Ginny arched an eyebrow, stepping closer again until her firm chest pressed enticingly against my own. "A brand-new racing broom arriving the day after you visited my family's house for the first time, with a note signed by a 'secret admirer'?" She tilted her head coyly, her green eyes sparkling mischievously. "You're not nearly as subtle as you think you are, Harry."
I laughed and surrendered immediately. "Fine, fine. Guilty as charged," I admitted, feeling a slight flush of embarrassment creep up my neck. "I might have sent you something special."
Ginny's smirk widened triumphantly, clearly proud she'd correctly guessed it. She ran her fingers gently along my chest.
I'd also bought similarly extravagant gifts for Hermione, Gabrielle, and Fleur, though I wisely kept that fact to myself. It wasn't the moment to mention the other witches.
Luna, who had quietly watched our playful exchange from the side, abruptly let out a soft, overly dramatic sigh. "Oh dear," she said dreamily. "It seems I didn't get a lovely gift..."
Ginny glanced over at Luna. "Harry didn't even know you existed at that point."
Luna paused thoughtfully, her brows knitting together briefly before she smiled again. "Oh, right. How silly of me," she admitted happily, returning to her usual carefree self. She reached casually into the depths of her bottomless bag, pulling out a sizable chunk of raw meat. With a dreamy smile, she gently held out the morsel toward the towering thestral that stood patiently beside her, its skeletal body shifting restlessly. "Here you are, my lovely," Luna murmured fondly, stroking the creature's leathery head gently as it gratefully gobbled up the offering. The beast snorted appreciatively, nudging Luna's shoulder affectionately before spreading its enormous wings and flying back toward the Forbidden Forest.
We watched it disappear into the distance before Ginny turned her attention fully back to me. Her eyes fixed onto mine, as she slowly traced her finger along the outline of my jaw. "Anyway," she said softly, voice low and teasing, "since you're being such a generous secret admirer... Perhaps I should properly thank you for the amazing present?"
"Properly thank me, hmm?" I repeated, matching her playful gaze. "What exactly did you have in mind, Ginny?"
She leaned in close, pressing herself against me again. Her voice dropped into a soft whisper. "Wouldn't you like to find out?"
Before I could respond, Luna stepped forward unexpectedly, interrupting the charged moment. "Hmm, I do wonder if you two plan to start kissing again," Luna said airily. "If so, I can wait quietly somewhere nearby. Or watch, if you'd prefer," she added shamelessly.
Ginny burst into laughter, her face turning adorably red as she shook her head at Luna's blunt honesty. "Merlin, Luna, could you make it sound any stranger?"
Luna tilted her head innocently. "I suppose I could, though that seems unnecessary."
The walk back up to the castle was casual and easy, the air filled with cheerful banter. Ginny stretched lazily and glanced curiously at Luna and me. "So," she began, "why do you reckon Dumbledore canceled all the classes today?"
I shrugged, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "No clue. I've only met the old dude a few times, and each time he seemed pretty eccentric."
Ginny snickered softly. "Eccentric old dude," she repeated, giggling to herself. "Yeah, I guess that describes him pretty accurately."
"I think it fits him quite well," Luna chimed in dreamily. She had her head tilted upwards, watching clouds drift overhead, seemingly lost in thought again.
I continued after a moment's hesitation. "Though, my mom was at the castle yesterday. Maybe that had something to do with it...?"
There was no predicting Serafall's antics, although she gave the school another ludicrous amount of money so clearly something big was going to be happening soon.
"Your mother is very pretty, Harry," Luna said softly, her blue eyes meeting mine with an honest, open look.
I smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Luna. I'm sure she'd love hearing that."
"She's also pretty eccentric herself," Ginny added playfully, nudging me with her shoulder.
Chuckling, I shook my head slightly. "You seriously have no idea..."
We continued toward the castle, passing groups of other students thoroughly enjoying their unexpected day off. Several couples were openly snogging against trees or walls, clearly not caring who saw them. I spotted one guy grabbing his girlfriend's ass firmly while they kissed heatedly, their mouths working eagerly against each other. Another couple, leaning against a shaded tree, were practically grinding together, oblivious to anyone watching.
Yeah, when you lock a bunch of mostly attractive young adults together for months out of the year, this is pretty much what's going to happen. I say mostly attractive because while most witches are generally good looking, that is not the case for a lot of the guys. Like what the fuck happened with Malfoy's goons? Considering I still hadn't seen either of them use magic, I was starting to wonder if they were secretly muggles or something...
Luna suddenly turned to us with a curious look. "Would you two like to come visit my common room?"
I don't think she was inviting us up for "sex" just for us to hang out judging by her tone and expression.
Ginny gave Luna a puzzled look. "Is that even allowed? I thought other students weren't supposed to go into different houses."
Luna shrugged casually. "Girls in my dorm sneak boys in all the time. Sometimes they don't leave until the next morning. I don't think anyone minds."
I snorted. "Well, at the very least, I could check up on my aunt. She always gets super stiff and flustered the next day if my mom gets too lovey-dovey in front of everyone. Is she hiding out today from the public? Sona's pretty easy to embarrass."
Ginny nodded understandingly. "Oh yeah, I totally get that. My mum's exactly the same with me since I'm her only daughter-"
Ginny abruptly stopped speaking, stumbling to a halt with a shocked gasp. Luna and I quickly followed her gaze.
A cat was literally hanging off the wall, its small body limp and motionless, blood dripping slowly from rusty hooks embedded into the stone. Dark red letters had been scrawled messily on the wall in blood.
"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE!"
"...Okay," I said bluntly. "I get that this is a school that teaches literal witchcraft, but that right there is fucked up."
And then we were no longer alone.
It felt like the entire school had somehow teleported around us instantly. Dozens of footsteps echoed through the stone hallways, loud whispers and shocked gasps spreading everywhere. I turned quickly, utterly baffled at how everyone had appeared so suddenly when the school was supposed to be empty and quiet today.
"How the hell did everyone show up at once?" Ginny muttered, her voice shaking slightly as she pressed closer to my side, clearly uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny we were receiving.
"Magic, probably," Luna said dreamily beside me, her usual calm tone at odds with the bizarre and disturbing scene. She seemed unfazed by the stares, though her eyes studied the crowd with curious interest.
Students crowded tightly around us, faces pale and eyes wide with shock and suspicion.
"Did they do it?" I heard someone mutter darkly.
"They were standing right by it," another voice chimed in, dripping with suspicion.
Professor McGonagall quickly stepped forward from the crowd. "Everyone, step back immediately!" Her sharp voice echoed through the hall, silencing most of the muttering. Her stern gaze shifted to us, clearly assessing the situation. "Mr. Sitri, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood-care to explain exactly what's happened here?"
I met her eyes firmly, keeping my voice calm but clear. "We literally just walked up and found this," I said plainly, gesturing at the gruesome sight behind us. "None of us did this. We just stumbled onto it."
And then Filch showed up. The guy looked like he hadn't slept in a year, all hunched over with wild, greasy hair and a permanent scowl carved into his face. His ratty coat flapped behind him as he stormed into the hall, eyes instantly locking on the cat-his cat-hanging from the wall.
He stopped cold, staring in horror, and for a second, I actually felt bad. The way his face crumpled, like he'd just lost the only thing that gave his miserable life any meaning, hit harder than I expected.
But that sympathy vanished the moment his gaze whipped around to us. His expression twisted into pure rage, his lips curling into a snarl.
"You!" he roared, pointing a shaking finger at me, Ginny, and Luna. "You bloody murderers! You'll pay for this!"
Then he did something that made every jaw in the crowd drop-he reached inside his grimy coat and pulled out a rusty, jagged knife. It looked like it hadn't been sharpened in decades, and honestly, it probably had dried blood on it from Maou-knows-what.
Gasps rippled through the crowd of students, a couple of them stumbling back in fear. Even Professor McGonagall looked stunned. She didn't move or cast anything-just stood there frozen for that split second too long.
That was all the time I needed.
I yanked out my fake wand. A hard blast of freezing water shot straight out and smacked Filch right in the face with a wet thwack. He went down hard, slipping on the slick stone and crashing flat on his ass. The knife skidded across the floor, and he sputtered, coughing and choking, soaked to the bone.
McGonagall finally snapped out of it. She snatched up the knife with a quick spell, levitating it away safely.
She turned to me sharply, eyes narrowed. "Mr. Sitri, while I appreciate that you used non-lethal force, Hogwarts rules do not encourage students to hex staff. Even... non-magical ones."
I shrugged, still catching my breath. "Sorry, Professor. He came at us with a knife. I wasn't planning to let him stab me..."
Her expression softened a touch. She let out a breath, clearly trying not to admit she agreed. "You showed restraint. That counts for something. Ten points to Gryffindor."
The house points thing, I still didn't totally get how it worked. I was barely three days into Hogwarts life and all the point scoring and penalties still felt a bit silly.
Ginny, however, looked thrilled. She threw her arms around mine, pressing tightly against me, her chest pushing into my side as she grinned. "You were amazing," she whispered.
More teachers arrived quickly after, voices raised in attempts to calm and disperse the rapidly growing crowd.
Dumbledore appeared at last, his elaborate robes swirling dramatically around him as he walked purposefully down the corridor. I noticed something strange in his expression, an instant of genuine shock as he studied the bloody message scrawled on the wall. He quickly regained control.
"Everyone," he announced firmly, his voice gentle but impossible to ignore, "please return to your merriment and enjoy the remainder of your day off. The staff will handle this."
Most students seemed reluctant, curiosity holding them in place before McGonagall shooed them off firmly, leaving only a few professors still lingering.
One of them, Professor Lockhart, hovered at the edge of the scene. His pale eyes widened briefly in shock as he saw the gruesome scene on the wall. Yet, just seconds later, a smug smirk tugged at the corners of his lips...
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Could this ridiculous buffoon have staged something this weird, just to sell more of his idiotic books? The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. Lockhart couldn't pull off anything this dark or twisted-hell, the guy could barely manage the simplest spell without fumbling pathetically.
No way was he behind this. Although I did expect he was going to try and take advantage of it somehow.
A more welcome figure approached next. Professor Lupin. The calm, slightly worn-looking man stepped over Filch, who was still sputtering insults and curses at me from the wet stone floor.
"Are the three of you alright?" Lupin asked kindly, glancing between me, Ginny, and Luna with genuine concern. His gaze fell on Ginny, who still clung tightly to my arm, and Luna, whose dreamy expression hadn't shifted at all despite the chaos.
I grinned back at him. "Honestly, Professor Lupin, I'm pretty fantastic. I just spent the morning soaring through the air, pressed up nice and close against two beautiful witches." My grin widened slightly. "Why wouldn't I be great?"
Ginny flushed scarlet instantly, and Luna gave a soft giggle.
Lupin's eyebrows rose with clear amusement, shaking his head slightly as he took in the scene. "Unbelievable... I can't believe you're NOT actually James's kid after all, Harry. He certainly had a way with pretty witches back in our school days, too."
I raised an eyebrow. "Are you disappointed, Professor? I heard you and James used to be best friends or something."
Lupin chuckled lightly, waving a dismissive hand. "Disappointed? Hardly. Let's just say James deserves it after betraying such a kind and accepting woman like Lily..." He sounded mournful for a moment, and I wondered if he too had a thing for her? But then he shook it off. Lupin clapped me lightly on the shoulder. "Enjoy the rest of your day off, Harry. Professor Dumbledore has planned a big surprise for tonight's feast, and I wouldn't want you to miss it."
A sudden shout from Filch drew our attention again. He'd crawled onto his knees, drenched, his greasy hair clinging to his twisted, rage-filled face. "I'll see you expelled for this, Sitri! All three of you! I'll see you kicked out in disgrace-"
I took a step forward, fists clenched tightly, my patience worn dangerously thin. Lupin caught my shoulder firmly, pulling me gently but firmly back.
"Not worth it, Harry," he said quietly but firmly. "Trust me, he's been threatening students with expulsion since before you were even born."
I nodded reluctantly, letting the tension leave my shoulders as I wrapped my arms confidently around Ginny and Luna instead, drawing both young women even closer against me. Their soft bodies pressed warmly into my sides, and both girls blushed deeply as they relaxed under my hold.
Filch glared at us, muttering darkly to himself before staggering away, dripping wet and thoroughly humiliated.
...Never skip leg day. Especially if you attend Hogwarts.
That thought echoed in my mind repeatedly as I climbed the seemingly endless spiral of stairs behind Luna and Ginny on our way up to the Ravenclaw common room. Neither of these witches had ever skipped leg day-judging by their beautifully toned thighs and the firm, tempting curves of their backsides swaying enticingly with every step upward. Luna's delicate summer dress lifted just enough to tease me with brief glimpses of pale, smooth skin, revealing more than enough to stir my imagination. Ginny's tight jeans hugged her hips and rear so snugly, the fabric appeared painted on, perfectly outlining each flawless curve.
