I

The days that followed passed by in a blur of activity and change. Yeojin, no longer allowed within the Slytherin common room, would split her time between the Hufflepuff basement with Haseul and the Ravenclaw tower with Sooyoung. They were both very nice and accommodating to her situation. Even so, Yeojin felt a little bad taking up space in their dorms.

The investigation of the bullies went on for about a week before everything was resolved. The two girls were brought in front of the headmistress and expelled from Hogwarts. Yeojin thought that was a very brave course of action on the headmistress’ part. Elena apparently came from a rich family, and the private schools around which she had grown up had a habit of keeping bad students around just because they could give the school more money. Yeojin breathed easier once they were gone. She was finally allowed to return to the Slytherin dorms, where the only welcoming looks she got were from Jungeun and Heejin. It was still nice to be where she belonged.

Classes were going better  for her now. She’d had to catch up on what she had missed on the two days she was out sick, but it all worked out in the end. People were friendlier to her now, a little bit more sensitive to what she had gone through. Or maybe they were just afraid of getting kicked out like those two girls had been.

Yeojin found herself rotating between three groups of friends-- the ones she had met on the train, including Haseul, the ones Jungeun had introduced her to, and the ones who had rescued her from a froggy fate. Curiously, none of these three groups interacted, nor did they seem to want to interact. Haseul actually seemed upset that she had made friends with Jungeun, although she tried her best to bury it. Sooyoung had struck up a tentative friendship with the both of them, although it seemed she had never spoken to them before meeting Yeojin.

At the moment, Yeojin was sat at a table in the Great Hall, enjoying a nice plate of chocolate-covered toast. Sooyoung and Jiwoo were seated across from her, and a girl she had never seen before had sat down next to her. The three of them were enjoying fresh fruit salads in silence. Yeojin broke the quiet by turning to the girl next to her and offering her her hand. “I’m Yeojin. Nice to meet you, miss…” The girl turned her head shyly, her dark black hair spilling over her face like a curtain. “Chaewon.” The older girls watched the scene play out in quiet fascination. They actually looked quite proud, like Chaewon was their daughter or something.

Yeojin nodded enthusiastically and let her hand drop back down to her side. Friends were nice.

Speaking of which, she was starting to spend a lot more time with Choerry. She couldn’t help it. The girl had an infectious positive energy that kept her coming back for more. Her and Jinsoul would pull pranks on unsuspecting students. Nothing terribly mean-spirited or dangerous, but funny things. Like enchanting a mirror so that when you picked it up and looked into it, your hair was dyed a vivid shade of orange. Yeojin fell victim to that one more than once. She thought it was hilarious.She thought she might have gotten a bad first impression of the blonde girl at their little picnic. On her own, Jinsoul really was a clown. It made her wonder how she had gotten those nasty looking scars.

At some point during those weeks following the incident, she decided to join Choerry on one of her pranking sessions. The two of them made a loud pair that put off anybody who wasn’t already acclimated with the girls. Yeojin loved it.

Choerry was carrying around a hastily wrapped box in both of her hands. Her and Yeojin were looking for a place to put it for maximum effect. They were currently walking through the quad, where fall had come into full swing. The leaves were dying off quickly, turning awesome shades of red, yellow and orange. It was like something out of a children’s book.  The box would convey an illusory flame to anyone who stared at it too long. Trying to touch the box or stomp it out would result in the victim being doused in water. The plan was to put it somewhere with a lot of foot traffic and watch the chaos ensue from a safe distance.

The wind was making it difficult, though. The air rippled and twisted with intense speed, sending their hair and their robes billowing in every direction. Most of the students had given up the grounds as lost and had since retreated indoors. Not Choerry and Yeojin, though. They didn’t have enough sense between the two of them to get somewhere safe.

“Wow, the wind’s really picking up today!”Yeojin had to shout to be heard over the roaring of the wind. That was fine. She enjoyed shouting.

“Yeah, isn’t it great?” Choerry shot her a toothy smile. Yeojin nodded vigorously. They were two of a kind, alright.

Eventually though, they had to stop and take a rest. The wind was hitting too hard and if they weren’t careful, they could actually hurt themselves. Yeojin leaned against a tree and Choerry joined her, clutching the package tightly to prevent it from getting snatched by the wind. In the hollow base of the tree, they were pushed right up against each other. Yeojin could feel Choerry breathe. It was decidedly uncomfortable.

Yeojin spoke first. “This wasn’t a great idea.”

Choerry gave her a smile. “The best pranks usually aren’t. It takes skill and experience to know when and where to prank. I’ve got both.”

Yeojin looked up at the swaying tree. “And we’re still here. Not that I’m complaining. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here with you.”

Choerry raised her chin in thought. “Me too. You know, Jinsoul and Jungeun are cool, but I’ve never really had a friend my own age.”

Yeojin squinted her eyes. It seemed like the wind was dying down. “You’re a year older than me. And what about Heejin and Hyunjin?”

Choerry let out a deep sigh. “They’re pretty cool, but they’re so...mature. And they’re kind of wrapped up in their own world, those two. Besides, Jungeun says I’m not supposed to talk to them. Or to Haseul. It’s really sad because…” Choerry continued, but her words were inaudible to Yeojin  as the wind picked up once more, its dim howl turning into a furious roar. Yeojin groaned in frustration. She really wanted to know what the big deal was between the two groups of girls. Choerry either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

The wind finally ceased its roaring and died down into a manageable whistle. Yeojin stood up to continue searching when she was smacked in the face by a stray piece of paper. She sputtered and waved her arms around wildly. “Hey, where’d the sun go?” Choerry peeled the paper off her face. “It was just some parchment, you dummy.” Yeojin blinked, slightly open. “Oh. You’re right.” Choerry didn’t seem to be paying attention. Her attention was completely focused on the paper. Her jaw had dropped so far down, she looked like something out of a cartoon.

She spoke in hushed tones. “This is the Marauder’s map.”

Yeojin raised a quizzical eyebrow. “What’s that? It just looks like a regular piece of paper to me.”

“The Marauder’s Map...it’s kind of a legend around here. A map that shows every corner of the castle and its grounds, along with everyone inside of it.”

“And what makes you think that this is it?”

Choerry pulled out her wand and tapped it against the piece of paper. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” As soon as she finished speaking, the previously blank piece of paper flashed into black and white life. The entirety of the school was revealed, along with dozens of little nametags above pairs of feet. Yeojin could see her and Choerry standing on the far side of the castle. Curiously, Choerry’s nametag said Choi Yerim.

“Hey, you never told me Choerry wasn’t your real name!”Yeojin faked indignancy.

Choerry shrugged and smiled coyly. “I wish it was, though.” She turned back to the map again, the awestruck look returning to her eyes. “This is so incredible. Jinsoul’s never going to believe this one!”

Yeojin frowned. “Hey, shouldn’t I keep the map? I’m the one who discovered it, after all.”

Choerry rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You wouldn’t have even known this was the Marauder’s Map if it wasn’t for me. I earned this thing.”

“What if we shared it? We don’t have to tell anyone else. We can keep it to ourselves and pull some great pranks. Better than the ones we’ve already been doing.”

Choerry seemed to consider this, and then she nodded. “Okay, we can share. But I get first turn!”

This turned out to be a wonderful idea. Choerry and Yeojin would plot pranks in secret using the map. Not even Jinsoul, experienced prankster that she was, could avoid the cleverly set traps created with the advantage of the map. Eventually, Haseul caught on to the pranking and chastised Yeojin for neglecting her studies in favor of spending time with friends. Yeojin grumbled and groaned and ultimately decided she was right. She decided to focus on schoolwork.

But then that got boring and she asked Choerry for a night alone with the map. She didn’t particularly like peeping on people, but she had to admit it was fun watching the little names flit about on their business. She really missed her smartphone.

Yeojin held the map in both hands, wandering through the hallways at twilight. It was about to get really dark really soon. She didn’t care, though. She was looking for some kind of adventure.

She found it.

At this time of day, most students had usually retreated indoors in preparation for curfew. This was true of Jungeun, Choerry and Jinsoul especially. Tonight, however, things were different. The circle of three were practically on top of each other, Jinsoul’s name sandwiched in between the two others. They weren’t just taking a casual stroll across the premises, either-- they were running at a breakneck speed. At least, Choerry and Jungeun were. Jinsoul seemed to be dragging her feet. They were making a beeline towards the big tree at the edge of grounds--Haseul had called it the Whomping Willow.

Her curiosity piqued, Yeojin tucked the map under her arm and ran outside. She made her way over to a slightly out of the way hill that overlooked the tree, just to see if she could spot the three girls under the fading light of the sun. She crouched behind a rather tall (to her) stone and took a peek.

Choerry and Jungeun had their arms underneath both of Jinsoul’s. They were half-carrying, half-dragging the seemingly unconscious girl across the grass. Jinsoul’s head lolled around like a doll with a loose joint. She was still awake, but she seemed totally out of it. Yeojin wondered if they’d drugged her.

This was all so strange. The three of them loved each other. They wouldn’t do this to Jinsoul. So why were they out here with a delirious Jinsoul and a deadline to meet?

Choerry let go of Jinsoul’s arm and ran underneath the sweeping arms of the Whomping Willow. The thing swung wildly at her, but the small girl was able to dodge well enough to reach a knot at the base of the tree and tap it with her wand. As soon as she did, the malevolent tree ceased moving, as if stunned. Jungeun waved Choerry back and the two of them raced Jinsoul down into the roots of the tree. If there was a tunnel there, Yeojin couldn’t see it in the encroaching darkness. She pulled the map out again. Jinsoul, Choerry, and Jungeun’s names had disappeared off of the map, as if they had never been there to start.

Yeojin shook her head. This was all giving her a headache. She needed to get back to the dorms and get some rest before her head exploded.

II

Yeojin didn’t get too much sleep that night. She was too focused on what she had just seen. The fact was, she had no idea what she had just seen. She needed to tell someone, she just wasn’t sure who. Talking to any of the three girls seemed like a bad idea. They clearly wanted to keep whatever they had just done a secret. Why else come down to the Whomping Willow?

Yeojin considered all of this as she munched on a bowl of dry cereal. She had never really liked milk, so she left it out of her daily routine as much as possible. Vivi was sat across from her, a laconic smile on her face as she enjoyed her breakfast of pancakes and blueberries. Hyunjin and Heejin were off in their own little world of bread critiques (who cared enough about bread to write reviews?). Haseul had eaten for about fifteen seconds before excusing herself and saying she had personal business to take care of. Personally, Yeojin thought that this personal business might be going off to fight someone, the way she was huffing and puffing.

Wait a second, Vivi! Vivi would be the perfect person to tell. Yeojin could lay out all of her thoughts to the older girl and the older girl wouldn’t tell another soul. She could get it off her chest without worrying about reprisal.

Yeojin poked the other girl in the forearm. Vivi looked up from her meal of pancakes and gave Yeojin a small smile.

“Hey Vivi,” Yeojin said, “Can I tell you something?”

The pink-haired girl bit her lip apprehensively, and then she nodded.

“ I saw something strange the other night. I want to get it off my chest. Promise you won’t tell anyone else?”

Vivi held Yeojin’s hand in both of hers and gave the girl an earnest look. That was good enough for Yeojin.

“I saw Choerry and Jungeun carrying Jinsoul out to the Whomping Willow last night. Jinsoul was almost unconscious. It was really bizarre. What should I do?”

Vivi didn’t reply. Instead, she put down her fork and clutched her head, her eyes squeezed tightly shut in an expression of pure pain. The girl was breathing hard, her chest falling and rising quickly. Yeojin jumped up in a panic. She didn’t want to hurt Vivi. She put her hand on Vivi’s forearm and tried to be the cool, rational voice that guided the poor girl back to reality. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry if I brought back bad memories...everything’s okay, Vivi. I’m here.” She tried her best to keep the fear she felt out of her voice. If Vivi heard that, it would surely send her deeper into whatever this was.

The girl took some shaky, ragged breaths, her palms pressed firmly against her forehead, as if she was trying to push the bad thoughts out. Eventually, she came out of her panic attack and she was relatively normal once more. Tears stained her cheeks.

Yeojin stuck her lower lip out. “Feel any better?” Vivi nodded vigorously and gave the first-year a strained smile. Vivi took her hands once more and bowed gratefully before shuffling off to do something else in a hurry.

Yeojin sat back down at her table, her dry cereal only half-picked through.

“Well, that was weird.”

Yeojin kept a careful watch over Jungeun, Choerry, and Jinsoul’s names on the nights she had the map. A secondary priority was Vivi, who seemed to be spending a lot of time in the library on evenings. Yeojin stuck her tongue out at that. She really couldn’t be bothered with boring old books. She’d rather have her phone any day of the week. She asked Jiwoo, one of the only other muggle-borns in her circle of friends (the other was Sooyoung, naturally) what would happen if she brought one over. The girl smiled helplessly and shrugged. “Electronics don’t work in areas high in magic. I tried it once and my phone exploded into confetti.” Upon Yeojin’s skeptical look, she clapped her hands and grinned “You don’t believe me, but it’s true. I still have the confetti in my bags.”

In the meantime, her grades suffered. As much as Yeojin tried, she was really a bad student. She did her best to listen up in class and do what the teachers wanted, but she just couldn’t get the hang of it. Any time she tried a spell, something would go just ever so slightly wrong with it to change its effects. Either that, or it ended up far less effective than intended. She was really starting to fall behind, through no fault of her own. She had never wanted anything more than to be able to use magic, and it turned out she was crap at it.

Luckily for her, Haseul noticed. Unluckily, Haseul wasn’t all that great at magic herself, and she was even worse at passing down knowledge. But she did know Sooyoung, now that the two of them had been introduced by Yeojin. She asked Sooyoung if she could help out her friend. Sooyoung gladly agreed, and the next afternoon, after Yeojin got out of potions, Sooyoung was waiting for her outside of class. Yeojin’s eyes darted from side to side and then she pointed at herself. “Me?” she mouthed silently. Sooyoung nodded firmly.

Sooyoung held out her hand and Yeojin took it. Sooyoung guided her past the moving mass of bodies that was the student body and towards the Quidditch pitch. Yeojin had heard a little bit about Quidditch, but she knew little and cared even less. Sports were boring to her. Magical sports were no exception.  She was still in awe of how tall the walls of the arena were, though. Choerry had told her that she was a beater on her Quidditch team, whatever that meant. Yeojin thought she might have to take a glance at the game soon. Judging by the height of those stands, the game was more like a dogfight than anything.

Sooyoung stopped in front of a stack of wooden crates sat against a corner wall. From behind the stack emerged a familiar blonde head. Jinsoul tossed Yeojin a wicked smile and a pair of finger guns. Ah, she could be so cheesy when she wanted to be. Strangely, Yeojin felt uneasy around the other girl instead of the warm feeling she normally had spending time with her. Maybe it was because she had just realized that she knew basically nothing about her. Not where she got her scars, not what she did night, and certainly not what she was doing here.

Sooyoung let Yeojin go and walked across the grass field to join Jinsoul in front of the stacked crates. She crossed her arms and leaned back against a particularly tall crate.

“So, you’re wondering why you’re here, am I right?” Sooyoung spoke calmly, but with authority.

“It’s because you need a tutor. Tutors.” Jinsoul was all smiles, but Yeojin couldn’t help but eye her suspiciously. The blonde didn’t seem to notice.

Sooyoung placed an an open palm above her heart. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but we’re basically the two best students in the entire school. There’s no one better to help you work out the finer points of magic.” Jinsoul nodded along helpfully.

Yeojin said nothing. She looked back and forth between the two girls with an incredulous look on her face. “Haseul put you up to this, didn’t she?”

Jinsoul gave her an easy smile. “Yeah, she totally--” Sooyoung jabbed her in the side with an elbow. “No, she didn’t ask Sooyoung to tutor you because she noticed you were struggli-” Another elbow, harder. Jinsoul winced and shot a dirty look at the raven haired girl. “I didn’t talk to you for a whole six years, Sooyoung. We were in the same house and the same dorm and you never even tried to talk to me. We can go back to that.”

Sooyoung threw her hands up, as if to say, “don’t shoot me!”

Yeojin shook her head. “I don’t need help. This is stupid.” The truth was, she needed help badly. She was just too proud to admit it. Something she had inherited from her mother.

Sooyoung ignored her and produced her wand from a pocket. “Wands out!” she shouted like a drill sergeant. Yeojin shrugged and pulled her wand out from her bag. “This is a waste of time, but okay.”

It turned out to be anything but. Sooyoung was a very patient and accessible teacher, always willing to answer questions and go over spells step by step. Jinsoul did a fair job too. She demonstrated proper techniques to control the amount and direction of magic used. They stood in that field for almost two hours, transfiguring crates and charming spare brooms that had been carelessly left behind. Yeojin felt a little more in control of her own spellcasting ability now that someone had laid down the basics. She gave both girls a small bow at the end of the session. She almost never bowed to anyone--she thought it was ridiculous, but this somehow felt like the most appropriate way to show respect in this situation.

“Thank you guys. I really needed this.” She nodded and gave them an awkward smile. Sooyoung smiled gently and inclined her head. “Any time, Yeojin. We can do this once a week if you like.” Yeojin grinned eagerly. “That sounds like fun!” Sooyoung nodded and began to walk off the pitch, back towards the castle. Jinsoul lingered for a little while longer, returning the crates and brooms back to their original states. Yeojin stuck around too. She wanted to catch Jinsoul alone, and there wouldn’t be a better opportunity than this.

“Hey, Jinsoul, can I ask you a question?” The girl stopped what she was doing-- which was turning a goblet back into its original state of being as a wooden crate-- and turned to face Yeojin. She quirked the edge of her lip up and leaned against a crate. “No.” Yeojin raised her eyebrows. Jinsoul giggled and shook her head. “Of course you can. Ask away!” There was a smile on her face. Yeojin was pretty sure it was going to disappear in a few seconds.

Yeojin looked into Jinsoul’s dark brown eyes with apprehension. She didn’t want to admit that she had been stalking the girl with a map she wasn’t even supposed to have. So she talked around it.

“Are you feeling alright?”

There it was. Jinsoul’s smile faded and she shifted against the crate uneasily. “Yeah, I’m fine, why?” Yeojin frowned. “I was just wondering. You seemed a little off a few nights ago.”

Jinsoul’s eyes looked around frantically, as if she was looking for the closest possible escape route. In the end, she decided to talk her way out of it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I feel fine.” Her voice was shaky and unnaturally high-pitched. The girl was a bad liar. But Yeojin decided not to push any further. She was clearly uncomfortable with the topic, and if Yeojin asked any more questions she’d give herself away.

“Oh, I was just curious. Have a nice night, Jinsoul!” She smiled and gave Jinsoul a small wave before turning on her heels and skipping back to the castle. Jinsoul stayed by the crate and waved at Yeojin’s back.

So Jinsoul wasn’t going to tell her anything. Jungeun and Choerry would likely be even more secretive. So how was she going to figure this out? Vivi seemed to be doing some detective work in the library--maybe she could ask the librarian what she had checked out recently. As much as she detested reading, the titles could clue her in to something she might have missed.

The librarian gave her a small notecard which contained the titles of three books:

PHASES OF THE MOON

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

CURSES OF THE LIFELONG VARIETY

Yeojin shrugged and tossed the card into the wastebin. That was a total waste of her time. They didn’t tell her anything except that maybe Vivi was obsessed with nature. Curses...maybe Jinsoul had been cursed and that was why she needed to get away one night a month.

Yeojin felt a cold chill sweep through her. She turned around and came face to face with a ghost. Ghosts were also real, in addition to magic. The ones she had seen around campus scared the daylights out of her. To think that they were actual dead people, bound to this castle forever and ever...well, it was just horrible. She sincerely hoped that whenever she died, she would pass on to the afterlife instead of being trapped in school. She couldn’t imagine a worse fate.

The ghost was a sad, scared looking girl around Haseul’s age. Black fluid stained her face and her clothes...probably blood in her life. Half of her face was shrouded underneath a curtain of black hair. Yeojin hadn’t seen this one before, but she probably had a name. They all had names, stupid little nicknames like Nearly-Headless Nick or even Peeves.

Yeojin took a step towards the girl, holding back her fear for the sake of politeness. She was a person, after all, even if she was dead. “Hi, my name’s Yeojin. What’s yours?”

The ghost shook her head and pointed to , which was….absent. There was nothing there but a dark black hole. Nearly-Headless Nick could speak just fine, though...ah, this was giving her a headache.

She put two fingers against her temples.

The ghost was staring at her with sad, pleading eyes.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

The ghost nodded up and down vigorously. Yeojin shrugged helplessly.

“You can try, but I don’t know sign language, sorry.”

The ghost rolled her eyes and pointed at the wastebin Yeojin had just chucked the transcript into. Yeojin pointed to it and asked, “The library card?” The ghost nodded. Yeojin grimaced, and then she stuck her hand into the bin and dug around for the piece of paper she had just tossed into the garbage.  She tried not to think too hard about the liquid that spilled onto her sleeve. She got ahold of the card and yanked it out of the trash, holding it aloft triumphantly. The ghost drifted over to her, a stream of silver trailing behind her.

“What do you need this for?”

The ghost pointed to the first title emphatically, her finger jabbing right through the ink and paper.

“Phases of the Moon? I’m sorry, i don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

If the ghost could have groaned, Yeojin was sure she would have right then and there. Instead she crossed her arms and glared at the girl. Yeojin held up her hands in surrender. “Don’t kill me or possess me or whatever creepy things it is ghosts do!” The ghost decided not to respond to that. She tapped the title of the book once more and then she vanished, as if she had never been there in the first place.

Yeojin stood there, open-mouthed for a few moments, the dirty card still in her hand.

“Spooky.”

Yeojin spent some time in her bed that night thinking about that ghost and how desperately she had pointed to the title of the book.

“Phases of the Moon, huh?”

She really couldn’t think of any reason why Vivi would have checked that book out of the library. It seemed so absurd. Who cared about what the moon looked like? Still…

The night of Jinsoul’s little trip out, the moon had been as big and as bright as could be. That was a full moon, and it only came once a month, if what Yeojin had learned in her science class meant anything. A month was thirty, maybe thirty-one days. It had been just about eighteen days since that night. She still had a week and a half before the next time occured. She’d have to make sure she had the map that night.

She slept that night and dreamt of massive wheels of cheese and of ghost girls with torn throats.

Five more days passed, and Jinsoul still hadn’t gone out to the Whomping WIllow again. Things were getting closer now, and Yeojin was still stumped. She’d have to ask someone she trusted for help. Vivi clearly had some idea of whatever this was, and she was stumped. Yeojin had no chance without some help.

She had the opportunity to ask a few days later, when Haseul, Heejin and Hyunjin decided to spend their lunch break with her.  The four of them had migrated from the great hall to a secluded corner of the castle overlooking the shoreline. The water was choppy and rough. There was a storm coming.

Heejin and Hyunjin enjoyed feeding each other while Haseul watched over them thoughtfully. Yeojin decided that now was the best time to spring her question on the older girl.

“What happened last year? Why don’t you talk to Jungeun anymore?” She bit her lip, and then asked her last question. “And how did Jinsoul get those scars?” Yeojin didn’t know how, but she knew that all of these things were connected. Haseul stopped eating, her spoon full of broth stopped in front of her open mouth. There was something in her eyes… fear? Shock? She let the spoon drop back into the nearly empty bowl of soup with a splash.

She closed and put herself back together. “Those are some big questions, Yeojin.” She shifted on the pillow she was sitting on. “I don’t think I’m ready to answer any of those. I’m sorry….” She looked back down into the bowl on her lap.

Yeojin whined. “No one’s ready to tell me anything! I’m spending time with all of you guys, I think I deserve to know why none of my friends want to talk to each other!” Her voice had slipped into an angry yell without her even noticing. Hyunjin and Heejin had put down their forks and were now staring at the scene in front of them. Hyunjin’s eyes were as wide as dinnerplates.

The bowl dropped to the floor and shattered into dozens of pieces. Haseul’s face was grim and joyless. Her cheeks had turned an aggressive shade of red.  

“If I don’t want to tell you something, I don’t want to tell you something. Just respect that. I don’t want to talk about Kim or about Jinsoul. They’re bad people and you shouldn’t be hanging around them!” Now Haseul was screaming too.

Yeojin felt her hands clench into fists.

“They used to be your friends, too. They can’t have been all that bad. I just thought you’d like to know about Jinsoul sneaking out the other night to the Whomping Willow. I thought maybe you’d have some answers. I thought you would help me. I thought you were my friend.”

This is when Haseul would normally apologize and put her hand on Yeojin’s shoulder and tell her that, yes, she would help Yeojin out, and yes, Yeojin was her friend. Instead, Haseul’s eyes widened. She froze in place like that, as if she had just been struck by a bolt of lightning out of the blue.  “What did you say?”

Yeojin sputtered nervously. “I-I-I...it’s just everyone’s been acting strange….first Choerry and then Jinsoul. I told Vivi and she--” Haseul cut her off. “ You did what? No no no. This is bad. This is really bad. I need to…” She mumbled something under her breath. Haseul was in her own world now, and it was a world full of nightmares. She stumbled past a stunned Yeojin and the pair of girls known as Heejin and Hyunjin. The older girl continued muttering under her breath, her brows furrowed in an expression of intense concentration. She wandered out of the three girls’ sight and into the castle.

Heejin stared at Yeojin, open-mouthed. Hyunjin was a little more collected. With her arms crossed over her stomach, she raised one eyebrow and inspected Yeojin carefully.

“Damn.”

III

There were less than twenty four hours left for Yeojin to put this puzzle together before Jinsoul had another night out. There was definitely something here. If there weren’t, Haseul and Vivi wouldn’t have reacted the way they did. She just had to figure out what.

Like a crazy person, she had torn the covers off of her bed and arranged all the ‘evidence’ she had gathered on top of it.  The (now clean) library card, several pieces of paper describing Vivi and Haseul’s reactions, and all the words spoken by her friends on the topic of last year. None of it got her any closer to a solution.

There was little else for her to do now but wait for night to fall. She thought she would wait outside the Whomping WIllow until the three of them walked into it. After that, she’d seize her chance and confront them about whatever the heck was going on.

But things rarely went as planned when it was Yeojin doing the planning, and this was no exception.

The day of the confrontation was a Saturday, which meant she was off from classes. She was free to spend time with whoever she wanted to, wherever she wanted to. Haseul wasn’t talking to her after the events of the previous day, and Hyunjin had told her to stay away from the older girl while she was upset at her. That was fine by Yeojin. She didn’t even want to speak to Haseul right now.

She thought about hanging out with the three girls in question, but she thought that might be too suspicious. She was delightfully unaware that avoiding the three for a whole month and acting incredibly strange when asked about her behavior made her look like suspect number one.

She decided to hang out with Chaewon. In all of this, she had totally neglected the mysterious third member of Sooyoung’s group and she wanted to remedy that. So as soon as she finished obsessing over her little hoard of evidence, she swept it all into her case and ran off to meet the girl at the entrance to the Hufflepuff basement. She had to admit it was a bit awkward sitting around in the kitchen, watching the house elves slave away at the breakfast they would be eating later. Things weren’t perfect in the world, not even with magic in the equation. It made her a little sad.

Chaewon emerged from the basement, her hair soaking wet.

“What happened to you?” Yeojin didn’t mean it in a mean way, she was genuinely curious.

“Someone thought it would be funny to turn the shower pressure all the way up.” She shook her head, clearly annoyed by the turn of events. Yeojin frowned. The girl was older than her, but she was way smaller.  Yeojin worried about the girl.

She put a hand on her shoulder and gave her what she hoped was a comforting smile. Chaewon frowned. Guess it wasn’t as successful as she hoped it would be.

The two of them hung out by exploring the castle--if you could call walking around in silence hanging out. Chaewon was a girl of few words, and Yeojin one of many...but not even she could penetrate the thick wall of quiet that had come up between them.

Finally. Chaewon spoke. She stopped in front of a window overlooking the rest of the castle and pointed out at the view excitedly. “This is it. This is my favorite part of the castle.” Yeojin looked around. She was unimpressed.

“But why?”

Chaewon tilted her head just enough so that the curtain of black hair that normally framed her face fell away. “It’s where I met my best friend.”

“Sooyoung?”

Chaewon nodded as a smile creeped up onto her face. She looked adorable that way. Yeojin thought she should smile all the time.

Chaewon crouched down in front of the window and took in the breathtaking view of the castle. She crossed her arms on top of each other on the stone and rested her chin on her sleeve. The wind caressed her hair with gentle fingers. Yeojin sat down next to her and decided to enjoy the silence.

It was the last moment of peace she would have for a very long time.

Chaewon eventually pulled herself to her feet. The moment passed, and she looked at Yeojin queerly.

“What are you doing?”

Yeojin furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Chaewon pouted. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve been super strange for a whole month. Asking weird questions. Everyone’s noticed.”

Yeojin cringed. She was hoping she had gone unnoticed. Tonight was going to be a cluster.

“I saw something strange a month ago,  and I wanted to find out what it was.”

Chaewon nodded. “And have you found out yet?”

“No.” Yeojin gazed at her feet. “I’m not smart enough to put this stuff together on my own.”

Chaewon put a hand on her shoulder. “Sooyoung says you’re plenty smart. I tend to believe her. Maybe you just need a push.”

Yeojin looked up, slightly ajar. Did Chaewon of all people know something about this?

“I heard some howling last month. Is that what you were talking about?”

Yeojin’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh.” All at once, the pieces fell together. How could she have been so stupid! Of course that was it.  She pulled out the Marauder’s Map and tapped it with her wand, completely forgetting the fact that she was still in the middle of a conversation. Vivi wasn’t in the library, or in her dorm. She actually seemed to be wandering around the school grounds. Haseul seemed to be running around in a big circle. She was probably looking for Vivi, but she hadn’t had much success so far. Jinsoul was alone in the Ravenclaw dorm room, likely preparing herself for the night to come.

Yeojin had to do the same. If she was right, she was going to be in quite a bit of danger when she went to confront Jinsoul in the Whomping WIllow. Yeojin dropped the map, still open, onto the floor and ran off to wait for the party to begin.

The hill above the Whomping Willow was as inconspicuous a place as she could find to hide out in anticipation of her friends’ arrival. The hours between her arrival and the end of the day were long and boring. Yeojin amused herself by casting various useless spells Jiwoo had taught her. She dyed the grass pink and summoned bubbles out of thin air. That was entertaining for approximately three minutes. She decided to pull a book out of her bag and read. It was only a textbook, but it had to be better than staring at an overly aggressive piece of shrubbery.

She got stuck on the tenth page, and remained there until night was nearly upon her. She read the same three paragraphs over and over again. Her vision was beginning to blur and her head was starting to pound when the first arrival made her appearance.

Vivi came upon the tree first. She looked terrible. The past three weeks had been severely unkind to her. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was a mess, and she looked like a caged animal standing there in front of the tree. She paced back and forth, her wand clutched tightly in her hand. Her other hand gripped the bag slung around her shoulder tightly, as if her life depended on what was held within it.

She zapped the knot at the base of the Whomping Willow. The ornery tree ceased moving and Vivi walked in, shoulders hunched and teeth bared. Now Yeojin was starting to get worried. This wasn’t how she had been expecting things to go.

The three girls arrived a few moments later. Jinsoul seemed a little less out of it this time around.  Yeojin, against her better judgement, slid down the hill to meet them. Jungeun spotted her first, but before Yeojin could even say a word of warning, Choerry had already whipped out her wand and cast a spell on her.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Yeojin’s arms clamped down to her side and she fell to the ground, her body as stiff as a plank of wood. Choerry gasped when she realized just who she had petrified.

“Oh my gosh! Yeojin! What the heck are you doing out here?”

Yeojin couldn’t answer, of course.

“Ah, I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else….” The beagle faced girl looked up at Jungeun. Jungeun’s expression was unreadable in the shadow cast on her face by the dying light.

“Bring her with us. She’s so curious about what we’ve been doing...I think she should know.”

She was right, but the way she spoke..her voice was as icy as a December wind. Choerry shrugged and grabbed Yeojin by the collar. Yeojin just looked around helplessly. She needed to warn them about Vivi!

Jinsoul stood off to the side, her hands clutched over her stomach. Her face was drenched in sweat, her long blonde hair clinging to the sides of her face. She screamed in pain, a loud hideous sound that made Yeojin’s stomach drop. Did she really have to go through this every month? And this was only the beginning… Yeojin squeezed her eyes shut, It was hard to imagine something worse than this.

Choerry looked up in alarm. “We’ve got to get moving Jungeun! The moon’s nearly out!”

Jungeun nodded silently and walked into the roots of the tree, holding Jinsoul’s hand carefully. She whispered something into the older girl’s ear with a soothing voice. Yeojin couldn’t quite make it out over the sounds of her body being dragged along the floor. Choerry bumped Yeojin’s head into a rock, causing a spike of pain to blossom forth from the back of her head. Choerry didn’t even notice. None of the girls noticed how odd it was that the tree was already frozen when they got there.

Yeojin couldn’t see a lot of what happened next. The corridor beneath the tree was dark and restrictive, and she could only look up at the ceiling. Choerry wasn’t helping matters with her careless egress through the tunnel.  

There was a sudden shout of surprise, and then a lot of screaming from Jinsoul. Choerry broke out into a run, her fingers still gripping Yeojin’s collar. Yeojin squeezed her eyes shut and hoped she wouldn’t break her neck against the wall. That would be a stupid way to die.

Choerry pulled Yeojin into what appeared to be the shabby looking main room of a wooden cabin. What an odd thing to put under a tree. Jungeun had her wand out and she was pointing at someone Yeojin couldn’t see, presumably Vivi. Jinsoul had huddled up in a corner and was currently screaming in pain. Choerry let go of Yeojin’s collar and pulled out her own wand.

Jungeun. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you know about this place?”

No answer from Vivi. The girl let out a feral yell.

Choerry. “Hey, you better back off of my friend here. I don’t care who’s friend you are, Vivi, if you stop us from taking care of Jinsoul, we’ll…” Her voice shook. There was no way Choerry would actually go through with hurting the girl.

Jungeun on the other hand…. “We’re all in danger if we don’t strap Jinsoul down before the moon comes out. We have a few minutes at most. If you don’t want to die, we need to--”

Another scream from Jinsoul. This one was more a howl.

Choerry gulped audibly.

Jungeun begged. “Please.”

Vivi pulled something metallic out of her bag. Jungeun and Choerry both gasped.

“You don’t understand...she’s not in control of this. We need to get her somewhere where she can’t hurt herself or anyone else.”

The door behind Yeojin burst open and loud footsteps announced a new arrival.  Yeojin could only see her boots.

“Vivi?” Haseul asked.

Silence.

“Vivi, I know what happened to you last year was horrible and traumatizing, but you have to let it go. Jinsoul’s not to blame. Killing her won’t change anything.”

Vivi screamed, a ragged and raw thing full of pain and anguish. There was a loud creaking as she fell to her knees.

Jungeun was unamused by her new visitor.

“I don’t need you to help me, Haseul. You’ve already done enough to contribute to this situation.’

Haseul was shouting when she opened again. “Goddamnit, don’t you think I know that? I’m sorry, okay. I’m so, so sorry. About us and about everything!”

Jungeun pointed at Jinsoul.

“You should apologize to her, first. I don’t need to listen to you anymore.” And with that, Jungeun turned her wand on Haseul. There was a slight shift in the room as Haseul leveled her wand on her former friend.

The room was further disturbed when two more sets of feet clambered into the room. A soft voice went, “Oh,” and another girl pulled her wand out. The voice belonged to Chaewon, and the other could only be Sooyoung.

“What is going on here?” Her eyes darted over to Yeojin in the corner. “And who stunned Yeojin?”

Choerry still had her wand trained on Vivi, but she was aware enough to raise her hand with a deeply regretful expression on her face.  Yeojin wanted to scream. Everybody was fighting with everyone else and no one was paying attention to Jinsoul.

That changed when Jinsoul roared. It was something half-human, half-beast… somewhere between pain and ecstasy. Jungeun moved to take ahold of the changing girl, but Vivi shot her hand with a bolt of red from her wand. Jungeun screamed and dropped her own wand.

Sooyoung hovered protectively in front of Chaewon, her gaze darting from girl to girl in the suddenly crowded room. Something had to happen, and soon. Yeojin had a feeling that whatever happened wouldn’t be good.

And then Vivi began to speak, in a soft, emotionless voice that betrayed none of the anger raging inside of her. A hush fell over the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen.

“She killed her.” A pause, and then. “Last year….”

Her accent was thick, but her words were clear all the same. She had a point she wanted to make and a story she wanted to tell, and she wasn’t going to let any of them stop her.

Yeojin just hoped she’d finish before the moon came up.