Closed Snake Lying in Wait

[Mikael Nightray]

APPROVAL ID #125078​

Mikael had always meant to get even with Ayre for Eurydice since he'd found out all that had happened. It had taken a little more time though, because he did so like to take his time sometimes. He knew that the younger Slytherin had taken to avoiding him, and he'd taken to showing up in places that she would be, despite the crowd. He never really did anything. Just be there to let Ayre know that he was there... waiting. It hardly mattered to him if she'd noticed his presence. He would never be so stupid as to do anything amidst witnesses. It was interesting, however, how this semester turned out. With no legilimens on staff, the Slytherin Head of House on sabbatical, and the Headmaster hardly around, it was the perfect time for Mikael to act. He didn't act immediately, though. No. He'd been biding his time for this long; he could wait some more. Which was why he waited until after the Valentine's Dance. More than a week after, in fact. In the last couple of days, he'd spent some time wandering the castle. Not really following his target, but just wandering in the guise of patrolling. It wouldn't do after all for people to suspect he'd been following the younger Slytherin. Today, he'd decided on getting up early. It was the weekend, and it would do him well to practice his wandless magic. NEWTs were approaching after all. He left his wand in his trunk—he does that sometimes to avoid the temptation of using it when practicing his wandless magic—but it would just be best to not have it today either. In no time at all, he found himself in one of the Duelling Chambers and started to practice his spells, starting from first year of course. After else, he didn't have anything else to do while waiting—might as well be productive.​

 

[Morrie Ayre]

They were into semester two now and weirdly, Morrie hadn’t seen much drama this year yet, at least not compared to previous years. Oh, of course there was still that weirdo Mikael, but she stayed well away from him. She hadn't seen him this morning at breakfast and was fairly certain she’d overheard someone say he was studying in the library today, which meant she could lower her guard for a little while. To be on the safe side though, she'd triple checked to make sure he wasn’t following her as she stomped her way down the corridor to the dueling chamber. And when she was certain that he was not following her, she shoved him firmly out of her thoughts.

Her thoughts turned to the upcoming dueling tournament instead. Morrie had been disqualified every single year which if you asked her, said a lot more about the biased proctors than it did about her ability as a duelist. This year she wondered if she might actually win the stupid competition if she practiced more though. She'd still have to get past professors like Josephs, who had totally unfairly disqualified her two years running, but with enough practice, Morrie would be able to stop professors with their nonsense rules.

Deciding she was absolutely going to make this tournament win happen, Morrie arrived at the dueling chamber to practice. She chucked her water bottle onto a bench near the entrance and turned to face the wall for the warm up. She rolled her shoulders then pressed her arms against the wall to stretch, getting ready for combat with a practice dummy. Morrie had not noticed someone else was already occupying the chamber.

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael paused mid-cast as of a 4th Year spell as footsteps reverberated off the stone. He turned to look at the intruder and a wave of cold satisfaction washed over him. He'd had his suspicions that Ayre would eventually show up here, whether today or in the next couple of days. She was a known face in the Duelling Tournament—known for constantly being disqualified, that is. And the Tournament was coming up soon, as he'd heard from his roommate. He hadn't made plans to join the bloody thing, but he knew that if he showed up here every now and then, he was bound to encounter the younger Slytherin. It was only a matter of time before he would have an opportunity. And clearly that day was today. Unexpected, but entirely welcome.

For a few moments, Mikael stayed still where he was before turning without a sound, hands in his pockets as Ayre rolled her shoulders and he let the illusion of her being alone continue for just a few moments. And only once she pressed her arms against the wall to stretch, did he walk towards her, emerging from the far side of the room. Unhurried. Deliberate. He didn't bother to silence his steps. He wanted her to know he was there. "I thought you might come here," he said, just a tinge of amusement as he walked, hands in his pockets, thumbs hooked out. No wand in sight. Perhaps she would be stupid enough to think she had the upper hand. "Practicing for disqualification again, I see." He stopped just a few feet away, waiting to see what she would do. Not that it would be of consequence. He'd waited for this—an opportunity to have her alone again. An opportunity to return the fear she had dared to instill in his sister—and send it back tenfold.​

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie’s head snapped around with a look of irritation the second she saw Mikael standing there. It was an easy look to pull off as Morrie wore a scale of irritated expressions most of the time. Behind the mask there was a sense of unease growing in her chest too, one that wasn't helped by them being alone again like they had been in the owlery, but she buried it deep. She’d be damned if she let him see any weakness.

With a lazy sigh she pushed off the wall, her arms dropping to her sides as she fully turned to face Eurydice's brother. It was unsettling how it sounded like he’d been waiting for her but instead she pulled an expression like she thought he was a creepy weirdo. He was a creepy weirdo, she thought. She scoffed at the disqualification comment. “Oh, are you volunteering as target practice?” she shot back, “Reckon you’d make a convincing dummy. Wouldn’t have to fake much.” She answered back then with a breath asked, "What do you want Michael?"

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael was unfazed by Ayre's attempts at threats and insults. A very sad attempt at wit from a dim-witted flobberworm. Petty. Useless. Pathetic. He merely tilted his head, as if he were studying something beneath glass. Something that was just twitchy and tiresome, desperate to escape, but didn't nearly have the intellect to do so. The bravado she projected was but a mere sad attempt in Mikael's eyes. She was getting boring. And Mikael had even less patience for boredom. It really was perhaps time to end this little charade. Get this over with, since there were more things worth his time.

Mikael raised his hand slowly, deliberately; he'd yet to perfect wandless and nonverbal magic together, but wandless would be enough for this. When he spoke next, it was quiet. Icy.

"Serpensortia."

All the icy rage and focus that had been built up within him. It was unmistakable as he cast the spell. This was nearly not enough for what she'd done to Eurydice, in his opinion. He was sure his brothers thought the same. His parents, if they ever found out, would think the same. But Tiziano had done nothing so far, and so here Mikael was, making sure that this pathetic thing never dares to so much as look at his sister again—or any Nightray, for that matter.

The snake appeared with a thud on the floor. Not calmly. It did not slither so much as thrashed as it landed, its thick body recoiling and lashing as if it was in the middle of a fight—a hunt—when it was summoned. Its head reared, facing away from Mikael. He didn't need to see it; he could hear the threatening hiss, the way the snake's jaws parted. And then there was the unmistakable sound—a haunting clattering sound. A rattlesnake—Mikael had summoned a bronze rattlesnake, and it had already chosen its enemy, but a mere few feet away. Eyes locked on the prey in front of it. One wrong move.

Mikael smiled. "I heard you're familiar with this spell, Ayre."​

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie heard the spell, but hearing it didn’t prepare her for the monster that hit the floor in front of her. She’d lived her whole life in New Zealand and just didn’t know snakes. Not real ones, especially not angry ones or how to handle them. The little milk snake she’d summoned before looked like a joke compared to this thing and the rattling sound it made was terrifying. This one had fangs too. Horrible, gleaming fangs. Its body was thick, coiled, and way too long for any reasonable creature to be. She instinctively took a step back and straight into the wall.

“What the f*ck?! Get it away from me!” her voice rising in panic as her hand fumbled against her side for her wand. Running seemed like a smarter idea though. In fact, running seemed like the best idea she’d had all day. Without warning, Morrie made a sudden and instinctive lunge for the door.

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael didn't even flinch at the panic that was so obvious on Ayre's whole being. He didn't even blink as she backed into the wall. "I wouldn't move if I were you," he warned lowly. It was basic for any predator, really. Don't make any sudden movements. Especially with how the rattlesnake was still coiled. He observed her carefully, and with the terror clear on her face, perhaps now she'd gotten the message. "Evanesco," he cast softly, though nothing happened. The snake was much bigger than he thought, and he didn't have his wand. He sighed inwardly. Troublesome. He'd been about to try the spell again when Ayre bolted.

"I said don't move!" he hissed, but it was too late. The snake's prey had already started the chase. "Evanesco!" he tried again, but the snake was too fast and the spell failed. No choice then, it would probably be easier to vanish a carcass anyway.

"Diffindo!" But it was too late.

Fast. The snake was too fast and had already sunk its fangs deep into Ayre's skin just as the spell hit squarely through the reptile, cutting it cleanly in two. The snake merely twitched, its head and body severed.​

 

[Morrie Ayre]

One second she was running, and the next a sharp burning pain stopped her in her tracks. Fangs buried deep in her left forearm with venom that felt like fire flooding her veins spreading to her whole left side and further. Morrie's knees buckled and she fell painfully onto the stone floor, she couldn't see the snake anymore, in fact she couldn't see anything at all because her eyes were closed. There was shouting, maybe. She couldn’t tell if she was screaming either or if she’d just imagined that too. Her legs twitched uselessly, her fingers clawed the ground but couldn’t hold on, she couldn’t fight it. Her thoughts were falling apart and then everything went black as she fainted into stillness.

 

[William Potter-Cade]

William had taken a detour after dropping Eury off at her common room and heard yelling coming from the general direction that led to the duelling chambers. He usually wouldn't have bothered and minded his own business, but he was bored and he had nothing better to do so he went to investigate the sound. He wasn't prepared for the sight of a big a** snake slithering away from Morrie who was twitching on the floor, with Mikael standing over them both. "Mikael! What happened?"

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Of course, someone would walk in on this whole thing. He supposed he should count himself lucky it was Eurydice's friend, of all people. "F**k!" he exclaimed as he rushed towards the thing—the Slytherin—because he was meant to be distressed that he'd just gotten another student bit by a snake. "You! Where's your wand?!" Because he didn't have his, and that would be why he'd lost control of a spell. Hadn't managed to vanish such a creature easily despite being in his Seventh Year, mere months away from NEWTs. The Gryffindor had at least approached and showed him his wand, to which Mikael reached over and snatched it. The wand protested, but Mikael wasn't new to using other people's wands. Purebloods stored family wands all the time. "Diffindo!" he cut a part of his robes before casting "Evanesco!" on the snake. This was not his wand, and it was as if the spell flickered before the snake disappeared. Even then, his spell was hardly successful; there were still traces on the floor from when the snake died. It would do. And then a Featherlight Charm on Ayre because he would have to carry her—he swallowed down the disgust because there was always a time for everything. It wouldn't do to be sent to Azkaban over this after all. He gave the wand back to the boy mere moments after he'd taken it—the three spells were done in quick succession. "Run to Hospital Wing. Do not stop for anything unless you see a f**king professor you understand?" he instructed as he was already kneeling and wrapping the arm that was bitten. "Now," he barked and watched from the corner of his eye as the boy ran. Now to deal with the rest.​

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F I N I S H E D​