Lily Potter and the Shadows' Misfortune

Chapter Thirty-Six

                       Seven days passed, and the late frosts of March melted into a kaleidoscope of April flowers, which lined the rolling green hills of Hogwarts. Lily wished that she could say her search for answers to any of the mysteries before her were growing just like the flowers, but sadly, they were not.

Nonetheless, the days at Hogwarts flowed into one another like the puffy clouds that seemed to circle the blue skies above the castle, and soon, the group of six second year friends were faced with a major decision: their third year electives.

                        As their second year at Hogwarts was so slowly coming to a close, the opportunities offered in their third year were approaching rapidly, and everyone had an opinion the electives offered.

"These are all hogwash," Hugo said, tossing his course information onto the center of the table and leaning back in his chair with crossed arms.

                        Outside of Hugo's outburst, it was a quiet Sunday at Hogwarts, and Lily and her friends sat around a circular table in the library. Lily, Cassie, and Rudy had gone to the library to read up a bit on the courses offered for their third year—Lily and Cassie out of curiosity and Rudy out of unfamiliarity—when Hugo and Eli came bounding loudly into the library, booming their opinions, with a small, disgruntled Nora Nott following behind them.

"I'm so sorry that I let it slip that you guys were in here," Nora said, shaking her head as Hugo nearly fell off of his chair.

                        "It's not your fault that my cousin's so obnoxious," Lily said, looking up from a book about the study of Ancient Runes.

"I resent that," Hugo said once was sitting comfortably on his chair again.

                        She simply shook her head at her cousin. There was some nonsense that spewed out of Hugo's mouth that she could not dignify with a response, and the absurd claim that Hugo was not obnoxious was an example of that nonsense.

"Ancient Runes?" Eli asked, looking at the golden lettering on the cover of the book in Lily's hands. "You cannot be serious. I told you about how awful Professor Babbling was last year."

                        "Well, maybe I'll like her," Lily said, flicking a glance to her friend across the table before putting her nose back into her book. "Besides, the subject seems interesting enough, and maybe it'll come in handy someday."

"You want to learn another language, Lil?" Hugo asked, slumping his shoulders. "You have got to be kidding me."

                        "Hugo, I didn't learn a language in the first place," she said, flipping a page absentmindedly. "I just translated something from Greek into English, and it was a rough translation at that."

"Isn't Greek basically a language made of ancient runes from a country filled with ancient ruins?" he asked, smirking. "Think about it; it's true."

                        "Not really," Rudy said, not bothering to look up from his own book.

"Way to back me up, Rudy," Hugo said. "And here I thought that we were mates."

                        "I was just answering for Lily," he said before taking his nose out of the book and facing his friends with a shrug. "What? Someone's got to spice things up around here. Lily shouldn't be the only one allowed to dismiss Hugo and his ridiculousness."

"Anyway," Eli began, annoyance evident on his voice, "Ancient Runes is a poor choice. Professor Babbling is horrible. End of story."

                        "Not end of story," Lily said, putting the book down on the table. "I'm actually thinking of taking it, so I guess I won't be seeing you there then, Eli."