Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I don't own the Marauders. I do, however, own Alexis.
IMPORTANT MASSAGE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER PLEASE READ!
Chapter 7: A Night to Remember Part 1
As a new day dawned upon the castle of Hogwarts Alexis woke with new determination. Studying was one of the things she knew she was good at and that made waking up on a school day a happy event for her contrary to the dread other students felt. She stretched, yawned and got up. She felt a lingering feeling of a dream just out of her reach. She remembered just two things: a pair of yellow eyes and a pain filled howl. She new those two things spoke werewolf but what she couldn't understand why it was in her dream. She's never had any encounters with werewolves and she wasn't very keen on having one. Letting it slip her mind for now (after all with her ability it would be stupid and careless of her not to give it any though) she headed for the bathroom but not before shaking Lily awake. For the last few days she was here she became friends with the redheaded witch and their early morning exercise routine was well on its way to becoming a custom. Brushing her teeth and putting on some loose T-shirt and some sweat pants she put on her wand holster and waited for Lily to get ready.
"Good morning, sunshine!" joked Alexis as she watched the girl next to her trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"Really, how can you be so cheerful in the morning? It's like you don't need sleep at all."
"Well, I've always felt that sleep was a needless waste of time. You know what they say: It's not that life is short you're just dead a really long time. So why waste time being asleep, I'll get enough of it when I'm dead."
"Do you have a proverb for everything?" enquired Lily while they were crossing the grounds to get to the Quititch pitch.
"Well, I don't have one that explains boys." laughed Alexis as they started jogging.
"No one will ever be able to accurately think of a proverb for them." the two girls jogged lazily around the pitch when they heard a shout coming from the direction of the castle. They both turned toward the sound and saw Professor Slughorn walking down the grounds to get to them.
"What are you girls doing?" he asked.
"Just some exercise, sir." answered Lily looking a little sheepish. Alexis figured it was the first time a teacher disapproved of any of her actions.
"Ms. Evans roaming the grounds is not allowed. I didn't expect it from you."
"I'm sorr…"
"If I may, I have to say that while there is a curfew in this school it's not prohibited to get up early. And since this school lacks a decent exercise program we'll have to do with what we can get. But unless you want to have fat, untrained wizards who break a sweat from a couple mile jog you go right ahead." Interrupted Alexis looking at him. She hated when teachers did this: just in order to feel authoritative they searched for even the smallest flaw and then judged on that.
"And you are?" Professor Slughorn asked looking her up and down as if debating whether or not she was worth his time.
"Alexis Keen." She answered not bothering to exchange pleasantries. She saw the Professor looking thoughtful for a moment before carefully looking at her.
"Any relation to one Michael Keen?"
"He wa…is my father." She felt her heart skip a beat. It has happened. How could this man know of her father? Now everybody was going to find out.
"Ah, a great man indeed. We met once or twice on a couple Quiditch matches. The Minister always spoke highly of him. But it was a long time ago. Now that I think about it, I remember the little girl sitting on the chair in the lounge and watching the game with fascination. You couldn't have been older then 6. Say how's your dad doing these days?" The change of attitude was so sudden and fast that she just stared at him comprehending his intentions. She had rehearsed her answer to that question a couple of times but she had hoped student were too busy with their own lives to care much about her being the daughter of an Ambassador.
"He's out of the country along with my mom. They were both needed this time. That's why I was sent here to go to school since they couldn't take me with them."
"Ah, yeah, Cassandra. Beauty and brilliance in one. I never knew the Keen's little girl was here. Say what would you say to joining my Slug-Club. It's only for exclusive personnel. Ms. Evans herself is a member."
"Thank you for your offer but I'd like some time to think about it."
"Take your time, dear. If you agree just come with Ms. Evans to our next meeting. Have a nice day girls." With a last smile he turned around and headed towards the castle.
The girls stood there watching his back before Alexis turned towards Lily.
"What was that all about: first he was ready to give us detention, then he interrogates me about my family and then he invites me to come to his…Slug-Club! What kind of a name is Slug-Club?"
"He's just like that. Drawn to the rich and famous. He invites people with connections and then he weasels his way in to get free service."
"So what's your family like?"
"I didn't get in for my family. I'm a muggleborn. I'm just good at Potions. He says I'm one of his best students next to Snape."
"Ah, that's the greasy kid." She saw Lily frown and felt bad. "Look, I'm sorry if he's your friend. I didn't mean to insult him. It's just our meeting wasn't what you would call pleasant."
"No he isn't…exactly a friend. He was one. But last year he called me a mudblood."
"WHAT!" Retorted Alexis enraged. "What a scumbag. Don't listen to people like that Lily. They are just jealous."
"Thank you, Alexis."
"Let's continue our workout."
Both girls talked animatedly as they saw Alice and Sabrina come toward them.
"Hey, gals." greeted Sabrina. She was wearing the school uniform a little different and a lot like Alexis: her tie was just slung over her neck, her shirt was out of the skirt and the sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. Both Alice and Lily wore their uniforms normally but Lily's skirt complemented her long legs quite nicely and Alice's shirt was a little tight on her bust. Alexis had curled her hair on a request from Lily since they had gone out earlier and therefore had more time before breakfast started.
"Morning." Greeted Alexis in return. The four of them were discussing Lily and Alexis' encounter with Slughorn when in came the Marauders collecting all the stares in the room. As soon as they saw the girls they headed in their direction. But this time a tall boy with brown short hair and brown eyes was with them. She saw Alice's cheeks redden and Lily and Sabrina grinning a little. Ah, so this must be Frank Longbottom. The boys sat and started filling their plates with food. Frank looked at her and smiled.
"Hello, my name is Frank Longbottom. It's a pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand.
"I'm Alexis Keen. Pleasure to meet you, too." She replayed gently ignoring the extended hand by pointing to the breakfast as if saying: 'My hands are dirty' even though there wasn't a crumb on them.
"Hey, Alice." The boy smiled at the girl next to Alexis. She smiled at him too, greeting him in return.
"When would we know what classes do we have?" asked Alexis.
"Oh, Professor McGonagall should be handing out the schedules any time now…" just as Lily was replaying a piece of parchment was given to her. The Professor handed them their programs and passed them to give other students theirs.
Alexis looked at hers. She had double DADA, then a free period, lunch, then Charms and double Potions. She noticed that nowhere was written who they have those classes with.
"How do we know who which house we have the classes with?"
"Oh, out classes are mixed from all sixth years wanting to take a selected class."
"You know, for someone who reads as much as you do, you sure ask some stupid questions." Laughed Sirius.
"Watch it, Black. I've got claws." Answered Alexis jokingly. The girls grinned while the boys laughed and Sirius wolf-whistled.
"What do you have first?" Asked Sabrina.
"Double DADA."
"We have it too." Remus said as he pointed to all the boys.
"Us too." Said Alice seeing all the girls' programs.
"Yeah, our whole program for today is the same. I can't believe I'm actually taking Potions. I thought I wouldn't pass. And I'm still not sure I'll be able to pass without some help." Sabrina complained while all of them were heading for class after getting their stuff from the common room.
"If you want to, I could help you." Said Remus with a smile.
Sirius clapped Remus on the back as James and Frank elbowed Remus.
"Way to go Moony! You finally got yourself a date." Joked Sirius.
"It's not a date. It's just helping out a friend. Sorry about him, Sabrina. He doesn't now of subtlety."
"That's OK. I've know him for five years." Her bell-like laughter rang through the halls.
"What is this? Gang up on Padfoot day?" Pouted the black-haired male.
"Nothing personal mate, but you could be pretty careless with your words sometimes." Said James but his words were light and friendly.
"Yeah, yeah, don't try to sugarcoat it for me, mate."
They all laughed as they neared the classroom. They saw other student from all houses already waiting in front of the door. Just as they reached, it opened and all the students walked in. The 9 of them sat in the front with the girls in the front and the boys taking the seats behind them. As they all looked toward the desk they saw a man no older then 25 with blond hair and green eyes. He was wearing blue worn jeans, white sneakers, black shirt and black robes. He was wearing thin-rimmed glasses and as he looked at them the whole class quieted down. He stood up and walked in front of his desk. He just kept looking at them, his stare unnerving most students. Finally, he spoke.
"Good morning. My name is Professor Lucas Wyatt, and I'm going to be your new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher." His voice was rough and somewhat strained, but flowed smoothly through their ears. One Ravenclaw student, a girl with dark curly hair raised her hand. The Professor pointed at her giving her permission to speak.
"Excuse me, Professor, but the Headmaster didn't say anything about a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher."
"Yes, hiring me was a last minute decision. The teacher that was expected to teach you failed to show up so I was asked by Professor Dumbledore to substitute. Now, I'll ask you to put your wands away. We're not going to need them for today's lesson."
Everybody groaned. It was never a good thing when a teacher gave the 'Wands away' order. Students began putting their wands in their bags apart from Alexis, James and Sirius. The three of them just stood there unmoving.
"You three, I said something: put the wands away."
Not one of them moved. The Professor strode over to them and loomed over them but it didn't faze them.
"No can do, Professor." Grinned Sirius.
"Yeah, no way are we going to let ourselves be unprotected." Added James.
"I'm sorry, sir, but that's one order we cannot follow." Said Alexis.
Suddenly the Professor smiled.
"Excellent! 20 point to Gryffindor. Each. Well, at least the 3 of you have some sense of self preservation." He turned toward the rest of the class. "Lesson number one: never let go of your wand. It's your only protection against enemies. By doing what I told you, you've put your lives in danger."
"But sir, we're in a classroom. There's no real danger."
'Ouch,' thought Alexis 'that was so not the right thing to say.' And she was right. Professor Wyatt gave the same girl who had asked the previous question such a look that she visibly flinched.
"The moment you let your guard down is the moment you die. It's not about being in a classroom, it's about doing as you're told, believing way too easy and not being vigilant." Surprisingly it was Alexis who answered her. Professor Wyatt looked at the Gryffindor girl with surprise, but he was pleased. Her answer could, no, would have been his, had she not been faster.
"Very well said, Ms…"
"Keen, Alexis Keen."
"Ms. Keen. Another 15 points. If you continue like that I'll have to retire and let you take over the class." The joking tone lifted the tense atmosphere and the class relaxed.
"OK, let's proceed. The first thing I'm going to do is ask you a couple of questions to get a feel of your knowledge of the subject and no, your OWL results tell me nothing of your field experience. To start off, who can tell me what a boggart is?"
Alexis' hand along with few others's including Remus, Lily, James and Sirius. Remus was chosen to answer.
"A boggart is a shape-shifter that takes on the form of its intended victim's worst fear. It likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, such as closets and cabinents. Since a boggart changes shape upon sight, few know what one looks like in unaltered form."
"Good, 15 points for Gryffindor. Now who can tell me what a Kelpie is and how to defeat them?"
"A Kelpie is a water demon native to Britain and Ireland. Able to take any form, they usually take the form of a horse with a bullrush mane. After luring unwary travelers onto their backs, they drag them underwater and eat them, allowing the entrails to float to the surface of the water. A Kelpie can be rendered harmless by using a Placement Charm to put a bridle over the creature's head. The largest reported Kelpie is the Loch Ness Monster, who resides in Loch Ness, Scotland." said Snape.
"Good, 20 points to Slytherin. Now, for the real challenge. What is Inferius and which spells can be used to defend against them?"
Alexis' hand shot up and this time only Lily's, Remus' and Snape's joined hers.
"Ms. Keen."
"An Inferius is the dead body of a human reanimated by a Dark Wizard, similar to a zombie. They have no free will, and cannot think for themselves; their purpose is merely to serve as puppets of the Dark Wizard who reanimated them. Inferi are created through the magical branch of Dark Arts called Necromancy. The last wizard known to use them was Gellert Grindelwald. Inferi are resistant to most spells: they cannot feel pain, and thus are unaffected by many attacks whose main effect is pain. Since Inferi are creatures of the dark, they dislike light and heat. Therefore, most effective spell against them is a fire-summoning spell, such as Incendio, Lacarnum Inflammare or Fiendfyre."
"Hm, tell me, , what kind of spell is Evanesco and what's its etymology?"
"It's a Vanishing spell, it makes an object disappear. It comes from "evanescence", something that is fleeting or disappears, and the Latin evanesco, "disappear"."
"And where do vanished objects go?"
"Into non-being, which is to say, everything."
"I'm impressed. You sure you're in the right house. 'Cus you seem to really like reading." he joked making Alexis blush. As James looked at Sirius he could see his friend frowning. 'Maybe there was hope after all.' Thought James with a grin.
"Yes, sir." She replayed sheepishly.
"Another 20 points to Gryffindor. OK, gathering all your answers, I can conclude that your current level is acceptable, but not perfect. So, we'll begin with curses and counter curses, we'll study creatures like Ghouls, Vampires, Veelas, Werewolves and the like more in-depth, and we'll study the Unforgivable curses. Most importantly, we'll start learning nonverbal spellcasting. Now, I want as a homework everyone of you to write an essay, the length doesn't matter, about your favorite curse or spell, why do you like it, interesting facts about it, you may write a story about how it helped you: anything is game. Then next time we'll be practicing them. Only those which are remotely safe. Maybe you'll find someone else's favorite spell rather interesting."
"Excuse me sir, what if we choose one of the Unforgivables."
Professor Wyatt looked at the Slytherin boy that asked the question.
"If you do, I would advise against ever coming back to my classroom. Good bye."
"Good bye, Professor."
The whole class said as they made it for the door all of them talking excitedly about their new teacher. The Marauders plus Frank and the girls headed toward the Common Room to enjoy their free period, when Alexis suddenly stopped.
"I'll see you guys later, OK."
"Something wrong?" inquired Sirius.
"No." 'Way too fast, Alexis' "Well, see I had this dream last night. And I want to see if there is something in the library to help me find out what its meaning is."
"What was it about?" asked Remus.
"It's strange but I think it was a werewolf." Alexis said carefully and quietly, as if saying it out loud would make the creature appear.
Remus felt his heart beat jump, his eyes widen a little and he felt the guys tensing around him.
"You dream of creatures like that often?" asked Frank in a teasing manner but his undertone was serious.
"NO, that's why I want to find out more. So, while you guys waste your time in leisurely goodness, I'll go storm the library." joked Alexis. As she tuned she felt someone grab her hand. She looked at Sirius. He was smiling but it was tight-lipped.
"Come on, you don't want to spend all your free time on the library. We lost you to it once, not today. Now, hurry." And he dragged her towards the Portrait of the Pink Lady. The rest of the Marauders let out a sigh of relief as their group went to enjoy their rest.
Lunch was fun with the boys cracking jokes. Even Lily was laughing along and that obviously made James pleased because he had a goofy smile on his face the whole time. After that all of them had Charms together. Alexis already knew Professor Flitwick and liked him so it was fun. They learned of the Aguamenti Charm which made water shoot out of the caster's wand. To her surprise she tied with Sirius and James in doing the charm, which ended in three shots of water hosting down Professor Flitwick. But since he said that combined effort like theirs could really help in extinguishing larger fires he didn't punish them. During Potions, which was one of Alexis' strong subject, Professor Slughorn spend a lot of time on praising her spirit for morning exercise and asking her more questions about her family. Finally it was time to get to brewing. Alexis was paired up with Sirius, which broke the James/Sirius pair. James, to his utmost delight, was paired with Lily. When she tried to protest Slughorn only said that it was to balance things out: put the good with the bad. During the time of 2 hours, however, Alexis found out that Sirius wasn't bad at brewing, he was just lazy. If he actually decided, he could ace that class. His only excuse was that the needed Potions he had to know, he already knew, so why waste time. With that and dinner, she thought her first day of classes was very productive. Little did she know it was far from over.
Alexis made her way through another shelf full of books. She had been in here almost an hour and a half, which left her with only half an hour until curfew. She had found quite a lot of information on werewolves, but not much on their appearance in dreams. She could feel her curiosity getting the better of her and it irritated her that she couldn't satisfy it. Why had she seen that? She had done some calculation and found that the next full moon was on Saturday, the 23rd of September. Was something supposed to happen then? Was that all it was: a 'be careful on the 23rd of September' warning. She felt that wasn't right. There had to be something more. She saw a book called 'The Hidden Meaning of Dreams'. She opened it and saw an index categorizing the subjects in alphabetical order. She opened on 'werewolf'.
"Seeing a werewolf in your dream indicates that something in your life is not what it seems. It is symbolic of fear, repressed anger, and uncontrollable violence."
'Uncontrollable violence' now that sounded wrong. She wasn't a violent person. Fear, she admitted may have been right: thanks to Slughorn's big mouth the whole school would know about her family by tomorrow. Repressed anger was understandable. Who wouldn't be after seeing their parents die? She was angry alright. But violent? That was just not in her repertoire.
"Ms. Keen, please return the books you have no intention of checking out to their places and go to your Common Room. It's nearing the 10 o'clock curfew."
"Thank you, Madam Pince. Will do."
Alexis decided to keep the book she had been reading. It might turn out to be useful in the future. As she walked down the torch-lit hallways, she looked at her watch. It was already 10 past 10 and if she was seen she'll surely get detention and maybe even loose some of her newly won points. She quickened her pace and just as she rounded the corner she heard a mew followed by a voice.
"Yes, my little one, just guide me to that rule breaker."
She immediately recognized Filch and turning on her heels she fled toward the other end of the hallway. She had tried to take a shortcut to the Tower, but it appeared she had no choice but to take the long way now. Almost sprinting to the stairs leading up she was taking three at a time when she felt her leg fall through. She looked down, her leg disappearing to the middle of her calf inside the step. She tried getting out but it was useless: she just couldn't pull herself up. Just as she put the book aside to free her arms and try using the railing to pull herself up, she again heard steps coming her way. Prepared to see Filch's face grinning sadistically at her, she gave a surprised squeak when she was grabbed by her arm and pulled up. She looked at the face of the one who pulled her and all she could do was stare.
OK, first thing first: I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE BUT IT'S BEEN A HELL OF A COUPLE OF WEEKS. MY TEACHERS SEEM TO HAVE DECIDED WE DON'T NEED FREE TIME: I HAD A TEST EVERY DAY, I HAD TO LEARN 33 PAGES FOR MY IT TEST (AND I MEAN BY HEART), PLUS I HAVE STATISTICS WHICH IS ABOUT THE WORST SUBJEXT EVER INVENTED. THANKFULY IT IS EXPECTED TO BE CALMER IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO, SO I'LL TRY AND GET ANOTHER UPDATE BY THEN.
I HOPE YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER. IF ANYONE HAS ANY GUESSES ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE ONE WHO PULLED ALEXIS I DON'T MIND READING YOUR THOUGHTS.
PLEASE READ&REVIEW