Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 6
Competition
Mêlée's first night in the Slytherin dormitory was not nearly as pleasant as her sisters'. She had followed the rest of her housemates down into the dungeons to the dorm. The Slytherins automatically shunned her, seeing how her sisters were in other houses and her mother was a Squib. She sat alone in a chair staring at the fireplace.
"Did you see that Mudblood Granger?" she heard Malfoy asking the large group that had congregated around him.
"Yeah, she's so sure of herself. I bet she bribed the judges to make her Head Girl! I shoulda been Head Girl!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked, her pug- like face scrunched up in anger.
"She's just a filthy, little Mudblood. And the professors are just Mudblood lovers." Malfoy added. Crabbe and Goyle agreed along with the rest of the group.
"You're wrong." Mêlée said loudly but emotionlessly.
Malfoy and his group stood up from the circle of chairs they had been sitting in and walked over to her. She still stared at the flames that danced around in the fireplace.
"What did you say?" Malfoy demanded.
"Do you have a problem with your ears? Maybe you should go down and see Madam Pomfrey about that." She continued to stare at the fireplace.
"She's just a stupid Mudblood lover, too!" Pansy said.
"Yeah, why did you have to transfer from Salem, Mudblood lover? Did they kick you out?" Millicent Bullstrode laughed.
"I bet she's as bad as Longbottom!" Goyle drawled.
Mêlée stood up slowly and turned to them. "I'll have you know that I was the best in my class at Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Potions, Charms, Herbology and DADA. I was Quidditch captain for the Slytherin Team. I was a prefect. Plus I have a black belt in NMDA."
"What's NMDA? Some stupid thing you just made up?" Malfoy laughed.
"No. Would you like me to show you?" Mêlée asked. Malfoy nodded and she took of her school rode and placed in over the chair.
Malfoy grabbed for his wand but before he could pull it out she had punched him in the nose, breaking it. Blood dripping out of his nose and his wand thrown out of his reach, he charged at her. She easily flipped him over his shoulder. He landed on the hard, stone floor with a loud thud.
"NMDA stands for Non-Magical Defensive Arts." She picked up her robe and walked calmly up to the girl's dormitory.
The next morning she joined her sisters in the first class of the term, N.E.W.T. Potions. Professor Snape stood up as they all sat down.
"This is the entire class for the rest of the year. You will be brewing some of the most complicated potions ever developed. The first term we will be working on the following potions," he tapped the black board and a list of potions appeared.
First Term Syllabus:
Invisibility Potion
Mind-Reading potion
Wolfsbane Potion
Veritaserum
"If you can complete these we will move on to some really difficult potions." He continued. "These are the ingredients you will need for the first potion you will be brewing." He tapped the blackboard again and a list of ingredients for the Invisibility Potion. "Well, what are you waiting for? COPY IT DOWN!"
The girls set about copying the ingredients down. Snape made sure that they were working then went up to his desk to finish lesson plans. After she finished copying the ingredients down, Cleo, began to get out hers.
"Lets see. Moon-root, pixy wing, powdered unicorn horn, stardust, new- moon dew, Pegasus hoof-root and Pegasus feathers." She muttered as she gathered them up.
Across the room Curania and Mêlée gathered their ingredients and were talking quietly.
"Are the Slytherins as bad as they look?" Curania was asking.
"Yes. They're nothing but extremely stupid, prejudice, Death Eater wannabe brats." Mêlée spat. "Makes me ashamed to be a Slytherin. What are the Ravenclaws like?"
"They're nice. Not as stupid as the ones at Salem though." Curania said as she spread out the pixy wings so they could dry.
"Interesting opinion, Miss Black," Snape's voice made them jump and turn. He was standing right behind them. "However, I do not tolerate talking in my class. 10 points from Ravenclaw, Miss Black."
"But sir, I was talking as well," Mêlée declared angrily. "You should take points from my house as well instead of being so prejudice against everyone else."
"I decide who I take points from!" Snape said. He walked back up to his desk to note the point's deduction.
The girls looked at each other mischievously then they all started talking loudly. Snape nearly jumped out of his seat. "MISS BLACK!!!"
"Yes." The four girls smiled innocently.
Snape just stared at them then shook his head.
The rest of the potions class went along uneventfully and afterward A'lira and Curania went off to Herbology while Cleo and Mêlée went to join the Gryffindors and Slytherins in DADA.
Professor Ashkevron sat at the desk at the head of the classroom and stood when the students filed into the room. He was a tall and darkly handsome man, his long black hair fell past his shoulders. He was dressed in white ruffled shirt. He wore a white jacket with blue trim and golden leaves embroidered on it, laced up in the front and belted at his waist. His white pants were tucked into his gold knee-high boots. He walked over to the center of the platform his long red cape trailing behind him.
"Take your seats please." He said. Cleo sat next to Hermione while Ron sat next to Harry near the front of the classroom. Mêlée sat near the front as well her eyes still on the new teacher. She didn't even notice when Millicent Bullstrode reluctantly say next to her.
"Welcome to your first N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year. I am Professor Vanyel Ashkevron." He paused and looked out over his class. Everyone seemed to be listening intently. "I have looked over the material cover in the last six years. You've studied defense against magical creatures, spells, and the theories behind it all, but never have you studied wandless magic, the different dimensions, or demons. This is what we will be covering over the next year."
He walked down the few stairs to the level of the rest of the class. "Can anyone define wandless magic for me?" he asked.
Immediately two hands raised, Hermione's and Cleo's. "Yes, Miss Black."
Cleo smiled, "Wandless magic is the use of magic through pure intent instead of with incantations and wands. Many young witches and wizards use wandless magic when they are angry or scared before they get their letters to the magic school in their area."
"That is correct, Miss Black." Professor Ashkevron praised, " Ten point to Gryffindor." All the Gryffindors smiled. All except for Hermione.
"Wandless magic, like Miss Black said, is used most often by young witches or wizards who do not have wands and is usually used by accident. However, if an opponent should disarm you, you can use wandless magic to defend yourself. Open your Wandless Magic and How To Use It For Defense book to chapter one; the Basics of wandless magic."
The class hurried to take out and open their books. "I want you to read this chapter, then we'll discuss it. We'll do some reading for the first couple of classes then we'll begin practicing." He went back up to his desk while the class began reading. Cleo raised her hand. He looked up at her, "Yes Miss Black."
"I've already read the entire book." She said. Hermione looked at her in shock, only she had ever read any of the books before coming to school.
"Alright, Miss Black. Would you like to look through a couple extra credit projects?" Professor Ashkevron asked, pulling out a stack of parchments that held possible extra credit research projects.
Hermione watched in horror as Cleo got up and sat down on a stool across from Professor Ashkevron. Jealousy bubbled through her as she watched the professor smile as he handed Cleo the stack of parchments.
Cleo smiled at the professor as he handed her the parchments, "Thank you, Professor."
"Your welcome, Miss Black. It is nice to know that someone cares about making good marks in this class." He smiled and turned back to some papers from his first class that he was grading. She looked through the large stack of parchments for nearly the rest of the period before she found the one she wanted to do.
She read the project description again.
Write a two-foot essay using one of the following topics.
Choose a dimension and research the inhabitants and their cultures,
the landscapes and any forms of magic used in the dimension.
OR
Choose a demon and research its appearances, habits, habitats,
religions, and its magical quality.
"I would like to do this one." She smiled and showed Professor Ashkevron. He took the parchment from her and looked it over.
"Okay, Miss Black." He said and pulled out another parchment. "You will need to use some of the books in the restricted section so here is the permission form you will need." She smiled sweetly at him before returning to her seat. The class was soon over. They gathered up their books and left the classroom. Once outside the classroom Hermione left quickly to the Gryffindor Tower to "get something". Ron who was completely confused, which happened often, at her behavior looked after her as she walked away in the direction of the Tower.
"What's gotten into Hermione?" he asked as he, Harry, and Cleo headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Don't know." Said Harry, "She's been acting a little weird lately. I really have no clue why."
They entered the Hall and took their usual seat except Cleo took a seat next to Ron, Hermione's normal seat, but no one seemed to notice. That is until Hermione came in.
"YOU'RE IN MY SEAT!" Hermione bellowed, her face turning a bright red.
"Is your name on it?" Cleo asked without even looking up at her.
"I ALWAYS SIT THERE!" Hermione screeched.
"Hermione calm down!" Ron said, nervously. He had seen her lose her temper before but never over something so stupid as a seat.
"Yeah, Hermione, you can sit over here by me and Ginny." Harry said, desperately trying to get her to calm down.
Hermione looked at the four of them and then realized something. Cleo's hair hung to her shoulders in ringlets, similar to the way Hermione wore hers! This just added to Hermione's list of odd similarities. She looked at them again. Cleo was taking over her spot in the group!
"I'm not hungry anymore." She said before turning and leaving the Great Hall. The entire hall looked after her and laughed, all except Harry, Ron, Cleo, and Ginny.
"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked taking a chicken leg and taking a bite.
"I don't know." Harry replied with an odd sense of deja vu. "Ginny has she said anything to you?"
"No, which is odd, because she usually tells me everything." Ginny looked confused.
Cleo was quiet as she ate and silently wished for the meal to over with quickly. Harry, Ron, and Ginny had continued talking, about Quidditch this time.
"Hey, Ron, do you know you have any ideas of who all is trying out for Quidditch this year?" Harry was asking.
"I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if this year's team is almost the same as last year because of how good we did last year, that they want us to do the same this year." Ron said proudly. "Hey, Ginny, are you going to try and challenge Harry for Seeker, again?"
All heads at the Gryffindor table turned to see what she was going to say. Two years ago, when Professor Umbridge had tried to take over Hogwarts in the name of the Ministry, Ginny had taken over Harry's position as Seeker when he had been suspended from playing Quidditch. She hadn't been bad but she was not nearly as good as Harry.
"I don't know, yet." She answered. "I enjoy playing Seeker but Harry is the better player so I'll probably just leave Harry to it."
They all seemed to accept what she had said and turned back to their meals. Harry looked at Cleo.
"Did you play Quidditch at Salem, Cleo?" he asked.
Cleo looked up from her chicken. "What?"
"Did you play Quidditch at Salem?" he asked again.
"Uh, yeah, I was a Keeper." She said plainly looking back at her chicken.
"Oh, so I guess you won't be trying out then, huh? Since Ron's Quidditch captain and the keeper." Ginny said quietly.
"Yeah. I'll just watch." She finished her chicken quickly. "Uh, I'm finished. I'm gonna go to the library for a while since we don't have any classes this afternoon." And then she left.
Chapter 6
Competition
Mêlée's first night in the Slytherin dormitory was not nearly as pleasant as her sisters'. She had followed the rest of her housemates down into the dungeons to the dorm. The Slytherins automatically shunned her, seeing how her sisters were in other houses and her mother was a Squib. She sat alone in a chair staring at the fireplace.
"Did you see that Mudblood Granger?" she heard Malfoy asking the large group that had congregated around him.
"Yeah, she's so sure of herself. I bet she bribed the judges to make her Head Girl! I shoulda been Head Girl!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked, her pug- like face scrunched up in anger.
"She's just a filthy, little Mudblood. And the professors are just Mudblood lovers." Malfoy added. Crabbe and Goyle agreed along with the rest of the group.
"You're wrong." Mêlée said loudly but emotionlessly.
Malfoy and his group stood up from the circle of chairs they had been sitting in and walked over to her. She still stared at the flames that danced around in the fireplace.
"What did you say?" Malfoy demanded.
"Do you have a problem with your ears? Maybe you should go down and see Madam Pomfrey about that." She continued to stare at the fireplace.
"She's just a stupid Mudblood lover, too!" Pansy said.
"Yeah, why did you have to transfer from Salem, Mudblood lover? Did they kick you out?" Millicent Bullstrode laughed.
"I bet she's as bad as Longbottom!" Goyle drawled.
Mêlée stood up slowly and turned to them. "I'll have you know that I was the best in my class at Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Potions, Charms, Herbology and DADA. I was Quidditch captain for the Slytherin Team. I was a prefect. Plus I have a black belt in NMDA."
"What's NMDA? Some stupid thing you just made up?" Malfoy laughed.
"No. Would you like me to show you?" Mêlée asked. Malfoy nodded and she took of her school rode and placed in over the chair.
Malfoy grabbed for his wand but before he could pull it out she had punched him in the nose, breaking it. Blood dripping out of his nose and his wand thrown out of his reach, he charged at her. She easily flipped him over his shoulder. He landed on the hard, stone floor with a loud thud.
"NMDA stands for Non-Magical Defensive Arts." She picked up her robe and walked calmly up to the girl's dormitory.
The next morning she joined her sisters in the first class of the term, N.E.W.T. Potions. Professor Snape stood up as they all sat down.
"This is the entire class for the rest of the year. You will be brewing some of the most complicated potions ever developed. The first term we will be working on the following potions," he tapped the black board and a list of potions appeared.
First Term Syllabus:
Invisibility Potion
Mind-Reading potion
Wolfsbane Potion
Veritaserum
"If you can complete these we will move on to some really difficult potions." He continued. "These are the ingredients you will need for the first potion you will be brewing." He tapped the blackboard again and a list of ingredients for the Invisibility Potion. "Well, what are you waiting for? COPY IT DOWN!"
The girls set about copying the ingredients down. Snape made sure that they were working then went up to his desk to finish lesson plans. After she finished copying the ingredients down, Cleo, began to get out hers.
"Lets see. Moon-root, pixy wing, powdered unicorn horn, stardust, new- moon dew, Pegasus hoof-root and Pegasus feathers." She muttered as she gathered them up.
Across the room Curania and Mêlée gathered their ingredients and were talking quietly.
"Are the Slytherins as bad as they look?" Curania was asking.
"Yes. They're nothing but extremely stupid, prejudice, Death Eater wannabe brats." Mêlée spat. "Makes me ashamed to be a Slytherin. What are the Ravenclaws like?"
"They're nice. Not as stupid as the ones at Salem though." Curania said as she spread out the pixy wings so they could dry.
"Interesting opinion, Miss Black," Snape's voice made them jump and turn. He was standing right behind them. "However, I do not tolerate talking in my class. 10 points from Ravenclaw, Miss Black."
"But sir, I was talking as well," Mêlée declared angrily. "You should take points from my house as well instead of being so prejudice against everyone else."
"I decide who I take points from!" Snape said. He walked back up to his desk to note the point's deduction.
The girls looked at each other mischievously then they all started talking loudly. Snape nearly jumped out of his seat. "MISS BLACK!!!"
"Yes." The four girls smiled innocently.
Snape just stared at them then shook his head.
The rest of the potions class went along uneventfully and afterward A'lira and Curania went off to Herbology while Cleo and Mêlée went to join the Gryffindors and Slytherins in DADA.
Professor Ashkevron sat at the desk at the head of the classroom and stood when the students filed into the room. He was a tall and darkly handsome man, his long black hair fell past his shoulders. He was dressed in white ruffled shirt. He wore a white jacket with blue trim and golden leaves embroidered on it, laced up in the front and belted at his waist. His white pants were tucked into his gold knee-high boots. He walked over to the center of the platform his long red cape trailing behind him.
"Take your seats please." He said. Cleo sat next to Hermione while Ron sat next to Harry near the front of the classroom. Mêlée sat near the front as well her eyes still on the new teacher. She didn't even notice when Millicent Bullstrode reluctantly say next to her.
"Welcome to your first N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year. I am Professor Vanyel Ashkevron." He paused and looked out over his class. Everyone seemed to be listening intently. "I have looked over the material cover in the last six years. You've studied defense against magical creatures, spells, and the theories behind it all, but never have you studied wandless magic, the different dimensions, or demons. This is what we will be covering over the next year."
He walked down the few stairs to the level of the rest of the class. "Can anyone define wandless magic for me?" he asked.
Immediately two hands raised, Hermione's and Cleo's. "Yes, Miss Black."
Cleo smiled, "Wandless magic is the use of magic through pure intent instead of with incantations and wands. Many young witches and wizards use wandless magic when they are angry or scared before they get their letters to the magic school in their area."
"That is correct, Miss Black." Professor Ashkevron praised, " Ten point to Gryffindor." All the Gryffindors smiled. All except for Hermione.
"Wandless magic, like Miss Black said, is used most often by young witches or wizards who do not have wands and is usually used by accident. However, if an opponent should disarm you, you can use wandless magic to defend yourself. Open your Wandless Magic and How To Use It For Defense book to chapter one; the Basics of wandless magic."
The class hurried to take out and open their books. "I want you to read this chapter, then we'll discuss it. We'll do some reading for the first couple of classes then we'll begin practicing." He went back up to his desk while the class began reading. Cleo raised her hand. He looked up at her, "Yes Miss Black."
"I've already read the entire book." She said. Hermione looked at her in shock, only she had ever read any of the books before coming to school.
"Alright, Miss Black. Would you like to look through a couple extra credit projects?" Professor Ashkevron asked, pulling out a stack of parchments that held possible extra credit research projects.
Hermione watched in horror as Cleo got up and sat down on a stool across from Professor Ashkevron. Jealousy bubbled through her as she watched the professor smile as he handed Cleo the stack of parchments.
Cleo smiled at the professor as he handed her the parchments, "Thank you, Professor."
"Your welcome, Miss Black. It is nice to know that someone cares about making good marks in this class." He smiled and turned back to some papers from his first class that he was grading. She looked through the large stack of parchments for nearly the rest of the period before she found the one she wanted to do.
She read the project description again.
Write a two-foot essay using one of the following topics.
Choose a dimension and research the inhabitants and their cultures,
the landscapes and any forms of magic used in the dimension.
OR
Choose a demon and research its appearances, habits, habitats,
religions, and its magical quality.
"I would like to do this one." She smiled and showed Professor Ashkevron. He took the parchment from her and looked it over.
"Okay, Miss Black." He said and pulled out another parchment. "You will need to use some of the books in the restricted section so here is the permission form you will need." She smiled sweetly at him before returning to her seat. The class was soon over. They gathered up their books and left the classroom. Once outside the classroom Hermione left quickly to the Gryffindor Tower to "get something". Ron who was completely confused, which happened often, at her behavior looked after her as she walked away in the direction of the Tower.
"What's gotten into Hermione?" he asked as he, Harry, and Cleo headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Don't know." Said Harry, "She's been acting a little weird lately. I really have no clue why."
They entered the Hall and took their usual seat except Cleo took a seat next to Ron, Hermione's normal seat, but no one seemed to notice. That is until Hermione came in.
"YOU'RE IN MY SEAT!" Hermione bellowed, her face turning a bright red.
"Is your name on it?" Cleo asked without even looking up at her.
"I ALWAYS SIT THERE!" Hermione screeched.
"Hermione calm down!" Ron said, nervously. He had seen her lose her temper before but never over something so stupid as a seat.
"Yeah, Hermione, you can sit over here by me and Ginny." Harry said, desperately trying to get her to calm down.
Hermione looked at the four of them and then realized something. Cleo's hair hung to her shoulders in ringlets, similar to the way Hermione wore hers! This just added to Hermione's list of odd similarities. She looked at them again. Cleo was taking over her spot in the group!
"I'm not hungry anymore." She said before turning and leaving the Great Hall. The entire hall looked after her and laughed, all except Harry, Ron, Cleo, and Ginny.
"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked taking a chicken leg and taking a bite.
"I don't know." Harry replied with an odd sense of deja vu. "Ginny has she said anything to you?"
"No, which is odd, because she usually tells me everything." Ginny looked confused.
Cleo was quiet as she ate and silently wished for the meal to over with quickly. Harry, Ron, and Ginny had continued talking, about Quidditch this time.
"Hey, Ron, do you know you have any ideas of who all is trying out for Quidditch this year?" Harry was asking.
"I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if this year's team is almost the same as last year because of how good we did last year, that they want us to do the same this year." Ron said proudly. "Hey, Ginny, are you going to try and challenge Harry for Seeker, again?"
All heads at the Gryffindor table turned to see what she was going to say. Two years ago, when Professor Umbridge had tried to take over Hogwarts in the name of the Ministry, Ginny had taken over Harry's position as Seeker when he had been suspended from playing Quidditch. She hadn't been bad but she was not nearly as good as Harry.
"I don't know, yet." She answered. "I enjoy playing Seeker but Harry is the better player so I'll probably just leave Harry to it."
They all seemed to accept what she had said and turned back to their meals. Harry looked at Cleo.
"Did you play Quidditch at Salem, Cleo?" he asked.
Cleo looked up from her chicken. "What?"
"Did you play Quidditch at Salem?" he asked again.
"Uh, yeah, I was a Keeper." She said plainly looking back at her chicken.
"Oh, so I guess you won't be trying out then, huh? Since Ron's Quidditch captain and the keeper." Ginny said quietly.
"Yeah. I'll just watch." She finished her chicken quickly. "Uh, I'm finished. I'm gonna go to the library for a while since we don't have any classes this afternoon." And then she left.