Ten years after I began at Hogwarts, Sebastian Sallow is back. And he's Professor Sallow now. He disappeared after the fall of Ranrok and Rookwood, after I lost Professor Fig, and after Ominis and I couldn't keep him from losing himself. But I never...
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Walking back towards the castle, I find a satisfied smile register on my lips as April slips her hand naturally into mine. I can't remember the last time I felt so light. And it's been weeks since the last time my mind felt so quiet. We turn around a bend and I can feel April tense up and stop in her tracks.
"What do you—"
"SHH!"
She drops my hand and grabs her wand in a deeply ingrained motion as natural to her as breathing. Her entire body and demeanor tune into the signals of the forest. I take out my wand, too, but foolishly have absolutely no idea what it is she's picking up on.
A single clicking sound registers behind us in my ear, and–
"Accio!!"
–before I can begin to consider what to do next, April is practically done handling it with a confident voice and well-practiced gestures of her wand.
"BomBARDA, you sick fuck!"
With a boom and a blood-curdling screech, much to my horror, a large spider the size of a small bear has flown towards us, exploded on the ground, and is now burning in a pile of legs and chunks on the path.
April casually waves her wand in front of its awful face and a fang dislodges and neatly tucks itself into her pocket. She says with a shrug, "Sharp would kill me if I didn't."
And suddenly her hand is in mine again and we've just begun walking? Again? I guess? The hell?
Before she stows her wand back in her jacket she looks over her shoulder and calls, "incendio!" A jetstream of fire shoots back at the spider in our wake, igniting it again with fresh flames.
"Bloody fucking hell," is all I can muster. I haven't seen one of those monsters in ages.
"I don't fucks around with those" she says unapologetically. Her whole body shivers with a quake of revulsion and she let's out a visceral sound like 'buughlluuhbhh,' -- a sentiment I couldn't agree with more heartily -- before she tucks her wand away and says, "sorry, what were we talking about?"
"Uhhhh....okay. Fuck. Ummm...Just a bit distracted by the bad-assery."
She laughs modestly.
"I think I was going to ask...if you know that you glow, too?" I ask.
"Me??" she says, surprised.
"Yeah. You said I had a glow earlier. But do you mean to do it?"
She looks at me blankly so I explain, "I've seen you, or rather your magic, I suppose. When you walk through the forest or when we've–y'know.." I don't know why I feel suddenly embarrassed.
"Glow how?" she asks. "Like you?"
"No, it's your magic. I mean, I think it is? You pulling my leg? It's the flowers and vines? Whites and blues?"
