A/N: And here is chapter ten. I hope you'll enjoy the chapter and of course let me know what you think! I wanted to say something about the possible couples which might happen much later; much of it is not set in stone. I'm not sure if Harry and Ginny will end up, nor do I know for certain Hermione and Ron will end up. I will admit, I've never been the biggest fan for the latter. To be honest I don't see how their relationship would ever work but... Anyway, I have most of the story drawn out, but I can never figure out who should be with whom. I will stop rambling now! Let me know what you all think!
And to all who have reviewed this story so far: thank you, I hope you'll keep giving this story a chance.
o.O.o
Chapter Ten, A Ghost
They'd gone to the library that evening, planning on finding books on Nicolas Flamel, but they hadn't had much luck. Allyson, Hermione, Ron and Harry hadn't managed to learn anything about Nicolas Flamel and whatever it was that made him valuable in this time. All the while the days had turned bright, humid and cold. One morning in mid-December Hogwarts found itself covered in several feet of snow and the school grounds were almost unrecognisable. The Lake had frozen solid and although some of the older students entertained themselves with ice skating, Allyson didn't dare to come near it. Every time she contemplated it, she stared at the dark recesses and the giant squid who still moved under the thick layer of ice and scampered back.
As the Christmas holidays neared their search for Flamel turned almost frantic. Hermione and Allyson would be travelling home to enjoy their time with their parents, while Harry and Ron would stay at Hogwarts. Neither of the girls thought the two boys were much help studying on their own but had not been able to come up with much either.
Classes had become a steady routine and although the Common Room and the Great Hall had roaring fires in the fireplaces, keeping the students comfortable, the corridors and halls were icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes, which were held in the almost freezing dungeons. Apart from the bitter coldness in the Potions classroom — which made the students huddle as close around their hot cauldrons as possible — Snape was in a permanent foul mood since Hallowe'en. He assigned a bizarre amount of homework, burying not only the first-years, but also the upper-years under the assignments and essays.
The potion's master stalked through the classroom, his limp gone, and sneered. He glared at the students who made mistakes, glowered at Harry (for being born) and he glared at Allyson who seemed to have not done enough wrong to comment on it. As he rounded on Neville Longbottom, who actually squeaked in fear and dropped his cauldron to the floor, Allyson noticed the gleeful expression on Draco Malfoy's face.
"What a jerk!" she whispered, glaring at the blond boy. The enmity of the school against Slytherin House, which Allyson admittedly noticed, seemed to have pushed the Slytherins students over the edge and made them even more hostile than normal. Just like the other Slytherin's Draco Malfoy had not taken the Quidditch results well and just like expected from the spoiled-rich-kid, he lashed out in words. He was very good at it too. Making small lingering comments about how appalled he was that some people would have to stay at school. It never failed to make Harry flinch.
Glowering at her cauldron Allyson flicked her wand, watching with a somewhat pleased expression as her knife started the progress of slicing the shrivelfig roots into small matching pieces.
"Miss Gilbert," Snape's voice decided coldly from behind her and she closed her eyes. It seemed it was her turn to be taken down for something. "This is potions not Charms, refrain from using your wand."
"But Sir, I found this spell in the second year Potions textbook," Allyson explained, flicking her wand absentmindedly. The knife stilled its cutting progress and fell harmlessly onto the cutting board.
"I don't need your word for being a pompous swot, Miss Gilbert." He hissed dangerously "Slice your roots without magic."
Feeling her cheeks heat up, Allyson nodded curtly before starting to cut her roots with loud rhythmic taps on the cutting board. From across the classroom, she noticed Malfoy smirk and Allyson had to resist the urge to make a vulgar gesture. Harry whispered soothing words to her but quickly stopped when Snape gave him the stink eye. They resumed working in silence.
When they left the dungeons an hour later, fingers cold and cramped, they found a large fir three blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet stuck out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.
"Do you need any help, Hagrid?" Ron asked helpfully, glancing at the tree with a frown. It wasn't like they had the muscle to help him with the tree.
"Nah, I'll manage." Came the muffled reply.
Allyson hoisted her bag up. She had been in a rather bad mood ever since the first hour of potions, therefore she kept silent. Hermione shuffled sideways to peer at Hagrid's face, probably working on a way to ask him about Nicolas Flamel again. Allyson couldn't find it in her to care that moment. When she returned home, she would ask her father about Nicolas Flamel. He really had a knack for history, so he might come up with something valuable. And if that didn't work, she could always ask a history— She could ask Binns! How stupid could one get? It was so simple. She had stayed behind at multiple times to ask something to the ghost, for he went way too fast to understand all the details that weren't in the book at once. Sure enough, they had agreed to keep their search a secret, but Binns wasn't the definition of sanity, nor did he seem to realise where he was half of the time. Allyson wouldn't be surprised if he had no idea of what was going on, on the third floor either, so asking him was rather safe.
"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. Allyson almost screamed and turned around with her cheeks reddening. Malfoy smirked, not at all faced by Allyson's glare, and looked the four Gryffindors over with contempt. His smirk widened when his eyes fell on Ron.
"Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts? I suppose— that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."
Ron's ears turned red and he dived at Malfoy. Allyson barely had enough time to grab onto Ron's robes and she had to use her full weight to keep him from bodily wrestling Malfoy to the cold flagstone floor.
"Stop it, Ron!" she gasped, already panting from the effort it took to hold the taller boy back. "It's not worth it."
Ron, in a fit of genius she couldn't help admiring, unclasped his outer-robe, shrugged it off and shoved Malfoy back. Allyson dropped back on the floor and the torches on the wall flared when in an instinctual response her magic surged. Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward, about to push Ron off of their leader and then Snape stepped into the hall. Allyson felt her stomach twist uncomfortably when his beady eyes gleamed darkly and scrambled to her feet.
"What's going on here? Weasley, no fighting!" Snape hissed and Harry grabbed Allyson's shoulders to stabilise her. His hands tight around them as if he tried to stop her from saying something. She wasn't sure what she could say that would make Snape back off anyway.
Reluctantly Ron stepped back, glaring up at the Potions master and the tree behind them quivered violently when Hagrid scuffled around to see them.
"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the fir. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."
"That may be so, Hagrid, but fighting is against the rules. Five points from Gryffindor." Snape retorted carelessly. "I suggest you all move along."
The three Slytherin boys moved past them and Malfoy not-so-accidentally shoved Harry into the tree. He glared at the Slytherins through the large pine branches and Ron muttered a few impressive obscenities under his breath.
"I glad he's going home for Christmas."
"Definitely," Allyson agreed mildly, "Hagrid if I don't see you before I go home, I hope you enjoy the Holidays. Guys, I need to find Binns."
Her last sentence earned her bewildered looks from the other children and Ron frowned. "Why in the world would you go and find a professor on the last day of therm?"
Rolling her eyes, Allyson sighed before moving up on her tiptoes. "There is this alchemist, I want to know more about."
Ron's eyes widened, but before he could say anything more, Allyson turned on her heel and ascended the stairs. As she climbed the stairs, she heard Ron ask what alchemist she was talking about and unsure if he was joking or not, she peered over her shoulder. Harry elbowed him and gave a meaningful glance at Hagrid, but Ron's face remained clueless. Allyson snorted; the boy could be so simple-minded.
The corridors were quiet and she jogged to the fourth floor. Arriving before Binns' office, she halted and knocked. Although they hardly had any leads to go on with, now she was unsure if she should try with the History teacher. He never seemed to remember anyone's name, but just referred to one of your parent's names (if you were lucky) or called you something completely inadequate. He referred to Harry as 'James' most of the time, or on bad days to something that relatively sounded like 'Potter'. Hermione, although she corrected the ghost the first few times, was called 'Ginger' or 'Gember', which she by now just accepted with a small sigh. Then there was Ron, who was the only one whose name he used correctly — apparently the red hair made it, even for Binn's, easy to remember his name — and of course, there was Allyson. She stepped into the classroom, rubbing her hands together and the ghost, hovering above his desk, looked up from his papers.
"Ah, Eleanor."
Allyson was, from the moment she set foot in his classroom, referred to as 'Eleanor', which was a name she relatively liked, so she never once contradicted it.
"Good afternoon, Sir, I have a question." She said. "It's about a historical person my erm father— has been asking about." She continued, smiling slightly at her cringe-worthy story. "You see, he's very interesting into the Wizarding history and he read something about Nicolas Flamel."
Looking up at the ghost, his expression dazed. "Ah yes, Mister Flamel? That was a very gifted man. Found an immortality elixir in 1437. Has lived all this time." He summed up. "Must be boring." He finished, gazing at the wall.
'Bingo!'
Suppressing a smile, she nodded. "And this elixir—" she began, but then the door was slammed open. Professor McGonagall bristled in and Allyson felt the blood drain from her cheeks. The woman looked pissed beyond words.
"Cuthbert, can I borrow Miss Gilbert, for a moment?"
The ghost looked up, apparently surprised that he wasn't alone. "Who?"
McGonagall gave him a hard stare before waving at the young Gryffindor and the Ghost nodded curtly. Allyson would have screamed if she had thought it would help and solemnly followed after her head of House.
"But I didn't do anything…" She muttered under her breath.
They started down the corridor, leaving Binns' classroom behind them and nervously started to fiddle with the straps of her bag. They stopped almost directly opposite to the staircase to the Serpentine Corridor and Professor McGonagall tapped her wand on a dark oak door. It croaked softly when it opened and the older witch led her into what Allyson assumed was her office. The room was small; with just a desk and two red-tufted chairs standing around it. A large welcoming fire was lit and McGonagall beckoned for Allyson to sit down. Taking a seat near the fire, she sent a fearful glance out of the window. She was screwed…
She mentally went over at least ten different excuses why she could have been intrigued by Nicolas Flamel and how she came to think of him, while McGonagall straightened her robes and sat down across from her.
"Did I do something wrong, ma'am?" — Apart from the obvious, like poking my nose in other people's business — she asked, inclining her head.
"No, no, Miss Gilbert. You didn't do anything wrong." The woman began, her eyes flickering. "There is something else I wish to discuss with you." Opening the top drawer of her desk, she pulled a file out. "You've been doing well in your classes."
Allyson watched in silent wonder as her Professor extracted a grade list and ironed it out over on the table. Marks for her subjects were all written neatly down, and Transfigurations and Defense were marked with a thick line underneath. Allyson had no idea, they kept a file with the marks received over the whole year. She had thought they only filed the exams at the end of the year. Smiling at her nervous fidgeting pupil McGonagall slid the parchment over the table to Allyson.
"You have shown a certain affinity with your classes, I wouldn't have expected from a first-year." Professor McGonagall began. Allyson frowned as she glanced at the paper. She knew she did well at Transfigurations, but apparently, she had done better than just 'well'. "Are you surprised?" she asked, while glancing at Allyson's face with barely hidden amusement.
Allyson rubbed her hands together before reading the paper. Apart from the marks, she'd received on essays and practical tests there was also written documentation on what she supposed was the grasp and maturing of her magic. "I'll admit I thought I was fairing all right in my classes. I just didn't realise there were all these things the school documented. What do you mean with spell strength?"
"Magic in youngsters is untrained and normally triggered by emotional outbursts. You might have had magic triggered by emotions, but when I met you in your back garden you were already aware of it and controlled it to a level that is rare in girls your age. Although rare, it's not unheard of, but your spell strength is also more advanced than one should expect." McGonagall explained and flipped through the file. "Although you can be rather careless of course, we think your progression is better suited with students in the same magical class."
"I'm not sure I understand where this is going, Professor," Allyson remarked slowly, rubbing her hands together.
"Do you feel challenged in your subjects?" McGonagall asked.
"Oh, yes. I truly love magic. And besides, the subjects are very interesting." Allyson said, her face flushing.
"That's not what I am asking, Miss Gilbert," McGonagall decided. "Your father told me you had a special tutor at home…"
Leave it to her father to call her teacher a special tutor. He wasn't special, it was hardly because of her sharp mind that she'd needed to be tutored at home instead of in a classroom, but Allyson didn't think it was wise to tell her Head of House that and shrugged. "I've always had a keen memory."
"So, I've noticed," her Professor nodded, "But having a keen memory or feeling challenged during your classes, are two different things. Your marks on the subjects that require a wand are excellent, even Severus commented positively on them."
"He did?" Allyson asked and McGonagall grinned.
"Oh yes, I think he also said you were a bit of a swot and liked to experiment." The woman told her young pupil lightly and Allyson wondered if she was even supposed to tell her that.
"Yeah, that sounds like Professor Snape," Allyson muttered.
"We feel like we don't challenge you enough in our subjects and we do not wish to stand in the way of your magical and academical growth. Therefore Professor Dumbledore and I decided it would probably be best to accelerate some of your classes." Professor McGonagall explained and offered Allyson a tin with biscuits.
"You want me to skip a year?" Allyson asked slowly, straightening in her seat. Conveying that to her parents would probably be the easiest she had done all year. In Germany, despite her somewhat bad track record with other children, the teachers had also made her skip a year in second grade and another one in fourth. Her father had never been more proud. It hadn't mattered that she was an obnoxious know-it-all who manipulated the situation to her benefit and squeezed it for all it was worth. Being academically talented made her get away with things. At school, the teachers merely thought her to be a push-over while instead, Allyson was a mean-spirited, cunning and manipulative little girl. She wasn't mean out of some sick superiority complex. No, nothing like that, she was mean-spirited because the students used to go out of their way to harass her. Even after she started to show them the error of their ways — be the bigger man be damned — many of her classmates tried to aggravate her. It was one of the reasons why she still chose the company of books and scrolls instead of her actual friends whenever she felt overwhelmed or upset.
"Miss Gilbert?"
Allyson forced a watery smile on her face and took a biscuit out of the bin. "I'm sorry I was just thinking about my parents."
"Your parents seemed to think it might be a wise course of action."
"To skip a year." She asked again.
"Yes,"
"I didn't know that was an option at Hogwarts," Allyson admitted while nibbling on the cookie.
"Not often. Initially, Headmaster Dumbledore recommends extracurricular assignments rather than moving a student up a year, but I persuaded him to let you start taking classes with the second years."
Upon noticing Allyson's face, McGonagall smiled. "Headmaster Dumbledore has always been reluctant to advance children and always encouraged extra curricular assignments instead. He feels that it's important for children to socialise with other children their own age."
"Then why did he agree? I'm already one of the younger ones." Allyson asked, nibbling at the biscuit. That was true, she was born at the 28th of July.
"Because of your parents." the Deputy Head answered. "They told me you get restless, but I've noticed you are quite mature for your age. I don't think the age difference will be much of a problem. It's only one year up, after all, and not for all subjects either. Professor Quirrell opted that advancing you in Defense and Transfigurations might already challenge you."
"Not on all subjects?" Allyson echoed. At one side, she really liked the idea to learn some more advanced magic, but on the other, she really liked sharing her classes with her friends.
"Although your marks are fine on all of your subjects, we would like you to start taking the classes for the second years Transfigurations and Defence first. They are by far your best subjects and with your background History of Magic or even Potions might be more difficult."
"You mean with me not growing up with them?"
McGonagall smiled and steepled her fingers together. "Both subjects can be taught to all students, no matter what background you have, but growing up with wizards and witches has certain benefits. One of them is picking up on things. We fear advancing you on those subjects would mean you would miss essential information during your future tests. The essentials of magic are repeated every year, but the basics of History of Magic and potions—"
"Are only given once."Allyson smiled at that. She couldn't imagine Severus Snape, who had barely enough patience to explain the basics to students once, repeating already given theory at the beginning of a new school year. Grinning she leaned forward on her elbows and pursed her lips. "How would this work with my other subjects. And what about Charms? I noticed you didn't mention that during your explanation."
The woman smiled at that ironed the papers out in front of her. "No, I didn't, did I? You receive the same marks on Charms as one of your classmates.
Allyson frowned. "How would that work with my other subjects?"
"There are some subjects you would not follow with your House; Defence against the dark arts for the Gryffindor second-years is on Friday afternoon. Therefore you would have to switch classes for Charms, which is given at the same moment." McGonagall explained, and Allyson nodded thoughtfully. "Then there is Transfigurations, which I give myself. It is given on Monday and Wednesday afternoon. You would miss none of your classes, so you would still be able to follow your other subjects with the other Gryffindors. You won't have to follow Transfigurations and Defence for the first years anymore, but I'll give you a monthly assignment which covers what your former classmates have gone through. When you keep up academically then we'll arrange the change to be permanent."
"I see,"
"Just think about it child. But if you're not really challenged, it shouldn't be that much of a choice."
Allyson nodded. "Thank you and I will."
McGonagall smiled, rearranged the files in her map before putting it away in her desk drawer. "I recommend you to discuss it with your parents. I promised I would stop by and explain your progress to them while at the same time discuss your permeability within the school."
"Oh, I see," she replied
"Off you go." the older witch said, pushing a paper with a concept of her new timetable to her and Allyson almost robotically accepted it. "If I do not see you before the Holidays start, Miss Gilbert, I hope you'll have a pleasant one."
"Thank you, you too, Ma'am." She replied before leaving McGonagall's office. Twilight had already fallen giving the walls a ghostly glow and she absentmindedly made her way to the Great Hall. It was still early, but the first students to attend dinner were already there. The four house tables were filled with plates and the hall buzzed with excitement. Allyson settled down in the middle of the table and dropped her shoulder bag down next to her on the wooden bench. She poured herself a cup of hot tea and stirred the hot liquid around with a teaspoon.
Academic acceleration would undoubtedly make her parents proud. She felt like she owned them that at least. She had not been an easy child, even though she did study hard, she was summoned to the Headmistress' office, she didn't doubt they would still be expecting at least a letter with warnings and complaints about her.
With a soft sigh, she filled her plate with fried shrimps and mashed potatoes. The fires in the Hall were burning in the hearths and fought off the chilly evening air permeated in through the large double doors. Allyson ate her dinner in silence, peering at the tiny cracks in the old worn table board and was so deep in thoughts she didn't realise someone was trying to get her attention until a hand landed on her shoulder.
"There you are! Are you all right? Harry has been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes."
Allyson looked up in surprise to see Ron Weasley staring down at her. "Oh, hi Ron," she greeted sheepishly and Harry frowned at her dazed expression before settling down beside her.
When it was clear she wasn't going to expand on what she had been doing or why she was in the Great Hall eating dinner alone, Ron sat down at her other side. "We were already wondering how long you would manage to stay at Binn's office and when you missed charms we didn't understand where you were, but it seems you were already here."
"I hope you had some more luck than we had," Harry added grimly and she nervously toyed with her the end of her red and gold tie.
"McGonagall—" Allyson started. "She came in when I was practically interrogating Binns. She took me to her office and— well, I don't know, I'm a bit confused."
"Lovely," Harry muttered before helping himself to the mashed potatoes.
Allyson sighed, what was she supposed to do? She had never had real friends before and if she skipped a year, if she started to follow Transfigurations and Defense with the second-years and Charms with the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins, she would see her friend a lot less often. Some immeasurable period of time later, she looked up from her plate and looked Hermione straight in the face. The older girl was watching her appraisingly, brows furrowed and mouth tensed into a thin line.
"Oh, I'm all right, Hermione." She was quick to assure.
Hermione nodded reluctantly but as Allyson gave the other girl a rather convincing smile the horrified expression disappeared. For now, she seemed to be content with Allyson's response and brought her attention back to Harry and Ron. "You both keep on looking when we're away won't you?"
"Right," Ron began. "And you can ask your parents, it would be safe to ask them, right?"
"Very safe, as they're both dentists," Hermione answered.
To be continued...
A/N: Allyson is not necessarily smarter than Hermione. Hermione had always been bookish smart, studied so hard because she was scared of failure. Allyson is not like that. Allyson only studies hard for her classes (*because she's scared of what her parents say) and she studies hard for the things she likes. In that sense, she would know exactly what kind spells you could use to stupefy someone, but would not know even a sentence of a second-year Potions book, because the subject doesn't interest her all that much.
Thereby, I do have my reasons for skipping a year in those two subjects. Do feel free to tell me your theories about Allyson's family:)
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