I've always had a problem with new schools. Starting classes with people who already knew each other put pressure on me because I still had to figure out who everybody was. I didn't have a summer full of letters from far away friends talking about crushes or vacations or anything. I don't get to have a background where everybody knows who I am because of years of knowing me to fall back on. I had 'The New Girl' status; and it's hard to cope with.
Being half-veela already brought me enough stares; I don't need another purpose for them to stare at me with. Being a new girl only brought me more irritation, which I completely didn't need. I don't just want to sit here and complain though, I should be grateful. Dumbledore took me in even when he knew of what I was. I couldn't thank him enough but here I am, wallowing in my complaints that are totally shallow. So what if people stared at me? I was prepared to deal with that.
My first class of the day was Transfiguration with Hermione and Harry and Ron and all the other fifth year Gryffindors. The Hufflepuffs were also paired with them too. Apparently, Hermione was still a bit off kilter about the whole scar-thing and I was grateful that she hadn't asked. I didn't like talking about it and coming up with a lie is a pain. So I was content to follow her in silence.
I was still in shock about how amazing the castle that was Hogwarts was. It was already way better than my old school and I hadn't even been to class yet. I wasn't nervous about classes. I was confident in my abilities and knowledge seeing as all I had to do in my free time was read books or something. Not having friends does wonders for your test scores.
What I was nervous about though, was the associating. Becoming a werewolf at such an early age had caused me to fall away from people when I should have been developing the conversation skills. Even though I was enough of a friendly person that even werewolfdom wasn't able to skill, I still had trouble talking to people. Partly because I was awkward with it but mostly, I was still afraid to get close to people when I could hurt them so easily. So I couldn't blame my self-inflicted wall-flower status all on my social capability.
Even though I was prepared for the stares and whispers and everything, now that I couldn't hide at the breakfast table, it still rattled me a little bit when I got to class. It was like all the air had suddenly been filled with molasses and I had trouble keeping my legs from shaking as I walked to the only open desk at the front of the class; Hermione was heading over to the one by Harry and Ron. It was like each individual stare was boring into the back of my skull in contemplation and curiosity. To say I was uncomfortable was a completely understatement.
"Sorry Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore had me help Ariel with getting settled after lunch." Hermione said as we both sat down, her by Harry and Ron; me in the front of the class all alone. Everybody had a sparrow in front of them and seemed to have been trying to transfigure it into a book.
"I am aware, Miss Granger. Miss Vanderwik, if you'll please open your book to 178 and start working on the incantation, that would do nicely." Professor McGonagall said, glancing up from her desk for second to watch as I opened the book and took a look at the spell.
"Professor," I said meekly, trying not to draw attention to myself, "it seems that I already know that spell..." It was like everybody had stopped breathing and was waiting for McGonagall to say something. She raised her head to look up at me and stare at me with close scrutiny. I felt a bit pink but stared back levelly. I had never been one to pale under scrutinizing or intimidation.
"Show me." she said finally. I took out my wand and watched the sparrow on my desk, gazing at me with beady dark eyes.
"Book volcuri." I murmured and tapped the cage with my wand. The bird, shrunk and flattened out into a book that was titled the Anatomy of Sparrows. I heard the class take a small breath and looked back up to Professor McGonagall. She was staring with thinly pressed lips and seemed to be contemplating something. I of course just sat there and stared back until the Professor opened her mouth to speak again.
"Congratulations. You have indeed mastered the spell. You have the rest of the period to yourself but try not to make a to big of a disruption."she nodded once, as if satisfied by the verdict before again, returning to her book. I didn't know what to do exactly.
The classroom seemed to reflect the Professor, I deduced. It was orderly and not too extravagant. There were a number of bookcases that were filled cleanly and straight. Looking at the books, I felt a grin of pleasure on my face. I had always loved books and reading, even before I started shunning away people.
As I sat pondering this, a paper air plane found its way onto my desk. Before I had even opened it, I stopped to admire the workmanship of the plane. It was crispy folded and symmetrical, giving the impression that whoever sent it over had done it once or twice before. After I had gotten done with the examination, I opened it up and laughed a little by what I saw.
It was a crude, and when I say crude I meant it completely and utterly, drawing of me, head enlarged, with "Know-It-All" stamped across my forehead while I danced atop Professor McGonagall's desk. The picture made me laugh and I made the mistake of doing it loud enough that the Professor heard me.
"You find something humorous, Miss Vanderwik?" Professor McGonagall had a thin eyebrow raised with equally thin lips pinched uncomfortably. I smiled politely,
"Actually, I do but I'm sorry that I disrupted class. It won't happen again." I amended. I didn't want to be on her bad side so being humble and polite was my best bet, I figured. She looked slightly taken back but just ended up nodding and returning to her book. Looking back to the drawing, I brought it closer at my face as if looking closer when actually I was smelling it. Having heightened senses I could detect and focus on individual scents when needed. This scent was a bit sickly.
It was a mixture of bubblegum, cotton-candy and cough syrup? Something that would cause me a severe case of nausea if I had to smell it for long. So I took the paper away from my face, closed my eyes and focused on the scent. I could identify it, floating around the room in a near visible haze through my nose. Opening my eyes, my eyes followed what my nose pointed out and my gaze landed on a girl form Hufflepuff who was seemingly hard at work but I knew better; I could see her looking at me from the corner of her eye. Sending a wink and a waggle of my fingers, I smirked inwardly.
Did she really think that was going to get to me? Hardly. I've gone through much worse ridicule than a little drawing. Being a werewolf gave you thick skin for ridicule. It was a bit unnerving though that I had already made an enemy in the first class, but I just had to brush it off. I had to keep a clear mind for right now and get everything settled before I started worrying about stupid girls.
I sat patiently for the end of class which was 58 minutes and 12 seconds after the whole note incident. Hearing a bell type noise echo through the room, I gathered my stuff and pulled out the map. A room in the dungeons was glowing signaling my 2nd class which was Potions apparently. I vaguely remembered Harry saying something about how Professor Snape taught it and also remembered my first assumptions of Snape so I didn't really look forward to the class. Potions has never been my favorite class anyway...
So, with no real excitement towards my next class, I set off towards the dungeon, consulting my map every few turns. After a while, I ended up at the bottom of a stairway looking at a dark hallway which I guessed was the start of the dungeon. I felt a chill settle on my skin and had a distinct feeling that I was not going to enjoy this.
A few Gryffindor students walked past me in a group so I followed a bit behind them, guessing that they were off to Potions also; they seemed to know where they were going. They ended up in front of a scarred and thick, dark wood door that had almost black tendrils of foreboding emitting from it.
I inwardly groaned.
After they had heaved the door open, I got a glimpse into a dark classroom, lit by a few torches. Shelves of multi-colored jars lined the walls and there were rows of desks with two students a piece to them. I saw the red and gold of Gryffindors and the green and silver of Slytherins. Most of the students were already at a desk with their cauldrons out and at the ready. I was at a lose of what to do; I mean, I didn't know if we had preassigned seats or anything and everybody looked as if they didn't want the new girl sitting with them. I recognized Hermione, Harry, and Ron though, who all gave me a smile.
"Students, sit down and be quiet." An oily voice slithered out of the door at the far end of the classroom. It gave the impression of goo sliding down my spine or nails on a chalk-board but either way, the voice dashed away all of the minuscule hopes that I would have actually liked the teacher. The oily head of Snape appeared out of it and took in the room, stopping once he saw me, standing at the door, clutching the strap of my bag.
"Ahh, the new student. Obviously, you aren't smart enough to figure out that you were supposed to sit down so I'll try to explain it in the basic of terms. Sit. Down. On. Chair." Snape raised an eyebrow and smirked casually. I just glared for a moment before glancing at the tables, irritation bubbling in my chest.
Everybody was looking at me; all the Slytherins had smirks and evil grins on their faces and I automatically knew that they were not going to be particularly accommodating. Unfortunately, the only open seat was in the Slytherins half of the room, next to a platinum blond haired boy who wore the nastiest smirk of the lot. I found my way to it, side-stepping an out-stretched leg, dodging a paper ball that was quickly preceded by a paper-airplane before sitting carefully down on the stool next to the boy.
"Good. At least you can understand simple directions," sneering, Snape turned towards the board and waved his wand, "Onto the lesson, you will be making a minor Forgetful potion that can be used to cause a blackout of the 12 hours before ingestion. The instructions are on the board, you will find all necessary ingredients in the cupboard as always and you will work with the person seated next to you. Go."
As Snape slimed (there was really no other way to describe it) back to his desk, the boy next to me scoffed and twisted over to face me.
"Draco Malfoy as you no doubt have heard." he said oh-so pompously. I resisted the urge to smack him one. He'd said all of 10 words to me and I already knew that we were not going to be friends.
"Can't say I have." I replied, listing down the ingredients from the board. Tail of rat, tears of snake, etc. Not exactly happy stuff.
"Curb your tongue. What are you then? Friends of the Mudblood and Potty?" Draco sneered. I had whirled my face towards him when I heard him use the term "Mudblood" and instantly felt my hand twitch as though warning me it was past time to put distance away from him before I kicked the crap outta him. I didn't even know who he was insulting but I didn't care; there is no excuse to use that term. Fortunately, my caution for not getting in too much trouble the first day settled my thoughts so I just got up without a word, grabbed the cauldron and list of ingredients before walking to the cupboard.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" I heard Draco exclaim in indignation. I just rolled my eyes before rifling through the shelves for all the needed items. Placing them in the cauldron so I didn't have to juggle them on the way back, I tried to spend as much time as possible so I didn't have to go back there...
Yet, I knew I had to get the potion done so with a heavy heart and itching hand, I trudged back to the table where Draco had a group of Slytherins laughing loudly at something that I had the inkling that was at my expense.
"Finally back? I was beginning to think you couldn't read or something. Considering that you're friends with the Blood-Traitor it doesn't surprise me." The other students around him all laughed too loud and obnoxiously, making me bite my lip at the urge to retaliate. I simply sat down without a word and took out all the ingrediants from the cauldron, setting them in a neat row. Starting the fire underneath the cauldron, I took note of the instructions and brought out a cutting board, knife, and began preparing the ingrediants.
Draco seemed annoyed about my lack of fight and set about making the comments worse, egging me into action.
"Maybe we're just using too large of words for her," sniped Draco, sending me glances out of the corner of his eye while he talked to the ever larger group. I felt my eyebrow twitch and bit my lip harder, set on not reacting. It would only lead to me in trouble.
"Probably shouldn't let her make the potion, Draco. She might hurt you when she blows it up." sneered a black haired girl with a pig nose. I took a deep breath, counted to ten, then resumed making the potion. I hadn't known these people for all of 15 minutes and I already felt the urge to hex them all into oblivion. I knew I could do it too; hexes and jinxes were my specialty.
"You're right, Pansy. If she is anything Longbottom then we'd better run. I'm way to important to die because some git from Gryffindor can't make a simple potion." Draco said again, raising his voice even louder than it already was, making kids on the Gryffindor side of the room look over with dirty looks.
"I heard that Dumbledore found her in a dirty alley and felt bad for her so he sent her here. I knew Dumbledore was a lark but I never took him for being a complete loon." Draco tried again.
"Hey! Don'-" Harry started but by then I had shot up from my seat and sent my fist flying towards Draco's face, landing with a crunch. He tumbled from his seat with a cry, hands finding their way to his bloodied face. I was literally shaking with rage, hands balled at my sides, ready to strike again. The room had gone deathly silent which was never a good sign.
I owed Dumbledore everything. He'd brought me in knowing what I was, gave me a place to stay, food, shelter, and was going to help me with my condition yet this bastard was sitting there, blatantly insulting him in front of me? I couldn't stand it.
"Don't ever say shit about Dumbledore in front of me again," my voice wavered slightly at the restraint I was going through to not pounce on him and beat him to a pulp. I felt a hand on my shoulder and knew automatically that it was Snape from the oily smell that wafted towards me.
"Fighting on the first day? Tsk tsk." he said from behind me, his grip turning vice like, "20 points from Gryffindor and detention Friday at eight." He yanked me backwards and I just just enough time to grab my bag other items before I was pulled from the room and told to stand outside the doorway until class was over. The door slammed shut and I slid down the wall, head between my knees.
Fighting on the first day? I should be ashamed but for some reason, I felt strangely pleased with myself. I knew that Draco had been causing crap long before I got here, I was intuitive enough to figure that out, so I knew he deserved every amount of pain I had induced. Just as I was finished that savagely pleased thought, I heard the door open and Draco shuffle out with Pansy locked onto his arm. His face was a red mass and he was whimpering like a baby.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud from the sight. Pansy shot me a look that clearly wished me an early death but I just grinned back and waved at them as they walked away.
Yup, I was definitely glad I punched him. All I had to do now was wait until class was over before I could go to lunch. I remembered that much from my schedule.
The minutes went by immensely slow and so I kept myself occupied by doodling on a stray piece of parchment. I had just finished the last touches on the moon by the time I heard the bell noise sound again, so I stuffed the parchment into my bag and stood up, making my way out of the Dungeon. I heard multiple set of steps racing from behind me.
"You just punched Draco Malfoy on your first day here!"
"That was brilliant! The git totally deserved it!"
"Remind me not to get on your bad side; your punch was wicked." Harry and Ron spoke on top of each other while Hermione just grinned widely and linked her arm with mine while I stared at them all bewilderedly. I had known he was an ass just from that one confrontation but I hadn't realized that the three hated him that much. Instant acceptance from them apparently, all for punching some guy? Man, fitting in here would be easier than I thought. My nervousness about getting along here and making friends was all gone.
"Are you just who he was talking about before? Potty, the Blood-Traitor, and..." I trailed off, not wanting to say the extremely offensive term. I grew angry just thinking about it. Seeing Hermione wince, I knew that it was true and my anger for Malfoy grew. These three had been nothing but kind to me since I got here and had accepted me... Even though they didn't know my secret.
"I'm sorry for what he said. I didn't know he was talking about you. I would've punched him a lot sooner if I had. There's no excuse to use that term." I said as we walked out of the Dungeon.
"It's okay, Ariel. We can handle ourselves. Thanks for sticking up for Dumbledore though." Harry said, as he and Ron put their arms across mine and Hermione's shoulders. The movement made me smile. These guys liked me.
"I owe him." I stated simply, not wanting to go any further into it. They led me to the Great Hall where all the other students had seemed to converge. A cheer rose up from the Gryffindor table as we walked in as the other kids stood up and started clapping. Hermione giggled and raised my arm as if I had just won a boxing match. The cheer grew louder.
The group pulled me towards the table and on the way, I had to stop to high-five some of the Gryffindors who had stuck out their hand and grinned. News apparently traveled insanely fast here. Hermione pushed me down into a seat and settled in to my left while Ron settled to my right and Harry across from us. A kid with a round face and dark hair smiled from Harry's side and I returned it, feeling better than I had in years.
"I'm Neville Longbottom." he said and I remembered the name from when Draco mentioned it.
"I'm sorry Malfoy said that about you. I'm sure you're not that bad." Neville just grinned sheepishly and nodded before ducking his head. Ron and Harry chuckled before gathering food onto their plates. Hermione was holding a conversation with a ginger haired girl who looked remarkably like Ron. She was probably his sister. Younger by the looks of it.
"This is Ginny Weasley." Hermione introduced after she noticed me looking at her.
The girl, Ginny, smiled widely at me and I couldn't help but smile back. It was infectious.
"Congrats on socking Malfoy. Everybody here wants to but I don't think any one has done it on their first day of school. I hear it was a good punch too." laughed Ginny, still grinning widely. I just ducked my head and grinned at my empty plate. I didn't really feel hungry so I simply grabbed an apple from the plate to my right. Harry and Ron were already digging into their food like it was going out of style.
Lunch wasn't long and I spent the time talking to Hermione and Harry and Ron about the various classes and what-not before the bell rang and it was time for my next class. Apparently, most of the 5th years schedules were the same so I just stuck with the trio while they took me to Charms class. I was excited for this class. Spellwork had always been my forte; specifically hexes and jinxes but charms was a close second.
The class was easy, as I had already learned the spells he taught since I had done so much studying. I spent the time helping Harry and Ron; Hermione had already mastered it five minutes into class. I was sad when the bell rang since I liked Charms so far. Professor Flitwick was chill but for how ever much I liked Charms I was still insanely excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Learning defensive spells was seriously fun to me.
For some reason, Hermione and Harry and Ron all grew strangely irritable as we went to the class. Once we got there and got settled, I understood why. The teacher, Professor Umbridge, a sickly pink and toad-like, was completely insane. Her smile was dangerously sweet and her small eyes darted around. Her smell slammed into me and I nearly threw up. Even though I held it in, I felt dizzy and sick and all around not okay. I managed to collapse into a seat next to Hermione while Harry and Ron sat behind us.
"Good afternoon class, I see we have a new student," the Professor giggled a high pitch, completely fake laugh and I felt the urge to slap her, "I'm sure she wouldn't object to saying a few words about herself."
"I would." I said, staring blankly at her. I heard Ron and Harry snicker behind me and had to fight to keep my mouth a straight line. Umbridge narrowed her gaze and her smile became a bit more strained but none-the-less kept in on her face.
"Careful Miss Vanderwik, wouldn't want detention on your first day here." she waggled her finger at me like she was reprimanding a child. I almost raised an eyebrow in disbelief yet refrained from doing so.
The class was complete crap. We didn't even do any spells which I had been dying to do all day. All we did was copy notes from a book and by the time class was over, my hand was cramping. It was a complete let down and I was very peeved. The second the bell rang, I was out of the class room, ranting about how that class was totally and utterly crap. When I had whirled around, my long black hair flying, I had caught the tail end of Hermione sending a knowing look with a small smile towards Ron and Harry.
"Hey! Don't give them that 'look'!" I said indignant. She just laughed and we made our way to the common room. I had just stepped in the portal to the common room when I remembered that I was supposed to meet Dumbledore after class so I excused myself, consulted my map, and started on on my way.
Along the corridor, Fred and George appeared in front of me with wide grins on their faces. Without a word, they stepped towards me and enveloped me in a hug. Fred was slightly in more in front of me and I watched his Adam's Apple bob as he swallowed. He smelled nice and his scent was easy on my sensitive nose.
He smelled like apples and cinnamon and pine. A weird combination but strangely addictive. George smelled more along the lines of clove and pumpkin. After they pulled away I had started to ask why they did that but they had beat me to it.
"You're our new favorite person, Ace." said Fred while George nodded.
"Socking Malfoy like that? You've earned yourself a place in the Weasley Twins Hall of Love. Even we haven't punched him yet. We prefer more-"
"subtle tactics." Fred finished.
"And George here-" started George but I cut him off.
"No," I said, sending a look at them, "you're George. He's Fred." I nodded at the other twin. They both looked shocked.
"What?" I asked, crinkling my nose in confusion.
"Our mum can't even tell us apart. Bloody hell,-"
"How'd you know? We were planning on testing you just for fun but we never expected you to actually know." said George, astounded.
I scoffed and and rolled my eyes, "Easy, Fred has darker blue eyes and a rouge freckle under the middle of his right eye. George, you have a higher voice but only by a fraction of a degree." They both had their mouths open and were staring at me in amazement. I began to feel a bit uncomfortable... I have them a sheepish smile.
"Well? Say something. This whole 'not-talking' thing is kinda awkward..." Giving them an unsure look, I was at a lost at what to do. They glanced at each other and seemed to be talking with their eyes. Alrighty then...
"Hey, I gotta go see Professor Dumbledore now. So I'll er, talk to you later..." Scurrying around them, I hurried towards where my map was glowing, ending up in front of a Griffin statue. My letter started growing warm and looking at it, I saw that chocolate frogs had appeared at the bottom of the map.
"Er- Chocolate frogs?" I said and at the mention of the amazing candy, the Griffin jumped aside showing a winding staircase. I climbed the steps and found myself at a wooden doorway. Just as I raised my fist to knock, I heard Dumbledore invite me in so I opened the door and stepped in leisurely.
I remembered the office vividly. All the shiny silver objects and the window to the lake. There was also a phoenix on a stand by his desk and as if magnetized, I was drawn towards it. The beautiful gold and crimson plumage. The sleek elongated feathers of the tail. The sharp, sleek golden beak and the black, intelligent eyes that peered back at me. It was beautiful...
A polite cough alerted me to Dumbledore's presence. I grinned apologetically and sat myself down in one of the plush seats again, trying to keep my eyes off the beautiful bird to my right.
"Well, how was your first day Miss Vanderwik?" said Dumbledore with a knowing smile. I instantly felt my grin drop and moved my gaze to my hands which were clenched in my lap.
"I'm so sorry Professor. I already have detention. I didn't mean to really! Well, I did but I hadn't meant to get into trouble already..."
"It's quite alright but I encourage you to refrain from fighting in the future," I nodded despondently, "but we have much more important things to discuss now. Your monthly happenings." I looked up at him and watched his face as he spoke.
"First, let me tell you that we have dealt with this situation before and it went off rather well. There is a secret passage way to an abandon shack which housed another student with your particular problem before. I currently have a few teachers outfitting it for use again and it should be ready for use by your next session. Professor McGonagall will accompany you to the shack for your first session so you know how to get there and get settled. Be ready by eight that night and wait outside the portal for her. I encourage you to tell no one about this but if you must then I recommend Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger whom you have already made friends with. They are trustworthy and a great choice of friends.
"I also have Professor Snape making wolfsbane for you which you will take every night for a week before your transformation. It will help with the pain and help you control yourself when the change does happen. I've contacted Remus Lupin, the student who had this particular condition before, so if you have any questions about this process or just werewolfdom in general, feel free to contact him. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help. I know you've had to go through this process alone for many years now but I just want you to know that you are not alone now, and I will do anything in my power to help you, Ariel. I mean it."
I felt tears in my eyes at what Dumbledore said. I used to be so scared and alone every change. All the pain and loneliness... And now I had someone to care for me like my parents couldn't.
"Thank you. For everything. You don't know how much..." I trailed off, a few tears slipping down my cheeks. Dumbledore smiled kindly and nodded in understanding. I got up without a word, walked to the door, sent a small smile in Dumbledores direction, and walked out. I made my way slowly down the winding staircase, feeling at peace and calm.
It took me a while to get back to the Commons since I didn't look at my map but went purely on memory and along the way, wiped away all trace of my tears. When I reached the portal, I had to search a minute for the password.
"Gillyweed." I said and smiled at the portrait. She smiled back and swung open. I was greeted by a few cheers when people in the room caught sight of me which made me grin at the acceptance. I saw Hermione, Harry, and Ron in the crowd and smiled widely. I felt Fred and George's arms slip around my shoulders and laughed when picked me up to rest upon their shoulders.
"This girl punched Draco Malfoy on her first day here! All bow to the new hero of Gryffindor!" they shouted in unison. A roar emitted from the crowd and I threw my arms up in the air, laughing loudly.
As long as they didn't figure out what I was, I was fine. As long as I didn't slip, everything would be okay. I trusted Dumbledore; he would get me through this.