‘Gideon, what’s happened?’ Ruby asked, panic stricken upon crossing him in the corridors.

‘I wish I knew,’ Gideon said. ‘Where were you?’

‘I was up really late reading, and I must have slept right through the bell. I woke up because I sensed that horrible magic again. Has anything happened? Did Professor Binns notice I was absent?’

‘Wait,’ Gideon said, coming to a stop, ‘You had that feeling again?’

‘Yes, but I don’t know what it meant. Do you?’

Gideon explained what had happened to Professor Binns in History of Magic. ‘Then, just like that, he was gone. Everyone freaked out. Dorian was a bit shaken; I think he was going to put the fire out, but he was too late... Then, Professor Long arrived.’

‘What did she say? Does anyone know what happened?’ Ruby quizzed him.

‘Yeah. It was me, of course!’ Gideon said bitterly. ‘At least, that’s what everyone thinks. There was fire, so it must be big, bad Gideon, at it again!’

‘I’m sure Professor Long knows better,’ Ruby reassured him, ‘Did you see anything?’

‘No. It had already started when I woke up. I doubt there was anything to see, though. To affect a ghost like that… Anyone capable of it wouldn’t be stupid enough to get caught. Unless…’

‘Unless what?’

‘Unless I did it in my sleep,’ Gideon proposed.

‘Don’t, Gideon,’ Ruby advised. ‘I’ve told you before, the magic I sensed isn’t yours—or your other magic.’

Gideon wanted to argue but held his tongue.

‘We do know something, though, if I’m right,’ Ruby suggested uncertainly. ‘Whoever attacked Professor Binns, they’re probably responsible for the fires as well.’

***

Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day and students were sent to their Common Rooms. Gideon tried to read his book in his favourite spot by the fire, but his presence was causing a stir.

‘What are you all so upset about?’ Isaac Fletcher addressed the room derisively. ‘Binns should have been fired years ago!’

Isaac’s friends chuckled heartily, but many of the other Slytherins groaned at his distasteful pun.

‘What?’ Isaac carried on in the same vein. ‘He obviously couldn’t take the heat of teaching anymore!’

A couple of the Slytherins spoke out this time, including the Quidditch Beaters.

‘Have some respect!’ the blonde Beater said loudly.

‘Yeah, give it a rest, Isaac!’ the brown-haired one added before making his way over to where Gideon was sitting. ‘Don’t worry about that idiot. Just ignore him—most people do. I’m Albus by the wa—’

‘Oh, come on! Someone needed to light a fire under him!’ Isaac continued, doubling over in hysterics. ‘I for one am glad that our Gideon helped him see the light!’

Gideon slammed his book shut and left the room as Isaac’s friends roared with laughter. In the dorm, he found Eoin doing homework while Dorian just stared up at the ceiling. ‘Are you alright?’ Gideon asked the boy in the neighbouring bed.

‘I suppose so,’ Dorian replied. ‘Do you think Professor Binns is coming back?’

Gideon felt sure that the answer to that question was a firm no, but he said considerately, ‘I don’t know.’

‘Just so you know, Gideon, I don’t think you did it,’ Dorian asserted.

‘You don’t? Haven’t you been reading the Prophet?’ Gideon jested.

Dorian replied, ‘My parents have, and they say you’re the victim in all of this. I don’t know what’s going on around here, but I can’t seriously believe you would hurt a teacher, ghost or not. Plus, you’re too smart to do it in the middle of a lesson.’

Gideon noticed Eoin looking over in interest as he responded, ‘Well, thanks. I hope someone figures out what is going on soon, though.’

***

Professor Dandridge announced at Breakfast the day after, that an investigation had determined Professor Binns was exorcised. This caused quite an uproar. It was like a Hogwarts teacher had been murdered, but seeing as how Professor Binns was already dead, people didn’t know quite what to make of it.

The Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost, appeared to faint upon hearing the news. As the Gryffindor ghost attempted to bring the friar around, Gideon overheard him complain, ‘Us ghosts were asked to assist with patrols, but if there’s a madman on the loose with the power to exorcise us, I don’t see how we can do so safely!’

The headmistress warned that Professor Binns’s exorcism would be treated as seriously as any attack at the school. She warned that unless the culprit came forwards or was identified, she may be forced to take steps against the whole student body. Following that, she advised that teachers would be taking turns to cover Professor Binns’s lessons until a replacement was found.

***

That week went by faster with Dorian to talk to again, but Gideon couldn’t say things were back to normal. Gio was still sulking, Eoin still seemed unsure of himself, and Tim’s absence was palpable.

Ruby and Talia stuck by Gideon, but the rest of the students seemed more frightened of him than ever. Gideon was growing concerned about the two of them. Ruby had been looking very tired, and Talia often seemed on edge and lost in thought. Gideon had asked them each about this, but they had dismissed his concerns.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the two girls were questioning their continued association with him. Following the attack in Hogsmeade, maybe remaining friends with him was too much of a burden? Even if they believed Gideon was innocent, they were getting caught up in the suspicion, hatred and danger surrounding him.

Gideon often dwelled on the dark magic within him and how else it could affect his friends. He had briefly considered distancing himself from them, for their own sake. Truthfully, and perhaps selfishly, though, he wasn’t sure he would want to remain at Hogwarts without them.

He was cheered up some during the next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Professor Maxwell didn’t always eat in the Great Hall, but Gideon hadn’t seen his father since before the holidays. Now he knew why. Written across the man’s forehead in scarlet letters was the word “SHAME”.

If this wasn’t enough to satisfy Gideon, his father’s left hand appeared to be encased in a lump of granite. When the professor accidentally knocked it against his desk with a resounding thump, Gideon had to duck under his to keep from being seen laughing. Clearly, this was evidence of his grandmother’s parenting style.

***

Dinner that Friday included a remembrance for Professor Binns. All of the Hogwarts ghosts were in attendance and the colourful house banners that usually draped the walls and rafters were replaced with sombre sheets of black.

Several teachers gave toasts, including Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher, who had known him longest. Professor Trelawney, who Gideon hadn’t seen in Great Hall before other than over Christmas, had also spoken, but focused on assuring everyone that Professor Binns had successfully crossed over to “the great beyond”.

Professor Dandridge finished with a speech recognising Professor Binns’s long service and devotion to the job. She also vowed to find out what happened to him and informed everyone that the following day’s Prophet would feature his obituary.

It did that and more. The obituary appeared at the end of an article that tied Professor Binns’s exorcism directly to the fires without any evidence, other than the purple flames seen before his disappearance. Naturally, Gideon’s name was featured among the more speculative parts. It was on the front page with the headline reading:

HOGWARTS FIRES CLAIM FIRST VICTIM

In the days following the story’s publication, there were a handful more student withdrawals from the school. As if it wasn’t enough that the friends of those students either blubbed upon crossing Gideon’s path in the corridors, or else attempted to jinx him, something happened in the next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson that made things much worse.

The Slytherins and Ravenclaws had arrived at their regular classroom to find a note on the door, directing them to go to the staffroom. Inside, they found a large open space and Gideon’s father, stood next to an old wooden wardrobe by the door. The brand on his forehead was gone but he was still leaning to one side from the weight of his stone-covered hand, which no one had dared ask him about.

‘This is the staff coat closet,’ Professor Maxwell announced, ‘I’m told it has the unfortunate habit of attracting certain magical creatures. Would anyone care to venture a guess as to what’s inside?’

‘A grindylow?’ suggested Eoin thoughtlessly.

‘“A grindylow?”’ the professor exasperated. ‘Do you see any water around, Mr O’Leary? No? Anyone else? Miss Swanson?’

‘A ghoul?’ Verity ventured.

‘Not a bad guess, but no. Inside this wardrobe is a boggart. Who can tell me what a boggart is? Nobody?’ Professor Maxwell sighed, ‘Well, a boggart is a shapeshifting creature known to inhabit dark spaces. It is capable of transforming into the thing a person fears most.

‘Fear is the boggart’s weapon. This can make it a dangerous foe. However, it has a weakness. Laughter! In a moment I will have you line up and face the boggart one by one. It will appear in a form that you fear. Your task will be to force it to transform into something amusing using a simple charm. Repeat the incantation after me, Riddikulus!’

‘Riddikulus!’ the class repeated.

‘Good. Now, form a line and try to picture what you expect to see and how you will transform it,’ the Professor instructed.

The students did so, but Gideon noticed Talia looking particularly worried. As she took the spot behind him, he asked her, ‘What do you think will appear?’

‘I-I don’t know. You?’ she replied.

‘Not sure. I’m not a big fan of spiders,’ he stated nervously.

Nor, it seemed, were a number of the other students. When Verity approached the wardrobe, a giant, hairy spider emerged from it, but she successfully gave it a pink tutu and eight matching ballet slippers. Then, for one of her friends, the giant pirouetting arachnid became a hundred tiny spiders. When she cast the Riddikulus Charm, they were trapped in a giant hamster ball.

For Dorian, the boggart took the form of a huge plant with snapping jaws, which Gideon thought was odd considering the boy’s aptitude for Herbology. However, Dorian soon turned it into a well-pruned potted version of itself. Gio was faced with a swarm of loudly buzzing wasps, which became singing canaries.

Eoin’s turn was a surprise. The boggart took the form of Professor Voronov. Everyone found this very confusing, until the image of the Transfiguration teacher hissed and revealed a set of pointy fangs. Eoin turned the vampire professor’s dark clothes pink and its fangs into marshmallows, earning a good round of laughter.

After Sasha turned a Mummy’s bandages to toilet tissue and Henry Squire from Ravenclaw transformed a coiled snake into a spring, Gideon stepped forward. The boggart shifted until before him stood something entirely unexpected. He was face to face with an image of himself.

The boggart Gideon was identical, down to his school robes. It was as though Gideon was looking in a mirror. He wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t understand why the boggart had taken his form. That was, until its mouth stretched wide and began to laugh maniacally. Then, it raised its arms and the area before him burst into flames.

As the fake Gideon continued to laugh madly, still smirking its evil grin, the flames grew higher and spread further, and the real Gideon understood. This was what he feared most deep down. Seeing it come to life had paralysed him and wiped all thought of the charm from his mind.

Suddenly, Gideon’s view was obstructed. The rock impaired Professor Maxwell had hobbled through the fire to get the attention of the boggart, which swiftly transformed and took the flames with it.

‘Riddikulus!’ Gideon heard his father say, though, he couldn’t see the boggart’s transformation beyond. The man turned on his heel to face Gideon and said crossly, ‘Your inaction put your fellow students in danger, Mr Drake! Five points from Slytherin! Class dismissed!’

The class filed out of the room quickly while the professor used his wand to suck up the remaining smoke and remove the scorch marks from the staffroom floor. Talia pulled a dazed Gideon from the room by the arm.

***

Word of this damning new piece of evidence in the case against Gideon spread quickly. Verity Swanson seemed to think it was her personal duty to tell as many people as she could.

‘Want me to deal with her?’ Talia asked as they passed her in a corridor doing a very good impression of the crazed, laughing, boggart Gideon.

‘No. She’s right to warn people,’ Gideon responded. ‘Apparently, even I believe I’m some loony dark wizard intent on burning the school down…’

Talia looked concerned for a moment before sharing, ‘If you ask me, that’s not the sort of thing we should be doing in front of others anyway. People can use our fears against us.’

Talia’s words didn’t make Gideon feel any better, especially since she hadn’t faced the boggart. Soon enough, he was fending off more jinxes than ever from the student body, who seemed to have collectively decided it was time someonedealt with him.

Thankfully, his practice with the Shield Charm was bearing fruit. This, and the fact that Talia was often with him, meant he got by more or less unscathed. The few times he had been unprepared, either she or Ruby had been able to protect him or perform the appropriate counter-spell.

A rather embarrassing visit to Madam Longbottom had been necessary on one occasion, though, when a sixth-year girl’s unexpected hex had made him sprout a large pair of goat horns. After that, Gideon tried to limit his movement, especially seeing as how Ruby was looking more tired than ever. He didn’t want her or Talia getting caught in the crossfire.

Professor Voronov asked Gideon about the horn incident during their regular Friday lesson. Apparently, Madam Longbottom had reported it to him. Gideon didn’t say who had jinxed him. He felt as though the odd jinx or two from his peers was somehow justified. The teachers and Ruby might think that Gideon was innocent of the fires and Professor Binns’s exorcism, but he couldn’t shake the worry that he might be doing these things unconsciously.

Professor Voronov dismissed this idea when Gideon shared it with him. ‘It may appear that we aren’t making any progress with our investigations, Gideon, but I assure you that isn’t the case,’ the professor explained. ‘We have long since ruled out your involvement, despite anything the Daily Prophet might report. I’m sure we will get to the bottom of things eventually. Until then, you need to stay strong.

‘Now, we’ve covered meditation and the basics that will help you with control. Next, you must learn to differentiate between your own magic and the dark magic. Given your quick progress in classes, I expect that when you cast spells, you’re allowing a small portion of the dark magic to be released along with your own. However, the more it is used, the more natural it will feel.

‘You need to learn to recognise it now, so you can limit its use. If you don’t do this, you will find that the dark magic interferes with your spellwork and even has latent effects on magic around you. For instance, I believe your attempts at Flying have been rather unsuccessful?’

‘Wait. Are you saying the reason I can’t hold onto a broom is because of the dark magic?’ Gideon asked moodily.

‘I’m afraid so. As you now know, dark magic has a negative polarity. This can have an adverse effect on certain types of magic. For you, it seems this includes broomstick charms. Until you progress, flying will likely be out of the question.’

Gideon’s heart sank. ‘Professor, how is it you know these things?’ Gideon asked after a few moments of silence. ‘Why did the headmistress ask you to help me?’

Professor Voronov paused before explaining enigmatically, ‘Professor Dandridge is aware that I had similar struggles as a student.’

‘You have dark magic too?’ Gideon asked tentatively.

‘Not quite. I’ve had to deal with the stigma of it, though, as well as certain irregularities.’

‘Irregularities?’ Gideon repeated quizzically.

‘Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumours?’ The man said cryptically, the sides of his mouth curling upward slightly. ‘I’m told that your friend, Mr O’Leary, seems to have an idea of my true nature…’

Gideon thought back to the Eoin’s turn against the boggart, gulped and whispered, ‘But you can’t be a… vampire. Can you?’

Professor Voronov gave Gideon an ominous look, then he relented, smiled and said, ‘No, Mr Drake. However, my father was one. I am what is technically referred to as a dhampir. Essentially, I’m as human as you, but let’s just say, you’re not likely to find me working on my tan by the lake this summer.’

***

The third Quidditch match took place that Saturday. Yearning for the peace and quiet he had enjoyed over the holidays and embittered by the news that he might never be able to fly, Gideon decided to skip the match. He had to be reminded, though, that it wasn’t smart for him to be alone, so Ruby and Talia convinced him to join them in the lounge.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to watch Ravenclaw play?’ Gideon asked Talia.

‘I’m good,’ she assured him.

‘How are you at flying?’

‘Not bad, I guess. I like flying. I just don’t get Quidditch.’

‘That’s right. Gauntlet is your sport. I’ve been meaning to ask, where did you learn to duel?’

‘My dad taught me,’ Talia explained. ‘Well, I say “taught”, but I guess what he does isn’t really teaching. You know how some people say that the best way to learn how to swim is to throw a kid into a pool? When I’m home, he sets up barriers in the garden, so I’m not detected doing underage magic, and jinxes me until I learn to counter him.’

‘Whoa, are you serious?’ Gideon asked in shock.

‘It wasn’t fun at first, but I got the hang of it, and now I’m kind of grateful. My dad said that’s how he learned to duel at Durmstrang. He’s strict, but he’s not a bad guy. He just wants to make sure I can take care of myself.’

‘I suppose my dad is similar. What about you, Ruby, is your dad the strict type?’ Gideon asked. When she didn’t reply, Gideon and Talia turned around from the fireplace and found Ruby sat at the nearest table with her head lying on an open book.

‘She’s asleep!’ Gideon exclaimed.

‘Hmm,’ Talia mumbled, then checked the cover of the book Ruby had collapsed on, ‘Opening the Inner Eye: The Seers Guide to the Divine Arts? She’s working too hard.’

‘I’ve noticed too,’ said Gideon.

‘I’ve tried telling her, but she says she’s fine, then goes back to reading. She’s set on improving her Divination skills, but I’m getting worried.’

***

A decisive Quidditch victory against Ravenclaw kept the Slytherins in good spirits that weekend and beyond. They were now in the lead for the Cup.

Between his classes and homework, casual research on the mystery rune and Professor Trelawney’s prediction, making sure he could defend himself around the castle, and ignoring the insults and general ill-feeling from his fellow students and the Daily Prophet, Gideon had a lot on his plate. Unfortunately, when the first week of February rolled around, this was compounded.

After breakfast on Monday morning, Professor Dandridge had some announcements. ‘First, please note that the Astronomy Tower is out of bounds this week for storm damage repairs, and night-time Astronomy classes are cancelled. Secondly, I’m pleased to introduce Professor Augustin Sambor, our new History of Magic teacher. I trust you will all give him a warm welcome.’

A man in his late forties with chestnut brown hair and a five o’clock shadow, gave a smile and a wave from the staff table in response to a polite round of applause. As students began to file out for their lessons, Professor Voronov arrived at the Slytherin table.

‘A moment please, Mr Drake,’ said the stony-faced professor. Once the Great Hall emptied, Gideon saw that Professor Long had held Talia back as well. Professor Dandridge then led the four of them from the hall.

‘Sir, what’s happening?’ Gideon asked timidly.

‘Just follow the headmistress for now, Mr Drake.’

Gideon and Talia exchanged confused glances as they followed Professor Dandridge through the castle and up the clocktower stairs. Gideon’s stomach fell as he realised the Hospital Wing lied ahead.

The headmistress led the group inside, and over to a bed where Madam Longbottom was moving her wand back and forth over someone, and explained, ‘Last night there was a fire on the Astronomy Tower. Teachers discovered it before much damage was caused but they also found a student.’

Talia clapped her hands to her mouth and Gideon’s jaw dropped as they caught sight of who was in the bed. Lying still with her eyes misty and fixed open, was Ruby.