Very small update. This was originally meant to be much longer, but this much wound up taking too much of my time to write up. I should be back to a more consistent writing schedule as soon as my university exam period has passed!
...
I didn't recognize the three wannabe death eaters, though judging by McGonogall's reaction, and Alice's for that matter, they were students from the castle.
Unfortunately, before I could get any other information, the professor had urged us to go back while she dealt with them. Which was why me, James, and Remus were currently been escorted by Alice and the prefect that had originally led us around Hogsmeade, to the castle.
Remus was... More reserved than usual, though for some reason he kept shooting me uncomfortable glances every few seconds.
James meanwhile hadn't stopped pestering me about his chipped wand, the crack spreading from the middle to the tip of it, though there wasn't any real heat to his words.
The prefects? Alice seemed to be lost in her own world as she mechanically led us back, with the other fretting about inconsequential shit as he tried to get a reaction out of her.
"Man, wonder what the headmaster's gonna do with 'em." The prefect questioned, idly glancing between us and Alice, waiting for some kind of response. "I still can't believe they threw killing curses at you!" He added on, shaking his head.
"Knowing the headmaster," I remarked evenly. "Probably give 'em a slap on the wrist and call it a day."
The prefect snorted. "What would youknow about him?" He deadpanned in response. "Probably don't even know what the killing curse even is."
"Off the top of my head. It kills." I deadpanned back, levelling a look towards him. "The green light at the end of the tunnel." My words, for whatever reason, drawing a reaction out of Alice as her worried expression returned. Her mouth about to open to say something before she changed her mind and closed it, instead urging us to speed up to the castle. The other prefect on her heels.
"...Hey Sirius?" Remus suddenly called out, causing both mine, and James' gaze to swivel towards him. "You don't really believe that, do you? The headmaster won't just let them..." he stopped himself from finishing, his brow furrowing in the process.
"He believes in second chances. And third, and fourth, and seventeen ones even." I shrugged back. "It doesn't really matter though." I watched as Alice's gaze subtly focused on me again. "It doesn't matter what he does about them. I've already seen their faces." I pocketed both my hands. "Their lives, politically, socially and career-wise, in this country, are officially over."
Whatever false humor the male prefect had been sporting disappeared, the wizard visibly holding back the urge to gulp at my words.
"They might as well drop out, for all the good their grades are gonna do them. After I am through with 'em, the only fucker that'll be crazy enough to hire 'em will be the headmaster himself." I added on.
It was telling that Alice didn't say a word regarding my language.
It was even more telling that James Potter's expression suggested approval.
"...Remind me not to get on your bad side." The prefect deadpanned, uncomfortably. "...Can you really guarantee that? Like jeez, I am a Longbottom and I can barely sue 'em because of the Pureblood protection laws."
I turned a look back to him, surprised at the tidbit of information, and simply shrugged again. "Do you really want to find out?" I raised an eyebrow at him, before turning back ahead. "Besides, as far as those protection laws are concerned- I don't care if I have to break them, change them, or banish those fuckers themselves to another country and deal with them there. Permanently, if I have to."
I wasn't sure who gasped at the words. I ignored it all the same.
"One way or another, their lives in Wizarding Britain, are over."
"...Alice, I think Black needs therapy." Who I was now certain, was FrankLongbottom, deadpanned back, visibly uncomfortable. "Like, you know you're not allowed to break the law just because they did it first right?"
"You'd be surprised what you could get away with." I shrugged in return. "'sides, it's their own fault for pulling that stunt without thinking it through." I shook my head. "Honestly, the dumbasses wasted time and effort on an invisibility charm when a polyjuice would've done the job just as well, and not handicapped 'em to the point they couldn't outcast one sixth year."
James was probably the only one unaffected by my words- Frank was visibly uncomfortable as he stole glimpses towards me. Remus seemed to have a resigned expression, for whatever reason while Alice-
"You're one scary kid, you know that?" The girl deadpanned, the hint of a smile on her face as she slowly shook her head. "God's, you didn't hesitate at all, didn't even look panicked when they threw those curses."
"...Told you didn't know what a killing curse was..." Frank practically whispered the words.
"You weren't scared at all, were you?" Alice questioned, ignoring frank's words.
"I am not allowed to be," I answered easily. "If I had been scared, terrified, or in any way under actual pressure, Professor McGonagall wouldn't currently be escorting them to the castle- She'd be picking their pieces off the ground, wondering who they belonged to."
Evidently, that only seemed to convince the two prefects that I really did need therapy.