There were many mysteries at Hogwarts, but none were more mysterious than James Lancaster. The mystery behind his hidden scar above his eye, however, was revealed to me last night by him, yet I couldn't help but feel unsatiated with his explanation. He'd told me that he got his scar from attempting to open his father's vault at Gringotts but apparently the blood magic function was removed years ago, so he was treated like an intruder and got shot in the face with fire. He failed to divulge what exactly he was looking for in his father's vault, and why he reckoned his father would even take off the blood magic right of entry. Maybe he himself did not know the answer to those questions, but still, I had no doubt that he did not want me to know the full truth anyway.
"Maeve! Why'd you ditch us after breakfast, yesterday?" Ivy Law said when we found ourselves walking in the same direction to the Entrance Hall. "I thought you'd stay throughout my birthday celebrations."
Romeo Linares was next to her and he waved at me awkwardly. I tried not to panic as I suddenly remembered what he was up to every month on the full moon. I hadn't forgotten about his little monthly ritual, but I simply didn't know what to do with this knowledge but wait for further development. The brown-haired boy seemed unbothered by my presence, though, which could only mean that he still did not know that I knew his secret.
"Hello? I was asking you a question?" Ivy said, snapping her white fingers in my face. I blinked.
"Oh, right. I, er, got distracted with things, yesterday," I stammered. "I also didn't realize I was invited."
"Oh, my goodness, don't be ridiculous. Of course you were invited," Ivy shook her head at me, baffled.
"Ah, okay," I said awkwardly. I caught Romeo staring at me, and he smiled when he saw that I noticed him, but I looked away immediately.
We had now reached the Great Hall for breakfast, and I felt giddy, remembering what James and I had planned.
"Where are you going?" Ivy said when she saw me about to part ways with her.
"Eating with my housemates?" I offered.
"No, you're eating with me and Romeo. I wish to figure out what I shall do to Fred and George as payback on their birthday."
I was slightly taken aback by how authoritarian she was, but didn't linger on that thought too long.
"Right, well, we'll have to schedule that for another day. I've already got plans," I asserted. The blonde didn't seem very pleased with my answer.
"But Maeve! I was counting on you," she pleaded stubbornly.
"Sorry, I have to go," I insisted and began walking away. I knew Ivy was shooting daggers at me with her eyes as I had my back turned to her, but I couldn't care about that right now. James was expecting me.
"There she is," James said upon noticing me. He was seated with the rest of the S4, and suddenly, the pressure to perform was consuming me. "Immensely thrilled that the troll was able to join us."
Isaiah gave us a puzzled look, whilst Wyatt snorted and Elijah simply raised an eyebrow at us.
"Uhm, okay... Well, at least I don't smell like a fart," I countered. James was a bit confused by that pathetic retort but proceeded with the plan anyway.
"Says the troll. You know, trolls are known for their abhorrent smells. That and their unpleasant personalities and violent tendencies," James responded, raising his voice so that other people could hear him. "Sorry, did me saying this spark some violence in you?"
"No, but it did spark some annoyance. You're quite irksome, you know," I replied just as loudly, crossing my arms.
"What is going on?" Isaiah asked, visibly confused by the sudden quip-battle between James and I.
"Just here to get some breakfast. Is there a problem?" I queried as I slipped onto the seat next to him, right across from James. Isaiah seemed to be struggling to understand the meaning of my words.
"There is a problem actually. A problem with your posture. What are you doing? Digging for gold?" James quipped. I almost snorted at that one.
"Looking for a reason not to smack you, actually. But it seems you're making it really hard for me to resist," I said with a dramatic sigh. James smirked at the opening I gave him.
"Oh really?" he said, scoffing. "Looks like we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way: by dueling. Are you afraid you'll lose?"
"No, I'm just wondering why you'd think it's fair for a fifth-year student to duel a third-year student. But then again, you're dimwitted enough to be a first-year," I retorted. The rest of the S4 were utterly bewildered by James and I's sudden hostile behaviour towards each other. We were also gathering more and more attention from students around us, which was a good sign.
"Ah so you are a wimp," James said with coyful smile.
"No, you misunderstand, Mr Lancaster," I said. "I shall gladly and promptly duel you in the courtyard."
"You bet," James said, rising from the table along with me. He then turned to a crowd of eavesdropping and mesmerized fourth-year girls and said, "You four — Tell everyone Blackwood and Lancaster are having a friendly duel in the courtyard in fifteen minutes. Make sure you say friendly so that professors do not misunderstand."
The fourth-year Slytherin girls all nodded fervently and began whispering to students across the Slytherin table about the duel. Some students turned to the Ravenclaw table to tell others of the news and to spread the message. I wondered just how many people would even care to witness our duel. But the plan was working, nonetheless. We were going to have a large enough crowd of people to act as witnesses as to how James "got" that scar above his eye.
James gave me a knowing look, and he winked at the rest of the S4 who were shaking their heads in confusion at us. I tried to remain calm as James and I sauntered out of the Great Hall and prepared ourselves for our duel in the courtyard.
There were over a dozen students following us out, most of which were Slytherins, but some, such as Amirah Flowers, were from other houses as well.
It seemed that everybody knew the drill. People formed a circle around James and I as we readied our wands and mentally prepared for the duel. More and more people filed in as well, joining the already intimidatingly large crowd around us.
James and I hadn't exactly rehearsed how we were going to proceed, but he did say that he was going to shoot a few spells at me first before I shot the fire spell at him. This was to make the duel more believable. I mentally repeated the wand movement for the shielding charm to hopefully block myself from any damage James would send my way. I wondered if he felt ready for the searing pain of his scar burning again very soon.
I threw my gaze over at James as he steadied his wand. He was glancing around at the crowd nervously but had a stern and determined look on his face. He caught my eyes and raised his eyebrows ever so slightly as if to indicate that he'd acknowledged me looking at him. I looked away and brought my attention to whom was in the crowd instead.
Mostly Slytherins were getting ready to witness James and I duel, and they all whispered to each other giddily. I caught Fred and George in the crowd, winking at me. They were standing near Tracey and Daphne who both stared at me wide-eyed and demanding answers. Draco Malfoy seemed highly amused by this whole ordeal, and he smirked at me deviously as if hoping I'd die in the duel against Lancaster.
"I'll be the referee!" Flint declared as he pushed himself into the inner circle of the crowd. "Before us, we have James Lancaster and Maeve Blackwood dueling to the death!"
I didn't want to disappoint the cheering crowd, so I didn't deny Flint's claims about our battle being deadly.
"And so the duel shall begin!" Flint exclaimed, almost too excited about this prospect.
James and I, as per duel decorum, bowed to each other before turning away and facing each other again when we got further away. We both had our wands at ready, and I felt my heart sink to my stomach even though I knew this was not a real duel.
James cast the first spell.
"Flipendo."
I quickly cast the shield-charm, though the spell did not bounce back on James but at the sky into nothing.
"Locomotor Mortis."
This time, I didn't think quick enough to block the spell and my legs got bound together. James eyes were imploring mine as if urging me to counter him.
"Rictusempra."
I cast the tickling charm, but James blocked it and it bounced back at me but I dodged it just in time. It hit someone in the crowd who was now laughing uncontrollably, but no one seemed to care as they were too focused on James and I's duel. My bound legs made it hard for me to get back up after dodging the spell, so I casted Finite to get them back to normal.
I was now three metres away from James. That's when I decided to use the spell.
"Incendio."
A ball of fire shot out of my wand, and I hoped to Gods I had aimed it correctly. James, though foolish-looking, barely moved his body but slightly moved his face so that the fire would touch right above his eye.
And that's when he cried in pain.
Students around murmured in fear and surprise, and I walked closer to James to investigate his eye. He had a hand over it; I couldn't tell if he was acting or if the pain was genuinely that excruciating.
"James?" I tried. He groaned as he slowly removed his hand.
The scar was worse than what it was before. The fire had reach above his eye, as planned, but it seemed that the surface area was larger than anticipated. There was a large red circle on his face stamped across both his eyebrow and his eyelid. A part of his bangs were also burned off.
Students gasped upon seeing the burn, and I feigned shock.
"James, let's get you to the infirmary," I said before anyone else could interject. He nodded quietly, and I hauled him up, dragging him out of the courtyard.
What I dreaded would happen, but that I certainly expected to, did. Severus Snape was standing at the entrance of the castle, peering at me with disdain.
"Seems like that temper of yours has landed you in more detention, Blackwood," he said, sounding bored.
"It's okay, Professor," James managed to croak. "I'm the one who challenged her to a duel. I take responsibility for this."
"Seems like you will both be serving detention. I'd say a two weeks worth for Miss Blackwood and one-week worth for Mr Lancaster."
As much as I wanted to cry about how unfair it was, I knew how Snape functioned. If I complained, my detention length would double. So, I kept my mouth shut and nodded. Besides, I had to take advantage of my position as a Slytherin. If I were a Gryffindor, he would have given me three-months worth.
"I trust that Miss Blackwood will promptly carry Mr Lancaster to the infirmary. It would do well to minimize the gravity of his wound to prevent displeasure from his parent," Snape added.
"Of course, sir," I said with a nod. I couldn't get on Snape's bad side, so I politely approached interacting with him. "Thank you, sir."
Professor Snape merely narrowed his eyes at me with slight malice or suspicion — I couldn't be sure which one it was — but he didn't say anything as I helped James over to the moving staircases.
We arrived at the Infirmary quite rapidly. Madam Pomfrey shuffled us towards the nearest empty bed. James sat on it and briskly lifted his chin up. What was left of his bangs fell to the side of his head, exposing the fresh burn on his eye and eyebrow to Madam Pomfrey.
The matron did not stop to ask James how he got the burn. Instead, she summoned a bottle of dittany and applied it instantly on the burn. James winced slightly.
What was left was the original burn scar on his face, which looked like the remnants of the new burn. Our plan appeared to be successful.
"Oh, dear," Madam Pomfrey said, putting on her half-moon spectacles to inspect the burn scar. "When did you get this burn? Surely you didn't wait before coming here?"
"Er — we waited a few hours—" I began, stammering.
"I thought it would heal naturally at first, but I couldn't stand the pain after a few hours, so I came here," James lied swiftly. Obviously we had come very quickly, but saying that a few hours passed before the dittany was applied would help explain the scarring.
"That's odd. The burn seemed like a fresh wound when you came in..." Madam Promfrey mused, staring peculiarly at the scar on James face. "How did you perhaps get this burn? Was it magical?"
"I woke up with it. Someone probably tried to play a prank on me. I don't know who, though," James said very convincingly and casually. I wondered why he couldn't have just lied to his father about his scar when he got it instead of going through all of this trouble to hide it.
"That's quite serious, Mr Lancaster. You do best to alert Professor Snape to prevent this from happening again," she said very warily.
"He's already aware," James said with a firm nod.
"Very well," Madam Pomfrey said. "Please do not wait to see me the next time you get injured, Mr Lancaster. I'll fix your hair, then you may go."
Soon after, the Matron cast a spell that recovered James' burnt bangs back to their original state, though James asked to shorten them slightly, making his scar more visible. Soon after, and without a falter, James and I acquiesced our thanks and goodbyes to Madam Pomfrey and left the Infirmary. A grin was gradually consuming my face as I thought about our accomplishment.
Three boys were standing, waiting for us in the corridor. The blonde one's head perked up at our appearance and notified the other two.
"What the bloody Hell was that all about?" Elijah asked when we arrived in front of them.
"What was?" James said innocently.
"That duel. Blimey, you know what just happened. Care to explain?" Elijah insisted, looking at James intensely.
"Well? It was just a duel. What about it?" James said with a coy laugh.
"I —" Elijah blinked, as if mulling over the possibility of giving it up in his head.
"Well, it was a bit unexpected, I'd say," Isaiah pointed out.
"More than unexpected," Elijah added.
"Yeah. How exactly did that happen anyway?" Wyatt pried.
"You know, the usual. Blackwood getting on my nerves and whatnot," James beamed. He couldn't suppress his glee, and I couldn't suppress my chuckle at that statement.
"You seem oddly happy for someone who just got his face blasted off — Hang on, is that a scar?"
Upon hearing Elijah's query, Isaiah and Wyatt leaned forward and suddenly inspected the corner of James' eye that wasn't being covered by his bangs as much anymore. James pressed his lips together and smiled to himself.
"And you find it amusing—? You've got a bloody scar on your face from that stunt you just pulled, this morning, and you're smiling?" Elijah sighed with disapproval. He was starting to sound like my brother, which made me laugh. Elijah threw a reprimanding glare at me. "You of all people should not be laughing, Blackwood."
"Maeve defeated me fair and square, I reckon," James shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "Besides, don't you agree this scar looks pretty neat? Doesn't the red frame my eyes so nicely?"
"Yeah, you look like a very handsome young man," Elijah droned sarcastically.
"Aw, you think I'm handsome?" James teased, wiggling his eyebrows at his friend. Elijah rolled his eyes. Though his face was soured, I could sense that his mood was getting ever-so-slightly elevated by James' good humour.
"Have you got him under a spell, or something?" Isaiah turned to me with a interrogative look on his face. He was referring to James' aloofness to the scar on his eyebrow.
"The only spells I've cast on him are the ones you saw in the courtyard," I said, lifting my hands up in surrender. Elijah massaged his temples as if thinking about a potential solution to all of this.
"Isn't your father going to kill her after seeing that scar?" Elijah asked James seriously, as if he were genuinely concerned about my safety. I frowned slightly, finding him to be a tad bit dramatic.
"Well, he doesn't have to know that it was her," James said as if that were obvious.
"Surely, he'll find out one way or another," Elijah insisted. "She's dead."
James' jaw clenched slightly, and his smile faltered faintly. He said, "Maybe he doesn't have to meet her."
"Well, he knows her family's business. He may very well—"
"Oh, please stop it. You're scaring her. She'll be fine. Her family will be fine. Mr. Lancaster is not a horrible person," Isaiah chimed in before my eyes could widen any more at Elijah's prophetic claims.
"Well, James doesn't always make it sound like it," Wyatt said under his breath, though everyone heard him and turned to look at him. "I'm joking—"
"Well, in any case," I began with a spurious laugh. "You all don't need to berate us over the event. We'll both be serving detention with Snape for the next week or two."
"Well, good," Elijah said. "That ought to straighten you two out."
And from that day forward, I felt immensely awkward being around the S4. Not particularly around James, however, who personally cornered me later that day to thank me for going through all of this trouble for him. Elijah Hadleigh was perhaps the most difficult S4 member for me to be around. At every meal, he'd quietly stare at me, whether I'd be seated with them or not. I felt a sharp shot of anxiety in my chest whenever I'd encounter him in the hallways. I liked to pretend that I didn't notice him so that I wouldn't have to suffer any more intimidating and prolonged eye contact from him.
Isaiah and Wyatt would occassionally ask me questions in private about what really provoked James and I to duel because they just wouldn't buy it. They both claimed it was out of character to see James act like this in public. I stuck to James' original story which was that we just got bored and annoyed at each other and wanted to have a bit of fun. Otherwise, James and I's wand battle seemed to be the talk of Slytherin house, particularly James' "new" scar.
Nothing could have prepared me, however, for the murmuring that ensued nearly wherever I'd go. Often, while passing by a group of fourth or fifth-year girls, particularly Slytherins, they'd scowl at me. Ocassionally, I'd get a jab thrown my way about how dangerous I was to the safety of the S4, and by extension, all of Hogwarts.
Thankfully, my Slytherin friends did not encourage the gossiping. Tracey, for instance, would pull out her wand and threaten to be a danger to them too if they didn't shut up. Daphne would stick to eye-rolling and scoffing. Millicent, on the other hand, personally expressed her gratitude to me for making her week so entertaining. Her good humour seemed to match that of Fred and George's who offered me personalized Weasley training to "kick some more S4 butt," to which I politely declined.
There was one person, however, whose behaviour following the duel amused me immensely. And it was Draco Malfoy. It was as if he were scared of me. Though James wore that scar proudly everywhere he went, Malfoy seemingly avoided me more often now, as if afraid of meeting the same fate as him. And that was probably my favourite consequence from the duel. Draco Malfoy being at least slightly scared of me? A blessing, truly.