Chapter 50

Soaked in Myrtle’s toilet water, Atlas walked out of the bathroom, hair hanging over her face as she stood in one of the many busy hallways of Hogwarts. People made to move around her, a few nearby Slytherins snickering behind hands, a handful of passing Hufflepuffs – who’d, no doubt been warned by Cedric to cut her some slack – shooting her pitying and sorry looks, the odd Gryffindors that passed glared and lashed out at those who giggled at her appearance while the Ravenclaws simply walked on by, heads in the clouds or noses in books.

She took in a breath, closed her eyes and dried herself, chucking a roll of toilet paper that had been thrown at her over her shoulder and back into the bathroom. A sharp shriek came from within but Atlas didn’t exactly care about Myrtle’s feelings at the moment considering the ghost hadn’t helped her out by naming the ones who’d pranked her. And Atlas thought they were on generally good terms but apparently not.

The last few weeks had been terrible. Though not many were actually jealous, the ones that were surely made up for it and it seemed a certain group of Slytherins were really just taking the whole scandal as another reason to pick on her and Harry. It had been exasperating, to say the least when Atlas had gotten her first hex of the year in the middle of Potions and Snape, being the ever caring and fair professor, kicked her out of the class for being the cause of the disruption. If it weren’t for Harry and Hermione she would have caused a real disruption that would have landed her back in Azkaban. Funny thing is, she would have thought it worth it.

That man had been condoning his houses practices the entire month and, on one particular occasion when Harry came back to the dorms with a split chin, she’d almost gone ballistic. Seriously ballistic. She was called to Dumbledore’s study and that the elves had a lot of cleaning up to do outside of Snape’s office. That was perhaps the only part she felt bad about and had eventually, ended up joining them in the chore of removing the soot and grime from the walls.

What’s worse is that she’d tried talking to Ron, just as Hermione had suggested that day at the Black Lake to Harry but the boy just ignored her, didn’t even seem up for talking, just stood, glared and walked away after she’d said her bit. That had just added more anger to her pile and it took a flying session with Ginny to calm her down.

Speaking of, Ginny was perhaps the only one that was completely distracting her at the moment. One night, she’d come running into her dorm room and just screamed into Hermione’s abandoned pillow. Crookshanks had immediately vacated the premises and Kalo – who had been visiting – shrieked with her, startled by her sudden appearance. Atlas had set down her book and just listened as Ginny ranted about how dense Zasha was and that none of her moves were working.

Of course, Atlas hadn’t been surprised by that as, while Zasha could sniff out the advances of those whose feelings she didn’t reciprocate, if the person she did like showed clear signs of liking her back, however, she just wouldn’t get it. Ginny had just groaned and left the room, hair frazzled and face a brilliant red.

Atlas was at least glad they were getting along and that she was seeing more of one of her childhood friends. Which is more than she could say for Fleur. Apart from Harry, Atlas hadn’t actually seen any of the other champions around and not being able to explain herself to Fleur was getting worrying. She was sure Fleur would believe her, however, she still needed that confirmation again. A reaffirmation.

“Hey, Atlas!” Atlas blinked back to the present, shaking her head as she finally took her gaze from the wall and glanced down at Cho. “How are you, champion?” she grinned, nudging Atlas’s shoulder gently.

“Toilet water in my ear aside? Still pretty naff,” Atlas sighed, stretching her mouth around to get rid of the bubble in her ear. It popped and she relaxed, running a hand through her hair and grimacing at her smell. “Do you have any perfume or…something nice smelling I can use? I smell like a wet dog.”

“Oh, sure,” Cho nodded, rummaging through her bag as they walked. “It’s Cedric’s, you don’t mind, do you?”

“Do I mind? That’s even better,” Atlas smiled gratefully, taking it from the girl and spraying it all over, Cho coughed and waved her hand in front of her nose, wincing at the cloud of deodorant in the air. “I’d rather not give the Slytherins in Potions another excuse to scream at me.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Cho said sympathetically, clutching her books to her chest as Atlas put the spray back into her bag.

“You didn’t put my name in the Goblet.”

“Yeah, Cedric told me about that. If you need help with the tasks I’m sure I can come up with a few things,” Cho offered. “We’ve got your back, Atlas. You and Harry, I’m sure it may seem like the entire school is against you right now but they’ll come round after the first task, I’m sure of it.”

“Yeah, thanks Cho,” Atlas smiled, messing with her hair. Cho shrieked and laughed, batting her hand away as she sought to fix her appearance. “So, where are you going? I’ve just had Lunch.”

“Back to the Common Rooms, I’ve got a free period. You?”

“Double Potions…”

“Right, you did say you didn’t want to give the Slytherins another excuse to scream at you,” Cho said, her brows furrowing as she looked at Atlas sorrily. Atlas waved off the look and stopped, sweeping her hand out in front of her to the corridor leading to Ravenclaw Tower. “I’ll see you then…good luck?”

“…yeah, thanks,” Atlas sighed and Cho waved goodbye, jogging to catch up with a group of Ravenclaw girls at the entrance of the tower. She stared after them a moment, debating on whether to skip and feign pain in her sides, she could say someone pushed her down the stairs or something, Poppy would surely believe her after everything that had happened lately.

Then, she thought about Harry and Hermione and turned away from the thought, resuming her walk to lesson as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and ducked under a stray Bludgeoning-Boomerang thrown her way. She yawned and circled around a group of shady looking Slytherins, jogging down the stairs to the dungeons with her hand firmly clasped around the rail.

The dungeons were just as unwelcoming as unusual, especially the Potions quarter where the walls were thick with concoctions of days gone and the floors were uneven and damaged from failed experiments. There was a particular hole in the ground everybody knew to step over and a specific hallway no one dared go down for fear of catching some sickness from the grime and dirt that piled thick down there. It was a closed-off part of the school anyway, so no one could go there if they wanted to.

It was no surprise though, that the dungeons didn’t get cleaned nearly as much as the upper layers of the castle because the dungeons were where the Slytherins stayed and they never treated the elves properly. Of course, there were a few, kind, Slytherins who the elves did take care of but due to Dumbledore’s flimsy and lax rules for the elves, as they hadn’t been directly told to clean the dungeons, they very rarely did.

Noise and bustle came from further down the stairs and Atlas bit back a groan, rolling her eyes as she wiped her hand down her front and walked further onto the scene, figuring she should see what all the fuss was about. Draco, of course, it was Draco. He and his band of elitist were, once again, picking on Harry and Hermione but for a second, in a wild ludicrous moment, Atlas had thought the Slytherins were wearing S.P.E.W. badges. Turned out, as she drew closer, they were just badges made to mock someone.

Those someones being her and Harry. She stopped just behind her two best friends, noting, in the corner of her eye, that Ron was simply observing beside Seamus and Dean, not even an inch of him looking like he was about to stand at Harry’s aide.

The badges read:

POTTER STINKS! BLACK SUCKS!

“Real mature…” Atlas murmured.

“Oh! Look who decided to join us!” Draco drawled and Atlas scowled, she really didn’t need this right now. “Atlas Black, Granger’s little guard dog. What are you doing here mutt? Didn’t you hear? Pet’s are supposed to stay in our dorms.”

“Be careful, she might bite you,” Pansy shrieked as she giggled with her little group of Slytherin girls.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you, Pans?” Atlas smirked wolfishly, her canines glinting tauntingly as she glared at the girl. Pansy bristled and flushed, turning back to her friends and muttering obscene words under her breath.

“Looks like someone needs to put a muzzle on you,” Draco sneered.

“Oh very funny,” Hermione said sarcastically, holding back Atlas who had rolled up her sleeves in preparation to break his nose again, “Really witty.”

“Want one, Granger?” Draco asked, holding out a badge to Hermione. “I’ve got loads. But don’t touch my hand, now. I’ve just washed it, you see; don’t want a Mudblood sliming it up.”

“You’re treading a mighty fine line, Malfoy,” Atlas gritted, her fists white balls of fury. Hermione panicked as Harry beside her drew his wand. Feeling as if Atlas was on the verge of doing the same, she decided to hold back the one she thought would do more damage, keeping hold of Atlas’s solid wrists as she tried to calm Harry down verbally.

“Harry!” she called out warningly, “come on, he’s not worth it! I’m ok, really!”

“Go on, then, Potter. Let’s see how you protect your little Mudblood girlfriend,” Malfoy grinned, drawing out his own wand. “Moody’s not here to look after you now, do it. If you’ve got the guts.”

For a split second, they looked into each other’s eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.

“Funnunculus!” Harry yelled.

“Densaugeo!” Malfoy screamed.

Their spells ricocheted off one another and on pure adrenaline-fueled instinct, Atlas ducked, stumbling into the wall, with her hands over her head as the jets of light hit different targets than intended. Harry’s hit Goyle and much to Atlas’s dismay, Malfoy’s had hit Hermione. Atlas didn’t even glance toward the Slytherins as she ran forward, toward Hermione who, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.

“Hermione!” Ron had run forward but Atlas turned on him and glared a purely disappointed and angry glare.

“Fuck. Off. Weasley.”

A hand reached out and pulled Atlas away so the girl backed down, shooting the redheaded boy a final glare before leaving him with his guilt and going back to Hermione, the girl now crying and ducking her head. She didn’t want anyone to see her face but Atlas could see and she was sure everyone would see soon enough, that Hermione’s two front teeth had grown way past her chin and were continuing South.

“And what is all this noise about?” called a voice Atlas really didn’t need to hear right now. Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamoured to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, “Explain.”

“Potter attacked me, sir -“

“We attacked each other at the same time!” Harry shouted.

“- and he hit Goyle – look -“

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi. Atlas would have laughed if she wasn’t trying to quietly reassure Hermione she was alright.

“Hospital wing, Goyle,” Snape said calmly.

“Malfoy got Hermione!” Harry protested. “I wasn’t the only one! Show him, Hermione!”

But she didn’t need to, they had grown well past her collar by now and no matter how she tried, Hermione couldn’t cover them up. Atlas looked down at her helplessly, not knowing a single charm that could help with her predicament.

“I see no difference,” Snape said coldly and Atlas let her mouth drop slightly agape, Hermione letting out a loud sob as she turned and ran away from the loud giggles of the Slytherin girls. A pain clenched at Atlas’s chest, telling her to calm down but she ignored it, her knuckles cracking from how she clenched them.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

“Excuse me, Miss Black, I think you’d find it well within your best interest to shut your mouth,” Snape said slowly, his voice droning and harsh on Atlas’s ears. Atlas went to open her mouth again but Snape quickly drew his wand, aiming it upon her. “Angorgio Clausus!” A muzzle shot from his wand and wrapped itself around Atlas’s head, a metal bar forcing itself between her teeth so she couldn’t speak.

The Potions master advanced on her and she stumbled back, trying in vain to tear the muzzle from her head. More laughter came from the Slytherins and Harry quickly grew purple in the face, Seamus and Dean eventually moving forward to hold him back as he seemed to move to attack the Professor.

“I’m sure you remember this one, used to muffle the incessant sound of vicious criminals at a court hearing,” Snape said spitefully, as Atlas tried to push at the buckle on the underside of her chin. “You’ll do good to remember I have such a spell at my disposal, the Minister taught me it himself. In case a certain mutt got out of hand, I’ve gotten full clearance.”

Atlas pushed him, hard, making it so he stumbled into the door of his classroom before bolting it out of there, climbing up the many steps as she tried, in vain, to take it off. She hated Snape. She hated him so very much. She hated the Minister too, for teaching such a vile man the spell used on her during her trial as an Illegal Animagus. They had used it on her, she was only a child, harmless, she was just as scared as they claimed they were. She didn’t know what she had done back then. Really done. Didn’t know a mythical Animagus was so rare and dangerous. They’d muzzled her for their safety as Minerva cried in the stands with Dumbledore at her side.

She hated the stupid muzzle.

Atlas crashed into the door of the hospital, still trying to pull the contraption from her head as she thrashed about and made a mess of a few medical trays. Madam Pomfrey came running from behind her curtain, going wide-eyed when she’d seen the state Atlas had been reduced to, banging the mouthpiece against the wall in an attempt to break it.

“Atlas! Atlas, calm down!” Poppy shouted, holding her arms out as a person would to an erratic and wild animal. “You need to calm down! Only then can I take it off for you!” Atlas calmed slightly, quickly moving over to Poppy and holding her head high so she could get a good view of the magical bound buckle. “Resero.”

The trap came loose and Atlas pulled it from her face, panting heavily as she ran a shaky hand through her hair and sunk against the wall. Poppy looked upon her, then over her shoulder to where her other two patients were and then she crouched, placing a hand on Atlas’s knee comfortingly.

“You’re alright…” She uttered softly as Atlas caught her breath, wiping her eyes furiously as her heart pounded in unsteady beats. “You’re ok, you’re with Pop-Pop…the muzzle’s off.”

“It’s off,” Atlas repeated, clutching at her face and taking in more breaths until a few minutes later, the glaze of her eyes disappeared and she scowled, “Fucking asshole.”

“There she is,” Poppy sighed, helping her stand and brushing down her hair with a careful hand. “Mind telling me what happened?”

“Snape.”

“Severus did this?”

“Fucking prick, can’t wait for the day karma decides to call its check,” Atlas grumbled, feeling at her mouth again and stretching out her jaw to get rid of the pain that remained from the too-tight strap. “He says the Minister taught it to him specifically for me.”

“I’ll be speaking with Dumbledore about this,” Poppy stated. “I would usually keep it to myself if you asked but this is a matter of student safety. Severus can’t go around detaining you because you’re…” she glanced over her shoulder. “Because of your…condition.”

“No, get him in trouble. Hope he loses his job the twat,” Atlas grunted. “You should have seen how he treated Mi, I was on the brink of murder, I swear to you, Poppy. I would have ended him then and there with my bare fucking hands, I tell you. She was distraught! Honestly, who does he think he is!? Picking on Hermione the way he–!”

“Miss Granger!” Poppy called and Atlas clamped her mouth shut, flushing slightly and scowling at the smile on Poppy’s face.

“Yes, miss?” Hermione slowly pulled back the curtain of her bed, peering over it so only the top half of her face was on show. Atlas looked over at her and smiled, waving small-like as she got her own little wave in return. Poppy turned away from Atlas, picking up the muzzle from the floor and tossing it into the burn bin as she walked over to Hermione’s curtain. Atlas went with her but stopped just outside.

“I see your teeth have stopped growing.”

“Yes, miss…”

“Are you in any pain?”

Atlas leant her head against the wall and continued to listen. At least, Hermione was ok for the most part. Madam Pomfrey would waste no time in shortening Hermione’s teeth back to their regular size and for that she was grateful. She sighed and massaged her head, grimacing slightly. She hadn’t had a fright like that in a while, not because of that trial anyway, she’d all but forgotten it in actuality, just a memory at the back of her mind. It scared her, however, to know Snape of all people knew of a perfectly legal but morally wrong spell that could reduce her to such a mess. Though Snape wasn’t known for having many morals.

“Atlas,” Atlas stood up straight and poised, peering curiously around the curtain as Poppy beckoned her forward. “Miss Granger wants to speak with you, make idle chatter while I check on my…other patients.”

“Yes…Pop-pop,” Atlas smiled and Madam Pomfrey flicked her forehead as she walked by, pulling the curtain closed as Atlas stepped inside and stopped in front of Hermione’s bed. She was staring out of the window, fingers tracing across her top lip. “You alright there, Mi?”

“Yeah…come here, please,” she said quietly, turning to her with her arms open wide. Atlas smiled and moved over to her eagerly, taking her up in a strong hug and shaking her from side to side. “Thanks.”

“No problem, I needed it too,” Atlas said softly and pulled away, sitting in the chair beside the bed, “It didn’t hurt, did it? The growth or the shrinking, either one.”

“A little bit,” Hermione said, smiling slightly and Atlas quirked a brow, finding something had changed in Hermione’s face. “What?”

“Nothing, you just…” she paused. “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Alright…” Hermione murmured and then she frowned, reaching out a hand to stroke across a red friction line on Atlas’s jaw. “What happened?”

“You didn’t hear the fuss?” Atlas offered half-heartedly, pointing over her shoulder to where she assumed the Hospital door would be.

“No, I was…a little out of it. Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion,” Hermione told, taking her hand back and instead, brushing out the wildness of Atlas’s hair with her fingers. “So…what happened?”

“Snape…well, it doesn’t matter,” Atlas smiled.

“It does matter, what did Snape do? You have friction lines across your face, Atty. That looks like assault.”

“Ah, well, he just…muzzled me. No big–” Hermione lurched upright and stormed out of the little privacy they had. “–deal?” Atlas finished and stood up, running after the girl in confusion. She waved goodbye to Madam Pomfrey and closed the hospital door behind her, seeing Hermione’s figure further down the corridor. “Hermione! Wait! Where are you going!?”

“I’m going to hex him!”

Atlas huffed a laugh and couldn’t help the grin that bloomed across her face as she chuckled. “No you won’t, come on!” she caught up to her quite easily and softly grabbed her shoulder. “I’m fine now, seriously.”

“No, you’re not!” Hermione refuted, pulling away and crossing her arms heatedly. “You’ve been crying, I can see the marks on your cheeks. Your hair is a mess, you have marks on your face and you’re shaking, Atlas!” she shouted, motioning to the quivering hand still outstretched to her. Atlas glanced down at it and sighed, shoving it in her pocket. “You had a panic attack! A professor induced a panic attack upon a student! Honestly, I love Hogwarts but Dumbledore makes some very poor recruitments of staff! Can you not see the severity of the situation?!”

“I can, Mi. I can,” Atlas smiled, picking up her hand. “But…Snape seems to have permission to do that, from the Minister of Magic.”

“He — he!” Hermione couldn’t get the words to form, her mouth opening and closing as she grew red from anger. “What is wrong with this bullshit–” Atlas went a little wide-eyed at the profanity, her cheeks tinting the slightest bit red, “–system!?”

“I’ve told you, I’m fine now. See? I bounce back from attacks real quick these days, though I do feel a little achy from the muscle strain.”

“That doesn’t make it any better!”

“Atlas Black?”

The two of them turned, both Atlas and Hermione, seeing Colin Creevey, a fellow Gryffindor shuffling uncomfortably under Hermione’s furious glare. Atlas huffed and moved in front of the gaze, ruffling Hermione’s hair as she nodded at the boy in reassurance.

“She doesn’t bite, promise,” she smiled. “What’s up, Colin?”

“Well, Mr Bagman wants you,” Colin said and Atlas tilted her head in question. “O-oh! He wants all the champions, they want to take photographs.”

“Great,” Atlas rubbed at the lines on her jaw and turned back to Hermione, placing a quick kiss on her crown and jogging after Colin. “I’ll see you later, Mi. Please don’t hex Snape! I still need you!”

“No promises…” Hermione grumbled and Atlas smiled to herself, continuing after Colin as he turned a corner.

“So, who’s taking the pictures?”

“I don’t know his name but he’s here with a reporter.”

“Which reporter?”

“I think her name was…Rita Skeeter”

“You’ve got to be shitting me…”