Julia held onto the ladder leading up to the Divination classroom for
support as she gasped for breath. Her failed attempt at gaining Hermione's
trust had cost her 10 minutes, and it was a long way from the common room
to her class. She had run all the way. As she headed up the stairs, she
dreaded listening to Professor Trelawney 'prophesize' about the future.
She groaned as she heard the misty voice on her way up the creaky ladder:
". . .I believe that Miss Andrews will be joining our number right," Julia
heaved her way up into the classroom and collapsed on to a pouf next to
Harry. ". . .now," finished the Professor with a mildly self-satisfied
smile on her face.
Julia flinched at the squeals of Lavender and Pavarti. "Ooh, Professor, how did you know that!?"
"The ladder was creaking as I climbed it," Julia answered matter-of- factly. "Anyone within 20 feet of me could have heard it." The two girls looked at each other in total surprise, then at Trelawney with disbelief. "Oh don't worry yourselves too much about that," Julia continued. "She'll win your hearts back over today when we do tarot cards. Or," she turned to the professor, "are we studying something else?"
The professor looked peeved. This new girl was a little too sharp for her Divination class. "No," she replied shortly. She realized she was getting out of character. She tried again. "No, my dear, we are indeed studying the amazing power of the tarot."
Ron looked at Harry with the utmost surprise. "Ya think they'd get along, wouldn't they? They're both psychic," he pointed out as the professor was looking daggers at Julia.
"Well, there's one difference between the two," Harry replied. "I think Julia actually is psychic." Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom overheard him and cracked up.
-=-=-=-=-
"Harry, you were so right about Trelawney - she's a fraud." Hermione had walked up behind the three unnoticed. "Honestly, all of those so-called 'foresights' she made could be easily explained. The ladder, Lavender tripping, Neville's tarot cards catching fire. . .anyone could have predicted that crap." She suddenly turned to Ron. "I want you to apologize to Hermione," she whispered firmly. Ron looked at her like she was suddenly speaking Chinese. "You know what I'm talking about," she said in reply to his expression. To jostle his memory, she muttered, "Lunch."
Ron suddenly looked like he just realized that he had an eight-page Potions paper due in five minutes. "DAMMIT." Everyone in the hall stopped what they were doing and looked at Ron. His voice had cracked for the first time. "Oh. . .fuck," he muttered as everyone started to laugh hysterically as they gradually went back to what they were doing. He instantly turned to Harry. "Were any Slytherins around?"
"No," Harry replied. "But they're gonna find out soon enough. That lasts for a while. Try not to strain your voice to much and it's less likely. There's probably a spell for it, too. Hermione can probably find one," he included, completely unaware of the fact that Hermione was right behind them.
Julia jabbed Ron in the side. "Turn AROUND," she hissed.
Without thinking, he did, almost smacking into Hermione. "Hermione," he started. The girl standing in front of him suddenly seemed different to him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was making him really wish he hadn't said what he had said earlier. "I, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier; I didn't mean it - I mean, you don't have no one, you've got everyone in Griffindor, and Harry, and - " he stopped short. After catching his breath, he added, "and me." He paused to catch Hermione's reaction.
"Harry, we better get over to Configuration," Julia quickly said as she nudged Harry towards the Configuration classroom.
"Uh, yeah. . .see you guys in class," he called to Ron and Hermione, who were apparently deaf to the world around them. When they sat down in the classroom, he turned to Julia. "How'd you pull that off?"
Julia looked confused. "I didn't do anything - he just happened to reach adulthood at a really good time, save the uncontrolled voice-cracking."
"Yeah, he's kinda screwed, isn't he," he responded. "Y'think a wizard may have come up with a spell or something to take care of that?"
"Harry, let's not forget I'm a muggle. We can go to the library later and look for something." At that, Professor McGongall along with several students trotted into the classroom. "Harry?" Julia suddenly asked with a bit of alarm to her voice. Harry looked up at her, curious as to what was wrong. "Is Transfiguration hard for you?" She had just realized that this would be her first class of the day that would involve the use of a wand. Regardless of the fact that a wand had found her, she was still nervous as to whether or not she would be able to use it. She was a muggle, after all.
"Well, it's not as hard as Potions, but I certainly wouldn't call it an easy course," he said in the most comforting way he could. He saw that this didn't help much, but class was starting, so he couldn't say much more. Looking around he murmured "Where're Ron and Hermione?" Julia pointed at the door where the two students walked in quickly and sat down with Harry and Julia. The look on both Ron and Hermione's face made it more than clear that the two were on friendly terms again.
"Good afternoon, class. Today we will be transfiguring inanimate objects into animals," the professor started. Julia's teethe were chattering. She would much rather be learning how to turn a match into a needle with the first years. At least then she wouldn't feel so stupid if she messed up. "We will be starting out simply," she continued, "by turning these flower pots into rabbits. The closer in relation the two are, the easier it is to transfigure them." Julia could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she got a pot. "In order to perform the spell, you must do a sharp flick of the wrist while calling 'Vixi a rabbit,' like so." She did a subtle yet sharp flick of the wrist over her pot. "Vixi a rabbit!" There was a small pop, and in place of the red flowering pot, a black and white rabbit stood staring at the students in the classroom. "You may begin."
The four students all called out "Vixi a rabbit!" at the same time, but only Hermione had gotten it correctly. Sitting in front of her was a floppy-eared rabbit. As she sat there with a proud grin on her face, Julia, Harry, and Ron tried again. Ron's pot had obtained brown and white patches, and Harry's had managed to grow ears and a fluffy tail. Unfortunately, Julia's pot remained unchanged. She sighed with a noticeable amount of exasperation.
As she continually tried to transfigure her pot without success, Hermione glanced at her. She couldn't help but sympathize with the girl. After all, she had tried to comfort her earlier. . ."Julia, stop for a second. You're going to smack someone." Julia stopped thrashing her wand about and blinked. She could have sworn that Hermione had just voluntarily addressed her. "Here, try it again a little more slowly. You're running the words together and they're too slurred to be understood."
Julia was desperate. She was normally too proud to ask for help, but she gladly welcomed it this time. First of all, Hermione was giving it voluntarily, AND she was an extremely intelligent witch. Secondly, Julia wanted to remind everyone that she was a muggle as little as possible, and therefore wanted to do relatively well in her wizarding classes. She took a deep breath. "Vixi a rabbit!" Instead of a pop, there was a slight fizzling noise as her pot turned a little grayer and grew whiskers in the process. "YES! It changed!" Hermione was surprised at how delirious with joy Julia was at the minuscule progress she had made.
"Maybe she is a muggle," Hermione thought to herself. "Okay. . .better, but don't flick your wrist back the other way so much. It's nearly recoiling from the pot."
Julia chuckled. "Alright. . .let's try this one more time. . .vixi a rabbit!" At last, a grey rabbit was sitting in front of her. Julia's jaw dropped. "I-I did it. I transfigured a pot into a rabbit! Woohoo!" At this point, everyone in the room was staring at Julia, who was overreacting just a tad. She turned to Hermione. "Thank you sosososososo much, Hermione. I was kinda screwed there. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still have a pot sitting there." Hermione couldn't help but blush at the compliment. She smiled and nodded in reply.
"Well, Miss Andrews, it looks like you've managed to transfigure your flowering pot quite nicely, with help from Miss Granger," Professor McGongall commented.
At that moment, her rabbit sneezed soil all over the table. "Uh, Professor? Exactly how many points do you take off for a dirty nose?"
-=-=-=-=-
Julia flinched at the squeals of Lavender and Pavarti. "Ooh, Professor, how did you know that!?"
"The ladder was creaking as I climbed it," Julia answered matter-of- factly. "Anyone within 20 feet of me could have heard it." The two girls looked at each other in total surprise, then at Trelawney with disbelief. "Oh don't worry yourselves too much about that," Julia continued. "She'll win your hearts back over today when we do tarot cards. Or," she turned to the professor, "are we studying something else?"
The professor looked peeved. This new girl was a little too sharp for her Divination class. "No," she replied shortly. She realized she was getting out of character. She tried again. "No, my dear, we are indeed studying the amazing power of the tarot."
Ron looked at Harry with the utmost surprise. "Ya think they'd get along, wouldn't they? They're both psychic," he pointed out as the professor was looking daggers at Julia.
"Well, there's one difference between the two," Harry replied. "I think Julia actually is psychic." Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom overheard him and cracked up.
-=-=-=-=-
"Harry, you were so right about Trelawney - she's a fraud." Hermione had walked up behind the three unnoticed. "Honestly, all of those so-called 'foresights' she made could be easily explained. The ladder, Lavender tripping, Neville's tarot cards catching fire. . .anyone could have predicted that crap." She suddenly turned to Ron. "I want you to apologize to Hermione," she whispered firmly. Ron looked at her like she was suddenly speaking Chinese. "You know what I'm talking about," she said in reply to his expression. To jostle his memory, she muttered, "Lunch."
Ron suddenly looked like he just realized that he had an eight-page Potions paper due in five minutes. "DAMMIT." Everyone in the hall stopped what they were doing and looked at Ron. His voice had cracked for the first time. "Oh. . .fuck," he muttered as everyone started to laugh hysterically as they gradually went back to what they were doing. He instantly turned to Harry. "Were any Slytherins around?"
"No," Harry replied. "But they're gonna find out soon enough. That lasts for a while. Try not to strain your voice to much and it's less likely. There's probably a spell for it, too. Hermione can probably find one," he included, completely unaware of the fact that Hermione was right behind them.
Julia jabbed Ron in the side. "Turn AROUND," she hissed.
Without thinking, he did, almost smacking into Hermione. "Hermione," he started. The girl standing in front of him suddenly seemed different to him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was making him really wish he hadn't said what he had said earlier. "I, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier; I didn't mean it - I mean, you don't have no one, you've got everyone in Griffindor, and Harry, and - " he stopped short. After catching his breath, he added, "and me." He paused to catch Hermione's reaction.
"Harry, we better get over to Configuration," Julia quickly said as she nudged Harry towards the Configuration classroom.
"Uh, yeah. . .see you guys in class," he called to Ron and Hermione, who were apparently deaf to the world around them. When they sat down in the classroom, he turned to Julia. "How'd you pull that off?"
Julia looked confused. "I didn't do anything - he just happened to reach adulthood at a really good time, save the uncontrolled voice-cracking."
"Yeah, he's kinda screwed, isn't he," he responded. "Y'think a wizard may have come up with a spell or something to take care of that?"
"Harry, let's not forget I'm a muggle. We can go to the library later and look for something." At that, Professor McGongall along with several students trotted into the classroom. "Harry?" Julia suddenly asked with a bit of alarm to her voice. Harry looked up at her, curious as to what was wrong. "Is Transfiguration hard for you?" She had just realized that this would be her first class of the day that would involve the use of a wand. Regardless of the fact that a wand had found her, she was still nervous as to whether or not she would be able to use it. She was a muggle, after all.
"Well, it's not as hard as Potions, but I certainly wouldn't call it an easy course," he said in the most comforting way he could. He saw that this didn't help much, but class was starting, so he couldn't say much more. Looking around he murmured "Where're Ron and Hermione?" Julia pointed at the door where the two students walked in quickly and sat down with Harry and Julia. The look on both Ron and Hermione's face made it more than clear that the two were on friendly terms again.
"Good afternoon, class. Today we will be transfiguring inanimate objects into animals," the professor started. Julia's teethe were chattering. She would much rather be learning how to turn a match into a needle with the first years. At least then she wouldn't feel so stupid if she messed up. "We will be starting out simply," she continued, "by turning these flower pots into rabbits. The closer in relation the two are, the easier it is to transfigure them." Julia could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she got a pot. "In order to perform the spell, you must do a sharp flick of the wrist while calling 'Vixi a rabbit,' like so." She did a subtle yet sharp flick of the wrist over her pot. "Vixi a rabbit!" There was a small pop, and in place of the red flowering pot, a black and white rabbit stood staring at the students in the classroom. "You may begin."
The four students all called out "Vixi a rabbit!" at the same time, but only Hermione had gotten it correctly. Sitting in front of her was a floppy-eared rabbit. As she sat there with a proud grin on her face, Julia, Harry, and Ron tried again. Ron's pot had obtained brown and white patches, and Harry's had managed to grow ears and a fluffy tail. Unfortunately, Julia's pot remained unchanged. She sighed with a noticeable amount of exasperation.
As she continually tried to transfigure her pot without success, Hermione glanced at her. She couldn't help but sympathize with the girl. After all, she had tried to comfort her earlier. . ."Julia, stop for a second. You're going to smack someone." Julia stopped thrashing her wand about and blinked. She could have sworn that Hermione had just voluntarily addressed her. "Here, try it again a little more slowly. You're running the words together and they're too slurred to be understood."
Julia was desperate. She was normally too proud to ask for help, but she gladly welcomed it this time. First of all, Hermione was giving it voluntarily, AND she was an extremely intelligent witch. Secondly, Julia wanted to remind everyone that she was a muggle as little as possible, and therefore wanted to do relatively well in her wizarding classes. She took a deep breath. "Vixi a rabbit!" Instead of a pop, there was a slight fizzling noise as her pot turned a little grayer and grew whiskers in the process. "YES! It changed!" Hermione was surprised at how delirious with joy Julia was at the minuscule progress she had made.
"Maybe she is a muggle," Hermione thought to herself. "Okay. . .better, but don't flick your wrist back the other way so much. It's nearly recoiling from the pot."
Julia chuckled. "Alright. . .let's try this one more time. . .vixi a rabbit!" At last, a grey rabbit was sitting in front of her. Julia's jaw dropped. "I-I did it. I transfigured a pot into a rabbit! Woohoo!" At this point, everyone in the room was staring at Julia, who was overreacting just a tad. She turned to Hermione. "Thank you sosososososo much, Hermione. I was kinda screwed there. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still have a pot sitting there." Hermione couldn't help but blush at the compliment. She smiled and nodded in reply.
"Well, Miss Andrews, it looks like you've managed to transfigure your flowering pot quite nicely, with help from Miss Granger," Professor McGongall commented.
At that moment, her rabbit sneezed soil all over the table. "Uh, Professor? Exactly how many points do you take off for a dirty nose?"
-=-=-=-=-