The Story of Jessica Black



Chapter Eight: A Few Surprises



The next few weeks went by in a blur. Before they knew it, the entire school had arrived, and they were sitting in the noisy Great Hall, waiting for the sorting to finish so they could eat the feast they were famished for. Apparently, the house-elves in the kitchens didn't cook all day before this feast. Just as they felt they were going to die from hunger, the last first year was sorted ("Winchell, Helen" became a Ravenclaw), and Dumbledore stood to deliver a speech.

"I would like to say a few words before the feast, as all your ears are attentive, waiting for the delicious food we are about to enjoy. First of all, the annex off the Charms corridor, where many classes meet for Astronomy, is closed. No one should enter unless they wish to suffer the wrath of a very old, very disgruntled wizard. I'm being very serious. Next, I wish to present your new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor: Professor Snape." His last comment was received with groans and many students lost their appetite. Snape sneered through it all, a smug, self- satisfied look on his face. It was enough to make Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Jessica sick.

"Who's going to be Potions, then?" asked Ron. The others shrugged and looked back up to Professor Dumbledore, who had raised a hand for silence.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering who will be teaching you Potions. If I may introduce Professor Hardwell, your new Potions master." A blonde witch that looked very young stood from the table and nodded to the hall. "I expect you to show her as much respect as you have shown Professor Snape in that subject." Jessica glanced at Ron, whose mouth was hanging open, nearly drooling at the sight of Professor Hardwell. She rolled her eyes, then reached across the table and stuffed a biscuit in his mouth.

"With those last words, I give you the Start of Term banquet!" He clapped his hands, and food appeared up and down the tables. Ravenous, Harry and his friends began to pile food onto their plates as fast as they could go. Ron kept glancing up at the staff table to watch Professor Hardwell, who was apparently having a very animated conversation with Professor Flitwick. Hermione hit him hard on the head.

"Ouch!" he said, rubbing the back of his carrot-red hair, "What was that for?"

"She's a Professor, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, appalled.

"What, it's not like she can see me!" Ron said.

Hermione just shook her head, exasperated. She had begun to stop arguing with Ron, quite to Harry and Jessica's disappointment, as they enjoyed the entertainment immensely.

"Wonder what she's like, though?" Harry asked digging into his food.

"Dunno," Jessica said, "But she's gotta be better than Snape. Am I right?"

The others shrugged. They had no idea what to expect.



The next morning, the four were downstairs in the Great Hall eating breakfast. Malfoy swaggered over to their table, apparently very interested in Jessica.

"Who's the new addition, Potter?" he asked. Then, ignoring Harry, he extended a hand to Jessica. "I'm Draco Malfoy. And, if I may ask, did it hurt?"

Jessica eyed him suspiciously. "Did what hurt?" she asked, already thinking she knew the answer.

"Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven? Because all I see here is an angel." Hermione ducked under the table, unable to control her laughter. Harry shoved a bit of toast into his mouth to stifle the noise, and Ron didn't try to cover his laughter, he simply stood up and left the table, laughing merrily as he went along. Jessica swallowed her giggles down and said, "Well, no, actually, I used a cloud. Tell me, did it hurt you?"

Malfoy knew she wasn't just using his line back on him, so he asked, "Did what hurt?"

"When you burst through the ground when you were catapulted from Hell?" Hermione was rolling on the floor in silent laughter, and Harry was spraying bits of toast everywhere. Ron's laughter was heard louder from a way down the table where he had sat down to calm himself. Malfoy didn't look pleased.

"I should have known you would be just like them. A beautiful, dark girl like you belongs in Slytherin, not here with these monkeys. Or should I say, laughing hyenas?" With that he walked away. Jessica, wanting to have the last laugh, pointed her wand at him.

"Remalvio!" she whispered, and a large patch of hair disappeared from the back of Malfoy's head. She laughed to herself as Harry sat back up, cackling. Hermione dragged herself back up to the table, heaving from the effort of laughing, and Ron, still chuckling uncontrollably, came wandering back.

"That was great," Harry laughed, "I haven't seen Malfoy that stumped in ages!"

"And the hair," said Ron, "Nice touch!"

Jessica smiled, tucking her wand back into her robes. "I can't very well have a slimy git like that come over and start hitting on me without some revenge, now can I?" she said. A pile of schedules came down the table, and they each grabbed one. Ron scanned it once then slammed it down on the table.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, "We've got Potions with the Slytherins first today!"

Hermione gave him a scolding look. "Don't swear, Ron, and besides, I thought you wanted to see Professor Hardwell up close."

It was Ron's luck that Professor Hardwell had come up behind him at that moment and hear her name. "Did I just hear my name?" she asked, stopping and addressing Hermione.

"Er, yes Professor," Hermione said quickly, trying to get rid of her before Ron's mouth fell open again. To her surprise, Ron turned around and answered in a normal way, "We were just discussing how much we're looking forward to your class this morning."

Professor Hardwell smiled. "Well, then, I look forward to having you in class. I expect we'll have a very interesting year this year." With that she left, not without many stares and goggling eyes from boys she passed. Hermione gaped at Ron.

"I can't believe you did that," she said.

He shrugged. "I guess I'm just not the goggling type," he said. The others giggled. "Up close," he added scornfully. A bell rang somewhere, signaling that it was time to go to their first lesson.

Potions was still in the dungeons, but since Professor Hardwell had taken over from Professor Snape, she had added a lot more candles which took away a bit of the creepy air and made it a little stuffy. Harry sat down in the second row, where there were enough seats for the four of them, Jessica on his right, Ron on his left, and Hermione on the other side of Ron. Jessica, however, was across the aisle from, you guessed it, Draco Malfoy. No matter how nonchalant he tried to look, his gaze still kept flickering over to Jessica, who tossed her hair over one shoulder and turned away so she didn't have to look at him.

They were saved from any pre-class incidents by a very cheery-looking Professor Hardwell coming into the room in her flowing pink robes. Hermione smiled to herself as a thought crossed her mind she'd have to tell Ron later: Professor Hardwell seemed to her like a female version of Lockhart. He'd get a kick (straight into Hermione's shins) out of that one.

Professor Hardwell sat on her desk at the front of the class, swinging her legs beneath her like a little girl. She reached for the roll and began to call out names.

"Hmm," she said before she had gotten very far down the list, "It seems that Professor Snape has left some notes on a few of the students. I'll read them, shall I?"

Harry's head hit the desk. He knew he had to be one of the "few" students she mentioned. Professor Hardwell cleared her throat and began to read.

"One, Hermione Granger, of Gryffindor: 'Be careful of this one. She's a cheeky know-it-all. She may need some down sizing of her ego.' Hmm . . . Hermione, could you please raise your hand?"

Hermione reluctantly raised her hand. Professor Hardwell smiled at her. "I remember you. From this morning. I'm pleased to meet you, Hermione. I think you and I will have a good year together."

Hermione smiled. Apparently the Slytherins hadn't expected this. The professor ignored their looks and continued reading.

"One, Neville Longbottom, also of Gryffindor: 'This one is abysmally stupid and cannot complete even the simplest of concoctions.' Neville?"

Neville looked like he was about to cry. Professor Hardwell, however, handled this the same way she had handled Hermione. "I'm sure, Neville, that if you show any signs of struggling that we could work out a tutoring schedule or something of that sort. But I'm quite sure you'll do fine.

"One, Harry Potter, again, of Gryffindor . . . are there any Slytherins on this list? No? Well, Professor Snape seems to have nothing of interest to say about the Slytherins . . . anyway, Harry Potter: 'Potter has let fame get to his head. He loves any and all attention. I recommend no special treatment whatsoever to this insolent boy.'" Harry saw Professor Hardwell's eyes scan the room for him. "I don't see Harry Potter here," she said. Harry sat slowly up, his cheeks flaming, and she saw him and smiled. "From the look on his face," she said, "I don't think that he is enjoying this attention. So that's three strikes against Professor Snape's word? I think we'll ignore his other comments for now." The Gryffindors looked at each other and smiled. Potions was going to be very different this year.

Potions let out and the Gryffindors made their way down to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. Jessica, who had never had a Care of Magical Creatures class before, and who also had not met Hagrid yet, was very excited.

"Don't be," said Ron, "We spent the better part of our third year stuffing lettuce down flobberworms' throats, and the better part of last year trying to escape being blown up or burnt by 'blast-ended skrewts.' So I'd probably say the chance of meeting a normal, interesting creature is slim to none."

Jessica was no less excited after Ron's words. As they approached the pen outside Hagrid's hut, a strange sort of squealing was heard from behind the gate.

"Not a flobberworm," said Ron.

"Not a skrewt!" said Hermione happily.

"Definitely not a hippogriff," said Harry.

The four approached the pen cautiously. As he did, a flurry of hair, faces, and paws shot up from the edge of the pen.

"Sphinxes!" Harry cried, having encountered one last year, "Baby sphinxes!"

Hagrid appeared, beaming. "Glad ter see ya, Harry, Hermione, Ron," he said. "Who's this?" he asked, referring to Jessica.

"I'm Jessica Black," she said. Hagrid eyed her suspiciously, then returned to his work with the sphinxes. He noticed Harry's amulet, then looked at the other three and saw theirs.

"I like yer necklace, Harry," he said, "But I think I've seen it somewhere before. Didn't know yeh had a thing fer stags."

Harry quickly tucked his amulet down his robes, and the others did the same.

Care of Magical Creatures went by without a hitch, surprisingly. But Ron said that he thought it would be all right since they didn't have the Slytherins with them that year. They headed in for lunch, then prepared to go on to their last lesson of the day: Defense Against the Dark Arts.