7:30pm, Friday Night
16 September 2011

Frank Sellaphix angled his lit-up wand to read the note again.

Celene Oglesbee - 4th Floor, 7:30

He'd been on the fourth floor for a quarter of an hour now, searching for any sign of the Slytherin Sixth Year who was said to be as good as anyone at all things magizoology.  Frank was a good student, and if any Ravenclaw was struggling there was no shortage of help in the Commonroom. But Frank wasn't worried about memorizing facts or casting spells or writing essays. Frank was concerned with dying. Horrible, horrible death and dismemberment at the hands, claws, beak, stings, and tentacles of whatever else would be thrown at them in Care of Magical Creatures. Why name a class that! It was more like Avoid Magical Creatures! Don't Get Killed by Magical Creatures! He'd heard the N.E.W.T. students had nearly been eaten by the giant squid?

What even was this school? But it was way too late to switch back to safe, secure, muggle studies. He had to figure out how to survive Care of Magical Creatures. And to do that, he needed the best there was: Celene Oglesbee.

But um. Where was she? And why was this note so vague? He crept along the darkened corridor, his wand lighting the way.

Celene remembered Frank Sellaphix from their interactions last spring. She'd tutored him in potions, and found him to be a delightful pupil. She had also found him to be very punctual,  which made the fact that he was now fifteen minutes late for their meeting all that more surprising. Had he fallen down the stairs? Did she need to go rescue him?

Her note had been clear: through the main corridor, past the weird bear statue. That was were her favorite little study nook was. She'd found it in her second year, desperate to find a quite place to study for her final exams. The spot was perfect- a bench big enough to seat two comfortably, or for one to stretch out with her cat next to her. It was nice and quiet back there too, since the statue muffled the echos from the hallway. And the very best part, pretty much no one knew about it. It was always open.  Frank better understand what a gift she was giving him by revealing her secret spot.

Growing concerned enough to actually get up and look for him, Celene rose and stepped out from behind the weird bear.  The hall was quiet and empty, save one very lost looking 3rd year.

"Frank!" "What the hell are you doing?"

Frank startled at a sudden noise in the otherwise abandoned hallway, but he smiled immediately. It was Celene.

"Sorry! I was looking for you, I didn't know there was a bear... " he trailed off.  "Oh. That's it. I'd thought it was a badger, actually."

He cocked his head to the side. "I guess if you kind of turn your head ... "

Frank had to resist the impulse to talk more about what the hulking sculpture actually depicted. If he wasn't careful, he'd patter on and further annoy the older girl who'd agreed to help him. He clamped up and followed her around the back. It didn't look like there was space to get through, but there was a small alcove with a really good bench.

"This is the perfect study spot," he breathed.

This is the perfect study spot
Celene couldn't help but smile. She had chosen well. Frank would make an excellent protege.

She gestured toward the bench, offering the younger boy a seat. She shoved Cricket out of the way to do so, receiving  an indignant merf from the cat for her efforts. "So...word on the street has it that you don't want to die."

She'd only heard a little bit of the story, as what passed for news in the lower classes usually didn't receive much air time among the sixth years. She had gotten the gist of it, however- a third year had gotten reprimanded in CoMC class, and now Frank was apparently convinced he was...what? Going to be murdered by... animals? Or someone else was going to be murdered because of him? She honestly was little confused. But she liked him, and when she heard he was looking for help in her absolute favorite subject, she had reached out. She was genuinely excited to help. After tutoring him last year in potions, she'd found she kind of liked teaching, and she loved talking about animals.

She looked across to the third year next to her. "How can I help you?"

Frank dutifully complied and took a seat on the bench. Celene had a cat! Frank politely extended a hand towards it. The Sellaphix boys had good cat manners. Cricket gave him a sniff then bumped his hand with her head. Frank would have smiled but Celene had heard about what he'd said.

"Um, yeah. I mean, it's a little dramatic to put it that way, but in actuality I think it's very possibly a possibility," Frank said with his miniature scholarly affect. He scratched the back of his neck and went on.

"I like Professor Onuris, I really do. He's a good teacher and he, well, he listens and he's nice. But I honestly have no idea how I'm going to avoid being maimed? I know what you're thinking! They'd never let a kid get hurt, but I'm honestly hearing things."  His voice had lowered into a conspiratorial whisper.

"Did you know - " he cut himself off, glanced towards the statue, then leaned in a little closer.  "Did you he has us doing bees?"

He sat back and nodded as if that should explain everything.

Celene's enthusiasm rushed out of her. She winced instinctively. Why did it have to be bees?

Celene absolutely hated all types of bees and wasps, both magical and garden-variety alike. It had taken a long time to get to a point where the mere thought of them didn't send icy panic down her spine. Ever since she'd heard that the gazebos on the south lawn had been outfitted with beehives, she'd been giving the area a very wide berth.

Celene exhaled forcefully and screwed up her face in thought. She now wondered how much help she would really be able to give Frank. She looked at him with what she hoped was compassion. "That sucks "  was all she said.

She thought for a moment longer. She could do better than that. This kid needed her help.

"Sometimes, when you deal with magical creatures, you're going to run into ones that scare you. There are a lot of scary ones out there. But you deal with each of them the same way that you dealt with Cricket just now. You have to be respectful of them. You have to respect the fact that they can hurt you. You need to be respectful of the fact that they are probably frightened of you. You need to be mindful of all of these things so that you don't get hurt. "

She looked at Frank, searching his face for any sign that he understood what she was trying to say. She felt like she was rambling.

This was it. Frank shifted in his seat to make ready to receive Wisdom. He waited.

"That sucks."

What?! Frank blinked. That's it!? That-? Why-? She-!  He sat frozen in stunned dismay. She wasn't wrong. It did suck. A great deal. Ample suckage! But actually, he already knew that. So.

Thankfully, Celene had more advice to give but her words had no warm home in Frank's clean little ears. He'd heard all of that before. He smiled politely and shrugged.

"Thanks."

But Frank was Frank and even when the polite thing to do was just say thanks and go, he just had to push.

"No, see, but that doesn't work. It doesn't matter how respectful I am around bees. They always find me. And I try and I try to be calm but I can't. They won't just leave me alone. I don't think people believe me when I say I can't help it."

Now he was worried that Celene wouldn't really believe him, either. Everyone always said the same thing.

Celene's face fell as she saw that her attempts to help had definitely not succeeded. Everything the younger boy said echoed in her brain, painful and familiar. She nodded. Speaking more to herself then Frank now, she replied: "they're so little, but they are the @%#$ing worst." "Everyone else gets to go outside and play and have picnics like it doesn't matter because they don't care, but then you get stuck running around screaming because the bees are chasing you and everybody is looking at you like you're a bleeding idiot" she mumbled bitterly.

She drug her hands across her face, frustrated. They were still nowhere and Frank still needed help. Then, the flicker of an idea. She turned to Frank. "I could research potions to get rid of fear, but those will most likely make you incredibly reckless and you're very likely to get hurt. What about a potion that makes the stings not hurt? You'll still be afraid of the bees, but at least you won't have to be afraid of the pain." "But I don't know how your professor would feel about any of this?" She looked at Frank, feeling like she was failing him.

Frank leaned back in surprise. Wow. Celene suddenly seemed just as frustrated as he was, and was describing a litany of things he realized he felt too. The nagging anxiety of playing quiddith with his brother, or nerves in the Herbology greenhouses. He was thankful he hadn't freaked out at school before this week, but he was genuinely surprised someone like Celene had, too, apparently. Which confused him - most people seemed to like her. Her reputation was of a high achiever who kept her head.

How could someone like that be afraid of bees, too?

When she asked about magical remedies, he let out a breath from puffed cheeks. "Yea... actually, me and Eirene tried a Cheering Charm and Professor Onuris was not pleased about it. He dispelled it and used a shield charm instead. I know it doesn't make sense, but it didn't really help. I'm not afraid of getting stung. They just, freak me out."

Frank was a man of logic. He knew bees were basically harmless. He knew stings weren't that bad. He knew to be calm. But he just ... couldn't.  He'd liked the Cheering Charm! It just didn't seem right.

"So I don't know if a potion will be okay with him either."  He got up from the bench and the cat immediately took his seat.  He was thinking of just leaving Celene alone, but he didn't want to give up and it would be rude to her.

"What's your cat's name?" he asked - a momentary distraction.

Frank rose, looking like he wanted to escape. As he did, Cricket immediately reclaimed her seat on the bench, indignant as ever that it had been stolen in the first place.

What's your cat's name?

Celene reached over and scritched her feline companion under the chin "Her name is Cricket. I named her that because she likes to chirp when she's happy."

She looked back a Frank. "I think we're going to have to get creative with this one. Perhaps we should take a stroll down to the library? Cricket always likes a good trip to the library, she spends the whole time trying to pull the books off the shelves."

"Hewo, Cricket," Frank said, kneeling down by the bench. He scritched her chin as he'd seen Celene do, which meant the cat probably liked it that.  His family never had pets growing up, other than a crow that lived in the back alley behind the shop that tried to peck them whenever they came and went. They'd named him Baron Von Pecker.

He didn't immediately look up as Celene suggested doing some proper research, but it sounded like a good idea. He'd never thought to read about his problem before. Maybe there were actually some books about fear of bees or other things. He shrugged and looked up.

"Actually, that sounds very productive." Productive as a good antidote to anxiety. 

Fin. Continued in the Library.

Continued here: Take Fear by the Spine