Chapter 5
Aleckseia sat at the breakfast table with her Slytherin friends Jissikah and Neecholi. She still remembered the image of Neecholi levitating last night, but did not ask anything. None of the girls were very talkative and they all looked very tired. Jissikah seemed to be more interested in toying with her long brown hair than finishing her toast. Aleckseia felt the silence getting to her and decided to strike up a conversation. "So there is nine more days until the now infamous Harry returns to school". She commented. Neecholi snorted. "Who's counting?" she asked rudely. Aleckseia looked taken aback. She was about to reply but Jissikah cut in. "Oh, Licce is. She still can't believe he wasn't expelled." She said matter-of-factly while fiddling with her hair. "Well I would have had him expelled immediately!" said Neecholi.
Aleckseia nodded. "But McGonagall and Dumbledore are the bosses" she added. Jissikah shifted uncomfortably and stopped playing with her hair. "You mean McGonagall and Dumbledore were the bosses" she said quietly. Aleckseia's face fell. "But she might come back..." she trailed off. Neecholi gave Aleckseia and doubtful look. "I do not expect her to return if she resigned with such haste and no explanation". "Besides, Dumbledore has appointed a new Transfiguration teacher". Jissikah and Aleckseia stared at Neecholi in disbelief. "Really?" they said in unison. Neecholi nodded. "It's going around in the Slytherin common room, a fifth year told me" Jissikah looked very surprised. "Wow, Dumbledore sure doesn't muck around!" she exclaimed.
Sure enough that morning in transfiguration class Jissikah, Aleckseia and Licce were introduced by Dumbledore to their new teacher Professor Spleen. She was a young looking witch with long dark hair and ivory skin. She wore a long black velvet skirt with a deep purple corset. Aleckseia thought she was very pretty indeed. "Well she's certainly no McGonagall! Jissikah scoffed. "Can you imagine if dear old Minerva turned up to class wearing that?" Licce and Aleckseia were unamused and raised their eyebrows. Jissikah continued to chuckle, although her friends did not find her last remark funny in any way. Professor Spleen finished marking the roll and cleared her throat. The class settled down and gave her their full attention. "Thank you." She said. "Now as you know I am Professor Spleen and I am going to teach you many wonderful and useful skills." Licce rolled her eyes "boring!" she muttered. Professor Spleen fixed her piercing blue eyes on Licce. "Boring?" she asked. Licce who was usually polite to teachers was suddenly overcome with a sense of rage. She was angry Professor McGonagall had gone, she was angry that the sleazy boy who lived; Harry Potter was returning to Hogwarts in only nine days and she was angry this new teacher had just turned up wearing a rather daring outfit. If there was one thing Licce could not stand it was a witch wearing trashy clothing. "Yeah, Boring!" Lise replied smartly. Professor Spleen raised and eyebrow. "Well, Miss Melding. I think you will find an after school detention with me even more boring!" Licce mentally kicked herself. "Be here at five sharp" she said coldly. Licce nodded reluctantly.
Harry Potter woke to find himself in the hospital ward of Hogwarts. He blinked. Could this be a dream? Besides, Harry had been suspended from Hogwarts, so why was he there? Harry looked up and at once was shocked to see Professor Dumbledore standing before his bed. Harry had a million questions running through his mind. Dumbledore seemed to sense this and put a hand up to silence him. "You are no longer suspended from Hogwarts Harry." he said. The time has passed and you have been asleep for the majority of it. I know all about the letter Harry and I promise I will get to the bottom of it. But in the meantime I warn you to watch out and be careful. You never can trust everyone."
Dumbledore's words sent a shiver up his spine. Had someone really been trying to kill him that night? Had someone wanted Harry to burn to death? The thought sickened Harry. "However, I rescued you from that muggle hospital and over the past nine days Madame Pomfrey has been working extremely hard to mend your skin. Harry held a hand up to his face and touched his skin. It felt smooth and slightly greasy. "Never fear Harry" said Dumbledore with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Although your skin was terribly burned Madame Pomfrey has managed to return your face to normal, and you look perfectly fine." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "There is not even a scar upon your face left to remind you of this horrible ordeal" beamed Dumbledore. "Although, the lightning bolt remains. Not even fire could remove it." Harry was happy his scar was still there. It was a part of him after all. Harry didn't want to imagine what he would look like if Madame Pomfrey had not been able to repair his skin, although he knew he would have looked very much like his old teacher Mad Eye Mooney. People's heads would turn, but not because he was the famous boy who lived! Harry could imagine the constant insults from his archenemy Draco Malfoy and his partners in crime Crabbe and Goyle. "Well I'm glad I'm still a sexy beast" thought Harry to himself. "The ladies will still love me. Hehe."
As the weeks flew by Harry and Ron slowly settled back into the Hogwarts community. They were both safe and well and Harry had run into no more trouble since returning to Hogwarts. He reassured himself it had only been a joker that had set fire to him and he was positive nothing would hurt him now he was back at Hogwarts. It had now been two months since Professor McGonagall had resigned and Professor Spleen had quickly become the most hated teacher at Hogwarts. She had the temper of Professor McGonagall on a bad day, although Spleen was no wear near as fair and reasonable as she had been. Professor Spleen was as cold as Professor Snape and was about as friendly as the goblins at Gringotts. Nevertheless, she knew transfiguration well and her classes were making steady progress in the subject.
Professor McGonagall had become very loyal to the muggle which had rescued her and was living quite comfortably with Nicole her knew owner. She never thought much about Hogwarts anymore and when she did remember it, she quickly set her mind on something else before the painful memories came flooding back. Minerva was quite happy to be living a lie. She had convinced herself she was a cat and thought nothing of magic and her former life as a Hogwarts teacher. She had pushed all thoughts of Dumbledore to the back of her mind and had managed quite well to suppress all of her foolish desires. Little did she know how badly missed she was back at Hogwarts. Dumbledore felt like a part of him was missing without her. He thought about her every day, wishing she would come back. Dumbledore could have easily gone looking for her but he knew in his heart she did not want to be found and there was no use invading her privacy. Harry, Ron and Hermione who had become friends again dearly missed their old transfiguration teacher, as strict and severe as she was. They had taken a great disking to Professor Spleen, who in Harry's opinion was the perfect match for Severus Snape. Even Licce Melding and her Slytherin pals Aleckseia and Jissikah missed Professor McGonagall. It seemed Licce couldn't avoid a transfiguration detention no matter how well behaved she was. Although she had stocked up on supplies from Zonko's joke shop, they were now going to waste as she did not dare to try and pull a trick on Spleen
Licce Melding yawned and seated herself on a lounge in the Gryffindor common room. She was soon joined by Fred and George Weasley who were in their final year at Hogwarts. Licce and the twins had quickly bonded through their love of practical jokes. They supplied her with all she ever needed from Zonko's in Hogsmeade. But this time it looked as though they wanted to talk about something serious. Fred looked at George and George spoke. "Listen" he said in a hushed tone, leaning over to Licce. "I think the whole of Hogwarts has had enough of that Spleen woman" Licce's hazel eyes lit up. "Since it's our last year at Hogwarts we want to remember it for a reason, and I think its payback time for Spleen". A wicked grin spread onto the faces of George and Fred. Licce looked at each of them with a devilish glint in her eye. She leaned over and whispered "I'm in."
Fred Weasley turned they key in the lock on the door of Professor Snape's office. It was night time and the perfect opportunity for Fred to pinch some supplies needed for their master plan from Snape's storeroom. Most of the school was in bed and Filch the caretaker was prowling the third floor which was far enough away from the dungeons. Fred knew exactly what he needed and planned to grab the ingredients and flee. He had also managed to make a replica of the key which unlocked Snape's office. This way there would be no sign of forced entry and hopefully Snape would be none the wiser. Fred crept over to the storeroom and unlatched the door. He held his lantern up to the shelves so he could read the labels on all the bottles and jars. "Aha! Here's fig rose" thought Fred with delight. He took a triangular shaped bottle of the rose-tinted liquid and placed it inside his jacket.
Fred then quickly pulled the other bottles to the front so the shelf looked untouched. He shone his lantern around again and took some more bottles and viles full of potion ingredients. Fred was reaching for a jar on the highest shelf when all of a sudden he heard Snape's office door creak open followed by the sound of footsteps and giggling. Fred froze. He backed up to the wall and stood motionless, not daring to breathe.
Fred listened carefully and could make out the voice of Snape. He inched closer to the storeroom door to eavesdrop. "Oh Verity you are a naughty, naughty girl!" he heard Snape say in a husky voice. The sound of girly giggles followed. Curiosity got the better of Fred and he craned his neck out to see what was going on. Fred was mortified. There in Snape's office he was met with a most scandalous sight. Snape was wrapped around Professor Spleen who had a playful grin on her face. He was fumbling with the string on her corset trying to untie it. Fred clapped a hand over his mouth. His knees went weak. He had to get out of there before.Fred didn't even want to think about it! This was something he most certainly did not want to witness.
Fred winced in disgust as the sounds from Snape's office became louder. He had never heard teachers talk like this to each other and he didn't wish to either. Fred searched desperately for a way out while trying to block out the sounds coming from the office. He could not apparate in the school grounds and he did not know how to anyway. He didn't have his wand here either. Fred began to panic. He realised it would be most embarrassing for all involved if Snape was to catch him here at this very moment.
Fred laid his loot on the ground and was thinking of a way to escape when he heard Professor Spleen talking in a serious voice. He stuck his neck out again to watch them. "But Severus," said Professor Spleen placing her hands on Snape's chest and looking into his eyes "We must be careful. It would be ghastly if I." she trailed off. "You do have one don't you?" she asked awkwardly. Fred heard footsteps approaching the storeroom. "I will get the vile at once" Snape said hurriedly. "This potion works immediately so we can start to." Snape stopped speaking abruptly. He was met face to face with a squirming Fred Weasley. The look of horror on Snape's face was priceless. "Severus?" said Professor Spleen quietly. She walked up behind him and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Fred. "I, uh um sir uh, you see, err" Fred stammered weakly. Fred 's face was burning bright red along with Professor Spleen who was busy trying to lace up her corset and wipe away her extremely smudged red lipstick. Even Snape's cheeks were glowing pink as he attempted to button up his vest and straighten his greasy hair. "Iwasntspyingonyou" blurted Fred. "I was, I was stealing potion ingredients" he squeaked. "Then you two arrived".
Snape who had managed to straighten himself up and regain his voice glared darts at Fred. "You little thief " he said acidly. Professor Spleen's eyes flashed from embarrassed to infuriated. "Do you mean to say you watched everything!?" she shrieked Fred shook his head and pointed a shaking finger at the door. "I, I was h-h-h iding behind the d-d-d-door" he stuttered. Snape stared at him sourly with narrow eyes. "This calls for a memory charm, don't you agree Verity?" he said, glancing at Professor Spleen. She nodded solemnly. Snape reached into his pants pocket for his wand. He froze when he realised he was not wearing any pants. Snape's face turned scarlet once again and he forced a laugh. "Ah," he said with a tight smile although he looked like he was about to explode. "No wand, no wand". He laughed and shook his head. "NO WAND!" he bellowed. Fred wished he could melt into the floor. Just then, the door of Snape's office burst open again and in came Dumbledore. Snape looked irate. "Great! Just great!" he said between gritted teeth.
Aleckseia sat at the breakfast table with her Slytherin friends Jissikah and Neecholi. She still remembered the image of Neecholi levitating last night, but did not ask anything. None of the girls were very talkative and they all looked very tired. Jissikah seemed to be more interested in toying with her long brown hair than finishing her toast. Aleckseia felt the silence getting to her and decided to strike up a conversation. "So there is nine more days until the now infamous Harry returns to school". She commented. Neecholi snorted. "Who's counting?" she asked rudely. Aleckseia looked taken aback. She was about to reply but Jissikah cut in. "Oh, Licce is. She still can't believe he wasn't expelled." She said matter-of-factly while fiddling with her hair. "Well I would have had him expelled immediately!" said Neecholi.
Aleckseia nodded. "But McGonagall and Dumbledore are the bosses" she added. Jissikah shifted uncomfortably and stopped playing with her hair. "You mean McGonagall and Dumbledore were the bosses" she said quietly. Aleckseia's face fell. "But she might come back..." she trailed off. Neecholi gave Aleckseia and doubtful look. "I do not expect her to return if she resigned with such haste and no explanation". "Besides, Dumbledore has appointed a new Transfiguration teacher". Jissikah and Aleckseia stared at Neecholi in disbelief. "Really?" they said in unison. Neecholi nodded. "It's going around in the Slytherin common room, a fifth year told me" Jissikah looked very surprised. "Wow, Dumbledore sure doesn't muck around!" she exclaimed.
Sure enough that morning in transfiguration class Jissikah, Aleckseia and Licce were introduced by Dumbledore to their new teacher Professor Spleen. She was a young looking witch with long dark hair and ivory skin. She wore a long black velvet skirt with a deep purple corset. Aleckseia thought she was very pretty indeed. "Well she's certainly no McGonagall! Jissikah scoffed. "Can you imagine if dear old Minerva turned up to class wearing that?" Licce and Aleckseia were unamused and raised their eyebrows. Jissikah continued to chuckle, although her friends did not find her last remark funny in any way. Professor Spleen finished marking the roll and cleared her throat. The class settled down and gave her their full attention. "Thank you." She said. "Now as you know I am Professor Spleen and I am going to teach you many wonderful and useful skills." Licce rolled her eyes "boring!" she muttered. Professor Spleen fixed her piercing blue eyes on Licce. "Boring?" she asked. Licce who was usually polite to teachers was suddenly overcome with a sense of rage. She was angry Professor McGonagall had gone, she was angry that the sleazy boy who lived; Harry Potter was returning to Hogwarts in only nine days and she was angry this new teacher had just turned up wearing a rather daring outfit. If there was one thing Licce could not stand it was a witch wearing trashy clothing. "Yeah, Boring!" Lise replied smartly. Professor Spleen raised and eyebrow. "Well, Miss Melding. I think you will find an after school detention with me even more boring!" Licce mentally kicked herself. "Be here at five sharp" she said coldly. Licce nodded reluctantly.
Harry Potter woke to find himself in the hospital ward of Hogwarts. He blinked. Could this be a dream? Besides, Harry had been suspended from Hogwarts, so why was he there? Harry looked up and at once was shocked to see Professor Dumbledore standing before his bed. Harry had a million questions running through his mind. Dumbledore seemed to sense this and put a hand up to silence him. "You are no longer suspended from Hogwarts Harry." he said. The time has passed and you have been asleep for the majority of it. I know all about the letter Harry and I promise I will get to the bottom of it. But in the meantime I warn you to watch out and be careful. You never can trust everyone."
Dumbledore's words sent a shiver up his spine. Had someone really been trying to kill him that night? Had someone wanted Harry to burn to death? The thought sickened Harry. "However, I rescued you from that muggle hospital and over the past nine days Madame Pomfrey has been working extremely hard to mend your skin. Harry held a hand up to his face and touched his skin. It felt smooth and slightly greasy. "Never fear Harry" said Dumbledore with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Although your skin was terribly burned Madame Pomfrey has managed to return your face to normal, and you look perfectly fine." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "There is not even a scar upon your face left to remind you of this horrible ordeal" beamed Dumbledore. "Although, the lightning bolt remains. Not even fire could remove it." Harry was happy his scar was still there. It was a part of him after all. Harry didn't want to imagine what he would look like if Madame Pomfrey had not been able to repair his skin, although he knew he would have looked very much like his old teacher Mad Eye Mooney. People's heads would turn, but not because he was the famous boy who lived! Harry could imagine the constant insults from his archenemy Draco Malfoy and his partners in crime Crabbe and Goyle. "Well I'm glad I'm still a sexy beast" thought Harry to himself. "The ladies will still love me. Hehe."
As the weeks flew by Harry and Ron slowly settled back into the Hogwarts community. They were both safe and well and Harry had run into no more trouble since returning to Hogwarts. He reassured himself it had only been a joker that had set fire to him and he was positive nothing would hurt him now he was back at Hogwarts. It had now been two months since Professor McGonagall had resigned and Professor Spleen had quickly become the most hated teacher at Hogwarts. She had the temper of Professor McGonagall on a bad day, although Spleen was no wear near as fair and reasonable as she had been. Professor Spleen was as cold as Professor Snape and was about as friendly as the goblins at Gringotts. Nevertheless, she knew transfiguration well and her classes were making steady progress in the subject.
Professor McGonagall had become very loyal to the muggle which had rescued her and was living quite comfortably with Nicole her knew owner. She never thought much about Hogwarts anymore and when she did remember it, she quickly set her mind on something else before the painful memories came flooding back. Minerva was quite happy to be living a lie. She had convinced herself she was a cat and thought nothing of magic and her former life as a Hogwarts teacher. She had pushed all thoughts of Dumbledore to the back of her mind and had managed quite well to suppress all of her foolish desires. Little did she know how badly missed she was back at Hogwarts. Dumbledore felt like a part of him was missing without her. He thought about her every day, wishing she would come back. Dumbledore could have easily gone looking for her but he knew in his heart she did not want to be found and there was no use invading her privacy. Harry, Ron and Hermione who had become friends again dearly missed their old transfiguration teacher, as strict and severe as she was. They had taken a great disking to Professor Spleen, who in Harry's opinion was the perfect match for Severus Snape. Even Licce Melding and her Slytherin pals Aleckseia and Jissikah missed Professor McGonagall. It seemed Licce couldn't avoid a transfiguration detention no matter how well behaved she was. Although she had stocked up on supplies from Zonko's joke shop, they were now going to waste as she did not dare to try and pull a trick on Spleen
Licce Melding yawned and seated herself on a lounge in the Gryffindor common room. She was soon joined by Fred and George Weasley who were in their final year at Hogwarts. Licce and the twins had quickly bonded through their love of practical jokes. They supplied her with all she ever needed from Zonko's in Hogsmeade. But this time it looked as though they wanted to talk about something serious. Fred looked at George and George spoke. "Listen" he said in a hushed tone, leaning over to Licce. "I think the whole of Hogwarts has had enough of that Spleen woman" Licce's hazel eyes lit up. "Since it's our last year at Hogwarts we want to remember it for a reason, and I think its payback time for Spleen". A wicked grin spread onto the faces of George and Fred. Licce looked at each of them with a devilish glint in her eye. She leaned over and whispered "I'm in."
Fred Weasley turned they key in the lock on the door of Professor Snape's office. It was night time and the perfect opportunity for Fred to pinch some supplies needed for their master plan from Snape's storeroom. Most of the school was in bed and Filch the caretaker was prowling the third floor which was far enough away from the dungeons. Fred knew exactly what he needed and planned to grab the ingredients and flee. He had also managed to make a replica of the key which unlocked Snape's office. This way there would be no sign of forced entry and hopefully Snape would be none the wiser. Fred crept over to the storeroom and unlatched the door. He held his lantern up to the shelves so he could read the labels on all the bottles and jars. "Aha! Here's fig rose" thought Fred with delight. He took a triangular shaped bottle of the rose-tinted liquid and placed it inside his jacket.
Fred then quickly pulled the other bottles to the front so the shelf looked untouched. He shone his lantern around again and took some more bottles and viles full of potion ingredients. Fred was reaching for a jar on the highest shelf when all of a sudden he heard Snape's office door creak open followed by the sound of footsteps and giggling. Fred froze. He backed up to the wall and stood motionless, not daring to breathe.
Fred listened carefully and could make out the voice of Snape. He inched closer to the storeroom door to eavesdrop. "Oh Verity you are a naughty, naughty girl!" he heard Snape say in a husky voice. The sound of girly giggles followed. Curiosity got the better of Fred and he craned his neck out to see what was going on. Fred was mortified. There in Snape's office he was met with a most scandalous sight. Snape was wrapped around Professor Spleen who had a playful grin on her face. He was fumbling with the string on her corset trying to untie it. Fred clapped a hand over his mouth. His knees went weak. He had to get out of there before.Fred didn't even want to think about it! This was something he most certainly did not want to witness.
Fred winced in disgust as the sounds from Snape's office became louder. He had never heard teachers talk like this to each other and he didn't wish to either. Fred searched desperately for a way out while trying to block out the sounds coming from the office. He could not apparate in the school grounds and he did not know how to anyway. He didn't have his wand here either. Fred began to panic. He realised it would be most embarrassing for all involved if Snape was to catch him here at this very moment.
Fred laid his loot on the ground and was thinking of a way to escape when he heard Professor Spleen talking in a serious voice. He stuck his neck out again to watch them. "But Severus," said Professor Spleen placing her hands on Snape's chest and looking into his eyes "We must be careful. It would be ghastly if I." she trailed off. "You do have one don't you?" she asked awkwardly. Fred heard footsteps approaching the storeroom. "I will get the vile at once" Snape said hurriedly. "This potion works immediately so we can start to." Snape stopped speaking abruptly. He was met face to face with a squirming Fred Weasley. The look of horror on Snape's face was priceless. "Severus?" said Professor Spleen quietly. She walked up behind him and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Fred. "I, uh um sir uh, you see, err" Fred stammered weakly. Fred 's face was burning bright red along with Professor Spleen who was busy trying to lace up her corset and wipe away her extremely smudged red lipstick. Even Snape's cheeks were glowing pink as he attempted to button up his vest and straighten his greasy hair. "Iwasntspyingonyou" blurted Fred. "I was, I was stealing potion ingredients" he squeaked. "Then you two arrived".
Snape who had managed to straighten himself up and regain his voice glared darts at Fred. "You little thief " he said acidly. Professor Spleen's eyes flashed from embarrassed to infuriated. "Do you mean to say you watched everything!?" she shrieked Fred shook his head and pointed a shaking finger at the door. "I, I was h-h-h iding behind the d-d-d-door" he stuttered. Snape stared at him sourly with narrow eyes. "This calls for a memory charm, don't you agree Verity?" he said, glancing at Professor Spleen. She nodded solemnly. Snape reached into his pants pocket for his wand. He froze when he realised he was not wearing any pants. Snape's face turned scarlet once again and he forced a laugh. "Ah," he said with a tight smile although he looked like he was about to explode. "No wand, no wand". He laughed and shook his head. "NO WAND!" he bellowed. Fred wished he could melt into the floor. Just then, the door of Snape's office burst open again and in came Dumbledore. Snape looked irate. "Great! Just great!" he said between gritted teeth.
