Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
Chapter 36: What Happens in Slytherin...
Rabastan was the first one to shoot at him.
Despite the silent casting, James could tell it was a Stinging Hex, a very common one used among students. It is very painful but leaves no marks as evidence.
Rabastan's choice to aim it at his face had been particularly nasty.
But this also made it easy for James to avoid it by just moving his head.
At the same time, his wand went through the motions. "Impedimenta!"
His jinx was much faster and aimed at Rabastan's chest, so it managed to hit.
This slowed Rabastan down tremendously, so James changed targets to Lucius before he could act.
"Ducklifors!" A flash of light hit Malfoy on the face, and the next instant, he was transformed into a duck.
"Pff!" Bella had to muffle a chuckle.
James could understand why. Even in his duck form, Lucius Malfoy remained very elegant, with lustrous long blond hair and some black and green robes that had been adjusted to the size of the duck.
Rabastan was preparing to dispel his jinx and remove the 'slowness' of his movements.
"Inflatus!" James aimed his wand at Rabastan, and this one began to inflate like a balloon before floating into the air and hitting the ceiling of the chamber.
The entire encounter was over in less than five seconds. With his business concluded James strolled past Bella.
She glanced at him and seemed like she wanted to say something but remained quiet, so James continued walking.
The three boys who were chuckling before and guarding the hallway moved aside the moment James approached them.
After realizing that their target knew how to fight back… all their bravery vanished in an instant, and they turned into scared children.
It was almost curfew time, so James decided to go directly to his bedroom and put an end to this eventful day.
Next day, West Inner Garden.
"This guy is crazy…" Sirius leaned closer to him and whispered.
"Why would he bring those here?!" Peter took a step back and was getting ready to sprint for the door if necessary.
James didn't know what they were complaining about. These Care of Magical Creatures classes were the most entertaining ones of them all.
Today, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn had brought some large spiders to show them.
He had decided against sharing what happened the previous night. Knowing Sirius, he would have tried to do something reckless and create more trouble for everyone.
His attention went back to Professor Silvanus. 'Speaking of reckless.'
"This is an Acromantula, an eight-eyed, hairy spider with a taste for human flesh. They are native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, but I picked this one up from the Black Forest, right next to Hogwarts. They are extremely dangerous!" the professor said.
"Then why are you handling it?!" a student exclaimed.
'More than that… why is he using his non-prosthetic hand?' James wondered.
The mystery of how this man lost a hand and an eye was becoming less of a mystery.
"Wait… those things live next to the school?!" Peter exclaimed.
The professor found their reaction very funny, apparently.
"Worry not. They never leave the forest. And this one in my hands is very docile."
"I heard a story about a student who died in Hogwarts, bitten by one of those, like, thirty years ago," someone mentioned.
"So they do get into the castle!" Peter snapped.
"Haha! You guys worry too much about these things. That probably won't happen again," the professor chuckled.
"Probably?..." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Maybe we should switch to Ancient Runes after all."
"Right!" Peter loved the idea.
James ignored his friends' antics for a moment and glanced towards Bellatrix.
She had stood there during the whole class and said nothing. She wouldn't even look his way.
James also found it strange that he was not called to the Headmaster's office after yesterday's stunt.
He supposed that the Slytherin boys hadn't wanted to call attention to the fact that they attacked a younger student and got defeated instead.
Not to mention that Rabastan had been made a Prefect for some reason.
He decided to forget about the incident and focus on more productive endeavors.
His time was too valuable to waste on childish conflicts, so as long as those Slytherin boys were willing to let things go, he would do the same.
Although part of him told him that this was unlikely to happen. If Lucius was anything like his future son, he would not let go of this grudge that easily.
The class concluded without the professor getting bitten by the Acromantula he had been holding the entire time, but James was still not sure if this was evidence of the man's skills or luck.
The Slytherin students began to leave the garden first, and it was then that James saw something that caught his interest.
As Bella passed by his side, he saw there was a red mark on her right cheek that she hurried to cover with her hair.
'What happens in the Slytherin House, stays in the Slytherin House.' James recalled an old expression he had heard several times during his previous stay at this castle.
Pureblood wizards and witches from important families cared too much about appearances. As such, they reached a mutual agreement that any scandals and dramas that occurred inside their house would never leave those walls.
'Like an argument between a young girl and her fiancé with a fiery temperament.' If Rabastan was angry enough to attack him just because he saw him with her… Rodolphus' reaction must have been much more explosive.
Without realizing it, he was clenching his fists.
"James?" Peter called for him.
"You okay, buddy?" Sirius asked.
"I'm fine… why?" James turned to them.
"You were making a scary face…" Peter told him.
"I had a scary face?"
Sirius nodded. "You did look upset. Did something happen?"
"No… nothing important. Don't worry about it." James brushed their concerns off.
His amber eyes moved back to look at the Slytherins as they left.
'I cannot be concerning myself with what happens to her.' Surely, there were better uses for his time.
Or people more deserving of his attention, like his closest friends, Lily, Alice, or Frank.
Even Snape would be more deserving of redemption than her.
'Tsk… how annoying.' His mind kept wandering off.
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