"If I had more time, I'd bat you around like a cat toy." - Better Off Ted - 2x04 - The Lawyer, The Lemur and the Little Listener
Chapter Two - I've Got Time
There was excited chatter all throughout the Great Hall when Ankaa walked inside. Students were clinging to each other, talking animatedly about how they had spent their summer vacation visiting a new country or learning a new language. Casting a distasteful look around at the Hall, Ankaa took a seat between Blaise and Pansy. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle sat in front of her. She knew Malfoy had chosen that seat specifically. No matter how hard the teachers tried to separate the Slytherins and Gryffindors, it seemed trouble would always find them.
Ankaa turner her attention to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel, who were sitting at the very end of the Gryffindor table. Despite being quite a distance away, the two were squawking and jumping around excitedly to the point where even the High Table could hear them.
As Ankaa scanned the rest of the attendees of the hall, she noticed Granger and Potter had been pulled away by McGonagall before they could enter the hall. Rolling her eyes, Ankaa marvelled at how truly talented Potter was. It took real talent to be able to cause trouble before the school year had begun. Malfoy turned to the Gryffindor table and opened his mouth when he noticed Weasley take a seat beside Thomas.
"It's no use," Ankaa commented, "He's not here. Weasley's just going to whine, it'll be best if you wait for Potter to return."
Malfoy glanced back at her before rolling his eyes and turning away. He wanted to taunt Potter about fainting on the train, no doubt. Weasley just wouldn't react the same way. He was a little less witty when it came to retorts (his favourites being "Shove off" or "Piss off"). Potter always had the best reactions. His mind was always clouded with such rage, Ankaa mused, and it was a pleasure to get on his nerves.
Regardless of McGonagall's absence, Professor Dumbledore continued the sorting ceremony. The sorting hat sang as usual, and the terrified first years were sorted. Professor Flitwick was in charge. If you can, imagine a tiny little professor that was smaller in stature than the stool which the first years sat on, trying to place the hat on the children. He had to jump a few times. Why he did not just levitate the hat, Ankaa did not understand. Eventually though, the students took mercy on him and bowed their heads before sitting on the stool.
"Are any of your siblings in there?" Flint turned from the front to direct the question to the people behind him. Nobody responded (Ankaa doubted anybody was even paying attention to him). Whether it was the uncertainty that their sibling might be sorted into another house or the fact that not many of the people in Slytherin house had younger siblings, no one responded.
Everybody knew that siblings were a liability. The biggest example of this that passed through the pureblood circles was of Sirius Black.
"That boy Black, what talent he had," they would say, "Such a waste—brought such shame to the family name, he did."
But still, not many people in the Slytherin house had siblings, to begin with. Ankaa thought it was probably because many of their parents could not tolerate each other long enough to go through raising two children together. Ankaa didn't know. It seemed like it with Malfoys parents, at least.
Ankaa's upbringing had been very different. Her parents loved my brother and herself. Perhaps they even loved each other to a degree. They were civil (at least in front of Ankaa and Cepheus), and they kissed (unfortunately, that too was in front of them), and they showed affection (again, it almost made Ankaa vomit because it was in front of them).
Soon enough, the sorting ended and Flitwick carried the stool away. Again, Ankaa didn't understand why the wizarding world prided itself on being the absolute greatest when they did not have the common sense to levitate heavy objects. As Flitwick waddled away with the stool, McGonagall led a beaming Granger and a confused Potter (Ankaa was beginning to think that the only emotions Potter could show were confusion, anger, and more confusion) into the hall. No one paid them much heed though. They were busy listening to Dumbledore at the High Table.
"... Professor R.J. Lupin." Dumbledore was saying when Ankaa turned her attention to him, "... our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher."
Ankaa could feel the corners of her mouth lifting slightly into a smile. Professor Lupin rose from his seat and gave a small and humble bow to the applause. Ankaa noticed Granger lean over the table to talk to Potter, and took this time to kick Malfoy under the table. Motioning over to the scene behind him, Ankaa nodded.
"Potter!" Draco paused briefly as both Potter and Weasley turned around. Pretending to be worried, Draco asked, "Is it true you fainted? I mean you actually fainted?"
"Shove off, Malfoy." Weasley scowled, roughly turning Potter around. Ankaa smirked. She wasn't wrong about Weasley's limited number of insults in his arsenal.
Draco smirked, but before he could retort, the Gryffindork table broke out in applause; the loudest of it from the much-despised trio. Ankaa glanced around the teachers table to see McGonagall nudge the half-giant who stood awkwardly, causing the table to move along with him and a few glasses to fall over.
"He's a teacher now." Pansy snorted, rolling her eyes. Ankaa couldn't help but give a small, tired sigh as well. It seemed like Dumbledore's love for his students (all except Slytherins) had reached a new level. To instate someone to a job without any credentials was a new low, even for him.
Disheartened, Ankaa turned her attention to the table. She used her nail to carve the pristine surface of the table.
"Finally on a more disquieting note," Dumbledore continued, "at the request of the Ministry of Magic Hogwarts will until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban until such a time Sirius Black is captured."
"Dementors here?" whispered Pansy, raising an eyebrow, "That's ridiculous! It's not like Black's stupid enough to try and enter Hogwarts with all the teachers around."
Malfoy commented, "He's certainly powerful enough to escape one of the most guarded prisons in the world. Besides, if it's Potter he wants what better place is there to get to him?"
"I heard he lives in a little Muggle household. Why not kill him there when there's no one to protect him?" retorted Pansy with a growl.
"There's no way Dumbledore would let something happen to him," Ankaa provided silently, without turning away from the table. She frowned, "Why is it that ever since Potter's come around, we haven't had one quiet year?"
Blaise nodded, "Some first year got on the quidditch team... I wonder who that is."
"Someone's broke all the school rules but got points for it... I wonder who that is." Pansy piped in with a smile. "I wonder if he's going to do something remarkable this year."
"He does something stupid every year," drawled Malfoy, rolling his eyes. The group did not bother paying attention to Dumbledore (or Pansy really, for that matter) for the rest of the night. It was bad enough to return to a school being monitored by soul-less creatures but even worse to know that once again, Saint Potter would end up doing something remarkably stupid that would cause mayhem once again.
Ever since their first year, Ankaa had told Draco that Potter and he had a blossoming relationship that would soon set sail. Of course, that had made him terribly mad and he had almost hit her with a bat bogey hex (unfortunately for him and fortunately for her, he missed) and it had ended up hitting Neville Longbottom instead. Ankaa felt bad, she really did. She had wanted to apologize. She tried too, but he was too terrified to understand what Ankaa was saying and he almost started crying (well, he usually did every time she saw him so it wasn't that different she supposed) so Ankaa had left him alone.
Back to the point, however. The bottom line is: Draco Malfoy is incredibly dedicated when it comes to Harry Potter. Ankaa thought his obsession stemmed from the fact that Potter had rejected him, which let's be honest, people could hold a grudge about (especially someone with an ego as fragile as Malfoy). That being said, Ankaa had pointed out to the silver-haired Slytherin that he had developed an infatuation with the Glorified Gryffindor.
"I swear, you are." Ankaa had said one day while the Rhyther family was visiting the Malfoy Manor during the Christmas of their first year in Hogwarts.
He had glared at her. Draco was sitting by the window, holding a book. Apparently it wasn't interesting enough and he decided to throw it at Ankaa. She had dodged it easily though.
Ankaa gave him a wide-eyed look, "Are you upset at me because you think I'll tell others?"
"Ankaa," Draco growled, "Shut up."
Ankaa nodded, "I will. It was incredibly rude of me to judge."
Draco raised a brow but then turned away from her and looked out into the gardens.
Ankaa smirked, "After all, love is blind."
He had kicked her quite hard for that. Ankaa swore she could still feel it two years later. Anyway, as usual, Draco was rather dedicated to harassing Potter. Draco made it a point that the first thing Potter, Weasley and Granger saw when they entered the Great Hall was the Slytherin table. He had arrived at the table and shooed off some of the younger Slytherin members so that he and his posse could take a seat by the entrance and mock Potter as he strolled in.
It worked, Ankaa mused. Potter was easily irked.
The first thing the Golden Trio saw while making their way inside was Draco amidst a group of Slytherins. Draco did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit (resembling what Potter must have looked like on the train) before the deafening roar of laughter was heard.
"Hey, Potter!" Pansy was shouting as Ankaa made her way to the table, "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo!"
Ankaa saw Snape at the staff table and decided it would be best to get her schedule first. Of course, this could go horribly, horribly wrong and she could anger Snape to the point where he would poison her pumpkin juice and she would end up choking and dying in his Potions class while he would cackle over her dead body and snap his fingers in a Z formation before walking away and—
But come on, what's the likelihood of that happening, Ankaa thought.
As usual, Snape flashed her his ever charming scowl and raised an unamused brow when he saw Ankaa standing before him at the Staff Table (or was it the High Table?).
"It's too early in the day to be complaining Miss Rhyther, I suggest you make your way back and not interrupt my rare time of solitude." The Potions master said.
One corner of Ankaa's mouth twitched, but she did not dare to smile. Smiling would only anger him and that meant she would be one step closer to the scenario she had pictured. So, as innocently as possible, Ankaa said, "Certainly Professor, however, I came to ask you about my schedule. I'm sure you noticed that I checked off more options than we were allowed. "
His expression didn't waver but his tone changed, "Yes. I am aware. I have something for you that will help." Without warning, he stood up. With a flourish of his cape/cloak, he was gliding towards the entrance/exit of the Great Hall. With a subtle roll of her eyes, Ankaa followed behind him silently.
As they passed the Slytherin table, Ankaa noticed that Malfoy was still pretending to faint, adding ridiculous remarks along with his impression every so often. Dutifully, the rest of the Slytherins were laughing. Honestly, after the first three times it just got annoying. So, Ankaa slapped him on the head before hurrying along.
Snape led the way to the staff room. Ankaa waited by the door as the Professor made his way to his desk, pulling out something that looked like a golden chain. He dangled the chain in front of Ankaa's face for a brief second. It was so close to her nose, she ended up going cross eyed for a second.
"This Miss Rhyther," he began in a quiet voice, "is a time-turner. It will give you the ability to travel back in time when you so choose. Given the circumstances of your packed schedule, it would prove to be quite handy."
"Thank—" Ankaa made a move to reach for it but Professor Snape pulled it away from her grasp quickly.
Rude, Ankaa thought.
"Miss Rhyther, this is not a toy."
"Of course—"
"The only reason the ministry had granted you two the use of the time-turner is because of your impeccable records at school. If I find out that you misuse this instrument in any way, I will gladly write your letter of expulsion and send you back home. Do not use this to fulfil your need for teenage drama." The Professor's glare remained fixed on her and he took a deep breath after he had finished the mini-speech. Ankaa noticed he had said all that without pausing for a breath. Perhaps he practiced in front of the mirror.
"But what if I miss dinner? I need food to function."
"Miss Rhyther—"
"Sorry Professor," Ankaa gave him a cheeky smile which didn't help to soften his temper. "I swear sir, the use of this amazing device shall be strictly academic."
After a few seconds of glaring, Professor Snape lowered the golden time-turner into Ankaa's hand. "It is imperative that no one else know that you have one." He said before motioning back to the door. "Now, I believe it's time for you to get to breakfast."
Ankaa quickly slung the time-turner around her neck and into her shirt as Professor Snape handed her the schedule. Before she walked out of his office however, she turned to see the Professor was shuffling through the papers on his desk.
"Professor?" Snape did not bother to look up from his desk. However, seeing as he did not tell her to shut up either, Ankaa continued, "You said that there were two of us who had been granted use of the—"
"Yes." Snape said shortly, "There is another student with a time turner. I fail to see however, why this fact interests you so much. You should perhaps concentrate on your academics. The time turner could prove to be a great instrument to get more time for your History of Magic lessons, Miss Rhyther. Your grades in that class are… abysmal."
Scowling, Ankaa nodded her head with a resigned sigh. All she had wanted to know was who else was walking around the castle with equal power. Ankaa definitely did not need Snape reminded her about her abysmal marks in History of Magic.
As she walked out of Snape's office (following his verbal lashing), she clutched her schedule tighter in her hands. Ankaa had to find out who else was given a time-turner.
Ankaa had often debated the idea whether she was a genius or simply a lunatic. Her mother had made it quite clear that she was a genius. Ankaa believed her mother's perspective was biased due to the fact that she had gone through the pain of childbirth and was obligated to love her daughter and support her no matter what. Cepheus, on the other hand, called her a lunatic on more than one occasion. Once again, there was a slight bias in his opinion as well given the fact that Ankaa was his sister and he (probably) wanted to discourage her inner genius. Her father did not have an opinion, only because he liked to call her both of them.
After all this, the census had reached the decision that Ankaa's level of intelligence was still a debatable topic.
Ankaa did not know whether it was the genius or the lunatic in her who had decided to take Divination. As she made my way to the North Tower for the class, Ankaa was starting to doubt the subject entirely. Her family wasn't overly excited by the subject either.
"Why pay for gazing into a cup for of tea leaves when you can do it at home, love?" Her mum had said, handing her a cup, "I doubt you'll need Divination really… You've got much talent in you already."
Of course, she was being biased again. All mothers were obligated to smother their children with affection.
The class was waiting under a circular trapdoor with the brass plate that read 'Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher'. Finally, a ladder was lowered to where the students had gathered. Potter was the first one to go up (rather slowly, Ankaa might add).
The classroom itself was the most peculiar thing Ankaa had ever seen before. She wasn't even sure it could be classified as a classroom, actually. It looked more like an antique shop that was selling teacups. Small, circular tables were crammed tightly together to maximize seating room. The curtains were closed, and red scarves and curtains were covering the lamps and windows so that the entire classroom was filled with a crimson tone.
It looks like Godric Gryffindor threw up in there, Ankaa thought with a disgusted frown.
"This is crazy," Ankaa muttered to Malfoy as she sat across from him at the table. "How does she expect us to write notes on this ancient block of wood?"
"Forget notes," coughed Malfoy, waving his hand in front of his face, "How are we to breathe with those candles burning?"
"Where is she, anyway?"
The voice that spoke next was rather hard to hear from the back of the class. It was almost like a whisper, and Ankaa had to strain to hear it. The class had barely begun and she was more irritated than ever.
"Welcome," the voice said, "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."
"That's it," Ankaa shook her head, getting her bag and making a move to get up. "This teacher is crazy, and I'm leaving."
Blaise snorted before pushing her back into her seat and motioning towards the teacher who had moved into the firelight. She was a sight to behold. No, Ankaa did not mean she was drop-dead gorgeous. Ankaa supposed she could have been, had she not dressed... the way she did (even then she really doubted it). Her hair was a mess (bushier and messier than Granger's) and she wore glasses that magnified the size of her eyes. She wore loose clothes that hung around her frame and were poorly matched.
She looked like an insect.
"Sit, my children, sit," She said and the rest of the class awkwardly climbed into the armchairs. Ankaa on the other hand, just settled back and closed her eyes. This was not a bad place to sleep.
"Welcome to Divination," said Professor Trelawney, "My name is Professor Trelawney," Gee, no kidding, "You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."
"Forget the Inner Eye," Ankaa mumbled to Malfoy, "I doubt she can see out of the two she has."
"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts." Ankaa snorted at this. "I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field..."
Books weren't going to help? Then why did Ankaa have to buy Unfogging the Future? She pulled the book out of her bag and gave it a look before resting in on the table. If she couldn't use the book to study, at least Ankaa could use it as a pillow. She looked around the class as Trelawney made some mad predictions and discussed the syllabus. Ankaa had only started to doze off when Malfoy slammed his book on her head.
"Come on." He handed her a pink cup and motioned to where some of the kids were lined up in front of Trelawney as she filled their cups.
"Why do I get the pink cup?"
"Because that's what I grabbed for you," Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"You're discriminating against my sex."
"I'm discriminating against your entire being, Ankaa. If you wanted another cup you should have been paying attention." Malfoy drawled.
Ankaa was joking with him, of course. But he was quite easily riled up. Ankaa had a feeling that in this class especially, his irritation level would be at the maximum and he would be easy to make fun of.
Ankaa stood behind Malfoy and in front of Blaise as the rest of the class was either still choosing their cups, gossiping about Trelawney's predictions, or cautiously sipping their tea.
Trelawney glanced at her for a moment. Her wide-eyed gaze surveyed Ankaa once, quite critically, before her smile widened. Trelawney started filling her cup and murmured, "Your mother was quite a talent to behold in my class, my dear."
"I wasn't aware she had taken Divination, Professor," Ankaa remarked softly.
"She only took it for a year, before she discovered her natural talent for it. And of course, I was rather disappointed that she decided to leave but this sort of field cannot be forced upon people. Regardless, I sense a great talent in you, my dear."
"Wonderful," Ankaa remarked, giving her a charming, "I can't wait to put it to use."
Trelawney smiled widely. She filled the cup enthusiastically, sloshing the boiling water on Ankaa's hand and burning it. Ankaa had no intention to gulp the tea down like Patil and Brown did. She was not as eager as they were to get started on predicting her future. However, after a while, the tea had gotten cold and Ankaa had no choice but to drink it.
"Here," Malfoy tossed her a cup from the middle of the table. He looked from the contents of the cup he was holding, to the book and back again. He smirked slightly before turning to Ankaa with an innocent stare, "This says that you're in love with Crabbe."
Blaise and Pansy laughed as Malfoy smirked, smiling innocently.
"Commendable effort, Malfoy." Ankaa rolled her eyes, "But you're holding your own cup." This made Malfoy scowl as he threw his cup at her, and Blaise and Pansy laughed harder. Ankaa caught the cup effortlessly and flipped through her useless textbook.
They continued cracking jokes and making fun of everyone. The class was amusing. At least until Trelawney announced that Potter had received an omen of death. Even then, Ankaa supposed, the class was rather amusing.
"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney, "Yes... please pack away your things." As the students walked walked out of the class, Ankaa could hear the Professor faintly stating, "Until we meet again, fair fortune be yours. Oh and dear—," She pointed to Longbottom, "you'll be late next time, so mind you work extra hard to catch up."
Malfoy laughed, "At least Potter got a death omen. Maybe Divination's not all that bad."
Moaning Myrtle's bathroom wasn't what Ankaa imagined it would be. It was filled with light thanks to the windows on the right-hand side. Of course, Moaning Myrtle herself made the place seem damper than usual, but it was not that bad. Besides, Ankaa wasn't shopping for a home. She just needed a place no one would see her use the Time-turner.
Ankaa turned it once, and suddenly, the rays of sun started shifting. Ankaa watched with fascination as Myrtle's ghost floated past her, as well as a few students who had come to her bathroom to talk to her. Finally, everything stopped moving. Ankaa was left standing alone in the bathroom, with a single ray of sunshine shining upon the gold of the time turner.
Glancing at her watch, Ankaa saw that it was nine o'clock once again. Smiling, she left Myrtle's bathroom and headed for Muggle Studies.
Notes:
Review!