Chapter Four: Unexpected Owl Post
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
"Is she going to be okay?" someone asked.
"She'll be fine," a woman replied.
"Should we notify Harry?" a man asked. Harry, who was Harry? Reagan thought for a moment. Oh yes, Harry is my father. Harry Potter, and that makes me Reagan Potter.
"There's no need to make him worry for nothing!" another woman replied.
"Too bad I didn't get there sooner, I'd of had her awake by now!" a man said. Someone scoffed and Reagan heard footsteps.
"Honestly Gareth!" a woman said.
"Seriously! I was trained as a medi-wizard, I have the diploma to prove it." There was a pause. "Headmistress, I wouldn't be here if I couldn't do the job. Unlike my father, I am actually skilled in the defenses of the dark arts."
"I believe you Gareth, or else I wouldn't have allowed Remus to hire you. But you will find others less likely to believe that you are different from Gilderoy."
Reagan heard a sigh and more footsteps. Where am I? She opened an eye and slowly took in what she saw.
Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin, Madame Pomfrey, and Professor Lockhart were all staring at her. Darenn was sitting in a chair beside her bed. She was in the infirmary.
"Werrrt ammummmd?" she mumbled and tried to sit up. Her mouth was dry, making it hard to talk.
"Easy Reagan," Darenn said, helping her sit up. She sipped some water from a glass and found her voice.
"What happened?" she repeated.
"You fainted dear," Madame Pomfrey said.
"I did?" Reagan asked.
"What do you remember?" Professor Lupin asked.
"I was...I was in the Great Hall. Cal remembered his hat. You that said Brae and that Hufflepuff were Head Boy and Girl and that there was a new teacher. It was...was... It was... you." Reagan pointed at Professor Lockhart.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Potter," Professor Lockhart said. "I''m Professor Lockhart."
"Lockhart?" she repeated. Her mind wondered back to a story she had heard from her father about a Professor Lockhart. Something about Cornish Pixies.
"Yes, Lockhart," he chuckled. "A different Lockhart than your father has told you about no doubt."
"But you were...were.. you were..." Reagan trailed off.
"I was where?" he asked.
"No where," she muttered and looked away.
"Reagan, have you seen Professor Lockhart before?" Professor Lupin asked. Reagan nodded slowly.
"And where was that?"
Reagan didn't say anything. She looked from her uncle to her Headmistress, to the new teacher she had seen in her dream
"It was in a dream," she mumbled.
"I beg your pardon?" Professor Lupin asked.
"He was in a dream I had on the train," she replied.
"I knew you have a dream!" Darenn exclaimed. "Thats why you panicked when I told you everyone fell asleep! Is that how you knew? Does Dad know?"
Reagan glared hard at her brother, mentally begging him to stop. The professors stood around them, were eyeing the pair with mounting curiously.
"Reagan," Professor Lupin said slowly. "Did you see the students asleep and Professor Lockhart in your dream?"
Reagan nodded. Professor Lupin knew about her Connection with her father. She was hoping he wouldn't say anything about it to the other Professors.
"And thats why you fainted?" Professor Lupin continued. "Because it freaked you out?"
Reagan nodded again, not daring to look at the adults surrounding her bed.
"There's the explanation then," Professor Lupin said. "Poppy, is she well enough to sleep in Gryffindor Tower tonight?"
"I believe so. She didn't hit her head or anything, Cal Morris caught her as she fell," Madame Pomfrey explained. "She should be fine to stay in her dormitory."
"All right then," Professor Lupin said. "Professors, it's late, and Miss Potter needs a good nights sleep. Remember classes begin tomorrow, and I know I need to finish up a few lesson plans. Darenn, if you'll help your sister out of bed, I'll escort you two back to the common room."
~~~~~~~~
"Are you going to faint every time you see Professor Lockhart?" Cal asked. Reagan had gone straight to her bed the previous night, not speaking to anyone. She explained what had happened to Josie and Cal the next morning at breakfast.
"No silly, it won't happened again," Reagan replied and dished some fruit onto her plate.
"You gave us quite a fright, Reagan," Josie said.
"Sorry," Reagan apologized.
"I'm glad you're all right though," Josie continued. "It was quiet without you in the common room last night. Everyone was worried. No one stuck around very late, I suppose everyone was still tried from the train ride."
Reagan paused momentarily before taking a sip of her juice. The train ride, that was peculiar. Reagan made a mental note to write to her father about it as soon as possible.
She smiled as Professor Lupin walked amongst the Gryffindor table, disturbing the schedules.
"Here you go Miss Potter," he said handing Reagan her schedule.
"Thanks, Uncle, I mean Professor Lupin," she smiled and her uncle winked at her.
"And for you Mr. Morris," Professor Lupin said and handed a parchment to Cal, "and Miss Malfoy." Josie wrinkled her nose slightly at the sound of her last name, though Reagan was the only one that noticed.
"Potions with the Ravenclaws," Josie read from her timetable. "Not bad, then we have Transfiguration and then lunch."
"When do we have Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Reagan asked, not bothering to look at her own timecard.
"Wednesday afternoon," Cal replied. "And its a double."
"With the Slytherins," Josie groaned. Reagan nodded and finished her breakfast. They gathered their bags and left a few minutes early to rush back to Gryffindor Tower to gather their books before making their way to the dungeons.
Reagan took a seat in the middle, lifting her cauldron onto the table. Cal and Josie sat on either side of her, plunking their cauldrons onto the table. The other Gryffindors filed in behind them, filling the desks in front and behind. The Ravenclaws filed the desks across from them, glancing at Reagan nervously.
"All right, quiet down, quiet down," the teacher said coming into the room. The fourth years settled down and she continued.
"Welcome to Potions, fourth years. As you all know, I am Professor Abbott, your Potions Mistress. This year I am also the new Head of Hufflepuff House, as Professor Peirce has taken a leave of absence. Now, don't expect me to favor my own house, I will do now such thing. Now, who can remind us of what potions were covered last term?" The class stared blankly at her. Reagan slowly raised her hand.
"Ah, Miss Potter," Professor Abbott said.
"We made a Shrinking Solution, Professor," Reagan responded.
"Thats a good one, yes. Five points to Gryffindor. Any others?"
Caitlin raised her hand. "Aging Potion."
"Excellent, another five points!"
A few other students rattled off various potions, Wit-Sharpening Potion and Confusing Concoction among them. Professor Abbott discussed a few of the potions they would be learning and sent them off to Transfiguration with a list of all the potions they were to brew this year. Their assignment was to choose the three they find most interesting and write a two foot essay on why they chose these three. Professor Abbott said that the top fifteen potions chosen were the ones they would actually cover this term.
They moved with the rest of the Gryffindors towards the Transfiguration classroom. Reagan took her seat in the second row and pulled out her textbook.
"I hate it when we get homework on the first day," Josie complained. Cal nodded in agreement as did Reagan, though her mind was elsewhere.
"When did you say we had Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Reagan asked.
"Wednesday!" Cal and Josie replied at the same time. Reagan had asked this question at least seven times during Potions.
"Oh, right," Reagan replied.
"Reagan, why are you so concerned when we have Defense against the Dark arts?" Josie asked.
Reagan shrugged. "I just..."
"Good afternoon, class," Professor Lupin said, cutting Reagan off mid sentence. She turned towards her uncle, deciding not to answer Josie at that exact moment. Reagan noticed that there was a tabby cat sitting on Professor Lupin's desk. The tabby cat reminded her of someone, but Reagan couldn't place her finger on who.
"How is your first day back?" Professor Lupin asked as he got out the attendance. The class answered in a murmur of 'fine,' 'okay,' and 'not much different.'
"Well then," Professor Lupin replied, looking up from his attendance sheet. "Is Lane here? Lane Caldwell?" Reagan turned and looked for Lane.
"Right here, Professor Lupin," Lane called from the back of the room.
"Ah there you are," Professor Lupin said and marked her present. "I didn't see you back there." He finished the roll and tucked it away in his brief case.
"Today, class, we're going to just have a discussion. I'll inform you when note taking is necessary. Now, can anyone tell us which sort of spells are needed for Cross-Species transfiguration?"
Reagan's hand shot in the air. "Animagus transformations."
"Precisely! Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Potter," Professor Lupin replied. "Now, can anyone tell us what an Animagus is exactly?" A few hands shot in the air.
"Miss Rowley," Professor Lupin called on a sandy haired Hufflepuff.
"An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can transform into an animal at will," she answered.
Professor Lupin smiled. "Five points to Hufflepuff. Animagi: the ability to transform into an animal at will. Now does anyone know of a witch or wizard that has accomplished this?"
Reagan fought an urge to throw her hand in the air. Her father and brother were Animagi, not to mention ...Well that wasn't important right now. She wasn't about to tell everyone about that, and her father and brother were illegal Animagi.
When Professor Lupin saw that no one knew or was willing to confess, he continued. "Now, I know for a fact that all of you know an Animagus. You all know Headmaster McGonagall, correct? Well she is an Animagus, she can turn into a tabby cat at will." He gestured towards the tabby cat sitting on the desk. She leapt off the desk and landed on the floor as a full grown Professor McGonagall.
Now I remember, Reagan thought as the entire class erupted in applause. Professor McGonagall looked extremely pleased with herself.
"Thank you, Headmistress," Professor Lupin said to her.
"Its my pleasure, Remus," she replied. "I had forgotten what a rush it was to do that in front of a class." Professor McGonagall excused herself from the room and Professor Lupin continued with his lesson.
"Now, for the first half of the first term, till about Halloween, we will be learning the basis of Cross-Species Switching spells, which are the basis for Animagi transfiguration, as Miss Potter has just informed us. Then, in the second half of the term, we will practice Cross-Species Switching spells, with animals. Next term, we will look closer at the Animagus transformation. We will not be practicing this, however, mainly learning the theory and concept of it. You will not have practical Animagi lessons until your seventh year." The class groaned at this and Professor Lupin frowned. "Can anyone tell me why we can't cover practical Animagus transformation this year?"
No one in the class answered and again, Reagan raised her hand.
"It takes wandless magic to complete an Animagus transformation," Reagan answered.
"Exactly," Professor Lupin replied. "And, you don't even cover the principle of wandless magic till your seventh year. So it would be completely backwards if you were to do an practical Animagi practice this year."
"But Professor Lupin," Caitlin said raising her hand. "I thought we started Animagi studies in our sixth year."
Professor Lupin grinned. "Normally, yes, that is when you would normally study Animagi. However, I've decided to do start it early. You cover the basics this year, and learn an little more your fifth and sixth years." Professor Lupin glanced at Reagan and she thought she saw a twinkle in his eye. He continued his lecture for the rest of class and sent them off to lunch with cramps in their hands. The note taking had begun directly after Professor Lupin had answered Caitlin's question.
"Animagi!" Cal exclaimed as they sat down for lunch. "That will be incredible!" Reagan smiled weakly and dished some potatoes onto her plate.
"Did you know Professor McGonagall was an Animagus?" Josie asked.
"Uh, yeah, I did," Reagan replied.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Cal asked.
Reagan shrugged. "It never came up."
"Do you know any others?" Josie asked before taking a bite of her roast beef.
Before Reagan could answer, an owl swooped down and dropped onto her plate.
"Javen!" Reagan cried, picking up the owl. Javen was her father's business owl that the Ministry had supplied for him. He had used him for over ten years, but he still had not gotten the hang of delivering messages correctly. Reagan pulled the letter from the owl's leg and plopped him onto the table.
"Is that Uncle Harry's Ministry owl?" Caitlin asked, leading over her plate.
"Yes," Reagan growled as the owl flew off. She sighed and opened the letter.
Reagan,
Sorry for using Javen, but I wrote this at work. I didn't want to mention it to your mother because, well, I am afraid she'll get upset about it. But something weird happened yesterday after you left on the train.
Your mother and I went home and ate dinner, but for some reason I was really tired, so I took a nap. When I fell asleep, I had a dream. I dreamt that I was on the Hogwarts Express and everyone on the train was was asleep. I was walking through the corridor and when I got to the front compartment there was a blond wizard sitting in there. He said something to me, though but I donÕt remember what. Then your friend, Josian, was there leading me through the train until she opened a door and we stepped into a hallway at Hogwarts. We were walking towards Gryffindor Tower when the staircase began to move. I grabbed hold of Josie's arm to steady her. I explained to her that the staircases moved. She smiled at me and said, "Thanks Mr. Potter."
Reagan, I don't know what this means. I don't know if you know what this means, but if you have had any of the same dream, it could mean something. Reagan, I want you to be careful. We don't completely understand this Connection yet, though we have come a long way in the past three years, but there is still so much more that we don't know.
Write me back and tell me what you think. I don't mean to frighten you sweetie, but sometimes dreams can be more than what they seem.
Love from your father,
Harry
"Reagan?" Josie asked. Reagan's face had gone white. She looked up from her letter into the gray eyes of her best friend.
"I've got to go," Reagan whispered. She gathered her bag and ran out of the Great Hall.
"Reagan, get a hold of yourself!" she hissed at herself once alone in the corridor. Why am I freaking out? It was just a dream, she thought. Daddy and I have shared loads of dreams.
"Reagan!" Darenn called as he ran to her. "Are you all right?" Reagan nodded and showed him the letter from their father.
"I'm going to go talk to Uncle Remus," Reagan muttered and Darenn handed her the letter back.
"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.
Reagan nodded. "Would you?"
"Absolutely."
A/N: Forgive me if I don't update often. I'll try for once every three to four days, but with school work and this new war (my boyfriend is a Marine) I don't know how focused I will be. Thanks and please review!! ~Erica
