The Phantom of Hogwarts

Chapter Ten

(Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except for my own.)

When the first years rose early the next morning they discovered that each of their school robes and cloaks had been embroidered with the crests of their houses and their black scarves or cravats had been replaced with ones that displayed their house colors. Erik Garron tied his blue and bronze cravat and straightened his robes before heading down to the Great Hall along with Mordrid and Vanessa for breakfast.

It was just before they entered the Great Hall that Erik had his first unfortunate encounter with Peeves, Hogwart's resident poltergeist.

Erik let out a startled yelp as a rug was suddenly yanked out from under his feet and he fell forward receiving a hard landing on the stone floor.

There was a pop followed by an evil cackle and suddenly Erik felt his mask being pried away from his face. Erik threw his hand up over his face and pulled the hood of his robe over his head.

"I got the firsty's mask! Ha! Ha! What does he hide?" demanded a little man with evil dark eyes and a wide mouth. He hovered out of reach and perched on his ugly taunting face was Erik's white leather mask.

Peeves, the poltergeist, swooped down and began pelting Erik, Mordrid, and Vanessa with bits of chalk.

"Give my mask back, demon!" Erik snapped.

"Ooooh deary me! The firsty has claws! What fun!" Peeves giggled.

"Leave him alone!" Vanessa yelled.

"Give it back, Peeves or I'll get the Bloody Baron! I mean it!" Mordrid ordered.

"His Bloodiness don't listen to fickle Ravenclaw firsty and neither do I!" Peeves taunted, howling madly as he yanked Vanessa's hair.

By this time a small crowd had gathered including Raoul and his group of Slytherins along with a bunch of Hufflepuffs.

"Tell the Baron to make him stop!" Erik heard Christine cry out.

"And end the fun? No way." Raoul responded.

Erik carefully weighed his options and allowed himself a small smirk.

With his back to the others and his hood pulled up Erik faced Peeves and slowly spread his fingers apart allowing Peeves to see his forehead and marred eye. Erik never noticed that Vanessa Le Mort had stepped beside him and simply smiled.

Peeves let out a high pitched shriek of terror and whirled away rattling the suits of armor as he passed.

In his hurry to flee the mask had fallen from the poltergeist's face and landed noiselessly on the floor at Erik's feet. His hand now effectively covering his face Erik bent down to retrieve the mask but someone else reached it first.

Christine Daee smiled as she handed Erik his mask. His hands trembling slightly Erik took his mask and replaced it on his face.

Disappointed that their fun had been spoiled Raoul and the Slytherins moaned loudly and filed past the group and into the Great Hall. The Hufflepuffs breathed out sighs of relief and followed suit. Some offered apologies and encouragement as they walked past but Erik was too focused on Christine to notice.

"Thank you." he said softly.

"You're welcome, Erik. Take care." Christine said sweetly before she rejoined her waiting group of friends and hurried over to her House table.

"You okay, Erik?" Mordrid asked as he dusted off his robes.

"Yeah. I'm okay. You all right, Vanessa?" Erik inquired as he followed suit with his own robes.

Vanessa had freed her hair from its braid in order to fix it.

"Yes I'm fine." she replied.

"You sure taught Peeves a lesson, Erik. I doubt he'll be bothering us anytime soon." Mordrid commented but then a moment later the boy smacked his forehead, "I'm so stupid. Sorry, Erik. I didn't mean anything mean by it." he quickly added.

"Don't worry about it." Erik said shrugging, "Let's go and have breakfast." he added lightly.

Mordrid smiled his agreement and Vanessa nodded as the three of them walked inside and sat down at the Ravenclaw table.

Professor Pomfrey passed out the class schedules and when Erik read his he groaned.

"Perfect way to start off the day. Transfiguration with the Slytherins." Erik mumbled.

"It's not so bad. As long as we don't sit in the front row we should be okay. Probably not the back row either. Vlad told me that Bulstrode can kill an ant at twenty paces with her spit." Vanessa said trying to keep her tone bright.

"Charming." both boys muttered.

When a loud ringing bell announced the start of a ten minute transition time between classes Erik, Mordrid, and Vanessa raced back up to their dormitory and quickly gathered up their morning class supplies along with their copies of Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

Stepping into Professor Bulstrode's classroom was like stepping into a forest of green and silver cloth, which was draped on the walls, windows, and floor, and embroidered with serpents.

"You'd never guess she was the Head of Slytherin House." Jared Butler commented as Erik, Mordrid, and Vanessa sat down beside him in the middle row.

"Just make sure she doesn't hear you say that. My sister says Bulstrode can be real nasty." Brea Brooks whispered from the row behind them.

"If the Ravenclaws would care to stop chattering then perhaps I can take attendance and proceed with the lesson. Ten points from Ravenclaw by the way." Professor Bulstrode barked. She grinned wickedly when a number of the Ravenclaws (Erik included) moaned at the unfairness.

Professor Bulstrode now stood at the front of the class in emerald robes trimmed with silver. Her salt and pepper (though now in a tight bun) was as unkempt as it had been at the Leaky Cauldron and her black eyes seemed to shoot daggers at the Ravenclaws, who promptly shut up.

As she took attendance Erik noticed that whenever Professor Bulstrode called the name of a student who was Muggle born or a half blood she spit into her beloved silver spittoon. However, when she came to a Pureblood's name the spittoon was spared and a pleased smile graced her face especially when Raoul de Chagny and Brutus Malfoy's names were called but since Erik was both a half blood and his parents were not married his name warranted not one but two spits. By the end of attendance several of the girls looked slightly ill.

Professor Bulstrode put her parchment down and faced the class her arms crossed, lips set in a stern line, and her eyes narrowed.

"I want to make a few things very clear with all of you. Transfiguration is not a subject to be taken lightly or slacked off. It is one of the most complex and dangerous forms of magic in existence. Therefore anyone who speaks out of turn or fools around in my class will fail this course and will never be admitted back in. Is that clear?" she snapped.

Everyone nodded. Professor Bulstrode then turned one of the wall tapestries into a huge snake and laughed as all the Ravenclaw girls (save for Vanessa) shrieked with terror while the Slytherins sniggered.

Vanessa yawned unimpressed. Professor Bulstrode returned the tapestry to its usual shape and was still chuckling as she pointed her wand at the chalk board and ordered the students to begin taking the notes that a piece of chalk had begun writing on the board.

Once they had finished their notes each student was given a match and told to turn it into a needle. By the end of class Erik and Raoul were among the few who had made any progress. Professor Bulstrode happily displayed Raoul's needle before the class and favored Raoul with a bright smile but merely nodded grudgingly when she examined Erik's needle.

Raoul smiled arrogantly as the bell rang and he pretended to humbly accept praise from his fellow Slytherins.

"How can Bulstrode put that de Chagny brat on a pedestal like that? Erik's needle drew blood when Bulstrode accidentally pricked her finger with it!" Edward Eldreth demanded.

"At least she didn't take any points off for it." Jillian Bryson replied.

"She didn't give him any either. De Chagny's needle was as dull as a spoon I bet." Mordrid pointed out.

Erik appreciated their indignation on his behalf but at the moment he didn't care. His next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts!

R and R please!