Candescent

“Quidditch is a really annoying sport,” Malfoy said as people filed out of the stands. “Especially if i'm not playing it. And bleeding Harry Potter is on the field while I’m watching from a distance.”

I had reluctantly attended the match and was now sitting on the edge of my seat. The main reason? There were teachers here. And if there were teachers, there were conversations. After getting a hold of the standard book of spells grade four, I had spent the past two weeks learning how to do a supersensory charm. I'd used it to affect my hearing.
So the crowd's cheering had almost killed me and I was so thankful that Draco had carried a pair of earmuffs in his bag.

“You coming?” he asked, standing up.

“I got to speak to Snape,” I lied. “I'll catch you up.”

“You always disappear,” he said, walking away.

“It's a speciality,” I smiled as I walked away.

Truth be told, all I wanted was to listen to a teacher's conversation, most likely one involving Dumbledore.

“I can't trust him,” I heard McGonagall say to Dumbledore. I trailed two hundred metres behind them keeping to the shadows.

“There is good reason to not be troubled by him.”

“He's been circling the third floor constantly.”

“He suspects that somebody may be wanting to steal the stone,” Dumbledore replied. “Unfortunately the defence is not yet complete, but I am still confident no student or teacher could reach the stone.”

Stone? What stone? Sandstone, limestone, gem stone. Kryptonite stone?

“The philosopher’s stone is under my protection,” Dumbledore continued. “And Severus has my trust.”

“I just hope that trust is not misplaced Albus.”

I shied back as they continued walking into the castle. I found myself walking towards the lake. Hagrid was parting ways with Harry, Ron and Hermione and I really needed to speak with Hermione. It seemed that the thing behind the dog was a philosopher's stone. And that not everybody trusted Snape. But when you thought about it, he had a very ominous character so it was quite understandable. And besides that, he DID happen to hang around the third floor a lot. Mind you, so did I.

“Hermione,” I called as I neared them. All three turned to face me. “Are all of you called Hermione?”

They smiled and she stepped forward to meet me. “Ron, Harry, Alyssa,” Hermione said, introducing us.

We inclined our heads in acknowledgement of each other. They didn’t want to get too close. Bloody Gryffindors.

Wait…did I really just think that? I honestly didn’t see anything wrong with Gryffindors. Honestly, they were all a hell of a lot nicer than the Slytherins. The entire school was nicer than the Slytherins.

“Can I talk to you?” I asked Hermione.

“Sure,” she said, turning to Harry and Ron. “I’ll meet you both back in the common room.”

They said goodbye and continued on their way back up to the castle. Hermione and I began walking along the edge of the lake.

“Did you know we faced a troll the other day?”

“I did hear. Did you know I found out what’s on the third floor?”

“We already know that it’s a giant dog. Hagrid even just let slip that his name’s Fluffy and he’s guarding something that’s between Nicholas Flamel and Dumbledore.”

“Well,” I replied, feeling a bit smug. “I know what it’s guarding.”

“WHAT! How did you find out? The teacher’s are so secretive, no one’s allowed up there and-” I cut of her rambling with a few words.

“I was eavesdropping,” I said. “And it’s a Philosopher’s Stone. Whatever that is.”

“Well, we’ve got some info. about a guy called Nicholas Flamel. Seems he and Dumbledore have a secret. Maybe this Philosopher’s Stone is the secret.”

“You’re going to do the research on this one right?”

“I’ll drag Harry and Ron into it,” Hermione said. “It’ll be good to give them something constructive to do.”

“All right. I’ll catch you later.”

“’Bye,” she said with a wave as we went in our opposite directions. I continued walking the grounds so that I could ponder what this Philosopher’s Stone was.

My hearing was beginning to fade and I could soon no longer hear the faint breeze in the trees. A Philosopher’s Stone, Nicholas Flamel and my creepy hidden past. This school was definitely interesting.

“Alyssa!” a voice called from behind me. Spinning around I saw Malfoy heading towards me.

“I thought I said I’d catch up with you later,” I said in frustration. Really, I wanted to be alone and here I was with Malfoy. It was very annoying when all I wanted was to think.

“I had nothing to do,” he shrugged. “Hey…let’s go for a wander over there.”

I followed the direction he was pointing and saw tall, dark trees looming over head.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I responded in shock. “Seriously? If you want to go there, go by yourself. Unless you wanna get attacked by a rampant unicorn.”

“Unicorn?” Malfoy said. “I’d prefer something a tad more awesome.”

“You probably would,” I replied. “You go there yourself.”

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll see you later…or not.”

“It’s on your head!” I called. “It’s your fault if you get hurt.”

And as he headed towards the forest I sighed and knowing I would regret it, followed him.