*Another reference to Avengers. Another surprise to the ones who can find it. No copyright infringement intended.
Hogwarts, October 4, 1995
Since it was Friday after classes, Ella decided to take a stroll in her much smaller and fuzzier form. She found a hidden alcove and quickly shrunk down to a normal cat size. She stretched and started purring. She loved being a cat. Nobody ever noticed a cat, so it was perfect for spying.
With an almost grin on her face, Ella trotted off to find some trouble. She neatly avoided every pair of feet in her way. Luckily, a random cat roaming the halls of Hogwarts in search of a rat was a common sight. No one paid attention to the sleek black cat with unnerving silver eyes.
She meandered right out the front door, intent on catching a mouse or two, just for fun. And a cat never knew what she would find while mouse hunting. Sure enough, Ella spotted a black haired boy kicking rocks into the Great Lake. He looked unhappy, Ella realized. He wasn't here to have fun or meet with friends. He was here to be alone and depressed. Ella decided that would not do. She meowed, and twined herself around Harry's legs.
oooOooo
Harry heaved another sigh as he kicked another rock into the lake. He watched as it splashed and then sunk. Hermione and Ron were trying to help, but they weren't. He clenched his teeth, and leaned down to pick up a rock to throw. He was distracted by a loud meow. A black cat was winding around his legs. As the cat continued, she let out little cat sounds and rubbed her head on his leg. It was clear she wanted him to pick her up.
So he did, not even realizing that his dark mood was lifting.
"Where did you come from?" He asked quietly. She purred even louder. He checked quickly to make sure it was a girl, and winced at the responding bite. "Sorry." he murmured "You looked like a girl." The cat looked at him with haughty eyes. Harry sat down on a large rock and continued to pet the black cat. Soon, she was purring again.
Harry had never wanted a cat, but he found that he rather enjoyed something that liked him for him, not for his name. With a start, he realized he wanted to keep her. He wasn't really allowed two pets, but McGonagall wouldn't say anything, Harry was sure.
"Well, if I'm going to keep you, you should probably have a name." The cat looked up at his words, and licked a paw. It was almost like she was agreeing with him.
"I suppose Blackie isn't an option." The cat stopped washing her paw to give him a glare. "Right. Well, let me think a moment." Her image brought another to mind, back from his days at public school.
"How about Bast? It doesn't sound very feminine to me, but I could always change it a bit. It seems to fit you. All you need is a gold hoop in one ear." Harry smiled as the purring increased and the cat rubbed her head vigorously against Harry's hand.
"I take it you approve. Basta it is, then." Harry began making his way back to the castle, Basta in his arms. When he got back to the common room, Ron and Hermione were waiting for him.
"Harry, where have you been? You missed dinner! And- What are you holding? Is that a cat? Harry! You can't have another pet." Hermione's tirade made him feel tired.
"Sheesh woman, let the bloke sit before you attack." Ron cut in. Harry threw him a grateful glance. Ron grinned, and they all settled down.
"Sorry, Harry. I was worried." Hermione looked down. Harry knew she had been working on not nagging him and Ron so much.
"It's okay, 'Mione. This is Basta. I figure Professor McGonagall won't mind her so much. Besides, she's such a pretty cat."
Hermione nodded slowly. "I suppose. You're lucky Crooks isn't here. He'd never allow another cat to get so close to me." Harry nodded. Hermione quickly looked around, then spoke again. "We were waiting because we wanted to talk to you about something. Umbridge might be the worst DADA teacher we've ever had."
Ron nodded. "And that's saying something, mate, seeing as our first had You-Know-Who attached to the back of his head."
Hermione continued. "It's looking like we'll never learn anything this year if something doesn't change. And since V-Voldemort is really out there, that may be fatal." Hermione may have stuttered, but she looked proud of herself for saying the name out loud.
Harry nodded cautiously, he knew Hermione was leading up to something, and he wasn't sure he'd like it. "Well, what can we do? If Dumbledore himself can't get rid of her, then we can't either."
Hermione cast a nervous glance at Ron. "Well, see Harry, that's what we're saying. Someone else should teach us, and that someone should be you."
Harry reared back. "Hermione! I can't teach, I mean-"
"Harry." Hermione interrupted him. Harry listened as she presented her case, with Ron nodding every so often in agreement. Finally, Harry agreed.
"Great!" Hermione played with a curl, thinking. "Tomorrow is Hogsmeade. I'll invite a few people, and we'll start there. We'll all meet at the Hog's Head at two." With that, Hermione dragged out all of their Charms essays and practically forced them to write.
oooOooo
Ella let her eyes droop as the three concentrated on their essay. So now they were going to form the DA. The older Harry couldn't remember exactly when it started, only that it was soon after his fifth year started.
Soon, Harry picked her up as they all headed up to bed. She tucked her head in the crook of his arm and purred. Before long, they reached his dorm room. Harry placed her on his bed and rummaged in his drawer. As he pulled off his shirt, Ella became wide awake with a start. She quickly hid her face before he pulled off his pants, but the image of his chest was forever seared into her mind. If she had been human, her pale face would have been bright red.
She heard clothes rustling, and finally Harry climbed into bed. She pretended to be asleep as he pet her and murmured a goodnight. When she was sure he was asleep, she climbed down and headed for her own dorm room. She knew a few secret passages from her previous years exploring as a cat. She was entering her own dorm room before long. Luckily, neither of her roommates were in the room yet. Both of them tended to stay up late on the weekends. She transformed back, and stretched. She climbed into bed herself, moving Circe over. The kitten woke with a sleepy yawn.
"You've been spending time as a cat. Good for you." The kitten yawned again and quickly fell back asleep. Ella shook her head and quickly fell asleep. Thanks to her training, though, she woke up as soon as her roommates came in. They were quiet, which she was thankful for. Before long, both Tracy and Astoria were asleep. Ella crept out of bed and climbed down into her trunk. Circe woke long enough to follow her. Ella's bed up her would not remain warm for long, while the bed in Circe's room was charmed to stay warm at all times.
She carefully made sure Time would slow in the trunk. She then proceeded to spend the next several hours going over all her notes and making sure of what she was going to do next. When she was finally done with that, she collapsed into her own bed, reveling in the feel of home. She slept for as long as she could, before finally getting up.
Upon waking, she went for a swim, and then a run in her larger Animagus form. After that, she carefully chose her outfit for the day. She had studied a few fashion magazines upon arriving to know how to fit in. Ella had then promptly ordered a few outfits to wear when she wasn't at school. Today it was a pair of well-fitting jeans, a formfitting sweater, and a knitted hat. Ella looked in the mirror and grimaced. Her mother would have never let her go into public in this outfit, but Ella needed to fit in. At least all her skin was covered, Ella mused.
She released the Time charm on the trunk and climbed out, with Circe right behind her. It was about 6:30 am, right before Astoria woke up. Considering the two girls had gone to bed around 2, Ella wasn't surprised that the blonde haired girl wasn't up yet. Ella, however, had had a very nice sleep. She had been in the trunk for about 15 hours.
She rolled her eyes and went downstairs. She wasn't about to wait for everyone else this morning, so she headed out by herself. She wandered around the castle for nearly an hour as a cat, playing with a few mice she had found. But she made sure she was right on time for breakfast. In fact, she walked in right as the Slytherins were sitting down. Snape cast her a glare, but she didn't mind him. She was still technically on time. Surprisingly, Harry was up already and at the Gryffindor table. He was alone, as all the other Gryffindors were sleeping in before leaving for Hogsmeade at 9.
With a quick smirk at her Head of House, she changed directions and plopped down next to Harry. She was fortunate enough not to see Snape's face twist momentarily in anger.
oooOooo
Harry, however, had seen both the smirk and the anger. In fact, he had been watching Ella as she walked in. The sight of her in normal clothes nearly made him choke on his own saliva. Her tight jeans were giving him a view of her figure that her robes had only hinted at. He wasn't the only one to notice, either. Harry noticed Malfoy staring at her also, and barely managed not to smirk at him when Ella sat down next to him.
"Wotcher, Harry." Ella greeted happily, snagging some pumpkin juice.
"Are you mental?" Harry choked out.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "No…" She said slowly. "Should I be?" She raised an eyebrow. Harry went slightly red. She raised a hand and felt his forehead. Not used to being touched, Harry jerked away.
"I'm not sick." He muttered as the food arrived. "It's just weird for a Slytherin to sit here." He mumbled around a piece of sausage.
"Well, I'm your friend, so a friend sitting by a friend isn't weird, is it?" She asked archly. Harry narrowed his eyes. He still wasn't sure what she wanted.
"Well, Malfoy doesn't like it." Harry nodded to the blonde haired Slytherin who was glaring daggers at him.
Ella waved a hand. "Draco needs to learn to get over his petty grudge with you."
Harry raised an eyebrow. Was she joking? "I'm pretty sure our grudge has nothing to do with that particular glare." At her confused look, he rolled his eyes. She really didn't know. He smirked. "It's because he's jealous." Her reaction to his words was not what he expected. Ella's face paled dramatically, and she looked down at her food, silent. She almost looked…disgusted. And his reaction to that was no what he expected. He felt elated, and he had no business feeling like that. Hurriedly, he started to make small talk. To his never-ending gratitude, she went along with it.
Soon Ron and Hermione joined them, and with only a confused look from Ron, joined the conversation seamlessly. When it was time to go, Ella stood, smiled, and left. Which left Harry to be questioned all the way to Hogsmeade.
oooOooo
Ella made her way over to the Slytherin table. No one else had really noticed her over at the Gryffindor table. It was rather common knowledge that Ella was an odd Slytherin, only Draco still had trouble with her. He stopped her before she got to Tracy and Astoria.
"Let's walk together to Hogsmeade." It wasn't a question. Ella stared into his eyes, trying to determine how stubborn she was going to be about the command. Finally she shrugged.
"Fine." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed as Draco's shoulders slumped in relief. She calmly grabbed his elbow, and he led them both out of the Great Hall. They made their way down the path to Hogsmeade, ignoring the other students on the path. Ella ignored all the whispers of the muggleborns and some of the halfbloods. They were assuming she and Draco were together, but all the purebloods knew the truth. Draco was merely offering an arm to a lady as they walked. It was a common practice, and meant nothing. But as Ella continued to watch Draco out of the corner of her eye, she realized that he didn't want it to mean nothing.
As soon as there were no other students around, she pulled Draco off to the side. "We need to talk." She stated, putting her hands on her hips. Draco looked a bit startled, but nodded.
"Draco, I don't want to lead you on-" Disappointment fluttered through his eyes, before a shutter closed over them and an arrogant pureblood was left in his place. "I know you are attracted to me, and that your house would approve of me. But through no fault of your own, we can't be together." His eyes began to soften again. Little did he know that the reason she would never be with him was because she was almost his mother.
"Okay, I get it." He said, blushing a bit. He was looking over her shoulder, trying to seem strong. Ella felt bad for him, and also a bit bad for herself. This was the second Malfoy she had to turn down. Luckily, this one was a whole lot easier than the last.
"I don't think you do, Draco." His eyes snapped to hers, and he opened his mouth to reply, but she didn't let him. "You're halfway in love with Hermione, and you thought I'd be a great way to forget about her." His eyes widened and his mouth was gaping. He realized what he was doing and snapped his mouth shut, only to open it again.
"Look here, Ella-" He started, but Ella slapped a hand over his mouth.
"No, you look here. Yes, she's a muggleborn. Yes, she's a Gryffindor. Get over it. For Merlin's sake, grow a pair! You say that your father would not approve, but I don't think that's true, and neither do you. You're just afraid of what everyone else will think. But I, for one, will always stand by your side as long as you do the right thing. And that is worth more than the opinions of the entire school." Ella finished her rant to see Draco start to smirk.
"A bit arrogant, aren't you?" He drawled. Ella rolled her eyes.
"Sure, if you want to call it that. I prefer confident, myself." She smirked back at him.
"Fine." He had stopped drawling, and Ella was grateful. "I'll 'grow a pair', as you so gracefully put it. But that's not the hardest part. She's infatuated with Potter, and considers me to be a Death Eater in training. How are you going to fix that?" He pinned her with a pointed glance.
Ella smirked again and raised an eyebrow. "Do you promise to do as I say?"
Draco started shaking his head. "There is no way-"
Ella interrupted him. "Ah ah ah." She wagged her finger at him. "Do you want the girl of your dreams or not?" Draco grit his teeth and threw his hands up in the air.
"I give up. Fine. I promise." Draco said between clenched teeth. Ella smiled brightly, and pulled him back onto the path. Luckily, there were no other students around.
"Fantastic. Now first, we need to do something with your hair-" Ella started.
"What's wrong with my hair?!" Draco yelped as he patted his slicked back hair. Ella just shook her head and continued planning with him. After all, planning is what she did best.
Ella and Draco continued to stay together as they went through several shops, and then ate lunch together. Before long, it was one in the afternoon, and Ella had a meeting to plan for. She said goodbye to Draco and headed down to the Hogshead. Aberforth Dumbledore gave her an odd look as she raised her cloak over her head and sat down at the bar. She ordered a butterbeer and settled down to wait. Before long, Fletcher dressed as an old woman came in and sat down at a table. Not long after that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in and nervously set up. About five till two, students began trickling in.
When they were all gathered, Harry leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "'A few', Hermione?"
Hermione blushed and said, "They all seemed to think it was a good idea."
Harry stood up and nervously flattened his hair against his forehead. "Er, hello. So I think we can all agree that Umbridge is doing us no good as a teacher and-"
"Is it true that You-Know-Who is alive?" A student in Hufflepuff colors stood up and boldly asked Harry a question almost every student there was wondering.
"Dumbledore already told you what happened last year, and if you don't believe him, then you aren't going to believe me." Harry said with a frown.
"Yes, well, he didn't exactly give us details…" The boy that had spoken up before, spoke again.
Harry's face was turning red. "Look here, I didn't come here to explain myself, I came-"
"Well, that's why most of us are here!" A girl's voice chimed in from the back. It looked like Lavender Brown, and Ella decided it was time for her to step in. She slowly got up off the barstool and walked over to the large group of students. No one noticed at first, but as her footsteps rang out, they all fell silent one by one. They parted to let her through, and she caught some of their whispers as she did.
"She's a Slytherin-"
"Is she here to turn us in?"
"We haven't done anything wrong, have we?"
oooOooo
Harry was miserable. He hadn't wanted to do this anyway, but Hermione had talked him into it. Now he was being bombarded by questions he didn't want to answer. Suddenly, they all started falling silent. He looked up, and met silver eyes. Harry was confused. What was Ella doing here? Hermione wouldn't have invited her…
"Umbridge isn't going to happy when she finds out about this." Ella stated, her oddly metallic eyes roving the room. Harry felt as if someone had punched him in the chest. She was here to spy on them? So much for her offer of friendship.
"That man over there is spying for Umbridge." She pointed to the man with a dirty bandage over his eyes. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but I did." Before anyone could do anything, the man bolted out the door. Ron started to chase after him, but Ella stopped him.
"No, let him go. She's going to find out sooner or later anyway. At least we know that she knows." Ron grumbled, but sat back down. Before anyone else could say anything, Ella turned and faced the group.
"I am honestly ashamed of you all." She let a bit of power flare through her eyes as she looked every single one of them in the eyes. Luna and Ginny were there to receive Defense lessons, but everyone else… Even Fred and George looked a bit guilty.
"Harry is not some fabled hero that vanquished You-Know-Who. He is a flesh and blood person that feels things just like we do. He may have defeated a Dark Lord when he was a baby, but he also lost his parents that night. You can't just prattle on about how amazing he is and all without remembering that also. He's never forgotten that fact, and we shouldn't either.
Also, the majority of you treated him like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named his second year. Even you Hufflepuffs, who are supposed to be loyal!" She glared at all of the Hufflepuffs in the room a few seconds longer than everyone else. Everyone was beginning to look decently ashamed, even Zacharias Smith, the Hufflepuff who had stood up earlier.
"And don't even get me started on last year! Harry was forced to participate in the Tournament by a Death Eater in disguise, and you lot turned against him again! And not only that, but he was forced to see a friend die by the hands of a man who had killed his own parents, and was tortured by that very same wizard! There! Now go if you'd like, you've heard details. But don't try and talk about this, or you won't like what happens to you."
She glared especially at Marietta Edgecombe, Zacharias Smith, and Michael Corner. Those three took a hint and slunk out of the pub like dogs with their tails in between their legs. No one else seemed inclined to budge though.
Luna spoke up. "I don't know what everyone else is thinking, but I'd rather be able to defend myself and never have to use it than not being able to and getting into trouble." All this was said in her normal airy voice. Ella nodded at her. All the others seemed to agree. Ella nodded again, satisfied. She stepped back and let Harry take over again. He was a little shaken and embarrassed by her speech, but Ella knew he'd get over it.
"Er, right. So this is how it's going to work…" Harry spoke up once more.
Ella settled herself down by Hermione as Harry spoke. "What kind of charm did you put on the parchment?" Ella whispered to Hermione.
As Hermione explained the charm, Ella nodded slowly. When Hermione finished, Ella discreetly touched her wand to the parchment and softly muttered a few incantations. When finished, Hermione was nodding appreciatively.
"That was some advanced spell work, Ella!" Hermione whispered. Ella just shrugged uncomfortably. She was used to people being jealous of her skills, and Hermione didn't have a jealous bone in her body.
"So if you'd like to join, we've got a parchment here for you to sign." Harry concluded. All of the students in the room eagerly lined up to join the D.A. No one noticed that the woman draped from head to toe in a black veil had left. No one but Ella, that is.
Soon, all the students had left, and it was just Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ella left. "Maybe we should talk at the Three Broomsticks." Ella suggested as all three looked like they were about to question her. "No one will notice four students talking there, while we were certainly noticed talking in here." Ron and Hermione cast a suspicious glance around while Harry nodded. They all hurried over to Madame Rosmerta's and sat down in a booth, glad to be out of the cold.
Madame Rosmerta herself hurried over. "What can I get for you?" She was looking mostly at Harry, but Ella ordered for them all.
"Four butterbeer's, warm please. On me." Ella smiled politely as the Madame turned to her. Rosmerta's eyes narrowed in recognition.
"Of course, dear." But Madame Rosmerta was not one to pry. No, Madame Rosmerta preferred to watch and wait.
"Thank you, Ella." Hermione said after Rosmerta had left.
"You are welcome." Ella said with another smile as she discreetly and nonverbally put up a silencing charm around their table.
"How did you know about the meeting today?" Ron blurted out. He wasn't really one for subtleties. Ella cocked an eyebrow in amusement, and Ron's face suffused with red.
"Overheard Fred and George talking." Ella said nonchalantly. Of course, that wasn't true, but it'd get the redheads in trouble with the Trio, and Ella wasn't unhappy with that. "Your brothers aren't as sneaky as they think, Ginger."
Before Ron could think of a comeback for that, because Ron did think his brothers were sneaky due to the majority of his childhood spent in one prank or another, Harry spoke up.
"Er, thanks Ella. For earlier, I mean." Harry stared pointedly over her shoulder, unwilling to meet her eyes.
"You're welcome, Harry." Ella returned with some amusement. The tips of Harry's ears pinked. He quickly glanced at her to see her eyes crinkling, and found himself unable to look away.
"Yes, thank you Ella." Hermione spoke up, unaware of Ella and Harry's locked gaze. "Those charms you put on the paper were brilliant. Now no one can even mention the D.A. in any way. Those are a NEWT level charm." Hermione said admiringly.
Ella tore her eyes away from Harry's. "Don't sound so impressed, Hermione. I've seen you working on those Galleons and the Protean charm in the library, and that's basically the same level. You're brilliant too."
Hermione blushed and looked away. Ella meant it too. If Hermione had had the time that Ella had, she'd be pretty much equal to knowledge and talent to Ella.
Madame Rosmerta came back with their drinks, and Ella and Hermione launched into a discussion about their favorite charms.
oooOooo
Harry watched the two girls talk with fascination. Ron did the same. Ella's eyes sparkled when she talked about school, it seemed. She was the perfect friend for Hermione, even though she was a Slytherin.
"Blimey, Harry. I think they could go on for hours." Ron muttered to him.
"I really think they could." Harry muttered back in awe.
But they wouldn't. An older woman approached their table. She was tall, with bright red hair with white streaking back from her temple. Her darker green eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Harry Potter?" The woman's slightly husky voice asked.
Harry didn't know what to think, but raised his hand slightly.
"Ah, good. May I talk to you? I'm sorry to intrude, but it's rather important." The woman seemed polite enough, and friendly. So Harry nodded and made room for her.
She sat down quite gracefully. "Thank you. Now, I have a business proposition for you and your friends. My name is Lady Arabella Mora." At this, Hermione's eyes widened. Harry took that to mean this woman had done something important. "I and several of the older gentry feel like our young people should be trained up properly. I have heard rumors of you starting your own Defense Association." Harry's eyes widened. Oh Merlin, how?
"I wish to volunteer myself and a few others to train all who wish to be trained. I assume you've come up with a time and place to do your training in and escape notice?" Lady Mora waited with a quirked eyebrow. Harry looked hastily at his friends. Hermione and Ron looked just as bewildered as he felt, but Ella stared back calmly at him.
"Er-" Harry started.
"Actually, we were just about to discuss that as you walked up, Lady Mora." Ella piped up.
"Please, call me either Arabella or Bella." The older woman said with a friendly smile. "Ah, well, may I offer a suggestion as to where?"
Harry nodded, unable to do much else. He was still trying to figure out how this woman knew about the DA already.
"There is a little-known room in Hogwarts called the Come-And-Go Room." Hermione gasped quietly beside him. "But I like to call it the Room of Requirement. Helga Hufflepuff made it, just as Slytherin made his Chamber of Secrets. It will suit you four quite nicely for what you need."
Hermione couldn't keep quiet any longer. "But that's supposed to be a myth!" She blurted.
Lady Mora nodded sagely. "It was exactly that, until I found it in my time at Hogwarts. I shared the secret with no other, though. But I give it to you now, as you have need of it." She continued to explain how to find the room, and what to ask from it. "The Room really gives you exactly what you need, but you have to know what you need first, which is always the hardest part. You'll be the main teacher, of course, Harry. With your permission, I have a list of teachers for various things that you can look over. You can decide which days they come and how often. Also with your permission, I would like to attend these meetings every so often."
Harry didn't know why, but he felt like he could trust this woman. She seemed…familiar. "Yeah. I mean, yes. Yes, that will be fine." The tips of his ears pinked again. For some reason, he wanted to impress this Lady Mora. Hermione stifled a giggle, and he sent her a quick glare.
"Very well." Lady Mora gave him a conspiratorial wink. Harry's eyes widened. "Here is the list of teachers. When you figure out those Galleons, Miss Granger, be sure to send me a few." Hermione smiled, and nodded happily. "Miss Sinclair knows how to contact me in the meantime. Miss Sinclair, always a pleasure." With that, the Lady Mora stood and glided away.
oooOooo
Three pairs of wide eyes turned to Ella once the woman had left. Ella carefully let out a deep breath and took a sip of her butterbeer. She hadn't used that spell in a while, and so she was a bit drained. It took a lot of magic to be in two places at once. She would be sure to practice it a lot tonight in her trunk. She would be using it quite often in the near future.
Ella offered up a quick smile to the Trio.
"You know her?" Hermione breathed.
"She's a friend, kind of. And a distant relative. We run into each other a lot." Ella took a sip of her butterbeer again, hoping they'd drop it.
"How did you meet?" Hermione demanded. Ella sighed. Apparently not.
"It's a long story." Ella tried to get Hermione to drop it again. No such luck.
"She's incredible! She was the youngest person ever to take her NEWT's and ace them. Seriously! A perfect score." Hermione hands waved in the air. Ella tried not to smirk when she noticed Draco in a table off to Hermione's right, avidly watching the witch.
Harry and Ron had already been watching the two with wide eyes, but not their jaws dropped as well.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, you two. Close your mouths. Hermione, you could probably sit those NEWT's at the end of this year and get fairly decent grades yourself, so stop making such a big deal out of it." They all looked properly abashed, though Hermione was looking slightly contemplative. "But you shouldn't." Ella pointed at Hermione to make her point. Hermione huffed and looked away.
"So you told her about the DA?" Harry asked Ella pointedly after a minute of silence.
Ella nodded. "I knew she had already been planning to do some sort of training thing during the holidays, and I thought this would be all around better for everyone."
Harry nodded, seeing her point. Harry proceeded to unfold the list the older witch had given him.
Kingsley Shackelbolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Charlie Weasley: In-Battle Training
Molly Weasley: Strategy and Evasion Tactics
Bill Weasley: Wards and Curse-breaking
Griphook: Art of the Goblins
Arthur Weasley: Practical Invisibility
Madame Longbottom: What Should Have Been Taught in History
"Ron! Half of your family is on this list!" Hermione said. Ron seemed to be in a daze.
"My mum knows strategy and evasion tactics?" Ron muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"I get some of this stuff, but why do we have to learn about goblins and history? What does banking have to do with anything?" Harry said, lifting his eyes from the parchment.
Ella sighed. Boys. "Goblins are primarily a warrior race. They train their entire lives to receive the rank of warrior. The only reason wizards were ever able to beat them is because goblin's have little to no magic themselves. Magic in a wizard's fight is necessary, but very few wizards know how to fight without wands. That is what Griphook will be teaching. I've known him for some time, and he knows his subject very well." Ella hid a grin. "There are too many purebloods and halfbloods who have no idea about politics nowadays. Even muggleborns often need to work within wizarding politics, but Wizarding Politics has not been taught in these past few decades. There is a world out there that will need to be rebuilt after Voldemort is defeated. Our generation will have that responsibility. But thanks to Binns and his incessant teaching on goblin wars, most of our generation and the previous one are woefully unprepared for that task. It is mostly why Voldemort was allowed to rise again."
Ella looked to Harry, and he nodded stiffly in understanding. "And honestly Ginger, where do you think you got your strategy skills? From your dad?" Ella couldn't help herself. The look on Ron's face whenever she called him Ginger was priceless.
He spluttered. "Well, no. But how is my dad going to teach us 'Practical Invisibility'? He couldn't be invisible if he tried!"
Ella lifted an eyebrow. "I guess you'll see, Ginger." She said mysteriously. Ron scowled.
oooOooo
Harry was beginning to get excited. He wasn't at all sure of Hermione's idea last night, but now he was thinking this could actually work. With adults helping too, it'd be brilliant.
Harry smirked. "Umbridge won't know what hit her." He said triumphantly.
Ella stared at Harry's hand wrapped around his mug. "No, she won't." Harry froze at Ella's gaze. She seemed really serious. He carefully put his hand in his lap, out of her sight and watched as she transferred her gaze to his face. They both stared at each other for a long minute as Ron and Hermione began arguing which type of training they should do first. Harry's gaze roamed over her hair, noticed how it fell in perfect curls down past where he could see. He had never seen a girl with hair like hers. Finally, he realized what he had been doing and looked away at Ron, who was currently arguing for In-Battle Training. Hermione was currently arguing for Strategy and Evasion Tactics.
Harry finally got tired of their arguing. "Oi!" Both of them turned towards him. "I'll go over all of this tomorrow and let you know what I decide soon, okay?" Both of them nodded, though it was clear Hermione was bursting with ideas.
"Well, this has been delightful. Truly. Ginger, Hermione, Harry, I've got to go." Ella stood up, and grinned. Her eyes crinkled, giving proof to her enjoyment. With that, she walked over to where Malfoy was sitting with a couple of other Slytherins and sat down. Malfoy began to talk to her intently, occasionally glancing over to where Harry sat. For some reason, he didn't think Malfoy was out to get him. It was a first, that was for sure. And he couldn't quite put his finger on exactly why he thought that.
"What's she doing talking to the Ferret?" Ron asked, scowling both from being called "Ginger" and from Ella talking to Malfoy.
"Well, whatever the reason, I hardly think they're plotting against us." Hermione said loftily.
"And how do you know that?" Ron demanded.
"Easy." Hermione said primly. "If they were, she'd hardly go right over there right after talking to us. Ella is much too smart for that."
Ron frowned, but accepted the reasoning. The three friends continued to chat about other things, not even noticing when Draco and Ella got up and left with each other. Well, Harry did, but he decided not to mention it. He was too confused about what he was feeling and about Ella in general. He still didn't know if they could completely trust her.
"Well, there was one thing that was good about today." Hermione said, looking at Harry out of the corner of her eyes. Harry looked over at her. "Cho couldn't take her eyes off you, could she?" Harry grinned weakly. He didn't know what he was feeling in regards to Cho, either.
oooOooo
"Did you say anything about me to her?" Draco asked as soon as he and Ella were out the door.
"Most certainly not!" Ella said indignantly. "That's not how it works, Draco Malfoy! I refuse to do that for you. You will win her heart entirely by yourself. I'm just going to give you pointers on 'How Not to Act Like a Prat.'" Ella smirked at the scowling Draco.
"Fine." He muttered. "As long as it will work."
"Draco, sweetie, a girl like Hermione will not be won by a sarcastic drawl and a sneer. Some girls are attracted to the bad boy image, but those are the disposable kind. Hermione is not that." Ella said firmly.
Draco was curious. "What kind of girl is she, then?"
Ella huffed. "You should know, you ignorant boy! You're the one who's half way in love with her!"
Draco crossed his arms. "You don't have to yell at me."
Ella rolled her eyes and said gently, "Hermione is a keeper. She's one of those girls who will make you fall in love with a glance, and you can never forget her afterwards, no matter how hard you try. So if you're looking for a quick fling, a keeper is the wrong one to go to."
Now it was Draco's turn to huff. "I'm not looking for a fling."
Ella patted the arm she was holding onto. "I know, Draco. It's why I'm helping you, after all." Her smile crinkled her eyes, and Draco felt a bit better.
"Now, the first think you have to do is stop antagonizing Potter. I know you think Hermione is in love with him, but that's the farthest from the truth. They consider each other to be like a sibling." Ella lectured as they continued to walk up to the castle.
Draco's face was infused with hope. "Really?"
"Did you even hear the part about being nice to Potter?" Ella looked over at the blonde boy walking next to her.
"Er, kind of?" Draco offered with a small smile.
Ella shook her head with a small smile. It was rather amazing how much Draco had come out of his shell since he admitted liking Granger. This was the real Draco, hidden by the expectations of his house and his name.
"What does 'being nice' look like?" Draco asked seriously.
Ella's smile fell. She had a long way to go.
oooOooo
Fred and George Weasley would be the first to admit they were rather partial in their pranking. Sure, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gyffindor all got their fair share. But Slytherin students received the majority of the pranking of the twins. So when they saw the Slytherin girl that had been baffling them for over a month on the arm of Malfoy, they couldn't resist.
Hurriedly, they set up what they considered to be their best prank yet. When they were done, they climbed up in a nearby tree to watch. Fred elbowed George as he started to laugh when the two came into sight.
oooOooo
No other person would have heard it, but Ella heard the stifled laugh from up in a tree. She stopped Malfoy quickly under the guise of showing him a paper from her satchel. As she did, she cast a quick nonverbal spell. Sure enough, there were the twins up in a tree, and that was their trap right ahead. Ella thought quickly. They were using a revised version of a prank the Marauders had played on her. From what she deduced, she only had a few seconds once they tripped the trap.
Giggling, she leaned in to whisper in Draco's ear. "Play along, please?" She leaned back and giggled again, to see his face. He had his normal smirk on again. Good. He had caught on, she fluttered her eyelashes. She leaned in and kissed his cheek, and then led him up the path by his hand.
Suddenly, they were surrounded in darkness. She clapped a hand over Draco's mouth and muttered a spell. Before Draco could blink again, they were up in a tree and looking down at Fred and George in an awkward position. Before the twins really even realized what had happened, McGonagall walked down the path to see them.
She startled. "Mssrs. Weasley!" Both pairs of eyes widened at the sight of a scowling Professor. Looking around, they realized they were dressed as girls. Slytherin girls.
"Actually, I don't want to know. 25 points from Gryffindor." She walked around them, but as she gave one last glance, grimaced, and added, "Each, because I never ever wanted to see that."
Ella climbed down the tree, with Draco right behind her once the Professor had left.
"Well, well, well." She said, smirking. Both the twins glared at her. "What do we have here?" Her eyes crinkled in amusement when the boys attempted to pull down the skirts.
"What have you done, Sinclair? And why-" Fred shouted angrily.
"Are these blasted skirts so bloody short?" George finished.
"Tut tut." Ella waved a finger at them admonishingly. "Such language. Malfoy here is a prefect, and he can't be expected to allow foul language. Especially in the presence of a lady."
Malfoy grinned, and jumped right in. "That'll be 1 point from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley."
The twins were still scowling. "How did you do that?" Fred demanded again.
Ella tapped her chin and pretended to think. "A reversal spell based on intentions with a few tweaks." She said nonchalantly. "You planned far worse for the two of us, so I don't feel incredibly guilty." It was true. The original prank was to drastically alter Ella's outfit into what they were currently sporting. It could have been an extremely embarrassing prank, especially with McGonagall around the corner.
Ella's eyes glinted and her face hardened. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Draco and I could have easily sued for sexual harassment. And with the two of us being purebloods, as well as the two of you, you both could have been punished severely." It was true. Purebloods took sexual harassment and the safety of their daughters very seriously. At the very least, Fred and George would have been expelled and had a black mark on their name everywhere in magical Britain. As purebloods, they were supposed to know the rules. Halfbloods and muggleborns were often given leniency in that area.
Fred and George began to realize the consequences, but they remained defiant. "But you wouldn't-" George started pleading.
"Do that, would you Sinclair?" Fred finished. "Besides, haven't you done the same to us?" He tried to pull down his skirt again.
Ella laughed coldly. "Try if you will to put this on me. If you do lodge a formal complaint and the matter is looked into, the only magical signatures they'll find are you two's. And if they check our wands, they won't find anything on mine. Only yours. So sure, go ahead and tell on me. But be ready to deal with the backlash if you do, because I'll tell the truth about what happened here."
Draco had begun to have an idea of what had happened. And he wasn't happy.
"Do you mean to say-" His voice was like ice. "That these two nearly put you in what they are wearing?" He turned dangerous eyes to the twins. Ella critically examined the outfits the twins were in. If they were on a woman, they could have made it into a Playboy. The top would have barely covered her breasts, and the skirt was so short that even bending a little bit exposed everything.
"Yes." Ella hissed, sounding very much like the Slytherin she was. She hadn't been happy when the Marauders pulled this on her and Lilly, and she was just as unhappy now. Sirius and James had known the consequences, but had done it anyways. Peter hadn't known, but it was still very wrong, in any world. Unfortunately, Remus hadn't known about that prank, or he would have stopped them.
Draco took a step forward, clenching his fist. It would have been well within his rights to deck both the twins, and not a single point could have been taken. At that moment, the Golden Trio walked up.
oooOooo
Harry wasn't sure exactly what he was seeing, but it wasn't pretty. The twins were dressed in Slytherin colors, but that wasn't all. They were very skimpy girl Slytherin colors. Both the twins were glaring at Ella and Malfoy, who were glaring right back. Malfoy looked like he was ready to deck the two of them.
"Bloody hell." Ron whispered. Harry could barely nod in agreement. Even Hermione, their level headed one, was speechless.
"I should beat you within an inch of your lives." Malfoy hissed.
"OI!" Ron was able to speak again. "Watch it Ferret, those are my brothers!"
"Ron." Ella snarled. "You probably don't want to claim a relation with these two idiots right now."
"Back off, Weasel. You don't know what they did." Draco was still hissing. Ron stopped in confusion.
"It looks like someone did something to them." Ron pointed out. Harry latched onto Ron's arm, as a precaution. He was starting to get the gist of what had happened.
"No, they tried to prank us first. Only, it's not funny. They tried to put me in what they're wearing." Ella put herself in front of Draco and crossed her arms.
Ron stopped trying to get away from Harry.
Hermione let out a soft gasp. "Fred, George. How could you?" Anger was fading from the twins eyes, being replaced by shame and guilt. But now Harry was starting to get angry. Malfoy would have seen Ella in that? And the twins? He let go of Ron's arm and took a step forward himself. And then another. Neither Ron or Hermione stopped him. Ron seemed to be in shock that his brothers would do that.
"We thought it'd be funny-" Started George uncomfortably.
"We didn't think-"
"You're bloody right, you didn't think!" This time it was Ella who interrupted Fred. "What would have happened when McGonagall had caught me like that? Both Draco and I could have been expelled! Draco could have had his wand snapped for seeing me like that! Didn't your parents teach you anything about Pureblood wizarding society?" Ella was yelling by this point.
Ron spoke up. "Our parents didn't really bother to teach us the normal Pureblood rules. Said they were irrelevant now."
"Your parents are idiots, then." Ella spat.
When all the Weasley's frowned at her, she amended that. "In this only, I suppose. The pureblood rules are still very much in effect, and still very much apply. But no matter which world you are in, that prank was very much not a prank at all. It's an intensely cruel thing, and you're lucky McGonagall didn't ask questions." Ella finished.
"Wait, McGonagall caught them?" Hermione squeaked. "You two are so lucky. I'm muggleborn, and I still know the consequences to what you two just did."
"That's because you're a bloody know it all." George muttered. Before anyone could react to that, Draco pushed past Ella and punched the older boy. Harry took his chance, and punched Fred as well. Soon, all the boys were fighting on the ground. Admittedly, Ron was trying to pull everyone apart, but wasn't really doing a whole lot of good.
oooOooo
Hermione cast a helpless look at Ella, and Ella rolled her eyes. Boys. She quickly set up a quick time shield around all of them. No one noticed, they were all too focused on fighting. Unfortunately, the twins hadn't included undergarments in the original prank, and Ella hadn't added them in hers. It exposed quite a bit more than anyone wanted to see. Glaring, Ella flicked her wand at the pile of boys on the ground. They all flew apart and landed on their bums. Before anymore visual damage could be done, Ella flicked her wand at the twins and the once more wore their original clothes, though they were a bit worse for the wear.
"Well, that accomplished so much." Ella said sarcastically. None of the boys would look her in the eye. "It's a bloody wonder the wizarding world is in the state it's in now if men respond to conflict like that. Oh wait, they do." Ella let out a mirthless laugh. "And we're about to enter another war. How could I have forgotten." She jabbed her wand at Ron. He was instantly cleaned up and his few bruises healing. "The only sane one here is Ron, which is a bloody miracle. Usually it's the opposite." The boys all scowled at each other.
"Now, get on your feet and apologize to everyone you have offended like the gentlemen you are." Ella demanded. As she suspected, Harry was the first to do so. His upbringing was the least extensive, and yet he still had manners far beyond the Purebloods who were supposed to have been trained since birth.
"Sorry Fred, George." He nodded to each of them and took a step back. Ella rewarded him by cleaning up his clothes and healing his forming black eye and a cut on his temple.
Draco followed suit next, and Ella did the same for him.
Finally, Fred stepped up next. "I really am sorry, Ella, Draco. I wasn't thinking, and I realize you've saved my arse by not telling on us to the Professor." Ella cleaned him up as well.
Finally, after a long awkward minute, George stepped up too. "I'm sorry Ella, Draco, and Hermione." He mumbled. Ella knew he was sincere as well, so she cleaned him up as well.
"I hope you've all learned something from today. Things are not always as they seem, and some pranks are better left alone." With that, Ella released the time shield. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan clambered up the path not thirty seconds later. The two boys looked at the group strangely and said 'hello' to their fellow Gryffindors, but left as soon as they came.
"That was some impressive nonverbal wandwork, Ella." Hermione mentioned too casually.
Ella was in no mood to explain, so she grabbed Draco's arm and threw a curt, "Yes." Over her shoulder.
oooOooo
Later that night, Ella stopped Time around her trunk and threw herself into her work for the equivalent of three weeks. She practiced being in two places at once until it no longer drained her. She wrote and rewrote a plan for the DA and a schedule, and then rewrote it again. She ran, a lot. She decided to finally come back out when she wasn't mad anymore. Hogwart's was not prepared for what was about to hit it.
