Dear Diggory

chapter 64

I was sitting alone in the great hall looking over my Defence Against The Dark Arts Assignment.

It was a dreary afternoon, the rain was coming down thick and heavy. It battered against the windows and I could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. Storms were actually my favourite weather, at home I would usually crack my window open and sit on the windowsill to listen to the noise.

I frowned at the page of my book, having to reread the sentences a couple of times to make them sink in.

We were studying memory manipulation and it was a rather complicated subject. I wished someone from the group was here to keep me company but they were all in class and Cedric had quidditch practice.

I picked up my quill and copied some brief notes into my book. I was deep in concentration when I heard a ruckus at the other end of the hall.

I turned towards the door to see what was happening as other students around me did the same.

I recognised a Gryffindor student in a few years below backed up against the wall. Her name was Amara, she was very shy student but stood out amongst everyone else for one reason; she wore a hijab and was a practicing Muslim.

It was a very muggle notion to follow a religion, most of us didn't believe in any kind of God when we had magic.

I knew some people detested Amara for her choice but I'd always admired it. I'd thought it brave to openly express participation in a muggle idea and I knew my father would have been personally delighted at her choice. She was the only Muslim witch in our whole school, which unfortunately also made her a target.

I could see tears running down Amara's face as she pushed herself into the wall in fear and at that moment I noticed the culprit.

Agatha and her cronies were hassling her, I could see their sneered faces speaking aggressively.

Agatha jabbed her hand into Amara's shoulder and the poor girl cowered, seeming to retract into herself with every passing moment.

A hot prong of anger rushed into my body as I took in the scene, Agatha was always bothering someone and she seemed to have a taste for picking on the shyer students.

I clenched my fists together until the skin on my knuckles turned white with tension. Agatha moved even closer to Amara then and began tugging on her hijab, trying to remove it.

I'd seen enough.

I jumped out from my bench and stormed over to them, my nostrils were flaring from my exhaled rage.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled at the group and they all turned to look at me in surprise.

Agatha's face flickered with cold resentment but it spurred me on. I'd let her get away with hurting me, but this was different, someone else needed me to stand up for them now.

I marched right over to them, placing my body between Amara and Agatha, a human shield as I straightened my posture.

Agatha glared at me, "piss off Malveaux, or I'll be forced to deal with you too."

"You're the one who should go, you have no right bullying this girl, or anyone else for that matter." I spat the words out and for a moment my own rage surprised me.

"Oh I see what this is," her expression twisted into a wicked sneer, "you muggle-lovers need to stick together huh? How pathetic you are, dirtying the magical world with traces of those low lifes."

I inched closer to her then, until our bodies were almost touching. Rage radiated off me in thick waves and I felt my pulse strum faster, every beat a menacing warning of my thin patience.