Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Updated: Tuesday 22nd March 2005
Chapter Fifty One: Getting Settled
Due to the fact that September the first had fallen on a Tuesday, the students of Hogwarts started their academic year on Wednesday's timetable. Peering down at her schedule as she sipped her morning tea and picked at her toast, Estella mapped out her day. The Ravenclaw first years were to start their term with double Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, followed by Charms (again with the Gryffindors) and Herbology (with the Slytherins) after morning tea. Then, after lunch they would wind up their day with the Slytherins in a double dose of History of Magic. Estella groaned.
"What's the matter?" Allegra Chambers, who occupied the bed next to Estella, muttered distantly as she poured herself over her transfiguration text, conscientiously nervous about her very first class. Allegra was a small, nerdy looking muggleborn girl with light brown hair she had so far always worn in a no-nonsense plait that stretched far down her back. With her crisp, clean clothes tailored precisely to abide by uniform regulations and her stylish wire rimmed glasses, the girl was never without a book in hand and was, really, the consummate Ravenclaw.
"Double dose of McGonagall today, that's what." Estella mourned. "Rounded up with a dead boring double of History!"
Allegra rolled her eyes.
"Well I happen to find History of Magic to be a fascinating subject!" A nauseatingly nasal boy's voice squeaked prissily from across the table. "Owen Quirke, by the way." He continued. "Evidently you haven't read the supplementary readings yet, otherwise you would be agreeing with me."
Estella glared down her nose at the annoying little swot. "Obviously you haven't met the teacher yet!" She retorted with a knowing lilt to her voice.
"I heard a rumour that the History of Magic teacher is a ghost." A tall athletic boy by the name of Reginald Davies cut in. "My brother Roger is a few years above us and he told me. I don't know whether to believe him or not."
"It's true alright." Another girl from Estella's dorm, Shannon Fawcett, confirmed. "There's a chapter on him in the revised edition of 'Hogwarts: A History'"
"He's a ghost?" Owen spluttered. "How is that even possible?"
"He fell asleep in front of the staffroom fire one day and when he got up to teach again he left his body behind." Estella said factually, rolling her eyes at the simplicity. Out of all of her housemates, the only ones she liked so far were Reg, Ally, Luna and Elsie – who was a quiet little thing that hadn't yet said a word for she was too busy doing the crossword in that morning's Daily Prophet. Incidentally, she'd gone to school in Hogsmeade with Shannon and Owen, so she was more than used to their competitive banter; but other than that and the student's she'd met, she didn't really know who the rest of her Ravenclaw housemates were.
"Miss Black!" The stern Transfiguration teacher's voice managed in a strangled sort of way. "Have you not listened to a single word I have said? You are saying the incantation wrong! Your wandmanship is sloppy and all over the place!"
"I'm sorry, Professor." Estella hissed through gritted teeth. She'd known McGonagall would be hard on her, but this was bordering on ridiculous. In her private tutorials with her Uncle and Godfather Transfiguration had always been her weakest link (perhaps because neither of her teachers had been proficient enough in the subject to teach her adequately) and so she was pretty much starting the subject at the same level as everyone else. "I am trying!"
"Given your clear advantage over the other students…" McGonagall's eyes bore into her, the implication clear. "I expect more from you. Clearly your guardians have done nothing but fill your head with incorrect technique."
"Well if I have incorrect technique and the other first years have no technique, wouldn't that put me at a disadvantage, Professor?"
Shaking her head forcefully, McGonagall glared. "You are putting the rest of the class at a disadvantage every moment I have to stop and undo the fallacious handiwork of your Uncle's inefficient attempts of teaching you."
"Why are you being so mean?" Estella asked suddenly, even though she knew full well what the answer was. "I didn't exactly ask for the life I've been given."
"You may not have been given parents, you ungrateful child, but the life you have led is far from unfortunate." McGonagall leant close to Estella's ear, a unbidden pain in her eyes. "You are alive."
"Then why do I get the feeling you wish that wasn't so?" Estella asked haughtily.
McGonagall reared back, the pain in her eyes still evident. "Five points from Slyth… Ravenclaw for class disruption." She snapped, her lips in a thin line as she straightened and returned to teaching.
Estella snorted derisively but accepted the bitter woman's terms for she knew it would get her nowhere. Several months earlier her Uncle had confided in her the truth behind the fallible deputy headmistress' ire. Apparently early in the first war many of the Hogwarts staff's families came under threat. Many of the spouses and children then came to reside at the school with the headmaster's blessing. Professor McGonagall, however, was fiercely loyal and dedicated to teaching her students to the best of her ability; and having her own young family on the premises, she felt, would distract her away from completing her duties as a teacher. Her family stayed behind in rural Scotland and became one of Voldemort's earliest victims. Estella, therefore, was the physical embodiment of the woman's mistake… she came to the school to live and survived… and McGonagall resented the fact that someone as cold and indifferent towards his students (and seemingly towards his niece) would be of mind to make a better choice than what she had.
It also did not help matters that Sirius Black had been amongst McGonagall's most favoured students and the teacher regretted letting the boy who grew to betray his friends and family get away with so much. On some level she blamed herself for Sirius Black going off the rails… if only she had been a bit more disciplinary. In the eyes of Sirius' daughter McGonagall sought redemption. She was not about to let another Black fall through the cracks – not on her watch. Estella knew this and tried valiantly not to take her teacher's ill attentions personally; but it was going to be hard.
Despite the initial dread, the day went relatively quickly. Given her experience with a wand, Estella was having little trouble mastering the practical complexities of correct wand movements and spell pronunciation and she was well on her way to becoming amongst the top in her class. Despite their thirst for knowledge, the other Ravenclaws were even inclined to agree with her about the dead boring nature of the History of Magic class, and by the end of the day, she had even made a few more friends.
Victoria Frobisher was a pureblooded Gryffindor who was assigned Estella's partner in Charms. The pretty, athletic girl showed a particular passion for Charms and the pair hit it off almost immediately. In Transfiguration, she was teamed with another pureblooded Gryffindor, Kendra Towler whose older sibling Kenneth was a few years above them. Kendra was friends with Pheobe Stimpson, whose sister Patricia was in the same year as Kenneth; and the three of them sat with Elsie and Victoria (who were partnered together) and Reginald, who was Pheobe's partner. None of them could believe how cold the Transfiguration teacher had acted towards Estella.
"I don't understand!" Kendra had said as they left the lesson, shaking her head. "She wasn't like that at all to our house. Stern, yes, but angry and twisted? It's not like her!"
"Kendra." Estella had said lowly. "You have known the woman less than a day. I've known her from afar my entire life. She has reasons for singling me out, but it's really not my place to say."
"You shouldn't have to put up with it." Reg frowned. "Go to Professor Flitwick… or your Uncle."
"She is not being fair." Pheobe had thrown in. "You didn't do anything wrong!"
Estella shook her head. "You should see how my Uncle treats her Gryffindors. Compared to that, this was nothing."
"Really, they are acting like children! Does the headmaster know?" Elsie said indignantly.
"Yes." Estella said, sighing as she nodded. "But he's long since come to accept that some things won't change." Then, to change the subject, she smirked. "Good thing one of us knows where the Charms classroom is!"
In what probably was a result of her Uncle's subtle influence, Estella wasn't paired with any Slytherins in all of the classes the Ravenclaws shared with them. Instead, Estella's Herbology workgroup consisted of Reg and John Ryan, an Irish boy whose brother Barry was quite renown for his position on the Irish National Quidditch team. It was of no coincidence either, that Estella had been paired with purebloods in all of her classes. Her Uncle probably wanted to make it as easy as possible for Estella to form a 'politically acceptable' social circle. It was also no coincidence either, that the children she had been paired with came from politically neutral families – families that would neither be a direct target of trouble nor be inclined to scrutinise Estella's choices.
Thursday after morning tea marked Estella's first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with the new teacher, Professor Lockhart. Whilst anything was better than a stuttering man who had the spirit of the Dark Lord embedded in the back of his head, Estella quickly came to hate the superficial Defence teacher for his self-involved ego and inability to teach. Honestly, she'd learnt far more useful things in the sessions her Uncle and Godfather used to tutor her in – and that was before she was even old enough to 'handle' some of the more involved spells.
Most of the lesson she spent huddled at her desk with Elsie and a Hufflepuff girl by the name of Ophelia Cauldwell forgoing the self-indulging fodder contained within the superfluous fodder of Lockhart's readings in favour of independently studying a real Defensive Arts book that her Uncle had given her long ago and trading insults about the oblivious teacher's inadequacies.
After lunch that day was a subject Estella was looking least forward to. Flying. Although one would think Estella would have had every opportunity to fly given that she lived at the School her entire life, the fiercely earthbound child had a paralysing fear of flying. Height itself did not bother her so much – the Astronomy Tower was by far one of her favourite haunts – but flying itself posed a dilemma. On some level, Estella supposed this irrational fear was predicated by her Uncle and Godfather's apparent reluctance to ever teach her to fly as a child. On some subconscious level she must have taken their reservations and amplified it so that the very notion of flying on a broom was akin to going down into the sub-levels of the dungeons where no wizard dare set foot for fear of reprisal by the many creatures that thrived down there in the dark.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say "Up!"" Madame Hooch repeated for her benefit, as she was startled from her musings. "Come child, what are you waiting for? The rest of the class have their brooms summoned and mounted already!"
Estella's cheeks burned at the slight giggles that rippled through the rest of the class – their eyes burning into her in anticipation.
"Up!" She said unconvincingly, secretly willing the broom to do anything but.
"Come on child, once more, with conviction!" Madame Hooch encouraged sternly.
"I hardly think this broom is safe." Estella said stubbornly in a effort to delay. "It looks like about ready to fall apart! What if it falls apart in the air, with me on it!"
"I assure you the brooms are regularly tested vigorously before and after each class!" Madame Hooch said impatiently, summoning the broom herself and thrusting it into Estella's hand. "Now mount!"
Closing her eyes in fear, Estella slowly began to mount her broom, her mind screaming for a miracle.
'Come on you stupid old broom!' she admonished in her mind. 'Break! Catch fire! Turn to dust! Just do not leave the ground with me on it!'
Sure enough, no sooner had Estella mounted the broom and was about to kick off did the broom splinter and crumble to pieces beneath her.
"That's vandalism of school property, Miss Black!" Madame Hooch screeched, mortified as though one of her favourite pets had just died. "What spell did you cast?"
Estella looked at the fuming woman, to her angry splinter-damaged hands, to the remnants of the broom on the grass below her. "I didn't." She said quietly.
Madame Hooch looked at her disbelievingly.
"Please, Miss." A mousy haired, rounded Hufflepuff called Walter Stebbins interceded from Estella's left. "I saw the whole thing. Estella's hands were on her broom the whole time!"
"I concur, Madame Hooch." Ophelia said from Estella's right. "I would most certainly have seen if Estella's wand left her robes. She's right handed, Miss."
"I have really good hearing too, Miss." Said Elsie, who had been standing close to Ophelia. "No one heard a spell being cast, did they?"
The rest of the class shook their heads affirmatively. At least there was something good to be found in having a class with a group of loyal Hufflepuff and altruistic Ravenclaws.
"Fine." Madame Hooch said, her lips in a thin line. "Miss Black you will sit out of this class until I speak to your Uncle about replacing the school broom."
Estella glared, taking a seat on the grass against the cool stone of the courtyard's wall and pouring herself into revising her Charms notes from that morning.
'Yes!' Her mind screamed triumphantly, beside herself with joy that she had avoided her flying lesson.
"Miss Black, see me after class." Her Uncle directed at her without looking up from his desk as the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff class began its first Potions class of the year in a double session Friday morning before lunch.
"Good Morning to you too." Estella mumbled under her breath in retort.
Ignoring her cheek – which he would most definitely have heard – he turned his attention to the rest of the class. "You will announce your presence by raising your hand when I call out your name." He ordered.
"Mr Ackerley!" A nervous looking Muggleborn Ravenclaw called Sean raised his hand.
"Mr Barry!" A Muggleborn Hufflepuff named Jack almost fainted in fright.
"Miss Black!" At her name, Estella felt her Uncle's eyes on her, giving her an unreadable look.
"Mr Bradley!" Another Muggleborn Ravenclaw, Jeremy raised his hand, a little more confidently than his peers.
"Mr Branstone!" Edward Branstone's mother had gone to school with the unruly Potions Master, thus he had come to the class with a little forewarning.
"Miss Carmichael!" Elsie put her hand up nonchalantly, but not without casting Estella a questioning look as though to ask 'You live with him?'
Ophelia, Allegra and Reginald's names were read out next, and you would be forgiven for thinking they were Gryffindors at how fearlessly they answered the register. Reg had even gone so far as to roll his eyes at the Professor! Lucky for him, however, Severus had his eyes cast down, reading the next name.
"Miss Dorny!" Severus called out before adding, "Your father was a Hufflepuff also. Performed dismally in Potions, see to it that you do not follow in his stead." Joan nodded her head jerkily.
Shannon and Luna's names were read out next, followed by two Muggleborn Hufflepuffs, Leon Madley and Eloise Midgen and Owen and John from Ravenclaw. Zacharias Smith, Walter Stebbins, Bethany Summers, Kelly Whitby and Steven Zeller were also present and accounted for.
Severus Snape put down the parchment and began his tirade. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." (1)
More silence followed this little speech, save for Elsie who, from her seat next to Estella, was trying desperately not to laugh at Estella, who had been rolling her eyes and lip synching the Potion Master's long-used opening speech verbatim.
"Black!" Estella's Uncle said suddenly, his attention fully on her as though he could sense the pending disruption she was indirectly causing. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"Draught of the Living Death, Sir" Estella replied in a bored tone, not missing a beat. 'Like, duh!'
"And where would you look, Miss Black, if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
'Second shelf on the left in your private storeroom…' Estella thought cheekily before lazily replying aloud, her eyes dancing. "From the stomach of a goat. Its properties are valuable in staving off most poisons, Sir."
"The difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?" Snape continued to bait Estella.
"Aconite, Sir?" Estella asked incredulously. "Why they are the same thing."
"Congratulations, Miss Black. One point to Ravenclaw for your fastidious knowledge of potions." Severus said. "However, for distracting your fellow class members and depriving them of the opportunity to reach that same superior level, I have no choice but to take that point back."
Estella smirked as she strode to the front of the class to collect the ingredients for the boil-curing potion they were to be making in class that day. Accurate proportions of dried nettles, snake fangs, horn slugs and porcupine quills soon found their way to the table where she sat with Elsie, who was setting up the cauldron.
"Shouldn't we wait for the teacher to go through the instructions on the board, first?" Elsie asked nervously as she saw Estella make quick work of crushing their snake fangs into a fine powder.
"Please," Estella moaned. "I can make this potion in my sleep! I was practicing some hexes a couple of years ago and gave myself a nasty bout of boils. As punishment for practicing magic without adult supervision my Uncle made me brew my own remedy."
"You hexed yourself?" Elsie asked, flabbergasted, as she set the horn slugs in the cauldron to stew before adding the finely chopped nettles and snake fang powder.
"Yeah," Estella said. "Learnt the hard way that I could only really use my Mother's wand for Charms. Had I used my other wand at the time the hex wouldn't have backfired."
"Who were you aiming at?" Elsie continued, adding the last of the snake fang powder and stirring the mixture with her wand several times counter clockwise as directed.
Estella grinned malevolently. "Argus Filch." She whispered, taking their cauldron off the burner so to add the last ingredient – porcupine quills.
Bottling a sample into a vial and cleaning the rest of their worktable with a efficiently cast 'Evanesco' the pair were first to finish their potion and so set about spending the remainder on the lesson reading from their texts and getting a head start on the one foot essay on Aconite the Professor was setting for homework.
When the clock ticked over to indicate the end of class, the rest of the students hastily submitted their samples and cleaned their worktables whilst Estella and Elsie casually packed their books into their book bags and made to leave the classroom.
"Oh wait," Estella said as they came to the front of the class. "Almost forgot, I am supposed to stay after."
"Want me and the others to wait outside?" Elsie asked, nodding towards the regular group of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students she had formed a study group of sorts with.
"No, you go on ahead to lunch." Estella said. "I have a hunch I'll probably be eating down here whilst my Uncle lectures me on the value of school brooms or something."
Elsie rolled her eyes. "Well, you survived living with him this long… I suppose you will be alright."
Estella shooed the giggling girl off and skipped over to her Uncle's desk, leaning against it casually whilst her Uncle made a sweep of the room.
"How was your first week in classes?" He asked finally, after sealing the door and taking a stand across from Estella behind his desk so he could tidy his class notes.
"It was hardly a week, Uncle Sev!" Estella corrected. "Half more like."
"You did not think to Owl me at all with news of your progress?" Her Uncle continued, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I figured I'd be seeing you today, so what's the point?" She replied slowly.
"The point, Estella, is that in my capacity as your teacher you need to cease regarding me with the same level of familiarity you would a relative." He lectured. "Don't think I didn't notice your ire during my opening speech. I know it appears repetitive to you, but I will not tolerate such displays of blatant disrespect again, am I clear?"
"I'm sorry, Uncle Sev." Estella bowed her head. "I wasn't really intending to be disrespectful.
Severus gave his niece a hard look. "I know the first year syllabus may bore you in its simplicity, Estella. But you really must find other ways of keeping yourself amused in my class."
Estella sighed. "Alright, I promise." She said. "Can I go to lunch now?"
Severus strode across the room and stood beside the door that led to his private office and chambers. "I thought you may consider spending your afternoons with me on Friday as there are no more classes scheduled." He asked. "We can spend the afternoon brewing more challenging potions for the infirmary and reviewing your week."
"Does that mean I don't have to Owl you?" Estella asked, wary of the conditions.
"No, I will still appreciate an Owl when something significant happens." Severus said, narrowing his gaze. "I did not, for example, care much for hearing about your flying lesson from not only your teacher, but your Godfather who was rather concerned I would hold you accountable."
"Oh." Estella said, demonstrably humbled. "Well, alright then. I'll give you a head's up in future I guess."
"Indeed."
After a blissfully quiet lunch of spinach lasagne and poached chicken, the pair retreated to Severus' private lab for an afternoon of potions brewing.
"I do expect you to inform me if you have other school work that needs doing during this time." Severus had warned. "We need not spend this time brewing."
"I've done all my homework, Sir." Estella moaned, slipping into student mode.
"Uncle Sev?" Her voice cut across the silence after a few minutes of companionable brewing. "If I get to spend the afternoon with you as your niece, does that mean I can see Uncle Remus…"
"No." Severus interrupted. "Whether you chose to accept it or not, there are other reasons for me detaining you during the school's free afternoon. The free afternoon periods are the optimal time for the upperclassmen to associate with the lower years. Do you understand what I am getting at?"
"Yeah, I don't really have a choice in whether or not I spend my free periods here after class on Fridays." Estella grumbled, stabbing at her potion agitatedly with her wand.
"No, Estella." Severus said wearily, vanishing the potion in her cauldron before she had chance to blow it up. "You have a choice. You can either come here voluntarily or as a result of a detention I give you in class." He said gravely. "And need I remind you that a detention would go on your school record."
"That's not fair!" Estella complained. "I won't have done anything wrong except disobey you as your niece, but you say you're only my teacher in class so how is it you can punish me like a teacher for something I did wrong as your niece?"
"Nothing in life is fair." Severus said firmly, a cloud of pain in his eyes. "The sooner you acknowledge that the better you will be for it. One day you will understand I am doing this for your own good."
Estella sighed. Whilst it was not fair her Uncle was threatening her with academic penalties, and it was even more unfair that she got to see her Uncle all term but not see her Godfather at all, she had to admit she was luckier than all the other students who didn't even get to see any of their family at all until the holidays. Plus, whether she chose to admit it or not, she was kind of glad to have the excuse not to have to spend her Friday afternoons in the company of Draco Malfoy – who would undoubtedly seize the lone opportunity to seek her out and exploit it for his own means. Besides, maybe if she was lucky, he Godfather would floo her Uncle's quarters while she was there again and she would be able to speak to him at least. In fact, Estella realised, as a form began to plot in her mind, she could pretty much make sure of it!
"Uncle Sev, can I borrow Onyx to send an Owl?" Estella asked sweetly. "The school owls scratch and snap at me!"
Severus nodded absently as he bent over a complex cauldron, trying to keep count of his stirs. Estella slipped off her stool and into her Uncle's office where she knew Onyx to have his perch.
Sometimes it paid to be the niece of a Slytherin.
End Chapter: Getting Settled
1. passage borrowed from page 102 of PS, give or take a few pages depending on your edition