Chapter 3- Charming Transfigurations

'I can't believe Snape asked you to brew such a potion!' Dawn stared at Atara in mock surprise.

Atara smiled at her friend, and stretched herself over the green velvet couch in the Slytherin common room. Dawn, who was sitting on an armchair facing the couch, giggled loudly, as she watched Maria sit on the floor in front of her and yawn widely.

'Didn't we do that potion, like, in our second year?' asked Maria, and she scratched her head lazily.

Atara nodded slowly. 'Yes. It was so simple for me to do. But I hate Professor Snape for testing the potion on some boy. Even Professor Vanhurn in Durmstrang wouldn't do such a thing.'

'Oh the cruelty of today's world,' crooned Dawn, waving her hands dramatically.

'Ah, come on, Atara,' exclaimed Maria, and she leaned her head back on Dawn's lap. 'Don't be so Miss Goody-Two-Shoes again. At least you received a hundred points today! See, your first day at Howarts was as perfect as I predicted!'

'Still...' mumbled Atara. She combed her sleek hair with her fingers. 'Anyway, how was your first day of school? You didn't do anything, did you?'

'Oh, don't worry,' replied Dawn, batting her eyelashes innocently at Atara. 'We acted like little good girls today. Pretty interesting day actually, lots of boring subjects though. It was too bad; really, we didn't have Transfiguration and Charms today. Mostly doubles... Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts... yeah, like that'll happen, and Care of Magical Creatures. The giant bloke...'

'Damn I couldn't stop laughing when I first saw him!' said Maria, giggling.

'Idiots...' muttered Atara.

'... brought some pretty interesting animals called Puffskeins... They were so cute! I wanted to steal one but people kept looking at me. It was so annoying. Oh, and we won points in every subject today! Ooh, those Puffskeins were so cute... I should've taken one...'

Maria looked up at Atara. 'Oh yeah, but she was too busy staring at this guy from Gryffindor. I forgot about that...' she said, waving her hand carelessly. 'Yes, we acted... well, like you, Atara dear. Smart, innocent, good girls!'

Dawn nodded happily. Atara gazed at them suspiciously.

'You were perfect today only so that you could make a good impression on people, weren't you?' she said, sitting up and folding her arms patiently. 'Then tomorrow you're going to present yourselves in some dramatic show in which you could end up in detention for!'

'Wow, you're psychic!' exclaimed Maria. 'Ooh, you know us that well...'

Atara shook her head in exasperation. 'Whatever, you two. I'm going to bed.'

Dawn whistled softly. 'Wait a minute!' she called cheerfully. 'What's going on between you and that cute, blond guy? Malfoy, is it?'

'Ah yes,' said Maria, lifting her head off Dawn's lap and standing up. 'I noticed something too. We saw you busy chatting with him awhile ago, didn't we Dawn?'

Dawn threw herself off the armchair in excitement. 'We did! And your little talk with him seemed pretty intense! After all, your potion did almost kill him... wow, you're really adapting to Hogwarts, aren't you?'

'Hey!' said Atara, her pale cheeks growing pink. 'There is nothing going on! Forget it, both of you! I'm going to bed now, if you don't mind!'

She turned on her heels and went up the stairs leading to their dormitory, her footsteps heavy and angry. Dawn gave a small gasp.

'Do you think we hurt her feelings?' she asked in a small voice. 'I mean, we should give her a break, Maria. You know how sensitive Atara is.'

Maria chuckled. 'Yeah, I know. But it's just so funny to watch her react like that! I'll tease her s'more tomorrow, and probably for the rest of her life. Come on, let's go to sleep too. We don't want to be late for tomorrow's class!'

'What a- a fine way to start our s- second day at Hogwarts!' said Maria dryly, as she stopped to catch her breath.

'It was your fault we got up late in the first place!' retorted Dawn, tugging Maria's arm impatiently. 'Come one, Maria! Charms started ten minutes ago!'

'It's your stupid cat's fault, not mine,' muttered Maria, as they began running again, until finally they reached a small wooden door. Without knocking they burst into the classroom. A small, dwarf-like man standing on a tall pile of thick books stared at them with a warm smile.

'Did you get lost?' he asked kindly. Before Dawn could speak though, Maria stamped on her foot and nodded her head vigorously.

'It's alright!' said Professor Flitwick with a small chuckle. 'Now come in, come in. I am Professor Flitwick, your Charms teacher. I was just explaining the wand movement of the Mind's Eye charm...'

'Oh, that's easy!' interrupted Maria without thinking. The entire class turned to look at her oddly. Dawn grinned in agreement, and Maria looked at Professor Flitwick expectantly. He chuckled again, however.

'Easy, eh? Ah yes, Durmstrang is a highly advanced school. In that case, why don't you show us, Miss Tempestt?'

'Go Maria!' whispered Dawn excitedly, as she sat down next to a curious-looking boy with auburn hair. 'Hi!' she added happily.

Maria cleared her throat loudly and, taking out her wand, pointed it at Ginny Weasley, who gasped in horror.

'ESCAPUS!' cried Maria, and Ginny shrieked.

Suddenly, Ginny's expression turned blank. Her eyes became glassy and wide-eyed. The students of Slytherin applauded loudly, but the Gryffindors remained silent with suspense and fear. Professor Flitwick clapped his small hands.

'Well done, Miss Tempestt!' he exclaimed. 'See, class, a perfect Mind's Eye charm! It removes your opponent of all thoughts completely, but temporarily of course, thus giving you the advantage to attack! Five points to Slytherin!'

Maria bowed slightly, then sat down in the empty chair behind Dawn, who gave her a thumbs-up.

'Now, before I let you practice the charm on your animals,' continued Professor Flitwick, eyeing Maria appreciatively, 'I will first explain the Mind's Speech charm, which is the second out of the six Mind charms. Does anyone know what...'

'It is a charm that causes your opponent to speak out his thoughts, thus giving you the advantage of overcoming his plans,' declared Maria confidently.

'In other words, you immediately know what your opponent is thinking for he is forced to speak his mind aloud,' said Dawn with a grin.

The class remained silent, as the two gazed at Professor Flitwick with aplomb. Ginny Weasley, now in her normal state of mind, stared at them with eyes burning with anger, which accentuated her flaming hair. Before Professor Flitwick could say anything, though, Maria added:

'Sir, don't look so surprised. We were taught that charm in our first year. It's very simple to perform, as I so indicated by my performance of the Mind's Eye charm. And the Mind's Speech charm is actually the fourth charm out of six Mind charms.'

'Really?' asked Professor Flitwick quietly.

Charms class ended thirty minutes earlier than usual, for Maria had ended up stating and performing every single spell that Professor Flitwick mentioned. As a result, Slytherin had received forty points, but had lost ten for Maria's boldness.

'My boldness?' exclaimed Maria in disbelief, as she and Dawn walked down the corridors on their way to Transfiguration class. 'My boldness? What's so wrong about being bold once in a while? Aren't we all supposed to be bold? What's wrong with this school?'

'Well, for one thing, it's not Durmstrang,' replied Dawn cheerfully. 'Don't worry. I bet that dwarf guy was just jealous of your brilliance. Oh woe is we, our intellect is much abhorred here at Hogwarts. Which is why we must be feared!'

'Ingenious!' cried Maria, her face set with determination. 'We will be so feared and admired by everyone that none will ever forget the three transfer girls from Durmstrang! With my wonderful brilliance of Charms, your immense knowledge of Transfiguration, and Atara's very scary power of Potions, we shall rule Hogwarts!'

'Ooh, I love that idea! But won't Atara disapprove of it?'

'So what?' said Maria, waving a hand carelessly. 'At Durmstrang we didn't do anything, yet we somehow managed to become the most popular girls there!'

'But Hogwarts seems so... innocent!' said Dawn with a pout.

Maria stopped and faced her with a wicked grin. 'Exactly.'

'You guys received detention already?' Atara stared at them in shock.

Dawn gazed at her apologetically. 'Sorry?'

Atara frowned. 'And what is the brilliant thing you did that so brilliantly got you two into this?'

Maria covered her mouth, trying to suppress a giggle. Dawn bit her lip for the same reason. Atara folded her arms, and stared at them with her eyebrows raised questionably.

'I hate it when you look at us like that!' cried Maria, closing her eyes tightly. 'It forces me to say... all right! During Transfiguration... well, let's just say that Professor McGonagall wasn't too pleased with our success of transfiguring her hat into a monkey.'

'What?' demanded Atara quietly.

'Well...' said Dawn uncomfortably. 'We were supposed to transfigure objects into animals... so we chose her hat instead! She was okay with it actually, for we did manage to perform it excellently, unlike the others. But she got a little annoyed when we began transfiguring it again and again... a different animal each time... then we started playing with this rat we had to transfigure... made a nice paperweight...'

Dawn couldn't control it any longer. She burst out laughing, sending Maria off too. Atara threw up her hands in exasperation.

'You guys are hopeless,' she said with a sigh.

'Oh yeah,' said Maria, and stopped laughing instantly. 'We are going to rule Hogwarts, okay, Atara? Goodnight!'

She and Dawn ran up the stairs and into the girls' dormitory before Atara could ask what she meant.

'Rule?'