Here's Part Two of Chapter Nine, in other words, a continuation of a chapter I split into two. So I apologise if the chapter seems a bit... short... or um, abrupt (?) Mostly interaction with friends (ugh I always fret over writing interactions 'cuz it's easy to write them wrong/out of character...). Hope you guys'll enjoy reading this anyway.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything canon to Naruto or Harry Potter.
[ "Normal speech in English/Normal speech in another language ('un-translated')"
"Normal speech in another language ('translated')."
§Parseltongue ('translated' obviously)§
Thoughts/Mind speech/Otherworldly (including prophesies) speech/letter writing/emphasised words
cancelled words (because doesn't seem to allow for strikethrough effects) ]
*Speech/Mind-speech in bold = demon speech/mind-speech
and when something is written in someone else's handwriting but on the same paper e.g. in a letter, it'll be in bold:
[ person A's writing vs person B's writing ]
Chapter Nine, Part Two: Non-Lessons
... So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
Defence Against the Dark Arts, DADA for short, had a period after lunch. And Hari was looking forward to it. Riddle had told introduced her to Defence and the Dark Arts, and it sounded really fun (even though she was a bit wary about the Dark Arts bit). However, Professor Quirrel turned out to be as terrible a teacher as Professor Binns. The only interesting thing about Quirrel was the stories he told on the reason for the garlic smell that was always in the air around him, and the origins of his purple turban. He still gave her a funny feeling which Kurama was extremely suspicious about, and the occasional pain in her scar, which Riddle did not like (because only he was allowed to give her headaches in that way).
However, the class was certainly made a lot more bearable by the presence of the Slytherins. It was the first lesson that the Badgers were sharing with the Snakes, and therefore, incidentally, the first time Hari got to talk to Draco since school started, and Hari was quite justified in looking forward to it. After all, the Slytherin boy seemed like he might have been avoiding her since the Sorting, and she did recall the conversation in Madam Malkin's shop about his distaste for Hufflepuff.
Ten minutes before the class began, Hari was seated at a desk situated right in the middle of the empty room (because Hermione had rushed the three of them to class as she didn't want to be late herself), thinking up a prank, which was proving a lot harder than she expected, mainly because she wasn't sure who to target. The Hufflepuffs seemed like they might take her pranks in stride and with good humour, but they were so nice. And she couldn't decide which House to target (since there weren't any individuals who annoyed her to get specially pranked yet, though if she found out that Draco was indeed ignoring her, and the reason was her House… Well she would show him what it's like to underestimate the supposed House of the Nice and Friendly Badgers.)
Just as Hari decided Gryffindor would be good, since the Weasley twins were there, a small group of Hufflepuffs entered the classroom, followed by a small group of Slytherins who chose to linger at the threshold of the classroom. Hari glanced to the side and waved at Susan, Hannah, Ernie and Megan, indicating for them to sit by themselves today.
Hari immediately kept her pencil and notebook, taking out the DADA textbook instead. She could automatically sense Draco's magical chakra signature (a result of three days of constantly looking out for him, trying to sense him and approach him) in the group and turned. Sure enough, he was with his two minions, a Slytherin girl that might look pretty if she smiled (genuine smiles) more, and the dark-skinned Slytherin boy who was Sorted last. What was his name? Some weird name that sounded very foreign.
"Draco, can I sit somewhere with you? Blaise can sit with Crabbe or Goyle," Hari heard the girl saying (in a disgustingly sweet voice) as she focused her hearing, which was improved by her time as a kunoichi as well as Kurama's presence.
Blaise. Right. What was the surname? Z-something?
Zabini. He's probably the son of the Black Widow, Serafina Zabini, Riddle said. A Neutral Pureblood, a dark beauty who remarried five times—at least, that was the count the last time we met—due to all her husbands dying mysteriously and each one leaving her with a lot of gold.
"Draaaco~ there's a stupid Hufflepuff sitting in one of the good seats. Let's make him move. The professor's not here yet anyway."
Her voice was decidedly annoying, like green apples painted red and perhaps soaked in so much sugared water that it became wrinkled. Hari rocked backwards—dangerously, Riddle added—on her chair (until the chair was leaning backwards on two legs) and grinned at the group near the door with her head tilted back, which meant that her view of them was upside-down.
"Hello, said Hufflepuff can hear you and said Hufflepuff is a 'her' not a 'him'," Hari said, and grinned further when she saw Draco blink slowly at her, as if he couldn't quite comprehend seeing her, and the Slytherin girl gasp as her face became a dried tomato—scrunched up and red.
"Hari?" Draco said tentatively (as if he didn't quite believe who it was that he was seeing), almost at the same time as Slytherin Girl who sneered and said, "You're a girl? Look at that hair! Did someone jinx your hair so that you had to cut it off yourself? Or is that some sort of Muggle hair style?"
"Yes, Draco. Finally! I was becoming quite convinced that you'd forgotten about my existence!" Hari exclaimed, ignoring Slytherin Girl (her hair was quite fine, thank you very much, and despite what people may think, she had tried to comb it neat before). "I know that we established how much or a reckless idiot I am, so maybe that's why you forgot me since I ended up in Hufflepuff, hence I apologise for not getting into Gryffindor, but it really was the Sorting Hat's fault. It did consider Gryffindor, you know, but I think it thought sending me to Hufflepuff was a lot more entertaining or something."
"Hey, Mudblood! I was talking to you! And who said you could talk to my Draco like that?" Slytherin Girl fumed. By then, Hari's housemates were watching the scene, along with Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. At this point, only Riddle's lessons on how to deal with people like her prevented Hari from doing what she might have done in the previous life i.e. jumping on the table and yelling at the girl, or punching her and starting a catfight, or throwing anything within reach at her, or anything equally Gryffindorish.
Instead, Hari focused on Draco who looked very exasperated, and infinitely better to look at than Slytherin Girl. His why-does-this-happen-to-me face was rather entertaining. Hari grinned.
"Come on, Draco. I saved you a seat," she said and gestured to the table beside hers. "Unless you prefer to sit with your housemates. Then you'd have to find a seat elsewhere 'cause I'm not moving."
(What Hari didn't add was that she would be quite disappointed if he didn't join her because she might then end up either sitting alone, which she didn't really didn't like to do, or sitting with Zacharias Smith, which was bound to happen since Wayne and Justin were bound to sit together instead of with him, and she'd definitely prefer sitting alone than with that annoying guy.)
But Hari didn't have to worry, because Draco walked over to her table and sat on her left, despite Slytherin Girl's loud gasp of outrage. Hari was very pleased (and smug).
"Better a Hufflepuff than a Gryffindor, I suppose," the Malfoy scion said with a sigh. "Though it would have been nicer if you were smart enough to get into Ravenclaw."
"Nah, the Hat actually considered me more Slytherin than Ravenclaw," Hari replied as she rocked her chair back to its original position, keeping to herself the fact that the Hat had almost put her in Ravenclaw for the fun of it. She still shuddered at the thought of all those books and studying.
"Wait a minute," Slytherin Girl said, storming towards them. "Who do you think you are? Draco—"
"I believe that would be Harriet Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived," Blaise commented lightly, interrupting Slytherin Girl. He sounded amused, which Hari decided must be a good thing. He gestured at her. "The scar on her forehead was quite obvious when she leaned backwards earlier."
His comment was quite true, as the messy bangs that usually covered the lightning-shaped scar had flopped away from her forehead when she tilted her head to look at them upside-down. Hari's hair did not defy gravity after all, unlike a certain silver-haired copycat shinobi. Riddle thought it was a wonder that Slytherin Girl had managed to miss the scar he had marked her with.
Seriously… Hari turned to Draco, who was watching them warily.
"Who?" Hari deadpanned, and Riddle chuckled when Draco sighed a bigger sigh and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where they were. (Hari personally thought that her resident Dark Lord should laugh more, no matter how creepy it was to hear him express genuine humour.)
"You kn—" Draco stopped. Hesitated. Then, "You must be suffering from a very bad case of mental retardation. Would you like to visit the Hospital Wing? If a Killing Curse rebounded off your forehead leaves behind side-effects which consists of brain damage and occasional lapse in memory—"
"Fine. Fine. I couldn't resist," Hari said sheepishly, flapping her hands as if she could wave his words away.
"Draco, are you friends with her?" Slytherin Girl demanded, having watched their interaction and didn't seem to be able to believe her eyes.
But before Draco could reply, Hari cut in blithely, "I don't think so, not yet at least. I'm not sure how well Malfoy here understands the concept of 'friends', that is, people who are not just allies or followers or minions."
Draco made an indignant sound, but did not say anything as Slytherin Girl turned to Hari with narrowed eyes. "Then who do you think you are to him?"
"Oh, someone who so happens to be the Girl-Who-Lived and the wizarding world's Saviour, which means an excellent potential ally and connection which he could benefit from later in his potential political career… or even his status in school," Hari replied, unbothered. Riddle had already explained all this to her, amongst other things, such as the Slytherin Hierarchy, which confused her immensely. She didn't really care though.
Draco was only an eleven-year-old boy brought up in a pureblood Slytherin family, taught their beliefs and way of life, but ultimately, still a young child (with an impressionable mind) and Hari was definitely teaching him what true friendship was and hoping he'd learn by the end of the year, preferably without too extreme a demonstration of it i.e. a very dangerous situation that would call upon utmost trust, loyalty and selflessness or some tragic death.
For a moment there, you sounded like a Slytherin with the heart of Hufflepuff, Riddle commented idly.
I'm sure she got her snake mind from you. She used to work her Therapy-no-Jutsu in a more… Gryffindor way, Kurama responded. He was mostly silent these days, and Hari swears he's become rather lazy from a lack of 'activity', sleeping the days away within her. Hari wasn't sure if she minded—on one hand, that meant no constant danger of dying or getting seriously hurt (which used to happen quite often back in the shinobi days and when Hari had yet to remember her past life), but on the other hand, it meant less excitement and Hari somewhat missed the adrenaline rushed days. Riddle would scowl whenever she mentioned her restlessness though—recklessness, he called it.
"But you're a Hufflepuff!" Slytherin Girl sounded very peeved. Hari raised an eyebrow.
"So?"
"Tch! Never mind!" Slytherin Girl exclaimed in response. "But I got Draco first. I've known him since forever. So go sit somewhere else for today. Maybe I'll let you sit with him some other time."
Hari scowled. Could she punch the girl, break her nose, and wipe everyone's memories after? Kami knows she learnt from Sakura how to punch someone properly… and effectively. (Sakura's punch was one punch from hell, surpassing all other kunoichi's super-punches. Then again, she was taught by Ol' Tsunade.)
Hebi-sensei, who is this girl? Hari asked. She felt Riddle mentally eying the girl with raised eyebrows.
I'm not sure. I don't think her parents were Death Eaters. The Parkinsons, perhaps? They're Dark supporters, but they didn't exactly join me. Like the Blacks. Well, except that brat but never mind him.
Hari decided not to ask for now, but filed away the fact that there was a 'Black brat' who was a Death Eater.
"Fine. So you got Draco first. But I got this seat first. So if you want to sit with him, you guys'll have to sit somewhere else," Hari drawled, in a rather good imitation of an arrogant Pureblood Slytherin. Naturally, Slytherin Girl was not pleased.
"Pansy, why don't you sit here?" Draco finally spoke up, and a glance at him told Hari that he looked as amused as Blaise, while he gestured to the empty tables and seats beside them, on the 'Slytherin side' of the room. "I don't think you can win an argument with Hari. Believe me, I've tried."
Slytherin-Girl-who-is-probably-Pansy-Parkinson looked very betrayed.
While the Malfoy brat is… right, I'm not sure how well this would bode for their relationship, Riddle pointed out.
Relationship? You mean in Slytherin? How so?
I wouldn't have to explain this to you if you paid more attention when I taught you about the hierarchy system in Slytherin!
It's long, boring and complicated. Like politics, Hari grumbled. Aloud, she asked Draco, "Are you… Uh…" The Prince of Slytherin. It's too early for him to be King. "… The Prince of Slytherin? Kami, that sounds weird."
Draco stared at her. "Yes, I suppose you could say that."
If you're going to be his friend, or, from his point of view, a beneficial ally, let him sit with the Slytherins. You can try and sit with him later on in the year, when his position is more secured, instructed Riddle.
I don't want to end up sitting with Smith! Hari protested.
"Why?"
"Because Smith is rude and selfish, and generally unpleasant," Hari replied, earning her a raised eyebrow from Draco, and realised that she had accidentally replied Draco's question with an answer meant for Riddle.
"I'm not sure how that is related?" Draco questioned, as if he were mildly concerned for her mental health. There was nothing wrong with her mental health, thank you very much.
And you've got two other voices in your head, Kurama commented unhelpfully. Hari ignored him.
"Well, are you willing to have a potential mark on your reputation as Slytherin Prince by choosing a Hufflepuff over one of your own, just to sit with me? Or whatever you think you might gain from sitting with me? Which, for today's lesson, isn't much, if anything at all," she said instead. "Because having me as your ally, acquaintance, whatever, is one thing. Sitting, for no reason I can see, with me, is another."
Draco's raised eyebrow went even higher, which Hari thought shouldn't be possible. But before he could say anything, Blaise cut in, laughing.
"Looks like Harriet Potter the Hufflepuff is rather interesting. Draco, can we keep her?"
"What?!" Probably-Parkinson spluttered—a very un-ladylike and un-Slytherin behaviour, Riddle observed.
"That depends," Draco told Blaise, before smirking at Hari. "Weren't you the one who wanted to be friends? And believe that I don't know what a 'friend' is? Perhaps you are right, but I have heard that friends do not have to sit beside each other for any reason aside from the fact that they are friends. And did you not want us to sit together? So why are you worrying about my reputation? I doubt you care about a Slytherin's reputation of all things. I don't think you're the type to care about others' reputations in relation to your own social status in the first place, and it's not like you can gain much by associating with Slytherins anyway. But no. You want to be friends. Is that the reason? In that case, well, correct me, Blaise, if I'm wrong, but isn't friendship, like any other relationship, a two-way thing? So allow me to sit here lest you have to sit alone, or sit with the terror you have named Smith."
"No, I don't think you're wrong. But I can't believe I'm hearing you say this," Blaise continued laughing. "And I'm the wrong person to ask about Hufflepuff relationships. I mean, look at my mother!"
"Yes, well, the only way to reason with a Badger is to speak their language," Draco replied casually. "Especially since said-Badger knows ours."
"Though one wonders how a Badger knows the language of Snakes," Blaise commented and smoothly slid into the seat at the table on the other side of her, which was incidentally, the 'Hufflepuff side' of the room. "Come on, Goyle. Sit down with me."
Hari chose not to mention that she did know the language of Snakes, literally. Instead, she watched as Goyle look exceedingly confused, looking back and forth from Blaise to Draco.
"But… Uh… Malfoy, I'm not a 'Puff," he finally said.
Draco rolled his eyes. "So? Go sit with Blaise."
Goyle blinked several times before moving to sit beside Blaise.
"Your minions are not very intelligent," Hari commented to Draco, who scoffed and replied, "They're minions. They only need enough intelligence to follow orders. Crabbe, go sit with Pansy."
"Ah, well, do introduce me to the rest of your… company," Hari said.
Draco gestured to Probably-Parkinson, "She's Pansy Parkinson, Pureblood. A possible candidate for a fiancé, if our parents decide to match-make us. Otherwise, I'd have to court her, assuming I grow to have feelings for her, but I'm eleven. So let's not think about that."
Then he gestured at Blaise, "He's Blaise Zabini, also a Pureblood. I think he might be thinking about being my friend as well, though we've all actually known one another since we were seven. The two of you will probably get along well. Too well, in fact."
Blaise was nodding along with a grin, and he stuck out a hand, "Pleasure to meet you, Harriet Potter."
Hari shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you too, Blaise Zabini. Can I call you Blaise?"
"Of course. Draco called you Hari, right? Can I call you Hari?"
Hari pretended to think about it. "I need a partner-in-crime. If you join me, you can call me Hari."
Blaise chuckled. "What does that entail?"
"Oh, the usual… Pranking, exasperating and annoying Draco being the main thing…"
"Count me in. I live to exasperate and annoy people," Blaise said, while Draco made an odd noise that sounded like he had tried to hold in a sputter. Then he made another sound, which was most definitely a groan.
"I should have known this was going to be a bad idea," he mumbled, his face in his hands.
"Don't worry, Draco. I won't exasperate or annoy you, let alone prank you," Parkinson said reassuringly from the other side. Blaise leaned across the space between their tables to whisper into Hari's ear.
"Be patient. She's not so bad some times. She's probably just jealous of you at the moment. I think we might be able to convert her. I've been trying to for years, but now that you're here, it should be easier."
"Jealous? Whatever for?" Hari whispered back.
"Draco's attention of course. And he chose to sit beside you instead of her. Don't understand why he did though. I mean, I'd rather sit with you. You're more fun. But Draco seems like he might enjoy Pansy's company more than yours."
They both turned to look at the Malfoy scion, who was alternating between giving them suspicious looks and greeting the table with his forehead.
"What are you two whispering about?" Draco demanded when he realised they were looking at him.
"Well—"
Just then, Professor Quirrel entered the classroom with a few other students behind him. He didn't have Professor Snape's dark aura, nor Professor McGonagall's commanding presence. The only thing about him that drew Hari's attention was a strange prickling sensation in her head, where her scar was. A bit like the feeling she sometimes gets when Riddle is agitated.
"Twitchy man, isn't he?" Blaise commented. Hari had to agree. He really didn't look like he was suitable to teach them—pale, nervous with eyes that darted about as if he was about to get attacked by eleven-year-olds. And she only noticed it then, but there was a funny smell about him. Garlic?
Soon the students that had just arrived settled down. Smith sat alone, at the back of the class, Wayne and Justin sat together, one pair of tables away from Blaise and Goyle. Hari recognised two of the Slytherins that had just entered, one of them courtesy of Riddle. Daphne Greengrass sat behind Parkinson, while Theodore Nott (his looks resembled his father's, and his father apparently served Riddle before) sat beside Crabbe. There were two other Slytherin girls that sat behind Daphne, whom neither Hari nor Riddle recognised.
And DADA class began. And it was a joke. Because Professor Quirrel could not teach. Oh, he tried to. Between the stuttering, the shaking hands and the overall frightened-to-death atmosphere surrounding him, the class learnt more by reading their textbooks than listening to him. And DADA was a lesson that should consist more practice than theory.
"We are going to fail our tests at this rate," Blaise muttered to Hari halfway through the lesson.
"There's always self-study and self-practice," Hari whispered back. Riddle would not accept failure, or even an ordinary pass, because he was the top of the class, and there was no way he was going to let his host accomplish any less than that. Hari had then reminded him about Hermione, and he merely told her she had better beat her.
"Self-study I can do. Self-practice?"
"Green sparks… Red sparks… Lighting and extinguishing your wand shouldn't be a problem," Hari replied, flipping through the DADA textbook. "Creating a smokescreen too. We can always practice the other spells on each other, or maybe Draco… We'll need to learn the counter-curses too though. They aren't in here. And there's stuff about Dark creatures…"
"Which I doubt we need any more than self-study for unless you're a Gryff. No way in hell am I going to visit the Forbidden Forest," Blaise commented, flipping through his as well. "Have you read the Fourth Year version?"
"No… It's for Fourth Year," Hari pointed out. "Why?"
"Some of the older students were talking about Unforgivable curses."
Hari studiously ignored the sudden excitement in her head, and asked, "What are they?"
Both Riddle and Blaise answered her. Blaise didn't sound as maliciously gleeful about the curses as Riddle, but he did sound interested. Hari decided to remind Riddle that it was his beloved 'Killing Curse' that betrayed him.
"M-Miss P-Potter a-and M-Mister B-Blai-Blaise… P-Please re-refrain from t-t-talking in c-class..." Professor Quirrel stuttered. Hari sighed. It wasn't that she disliked him or anything. The poor teacher looked like he should be at home resting with a hot water bottle instead of teaching.
Well, I don't like him, Riddle said, scowling in her mind. He's pathetic. I've finally figured out why he sounds off. That stutter. It sounds… fake. I could stutter better than him. And I don't stutter. So he's hiding behind that persona for some reason, and I don't care what the reason is, but… I cannot stand his acting.
Hari nearly rolled her eyes. They now have a suspicious teacher and all Riddle is concerned about is the man's acting. Hari, meanwhile, was more disturbed by the stabs of pain in her head whenever their eyes met. Riddle seemed unaffected by it, though he was aware of the occurrence.
So long as you stay alive, don't threaten my existence, continue helping me get a body, and stay at the top of the class, I don't care, he had said, when they talked about it.
After Defence lesson, they had a free period, and Hari was about to say goodbye to the Slytherins and look for Hermione and Ron, when Blaise asked her if she wanted to join them by the Black Lake, much to Pansy's grief.
"Can Hermione and Ron come along?" Hari asked.
Blaise frowned slightly, as he tried to identify their names. "Who?"
"Granger, a Mudb—Muggleborn Raven, and Weasley, a Lion, naturally," Draco replied with a sneer (the sneer wasn't nice, but Hari thought it was good of him to make an effort to avoid saying 'Mudblood' and 'Weasel' like she knew he wanted to). "I don't think either would enjoy spending time in our company."
"Why is she even in our company?" Parkinson demanded. Hari couldn't help but realise that Blaise was right. She was acting like Ino or Sakura whenever Naruko used to try and sit with Sasuke just to annoy him (back in the Academy days, after Naruko convinced herself that sitting beside the 'teme' would irritate him more than it would irritate her). But she had never succeeded in getting either Sakura or Ino to annoy or exasperate Sasuke (on purpose), so she wondered if a team up between Blaise and Hari would make it easier to convince Parkinson.
"In that case, I should probably go. Either of them would not be pleased if I make them wait with each other. Don't really understand why they just can't get along for a few minutes without me," Hari said, hefting her satchel over her shoulder.
"I don't blame them, really. That Weasley is worse than a Muggleborn, A complete shame to Wizardkind," Draco commented almost scathingly. "And Granger is just another Muggleborn know-it-all."
Hari swallowed and nearly choked on her own laughter, because even though she knew Draco had a point (regarding Hermione being smarter than Ron, and needing help in not… well, seeming like a know-it-all), it was rather unkind.
It didn't help when she found them standing outside the Great Hall, Hermione quoting from Hogwarts a History—again—and Ron looking like he would have punched her if she hadn't been a girl.
Hari had little doubt that by the end of the year, she would have remembered that History book by page, paragraph, line and word, courtesy of Hermione's constant quotations and reminders. Which would be more than Professor Binns would probably ever teach.
That's all for now~ Please review! Feel free to leave comments or questions or PM me about any concerns you might have. FYI, I'm thinking of writing a one-shot side-fic for the 100th reviewer if said reviewer has any side-fic prompts or ideas for me. I'm new to writing with prompts, but I've thought about doing one before. So 100th-Reviwer-san, it's up to you if you want to take this up~
Also, I'm still looking for a beta. Anyone?
Next Update: By the end of July (Yeah that's three months. I'd say June, but I really don't know how busy I'll get so I'm playing it safe. Sorry for having to make you guys wait ^^")