Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 45

The excitement on Alexandra's face wasn't difficult to notice. She ran through the enormous hall and glanced all around the different shelves that were filled with hundreds and hundreds of different books.

Not only it was full of books on spells, charms, curses, and even magical creatures, but there were many Muggle novels that Alexandra had always dreamt of reading, such as Jane Eyre, Little Women, and many more classics. She could live in this library for years and never get bored.

But she reminded herself that her time for now was short and she had to act quickly if they wanted to be on time for their first class.

So at last, Alexandra finally picked up a book called 'Pride and Prejudice' by a famous Muggle author named Jane Austin, and then she returned back to where Regulus was waiting for her at the table.

"What did you choose?" Regulus asked her as she took the seat opposite him. Alexandra showed him the book, but then he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Boring."

"Excuse me?" Alexandra raised a brow at him.

"I said the book you've chosen is boring." He grinned.

"Have you read it?" Alexandra took aback. She hadn't expected someone like Regulus — who came from a prejudice Pure-blood Wizarding family — to have read a book written by a Muggle author.

"Of course." He shrugged casually. "Victor Hugo's stories are way stronger and their plots are better. Like Les Miserables, or the Hunchback of Notre-Dame."

He said the last word in a deep and perfect French accent, which made Alexandra giggle.

"I didn't know you liked to read," she said, smiling at Regulus as she unwrapped the toast he had brought for her. But her smile widened even more when she realized that he had already buttered it for her.

"Yes well, there's a lot you don't know about me," Regulus said with a grin upon his face, trying to sound mysterious, which only made her chuckle again.

So Alexandra just smiled at him and opened her book to read while she took bites off her toast for breakfast. Silence had filled the space between them, but it was far from awkward. It was a silence full of comfort and a feeling of warmth that soothed Alexandra's thoughts and eased her mind.

She wished that those minutes would never end, that she could just stay in that library for hours with Regulus by her side, as they made small talk every once in a while and read. But just like any other moment, this one was bound to come to an end as well.

"We should better get going," said Regulus, glancing down at his watch. "Shoot! We've only got five minutes to get to class! I didn't realize how late it was!"

But before Alexandra could even come to herself and realize what was happening around her, Regulus quickly took out his wand and packed their stuff. Magically, Alexandra's new nook flew out of her grasp and floated down into her bag, zipping up on its own.

     "Here, I've already got your classes' schedule from Professor Flitwick," said Regulus, handing her the timetable.

    "Oh, thanks." Alexandra felt a warmth in her heart that she had barely ever felt before. It was happening more often now, and she knew that it was all because of him.

With that, Alexandra and Regulus quickly left the Come and Go Room, its door disappearing right behind them. Although Alexandra turned around one last time to glance at it longingly, wishing with all her heart that she didn't have to leave it.

"We can come back later, don't worry," said Regulus urgently, placing a comforting hand on Alexandra's shoulder to get her attention.

Shaking her head to snap out of her thoughts, Alexandra finally turned to face Regulus again before nodding. By that, they both started running down the staircase, toward their Defense Against the Dark Art's classroom.

"We're gonna be late!" Regulus groaned as he took another quick glance down at his watch while they were still running, their bags hanging loosely upon their shoulders.

The moment they reached they classroom, they quickly opened its door and stepped inside with a rush.

"Sorry we're late, Profe —"

Alexandra and Regulus were saying, but they came to a halt when they saw that the Professor had changed. Just then did they remember that last year their Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor had left Hogwarts under severe circumstances. As it seemed, none of their teachers for that class lasted too long, which led people to start thinking that maybe the job was jinxed.

"Settle down, you two," said the new Professor warily. He was a bald middle-aged man with a sharp and weird-looking beard. He wore brown robes that came to the floor and were so long that even covered his feet.

Regulus and Alexandra glanced at each other sideways before closing the door and making their way inside. Although they both grimaced when the smell of garlic filled their nostrils.

Having seen the look on their faces, the professor smiled. "Garlic keeps vampires away. You don't want to get entangled with one, trust me. They're rather patient with their enemies. Mostly because they have an eternity to try and hunt you than."

People around the classroom weren't sure if they were supposed to laugh or if he was serious, so they just kept quiet.

Alexandra and Regulus wanted to take their usual seats, but everywhere else was full. There was a Ravenclaw girl sitting next to Mike, and by the satisfied grin on her face, it was obvious that she felt triumphant to be sitting beside the Quidditch captain.

So with that, Alexandra and Regulus took an empty table to themselves and sat down next to each other, waiting for the new professor to start the lesson.

"As I've said already, I'm Professor Ezra Akhiezer," he started, pacing around with his hands laced behind his back. "I understand that surname might be a mouthful to pronounce, so you may just call me Professor Ezra."

Everyone's attention was now on the man. It was as if he had the ability to keep them quiet without even trying. Alexandra thought that perhaps it was because of the dark and mysterious tone he talked in.

"Professor Dumbledore has informed me that your previous teachers have already covered different curses and defensive spells," he went on. "So in this semester, firstly we will be covering non-verbal spells. Afterwards, we'll start learning about creatures of the night. Vampires, werewolves, Inferi, Banshees, and —"

"Sir," a Gryffindor girl raised her hand in the front row, "what is Inferi?"

All gazes turned back on Professor Ezra. It was obvious from the look on their faces that the word was unfamiliar to many of them, whether they were Muggle-born or came from a Wizarding family.

"An Inferius is a dead body that is bewitched to do a Dark Wizard's bidding," he explained, his tone darkening once more as he spoke. "In other words, it is a corpse that is in fact... half-alive."

"But there is no spell in the world that can revive a dead person," another student said, but Professor Ezra let out a laughter.

"No one said anything about reviving," he said. "Inferi are dead, I assure you. But they created through the magical branch of Dark Arts called Necromancy, which is the branch used for the dead. Not many know how to create such dark creatures as Inferi... well, except for a fair few."

And then, by the sneer that was spread across his face, Alexandra got the feeling that Professor Ezra was indeed one of those fair few who had mastered this Dark Art.