Sixth year

“You can’t be serious,” Jinsoul said. “She’s the other option?” 

Haseul gave her a look. “She’s gotten good grades and hasn’t done all that bad for her team.”

“And what about the rest of the school?” she asked. “She’s flooded the bathroom how many times? She trashed the quidditch pitch a few times too.” 

“That was two years ago. The last time she sabotaged the balls was last year.”

“Exactly,” Jinsoul nodded, “last year.”

“And they still made her prefect.”

“That doesn’t mean it was a good idea!” she exclaimed. “She’s still in a war with Peeves.” Their poltergeist who hadn’t been exorcised from Hogwarts, despite having been a nuisance for centuries. He’d apparently defended the school a few times when threats came in. Maybe that was why. 

But even then, Jinsoul prayed every month that he and Jungeun wouldn’t make it a contest to see who could cause the most chaos in the school. It’d started in first year. Six years later, and Jungeun was still conjuring random ink bottles or even squids when she saw the poltergeist. He wasn’t much better. Sometimes he was worse. 

“Lovegood gets a kick out of it,” Vivi chimed in. “And most of the school loves it when she starts the ectoplasm fight.”

"Until it hits you." Jinsoul gave her a pointed look. 

“But even she gets suspended when it gets on the paintings.” Haseul shook her head, but she was smiling. 

To Jinsoul, it was still a wonder that Jungeun hadn’t actually been expelled. "And when they make her head girl, she’ll be making that a tradition.” 

Vivi gave her a look. “It already is and you know it.”

Jinsoul did. And it just made it all even worse. 

“Soul,” Haseul squeezed her arm, “she’s not the only option. And even if she was, she’d get her act together for head girl. She already did as prefect.”

“Half the year forgot she was one,” Jinsoul replied. 

“But she never missed a patrol,” Haseul chuckled, “unlike someone.” 

She elbowed her. “Stop,” she aimed a kick at her ankle, “Minnie liked me enough to be fine with it. And I was actually busy.”

“Wasn’t it your personal request never to be paired with her?” Vivi raised a brow. 

Jinsoul blushed. 

“And instead she got every boy she ever rejected, or would reject.” Haseul snickered.

“Minnie thought she was doing me a favour?” 

Vivi cackled. “She had to make it seem like you weren’t her favourite.”

Jinsoul walked faster, knowing she was already on the losing end of whatever this conversation was. 

Haseul hooked their arms, pulling her back. 

“Please tell me we’re going to have a competition,” Vivi said, now on her other side. “I’d love to see that showdown.” 

“I’m not competing with anyone,” Jinsoul shook her head, “if they choose her, then I’ll just have to watch how fireworks go off in the Great Hall. Every week."

The two proceeded to , while ever so slightly flirting with each other. Jinsoul didn’t know what she hated more. 

And when they got to the Great Hall, she spotted a newly blonde head of hair. She heard the screech of her laugh too. It didn’t fit with a face like what she had. Her face also didn’t fit everything she was known for. 

Jinsoul made sure to keep her eyes on the Ravenclaw table, not the one adorned with green robes. 

The problem wasn’t even that she was a Slytherin. Haseul was the perfect example that Slytherins were not the problem anymore. 

No, the problem was Jungeun herself and that she was notorious for most of the destruction that’d taken place within Hogwarts for the past six years she’d been here. Nothing had stopped her, not the hundreds of points she’d probably lost for her house since first year, not the countless suspensions, or even the jinxes people had left for her in retaliation for ruined robes or missing eyebrows. 

Somehow, Jungeun was still in school, despite being its resident menace. She was on the quidditch team, even though she’d hexed the brooms of people in her own house. And she was a prefect. The strictest she’d ever been had been when she'd taken off fifty points from a drunk sixth year. Most of the time she just took off five points and let the person she’d caught either go back to their common room or keep going to whatever place they’d been sneaking off to. 

And now they wanted her to become the next head girl. Not just the students, but the professors too. 

Jinsoul often wondered if she’d missed something about Hogwarts school. Had the ideal student changed into someone who’d committed to being a semi-fiend all throughout her years at school?

Then she heard a blaring laugh, half a screech.

Jinsoul watched how Jungeun threw her head back, brow furrowed as she laughed. She swatted at Chaewon's arm, saying something.

She always laughed without regard for how it sounded. Jinsoul's own laugh was also loud. She usually held it back.

Jungeun calmed down after about a minute. Then she shook her head, fiddling with her fork. She glanced up, met Jinsoul's eyes, and smiled.

Jinsoul looked away, feeling her face warm at being caught looking. 

Vivi gave her a look.

Jinsoul turned her attention back to her food, ignoring the next burst of laughter that came from the other side of the hall. 

______

Jinsoul was walking along the fifth floor when she heard a sound. It was followed by a sharp curse. 

Immediately, she drew her wand and ran for the stairs. 

Then she saw who was there and lowered her wand. 

Jungeun looked up, her eyes widening. She clearly hadn’t expected her, if the flash of panic was anything to go by. Several dark blue boxes were floating around her. One was currently on the ground. 

“What the hell is that?” 

Jungeun’s face broke into a smile. It reminded Jinsoul of a complete maniac. A gorgeous maniac, but still a maniac. “Portable forest.” She patted one of the boxes. “Sorry I dropped one, lost my train of thought.” 

“It’s not even your shift today.” Jinsoul debated whether or not she’d just take sixty points from Slytherin then and there. “And what do you even need a forest for? And where’s it going?” 

“One,” she raised a hand, showing off her absurdly long nails, “that’s why I’m doing this today. I’m off the clock.” She winked. “Two, there was this one centaur who turned a classroom into a literal forest.” She waved her wand and the boxes rose into the air again. “Three, I’m going to the seventh floor. I’m not using a used classroom.” She walked up, a spring in her step. “So I’m not breaking any rules.”

“You’re not patrolling any halls, and it’s one in the morning.” And you’re acting like it’s Christmas Eve. 

The smile she still had on wasn’t any less terrifying. 

“If I’m the worst threat tonight, I guess that’s an okay shift.” Jungeun carefully angled the boxes away from the paintings, her brow furrowed in concentration. “I’m impressed.” 

“By?” 

“You’re not knocked out,” she chuckled, “I saw Heejin. Hyunjin’s her pillow. Lucy’s chanting out some sort of thing involving that Girls Generation group she likes. I didn’t even see the other Hyunjin on the third floor, and then four just had Haseul and Vivi cramming for DADA. Somehow.” She laughed. “I guess I should’ve expected that.” She was leaning against the banister, the boxes of trees, and whatever else there was, just floating around her. 

“Expected what? Me to be awake?” 

“To still be walking the hall,” Jungeun replied. “I knew you’d be awake. Don’t you use that monster thing Yerim’s always ordering?” 

“It’s an energy drink,” Jinsoul corrected. “You should probably drink it before class.”

“Nah,” she shrugged, “no real point.” 

“Please don’t tell me you’re getting a potion for that,” Jinsoul grimaced, “is that how you’re always like,” she waved at her, “this in the middle of the night?”

Something flickered across her face. It looked like panic. 

“I’ve tried both,” Jungeun lifted her hands, “and they make me nervous. Plus I don’t have to stay awake in class anymore.”

“Right,” Jinsoul rolled her eyes, “that quill.”

“Yep,” she laughed, “that quill. My greatest investment.”

“It’s for cheating.”

“I’m not a cheater!” Jungeun protested. “I just learn best at night, alright?” Her brow twitched, as if she was close to laughing. 

Jinsoul didn’t comment on the rhyme.

“Anyway,” Jungeun said, leaning forward. “I’m not breaking any rules. I’m not destroying any school property. So you can’t take those points I know you really want to take off.” The corner of her lip curled upwards. It was another reminder that Jungeun was too pretty to be the menace she was. 

Jinsoul wished more than anything that she could cast a little jinx on her. Maybe make her voice sound like a mouse, or transfigure her into a fish, just for a few hours. There were two reasons she didn’t do either. One, Jungeun would retaliate with something even worse (Jinsoul knew. She’d been bald for a week because of it).

Two, Jinsoul couldn’t transfigure something right unless she’d just had a breakdown from the highest of pressures. For her O.W.Ls, she’d gone to the Hospital Wing twice for a calming draught and had still managed to turn the flowers into a fish, instead of a snail. It’d only been after she’d been surrounded by bowtruckles, flown all across the school, and swum in the Great Lake, that she’d even gotten an Acceptable for Transfiguration. It was still a proud moment in her life. 

Jungeun, on the other hand, was an expert at Transfuguration, always way ahead of anyone, even when it came to conjuring, something they should've only really been mastering next year. 

The day she’d learned conjuration had also been the day she’d been suspended for a week. Jungeun had conjured a shoal of piranhas, before insisting on summoning enough water to flood the classroom so that they could all breathe. She hadn’t let Professor Son vanish them either. That meant people had needed to take care of them. 

Jinsoul had had a piranha for the course of a month after that. She’d named it Toothless. He’d vanished at the end of it, Jungeun’s conjuration having had a time limit.  

She’d be lying if she said that wasn’t one of the reasons she had a grudge. 

“But don’t worry, once your head girl, you’ll probably be able to fire me.” Jungeun was looking up at the ceiling, so much so that Jinsoul was almost worried she fall off the stairs. 

“Once I’m head girl?” Did Jungeun know she was a candidate? Or had she been asleep during those rumours. Probably that. She’d already been dozing during charms today. 

“Well,” she shrugged, “as much as I’d love to be the one to set up your schedule and have diplomatic immunity, you and I both know I’d .” 

Jinsoul didn’t want to agree aloud, but she nodded. 

“Ouch,” Jungeun snickered, “but you can say it.”

What was she supposed to say to that? She agreed? Incompetent may not have been the word for it? Just really, really irresponsible? 

“But anyway.” Jungeun suddenly looked excited, but also nervous. “Do you wanna see it when it’s finished?” 

Jinsoul grimaced. Way too excited for this time of day. “I am not getting attacked by birds today.” 

“You won’t be,” she said, her smile fading. She looked more nervous than excited now. 

“And what happens when you turn the seventh floor into a swamp?” 

“Then I’m an idiot,” Jungeun said simply. “But it won’t go wrong.” Then she grimaced, looking to the floor. “I mean, it won’t end in a disaster. Probably.” She bit her lip. 

Jinsoul narrowed her eyes. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Yeah,” she nodded several times, “there may or may not be a broom closet where I—”

“Jungeun,” she pointed up the stairs, “leave me alone before I actually think of a reason why you’re not allowed to be here.”

The Slytherin’s smile reappeared. “I can always tell you where the damage is.”

“Go away,” Jinsoul shooed her, “I’m this close to taking away fifty points for vandalism.”

“It’s not vandalism this time!” Jungeun sprang from the banister. “I’ll show you when it’s finished.” Another flash of something in her expression before it was hidden behind a smile. She seemed stressed, but how could she be when she was actually telling Jinsoul about what she was doing? 

She grabbed her shoulders and pushed her to the first of the steps. She felt a bit weird doing that, but Jungeun didn't cringe away from her. 

“Wait.” Jungeun grabbed the banister, stopping both of them. She turned her head, wearing a surprisingly warm gaze. 

Jinsoul leaned away, briefly wondering how it'd have been if she hadn't pulled away. “What?” Her face was already warming up. 

“Will you check it out?” she asked, looking almost hopeful. “Like actually go in?”

“When I know it’s safe.” 

“Don’t you trust me?” Jungeun cocked a brow. 

“No.” Jinsoul kept pushing, but Jungeun wouldn’t budge. 

“I wouldn’t lie to you about this.” The look on her face was different than usual. Serious. 

“You lied to my face when you destroyed the Prefect’s Bathroom.” 

Jungeun blushed, looking away. “You were pretty close to killing me, so I bought some time.” She glanced up. “You cool off quickly.”

Jinsoul scowled. “You were hiding in the dungeons, because you knew I was still going to kill you and Haseul was too nice to let me.”

Jungeun took a sudden step forward. 

Jinsoul stumbled after her, knocking into her then. She got a whiff of jasmine and roses. 

Jungeun’s arms moved back, steadying her. Other than the usual thing of trying to lower Jungeun's wand when she pointed it at Peeves, neither of them had ever really been this close. 

“Sorry,” she said, sounding as if she was close to giggling. “But I’ve learned my lesson and this’s nothing like that. Or next week.” 

“Next week?” Jinsoul pulled away. 

“That’s something where you can take points off,” Jungeun replied. “I’ll do it myself if you want.”

“Do you like being suspended?” She stared at her.

“Well it’s not that bad,” Jungeun shrugged, “you should try it. It’s great to be here and not be allowed to go to class. Detention’s not too bad either.”

“Because you get to catch up on all the sleep you miss."

“Yep. And I get to set up for the next classes, retransfiguring and catching the mice that escaped,” she smiled, “pretty big waste of time.” Then she laughed once. “Oh, and sabotaging your matchboxes was pretty fun.”

Jinsoul took a deep breath, wondering if there’d be consequences for sealing Jungeun’s mouth for a day. “Don’t forget the goblet and the rat.” When said goblet had turned into a rat and tried to gnaw on her wand. There'd been more, but she hadn't thought about that for a while. 

She grinned. “You remember?” 

“That is not a good thing.” Jinsoul went back to her hallway. “Go do whatever it is you’re doing, Jungeun.” 

She saluted, before starting to go up the stairs. She still had that lightness to her step. “Goodnight, Jinsoul,” she called back. 

Jinsoul ignored her. 

It wasn’t that Jungeun was a . She rarely was, even if she did have a short temper. She’d just proven herself to be the most annoying person in the entire school. And had still managed to escape expulsion and being the most-hated person in Hogwarts. It was exactly the opposite. 

After what seemed like twenty minutes, Jungeun came back, poking her head around the corner. Jinsoul nearly jumped out of her skin. It was too late for this. She was nearly finished. 

“You know you’re not supposed to be patrolling the halls alone, right?”

“You’re the scariest thing about this place.” Jinsoul pocketed her wand. “And you’re lucky I didn’t blast you off the stairs for that.”

Jungeun leaned against the arch. She looked at her, not saying anything. There was a smile on her face. 

Jinsoul didn’t trust it for a second. “Finished setting up your next trap?” She’d avoid the seventh floor for as long as she could for the whole weekend. She was lucky they didn’t have class tomorrow. 

Jungeun’s brow rose. “Not yet,” she winked, “it needs time.” She fiddled with her robes, looking nervous again. 

“It’s got an incubation period?” 

Her eyebrows rose higher. “It’s not a science project.”

“Right, that was for the train.” 

Jungeun laughed, brow now furrowed. “Everyone there was my witness,” she placed a hand over her heart, “that wasn’t my fault.”

“It was still your trunk.” 

“I was gonna see how Chem and Potions work together!” Jungeun pulled away from the wall. "You can't tell me that isn't interesting."

“You could’ve ordered it.” Jinsoul crossed her arms. “Amazon delivers here now.”

“I don’t have Prime,” she replied. “And the shipping to here is everything I can’t pay.” 

“That’s a good thing,” Jinsoul smiled, “no exploding acids.”

“It was phosphorous,” she corrected. 

“Whatever it was, it exploded.”

Jungeun huffed, but didn’t say anything else. She knew damn well she couldn’t defend that. 

“Now get back up those stairs,” Jinsoul pointed to them, “because I’m tired and I don’t want to be reminded about my hair almost burning off.”

“Okay.” Jungeun took a few steps back. Then her eyes lit up. “Actually,” she started, “you could go already. I’ll be here for the rest of it.”

She was torn between two things. Just saying yes and finally getting to sleep, or forcing Jungeun to go back to whatever monstrosity she was planning. 

“I’m not tired at all,” Jungeun said. “And you look like .” 

Jinsoul wondered if she couldn’t just drench her in ice water instead. She’d been dying to try out that variation of the charm. 

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Jungeun added, a bit hurriedly. “You just look like this was a bad day for patrol.” She glanced at the floor before looking back. “But maybe it’s better if you go sleep or something.” Was she nervous? 

That meant she was planning something. 

“You can try out that legilimency stuff if you want,” Jungeun continued. “You’re not gonna regret this.”

For a moment, Jinsoul was surprised Jungeun even remembered she was taking that elective. 

“Come on,” Jungeun was leaning from one foot to the next, “it’ll do you good to sleep more than six hours.” 

Jinsoul scoffed. “That’s rich.” She swore Jungeun was somehow nocturnal. Yerim was always complaining that she had to wake Jungeun up when they had to be in the library. Jinsoul was still nervous that Jungeun had been corrupting Yerim into joining in on the chaos. She’d started doing that. And Jinsoul could never take points away from Yerim, so she did it for Slytherin instead. 

Jungeun just smiled. “I catch up during the day.” Then she carefully grabbed her arm, pulling her to the stairs. “I’ll make sure no one starts wandering,” she said. “And if they do, I’ll actually take off some points.”

“And?” Jinsoul didn't pull her arm away. 

Jungeun rolled her eyes. “And send them back to their dorms.” She gave her a look. “You’re acting like you never snuck out, and don’t even try to tell me you didn’t. I know all about your escapades to go and find centaurs, or was it hippogriffs?”

“Both.” 

A light laugh, one that didn't send a bolt of dread through her. “Of course.” She stopped at the top of the stairs. “You know there’s a second year with a pet dragon?”

“Really?” Jinsoul felt a little bit more awake at that. “Do they have it under control?”

Jungeun shrugged. “You’d probably be the better judge of that.” 

“Did their robes look burnt?”

“Nope,” she said. “And no one’s been complaining yet, so I think they’re okay so far.” She raised an eyebrow. “Want me to introduce you two?”

Jinsoul was almost ready to agree. Then she narrowed her eyes. 

“Come on!” Jungeun exclaimed. “I’m being serious about that too.” 

“It’s hard to tell sometimes.” 

Her brow furrowed, but not from laughter. She looked like she was actually thinking. “Good to know,” she muttered, barely a whisper. 

“What?”

Jungeun’s expression smoothed over. “Nothing,” she patted her shoulder, “now go sleep.” She went back to the hall. “I’ve got this.” 

“Weren’t you just telling me it’s a bad idea to patrol alone?” A few years ago, there’d been a student who’d fallen down the stairs. Everyone had thought it’d been an accident at first, but it’d been proven it hadn’t been. For three years after that, all patrols had been done with three people, rotating every three hours to make sure no one got too tired. Now prefects were allowed to be alone, but the current Head Girl and Boy checked each floor. 

“Well,” Jungeun twirled her wand between her fingers, “I react faster than you do.” She smirked ever so slightly. “And I’m probably the most awake here.”

“You could be pretty close to a crash,” Jinsoul replied. 

“I’m not,” she said. “Trust me.”

Jinsoul looked at her for a long moment. 

“At least a little?” Jungeun pouted. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“I’ll answer that next week,” she told her. “And if your next prank leads to someone getting injured, or ruins anyone’s hair, robes, or books, I’m not holding back.” 

“So it can damage school property?” Jungeun brightened. “Deal.” 

“That doesn’t mean—”

“Goodnight!” Jungeun was already disappearing around the corner. “Sleep well.” 

Jinsoul knew she could’ve followed her, but just the thought of sleep made her start going down the stairs. She said goodnight to whoever she saw, before going straight to the dorms to get ready for bed. 

In the back of her mind, she knew Jungeun was trying to do her a favour. She'd never actually tried to mess with her, at least not directly (but she did seem to love teasing her once Jinsoul found one of her pranks). She had a good reason for it, but Jinsoul was still the one who probably got the most annoyed by her. 

Once she left the bathroom, she nearly tripped over a cup of instant ramen. Sooyoung had fallen in love with them when Jiwoo had introduced them to her. She’d also shut up about muggle technology after Jiwoo had gotten a microwave to work. Jiwoo had managed a lot of great things. 

Jinsoul crept past Sooyoung who looked like she’d thrown herself onto her bed. She’d probably been cramming for the make-up test in Herbology. Jinsoul’s had had hers for Transfiguration today. She still didn’t know if she’d failed that one.

But the moment her head touched her pillow, she forgot all about Jungeun and whatever disaster was going to come up, as well as the mountain of work she still had to get done. 

______

If there was one thing for all of the sixth and seventh years to look forward to in a month, it was the monthly ‘study day’. Sometimes there were more of them in the same month, other times only one. Some people took it serious, Jinsoul and Haseul included, while others, namely Sooyoung and Vivi, didn’t really want to. 

But they weren’t there yet. The day off let them have a longer breakfast. 

It was the fourth time they’d had this since school started, but Jinsoul still loved it. 

She was currently shovelling cereal down, already ready to dig into the muffins one of the house elves had made for the day. She’d made that request last week. Hermione Granger had once tried to free the house elves of Hogwarts. Almost all of them had refused. What some of them actually seemed to appreciate was when people actually visited and engaged a bit more. 

Hyunjin took that concept to another level. In her second year, she’d asked them to make cinnamon rolls. Then she’d shown them the recipe. The next year, one of the elves had taught her a newly improved version of it. And they’d gone back and forth with it. 

And that was also how Jinsoul was able to occasionally request a baked good to come with her breakfast. She’d needed to ask for a few more, because people (Hyunjin and Jiwoo) tended to come over to their table to steal some. 

As if on cue, Jinsoul saw Jiwoo coming over to them from the Hufflepuff table. She was wearing a jumper striped with purple and white. It would’ve looked hideous on anyone else. Yerim was with her, wearing a smile just as wide. She hugged Jinsoul as soon as she sat down. 

“Can I?” Chuu’s smile brightened when she saw the muffins. 

Jinsoul hummed, taking another bite. 

“You’re gonna choke,” Yerim said from her other side. “Slow down.”

“I’m hungry.”

“So am I.” Haseul elbowed her from her other side. “But am I acting like I’ve never seen food before?”

“Have you seen Jungeun yet?” Jiwoo asked. “I thought she’d be down by now.”

Jinsoul set her attention back to her breakfast. Yesterday evening felt a bit surreal now that she thought about it. Jungeun had seemed both completely at ease and fully on edge. Jinsoul usually felt on edge around her, so she was slightly relieved if Jungeun felt something even a little bit close to that. 

“She wasn’t even in the dorm today.” Haseul was quiet for a moment. “Did she have something today?” 

“No,” Jiwoo said quickly. “I mean, I don’t think so. Did you see her yet?”

Jinsoul glanced up at her. “No.”

Yerim looked up then. “Really?” 

She just shook her head. 

Then Jiwoo sat down as well. The conversation went to the upcoming quidditch match. It was between Hufflepuff and Slytherin. 

“Chaewon and Hyejoo keep joking that they’re gonna jump Yerim,” Haseul was frowning, “but I’m getting worried they mean it.”

“They won’t!” Yerim said brightly. 

“Don’t take any food from them,” she warned. “Not even if one of them eats it first.” 

Yerim looked confused, before shaking her head. She smiled again. “I’ve got class now. If I survive potions, then we’ll know I’m safe.” With that, she grabbed a muffin, getting to her feet. “But keep an eye out for Jungie,” she told Jinsoul, “she told me she’d,” her eyes widened slightly, “she was gonna help me with tranation today.” Then she walked off, waving as she went. Her step was a little too quick. 

Sooyoung spoke up then. “Those two wouldn’t dare touch her.” She winked at Jiwoo then. “Yerim’s got you protecting them and Jungeun holding the two devils back.” Then she laughed. “Plus Soul.” 

Jinsoul shoved her lightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your last threat was sending a niffler after someone.” Hyunjin grabbed a muffin, ripping off a large piece. “And before that it’d been the raccoon.”

“Both’re intimidating. Eevie would’ve taken all his money and that Rolex.”

“What about the racoon?”

“Any animal can get threatening if they have to.” Jinsoul had several stories about that, even in the muggle world. 

“Otters can’t,” Hyunjin said. 

“Same for slugs,” Jiwoo said. “And snails.”

“You’re just saying that because you kept one around for a few weeks,” Sooyoung shot back. She was grimacing, as if remembering the disgust she’d felt. 

“Anyway,” Haseul interjected, “keep reminding Yerim to be careful around anything or they give her. They might slip her a puking pastille or something.” 

“If they really wanted to get something done, they’d mix it in a drink.” Hyunjin looked completely serious. 

Haseul sighed. “Don’t give them any ideas.”

Jiwoo had started to fidget. She was looking around the Great Hall. She looked worried. 

“You really haven’t seen her?” she asked, looking at Jinsoul.  

“No.” She kept eating. Her face had already started to warm at the mention. She thought about yesterday again, how odd Jungeun had been acting. 

Jiwoo looked more surprised at that than she should’ve been. “And yesterday?” 

Fighting a frown, she shrugged. “I mean we had class.” 

Still, Jiwoo looked unconvinced. She even looked at Sooyoung, a question in her eyes. 

Jinsoul followed her gaze, only to see Sooyoung give a tiny shake of her head. 

What did that mean?

“And after?” 

“Jiwoo,” Jinsoul set down her spoon, “we don’t exactly talk during class or outside of it.” And if Jungeun was ever at the Ravenclaw table, they were almost always a good distance away from each other. Even then, if one of them caught the other's eye, one of them ended up looking away. That was usually Jinsoul. 

“But did you see her after class yesterday?” 

Jinsoul tried not to let her frustration show. “I saw her at the end of patrol. She was setting up some other prank.” Then she sent a look Haseul’s way. “And before you say anything, no, I didn’t take any points off.“ She wondered why there hadn’t been anyone going on and on about the forest. 

“She already told you about it?” Sooyoung looked bewildered. 

“You know about this already?” Jinsoul narrowed her eyes. “You know when whatever’s going to happen’ll happen?” 

Neither of them looked any less confused. Jinsoul just felt more lost. Luckily, Haseul looked like she also had no idea what they were talking about. 

“So you didn’t see it?” Jiwoo asked, eyes flickering between Jinsoul and Sooyoung.  

“See what?” 

They exchanged another look. 

“I’ll go find her,” Jiwoo stood, “you should get Chae.” She sent a pointed look too Sooyoung. 

“Don’t they have class?” Jinsoul asked. 

Sooyoung just shrugged. 

Then they were gone. 

Jinsoul looked to Hyunjin and Haseul. 

“What the hell was that?” 

“No idea.” Haseul picked up the last muffin in the bowl. “Eat. Then we’re going.”

______

The day was going fine. Great even. Jinsoul had a massive pile of work for Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures, along with three spells she needed to practice for DADA. Still, she was making progress. Finally.

Until she heard a shriek. Then a very loud squawk. It barely even sounded like an animal. 

Jinsoul whipped her head around, only to see Hyejoo throwing a book at a white bird. It missed and hit Chan in the face. 

“Sorry!” Chaewon called. She ran onto one of the tables narrowly missing the books scattered across it. She drew her wand. “Immobulus!” Blue light shot from the tip. It also missed. 

Jinsoul ducked when the bird came her way. 

Haseul screamed, scrambling away. Her legs kicked into Jinsoul’s side. She was afraid a rib had broken. 

“Everybody calm down,” Madame Kang shouted. “It’s just an owl.” 

“Just an owl?” Hyejoo rushed past her. “It almost killed me.” Her eyes scanned the room. Jinsoul realised then she was bleeding. 

Then there was a flurry of white. It came from the Transfiguration section. The owl had a book in its claws. 

Madame Kang gasped. A stunning spell flew through the air in the next moment. 

The next thing that happened was a sudden burst of speed from the owl. Then the window shattered. There was a sharp shriek and the owl was gone. 

“You've gotta be kidding me.” Hyejoo kicked a table. 

“Out!” Madame Kang pointed to the door. “Get me that book back and you won’t lose twenty points for letting that thing in here.” 

The dark haired girl stalked out. 

Chaewon was watching her, a concerned frown on her face. 

“Sorry!” She hurried over to Jinsoul and Haseul. “I don’t know how it happened. We were on the seventh floor and then this owl comes out. We panic and Hye sent a snake it’s way. Then it attacked both of us, before,” she grimaced, “coming here.” 

“You mean you chased it here.” Jinsoul said. She handed Haseul a tissue. She was shivering. 

“You too,” Madame Kang was at their table, “but make sure she actually goes to the Hospital Wing too.” 

Chaewon nodded. 

“I’ll come with,” Jinsoul stood, “because neither of you‘re going to harm that owl.” 

Haseul was already shaking her head. “You are not turning this into another protection mission. I hated that niffler.” 

“Eevie was cute,” Jinsoul shot back. She packed up her things. “And she got you that necklace.” 

“It was Vivi’s.” Haseul gave her a look. “She was panicking until she realised it’d come to me.” 

She shrugged and followed Chaewon out of the library, passing some of the chaos the owl had caused, including a still dazed Chan who was clutching his head. 

“I’m really sorry,” Chaewon said. “She was aiming for the bird.” 

He smiled, shaking his head. He still looked dazed. “Don’t worry about it. I was falling asleep anyway.” 

Before they left, Jinsoul looked at the massive log for all the books. It was enchanted to keep track of which books were out. Also by who. 

The most recent didn’t have a name belonging to it. 

“Might wanna remember that,” Jinsoul said. “I don’t think the owl still has it.”

Hyejoo was waiting outside the door, glowering at the floor. 

“Aren’t you two supposed to be in class?” 

“Not today,” Chaewon said with a smile, while Hyejoo just shrugged. 

“Are you coming with?” she asked, looking notably happier than a second ago. 

“Yes,” Jinsoul said as they walked last, “and you’re not killing anything.” 

Hyejoo’s expression soured, but she followed. “And once you realise it’s evil?” 

“Then it goes in a cage,” she replied. “Like every other time, no cats, no bowtruckles, no owls, or anything else is getting killed or even hexed by any of you.” She had no idea what she’d do if it happened, but she didn’t let that show. 

“Okay,” Hyejoo muttered. “I’m hitting it with my bat.” 

“No!” Jinsoul her, ready to drag her directly to the Hospital Wing. Then it dawned on her. “But we should get our brooms.” 

Surprisingly, they both nodded. 

“How’d this happen?” Jinsoul asked. 

“Found it on the seventh floor,” Hyejoo said, still stewing. “Attacked me the second I opened the door.”

“It was stuck in a room?” She wondered if it’d been trapped there. She hoped it hadn’t been on purpose. Otherwise she was hunting down the person responsible for it. 

Chaewon nodded. “And because her first reaction is always violence,” she poked the girl’s side, “she tried to stun it.” Then she sent her a pointed look. “And then she tried to send a snake after it.”

Jinsoul’s heart sank. “No wonder you scared it.” She smacked Hyejoo’s good arm. “No wonder it attacked you.” 

Hyejoo scrambled to get behind Chaewon who was just laughing. 

“I’m the one catching it.”

“So we’ll flank it?” Chaewon frowned. 

“More like you’ll be moral support,” Jinsoul replied. “Neither of you’re allowed to even touch a feather on that owl.”

“You can’t be serious,” Hyejoo stared at her, “you can’t catch that thing on your own.”

“Not a thing,” Jinsoul raised a finger at her, “plus, I can and I will catch that owl.”

“I can get Jungeun,” Chaewon said suddenly. “She’d love this.” 

Clearly, they hadn’t found her yet. 

Hyejoo elbowed the blue-haired girl. She was smirking about something. 

“We’re not getting her.” Jinsoul shuddered at the thought. “She’ll just smuggle it into Gryffindor’s dorms.” And as much as she didn’t like quite a few of them, she didn’t want to be on the other side of Vivi Wong’s wrath. Haseul’s girlfriend was a sweetheart until you messed with either her things, the space she was currently in, or the people she liked. She didn’t really mind if the library was trashed, only if it was trashed while she was studying. 

Also, Jinsoul was sure that she’d hate the owl if it came into the common room. She shuddered just thinking about what could happen. 

Chaewon’s eyes lit up. “Now that’s an idea.” 

Jinsoul looked at her for a long moment, slightly terrified. “You’re just like her.” 

“Nope,” she smirked, “I’m better.” 

“Thank Merlin they didn’t make you prefect.” 

“They might still pick some for sixth year,” Hyejoo shrugged, “if enough people ask.” 

“Or the right head girl picks me.” Chaewon nudged Jinsoul’s side. “I’d make a great prefect, wouldn’t I?” She looked up at her with innocent eyes. 

Jinsoul regretted leaving the library. 

If she got that owl out of this alive, she’d take the day off. 

______

Finding the owl wasn’t hard. They just needed to find the place where people were screaming. And spells were flying. 

“Oh my god,” Chaewon muttered. “What kind of animal is that?” She looked at her broom. “And is it worth losing an eye?”

“Owls don’t go for the eyes,” Jinsoul replied. “Phoenixes do.” She started jogging towards the chaos. She could see the white flicker through the air. Every time the owl tried to leave, some spell, or other projectile, stopped it. Was it hurt?

“Big difference,” Hyejoo muttered. She drew out her wand. 

“Put that away!” Jinsoul sped up. “You scared it first, and now it’s terrified.”She wondered how close the owl was to getting a heart attack. 

Then she saw it finally escape the spells being thrown at it. 

Jinsoul got on her broom, kicking off the ground, looking at what’d just happened. People were cursing, glaring up at the sky. Others were sitting on the ground, stunned. Some had been running away. 

Somehow, the owl had decided to draw in every single student who’d come outside for their day off. 

A few people whooped when they saw her. 

“Get it!” 

“Don’t make it your new pet,” someone else shouted. It was Yeojin. Beside her was Yerim with a sheepish smile. 

Jinsoul flew up beyond the hill, searching the air for the owl. It felt good to be in the air again. She hadn’t been at practice for a good week, all the work completely dragging her down. 

In the corner of her eye, she saw it. In the sunlight, its feathers glinted red. 

The owl was flying up to the Astronomy Tower. 

Chaewon passed her, Hyejoo close behind. They both had their wands out. 

Jinsoul urged her broom to go further. There was a good chance they’d actually hex it. Then she’d have to explain to some first year killed their pet. 

She hadn’t been flying across the school for quite some time. It felt good to not be in the stadium. She always loved flying above the school (when she was allowed to). 

She caught up with the two Slytherins. The owl was still out of their reach. Jinsoul knew for a fact that they both couldn’t aim. 

“You both at this.” Jinsoul shoulder checked Hyejoo as she passed. 

The curses that were sent her way were lost to the wind. 

She left them at the Gryffindor tower, finally getting the broom to its full speed. 

The owl was rounding Astronomy. From this distance, noting the colouring too, Jinsoul realised the owl was female. 

The bird's head turned. She screeched. 

Jinsoul nearly fell off her broom. That sounded awfully familiar. 

The owl dove down, wings folding. She was basically in free fall. Right towards one of the courtyards. 

Jinsoul followed, bewildered by what she was seeing. Owls didn’t do that. 

She let herself enjoy the rushing wind passing her, billowing through her robes. She loved how the various structures of Hogwarts passed her by. 

The owl suddenly flew upwards. 

Jinsoul narrowly evaded one of the smaller towers as she did the same. 

The bird proceeded to go into another courtyard, in between the archways. They weren’t that crowded. 

Jinsoul followed, hearing people shout in alarm. The owl nearly flew into someone’s face. 

“Sorry!” she yelled as she passed by. 

The owl flew into one of the tunnels. It was a longer one. 

Jinsoul pulled out her wand, casting lumos in her head. 

She saw a few students crouching down. She saw the owl look back, the light reflecting in her eyes. There was a red sheen to them as well. 

Then the owl disappeared from view as soon as the tunnel ended. 

Jinsoul looked up, only to see her flying upwards in a steep line. She wasn’t sure if owls were supposed to be able to fly like that. And even if they could, they weren’t supposed to. 

This owl was also a lot faster than normal owls were. 

Jinsoul flew up as well, but aimed her wand for it, praying she’d make it. “Immobulus!”

She missed. 

She kept going. The bird had slowed. She wondered if the owl was tiring. 

She cast the freezing charm again. This time she hit it. It started falling through the air. 

“Wingardium leviosa.” 

She was able to catch the bird before it hit the wall of the Great Hall. She really hoped she hadn’t scared it too much. 

But nearly slamming into a stone wall, while not being able to fly—it might’ve not been the best thing for it. 

______

The owl hadn’t stopped screeching. She kept hitting her wings against the bars of the cage, or slamming her entire body into it. Many times, Jinsoul thought she was going to break something, and that it wasn't going to be the cage. 

“You’re going to hurt yourself!” She pulled out her scarf and wand. She made the scarf line the inside of the bars. “Please don’t destroy that.” 

The response was another squawk that nearly broke her eardrums. Then a sharp clash against the cage. 

“Stop!” Jinsoul whined. “I don’t want to freeze you again, but I will if you keep doing that.” She waved her wand in front of the cage. She’d flown to the Owlery to find a spare cage and, narrowly evading Chaewon and Hyejoo, she’d made it to the top of the Astronomy tower and back into the school. Now, she just had a very annoyed bird. 

The owl eyed it, her red eyes narrowing slightly. She lifted her wing slowly and sharply hit her scarf. It was very deliberate, not panicked at all. 

And the look she was giving her was very familiar. Almost as if she was challenging her.

Jinsoul brushed it off and climbed the staircase. At the end of it, she finally saw the eagle knocker. She sighed in relief. 

“This is the product of two that unite to cut the light,” the eagle spoke the riddle slowly. 

She smiled. “An eclipse.”

The passage opened. 

Jinsoul went in, the owl in tow. She’d stopped making all the noise, but she kept tapping her foot on the metal base, the rhythm grating on her ears. It almost sounded like a beat, but she tuned it out. 

She passed Hyunjin and Heejin on one of the sofas. They looked at her, eyes wide.

“Don’t ask!” Jinsoul told them. “I’ve got this under control.” 

“Really?” Hyunjin raised a brow. “What about—“

“Don’t start,” Jinsoul warned. 

“I’ll never forget the baby shark,” Heejin shook her head, “you were sure you could tame it. 

“He!” she corrected. “One has a clasper, the other doesn’t.” 

“I don’t even know what that is!” Heejin tossed a crisp at her. It flew into the cage. The owl ate it. 

Jinsoul sighed. She'd probably told them the differences between that ten times. It still hadn’t settled in. 

“When did you have a shark?” Hyunjin looked bewildered. 

“Last year.” Heejin leaned against her side, closing her eyes. “Thought it was a good idea to put a tank over there.” She pointed to the window on the northern part of the tower. 

“And what happened to it?” Hyunjin asked. “They live longer than that.”

“Haseul and her convinced me to set him free.” Jinsoul aimed a pointed look at Heejin. 

“Into the lake?” 

“No,” Jinsoul frowned, “that would’ve killed him.” She shook her head. “I organised a transport to an aquarium. A good one.” Bob had also lived too long in a domestic setting, so the sea hadn’t been an option. 

“And now,” Hyunjin nodded at the owl, “what’s with that?”

“I need to see who her owner is. Until then, she’ll be in the dorm. She’s really skittish.”

The owl began to screech again. 

Both girls covered their ears, while other students whipped around to see what had disturbed the peace of the common room. 

“Silencio,” Jinsoul muttered, wishing she didn’t have to cast a spell like that. She already regretted freezing the owl. 

She started bouncing around the cage even more, but she didn’t make a sound. Jinsoul caught her eye and swore it was glaring at her. She was one of the most expressive owls Jinsoul had ever seen. 

“If that thing spends the night, I’m tossing it out the window.” Heejin stared at it. “Even screech owls don’t sound like that.” 

The owl stilled. It looked offended. It’d heard what Heejin had said. It’d also heard what Jinsoul had told it earlier. 

She found herself growing a bit uneasy. What kind of owl could do those things? 

“It’ll be fine,” Jinsoul said. “I’ll figure this out.”

The owl looked up at her. She swore she was raising an eyebrow at her, as if even an owl didn’t think she knew what she was doing. 

“Good luck,” Heejin peeked at her from one eye, “if we hear you screaming, we’ll come help.”

Hyunjin looked as if she was going to say the opposite, but when Heejin laced their fingers together, she nodded. “We’ll try.”

Jinsoul rolled her eyes. “Thank you.” She went straight for the dorms next, the silenced owl in tow. She’d given up on trying to break out of the cage. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Everyone’s a little nervous about me having animals around. It’s why I’m unofficially banned from having one.” It’d taken six years for people to actually bar her in the first place, but they’d always managed to make her either restrain her creatures better, or just send them back. Sometimes she’d been able to have them in the Forbidden Forest, at least a safe part of it. 

The owl blinked back at her. Then she cocked her head to the right. 

Jinsoul lifted the cage so that she could look at the owl’s feet. “They didn’t even put a tag on you.”

Something hit her head. 

She pulled back just in time to see the owl’s wing slipping back through the bars. 

“Did you just slap me?” Jinsoul stared at her. 

The owl smacked the bars again, one of her feet stomping on the floor of the cage. 

“She’s got a temper,” Jinsoul muttered, pushing the door to open. She set the cage on the ground, before kneeling in front of it. “You hit me again and we’ll have a problem.”

The owl held her gaze. The strange red eyes were still irritated. 

She took the time to actually look at the owl. The red sheen was scattered across the edges of her feathers, as well as dried blood on the left side of her chest. Was that still from her launching herself through the window? Her tail was also partially burnt. Had someone really sent fire after her? Jinsoul nearly saw red. 

And then she saw the talons properly. They were a pale blue. Were they painted? 

“Who the hell would do that?” Jinsoul inched closer to the cage, but made sure that the owl wasn’t reaching out to hit her again. “And why?” 

The owl walked a bit forward and butted her head against the bars. Then she started tapping her beak on the door. Did she want to be let out? 

And since when did owls ask for things like that? And hit humans?

“Are you gonna attack me again?” Jinsoul asked. 

The owl shook her head. 

“Do you actually understand me?” She leaned away. 

A nod, a quirk of her head. It looked awkward, but it was a nod. It had to be. 

“Oh wow.” Jinsoul sat down on the floor. “You’re either really smart, or,” she frowned at the cage, “I don’t know.”

The owl leaned its head on the door, eyes closed. Jinsoul swore she heard it sigh.  

“Fine!” She reached out for the cage. “But you can’t break the windows here. You’ll actually break your neck. And if you attack me, I’m putting you back.” 

The bird settled back. She opened her beak. 

Jinsoul remembered she’d silenced her. She cast the counter charm. 

There was a low hoot. 

She opened the cage, bracing herself for the worst. 

The owl just hopped out, flapping her wings once. Feathers fell away and the owl looked more dishevelled than she had before. Probably from the way she’d been going mad in the cage. 

Then the owl flew over to her bag and began poking her head inside. 

“What’re you doing?” Jinsoul didn’t touch her, knowing that would be a very bad decision. 

No response. 

Jinsoul nearly smacked her own head. Why was she expecting a bird to reply to her? 

The owl pulled her head out. There was a quill in her beak. She flew up to one of the beds, looking around. Then she flew to one of the desks, her foot dragging over one of the papers, tearing it in two pieces. 

“That’s not even mine!” Jinsoul scrambled to her feet. She pulled the paper away. “Reparo.” The tear sealed. 

The owl took it from her hands, dropped it on the table, before taking the quill in again. She looked at Jinsoul expectantly. 

“You’re not gonna write something now, are you?” Jinsoul asked. 

A muffled hoot. She tapped the quill to the table, before jumping on its spot. She looked at Jinsoul, annoyed. Again. 

Jinsoul wondered if she needed to go to the Hospital Wing herself. Maybe this was the stress. Or there was some sort of mutation in the owls. Were they evolving now? 

She opened the ink bottle. “Don’t you dare spill it.”

She watched as the owl dipped the quill into the pot. It was surprisingly careful. 

Then she went over to the paper and started moving the quill across it, a light scratching 

No. She was actually writing something. In Korean. 

Jungeun. 

Jinsoul nearly lost it. “You’re another prank?” She tried to keep herself from shouting. Jungeun had put the owl in danger. Actual mortal danger. She wasn’t sure what she’d do when she found her, but she had several ideas. “That’s why she hasn’t been here, isn’t it?” 

The owl was shaking her head. 

“What did she do to your? Did she train you this whole time? Or do you have some sort of weird enchantment on you?” Jinsoul kneeled down to look at her more closely. “Or were you in those boxes?” She hadn’t heard anything, but what if the owl had been asleep then? “I’ll kill her.” 

A sharp hoot. Then another slap to Jinsoul's head. 

She jerked back. “I’m not the one who left you stranded in Hogwarts! Several people wanted to kill you. You almost got turned into a literal fireball!” 

The owl dipped the quill into the ink again, spilling some this time. 

Jungeun = owl. 

Jinsoul stared at the words.

The next words were in English. 

I’m Jungeun. 

The owl kept writing. 

U = idiot. 

Either Jungeun had somehow taught the bird to write, or this was actually happening. 

Anigus. Stuck. 

“Anigus?” Jinsoul muttered. “That’s not a thing.” 

The quill dropped onto the table, splattering the other words in ink. The owl screeched and flew at her. 

Jinsoul ducked just in time. 

Jungeun didn’t have the patience to train an owl. Especially an owl that acted like this. 

“You’re an owl.” 

The owl squawked and jumped up and down on the bed. It was Heejin’s bed. She flew back onto the table, took the quill back into , some ink dripping onto her feathers. Then she drew a large checkmark. 

“An owl?” Jinsoul repeated. “You’re an animagus?” It was a specific magic that took time to learn, but once mastered, you could turn into an animal at will. The animal was what was most similar to you, not the animal you liked most. And Jungeun was an owl. Jinsoul had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Jungeun wasn’t wise enough for that. 

Another check. The owl’s wings flapped. She was celebrating. 

Jinsoul recognised the victory dance. It was usually joined with an infuriatingly smug smile. 

“Oh wow.” Jinsoul stared at her. It made so much sense. Even going to the library, stealing a book on self-transfiguration, and how odd the owl had been acting. “Wow.”

Making sure she was a good distance away, Jinsoul sat down on the floor. Then she laughed. 

The squawk she got in response just made her laugh harder. 

“You’re stuck,” Jinsoul chuckled, “and you’re an owl?” She risked looking over, only to see two red eyes staring back at her. Even with a beak instead of a mouth, she knew the owl was scowling at her. 

The. Owl. Was. Jungeun. 

She laughed again. Her stomach was starting to cramp up. 

Jungeun hooted once, her foot scratching at the table. Twice. 

Jinsoul knew exactly what that meant and smiled. “You’re so much better like this.” She brushed away a tear. 

There was a flutter of wings. 

Jinsoul dodged the angry bird. She was probably going to be doing that pretty often. 

“I get one scratch and I’m putting you in the Owlery.” She couldn’t help but grin at the owl—Jungeun. 

She swore Jungeun raised a non-existent brow. Her owl head tilted up to the ceiling. 

Jinsoul frowned. Then she realised what that meant.

“Right, there’s no roof.” Jinsoul chuckled. “I’ll put you a nice cage instead. Again.”

She dove behind her bed next, but Jungeun just flew onto Sooyoung’s bed. 

“You do anything, she’ll—”

Jungeun’s foot dug into the covers, tearing them in one kick. Or was it a stomp?

“I hate you.” Jinsoul threw a book at her. 

Jungeun just hooted in response. She looked smug. 

She had no idea if she was reading into an owl’s expression too much, or if an animagi was just able to emote really well. 

“Okay,” Jinsoul sat down on her bed, “have you shifted before? And turned back?`”

Her head tilted up at the ceiling, cocking to the side. It was different to the movement from before. 

“Is that a nod?”

The sharp hoot made her think yes. Jungeun was probably tired of using the quill. Or she just didn’t want more ink on her. 

“How long have you been one?” 

Two taps. 

“Two years?” Jinsoul couldn’t believe it. “How?” 

The owl just looked at her. 

She could almost hear Jungeun’s response. 

I can’t talk, you idiot. 

“Well we at least know it’s possible for you to get back,” Jinsoul looked flipped through her notebook, “some people get trapped the first time they transform. They’re sent to St. Mungo’s.”

There was a flutter of wings. 

Jinsoul flinched, but Jungeun just settled down beside her. Her head tilted slightly as she looked over the book, then it straightened again. 

It was such an oddly familiar sight. She’d seen Jungeun do that same thing in class. Had that started after she’d become an animals?

“I’ll need to read into this some more. There’s potions for that. Probably a spell too, but I don’t know what they are.”

Jungeun hooted once. 

“Meaning I’m going to the library now.” Jinsoul put her things into her bag. She got up and picked the book she’d thrown at Jungeun up. “Where’re you gonna be later?” 

Jungeun hopped off the bed. Then she flopped onto her stomach, two feathers falling off. Then she rolled right under Jinsoul’s bed. 

“Are you serious?” 

Another hoot. 

“Can’t you just,” Jinsoul looked outside, just to see that the sky was greying, “never mind. If you’re jinxed by someone who comes in, that’s not my fault.”

A low hoot then. 

Jinsoul knelt down and peered at the owl. 

Her eyes were closed, beak resting on the wooden floor. 

Jinsoul fought a smile. She also resisted the urge to pet her, knowing that’d get her the same scratch marks Hyejoo had, but all over her face. She almost missed Jungeun as a human. As much as the entire situation was hilarious and the fact that Jungeun made an endearing owl, Jungeun as a human could actually smile and laugh properly. She could also be reasoned better. Not much, but a bit better. 

______

She found Sooyoung settled beside Jiwoo in the library. She was dozing, head resting on Jiwoo's shoulder. 

“Hey!” Jiwoo whisper-shouted. She was already smiling. 

Jinsoul smiled, but she couldn’t help but wonder where she was supposed to go. Restricted section? Transfiguration? Or maybe even potions. 

“Why do you have feathers on you?” Sooyoung frowned at her. “Please tell me you showered before coming here.” She lifted her hand to her nose. 

Jinsoul scowled at her. “They’re just feathers.” From one of your friends. She plucked one from her robes. It still had that red sheen. To say it was weird was an understatement. 

And what would happen if she put it in a Polyjuice Potion? Would she grow feathers and be some sort of weird hybrid of Jungeun and an owl?

“Oh right,” Jiwoo’s eyes widened, “you were a part of that whole thing, weren’t you?”

Sooyoung squinted at her. “People were saying you'd been some sort of hero. Cool," she looked like she was holding back a laugh, “but it's because you're some animal activist. Even for psycho birds.”

Jinsoul gave her a look, but didn’t say anything. 

“If you’re looking for Yerim, she went to see if Chae and Hyejoo were up for Exploding Snap.” Jiwoo was working on an essay. Ancient Runes by the looks of it. 

“They’re in a bad mood,” Jinsoul muttered, glancing at Sooyoung’s half-finished essay. 

“Don’t even say it,” Sooyoung warned. “It’s only due next week.” 

“And Charms is due tomorrow,” Jiwoo elbowed her lightly, “and you still have three paragraphs.” 

The Ravenclaw in question sighed, but she still looked pretty pleased about it. 

Jinsoul was torn between gagging and applauding them. They weren't even dating, but they were already sickly sweet. 

"What’re you actually looking for?” Jiwoo asked. “I haven’t seen the owl, by the way.”

“I found her,” Jinsoul replied. Then she realised she probably wasn’t supposed to say that. “I mean, she’s in the Owlery now. No owner yet.” Oh how she knew Jungeun would kill her if she even brought up the prospect of her being a pet. 

“From what Chae told me, it’s a menace,” Sooyoung laughed, “you should’ve put it in a cage, because I know it’s flying around somewhere out there.” She shuddered. “And if I see that on the pitch tomorrow, we’ll have a problem.” 

“I think it’s just scared,” Jiwoo said. She put her quill down, looking very content. “Throwing a snake at it probably wasn’t the best idea.” She seemed to realise the ridiculousness of that statement, because she laughed. 

Sooyoung was staring at her essay, half in awe, half in disbelief. “Don’t some owls eat snakes?”

“Some,” Jinsoul said, turning away from the table. She needed to get to work. “She doesn’t.” 

“She?” Sooyoung stared at her. “You can tell the difference?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “But I’m not about to give you a lecture on owl physiology. Start working.”

She got a scowl in response. 

“Did you see Jungeun yet?” Jiwoo asked before she could finally go. “I still haven’t seen her. She said she was gonna catch up on sleep, but I didn’t think it’d be this long.” She looked around the library then, as if she’d missed her somehow. “The other two haven’t seen her either."

"Yerim too," Sooyoung added. 

Sleep? Was that how it’d happened? She’d been tired? Jinsoul had read a few things about what could go wrong with a 

Jinsoul almost told her a random excuse, but then she realised that’d lead to more than a few awkward conversations when Jungeun was back. As far as she knew, Jungeun acted very differently with her friends. And they liked her for a reason. 

“Haven’t yet,” Jinsoul said. “But she might be working on Transfiguration.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. 

Jiwoo frowned. “She always gets that done first.”

Damn. “It’s a separate project!” Then she backed away. “And I haven’t chosen my topic yet.” She left before they could keep asking her. 

She knew exactly that she’d just made things even more confusing, but she had no idea what else she was supposed to say. 

She retreated into the shelves and started her search, hoping desperately that she'd figure something out. 

Every now and then, she thought of the bird currently sleeping under her bed and had to stop herself from laughing again. An owl. One that she'd chased across the entire school. 

And that owl was Jungeun.