CHAPTER FOUR
care of magical coves

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  EVER SINCE SHE COULD TALK, COVE HAS dreamt of being a Marine Magizoologist. A job that meant she could be by the sea at all times,  in her element, communicating with the creatures she encountered so often with her colony. Therefore, Care of Magical Creatures has always been her favourite subject. She's always had an affinity with the practical work, being a creature herself, and the written stuff is easy enough for her to scrape by with a pass every year. She thinks that Professor Kettleburn can get a bit lost in his passionate ramblings about magical creatures, but maybe that's why she likes him so much. He's always insistent on having them 'out on the field' and will only bring them inside in the face of a storm, although he's still eager to try and spot Augerys hunting in the rain.

The bad news is that he's on probation for a couple of weeks after accidentally setting a few Demiguises loose in the castle — the worst part is, nobody's entirely sure if they were all rounded up. They're completely harmless, so it doesn't bother Cove that much but she has to admit that the feeling of being watched gets a bit eerie after a while. She digresses. The downside of having a supply teacher is sitting inside staring at a projector while the sun shines outside, listening to a stranger babble on about a random creature for an hour as everyone tries to keep their eyes open.

Fallon has her head resting against her desk, a cooling charm suspended over both of them to fight off the stuffiness of the classroom. Cove sits and stares at her empty water bottle, peering at the dregs that slosh about miserably at the very bottom. She keeps glancing at the clock above the teacher's desk, every drawn out minute making her lose even more sanity.

The substitute gets to her feet, clasping her hands in front of her loudly. She has short brown hair that curls around her jaw, a regal nose and scarlet lipstick that makes her features pop. Her robes are hanging off the back of her chair, leaving her in a plain button up paired with a pencil skirt. Cove thinks that she's quite pretty.

  "Good afternoon, class," she announces. "My name is Professor Rigby. I'll be covering for Professor Kettleburn in the upcoming week. Please open your textbooks to page 83."

  Sighing, Cove begins to skim through the yellowed parchment until she opens at the assigned page. She reads the chapter's title to herself with knitted eyebrows, her heart leaping into her throat.

  'Selkies. The Shapeshifters of the Seas.'

  Her fingertips brush over the ink as if it'll wipe away, revealing the actual title concealed below. As if it's a sick joke. Her hands begin to tremor when nothing happens and the words staring up at her stay firmly the same.

  Fallon sits up, eyes barely staying open. Hee hair is beginning to fall out of the clip she put it up in. She raises an eyebrow. "What's a selkie?"

  "That's a wonderful question, Miss—" Professor Rigby leans over to check the seating plan. "—Pritchard. Can anyone tell me what a selkie is? Anyone?"

Cove keeps her eyes fixed on the page.

"Well, selkies are commonly found in the Northern Islands of Scotland, where they are said to live as seals in the sea but can shed their skin to become human, like us, on dry land."

She flicks her wand and the projector clicks forward, depicting an old tapestry of a woman half wearing a sealskin, surrounded by seals that are resting on the beach. The picture resonates with Cove in a twisted way that makes her chest hurt. It sends a stabbing pain up her legs, pining to have two become one as the sea envelops her in its safe embrace. She has to remind herself that the sea is miles from here and she'll have to settle for the Black Lake in the meantime, that it isn't safe to transform in broad daylight. Not when she's at school. Hatred for her human form begins to bubble up inside her, the urge to claw at the mortal skin that suffocates her until it's raw overcoming her.

Cove thinks that some fresh air would do her good. She cracks open the window next to her and revels in the cool breeze laving over her skin, focusing on the calming sounds of nature that envelop her. It doesn't help for long.

  Rigby's voice continues to drill into her ears. "Selkies are extremely dangerous seductresses. They are said to be beautiful in human form, and many observations from magizoologists tell of selkies having romantic relationships with humans, sometimes resulting in children. Selkies can be tricked into marrying humans, of course, usually by a person stealing their seal skin and hiding it, which prevents them from returning to the sea as their skin is like their lifeline. These marriages are rarely happy ones, as the selkie always longs for the sea and may eventually escape if they find their skin."

  Cove twitches. Her head is clouded by images of her mother, staring at the sea from her confinement indoors. The careless way that Professor Rigby's teaching about such things is making her blood boil.

  "In seal form, they're said to be of greater size than the average grey seal and could easily overpower a skilled wizard. They're just as capable of killing wizards and witches when disguised as humans, though it makes them easier to defend against. The Ministry classification of these creatures is XXXX, meaning that they are dangerous and can only be handled with special knowledge. The selkie folk are unpredictable, vengeful beasts—"

  "That's not true."

  Every head in the class snaps to her. She wishes she had a tortoise shell that she could retract into.

  Professor Rigby checks the seating plan and looks back to her curiously. "Is there something you'd like to add, Miss Henderson?"

  Her father's name stings. "Selkies aren't dangerous," she presses. "Not all of them, anyways. It's like how humans can be good and evil, there isn't a set of morals that every selkie is born with. They have personalities and are so much more than just 'seductresses' like you say, Professor."

  "And you'd know?"

  A few snickers ring out in the class. She tries to ignore them.

  "Yes. I would, actually," she swallows thickly, trying to think up an excuse. "Uh, there are lots of selkie folk where I'm from on the Isle of Lewis. I think you'll find that they're very misunderstood, Miss."

  Rigby sizes her up, eyes narrowed in interest. Cove feels her cheeks heat up.

  "I think your homework will prove to be an easy feat then, Miss Henderson." She clears her throat. "Everyone is to write me an essay on selkies, no less than a thousand words. It's due for Friday."

  The bell rings, drowning out the exasperated groans that sound from the class. Chairs screech against the wooden floors as everyone packs up to leave for lunch but Cove is stuck in place, fingers curling around the sealskin folded at the bottom of her bag, hidden by books and stationary. A shiver runs down her spine.

  Fallon elbows her. "Check you," she jokes. "Selkie expert over here. You better help me with my essay, Coco." She pauses, head cocked to the side. "Are you coming?"

   "Yeah." Cove smiles weakly. She suspects that Professor Rigby saw straight through her, and judging from the way she spoke about selkies, they wouldn't be bestfriends anytime soon.

author's note!

phoebe waller-bridge (the loml) as professor rigby

double update!!! this chapter is on the shorter side but i'm quite chuffed w it lmao