Chapter 14: …And Back
"Wake
up, hairy Gary!" Janie yelled, shaking the boy, "You have to get up or you'll
be late!"
"Oh,
I don't wanna go," he groaned, tugging the sheets over his head sleepily.
"Oh
c'mon. School's fun."
"Not
muggle school," he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Groggily,
Harry sat up, giving his head a shake. He fumbled around for his glasses, slipping them on lazily. Looking around the room, he realized that
the only indication in it that it was a school day was the fact that Eric
wasn't still sprawled in bed. He
stumbled down the stairs and grinned a drowsy good morning at Mr. and Mrs.
Riley. Eric was already at the table
and looking like he was about to take a nap on his bacon. Harry sat next to him and tried to keep his
eyes open as he ate.
"I
sure pity your teachers," Mrs. Riley smiled, "They'll probably have to speak
throw a megaphone just to keep your guys awake."
"Setting
off firecrackers would work better," Janie chirped in.
"Hurry
and eat, you three, or you'll be late for the bus."
Eric
and Harry managed to wake up enough to devour the food and then they hurried
upstairs and got ready. When they came
back downstairs, Mrs. Riley took Harry aside, wanting to speak with him alone.
"You
sure you're okay with this, Gary?"
Harry
nodded. "Yeah, it's no problem."
"Just
your parents and I feel that it would be better if you continued learning, even
though you're past fifteen. Besides,
you wouldn't want to hang out here by yourself all day."
"I'm
fine with it, really. I'll just miss
sleeping in."
"Oh,
you're a wonderful boy, Gary. Now you'd
better get going or you'll be late."
He,
Eric, and Janie headed out the door a few minutes later and got to the bus stop
a little ahead of the bus. As they
waited, Harry couldn't help but think of Hogwarts. Everyone would be on the trains right now, heading back to
school. He wondered if they knew that
he was gone and what they would do when they found out. The Ministry seemed relentless in their
search for Harry, so the boy figured he'd be here for a while. Away from school, away from quidditch, away
from his friends and…
As
the bus pulled up, he quickly wiped his eyes, realizing tears had come to
them. Eric must of seen this and
realized Harry missed his old school, for he quickly pulled Harry over to a
group of boys.
"I'll
introduce to my friends, Gary. They're
a bit younger than you, but they're really cool."
Harry
spent the trip listening to the friends talk about Christmas, New Year's, and,
of course, football. As they pulled up
to the dull, brick building, Harry's heart sank. For some reason, even vague to him, he had expected a
castle. The square building with a
wrought iron surrounding the dreary grounds was as un-Hogwarts-ish as you could
get.
After
getting a few things from Eric's locker, he and Harry wandered the halls a bit,
Eric informing the boy of what classes they would have.
"First
there's European history with Mr. Martin. He is the coolest teacher that has ever lived! And then there's English with Mrs. Gouter. I'm depressed just thinking about it. And then there's Chemistry with-"
The
bell rang suddenly, cutting Eric off.
"I'll
tell you later. Let's get to class."
When
they entered the class, Harry found quite a few kids already there, talking
adamantly. He glanced up to the front
of the class, and then did a double take. Standing there was what he could only take to be the teacher. He had a big brown bushy mustache and hair
that would almost rival Bill Weasley's. His eyes looked almost black in color, but twinkled in much the same way
as Dumbledore's. Of course, his face
wasn't what made Harry stare; it was his clothes.
Harry
could swear that he had seen such clothing somewhere before, but couldn't quite
put his finger on it. Perched on the
man's head was what looked like an old-fashioned admiral's hat. His pants were past his knees and too tight
to be in style, while what looked like his socks came right up and met the
pants. The rest of the outfit simply
defied description in Harry's mind.
"Is
that Mr. Martin?" he muttered to Eric.
"Yep."
"Er…are
all the lights on upstairs?"
Eric
laughed. "Yeah. Mr. Martin just has a different way of
teaching."
The
bell rang and the teacher turned around, looking down his nose at all of them.
"Goot
morning," he began in a false French accent, "I shall be your substitute
today. My nam' iz Napoleon Bonaparte,"
a little titter came from the class, "Qviet! 'Oo dares laugh vhen Napoleon iz speaking? Zis iz your varning not to do it again!"
He
pulled out a paper and glanced down at it. "I am now supposed to be seeing if you are 'ere, so say so vhen I say
your name."
'Napoleon'
began to call role, making a little comment about each name.
"Anderson,
Julia. Vat is vith zat? 'Oo vould name 'er son 'Julia'? 'And 'er son, Julia.' Zat sentence iz even a fragment! Ackroyd, Floyd. Floyd Ackroyd; tongue tvister if I ever 'eard vun."
The
whole class was chuckling. He made his
way down the list, reducing the class to laughter with each name.
"Trotter,
Gary. Ah, Gary Trotter, Gary
Trotter. Vhere iz 'e, vhere iz 'e? Trot up 'ere now, Gary Trotter. Up, up!" the man said, gesturing
impatiently.
Harry
wavered, unsure if he was really supposed to go up.
"Up
'ere, Gary Trotter! 'esitate for Napoleon
any longer, and you shall no longer be able to 'esitate."
At
this, Harry hurried up. The teacher
took him by the shoulder, making him face the class.
"Zis
iz Gary Trotter. 'e iz sixteen and iz
visiting Eric Riley. Vhere are you
from, Gary Trotter?"
"Er…
England," Harry answered nervously.
"Ah,
Inkland, land of ze tea drinkers. You
are really from zer? Oh, zen you 'ave
my pity, Gary Trotter. Inklanders are
not nearly as refined as ve French."
Harry
laughed, his nervousness fading.
" 'urry back to your seat, Gary Trotter, for I am no'
used to being near such a being of inferiority," Mr. Martin said, his nose high
in the air.
Harry
sat back down next to Eric and Mr. Martin continued the role taking. As soon as he finished, he put down the paper
with a slap and began to slowly pace the room, his hand in his shirt.
"Vell,
since I am not ze superbly ingenious 'istory teacher zat Mr. Martin is," he
said solemnly, "I shall tell you experiences of my life. Vat vould you like to 'ear about?"
"A battle!"
Eric yelled out quickly.
"Ah,
but I have vun so many glorious battles, it vould be 'ard to choose vun."
"Waterloo!"
someone else cried out.
"Vaterloo? I don't recall zis Vaterloo. Pick anozer."
"But
Waterloo was when you-"
"I
said I am no' remembering zis Vaterloo! Pick anozer!" he cried, nostrils flaring.
Harry
was a little alarmed, but the rest of the class just laughed. Apparently it was normal for Mr. Martin to
get so into his roles. The rest of the
class period passed much the same, and Harry found it very easy to actually
remember what he had learned. He
mentioned this to Eric, who didn't act surprised.
"That's
the coolest thing about Mr. Martin. He
tries to make things fun and so we actually learn. Oh, but I have English next," he groaned, "Set your mind to
'bored'."
"Huh?"
"You'll
see."
When
Harry entered the next classroom, he expected to see an old ogre-like creature
sitting at the desk. Instead there was
a woman with blond hair who looked more like Professor Connerly than
McGonagall. She looked pleasant enough,
reading a book through round glasses perched on the tip of her nose.
After
the bell rang, she put the book away and called role. Then she told everyone to take out his or her book and she gave
one to Harry. Oliver Twist. He'd read it
a couple of summers ago, it being one of the numerous untouched books on the
shelves of Dudley's 2nd room. Being able to identify with the main character, he'd rather enjoyed
reading it. He imagined, though, that
it was possibly what Eric found so boring about the class.
Then
Mrs. Gouter began to read aloud to the class, and Harry knew why the
class was boring. It wasn't the book's
fault. Mrs. Gouter read in such a
monotone voice that Harry felt himself trying to keep awake before they had
finished five pages. He even tried to
block out her voice, but its dullness penetrated any attempt. By the end of the class period, Harry's
brains felt like mush and he had no idea what they had just read.
"That
was horrible," he remarked to Eric as they headed for lunch.
"If
you think that was bad, wait 'till chemistry with Ms. Snape."
Harry
stopped dead in his tracks. "Ms.-Ms…Ms.
Snape?"
"Uh,
yeah. What is it?"
"Er…I
had a chemistry teacher with the last name 'Snape'," Harry answered, trying not
to panic.
"Hey,
I wonder if they're related."
"Yeah,
I wonder…"
They
sat down to lunch and again Harry thought about Hogwarts, and its wonderful
feasts. The stuff on his plate right
now was just depressing. Having no
desire to eat, Harry chatted with Eric and his friends, all seemingly in awe
that a sixteen-year-old was willing to talk to them.
The
carefree air, however, was shattered when a barn owl suddenly soared into the
cafeteria. Gasps rose from every mouth,
along with a couple of screams. Harry
felt the color drain from his face as it headed straight for him. It landed on his plate, scattering food
everywhere, and then held out the letter tied to its leg. He quickly snatched the parchment up and the
owl took off once more, a few people ducking away from it.
"What
in the world was that?" Eric gaped, the whole student body staring at Harry.
"Uh,
my friend John's pet owl. He's, um,
trained to carry letters. I guess John
wanted to surprise me, hehe," Harry said, trying to laugh it off.
"What
is going on over here?" a voice came suddenly, "Who let that bird in? You, boy!"
Harry
turned around to find what could only be Ms. Snape. There was no doubt about it, she and Snape were related. She looked just like him, except her hair wasn't
so greasy and her nose wasn't so hooked.
"What
is your name?" she spat.
"G-Gary
Trotter," Harry stuttered, making sure his bangs covered his scar.
"And
what do you think you're doing letting an owl in? Did you think it would be funny? Decided to have a good laugh, hm?"
"I-"
"What
is that you have there? Give it to me,"
she commanded, holding out her hand for the letter.
"But
it's personal!"
"Then
you shouldn't have had an owl deliver it. Hand it over now!"
"Vat
iz going on 'ere?"
To
Harry's relief, Mr. Martin just arrived, still decked out in his Napoleon
outfit.
"Napoleon
demands an answer!" he continued.
"This
boy had a note delivered via owl," Ms. Snape answered, looking at the man
coolly.
"My-my
friend sent it, Profes-er, Mr. Martin! He does strange stuff like this all the time, but I promise it won't
happen again."
"Vell
zen, Napoleon iz satisfied. Care to
join me for zis delightful meal, Juniata?" he asked, leading her away by the
shoulder.
"You're
a mental case, Tyron," she sighed, letting him escort her.
"You
are SO lucky that Mr. Martin came along!" Eric exclaimed as soon as the
teachers were out of earshot, "She probably would have read it aloud to all of
her classes."
"I'm
gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" Harry asked hastily before taking off down the
hall.
It
didn't matter that he didn't know where the bathroom was. All Harry wanted was a quiet spot to read
the note. Sirius had been adamant about
only muggle contact, so this had to be important. With a thumping heart, he opened the letter.
YOU CAN'T FOOL
ME, HARRY POTTER. ENJOY YOUR TIME WITH
THE RILEYS, BUT HEED THIS WARNING. BEWARE THE DEATH EATERS' APPROACH, FOR THEY FOLLOW YOU AND WILL LET NO
ONE GET IN THEIR WAY.
Harry's
hands shook visibly and his breath became labored. Then tears came to his eyes, traveling down his cheeks. He leaned against the wall and slid down,
unable to hold himself up. He stared at
the note in his hands and then angrily tore it into pieces, throwing it to the
ground. Holding his knees tight, he
sobbed into them.
"No…no,
it can't happen," he cried, "I'm Gary Trotter. Harry Potter is gone; he's gone. Oh why does this have to happen to me?"
The
bell rang and Harry quickly wiped his tears, finding Eric still in the
cafeteria. They headed to chemistry,
Eric oblivious to Harry's silence. They
took their seats near the back of the room, Harry praying that Ms. Snape
wouldn't recognize him. As soon as the
bell rang, she whipped out a test, much to the class' dismay.
Harry
stared blankly at the paper for the whole period. He knew he'd fail it, but didn't care. It wouldn't affect his future in the least. After chemistry, they headed for math. The teacher was Mrs. Knetch, but insisted
that they call her Frita. She was
almost as much fun as Mr. Martin.
On
the way home, Harry's thoughts fell once again on the note. For the first time, he wondered how they had
gotten it to him. After all, no one but
Arabella and Sirius knew where he was. If this person could find out with such apparent ease, then
Voldemort… Harry shuddered to think.
But
he was able to forget his worries once more when they arrived home. Mrs. Riley had made cookies to celebrate
their surviving their first day back and he and Eric talked at the bottom of
the stairs while eating them.
"Gary,
Gary, Gary!" squealed a voice as Harry felt something pounce on his back and
hold on.
He
stumbled, but managed to stay standing, realizing it was Janie who was hanging
on him.
"You
just have to hear the tape my American pen pal sent me! It is so-o cool!"
"Maybe
I can if you stop choking me," Harry laughed, slightly raspy.
She
quickly hopped off, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs.
"You
coming, Eric?" Harry called over his shoulder.
The
boy just sighed and trudged up the stairs in his
I-can't-believe-I'm-related-to-her way. Janie rushed into her room, nearly pulling Harry off his feet. Harry could barely hear himself think
through the music. Janie didn't seem to
mind, though.
"Oh,
oh! This is such a cool song! I love the lyrics!" she yelled and
then, as if to prove her point, she stated singing along, dancing around the
room, "If you wanna be somebody else… If you're tired of losing battles with yourself… If you wanna be somebody else, change your
mi-i-i-ind!"
Eric
came in, shaking his head at what he saw. Harry walked over to him, beaming. Yelling over the music, he remarked, "Now this is my kind of song!"
Sirius-
I figured I ought to write to you about my first day at muggle
school. Hehe, I'll get you for this. It's actually okay. Some of the
teachers are pretty…interesting. There's one in particular that I wanted
to ask you about. Her name is Juniata Snape and she teaches chemistry.
I was wondering if you knew if she is related to Snape, because they look
like twins.
I got an owl today. It was one of those prophecy notes, you know
the ones I told you about? It's kind of grim. Well, keep me updated on the
wanderings of the wizarding world.
-Harry
Harry
read over the letter once more, feeling satisfied. It sounded nice and casual, not too rushed. He didn't want to worry Sirius, but didn't
want to keep anything from him either. He sealed it up in its envelope and turned off the light, determined to
send it the next morning.
"Your
dad sent you a letter today," Mrs. Riley informed Harry when he got home
sometime the next week.
Harry eagerly took it upstairs, reading it in the bathroom so Eric wouldn't happen to glance over his shoulder and read what he shouldn't read.
Harry-
Juniata Snape is your chemistry teacher? Ha, poor little Juni.
She's Snape's little sister and a squib (yes, Snape has a squib in the
family, however unbelievable that may be) and we Marauders made a
point to terrorize her each chance we got. A chemistry teacher? Man, I
almost feel sorry for teasing her all those years. Almost.
How in the world did they send you an owl?! That's not a good
sign, Harry. I know you're sick of hearing this, but be careful. Don't do
anything I would do.
Well, I hope you're enjoying yourself. My search has yet to yield
something, but I'm hopeful.
Your godfather,
-Sirius
After
he got over the surprise of finding Snape had a sister, Harry felt pretty
relieved. First of all, he was almost
afraid that Ms. Snape was actually Snape in disguise. That fear assuaged, Harry was glad that Sirius was able to joke
about the note. It was more than
comforting. That night he fell asleep
quickly. However, his dream that night
didn't help the situation.
~*~*~
A/N: Er…
Okay, if I totally messed up on the Irish school system thing, just kick
me. Figuratively speaking, oc. ^-^ The
only thing I could really find on it was that they're only mandatory to 15.
Well,
hope you enjoyed it. I'm SO looking
forward to writing the next 2 chapters. ^_^
Thanks
to all my reviewers!
Princess: Thanks. H&A forever! ^-^
Vmr: Thanks!
Jona: Well, thank you for getting your stuff up, but more! ^-^
Abbey: Yep, he's at school. I must say, though, I never expected Snape's sister to be there.
Jewels: Heehee… I have plans for our dear Hermione…
Daydreamer: Er…well, I bagged the research and flew by the seat of my pants instead. Oh well, it's up.
Lady Grizabella: Oh good, I try and put emotion in and I'm glad I've succeeded. And I have more plans for Ronnikins, too…
Indigo: O.O A little harsh, don't ya think? Oh well, if you think I'm that mean, then I'm doing good.
Tmd: *resists urge to give away the ending* Thanks!
Lukie Robinson: Thanks!!!
Kelly: Thanks! Er…maybe you can guess what the dream is gonna be? ^-^
Katrina Skyfrost: Thanks! I'm still debating whether or not the Rileys will ever know he's a wizard… hm…
The Raven of Death: Wowsers, thanks. I love making stomachs to flip-flops. ^-^
Moon Warrior: 'And party on, dudes!' Yep, I got that from the movie. Thanks; your stuff is good, too. I have to finish it still, though. ^-^
Rose Weasly: It may be a few more chapters before the end. Hehe…poor Fudgie. ^-^
Jannah: Climax is a bit of a while off. This is just a bit of a sidetrack. ^-^ Thanks!
Jake: Thanks!
Sweets: Thanks! Sorry for the wait.
Herm: Thanks!
Inscriffany: Thanks!!!
Angie: I will!
The Unicorn Tamer: Thanks!
You guys are great! Well, hopefully I'll get the next part up soon. (Hopefully)
Be excellent to each other!
-Ady
