Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related concepts do not belong to me! I am merely borrowing them for my own personal enjoyment. All OCs and anything you don't recognize is copyrighted by me: xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Dedications: Shout out to DJScales, KingdomHeartNerds, Red Neo Ranger, BeckyBoo12221, XxX-Fire-Fairy-Witch-XxX, Fan of Fics and 10th Squad 3rd Street. You guys are awesome. Thanks very much.
In Responses: To Fan of Fics: Yes. It is strange to me too for writing Draco in this way, given what I have done with MWS. But like I said I'm not sure where this story is going at the moment. Draco may not be as evil as he seems in this =)
To 10th Squad 3rd Street: Yes. Phoebe is an Elemental.
That is all. Enjoy.
Harry Potter: The Dark Lord's Downfall
Summary: For ten years she was kept a secret, now it's time for the Wizarding world to fiinally meet Phoebe, as she sets out to prove that not all Malfoy's support the Dark Lord
"There are how many stairs?" Phoebe exclaimed, as she stood at the bottom of the Marble staircase the next morning after breakfast, she was flanked either side by Ashlyn and James as the three of them consulted their times tables that they had received a mere few minutes ago.
Ashlyn turned to her friend "One hundred and forty two," she replied, relaying the information she had learned that morning from one of the 5th year prefects in Slytherin
"You have to joking!" James complained, looking up at his cousin "Please, tell me you are joking..."
Ashlyn shook her head, shattering the pleading looks of her cousin and friend "But lucky for you the older Slytherin's provided us younger students with a map of the whole school, including the staircases and directions on how to get to class on time," she explained, pulling out what appeared to be a blank piece of parchment. She tapped it once with her wand and instantly writing and drawings appeared. Each classroom within the castle was labeled with a different symbol that represented the lesson in which was taught. For example: Potions, which was in the dungeons, was labeled with a bubbling cauldron and Defence Against the Dark Arts was taught on the second floor corridor, and was labeled with two wands crossed over one another as if in a duel.
"Wicked..." Phoebe grinned, popping up over Ashlyn's shoulder and staring transfixed at the map "And the older students gave you this?"
"Yeah," Ashlyn nodded "Its apart of the 'look-after-your-own' thing that we have going on"
"So not fair," James pouted "Why don't the older Gryffindor's help us?"
Phoebe glanced his way as she snagged the map and consulted it alongside her timetable "Because they wish to help us build character," she answered "What would become of us if we relied on older students to get us around the school? We'd never learn the route ourselves because we would be too busy following them!"
"Hey," Ashlyn exclaimed "are you saying we Slytherin's are more of followers than we are leaders?
"That is exactly what I am saying," Phoebe confirmed, with a wide grin "are you sure you were sorted into Slytherin? With a brain capacity and complexity that you have, you would have made a decent Ravenclaw"
Ashlyn glowered, her eyes narrowing "Start running, Blackheart!" she growled
"See you in Transfiguration, James!" Phoebe yelled, as she took off up the marble staircase. Ashlyn hot on her tail.
~*Phoebe*~
Reaching the door to the Transfiguration classroom first, Phoebe threw it open and stumbled inside as Ashlyn finally caught her. The Slytherin had launched herself through the air and landed directly on Phoebe's back sending the pair of them crashing to the ground as soon as the door was open.
"Dog pile!" James snickered, reaching his friends in record time and easily climbing over them into the class.
Thankfully enough Professor McGonagall was not present as Phoebe and Ashlyn extracted themselves from one another and made it back to their feet. Wincing Phoebe rubbed the back of her head "Stupid Slytherin!" she grumbled as she slipped into a seat beside James "You mind telling your cousin that it is wrong to jump people who are not expecting it?"
"Ash," James said, glancing down at his cousin and repeating exactly what Phoebe had told him. Phoebe rolled her eyes and proceeded to remove her equipment from her backpack and spread it out over the desk in front of her. "She said you started it," James replied, pulling back and turning to face Phoebe again.
"I heard her," Phoebe responded
James smirked and mimicked his fellow Gryffindor's actions as the door opened behind them and the rest of the class entered.
"I wonder where McGonagall is," murmured Ashlyn, after the final bell had rung signaling the beginning of the lesson.
James and Phoebe shrugged as they too wondered where their Professor had gotten too, after everything Phoebe knew about Hogwarts; Professor McGonagall had not once been late to a lesson. Suddenly, the cat on the teacher's desk pounced forwards and instantly shifted into the same strict looking woman from the previous night.
"Wow," the class breathed in amazement
Ron Weasley looked astounded "That was bloody brilliant!" he exclaimed
"Why thank-you Mr. Weasley," McGonagall smiled bashfully "Now I would like to welcome you to first year Transfiguration. What you just witnessed is an advanced form of shape shifting, unfortunately, you will not be learning that this year but if you do manage to achieve outstanding and make it into my seventh year NEWTS class you will begin to learn the basics..." she explained. The majority of the class groaned. "Now please turn to page one of your text books," McGonagall went on "and copy the following text..." she pointed her wand at the blackboard as the chalk flew into the air and scribbled out words which the students started to copy down immediately.
~*Phoebe*~
The rest of the morning went by in a blur, and very soon Phoebe found herself sitting at the Gryffindor table chatting once again with Katie Bell, Oliver Wood and James.
"How are you finding your lessons so far?" Katie asked, her soft hazel-coloured eyes locking gazes with Phoebe from across the table
"Classes are brilliant," Phoebe answered "We've only had Transfigurations and Charms this morning. We've got Potions, Herbology and our first flying lesson after Lunch."
Oliver grinned "Madam Hooch will teach you everything you need to know about flying," he promised
"I have no doubt," Phoebe nodded, looking up at the sound of an explosion which had resided halfway down the table. Turning in the direction of the explosion she found Seamus Finnegan in the centre of it all
James snickered
Phoebe rounded on her friend "What did you do?" she asked
"Nothing," James responded, holding his hands up in surrender "I cannot take credit for this. I may be a prankster...but this is no prank" he swore
Phoebe eyed him curiously, before turning back to Seamus. The poor kid looked absolutely bewildered at the sudden turn of events. Shaking her head Phoebe turned her head skyward as the screech of owls echoed and several hundred owls swooped into the hall. As many owls flew to their respective owners' one bird stood out amongst the rest, a screech echoed around the hall as a white-tipped golden eagle swooped in through the high window and headed in the direction the Gryffindor table.
"What is that?" exclaimed a Hufflepuff from the table behind the Gryffindor's
"I dunno," answered a fellow Ravenclaw
James frowned and looked up "Phoebe..." he trailed
"Athena!" Phoebe exclaimed jumping to her feet as the eagle soared through the air towards her. The first year Gryffindor held out her arm and the eagle perched itself delicately on her arm seconds later.
The whole hall stared at the bird and the Gryffindor
"What?" Phoebe asked, looking around as she smoothed out the feathers of the bird "You act like you haven't seen a bird before!" and with that she turned back to her friends
James, Oliver and Katie stared at her as if she was insane "Pheebs..." Katie started "That's not your average messenger bird"
Phoebe smiled "I know," she nodded "My family do not use owls," she explained "In Portugal most Wizarding families, like mine, use Golden Eagles. It's a tradition that has gone back many generations. Athena has been in my family since 1905; she was passed down to Serefina by her mother when Serefina was 17."
Her fellow Gryffindor's exchanged looks at the minor back story, before Katie reached forward bravely to stroke the golden feathers of the bird. Athena eyed her curiously with a big golden eye before letting out a coo.
"I think she likes you," Phoebe smiled, as Katie pulled back "So. What do you have for me today, Athena?"
The bird cocked her head to the side and surveyed Phoebe through her clear golden eyes, opened her beak and cawed loudly, before holding out her leg where a letter had been tied. Phoebe took the letter and placed it on the table "Thank-you" she smiled at the bird, promising her with a few mice for supper; and the bird took once more to the skies and disappeared through the high windows once more.
The Great Hall watched as the bird disappeared, before going back to whatever they had been doing before the mail arrived. Oliver and Katie had each reached letters and packages from home, James had received a parcel of sweets from his mother; while Phoebe inspected the letter she had received from Athena.
It was a very short letter. Only a few lines:
Tonight. Entrance hall. 8:00pm.
~ Serefina.
Phoebe smiled and glanced up at the staff table; she caught her guardian's eye and nodded. Serefina winked back and returned to her conversation with Professor Flitwick.
"Shall we go?" James asked, turning Phoebe "Flying lessons start in 10 minutes..."
"Okay," Phoebe agreed "You want to get Ashlyn and meet me in the Entrance Hall?"
James shook his head "its okay, you can get her"
Phoebe rolled her eyes, swung her legs over the bench and stood up "You're such a wimp" she said, poking James in the shoulder "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall," and she snagged her backpack from the ground and hurried across to the Slytherin table.
~*Phoebe*~
After making it to the Entrance Hall, Ashlyn, Phoebe and James stepped out into the bright rays of the afternoon light.
"Have either of you flown before?" Phoebe asked, as she walked between her two friends as they headed across the courtyard towards another and late down onto front lawn where their lesson was to take place.
Ashlyn and James nodded
"Yeah. Marcus and Adrian taught me when I was five," Ashlyn answered
James nodded "My mum's brother taught me" he responded
"Good morning class," Madam Hooch said once everyone had arrived "Welcome to your first flying lesson. I want everyone to step up to the left side of their broomsticks, place their right hand over it, and say 'UP.'"
Phoebe stepped up to the left side of the broom in front of her, held her right hand over the item and spoke clearly "Up!"
Nothing.
With a small frown Phoebe turned to see both Malfoy and Harry who had successfully gotten their brooms into their hands on the first and second try. Her frowned deepened further when James managed to successfully get his broom on the third try.
"Up!"
Again, nothing happened
"With feeling!" Madam Hooch told them, as she watched from her spot at the front of the class.
Ashlyn frowned "With feeling?" as she turned to face Phoebe; she too had failed to get her broom to respond
Phoebe shrugged before turning quickly to the sound of Ron Weasley's voice, and managed to witness the broom slamming into his face. She hadn't been the only one who had witnessed it, nor was she the only who laughed.
Turning back to her broom, Phoebe tried again "Up!"
The broom didn't move.
Phoebe was growing annoyed
"It would seem the broom doesn't like you, Blackheart!" Draco Malfoy sneered, as he watched her from the opposite side of the front lawn
Phoebe glared at him "It would seem that it is only the broom that likes you, Malfoy!" she retorted
"Up!" Ashlyn said, and the broom shot into her hand
Phoebe growled "Oh for the love of -" she cut herself off "Get. UP!" the broom zoomed up into her hand and she wrapped her fingers around the handle, staggering slightly as the broom knocked her off balance
"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it" Madam Hooch continued, as she walked amongst the students "Grip it tight. You don't wanna be sliding off the end."
She waited as the student mimicked her instructions
"When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard." Madam Hooch's gaze swept over Phoebe and Ashlyn as she continued "Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down..." her gaze swept over James and Neville, and raised her whistle to her lips "On my whistle...three...two..." she blew hard, as a shrill sound echoed through the grounds.
Many students who were used to being on brooms instantly kicked off from the ground, Phoebe, Ashlyn and James amongst them. Pulling to a halt in mid-air, Phoebe looked around at her fellow students and watched as many of them showed off by pulling stunts and performing ticks -like Draco Malfoy- and others, like Hermione Granger was puttering around about three feet off the ground.
Leaning forward on her broom Phoebe tilted it towards the ground and swooped down beside Hermione "Hey," she smiled
"Hi," Hermione responded, she remembered Phoebe from the previous night; she had been the only girl in the first years dorms that actually talked to her
Looking around at the rest of the class, Phoebe turned back to Hermione "Come on," she said, nodding towards the open skies "You'll never learn to fly if you stay down here"
"I'm not particularly good on a broom," Hermione admitted
"No one is," Phoebe answered "But you'll never be good if you don't practice"
Hermione looked nervous "I do my best thinking on my feet"
Phoebe snorted "Hermione, nothing is going to happen to you, you know?"
"How can you be so sure?"
"I can't," Phoebe shrugged "But flying a broom is like riding a bike. Once you've gotten control of it, it just comes naturally. Remember the first time you rode a bike?"
Hermione nodded "Yeah...it was difficult, my father had to run alongside me to keep me balanced, and then he let me go alone"
Phoebe smiled "Well, learning to ride a broom is just like that,"
"But there is no one there to hold me," Hermione answered
"What am I?" Phoebe questioned "Invisible? Come on..." and she held out her hand "I won't let you fall. Besides, what's the point in anything if you're not willing to take the risk?"
Hermione contemplated her words before nodding stiffly and pushing off from the ground, Phoebe grabbed her broom quickly as it shot passed her, Hermione's broom gave a jerk and nearly bucked the bookworm off.
"Easy," Phoebe chuckled "Not so fast, okay?"
Hermione nodded numbly
After being joined by Ashlyn and James, Phoebe and her two friends taught Hermione the basics of flying a broomstick. They taught her how to go forward, backwards, how to stop and how to turn; before finally giving her full reign of the broomstick for herself.
"Now, give it a go" James encouraged "Just remember, we're right here if you need us"
Hermione nodded, a look of fear still in her face, but she leaned forward and shot into the air; she tilted her broom slightly to the right and swept around her friends. A cry of joy escaped her lips.
"They grow up so fast," Phoebe sniffed
James rolled his eyes "Oh boy," he muttered, before turning to the sound of a terrified scream.
Spinning around in the air Phoebe was able to witness the quick descent of Neville Longbottom as his broom disappeared from beneath him "Neville!" she yelled, pressing herself flat against her broom and darting forwards; unfortunately she was seconds too late and Neville hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Phoebe jumped from her broom and landed on both feet beside him "Neville..." she whispered
"Ow," Neville whimpered, as James -who had landed beside Phoebe- attempted to help him to his feet
"What is it?" James asked "Your wrist?"
Neville nodded clutching his left wrist loosely in his right hand
"What's going on?" Madam Hooch demanded, as she came hurrying towards the three Gryffindor's
"We think Neville has broken his wrist, Ma'am" Phoebe answered, helping her house-mate to his feet
Madam Hooch surveyed the three of them "How did this happen?" she asked
Neville sniffled and shook his head
"He was doing just fine," James answered "I was watching him. Then suddenly his broom just disappeared from beneath him and he dropped" he explained
Phoebe nodded "I heard him scream," she added in "I tried to help him, but by the time I had got close enough he was already on the ground."
"So neither of you saw who did this?" Madam Hooch asked
Phoebe and James shook their heads "No ma'am, we didn't" they answered together
Madam Hooch pursed her lips "Very well!" she nodded "I will take Mr. Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. The rest of you are to stay here! If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will be out of Hogwarts faster than they can say Quidditch! Understand?"
"Yes, Madam Hooch," the class chanted
Madam Hooch nodded, wrapped her arm around Neville and escorted him back to the castle.
Once the flying instructor and Neville were out of side, Draco Malfoy gave a loud laugh and caused the rest of the students to turn in his direction "Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse!" he laughed, along with all the Slytherin's, minus Ashlyn. In his hand he was holding a glass ball, which the Gryffindor's recognized as Neville's Rememberal.
"That's Neville's!" Phoebe exclaimed "Give it back!"
"No!" Malfoy answered
Gripping her broom tightly in her hand, Phoebe knocked it against the blonde's head. Hard. "I said give it back!" she ordered
"Why should I?" Malfoy asked
"Because she said too," Harry Potter said, stepping forward.
Phoebe and Draco snapped out of their glaring competition and turned in his direction "Oh, the big savior of the Wizarding world, has come to help the pretty little damsel, has he?" Draco taunted "You want this? Come and get it!" and he mounted his broom, and took to the sky.
Phoebe moved to follow him, but Harry beat her too it.
"Harry, no way!" Hermione interrupted "You heard what Madam Hooch said. Besides, you don't even know how to fly"
But Harry wasn't listening and had taken to the skies after Malfoy.
"What an idiot." Hermione muttered
"Give it here Malfoy," Harry shouted as he became level with Draco "Or I'll knock you off your broom!"
Malfoy smirked "Is that so?" he asked
"Oh, what I would give to knock that smirk off his face," Phoebe fumed, suddenly she squeaked as Harry dropped down, and flew up behind Draco.
The Slytherin spun fully around on his broom and glared over his shoulder "Have it your way, then," he sneered, pulling his arm back and throwing the glass ball towards Hogwarts.
Pressing himself down onto the broom, Harry sped after the glass ball and caught it seconds before it hit the window.
"Yes!" Phoebe shouted, punching her fist into the air "He caught it!"
With Harry returning to the ground, the Gryffindor's -with Ron, Phoebe and James in the lead- pummeled Harry with pats on the back and others ruffled his hair as he disappeared between them, still holding the glass ball.
"Nice going, Harry" Ron cheered
"That was wicked, Harry!" James agreed
Phoebe grinned and much to everyone surprise, hugged Harry "That was brilliant!" she told him
"Harry Potter!" Everyone turned as Professor McGonagall hurried forward, her emerald robes flowing behind her. She stopped short before the students. "Follow me."
All cheering grounded to a halt, as with a heavy heart the Gryffindor's parted and watched as their house-mate obediently followed after their head of house.
The Slytherin laughed quietly to themselves as the Professor and Student both left the other three houses in silence.
A/N: I am so sorry. I am such a bad author...truth is I returned from my Holiday on Saturday, and have been catching up on many things. It kinda feels like jet lag and since I never left my own country it makes it even stranger as to why I am going to bed earlier than usual.
Anyway; here is chapter 3.
If I have any readers from England, then please keep safe. I have been watching the riots and I wish anyone from England to be safe at this time. Just know that we here in Wales are thinking about you all.
Reviews (please)
~*Kara*~
All OCs and anything unrecognizable is copyrighted (c) and belongs to me xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated 10 August 2011 at 22:56pm
