The Slytherin Magus

I must have dozed off because I woke up shortly after to the sound of the bells, there were announcements after.

"Attention! Students are to return to their dormitories and remain there for the rest of the day. Classes are canceled for the rest of the day and any students found outside their dormitories will be punished."

I still had to do a couple of things before returning to my dormitory so I slipped out of the Hospital Wing when Madam Pomfrey was distracted so that she wouldn't force me to rest for a couple more hours.

First I had to grab the charmed chest and turn it in to Headmistress McGonagall, it might come in handy in their investigation.

I didn't think it would be that difficult to retrieve the chest so how did I end up in this position?

I was tightly gripping the slimy old gum in my left hand, my right hand steadily holding my wand by my side.

In front of me stood Professor Esme with a guarded expression, she looked nothing like she did when I saw her in the Dungeons corridor earlier.

Behind her, were a panting Hazel and Witter who also securely held their wands. We were all standing in the first-floor girl's bathroom.

As if on cue, Professor Faringray showed up at the doorway, very surprised to see all of us in our odd positions.

"What is going on here? Professor Bronagh?" He deferred to her.

'What is going on here? Well, I'll have to begin from when I first left the Hospital Wing.'

[A bit of a rewind]

Making my way down the floors was quite easy, the students I came across were trying to get to their dormitories so nobody gave me a second glance.

I got to the corridor that led to the first-floor girl's bathroom to grab the transfigured chest and decided to peek into the bathroom where I had found it.

It would add up that whoever kept it there would come looking for it after the chaos died down.

There I found Professor Esme.

She wasn't making use of the stall because she left the door wide open and seemed to be searching for something.

She shot upright when she saw me and immediately hurried outside, watching me curiously.

Before she could say a word, Hazel and Witter came rushing inside, looking out of breath.

They too froze up when they saw Professor Esme and me, so it was to this odd scene that Professor Lambert Faringray bumped into.

"I…" Professor Esme cleared her throat. "I would like to know that as well."

I raised a brow and then straightened up. "I left something here while I was running for safety earlier, then I heard a noise and checked it out only to bump into Professor Esme." I ended coldly.

Everyone fell quiet again, there was an odd tension in the room, like everyone else didn't know how much the others did.

This made us all cautious and wary of each other.

Professor Lambert Faringray took the initiative to clear up the atmosphere. "That doesn't matter now, students are to be in their dormitories." He decided to be neutral about it.

He stood to the side and gestured for us to leave the bathroom. Professor Esme left first, standing beside him and staring at us intently.

Hazel was the first to leave, a frown on her face. Witter left right after, keeping close to her.

I was the last to leave, walking slowly while staring at the Professors who were waiting to make sure that we would head back to our dormitories.

I felt an odd sensation as I walked past them, like someone was trying to get past a metal door in my head.

I glanced up at Professor Esme, she had her head down.

Professor Faringray frowned however when I seemed to slow down. "Is something the matter?"

"Not at all." I muttered, hurrying out.

I walked away to find Hazel and Witter waiting for me.

"What just happened?" She asked me.

"No idea but we need to get to Headmistress McGonagall first thing."

"I have to agree," Witter mumbled leading the way. "She's the one person we can absolutely trust."

As we hurried to find Headmistress McGonagall who was still in the Great Hall, I found Hazel constantly staring at me.

"Did you…" She started to ask but then seemed to think better of it.

Witter was in front of us so he didn't seem to notice this interaction.

"You felt it too?" I replied quietly.

"Yeah, one of the Professors used Legilimency on us." She frowned. "They didn't probe too deep and it was so sudden that I couldn't guard myself."

I looked thoughtful. "Any idea what they were looking for?"

"Most likely the charmed chest because I found myself thinking of where you kept the old piece of chewed-up gum for no reason." She worried.

"It's fine, I already had it with me then," I reassured her because she looked extremely guilty like she had given out an important secret to the enemy.

I was brought back to the weird sensation I felt, I didn't know how to use Occlumency but I doubted that the Professor had been able to get through to my mind.

Was it the system?

I smirked inwardly; the system was actually the perfect Occulumens. It set up shop in my head so no one could access my mind without bumping into it.

Initially, I figured that if I acquired the Legilimency skill I would automatically be granted Occlumency as well.

It turned out that there was no provision for it because there was no need.

Headmistress McGonagall was the only person left in the Great Hall, she was seated on her throne-like chair looking thoughtful.

It seemed like the rest of the Professors had been dispatched to make sure that students weren't wandering outside their dormitories and to keep an eye out.

She looked up immediately when we got in, a frown on her weather-worn face. "Children? Why are you out of your dormitories?" She demanded crisply.

Hazel and Witter seemed to falter but I matched forward, when I got to her, I brought out my wand and silently tapped the gum.

Her eyes went wide when a chest popped out from nowhere, she sat up straight and looked stern.

"Audric Albeline, what is this?" She demanded, looking grudgingly impressed at how good I was at Transfiguration.

I took a deep breath. "While the chaos was ongoing, we decided to check the first-floor girl's bathroom because that was where the rumors of a Basilisk had begun from and just as we deduced, this chest was skillfully hidden in one of the stalls."

"We have reason to believe the Boggarts were planted." Hazel blurted out.

Headmistress McGonagall's eyes became sharp behind her spectacles. "You are aware that we were attacked by Boggarts?"

Silence fell on us, Hazel looked particularly red and guilty.

She sighed like she was used to these kinds of situations. "Hand it over then."

"I have reason to believe there are still a couple of Boggarts trapped in the box." I added, handing the box over.

She peered down at me with sparkling eyes but her stern expression remained in place. "Tell me, children, how many Boggarts did you all banish?"

"One." Witter grumbled, unhappy that his number of banished Boggarts would be the lowest.

"Two." Hazel answered sheepishly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Headmistress McGonagall's eyes fell on me when I took too long answering. I knew it was my turn, I was just trying to do the calculations.

"I um… I lost count." I rubbed the back of my neck.

Witter choked at my response, glaring at me with jealousy.

Headmistress McGonagall leaned back on her chair. "I figured as much."

"Also, we have reason to believe that Professor Esme might know something about this." I added in a very serious voice.

Headmistress McGonagall became deathly serious as well. "Those are very bold claims, Albeline."

I nodded, then told her every single thing I knew leaving nothing out.

"And you two are also witnesses of this?" She directed at Hazel and Witter.

They nodded, their expressions grave.

"This just got a lot more complicated." She sighed. "Thank you, children. 20 points each to Gryffindor and 50 points to Slytherin. I would also appreciate it if you kept this a secret, now please return to your dormitories and remain there." She ordered, her tone softer than when we first walked in.

We left afterwards, Hazel and Witter heading to their dormitories while I made my way to the dungeons.

This had started during the first period of the day and now it was clearly afternoon. I was tired and hungry.

Lunch must have already passed, did they serve the students lunch while they were in the Great Hall? That was most likely what happened.

I trudged through the passageway that led to the Slytherin dungeon, the common room was bustling but they all fell quiet as soon as I stepped in.

I didn't have the energy to address them so I just continued my journey to the dormitories.

I didn't get far though because an outraged Sawyer blocked my path, I noticed that for the first time, he was all alone. Blythe and Crawley were nowhere to be found.

I just brushed past him and went straight to my bed, I pulled off my shoes and dropped on it, falling asleep almost instantly.

Before I was dragged into the murky depths of the dream world, I could hear the dings of notifications going off.