Warning: Description of gore and horror in early parts of the Chapter!
Mike's POV
Unexpectedly, I might have to stay in Hogwarts far more than I had predicted with no such luck in the research at Professor Dumbledore's end.
I became good friends with the Queen but again, I was not fortunate to get to know the whereabouts of the letter. She always dodged the question expertly whenever I touched upon it and moved on to another topic or immediately feigned sleepiness to get away from me. It was as though she was waiting for something, like the right moment.
Instead, I had found more useful pieces of information about the Alice Human Sacrifices from Dice. There was an unsolved murder case that went cold back in the human realm that mirrored the story so there was a definite link between them. I had Dice investigate the names of the victims and their backgrounds as well as for the murderer, if that was possible.
The results were... interesting.
~Warning: Gore~
All the victims were completely unrelated to each other in terms of their backgrounds but at the scene of the (rather gruesome) murder, they each had a poker card with their respective symbol.
The first Alice victim died on her way home with her innards hanging on the branches of the trees in the nearby forest. The second one died as a singer with his vocal cords ripped. The third, was kidnaped on her way home and found a few days later in a cemetery with a crown sewed onto her head and her body sitting on top of a throne. The last Alice and the least gory one were the twins, who died peacefully during their sleep via an injection to their neck.
~Warning: End of gore~
Yet for the murderer, he or she was gone like the wind, traceless and mysterious. There were no clues to the identity of the criminal. Every small clue, like a fingerprint left on the card, led to a dead end. The case went cold after a few years.
Apart from the investigation, the days were getting closer to the Halloween Feast as well as the Hogsmeade outing.
Unfortunately, I also couldn't convince Mcgonagall into letting Harry out with his friends with the whole 'Black is coming to kill Harry' idea. I had considered the option to escort him around but gave up on that idea because of circumstances. I had not forgotten about Omen meeting one of the retainers of Dark Shadow. If she had met one in the YSH World, then there's a higher chance I will meet another one too. I wouldn't want any of the characters in this World to meet with any mishap.
I don't know what was Dark Shadow planning but it doesn't seem like him to suddenly reach us. He made himself clear that he wanted to destroy everything with a big bang after getting Imagination.
So, what exactly is he up to?
"Why would anyone bother looking after them?"
Ron complained after spending another hour poking the lettuce down the Flobberworm's slimy throat.
"Well, they exist there but try not to feed them too much. They can die from overeating, Weasley."
I called out from where I was sitting. I was in the middle of reading the Monster book. It was the guide to the care of magical creatures when I heard his complaint. That earned a few giggles.
In response, Ron's eats turned red from embarrassment. After a while, some of the students, especially the girls, gave up feeding the worms and crowd around me.
"Professor Evans, I was wondering,"
Lavender Brown spoke up. I looked up from the book that I was reading.
"… If you believe in reading fortunes."
I rose an eyebrow with a show of scepticism. It must be about Professor Trelawney since they are third years and it was their first time touching on Divination. I closed the book, placed it at the side and sat up straight. Upon seeing my reaction, the class was suddenly rapt with attention.
"Not really. I can tell you that most people can pretend to read fortunes but it's similar to pulling a trick."
My reply now earned the full attention of the class. Forgetting about the Flobberworms, they gathered around me. I was definitely the subject of interest. I sighed and had them sat in front of me.
"Want me to try?"
Many of the students, especially the girls nodded their heads excitedly.
"Alright. It's going to rain the next Quidditch match. Very, very hard. And I daresay, something unfortunate will happen there. Or a series of unfortunate events will unfold."
The class went silent. Hermione raised her hand. I nodded to allow her permission to speak.
"Sir, that's not very convincing."
I chuckled.
"Give me some predictions that Professor Trelawney had said and that it happened. It seemed you guys are quite fascinated by what she said."
"Neville Longbottom broke a cup on the first day of the lesson after she said it."
"Ah, I heard about that." I grinned. "Knowing Neville, he would definitely break a cup given that he is slightly clumsier and his nerves will get the better of him when he is nervous. Am I right, Mr Longbottom?"
Neville nodded his head with a sheepish smile. Lavender and the other girls were not really convinced by what I had said given their peculiar expressions. Or had I read it wrong?
"But it was the first day! How could she have known that he was clumsy?"
My grin turned into a smile. "Good question! For that, you earned 5 points for your house."
I stood up and began to pace around the class.
"It's all about observation. It's the first day of class. New place, new environment, new teacher. Anyone would be nervous and if I'm Neville, I would be more nervous than anyone because I don't know how the teacher will treat me. We have habits, so Neville would no doubt show some behaviour that tells us that he is nervous like eyes that are moving around, shaking hands and constantly biting lips."
At the mention of his behaviour, everyone started to scrutinise Neville. True to my words, he started to bite his lips and fidgeted around.
"If that teacher said something rather odd, I would have focus more on her words and get immensely worried since first impressions are important. Yet, my nerves got the better of me and the cup broke, just like she said so."
I smiled softly when the class broke into applause. There were now newfound admiration in the eyes of some of the students after my series of explanations. It was moments like now that I realised that I love being a Guardian despite everything. I could be anything in whatever situation in whatever World and still connect to people regardless of whatever barriers there are.
So Dark Shadow and his army need to be taken down. Or all of this would be no more.
"Of course, that's just my opinion."
There was a collective gasp of objection to my words. Some of the students were visibly disappointed in how I had popped their bubble. I didn't pay any attention to their reactions and continued. I wouldn't want to end up being at the receiving end of a certain teacher's ire.
"I'm just an extra teacher around here. Don't mind my words. Divination is a subject that is very hard to grasp and believe in but I will let you guys be the judge of that."
Just in time, the bell for the next session rang. I heaved a sigh of relief as they began to pack up their bags and head off to their next lesson. Any longer and I would have definitely made an enemy in the school.
Unfortunately, I was not cleared for the day when I saw the trio walking up towards me. I gave them a helpless expression and shook my head. That answered their question about whether Harry could go to on the Halloween Hogsmeade trip.
"I'm really sorry. I tried but you know how she is, perhaps you should go talk to her."
"Is there really no other way, sir?" Ron asked, biting his lip. "You could be like an escort for us or something?"
"Ron!"
Hermione whispered shouted as she pulled his sleeve. He shook her hand off while looking at me expectantly. Harry joined with his eyes glancing at me. I shook my head again in exasperation. Both boys sighed in despair at how I did not budge from my decisions. Hermione gave a little sigh of relief.
"Well, off you go now. You guys are going to be late for your next lesson."
Like a herd of deers caught in the headlights, they gasped and scrambled back to the castle with their things. I couldn't help but snorted at their actions.