Uncanny and unusual

it wasnt easy for them to do the detentions and his spells seemed to be suffering form the lack of practice. he wasnt getting better at his previous pace but he wasnt declining in quality either. his next class was defense against the dark arts and she thought he was very good at this class because it was identifying harmful magical creatures and types of magic. he was good at identification and she had no trouble at all. she was curious about the creaturs and types of thoughts needed to produce dark magic but she never wanted to use dark magic.

it was a good lesson and she discovered that she was good at the magic side and he was good at the creture side. between the two of them they could defeat any dark creature. and suddenly the whispers of the older students made a bit of sense and she would remember rumors of dark magic and evil creatures.

there was a slytherin who was also very skilled at this and they were a quiet reserved person. she waitied for the two to leave and went over. to talk.

"youve heard the rumors too i think." she said to arabella and arabella nodded stopping to talk. caius was about to walk away btu arabella hold his robe in her hand keeping him still.

"yes. the dark remnants of a battle that happened years ago is what people suspect." she said believing this but the slytherin shook her head.

"no i dont think so. no one takes the rumors seriously and its making me nervous. something dark is here int he castle and its stirring the dark creasutres to come out into the more populated areas of the castle."

"like the doxies and the pixies?" caius asked now intrigued.

"yes exactly.' she said coldly to caius not paying much attention to him. he felt that and fell silent

"then those encounters we have had are because of the dakr magic youre talking about... but we cant get involed tell a teacher." bella said not liking how she treated caius but the girl was very nice to her.

"they always say that nothign can hurt us here and if anything did the teachers would deal with it. i think maybe there are things form the battle mixing with older things and making the castl change. like how people are getting lost more often or the castle seems to be alive. well known pathways are definitly being mixed up and passages are forming and disappearing. but thse could be just side effects." she said flippign her hair out of her mouth. she bounced when she spoke and her hair moved like silk in the wind. some got in her mouth perhaps from a habit of chewing on it fromt he split ends caius saw.

"then its up to us." he siad in a confident tone he rarely if ever used. arabella and the girl looked shocked to hear hiim speak in such a way and he stammered. "w-well if no one will l-listen then we have to f-figure it out a-and... and" his voice dropped

"and get to the bottom of this. we have nightly detentions to prepare for halloween how about we agree after the feast to investigate the reports. lets meet up before bed and discuss the things we hear." arabella said this to support caius and the girl agreed before turning and her hair fanned out as she turned to go to her lext class.

Both Bella and Caius were ready but they trying to think of this plan as best as possible. They were unsure of the many dark creatures that roam around at night so this could explain so much later on for them. Maybe in different words true but that was nothing compared to what they could find later down the road.

they worked in greenouse one for their herbology class and it was a mild lesson about common magical plants used in simple potions. it was tedeous and nothing new was mentioned. then professor longbottom spoke about his first plant. it was a cactus with boils not needles and called it mimbubous mimbltonia. she explained it had a stinksap defense mechanism and warned them not to touch it becuase it was ahrd to clean off even with a vanishing spell. he was excited to talk abotu plants and otherwise was a soft spoken young teacher. he mentioned a few dangerous plants like venemous tentaclula and puffing gaspoppies.

"whats a popping gas poppy?" caius asks getting a laugh from the class for mis hearing it.

"puffing gas poppies are a fast spreading flower that puffs a poison gas that makes you see things them puts you to sleep. then it spreads its spores hoping to grow on you." that made caius regret asking and he gulped sorry he asked. "this plant is not leagal and should be destoryed if you encounter one come to me and dont try to smell it or pick it." he warned almost as if he knew some was aorund but no one was openly saying anything about it.

A few students were shocked but some was snickering finding Caius funny. Arabella didn't find it funny but she knew the dangers of such a plant. Her great uncle heard about them but she knew he was always careful around them. Even when she came over, he would tell stories of what these plants can really do.

the day was ending and they returned to the common room to rest before the meeting.

"your great uncle really?" cauis asked and she nodded. "did he mention a weakness or a way of dealing with them?" he asks interested to hear about her past and wanting to hear more.

"He never told me at the time because he was traveling at the time. Being a busy wizard he was but that tells me he really was good at his work. I just hope he's alright out there." Arabella mutters knowing the work her uncle did. Being someone like him only knowing so much that others ask him from all over just for advice.

"what other connections to magic do you have in your past?" he asks her and was eager to learn more about her. he saw himself as a unworthy peasant who had no skill next to princes and princesses who were born to it.

"Hmm? To be honest, I don't know. I figure I know a lot more than I think because of my family bloodline. I want to learn more about it myself but I haven't figured out where to start at first. Maybe I need to look up some other ways towards my family." she mutters rubbing her chin at the thought.

"well we can check school records in the library. thats always a good placve to start when you look for some information." he said and she giggles thinking he wouldnt do that himself. the library was masive and he did sneak in there ot learn more when he couldnt find out the answer by himself.

"And you think that would work?" she asked seeing him nod.

"Of course it will!" he said but Arabella sighed to shake her head seeing this. At least Calius was doing better with getting used to other things like that. She would do everything to help him find the answers they need later on so no problem on their part.

they go to the libary and look up the lists of students and pull out book on wizarding families to find or look up leads on her family history. it was a serious project fo rhim but he didnt like these types of books prefferring a fictional adventure. she saw books on magical creatures and had to restrain himelf so he could focus on the task at hand.

They just remain silent while looking through the library, seeing the books on the shelves or some flying around to their homes. Arabella and Caius blinks at the view then goes to try finding this book. They took one section and looked through a couple, hoping to find something during their time here. Even if some of the fascinating books here were catching the young ones eyes. For now, they keep looking.

they found and gathered several references to the genealogy of wizards and history books and started reading through them as well as references for their homework. their search found no results but thei homework still got done because she would remind him to do it.

day after day every bit of their free time was spent searching and they learned a little about the wizarding world and recent history. they saw books on just about every era of modern wizarding history and a few from ancient days with ruens and letters they couldnt read. and soon they had to call their search off as more and more students were filling the library searching for their own books and special projects.

halloween was coming and it was getting o the point where even he had a bit of a change coming to him. Caius didnt hate nor did he particularly like halloween. this was his first where he was actually happy and so she went on about her life with halloween. he heard stories of trick or treating where you can get tricked or treated depending on the house. she told him how one time she got a bag of candy that came to life and wriggled around like cockroaches after a while and scared her badly.

he laughed at that ands he showed a small smile after wiping a tear form his eye. he didnt like to show emotion much but he did like her stories and she smiles sweetly at him feeling that maybe he wasnt trying to be mean by laughing at her or calling her silly but loving the experience and calling ehr silly was his way of tellingher he liked her.

She showed a smile, seeing how much fun he was having. It's good to enjoy yourself during a holiday. NO matter the situation, it was fun to just be you. He and her were sharing halloween stories together seeing some other students eating some sweets while relaxing or studying from their classes here.

he talked about how most halloweens weird cold nights sometimes his freezing things. sometimes he would see a cloaked figure gliding. he ignored them and often ran and she gulps reading about such creatures and he encountered them as a child. hooded clammy scabby skinned creatures that may or may not have been human. he talked about how no-one could see them even if they were right in front of people and everything got depressing and cold around them.

as he talked it seem every halloween was vistted by another dark creature. some worse some lesser. but every one was a creature of magic. he described trolls and hags. he decribed goblins and even a house elf. she guessed that some magical families must live around him and the mortals were under enchantment except for the dementored ones. he couldnt go trick or treating very often but he did read stories of creatures that muggles knew and only a few had he ever seen mostly the ones that wont leave him alone and keep causing trouble fir him and he gestures at the animals in his robes.

Maybe that was for something she was curious about even from his family and maybe her own. AFter all, Halloween was the best time to know most about these things.

as she thought about the animals he had around him he noticed a new one and it was unlike anything she had ever seen. she could only see glances of it in the corner of her eye and for some reason looking right at it made it hard to look at him. looking at him was the same. the owlette was always flying between him and the owlery apparently the school owls didnt approve of its talking and its language was getting fouler thanks to a pair of encounters with peeves the poltergeist. the cat knew better than to speak and it mewled quietly in his pocket.

it seemed that the owlette was the most trouble since it flew around and hooted its few words in response to many things not related to it. it was almost adorable with its tiny hooting but anyone who listened quickly changed some laghed others were insulted and complained but the little owl wouldnt stay put. they were running after it shortly before halloween and crashed into the gameskeeper. he gufawed at the little bird and scolded it for giving Caius and arabella so much trouble.

"I was on my was ter find yeh i got a gift for one o mah bes students." hagrid reached into his huge moleskin overcoat and pulled out a strange black bird egg.

"its a augury egg. kinda a cousin to the phoenix. their dead useful, when their grown a bit, able to transport thinks in a puff of feathers like a phoenix and its call can predict the rain. and it can carry some heavy load fer ya." not knowing what to say cauis shaking ly took the little egg and cradled it.

"thanks" he breathed and then hagrid turned to arabella

"as fer you little bit i wasnt sure what ter get yeh so ill show you a unicorn after halloween they don take ter males very much but im sure it wouldnt mind if Caius here comes with yah. just grew up and lost its silver fur got a nice glossy white over coat now with flowing silver manes and bu'iful swishign tails. im sure youd love em."

"R..really? A real unicorn? I know they are rare to see and find but...that would be fine with me. I always wanted to see a real one.....than the ones I was read to as a little girl." Arabella did feel excited about this but she was glad that this was going to be fun. Though, she hopes Caius was alright from holding the egg he just got from Hagrid.

"ill fetcvh ya both later then. its gonna be a real treat its nearly foal season and shes getting a bit big." he said laughing as she stomped away. arabella couldnt contain herself telling caius everything she knew about unicorns. their powers, their symbolism, their beauty grace and characteristics. she even mentioned their tail hairs were used in wands and their horns were immensely powerful.

he listened and she soon quieted down and was happily stroking her ravens head as it swooped in to greet her with a loud "CAW" her raven was different than any other raven he had ever seen but he couldnt figure out why. it seemed very young only recently able to fly and it seemed more arare of things than most young birds.

it was smart and intelligent and caius could have sowrn it could hear and understand him because it pecked him for asking how old it was. making arabella laugh and scold it.

"he hatched this spring. i was told one day he could learn to talk but im not sure when that will be." she said and cauis guessed it would be soon.

"That's amazing..even for one so young." Caius sees Arabella smile with a nod, gently stroking her raven's head as it nuzzles against her fingers.

"Knowing it, this one is still the best to me and he's really has smarts.."

the raven pecked at his hand when he went to pet it and cawed loudly. clearly it didnt like him and that was okay.

"feisty little guy aint he." he said and she giggles.

"yes ooh i cant wait to see the unicorns. i wonder if we will see one get born." she said as her excitement started to bubble again.

"maybe. who knows. i doubt hagrid would show us one so close to delivery."

"we have to hurry you still havent mastered levitation and i want to make sure you can do it." she said to him and he nodded.

the rest of the day went smoothly and they had a pair of hours to practice magic while they waited for the Halloween feast to start. once more she was brilliant and performed most of the spells naturally while he struggled.

"you can get it" she said encouraging him as the chair he was levitating crashed to the stoney floor. he was trying but the strain was so much he was sweating bullets.

"why ccant i get it?" he asks and looks at his wand almost like it was its fault and she sighs.

"are you holding back in any way?" she asks serious and he hesitated. the truth was he was holding back. he could control magic without a wand so to her having a wand should make it easier unless he was holding back. "try letting your magic do as it wants. let it flow as you cast and dont hold back." she said trying to help but he was scared.

"i dont want to... its too easy to push too hard and cause things to go wrong with a wand without a wantd its harder to get things done but i dont feel like om going to destroy stuff." he said and she giggles.

"thats what repairo is for. cmon try it dont hold anything back and focus on what you want as you perform the spell." she said and he looked at her dubiously. he didnt trust himself or his power but he trusted her. after all she was his friend and had always tried to help him.

he sighed and cleared his mind before trying again. "wingarduim leviosa" he said and gave his wand a swish and a flick there was a bang and his wand went off like a gun sending the chair crashing against the wall as he was shocked the spell worked.

"see now try again dont worry about the noise youll get quieter as you practice." she said reairing the chair for him and letting him focus on the levitation spell.

"Wingardium leviosa" he said swishing and flicking his wand gentler but not holding back and the spell cuaght the chair and slowly guided by his wand the chair levitated. keeping his focus mad sweat run down his face and he moved the chair while levitating it befor esetting it down and falling to his rear sweating profusely.

"YOU DID IT!" she cheered and hugged him tight. "i knew you could do it" she said and he blushed embarrassed.

"th-that was easy but sustaining the spells is somthing else... i guess we will get that with practice too" he said and she nodded stepping back.

"yup cmon our charms homework is done lets get on with out transfiguration i brought the matches" she said and produced a thin vial of matches to turn into needles.

as always she did it perfectly and this time he was much closer to getting the spell right something she said stuck with him about letting the magic flow and now magic seemed easier for him now. she realized he must have been fighting his power not guiding it. and now that this issue was fixed she could see more of the talent she knew he had.

by the tiem they had to go to the great hall for the feast the vial of matches was a vial of needles. they hadnt heard any more form the other students about strange things but she was distracted by the prospect of seeing a unicorn the next day.

Her eyes were sparkling happily from the thought of meeting one, looking at the table lost in her thoughts. A few of the students wonder if Arabella was alright but she did seem to be alright just lost in her own mind right now.

seeing his best friend smitten by the idea of unicorns, caius resigned himself to a speechless time. he knew a little about unicorns and hagrid even invited him to go along as well. arabella was misty eyed and following him on their usual schedule when peeve the poltergeist dumbed icy water all over the both of them.

after a decent meal they returned to their common room to finish their potions homework but she was daydreaming about unicorns. the raven let out a loud CAW and she jumped and noticed caius was trying to get her attention.

"bella... arabella... hey are you okay? did you finish your essay?" he asksa nd she nods still in a dreamy state.

"ages ago. do you think i can ride it?" she asks still thinking about unicorns.

"wouldnt it tear?" caius asks thinking about homework.

"no silly the unicorn.. i cant wait to see it and tonight will be the night."

"if its foal season i think it may be dangeorus to ride." caius said and she giggles.together they speak about unicorns and everything about them what they symbolize, their powers and even the fact that their tail hairs are used in wandmaking as a core. the raven let out another louder more urgent CAW and they looked at the time.

it was time o go and they had to be careful because the evening was geting darker.

down the main path they head to hagrids hut a wooden house of a single room. he greeted them cheerfully and told them to wait because a couple older students were joining them. the youngest potter boy a 3rd year and a 7th year named Lupin. they had known eachother and hagrid for their whole lives and seeing they would be visiting with arabella the genius of first year and the chaos bringer cauis.

"right then follow me. they can get real skittish and i don wanna to spook her shes bout to pop." hagrid said stomping off in to the forest tailed by lupin and potter. cauis and arabella followed and she was beaming. after a long walk into the dark thy came to a paddock with a single unicorn laying on its side and breathing hard.

teddy leapt ahead and wen to its side and started to stroke it. potter was hesistant and shy keeping behind hagrid. caius was shocked that his worst fear was confirmed and he would have to watch the miracle of life.

"It's shocking isn't it? This is rare for not many to see you know." She was happy and excited while Caius didn't say a single word. Well, she kept her distance to give space for the new coming of a baby. She didn't get why Teddy went to pet her so suddenly. They didn't wish to spoke the poor thing.

the labor was long and messy they two were told to help out and teddy taught them a warming charm to boil water. albus was creating water with the aguamenti charm and hagrid and teddy worked to keep the uterus clean during the birthing. most unicorns have foals during the summer so this was incredibly rare. and a few hours later the unicorn gave birth to a silver haired foal.

hagrid was confused so was teddy. foals normaly were a pale gold. "well maybe its the time o year. some times theres a birth round winter so we wernt expectign it so soon." hagrid said and arabella was completely smitten and misty eyed by the silvery foal. it shakingly stood up and fell right away.

"cmon little one you can do it" she said to it and it stood once more hobbling on its unstable legs. it looked at her and when she touched it she felt a spark pass through her whole body. the creature this strange unicorn imprinted on her and they were bonded. hagrid teddy albus and Caius were completely shocked. it was almost as if the foal was coming early to meet her.

"now thats down peculiar. normally the black ones are born in the dead o winter..." hagrid said and teddy and albus look at him confused. they were helping the mother rest and still cleaning her waiting for the after birth.

"black ones... but its silver." caius said

"fer now it is. see the black ones are like black sheep every now and a gain a black bicorn summat or aother is born. its ble a unicorn have all the owers but have a few surprises like choosin a partner. most unicorns" hagrid said and to everyones astonishment the unicorn that gave birth recovered and stood itself up.

arabella was petting the wet creature and it nuzzled her face affectionatly.

"well give im a name" hagrid said to her and caius was pleased to see arabella was going to have a lifelong magical creature.