It's been a lot longer than I initially intended to make you all wait for this chapter, but a lot of things happened. First, I couldn't find my copy of HPCS, and then I got to teaching and had to do prep work for my classes, and well...life happened! Still, I've been dutifully working on this when I get a chance and you now have chapter ten! I'm also going to begin working on another story, but this is still my primary focus. I got the idea for the other one, and couldn't deny my creative outlet, especially since I couldn't find any story like it on here. I'll upload it eventually. R & R. :)
Anyway, thanks to Lollipops101, Cherrie, Lillypheonix, & khaoula McGamoura for reviewing. Also, thanks to Cdlindsey for story alerting.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K Rowling does!
Minerva woke up to the smell of coffee. She groaned and turned over in bed, pulling the covers up over her head. Coffee from Albus meant that school was starting again, and that meant she had to replace her normal self with her cold, strict façade again. She had to start it last night, when dealing with two particular 2nd years. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter decided to fly a wretched car to Hogwarts and expose themselves.
Albus had obviously heard his wife's moan as the door seemed to open by itself, letting in a cold draft of air, as well as intensifying the intoxicating smell of coffee. Oh, how she loved and hated this man! Sighing, she pulled herself out of bed and wrapped a robe around her small frame. "There better be bacon waiting for me in the Great Hall, or you're going to have one mad cat on your hands, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."
As expected, this was simply met with a good hearted laugh from her husband. Surely, she wouldn't be angry at him for waking her up in plenty of time to get ready for class. Stalking to the kitchen, Minerva conjured a mug and filled it with black coffee, inhaling the majestic aroma.
Giving Albus a quick kiss, she went to go get ready for school: replacing her tartan pajamas with a set of emerald green robes. Not wanting to bother with her hair today, Minerva tied it into a tight bun with the assistance of a little bit of magic and placed a pointed hat over the top.
Today, she would teach a double with 4th year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, followed by a single with 3rd year Slytherins and Ravenclaws. After lunch, she had a single with 1st year Gryffindors and Slytherins, followed by a double with her 6th year N.E.W.T.s students. She was most concerned about her 1st year class. Any class with Gryffindors and Slytherins in it tended to go poorly.
Hurrying to finish getting ready as she still had to pass out Gryffindor's schedules, Minerva downed the rest of her coffee and left her private chambers with Albus following closely behind her.
Upon reaching the Great Hall, Minerva noticed that half of her pupils were already seated at Gryffindor table. Therefore, she immediately began passing out schedules, occasionally stopping to make small talk with an older student or give advice to a younger one.
More and more Gryffindors were piling into the Great Hall and she found herself left with only a few schedules. One of which was Annabelle, but she also had Fred, George, and Ginerva Weasley's as well. Somehow, she could only imagine that Fred and George were up to no good, where as she had no clue what the young woman were up to. She only hoped that they weren't with the troublesome twins.
Making her way to the head table, she settled into a seat next to Albus and began to pile her plate with food, including lots of bacon. Minerva kept her eyes fixed on the entrance to the Great Hall, praying that Ginny and Annabelle would come through at any moment.
To her relief, two bubbly first years soon came dashing into the great hall. They slid into their seats and Ginny immediately began to eat. Almost immediately thereafter, the morning post arrived and Minerva was pleased to see Myranda flying her way. It was rare that her mother wrote to her now, and so she was pleased to receive something from her.
Petting the small owl, Minerva removed its burden and began to unfold the letter as a crash erupted at the Gryffindor table. In front of Miss & Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Longbottom& Miss Wyte sat a wretched looking owl. It had knocked over multiple trays of food and seemed to be immobilized until it suddenly hopped up and brought the piece of red parchment to Mr. Weasley.
Slowly, the neglected letter began to smoke at the corners and this, apparently, did the job. Mr. Weasley reached out and took the letter into his hand, releasing it from Errol's beak and slitting it open. Mr. Longbottom had plugged his ears and soon it was clear as to why. Minerva caught sight of the many gaping mouths around the Great Hall and sighed. Mrs. Weasley never did anything half heartedly. This was going to be bad.
Annabelle stared at the envelope in wonder as it began to speak, more like scream, in a woman's voice. "STEALING THE CAR. I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE."
Annabelle continued to look on in horror as Ron Weasley sank lower into his chair, so that only his crimson forehead could be seen above the table.
"LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED"
Looking from Ron to Harry and finally settling on Ginny's own horrified face, Annabelle raised a questioning eyebrow which was ignored because the envelope continued to spew.
"ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED-YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME."
Ginny gave a sigh of relief and turned back to her porridge. Annabelle was about to ask what in the hell was going on when a hand rested on both hers and Ginny's shoulders. They gave each other a glance and slowly turned around, worried that they were already in trouble on the first day! However, Minerva simply wanted to give them their schedules it seemed.
"I expect to see you both on time for Transfiguration this afternoon, but first, I believe you need to head down to the dungeons for double potions with Professor Snape." With this, the stern witch made her way back to the head table and sat down next to her husband for the second time that morning. Both Minerva and Annabelle finished their breakfast quickly and made their way to their respective classrooms.
Minerva caught sight of the twins on the way to her office and sent their schedules to them, not bothering to stop and hand it off. They didn't seem to be doing anything too out of the ordinary, so she let it be. There was no need to hand out detentions before the first class even took place. Of course, she'd already broken that rule, but she hadn't officially determined what their detention would be, so she didn't consider it handing out detentions yet.
Annabelle reached the potions classroom and walked inside with Ginny. About half of their class appeared to be there already and the pair moved to sit together at a desk. Soon, a greasy haired man in a black cloak came swooping into the room and immediately began a lecturing the first years profusely. They were to bring all of their supplies next time they had his class, but today they only took notes. Since the class was full of Ravenclaws, Annabelle was not completely singled out for her intelligence. It was difficult to outshine a classroom full of Ravenclaws when it came to wits.
Moving on to History of Magic, Ginny and Annabelle snagged two seats in the front and were surprised to see that their teacher was actually a ghost! However, as the shock wore off, so did their interest. Annabelle took notes all throughout the class, but even she was annoyed by his tedious droning by the time lunch rolled around.
Lunch went smoothly and soon the pair was running up to the Transfiguration room, in hopes of being early and grabbing seats in the front row again. Having been distracted, talking to one another, they didn't see the tall figure in front of them until it was too late. They collided with Professor McGonagall and fell backwards and landed on their rumps, both of them scowling. However, their professor was also sitting on the ground, giving the pair a hearty glare.
Annabelle was the first to recover and jumped up, her face bright red. "Oh, Professor, I'm so sorry!" Now, Ginny had found her legs and stood beside Annabelle, looking thoroughly embarrassed herself. "We were excited, professor. We didn't mean to run into you. Really."
Watching how upset her pupils were, Minerva decided not to punish them for running around the school. "I suggest you watch where you're going next time." Pushing herself off the ground, the professor grimaced. She had certainly bruised more than her ego with that hit. "Also, know that next time you will be punished for your foolishness. So, don't let it happen again." Now, Minerva pushed open the door to her classroom and waved the two first years in. "I expect the rest of your class will be arriving soon, but I suggest you go ahead and take your seats and get your books out. You'll be learning theories today."
Minerva then stalked out of the room, only to turn into the form of her animagus. It was a ritual for her to amaze the first years with her sudden transformations. Her biggest disappointment this year, would be that Annabelle already knew about it, so there was no need to amaze her like everyone else. Sauntering back into the classroom, she leaped onto the desk and situated herself so that she was comfortable to watch the students file in.
Finally, all of her first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were seated and quietly talking, waiting for their teacher to appear. The only thing that stuck out to Minerva was the occasional glance she continued to get from Annabelle as she spoke with Miss Weasley. After another minute or so, she hopped from the desk, turning back into her human form as she did so.
Annabelle had been waiting for something to happen for over ten minutes now and she couldn't help but gasp and applaud with everyone else when it finally occurred. Her teacher was so magnificent.
Minerva's eyes scanned the room and once she had put every face to memory, she began her lecture. "First years, transfiguration is some of the most intricate and dangerous magic you will learn during your time at Hogwarts. Anyone I catch messing around in my class will leave and not come back." She paused and tapped her fingers on a brunette's desk, smiling almost maliciously. "Do we understand one another?"
At a multitude of nods from around the room, Minerva persisted on with the class. She instructed them to take notes on parchment, and by the end of class she had already given them an assignment which would be due on Friday at the beginning of class. They needed to write a one foot essay on the uses and dangers of transfiguration. Surely, with everything they talked about, it would be easy to complete for most of the students. Most of her Gryffindors and Slytherins seemed to be bright enough, and there weren't any major rivalries within her classroom yet. Minerva sighed and began to prepare for her N.E.W.T.'s class.
Annabelle and Ginny meandered toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, not sure they were looking forward to this class. Ginny had seen him at his book signing and the man seemed to be overly egoistic. He may have a nice smile, but that nice smile was found on a rather large head, and big heads weren't very attractive to either witch. Reaching the classroom, they knew that this was going to be a day that they would remember for a long time to come.
The walls were littered with pictures of Professor Lockhart, all of them with his trademark smile. They groaned to themselves and made their way into the room, where a flock of Slytherin girls were fawning over him. Surely, they realized that he was not all that smart, even if he had been sorted into Ravenclaw for some unknown reason.
They sat through the lesson, and Annabelle continued to take notes, where as Ginny preferred to pass notes. Of course, she only passed notes with Annabelle, so it was easy enough to do, but that didn't keep Annabelle from worrying.
Surely enough, Professor Lockhart called the two of them up to his office at the end of the class, looking very disappointed. Annabelle was just waiting for a lecture when he smiled sadly. "Now, ladies, why is it that you don't look excited to be spending time with me? Surely, you've noticed that I'm a wonderful teacher, yet you seem so down. Did old Professor McGonagall turn you sour?"
Annabelle's nostrils flared, eerily similar to "old Professor McGonagall's," but she dutifully kept her lips sealed.
"My dear girls, don't let her bring you down. She means well, but she's getting old and bitter, so her meaning gets lost in the communication. Don't worry about her." With that he patted each girl on the top of the head and reached behind him to grab a set of pictures. He quickly signed them and handed them to either girl. "There! That should cheer you two up!"
Again, they didn't smile, but he let it be. Obviously, the transfiguration was way too hard on them. He waved them off and watched as they made their way out of his classroom.
The moment they were out of his classroom, they dashed for the nearest trash can and disposed of the photos. That man was so full of himself! After getting rid of their autographed pictures, they walked toward the entrance hall, hoping to roam the grounds a little before dinner.
They walked around the lake and begun to discuss their classes. They'd have Astronomy tonight. They'd also have Herbology, Charms, Potions, and History of Magic tomorrow. On Saturday, they were scheduled to have their first flying lesson, and Annabelle couldn't be more excited.
After a short while, the pair headed to the Great Hall for dinner and then quickly made their way to bed. It was going to be a long week.