All that students did for the next few days was theorize about how Sirius Black may have entered the castle. The theories may have been plausible at the start, but by the fourth day, people were coming up with some wild far-fetched ideas. Just this evening, Wyatt was going on about his theory that Sirius Black could turn into a fly.
"That would mean he were an animagus. And if he were an animagus, he would have been registered with the Ministry, and it would have been public information," Elijah said, promptly dismissing yet another wild Wyatt theory.
"Animagi can turn into insects?" I questioned.
"Yeah, they can be practically anything," Isaiah responded.
"Even like a unicorn? Or a dragon? And what about a thestral?" I asked.
"Yes, if you possess the right qualities," Elijah answered, shrugging.
"So wouldn't this mean that — well, many people's animagi are so bloody useless?" I said, laughing at the thought. "Imagine your animagus is a dung beetle. Man, I'd much rather be a dragon or something powerful like that."
"Right? I can't believe we can't choose what animagus form we take," Wyatt said with disappointment.
"I wonder what my animagus form would be?" I said, pondering. "Hopefully, something majestic like a stag or a horse. That'd be neat."
"I think a dung beetle would suit you," Elijah said, smiling at the thought.
I rolled my eyes at him, holding a look of disgust.
"You know, dung beetles have their charms," Isaiah said. "Like, you could hide really well from people, maybe spy on others, since you're small enough to not be seen."
"And who the Hell are you hoping to spy on, Isaiah? Merlin, perv much?" I said in a teasing tone. He gasped gently.
"Not like that, Maeve," Isaiah said, widening his eyes with indignance.
"Nah, I think Maeve is projecting," Wyatt interjected, holding in a laugh. "You've given her the idea to use her dung beetle form to spy on James."
"What the Hell—?" I didn't even know what to say to that. It was so obviously wrong. I was just thankful James had a prefect meeting this evening and had to leave early to attend it; therefore, he couldn't hear these ridiculous claims. "You guys need to stop comparing me to dung beetles, or you'll jinx it so that I get that as my animagus form later."
"So, you really are planning on getting an animagus form in the future?" Isaiah asked. "I also want to, but I know it's really hard."
"Yeah, I hear it's like the most advanced transfiguration enchantment you can do," I said.
"It is," Elijah added. "My father's got one. A fox."
"Isn't James' father one too? A dolphin or something?" Wyatt said.
"No, that was his mother. His father doesn't have one," Isaiah corrected.
"A dolphin?" I repeated. "That's so awesome. I wonder how it would feel to have a water-based animagus form. Oh, I would definitely go swimming in the Black Lake as a dolphin."
"I'm not sure you could," Isaiah said, seemingly mulling it over in his head. "I think dolphins are salt-water creatures."
"Wait, you can die from being in the wrong environment as an animagus?" I said, surprised.
"You can, and it has happened before. Although spells do exist to circumvent this," Elijah informed us. My mouth hung open in shock.
"So, some animagus forms do suck more than others," I affirmed, shaking my head slowly.
"It would appear so, yes," Elijah said rather pompously.
"I'm surprised you know so much about animagi, Maeve," Isaiah admitted.
"Well, you're not the only person who reads, Isaiah," I teased with a spurious smile. He semi-rolled his eyes. "I'm just kidding," I said. "Actually, I just spend a lot of time with Hermione Granger, is all."
And supper was over soon after. Thanks to Slytherin house's unauthorized Halloween party the other day, our new house curfew was set at 8 PM, and Snape had instructed prefects to enforce it. Unfortunately for me, this included attendance-taking. I had been meaning to sneak out to brew potions for days now. I wasn't fond of having to sneak out in the middle of the night and missing out on sleep, but dire circumstances called for dire solutions.
"Alright, so, third-years," said the fifth-year prefect with whom James spent Halloween night supervising the entrances into the Great Hall. Her glossy pink lips pursed to one side as she looked down at the list of names on her parchment. Her strawberry blonde hair was secured into a crown braid with two noticeable loose strands gracefully framing her heart-shaped face.
We all looked at her expectantly, standing as a group in the common room just as the students from other years did with their designated attendance prefect.
"Blackwood, Maeve," she called. I instinctively raised my hand to signal my presence. She glanced at me for a split second before resuming with the list of names. "Bulstrode, Millicent."
Attendance-taking was fairly quick, as Hogwarts typically only had ten students per house per year. When we all entered our dorms just as we were obligated to every night since Halloween, Daphne resumed her routine groan of annoyance at the new curfew.
"It's so boring being trapped in here so early in the evening every day now," she said, slumping onto her bed. "I'm not even tired — no one in their right mind is tired at this time of the night."
Daphne grabbed her pillow and squished it onto her face, screaming into it.
"Well, at least it gives us an excuse to clean up around here for once," Pansy Parkinson said through Daphne's muffled pillow screams.
"We've been doing that every night so far," Tracey pointed out, gesturing at the over-the-top clean state of the dormitory. "This is as clean as it gets."
Daphne tossed her pillow aside and groaned again.
"We could play Truth or Dare," Millicent proposed with a twisted smile.
"No, every time we play that, you always make us do some nasty dares," Tracey said, shaking her head in disapproval.
"What's the fun in playing Truth or Dare if we don't even make the dares entertaining," Millicent deadpanned, staring at Tracey with a blank indecipherable expression.
"I think we have a very different idea of what entertaining means, Bulstrode," Tracey counted, visibly miffed.
"Well, in any case, we can't just mope around all evening," I interjected.
"What if we took a swim in the Black Lake before it gets too cold in the Winter," Daphne proposed, her eyes brightening up suddenly.
"But isn't it already cold by now? I mean, it's mid-November," Tracey said as a gentle reminder. "Besides, there's a mass murderer on the loose. Not to mention dementors."
"Yeah, but Sirius Black is only after Harry Potter, isn't he? We're Slytherins. If anything, he'd love us," Daphne expanded, gradually glowing with more enthusiasm every second as if the idea of risking her life for a cold swim was marvellous.
"But Black wasn't a Slytherin like the rest of his family," I chimed in. "He was a Gryffindor."
"How do you know this?" Tracey asked, perking her eyebrow up at me in curiosity.
"Well, Malfoy's Mum is cousins with Sirius Black, so I heard the news and whatnot," I shrugged.
"And then they say only Slytherins turn to dark magic," Tracey hummed.
"They don't?" Pansy Parkinson questioned with an amused smile.
"We aren't a monolith," I reminded her. Her smile sank.
"Monolith or not, it's not a lie that most of us turn to the dark arts," Pansy Parkinson insisted almost indignantly.
"Ah, who cares, guys," Daphne said, irked. "Who's coming with me to the Black Lake?"
"Too cold for me," I admitted, shivering at the thought of touching the freezing November water of the Black Lake.
"Eh, maybe not," Pansy scrunched her nose with uncertainty.
"You are mental," Tracey said to Daphne. "There's a mass murderer out there. And have you forgotten how unmerciful dementors can be?"
"I suppose it could be interesting to witness something horribly unexpected," Millicent pondered with a fond smile. "But we can't sneak out with the prefects guarding the common room all night."
"Ah, Merlin, they do!" Daphne sighed dramatically and went back to groaning into her pillow.
"Truth or Dare?" I proposed. Millicent began smirking deviously, nodding with approval.
"Ugh, fine," Tracey exhaled loudly.
"Eh, why not," Pansy shrugged.
"Great, I'm in!" Daphne exclaimed, sitting up on her bed with interest in this newfound development. "Ooh, let's invite the boys!"
"Yeah, let's go get them," Pansy said, standing up from her bed.
I was mentally debating protesting since I knew that meant that Malfoy was coming, but nothing managed to escape my mouth before Daphne and Pansy scampered out of the dormitory, leaving the door ajar.
Tracey seemed to have noticed the concerned look on my face because she said, "Don't overthink it, Maeve. We all know Malfoy has been avoiding you ever since you confronted him. It's not like he's going to agree to join us."
"Maybe that's true, but I don't want to be the reason why he's missing out on hanging with his friends. Would suck for him—"
"Oh, please, since when do you care about his feelings? Just focus on yourself. And worst case, don't look at him and pretend he's not with us," Tracey insisted with assurance. "After last time, d'you really think he's going to try causing some more drama? We've all told him how exhausted we are with all this. I think he's come to his senses."
I feigned a smile. Tracey was making a lot of sense here, but I still faintly doubted that this evening would go smoothly.
"You're a great liar, Davis," Millicent Bulstrode interjected casually. I had almost forgotten that she was here.
"Oh shush, you think everyone is a liar," Tracey tossed a pillow at Millicent, who caught it and lowly sniggered. I laughed awkwardly.
"Pillow fight, already?" Theodore Nott said as he shuffled into the dorm.
"You were planning one?" Tracey asked, one of her eyebrows perking up at him.
"Well, I was hoping to witness one," he said smugly, jumping his eyebrows at us suggestively. I wanted to punch him, but I also didn't want to start any drama as the other boys of our year (apparently excluding Crabbe and Goyle), along with Daphne and Pansy, filed in.
"Alright, so Truth or Dare, was it?" Draco Malfoy said as he pranced into the room. He barely even looked in my direction before choosing a random bed — Pansy's — to sit on.
"With alcohol?" Blaise said as he followed Daphne to her bed.
"We're too young to be getting drunk," I frowned.
"No, with Veritaserum," Millicent said, shuffling through her robes. She pulled out a crystal clear bottle —
"Where'd you get that?" I queried abruptly, eyeing the bottle suspiciously.
"You are terrible at keeping your belongings safe, Blackwood," she said, tentatively shaking the bottle at me.
"I — that's—"
"Wait, Blackwood had Veritaserum?" Blaise questioned, bemused.
"Did you make it?" Daphne asked, astonished.
"It's not mine — Millicent's just kidding," I lied quickly, side-glancing at Millicent with panicked eyes. Her brow furrowed slightly. As much as I wanted to take my rightful credit for making such a complex potion, I knew I could get into so much trouble if this news spread that I had Veritaserum — or made it.
"That makes two great liars in one night," she mused.
"Well, in any case, do we all agree to use Veritaserum for Truth or Dare?" I said, trying to shift the focus.
Most of us nodded or shrugged with indifference while Tracey looked disconcerted.
"I bloody knew it. Of course, Millicent wanted to play Truth or Dare for a reason," Tracey finally said, her eyes glazed with annoyance. "Whatever, I'm in, I suppose."
"This is gonna be fun!" Theodore Nott announced with mirth.
"Alright, so what do you do if you don't want to answer the question?" I asked everyone. "Should we establish some ground rules?"
"Nothing sexual," Tracey said immediately, glancing at Theodore Nott, who surprisingly didn't seem bothered by that rule. "And no dares that can get anyone hurt," she added, glancing at Millicent, who scrunched her face in disapproval but didn't protest.
"If you don't want to answer a Truth, you can just do a Dare instead," Pansy suggested.
"Or don't pick Truth unless you're willing to answer whatever question anyone may ask you," Draco Malfoy chimed in. "Although, I agree with Davis' terms."
"So, if you pick Truth, we give you a few drops of Veritaserum, then you gotta answer whatever we ask you — only one question, though, right?" Daphne said.
"Yeah, just one question — but just two drops should be enough for one evening," I added.
"You sure know a lot about truth serums," Blaise said dubiously at me.
"Well, you know — I know my potions," I said, laughing it off as casually as I possibly could.
No one seemed to believe me, but they did not seem to care as we moved on to the game. We all moved onto the floor, grabbing blankets and pillows to make ourselves comfortable as we sat in a circle. Daphne volunteered to go first and went with Truth.
"Alright, so, take that Truth Serum," Blaise said, bringing the bottle to her face. She pointed her face up and opened her mouth, and Blaise used the dropper to let two drops of Veritaserum fall into her mouth.
"Gimme your question!" Daphne said enthusiastically.
"I've got one," Blaise said, smirking. Daphne's face was slightly pink. "If you had never met me, who would you rather date?"
My mouth hung open in shock that he would even ask that. We were already off to a dramatic start. Daphne opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself by placing a hand over her mouth. She frowned.
"You're horrible, Blaise," Theodore Nott laughed.
"Aiden Blackwood," Daphne managed to say. I was not even surprised. Daphne had been pretty vocal about her attraction to my brother over the years.
Blaise gaped and looked at me. "You best make sure your brother stays away from my girl," he said, visibly irked.
"Hey, you're the one who asked," I laughed.
"Okay, you know what, Blackwood, Truth or Dare?" Blaise said.
"It's Daphne's turn to ask," I rolled my eyes at him in disbelief.
"No, good idea," Daphne smiled, her cheeks still pink from that Truth she had to admit to. "Let's go clockwise. Maeve, you're up."
"What?" I frowned, but a smile still formed on my lips.
"Okay, can I ask her? I got one," Daphne said. The others confirmed with a nod. "Maeve, Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," I said, thinking I was avoiding a horrible question.
"Okay," Daphne said, pondering as if she had hoped I had said Truth. "Oh, got it. Kiss the most attractive person in the room."
I frowned at her.
"Are you kidding me?" I laughed. Tracey was giggling in her hands next to me while Theodore Nott smirked.
"Not kidding," Daphne sang, smiling widely at me.
I carefully looked around at everybody, purposefully avoiding Malfoy. My gaze landed back on Daphne, and I approached her. Her face brightened when I planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Me?!" she said, surprised.
"Well, of course, you! You're gorgeous!" I clicked my tongue at her before returning to my seat on the floor. Daphne covered her face with her hands, sheepish. "So, Tracey's turn since we're clockwise, right?"
Tracey braced herself, smiling faintly at me.
"Tracey, Truth or Dare?" I asked her solemnly.
"Uh," she parted her lips to the side. "Okay, Truth, but please don't ask me anything weird, you guys."
"Give her the Serum," Millicent said quickly before anyone could ask Tracey the question. Daphne passed the bottle over to us, and I gave Tracey two drops of the Veritaserum.
"Please be nice," Tracey winced.
"I've got one," Theodore said.
"Merlin, help me," Tracey sighed, looking up. We all laughed, knowing Theodore would absolutely be the type to ask weird questions.
"Hey, I wasn't going to ask anything weird—" Nott said defensively at the laughs around the room. "No, I just — I was gonna ask — uh — what is your favourite colour?"
And we all cackled in absolute disbelief at him.
"I can't believe you just asked her that," Blaise tried to stiffle his laughter.
"Royal green," Tracey answered. "Okay, I said, don't be mean, not be boring."
"You just wasted a question, mate," Pansy said, shaking her head in disbelief at Nott, who looked slightly embarrassed but still proud.
"Now it's my turn," Millicent Bulstrode said eagerly, shutting down our fits of giggles. "I choose Truth."
"Oh, Bulstrode?" Draco Malfoy hummed. "This one's hard..."
I passed the Truth Serum over to Millicent, who gave herself a little more than two drops.
"I got one," Pany said, giddy. "Millicent, do you have a crush on anyone?"
"Tom Riddle," she said without a beat.
"Wait, who's that?" Pansy questioned.
"The Dark Lord," Draco Malfoy answered quickly. Pansy failed to hold back a very surprised laugh.
"So you've got the hots for Voldemort?" I asked, extremely amused. "Isn't he like — old?"
"Yeah," she said, unashamed.
"Hey, only one question, Maeve," Tracey said, though she was grinning at the revelation.
"I have to admit, I never would have guessed that Millicent could feel things," Daphne said, just as shocked as the rest of us.
"Pansy, you are a genius for asking that," Tracey said to Pansy, who smiled proudly.
"Okay, my turn now!" Nott grabbed the bottle from Millicent's hands. He administered himself two drops of the serum as suggested. "Truth!"
"Are you a pervert?" Tracey asked without hesitation.
Nott frowned. "I mean, just a little bit sometimes—"
And we all broke into laughter again.
"So, he knows," Blaise cackled in his hand.
"You guys are just using this game to embarrass me," Theodore Nott said, pouting.
"Hey, it was Millicent's idea to use Truth Serum," Tracey pointed out, lifting her hands in surrender.
"You're welcome," Millicent said, beaming.
"Okay, my turn, now," Malfoy said. "Dare."
Theodore dared him to do his makeup using the makeup found in our dormitory. Surprisingly, Draco Malfoy, King of Poise, followed through, showing no sign of fluster. He gave himself dark circles under his eyes and used Tracey's darkest lipstick on his lips. He looked like a blinking and breathing corpse, which was worth the laughs. But when the laughter died down, he unfortunately wiped off most of it.
Tracey dared Pansy to dance to Daphne's very enthusiastic but offkey singing of a Weird Sister's song. Malfoy dared Blaise to sing a Celestina Warbeck song. He didn't know the lyrics, so he just kept repeating what Daphne was saying in his ear. For Daphne's turn, Millicent dared her to light her homework on fire. As outrageous as it was, Daphne followed through. Her Arithmancy homework left the smell of burnt parchment floating around the room.
"Dare," I said when it was my second turn.
"Dare, again?" Daphne repeated. "You just don't want us to use the Veritaserum on you, don't you?"
"What? No, I just — I like dares," I said, my tone betraying my conviction. She eyed me suspiciously. "Fine, then, Truth, whatever. Salazar, you didn't have to peer pressure me."
"Great!"
Daphne dropped two drops of Veritaserum in my mouth. There was no taste.
"I got one," Malfoy said quickly. I tried to remain cool. "Have you ever used a Truth Serum on me before?"
He knew.
"I have," I said, my tongue moving without my consent. A few people gasped, and I cringed at my revelation. My heart felt like it was trying to jump out of my chest.