Chapter 16: D-e-d Dead

Days pass by and we just can’t find a new clue. Not even the smallest sign, nothing. Meanwhile it’s already Monday the 23^rd and we survived the test week. Now we only have to survive tomorrow.
            “7.8 out of 10 for Literature, 8.4 out of 10 for Biology and a 6.2 for Latin.” Lotte walks in, throwing her bag in one of the corners.
            “Nice,” I say, laying upside down once again (I like that, okay?). “but I got 8.9 out of 10 for Literature.”
            “Literature nerd.”
            “I got 7.9 out of 10 for Biology and a 6.0 for Latin though. Also, 7.6 out of 10 for Geography and 7.4 for Art. Loving my grade list so far.”
            “You got 6’s and 7’s and you love it?” Hermione says as she walks in.
            “OI! That is really good for me, ‘kay? I’m not such a good student as you are.”
            “Did you already get some grades back?” Lotte asks Hermione.
            “10 out of 10 for Biology, Literature and Geography. 9.8 out of 10 for Latin.”
            “Wow.”
            “Ugh. Now I feel sorry for only getting a 8.9 out of 10 for Literature.” I say.
            “I feel sorry for calling you a Literature nerd.” Lotte says.
            “You should feel bad for not studying.” Hermione grabs the books out of her bags and lay them on her desk.
            “I did study.” Lotte says.
            “I didn’t.” I say, and a pillow immediately flies my way. “It’s the only class I don’t have to study for getting a good grade. Let me have my fun!”
            “Okay, I take back what I said about feeling sorry for calling you a Literature nerd.” Lotte catches the pillow I throw back at her. “Literature nerd.” I smirk.
            “Who?” Chantal asks, walking in.
            “Beckett.” Lotte answers.
            “Of course.”
            “Hermione is a bigger Literature nerd. Guess what her grade is?” I say.
            “10 out of 10?”
            “Yep.”
            “But I did study.” Hermione says, reading the pages of her book.
            “Can’t we stop about the test week and the grades and all?” I ask as Lotte throws another pillow at me.
            “Sure. Have you already noticed something unusual?” Lotte asks.
            “Nope. You?”
            “Nope.”
            “Why would there be something unusual?” Chantal asks.
            “Why do you think?” Lotte asks Chantal. We explained everything to her, thinking it would be a good idea to have a third pair of eyes. Well, actually, a seventh pair.
            “Oh, right. Haven’t seen something, sorry.” Two animals race through the door, followed by a third. “Ah, there you are, Raven.” The small  ferret runs under Chantal’s bed, hiding for the Phoenix and the Lynx.
            “You know, sometimes I wonder if them chasing each other really is a game…” I say.
            “Me, too.” Lotte says.
            “It’s a game.” Chantal says.
            “Right, Miss animal-whisperer knows best.” I say, teasing Chantal. “Anyway, I think I’m going downstairs for some food. It’s probably gonna be an interesting day tomorrow.”
            “Why?” Hermione asks curious.
            “Well…” Chantal says.
            “You guys are talking about ‘unusual things’ and tomorrow being an interesting day. It’s not weird that I am curious. So, tell me, why?”
            “It’s… sort of… well, life.” Lotte says.
            “I’m sorry, what do you mean?”
            “Look at life this way, Hermione,” I say, “every day should be an interesting day or… or else  you won’t live it. And, well, unusual things…”
            “Unusual things lead to an adventure.” Chantal finishes my sentence.
            “Right…” It’s obvious Hermione doesn’t truly believe us.
            “So, who’s coming downstairs with me?” I ask.
            “Me!” Both Chantal en Lotte say and we walk as fast as we can out of the door.

The 24^th is here. It’s the fifth period and nothing happened, yet. Hermione, Kayleigh and I are sitting in Geography class, Hermione already reading the next Geography book, even though Sirius didn’t give us homework. Actually, class hasn’t even started yet.
            “Beckett!” Kayleigh pinches me in my side.
            “What?”
            “I’m bored.”
            “So?”
            “Start reading the new book.” Hermione suggests, still with her face hidden in her book.
            “Eh, no, but thanks for the suggestion.”
            “Why won’t you start up your laptop and do something on the internet? Play a stupid game, watch a movie.” I say.
            “Bo-ring.”
            “Okay then, here.” I write down a few ciphers, like the ones Lotte and I deciphered. “Try to decipher this.” I can see Hermione looking at the ciphers. She’s been keeping an eye on us in everything we do since yesterday evening.
            “Oh, is this pig pen?”
            “Maybe.”
            Kayleigh grabs a pen and start working. I wonder how long it will take her to discover I used ‘Boring’ as key.
            “Hello students, sorry I’m late.” Sirius walks in. “I had a little misunderstanding with professor Lestrange. Don’t worry, it’s all settled now.” He hands out a few papers. “This is the new assignment. Read it.” He says as he hands me the assignment. I look at my paper. A few letters are in italic. If Sirius is gonna send messages about the investigation in class, he needs to be more careful. This might be too easy.
            I look at the letters. “Nothing yet.” I’m starting to think we were wrong about the ciphers.
            Suddenly Kayleigh pokes me in my side. “I got it. Really, this wasn’t so hard.”
            “What is it?”
            “John, fetch me my revolver.”
            “No shit, Sherlock.”
            “Are there any questions about the assignment?” Sirius asks.
            Hermione raises her hand. As Sirius nods, she says: “Yes, professor, I’ve got a question.”
            “Yes, Hermione, so I’ve noticed. Now ask.”
            “Why are a few random letters in italic?” Yep, Sirius needs to be more careful.
            “I think that’s just a stupid mistake.”
            “If it’s a mistake, then why do these letters spell ‘Nothing yet’?” You know, if Hermione wouldn’t be in this class, Sirius would get away with sending messages in this way.
            “’Nothing yet’? That’s probably a weird coincidence. You should ask professor Moody, he created the assignment.”
            Hermione doesn’t look convinced, and she raises her hand again.
            Sirius ignores it. “Anyway, you’re doing this assignment alone. You have to write an essay about one of the subjects on the list.”
             “Professor…”
            “Not now, Hermione.” Sirius says before he goes on. “The essay needs to be hand in on the 30^th of March. Any more questions?”
            “Yes, professor, I…” but before Hermione can finish, there’s a loud scream. Everyone looks at the door. A few students in the back stand up from their chairs and walk towards the corridor.
            “Wait. Everybody stay here. I don’t want to see anyone of you outside. Is that understood?” Sirius walks away before the class can answer.
            Everyone starts talking, wondering what happened. The rumor is so loud, I can’t even hear myself think, but I did hear my phone vibrating in my bag.
            “You’re not afraid for spiders, are you?”
            I suppress a grin. I was thinking the same. We both don’t like changing into insects, though, but it’s the only way if we want to go unnoticed.
            I text Lotte back. “No.” It’s enough to let her know I understand the plan.
            “What are you going to do?” Hermione asks as I stand up.
            “I need to go to the toilet.”
            “We’re not allowed to go out.”
            “So? I need to go.”
            I don’t wait for Hermione’s answer and leave. It’s quiet in the corridor, but as I see Hermione looking through the small window, I walk to the ladies’ room. There I change into a spider.
            Ugh, how I hate being like this.
            I crawl to the stairs and listen. I hear noises on the floor upstairs, so that’s where I go.
            “I can’t believe it. A… A murder? Here? In school?” I hear professor Sinistra say.
            So it happened. It really happened.
            I crawl up the wall to the ceiling. That’s one of the fun parts of being a spider. When up there, I crawl towards the teachers. Professor McGonagall is holding professor Sinistra.
            “Sinistra found her. She’s in shock.” I hear. “Also, I hate being a spider.”
            “Me, too.” I think. “It was your idea.”
            “I know. I still hate it.”
            I crawl to spidery Lotte, one meter away of the teachers. “Who is it?”
            “Claire.”
            Even though I hated Claire, she didn’t deserve to die.
            “Do we need to inform the students?” Lupin asks.
            “Not yet.” Dumbledore answers.
            “What about Lindsey?” Sirius asks.
            “We should tell her, Albus. It’s her best friend.”
            “I know, Minerva, but if we inform her, the whole school will know in an hour. We’ll inform her later. For now, Jack, take the body and let Argus clean this up. Minerva, take Aurora for a nice cup of tea to calm her. The rest of you needs to go back to your class.”
            “What do we tell our students?” professor Babbling asks.
            “Tell them we’ll inform them later about what happened.”
            “We should go.” I think.
            “Yeah. See you after class.”
            I crawl back downstairs before the teachers start moving. I change back in the ladies’ room and make sure my hair is the usual color before I go back to the classroom.
            “I thought I said no one was allowed to leave?”
            I turn around. “Sorry.”
            “It’s okay. Now we won’t have to inform you later.”
            “How did she die?”
            “We’re not sure yet. We didn’t find any wounds. It could be poison. The Doctor suggested aliens were involved.”
            “Ah. Guess we’re going to investigate after class?”
            “Probably so. We should go to class now. No, wait.” Sirius says as I reach the doorknob.
             “What?”
            Sirius grins. “Hair. Black stripe.”