Hogwarts Again - A New Generation
Chapter 13 - The Garden Group
Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing the world and franchise from JKR, guys. The only things I own are the OC and the plot.
Daisy was still glum when they reached Hogwarts. She decided she couldn't do anything about it right now, and to take Ivy's advice and wait till the baby was born.
Over the next few days, Daisy tried hard not to think of the baby. But the harder she tried, the more she did think of it. No, not it. She. Ivy was convinced it was a she. So Daisy decided to go with 'she' too, though it was hard to think of... her as anything but an 'it'.
She attended classes as usual and tried to distract herself with other activities. She tried to transfigure her match into a needle. She almost succeeded, she even got the eye of the needle right, but the tip of the match that she hadn't yet been able to transfigure accidentally caught fire, she didn't know how so Professor McGonagall made her do it all over again. She did see Robert smile slyly at her, but she let it slide and turned back to her work.
She didn't do any better in Defence Against the Dark Arts either. She successfully managed to get red sparks out of her wand, which was impressive, only, they were currently practicing green sparks. She also couldn't remember the difference between a sea serpent and a Runespoor (just the number of heads, really. How could she have forgotten something so simple?), for which Professor Dennis Creevy scolded her.
Then, he taught them the Smokescreen Spell. "The Smokescreen Spell is a charm used to create a defensive cloud of smoke from the wand that hindered visibility. This spell is quite useful in dueling, as the smoke hides the caster, preventing the opponent from accurately aiming their spells, as well as allowing the caster to escape unseen. The incantation is Fumos."
He demonstrated the spell. The students all watched attentively as their teacher cast the spell and smoke - well, mist - exited the tip of the wand and surrounded her, making her almost invisible except for a very hazy outline of her body. After five or so minutes, the mist disappeared gradually.
Professor Creevey told them to practice it, and by the end of the class, Daisy had gotten the hang of it. She did it perfectly, earning her an approving nod and an appreciative smile. Ivy raised an eyebrow at her, but she did it correctly too. By the end of the class, Daisy was feeling very bored by all the lectures in the different classes and just wanted to do something fun.
And Ivy's brilliant and brand new idea was just the right amount of fun and anticipation.
By the time they finished lunch and returned to the common room, Daisy couldn't wait to go through with Ivy's idea. But she had to wait a few minutes. Ivy, meanwhile, was doing something useful, instead of jumping up and down like her.
"Rebecca! Robert!" She called them to their reserved corner in the common room and told them in whispers what she wanted. "We were thinking about going to the Garden Club-"
"Garden Group," Rebecca interrupted.
"-The Garden Group so we can learn Parseltongue. You in for it?"
"Well, seeing as I already am a member of the group..."
Ivy blinked. Daisy hadn't thought about it either. But it seemed obvious now. Why wouldn't Rebecca know about the Group; she'd been here for three years, after all.
"You can introduce us wee first years," suggested Robert. "That would be very nice of you, big sister."
Daisy nodded. "Anna Wit told us we should go to our Prefect, but you can just take us there yourself, seeing as you know about it and all."
Rebecca laughed. "It's not that easy, kid. The meeting place changes every two weeks. The professors don't know about our club and I don't reckon they'd be very pleased if they found out. True, the Houses are no longer apart, but Parseltongue is still considered evil, at least outside Hogwarts. Anyway, I don't know the place of this week's meeting place - only Prefects know that. You have to go to them and get the info to go there. You should only ask them if you want to go. Not everyone goes there every day, you know."
The three of them took some time digesting this. Daisy nodded slowly. "Okay. We'll ask Olivia, but will you come with us to... you know, introduce us to whoever?"
She smiled. "Of course, kid. I would've come even if you didn't want me to. It's procedure."
Olivia frowned. "You're saying you want to join the Garden Group in your first year?"
"Yes," Ivy answered, nodding solemnly, not breaking eye contact. Robert looked at the Prefect with big, pleading eyes. Daisy held in a giggle.
Olivia nodded too. "Well, I would suggest you wait some more time before you join. Get in tune with all your lessons, get used to this life a little more, you know."
"That's all right," Daisy said. "We're quite at home here. Besides, we just want to learn more about this Group." She smiled her most charming smile. "Please?" She ignored the amused look Rebecca shot her.
Olivia sighed. "Fine." She beckoned them closer. "Go to the Quidditch changing room. There's a secret passage there behind the broom closet. You have to say the incantation of the unlocking charm. Every day this week at seven in the evening, someone will always be there."
Robert, Ivy, and Daisy beamed at her, eyes shining. Even Rebecca looked interested. "There's a secret passage behind the broom closet?"
Olivia smiled. "There are a lot of places you don't know yet, Miss Madden," she smiled slyly. "Ravenclaws are smart, they know clever ways with which things are hidden, Hufflepuffs are good at finding things too. Slytherins are cunning. They put themselves in the Founders' shoes and think up places where they might've hidden ways. The Gryffindors figure out ways to open the doorways, with help from us. You still have a lot to learn, and you will, in these seven years." And with that, she smiled once again and walked away.
"Thanks," Daisy shouted after her, then turned to the other three. "Seven in the evening, huh? Well, we better get ready."
"Ready how?" Robert asked.
"Study up Parseltongue," Rebecca suggested. "It always helps if they don't have to explain everything to you. Also, there's a book about this secret club behind a secret panel in the library. The Founder of the club wrote about what the Group's about and hid it there. Members know where it is. C'mon, I'll show you. We just have to be careful Madam Pince doesn't catch us."
And they set off to the library, eager to know all about this secret panel. It sure was getting exciting.
At seven, the four of them stood eagerly in front of the closed doorway they were barely able to distinguish from the surrounding stone. Rebecca had replaced the broom closet with a simple Locomotor and now Ivy cast the opening charm. "Alohomora."
They watched eagerly as the doorway opened to reveal a narrow tunnel that led a short way inside, then sharply dropped into the ground. They followed the tunnel and jumped down the hole as it wasn't very deep, then all held up their wands and lit the tips, and continued to make their way through the tunnel, which twisted and turned quite frequently.
At last, they reached the end of the tunnel, which was two doors meeting halfway, with a garden snake curled around the simple stone handles, hissing at them. Rebecca just calmly stepped forward and hissed something to the snake, which snaked its way through the small gap under the door and disappeared for a while.
"This is why you should always take a member with you if it's your first time," the older witch said. "Hissy - that's the snake - only lets you in if you speak to him in Parseltongue."
The doors opened as if on cue, and they all stepped inside. Daisy immediately looked around the room - more like a hallway - they'd entered. It was long and not very wide, giving the impression of a tunnel; the walls were made of stone, and lit torches were stuck, in what Daisy thought was a careless way, into cracks in the stone. There was a fireplace attached to the left wall, where blue fire flickered and illuminated the room in a creepy fashion. There were a lot of snakes, too, just slithering aimlessly along the floor. They seemed harmless enough. At the far end of the hall sat a desk, and behind the desk sat a boy of about sixteen. He was reading some book - it looked like an ancient book about architecture from the cover - and looked up when they approached him. His face broke into a grin. Daisy noticed that his perfect teeth gleamed creepily, as did his eyes when they darted around, taking in each of the newcomers. "Hey," he said at last. His voice was husky like he was using it after a long time. "Y'all don't look like members to me. Must be new. 'Cept the third year. You kinda look familiar."
"Yeah, I'm a member," replied Rebecca. She gestured to the rest of them, "These three want to join. All first years."
The boy regarded them. His pitch-black hair gleamed in the firelight. He nodded without saying anything and rummaged in a drawer, pulling out a register. He opened a page and wrote something, then looked up them. "Well? Your names."
"I'm Robert," Robert said. "Robert Madden. Ravenclaw." The boy nodded and wrote it down.
"Ivy and Daisy Dursley," Ivy offered. "Both Ravenclaw."
After a few moments of the sound of a quill scratching paper interrupting the silence, the boy looked up again from his register and started speaking in a bored voice, as if he'd said the words a dozen times before. "Well, glad to have you join the club. I'm Grayson, you can call me Gray. Now, as you probably know, this is a club we've created with Parseltongue as the theme, so it shan't be feared and shunned. It's a natural thing, and just because some wizard or witch used it for evil doesn't mean all who speak it are evil. To make this point, we started this club - with very few members in the beginning, but over the years, it has grown an' become-"
"We already know all this," Robert interrupted him. "We've read all about it in the book behind the secret panel in the library. Tell us something new."
Gray looked almost relieved. "Well, that's good, 'cause it was gonna take a lot of time to cover. But if you've read the book, then the only new thing to learn is how to speak Parseltongue."
Daisy wanted to do a jig but stopped herself. "You mean we'll be able to talk to snakes?"
Gray looked at her, amused. "No, girlie. Only natural Parselmouths can do that. You'll only be learning a few basic words for now, like 'hello' an' 'how're you' an' 'goodbye', so you won't be able to understand snakes an' all. You'll get the gist of want the snake is saying, though. Kinda like listening to someone speak a language you barely know. You'll get the hang of it in a few weeks."
Daisy nodded, a little confused, and turned to Ivy. But Ivy was walking toward the right wall, where the portrait of several witches and wizards hung on the wall. None were moving inside the frame, though, which was weird. She recognized one of them as Tom Marvolo Riddle; he looked about eleven, probably when he first came to Hogwarts. She stared at the portrait, shocked to the core; who would keep a portrait of Tom Marvolo Riddle - why would they?
Gray followed her gaze and quickly explained, "That's portraits of all Parselmouths. Yes, we also keep one of Riddle there, but you may've noticed, it's before he turned evil, when he's just started Hogwarts. We're not evil, girlie, we just respect all Parselmouths, and we can't leave that one out."
She got what he was trying to say, but was still a bit uneasy. But Rebecca trusted these people, he reminded herself. And Rebecca's been here three years. It's all right, she reassured herself. And she had to admit she was curious. How could they learn the language of snakes and not understand the snakes? Speaking with snakes was the whole point, wasn't it? Or was it something else?
Daisy's instincts told her it was becoming late, and she thought it was time to leave. She was exhausted after the long day; she just wanted to crash and have a dreamless sleep. She and the other left after a few more minutes, saying goodbye to Gray before leaving. And Daisy was eager to come again and learn more. About this club and about this boy.
They managed to get away from the Quidditch changing room without getting caught, and after returning to her dorm, Daisy collapsed on her bed and immediately began snoring, not even bothering to undress.
A/N: Guys, please, please review. Like it so far? Hate it?