Part: 11
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a/n: Thanks for reading! Looking forward to your reviews! Now that the girls are settled in at Hogwarts, you'll start to see a few more interesting things go on. (thanks for bearing with us)
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Claudette awoke peacefully. The cushy raw silk pillows and the feather mattress were just to her liking. She reached up her hands and yawned gracefully, reaching behind her for the mirror that was her mother's. She grasped the heavy silver handle daintily and pulled it towards her face. The reflection looked tired, but there was something wrong.
"My hair!," Claudette screamed, "What happened; someone's going to wish they were never--"
There were malicious giggles from outside the four poster drapes.
Claudette grabbed the delicate curtains and snared them open, meeting the face of a smug girl with pale skin, and red cheeks from laughing.
"You," Claudette whispered, sounding murderous, "I should've known."
Claudette reached her hand into a drawer, pulling out a flawless silvery wand.
"Unfortunately for you, Pansy," Claudette said through her teeth, clasping the wand tightly in her left hand, "This has only made me angry, because a hair growing charm may be beyond your cockroach sized brain, but, frankly, it's relatively simple for, well, me."
Claudette tapped her scalp, muttered a few words under her breath, and her shiny black hair was within chin length in a matter of seconds.
Claudette was facing her reflection again.
"Hmm, I rather like that," she said to her reflection, as her hair extended just beyond her jaw, "Maybe we'll try that for a day."
Claudette placed the mirror back on her headboard calmly, then turned to face Pansy, who was absolutely speechless. Claudette looked even better with shorter hair. Claudette smiled at Pansy's reaction, than she rose from her bed, robes and hat in hand, and walked into the small bathroom to the left.
Pansy sat back down on her bed, legs and arms crossed.
'Eugggr, what a; if she does one more; I'll get her good; there's always a next time,' she reassured herself, 'Pansy Parkinson will not be beaten at her own game.'
There was the sound of a closing door. Claudette emerged from the bathroom, with robes of black and a thin silver belt tied around her waist. Her had was adorned with a tiny silver rhine-stone star. She glided over to the door effortlessly, turning her head, she mentioned to Pansy,
"Thanks for the hair cut, Pansy. Are you free three weeks from Wednesday?"
Claudette swept out of the room, leaving Pansy with a foiled plan and awaiting vengeance.
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Breakfast at Hogwarts was just as wonderful as the dinners. Pumpkin juice, sausages, bacon, pancakes, waffles, cereals; anything and everything you've ever heard was a breakfast food.
Claudine dished up her plate and looked at her schedule. She had gotten up early to take a quick tour around the castle to make sure she could find her classes, but according to the brief directions on the schedule, every following class seemed to be on opposite ends of the school.
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Monday:
Care of Magical Creatures 8:45
(Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs)
Edge of Grounds
BREAK 10:15 to 10:30
Divination 10:30
(Gyffindors and Slytherins)
North Tower
LUNCH 12:00 to 1:30
Charms 1:30
(Gryffindors and Ravenclaws)
Main Hallway, Rm. #111
BREAK 3:00 to 3:15
Ancient Runes 3:15
(mixed)
2nd level, off tower stair well, through flowered tapestry, 2nd door on right.
4:45 to 8:30 spent as you wish. At 8:30, return to your respective common room.
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'That doesn't sound too bad,' Claudine thought over the crunching of Cheerios. 'I guess I'll just head outside after breakfast.'
The great hall was starting to fill up. Claudine spotted her sister across the hall, and gave her a wave; which wasn't returned. She turned to face her bowl of milk. Three Cheerios were floating in a triangle pattern. Claudine stared at it intently.
'Slytherin, why would she be in Slytherin,' Claudine thought, paddling through the milk with her spoon, 'Why would each of us be in different houses. We don't get along all the time, but neither do Ron and Fred and George. Dad was from Ravenclaw; that explains Claudia, but, I wonder what house mom was from? At least, I think she went to Hogwarts. Maybe they have some sort of registry…'
"Hey Claudia," said a pink-faced boy who pulled up a chair across from Claudine.
"Um--- it's Claudine," Claudine said as nicely as possible; it happened a lot, but it was still annoying.
"Oh, Claudine," the boy went even pinker, "Sorry. Umm, what does your schedule look like?"
"Oh," Claudine pushed her schedule over the smooth table to the boy.
"Well, we have CMC together. Your so lucky you don't have Potions Mondays. Snape always refers to me as 'nuisance Neville'. He hates my guts."
"I really liked Potions last year," said Claudine. She didn't know Neville very well, but was relieved to have some company. "But I suppose a nasty teacher can make all the difference."
"Yeah," Neville said, brushing his cheek on his shoulder awkwardly. "You want to head to the grounds, I don't want to be late for first day back. I could show you around if you want."
"Thanks, Neville," Claudine tried to sound thankful. Sure he was being considerate, but Claudine hoped to explore the castle by herself, but she couldn't say no. "That'd be nice."
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Claudia rolled out of bed. Eyes full of gunk, she walked blindly, robes in hand, over to the small corner bathroom. She turned the faucet; the cool water was refreshing against her tired skin. She was seeing properly by the time she recalled the event of last evening.
'Those girls are manipulative and back stabbing,' she thought to herself, 'I can't believe they'd do things like that to someone they considered a friend.'
She finished getting ready and hurried out; she figured there would be a line to get in, she had taken quite a while.
She stepped out of bathroom to find six girls sitting on their beds, yawning and stretching. Some had green all over their face. Claudia figured it was some sort of a skin care mask, but who knows; maybe it was some sort of initiation process?
"Morning, Claud!" Padma called from across the room, it sounded like that was the first word she had spoken. It had that, 'O, here's the one person who's worth my time' ring to it.
"Hey, Padma."
Claudia was finding Padma's casual talk towards her a bit uncomfortable, but was thankful for someone to talk to all the same.
The girl with curly hair made her way towards the shower.
"Excuse me," Padma said arrogantly, "According to the calendar, I was granted first shower this week, Cloreece."
"Oh," Cloreece squeaked innocently. Other than the tone, Claudia recognized the girl's voice. "I'm sorry, Padma. I'd forgotten about the system. Hey, it's first day. I'm allowed one, aren't I?"
"Is that all your sorry for?" Padma added. She was ruthless.
"Look," Cloreece said, never losing her composure.
"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I know I should've stood up for you. I don't know what came over me."
"I don't know, Reece, maybe it was your raging hormones," Padma said in disgust. "You were practically groping him. Frankly, I was embarrassed for you and everyone that had to watch that---"
"Padma," Cloreece tried to sound nice, "I am sorry for what ever harm I caused you---"
If this was Cloreece at her sincerest, I'd hate to see her lie.
"But, now can we just forget about it."
"I suppose I can move on," Padma didn't sound at all like she meant it.
"Friends?"
Reece opened her arms and walked towards Padma.
"Not until you have a shower," Padma said, with a small smile. "Go on."
Cloreece closed the bathroom door. The room went silent once again. Claudia felt awkward, she hates uncomfortable pauses.
"Ummm," she began, "Sorry for screwing up your shower schedule. I didn't really know. I'll stick to it from now on."
Claudia distinctly heard a voice from the corner mumble, 'Plead ignorance, they always do.'
"Don't be silly, Claud," Padma told her, "No one's upset. Relax. Oh, you know what?"
Padma didn't even let her answer.
"You should let me do your make up! It'll be great; finally a new face to try!"
Claudia figured it was impossible to see anyone more excited.
"uhh, OK."
"Yay!" Padma squeaked, "Come sit over hear."
Claudia crawled over to Padma's bed and sat down facing her. Padma dug out a large trunk, full of colour wheel, and a tonne of make up.
"Fair hair, light eyes, rose lips," Padma mumbled, "Oval to round face, high cheek bones. Your best feature is definitely your eyes or your lips. Maybe this."
Padma fished out what looked to be a large jar of purple, gelatinous liquid. She dipped a small brush into the small neck and painted Claudia's entire face.
Claudia's face began to turn colours. Her skin went matte, her normally blotchy red cheeks were gone. Her eyes were framed in a pearly white shimmer, and her lips were so glossy she lost concentration every time the light hit them.
Padma handed her a small hand mirror.
"Wow," Claudia said, amazed, "What is this stuff and where do I get more of it?"
Padma looked immensely proud. "I thought you'd like it. It's Mallinna MacDonnell's refinisher. My mom orders it from M.M Institute, but you have to be a long time member to get it, and it's a bit expensive, but that's never been an issue." Padma checked her nails casually. "Want a bottle?"
"Sure," Claudia said with out thinking, "How much?"
"I think it's twenty Galleons."
Claudia bent down and rummaged through her trunk. She pulled out a small, leather pouch and handed it to Padma.
"Excellent, I'll send my mom an owl today."
"All right," Claudia said nervously. That was an awful lot of money!
"Uhh, Padma," Bianca said from the other side of the room, "I'm running kinda low."
"Yah, yah. I'll take care of it next week."
Bianca mumbled, "Whatever."
"Shouldn't we be getting to class?" Claudia asked nervously. Who knew if they even showed up for the morning at all?
"God, yes!" Padma squeaked, "I almost forgot. Maybe we'll catch Davies if we hurry."
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"Ok," Hagrid bellowed, "Come on. Get a move on. Care of Magical Creatures. O'er here!"
Hagrid waved his arm, summoning the group of gryffindors and hufflepuffs over to a small patch of grass near the forest. Claudine walked slowly at the edge of the group still trailed by Neville.
"OK," Hagrid said in his kindly voice, "Right then. Firs' day back, then. I s'pose we'll start off slow then…"
Claudine heard a groan from the back and a mumble that she thought made out, "flobber worms, again."
"I think I'll get yahs to collects som' forest gnomes from, well, the forest."
The class perked up again. Although, a pig tailed girl in the front had a disgusted look on her face.
"Gnomes are gross. This summer our garden was chock full of them," she squirmed, directing the complaint to Hagrid and a small group of Hufflepuffs nearby.
"Well, Forest gnomes and garden gnomes are quite different. Can any body tell me the diff'rences?"
The class remained silent. Claudine became tense. She knew the answer, but no one else was answering. Surely someone else knew it as well.
Hagrid looked on eagerly, expecting at any moment for all their hands to be shooting up. Claudine couldn't take it any more. At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, she raise her hand.
"Yes, umm, is it… ahh, yes, Claudine, from the boat. Go ahead."
"Forest Gnomes are green, larger, shyer, and feed on insects and mushrooms, rather than vegetables."
"Good." Hagrid beamed at her through his tangled mass of hair, "Yeh, Forest gnomes are diff'rent from just gnomes in a bunch a different ways, like Claudine says. Now, I'm gonna split yah all up inter dif'rent groups."
The Hufflepuffs suddenly shifted to the left as the Gryffindors suddenly shifted to the right.
"Now, now." Hagrid sounded a bit annoyed by that action. "We'll 'ave none o' that. I'll give yah each a number and you'll go with the people who get the same number."
Hagrid began reaching out his massive hands and touching the heads of each of the students, calling out '1,2,3,4,5,' as he went. Claudine felt a brush of wind hit the top of her head shortly followed by a heavy thud and an echoing 'three'.
Claudine waited until the remainder of the group was counted and then held up three fingers on her right hand. She looked over towards the forest and saw Harry, and Ron huddled in a group. She walked over there, hoping that she'd know someone in her group.
"Are you guys threes?" she asked Ron shyly.
"Nope," Ron answered, "We're fours. I think the three's are over there, though."
Ron stuck out his long arm and pointed towards a group by a small fence.
"Thanks," Claudine said as she turned and made her way towards the group..
"Threes?" she asked quietly. None of them were smiling and she didn't recognize any Gryffindors. They all nodded, though, so at least she was in the right group.
"Okay then," Hagrid yelled to all the groups. "Get started."
All the groups started into the forest, well, all the groups except Claudine's. They just continued to lean against the fence, kicking the dandelion heads.
"Well," Claudine tried to get them motivated without sounding like a total nerd, "Should we start looking?"
"I guess we should at least make it look like we're trying," said one of the boys in the back. He was quite tall, and he had a large scar right through his eyebrow.
"Yeah," said the girl next to him, "I suppose you're right, Dan. This is such a slacker class. Hagrid won't even care if we tell him we didn't find any."
The girl began trudging into the forest, crushing the crocuses that grew around the large oak tree they were passing.
The forest was dark. The thick tree cover made the forest floor an eternal night. There were no flowers on the damp ground. Everything was either varying shades of green, brown of black.
They walked along a small path in the wet leaves and brown mud. The smell of rotting soil and damp wood filled their nostrils.
They continued to walk until they saw a tree that had fallen over, and a small black stream next to it.
"This'll make a good seat," said one of the boys, as he sat down the large tree. He was joined by the majority of the group.
Claudine couldn't believe this. They had so much available to them yet they weren't going to take advantage of it. This kind of class would be like a field trip at her old school, and all they wanted to do was sit there.
She felt so out of place standing in front of them, watching them sit and talk on the log. It seemed like none of them wanted to work. Claudine unfastened the bag of mushrooms and began spreading them next to the stream and near some vines close to some sort of a hedge. She knew that forest gnomes lived by water, and there was a stream, so she guessed she'd just have to wait.
She walked back to the log, and sat down at one edge next to a girl with dark hair.
"I guess we'll just wait then," she told the group meekly. They paid no attention, and just continued talking.
Claudine stared at the ground. She tried to pick up on some of their conversations; maybe she'd find something to add, or would they think she was eavesdropping?
'Oh well,' she thought, hopefully I'll have a new group tomorrow.
She continued to listen to their conversations over the babble of the stream.
"Yeah, I guess we need a new seeker,eh?" she heard one of them say. There was a long silence that followed.
Claudine looked around at the faces. They looked very uncomfortable and sullen. The girl next to her was looking to the brown clay on the ground.
Dan shifted suddenly, and pointed at the mushrooms that were sprinkled on the ground. The group cocked their heads to see what he was pointing at. Nibbling on the red mushrooms was a small, green, knobby forest Gnome. It was about seven inches high with beady black eyes and one-inch stubs for legs and arms. It sat down on the mucky ground and gathered a pile of mushrooms and began to feast on them.
"How are we going to get him?" said a voice behind Claudine.
"I say we surround him and try and grab nim."
"We should throw a bag over his head."
"No, just grab him like a normal gnome."
"I don't know. This one has teeth."
Sure enough the forest gnome did have two prominent fangs protruding from his small, lip less mouth.
"Let's try and trap him, before he gets away."
The group of hufflepuffs and one gryffindor encircled the small gnome. The gnome didn't seem to notice as he gorged on the thick stumps of the mushrooms.
"Okay. I'm going to try and get him. Be ready to stop him if I miss." Daniel whispered quietly to the group.
He made his move. His hand shot out and captured the gnome around its chubby waist. The gnome's arms and legs flailed, bearing its fangs.
The group cheered and gave Dan a short applause.
"What are we supposed to do with it now?" he said raising the gnome above his head, still struggling to free itself.
"Umm, I guess we could put him in the mushroom bag." Claudia said, handing Dan the bag.
"Thanks."
Dan dropped the gnome into the bag gingerly, but just as he uncoiled his last finger. The gnome dug its fangs into the deep flesh of his hand.
"Damn it!" Dan yelled as he shook the gnome from his hand. One of the girls quickly retrieved it from the ground and dropped it in the bag.
"Stupid gnome bit me!"
Immediately the bite began to swell and turn green.
"Uhh, we have to get the venom out of it!" Claudine panicked as she struggled to make her way over to Dan.
She clasped her hand around the wound and began to suck on the bite, spitting out the poison on to the ground. Dan grimaced.
"Someone get some water from the stream," Claudine yelled to the others in between breaths.
A stout girl brought back a hanker chief soaked with the black water from the stream.
"It burns," Dan whispered as Claudine put the damp rag on the bite.
"You'll be fine," she said soothingly, "Let's go find Hagrid, and see what he thinks."
"Yeah, leave it to Hagrid to make us capture some god forsaken creature with poisonous fangs!" he said through a pain-filled daze.
Claudine helped him walk along the narrow, trampled path back to the empty padock in the grounds.
"Hagrid!" one of the group members called. The voice echoed and bounced off the thick trees near the entrance to the forest.
Hagrid appeared out of the forest, twigs entangled in his long, wild hair.
"Hagrid come here," a girl yelled, "Dan gotten bit!"
Hagrid made his way casually over to the group, an unworried expression on his face.
"Bit," he said in his gruff voice, "By what?"
"By a Gnome!" Dan said, exasperated.
"But-," Hagrid looked confused, "Forest Gnomes don't get fangs 'til matin' season, which isn't 'til spring."
"Well," said the girl with dark curly hair, "This one had fangs, and it looked just like you described them. But, thank god Claudine knew what to do, otherwise Dan's hand would be like a balloon right now---"
Claudine felt her cheeks go red.
"She did this thing. She said something about getting the venom out. So she got it out and helped Dan back to the grounds."
Hagrid looked at Daniel's hand and took off the rag. He glanced at the bite, but then his face went white and he dropped the damp cloth.
"Ya didn't put water from the black brook on it, did ya?" Hagrid said to the group.
"Yes," Claudine stuttered, worried at the look on Hagrid's face, "umm, I thought it would be good for it. umm, You know, relieve some swelling."
"Yeh, better go up 'n see Madame Pomfrey," he said to Dan, "Ya go with him, Trina. Tell her what's happened."
Dan and Trina hurried up to the castle, leaving the group with Hagrid in the bare padock.
"Next time somthin' happens," Hagrid said, wiping his hand on his face, "Let me know before you do anything your not sure of. The forest's very dangerous if yeh don't know what your messin' with."
Claudine felt awful. The pride she felt before for taking charge was totally replaced with a feeling of weight in her stomach.
"What's wrong with the water, Hagrid?" one of the girls in the back asked shyly.
"Somethin's just disturbin' the natral balance," Hagrid said, "That's all."
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Well, sorry for the variance on chapter lengths, this one's rather lengthy. O well. Umm, yah, I 'd really like you to review and answer a few questions for me:
Now that the characters are developing better, who is your favourite?
A name for the new defence against the dark arts teacher? Gender? Ethnicity?
Do you think one of the twins should go for/out with Harry, Weasleys, Draco?
Thanks very much! Happy reading!
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a/n: Thanks for reading! Looking forward to your reviews! Now that the girls are settled in at Hogwarts, you'll start to see a few more interesting things go on. (thanks for bearing with us)
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Claudette awoke peacefully. The cushy raw silk pillows and the feather mattress were just to her liking. She reached up her hands and yawned gracefully, reaching behind her for the mirror that was her mother's. She grasped the heavy silver handle daintily and pulled it towards her face. The reflection looked tired, but there was something wrong.
"My hair!," Claudette screamed, "What happened; someone's going to wish they were never--"
There were malicious giggles from outside the four poster drapes.
Claudette grabbed the delicate curtains and snared them open, meeting the face of a smug girl with pale skin, and red cheeks from laughing.
"You," Claudette whispered, sounding murderous, "I should've known."
Claudette reached her hand into a drawer, pulling out a flawless silvery wand.
"Unfortunately for you, Pansy," Claudette said through her teeth, clasping the wand tightly in her left hand, "This has only made me angry, because a hair growing charm may be beyond your cockroach sized brain, but, frankly, it's relatively simple for, well, me."
Claudette tapped her scalp, muttered a few words under her breath, and her shiny black hair was within chin length in a matter of seconds.
Claudette was facing her reflection again.
"Hmm, I rather like that," she said to her reflection, as her hair extended just beyond her jaw, "Maybe we'll try that for a day."
Claudette placed the mirror back on her headboard calmly, then turned to face Pansy, who was absolutely speechless. Claudette looked even better with shorter hair. Claudette smiled at Pansy's reaction, than she rose from her bed, robes and hat in hand, and walked into the small bathroom to the left.
Pansy sat back down on her bed, legs and arms crossed.
'Eugggr, what a; if she does one more; I'll get her good; there's always a next time,' she reassured herself, 'Pansy Parkinson will not be beaten at her own game.'
There was the sound of a closing door. Claudette emerged from the bathroom, with robes of black and a thin silver belt tied around her waist. Her had was adorned with a tiny silver rhine-stone star. She glided over to the door effortlessly, turning her head, she mentioned to Pansy,
"Thanks for the hair cut, Pansy. Are you free three weeks from Wednesday?"
Claudette swept out of the room, leaving Pansy with a foiled plan and awaiting vengeance.
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Breakfast at Hogwarts was just as wonderful as the dinners. Pumpkin juice, sausages, bacon, pancakes, waffles, cereals; anything and everything you've ever heard was a breakfast food.
Claudine dished up her plate and looked at her schedule. She had gotten up early to take a quick tour around the castle to make sure she could find her classes, but according to the brief directions on the schedule, every following class seemed to be on opposite ends of the school.
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Monday:
Care of Magical Creatures 8:45
(Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs)
Edge of Grounds
BREAK 10:15 to 10:30
Divination 10:30
(Gyffindors and Slytherins)
North Tower
LUNCH 12:00 to 1:30
Charms 1:30
(Gryffindors and Ravenclaws)
Main Hallway, Rm. #111
BREAK 3:00 to 3:15
Ancient Runes 3:15
(mixed)
2nd level, off tower stair well, through flowered tapestry, 2nd door on right.
4:45 to 8:30 spent as you wish. At 8:30, return to your respective common room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'That doesn't sound too bad,' Claudine thought over the crunching of Cheerios. 'I guess I'll just head outside after breakfast.'
The great hall was starting to fill up. Claudine spotted her sister across the hall, and gave her a wave; which wasn't returned. She turned to face her bowl of milk. Three Cheerios were floating in a triangle pattern. Claudine stared at it intently.
'Slytherin, why would she be in Slytherin,' Claudine thought, paddling through the milk with her spoon, 'Why would each of us be in different houses. We don't get along all the time, but neither do Ron and Fred and George. Dad was from Ravenclaw; that explains Claudia, but, I wonder what house mom was from? At least, I think she went to Hogwarts. Maybe they have some sort of registry…'
"Hey Claudia," said a pink-faced boy who pulled up a chair across from Claudine.
"Um--- it's Claudine," Claudine said as nicely as possible; it happened a lot, but it was still annoying.
"Oh, Claudine," the boy went even pinker, "Sorry. Umm, what does your schedule look like?"
"Oh," Claudine pushed her schedule over the smooth table to the boy.
"Well, we have CMC together. Your so lucky you don't have Potions Mondays. Snape always refers to me as 'nuisance Neville'. He hates my guts."
"I really liked Potions last year," said Claudine. She didn't know Neville very well, but was relieved to have some company. "But I suppose a nasty teacher can make all the difference."
"Yeah," Neville said, brushing his cheek on his shoulder awkwardly. "You want to head to the grounds, I don't want to be late for first day back. I could show you around if you want."
"Thanks, Neville," Claudine tried to sound thankful. Sure he was being considerate, but Claudine hoped to explore the castle by herself, but she couldn't say no. "That'd be nice."
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Claudia rolled out of bed. Eyes full of gunk, she walked blindly, robes in hand, over to the small corner bathroom. She turned the faucet; the cool water was refreshing against her tired skin. She was seeing properly by the time she recalled the event of last evening.
'Those girls are manipulative and back stabbing,' she thought to herself, 'I can't believe they'd do things like that to someone they considered a friend.'
She finished getting ready and hurried out; she figured there would be a line to get in, she had taken quite a while.
She stepped out of bathroom to find six girls sitting on their beds, yawning and stretching. Some had green all over their face. Claudia figured it was some sort of a skin care mask, but who knows; maybe it was some sort of initiation process?
"Morning, Claud!" Padma called from across the room, it sounded like that was the first word she had spoken. It had that, 'O, here's the one person who's worth my time' ring to it.
"Hey, Padma."
Claudia was finding Padma's casual talk towards her a bit uncomfortable, but was thankful for someone to talk to all the same.
The girl with curly hair made her way towards the shower.
"Excuse me," Padma said arrogantly, "According to the calendar, I was granted first shower this week, Cloreece."
"Oh," Cloreece squeaked innocently. Other than the tone, Claudia recognized the girl's voice. "I'm sorry, Padma. I'd forgotten about the system. Hey, it's first day. I'm allowed one, aren't I?"
"Is that all your sorry for?" Padma added. She was ruthless.
"Look," Cloreece said, never losing her composure.
"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I know I should've stood up for you. I don't know what came over me."
"I don't know, Reece, maybe it was your raging hormones," Padma said in disgust. "You were practically groping him. Frankly, I was embarrassed for you and everyone that had to watch that---"
"Padma," Cloreece tried to sound nice, "I am sorry for what ever harm I caused you---"
If this was Cloreece at her sincerest, I'd hate to see her lie.
"But, now can we just forget about it."
"I suppose I can move on," Padma didn't sound at all like she meant it.
"Friends?"
Reece opened her arms and walked towards Padma.
"Not until you have a shower," Padma said, with a small smile. "Go on."
Cloreece closed the bathroom door. The room went silent once again. Claudia felt awkward, she hates uncomfortable pauses.
"Ummm," she began, "Sorry for screwing up your shower schedule. I didn't really know. I'll stick to it from now on."
Claudia distinctly heard a voice from the corner mumble, 'Plead ignorance, they always do.'
"Don't be silly, Claud," Padma told her, "No one's upset. Relax. Oh, you know what?"
Padma didn't even let her answer.
"You should let me do your make up! It'll be great; finally a new face to try!"
Claudia figured it was impossible to see anyone more excited.
"uhh, OK."
"Yay!" Padma squeaked, "Come sit over hear."
Claudia crawled over to Padma's bed and sat down facing her. Padma dug out a large trunk, full of colour wheel, and a tonne of make up.
"Fair hair, light eyes, rose lips," Padma mumbled, "Oval to round face, high cheek bones. Your best feature is definitely your eyes or your lips. Maybe this."
Padma fished out what looked to be a large jar of purple, gelatinous liquid. She dipped a small brush into the small neck and painted Claudia's entire face.
Claudia's face began to turn colours. Her skin went matte, her normally blotchy red cheeks were gone. Her eyes were framed in a pearly white shimmer, and her lips were so glossy she lost concentration every time the light hit them.
Padma handed her a small hand mirror.
"Wow," Claudia said, amazed, "What is this stuff and where do I get more of it?"
Padma looked immensely proud. "I thought you'd like it. It's Mallinna MacDonnell's refinisher. My mom orders it from M.M Institute, but you have to be a long time member to get it, and it's a bit expensive, but that's never been an issue." Padma checked her nails casually. "Want a bottle?"
"Sure," Claudia said with out thinking, "How much?"
"I think it's twenty Galleons."
Claudia bent down and rummaged through her trunk. She pulled out a small, leather pouch and handed it to Padma.
"Excellent, I'll send my mom an owl today."
"All right," Claudia said nervously. That was an awful lot of money!
"Uhh, Padma," Bianca said from the other side of the room, "I'm running kinda low."
"Yah, yah. I'll take care of it next week."
Bianca mumbled, "Whatever."
"Shouldn't we be getting to class?" Claudia asked nervously. Who knew if they even showed up for the morning at all?
"God, yes!" Padma squeaked, "I almost forgot. Maybe we'll catch Davies if we hurry."
*~*~*~**~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~~*
"Ok," Hagrid bellowed, "Come on. Get a move on. Care of Magical Creatures. O'er here!"
Hagrid waved his arm, summoning the group of gryffindors and hufflepuffs over to a small patch of grass near the forest. Claudine walked slowly at the edge of the group still trailed by Neville.
"OK," Hagrid said in his kindly voice, "Right then. Firs' day back, then. I s'pose we'll start off slow then…"
Claudine heard a groan from the back and a mumble that she thought made out, "flobber worms, again."
"I think I'll get yahs to collects som' forest gnomes from, well, the forest."
The class perked up again. Although, a pig tailed girl in the front had a disgusted look on her face.
"Gnomes are gross. This summer our garden was chock full of them," she squirmed, directing the complaint to Hagrid and a small group of Hufflepuffs nearby.
"Well, Forest gnomes and garden gnomes are quite different. Can any body tell me the diff'rences?"
The class remained silent. Claudine became tense. She knew the answer, but no one else was answering. Surely someone else knew it as well.
Hagrid looked on eagerly, expecting at any moment for all their hands to be shooting up. Claudine couldn't take it any more. At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, she raise her hand.
"Yes, umm, is it… ahh, yes, Claudine, from the boat. Go ahead."
"Forest Gnomes are green, larger, shyer, and feed on insects and mushrooms, rather than vegetables."
"Good." Hagrid beamed at her through his tangled mass of hair, "Yeh, Forest gnomes are diff'rent from just gnomes in a bunch a different ways, like Claudine says. Now, I'm gonna split yah all up inter dif'rent groups."
The Hufflepuffs suddenly shifted to the left as the Gryffindors suddenly shifted to the right.
"Now, now." Hagrid sounded a bit annoyed by that action. "We'll 'ave none o' that. I'll give yah each a number and you'll go with the people who get the same number."
Hagrid began reaching out his massive hands and touching the heads of each of the students, calling out '1,2,3,4,5,' as he went. Claudine felt a brush of wind hit the top of her head shortly followed by a heavy thud and an echoing 'three'.
Claudine waited until the remainder of the group was counted and then held up three fingers on her right hand. She looked over towards the forest and saw Harry, and Ron huddled in a group. She walked over there, hoping that she'd know someone in her group.
"Are you guys threes?" she asked Ron shyly.
"Nope," Ron answered, "We're fours. I think the three's are over there, though."
Ron stuck out his long arm and pointed towards a group by a small fence.
"Thanks," Claudine said as she turned and made her way towards the group..
"Threes?" she asked quietly. None of them were smiling and she didn't recognize any Gryffindors. They all nodded, though, so at least she was in the right group.
"Okay then," Hagrid yelled to all the groups. "Get started."
All the groups started into the forest, well, all the groups except Claudine's. They just continued to lean against the fence, kicking the dandelion heads.
"Well," Claudine tried to get them motivated without sounding like a total nerd, "Should we start looking?"
"I guess we should at least make it look like we're trying," said one of the boys in the back. He was quite tall, and he had a large scar right through his eyebrow.
"Yeah," said the girl next to him, "I suppose you're right, Dan. This is such a slacker class. Hagrid won't even care if we tell him we didn't find any."
The girl began trudging into the forest, crushing the crocuses that grew around the large oak tree they were passing.
The forest was dark. The thick tree cover made the forest floor an eternal night. There were no flowers on the damp ground. Everything was either varying shades of green, brown of black.
They walked along a small path in the wet leaves and brown mud. The smell of rotting soil and damp wood filled their nostrils.
They continued to walk until they saw a tree that had fallen over, and a small black stream next to it.
"This'll make a good seat," said one of the boys, as he sat down the large tree. He was joined by the majority of the group.
Claudine couldn't believe this. They had so much available to them yet they weren't going to take advantage of it. This kind of class would be like a field trip at her old school, and all they wanted to do was sit there.
She felt so out of place standing in front of them, watching them sit and talk on the log. It seemed like none of them wanted to work. Claudine unfastened the bag of mushrooms and began spreading them next to the stream and near some vines close to some sort of a hedge. She knew that forest gnomes lived by water, and there was a stream, so she guessed she'd just have to wait.
She walked back to the log, and sat down at one edge next to a girl with dark hair.
"I guess we'll just wait then," she told the group meekly. They paid no attention, and just continued talking.
Claudine stared at the ground. She tried to pick up on some of their conversations; maybe she'd find something to add, or would they think she was eavesdropping?
'Oh well,' she thought, hopefully I'll have a new group tomorrow.
She continued to listen to their conversations over the babble of the stream.
"Yeah, I guess we need a new seeker,eh?" she heard one of them say. There was a long silence that followed.
Claudine looked around at the faces. They looked very uncomfortable and sullen. The girl next to her was looking to the brown clay on the ground.
Dan shifted suddenly, and pointed at the mushrooms that were sprinkled on the ground. The group cocked their heads to see what he was pointing at. Nibbling on the red mushrooms was a small, green, knobby forest Gnome. It was about seven inches high with beady black eyes and one-inch stubs for legs and arms. It sat down on the mucky ground and gathered a pile of mushrooms and began to feast on them.
"How are we going to get him?" said a voice behind Claudine.
"I say we surround him and try and grab nim."
"We should throw a bag over his head."
"No, just grab him like a normal gnome."
"I don't know. This one has teeth."
Sure enough the forest gnome did have two prominent fangs protruding from his small, lip less mouth.
"Let's try and trap him, before he gets away."
The group of hufflepuffs and one gryffindor encircled the small gnome. The gnome didn't seem to notice as he gorged on the thick stumps of the mushrooms.
"Okay. I'm going to try and get him. Be ready to stop him if I miss." Daniel whispered quietly to the group.
He made his move. His hand shot out and captured the gnome around its chubby waist. The gnome's arms and legs flailed, bearing its fangs.
The group cheered and gave Dan a short applause.
"What are we supposed to do with it now?" he said raising the gnome above his head, still struggling to free itself.
"Umm, I guess we could put him in the mushroom bag." Claudia said, handing Dan the bag.
"Thanks."
Dan dropped the gnome into the bag gingerly, but just as he uncoiled his last finger. The gnome dug its fangs into the deep flesh of his hand.
"Damn it!" Dan yelled as he shook the gnome from his hand. One of the girls quickly retrieved it from the ground and dropped it in the bag.
"Stupid gnome bit me!"
Immediately the bite began to swell and turn green.
"Uhh, we have to get the venom out of it!" Claudine panicked as she struggled to make her way over to Dan.
She clasped her hand around the wound and began to suck on the bite, spitting out the poison on to the ground. Dan grimaced.
"Someone get some water from the stream," Claudine yelled to the others in between breaths.
A stout girl brought back a hanker chief soaked with the black water from the stream.
"It burns," Dan whispered as Claudine put the damp rag on the bite.
"You'll be fine," she said soothingly, "Let's go find Hagrid, and see what he thinks."
"Yeah, leave it to Hagrid to make us capture some god forsaken creature with poisonous fangs!" he said through a pain-filled daze.
Claudine helped him walk along the narrow, trampled path back to the empty padock in the grounds.
"Hagrid!" one of the group members called. The voice echoed and bounced off the thick trees near the entrance to the forest.
Hagrid appeared out of the forest, twigs entangled in his long, wild hair.
"Hagrid come here," a girl yelled, "Dan gotten bit!"
Hagrid made his way casually over to the group, an unworried expression on his face.
"Bit," he said in his gruff voice, "By what?"
"By a Gnome!" Dan said, exasperated.
"But-," Hagrid looked confused, "Forest Gnomes don't get fangs 'til matin' season, which isn't 'til spring."
"Well," said the girl with dark curly hair, "This one had fangs, and it looked just like you described them. But, thank god Claudine knew what to do, otherwise Dan's hand would be like a balloon right now---"
Claudine felt her cheeks go red.
"She did this thing. She said something about getting the venom out. So she got it out and helped Dan back to the grounds."
Hagrid looked at Daniel's hand and took off the rag. He glanced at the bite, but then his face went white and he dropped the damp cloth.
"Ya didn't put water from the black brook on it, did ya?" Hagrid said to the group.
"Yes," Claudine stuttered, worried at the look on Hagrid's face, "umm, I thought it would be good for it. umm, You know, relieve some swelling."
"Yeh, better go up 'n see Madame Pomfrey," he said to Dan, "Ya go with him, Trina. Tell her what's happened."
Dan and Trina hurried up to the castle, leaving the group with Hagrid in the bare padock.
"Next time somthin' happens," Hagrid said, wiping his hand on his face, "Let me know before you do anything your not sure of. The forest's very dangerous if yeh don't know what your messin' with."
Claudine felt awful. The pride she felt before for taking charge was totally replaced with a feeling of weight in her stomach.
"What's wrong with the water, Hagrid?" one of the girls in the back asked shyly.
"Somethin's just disturbin' the natral balance," Hagrid said, "That's all."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, sorry for the variance on chapter lengths, this one's rather lengthy. O well. Umm, yah, I 'd really like you to review and answer a few questions for me:
Now that the characters are developing better, who is your favourite?
A name for the new defence against the dark arts teacher? Gender? Ethnicity?
Do you think one of the twins should go for/out with Harry, Weasleys, Draco?
Thanks very much! Happy reading!