(A/N Harry Potter, and asso. characters, do not belong to me, they belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. The only things that do belong to me are: Savan, Alex, Christina, Gavin, Fiona, and some assorted pets who are not in the books. The story and plot are mine and if anyone wishes to borrow from these, or the characters, they must ask me first.)

Harry Potter and the Staff of Time

Chapter 9

Malfoy's Folly

Two days later, as Savana was finishing breakfast and desperately reviewing her lesson plan for the dreaded, upcoming potions class, Pansy and two of her friends stopped by her table. They wore unpleasant expressions on their faces.

"Well, if it isn't the little professor!" Pansy sneered, while her two friends snickered.

Savana thought Pansy's friends very closely resembled Hollywood hookers. She wisely decided, however, to refrain from comment. Instead, in a cynical tone of voice, she said, "Pansy, I've been meaning to tell you how much I love your new hair style. It's so punk! Why are you hiding it under a hat?"

"And did you get the dog biscuts I sent as an apology?" She thought, and smiled about it, but, even she knew better than to put that particular thought into words. She decided to allow the trio of twits to reach their own conclusions.

"You know, quite well, that what happened to my hair is all your fault!" Pansy shouted at her, with no pretense of civility.

The other late dinners, there weren't many of them, turned and looked to see what was happening.

"I would suggest, Pansy, that you refrain from making public accusations. Unless, you can prove it." Savana said icily, and loudly enough for everyone there to hear.

Pansy flushed with anger. "You'll get yours, know-it-all." She addressed Savana in a threatening tone and manner. "Just wait until you try to teach potions class! You, and your little friends, will pay for what you've done to me!" Then she, and her friends, flounced away.

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"1 Savana wagged her head and muttered to no one in particular.

She reached for her now cold, cup of coffee and took a healthy swig of it. "Yeech!" She choked it down and made a face as she pushed the noxious brew away. "If I can't get them to make a decent cup of coffee soon," she thought, "I'll go into withdrawl."

Then, she gathered her things and left for her class, all the while, fighting extra large butterflies, which churned fitfully in her stomach.

...`~*~`...

Savana entered the potions classroom, with trepidation. She began to set up for her class as the rest of the potions students entered the classroom and sat down. The noise level rose exponentially as the room filled with students.

Professor Snape entered and seated himself in a chair near the door. The class quieted as he did so. The air was heavy with expectation and all eyes were on Savana and Professor Snape. It appeared, to the uniniated, that a great preformance was about to unfold and no one wanted to miss a moment of it.

"The class is all yours, Ms. Walker. You may proceed." He smiled unpleasently at her and nodded toward the front of the classroom.

Savana cleared her throat and began her presentation. Almost immediately, there was some noise and muttering from some of the areas which were heavily populated by the Slytherins. Surprisingly, Professor Snape glared at the offenders. They got the message and immediately stopped their planned insurrection.

Savana picked up where she had left off and began to feel much more comfortable as she went on with her lesson plan. Then, she became aware of a disturbance on the other side of the front demonstration desk. She continued talking as she moved unobtrusively toward the source of the noise. It appeared to be coming from a small crate, which was on the floor, next to the desk.

She was aware of giggling and muffled laughter coming from those same Slytherin quarters. She felt a sense of foreboading as she reached down and unlatched the top of the crate. She had stopped talking and given up even the pretense of trying to teach. The laughter intensified as she pulled back the top of the crate, to reveal a very bedraggled and upset hawk. And, to make matters worse, it was a bright, kelly green! Savana gasped, as she recognised Mariah.

Tears filled her eyes, as she gently lifted the upset hawk out of the crate and cradled it to her chest. She was mindless of the sharp talons and beak, as she did so.

"Are you all right?" Savana murmured to Mariah, as she attempted to assess any damage to the hawk.

She felt fury building within her as the laughter increased, and a few, nasty comments reached her ears. "...since you like to turn people's hair green, we did the same to your hawk...now it's the proper color, the color of champions...it's green with envy, of Slytherin House..."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione also gasped when the saw Mariah. They then turned their collective attention on Professor Snape, expecting to see him smiling at the drama playing our before them. They were shocked to see that his face was almost purple and that he was apoplectic with rage! Their amazement heightened when they saw that Professor Dumbledore was standing behind Professor Snape, and he DID NOT look happy!

"I wonder how long he's been standing there?" Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione. They shrugged in response.

Savana was so furious with what the Slytherins had done to her precious bird, that she saw red! As increasingly violent thoughts of revenge filled her consciousness, the room, and everything in it, began to shake with increasing force. Then she felt a peculiar dampening sensation come over her mind. It was as though someone had thrown a heavy blanket over both Savana and her emotions.

"Stop this, now!" Commanded a familiar voice, within her mind. She looked over toward where Professor Dumbledore stood and noted that his attention was largely focused on her.

"They fired the first shot! This is war!" Savana flashed back at him.

"We can not have division within our own ranks, or, we will most certainly fail in our ultimate quest against Lord Voldemort and his forces! These continued spats, between you students, will destroy what hard won unity we have, so far, been able to achieve." Professor Dumbledore sent back to her. She realised, with dismay, that he sounded very weary. "Now, stop this immediately, please."

Savana had the grace to look embarrassed at her outburst and calmed her emotions, as well as the resulting room tremors.

Professor Dumbledore began to speak outloud. "Savana, you may go and see to your hawk. I think you've had enough for today."

"Gryffindor House, you are dismissed and the residents of Slytherin House will remain in their seats. I wish to discuss this unfortunate incident, and its consequences, with you."

Savana headed for Hagrid's hut, and Alex, as quickly as she could. She needed more than Alex's expertise with animals at this time. She needed his comfort, because right now, she hated it here and wanted nothing more than to go home. She contemplated contacting her parents.

...`~*~`...

"What was that all about?! Has Slytherin House declared war on Savana, or, is it just Pugsley Parkinson, acting out?" Ron quietly demanded of his companions as they entered the hallway.

"Be quiet!" Harry commanded both Ron and Hermione, since it was apparent that she also had something to say. "I can tell you exactly what was going on, but, not here."

"What do you suppose Professor Dumbledore is going to do to them?" Ron knew he was safe asking this question, as it was on the minds of everyone from Gryffindor House.

"I hope he deducts a thousand points from their house and gives them a year's worth of detention!" He continued with a great sense of satisfaction. "Did you see Professor Snape's face? He looked like he was going to have a stroke, he was so angry!"

"It can't be very uplifting to have the Head Master observe a scene like that in your classroom, or, to have him step in and take charge because everything is so out of control." Hermione told them. Her tone of voice indicated her distress.

"I think there is much more going on here than any of us, including Savana, realises." Harry spoke gravely. "Before we discuss anymore of this, we need to go somewhere private." He continued as he ushered them toward the front door.

Once they had exited the building, they walked down toward Hagrid's hut. They suspected Savana had gone to Alex, for comfort, as well as help with Mariah. And Alex spent a great deal of his time working with Hagrid.

There were very few people outdoors, so, their walk to Hagrid's hut also provided an excellent opportunity for conversation, with little chance of being overheard by anyone. Harry seized the opportunity and told the others what had occurred between Professor Dumbledore and Savana in the classroom. He also gave them his take on everything that had happened.

"So, Professor Dumbledore is a telepath?! Dosen't that beat all?" Ron chuckled.

"It certainly explains alot." Hermione added. "I've always wondered how he seems to know what we're thinking, as well as everything that happens around here. It does appear to be a logical explaination, as far as Professor Dumbledore is concerned, but, it doesn't explain you, Harry. Why are you suddenly able to communicate telepathically?" Hermione sounded perplexed.

"I don't know." Harry responded. "I guess, I should ask Savana about it. She knows alot more about telepathy and telekinesis than we do."

"She's too upset right now, to ask about anything." Hermione stated with an air of athority. "So, in the mean time, I'll read everything I can find about telepathy and telekinesis."

Ron thought that Hermione's response was typical of her.

By this time, they had reached Hagrid's hut and they knocked on the door.

"Well, well." Hagrid said, by way of greeting as he opened the door. "Kinda figered yeh'd be 'long, when S'vana an' her bird turned up."

He showed them into the kitchen area where they found Alex, examining Mariah.

"...for the most part, she's just upset and could use some rest, as well as peace and quiet. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about the color, they used a spell to change it. If I try to change her back, without knowing which spell was used, she'll end up looking like Pansy Parkinson's hair." Alex said and shrugged.

"Professor Dumbledore was as angry as I've ever seen him when he dismissed us from Potions class today. I suspect, if you were to ask him to find out what spell the Slytherins used, he'd do it, Alex." Harry said.

He then noticed a white rat with spots on its back, and what looked like a smudge of dirt on its nose, sitting on Fang's head, eating a berry. It finished the berry, washed its face, and lept onto the table, searching for more treats. Mariah eyed the rat and reached for it with her beak.

"Hey! No!" Ron shouted and reached for the rat. He wanted to catch it, before Mariah ate it for lunch.

He couldn't believe that Alex, of all people, didn't realise that the hawk saw the rat as fast food, to go! So, he was even more amazed than the others, when the rat grasped Mariah's beak with its forepaws and began to groom it. It was even more surprising that the hawk, not only accepted the rat's attentions, she reciprocated them! He stared at the incredible sight, slack-jawed with disbelief.

"You had better shut your mouth before a bug flies into it, Ron." Harry nudged him and smiled.

"All right, Orion, enough of this love fest." Alex laughed as the rat turned its head and gazed at him. "Come here, Orion." Alex crooned.

The rat scampered across the table toward Alex and its spots began to glow with a bright, electric blue, light.

"O.K., now I get it!" Ron muttered and slapped himself upside his head, in a jesture of stupidity. "Orion's an enchanted rat and he's yours, isn't he?"

Alex grinned, as Orion now sat upon his shoulder, happily chowing down a piece of cheese. "Ah ha! He sees the light!"

The others groaned at Alex's pun.

"Pee-yew!" Savana held her nose, as though something stank, and muttered with distain. There was, however, a hint of a smile playing upon her lips.

She took a long draft of the steaming beverage in the cup that she cradled with both of her hands. "Alex, this is the first, decent cup of coffee I've had since I got here. And, considering how bad I thought your coffee was when we lived in the states, that's saying alot!" She smiled at her brother.

"I don't recall your coffee as being anything to write home about either." Alex teased her back.

"Yeh'd all better get back to theh castle. Yer nex' class'll be startin' soon." Hagrid admonished them.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron gathered their things and started toward the door.

"Aren't you coming, Savana?" Ron asked, when she made no move to join them.

"No. Professor Dumbledore sent a message to tell me that I don't need to go back to class until after lunch. He wanted me to use the time to calm down, so, I think I'll stay here awhile longer. You guys should go on without me." Savana informed them.

Hermione thought Savana sounded fatigued and could use the break, so, she re-joined Ron and Harry, as they left for class.

...`~*~`...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had overheard the complaining of the sixth year Slytherins during lunch. The Slytherins had bitterly discussed the punishment that Professor Dumbledore had imposed upon them for, what they considered to be, a harmless, little, prank. The discussion was laced with murderous looks, directed toward the Gryffindors and they were glad Savana had chosen to eat lunch with Hagrid and Alex at the hut.

Harry just hoped that, for the sake of Savana's stomach, Alex had prepared the meal, and not Hagrid. Hagrid was notorious for his terrible cooking. However, none of them would ever tell him that, they would never injure his feelings over such a small matter.

They had quickly finished their lunch and walked rapidly down to Hagrid's hut, so they could tell Savana what they'd heard during their meal. It was convenient that they needed to go there anyway, because their next class, The Care of Magical Creatures, was taught in that location, by Hagrid.

Harry liked Hagrid alot, but, he didn't like his class. Hagrid had a poor track record when it came to choosing appropriate, and safe, animals for the students to work with. Naturally, Hagrid never saw the problem, at least, not from their point of view. What could they expect from a man who treated a baby dragon like it was his own child?

Harry mentally reviewed some of Hagrid's past choices for the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Most recently, in fact, it had been just last year, Hagrid had bought in six Pegasae.2 They probably would have been harmless enough, but, predictably, there was always one student in the group who was bent upon being a jackass. More often than not, that student seemed to be from Slytherin House. In that particular instance, it had been Pansy Parkinson.

Hagrid had informed the class that pegasae preferred male riders over female and had told the girls in the group to keep their distance from the winged horses. Pansy, however, had waited until Hagrid was occupied elsewhere, then proceeded to mount one of the animals. She was determined to show everyone else what an experienced horsewoman she was. The pegasus, however, was unimpressed with her equestrian skills. He had flicked his wings and sent Pansy flying. She had landed in a pile of used straw, but, still ended up in the hospital wing for weeks, with a shattered shoulder and back injuries.

Before that, the first year Hagrid taught the class, there was the incident with Draco Malfoy and the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Draco had ingnored Hagrid's admonition to be polite to the beasts. He had insulted Buckbeak and ended up with a broken arm. His father had gotten the Minister of Magic to order Buckbeak destroyed and Hagrid sacked, as a result of Draco's arrogance.

Then there were those nasty Blast Ended Skrewts, and so on.

Harry was determined to be prepared for the worst this year. He had a potion to neutralise giant spider bites, providing they didn't make a meal of him first; a spell to protect him from the blast of blast ended skrewts; and a copy of his Last Will & Testament, in case they were studying sea serpants, dragons, or any other exotic creature, which he didn't know enough about to prepare for the worst.

He wished that, just this once, Hagrid would choose a gentle, but interesting, creature for them to study, or, in lieu of that, they wouldn't have to be in a combined class with the Slytherins.

He sighed as Hermione knocked on the hut's door. He had a premonition that this year's class wouldn't be any improvement on the previous ones.

Savana opened the door and asked them in. She told them that Alex and Hagrid were out preparing for their upcoming class and that she wasn't allowed to tell them what animal they'd be studying. Alex had informed her that he'd make her clean the barns until Christmas if she said anything. That was something she would prefer to leave to others.

"We've got to tell you what Professor Dumbledore did to the Slytherins! We heard about it at lunch." The words rushed out of Ron's mouth, as soon as he sat down at the table. "He came down on them SO HARD!" He further blurted.

"Great! I'll bet everyone in Slytherin House hates me now!" Savana muttered ruefully.

"No, the majority of them are actually decent people." Hermione explained. "Unfortunately, the ones you've run up against, are the same ones who've been giving us trouble since we began our schooling here. Their dislike of you, is partially based upon their dislike of us."

"It also appears that those were the only ones involved in this morning's retaliation." She concluded.

"Professor Dumbledore culled out the guilty ones,then dismissed the rest of the Slytherins before he addressed them." Harry explained. "It sounded as though he gave them a pretty good dressing down before he told them what their punishment would be. He deducted 50 points from Slytherin House for each student involved in the trouble, then he gave each of them two months of detention which will be supervised, jointly, by Hagrid and Dobby."

"Finally! Someone had gotten to the meat of the story!" Savana thought, but, outloud she asked, "who is Dobby?"

"He's the head house elf." Hermione explained. "The Slytherins involved, all consider the work done by the house elves to be beneath their social status, so, they are furious! I think the whole thing is perfect! Most of their families have house elves in their service, and they treat them horribly!"3

"Oh, great! Hermione is off on her crusade again!" Ron groaned. "I like the fact that Hagrid is in charge of them, too. I hope he makes them clean the barns, daily! That'll take them down a few notches. It's hard to look high and mighty when your boots are covered in dung!" He laughed at the delicious image his statement illicted in his mind.

"I hate to break this up, but, we'd better get outside. Our class will begin soon." Savana said, and they all went out the door and over to the barn where the rest of the sixth year Gryffindor students had gathered.

"Where are the Slytherins?" Neville asked, while visually searching for them.

"I hope they've been re-assigned, to a different class." Someone else chimmed in.

"...think they might be cutting class as a protest..." Someone else asked.

"I hope they don't even show up." Harry muttered.

"No such luck." Ron said. "Look over there." He pointed and the rest followed his finger with their gaze.

The Slytherins were approaching them as a group. They appeared to be curious, and a bit anxious, as to what Hagrid would expose them to this year, with the exception of a few, who cast venomous looks at Savana. Harry just hoped he'd survive the experience in one piece!

Hagrid began to tell the students they'd be studying a very unusual animal this year, one who was rare and not native to the British Isles.

"Hagrid, what are we studying?" Hermione asked warily.

"Ah, North American Thunder Birds! An' way'll ya see 'em! Theh're cute 'lil beasties, theh 're!" Hagrid said with a wide smile.

Then he whistled and Alex came out of the barn. He was carrying a crate and had a large, gray bird, which was about the size of a mature bald eagle, perched on his shoulder.

Savana noted that the girls seemed much more focused on her brother, than on the bird.

That included Hermione, so, Savana elbowed her in the ribs, a little harder than was necessary.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?!" Hermione hissed at her.

"Because it's a little too early in the day for star gazing, that's why!" Savana hissed at her. "Besides that, he's too old..." The rest of her comment was cut off by Hagrid.

"...theh 'sis Alex Burck-Walker." Hagrid finished the introduction.

"Now, look at what you did! I missed the introduction!" Hermione hissed at Savana again. "Be quiet and leave me alone! I don't want to miss anything else!"

Savana haunched her shoulders, sighed, and stuck out her lower lip, but, she did honor Hermione's request. That didn't stop her, however, from furtively looking around at the other girls.

"They look like a bunch of lovesick cows!" She thought. "You'd think he was a rock star, the way they're practically drooling over him!" She made a small noise of disgust, and she focused her attention on Alex, who was explaining a few things about thunder birds.

"The Native Americans believed that thunder birds created the sound of thunder when they flapped their wings, hence, their name. We know, now, that isn't the case. However, these birds are far from harmless and they must be treated with respect. Chia," Alex indicated the bird who sat patiently on his shoulder, "is only here because she wants to be, and because she respects me..."

"And because you freed her from a trap and nursed her back to health!" Savana thought darkly.

"Savana, stop it!" Alex gave her a warning look, then returned to his lecture. "...and

I respect her. They are quite powerful and can cause alot of damage, when they desire it. Their beaks and talons are dangerous enough, but, they also create high voltage electricity, enough to kill a man and to stun a dragon." Alex paused then, to allow the comments of amazement to die down.

Savana noticed that the color drained from Harry's face and Ron appeared ready to run for his life. Hermione, typically, was flipping through a book, searching for information on thunder birds. She hadn't noticed Draco Malfoy, who was simply gazing at her, while ignoring Alex entirely.

"The electric current is generated by specialized spines which are located under their wings and on their tails. If you don't learn anything else here today, remember to NEVER touch those spines, even on the chicks, or you'll be BAR-B-QUED! That's kinda like being french fried, for those of you who don't speak Texan." Alex drawled, to the delight of the ladies, with the exception of Savana, who'd heard it before. The boys, however, made noises like they were going to loose their lunches.

"O.K., I get the hint!" Alex said with a laugh. "But, I was serious about the spines."

Alex continued talking about thunder birds, what they could do, and what to be avoided. He finally caught Draco's interest when he mentioned that thunder bird feathers were a crucial ingrediant in a potion which worked as an amplifier to most magic spells.

Draco, unfortunately, had missed the preceding part, when Alex had told the class that to get the feather, you needed to ask the thunder bird for it and the bird would decide whether, or not, you were worthy to recieve it. You couldn't just take one, even a chick would retaliate in that situation.

Draco had to get one of those feathers! His father would be so impressed with him, if Draco were to present him with a thunder bird feather! Perhaps, it would even ingratiate him with Lord Voldemort himself! Draco entertained some visions of himself as the mighty hero and he began to plot just how he would obtain a feather, preferably, today.

Hagrid had unlatched the crate while Alex was speaking. Now, he bent to remove the top as the students pressed forward for a better view of the crate's contents. They were greeted by a series of chirps, squawks, and the flapping of just developing wings. Alex reached into the box and brought out one of the small, downy, gray and yellow, puffballs, with some mature feathers just begining to appear. He held the chick up to Chia, who briefly checked it over. Alex then held the chick up for the students to see it.

"Who would like to hold the chick?" Alex asked. The students looked at him as though he'd lost his mind. "It's O.K., they won't hurt you, and neither will Chia, as long as you follow the rules I just told you about. Now, any takers?"

"I will!" Savana volunteered, and she eagerly worked her way to the front of the group. She had never seen a thunder bird before. Alex handed her the chick, which she cradled in her hands as she cooed softly to it.

Ron nudged Harry and whispered. "If looks could kill, Savana'd be a goner. They must not realise he's..."

"Quiet, you git!" Harry cut him off.

"Oops!" Ron muttered. Fortunately, no one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

Alex had invited everyone to come forward and meet Chia and the one chick. He also explained that this chick was more of an extrovert than its two siblings, whom he would introduce to the class once the chicks had the opportunity to adjust to their new surroundings. Soon everyone, except Draco, was engrossed with the strange and fascinating birds.

Draco decided to take advantage of this and put Plan A into action. He snuk around behind everyone and quietly opened the crate. Inside of it, he saw two more thunder bird chicks. He quickly grasped some feathers on the chick closest to him and yanked! He opened his hand and smiled greedily at the two feathers contained therein.

Before he could make his escape, however, he saw a vison of the thunder bird chick in his mind and it said: "This is pay back, Dork!"

Then, he was hit by an enormous blast from the thunder bird chick! The blast sent him flying, a good 12 meters, into a tree at the edge of the forbidden forest!

Chia spread her wings and flew over to her angry, frightened chick, at about the same moment. It was an amazing sight! During the time she was airborn, she radiated pulses of yellow, red and blue light!

Alex's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped when he saw Draco, hanging by his pant leg from the limb of a tree. Draco was still emiting some stray electric bursts and smoking like a char broiled steak.

Alex hurriedly grabbed Hagrid and ran over to Draco, after telling Savana to put the third thunder bird chick back with its mother.

The class laughed, as they watched the comedy of errors, commited by Hagrid and Alex, in their attempts to retrieve Draco from the tree. Every time one of them touched Draco, they recieved a small shock. Alex, finally, pulled out his wand in frusteration and blasted the branch which Draco hung from. That caused the branch to break, and Draco to fall to the ground with it.

Then Alex shouted: "Class dismissed!" As Hagrid and he marched Draco, who was still coughing up smoke, off to the hospital wing.

The class began to drift away as Savana went to return the thunder birds to the barn. She overheard many derogatory comments about Malfoy while she was doing this.

Harry, Ron and Hermione waited outside of the barn for Savana, so she could walk back to the castle with them. They were a little suprised when she began laughing hysterically as she closed the barn door on her way out. She hadn't done much more than giggle during the whole situation, why then, was she screaming with laughter now?

"I think she was afraid of startling the thunder birds, until now." Hermione suggested to the others.

"Yeeha! He looked like Wyle E. Coyote 4 after one of his rockets blows him up!" Savana shrieked. The others stared at her blankly, even though they had just been laughing at Malfoy's folly themselves. They had no idea, however, what Savana was referring to. "You know,

when the coyote tries to blow up the road runner...I guess ya gotta be there..." She trailed off. "At any rate, Malfoy deserved what happened to him, for turning Mariah green!"

"Ah, Savana," Hermione said, "Draco had nothing to do with that."

"There were only five Slytherins involved: Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and two of her girl friends." Harry told Savana. "As a matter of fact, Draco told them he wanted nothing to do with it. He also told them, not to do it."

"Leave it to Malfoy to screw-up in reverse!" Ron said, shaking his head. "Just when we think we've got him figured out, he goes and does the decent thing! Who'd have thought it?"

They all had a good laugh about the entire experience as they walked back up to the castle, discussing their interesting, and entertaining afternoon.

1. Baum, Frank; THE WIZARD OF OZ; MGM Studios.

2. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Pegasae-The plural form of Pegasus, a winged horse found in Greek

mythology.

3. Rowling, J.K.; HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: Hermione had begun a campaign for the better

treatment of, and rights for, house elves.

4. Wyle E. Coyote: A character in the Loony Tunes, Road Runner, cartoons. His attempts to capture the road

runner always backfire on him.