A/N: Good day, everyone. Another chapter. I'm sorry I don't update often. This chapter was particularly slow, I know. I blame writer's block and Sims 2 (my favorite video game): Open for Business. This chapter picks up directly where the last chapter left off, so don't get confused.
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It was time for DADA to end and since everyone had already packed up, they were just sitting around and waiting. Finally, it was time to leave.
Rachel, Harry, and Ron got up and started to go to Potions, but Professor Lithgow said, "Wait a minute, Miss Dalton. I'd like to speak with you—privately."
Professor Lithgow looked at Ron and Harry, who looked at Rachel, then left the classroom. Rachel advanced to the professor's desk and stood there, waiting for Lithgow to speak.
"Your name is not really Rachel Dalton, is it?" the professor asked after examining Rachel's face, looking for any trace of emotion.
"Why wouldn't my name be Rachel Dalton?" the pupil inquired, feeling rather shaken. However, Rachel was skilled at masking her feelings and Lithgow did not suspect a thing.
"When I was your age, I knew someone who looked almost identical to you," Lithgow commenced, her voice betraying some sentiment. "But that was about thirty years ago. She would be old enough to be your mother."
Rachel was a bit uneasy as to where this conversation was going. However, was performing Occlumency so the professor could not perceive what Rachel was thinking.
"Her name was Nadia Ashby," resumed Lithgow after a slight pause. "Her father was English and her mother was a mix between French and Spanish. Nadia was a Ravenclaw here at Hogwarts. She and I were neighbors in Dover and grew up together. When we learned we were both accepted into Hogwarts, we were overjoyed. The fact that I was sorted into Slytherin and she into Ravenclaw didn't affect our friendship. We remained great friends throughout all of Hogwarts."
A/N: Sorry to interrupt, but I decided to just for reference. Dover is the port city on the England Isle that is closest to continental Europe. Just across the Dover Strait is Calais, France. I chose Dover since Nadia's mother is half French. Anyways, I will continue with the last sentence Lithgow said before I interrupted.
"We remained great friends throughout all of Hogwarts. Right after we graduated from Hogwarts, Nadia married Evan Bazil, who was half Greek and half Russian. Soon after they married, their son was born, William. He would be about twenty-nine by now. After that, the Bazils dedicated their lives to fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They joined the Order of Phoenix, an organization illustrious for battling You-Know-Who. Mr. Potter's parents were part of the Order, as was I. Thirteen years after William was born, they had a daughter, Rachel."
Rachel continued to be impassive, even though her mind was not. Talking about her parents and her brother was a tender subject. I must not show my thoughts and emotions. I must not show my thoughts and emotions, she repeated over and over again to herself.
"She would be your age," Lithgow announced, carefully observing Rachel. "Unfortunately, both of her parents are dead. They were murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named several months before the Harry Potter occurrence."
Lithgow stopped, waiting for Rachel to reply.
Rachel thought carefully about her answer and said, "There must be some confusion. I don't know anyone with the last name of Bazil. Also, I am an only child. My parents both contracted a rare disease and died two years ago. I was brought up by my paternal aunt."
Lithgow attempted Legilimency on Rachel. Even though the professor was one of the most skilled Legilimens in the word, she failed to see Rachel's thoughts because Rachel was an extremely accomplished Occlumens.
The professor sighed and said, "Well, if that is true, then you are dismissed."
Rachel nodded and left the room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were waiting outside for Rachel. Together, they literally ran to Potions. Even so, they were about three minutes late. They opened the door to the Potions dungeon and everyone's head turned in their direction. Professor Baines was standing by the blackboard.
"You four are late," said the Professor a sonorous voice that echoed off the walls.
"Yes, Professor," gasped Hermione (she was still out-of-breath). "Professor Lithgow wanted to speak to us after class."
"Hmm," said the professor, thinking over the punishment he was going to give the quartet. "In that case, you are excused this time. But the next time it happens, I will take off points."
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione replied and the quartet sat at the only open table, which was in the back.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted…" Baines began his lecture again, but Rachel barely heard a word of it.
A/N: Prepare yourselves for a very long mental soliloquy by Rachel.
She was mulling over the (relatively one-sided) conversation with Professor Lithgow. She knows, Rachel thought to herself. She could expose me at any minute. This worried Rachel. If the trio discovered that she had lied to them, she would lose their trust. Rachel had just only just gained it at breakfast after the mention of her brother. Rachel knew that Hermione and Ron had little conviction in her before. Only Harry trusted her. However, Rachel wished that she had not gained his trust by his fascination of her. Rachel did not want to get romantically involved with anyone at Hogwarts. Rachel had a job to do…she had to protect Harry Potter. A relationship would only be an obstacle, especially a relationship with Harry himself. Harry MUST focus on Voldemort. The time for the prophecy to be fulfilled is coming much sooner than Harry expects. Rachel's thoughts shifted back to Professor Lithgow. I do not believe she will reveal my identity. She has nothing to gain by doing so, unless she is a spy for Voldemort. This thought made Rachel anxious. What if there was a spy in Hogwarts? Would Rachel be able to detect them? I must, Rachel mentally ordered herself. If a spy goes uncaught in Hogwarts, both Harry and I will be in danger. Voldemort will come earlier than needed. Rachel's sole goal in life was to be rid of Voldemort. The only way for him to die, though, was by Harry Potter killing him. That was why Harry was so important to her. But not just to me! To the entire Wizarding World! Rachel looked over at Harry and felt a tingling sensation between her heart and stomach. Her heart began beating faster. No, it was not heartburn. What's happening to me? I've never felt like this before. I'm too rational to develop feelings for Harry.
Rachel's train of thought was interrupted because Baines suddenly asked her, "Miss Dalton, would you mind telling us the function of an Effervescent Potion?"
Rachel didn't miss a beat, saying, "The word 'effervescent' means bubbly. The potion, when made correctly, will make a person feel carefree and happy. The effects are similar to a Cheering Charm, except the results last longer."
"Correct, five points to Gryffindor," the professor boomed.
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It was time for class to end and everyone was bringing up their Effervescent Potion to the Professor. When the quartet finished and began walking out of the Dungeons to the Great Hall, Hermione was considerably unhappy.
"The book says that the potion is supposed to be runny and very bright pink," Hermione snapped to no one in particular. "Mine was a pale pink."
"Better than mine, Hermione," Ron said glumly. "Mine was thick and lavender. Harry's was green."
"I don't know how you do it, Rachel," said Hermione suddenly. "Yours was the perfect color and consistency. And you barely glanced at the directions!"
Rachel shrugged and said, "I've done this kind of potion before. Hermione, you didn't put in enough beetle's eyes and you were supposed to stir it ten times, not seven. Ron, you didn't wait for the asphodel root juice to boil before putting in the porcupine quills. Harry, I think you forgot the unicorn hair."
The four sat down at the Gryffindor table. Ron quickly loaded as much food as possible onto his plate and into his mouth.
"Owduyanoollodis?" Ron asked, food almost falling out of his mouth.
"Excuse me?" Rachel asked delicately; she trying to hide her disgust of Ron's eating habits.
Ron swallowed.
"How do you know all of this?" he asked before stuffing his mouth again.
"My brother taught me how to make all potions," Rachel replied simply before taking a bite of her sandwich. "I made plenty of mistakes, so…"
Harry stabbed his chicken with his fork and said, "There must have been a great age difference between you and your brother."
Rachel took a swig of pumpkin juice and said, "Thirteen years apart."
Hermione stared at her blankly.
"But if you two were only thirteen years apart, how could he have brought you up and taught you all this?" she inquired skeptically.
"Our parents taught my brother loads of magic before he entered school," Rachel answered. "My brother attended Hogwarts. Hagrid took care of me."
Even Ron set down his fork and stopped eating.
"Hagrid took care of you?" he questioned doubtfully.
"Yes," Rachel said, ignoring the stares, "but only during the years that my brother had school. During the summer, we lived at the Leaky Cauldron, free of charge. Tom, the barman, was a good friend of my parents. When my brother left Hogwarts twelve years ago, I was four. We lived in the Leaky Cauldron for about three years. My brother taught me some basic magic and also worked as a janitor. After that, my life was very haphazard. We moved everywhere, never staying in one place more than a year. I've lived in France, Albania, Germany, Czech…you name a European country, I've probably lived there."
"But why?" Hermione questioned.
"Restlessness," Rachel shrugged.
But Harry could tell that Hermione was not satisfied with this explanation. She was going to demand for more information, but Harry suddenly said, "Ron, what was Professor Lithgow talking about when she said you were thinking about 'a recent severance in a relationship'?"
Both Ron and Hermione turned very red and began stuttering, "Uh…well…ah…"
"Let me guess," Rachel said with the smallest hint of a smile. "Ron and Hermione were going out with no one's knowledge. I guess it has ended."
"How did you guess that?" Hermione demanded, turning an interesting raspberry-like shade.
Before Rachel could reply, Ron said awkwardly, "Rachel's a skilled Legilimens. In DADA, we practiced Occlumency and Legilimency. Rachel could do Legilimency on the professor, and that got the professor mad because she could do Legilimency on everyone except Rachel."
"What did the professor do?" Hermione asked, half between disbelief and disapproval.
"She made me go against Rachel and I produced a Shield Charm…but not fast enough," Harry said with a glum tone. "She saw some of my thoughts."
Harry remembered, with sudden embarrassment, that Rachel knew of his feeling for her. His dread worsened when Ron prodded Rachel and asked goofily,
"What did you see? Tell us!"
"Oh, a bit of fluff and duff, mostly," Rachel replied dryly. "I saw Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin. That was about it."
Harry was thankful that Rachel didn't tell Hermione and Ron about the rest of his thoughts, but he was mortified with the expression 'fluff and duff'. Was Rachel just trying to be casual…or was she mocking him?
A/N: I think Harry's being stupid here, but maybe that's just me.
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Harry, Rachel, Ron, and Hermione started to go off to Transfiguration. Rachel excused herself and went off somewhere. There was a moment of silence after she left, then,
"Do you guys trust her?" Harry asked abruptly. "I mean, Rachel?"
Hermione and Ron looked at each other.
"Well, we didn't before her outburst about her brother this morning," admitted Hermione. "She's gained a level of trust with us. But something about her bothers me, Harry."
What could possibly bother Hermione about Rachel? Harry wondered. She's a good person.
"Before, I thought she could have been a spy for Voldemort," Hermione began quickly. "Don't interrupt, Harry. I have good reasons. Dumbledore is dead. Hogwarts is most vulnerable at this time. If he wants to kill you, now would be the best time. But he still can't come waltzing into the school or Hogsmeade. A good way to get you out of the castle would be a spy you could befriend. If the spy was exceptionally pretty and witty, it's an added bonus. Someone you would trust completely and let your guard down with."
"But that's complete bullocks," Harry scoffed.
He felt somewhat angry with Ron and Hermione. There was nothing suspicious about Rachel. Nothing!
"I know it's not nice, mate, but it is logical," Ron said warily. "Why would a student transfer into Hogwarts for only the seventh year? But mind you, this was before we discovered she had nowhere else to go."
A/N: Whoa…Ron just sounded really smart right there…
"However, what bothers me about her now are her abilities in Occlumency and Legilimency," Hermione stated. "From what you have told me, she's extremely skilled. It's not exactly normal for someone our age to have such an immense power."
The trio sat down at a table for four people in Transfiguration class. The subject of Rachel was dropped, for she entered the room just before class began. The room turned silent and the students directed their attention towards the professor. It was then that it happened very briefly. Harry looked at Professor Kosky, who made eye contact with him. A searing pain occurred down his scar, but as soon as Harry clasped his hand on it, the feeling was gone.
"What is it?" Rachel said out of the corner of her mouth. She had seen Harry's movement.
"N-nothing," Harry stammered inconvincibly. "I just remembered something."
"Good day, class," said the professor.
"Good day, Professor Kosky," the class rang out.
"Good," Kosky muttered. "Now, I am your new Transfiguration teacher. I believe this is the N.E.W.T. year for all of you, and I can tell you that this year won't be a piece of pie!"
Oy vey, Harry thought and doze off into a stupor.
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A/N: That's it! Transfiguration to continue on Chapter 6…next chapter I have something special planned…hehe…Review now!
