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In all honesty, you stayed true to Professor Sharp and Fig’s promise and didn’t go looking for trouble, instead, trouble found you. You were taking a familiar walk along the edge of the forbidden forest, stomach full of a hearty meal and butter beer courtesy of Sirona, when a loud shout from within the trees made you whip out your wand.
The trees to your side rustled in warning as the branches blew out toward you, whipping wildly around a bolt of purple magic that wrapped tightly around you, and with a pained gasp, dragged you forcefully into the trees.
Your body rolled across the ground like a rag doll, a rock slammed into your hand, forcing you to drop your wand as pain flared in your wrist, and you cradled the injured limb as you came to a rolling stop in a clearing.
You forced the oncoming waves of nausea down as your dinner threatened to cover the ground and the boots that stood before you.
“Grab them.” You reached blindly for your wand in alarm before diving to the side to avoid a boot to the face. A chill rolled down your spine as you realized your wand was nowhere in sight. You let out a grunt as a boot punched the remaining air in your lungs out, as another poacher aimed his wand directly at you.
With dirty robes and dirt-stained hands from your tumble on the forest floor, you could only raise your arms and let out a sigh of defeat as you looked at the group of Ranrok’s loyalists and poachers before you.
“If you ever need help, just ask.” Sharp's voice pierced your adrenaline-flooded mind, and you closed your eyes, concentrating on the feel of your magic. A faint burst of warmth emanated from within your chest, and you could practically visualize a flame dancing behind your eyelids.
“I need help, please.” Your voice cracked in fear as you poured all your energy into the unfamiliar part of your magic core, fear, and the faces of the sneering men and goblins in front of you in a desperate attempt to see if anything, something would respond.
“Mending our magical cores into yours could have unforeseen reactions.” You prayed Professor Fig was right, and by some miracle, you could escape from the situation without the use of wand magic.
“Grab some rope, Ranrok will be pleased tonight!” The grating voices of goblin cheers rattled the clearing as you were grabbed by your hair, a pained growl tearing from your throat as you began to fight like a wild animal, lashing out with teeth and nails.
You would not let them take you willingly
Rough hands wrapped your wrist together with rope, and a piece of fabric was tied tightly around your eyes, and your breathing picked up at the sound of metal. With a grunt, you were tossed against something cold and hard, limbs still thrashing as a boot kicked your leg in, followed by a loud metallic thud and the familiar click of a lock.
“Ranrok said we could bring you either dead or alive, we chose the easier option.” A goblin rasped, voice muffled from the closed door, as the scrape of his ax against the floor reverberated within the small room you were in. “So have fun, lovely!”
Your heart dropped along with the room's temperature, and within seconds, you were shivering in your robes as the ground seemed to turn to ice under your legs. You heard the sound of faint laughter and rattling of chains as the screech of metal made you wince.
You waited with heaving lungs as the room seemed to grow colder and colder, and the sound of a door being opened made your jaw clench. Your wrists hurt from the position against the wall and the coarse rope that you tried in vain to contort your way out of, but it was to no avail.
The quiet rasp of fabric scraping against stone made you freeze, and with blind eyes shrouded in shadow, you turned to the sound.
“Hello?” You called out shakily, voice thin with fear as your hands turned to ice. Unbeknownst to you, the room was quickly being covered in frost that crawled its way up the dry stone walls like vines as a doorway on the opposite side of the room emitted a low groan, a long skeletal hand appearing from the dark depths started to crawl its way closer.
You shuffled away in terror as you could feel your sweat dripping down your face. The liquid freezing onto your skin as the icy ground caused your robes to stick and hold you in place. Now you were unable to escape from whatever was approaching, and your breaths came in sharp gasps, heart pumping viscously.
With a frustrated groan, you rubbed the back of your head harshly against the jagged stone wall behind you, slowly but surely pushing the knot of the blindfold up and with a snap of your neck sent it flying across the room. Now, with wide eyes, you could only watch in horror at the abomination hovering in front of you.
The being was shrouded in a rolling mist that appeared to physically form a wispy dark gray cloak around it that molded into the stone walls that now shined with the growing crystals of frost. The little warmth your body contained was snuffed out as the dementor shifted closer, its body uncaring of the fog emitting from your mouth as it let out a low groan.
You vaguely remember hearing about these creatures around the castle, and in defense against the dark arts, the spell to defend against the dementors was a level far beyond the magic you knew, and despair sank into your bones further.
You let out a whimper as decaying hands reached out toward you, their claws digging into the sides of your face and neck with enough force to draw blood that cascaded down to drop onto your robes. You were so stiff and frozen to the point you couldn’t even raise your arms against the ropes to push the dementor away as its hood fluttered to reveal a featureless face and the hole it had for a mouth.
The sound of blood rushing in your ears was all you could hear as your pupils constricted into tiny dots. You felt numb to the world, unable to breathe and hear again as a strange gasping sound came from your throat as the dementor started to suck away your being.
Your chest exploded in indescribable pain but your body was unable to move. You could only watch as your magic was being removed in horror, the world around you blurring as you grew tired, your magical reserves already spent from your fight with Ranrok and now close to being depleted.
A gargled plea for help slipped from your lips as the warmth from what could only be Sharps fragment of his magic fought against the dementor with vengeance and seemed to grow hotter, your chest now burning.
Suddenly, you were struck with an intense fear, it was so bad it made your bound arms shake, and to your confusion, it was quickly replaced with determination.
These emotions were not your own.
Past the groaning of the embodiment of death hovering over you, the faint sounds of fighting reverberated against the cold stone walls, and you gasped for breath as the monster leaned closer, draining more of your life into its maw.
Within an instant, the small cell exploded with light and sound, the metal door blown from its hinges and tilted forward with the ear-crushing sound of groaning metal. A loud shout from outside made the beast swivel its head, momentarily releasing you from its icy grip.
With waning strength, you slowly raised your head, vision blurry and ears ringing, and squinted against the cloud of smoke. You could make out the cell door tipping even more, the hinges suddenly ripping away from the wall and taking small pieces of stone foundation with it. You took in a shuddering breath, awaiting the crushing metal to shatter bone and skin.
However another shout, much closer this time halted the falling door in its tracks and the dim light of a purple spell hit the door causing it to swing backwards, for a second the door was coming at you but then shot outwards into the clearing, the crash of metal indicating it’s harsh descent and the regiment of attention of the cloaked monster before you.
Before you could even move, hurried footsteps and a silhouette appeared in the doorframe of the cell, and anxiety swirled in your chest but vanished within an instant as the bearded face of your potions professor emerged from the dust. His furrowed brows contorted into a look of rage, one which you’ve never seen the stoic professor wear as he took in the dementor hovering over you.
Professor Sharp let out a tense breath as the dementor seemed to make a decision and turn back to you, your hands now scrabbling backward in an attempt to get away as its cloak brushed against your legs. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched Sharp take a step forward, his mouth in a tight line, with fingers wrapped tightly around his wand.
With a swing of his wand, he performed the spell you only read in books, and with a stern voice, he spoke the incantation.
“Expecto Patronum.”
The cell burst into an otherworldly light blue light as a whistling ball of feathers burst from Sharp's wand and fluttered around the stone walls, casting unnatural shadows as its wings unfurled and talons curled open. This large raven’s sharp blue eyes bore into yours, and a spike of warmth shot through your chest, momentarily vanishing the cold and harsh effects the dementor was having on your body.
The raven’s caw shook the stone walls as it dove toward the dementor, talons outstretched. With a shrill scream, the dementor twisted away from you, looking around widely in an attempt to escape. However, Professor Sharp was blocking the only exit and wasn’t too keen on letting it go freely. With a snap of his wrist, he sent the raven at the dementor once more, the avian clawing at its face with vengeance.
In a final desperate attempt, the dementor snaked across the ground, heading back towards you with a gnarled, dead hand latching onto your ankle. You yelped in shock as ice-cold waves of fear hit you like a train, with a sharp kick, you only managed to cause small burning pinpricks to encompass your ankle as the dementor's claws pierced through the fabric of your socks.
The look on Professor Sharp's face was enough to make the room fall several degrees colder, even with the dementor present, black onyx eyes narrowed even more in anger, and his nostrils flared as you froze in fear, limbs trembling and eyes wide, staring into the abyss of the dementor's mouth.
The monster was growing desperate for a soul to feed on in an attempt to escape the raging man standing before it. “That was your last mistake,” Sharp growled, his magic flaring like a flame as his patronus bubbled and, in a burst of light, split into an entire flock of ravens.
The light was so intense you unfroze and threw an arm over your eyes as the dementor screamed again and hovered closer, the grip in your ankle loosened as the ravens started tearing the dementor into pieces, their wingbeats shaking the ground and you flinched as a hand grabbed your shoulder and you were pulled tightly into the warm chest of Professor Sharp.
The familiar tug of apparition let you relax, and with a loud crack, you both were safely inside the main gate of Hogwarts. The next few minutes were a blur of light and sound as Sharp whisked you through the warm corridors of the school; however, the warmth from the halls felt freezing, and you wrapped your cloak tighter around your shivering frame.
Fingers snapped in front of your face, and you jolted, hands clenching as you took in the tight expression of worry on your potions professor's face. “I need you to eat this, and tell me of any injuries you may have.” A small bar of chocolate was placed in your trembling hand, and you couldn’t help but stare ludicrously at the man.
Sharp’s features seemed to soften as he let out an almost silent chuckle, “Chocolate helps against the cold you feel from interacting with a dementor.” You nodded silently, tongue still frozen as you lifted the unwrapped bar and slowly began chewing.
You sat with Professor Sharp for a long while, just relishing in the slowly increasing warmth of the fire and the retreating, overwhelming sense of cold that lingered at the fringes of your mind. Once you regained the ability to speak, you began listing off a multitude of injuries, and Sharp was quick to act.
He rushed around the potions classroom and summoned his chair, which usually sat behind the oak desk, to your side, gently pushing you down as he flicked his wand, and a small pile of potions landed on the desk next to you.
“This one is for your broken ribs.” A yellow sludge-like substance made you recoil as Sharp uncorked the bottle, eyeing you with a mixture of amusement and worry. “Need I ask where you got them?”
You rolled your eyes and snatched the potion from his hand, drowning the vile substance within an instant and immediately regretting your decision as your ribs flexed, you bent over as the feeling of bone fragments returning to their natural place drowned out every conscious thought, and you clawed at your chest in a attempt to quell the pain.
The potion bottle was saved from shattering on the floor as a silent accio from Professor Sharp whisked it away out of view, your labored breaths filled the quiet classroom, and you flinched again as a hand landed on your back, gently moving back and forth in an attempt to soothe your throbbing chest.
The familiar green tint of a potion bottle was lowered into view and you were quick to throw back it’s contents with a relieved sigh, the comforting feeling of wigglewend spreading through your body was delightful as it soothed your remaining aches and pains from battle, any small cuts you sustained closed up instantly and any remaining bruising was given a quick look over by the lingering potions professor.
After taking the remaining potions with ease, you finally stretched your back out in the plush chair and gave Professor Sharp a weak smile, “Thanks sir, for finding me.” The older wizard let out a huff as he extended his legs and slid a hand inside his robe, retrieving a familiar stick of wood that he passed over. With a relieved sigh, you took your wand from his hand and returned it to your holster that was hanging around your waist.
“I had to pry that from a goblin for you.” Sharp said lightly, however, his face betrayed the incoming cloud of anger as he rose from his seat, “Now…” You gulped in apprehension as the familiar stern demeanor of the former auror returned with force.
Sharp took a few steps forward before whirling around, “How on earth can you be so stupid!” His brows managed to furrow even closer together as a strong hand landed on your shoulder. “All I asked was for you to go one day without trouble! Now look at what happened!” You winced as your mentor started his long lecture on self-preservation, and before long, you were out cold.
The next few days saw many hours of detention, with Professor Sharp and Fig documenting the effects of combining magical cores and forcing you to begin writing lines on proper fighting techniques. However, the two teachers could only assign so many detentions, and before long, it was time to descend.
You and Professor Fig returned to the map chamber again, but with a new ally at your side.