Yaayyy- a brand-new chapter!
this is not a re-vamp, or an edit. this is a whole new sparkly-shiny chapter.
It is also very long. Please tell me what you think of the new lengthy format- in fact please tell me anything about the content of this chapter, nigh, entire fic, in a REVIEW. I love 'em.
Interesting tidbit for this chapter; all Professors (not including Longbottom, Hagrid and Binns) have original names. In proper JKR fashion, these names are derived from meaningful things, to do with their subject or personality. Try to figure some of them out.
Also, the French here is hopefully self-explanitory... and no one ask me to translate any of the expletives the Ames' use- I guarantee you can work it out, but you probably shouldn't. wink
It was a traditional English breakfast for me in the Great Hall. I enjoyed it, to be perfectly frank. I'd nibbled a croissant at one stage, but it had been so different to a proper one I'd handed it over to Max, who was eating far more than me- than anyone, really… except Tammy.
I was slowly becoming acclimatised to all things new. The Hall, for example- it wasn't sparkling, like Beauxbatons, but it was magnificent. I loved the ceiling, even now showing a crisp, cornflower-blue sky with steel-grey clouds dotted about.
I was looking up, which explained why I was one of the first to notice the influx of owls.
I was used to a mail service that was somewhat quieter. Our owls used to fly into our dormitories and deliver letters to our beds.
A newspaper toppled a pitcher of milk.
Tammy grabbed for it and put it right before a drop could spill.
"Your bird has shocking aim." She tossed the paper to Arica.
"That's why I've got you, isn't it?"
Anouk did not make an appearance this morning- I wasn't expecting anything, as Guy always waited for us to send letters first.
But I did receive something. A boy maybe a year older than us passed sheets of parchment down our table. Timetables.
MONDAY:
Charms
Care of Magical Creatures
BREAK
Transfiguration
LUNCH
BREAK
History of Magic
Herbology
I scanned through mine, working out that Care of Magical Creatures was my one elective for the day, and I shared it with both Charlotte and Max. All other subjects were with my entire House year level, and one other House. Charms was Hufflepuff, Transfiguration was Gryiffindor, History was Hufflepuff again and Potions were with Slytherin. That meant I got to see both my brothers today. I was happy.
After breakfast, I allowed Lottie and Max to lead me to the Charms room, a high-ceilinged chamber with rings of desks arranged around the teacher's bench.
Our Professor was a rotund sort of man, with a cheery face and no hair to write home about, save for a few stay wisps in his ears. Being of the sensitive genre, evidently, he pulled me up in front of the assembled strangers.
"Florence Ames- am I pronouncing that right?" He didn't pause for a reply. "Direct from our sister school, Beauxbatons- now I know I'm not pronouncing that right-" Again, no pause. "I've heard your syllabus is rather… intensive, so I'm looking forward to seeing some good stuff from you."
"I 'ope I can live up to my school's reputation, Prof."
"Very good, very good- now, sit down, there- yes, just next to Finn is fine, between him and Minuetta."
I sat where he told me, in a vacant desk between a Ravenclaw boy and a Hufflepuff girl. Minuetta beamed at me. Finn merely smiled invitingly. I was directly in front of Max, close to the rest of my friends.
"Very good." Professor Arenelson was saying again. "Now, everyone, put down your wands for a second and try the incantation; 'Accio'."
We all spoke in unison. My accent proved to help rather than hinder for this particular spell, luckily.
"Now, with wands, everyone- point at the targets provided…" He motioned towards a large stack of cushions in the middle of the room.
I took aim and swept my tapered wand into a precise curve- the exact movement Prof Gaspardient had taught me last year to go with this same charm. Apparently Beauxbatons' syllabus was more intensive.
My intended cushion shot directly towards my head. Reacting on pure instinct, I ducked.
There was a muffled 'oof' from the seat behind as it connected with someone's face.
Turned out, that someone was Max. "Accio!" He ordered.
The pillow moved sluggishly, but its trajectory was decidedly towards me. I had just enough time to remember the sister charm. "Depulso!" I waved at the soft missile- which flew directly away and landed askew on the cushion pile.
"Ames! I see you've covered this, then." The professor walked up to me.
"Yes, Prof. Last year."
"Very good, very good. But note- you use your wand like a scythe. Accio requires the smallest of flicks." He demonstrated. I copied.
Max ducked.
Care of Magical Creatures was held outside, of course. I had wrapped my throat in a thick grey scarf to ward off the biting Scottish wind, as was beginning to lament not wearing tall socks over my stockings.
We were by the side of a charming circular hut. I was escorted there by Charlotte and Max, but as soon as we reached the rendezvous, I noticed my brothers had joined this class, too. Well, we were all farmers.
I rushed up to them and immediately began chatting in French, before we were interrupted by the giant man we had glimpsed on the train platform.
"'Allo, then!" He boomed.
Didier, his back facing the man, jumped a little at the epic voice.
"Oop, soory- didn't mean ter frighten yer." He chuckled, slapping Dids on the shoulder. He winced in pain. "Ah- yer the new studen's, aren' yer?"
We nodded together.
"Well, then, yer in fer a treat." He spread his mammoth arms wide. "Welcome, fourth years, ter Care o' Magical Creatures. Now, we left off with 'Ippogriffs las' year, so I thought we'd start with summat special this year."
One arm beckoned us to peer around the side of the cottage.
"Oh!" I gasped in unison with about five other girls.
"Unicorns!" I recognised Minuetta from Charms.
Max's eyes were wide even as his comments were laced with sarcasm. "Hagrid, I hope you're ready for screaming and swooning girls."
"There'll be no screamin', mind- they don' like it."
"But swooning's OK?" A Griffindor girl asked with false concern.
"Swoon away, if yer like, but you won' get ter pet 'em, then."
She winked at Adrien. "Promise to catch me?"
"No." He deadpanned.
I laughed, glad my brother had found friends, too.
"Now- they tend ter prefer girls, so if yer want ter 'ave a pet- approach real slow."
I moved forward with Charlotte, Minuetta and the Gryffindor girl. There were two other girls, too- one Slytherin, one Hufflepuff, but I didn't know them.
There were two unicorns standing before us- one, the male, was about two hands taller than the other, clearly female from the swollen belly.
"Is the mare pregnant, then, Hagrid?" Minuetta asked.
"Due in a coupl'a months. If I can catch 'em again, the foal should be acceptin' of you witches 'round Christmas."
"So we menfolk've got a theory lesson, then." Max quipped.
"Unless Diddy-yer wants a go." A Slytherin boy (who couldn't quite pronounce French) next to my brother laughed.
Dids hit him in a friendly way. "Ladies first." He pushed his friend forward.
"Don't be messin' about, now, boys. Yer don' want ter scare 'em."
"Prof." Didier saluted sulkily.
I ignored the boys and joined Charlotte, stroking the male. I forced myself not to be nervous, working off my experience with our old work-'horse'- a Granian named Gilbert, under a disillusionment charm. The unicorn was far prettier, and less stoic, than Gilbert had been.
"Vous êtes manifique." I whispered to the beast, on the off chance it understood French.
Charlotte had heard me, and winked. "C'est vrai."
The unicorn snuffled pleasantly, prompting an 'ooh' from all assembled- including the boys.
"Do they have names?" The unidentified Hufflepuff girl asked.
"Gilbert." Adrien called softly.
"And Gilbette." Didier added.
They dissolved into giggles, which I joined them in. The rest of the class looked at us like we were crazy.
Hagrid gave us a look to be silent. "Don' seem right ter name 'em, really."
"Clearly. They're not pets, Davies." The Slytherin girl rolled her eyes.
"She was only asking." Adrien's new friend stood up for the Hufflepuffs.
There was a momentary standoff, the two girls staring daggers at each other from across a Unicorn.
"Well, er… seems ter me like it might be time fer some theory." Hagrid announced.
The staring match was forgotten amidst a plethora of groans. Reluctantly, we left the magnificent creatures.
"Now- the Unicorn is found throughout the forests o' northern Europe…"
I spent my break writing out the notes I had taken in Creatures, translating them to legible English, owing to the scribbles I had done in class being indecipherable.
I sat in a cobbled courtyard, utilising one of the many wooden benches.
"And… 'Agrid said ze Unicorns were given a… four star classsification?"
"Ex." Max corrected.
"Eh?" I made a noise of general confusion.
"Four X."
"The Ministry of Magic uses Xs to denote classification. Not stars." Charlotte explained.
"Oh, okay. Four X classification."
Didier stared at my page. "What does zat even mean?"
I tugged my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them out from under Adrien's head. Max flipped it open past the introduction, and read clearly; "Dangerous, requires specialist knowledge… skilled wizard may handle."
Ado was rubbing his ear where it had hit the table, after I had stolen his pillow. "Unicorns, dangerous?" He snorted.
Charlotte smiled. "The MOM gave Unicorns four Xs because it should be treated with respect, not because it's dangerous."
"So why does it not say zat?" Dids grumped.
Max shrugged. "It's just an exception."
"Actually, that's not the only thing that doesn't fit in the classification."
"What else is zere?" I asked, quill poised.
"Skilled wizard may handle. Unicorns won't let wizards near them, most of the time. It should be witch."
Max cuffed Charlotte. "Smart-arse."
Luckily, our break ended before Didier could get around to asking what that phrase meant. Having transfiguration next, we had to leave him.
I sat in-between Charlotte and Adrien once we reached the class. Max was on Lottie's other side, and next to Adrien sat the girl from Creatures.
She leaned around my brother to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Pheonix." Her smile seemed apologetic for the name. "Total coincidence, I swear- my parents're the new-age muggle type." She winked.
"Florence." I said in way of reply. "Not a coïncidence, I really am French."
Adrien laughed quietly.
"That's exactly what he said yesterday." Pheonix explained.
"That'll be enough, McShea." The professor had entered while we were chatting. "Right- fourth-years. We'll be doing strictly revision today, don't want you turning all things awry while your heads are full of holiday nothings."
The professor was a tall, slight man, with pleasantly brown hair streaked with grey. There was a long red feather quill tucked over one ear of his simultaneously youthful and wise face.
"So. Who bothered to do the reading? And before you answer, my Griffindors, remember you're sharing a class with the swotty Ravenclaws this year, so you'd better have done something, or I'll look stupid. And then you'll look pretty stupid with donkey ears or similar embarrassing animal part." He spread his arms wide. "Who's got some homework for me?"
Sheafs of paper were thumped on desks around us. Adrien and I exchanged guilty looks, as if we had done something terribly naughty by not doing Hogwarts homework.
"O'kelly, good, Essefret, nice, Grisley, of course…" The professor reached my desk. "Why the blank space-" he paused to scrutinise my face. It was a second before it registered he didn't know me. "Oh! Beauxbatons!" He shot a glance over to Adrien. "Really should have remembered you…" He addressed the class. "Has everyone worked out by now we've got two new students?"
"Three." Pheonix pointed out.
"Actually, four." I corrected.
The professor waved our inane comments aside. "They don't count until tomorrow. Anyway, we've got Adrian-"
"Adrien." My brother pronounced correctly.
"-And Florence."
I didn't need to fix my name- it was the most Anglicised of all the Ames.
"So, you two, if there's something you don't know, ask away."
"Your name?" I asked dryly.
"Professor Jones." He answered. "Now, fourth-years. Who remembers the incantation for porcupines to pincushions?"
Lunch went quickly. Very quickly.
I heard Capucine from the next table in the Hall complaining about it. "English are barbarians. We 'ave at least two 'ours for lunch at Beauxbatons, and zen our break. Zere is not enough time to digest!"
I think her friends were being nice about it, but really, it just wasn't in the British culture to have a three-hour gap between classes at midday. Their loss.
I was enjoyed the break after lunch thoroughly. Practically my entire House year level went to sit on the lawns in front of the lake and chat, as three classes into the year, no one was much worried about homework.
I ended up playing catch with a few of the boys and Charlotte. Our game was interrupted every few minutes by Tammy racing through and stealing the small ball out of mid-air.
"Damn bloody tossing Seeker!" Finn O'Kelly, I was discovering, had the most wonderful grasp on the English language.
Every time, Tammy would toss the ball back at such a jaunty angle only Charlotte could catch the thing without having to dive spectacularly for the ground.
Max had the ball now, and was rubbing it against his leg in preparation for his throw. He jumped a couple of times, then began a loping run, spinning the ball around his shoulder like a windmill before letting it fly. It shot like the proverbial, causing more than one person to duck and swear.
I jumped for it.
Both hands clasped the projectile firmly before my feet touched the ground again.
Finn and the rest were staring at me.
"Tryouts are on Sunday." Tammy laughed.
I had been looking forward to History. I thought it would be interesting to see the English bias on things.
Interesting was not the right word.
"Professor Binns is the only ghost teacher at Hogwarts." Charlotte had explained.
"I don't know- Peeves taught me a lot…" Max joked. "Never go anywhere without your wand or a heavy book, never 'just see' if there actually is anyone in that empty room, never-"
"Shut up. Binns was the History professor in about the seventeenth century. He died at the school, and just kept teaching anyway."
"Which is a shame, really."
I had thought Max was just being silly again. I was wrong.
Twenty minutes into the lesson, I gave up listening to the ghost and read my textbook instead.
An unidentified student was shooting sparks at the floor in an array of colours. One of the boys I'd been playing catch with was now holding a Hufflepuff girl's hand and passing notes. Not a single person was paying proper attention to the lecture. Several were asleep.
That hour was the longest of my life.
We practically ran down to the Greenhouses, anxious to- quite literally- rejoin the land of the living.
Almost immediately, I found Didier, who was absorbed in trying very hard not to laugh at our Professor's name.
"Longbottom?" I asked incredulously.
My brother's friend nodded with a glint in his eye. "I absolutely swear."
Charlotte gave me a dirty look. "He's lovely, really."
I quieted down and sat on the long bench, opposite Didier and his friend, or as I learned he was more commonly known as, Richard.
There were unruly, spiked plants sitting in front of us, ones I didn't recognise. Clearly, others did, because when secateurs were produced, they got to work pruning them from within dragonskin gloves.
Dids and I exchanged looks. The plants were writing ever so slightly, just enough to be unnerving.
The humorously named Professor was soon on his way over to us. He looked pleasant enough- dark-haired, round-faced, and smiling.
"You're Didyer and Florance, then?"
"We are Didier and Florence, oui." Dids corrected precociously.
He cleared his throat. "Right. Well, uh- how much do you two know about viverspinae?"
"Practically nozing." I apologised. "'Erbology is not zat focused on at Beauxbatons."
"I zink I 'ave seen zese before, zough."
I turned to my brother. "When?"
"At ze farm."
"Farm?" The professor asked.
"Oui." I answered him. "In France, we lived on a farm. But we dealt mostly wiz muggle plants."
"Mostly?"
"We 'ad 'Orklumps growing, once." Didier offered.
I quickly pointed out to him that Horklumps were fauna, not flora, and besides, we didn't exactly cultivate the things.
"Well, that's OK, maybe some of your experience will come in handy, but for the moment, these are just viverspinae. Relatively harmless, but the spikes do hurt, so put on your gloves. Hold the base tightly before you cut, and then, prune just above the nubs there." He demonstrated it for us. "Only prune off the pieces with no spikes- the slimy ones, you see? They're completely harmless, so don't worry about them afterwards, you can just pile them up on the bench, it makes fine fertiliser for the other plants."
"Merci, Prof." I thanked him before turning to work on my viverspinae.
I clipped two slimy ends off, lining them up carefully beside me.
Something slippery slapped my cheek, then slithered down my neck.
I looked up to see Dids' face, contorted in silent laughter. He'd thrown a cutting at me!
I checked to make sure no one was watching, before flicking one back at him. He dodged, and it hit Richard. I grimaced, thereby proving I was the culprit.
Max had been watching, and immediately took aim. "Don't you dare, Slytherin." He warned, offshoot held aloft.
Didier hit him square in the nose. The slime left a faint glisten down his chin.
What followed was the quietest and strangest fight I'd ever been involved in- not that I ever got into many fights, of course. Even Charlotte got involved, hurling bits and pieces of the poor plants at each-other.
By the end of the hour, we were covered in slime, and our sides hurt from containing laughter. We quickly tried to wipe the mess up with the fronts of our jumpers before Proffesor Longbottom came around to collect our- in the case of Didier and mine- mangled plants.
"Not bad for a first effort." Our kindly teacher complimented us.
I answered with a very guilty 'merci'.
I was more than happy to accompany my fellow Ravenclaw fourth-years back to the lakeside after classes. However, this time I shafted the game of catch for my books.
I was pouring over my Herbology text, working out how far behind I was. The short answer appeared to be 'quite a bit'.
"Chin up." Max sat with a thud next to me. "You're streets ahead in Charms. And Transfiguration, come to think of it."
"But I am be'ind in 'Erbology- and I almost fell asleep in 'Istory!"
"Everyone does."
I conceded his point. "So, does everyone just learn from zeir textbooks?"
He laughed. "I wouldn't say everyone. Most wouldn't. In fact, I'd say the Ravenclaw tower's the one place you'd fine a History text that'd been opened."
"My brozzers will do it." I guaranteed.
"Really?" He seemed suspicious.
"Oui." I smiled. "Parce-que, if zey do not, I will tell Cina."
He laughed. "Yeah- she doesn't seem that scary."
I stood and patted his head. "Exactly."
Leaving Max puzzled, I moved over to the bank. I wanted to dangle my feet, but I was in stockings, so instead I dipped my hand below the suspended surface.
"Merde!" I squealed.
A bunch of Ravenclaws ran over to me. Charlotte was in the lead. "What's wrong?"
"C'est putain de froid!"
Luckily, it appeared Lottie was unaware of that particular colloquialism. "Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "It's cold."
Dinner. I ate voraciously, until I was full of the rich English food.
"We're allowed out in the halls after dinner, but we have to be back in our common room by eight-thirty. So since it's only half an hour…" Arica was explaining things to me. I was mildly interested.
I was already deciding to spend that half hour with my siblings- or, at the very least, Capucine, since I hadn't talked to her all day.
And so, when the plates were cleared, I promised to meet my friends later and sought out my sister.
She kissed my cheek as a way of greeting. "'Ow was your first day?" She was speaking slower than I did in English.
"It was great- but zey do not teach us enough 'Erbology at Beauxbatons."
"I 'ad zat too. We are be'ind."
We were very soon joined by my brothers, and we chatted for almost twenty minutes about nothing in particular.
"We should 'ead to our common rooms." Didier scowled even as he suggested it.
Cina looked surprised for a moment. "Oh. You 'ave to go now?"
"We are not allowed out after huit heures et demi." Adrien explained.
"Well, you are only petits!" She teased.
We hit her playfully, and said our goodnights.
Adrien and I were able to walk part of they way together, as both our common rooms were in towers. We split off at adjacent stairways- that were soon becoming parallel.
"Oh, merde!" Adrien swore and leaped onto the shifting steps. "Bonne nuit, Flo!" He yelled out behind him as he raced towards the stable landing. It was now completely separate from the end of the staircase. He made a running leap for it, caught onto the banister with one hand, and hauled himself over. "Voila!" He presented back to me.
"Tu es zinzin!" I called back.
My trip upstairs was much less eventful.
