Crimson_Lore

HP Chapter 137: Beyond the Veil (Part 1)

Suddenly, dark figures emerged all around them, blocking every escape route on either side. Eyes glinted from within the shadows of their hoods, and twelve wands, their tips glowing ominously, were pointed straight at their hearts. Ginny gasped and froze.

"Hand it over, Potter," drawled Lucius Malfoy, his voice slow and deliberate, palm outstretched.

Harry’s heart sank. They were surrounded, and outnumbered two to one.

"Give it to me," Malfoy repeated.

"Where’s Sir...

Chapter 136: The Hall of Whispers

Harry clambered swiftly down the stone benches, making his way to the bottom of the stone pit. Then, slowly, he approached the raised platform. His footsteps echoed through the vast chamber. The veiled archway now looked much taller from this angle than it had from above. The black curtain still swayed gently, as if someone had just passed through it.

“Sirius?” Harry called softly, his voice low now that he was so close.

A strange sensation crept over him. It felt as if someon...

HP Chapter 135: Department of Mysteries (Part 1)

Harry slid one hand into the nearest Thestral’s mane, gripping it firmly, and planted one foot on a nearby tree stump. Clumsily, he hoisted himself onto its soft, smooth back. It didn’t struggle, but it twisted its head around, showing its sharp teeth and eagerly trying to lick his robes.

Harry discovered that resting his knee just below the wing joint gave him a more secure seat. He glanced around at the others: Neville was hunched over, sprawled across another Thestral, struggling...

HP Chapter 134: Decision

Anne didn’t know how long she’d slept. No one disturbed her, and the dormitory was silent. Slowly waking up, she rubbed her eyes, sat up, and pulled back the bed curtains. The lake outside the window was pitch black, and the only light in the room came from stone torches set into the walls.

A glance at her watch told her it was already 7:15 in the evening. She quickly changed into her school robes and made her way to the Slytherin common room. There, only three seventh-year students...

HP Chapter 133: The Exam Ends

That night was the practical exam for Astronomy, held at the observatory. The test began at 10 p.m., but since the observatory could only accommodate so many students at once, each House took the exam in turn: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and finally, Hufflepuff.

The one-hour exam flew by quickly. Anne turned in her completed star chart and left the observatory with the other Slytherins, heading toward their common room.

They were chatting as they walked and had just reached ...

HP Chapter 132: O.W.L. Exams

The castle gleamed in the sunlight, as if freshly painted. The clear blue sky reflected off the still, shimmering lake, and the grassy lawns rippled gently in the soft breeze. May had arrived, and for fifth-year students, it meant only one thing: the O.W.L. exams had finally begun.

Teachers stopped assigning homework entirely. Every class was devoted to reviewing topics most likely to appear on the exams.

During this time, Draco Malfoy found yet another way to get under people’s...

HP Chapter 131: Career Counseling

On the first day back from the Easter holidays, a stack of pamphlets, flyers, and notices about various magical careers appeared on the tables in the Gryffindor common room. Along with them, a notice was pinned to the bulletin board:

"All fifth-year students must attend a short career consultation session with their Head of House this week to discuss future career plans. The schedule is posted below."

Anne was seated in the common room, flipping through one of the...

HP Chapter 130: Headmistress Umbridge

Ministry of Magic Decree

By order of the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Jane Umbridge (Senior Undersecretary) shall replace Albus Dumbledore as Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This decree is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Eight.

Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic

⚡︎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❖ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⚡︎

This n...

HP Chapter 129: Dumbledore’s Army

“Yes, Professor,” Anne said flatly.

Umbridge suddenly stood and walked closer, her voice cloyingly sweet. “Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“Of course, Professor Umbridge. If I know the answer, I’ll tell you,” Anne replied calmly, not looking away.

“Wonderful.” Umbridge handed Anne a cup of milk tea. “So, tell me, what have Harry Potter and his friends been up to lately?”

“Oh? Harry Potter?” Anne raised an eyebrow. “To b...

HP Chapter 128: Miss Perfect

The first Hogsmeade weekend in February had arrived, and it just so happened to be Valentine's Day.

“Hee hee, Anne, I won’t be hanging out with you today, ” Fanny grinned at her early that morning. “Someone’s asked me out.”

“Got it, got it. I won’t get in your way today.”

“Someone’s popular too,” Fanny teased. “Didn’t a Hufflepuff prefect try to?”

“Do you still want delicious chocolate tonight?” Anne interrupted with a threatening tone...

HP Chapter 127: Breaking News

The first month back after Christmas passed uneventfully. Nothing major happened, not even the thing Malfoy had been loudly predicting all holiday: that Professor Umbridge was going to fire Hagrid. That didn’t come to pass either.

The only real change was that fifth-year students now had even more homework than before. Anne even saw Malfoy doing assignments in the Slytherin common room a few times after coming back from the greenhouses, a rare sight.

But Anne knew this peace was...

HP Chapter 126: Fifth-Year Christmas

December brought even more snow, and a blizzard of homework for the fifth years. Anne’s schedule was completely packed. Between assignments from every subject, tasks assigned by Diana, and her own personal research, her life was full to the brim. And on top of that, as a prefect, she also had to carry out her responsibilities, like supervising the younger students with Malfoy. Realistically, though, most of the time was spent warning Malfoy not to bully first- and second-years.

Christ...

HP Chapter 125: Farewell, Thestral

October ended in a raging storm, and November arrived like iron frost, cold enough to freeze through bone. Each morning brought a layer of hardened frost, and the wind bit at hands and cheeks like knives. The sky and the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall turned a dull blue-gray. Snow capped the mountains surrounding Hogwarts, and the temperature inside the castle dropped so much that students wore thick dragon-hide gloves during breaks in the corridors.

On the very first weekend of No...

HP Chapter 124: Conversation

"Anne? Anne? Anne!?"

Anne's eyes flew open. Her body was drenched in cold sweat, the blanket tightly wrapped around her, but she was no longer in bed.

Fanny was crouched beside her, visibly shaken. Pansy, Milis, and Thalia were also kneeling around Anne, all in their pajamas, faces pale with worry.

Anne clutched her head in agony, curling up into a tight ball. Her skull throbbed as if it were splitting open.

"Anne?" Fanny called softly, but Anne didn�...

HP Chapter 123: Nightmare

"Professor Dumbledore was still smiling through all that, " Fanny remarked on the way back to the Great Hall. "Sigh, I suppose in a way, Professor Trelawney is kind of pitiful. Anne? Did you hear what I just said?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Anne looked up. "You said Dumbledore is kind of pitiful, "

"I was talking about Professor Trelawney. You weren’t listening, were you? What’s going on?"

"I just… remembered something," Anne replied, but her voice sounded hollow.

That mo...

HP Chapter 122: Professor Trelawney

This went on for two whole days. In short, aside from classes, meals, and sleep, Anne spent every spare moment buried in her data, completely oblivious to everything else. During Professor Binns’ History of Magic class, she even boldly spread out her papers and studied them right on her desk, acting as if the teacher didn’t exist.

Finally, during dinner one evening, Anne flipped over the last page of data, tucked it away in her bag, and let out a long breath. “Finally done. I’ll...

HP Chapter 121: Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four

As Anne stepped out of the bar, sunlight struck her eyes, making her squint. The contrast between the bright outdoors and the dim interior was stark. Autumn sunlight poured generously over the cobbled path, and for a moment, even the Hog's Head sign looked a little less intimidating.

Anne suddenly felt her mood lift. Still, the priority now was to return to the castle without drawing attention. She pulled her hood tighter around her face and followed the narrow path, turning a corner in...

HP Chapter 120: The Hog's Head

The Hog's Head stood at a crossroads in the village of Hogsmeade, its battered wooden sign hanging from a rusted bracket above the door. The sign bore the head of a severed wild boar, blood seeping through the white cloth wrapped around it. As Anne approached, the wind made the sign creak noisily.

She tilted her head to glance at it, hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The interior of the Hog’s Head was small, dark, and filthy, reeking strongly ...

HP Chapter 119: Disappointment

Another week passed. During that time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn’t seek out Anne or Fanny, which brought Anne a sense of relief. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how foolish the whole thing had been. She had only confronted Harry, but if Hermione had pressed her with questions… well, Anne honestly didn’t know what she would’ve done. She simply couldn’t bring herself to be harsh with Hermione.

At least talking to Fanny afterward, sharing what wa...

HP Chapter 118: Foolish Things

"Anne, are you sure your hand is okay?" Hermione asked, leaning in with concern.

"I'm fine," Anne shook her head.

Before Hermione could speak again, Anne added quickly, "You don't have to thank me, Hermione. You, "

Anne thought she could say everything she'd planned in her head, but the moment she looked into Hermione’s eyes, the words came out differently. “You, I know you wanted to test Umbridge's teaching methods in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But it's obv...

HP Chapter 117: Class

Fanny folded up the newspaper, her expression turning grim.

"Anne, I really don’t think this is the end of it."

“Mmm, you might be right,” Anne replied, spreading cream cheese over a slice of blueberry toast. “This could just be the opening shot, for both sides.”

“Who do you think she’ll observe first?” Fanny asked as they made their way toward Potions class.

“No idea. But I doubt it’ll be Professor Snape. Our Head of House doesn’t exactly seem li...

HP Chapter 116: The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts

“Forget it,” Hermione said, looking at Anne.

“Hehe, ” Anne gave a sheepish giggle.

“But, there's one more thing…” Hermione added.

“Hm?”

“About Umbridge yesterday, ” Hermione had barely started when Anne hushed her.

“Not here...” Anne glanced around. Most people had already finished eating and were leaving the Entrance Hall. She checked her watch. “We’ve got a bit of time. Let’s find a different spot.”

On the first floor of ...

HP Chapter 115: Something Important?

Umbridge waved her wand, and two tattered armchairs flew from the corner of the classroom, landing beside the platform. She sat in one and smiled at Anne.

"Miss Reeve, no need to be nervous. Sit," she said, pointing to the other chair.

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," Anne replied stiffly, sitting upright at the very edge of the seat.

Umbridge seemed very pleased with her response and smiled broadly. "Such a good girl. Exactly the kind of student the Ministry likes to see. It's a ...

HP Chapter 114: Confrontation

Anne muttered in her head about how boring the class and the teacher were. She flipped her Defensive Magical Theory book to page five, read a few lines, and quickly zoned out.

A few minutes passed. The classroom was dead silent, but it was obvious that most students weren’t really paying attention.

Snapping out of her daze, Anne glanced around. Next to her, Fanny was resting her chin on her hand, staring blankly ahead, clearly just as disengaged. A bit further to the ri...

HP Chapter 113: Professor Umbridge

Slytherin Dormitory.

Anne slipped off her school robes with one hand, revealing a short-sleeved white shirt underneath.

“Anne, did you gain weight over the summer? Your stomach looks way rounder,” Fanny remarked, eyeing her midsection.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m very confident in my never-gain-weight physique,” Anne replied, lifting the hem of her shirt slightly to reveal thick bandages wrapped around her waist. “It’s the gauze.”

Seein...

HP Chapter 112: Thestrals

"Your seat is still here," Luna said, peeking over her copy of The Quibbler.

Anne gave her a warm smile. "Thanks, Luna." She greeted Ginny, who was sitting beside Luna, and Harry across from them, then took her seat, sitting up straight. Hermione dumped all the snacks she had onto the table and slid in to sit right beside Anne.

Harry had already asked Anne about her arm when she came in. She gave a brief explanation of how she got hurt but didn't go into details.

Th...

HP Chapter 111: Luna Lovegood

September 1st, King's Cross Station.

Anne stood on the platform with her left arm in a sling. Aaron carried her trunk, and Diana had come to see her off, helping pin the Prefect badge to her robes.

It was still early, and the platform wasn’t crowded yet. Diana reminded Anne of a few things to be mindful of.

Once Diana finished, Aaron boarded the train first, hauling Anne’s trunk into the third carriage. He was scanning for an empty compartment to place i...

HP Chapter 110: St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

Step by step, Anne followed the familiar procedures etched into her mind, precise measurements, exact ingredient order, and careful stirring of the cauldron. She performed the experiment with meticulous attention to detail.

Freshly picked, a tender leaf from the Lokki plant was added into the potion emitting white steam, just as her notes instructed.

Anne snipped off a leaf with scissors while Gooka quickly moved the struggling Lokki plant, which seemed desperate to leap from its ...

HP Chapter 109: A Dangerous Experiment

“Sorry, Anne...” Diana apologized sincerely after the party. Aaron looked equally apologetic.

The three of them were sitting in the garden around a wicker table, where three glasses of iced honey lemon tea rested. The soft glow of incandescent lights from the living room blended with the moonlight, casting a calm, silvery hue.

Anne gave them a bright smile and waved her hand casually. “No need to apologize! Honestly, how many people my age get promoted to Hogwarts Prefect an...

HP Chapter 108: Prefect Badge

Once Anne had figured things out, she decided not to dwell on the issue anymore. She was far too busy to spend time worrying. From Monday to Friday, she attended classes at Roland Castle in the mornings, had driving lessons in the afternoons, and still had to carve out time to write her Path to Academic Excellence book series. The publisher had already been urging her for the fourth-year manuscript. That series alone had added nearly 4,000 Galleons to Anne's personal vault.

On ...