(HOGWARTS MYSTERY) Janelle Morgan -- Year 1: The Forbidden Corridor

Chapter 7: Snared

"I've made a complete fool of myself!" I growled in frustration as we left the Dungeons. "I should never have taken my eyes off her! If I'd paid more attention to her, I could've stopped her, then none of that would've happened. I should give her a pair of buckteeth to go with her chubby cheeks and her vomit-stained hair! If only I knew the spell..."

"Densaugeo," said Rowan.

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"Densaugeo; that's what the spell is called," Rowan clarified. "I read it in a book on hexes and jinxes at home. Unfortunately, I don't know the spell, but even if I did, I wouldn't have been allowed to use it, especially without a wand. Maybe we can find it in a book in the Library, and we can learn it together."

I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great. She deserves it after what she did. I swear Merula is going to do everything she can to try and get me expelled." Suddenly remembering what Rowan said in my ear during Merula's confrontation, I said, "I remember you saying you read something about Merula's parents; what happened to them?"

"Oh, yeah!" Rowan exclaimed. "I read in the Daily Prophet something about the Snyde Family being sent to Azkaban just before the school year started. It was rumored they were aiding You-Know-Who during the Wizarding War. It was also said they tortured and killed several Muggles during that time, just for their own pleasure."

"Seriously?" I said in amazement. I then nodded in understanding. "That explains why she's so obsessed with being 'the best.' She's trying to look all big, mean, and scary, and make everyone fear her so she's not viewed as a loser."

"Exactly," Rowan nodded. Then she sniggered, "Then again, if we did give her some buckteeth, she won't look so 'big, mean, and scary' anymore."

"Right!" I giggled at the image. Then I instantly paused. "But what if she's just like her parents? If that's the case, maybe giving her buckteeth isn't such a good idea. Who knows what she'd do to us then."

Rowan nodded nervously. "Yeah. Come to think of it, you're probably right."

Suddenly, as we turned around a corner, I was startled by a small blond boy that was coming around the same corner at the same time.

"I'm so sorry!" the boy cried as he frantically bent over and started picking up his books, which had fallen out of his book bag when we had collided into each other.

"It's okay," I said as I reached for his Herbology book and handed it to him. "We didn't see you coming round the corner."

When the boy finally looked up at us, he stepped back in shock. "Oh, you're Jane Morgan, aren't you? Good! I'd been meaning to speak with you!"

"You know me?" I asked in bewilderment; but then I instantly had to bite my lip. Duh, Jane! Everyone knows who you are by now!

"Of course!" the boy said. "I'm in the same year as you, as well as in the same house. You must remember me? Ben Copper?"

"Oh, yes, I remember you!" I nodded, recognizing the name as well as his face.

"Me too!" Rowan said. "You're the boy that fainted into your soup bowl when Nearly Headless Nick floated by to congratulate you on being Sorted into Gryffindor." I had remembered that as well. Luckily Charlie was brave enough to lift Ben's head out of his Tomato Soup and lay him on the table instead so he didn't drown in his soup.

"Uh...yeah..." Ben laughed awkwardly at the memory while his face went beetroot red at the same time. Of course, the only thing he would've remembered about the incident was waking up on the side of the table with Tomato Soup in his hair. Changing the subject, he cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, I just wanted to say 'thank you' for standing up to Merula Snyde just before Potions Class. I was watching from the end of the corridor, if you're wondering how I knew about that. I also saw what she did to your potion. I would've stopped her, but I was honestly too scared to approach her. I'd fix your cauldron for you, but I don't have any glue." He suddenly paused, catching himself saying the wrong thing. "Uh, I mean, I don't know any repairing spells."