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CHAPTER FIVE
— quidditch season

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"THE TEACHERS AND I NEED TO CONDUCT A THOROUGH SEARCH OF THE CASTLE," Professor Dumbledore told all of the students as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. They had all gathered back to the Great Hall, every student looking as confused as the one next to them.

"I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, one of Ron's older brothers, who was looking immensely proud and important.

"Send word with one of the ghosts."

Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..."

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.

Juliet wasn't well. Knowing her mass-murdering father was somewhere around the castle – the place she was meant to be safest – had left her terrified beyond belief.

The hall had burst into a buzz of excitement: everyone was now hearing about what had happened.

But Juliet couldn't make out what anyone was saying. Her mind was blank and so was the white noise around her – she almost didn't hear Kate and William go up to her and Callum.

"Are you alright?"

"Did you hear?"

Juliet just nodded, but didn't say anything else. Her three friends just looked at each other nervously.

"Let's grab some sleeping bags and go somewhere quieter," Callum said, grabbing the nearest purple sleeping bag and dragging it near a corner. The other three followed him without another word.

For Juliet, the sudden appearance of Sirius Black didn't feel like a surreal event to speculate about, like the rest of the school seemed to be doing – and her friends felt it along with her.

The four of them sat with their backs against the cold stone wall, feeling all the grooves of the stone pressing into them. Kate and Will sat cross-legged, with their knees touching, while Callum's legs laid in front of him. Juliet was resting her chin on her knees, which she hugged at her chest.

"How do you think he got in?" Kate asked, twisting her fingers distractedly in her lap.

"No idea," Juliet said quietly.

"Dumbledore will find him soon, Julie," Will said reassuringly, but he honestly didn't know if that was going to be true.

"Yeah, he can't be sticking around for long, especially with all the dementors hanging around," Callum said, not knowing how to comfort Juliet in this.

"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

All the candles went out at once. The only way they could see was through the silvery glimmer coming from the ghosts drifting about, talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars.

Had the circumstances been different, Juliet would have rather enjoyed sleeping in the serene surroundings of the Great Hall.

Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet. Kate had fallen asleep within minutes, the same way she did, no matter where she was. After an hour or two of incoherent mumbling, Will and Callum had drifted off also. It just left Juliet to stare at the stars while her thoughts danced around restlessly in her mind.

Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Juliet shut her eyes and rolled around, feigning sleep.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" asked Percy in a whisper.

"No. All well here?"

"Everything under control, sir."

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?"

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."

Juliet heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps.

"Headmaster?" It was Snape. Juliet still listened hard. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched."

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before – ah – the start of term?" said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation.

"I do, Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.

"It seems – almost impossible – that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns whet, you appointed–"

Juliet felt anger rise like bile in her throat – surely Snape wasn't suggesing that her uncle Lupin helped her father enter the castle? It seemed absurd that Snape could infer such a thing, when Juliet hadn't heard Lupin mention Sirius Black more than three times in her life, ever.

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply.

"I must go down to the dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" said Percy.

"Oh yes," said Dumbledore coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."

And that was that. Juliet heard Dumbledore's footsteps creak out of the doors, soon followed by Snape's daunting ones.

She paused for a few moments before opening her eyes, making sure they were really gone before she could reflect on what she had heard.

However, what she hadn't been expecting were a pair of brilliant green eyes staring back at her. Juliet hadn't known that she had conveniently picked the same corner to huddle in as Harry Potter, who had also seemed to have heard the entire interaction between Dumbledore and Snape – the perplexed expression on his face giving it away.

"Juliet?" he whispered as quietly as he could with Percy circling all the sleeping bags like a hawk.

"Yeah," Juliet whispered back, turning her head to look at the stars again.

"Why are you awake?"

"Why are you?"

There was a pause – neither of them wanted to mention Dumbledore.

"I can't sleep,"

"Neither,"

Another pause.

"It's not a good feeling...is it?" Juliet whispered, turning her head again to face Harry, bracing herself for what she was going to say, "Knowing Sirius Black is after you."

Harry was taken aback by Juliet's bluntness, and the fact she had known about that.

"How did you know?" Harry asked her in a whisper, surprise laced in his tone. Having no idea why, Juliet told him.

"Because he's after me too."

There was silence, and Juliet turned back to the stars, leaving Harry to absorb her words.

———☆———

For the next few days, all Juliet could hear was her mass-murdering father's name being thrown around and each and every time it was like a slap in the face to be reminded of who half of her DNA had come from. What didn't help was the fact that the theories of how Sirius Black possibly could have entered the school grew wilder and wilder: apparently Black could turn into a flowering shrub, according to Hannah Abbott, who spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen – blushing profusely with embarrassment when Callum called her out about the misinformation.

To make matters only worse, Juliet was now being watched and tailed by almost every member of staff, wherever she went – they all seemed to think Sirius Black was about to snatch her every time she turned a corner. Frankly, it had become very irritating.

"I'm alright Professor!" Juliet said loudly, after Professor McGonagall had insisted on accompanying Juliet to the toilet before her Transfiguration lesson. A few stragglers turned to look at them.

"Now really, Miss Blanchard. You know it's unwise of you to go anywhere alone, so why didn't you ask Miss Troy, or Miss Abbott to come with you?" Professor McGonagall replied in an offended tone.

"Because Kate's all the way down in Potions, and Hannah's waiting in Transfiguration and I know and they know that my father isn't likely to ambush me in broad daylight while I'm in the toilet!" Juliet whispered in a more frustrated tone, before quickly adding, "No offence, Professor,"

"Well, on that note, I also should let you know that I also advise against you playing Quiddith in the evenings – all that exposure, especially at night–"

"What? No!"

""It's the right course of action, especially as you're so targeted..."

"Come on, Professor, please," Juliet pleaded, still in a whisper that she tried to keep as polite as possible, "I know you let Potter continue playing, and my father's after him too! So why can't I?"

Harry had told Juliet in their last Herbology homework session that McGonagall had tried to stop him playing Quidditch. He had also tried to get out of Juliet why Sirius Black was after her as well.

She deflected his queries relatively well, being deliberately vague and telling him it was 'familial ties' and an 'unresolved past between him and her family' – it wasn't that she didn't think he could be trusted, but that she knew that it was better for him not to know the truth, the whole story. He would hate her.

Now McGonagall was looking at her with the same sympathetic eyes that she had been giving her over the past two months, like she was some kicked puppy. She was relatively sick of all the pity these days. McgGonagall let out a sigh before giving in.

"Alright... I will allow you outside after dark, only for Quidditch. And only on the condition that you will be inside the castle by eight o'clock. Not a minute after." she said sternly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Professor!" Juliet said, before dashing into the girl's toilets next to her. Her toilet break had been prolonged for far too long.

Quidditch practices weren't as rough as Juliet thought, since they were only practising once or twice a week. By chance, the Hufflepuff Keeper, Eileen Rutherford, had injured her shoulder really badly, which conveniently, meant that Callum was filling in for her and playing alongside Juliet. However, this quickly changed merely a week before the first Quidditch match of the season, which was supposed to be Slytherin versus Gryffindor.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, told his team, looking very angry.

"Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"Why?" chorused the rest of the Gryffindor team.

"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured," said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously. "But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances...."

There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Wood spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder.

"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!" said Harry furiously. "He's faking it!"

"I know that, but we can't prove it," said Wood bitterly, "And we've been practising all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory–"

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled.

"What?" said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behaviour.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina.

"Strong and silent," said Katie, and they started to giggle again.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Fred impatiently.

Oliver ignored Fred. "They've got a new Chaser and Keeper too–"

"Who?" George asked.

"Juliet Blanchard and Callum Martin, both third-years–

"No way! Juliet made the team?" George said, surprised.

"I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. They're young. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?" Fred said, waving Oliver away.

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. "He's an excellent Seeker! I watched Blanchard's trial – her and Morely work seamlessly! Diggory's put a very strong side together! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."

———☆———

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Juliet asked Callum, wondering why he wasn't going inside their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"It's Snape," he replied bitterly, "Lupin's not here today."

Juliet had forgotten – it was a full moon today, and that obviously meant Lupin wasn't going to show up to his lesson. But out of all the teachers to cover their lesson, Juliet thought, why did it have to be Snape?

The two Hufflepuffs tried to sink in the seats in the back row, trying to go unnoticed by Snape. Unfortunately, Snape had different plans.

"Blanchard, from these records, it seems you haven't really been able to grasp the danger of these dark creatures. I want you to sit in the front here, so you can really absorb the threats of these beasts. Martin, go sit with Corner."

Juliet was confused: she wasn't exactly failing this class, but knew that whenever she was dealing with Snape, he always had some underlying malicious motive.

A little way through their lesson, Juliet heard the door burst open and looked up to see Harry dashing in, stopping when he saw it was Snape at the teacher's desk and not Lupin. He locked eyes with Juliet and she gave him a miserable expression.

"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down."

But Harry didn't move.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" he said.

"He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile. "I believe I told you to sit down?"

But Harry stayed where he was.

"What's wrong with him?"

Snape's black eyes glittered.

"Nothing life-threatening," he said, looking as though he wished it were. "Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty."

"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far–"

Didn't he just tell Juliet that he had seen her progress on the creatures?

"Please, sir, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows," said Hermione quickly, "and we're just about to start –"

"Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organisation."

Anger bubbled through Juliet, the same way it always did whenever she was in one of his lessons.

"He's the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Dean Thomas boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. Snape looked more menacing than ever.

"You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you – I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss –"

Snape began flicking right near the end of the textbook, which surely must've been obvious to him that they hadn't clearly covered it. Juliet began to take a sip of water from her bottle.

"Werewolves," said Snape.

Juliet choked and had to cover her mouth from spluttering her coughing fit everywhere. Snape just stared at her with almost a mocking gleam in his eye.

"But, sir," said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, "We're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks–"

"Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around again. "All of you! Now!"

With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books. Juliet was getting angrier by the minute but she chose silence over a month's worth of detentions.

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" said Snape.

Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, whose hand, as it so often did, had shot straight into the air.

"Anyone?" Snape said, ignoring Hermione. His twisted smile was back.

"Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between –"

"We told you," said Parvati suddenly, "We haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on–"

"Silence!" snarled Snape. "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one–"

"Werewolves are at the back of the book!" Callum protested from a few rows behind Juliet.

"Five points from Hufflepuff! I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are..."

"Please, sir," said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, "The werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf–"

"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger," said Snape coolly. "Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."

Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said loudly, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"

The class knew instantly he'd gone too far. Snape advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its breath. Juliet felt a rush of pride wash over for her friend, even though Snape was just about to batter him.

"Detention, Weasley," Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticise the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."

No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin.

"Very poorly explained... That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia.... Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three...."

When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back. "You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment of the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."

Kill werewolves? Snape always knew how to take it to avidly cruel lengths – rubbing everything in everyone's faces that clearly led to Lupin's werewolf identity! It wasn't going to be long until someone smart and logical, like Hermione, joined the dots and told everyone.

"I hate hate hate Snape!" Juliet exclaimed, the moment she had left the classroom.

"Who doesn't, Merlin. What was up with him splitting us all up, and having a go at Hermione for knowing the answer to the question he asked us, and sitting you at the front?" Callum replied, equally annoyed.

"I don't know, the greasy rat needs to sort his issues out!" Juliet said, walking very fast indeed, "Y'know what? I don't even care, let's go find Will and Kate."

Callum nodded, and while trying to get their minds off of Snape and his aggravating actions, did just that.

———☆———

author's note!
glad to get something out, I've got exams soon :(

I do have chapters prewritten and I'll try and get them out as often as I can!

published: 10th april 2024