SPELLBOUND | remus lupin

five - the consequences

JAN, 1976
HOSPITAL WING

On the way to the hospital wing, Camilla had been fuming. How dare they. How dare they attack her, a pureblood and a prefect! She would not let them do this to her, nor would she let them get away with it. What right did those four boys think they had to utterly humiliate her in front of the whole class, who would probably spread it through the school faster than she could intimidate all those involved into silence? She had a strong, angry feeling that the ringleader, or at least the one who had suggested it in the first place, was Lupin, the half-blood that shouldn't even be allowed to enter the castle because of his status. As Rodolphus had rightly said that morning, Azkaban should be the place for traitorous witches and wizards, betraying their kind by marrying and having children with muggles. The thought truly disgusted her, right to her core, the morals chiselled into her by her parents revolted.

But by the time Camilla had reached the doors, she had forcibly settled her mind into a calm state, focused and intent, already planning her retaliation. The Slytherin wordlessly signalled Madam Pomfrey for help, and she was pointed to sit on an empty bed while the Matron searched for something in a cabinet.

They would be crushed. Camilla would make sure of that. She and her group would obliterate them and they would never mess with her again. She would even do it all alone if she had to, but she didn't think her friends would mind helping out. They'll probably volunteer, Camilla thought.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey questioned, handing her a small cup filled with smoking orange liquid. She didn't ask and downed it in one swig, nearly gagging on the foul taste. "Potions gone a little wrong?" Camilla nodded silently as her throat contracted painfully, but then it felt immediately clearer and less clogged.

"Yes," the red-head said experimentally, testing out her now-cured vocal chords. The pitch was a few tones higher than it should have been and she coughed, to see if it was still congested with the dust.

"Your voice should return to normal in the next few hours," Madam Pomfrey reassured, "and your skin will be a bit pink as well, but as far as that, you're done." She nodded with satisfaction and turned away to the next patient with a curt, "Off you go!" The boy at the door looked like he'd had a nasty fall off a quidditch broom, Camilla noted as she swept past him.

She did not return to afternoon lessons, but instead went straight to the Slytherin common room to wait for her group to gather after lessons. It took around half an hour, and the whole time, she was thinking about the eventual confrontation she would be having with the four boys and how she would beat them into the ground with a predicted four spells, one each. Or maybe she should duel Lupin instead, and show him what it meant to humiliate her.

"You're still a little red-faced," Evan smirked as they had all finally gathered by the fireplace once again.

"We've already heard what happened, everyone has," Narcissa announced, also smiling a little, looking as if she might start laughing. That just hardened Camilla's resolve. No survivors.

"It was quite funny," Wilkes continued with a snort. At this, Camilla snapped and turned on him with a cold fury, wand out and pressed hard against his throat.

"Say that again," she hissed. His eyes were wide with fear, fear of her, because he knew she wouldn't hesitate. They all knew she was ruthless.

"Sorry," mumbled Wilkes, his apology forced. She lowered her wand immediately, as if he was insignificant and irrelevant to her, and that was true for the most part. She was too focused on revenge to bother with the mindless idiot.

"That is what I'm going to do to them, but I won't hold back," Camilla announced to the other six, hard green eyes watching them intensely. "This... this is war."