Chapter 9
Harry awoke the next morning and dressed quickly in his robes. The other four beds were empty, so Harry hurried down to the Great Hall. He took an empty seat next to Ginny and started buttering some toast. Ron came by and handed out their new schedules.
"Morning, mate." Ron said.
"Morning," Harry managed while yawning at the same time.
Ron sat down next to Harry. "Not too bad of a schedule today. Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination in the morning. He looked closer at the afternoon. "Urgh, double potions, but then we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Meredith."
Hermione sat across from Ron and kicked him in the leg. "I believe you are referring to Professor Fairbanks," she said and gave him a look that said, 'watch what you say'.
"Anyway," Harry said, changing the subject, "it shouldn't be too bad of a day, plus we have quidditch practice tonight."
Once Umbridge had left, Dumbledore lifted Harry's lifetime ban of playing Quidditch. Ginny happily took the place of reserve seeker and cheered the team on in the stands with Hermione.
Harry turned to Ginny and Nick. "How are your schedules?"
"Not too bad," Ginny said. "We have our new subjects starting. I have Arithmancy and History of Magic in the morning and Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. You, Nick?"
"Same as you, except I have Ancient Runes instead of Arithmancy."
"Well that doesn't sound like too bad of a schedule," Hermione said. She turned to Harry. "Better hurry up or we'll be late for Care of Magical Creatures."
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked to Hagrid's cabin. The rest of the Gryffindors and all of the Slytherins were already waiting.
Hagrid came out of the woods holding a small blue lizard. It looked as if it was licking Hagrid's hand.
"Morning all," Hagrid said cheerily.
"What is that?" Malfoy asked, his voice dripping with disdain.
"Er.. this here is a salamander. Normally it lives in a fire, but I .. er found this one in the Dark Forest," Hagrid said nervously. Ever since the Buckbeak incident, Hagrid had always been cautious around Malfoy.
"What is that you're feeding him, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Pepper. It can live outside of its fire if you feed 'em pepper."
With the exception of Malfoy and his cronies laughing behind their hands the whole time, the class went remarkably well.
Divination was an interesting class, with Firenze doing the teaching and a slightly tipsy Trelawny sitting in the corner remarking on what he taught.
"Well I ..hic.. disagree with you. The crystal ball ..hic.. is a much ..hic.. more exact science.. hic."
As the Gryffindors left the classroom, they could no longer contain their laughter.
"Let's go find Hermione and tell her what she missed out on." Ron said through his tears of laughter.
They found her in the Great Hall, reading a book of course.
Ron rolled his eyes and said exasperatedly, "What are you reading?"
"Just reading ahead on some new potions. Remember, we have advanced Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon," Hermione said.
"Yuck, I forgot. Advanced potions with Snape and it's a double class today. What a way to start off the year. I was almost disappointed when I got an O in my potions O.W.L.," Ron said. He turned to Harry, "Do Aurors really need advanced potions?"
Instead, Hermione answered, "Ron, it's very important for an Auror to..."
She was cut off by Ron loudly saying, "Never mind, Hermione." He whispered to Harry, "I've got to remember not to complain around her."
Harry laughed quietly.
Hermione shot them both an annoyed look and went back to her book.
After lunch the three of them walked down to Snape's classroom in the Dungeon. They took an empty table at the back and watched as their fellow classmates filed in. Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas made it in along with Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan. A couple of Ravenclaws and finally Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy sauntered in.
Ernie looked around, "Neville didn't make it in?" He asked.
"Nah, but he wasn't displeased at not having to look at Snape anymore," Seamus said.
"Hey, no Crabbe or Goyle either," Ron said happily.
Justin Finch-Fletchley slipped quietly in the door and walked to the back tables. "Am I late?"
"Don't worry, Professor Snape's not here yet," Hannah said.
Just as Hannah finished her sentence, Snape swept into the room, slamming the door to the classroom behind him.
"Silence! Split into pairs and start on the potion on the board. We shall see if some of you truly belong in here." He stared at Harry and Ron when he said this.
"This is a potion to cure hair loss. Could he have started us on a harder potion?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"You shall work on this potion in silence," Snape's voice boomed from the front of the classroom.
So for an hour, they worked in silence. Snape moved around, praising Blaise and Draco and criticizing the other student's work.
Harry happened to be stirring the cauldron at the moment Snape came over.
"Potter, this is supposed to be red, not yellow. Five points from Gryffindor and a detention, Potter." He turned away, leaving Ron and Harry to stare at him dumbfounded.
After class, Harry went to Snape's desk to arrange his detention. Snape motioned for him to sit.
"You don't actually have a detention. But we need to arrange for more Occlumency lessons." Snape said in a monotone, looking at his hands, which were folded in his lap.
"Dumbledore has requested me to resume Occlumency?" Harry asked and as an afterthought added, "Sir?"
Snape looked up. "No, your meddlesome godmother has insisted upon it, but I'm sure the headmaster would agree," he replied. "Be here tomorrow at eight. Remember, if anyone asks, you are doing remedial Potions. You are dismissed."
Hermione and Ron were waiting outside.
"Was that about what I think it was?" Hermione whispered to Harry.
"If you were thinking it was about me resuming Occlumency, then you were right." Harry whispered back.
Hermione nodded, "Good."
They walked in silence to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
*********************************************************************
Draco sat complacently in his chair, looking at his new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
'Well, this could prove to be an interesting challenge,' he thought to himself.
His wandering mind was distracted when Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked in. His eyes followed them to their seats, and then he turned his attention back to the Professor.
"Good afternoon, class. I'm Professor Fairbanks, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Today we are going to start with learning about this creature here."
She pulled out a silver and green lizard that was almost a foot long.
"This is called a Moke. It is most commonly found in.."
Draco stopped listening about the Moke and started contemplating his strategy. He smiled to himself about his popularity increasing upon adding this new Professor to his list of conquests. Not that his popularity needed increasing.
*******************************************************************
"Gosh, that was an interesting class," Hermione said. The bell had just run and everyone was leaving.
"Hey, let's hang back and talk to Meredith a little bit," Harry whispered.
The others nodded in agreement.
*************************************************************
Draco gathered his things slowly and told his cronies to go on without him. He took notice that the 'Gryffin-bore threesome' were also moving slowly.
Draco nonchalantly sidled over to them. "What do you three think you are doing? Isn't it a little early to be sucking up?"
"We were just going to welcome Professor Fairbanks to our school." Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
Draco looked offended. "Like we want her to be welcomed by you three. As Slytherin Prefect, I've already decided that I will be doing the welcoming. Move along."
Ron opened his mouth, but Hermione nudged him in the ribs and said, "Fine, we'll go."
"Why'd you do that, Hermione?!" Ron asked once they were outside the classroom.
"We don't want to arouse any suspicion around Malfoy. Remember, we don't know Meredith. Right?"
Ron nodded.
**********************************************************
Once the meddlesome trio was gone, Draco walked up behind Meredith's desk and leaned against it. Meredith had her back to him, slowly erasing the chalkboard. When she felt a presence, she turned around.
Draco straightened up and offered his hand to her.
"Professor Fairbanks, I just wanted to welcome you on behalf of the class."
Meredith looked warily at the proffered hand. She didn't like the gleam in the young Slytherin's eyes, but moved forward to shake his hand anyway.
Instead of shaking her hand, Draco pulled it to his mouth and kissed it as though a gentleman would a lady.
Meredith wrenched her hand away. She turned her back to him and continued to erase the chalkboard.
"Did you need something else, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked when she realized he was still behind her.
Draco stared disinterestedly at his fingernails and assumed a bored sounding voice. "I was just standing here wondering how you became a teacher. And Defense Against the Dark Arts? Where's the need for that?" he sneered.
"While there is evil still around, Defense Against the Dark Arts is a necessity. It is important for the dark arts to be gone completely.
Draco grinned wickedly. "But the dark arts can be great fun. You should let me show you sometime." He walked up behind her and put an arm around her waist.
Meredith panicked when she realized what he was doing. She could feel his erection poking her in the back and his hand was moving south from her belly. She regained her poise quickly and pushed him away.
"One more word or touch, Mr. Malfoy, and not only will I talk to your head of house, but I will also owl your mother. How do you think she would take it, learning of her son trying to seduce a teacher that is the same age as her?" Meredith asked, her nostrils flaring and her eyes shooting daggers.
Malfoy gave her a contemptuous look before he turned and grabbed his bag. He then proceeded to stalk out of the room and slam the door behind him.
Meredith steadied herself on her desk. She never expected anything like that to happen. She waited until the count of ten to make sure Draco had cleared out of the corridor. She then set off to find Severus to apprise him of what his student had just attempted.
Harry awoke the next morning and dressed quickly in his robes. The other four beds were empty, so Harry hurried down to the Great Hall. He took an empty seat next to Ginny and started buttering some toast. Ron came by and handed out their new schedules.
"Morning, mate." Ron said.
"Morning," Harry managed while yawning at the same time.
Ron sat down next to Harry. "Not too bad of a schedule today. Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination in the morning. He looked closer at the afternoon. "Urgh, double potions, but then we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Meredith."
Hermione sat across from Ron and kicked him in the leg. "I believe you are referring to Professor Fairbanks," she said and gave him a look that said, 'watch what you say'.
"Anyway," Harry said, changing the subject, "it shouldn't be too bad of a day, plus we have quidditch practice tonight."
Once Umbridge had left, Dumbledore lifted Harry's lifetime ban of playing Quidditch. Ginny happily took the place of reserve seeker and cheered the team on in the stands with Hermione.
Harry turned to Ginny and Nick. "How are your schedules?"
"Not too bad," Ginny said. "We have our new subjects starting. I have Arithmancy and History of Magic in the morning and Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. You, Nick?"
"Same as you, except I have Ancient Runes instead of Arithmancy."
"Well that doesn't sound like too bad of a schedule," Hermione said. She turned to Harry. "Better hurry up or we'll be late for Care of Magical Creatures."
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked to Hagrid's cabin. The rest of the Gryffindors and all of the Slytherins were already waiting.
Hagrid came out of the woods holding a small blue lizard. It looked as if it was licking Hagrid's hand.
"Morning all," Hagrid said cheerily.
"What is that?" Malfoy asked, his voice dripping with disdain.
"Er.. this here is a salamander. Normally it lives in a fire, but I .. er found this one in the Dark Forest," Hagrid said nervously. Ever since the Buckbeak incident, Hagrid had always been cautious around Malfoy.
"What is that you're feeding him, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Pepper. It can live outside of its fire if you feed 'em pepper."
With the exception of Malfoy and his cronies laughing behind their hands the whole time, the class went remarkably well.
Divination was an interesting class, with Firenze doing the teaching and a slightly tipsy Trelawny sitting in the corner remarking on what he taught.
"Well I ..hic.. disagree with you. The crystal ball ..hic.. is a much ..hic.. more exact science.. hic."
As the Gryffindors left the classroom, they could no longer contain their laughter.
"Let's go find Hermione and tell her what she missed out on." Ron said through his tears of laughter.
They found her in the Great Hall, reading a book of course.
Ron rolled his eyes and said exasperatedly, "What are you reading?"
"Just reading ahead on some new potions. Remember, we have advanced Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon," Hermione said.
"Yuck, I forgot. Advanced potions with Snape and it's a double class today. What a way to start off the year. I was almost disappointed when I got an O in my potions O.W.L.," Ron said. He turned to Harry, "Do Aurors really need advanced potions?"
Instead, Hermione answered, "Ron, it's very important for an Auror to..."
She was cut off by Ron loudly saying, "Never mind, Hermione." He whispered to Harry, "I've got to remember not to complain around her."
Harry laughed quietly.
Hermione shot them both an annoyed look and went back to her book.
After lunch the three of them walked down to Snape's classroom in the Dungeon. They took an empty table at the back and watched as their fellow classmates filed in. Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas made it in along with Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan. A couple of Ravenclaws and finally Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy sauntered in.
Ernie looked around, "Neville didn't make it in?" He asked.
"Nah, but he wasn't displeased at not having to look at Snape anymore," Seamus said.
"Hey, no Crabbe or Goyle either," Ron said happily.
Justin Finch-Fletchley slipped quietly in the door and walked to the back tables. "Am I late?"
"Don't worry, Professor Snape's not here yet," Hannah said.
Just as Hannah finished her sentence, Snape swept into the room, slamming the door to the classroom behind him.
"Silence! Split into pairs and start on the potion on the board. We shall see if some of you truly belong in here." He stared at Harry and Ron when he said this.
"This is a potion to cure hair loss. Could he have started us on a harder potion?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"You shall work on this potion in silence," Snape's voice boomed from the front of the classroom.
So for an hour, they worked in silence. Snape moved around, praising Blaise and Draco and criticizing the other student's work.
Harry happened to be stirring the cauldron at the moment Snape came over.
"Potter, this is supposed to be red, not yellow. Five points from Gryffindor and a detention, Potter." He turned away, leaving Ron and Harry to stare at him dumbfounded.
After class, Harry went to Snape's desk to arrange his detention. Snape motioned for him to sit.
"You don't actually have a detention. But we need to arrange for more Occlumency lessons." Snape said in a monotone, looking at his hands, which were folded in his lap.
"Dumbledore has requested me to resume Occlumency?" Harry asked and as an afterthought added, "Sir?"
Snape looked up. "No, your meddlesome godmother has insisted upon it, but I'm sure the headmaster would agree," he replied. "Be here tomorrow at eight. Remember, if anyone asks, you are doing remedial Potions. You are dismissed."
Hermione and Ron were waiting outside.
"Was that about what I think it was?" Hermione whispered to Harry.
"If you were thinking it was about me resuming Occlumency, then you were right." Harry whispered back.
Hermione nodded, "Good."
They walked in silence to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
*********************************************************************
Draco sat complacently in his chair, looking at his new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
'Well, this could prove to be an interesting challenge,' he thought to himself.
His wandering mind was distracted when Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked in. His eyes followed them to their seats, and then he turned his attention back to the Professor.
"Good afternoon, class. I'm Professor Fairbanks, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Today we are going to start with learning about this creature here."
She pulled out a silver and green lizard that was almost a foot long.
"This is called a Moke. It is most commonly found in.."
Draco stopped listening about the Moke and started contemplating his strategy. He smiled to himself about his popularity increasing upon adding this new Professor to his list of conquests. Not that his popularity needed increasing.
*******************************************************************
"Gosh, that was an interesting class," Hermione said. The bell had just run and everyone was leaving.
"Hey, let's hang back and talk to Meredith a little bit," Harry whispered.
The others nodded in agreement.
*************************************************************
Draco gathered his things slowly and told his cronies to go on without him. He took notice that the 'Gryffin-bore threesome' were also moving slowly.
Draco nonchalantly sidled over to them. "What do you three think you are doing? Isn't it a little early to be sucking up?"
"We were just going to welcome Professor Fairbanks to our school." Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
Draco looked offended. "Like we want her to be welcomed by you three. As Slytherin Prefect, I've already decided that I will be doing the welcoming. Move along."
Ron opened his mouth, but Hermione nudged him in the ribs and said, "Fine, we'll go."
"Why'd you do that, Hermione?!" Ron asked once they were outside the classroom.
"We don't want to arouse any suspicion around Malfoy. Remember, we don't know Meredith. Right?"
Ron nodded.
**********************************************************
Once the meddlesome trio was gone, Draco walked up behind Meredith's desk and leaned against it. Meredith had her back to him, slowly erasing the chalkboard. When she felt a presence, she turned around.
Draco straightened up and offered his hand to her.
"Professor Fairbanks, I just wanted to welcome you on behalf of the class."
Meredith looked warily at the proffered hand. She didn't like the gleam in the young Slytherin's eyes, but moved forward to shake his hand anyway.
Instead of shaking her hand, Draco pulled it to his mouth and kissed it as though a gentleman would a lady.
Meredith wrenched her hand away. She turned her back to him and continued to erase the chalkboard.
"Did you need something else, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked when she realized he was still behind her.
Draco stared disinterestedly at his fingernails and assumed a bored sounding voice. "I was just standing here wondering how you became a teacher. And Defense Against the Dark Arts? Where's the need for that?" he sneered.
"While there is evil still around, Defense Against the Dark Arts is a necessity. It is important for the dark arts to be gone completely.
Draco grinned wickedly. "But the dark arts can be great fun. You should let me show you sometime." He walked up behind her and put an arm around her waist.
Meredith panicked when she realized what he was doing. She could feel his erection poking her in the back and his hand was moving south from her belly. She regained her poise quickly and pushed him away.
"One more word or touch, Mr. Malfoy, and not only will I talk to your head of house, but I will also owl your mother. How do you think she would take it, learning of her son trying to seduce a teacher that is the same age as her?" Meredith asked, her nostrils flaring and her eyes shooting daggers.
Malfoy gave her a contemptuous look before he turned and grabbed his bag. He then proceeded to stalk out of the room and slam the door behind him.
Meredith steadied herself on her desk. She never expected anything like that to happen. She waited until the count of ten to make sure Draco had cleared out of the corridor. She then set off to find Severus to apprise him of what his student had just attempted.