NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Twenty

      Calypso found out that Aerin had quite a few classes with her including Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, History of Magic, and Transfigurations. He mostly sat in the back, away from the other students, and he carried around this brown leather notebook with him that he was always writing in. He kept his head down during meals and she only ever saw him interact with Xenophilius Lovegood. He'd listen patiently while Xenophilius described his various ideas and theories to him, which she thought was nice since most people just dismissed Xenophilius right away.

       "Who is he?" James asked when he caught her staring at Aerin one day in the library. She was studying spells with the boys because Professor Arcturus was going to have them practice dueling against each other during their next class and she wanted to be prepared.

        Sirius glanced up at the sound of James's voice and looked at Calypso curiously as her cheeks warmed.

         "N-no one." She said redirecting her gaze back to her books.

          "N-no one," James mocked. Calypso glared at him. "You've been staring at him the entire time I've been talking to you. I bet you don't even remember what I said."

         "Something about Lily, probably."

        James rolled his eyes.

       "Do you like him or something?" James asked.

        "Don't be ridiculous, James. We've only spoken once and it was very brief." Calypso said.

        "But —"

        "Read your book, James." Calypso said. James huffed and redirected his gaze to his book, dropping the conversation. Sirius glanced between Calypso and the boy curiously before going back to focusing on his work.

        During double Defense Against the Dark Arts the Thursday before the Quidditch game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, Calypso entered the classroom to find the room cleared of all desks. She glanced at Dorcas and lined up against the wall with the other Ravenclaws and Gryffindors as they waited for Professor Arcturus to enter the room.

         He briskly walked in to stand at the front of the room, looking out at all of them.

        "Today will be about dueling. I will call random pairs forward to duel. You can use any spell that you have learned so long as it doesn't seriously harm, injure, or maim your opponent. Let's try not to destroy the classroom in the process." Professor Arcturus instructed them. His gaze swept over the students, focusing in on Pandora and Demetrius Burke. "Burke and Moon, you're up first."

         Pandora's eyes widened slightly and she stepped forward. While Pandora excelled in classes like Divination, Charms, and Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts had never been her best subject. Demetrius, on the other hand, was pretty good in the class.

          They took out their wands and Calypso watched the pair duel it out in front of everyone. In the end, Demetrius got the best of Pandora when he disarmed her and Professor Arcturus declared him the winner.

          He called up several more students, with Dorcas going up against fellow Ravenclaw, Eloise Baudelaire and winning. Sirius duelled another Gryffindor, Remus went up against Alice (and lost), and Peter was forced to be paired up with Cassandra, who easily disarmed him. James, to his joy, had to duel Lily, to her dismay. The duel lasted a while until James actually managed to disarm Lily's wand by using Expelliarmus, leaving the whole class, including James, stunned by the outcome.

        Finally, Professor Arcturus said:

        "Krane and Talbott."

        Calypso glanced over at Aerin as the pair of them walked to the middle of the classroom, standing several feet away from each other. She looked down at her wand; Walnut wood with a phoenix feather core. Her wand had never failed her and she knew it wasn't about to start now.