Sasha Liliana Jackson & The Secrets of Hogwarts

Chapter Five: Helping Chiara

As Sasha was making her way to the Grand Hall, Sasha noticed that Chiara was pacing nervously in the corridor. The Hufflepuff girl was being watched by a uncertain Rowan, a concerned Tonks, a worried Tulip, a determined Penny, and an anxious Talbot. Sasha walked towards and gave them a confused frown before she stood in front of Chiara.
"Chiara, is something wrong?" Sasha's question had caught Chiara off guarded. "You seemed more nervous than Rowan before we have a test."
Ignoring Rowan's protest, Chiara cracked a smile at Sasha's playful comment and gave a slight smirk.
Chiara looked at Penny with a hidden question in her blue eyes, Penny nodded and escorted everybody out of the corridor. They left Sasha and Chiara alone to speak to each other.
Sasha had seen Chiara helping out Madam Pomfrey at the Hospital Wing and the two girls had bounded during Herbology a few days ago. But last month, Sasha had saw Chiara meeting up with a weary young man when she was helping Ben look for his teddy bear and she gave the man a some sort of potion. Chiara saw Sasha and Ben watching them after the man left. Sasha had to explain that Ben had asked her to help him find a item of his. They both decided to talk when Penny was finished doing the Animagus Potions. But Sasha had noticed that Chiara had been acting extra distant lately for some reason.
"Are you okay Chiara?" asked Sasha concerned. "You've been acting distant lately."
Chiara said softly, "I'm sorry Sasha. Can I trust you to keep this a secret?"
Sasha felt unsure, but she pushed back her fear and looked at Chiara. She looked very nervous, but very guarded about her secrets. But Sasha was determined to prove her trust to Chiara, even at the cost of her own life.
"I'll make an Unbreakable Vow," stated Sasha firmly.
"No!" Chiara cried out, her blue eyes were wide with horror. "If you break it—"
"I'll die." Sasha met Chiara's gaze evenly. "I know about the risks and dangers, but I'm willing to do it to prove my trust to you. I'm willing to place my life on the line if it means helping you. If I die, it shall only show that I wasn't worth holding onto your secret."
Chiara looked so stunned that she couldn't speak, but after a while she had calmed down and looked at Sasha in amazement.
"I'm not willing to place anyone's lives in danger because of me," Chiara said quietly. "I will tell you what we were planning and why we were planning it."
Chiara explained everything to Sasha: Chiara had been bitten by a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback as a little girl and tried recruit her, but her parents had drove him off. Chiara had befriended a girl named Selina and after Selina had seen Chiara's transformation, she was too afraid to even see Chiara as herself. That's when Chiara had asked her mother to obliviate Selina, so she will no longer live in terror. Lastly, Chiara had started hiding herself all together willingly. But she had been opening up slowly during her time at Hogwarts.
Though, after a while, Penny and Tonks had noticed her constant disappearances in the middle of the night. The two Hufflepuffs had secretly followed Chiara and Madam Pomfrey to the Whomping Willow. After the nurse had gotten out of the tree and Chiara had started doing her transformation, Chiara had accidentally startled her two classmates and had managed to force herself to go into the Forbidden Forest till the next sunrise. When the morning came, Chiara had apologized and explained to Penny and Tonks for the mishap. The two girls had decided to get Sasha, Rowan, and Tulip to help out with the full moon transformations since they were already planning to become Animagi. While Talbot had already agreed to help out, since Penny had already asked him and hoped to find another bird animagus in the bunch.
When Chiara was done explaining, Sasha knew it wasn't Chiara's fault she was turned into a werewolf or that Selina had betrayed her friend's trust. Sasha didn't like the sound of Chiara being by herself during her transformations. She knew, first-hand, how it feels to be by herself without much human contact.
"If you're trying to scare me off," Sasha said playfully. "You have to try a lot harder."
"You're not scared of me?" Chiara looked at Sasha in amazement.
"Nah, I know what it's like to feel alone and being left behind." Sasha sighed as she remembered Jacob's disappearance and the neighborhood's hostility towards her. "Besides, I have full confidence in you. I know that you will do nothing to harm me or our friends."
"You have too much faith in me," whispered Chiara. "What happens if I'm not lucky? What if I hurt you? I think you have too much trust in me."
"I don't think so." Sasha shook her head. "The only who needs more trust in herself is you my friend. You'll might be surprised to see how a little bit of faith in yourself can go."
"I hope you're right," Chiara said softly.
"I won't confirm I'm right nor wrong," admitted Sasha as the two of them started walking together. "I don't pretend to be a expert, Chiara. But I'm willing to help you in anyway I can, that's all I can promise you."
Chiara cracked a smile before she said, "Thank you Sasha. You're truly quite brave and noble. I'm surprised that the Hat hasn't placed you in the Gryffindor House."
Sasha shrugged with a slight smile and decided not to mention that a famous Gryffindor was part of her family tree from her dad's side of the family.
"So, mind telling me why we're heading towards the castle grounds as nightfall had started to come?" asked Sasha curiously.
"That's where the others had started to meet up at," Chiara whispered into Sasha's ear.
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By nightfall, Sasha and her friends all hid in the shadows of the trees as they waited for Madam Pomfrey to step out of the Shrieking Shack underneath the roots of the Whomping Willow. They were all hidden underneath five invisibility cloaks that Tonks and Tulip had both managed to snag from Mr. Filch's office during their detentions, Sasha had ended up sharing the fifth cloak with Talbot.
Sasha felt the warmth of Talbot's chest as he laid on top of her. Talbot had took Sasha's hand, his was warm and comforting against her cold hand. Sasha looked up at him, he was pale in the moonlight, but his gaze showed grim determination and a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. His amber eyes illuminated in the light of the moon.
"Has everyone drank their potions?" Sasha and her friends had each nodded to Penny's question, while Talbot watched on. "Great, let's go."
They all took off their invisibility cloaks and stepped into the clearing. Sasha watched as Talbot transformed himself into a coppery brown eagle with his deep amber-brown eyes. Rowan had transformed herself into a tannish-brown fox. Tulip had transformed herself into a red fox. Tonks had transformed herself into a white wolf with her dark, twinkling eyes. Lastly, Penny had transformed herself into an winged horse with a golden palomino coat and her blue eyes.
Sasha closed her eyes and focused. She felt as if there was a second heart beating through her chest. She felt her skin burning and she felt as if she had troubled breathing. The wind rushed in her ears and a bright light flashed before her eyes.
Then all was quiet. She opened her eyes and gasped. Sasha can see that she reaches Rowan's shoulder, only Talbot was a head taller than Sasha. She was covered in brown and golden feathers, and her feet had turned into wicked claws, like in her dreams, but it was real flesh and blood. Her clothes and necklace were gone, as if they'd melted into her feathers. Her eyesight had completely changed, too. Sasha could see a hundred and eighty degrees around, and the detail was incredible. Every leaf on every tree popped out. She spotted a Niffler a hundred yards away, scurrying into its den.
Sasha turned to look at her friends. Rowan was panting a grin and was wagging her tail excitedly. Talbot seemed to be smiling at her, his eyes were aglow with excitement. Tonks and Tulip both barked as they both started playing wrestle with each other. Penny snorted with amusement as she watched on.
"Well done everyone," neighed Penny. "What should we call ourselves in our animal forms?"
"Can I call myself Dawnsky?" Sasha asked as she ruffled her feathers excitedly. "Since I'm seemed to be a peregrine falcon."
"Sure Dawn," reassured Talbot. "I think I want to call myself Skyheart."
"I like the name Moni," Rowan said with a grin.
"Good one Rowan," Sasha squawked.
"Thanks Dawnsky," panted Rowan with a wagging tail.
"I like to be called..." started Tonks.
"Mischief?" Sasha suggested.
"Crazy?" Talbot's suggestion only ended up with him getting swatted over the head by Sasha's flapping wings.
"Nymph," Tonks finished with a playful grin, making them all laugh (though, their laughter sounded like screeching, neighing, and barking).
"I'll call myself Swiftfoot," Tulip barked and spun around so quick, you could only see a reddish blur till she stopped.
"What about you Pen?" Sasha asked Penny. "What should we call you?"
"I like to be called Liberty," said Penny wistfully.
"That fits you perfectly," said Sasha with what looks like a smile.
But their fun had quickly stopped when they heard Chiara howling in pain. Sasha wanted to help her friend, but she wasn't sure how. Then there was a terrible snarling noise coming from the roots of the Whomping Willow. It almost sounded like a cornered wolf.
Sasha flapped onto a rock, next to Talbot. He gently touched his wing with hers. Sasha looked at Talbot gratefully, she felt more relaxed now and ready to help Chiara. But everybody had all become tensed again as they watched as Chiara stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight.
Chiara's werewolf form was truly a terrifying beast. Her eyes were dark and lacked human light. She was a large beast with silvery white fur. She has a short snout with gleaming sharp fangs. Her claws were sharp and picked up bits of dirt as she walked.
"Who are you?" Chiara's voice sounded both hoarse and raspy from earlier howling.
"We are your friends Chiara," said Penny, speaking for all of them.
"Have no friends," growled Chiara. "No Chiara."
"What should call you then?" Sasha asked.
"Nightshade," Chiara rumbled.
"Nice to meet you Nightshade," Rowan said. "I'm Moni. That's my best friend Dawnsky and her mate Skyheart."
"Moni!" screeched Sasha and Talbot, both sounding embarrassed.
"Oh, whoops." Tonks and Tulip both barked a laugh at Rowan's cheekiness.
"I'm Nymph," said Tonks.
"Swiftfoot," said Tulip.
"And I'm Liberty." Penny spread opened her wings with a proud whinny. "We're here to help you through this night."
"Help Nightshade?" Chiara had a confused look in her eyes as she looked at each of them. "Why?"
"Because we're your friends Night," said Sasha.
"No friends." Chiara shook her head and her voice sounded sad. "Scared friend."
"But we're not afraid of you," pointed out Rowan.
Chiara finally gave in and started running towards the woods. Rowan, Tonks, and Tulip all ran after Chiara. Penny flapped her wings and took off into the sky. Sasha looked up at the sky and she twitched her wings longingly, she wanted to fly so badly, but she was afraid that she'll fall.
She felt Talbot placed his talons on top of hers and his gaze was earnest.
"I'll help you," Talbot said gently.
Feeling a bit more encouraged, she had jumped into the sky and started flapping her wings. Sasha used the air currents for her advantage. The wind slid across her feathers as she banked through an updraft to gain altitude in search of a stronger tailwind. Ahead of her was the Forbidden Forest, a darkly mysterious forest and underneath her was their friends. She started to enjoy the wind in her feathers. Sasha could taste the midnight air, smell the raw, endless forest and the lake.
She pumped her wings up and down, enjoying the way the air pushed around, the currents are tense and smooth as water, the tips of her wings brushed lightly against the sky. She stretched her golden-white wings to its fullest wingspan, nearly eight feet, so that the wind can help fly lower and see the beige and white on the underside of her wings.
Flying alongside her was Talbot, his eyes alight with such joy that it kind of surprised Sasha. He seemed to be smiling at her and before she knew it, he started flying around her excitedly. It almost looked like he was dancing in midair.
"Hey Sky, if you're done showing off to Dawn," neighed Penny, looking slightly amused. "We have to check on Nightshade."
If a bird can blushed, Talbot just did. It had made Sasha churred with amusement as the two of them had started flying down towards the others, but she was unsure of how to land.
Talbot soon dove down and opened his wings last minute, his talons were pulled out gracefully and and he soon sank his talons to the tree's roots.
He looked up at Sasha, his eyes gleaming as he acknowledged her. Talbot met Sasha's gaze and nodded. Sasha started to loose altitude as she flown down towards them. As she approached a good root to land on, Sasha pulled out her talons and sank her talons into the root.
"Well done Dawnsky," churred Talbot. "You're a fast learner."
"Thanks Skyheart," Sasha said as she playfully ruffled her feathers, making her friends chuckled.
"It's almost sunrise, so we must wait till Nightshade comes back as herself and return to the castle," Rowan said.
As Rowan said, after a weary Chiara was done with her transformation, they all each used the invisibility cloaks and slipped back into their dorms without anybody noticing.