The Raven

Slug Club Meeting. Quiet. Long. Waste of my time.

Just as I got up to leave, Nyathera showed up, so I sat back down. Malfoy eyed this obviousness and awkwardness, but didn’t say a word. Nyathera took the only seat left – right next to Slughorn. He greeted her without saying a word about her extreme tardiness. They sat and talked about her travels; I mostly ignored this conversation until she said, “The United States is a young country now, but you wouldn’t believe what it becomes!”

I scoffed and said, without thinking, “And how could you possibly know?”

“A time turner.”

Slughorn’s whole body tensed up and he tried to object.

Nyathera pulled her time turner from a pocket in her jacket and waved it for all to see, but then started to laugh at all the shocked faces. “This is a pocket watch, you idiots.” She put her watch away and laughed wildly. Everyone tried to chuckle, but they were all still tense. She got up and looked at Slughorn. “It’s nearly midnight. Sorry to have been so late.

Slughorn waved as if to shoo her statement away. “I know you’re busy.”

She thanked him and left him and all of us.

A boy, who is definitely the quietest person I’ve ever seen, suddenly snapped and shouted, “What the bloody hell was that?”

Slughorn looked at him with serious eyes and an angry frown.

The boy continued, “Now really! The fuck is going on? We’re a few minutes early and somehow we’re late, and she can show up for two minutes, at the end, and be totally alright? This is bollocks!” He got up in a huff and continued to shout for a few minutes until Slughorn finally cut him off.

“What is it that you’re specifically upset about?”

“We’re all supposed to be equal in this room!” He must be a mudblood. That makes sense. The rage of a mudblood boiling out of control, which is to be expected with such filth.

Slughorn sighed and got up himself. He magically cleaned everything up. He looked at all of us before quietly saying, “I made that rule – created that standard so you all could know you’re all valued here—”

“And now?” The boy shouted.

Slughorn shrugged and sat back down, strangely defeated. “I now realize that God doesn’t make us all equal.”



I stole a cloak from Peter Potter while I was tutoring an idiot Gryffindor in their common room. Vowing to inspect it later, I made my way out with it on and headed for the Ravenclaw tower. I scaled the last few stairs, expecting to be bombarded with riddles, but instead ran into someone. They laughed and quickly pulled the robe off of me. They then completely covered their body with it before stepping in front of me. Nyathera’s head looked as if it was floating without a body, but clearly, she was my thief. She smirked at me and then darted down the stairs. I almost tripped several times and completely lost sight of her, but she was waiting for me at the very bottom, deep into the dungeons.

“What took you so long?”

I straightened my robes, “It’s difficult to sprint down moving staircases.”

“What does that have to do with being slow?”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want?”

She laughed, “You’re the one who was coming to look for me!”

“And you were already there, waiting for me—”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she scoffed, then removed the invisibility cloak entirely. She loosely folded it up and stuck it under her left arm. “Especially when there are important things that need to be discussed.”

“Like what?”

She casually leaned against the wall, occasionally phasing through it, as if that’s what people normally do. “You tell me, Tom.”

She vanished with a pop.

She wrapped her arms around me.

Suddenly, we were on the top of a tower.

“Who plays the harp when you die?”

I was falling alone.