Chapter Two: First Impressions
The ceiling of the Great Hall, which was enchanted to mirror the sky outside, was bright and sunny with only a few downy clouds dappling the clear blue skies when Harry Potter and Ron Weasley entered for their breakfast.
"Looks a nice day. Shame we'll be in class all morning." Harry helped himself to a piece of toast and spread ample amounts of his favorite jam, rhubarb, over its surface.
"You can say that again. Speaking of which, what is our first class?" Ron consulted his already crumpled schedule, "Oh, Transfiguration. Oh god, with Slytherin. I might not make it through that one."
"It might be mildly interesting, we've got a new Professor, remember? Erosa"
"I suppose so. I always thought McGonagall would be here for another fifty years, I still can't believe she retired. And for our last year too!" Ron stifled a yawn and poured himself some more pumpkin juice.
"We're not her only students, Ronald. Besides, she already explained why she was retiring, don't you remember?" Ron started as Hermione Granger seated herself beside him. She swept her long waves over her shoulder and propped the Daily Prophet she was reading up against a jug of pumpkin juice.
Harry watched the two of them for a moment. Hermione was concentrating on her paper, trying to absorb as much information as possible, but as she did so, Ron, with egg still resting on his fork half-way to his mouth, was observing her. Ron's eyes flickered from her eyes to her fingers; that were absent-mindedly playing with her napkin, to her lips that were slightly parted. Harry sighed. Ron's growing affection for Hermione had become more and more apparent as the years passed. Harry worried that soon Hermione would find out, but won't reciprocate.
Harry cleared his throat a little louder than necessary and Ron snapped out of his reverie. They hastily finished their meal and hurried off to Transfiguration.
First bell rang just as Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the rapidly filling Transfiguration classroom. As expected, Draco Malfoy and his goons greeted Harry the same as they had been doing everyday for the past six years-general rude remarks and hissing. Harry by now was used to it, and walked calmly towards his seat.
Their new Professor hadn't arrived yet, so the students were excitedly catching up. Seamus leaned in towards Harry and Ron as soon as they found their seat,
"Look over there. Who's that? I've never seen her before," He pointed to the far corner of the class, to a girl none of them recognized. Her raven hair fell in waves around her face, and when she turned towards them the three boys saw she had unusual blue eyes that glittered like ice. They hastily turned away, embarrassed, except for Ron, who stared unashamedly into the eyes of the girl. She watched him for a moment, but then blushed and looked away quickly. Ron's ears were red when he leaned in towards them again,
"She's very- well, anyway, where d'you think she's from?" Hermione looked up from their new Transfiguration book to answer.
"Canada. And her name's Elspeth Namirle. She's very nice. I wonder where the Professor is. It's nearly five past,"
"How do you know that!" Ron looked up in surprise.
"Well, see this thing on my left wrist. That's a watch, Ronald.The big hand tells the minutes and the small hand tells the hour. Now, if you look here-"
"NOT THE TIME, 'MIONE! I meant, how do you know all that about Elspeth? She's only just come!" Hermione rolled her eyes, and put her book down.
"She was here last night for the feast, remember? We spoke in the girl's dormitory, introduced ourselves, that sort of thing. Why are you bothering so much about someone you don't even know?" She was obviously suppressing a smile, but could do nothing for her right eyebrow which was raised in a rather cheeky fashion. Ron's ears flushed an even darker scarlet and Seamus laughed.
"He fancies her! No wonder, too! She's hot, that one."
"Oi! Show a little respect! Erm….." Ron cleared his throat, "And I don't fancy her-I would just like to be informed when there's a new addition to Gryffindor. That's fair, would-wouldn't you agree, 'Mione?" Hermione rolled her eyes again and opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the arrival of the Professor.
She had appeared from a door in the back of the classroom they had not noticed before and was standing rather timidly before the class. They fell silent and stared at the young woman. She seemed to very young indeed, especially compared the other professors, which suddenly seemed very old. She wasn't yet thirty, apparent in her smooth tanned face. She was wearing her ashy hair back into a smooth bun, and tortoiseshell glasses took the attention away from the rest of her face. Her robes were dark grey, rather dull, as was the rest of her, except for her bright, red pumps that made gentle clicking noises on the floor when she moved. Seamus prodded Hermione in the arm.
"What- what did you say her name was?" He hissed.
"Professor Erosa,"
"Professor Arouser, you say? She's well named." Seamus was smirking.
"Er-oh-sa, Seamus! I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate that you're turning her name into a sexual term. You're so immature! Now, pay attention!" Her hair seemed to spark slightly with electricity so he sat upright and gazed intently at the Professor as she introduced herself.
Though she lacked the stern confidence they were used to from McGonagall, Professor Erosa seemed to know what she was talking about, and the Gryffindors were suitably satisfied she would get them through N.E.W.T.s. The Slytherin's, however, had a different opinion of her. Though she made relatively few, they sniggered each time she made a mistake- befuddled her words, or dropped a pencil, and Malfoy was practically in hysterics when she stuttered out "Professor Lupin"
The rest of the day seemed to crawl by-that is until they were introduced to another new student, a Ravenclaw by the name of Rory Gallagher, in Charms. Hermione was also familiar with her, and introduced her to Ron and Harry. She was Irish and had a jovial laugh that carried through the classroom. Seamus especially found her very likable, and spent so much time speaking with her that they hardly practised the spell they were meant to be learning at all.
At last, and most unfortunately, they came to the last class of the day-Potions. It was the usual from Snape, but when he set them to making a potion, Hermione latched on to Harry as her partner. Harry was perplexed until he saw who this left Ron with- Elspeth.
Harry shrugged slightly at Ron's bemused expression. Bemusement; mixed with apprehension.
Elspeth cringed with discomfort as she mixed the potion with Ron. He seemed very uncomfortable as well, and kept darting glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking. For several agonizing moments she thought she had something stuck in her teeth, or some other ailment equally embarrassing, until she caught her reflection in Malfoy's shiny new cauldron and saw her fears were baseless. This only momentarily relieved her anxiety, however, because then she couldn't think of a reason he would be looking at her so strangely. At last, as they were mixing in the newt's eye, he spoke.
"So, erm……. are you new to Hogwarts?" His ears flushed, and she smiled at this peculiarity.
"Uh, yes. My family just moved from Canada. My brother goes here as well, he's a sixth year. His name's Tarrant, but everybody calls him Thor." Elspeth avoided eye contact quickly. How could she have said something that idiotic?
"Thor? Why do they call him that?"
"I can't remember, but I think it has something to do with his hair. He's always had lots of golden blond hair that he's ridiculously proud of…….."
And so their banter continued until the end of class and into the common room, all the way to the Great Hall, where, regrettably, they were separated and Ron had to sit in his regular spot with Harry and Hermione.
"She's cool, eh? She told me all sorts of interesting things about Canada. Did you know……"
Harry and Hermione shook their heads and tuned out to Ron's spiel about Elspeth. Ron was still babbling in the common room as they excused themselves for bed, but Harry smiled to himself-perhaps Ron would forget his absurd obsession for Hermione.
