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The day starts peacefully. Birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the castle is on fire.
Addy watches the castle burn, thoughtfully. “I didn’t realize stone could burn, how delightful. Is it an enhancement on Hogwarts’s walls, a special effect of the potion, or merely the sheer temperature of the fire? I do believe this is worthy of further investigation.”
She continues to calmly watch the flames, occasionally writing notes on a roll of parchment.
“Hey Addy, have you considered doing something?
Addy continues to sit, smiling as she stares at the dancing flames.
“Addy, please, have you considered perhaps dousing the flames?”
She remains quiet.
“Merlin’s beard, Adriana! Do you really want Hogwarts to burn down? Really, truly want Hogwarts to burn? I quite like having a place to sleep, to be frank.”
Addy looks towards the speaker, face blank, “Selwyn, everything is fine. Nothing is wrong. Look at the flames, aren’t they pretty?”
Selwyn throws his hands up in the air, before collapsing back onto the verdant grass. “The walls of the castle are ablaze. Addy, the walls are made of stone. Stone does not burn. Why is stone burning?” He tilts his head upwards, before groaning and saying, “No, they are no longer just burning. The walls are melting, Adriana.”
Shrugging, she says, “Still nothing to worry about. That’s only the first layer of the walls, and the one with the least protection. There’s still several more layers to go before I start getting even slightly concerned. And I’m sure someone will come to put out the fire before that.”
The castle remains on fire.
The day is still peaceful. The birds are still chirping. The sun is still shining. Looking up at the sky, Addy realizes it’s lunch time. She pulls out a tin of birdseed and a bird feeder from her bag and sets them up. The birds, realizing their lunch provider has provided them with their lunch, fly down, and start eating.
The castle is still on fire.
She is content.
A voice breaks the calm. “Miss Potter, what is this? Rigel’s pants, what have you done?”
“First, do not ever again besmirch the name of my sister. Second, I have no idea what you’re talking about. And even if I did, Prefect Belby, you have no evidence,” she spits out.
“Rigel is your cousin’s name.”
“Well, don’t besmirch the name of my sister or my cousin then. It’s not hard.” Addy glares at the prefect one last time and then starts eating a sandwich. Reddish globs drip out from between the bread onto the grass as she eats. Occasionally, she sips from a clear container filled with a dark red fluid.
Selwyn stares at her fearfully, “Addy, my dearest friend, what is in that sandwich you’re consuming so rapidly and what is the drink you’re imbibing so eagerly.”
“It’s a butty made of raspberry preserves. The elves said the berries were picked fresh only a few days ago. And this is cranberry juice. It’s good for you. Harry said so.”
“ …if you insist. And also, how did this all happen exactly?” Selwyn gestures vaguely towards the general area of the castle, which currently features a parade of first year students exiting the castle through the front gates.
Addy glances at the castle while drinking her juice. Her face expressionless, she says, “I was bored.” She pauses for a moment, locking eyes with Belby, nodding, and continuing on with, “Hypothetically of course, it’s all just a potion. The antidote of this hypothetical potion is also very easy to brew too, it only requires two cauldrons and a bit of shaped imbuing. The ingredients are common too, no needing to pick a single clover at the height of the full moon for this potion. Everything should already be in the ingredients storeroom. I could’ve brewed it before I entered Hogwarts easily enough. If this was actually a cause for worry for the professors, I’m sure they would’ve obtained the antidote by now. Again, it’s not hard.”
She stretches for a bit, before casting Aguamenti and washing her hands of the accrued raspberry residue. “I’m going to take a nap, wake me if something happens.”
The castle is on fire even in her dreams.
The birds are no longer chirping. The sun is no longer shining.
The castle is still on fire.
Addy is at peace as she wraps herself up in a shawl, watching the ramparts glow ablaze.
She hears a voice, “Addy, are you still planning to continue to sit here and watch? You could help douse the flames. I know you know how,” The voice seems tired.
She nods absently as she uses her trusty omnioculars to observe the many colors in each tongue of flame. It really is a pretty sight to see, she thinks. And it matches the color of the sky so well.
There’s people starting to crowd around the castle entrance, looking up towards the towers. They seem just as enraptured as they should be: mouths open, eyes wide with fascination. This satisfies Addy.
She lays on the grass at the lake’s edge. The Great Squid merrily waves a tentacle above her head.
She follows its motion and gazes at the rising moon, noting that the crescent seems almost like a boat.
It is a peaceful day (night).
Addy jolts awake. She feels a familiar presence enter her range. She is happy.
It has just crossed past the Hogwarts wards. It is not alone. She is unhappy.
She stands, to the shock of her two housemates who stuck by her all day.
One of them, her friend, Selwyn, asks her what happened. She doesn’t answer, but he turns to tell Belby that this will all be over soon enough.
Off in the distance, she sees a woman with long, black hair. She runs to meet her, and only her.
As Addy gets closer, the woman’s eyes widen and she smiles. They both smile.
“Harry, I missed you,” says Addy as she hugs her sister tightly and glares at her sister’s retinue. They don’t deserve a single minute in Harry’s presence.
Harry looks between the blazing castle and Addy, dryly asking, “You didn’t have anything to do with this, right?”
Addy smiles.
Addy and her sister and none of her sister’s friends enter the castle to eat supper.
The castle is no longer on fire. It is still a peaceful day.