Serpens Star

6

“Well, Harry, time to mess things up,” I said, before yelling out, “HEY, PIXIES! THE BLONDE-HAIRED FOOL IS THE ONE WHO TRAPPED YOU!”
The pixies paused for a moment, before crowding around Lockhart. While he was trying to fend off the pixies, I subtly grabbed Harry and left the class.

“Fen, we’re going to get into trouble,” he protested.

I only rolled my eyes in response. "I'm sure Hermione will smooth things over."

Harry thought about it for a moment before accepting that as a good enough answer. "So, what do you want to do?"

I shrugged. "Anything but being in that fraud's class."

Harry snorted before suddenly looking curious. "Why do you call him a fraud?"

I gave the boy a long-suffering expression. "Really?"

The dense Quidditch player stared at me in confusion.

I sighed heavily. "Harry, if that man did all those things, he would be, like, fifty years old by now. It takes time to gather information on those creatures and then deal with them. Also, how could he have written all those books while constantly on the move? Furthermore, it's illegal to just head out to different countries without permission. That takes a bunch of time, and I don't see how someone as young as Lockhart could do it all."

Harry thought it over carefully before nodding. "Yeah, that makes sense. But, if he didn't do all those things, then who did?"

I shrugged, having no clue. "I don't know."

Harry looked contemplative as we walked out of the castle and around the grounds, at least until it was time for lunch.

There, we met up with the other Gryffindors.

"Fenrir, I cannot believe you would do that to a professor! You should respect him and not get him attacked," Hermione lectured as soon as I sat down.

"In fairness to me," I said quickly, "He was the one who trapped the Cornish pixies."

Hermione gave me a disapproving expression, but that was to be expected. She clearly had a crush on Lockhart, which was kind of gross. She could really do so much better than some guy with a large ego.

Ron actually agreed with me, as he demonstrated when he said, "You know, that Lockhart guy is just plain annoying."

"Isn't he?" I asked, and Hermione huffed in annoyance.

"He's done plenty of amazing things!" She exclaimed.

"He said he's done plenty of amazing things," I interrupted.

Hermione looked at me gobsmacked. "You think he's lying?"

"Adults can lie," I pointed out, "My father lies all the time."

"Well, surely he can't have lied about that many things," Hermione debated, "He would have been caught by now."

"Well, I still think he's a fraud, and Felis doesn't seem to like him either," I said curtly.

Before anyone could say any more, my cousin came strolling over with a grin. "Fen, I heard you put that awful new professor in his place!"

I immediately shushed my elder cousin. "Inside voice, Ophi."

"Oh, but that's quite an achievement!" Ophiuchus exclaimed eagerly before leaning down. "I heard-"

"No!" I shrieked as I covered his mouth. "I'm not paying for your secrets!"

Ophiuchus pouted before pulling his face back. "Fine, be that way." He then sulked off, crossing his arms over his chest as he left behind the Great Hall.

"What did you mean by 'paying for your secrets'?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"If ever there was a secret told here in Hogwarts, Ophiuchus will collect them and then sell them for a price," I explained to her, "I think he's offering favors to Moaning Myrtle and/or Peeves for most of those secrets."

Hermione looked equal parts nervous and concerned.

"In any case," I said before finally digging into my lunch, "What class is next?"

Harry, used to me by now, only sighed then answered, “Transfiguration with Ravenclaws.”

I nodded, as that meant Milo would be in the class. Not that it mattered or anything. I tuned out Harry and the others to make direct eye contact with Karayan, sending along a plea for a distraction. I really did not want to be caught in another debate about Lockhart.

Thankfully, the idiot in all his glory, got the message, and I was able to sneak away as the teachers tried to catch all of the Cornish Pixies that had mysteriously been set loose.

Milo caught up to me, panting as he fixed his hair and what was left of his tie. “Where did he even get those?” Milo complained, mourning for his ruined tie.

I looked at him with sympathy.

“Never question him,” I answered, before spotting Mrs. Norris. Immediately forgetting that she was the reason Felis kept abandoning me, I bent down and cooed for her to come closer.

She didn’t come closer, but to my disappointment, Felis did.

As soon as I got a grip on him, I started my scolding.
“Felis! I thought I told you no! You’re officially grounded, young cat.”

Milo gave a heavy sigh, causing me to look at him sharply.

"Would you like to say something?" I asked.

"No," Milo said quickly. He was clearly put into Ravenclaw for a reason.

“Wise choice.” I replied, then resumed the scolding.

We were like this for a while before stumbling upon a crowd. To both our horror and despair, Mrs. Norris was petrified, along with the suspiciously blood-red message left behind.

I quickly checked my bag only to see the diary missing.

It wasn’t even nightfall, and this Sahmain already topped the worst ten.