Summer had just started creeping onto the School Grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the Greenhouses.
Lucifer had taken it upon himself to take care of Fang in Hagrid's absence.
He did it mostly to keep busy, but he visited Hermione at least once a day since she had been admitted to the Hospital Wing.
At least he had been, but Madam Pomfrey put a stop to that by barring anyone from visiting the residence of the Wing.
She said they were taking no more chances and that the attacker might come back, so she couldn't allow any visitors. Even worse both hospital wing and their dormitories would be charmed 'alerting the Professors' if they leave the dormitory after curfew.
He and Pomfrey got into a heated argument over this on the third day of him being denied entry, and he got furious, but McGonagall had shown up and talked him down.
He stomped away angrily.
Harry seemed to be looking for spiders to follow from Hagrid's hint, but with everyone having to be shepherded around like sheep, it made it very tedious.
Lucifer then voiced his thoughts, "There might only be spiders at Hagrid's hut."
Harry agreed with this train of thought, it was just getting back out there without risk of getting caught that proved difficult.
There was one person who seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion.
Draco Malfoy strutted around the school as though he'd just been appointed head boy.
One day in Potions, Lucifer, Harry, and Ron were all sitting behind Draco and his two cronies.
His reason for being in high spirits was immediately understood, "I always thought 'father' might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not even bothering to keep his voice down.
"I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst Headmaster the school ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent Headmaster now..."
"Maybe Someone who won't 'want' the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in..."
Graham voiced his own thoughts as he chuckled darkly.
Snape swept past Lucifer, slowing down as he did.
Lucifer didn't look up at him, but he knew Snape was looking at him, and he knew he was apologetic, giving a look of pity and concern.
He wanted to say something, but held back. He now knew Lucifer was Merlin's Descendant, marking him as a powerful wizard, with first hand experience, and ever since Granger, his temper was volatile.
Was Snape afraid of him? He hoped so.
"Sir," Malfoy said loudly, "Sir, why don't 'you' apply for the Headmaster's job?"
"Now, now, Malfoy," Snape said, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile, "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."
"Yeah, right," Malfoy said, and Lucifer could just imagine the smirk on his face, "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job-- I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir---"
Snape smirked as he swept around the dungeon. It was fortunate that he didn't see Seamus pretending to vomit into his Cauldron.
"I'm quite surprised all those dirty bloods haven't packed their bags by now," Millicent Bulstrode from her seat passed a comment loud enough for others to hear.
Lucifer could feel himself growing angry. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Hermione beside him, keeping him calm. He knew she was really good at it.
"Bet you five galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger----"
Lucifer opened his eyes and the next thing anyone knew, Millicent's seat collapsed underneath her.
Slytherin and Gryffindor alike were all laughing at the heavy girl's unfortunate situation. The bell rang a second later and everyone packed up, leaving the dungeons.
"Hurry up!" Snape barked at them for not moving fast enough, "I've got to take you all to Herbology!"
They all marched out of the building, following Snape as he led them to Herbology. He clearly wanted to be doing anything but this, and probably wanted to let the monster take all of them so he could be spared the responsibility.
In Herbology, the class was very subdued. Two were petrified, and Lucifer could feel eyes on him.
They knew Hermione was his best friend, and he could feel their gazes.
Professor Sprout was quick to set them to work on pruning the 'Abyssinian Shrivelfigs.'
Lucifer and Ron awaited Harry's return as he went to get them some to work with. He came back with Ernie and Hannah.
Ernie having apologized to Harry for blaming him.
"That Draco Malfoy character," Ernie said as he broke off dead twigs, "he seems very pleased about all of this, doesn't he? D'you know what I think? I think 'he' might be Slytherin's Heir."
"That's clever of you," Ron said, and Lucifer caught the displeased tone of voice. He hadn't forgiven Ernie either, but he also had more important things to focus on.
"Do any of you also think it's Malfoy?" Ernie asked them.
"Believe me when I say this, Macmillan, I really wish it was Malfoy, but I just don't think he is, and I've thought that since the first attack," Lucifer said to him, sighing after he spoke.
Hannah gave him a cupcake.
After class ended, Harry, Ron, and Lucifer lagged behind while Professor Sprout took them to 'Defense Against the Dark Arts.'
"I don't think we should wait any longer..." Lucifer told them, "We shouldn't have waited this long anyway. They could be done with 'founders's Alert spells' any day after tomorrow...."
"We never really had a chance to, and how do you know we'll have a window of opportunity to do it now?" Ron asked him.
"Well... 'if one doesn't exist, make one," Lucifer said as they walked into class.
They sat at the back like usual, "Aren't there dangerous things in the Forbidden Forest?" Ron asked him.
"There are, but there are good creatures too, like the Centaur, but... not all of them are friendly, at least not to me..." Lucifer answered and class had begun.
Lockhart looked as buoyant as ever, which was the polar opposite of every other teacher, "Come now," he said, staring at all of them, "Why the long faces?"
People swapped exasperated looks, but no one answered. Lucifer was now really busy thinking up his 'Three-Hundred and Forty-Second' way of killing Lockhart without leaving any sort of evidence behind.
"Don't you people realize?" He asked, speaking slowly as if everyone suddenly became less intelligent than him, "the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away-"
"Says who?" Dean asked loudly.
"My dear young man, the 'Minister for Magic' wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," Lockhart said in a tone that someone would use to explain one plus one equals two.
Ron was about to speak, but Lucifer beat him to it, "So you're saying you have no trust in Professor Dumbledore?"
"My dear deluded boy, what does he have to do with this?" Lockhart asked with a sneer.
"Dumbledore wouldn't allow Hagrid anywhere near Hogwarts if he for even a second thought he was guilty of something as heinous as being Slytherin's Heir. To believe Hagrid to be guilty is to doubt Dumbledore," Lucifer said, and the class immediately agreed with his line of thinking.
"My dear boy, I think I know a little bit more about this than you do," his sneer didn't leave his face.
"Really? So who was it that was right on Mrs. Norris being petrified when someone else was saying she had been killed? Oh right, I said she was petrified, you said she was killed. I was right, you were wrong, why should anyone believe a word you say?" Lucifer asked him calmly, his face emptied of any kind of emotions.
"Exactly!" Seamus yelled.
"I think Fifteen Points from Gryffindor will settle the matter," Lockhart said, ending the topic.
'If it wouldn't cause trouble, I'd break your spine right now.'
He was then slid a note by Harry, 'Let's go into the Forest, tonight.'
xxxxxx
That evening's last class, Gryffindor had Astronomy with Slytherin.
To Lucifer, it was the second most useless class Hogwarts had to offer, after Muggle studies, but he chose it just to see what wizards' had ideas about non-magicals's daily essentials.
Even "Divination" was more practical--at least those with a knack for it might learn something. Astronomy, however, was nothing more than memorizing star charts.
'Predicting the weather by the stars? Laughable--Muggle meteorologists were more accurate.'
And yet, it was compulsory until fifth year.
When they were about to leave the classroom, Daphne was already yawning wide enough to crack her jaw. He considered asking her to check whether Astoria had gone to bed, but seeing her drowsy state, he let it go.
xxxxxx
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