(Story is translation Kira Izmailova's work "Альтернативное маггловедение")
"Something terrible is coming," was read on the faces of absolutely all the first years who came to the potions class. According to Professor Snape's face, he was in an awful mood today. Even more nasty than usual, so even the Slytherins tried not to move, so as not to get in trouble.
- So, - the professor said, waiting for absolute silence. - I'm tired of the mess in the classroom. I'm tired that instead of listening to me carefully, you whisper and giggle... Potter and Weasley, this applies to you. Five points from the Gryffindor!
- We don't... - Potter began, got a kick from Weasley and shut up.
- Therefore, - Snape continued, - from this day you will no longer have that opportunity. Everybody get up! Take a seat as I say. It's too early for you to work alone, but I will make sure that you get as little distracted by your friends as possible...
A soft moan swept over the class. "Soft" because no one dared to moan loudly in the presence of Professor Snape.
Draco Malfoy only sighed and began to observe the great migration of peoples. He sincerely hoped that the professor still loved him and would not put Potter in his pair. Or Weasley. Or, worse, Granger ...
- Adderley to Malfoy, - the order sounded, and Draco breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, any Gryffindor is not a gift, but okay... Admittedly, he didn't even remember if Adderley is a boy or a girl. He had no habit of looking at gryffindor; Another matter he couldn't not notice some representatives of the acknowledged House, but Adderley wasn't remembered... so it meant that he or she didn't stand out from the gray mass. This was not the famous Potter, not Weasley - nightmare, Longbottom idiot, or nerdy Granger, and thanks for that!
Draco squinted at the new partner. So, nothing outstanding: about the same height as him, dressed neatly, straight blond hair combed smoothly and pulled into a tight tail on the back of the head, and he did not remark the color of the eyes. And that Adderley, it seemed, was one of the few whom the forcible move didn't worry at all, the others murmured at least in a whisper. Especially the Weasley, who landed in a couple with Parkinson, and Goyle, who got Granger. And the unfortunate Greengrass, who was next to Longbottom, generally groaned in horror.
It seems that the Professor still had a certain perverted sense of humor, since he decided to seat the wards on the principle of "boy with girl"...
- And what are you waiting for? - Snape inquired, looking sadistically at the class. - The recipe on the blackboard, the ingredients on the tables, get started!
Adderley, still without saying a word, carefully wrapped the sleeves of her robe almost to her elbows, glanced at the board and took up the knife.
- Hey, - said Malfoy down on her, - let's get it done.
The girl squinted at him, but again did not utter a word.
- I better understand this business, so it's better for you not to get involved, otherwise you'll ruin everything. You will cut it all. - he nodded at the ingredients laid out on the table, - the most feminine occupation.
Adderley silently shrugged and unquestioningly gave him a seat at the cauldron. Malfoy liked that behavior: the same Granger would certainly had begun to protest and prove that she knew everything better than the professor himself! And if this Adderley depicted a mute one, the better, less noise.
Sliced ingredients went to the boiler in the desired sequence. Draco didn't forget to turn the hourglass, count the number of stirs and regulate the fire, secretly proud of himself. But he had to say, Adderley coped well with cutting, grinding and other preparatory work, she didn't even spoil anything, unlike some ...
Draco glanced at the hourglass, prepared to pour the last batch of pounded snake teeth into the cauldron, and there he was shocked.
- Wait, - said Adderley, grabbing his hand with unexpected force for the girl. But not just by the wrist, then he would still throw teeth into the cauldron, she didn't let his fingers open.
- What are you doing ?! - hissed Malfoy.
- Six... five... four... three... two... one... now come on! - she said and let go of his hand.
Draco mechanically completed the final manipulations - there shouldn't be any delay. But if this gryffindor ruined something in his work, she cannot live!
The potion boiled, then suddenly changed color, cleared and became completely transparent. Exactly as described in the book.
At the other end of the class, something fluttered: apparently Greengrass's company didn't save Longbottom. Snape was reading them a notation, Granger was bickering with Goyle, Parkinson was hissing at the Weasley, in a word, the class was quite noisy.
- Let's let it sit for five minutes - and you can pour it, - said Adderley calmly.
- Why did you do that? - asked Malfoy. He did not see the point in her actions. - Time was up! Everything was right!
- An hourglass is good, but the Swiss chronometer is still better, - she replied, nodding at her desk. There lay the most ordinary hours. According to the look male. And in addition, the muggle.
Malfoy inadvertently wiped the hand that Adderley grabbed him. Curiosity, however, was stronger than disgust.
- And so? Do we have in the hourglass a few grains of sand less than necessary? - he asked.
- No. Look here, - a thin finger with a short cropped nail rested against some line in the textbook. Well, yes, today's recipe... The remark with a pencil was attributed: "+/- 10 sec. depending on the color saturation."
- Where did you get this? - Draco frowned.
- From the board, - the girl answered. He looked up, but there was no longer any recipe: the professor usually cleaned the notes very quickly. And who didn't have time to read was late. - My father always says that the devil is in the details.
- Uh... - said Malfoy.
- Professor Snape writes the recipes differently than in the textbook, - Adderley explained. - I noticed right away. Today there was this postscript.
- Ah, that's in his spirit... - Draco calmed down, forgetting that he was talking with either a half-blood or even a muggleborn. - And how did you interpret this?
- The textbook says the potion is getting lighter, - she replied, straightening her sleeves and cleaning the clock. - Therefore, if it brightens too quickly, then the serpentine teeth must be added ten seconds earlier. And vice versa.
- I see. And... - here Malfoy hastened to shut up, because Professor Snape was heading in their direction, peering into each cauldron along the way and giving out penalty points, along with poisonous remarks about the students' mental abilities, or rather, lack of such abilities.
- As expected, - he said, stopping at their desk. - The only ones who completed the task correctly were Malfoy and Adderley. Ten points... - The professor grimaced displeased, apparently remembering that, having mixed the Houses, he made a headache for himself, but nevertheless added: - To each.
Draco swelled with pride, but then remembered to whom he owed such success. Then he thought that whoever Adderley was, she might come in handy. And he could annoy her House. (What would happen in this situation with the girl herself, he was not at all interested.)
On leaving the class, he looked with interest at his classmates. Granger left, almost crying: that time because of Goyle, she didn't only earned nothing, but also lost a couple of points. Weasley flew past as a red comet, indignant aloud and dragging in a tug of a gloomy Potter, who clearly did not like Zabini's company. This time, Longbottom managed to do without injuries, which in itself was worthy of all surprise.
- Adderley, wait! - Malfoy called, waiting for his company. She stopped and looked calmly at him. Her eyes were either light brown or gray, the most ordinary.
- Remember her, - Draco ordered his friends. - So... - he paused, expecting the girl to twitch or call one of her own, but she was looking with a polite interest on her face, as if she thought "what else can you say?"
- Don't touch her, - Malfoy ordered.
- Malfoy, aren't you sick? - asked Nott. - She's from gryffs.
- I know. Gryffs are unbearable, but some of them are useful. This one is useful, - Draco said. Theodore just spread his hands.
- Thank you, - Adderley said, still calmly. - It's nice to hear that confession. Malfoy, can you introduce me to your friends?
- Ghm... - he somehow didn't count on it, but rudely saying "no" was indecent. - Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. You are familiar with me.
- Very nice, - she answered, holding out her hand. - Katherine Adderley.
The slightly dumbfounded Slytherins took turns touching her fingers.
- Now excuse me, in six minutes the lesson begins, - said Adderley, turned around and left without too much haste.
- Is she a gryffindor? - Nott asked.
- Have you seen the tie? - snapped Malfoy.
- And what came over you, huh?
- I said that she can be useful, - said Draco, realizing that he himself found it difficult to answer that question. - She has a head on her shoulders, but she's not a crazy little thing like Granger. - no matter how hard it was to him to make that confession, he added: - If it weren't for her, I would have ruined the potion today.
- Yeah, such a shame, - Theodore snorted. - Well, you know better... And, by the way, she's right, we'll be late for the Transfiguration!
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall lingered a bit, so there were no sanctions. Malfoy looked for Adderley and found her behind one of the back desks in the middle row. A girl from Gryffindor was just heading for her, who Malfoy didn't remember either.
- Now I am sitting here, - he informed that girl, right in front of her nose, putting his bag on an empty seat.
- Where're your manners, Malfoy?! - she was indignant, but noticed Crabbe and Goyle, who were heading for the next desk, and hastened to retire to another row.
Adderley didn't even bat an eyelid. It seemed that she didn't care with whom to sit, even with a mountain troll.
The class froze, then boomed, but at that moment McGonagall came in, and the storm calmed down, not really starting.
- Interesting permutations, - she said, looking around the audience.
- This is the new pedagogical experience of Professor Snape, - Draco couldn't resist, - it's called intensive training by immersion in a hostile environment!
- You definitely need to be immersed in some environment, Malfoy! - Weasley immediately responded. - I even know which one!
- Quiet! - said McGonagall in such a tone that the whispers immediately fell silent. - Let's start our lesson...
Throughout the lesson, Malfoy glanced at Adderley. She wasn't the best, but she coped with tasks no worse than most classmates.
- Strabismus, Malfoy, - she said suddenly in a faint whisper, without turning her head.
- What?..
- You'll get strabismus, - Adderley answered. - If you really want to look at me, do it at the break, please.
Draco snorted angrily and turned away. The incomprehensible always attracted him, and Adderley was precisely what was incomprehensible. On the one hand - gryffindor, but, it seems, the only one from the whole course who has at least some manners. Making some efforts, he still managed to recall that at the Gryffindor table she was one of the few, who firstly didn't grind everything like a hungry dragon. Secondly she used a knife and a fork; thirdly she didn't speak with a stuffed mouth, and indeed behaved very decently.
And then, by the way, she also didn't lie on the table, like some, didn't hunch, but sat exclusively straight. Draco squinted again - yeah, and she didn't lean on the back of a chair. He himself was taught to keep his back, this is understandable, but who taught Adderley this? The conviction that she was definitely not pureblood grew and got stronger at the moment when he saw that she was not writing notes on parchment, but in a plebeian thick notebook. And not with a feather, but... no, with a feather, only metal.
"It's incomprehensible," - Draco repeated to himself again and concentrated on the lecture.
After the Transfiguration, he lost sight of Adderley for a while, because he was thrown into a scandal by Parkinson. Who knew why, she considered herself his bride. And, it seemed, from early childhood. The excuse that he just wanted to tease the gryffs, which he used with the guys, didn't work there. The Slytherin girls boycotted Malfoy. However, this didn't particularly upset him: the girls wouldn't have enough patience for a long time, but he would at least take a break from them...
But the next day, before the Charms class, Draco was not too lazy to come to the class early, wait for Adderley and in the crowd grab her by the elbow.
- Malfoy, never grab my hands. Don't grab at all. Especially from behind, - she said in her usual expressionless tone.
- Why? And how do you know it's me? - he was taken aback.
- In order. First, my reflex may work, and I will break your nose. Second, the smell of your hair gel cannot be confused with anything.
- W-what reflex? - Draco stuttered in surprise.
- Usual. My father knows what private schools are, so he taught me some self-defense lessons, ordinary, not magic. He thinks that I have learned them well... - Adderley fell silent, but the meaning was clear. - You wanted to ask about anything?
- No, I wanted to see where the Weasley sits today, - Malfoy replied.
- What for?
- Today is the first practice lesson, - he explained. - Have you seen his wand?
- Yes, - Adderley said. - You're right. Better to be away from him. Although it can ricochet ...
- Well, you can't know for sure, - he shrugged. - Yeah, there is this inseparable trinity. So, we go there... Guys, follow me!
Gryffindors watched Malfoy's appearance almost arm in arm with Adderley's unkind looks. Slytherins just shrugged their shoulders: if the future Lord wants to have fun at someone else's expense, then this is his business. Annoying eternal rivals is always nice. The girls didn't fully share that opinion, but in the end they nevertheless agreed that Adderley, whoever she was, was much nicer than the shaggy nerdy Granger...
- Leviosa, Leviosa, - Malfoy grumbled, forcing his feather to make intricate loops in the air. He had already received his points and was just having fun. - I feel that they will show us something worthwhile only in the seventh year!
Another feather rammed his own — Adderley was tired of looking out the window.
- Air combat, - she said, catching a puzzled look. - Supermarine Spitfire attacks the Dragon...
Draco's eyes flashed. He didn't know what this "Spitfire" was, but he was glad to be entertained. After a couple of minutes, half of the class was already watching the development of the battle, some tried to repeat it. Professor Flitwick was truly delighted; however, he was already happy with any success of his students.
- He could have added some points, - Malfoy grumbled as he left the classroom. - Anyway, it's good ...
- Yes, it was a pretty good show, - Adderley agreed. - For children just right.
Draco looked at her with genuine indignation, but didn't have time to say anything as Granger rushed at them like a whirlwind. As usual: the chestnut mane was disheveled, the eyes were burning, the hands were threateningly resting on the sides.
- Adderley! - She blurted out. - Can I say two words for you?
- Speak, I am listening, - she answered calmly.
- Why... Why do you go with this... Flaxen-haired?! - Granger blurted out.
- Flaxen-haired? - Adderley examined Malfoy's hair. He noted with displeasure that the girl was almost an inch taller than him. - No, he is something between ashy and platinum blonde, I can't really make out in such lighting.
- You understand what I mean!
- No, I don't understand.
- He's a Slytherin! - Granger said that word with such disgust as if she was being forced to eat a live toad like the Longbottom's one.
- So what? - Adderley sincerely didn't understand.
- How can you talk to him ?!
- With words. I can speak with gestures as an option, but I'm not sure that he will understand.
Malfoy was genuinely enjoying the show. According to the burning eyes of Nott and the concerned faces of Crabbe and Goyle, they too. Gryffindors also pulled up. It looked like a fight was brewing.
- Stop it now, Adderley! - Granger blurted out. - To communicate with this one is to be humiliated! Don't you know what he calls muggleborns? Like you and me?
- I know, - she answered without much interest. - But my father says words are just words. As they say "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me". And if you are so offended by a stupid word, then something is wrong with you.
- Cool, - Theodore whispered into Draco's ear. - I don't know who her father is, but Adderley now beat Granger… and us.
- You… You… - there Granger did what offended girls usually do: she turned sharply and ran away. Then she would cram into a corner and moan, that's for sure.
- Shame on you! - Weasley said, involuntarily clenching his fists. - You stroll with slugs, insulted Hermione...
- You shouldn't... - Potter tried to mutter, but then fell silent.
- I didn't say anything offensive to her, - Adderley shrugged. - It's not my fault that she is so sensitive. And I don't owe anyone anything. Anyway, isn't it time for us to go to class?
Children started down the corridor towards the History class.
Draco spent the short way solving a difficult problem for himself. On the one hand, Adderley still turned out to be not even a half-blood. On the other hand, she managed to shut up Granger, and it was worth a lot. It turned out that he tarnished his reputation by contacting a mudblood, and ruined her relationship with her classmates.
Although she's okay, what about him then? What should he do? To snort arrogantly and sit back? But he wouldn't be able to do this in Potions class, not asking the professor to swap him with someone else! He imagined what Snape would say to him if he found out about this whole story. However, he would find out anyway... and would advise him to think with his head before doing something.
In the end, Malfoy decided not to change anything for now. And if he left Adderley alone, it would mean that he signed under the words of Granger. And this would not happen!
He exchanged glances with Nott. He just smiled venomously: "you made trouble for oneself". Okay, if only he didn't tell his father, otherwise the conversation would be short ...
- So you're muggleborn? - he asked in a whisper. Professor Bins didn't care about talks, but Draco didn't want others to hear him.
- Don't hiss, Malfoy, whispers are more audible than just a quiet conversation, - Adderley said. She didn't write down the lecture, she did her homework on Transfiguration as many others. - Yes, muggleborn. You didn't know?
- No. I'm not interested in gryffindors! - Draco lifted his nose.
- Oh really…
- How could I know!?.
- I thought that all pureblood surnames are known.
- There are half-bloods, too. By the way, who is your father? - asked Malfoy. - You refer to him all the time!
- My father is a captain of Her Majesty's Navy, a third-generation naval officer, but not an aristocrat, - she replied. - Commander of a destroyer, if that says anything to you.
"Well, the officer isn't just some shopkeeper or dentist," - Draco thought with some relief. - "It's a pity that he is a commoner."
- It doesn't say anything about it, - he said. - Is this a ship?
- Yes. This is a rather large ship. There are less than a dozen of them in Britain. Well... there're missiles, torpedoes, a helicopter, machine guns... What are cannons, have you heard?
- Don't mock me, Adderley.
- I'm not kidding, I ask.
- I heard. I also know what a helicopter is!
- Congratulations, Malfoy. Well, two more six-barreled installations with a rate of fire of four and a half thousand rounds per minute... Isn't it lovely?
- Y-yeah... - Draco said, trying to imagine the rate of fire.
- And here you are - wands, spells… - Adderley sighed with a clear sense of her own superiority. - A couple of anti-aircraft guns - and only rubble will remain from Hogwarts.
- There is a powerful protective charm!
- And how long will they hold out against a massive bomb attack?
- I don't know, - Malfoy admitted.
- I don't know either. It would be interesting to find out...
- Why do you need it?
- Just because. Interesting, - Adderley shrugged.
- Listen, are you always so… um… calm? - Malfoy picked the right word.
- I'm trying, - she replied. - The father always says that before doing something, you need to think carefully.
Draco sighed involuntarily; that was what he was thinking about during recess. His own father told him the same.
- Of course, there are times when a decision has to be made very quickly, there is no option. Sometimes intuition helps out, sometimes luck. And sometimes… it doesn't help, - Adderley added. - This happens too.
- You even answer after a pause, - said Malfoy. - At first I thought you were just dumb... hmm...
- I'm just thinking about what exactly I want to say. And how, - she answered without a trace of offense. - Now leave me alone and let me finish my essay.
Draco choked with indignation: the future Lord Malfoy was told "leave me alone"! And then he remembered his own essay, or rather, its absence.
- Will you let me write it off? - he asked hopefully.
- No. And not out of greed, don't look at me that way, Malfoy. - Adderley raised her head. - If something is not clear, tell me. As I can I will help, but I will not let you write off.
- That's always the case...
- And don't pout, you look like blond Trevor.
- Adderley, I'll crack you!
- Malfoy, behave yourself, we're in class... - she sighed wearily. - And remember what I told you about self-defense lessons."
- Then I'll curse you, - he found. - And in general, you are alone, and we...
- Future lords are specially taught this? - Adderley asked. - It's not decent, Malfoy. Four of you for one girl... - She said - I won't let you write off. If that's any consolation to you, I don't let gryffindors cheat either. They don't ask, though. They've got Granger.
- One for all, - Draco snorted.
- Exactly. Now shut up.
- Okay, I will remember this when you ask me something about potions...
- Why would I ask you if there is Professor Snape? - Adderley remarked logically.
Arguments run out.