DISCLAIMER: We do not own Harry Potterin any way shape or form.
NOTES: This is the third chapter, by DevilShoes. Basically, this chapter introduces the key characters and has their very first lesson at Hogwarts in it too. Hopefully, we'll soon get into the almost exciting bit! Sorry this chap is a bit late but it's quite long, so ENJOY!!
Chapter 3: Meg Pancho
The evening hadn't got much better from there. Crocodile and Swordfish were sat furthest away from anyone and the others in their house treated them as if they had smallpox and were likely to wipe them all out with one simple sneeze and when shown to their dormitory, Crocodile and Swordfish found they had been given one all to themselves due to 'complaints' from members of the Hufflepuff house.
At the time, the two were both relieved, they were fed up of the stairs and whispers that came from those around them, but after a while they realised that people in their own house, their supposed 'friends' were so afraid of them that they were going to extraordinary lengths to avoid them. It was gonna be one long, lonely year.
'What kind of food do you think they'll serve?' Crocodile said excitedly as he and Swordfish walked down towards the great hall. They had hardly managed to eat a thing last night and their feeling of anxiousness at having to see every one in Hogwarts in one place had been overshadowed by their hunger.
'I dunno,' Swordfish said glumly, Hogwarts was definitely not living up to his expectations.
'I'm just in the mood for bacon and eggs,' Crocodile continued, apparently not noticing the sadness in his friends voice, 'Do you think they'll serve bacon and eggs, Swordfish?'
'I dunno,' he repeated.
'Are you feeling OK?' Crocodile asked as they walked into the grand Great Hall.
'Oh yea, just dandy,' He began sarcastically, 'I'm in a place where I'm one of the only two people of my kind ever to be allowed in and we don't know why, where we're in a house that no one else wants us to be in and everyone is afraid of us and doesn't talk to us.' Crocodile fell silent.
'So, yes, I'm OK,' he finished and he too fell silent.
Crocodile then noticed all the food around them and began piling his plate full. Swordfish chuckled and began doing the same. As they did so, they noticed a lot of giggling coming from a group of girls who sat down the table from them. They were looking at them and some were pointing. Crocodile and Swordfish tried to sink into the scenery, which was pretty hard if you were the only one in sight with a crocodile or swordfish's head sitting atop your shoulders. One seemed more reluctant to join in and eventually changed the subject.
Swordfish never got used to that. It had happened many times before yet it never stopped him feeling so low, so inhuman.
The two continued to eat in silence.
'So, what do we have first?' Swordfish asked, breaking the silence. Crocodile delved into his pocket and brought out his timetable.
'Um, Herbology. That sounds like fun, doesn't it?' He said with a lot of enthusiasm.
'Yea,' Swordfish agreed, smiling. 'What is it?'
'God knows!' Two pair burst out laughing and Swordfish decided to lighten his mood. After all, it couldn't get much worse could it?
Crocodile and Swordfish strolled across the beautiful expansive lawns of Hogwarts towards the greenhouses. It appeared they had Herbology with another house, but neither of the two could identify which house it was. Whichever house it was, the giggling girls of their own house were present and they whispered as they passed the two Animalusheadius'. Crocodile and Swordfish looked down and fell silent, both aware of what the other was feeling but not wanting to talk about it.
Five minutes later, they found they had Herbology lessons with Gryffindor and they found they weren't the only ones the subject of unwanted attention. A small boy with messy black hair and large round glasses was receiving a large amount of whispering and not - so - subtle gesturing. He also seemed to have a scar on his forehead or something. Maybe he's a wizarding celebrity, Crocodile mused to himself.
After the Professor,their head of house, Professor Sprout, had said a little something about what the subject of Herbology entailed, they were split up into pairs and given the relatively simple task or identifying some common magical plants. Professor Sprout walked around the class, randomly selecting student to be paired with one another. Instinctively, Crocodile and Swordfish inched closer to one another to show that they wanted to be paired together, but Professor Sprout either didn't notice or chose to ignore the sign as Crocodile was paired with a Hufflepuff boy Swordfish didn't know and Swordfish was paired with one of the giggling girls.
Swordfish reluctantly walked over to his partner, all the while, looking at the ground. He imagined this was going to be painful and thought the best way to deal with it would just to keep telling himself it would be over soon.
'Hi, I'm Meg,' said Meg.
'Hi,' Swordfish said gloomily, finally looking up to see the reluctant girl from breakfast this morning.
'So, I think the Professor said that we could do a couple of easy spells on the plants to see how they react differently,' Meg said, turning and looking at the four identical looking plants on the bench before them. Swordfish was slightly confused. She wasn't frightened, nor repulsed, nor rude, she was just... nice.
'Are you OK?' Meg asked her silent partner, whose face was portraying his confusion very well.
'Yea, sure, I'm fine,' he said, caught off guard.
'Good. Now, I think this one might just be a Jenevius,' She said picking up the end plant from the bench, 'Because of the thick stem, you see it?' She showed Swordfish the difference, who was, to his surprise, actually rather interested.
'Ok, but what about this one?' He said picking up the plant sitting on the other end of the line. 'This one has a thick stem, too.'
As Swordfish and Meg Pancho worked happily side by side, Crocodile was also enjoying himself, working with Aiden Fitzwilliam, an Irish Hufflepuff boy.
'Ok, so we just need to identify this last one...' Aiden announced, picking up the last plant on the bench in front of the two boys. 'I think an Aquatacious Charm should do it.'
'What's that do?' Crocodile asked curiously.
'Well, if the plant turns blue, its from the Havria family and if it doesn't react at all, its from one of the other families of plants.'
'Oh, well I guess there's only, like, what? 12 families?' Crocodile suggested, not actually have a clue.
Aiden chuckled, 'Try 12,000. They say a new one is discovered every week.'
'Wow,' Crocodile breathed, genuinely impressed. 'How do you know all this stuff?'
'Well my mum's always been into plants and my grandfather used to be the Herbology teacher here, so I guess it kinda runs in the family.' Crocodile nodded, in awe. 'But my sister isn't really into Herbology and plants and stuff.'
'Oh right, does she come to Hogwarts?' Crocodile asked, liking his partner more and more.
'Oh yeah, we're twins, she's stood over there,' Aiden said, pointing her out. 'Aquatius!' Aiden yelled, pointing his wand at the plant, which slowly turned a deep blue. Aiden beamed, obviously impressed by his own initiative.
'Right class!' Professor Sprout said, getting the attention of every in the large greenhouse. 'Now did anyone manage to identify all four plants?'
Aiden slowly raised his hand and seemed to be the only one doing so. Crocodile could see the girl Aiden has identified as his sister roll her eyes. Crocodile chuckled.
A couple of minutes later, and their double period of Herbology was over, as were their lessons for the morning, leaving them free to enjoy the picturesque views of Hogwarts lawns. Crocodile had been officially introduced to Aiden's sister, Alana, who also ignored the fact Crocodile was an Animalusheadius' and they chatted casually.
'Alana's a pretty unusual name, isn't it?'
'It means peaceful and Aiden means fiery,' Alana explained,' Our parents were big with the meanings,' She added, chuckling.
As Swordfish walked over, Crocodile happily introduced the three.
'I was working with Meg Pancho, you know one of the giggling girls?' Swordfish explained.
'Oh, I'm sorry,' Crocodile said.
'No, no, she's really nice, seriously.' Swordfish explained enthusiastically. Crocodile look unconvinced. 'Come on, I'll introduce you,' Swordfish said, practically dragging Crocodile over to where Meg and her friends stood.
The group of girls suddenly feel silent as the two approached, many with looks of disgust. Swordfish hadn't seemed to notice and said cheerily, 'Meg, this is Crocodile, Crocodile, this is Meg.'
'Pleased to meet you,' crocodile said nervously, aware of all the eyes on him.
The blonde girl stood closest to Meg, then turned to her and said, 'Don't tell me you actually talked to that freak did you?' Now all the girls were looking disgusting and if Swordfish could flush, he would be a shade of brilliant red now.
Meg simply laughed and said, 'No! Come on, I need to send an owl to my dad.' And the tribe of snooty girls left Crocodile and Swordfish standing alone. Swordfish was dumbstruck. 'What the hell?' He asked in disbelief.
Crocodile, patted Swordfish on the back, and leading him back to where Aiden and Alana still stood, said 'I'm sorry Swordfish but bitches are a whole other species.'
That evening, Crocodile, Swordfish, Aiden and Alana were sat around the fireplace in the Hufflepuff common room, playing a game of exploding snap. They had just escaped the confines of Professor Snape's dungeon where, to his surprise, Crocodile had excelled. Aiden and Alana had been with Crocodile and Swordfish all day. The two were born from a wizarding family and so could happily answer any questions Crocodile and Swordfish had. The four had become good friends in a short space of time, but Swordfish was still confused by Meg's actions after Herbology.
'Swordfish, forget about it, she's just a horrible person, that's all,' Aiden said as the two started another game of exploding snap.
'But she was so nice to me when we were working.'
'Look, just coz she's a nice person to you doesn't mean she's nice all the time. Her friends obviously have something against you and Meg's too afraid of loosing them to actually wake up and realise that her friends are horrible people too.'
Swordfish fell silent.
'So, what lessons do we have tomorrow?' Alana asked, changing the subject.
'Umm, let's see,' Crocodile said as he pulled out his timetable from his robes. 'Defence Against The Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, and double Transfiguration.'
'What's Defence Against The Dark Arts?' Swordfish asked, taking his concentration away from the game of snap.
'Oh, its just a lesson where they teach you tricks to defend yourself against evil wizards.' Aiden said breezily.
Crocodile and Swordfish shared a look and a huge smile. Just wait until the Enchanted Hob Nob here about this! Crocodile thought excitedly.