Chapter Three
Tonks stepped through the doors to the main Great Hall and promptly tripped over the threshold. The complete lack of grace with which Tonks entered the room drew the attention of what seemed to be every student in school. And also Mrs. Norris, Filtch's nasty cat -who meowed rudely before running off to fetch her master. The parchments containing the day's notes skidded across the floor and into one of the many statues along the walls of the room. One of her quills flew from her bag and stuck itself solidly in the wooden base of the statue of Mortimer Manes –an old haggard wizard best know for inventing dragon-hide gloves.
Tonks sighed as she pulled herself up form the floor and began gathering up the spilled contents of her bag. Why is it that she can get fabulous grades, make a million friends, be the star of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and still be unable to take more than a few steps without stumbling or dropping something? She'd long suspected that there were gravitational anomalies in the halls of Hogwarts, and just assumed that the other students and professors were unaffected.
The snickering from the rest of the school was just dying down as she picked up the last of her lost rolls of parchment. She turned her attention to trying to pry her quill from the statue. It wasn't entirely clear to her how it managed to get itself so lodged, but it wasn't coming loose easily. She planted on foot on either side of the quill, grabbed the quill with both hands and tried to pull the quill out that way. It took her a few tries and a few moments where she imagined that she was King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, but it eventually came free.
When the quill was free of the statue, Tonks found herself suddenly off balance and headed for the floor again. She closed her eyes as she braced for the impact, which would surely be accompanied but a loud "thud" and more snickering from the Slytherins.
And yeah. That's exactly what happened.
Except, when she opened her eyes she was looking up at the Slytherin girl that she'd lent her potions notes to.
"Have you ever seen something called 'television'?", the girl asked.
"No" Tonks was still lying on her back looking up at the girl, hoping that by lying down, the fact that she was blushing furiously could be concealed.
"We studied it in Muggle Studies last year. They're kind of like our photographs. Only they have sound. And instead of just a few movements, they show entire stories. And I think there was some music. But I can't remember if it was all real, or made up. I had to look at it several times to understand it…" The girl furrowed her brow and looked confused.
Tonks took the opportunity to right herself and regain some composure. She looked at the girl, who was still silent. She looked around Great Hall. And finally she broke the silence.
"…and?"
The girl blinked.
"It sounded like you were heading somewhere with that train of thought…" Tonks continued.
"Oh! Right. Um. See. We had to watch a particular program, which is supposed to be the height of muggle entertainment. When you were trying to pick up your stuff, you reminded me of some of the people in that program."
Unsure if she should be insulted or not, Tonks asked "Did they have names?"
"Sure," the girl replied. "I think they were called 'The Three Stooges'."
Still unsure if she should be insulted for not, Tonks wrinkled her nose, and changed the subject.
"My notes? Are you finished with them? Not to be a downer, but I do need to get some studying done tonight."
The girl stuffed her hand in her bag and retrieved Tonks' parchment. She stuck her arm out and offered the paper to Tonks. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
"Did they help at all?"
Quietly, she said "Um, yeah. The part about properly bottling solutions was um… good. A little confusing, though. Um… I need to study more…." And her voice trailed off as she hung her head and locked her eyes on her shoes.
"Well, if you need more help, just let me know, kay?"Tonks relished the idea of tutoring a Slytherin on potions.
"Uh. Ok. Thank you." It was clear that the girl didn't grasp the material, and was ashamed of it.
"I gotta get some grub and start studying. Quidditch is hungry work, and I've got precious little time these days with all these practices." The girl nodded.
As she turned to head for the Gryffindor table, Tonks heard from behind her "Thank you, Nymphadora." Tonks winced, counted to ten and turned around.
"What's your name?", Tonks asked curtly.
The girl swallowed and eeked out "Marlena."
Tonks nodded. "Well, Marlena. You're welcome." Tonks paused. "Oh, and one thing: Everyone calls me Tonks." She winked, turned around and took her seat at the Gryffindor table next to her teammates.
"Haha! Nice fall there, Tonks. You know, you ripped your pants again", teased the captain of the team.
"Have a nice trip? Ha! See you next fall!", quipped another player.
"Jackson," Tonks said. "Did you know that there are practically NO LAWS prohibiting me from shoving your broom up your nose? Just thought I'd mention that."
The boys knew she'd been teased enough and they let the conversation drift naturally back towards their preferred topics: Quidditch matches and Peeves' latest prank.
