Chapter XVII: Making Friends In the Pride
When Giuliana finally appeared, Vaughn thought she looked out of sorts. She came down the stairs into the Hogwarts dungeons looking wild, eyes ablaze with thoughts Vaughn couldn't guess at. Double Potions with Gryffindor was set to begin in just a few minutes, yet she didn't seem concerned about that.
"Are you alright?" Vaughn asked.
"Never better!" Giuliana declared, giving an excited laugh. She sounded happy, though in a demented way. Vaughn wasn't sure what to make of it and eyed her curiously, trying to figure it out.
"You just seem like you've had a shock, that's all." He continued.
"I just need a moment to think, alright?" she snapped, holding up a finger for peace. Vaughn was silenced, shocked by her behavior. Another shock followed though as Draco Malfoy approached them, holding a box of what appeared to be large buttons at first.
"You pair are Slytherins, so you need Badges. House solidarity and all that, even if you lot prefer Hufflepuff Mudbloods and Half-Breeds." Draco said, waving the box in front of them. Clanking inside of the box were badges that read Support CEDRIC DIGGORY, the REAL Hogwarts Champion in bright red. Draco pressed down on one of the badges, causing the text to spin and change to another message, this one colored a revolting green that glowed:
POTTER STINKS
"Brilliant, aren't they?" Draco laughed, clearly impressed with himself and his genius. "I'm trying to get them to catch on quick so that-"
"Not now, Draco." Giuliana told him, voice testy. Draco didn't appreciate that tone at all.
"Well just for that tone, you two will be first who have to pay for them. Three sickles each, if you please!" Draco demanded, holding out his hand. Behind him, Crabbe and Goyle, wearing their own badges, laughed. The rest of the Slytherins all had badges on their robes.
Giuliana was having none of it.
"Merlin's Beard, Malfoy! We don't want your Badges!"
With a hard swipe, Giuliana knocked the box out of Draco's hands. The box landed roughly on the ground, scattering the Badges all over the dungeons dirty black stone floor. The clattering of the badges against the floor echoed down the hallway, causing both Gryffindor and Slytherin students to look at her with shock. Giuliana couldn't be bothered though, instead getting directly in Draco's face. She wasn't finished with him yet.
"Why must you always be like this?" She demanded. "I'm sure Daddy is a real proud of you for having the brains to make something like this! Must have taken you hours to pull off! But some of us have better things to do then feed your obsession with Potter, you pompous twat! You aren't special!"
Draco was left red face and stammering for an answer as Giuliana turned her heels on him. His cronies were all open mouthed, unsure what to do. The Gryffindor's were looking at Giuliana, mildly impressed. If anyone looked, they would have seen Neville Longbottom smiling.
"Giuliana!" Vaughn breathed, taken aback. She didn't reply immediately, only grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the clump of students. "What was that?!"
"Do you not approve of what I said?" She demanded.
"No, I thought it was brilliant."
"Good, then stop and listen!"
She had pulled him into a corner next to the stairs. Sighing deeply and gathering her thoughts, Giuliana began to explain, voice lowered so only Vaughn could hear. Out of ear shot, Draco, still red face, began gathering up the badges.
"Last Christmas, when I was at my family's villa, I spent a lot of time in the library looking for books to help P.A.C." Giuliana began. Vaughn nodded, already knowing this. "So, while I was in the library I would also spend time in the Divination section, and one day while I was there – HEY! Don't you dare give me that look, Vaughn!"
He hadn't even realized his face had morphed in an incredulous look, the one he always gave
when Giuliana mentioned Divination and its virtues. "Sorry, I'm sorry, what did you find?"
"A magic mirror. My bisnonno said-"
"Your what?"
"Great, Great, Great, Grandfather! Ok, he said this mirror had certain properties that let special people see the future. And I have! I've seen the future! Twice! Just now and when I first found it in the library!"
Vaughn was so taken aback he didn't notice Harry Potter and Hermione Granger descending the stairs only to be confronted by the other Slytherins and their Potter Stinks badges. He was far too focused on the insane notion that Giuliana thought she could see the future.
"Er… ok… what…. Um, what did you see?" Vaughn tried.
"I…. I don't actually know. It was rather vague and cryptic. It was a message I need to work out."
This time, Vaughn was fully aware of his eyes rolling as he adjusted the strap on his book bag angrily. "What a shock. Divination isn't clear." He growled.
"Oh, come off it! I just told you I received visions of the future and you're still bitter!"
"How do you know if this mirror is even real? It could just be a joke item that found its way into your family's collection!"
"My bisnonno is colorful but not a liar. He knows everything about that library-"
There was a sudden scramble behind them and some shocked muttering, causing Giuliana and Vaughn to look. Potter and Malfoy had their wands pointed at one another, both looking furious. Before they could get any context, hexes were being casted.
"Furnunculus!"
"Densaugeo!"
The dungeon hallway was flooded with light from two separate spells. Neither were well aimed and most of the students hit the ground to avoid them. The spells hit one another with a loud crack and began to bounce off the narrow dungeon walls. They must have hit someone as two shouts erupted. Looking up, Vaughn saw that neither Harry nor Draco were hit. Their companions next to them however…
"Oh, nasty." Vaughn muttered. Goyle, already stuck with the looks of a troll to begin with, was now covered in nasty boils that looked ready to pop at any second. He screamed as he felt the boils on his face, a few of them steaming from the impact.
Meanwhile, Hermione Granger was shaking and near tears. She was holding both hands up over her mouth, desperately trying to cover the effects of the Densaugeo hex, which was causing her front teeth, already large, to grow down her face at a fast rate. She looked a bit like a beaver.
"And what is all this noise about?"
Behind the students, Snape had emerged from the classroom, the faint smell of sulfur and other potions mixtures emanating from the room. Before anyone could speak, Draco was doing what he did best.
"Potter attacked me, sir!" he screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Harry.
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry protested. Everyone knew that whatever Potter said to Snape would be useless though.
Snape took in their words, looking over to Goyle when Draco pointed him out. Snape directed Goyle to the hospital wing, but when Ron mentioned the damage done to Hermione, such care was not shown to her.
Snape looked over Hermione, her front teeth down to her chest. Without a hint of emotion or care for the fourteen-year-old student, Professor Snape made his icy reply.
"I see no difference."
Hermione whimpered and ran from the dungeons, tears in her eyes. Draco and his cronies began to cackle but were drowned out as Harry and Ron began to protest loudly. The protests quickly trailed off into cursing Professor Snape, who, with a smug smile, proceeded to deduct fifty points from Gryffindor. He directed everyone into the room, threatening detentions to Gryffindors if they dallied.
Once everyone was seated, Snape began to lesson as though the events which just transpired hadn't occurred. While Vaughn was shocked by what had just happened, Giuliana couldn't seem to care. She was distracted by a piece of parchment with words hastily scribbled onto it. Vaughn could only make out a few words: Lion… feathers… and axe? If Giuliana wasn't his best friend, he would have assumed she had gone insane. She was so focused on the parchment that she wasn't focused much on her potion's assignment for the day. The distraction caught Snape's eye.
"Is learning how to brew an effective antidote for wyvern venom not important to you, Ms.
Cumano?" Snape asked.
Giuliana, bolder than most at the moment, was having none of it. She pointed to her small cauldron, voice daring Snape to challenge her. "The antidote is brewing, as you can see, Professor. I'm waiting for the bezoar shell to dissolve before adding the diced ginger and petals."
If a Gryffindor had used such a short tone with him, Snape would have given them detention for the rest of the term. Instead, he merely looked into the cauldron, gave a satisfied snort, and moved onto Neville Longbottom, who was shaking under Snape's withering and critical gaze.
Potions proceeded normally until Potter was dismissed to attend to some Triwizard Business with The Daily Prophet. Such treatment of Potter would normally elicit a response from Giuliana, but she was still too focused on her notes. Later, Giuliana let out a shocked gasp before a smile came to her face.
"Giuliana-" Vaughn began, only to be shushed by her.
Double Potions ended and Giuliana shoved her equipment and notes back into her bag and made a beeline for the door, nearly mowing down Pansy in the process. Vaughn struggled to keep up.
"Wait!" he called after her as she made her way up the dungeon stairs. "We need to check the student pantry!"
"Not now! I need to get to the infirmary!" she called back, hooping up the stairs three steps at a time.
"What?! Wait!" Vaughn breathed, struggling to keep up. Giuliana was practically sprinting, turning corners quickly as she led them to the staircases. She was moving so fast that she and Vaughn plowed through a ghost while making a sharp turn. The ghost, a Crusader judging by his attire, huffed indigently and shouted threats to them, but neither slowed to apologize. They only came to a stop when Giuliana was forced to wait for the moving staircase. Vaughn leaned against the wall, panting heavily and a bit sweaty. Physical exertion was not something he did much.
"What… what is going on?" Vaughn demanded, trying to get control of his breathing.
"I want to check on Granger." Giuliana replied, excitement laced into her voice. She was almost bouncing.
"You what?!" Vaughn cried, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Oh, a splendid idea!" A voice called out. Both of them looked to a painting on the wall, its inhabitant talking to them. The voice belonged to a stout man who was sitting alone at a table full of meat and tankards of ale, not a vegetable in sight. He looked very merry and red faced from drink. "She was bawling her eyes out when she ran past, looking like a walrus!"
Giuliana ignored the painting and adjusted her glasses, which had almost fallen off as she ran. "I think it's part of what the mirror was trying to tell me." She whispered to Vaughn, not wanting the painting to overhear. The portraits at Hogwarts were notorious gossip fiends, not a single one could be trusted with a secret.
"Why in the bloody hell would you think that?" Vaughn demanded, temper flaring.
A heavy thud rocked the portion of the stairs they were on as another segment of the grand staircase connected with theirs. Giuliana began to make her way up, though at a slower pace so she could run through the vision she had received for Vaughn. He was at a loss for words as they arrived at the Hospital Wing on the Second Floor.
"And you think you're this person shouting 'no' and Hermione Granger is the lion masked woman? Why?!" Vaughn demanded.
"I don't know! But it wouldn't hurt to be nice to Gryffindor girls!"
"That… this… this is insane!"
Giuliana didn't respond, instead announcing to Madam Pomfrey at the front desk that they were there to see Hermione Granger. Madam Pomfrey, due to the nature of her job, was far more in tune with student behavior and politics than her fellow Hogwarts faculty. Because of that, she eyed both of the Slytherin's suspiciously.
"Are you sure you're not here to see Mr. Goyle?" she asked, though she knew for a fact they weren't. Pomfrey knew that Goyle's only friend was the equally unpleasant Crabbe, both of whom were muscle for Draco. They were thoroughly disliked by everyone else in their Year and below. She had treated enough students injured by the pair to know that.
"Absolutely not." Giuliana replied firmly. "We're here to see Hermione Granger. Ma'am."
Seeing no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to visit Ms. Granger – though curious as to why Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley weren't coming to visit their friend – Madam Pomfrey got up from her seat and told them to wait while she checked with Mr. Granger. After a minute she returned, beckoning them to follow her back into the infirmary.
"I am keeping her for another hour to insure there's no relapse of the hex. It doesn't happen often, but we wouldn't want those teeth sprouting again. I hope the boy who did this to her got his just desserts."
"Of course he didn't." Vaughn muttered. Madam Pomfrey merely nodded. With what Goyle told her, she deduced that Draco Malfoy was the cause of it. No doubt Snape protected his own, as he tended to. But why were these Slytherin's showing such care for a Gryffindor?
Hermione Granger was laying on a bed near the back of the hospital wing, gazing out a magnificent window that looked over the Hogwarts Grounds. Goyle was placed in the bed farthest from Granger, a privacy screen around his bed. Neither of them gave him a glance.
"Ms. Granger, your visitors." Madam Pomfrey announced, "I'll give you five minutes and then she needs to rest."
That was a lie, but Madam Pomfrey guessed it would be helpful for Granger, who was looking at both of the Slytherin's rather bewildered. Obviously, she had no idea why they were here either. As Madam Pomfrey left the odd group of three, Giuliana stepped forward.
"Are your teeth alright?" she asked.
"Why are you here?" Granger countered, looking at them just as suspiciously as Madam Pomfrey had. Vaughn, unsure of what to do or say, allowed Giuliana to take the lead.
"I wanted to check on you. Vaughn decided to come along." Giuliana replied, taking a seat next to the bed. "What happened?"
"Everyone saw what happened. You could just ask Malfoy." Granger replied.
"We don't talk with him. Right, Vaughn?" Giuliana asked. Vaughn merely nodded, awkwardly sitting down on the empty bed next to Hermione. "I called him a pompous twat before you and Potter got to the dungeons."
Granger stifled a laugh. "Why?"
"His badges. He was so proud of them and I thought he was pathetic. So, I called him a twat." Granger let loose a soft laugh that time, showing off her teeth. Giuliana eyed her front teeth curiously. "Wow, your teeth look great!"
"Thank you."
"Did… did Madam Pomfrey make your front teeth… smaller?"
Saying that got Vaughn to realize that Hermione Granger's front teeth, normally quite large, were looking normal now. Hermione's face went red at the comment.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied. She wasn't very good at it.
"I think it looks nice! But I would have figured you could have done that yourself if you wanted to. Being as smart as you are and everything."
Hermione accepted the compliment but was absolutely confused. Vaughn was as well. Who was this Giuliana before him? She had never great at socializing, much like himself, yet here Giuliana was, trying to make friends with a Lion.
"Why are you here? Really?" Granger asked again. Vaughn stiffened, wondering what Giuliana would offer.
"I honestly wanted to see how you were doing. Malfoy and his cronies are bad. Truly horrible. Vaughn and I have hated them since day one here. And I didn't like the idea of my Ancient Runes desk mate suffering."
"Really?" Granger asked. Vaughn was thinking the same thing. It wasn't a terrible lie. Maybe it wasn't even a lie? Giuliana had often spoke highly of Hermione in Ancient Runes. Just as often as she mentioned how much of a know it all Granger could be.
"Really." Giuliana affirmed, before turning her head to Vaughn. "And Vaughn came to check on his Arithmancy classmate, right?"
She had overplayed her hand and now forced Vaughn to fake it. He offered a smile and nod, which Granger didn't seem to buy. "Right. Ok. Well thank you both, I am fine as you can see. I'm upset that I missed Potions though. Antidotes are critical knowledge for the O.W.L.s."
"I can give you-" Giuliana began to offer, then realized she was too distracted by the mirror's prophecy that she hadn't bothered to take any class notes. Vaughn was there to save her though.
"I can give you my notes from class." Vaughn finished, pulling the notes from his bag. They were rather ruffled thanks to the haste Vaughn had been in trying to catch up to Giuliana. After a moment, Granger replied.
"Thank you, but I can just get them from either Ron or Harry." She claimed at first, then seemed to think about. She eyed Vaughn's notes, noticing that they looked exceptionally detailed. Far more then whatever Harry or Ron would produce. "Actually, sure. I will look at them. Thank you."
Vaughn handed them over, not overly worried about getting them back. He found the lesson that day incredibly straightforward. Without much anything else to say, both Slytherins left, passing by Goyle who was peeking out from behind the privacy curtain. Neither could make out his full face, but they could see some scars from the boils still present. Once they were out of the Hospital Wing, Giuliana breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, I think that went well, don't you?"
Vaughn, still flabbergasted by the whole experience, just shook his head. His annoyance from the past twenty minutes was bubbling over. "That was bloody insane, that's what it was. Wait until it gets out that we're friends with Hermione Granger!"
Giuliana shrugged. "I have a good feeling about this."
"Because a bloody mirror told you so?!" Vaughn demanded, trying to keep his tone under control. "No, wait, you think because a mirror told you so! How could you not tell me about this? You've had this mirror since Christmas Break and you never mentioned it!"
"I knew you would react like this." Giuliana replied calmly. Too calmly for Vaughn's liking. "And I didn't want to tell you about it if the mirror was just a one off. One vague vision of a room filled with blue candlelight and crystal balls isn't enough to go off of. You can't figure anything out by just that."
"But a crazy vision about an eagle and lion mask is?!" Vaughn continued.
"Of course! Isn't it obvious? A bronze eagle? A lion masked woman? Obviously, those are signs meant to represent someone from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor!"
That gave Vaughn pause. He had no real retort for that. Instead, he continued with his earlier complaint. "I can't believe you kept this mirror from me."
"I'm sorry. I really didn't think you would be too interested in it." She said, not sounding too repentant. "And besides, it's not like you haven't kept stuff from me."
"I- what?" Vaughn stammered.
She just gave him a questioning look. She hadn't actually expected anything to come of that comment, but Vaughn looked to be going through a series of emotions. "Is there something?" she asked.
Heart racing, Vaughn felt as though he might pass out. Should he just tell her? Now?! In this random hallway outside of the infirmary? After Giuliana told him she was a seer?!
No… thought she was a seer.
"Um… well… it's not bad." He began. "But I should have mentioned this before. I'm da-"
"BRIGANDS! Cease your Speech and Turn!"
A sharp shout interrupted Vaughn and both Slytherin turned towards the voice, shocked at the sight. At the end of the hallway were four horse mounted ghosts. One of them was the Crusader both had run through and offended on their way to the Hospital Wing. The other three ghosts were dressed in a similar fashion, obviously former comrades in life. All four were mounted on ghostly horses, all four of the dead steads adorned in their full barding. The regal look was only disrupted by the horrifying realization that the spectral horses' eye sockets were empty.
"Um…" Giuliana muttered, shocked.
"You have wounded my honor as a knight!" the offended Crusader cried out, raising his sword. "A knight in service to God! Such a transgression cannot be forgiven! A transgression against one of us is a transgression against all! Aye Brothers!?"
"AYE BROTHER!" the other three Crusader echoed. One raised their spear, another their sword, and the third slamming a mace into their white shield with a cross painted on it.
"We shall take you both and teach you your place! DEUS VOLT! CHARGE!"
And so the four specters on their dead steads charged, screaming cries of battle as the two Slytherins ran in the other direction, screaming as well.
Barding (or barbing) refers to battle armor for horses.
Snape is a divisive character. And I know this site has A LOT of pro Snape fics. But there is one moment in the entire series that will never allow me to see Snape as a hero and that is the moment from this chapter where he - a grown man and figure of authority at Hogwarts - makes fun of Hermione - a fourteen year old girl who has just been embarrassed in front of her classmates and has Slytherin laughing at her. He isn't heroic, and I will never consider him that. He's a pathetic ex-Nazi who's pissed because a girl he liked as a teenager wouldn't sleep with him. No amount of editing by FanFiction authors or love I have of Alan Rickman will make me forget this moment. It is beyond cruel, it's an evil thing to say to a teenager whom you have authority over.