Written on behalf of Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges: The Detention Competition
I wrote this as a distraction, while I was stuck on a multi-chap.
It worked!
Everyone had their O.W.L letters with them in the compartment. These were the letters that had determined their future, so far.
These were the letters that had dismayed Augusta Longbottom.
A lot.
~oOo~
In the morning - that fateful morning - she had clumsily plodded down the stairs, nose following the warm waft of pancakes.
"Good Morning, Augusta," her father had greeted, his finely tailored pin striped suit ironed immaculately. He sat at the table, a china cup of tea at the tip of his long, elegant fingers; his steel grey hair had been parted equally, plastered down perfectly. He looked like a fine ventriloquist puppet.
"Hi, dad," she mumbled back, completely ignoring her parents' careful obsession with manners and etiquette. Her father tutted, turning a page on his newspaper.
"Good morning, Augusta!" her mother piped, in her usual flowery dress, round cheeks red from standing around the hob, "What toppings wou-"
Her words were cut short by a brown tawny owl, swooping onto the kitchen table through the open window. It had landed right in front of Augusta.
The big brown envelope attached was addressed to her, and bore an ornate, red wax stamp, with an 'H' on it.
Her eyes widened, the lethargy of just waking up leaving her in a panicked rush.
She had just realised what the letter was.
The owl hooted impatiently, and Augusta fiddled with the catch, and released the letter. The owl flapped off with a ruffle of it's feathers.
"Are those your O.W.L results?" her mother eyed the letter anxiously.
"Yes, mother," she murmured, staring at the envelope.
"Well, open the thing, child!" her father cried out impatiently, tossing the Daily Prophet aside.
"Desmond, patience, darling! We must take circumstances at Augusta's point of view," her mother reasoned, but also looked eagerly toward the letter.
Augusta slipped the letter open.
Hands trembling, she dragged out the starch white piece of parchment.
Her parents leaned in to get a better view.
After reading the printed words, there was an uncomfortable pause.
And then her mother sighed.
And her father growled.
Augusta stared in disdain.
Transfiguration: O
Potions: E
Charms: P
Herbology: A
Care of magical Creatures: E
Divination: P
History of magic: P
"You failed 3 whole subjects!" her father lost all dignity in frustration.
"Hush, Desmond!" her mother urged, but disappointment was clearly valid in her voice.
Augusta's face crumpled, as all her dreams of becoming a Healer were washed away...
~oOo~
The compartment occupied the usual people, and now they all had something new to talk about.
There was Minerva McGonagall; passionate, feisty, smart, attracting all the Gryffindor boys attentions.
Carmichael Sinstrella; whom Augusta had a deeply carved crush upon.
Andrew Potter; bold, kind, rich, scrawny, round glasses.
Augusta slid in the compartment, and took her place by the window.
"...Of course, there was no doubt I was going to get anything but an Outstanding in Charms. It was so impossibly easy! I don't understand how anyone could fail!" Minerva was at it again - boasting about her amazing talents, flicking an almost ginger strand of light brown hair, out of her pale, blue eyes.
Augusta burnt red.
Minerva may be her friend, but she had no trouble finding her way on Augusta's nerves.
~oOo~
"I still don't understand why you won't tell me your results!" Minerva asked, yet again, at the dinner table. "Fine, don't tell them, show me your letter. I only want to see them, I won't eat it!"
Augusta gave an exasperated sigh.
"No! I did crap, and you'll laugh at me," she mumbled.
"What? I can't hear you, speak up!" Minerva said, giving a distracted glance over her shoulder to Potter and Sinstrella's loud Quidditch conversation.
"NO! For gods sake, Min-" a shimmer of paper flew from Augusta's shoulder bag into Minerva's hand.
She had accioed the results paper. Augusta's scramble began.
"Give it back, Minerva! Minerva McGonagall!" Minerva turned around, and open the folded paper, away from Augusta's reach, "IT'S NOT FUNNY! GIVE IT BACK!"
But the damge had been done.
The plug had been pulled.
She'd read the paper.
And now...
She was laughing.
"You failed 3 whole subjects!" she echoed Augusta's father, making Augusta burn red in embarrassment.
"Charms! How could you fail that? I'm disappointed, Gussie-"
WHAM!
Augusta's fist flew to Minerva's cheekbone. The hall went quiet.
"How dare you!" Minerva screeched.
SLAM!
Minerva had grabbed Augusta's hair and slammed her face into the creamy cranberry pie.
"I was looking forward to eating that!" Andrew Potter stared longingly at the creamy mess.
Cheers rose in excitement of the cat-fight (mostly calling Minerva's name, which maddened Augusta even more).
WHACK!
SLAP!
Cheers rose from neighbouring tables, as the fight grew angrier by the second.
CRACK!
WHALLOP!
BANG!
"Minerva! Minerva! Minerva!"
"SILENCE!" Phineas-Nigellus Black roared from the high table.
Minerva and Augusta froze mid-fight, Augusta's head trapped in a lock by Minerva.
Oh, how Augusta longed to sink her teeth in her arm-
"GIRLS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
And before they knew it, they were whisked out of the Great Hall by the Headmaster himself.
"Your behaviour was unacceptable! Muggle dueling! In the middle of the Great Hall! The start if the year feast!" he looked from Minerva to Augusta. "Professor Merrythought, Head of Gryffindor, as you know, has retired. Until I promote Professor Dumbledore, your punishment will be in my hands,"
Augusta sighed heftily.
"None of that!" he pointed at her, "you two ladies practically asked for it!" Black switched his glance over to Minerva, "And Minerva! Minerva, I expected so much better from you!"
Yes, of course he does! Augusta thought angrily, Everyone expects great things from Minerva McGonagall! And why didn't he expect better from me I wonder?
"So! I think, a letter home to your parents, 150 points from Gryffindor, and a detention each!" he scribbled something on a piece of parchment, and then studied the teacher's schedule sheet.
"Miss Longbottom, you will serve detention with Professor Dumbledore," Black announced. Augusta sighed again. She was neither fond of Dumbledore, nor did she hate him. In fact she didn't really know Dumbledore, and him her. The transfiguration teacher paid most attention to his star pupil, his golden girl, Minerva...
"Minerva, you will serve yours with Hagrid," he continued.
Minerva blinked, disbelieving, while smugness took over Augusta.
"Tomorrow, both of you at eight o'clock, will attend your detentions. No buts or ors, you're lucky I didn't decide to expel you!"
~oOo~
Albus Dumbledore, Augusta thought as she knocked on the door of Dumbledore's office, and his stupid plum suit.
The tedious day had consisted of angry glares from all the Gryffindors, after seeing the state of their house point hourglass, and lessons on the N.E.W.T subjects they had chosen.
Well, mostly glares.
"Enter!" came the transfiguration teacher's voice from inside.
Augusta walked glumly inside. The rest of the Gryffindors were in the warm common room, surrounded by friends...
"Ah! Good evening, Augusta!" he smiled. He was sat behind his desk, stroking his phoenix.
"Hello, sir," she mumbled back.
"Take a seat! Lemon drop?" he was being too kind for someone supervising a detention.
"Yes, please," she said, taking a seat and one of the offered sweets
Dumbledore chuckled.
"You know why you are in detention, I trust?"
Augusta burnt red.
"Well, fortunately, I have no detention task planned!" he drew his hand away from the phoenix. "But for the sake of the headmaster, write two lines of apology to Minerva,"
Augusta's cheeks turned redder and she boiled up.
"I apologise to her? She started it! Why is it always Minerva this, Minerva that- and I'm always 'that fat girl that follows Minerva McGonagall around'!" Augusta burst out, and almost immediately regretted it.
Dumbledore remained silent, and a ghost of a smile played on his lips.
Augusta bent her head.
"It's not fair. She's always the one who laughed at me," she mumbled, embarrassed at her outburst.
"Why did she laugh, Augusta?" Dumbledore pressed on, his voice full of sympathy.
"Because...because I failed three whole subjects, and she got Outstanding's in all her subjects," Augusta bit her lip to stop the tears welling up.
"That wasn't very nice of her, was it?" Dumbledore said softly, more a verbal acknowledgement than a question, "But that's no reason to start muggle dueling,"
"Yes, it is! She always embarrasses me in front of everyone, just because she's perfect!" she snarled, "It hurts me, humiliates me, but to her it's just light entertainment!"
"Are you good at Charms, Augusta?"
"No, it's a stupid, soft subject," Augusta scoffed.
"Potions?"
"No, sir,"
"Transfiguration?"
There was a small pause where Augusta hesitated.
"No-"
"Oh, but I know a lie when I see one! You are quite talented at the subject! I should know, I teach you," Dumbledore smiled, bright twinkle in his blue eyes.
"Yes, but compared to Minerva, I'm nothing-"
"Was I comparing you to Minerva? No, standing alone you are good at the subject," Dumbledore said, "I understand you also enjoy Care of Magical Creatures?"
"A bit. If Minerva isn't there to make friends with a hippogriff or be the unicorn's maiden-" she broke off mid-sneer.
Dumbledore was laughing.
"Isn't it funny how that happens sometimes? Best friends and jealousy..."
"I'm not jealous! I'm just tired of being clouded over by Minerva all the time!" she cried, "And she's a prefect..." she added quietly as an afterthought.
"Sometimes close ones who excel farthest push us to the limits. Little do we know, they're also stopping us from falling off the limits," Dumbledore sighed meaningfully.
Augusta stared.
"What?"
"Just because someone else is powerful, does not mean that you are weak," Dumbledore looked at her from the top of his half-moon spectacles, "Oh, is that the time? Time flies without us realizing is annoying buzzing. You must go back to your common room now, Augusta,"
"Right. Good night, Professor,"
"Good night, Augusta,"
She walked out, passing through the moonlit corridors-
And crossed paths with Minerva McGonagall.
Her first instinct was to turn around and walk the other way, to save herself the burden of listening to Minerva blame everything on her, but something stopped her.
"Did you serve your detention?" she asked warily.
"It was more like a talk," she replied stiffly.
"Hagrid is very strange," Minerva yawned.
"You obviously haven't talked to Dumbledore, one to one. The man talks in riddles!" Augusta's guard fell, along with her formal manner.
"I have! I know exactly what you mean!" Minerva grinned, "Guess the first thing I thought when I walked out?"
"What a weirdo!" they chorused, laughter echoing down the stone castle corridors of Hogwarts
~Finite~