Chapter 14: The Wrath of Professor Diederich
It rained during the days following Trinity's return to Hogwarts. The wind howled nearly nonstop during this time, and the windows in the Hospital Wing, where Trinity was still kept, rattled. Mercy had been released two days after their return, and she had been gone for most of that time, as she had to study for her O.W.L. exams. Rose, Ian, and Sorcha spent their brakes in the Hospital Wing with Trinity, catching her up on class work.
She stared up at the ceiling that Sunday afternoon, longing for a chance to get out, and to do something, anything, as long as it wasn't lying in the Hospital Wing. Her bones were mostly mended. She was able to breathe easier at least.
"How are you, Ms. Jones?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
Trinity blinked at the old matron. "Fine. I think I can return to my common room now."
"Walk across the room, and we'll see."
She sighed impatiently. Every day, it was the same test, and every day, Trinity felt that she had passed, but Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping her in the Hospital Wing, and Professor McGonagall had agreed. She got to her feet, slowly. She staggered forward, and tried to keep her steps as smooth as possible as she made her way across the room. When she reached the other side, she turned to Madam Pomfrey, and said, "See? I'm fine."
"I want you to use a cane for the next couple weeks," instructed Madam Pomfrey, though she appeared uneasy. "Also—no Quidditch until I say otherwise."
"Fine." She shrugged. She took the cane that Madam Pomfrey conjured, politely thanked her, and walked out of the Hospital Wing.
The castle was empty. Professor McGonagall had instated new school rules stating that students were to remain in their common rooms when they were not in class or the Great Hall for meals.
She limped her way to the spiral staircase leading up to the Ravenclaw Tower. The climb up took a lot longer than she was accustomed to. She had to stop five times to catch her breath. When she reached the brass eagle head knocker, she was out of breath.
"When you have too much of me your bored. When you have too little of me you rush. What am I?"
Trinity glared up at the door, impatient at the fact that she was really being asked a riddle at a time like this. She wondered what Professor McGonagall would do if she were to sit outside the common room and stay there. She leaned against the cold stonewall, closed her eyes, and listened to the wind howling outside.
"What are you doing outside the common room, Ms. Jones?" squeaked Professor Flitwik, making her jump.
"Professor! I—I'm not that good at riddles." She blushed a brilliant shade of red.
"What was the riddle?" asked Professor Flitwik patiently.
Trinity frowned, struggling to remember exactly what the riddle had been. "Erm—something about having too much being bored, and not having enough rushing."
"Time."
The door opened, and Trinity blushed even brighter. She looked down at her feet. "Thank you, Professor," she mumbled.
"You're welcome, Ms. Jones. And glad to see you up and walking." Professor Flitwik smiled at her as she walked into the common room.
To her surprise, the common room was mostly empty, and to her relief, the only occupants were Rose, Ian, Sorcha, and Mercy. She staggered forward before she remembered her cane.
"Trinity!" cried Rose, getting to her feet in a scramble and rushing to embrace her. "I thought you weren't supposed to get out until tomorrow!"
"She's lucky she got out at all," said Sorcha, grinning from ear to ear.
"Good—now I don't have to keep taking History of Magic notes," said Ian with a sigh of relief.
Rose shot him a dirty glare. "You should always take your own notes."
"Good to know someone would be lost without me," Trinity chuckled. She sidestepped so that she could get to the cushioned chair next to the fire. She leaned back, relieved to finally be able to relax. "What homework have we got?" she asked her fellow first years.
"Professor Diederich wants an essay twelve inches long on the properties of the Knockback Jinx to be handed in tomorrow," Rose informed.
Trinity groaned loudly. One night was simply not enough time to research the subject and then write an essay on it. She now wished that Madam Pomfrey had kept her in the Hospital Wing.
"Other than that, the only homework we've gotten is to practice the spells we've already learned."
"We've also got a star chart!" added Ian. "We have to plot the course of Saturn and Mars this month."
"She can do that in class!" said Rose, rolling her eyes. "That's why it's called an in-class assignment."
Trinity paid them no attention. She was still thinking about that essay she had to write. "Erm—could someone go upstairs and get my copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection?"
Rose got to her feet and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
"Has Professor Diederich lectured about the Knockback Jinx?" asked Trinity.
"Not in great detail," answered Sorcha, frowning. "He explained that it is really good for dealing with imps, fire crabs, and many of the creatures in the forbidden forest."
"And pixies!" added Ian excitedly.
Sorcha grimaced. "I would not advise that." Her eyes flared as she looked up at Ian.
Rose returned with Trinity's copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Trinity thanked her before cracking open her book and going to the chapter that described the Knockback Jinx. The conversation around her became a dull buzz.
The door to the common room opened some time later; Trinity was lost to what time it was. She looked up from her book to see Professor Flitwik walking in. "Anyone who wants to come down to the Great Hall, come with me now!" he squeaked.
Trinity blinked a few times before his words sunk in. She set her book down and shot Mercy a confused glance.
"New security measures Professor McGonagall put in after the giant incident," she explained nonchalantly.
"But where is everyone else?" Trinity asked.
"Oh, they're in the library," answered Rose, biting her bottom lip uncertainly.
Trinity reached for her cane before getting to her feet. As much as she hated using it, she knew that she would otherwise not be able to walk on her own yet. "Lets go then. I'm starving!"
"Oh yeah—James wanted to know how the food at St. Mungo's was," said Rose as she too got to her feet.
"Horrible. I asked for Mercy's parents to get me food every time they visited me." Trinity made a face at the memories. She followed close behind Professor Flitwik with the rest of her friends.
"That was a really excellent use of the Levitation Charm on that giant, Ms. Jones," squeaked Professor Flitwik as they exited the common room.
Trinity blushed. The last thing she had ever expected to hear was a compliment considering that she had nearly gotten killed that night. She nodded and muttered a quiet "thank you".
"Professor, I'll have that essay on Summoning Charms to you on Wednesday," said Mercy timidly.
"Not to worry, dear girl," replied Professor Flitwik. "You can have all the time you need. I know that you're still recovering from fighting that giant."
Trinity watched the exchange with mild interest. She was glad to have someone like Professor Flitwik as the head of her house. She doubted that any of the other professors were nearly as forgiving. She shuddered at the thought of trying to hand in her essay on the Knockback Jinx to Professor Diederich late because she was still recovering from her injuries.
"You alrigh', Trinity?" asked Mercy as they were walking into the Great Hall.
"Hn? Oh—yeah—fine." She forced a smile as Professor Flitwik made his way up to the staff table.
"Professor Flitwik will escort us all back up to the Ravenclaw common room after dinner. I also want to have a meeting with the rest of the Quidditch team once we're—" She was interrupted when Albus, James, and Anthony walked up to them, all three grinning from ear to ear.
"Trinity! Didn't think you'd be up and about yet!" barked James, clapping her on the back.
"I'll tell the giant to try harder next time," replied Trinity, smirking. She looked up at Anthony. He appeared to be doing better since last time she had seen him, healthier at least. "Where's that boy that's always tagging along with you?" she asked mildly.
"Oh—he's probably talking to Scorpius." Anthony frowned and his cheeks turned a light shade of red.
"Hmph! Nothing good can come out of that friendship," snorted James, obviously disgusted. "The Malfoy family have been in Slytherin for generations. Slytherins are the first to use the Dark Arts."
Trinity frowned, thinking back to her sorting ceremony and how the Sorting Hat had considered putting her in Slytherin. She wondered if her friends would have ended up hating her had she been in Slytherin instead of Ravenclaw.
"My oldest sister was in Slytherin!" said Mercy, outraged.
"There's oddities in every group," countered James sheepishly.
Trinity glanced over at the Slytherin table, and sure enough, the strange boy was talking with Scorpius, and they were both laughing about something the latter had said. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She clenched her hands into tight fists.
"I think we ought to get back to our tables," said Anthony, nodding to the staff table. Professor Fara was making her way toward them.
"See ya around, Trinity," said James.
"See you," muttered Albus shyly before being dragged off by his older brother.
Trinity sighed heavily as she took her seat at the Ravenclaw table between Mercy and Sorcha. Rose and Ian sat across from them. She silently put mashed potatoes and gravy onto her plate and took a couple dinner rolls.
"How long do you suppose Professor Flitwik will have to escort us everywhere?" she asked through a bite of mashed potatoes and gravy.
"It isn't just Professor Flitwik," said Mercy. "Teachers escort their students to their next class, the library, and the common rooms." She frowned thoughtfully. "Apparently this hasn't happened since the days of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"Have they figured out who let that giant in?"
"Nope." Ian's eyes were large with terror.
"The aurors are investigating though. My Uncle Harry was here the other day, looking around and asking questions," informed Rose.
The rest of dinner was filled with silence for Trinity. She heard whispers all around her, yes, but it was unintelligible. She got up with the rest of her classmates and followed Professor Flitwik back to the Ravenclaw common room.
She sat down to work on her essay on the Knockback Jinx as soon as Professor Flitwik left. She shifted uncomfortably in her cushioned armchair as the conversation of her fellow Ravenclaws buzzed around her. She set her parchment and quill aside long after most of the other students went up to bed.
"You should go to bed." Mercy walked over to her and leaned against her cane. "You look exhausted."
"I really need to finish that essay," replied Trinity, staring at her unfinished essay.
"No, what you really need is to get your rest," retorted Mercy. "You might be out of the Hospital Wing, but you're still recovering."
"I feel fine."
"Trinity—don't lie; not just to me, but yourself. Go on up to bed. I don't want to have to write you up for disobeying a prefect."
She grimaced. Her eyes were narrowed at Mercy as she considered her options. In the end, she decided that it would not be wise to go against Mercy, and she had to admit that she was exhausted. She closed her copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, which had been opened on her lap for easy reference while working on her essay. She blew on the parchment she had used to write her essay on, for good measure in case the ink was not yet dry, before rolling it up.
"You can leave the essay down here," said Mercy casually. "No one's going to mess with it."
"If you say so," sniffed Trinity. She set everything aside before getting to her feet and walking up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
To her immense satisfaction, everyone she shared the dorm with was already asleep. She changed into her nightgown before crawling into her bed and drawing the curtains closed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She woke the next morning to someone shaking her shoulder. She batted the hand away, grumbling about wanting to sleep an extra five minutes.
"Trinity, we've only got another twenty minutes before breakfast is over!" said Rose earnestly.
"Hn? Wha—?" She slowly opened her eyes, rubbing the crusts out of them as she sat up. "Ah, bloody hell, I must've over slept!" She quickly jumped to her feet.
"Sorcha said that she'd bring you up some toast. Did you get that essay for Professor Diederich done last night?"
"No!" Trinity groaned. She had been hoping for a free morning until Rose brought up her unfinished essay sitting down in the common room. She rummaged in her trunk for her school uniform and got dressed in record time. She grabbed her cane and clamored out of the dormitory without a second glance back at Rose.
"Ah, Rose finally got you up?" Sorcha said as she walked through the entrance of the common room with a plate of toast and sausage.
"Yeah—thanks for the food." Trinity grinned slightly, her face turning red with embarrassment. She took the plate before sitting down next to the fire. She reached for her essay as she took a bite out of a slice of toast. To her utter surprise, she found the essay complete, and in her own handwriting…with a note attached.
Trinity—Sorry that I finished the essay for you. I honestly don't find the Knockback Jinx all that useful. I also made some corrections to your intro and the part about your body you were saying how it was useful against most all enemies. This is a onetime thing. Don't expect it again.
Mercy
Trinity stared at the note for a few minutes, blinking dumbly. She read over her essay, and found more than just a few changes that Mercy had claimed to make. She gritted her teeth.
"What's up?" Rose asked as she came to stand behind Trinity, looking over her shoulder.
"Nothing!" Trinity quickly hid the note from Mercy. "Mercy was just telling me off for leaving my essay down here," she lied.
"Uh huh." Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "You should get that essay done."
"I—I need to go to the library."
"If you hurry, you might be able to get Professor Fara to take you," said Sorcha. "She escorted me back up here."
Trinity nodded. She grabbed her essay and copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection before darting, or in her case hobbled, out of the common room. She found Professor Fara halfway down the stairs. "Professor!" she panted.
Professor Fara turned around. "Ms. Jones! What are you doing out of your common room?" She narrowed her eyes.
"I—I need to go to the library—to finish my essay for Professor Diederich." She looked at her feet, abashed.
"I see. I'll take you there." Professor Fara walked alongside her, her hand in her robes pocket; Trinity assumed clenched around her wand.
"Professor…"
"What is it, Ms. Jones?"
"Have I missed anything in your class?"
Professor Fara turned to Trinity, observing her through a blank mask. "No," she said simply. "Everyone has been working on turning their matches into needles."
Trinity nodded, not wanting to voice her opinion on how easy she found the spell once she had it down. She remained silent until they reached the library. "Thank you, Professor."
"See you after lunch, Ms. Jones." Professor Fara smirked as she walked away, leaving Trinity to enter the library on her own.
She wandered to the back of the library, her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay clutched tightly in her hands along with her book. She scanned the titles of the books on the shelf she was standing next to in a casual manner. None of them looked like titles she would need for at least a couple years, and they didn't look all that interesting to read. She leaned on her cane for a couple moments, lingering before walking to a table where she could copy her essay into her own words.
"Shouldn't you be in class?"
The strict female voice made her jump. She took a quick glance down at her watch and cursed.
"Language!"
"Sorry!" She cringed as she quickly gathered her essay and book before hobbling out of the library. She was fifteen minutes late to Defense Against the Dark Arts, and she doubted that Professor Diederich would be very forgiving, even if she had to use a cane to get around.
She barged into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and ignored the stares she received from her classmates. She limped to her seat next to Sorcha before Professor Diederich turned around and gave her a most menacing glare.
"Do you think that just because you took down a giant singlehandedly that gives you the right to show up to my class twenty minutes late, Ms. Jones?" he demanded in a haughty tone. He walked away from his blackboard to loom over Trinity.
"No," replied Trinity coolly. She returned his glare with one of her own.
"Did a professor escort you to class?"
"No."
"Twenty points from Ravenclaw!" He stalked back to the front of the classroom. "And to make sure that it doesn't happen again, you will all write a thirty inch essay on the effects of the Knockback Jinx and the ways to counter it."
"You've really done it this time," Sorcha whispered in Trinity's ear.
"Another five points from Ravenclaw!" snapped Professor Diederich.
Trinity groaned quietly. She took out her parchment, quill, and ink, and began taking notes. By the time class was over, her notes were messy due to her foul mood. She stuffed her notes from the day into her book unceremoniously before marching to the front of the classroom to drop off her essay without a word or second glance back at Professor Diederich.
"We were doing so well without that Jones girl," she heard Clay Harper telling a group of his friends on their way to lunch.
"Yeah," agreed Kyla Seabrook, nodding. "We were even ahead of Slytherin and twenty points from Gryffindor before she came back."
"They should have kept her at St. Mungo's," added Owen Byrne.
Trinity glared at them from behind as she limped next to Rose, Sorcha, and Ian. "Wish Professor Diederich would actually teach us something," she grumbled under her breath.
"Easy, Trinity," advised Rose cautiously.
"They're not worth it," added Ian, glowering at them with Trinity. "Byrne is just jealous that you're better at spells than he is. I have to listen to him and Harper gripe every night."
"You're not helping," said Rose.
"Maybe Professor Fara will teach us how to transfigure them into dung," Trinity contemplated out loud.
"Trinity!" gasped Rose.
"I'm tired of it, Rose!" She blinked the tears away, but she was too slow.
"Ian's right; they're not worth the trouble."
"Who's not worth the trouble?" Anthony came up behind them, grinning.
Rose sighed heavily. "Trinity was late to Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Oh—was Professor Diederich angry?" He sobered up quickly when he realized that Trinity was not going to cheer up anytime soon.
"Very," replied Sorcha glumly.
"Yeah—he's always had a stick up his arse. Don't take it personally, Trinity."
"She's lucky she didn't get detention," said Rose seriously.
"We've got extra homework," groaned Trinity despairingly.
"How much?" Anthony dared to ask.
"Thirty inch essay on the effects of the Knockback Jinx and how to counter it," grumbled Trinity.
"That's really not that bad coming from Professor Diederich. When I was a second year, he made us prove that we could duel. A lot of my classmates went to the Hospital Wing after that."
"Is he really that brutal?" gasped Trinity, wide-eyed. She cowered away slightly from Anthony in a sarcastic manner.
"Only if you get on his bad side—which I s'pose isn't that hard to do now that I think about it." He placed his index finger on his chin in a thoughtful pose.
"Well that makes me feel better," said Trinity, rolling her eyes at him.
"Happy to help," replied Anthony with a curt nod. "Well, I should get back with the other Hufflepuffs. Ranzel is probably looking for me."
"Who's Ranzel?" asked Trinity, but Anthony was gone before he could answer her.
Rose shrugged her shoulders. "C'mon. We should go get lunch." She led the group into the Great Hall.
Trinity sat between Rose and Sorcha. She absentmindedly took some roast beef and mashed potatoes and gravy. "Professor Diederich is going to be the death of me," she groaned.
"I doubt that." Mercy slouched down across from her with a vacant expression on her face.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Trinity pointedly.
"If I hear one more time about O.W.L.s, I am going to use an Unforgivable Curse on the first person to look at me wrong," grumbled Mercy moodily.
"Owls?" Trinity blinked.
Rose rolled her eyes. "O.W.L.s, otherwise known as the Ordinary Wizarding Level. They're the exams that we have to take in our fifth year."
"They can't be that bad," said Trinity.
"Just you wait," grumbled Mercy menacingly. She shot Trinity a glare before dumping some mashed potatoes and gravy onto her plate. "By the way, Quiditch practice tonight. I expect you to be there, even if you aren't allowed to play. I want you to observe what I have the Chasers do. I also want to replace our replacement Seeker if I can't play in the game against Hufflepuff."
Trinity feigned a grin. At least Quidditch practice delayed her homework, but the thought of her essay for Professor Diederich made her wish that she was not part of the Quidditch team. "I have a thirty inch essay due for Professor Diederich."
"Why'd you wait until the last minute to do it?" snapped Mercy haughtily.
She gaped at her best friend. "I didn't!"
"Trinity, calm down," warned Rose in a low whisper before turning to Mercy. "She was late to Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Diederich assigned more homework for the entire class."
"You didn't get shoved into another broom closet, did you?" groaned Mercy.
"No," grunted Trinity. She grew irritated over the memories of her first day at Hogwarts. She looked down at her plate and grimaced. "I was in the library."
"I still need you at Quidditch practice," sighed Mercy, looking up at Trinity apologetically.
"Alright," Trinity sighed. She hung her head down as she ate her lunch.
The rest of that day went by relatively slow. Even that afternoon's Double Potions lesson was uneventful. Trinity followed Professor Slughorn and the rest of the first year Ravenclaw students up to the common room, where she waited until it was time to go back to the Great Hall for dinner. She spent most of that time at a corner table with Rose, Sorcha, and Ian working on her essay for Professor Diederich.
"How does Professor Diederich expect us to know ways to counter the Knockback Jinx when we haven't even learned that many spells?" growled Ian irritably, throwing his quill down. "He's got to be mad!"
"He wouldn't have given us this essay if he wasn't," retorted Trinity. She flipped through the pages of her copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. "Oh, this is pointless!"
"It isn't pointless," said Rose, who had already written half the essay. "Look at page 157."
Trinity shot Rose a glare before flipping her book to that page, and to her delight found an adequate description of what the Knockback Jinx did. She scribbled down some notes on it in her notebook. "Ok; what about the counters?"
"I haven't had any luck on that," admitted Rose. "I don't think it's in this book."
"Well that's just bloody fantastic," growled Trinity. "This is probably going to be asked to be turned in tomorrow, and I've got Quidditch practice tonight."
"If you were paying attention, Professor Diederich did give us until next week," Rose pointed out.
"Fantastic!" Trinity shoved her book away and leaned back in her chair. "I can wait until the weekend to do it!"
"There's the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw Quiditch match on Saturday," informed Rose. "I seriously doubt that Mercy would let you skip the match in favor of you doing an essay."
"I've still got Sunday," replied Trinity with a shrug. "Oh, don't give me that look." Rose looked very disapproving of Trinity's comment. "I'm exhausted, Rose. I can use the extra time to go up to the library and see if there's any information in any of those books."
"If you think this is bad, just wait until your fifth year," said Mercy from behind. "How goes the extra work?"
"It'll get done," replied Trinity glumly.
"I hope so, for your sake."
Trinity forced a grin. "You worry too much, Mercy."
"I see you've been hangin' 'round Anthony too much," commented Mercy wryly.
"He's the one who comes and finds me, not the other way around."
A/N: Sorry for the long span of time it took to update. I was busy preparing for Emerald City Comicon. Got to meet the Phelps twins and get my picture taken with them. They're incredibly nice in person. I also nearly got trampled by Christopher Judge and shook his hand.