Chapter 14 – Protection
"Hi, Lydia! How's it going?"
Lydia swung around to see Teddy Lupin standing by her shoulder.
"Hi, Teddy," she replied. "Yeah, everything's good. How about you?"
Teddy looked around for eavesdroppers. "It's going great! We had Modern History of Magic this morning. Professor Hughes mentioned my parents and said they were heroes and in the Order. He didn't make a big deal of it but everyone thinks I'm cool, now."
"We knew that already," Lydia grinned.
"Yeah. Thanks, by the way. But we were in class with Slytherin and even they didn't have a problem with me."
"Maybe they're thinking you could be useful to them?"
"I don't care," Teddy shook his head. "Maybe they were impressed that dad was a werewolf. Doesn't matter. It's just good they're going to be all right with me."
Lydia gave him a warm smile. "Good for you, Teddy."
It was time for lunch and they were walking towards the Great Hall.
"It's funny," Teddy said. "I thought we'd get more chance to hang out together when we got here. Hogwarts is just so much about the houses, though. Apart from hanging out in the quad at break times or going to the library we're always in our own common rooms."
"We should see if we can arrange something. Like mixed common rooms, maybe," Lydia mused. "I'll see what Professor McGonagall says, next time I see her."
"McGonagall? Are you sure?" Teddy sounded incredulous.
"Just leave it to me," Lydia said, and immediately wished she had not. It sounded arrogant and stupid, not clever and grown-up as she had hoped.
They went through the doors into the Great Hall and parted to go to their respective house tables. Teddy gave her a little wave and she waved back. She went to sit with the other first-year Ravenclaws, where Shona had saved her a seat.
"That was Teddy Lupin you were talking to, wasn't it?" Shona asked as Lydia settled into her place. "The one who can change his face and everything."
"Why would anyone want to change that face?" said Tina. "He's gorgeous."
Lydia grinned. "He's really nice."
"Wasn't there a thing in the papers about him being a werewolf?" Dean asked, while shovelling mashed potato and gravy into his mouth.
"It was disproven and the Daily Prophet retracted it," said Oddy, not even looking up from the book he was reading. "Mum said. She knew the family, I think."
"His dad was a werewolf. He taught Defence here for a year. His mum was an auror. Harry would've told me if Teddy was a werewolf," Lydia said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Dean snorted. "Name dropper!"
"I can't help it if people I know happen to be people you wish you knew," Lydia teased back.
The good-natured chatter continued throughout the meal. Halfway through the meal, Freddie, who was sitting with Teddy, got up from the Hufflepuff table and made to leave. He looked excited and waved when he saw Lydia watching. She grinned and waved back. Freddie made it halfway to the doors before realising he had left his bag and going back to get it. Lydia shook her head at him and he shrugged before rushing to the doors.
They finished their meal and waited while Shona told them all a story about someone none of them knew. Before she had finished Oddy shut his book, put it back in his bag, got up, and left without a word. They were getting used to it now. That was Oddy. He was just… odd.
Lydia and Shona met up with Teddy as they were leaving the hall. Tina giggled and scuttled past them. Lydia grinned at Teddy as Shona began telling him excerpts from her life story. As they passed the courtyard, or 'quadrangle', they could hear a commotion.
"'Course you are! Look at you – you're like a fairy," came a loud voice.
Teddy and Lydia pushed to the front of the gathering crowd. Shona stayed behind.
"Fairy Freddie!" came another voice, higher pitched.
They could see now. Freddie was being pushed between two boys while a couple more stood and jeered. The first voice belonged to a tall first-year. Lydia recognised him as Karl Robins, the Gryffindor. The other boy pushing Freddie was smaller, with a pointy rat's face. He was Zabini, a Slytherin. Freddie looked… disappointed.
Lydia felt hot and angry. One of the faces in the crowd of onlookers opposite and to her left was a prefect!
"Come on, Teddy," she hissed and stepped out into the clearing where Freddie and his antagonists were.
"Oi!" Lydia squealed. "What's your problem?"
"She is!" snarled Zabini, pointing at Freddie. "Shouldn't be allowed in the boy's bathroom."
"Leave him alone," said Teddy to Robins.
Lydia turned to look. Teddy was unrecognisable. He had black hair and heavy eyebrows. He looked taller and quite menacing.
Robins stood to his full height and puffed out his chest. "Who's going to stop us?"
A separate part of Lydia's mind knew what she was going to do. It also knew it was a bad idea. The rest of Lydia did not care. She revelled in the feeling of justice as she whipped out her wand. Without a word from her, the four bullies rose high into the air. For good measure, Lydia sent the prefect up with them, a good ten to fifteen metres above the grass.
"Thank you, Miss Ward," came McGonagall's unmistakable voice. "I shall take over now."
Lydia put her wand away and grabbed Freddie's hand. The headteacher stepped forward, wand aloft, and lowered the five boys to the turf. The crowd was already dispersing.
Still covering the five miscreants with her wand, McGonagall turned to Lydia and Freddie. Teddy seemed to have slipped away already, Lydia noted.
"Away to your lessons, please, you two," McGonagall said not unkindly. "I would like you both to come to my office after the end of lessons this afternoon. Ask one of the proper prefects to show you the way."
"Mr Callahan, here, will no longer be a prefect by then," she added. "And these others will be made aware of the error of their ways."
McGonagall's tone was quite chilling to hear. Lydia's heart sunk. She knew she should not have done what she did and McGonagall had asked her not to draw attention to herself. The only straw of hope was that Freddie was innocent and would be with her.
Being a Monday afternoon, Lydia and Freddie were in Potions together. It was not far to the dungeons and they made it there as the others had started to file in.
"Thanks, Lydia," Freddie whispered as they followed the others. "I don't know why some people don't like the way I am, but I suppose we can't like everybody. Anyway, it's not like I can be someone else."
"I probably shouldn't have lifted them up like that," Lydia muttered. "McGonagall's going to be angry."
"Hmm. Nah, she didn't look angry," Freddie disagreed. "And that was pretty amazing. You'll have to teach me it."
They shuffled onto the stools at their usual bench with Teddy. He had his normal appearance once more.
"Good afternoon, my wonderful students," Professor Verdi beamed, spreading his arms wide in welcome. "This is our single-period lesson. There are some simple potions which we can try in these lessons, but mostly they will be our opportunity to talk about theory, techniques and ingredients. Today we will talk about some of the common ingredients. Ah, I need to get a few more from the storeroom before we begin. Er… Miss Ward. If you would be so kind as to help me bring some through."
Lydia slipped down from her stool with a glance at Teddy and Freddie. She walked to the front of the class from where she and the professor went into the adjoining storeroom. Lydia's eyes rested on a jar filled with fireflies. Several of the tiny creatures were suspended in mid-flight, unmoving. So that was how they kept them fresh – frozen in time.
"Miss Ward," the professor murmured under his breath. "I heard about what happened. It was unfortunate. Minerva has decided to spread the story that you used a trick you learned from Harry Potter. It seems the best way to explain what you did without making you seem too different from the other students. Minerva will talk to you later. For now, please say as little as you can, other than to say it was something Harry told you about. It is good that you used your wand. Had you not, well, that would have been harder to explain."
Lydia looked heartbroken. "Is Professor McGonagall angry with me?"
Verdi smiled. "Not at all, not at all. No one is angry, simply… preoccupied, er… worried for you."
"It's exactly what they told me not to do."
"Ah, we have got away with it, this time," the professor grinned. "And I am sure your friend appreciated the help. Now, if you would carry this tray of ingredients, I shall bring the other."
It was not until they had finished their lesson and received their homework assignment from Verdi that Lydia remembered something.
She turned to Freddie. "Aww. I've got History next."
"Yeah, with Slytherin, isn't it?" Freddie asked. "We've got Muggle Appreciation with Gryffindor."
"You'll be all right, Lydia," Teddy told her. "Those rats Zabini and Bulstrode are going to be too scared of you to try anything. I just hope Robins is OK with Freddie."
"You can always use those eyebrows on him again, Teddy," Freddie grinned.
Teddy looked uncomfortable.
Lydia pursed her lips. "We'll have to see how it goes. They can't do anything in class. Finch-Fletchley is OK, he's ex-DA, and I can hope everyone goes into a trance through Binns's droning."
"See you later," the boys told her.
Lydia nodded and hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. She made her way up the stairs and through the corridors to the History classroom with the others. Nobody said anything until they were on the last corridor on the first floor.
Shona nudged Lydia's elbow. "Don't worry about Zabini and what's-his-name. We're all with you."
Lydia felt a surge of happiness.
"It's all right," she grinned. "They wouldn't dare. But thanks… all of you."
Oddy shuffled through the others, who were now crowding around her. "You were amazing. Where did you learn that?"
It was unusual for Odysseus Anderson to start any verbal exchange. Lydia was delighted.
"It was just something Harry told me how to do," she answered. "You know, Harry Potter. It worked better than I thought. Maybe it's this wand. Old Mr Ollivander made it for me. It's the only…"
Here she had to stop. They were walking into Binns' classroom. The professor floated through the teacher's table and indicated to them all to sit.
Once they were all in place he began. "Today we shall be learning about the introduction of the Werewolf Code of Conduct as an example of how new acts were introduced during the 17th century, a time of great upheaval and conflict with the muggle community due to…"
And on he went for the rest of the period. His dry, cracked voice sounded like a squeaky bicycle making its way through piles of autumn leaves. Lydia could see Zabini and Bulstrode look over at her from time to time and occasionally whisper to each other. At one point she stopped taking notes and took out her wand to place on the desk before her. With a smirk of satisfaction, she noticed Zabini jump as she did this. They stopped looking around at her after that.
After the lesson, as they all walked along the corridor back towards the stairs, Zabini and Bulstrode barged past her on either side. Lydia was small and Bulstrode was large. Unfortunately for Zabini, he was also small and both he and Lydia almost fell over as Bulstrode bumped into her.
"Careful, Ward!" Bulstrode jeered as he saw what he had done. "You push Zabini about like that and you'll get in trouble."
"Yeah," came Zabini's nasal voice.
"You be careful, Bulstrode," Lydia countered. "Harry Potter taught me a thing or two. Surprised you didn't notice earlier."
Lydia glared at the two boys the rest of the way down the corridor. Anger was filling her and every breath she let out was a snort. At the end, the Slytherins turned to go downstairs. The Ravenclaws turned the other way to go up towards their tower. Bulstrode and Zabini reached the corner before Lydia and her friends. As they turned, she shot them one last glower. Bulstrode slid on the floor, knocking Zabini's feet out from under him. The two of them fell awkwardly to the stone-flagged floor and Zabini cried out.
"Don't forget," Lydia called out as they passed and turned to mount the stairs. "There's an old curse on that corner that trips up really stupid people."
Bulstrode bellowed an obscenity at her. Eric Moss, the Gryffindor prefect Lydia had met that May, was coming down the stairs.
"Five points from Slytherin, young man," he said. "And it will be ten more if I catch you using language like that in front of ladies again!"
Chuckling came from all around, including some of the Slytherin girls. Bulstrode had made himself unpopular with people other than Lydia, it would seem.
Lydia stepped towards the prefect. "Excuse me, Eric."
"Ah, Lydia, isn't it. Nice to see you again. How can I help?"
"Could you tell me how to get to Professor McGonagall's office, please. She wants to see me."
Eric smiled. "I can do better than that. I'll take you there. You'll need me to get in, anyway."
They took the stairs all the way up to the seventh floor and then walked along several corridors. Eric waved to characters in some of the paintings they passed. Most of them waved back. On their way, Lydia said she was sorry Eric had not become Head Boy. Eric replied he was quite relieved – his girlfriend did not like him spending time with Tessa, if it could be avoided. He did seem happier and more at ease than when Lydia had first known him. She was pleased for him and let him know. They chatted amiably as they went.
Eventually they reached the end of a corridor by a statue of a tall gargoyle.
"Oh, I recognise it, now," Lydia exclaimed. "I was here with Harry Potter, once. There's a password or something, isn't there?"
Eric smiled. "That's right. The pass…"
The gargoyle slid to one side and the headteacher stepped out.
"Mr Moss. Thank you very much for delivering Miss Ward," Professor McGonagall said. "We will not detain you any longer."
"Oh, er, thank you professor," Eric managed to reply.
McGonagall swept Lydia through the doorway revealed by the gargoyle. Beyond was the spiral staircase, which was rotating. As Lydia stepped onto it, the stairs lifted her and the professor upwards and around until they came to a door. Lydia had been this way before but still marvelled at the staircase.
"In you go, Lydia," McGonagall said. "It is not locked."
Lydia recognised the round office. She also recognised some of the portraits, the Sorting Hat (which gave her a little bow), and the two men seated near the headteacher's desk. They were Draco and her uncle. They both rose to their feet, smiling. Lydia ran to her uncle and they hugged.
"I'm sorry everyone," she said as she broke away from him. "This is exactly what you told me not to do."
"Minerva…" Ambrose began. "I do beg your pardon. Professor McGonagall, I should say, informs us that you instinctively used your wand. Because of that, Draco managed to devise a cover story which puts all the blame on to Harry Potter."
"Ambrose, that wasn't my intention," Draco protested, then added. "Just a happy side-effect."
"The upshot is that you have done no real harm," Uncle Ambrose continued. "But it would be best not to do this manner of thing again – particularly not against others and not in front of a crowd."
Ambrose sighed. "I understand that your intentions were good, Lydia, but you cannot afford to take risks like this."
"Sorry," said Lydia.
"It is all well. No harm has been done," her uncle assured her.
"No, I mean I'm sorry that I've done something else," she explained.
The three adults looked at each other.
"Just now, before I came up here, as we were leaving History of Magic," she began, then paused, ashamed.
"Yes?" Draco prompted.
Lydia hung her head. "Bulstrode and Zabini were pushing me around. I made them slip and fall."
"Did anyone notice, Lydia, dear?" McGonagall inquired.
"I didn't do anything that anyone could see," Lydia explained. "And I wasn't near them. But I did say there was an old curse which made stupid people fall over."
She looked up to see her uncle stroking his beard to cover a smile. McGonagall looked grave.
"I do not wish to resort to modifying memories," she scowled. "Especially with students so young."
"By now the story may have spread," Draco pointed out. "The numbers would make obliviation impractical, anyway. I can't see what we can do other than to monitor the situation."
Ambrose nodded. "Thank you for informing us of this, Lydia. That was brave of you and we appreciate your honesty. I think we would advise you not to draw attention to yourself, if at all possible. We will try to find other ways to contain these young fellows. Please report any further incidents to Draco or Minerva or, indeed, to Filius Flitwick or Stephano Verdi. Tell whichever of these you can reach the quickest. It will give them the best opportunity to act quickly."
McGonagall approached Lydia and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We realise we are asking a lot of you, Lydia. It will not be easy for you to approach us without seeming to be telling tales, but do the best you can."
Lydia nodded, but felt her heart sink.
"Perhaps we could give Lydia detentions, as a way of getting a chance to talk to her," Draco suggested. "That way we wouldn't appear to be on her side. She'd be the bad student and others might respect that."
"Possibly, Draco. But it would still single her out and draw attention to her," Ambrose warned. "No, I am afraid we will have to rely on Lydia's ingenuity and acting skills. We cannot, and should not, get between Lydia and her education, nor between Lydia and her fellow students. We may supply assistance where possible but Lydia, as the one closest to the problem, must be the one to guide our actions."
He squatted down and addressed Lydia directly. "You are in charge, Lydia dear. Try not to stand out, especially as one with unusual powers. Make use of your friends on the teaching staff where it is safe to do so. And keep us informed as best you can. We are asking a lot, but I believe you are up to the task. We are proud of you."
"There is some good news," McGonagall assured her. "I believe we have persuaded Mr Robins not to pick on your friend Mr Fortescue in future. That should help."
Lydia smiled but was not convinced that Freddie would not be bullied again. The injustice, and her inability to help, were making her uncomfortable already.
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