Extra Credit

You had an unexpected spot of help completing your ‘extra credit’ assignment for Professor Quirrell. Oddly enough, you hadn’t even started out working on it at the time.

It all started the next Saturday morning when you were woken up by light knocking on your door.

Draco simply groaned in response to the early morning knocking and no doubt rolled over to go back to sleep. You were both attempting to sleep off the lingering soreness from your Friday evening Quidditch practice knowing that another long and grueling afternoon practice awaited you later that day. But the knocking persisted and that meant it was up to you to get out of bed and answer the door.

You slid the curtains on your four poster bed to the side and slipped your warm slippers onto your feet then made your way across the room and opened the door. You found Theodore Nott waiting outside in the hallway. He was fully dressed in his uniform.

“Erm… morning,” you greeted him. He glanced down and seemed to be taking in your pajamas. “What’s going on?”

Nott looked back up and showed you his copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and flipped it open to a page near the back that he had bookmarked. You took the book and read the entry he marked.

‘Winged Horse

M.O.M. Classification: XX - XXXX

Winged horses exist worldwide. There are many different breeds, including the Abraxan (immensely powerful giant palominos), the Aethonan (chestnut, popular in Britain and Ireland), the Granian (grey and particularly fast) and the rare Thestral (black, possessed of the power of invisibility, and considered unlucky by many wizards). As with the Hippogriff, the owner of a winged horse is required to perform a Disillusionment Charm upon it at regular intervals (see introduction).’

Unfortunately, that was all the detail Newt Scamander went into in that entry. But you saw that Theodore had underlined the most important word on the page.

“A Thestral?” you asked. “Is that what it looked like? Black with wings?”

Theodore held up his hand and waved it side-to-side.

“Not quite?” you guessed.

The silent boy pulled out a scrap of parchment and unfolded it to reveal a sketch that he’d drawn. You glanced down at it and saw what you could only assume was a horse’s skeleton with a layer of black skin on it. It also had a pair of large, leathery, black, bat-like wings.

“Creepy,” you remarked. He nodded in agreement. “Well, at least we’ve got a name now… so that’s a start. Let me guess, you want to go to the library to do some research?”

He nodded.

“What time is it?”

He gave his wand a flick and whispered a barely audible incantation for the Time-Telling Charm. 8:02

At least he waited until after eight to wake you up.

“The library doesn’t even open until nine,” you reminded him. “Breakfast first?”

He nodded again.

You looked back into your room and called out to your roommate. “Hey Draco, want to come with me and Theodore to the library?”

“Bugger off!” your blonde roommate asked from within the drawn curtains of this four poster bed. Obviously, he was trying for all the extra sleep he could get.

“Did you ask your roommate?” you inquired. Theodore shrugged. Blaise was usually an early riser, even on weekends, so chances were he was already awake. “We’ll have a better chance of finding something if more of us are looking.” You padded across the hallway in your pajamas and gave a firm knock on Blaise and Theodore’s door.

“What?” Blaise called back through the door. Theodore reached around you and opened his dorm room door and you looked past him into the bedroom to see a fully dressed Blaise sitting at his desk. He looked over at you and blinked in surprise. “Nice pajamas.”

“Thanks,” you replied. “Theodore and I are going to grab some breakfast then head to the library. Do you want to come?”

“I’ll pass,” Blaise declined. “Unlike you, Marvolo, my schedule isn’t bogged down by Quidditch so I still have plenty of time to finish my assignments.”

“This isn’t about an assignment,” you explained. “We’re going there to research the invisible horses that, apparently, only your roommate can see. They’re called ‘Thestrals’ and Newt Scamander says they’re considered unlucky by many wizards... so we want to find out why.” You looked over at Theodore. “Show him the drawing you did.”

“...” the silent boy showed his roommate the sketch he just showed you.

“Looks and sounds ominous,” Blaise commented, “I’m in.”

“Great,” you said and glanced between the two boys who were fully dressed in their uniforms. “Er… I suppose I should go get dressed.”

“You’re not going to invite Millicent?” Zabini inquired.

“I probably should,” you reasoned, then glanced over at Nott, “She has a fondness for creatures. Could be helpful.”

He shrugged then nodded as if to say “Why not?”

You weaved around Nott and out of the room then made your way across the almost completely empty common room to the girls’ hallway. You went up to the first door on the right and knocked.

“C’ming…” you heard Millicent’s sleepy voice respond.

You stood out in the hallway and waited for the door to open. It was actually a door further down the hallway that opened first. You glanced to the side and saw Gemma’s friend Lysandra emerge from her room clad in a black bathrobe and sandals. She was likely on her way to the shower.

“Gaunt?” she called out when she glanced in your direction. “Nice pajamas.”

“Er… thanks,” you replied. “Nice robe…” You couldn’t actually see the robe all that well since the fifth year girl was more than half way down the long hallway but you figured it was only polite to return the compliment.

The door in front of you was pulled open. “MITTENS, NO!”

You quickly bent down and scooped up the escaping cat. He wriggled a bit but eventually you had the mostly black cat nestled in the crook of your arm.

“Nice try,” you admonished him as you waved a finger in his face. He reached up and batted at your finger with one of his white ‘mitten-clad’ paws. “Sorry, old chap, but you’ll have to wake up earlier to get past me.”

“Good catch, Marvolo,” Millicent said as you looked up and saw that the delay from her opening the door had likely been so she could take an extra few seconds to pull on a dressing gown.

“Of course,” you replied with an easy smile. “I’m a Keeper. Quick reflexes and fast hands are essential.” You handed Millicent back her cat.

“Cute pajamas, Marvolo,” you heard Gemma tease you from down the hallway. You felt your cheeks go pink as you looked to the side and saw that, yes, Lysandra had woken Gemma up so the Perfect Prefect could get a glimpse of you in your sleep clothes.

The ‘cute pajamas’ in question were your snake set. They consisted of woolly black pants and a matching black button up shirt. But what drew attention was the green snake winding its way up your body. The tip of its tail started down at your right ankle and wound its way up your leg. The snake went sideways at a slight upward angle across the front of your pajama pants and then continued onto the pajama top as it came up your left side, wove its way across your lower back, hooked around your right sleeve - below the elbow - then stretched across your stomach and swung around your left sleeve - above the elbow - before it crossed your upper back and wrapped fully around your right shoulder then went back across your shoulder blades - right under the collar- and draped itself over your left shoulder. The snake’s head hung down at chest level below your mostly-buttoned collar.

Upon first glance, the uninformed observer would think the snake on your chest was attacking on account of its open mouth and visible fangs. But if they looked a second time, and maybe a little bit closer, they’d see that the lidded eyes were squinting closed, the tongue was curled, and the snake was wearing a light green sleeping cap. The sleepy green snake was, in fact, yawning. The pajamas actually came with a light green sleeping cap that matched the sleepy snake’s but you wisely decided not to wear that outside of the safe confines of your curtained, four poster bed.

You pinned your arms to your sides and did a slow spin so your best friend and the two older girls down the hall could take in the winding snake in all its glory.

“Believe it or not, I actually got these before I came to Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin,” you admitted. “The snakes I talked to back home certainly liked the design. One in particular.”

“Well, these snakes think your little outfit is adorable,” Gemma assured you. “What do you think, Bulstrode? Want to give him a squeeze like that snake is?”

Millicent’s face went beet red.

Gemma laughed and called out, “Later, Snuggles!” She disappeared back into her room while Lysandra laughed and continued on her trek to the bathroom for her morning shower.

You glanced down at your pajamas… yes… in retrospect… maybe the coiled green snake winding its way up and around your body was snuggling you.

Fourteen wasn’t too old to be called cute and adorable, was it?

“Millicent! Move!” Pansy shrill voice called out from deeper in the room ahead of you. The red-faced Millicent, with Mittens still cradled in her arms, shifted to the side and you saw Pansy peering out from the partially parted curtain of her four poster bed. The short-haired girl smiled wickedly and let out a light cackle. “Oooh, Daphne’s going to be so upset that she missed this! Nice pajamas, Snuggles!” But then the curtain fell back into place and she disappeared.

All things considered… and it was Pansy… that could’ve gone a lot worse.

You glanced back behind you and saw that Daphne and Tracey’s door was, thankfully, still closed. A week after your interrogation in the bunker and things had become civil between you and the two girls. They no longer followed you around everywhere. Although, Daphne had ‘indulged her urge’ a few times and ambushed you with a kiss on the cheek early in the morning when you were leaving the bathroom - mostly dressed - following your morning shower. When you questioned her about it afterward, she said she picked that time because you ‘smelled especially good’. You took that to mean that she liked your Irish Spring brand of shower soap.

But even though things were finally peaceful between you and Daphne and Tracey, you tried your best not to **** your presence on Daphne more than necessary. You didn’t want to make things harder on her with the suggestion that you planted in her head. It was why you opted not to wake them up and invite them on your morning jaunt to the library.

“Right, so,” you remembered the reason you ventured across the common room in your pajamas and turned your attention back to Millicent, “Theodore, Blaise, and I are going to grab some breakfast then head up to the library. Did you–”

“Sure,” Millicent interrupted your invitation before you could fully extend it. “I’ll come.”

Well, she was certainly an eager beaver. You hadn’t even told her about the Thestral. And you could’ve sworn you just heard Pansy let out a short scoff from inside her bed. You assumed that meant she wasn’t interested in coming along.

“Alright,” you replied, “I, obviously, still need to get dressed so we’ll head out once everyone’s ready.”

The four of you made it to the Great Hall for breakfast just as the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was leaving. The seven blue-robed athletes were, no doubt, on their way out for another one of their morning weekend practices. Your eyes narrowed at the sight of the team captain and her partially blue-dyed hair.

“You know,” you spoke up after you claimed seats toward the end of the Slytherin table and helped yourselves to breakfast. “I think I’ve figured out why Skye Parkin is in Ravenclaw. That witch is a strategic genius.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” Blaise questioned.

“I’ve seen you play Wizard’s Chess in the common room a few times,” you stated, “Well, you know how there are certain moves you can make in order to manipulate your opponent into making a specific move in response? That’s exactly what Skye Parkin did to Flint.”

“How?” Millicent asked.

“You were all there at the feast when Gemma tipped me off that Parkin booked the pitch for Ravenclaw last term,” you reminded them. Blaise smirked as his eyes flicked up to your forehead while Theodore cast a pointed glance at your cheek. For some reason, Millicent frowned. “But what I didn’t realise until recently was that she picked very specific times knowing full well that the savage Captain Flint, who is currently **** to get Slytherin out of last place, would take every slot that was left.”

You saw Theodore’s eyes widen as he caught on. Did he know your schedule? You decided to continue anyway and enlighten the other two. “The Ravenclaw training schedule consists of Tuesday evening, Thursday evening, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning. They get plenty of time off to recover in between practices. Meanwhile, we have practice Wednesday evening, and then get one night off before we have to endure four straight days of practices spanning Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, and Monday evening before we finally have Tuesday off. Flint’s running us all into the ground and I’m honestly not sure what we’ll have left by the time we get to the match next Saturday. Since Parkin not only caught the Snitch back in November but was also the one who boxed Flint into picking this grueling schedule… I blame HER for my current ongoing misfortune.”

“...” Theodore reached out and gave you a light pat on the shoulder.

“Wow,” Blaise remarked with a grin, “Hogwarts Quidditch is more cutthroat than I thought.”

“You’ve only got five practices left,” Millicent pointed out. “And, since the match is on Saturday, you’ll still have your two nights off to recover a little bit on Tuesday and Thursday leading up to the match.”

“But balancing my assignments within all that is getting tricky,” you admitted. You reached down and pulled up your school bag. “That’s why I brought my bag along. If we manage to finish Theodore’s thing early then I might be able to get some of my other work done before lunch.”

You were reminded of a very important essay that was due at the end of the month. It was Saturday the 29th. That meant you had two days left until Professor Quirrell’s DEADline. You made some significant progress over the course of the month but you couldn’t help but feel self-conscious over whether it was enough progress to keep you alive.

The morbid Blaise probably would have enjoyed the fact that you were writing an essay that your life depended on. ‘**** by essay’ would likely be a new one for him. But you didn’t want to involve anyone else in your ongoing issues with Professor Quirrell. It was bad enough that you already told Daphne and Tracey about it. But since Professor Quirrell hadn’t orchestrated your **** over the course of the week, you took that to mean he was unaware that they knew.

The four of you finished breakfast and made it up to the library at ten past nine.

At this point, you were no longer surprised to find Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom camped out at what was quickly becoming their usual table. And you smirked when Granger came back with an armload of books from the Modern History section.

“Five centuries too late. They’ll never find Flamel over there.” You shook your head and sat down at your own table on the other side of the library with Millicent, Blaise, and Theodore.

Theodore quickly got Blaise and Millicent up to speed by showing them the ‘Winged Horse’ entry in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

“But if it has the power of invisibility then why can he see it and no one else?” Millicent wondered.

“That’s what we need to look into,” you explained. Theodore glanced over at the Magical Creatures section and made to stand up. “Actually, wait a minute…” After going through the entry a second time, there was something that caught your attention that might be useful to you. “What was that bit about Disillusionment Charms? Could you flip back to that part in the introduction? It could help with something I’m working on.”

Theodore nodded and flipped back toward the beginning of his book. He turned the book back to you once he found the specified part of the introduction. You noted that it was the section about concealing magical beasts from muggles.

‘Disillusionment Charms

The wizard on the street also plays a part in the concealment of magical beasts. Those who own a Hippogriff, for example, are bound by law to enchant the beast with a Disillusionment Charm to distort the vision of any muggle who may see it. Disillusionment Charms should be performed daily, as their effects are apt to wear off.’

You pulled out a spare scrap of parchment from your school bag and jotted down a quick note. ‘Disillusionment Charm = distorts vision. Muggle only? Wears off?’

“Something to look into after we finish your thing,” you resolved as you tucked the note away. “Blaise, hold down the fort while we try to find some research material.”

“Aye, sir,” Blaise replied with a casual salute.

You had to fight to keep from laughing at the extremely suspicious looks from the four Gryffindors as you, Theodore, and Millicent made your way to the Magical Creatures section. Based on the one-sided conversation they overheard between you and Theodore after the feast, they were likely still under the mistaken impression that you and Nott were conspiring together to find your way past Fluffy. And had now, apparently, roped in two more of your ‘slimy snake friends’.

“Shows what they know,” you mused to yourself. “There ARE NO books on Cerberus’ in the Magical Creatures section of the library.” You knew this first hand because that was the first place you checked when Professor Quirrell gave you your life or **** ‘extra credit’ assignment. It was almost as if someone (probably Dumbledore) had intentionally removed any books from the library that might’ve helped someone find their way by a hellhound.

This meant you were **** to take a longer and more roundabout approach to the assignment.

You glanced over at the shelf then back at Theodore and Millicent and suddenly realised you were the shortest one there. The tall and thin Theodore had two inches on you and the even taller Millicent had an extra two inches on him.

“I’d better get a growth spurt soon,” you grumbled to yourself as you knelt down to check the bottom two rows of the creature shelf. Theodore leaned forward so he could examine the middle while Millicent pushed herself up onto her toes to check the very top. “Ready?” you prompted the other two. “Draw!”

And you were off to the races looking for books on winged horses.

“Ah-ha!” You spotted the word ‘horse’ and grabbed it. A fraction of a second later, Theodore pulled out a book of his own. And a full second after him, Millicent pulled one off of the second shelf from the top.

The three of you held your books together so you could read the titles off the cover.

Millicent’s was Magical Equines by L Faust.

“Yours looks girly,” you quietly teased her.

“Why’s that?” Millicent asked, sounding slightly defensive.

“Because the unicorn on the cover is purple,” you stated.

She shrugged. “Maybe it’s an exotic breed? Yours looks like something Blaise would enjoy.”

You had Dark Horse, Dark Omen by M Richardson. It was the smallest of the three books and the cover was pitch black.

“...” Theodore said nothing, as usual, but had grabbed a book titled Majestic Steeds by an author simply known as ‘Maximus’.

“I think we should try finding one more so we all have a book to read,” you suggested.

You and Theodore switched spots with him kneeling down this time to check the bottom while you searched the middle. You specifically looked for the word ‘Thestral’ but came up empty.

Theodore tapped the shelf and pulled out a book titled Winged Horse Breeds by Peggy Seuss.

“That has got to be a pseudonym,” you insisted. You learned that word thanks to your infamous Dark Lord relative. You tipped your head to Theodore as a light neck bow, “Alright, you win. I concede to your superior book-finding skills.” This brought a small, pleased smile to his face. The boy was a notorious bookworm so you didn’t feel too discouraged about being one-upped.

You all returned to your table where Blaise was waiting. He eyed your dark book but Theodore ended up passing him Majestic Steeds instead.

“This one’s the shortest,” you stated as you held up the book you found, “If I finish first and don’t find anything then I can always go back and look for more.”

“Okay,” Blaise agreed, “But I still want to read that after you, regardless. Looks interesting.”

Silence fell as all four of you cracked open your respective books and started reading. It quickly became apparent that yours wasn’t a proper reference book but rather a story about a Dark Witch who seemed to soar through the air on storm clouds as she tormented muggles using her magic to **** them to worship her as a powerful Storm Goddess.

You turned the page and blinked in surprise when you found yourself staring at a full page illustration. “What is this? A comic? Or maybe a graphic novel?”

The Dark Lady appeared to be hovering in midair with dark storm clouds and flashing lightning serving as an ominous backdrop behind her. The muggles below her were mystified by her feat of supernatural levitation. But you saw that her legs were parted in a natural - but still noticeable - manner which told you that her feet were likely in the stirrups of an invisible saddle sat on the back of an invisible Thestral. That explained why the book was in the Magical Creatures section.

Despite being very clearly evil, she was still very attractive. The Dark Lady bucked the borderline cliche trend of Dark Lords and Ladies who wore standard billowy black cloaks. Instead, she wore a black half-corset with a turquoise skirt and nearly transparent leggings below it and an elaborate red top that was enhanced by golden bands and jewelry. Her raven black hair was braided with gold bands at the bottom. Her dark locks fell to her neck which had a turquoise choker collar round it. Atop her head was a golden cobra headdress with a triangular golden point that came down in front and an open-mouthed snake head perched on top. The cobra’s golden hood flared outward with the inside decorated with rows of red, turquoise, purple, and red beads. Even though there was a storm raging around her… the witch’s hair remained in place and the headdress stayed perched on her head. No doubt another feat of magic.

The witch’s pale face was made up with dark eyeliner, bluish purple eye shadow, and red lipstick. It was a very striking appearance that made her look like an Egyptian Queen.

“Pharaoh Gaunt approves,” you mused as you eyed the attractive - full figured - Dark Lady.

“Mine has pictures,” you said as you turned it around to show the illustration to the other three.

“Whoa…” Blaise whispered as he eyed the Dark Lady. “I’m definitely reading that one when you’re done with it. Doesn’t she look a little like that Yaxley girl?”

“Yaxley is like a twig compared to this woman,” you quietly insisted. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Millicent sit up straighter in her seat beside you. You turned your head and glanced down at her book and saw it was open to an entry on a big, green water-horse called a ‘Kelpie’.

On your other side, you felt the eyes of four suspicious Gryffindors on you from across the library so you turned and smirked as you showed them the picture as well.

“It’s just a comic book,” you informed them. “Calm down, will you?”

Weasley mumbled something insulting under his breath as the GryffinFour turned their attention back to their own research. Hopefully, that had allayed some of their suspicions about you researching ways past Fluffy.

You went back to your book and turned the page and continued the ‘story’ but were well aware that Blaise’s attention was now more on your book than his own.

“I knew you were gonna come to me!” the witch cried out as she lorded her magical powers over the muggles in what was once a peaceful village. “But you better choose carefully… MORTALS! ‘Cause I am capable of anything! Of anything and everything!”

“Make me your Aphrodite! Make me your one and only… GODDESS!” the witch proclaimed as the storm raged around her. “But don’t make me your enemy!”

To you, that bit seemed contradictory. Aphrodite was from the Greek Pantheon which was known for being polytheistic and having multiple Gods and Goddesses. So Aphrodite COULDN’T be someone’s one and only.

Although, you read somewhere that there was speculation within the magical community that the ancient ‘Gods and Goddesses’ featured in old pantheons were actually extremely powerful witches and wizards from millennia ago that were deified by various cultures of ancient muggles after they witnessed their impressive magical abilities. Curse Breakers around the world were still trying to find the tombs that might prove this theory. You’d heard they were having some limited success in Egypt.

The witch you were reading about attempted to follow in the footsteps of those ancient witches and wizards. But the biggest difference was that she was the one trying to **** the muggles to worship her by proclaiming herself as their new Storm Goddess.

Speaking of which, the muggles from the story were, naturally, opposed to being ruled over by the megalomaniacal witch and attempted to oppose her. They were led by a young man who you recognised as a paladin - due to the righteous warrior being clad in full platemail armor with a shield strapped to his arm and a longsword held aloft.

“Are you ready for… a perfect storm!?” the Dark Lady threatened the young paladin. “‘Cause once you’re mine… there’s no going back!”

The Dark Lady swooped down with her wand drawn. Or rather, her invisible Thestral did the swooping while the witch channeled the lightning from the storm through her wand to repeatedly strike the armored warrior.

You turned the page and winced at the sight of the paladin’s smoking corpse. He had been, quite literally, cooked alive inside his armor. “This Dark Horse comic is definitely not meant for kids…”

But it was after the valiant paladin had fallen that those who witnessed the battle got their first glimpse of the witch’s invisible steed. The next page showed another full illustration, this time of the back of the Dark Lady as she flew away through the dark storm clouds. Amidst the dark clouds, you could just barely make out a black skeletal silhouette with its wings spread wide.

You paged through the book and saw the occasional image of the Dark Lady subjugating and terrifying the muggles with her ‘God-like’ magical powers. As you got further in, you noticed that the glimpses of the witch’s Thestral became more and more frequent. They always seemed to come after the Dark Lady had publicly murdered someone. You figured that since it was a ‘story’ then the moral and any important lessons it was trying to teach would be found at the end so you flipped to the back and found what looked to be the final battle.

The muggles had once again risen up to rebel against the evil witch but this time they were led by an old man in a robe… a wizard.

“So you want to play with magic?” the witch taunted the old man as she drew her wand. “You should know what you’re falling for.” The tip of her wand started sparking as lightning cracked around her. “Do you dare to do this? ‘Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse!”

The wizard stood below the flying witch and showed no fear. He responded calmly. “Young lady, I have seen **** before. You, and your tricks, and your steed do not scare me.”

The witch struck with another channeled bolt of lightning, looking to roast the old man like she did with the paladin at the beginning of the story. But, much to your surprise, the illustration on the next page showed the wizard using his own magic to redirect the witch’s lightning to strike HER.

The Dark Lady had finally fallen. And it was after that climactic battle, when the witch was lying dead before them that all the muggles were finally able to see the Thestral that the witch had been riding on the whole time.

It finally clicked as the wizard’s line rang through your head, “I have seen **** before.”

“Hey, I think I’ve got something,” you announced. Naturally, you were the first once to find something since your book was the shortest with a large portion of it being pictures and you just flipped through it. You all leaned closer so you could whisper your discovery. “So… this book is really just a comic about a Dark Lady terrorising muggles while flying on an invisible Thestral. People don’t see it until after she’s killed someone… or until they end after she’s been killed.”

You flipped the last picture of the fallen witch and her visible steed.

“You can only see Thestrals… if you’ve seen ****,” you concluded.

Theodore paled and his mouth became a firm line as he stared fixated at the dark horse... and the dead witch beside it.

Draco had actually made a point to tell you early on in the fall term that Theodore Nott only had a father. It was surprisingly nice of your roommate because it meant you didn’t accidentally put your foot in your mouth by referencing a parent that the silent boy didn’t have.

“Your mother…” you whispered.

“...” he gave a silent nod in return.

“Sorry,” Mllicent attempted to console him.

“I guess that’s why they’re an omen of misfortune,” Blaise reasoned.

“Yeah,” you agreed, “That’s why they’re considered unlucky… because those of us who can’t…” You trailed off as you turned to stare at Blaise. “Hey, hold on… YOU can’t see them! That means, for all the morbid comments you make about your mother’s former husbands dying… you haven’t actually seen anyone die.”

“Erm… no, I haven’t,” Mr. Morbid confessed.

“Well, your roommate has,” you pointed out, “So in the future… could at least try to be more sensitive now that you know what he’s been through?”

“Er… right, sorry,” Blaise apologised as he turned to look directly at Theodore. “I’ll try to tone it down.”

You reached across the table and placed your hand on Theodore’s arm as a comforting gesture. “We all know you’re not crazy now,” you said as you looked him directly in the eye. “If anyone gives you trouble about the Thestrals, let me know, and I’ll set them straight.”

Nott nodded and you could tell from his expression that your help investigating the matter and your reassurance meant a great deal to him.

“Thank you.”

The corners of Theodore’s mouth quirked upward into a grin as he took in your, Millicent’s, and Blaise’s wide-eyed, gobsmacked expressions.

“Erm… right then…” you said when you eventually recovered. “Now that that’s settled, I’m going to look into that Disillusionment Charm.” You slid Dark Horse, Dark Omen across the table to Blaise as you got up then headed over to the Charms section of the library.

It wasn’t until you were fully within the Charms section that you realised you had a shadow. Theodore Nott stepped by you and used his superior book-finding skills to locate one on Sensory Charms and pass it off to you.

“You think this’ll have the Disillusionment Charm in it?” you inquired. He nodded then tapped the back cover of the book. “Ah, it’s in the back then. Must be an advanced spell. But I don’t need to actually cast it, I just need to see if it would suit my needs in a… hypothetical scenario that Professor Quirrell assigned me as an extra credit project when I ran into him over break.”

Theodore nodded and you felt fairly confident that the - mostly - silent boy wouldn’t tell anyone.

The four Gryffindors ignored you as you went back to your table. Since you showed them your graphic novel and had just gone to the Charms section, they likely assumed you were either wasting time or working on school work. Which was ironic, because now you ACTUALLY WERE doing the very thing they were initially so suspicious of.

Theodore and Millicent had brought along their own work and Blaise was content to continue reading Dark Horse, Dark Omen so you were left to your own devices as you paged through the book on Sensory Charms. You found the Disillusionment Charm almost at the very back. It was a N.E.W.T. level charm that could be cast on a person or a creature. And you were pleased to read that its effects work on anyone (or anything) that looked upon it… not just muggles like the snippet in Scamander’s book had mentioned. The Disillusionment Charm wouldn’t render an enterprising thief invisible, per say, but it would camouflage them to match whatever was behind them so they could blend in with their surroundings. In a dark room, like the one in the Forbidden Corridor, it might just work to hide a person from the guard dog… at least visually.

You grinned as you realised you suddenly had a whole new paragraph you could add to your ‘Fluffy’ essay and that the book Theodore gave you was just the one to help you flesh it out.

The coast was clear and no one was any the wiser as you pulled out the roll of parchment on which you had written your all-important extra credit essay. After nearly an entire month, and with no actual books on hellhounds to aid you, you managed to completely fill the parchment roll and wrote a solid three feet detailing various ways to bypass Hagrid’s hellhound. You were pleased to have something more to add to your high stakes essay and were inwardly hoping to extend it to a full four feet before you presented it to Professor Quirrell on Monday. It would look a lot more impressive if you handed the man two scrolls instead of just one.

You eyed your introductory paragraph where you went into great detail describing the ‘hypothetical’ three-headed dog that needed to be circumvented and presented it as The Adversary, rather than directly naming it so you could keep up the illusion of your essay being a ‘hypothetical’ extra credit assignment. In a similar sense, you made no mention of what The Adversary was guarding and only mentioned that the great beast stood guard over a trapdoor. You especially made a point to mention, and even put extra emphasis on, the fact that the ‘hypothetical’ hellhound was owned by Hogwarts Gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid. It weakened the illusion of your ‘hypothetical scenario’ by naming an actual person in it but mentioning the dog’s owner would serve as an important callback when you reached the meat and potatoes of your roundabout essay.

All in all, you were able to cover a good six inches with your wordy introduction alone. But now you needed to decide on a place to plug in your new paragraph on Sensory Charms and took another few minutes to re-read your first body paragraph.

Direct confrontation with a hellhound should be avoided at all costs, especially one with the immense proportions of The Adversary. Much like other large magical creatures such as the dragon or the troll, the hellhound’s hide is highly resistant to most spells. This fiendish canine also has a natural resistance to fire spells and is quick to snuff out any flames that may endanger itself or whatever it may be guarding. Only the most lethal of spells will have any kind of effect a beast as powerful as The Adversary and such magic will draw unwanted attention from outside parties that an enterprising thief will find it essential to avoid when attempting to bypass this fearsome and ferocious foe. It is important to remember that a guard dog is not only meant to protect what it is guarding but also to sound the alarm when it discovers an unwanted intruder within its domain. Every second a direct confrontation with The Adversary continues is another second for one of the beast’s heads to bark and alert anyone within the vicinity of the presence of the trespasser. Similar to the three-headed serpent known as the Runespoor, The Adversary’s three heads means it has three separate minds and, potentially, different personalities as well. All three of the beast’s heads will need to be incapacitated in order to render it completely ****. As long as one head remains awake, The Adversary can still retain control over its body. Should a direct confrontation with The Adversary prove to be unavoidable, the best course of action would be to distract the great beast and bid a hasty retreat. In this case, The Adversary’s three heads and three minds that previously served as a great asset in combat can also serve as a major weakness. The key to exploiting this weakness is to create disharmony between the three heads. A flashy or loud distraction to draw the attention of at least one of The Adversary’s heads can cause the beast to hesitate as it attempts to make up its multiple minds over what action to pursue. A distraction causing a split second of hesitation from The Adversary can be the key to escaping from it unscathed or at the very least surviving a potentially lethal encounter.

It was another five inches. Which meant you were already nearly a foot in after your first two paragraphs. You learned the last bit about distractions first hand and you were also pleased to see that while all the books in the Magical Creatures section on hellhounds had been removed, you WERE able to find books that covered Runespoors. That was the first of your roundabout approaches to the tricky extra credit assignment. And while with a Runespoor, each of the serpent’s heads was said to have a different personality and carry out a particular role, which you weren’t completely sure applied to The Adversary, there was still enough crossover between a three-headed snake and a three-headed dog for you to apply certain methods to your essay.

Your second roundabout method for writing the essay was to find background information on dogs in general. It was a subject you knew frightfully little about since the closest thing you had to a pet before you got your owl Iago were the snakes that you spoke to in the woods in Little Hangleton. Although, they mostly saw you as more of a very clever monkey who managed to learn their vastly superior language. The subject of dogs was also too mundane to be found in the Hogwarts Library but you were able to send Iago to Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley with an owl-order form. He returned a day later with a book titled The Crup Lover’s Guide to Dogs. You learned from the book that a crup was very similar to a normal muggle dog with the exception that it was born with a forked tail and was extra distrustful of intruders, especially muggles. It was an innocuous subject that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows or get you put on a watchlist - like the one Daphne said you might be on for buying a Class B Tradeable Romanian Longhorn dragon horn. The book was extremely helpful when it came to general background information on both muggle and magical canines. The information from that book regarding a crup’s enhanced senses would be essential for composing the newest paragraph in your essay.

But first… you needed to make room. You decided that since your first body paragraph had greatly stressed the threat that the hellhound possessed, then it would make sense to fit your new paragraph in after it since it carried the same theme.

Theodore, Blaise, and Millicent all watched as you pulled out a new blank roll of parchment and laid it next to your completely filled one. You used the Ink-Moving Charm that Professor Flitwick taught everyone back in the first week of September to move the last two paragraphs of your essay onto the new roll of parchment then paused and moved a third one since there was a major shift in your focus after that point. You now had two feet on the first roll and one foot on the second. And you still needed to write a conclusion paragraph. If you could replace the foot you took off of the first scroll you would have well beyond your desired length of four feet.

Most Hogwarts essays topped out at three feet. That was a full roll of parchment. The professors probably liked reading essays that spanned multiple rolls of parchment about as much as the students enjoyed writing them - meaning not at all. This extra credit assignment would be the longest essay you had written since coming to Hogwarts which you hoped would be enough to keep you alive after you turned it in.

“That’s some essay,” Blaise remarked as you used the Ink Moving Charm again to shift your writing on the first roll down in order to make room in the middle for a new paragraph.

“Professor Quirrell doesn’t give extra credit opportunities very often,” you replied as you rolled up the second scroll and tucked it away. “But if I put in a sufficient amount of effort, this assignment combined with the advanced form of the Knockback Jinx that I learned back in September could be just what I need to beat Granger in Defense Against the Dark Arts as well as Potions.”

Phrased that way, there was no way anyone would suspect you were up to anything dastardly.

Blaise shook his head, “If that’s the kind of effort I’d need to put in to beat her in Transfiguration… then I think I’m content with my third place ranking below her and Theodore.” You idly wondered if he counted the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.

“And I doubt Theodore could take the top spot since he never talks in class,” Millicent reasoned.

“...” Theodore drummed his fingers on the table and looked annoyed.

“Also, Professor McGonagall’s her Head of House and she plays favorites,” you pointed out. “If the two of you ever got close, she’d give the girl an extra credit essay like this one to increase her high marks even further.”

“We’ll let you get back to it then, mate,” Blaise resolved. “We’re rooting for you.”

You pulled out one of your Self-Inking Quills and turned your attention back to your essay as you began to write out your new second body paragraph.

Sneaking by The Adversary is another very dangerous course of action. A normal dog’s sense of sight, hearing, and smell are vastly superior to a human’s. A magical breed of dog, such a crup, has even better senses. The senses of a legendary magical guard dog like The Adversary could be, at the very least, three times greater than a crup when one considers that this beast has three heads which means it has three sets of eyes, three sets of ears, and three noses to sense an intruder from three different angles. However, with a careful amount of planning and layering of Sensory Charms… these exceptional senses could potentially be deceived. As previously mentioned, The Adversary is housed in a large, dark room. A properly cast Disillusionment Charm would be able to camouflage an intruder so that they blend into the background of the room. However, The Adversary’s sense of sight is actually the weakest of its three exceptional senses. Comparatively, a dog’s sense of hearing is very tricky to fool as a canine can easily hear an approaching footstep, a slight intake of breath, or even the swishing rustle of fabric in a person’s clothing. A thief looking to bypass The Adversary would need to be completely silent and cast Silencing and Quietening Charms on themself as well as their shoes and their robes so they won’t give off the slightest sound when entering the hellhound’s domain. And finally, the most dangerous, and by far the strongest of the hellhound’s three exceptional senses is its sense of smell. A hunting dog can smell prey from miles away when the wind is blowing in the right direction. Smelling a person that is standing right in front of them in close quarters would be child’s play compared to that. The thief attempting to circumvent The Adversary will not only have to cast a Scent Removal Charm on themself but also any objects they may be carrying in their pockets. This includes their wand as any dog that frequents a forest will easily be able to smell a new kind of wood approaching them. Some magical guard dogs are even specifically trained to detect the powerful and unique scent of wand cores. Sneaking by a legendary guard dog like a hellhound would be highly difficult but not completely impossible. However, in order to accomplish this extraordinary feat, a wizard will not only need to be invisible but also completely silent and odorless. A key aspect of this strategy would also be ensuring that The Adversary is not standing on top of the trapdoor it is charged with guarding or looking directly at it with any of its heads when the sneaking intruder is attempting to go through. If this is the case, the beast would need to be lured off the trapdoor with a distraction. However, the distraction would need to be chosen and handled with the utmost caution and care with special attention going toward ensuring that The Adversary does not detect the distraction before it is set off.

You grinned to yourself as you reread the paragraph. That was another six and a half inches. Nearly seven actually. When you added in the remaining two paragraphs on your first roll of parchment that meant you were at two and a half feet. Once you tacked on your conclusion paragraph you would have your desired length of four feet.

“There they are.”

You looked up and saw Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis enter the library. And they made a beeline straight for your table.

Tracey had an amused grin on her face and Daphne was staring at you fairly intensely.

“Pansy told us that we missed seeing ‘Snuggles’ wandering through the common room in his cuddly snake pajamas,” the blonde informed you. “She tipped us off that we’d be able to find you in the library.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” you dead-panned back with a red-face and also a bold-faced lie.

“Mark my words, Marvolo,” Daphne warned you. “I will see you in your cute pajamas eventually. Even if I have to bribe your roommate to let me into your dorm room.”

“Cute?” Millicent repeated as her eyes narrowed. But while she was caught on that, you were marveling at how casually Daphne mentioned an effective method of breaking into your room. It seemed to you like a method she might have been considering back when she was stalking you.

You thought that would be the end of it as the two girls walked away from your table but, much to your surprise, they dragged a pair of chairs back a few seconds later. And suddenly Daphne was sitting right next to you at the end of the table. She was so close that her knee was pressed against yours.

“Is that it?” she asked as she glanced down at the roll of parchment in front of you.

Your knee jerk reaction was to reach out and cover your essay so she couldn’t read it.

Tracey’s voice came from the other end of the table where she dragged her own chair over to sit between Millicent and Blaise. “You’re really going to turn in such an important assignment without letting someone proofread it first?”

Daphne leaned even closer which caused her leg to press fully against yours and sent a shiver running down your spine as she whispered directly in your ear. “There were four Gryffindors watching you very intently when I was fetching my chair. The redhead especially seems to find watching you to be a better alternative to whatever he’s supposed to be reading. I already know about your special assignment and it’ll look far less suspicious if you let someone else read it. They’ll think it’s just a regular homework assignment.”

She had a point. They both did. You told them the full story last week and they both knew the high stakes that were riding on the assignment. You thought you’d brushed off the suspicions of the four Gryffindors but you’d clearly underestimated Ron Weasley’s desire to do anything but read.

You slowly moved your arm off the parchment

“Good boy,” Daphne said as she patted your arm then took advantage of how close her face was to yours and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before she pulled away.

The dark-haired girl pulled your essay closer to her so she could read it while you slid your arms off the table and set them in your lap while you attempted to appear casual as you nervously looked around to see who noticed Daphne kissing you.

Across from you, Theodore Nott’s eyes were wider than normal. Beside him, Blaise had a raised eyebrow and a small smirk. On the other end of the table, Tracey seemed nonplussed as she eyed you over an open book. A book you recognised as the one on Sensory Charms that you were just using. The blonde witch literally reached across the table and stole your book while you were distracted by Daphne.

“What was that?” Millicent asked from on your other side. She most likely hadn’t seen the cheek kiss but she did see the reaction of the two boys across from her and was now eying you and Daphne with suspicion. Good. You still didn’t fully trust Daphne and it was nice that Millicent had your back and was wary of her.

The girl in question gave a casual shrug and replied, “Felt like it.”

You turned to look across the library at the other interested party and saw two of the Gryffindors immediately look down to avoid being caught staring. Longbottom’s cheeks were pink which was enough to tell you that he’d seen the kiss. Potter glanced back up for a moment and stared at Daphne’s back which made you realise that another benefit of Daphne’s presence, and position, was that she was now fully blocking their view of your essay. Weasley didn’t even bother looking down and stared defiantly at you with a look of disgust on his face. Granger hadn’t looked down but was looking in the opposite direction. And your flushed face quickly paled when you saw who she was staring at.

Madam Pince came rushing across the library and was soon standing by your table.

“What’s going on here?” the librarian demanded as she glowered at your crowded table of six Slytherin students. Her gaze ended on you and Daphne. “You two are sitting awfully close.”

“Erm… we’re going over an assignment,” you explained.

“And I’m sitting close so we can whisper without disturbing anyone,” Daphne added with a quick glance up from your essay.

Madam Pince frowned. She hated talking in the library. If she had her way, the Hogwarts Library would be a place of silent book worship and the students would be barred from entry. However, that wasn’t the case and the whole purpose of the Hogwarts Library was to help students learn and complete their assignments. Which was what you and Daphne were doing. You’d seen Granger reading over her friends’ written assignments enough times to know it wasn’t against the rules. Although, they never sat as close as you and Daphne currently were.

“I’ve got my eye on you,” the librarian warned you. She left the table but she didn’t go far and occupied herself by checking that none of the books on a nearby shelf were out of place.

Things settled down. You looked on as Daphne read your essay. She’d already finished the introduction and was on your paragraph warning against direct confrontation. Her gaze flickered up to eye the book Tracey stole from you as she read your newest paragraph about sneaking by the hellhound.

Her lips curved upward into a light smile when she reached your third paragraph. This one focused on appeasement. You wrote it when you were feeling particularly sympathetic toward the dog that was locked away in a secluded room with only its own heads for company. The idea was to visit The Adversary and present the giant dog with three large treats while making no move for the trapdoor. It was a long drawn out idea that relied on being in fairly close proximity to the dog’s domain and visiting it on a semi-regular basis to build up trust until it ultimately let you go through the trapdoor. The murderous Professor Quirrell probably wouldn’t like the idea. But you supported it by pointing out that dogs had a history of being conditioned and trained using treats and even at their most wild and savage, they were still social creatures. After all, wolves traveled in packs. You rarely ever saw Hagrid above the ground floor of the castle, let alone trekking his way up to the Forbidden Corridor to visit his dog, so you figured the lonely creature might appreciate having a friend.

Daphne at least seemed to be amused by the concept. But then you realised that was how your dealings went with the two girls who you frequently likened to starving dogs who spent months hounding you. They gave you their knickers and you reluctantly traded information.

The next paragraph went in the opposite direction and could be summed up as **** the dog.

Daphne’s eyebrow quirked upward as she pointed to a particular line. Based on observation through the window of the Gamekeeper’s hut using a pair of Omnioculars, it’s clear that his other dog shows no concern over its food and will eat anything that is put in its bowl.

You once again mentioned that the Gamekeeper was not seen regularly making his way up to the third floor to feed his dog on a daily basis so that meant The Adversary was being fed through a different method. You alluded to the fact that Professor Quirrell kept at least two trolls in the castle so he’d likely know how large creatures are fed. You added a warning about dogs having extremely strong stomachs and constitutions as a regular dog would chew on anything from a bar of soap to bits of rubber tires. Only the most powerful of **** would be effective against an animal as large as The Adversary. You cautioned against using lethal poison as some of the more potent ones had distinguishing scents which could be detected by a beast with an extremely strong sense of smell. Your suggestion was to use Draught of the Living **** as it was an extremely potent potion while also being non-lethal. The Adversary would need a large dose to be properly knocked out but, similar to the Runespoor, it didn’t matter which head drank it or how much each head consumed since all three led to the same stomach.

Daphne nodded thoughtfully after she finished the first two and half feet of your easy. “It’s not bad. Is that all?”

“No,” you replied as you reached into your school bag and withdrew your second roll and passed it off to her as well.

The break between your two rolls was perfectly placed because it demonstrated the major shift in focus as you resorted to your third roundabout method of completing your assignment: exploiting Hagrid.

You felt that the first line in your fifth body paragraph perfectly explained the shift. However, if one wants to learn something about a specific animal then the best course of action would be to consult its master because, after all, they’re the one that knows the creature best and will therefore know its weaknesses and secrets.

Daphne’s eyes widened as she noted the new direction your essay was going in and read the rest of the fifth paragraph where you wrote out the Gamekeeper’s history.

Rubeus Hagrid. Born 6 December 1926 to a normal-sized wizard and the infamous giant Fridwulfa. Sorted into Gryffindor 1 September 1942. Frequently caught violating the school rules by having animals that were not on the approved pet list. Expelled as a third year in 1945 for possessing a XXXXX class creature that was responsible for the **** of a muggleborn girl.

You also strongly implied that a man who only had the incomplete education of a third year student couldn’t be overly intelligent.

Daphne leaned closer to you and whispered curiously, “Where did you find this information?”

“Crabbe and Goyle made a mess and I broke into Filch’s office while he was occupied with cleaning it,” you whispered back. “The Hogwarts Caretaker keeps a disciplinary file on every student... especially the troublemakers that were expelled.”

What you hadn’t included was the knowledge that the student who caught Hagrid with the XXXXX class creature was fifth year Slytherin Prefect Tom Riddle. Catching Hagrid with his deadly creature was what earned your infamous relative his award for special services to the school that you saw in the Trophy Room the night you had your midnight duels with Potter’s friends.

“Really?” Daphne quietly asked as she scanned your sixth paragraph where you detailed the Gamekeeper’s current duties. “Did you spend your holiday stalking the man?”

Who was she to judge you on stalking?

“Yes,” you answered simply. You spent the better part of two weeks surveilling him. You often brought along Crabbe and Goyle to act as a smokescreen while you spied on the man with your Omnioculars. Your two housemates were none the wiser so you figured the Gamekeeper wasn’t either. It was during your spying that you learned about his boarhound’s eating habits and that he’d only gone up to the Forbidden Corridor to visit Fluffy ONCE during the entire month of January.

Crabbe and Goyle were feeding mice to the owls in the Owlery while you watched with your Omnioculars as Headmaster Dumbledore paid the Gamekeeper a personal visit at his hut. The Headmaster was the only reason the expelled student even had his job at Hogwarts at all. Which meant the man was especially loyal to the Headmaster.

The only other reputable figure that Hagrid spent a significant amount of time with was the Care for Magical Creatures professor Silvanus Kettleburn. Based on the man’s missing limbs, you suspected that the two were both fans of very dangerous creatures. Crabbe and Goyle had a number of snowball fights on the grounds while you watched from a distance as the pair of creature lovers disappeared into the Forbidden Forest together.

You also sometimes saw Hagrid carrying around a pink umbrella. It was instantly suspicious to you because on most of the occasions it wasn’t raining or snowing. Also, the Gamekeeper was trying to be subtle about it. But considering he was eleven feet tall and therefor the most UNSUBTLE person in Hogwarts, you became extra suspicious of the umbrella. Eventually, your suspicions paid off and you spotted Hagrid using his pink umbrella to perform ILLEGAL magic. You strongly suspected that the pieces of the expelled Hogwarts student’s snapped wand were inside that umbrella. You pointed out in your essay that this information could potentially be used against him.

And then there was your seventh and final body paragraph where you detailed Hagrid’s biggest weakness - he was a heavy drinker.

You noted one day when you were spying from a distance through the window of his hut that Hagrid had a large collection of mead and brandy bottles and only large glasses to drink it with. And on the fairly regular occasions when you saw the Gamekeeper leaving the grounds, you would rush up to the Astronomy Tower and watch through your trusty Omnioculars or even your telescope as the Gamekeeper made his way down into Hogsmeade village and only ever disappeared into one of two places - the Three Broomsticks or the Hog’s Head Pub. Both of which were drinking establishments.

On one particular occasion, you watched from the highest point in Hogwarts castle as the Keeper of Keys and Grounds used a massive shovel to clear the snowy path down to Hogsmeade. He left his shovel propped against the side of the gate and then headed to the Hog’s Head Pub for what was no doubt meant to be a quick ‘pick me up’ which ended up being anything but quick. At first you thought that maybe he was having dinner at the pub as well. But the fact that he hadn’t emerged by midnight told you all that you needed to know about the man’s drinking habits. At that point, you abandoned your surveillance and carefully made your way down to the dungeons to avoid being caught out of bed well past curfew.

You watched as Daphne read your last sentence in your last paragraph. The Adversary is indeed a formidable foe but the hellhound’s master is an unintelligent, unsubtle man who loves creatures more than anything and will likely spill his guts about them when he’s properly liquored up.

“So… what do you think?” you prompted.

“You were very thorough,” she replied. “And you certainly covered a lot of ground. But you left out the classic approach.”

“What?” you questioned.

“Here, put these away,” Daphne ordered as she rolled up your scrolls and handed them back. You tucked them away inside your school bag where they would be safe from prying eyes then she grabbed your hand and led you away from the table. “Come with me.”

You followed her through the library past the still scowling Madam Pince, past the Gryffindors and their table, and eventually around a corner into the Myths and Legends section.

“Why are you helping me with this?” you asked.

The girl stopped and looked back at you like you were stupid then stepped closer and whispered directly in your ear which caused another shiver to run down your spine. “You’re my special informant. I have a vested interest in keeping you alive.” She stepped away and turned to the shelf. “That’s why I looked into your little problem during the week and found books on the most famous instances of a heroes defeating Cerberus.”

She plucked a book that she clearly scouted off of the shelf. “The Legend of Heracles. His Twelfth Labor was to capture the Cerberus and present it to Eurystheus. He grabbed the beast by the throat and overpowered it with sheer brute strength.”

“I suppose that could be how Hagrid handles his dog,” you reasoned, “But he’s an eleven foot tall half-giant. Did you see the size of the Christmas tree he dragged into the Great Hall? I doubt a normal wizard could do that even with a Strengthening Solution.”

“Maybe not,” Daphne agreed. “But the legend tells us that it is an option.” She replaced the book on the shelf and pulled out a new one. “Here’s another one. Orpheus. He journeyed into the Underworld to find his wife Eurydice. He used a lyre to lull the beast to sleep. That’s where the old adage ‘music soothes the savage beast’ comes from.”

“Would that even work?” you wondered.

“Against this specific dog? Who knows,” Daphne replied. “But you could put Orpheus and Heracles’ historically proven methods in a neat little paragraph at the very beginning after the introduction and list them as sources of inspiration. Haven’t you heard? The Gods and Goddesses in these ancient myths and legends were rumored to have actually been powerful witches and wizards.”

“I have heard that,” you replied. In fact, it was still fairly fresh in your memory from when you were reading about the witch with the Thestral trying pass herself off as a Storm Goddess.

Greengrass grinned, “This is the part where you say ‘Thank you, Daphne’.”

You rolled your eyes and repeated as prompted, “Thank you, Daphne.”

“No, you can do better than that,” she decided then closed her eyes and pursed her lips.

The message was very clear. She wanted you to kiss her.

“Why not? She’s earned it.”

You took a deep breath then leaned in and pressed your lips to hers. She started to kiss back but suddenly you heard a surprised gasp from behind you. “Aaah!”

The two of you hastily pulled apart and you looked back over your shoulder to see a pink-faced Hermione Granger staring wide-eyed at you.

“Do you mind?” Daphne hissed.

The muggleborn girl squeaked and fled.

With Daphne’s ‘classic approach’ added to the beginning of the essay and your conclusion tacked onto the end… you wound up with nearly five feet.

You were fairly proud of yourself when you presented the two rolls of parchment to Professor Quirrell during his office hours on Monday evening.

“It certainly appears as though you put in a significant amount of effort,” the Defense professor mused without a single stutter as he eyed the first completely filled roll and then the mostly filled second one. “I’ll award you two House Points for that alone. But we’ll see if what you provided is actually useful before I give you that extra credit.”

You nodded. “Thank you, professor. Best of luck.”

“And to you as well in the Quidditch match on Saturday,” he replied.

“Erm… actually, sir, I’m still just a reserve,” you carefully corrected him. You glanced down at the green robes you were wearing for the Quidditch practice you were about to head out for. “Draco and I bought robes for the Irish National Team to wear to practice. We probably won’t get actual uniforms until we make the starting lineup.”

“My mistake then,” Professor Quirrell replied with a small unnerving smile.

You bid a hasty retreat and hurried back down the Grand Staircase. You finally let out a sigh of relief as you rushed out of the castle and onto the grounds. The assignment was turned in and Professor Quirrell hadn’t killed you.

But what the two-faced professor didn’t know was that there was one method past Fluffy that you hadn’t included in your extensive essay. It was a method that you hadn’t fully researched yet but were now free to look into without the looming DEADline hanging over your shoulders. It was inspired by the indirect and roundabout manner in which you were **** to complete the assignment. It was a sneaky and underhanded method. Most people would probably consider it cheating.

But you were a Slytherin and the prize was infinite life and infinite riches. There was no sense playing fair in a game with such high stakes.

And so the idea continued to slowly simmer in the back of your mind…

Do not confront The Adversary at all… avoid the dog altogether.

Marvolo Gaunt House Point Ledger

Quirinius Quirrell: +2

New Total: +68

Points awarded by: SS, RH, QQ