Walking into the well light classroom the first thing that she noticed was a beautiful gray tabby cat sitting on the teacher's desk. Forgetting her anger and sorrow for a few moments Dawn headed straight for the tabby.
She absolutely adored cats! She used to have an orange cat named Peaches when she was younger; but her Step Father had killed the kitten in a drunken rage when she was seven years old. It was another day in hell that she wished to forget.
Holding fingers out for the cat to sniff before she scratched behind her ears she cooed to the animal, " You're a very pretty tabby baby." Feeling the small animal vibrate and purr she continued scratching lightly with her nails behind the cat's ears. She was tempted to pick up the cat for a petting session when several other students began to file in.
Leaving the tabby on the desk she went to grab a seat up front so she would have no problem reading the teachers lips.
Cruelly several Slytherin's noticing the lack of well meaning adults began to bump into Dawn's shoulders and knock things off her desk while making such comments as, " you're a disgrace, death to Mudblood's and die muggle spawn." Since she was not facing them their calluses comments went unnoticed, but the immature pushing and garbing at her things was pushing her to her limits.
Before she could swat at the next assaulter the most astonishing thing took place! Where the gray tabby once sat stood Professor McGonagall looking fit to be tied. Her voice was harsh and echoed with displeasure. " I will not put up with this childish behavior in my classroom 20 points from Slytherin and don't you ever treat a fellow student like that again."
Groaning was heard from the Slytherin students and laughter from the Gryffindors, who tried to be sly about it fearing McGonagall, might take away points from them as well.
Dawn's question was soon answered as she learned this class was about the transformation of one object into another. Feeling quit excited about what she had learned. She quickly copied down the assignment from the chalkboard due next class and wondered if Defense Against the Dark Arts was just as interesting.
Professor Lupin was a kindly instructor, his voice was soft and he spoke in well-mannered tones. They learned fascinating things about Bogart's, redcaps, and gargoocks. She never dreamed that such odd creature could exist.
After class was over she couldn't find it in herself to eat lunch in the great hall. Most of the morning was spent being tormented by her fellow housemates. Determined not to let them bug her she decided to head to the library and look up some of the names they had been calling her all day. Maybe that way she could actually understand the insult.
Walking past the thin irritable librarian Madame Pince, Dawn heading back towards the long wooden tables Dawn spotted the Bloody Barron talking to the Hufflepuff ghost the Fat Friar. Dropping her book bag in a chair she headed over to the old fashion card catalogue that lined one complete wall.
Finding the entry for the Wizards dictionary, she quickly copied the information down and headed back to the bookshelves to find her answer. Running her fingers along dusty bindings till she located her book, she jumped slightly when a familiar voice whispered in her ear. " What are you looking for Snakelet?"
" Lord you scared me!" she admonished lightly
" 'I' am not a Lord I'm a Barron." His attempt at humor was interesting to say the least.
Her sprits lifted some realizing that he wasn't going to mock her and tease her the way her classmates had. " I was looking for this." She held the large worn book up for his inspection.
" The Wizards Dictionary. I assume that you are going to look up the term muggle and Mudblood?" his asked with the air of superiority.
" Yes, how did you know."? Dawn asked bewildered.
"The ghosts and the portraits know about everything that transpires within theses walls."
Eyes down cast Dawn trembled slightly what if he shunned her like everyone else? He was the only person that had been kind to her. Feeling an icy mist against her chin she looked up to see the Barron lifting her face up. " Just because they can't see, doesn't mean that I don't. You are a Snakelet don't doubt that."
Confused to say the least by his comments she just nodded her head and clutched the massive tome to her chest.
" Go, look up your words we will chat again." He wished her good day and glided towards the door glaring menacing at four Ravenclaw students as he passed. Delighting in as they gave him wide berth and shook slightly with fear. Yes it was good to be the Barron.
Muggle: Common name for people born without magical powers.
"Well that defiantly describes Mum all right," she thought to herself but what about her dad? Her mother had always promised her she would tell her about him when she was older. " Guess that won't happen now" Was he a wizard is that were she got her power?
Flipping back a few pages till she found the entry for Mudblood she began to seethe as she read, " Mudblood, derogatory name for a wizard/witch with muggle born parents. Considered one of the worst insults to call a wizard." Slamming the book close rising heads as well as small clouds of dust she grabbed her book bag and stormed out to the History of Magic.
Paying no heed to Professor Binns's lecture on the Goblin wars of 1132, she started to hypothesis on why she could hear the Sorting hat, Bloody Barron and now Binns. She had already decided that morning about the hat but what about the two specters? She could ask the Barron, but that meant admitting she couldn't hear period. No wasn't a good idea. Wait! Maybe it had to do with the fact they were dead? She remembered reading an old book of her Mum's once on spirit mediums. In the book it said that the dead spoke with their mind a form of telepathy. Well that would certainly make since.
Happy with this working theory Dawn decide that she would stop and talk to the next ghost she met and see if she was correct. Looking around she noticed that a majority of the class appeared to be bored death and drifting into unconsciousness.
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