By Adaia Swordmaiden
Disclaimer: You all know this by now, surely! I'm not repeating myself!
Chapter 6: Great Uncles and Selkies
Guinivere knocked on the door of Slughorn's office. The door opened and Lily looked out. She grinned at her and moved aside to let her in. Inside, Slughorn was sitting in an old but comfortable-looking winged armchair, his feet resting on a velvet pouffe. Before him were Alice, Frank, Sirius and three other students sitting in harder or lower seats than that of the Potions professor. Two of the seats were empty.
"Sorry I'm late," she muttered, looking embarrassed.
"Never mind, never mind." Slughorn beamed at her as she and Lily sat down. "I must say though, you seem to have a habit of being late, fashionably or not." Guinivere was slightly pink. "At any rate, I should introduce you to everyone. I believe you know Miss Evans?" Guinivere nodded. "Anyone else?"
"Just Sirius, Frank and Alice," she said.
"Well then, this is Stacy Cockcroft," Slughorn introduced, gesturing at an older black girl with short black hair and large, friendly hazel eyes. "Her father is the Minister for Magic. This young man is Jason Chiron - simply the best student in my class from the entire Ravenclaw 5th Year and that's saying something." Jason was darkly tanned with slanted dark blue eyes and a mat of slightly sun-bleached brown hair. He grinned at Guinivere. "And finally, Ender Harding. His mother is a direct descendant of the great Merlin himself and Ender seems to be well on his way to becoming just as powerful a wizard as his ancestor." Ender smirked at Guinivere. He had white-blonde hair, a pale complexion and dark violet eyes. "And finally the newest member of the Slug Club." Slughorn beamed at Guinivere. "Guinivere Adair. I do believe that you are our dear headmaster's grand-niece?"
"Uh, yes," Guinivere said.
"I don't suppose you see him much?"
"Actually, Uncle Albus always comes around for a day on Christmas. And he never forgets my birthday." Guinivere was suddenly very interested in her feet.
"Wonderful, wonderful." Lily leaned over as Slughorn began talking with Jason Chiron about a potion.
"I never knew you were Dumbledore's grand-niece," she whispered. "What about your last name?"
"Grandma on Dad's side was Unc- Dumbledore's sister," Guinivere muttered, still staring at her feet.
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(A/N: This part starts around early- to mid- November just before the full moon)
Sirius and James rounded the corner to see Guinivere sitting in the corridor, her back against a tapestry of several trolls in tutus clubbing a man. She was stroking a scraggly grey cat that was purring to its heart's content.
"Guin!" Sirius said, surprised. "What are you doing here? And what's with Mrs. Norris?" Guinivere started and the cat leapt up, hissing at the two boys.
"Oh, I didn't see you guys," Guinivere said. She looked at the cat and reached out her hand, petting her back. "It's okay, they're friends." The cat calmed down and sat down again, eyeing Sirius and James suspiciously. Guinivere looked up at them. "Mrs. Norris? Is that her name?"
"Yes." Sirius strode forwards. "Come on - If Mrs. Norris is here, Filch'll be along any minute now and then we'll be in trouble." Guinivere frowned, not moving.
"But she got me out of trouble with Filch," she said, looking up at Sirius.
"Wha?" Sirius and James were equally dumbfounded.
"I went down to the lake one night and on my way back I ran into her. I petted her a little and then she ran off and distracted Filch. She's done that every night for me when I go down to see Murcus." Guinivere suddenly froze as she realized what she had just said. "Oh- I uh-" She stood up suddenly.
"Who's Murcus?" James asked suspiciously. Guinivere's face went stony.
"No-one," she said. "I'll see you later." And she turned and walked quickly off down the corridor. Mrs. Norris hissed at the two boys before bounding off down the corridor after Guinivere.
"Something is up with her," Sirius muttered.
"Don't worry about it, Padfoot," James said. "It's her problem. If she needs help, she'll ask for it."
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Lily, Alice, Vanessa and Guinivere wandered down through the fresh snow to the paddock where Care of Magical Creatures was to be held. A few Ravenclaws were already there, along with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter who were standing huddled together in the snow a little way off from the Ravenclaws. Lily scowled and, the four girls headed for a spot near the Ravenclaws. Most of the rest of the class began to come out of the castle.
"Hullo." Guinivere turned to see Jason Chiron grinning at her. "Guinivere, isn't it?"
"Uh, yes," she said, smiling uncertainly at him.
"You noticed that the lake's starting to freeze over?" he asked friendlily. Guinivere nodded. "I think in a few days the ice might be strong enough to skate on. Do you know how to skate?"
"No," Guinivere said. "I haven't really tried."
"Well maybe once the ice is strong enough, I could teach you?" Guinivere was surprised.
"But what about skates and that?" Jason shrugged.
"I know a transfiguration charm that would work on a spare pair of shoes. So what do you think?" But before Guinivere could answer, the rest of the class was there and the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Professor McHale, turned up.
"Right then," McHale said, clapping her hands. "Get out your books and find somewhere to sit. You're free to conjure up chairs if you wish. Go to page 46." Guinivere sat on the ground and began to dig through her bag for her book.
"Hey, can't you conjure a chair?" Jason asked from the squashy chintz armchair he was sitting in. Guinivere didn't look at him as she continued to dig through her bag.
"I can," she muttered. "I just prefer sitting on the ground." She looked up and over at Lily. "I can't find my book. Can I share yours?"
"Sure," Lily said, finding the page they were meant to go to. Guinivere tried to peer over her shoulder.
"What're we learning about?" she asked, shifting where she sat.
"Selkies," Lily said. Guinivere was silent a moment as she scanned the page and then smirked knowingly, rather strange for Guinivere.
"I know all this," she whispered. "And plenty more."
"Right then," McHale said. "Who can tell me - what is a Selkie?" Two hands shot up - Guinivere's and Jason's. "Mr Chiron?"
"A Selkie is a magical being usually in the form of a seal," he said. "But a Selkie can take the form of a human by 'shedding' its seal skin when on land. It is with intelligence equal to that of wizards."
"Correct - ten points to Ravenclaw. Any more information?" Guinivere's hand shot up first. "Miss Adair?"
"If you steal the skin of a Selkie, the Selkie must remain on land until it has found the skin. Fishermen often steal female Selkie skins and make the Selkies their wives as this brings them good luck on the seas. But if a Selkie finds her skin again, unless she has truly fallen in love with the one who stole the skin, she must return to the sea." McHale nodded.
"Ten points to Gryffindor. Now Selkie skin is a potion ingredient in many complicated potions - who can-"
"That's disgusting!" The entire class turned to see Guinivere on her feet, looking absolutely furious. "It's absolutely foul to take the skin of a Selkie only to make a potion or stone that will make you live forever! It leaves them forever stranded on earth and empty."
"That is enough, Miss Adair. I perfectly agree with you that it is disgusting but this is not a practical lesson and such potions are banned at Hogwarts. Sit down before you lose your house points." Guinivere sat down, still looking furious but also almost at tears.
"What was that about? Vanessa asked. Guinivere shook her head, staring at the ground.
A/N: :yawn: god I'm tired. I woke up way too early, like Guin will in the next chapter, and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to write some of this. One hour later, I have another chapter.
Hippielover459: heh, thanks.