บท 40: Chapter 40. Invisible Nightmare
The rest of the school week passed without event, and because of the rumors that spread around that I had lost my memories, it was easy to forget about the expected attacks that had me so worried before.
I was treated noticeably differently after the rumors first got out, even Blair and Tanner walked on eggshells for hours after I admitted to losing my memories.
Eventually, the news of my memory loss getting out faded into the din of information constantly being shared amongst the students and everyone moved on to something else.
It was a Saturday and we were the first House to get done with Quidditch practice, we didn't do much on Saturdays after all.
Today, however, we were back on the pitch after breakfast because Blair wanted us to watch other Houses.
It was a solid plan to gauge other House teams' progress.
We got comfortable in the Quidditch stands to watch the practice matches, Hufflepuff was currently playing.
Towards the end of it, Tanner made me follow him to get snacks. He had gotten them from breakfast, swiping a number of Cauldron cakes.
"Still have any of those Rock cakes?" Tanner asked as we made our way past the Quidditch pitch to get to the castle.
I frowned. "What do you need them for?"
At that moment, a group of people walked past us, Nira was amongst them.
She gave me a smile and a wave before hurrying to join her group of friends.
Tanner turned to stare at me. "You know her?"
I scratched my hair nervously. "Yeah, somewhat."
I had run into Nira during the week and apologized, she had taken no offense, apologizing in turn for blurting out something that was so personal to me.
I also found out that she was a seventh-year and a close friend of Alfreda Henson.
We continued to the Slytherin dorms, and as we started back for the pitch, something caught my attention.
It was Professor Esme.
She was hurrying away in a different direction.
Although we had decided that we wouldn't stalk her anymore, something in her behavior made me do just that.
"I'll catch up with you." I distractedly patted Tanner's back. " I need to do a couple of things."
I hurried away before Tanner could try and stop me, eager to keep Professor Esme in my sight.
I think Tanner tried calling me back but I had already rounded the corner. I hoped he would just go back to the Quidditch pitch and not try to follow me.
Professor Esme moved with urgency and I found myself jogging to keep up with her.
I barely paid attention to where she was heading, not till we had left the castle and she was clearly heading in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
Following her there would be a bad idea, it could backfire very nastily so instead I stood and thought of what to do.
I didn't spend very long thinking before Professor Esme reemerged from the forest, returning back the way she came.
I had to scramble to get out of her path, it was unlikely that she would think I followed her all the way here but I didn't want to bump into her
I decided to go back to the Quidditch pitch, trying to make sense of what I saw. Why did Professor Esme go to the Forbidden Forest?
"There you are!" Tanner showed up out of nowhere to drag me off. "Blair gave me an earful for losing you, come on, Gryffindor is about to get started."
I couldn't protest, letting Tanner pull me along. Gryffindor was the main reason why Blair made us all stay out today.
October had begun which meant that we had less than a month before our match with Gryffindor.
More people had shown up to watch after we'd left which was no surprise as they were the incumbent champions.
Blair pulled me down on the seats in a hurry, smacking me. "Where did you run off to? The main reason we came out here has already started playing…"
I scratched my head nervously as she went on a rant, I was here now, was there still a need to scold me?
Tanner had a smug look on his face, he was clearly satisfied that I had also gotten scolded with him.
A loud scream interrupted Blair's telling-off and all the blood in my body immediately shot to my head.
I rushed forward and leaned out the stands to get a better look, everyone seemed just as confused as me, I couldn't see the reason for the scream.
"What's that? What happened?" Blair also hurried forward to ask, Tanner slowly following beside her.
The rest of the team were also seated in the Slytherin stands with us and they just shrugged.
I couldn't help the unease that settled over me in thick layers, I had to go down to get a better look.
"Audric! Where are you going…"
The scream happened again, this time there were a couple more. This made us all hurry down from the stands and from the commotion around, a couple more people were doing just the same.
As soon as I got to the ground, I saw it.
There was a Thestral standing at the top of the stand beside the one I had been in, it was in a blind spot and that's why I couldn't see it from the stands.
It would also explain why only a few people reacted, not everyone could see it.
"Audric?" Blair shook me when I remained frozen in place staring up at the creature with its wings out, ready to take flight.
What the hell was a Thestral doing here?
"There's a Thestral right on that stand." I said to them.
They all looked from me to the stand and then back to me again.
"For real?" Tanner's eyes widened.
"What's a Thestral doing out of the Forbidden Forest?" Blythe frowned.
My eyes were fixed on the creature again. "No idea but I don't think it's safe to remain here."
The commotion was getting louder as no doubt the people who could see it were informing others.
Even the Gryffindor Quidditch team had to stop their practice, all of them slowly dropping to the ground in evident confusion.
The animal was behaving strangely, for one thing, it was eerily quiet and it tended to shake its head occasionally like it was troubled.
I frowned, the Thestrals at Hogwarts were domesticated and harmless to humans but could it be possible to use 'Imperio' on one?
It wasn't out of the question, the person just had to be an awfully skilled Imperiuser to control a Thestral.
If the creature was fighting against being controlled, it would be a plausible explanation for how it was acting.
The Thestral tried to fly off but couldn't lift itself off the stands, the poor creature shaking its head nonstop.
I looked around, whoever was using dark magic on the Thestral had to be nearby if it wasn't fully under their control yet.
I stepped on the Quidditch pitch, ignoring my teammates calling for me.
If I could find the person behind it, attacking them directly would be more effective than doing anything to the Thestral.
The space around the Quidditch pitch was open ground, so they had to be closer. I stepped backwards, blending into the commotion of confused students, hiding behind stands as I looked around.
A glint caught my attention and when I looked closer I could see a familiar figure positioned behind one of Hufflepuff's stands with their wands outstretched.
Professor Esme, I should have known.
Her wand was pointed at the Thestral, there was no mistaking it.
Counter-attacking with magic from this distance was risky and could hit someone else so I would have to do it myself.
I ran in her direction, moving sneakily so that I didn't attract attention to myself.
The plan was to run into her, make her lose her footing, and disrupt her spellcasting.
I didn't predict someone else bumping into me which made me push her harder than I planned.
My momentary hesitation after hitting her gave her the chance to grab a hold of my robes, pulling me down as well.
"Albeline?" She stared at me in pure disbelief.
I shot to my feet, cursing mentally. The last thing I wanted was for her to see me.
Yelling started up at this point and we both looked up to see that the Thestral had snatched up a student.
Even if the majority couldn't see the Thestral, there was no missing the student currently screaming bloody murder as they were suspended mid-air.
The Thestral flew high up and then let go of the student, swooping down again to catch another and repeat the same action.
A Gryffindor Quidditch player managed to successfully catch the falling student on his broom but another student was already falling.
The chaos finally attracted another teacher. I got to the center of the Quidditch pitch at the same time that Professor Lambert Faringray showed up.
I couldn't tell if he could see the Thestral but he uncannily pointed his wand straight at it.
It was carrying another student high up so it was a little hard to miss.
///Author's Note///
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