บท 33: Chapter 33. Soot, Ashes, and Burning Smoke
Madam Pomfrey gave me hairy eyes when I came to the infirmary for the second time with Roxana in my arms.
"You might want to stay away from that one." She whispered conspiratorially to Roxana.
My mouth dropped open in surprise. "I'm really sorry about this." I apologized to her.
"It's fine," Roxana said in a small voice, not looking at me.
"Hmph!" Madam Pomfrey threw her head back. "Stay on that bed right there, I need to check you up."
I did as she said, there was no reason to get on her bad side.
Now that I was away from the ruckus I could go over what just happened with a fine-toothed comb.
Was this premeditated too? Just like the Boggart attack?
Thankfully, it had happened to a select group of students so the casualties were limited. Granted it would have been worse if I hadn't tried to help out so I doubted I would be getting any smoke for that.
I had gotten a good look at the dragons before I left, there were three of them, Common Welsh Green dragons. And they seemed to have been trained somewhat because they didn't attack until they noticed that I was defeating their purpose.
Were they being remotely controlled? Was that even possible?
Madam Pomfrey dismissed me after cautioning me to take a shower to get rid of the soot and the burning smell of smoke.
Roxana would have to rest even though the gashes on her hands were mostly healed.
Fortunately, the claws of a Welsh Green weren't venomous so it was easy to deal with.
I asked if I could check up on her before I left and Madam Pomfrey reluctantly agreed. She was of the opinion that I was the one who kept putting Roxana in danger. She wasn't exactly wrong.
"Hey? How do you feel?" I asked her in a near whisper, her bed was covered by curtains because she would be there a while.
She turned around to look at me, her light brown eyes sparkling. "Much better."
"I just realized that I never thanked you for helping me out, thanks Roxana." I said sincerely.
Roxana looked away. "I-It's fin…"
"Time up!" Madam Pomfrey showed up out of nowhere to chase me out.
"I'll be back later." I whispered to Roxana before leaving.
Outside the Infirmary, I bumped into Blair and Tanner.
"We asked around and a couple of people said you came up here." Tanner spoke up, looking me over.
Blair stepped forward and patted me down. "You weren't hurt, were you?" She asked in worry, looking me over as well.
"I'm fine, what about you guys?"
"We were at the back of the class so we were among those that escaped without getting hurt."
"Yeah!" Blair suddenly exclaimed, slapping the back of my head. "Why did you run back to the fire? Are you suicidal?"
"Ow!"
"Hello students, I see that we are quite lively. Audric Albeline? Headmistress McGonagall requests your presence." Professor Lambert Faringray showed up behind them, guiding a couple of hurt students towards the Infirmary.
"By the way, she's still by Hagrid's Cabin." Professor Faringray added.
Blair and Tanner blinked in surprise, throwing me questioning stares.
"Yes sir." I agreed, dashing away before Blair and Tanner could corner me again.
I was relieved that they weren't hurt, it was nice to have friends to worry over you.
Talking about friends, I saw Hazel and Witter before they saw me.
"Our class was suddenly interrupted when an announcement came asking all the Professors to go outside to Hagrid's Cabin." Hazel spoke with worry in her eyes. "What happened?"
Witter was unbothered. "Did you fall down a chimney?"
"I can't talk now, I have to report to Headmistress McGonagall."
"Alright, let's meet up at the unused classroom on the first floor." Hazel decided, dragging Witter away so that I could continue my journey.
The students gathered at the entrance had been dispersed so there was barely anyone around.
All of the injured students had already been taken to the Hospital Wing, I don't think anybody had gotten seriously hurt.
A couple of Professors were in charge of cleaning up when I got to Hagrid's Cabin, Headmistress McGonagall called me to the side to talk to me.
"You seem to be at the center of every single commotion." She noted in an odd tone. "Thank you for your assistance with this, Hagrid told me everything."
I remained quiet and listened to her. It would be foolish to get ahead of myself and question her, I was still an average student even if I helped out a couple of times.
"50 points to Slytherin." She added kindly. "You're quite the brave one, shouldn't you have been in Gryffindor?"
I chuckled nervously at her speculations. If I had gotten into Hogwarts by myself, there was a high chance that I would have been in Gryffindor.
I wasn't brave though, just confident.
I knew I could beat back the fire and if the dragons had just stayed in the sky, Roxana wouldn't have gotten hurt.
"You should prioritize your safety, you're still young, you have so much to live for." She concluded. "Now off with you."
I left after she dismissed me, bumping into Hagrid on my way back to the castle.
"Nice spellcasting there." He commended me, patting my shoulders. "If ye hadn't been there to help, my cabin would'a burned down for sure."
My shoulders stung where he had patted me. "Thanks," I mumbled self-consciously. "Uh, what happened to the Diricawls?"
"Oh, they're jus' fine, they disappeared when the dragons came." He replied, muttering to himself on the side about how troublesome that was. "You should come over som'time, I been tryin' a new recipe for me rock cakes."
I winced at this, well acquainted with Hagrid's baking skills but I didn't have the heart to turn him down.
"Thank you." I appreciated his offer, hurrying away before he tried to pat my shoulders again.
My shoulder still stung from the first time, he had patted me really hard.
I had to go meet up with Hazel and Witter in the classroom on the first floor.
When I got there, I explained everything that happened to the best of my knowledge and when I was done, they look just as lost as I was.
"Maybe it was a mistake?" Hazel tried the positive route.
"Sure, barely a week after the first attack." Witter countered sarcastically. "I'm starting to see a pattern here I'm not sure I like."
"Same here." I stretched lightly.
Classes were canceled for the rest of today and even though we didn't have to stay in our dorms, we were cautioned from going outside.
Tomorrow was another Thursday, which meant that I had Transfiguration. I didn't have to submit our recent homework till Friday but I was taking no chances this time.
I had no interest in going to the library today but I needed somewhere comfortable and quiet...
The Room of Requirement.
I was yet to use it for my own selfish needs, why not now?
We would be having a secret Quidditch practice later this evening but I would be done with my Transfiguration papers before lunch.
I couldn't help but be grateful to the system, without it, I doubted that I would have gotten far.
Skills aside how would I have kept up with the curriculum of Hogwarts? Never mind that I had done more reading in the past month than I had in my entire life.
At first, it was grating, reading was never fun especially when I had a hard time understanding, it sucked and I wanted to give up. Leveling up my physical stats seemed like a better alternative even.
But I doubted I would have gotten this far in my magical abilities if I didn't have the backing of the shit ton of pages I read.
I was lost in thought for most of the way to the 7th floor, well, till I bumped into someone else who was equally distracted on the 5th floor.
"Ah, my bad…" I started to apologize before I caught sight of who it was. "Oh, hey, Ji-hun, I didn't see you there."
"It's my fault, I wasn't looking at where I was going." He said quickly, looking harried.
Before I could say anything, he had already walked past me, hurrying away.
I shrugged and forgot about the encounter, continuing my journey to the Room of Requirement.
It sucked that the Room of Requirement couldn't create food, I could go for pizza right now, or hell a bowl of noodles, I wasn't picky.
///Author's Note///
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