Hogwarts AU

_

"Watch it!

Irene suddenly dove for cover as they were casually strolling around the grounds of Hogwarts. It was the late afternoon. They just came out of their Herbology class and were taking a break before dinner.

The other girls followed her example without a second thought, then something sphere-shaped and red went whizzing past their heads with just a couple of feet to spare.

They heard laughter from above whilst they lay sprawled on the grass and waiting for someone to declare safety. Irene stood up angrily, brushing bits of dirt from her robes. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the kids on their broomstick hovering in mid-air.

"Alright there, Ms. Bae?" a girl with a blonde-dyed hair swept to a messy ponytail and wearing a Quidditch attire said. Another player swooped to the ground to pick up the scarlet ball and tossed it back to her, she caught it deftly.

She seemed to be the captain since none of her teammates in red and gold uniforms appeared to have the confidence to stop her teasing.

"Not funny!" Irene shouted, face red with embarrassment and fury. "You knuckle-headed pathetic excuses for Lions! You disgrace the name of Gryffindor, you great bullying idiots-"

Yeri quickly covered Irene's mouth with her hand and dragged her - with too much difficulty even with Joy's help - to the other side of the grounds, away from the Quidditch pitch.

"Release me!" Irene's rage was not pacified yet, and neither does her flailing. "I'll show those bloody cowards what I can do."

"I don't want a detention on this perfectly good week, thank you, unnie." Yeri replied matter-of-factly. "Besides, they're flying. What are you gonna do, shoot them with arrows? Change to a bird?"

"That's not a bad idea," Irene's face turned thoughtful.

"Yeah, okay," Joy shrugged doubtfully at this, her usual skepticism showing. "You're not a metamorphmagi, so no can do, my friend."

"Not that," Irene smirked at her friends. "Can't we hide in some discreet area and shoot them with spells?"

Her housemates donned in blue and bronze stared at her in disbelief.

"You crazy? Are you seriously trying to get us expelled!?"

Joy lifted a brow. "That would count as a direct assault and Professor Flitwick will not take it lightly. You’ll be given detentions to last several lifetimes."

Irene put her arms around her friends' shoulders. "Don't worry, I was kidding. Maybe I can just buy a dragon off black market and have it eat the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team."

Joy groaned in misery. "I sense another punishment. Why was I sorted to the same house as you?"

_

Irene has had enough of Wendy Son's bullying ever since she stepped in Hogwarts for her formal education five years ago.

They already clashed from the very first day to this very second. And Irene couldn't fathom why the Gryffindor girl was so insistent in making her school life a living hell.

The worst with this setup was that Wendy always get away easily, leaving Irene in a terrible mess causing her detention after detention. She probably had more detention than the whole Ravenclaw House put together. Her parents fear that it's only a matter of time before she gets expelled.

"We need to come up with a plan," she stated at breakfast one day, while hundreds – possibly near to a thousand owls soared overhead, heavily laden with parcels and packages and mails to deliver to their owners.

Ever since the end of the Second Wizarding War and the rebuilding of Hogwarts, the student population of the school doubled and so were the avian posts. It's a good thing that the new Great Hall was built even bigger with higher ceilings.

Yeri pushed back a bowl of cereal before a small pink box landed with a thud exactly where the bowl had been. Her speckled owl gave an apologetic hoot before flying away.

"What plan?"

"I thought we already have a plan?" Joy chimed in behind a large leatherbound book, a copy of the Daily Prophet dropped beside her plate of unfinished pancakes.

Irene caught the package her owl let plummeting from above amidst of all the air traffic the birds were making.

"I mean to say a detailed plan," Irene clarified, distractedly ripping open the brown paper covering the package, it turned out to be fresh parchments and an assortment of quills. "With steps and directions, not just a vague 'let's get even' one."

"We'll work on it," Joy replied offhandedly, deeply immersed in her book.

"Uh-huh," Yeri shrugged coolly, scrutinizing a silver locket that was the content of her box.

Irene rolled her eyes in disappointment for her friends' lack of interest. She couldn't blame them, since everything she comes up with will probably end with her getting yet another detention.

"I'm just tired, you know," she tried again, going for the dramatic route this time. "It's so exhausting to be in this position. A girl who was sorted to the supposedly brainy house constantly in detention and the girl in the reckless house somehow always manages to outthink me."

Yeri looked up from her locket. "I guess it's a replica."

Irene blinked in confusion. "What?"

"This locket," Yeri displayed the silver pendant sitting on the center of her open palm. "I think it's a replica since I've already seen this design before from a history book, unless it's the real thing which I doubt because there's no way it could be bought for only two galleons and ten sickles."

Irene narrowed her eyes with uncertainty. "And why is that thing relevant again?"

Yeri sighed gravely and shook her head slowly, as if Irene was a hopeless case.

"I was giving you hints, okay?" her voice lowered to a whisper though it wasn't really necessary because the general morning hubbub of the Great Hall drowned their conversation anyway.

"I think the reason why that Gryffindor girl is always one step ahead of you is that you're kind of predictable."

Irene's eyes went even narrower. "I beg you to elaborate before I misunderstand what you're trying to say."

"See?" Joy pointed out, looking up from her book. "You're so easy to provoke. You're like a bomb and Wendy's the detonator. It's as simple as pushing a button and then boom, hello detention."

Irene stared at them. "Bomb? Detonator?"

"Muggle Studies," Joy grinned smugly, proud of her extensive knowledge of the non-magical world.

"I agree with Joy- even if it pains me to admit it," Yeri seconded. "If you want to get even, don't think like a Ravenclaw because Wendy already has a read on you. Do something that she would not imagine that you could do."

Joy nodded. "Exactly, you have to change tactics." Then turned to the girl sitting beside her. "Yeri, do you still remember how to brew a Polyjuice Potion?"

_

Every 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesdays, Irene shares an Art class with few of fifth-year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, while Joy has Muggle Studies and Yeri do Music.

Their class just ended and everyone was occupied with packing up their brushes and paints and easels when Joy's owl flew straight to her through the open window of the classroom and dropped a piece of folded parchment on her lap.

Irene unfolded it expecting a letter from her friend, but her brows met when she found out that it bore no message whatsoever. It was empty.

"Hey," Irish - a Ravenclaw student - passed by behind her. "What's that? A secret letter?"

Realization hit Irene, her eyes brightened.

That's it, her friends sends her empty parchments whenever something huge is happening and they want to keep it hidden from everyone else. The only way to reveal the message on the paper was to write the password across it.

Irene grabbed a quill and dipped it in some ink, then quickly scrawled her password.

The ink from her quill sank deep within the parchment and vanished, leaving no trace. Seconds later, a primitively-drawn map appeared, directing her to the castle's second floor. Irene lost no time in gathering her things and then exited the classroom.

The message was simple and vague: "ASAP". The map was so-so but it was clear enough to follow, assuming that her friends had done it correctly.

Irene quickly ran through the corridor of the fifth floor, her feet making a tap-tap-tap echo on the flagstone floor.

"Hey, slow down!" a passing Slytherin prefect guiding a bunch of first-years ordered, the younger students flattened themselves against the wall to avoid a collision with her.

"Sorry!" she decreased her speed half a step but as soon as she rounded a corner, she resumed her former pace.

Irene was out of breath when she reached the Grand Staircase and started her descent towards the second floor in a hurry despite of the budding stitch on her side making her stop and pant every five steps.

Joy and Yeri were in a deep argument when she found them in the girls' lavatory. They didn't even look up when she cleared to announce her presence.

"I'm here," she said impatiently, raising a brow. "What's happening?"

The ongoing debate paused momentarily, though both girls were still glaring at each other.

"Remember the potion?" Yeri asked her.

Irene faltered for a while, she almost forgot about the potion. And it was more than a month since they first discussed about it but she nodded her confirmation anyway.

"It's ready," Joy held up a small copper flask like a prized trophy. "Though I had some of the ingredients bought outside and sent here so you owe me some money. Plus, the backbreaking effort it took us to brew it properly."

"No kidding," Irene reached for the precious liquid, but withdrew her hand almost immediately. "Wait, whose hair did you use?"

Her friends pointed one finger up in unison. Irene looked above inst