Chapter 11: School Days at Hogwarts
Hermione smiled as she entered the Gryffindor Common room. She wasn't surprised to find Ron, Harry and Neville still there. It didn't even look like they had moved from their chairs.
"So, back already? You give up on the History assignment?" Ron asked with a bit of a grin.
Hermione gave him a frown as she said, "I already finished it actually."
"Really?" Ron asked disbelievingly.
"Yes," replied Hermione evenly.
"How was the library?" Neville asked her.
Hermione gave a smile again as she sat down near the others and said, "I liked it. I especially liked how the books literally returned to their shelves. They would fly back to their shelves when you closed them and tapped them with your wand."
"That's sounds cool," Harry said imagining what the sight would be like. He was already planning on having a race using a couple of books just to see what would happen. Ron and Neville didn't seem as impressed, but they both already understood how so many things seemed amazing to Harry and Hermione.
"It was, but the best part was I ran into Elsa there. She was also doing her History assignment," Hermione said.
Ron and Neville were more interested now. "What did you two talk about?" Ron asked.
"Classes and some other things. It turns out she had the same classes today we did, just switched around. She agreed that History was incredibly boring. In fact, she said she found working on the assignment more interesting than the class," Hermione said with a laugh.
"So that means she had to put up with Slytherin all day?" Ron asked with disgust. "I feel sorry for her."
"Yes they had Slytherin today. It wasn't as bad as she feared it would be. She still wasn't thrilled about it," Hermione said with a sigh.
She then smiled again as she added, "But it might have been worth it."
"What could possibly be worth putting up with Slytherins all day?" Ron asked with a puzzled face.
"Well she got to see Goyle get in a fight with a plant during Herbology." Hermione then giggled as she added, "He lost to it."
She laughed more as her friends blinked for a few minutes as they tried to picture that. Once they had an idea, they started to laugh as well. "I bet he didn't like that," Harry chuckled.
"Apparently, he called the plant stupid and then it socked him one last time," Hermione was still in a fit of giggles. "Even Professor Sprout laughed when that happened."
"Aww man. I wish I could have seen that," Ron said. It was clear he approved of anything that made Slytherin look bad.
The four laughed a little longer at the story. Hermione hadn't really told her story too loudly, but two matching sets of red hair and a set of dreadlocks over heard them. The three quickly left the room barely containing their own laughs. They now had work to do. They had to be quick and make it good. That was the only way to start off their school year.
"Another thing I found out, is that we have Charms with Ravenclaw tomorrow," Hermione said after she stopped laughing.
"Good. It will be nice to have class with Elsa… Is she going to sit with us?" Harry asked. He felt a little sheepish having assumed she would sit with them.
Hermione nodded. "I promised to save her a seat. Don't know what will happen during DADA though. We all have that class together. I hope to see her after DADA at least. I want to ask her what Potions is like as a class."
Ron made a sick sound as he said, "That means she'll have to put up with Professor Snape. I've heard he's terrible. Only likes the Slytherins in his classes."
Neville nodded. "I've heard the same. He's especially tough on Gryffindores. Maybe he won't be as bad since she's in Ravenclaw."
Harry frowned. "I bet it's really bad if you have that class with the Slytherins…." His green eyes widened as he then sighed in resignation. "We're going to have that class with the Slytherins, aren't we?"
"Why do you say that? We don't really know yet." Hermione said as she frowned in thought.
"I'm just saying we will, knowing my luck… Sorry…" Harry said as if he was apologizing to them for being at Hogwarts. Hermione wasn't sure what to say to him. Neville looked like he was thinking it was actually his own fault if that happened to them and not Harry's.
Ron gave a laugh. "What are you saying sorry for?" Harry looked to him with a little wonderment. "It wouldn't matter if we had it with Slytherin or not. Like Neville said. It will be bad regardless for us, because we're Gryffindores and Snape never likes us."
Harry seemed a little relieved and Hermione was a little surprised and thinking that maybe Ron wasn't as bad as she thought he was when it came to people. She saw him as a friend anyways, but she kept getting a feeling he would be kind of tough to be friends with at times. Neville smiled and nodded as he said, "Besides, us Gryffindores stick together. Right?"
"Here. Here," Ron said. He then smiled as he stood up and said, "Let's stop talking about that. It almost time for dinner. I wonder if it will be as good as it was last night." Harry smiled as did Neville to his words. Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head, but Ron didn't notice the gesture.
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The feast was pretty good Hermione thought. Harry seemed to agree. She also caught Neville patting his belly a little in contentment as they headed back to common room. Ron was the most enthusiastic during the meal, but right now he seemed lost in thought.
Harry was about to ask what was on Ron's mind when the boy spoke. "Hmmm… I'd give that a 7 or an 8 out of 10."
Harry looked to him surprised as he asked, "Really? That low?"
"Yep. It was pretty good, but not the best. It also wasn't as good as last night's feast," Ron said.
"Didn't know you were a food critic," Neville said with a laugh.
"How can you tell? We've only had supper twice here. Though it does make sense tonight wouldn't be as big. Last night was the opening Feast for the school year," Hermione said as she thought a little out loud.
Ron just grinned as he said, "You've never had my mom's cooking before. She loves cooking and she's very good at it. Dad's always going on about how it's one of the things he loves about her. Well… along with everything else."
Hermione was in thought about what to say on that. The truth was her own parents took turns cooking, but they were always very selective in what they cooked. Probably because they were dentist and wanted to make sure they never had anything that wasn't good for your teeth. This was part of the reason she may have helped herself to an extra helping of desert tonight and last night. Sweets weren't something her parents let her have often. In the end, she didn't say anything and just headed back to the common room with the others.
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On the second day of school, Elsa again woke up early. She decided to get back into her usual routine a little. She usually took a morning jog/run. She felt like she had to keep healthy and the shower afterwards always helped wake her up enough for her classes. She wasn't about to slack off in the fitness department now that she was at Hogwarts. If she did, she might not be able to keep up with Anna when she went back home, even if it was months away before that.
Plus, as a member of the Elsanna Exploration Society, she had to keep in good shape. It would be more difficult to explore the castle otherwise. There wasn't really any form of physical education at Hogwarts anyways. She also really wanted to see the grounds more and what better way was there than going for a run along the lake or something like that.
Doing some kind of extreme diet to stay healthy was out of the question too. She wouldn't be able to enjoy the feasts here at Hogwarts if that was her approach. They weren't the most extravagant or the most delicious she had experienced so far, but the food was still good and there were so many deserts to try. In addition to that, she enjoyed how different the atmosphere of a Hogwarts feast was compared to the others she had been to before. She preferred the Hogwarts Feast Atmosphere to the usual. Probably because Hogwarts Feasts were meant for the students and not a bunch of adult nobles and politicians.
As she got out of her bed, she was extra careful to be quiet. She didn't want to accidentally wake up Morag early twice in a row. Once she got back from her morning jog and to her room for the shower, she figured that wouldn't be too early anymore. She searched through her trunk and pulled out her workout clothes before changing into them and making her way out of Ravenclaw Tower.
The castle was oddly quiet this early in the morning. She figured there would be servants running about busy by this time. "Now that I think about it. I haven't really seen any of the service staff yet," Elsa thought to herself. She decided not to worry about it at this time. She was eager to get her morning run in for the day.
Elsa took in a deep breath of the morning fresh air as she stepped outside. It was exhilarating for her. She made her way over to the lake shore and started to run. She figured a lap or two might be enough. She was going to see how long it would take to run around it once.
The crown princess ended up running two laps around the lake followed by a cool down lap before heading back to the castle. The whole workout in total took her about 40 minutes. She came across a few students heading off to an early breakfast, who gave her curious looks as she made her way back to the tower. "It's like they've never seen workout clothes before…" she thought to herself. She then realized that might be the case.
Wizards had Quidditch in the ways of sports with physical activities and that was about it that she knew of at least. There were other games called sports, but they weren't really what would be considered physically active. In fact, calling Quidditch a really physically active sport was probably pushing it. It was more of a coordination and strategy sport than actually being a physical sport. Not that Elsa would ever say that out loud near Ron and she also wasn't an expert and this was just her current guess about it.
Elsa entered Ravenclaw and again she was met with curious looks. She was a little uneasy with all of the looks, but didn't let it show. "They'll get used to me dressed like this in mornings soon enough," she thought to herself as she climbed the stairs.
Once she entered the dorm, she was greeted with a "Morning, Elsa. Where were ya?" from Morag.
"I went for a morning run. It's something I always do," Elsa answered.
"What are you wearing?" Mandy asked as she looked over the girl in curiosity. She wasn't a stranger to muggle clothes but these were different from the ones she was used to seeing.
"Workout clothes. I'm not about to run around the lake in my uniform or robes," Elsa answered as she started gathering her things for her shower. One of them should be open. Though it would be a little odd taking a shower while two others were showering, even if they were in separate ones.
{-} {-} {-}
It wasn't as bad showering as Elsa thought it would be. It was also just as refreshing as she guessed it would be after her run. She even hummed a little to herself. They were now heading out to breakfast. "I can't wait to see what Professor Flitwick is like in class," Lisa said as she led the way.
"I've heard he's really good at dueling so he probably really knows his stuff in general," Mandy said.
"I'm looking forward to the class itself. You can do a lot with charms," Padma added.
"I'm just glad we aren't having the class with Slytherin," Elsa said with a contented sigh earning snickers from the others.
"So how was your morning run?" Morag asked as they continued their way.
"I enjoyed it. I did find the castle oddly quiet though. I expected to see servants running everywhere getting things ready," Elsa answered.
"Well good house elves aren't usually seen when they work for a place like Hogwarts," Morag answered.
"I'm not very familiar with House elves. I read a little about them but that was it," Elsa admitted. She then turned to Morag and asked, "Can you tell me more about them?" Morag nodded and was actually a little pleased that she was considered a source of information on something magical.
As they sat down at their table, Elsa had a curious thought about House Elves. She wondered exactly how the bond worked and she really hoped there was something in place to make sure they weren't abused. Morag's "Most Wizards, if their half-way decent, generally treat the elves well," wasn't enough reassurance. She might have thought more on the subject, but she was hungry and really needed to eat.
The meal turned out to be really good and extra entertaining. Half way through there was a "school paper" that ended up popping up on the table by everyone. The front page gave her a laugh. This was a good joke she would admit.
On the front page, there was a made up picture that reminded her of a boxing match-up poster. One side had a picture of a tough looking and grave faced Goyle, which was actually more intimidating than the actual Slytherin was. There was a flashy lightning bolt in the center and on the other side was a picture of the plant that Goyle fought and lost to. She read the article.
Goyle vs. Plant! Will there be an epic rematch?!
Sources have told us of a fight that took place during the first year Slytherin and Ravenclaw Herbology class yesterday. This fight involved up and coming first year Slytherin muscle Goyle and a plant. This plant disagreed with the first year and the two duked it out. The plant weaved and dodged while Goyle threw punches. It landed a few good hits before the match was called to an end by Professor and referee Pomona Sprout. However, Goyle took issue with the plant and called it stupid. The plant did not appreciate that kind of un-sportsman like behavior and smacked the first year one last time.
When we spoke to the plant it had this to say, "The match was over and the ref called it. It isn't my fault Gregory Goyle was too slow land a hit on me and lost."
Goyle mentioned he wanted a rematch to show the plant who's boss and preferably during Potions Class sometime in the future.
We got the plant's response, "Bring it on! Anytime you want during Herbology!" There is no official word on a rematch yet, but here's hoping.
The article was too funny, even Draco seemed to be laughing, but maybe that was because he heard Crabbe telling Goyle in an oddly consoling manner, "You'll show it next time, buddy. Next time."
Elsa eagerly looked through the rest of the "school paper" to see the other stories. It turned out it was full of fake and funny stories. There was one which asked about a plant inheriting a Gringott's account. It was the quote which truly made the story funny.
… A Gringott's Curse Breaker had this to say, "Well that isn't really my department of expertise, but I have heard of some crazy things from the accountants. One of them said they did have a case in the past where a rather loony old coot of a wizard left his inheritance to a rug in his house and somehow that included his wife."
"She was not pleased to say the least and once enough time had passed and there was a will from the rug leaving everything to her with assurance and somehow proof it wasn't forced into signing such a will… Well let's just say there was an accident at a party involving a dog running around with a Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Extra Fire Roman Candle in its mouth and the rug. So yeah it might be possible."
The last article in the paper, but not the least was about a Fashionable First Year Hat List. It included a lot of made up fashion snobs spouting a bunch of mumbo jumbo with different cropped pictures of Hogwarts school uniform hats. Elsa got a laugh out of this one because all of the pictures looked exactly the same pretty much except for one where the tip was bent at a slightly different angle from the others. The excerpt about it was really funny.
Here we have a first year Ravenclaw's hat sporting a Crisp and Cozy Seasonal Fall look.
It was even funnier when Elsa noticed a few girls checking out other students' hats trying to figure out which one was which. She also giggled because she had a feeling there would probably be at least one person who tried to give their own hat a "Crisp and Cozy Seasonal Fall look."
What Elsa didn't know was at that moment Hermione was staring in confused awe at Lavender. She was in fact trying to do just that using the picture as reference while Padma's sister was scanning the Ravenclaw table with extra care trying to find said hat in the sea of the others. The hat part of the uniform was usually worn for the first week of class and then mostly just for the big feasts after that.
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After finishing her breakfast, Elsa made her way to Charms with her dorm mates. As she walked inside she waved to Hermione and was relieved that the others seemed to be okay with spreading out in the classroom with the exception of Morag who sat on Elsa's right while Hermione was on the left. "Hello, Hermione. This is Morag. She sleeps in the bed next to mine in our dorm."
"So you are the one, Elsa warned us about," Morag started with a bit of a grin tugging at her lips. Hermione actually looked a little nervous.
Elsa rolled her eyes, "I did kind of tell the others you seem pretty smart and I was surprised you weren't in Ravenclaw. That's what she means." She gave Morag a slight frown who returned it with a chuckle.
"I was merely joking, Hermione. We might see you as competition for high grades, but it won't be nothing serious," Morag said with a smile. Hermione seemed relieved at her words.
"So where are Harry and the others?" Elsa asked.
Hermione gave a sigh. "Ron convinced them they have loads of time to get to class. I'm pretty sure he just wanted some more breakfast first."
"Who's that?" Morag asked Elsa.
"He's another friend I met on the train. He's kind of tall and lanky with flaming red hair. So I'm pretty sure he's got a fast metabolism and as such a bottomless pit for a stomach. The wonders of having a fast metabolism…" Elsa said almost with a sigh. "It would be nice to eat whatever you want without worry."
Hermione seemed like she wanted to say something as she looked Elsa up and down. Morag spoke up first, "Yeah then ya wouldn't hafta go running in the mornings and wake up your neighbor."
Elsa blushed, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I tried to be quiet. I promise." She got a little angry when Morag started laughing. "You shouldn't joke like that. I was scared I woke you up again like yesterday…"
"Sorry it was too easy. You needn't worry. You didn't wake us up. I was a little surprised you were already gone when I got up while the others were still asleep. I kind of enjoy reading a little in the morning in silence from time to time," Morag said.
Hermione gave a smile to that. She also felt a little sad. It would be nice to be in a dorm where the others enjoyed something besides gossip and fashion magazines. "I wish I could do that and stay curled up in my bed a little longer in the mornings, but Lavender gets up early to get ready for the day and she isn't exactly quiet." Hermione couldn't help but look at the girl as she said that.
Elsa looked in the same direction and saw the girl had tried to make her hat like the one in the picture sitting next to Parvati. She gave a giggle. "Seems someone took that article to heart." Morag gave a laugh too. Still it was actually kind of nice to see Padma sitting with her sister and the two actually looked like they were happy to see each other. "I guess the Patil sisters do actually get along pretty well."
"Probably not too hard since Padma's on the quiet side," Morag added as they looked over and the two waved at Padma you looked over to them. She gave a wave back before returning to talking with Parvati.
Class was about to start and Elsa was a little worried since Harry, Ron and Neville hadn't arrived yet. As soon as she looked over to the door again, the three boys burst through. "Okay. No more taking our time at breakfast until after we get a good feel of this place," Neville said as Harry nodded in agreement and Ron was silent. He didn't want to admit he was wrong, but even he knew they were cutting it close. Who knows what would happen if they had actually been late to the class. They wouldn't have heard the end of it from Hermione and maybe Elsa too.
The three made their over to Hermione but there were only two spots left by her. One of them would have to sit by the Ravenclaw with Elsa. "Well. It is a good thing you three made it. Professor Flitwick can be strict if he wants to be and he isn't fond of tardiness, especially on the first day from what we've heard," Elsa said as they approached. Harry sat down by Hermione and Ron next to him with Neville sitting by the other girl.
"This is Morag. She's my bed neighbor," Elsa said to them. Morag gave the boys a friendly grin in greeting as they introduced their selves to her.
Harry turned to Elsa and asked, "So how was your first day, Elsa?"
Elsa gave an "ugh" sound and said, "History of Magic was terrible and for some reason Draco sat next to me. At least he was focused on the class."
"I doubt I'll be that lucky when we have Potions with them…" Harry said with a sigh.
"You already know what classes you have with them?" Elsa asked. If they did, she'd compare schedules and then determine which houses she has which classes with.
Harry shook his head. "No, we don't. Neville and I just agreed that knowing our luck we'll have Potions with Slytherin. It only makes sense that we would have them in the same class with the professor known to hate our house the most." Neville nodded his agreement with this, at least to him and Harry, sound logic.
Elsa wasn't sure what to say here. She had one thought, but she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to voice it. Fortunately for her, Morag spoke that thought instead. "Well, no offense to ya, but I'm glad to hear that if it's true. Wouldn't be looking forward to another class with them so soon. Some of them really are a might bit unpleasant to be around."
Ron gave a slight frown to Morag, but remained silent on the subject. It was just at this time that Professor Flitwick walked into the center of classroom and up on to a stool behind the podium. He looked around the classroom as if taking a silent headcount.
"Greetings, Everyone! I'm Professor Flitwick. It is so good to see you all today. I look forward to all we will learn together in this class," Professor Flitwick said as he smiled at the gathered students. Many of the Gryffindors were a little wide eyed looking at tiny Professor Flitwick. Some might have seen him at the feasts, but actually in person in a classroom was different. Fortunately, it seemed the man was used to this and so he allowed them to take him in before continuing his introduction.
"Charms is a very exciting and versatile field. But it can also be dangerous in many ways. We will be learning a number of spells. I imagine many of you will be very happy that this is much more practical than theoretical." He continued to smile as some students sat up straighter and were now more eager to learn.
"However… Be warned. We will have a good amount of repetition in this class. Precision and Memorization are especially key to Charm spells," he said as he looked over the class most of the students instantly getting his message. "It seems we are all ready to start then," he finished cheerfully.
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So far Charms was easily Elsa's favorite class. She loved how they were already using magic in it. On top of that, it seemed she had a knack for it. It also felt really good to use magic again. She didn't need to be careful not to be noticed like she did with her ice powers. In fact, Professor Flitwick's words seemed to encourage her to use it often.
"Seems like he really does know his stuff after all," Morag started.
Lisa who was in earshot said, "Looks like Mandy was right. His being a duelist master really shows in teachings." Elsa and Morag nodded to this.
"Are you for real?!" Ron asked in surprise.
Lisa looked at him strangely and nodded as she said, "Yes, he is."
Hermione elbowed him softly causing him to wince a bit as he said, "Oh sorry. I'm Ron."
She smiled and said, "I'm Lisa."
Ron grinned back as he said, "I think I'm going to actually try even harder in this class now! I bet it's awesome being a master duelist."
Lisa couldn't help but grin and nod vigorously. They were talking about her head of house after all so she felt a sense of Ravenclaw pride. "I'm really looking forward to more of this class," she said.
"I am too! That was so much fun. It felt wonderful using my wand finally. I love magic," Elsa said cheerfully. She felt a little embarrassed about her excitement and wondered if she was feeling some sort of high from using magic through the wand or something.
Lunch was a pleasant affair for all of them. Ron was unsurprisingly more than ready for lunch. Elsa, to the others' surprise, was actually looking forward to lunch as well. She could have sworn her stomach growled a little. "Maybe magic uses up calories?" she thought and kind of hoped. She would still run in the mornings and such, but it would be nice if she got to really enjoy the food here even more. Maybe it was instead because she didn't have enough at breakfast. She paid too much attention to the fake school paper instead.
She was happy that the Ravenclaw table was next to Gryffindor in the dining hall. The princess was even happier that she managed to find a spot kind of close to Harry and the others. She managed to hold two separate conversations during the meal, one with her table and one with the Gryffindors. Lunch was rather lax and there wasn't anything saying they couldn't mix it up with the other tables, but it was hard to try this because everyone had Lunch at the same time.
"Well see you all in DADA," Elsa said to Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville once the meal was over.
"Be sure to tell me all about Potions later," Hermione said to her friend.
Elsa smiled as she said, "Only if you will tell me all about Transfiguration." Hermione nodded to this with a smile. Elsa then caught up to Padma who was on her way to the Potions classroom.
"How was your sister doing?" Elsa asked.
"Parvati's fine. She's loving Gryffindor. Unsurprisingly, she already has a new best friend. She did admit she found Hermione quiet, but judging from lunch that doesn't seem to be the case," Padma said in reply.
"Hermione just doesn't really know how to relate to Parvati and Lavender. She's like me in some ways. She doesn't know much of anything about the magical world. She's afraid the others will make fun of her or something if she were to ask them questions," Elsa said. Padma looked like she was about to defend her sister, but Elsa wasn't finished yet. "She doesn't really think they are bad or anything. She's just not the best with meeting new people I'd say. I told her to keep trying."
They sighed as they entered the Potions classroom. "They really know how to set a cheerful mood here don't they…" Padma said flatly as they looked around the dreary class dungeon.
Elsa gave a sigh and nodded in agreement with Padma's sarcasm. "looks like there's just a few tables left," the Arendelle princess said as the two waved to their year mates who looked a little apologetic that they couldn't all sit together. The tables were meant for three, maybe four students each max.
"At least we don't have this class with the Slytherins," Padma said as she nodded over to Michael and Terry sitting by a talkative boy in robes with yellow and black striped accents. "That's a relief," she concluded as they sat down together and waited for the rest of the class to trickle in.
"Ummm…." A girly voice said from behind Elsa. The girl looked to her with a small smile. "Can I sit here… I mean everywhere else is taken…" the girl said. She had blonde hair in pigtails and very pink cheeks.
"Sure you can. I'm Elsa," the princess greeted the other girl.
"I'm Padma," the other girl greeted as well. She then added, "You're Hannah Abbot, right?"
Hannah eeped and blushed a little. "Ummm… Yes, I am. How did you my name?"
"You were the first to be sorted," Padma answered easily.
Hannah sat down still looking a little put out. Elsa then said, "It kind of made you memorable. Just like how Blaise Zabini was the last to be sorted. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only people more memorable in our year so far are Harry and maybe Draco because of his family."
Hannah seemed to feel a little more at ease. It seemed she had feared she did something foolish during the sorting and that was why people knew her already. She seemed to relax a little as she got out her supplies. She was a little upset that she didn't end up getting to sit with any of her fellow badgers, but at least Elsa and Padma seemed nice. Plus, she actually remembered Elsa from the sorting. The girl had a certain air about her as she made her way to the hat.
Right precisely at the second class started, the doors burst open and then slammed shut as a grave faced man with a hooked nose and dark black hair framing his face walked forward with his robes billowing behind him. Once he was at the front of the room, he spoke in a soft contained voice which only added to his already strong authoritative presence. "Put your wands away. There will be no silly wand waving or uttering of incantations in this class."
All of the students did as they were told easily. Some understood why they were putting their wands away. Others merely did so just because they were told and they didn't want to get on this Professor's bad side.
"Potion making is far subtler and more exact than anything else you will be learning here. Many think potion making doesn't count as magic. They are gravely mistaken. They can't comprehend the power of liquids flowing through human veins, bewitching the mind, and ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death… If you are able to learn and aren't so dimwitted you might as well be locked in a dungeon with no light," he finished as he eyed the students in his class
"I'm glad that my first, first year lesson is with the less annoying and troublesome class..." Professor Snape thought as he observed the quiet and attentive students, even if it was because they were scared of him. Better they be scared than not in his opinion. They should be more likely to pay attention and be careful. Not that he was counting on it. They were just idiotic first years after all.
Elsa noticed that during Professor Snape's introduction Hannah decided to hold on to her arm in fear. Padma had also seemingly scooted closer to her as well. Elsa would admit the professor was intimidating, but it would be unqueenly if she let herself be taken in by him here. At the same time, she wasn't about to try and openly defy him or otherwise provoke him. She could already tell Professor Snape was not the type of person that would respond well to such behavior.
He seemed to be the rather serious and unpleasant type. It was probably very likely he knew his stuff and he had been teaching here for a while, so that had to mean something. Though honestly she wasn't sure how effective as a teacher he would be. She had a feeling he was the type that the talented and gifted flourished under rising higher than they ever dreamed they could or people thought they would even with their talent. Meanwhile all of the others would fall further and further behind. Elsa decided that she would do what she could to be the former rather than the latter. If she could that is.
Professor Snape looked over the students a little longer before starting to call role. Students usually would either eep out a "here" or just raise their hand. It was only the Slytherins of his house who would show any confidence and that was just because they 'actually knew' him or so they believed and they weren't in this class. Things went about as normal until he called out, "Elsa Evergreen."
"Here. Professor Snape," she replied easily and calmly as she raised her hand as well. It wasn't really an impressive reply, but given the others' lukewarm responses it stood out.
His cold black eyes rested on Miss Evergreen for a moment. She wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest he could tell. At the same time, it felt as if she would be respectful to him even if only in his class unless he drastically proved her he deserved otherwise. She had some sort of deep confidence that few had he could tell. "She might turn out to be interesting compared to the others," he thought as he started writing out the instructions for their first potion and started his class.
He felt a little odd teaching his class for the first time in many years. It was as if there were eyes on him the entire time and not in the usual manner. When he had an outburst at a Hufflepuff who almost caused his potion to explode. He could have sworn he felt eyes judging him as he went a little too far in berating the student due to losing his temper.
He looked around at one point and met icy cold eyes from Miss Evergreen. He didn't let it show but a part of him felt shocked an 11-year-old girl could have such eyes. They weren't like any other cold eyes he had seen before and he had seen a lot of them. They weren't harsh or filled with hidden rage. They were almost devoid of much emotion but not deadened and they were keen. It was a little unnerving, but a part of him kept him from lashing out about it. He figured this part was from his years of 'patience' he had built up over time. In addition, it was also because there was something vaguely familiar about her last name, but he couldn't rightly place it. It was something he might look into later or not.
{-} {-} {-}
Once the class ended, Hannah Abbot gave Elsa and Padma a bow in thanks before running off to join a girl from her house with dark red hair in a braid. The other Ravenclaws converged on Elsa and Padma as they made their way to DADA together. "I can't figure out what to make of Professor Snape…" Elsa said unknowingly still in her 'Queen' mode. Fortunately, the area didn't have the slight chill that sometimes came with it. She had entered it as a way to keep strong during Potions.
"What's there ta get? The Man's a right frightful pain! Ya see how he went off on that Puff?" Morag said her accent more pronounced than usual. The other girls nodded in agreement to her.
"True…" Elsa started in a very calm and even voice. The girls might have been a little startled by this side of her, since they were seeing it for the first time. They however didn't really mention it, but they were studying Elsa. "However, if he hadn't reacted quickly and stopped the student the potion would have exploded. Though he was a bit excessive in his reprimand afterwards."
"The man's right intimidating! I wouldn't 'ave been surprised if the kid pissed himself in fear from that and has nightmares tonight," Morag said.
"I might have nightmares tonight and I wasn't even the one he scolded… Professor Snape's eyes were so… cold…" Lisa said as she trailed off and looked to Elsa. The girl paused in her steps and blinked. She hadn't seen Elsa's eyes like that yet. The usually bright blue eyes were icy and still. This didn't seem like the Elsa who came up with the Accounting theory.
"How were you able to remain so calm, Elsa… I mean the way you answered during role. It was as if you weren't at all intimidated by him. I… I… well I felt a little safer… if that makes any sense," Padma said.
"I wasn't intimidated by him," Elsa answered easily.
Padma didn't know how to describe the feeling she had. It was as if she was in the presence of someone powerful and intelligent. Sure Elsa was intelligent, she was in Ravenclaw after all, and she could see Elsa becoming powerful after their Charms class. However, she felt like she was with someone who had been extremely powerful for years and extremely competent with magic. Someone who people would gladly follow. It was like Elsa was a warrior princess of yore from the tales she heard of countries to the north. Elsa was beautiful, smart, and strong. Padma unknowingly decided to nickname Elsa "The Ravenclaw Princess". It was a title with respect and not belittling her.
Later she would talk to the other girls about her thoughts and they would share theirs as classes went on. They too would use the nickname and it eventually would spread especially once a pair of twins overheard it, but that was not today. Right now they had DADA to attend. They all had high hopes for this class and they were a little curious how it would play out given the whole year took it at the same time.
Lisa and a couple of others were a little relieved when Elsa's mood seemed to go back a little to its usual. "I hope this class is interesting. This class should be as useful if not more than Charms seems like it will be," she said with a smile.
"I'm kind of looking forward to having a class with the whole year at the same time. I wonder why we have it with the whole year?" Mandy said in thought. It didn't really make sense in her mind to have such a class be so large.
"I've heard the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is jinxed," Padma said.
"So then I guess they combined classes to make it more enticing to potential Professors? You know like 'Oh don't worry about the rumors saying it's jinxed. Look at it this way you'll be teaching less classes than the other professors. You won't have to put in as much time getting lessons prepared because each year has the one class and thus progress at the same rate'. Something like that?" Mandy asked getting thoughtful nods in return.
Once they entered the classroom, they heard the buzz of students talking to each other and finding seats. It looked like many students took this as a chance to sit with other people they hadn't really had a lot of classes with yet including some of the Slytherins. There were a few Slytherins sitting together and looking as if they were above mixing with the others outside of their house. Unsurprisingly, the group consisted of Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. The hard faced girl was giving looks to the others as if daring them to try and approach Draco with her there. She spared Elsa an extra hard look that didn't at all faze the princess.
Padma immediately went and sat with her sister. Parvati's usual cheerful personality would be refreshing after Potions class she had decided. Plus it might be a good idea to warn her about Professor Snape. The other Ravenclaws seemed to also decide to sit with others in the class room, since it was already fairly well mixed.
Elsa calmly walked over to Hermione and smiled as she asked, "Mind if I sit here?"
"Sure. You didn't have to ask," Hermione said as she looked over Elsa. Her friend seemed a little off or something. "How was Potions?" she asked.
"Unfortunately you all will have it with the Slytherins," Elsa replied calmly as Harry and Ron let out resigned sighs. They knew it in the back of their minds because they had their last class with the Slytherins, but hearing Elsa say it really drove it home.
"I'm not sure about Professor Snape. He was usually calm, collected and definitely authoritative. He kind of goes a little overboard when someone messes up their potion. He's the kind of teacher that could come off as a bit intimidating. I don't know what it will be like for you guys, but you should probably try to just listen and not really try to stand out a lot. I don't think he's the kind of teacher that would appreciate that," Elsa said as she got her things out for the class.
Each of the Gryffindores took mental notes from what she said, or well tried to. Whether they managed or not varied between them. "Have any of you heard anything about this class?" she asked.
Harry gave a nod. "I actually met Professor Quirrell already." He was surprised when Elsa's blue eyes were focusing on him along with Hermione's brown eyes as they listened. It was a little odd how attentive they were. "He was ummm… A little twitchy and odd but he seemed friendly enough. Hagrid said he had a bad encounter with a vampire in Albania and that's why he's the way he is now."
"When did you meet him?" Ron asked.
"When I went to Diagon Alley to get my school things. He was in the Leaky Cauldron," Harry answered just as the doors to the class room opened and the DADA Professor made his way to the front of the classroom.
He seemed fidgety and occasionally he would look from side to side as if he saw something only he could sense. "W-w-well… I'm P-p-professor Quirrell and t-this is Defense Against the D-d-dark Arts. Open your books to the first chapter a-a-and lets s-start reading it. A-a-anyone want to s-s-start us?" He looked around hopefully.
Elsa shifted back to her 'Queen' mode without realizing it as she raised her hand. "A-a-h y-y-yes Miss Evergreen start at the top of page— "
"Will we be using wands in this class, Professor?" she asked cutting him off.
"E-e-excuse me? W-w-wands? No no I don't think using m-m-magic is a good i-i-idea… S-s-something might happen," he answered her looking a little scared when he met her gaze. Everyone else might think that was just because he always did, but this time it wasn't. He went a bit rigid when her now icy blue eyes narrowed and she gave a disappointed frown. "What is her deal? That power…" he thought to himself as he kept himself from wincing at the voice in the back of his head.
He resumed his trembling once he realized he had been too rigid and clam for what was expected of him. "W-w-well a-a-are you g-g-going to r-r-read the p-p-passage?" he asked her almost meekly. Elsa gave a mental sigh as she started reading and the other students groaned at the answer to her question.
Once her turn to read was over, Elsa did take some notes, but it seemed Professor Quirrell was the type who didn't have anything to say beyond the book. He would stop them to explain something further, but usually it was more or less exactly what a footnote said. "At least he, uses visual aids," she muttered causing a student nearby to chuckle quietly as he told them to look to the diagram on the page in their book. Hermione frowned to herself as she continued to take notes.
{-} {-} {-}
It seemed to take a lot longer than it really did for the class to finally end. "Can someone please tell me why we have so many classes that don't use magic at a magic school? So far Charms is the only class I've had that we used our wands," Elsa said as she sighed and leaned on Hermione's shoulder briefly while they walked. Hermione seemed a little tense at this, but happy.
Elsa soon straightened up and asked, "Please tell me Transfiguration uses wands at least."
"It does," Harry answered easily.
"How was it anyways?" Elsa asked eagerly.
"It was good," Harry said calmly as they continued to walk.
After a minute of silence, Hermione gave a huff. "Really? That's all you're going to say about the class, Harry?"
Harry actually gave a slight chuckle as he said, "I figured you'd want to tell her everything, Hermione." It wasn't exactly true. He planned on leaving it at that, but decided he needed to cover for himself when Hermione put him on the spot like that.
Hermione blushed, but then happily did just that. "The class was so amazing! Professor McGonagall really knows her stuff too!" Hermione beamed with the same level of pride Lisa had when she told them about Professor Flitwick being a well-known duelist earlier.
"The amazing part was when she turned her desk into a pig as a demonstration before turning it back. Then we started working on our first project! Turning a match into a needle. I almost had it but mine was still a little too rough. She gave us homework too," Hermione said sounding happy about getting a homework assignment.
"Oh yeah… Professor Snape gave us homework as well," Elsa said with a nod.
"Hey Elsa, what is the rest of your schedule like?" Hermione asked.
"I was meaning to ask you the same," Elsa answered. The group stopped as the two girls got their schedules out to compare.
"So we have Astronomy together tomorrow and everyone has flying lessons at the end of the day on Thursday," Elsa repeated. Hermione gave a frown. "Is something wrong?" Elsa asked in concern.
"I'm just a little nervous about the whole flying thing. I mean I knew we would learn how to fly on a broomstick, but it just seems a little scary…" Hermione said as she looked forward.
"Are you kidding me?" Ron asked. "Flying's great! Though I've never really done too much of it, especially on my own."
Harry actually smiled widely as he said, "I'm actually looking forward to that class the most right now. I think it sounds brilliant!" Elsa couldn't help but smile at his eagerness. Harry usually seemed rather mellow and not the good kind of mellow.
Hermione gave a sigh as she said, "I'm still worried about it. What if you crash or something?"
Elsa took a moment to think about this and then asked, "Have you ever flown before, Hermione?"
"Yes I have. I've gone on trips with my family during the summer holidays before," she answered not seeing how that mattered. Being on an airplane was one thing, being on a broomstick was another.
"If an airplane crashes, it's probably worse than if a broom crashes. I highly doubt they'll have us fly really high up in the sky anyways. I also doubt we'll be allowed to knock each other off or something like that," Elsa said.
"I don't know. I still think an airplane would be safer…" Hermione started. Elsa gave a sigh. Hermione immediately added, "But I'll give it a try."
"That is all we're supposed to do for the class," Elsa said. Hermione still didn't seem fully convinced, but she was determined at least and they did still have a couple of days before they took their first flying lesson.
{-} {-} {-}
Wednesday came and again Elsa took her morning run. She still got a few looks again, but it seemed a few just didn't really care to understand anymore. Some might have heard how even Snape didn't intimidate her yesterday and so they were too impressed to even care that she was wearing, in their opinion, odd clothes. While many students wore muggle clothes during their free time, they didn't really wear workout clothes.
"So today we have Transfiguration with Hufflepuff and then Herbology and History with Slytherin. Also we have flying lessons with all of the houses?" Mandy asked Elsa again to confirm what she told them about Gryffindor classes from yesterday.
Elsa gave a nod. "I'm just glad we don't have to be with Slytherin all day again today. I liked having class with the Hufflepuffs yesterday."
"I'm just glad we don't have double history again," Morag said while making a sick face at the thought of that happening.
"Each class has one double a week and that is all," Padma said without hiding her relief at this. She didn't mind double classes and enjoyed them, but the idea of possibly having double history twice a week was terrifying.
{-} {-} {-}
After they had breakfast, the girls made their way to the transfiguration classroom. Elsa was really eager for this class as well. Hearing what Hermione said they did in the class made her even more excited. The Ravenclaw girls were a little early since everyone was still waiting outside the classroom. A couple of the Hufflepuffs were already there. Soon after they arrived Hannah actually gave a friendly wave and smile to Elsa and Padma. "Hey again! Hopefully this class won't be as bad as Potions was. Sorry if I was a burden on you," she said with an apologetic smile to them.
"You needn't worry," Elsa replied with a smile in return.
Padma then spoke from next to Elsa, "Parvati told me that Professor McGonagall is actually a bit intimidating as well, but she made it sound more like the professor's just strict."
"Well then I'll just make sure to behave. Thanks for the heads up," Hannah said. She sounded really relieved that McGonagall wasn't going to be just like Snape.
A few minutes before the class was supposed to start the doors opened and all of the students entered. Once all of the students were seated and the class was about to start, Professor McGonagall walked in from a door in the back of the classroom and stood tall as she took role. After calling the last name, she spoke to them with a stern expression, but it wasn't scary to the students like Professor Snape seemed to want to be. "Transfiguration is complex and dangerous. I will not tolerate any students messing about or ignoring the safety rules," she said as she gave them all a stern look.
She then added, "Complex and dangerous it may be. It is also truly wonderful and there is much you can do with it." She then pointed her wand at her desk as it transformed into a pig that ran around the room. She then called to it and the pig trotted back to her before she once again turned it back into a desk.
Even knowing it was going to happen, Elsa still found the display amazing and decided that she might make this her second favorite class. Charms was obviously her first. Seeing the display her mind was filled all kinds of wonder at the possibilities such a field in magic would have. It was amazing.
It turned out that they had to take a lot of notes before they were first allowed to learn how to change a match into a needle. Elsa gave a bit of huff to herself. Hermione definitely downplayed or didn't realize how impressive having a match that was still "a little rough" was for your first time in class, especially because they had to make a needlework needle and not a threading needle.
Shortly after they started the practical phase of their class, Morag was called out by Professor McGonagall. "Miss MacDougal! We do not light the match. That will be five points from Ravenclaw," the Transfiguration Professor gave the girl an even sterner look.
Morag blushed a little and was about to come up with an excuse, but settled for a, "Sorry, Professor McGonagall I was just curious if it was a real match."
The professor gave a shake of her head, "Get yourself a new match from the box in the front," Professor McGonagall then went back to helping a Hufflepuff with the spell.
When Morag returned with her new match, Lisa looked to her questioningly. "I'd figured she wouldn't appreciate my explanation of it making the transfiguration easier," she answered. Lisa gave a sigh and focused back on her own match.
Elsa had made some progress rather quickly, but the early result was a very sturdy and pointy but still wooden needle. She looked at it again and changed it back. By the end of the class she managed to get it right. Elsa even earned back the five points Morag lost them for how well she had done her needle. "Very good, Miss Evergreen," the professor said to her loud enough the classmates heard her.
McGonagall then thought to herself about how there were a few very talented students this year. She hadn't expected to see two first years get it right on the first day. She still didn't get what it was Hermione had meant when she claimed her needle was still a little rough.
History and Herbology turned out to be more or less class like usual that day. There weren't any epic fights with plants this time. Elsa still thought it odd that Draco again sat next to her in History. She wasn't sure what to make of that. "If only he wasn't such a big headed arrogant boy, things might be different," Elsa thought to herself as she briefly glanced at him. Draco didn't seem to notice her look, but Pansy did and she glowered at Elsa, who didn't notice it.
{-} {-} {-}
"Draco sat by me again in History. I really don't get why he does that," Elsa said with a frown as she and Hermione were again sitting in the library. They studying and working on their transfiguration homework. They were given a good bit of it and Hermione was finishing her assignment up for tomorrow.
Elsa had one more day on Transfiguration, but wanted to work on it with her friend at the moment. She was fortunately almost finished with her potions assignment and just needed to read through it one last time. Both of them had finished Charms already.
"Maybe you should ask him?" Hermione said as her eyes drifted over to the Slytherin in question at a nearby table with a couple of other Slytherin girls. She gulped when she saw the look in Pansy's eyes aimed at Elsa. "Does she feel threatened by Elsa or something?" she wondered to herself. She knew Pansy hated her as well, but the look in the pug faced girl's eyes seemed extra pointed at Elsa for some reason.
"Hmmm…" Elsa said in thought as she placed a finger to her lips. "I might try that if it continues. Maybe it was just a coincidence. I might also just get used to it and leave it alone. He still hasn't really tried to start anything. I decided to not really get into something with him unless there is a real good reason. And I don't count Ron's obvious response of him being a Malfoy and in Slytherin as good enough of a reason." Elsa than gave a mischievous giggle as she added, "Plus it is a little fun to see how much it gets to Pansy."
Hermione gave a giggle to that as well. "Be careful, Elsa. She might try something."
Elsa looked at Hermione and then giggled again. "I can only hope. I'm sure she's heard about what I was like in Potions Class by now. The whole school has despite it just being yesterday." The two girls laughed to this quietly. It was actually pretty incredible how fast gossip and rumors spread at Hogwarts.
{-} {-} {-}
Elsa was happy. It was finally the Thursday. It turned out that while they were given the schedule for flying class at the start they didn't have it the first couple of weeks for some reason. Double Potions had been a bit tough, but it seemed Professor Snape decided to be a little less overbearing on the nervous students after the first week in their class. Also the princess had to admit Hannah Abbot was kind of the cute girl. She chose to sit with her and Padma again each class. It seemed that Hannah and Padma were her Potions buddies and she kind of liked that idea.
Naturally, Charms was again amazing and she sat with her Gryffindor friends for the class. Once the class ended, it seemed the rest of the Ravenclaw girls along with her decided to go to their next class together. Padma took a little longer to get her notes sorted than the others for some reason, so they waited. It wasn't easy for Elsa and so maybe it just felt like Padma was taking longer.
They were now on her way to the first Flying lesson. "Seems like we all are looking forward to this class," Mandy said smiling at the others. She then gave a giggle as she said, "Especially Elsa."
Elsa gave a scoff and shook her head. "Are you kidding me? What's not to look forward to about this class? I'm not like you all. I didn't grow up around flying broomsticks and I didn't get to enjoy the fun of a toy broomstick." She then gave them each a look and said, "Besides, you're all smiling just as much as me."
Mandy gave another giggle. "Okay. Okay. Sorry I pointed it out. I'm really looking forward to this class. Even if you had a toy broomstick, it was rather slow and only allowed to reach a height of 10 feet max. Here we get to go much higher and faster if we want!"
"I hope they have some really good brooms for us to try. I want to be racing others by the end of the class!" Lisa said with a grin.
"My sister and I had toy broomsitcks and I remember they could actually go faster than most adults running," Padma said. She then gave a smile as she said, "Our father would fetch his own broomstick to catch us. Though Parvati and I sort of just saw that as a race. He always won in the end obviously, but he would sometimes play along with us before telling us to get off and go inside. I'm really looking forward to these lessons. Maybe we'll be able to convince Father to get us or own brooms after this year and then Parvati and I can really have a race for once."
Morag paused and gave a mock surprised expression as she jokingly said, "That's got ta be the longest ya ever talked in one go to us, Padma." A couple of the girls snickered as Padma gave a small frown. Morag gave a nervous laugh as she added, "Sorry. Didn't mean ta upset you."
Padma gave a scoff as she said, "I've already gotten better. It's only been a couple of weeks since school actually started you know." She then sped up a little bit. Morag quickly caught up to her and gave a more sincere apology. Padma seemed to accept it as she and Morag waited for the others to catch up before they continued.
Elsa took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I really like how this class is outside. It isn't in the dark and dreary castle and it isn't in the stuffy greenhouses." She felt the light breeze on her face with her eyes closed for a moment.
Lisa nodded in return, "I agree with you on that."
It wasn't much longer until they arrived at the grounds where they were to have their lessons. Immediately Lisa frowned after seeing the brooms they were using for the class. Elsa could even tell these weren't exactly great brooms. Their wood was discolored in a way that suggested it wasn't some designer choice to make them that way. The straws were bent awkwardly and equally discolored. A few of them even looked like they were rotting.
"This does not look promising…" Padma said voicing everyone's thoughts. The others nodded in agreement. Elsa saw a very nervous looking Hermione, or well nervous if you knew what to look for in her. They had made some progress with getting her ready for this class, but it looked like it was ebbing away now that the class was here.
"Well Girls. I kind of think I should stay with Hermione for this lesson. Poor girl is probably scared enough as it is," Elsa said as she made her way over to her Gryffindor friend. The others were surprised Elsa figured that. Hermione didn't look any worse than the others really. Honestly, she probably looked better off then some. They shrugged their shoulders and made their way as well. They had thought about sticking together, but decided not to once Elsa went to her other friends.
Padma went to stand with Parvati and the two began to bemoan the travesty that was the school brooms much to Lavender's amusement as she giggled. The others met up with people they knew from previous classes or wanted to get to know better. Once again, Draco was with his little group and looking even smugger than usual somehow.
Hermione gave a mental whine as she chewed her bottom lip very lightly. She was doing so good about this flying lessons thing in her mind at least. Then she came here and saw the brooms. She guessed maybe they looked that bad because of some designer's choice, or at least she hoped that was the case. Next she heard others going on about how terrible the condition of the brooms were, which wasn't promising.
She might have gone further into her panicking thoughts on flying brooms, but she felt a familiar hand touch her shoulder. "Hey, Hermione!" Elsa greeted her cheerfully. Hermione felt a little more relaxed at the presence of her friend. Sure her other friends were there, but they weren't any help for her. Neville seemed as nervous as he ever did. Ron was excitedly telling Harry all about brooms and Harry was eagerly drinking it all in.
It didn't help that Seamus came over and started talking about brooms that were considered classics and their roles in Quidditch, which Ron eagerly talked about as well. They didn't seem to understand how nervous she really was when they started laughing as they made fun of the brooms on the ground in front of them. Elsa wasn't nervous like her, but the blonde girl understood her even if she was doing her best to hide her nerves.
"Hey… Elsa…" Hermione was sure her voice wasn't as nervous sounding as it just sounded to her in actuality. Elsa then gave Hermione a light and friendly hug.
"Has anyone ever told you that you are very huggable, Hermione?" Elsa asked with a hint of playfulness in her voice. Hermione felt relieved at having someone to talk to now. She knew Elsa gave her a hug in the hopes it would calm her down, but the curly haired girl was thankful nevertheless. The two talked together about anything that wasn't flying and broom related.
Hermione was feeling even better about these lessons now with Elsa lined up next to her as their instructor, Madam Hooch a woman with interesting yellow eyes, started to speak. "Welcome everyone! I'm Madam Hooch. Flight instructor and often Quidditch referee here at Hogwarts. This will be your first flying lesson of the year. I know some of you know a thing or two about flying already, but you are all going to start at the same level as the others. It is often surprising how many of you 'expert' broom flyers have been doing things wrong this whole time," she said earning a few chuckles and a couple of blushes from people who claimed to be such an expert.
"Now to begin. Stand to the side of your broom. Place your hand over it, and say 'Up' clearly." She then stood in position and demonstrated. "Up" she commanded and the broom shot into her hand. There were a few 'woahs' from the students causing the instructor to smile. She loved this part of her job. She also loved the other part of her job as well even if it was difficult for anyone to see everything that happened in a game of Quidditch.
"Now I want all of you to try," she said with a friendly if slightly mischievous smile gracing her lips.
"Up!" shouted several students with different degrees of enthusiasm and equally different responses from the brooms. Harry's shot straight into his hand almost as if it was begging to be ridden by the boy. Malfoy's slowly ascended and he was secretly glad very few actually noticed this. Hermione's broom rolled over but stayed on the ground causing the girl to feel irritated as she let out a little growl.
Elsa was thankful for her Queen training as she saw this. She actually found her friend's reaction a little cute and endearing. If Hermione ever gained confidence in herself and managed to do a little something about her hair, the girl would be a heart breaker with such reactions. She just knew it. Judging by Lavender's eyes it seemed the 'gossip and fashion obsessed' girl thought the same.
The princess actually waited a little to see what happened first when it came to her broom. She then placed her hand over the broom and calmly said, "Up." The broom shot up at a fast but reasonable pace into her waiting hand. Hermione saw this and gave another sigh before trying again. Hermione was a little jealous of Elsa just then, but at the same time it seemed right that she would get this quickly.
{-} {-} {-}
It had taken a little time, but every student now had a broom in their hand and waited for further instruction from Madam Hooch. Malfoy, who thought he knew better, mounted his broom right away. Elsa was proud of the fact she managed to hide the laugh that tried to escape her lips when the instructor lectured Draco on how to properly hold a broomstick.
"I've always done it like this," he bellowed to her with a slight frown.
"Then you've always been doing it wrong!" Madam Hooch said before going into detail about how his stance was not only wrong, but also dangerous. Elsa wasn't laughing at that. Instead she was frowning at Malfoy and thinking that he better listen to the instructor here. Arrogance was a bad thing to begin with, but if it cost you your life because you wouldn't listen to someone, it was even worse. The princess was surprised that she actually seemed to care that much for the boy. She chalked it up to her natural compassion.
"Now then…. Since everyone is finally sorted…" Madam Hooch shot a frown at Draco here. "Let's continue the lesson. Now that you are all using the proper standard stance on a broom, we will launch into the sky. To do this you must push hard off the ground."
A few students got ready by tensing their muscles and focusing. "When I count to three we will then push off," Madam Hooch said. She then looked them over to make sure they understood before she started to count. "One…. Two…" She never made it to three.
Neville was super nervous here and despite his better judgement he wanted to be the first in the air to show the others he wasn't just a nervous wreck. He pushed off at 'two'.
"Mr. Longbottom get back down here this instance!" Madam Hooch shouted. This unfortunately made Neville even more nervous and he wasn't able to concentrate on getting back down. Besides, she never told them how to get back down. She just told them how to launch into the air.
"Woah! Woah! What's happening!" the boy shouted as he seemed to fly higher and higher into the air faster and faster. Just as Madam Hooch launched, Neville lost control of the broom and fell off. Madam Hooch's eyes widened and she quickly cast a cushioning charm but it wasn't fully formed when the boy crashed on to the ground.
Elsa's eyes widened and she along with the others rushed over to see if their friend was alright. Madam Hooch got there first and examined him as the boy cried a little despite his attempts not to do so. The instructor frowned in concern as she examined his wrist. She gave a sigh and said, "Your wrist is broken. Come with me, Neville. Madam Pomfrey will get you fixed up." Her voice was surprisingly gentle as she helped Neville up and made her way to the castle.
She then turned around and sternly said, "Don't any of you use your brooms! If I catch you flying while I'm gone, you'll be out of her quicker than you can say Quidditch!" Her yellow eyes seemed to add to the gravity of her statement for most people.
Unfortunately, Draco Malfoy was not one of those people. He started off by saying something unpleasant about Neville. Elsa didn't like it. She was just guessing when she gave her response, but she was pretty sure it was a good guess. "Careful Draco," she started calmly, far too calmly for comfort and using a tone that wasn't mocking but rather cautious and seemingly knowledgeable. "It wouldn't be wise to go around badmouthing the future heir to the Longbottom family that causally. If it happens too often it might start a blood feud."
Elsa knew a few things about Neville's family. She knew they were also business partners with Arendelle and in particular the Royal family. She knew their family was respected and not one you would want to get on the bad side of eagerly. Some of the students were looking at her surprised at her statement because it was right and she seemed to know it, even if she wasn't a pure blood witch herself.
Only Elsa managed to notice Draco's eyes widen in horror for a split second or two, the boy then looked to the ground and in an attempt to get attention and people forgetting what he said earlier. He picked up an orb like object. "Look. He forgot his memoryubewhatsit," he said before giving a chuckle. "A bit useless if you ask me. How the bloody hell are you supposed to remember what you forgot just because it changes colors?" He got chuckles from this and even Hermione had to admit to herself he had a point.
Draco smirked at the response. He then said, "Maybe I should do him a favor and get rid of it for him?" He then picked it up to cheers from Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle. Harry frowned and stepped forward with a serious look and started to speak.
"What's that thing supposed to do?" Elsa asked quietly as she looked to Hermione and mostly ignored whatever it was Draco and Harry were saying to each other.
"It's a remembrall. It turns red if you forget something. Draco kind of has a point about it being useless really," Hermione said also not fully paying attention to what was happening until she gasped and Harry rose into the air as well. "Harry! You heard Madam Hooch!" she called to him but it seemed he didn't hear her.
Harry had to admit he loved flying. If he wasn't concerned for his friend's remembrall, even if he figured it was ultimately useless, he might have been able to enjoy this moment even more. He was at least enjoying the look of shock and surprise on Draco's face. Harry actually gave a bit of a smirk as he said, "Not so brave up here are you, Malfoy? No Crabbe or Goyle to save you here. No sycophant fangirl either."
Draco seemed to recover at hearing Harry's words. "Well. Well. It seems you might actually have some worth after all, Potter," he said before barely dodging Harry as the boy shot forward faster than he had ever seen someone fly before. In that instant, he almost lost his own balance and realized that maybe Madam Hooch was right about his old stance being wrong.
The Malfoy heir gave a scoff to cover up his shock, but it wasn't anywhere nearly as effective as he wanted it to be. He then said, "If you think you are so good Potter than how about you get it for him?!" He grinned as he threw the light weight orb towards the castle with all of his might.
His robes actually ruffled as the small blur that was Potter shot past him with impressive speed. Draco soon regained his wits and quickly landed. There was no way he would risk his time over such a stupid thing any further. It was probably about time for the flight instructor to return. He tried to give a smirk as if Harry shooting towards the school was all a part of his plan.
His smirk fooled most of the students, but there was a pair of judging and icy blue eyes on him. He gave a small involuntary shiver as he looked towards Elsa before she looked away to watch Harry with awe. "What is with her? Why is she soooo… perceptive?" he thought to himself. He could tell she had seen right through him somehow.
After Elsa looked away from Draco, her eyes widened in awe as she watched Harry speed towards the castle and then go into a daring and dangerous dive as he easily reached out and grabbed the remembrall. It then seemed as if pulling out of such a dive was just as natural to him as forming a snowball was to her. "Wow…" Elsa said in a breathy and impressed voice as she watched it all happen before her eyes.
She couldn't help but blush as she felt her heart skip a beat as Harry rose triumphantly with the orb in hand to the cheers of the other students. She was even further impressed with her first and best male friend knowing he only did all of that for Neville's sake and not to show off in front of the others. Her blush intensified as her mind sent her images that she couldn't shake off too easily. The only reason why her blush disappeared was the sight of a stern Professor McGonagall making her way over to Harry rather quickly.
"Please don't let me lose Harry already!" she pleaded silently as she feared what would happen to him for being caught up in the air without Madam Hooch watching them. She felt a little worse as the Professor spluttered over some words before dragging Harry off. She wanted to chase after him as did both Ron and Hermione, but they were all stunned a few seconds too long and Madam Hooch returned.
Elsa put thoughts about Harry's fate to the side for the mean time. She would hate it to no end if he really was expelled because of what happened, but her Queenly side took over and she focused on her lessons. She needed to learn all she could about magic for the sake of her sister and her whole nation. It didn't matter if her first friend outside of the castle was expelled. It didn't matter if she would never see him again because of that. She would just have to sacrifice her own happiness in that area for the sake of her much beloved country and citizens.
Elsa's demeanor might have been a little cooler than it was moments ago, but she was centered and focused. There was also a part of her that decided to make the best of flying lessons and excel at the skill of flying for Harry's sake if nothing else. She could tell he loved it the way he flew after that orb. She would have to learn to love it just as much, even if it was just in memory of him. Perhaps she was going a little overboard imagining the worst case here, but it was what it was.
Hermione was in awe at everything that had happened. She was deeply troubled when Harry was carted away by Professor McGonagall. Once Madam Hooch returned and told them to get ready to fly again, her fears of broomstick flying returned in full force as she remembered what happened to Neville. Hermione shook a little and swallowed. She wasn't able to keep 'cool' anymore. In the end, this actually seemed to play into her favor.
Elsa's sister instincts seemed to kick in once she noticed Hermione's state. There was then a part of Elsa that told her to hold on even tighter to her remaining friends in case Harry was really expelled after all. Elsa smiled in a slightly warm fashion, it wasn't near her usual level but most wouldn't be able to tell the difference. She then grabbed Hermione's hand and said to her quietly, "I'll hold your hand the whole time." Hermione quickly reached out and sighed in relief when the princess grabbed it.
Hermione felt calmer while holding her friend's hand. There was something about Elsa that caused the bushy haired girl to relax. She was going to hold that hand, but she needed to use both hands to launch. She turned and gave a weary smile as she replied, "After we're in the air." Elsa nodded to that with the same smile still gracing her lips.
"Alright… Let's do this again. No one! I repeat No one take off until after I am in the air," she counted to three and took off into the air. She was followed by the whole class and soon Hermione and Elsa got into a somewhat comfortable position as the bushy haired girl grabbed the blonde's hand.
Madam Hooch might have said something, but Hermione kept her proper hand on the broom. Elsa adjusted her hold into something that was acceptable, and held the other girl's hand. Madam Hooch also noticed they weren't flying as high as some of the others and so she could tell Elsa was merely helping a nervous friend get used to flying and feel safe. She let the two girls be and she quietly raised her wand as she said, "Ten points to Ravenclaw." She didn't make a big show of points like the other teachers did and she could tell Elsa at this moment wouldn't have cared about such a thing.
{-} {-} {-}
As the first flying lesson ended, Elsa let out a breath and smiled. It ended up being fun in the end. "Harry. I'll enjoy flying as much as you did in your remembrance," she said quietly and still being a bit over dramatic.
"Can you believe how amazing that was, Elsa?!" Hermione said her eyes a light with excitement and happiness. "It was a bit scary at first, but it was so amazing! Next time we'll fly higher and faster!" She then took a couple of breaths and calmed down. "I think 15-20 feet off the ground was plenty enough for our first time."
Elsa gave a smile instead of giggling like part of her wanted to do. She then said, "Yes and going at a decent jog's pace was good too." She personally wanted to go much higher and faster, but she knew Hermione wouldn't have been able to do that yet. She looked to the brown haired girl who was grinning and nodding her head fast in response.
Elsa's smile grew. "Actually… flying with a friend is probably much better than flying higher and faster than the others alone," she thought to herself. Seeing her friend's smile was very heart warming. "Let's go back into the castle," she said to Hermione who quickly grabbed her hand and they made their way back.
Hermione leaned into Elsa and said, "Thanks for helping me with flying today. It really meant a lot to me." The girls held hands a little longer before they let go and settled into a comfortable atmosphere.
Elsa frowned and gave a sigh. "I hope Harry is alright…" She said that as they walked the halls. Hermione nodded as well.
"At least… If nothing else… His flying was the most brilliant thing ever," Hermione said with a sad smile.
The mourning the two felt for their friend was suddenly put on hold. The rounded a corner and saw a confused but happy looking Harry standing in front of them. "Harry?!" Elsa asked before running over to him. "What's going on? Are you okay? You don't really seem too sad…"
"What happened after you left flying lessons? Did… Did… Did you get… expelled?" Hermione asked weakly the horror of such a prospect obvious in her eyes.
Harry blinked in confusion for a moment before he gasped having remembered Madam Hooch's warning before taking Neville away. He then gave an uneasy smile and nervous laugh. "Ummm… No….?" he answered unsurely. Elsa gave him a look and he realized he had to explain it to them. "I've been recruited for the Gryffindor Quidditch team… I'll be playing Seeker." He couldn't help but smile brightly at what happened this day.