A/N: ok, I think this is my favorite
chapter so far. Why? I don't know, its pretty. Anyways, I was very disappointed
with the last chapter and my lack of reviews. I only got three reviews, I
think… And AOL has been a bástárd to me as well, they won't let me upload
chapters or go to any sites…-::::::sigh::::::-…read and review please.
Students streamed into the halls
as soon as the first bell rang, signaling the end of breakfast. The younger youth
ran hurriedly into classrooms to their right and left. The others took their
time, conversing as they strolled down the path to their destinations. Another
small bell tinkled magically from somewhere in the depths of the school. This
elegant sound signaled the start of their first lessons. The halls were nearly
empty now, except for a few careless students and every once in a while, a
prankster or two.
A girl with thick, curly, black hair walked out of the Grand Hall. She
stopped about five feet from the door and bent her head over her bag. She took
out a black hair band that matched her robes and tied her hair back, taking her
time. Another girl wearing violet robes with straight, brown, waist-length hair
walked out of the Grand Hall and closed the huge redwood doors behind her; they
were the last ones out. The two girls walked down the corridor together to
Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Monique,
are we late? Do you think we will be in trouble?" asked the straight haired
girl carelessly with a thick French accent, sneering at a few first years that
shrank under her gaze.
"Colette, what is
today's date?" asked Monique with an accent to match her friend's.
"The thirtieth of August… what does
it matter?" Colette answered, thinking hard, was it Monique's birthday?
"Remember? Monsieur will be
absent today so the substitute cannot yell. He gave us a schedule last year,
you know, of those meetings he has?" she turned to her friend and saw her
looking puzzled. "Oh, Colette, sometimes I think someone must have flushed your
brain down the toilet!" she snapped as realization dawned on Colette's
face.
"Oh yeah, I forgot! I hate this
teacher's schedule! He is always going to meetings! I wonder what idiot
substitute we are having today. Anyone is better than what we had last time."
Colette replied apologetically. A pearly white ghost appeared in front of them
through a side wall. She had thick white glasses and sported a notepad and
quill. Her old fashioned robes were garnished with an elegant blue ribbon. She
glared at them.
"The start
of class bell has already sounded!!! You are almost late! I will have to take
you to the Principal's office in another thirty seconds! Hurry, or come with
me!" She said sternly, yelling every word clearly, making her voice boom
through the halls.
"Oh, shut
up! Can't you see we're trying to get to class?" Monique yelled as she walked
right passed it, Colette catching up a few feet behind her.
They had reached the end of the
corridor and turned into a large room to their right. Presently there was a
young woman with her back turned to them, shuffling through a cabinet. She had
long, white-gold hair that ended at her waist. Colette and Monique slipped into
two seats in the front row. They took out their books and sat facing front,
hands folded, as they do in every other class.
A small bell tinkled elegantly throughout
the school. This was the true late bell, the one the students are sent to the
principal's office for, if they arrive after it sounds. The young woman stood
up, faced the class and smiled brightly. Her eyes flicked to Colette and
Monique, to whom she shot a patronizing look for being late. She looked around
the class, smiling beautifully, making every male's heart float away. She
turned to a black board and traced letters on it with her wand, delicately.
They spelled out 'Madame Delacour'.
"Hello class. I am Madame Delacour.
I will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts for the next hour because
your teacher could not attend class today. Lets speak in French today since I
know it and understand it." She said every word with smile. Even though
she spoke English fluently, she decided to show it off at another time and let
these kids speak with ease. Madame Delacour started making a list of topics
they had already covered on the board. She had her back turned as students,
mostly boys, called out previous lessons.
"I don't
think she is human. Look at the boys." Colette whispered quietly in French,
giggling at the goggling faces of seventeen fifteen-year-old boys.
"Perhaps
they are idiots, or maybe she is part Veela. Her French has a southern twist to
it. The south is practically made up of veelas these days." Monique replied
thoughtfully.
"Okay
class, lets turn to page three eighty four. Who would like to read this passage
on counter-curses?" Madame Delacour asked the class. All the boys, and a few
girls raised their wands. The young professor smiled at a brown haired boy in
the front row who began reading immediately. He was interrupted by a soft click
at the door.
"Come in."
asked Madame Delacour curiously. A plain looking ghost wearing old fashioned robes
and an almost bald head glided into the room. He put away his clicker and stood
facing Madame Delacour.
"Monsieur
Lumiere would like Monique Chevalier and Jean Rovelli to attend a meeting in
his office now." The ghost said importantly.
"Will
Miss Chevalier and Mr. Rovelli accompany the ghost to the principal's office,
please?" asked Madame Delacour, switching back to English, it was something she
did when she was startled. Monique stood up and walked out the door, giving
Colette a puzzled look. A tall, handsome boy with tightly curled black hair
walked with Monique, shrugging at his friend and smiling at her.
They followed the ghost up a
glossy staircase that seemed to be made of ice, but not nearly as cold, and
into a red walled and gold tiled corridor. They stopped at a huge gold door,
trimmed with elegant red designs of foliage. The ghost took out his clicker,
which to Monique resembled a remote control that she had seen in Muggle
Studies. He clicked it three times and a deep voice said 'Come in'.
They walked into a circular room
with mirrored walls. At the far end of the room, was a beautifully carved
wooden bear. It shifted uncomfortably under the weight of a huge smoothly cut
piece of glass that was apparently stuck to it. On top of the desk were several
rolls of parchment, quills, and a barn owl. Around the room were several
squishy bean bags and comfortable armchairs, and three crimson and gold striped
file cabinets. Finally, behind the bear-desk, sat Monsieur Lumiere, a tall man
with an ugly sneer pasted on his face that made his otherwise tolerable
features look distorted and sinister. He waved them inside and asked them to
sit down. Monique and Jean sat side by side in two silver bean bags. The ghost
flew across the room and squeezed itself into a small clear plastic bottle.
"Good morning Jean, Monique." He
said expectantly.
"Good morning Monsieur Lumiere."
They said in unison.
"I have called you two here
regarding the requests that your parents made." They looked at him, puzzled. He
sighed and explained impatiently, "Your parents have requested an exchange
program between Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and The Wizarding
Institute of Calais. We have not been able to fulfill their wishes completely
but if you are willing, I have arranged for you to get the rest of your
education at Hogwarts, starting the day after tomorrow. Tell me if you agree to
that." Jean nodded, not at all hesitant. Monique, however, had to think about
it.
Why in the world would her crabby,
ill-tempered adoptive parents want her to go to Hogwarts? It seemed as if they
were placed on the earth to make her life miserable. For as long as she could
recall, her father had been bossing her around, teaching her cruel spells and
blackmailing her if she told anybody of it. Her mother never even pretended to
like her. She had wondered on many occasions why they had even adopted a child.
All that Monique Chevalier knew about her background was that she was born in
England and left in an orphanage. She didn't even know her real last name. And
now she didn't know why her parents wanted her back there. After all, they were
always talking about what a horrible place England is and how Monique should be
grateful that they rescued her from such a hellhole.
"Miss Chevalier?" asked a booming
voice, pushing into her thoughts. Monique looked up at the sneering face of her
headmaster. She thought about it for another minute. Going to Hogwarts meant
that she would leave her parents at last. She could do well without Colette,
she wasn't much of a friend. Maybe in England she could look for her biological
family. Get information on them if they really are dead as her parents said…
"Yes. Yes, I'll do it." She said
at last.
"Excellent." Monsieur Lumiere
folded his hands and dismissed them. He nodded at his messenger ghost who
disappeared with a pop to deliver the message and stared hungrily into space.
-:- -:-
-:-
Minerva
McGonagall sat in her office, preparing lesson plans for next week's first
classes. She heard a small yelp from outside her door. With a creak, it opened
five inches and a small owl flew in. Wondering how it managed to open the door,
she opened the letter tied to it's leg. She read the two sentences, threw the
paper down, and puffed out of the room. She ran up to a stone gargoyle and
yelled 'Godiva!', wondering once again, what in the world that was supposed to
mean. She flew up the already moving steps, quite unsteadily, and banged on the
door. She heard a faint 'Come in', slammed the door open and stomped up to the
old headmaster's desk.
She said
as calmly and as collectively as she could, "Professor, I have gotten countless
owls this week with the exact same message on each! It seems that students
still haven't-"
"-Received
their supply lists or admissions in the case of first years. I know, I know,
Minerva. I've gotten a few myself." Professor Dumbledore said through a sip of
his morning coffee. "Come in, Remus.", he said turning to the still-open door
where Remus Lupin stood, wearing robes in relatively good conditions. The man
walked in, looking amusedly at Minerva McGonagall's balled up fists.
"Have you
heard? We have sent out at least three owls to each student so far with their
supply lists, admission slips, and what not and apparently none have reached
them! Now I've been getting owls every ten minutes with complaints!!" she fumed
once more, looking extremely frustrated.
"Yeah, the
most recent one pecked my head into opening your door." He said gravely,
massaging his head. "Do you know what's intercepting the owls?"
"No. I'm
working on a way to get them the letters however." He said to McGonagall, then
he turned to Lupin, "Anything new? Do you want to quit?" asked Dumbledore as
McGonagall left, to complain to another one of her colleagues, no doubt.
"No, I have
no reason to right now, but I might soon. Lumiere seems suspiciously concerned
for me and desperately wants me teaching at his school, however. He's sending
two students here for the year, I believe?"
"Yes,
Monique Chevalier and Jean Rovelli. Apparently their parents insisted on their
coming here. Do you have any idea why?" he asked intently, looking over his
half-moon glasses.
"No, but it
seems peculiar to me. The girl – Monique – I've been teaching her for about a
year and a half. She's an orphan, and said that she was born in England. Her
adoptive parents supposedly hated it so much here that they decided to move to
France to give her a better life. She comes by my office quite often, just to
chat most of the time, she seems very lonely."
"Does she
have friends?" asked Dumbledore, slightly concerned.
"Well, she
travels with a group of girls most of the time, but so does everyone else. I've
never seen her make an attempt to be friendly. Maybe coming to Hogwarts will be
good for her." He said walking towards the door.
"Where are
you running off to, you have the whole day off. Why don't you stay for lunch?"
"Snuffles
said he needed to work something out with me and I need to pay a visit to
Arabella. I'll come back later, goodbye." said Lupin, descending the stairs to
the stone gargoyle.
"Yes, later." Dumbledore stood up
and closed the door. Just as he did, a ghost glided in from the side wall and
bowed low to old man. He stood up, smoothed his robes and walked up to the
headmaster's desk just as the man himself sat down behind it.
He cleared
his throat loudly. "Messenger and Servant of Monsieur Lumiere, headmaster of
The Wizarding Institute of Calais." He said, sticking his nose up in the air
and puffing out his chest pompously.
"What can I
do for you?" smiled Dumbledore.
"Monsieur
Lumiere has sent me here with a message. I am to inform you that it is final.
Mademoiselle Chevalier and Monsieur Rovelli will begin their fifth year of
training in wizardry at Hogwart's day after tomorrow. They will arrive on the
train to Hogsmeade and be escorted with their peers." He bowed once more after
Dumbledore nodded, straightened up and walked through the window, to the
grounds. There was a knock at the door. For the third time that day, the words
'Come in' passed through the old man's lips. Severus Snape walked in.
"I couldn't
help but overhear, Professor. That was a ghost?" he asked looking around the
room.
"Yes, a
very pompous one indeed," he said with a smile, "What brings you here,
Severus?"
"I was just
called. Voldemort seems sure that he will get Potter this year. He still
doesn't trust me; I asked him why he thought he could defeat Potter and he
threw a fire jinx at me, I ducked it but it got a bit of my finger…" he held up
his burned right index finger. The second he did, Fawkes the phoenix flew
across the room from his perch and started crying on the finger. Snape watched,
slightly startled as it healed instantly. He flexed it and turned to Dumbledore
again. "He mentioned something about having inside help. As soon as he did, two
death eaters nodded, I couldn't tell who they were however. Can you make
anything of it?"
"Hmm… did
he mention anything about Calais?"
"Erm… no he
didn't but I suspect Lumiere may have something to do with it. The two
followers that nodded usually show up at meetings with word from Lumiere or
information from the school."
"Perhaps something
will arrive on the Express."
-:- -:-
-:-
Ronald
Weasley walked into the Granger's kitchen the next morning, scratching is
flaming head. He had changed into a pair of black jeans and a red t-shirt and
sank heavily into one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table. Hermione was
sitting next to him with a piece of toast that she had been nibbling on.
"Hi, Ron.
Did you sleep well?" asked Mrs. Granger, setting down a plate of buttered toast
in front of him.
"Not
really. What was all that racket in the middle of the night? Its not always
like that is it? Was I just hearing things?" he asked sleepily.
"No." she laughed,
"I think the noise was from our new neighbors across the street. They moved in
yesterday. Your father went over to visit them. They're a couple, the
Fletchers." She looked around, "Where's Harry?"
"Right
here," said Harry sitting down and poking at his toast in the same half-hearted
way as Ron, "What was all that noise?"
"New
neighbors." Said Hermione shortly.
"Its funny,
I swear I heard someone scream 'Sirius Black' in all the racket." said Harry,
turning to Hermione, "Are they wizards or was I just dreaming?" he asked as
Mrs. Granger walked out of the kitchen-dining room.
"I don't
know… we can go check." Hermione had just barely finished her sentence when a
streak of red flew in through the window, hit the wall and fell on the floor.
The trio leapt off their seats and looked at the floor where the red something
had crashed. It appeared to be a red paper airplane. Harry picked it up and
opened it while Ron walked up to the open window to see who or what threw it.
"What is
it?" Hermione asked Harry, she was standing facing him while he read the
letter.
"Our
Hogwarts letters." Said Harry while reading the list.
"The Bloody Barron!" exclaimed
Ron, pointing to something out the window.
"What?"
Hermione said, running to the window, Harry following her. The sinister
Slytherin ghost turned around when Ron had called his name and he glided up to
the window.
"Did you
throw this airplane?" asked Harry cautiously; none of them had ever tried
speaking to this ghost before. He glared at them for a moment before nodding.
"How did
you…hold it?" asked Ron, wondering if this was a sensitive subject. He
pointed to a ghost-bag on his back; it was filled with similar solid letters.
"Why are
the ghost delivering them to us?" asked Hermione eagerly, as if this was a
regular class and she didn't already know the entire lesson plan. He ignored
her and ran out of the Granger's yard, to the next household.
"Weird. I
wonder what's wrong with the owls." said Ron, still looking out the window.
"Who cares what's
wrong with owls! We have to go to Diagon Alley today. Its going to be so
crowded, we should go right now!" said Hermione, in a mild state of panic.
"After
breakfast, Hermione." Harry said through a mouthful of toast.
-:- -:-
-:-
A click
sounded outside Monsieur Lumiere's office. He sighed, exasperated. Chaos had
struck in a third year potions classroom and some idiotic girl practically blew
up the whole thing. He had been calculating the expenses and it turned out that
it would take approximately seven thousand galleons to fix. He had thought
about making the room less extravagant by leaving out the gold floor tiles, the
platinum window frames, or the crystal windows themselves but just the image of
a room without such luxuries made his steel heart sink with shame. Another
click was heard, and he sighed once more.
"Come in."
the ghost walked in tentatively, he knew his master was in a flammable mood.
"What
horrible news have you brought me?" he snarled.
"Headmaster,
I don't bring bad news, important news. I was just at Dumbledore's office to
deliver your message; you know the one about the exchange students. I stood in
between the walls of his office and another classroom, very cleverly indeed. I
did it because I thought I would like to catch the man at a time when he is
alone. So I stood in between the doors, master, and I listened and saw a little
too, but just a little bit, not enough to make out faces, or even gender-"
"Get to the
point!" he barked at his servant.
"Yes,
master. I stood in between the walls and heard a lot. First, someone walked
into the room and they discussed something about how the students haven't been
receiving letters. What letters could they have been talking of?" he asked
curiously.
"Hogwarts
students receive letters at the beginning of term. I believe they are admission
slips or supply list or something like that. Stupid idea, really, to trust
those children with anything. Dumbledore should do as we do and provide
supplies for his students, it's the practical way." He said, distracted. Then
he snapped back and waved his hands for the ghost to continue.
"He said
there were problems with the owls. Then someone else walked in and he joined
the conversation. After the first person walked out, they talked about the
exchange students and he asked the person if he wanted to quit or something
like that, I don't quite remember." He paused to think.
"That's
what I get for having a ghost for a messenger!" Lumiere muttered under his
breath. "Get on with it." He said impatiently.
"Ok, sorry
that's all I remember of the second visitor. He walked out and then I walked in
and gave Dumbledore the message. Then, I'm sorry master, I walked out through
the outer wall. I sensed someone else walked in to the room and I wanted to listen
but I couldn't get back in, there must be some shield charms or anti-ghost
charms on it." The ghost finished.
"That
information was pointless and not at all important. Why did you feel you had to
tell me?" the man said, very disappointed.
"Pardon me,
master. On my way here, I was still able to remember the information but I
suppose there was a lot and it seemed important to me, especially the second
man's words but I don't remember now at all….do you?" asked the ghost politely.
"Only what you told me. You are a
two thousand year old ghost, did you know that? Your age is the only reason you
can't remember anything more than a sentence! I really ought to get a new
messenger…" he trailed off, looking into space and waving his finger at the clear
plastic bottle. The ghost muttered 'two thousand years! My, that is a long
time! I don't remember being that old!' and squeezed once more into the
bottle. Lumiere pulled a piece of parchment out of his filing cabinet and began
writing to a letter to the owner of Café a la Magic, including a
specific list of furniture and supplies to buy from the hidden alley behind the
shop for his now destroyed potions laboratory.
K, that's
all, didya like it? I think I change my mind, its not that good a chapter, I know
it was kinda confusing. If you have any
questions, ask in your reviews and I'll try to answer them… oh yeah,
review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REVIEW!!!,
please?
