OUTCAST | SIRIUS BLACK

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

HOW SAD THAT YOU THOUGHT OF MISTRESS BEFORE WIFE
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SCAVENGER HUNT
I HOPE YOU DON'T HAVE ANY PLANS FOR THIS WEEKEND, BECAUSE I HAVE OTHER PLANS FOR YOU MY FRIEND.

Rules:
You have the weekend up until curfew on Sunday to solve my riddles and complete the scavenger hunt. Trying to sabotage found clues for other teams will disqualify the entire team from this task.

I ALWAYS STAY AS STILL AS CAN BE,
SOME OF YOU SEE ME ON YOUR WAY TAKE A WEE.
BUT THAT'S NOT THE ME YOU SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR, AND I ALSO ADVICE YOU TO SKIP FLOOR FOUR.
A WOLF IN NAME AND A FORGETFUL ONE, FIND ME WHERE I AM STANDING AND YOU WILL BE CLOSER TO DONE.

"A wolf in name? What the hell does that even mean?" Mulciber complained, sending a glare towards Seraphina who was reading Prince Caspian, the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia. It was a muggle book series that Remus had given her.

"I already wrote the riddle, Mulciber. I don't have the time to spell it out for you as well," Seraphina rolled her eyes, closing her book. Three hours had passed since her riddle came up on the wall and to her knowledge, only one team had found the next.

"Maybe one of your clever little First Years can solve it for you," Seraphina closed her book and stood up. "That way you don't have to risk injuring your brain since it must be so unused to working."

With that she turned around and walked out of the Common Room. Clearly she wouldn't get any peace sitting there since Mulciber's team was working on the riddle there.

On her way through school she passed a few other Slytherins who were huddled together in smaller groups attempting to solve her riddle that she was rather proud of.

"Sera!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to see Lily, Marlene, Dorcas and Alice walk towards her. "We - we haven't really gotten the opportunity to speak lately," Lily said with an awkward smile. "I hope you had a nice Christmas?"

"Yeah, it was okay," Seraphina told them.

"We were actually going to study in the library," Alice smiled kindly. That special Alice smile that was so warm and kind that it made Seraphina want to give her a hug. "Would you like to come with us?"

"Thanks for the invitation," Seraphina said politely. "But I have a few things I have to do."

"A few things?" Dorcas crossed her arms. "You are a terrible liar Seraphina."

"I'm an excellent liar, I'm just not very good at excuses," Seraphina corrected her. "And I actually have to-"

"WE FIGURED IT OUT!"

The Gryffindor girls all turned around in shock of seeing the normally put together Alec Avery run through the hallways. If only they knew him like she did. "Statues — prefect's bathroom — his name means wolf and he is confused. I absolutely hate you right now!"

Avery continued running and Seraphina laughed at his words before turning back to the Gryffindor girls who looked at her weirdly. Seraphina simply said, "Don't ask. And good luck with your studies."

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'THE MOST HAPPY' I AM WHEN I WAS ADDRESSED LIKE MA'AM.
THE FIRST OUT OF TWO TO LOSE MY HEAD, BUT DEFINITELY NOT THE FIRST TO SEE THE KING'S BED.
MY HUSBAND WAS THE WHITE AND RED ROSE UNITED AS ONE,
AND IN THE BEGINNING I WAS DELIGHTED.
A SON I COULD NOT HIM GIVE,
THAT WAS SOMETHING HE NEVER COULD FORGIVE.

"The Most Happy. The Most Happy," Avery repeated over and over again, mostly to himself.

"Do you know what would make me the most happy?" Seraphina asked him. "If you would think quietly so that I can read my book in peace." She would have remained seated in one of the window sills but it was almost past curfew. "Give it a rest and continue tomorrow."

"We are currently in the lead," Avery told her seriously. "My sources tell me that none of the other teams has made it past the third riddle. This is our chance to get ahead. – Am I missing something obvious?"

"Yes."

"No."

Seraphina looked over at Regulus who had disagreed with her. "The answer is in the words. I'm practically spelling it out for them."

"You think that because you wrote it," Regulus deadpanned. "Like how you thought it was obvious that 'skip floor four' meant that it was either on the third or fifth floor." They could talk about that now since everyone already had completed the first riddle. "It's obvious to you but it isn't obvious to everyone else."

"You solved it alone," Seraphina pointed out.

"It's because I unfortunately have spent so much time with you that I know how you think," Regulus shrugged before returning to his homework. "Don't you have an essay to write on Wendelin the Weird?"

"I have already finished it," Seraphina told him. "And it wasn't about Wendelin the Weird. It was about the 14th century witch trials. I simply mentioned her in it." She took a pillow from behind her and threw it on Regulus' legs and laid down with her head on the pillow and her legs resting over the armrest  of the couch. "Have you even started on your essay, Avery?"

"No, I am planning on doing it later," Avery said dismissively. "Who is in the King's bed? Mistresses? His wife?"

"How sad that you thought of mistress before wife," Seraphina snorted, continuing to read her book.

"Shush, I am losing my trail of thoughts," Avery told her.

"Should you really be thinking this loudly?" she questioned, just to bother him more. "What if the other teams hear you. Pucey and his posy are currently in the lead to win this entire thing. And Mulciber is too lazy to even try to solve any of the riddles himself."

That's when two of Avery's teammates, a Third Year girl and boy, came running over to him. "We figured it out," they announced happily.

"Good job," Seraphina praised them. "Could you please take your teammate with you and show him the next riddle so he won't bother me anymore?"

"Rude," Avery told her before praising his little teammates as he followed them.