I feel absolutely awful! I took WAY too long to post this, and I totally lied as far as posting at certain times. I think I'll amend my previous statement regarding updates: I'm starting Sophomore year in High School, I'm in marching band and mostly honor courses, and will therefore have tons of homework constantly! So don't expect regular updates. I'm really sorry, I wish I could put my writing first, but I can't.
Funny fact: Word didn't think 'Quirrell' was a word until I added it to my dictionary, and the first option on spellcheck was 'squirrell'!
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, as well as the bold stuff, belongs to the wonderful and BRILLIANT Joanne Kathleen Rowling. My cousin Haley is the mastermind who created Liz Weasley. Everything else belongs to yours truly.
I woke up, naturally, late. I would be the one to do that. First thing I see when I open my eyes is my clock telling me it's already 8:45 and I'd better get my arse down to breakfast and get my schedule from McGonagall.
I bolted out of bed, threw my uniform on, grabbed my bag, and flew down the stairs, tying the damn tie as I went. Liz was on her way out of the Great Hall when I literally ran into her, and she snickered.
"Late morning?" she asked innocently.
I glared at her suspiciously. "You turned my alarm off, didn't you?"
"Yes, no, maybe so!" she sang, then quickly changed her tune when I smacked her on the back of the head. "OUCH!"
"You deserved it," I said mercilessly as I grabbed a chocolate éclair and hurried over to where McGonagall was handing out the last schedules.
"Professor McGonagall," I said breathlessly, "can I have my schedule, please?" She handed it over and I groaned.
'Of course we have History of Magic first,' I thought as I rushed out of the Great Hall, munching on my éclair. I had five minutes to get to class on time—not that Binns would notice, most likely. I'd heard Diana and Aiden complaining about him—one of the only things Aiden will allow himself to agree with his twin for—in addition to Quidditch and Hogsmeade—they kept saying how effing boring his classes were over the summer. Aiden, however, added a nice little tidbit: he didn't give a shit what you did in there, so most people messed around.
I ran into Diana as she hurried to Transfiguration with some guy in her year named Cedric Diggory. She has a massive crush on him, and I couldn't help but smirk at her.
"Where're you headed, Riley?" she asked me kindly after she made introductions.
"History of Magic," I said, "and I don't have a clue as to where the hell it is."
She directed me to the classroom, and I rushed away, calling back my thanks. I missed the trick step on the staircase, thank Merlin, only because I was taking the stairs two at a time.
The bell rang before I made it, but Binns didn't even look up as I quietly opened the door and slid into the seat beside Liz.
"He was already sitting there, blah blah blah-ing when I walked in," she said amusedly, staring at the translucent form of our professor.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" I said in disbelief.
"Nope," she snapped her gum. "But the bright side is he obviously doesn't pay any attention to his students. We can do whatever the hell we want in here!"
Slowly, her words began to sink in, and a devilish smile spread across my face.
"I like the look on your face, what're you planning?" she asked, mirroring my grin.
We both leaned in to whisper to each other, so no one else could hear what I was saying. "Listen to this…"
When History ended an hour and a half later, Liz and I hurriedly put up our stuff and rushed out of the room. "We need to find Fred and George," she said. "They have this pranking club sort of thing, they're like, the elite pranksters of Hogwarts, and I want in. I bet this'd be a brilliant prank for an initiation."
"Don't forget, though, it was my idea," I reminded her. "They may want you to come up with something on your own."
"Oh, they're my brothers, they already know I'm amazing," she said nonchalantly.
"Oh, you're modest," I teased.
"Hypocrite."
"Guilty as charged!" I grinned, striking a pose.
"Anyway," she said, "we still need to find Fred and George."
"Well, what class do we have next?" I asked. "If we're late to, say, Transfiguration, that would be no bueno."
"Well, we have break until eleven, and then Herbology with the Puffs," she said, absently checking her schedule.
"Excellent!" I said brightly. "Let's check the common room."
Gryffindor common room was fairly empty, but Fred and George were there with Lee. Spotting them, we hurried over.
"Oi! You three!" I said, catching their attention.
"What is it, oh ickle firsties?" Fred grinned.
"We have an idea!" I said.
"An excellent idea!" Liz added.
"For a prank!" we said together.
"Excellent!" they replied. "What is it?"
I explained my idea.
"How do you know 'scourgify'?" Fred asked.
"My mum is very… clean," I shuddered. "So how about it?"
"Well, I'm sure such a spell exists…" George contemplated. "But I'm not sure about a potion…"
"Okay, so we won't do it during class. How about in the corridor at some point, then one of us casts scourgify while one of you casts whatever that spell is?" Liz suggested.
"Sure," Fred agreed. "But you two have to find the spell."
We groaned simultaneously. "But we'd have to look in the library, which would take days, maybe weeks!" Liz complained.
"Or worse," I gasped. "Ask McGonagall!"
"Do you have a death wish?" Lee gasped.
"No," I said. "But I like my weekends."
"Well, I can't ask," Liz said. "She already knows I'm a troublemaker."
"We have transfiguration this afternoon," I said. "She doesn't know I'm a troublemaker yet, as I didn't get caught for the fireworks on the train, and it's only the first day. I'll pretend to be a good little girl during today's lessons, so she's not forewarned, and then ask her later."
"That works. Who are you going to sit next to?" Liz asked. "If you sit next to me, then she'll realize you're not a good kid."
"I dunno," I answered. "Maybe that Abbott girl, Hannah, right? She's a Puff and she looked pretty square."
"She'd probably work, then," Fred announced. "You sure you can act, as you put it, square?"
I snorted. "How do you think I'm still alive today? If my mom knew about half the stuff I've done in the past I'd be dead. It's all about the act."
"Oi, Miss Actress," Seamus Finnigan, one of my Gryffindor classmates said to me from behind, clearly eavesdropping. "I suggest you lot make your way down to Herbology, and wherever they have to go. Break's nearly over."
Herbology and Defense passed with little significance. Unfortunately, Quirrell was a complete coward who supposedly got his turban from an African prince for defeating a zombie. Zombies don't exist. So, he's a liar, and he st-st-stutters constantly! It was ludicrously annoying.
Transfiguration was our last class of the day, so Liz and I were excited for it. Apart from that, I wanted to learn how to turn something in to something else on purpose. I'd done it before, but that was Accidental Magic.
Professor McGonagall gave us a talking to the moment we sat down in her classroom.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
'Oh, dear,' I thought. 'Looks like Liz and I won't be taking Transfiguration for very long.'
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. It was very impressive, and I couldn't wait to begin. Unfortunately, we had to take a bunch of complicated notes first, and I realized very quickly that turning furniture into animals was way too hard for "Ickle firsties." Then she gave us each a match and told us to turn it into a needle.
It was really hard, but eventually I got mine to start taking a pointy shape and a hole drilled itself into one end. By the end of the lesson, Hermione was the only one to make any difference in her needle. Professor McGonagall praised us both, showed them my pointy sliver of wood, and Hermione's match, which had turned silver and gone all pointy. She actually smiled at the pair of us! (Hannah Abbott was sitting next to Susan Bones, so I sat next to Hermione instead.)
"Professor McGonagall?" I asked after the rest of the class had cleared out.
"Yes, Miss Scamander?" she responded briskly.
"I was wondering, is there a spell that could make hair turn blonde?"
She fixed me with a piercing glare. "And why, pray tell, do you want to know that?" she asked.
"I have a friend who wants blonde hair, but she was too nervous to ask herself, so I told her I would," I explained.
"Unless this person is at least a sixth year, I would not recommend the attempt," she said. "Human transfigurations are not taught to students below NEWT level for a reason, Miss Scamander. However," she sighed, "I know that if I do not tell you, you'll just go to the library and find out form there. The incantation is 'sufflavus.' Be wise, Miss Scamander."
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall!" I said, rushing out of the room.
Liz was waiting for me outside. "Did she tell you?" She asked excitedly.
"Sufflavus." I informed her. "Let's go tell Fred and George."
A/N: I'd originally intended to put the prank in here, but I decided otherwise. It's a little bit shorter than the last one, but this seemed like a good spot to end it. I'm not too fond of this chapter, but you probably won't hear from me for a while. I need to do my summer reading for school (can anyone explain to me what a dialectical journal is…?) and I have marching band, and school starts the 22nd, so I don't have much time for FanFiction. Please review, they literally make my day! I got a really fabulous review once, and I read it on my phone in the morning, and I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. People kept asking me why, and I told them all different, ridiculous reasons, which was very amusing. And the moral of the story is: Review!
Mischief Managed,
Rachel