HARRY POTTER AND THE UNICORN'S HORN
Chapter Two: A Song of Joyful Harmony
by Topaz
Lots of fluff in this one, but it's a majorly important part because... well, read it.
It was definately, Harry thought as he sat down with Ron and Hermione to eat, great to be back at Hogwarts. It was even better to be eating at Hogwarts. Especially when Hermione seemed to have forgotten her former fixation with house elves.
"'Ish ish gudd," Ron mumbled through a mouthful of half-chewed meat. "The house elves have really outdone themselves," he added after swallowing, shooting a glance at Hermione.
She didn't seem to hear. "I wonder what's happened with Pigpimples."
Ron immediately burst out laughing just when he happened to be in the middle of drinking some pumpkin juice. A mouthful of orange liquid shout out of his mouth and into Neville, who was sitting across from him.
"Ron!" Hermione snatched her napkin and helped Harry and Neville mop up his face. "Look what you did!"
Ron looked and promptly burst into even more hysterical laughter. Harry couldn't help but grin himself. Even Neville seemed to find it rather amusing. Finally Hermione realized that her and Harry's napkins weren't helping much, and she sat down, giggling herself.
"Maybe Dumbledore will tell us whatever Percy was talking about," Harry suggested, placing his juice-soaked napkin back on the table. "It might have something to do with--" he glanced at Ron, "--the 'P' word."
Even that sent him off in a fit of laughter.
"Ron, what is so funny about the words 'pimpled pigs'?" Hermione demanded.
"It's just funny," he replied, snickering. "Stop saying it before I wet my robes."
At that Hermione and Harry dissolved into laughter, and Harry accidentally knocked his goblet of pumpkin juice over, sending orange liquid casquading over Neville's plate. He looked forlornly at the soggy meat and mashed potatoes, and then joined their laughter.
Dumbledore coughed. "I believe the house elves put a bit too much sugar in the pumpkin juice," he said mildly, watching the four giggling Gryffindors with amusement. "I have an announcement to make, so I would appreciate everyone quieting down."
Harry, Hermione, and Neville managed to stop laughing, but Ron had to stuff a napkin in his mouth to muffle his giggles. That set Hermione off again. By now all the other Gryffindors were staring at them.
"While the Triwizard Tournament last year was not highly successful," Dumbledore began, "I believe it is important for us to meet wizards and witches from other countries. Therefore, this year the principal of the American wizarding school, Pigpimples--" (Ron laughed even harder) "--will bring a small group of students to Hogwarts for half of the year. Then for the other half of the year a group of Hogwarts students will go visit Pigpimples."
The students began talking excitedly. "When are they coming?" Fred Weasley called over the din.
"Tomorrow," Dumbledore replied. He glanced at Ron, who was clutching his stomach and chortling. "I would appreciate all of you at least pretending to be sane. We don't want to frighten the Pigpimplians."
The next day found all of the Hogwarts students standing out in front of the school, eagerly awaiting the Pigpimplians' arrival.
"When are they going to get here?" Ron whispered, elbowing Harry.
"How should I know?" Harry whispered back. "Just be patient."
"I hate being patient," Ron said moodily. "I wish they'd hurry up." Harry agreed.
Something gold flickered in the sky, and Harry's Seeker-trained eyes caught it. "What was that?" he exclaimed, turned around to stare into the clouds. There it was again! Harry pointed the flash out to Hermione and Ron, both of whom had no idea what it was.
The speck of gold grew larger.
"They came in a giant Snitch!" Ron yelped.
"No, a massive Galleon!" someone else shouted.
Soon all of the students were yelling out what they thought the gold spot was. It came closer and closer.
"It's a dragon!" Hermione shrieked. It was.
A giant sparkling gold dragon was soaring toward them, flapping its gilded wings. As it came closer, Harry could see small bright spots- probably the students- on its back. The dragon spiraled above them, sunlight glancing off its metallic scales, then gently floated to the ground.
Ten people climbed off the dragon's back, all wearing brightly colored robes and varying expressions. One plump boy looked about to throw up; two identical brown-haired girls looked delighted.
Three adults were standing beside the golden dragon, but Harry couldn't see what they looked like from where he was. Dumbledore went over to speak to them, keeping a respectful distance from the dragon.
"Wow!" Ron looked deeply awed. "Look at that thing. And we thought the Horntail was big!"
"Ron," Hermione pointed out, "the Horntail WAS big."
"Yeah, but this is cooler," Ron replied. "Hagrid's gonna love taking care of that thing. Wonder how they tamed a dragon? They're the wildest things I ever heard of-- Charlie said they're untamable, and you guys saw what Norbert was like."
"Maybe they use the Imperio curse," Hermione suggested.
"Nah, not tough enough to piece a dragon's skin," Ron said. "Look, they're going inside. Are they just going to leave it out here?"
"No, Hagrid's coming," Harry said, pointing. "Let's go talk to him." They hurried off to Hagrid while the other students filed into the Great Hall.
"Isn't 'e a beauty?" Hagrid said happily, running a hand over the polished scales. "A Saharan Sunscale, desert dragon. Lovely color. Summat wrong, Ron?"
"How'd they keep that thing under control?" Ron asked, careful not to come too close. "Blimey, it could swallow you whole."
"'S a domestic dragon," Hagrid replied. "Bin tamed fer centuries, they're not like British dragons, Sunscales. An' much smaller, usually, they must've used an Enlargement Charm on this'n. Desert dragons are usually small; there's not much ter eat in the desert."
A short, plumpish woman with curly auburn hair and blue eyes hurried up to them. "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had to get the students settled in," she said. "I'm Professor Trippilyn, principal of Pigpimples. I'll help you with Sunny."
"Sunny?" Ron's mouth dropped.
"Yes," Professor Trippilyn laughed. "Is there something wrong with the name?"
"He's a dragon!" Ron said.
"She's a female dragon," Professor Trippilyn corrected, "and she doesn't seem to mind her name. It's short for Sunfire." She reached over and swung up onto Sunny's back. "Climb up, everyone. We can ride her over to Hagrid's and then take care of her. You kids coming?"
"Yeah," Harry said, having looked at Ron and Hermione to see if they wanted to. "We'll help." They climbed up behind Hagrid and Sunfire leaped into the air, jolting Harry's head back.
"Now, let's see... you would be Harry Potter, of course," Professor Trippilyn said. "And you, young lady... that Greek name I pronounced wrong..."
"Hermione," Hagrid supplied.
"Yes, that's it. And you would be the Weasley boy," she said to Ron, smiling at their surprised faces. "Dumbledore and I try to keep in touch. I also know your parents... Ron, is it?" Sunny swerved and then landed, spreading her huge golden wings as she drifted to the ground.
"Yeah, it's Ron," Ron said, his face now a pale green. Harry decided that Ron probably hadn't enjoyed the ride much.
"Airsick?" Professor Trippilyn asked, noticing the color of his face. "Yes, well, I'm used to riding her by now... so, we need to feed her and then, Hagrid, if you wouldn't mind giving her a bath, I'll have to go greet the students soon."
"What's she eat?" Ron asked palely.
"Humans," Professor Trippilyn replied, grinning at his expression. "Don't worry, Weasley, I was kidding. She eats meat... Hagrid, I believe Dumbledore ordered a large quantity of beef this morning?"
The dragon ate quite a lot of meat, which they had to lug over to her. By the time Sunny was sated, Harry was exhausted, and he smelled like a steakhouse.
"Er, Professor, could we pop into the bathrooms and wash up for a minute?" Hermione asked, wiping her forehead.
"Excellent idea, Hermione," Professor Trippilyn agreed. "I really ought to as well. We'd better hurry up, though, the students are waiting." She set off toward the castle, brushing twigs out of her curly auburn hair.
Ron looked half-dead. "Remind me never to feed a dragon again," he said to Harry and Hermione. "Especially one that really does eat humans."
Everyone stared as they slipped into the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Professor Trippilyn went to stand by Dumbledore, and Harry saw the seven students sitting in a row of chairs before the Hogwarts students.
"Please welcome..." Dumbledore stressed the word 'welcome' while staring pointedly at the Slytherin table, "...Professor Tira Trippilyn, Headmaster of Pigpimples,"
"Hello," Professor Trippilyn said succinctly. She looked quite a bit neater than she had after feeding Sunny, with her hair brushed and her face washed. Her black robes didn't show the stains they'd all gotten.
"Hello," the majority of the students called back. The Slytherins had a collective eye-roll.
"First I would like to say that it's very nice to be here at Hogwarts, and I'm glad this transfer program seems to be working out," Professor Trippilyn said, beaming around at them. "I'd also like to introduce my colleagues, who have volunteered to come and see what Hogwarts is like, and to teach you. This is Professor Alan Arkis, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and head of the Rattirayl house.
A short, cold-looking man with icy blue eyes stood up and nodded to the crowd, his pale blue robes swishing as he sat down.
"Reminds you of Snape, doesn't he," Ron murmured to Harry and Hermione. "Same warmth and friendliness, all right." Harry grinned.
"And this is Professor Elana Felyn," Professor Trippilyn continued, as the black-robed woman next to Professor Arkis stood up. She had sleek dark hair and catlike green-gold eyes with a penetrating stare that reminded Harry very strongly of a hippogriff. "She is our Divination teacher, and head of the house Felinflyr."
"Divination?" Harry groaned. "Oh, great. Another nutcase is just what we need."
"Harry, you dolt," Ron hissed, "this means Trelawney's going to be at Pigpimples! Rejoice!"
Tira Trippilyn looked at the seven Pigpimples students seated next to the professors' table. "These are the students that have come to visit you at Hogwarts. They'll introduce themselves, and state the house that they're from. Elisabeth, you start."
The brown-haired girl in a sunny yellow robes at the end of the table stood up. "I'm Elisabeth Langley, from Delphindyl."
"Nora, sit down!" Professor Arkis barked. "She said 'Elisabeth'."
The girl grinned and sat down, as another girl who looked exactly like her but was wearing blue robes stood up. "I'm actually Elisabeth Langley. I'm from Delphindyl, as you might have figured out." She sat down, grinning at the other girl.
"My name is actually Nora Langley," the girl said, popping back up. "I'm from Delphindyl, too," She sat down, her face perfectly innocent, while Arkis glared at her and Elisabeth. They both stuck their tongues out at him when he turned away.
The girl next to Elisabeth stood up. She had black robes that matched her long hair and dark eyes. "I'm Syris Frostsilver, from the house Felinflyr."
A tall boy with brilliant red hair and green eyes stood up, his green robes swirling around his feet. "I'm Aduro Ventulus, from the house Dragyndair."
The boy next to him was chubby, short, and freckled, with pale blue robes. "My name is Norf Binkleman, and I'm from Chipplefliff." He tripped while trying to sit down and landed on Aduro, who glared at him while Elisabeth and Nora exploded into giggles.
The girl beside Norf glanced at him and stood up, smoothing her green robes. Both her hair and her eyes were the same color as Harry's- black and green. Unlike Harry, however, she was very pretty. "My name is Misty Darkmoon, and I'm from the house Rattirayl."
"Wow," Ron said, staring at her.
Hermione giggled suddenly. "What about Fleur? I wonder if you'll ask Misty to the dance like you did with Fleur--"
"Shut up!" Ron interrupted. "I'm not that stupid."
"Yeah," Hermione said, "right."
"Well, I'm not," Ron insisted. Hermione snorted.
"I'm Butch Bumblekin,"rumbled the last boy, lumbering to his feet. He was built somewhat like Crabbe and Goyle, but with blond hair and pale brown eyes. His orange robes looked like they would burst any second. "I'm from the house Buffogrim."
Professor Trippilyn smiled. "I believe that's everyone."
"You are dismissed," Dumbledore said. "Go to your first class."
"Great," Ron said glumly, "Potions. With Slytherin. Could life be worse?"
"Yeah," Harry told him cheerfully. "We could still have Trelawney."
Ron brightened. "Good point."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You two are so- Ouch!" The yellow-robed twin from Pigpimples, Nora, had just bumped into her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Nora said, as Hermione grabbed a fistful of Ron's hair to balance herself and he yowled in pain. "I wasn't looking where I was going. Well, I was, but I wasn't looking in between me and where I was going. Um... well, I was looking where I was going, but I wasn't looking anywhere else, so I didn't see you. Hey, Elisabeth, did that make sense?"
"Nope," Elisabeth replied. "Hey, what's your name? Girl who Nora crashed into?"
"Hermione Granger," Hermione replied, smiling slightly. "From Gryffindor. I'm a fifth year."
"Who are you two?" Elisabeth inquired, nodding at Ron and Harry.
"I'm Ron," Ron said, rubbing his scalp.
"Do you have a last name?" Nora asked, smirking.
"Oh!" Ron said, starting. "Yeah, I'm Ron Weasley. Sorry, but you just reminded me of my brothers, and I was-"
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said hastily, trying to keep Ron from making a bigger fool of himself. "We're all from Gryffindor. Nice to meet you."
"Good, you're not stuck up," Nora stated, sounding pleased. "We thought you might be, but we weren't sure." She hurried on before Harry had time to be offended. "Us Pigpimples students are having classes with the fifth years, since the majority of us are fifth years, and they didn't want to split us up. What class do you guys have next?"
"Potions, with Slytherin," Ron replied glumly, starting to walk in the direction of Snape's dungeon. The others followed.
"Really?" Nora sounded delighted. "Me'n Elisabeth have Potions first, too. What's Slytherin like?"
"The foulest, nastiest gits in the school," Ron said bluntly. "Slytherin's the house all the Dark wizards come from. They're creeps."
Nora and Elisabeth exchanged looks. "Sounds like Pigpimples' Rattirayl house," Nora said gloomily. "Where is Potions?"
"Follow us," Harry suggested. "And- just to warn you- Snape will hate you."
"Oh, the oily-haired guy with the dour expression?" Elisabeth grinned. "Well, he'll see what happens when you mess with me and Nora."
"What does happen?" Ron asked nervously.
"Well, nothing much, really, but he doesn't have to know that."
"Potter, Weasley, Granger- you're late," Snape said curtly as they entered the dungeon. He ignored Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle as they sauntered in a few moments later. "Ten points from Gryffindor."
Norf Binkleman, the chubby Chipplefliff boy, had Potions with them as well. "Hi, Nora. Hi, Elisabeth." He looked past them to where Harry was standing, and sucked in his breath, his eyes wide, staring at Harry's scar. "Hey! Are you..."
"Elvis?" Nora supplied helpfully. "No, he's not. Elvis is a famous Muggle singer," she explained to Ron, who looked bewildered. "And Norfie, hate to break it to you, but he's dead."
"Not Elvis," Norf said irritably. "Are you--"
"Freddy the Mexican Jumping Cow?" Elisabeth suggested. "Honestly, Norf, does he look like a jumping cow? He's not even jumping."
"No!" Norf said angrily. "I'm trying to ask if he's--"
"Doing anything Friday night?" Nora finished. "Well, Norf, that's sweet, but I really don't think he's your type."
"Stop it!" Norf howled. "I just want to know if he's--"
"Yeah, I'm Harry Potter," Harry said quickly, before Elisabeth or Nora could butt in again. "Quick, sit down, Snape looks ready to perform the Killing Curse on us all."
Norf and the twins sat with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville, ignoring the other tables. Norf was glowering at Elisabeth and Nora, but they pretended not to notice. Snape glowered at their entire table.
"Today we will be making Love Potions," Snape announced, his customary sneer firmly in place. "They are difficult to brew, and I highly doubt that some of you are up to the task." He glared at Neville, who dropped his cauldron. "However, competent or not, you will all attempt to create one."
"What a cheerful guy," Nora commented quietly as they gathered the ingrediants for the potion.
"Yeah, really," Ron agreed. "He brightens all our gloomy lives."
"He fills our souls with glee," Harry added, snickering.
"He's like a ray of golden sunshine," Hermione remarked sarcastically.
"He sings a song of joyful harmony," Elisabeth continued, giggling. "Wow, that sort of rhymed. We're poets!"
"He's looking this way!" Nora murmured. "Shut up!" She poured a beakerfull of rose oil into her cauldron and started stirring vigorously.
"Wow," Hermione said, ignoring Snape's glare, "this potion uses powdered unicorn's horn. That's very powerful."
"It'd take something powerful to make someone fall in love with, for example, Happy Snape over there," Elisabeth commented in a low voice.
"Singing Snape sounds better," Nora argued quietly. "Alliteration. And you said he sang a song of joyful harmony." She added a drop of dragon's blood to her potion.
"Why'd you do that?" Hermione asked, confused. "It didn't say dragon's blood on the list of ingrediants."
"We know," Nora said cheerfully. "But adding dragon's blood to potions always makes them more... interesting..."
"We do it all the time back at home in Potions," Elisabeth agreed. She smiled at Hermione, who still looked worried. "C'mon, it's not like we're going to actually use this potion. And anyway, what about Gleeful Snape?"
Harry stared at Snape, who was glowering around at the students. He doubted that anyone in their right mind would call Snape gleeful.
Chapter Two: A Song of Joyful Harmony
by Topaz
Lots of fluff in this one, but it's a majorly important part because... well, read it.
It was definately, Harry thought as he sat down with Ron and Hermione to eat, great to be back at Hogwarts. It was even better to be eating at Hogwarts. Especially when Hermione seemed to have forgotten her former fixation with house elves.
"'Ish ish gudd," Ron mumbled through a mouthful of half-chewed meat. "The house elves have really outdone themselves," he added after swallowing, shooting a glance at Hermione.
She didn't seem to hear. "I wonder what's happened with Pigpimples."
Ron immediately burst out laughing just when he happened to be in the middle of drinking some pumpkin juice. A mouthful of orange liquid shout out of his mouth and into Neville, who was sitting across from him.
"Ron!" Hermione snatched her napkin and helped Harry and Neville mop up his face. "Look what you did!"
Ron looked and promptly burst into even more hysterical laughter. Harry couldn't help but grin himself. Even Neville seemed to find it rather amusing. Finally Hermione realized that her and Harry's napkins weren't helping much, and she sat down, giggling herself.
"Maybe Dumbledore will tell us whatever Percy was talking about," Harry suggested, placing his juice-soaked napkin back on the table. "It might have something to do with--" he glanced at Ron, "--the 'P' word."
Even that sent him off in a fit of laughter.
"Ron, what is so funny about the words 'pimpled pigs'?" Hermione demanded.
"It's just funny," he replied, snickering. "Stop saying it before I wet my robes."
At that Hermione and Harry dissolved into laughter, and Harry accidentally knocked his goblet of pumpkin juice over, sending orange liquid casquading over Neville's plate. He looked forlornly at the soggy meat and mashed potatoes, and then joined their laughter.
Dumbledore coughed. "I believe the house elves put a bit too much sugar in the pumpkin juice," he said mildly, watching the four giggling Gryffindors with amusement. "I have an announcement to make, so I would appreciate everyone quieting down."
Harry, Hermione, and Neville managed to stop laughing, but Ron had to stuff a napkin in his mouth to muffle his giggles. That set Hermione off again. By now all the other Gryffindors were staring at them.
"While the Triwizard Tournament last year was not highly successful," Dumbledore began, "I believe it is important for us to meet wizards and witches from other countries. Therefore, this year the principal of the American wizarding school, Pigpimples--" (Ron laughed even harder) "--will bring a small group of students to Hogwarts for half of the year. Then for the other half of the year a group of Hogwarts students will go visit Pigpimples."
The students began talking excitedly. "When are they coming?" Fred Weasley called over the din.
"Tomorrow," Dumbledore replied. He glanced at Ron, who was clutching his stomach and chortling. "I would appreciate all of you at least pretending to be sane. We don't want to frighten the Pigpimplians."
The next day found all of the Hogwarts students standing out in front of the school, eagerly awaiting the Pigpimplians' arrival.
"When are they going to get here?" Ron whispered, elbowing Harry.
"How should I know?" Harry whispered back. "Just be patient."
"I hate being patient," Ron said moodily. "I wish they'd hurry up." Harry agreed.
Something gold flickered in the sky, and Harry's Seeker-trained eyes caught it. "What was that?" he exclaimed, turned around to stare into the clouds. There it was again! Harry pointed the flash out to Hermione and Ron, both of whom had no idea what it was.
The speck of gold grew larger.
"They came in a giant Snitch!" Ron yelped.
"No, a massive Galleon!" someone else shouted.
Soon all of the students were yelling out what they thought the gold spot was. It came closer and closer.
"It's a dragon!" Hermione shrieked. It was.
A giant sparkling gold dragon was soaring toward them, flapping its gilded wings. As it came closer, Harry could see small bright spots- probably the students- on its back. The dragon spiraled above them, sunlight glancing off its metallic scales, then gently floated to the ground.
Ten people climbed off the dragon's back, all wearing brightly colored robes and varying expressions. One plump boy looked about to throw up; two identical brown-haired girls looked delighted.
Three adults were standing beside the golden dragon, but Harry couldn't see what they looked like from where he was. Dumbledore went over to speak to them, keeping a respectful distance from the dragon.
"Wow!" Ron looked deeply awed. "Look at that thing. And we thought the Horntail was big!"
"Ron," Hermione pointed out, "the Horntail WAS big."
"Yeah, but this is cooler," Ron replied. "Hagrid's gonna love taking care of that thing. Wonder how they tamed a dragon? They're the wildest things I ever heard of-- Charlie said they're untamable, and you guys saw what Norbert was like."
"Maybe they use the Imperio curse," Hermione suggested.
"Nah, not tough enough to piece a dragon's skin," Ron said. "Look, they're going inside. Are they just going to leave it out here?"
"No, Hagrid's coming," Harry said, pointing. "Let's go talk to him." They hurried off to Hagrid while the other students filed into the Great Hall.
"Isn't 'e a beauty?" Hagrid said happily, running a hand over the polished scales. "A Saharan Sunscale, desert dragon. Lovely color. Summat wrong, Ron?"
"How'd they keep that thing under control?" Ron asked, careful not to come too close. "Blimey, it could swallow you whole."
"'S a domestic dragon," Hagrid replied. "Bin tamed fer centuries, they're not like British dragons, Sunscales. An' much smaller, usually, they must've used an Enlargement Charm on this'n. Desert dragons are usually small; there's not much ter eat in the desert."
A short, plumpish woman with curly auburn hair and blue eyes hurried up to them. "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had to get the students settled in," she said. "I'm Professor Trippilyn, principal of Pigpimples. I'll help you with Sunny."
"Sunny?" Ron's mouth dropped.
"Yes," Professor Trippilyn laughed. "Is there something wrong with the name?"
"He's a dragon!" Ron said.
"She's a female dragon," Professor Trippilyn corrected, "and she doesn't seem to mind her name. It's short for Sunfire." She reached over and swung up onto Sunny's back. "Climb up, everyone. We can ride her over to Hagrid's and then take care of her. You kids coming?"
"Yeah," Harry said, having looked at Ron and Hermione to see if they wanted to. "We'll help." They climbed up behind Hagrid and Sunfire leaped into the air, jolting Harry's head back.
"Now, let's see... you would be Harry Potter, of course," Professor Trippilyn said. "And you, young lady... that Greek name I pronounced wrong..."
"Hermione," Hagrid supplied.
"Yes, that's it. And you would be the Weasley boy," she said to Ron, smiling at their surprised faces. "Dumbledore and I try to keep in touch. I also know your parents... Ron, is it?" Sunny swerved and then landed, spreading her huge golden wings as she drifted to the ground.
"Yeah, it's Ron," Ron said, his face now a pale green. Harry decided that Ron probably hadn't enjoyed the ride much.
"Airsick?" Professor Trippilyn asked, noticing the color of his face. "Yes, well, I'm used to riding her by now... so, we need to feed her and then, Hagrid, if you wouldn't mind giving her a bath, I'll have to go greet the students soon."
"What's she eat?" Ron asked palely.
"Humans," Professor Trippilyn replied, grinning at his expression. "Don't worry, Weasley, I was kidding. She eats meat... Hagrid, I believe Dumbledore ordered a large quantity of beef this morning?"
The dragon ate quite a lot of meat, which they had to lug over to her. By the time Sunny was sated, Harry was exhausted, and he smelled like a steakhouse.
"Er, Professor, could we pop into the bathrooms and wash up for a minute?" Hermione asked, wiping her forehead.
"Excellent idea, Hermione," Professor Trippilyn agreed. "I really ought to as well. We'd better hurry up, though, the students are waiting." She set off toward the castle, brushing twigs out of her curly auburn hair.
Ron looked half-dead. "Remind me never to feed a dragon again," he said to Harry and Hermione. "Especially one that really does eat humans."
Everyone stared as they slipped into the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Professor Trippilyn went to stand by Dumbledore, and Harry saw the seven students sitting in a row of chairs before the Hogwarts students.
"Please welcome..." Dumbledore stressed the word 'welcome' while staring pointedly at the Slytherin table, "...Professor Tira Trippilyn, Headmaster of Pigpimples,"
"Hello," Professor Trippilyn said succinctly. She looked quite a bit neater than she had after feeding Sunny, with her hair brushed and her face washed. Her black robes didn't show the stains they'd all gotten.
"Hello," the majority of the students called back. The Slytherins had a collective eye-roll.
"First I would like to say that it's very nice to be here at Hogwarts, and I'm glad this transfer program seems to be working out," Professor Trippilyn said, beaming around at them. "I'd also like to introduce my colleagues, who have volunteered to come and see what Hogwarts is like, and to teach you. This is Professor Alan Arkis, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and head of the Rattirayl house.
A short, cold-looking man with icy blue eyes stood up and nodded to the crowd, his pale blue robes swishing as he sat down.
"Reminds you of Snape, doesn't he," Ron murmured to Harry and Hermione. "Same warmth and friendliness, all right." Harry grinned.
"And this is Professor Elana Felyn," Professor Trippilyn continued, as the black-robed woman next to Professor Arkis stood up. She had sleek dark hair and catlike green-gold eyes with a penetrating stare that reminded Harry very strongly of a hippogriff. "She is our Divination teacher, and head of the house Felinflyr."
"Divination?" Harry groaned. "Oh, great. Another nutcase is just what we need."
"Harry, you dolt," Ron hissed, "this means Trelawney's going to be at Pigpimples! Rejoice!"
Tira Trippilyn looked at the seven Pigpimples students seated next to the professors' table. "These are the students that have come to visit you at Hogwarts. They'll introduce themselves, and state the house that they're from. Elisabeth, you start."
The brown-haired girl in a sunny yellow robes at the end of the table stood up. "I'm Elisabeth Langley, from Delphindyl."
"Nora, sit down!" Professor Arkis barked. "She said 'Elisabeth'."
The girl grinned and sat down, as another girl who looked exactly like her but was wearing blue robes stood up. "I'm actually Elisabeth Langley. I'm from Delphindyl, as you might have figured out." She sat down, grinning at the other girl.
"My name is actually Nora Langley," the girl said, popping back up. "I'm from Delphindyl, too," She sat down, her face perfectly innocent, while Arkis glared at her and Elisabeth. They both stuck their tongues out at him when he turned away.
The girl next to Elisabeth stood up. She had black robes that matched her long hair and dark eyes. "I'm Syris Frostsilver, from the house Felinflyr."
A tall boy with brilliant red hair and green eyes stood up, his green robes swirling around his feet. "I'm Aduro Ventulus, from the house Dragyndair."
The boy next to him was chubby, short, and freckled, with pale blue robes. "My name is Norf Binkleman, and I'm from Chipplefliff." He tripped while trying to sit down and landed on Aduro, who glared at him while Elisabeth and Nora exploded into giggles.
The girl beside Norf glanced at him and stood up, smoothing her green robes. Both her hair and her eyes were the same color as Harry's- black and green. Unlike Harry, however, she was very pretty. "My name is Misty Darkmoon, and I'm from the house Rattirayl."
"Wow," Ron said, staring at her.
Hermione giggled suddenly. "What about Fleur? I wonder if you'll ask Misty to the dance like you did with Fleur--"
"Shut up!" Ron interrupted. "I'm not that stupid."
"Yeah," Hermione said, "right."
"Well, I'm not," Ron insisted. Hermione snorted.
"I'm Butch Bumblekin,"rumbled the last boy, lumbering to his feet. He was built somewhat like Crabbe and Goyle, but with blond hair and pale brown eyes. His orange robes looked like they would burst any second. "I'm from the house Buffogrim."
Professor Trippilyn smiled. "I believe that's everyone."
"You are dismissed," Dumbledore said. "Go to your first class."
"Great," Ron said glumly, "Potions. With Slytherin. Could life be worse?"
"Yeah," Harry told him cheerfully. "We could still have Trelawney."
Ron brightened. "Good point."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You two are so- Ouch!" The yellow-robed twin from Pigpimples, Nora, had just bumped into her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Nora said, as Hermione grabbed a fistful of Ron's hair to balance herself and he yowled in pain. "I wasn't looking where I was going. Well, I was, but I wasn't looking in between me and where I was going. Um... well, I was looking where I was going, but I wasn't looking anywhere else, so I didn't see you. Hey, Elisabeth, did that make sense?"
"Nope," Elisabeth replied. "Hey, what's your name? Girl who Nora crashed into?"
"Hermione Granger," Hermione replied, smiling slightly. "From Gryffindor. I'm a fifth year."
"Who are you two?" Elisabeth inquired, nodding at Ron and Harry.
"I'm Ron," Ron said, rubbing his scalp.
"Do you have a last name?" Nora asked, smirking.
"Oh!" Ron said, starting. "Yeah, I'm Ron Weasley. Sorry, but you just reminded me of my brothers, and I was-"
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said hastily, trying to keep Ron from making a bigger fool of himself. "We're all from Gryffindor. Nice to meet you."
"Good, you're not stuck up," Nora stated, sounding pleased. "We thought you might be, but we weren't sure." She hurried on before Harry had time to be offended. "Us Pigpimples students are having classes with the fifth years, since the majority of us are fifth years, and they didn't want to split us up. What class do you guys have next?"
"Potions, with Slytherin," Ron replied glumly, starting to walk in the direction of Snape's dungeon. The others followed.
"Really?" Nora sounded delighted. "Me'n Elisabeth have Potions first, too. What's Slytherin like?"
"The foulest, nastiest gits in the school," Ron said bluntly. "Slytherin's the house all the Dark wizards come from. They're creeps."
Nora and Elisabeth exchanged looks. "Sounds like Pigpimples' Rattirayl house," Nora said gloomily. "Where is Potions?"
"Follow us," Harry suggested. "And- just to warn you- Snape will hate you."
"Oh, the oily-haired guy with the dour expression?" Elisabeth grinned. "Well, he'll see what happens when you mess with me and Nora."
"What does happen?" Ron asked nervously.
"Well, nothing much, really, but he doesn't have to know that."
"Potter, Weasley, Granger- you're late," Snape said curtly as they entered the dungeon. He ignored Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle as they sauntered in a few moments later. "Ten points from Gryffindor."
Norf Binkleman, the chubby Chipplefliff boy, had Potions with them as well. "Hi, Nora. Hi, Elisabeth." He looked past them to where Harry was standing, and sucked in his breath, his eyes wide, staring at Harry's scar. "Hey! Are you..."
"Elvis?" Nora supplied helpfully. "No, he's not. Elvis is a famous Muggle singer," she explained to Ron, who looked bewildered. "And Norfie, hate to break it to you, but he's dead."
"Not Elvis," Norf said irritably. "Are you--"
"Freddy the Mexican Jumping Cow?" Elisabeth suggested. "Honestly, Norf, does he look like a jumping cow? He's not even jumping."
"No!" Norf said angrily. "I'm trying to ask if he's--"
"Doing anything Friday night?" Nora finished. "Well, Norf, that's sweet, but I really don't think he's your type."
"Stop it!" Norf howled. "I just want to know if he's--"
"Yeah, I'm Harry Potter," Harry said quickly, before Elisabeth or Nora could butt in again. "Quick, sit down, Snape looks ready to perform the Killing Curse on us all."
Norf and the twins sat with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville, ignoring the other tables. Norf was glowering at Elisabeth and Nora, but they pretended not to notice. Snape glowered at their entire table.
"Today we will be making Love Potions," Snape announced, his customary sneer firmly in place. "They are difficult to brew, and I highly doubt that some of you are up to the task." He glared at Neville, who dropped his cauldron. "However, competent or not, you will all attempt to create one."
"What a cheerful guy," Nora commented quietly as they gathered the ingrediants for the potion.
"Yeah, really," Ron agreed. "He brightens all our gloomy lives."
"He fills our souls with glee," Harry added, snickering.
"He's like a ray of golden sunshine," Hermione remarked sarcastically.
"He sings a song of joyful harmony," Elisabeth continued, giggling. "Wow, that sort of rhymed. We're poets!"
"He's looking this way!" Nora murmured. "Shut up!" She poured a beakerfull of rose oil into her cauldron and started stirring vigorously.
"Wow," Hermione said, ignoring Snape's glare, "this potion uses powdered unicorn's horn. That's very powerful."
"It'd take something powerful to make someone fall in love with, for example, Happy Snape over there," Elisabeth commented in a low voice.
"Singing Snape sounds better," Nora argued quietly. "Alliteration. And you said he sang a song of joyful harmony." She added a drop of dragon's blood to her potion.
"Why'd you do that?" Hermione asked, confused. "It didn't say dragon's blood on the list of ingrediants."
"We know," Nora said cheerfully. "But adding dragon's blood to potions always makes them more... interesting..."
"We do it all the time back at home in Potions," Elisabeth agreed. She smiled at Hermione, who still looked worried. "C'mon, it's not like we're going to actually use this potion. And anyway, what about Gleeful Snape?"
Harry stared at Snape, who was glowering around at the students. He doubted that anyone in their right mind would call Snape gleeful.