Once inspired by the great mysteries of the universe, Aida had been a voracious reader dreaming of libraries full of ancient wisdom. When she was younger, she would pretend she could see through the eyes of animals when she dreamed – that ancient fantasy of magically seeing via an eagle high above, or feeling and knowing directly what it was to hunt as a wolf. Aida had always wanted to see, to know… but she had come to see herself as a failure. After learning that she had descended from a line of seers in the Mòrsgor-Ama line but that she had failed to ever have a single prophetic vision, Aida had severely come to doubt her grasp of reality. This was not without good reason, as her imaginings of entities such as the Undead King had turned into dangerously convincing hallucinations. Perhaps these were wages of the sin of wanting them so badly to be real. Yet, she had never wanted Alexander to die… and she had fully convinced herself that this had happened.

In Aida’s imagination, astragalus bones kept falling in perpetual motion. For her, they never landed. Remembering her meeting of Rosalind Kibitzer at the stargazing event, Aida thought back on the tremendously uncertain look in the professor’s eyes. The divination professor had thrown bones to determine the fate of Aida’s parents, but the young white witch did not believe the professor was confident in her reading. Aida had developed something of a sixth sense about people and other beasts. It felt as if the professor had just been feeding her a line after not actually having received a clear answer to the question. Aida did not appreciate the lack of a more truthful answer and would have preferred to hear that the outcome was inscrutable. The grown-ups had lied to her again. Just as the house elves had. Probably all manner of beasts and men lied to her. They were not her allies in seeking and finding the truth. Aida doubted she had any real allies left anymore, since she had “killed off” Manticore and Alexander. She knew that at least Alexander would have told her the truth, or at minimum would have told her that he did not feel comfortable answering a question. Aida didn’t need to force answers out of anyone. A simple truth of “I don’t want to say” would have been fine. Just not… lies. Lies, like the hallucinations she constantly passed through her own insomniac mind, infatuated with fantasy rather than reality. Aida had always been a truthseeker, which was ultimately the thing that seemed to alienate or kill everyone she had ever loved. Now that she felt so completely, utterly alone, the only thing she could think to do was to help kill the truth with perpetual fantasy and hallucination. Of course, her near-constant sleep-deprivation and newly acquired eating disorder were not helping to keep the line between reality and imagination clear. After all, even food had come to be a possible lie that could erase her memory or otherwise warp her reality.

With her continued frustration of failing to learn the truths of the world from both manipulations by sentients and the coldness of unresponsive reality, Aida had really come undone. A great man once said that God “does not play dice,” but Aida was really losing faith in the value of seeing the universe as consisting of an objective, deterministic reality. Maybe there weren’t really a bunch of laws of the universe that would satisfyingly explain everything after all. Maybe there were a few principles which spiralled out from small perturbations into a chaotic and inscrutable sequence of events that little Aida could not even begin to guess at. This kind of reality was not one she could quest after for understanding because there was no way for her to understand the truth without the powers of time travel.

Aida laughed. Time. Somehow it always came back to time for her. If she had been fast enough she could have saved Alexander. If she could just travel through time she might learn all kinds of things to save the Slytherin boy. If only she could travel through time, Aida could discover if her parents had ever loved her, and what had happened to them. It’s just… there never seemed to be enough time for Aida. Even as she laid here supposing about all of this, the sand grains in the hourglass were slipping irrevocably down.

Aida had once thought she would devote her life to a sort of liberational magizoology, going around the world finding magical beasts that were trapped in cruel conditions and releasing them into habitats where they could be free. She wanted to do this in honor of Manticore, who had died cruelly in captivity. That wild spirit. There were so many suffering, magnificent creatures out there. Aida dreamed back to the look in Alexander’s eyes the night of the mosp’s burial. He had been such a beautiful creature, Aida thought. His face in the kitchens, twisting as he realized that he had lost several years of his life. His figure standing out by the old oak tree, strategizing and speaking about history and the present and the future. Standing against the acromantula like a figure of legend. Laughing together about drunk French Dwarves. Standing with her during the attempted rescue of the mosp. The only thing that seemed to give Aida's life meaning anymore was the deal she had made with herself to find a way to bring him back. To somehow reverse his death, no matter what she had to give to accomplish it. Her freedom, her life. An eternity spent in Azkaban. It mattered not. Aida had become obsessed. Nothing else mattered, just finding a way to go back and save Alexander. This was the only thing that was tying her to reality anymore– not wanting to simply fantasize a reversal of his demise, but actually to take up even the smallest possible chance that she could really, truly find him somewhere. To reverse his disappearance from the universe. If anything was real, it was Alexander, Aida believed. At least he was when he was alive. The proof was in the color of his eyes. The doubts and the pains in his tear-streaked face. The jokes he had made. Right now those were only fantasy anymore, more lies spun by Aida for herself, but she would make them real again by reversing time. Reversing his disappearance.

Rolling onto her back, Aida's hands clasped each other across her stomach as she slipped into a dream.

Aida had once met a deaf child that, when she was upset at the world, would remove her hearing aids in order to block the world out. That child had spent most of her life walking in silence, and so to silence she returned for shelter. Similarly, Aida was one who walked in darkness, and into darkness she would return for refuge. Lacking a proper cavern, however, sleep would have to do.



Aida opened her eyes into a world at war. There were two armies, one of beasts and one of men, but everyone everywhere was killing each other no matter their species. While some allegiances had formed between horse and rider, man and woman, wolf and lion, the war had decayed into an all-out struggle for survival. Aida felt that everyone there was alone at heart and merely using each other in their strategies. Beasts and humans had reached a form of equality in this dream, and yet there was still so much struggle. The white witch didn’t understand it. Why should there be so much violence when surely the basic act of eating to survive would not require so much of it?

A king rode up on his horse beside Aida. Behind him he had gathered an impressive legion and on his head shone a brilliant golden crown. Forward he rode, threatening that people should follow his command or die because he would “bring order.” A line of knights in silver armor rode out in front of him, slaughtering anyone who did not agree. This terrified Aida, whose heart began to summon Manticore. Quickly the horse materialized before her, but he was inverted– white– with a golden horn upon his head. Mounting up, Aida and Manticore rode quickly through the battle, trying to make sense of it all.


Catching up with the earlier king, Aida saw his group now clashing against a rival “bringer of order.” Not wanting to be caught in the middle, Aida rode away, trying to seek out the outskirts of the battlefield. At last she met the forest’s edge where she could dismount and try to recover her breath. However, the respite was all too brief as the corner of Aida’s eye noticed a muscular wildcat circling silently.


Was this creature hungry, or did it too want to be king? Manticore reared up onto his hind legs in warning and for a moment the image of a kneazle flashed through Aida’s memory. Aida took up a stick from the ground, but looking at it she realized that it was in fact her wand. An aura of peace descended upon the scene and the wildcat slinked away, magnificent as it was. Blinking slowly, Aida found that she had some power to bring peace to a small corner of the war. Should she use this peace to end the war? Perhaps the battle was being fought for good reason, and individuals were struggling against being forced into captivity. Aida did not want to use her powers of peace to prop up a system of abuse; she had already spent too many years of her life doing that. Hadn’t she wanted to be a liberator before? What had happened to her?



As Aida laid down in the grass, Manticore drifted off in search of forage. The girl’s mind wandered back to Alexander. That was what happened. She had killed him. She had promised herself she’d go back in time and save the boy. But what if it happened again? thought Aida. My fault or not, what if I sacrifice everything to save him and he just dies again? Aida doubted she would have the power to keep bringing him back. What if he lost a piece of himself every time he was resurrected? Then, eventually he would disappear forever anyway and Aida would have failed. No, Aida needed a better way to protect him.

Sitting up, Aida began to brush the dirt off of her armor. Hmm. During the battle she had been wearing armor, like so many of the other humans with thin hides. Looking down at herself, she realized that she was some kind of knight. That was right, the knight of the Undead King. She remembered now. Aida had chosen a side, even if the situation was complex and confusing. Even if beasts and humans were the same now, the same principles applied. She could fight to protect Dealla, Alexander, the Mosp, or whomever her heart demanded as it spoke the dictates of the Undead King.


At that thought Manticore sidled up beside Aida as to encourage her to mount, and so she did. They rode back to the battle to see what had happened. Indeed, things looked different now. Gangs of humans were capturing beasts by the dozen. Large rolling cages full of bloodied animals trampled the battlefield corpses and the creatures were clearly losing the fight. Whether by decision or by convenience, the humans had formed a massive regiment that found it quite easy to take advantage of other creatures and humanoids. The scale of it all was far larger than Aida and Manticore, strong as they were together. Among the dead laid the many mosps Aida had not saved. Just as it had been in the Forbidden Forest, allies left and right were fighting, falling now on this battlefield. If Aida tried to save Pericles, Dealla would fall. If she tried to save Dealla, Sylvain would fall. Rage began to boil inside of Aida. All of these people could die if the white witch sacrificed everything to try to save one already dead boy. The whole natural world was being ground to a pulp by these humans as Aida bashed herself against the cage of possibility, trying to reverse time itself for one Slytherin boy. The creatures needed an organized force if they were to survive. They needed a general.

Aida wished the Undead King could take up more of the burden, but even a king was not an army. Aida did not want to become like all those kings violently imposing order on others. Yet, the massacre continued as she watched motionlessly.

Aida needed more perspective. She couldn't see how she could do the most good or if it was even right to swim against the flow of time... but she did know that time was a great forge of perspective. May it be that the reasons for saving Alexander were doubled, thought Aida. She had to walk in one direction.

Aida opened her eyes, got up, and began to walk.

Ileen was sitting in a tree observing the area. It was a comfortable one with an overhanging branch fork, in which one could comfortably sit. That was also the reason why Ileen had chosen it as one of her favorite spots in the summer camp. Leaning against one branche, the legs dangling left and right she read a book about advanced healing spells.

As so often lately, her troubled thoughts had driven her outside. The closer the end of the summer camp came the less she could stand to be trapped inside the tent.
Of course she had made the decision not to return to her parents this vacation. She didn’t want to. But when the time came to actually packing her trunk and going with Dee, it would also be real. Also, she was kind of worried. Wasn’t it a bit strange that her parents never replied to her last letter? Sure, it just had been a short note that she would stay with friends, but still. If she would have a daughter she would have wanted to know why she wasn’t returning home.

With a sigh she closed the book. She couldn’t concentrate on the words anyway. It was still pretty early and the world was still kind of asleep. She could also just climb one of the hills and take a picture of the quiet area.
The young Slytherin put the book in her pocket and swung elegantly from the tree. The last few meters she jumped and cushioned the energy, carefully paining attention to not harm her camera or the bag with the book. With a few quick hand movements she straightened her clothes and carelessly stroked her hair before she made her way up the gently rising hill.
The morning air was still fresh and cool from the fog that had just cleared. Ileen enjoyed the gentle chirping of the birds and the warm sunlight that painted golden and green patterns through the leaves.
Halfway up, she suddenly noticed another familiar silhouette. Ileen stopped, happy to see Aida at this time of the day. She first hesitated to call out to the girl. What if she wanted to be alone? So she decided to go with a compromise and waved. That could also just be ignored if prefered.

Aida had just crested a hill, wanting so fiercely to gain more perspective that she climbed this dirt mound in the off chance that its "perspective" could become more than an empty metaphor. Scanning her environment, Aida noticed Ileen climbing the slope towards her. Their eyes locked at the same time, and after a moment the young brunette waved. Aida’s head cocked to the side. Drawing in a cold breath of morning air, Aida decided to run. Run towards Ileen, her sparring partner. Gravity was on Aida’s side and surely she would have the advantage. The hill was short and Aida was upon Ileen in a heartbeat– leaping out in a huge hug. The force of Aida’s enthusiasm was, however, not enough to knock the two of them over as the white ghost of a girl spun on her heel, probably spinning Ileen with her. Aida's body had grown light and rail thin, though Ileen might not have noticed the dramatic change since they had only recently gotten acquainted. Still, maybe Dealla’s first knight could help bring some insight on Aida's issues. In any case, the white witch desperately needed a friend.

“Ileen,” said Aida, her violet eyes wet and crazed. Then, stepping back a few paces, Aida realized she was probably going too fast again. Sure they’d had a sword fight and a hug or two, but the two girls still barely knew each other. Was this not the fast track to alienating yet another would-be ally? Aida grabbed a large tuft of white hair at the front of her face and blushed furiously. “I’m sorry… I just… I’m not right in the head lately.” Looking up at Ileen, Aida tried to read the face of the brunette before her. How was she doing, even? Aida hadn’t even asked. Squinting hard, Aida tried to make sense of the lines on Ileen’s face. Had the white witch made a horrible mistake? Damn it all, this was about to go the same way as it had gone with Sylvain, wasn't it?

Ever since her conversation with the young frog-gathering boy, Aida didn't feel like she could turn to others for emotional support. Yet, the weight of Aida's grief and guilt over the loss of Alexander was crushing. For all her efforts over the course of the summer camp to maintain sanity, Aida had been spiralling out of orbit unable to save herself. She had even made a pact with that white Niffler devil in order to become powerful enough to one day succeed in her quest, but Aida still hadn't the foggiest idea of where to start researching the necessary-but-forbidden time magic. She wasn't even allowed to go back to Hogwarts where she could try to break into the restricted sections of the library. Shaking her head, Aida knew she was about to make it about her again.

“Ileen, how are you doing? asked Aida, letting go of her bone-white hair but flexing her dominant hand anxiously. Having not seen someone at the hospital since before the Blossom Ball, Aida's hand was not healing quite right. Every once in a while Aida felt some burning shadow of mosp venom still in her palm, whether it be real or imagined. Perhaps it originated in the paranoia that her homebrew antidote never fully took and that one day she could still drop dead from the mosp's poison slowly eating away at her from the inside. That was, unless residual acromantula venom did her in first. Of course, the simplest explanation was that she was simply not developing suitable scar tissue because she was constantly squeezing her wounded hand like this... but more than half the time Aida was not even aware that she was provoking the injury.

With a faint smile, Aida gestured towards the top of the hill where she thought she and Ileen could sit together and chat.

Ileen was taken by surprise when the white-haired girl started running towards her. A movement that would have made the young Slytherin defensive with almost anyone else. But Aida was special. Maybe it was because she was selective with showing her emotions. Focusing trust and emotions on specific people was a sign for Ileen, that someone was serious and honest about the reactions they were showing.
Also, Aida just seemed to wander in another world, so the normal rules didn't apply to her – Ileen wasn’t quite sure why. She just knew the other girl was special. Mysterious and sweet. A fellow knight of heart. So, the positive reaction of Aida to her appearing made Ileen happy. She was one of the few.

When the Ravenclaw girl didn’t stop running and hugged Ileen with drive and enthusiasm, the brunette girl caught Aida reflexively and hugged her. Although Ileen was neither particularly strong nor well prepared, she lifted the pale girl slightly as they turned in circles to balance the momentum.
The body she was hugging felt alarmingly thin and fragile. It feels like I could break her if I’m not careful enough. Worried, Ileen released the hug and held the girl a good arm length in front of her without letting go of her to look at her more closely.
Her joy at the company's emergence was overshadowed by deep anxiety. Ileen was not a healer. Not yet. She was working on it. She had spent most of the last year learning as much about this skill as she could. And before you could heal anything, you had to first recognize it. She couldn’t help but notice the tired shadows under the eyes and the expression in them as if Aida was only half in this world. In addition, her cheek boils and collarbones were sharply marked under her pale skin. The white girl looked - yes, as if she would gradually fade away in this world and become more of a ghost of herself.
Ileen shuddered barely noticeably. These were no external injuries. Only some of the effects were reflected by the body. Ileen felt her heart sink. Could such wounds be healed? And was she the right person for that? She hardly knew Aida. They had made a bond on another level, but Ileen felt an overwhelming need to help her. But how?

When the other girl apologized, Ileen waved it off. “No worries Aida. Why would you apologize anyway?” She would fix the violet eyes with her own brown ones and give her a rare smile. “I’m happy to have you around. And I’m fine. Thanks. Just wandering around to escape from the idiots in my tent.” She rolled her eyes and grinned. It was nice to say her thoughts out loud. Maybe, she should keep that habit.
Following Aida’s gesture towards the hill, the young Slytherin nodded. “Should we go up there?” She wanted to have a good view anyway. But right now, it didn’t really matter. She was more focused on the other girl. She would talk to her and try to find out, what was wrong. She just wanted to wait for the right moment.

When they climbed the hill together, she would sit down on the grass waiting for Aida to sit next to her. Beneath them, the morning fog would still cover the campsite. Ileen inhaled and turned to the other girl. She would glance at Aida’s hands which were far too fragile. “It’s nice here.” With a moment of silent, Ileen would try to catch the gaze of the violet eyes. “You said, you are not right in the head lately. What’s wrong?”
Maybe it was the mystic morning atmosphere that made this situation so intimate. With Aida she just felt like she was allowed to enter the other girl’s world for a moment. And in this world, Ileen was suddenly the one to comfort the girl. A new but not unpleasant situation.
She just hoped she hadn’t gone too far. She wasn’t used to become friends with others. With Dee and Erik, two completely different personalities had guided the process mostly. This time, it was her turn. And she cared about the other girl. She didn’t want to mess it up.
“If you want to talk about it, I’m here.” She smiled and then crooked her head. “You know, I need a focused and happy knight. Alone, I couldn’t fight all the monsters off.” It was her normal way to ease tense situations. A bit humor mixed with the truth.

Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

“No worries Aida. Why would you apologize anyway?” said Ileen as they walked. When they crested the hill a slight smile dawned across Aida’s face. Her feeling of reassurance, like almost every emotion Aida ever had, danced over her pale face untamed. The internal workings of the mysterious albino were sometimes hard to figure out not because anything was concealed, no. It was simply hard to keep up with all the strange transmutations that overtook her countenance. Often Aida’s expressions did not seem at all in keeping with her situation as her mind flitted from one topic to another like a hummingbird– her face showed it all, unaccompanied by verbal explanation. The girl couldn’t even lie to a giant spider to save her own life, let alone conceal her emotions.

“I… I was just afraid I might have alienated you. I seem to always be going too fast for other people,” answered Aida honestly. Her mind was like a dark cave: all one had to do was shine a light in order to reveal its crystals and more bizarre formations. Rarely did anyone have a reason to explore caverns, however, so Aida had very few friends.

Conversely, Aida was constantly learning about everyone around her. She even had a sixth sense about people and creatures– a kind of animal instinct– that helped her to read what was going on inside other people. This, combined with a photographic memory of her spatial environment, made Aida’s mental cavern brim with crystalline shapes imbued with knowledge. Peering into just one of these glassy spires might transport one to another world entirely, so far-ranging were Aida’s fantasies, so unending Aida’s quest for knowledge. Yet, externally, the pale girl that Ileen held in her hands indeed had become all too fragile.

The dusky encampment below remained still, as it was far too early for most to leave the comforts of their beds. “What’s wrong?” said Ileen, catching Aida’s gaze. The albino had the feeling that something had also been bothering Ileen earlier, and Aida did not want to miss the opportunity to be there for the brunette by making everything about her own problems. Yet, as if bound by a magical enchantment, Aida could not avoid answering a direct question.

“I… I’m not sure what’s real anymore,” began Aida. “I… I’m a… killer… but all I really wanted was to take their pain away, to be with them...” Shaking her head, Aida knew she was going too fast. Yet, her emotions were suddenly running so high that she was losing her ability to explain things clearly. “After learning that magic exists, and that I can use it… I no longer know what’s possible. I think I can bring one of them back, but I don’t think it’s realistic for me to do more than that.” Aida looked at Ileen, half-wondering if this was another one of her insomniac waking dreams. If it was, then Ileen would probably easily understand everything she was saying. If this were all real instead, had Aida managed to summon Ileen during this time of need, just as she had summoned Alexander in the forest? To Aida, the early morning hour had become just as meaningful as the hour after sunset, or any other– all arbitrary and mixed up as her exhaustion-addled brain lost its grip on reality. Would Ileen be next?

Interacting: @Ileen Knight

Was Ileen a figment of Aida’s imagination? How could she know, and did it even matter? Thinking back to when she had met the mage general in the Forbidden Forest, Aida felt that so long as the meaning of what was said was true, it would not matter if Ileen were one of her newest hallucinations. At least for now, Aida would treat Ileen as if she were real in order to know the true outcome of what her actions would be. Though, perhaps in the future Aida could gain something by experimenting with her hallucinations… Yes, that could be quite informative...

Unfortunately, Aida was unaware that such an opportunity might never come, what with how poorly she had been taking care of her own health. Ever since she met Sylvain, Aida had been shutting herself off from others as she wasted away. She had learned from the toad-gathering boy that her attempts to get support from others were bound to get them hurt, though that was the opposite of what she wanted to accomplish. After all, hadn't Aida killed Alexander and Manticore? Surely Aida herself had caused her parents' abandonment because of her childish dependence on them. The girl had stopped running, but she had not stopped running from what the general had made her say in that spider web. She knew the truth was that her friends loved her and wanted to care for her, but that was exactly what was so dangerous. Aida could not foil her own plan to protect her friends by hurting them with her dependence. Yet, this decision was why no one had saved Aida from herself. At this rate, Aida’s body would fail from exhaustion, if starvation did not take her first.

Aida's answer to the general had been true but inconvenient– threatening even– so Aida decided to make those words untrue once again so that her friends would be safe from her. Aida could not deceive, but she could hide herself in darkness. By cloaking herself in shadows she could help her friends invisibly. Deciding to get the focus off of her own problems, the violet-eyed girl turned the question back on Ileen.

“You seemed before like something is bothering you. Is there anything wrong?" asked Aida sweetly. The white witch would make it so that Ileen would not be the next to die.

A cool shiver ran down Ileen’s spine when Aida admitted so openly that she couldn’t separate reality from imagination – hallucination? Concerned Ileen turned her full upper body towards the white girl to show that she had her full attention. “What do you mean, you killed someone? Whom?”
Ileen reached out for the fragile hand next to her. It was a reflex. Not only to comfort Aida but to make actually sure that the girl was still part of that world. That she was real. The bones under her own palm felt alarmingly sharp and fragile. He brown eyes would search for the violet ones. Ileen could hardly imagine that the girl killed anyone. But she would listen to her story, trying to figure out what was haunting the girl. Maybe, she could help her after all.

“You see. I am real at least.” She gave her a soft smile and slightly squeezed her hand to underline her own words. She watched every move of the other girl closely. How she spoke, how she moved, what her facial expression told about her. She really wanted to help the girl. Therefore, she needed to understand what was wrong in the first place.
“I- I mean you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Ileen assured and tilted her head. She still hoped for answers. “But I’m here to listen to your story. I mean” She leaned back and blinked at the sky. “We are knights. We have to stick together, right? Otherwise, we couldn’t protect our people.” It was a truth dressed in humor - but Ileen was totally serious about that.

When Aida asked her about her own feelings, she waved it away. Her concerns suddenly felt small and unimportant. “Don’t’ worry about it. I just thought about home and my parents. But I will stay with Dee during the summer, so it will be amazing anyways.” Surprisingly, she really felt that way in the moment she said it. With a soft smile she glanced back at the campsite behind them. It was comforting to know that she would be around friends the whole summer.

Aida’s half-assed attempt to dodge the subject of her sickness failed, and here was Ileen asking more direct questions. Aida had a duty to answer her friend honestly.

“I killed Alexander, a boy from Hogwarts. And I killed Manticore, my old best friend. And the mosp from the Ball... even though Alexander said I did the right thing, and I want to believe him. Who knows, maybe I was responsible for killing my parents or subjecting them to a fate worse than death… just by being born. But do you know what was my worst crime?” Aida whispered to the “potential hallucination,” Ileen. “I don’t even remember how I killed Alexander. After I promised that I would always remember for him. Not only did I kill him, I killed his memory and my sacred vow.” Aida knew that if Ileen were not a hallucination, the explanation was going so fast that Aida was probably making no sense. Hadn’t Valentin told her that her problem was that she was always going too fast?

“We are knights and I’m supposed to protect my people, but all I seem to be doing is failing them. I’m afraid that you and Dealla will be next, so I… I’ve been hiding away, just watching over you in secret. Hoping I can help from a distance without hurting you. I’m sorry. Please… just… don’t… die…” Aida began choking up with an intense desire to cry, but she shunted it right back down where it came from. Then, forcefully, she pressed on. “What… happened with your parents? Why aren’t you staying with them?”

@Ileen Knight

Ileen blinked in confusion but bit her lower lip to suppress any question or comment. She didn’t want to interrupt the white girl. Even though Ileen struggled to follow her explanation she wanted to take all of the words seriously. The young Slytherin couldn’t get rid of the feeling that Aida was still half in another world. Maybe Ileen was the only thing that held her in reality at that moment. But no matter if her words were true or if they were caused by something in her mind, they were important ant true – at least to Aida.
Ileen’s brown eyes were fixed on the Ravenclaw girl. She wouldn’t let her drift away. She would try to help her to stay here – and to find out what was going on.
Could she somehow comfort her? Physical contact was something that was hard for Ileen, especially when she didn’t know how the other person felt about it. Her instincts told her to hug the girl, but she didn’t want to scare her off, so she decided to go for a compromise.
She turned to Aida and placed a hand on her thin shoulder. It was not a patronizing movement. She was gentle and careful. All that came from Ileen was the desire to support. She hadn’t heard of a boy who had been killed. About one who was burned and barely alive, yes. She couldn’t recall the name. Was this Alexander? And why did Aida think that it was her fault? But Ileen didn’t want to point these facts out to prevent Aida from stepping a step back. It felt like her own heart was being crushed when she saw the other girl suffering like that. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

A soft smile appeared on Ileen’s lips as the other girl worried about her safety. “Don’t worry. I won’t die. I promise” Full of openness and affection she looked at the upset girl. “As a knight, it is my duty to stay alive and t protect the ones I love. And you don’t need to hide. We need you at our side, you know? I’m sure you won’t put us in any danger. More important – you should take care to stay alive as well.”
When the topic changed to her parents, a shadow slide over Ileen’s face. Normally, she wouldn’t tell about her feelings, but Aida had been so open and honest to her, she had the feeling she should show some trust as well. “I- Well. I’m form New Zealand actually and we moved to England a few years ago. I never wanted to leave but it was important to them that I will go to Hogwarts.” She paused and pulled up a few grasses. “Then, they returned to our home without taking me as soon as they got rid of me. And now, they don’t even come home for vacations.”
She shook her head slightly to get rid of the dark thoughts and then smiled. “Well – so I’m staying at Dee’s over summer. And we will go to your cave together.”