the pub was filled with numerous tables and chairs of various sizes and styles, many of which were occupied by groups of adults and even some small groups of Hogwarts students. 

Immediately to their left was a dark brown wooden L-shaped staircase that led up to a second level, where Coraline could just barely make out even more tables and chairs strewn about. Then directly next to the bottom of the staircase sat a long counter with several stools placed in front, and behind that was a large shelving unit packed with several different types of bottles, wooden casks, and rows upon rows of metal goblets for the drinks. At the far end of the pub, straight across from where she stood, was a good-sized stone fireplace with a roaring fire lighting the back part of the pub with an orange glow. 

She was so caught up in the beauty of it all that she didn’t even notice that Sebastian had walked in front of her until he lightly grabbed her hand and started guiding her over to the stools. The last thing either of them needed was to be still standing in the middle of the pub if Rookwood decided to come knocking. Coraline pulled herself back to the present to see a witch with dark brown that had been pulled up into a tight bun, wearing a white blouse under a caramel-colored vest and a long pink skirt, standing next to a goblin with a bit of wispy white hair, a white button-up, and a thick, black leather apron. They both had light smiles as they stood off to the side of the counter conversing. 

“It’s a treat to see you, Lodgok. I shall let you know if I hear anything,” the witch stated with a small nod.

“Thank you, Sirona,” Lodgok responded with a slight bow before starting to walk toward the doors Sebastian and Coraline had just come through.

“You be well.”

Coraline continued to watch the goblin exit the pub, unsure of their allegiances and motivations. She didn’t want to assume the worst of the goblin, but the frequent amount of little too close-to-home coincidences caused her to be slightly wary of people outside of the castle. 

“Now, what can I…” 

Coraline’s head whipped around from looking at the doors to Sirona, who now stood behind the counter, looking between her and Sebastian as she spoke before cutting herself off. The witch tilted her head to the side slightly as she studied Coraline’s face. 

“Oh, there’s a face I haven’t seen before.”

Coraline briefly glanced over at Sebastian, now slightly nervous to communicate with the witch. However, she pushed her nervousness down and forced herself to take a deep breath before responding. 

“It’s my first time here, actually. I’m Coraline Evans, the new fifth-year.”

Sirona’s smile widened, “Welcome, Miss Evans, and welcome back Mr. Sallow, good to see you again! Butterbeer’s on me.” 

She pulled her wand out of a pocket in her skirt and swished her wand in the direction of one of the shelves full of goblets, causing two goblets to lift and move under the spigots attached to the large, mounted barrels labeled Butterbeer. Coraline could immediately tell that Sirona had cast that bit of magic numerous times based on her ease in casting it, but also that she turned back toward the two students to continue talking while the goblets filled. 

“Heard about the attack. I shall be looking in on the other shopkeepers and residents shortly,” Sirona stated as the two floating goblets carefully landed down on the counter in front of Coraline and Sebastian. “Glad to see you two escaped injury.”

Sebastian lifted his goblet as he turned toward Coraline with a wide grin, “Thanks to Coraline here. Single-handedly took down a troll.”

Sirona’s eyes widened ever so slightly before turning toward Coraline with a nod and a proud and impressed smile.“Is that right? Well done.”

“Thank you for this,” Coraline raised her goblet a bit as she spoke, with a small, shy smile tugging on the edges of her lips. 

“My pleasure. I will say…trolls in Hogsmeade? That’s never happened before.”

Coraline frowned, adding that fact to her growing list of concerns.

“Something’s not right,” Sirona tapped her fingers on the counter lightly with her eyes drifting off as if in deep thought. “The only brutes we usually have to deal with are…”

Suddenly the doors to the pub flew open and smacked into the side walls with a loud bang. Coraline watched as Sirona shifted her weight from one side to the other and immediately knew that Victor Rookwood had made his way to The Three Broomsticks in search of her. She desperately forced herself not to look over her shoulder and instead focused on the goblet tightly clasped in her hands with her head bowed, hoping she wouldn’t be seen. 

“Hmph…how timely,” Sirona scoffed with a shake of her head and moved out from behind the counter to stand in the middle of the pub, clearly blocking the new arrivals from entering the pub further. 

Rookwood’s voice called out, “Was that Lodgok I saw leaving just now? Your clientèle’s not what it used to be, Sirona.”

“Not to worry, Victor. Once the two of you leave, the caliber of my clientèle will greatly improve.”

Had Coraline not been so worried for her own safety, she might have laughed at Sirona’s boldness shining through her quick comeback. Instead, she slowly started to subtly look over her right shoulder to see Rookwood’s companion from the alley in a dark green vest reach behind himself as if to pull out his wand.

Sirona’s head quickly swiveled towards him with a cold, hard look spreading across her face. “Wouldn’t do that if I were you, Theophilus.”

Coraline gasped quietly, finally making the connection that the man in the dark green vest was none other but Theophilus Harlow, Rookwood’s right hand. Suddenly his presence in both the alley and this confrontation in the pub started to make a lot more sense. 

Rookwood slowly extended his hand out in front of Harlow, “Come now. No need for theatrics. I’m only here for this one, anyway.”

He sneered as he harshly pointed at Coraline, and without hesitation, she stood and turned towards them with a hard look. Sebastian stood as well and immediately moved to position himself between Coraline and Rookwood, slightly blocking her from his view. Neither drew their wands yet, but were poised and ready to if it came to it.

Sirona stood her ground, not taking her eyes off the two men. “My friend is enjoying a well-earned butterbeer.”

“I only want a quick word,” Rookwood said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he attempted to move forward toward Coraline. 

The reaction around the pub was instantaneous. Both Coraline and Sebastian drew their wands while he shuffled over more to further block Coraline from Rookwood. Despite knowing she was more than capable of holding her own if it came down to it, he couldn’t help but deliberately put himself in front of her protectively. Loud scraping noises echoed throughout the pub as nearly all of the other patrons stood and pulled their wands out defensively to back Sirona and the two Hogwarts students. At some point in the flurry of movement around the pub, Harlow drew his wand as well and aimed it menacingly at Coraline while Rookwood remained empty-handed. 

“Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I said my friend is busy,” Sirona stated firmly once more, almost daring them to try something when they were so clearly outnumbered.

Rookwood’s eyes darted around the pub, assessing the situation, before loudly scoffing and giving a more menacing sneer. “One would think you’d all had enough bloodshed for one day.” 

He paused briefly to continue assessing the tense atmosphere in the pub before continuing, “Come, Theophilus. The Three Broomsticks isn’t what it used to be. Let’s take our Galleons elsewhere.”

Theophilus lowered his wand but kept it tightly clasped in his hand as both of the men started backing up toward the exit of the pub. 

“Can’t drink Butterbeer forever,” Rookwood taunted with a sickening grin and a slight mocking bow before throwing open the doors and leaving the pub. 

Once the doors had fully closed behind them, Sirona let out a small sigh of relief and turned toward Coraline. “Seems you’ve made an unfortunate enemy. Watch your back. Rookwood and Harlow are worse than any troll you might encounter. You two finish up your butterbeer, and then you can use the loo to get back to the castle. No sense in having you walk back after that.”

Sirona let Sebastian and Coraline be while she worked her way around the pub, checking on the other patrons and giving nods of thanks for having their back. Slowly, they lowered their wands, and Sebastian turned around to face her, worry clearly written across his entire face. 

“Trolls, Ranrok, and Rookwood? What are you not telling me?”  

Coraline closed her eyes and sighed, before glancing around at the other patrons of the pub as they resumed their activities, “I promise to tell you everything, but it’s perhaps best I do that later.”

“Fair enough,” he responded with a sigh and sat back down on the stool to resume drinking his Butterbeer. 

Coraline remained silent as she re-took her own seat and shakily clasped the goblet of Butterbeer in both hands, trying to calm down. 

“I’m certainly glad Sirona was there. Told you she was one of the good ones,” Sebastian quietly said after a few moments of silence between them. 

She took a deep breath and drank another sip of the sugary beverage, “I can see that. She didn’t seem at all intimidated by Rookwood and Harlow. 

“I think you’ll need to tell me why Victor Rookwood has you in his sights, but we can talk later. For the moment, we should return to the castle. Professor Weasley’s certain to hear about the troll attack soon if she hasn’t already. Don’t want to risk another detention for getting back after hours.”

Coraline nodded and quickly drank the last few sips before setting the goblet back down on the counter with a small thud. Once Sebastian finished his as well, he placed his goblet down next to hers and led her over to the large fireplace at the back of the pub. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, as she was certainly not expecting to be led there of all places. 

Sebastian glanced back at her, noting her confused state, “Most fireplaces double as locations that can access the Floo Network. Normally, I would just take us over to the formal Floo Location, but I think it’s best that we don’t exit the pub through the main doors.”

Sirona walked over to them, pulled a key down from the shelf attached to the front of the fireplace, and inserted it into one of the stones. Immediately, the orange flames switched to the familiar vibrant green flames Coraline had interacted with at the Hogsmeade Station. The woman looked over at them with a small smile and used her head to gesture to the flames.

“Professor Weasley owled, saying to meet her in the Entrance Hall. I recommend not leaving the castle for a bit, just to be safe.”

Both students nodded and thanked her for her support before activating the Floo Flames one at a time, whisking them away to the Hogwarts Entrance Hall. 

Chapter Text

It certainly seemed as though Coraline would never not be a source of gossip during her time at Hogwarts. She hadn’t even been at the castle for two full nights yet, but she was, once again, the topic of interest for the majority of the student body. First, it was the dragon attack, then it was her victory over Sebastian during Defense class, and now it was the trolls’ attack on Hogsmeade. Granted, this time, at least, Sebastian was getting an equal amount of gossip about the latest attack, allowing him to share the burden of the numerous inquisitive eyes watching their every move during the feast.

Coraline almost skipped the feast entirely upon walking into the Great Hall and seeing all of the eyes staring at her, but the adrenaline from the afternoon was starting to wear off, leaving her quite tired and hungry. As she sat down next to her dormmates at the Ravenclaw table, she could see the endless questions already forming on their lips so she lightly shook her head and gave a small whisper of “later.” All of them immediately understood and cautiously looked around at all of the other students before giving nods of their own, leaving them to eat in relative silence. However, as soon as they made it to the safety of their dorm room in Ravenclaw Tower, none of the other three girls held their curiosity or concern back.

“What in Merlin’s name were you thinking taking on a fully-grown troll by yourself?” Sammie exclaimed as she walked up to Coraline and rested her hands on the other’s shoulders, giving a her a clear pointed look.

Coraline suddenly wanted to shrink away from them and hide in the solitude of her bunk, feeling like a small child being scolded by a parent. Thankfully, Devin placed her hand on Sammie’s shoulder and gently pulled her away from the overwhelmed Coraline. Robin took the opportunity to guide her over to Devin’s bunk, allowing the girl to sit before dropping down to her knees in front of her, lightly clasping Coraline’s hands in support.

“Are you okay? Were you hurt in any way?” Robin quietly asked as she rubbed small circles on the back of Coraline’s hands, worry and concern etched across the entire girl’s face.

Her question drew the attention of Devin and Sammie, causing them to sit on either sides of Coraline with their heads tilted slightly. Coraline just sighed, her head dropping down to look at her hands as she finally had time to process everything that had happened in Hogsmeade in relative peace and quiet. After what seemed like an eternity to the other girls, Coraline finally spoke.

“I’m about as good as can be expected, I guess. Though, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure I understand everything that happened just yet.”

The other three girls exchanged a brief, concerned glance, but ultimately said nothing.

“If it’s all the same to you, I think I’m just going to get ready for bed.”

Robin gave Coraline another small smile and a light, reassuring squeeze on her hands before getting up off the floor. The other girls watched as Coraline silently grabbed a pair of pajamas and her toiletries out of her closet and exited the dorm, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Immediately, each of the remaining girls’ heads swiveled to look at each other, their mouths slightly agape as they tried to figure out how to word what they wanted to say.

Sammie was the first to speak, but her voice remained just above a whisper, “She’s not okay, is she?”

Devin sighed and hung her head, unsure how to help their newest dorm mate.

“Would you be? She just found out she was a witch, started a new school in a completely different country, and just in the last twenty-four hours alone, she’s been forced against a rogue dragon and a fully-grown troll.”

“Well, what do we do? How do we help her?” Robin asked as she grabbed her book bag from where she had placed it in front of her closet when they arrived at the dorm and went over to the table.

“Support her the best we can and let her decide when she wants to share the details. But for now, she needs her rest; she’s probably terribly exhausted.”

After a round of nods in agreement, they split in silence as they moved about the dorm, completing the tasks they wanted to complete before going to bed. Robin propped a leg up on the chair she sat on, resting her chin on her knee as she thumbed through her Divination book ahead of her first class of the term the next day. Devin switched the books around in her bag, neatly lining up the books from the day’s classes as she ensured she had everything ready. Sammie fiddled with her dittany plant by the window, meticulously adding fertilizer to the soil and swishing her wand to create a small raincloud above the pot.

All of them completely lost track of time until a loud, sharp knock echoed through the door, immediately causing the three of them to exchange confused looks. Devin’s eyebrows furrowed but she quickly crossed the room and opened the door to reveal the third-year Zenobia Noke with a bored expression.

“Zenobia, is everything alright?” Devin asked calmly, quite confused why the young girl was knocking on her door at that hour.

“You might want to go check on your newbie; she’s been awfully quiet.”

Zenobia shrugged and immediately turned to go back down the stairs to the lower-year dorms. Devin glanced back at Sammie and Robin before quickly descending the stairs to the girls' bathroom, the other girls hot on her heel. She threw open the door, her eyes rapidly searching every inch she could see for their newest roommate. One of the girls, facing the mirror above the sink directly across from the opening, saw them enter and gestured toward the bath stall in the far corner, the only one with the curtains still drawn. Not wanting to overwhelm the bath stall with people, Devin raised her hands at her roommates in a silent request for them to wait there while she checked on Coraline.

“Coraline? Are you alright?” Devin gently said as she approached the curtain.

After no response, she slowly pulled the curtain back, a small smile quickly tugging at her lips as she could barely make out Coraline’s head resting against the side of the tub, fast asleep. Devin closed the curtain and looked back at her roommates, giving them a nod and thumbs up as she summoned one of the communal towels hung on the nearby rack.

“Coraline? Love, why don’t we get you out of the tub and into bed where it’s a little bit more comfortable?” Devin used the summoned towel to cover Coraline’s body as she placed her hand on the sleeping girl’s head to wake her.

It took a bit of time to get her out of the bath and decent, but eventually, all of the dormmates were able to escort Coraline from the bathroom back up to their dorm, where she promptly fell back to sleep as soon as her head landed on the pillow.

~~~~

Coraline awoke long before the morning sun peaked through the windows, her mind continuously mulling over every single detail she could remember about the troll attack and the conversation between Ranrok and Rookwood. Eventually, she opted just to get ready for the day ahead of her, hurriedly dressing in a matching light blue plaid vest and knee-length skirt with a cream-colored tie, a set that had been mysteriously added to her closet overnight. While she had no proof, she suspected Professor Weasley, through the house elves, was responsible for the new pieces since it seemed as though every student had access to multiple variations of the uniform. It also seemed as though someone had gotten the message about her avoidance of heels, as instead of the multiple pairs in the other girls’ closets, Coraline’s now held a few pairs of ankle-high leather boots that matched each uniform variation.

By the time her dormmates made their way up to the common room, Coraline had already gotten halfway through An Intermediate Guide to Herbology ahead of her first class in the subject after breakfast. Unfortunately, none of the other fifth-year Ravenclaw girls had double Herbology with her, as theirs was on Friday morning while she was in Flying class. This is how she found herself nervously standing off to the side of the great grayish-green metal doors in Central Hall, which led down to the greenhouses by herself. Her plan was to wait for someone in her year that she recognized to head through the double doors so she could follow behind them in order to know where to go once through the doors. This, of course, ended up not being the case as a loud, familiar voice echoed down from the top of the stairs behind her.

“Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here, oh savior of Hogsmeade.”

Coraline’s head whipped around to see a smirking Sebastian descending the stairs toward her with the light-brown-haired Slytherin boy from her classes the day before directly at his side. While she had gotten glimpses of him between the activities in class, this was her first time truly seeing him, especially since she hadn’t noticed before that the boy walked with his wand out in front of him, a faint red glow pulsing from the tip. Her head tilted slightly to the side as she watched them walk over to her, trying to come up with different possibilities of what spell the boy could be doing while he walked.

“Sebastian, good to see you again during much calmer times,” Coraline said with a small smile once he reached her before turning toward the unfamiliar boy with foggy but pale blue eyes. “Hello, I’m Coraline Evans. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah yes, the new fifth-year. Welcome. I’m Ominis. Ominis Gaunt,” the boy stated with the tiniest of smirks as his eyes lazily gazed off in the distance over Coraline’s left shoulder.

Sebastian tilted his head to the side ever so slightly while keeping his eyes on her, “I’m guessing you either got double Herbology with us this morning, or it’s your turn to keep an eye on me.”

One of Coraline’s hands flew up to her face to cover her mouth as she smiled and laughed lightly in response, “Or maybe it’s both. Can’t go telling all my secrets just yet.”

She watched as Sebastian started to open his mouth to retort but was quickly cut off by Ominis.

“I don’t fancy being late, even if I have no love lost for the subject.”

They took the not-so-subtle hint to get a move on, with Sebastian leading the way through the large double doors and down the half-circle stone stairs that lead to the lower level where the greenhouses resided. After passing through yet another set of double doors in the same grayish-green color, a massive swirling cherry tree with beautifully bright pink flowers sat in the middle of the courtyard, tying together the garden scenery. Unlike the stone and wooden interior she had gotten accustomed to seeing throughout the rest of the castle, the entire greenhouse wing was made from frosted light green glass and the same grayish-green metal from the main doors, allowing the wing to have a stunning warm glow to it.

As they continued making their way toward one of the doors off to the left of the cherry tree, a few more students she recognized from her other classes were heading there as well. Most of them were still talking amicably about their summer holidays and things that had happened in the classes they’ve attended thus far. Coraline could have sworn that she heard her own name being added to the various conversations at least once or twice but opted not to get involved, instead continuing to follow her classmates into the side greenhouse.

To her surprise, the room everyone was gathering in was two stories and filled to the brim with various potting tables and pots of all sizes with all manners of strange plants Coraline couldn’t even hope to think of in her wildest dreams. The main floor of the greenhouse was a bit lower than the entrance to it, allowing Coraline a brief bird's eye view of everything as the other students slowly trickled down the stairs to greet the professor and grab something out of the basket she was holding. The Herbology professor was certainly nothing like Professor Hecat or Ronen as she wore bright green and yellow flowing robes and a matching green sun hat that had a crown of vibrant pink flowers and long ginger hair that had been tied into two braids that hung down to her waist in front of her. She hadn’t even had a chance to interact with the professor yet, but she just knew the professor would be fun to learn from and clearly passionate about her subject.

“Good morning, Professor Garlick,” said the Hufflepuff girl in front of her cheerfully.

The professor turned towards the girl with a wide smile, “How wonderful it is to see you again, Lenora, dear! Oh, here. You’ll need these for today’s class.”

She held out the basket a bit further to allow Lenora to pick up two small white fuzzy cotton balls from inside. Coraline’s brows furrowed with her head tilted to the side slightly as she looked over the Hufflepuff’s shoulder, quite confused as to what might create the need for such items.

“Oh, um…”

Professor Garlick gently swished her wand while switching her hold on the basket to her other hand, allowing an orange curling squash to fly over to them and land in Lenora’s awaiting hands.

“A little treat for your auntie,” the professor stated with a smile as the girl nodded and moved further into the greenhouse, leaving Coraline in clear view.

“Ah, hello, Miss Evans! It’s so wonderful to meet you; I hope you’ll enjoy Herbology.”

Coraline grinned brightly and even blushed a bit at the professor’s energetic greeting as she grabbed two cotton balls for herself. The professor then gestured her over to the potting table closest to where they stood, directly at the end of the row and next to a large plant similar to a Venus Fly-trap Coraline had seen in the muggle world, yet much more vibrant and had rows of teeth. The other students seemed to get the message that the class would be starting soon as they slowly ended their conversations and moved to their designated potting tables.

“Class, please welcome the newest rose in our garden, Miss Evans. We do look forward to growing together. How thrilling it is to have everyone back together again! This year will be filled with excitement, but the most important thing cultivated in Herbology is knowledge.”

As Professor Garlick spoke, Coraline noticed that all of the other students had naturally moved to stand at potting tables nearest the other members of their house. Everett and another boy from Ravenclaw with short black hair and circular glasses were at the two tables directly to her right. Ominis, Sebastian, and a Slytherin girl with straight black hair down to her chin were at the tables directly across from her.

“The prudent Herbologist is no more afraid of the Venomous Tentacula than the Bouncing Bulb,” she continued as she tossed a large carrot into the awaiting jaws of the Venus Fly-trap type plant, most likely actually called a Venomous Tentacula, before moving across the greenhouse to the podium at the far end.

“Now, then. Today, we will be acquainting ourselves with the mellifluous tuber known as the Mandrake Root. Accio!”

A string of faint golden magic gracefully shot out of the tip of the Professor’s wand and circled a light brown pot with long green and purple leaves extending up from the layer of soil inside before flying over and landing on the table in front of her.

“Who can tell me what the dangers are when handling Mandrake Roots?”

Coraline’s eyes immediately looked down at the wooden table in front of her in hopes of getting overlooked, which, to her immense relief, worked as the Professor gestured to the blond Hufflepuff girl standing at the table directly next to her podium.

“Ms Oakes?”

“A fully matured Mandrake’s scream is fatal to anyone who hears it, but a young Mandrake’s cries only render the victim unconscious for several hours. We are easily able to avoid that by using noise dampeners such as cotton balls.”

Coraline’s eyes drifted from her table to the two small cotton balls resting in the grasp of her left hand, suddenly understanding the need for them to be passed out to every student before the start of the class.

“Well said, Ms Oakes. 5 points to Hufflepuff. Now, these saplings did a lot of growing up over the summer so their current pots are getting a bit small for them. Let’s see if we can make our fibrous friends a bit more comfortable, shall we? First, let’s protect our ears.”

Professor Garlick made a large sweeping motion with her own set of cotton balls before stuffing them into her ears and gesturing for the students to follow suit. Her eyes quickly darted from each student’s visible ears, ensuring the cotton balls were tightly installed. A wave of relief washed over Coraline as her decision to weave all of the loose strands of her hair into an elaborate fishtail braid down her back allowed the professor to easily check to make sure her ears were properly protected. Just knowing that the seemingly innocent plant sitting on the table was capable of causing one to become unconscious did not help with the nerves that already tightly gripped her heart.

“Now, everyone grip your Mandrake by the tendrils and give it a firm tug,” the professor stated as she grasped the leaves of the Mandrake ripped the plant out of the pot.

Instantaneously, the wrinkly body of the plant thrashed about and expelled a continuous piercing shriek that harshly echoed around the greenhouse and was only amplified as the other students copied the professor’s movements. Coraline clamped her hands over her ears, completely disoriented and overwhelmed by the harsh, unfamiliar sounds. After a few additional moments, Coraline hesitantly pulled her own Mandrake out from the pot, contributing to the absolute chaos in the room.

“Quickly! Place your Mandrakes in the new pot and pat down the soil!”

How she managed to hear the professor’s instructions over the cries of the Mandrakes, Coraline had absolutely no idea. Still, she quickly followed suit, dropping the plant down into the larger pot and throwing handfuls of soil in to muffle the sounds. As more and more of the students completed the task, the level of noise in the greenhouse decreased drastically, allowing instructions to be heard much more clearly.

“The soil should envelop the root like a warm, dirty blanket, putting the Mandrake at ease.”

Coraline let out a small sigh she didn’t even know she was holding as more of her classmates’ pots were filled with soil. Now that it wasn’t so overwhelming, she was able to look around the greenhouse a bit more and noticed that several of the glass panels of the roof above them had been severely cracked by the Mandrakes.

Professor Garlick also noticed the cracks in the panels above them and effortlessly swished her wand, “Reparo!”

Slowly but surely, the students started removing their cotton balls from their ears and adjusting back to the level of noise present in the greenhouse. Coraline was one of the last to gently pull the cotton balls out of her ears just as the professor started speaking again.

“I’m very sorry about that, seems that some of yours were a bit more mature than I had expected them to be, I’m afraid. If anyone is still feeling a bit disoriented by the cries, please take a seat on any of the available stools instead of making acquaintance with the cobblestone. Splendid work, everyone.”

Intrigued, Coraline watched the trio of Hufflepuff girls start moving each of the newly re-potted Mandrake roots off all of the students’ tables and onto a shelving unit under the entry stairs. The whispers she had previously heard in the Great Hall about Hufflepuff’s often being associated with Herbology were starting to make a bit more sense.

“Now, for our next task, we’ll be planting Dittany at our potting tables. You can all get started; I need to have a brief word with Miss Evans.”

Coraline’s head whipped around from watching the Hufflepuff girls to the professor, who was still standing at the podium at the other end of the greenhouse. Her cheeks burned with a touch of embarrassment from every professor going out of their way to call her out in front of the entire class as she slowly navigated around her classmates to reach the ginger-haired woman.

“Yes, Professor?” Coraline quietly asked, slightly nervous about what the professor had to say. However, she was quickly greeted with a bright, warm smile that immediately made her feel just a little bit better about the conversation.

“Firstly, well done with your Mandrake, Miss Evans. They can be rather difficult to get a grasp of.”

“Thank you. It was certainly an unusual experience, to say the least. Though, I couldn’t help but catch your enthusiasm for the subject.”

“How kind of you. It seems you’re already taking to Herbology like a Mandrake to fresh soil. Now, as I mentioned, next, we will be planting Dittany. I’ve heard that you were in Hogsmeade yesterday; were you able to stop at the Magic Neep?”

Coraline nodded, “Yes, Professor. I was able to pick up some dittany seeds from Mr Teasdale.”

Professor Garlick gasped happily, “Wonderful! A prepared student is bound to bloom. Now, why don’t you head back to your potting table and plant your seeds at the new pot Miss Oakes set out for everyone? Even with soil, sunlight, and a bit of magic - they will take time to grow.”

“Very well,” Coraline stated as she walked back over to the table she had been working at previously.

As they worked on preparing the soil and eventually planting their dittany seeds, Professor Garlick continued to give information about Dittany and randomly asked different students questions regarding the plant to check their understanding.

“Well done. Once it can be harvested, your Dittany will be ready to use in Wiggenweld Potion, but I’ll let Professor Sharp tell you about that. Homework for this week will be twelve inches on the proper care and main properties of Dittany.”

Several groans echoed around the greenhouse at the announcement of their homework assignment, but Coraline only shrugged, knowing that since they only had Herbology once a week, the assignment was more than fair. Even more so upon realizing that neither Professor Hecat nor Ronen had assigned any homework at the end of class the day before.

“Now, now. None of that. It is your O.W.Ls at the end of this year, so think of this assignment as early prep work for your future studying for the exams.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Coraline watched as Ominis’ shoulders seemed to droop ever so slightly, his eyes downcast as the professor continued explaining the requirements for the assignment. She guessed that the Slytherin boy truly did have no love lost for the subject if that was his reaction to a relatively simple assignment. Eventually, the other students started to pair off to work on various tasks around the greenhouse, in addition to starting to brainstorm their assignments. Professor Garlick approached Coraline at her table once more.

“What say we branch out? Professor Weasley asked me to assist in catching you up to the other fifth-years in the different sorts of flora in the wizarding world. I do have one such flora ready to go for you to become acquainted with today: the Chinese Chomping Cabbage. You’ll find that some plants are better suited to use outside of a cauldron. The cabbages do get testy without something to chew. Fortunately, I have a dummy for them to gnaw on. Be a dear, and let them have a good chomping.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“They’re in the other greenhouse. It’s just at the end of the footbridge leading out of this room. Your classmate, Mr. Prewett, has kindly offered to accompany you. Come back and see me when you’re finished. Oh, and…mind your fingers. They do bite.”

Coraline nodded and walked up the stairs to where the ginger-haired Gryffindor stood with his arms crossed next to the main door to the greenhouse. At her approach, his arms immediately dropped to his sides and seemed to almost nervously sway from her presence.

“Hello! Saw you on your way to Hogsmeade yesterday. Nice to meet you. I’m Leander Prewett.”

“Nice to officially meet you, Leander. I’m Coraline Evans,” she said with a small smile.

Leander gestured to the stairs to her right that led up to the second level of the greenhouse. “I’ll be showing you the Chinese Chomping Cabbages. Up these stairs will take us there, but your lead.”

She was hesitant at first, but eventually, she started moving up the stairs with Leander just a few steps behind her. Unlike the lower level of the greenhouse, the upper level was quite sparse of plants, with only small box planters hanging off the railings of the metal walkways. As they walked across the entire level of that greenhouse in complete silence, Coraline couldn’t help but wonder what role Leander was playing by escorting her to the cabbages. However, she couldn’t ponder it for long as Leander finally spoke again once they crossed onto the walkway between the two greenhouses.

“Nice work in Defense Against the Dark Arts yesterday, Evans, by the way.”

Coraline slid to a halt as she turned and looked back at him, her face clearly giving away her confusion, “Excuse me?”

Leander’s eyebrows raised with a scoff, “Your duel with Sebastian. And he’s good. Ha, he thinks he’s really good. But you outright slaughtered him. It was brilliant.”

“Oh,” Coraline said, quite taken aback, but ultimately resumed walking toward the other greenhouse. “Well. Thank you.”

“I nearly put Sebastian in his place myself. I mean, I would’ve if Hecat hadn’t stopped me.”

“Didn’t she stop that dragon skull from crushing you?”

“Pfft, typical Slytherin trick, dropping a dragon skull on someone during a fight. We Gryffindors fight with honor. And, uh, Ravenclaws too. At least you did.”

Coraline only hummed in response as she recalled that it was technically his own shield charm that deflected Sebastian’s spell up to the dragon skull, causing it to fall on him. He definitely didn’t seem to be the type that responded well to criticism; thus, there was no point in saying anything. They crossed over into the other greenhouse and down the staircase to the lower level, where numerous large planter pots stood scattered around the room.

“Here we are. Home of the Chomping Chinese Cabbage. They’ll chomp on anything they can get their uh…mouths…on. Mum planted some in her garden last year to keep the gnomes out. Did save her the de-gnoming, but they left her Honking Daffodils in tatters.”

Gnomes? Honking Daffodils? Her eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to imagine what either of those might possibly look like, but only ended up drawing a blank. It seemed as though the majority of the witches and wizards she had encountered thus far had just assumed that she knew all of the magical references they made in her presence. She would have thought that the combination of starting Hogwarts for the first time in her fifth year and having grown up with muggles would have been much more commonly known. Or they did know and just conveniently forgot it each time they spoke to her in what still sounded like tongues to her.

In the middle of the greenhouse were two long planters with vibrant rainbow-colored leafy bundles spread quite far apart from one another. However, as they got closer to the plants, Coraline’s jaw dropped in surprise at the large, black-fanged teeth in the middle of each of the leafy bundles. She glanced over at Leander, who was leaning against the edge of one of the planters with his arms crossed over his chest and a wide smirk across his heavily freckled face. Looking back at the leafy bundles, she figured it was safe to assume that they were Chinese Chomping Cabbages she was supposed to attend to. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a tall, dark wooden dummy balancing on a single wheel at the other end of the greenhouse. So she cautiously scooted her hands underneath the cabbage’s leaves to pick it up before holding it out as far from her body as she could while she moved closer to the dummy. Unsure what to do next, she opted to just set the cabbage down on the cobblestone in front of the dummy. As soon as it was out of her grasp, the cabbage sprung to life and took off toward the dummy.

“Vicious little bastards, aren’t they? My kind of plants, not like stupid Bubotubers and Bouncing Bulbs. The kind of plants that’d have your back in a fight. Not saying you can’t go it alone. But, well, imagine that wasn’t a dummy.”

Leander continued to lean against the planter and only watched her as she cautiously picked up each of the cabbages from the two planters and put them near the dummy.

Coraline rolled her eyes, “I suppose they could prove useful outside of the greenhouse. Nothing wrong with a bit of backup. Even if it’s from a rainbow cabbage.”

“It’s chaos out there, trolls in Hogsmeade and such. You can’t be above throwing a cruciferous vegetable if necessary. Dogweed and Deathcap have more of them if you’re keen. Other plants, too; ones your parents wouldn’t plant in the garden-”

Coraline completely froze, her eyes widening ever so slightly, causing Leander to cut himself off as he took in her reaction. But before he could even process her reaction, all traces of any emotion disappeared from her entire being in the blink of an eye. The last thing she wanted was even more gossip and rumors floating around the school about her personal life based on her reaction to Leander’s comment. So, instead, she chose to brush it off and ignore it as if he hadn’t even said anything by turning her head toward him with a small but emotionless smile.

“Yes, well, I’m sure there are many plants in the wizarding world that most parents wouldn’t plant in their garden.”

Leander’s brows furrowed slightly, sensing that there was something more to the story that Coraline wasn’t sharing, but ultimately chose to say nothing at the moment about it. With one last glance at her, he shifted his focus back toward the chomping cabbages that had finally stopped attacking the wooden dummy.

He cleared his throat as he moved a few steps closer to the cabbages, “Shall we get these cabbages back into these planters then?”

She nodded once and joined him as they began gently picking up each of the cabbages and placing them back in their respective planters. Thankfully, none of the cabbages were interested in continuing their chomping as they remained perfectly still the entire journey back to the planters.

“Anyway, we, uh, probably ought to head back to class,” Leander said quietly once all of the cabbages were back in their places.

Coraline nodded once more and followed him out the main entrance of the greenhouse and across the main courtyard to the greenhouse with all of the other students in their class. Leander gave her a small, polite nod before moving back to his planter next to the bushy-haired Gryffindor girl, allowing Coraline to cross the room and approach Professor Garlick.

I tended to the Chinese Chomping Cabbages, Professor,” Coraline said with a small smile, causing the professor to turn towards her with a radiant smile that seemed to brighten the greenhouse even further.

“Remarkable plants, aren’t they? I hope they weren’t too much trouble - I don’t see any bite marks or - missing digits,” she brought her hands up and wiggled her fingers, prompting Coraline to do the same.

Upon seeing no marks on the young girl’s hands, she let out a sigh of relief, “And good - as you do seem to be quite green-fingered. I’m eager to see your skill in the soil continue to blossom.”

Coraline smiled, “I’m eager to learn more about magical plants; they seem to have so much to offer.”

Professor Garlick clapped her hands in excitement at Coraline’s enthusiasm, “I’m glad! Herbology is a bounteous subject. Tend to your garden, and it will tend to you.”

Her head turned to look over the rest of the students in the class before turning back to face Coraline. “Hmm. Well, I suppose that’s everything. Do come by for a chat sometime. I so enjoy checking in with my new students.”

“Of course, Professor. Thank you.” Coraline nodded once and headed back towards her potting table, subtly taking in the conversations between the other students as she went.

“Hope those Mandrakes are really relishing their new pots. Only cost me my damned hearing,” Everett grumbled to the Ravenclaw boy with short dark hair and circular glasses that Coraline had yet to meet.

“Terribly sorry about that, Mr. Clopton,” Professor Garlick said sympathetically as she fluttered across the room, checking in on the other students with the various plants around the greenhouse they were tending to.

Instead of joining her classmates in tending to the different plants, Coraline clasped her hands together behind her. She slowly moved about the room, taking in all of the various sizes and colors of the strange plants all around the room. As she navigated around the different potting tables and plants, she could feel the other student's eyes following her as she went, seemingly watching and judging her every move. It was awkward for Coraline, to say the least, so she was quite grateful that a few minutes later, Professor Garlick ended the class with another reminder about the twelve inches on the properties on Dittany homework assignment due at the start of the next class. Coraline collected her book bag from under her potting table and silently followed her classmates out of the greenhouses and back up to Central Hall with a small sigh.

Chapter Text

Coraline continued following her classmates out of the greenhouse wing till she was standing in front of the beautiful stone fountain in the middle of Central Hall. Many of her classmates hooked a left upon reaching the fountain and headed up the main staircase out of Central Hall to the upper levels of this section of the castle. Despite the extended break in time before her Potions class was set to start, Coraline couldn’t bring herself to follow her classmates out of Central Hall and up to the Great Hall to spend time with her dormmates. Instead, she let her gaze wander around the expansive stone room, taking in all of the intricate designs and carvings throughout. Eventually, she noticed a small staircase behind her, directly next to the staircase she had just taken to exit the greenhouse, that seemed to lead up to a small landing area tucked in the corner of the hall. 

She quickly looked around the hall once more and, after not recognizing anyone that she knew, made her way up the stairs to the landing. To her surprise, the landing was relatively plain in comparison to the rest of the hall, with only a stone sculpture of what she assumed to be a wizard donned in flowing robes covering his entire self with a book of some sort extended from his body in his left hand in terms of true decoration. Granted, there were a few world globes and multiple tall stacks of books placed near the few armchairs strewn about the landing, but ultimately, it was much plainer compared to the intricate decorations of the Charms floor, for example. 

No one else was up there on the landing, allowing Coraline to take a deep breath before moving over to the armchair tucked away in the back corner of the empty landing. She collapsed into the armchair, pulled her legs up, and crossed them underneath herself as she dropped her book bag down onto the ground next to the chair. While she was glad of the friendships she had made thus far with Sammie, Devin, and Robin, their constant company made it so that she didn’t have a lot of time to herself to mull over everything. She had tried the night before, but clearly, that didn’t last very long as she ended up falling asleep in the bath after the chaos in Hogsmeade and her first magical classes. It had been just one thing after the other for the past few days, forcing Coraline to just go from one thing to the next without truly processing each of the events as they snowballed into one another. Between the introduction of goblins, ancient magic, and the discovery that Rookwood and Ranrok were working together, not to mention everything she was supposed to keep track of in each of her classes, her brain felt like it would explode from all of the new information. Somehow everything Professor Fig and her had learned thus far fit together like a puzzle, yet nothing made sense in the slightest.

Coraline remained lost in thought for what felt like both hours upon hours and barely a few seconds at the same time before large gatherings of students started making their way back into Central Hall and towards the different classrooms for the afternoon classes. She shook her head lightly to bring herself back to the present before pulling her Field Guide out of her book bag, flipping through it absentmindedly as she looked for the map of the castle to locate where the Potions classroom was. To her surprise, the classroom was relatively close by as it was tucked away in an alcove on the opposite side of Central Hall from the Greenhouse wing, meaning that her decision to wait at this landing actually worked out in her favor. 

As more students flooded into Central Hall, Coraline shoved her Field Guide back into her book bag and made her way down the stairs of the landing and back towards the fountain. A couple steps past the fountain, a sharp shout of her name over the bustling noise of the other students had her freezing mid-step. For a brief moment, she was concerned that she was somehow in trouble with one of the professors; however, when she turned around, Devin, Garreth, and Sammie were quickly descending the main stairs of the Hall and heading straight for her with wide eyes and concern clearly etched across their faces. Their looks instantly made her feel guilty about hiding away on the landing without letting her friends know where she was, especially after the attacks at Hogsmeade yesterday.

“There you are! We were getting worried about you when you didn’t turn up in the Great Hall for lunch!” Devin said as she briefly checked Coraline over, seemingly checking to make sure she was alright.

Coraline’s cheeks flushed slightly, and tilted her head down, suddenly very interested in her boots. “I didn’t mean to worry you guys. I wasn’t very hungry, so I just decided to stay in Central Hall till Potions.”

Unseen by Coraline, Devin opened her mouth about to continue, but Sammie hurriedly interrupted with a small touch to Devin’s shoulder before turning back toward the new Ravenclaw in front of her. “We’re just glad you're safe. Are you ready for Potions? Professor Sharp can be quite hard since he demands excellence from his students, but that’s just cause he used to be an auror.”

Coraline tilted her head back up and was greeted with small smiles from both girls, as well as a slight head tilt and smile from Garreth. After a small nod, Sammie moved to Coraline’s side and they continued walking towards the side corridor for Potions, Devin quickly joining on Coraline’s other side a few steps later, and Garreth following behind them. When they entered the corridor off to the left, Coraline wasn’t surprised in the slightest at the significantly darker lighting as they approached the large, wooden double doors that led to the classroom. The sides of the corridor were packed with various groups of students talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers about all sorts of things.

“Shouldn’t there be Aurors or someone from the Ministry guarding the school after the incident in Hogsmeade?” whispered a blond Gryffindor boy leaning against the wall directly next to the double doors at the end of the corridor.

The Hufflepuff girl with thick curls pulled back from her face with a black band standing directly across from him, scoffed and shook her head. “Professor Black would never allow that. It would make him look completely incompetent. Which he is.”

Coraline glanced over at them as she passed, immediately thinking back to Officer Singer in Hogsmeade the day before. After all, it took the auror and several other grown witches to defeat a single troll, while Sebastian and her successfully took on a troll on their own. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she mulled over their words before following her dormmates into the Potions classroom. It was smaller than she had expected, especially after the expansive classrooms for Defense and Charms, but it made sense in a way since the majority of the work done in the classroom would be in cauldrons instead of casting spells at one another.

The walls were lined practically floor to ceiling with shelves full of various books, scrolls, and vial after vial of all sorts of ingredients that she had never seen before. And despite the classroom being smaller, somehow it seemed as though there were more students loitering about in the cramped, narrow room. Out of the corner of her eye, Coraline watched as Garreth gave Devin a small, reassuring squeeze on her hand before he walked over to Natty and the two other Gryffindors congregating at the second table in the room.

Sammie took the opportunity to lead Devin and Coraline past the Hufflepuffs at the first table to the table at the end of the row where Amit stood, flipping through the textbook placed in front of him. He looked up and smiled brightly at them as they approached, immediately gesturing to the table as an opening to sit with him. The three Ravenclaw girls moved to join him, but a gruff drawl suddenly rang out from the circular table just past Amit’s table. 

“No more than three to a table.”

Coraline’s gaze instantly snapped toward whom must be Professor Sharp, resting in an armchair pulled up to the circular table as he flipped through a few books of his own. He had dark brown hair, the ends barely reaching the top of the gray and green overcoat he wore on top of a three-piece suit, dark eyes, and a relatively short circle of facial hair. However, the large red, twisting scar across the left side of his face caused the breath to get stuck in her throat. It was almost as though she was looking in a mirror, the edges of the scar so familiar yet so different at the same time.

Devin’s bookbag bumped into Coraline’s side as she negotiated her way past the girl to the open seat on their left, pulling Coraline out of her thoughts and back into the classroom. Devin mouthed an apology, but the blond waved it off, instead moving toward the table to the right since Sammie claimed the last seat at the table with Amit. It wasn’t long after that Natty took the seat to Coraline’s left with a wide smile, and Imelda took the seat to her right with a smirk. As the last of the students took their seats, Professor Sharp heaved himself up from his chair and began slowly making his way around the room.

“Potions is one of the most challenging and hazardous subjects taught at this school. As fifth-years, you will be required to reach new heights of both discipline and intellect.”

Coraline swallowed nervously, her throat thick with the high expectations the professor had for his students.

“You will begin this term by brewing a Wiggenweld Potion. Mister Thakkar. Can you tell us why this particular potion might come in handy?” The professor asked, lightly gesturing towards Amit as he moved toward the chalkboard to the left of the circular table and wrote the instructions on the board.

Amit noticeably brightened at the professor’s words and quickly straightened himself before responding, “Yes, Professor Sharp. The Wiggenweld Potion can be used to sterilize and even heal various injuries.”

The professor turned around and gave him a small nod before clasping his arms behind his back and looking up at the rest of the students in the classroom. “It can heal some injuries, but not all. Five points for Ravenclaw. Before today’s class is completed, each of you will have brewed a Wiggenweld Potion of your own. You never know when you might need it. Please begin.”

Coraline pulled her Potions textbook out of her bookbag that was resting on the floor against the side of the table and turned toward the station in front of her.

“You’re the talk of the school again, Mooncalf, taking on trolls in Hogsmeade. People are starting to think you should have been a Gryffindor the way you go looking for a fight constantly,” Imelda said with a tilt of her head and a sly smirk as she watched the Ravenclaw carefully set up her textbook in front of her.

Coraline sighed, “I haven’t gone looking for a fight, Imelda; they just kind of happen.”

“Gryffindors are not defined only by bravery and fighting either, Imelda. The same that Slytherins are not defined just by their ambition and inclination for darker magic,” Natty stated firmly as she stared down the Slytherin on the other side of the table.

Imelda huffed and rolled her eyes as she grabbed a cauldron from underneath the table, “Whatever.”

The three of them worked on setting up their station in relative silence, except for Coraline's occasional question about what certain tools or ingredients were called. She was quite thankful that both Natty and Imelda seemed to be incredibly knowledgeable about the subject, at least from her limited standpoint, and both were more than willing to help increase her understanding.

Every once in a while, Professor Sharp would make an announcement reminding students of important things to keep in mind as they went. “Use a strong, even motion when crushing your ingredients. Please be meticulous when adding power to your potions; one errant sneeze could be disastrous.”

With the help of Natty and Imelda, Coraline quickly started understanding the steps she was doing, and started to enjoy the process. In the back of her mind, she knew that her ability to brew the healing potion well would end up being monumental for her as the term went, especially with the mysterious path Professor Fig and she had found themselves on. Eventually, as most of the class completed the steps up to the last step of letting the potion sit over the flame for an additional 30 minutes before bottling it for a more effective potion, Professor Sharp pushed himself out of his armchair and began slowly limping around the room looking into each student’s cauldron to check their progress.

“I see most of you have not forgotten how to stir,” the professor stated after checking the cauldron of a Gryffindor boy that Coraline had yet to meet, causing the boy’s head to slump down in defeat.

When the professor made it to their table, Coraline waited with bated breath for his reaction. After what felt like minutes, Professor Sharp’s eyes narrowed slightly before looking over at her.

“Hmm. Not an easy potion to brew. Well done, Miss Evans.”

Coraline let out a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing at his acknowledgment of her work.

“And from what I hear of your recent exploits in Hogsmeade, you’d also do well to practice brewing the defensive Edurus potion. Professor Weasley had you acquire the recipe from J. Pippin’s, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. For the moment, you can find the ingredients you need in my office, but in the future, you’ll be expected to provide your own ingredients. Some can be harvested from the plants you grow in your Herbology class, and rarer ones can be purchased. Others, however, may be harder to obtain and will require you to be a bit more…resourceful.”

Coraline’s head tilted to the side slightly at the obvious veiled message, wondering just what the professor thought of her. She wasn’t the only one as Imelda’s eyebrows raised questioningly, and she glanced over at them before turning back to her cauldron.

“Come and see me when you’ve finished brewing, and we’ll see if it was skill or luck the first time round.”

“Yes, sir.” Coraline nodded and immediately pulled out the loose piece of parchment with the recipe for the Edurus potion neatly printed on it out of the front of her potions textbook.

“For the rest of you, once you have bottled your potion, a twenty-four-inch essay on the steps to brew the Wiggenweld Potion and how each of the required ingredients contributes to the healing ability of the potion awaits you. Both the potion and the essay are due on my desk before the start of class next week.”

As she looked over the necessary ingredients and steps of the potion, Professor Sharp made his way over to the table to their right with Sebastian, Ominis, and the dark-haired Slytherin girl who was in Coraline’s Herbology class. He stopped at the Slytherin girl’s cauldron first, and upon looking inside her cauldron, he instantly let out a deep sigh.

“Your potion should not be that color, Miss McDowell.”

Coraline bit her lip lightly in order to prevent the smile that was threatening to spread across her lips at the realization that she had somehow managed to brew a better potion in her first-ever Potions class than someone who had been taking the class for the past four years. With that slight confidence boost, Coraline grabbed the recipe sheet for the Edurus potion and headed toward the closed wooden door near the entrance of the classroom. To her surprise, Garreth was leaning against the stone wall directly next to the door for the professor’s office, his eyes following Professor Sharp’s every more before glancing over to her as she approached.

“Coraline, wait a sec. Did I hear Professor Sharp say that you have permission to go into his office?”

“He did. He wants me to get more ingredients to brew an Edurus Potion.” Coraline trailed off, unsure where the Gryffindor was going with this.

Garreth noticeably brightened at her words, his smile practically stretching from ear to ear with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. “Brilliant! You, my friend, have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity. I’m working on a potion that’s certain to be spectacular. I’m just missing one tiny, last ingredient that will add that extra spark.”

“I suspect that’s where I come in?”

He nodded, “I simply need a single Fwooper feather. As you’ll already be in Sharp’s office with his permission, perhaps you could grab it for me.”

Coraline hesitated, torn on what to do. A part of her wanted to help Garreth with whatever experiment he was concocting in his cauldron when he should be working on brewing the Wiggenweld potion. But at the same time, she knew deep down that there was absolutely no way that Professor Sharp wouldn’t know that it was her who took the feather from his office.

“I don’t know, Garreth, won’t he notice it’s missing? I don’t want to get on Professor Sharp’s bad side during my first-ever class with him.”

Garreth shook his head and lightly waved his hands in front of himself, “I can assure you he won’t notice, nor will you get in trouble with him. Fwooper feathers aren’t that valuable. Sharp won’t even miss it.”
“I…uh…I’m sorry, Garreth, I don’t want to risk it.”

“It’s alright, Coraline, I understand. I’ll sort something else out.” He nodded once, then moved back over to his cauldron, leaving Coraline standing in front of the office door.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy wooden door to the professor’s office. As she stepped over the threshold into the small, closet-like room, Coraline immediately felt a small wave of magic wash over her, taking her by surprise. While she wasn’t entirely certain what the wave of magic exactly was, she had a feeling it had something to do with Garreth asking her to grab the feather while she was inside the office instead of just following her inside and grabbing it himself.

Not wanting to waste any more of the limited time she had left in class, Coraline quickly grabbed a few of the large glowing orange eggs from the tray labeled “Ashwinder Eggs” in the storage cabinet directly to the left of the door, as well as a patch of thick gray and brown fur from a tray labeled “Mongrel Fur.” The rest of the necessary ingredients for the potion were already at her table since they were also required for the Wiggenweld potion. Coraline stepped back through the wave of magic, closing the door to the office behind her before heading back to her table. As she walked past the other tables, she couldn’t help but catch sight of lethal daggers being glared into Garreth’s back by Devin from where she stood in front of her cauldron. Coraline had to tightly purse her lips to prevent the amused smile that was threatening to spread across her face, especially after Devin briefly winked at her before returning to glaring at her boyfriend’s back.

Since Natty and Imelda had finished successfully making and bottling their Wiggenweld potion, they started working on their essays while also occasionally helping Coraline with brewing the Edurus potion when she got stuck and wasn’t sure what to do next. She was quite thankful that her table mates were so open to helping her understand the basics of potions, even though Imelda was making eye-rolling sarcastic comments the entire time. Not long after, Garreth’s voice rang out, echoing around the classroom.

“And now we add the mallowsweet, and - that’s odd…what’s happening?”

Garreth’s voice trailed off, causing all of the students to cautiously look over at him and hold their breath, waiting to see what chaos would come from his cauldron this time. They didn’t have to wait long, as suddenly bright purple sparks exploded out of the cauldron and into the air above it; the other students around him quickly threw their arms over their faces in defense and scurried away from the explosions.

“Garreth! Not again!” Amit shouted as he ducked down behind the table he shared with Devin and Sammie.  
Purple sparks continued to erupt out of the cauldron and started to morph into decorative fireworks the higher up they went before finally disappearing entirely. After a few more moments, the sparks ceased entirely, and everyone in the room collectively let out a sigh of relief.

“Dragon dung! What happened?” Garreth said with a shake of his head as he peered into the remaining contents in the cauldron.

“What now, Mr Weasley?” Professor Sharp drawled, not even bothering to look up from the large book on the table in front of him.

“Sorry, Professor.”

The professor sighed, and with a shake of his head, he said, “That’ll be ten points from Gryffindor…again.”
Imelda snickered with a wide smirk, “Well done, Garreth!”

The other Gryffindors at the same table as him glared daggers at Imelda before turning their glares toward Garreth with agitated whispers about losing house points on only the second day of term. Coraline glanced over at Devin who only shook her head at him, not saying a word before returning to cleaning up her cauldron.

Coraline quickly finished up the remaining steps for the Edurus potion and carefully poured some of the metallic silver liquid from the cauldron into a vial from the cabinet under the table. After another deep breath, Coraline gathered her courage and made her way over to Professor Sharp.

“I brewed an Edurus Potion as you asked, Professor,” Coraline said as she held the potion out in front of her for him to inspect.

The professor looked up from his book and took the potion vial out of her hands, slowly rotating it in the light. After what felt like an eternity to Coraline, Professor Sharp finally nodded and placed the potion vial down on the table next to his book.

“Glad you managed to stay on task. Not every class is so eventful. You should know I saw Mr. Weasley speaking with you earlier before going into my office.”

Coraline’s eyes widened as he continued, “He can be quite persuasive. Glad you managed to resist.”

She nodded in relief that she had ultimately made the right decision when it came to helping Garreth, even though a part of her wanted to help him pursue his interests. No matter what though, it was clear that the professor knew far more about things than anyone might expect, with the extent of how much he knows remaining to be seen.

“You’ve done well today. I confess I was skeptical, given the advanced nature of this class and the fact you’re a new student.”

A slight smile ghosted the edges of her lips as she spoke, “I’m glad I was able to meet your expectations.”

“A rare occurrence. And you’d do well to remember that you’re not a Potions master quite yet."

“Yes, Professor.”

“In addition to having a solid grasp of how to combine various ingredients, you should gain an understanding of the ingredients themselves. Pay particular attention to Herbology. The plants you nurture there are often essential to the potions you brew here.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“For now, this vial of the Edurus potion will remain here until you’ve shown that you understand everything there is to know about the potion. The most careless thing a witch or wizard can do is consume a potion in which they don’t properly understand its makeup or effects. So, starting next week on Wednesdays, you will come back here after dinner for additional instruction to catch up to the level of skill required for your O.W.L.s at the end of term.”

“Understood, Professor,” Coraline nodded.

“One last thing to keep in mind: a well-prepared witch or wizard always has a few potions on hand. That is all,” Professor Sharp stated, his eyebrows narrowing ever so slightly. If Coraline hadn’t been standing directly next to him, she would have missed it entirely.

“I think each of us has had enough excitement for one day. Class is dismissed.”

Coraline quickly made her way back to her station to start cleaning up the supplies and remaining ingredients before storing the last of her belongings in her book bag. Natty smiled and waved as she left the classroom, promising to save her a seat next to her for Charms the next day.

“My Wiggenweld potion is utter rubbish. I wish I could just replace it with one from J. Pippins to save everyone from the awful results of my potion-making,” Ominis stated softly to Sebastian. His head hung low as he waited for him to finish cleaning up their stations. Sebastian leaned over and seemingly whispered something encouraging into his ear, but he only nodded, his head still lowered.

“Ugh. My robes are going to reek from Garreth’s ‘inspiration’ for the rest of term,” complained the dark-haired Slytherin girl McDowell as she stormed past Coraline and out of the classroom.

Coraline glanced over at Imelda questioningly, but she only shook her head and rolled her eyes at her housemate’s dramatic antics. McDowell had been at the farthest table possible in the classroom from Garreth, and his experiment didn’t even give off any kind of strange odor to the relief of everyone else in the room. Coraline turned around to see Devin standing directly next to Garreth with her hands on her hips, a clearly displeased expression on her face as she spoke quickly but quietly to him.

Garreth only shrugged with a wide grin, “I wasn’t expecting that literally to blow up in my face. It was rather brilliant, though.”

Devin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed, causing Imelda and Sammie to snicker quietly.

Sammie leaned over to Coraline and whispered, “If I hadn’t been forced to watch them pining after each other for three and a half years before Devin finally made a move, I would be so confused as to how that relationship works.”

Coraline chuckled with a wide grin as she had been wondering the exact same thing since watching the couple’s antics.

“Fine job brewing your first Wiggenweld potion, but we’ve got a lot of potions yet to learn. This is going to be a busy year for sure.”

“Preaching to the choir, Sammie. Preaching to the choir,” Coraline sighed as their group started to make their way out of the classroom.

As they made their way through the double doors that led back out to Central Hall, Coraline hurried her pace a bit to catch up to Amit, who had somehow ended up leading their group out of the classroom.

“I was impressed that you were able to answer Professor Sharp’s question about the Wiggenweld Potion,” she said to him with a small smile.

Amit turned his head towards her, beaming brightly at her praise. “Oh, thank you! That means a lot coming from a fellow Ravenclaw. And I’ve never seen anyone brew such a flawless Wiggenweld Potion on their first try. Well done, Coraline!”

She waved her hand dismissively, “Thanks, but I wish Professor Sharp would share some of your enthusiasm about my work. He said I did well, but you can barely tell anything from his neutral stance.”

“Don’t take it personally. Professor Sharp wouldn’t be impressed by a troll reciting The Tales of Beedle the Bard backward,” Coraline’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the name, “and in Gobbledegook! A fascinating language, by the way. Neither here nor there, really, but I am a self-taught speaker.”

“And Gobbledegook is…?”

“Oh, right! Gobbledegook is the language of the goblins and is actually quite difficult to learn.”

“That’s incredible, Amit.”

“Merlin’s beard! Good conversation is the enemy of free time. I must return my book Gateway to the Far Stars before my study session starts. Speaking of stars, we’ll be in Astronomy together tomorrow evening! You’ll love it. Professor Shah is firm but quite clever. See you then!”

Coraline chuckled lightly at his amusement and called after him as he quickly scurried off to the library, “See you later, Amit.”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until breakfast on Friday morning that she heard from Professor Fig for the first time since the morning of the troll attack. A large dark brown owl swooped down and landed in front of her plate mid-bite of toast, immediately holding its short, featherless leg out to her. Coraline’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion before glancing at her dormmates around her, unsure what to do. Both Robin and Sammie continued on with their breakfast, completely oblivious to the confusion clearly showing on the newest Ravenclaw’s face. 

The owl, apparently, very much disagreed with Coraline’s delay as it nipped her fingers as she brought the slice of toast back down to her plate, causing her to let out a small yelp and yank her fingers away from the bird. To avoid it taking out its impatience on the rest of them, Devin hurriedly reached over and pulled the small slip of rolled-up parchment from the thin metal cylinder attached to the leg the owl had extended out towards them. 

Coraline’s face flushed with embarrassment as she realized that she missed the cylinder with parchment entirely, so she quickly took the slip of paper from the ginger’s hand. Inside was a quick scribbled note with no addressing information or ending signature, but it didn’t take her long to realize who had sent it.

 
Come and see me in my office at the back of my classroom after your Flying class this morning. I’ve discovered something in the locket we found at Gringotts. 

At first Coraline wasn’t going to say anything about the contents of the note to her friends, but after catching a glimpse of Devin’s inquisitive gaze out of the corner of her eye, she just told her that Professor Fig wanted to check in with her regarding the troll attack. As she finished the last few bites of her toast, she carefully tucked the piece of parchment into the front of her Field Guide and put the Ancient Runes textbook that she had been reading back into her bookbag. 

Everyone else was still taking advantage of the last few minutes of breakfast before the first morning classes started, but Coraline wanted to get moving as soon as possible since she had to go all the way out to the Bell Tower courtyard for the Flying Class, according to the remarkably detailed map in her Field Guide. She really wanted to look through the other sections in the Field Guide to see what other helpful information the book might contain, but her absolutely packed class schedule left little downtime, and she hadn’t even started the extra tutoring sessions outside of class that she had with basically every professor she’d met thus far. It certainly made her quite worried about how this term would actually go, especially since she has the added stress of figuring out the path of ancient magic that Professor Fig and her had somehow found themselves on.

Despite the early morning hour, the Bell Tower courtyard was filled with students enjoying the beautiful clear day. Coraline smiled as she watched groups of students walking and talking with each other, clearly still catching up from the summer holidays. As she continued looking around, she noticed that a significantly larger group of students had gathered on the grassy area where the Summoner’s Court platform had previously been. 

Since there was a good-sized wooden rack with at least a dozen broomsticks leaning against it not far from the large group of students, Coraline figured it was safe to assume that was where the Flying class would be held. She hesitantly made her way over to them, slightly nervous as she approached because she didn’t recognize a single one of the students lounging on the grass. 

A woman with black hair pulled into a tight bun, wearing a blue and brown long-sleeved shirt and pants with a long blue cape split down the middle, strode across the grass towards them with determination, catching all of the present students’ attention. 

As she neared, she loudly called out, “Everybody grab a broom, and we shall get started.”

All of the students on the grass stood and made their way over to the rack of brooms. Coraline followed after them, watching as they each grabbed a broom and situated themselves into two lines facing each other. She reached out to grab a broom off the rack, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a familiar-looking Ravenclaw boy in a light blue plaid vest uniform set running towards her as fast as he could. 

Coraline smiled at Everett, and they joined the far line of students. Coraline copied the others by setting her broom down on the ground to her right. Everett, however, started to expertly twirl the broomstick in his hand, his attention fully on the fast-spinning broom.

The black-haired professor walked up to the edge of the two lines of students, clapped her hands, and then sternly looked over at Everett, “Mr Clopton, your attention, please.”

Everett immediately stopped twirling the broomstick and let it fall to the ground. “Sorry, Madam Kogawa.”

The professor nodded and began walking down the open path between the two lines of students, stopping in front of Coraline and smiling at her. 

“Everyone, please welcome a new student to our upper-year Flying Class, Miss Coraline Evans.”

Coraline flushed slightly at being called out so quickly in yet another class. The rest of the students gave polite head nods and small “hellos” before quieting down as Madam Kogawa continued walking between the lines of students. 

“The goal of today is to remind all of you how to maneuver on a broomstick safely, as broom flight is first and foremost a means of transportation.”

She stopped and turned back towards Everett, looking at him almost pointedly, “This I fear some of you have forgotten.”

Everett only rolled his eyes once the professor turned her back towards him once more, causing Coraline to chuckle lightly under her breath with a small smile. 

“Diving, rolling, and loop-the-loops will not be taught or, in fact, tolerated in this class. We’ll leave that to professional Quidditch players like the Toyohashi Tengu.”

The blond Hufflepuff male to Coraline’s left suddenly gave off a loud boo which immediately got the professor’s attention as her head whipped around towards him. 

“Not a fan, I take it, Mr. Blyth?”

That quickly got the Hufflepuff to stop booing, his face flushed red, and he looked down at his shoes in embarrassment. Coraline’s smile only grew with the professor fast on her way to being one of her absolute favorites at Hogwarts thus far. 

“Now, let’s see how well everyone kept up with their practice over the summer holidays. For those who need a refresher, step up to your broom, say ‘up’ firmly and clearly, then kick your leg over and rest your weight on the seat.”

Madam Kogawa swiftly moved back to the broom she had placed on the grass at the head of the two lines of students and turned around to face them. With her hand positioned above the broom, she called out in a clear, firm voice, “Up!”

The broom immediately flew up into her hand. After throwing one leg over the broomstick, she bowed her head toward the broom and whispered a small “thank you.” Coraline’s head tilted to the side ever so slightly as she watched the professor’s movements with intrigue. The care and respect she showed her broomstick astounded her, even over something that seemed so small in the grand scheme of things when it came to flying.

“Now, your turn!”

Coraline watched as the other students started calling their brooms up from the ground. Everett’s broom flew into his hand almost instantly, a sly smirk tugging on the ends of his lips as he looked around at the others as well. To the new Ravenclaw’s surprise, many of the other students spoke in bored and even frustrated tones as continually called upon their brooms without so much as a twitch on the broom’s part. 

“Up! You stupid, ratty school broom!” shouted the dark-haired Gryffindor girl at the end of Coraline’s row, farthest away from the professor. 

“Miss Morris! That is not how you get your broom to listen to your commands, and you know it.”

Snickers echoed throughout the group with many of the others shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at the Gryffindor. It took a couple more attempts, but eventually, Morris was able to get her broomstick off the grass and into her hand, leaving Coraline as the only one without a broom in hand. Despite watching everyone around her call up their broom, she hadn’t noticed that each of them had successfully finished before she had even tried once. By the time she realized that every single set of eyes around her was focused on her, waiting for her to call up her broom so they could move on. 

Coraline’s palms started to sweat slightly as she nervously looked down at the broomstick on the grass to her left. She attempted to subtly wipe her palms on her tan pants but knew that everyone most likely saw it before raising her arm up above the broom. With one last deep breath, she called out to the broom in the calmest but firm voice she could possibly manage.

“Up!” 

In all honesty, she hadn’t expected anything to actually happen the first time she called out to the broom. If the other students in her class had struggled a bit to call theirs up, and they had already taken the class for at minimum one full year by that point, what hope did she have for calling up hers in a timely manner? Instead, she surprised herself and everyone else around her as the broom soared up into her hand without a split-second hesitation, causing her arm to jerk slightly at the force of the wood hitting her palm. Coraline looked up from the broom once she was settled and was met with wide eyes and jaws dropped from many of the other students, especially the two Slytherin girls directly across from her. 

A sudden upward movement out of the corner of her eyes to the left drew her gaze back to the professor, who had raised herself and broom up slightly till she was hovering a little bit off of the ground. 

“One leg over, so there’s a leg on each side. None of that side-saddle nonsense; a gust of wind will throw you right off. And, if you hear my whistle while you’re in flight, ground yourself at once.”

Everyone quickly followed suit, throwing one leg over the broom and then pulling the broom upward till they rose a bit off the ground. This seemed to be the part that everyone else was rather comfortable with as, one by one, each of the brooms around her rose off the ground within seconds of each other. Coraline hesitantly pulled the broom upward, wobbling a little bit as she attempted to keep her balance as she slowly rose up from the ground. One wobble had her almost sliding off the broom causing her to tightly grip the broom in fear of falling off, regardless of how close to the ground she was still. Eventually she made it up to the same height as the others, but while everyone else happily only held onto the broom in a light grip with one hand, both of Coraline’s hands remained tightly grasped onto the wood.

Madam Kogawa’s voice suddenly rang out as she guided her broom higher into the air, “Good. Now: for your first lesson, fly through each of the three rings in the courtyard. Do take care, as the brooms are school property. I want them returned in one piece.” 

Coraline looked around the courtyard in complete confusion, not seeing anything that could even remotely pass as a ring to fly through. She started to ask what rings she was talking about when Madam Kogawa leaned back on her broom and began to wave her wand in large sweeping motions above her head. Below them, wooden doors to a storage room suddenly flew open and hit the stone support on either side, resulting in a loud bang that had Coraline instinctively ducking her head until she realized where the noise had come from. Out of the storage room came enormous wooden pieces that were levitated towards the middle of the courtyard, where they arranged themselves into three surprisingly massive rings, with each one slightly taller than the last. 

As the last pieces flew into place, the other students took off and began to fly through each of the rings, exactly as the professor had said, before racing each other around the courtyard. Coraline watched them in amazement as they zipped about, clearly all very at home on a broomstick. Before she could start slowly making her way towards the rings, Madam Kogawa flew down to her level and hovered off to her side.

“Don’t worry; you’ll get there in no time,” she said with a small smile. Then, nodding once in the direction of the rings, she wordlessly encouraged her to try the exercise.

As Coraline flew through each of the rings, she started to get a bit more comfortable adjusting the broomstick handle toward where she wanted to go. She still only moved at a snail’s pace compared to the rest of her classmates, but she hadn’t lost her balance yet, so she counted that as a win. 

“I think I’m getting the hang of this!” Coraline stated excitedly as she passed through the third ring with a wide grin.  

“Well done, Miss Evans. Now that you’re acclimatised to you’re broom, let’s see how well you manage with a more advanced exercise, shall we?”

Madam Kogawa pointed towards a ring that suddenly appeared atop one of the massive circular stone structures that made up the exterior wall of the courtyard. “This next set of rings will take you around the grounds for more of a challenge.”

The professor blew a sharp, quick note from the whistle hanging around her neck, causing all of the other students flying around the courtyard to veer back towards them. Once all of the students were hovering around her, she directed her attention to them all and continued. 

“Your next task for today is to fly through the outer grounds course. As soon as you have finished the course, you are to return to this courtyard without delay. I shall know if you don’t. Mr Clopton, you are to accompany Miss Evans as she flies through the course.”

A few of the other students snickered at that, but one sharp look from Madam Kogawa, and they flew off towards the next set of rings. Coraline looked over at Everett in confusion as to why she would need an escort for this course.
Everett only smiled deviously before gesturing toward the first ring of the course, “Nice day for a flight, isn’t it? After you.”

Coraline gave a small, nervous smile in return and flew off with Everett matching her pace directly to her left. It surprised her how quickly she was getting used to being on a broom after she passed through the second ring on the lower level of the stone wall that the first ring had been on. She continued to angle her broom downward as the next ring was only a small distance above the Great Lake, and suddenly, the unsaid reasoning as to why Madam Kogawa assigned Everett to accompany her through the course made a lot more sense. Once she got down to the same height as that ring, Coraline couldn’t help but look at the world around her in absolute awe. 

“What a view,” she whispered to herself with her jaw dropped as she took in the sights of the crystal blue water below her and the rolling hills with lush green trees that were bathed in the golden light of the early morning sun.

 
“Ah, the old Boathouse! Wish you could’ve experienced crossing the lake as a first-year!” Everett called out as he pointed to a wooden structure directly on the water off to their left that looked so tiny in comparison to the giant castle that loomed over them on their other side. 

After that ring, they flew under the arches of the rock structure that the staircase from the boathouse up to the castle was built upon, causing Coraline to look up at the underside of the rocks as they passed. Each turn she made to avoid running into the rocks became a little bit easier till she slightly softened the death grip she had on the handle since she first started hovering back in the courtyard. As they came around the corner and through another ring perched on top of a small rocky island, all of a sudden, two massive orange-ish red tentacles erupted out of the water, wildly thrashing directly behind the next ring. Coraline only gaped at the tentacles in complete disbelief, her eyes blinking rapidly, and her mouth dropped open once more.

Everett laughed, “Our friendly aquatic resident likes to make an appearance once in a while. Guess he wanted to give you his own welcome to Hogwarts!”

“Giant tentacles randomly appearing out of the lake is normal?” Coraline shouted back to him, briefly tilting her head towards him before turning back to watch where she was flying. 

“Absolutely! The Giant Squid is actually quite docile and is known to frequently interact with students on or near the lake,” Everett explained as the tentacles disappeared back into the water as they got closer to the ring it was next to.

“I don’t think the wizarding world will ever cease to surprise me at this point,” Coraline muttered lowly with a small shake of her head.

The next two rings they flew through started to take them back up and away from the lake as they flew through a small rocky canyon of sorts that had numerous waterfalls at the different levels that went down to empty into the lake. Once out of the canyon, they had to make a sharp turn in order to make it into the next ring, and as soon as Coraline successfully made it through the ring, she couldn’t help the wide smile that returned to her face. As they neared the last ring in the course, Everett shot ahead of her through the ring before pulling his broom back to come to a stop and turning back towards her. Coraline copied him, pulling her broom back to stop, and even though it wasn’t anywhere near as graceful as Everett’s stop, she still managed to stop flying forward and returned to hovering not too far from him.

“Well done! You seem to handle yourself on that dusty school broom well enough.”

“I think I’m starting to get the hang of it,” Coraline responded proudly. 

Everett smirked, “I’d imagine you’re ready for something even more challenging. So, care to join me for a bit of high-flying fun?”

“Kogawa seems strict. She said to return to the courtyard after finishing the course; I wouldn’t want to get into trouble.” Coraline said hesitantly. 

Everett rolled his eyes and waved dismissively, “Kogawa won’t even notice. Besides, a bird doesn’t learn how to fly by staying in the nest.”

Coraline bit her lip as she thought it over before finally giving him a small nod in agreement.

Everett’s smirk only grew, “Follow me; the tour is about to begin.”

He turned his broom to the right and flew off towards the towering structures of the castle. Coraline followed after him, her confidence in flying growing with every second she was on a broom, leading her to push the broom a bit faster to catch up to him. Everett led her through the narrow gap between two of the structures and continued leaning to the right as they passed over a large open courtyard that Coraline recognized. 

“Right now, we’re flying over the Transfiguration Courtyard. Lovely as ever,” Everett called out before taking them under the arch of the bridge that connected the upper part of Central Hall to one of the higher levels of the Astronomy Wing. 

He pulled his broom upwards immediately after passing under that bridge to go through the stone arch above the next bridge, “Let’s hope the Headmaster isn’t having tea by the window today.”

Coraline’s eyes widened nervously as her head whipped around to try to look at all of the windows as they passed. The last thing she needed was to get on the Headmaster’s bad side to end her first week at the school. 

Everett continued to pull his broom upward until he was able to slip between two pillars that lined the roof of the outer edges of the courtyard next to the Great Hall. A couple of groups of students that were gathered in the courtyard looked up at them as they passed and loudly cheered for them, causing all of Coraline’s nervousness to wash away and be replaced with another smile. 

“Nice to get above it all, isn’t it?” Everett called back to her as he made a sharp right to stick close to the side of the castle to fly over the walkway. 

They continued to stick close to the castle wall, even turning right again once they reached the end of the Great Hall with the enormous stained glass windows. “Ahead are the gardens. The Hufflepuff common room windows just peek out. Bit claustrophobic for my taste.”

Unsurprisingly, the gardens were completely empty since the majority of the school’s population was in their first class for the day. Everett then veered to the left, slowing a bit to allow Coraline to catch up to him some. 

“Here’s something handy to know: lean forward for a burst of speed; helpful if you need to escape a tricky situation.”
He immediately shot off over the Great Lake, leaving Coraline in the dust for a few moments before she leaned forward as well, quickly shooting off across the sky after him with a loud yelp of surprise. 

“You’re sure you're not part Hippogriff?” Everett teased once she got caught up to him. Coraline only rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. 

They turned back to the right, going downward until they passed under a rickety wooden bridge. “There’s the famous bridge. Think of all the magic holding it up. I mean, look at it.”

Coraline couldn’t help but agree, as she definitely didn’t think that it would still be upright if the same architecture was in the muggle world; it would just collapse into the stream below. 

They climbed into the sky again, aiming for the narrow tower on their left that was a fair distance away from the main castle. “And the Owlery. That’s a solid bit of architecture, isn’t it?” Everett said as they made a tight turn all the way around the tower.

Coraline laughed lightly, “Flying tips and a jaunt around Hogwarts. This is quite the tour, Everett.”

A loud, long whistle suddenly echoed through the air pulling Coraline away from her enjoyment of the tour.

“That’s Kogawa’s whistle. This concludes our tour.”

Both Everett and Coraline leaned forward on their brooms, racing back to the Bell Tower courtyard. Everett got a little ways ahead of her as he pushed his broom to go as fast as it possibly could, while Coraline went at a bit slower of a pace, not fully ready to go max speed just yet. As they angled their brooms down towards the grass, they both realized that the rest of the class was making their way back towards the castle. 

“Looks like she’s already dismissed class. Better hurry and hand in our brooms,” Everett stated quickly as he pulled his broom to a stop and gracefully hopped off. 

Coraline copied him, albeit much less gracefully, as she stumbled off the broomstick and back onto her own two feet. Not seeing the professor anywhere around, they swiftly moved across the grass and over to the wooden rack of brooms. Coraline let out a small sigh of relief once her broom was placed next to the others, happy they managed to get back unnoticed. 

“And where have you two been?” Madam Kogawa called out sharply, causing both of them to flinch and turn around towards her with nervous, guilty faces. 

“Oh, hello, professor! We were trying to get a bit of extra practice in,” Everett slyly attempted.

 
Madam Kogawa crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at them sternly. “A hefty twenty-five points will be taken from each of you for not following my instructions.”

Coraline’s jaw dropped open slightly, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked between Everett and the professor. 

“Mr. Clopton. I’m disappointed in you. You’re in this class because you’re still…”

“I…” Everett cut the professor off, attempting to explain himself.

However, Madam Kogawa was having none of it and cut him off as well to continue what she was saying previously. “…because you’re still not showing yourself, or frankly, your broom, the proper respect.”

Everett raised his arms slightly, “But, professor…”

“Enough. Class is finished for the day.”

Everett grumbled lowly as if he wanted to dispute what the professor had said but ultimately just clenched his fists and started walking back to the Bell Tower main doors.

Coraline started to turn to follow after him, but Madam Kogawa continued, causing her to immediately stop and turn back toward her. “As for you, you’d do well to use better judgment in the future. Losing points for Ravenclaw should serve as a deterrent against future escapades.” 

“Understood, Madam Kogawa,” Coraline said shamefully, her head dropping down slightly in disappointment with herself. 

“Chin up. That was some rather good flying,” she said with a small smile and a nod before walking away.

Coraline noticeably brightened at that, a small smile finding its way onto her face as she jogged to catch up to Everett.

“Sorry about that business with Kogawa, but you have to admit those views were worth it."

“It was amazing, but we did get in trouble, and Kogawa could hold it against us.”

Everett grumbled, “Rotten luck, that. I didn’t think she’d see us, but it’s no matter. You seem at home on a broom. I bet if you had a fancy model, you could fly laps around Imelda. She’s Kogawa’s favorite. I could show her a thing or two if I had my own broom. Hate having to return the school broom after class.”

“Should I tell her you said that?” Coraline teased with a wide smile. “I’m sure that would make for an interesting conversation at lunch later.”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, Coraline,” responded Everett with a challenging but ultimately teasing glare. “But seriously, you should definitely get your own broom.”

She sighed, her smile dropping, “I’ll have to see. Aren’t brooms expensive? Is that why you don’t have one of your own yet?”

Everett pulled open one of the large wooden doors and gestured for Coraline to go ahead before letting it close behind him. “They cost a hefty galleon, starting at 100 galleons for the low-end ones and can go up to a couple hundred.”

Coraline’s eyes practically popped out of their sockets as she looked over at him as they made their way towards Central Hall. “In that case, I definitely don’t see myself getting a broom anytime in the near future. I doubt the Ministry’s compensation fund is worth hundreds of galleons.”

Now it was Everett’s turn to look over at her in confusion but decided not to ask since she didn’t give any further details. Instead, he simply said, “I recommend visiting Albie Weekes at Spintwitches in Hogsmeade. He’s always looking to test new models. Maybe he’ll give you a decent discount if you agree to help him with his testing?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see, would it?” Coraline responded.

Coraline walked up the short stone staircase up to the small circular landing at the back of Professor Fig’s classroom and lightly knocked on the dark wooden door. A quiet “come in” drifted through the door, prompting her to grasp the bronze door handle and push the door open. The professor’s office was much larger than she had expected, with cabinets, bookshelves, and stacks of boxes against each of the stone walls. Professor Fig was hunched over a fading wooden desk that was covered in various knickknacks and surrounded by piles of thick books with random sheets of parchment strewn about on the floor. 

“Professor, I’m glad to see you,” Coraline said as she approached the desk.

The professor stood upright and smiled, “And I, you. Thank Merlin, you’re in one piece. I heard about the attack. Trolls in Hogsmeade?”

“Sir…the trolls were wearing armor. It had that dark glow, like the dragon collar.”

“Goblin silver. Ranrok must have used it to control the dragon. But how?” Professor Fig brought a hand up to his chin and gently stroked it as he considered his words. “And why send trolls to…”

Coraline sighed, her eyes drifting down to the stone floor covered in bright red rugs, “They were there because of me. I overheard Ranrok talking with Victor Rookwood in the alley behind the Three Broomsticks.”

“Ranrok was in Hogsmeade? With Rookwood?” Professor Fig gasped.

“The trolls were Ranrok’s distraction so that Rookwood could get to me. And he would have had Sirona and the patrons at the Three Broomsticks not intervened.”

“This is grave news, indeed. If Ranrok’s goblins and Dark wizards are after you, they want what we found in that vault.”

Coraline finally brought her gaze up from the floor to meet his eyes as she asked, “Speaking of the vault, do you think that Ranrok is working with any of the goblins at Gringotts?”

“I do not. Gringotts goblins aren’t typically the friendliest of beings, but they have a great deal of integrity. No, I daresay after what happened to that poor banker, Egnar, the goblins at Gringotts are no followers of Ranrok.”

She nodded slowly, then opened her mouth to speak but visibly hesitated. Her entire body seemed to stutter as she thought about the magic she used to destroy the troll. Anyone else might have dismissed the action as simply a reaction to the banker's death, but Professor Fig immediately recognized that something else was amiss, causing his eyes to narrow with concern.

“Did something else happen in Hogsmeade?”

Coraline’s hands nervously fidgeted with the bottom of the brown plaid uniform vest she was wearing, unsure how to word everything. “I…uh…think somehow I was able to use ancient magic in my efforts to stop the troll. Sebastian commented that he had never seen anything like what I was able to do.”

While he had suspected that over time her connection to ancient magic would most likely grow, Professor Fig certainly hadn’t expected it to manifest like this and so quickly as well. He reached across his desk and grabbed what looked to be a relatively new journal as well as the quill that was resting in the open bottle of ink.

“What exactly were you able to do?” he asked as he opened the journal to a new page and looked back up at her expectantly. 

Coraline blinked back her surprise, “A string of bright white magic came out of my wand and connected with the miscellaneous pieces of rubble around the square. I was then able to use that connection to swing and throw the rubble at the troll to distract and weaken it.”

Professor Fig quickly scribbled down notes in the journal as she spoke, nodding his encouragement for her to continue. 

“Then, when it stumbled, the same swirling magic from Gringotts surrounded my wand, and when I went to cast, the white string of magic hit the troll in the center of its armor. It exploded into a cloud of dust and completely disappeared.”

His quill stopped writing mid-word, and he looked up at her, eyes widened. “The troll disintegrated entirely? Nothing was left behind?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, that’s certainly unexpected,” Professor Fig muttered before continuing to write out the notes he was taking. 

Once he was done, he closed the journal and set it to the side, effectively blocking Coraline from seeing what notes he had written down. After a few moments of silent contemplation, he summoned two extra chairs that were tucked in a back corner of the office and set one down for himself before setting down the other one next to Coraline, motioning for her to take a seat. Clearly, this conversation was going to take much longer than either of them had originally expected. 

She sat down on the wooden chair gratefully, as she was already starting to feel the muscles in her legs getting sore from learning to ride a broomstick properly. The dozens of staircases throughout the school did not help matters either.

“To be able to disintegrate a target entirely, especially a living target, with one spell is uncharted territory. The only thing even remotely close to that is the Vanishing Charm, but it only works on material targets such as chairs, books, and whatnot. Eventually, we should experiment with your connection with ancient magic to understand how it works, but that’ll be for another day.”

“Understood, Professor.” Coraline paused, thinking over what the professor said. 

He nodded once, then leaned back in his chair slightly.

“They’re after the locket. You mentioned in your letter that you discovered something in it?” Coraline asked, switching over to the topic that brought her to his office to begin with. 

“Yes, yes. I discovered an inscription, and when I read it aloud, this map appeared.”

Professor Fig sat back up in his chair and gestured to the large piece of parchment covering the majority of his desk. “Clever enchantment. It's a map of Hogwarts, to be sure, but I don’t know where it leads.”

Coraline scooted her chair closer to the desk and started looking over the map. Almost immediately, she noticed tiny bubbles of silver magic coming up off one section of the map.

“It leads to the Library. The Restricted Section, to be precise, and a bit beyond. I see traces of magic there on the map,” Coraline stated as she pointed to the enclosed section on the left of the library layout that she remembered Devin telling her about.

“I suspected you would see something,” he responded with a smile.

“Shall we go?”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, and I’m eager to discover what we may find there as well. But if our experience at Gringotts, let alone what happened to Miriam, taught me anything, it's that the path we’re on is terribly dangerous. I want you to attend at least a few more classes and work with Professor Hecat a bit more before we continue.”

Coraline furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over at him confused at his sudden hesitance to proceed. “But, sir, how dangerous could the library be? Perhaps we’re only after a book.”

“Perhaps we are only after a book, but we should be prepared for anything. Now, if I recall correctly, you are meeting with Professor Hecat after this for additional work?”

“Yes, sir. She wanted to make sure that I have a more expansive understanding of basic wandwork before getting into the spells that we are set to cover in class next week.”

“Good. I’m glad that she’s adding to the minimal amount of wandwork we were able to cover before our adventures getting to Hogwarts. Why don’t you come back after your class with Professor Hecat on Tuesday to touch base?”

“Very well, Professor. I shall see you then. Have a good weekend, sir.” Coraline said with a smile as she exited his office.  

Chapter Text

Coraline walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom later that Friday, slightly nervous but mostly excited to see how Professor Hecat planned to build upon the minimal wandwork instruction Professor Fig had previously given. At first, it seemed as though the professor hadn’t heard her enter, but it was quickly proven otherwise as the gray-haired professor whipped around and silently cast a spell that sent a bright red light flying across the classroom toward Coraline. 

The young Ravenclaw’s bookbag fell to the floor from her shoulder as she hastily retrieved her wand out of her skirt pocket before throwing up the bright purple bubble of the shield charm mere milliseconds before the red light would have hit her. Instead, the streak of light was redirected up to the ceiling, narrowly missing the dragon tail bones hanging above her. 

Coraline looked over at the professor in surprise but remained poised in the fighting stance that was quickly becoming second nature in case she sent another spell her way. Instead, the professor smiled and tucked her wand into a hidden pocket in her skirt while gesturing for Coraline to come over to where she stood at the other end of the classroom. 

“Swift reaction time, Miss Evans. Though, I believe we have some matters to discuss before getting into your wandwork.”

“Very well, Professor,” Coraline responded as she grabbed her bookbag off the ground and crossed the classroom to her.

Professor Hecat clasped her hands behind her back as she spoke, “Professor Fig indicated a certain…urgency…to you completing your defensive magic assignments.”

Coraline’s head tilted to the side, her eyebrows raised slightly as she noted the professor’s careful phrasing of her words. It certainly made her wonder just what the professor’s thoughts were about the occurrences of late, and while she didn’t fully understand what an Unspeakable truly was, she knew that it meant the professor was much more aware of her surroundings than what one might expect. 

“As such, I want you to complete a few tasks over the weekend in preparation to learn Incendio, the fire-making spell. Handy for lighting torches, burning away spider webs, and, when necessary, defending against those who would wish to do us harm.”

“Sounds…versatile,” Coraline responded hesitantly, unsure how to actually describe it. 
“Quite. You may be surprised by some of them. Astonishing how much students don’t think their professors know. But for now, let’s see some more of that wandwork you did with Professor Fig.”

Exactly as Professor Hecat said, they spent the rest of the time available for Coraline’s tutoring session going back to the brief amount of wandwork she had did with Professor Fig back at the group home before expanding and building upon it. The two professors had vastly different teaching styles, with Professor Fig focusing more on theory and conversation about each movement, whereas Professor Hecat believed in a more hands-on approach. She had Coraline repeatedly do the same movements over and over until she completed them with the same ease and grace that she had seen her classmates be able to do. 

After their alloted time for the day came to an end and Coraline started to head out of the Defense classroom, Professor Hecat called out to her, a mischievous grin tugging at the ends of her lips as she spoke. “I find that noon is the best time for a stroll through the South Wing, especially on Saturdays.”

“Seems Crossed Wands isn’t as secret as it's believed to be,” Coraline said quietly to herself as she made her way out of the Astronomy Wing and back to the Great Hall for lunch.

Coraline made it to the South Wing long before noon the next day, thanks to her Field Guide, allowing her the rare moment of peace and solitude, which she happily used to explore more of the castle. She kept her Field Guide tucked under her arm in case she ended up needing it, but primarily just allowed herself to mosey through the corridors, taking in all of the sights and sounds, especially the numerous moving portraits that seemed to line every single corridor in the castle. 

A flying translucent figure with a bright blue top hat covered head to toe in color to the point that it looked like a rainbow explosion suddenly emerged through the closed door of the boy’s restroom with a loud “Weeee!” 

The poor young Hufflepuff boy who had been walking alongside her and closest to the door practically leaped out of his skin as he jumped out of the way and landed backward on the floor, dropping all of the heavy books he’d been carrying in his hands. 

“Oh, not again!” the boy cried out as he started to gather up his books. 

Coraline would have offered to lend a hand to help gather the books, but she was too distracted. She stared wide-eyed at the flying rainbow figure who was soaking wet and dripping whatever liquid it was covered with all over the stone floor as it happily danced next to the boy, seemingly enjoying his distress. She immediately took a large step backward away from the flying figure, not wanting to get whatever liquid it was covered with onto herself.

“Here I’ve come from the toilet bowl, where she said I could swim did Eupraxia Mole,” the floating figure sang out, continuing to dance as the boy picked up the last of his books and started to shake the liquid off of them. “As long as ‘twere only one time per week, I can plunge the boys’ lavatory…not for the meek!” 

The poor Hufflepuff tried to dodge around the figure now that he was standing upright, but the figure only moved in front of him each time, continuing to do the strangest dance with a large, mischievous grin across its face. 

“Please, Peeves. You’ll make me late!”

“He tried to stop me, did Rancorous Carpe. Sought to trap me, confine me, inside of a jar…but he failed, as did his Containment Charms, so I took my revenge to wreak havoc and harm.”

At this point, the boy had completely disregarded his books that still remained on the floor, his sole focus on finding a way to get past the dancing rainbow figure, supposedly named Peeves, that continued to block each and every one of his attempts to get by. Why the boy didn’t just turn around and go through the door directly behind him to at least get away from Peeves, regardless of how late he was to whatever he needed to get to? Coraline would never know. It seemed like a much simpler resolution to the matter than continuing his failed attempts of getting around, but maybe there was a different reason he hadn’t taken advantage of the door that Coraline didn’t know. After all, she still had absolutely no clue what the dancing rainbow figure actually was as it seemed to be vastly different than the conventional muggle understanding of a ghost. 

“It was granted my privileges be handsome indeed, or I’d fire up the cannon, and so she agreed…”

Peeves had gotten so caught up in its rhyming monologue that when it paused, it had stopped moving in front of the boy for the briefest moment. His eyes widened at the opportunity, and he quickly sidestepped and sprinted down the hallway as fast as he could go away, his books still on the floor abandoned.

It seemed that Peeves hadn’t noticed or remembered Coraline’s presence pressed up against the wall to its left as it continued its monologue to the empty corridor in front of it. “To draw up a contract, with her, not with him, that if I behaved, I’d have one weekly swim!”

Apparently, that was it for the monologue as Peeves made a wide sweeping motion with his arms before jumping up and diving straight down through the stone floor, somehow causing a massive splash of water to erupt from the spot on the floor that it had just gone through. Coraline just stood there staring at the door to the boy's restroom, her mind a mess as she tried to make sense of what she had just witnessed. As she continued to stand there, she noticed the faintest shimmer of gold appearing directly in front of the restroom door every few seconds. 

“Revelio!” Coraline muttered, causing a floating Field Guide Page to briefly appear in front of the locked door of the restroom, right next to the Out-of-Order sign, before disappearing inside her Guide that was tucked under her left arm.

She eagerly opened her Field Guide, flipping to the back to see that a new subpart titled “South Wing” had been added. The only other page that she had collected thus far on the Ravenclaw Bust had been moved into the subpart titled “Grand Staircase.” The newest entry had a tiny picture of a row of cream-colored porcelain sinks next to a short description.

“Haunted Toilets - Unless in dire straits, it is probably best to avoid this particular toilet as it is allegedly one of Peeves’s favorite pranking spots.” 

All of a sudden, a loud chiming sound seemed to echo through the walls, alerting the school that it had reached the top of the hour and, more importantly, that whatever activities were planned for the Crossed Wands gathering that day were about to begin. Coraline shoved her Field Guide back into her bookbag as she quickly made her way over to the ground floor of the Clock Tower, as it wasn’t much farther. To her absolute surprise, the bridge connecting the building she was just in to the Clock Tower building was absolutely packed with students of all ages. It didn’t seem to be a line for something, so Coraline carefully navigated through the groups of students till she made it across the bridge and through the open arched doorway. 

If she thought the bridge was crowded with students, the inside of the Clock Tower was absolutely packed with students excitedly chatting with one another, waiting for the events to start. It was honestly a wonder how the students involved thought the club was secret from the professors or even the students outside of the club if this was the size of their gathering in the middle of the day directly next to one of two main exits of the castle to the surrounding Highlands.

The crowd in front of Coraline moved off to the right till they were against the outer stone wall of the space, allowing Coraline to have a clear view of a small pale boy with dark curly hair perched on top of a stack of wooden crates scribbling furiously on the piece of parchment next to him. But before she could even take a step in that direction, a familiar deep voice spoke up a few steps to her left.

“Coraline, glad you could make it,” Sebastian said with the sort of smile that bordered on the edge of being a smirk and waved her over. 

She moved to stand next to him, nervously fiddling with the edges of the sleeves of the plain white button-up that she had rolled up to her elbows since there was a comfortable warm breeze that day. Sebastian looked her outfit up and down before raising an eyebrow, silently questioning her choice of fashion for the event. Coraline couldn’t help but feel self-conscious about the white button-up, dark maroon full-length pants, and gray leather boots she had pulled out of the uniform section of her closet, hoping that it would look casual enough and not abundantly obvious that they were uniform pieces, but clearly that plan backfired entirely if Sebastian had figured it out within seconds of first laying eyes on her outfit. 

“Rocking the ol’ uniform on a Saturday, are we?” he teased, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned back against the metal fence separating the small area they were in from the main section of the space.

Coraline’s head dropped down as she leaned back against where the cool stone wall and metal fence connected, “I…uh…only have the different uniform pieces Professor Weasley provided upon my arrival to the castle as clothing options.”

Sebastian’s arms slowly unfolded as she spoke, suddenly giving her his absolute full attention as she continued. “I haven’t been able to replace what was lost in the…in the dragon attack.”

“Well, I guess another Hogsmeade trip is in order then,” Sebastian said simply.

Coraline’s head whipped up to look at him, her turn now to have an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, I’m not jonesing to return to the village too quickly; not looking for a repeat of last time.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t let just one bad visit change your views of the village.”

Coraline only tilted her head and glared at him through the top of her eyelids, causing him to jokingly throw his arms up in defense of any verbal response she might decide to give last minute.

“Lucan’s just over there,” he said, changing the subject as he pointed at the curly-haired boy that Coraline had noticed earlier. 

She pushed herself off of the stone wall and made her way through the crowd of students till she was standing in front of Lucan, who was still perched on top of a large wooden crate as she approached. 

“Hello, are you Lucan Brattleby, by chance?” Coraline asked politely. 

He looked up from the piece of parchment, a look of recognition crossing his face before setting his parchment and quill aside and jumping down off of the crate. She had to blink away her confusion as she realized he was a few inches shorter than her, meaning that she actually had to look down in order to talk to him. She certainly hadn’t expected a student in a lower year than her to be the main coordinator for this massive dueling club based on the number of students gathered around.

“That I am. You’re the new fifth-year Ravenclaw, right?”

She nodded, “Yes, I’m Coraline Evans. Sebastian told me to see you about a club.”

Lucan smiled at her excitedly. “If Sebastian vouches for you, that’s all I need to know. I coordinate duels for Crossed Wands, a dueling club of sorts. It’s invitation only, so you must have really impressed Sebastian.” 

Coraline’s cheeks flushed slightly. “I’m flattered to hear that. He was definitely an interesting opponent in our duel in Defense class.”

“I imagine it was quite something to see the two of you duel.”

Her cheeks continued to turn bright red, so she quickly changed the subject away from herself. “How does Crossed Wands work, exactly?”

“You show up, I match you with other duelists, and whoever is still standing in the end wins. It’s our way to determining the school’s greatest duelists, once and for all. And, to liven things up, the winner is awarded a prize. Interested?” 

Coraline laughed lightly with a small smile at his excitement, “Yes, I think I’d like to participate. Dueling has been quite entertaining for me so far.”

“I agree, dueling can be very entertaining. In Crossed Wands, you can duel with a partner if you like. For your first matches today, I’ll automatically pair you with Sebastian to allow you to get a feel of things. For future duels, you’ll need to register with a partner or duel alone.”
Lucan paused as he looked over to scribble some notes down on the parchment still on the wooden crate before looking back over at Coraline with a smile and a small nod.

“Alright, I’ve got you both into the schedule for today. You’ll be in the third match, but your second match-up for the day is still up in the air.”

Coraline tightly knitted her brows together as she looked at him in confusion, “Second match?”

“Yup, each member of the club participates in two duels during the big match-up days that happen on the first Saturday of every month. The rest of the month is dedicated to smaller match-ups and practice, but not every member attends each of those.”

“I see… I’ve also heard rumors about a special training dummy available only to members?” Coraline questioned vaguely, not wanting to say that Professor Hecat was the one to tell her about the training dummy. 

Lucan laughed loudly, “Ah, someone let slip about that? You’ll be able to get added to the schedule to use it after your duels today.”

She nodded, then clasped her hands behind her back. “How does the training dummy work?”

“I’ll give a list of combinations to practice during your allotted time slot, and your goal is to cast all of the spells before the dummy lands on the ground. But we can get into it more when you have your first session. For now, stand back and watch the fireworks begin!”

Clutching the parchment and his quill to his chest, Lucan took off through the crowd of students, through the metal fence, and straight across the raised section of the space. Coraline took the opportunity to make her way back over to Sebastian’s side to watch. Clearly, Lucan’s arrival at the center of the room was what everyone was waiting for, as it quieted down to the point that a whisper would be like an echoing shout within seconds. 

“Welcome members and friends to the first Cross Wands matches of the 90-91 school year!” Lucan excitedly called out, throwing his arms up into the arm with a wide grin. 

Cheers erupted around the room, and many of the other students’ excitement levels matched Lucan's. Coraline’s eyes swept over the entire room in awe at everyone’s reactions. She certainly didn’t think that a simple announcement of upcoming duels would elicit this kind of level of excitement. 

Lucan lowered his arms back down to his sides, causing the noise level to fall at the same pace as his arms. Coraline had to admit that the young Gryffindor had a flair for the dramatics as everyone around her was hanging onto every word and movement he made.
“We have an excellent line up of matches ready to go for today. So, without further adieu, let’s get the first match underway!”

The first two matches were intense, hard-fought, and full of spell-slinging action that made everyone not competing cheer loudly in encouragement for each of the students in the ring. Despite the blows that some of the students took during the match, once the winner was called, all involved with the match were smiling and exchanging handshakes, a reminder that at the end of the day, these matches were supposed to be duels that were fun and entertaining while also being a good test of skill. 

“Our next match is guaranteed to be an entertaining one as we have the current reigning Cross Wands Champion, fifth-year Slytherin Sebastian, teamed up with the new fifth-year Ravenclaw and Hogsmeade Troll Vanquisher, Coraline!”

As soon as the words left Lucan’s mouth, basically, every head next to Sebastian and Coraline whipped around to stare at them. Coraline’s heart plummeted to her stomach as she realized the impact of the title that Lucan had just bestowed upon her. It was one thing for Sebastian or her roommates to joke and make comments about Coraline’s defeat of the troll, but another thing entirely to announce a title like that in front of the majority of the student body.  

Sebastian smirked, shifting his posture entirely from leaning against the wall to a confident and competitive stance that would definitely toy with the minds of his opponents. He turned his head around and wiggled his eyebrows at Coraline as he mouthed “showtime.” His teasing attitude and general overall response to her new title helped her to feel a bit lighter and comfortable with the attention to the point she just rolled her eyes at him before following him through the metal fence and to the middle of the room. 

Coraline barely paid attention to Lucan’s announcement of their opponents, only truly recognizing that she had seen the three girls of varying ages in the Ravenclaw common room throughout the week. She pulled out her wand from her pants’ pocket and looked around the room for anything that might become potentially useful during the match, her eyes landing on a few wooden barrels tucked into the corner of the room closest to them, something that she previously hadn’t been able to see. 

Lucan rattled off the list of rules once more, primarily for Coraline’s benefit, before calling for all of the duelists to take their marks. They all moved into two parallel lines facing each other with their wands out, practically itching for the match to begin. 

The dark-haired girl directly across from Coraline had a deep sneer that only seemed to get more prominent as she spoke. “We’ll make you regret signing up.”

The two girls on either side of her smirked as Lucan shouted for the match to begin. Sebastian immediately started firing spells of all different colors off at the girl on the far left, with only a few of them actually making contact with her, thanks in part to the hasty purple shield she swished into existence in front of her. The girl on the right ducked behind the dark-haired girl in the center to help the third girl against Sebastian, leaving Coraline to confront her. 

She started walking toward Coraline, muttering a spell under her breath and flicking her wand in Coraline’s direction. A burst of green light exploded out of her wand with a wide smirk as it flew at Coraline, but she only responded with an almost lazy wave of her wand, creating a vibrant purple shield charm around her, causing the spell to be redirected upwards. The dark-haired girl’s mouth dropped slightly in surprise, and Coraline easily used that to her advantage by shooting off a quick stunning charm followed by the levitation charm, effectively removing her from the fight until the stunner wore off.

One of the other two girls must have noticed what occurred out of the corner of their eye since she split off from the fight against Sebastian to attack Coraline, sending spell after spell in quick succession. Coraline had to admit that the girl was certainly good at her spell casting, but it wasn’t anywhere near as difficult to evade and block her spells as it was to battle the stone protectors in the Gringotts vault. She waited until the other girl started to slow down in her casting before sending her own spells at her, starting with a well-targeted summoning charm to the hood of the coat she was wearing. The girl let out a loud yelp as she flew across the Bell Tower to Coraline and, in her surprise at being summoned, dropped her wand along the way. 

Coraline noticed quicker than she did, immediately summoned the abandoned wand off the floor and into her hand, then pointed the girl’s wand at her. She made a low noise in the back of her throat as a protest but ultimately nodded and put her hand out for her wand. Coraline nodded to her as well, then tossed the wand into her awaiting hands before turning back to the match in front of her. Sebastian had ended up switching from the first girl he had been fighting to the dark-haired girl who was, without a doubt, not happy about how the match had been going thus far. 

The other girl looked back and forth between Sebastian’s fight and Coraline, who was calmly walking towards them, carefully watching everyone’s movements. But since she still didn’t pick a battle after a few more moments, Coraline made the decision for her by sending a few carefully aimed basic casts at her. The red sparks flew mere slivers away from the girl's head at eye level but never made contact with her. The girl turned toward Coraline, her eyes wide with surprise but quickly hardened into a glare. 

“Is that all you’ve got?” the girl taunted and made a large slashing motion in front of herself, sending a powerful white diagonal blade of magic toward Coraline. 

Instead of casting the protection charm, Coraline just dropped and rolled under the blade of magic, allowing it to harmlessly pass over her before colliding with the stone wall behind her. She used her momentum to her advantage by remaining in a crouch after she got back onto her feet and flicked her wand with a murmured “Accio!”

Apparently, the girl learned from her yielded teammate as she kept a tight hold on her wand as she flew across the Bell Tower, but instead of summoning her all the way in front of her, Coraline released the charm halfway through, completely disorienting her. As she attempted to find her balance once again, Coraline quickly and easily cast the levitation charm and multiple basic casts sending the girl flying backward before finishing her off with a simple stunner. 

As she watched to make sure the girl would yield, all of a sudden, Lucan’s voice echoed through the Clock Tower. “And the winners are Sebastian and Coraline!”

Coraline grinned excitedly and quickly turned around to Sebastian, who had an equally pleased smirk that bordered on a smile as he watched her make her way over to him.

 “Not bad, Miss Troll Vanquisher,” Sebastian teased, meeting her halfway and just before Lucan caught up to them. Coraline lightly smacked his arm with a roll of her eyes but ultimately couldn’t keep the smile of victory from her face. 

“Nice work! Sebastian wasn’t wrong about you. There’s strong competition ahead, but keep this up, and you could be the next school champion.” Lucan said with a wink to Sebastian at that part, who only responded with an eye roll of his own. 

“Brilliant. Count me in.”

Lucan smiled, “Excellent, I look forward to your future matches! Your second match will be in a few rounds, so you’ve got some more time to spectate before it’s your turn again. Who knows, maybe you’ll pick up some more tips and tricks to incorporate into the next one.”

The curly-haired boy moved back to the raised section to address the crowd and introduce the next pairings, which allowed Sebastian and Coraline to head back to their spot in the corner of the fenced section. Coraline looked up at the massive swinging metal pendulum above her as she walked. She could have sworn she saw a flash of blue and silver on one of the higher levels of the tower, but it was gone so quickly that Coraline chalked it up to be a trick of the light from one of the many open windows she could see up there. 

As they passed through the opening in the fence, Coraline heard a student off to the left mutter, “Glad I didn’t bet on that round.”

The rest of the weekend passed relatively uneventful compared to the rest of the week, allowing Coraline and her roommates the opportunity to secure a large table in the back of the second floor in the library to work on the many essays and general assignments the professors had already assigned. It hadn’t seemed like a lot at the time during the class periods, however, now that each of them had written down a list of everything they needed to accomplish, it was certainly daunting. 

But with all of them working together, despite Garreth’s attempts to distract them by talking about his latest experiment, they flew through their assigned work just as fast as the day was slipping away from them. Coraline was probably the most excited of all of them once they finally completed all of their assignments from last week, as her mind was an absolute jumbled mess from all of the background and other information Devin thought was important that she needed to know and understand immediately. 

By the time their Defense Against the Dark Arts class ended on Tuesday morning, Coraline was beyond excited to learn another new spell instead of all the theory work they had been doing thus far that week. After sending Robin and Imelda on their way to their next classes, Coraline waited until the classroom was pretty much empty before approaching Professor Hecat. 

“I trust Mr Brattleby was able to accommodate you and that you found success in your endeavors, Miss Evans?” The professor turned towards her with a knowing smile. 

“Indeed. I was quite successful with all of the tasks you gave me, Professor Hecat.”

“Good. You are certainly making good progress in your wandwork and understanding the spells you’ve learned thus far. You should be ready to learn Incendio.”

“Should be, Professor?” Coraline questioned, her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to piece together why the professor would have used that specific wording. 

“Yes. I’m sorry to say I’ve visited enough careless colleagues at St Mungo’s to assure you that fire is a fickle servant. Your spell-casting has impressed me thus far, but please maintain focus. I would rather we not end today’s lesson with your robes aflame. Let us begin. And remember: focus on the proper wand movement.”

She copied the professor’s graceful wand movement, quickly making the intriguing connection that it was almost the opposite of the wand movement for the summoning charm. Instead of starting with her wand out and pulling back, her wand was pointed off to her side before flicking it outward to direct the rush of flames shooting out of the tip. Coraline grinned happily the first time she successfully cast the spell, causing Professor Hecat to have a small, proud smile of her own. 

“Good work. The training dummy is here if you wish to practice Incendio some.”

Coraline still had a few minutes before Charms was set to start, so she took advantage of the training dummy’s presence and practiced the fire-making spell some more, paying careful attention to how far out she could be from the dummy to still get the maximum results from the spell. Professor Hecat watched the young Ravenclaw’s diligent practicing, quite impressed at her determination to get accustomed to the spell and her quick study about the limitations the spell currently presented.

“You’re getting it. Keep at it, and do try not to incinerate yourself when you use the spell on your own.”

Despite Coraline’s many attempts to tell Sammie that she was able to walk from the Charms classroom down to Professor Fig’s office on her own, Sammie was more than insistent on accompanying her all the way there under the premise of meeting up with Imelda. It had completely slipped her mind that the Slytherin was taking his class, despite listening to her during breakfast that very morning complain about all the homework the professor had been assigning and an added grumble about his mind clearly being elsewhere during classes. 

It took a bit of convincing, but Coraline was finally able to get Sammie and Imelda to leave her at the professor’s classroom and head to the Great Hall for lunch on their own, claiming that she was unsure how long the meeting with Professor Fig would take. As they started making their way back to the main staircase, Coraline turned and made her way up to the professor’s office. After a short knock on the door and a mumbled “come in,” she entered the office with a wide smile. 

“Hello, sir. You’ll be pleased to know that I worked on my defensive magic with Professor Hecat.”

Professor Fig chuckled with a smile spread across his own face. “So I hear. She tells me you’ve taken rather well to your new wand. You must continue to work with her and your other professors to improve your skills. That said, I don’t wish to postpone our visit to the library any longer.”

Coraline brightened at his words, immensely curious about what awaited them in the mysterious Restricted Section. “So, shall we proceed?”

Before he was able to respond, the door to the office slammed open to reveal a very irate Headmaster, his usual scowl even deeper than usual, causing Coraline to take several quick steps back away from the desk so she was out of the headmaster’s way.

“Fig, I have work for you. Come.”

It seemed as though he didn’t even recognize Coraline’s presence as he started to make his way back out of the office, fully expecting Professor Fig to immediately follow him. However, that was not to be the case as Professor Fig sputtered, his eyes blinking rapidly in disbelief.

He gestured to Coraline, despite the Headmaster’s back facing them. “Headmaster, I am with a student, and my schedule is…”

Headmaster Black whipped around in silent fury and strutted up to Professor Fig’s desk in a few short steps. “Your schedule will wait indefinitely, as will your student. I would think that after all the trouble you caused me with Osric, you would be eager to make amends.”

Coraline quietly gasped in disbelief and shock as she watched the exchange between the two of them. After a moment of absolute silence, he continued. 

“My office, five minutes.”

With that, the Headmaster stormed out of the office, slamming the door open and slamming it closed once more, leaving Coraline and Professor Fig to stare blankly at the door, unsure what to say at first. 

Finally, the professor spoke, pinching the bridge of his nose lightly as he did. “That man is exasperating. Unfortunately, our trip to the Restricted Section will have to wait a bit longer.”

Coraline turned toward the Professor, surprised, and started to cross the room to stand in front of his desk again. “But, Professor…”

He gave a dismissive yet disappointed wave before interrupting. “We have no choice. It would be unwise to provoke our illustrious headmaster further.”

She nodded glumly and took a small step back from his desk. 

“I shall send you an owl when I’ve completed whatever ‘toils’ I must endure.”

“Very well, Professor,” Coraline sighed and followed him out of his office and classroom until he stopped in front of a Floo Flames location. 

He nodded to her once, to which she replicated, and he disappeared into the flames within a blink of an eye. She stood there watching the dark green flames as they danced on top of the small stone basin they were contained in until a soft whistle started to echo throughout the corridor, causing Coraline to look around in alarm. Instead of any kind of threat, it was Sebastian sitting on one of the benches off to the side of the entrance to the classroom. She stared at him, confused, trying to figure out why he would be here of all places at that exact moment. All of a sudden, she remembered the conversation they had during their first Defense class last week, and a slight smirk tugged on the edges of her lips as she came up with a plan. 

“Sebastian mentioned sneaking into the Restricted Section. Perhaps he’ll have an idea.”