Year 3 | Amirah Flowers

At around midnight, I tiptoed out of bed, still in my pyjamas, and sneaked out of the dormitory. I didn't expect to run into anyone at this time of the night, and fortunately, I didn't. The coast was clear, in the common room. No human in sight — not that I could see anything — Should I light up my wand or rely on recollective memory to move around? Probably the latter. Who knew if a student accidentally fell asleep somewhere in here? I certainly didn't know, and I was not planning on finding out, either.

Once I was out of the Slytherin common room, I realized just how dark and eerie the Hogwarts corridors were at night. Not a single torch was lit, and not a single mouse squeaked.

Lumos.

Okay, maybe lighting the halls was a terrible idea... but how was I supposed to find my way to the Hospital Wing? By feeling the walls around me and sliding my feet across the floor with my arms and hands outstretched? No, I didn't think so. I was a witch, wasn't I? I owned a wand for a reason.

I kept my wand at a distance, hoping it would light the corridors more as I sneaked around. It was awfully calm out here while everyone else was in their beds, presumably asleep. I sort of wished Hogwarts was like this during the day. I should probably wander the corridors at night more often; the silence was soothing.

I halted just as I reached the top of the stairs that led out of the dungeons. On my right, I remembered, was the entrance to the library, and knowing this just gave me a stupid idea. A brilliant yet stupid idea.

The restricted section of the library was currently unsupervised, which meant... This was the best time to sneak in and grab a few potion books I would otherwise require permission from a professor here to take out. There were thousands of books in there, and there was no way Irma Pince, the librarian, would even notice if I were to borrow, say, a few books, right? Well, I supposed it wouldn't hurt if I went now and dealt with the dittany later.

The library was empty, and I felt this sudden wave of excitement rush over me as I traipsed down the rows of tall library shelves. I had never been here at night, and I reckoned I should go more often. Maybe not necessarily to read or study, but perhaps to relax and enjoy the rare and quiet library ambiance at night.

Alohomora.

At the end of the rows of bookshelves was the restricted section. I was surprised it could open with a simple spell everyone learned in their first year. Wasn't Hogwarts worried that students could easily come and go in here at night? What was the point of having a restricted section if it was not fully or properly restricted? And why did Hogwarts have a restricted section in the first place? Wasn't there a bunch of dark and illegal books in there? Why could all of that be found in a school? Did it just slip everyone's mind that we have eleven-year-olds at—

A girl screamed. Startled, I jumped and screamed right as she did.

We quickly realized we were both mere students and not Filch, a teacher, or even a ghost, and calmed down, sighing in relief. I didn't understand how I hadn't noticed that she was there. She had her wand lit and was sat at a large windowsill with a muggle pen in hand and a sketchbook on her lap. I was probably too lost to realize there was a light source here.

"I hear girls screaming! Students out of their little bedsies! That leaves Filch beaming! For that means he gives detentionsies!" some ridiculous voice sang not too far from us. I knew this was Peeves, obviously, and I wasn't too fond of the idea of being found by him. He was probably at the library entrance and surely coming our way.

"Over here," the girl whispered. "And turn your light off."

Nox.

The only light left was that of the girl's wand, which she used to light our way. I followed her farther down the restricted section and into a corner.

"PEEVES! WHERE ARE THEY?!" That was definitely the squeaky yet booming voice of Argus Filch down there.

"Please hold this for me," the whispered, placing her sketchbook, pencil and lit wand in my hands.

She grabbed the edge of a library shelf and pushed it with all her might to one side. My mouth gaped open as it revealed a flight of stairs.

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!" Filch's voice echoed across the aisles of bookshelves.

Without waiting for her instructions, I followed the girl inside and climbed the stairs. She hurriedly pushed the library shelf back in its spot.

The flight of stairs led to another flight of stairs leading to a closed door. I tried the handle. Locked.

"Alohomora." The girl had caught up behind me and used the exact spell I meant to.

The door swung open at once. I was expecting some spectacular and impressive hidden office room with magnificent paintings and a great view outside, and well, not this. Behind the door was a dingy old room that smelled of chalk. It had boxes piled on top of each other, with books, dusty books just about everywhere. It was like a very old but quite large broom cupboard, without the brooms.

"By the Gods," I said. "How did you even find this place?"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "Found it just last year."

The girl grabbed her wand, pencil, and sketchbook from me. She flicked her wand, and the candle holders on the wall lit with tiny flames illuminating the room.

To the left was a large, purple, dusty curtain hanging over the wall. At the front was a large window overlooking the training grounds. To the right was a large chest filled to the brim with books and more crates piling on top of each other.

I looked at the girl properly, and I immediately recognized her. Shoulder-length ash brown hair with a blue streak, hazel eyes, and a pale freckly face... This was the girl who sat with Isaiah in the library yesterday!

"Hey!" I said suddenly. "You're friends with Isaiah!"

She blushed lightly and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah..." she looked to the side, avoiding my eyes.

"Er — sorry, I forgot your name."

"Amirah," she said with a random surge of confidence. "Amirah Flowers."

She extended her hand, and I shook it awkwardly but firmly.

"Maeve Blackwood," I acquainted.

"Er — so, what are you doing in the restricted section at this time of night?"

"Browsing for a little bit of light reading," I said in an exaggerated posh voice.

"Ah."

"I'm joking. Actually, er," I hesitated a little. I didn't really know this girl, but part of me felt like I could trust that she wouldn't tell on me. "I was looking for a book with potion recipes... "

"Moste Potente Potions?" she asked, her index finger flicking upwards unconsciously.

"Er — yeah, that one. And others."

"Well, we might be here for a while," Amirah Flowers said. "Filch doesn't usually give up easily. I vote we sleep in here."

I raised my eyebrows with uncertainty as my eyes scanned the dusty room. I wasn't too keen on the idea of sleeping in here, and I swore I saw some moths eating away at the purple curtain.

"Oh, no, I don't mean here... Look, just follow me," she said, gesturing with her hand for me to follow.

Amirah traipsed to the large, old purple curtain to our left and pulled it aside. Instead of a wall, there was another flight of stairs hidden behind. With immediate curiosity, I followed the girl inside and up the stairs. We reached a small landing and climbed up another flight of stairs in the opposite direction.

"Woah," I huffed in amazement just as we reached the top.

Now, this floor was much more welcoming than the dingy room downstairs.

There was a clean, polished and black desk in front of a large, purple curtain-drawn window. A beautifully engraved armchair was pushed inside the black desk. There were dark bookshelves with intriguingly designed books and various assortments of colourful flowers; blue, violet, pink, red, orange and yellow. There was a black leather couch in a corner with a matching coffee table and a large ornate mirror on the opposite wall of the window.

"How in the world...?" I wasn't even sure what I wanted to ask Amirah. How did this happen? How did she find this? Did she make this all by herself?

"I don't know how close you are with the S4," she began.

"The S4? I swear everything revolves around them," I said, unconsciously interrupting her.

"Yeah," she smiled painfully. "I accidentally met them — well, Isaiah — last year because of this room."

I gave her a look of perplexion.

"This room is their hiding spot," she expanded. "It's kind of a long story that I won't get into, but basically, this is their room — well, it's sort of my room, too, now — as long as they don't catch me here, that is — But they were the founders."

"Well, now I gotta ask them how they even found this," I said, still staring around the room in amazement.

"Right, er, I hope they won't be upset with me for showing this place to you," she said. "Are you friends with them at all?"

"That's a good question... because honestly, I don't think I know the answer to that," I pondered. "Well, I suppose I am friends with James but — I dunno, am I? Isaiah acts friendly enough, but I feel like he's like this with everyone. As for Wyatt and Elijah, well, I dunno." I scratched the back of my neck under my long and curly dark hair.

"Well, in any case, maybe don't mention that I showed you this place," Amirah said in a hopeful tone. She sighed. "God, maybe I shouldn't have said anything about them... Isaiah told me not to tell the others I even knew about this place." she placed her hand on her mouth as if in shock with herself, and her eyes grew wide.

"I won't mention it to them!" I said suddenly. "I mean, you know what? I'll pretend I've never been here before. This place is dead to me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm only here for tonight, and then I'm gone, and I'll never come back — and you know what else?"

"What...?"

"I... I actually have to do something tonight. So, sleeping here isn't — well, it doesn't exactly fit in my schedule," I added reassuringly.

"I'm sorry," Amirah said. "I... I guess I got excited with the idea of having a friend, I suppose — not that I don't have any — I mean, I've never shown this place to anyone before and... I'm so sorry that I dragged you here in the first place—"

"Amirah," I said breathlessly. "It's okay. You know, I think this room is pretty neat, actually. I like that you showed it to me. And seriously, I promise the S4 won't even know I was here."

She smiled but sheepishly covered her lips.

"Hey, this is really random, but would you...?" I nearly trailed off as I searched my mind for the right words. "Would you be interested in a midnight excursion to the Infirmary?"

Amirah chuckled in confusion, "Huh?"

"I can't exactly tell you why, but I kind of sort of need to secretly borrow some dittany from Madam Pomfrey's stores," I said without taking a breath.

"Sounds wild," she said. "I'm in."

At this point, leaving the library was easy enough. Filch had given up and looked elsewhere, I reckoned, around the D.A.D.A classroom, whilst Peeves trailed behind him. My new friend, Amirah, and I trekked through the hallways toward the Hospital Wing. I would have stayed a little longer, hoping to find some useful potion books, but I didn't want to get caught by Filch or Peeves, especially since we narrowly escaped them just a few moments ago.

I was thankful that Amirah and I hadn't ran into any more trouble on our way through the castle. I couldn't believe we had already reached the Infirmary when we did. The students in the wing were sleeping soundly, and Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen.

Alohomora.

I swiftly grabbed the dittany bottle and closed the potions cupboard. Too easy. Madam Pomfrey didn't make it hard for students to steal her potions. Not that stealing a healing potion for healing purposes is entirely immoral, but I wouldn't go around telling everyone about this. As far as I was concerned, only James and Amirah knew.

"I suppose we're not doing a slumber party in the restricted section," I whispered to Amirah as we sauntered away from the Hospital Wing. She giggled quietly in her hand.

"Yep, and I guess we're going our separate ways now," she said when we stopped at the end of the corridor.

"Blimey, I forgot to ask, what's your house?" I asked Amirah.

"Ravenclaw," she answered, smiling proudly.

"Great. Well, I'm in Slytherin," I said.

"I know," she said. Before I could ask her about that, she added, "Okay, I'll see you around."

"It was nice meeting you, Amirah," I said earnestly. She beamed, and we parted ways.

As I trekked to the Slytherin dungeons, I thought of this interesting girl I had just befriended. Amirah Flowers. When I first met her in the library with Isaiah, I thought she must've been awfully shy and quiet because she barely spoke and blushed so easily. But today, the awkward barrier that was previously between us had almost entirely vanished.

From escaping Filch and Peeves together to hiding in a secret room in the restricted section to stealing a healing potion from Madam Pomfrey... I barely knew this Amirah girl, but we just instantly became friends. I couldn't stop thinking about the next time we would meet and what more I could learn about her.

All I knew for now was that she was Amirah Flowers, a Ravenclaw. She was friends with the S4. She must be at least a year or two older than me, but that was to be confirmed in the future.

"Basilisk," I said. The stone wall moved, and I walked inside the Slytherin Common Room, lighting the room with my wand. I moved forward next to the couches, almost at the dorm entrance.

"AH, FUCK," yelled an aggravated voice. I quickly noxed my wand and remained very still and quiet. My hunch from earlier was correct. There was someone in the common room, presumably sleeping, until now.

"Lumos," said the voice, and I swiftly crouched behind the nearest couch. I didn't have enough time to see the person's face, but I knew that if it was a prefect, I was fucked, and if it was a student, I could potentially be just as fucked. Hopefully, whoever it was didn't see my face or assumed it was their imagination... And that they didn't just see a person's silhouette moving behind the couch.

The person's wand light brightened up the common room, and it moved around, searching — until it stopped.

The person laughed. But then they went quiet — maybe too quiet. Maybe... they fell back asleep? With their light still on?

"Blackwood, I can see your hair." I knew this voice, but I wasn't sure I did, all the same. All I could tell was that it was a guy's voice. And goddamnit, my hair. Now was one of those moments where I wished I had let my aunt braid it back in France.

Was this the moment I popped out and went, 'Oops, ya got me!'? No, maybe if I stayed immobile, the person would leave?

I could hear him moving on the couch, and I had a bad feeling at the bottom of my stomach that he was trying to get a good look at me.

"Why are you hiding?" he asked. I looked up reluctantly. He was shining his wand light on me, so I couldn't see his face, but I could see his bright blonde hair. It knew it wasn't Malfoy because that was definitely not his voice (unless he had hit overnight puberty or something), which meant that the person must be—

He moved his wand light to the side, revealing his face. Wyatt Nye's upper body was leaning over the couch, and he was looking at me with amusement.

"I wasn't," I said, suddenly standing up and straightening myself. "I just fell over."

He scoffed a laugh and said, "Of course you did."

"Well, I'm off to bed — good night!" I hastily waved at him.

"Not so fast," he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back in front of him just before I could dash away. He crossed his arms and rested them on the couch top, cocking his head to the side. "You said you'd brew me another potion."

"Huh? No, I said maybe."

"Excuses," he waved his hand dismissively. "Look, I'll even pay you in advance."

"I can't accept," I said, smiling uneasily. "I told James I wouldn't sell any more potions to you."

"Well then, you'll just have to give them away for free," he insisted. I rolled my eyes.

"No."

"Okay, just give me whatever this is, and I won't bother you for another week," he said, pointing at the bottle of dittany in my hand.

"NO," I said adamantly, hiding the bottle behind my back.

Wyatt Nye looked up in desperation.

"Please! Just give me anything. But not one of those useless potions you mentioned before," he insisted childishly.

"Tomorrow."

"You better."

And with that, I marched away from Nye, and this time, he didn't stop me from leaving.

I tried to walk as quietly as possible when I entered the girls' dormitory. All the other girls were asleep (obviously). I wasn't sure exactly what time it was, but I knew it was an ungodly hour in the middle of the night. I hadn't realized just how tired I was until I slipped under my covers and was immediately confronted with sleep.

I was so dreadfully tired last night — or this morning? — that I didn't remember having any dreams when I woke up. It was as if I had completely blacked out and then woke up a few hours later. Well... maybe I did dream.

Amirah Flowers... Did I meet her for real, or was this all a dream? It seemed odd that I randomly met this girl in the library, with whom I escaped from Filch and Peeves, in a hidden room behind a bookcase in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. And then, she showed me this room behind a purple curtain and told me that it basically belonged to the S4 and I shouldn't let them know that she showed me this place. And then, she agreed to steal some dittany from Madam Pomfrey's potion cupboard with me, and—

Blimey... but if it was a dream, that would mean we didn't really get the dittany bottle, and I would have to do that tonight. Ugh, I really needed to stop procrastinating—

The dittany bottle was on my left, on top of my bedside table. It was just as I remembered it. A palm-sized bottle with a clear liquid and the words Essence of Dittany written on a white label.

So everything did happen, huh? Right, well, that was a weird night.

A blonde-haired girl in her Slytherin uniform hurried into the dorm, leaving the door wide open behind her.

"What are you doing still in bed, Maeve?!" Daphne Greengrass exclaimed as she shuffled through her belongings. "We have class, like, right now!"

"OH SHIT."

I bounced out of bed and ran to my closet to grab my uniform. Daphne didn't wait up for me. As soon as she found her — well, honestly, I didn't look to see what she was looking for — she dashed out of the dorms.

Without considering how messy my hair must've been, I grabbed my bag right after I slipped into my robes and raced after Daphne. I was unsure which class we even had or whether or not I had the right books in my bag, but I figured I'd share textbooks with someone once I got there.