Chapter 142: Phoenix Feather (3)

Peter Pettigrew lived in a constant state of fear—fear of his mother, his classmates, his teachers, and even the subjects he was supposed to master. Transfiguration had always been particularly challenging for the young wizard. The complex formulas and Professor McGonagall's precise explanations made him feel utterly lost. It didn't help that she was frequently exasperated by his struggles, often assigning him twice as much homework as the other students.

So, when Monday morning arrived and Peter realised they were about to tackle a new type of spell—cross-species switches—his fear intensified. The very thought terrified him.

'T=(W×C)÷(V×A)×Z. What does that even mean?' – Peter groaned internally, his eyes darting from the blackboard to the rat and the seagull in front of him.

"What's the matter?" – Catherine asked, glancing over at him.

The boy looked at her nervously. He was puzzled by her decision to sit next to him in class. While the young witch always helped him when he asked, she usually avoided sharing a workspace with him. Peter couldn't help but notice the way she eyed him every time he made a mistake she deemed foolish, which made him incredibly anxious. Yet, over the past week, the fourth-year had realised that Catherine increasingly chose to sit beside him rather than with the other boys. Granted that James and Sirius usually shared a desk, they did switch placed occasionally. However, Flame clearly favoured sitting next to Remus. For some reason that was no longer the case. When Peter asked James about it, he just snapped at him to keep his nose out of other people's business.

"I… I'm not sure I understand what Professor McGonagall wants us to do." – the boy admitted miserably, absentmindedly stroking his rat.

"It's pretty simple." - Catherine explained, her expression twisting in disgust as she noticed what Peter was doing - "You need to turn the rat into a seagull and the seagull into a rat. And could you please stop playing with that thing?"

"What? The rat? What's the problem?" – the young wizard asked, surprised by his friend's strong reaction.

"Yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude - I just really don't like rats." – the girl replied, her voice softer but still tense.

"Huh? We work with them all the time." – Sirius chimed in from the desk behind them.

"There's something about the way they move…" – Catherine shuddered slightly – "Especially their tails, like they've got worms attached to them… disgusting!"

"Now you're offending worms too!" – James added with a chuckle – "What happened to being a tomboy?"

"I don't see how this has anything to do with that!" – the girl snapped, annoyed – "I just don't like rats – end of story."

"Miss Plantier, is there any chance you and your friends could stop chatting and actually get some work done today?" – Professor McGonagall's sharp voice startled the group.

While the rest of the class giggled, Catherine leaned closer to Peter and whispered, "It's not that hard. Don't worry about the formula. You already know the wand movement and the incantation. The key now is to split your magic into two streams when you cast the spell. And remember, with Transfiguration, you need to make sure the spell surrounds the entire object—in this case, the animals."

"What do you mean by that?" – the boys whispered back, desperately trying to remember all the instructions.

The young with sighed in frustration but tried to explain more clearly. "You know how regular spells only affect the part of the object that's above the surface it's on, like the ground or a table? Well, with Transfiguration, the spell has to cover the whole object, like a sphere. Got it?"

Peter nodded, though he wasn't entirely confident. Yet, as it turned out, Catherine's explanation did help, and by his third attempt, he managed to perform the switch.

"Thanks, Flame!" – he grinned as they left the classroom after the lesson.

"No problem. You're not that bad—you just panic too much." – the girl said with a smile – "Oh, there's Alice and Marianne. I need to talk to them. See you at lunch."

With that, the young witch quickly dashed through the crowd of students heading towards the Great Hall, trying to catch up with the two Hufflepuffs. 

'I don't think they can really help with the protective spells around the Greenhouse, but it's worth a try.' – she thought, finally managing to tap Alice on the shoulder.

"Oh, Catherine!" – Alice exclaimed with a smile, her brown eyes lighting up – "I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

Marianne paused briefly but didn't even glance in Catherine's direction before swiftly disappearing into the nearest bathroom. 

"What the hell is her problem?" – Catherine asked, irritation creeping into her voice. Ever since the Halloween Ball, she couldn't shake the feeling that Marianne was mad at her.

"Oh, that?" – Alice blushed, looking uncomfortable – "Don't worry too much. She'll get over it."

"But what did I do to her?" – the Gryffindor demanded, her frustration growing.

"She thinks you lied to us because, at the end, you went to the Ball with Sirius Black." – Alice admitted with a sigh.

"What? First of all, we went as friends! Second, I hadn't planned on going with him when we talked, and third, there were two other people with us!" – Catherine almost groaned with annoyance.

"Yeah, but it didn't look that way when the two of you were dancing." – Alice replied, raising her hand to stop her friend's protest – "I'm just saying that Marianne really likes him, and she felt like you were toying with him because you can have him whenever you want, and he doesn't even spare a glance at her direction."

"This is ridiculous." – the black-haired girl said, shaking her head – "I wouldn't have gone with him at all if your housemate, Leif Thornton, hadn't run off when he saw me and had invited me as I expected. How about that? How does Marianne think I felt then?"

"Catherine…" – the Hufflepuff began hesitantly – "You do know Leif didn't invite you because James and Sirius had cornered him and threatened to, um, hex his balls off if he came near you, right?"

"What?!" – Catherine yelled, absolutely furious – "Those arseholes! We'll talk another time!"

With that, the young witch sprinted towards the Great Hall. She stormed in, her eyes locked on the Gryffindor table where her friends were already eating lunch.

"Accio tureen!" – she growled, and the nearest dish, brimming with fish soup, flew straight into her waiting hands.

Without a moment's hesitation, she upended the tureen, dumping its contents over James and Sirius's heads. The entire table fell into stunned silence, forks suspended mid-air. 

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" – James yelled, leaping to his feet but instinctively stepping back as he caught sight of Catherine's furious expression.

"You are darn lucky that I didn't use magic, James Potter!" - she shot back, her voice trembling with anger - "Or you'd be the one worrying about your balls being hexed off!"

Without another word, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the hall.

"Bloody hell!" – James moaned, sinking back into his seat and staring helplessly at his stained robes.– "I stink like a fish market!"

"Considering how mad she was, I think we got off easy." – Sirius shrugged, completely unbothered by the soup dripping from his hair, and oblivious to the stares from half the Great Hall – "It's a price I'm more than willing to pay for going on a date with her."

"You two are definitely going to make a great couple." – James muttered sulkily as he tried to clean himself up – "You're both completely bonkers!"

***

"Consider the sentence Vetharros yath lumenaris thar vorthar dorrr vakorr ven arren." – Professor Oakenscript stated, tapping the blackboard with her wand where the example appeared with bright golden letters – "The word Vetharros refers to 'dawn,' with yath lumenaris (of light) specifying that it's the dawn related to light. Notice how thar is used as a connective, similar to 'and' or 'thus,' linking the cause and effect between the arrival of light and the end of darkness. The verb vorthar (brings) comes before the object dorrr vakorr (darkness), with ven arren adding the idea of 'once more' or 'again,' which implies a cyclical nature, something central to Lumerith's expression of time."

Catherine carefully copied the example into her notebook, absentmindedly biting the tip of her quill. Gwendolyn had helped her catch up on the lesson she'd missed, but the young witch still felt uncertain about her understanding of Lumerith's applications. Her mind, however, was preoccupied with something else the Ravenclaw had shared.

"My sister replied to my letter. It seems that there's a lot of uncertainty regarding the phrase you asked about. But what we do know is that it was found centuries ago, engraved on an altar rumoured to be where Merlin created some of his most astonishing spells. Giselle has a theory that he must have worked not only with spells but with Ancient Magic too. It makes sense, of course, that's why they called him the Prince of Enchanters."

'That's certainly interesting to know.' – Catherine thought as she mechanically followed Professor Oakenscript's instructions, searching for a sufficiently long text to translate – 'But it doesn't answer my questions. Why does it sound so familiar? I don't know much about Merlin beyond what I've read in books. The House of Prince is descended from him, but I've never met any of them. And it can't be connected to any aristocrats if Snape knew about it. I must have seen it somewhere obvious, but I just can't remember where.'

The black-haired girl finally found a text that seemed challenging enough to impress the teacher. It was a song, an ancient hymn, praying to the sun for its blessing, so that the hero might shine in gold and march against evil, untouched by darkness. When Catherine first began studying Ancient Runes, she was surprised to discover that a significant number of preserved texts were actually songs. While most students focused on written testimonies and rituals, Catherine found herself drawn to the poetic lyrics, often wondering what kind of melodies had once accompanied these ancient verses.

Solvarris, ethilen,

Velothar, yath alorren.

Vetharos, sol vorrum,

Erren thar golthos lumenis.[1]

Catherine gazed at the poem contemplatively. Softly, she began to sing the verse, a bright, tender melody emerging naturally as she considered the meaning of the words. A strange sensation rippled through her body, like plunging into ice-cold, refreshing water that sharpened her senses. Glancing at her hand, she thought she saw a faint golden halo, but it vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

The Gryffindor quickly surveyed her surroundings. Everything seemed unchanged—Professor Oakenscript was deep in conversation with Desmond Cornfoot, and the rest of the class was absorbed in their own translations. The only one who seemed to have noticed her was Snape, who was glaring at her with clear irritation.

"Would you be so kind as to not disturb other people's work?" – he hissed when their eyes met – "I know you think you can do anything in class without consequences, but the rest of us don't need to listen to the screech you call singing."

"Hex me!" - Catherine demanded, her voice low but urgent.

"You want me to hex you?" – the boy asked slowly, suspicion and annoyance flickering in his black eyes. His mind raced, trying to decipher what game the Gryffindor was playing - "Are you so desperate for attention, or are you some kind of masochist? Or perhaps you're trying to trick me into getting in trouble with the lamest ploy imaginable."

"Neither." – the young witch replied firmly – "I need to test something, and since you usually don't hesitate to hurt me… It's a rare deal, Snape. You can hex me, and I won't retaliate in any way—nor will the boys, I can guarantee you."

"I'm not interested." – the wizard retorted, his distrust evident as he rejected the offer.

"You owe me this much!" – Catherine insisted, worried that the magic's effect might fade while they argued – "You humiliated me in front of your friends, not to mention got to see my panties. You know my payback's going to be painful, but we can call it even if you do me this one favour."

"I'm not afraid of your payback." – the Slytherin growled, his voice low and menacing – "And if you think that seeing your underwear wasn't punishment enough, you're seriously delusional."

"Can you be anything other than a git?!" – the black-haired girl snapped, her frustration boiling over – "I want to see if this song works as a ritual… Why can't you be helpful just once in your fucking life? Aren't you curious if songs in Lumerith are more than just art?"

With startling speed, Snape drew his wand, glancing quickly to ensure the Professor wasn't watching. He cast a spell that struck Catherine square in the chest. She staggered, feeling the impact, and for a few dizzying moments, she struggled to regain her focus. When she did, she realised she was unharmed. Snape's face was frozen in shock.

"I didn't know you could cast non-verbal spells." – the witch remarked with a crooked smile – "What was it?"

"A Sardine Hex." – the boy replied after a pause – "I can't believe this actually worked. I've never heard of Ancient magic being used like this. It's… remarkable!"

Catherine nodded, trying to grasp the significance of what she had just discovered. Then, she caught herself smiling and quickly looked down.

'Why the hell am I grinning like an idiot because Snape praised me? That's literally the first time he opened his mouth without offending me straight to my face! Maybe the git's right—maybe I am a masochist!' – she thought with frustration, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the letters of the song as the melody continued to echo in her mind.

[1] Blessed sun, shield me,

With your golden light so free.

The hero stands in your glow,

Shining bright where shadows go.