At long last! After several months of trial and tribulation and just trying to find time to write in the midst of my busy schedule, the next chapter is finally here! Consider it a late New Years present to you guys for being so patient.
Now. I know in the Harry Potter books the class schedules were organized in a way that only two different houses of the same year were in the same class, but since I'm kind of combining some elements from the movies with the books, I decided to take the approach from the movie. If you look carefully, there seem to be students from all four houses attending the same class. So that's the excuse I have for Danielle having almost the same schedule as the Gryffindor trio.
And so. Without further ado, here's the next chapter, featuring Danielle's first day of school as an undercover Hogwarts student. I hope you'll enjoy. ^_^
Chapter 12: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Despite having the DNA of an entity that preferred skulking around all night, Danielle had always been quite the early-morning riser. Sleeping in a castle in the most comfortable four-poster bed in her life made no difference.
When Danielle had pushed apart the curtains of her bed that morning, she found that she was the first one awake in the dormitory. Danielle dressed as silently as possible, as not to wake the other girls, and made her way to the common room to do some reading from her Ancient Runes textbook. Some of the plants on the windowsills were humming a soft, but still up-beat tune that was easy to stay awake to as she sat herself on one of the sofas by the hearth and opened her book to where she had left off the night before she got on the Hogwart's Express.
About an hour later, other students were starting to emerge from their dormitories and crossing over to the barrel hole. Some barely noticed Danielle was even there while others exchanged friendly hellos with her before moving on with their group of friends. Hanna Abbot was the first to actually approach her once she had emerged through the door that led to the girl's dormitories.
"Good morning."
Danielle turned, finding Hannah smiling at her.
"Oh. Hi," said Danielle, smirking before looking back down at her book. At the corner of her eye however, Hannah seemed to be fidgeting for some reason.
"So, er...sleep well last night?" said Hannah, rather timidly.
Danielle shrugged. "I don't remember sleeping badly, so I guess I must have."
Hannah chuckled. "Well, breakfast is being served in the Great Hall. Care to come with us?"
Danielle couldn't help looking up from her book and staring at Hannah for a moment. Only a split second later, she realized this was a mistake.
"I'm sorry. I'm bothering you aren't I." Hannah said, backing away as though regretting having talked to Danielle at all.
"What—Oh! No, no I just..." Danielle responded quickly, trailing off when she didn't quite understand how to respond. She still felt rather stunned at the way Hannah had suddenly reacted.
Thankfully, Justin Fintch-Fletchley, who had recently emerged from the boy's side had been overhearing the conversation and came to both the girls' rescue.
"What? Were you not expecting an invitation?" he asked Danielle with a confused smile.
Danielle paused for a moment. "Well... No." she replied honestly. "At least...not this soon."
Justin and Hannah shared a glance as though thinking Danielle was being rather strange.
Great. Danielle thought before shrugging uncertainly, "I mean...I'm not even from this country. We hardly know each other," she responded.
"Well, how are we going to get to know each other if we're too scared to make a first step?" asked Justin as thought this was the most obvious thing in the world.
Danielle suddenly fell silent. After only a moment's pause, she had to admit, Justin had a point. Come to think of it, Danielle could imagine her own cousin saying the exact same thing if he were here.
"So are you going to join us for breakfast or not?" Justin repeated Hannah's invitation.
Danielle hesitated, still not quite sure whether or not to accept. She happened to glance over at Hannah, who was looking rather hopeful in a still timid way. Was that girl, even though a prefect, usually shy around people?
Danielle bit her lower lip in another pause. Then, she decisively bookmarked the page she was on in her textbook and snapped it closed. Danielle noticed that Hannah looked quite relieved as she stood up from the couch and circled around it to where Hannah and Justin stood.
"Right then," cried Justin happily, spinning on his heal to take the lead to the barrel hole.
Just as Danielle was following in step behind the two, her eyes were wandering towards the windows where the rippling grass could be seen flowing in a magically conjured wind for effect. Suddenly, she stopped in mid-step for a double-take.
"Fenton?" asked Hannah, who was waiting for her at the common room exit. "Is something wrong?"
"What? Oh! No." Danielle caught herself staring at the window, shaking off her surprise and running to catch up with the two Hufflepuff fifth-years. "Not at all. In fact, I...I actually suddenly feel a lot better. And it's okay to use my first name, by the way. Really."
Hannah nodded, seeming satisfied with the genuine smile Danielle was giving her.
Justin gave his own cheerful smile, saying, "Yeah. Fun making new friends, huh?"
With that, he and Hannah led the way through the barrel hole.
Just before Danielle stepped through behind them, she took one last look at the window she had been caught staring at. She wasn't at all lying about suddenly feeling at ease, for she could have sworn she had seen a moment ago, just behind the blades of grass, the smiling face of a teenage boy with bright green eyes and white hair. He had vanished from sight almost the instant she had seen him waving at her, but it was enough to lift her spirits for the rest of the morning.
Within the next minute, Danielle had made it through to the other side of the barrel hole where Hannah and Justin were waiting for her and they proceeded down the corridor together and up the stairs to the door that led to the entrance hall.
On the way, Danielle noticed the four giant hourglasses that were set just outside the door to the Great Hall, each filled with a different colored gem. Danielle found herself stopping to look at them before remembering that the prefects were the ones to go to for questions. Recalling that Hannah happened to be one of these, Danielle quickly decided it might be a good time to break a little more ice between them.
"Hey, Hannah?" Danielle called after her, just before she was turning into the Great Hall. "I've been meaning to ask; what are these?"
After seeing that Danielle was indicating the hourglasses, Hannah still seemed a bit nervous, but otherwise glad to help. She walked back over to where Danielle was standing before explaining, "This is where the house points are kept track of. The more gems that are at the bottom of the hourglasses, the more points the house has earned toward the house cup. Have you been told about the house cup yet?"
Danielle nodded.
"This one over here is ours," Hannah continued, indicating the hourglass that held yellow gemstones. Hannah let out a small sigh and looked up rather dreamily at the hourglass. "If we step up our game, perhaps we'll actually win the house cup this year."
"Don't get your hopes up, Abbot," said a voice coming from behind.
Danielle turned and saw that it was Zacharias Smith, the boy with the attitude she had met in the Great Hall last night.
"Hufflepuff hasn't won in decades," he said pessimistically. "And between Gryffindor and Slytherin always having the winning streak, we probably never will."
Danielle noticed Hannah hang her head down as though in defeat when Ernie Macmillan suddenly showed up.
"Oh Smith, don't be like that." he said, clapping Zacharias on the back. "What's important is that we still keep trying. After all, it's what being in Hufflepuff is supposed to be about."
Zacharias scoffed as though the very idea was absurd while Ernie turned into the Great Hall with his chest puffed out quite a bit as though to display house pride. Or perhaps just his prefect badge.
Danielle made her own way into the Great Hall with the other Hufflepuff's but didn't talk much more to any of them as she sat down for breakfast. While eating, she spent most of her time listening to the general conversation going on around her. There was some talk about Professor Umbridge being the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Danielle tried to look like she wasn't listening when people from other tables started looking and pointing in her direction, evidently having already been hearing rumor that there was a foreign exchange student in Hufflepuff this year.
Once Harry and some of his fellow Gryffindors entered the Great Hall however, Danielle noticed a rather distinct shift in the subject towards Harry. Only much more hushed and clustered together as though they were afraid he'd attack stragglers. Danielle noticed Harry look rather uncomfortable about this as he sat down at the Gryffindor table.
Before long, the heads of house came around to their corresponding tables, handing out class schedules to the students. When Professor Sprout got around to Danielle, she smiled at her with, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Fenton," which Danielle smiled back at as she received her schedule.
Danielle skimmed over the parchment, finding she had History of Magic first with Professor Binns. Hermione had said that that was the only teacher in Hogwarts that was a ghost. Danielle would have to be mindful of her ghost-sense in that class. Additionally, if Professor Binns recognized her the way some of the other ghosts already have, it might earn her more staring apart from being 'the new kid' in the school.
Hoping for the best, Danielle finished her breakfast, took a deep breath before leaving the Great Hall, and made her way to her first magic class. Danielle was among the first students to arrive, finding a seat in the back row, hoping it to be the spot to attract the least amount of notice with either her ghost-sense, or Professor Binns himself. Everyone else started filing in closer to the start of classtime practically dragging their feet, aside from Hermione, who came in with Ron and Harry.
Professor Binns finally entered by gliding in through the blackboard. As Danielle had suspected, she felt a rush of heat from her chest come through her mouth and into her hand that she had surreptitiously used to cover her face in a way that looked more like she was in thought as she was looking over her textbook rather than purposefully hiding her mouth. No one was giving her funny looks after the sensation had passed so she could safely assume that she had hidden it successfully.
Professor Binns didn't seem to take much notice of her as he began the lesson. Then again, he didn't seem to take notice of any of the students. He seemed to be very old when he had died and had a wheezy, droning voice that Danielle found to be very hard to listen to for very long before she decided ten minutes into the class that this was easily going to be the most boring class she had ever taken in her entire school career. Apart from Hermione, who was taking copious notes the more Binns went on, everyone else seemed to have already agreed to this. Danielle tried to follow Hermione's example in paying attention, though it was difficult with Binns never pausing with that monotone voice. She found that working with her hands in taking the notes seemed to be what was keeping her awake at all.
There was a point during the class where Danielle had raised her hand, asking for Professor Binns to repeat a date during the Giant Wars he had been droning on about so she could copy it down properly. To her surprise, upon her request, Professor Binns looked up from his notes staring at her in amazement as though no student had ever interrupted him before, or perhaps surprised to find the classroom was actually occupied.
In finding that the other students were turning to stare at Danielle, looking more alert now than they had been for the whole class, Danielle timidly put her hand back down, feeling as though she had done something wrong. Her request on repeating the date was granted, but not until after Binns had given her a rather curious look as though recognizing something about her in particular that was standing out from the other students. Other students seemed to notice this expression of Binns as well and Danielle immediately regretted having broken the usual stride of the lecture. Evidently students asking questions in this class was not a common thing at all, even with Hermione.
By the time the bell rang, Danielle decided that she'd have to rely more heavily on her book to get all the dates correct if she was to avoid making a scene like that again and also pass the class. At least enough to make everyone else think that she wasn't just there on a spying mission.
Danielle had just finished gathering her things when, to everyone's surprise, Professor Binns called to her.
"You there, young lady. Miss...er..."
"Uh...Fenton, sir," Danielle said uncertainly after realizing that Binns was talking to her.
"Miss Fenton? Might I have a word with you, please?"
Students started looking between Danielle and Professor Binns aghast. Danielle couldn't help looking in Hermione's direction for help. Hermione simply shrugged, looking about as confused as everyone else, but also slightly concerned for Danielle. Evidently, the ghost professor asking a student to say after class was also a first.
While the other students were making their way out of the classroom, occasionally glancing curiously at Danielle, Danielle nervously shuffled her feet towards the front of the class to where Professor Binns was waiting.
"Did I do something wrong, sir?" Danielle couldn't help asking, thinking of the time she had asked the professor to repeat what he had said.
"No, not at all," Professor Binns reassured, still looking at her analytically. "I just wanted to ask you something."
Danielle raised an eyebrow, feeling her heartbeat speed up a bit.
"Forgive me if this sounds a bit strange, but," he leaned in closer and lowered his voice to a near whisper. "Are you, by any chance, related to the hybrid ghost Danny Phantom?"
Danielle tensed. So the ghosts here did know about Danny.
"Why?" Danielle asked cautiously, looking towards the classroom door, wishing it was closed and hoping no straggling students, particularly Ron or Harry, were trying to listen in.
"Because you have a rather uncanny resemblance to his human appearance."
Danielle paused for a moment before replying. "How do you know Danny Phantom?"
Professor Binns looked as though confused. "He's known worldwide, is he not?"
"In the Muggle world," replied Danielle. "Wizards don't even seem to notice the statue of him in London. And you seem to be a different kind of ghost than the ones from the Ghost Zone. No offense or anything."
Professor Binns shrugged. "We may live in separate worlds my dear, but that doesn't mean they're not connected. It's true, I've never so much as set foot in the Ghost Zone since the time of my death; which I honestly sometimes forget happened in the first place, but I have a few acquaintances from that dimension who speak of Danny Phantom often. Some consider him a meddling troublemaker while others recognize him as Savior of the Ghost Zone."
"And...what's your opinion about him?" asked Danielle, trying to sound disinterested.
"I've done some research regarding him and based on accounts I've read, particularly about the defeat of the Ghost King, I've determined him to be quite the hero."
"Really?" Danielle gave him a curious look in hearing this. He seemed sincere about this.
Professor Binns nodded with a smile before, once again, leaning closer to whisper, "My colleagues here at Hogwarts have also been wondering about you. I'm sure they'd love to finally have their curiosity sated."
Danielle studied the professor for a moment in wonder, not sure whether or not she should say. There was one particular instance before when Danielle had given away the fact that she knew Danny Phantom at all to someone who had made her think that they considered him to be the coolest person ever, and it had ended up putting both herself and Danny in danger. Then again, she had been in a desperate situation at the time, and therefore missing whatever signs of deception she had learned to recognize since then. And if someone here at Hogwarts really wanted to do Danny harm, they would likely be going about finding out that information in a more discreet way than asking her directly. Besides. If the ghosts in the Wizarding World really had some form of connection to the specters of the Ghost Zone, perhaps they would eventually find out anyway; for better or worse. Better she knew about it when they found out rather than wondering how much they knew later.
Taking a deep breath, hoping she was making a good decision, Danielle instinctively looked towards the door again, hoping no one was hiding beyond the doorframe, and leaned towards Professor Binns.
"Danny's...my cousin," she whispered hesitantly.
Professor Binns' eyes widened and he instantly straightened up again, staring at Danielle in surprise.
"Well, I'll be... Is that fact?" he asked with an excited grin spreading across his face.
Danielle felt her cheeks go a bit hot, but she nodded sheepishly. If Danielle hadn't known better, she could have sworn the professor was about to ask her to get Danny's autograph for him.
Professor Binns seemed to be trying very hard to contain his excitement when he leaned closer to her as though about to ask her another sensitive question.
"So—you—you're also alike in more than just the living sense then?" he asked.
Danielle piqued an eyebrow for Professor Binns to clarify further.
He glanced at the door before lowering his tone even more. "Well, there has been rumor from the Ghost Zone that Phantom has lately been accompanied by a female with similar abilities to his own."
Danielle sighed in realizing where this was going. "...Yes...we're the same in that way too."
"By the name of all things ghostly, I never knew Danny Phantom had a cousin. Let alone one with the same powers."
Danielle wondered if any of the other students in the whole school had ever seen the most boring professor get so jittery before. Professor Binns reached as though meaning to grab her hand and shake it, but was disappointed when his hand simply passed right through hers, making Danielle's hand feel like it had been dunked in a bucket of ice-water. Danielle rubbed her hand to warm it up again as Professor Binns was staring at his own, looking crestfallen in being reminded that he could not handle anything physical anymore.
Just then, Danielle had an idea and turned her arm intangible before offering it to Professor Binns again. Professor Binns looked at it confused for a moment before taking it and was astonished to find that this time, he was able to grip her hand properly. His enthusiasm returned fully as he wildly shook Danielle's whole arm in both of his hands.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Phantom!" Professor Binns said eagerly.
"Please don't call me that in front of anyone else," said Danielle hastily, reclaiming her hand with difficulty and waving at the professor for hush, eyeing the open door again. "And tell the other ghosts to do the same. I'm trying to keep a low profile right now?" Danielle added in a particularly low whisper.
"Oh, of course. I'll tell them," Professor Binns replied, seeming like he had only noticed he had completely lost his professionalism. He straightened himself up, cleared his throat and glanced at the clock. "Oh, but I'm holding you up for your next class. You'd best run along."
Danielle had Potions with Professor Snape next, and she certainly didn't want to leave a bad first impression in that class, but as Binns was turning to leave through the blackboard Danielle was the one that held him back this time.
"But you promise, right?" she asked almost desperately.
"I give you my word, Miss Fenton," Professor Binns said smiling. "The same is said that the other ghosts here would not so easily want to disappoint you. Or your cousin, for that matter."
After a moment's pause in which Danielle gave the ghostly professor a probing look, searching for any signs that he might be lying to her, she felt convinced enough that he was at least sincere on his part. Further, she never detected any malice from the other ghosts at the feast last night, even when they did begin to suspect her of something.
"Thanks," said Danielle with a sigh. "Nice meeting you, Professor Binns."
"And a pleasure meeting you Danielle Phan...er...Fenton," Binns said, quickly catching himself before finishing the word 'Phantom' and bowing out of the room before gliding through the blackboard.
Danielle left the History of Magic classroom still feeling a bit nervous about what had just happened and very much hoping she hadn't just made a horrible mistake that could jeopardize her mission. But there was nothing she could do about it now, so she'd have to see what would become of it in the future. She had other things to worry about at the moment anyway.
Danielle managed to make it down to the dungeons where Potions was being held, just in the nick of time. Professor Snape spent the first several minutes talking to his students about how important the O.W.L. exam was and that anyone that didn't receive good grades on them would not continue in his subject. As Danielle was not going to be taking this test, her attention to this lecture was almost immediately lost to the examination of the jars lining the walls that contained various contents that Danielle wasn't sure she wanted to know the names of.
"Miss Fenton."
A cold voice snapped Danielle out of the trans the wall to her left was keeping her in and her head snapped to the front of the class where Snape was standing with a bitter expression on his sallow face towards her.
"Yes sir?" said Danielle instantly, sitting up straight.
"I believe I recall saying quite distinctly on the day of your sorting that even though your circumstances and the headmaster's favor allow you to weasel your way out of taking the O.W.L. exam, that I have no intention of lowering my expectations of any of my students. Especially ones from foreign countries. This therefore means having your undivided attention while I am speaking in my own classroom."
"Sorry, sir," said Danielle sternly, becoming aware that other students in the classroom were now looking at her. Malfoy in particular was grinning malevolently at how Snape was drawing attention to her for misbehaving in class.
Snape slowly began to stride towards Danielle, not taking his eyes off her.
"Since you seem to think you know enough about this subject that the wall holds more interest for you rather than what your teacher has to say, perhaps you would like to explain to the rest of your classmates the purpose of the Draught of Peace, which, if you had been listening, you would know is what we will be making today and often comes up in Ordinary Wizarding Level."
"I believe it calms the nerves, sir. Sooths agitation?" Danielle replied after only a moment of thoughtful silence on her part.
There was a solicitous pause in which the class stared with bated breath, but Snape's expression did not change.
"What happens if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients?" he inquired further.
"It could...put the drinker to sleep, sir," replied Danielle after sifting through her memories of what she had read from the textbook. "One that's near impossible to wake from."
"And do you know the prime ingredients of brewing this potion?"
"Powdered moonstone is one of them, right?"
"It is, but what is its purpose in the potion?"
There was another pause in which Danielle tried to remember if she had ever come across explanations for all of the ingredients in the book she was required to read. When she found that she couldn't remember, she looked away.
"I...can't remember at the top of my head..." she admitted.
The corners of Snape's mouth curled up. "Is that so?"
"I wasn't aware I was supposed to memorize what was beyond the whole textbook before coming here, sir." said Danielle, a bit frustrated at being singled out like this.
This comment earned her a few horrified stares from some of her classmates as the Slytherines looked eagerly at Snape, seeming like they knew Danielle was about to get it.
"Five points from your house for backtalk, Miss Fenton," said Snape softly with a triumphant smile.
As he spun on his heal to walk back to the front of the classroom, the Slytherin students suppressed hisses of laughter, and Danielle rolled her eyes, feeling cheated. Had Snape drawn attention to her on purpose just to find an opportunity to take points from her? Not that Danielle cared about the points themselves, but there was no way Snape had expected her to go that far into detail in answering his questions without having to refer to the book.
"Now, if your American classmate is finished with her cheek, we will continue today's lesson," Snape stated as he turned to address the rest of the class. "As said, we will be brewing the Draught of Peace. The ingredients, that Miss Fenton failed to mention all of, and method"—Snape flicked his wand—"are on the blackboard"— (They appeared there) — "you will find everything you need" —he flicked his wand again— "in the store cupboard" —(the door of the said cupboard sprang open) —"you have an hour and a half... Start."
Snape could hardly have set them a more difficult, fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly clockwise, then in counterclockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added.
Danielle found that magic was indeed usually used in Potions class after all as she saw the students take out their wands to begin brewing. All they seemed to use them for was lighting the fire beneath their cauldrons though. Thank goodness the Wizarding World at least believed in using gas lamps and stoves, even if not electricity. All Danielle needed to do was take out her fake wand and pretend to use it to set a spark while secretly using the tip of her finger to ignite the base of her cauldron. Then it was a simple matter of following the directions on the board. Well, as simple as a potion this complicated could possibly get, especially for the first one she had ever done.
Danielle did her best in following the instructions as carefully as possible while also being mindful of the heat level, checking and double-checking that she had fulfilled all requirements of one step before moving on to the next, but making sure the simmering times weren't overdone as she was rereading the recipe.
"A light silver vapor should now be rising from your potion," called Snape, with ten minutes left to go.
Danielle looked around the dungeon with a panic. She had not yet finished the final step and Snape was already sweeping the dungeon, looking at everyone else's cauldrons. Trying not to think of Snape drawing nearer to her own cauldron, she hurried to finish the last of her potion. Just as her hand rose above her cauldron to add the final ingredient, she was overcast by Snape's shadow. Danielle slowly looked up to see Snape himself looking down at her. There was a moment of silent staring between them before Danielle dropped the last ingredient into her cauldron. The cauldron hissed and then began shimmering with the silver mist that Snape wanted.
Snape smirked horribly at her. "Being lazy are we, Fenton?"
"Bit of a slow start in getting set up, sir," said Danielle passively, averting her gaze and allowing her bangs to fall in front of her face.
Through her bangs, she saw Snape pique an eyebrow at her as though suspecting something. Had he not expected her to react the way she had? He looked back down at her potion that was now perfect, even if a bit later than he would have liked, finding nothing about it that could possibly be wrong, then moved on.
Once he had, Danielle furtively wiped away sweat on her forehead with her sleeve before looking around the dungeon at the other students' cauldrons. Danielle noticed Malfoy had been looking intently in her direction as though hoping Snape would single her out again, but was disappointed when Snape had moved on without another word about her potion.
Harry on the other hand was sweating profusely with his cauldron issuing copious amounts of dark gray steam. Ron's was spitting green sparks. Another Gryffindor student Danielle did not recognize was feverishly prodding the flames at the base of his cauldron with the tip of his wand, as they had gone out. As far as Danielle could tell, she and Hermione were among the only ones whose potions were looking the way Snape said they should at this time.
Eventually, Snape reached the back of the classroom where Hermione, Ron and Harry sat with their own potions. Like Danielle, Snape could find nothing about Hermione's potion to criticize. At Harry's cauldron however, Snape stopped, looking down at Harry with a horrible smirk on his face.
"Potter, what is this supposed to be?"
The Slytherines at the front of the class all looked up eagerly as though this was their routine entertainment.
"The Draught of Peace," said Harry tensely.
"Tell me, Potter, " said Snape softly. "Can you read?"
Draco Malfoy laughed.
"Yes, I can," said Harry. Danielle saw his fingers clench tightly around his wand.
"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."
Harry squinted at the blackboard and read aloud the third line before his face become crestfallen.
"Did you do everything on the third line Potter?"
"No," said Harry quietly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"No," said Harry more loudly. "I forgot the hellebore..."
"I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evenesco."
The contents of Harry's potion vanished and he was left standing foolishly beside an empty cauldron.
"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing," said Snape. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making, to be handed in on Thursday."
Danielle could hardly believe it as she and everyone around her filled their flagons. Harry's potion didn't seem nearly as bad as half the rest of the class. She could smell Ron's potion all the way across the dungeon that was giving off a rotten egg smell. Neville's had achieved the consistency of just-mixed cement. Goyle's, as soon as he had poured some of his own potion into his flagon, it shattered and set his robes on fire. Danielle's potion may have been done correctly, but was late in doing so. Yet, Harry was the one who would not be receiving any grade and suffering humiliation in front of the whole class for it.
Lupin had mentioned over the summer that Snape had it in for Harry, but Danielle never thought it was at a level like this. If Danielle had thought Snape had treated her unfairly at the start of the class, seeing the way he had treated Harry completely changed that. Had it always been like this between them?
000000
By lunchtime, Danielle observed that Professor Binns seemed to have been holding true to his word about keeping Danielle's secret. The ghosts that lingered around the Great Hall seemed to briefly get a bit excited upon seeing her, but exchanged not much more than a friendly nod in her direction in passing. Anyone else would have taken this behavior towards her as a notice of simply being the new kid. Perhaps using that fact would help Danielle hide the other fact that she was also half ghost, even if it did bring more attention to her than she would have liked.
As she ate her lunch, Danielle looked over her class schedule to see what she had next, reviewing the homework she'd have to get done before the end of the day.
Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts in hearing Harry's voice standing out from the general conversational noise of the Great Hall from the Gryffindor table.
Danielle couldn't quite make out what was being said, but Ron and Hermione had both frozen, looking angry and offended at Harry. Harry himself was looking frustrated as thought they had done something that had pushed him over the edge. Then, he abandoned his lunch, swung his schoolbag over his shoulder and left them sitting there.
After watching Harry exit the Great Hall, Danielle glanced back in Ron and Hermione's direction, hoping to get some hint as to what could possibly have driven Harry to snap like that. She caught Hermione's eye, but Hermione shook her head, returning to her plate. Danielle averted her gaze before Ron could notice her looking.
Trying to dismiss the thought, Danielle hurried through the rest of her lunch and packed up to go to her next class. She had Divination next, which was all the way up at North Tower. As Danielle left the Great Hall and walked up the marble staircase, she knew she could have just taken her time with lunch and have still gotten up to North Tower before Divination started with her ghost powers, but there was so much of the castle she could see along the way. Besides. It wouldn't do to start on suspicious behavior with disappearing and suddenly reappearing somewhere else on the first day. Even if in a world of magic.
Seven long staircases up later, Danielle reached a landing where there was nothing but a large painting of a short squat knight in a suite of armor. Upon seeing her, the knight drew his sword and brandished it fiercely at her.
"Intruders! Stand fast and fight, you fiend!"
Danielle kept forgetting that the pictures moved and talked. The knight continued waving his sword madly until he suddenly stumbled, skewing his visor and giving Danielle the chance to slip out of his sight. Hermione had told her that Divination with Professor Trelawney was down the passageway to the left of that portrait with the knight.
At the end of the hall was a very narrow spiral staircase that Danielle ascended. At this point, Danielle began to wish she had decided to fly after all. How did anyone stand such a long walk to one class every other day?
Danielle reached a tiny landing at the top of the stairs, reconsidering the thought to have used her ghost powers yet again, for she wasn't the only one who had the idea to get to the classroom early.
"Harry?" Danielle asked, feeling her heart give an unexpected jolt after seeing him sitting on the floor against the wall beneath a circular trap door in the ceiling.
"What?" said Harry, a bit harshly.
"Whoa! Hello, Joe Hostility," said Danielle, surprised by his tone towards her. "I was just saying, hi."
Harry simply fell silent, averting his gaze, still scowling. Danielle knew that she had been secretive all summer, but she didn't think Harry was as bitter towards her for it as Ron was. Then she remembered the way Harry had broodingly left Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall.
"Everything okay?" Danielle asked hesitantly.
"Why do you care?" said Harry sulkily, still avoiding eye-contact with her.
Danielle thought for a moment before saying shyly, though still concerned, "Because I saw you stomping out of the Great Hall, leaving Ron and Hermione looking like you slapped them in the face."
Harry still didn't look at her, although Danielle thought she noticed his expression soften a little bit, even if his hands tensed slightly.
"What did they do?" Danielle continued. "Say they didn't believe in Voldemort coming back anymore?"
"No, I just..." Harry instantly said, snapping his head in her direction, looking offended at the very idea that his two best friends would betray him like that. He had to pause for a moment however, as he seemed to be dwelling back on that conversation with them in the Great Hall and reevaluating it. "They...they're always having a go at each other. It... It's been driving me mad."
So that was it. Danielle thought. Ron and Hermione were just having an argument... Again.
"Must be a universal thing," Danielle said quietly with a scoff.
Harry gave her a perplexed look, as though asking if she'd clarify, but wondering if she'd be willing, what with all the secrets she was always carrying.
Danielle shook her head reflectively as she leaned her shoulder against the brick wall, thinking that this was something safe to talk about. After all, it didn't really relate much to her ghost powers directly.
"Oh, my cousin has these two friends back home that are practically complete polar opposites," she explained. "You wouldn't believe they were friends at all, especially with the way they're always finding something to argue about. But by the end of the day, they still count on each other to get things done."
Harry sat in silence, staring at the floor before Danielle decided to add, "That's the thing about friends though, isn't it? You can't live with or without 'em."
Harry looked at her as though in surprise. Then after a moment of thought he said slowly and quietly, "No, I...I suppose not."
Danielle hoped this meant that Harry understood that whatever Ron and Hermione had been arguing about before he had left, they never meant to offend him.
Danielle cleared her throat, looking around for a change in subject to avoid the silence that she had noticed had occurred between them.
"So, this is the North Tower for Divination with Professor Trelawney?" said Danielle, looking at the trap door and finding it had a gold plaque that read, 'Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher.'
"Unfortunately," said Harry rather moodily. At least his attitude didn't seem to be about his friends anymore.
"And...how are we supposed to get up there?" Danielle asked, looking at the trap door that was too far up to reach accept by flight, which was not really something she wanted to reveal she could do at this time.
"There's a ladder that comes down when class is ready to...start."
Before Harry could finish his sentence, the bell rang, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at Danielle's feet.
Danielle raised a curious eyebrow. "Convenient," she said.
Being the one closest to the ladder, Danielle thought she'd better climb up it first. Seconds later, she emerged into the classroom...that...didn't really look like a classroom at all. In fact it was more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned teashop. There were at least twenty small, circular tables crammed inside, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light: the curtains at the windows were all closed and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume.
"What is this?" a voice suddenly came out of the shadows; a soft, misty sort of voice. "My child, you bring a noticeably strange presence into this room."
Danielle turned quickly to see a very thin figure step into the firelight. Her immediate impression of the woman was of a large glittery insect. Her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings. She was holding a stack of battered leather-bound books as she approached Danielle, staring intently at her.
"What...you mean me?" said Danielle nervously, taking an involuntary step backwards as the woman she assumed was Professor Trelawney made a beeline for her with a slowly outstretching arm.
Professor Trelawney set the stack of books down on the nearest of the small tables, not taking her eyes off Danielle.
"Might I see your hands, my dear?" she asked in her misty and yet now awestruck voice.
"Uh..." Danielle couldn't help stepping backward again before unexpectedly bumping into Harry who had emerged from the trap door behind her.
"Watch it, you'll fall back down the ladder," he whispered urgently, catching her by the shoulder. Danielle immediately jerked away from him, feeling a sudden tingling sensation in realizing that he was touching her.
Professor Trelawney took Danielle's hands, turning her palms upward in hers and staring wide-eyed into her hands. Danielle wasn't sure she felt more uncomfortable being touched by Harry or this spindly woman that was starting to creep her out.
"Yes," said Professor Trelawney slowly, staring at Danielle's shaking hands. "Yes, there is something very different about you."
Danielle noticed Harry begin to stare at her in the corner of her eye.
"Well, I am the foreign exchange student, ma'am," said Danielle quickly, trying to shrug it off and pull her hands away.
Professor Trelawney allowed Danielle's hands to slip from hers, but then she blinked her magnified eyes at her. She brought her hand to hover inches away from Danielle's face with her other hand at her temple, as though feeling around for something strange and making Danielle feel even more uncomfortable, especially with Harry watching.
"Yes..." Professor Trelawney repeated as though she hadn't heard Danielle's comment about being the foreign exchange student at all, "I perceive a very powerful aura coming from you."
Danielle heard Harry scoff irritably beside her.
"...I foresee great things in your future, my dear. Very great and yet terrible things indeed..."
Danielle let out a slow breath of relief as Professor Trelawney finally glided away from her, picked up the stack of books, and busied herself putting copies on each of the tables as though nothing had happened.
Danielle was beginning to wonder if she had just imagined what had just happened or not when she blinked, shaking her head. That's when her gaze shifted towards Harry, wondering what he was thinking of this development.
"Don't mind her," he said with a roll of his eyes. "It's probably just 'cause you're new here. And really, she's always been a bit cracked from my experience."
He then slipped into the most shadowed corner of the classroom and sat down at one of the tables there.
Danielle noticed he looked somewhat relieved as he did so. After a moment's thought, and finding a place of her own to sit in another place in the room, Danielle thought she had a pretty good idea why.
Hermione had told her with rolling eyes and a scowl that this particular teacher had a habit of predicting Harry's premature death every few lessons ever since their first class with her in their third year. Hermione had dropped out of that class around Easter of that first year, having been driven up the wall about death omens surrounding Harry's future, but she said that Ron and Harry had told her that not much improvement on this was made as classes with Trelawney continued. Now with Danielle at Hogwarts, perhaps Harry was hoping this meant that not all the attention would be on him this year in Divination.
Great. Another teacher giving me attention I don't need. Danielle thought. At least it was just Harry this time that Trelawney started acting weird around and not a whole class. And Harry seemed to be dismissing it. For now.
The rest of the class arrived over the next five minutes. Eventually, Danielle saw Ron emerge through the trap door, look carefully around the room, spot Harry and make directly for him, or as directly as he could while having to wend his way between tables, chairs, and overstuffed poufs.
The two boys engaged in a quiet conversation in which Danielle noticed them exchanging apologetic looks. Ron seemed rather surprised by what Harry was saying at first, but by the end, Danielle concluded that perhaps they had made up about the argument that had broke out between them in the Great Hall.
"Good day," said Professor Trelawney in her misty, dreamy voice. "Those who are here for the first time in the physical world," Trelawney eyed Danielle, causing other curious students to also look in her direction for a moment, "Welcome to Divination. To everyone else, welcome back. I have of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all returned to Hogwarts safely — as of course, I knew you would."
"You will find on the tables before you copies of The Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago. Dream interpretation is a most important means of defining the future and one that may very well be tested in your O.W.L. Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or failures are of the remotest importance when it comes to the sacred art of divination..."
Danielle's thoughts were drawn elsewhere by this point and she took to just leafing through the pages of The Dream Oracle. Hermione had told her many times over the summer that Divination was the most imprecise branch of magic and that it was a surprise that Trelawney had gotten the job of teaching it. But Danielle couldn't help but be curious and more than a bit concerned that Trelawney seemed to sense that there was something unusual about Danielle right on the spot. Was it because of her ghost powers? Was Trelawney really so much a fraud as Hermione was always making her out to be? Although Professor Trelawney was taken to be a bit nuts to Hermione, Harry, Ron, and even some of the other Hogwarts teachers, there were still some students that were known to believe her predictions and take them very seriously. If Professor Trelawney started bringing attention to Danielle further on in the year it could start getting the other students suspicious of her being different in other ways besides the country she was from.
"Turn, please, to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation," Trelawney was saying once Danielle's thoughts had returned to the present. (Incidentally, Danielle had already read half of the first page of that exact introduction.) "Then divide into pairs. Use The Dream Oracle to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on."
Danielle was rather glad that most of the class was taken up with the reading. By the time everyone had all finished reading the introduction of the book, they had barely ten minutes left for dream interpretation. The uneven number of students had left Danielle without a partner at the table that she was occupying by herself, so Professor Trelawney had chosen to put her to a table with two Gryffindor girls named Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown.
The most recent dream Danielle remembered was after the boggart manifestation of Vlad. Danielle wasn't at all interested in telling the other two girls about that dream, nor was she wanting to interpret it with The Dream Oracle. Especially with girls that seemed to quite like Trelawney and drink in every word she spoke. Danielle doubted the book would have anything on Ghost Hybrids anyway that could do powers that no ghost in the Wizarding World could.
Parvati and Lavender went first in telling each other their dreams and then using the book to interpret them. Danielle was grateful that they didn't get around to her by the time the bell rang, but wasn't happy when Trelawney set them the task of keeping a dream diary for a month as homework.
Danielle felt relieved to have a free period after Divination. She headed back down to the Hufflepuff common room to put her things down, thinking she would Go Ghost and do some exploring around the castle for a while. Even after a near full day of classes, there was still so much Danielle wanted to see. She could start on her homework that evening, feeling confident that she'd get it done that night, if not the next day, long before it was due.
Danielle found that her fake wand did not work at all on the barrel-hole entrance, but at least she didn't get doused in vinegar for it. Danielle had to turn herself intangible to get into the common room by herself. She'd have to make a point to not be the one to open the entrance if she was with a group of other Hufflepuffs.
The common room was empty when she crossed it to get to her dormitory to drop off her schoolbag. When she had come out, to her surprise, Danny was standing in the middle of the common room in his ghost form, holding a book under his arm. While glad to see him, Danielle was too surprised in seeing him there to care what the book could possibly be.
"Danny? What are you doing here?" Danielle asked, "Someone might see you."
"Have you been to Umbridge's class yet?" Danny asked in a low tone.
Danielle stopped dead. In all the hype in her classes and just being concerned about her cover, she had completely forgotten the one reason she was doing it in the first place. So much for her time of exploration. At least for now.
"Well, I have a free period next." Danielle explained. "I could use it to do some snooping around in there."
"Dumbledore asked me to tell you that he wants you to take a more direct approach for a little while." Danielle gave him a perplexed look before he went on. "He wants you to actually attend Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"What?" Danielle was taken aback. "But…doesn't that class require using magic?"
"It's the first day and it's a new teacher. It'll probably just be introductory stuff."
Danielle saw the point in this, but she was still feeling a bit uncertain. "So...he wants me to go now?"
"Do you know when her next class is?" asked Danny, not even bothering to say that it was exactly what Dumbledore wanted her to do.
Danielle looked over at the clock that was set on top of the mantelpiece. "It would be starting right now, I guess, but...I don't even have the textbook. I never even read it..."
Just then, Danny pulled the book he had out from under his arm and presented it to Danielle. "Here. Compliments of Dumbledore."
Danielle paused, staring at the book for a moment before glancing up at Danny.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Danielle asked, hesitantly taking the book from Danny's hands and thinking of all the other teachers that had singled her out in front of the class already.
"If what Dumbledore suspects is true, magic won't be a problem," Danny reassured.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Danielle, perplexed.
Danny only shrugged. "I'm not sure, really. It's just what he said. But anyway, you'd better get going before you're any later for that class."
Danielle took one last glance at the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and sighed heavily.
"Tell Dumbledore I'm on my way," she said, Going Ghost.
"Good luck," said Danny in a whisper.
Danielle turned invisible and phased into the girl's dormitory to recollect her bag and fly through the ceiling to get to the class as quickly as possible. She was already late.
000000
When Harry and Ron and Hermione entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head.
The class went quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew yet how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.
"Good afternoon, children!" she said when finally the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled "Good afternoon," in reply.
"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.
"There now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out please."
Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Harry shoved his wand back inside his bag and pulled out his quill, ink, and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it. Words appeared on the board at once.
Defense Against the Dark Arts
A Return to Basic Principals
Course aims:
1. Understanding the principals underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
"As I'm sure you're aware, this year you'll be taking the Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations," stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be…"
She allowed for a dramatic pause before finishing her sentence, but the silence was quickly broken by the sound of the classroom door opening. Everyone turned to face the raven-haired girl that had shyly walked in, looking apologetic and embarrassed.
"…Severe," Professor Umbridge finished, seeming quite disappointed by the timely interruption that had ruined the effect she was obviously trying to convey to the other students.
There was an anxious pause in which the whole class had practically held their breath, wondering how the new professor was going to react to the foreign exchange student coming in after she had already begun speaking. Danielle Fenton looked nervously around the room at all the faces staring between her and Professor Umbridge.
Professor Umbridge shook her head, clicking her tongue at Danielle. "You're late, Miss…"
"Uh...Fenton, ma'am. Danielle Fenton," said Danielle timidly.
To this, Professor Umbridge cocked her head. "The foreign exchange student?"
"Yes, ma'am," Danielle replied guiltily.
"I don't remember your name being on the roll of this class," said Professor Umbridge, stepping towards her desk where a piece of paper laid; most likely the list of students that were supposed to be in this classroom at this time.
"Well, it wouldn't be. I...I'm not registered for it." Danielle replied, looking rather embarrassed at being the center of attention. "But I had a free period and I was wondering if I could use it to sit in on this class."
Professor Umbridge raised a curious eyebrow and by now, all of the class was looking in Danielle's direction, obviously making the new student feel even more uncomfortable.
"I...I thought maybe it would be a good chance for me to observe the way defensive magic is taught in Britain. Get some...cultural insight?" Danielle explained timidly, trying to ignore all the staring faces.
"You'd spend your free time to attend a class you're not required to take?" Professor Umbridge asked, looking confused as well as astounded.
"If that's a problem, ma'am, I can find something else productive to do," said Danielle self-consciously backing towards the door as if to leave.
"No, in fact, I encourage you to stay," said Professor Umbridge instantly with a very wide and toadlike smile. "Such devotion to learning would set a wonderful example to your fellow students who are taking the O.W.L. this year. In fact...I think I'll award you five points for your diligence."
The class all looked surprised at Professor Umbridge, including Danielle.
"Really? Even though I was late?" asked Danielle, awestruck, taking her hand off the door handle.
"You can't be late for a class you're not even taking, dear," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "Have you a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
Danielle frantically dug into her school bag and fished around in it before extracting the book that had been requested. "Just got it, ma'am. It's...also why I was late."
Professor Umbridge was looking more and more impressed by the minute. "Well. I highly suggest not making tardiness a habit, Miss Fenton. It draws quite a bit of attention to yourself. Especially as a newcomer here."
"Yeah, I... noticed that," replied Danielle, her gaze shifting around at all the curious faces that were looking in her direction, including Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's.
"However, I'm more impressed with you being prepared for a class you're unregistered for. Take another five points to your house for it," Professor Umbridge continued, grinning. "Now, if you'll find a seat and open up your book, we'll continue. Welcome to Hogwarts, dear."
"Thank you, ma'am," Danielle smiled, looking relieved as she eagerly took a vacant seat that was near the front.
All students' eyes followed her in amazed confusion with a mixture of jealousy. No one else had ever received points to their house for being late to class before.
"If you've all got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory, you will please follow Miss Fenton's example in taking them out," Professor Umbridge said importantly, returning to her place beside the blackboard as she had been before Danielle had walked in. "Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly...uneven. The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being below the standard we would expect in your O.W.L. year.
"But you'll be pleased to know that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, ministry-approved course of defensive magic. So it may be for the better that you came this year to observe the correct way of learning, Miss Fenton." She said sweetly to Danielle specifically.
Professor Umbridge clearly was meaning to flatter Danielle, but Danielle was looking more embarrassed than flattered with the way she was trying to grin and shrug it off, obviously not liking being singled out the way the other teachers had already in her previous classes all day. At least according to what Harry had observed.
At that moment, Hermione had raised her hand.
"Yes, dear?" said Professor Umbridge.
"There's nothing in here about using defensive spells," Hermione commented, leafing through the pages she had read over the summer already.
"Using spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."
There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned, including Danielle, looking quite surprised and confused at Umbridge.
"We're not going to use magic?" Ron questioned loudly.
"You will be learning about defensive magic in a secure risk-free way," Professor Umbridge stated as though this was the best idea thought of in ages.
"Well, what use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free."
"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class," sang Professor Umbridge.
Harry thrust his fist in the air with a roll of his eyes, noticing how no one had said anything about Ron not having raised his hand. Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from Harry, but now several other students had their hands raised, including Danielle.
"Yes, Miss Fenton?" said Professor Umbridge carefully choosing the student she thought would cause the least amount of trouble.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole point of taking this class was to practice defensive spells."
"Well, you are wrong, Miss, Fenton. Are you a ministry-trained educational expert?" asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice.
"No."
"And are you even native to this country in which you are currently taking this Ministry-approved coarse?"
"No. But—"
"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is, let alone in a land so unfamiliar to you." Professor Umbridge concluded dismissively, turning to walk away from Danielle.
"But isn't that the point?" stated Danielle, obviously not intending to be ignored until she was fully understood. "I'm not familiar with this country and whatever dangers are around here. If I don't learn how to deal with them while in school, then how am I supposed to learn them at all?"
Professor Umbridge paused, not looking at Danielle, before turning to address the class, taking on a businesslike tone as she had before her speech in the Great Hall. "It is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge would be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which after all is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up.
"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?"
"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Umbridge dismissively.
"Without ever practicing them before?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exams?"
A sudden mumble aroused in the classroom before Umbridge gestured for calm and talked over them.
"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to very irresponsible wizards in this class. Very irresponsible indeed — not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."
Danielle suddenly perked up, briefly catching Hermione's eye.
"If you mean Professor Lupin," piped up Dean Thomas angrily, "he was the best we ever—"
"Hand, young man!" Professor Umbridge interrupted loudly. "As I was saying — You have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you."
"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" said Dean Thomas hotly. "Mind you, we still learned loads —"
"You're hand is not up, Mr…"
"Dean Thomas."
"You're making a bad habit out of this, Mr. Thomas," trilled Professor Umbridge before turning away from Dean, only to see that Danielle, to her annoyance, had her hand raised yet again. "Yes, Miss Fenton?"
"But if that's true and there have been teachers in this subject that have even brought harm to students, doesn't that make it all the more reason to learn to defend ourselves while in class?"
"Surely you don't think that I will be attacking you, or otherwise intend to bring you harm. Have you, even a foreign exchange student from overseas, also been frightened into believing you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day?"
Danielle smartly folded her arms, leaning back in her seat before replying confidently, "Actually, where I come from, hardly a day goes by where I don't get attacked, so I've learned that it's better to be safe than sorry."
There was a quiet mumble of confusion from the rest of the class as though they wondered if Danielle was bluffing, but the unwavering seriousness on the exchange student's face as she was focusing intently on the professor was strongly indicating otherwise.
"Well. Then it's a good thing you've decided to come here to Hogwarts where you are far safer with a much more responsible form of government."
Danielle raised an offended eyebrow.
"But what about when we're not here?" said Harry loudly, his fist in the air just when Danielle had opened her mouth to speak again. "What good's theory going to be in the real world?"
"This is school, Mr. Potter. Not the real world," Professor Umbridge said softly.
"But Danielle just said it," said Harry. His temper, which seemed to have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, was reaching boiling point. "There are dangers that even teenagers could run into in the real world. How's theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?"
"The United States is thousands of miles away on an entirely different continent. And who'd you imagine in Britain would want to attack children like yourself?" inquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe…" said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice. "Lord Voldemort?"
Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a little scream; Neville slipped sideways off his stool; Danielle piqued an eyebrow before glancing at Umbridge, who had not flinched. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."
The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Harry.
"Now let me make this quite plain."
Professor Umbridge straightened up and began walking slowly up the aisle between the student desks.
"You have been told that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It's NOT a lie!" said Harry. "I saw him. I fought him."
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly.
Hermione seemed to be trying to ask Harry to calm down, but he had jerked his arm away from her.
"So according to you, Cedric Diggory just dropped dead of his own accord?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.
There was a collective intake of breath from the class as though surprised Harry was bringing up such a subject. Danielle only just remembered a Cedric being mentioned back in Harry's neighborhood when he was having that fight with his cousin, and then afterwards again by Mrs. Figg after the dementor attack. Danielle looked shiftily around at the avidly staring faces from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face.
"Cedric Diggery's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly.
"It was murder!" cried Harry. He seemed to be shaking with rage now.
"Voldemort killed him and you know it!"
"Enough!" Professor Umbridge finally screamed and all went silent. "Enough." She repeated more calmly this time. Her face was quite blank as she circled around to behind the teacher's desk. Then she said in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."
Harry kicked his chair aside, strode around Ron and Hermione and up to the teachers desk. Danielle watched carefully as the class seemed to be holding their breath.
Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling, hunched over so that Harry could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so, she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it.
"See me tomorrow evening, Mr. Potter. My office. Five o'clock. And take this to Professor McGonagall." said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him.
Harry took it from her without saying a word and left the room before Professor Umbridge turned to the rest of the class.
"The rest of you: begin reading chapter one of Defensive Magical Theory, 'Basics for Beginners.' Page five."
All other students obediently opened their books to the first chapter as though afraid the professor would also give them detention and began reading. Several silent minutes passed before Danielle raised her hand again. Umbridge was looking just as resolutely in another direction, perhaps not wanting to allow another disturbance in the class.
After several more minutes had passed, however, Hermione and Ron weren't the only ones watching Danielle. The chapter the students had been instructed to read was so tedious that more and more people were choosing to watch Danielle's mute attempt to catch Professor Umbridge's eye than to struggle with "Basics for Beginners." It was amazing just to see how long and how patiently Danielle was able to keep her hand up without having to shift in her seat or even switch hands to give the other one a rest. Was she not the slightest bit worried that Professor Umbridge might get upset and give her a detention as well?
When more than half the class were staring at Danielle rather than at their books, Professor Umbridge seemed to decide that she could not ignore the situation any longer.
"Yes, Miss, Fenton. You have a question about the chapter?" she asked Danielle, as though she had just noticed her.
"It's about the course aims actually," said Danielle. "I noticed what number two says about recognizing situations where it's legal to defend yourself. Does that mean that in Britain, it's illegal to raise arms even if you're in danger?"
Professor Umbridge raised an eyebrow, briefly glancing at the blackboard, as though wondering if there was some personal secret she had accidentally put on the board that Danielle had discovered. The rest of the class had now looked up once again to watch Danielle and the professor.
Professor Umbridge seemed to become aware that the attention had been drawn towards her again rather than the books she had assigned to them. She cleared her throat before addressing Danielle, trying to ignore the other students.
"As I keep repeating, you are not so likely to be attacked here as you were in the States. The Ministry of Magic provides protection for all its citizens."
"But...I'm not British," commented Danielle, taking on a seemingly worried expression.
"You're still living here for the time being, therefore, by law, also under said protection."
"But why would the Ministry need to provide protection unless there was something they needed protection from?"
The classroom suddenly went still again and all students stared at Professor Umbridge, wondering how she would respond to a point they themselves had never thought of.
"There are people all over the world that break the laws all the time, aren't there?" Danielle went on, sounding as though getting concerned. "If I was cornered in a dark alley by someone like that, and my life depended on defending myself against them, does that mean I'd be the one who gets punished, not the ones who attacked me?"
"Any such wizards are currently spending time in our inescapable prison, Azkaban, if you've heard of it," said Professor Umbridge rather quickly, but a bit of nervousness was creeping behind her fake smile. "So there's no need to worry."
"But I heard someone broke out of Azkaban only a few years ago and they still haven't tracked him down. They don't even know how he did it."
A soft mumble confirmed this fact to be true. Hermione and Ron looked at each other before turning back to watch Danielle with interest.
When Professor Umbridge seemed to notice the nervous chatter that had irrupted in the classroom, she straightened up, trying to look confident.
"Sirius Black will be apprehended by the proper authorities before anyone comes to harm, Miss Fenton, I guarantee."
"But they already have. I've heard of people disappearing," Danielle said, shrinking in her seat and looking anxiously around the room with shifty eyes. "Others are being found dead in cold deserted places. And you're saying it's because it's illegal for the victims to defend themselves?"
"Now, now dear, it's nothing like that at all…" Professor Umbridge was trying to say, looking warily around at the rest of the class that was watching.
"What if Sirius Black is only the first to escape?" Danielle went on as though she hadn't heard Professor Umbridge and was starting to get scared. "What if there are other mass murderers lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to take advantage of the people who are afraid of breaking the rules? Rules that forbid them from even taking precautions against situations like that?"
"You're getting hysterical, Miss Fenton," said Professor Umbridge, looking like she wanted to punish Danielle, simply in panic, for creating such a disturbance the way Harry had, but wasn't sure if it was wise to do that in front of thirty students to a frightened foreign exchange student who was concerned for her own safety.
"Er...do you need the hospital wing?" Professor Umbridge finally said uncertainly, putting a stubby hand on Danielle's forehead, as though checking for a fever.
"Maybe we all will before long," Danielle said gravely, staring horrified and unblinkingly into space underneath Professor Umbridge's hand. "...And I thought I was safe here…with a more…responsible government."
"Go and see Madam Pomfrey, dear. Hurry," said Professor Umbridge urgently.
Danielle looked as though she was in a trans as she began gathering her things to leave.
"Everyone else, you will kindly continue reading," Professor Umbridge remarked to the class, looking a bit flustered and still keeping an eye on Danielle. "No need to talk."
As Danielle robotically strode between the desks, she noticed students carefully glancing up at her from their books as she passed by them, looking like they were feeling sorry for Danielle, or otherwise scared that she might start over-reacting again, before quickly looking back at their books in case Professor Umbridge looked in their direction.
Hermione on the other hand, stared at Danielle the whole way as though amazed and speechless. Danielle's long bangs may have been hiding most of her face by then, but Hermione could have sworn that she could still see a quite mischievous grin spread across Danielle's face just as she walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind her.
Dun, dun, Dah!
Please Note!: IF YOU SPOT ANY GRAMMAR OR SPELLING ERRORS, PLEASE BRING THEM TO MY ATTENTION THROUGH A PRIVATE MESSAGE. NOT AS PART OF A REVIEW! Frankly, it's embarrassing. And no matter how hard I try and no matter how many times I go over each individual chapter, there's ALWAYS some stupid and obvious error that I miss before posting the darn thing. Further, the text of the story does NOT stay like that by the time I fix the mistakes you indicate to me anyway. The words in your reviews however ARE permanent to a much greater extent that I have no control over, despite the changes I make in the story that the reviews refer to. So PLEASE stop pointing spelling and grammar errors out in your reviews!
Anyway. So what did you think of the chapter? I know it's pretty much with the same layout as the chapter in the book, just from Danielle's point-of-view instead, but did it at least seem realistic enough as far as the interaction Danielle had with the teachers?
Was Binns a bit out of character in meeting Danielle? Was Umbridge too...nice... to Danielle compared to how she had dealt with Harry? Are there major changes I should go back and fix before moving onto the next chapter?
I have to admit, with it being mainly setup and introductions to some of the teachers for Danielle, I didn't quite enjoy writing this chapter as much as I had other ones. That's probably one of the reasons why it took so long for me to post. But I'm looking more forward to writing the next chapter. Perhaps, consequently, that will mean I will get it done faster this time. I can't make any promises on that though. I still have school that I need to worry about and that's going to take top priority. It may be until the end of the school year before I'm able to update. That doesn't mean I wont try though.
In the meantime, hang in there! And thanks for all the support and encouragement during this time it took to post this chapter. ^_^
