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CLOVER CARSTAIRS WAS ALWAYS A MORNING person. Even as a child the girl would wake up at the crack of dawn to get up and dressed- ready to face the day ahead. The girl yawned quietly as she swung her legs over the side of her bed, glancing around at her two roommates whose bodies were tucked under the covers of their beds. However, one of the beds was already empty, meaning the girl was probably already downstairs eating breakfast.

Four girls shared the Hufflepuff dorm; Clover, Louise, Juliette and Harlow. Clover never really bonded with the other two girls like she'd bonded with Juliette, but the four were on good grounds and shared the dorm without any complaints.

The girl grabbed her clothes from the top of her trunk and crept towards the shared dorm bathroom, Clover hummed lightly as she quickly changed into the Hogwarts uniform. The girl draped her tie around her neck, letting it hang loosely. Clover ran a comb through her hair trying to tame the frizz that had built overnight. The girl heard a sharp knock at the bathroom door, causing her to sigh and double-check her appearance before gathering her pyjamas and opening the door.

"It's all yours." Clover smiled, leaving the bathroom as a tired, Louise entered the bathroom with a huff. Clover placed her folded pyjamas back on her freshly made bed and waltzed her way over to Juliette's bedside. The latter seemed to be fast asleep, soft snores leaving her mouth. Clover shook her head and softly prodded Juliette on her shoulder, earning a large groan from the girl.

"Jules...we're going to be late!" Clover huffed, sharply poking the girl's shoulder, "Get up!" Juliette rolled onto her side to come face to face to the girl, who was already dressed in uniform.

"I don't wanna go!" The girl whined, burying her head under her covers. "Can we just bunk off today?"

"It's your first day back, you can't just 'bunk off'." Clover reprimanded the girl with a chuckle, pulling the duvet right off the sleeping girl's body. Juliette let out a shrill, dramatic scream, scrambling to retrieve her quilt but it was too late, Clover had captured and bound it with a quick spell.

"Damn you, Carstairs." Jules grumbled, stepping out of her bed, "Go...get breakfast or something...I'll meet you down there!"

"Fine," Clover nodded, "-but if you're not down in five minutes, I'm getting Hugo to shit on your pillows." With that, the girl left Juliette to get ready, as she bounded down the stairs and into the Hufflepuff common room. She had just made it to the exit of the common room when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.

"Gooooddddd morningggg, Clover!" Hugo sang, earning a light scoff from the girl. "Ready to eat?"

"All I want is toast." The girl moaned, as the two exited the common room. "-And maybe coffee."

"Now you're talking." Hugo grinned, while the two made their way towards the Great Hall. "Jules still asleep?"

"She's up but she still has to get ready." Clover shrugged, as they amalgamated with another large gathering of students.  "Cedric down in the Hall already?"

"Yeah, he was gone before I woke up."

Clover and Hugo walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, and it wasn't long until they'd reached the Great Hall which was scattered with exhausted students, picking away at their food.

"There's Ced," Hugo spoke, before shifting in his spot, "-and Cho...great, Cho is here too." Clover hit the boy lightly on the shoulder at his aggravated tone. Cho and Hugo didn't necessarily get along well. Hugo just had an indescribable irk about the girl that he never really grew out of.

"Hugo, suck it up." Clover hissed, snapping out of her small daze as she grabbed his arm and dragged him over towards Cedric and Cho, both of whom sat at the Hufflepuff table, talking with smiles plastered across their faces.

"Good morning, you two!" Clover grinned, plopping down on the seat across from Cedric and Cho. The girl reached forward and grabbed a slice of toast before settling back in her seat. "Good Summer, Cho?"

"Yeah," Cho nodded shyly, earning a small chuckle from Cedric. "You?"

"Good enough I suppose, your boyfriend was quite annoying though."

Cho laughed at the girl's words, squeezing Cedric's hand as he kissed her temple. "I can imagine." She remarked, causing the boy beside her to frown.

Clover grabbed her cup from the table and took a quick drink, glancing towards Hugo, who was scowling into his bowl of cereal. The girl nudged the boy in his side, sending him a subtle look which could only be deciphered as 'you okay?', Hugo rolled his eyes and nodded slightly, before dropping his head down once more.

Clover went back to eating her toast while talking idly to Cho and Cedric. Fifteen minutes had soon slipped past and Juliette finally turned up, sliding into the seat next to Clover.

"Coffee?" Clover offered, gesturing to the empty cups ahead of them that would fill on command. Juliette grunted in reply, resting her head on Clover's shoulder as she sipped the beverage.

"'s too early." The girl groaned while Clover chewed her toast. "Wanna go back to sleep."

"You know I would let you if I could."

Juliette grunted and grabbed an apple from the bowl ahead of her. She took a bite as her gaze wandered towards Hugo, who remained scowling into his cereal.

"Merlin, who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?" The girl questioned, earning a glare from the angry boy.

"Shove off." The boy replied scornfully, standing to his feet and storming off causing Cedric, Cho, Clover and Juliette to stare after him in shock.

"What's got his wand in a twist?" Cedric asked, while his fingers fidgeted with Cho's. Clover shook her head in shock as her eyes continued to follow the boy until he was out of sight.

"He was fine on the way down here." She replied, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. They all seemed to shrug off the boys odd behaviour, however, the cogs in Clover's brain kept turning as she tried to figure out why the boy became so bitter so fast.

The mystery of Hugo's bad mood seemed to morph into a labyrinth of thoughts, each conclusion leading to a dead-end or another twist. The thing with labyrinths was that it wasn't easy to remain on the path, so quite like the events of travelling through a labyrinth, Clover found herself getting lost within the nooks and crannies of her endless cycle of thoughts.

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"HUGH, WAIT UP YOU TOSSER!"

Clover squeezed past a large group of students, stumbling as she finally caught up to the boy. The boy had been avoiding his friends as much as possible all morning, so as soon as Clover had spotted him in the halls, she raced after him to talk.

"What?" Hugo asked, his voice low as he scanned behind the girl, only to see Cedric and Juliette being engulfed by the crowds.

"G-give me a second." The girl panted, trying to catch her breath as she held onto his arm while Hugo started walking again. "Hugo, talk to me. What's wrong?" The boy sighed and kept his eyes ahead.

"Nothing's wrong."

"That's a lie."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

Clover let her words hang as Hugo fell into silence. The girl had rarely seen him act like this. Hugo was being closed off- which couldn't be easy because the boy was one of the most open people she knew.

"It's Defence next," Clover stated, diverting the subject as she tried to start up a new conversation with the boy. "First class with Professor Moody."

"How long do you reckon he'll last?" Juliette chirped, draping an arm over Clover's shoulder, earning a small squeak of surprise from the latter. "There's no way he's gonna last the year."

"You never know." Cedric chimed in, draping his arm over Hugo's shoulder. "He seems like he knows what he's doing."

"He's an Auror, Ced." Juliette stated bluntly, "Of course he knows what he's doing."

"I mean, Lockhart was supposed to be amazing too but look how that ended up." Hugo grumbled, but as he spoke, his three friends found themselves smiling at his response.

"Lockhart was entertaining though." Clover added as the four climbed up the steep set of stairs.

"Yeah, only because you fancied him." Juliette snickered, earning a soft hit to the head from Clover's textbook.

"I didn't fancy him." The girl spluttered, pushing open the Defence against the Dark Arts door, only to freeze as the entire class' eyes landed on the four, late students.

"Uh-"

"Three minutes late." A voice boomed, causing all four to twist their heads and stare at Professor Moody.

"About that-" Hugo began before Clover placed a hand on the boy's shoulder after seeing the calculated look on Juliette's face.

"Hugo had to go to the hospital wing, we went with him." Juliette explained quickly, frowning in sympathy as Hugo looked to the man innocently.

"I was sick all morning, sir." The boy expanded patting his stomach lightly, trying to keep a straight face while Cedric and Clover nodded to confirm his story.

"No point in telling lies." Moody replied gruffly, "Now, sit down."

The four hid their grins as they made their way forwards. There was only one desk free, while the other two free seats were situated halfway across the room from each other. With a small sigh and glance towards her friends, Clover made her way to the back of the room and occupied one of the free seats, while Hugo and Cedric took the free desk and Juliette took the other free seat.

"We meet again."

Clovers head snapped up as she glanced to her right. She let out a small feverish chuckle at one of the Weasley Twins who was casually leaning back in his seat.

"Indeed we do." The girl replied quietly but teasingly, raising both brows as she turned to face the front of the room, however she found her eyes drifting off to her side, where he sat with his textbook closed on his table. Clover peered closer, scanning the book before her eyes landed on a small 'g' written on a slip of paper sticking out between the pages of the book.

George Weasley.

Clover smiled to herself as she fixed her gaze back on Moody.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted." Moody glanced around at the four friends who all sheepishly stared down at the floor, "- Alastor Moody." He scrawled his name on the board with chalk. "Ministry malcontent. And your new defence against the dark arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of the story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?"

The class was silent, and Moody nodded, "When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach." He told them, "But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

People kept their hands down as Moody scoured for any takers. "You." He stated, pointing towards Juliette who was lounging back in her seat. "How many unforgivable curses are there?"

"Three." The girl answered swiftly, twirling her quill in her hand as if it wasn't a bother.

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are bad, very bad-completely unforgivable. Hence the name. Use of an unforgivable will..."

"Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban." Moody confirmed, finishing off the word 'unforgivables' on the blackboard. "Correct. Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different! You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared."

Clover shifted in her seat uncomfortably, as the man stared down at the students. She kept her eyes down, avoiding looking up, the man gave her the creeps and he was a bit scary to say the least.

"So, which curse shall we see first?" The man questioned, his false eye flitting around the room. "WEASLEY!"

"Which one!" The twins chorused, earning quiet, scattered laughter from around the classroom. Clover glanced to her side where George was, now, sitting upright, a mischievous grin plastered across his face, Fred, in front, doing the same.

"The one in the back." The man pointed gruffly, gesturing towards George. "Stand and give us a curse." George pushed back his stool as he stood up.

"Well, my dad did tell Fred and I about one over the summer..." the boy said in thought, his eyes darting to his twin quickly. "The imperious curse."

"Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why." Moody spoke, before turning on his heel and opening a small jar containing a spider. "Hello. What a little beauty."

Professor Moody raised his wand, and with one simple flick of his wand, the spider flew across the room, dancing in the air above people's heads. Some people ducked and cried out in shock while others laughed in amusement.

"Don't worry. Completely harmless." Moody reassured them, bringing the spider, closer to the student's heads. "But if she bites... she's lethal!" Clover could only watch as the spider flew, its body twitching as it moved. The girl felt a wave of unease come over her and as she looked beside her, she knew she wasn't the only one. George caught her wandering eyes and offered her a weak, sheepish smile causing the girl to divert her gaze.

"Talented isn't she? What shall I have her do next?" Moody yelled out with a sadistic looking smile. "Jump out the window? Drown herself?" He made the spider dangle over a bucket of water, as it wriggled to get free. At this point, the entire class were completely engaged, some leaning backwards in fear while others leant forward with curiosity.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do do you-know-whos bidding under the influence of the imperious curse. But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?"

His words caused Clover to shift in her seat as a shiver ran up her spine.

"Another.. another.. Diggory?"

Cedric's head jolted up as the man called on him, a confused look creeping its way across his face.

"Up." Moody ordered, and following his instructions, Cedric stumbled as he stood to his feet while Hugo stifled his laughs.

There's that other one..." the boy contemplated, scratching his head in thought.

"Today, Mr. Diggory."

"Uh- the cruciatus curse?"

                      
"Correct!" Moody called out, "Particularly nasty. The torture curse." The man made his way back over to where the spider was laying and Clover could feel the blood rush from her face as she paled.

Moody muttered the word causing the spider to writhe and wiggle as it squealed. Clover could feel her fist clench as the class watched the man torture the spider.

              
Surely this isn't morally right.

"What was that Miss Carstairs?!"

All eyes were now trained on Clover, as the girl froze to her seat. Cedric and Hugo shot her looks of warning while Juliette just stared in shock-and it was only in that moment that she realised, what was meant to be a mindless thought had been said out loud. The girl could feel her heart stop as Moody hobbled his way towards her desk, his cane hitting menacingly off the stone floor.

"Well? Stand up and repeat yourself."

Clover shakily stood up, biting the inside of her cheek before sucking in a deep breath in before letting it go.

"Surely this isn't morally right, sir." The girl repeated, refusing to meet the professors eyes. "That's what I said, I'm sor-"

"Why wouldn't it be morally right?"

Clover glanced at her friends who gestures for her to back her point. The girl could feel bile creeping it's way up her throat. She hated this. She hated speaking up during class with all the judgemental eyes following you and glaring at you as if you were an animal in a zoo exhibit. So, looking back at the man, Clover found herself closing her eyes for a few seconds before she started.

"The lesson is about the unforgivables- and as you told us, they're bad, unforgivable. I don't understand why you feel the need to demonstrate the lesson, when the whole point is to avoid using such curses...Furthermore, It's morally wrong to use them on a creature that has done nothing wrong."

Clover could hear some of her classmates sharp intakes of breath as she fiddled with her hands nervously. The girl could hear her heartbeat thumping loudly, she wondered if those around her could hear it also. Moody's eyes were staring her down as her hands jittered.

Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut?

"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse Miss Carstairs." Moody spoke, placing the spider on the desk in front of the girl.

"I-"

"The last unforgivable, Miss Carstairs."

Clover gulped, her eyes looking down at the spider before she shook her head, refusing to answer. The girl sunk back into her seat and with one swift movement from Moody's wand, the spider dropped onto the table in front of her, its once twitching body, now still.

"The killing curse." Moody stated, turning around to make his way back to the front of the classroom. What he said after was a blur to Clover, for her eyes were still rooted on the dead spider lying on her desk.

The girl felt a small nudge to her side causing her to turn her head slightly. George was looking at her with scrunched eyebrows, as his eyes flitted over her face, trying to decipher what she was thinking.

"You alright?"

Clover didn't answer. Instead, she found herself turning away from the boy to face the front of the room with a frown etched onto her face.

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Fuck it!

Here's another chapter of Clover being an absolute babie 🥺✨

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I love you all!