Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl. Her Second Week
DISCLAIMER: Daria is the creation of Glen Eichler and is owned by MTV Viacom. Harry Potter is the creation of JK Rowling and is the property of JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I own neither property. I am writing for my amusement, not for profit, and neither expect nor deserve any financial reward for this work of fiction.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of The Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of The Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of The Owl
Daria's thought upon awakening on her second Sunday at Hogwarts was that it looked to be a repeat of the day before, howbeit with a chance of rain and probably without a picnic. She didn't have classes, she did have schoolwork, and she wanted to catch up on her reading.
Her plans changed at breakfast when she saw Charlie Weasley over at the Gryffindor table. She'd overheard older students saying that he was interested in magical creatures, particularly dragons. She'd also overheard that he was on good terms with Professor Kettleburn, the Professor in charge of The Care of Magical Creatures course. She'd learned that Hogwarts had a menagerie of larger magical creatures and was curious to see what they looked like in real life. I wonder if he's going by the pens, she thought. If so, I wouldn't mind tagging along.
It wasn't that she had any romantic ideas about him. After all, Charlie Weasley was seven years older than she was. And if he did have any creepy ideas she wanted to stay away from him. On the other hand, he was a Seventh-Year who could go places she couldn't safely go alone.
Let's go for the big banana, thought Daria. The worst he can do is say no.
"Can I help you, Miss Morgendorffer?" Charlie said whimsically.
"Are you going by the magical creature pens today?" asked Daria.
"As a matter of fact, I am," Charlie said with a chuckle. "Would you like to come along?"
"I certainly would," said Daria. "When and where should we meet?"
They set a time and place and at 10:30 Charlie Weasley was waiting by the side door along with a Gryffindor boy she vaguely remembered from the Sorting Ceremony.
"Daria, this is Ian MacCready," said Charlie. "He wants to visit Professor Kettleburn's paddocks, too."
"Cool," said Daria.
"Ian, this is Daria Morgendorffer," said Charlie. "She's American."
"Really?" said Ian. "Whereabouts?"
There were times like these that Daria wished her folks lived in Midland, Sweetwater, or even Abilene. Anything but Highland in front of a Scot.
"Texas," Daria replied.
"Really?" said Ian. "Do you know about cowboys?"
Daria sighed. There was going to be no escaping Texas stereotypes.
-(((O-O)))—
The Paddocks—Daria thought of them as corrals or pens—were some distance away from Hogwarts Castle. Not that she felt all that tired when she finally got there: the Castle was making her exercise far more than she ever had back in Highland.
Professor Kettleburn was a jovial man who loved his work and loved his animals. He greeted Charlie and was delighted to see that he'd brought a couple of curious first-years with him. Daria noted that one of his legs was artificial and that so was one of his arms.
He and Charlie showed Daria and Ian around the pens and tried to get Daria and Ian to approach a young Hippogryph. Daria balked, but Ian took up the dare coming within three feet before the Hyppogryph decided to nip Ian's hand. Fortunately, Charlie was right behind them and apparated back three feet before the bird could a bite.
Daria had a different attitude towards livestock than she'd had several years ago. She was no longer afraid of horses or cows. Hippogryphs were something else. She decided that she'd putt off revisiting them for another day.
A pen next to the Hyppogryphs drew Daria's attention. There were some unusual creatures in it: Dark, thin, leathery creatures that looked like a cross between a Pegasus and very slender dragons. Despite their scary appearance, they didn't make her so nervous.
Daria's curiosity got the better of her. "Excuse me, Professor," she asked, "what are those?"
"What are what?" said Ian, who was standing next to her. "I dinna see anything in that pen."
"Ah, you can see them, Miss Morgendorffer," said Professor Kettleburn, looking pleased.
"See what?" said Ian. "There's nothing in tha' pen."
"Leathery critters, dark, winged, look like a cross between a horse and skinny dragon," said Daria. "I can see them.
"There's nothing in that pen," Ian insisted.
"Yes, there are," said Daria. "If you look carefully over next to that trough, you can see some new footprints."
"I canna," said Ian.
Daria looked quizzically at Professor Kettleburn. "He can't see them," said Professor Kettleburn.
"So those are," Daria began.
"Thestrals," Professor Kettleburn. "Only certain people can see them. You must be one of them."
"So why can I see them when other people can't, Sir?" said Daria.
"Well," Professor Kettleburn began. He looked at young Ian. The girl looked like she could handle the truth, but the boy seemed so very young.
"I'll tell you sometime."
-(((O-O)))-
Two days later, Daria was in study hall taking notes from her textbook on how practical application related to charms theory. She was distracted by the sound of two men's voices. One of them being the unmistakable voice of Professor Snape, the other someone else, someone with what Daria had already learned was a "posh" accent. Curious, she looked up to see that Professor Snape was escorting some wizarding VIP around the library.
The VIP was a very handsome man: tall, pale-skinned, long blond hair, with an aristocratic air about him. His clothing emphasized the effect: a beautiful tailored outfit with serpent motifs cut in the wizarding style. He carried a walking stick with a silver snake-head handle. The wizard also had an air of self-assurance that her dad never could hope for even on his best day. She looked him over, wondering who he was. The VIP saw her looking at him and smiled in amusement.
Caught. Oops.
"Working hard, I see," said the VIP.
"Yes, sir," said Daria. Her American accent seemed to surprise him. He looked amused.
"You wouldn't happen to be a Barksdale, would you?" asked the VIP.
Daria felt irritated by wizarding condescension but realized this guy was Old Family. She didn't like it when the kids did it, but he was a big shot. Worse, he was a big shot with Professor Snape in tow.
"Yes, sir," she replied, "On my mother's side."
"I see," said the VIP. He looked amused for some reason Daria didn't know. "Well then, carry on."
Daria glanced over at Professor Snape and saw him give her a disapproving frown that foretold words after potions class. She turned her attention back to her textbook and resumed reading.
-(((O-O)))-
The following day, Daria finally got a look at the famous Giant Squid that inhabited the Dark Lake. By chance, Cuthbert was by the lake's shore chumming the fish. They watched in amazement as the creature's mouth and tentacles breached the surface, causing small ripples to flow towards the shore and the deeper parts of the lake.
Something was off about the Squid. Unlike the illustrations she'd seen of squids in encyclopedias, this Squid had a shell: one that curled around itself like fossils of sea creatures that Daria had thought had died off tens of millions of years ago.
Daria stared at the creature, then glanced at Cuthbert. He was as boggled as she was and stared at the Giant Squid in amazement. A suspicion formed in Daria's brain, but she decided that she wanted confirmation of her year's expert icthyologist.
"That's not a Squid, is it?" she said.
For once Cuthbert's answer was short and to the point.
"No, it's not," he said.
-(((O-O)))—
Daria survived her next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. She had less problem with the Professor's dialect. MacRae's accent was still as thick as it was before but after another week of listening to the Scots on campus, she understood more of what he was saying. After lunch, Daria returned to her dorm room, dropped off her textbooks and put on the Mad Dog's scarf. It was time for her second flying lesson. She followed Dahlia and Anahita as they descended from the tower to the field, her heart beating with apprehension.
Dahlia tried to reassure her. "There's nothing wrong with being a little afraid after what happened to you last time."
"I'm a little afraid, but not too much," said Daria.
OK, more than a little, she told herself. My palms usually aren't this sweaty.
Daria's presence on the field was noted by the Barksdale girls.
"Oooh, look, Callista," said Livia. "It's the new Ravenclaw chaser!"
"She's just the sort of girl the Claws would put on their team," said Callista. "Put her on a broom and she'll just fall off!" Both girls laughed nastily at Callista's witticism.
Daria gave them a brief scowl, then turned her head away. She'd expected no less from those two but she didn't like it. Well, you knew you were going to get this sort of crap, she told herself.
Marietta Edgecombe gave Daria a look of disapproval. She probably thinks I'm going to crash again, she thought. Well, screw her.
To her relief, the Handley girl wasn't teaching class today. Instead, it was Madam Hooch herself. Madam Hooch took roll, then looked at Daria.
"Morgendorffer," said Madam Hooch. I'm told that you had an accident last week."
"I did," said Daria. "I had a defective broom and I bailed."
"And what was the matter with it?" said Madam Hooch.
"Ma'am, that broom was not responding to my input," said Daria. "I leaned forward to descend and the broom kept rising instead of lowering. I decided not to take a risk and bailed rather than ascend to an altitude where I risked death or getting really hurt."
Madam Hooch stared at her for a long time. Daria stared back at her. That's what happened, Coach, she said silently, and you can believe it or not.
"So how far off the ground were you when you let go of your broom?" said Madam Hooch. said Daria.
"I was about sixteen feet up when I did a barrel roll, slid off the handle, then let go," said Daria. "I dropped about four meters onto muddy soil."
"Did you plan it this way?" asked Madam Hooch.
"Yes, Ma'am," said Daria. "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots."
Madam Hooch snorted in amusement.
"All right," she said, then turned her attention to the rest of the class. "I'm going to assume that the rest of you are no better than Miss Morgendorffer here." The apt and more experienced flyers shot Daria dirty looks.
"So, when I blow the whistle, I want each of you to first mount your brooms, then rise two feet off the ground, then hover."
Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Here goes, thought Daria. "Up!" she said, and the broom rose into her hand. She then mounted it. Remembering her lesson from the week before, she kicked off the ground, then hovered like she was supposed to.
Madam Hooch walked around the flight line of hovering students, nodding with approval. "Very good," said Madam Hooch. "Now let's see you descend."
Daria angled the front of her broom downwards. It descended harder than she'd hoped.
"Oops," she said.
"That's all right, Morgendorffer," said Madam Hooch. "You'll get better with practice."
She did. At the end of the second lesson, Daria walked away from her flying lesson with a smile on her face.
"Very good," said Cho Chang, giving her a thumbs-up. Daria looked at her and wondered how Cho knew that gesture. Was a thumbs-up common in the wizarding world or had Cho learned it from some Mundie aviators somewhere? Daria wouldn't have been surprised if it was the latter. Unlike her friend Marietta, Cho wasn't afraid of learning new things from the wider world.
-(((O-O)))—
Potion-Making was on Thursdays, and so was a likely confrontation with Professor Snape. Daria had warned Tabitha that there might be trouble, although Tabitha told her that she was worrying too much.
Well, I did what I could, thought Daria. She'd warned Tabitha, she'd prepared her assignments, and her gear was ready to go. So was one of the extra papers she'd brought from Texas. She walked apprehensively into potions class that Thursday and sat down at the station she and Tabitha had claimed the week before.
If Professor Snape was going to have words with her, it looked like he'd save them for after class. He gave a brief talk about the potion they'd be brewing in this class, used his wand to make the chalkboard show the directions, and set them to work. She and Tabitha went to work: both girls chopping, with her stirring and Tabitha timing. At the end of the class they had what Daria thought was probably an acceptable potion ready to take up front for grading. She followed Tabitha, her grip firm on her vial and her teeth clenched. Professor Snape took her vial, frowned, then vanished the contents of her cauldron. To her surprise, he'd given both of them an "E"; Daria had learned that was the Hogwarts version of a "B." He waved Tabitha away, then said "Morgendorffer, stay behind."
Daria stepped over to one side and waited to see if what shoe would drop.
Her loathsome Barksdale cousins came up to have their potions graded, saw her standing to one side, then decided to linger themselves. No doubt to see the American upstart smacked down, Daria thought sourly.
Eventually, the rest of the class left the classroom, leaving Daria, Professor Snape, and the two Barksdale cousins behind. Professor Snape turned his attention from potions to Daria. "Morgendorffer, what was this nonsense you said the other day about your mother being a Barksdale?" he said.
"Sir, my Mom's maiden name was Barksdale," said Daria. "We just don't happen to be magical, or we weren't until I came along."
Livia Barksdale grinned, anticipating Daria's humiliation.
"Morgendorffer, I hope for your sake that this isn't some fairy tale you've made up out of the whole cloth to cover up your provincial background," said Professor Snape.
"It isn't, Sir," said Daria. "I brought documentation if you wish to see it." She put her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out the spare copy of her birth certificate.
Professor Snape read Daria's birth certificate expressionlessly, then wordlessly handed it back to her.
Daria didn't know Professor Snape all that well but she must have scored a point or two because he didn't immediately smack her down for her response.
"Morgendorffer, for future reference, mind what you say," said Professor Snape.
Well, duh, thought Daria quietly. She'd learned that lesson with some of her public school teachers and some of the people in the Principal's office back in Highland.
She decided to channel her inner Wodehouse. "Of course, sir," she said.
Professor Snape waved her away.
Livia Barksdale watched the drama play out, waiting expectantly for Professor Snape to smack down the American upstart for her impertinence. Her face fell as she saw Professor Snape accept the American girl's paper as positive proof of her claim. Barksdale, she seethed, the nerve of that chit. She saw the American girl walk away and looked daggers at her back.
That wasn't right. That girl couldn't be a Barksdale!
-(((O-O)))-
There was a staff meeting just before dinner that evening. The topic for this meeting was how well the new students were adapting and if there were any problems with older students.
Are there any problems with our new first-years?" asked the Headmaster.
"Most of my first-years are settling in nicely," said Professor McGonagall.
"As are my badgers," said Professor Sprout.
"I have some wonderful students this year! A couple of them show exceptional talent!" enthused Professor Flitwick.
"Mine seem to be adapting nicely," said Professor Snape.
"Very good then," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Albus, I do have a question about one of our new students," said Professor McGonagall. "The American girl, Miss Morgendorffer. I'm surprised that she's here instead of at Ilvermorny or one of the American schools."
"She's here by right and by request of one of the old families," said Professor Dumbledore.
Some well-situated wizarding family, thought Severus. Most likely Pureblood, either status pure blood or possibly a member of one of the Old Families. He wondered about Morgendorffer's ancestry. Despite the two first-year Barksdale girls' denials, it was clear that the girl came from yet another offshoot of the Barksdale family tree. One they didn't like to talk about, he thought with amusement.
Moreover, she was no fool. He'd been amused by her response to his challenge. Instead of giving into childish histrionics, the girl produced documentation: a copy of her birth certificate.
"Did you find anything irregular regarding her admittance?" said Professor Dumbledore.
"She was on the rolls for new students when the admittance letters were sent out," Professor McGonagall conceded.
"Is she causing any problems?" asked Albus.
"Not with any of my students," said Professor McGonagall.
"A couple of my first-years object to Miss Morgendorffer's presence, but I have no problems with her," said Professor Snape.
"If she's the only cause for concern, I suspect that we'll do well with our first-years," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Now, moving on to our older students…" said Professor Dumbledore.
"Would that we were so lucky as we were with the Firsties," thought Professor Vector, thinking of the Weasley Twins and other older trouble-makers.
-(((O-O)))—
Author's notes: My apologies for the long delays in updating. I do not have home internet and I used to make do with uploading from hot spots at public libraries and other public spaces. The COVID virus has played Hob with my updating my stories here, since most of my hot spots shut down and are currently inaccessible. I will update as I can, but it may take me a while to post the next chapter.