Vincent was currently in the middle of dripping a potion onto a toad when a knock came from the door to his hut. He opened it to find Neville with his schedule in front of him.
"Defense against the Dark Arts class is soon," Neville informed.
"Really? Lunch break is nearly over?" Vincent looked up at Neville with a raised brow. "Was I perhaps too focused on my experiments? Probably should get a watch..."
Neville shook his head. "No, your still fine, it's just that everyone's looking forward to Professor Moody's class, saw most of our class already making their way there now. I just thought that maybe you should know in case you want a good seat."
"Huh...thanks," Vincent nodded before giving an odd expression. "Did he really turn Malfoy into a ferret?"
Vincent had heard the details from Ron who couldn't stop himself from constantly mentioning it ever now and then, as if to remind himself so that he would never forget. Although Vincent was somewhat skeptical of the action, after hearing of Malfoy insulting the Weasleys, not to mention firing a spell at the trio with their backs turned, he decided that Malfoy deserved it one way or another.
"Well...Yeah, everyone pretty much saw it," Neville nodded. "He really does seem Mad, doesn't he?"
"Well, at least someone is..." Vincent chuckled before seeing the confusion on Neville's face. "Get it?...People call me the mad scientist when I'm not really mad...Oh, forget it...Thought it was funny before I said it out loud..."
Neville looked around before spotting the toad croaking in the corner. A slight flash of panic crossed his face as he turned to Vincent. "What were you doing?"
"Oh...I was trying to create a non-harmful potion that works on contact," Vincent stressed the non-harmful part as he explained, making sure that Neville knew that the toad wasn't in danger. Vincent didn't want Neville fearing for his own toad, Trevors', safety. "Not like there aren't any that work on contact, but most of them are rather harmful. This one in particular is just an edited potion of my creation that allows people to walk on water without the need to consume it, although, it doesn't last for long which I already expected."
He properly placed the toad back into a tank filled with other toads, only, it just stood on top of the water, refusing to sink downwards. The toad, obviously confused, jumped around the surface a bit, only for it to sink on it's third jump.
"Potions that work on physical contact? What use is there to that?" Neville asked curiously.
"Remember second year when students were petrified," Vincent asked as Neville nodded fearfully. "Well, while there is indeed a cure for it through Mandrakes, I heard it was rather difficult to administer the cure to them through consumption. Although it was taken care of through magic, it did make me think that, in the case that a patient or such cannot consume a potion or any medication, that they could just apply it to the skin to receive it's effect instead."
Vincent could see Neville try his hardest to process the information and laughed, patting his friends back as he exited the hut. "Don't think too hard into it, it's just something that came to mind that's all...Come on, didn't you say that everyone's waiting for the next class?"
Vincent closed the door and locked it before calling around the side of the hut. "Hey Arnya, I'm about to head off! Just letting you know."
"Oh, how unfortunate," came Luna's voice as she appeared from the side with Ginny wheeling Arnya. "I was so sure I'd beat her in chess that time too. Hello there...Neville, how lovely it is to see you."
"Oh, uh, hey Luna, Ginny," Neville stuttered as he awkwardly gave a small wave, making Ginny giggle a bit.
"Hello again Neville, we did already greet each other this morning did we not?" Ginny smiled as Neville turned somewhat red from embarrassment for greeting her when he had already done so earlier on.
"Relax man, you look like you could collapse any moment," Vincent chuckled as Neville scratched his head sheepishly. He turned to the girls as Arnya already wheeled close to him. "We're about to head to class now, you two coming as well?"
"I think we'll stay out here for a little bit longer before going in," said Ginny as Luna seemed to be preoccupied with an owl flapping away overhead.
"Right, guess we'll see you guys later," said Vincent, giving them a wave before making his way towards the castle wheeling Arnya who also left them with a small wave.
"Well...seeya," Neville said before quickly following Vincent.
As Neville walked at his side, Vincent really wanted to ask him about how the guy was doing with his schoolwork, but refrained from doing so as he remembered what Neville said to him a few days ago.
"What do I do about this?..." Vincent groaned internally as he headed up the staircase before stopping to wait for the next one to move. He glanced around, noticing bustle of students moving to different classes on different floors as ghosts flew around with some chatting to the people moving within the paintings. He also caught sight of Peeves dumping a bucket of water on a kid, making Vincent sigh as Peeves flew away cackling, leaving the kid and his group of friends to yell angrily at him.
"Vince? Arnya? Neville?" The two of them found Hermione coming up behind them.
"In the library again?" Vincent asked with a knowing look.
Hermione nodded just as the staircase turned towards them, allowing them to ascend to the third floor. Vincent had no trouble wheeling Arnya up the steps somehow, feeling more like he was pushing up a ramp rather than a staircase. Glancing at her wheels, Vincent could see them shift shape as he pushed up, allowing for easier pushing,
"So, what were looking up in the library?" Vincent asked Hermione. "Thought you already read every book in there."
"Oh, definitely not! I still need a better understanding of how Nordic runes work and understand how to better my charms! Not to mention we still haven't experienced Defense Against the Dark Arts yet...."
"I was joking about you reading everything in there you know," Vincent said with a raised brow as she blushed in embarrassment making him chuckle as Neville also cracked a wry smile at the side.
"...Well, I was mainly studying House elf enslavement," Hermione said hesitantly. "Apparently it's been going on for centuries without anybody questioning it...I was considering making a campaign or something to advocate for the rights of House Elves in getting better treatment and better wages."
"So...I was thinking...that maybe you, Harry, and Ron could join?" Hermione asked hopefully.
Vincent pondered on Hermione's idea. While he still had mixed feelings on whether freeing the House Elves from their life of servitude was something that could be considered positive for their race on a whole, he wasn't against assisting House Elves, who are living unhappily, to help improve their lively hood.
"Well, regardless of whether this campaign will actually affect anything or not, I don't really see any harm in joining, not to mention..." Vincent glanced at the bushy haired girl next to him who looked at him with such hope in her eyes. "...it would leave a very bad taste in my mouth if I were to refuse her."
"Yeah, sure, should you make such a thing just ask and I'll help out in whatever way I can," said Vincent, leaving Hermione beaming.
"That's great! How about you Neville?" Hermione rounded on Neville who looked absolutely lost on what to do.
Fortunately, their class wasn't far, and their conversation was cut short as they rounded a corner.
They arrived in time to see multiple students already waiting outside the classroom door, early before the class began. Clearly, many of them were looking forward to the class. This included Harry and Ron whom were found chatting amongst themselves before noticing them.
"What took you guys?" Ron asked with an eager and impatient look on his face. "We could've lost out on some good seats."
"You don't have to say it like we're late," said Vincent. "If anything, we're right on time."
As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break and the beginning of class. The door shot open all by itself to reveal Mad-Eye at the front of the classroom glaring at them all, his fake eye swirling about.
"What are you all standing around for?" Mad Eye grumbled. "Hurry on in why don't you all?"
Not that they needed any further prompting, all the students flooded into the classroom, hurrying to find good seats. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all managed to nab seats at the front of the classroom while Vincent, who was somewhat slow to react to the sudden hunt for seats, shared a desk with Neville who had somehow gotten a desk second from the front despite the rush.
As the class got settled in, with everyone taking out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection, Mad Eye gave a grunt as he shook his head, shaking his grizzled hair out of his face in doing so. "No, no...We'll have no need for that here so you all can put those darn books away..."
The students did as they were told while Mad Eye took out a register and began to call out names as his normal eye scanned the list while his magical eye was swirling about noticeably to check each and every student who answered.
"Right, it seems everyone is present," Mad Eye threw the register on his desk rather harshly, having finished the roll call. "Now, I don't generally care what you call me, however it seems that it's a given that every teacher in this school goes with professor. So far I've been called Professor Moody, or even Mad Eye on occasion, take your pick, I don't give a damn. It's your problem should you be scolded for your lack of manners."
"Now with that out of the way, let's get on with it," said Mad Eye ("No, Moody," Vincent corrected his thinking) "I've heard from Professor Lupin about this class. All of you seem to have a thorough understanding regarding Dark creatures. Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylow, Kappas, and Werewolves, is that right?"
Moody paused as he glanced at all of the students, all murmuring their assent to the claim.
"But despite this, you're all very behind on dealing with curses, that's what I'm here for," Moody claimed. "To bring you up to scratch on what one wizard can do to another. I've only got one year to teach you all—"
"Only one year?" Ron exclaimed.
Moody's magical eye spun to glare at Ron and grinned, making his heavily scarred face look far more warped and twisted than ever.
"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago.... Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore....One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."
He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.
"So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."
Vincent glanced behind to see Lavender Brown hurriedly stuff something away in her bag. It seemed that she had been showing something to Pavati before being outed.
"Seems like that eye can see through stuff," Vincent noted, somewhat curious about the limits of such an item. "How much can the eye see, and what could possibly block such an tool?"
It seemed as if Vincent wasn't the only one to have such thoughts as several students shuffled uncomfortably at the thought of their privacy being breached unknowingly. Seamus Finnegan, who was about to place gum under the table, decided to abandon his actions with a nervous expression.
"Now...what curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law? Do any of you know?" Moody asked as several hands were raised. He pointed to Ron, asking him to speak.
"Uhh...my...Dad told me about one called the Imperius Curse," Ron said nervously, making Vincent's brow furrow.
"Wasn't that the curse that brainwashes people?" Vincent thought to himself, remembering a certain incident he encountered last year involving the spells' use. Even with his short experience with it, the spell left a lasting impression on him as one that's incredibly dangerous and terrifying.
"Ah, yes," said Moody, nodding his head as he opened his desk draw. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."
Moody took out a jar filled with somewhat large spiders before grabbing taking one out and showing it off to the class on an open palm. Ron, having a natural fear of such creatures, paled considerably due to fright.
Pointing his wand at the spider, he muttered, "Imperio!" in a way that allowed the whole class to hear him.
The spider then leapt from his palm and began to swing back from a string of web that attached to Moody's hand before doing an impressive flip on the desk where it began doing cartwheels in circles. With a flick of Moody's wand, the spider then rose on its two back legs and began to do what was unmistakably a tap dance on the spot.
Most of the students, apart from Vincent and a few students, laughed, seeming to not understand the implications of such a spell, until Moody growled at them all in obvious displeasure of them making light of such a thing.
"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"
The laughter stopped instantly.
"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..."
"There was a time when lots of witches and wizards were being controlled by the spell, took the Ministry a lot of effort and time to find out who was forced to act or acting on their own free will. In fact, because of such, several followers of the Dark Lord claimed to have been forced to act. Bunch of cowards I tell you, not willing to own up to their own actions."
As Vincent listened hard, he felt like there was something else to Moody's tone, as if there was some personal grudge there, especially at the last part.
"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
His voice made several people jump from the sheer intensity of it.
"Does anyone know another one? Another illegal curse?" asked Moody as he threw the spider back in the jar.
Vincent was somewhat surprised as Neville raised his hand. Even Neville himself seemed somewhat surprised at his own actions.
"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse," Neville said in a small voice, just audible enough for everyone to hear him.
"Your name's Longbottom, correct?" Moody asked, peering rather intently as Neville nodded nervously. Moody stared for a bit before picking another spider out of the jar and placing it on the table.
"The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider.
"Engorgio!"
The spider swelled to the size of one's palm, making Ron who was at the front push away from the desk in fear.
Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"
The spider started to twitch violently, falling to the ground as it started rolling around in agony. The sight sickened Vincent as he stared at the scene. He looked to Neville to see how the boy was doing, knowing that his parents suffered under the same spell, to the point where they went insane. They didn't even recognize their own son anymore.
As expected, Neville's hands were clenched in front of them, his knuckles turning white, and his teeth clenched as he stared with horrified eyes.
It was at this point that Vincent noticed several scratches on his friend's hand, none too bad, but some seemed far recent than others. While he felt that it was somewhat strange, he felt that he should do something about the current situation to help Neville out.
"Professor Moody, I think it's best if we move on from this one!" Vincent called, drawing attention to himself.
Moody stopped his actions, spotting the pale Neville next to Vincent and seemed to get the hint. With a grunt he stopped his actions, and shrunk the spider back into it's normal size before throwing it back into the jar, with Neville noticeably relaxing beside him, giving Vincent a nod of thanks. However, Neville's fists were still somewhat closed, and one could see sweat visibly form on his pale face as he closed his eyes. Vincent, worried, could hear him trying to calm his own breathing as Moody continued with the lesson.
"Amongst the illegal curses, this one is rather a favorite amongst those of a twisted nature," Moody said with a low voice. "Knives, needles...No need for any of them with this spell..."
Moody took a another look around the classroom, taking in their uncomfortable postures. "Does anyone know of any others?"
Vincent thought back to a particular spell that he had not only read about, but was also the target of once. Vincent, along with Hermione (unsurprisingly), raised his hand.
The action was small, barely noticeable enough if no one was looking for it, but Vincent could have sworn that the moment Moody's eyes (both of them) landed on him, his scowl morphed into an expression that almost looked...disgusted?
A second later, Moody's face reverted back into his usual scowl, making Vincent wonder whether or not it was something of his imagination.
"Your the Muggle boy I've heard about...Vincent Wong, yes?" Moody asked in a somewhat low tone.
"Yes sir," Vincent answered.
Moody stared at him for a good bit before nodding. "Proceed..."
Vincent nodded and took a small breath before speaking. "Avada Kevadra...The Killing Curse..."
The whole class started to whisper and mutter among themselves with many looking uncomfortable. As Vincent glanced around, it became apparent that some of them, even those raised by wizards were unaware of the spell given their expressions and questions that they had for each other. Hermione seemed somewhat aware of it given her disturbed expression as she put down her raised arm, but that was to be expected given the amount of books she had gone through as well as her inquisitive nature.
"Going to have to question Ron on that one," Vincent decided, glancing at the redhead who seemed to pale slightly at the words.
"Yes...the Killing Curse," Moody said, his scarred mouth twisting into a smile. "Saved the worst for last did you all?"
Moody grabbed the last spider, which struggled fiercely in his hand as if it dreaded what was coming. Placing on the table, he then pointed his wand towards it.
"Avada Kevadra!"
With a flash of green light, and the fleeting sound of something resembling the crackling of electricity, the spider rolled over onto its back. It received no mark, no wounds, but it was, without a doubt, dead as it skid back from the force of the spell, stopping right at the edge of the table.
The class went somewhat silent as they took in the sight before them. It was likely that none of them had seen the spell in use before, making more than a few faces pale as they thought about such a spell being aimed at them.
"A terrible curse, barely any effort and yet, a life can be taken..." Moody's whisper echoed throughout the quiet classroom. "There's no counter spell...no proper way of blocking it...only one person has survived it...and he's sitting right in front of me..."
Moody's eyes, both of them as well as everyone else's, turned to Harry who turned slightly red at the sudden attention, although Vincent noted that the boy's mind seemed to be going all over the place. It seemed that way throughout the whole lesson, as every time Vincent glanced at Harry, he seemed to be in a bit of a daze.
"That must have been the spell that took his parents away from him," Vincent thought to himself, "And his scar..."
He vaguely recalled Harry mentioning a bright flash of green that appears every so often when he goes to sleep. Not to mention Harry's scar hurting over the holidays right after having that strange dream caused Vincent to believe that the scar itself wasn't entirely normal.
Not that anyone thought of it like that in the first place...
"Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody roared, making more that a few students jump. "Now...those three curses, Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus, are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills...copy this down...."
...
The bell rang with the students all filing out of the classroom, all chatting amongst themselves about the lesson. Vincent raised his arms to stretch as he glanced to Neville, who looked like he had recovered to some degree, although he was still a little pale.
Vincent patted him on the shoulder. "How are you holding up?"
Neville gave a noticeably strained smile as he packed his stuff. "I'm fine..."
He trailed off as Vincent raised a brow.
He then sighed and corrected himself. "I will be fine...I just...I just need some breathing space..."
The sound of clunking made them look up to see Moody standing there, staring at Neville for a bit. He then spoke in a soft voice, still somewhat a growl, but it was far softer then what his tone was like during the lesson.
"Look, I'm sorry I had to show you that son," said Moody. "Why don't you come up to my office? We can have a cup of tea."
Neville looked somewhat scared at the idea which prompted Vincent speak up.
"It's fine if I come along right?" Vincent asked as Neville gave him a look that in between gratitude and annoyance, although it seemed as if Neville was more annoyed at himself rather than Vincent.
"Always got to stick my nose into everything don't I?" Vincent thought to himself as both of Moody's eyes stared at him.
Vincent saw a twitch occur on Moody's face, as if the man felt somewhat annoyed at the boy, however, he made no comment as he nodded.
"You two wait here for a bit, I need a quick moment with Potter," Moody hobbled of to Harry whom also looked out of it, probably still getting his head around what he learnt in the lesson, especially about a certain curse.
Vincent took a look at Neville who looked incredibly stiff. "He probably wants to apologize to you or something...I don't think it should take too long."
"Yeah...Right..." Neville muttered as he glanced at Vincent. "...I know I said I'd like to handle things by myself if possible, but...thanks anyway...for staying...and what you did earlier in class."
"...no problem, anytime," Vincent nodded just as Moody hobbled back.
"Right, with me you two."
Vincent glanced back at Arnya who was watching the lesson from the back of the classroom this time.
"I'll be a bit," Vincent mouthed to her to which she nodded. He didn't know if Arnya could read others lips or not, but he it seems like she got the message anyway.
Walking into the man's office, the first thing that caught his attention were the strange devices that littered the office, one of them was attached to magnifying lenses that covered practically the whole place. The next thing that he noticed was a somewhat large trunk placed in the corner of the room.
Nothing seemed spectacular about it, but that was why it caught his eye. Seeing something so ordinary was rather puzzling, as Moody didn't seem the sought to carry a trunk with him everywhere with his missing leg and injuries.
BANG!
The box started rumbling from side to side, as if something inside was struggling to get out, startling both Vincent and Neville. Moody walked over to box before kicking it with his fake leg, seemingly quieting whatever was inside.
"Interested in the box are you know? Don't bother, whatever's in it ain't anything special," Moody grumbled as he made his way towards a teapot, treating the box as a seemingly minor thing. "Black tea is fine for the both of you all right?"
"Y-yes sir!" Neville stammered, eyes flickering towards the trunk in nervousness.
"Black tea is fine, sir," Vincent voiced out.
Moody grunted as he threw in a couple of tea bags into a kettle before tapping the pot with cane, Vincent assumed that it was a spell of some sort to make the pot boil. "Take a seat already why don't you?"
Neville and Vincent both found seats and tried to get comfortable as they waited for Moody.
"I'll be done in a little bit, now then..." Moody turned to Neville as he himself sat down, giving a sigh of relief at finally being able to take a seat. "I have to apologize to you Longbottom...but I hope you understand that it needed to be done in order to show everyone what those curses can do."
"Ah, no...you don't need to apologize for anything!" Neville exclaimed, waving his hands in an odd motion. "If anything, I should be the one saying sorry for reacting like that..."
Moody snorted. "Ain't no one that can blame you kid, not with what you've gone through."
Neville's hands froze for a moment before lowering them to his lap. His head lowered a little, Neville gave a strained smile.
"It's fine...I've already gotten used to it...I mean, it's not like I completely lost them..." Neville trailed off, leading the whole room into silence.
Vincent could almost hear Neville's sadness seeping through his voice. While Neville wasn't wrong in that his parents didn't die that time, Vincent wasn't sure if their current condition was much better then that. Neville could see them, touch them, even talk to them, but in the end, it wouldn't matter.
They would never recognize Neville as their son, nor speak to him ever again. Vincent didn't think he could possibly understand Neville's pain.
The silence was interrupted by the whistling of the pot, indicating that it has already finished boiling.
"That was fast," Vincent's brow raised at the sheer absurdity of how quickly the tea was boiled. Once again he had to remind himself that the world he was in was full of the unnatural.
Moody made an effort to get up only for Vincent to do so instead. "I'll do it Professor, you two can continue talking."
Moody raised a brow at the action and nodded. "That would be well appreciated Mr Wong, I'll take you up on your offer in that case, cups are right behind that device there, the one box with all the weird wires poking out of it."
Vincent walked over to where the machine that Moody was talking about lay. It was exactly what the man described, a box with long translucent wires poking out from every direction possible.
"That there is simply a scanner for any readings for any unforgivable curse used in a ten mile radius. At least it that's what it was meant to be used for...Damn things far more unreliable then a remembrall," Moody grumbled as Vincent retrieved the tea cups and poured glasses for all of them. "Used all of those darn curses today and look at it, didn't detect a thing see, not a single wire glowing green..."
"Here sir," Vincent passed the cup to Moody before Neville who nodded in thanks as he took it.
Moody raised the cup to his eye, his good one, while the fake blue one whizzed about. He gave a sniff before taking a sip of the drink.
Neville and Vincent exchanged odd glances as the man seemed to swirl the liquid within his own mouth for a short moment before he swallowed, looking quite pleased with himself as he took a bit more.
"Now, Longbottom," Neville nearly coughed out his black tea at the sudden sound of his name being called. "I hear from Professor Sprout that you excel quite well in her classes, better than most students she previously taught. It's rather impressive, seeing that I can't claim to have known many to have been well versed in the subject."
"Ah, t-thank you sir," Neville scratched the top of his head embarrassingly at the praise. "I-I still think I have a lot to learn though."
Vincent just silently sat there as he sipped his tea. He looked at the exchange between the two of them with interest, taking note of Moody in particular.
From what Vincent's seen, Moody was somewhat of an odd man. Someone so cautious that he would check if whether the very tea he brewed was safe first before drinking, and fire curses that were deemed as illegal within a classroom full of children just to show them danger of such spells. That's not even to mention the fact that he turned Malfoy into a ferret, something that Vincent couldn't deny would have indeed been interested to see.
Then there was the man's treatment of Neville. The man apologized for traumatizing Neville before complementing him, thereby making the boy somewhat more comfortable with the older man's presence. Now, they were both talking comfortably with Moody questioning on the subject of Herbology, something that Neville was more than happy to reply too.
If Vincent was asked what kind of man the person known as Mad-Eye was, he would have describe him as a stubborn, stern, and rather stiff. Someone who would also throw reason right out the window at the first sign of danger, instantly shooting down anything that seemed out of place or a possible cause of danger with his wand or staff.
"Funnily enough, Mr Crouch had a similar deposition, although one could almost call them opposites, one that stuck to the rules, and another that has no issues throwing them right out the window when it's needed," Vincent pondered.
Although right now, the man was exhibiting an odd air of kindness for Neville, showing concern and even going as far to treat him to tea.
"He seems like an alright man, if not a little mad," Vincent thought, thinking of those odd glares and looks he's been getting from the professor. "Although...he does seem to dislike me for some reason...is that due to him being, in his words, 'constantly vigilant' or is it's something else..."
Vincent drank his tea before glancing down at his cup with a grimace. "This tea's terrible."
...
"Didn't see you at dinner, though, Neville looks a lot better now, glad that Professor Moody didn't scare the guy to death," Ron said to Vincent as soon as he and Harry stepped into the dormitories, noticing Neville flipping through a book, looking a great deal better than when they last saw him. "And what are you drinking?"
Vincent sat at a desk with homework spread out in front of him, drinking out of a mug that gave a ginger scent of sorts.
"Apparently Professor Sprout told Professor Moody about how talented Neville was in Herbology, so he decided to lend a book to Neville about magical water plants or something, seemed to cheer him up somewhat" Vincent answered as he took another swig of his drink, breathing a sigh of relief. "Didn't feel like eating so I just whipped up some ginger tea to wash my mouth out. Just a heads up, don't drink Moody's tea. I don't think he cares about what it tastes like, just whether it's drinkable or not. Stuff tasted just plain awful."
"Huh, we'll take your warning to heart then," said Harry as he set he placed his bag on the desk, getting started on his own homework as did Ron.
"Where's Arnya and Hermione? They still at the dining hall?" Vincent asked looking around the dormitories only not to see them at all.
"Library, Arnya followed her," Ron answered, scratching his head in frustration as he looked through scrolls that depicted several symbols that Vincent couldn't make sense of. "What the hell am I supposed to do about this..."
Harry shrugged. "Can't really make sense of anything when it comes to divination honestly."
Vincent went back to his own work, seeing that he had absolutely no experience in divination or such, hence, he would be unable to assist them at all.
"Divination does sound like something worth looking into," Vincent thought to himself as Harry and Ron gave up on taking the subject seriously and started making stuff up. "Looking into the future though...wonder if it's something that's set in stone or if it can be changed..."
A question came to Vincent's mind, one that he meant to ask Ron after Moody's class.
"Hey Ron, when Professor Moody was explaining the three forbidden curses, it seemed as if others didn't recognize or know of them, even those from families of wizards," Vincent voiced his observation earlier that day to Ron who glanced up from his work.
"Ah, yeah," Ron stretched his arms, trying to loosen them somewhat from the cramps he's gotten while working. "Well...normally children aren't intentionally taught what the forbidden spells are until they grow up or learn it from school or other sources...It's probably to avoid kids from trying it out with their parents' wands...That's just a disaster waiting to happen."
"What about you then Ron?" Harry asked, looking up from his work.
Ron shrugged as he answered. "Heard it from Dad in passing...Mum made me promise not to use it on anything or anyone when I asked about it...For obvious reasons of course."
"To compare it to muggle terms, I guess it's like how one wouldn't normally teach a child how to use a gun, or coming to know of the birds and the bees," Vincent scratched his head, thinking back to when he received 'the talk' from Sister An after questioning her on some...strange terms he had heard. "That was...something..."
Time slowly passed as the trio continued their homework. Every so often Nyx, Blimp, and Crookshanks passed by, with the latter trying it's hardest to catch them and the former luring the cat with treats, playing around and just enjoying themselves. Fred and George also passed by them, after spending quite a bit of time looking through some parchments seriously. Vincent wanted to ask them what the issue was, but the twins quickly noticed his gaze, giving him a wry smile before heading to bed.
"Wonder what that was about..." Vincent thought to himself, exchanging glances with Harry who seemed to have also taken notice of the twins' odd behavior. Harry shrugged in response before going back to his work.
"Probably should head to bed now," Vincent thought as he started to pack his books before rolling his homework parchment. He glanced around the nearly empty common room, nearly all the students have gone to bed with but a few still out doing either homework, chatting or having fun playing board games. He took notice of a few chess boards and other games that were unrecognizable to him before the entrance to the common room opened, making his focus drift to it.
Hermione stepped through with a box in hand with Arnya carrying a few in her lap as she trailed behind.
She came over and took a glance at Harry and Ron's divination homework. "Sounds like you two are going to have an awful month."
"It's Professor Trelawny, seriously, write down a bit of misery in your future and she'll eat that stuff up," Ron said.
"You're apparently drowning more than once," Hermione raised a brow. "You're not even going to bother saying where or when?"
"As she usually says, the future is always foggy, not everything can be seen," said Harry as he stretched, most probably getting cramps from sitting too long.
"...While I do have some mixed feelings about you two making up stories for your work, I have something important to discuss with you three," Hermione placed her box on the table pulling out a badge of sorts from it.
"Spew?" Ron read the badge out with some confusion. "What on earth is spew?"
"It's not Spew, it's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," Hermione explained.
"Also known as spew," Ron muttered.
Hermione ignored him as she continued
"Originally, it was going to be Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status — but it wouldn't fit. So I went with this instead. Our goal is to promote fair treatment to all House Elves, such as receiving better treatment and pay. Maybe even giving the elves a holiday or so."
"Holiday?" Ron asked hoarsely. "Hermione, open your eyes, House Elves love working! Holidays are seen as nightmares for them!"
"So how many members do you have?" Harry asked curiously, seemingly amused at Ron's reaction.
"Well, three since Vincent has already agreed to help out and Arnya here said she didn't mind joining...five if you two join," said Hermione, making the two of them look to Vincent.
'YOU ENCOURAGED HER?' Ron mouthed with a look of horror.
"...I...may have said I'd help her if I can," Vincent scratched his cheek with Ron smacked his head on the table with a groan, with Harry giving a small chuckle at Ron's antics.
"Well, in any case, you're all going to join right?" Hermione looked at them all with hopeful expressions.
Moments later, Vincent found himself staring at a SPEW badge in his hand while lying in bed. In the end, all of them had taken one, Ron doing so to stop her talking, and Harry seemingly doing it for so as to not let her feel bad.
He placed the badge down at his bedside table, ready to head to bed when he happened to glance at Neville's side of the dorm. Neville still had the book that Moody gave him on the table, but what really caught his attention was some sort of bandage that was sticking out of his drawer. Vincent remembered the scratches that were on Neville's hands earlier, making the connection between the two, and glanced at the now sleeping boy.
"Seems as if he's still practicing boxing without me," Vincent thought to himself as he pulled his blankets up. "He seems to be putting in quite the effort as of late...I hope he's not overexerting himself."