F I V E

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They were only a few minutes into Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Adeline was loving Professor Lupin so much more than the previous professors in the past. The first two were forgettable and boring, Quirrell apparently had Voldemort sticking out the back of his head, and Lockhart was an imbecile.

So the standards were already low. But even if the bar was a little higher, Professor Lupin would have surpassed that by miles.

The lesson on the first day was boggarts, and admittedly, it was a little entertaining to watch everyone face the boggart. Not the part about seeing everyone's worst fears, but seeing how they transformed was so much fun. Estelle's swarm of crawling bugs turning sparkling bunch of confetti, Melanie's ginormous clown suddenly losing control of its unicycle and wheeling wildly around the classroom, and Ophelia's stationary desk piled high with papers suddenly turning into a beautiful dragon flying free.

Professor Lupin gestured for Adeline to make her way to the front and, almost immediately, the boggart began to shift. Adeline watched in horror as the boggart turned into her parents, dressed in the clothes they were wearing on Adeline's eleventh birthday and holding that Hogwarts letter. The boggart began to scream at her about how their reputation was ruined and why couldn't she just hide her magic, and Adeline felt herself biting back tears that were starting to start to prick at the corner of her eyes.

This wasn't Adeline's worst fear. This was a memory. She remembered that day so vividly because of how quickly her mood had gone from overjoyed to heartbreak. Adeline had naively hoped that when her parents had been faced with the truth that they would accept it, but they were still refusing to acknowledge it to this day. She still walks on eggshells in her own home, terrified that one wrong move would send her parents into a frenzy.

Adeline's worst fear wasn't her parents at all. Her worst fear was the rejection that came with it.

"Riddikulus!"

The Hogwarts letter began to spark, causing the boggart to look at it in confusion. Suddenly, a bunch of fireworks began to go off, filling the room with light and color. The whole room whooped and laughed with delight, and while Adeline painted a smile on her face, she could feel the silent tears begin to streak down her cheeks. She wiped them furiously as she made her way to the back of the room, hoping that no one would notice her tears or question why exactly her boggart had turned into her parents.

But one person did.

So when he dismissed the class, Lupin asked for Adeline to stay back for a few moments. He did so with a smile as to not worry the girl too much. Adeline sat down in one of the desks in the front row and Lupin leaned his back against the desk. "Ms. Reyes, how's your day been so far?"

"It's been going alright," Adeline replied slowly. "And you, Professor Lupin?"

"It's been going well so far, thank you." Lupin took a deep breath, trying to find the best way to approach the subject carefully without her shutting down. "I wanted to check in with you as you seemed to an especially...emotional reaction to the boggart."

Adeline sucked in her breath quietly. She knew she had to be careful as to how she responded. "It just freaked me out to see my worst fear right in front of me," Adeline replied eventually. "Don't worry, Professor. I'm fine."

Maybe it was how she just discretely avoided eye contact with him or the fast-paced way she tapped her finger against the wooden desk, but Lupin could tell she wasn't telling the whole truth. Yet Lupin also knew from his past experiences that he wasn't able to force Adeline to talk about her home life to him, especially since he had only known the girl for a day.

So Lupin bid her goodbye and wished her a good day, a small part of him knowing that this wouldn't be the last time he tried to have this conversation with her.

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Sitting in a quiet corner of the Hogwarts library, Adeline scribbled on a piece of parchment paper, trying to finish up a Potions essay as she waited for a second year to come in for his tutoring session. Professor Flitwick had told her earlier that it was a second year Gryffindor named Collin who was a bright student, but had missed most of his first year after being petrified by the basilisk.

The opening of the Chamber of Secrets had been one of the first times Adeline felt truly scared to be at Hogwarts. Some giant creature moving around the school that would kill her because she was muggle-born was bad enough, but there were several Slytherins in her year who took the opportunity to tease her more due to her parentage made school year so much worse for Adeline. She got along with most of the Slytherins perfectly well, but there were was always going to be so many who were like Draco Malfoy, believing that only people with magical parents should be allowed at Hogwarts.

"Are you Adeline?"

Adeline looked up to see a blonde boy beaming at her, a camera strung around his neck and a stack of books in his bands. When she nodded, he plopped himself down in the seat next to her and stuck out his hand. "I'm Colin."

"Lovely to meet you," She responded, shaking his small hand before reaching down to pull out her Charms textbook. "So what do you understand right now from Charms?"

"I get everything pretty easily once I actually know the spell, but the problem is I missed out on learning so many of the spells last year."

"So you just need to take this extra time to catch up and learn spells?"

"Yes please."

As the two worked on Charms, Colin strangely reminded Adeline of a hummingbird. He was small and had this hyperactive energy that could make him a brilliant wizard if he could just consistently concentrate it. Adeline found herself often having to bring him back on task as Colin would become distracted by other topics. But he was eager to learn and excited about Charms, and that was all that mattered to Adeline.

Colin ended up leaving after half an hour, telling her he needed to work on a Transfiguration essay but was excited for their next tutoring session. Adeline decided to stay behind to finish up her Potions essay, as she didn't want to bother Estelle again to help her with it.

This soon got interrupted, however, when she heard the snickers of a nearby table.

"Look, it's the Chamber of Secrets freak!"

"Shh...not so loud! Or she'll set the basilisk on us."

Adeline whipped her head around furiously to see two young boys sitting nearby and making fun of Ginny Weasley, who looked close to tears and was clutching onto a quill so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff, ten points from Slytherin." The two boys began to protest, and Adeline snapped her fingers before pointing at them. "You should know well enough that what happened last year wasn't Ginny's fault in the slightest. Now don't let me see you bullying anyone again otherwise its going to be a lot worse for you. Got it?"

Furiously nodding, the two boys ran away from them and out of the library, not even sparing a second glance back. Adeline turned to Ginny, who had a closed off expression on her face and was avoiding Adeline's stare. "Are you alright?"

Ginny shrugged half-heartedly and didn't up from the table. "It hasn't been so bad. I expected worse for what I did last year."

"But that wasn't you who did that last year." Adeline gestured for Ginny to sit down in the spot previously occupied by Colin, and she did so hesitantly. "That was You-Know-Who controlling you. From what I've read, he and the Death Eaters manipulated and controlled dozens of people with dark magic like that. That was incredibly dark magic you were up against, and you were only eleven. The Chamber of Secrets opening was not your fault."

After a few seconds of silence, Ginny practically lunged over and pulled Adeline into a tight hug.

Adeline froze for a second, surprised about the sudden affection, especially from a girl she hadn't really talked to before. But she could tell Ginny was emotional and needed support, so Adeline wrapped her arms around her. "Thanks for standing up for me."

"Don't even worry about it," Adeline chuckled lightly as she removed her arms from around Ginny. "It's getting a little late...do you want to walk with me to the Great Hall for dinner?"

"I think I can walk by myself..." Ginny said as she stood up. "But thank you again. It really means a lot to me."

Adeline grinned at her again and bid her goodbye, leaving her in the library. With a sigh, Adeline pulled out her Potions essay again, hoping now that she would finally have the time to finish it up properly.

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a/n:

not really much to say for this?? just thanks so much again for all the amazing support!! i hope you all have a lovely day :)

- g ♡