I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER BUT J. K. ROWLING, I MERELY OWN DEGAS AND JESTER FRASER (MY LITTLE SISTER) OWNS UUTTE… HEE HEE HEE
The World of the Dead and the Lonely
The black shadow ran fast down the deserted streets of the sleeping town. The black, midnight skies perfectly hid the runner, as how she was wearing baggy black jeans tucked into black boots, her black tang top was tight, showing off her curves and muscles. She was lean, with jet black hair cut half and inch above her ears and all the way down her head leaving only a small patch in the center bottom, the patch was braided and reached the small of her back. Her eerie green eyes would turn silver every once and while with the changing of her mood.
She rounded the corner and suddenly stopped dead. A huge black dog looked up from a garbage can and seemed to be in shock of seeing her. She looked around and then watched the dog intently. It took a few steps toward her and she turned heel and ran again. The dog, still shocked by the sight of her, merely stood there, dumbfounded.
As the sun slowly rose over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the young female made her way across the school grounds and into the main castle. The Hogwarts Express would arrive later that night; she looked around and consulted a map she produced from her pocket. It was a mock mimic of the Marauder's Map. She looked up and headed down a hall, she tapped the map with her wand and slid it into her pocket. She reached the corner of the wall and leaned against it. Moments later Professor Dumbledore turned her corner and jumped in surprise.
"Degas, this is an unexpected surprise." He said in his usual scratchy voice.
She bowed slightly and smiled.
"And what do I owe to this surprise?"
She looked around and stood up straight. "Professor, I know I have already graduated from this school years and years ago, but I am asking you to let me enroll here as a student once more."
"Yes, I gathered as much, but why?"
She frowned. "My reasons are my own."
Dumbledore frowned. "I am sorry Degas, I cannot allow you to be enrolled unless I know the reasons. The last time you were in this school you graduated with me."
Degas laughed, her tall lean body shaking with her hardy laugh. "Dumbledore you have not changed."
"Please, we know each other on a first name Degas."
She nodded. "All right Albus." She calmed down. "All right, my reasons are this: I heard that you rehired Remus Lupin again and you also accepted Uutte. Is this all true?"
"I cannot deny it."
Degas nodded. "Of course, now, here's the thing. Did you ever read the whole back ground on Uutte?"
"I just heard that she has been having a lot of trouble in America with her family and the school. Her family sent an owl to me directly and asked if she could transfer. I had her file sent to me and I accepted her. She'll be a Slytherin of course."
"Yeah, well, I've been watching Uutte and I think that she should be watched more closely."
"Why?"
"I just have this bad gut feeling." Degas said rubbing her stomach.
Albus watched her and nodded. "Does she know that you have been watching her?"
"Does anyone ever know that I watch them?"
Albus shook his head. "No, I guess not." He thought for a moment. "All right, tonight at the feast I'll announce the transfer of Uutte and yourself. What house shall you have?"
Degas thought for a long hard moment then smiled. "What other house would accept me?"
Albus smiled. "So it is done."
Degas smiled and hugged him. "Oh, yeah, where is Minerva anyways? I need to ask her a few things." Degas looked around, a very mischievous looked swamped her features.
"She is down in the Great Hall I do believe."
Degas bowed slightly again and ran off.
"And those go over there." Minerva pointed a house elf in the direction of grand entry doors. She turned abruptly and shrieked in surprise. Degas stood face to face with her, their noses nearly touching. "Degas!" Minerva shouted.
"Yeah, nice to see you too McGonagall."
The Professor stepped back and fully looked at Degas. "I have to admit, it is rather nice to set eyes upon you again Degas. What brings you here? Again?"
"Albus will bring you to speed with why I am here. I have my reasons."
"How many times have you been enrolled in this school?"
"About thirty times. The last time was with the Marauders' of course." Degas bowed slightly. "I came to you to ask if my old room is being occupied at the moment."
"Room thirteen? No, everyone is too suspicious to room there. You've jinxed it rather well, eerie noises, a personal poltergeist? Degas that is very cruel."
Degas shrugged. "What can I say? When one is stuck in a time rift for over a century one tends to get rather bored." Degas looked around. "This place is really cozy, when there are no students around."
Minerva nodded. "Yes, well, you are a student now right? So it just lost its coziness."
Degas whistled. "Cold. The same old Minerva I knew way, way, back then."
Minerva playfully punched Degas in the arms.
"Hey, watch it, the professor are suppose to have a professional relationship with the students. You don't want them to think that you are the laid-back McGonagall I knew in school right?"
Minerva laughed. "First name basis."
Degas bowed slightly. "Only when students are not present."
Minerva laughed and Degas left. She headed for the Gryffindor common room. When the fat lady saw her she jumped up squealing in pleasure.
"Degas! It's been forever!"
Degas laughed. "Nonsense." She chuckled. "Only a few years now. Does my master password still work?"
"Of course. It always will for you Degas."
"It is so nice to see you Viola." Degas bowed to the fat lady. "Sprite."
The porthole opened and Degas climbed in. she headed down to her old room and pulled out her wand. "Accio luggage!" Degas pointed her wand to her bed and three footlockers, two leather bags and small leather shoulder bag appeared on her old bed. She unpacked everything and stretched out on her bed. There was still another five good hours until the train arrived, she figured, I'll get some sleep then go see Hagrid. She smiled and dozed off quickly.
"Degas! Good ter' see yeh!" Hagrid wrapped his arms around Degas and pulled her into a strong hug.
Degas held her breath. "You too."
He set her down. "So! What brings yeh back ter' 'Ogwarts?"
"Business." Degas answered. "I just need you to do me a favor."
"Name it."
"Watch over Harry when you can. Like a hawk's eye on a dinner mouse." Degas said and smiled. "I believe that something is up, I have this gut feeling, and I really don't like it."
"Sure, sure," Hagrid laughed. "I mus' be off. Express be in any minut' now." He opened the door. "Visit any time."
Degas trotted outside, I must have over slept. She told herself. She waved to Hagrid. "I will!" she smiled and ran back to the castle. She ran to the Gryffindor tower and stood outside the porthole for a moment. "Sprite." She said slowly and walked in. She ran to her room and opened the window. "Where is my baby?" she muttered into the air. "Return to me, my baby." She waited a moment then, out of nowhere, a giant golden eagle appeared carrying a caged snowy owl. The eagle handed Degas the caged and flew off again. Degas opened the cage and the owl hooted a thanks. "Off to the owlery with you Galileo." The owl hooted and flew off. Degas dressed in her robes and fell asleep again.
Degas awoke with a start and ran as quickly as she could to the great hall and into the dining area.
"Ah, right on cue." Professor Dumbledore smiled. "Everyone, along with our other new student Uutte this is Degas Oso, they are both transferring here form the United States. Uutte will be with the Slytherin house." There came a loud cheer from the Slytherin table. "And Degas will be in the Gryffindor table." A cheer from the table to Degas's right was louder. "Please treat them as if they had been here from the start." Dumbledore smiled at Degas and proceeded with his announcements. Degas took a seat next to the Weasley twins, Fred and George. They smiled at Degas and shook her hand.
"America eh? What's it like there?" Fred asked.
"Any good joke shops?" George asked.
Degas handed them a bag full of practical jokes and gags. They sifted through it and thanked Degas. "You'll have to be careful with some of those. Like the Twisted Reaper."
Fred held it up. "This?"
"Yes, all you have to do with that is set it in someone's room or in their walking path. With they see it; it will instantly feed off their mind and spring to life. A shower of sparks, a long eerie scream and then a Grim Reaper will appear. It will slowly walk toward the victim and then will disappear about a foot in front of it. Black smoke will then fill the room and if the victim is has not already fainted then the black smoke will make them." Degas laughed. "They will wake up totally confused, frightened, and there will be absolutely no evidence that the Twisted Reaper was ever there."
Fred smiled broadly. "I like it!"
Degas looked over at Harry who was a seat away. He was laughing at something Ron had said. Just then Degas realized that Hermione was sitting between Harry and herself. Degas quickly looked down at her empty plate and started to gather food.
Hermione looked over at Degas and smiled. "America huh? How was it?"
Degas looked at her. "It was fun."
"Why transfer here?"
"I had problems over there. And Professor is all about second chances isn't he?"
Hermione scoffed and turned away.
Degas ate quickly and left. She reached the porthole and pulled out the Marauder's map. She watched Mrs. Norris round a corner above her and Professor Snape walking quickly toward her. She leaned against the wall opposite of the portrait and waited.
"Degas Oso!" he hissed. "What on earth are you doing back here at Hogwarts? Surely you have not enrolled again!"
Degas glared at him. "Still not over me not willing to go out with you all those years ago huh Severus?"
"You will address me as Professor Snape!"
"No." Degas chuckled. "You will address me as Oso. I am older and wiser then you Severus! I know so many things that you yourself could never dream to know!" she pulled out her wand. "Like, a person caught in their own time rift is technically dead so the laws of the Ministry does not necessarily apply. Which means…" she pulled out her wand. "Crucio!"
Severus twisted in and howled in pain. Degas stood by him smiling. She waved her wand and he collapsed to the floor.
"You see, since I was suppose to die over a century ago, I am in no file, which means I can perform the curse and not be sent to Azkaban." She smiled and walked off.
Snape watched after her, muttered something and slinked away.
"Is it true? Do you actually know all the Unforgivable Curses and can perform them without being punished?" eager students asked.
Degas nodded. "I can."
Hermione, who had been listening to this for the past twenty minutes or so sighed loudly and walked up to her. "I don't think that you can Miss. Degas Oso! I think that you are lying because you want people to like you and you don't know how to be yourself!"
The students glared at Hermione maliciously.
Degas looked up at her, the whole of the Gryffindor common room was watching them intently. Degas shrugged. "You know what Hermione? You're absolutely right. I don't know how to be myself because I am merely an American little girl who knows absolutely nothing, who has the perfect little life, has the millions of dollars to her disposal and am just a bag full of hot air."
"Now that you say it like that it sounds just silly." Hermione shook her head and walked away quickly.
The other students stared at Degas, Harry and Ron glared at her. Degas shrugged and looked down at her left hand where a giant scar screamed its way across her wrist.
"Do you really have a perfect life?" one student piped.
"And millions of dollars?" another chimed.
"No, I have anything but a perfect life, my parents died a long time ago and I have a limited amount of money. In the summers I work for whoever to get more money so I can live."
The students laughed, in the back Harry muttered something to Ron and they went to their rooms. Degas looked around and stood up. "Well, I am off to bed."
"Aaaahhhh…" the students whined. "Can't you stay longer?"
"Yeah, we want to hear more of America."
"We want to know where you've worked before."
Degas laughed. "I have millions of stories of where I've worked. I'll tell you all of them through out the year. Don't worry." She smiled and walked off to her room.
"Degas, a word before class please?" McGonagall asked and pulled Degas to a side. Hermione, who was walking behind Degas, slowed her pace to listen.
"Yes Professor McGonagall?" Degas asked.
"It is barely the fourth day of school and every time I walked into the common room you are always by yourself Degas. Are you still thinking about your parents?"
Degas sighed defeated. "You would think," her voice crumpled and empty. "That even after a century that I would have forgiven myself for their death."
"Degas, it is not your fault that they died and you were caught in this… this…" McGonagall was at a loss for words.
"This personal time rift?"
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and listened intently.
"Yes," McGonagall started again. "It is not your fault that you and your friends were caught in the time rift and set to live as teenagers forever."
Degas sighed. "Yeah, being immortal isn't all it is cracked up to be." Degas again looked down at her scarred wrists. "Nothing works that I could have possibly tried. Even the Avada Kedavra curse doesn't work."
"You've tried it?"
"Ten times in a row!" Degas exclaimed. "All three of us have tried it, it doesn't work and we thought we would at least be sent to Azkaban for performing it, but it turns out that we weren't. Since we were suppose to die all those years ago we are on no files and therefore technically do not exist. If we do not exist then we cannot be punished."
"Does Albus know this? That you can perform the curses and not be punished by the Ministry for it?"
Degas nodded. "He knows and made me promise not to perform it on any of the students or I would have to be thrown out of Hogwarts for all time." Degas shrugged. "No biggie."
McGonagall sighed. "Degas, it is still not your fault."
Degas shook her head. "I shouldn't have gone out that morning!" she gripped her hair and gritted her jaw. "It wouldn't have happened if I had just stayed home and argued the rest of the damn argument!"
McGonagall sighed heavy. "Degas, it was meant to be, I am sorry to say that but it is true. There is no such thing as coincidence you told me that yourself! Everything happens for a reason, to every action there is a reaction, to very cause an effect. The murderer would have appeared at your house whether you were there or not, the only difference would have been that you would have died."
Degas looked away.
"Hey, you left the house, you were saved."
Degas blinked back tears. "Only to live immortally as a seventeen year old." Degas squeezed through clenched teeth. She forced a smile at Minerva and walked off.
Hermione walked off before Degas realized that she had eavesdropped on their conservation.
McGonagall walked into the classroom and started the lesson.
At lunch Degas stayed in the library and wrote in what appeared to be an ancient leather bound book.
"What is that?" Hermione asked.
Degas slammed the book shut and looked up. "What are you doing peering over my shoulder? How much did you see?"
Hermione stepped back. "I only saw words, just words. I was standing here not longer then a second. I just got here."
Degas sighed and set the book on the table. "What do you want? To insult me more?"
Hermione looked hurt and guilty. "No, actually I came here to apologize."
Degas nodded. "Where no one would hear you and no one would know? Very nice Miss. Granger." Degas nodded and peered into the book. She chuckled and scribbled something down. She closed the book and looked at Hermione again.
"Fine," Hermione began to walk away. "I'll apologize later tonight." She stopped. "Just answer me one thing."
"Yes ma'am I live to serve."
"How did you get caught in a time rift?"
Degas stared at Hermione stunned and Hermione walked off. Degas opened the book jotted something down, put her book in her bag shoulder bag and ran off to Minerva.
"Did you tell her?"
"No I didn't Degas, how could she have known?"
"I don't know." Degas paced the staff lounge.
Minerva thought hard. "Oh," she gasped. "Maybe she heard us talking before my class this morning. Maybe she heard and now she knows."
Degas bit her lower lip. "Shit, we can't have the whole school talking about this. This can't get out to anymore people."
"Miss. Granger might have already told Potter and Weasley." Minerva worried. "We have to talk to her."
Degas nodded. "Right, you send for her, I have to talk to Dumbledore."
Minerva nodded and they went their separate ways.
Degas really wasn't going to go talk to Dumbledore; she went to the Potions classroom and spied in on Uutte who was brewing two potions at once. Degas growled and slinked off, but not before Professor Snape caught a glimpse of her. She returned to the Transfiguration classroom and walked in on Hermione and Minerva talking.
"You as a staff member should not keep secrets like this from the students!" Hermione shouted.
"Unless!" Degas shouted, cutting in. "Unless this secret was here to protect the other students from a possible hostile predator."
"Degas," Minerva sighed. "Find Dumbledore?"
"Not exactly, I was going to go find him when I happened to pass the potions dungeon, I looked in and saw Uutte brewing two potions, is that allowed here now? It wasn't last time I was here."
"Oh yeah? Which last time are we talking about here?" Hermione shot.
Degas pulled out her wand but Minerva was quick to pull out hers in defense of Hermione.
"Come on Minerva, let me hit her with Imperius or Cruciatus."
"No Degas! One, it is forbidden by Dumbledore for you to perform these on a student and two, I shall not allow it." Minerva stepped in front of Hermione who was quivering with sheer terror now.
"You look as though you are about to piss your pants Miss Granger. If you ever tell anyone about me being in this personal time rift or anything else you might have heard when you listened in on Minerva and I this morning, then so help me god I will do a cruse on you no matter who says what!"
"That is quite enough Degas!"
Degas dropped her wand and hugged Minerva. Minerva put her wand away and pulled Degas away from Hermione.
"Shh… Shh… there, there… no harm done this time Degas, you didn't do anything but threaten." Minerva patted the weeping girls head. "No harm came to Hermione. You didn't do anything."
Degas slid to the floor and leaned back on the teacher's desk. She wiped her eyes and smiled at Minerva. "I think I am getting better at this."
"You are." Minerva said in a soothing voice. "You are not killing people as easily as you use too."
Hermione fainted. The two looked at her and went on talking.
Degas sat in the common room consulting her leather book once more. She scribbled furiously on it's pages, chuckling every once and a while. Hermione sat by Ron and Harry occasionally looking up to see Degas watching her with an intent look of curiosity. Finally Hermione stood up and slowly walked toward Degas. Degas closed her book lightly and looked up.
"Degas," Hermione started.
"Yes?"
"I… I'm…"
The common room fell silent as all eyes fell on the two girls.
"I am sorry about being mean to you Degas Oso. I hope you will accept my apology."
Degas nodded. "Apology accepted."
The common room cheered.
"I need to talk to you in private Hermione." Degas whispered in her ear.
Hermione nodded and they left for Degas's room.
"Yes?"
"Well, since you already know about me being in a time rift and all, I suppose I should tell you the rest of it."
"You mean there is more?" Hermione asked.
Degas whistled. "Girl, there is a shit load more to this than meets the eye. And if you swear to me that you will not tell anyone, not even the staff, then I will tell you all there is to me."
Hermione nodded.
"To start this off, I am a Morph."