A Second Chance (Harry Potter)

Chapter 23

Silence.

That was all that was heard throughout the classroom.

Complete and utter silence, not a single sound to be heard.

The Regina stood in all her glory, tall and proud, her obsidian black wings giving out an earthly glow, her brand glowing a fierce shade of gold against her skin.

Everyone stood cowering in their position, not even daring to move a muscle.

She was dangerous.

The Omen was a sight for sore eyes. Standing in all its glory, her features morphed into something else, something unrecognizable, her lips a deep shade of black against her pale skin, her eyes flashing a hazy gold, her black hair turned darker than it was.

Nobody could pull their eyes away from her. She was a magnet for their gaze, and whoever looked at her, found it impossible to tear their eyes away from her, whoever wasn't looking at her, immediately turned to do so.

A second passed.

The air was tense, and the moment seemed to have frozen for eternity. Time had no meaning.

She was time.

Everyone could feel her power radiating off her, and they knew what was to come next, was inevitable. A strong force was pulling them down, forcing them to bow down to her, to their queen. To their Regina.

And they bowed.

Every single one of them, submitting themselves to the Queen she was, the omen.

"Rise," she whispered, her voice dripping with power, it's soft tone reverberating against the walls of the classroom.

So they rose.

The moment seemed to last for ages.

Without further warning or indication that The Regina had ever been present, Valerie suddenly took control of herself, causing the Regina to vanquish, leaving the girl standing in her wake.

It was as if it never happened, the time having passed like a millisecond, a flash of memory, blurred and unclear was all that remained as proof that The Regina was every present.

The atmosphere was still strained.

Valerie was the first to come to her senses. Grabbing her scepter, she felt the familiar black stone in her hand, feeling peace at once.

Obliviate, she cast, using the black, magic infused within her stone to obliviate the inhabitants of the classroom, save for Umbridge. The Regina's memory was entirely wiped from their minds, and Valerie hoped her spell was strong enough, never having casted it on so many people before, least of all using non-verbal magic.

Please tell me nobody will remember that...

As for the inhabitants of the classroom, they knew that something had happened, and had a vague idea of what it was, but they weren't certain, only knowing that there was more to the Queen than what they thought. She wasn't to be crossed.

Not once, not ever.

Choosing to ignore it, one by one they slowly recovered, not really knowing the full reason as to why they were terrified. Like everyone else, Umbridge included, Valerie decided to ignore it.

Slowly, she regained her infuriatingly emotionless and nonchalant stature.

"Well, is that proof enough for you?" she asked coolly, a sadistic smile forming on her pink lips.

Her wings had disappeared, her eyes had returned to their usual dark shade, her crown back to its normal state. Her words were directed specifically at Umbridge, and while nobody else would remember what happened, Umbridge would.

Umbridge chose to say nothing, preferring to ignore it.

Clearing her throat in that pitifully disgusting way, she spoke, "Please turn back to your books."

Nobody chose to argue this time, they all turned to their copies of Basics for Beginners.

Except Harry.

"So he's returned, hasn't he?" Harry broke the tense silence, staring at Umbridge.

"Harry, sit down," Hermione hissed, pulling his arm, trying to tug him back into his seat.

Harry ignored her.

Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank. For a moment he thought she was going to scream at him. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."

Stupid toad face, Valerie thought, turning her glance to Harry.

He kicked his chair aside, strode around Ron and Hermione and up to the teacher's desk. He could feel the rest of the class holding its breath.

Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling, hunched over so that Harry could not see what she was writing. 

Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him.

He took it from her without saying a word and left the room, not even looking back at Ron and Hermione, his eyes briefly meeting Valerie's, barely holding her gaze for even a second.

He stormed to the back of the classroom, slamming the door shut behind him, the noise echoing through the silent room.

The class returned to its usual, quiet condition, while everyone either flipped through their books uselessly, or drew mindlessly on spare bits of parchments, all thinking about what exactly happened in that short moment of two seconds, where they all seemed to lose their memory....

At last, Valerie, who'd had enough drama for the day, stood up.

"Well, I've had enough of this bullshit," she scoffed.

Nobody pointed out about the fact that Valerie cursed in front of a teacher, let alone her being the Queen.

Clicking her fingers, her books vanished on the spot, and nobody told her anything, not even Umbridge, who was seething that Valerie had cursed out loud, and she couldn't do anything about it.

She strode to the door, and the Professor couldn't find it in her to tell her off for skipping class. Now that she knew exactly how dangerous Valerie was, she would have to tread carefully, and test the waters before opening her mouth.

Valerie wasn't to be controlled.

The door opened magically without Valerie even having to raise a finger, and once she walked out, the door slammed shut.

The class stared in awe.

A/N: Eek, sorry for the late update:|

Hope this was a satisfactory chapter; do comment your thoughts and ideas, I'd love to know.

Love, Riven.