-Chapter Two-
-Lessons-
To say that sharing a dormitory with a boy who hates your guts is uncomfortable is putting it rather lightly in Scorpius' opinion. The awfulness of his situation was made worse by the fact that the only other boy he and Albus Potter shared the room with was a tall blond boy who'd known Sev for all of his life.
Lorcan Scamander wasn't too bad really, he was just a weird. Scorpius could barely hold a conversation with him without hearing some rubbish on crumple-horned snorkacks issuing from the fellow blonde's lips. By the time he finally fell asleep, Scorpius didn't know who he wanted to curse more, his room-mates or himself.
The sky shone a light grey that morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, and Scorpius spent a good half hour looking up at the seemingly non-existent ceiling, trying to figure out if there was glass above them or if it was just open with some kind of magical barrier there.
"The ceiling is enchanted." The small dirty-blonde girl from last night said from where she was buttering toast next to him.
"How do you know?" Scorpius asked sceptically, grabbing a sausage at random.
"I read about it in Hogwarts: a History on the train yesterday."
"Why were you reading that?"
Rebecca shrugged. "My mum went to a school in Germany so she doesn't know anything about Hogwarts and my dad's a muggle so neither does he, I thought it might be interesting. And," She added, looking a bit annoyed, "My older brother stole the book I was planning to read."
"Why did they enchant it?" Scorpius asked, earning a wicked grin from the girl next to him.
"Gryffindor got a bit nutty in old age, he did all sorts of weird and wonderful things to the castle and no one's been able to figure out how to undo them. When you were coming up for breakfast did you notice how the suits of armour seemed to watch you?"
Scorpius nodded, he had thought he was only being paranoid. Rebecca's green eyes flashed in gleeful amusement. "Well they were."
Professor White, a tall thin man with thick, pure white hair came up to the pair with a handful of blank parchment. He'd been introduced to all the First year's last night as the Transfigurations master as well as the Head of Slytherin. "No let's see if I remember you two from last night's sorting… Malfoy and…" Black's eyes flashed with glee, "Schmitt, am I correct?" The pair nodded and Professor Black handed them both sheets of paper and tapped them with his wand then moved off to the next batch of students.
The two new Slytherin's read the first line then wordlessly swapped timetables. Now with his own timetable Scorpius read it through.
"Looks like we've got Potions with Professor Nighlite first up." He commented to Rebecca, barely able to contain his excitement.
"With Hufflepuff." Rebecca added, she checked her watch. "We'd better get a move on if we want to make it, its ten minutes to class time."
PAGGGEGEE
"You are here to learn the exact and subtle science of potion making." Were Professor Nighlite's first solemn words to the Slytherin/Hufflepuff first years. "In Potions, the right mixture can still breath, cool flame, cause you good or bad luck. However a single wrong ingredient, a hair that falls into the cauldron and you're a dead man walking." Sev noticed that the entire first year class looked on in terror. They all jumped as Nighlite clapped her hands together with a loud bang, a huge grin lighting up her face. "Exciting isn't it?"
"Now, can anyone tell me what potion snasityli plant is the key ingredient?" Sev was annoyed to see Malfoy's hand shoot up. Professor Nighlite blinked in seeming amazement. "Mr. Malfoy?"
"The forgetfulness potion." He said.
"That is correct. Alright can anyone tell me what potion you would get using ground scarab beetle, cut up ginger root and armadillo bile?"
Again, Malfoy's hand shot up, much to Professor Nighlite's delight. "Yes Mr. Malfoy?"
"Armadillo bile is used in the Wit-Sharpening Potion."
Know it all, Sev thought bitterly.
Page… page… PAGEBREAK!
"Wait a second." Teddy Lupin said, looking at Rebecca incredulously. "You mean to say that you don't change anything about your appearance? At all? Not that you need to," he covered quickly, seeing a dangerous glint in the eleven year olds eyes. It was eight o'clock on Saturday morning after the first week of school and a just-graduated man named Ted Lupin had flooed into the school to tutor Rebecca in how to control her powers as a metamorphagi.
"I don't change anything," she responded to the young man who's hair was a brilliant shade of orange at that moment. "I don't really like to…" she paused looking for a word, "broadcast my freakishness." She finished, noting the stunned look on Lupin's face.
"You're not a freak!" He exclaimed, "You have no idea how many people wish they could change their appearance at will. It's a gift! Why treat it as anything else?" Rebecca shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and Teddy decided that he should not pursue this any farther.
"Okay, what are your strong points? Are you good at changing height? Can you change your hair colour into only natural colours so far? What about your eyes? Can you change gender? What about discolour your skin into a fake tattoo? And when you do experiment what points do you have to concentrate really hard and which points can you just forget about?"
Rebecca bit her lip, "Well…" she started hesitantly, "I used to change my hair colour a lot when I was little… I never really had much trouble with that…" she blushed, "I used to change everything's colour when I was little, I used to run around completely pink with blue hair and play Alien's and Cowboys with my brothers… I was always the alien." They both laughed a bit.
"I—uh—have a bit of trouble with changing height… I've never tried to change gender…" Teddy nodded thoughtfully.
Teddy kept on with his questions. "What about mirrors? Do you need to see what you're change to change it? And what about your voice?"
Shifting uncomfortably, Rebecca realised that no one had asked about her abilities this in depth before. So this is what an expert is like, she thought, then answered the questions. "I'm not sure about the mirrors thing… I guess it depends on my concentration… and, again, I've never tried changing my voice."
"Okay, can you change your hair length and type? What about mimicking a picture of someone?"
"I can do the first but I've never tried the last one."
"You're eleven right?" The girl nodded. "What month were you born?"
"June."
"So you're…"
"Marked? Yes I am." She said, pulling up the sleeve of her right arm up to the shoulder revealing a black circle around a four pointed star with a line going through each point
Teddy winced. Once every metamorphagi was branded at birth with the only spell that could permanently discolour their skin. That, however, had been abolished a little over a decade ago in the month of July.
Teddy took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll start off relatively easy. Can you please turn your hair to green without a mirror?"
They continued this way for an hour until it was almost time for the first years' flying lessons. Rebecca was just out of the door when Teddy called her name. The girl turned around to see a very serious young man in front of her.
"Rebecca, part of my job here is to bring your confidence up regarding your abilities. What I want you to do is—whenever you feel comfortable—roll your right sleeve up to show your mark. Now—" he said catching the look of protest bubbling up in the young girl "—I know that that mark on your arm was put there for the wrong reasons, but it shows who you are. You aren't a normal witch and you should be proud of it! I'll tell your teacher's that you might be doing it, okay?" She nodded hesitantly.
"Alright, see you next week."
Rebecca had little time to get to the Quidditch Pitch where the first year flying lessons were being held, so she was immensely relieved when she caught up to Madam Hooch a sharp, silvery haired woman who taught the flying lessons who was at that moment struggling to carry about thirty battered-looking brooms.
"Would you like some help Madam Hooch?" Rebecca asked, the older woman looked up and smiled thinly at the young Slytherin.
"Cutting it a little short, aren't we, Ms. Schmitt?"
Rebecca smiled sheepishly, "My session with Teddy Lupin went a little long." She explained, Madam Hooch peered at Rebecca curiously, seeming to forget the young metamorphagus's offer for help as she continued towards the pitch with the thirty-odd brooms still held in her arms.
Rebecca hated it when people stared at her about being a metamorphagus; it made her go an awful pink colour which rather furthered her embarrassment.
Scrunching her eyes up, Rebecca spent about a minute getting her skin colour under control, sending it back to its natural colour.
Finally reaching the pitch, Rebecca went to stand next to Scorpius, who had become closest to her during the last week of Hogwarts, though she couldn't really call him a friend. They stuck together merely for the reason of shyness, both uncomfortable with getting comfortable.
Madam Hooch called for two girls and a boy to help her lay out the brooms a stride apart each. When that task was done, Madam Hooch blew a whistle, gathering the students' attention.
"Welcome to your first flying lesson. As I'm sure you have gathered I am here to teach you young'uns to fly broomsticks. Now I want each of you to chose a broom and stand on the left side of it." The student's complied a little noisily, most excited about flying.
Rebecca chose the broom closest to her and examined at it curiously, its handle was battered with dents and bits of wood sticking out at odd angles and at the end in scratched gold letters were the words Cleansweep 10. Grimacing she hoped she wouldn't get any splinters.
"Right," called Madam Hooch at the front," stick your right hand over the broom and say 'Up!'"
"Up!" Everyone shouted.
Rebecca's broom shot straight into her hand, though it was one of the few that did. She looked over at the other first years and saw that only Sev Potter, a bushy-haired Ravenclaw she thought was named Rose, a brown haired girl who Rebecca thought might be Scorpius' sister and a Hufflepuff boy with brown hair she recognised as being Oscar Oscar, merely because of the absurdity of his name were the only other students who had managed to get their broom to come up.
She noticed that Scorpius' broom hadn't moved, though probably from lack of trying by the way he muttered 'up' as if he didn't particularly care if it flew into his hand or not. "Don't you like flying, Scorpius?" She asked curiously. Scorpius shrugged.
"S'more my sister's thing, really."
"That brunette that came up before you in sorting?" Asked Rebecca.
"Yeah, that's her. She's my twin." And that was the end of the conversation. Rebecca went back to waiting for her peers to get a hold on their respective brooms and Scorpius went on reluctantly begging his broom to fly into his hand.
Finally when everyone had their brooms, Madam Hooch addressed them again, showing them how to properly mount their brooms without sliding off the ends than walked up and down line of students, correcting their grips. "For Merlin's sake, Mr. Malfoy, don't snap it! Loosen your grip a little!" Rebecca saw Sev snigger a little along the line and Scorpius send him a glare.
Returning to the front, Madam Hooch said, "When I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet then come straight back to the ground by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle, three, two, one!" The whistle blew and thirty first years kicked off from the ground. Keeping her broom as steady as she could, Rebecca rose a few feet as was instructed, then tilted forward ever so slightly—which of course is when she crashed into Scorpius.
The pair tumbled to the ground in a mess of limbs. All was silent for a moment before they simultaneously burst into laughter. Madam Hooch came over to them, not seeming too concerned. "You two alright?" She asked, they nodded, untangling themselves and grabbing their respective brooms before standing up again.
"Sorry, Madam Hooch." Scorpius said, looking as if he were about to burst into another fit of laughter.
"No worries, no worries, there's always a few who crash, that's why I only let you go up a few feet.
"Now!" She said, addressing the rest of the class. "Did anyone see what these two did wrong?"
Sev Potters hand flew into the air and Madam Hooch indicated for him to speak. "One of them probably shifted their weight on the broom slightly, causing them to drift to the side."
Madam Hooch nodded. "Yes indeed. In fact they both did, which subsequently led to their crash. You must all make sure that you keep your weight centred or in the direction you wish to turn. I would like you all, ten at a time, to kick off on my whistle, fly to the other end of the pitch—keeping low mind you—land then take off and come back, don't try to turn just yet."
Quickly going down the line, Madam Hooch numbered each student, Scorpius was ten and Rebecca was number eleven, further along the line, Sev was number fifteen and Oscar Oscar was number seventeen.
"Alright, numbers' one to ten, on my whistle! Three, two, one!" The ten students kicked off and rose to varying degrees of height, the more confident flying the highest. Rebecca noted that Scorpius stayed so close to the ground his toes were practically touching.
"Look at that wimp, Malfoy!" came the familiar voice of number fifteen. "The scaredy cat's too afraid to fly any higher!"
"Shut up Sev, you're being a git." The red headed girl named Rose said from number twenty four.
"But look at him, Rosie! And he's flying so slow, everyone else is already coming back and he's just halfway there!"
Rebecca looked incredulously to Madam Hooch, who was seemingly ignoring the rest of the students while she watched the ten who were flying back.
"That doesn't excuse you from being mean, Sev so just shut up." Rebecca was very glad when the dark haired boy did what Rose said. It was true, Scorpius was quite slow, however he had already started coming back, just further back than the others.
When it was time for numbers' eleven to twenty to kick off, Rebecca made sure not to go up too high—she'd already crashed once and didn't want to think about how terrible that would be from any higher.
By the time the lunch bell sounded, about three quarters of the first years had gained immense confidence and were see zooming about the pitch.
Rebecca and her blond companion made their way back to the school fairly slowly, both taking a good look around. "I wonder who lives there." Scorpius said, pointing to a small hut by the edge of the forest.
"Hagrid does," said a voice from behind them, the pair turned to see five older boys lounging around under a nearby tree; most were in Gryffindor, though there was a boy with dark, curly hair who was in Slytherin. Among them was Xander, Rebecca's older brother.
Xander continued. "You know, the man who took you on the boats on your first day. He's the games keeper and the Care of Magical Creature's teacher. Anyway, Becs who's your friend?"
"Er, Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius, this is my older brother Xander and his friends, Freddie Weasley," A dark skinned boy with auburn hair grinned and waved, "Louis Weasley," A pale boy with light brown hair gave a thumbs up, "Nick Kerr," A boy with freckles, blue eyes and blond hair smiled warmly in acknowledgment, "and Christopher Morgan." The unsmiling Slytherin inclined his head.
"How was your first flying lesson you two?" Freddie asked.
"I went fine, me and Scorpius crashed into each other at the first try though." The boys laughed.
"You two are probably starving, you should go get some lunch." Said Louis with a smile.
The pair took the hint and started for the castle.
"So what's your favourite subject, so far?" Rebecca asked her companion hoping to further their interactions, Scorpius smiled slightly.
"Potions. You?"
"Charms."
And that was the last thing either of them said to the other for the rest of the day.
_-_-_-_-_- Hiiii! Imma PPPPAGE BREAK XD
Sev loved to explore. He'd loved to explore ever since he could remember. When his family had moved into an old country house, which resided in a sort of dip in the woods, Sev had been in heaven. They'd lived there for four years and Sev new those woods like the back of his hands.
Therefore it was inevitable that given practically two whole days of nothing to do but the easiest homework, Sev would take to exploring the castle. He'd heard stories from his relatives about this great school and its many secrets, or at least his siblings had, Sev however, had always left the room.
He wanted to find out for himself.
Most people would consider where to start with such an enormous project as this, however Sev was no amateur. He knew exactly where to begin, in the place where he always began.
Turning corners at random, climbing the nearest staircase, waited for it to move then climbed down again, finding a secret passage way—victory!—following that to the end, few more corners and stair cases then he stopped, looked around a bit and decided he'd gotten himself lost enough to begin.
He spent hours wandering the corridors of Hogwarts and found a total of two secret passages including the first. It was in the midst of twilight when Sev found himself back in the entrance hall and starving hoards of students were filling in for dinner, Sev gratefully joining them.
OlO
AN: PLEASE READ WHERE IT SAYS A FEW WARNINGS. Hello there! I've decided to see if regularity will help me keep up with postings so I'm going to attempt to post this every Friday (for me, I live in Australia so some of you might not get it on a Friday).
Anyways just a few notes. Louis is pronounced lou-ee in the proper French fashion, not that whole 'pronounce it how its spelled' stuff that some people use.
A few warnings:
I don't believe in censorship which means that in these things I might swear, however I don't believe in all of my character's swearing like sailor's just because I do so there will be some people in the story who don't swear at all.
I file qualities such as sexuality, race and anything else you can think of in the same importance as hair colour so there might be homosexual character's and there might be character's that aren't purely Eurasian.
Here endith my exceptionally long rant.
~BB
