[Special] Tiny Guardians, Huge Problems
Two children walked through the castle corridors. They felt a rather interesting excitement at discovering a magical world full of dreams and hopes; although, in reality, it wasn't exactly like that. Dark and dangerous creatures surrounded the castle twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, lowering everyone's expectations and making many students anxious or even afraid to set foot outside the castle.
Morale had dropped drastically since classes began. Some even wanted to go back home and never return to this place.
Jeff and Frank moved through the corridors while Jeff seemed to be scolding his brother, who only smiled, trying to downplay his actions.
"Why do you keep trying to enter the forest? You don't know how dangerous it is right now. Do you want those monsters to take you?" Jeff said, clearly angry at his younger brother.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm pretty fast," Frank replied calmly, increasing Jeff's irritation even further.
"No. When I say no, it's no. If you try again, I'll tell Professor McGonagall," Jeff said quickly, torn between worry and frustration over Frank's reckless attitude.
"Alright, alright. I hear you. I won't enter the Forbidden Forest," Frank said, lifting both hands in a gesture of surrender.
But Jeff narrowed his eyes, staring at him.
"Well, I better get going. I heard the Weasley twins are looking for helpers for something," Frank said, eyeing his brother's face before turning around and running off so quickly Jeff had no time to stop him.
"Wait…" Jeff didn't even get to finish. His brother was already gone. But just as Jeff was about to follow him, he stopped abruptly because he almost bumped into something.
Something floating right at his eye level: a tiny fairy wearing a red dress.
"Oh… sorry," Jeff said, looking at the fairy.
The little fairy didn't seem to be paying attention at first, but when Jeff spoke, she turned around and her eyes locked onto him.
Jeff, for some reason, found himself staring at the fairy's tiny dress while feeling a small pinch in his chest. A strange sensation, as if the mere sight of her had surprised him more than expected.
In contrast, the fairy seemed to be observing him intensely, getting closer, almost pressing her tiny nose against Jeff's eye, forcing him to lean back slightly.
The fairy examined him closely. Then she began flying around him for a moment, as if studying him. Her eyes were narrowed, and one hand rested on her tiny chin, giving her a comically professional investigator vibe.
Then, without warning, she flew straight toward Jeff's mouth and forced it open. Jeff froze, completely confused, while she seemed to be checking something inside, as if searching for clues to a crime.
A second later, she flew back.
Now she hovered with her arms crossed, looking at him with a mix of confusion and interest.
"Uuuh… you're the fairy who's always with the other animals, right?" Jeff asked, trying to start a conversation.
The castle's animals were quite famous, and he had heard that there was a little fairy among the group. Many students talked about her. He had even heard rumors that this fairy often hovered around Harry Potter.
The fairy looked at him, pointed at herself, and then pointed into the distance. Jeff followed her gesture… and there he saw Harry Potter talking to a Ravenclaw girl at the end of the corridor.
"Oh… you're with Potter," Jeff said calmly.
Since joining Ravenclaw, Jeff hadn't had much time to make friends. Most of his housemates were too stressed because of the dementors. And he also felt a bit down for ending up in a different house than his brother. It wasn't that he felt lonely; he simply knew he couldn't watch over him closely anymore. And knowing Frank, who seemed to be hanging around the Weasley twins… that was double the worry.
The little fairy made several hand gestures, a form of communication many didn't understand. She was asking him if he was alone.
Jeff was a bit surprised by how easy it was for him to understand her, even if she didn't speak.
"Uh… ah, yeah. I was with my brother, but he's… a bit restless… so… I'm kind of alone," Jeff said with a sigh.
The fairy stared at him again. Then she made a gesture with her hand, telling him to wait a moment. Jeff, slightly confused, watched her fly away in a burst of sparkles, darting at high speed toward another corner of the corridor. Not very far.
Toward a suit of armor.
But Jeff noticed something interesting. For some reason, that suit of armor had a red, scaly tail sticking out from behind. It had a strange shape, as if something was stuffed inside. Jeff hadn't noticed it before… not until the fairy flew toward it.
She slipped in through the helmet's visor for a brief moment. The armor jerked suddenly and then fell over with a loud, crashing noise that should have alerted half the castle.
But only Jeff heard it.
When Jeff turned around, he saw that Harry Potter had slightly glanced in his direction… before continuing his conversation with Cho Chang.
It almost seemed like he had heard it too.
Other students were also in the corridor, but none reacted to the noise. Almost as if the sound had been… filtered.
Jeff looked again at the fallen armor and finally understood why it had that red tail and such a strange shape.
Red the dragon, one of the animals roaming the castle, was struggling desperately to pull the helmet off his mouth.
Jeff wondered three things at once:
first, how he got in there;
second, why his mouth was inside the helmet;
and third, how he had managed to hide so well, considering that the last time Jeff saw him, he was trying to camouflage himself behind a twig the size of his thumb.
At that moment, he wondered if maybe the dragon had been watching him or something.
But he shook that thought off immediately. Meanwhile, the little fairy, who if Jeff remembered correctly was named Terra, was helping Red pull the helmet off his head, pushing against it with her tiny legs as if she were lifting a giant boulder.
At last, it came off.
Then Jeff saw how the fairy seemed to be communicating with the dragon. She pointed at him for a moment and then pointed at the dragon.
Red stared at him suspiciously, as if Jeff were part of some strange conspiracy. Then Red shook his head. The fairy pointed toward Harry Potter and then, once again, at the dragon.
Immediately, Red stood up as straight as he could and, for some reason, adopted an expression resembling that of a knight receiving a sacred mission to protect his lord and master. This made Jeff let out a short laugh, because the creature looked far too amusing.
The fairy gestured again, and Red happily began running in the direction Harry Potter had gone after talking with Cho Chang. Although, for some reason, it looked like Potter was running away from something.
Then the fairy approached Jeff. She pointed at him, then at herself.
Jeff understood the idea: she would stay with him.
"Eh… with me?" Jeff asked, somewhat surprised.
Terra nodded with complete certainty.
"Mm… well, I don't mind. I think," he said, while the fairy puffed out her chest proudly, smiling as if she had won an important battle. She floated gently toward Jeff's fluffy hair before sitting there, giving him a few pats on the head as if crowning him.
Jeff felt strange, but it didn't bother him, so he continued on his way. He would go study in the library; one of the small pleasures he had discovered since arriving there. And learning magic, obviously.
…
Meanwhile, Frank, after separating from his brother, glanced back slightly with a grin when he saw that Jeff wasn't following him.
Without hesitation, he left the castle. He walked until he reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. His expression shouted adventure and exploration. Even if it was dangerous, his body seemed to crave it.
He stood there for a moment, staring at the forest, torn between following his impulse and obeying his brother.
And as if destiny wanted to answer for him, the moment he took a step forward, he felt a gaze upon him.
A gaze that petrified him. Literally.
His body froze completely and, since he had one foot lifted, he lost his balance and fell face-first onto the ground.
Lying on the dirt, he noticed something moving. Green and gray scales slid through the grass. Then a snake's head appeared; small, with dark, shiny eyes fixed on him while its forked tongue flickered out in brief intervals.
But he also felt something else: the snake's gaze wasn't normal. It was a gaze that seemed… interested.
A snake? Frank thought. And for some reason, he didn't feel afraid, even though he was petrified in front of something that could very well be venomous.
The snake moved its head slightly, looking him straight in the eyes.
Then it blinked, and Frank could move again. He quickly stood up just in case, staring at the reptile.
"What are you?" Frank asked.
Obviously, he wasn't going to get an answer… unless he knew Parseltongue.
"Mm… a magical snake or something like that?" he said, holding its gaze for a moment. "Well, I won't bother you if you don't bother me."
He carefully walked around it and approached the forest again.
But before taking the next step, his body petrified once more. He fell to the ground for the second time.
It seemed the snake was preventing him from entering the forest.
When he recovered movement, he stood up quickly, now a bit annoyed.
"Hey, I told you if you don't bother me, I won't bother you," he said, indignant after falling again.
The snake simply watched him. Its tongue flicked out every so often.
Frank thought maybe it understood him, so he nodded and lifted his foot to move forward again.
He fell a third time.
His body had been blocked once more.
And this time, his patience evaporated. Once he was free, he planned to give that meddling snake a piece of his mind.
When he recovered movement, he stood immediately, ready to scold the reptile. But when he looked at the spot where it should have been… he saw something else.
Something bigger.
He followed the trail of green and gray scales… until he noticed the snake was roughly at his height.
Or rather, much taller; it had simply lifted its body until reaching his eye level.
Frank froze for the fourth time. He was about to turn around and run.
But another look from the snake petrified him once again. This time, she began to coil around him.
Frank felt he really should have listened to his brother. He was sure he was about to die, strangled by a giant snake. He closed his eyes, waiting for the worst.
But the pain never came.
His body was released. The snake's size shrank in an instant, returning to its small form. Now she rested on his shoulder, like a strange scarf, and peeked her head out to stare at him closely.
Then she turned her head toward the forest. Frank followed her gaze.
He saw, in the distance, at least three dementors gliding slightly between the trees. They had no eyes, but he felt they were watching him, waiting for him to enter.
"You were… helping me?" Frank asked, sounding surprised.
The snake simply looked at him silently, unmoving, before settling comfortably on his shoulder. As if this were her new permanent spot.
"Mm… so now I have a companion," Frank said, looking at the snake resting on his shoulder as if nothing were unusual. He smiled a little and decided to return to the castle. It seemed he would have to listen to his brother and stop searching for trouble just for the thrill.
…
Meanwhile, Harry, walking in search of his friends, turned around for a moment. He looked at Red for some reason, because Red still had pieces of armor stuck to his body.
The metallic clanking was impossible to ignore.
Harry could only sigh and continue walking while the sound of metal scraping and hitting the floor echoed behind him.