Nella Dursley and the Wondrous World of Magic

Midnight Classes

"Explain yourselves!" Headmistress McGonagall shouted at the four gathered students. James glared with painfully red eyes. Albus glared at James; Scorpius stared at his feet in complete shame. Nella tried to breathe so she could try to explain but instead, the anxiety bubbled up.

"Ouch!" Albus's shoulder had been touching Nella's and he tried to scoot away but James made a move as if to attack again. McGonagall flicked her wand wordlessly and everyone froze mid-motion. She passed a glare individually before reversing the spell. Nella rubbed her shoulder joints from all the stiffness.

"Professor, I'm at fault for using an awful curse. You should expel me-"

"No Scorpius! James attacked first!" Albus was seething. He stood up still on the offense and James flung himself upwards from his chair. It made the space very crowded.

"Stop everyone! I'm going to lose control!" Nella cried as she wrapped her arms around herself. McGonagall flicked her wand again but this time she only froze James and Albus.

"Go on Scorpius. You can start."

Scorpius nodded and gathered himself together. Morosely he explained the attack.

"Professor I'm so sorry. I panicked because I knew about Nella's circumstances and I was afraid if I didn't act quickly something dangerous might happen." Scorpius dropped his head and began to shake.

He quivered, "But I ended up being the most dangerous out of all four of us! I'm sorry professor. You can send me away. It's all my fau-"

"Scorpius, I don't want to expel you." Nella couldn't tell if he looked relieved or not, he mostly looked confused.

"We will discuss your punishment with your head of house. You and Nella wait outside while I discuss what happened with these two." She dismissed the two students and they walked outside her office to wait beside the door. They passed the slumbering portraits and closed the door.

"How come you didn't tell me you're so skilled at magic?" Nella wondered why they had to fetch Olivia a few days ago when they practiced magic at Hagrids. Scorpius frowned at the wall before answering.

"My dad let me use magic at home, even though we aren't supposed to. I think he shouldn't have. My mum didn't like it either. He also taught me a lot of hexes and jinxes. He thought I might be bullied, for b-being a Slytherin."

"That doesn't make sense Scorpius." Other Slytherins didn't seem as experienced, otherwise, Lidia would be tossing jinxes left and right.

"I'm not ready to explain it. Please, Nella? Let's drop the subject, and don't ask Albus!" He stared her down until she nodded, but she felt a little sad that he trusted Albus with secrets over her.

~ ☪ ~

James exited before Professor Marazion made his way up the spiral staircase.

"Let's get this over with you two," he said, sounding a touch more tired than usual. Upon reentering the office Albus immediately questioned McGonagall.

"Why wasn't James's head of house called?"

"Never you mind!" Albus pouted but kept silent.

"So," Marazion paced himself up to McGonagall's desk, clasping his hands behind his back. Nella noted two rings on his fingers.

"You three were caught in a duel-" Albus snorted. Marazion spoke so slowly that it was hard to tell if he felt interrupted or not.

"Scorpius used a rather... inappropriate curse but in his defense, he wanted to prevent a dangerous situation with our special student." He looked at the three, he gave each one a three-second stare before continuing.

"A deduction of a hundred house points is a bit early but fair and you, Scorpius, will be in detention for, oh let's say a month? As for you, Albus, you don't seem to have done anything wrong, have you? Nella, well I'm not sure it's safe for you to remain at Hogwarts." Nella's eyes pricked in panicked depression.

"Professor!-"

"Albus if you continue to argue with us we will need to deduct more house points!" McGonagall half shouted. She shot him a glare before returning her gaze to Professor Marazion.

"I believe it's a bit early to make that decision, Marazion. Winky has only given her one class and we've hardly seen her wand usage-"

"Hagrid witnessed an abrupt failure in that regard, Headmistress." Marazion shrugged his shoulders apathetically. Nella wondered how this man, whom she barely knew, hated her so much. It was as if she taunted James into bullying and coerced Scorpius to use a powerful curse on another student.

"I'm aware and I'll keep it in mind. I think we've concluded your punishment and it's getting late. Head back to your common rooms, I'm certain you have homework to do before your Astronomy class." With that, they were set free.

~ ☪☪ ~

The stairway leading up to the Astronomy classroom made Nella shiver. She felt an unfound sense of foreboding as they made their way up to the tallest tower in Hogwarts. Eventually, she began to tremble and sweat and had to grab Scorpius's robes to pause their ascent.

"You okay? You look green Nella!"

"It feels weird up here," she said before gulping.

"Did something happen here?" She suspected the magic in the air here was at fault. The air seemed very thick and it gave her a headache. Albus raised his eyebrows before answering.

"Something did actually. Dad told me. My namesake died in this tower." If a sudden wind had randomly swept past Nella wouldn't have been surprised. There wasn't wind but the air continued to feel so heavy Nella thought she could scoop it up.

"Will you be okay during class? You won't faint again?" Scorpius frowned at the memory.

"I'm not ditching my first Astronomy class. I don't feel dizzy, it's just heavy. I'll be okay," she said but moved slowly until Albus grabbed her hand and helped her make the last few steps. Through the door was an open space, a draft wind made all three shiver before they approached their Astronomy teacher.

She reminded Nella of Headmistress McGonagall with the way she carried herself. Most of the spots in the center were taken by the Gryffindors so the three Slytherins found a little edge to set up their telescopes. Nella, literally thanked the stars that this class didn't require magic, at least not yet.

"Hey, Nella?" Albus whispered while Professor Sinistra helped several complaining students that their telescope was broken.

"What?"

"Can you tell where it happened?" Nella hadn't noticed until now that Albus seemed to have a compulsive curiosity over this death. She shivered but shook her head.

"No, but I can feel this feeling of remorse." She frowned and looked back into her eyepiece. There were places almost like this throughout the castle. She wondered why it felt so particularly remorseful here.

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If you're silly, you're assuming Dumbledore's remorse is what lingers. I mean it might to some degree but Snape's remorse was powerful. It left its mark as the caster.

Word Count: 1160

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