The New Student
Chapter 2: Orientation
Elza woke up disoriented. She sat up and stretched. Suddenly, memories of the day before flooded her mind. She'd been sorted. She was a Ravenclaw. Harry, Hermione, and Ron promised they'd see her whenever they all had free time. She'd found the dorm she shared with the other Ravenclaw girls and met them all. They were all pretty nice, but after the initial introductions, they seemed rather standoffish. After she got settled in, she toured the castle.
Meeting all the professors proved memorable. Some, like Dumbledore, meant well, but were quite mischievous. Others were rather flaky. McGonagall was the classic, loved teacher. One professor stood out from all the rest. She'd heard him called snarky or a greasy git, but for some unknown reason, she rather liked him. He didn't seem to be snarky or greasy. She thought he was more "stressed" and "disheveled".
She pushed the memories away as she got into her uniform and robes. She didn't bother with mascara and lip gloss this morning. She figured she'd save the make-up for a time when she really wanted to impress someone. After brushing her teeth and fixing her hair the same way she did every morning, she made her way to breakfast.
The hall was beautiful! She adored the enchanted ceiling. She couldn't help looking about her as she ate. Her eyes finally came to focus on the head table. Like her, the only person at the head table who wasn't talking was her favorite professor. She couldn't wait to have his class today.
As the day drew on, she saw very little of her three Gryffindor friends. She did see them for midday break. "Have you had the Greasy Git yet?" Hermione asked. "No, I have Potions last." Elza said, silently scolding Hermione. "Oh! That's even worse!" Exclaimed Ron. "Yeah," Harry chimed in. "'Cause that will ruin the end of your day." "We'll see." Elza winked and headed for her last class.
Elza saw people standing outside the classroom. They apparently liked waiting as long as they could before entering the room. She breezed right by them and chose the seat in the front row, all the way in the right-hand corner. A good-looking blonde boy, about her age, came in. He stared at her a long moment. She blushed and tried to look preoccupied getting her quill and parchment out of her bag. "Well, I guess it's true what they say about the new Mudblood. You are quite a disgrace to this school," he said and left.
She didn't have time to react, because all the students came running in and finding seats. The professor came billowing into the classroom. "Take your seats!" he thundered at the stragglers. He then began a speech about "no foolish wand waving". She'd learned at her high school that she was very smart, but lacked work ethic. In fact, it had almost cost her her diploma. She was starting with a clean slate at this school and didn't want to mess up, so as Professor Snape spoke, she diligently took notes. No using her MP3 player in classes at Hogwarts! It did help that there were no students her own age in her classes.
She had made sure to look up and into the professor's eyes periodically, so he could be sure she was listening. His eyes seemed so deep. Instead of reflecting light, they seemed to absorb it. She could almost see a sadness lingering in that darkness. She shivered.
"Miss Ocean! Would you care to explain to the rest of the class why you've stopped taking notes?" Oops! I must've been staring too long! "Uh...um..." she stuttered. "I'm sorry, Sir! There's no excuse!" Snape was taken aback. No one had ever answered him like that before. Her reply bore no venom or hatred. She didn't even flounder trying ot make up some hare-brained excuse. "Very well then. Since you've neglected your studies for no reason, I shall take points from your House."