Chapter 2: Back in the School Swing
This year," coughed Professor Binns, "we will begin work on the destroyed ancient city of Atlantis."
Seamus' hand shot up.
"Yes?"
"But Professor, isn't Atlantis just a myth?"
"The muggles would certainly believe so. However, the wizarding world has solid proof that it existed. As you know, some Atlanteans left their city before it was destroyed and sought refuge among the magic folk. They too possessed the ability to perform magic. Unfortunately, they were forbidden to marry outside their race and were slowly killed off by people who believed they were dangerous."
At the end of the lesson, they looked back at Stella-Hermione, who was even more bleached than usual.
"They died…all of them…from Rou-Nathaniel down to Rai-Samina …"
"Stella-Hermione, quit being a cry-baby," snapped Hermione. "Act your age!"
"Er, Hermione, keep in mind that she is only ten years old…she's just thrown into our year because she got home-schooled or some other junk like that." Ron pointed out.
"I don't believe it…" Stella-Hermione muttered. "All those lives…cut short like cut flowers…like Mockingbirds…it was a sin to kill them..."
"Well, they were dangerous. Look what they did to their city! Benighted by greed and avarice."
"How do you know? You don't know anything! You never understood…you never tried! Not everybody was like that - it was only that corrupt dictatorship that grew out of the ashes of the empire!"
Hermione grabbed Harry and Ron by their shoulders, and dragged them off. "Go back to your books, small fry, and keep out of the way of the sixth-years."
"Hermione…"
"She's not worth our time. I'm going to make a beeline for the Great Hall – I'm starving; aren't you coming with me?"
Reluctantly Ron followed her. Harry lingered behind for a few precious moments, giving Stella-Hermione what he hoped looked like an apologetic smile, before rushing off to join his friends.
"Are you considering signing up for the music classes?" Hermione gasped. "Why would you do that, Harry? You're not in the least musically inclined."
"Some kind of friend you are, preventing me from trying out new things. I thought friends were supposed to be a form of encouragement."
"No, I'm just trying to protect you from failure!"
"How do you know I'm bad at music?"
"I'm just predicting."
"I thought you walked out of divination!"
"What she means is she is making an educated guess from your situation."
"I don't want to know where that voice came from…" Ron moaned without turning around.
"Well, that's all right, then!" Cho walked off in a huff.
"Thanks a lot, Ron."
"I thought you were over her?"
"Still, it's not very polite, is it?"
"Hello, Harry!" Cho walked by the group standing at the noticeboard. "Sorry I can't chat – I'm due in the library – NEWTS this year."
"Wait a moment. Didn't you…" Harry cut himself off.
"I'm signing up," Hermione burst in.
"So am I." Ron grabbed a quill.
"Ron, the lessons…they're on Saturday mornings – are you insane? We have Quidditch the night before – do you expect to be able to cope?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I think I can. I mean, singing's a piece of cake. And the guitar doesn't look too hard, does it?"
"I don't know about you, but I will. Music has the power to drive off evil, and it'll make you smarter. You know, maths and music and history all go together." Hermione scratched her name with a tiny flourish.
"All right, I don't want to be left out. That's my excuse. Count me in."
"As we expected, of course, creepy girl is on piano." Hermione bobbed her head towards the large grand piano, which had now moved itself into the classroom where they were about to take their first music lesson.
"Who here can sing?" asked Scout.
"Nobody dared to put up their hand, except for Hermione.
Well, I'm sure you're all talented students – did you know that tone deafness is an extremely rare condition? I'm close to definite that every one of you would be able to squeeze out a few notes. So, Stella-Hermione…you know what to do…what's a song that everybody knows?"
"How about the national anthem…Miss…um…" asked Hermione. The class groaned and grumbled.
"Just call me Scout. Come on, guys? What's on the radio now?" Scout asked.
"I know!" piped up Stella-Hermione. "How about 'American Pie'? Everybody knows that tune!" With that, she picked out a few notes on the piano.
"Let's see…I think if we put it into D then it would work, wouldn't it, Scout?"
"I don't see why not. It's quite a neutral key."
"Right. Here we go, then!
A long long time ago
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
¡¡¡¡with every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So..."
"Okay, everybody, let's see how you go just for a trial run!" The class began to chorus.
"Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
Scout clapped. "Well done! For first-timers, that was actually quite good!"
"Is it me," asked Hermione, "Or do we sound awful?"
"She's just being polite. But by the time she's finished with us I bet we'll all be opera singers. Look at Cho's sister." Ron reassured.
"No, I don't think it's her. I mean, I think it's not Scout, it's Stella-Hermione. You know, she just sits at the piano and plays a random tune and then…"
"Harry, you're rambling and I can't understand you," Hermione ignored.
"So – you all sound pretty decent – we'll work on vocals for half a year, then we'll go onto an instrument of your choice. That's what you'll have to start thinking about. I'd advise any of you who already play an instrument to stick to that, since as you know, learning a new one is never easy."
"Except for LMP, little Miss Perfect Stella-Hermione Chang…" Hermione whispered.
This year," coughed Professor Binns, "we will begin work on the destroyed ancient city of Atlantis."
Seamus' hand shot up.
"Yes?"
"But Professor, isn't Atlantis just a myth?"
"The muggles would certainly believe so. However, the wizarding world has solid proof that it existed. As you know, some Atlanteans left their city before it was destroyed and sought refuge among the magic folk. They too possessed the ability to perform magic. Unfortunately, they were forbidden to marry outside their race and were slowly killed off by people who believed they were dangerous."
At the end of the lesson, they looked back at Stella-Hermione, who was even more bleached than usual.
"They died…all of them…from Rou-Nathaniel down to Rai-Samina …"
"Stella-Hermione, quit being a cry-baby," snapped Hermione. "Act your age!"
"Er, Hermione, keep in mind that she is only ten years old…she's just thrown into our year because she got home-schooled or some other junk like that." Ron pointed out.
"I don't believe it…" Stella-Hermione muttered. "All those lives…cut short like cut flowers…like Mockingbirds…it was a sin to kill them..."
"Well, they were dangerous. Look what they did to their city! Benighted by greed and avarice."
"How do you know? You don't know anything! You never understood…you never tried! Not everybody was like that - it was only that corrupt dictatorship that grew out of the ashes of the empire!"
Hermione grabbed Harry and Ron by their shoulders, and dragged them off. "Go back to your books, small fry, and keep out of the way of the sixth-years."
"Hermione…"
"She's not worth our time. I'm going to make a beeline for the Great Hall – I'm starving; aren't you coming with me?"
Reluctantly Ron followed her. Harry lingered behind for a few precious moments, giving Stella-Hermione what he hoped looked like an apologetic smile, before rushing off to join his friends.
"Are you considering signing up for the music classes?" Hermione gasped. "Why would you do that, Harry? You're not in the least musically inclined."
"Some kind of friend you are, preventing me from trying out new things. I thought friends were supposed to be a form of encouragement."
"No, I'm just trying to protect you from failure!"
"How do you know I'm bad at music?"
"I'm just predicting."
"I thought you walked out of divination!"
"What she means is she is making an educated guess from your situation."
"I don't want to know where that voice came from…" Ron moaned without turning around.
"Well, that's all right, then!" Cho walked off in a huff.
"Thanks a lot, Ron."
"I thought you were over her?"
"Still, it's not very polite, is it?"
"Hello, Harry!" Cho walked by the group standing at the noticeboard. "Sorry I can't chat – I'm due in the library – NEWTS this year."
"Wait a moment. Didn't you…" Harry cut himself off.
"I'm signing up," Hermione burst in.
"So am I." Ron grabbed a quill.
"Ron, the lessons…they're on Saturday mornings – are you insane? We have Quidditch the night before – do you expect to be able to cope?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I think I can. I mean, singing's a piece of cake. And the guitar doesn't look too hard, does it?"
"I don't know about you, but I will. Music has the power to drive off evil, and it'll make you smarter. You know, maths and music and history all go together." Hermione scratched her name with a tiny flourish.
"All right, I don't want to be left out. That's my excuse. Count me in."
"As we expected, of course, creepy girl is on piano." Hermione bobbed her head towards the large grand piano, which had now moved itself into the classroom where they were about to take their first music lesson.
"Who here can sing?" asked Scout.
"Nobody dared to put up their hand, except for Hermione.
Well, I'm sure you're all talented students – did you know that tone deafness is an extremely rare condition? I'm close to definite that every one of you would be able to squeeze out a few notes. So, Stella-Hermione…you know what to do…what's a song that everybody knows?"
"How about the national anthem…Miss…um…" asked Hermione. The class groaned and grumbled.
"Just call me Scout. Come on, guys? What's on the radio now?" Scout asked.
"I know!" piped up Stella-Hermione. "How about 'American Pie'? Everybody knows that tune!" With that, she picked out a few notes on the piano.
"Let's see…I think if we put it into D then it would work, wouldn't it, Scout?"
"I don't see why not. It's quite a neutral key."
"Right. Here we go, then!
A long long time ago
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
¡¡¡¡with every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So..."
"Okay, everybody, let's see how you go just for a trial run!" The class began to chorus.
"Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
Scout clapped. "Well done! For first-timers, that was actually quite good!"
"Is it me," asked Hermione, "Or do we sound awful?"
"She's just being polite. But by the time she's finished with us I bet we'll all be opera singers. Look at Cho's sister." Ron reassured.
"No, I don't think it's her. I mean, I think it's not Scout, it's Stella-Hermione. You know, she just sits at the piano and plays a random tune and then…"
"Harry, you're rambling and I can't understand you," Hermione ignored.
"So – you all sound pretty decent – we'll work on vocals for half a year, then we'll go onto an instrument of your choice. That's what you'll have to start thinking about. I'd advise any of you who already play an instrument to stick to that, since as you know, learning a new one is never easy."
"Except for LMP, little Miss Perfect Stella-Hermione Chang…" Hermione whispered.
