The next day was a weekday, which meant school. "Can't I just not go?" I said, yawning with my arms outstretched as Harry adorned me in a school uniform. A white buttoned undershirt covered by a black blazer, both emblazoned by a fire rising behind a rapier. Extra accessories included a red bow or tie.
"You're still a child," Harry said, strangling me with the tie. He untightened it, finding a spot where it lay comfortably upon my neck. "Or, at least, you still look like one."
"Right, but surely, I could refuse." My argument was flaccid, and we both knew it. Still, I didn't feel like taking it in stride.
"Unfortunately not," he said. "Do you know what your classes are? Where you're going?"
I shook my head. "Remember, at least ten years since I stepped foot inside a school. I'm sure I'll be able to find my way, though."
"Hm." Finally, Harry was done styling me. "Here's this." He gave me a piece of paper, and when I opened it, I saw it had all the information I'd need.
"'Classmates'? I won't need to know them." Pocketing the paper, I moved, finding that it was all too tight.
"Mingle, try to be a kid. Don't raise suspicion. That's all I ask." He leaned towards a window, looking outside. "Now, your carriage is here, so it's about time you get going."
'That'll be annoying,' I thought, adjusting a cuff.
***
A man looked outside his second-floor window, peering down at a carriage letting a small boy on.
"He really wants me dead," he said, drinking from his bottle. "Yeah, no wonder. Maybe he could."
Harry stood in a corner, listening to his prattling for a while before speaking. "Master Leonard, might you be willing to take a more involved approach in his threats?"
As though not hearing his words, Leonard continued. "What use is my life?"
"Quite a bit, sir, if you'd only-"
He plopped onto the desk, his head covered by his arms, driving the world away as his eyes shut. Harry sighed, grabbing his own coat and placing it over his sleeping form. After returning to his previous stance, he looked upwards, saying, "I'm sorry I could not replace you, Charlotte."
***
I'd forgotten what a carriage felt like, with its cushioned seats and bumpy rides. The inside was draped with House Clement's colours, which were a tough brown brightened with spots of blue. Supposedly, each spot represented a star, but that never seemed very important to me before.
Pulling aside a curtain, the streets outside were... destroyed, rubble falling down, smashing into the earth below. To the West, a plume of smoke arose, it's source filling my mind. Grey skin was pulled taught over every inch of bone, causing it to protrude; its breath was heavy, easily visible by its moving ribcage. It's head came rather suddenly, without any shoulders to mention, and yet it managed to turn its head, looking straight at me. Starting from neutral, its lips, if they could ever be counted as lips, spread, revealing a glimpse of the teeth laying hidden behind. The creature's nose was sharp, poking through the thin skin barrier, but no blood came forth. Two large orbs protruded just above, lines of red flowing through a white expanse, only disrupted by a broken pupil. Just behind this thing was a pile of bodies, burned alive, their mouths still open in horror and pain, and their screams...
My eyes opened to the carriage's interior, sucking in a gasp of air, sweat dripping down my skin. 'What the hell was that?' I thought to myself, shutting my eyes. Almost clearer, I could see it staring at me, drool filtering through that set of teeth that looked so straight and thin they would snap off, but when I opened my eyes, it disappeared.
Heart beating, I sucked in breath after breath, struggling to calm my mind, but each came faster and faster, sweat pouring more; eventually I found myself on the floor, clutching my hair, the remains of tears upon my face, snot dripping. I'm not sure when I had calmed down, but when I realised it, my world shook.
Looking outside, I could see large, decorated buildings adorned with glittering metals, gargoyles poised overlooking the campus. Hundreds of people walked through two giant wooden doors, each the size of a house, but far more extravagant in appearance. Emblazoned on the arches were thousands of symbols, one lighting up for every student that passed underneath.
On my other side, horse hoofs pounded against cobblestone, presumably from other carriages dropping off their inhabitants and then leaving.
Bracing for another vision, I was prepared for everything to change into a more desolate world. To my surprise, it didn't happen. Scrubbing my eyes changed nothing, and I stood still, scanning everything in front of me, my mouth blubbering like a fish. Shaking myself, I joined the stream, entering the sea of students and noticed how a symbol lit up when I passed through. It was House Clement's emblem.
'Such a useless thing,' I thought to myself, following the directions written on the paper I received.