Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.
Skrewts and Charms Overcome
Eurgh time again, Ryua thought as she trudged unwillingly towards her Care of Magical Creatures class. The skrewts had been growing steadily, and Hagrid had hinted yesterday that they might be exercising them. Extremely wary at the idea of the skrewts being out of their boxes, Ryua had left Parsyl in the dorms that morning. The last thing she needed was for her snake to get eaten, burnt, trampled, poisoned, or otherwise harmed by the nasty things.
Of course, she didn't exactly want herself to be the recipient of any of that either. So when Hagrid had given them all a skrewt on a leash, Ryua had held her wand ready. Sure enough, the nasty thing immediately tried to leech onto her leg and suck a few quarts of blood. She flicked her wand at it, sending a jet of burning sparks at its unprotected belly. Suddenly, it didn't seem at all interested in bloodsucking. So, it tried to dash across the yard dragging her in the mud behind it. Of course, there was no way Ryua was about to be dragged through mud. "Tarrentallegra!" she whispered, pointing her wand at the nasty thing. The thing started to kick its legs randomly in every direction, reducing its effective speed to a sedate walk. Hagrid was pleased with the way she had managed to 'get along wit' 'im' so nicely, and awarded Slytherin five points. Hiding a smile, she lifted her skrewt into the box, lifted her jinx, and walked happily off.
That night, Ryua happened upon her brother spelling a small, black circle. "What are you doing?"
"Making buttons. Wanna help?"
"Not particularly. What are they for, anyway?"
"Well, if I can get the words to stick to them, it'll say something like: 'Support Diggory, the real champion'"
"How fascinating."
"No, no it gets better! When you press it, it'll flash "Potter Stinks" instead, and you can switch it back so no nosy teachers get stuffy and give you detention."
"Aren't you supposed to be doing Charms work? Your mark isn't any better than mine at the moment." He waved his hand vaguely and started back to charming the little circle. Giving up, Ryua walked over to the couch, pulling out her own Charms essay.
She flipped through her book, opening the chapter on cutlery and china. Five minutes later, she had written her name on the top of the parchment. Ten minutes after that, she had added a title. "Looks like you could use some help," a voice observed over her shoulder.
She jumped, whirling to see Blaise leaning on the back of the couch. "Well, that depends whether you know anything about charming teaspoons to do a synchronized ballet."
"Yeah, Charms is one of my better classes."
"No way. How can you do it? I can never seem to get them to work properly."
"Well, I'd be pleased to help you with it. Draco's always asking me to proof his work, of course his writing's so messy anyway that it doesn't much matter..."
"Well, thanks. It'd be a big help, I guess. Need any help with Potions? You give me that essay on willow bark, and you write this one. Deal?"
He laughed. "Deal. I've never gotten those natural painkillers." Swapping books, they proceeded to write what promised to be much better essays than before.
Unfortunately, her Charms essay was remarkably better than ever before. Good enough, in fact, that Professor Flitwick held Ryua back at the end of class the day after she handed it in. "I was just reading your essay last night, Miss Malfoy."
"Yes, sir?" Ryua said, forcing her tone to stay calm as she stared fixedly at the blackboard.
"And I've noticed that you suddenly have, shall we say, improved?" For such a tiny creature, he certainly knew how to skewer a student with his gaze. "Now, I'm not against you getting help, young lady, in fact I think it would be an excellent idea. However, you may not hand in other people's essays as your own."
"Yes, sir." Ryua said, quietly. She wrenched her gaze away from the blackboard behind him, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "I... I promise I won't do it again, sir, but please, please don't owl my Father about it. I promise I won't do it again, I was just so lost with those confounded spoons... and I couldn't take another failing grade."
"Of course. I'm not quite sure why you seem so unable to get the gist of my class, Miss Malfoy. You do very well in your other classes, and I've seen the amount you try."
"My wand is mostly meant for Transfiguration and cursing, sir..."
"Well, that could be part of it, I suppose. And, well, I'm sure you'll find some way to attain a good grade in this class, regardless of your block. I won't tell your parents about this, as it seems to be an isolated incident, but if you try to hand in someone else's work again, I will have to take measures, you understand."
"Yes sir. Thank you." That was too close... I guess I should just take my own near-failing grade next time... or something.
