Disclaimer: Madison and Lindsey are mine, as well as a few other OCs but everything else belongs to JKR.
CHAPTER 4
MADISON'S POV
1:45 A.M.
I couldn't fall asleep.
Not when Lindsey wasn't there.
I laid in my four-poster bed staring up at the ceiling of the room that I was to share with three other Ravenclaw girls for the rest of the school year. My sister and I had always shared a room.
Padma and Anthony had introduced me to some of the other Ravenclaws that we had met on the way to the common room after dinner on our tour of the school. Most of them seemed pretty nice. They introduced me two my three dorm mates, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe, and Lacy Thompson. I mean, all of them seemed nice enough, and under other circumstances, I would have talked to them a lot more, but I couldn't shake this thing. I really needed to just get over it; I was starting to annoy myself. It wasn't like I was never going to see Lindsey again.
That's it. I decided. Tomorrow morning, I'm just going to grin and bare it.
I rolled over and finally fell asleep on my extremely comfortable bed.
_______________
"Madison, uh, I think you should get up," I heard someone vaguely say. What time is it? I rolled over and looked at the clock. 8:15. I was running late. I looked over to find my savior, Lacy.
"Oh my god, thanks so much Lacy," I said in a hurry and jumped out of bed to get ready for the day. I did may hair as best as I could and pulled on the Hogwarts school uniform. When I arrived at my dorm room last night, someone had already given me garments with the Ravenclaw colors, blue and bronze. After getting dressed, I took a quick glance in the mirror beside my bed and groaned. I had very noticeable circles under my eyes.
"Did you want me to help you with that? I'm really good at make-up spells." I thought I had the room to myself and I had jumped at the sound of Lacy's voice. Apparently, she had waited around for me. I didn't talk to Lacy for that long last night, but I could tell that we'd probably be able to get along very well. In physical appearance, Lacy was the complete opposite of me. She must have been over six feet tall; she looked like she had the build of a basketball player. She had gorgeous long brown hair, layered with some lighter brown natural highlights.
I smile. "That would be amazing."
Lacy muttered a few charms under her breathe and wave her wand. "There you go."
I turned around to look at the mirror again. She was right. She was really good with make-up. I could no longer see the ugly circles under my eyes and there was no way that I looked like I had rolled out of bed now. "Lacy, you're a life savor! Thanks so much for waking me up and with everything else."
"It's no big deal," she smiled. "Let's go down to breakfast. They'll hand out the schedules there. I can help you find your classes if you want. Usually members of the same house have classes together."
"Ok, sure," I replied, happy to have someone friendly in the same year and house as me. "You lead the way."
Most of the day had flown by pretty quickly. At breakfast, the head of Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick, a tiny man, with a squeaky voice and a head of white hair, gave everyone their class schedules. I discovered that first thing in the morning I had Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, then double Herbology with a witch named Professor Sprout. Lacy had dragged me all over Hogwarts. I couldn't understand how she was able to know where she was going all the time. The school seemed like a huge maze to me and I did not think I was able going to figure out how to get from one place to the next anytime soon. After lunch, me, Lacy and the rest of the sixth year Ravenclaws headed over to the Defense of the Dark Arts classroom, which that Umbridge woman taught.
"Did you know that supposedly the post for the Defense Against the Darks teacher is cursed?" Lacy asked me while walking down a hallway on the third floor I think.
"No, what do you mean?" I asked curiously.
"Well, it seems that no one person can hold the position for over a year. Like last year, the man who was supposed to be our professor, the retired auror Mad-Eye Moody, was locked in a trunk for the entire year while an imposter kept him alive to make Polyjuice potion. I've heard that old Mad-Eye hasn't been the same since. And then two years ago, we actually had a somewhat decent teacher, Professor Lupin, except he turned out to be a werewolf and he got sacked."
"Woah, well maybe the position is cursed," I replied. I hadn't heard about what happened to Mad-Eye. He was famous. Even us in the states knew about him.
"Yea, I'm pretty sure it is. Two years ago, the bloke who taught us, Gilderoy Lockhart (have you heard of him?), lost his memory. . ." Lacy filled me in about the rest of the professors that she had had throughout her years at Hogwarts.
We finally arrived at the classroom and I finally saw a friendly face who wasn't wearing blue and bronze. We must be having this class with the Gryffindors because Lindsey was standing on the other side of the hall.
Lindsey immediately saw me, smiled and put her left hand up to the left side of her nose and flicked a finger against it in a certain way. It was a special thing we had done for as long as I could remember. It was kind of like a hug or greeting but just between the two of us to let us know the other was ok without asking. I did it in return.
"Hey, Lacy do you want to meet my sister?"
"Sure," she replied. "There are still a few minutes before class starts." The two of us walked over to where Lindsey was standing with a few Gryffindor girls.
"Hey Mads! How are you doing?" Lindsey asked me when we walked over.
"Pretty good, you?"
"Pretty good," she laughed. "These are some of the girls I share a dorm with." She pointed to two girls behind her. One was a brunette of about average height who had an athletic build and the other was about the same height with short black hair. "This is Katie Bell," she pointed to the brunette, "and Leanne Bakers," she pointed to the black-haired girl. "Katie and Leanne, this is my sister Madison." She smiled.
"Nice to meet you two. This is Lacy Thompson. She's one of my roommates. Lacy, this is Lindsey."
The five of us talked for a few minutes about the start of the year. Katie, Leanne and Lacy were actually friendly with each other, having had a lot of the same classes together throughout the years.
The door to the classroom finally opened so the crowd outside walked into the classroom and took seats. Lindsey and I decided to sit together since we hadn't seen each other all day. Lacy sat with a Ravenclaw boy I didn't know the name of.
"Hem hem." There she was, that toad in the pink standing at the front of the classroom. Oh joy. This should be an interesting class.
"Good afternoon class," she said in a high-pitched voice, trying to sound all sweet and caring. The whole class stared at her in silence.
"Now, that will not do will it. When I say 'good afternoon class' I shall expect you all to respond 'good afternoon professor' as well as saying 'no professor' or 'yes professor' when asking a question. Now one more time. Good afternoon class."
"Good afternoon Professor," the class responded dully.
"Wands away please and please take out your quill and be ready to take notes."
She droned on and on about how the ministry thought that Hogwarts was doing a poor job teaching this subject. Well, I guess that might be true because of all the professors that they had had over the years. No consistency. I found it really hard to listen to her. I had never had that happen before. School usually fascinated me. She then put her course objectives up on the board, which I absentmindedly wrote down. I hardly noticed when Lindsey's hand shot into the air.
"Yes, Ms.-"
"Walker," my sister replied.
"Right, Ms. Walker, one of the American transfers. Well, what did you need, dear?"
"I had a question with the objectives. It doesn't say anything about using defense spells." My sister would be the one to correct the teacher or speak out of turn or something like this.
"Now why would we need to use defensive spells Ms. Walker? Nothing is going to attack children like yourselves," she replied with an evil grin.
"But, hasn't you-know-"
"Now, I don't know what you have heard Ms. Walker but these are LIES," Umbridge raised her voice slightly. "You-know-who has NOT returned. The ministry assures you that you are perfectly safe."
"But-" Lindsey started to say.
"Not another word from you Ms. Walker, or you'll receive a weeks worth of detentions. Now do you want that?"
"No professor." She grumbled.
"Good, now if you would all take out your books and start by reading the first chapter," she told the class and went to take a seat at her desk.
"But then how do you explain Cedric Diggory dropping dead?" I heard Lindsey whisper rather sharply to herself next to me. It was good for her that Umbridge decided to sneeze at the same moment and didn't hear her rather loud question. I elbowed Lindsey in the arm and gave her a look. She glared at me. She had never ever done that before.
What did I do? I still couldn't understand why she believed Dumbledore. There was NO way that You-Know-Who is back.
We sat through the rest of class not speaking and when the bell rang, Lindsey ran out of class without a word or glance towards me.
LINDSEY'S POV
I couldn't believe her. We aren't being taught how to use defensive spells. We're all going to get killed.
I stormed out of the classroom without even waiting for Katie and Leanne. How could the Ministry do this? I mean even if You-Know-Who really wasn't back, we'd still need to know how to defend ourselves from other people and magical beings.
And then Madison, not even sticking up for me. I couldn't believe her. We always had each others back.
"Lindsey, where are you going?" I heard a voice call from behind me. "We've got double Transfiguration next. We can't be late. McGonagall would kill us."
I really did not wanna spend the next hour and a half in a class but Katie and Leanne caught up to me and dragged me off towards Transfiguration.
We spent the class learning about how to nonverbal spells. I couldn't concentrate at all because of that stupid toad. Most of the class wasn't doing very well either.
An hour and a half later, the bell rang and we all started filling out of the classroom, all rather annoyed at how we could not get the nonverbal spells to work.
"Ms. Walker, could I please see you for a moment?" I heard Professor McGonagall's voice when I was almost to the door.
"I'll catch up to you guys later," I said to Katie and Leanne and worked my way over to McGonagall.
"Yes, Professor?" I asked rather confused. I had no idea why she wanted to talk to me.
"I heard about your Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Oh. "Now I must warn you that the Ministry of Magic is getting involved in Hogwarts teaching. Now, I know that this is not your Ministry but you are living here for the year and you must not get on the wrong terms with them. It wouldn't be wise to get any further on the wrong side of Professor Umbridge. Do you understand?"
"Yes Professor." I heard knocking at her door.
"Well, off you go," she told me. "Come in," she said to the person at the door.
A tall boy with messy black hair, stunning green eyes and a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead walked into the classroom.
"Why Mr. Potter, what brings you her?" Harry walked past me distracted. I don't think he realized that I was even there. I left the classroom before the door shut, deep in thought.
I don't know how long I wondered the halls mindlessly until I looked up and had no idea where I was. Oh shit. I had found out earlier today that Hogwarts was a complete maze and I was never going to find my way around without the help of others. Now there was no one around; everyone was at dinner.
I decided that it would be better if I just stayed in one spot so I wouldn't get even more lost, so I leaned against a wall and sank down to the floor.
Well today was an interesting day. I had actually been having a pretty good day until Defense Against the Darks Arts. Katie and Leanne were really cool and the classes that I had had earlier in the day were pretty interesting, Charms and Astronomy. I just couldn't believe that Umbridge woman. How could she think Dumbledore was lying about something like that? She really pissed me off. How was I going to make it through her class at all?
I sat against that wall thinking for ages and no one had come by. How was I ever going to find the Gryffindor common room. I was about ready to get up when-
"You lost?" I heard a male's voice laugh from behind me. I turned around and George was leaning against a wall smiling and laughing at me. "You look completely hopeless."
"George!" Finally someone friendly found me. "How did you find me?"
"I asked Harry for help." I gave him a confused look. "But never mind, how long have you been here?"
"I don't know. I was wondering around for awhile after Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me. Did you hear what happened in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class?" He nodded. "Well, the old toad really pissed me off and Madison wouldn't even stick up for me. Anyway, I got lost and everyone was at dinner so I just sat here and waited for someone to come."
"Well, you're not lost anymore. You have your rather charming Hogwarts guide to help you find your way. George Weasley at your service," he laughed again. I couldn't help it, I giggled. He sure knew how to brighten someone's mood. Then, my stomach made a loud gurgling sound. "Why, are you hungry my dear?" George asked in a corny accent.
"Yea, but dinner's probably over by now."
"Not to worry, come with me."
George held out his arm, like some sort of old English gentleman or something, in an attempt to make cheer me up. He led the way through the castle, picking up where he ended last night on a bunch of Hogwarts tricks and secrets. We wandered through the castle for a little bit and eventually ended up in a brightly lit corridor in front of a portrait of a bowl of fruit.
"Tickle the pear," he said suddenly.
"What? Why would I do that? Is this one of your jokes?" I asked really confused.
"Trust me. Just do it," he laughed glancing straight into my eyes. The warmth of his brown eyes made me do it, not knowing what I'd be getting myself into.
I tickled the pear. Then suddenly a doorknob formed in its place.
"Should I?" I pointed to the doorknob. George nodded his head.
I took the doorknob in my hand, turned it, and pulled open the door that had formed from the painting.
"Welcome, Sir and Miss, is there anything we can get?" I heard a small high-pitched squeaky voice say. I looked down and there were hundreds of house-elves surrounding George and I. I looked around the room. We were definitely in the school's kitchen. There was a huge stove and oven. I few elves were washing the rest of the dishes from tonight's dinner. There were also five huge tables, just like the ones in the Great Hall and probably right underneath them. It looked like the house-elves sent food directly up through the floor to the tables above. I looked at George shocked.
"Go ahead, tell them what you want to eat. I'm sure they're willing to fix anything," he told me and smiled.
I couldn't believe he took me to find food. "Thanks so much George."
Author's Note: Sorry its taking long to really get started and that a lot of the same things are happening that happened in Order of the Pheonix that happened to Harry but it'll get different eventually. I just had to start somewhere. Please please please review. It means a lot because I don't know if people like this story or not. Thanks for reading~WolfAsh
