Disclaimer: Yatta yatta yatta, I'm so bored with that thing.
A/N: Well, I'm starting school next week, which means that this is going to become a whole lot tougher to get out. I'm still going to try to get it out quickly, but I might run into some troubles. It's covered again in my bottom note. I promise to try my best though!
Delayed Start: 8. Cauldrons, Wands, and Snape, Oh My!
The sun sifted through the curtains, landing on Aileen's face to make her twitch.
"Aww, I don't wanna go to school. Five more minutes?" She groaned, putting her pillow over her face, which woke up Charlie (who was on the pillow) in the process.
"Ai! Why'd you do that? You have to get ready anyway! Do you really want to be late on your first day?"
Aileen sat bolt upright, taking in what he said. She looked around herself frantically, trying to find any of the other girls, but she didn't see them. "Oh my god! Charlie! I woke up late!"
"Don't worry, they're probably just down at the great hall. If you hurry, you can catch up."
"Okay, um, clothes, hair, shower, teeth, books, yahh!" She ran around the dorm, and into the bathroom. When she was finished, she got dressed, ran out of the bathroom, grabbed the sleeping form of her pet snake, and flew out of the room. Right when she was about to open the doors to the great hall, the bell rang, signaling to all the students that it was time for class.
"Oh, no." Aileen groaned, vocalizing her stomach.
"You need something?" said a voice behind her.
Aileen turned around to a smiling Hermione holding out a muffin for her. "Hermione! Oh, thank you! I was starving!" she cried, taking the muffin and eating it.
"No problem. I knew you slept in late, and that you probably wouldn't make it in time. So I grabbed that when nobody was looking."
"Wow, you're the best. You rock."
She smiled. "Thanks. But we need to go if we don't want to be late. Potions are first."
Aileen nodded, and followed her down into the dungeon, where the class was to be held. She immediately recognized Snape from the day before, and took her seat quickly next to Hermione before he had to tell her to do so.
"Ahh, I see that our new student has arrived a bit late," he said, even though the bell had not yet rung. "Let's see if you are actually smart enough to arrive late, Miss Curter. Tell me what you know about the Frellungus plant."
Aileen knew nothing about it, but the knowledge pendant must have. "The Frellungus plant, which resembles a rock, is most commonly found near sources of fresh water, either by the bank of a stream or small river. The hard outer shell is much more difficult to break than any rock, and has no other purpose than to seal a pod inside. The pod holds all the nutrients required for the plant to live in times of hardship, and can be turned into a miraculous healing potion if mashed."
The other students, including Hermione, gasped, but Snape just scowled. "That is correct, Miss Curter. However, for your cockiness, I shall deduct five points from Gryffindor."
Now it was her time to gasp. She heard a snicker from across the room, which she recognized as Malfoy's. She was about to argue with Snape's decision, but Hermione simply shook her head. The class continued on, but Aileen didn't pay much attention to it. She was too mad.
"I can't believe it!" she cried to Harry and Ron as they headed towards their next class, Transfigurations. Hermione had one of her advanced classes, so she wasn't with them. "How could he do that?"
"He hates Gryffindors. What can I say?" said Ron, dejectedly.
"He always acts like that. It's just the way he is. You'll get used to it," Harry put in, waving his hand around in an explanatory motion. "But, to look at the bright side, if you don't get advanced in your Potion OWL's, you won't take it next year."
"I guess you're right. But still..." she trailed off. "I guess that I'll just have to get used to it."
Aileen followed the two boys into the Transfigurations room, this time well before the bell. It was three to a table, so she sat between Harry and Ron.
"What's this, Hogwarts newest mudblood, already getting herself acquainted with the guys?" snapped the cruel voice of Malfoy, leaning over the table. "I think we have ourselves a very interesting one here." He laughed, and his goons followed.
All three of them glared up at him, but before Aileen could say a word, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom. "Okay everyone, take your seats. We need to get right into the lessons if you are to pass your OWL's at the end of the year. This year, we will be working on human transfiguration. We will start with hair and eye color. Get yourself with a partner, and start practicing the spell on page 212 in your textbooks."
Aileen got paired up Ron, and Harry got himself paired up with Pansy Parkinson, to his great displeasure. By the end of the class, Ron's hair was a much brighter shade of red, and hers was a deep violet. He had also turned one of her brown eyes a creepy golden color, but she was able to fix both discolorations rather quickly. Nothing happened to Harry, but Pansy's hair was green. She wasn't able to fix that.
Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid was next, and although Aileen found herself liking him quite a lot, his class bored her out of her mind. She was happy when lunch came. She laughed with Harry, Ron, and the newly rejoined Hermione over the most stupid of conversations, continuing until the period ended and they needed to get to their next class.
During Defense Against the Dark Arts, Aileen's dislike of Professor Umbridge was solidified. She didn't know who she hated more, Snape or her. The day wore on, through the boring Divination class with Professor Trelawney and the dirty Herbology class with Professor Sprout. By the end of the day she was exhausted, but she perked up when a messenger brought her a note from Dumbledore.
It read:
Dear Aileen,
Now is the time for your first class on mastering the knowledge that you have learned. I will meet you at 8 o'clock sharp in my office.
All the best,
Professor Dumbledore
P.S. I like earwax-flavored beans.
Aileen understood the note, and realized that it was very close to eight. She waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione in the common room. Harry was already asleep.
She quickly found herself in front of the gargoyle that concealed his office, and called out the password, giving herself entrance. When she came into the room, she was amazed at all that was there. However, she wasn't surprised. It matched his personality perfectly. He called her over to a pedestal with a small pebble on it.
"Now, I will give you instructions, and you are to follow them out the best you can. This is to get you accustomed to using your wand, as well as letting me know how much more training you need."
She nodded. "I understand."
"Good then," smiled Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eye. "First, levitate the pebble"
"Wingardium Leviosa" The tiny rock lifted, and Dumbledore nodded.
"Good. Bring it to you."
"Accio Pebble" It moved towards her quickly, and stopped right above her hand, which grabbed it.
"Very good." Dumbledore continued to make her do more and more difficult spells with the pebble, by making it fly in circles, hold up a larger rock, and finally dissolve as if it had been dropped in acid.
Aileen was completely drained from using all the magic, and had to lean on the original pedestal to keep herself upright.
"You did better than I thought, Aileen. I'm quite impressed."
"Thank you," she said, once catching her breath. "May I go now?"
"Yes, you can."
"Thank you." She stumbled out of the room and down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom, she was forced to sit back against the wall to regain some energy. She didn't even remember finally collapsing into bed, instantly falling asleep.
A/N: Wow, that was a long one. For a reason. I am running out of chapter ideas to use as fillers between now and Halloween, where the major event takes place. I have decided to skip ahead a month or so to get there sooner. However, the Halloween chapters are a bit long, and I need to make sure everything that needs to be put in, is. That, and the fact that I'm starting school again next week, will force me to make the next few updates two weeks apart, instead of one. I'm sorry if this makes any of you mad, but it's my only choice.
Anyway, the reviews. Yay! New reviewers! Thankies!
runnerz: Oh, that's a sort of long story. When I was trying to find a good name for Aileen's character, I realized that I definitely wanted one that began with the letter "A", and meant "light". That was important to me, but I wasn't sure why at the time. After a bit of searching around baby name sites, I found the name "Aileen", which fit perfectly. So there you go. :)
HermioneandDracoForever: Thank you! That means a lot. As for the whole "hooking up" deal, this is a romance; there will be a couple. One of the two will be Aileen, but the other will not be Harry. You will find out the other person relatively soon, but not yet. :)
Lovebuggy: LOL. I could have put her in one of those houses, but then, oh, I don't know, my material would be kind of raw. If that makes any sense. O.o;;
Tada. How many times have I said that? Well, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that I need to start the next chapter. So,
C U da Saturday afta next Saturday, Kyogera