The Slytherin Magus

I laid back, my hands were behind my head for support as I stared at the high ceiling. I was in the Room of Requirement.

It was a Sunday so I didn't have any classes to worry about.

At lunch, Vannessa had sent Meili to me with treats, she did that occasionally. It was so nice of her because she didn't have to but she did anyway.

I was busy thinking about a lot of things.

Nothing strange had happened since Wednesday but if I was going with the time range of the last attacks, there had been exactly one week between attacks.

So if I wanted to go with the theory that the attacks happened one week apart, the next attack would most likely happen on Tuesday.

Even after making that deduction, I found myself constantly alert, constantly on the lookout for any suspicious behavior.

There was nothing though, not even a single hair out of place.

It was bizarre.

If I hadn't found the charmed chest during the Boggart incident though, we would have thoroughly been in the dark and the attacks would just come out of the blue without any rhyme or reason.

Well, it wasn't exactly like we had a lot of evidence on hand now.

Everything else seemed to be going a little too well, there was no mention of Death Eaters or any disturbances in the Wizarding world, I was leveling up exponentially, far quicker than I had been hoping for, to be honest.

It wasn't like it got easier to level up, I just got the habits of reading and doing cardio while learning how to turn into a snake and back.

It made me more worried about the random attacks, it was the only thing out of place.

For some reason, it felt to me like a stack of dominoes and the Boggart incident was the trigger.

The thing about dominoes though was that they got bigger as more of them fell.

I sat up, checking my watch as I did so, I had been here for far longer than I planned to be. It was almost time for dinner.

I planned to get a full 9 hours of sleep. Tomorrow was the start of another stressful school week, not to mention that I had sacrificed hanging out with friends just to finish up my homework and training.

I had to be prepared for the next attack, it pushed me to train harder and study more.

But my body had a limit, if I kept running on adrenaline and anxiety I was bound to crash.

"I was wondering where you were." Blair spoke up as soon as I stepped into the Slytherin common room.

I looked up at the high windows, catching a split-second glimpse of waving squid limbs. If I hadn't known what it was I would have mistaken it for seaweed and a trick of the light.

"I wonder why you still bother to read so much." Tanner put up his legs on the table beside her. "If I was as smart as you I'd never read."

Blair made a face of disgust at the sight of his feet so close to her. "You'd get dumb then." She told him, pushing his leg away.

To me, she said, "I hope you're back because it's time for dinner."

I stretched, yawning lightly. "Yeah, I just need to drop my books off, I'll be right back."

I made my way up the stairs, listening to Blair and Tanner bicker behind me in the common room that I just left behind.

Just as I stepped into the dorms for sixth-years, I bumped into Sawyer. I froze up for a millisecond because I hadn't been expecting to see him.

His black eyes immediately filled with malice as soon as he saw me but he said nothing, brushing past me to continue on his way.

I should probably keep an eye out on Sawyer, it felt odd for him to just decide to sit back and do nothing.

Even though my prowess in Quidditch was still hidden from the public, I was quickly climbing up the ranks to being one of the smartest students in the school.

Sawyer and I shared the same classes so he had a front seat to all the points I kept winning for Slytherin.

Basically, I had defeated him without even trying. Well, except that one time I punched him in the face but the bastard deserved it.

He had most likely been expecting me to resume the new term beaten down to the ground only for me to come back and take away everything from him.

Blythe and Crawley were his only true friends because even among Slytherins, he was always quick to make trouble and even they had come over to my side.

Sawyer would be taking a back seat though, I had more important issues to tackle.

Blair had to send Tanner to come get me because I got distracted, she spent the entire way to the Great Hall lecturing me on how I should care for myself better.

She reminded me of my older sister when she did that.

I didn't feel bad when I thought of my past life now, it was hard to miss what you didn't enjoy. Besides, they were probably better off without me.

I was just happy that I had gotten a second chance at life, it was such an awesome chance too.

Monday came and went, and my worries only heightened. Witter and Hazel were the ones who had gotten dragged with me into this so naturally, they were the ones I told about my deductions.

It meant that the three of us were constantly jumpy all through Monday.

On Tuesday, first thing, we were having Herbology. It meant that we would be outside, fortunately, this class was shared with Gryffindor,

It made me feel slightly reassured because, with Hazel and Witter there, my odds increased.

We were jittery the entire class because we expected some magical creature to come galloping at us while we were in class.

"Welcome back, class! Today we will study Knotgrass. Knotgrass can be found growing in the Forbidden Forest. It's not grass. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Let's discuss the care and uses of Knotgrass." Professor Sprout chattered away happily.

We brought out our quills and scrolls, today's lesson would be filled with lots of note taking.

Which was my archnemesis whenever I was distracted but I couldn't exactly tell the Herbology Professor that I couldn't concentrate in her class because I was paranoid that we would be attacked.

Herbology came and went, and nothing happened.

The class seemed to drag on forever and I was relieved that it was a morning class because it would suck to have to do this in the afternoon.

My next class was Defense of the Dark Arts so I separated from Hazel and Witter who promised to be on alert.

We were learning about Flesh-eating Slugs and Professor Lambert Faringray was doing what he did best, droning.

He made sure to talk about everything possible about the creatures that were mostly pests than anything actually frightening.

Paying attention was a chore, I found my eyes straying to the windows, my ears primed up for a sudden announcement but just like with Herbology lessons, nothing happened.

At lunch, I met up with Hazel and Witter. We were the only three who seemed harried, everyone else was acting just fine, it felt surreal.

"We just have to get through the school day, I doubt that an attack would come after the students have been released to their dorms." Hazel said reasonably.

We met up after lunch to discuss, all of us sharing matching stressed looks.

"And what about tomorrow?" Witter asked bluntly. "And the day after that?"

"I don't know!" Hazel exclaimed, almost pulling her hair in frustration.

"Cut it out, Witter…"

"Weston." He corrected immediately.

"Shut it." I snapped. "Taking our frustrations out on each other isn't going to help solve anything, I doubt we can even stop the next attack even if we know when and where it's going to happen…"

"If it's going to happen." Witter corrected again.

I didn't even spare him a glance, I had to lead by example. "That too. The best we can do is just be on the lookout so that we can gather clues and also stay safe." I surmised reasonably.

There was no reason for us to be discussing when a possible attack could happen anytime so we separated again.

The rest of the school day seemed to drag on slowly, I had Charms after lunch and then a free period but I couldn't enjoy or utilize my free time because I was tensed up, counting down the minutes to the end of the school day.

The time for Charms came and went and there were no attacks or alarms raised. The day was almost done now.

It would have been easier for us if there was a fixed time frame for the attacks but if the attacks were followed a routine three times in a row, even a dunce would figure it out.

If the school could prepare in advance for the attacks, it would defeat the entire purpose.

My free period came and went and there was no whisper of an attack on Hogwarts.

Even though I had gotten through today without any student being put in possible danger, I didn't feel relief.

If anything, my anxiety only soared. It meant that the attacks could come at any time, there was no reason for it to even be restricted to school hours only.

When would the next attack be?