Chapter Text
As the familiar buildings of Hogsmeade came into view, you could have jumped for joy or sobbed with relief. If you'd had the energy to do so, that was. Instead you continued to plod forward, one heavy step after another. Your broom was in your bag, your exhaustion so great you had chosen the slower path of walking instead of risking further injury by falling. You wished you were approaching the castle instead, but you counted this as good enough for now. You had been out all night searching for clues as to how far Rookwood and his men had progressed.
The sun had just cleared the horizon and judging by the clouds overhead, it promised to be a lovely day. That was good news. You could use some good in your life to combat the darkness of both the evil and the caves you'd visited. Seriously. So. Many. Caves.
The sounds of the village finally reached you: people setting up shops for the day, farm animals on the edges of the town getting their morning feed, the rush of water from the stream that flowed beside it, and the ever present fireworks from Zonko's. This. This is what magic was supposed to be for. Joyous wondrous things. Not the terrible horrors you had experienced in the past month. Not only from the goblin uprising having bastardized magic, you'd also had various poacher camps and the ancient trials to contend with.
The Keepers were lucky that you enjoyed figuring out puzzles and were of a helpful disposition anyways.
Before you could take another step, your knees buckled and you fell to the soft grass. There was no one else in the near vicinity to watch that embarrassing act (except a scarecrow that flopped around in jerky motions) so you rolled completely off the path and just lay on a knoll, catching your breath and trying not to let your exhaustion drown you.
Far from being your first all nighter, either in your life, or in the current string (and wasn't that depressing? You were still a fifteen year old-though your sixteenth birthday rapidly approached) you had quickly developed means of keeping yourself going.
For a fifth year, you had the immense responsibilities of catching up with your peers along with possessing an ability that was declared ancient and rare. Somehow you were supposed to be better. Better at catching up on the mountains of school work, better at helping your friends with their various problems despite them having years of magical learning on you, better at stopping Ranrock, Harlow, and Rookwood. (Granted, only a handful of people actually knew about these abilities and four of them were portraits.)
It was far too much but there wasn't anyone else who could do it. Professor Fig could only do so much. You still had your daily classes, backlog of work, and only you possessed the magic strong enough to beat the enemy. You were better. You had to be better.
Groaning, you sat up and dug into your bag for yet another modified Wide Eyed potion. (Your recent awareness of being allergic to some of the ingredients had made you lose three nights of sleep alone to find a roundabout, wasn't that ironic?) As this was a third year potion, and one you'd had your eye on for a while, you had finally gotten around to practicing it. As of yet, you hadn't been let down by it. It was a shocking neon yellow color, something that startled you when you had brewed it the first time. The only adjective you could describe it as tasting like was 'zingy'.
Feeling the artificial energy race through your system, you stood back up, brushed yourself off, and continued the journey to Hogwarts in a newly invigorated dash. For all the magic that existed, you sure could use something to give you more time. There simply weren't enough hours in the day to accomplish all that you needed to do.
But still you persisted. No one else could so you would step up and help.
Word got around about you-both from fellow students and shop-keepers alike. As much as you liked to see the familiar faces of your friends and those who worked in Hogsmeade, you needed to avoid them lest news of your sighting reached the ears of your mentor, or worse, a certain former auror who despite having helped in the past, was one you wanted to avoid.
Sharp had never been cruel or done anything to embarrass you, rather the opposite. However, with the alarming frequency of how banged up you would get as well as your many disappearances, you thought it best to avoid his notice for the time being. So regretfully, instead of stopping in a few of the shops of Hogsmeade, you took the scenic route along the edge to continue on the path to the castle. Your first class was due to start in a little over an hour. Just enough time to clean yourself up and grab your books for it.
You arrived at your Charms class just in time as Professor Ronen was finishing writing the day's assignment on the chalkboard. Taking your seat next to Natsai, you smiled your thanks when she slipped you some toast from breakfast. You had established the excuse early on with her that you had a bad habit of sleeping in and missing the first meal of the day. While untrue, you were still thankful that she had taken pity on you and always grabbed an extra few things to nibble on. Especially since you had so willingly taken on her crusade to take down Harlow (for other reasons, but he needed to be stopped regardless).
Taking care not to get any butter on your homework scroll, you set the finished work on your desk to be collected with everyone else's. It (along with your Transfiguration homework) had been sitting on the desk you had conjured specifically for homework in the Room of Requirement. Both assignments had still had work to be done on them and you had rushed to finish, hence your nearly late attendance.
As Ronen began speaking, Natty glanced over at you. "Are you alright?" She whispered.
"Of course." you whispered back, subtly checking to make sure nothing about your person was out of place. You had stored a few extra sets of clothes and robes along with the various outfits you had found in your travels in your study room as well. This set was clean and matched correct. You had also taken an incredibly quick shower in the loo off to the side of the Room. The shock of the cold water had also helped wake you up. Another long overdue learned spell dried you off and you had grabbed your newly finished homework and dashed to class.
So you weren't smelly and you were wearing appropriate attire. Why was she asking?
She answered your unasked question. "You look tired. Did you learn anything else about Har-" She cut herself off as Ronen walked right past you. You took that distraction as a sign to tune in to what he was saying. You genuinely liked his teaching style and wanted to do well in his class. The first fifteen minutes ended up being the theoretical and the last hundred and five the practical, which in this particular class meant a game of some sort.
The following period had the students charming tiny legs on various kitchen dishware and racing them through a pre-made obstacle course. It both required precision but was also highly amusing to see the objects zoom around. The laughter produced much needed endorphins and you packed your bag up afterward, smiling broadly. Ignoring the slight tremor of your hands, you felt positive that things weren't as bad as before. You would be fine.