Maria Comes To Hogwarts- Chapter Three
Notes:
The Hufflepuff sigil is a badger. I portray Dumbledore as a horny old codger because I can't help the AD/MM and I don't have time for a romance.
I like Maria. I don't care about how messed up I'm making her life story. You don't need to know any of that for _this_ story. All you need to do is to read the bloody thing and review it. Please. I've worked on this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feeling slightly more human, Maria emerged from the spell-decorated bathroom. Her shoulder-length brown and occasionally wavy hair was up in a slightly spiky ponytail on the back of her head. Underneath her black robes, she wore black pants and a dark green turtleneck. She left off the makeup, put two asprin in a convenient pocket of her robe- she had Arithmancy first, and she got the feeling she was going to need them.
Apparently, none of her roommates were awake yet- wonderful. She could slip down to the dungeons for a quick tour before breakfast. She loved being a new student. Getting horribly lost was an amazing amount of fun.
~*~
In the Gryffindor boy's dormitory, Harry Potter groaned and rolled over. "Go 'way, Ron."
Ron shook his shoulder vigorously. "Bloody 'ell, Harry! You'd think you wanted to miss breakfast."
He pulled the blankets over his head again. "Ugh."
Just then, an imperious knock sounded on the door. "Harry! Ron! Are you in there? We're going to be late!"
Ron stared at the door in disgust and went to go answer it, leaving Harry still unconscious on his bed. Opening it, he sighed. "Bloody 'ell, 'Mione! You can't be late for breakfast."
Her hair was in a fluffy cloud around her head. Ron mentally winced in early-morning confusion. "Aughh." He yawned. "You can go down without us, 'Mione. We'll be right behind you, really." She peered through the partially open door at the room, frowning at the immobile lumps in the beds.
"Where's Harry?"
Ron waved distractedly at the bed. "He's tired. Doesn't bloody want to get up." He hitched the jeans beneath his robes a little lower.
Hermione pushed her way in. Smiling, she drew her wand and said, "Consciousness Immediate!"
Harry jumped straight up in the air, shouting. "Ow, Hermione! That stung!"
Nelville stuck his head out of his curtains. "What's the fuss?" He saw Hermione, yelped, and dove back inside. "I'm naked! Don't look! I'm naked!"
Hermione sighed. "I'll wait in the common room. Hurry up."
Harry rubbed his backside. "Ouch. That felt like a needle."
Ron got a Look on his face. "What were the words for that again? We might be able to spring it on Snape somehow."
Harry grinned. "Good idea." He leaned over and picked up the book he had dropped last night. "Is this yours, Ron?"
Ron looked at it. "Not mine." He noticed something. "Hey, look, Harry, there's a paper inside it." He snatched it. "Hmm. It says, 'Dear Harry. I don't need this if I'm to be in Slythrin; care for it?' Its signed Maria."
Harry looked at it in confusion. "Maria?"
Ron nodded encouragingly. "Yeah. You know, the transfer girl? Do you think 'Mione knows her?"
Harry shook his head. He didn't care. "I'm hungry. Let's take it to breakfast, shall we?"
~*~
Dumbledore smiled as he puttered a bit around his office. He thought he would go to breakfast early and slip a bit of Hangover Potion into Minerva's juice- she was much too proud to drink it herself. He'd have to ask Snape to brew up another batch- with Maria having double Potions tomorrow, he had a feeling it was going to be needed.
~*~
*Oh, damn.* Maria sighed and looked around. She had started out for the dungeons and ended up, mysteriously, in the Hufflepuff common room. She had started out for the dungeons _in_ the dungeons and ended up, mysteriously, in the Hufflepuff common room. *Welcome to my life. Isn't there supposed to be a password?* Well, it wasn't completely wasted. She went to one of the open, airy windows and looked out. Oh! What a view. The morning sunlight illuminated the dew- covered walls of the castle and turned them into silver. She saw the Astronomy corner way off on the other end of the field; there was a tall, dark figure on it that she recognized, after a bit, as her new head-of-house. He turned into the sunlight and a gust of wind whipped his robes around. She smiled affectionately. She was going to put a wince on that sallow face and a slump in that arrogance- and she was going to make it funny. *Time to get out of here before they wake up. They'd probably scream or something.* She headed for the door.
Outside, she was in a corridor that she hadn't gotten in by. *Damn.* She looked around. She frowned. Finally she turned around and stared down the corridor from the other way. *Oh.* She shook her head. *Time for breakfast. I'm ready to eat their sigil.*
~*~
In the main hall, the sky reflected a beautiful and cloudless sky. At the Gryffindor table, the three friends sat talking. Colin Creevey was at the other end of the table, taking photographs between bites. Harry didn't even squirm in embarrassment any more; he had gotten used to it. Of course, eating like a starving thing was helping, too. He hadn't tasted food this good all summer. Hell, when he was running from Voldemort on that gods-be- damned carpet, he hadn't gotten to taste that much food, period.
Through a mouthful of food, Harry said, "So, Hermione. Do you know this Maria?" Actually, it came out a bit like, "au, auauauau, ic oo oh 'is (swallow) Maria?"
She winced. "Eew. Harry, _must_ you?"
Ron's own mouth was full of food, so he chimed in. " 'Ah, 'Arry, 'ust oo?"
Hermione just looked disgusted. Suddenly, she pointed to one end of the hall. "Look! She's here." She gave Harry a little shove. "Go talk to her, will you?"
Harry looked at her as if she had just suggested they major in Divination. "She's a Slythrin, 'Mione. She'd just hex me."
She sighed and stood. "I'll be right back." Ron stared after her, still chewing a bite of deliciously steaming fresh sausage. "Blimey. Does she have courage or what?"
Harry stared at the two worriedly. They were leaning together, conversing. "Neither of them look dead yet."
"Fuzznuts," Ron replied. "They're just working out where to duel." He stood hurriedly and wiped his wrist across his lips. "I'll go save her." Left with no choice, Harry followed behind.
~*~
Re-entering the Astronomy stairway, Professor Severus Snape grimaced. There was still no sign of his new cauldron, and the shopkeeper had promised to have it delivered yesterday. He didn't need it until tomorrow with the double Gryffindor-Slythrin class, but still. He whirled and glared at an approaching second year. Second years had had him for an entire year and were terrified; they had had the summer to build their terror up in their own minds, and they weren't old enough to show a _trace_ of backbone. It was almost too easy. "Five points from Hufflepuff for being late to breakfast." The poor boy just stood, shivering, against a column until the feared Potions master was safely out of sight.
The claim was ridikkulus, of course. But the poor boy felt lucky to simply have survived.
~*~
In the main hall, Minerva McGonnagal resisted the impulse to rest her pounding head in her hands. She had wanted to hurry up and get a quick bite of tea before the real racket started, but she had forgotten just how repulsive anything with eggs looked when she was sporting a hangover. She winced as Albus walked in. She didn't want to hear _anyone's_ voice right now, not even his.
He spoke softly. She winced inwardly- was the man a bloody telepath? "Minerva." Was that a mischievous twinkle in his eye? She didn't want to know.
"Albus." It was all she could do not to groan- his embroidered robes swayed dizzily in her vision and she wondered briefly how she could see with her eyes closed.
Albus Dumbledore grinned to himself. To give her the potion now? Or to wait a little longer? But he knew the answer to that. Her grimace of pain must have been visible to the other end of the hall. "Now really, Minerva," he said, deftly replacing her glass of tea with the hangover potion, "drink your tea before Winky comes up here and starts crying."
The Transfigurations Professor bit back a groan at the thought of a squeaky house-elf voice intruding on her painfully sensitive ears, and swigged the "tea." She wasn't going to feel better right away, like the normal potion did- it would take about a minute and a half. Albus picked up a pastry and nibbled on it appreciatively. "Mmm. Delicious. I must run, but _do_ try and eat something, Minerva."
Exiting the main hall, he practically ran into someone, a not uncommon occasion in a school full of rambunctious students. "Why, Severus!" he exclaimed, clapping the dour potions master on the back. "I was just going to thank you."
Snape would have none of it. He harrumphed. "Albus, that infernal man has _still_ not delivered my cauldron!"
"Ah, well. That may explain the rather large pewter object in my study. You are quite welcome to it, you know."
Severus almost called him a barmy old codger, but resisted. The last time he had done that, Minerva had overheard, taken offence, and slipped him a Polyjuice potion that turned him into the Headmaster for an hour. He had a healthy respect for the woman.
He almost got past the infernal man, but he called after him, "Oh, Severus. I just wanted to thank you for that wonderful hangover remedy you've made for me."
He knew exactly what the man was talking about. "The Evading Potion, you mean?" Best to give him hell for it- it _was_ slightly immoral. Not the man's style at all.
It was Albus's turn to harrumph. "Well, I would not call it that, exactly... more of an evasive potion.."
Snape sighed. He had, on Albus's request, made a form of hangover potion that tasted exactly like Minerva's favorite tea and was a tiny bit diluted, giving the Headmaster just enough time to flee the scene. There was also the Cheering Charm he had thrown into the mix. Not even Albus knew about that, although sometimes he was sure the man had guessed. Minerva with a headache was hell on wheels down stairs to deal with in the morning, even for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There! Some sneakiness, some dialogue, and a nice little cliffhang-thing in the Hermione/Maria conversation. *Smiles* Can you imagine those two as friends? Neither can I. But there should be some bloody good fights in here somewhere.
A/N: Yes, I know the proper spelling is ridiculous, not ridikkulus. I just couldn't resist.
Notes:
The Hufflepuff sigil is a badger. I portray Dumbledore as a horny old codger because I can't help the AD/MM and I don't have time for a romance.
I like Maria. I don't care about how messed up I'm making her life story. You don't need to know any of that for _this_ story. All you need to do is to read the bloody thing and review it. Please. I've worked on this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feeling slightly more human, Maria emerged from the spell-decorated bathroom. Her shoulder-length brown and occasionally wavy hair was up in a slightly spiky ponytail on the back of her head. Underneath her black robes, she wore black pants and a dark green turtleneck. She left off the makeup, put two asprin in a convenient pocket of her robe- she had Arithmancy first, and she got the feeling she was going to need them.
Apparently, none of her roommates were awake yet- wonderful. She could slip down to the dungeons for a quick tour before breakfast. She loved being a new student. Getting horribly lost was an amazing amount of fun.
~*~
In the Gryffindor boy's dormitory, Harry Potter groaned and rolled over. "Go 'way, Ron."
Ron shook his shoulder vigorously. "Bloody 'ell, Harry! You'd think you wanted to miss breakfast."
He pulled the blankets over his head again. "Ugh."
Just then, an imperious knock sounded on the door. "Harry! Ron! Are you in there? We're going to be late!"
Ron stared at the door in disgust and went to go answer it, leaving Harry still unconscious on his bed. Opening it, he sighed. "Bloody 'ell, 'Mione! You can't be late for breakfast."
Her hair was in a fluffy cloud around her head. Ron mentally winced in early-morning confusion. "Aughh." He yawned. "You can go down without us, 'Mione. We'll be right behind you, really." She peered through the partially open door at the room, frowning at the immobile lumps in the beds.
"Where's Harry?"
Ron waved distractedly at the bed. "He's tired. Doesn't bloody want to get up." He hitched the jeans beneath his robes a little lower.
Hermione pushed her way in. Smiling, she drew her wand and said, "Consciousness Immediate!"
Harry jumped straight up in the air, shouting. "Ow, Hermione! That stung!"
Nelville stuck his head out of his curtains. "What's the fuss?" He saw Hermione, yelped, and dove back inside. "I'm naked! Don't look! I'm naked!"
Hermione sighed. "I'll wait in the common room. Hurry up."
Harry rubbed his backside. "Ouch. That felt like a needle."
Ron got a Look on his face. "What were the words for that again? We might be able to spring it on Snape somehow."
Harry grinned. "Good idea." He leaned over and picked up the book he had dropped last night. "Is this yours, Ron?"
Ron looked at it. "Not mine." He noticed something. "Hey, look, Harry, there's a paper inside it." He snatched it. "Hmm. It says, 'Dear Harry. I don't need this if I'm to be in Slythrin; care for it?' Its signed Maria."
Harry looked at it in confusion. "Maria?"
Ron nodded encouragingly. "Yeah. You know, the transfer girl? Do you think 'Mione knows her?"
Harry shook his head. He didn't care. "I'm hungry. Let's take it to breakfast, shall we?"
~*~
Dumbledore smiled as he puttered a bit around his office. He thought he would go to breakfast early and slip a bit of Hangover Potion into Minerva's juice- she was much too proud to drink it herself. He'd have to ask Snape to brew up another batch- with Maria having double Potions tomorrow, he had a feeling it was going to be needed.
~*~
*Oh, damn.* Maria sighed and looked around. She had started out for the dungeons and ended up, mysteriously, in the Hufflepuff common room. She had started out for the dungeons _in_ the dungeons and ended up, mysteriously, in the Hufflepuff common room. *Welcome to my life. Isn't there supposed to be a password?* Well, it wasn't completely wasted. She went to one of the open, airy windows and looked out. Oh! What a view. The morning sunlight illuminated the dew- covered walls of the castle and turned them into silver. She saw the Astronomy corner way off on the other end of the field; there was a tall, dark figure on it that she recognized, after a bit, as her new head-of-house. He turned into the sunlight and a gust of wind whipped his robes around. She smiled affectionately. She was going to put a wince on that sallow face and a slump in that arrogance- and she was going to make it funny. *Time to get out of here before they wake up. They'd probably scream or something.* She headed for the door.
Outside, she was in a corridor that she hadn't gotten in by. *Damn.* She looked around. She frowned. Finally she turned around and stared down the corridor from the other way. *Oh.* She shook her head. *Time for breakfast. I'm ready to eat their sigil.*
~*~
In the main hall, the sky reflected a beautiful and cloudless sky. At the Gryffindor table, the three friends sat talking. Colin Creevey was at the other end of the table, taking photographs between bites. Harry didn't even squirm in embarrassment any more; he had gotten used to it. Of course, eating like a starving thing was helping, too. He hadn't tasted food this good all summer. Hell, when he was running from Voldemort on that gods-be- damned carpet, he hadn't gotten to taste that much food, period.
Through a mouthful of food, Harry said, "So, Hermione. Do you know this Maria?" Actually, it came out a bit like, "au, auauauau, ic oo oh 'is (swallow) Maria?"
She winced. "Eew. Harry, _must_ you?"
Ron's own mouth was full of food, so he chimed in. " 'Ah, 'Arry, 'ust oo?"
Hermione just looked disgusted. Suddenly, she pointed to one end of the hall. "Look! She's here." She gave Harry a little shove. "Go talk to her, will you?"
Harry looked at her as if she had just suggested they major in Divination. "She's a Slythrin, 'Mione. She'd just hex me."
She sighed and stood. "I'll be right back." Ron stared after her, still chewing a bite of deliciously steaming fresh sausage. "Blimey. Does she have courage or what?"
Harry stared at the two worriedly. They were leaning together, conversing. "Neither of them look dead yet."
"Fuzznuts," Ron replied. "They're just working out where to duel." He stood hurriedly and wiped his wrist across his lips. "I'll go save her." Left with no choice, Harry followed behind.
~*~
Re-entering the Astronomy stairway, Professor Severus Snape grimaced. There was still no sign of his new cauldron, and the shopkeeper had promised to have it delivered yesterday. He didn't need it until tomorrow with the double Gryffindor-Slythrin class, but still. He whirled and glared at an approaching second year. Second years had had him for an entire year and were terrified; they had had the summer to build their terror up in their own minds, and they weren't old enough to show a _trace_ of backbone. It was almost too easy. "Five points from Hufflepuff for being late to breakfast." The poor boy just stood, shivering, against a column until the feared Potions master was safely out of sight.
The claim was ridikkulus, of course. But the poor boy felt lucky to simply have survived.
~*~
In the main hall, Minerva McGonnagal resisted the impulse to rest her pounding head in her hands. She had wanted to hurry up and get a quick bite of tea before the real racket started, but she had forgotten just how repulsive anything with eggs looked when she was sporting a hangover. She winced as Albus walked in. She didn't want to hear _anyone's_ voice right now, not even his.
He spoke softly. She winced inwardly- was the man a bloody telepath? "Minerva." Was that a mischievous twinkle in his eye? She didn't want to know.
"Albus." It was all she could do not to groan- his embroidered robes swayed dizzily in her vision and she wondered briefly how she could see with her eyes closed.
Albus Dumbledore grinned to himself. To give her the potion now? Or to wait a little longer? But he knew the answer to that. Her grimace of pain must have been visible to the other end of the hall. "Now really, Minerva," he said, deftly replacing her glass of tea with the hangover potion, "drink your tea before Winky comes up here and starts crying."
The Transfigurations Professor bit back a groan at the thought of a squeaky house-elf voice intruding on her painfully sensitive ears, and swigged the "tea." She wasn't going to feel better right away, like the normal potion did- it would take about a minute and a half. Albus picked up a pastry and nibbled on it appreciatively. "Mmm. Delicious. I must run, but _do_ try and eat something, Minerva."
Exiting the main hall, he practically ran into someone, a not uncommon occasion in a school full of rambunctious students. "Why, Severus!" he exclaimed, clapping the dour potions master on the back. "I was just going to thank you."
Snape would have none of it. He harrumphed. "Albus, that infernal man has _still_ not delivered my cauldron!"
"Ah, well. That may explain the rather large pewter object in my study. You are quite welcome to it, you know."
Severus almost called him a barmy old codger, but resisted. The last time he had done that, Minerva had overheard, taken offence, and slipped him a Polyjuice potion that turned him into the Headmaster for an hour. He had a healthy respect for the woman.
He almost got past the infernal man, but he called after him, "Oh, Severus. I just wanted to thank you for that wonderful hangover remedy you've made for me."
He knew exactly what the man was talking about. "The Evading Potion, you mean?" Best to give him hell for it- it _was_ slightly immoral. Not the man's style at all.
It was Albus's turn to harrumph. "Well, I would not call it that, exactly... more of an evasive potion.."
Snape sighed. He had, on Albus's request, made a form of hangover potion that tasted exactly like Minerva's favorite tea and was a tiny bit diluted, giving the Headmaster just enough time to flee the scene. There was also the Cheering Charm he had thrown into the mix. Not even Albus knew about that, although sometimes he was sure the man had guessed. Minerva with a headache was hell on wheels down stairs to deal with in the morning, even for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There! Some sneakiness, some dialogue, and a nice little cliffhang-thing in the Hermione/Maria conversation. *Smiles* Can you imagine those two as friends? Neither can I. But there should be some bloody good fights in here somewhere.
A/N: Yes, I know the proper spelling is ridiculous, not ridikkulus. I just couldn't resist.
