Rainbows (A Hogwarts Mystery Story)

Chapter 5

It took a while to coax Ben out of his hiding place, and he didn't exactly look too pleased to see us.

"She's dangerous," he kept repeating in a low voice, almost like a mantra. "You can't trust her."

It wasn't the first time we saw Ben like this, but we knew this wouldn't be the last. Being from a Muggleborn family could be frightening, but what confused me even more was how Ben knew Patricia Rakepick--enough to run away from her when he saw her. What was it about her that made him like this? What did he know about her that made her so intimidating to him?

All questions ceased the moment we got out of the common room and rushed to the Great Hall again, eager to get a bite in before the afternoon classes. Bill had to stay behind to make sure Ben truly recovered, because at the rate this was going, we would probably be late for Care of Magical Creatures by the time we got Ben to come out of the room.

"You'd think that by fourth year, Ben would probably get over his fears," Rowan said to me as she shovelled some salad into her mouth. "I mean, we've been in Hogwarts for a long time, now. Besides the possibility of another Cursed Vault, what is there to worry over, really?"

I only shrugged, merely looking back at the plate of food I got for myself. The woman on the stage was still there, eating lunch with the rest of the staff, but even without her commanding aura I still felt a little uneasy. Maybe Patricia Rakepick had returned with the task to close the Vaults, but something about her taking the job from me--indirectly, of course, since I was never really tasked with the duty--got me worrying. Just because she had firsthand experience with the Vaults did not mean she had everything in her to be able to close them. What would happen to her in the process? What would happen to my brother?

"Eat up, Clara. We don't want to be late," Rowan whispered to me with a slight nudge.

Too much unease had been building up in me by the time I finally snapped back to reality. With a dejected nod, I picked up my fork and knife, and began to dissect the piece of chicken in front of me.

---

Thankfully, the afternoon gave us some sunny weather without a single cloud in the sky. Rowan and I eventually took the hike down, gazing in awe at all the birds flying round--especially at the owls soaring towards the Owlery.

"It makes me miss home sometimes," Rowan commented. "Wish I could be able to write letters to my parents and see how they're doing. The lack of knowing what goes on at home makes me worry."

As we finally stepped into the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, we took a quick glance around at the students already beginning to prepare for the lesson. The mere sight of some of the Slytherins almost made me cringe, especially when it came to Merula and Ismelda, but seeing Barnaby talking animatedly to Charlie made me smile a little. At least that was one person who could make this class tolerable.

"Not every dragon is harmful, you know," Charlie was saying now to Barnaby, a cheerful twinkle in his eyes. "Only the ones who know how to be really vicious can be hard to tame."

"It's good you want to tame dragons, though," Barnaby remarked with a nod. "They're hard to keep in control, loads of them."

"Yeah. It's an interesting job," Charlie responded. "I've always loved creatures, but dragons fascinate me the most."

Something in me eventually gave in to join in the conversation with the boys, and so that was what I did, approaching them with a wave. "Hey guys!"

"Hey, Clara," Barnaby greeted me first, turning round and offering me a huge grin. "You doing alright?"

"Just peachy," I told him with a nod. "Only had a dull morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, though. Anthony Campbell kept throwing paper planes at us for the whole hour."