Disclaimer: All characters recognized in the Harry Potter books are under copyright of J.K Rowling. The characters Mr Montez, Lorna Yates and Philip Marshall belong to me.
-oOo-
Chapter 3 – Disagreements with Doxys
It seemed as if the Divination lesson had lasted a lifetime, before the students finally heard the bell ringing throughout the corridors, calling for them to go to their next class.
Sighs and mutters of relief sounded around the room as Professor Flatterwock began to gather up several sheets of parchment, her face serious. "Please place your homework on my desk before you leave the room," she said gently. "Thank you."
Esterella froze. Homework! She thought frantically. What homework! In a panic, she dashed over to Rosa and tugged on her robe sleeve, so much that she almost pulled her arm out of her socket.
"Essie!" Rosa complained, freeing herself. "What are you – !"
"You liar!" snapped the girl furiously, throwing her friend one of her glares. "You said that we didn't get homework last lesson! What am I going to tell her! It's only my first week back – !"
Rosa's mouth hung open in incredulity. "Excuse me! I don't remember telling you anything of the sort! You were late last lesson, weren't you? You weren't here to hear what our homework was – !"
"Well, it would have been nice if you'd reminded me!" Esterella growled, pushing past her. "This is going to make me look an absolute idiot – and what are you staring at!" she screeched at a passing Gryffindor, who inconveniently chose that moment to see what all the fuss was about. "Thanks a lot, Rosa, thanks a lot!"
"Of all people, you should be blaming yourself!" the Ravenclaw finished in a dignified tone as she placed her piece of parchment on the desk, along with the others in a growing tower.
As Esterella made a fraught attempt to sidle past undetected, Flatterwock noticed with her falcon-sight that the student's hands were empty. She cleared her throat sharply, causing the girl to stop in her tracks with a sheepish grin on her face.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Miss Jewell?" she asked her sternly, drumming her four-inch nails on the desk, not really expecting anything to be given to her.
Esterella sighed and suddenly became very interested in the grooves and patterns in the smooth, stone floor. "Yes, professor," she began; stuffing her cramped hands into the pockets of her robes so that she wouldn't fiddle with them. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that the homework had to be handed in today."
It was almost the truth.
The teacher seemed to study the girl for a while, her silver eyes travelling over every single inch of her, from the crest on her robes to the faint blush on her face. It was a very long time before anyone said anything. Finally, Flatterwock let out a long, exasperated breath and picked up her quill, decorated with an eagle feather.
"I see," she muttered quietly as she scribbled down something. "Don't let it happen a second time. I want the task I set for you on my desk at lunchtime tomorrow. Don't forget, or there will be a detention."
Esterella could have sung with relief. "Thank you, professor."
"Now go," instructed Flatterwock, hinting at the door with an impatient wave of her hand, never taking her eyes from the work she was submitting to. "I don't want you to be late for your next lesson."
Thanking her again, Esterella grabbed her books and fled out of the classroom to catch up to her friends, who were waiting for her with baited breath.
-oOo-
"Well, I thought you knew!" Rosa was still protesting as they all headed down to the Hogwarts grounds where their flying lesson was due to take place. "I didn't think to ask you, because I was so sure that you were told by someone else!"
Esterella frowned and clenched her teeth, causing her to sound rather dangerous because she began speaking through them. "It just so happens that I wasn't told!" she argued back. "I could have gotten into so much trouble, now I have to hand it in tomorrow, and I haven't even started it yet!"
"At least you didn't get detention," piped up Regen, always the optimist.
Danielle giggled and shoved him playfully, almost completely colliding into Drew, who suffered a graze to his elbow from the coarse wall. "Quiet, you!" she teased him with a perky smile.
Esterella groaned and held her head in her hands. "That assignment is going to take me all night."
"Don't dwell on it," advised Rosa, now deciding to come to terms by slipping her arm around her friend's shoulders and squeezing them. "You'll have a chance to feel better after this lesson – you love flying."
Esterella nodded with a smirk. "Yeah, you're right. Although I wish I could say the same for you!" She proceeded to flick her friend's ear and quickly received a twisted face of pain as the Ravenclaw rubbed the sore spot.
Despite her friendly nature and happy-go-lucky mood, Rosa also had her problems. She was afraid of two things more than most in the world: heights and the dark. Regrettably, this affected her lessons at times, especially flying class and sometimes Potions; once one of the students had accidentally brewed a mixture, and its smoke was so thick and black poor Rosa had been close to tears by the time it had been cleared away. The fact that Potions was also held in the dreary dungeons did nothing to improve her problem either.
Rosa blushed cherry pink and looked away, biting her lip. "It's not my fault," she squeaked in a tiny voice.
"Who do we take this lesson with again?" Danielle asked out of nowhere, eager to change the subject.
"With Hufflepuff," said Regen, answering her.
"Do you remember last year, when we seemed to have more flying lessons with Slytherin than anyone else?" chuckled Esterella with a roll of her eyes. "They always rammed you from behind and tried to make you fall off! God, they really drive me mad, sometimes – "
"Shut up."
Everyone turned in the direction of whom had just spoken, finding they were all led to gape at Princesa, who hadn't spoken a word to anyone in hours until now. Her voice was so small: practically a whisper, but yet it seemed filled with absolute venom.
Esterella looked confused, fixing all attention on her. "What?"
"I said: 'Shut up'!" the girl retorted, scowling in the shadows, her fists shaking. "All I ever hear from you is how terrible that Slytherin's are! It's always: Slytherin are stupid! Slytherin are fools! Slytherin drive me mad – well, I'll tell you one thing, you're starting to drive me mad!"
Esterella darted her eyes around uncomfortably, and rather out of puzzlement. Why was she getting so cross with her about that? "Don't start yelling at me!" she replied back with a tone of shock in her words. "What's the matter with you, anyway! You've been like this with me all morning! Everything I do seems to get on your t – !"
"Look!" Regen interrupted, practically screaming and throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "Can you two...please…just be civil to one another for two minutes! You're starting to turn everyone insane with your quarrels!"
The two of them clamped their lips shut, not wishing to annoy anyone else with their personal problems. No words were spoken but they sneered and glowered and yelled at each other with their furrowed eyes.
-oOo-
The class stood in two, neat horizontal lines on the field, the Ravenclaws on one side and the Hufflepuffs on the other. They had all managed to make it to the grounds in one piece, luckily without any more threats and tasteless words from Princesa and Esterella, although at one point Regen had to stop Esterella when she almost opened her mouth to say something spiteful.
"Good morning, fifth years!" greeted the flying instructor, Mr Montez, the long black hood of his robes covering half of his friendly face in shadow, so that only his brown eyes shone out clearly. "I hope you're all standing by a broom. Now, let's see if we can practise some of the things that we went over last week, shall we? Gather yourselves around now, gather yourselves around – don't shove! We have plenty of brooms to go around, but not many arms!"
Soon, all of the students managed to find a broom lying next to them (after much pushing and swearing towards one another) and they readied themselves, waiting for the first instruction.
"Please mount your brooms and follow me into the air!" called out Montez, soaring high above the trees with his raven cloak flapping behind him.
With numerous cries of 'Up!', many in unison, the students felt the wooden handle spring up into their outstretched palms, and they followed their teacher so that they were level with him. However, one broom and its occupant never moved from the ground.
Mr Montez stared downwards from a forty-foot drop to the emerald grass below with a click of his tongue, as he spotted the lone student, a Hufflepuff, still desperately pleading for her broom to come to her.
"MISS YATES!" he bellowed, cupping a gloved hand around his mouth. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING, GIRL! COME UP AND JOIN THE CLASS IMMEDIATELY!"
The girl, Lorna, squinted up into the sun. She looked like a tiny dot from above, her long ginger hair making her look like a squashed orange jellybean. "Pardon, Mr Montez?" came the tiny cry from below.
He sighed slowly, summoning strength, his face already turning slightly red from shouting so loudly. Some of the students sniggered and struggled to stay on their brooms. "I SAID: 'GET UP HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Silence. Then: "I can't!" Her voice sounded whiny, miserable.
The teacher frowned, his chocolate irises lighting up with irritation. He was not a patient man. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN: 'YOU CAN'T'!" he replied in a very thunderous volume.
"My broom!" Lorna wailed, stamping her foot pathetically. "It hates me!"
"OH, DON'T TALK SUCH NONSENSE!" he argued back, directing his broom towards the ground before turning to face the rest of the class. "Stay here, students," he ordered in a stern voice. "No monkey business or you'll be spit-shining bludgers for a week in detention!"
The class shuddered as they thought of the wild bludgers breaking their noses and shattering their cheekbones as they struggled to clean them, something the bludgers hated more than anything in the world.
"Poor Lorna," snickered another Hufflepuff boy, Philip Marshall, clutching onto his broom in an effort to stop his ribs from cracking. "She's practically messed up in all of her lessons these two weeks by doing something wrong!"
"What do you mean?" asked Princesa with sudden interest.
"Well," started Philip, scratching his head, his hazel eyes locked deep in thought, "Last week in Potions she 'accidentally' spilt a searing mixture that almost took out the whole floor...in Charms she was trying to silence her chicken, but instead cast a spell on it to make it lay eggs without stopping, and in Transfiguration she gave the piglet wings instead of turning it into a piggy-bank!"
"Pig's can fly!" a Hufflepuff boy laughed with added enthusiasm.
Esterella was about to chuckle along with them, but at that moment there was a loud rustle in the bushes, and all of a sudden a huge blue fairy-like creature with wings flew through it as if it were tissue paper, squawking like a strangled parrot and sending leaves flying everywhere.
"Oh, no! A doxy!" Danielle gasped, rearing herself and her broom out of harm's way. "Get out of the way, everyone! They're such pests!"
The doxy giggled and squeaked at the sight of all the students backing away from it, truly worried of its presence. It danced and did a few somersaults in the air, clapping its small, clammy hands. Finally, it decided to mock them all by darting in and out of the gaps in the students, who by now had scattered to all places. It pinched those who weren't quick enough to dodge it.
"Owch!" cried out Regen, after receiving one on his nose. He waved his hand at it and tried to swat it. "Get out of here, you!"
The doxy chirped excitedly in a painfully high-pitched voice. They were all yearning to cover their ears with their hands to block out the irritating sound, but they all needed to hold onto their broom handles for support as they careered past the pesky doxy. All they could do was grit their teeth and ignore it the best they could.
Rosa made a threatening karate move to the blue creature, to avoid getting another stinging pinch. She was feeling rather pleased with herself when she heard a shrill scream cut through the air, coming in the opposite direction. She turned about just in time to see the doxy fluttering around Esterella, fluttering around her and yanking at strands of her blonde hair with its tiny fingers.
"Stop it – GET OFF, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!" she was shouting furiously, using both of her hands to aim for the creature's throat, ready to throttle it. "You touch me again – and I'll KILL YOU!"
"Essie! HANDS!" called out Danielle desperately, but it did no good.
With one final tug, Esterella leant so far back on her broom that it shot in front of her, toppling her backwards off the wooden handle. She made to cry out in horror, but no sound came from her but a muffled shriek, as she clawed the air desperately for something to grab onto. Feeling her legs slipping away, she reached out and made one final grab for something, and wrapped her fingers around the head of the broom.
"HELP!" she cried frantically, dangling dangerously and feeling her hand slipping as she stared down at the grass below.
Since she was so far away from the others, the class all took off in pursuit to get close to her and haul her back up, hollering out to her, letting her know that help was on the way. Princesa was in the lead, looking as if she were ready to burst into a flood of tears.
"HOLD ON, ESSIE!" she wailed out to her, putting as much speed into her broom as possible. "I'M COMING – HOLD ON!"
The wind and crisping sun blazed down in a cruel mix of desperation and fear, and soon all the voices became muffled, blurry honks and howls as they came closer. And soon, Esterella felt the air whipping at her face and her stomach fall to her toes, as the whole world around her fell into a paint platter of greens and blues and greys, and she felt weightless with the sounds of her own screams in her head, though her mouth was shut tight with terror.
That was the last thing she remembered, before the floor must have opened up to catch her and seal her in a tunnel of darkness.