Chapter 2. Lumine

"Lumin, finally! Said goodbye to the folks?" – Scaramouche waved at me cheerfully in greeting, but his enthusiasm was curbed by Albedo with a sharp elbow to the shoulder, – "ouch? Oh, what, didn't go too smoothly?"

"No, more like it went as usual," – I took a deep breath and collapsed into the seat across from Fremine, – "whatever, how are you guys? Ready for the final school year?"

"You bet, do you think we can show those Gryffindor snobs up and decorate the Great Hall in green one last time?" – There was unmistakable excitement in Scaramouche's words; he had always been the staunchest defender of Slytherin's honor. And he did it quite well.

Despite the school's biased attitude toward our house, over the past 6 years we had kept up with the Gryffindors and won the house cup 3 times. This year should be decisive. I can't deny that Scara's excitement was infectious. I don't think any other house strives as hard to assert itself through school competition. And it's not surprising, since every Slytherin student had to face the attitude that they were descendants of Death Eaters, starting from the first year. No one who participated in the bullying of our students cared that it had been 26 years since Voldemort's final defeat, nor that the generation of Slytherins had already changed, nor Harry Potter's appeals that a house does not define you as a good or bad person. It was convenient for everyone to trap eleven-year-olds in the confines of shame for the Sorting Hat's choice and keep them there until graduation, so as to "not raise a new generation of villains." That was until Scaramouche entered the school. As soon as the old hat shouted "Slytherin" over his head, he proclaimed to the hall, plunged into silence, that he was happy to be where Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape had been before him. One had become a legend during the war, and the other after it, proving to the world that former Death Eaters could change by founding a support fund for Muggle-born wizards. It was thanks to this fund that Scaramouche and many other students received funding for their education not only at Hogwarts but also at other schools around the world. Of course, despite his admiration for such great people, Scara was quite a pain, especially in the lower years, and often got into trouble because of it.

When we were in our first year, he often got into fights with the Gryffindors, not caring whether it was with peers or upperclassmen. I always admired this trait of his; that's how we became friends. One time in Potions class, he unintentionally went too far. We were learning to brew a boil cure potion, and Scara convinced a quiet Gryffindor student that porcupine quills should be added before taking the potion off the fire. He thought it would just make the potion fizzle amusingly, but it started emitting poisonous fumes, and that boy fell to the floor in convulsions. As I later found out, that boy's name was Xiao. Aether charged at Scaramouche with his fists, and when they were pulled apart, he carried Xiao to the hospital wing himself and didn't leave his side until he got better. Since then, those two have been inseparable and have turned against Scara. He was truly devastated by what had happened, which only made him more abrasive. In my attempts to explain to my brother that it was an accident, we ended up having a huge argument. Aether said Scaramouche did it because he was a Slytherin, as if forgetting the fact that I was also from there. Our argument escalated, and eventually…

"Earth to Lumin!" – Scaramouche was waving his hands in front of my face; apparently, I had been staring into space for a while.

"Oh, yeah, memories flooded in. What were you talking about?"

"We were discussing participation in the Triwizard Tournament. Are you planning to take part?" – Albedo clarified for me.

"I've been thinking a lot about it over the summer…"

"We all have to put our names in the Goblet! The more participants, the better the chance a Slytherin will be chosen!"

"Scara, as always, is full of enthusiasm," – Fremine smirked.

At that moment, the door of our compartment opened, and someone threw a strange ball into it. Albedo reacted instantly and was right beside me, shielding me. The ball exploded, painting the entire compartment green and emitting a foul odor. Outside, someone laughed and shouted, 'Now you're even closer to your house!' and ran off in an unknown direction. Thanks to Albedo, the green substance barely touched me, but my companions were covered from head to toe.

"Thanks," I said to him without any extra emotion in my voice, "good thing we hadn't changed into our school robes yet."

"Albedo, is this stuff hard to wash off?" Scaramouche asked.

"No, but I'm afraid to completely get rid of it, we'll need a full bath. Let's move to another compartment for now; I think there was a free one a bit further down."

We gathered our green belongings and headed to the end of the carriage, following Albedo. When we opened the door of the designated compartment, we were surprised to find Professor Kaeya sitting inside. He couldn't hold back his laughter at the sight of the senior students appearing.

"I take it not only you look like this, but also the entire space where you were? Come in, I'll inform the conductors about this and will be back soon. Albedo, can you do something about the smell? I'm not thrilled at the prospect of smelling this stench the whole trip."

"Don't worry, professor, this substance stops smelling within 10 minutes. I think by the time you return, the smell will be gone."

"Alright, when we arrive at the school, we'll figure out who did this and how they can be punished. Where do you think they could have gotten this bomb?"

"From the places I know, they could have ordered it from me or bought it at "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.""

"And I take it, you haven't received such an order recently."

"No, professor."

"Wonderful, old George Weasley never gives away his clients. Well, I'll try to come up with something, and for now, I'll go for a walk. How long did you say, 10 minutes?"

"7 minutes have already passed, professor."

"Great, make yourselves comfortable."

Professor Kaeya looked at me and, it seemed, winked, but it was hard to tell considering he had a patch over one eye. Then he left.

"You should have been sorted into Ravenclaw with your knowledge; has anyone told you that?" said Scaramouche, settling by the window.

"Yes, about 50 times from you."

"Right, by the way, young genius, how are you feeling?"

"Not bad," Albedo gave me a fleeting glance, "I've been in remission for the last 3 months."

"You stabilize every summer, but as soon as the school year starts, you're thrown back into phases. Are you sure your underground activities aren't aggravating your bipolar disorder?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes, it's not that. Don't worry about me," Albedo gave me a reassuring smile.

We settled in, and soon Professor Kaeya returned. We spent the rest of the journey asking him what to expect from the tournament, but the professor kept silent, teasing us that we should focus more on our exams. Our entire group had good grades, thanks in no small part to Albedo, so we weren't too scared of the N.E.W.T.s. Who really scared us was Professor Diluc. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts and is a fanatic about his subject. He is also the head of Gryffindor House. He and Professor Kaeya constantly argue about the points awarded to students and are probably as competitive as their students, although both are fair in their judgments.

So, in the company of our head of house, our journey passed quite quickly, and soon the Hogwarts station appeared.