NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Fifty-Three

        "What are you doing?" Calypso asked when she caught Mira hanging posters on the notice board beside the sign for Dueling Club. The Dueling Club was supposed to have its first meeting that day in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and Calypso was excited to see what the turnout would be.

         "Oh, I'm placing these signs all around the castle to spread awareness on the mistreatment of house-elves." Mira shrugged, turning to Calypso as she held a stack of posters in her arms. "My friend told me these horrible stories about how some pureblood families have taken up the practice of cutting elves' fingers off for punishment and ever since then I've thought that they needed someone looking out for them."

        "Want me to place a couple around? I'm heading out right now." Calypso offered.

        "Thanks," Mira handed Calypso a few posters. "I'm thinking about starting a petition too. If I get one hundred signatures on it, I can send it to the Ministry and urge for reform of Elf legislation."

          "You should start one and I'll sign it." Mira smiled and Calypso left the common room to place the posters on some of the walls of the corridors she walked through. She caught a glimpse of Regulus walking down a hall she was in and he stopped to stare at the poster.

         "Did you make this?" Regulus asked curiously.

        "No, my friend Mira did." Regulus's brow raised in surprise.

       "The Seeker?" He asked. Calypso nodded. "Interesting . . ."

       Regulus stalked off without another word, leaving Calypso to continue down the hallway to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were lingering outside of the door, waiting for Calypso to show up.

        Once Calypso told Sirius the reason she was starting a dueling club was because she wanted to be able to fight Death Eaters, he jumped at the opportunity to take action and spread the word to James, Remus, and Peter — all of whom were sixteen and under the impression that Calypso's dueling club was to prepare them for their N.E.W.T. exams seventh year.

        "There you are," James said with a huff, ushering Calypso forward, interrupting her greeting to Sirius. "Everyone's waiting."

       "Everyone?" Calypso questioned before James opened the door to the room and pushed her inside. She saw the familiar faces of her friends — Dorcas, Marlene, Emmeline, Alice, Lily, Cassandra, Karma, Pandora — and Calypso was pleasantly surprised to see that Benjy — who was excellent in Charms — had tagged along with Dorcas, Cassandra, and Pandora. Karma brought a small group of Hufflepuffs with her, including Edgar Bones and a few other Hufflepuffs Calypso knew. Calypso was happy to see the group of five Slytherins standing together. Aurelia Rowle, Cordelia's best friend, stood at the front of the group with a wary look on her face. There were other Gryffidors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws who Calypso didn't recognize, but she smiled when she caught the eye of Eloise Baudelaire.

        "What are so many people doing here?" Peter asked quietly to his friends. Calypso turned to James, assuming that he was the one responsible for the turn out but he merely shrugged in response.

         "Learning how to duel or improving on it is important to people." Sirius shrugged. He turned to Calypso and gave her a small smile. "You've got this."

        Calypso took a deep breath before she faced the group of students who were all looking at her for instruction. She told them to split into pairs and that they were going to practice Shield Charms first. Her grandmother had spent a few days over the summer teaching her how to create a stronger Shield Charm than Calypso ever thought possible to create. Her Shield Charm had blown her grandmother off her feet numerous times and she was confident that she could help teach others how to perform one.