Riddle's Plea

The Girl Who Fell*

(T.M.R. End of May 1943)

   "Alright, class! Are you ready to begin our journey into the universe?" Professor Perpetua Fancourt, an astronomer extraordinaire and creator of the lunascope, was clapping and practically skipping in front of us. The woman was in her 40's and had her hair charmed to be a bright annoying blue. Despite her over-enthusiastic joy about a rock hurtling through space and the fact that she was a Ravenclaw alumnus, I had to admit that the woman was indeed, quite brilliant. She had managed to invent a device that's used to analyze the phases of the moon in her early 20's, which is no small feat. "Now," she began, drawing us all into attention, "Professor Dumbledore will be attending as well, for he is as much of a fan of the stars, as we are!" 

    Inwardly groaning, I watched as Dumbledore walked in, and he also seemed to have a skip in his step. "Good evening children!" He began in a deep voice. "I hope that we will all have a joyous class! I cannot wait to discover new things about our universe! And I can assure you, you will have plenty of time to catch up on sleep." He sent a knowing look to some of my classmates, who appeared to be asleep standing up. To my left I noticed Abraxas Malfoy cover a yawn himself. Suppressing an eye roll, I once again focused my attention on the two chipper Professors standing in front of my 5th-year class. 

    It was almost midnight, and Friday was slowly ending. Instead of studying for O.W.L's, I was stuck with a bunch of sleep-deprived idiots, and two annoying Professors for an Astronomy class that I didn't really care for. Astronomy was not part of what I planned on doing. "This class is utterly pointless." My voice came out low and harsh, causing the tall blonde boy beside me to jump in fear. I didn't bother to suppress my eye-roll at Malfoy's reaction. Once he got control of himself he slowly nodded at me, agreeing with his Lord, and didn't make eye contact. "Alright then class, let's head down to  the lake where all of our equipment is awaiting us!" Professor Fancourt's voice had risen a few octaves higher, causing me to inwardly flinch at the sound.  

    The slow trudging of my classmates down to the Black Lake was infuriating. Their feet dragged across the pebbled walkway, picking up dust and causing Malfoy to break into a fit of coughs. Rolling my eyes yet again, the telescopes scattered beside the Black Lake finally came into view. The Professors stopped a few feet away from them and called the sleepy figures back to attention. "Now, I would like you all to get into groups, each group has a telescope, and each of you will take turns looking at the comet!" Professor Fancourt was practically squealing at this point and was looking at all of her students cheerfully. "After the comet has passed, I will dismiss you back to your common rooms, and I expect an essay about your experiences in this class on my desk by next week! Quickly now, it will be here soon!"

    Avoiding any and all contact with Druella Rosier, the annoying cousin of one of his most loyal Knights Theodore Rosier, I made my way to a telescope and waited for my followers to join me. Abraxas Malfoy, the tall blonde lanky boy was heir to the Malfoy fortune, a valuable asset to my future endeavors, and the precious Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team. Felix Avery, tall and brown-eyed, he captured female attention wherever he went, along with being a valuable asset to the Slytherin Quidditch team. Alwaid Lestrange, or better known to his friends, Al. Alwaid was one of my most trusted Knights and was cruel when need be. Jack Mulciber was famous for not turning in homework and bullying his way through the school grounds. Antonin Dolohov was the brute strength of the group, he was also quite treacherous when he didn't get his own way. Theodore Rosier was a loyal follower, one of the first to join the Knights, and was also a Chaser for the Quidditch team. The only Knight missing was Evan Nott. Evan was a small, thin, redhead whose innocent look deceived many. He was a year below us and idolized Theodore. 

    "Ah! There it is! Quickly students before it passes!" Professor Fancourt rushed to the remaining telescope, shared with Dumbledore, and I reluctantly peered into ours. Quite frankly, I wasn't impressed with the giant rock hurtling through space. Standing aside, I let the others peer at the rock, as I watched the Black Lake. The waves didn't move like they normally did, and no creatures were visible swimming below the surface. Curious. I took in my surroundings, noticing the lack of wind and noise. Hogwarts grounds were usually very active, even in the middle of the night there always seemed to be noise and movement. It was as if the entire grounds were holding its breath as the comet passed above it. Ten minutes later the comet was no longer in view, and I watched begrudgingly as Professor Fancourt wiped a tear from her eye while Dumbledore gave her a reassuring pat on the back. 

    "Well students, I do believe that was one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen!" With a wave of her wand, all the telescopes disappeared. "Now, if you'll all get into a line, we shall head back inside where our warm comfy beds await us!" Following the proclamation, there were cheers from some of my classmates as we all formed a not-so-straight line. Like children. I had managed to grab a spot in the back, again doing all I could to avoid Druella. 

    We began to trek back up the castle when the clock struck midnight, causing some of the still, almost sleeping students to jump, and causing me to chuckle darkly at their ridiculousness. But soon my chuckles were dismissed by the crack of lightning above the Black Lake. The whole class stopped and turned towards the sound as the air became hard to breathe. A swirling black mass was covering the lake, lightning erupting every so often, and the wind had picked up tremendously. It was as if the lake was having its own personal storm. I took a chance and gave Dumbledore a glance, and was surprised to see even he looked utterly confused and bewildered by the events that were occurring. 

    As quickly as the storm started it stopped, and the clouds and lightning seemed to disappear leaving only a speck of darkness falling from the sky. There were gasps surrounding me, watching as the speck of darkness became clearer, and a person was visible. Judging by the long hair whipping through the air, it was, in fact, a woman. She was falling quickly towards the middle of the Black Lake, and the whole class had taken a few steps forwards. "ARRESTO MOMENTUM!" The loud and sudden voice of Dumbledore filled the eerily silent night, and the force of his powerful spell pushed us back. I watched as the girl stopped falling, right before hitting the water, and she seemed to freeze. Dumbledore carefully began maneuvering his wand, slowly pulling her towards the shore, and as she got closer there were terrified voices filling the silence. 

    Her body was badly mangled, deep cuts lined her chest, and bruises were forming along her arms and face. She seemed to be frozen in time, her hair still splayed around her, and her arms and legs reaching towards the sky. Slowly, Dumbledore managed to get her to the shore, and there she levitated almost above us. Speaking a few whispered words under his breath, Dumbledore cast the spell to unfreeze her and screams erupted around me as we watched the blood begin pooling out of her cuts like a river. "Mr. Malfoy, please go get Madame Ducane, and hurry!" He was bringing the girl down to the ground, trying not to damage her anymore, as he gave the orders to Abraxas. Beside me, Abraxas seemed to unfreeze as well, and he gave me a fearful look as he took off running towards the castle to acquire the Matron. 

    We all began watching as Professor Fancourt and Dumbledore began muttering spells under their breaths, and her blood began retreating back into her body. After a few tense minutes, she suddenly opened her eyes. They were a light purple, a color I had never seen before, and they were glassy and confused. She looked up at the two professors above her in shock, and took a deep breath to speak, but began to cough up more blood. Dumbledore gently rolled her onto her side to help her breath, and catching her breath again she looked up at the students surrounding her. Her eyes grew wide in fear and confusion for a split second before unconsciousness overcame her once again.   

    "Albus?! What has happened?" Madame Ducane came crashing through the group of students and stopped still at the sight before her. "I do not know. We must get her healed. She's loosing too much blood." At his response, Madame Ducane sprang into action, whisking up a stretcher and carefully levitating the girl onto it, she began rushing her up to the castle, Dumbledore not far behind. "Alright class," Professor Fancourt began, "I think that's enough excitement for one night. I'm sure the Headmaster will make sense of all of this. Now, off to bed with you!" The students began their trek up to the castle again, as I began to lag behind. "Riddle, what are you doing?" Malfoy called to me, causing anger to fill my veins. "You have no right to ask me that. I'm allowed to do whatever I please. Do you understand?" My words were laced with venom, and he nodded his head vigorously in fear. "I'm going to see who that girl is. Do you have a problem with that?" Again he shook his head at me, and smirking at his stupidity, I began walking in the opposite direction from the rest of my classmates, fading into the surrounding darkness of the castle. 

    It wasn't long before I reached the doors to the Hospital Wing, hearing voices inside, I decided to wait until Dumbledore had left. I couldn't afford to be caught by him, I had a school record to uphold after all. But, I was determined to find out who this girl was, and what had happened to her. I'm not leaving until I find the answers about the girl who fell.