Chapter Ten

A jolly surprise greeted fifth-years Wednesday morning as they strode to Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Hagrid stood with a wide grin, and for once there was no cage of mysterious monsters hovering next to him. As the class filed in, he spread his hands before himself, speaking with dramatis and jolliness:

"I've got a real treat for you lot today- one of me own fav'rite students 'as come back to teach a class! 'E's just 'round this way, follow me!"

Aspen exchanged an excited glance with a worried Ben and started to follow Hagrid, who led them down toward the Black Lake. Aspen gasped as she saw who stood on its shore- she had only heard of him, but by the smile on James Potter's face, her guess was right. The baby dragon being fed a dead chicken at the man's feet confirmed her guess.

Hagrid paused a meter away from him and gestured grandly. "Meet Charlie Weasley!"

"Uncle Charlie!" James whispered, eyes shining with excitement.

Charlie Weasley stood with short, scruffy ginger hair and twinkling ember eyes atop a stout frame, feeding an olive-green dragon that danced around his feet. He turned to the class with a dazzling grin, easily charming Aubrey and Crystal Rousseau.

"Hot and dangerous," Aubrey whispered to Aspen. "Wonder why no witch has snagged him yet?"

Charlie held up a hand and waved, revealing one finger had been snapped in half at some point. He wore tailored black gloves, and was apparently wearing his usual dragon-handling uniform.

"Greetings, class!" He called, and a few Good mornings were mumbled in reply. "It is to my fortune that Professor Hagrid invited me to teach all of you lovely students about my favorite subject: dragons."

Aspen immediately joined the club of students now in love with Charlie Weasley. What is it with these Weasleys? Aspen wondered. First Ginny becomes my idol, then Victoire one of my admittedly under-appreciated friends, Ron saved the world with Professor Potter, now Charlie's brilliant… There's a recurring theme here.

"Here I have Nora, the child of a dragon given to me by none other than Professor Hagrid," Charlie said, causing a booming smile on Hagrid's face. "A Norwegian Ridgeback, approximately eight months old. Still a baby."

The "baby" was approximately the size of a sheepdog. As they watched, it clambered up the length of Charlie's leather-padded body, reaching for a chicken Charlie held overhead.

"Uh-uh, get down," Charlie scolded the dragon, and it nipped at him. He snapped his fingers and pinched a spot below its ear; the dragon yelped and dropped back to all fours, beginning to sulk. Charlie turned to our class with a grin. "They're a lively breed. Now, erm, who can name another species of dragon?"

Several hands went up, Aspen's included. Charlie grinned at James and then pointed at Crystal Rousseau. She answered promptly, "Hungarian horntail."

"A vicious and difficult to train breed. And another one- you?"

"Chinese fireball," Carlisle McKinnon answered. Charlie grinned.

"I rather like this class. You, another?"

"Antipodean Opal-eye," Aspen answered.

"A beauty, truly, beautiful breed. Haven't had the pleasure of working closely with them myself, but those I've glimpsed have been rather marvelous. Now, I've got a real treat for you lot, if you'll follow me…"

Charlie hoisted Nora the baby dragon into his arms and headed off into the forest, the class following with curiosity and wonder. Aspen followed excitedly, and Ben elbowed her.

"Please lose that mooning look."

"The whole class is lovestruck," Aubrey pointed out. "A handsome, competent dragon-handler wanders to the lakeside to teach a bunch of teenage girls- what do you expect?"

Ben sent her a disbelieving look. "I'm gay and I'm still not staring at him like he put the sun in the sky."

"Staring at who?"

The trio glanced back to see James had approached just behind him. Aspen plastered on a smile. "No one! Er- Professor Zabini."

James bought it with only a vague comment about him being a Slytherin, and the others continued onward. His presence put things into perspective for Aspen, however, and more for James' sake than Ben's she tried to stop mooning over Charlie Weasley.

The class was led to a wide clearing, not far into the woods, and Charlie whistled. Aspen glanced around the trees, and then at a great swooshing sound turned to the skies with a gasp. Another dragon was coming down, this one with a shorter face than most and vibrant sapphire scales. It was easily four or five times the size of Nora, who lowered herself before the bigger dragon with reverent, gleaming eyes.

"Meet Nir," Charlie said, gesturing grandly. "The first student who can name her species can come meet her."

"Romanian Long-Tail!" Carlisle McKinnon shouted in bursting excitement.

Charlie smiled, but shook his head. "Raised hands, please. And unfortunately, Mr. McKinnon, that is incorrect."

Carlisle cursed softly under his breath, and Jazz Carter patted his arm sympathetically. Aspen's hand was standing high up like a cat's tail, among a few other lifted arms. Please pick me, please pick me, please pick-

"You."

He had pointed at Claire. No! Aspen sighed deeply, which caused Charlie to glance at her with a grin. Her cheeks flared red.

"What kind of dragon is this?" He asked, and Claire floundered for an answer.

But I know the answer! Aspen cried mentally.

"A- um- a- Scandinavian Short- um- short-tail?"

Aspen couldn't help a faintly audible groan. Charlie grinned. "Very close."

Aspen's hand shot back up, and he looked at her and nodded.

"Yes?"

"She's a Swedish Short-Snout! Maybe two or three years old, likes mountains and snow!"

He clapped his leather-gloved hands. "Yes! Yes, that is absolutely correct! Thank you, Miss…?"

"Lockhart."

"Excellent! Hagrid, can I award points to houses?"

"Twenty points to Gryffindor!" Hagrid beamed, over-enthusiastic in the face of a real dragon in close quarters. "Ye can do whatever ye'd like, Mr. Weasley."

Charlie seemed just as happy about this as Hagrid. "Alright! So, legally, I can't let you pet the dragon or ride it or anything. Someday if you visit Romania- anyway." He cleared his throat. "Getting to bring the dragon has to be for purely educational purposes, so- who wants to see how much fire we can get out of this?"

Hearty cheers came from the Gryffindors and Slytherins; Ravenclaws looked horribly worried and a few terrified Hufflepuffs ducked behind them. Aspen watched in awe as Charlie called a command word to the dragon, who balked and showed her teeth at him. Charlie put his hands on his hips and gave her a stern look; the dragon stared him down. He spoke to it in Romanian, in a tone fathers take with young children, and the dragon looked away. He called the command word again and the dragon reluctantly turned around.

Charlie called another command word, and a wisp of flame smoked out from the dragon's mouth. Charlie tilted his head to the dragon.

"Really? Is that all you've got? Here I thought you were a dragon, not a lizard!"

The dragon's eyes flashed and she tossed her head back and a spurt of flame cannoned out, lighting the trees around them and igniting the air so that even Aspen felt the heat.

Forget Charlie- Aspen was in love with the dragon.

The rest of the lesson went much the same. Charlie sought ways to prove to the class the dragon was impressive and magnificent while still keeping it mildly education. The forest came out considerably more charred, but, being a dragon-handler, Charlie Weasley was more than capable of putting out fires. He also succeeded this in losing the amorous gazes several students had been sending him- the more terrifyingly powerful the dragon proved, the less inclined Aspen's classmates were to seek romantic pursuits with Charlie. Aspen was one of few who fell in love with the dragon itself; by the end of the lessen, most of the class stood back in the trees, leaving Aspen, James, Emmeline Greengrass, and Carlisle McKinnon several meters closer to Nir.

It was with reluctance that Aspen left the dragon to go to her next class, but she was much more certain on her future career.

ooo

The surprises at Hogwarts that week weren't over.

Friday came around with the compiled homework of the week- an extra essay from Charms, a chart for potions, three feet of notes for Transfiguration. It was an average week of Hogwarts, plus extra work preparing for O.W.L.s.

"I don't understand why there's so much work for a test that's not coming for another eight months," Ben complained at dinner. "You know I have five essays to write just this weekend?"

"It takes a lot of preparation!" Claire answered. "That 'test' will determine the rest of our lives!"

Ben rolled his eyes; just because Aspen had started tolerating Claire better didn't mean her best friend followed suit, no matter what she said to him. Aspen's eyes were still aflame from two days earlier. "I know exactly which O.W.L. I need to focus on- and luckily, our teacher for that class doesn't hardly ever assign essays."

Claire's cheeks went red. "Training dragons is not a practical career!"

"Tell that to Charlie Weasley," Aspen said, grinning. "Oh, wait- you can't, you'd stutter too much."

"I-!" Claire was flaming now. "He's a very handsome man!"

"I'll say," Aubrey agreed.

Before their conversation could continue, the doors to the Great Hall swung open, welcoming someone Aspen had only seen in photographs. She was flanked by four aurors, and wore official robes with a Ministry seal patched onto them. Her brown eyes landed on McGonagall. The entire hall was filled with silence- only to be broken by gasps at the newcomer's first words:

"You're relieved of your position."

McGonagall stood abruptly from the table, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry?"

The woman walked down the center of the Great Hall and stopped in front of the headmistress's pedestal.

"I believe you heard me," she said. "I'm replacing you. You may leave."

"Hermione!"

Hermione Granger stood in the Great Hall of Hogwarts facing down the most powerful witch alive with stern brown eyes and a Ministry proclamation in her hand, which she now unrolled and lifted before McGonagall's eyes.

"I believe the words you're looking for are Headmistress Hermione Granger," she said. Aspen watched in shock as McGonagall read the paper. The headmistress gasped.

"That cannot be right! There would be a full Ministry hearing!"

Hermione Granger rolled the scroll back and lifted a brow. "You have been deemed unsuitable as headmistress and will be leaving promptly, or my aurors will escort you out. The choice is yours, but you have only a minute to make it."

McGonagall met Hermione Granger's eyes, and, before the entirety of Hogwarts students and staff, uttered the words that would change the next eight months of Aspen Lockhart's life:

"You're not Hermione Granger."


a/n: au where hermione keeps her last name like the bad witch she is, am i right? also, what's going to happen now? leave your thoughts in the reviews!