My name is Rachel.
Learning at Hogwarts was extremely different than what I'm used to over at my usual high school. I mean, sure, there were a lot of differences, but the biggest one was that I was actually having fun!
I hummed to myself as I traveled down the many corridors to Potions. This class had particularly intrigued me. I never liked home ec, but this sounded interesting. Slytherin had the class with Gryffindor, which relieved me. Jake, Marco, Tobias, Harry, and Hermione were in that class. Ron the Controller was with them.
It was cold down in the dungeons. I shivered in my robes. I didn't care that it was a "warm" autumn, I was still cold! I hate being cold.
The others were there when I got to the classroom. I grinned and started over to them, but Harry and Hermione shook their heads violently. I gave them a puzzled look.
"Slytherins and Gryffindors," Harry mouthed, glancing over to the other side of the room. I followed his gaze. A bunch of mean-looking people sat over in the corner. They all had the Slytherin crest on their robes. I recognized one as Malfoy, the one that had made Harry go berserk.
He smiled lazily and leaned back on his chair. He jerked his head at the empty seat next to him. Scowling, I sat down in it, as it was the only seat left on the Slytherin side of the classroom. I had the eerie feeling that he had arranged it like that.
"Hello," he said smoothly as I sat down. I recognized the voice he was using as the one Marco always slid into when he was talking to a girl. I flared my nostrils and started taking things out of my bag, ignoring him.
"The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said, bending down to help.
"We've met," I snarled, yanking my bag away.
"We have? I'm sure I would have recognized such a face." He replied smoothly.
I bit my tongue and didn't retort, though it took all my self-control not to. I set to going through a book, as if I were actually looking for something.
"Oh," Malfoy said after a little while, "You're the one I saw with the other Houses!"
"Yes? Is there a problem with that?" I demanded, nearly slamming my book down on my desk.
"Well, we Slytherins don't hang around with that riffraff," he said with a shrug. Then he glared at Harry. "Especially not Harry Potter and his friends. You know that My Lord is going to get him eventually. He's just been lucky these past few times. No one that pompous will survive Master's wrath."
I narrowed my eyes and was about to say something when I caught the look on Jake's face. He shook his head slightly and looked at Malfoy. It took me a few minutes to realize that he wanted me to get Malfoy to spill everything.
Which meant I had to act like a regular mall rat.
"Yes, I see," I said slowly. "I'm sorry about before. I should have realized I was working with the loosing side." I edged closer to him. I leaned onto the desk with my elbows and looked at him through my eyelashes. "Go on."
Malfoy looked very smug at having "won" me over. "Potter has always strut around the school like a jerk," he continued, "As if he could escape My Lord's wrath unscathed! He has it coming to him. Master has allied himself to a powerful force. He plans to use them to get at Harry Potter once and for all! They're called—"
Just then, the teacher strode into the room. I swore bitterly under my breath. I had gotten so close to having him slip!
I raised my eyebrows when I saw the teacher. He looked about forty. He had long, greasy black hair. He was dressed in all black and had cold black eyes. I think Harry had mentioned him before… his name was Snape.
Snape glared at Harry, lips stretching into a bloodless line. Harry glowered back. Snape's lip curled and he moved on to start the class. We were working on a potion today that was going to be in our O.W.L.s.
Whatever that was.
During the class, Malfoy did all he could to strike up a conversation with him. I only gave him one-word answers, usually, with a blank smile.
Let him think I was stupid.
Harry and Snape got into a glaring contest. They just kind of sat there, staring at each other. Seriously, they didn't blink. Harry finally tore his eyes away to do his Sickening Solution.
"And—and Potter," Malfoy gasped, flicking a tear of mirth from his eye, "was t-twirling around on his b-broom as if he were doing b-ballet! So—so I yelled, 'Hey, Potter! Are you training for the ballet?'"
"Who won the match?" I asked.
His smile faltered. "He did. You can be a killjoy, you know."
"Yes. I do know."
We stopped talking because Snape had glided over to our table. I busied myself with my cauldron, glancing up every now and then. I wasn't very far into the solution, and the class was almost over.
"Excellent, Mister Malfoy. Yours too… I don't believe I've seen you before, girl."
"I—I've just transferred from… Drumstang."
"Drumstang?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow, "Don't you mean, Durmstrang, dear girl?"
I mentally kicked myself. "Yes, yes, of course. I'm Samantha Smith, sir."
"Well, Miss Smith, your Sickness Solution is wonderful. Now, Crabbe…" he moved on, but I could see suspicion glint in his eyes.
"You're from Durmstrang?" asked Malfoy with interest.
I nodded and shrugged.
"My father considered sending me there… but my mother thought it was too far away."
"Aaah." I said, raising my eyebrows.
The rest of the day went without further incident. Just as I was leaving the Great Hall after dinner, Harry stopped me. "I think Snape is on to you," he said, glancing around to make sure no one was watching.
"Huh?"
"Didn't you see the way he looked at you in Potions? No, never mind. Well, I think you're going to have to go to the Slytherin common room tonight. Just in case he might come in and check that your there."
"How will I demorph?" I hissed.
He shrugged. "Say what you do in class: you have to go to the bathroom. I'm sure Malfoy will give you the password if you ask."
I nodded and moved away to find Malfoy. I found him and tagged along to the common room. He stopped in front of a wall, cleared his throat, and said, "Basilisk."
The wall slid open and, lo and behold, there was the Slytherin common room.
It was a very drab room. Green banners hung from the walls and the place was filled with mold-green chairs and sofas. It smelled in here and, to make it all worse, it was colder than the dungeons!
We spent the evening playing wizard chess (I like this much, much better than normal chess!), with me getting up and demorphing every hour and a half or so. Being a wizard was cool, but I didn't want to be a nothlit.
As Harry had predicted, Snape did come in. He saw Malfoy and me playing chess, scowled, and left. I sighed in relief and only caught the last of what Malfoy was saying.
"—and our next target is Harry Potter."
I blanched. "What?" I demanded.
He frowned, looked around, and leaned over the chessboard. I leaned in too. His lips tickled my ear as he said, "My Lord has allied with the Yeerks, parasites that control your body by slipping into your ear and latching onto your brain. Our next target is Harry Potter, and so is theirs. They said that, once they are finished with him, Master can do whatever he wants with him."
"Why?" I whispered, my heart accelerating its normal beat.
"He has a big influence on the wizard world," he replied, "He can lure even more powerful wizards and witches into our grasp. They will all be in My Lord's power. The world has come to a new era, Samantha. Earth is ours."
I stood quickly. "I'm tired, Draco," I said, turning sharply. "Goodnight."
Malfoy smirked and blew me a kiss. "Goodnight."
I walked quickly up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. When I looked over my shoulder and looked at Malfoy, I swear I saw him look extremely relieved. This look changed quickly back into its usual smugness.
I demorphed and morphed mouse. As I darted out of the common room, I saw him smile at me.
My heart froze. Did he know?
I ran for the Chamber of Secrets. I had to tell everyone what I just heard!
A/N: Yuck! Ew! Ick! This chapter was horrible and short and it took too long! Ack! Forgive me! The next chapter will be long and an excellent read. I had no idea what to write about this chapter, and I was tired. Chapter 21 is all planned out and, hopefully, I won't be tired tomorrow.
Okay, I got a few questions and I'm gonna answer 'em! Why wouldn't a Controller be able to use magic? Well, it's just a theory, but I think people will agree: magic is more of the heart than the mind. I mean, when Harry is in a fix in the Prisoner of Azkaban, how else could his dad help him? James lives on in his heart, not his mind.
The second one was that Ax said an animal has to be alive to acquire it. Not to be rude, but I haven't exactly memorized all the books. I'm allowed a mistake or two. Besides, there's the whole magic factor. Maybe it's different with magical animals, like how they can talk to someone in a morphed state and regular animals can't. I mean, even K. A. Applegate made a mistake in that book!The third: am I hinting at a Harry/Hermione romance? Hmmm… even if I was, even if I wasn't, would I tell you? Wouldn't this be a major influence on the plot? I could be all for a Ron/Hermione relationship, but I could also be more toward a Harry/Hermione one too. Heck, I could want a Harry/Ginny romance for all you know! I'll tell all when the story is finished with. ::wink wink::
Now, about Tobias yelling when he sees the Basilisk… well, I think a 60-foot snake with a big ol' hole in its head would make anyone recoil. Harry, obviously, has seen it before so it doesn't startle him. Got me?
I hope I didn't let anything slip. Stick around for "Chapter 21: —" well, I'm not going to tell you the chapter title. Heh, heh, heh, the name would give it all away!
