Will of the Wands
Chapter 5 – Detention and a Fight
Fortunately, the first years settled themselves uneventfully into the regular routines of Hogwarts. It was during a particularly evil Potions class that Millie came about an astonishing epiphany.
"The first Flying lesson is this weekend, and then after that's the first Quidditch match!" Astonished, Dakota stared at her.
"I would think that you, of all people, would be the one to know that! Sheesh! I've only mentioned it once an hour or so."
"Sorry, I guess I forgot."
"Obviously," a cold voice spat behind them. "Although, Miss Eliot, it seems as though the current standings of your social life and the well-being of your abysmal Quidditch team are the least of your worries as of now."
Gulping, Millie turned around to see Professor Snape smirking down at her. Next to her, Dakota was just as petrified, as she was trying extremely hard not to faint. Bracing herself, Millie prepared for the wave of insults.
Surprisingly, none arrived. Stooping so low Millie thought he was bent over backwards, Snape carefully inspected the contents of her cauldron. "What is this supposed to resemble, Eliot?" He picked up the ladle from the workbench and ladled out just enough so the entire class could see before dripping it slowly back down. "Well?"
"A Confusing Concoction, sir," Millie answered meekly.
"Is it?" Snape brought his gaze to the cauldron again, before curving his lips into a crooked smile. "And, might I be so bold as to question what the color of said concoction should be?" Whirling around, he jabbed his finger at a dark-haired Slytherin girl near the front. "Jamison!"
"The Confusing Concoction should have turned a dull shade of gold by now, Professor," the girl answered tonelessly.
"And, pray tell, what ingredient makes this particular potion turn the described color? Anyone?"
Another Slytherin, this time a blond-haired boy, said in a rather thick Irish accent, "The walrus whiskers should have triggered the color-change, sir."
Snape smiled again, this time even baring his yellowing teeth. "You see, Eliot? It seems as though while concerning yourself with your social life, you have neglected your potion. Such a shame, too, because now, in five minutes' time, you will have nothing to pass in for me to grade." He paused. "Meet me here after dinner so we can discuss your detention. That goes for you, too, Williams."
When the bell rang, Millie pushed through the sea of students with labeled flasks and stumbled out into the dank corridor.
How dare he criticize me in front of everyone! How humiliating is that? I wonder if Professor Dumbledore was ever chastised in class...no...he'd never allow his mind to wander...
As she was contemplating what other humiliations might have matched the one she had been subjected to, she failed to realize where she was headed, which was straight into a wall.
"Oof!" All of her books scattered everywhere, ink smashed all over her robes and shoes, and quills fluttered in a circle around her. Rubbing her head, Millie sat up and groaned. The next thing she knew, she was being pulled to her feet by a very tall person.
Regaining her balance, Millie stared up at her rescuer. And up. And up. And up. Her knight in shining armor had red hair.
"You all right?" The boy asked, stooping again to help her with her books. "Took a nasty shiner to the head, you may want to see Madame Pomfrey."
"Thanks," Millie mumbled, trying as hard as she could to not possibly blush in this person's presence.
"What had you completely clued out to run into a wall?" The boy asked, a slightly goofy grin on his face. "I mean, I've done it loads of times, but you seemed to have something on your mind."
A bout of anger flared. "Snape, that no-good bat, gave me detention because my Confusing Concoction was a tad on the orange side when it was supposed to be a 'dull gold'." Despite her embarrassing situation, Millie found herself unable to keep a hint of sarcasm out of her voice.
"Ohhhh. So you've discovered what a filthy son of a bi-"
"There you are!" Millie turned, and groaned again. Dakota had finally caught up with her, and was waving her latest essay on the consequences of too many bumblebee wings in everyday cold remedies in the air. Catching her breath, she turned to the redhead. "Hi, I'm Dakota. Who're you? And why, Millie, are all of your things on the floor?"
"I'm Ron," the boy said seriously, "And...Millie, is it? took a nasty slam into the wall. Thinking of her dear Professor Snape, she was."
Millie gasped and slapped Ron's arm playfully. "You know fully well I was not! I was thinking of how he's so incredibly sinister an-"
"Mill? Sorry, but I was wondering if you could possibly dumb it up for yours truly? Because I'm lost at 'so'." Millie stared at her friend, trying to understand the way her thought process worked. Beside her, the boy called Ron was nodding emphatically.
"Never mind. Not important," Millie mumbled. Dakota shrugged, and went on to talk about how Millie had awful luck when it came to running into people. Why did Dakota have to come along and ruin perfectly good conversations all the time? Oy. Oh, well. It can't be as bad as when she came along when Harry Potter and I ran into each other. Anyway, it's not like Ron knows Harry or anything, so why should I be embarrassed?
Of course, Millie snapped out of her reverie just as Dakota was saying, "When I was getting on the train, I saw her and Harry Pott-"
"Actually, Dakota, we've got to go. Thanks for everything, Ron!" Millie called over her shoulder as she dragged Dakota into the Great Hall.
"What was that for?" Dakota asked as she readjusted her tie.
"What was that for? That was to keep you from embarrassing me, that's what!" Millie exclaimed.
"Embarrass you? How-"
"By talking about how I, Amelia Jane Eliot, ran into Harry Potter the day we arrived and just how I knocked him over, that's how!" Extremely frusterated, Millie stomped over to the end of the Gryffindor table and threw her things in a vacant place. She pretended not to notice when Dakota took the place across from her.
"I'm sorry, Mill. I didn't know that you wanted to forget that it happened. If I were you, I'd lighten up and laugh about it," Dakota said, twisting a ring around on her thumb.
Even though she knew that this was her way of apologizing, Millie couldn't take it. "Reality check, Dakota. You aren't me." As soon as she said that, Millie wished she hadn't, as Dakota's brown eyes widened in surprise.
"Okay, then. I'll just go." With that, Millie watched her friend walk out of the Great Hall without touching her lunch.
All through Herbology and half of Transfiguration, Dakota pondered all possible ways of apologizing to Millie. Half of her was sure that this had been brought upon herself, and that it was up to her to make it right again, but there was one little bit that would voice its opinion at the most inconvenient times.
She yelled at you, remember? You already apologized.
Yeah, but still. I shouldn't have brought up her tripping into Harry. I should have known she wouldn't want to talk about it; she's not that kind of person.
But still- you already apologized!
I'm not listening to you, Dakota thought. Unfortunately, her absence of mind was noted by Professor McGonagall, who called her to attention.
"Miss Williams? Is there something you wish to share with us that seems to have let your studies take a backseat in your mind?"
Dakota stared at her before shifting her gaze to Millie. Then she shook her head. "No, Professor."
After the four houses met in the Great Hall for dinner, four girls made their way separately to the dungeons that Potions classes were held for detention. Little did they know that they would soon be spending almost every waking moment in each others' presence.
"I can't believe we've got detention on a Friday night!" Madison exclaimed. She and Alexis were scraping the last bits of chopped veal from their plates before descending into the dungeons, where who knew what awaited them for punishment.
"I know," grumbled Alexis. Her red hair draped about her like a thin curtain, enveloping her to the elbows. "Oh, well. It's got to be a good thing that he didn't remember the first Quidditch match is tomorrow, or we'd be stuck doing this then."
"That would be horrible," Madison gasped, entertaining the thought for a few moments. "No. I don't even want to consider what I might do to him if he did that to us."
"And I don't want to hear it, either," Alexis said briskly.
"Gee, love you too, Lexi," Madison joked. Alexis gave her a glare, and she fell silent again.
"Come on, you oaf. We'd better get down there before he spontaneously combusts." As they made their way out the doors, Madison tripped and fell, making another girl fall along with her.
"Sorry about that, it's got to be the American in me," Madison said, looking at the other girl. She had long dark hair, with dark brown eyes and tan skin. She guessed that she was a first year, too, because she seemed somewhat familiar. The other girl smiled.
"Yeah, I don't think I was really watching where I was going. Thinking of how nice it's going to be when I'm free from detention," she cast a mock longing look back at the food.
"You've got detention, too?" Alexis spoke up. The girl nodded.
"Snape."
"Hey, us too! Want to walk with us?" She graciously accepted, and they set off together, talking excitedly about the upcoming Quidditch match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw.
I feel so left out, thought Millie dejectedly. She often wondered how it was possible that Dakota could get along with just about anybody, save for her cousin. What was worse, Millie recognized the girl Dakota had run into as the American from the train. It wasn't like Millie disliked Dakota- it was exactly the opposite. She was just jealous.
Gathering her bag, not bothering to glance at the other Gryffindors enjoying their dinner, Millie sighed and followed them into the dungeons. Of course, she was apparently the one they had been waiting for, as Professor Snape sneered when she walked in.
"You're late, Eliot." She winced.
"I'm sorry, sir."
He regarded her, the only one separate from the group of four girls. "Since you are already in detention, five points will be withdrawn from Gryffindor in your name." Millie flushed, trying as hard as she could will herself to not look at Dakota, who was no doubt either disgusted or snickering. At the present moment, Millie made herself not care.
Needless to say, detention was NOT what Dakota would have called fun. Rubbing her sore arms, she returned to Gryffindor Tower harboring a temper and great dislike for one Severus Snape. To make things worse, she and Millie still weren't speaking.
Instead of retiring to the common room, like Dakota was bound to do, Millie decided to visit Hagrid, with whom she shared a liking for dragons. Ignoring the beckon she received from the Quidditch pitch, where several members of the Ravenclaw team were practicing, Millie pulled the collar of her cloak up past her ears and hastened her step to the cozy cottage at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Raising her shaking fist to knock on the massive plank door, Millie hoped he was still awake- dusk was fast approaching, and who knew when Snape considered their punishment to be over. A voice pierced her thoughts then, and she looked up.
"Fer a minute there I didn't know if yeh'd left us," Hagrid said cheerfully. He stepped aside to let her enter. What made her almost faint was not the enormous dog that bounded over and began licking her face, nor was it the entire cow hanging from the eaves. Harry Potter sat at the trestle table, clutching a bucket-size mug of tea.
"I'm sure yeh know each other," Hagrid said, fixing Millie some tea as well, "Bein' in the same House an' all."
Even though she knew it probably offended him greatly, she could not bring herself to look Harry in the eye. Her face flushed when she recounted their last meeting in her head. The look on his face when Dakota had seized his hand was horrifying, not to mention extremely embarrassing for Millie.
Harry cleared his throat, and whether it was coincidence or not, Millie had no idea. She blushed an even brighter red, and cursed her great-great-great grandfather Nicolas for his extremely fair and easily flustered features.
"So, Harry, are yeh ready for the match against Hufflepuff nex' week?" Hagrid had obviously not noticed the tension between the two Gryffindors, and continued his conversation with Harry. Millie didn't think it was her place to listen in, so she tuned Hagrid's booming voice and Harry's almost inaudible murmur out, and looked around the rest of the cabin in awe.
"Millie? Hello?" Hagrid and Harry were staring at her, both attempting not to crack a smile. She immediately felt really stupid, for it looked as though they were waiting on her opinion of some sort. She tried to remember what they had been talking about before she had completely zoned them out.
Let's see, Quidditch, someone named Cho- don't know who he or she is, mind- er, come on, Millie, think! Oh...Care of Magical Creatures!
"Um," Millie said finally, "What?" Hagrid grinned, and Harry clapped his fist over his mouth to keep his smile from her sight.
"We wanted to know what you'd been up to, but you seem to be a bit lost," Harry said, running his fingers through his messy black hair.
"Oh." Millie said. "Yeah, I'm always a bit lost. Some people tell me I have two brains, actually. One of them has gone and gotten itself lost, and the other's out looking for it, so either way, I'm a bit out there." She felt slightly better when Harry began to laugh.
"So, wha' have yeh been up to? Yeh looked a migh' depressed when yeh came in," Hagrid pressed. Millie sighed.
"Well, it all started this afternoon when Snape gave me detention for not creating a perfect Confusing Concoction. Apparently, I'd left out the wa-"
"-Walrus whiskers," finished Harry. She stared at him, and he grinned. "Took me a while to figure out why I couldn't get it exactly that shade of gold. He took off fifteen points then. Looks like he's upped his means of depriving students of their free time. Or, in your case, your dinner. Pity, they had those really good chipolatas."
"Wow. So are you like, the next Fred or George?" Millie asked interestedly.
"You know about them?" asked Harry incredulously, stirring his tea absentmindedly.
"Who doesn't? They're practically famous here! They've even gotten a plaque and a roped-off swamp. It's soo cool, I heard that they were going to put them on the market."
"I remember that," Harry said. Millie cocked her head and looked at him quizzically. "I was there, this really foul Defense teacher was here last year, name's Umbridge-"
"Oh, I hate her!" Millie exclaimed. Now it was Harry's turn to look at her quizzically. Alarming herself with her sudden outburst, Millie blushed. "My father used to work with the Ministry, she was his boss. She'd come over every other week, checking up on him. He worked from home, you see." She cringed. "Every time she'd come over, I'd have to wear this awful black dress with a lacy pink cardigan thing, which was, coincidentally, a gift from her."
Harry wrinkled his nose. "Ew."
"Yeah," Millie agreed. "Once I didn't wear it, and she looked like she was going to stun me on the spot. It was horrible. Her face got really green, and her eyes got all small and squinty, and-"
"She didn't use the voice, did she?" Harry asked, leaning on his elbows.
"The one where she sounds like that girl on that Muggle show, um...Will and Gertrude or something like that?"
"Will and Grace?" Harry laughed.
"Yeah, that! Wait, how'd you know that?"
"I live with my aunt and uncle…" Harry explained. "…and their son, Dudley, who currently resembles a very large blue whale." Millie snickered. "I used to watch that all the time, whenever I could." He paused. "Or, whenever they'd go out during the evening, which was usually every Tuesday."
"Tuesday?" Millie inquired.
"Yeah," Harry said, shrugging. "Some special night or some rubbish like that." Millie nodded. Silence pursued, until Hagrid spoke.
"How's yer friend, Carolina or whatever her name was?" Hagrid wanted to know. Millie scowled, her expression turning sour.
"Dakota?" Millie asked. "We're sort of, well, we're not talking right now." Hagrid looked surprised.
"Why not?"
"I kind of snapped at her after she apologized for accidentally slipping about-" She glanced at Harry, eyes wide, "-about something I'd rather not say."
Harry surprised her by saying, "Was this about running into me?" At Millie's horrified expression, he smiled. "If it is, which it probably is, judging by your face, you should go talk to her. I'm sure she won't just stop talking to you. Believe me, my friend Ron and I had one argument over whether or not I really entered myself in the Triwizard Tournament or not, and that went on for like, four months- and we're still friends."
Millie looked down at her tea, which was almost gone. She could see the sugar collecting at the bottom, but she didn't care. Harry continued, "Seriously, if you just talk to her, you'll forget it ever happened." She looked up at him, and he grinned. "By the way, I was the one at fault when we collided at King's Cross."
"What?" Millie asked incredulously. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I was looking for Ron and Hermione. I'd kind of hoped they'd meet me somewhere, but apparently they didn't. Sorry if I embarrassed you."
Millie shook her head. "It should be me apologizing, if Dakota hadn't scared the living daylights out of you-"
"-I get it all the time," Harry interjected.
"Well, Millie, now yeh can't walk by 'im withou' sayin' hello in between class," Hagrid said happily. "When yeh firs' came in, I though' yeh'd walk righ' back out again, after seein' 'im."
"Thanks, Hagrid." Millie looked at him, then flicked her gaze to Harry. "Harry." She picked up her mug and rinsed it before putting it in the sink. "I should probably go find Dakota."
As soon as she left, Hagrid turned to Harry and said seriously, "Tha' took a lot o' guts, tellin' a firs' year abou' yer fight with Ron. An' yeh made her realize the world's a lot better with friends aroun'." Harry nodded.
"I hope they work things out. This may be only the beginning of what's destroyed in Voldemort's name, if they're not careful."
Somewhere along the west coast of Britain's countryside, a cloaked man brought news to his master. "My Lord, we have found a few things that you will be most pleased with."
A high, almost chilling voice answered the man, the hint of extreme hierarchy in the tone he used. "Williams, I must admit you impress me still. You will prove valuable to me yet. But you suspected this already, did you not?"
"Yes, my Lord," the cloaked man answered truthfully. "I have done everything in my power to ensure that the secret of the key was found." He trembled from his position on the ground, kneeling in front of the stone temple. "And we did."
A/N: Dun-dun-dun-dun! Ahhh, don't you just loooooove cliffhangers? (Dufoli elbows Siaryst and winks) Yep. And, what's worse, you don't know what they're talking about! Yep. Is that all you're going to say? Yep. Well, since the sister ship is not responding, we will have to rely on...ME! Uh-oh. Reviews are good. Very good. Actually, they might possibly be the best thing in the fanfiction world. Yep. So, plllllleeeeeaaaase review. -The Finally Up-And-Moving-In-The-Direction-We-Wanted-To-Go-In-The-First-Place, Still Incredibly Insane and Giggly, Siaryst (the ever-faithful sidekick) & Dufoli HEY! WAIT JUST A COTTON-PICKING MINUTE! Houston, we have a problem! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
