Chapter 5: Fights and Jinxes

The first couple of weeks flew past for Padma. Any of the problems that she thought she would have making friends, there were none. The Ravenclaw first years got on well enough with one another. Padma spent most of her time with Terry and Lisa, who were quickly becoming her best friends.

She found the lessons at Hogwarts fascinating, and she spent every lesson taking detailed notes and then in the evenings she would do more reading on the subjects to add to her notes. When Lisa said that she was doing far too much work, she just laughed and insisted that she was enjoying herself. Nevertheless, she eased off the work a little, just to be careful.

One Wednesday morning, Padma sat at the Ravenclaw table eating her breakfast. She was reading A History of Magic for the fifth time, and it was propped up against a jug of pumpkin juice.

"What lessons do we have today?" Terry asked.

He sprayed toast crumbs across the table as he spoke. Padma dusted them from her robes and smiled at him.

"History of Magic, Transfiguration and," she added with a grimace, "double Herbology with the Slytherins."

Morag pulled a face.

"I hate the Slytherins," she said venomously.

"Binns isn't much better," Michael Corner, a dark haired first year, commented.

Padma looked outraged and looked up from her book.

"He may be a ghost, but he's not that bad!" she said. "He's…"

Her rant was interrupted by the arrival of the post owls. Padma looked up, trying to spot Rama fluttering down from the ceiling. She was disappointed that she didn't receive any post, but was crestfallen when she saw Parvati's tawny owl drop a large parcel into her lap. Padma looked down at her bowl of cereal, sniffing back tears.

"What's up?" Lisa asked.

"Nothing," Padma said, trying to stop the tremor in her voice.

Across the table, Terry was opening a package from his parents. He pulled out a box of Chocolate Frogs and a large chocolate cake.

"Have some of this," Terry said. He held out a slice of chocolate cake to Padma. "It always manages to cheer me up. Eat it."

Padma looked up. Terry smiled encouragingly at her and she smiled back, taking the cake from him. It was rich and moist, and she ate it slowly, glancing over to the Gryffindor table. Parvati pulled a couple of gold bangles out of the parcel and showed them to one of her classmates, smiling broadly.

Padma swallowed the mouthful of cake and put the rest of it to one side; she knew that the present was from their grandmother, and she couldn't help but feel like she hated her.

Terry snatched the cake back from her, looking shocked.

"If you didn't want it, you should have said!" he said, pretending to sound offended. He stuffed the cake into his mouth. "Don't worry about it. Whatever you're worrying about, that is."

Padma couldn't help but smile. She watched as Anthony Goldstein poked at a photograph of Su Li's parents, trying to make the figures move.

"They don't move, Anthony!" Su Li said shrilly. She pointed her wand at his nose, waving it threateningly. "If you get any more bacon grease on there, I'll hex your nose off!"

Anthony looked terrified and put his hands over his nose. Lisa gathered up her bag.

"We'd better get going to History of Magic," she said.

Padma packed away her book and glanced back over at the Gryffindor table one last time; Parvati was laughing and joking with her housemates. The ten Ravenclaw first years walked to the History of Magic classroom. It was a dull, musty room with a couple of rows of desks in it. At the front was a blackboard and a desk piled high with old quills, rolls of parchment and books that hadn't been opened for years.

Dropping her bag to the floor, Padma sat down at the front of the class and spread her things over the desk. She unfurled a roll of parchment and found her eagle feather quill at the bottom of her bag.

"Don't be so eager, Padma!" Michael said loudly from the back of the class.

He threw a box of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum at her head. She ducked quickly. Michael yelped as the box passed through Professor Binns' head as he drifted through the blackboard. The ghost professor frowned at him.

"Pick that up and get out your textbook, Mister Corner," he said in a monotone voice.

Michael quickly retrieved the box and scurried back to his seat. Padma was happy to see that his face was burning red.

"Now," Professor Binns said, drifting through his desk, "in the early fifteenth century, goblin revolts were at their height. Ulrich the Ugly was…"

Padma started to take incredibly detailed notes, jotting down everything that Professor Binns said. The lesson seemed to fly by for her, but near the end she turned in her seat to see how the rest of the Ravenclaws were doing. Most were making notes and listening attentively to Binns, but Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin weren't paying attention; Stephen was doodling on a piece of parchment and Kevin had his head on the table, snoring.

"Homework for next lesson," Professor Binns droned. "Two scrolls on the reasons for the goblins' grievances and the Council's attempts to put down the rising."

Professor Binns turned and drifted back through the wall. Padma jotted the homework title down on the top of a fresh roll of parchment and stowed it in her bag. She gathered up her notes, turning as someone cleared their throat behind her. Stephen, who was a gangling boy with curly brown hair, stood side by side with Kevin, both of them looking hopeful.

"Can I help you?" she asked, glancing from one to the other.

"That's what we were hoping," Kevin said.

"You see," Stephen continued, "we missed some of what Binns said in the lesson."

"And we were wondering if we could borrow your notes," Kevin concluded.

Padma pulled her bag onto her shoulder, holding her notes in one hand.

"You mean that you want to copy my notes," she said. Kevin and Stephen nodded enthusiastically. "And that's because you weren't paying attention." They nodded again. "Alright," she said finally, "but only if you give me some help with my Herbology homework when we get it."

"Deal!" Kevin said. He shook her hand and snatched the notes from her.

Padma rolled her eyes as the two boys argued over who would have her notes first. She hurried out of the class, looking for Lisa and Terry. She found them outside in the courtyard, chatting merrily to Mandy. Lisa waved at her and she walked over.

"Where've you been?" she asked.

"I lent Kevin and Stephen my notes from Binns' lesson," she said. "Last time I saw them, they were fighting over who would have them first."

As they spoke, Mandy was stretching up on her toes, straining to see across the courtyard. Padma glanced over in the general direction. All she saw was a couple of boys in a small group.

"What're you looking at?"

Mandy pushed Terry out of the way, attempting to get a better view.

"Harry Potter of course!" Mandy said, sounding shocked.

"Of course," Terry said sarcastically. He paused for a moment then added, "He's nothing special you know, Mandy."

Mandy looked shocked and glared at Terry.

"He only vanquished You-Know-Who, if you'd forgotten Terry!" she said. "Of course, that's nothing in comparison to what you've done! Brushing you hair is an absolute miracle!" she added as sarcastically.

Terry blushed and ignored Mandy, offering Padma a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean. She took a red one and popped it in her mouth. She promptly spat it out.

"Horseradish!" Padma said in disgust.

"Hey, Padma. I need to talk to you."

Parvati trotted across the courtyard, her long braid bobbing behind her. She was accompanied by one of her Gryffindor friends who had brown hair. Parvati hugged her twin sister tightly.

"Padma, this is Lavender Brown," she said, introducing her friend.

"Hi," Padma said shortly.

Lavender smiled warmly. At the same time, Mandy sighed; clearly Harry Potter had gone elsewhere. Parvati pulled an opened envelope from her robes.

"This is from grandmother," she explained to her sister. "She wants to know what we want for our birthday."

Padma frowned at her twin, feeling annoyed.

"Why did she write to you and not me?" she asked snappily.

Parvati shrugged.

"I don't know." She looked carefully at her sister. "So what do you want me to tell her?"

"Surprise me," Padma said bitterly.

She watched Parvati's expression carefully; her twin sister stared at her in surprise, stuffed the envelope back into her robes and took Lavender's arm.

"Fine," she said. "Come on, Lavender. We don't want to be late for our lesson."

Parvati steered Lavender across the courtyard, pausing at the doorway to glance at Padma before storming inside. Padma folded her arms across her chest and sighed. She hated it when the two of them fought. It didn't happen that often, but when it did, they tended to be snippy to each other for quite a while afterwards.

Terry, Lisa and Mandy stood in silence. They seemed to be unable to work out what to say. Padma pulled her bag higher on her shoulder.

"I'm going to Transfiguration," she said.

Without another word, she hurried off without the others. She didn't go to the Transfiguration class, though. Instead, she headed for the girls' toilets with tears rolling down her cheeks. She opened the door and pushed past a fourth year Gryffindor, locking herself in one of the stalls.

She wept silently. She couldn't believe how her grandmother could disapprove of her so much, or that she could love Parvati so much more than her. It had been the same all of their lives and she'd got used to it. But it didn't stop it from hurting her.

Padma looked up as she heard footsteps. Someone knocked on the door and she sniffed loudly, wiping the tears from her face.

"Are you alright, Padma?"

Padma unlocked to the door, allowing Lisa to step inside the stall. She had a sympathetic expression on her face, and when Padma stood up, her lip trembling, she hugged her tightly. Padma cried into her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked her.

"It's just my grandmother," Padma explained. She pulled away from Lisa and led her out of the stall. "She's always put me down and compared me to Parvati; saying that I should be more interested in traditional Indian magic like her, that I shouldn't read so much. It's horrible and makes me feel so small."

Padma sat down on the stone floor, crossing her legs. Lisa followed suit, nodding knowingly and smiling at Padma.

"Your grandmother's just being like she is," Lisa said. "As we get older, we become set in her ways. If she thought like that when she was living in India, it's clear that she'll think like that now."

Padma nodded.

"Thanks Lisa," she said.

Lisa helped her to her feet.

"Come on," she said, "I know what'll cheer you up."

"Don't we have to go back to Transfiguration?"

"No," Lisa said, shaking her head. "I spoke to Professor McGonagall. Terry's taking notes for us, so we have an hour before lunch to do what we want."

"Are we going to the Library?" Padma asked with a grin.

Lisa nodded.

"I knew that would cheer you up."

The two Ravenclaws left the toilets and headed to the Library. Aside from the Common Room, this was Padma's favourite place in Hogwarts. There were hundreds of thousands of books in tall bookshelves with ladders allowing pupils to reach the higher shelves. At the back of the Library was the Restricted Section which only the oldest students were able to use, and even then, certain books were chained to the shelves. Long tables ran down the middle of some of the wider aisles, allowing students to work in silence.

Padma and Lisa entered the Library. It was quiet, the only sound muted whisperings, turning pages or scratching quills. They passed Madam Pince, the strict librarian who was immensely protective of her books.

"I have some Potions homework to do," Lisa said. "I'll meet you here at lunch."

She disappeared around one of the bookshelves. Padma glanced around her; there was a small group of Hufflepuffs working on a nearby table and a solitary Slytherin read a thick book, brow furrowed in concentration. She headed over to the section that held the History of Magic books, browsing through them.

Sitting down to read a copy of The Origins of Magic, Padma looked around as there was a clattering of chairs and yelps of pain. She saw that two second years were being chased from the Library by a furious looking Madam Pince.

"No eating in the Library!" she cried shrilly.

She was brandishing her wand and sending the boys' books flying at their heads, along with several boxes of Chocolate Frogs.

"Out, out, out!" Madam Pince shouted.

Padma laughed quietly and turned back to read in silence. After a while, she got up to get a copy of Fifteenth Century Goblin Rebellions and set about doing her homework for Professor Binns. In the end she'd managed to write three scrolls in her small, neat handwriting and waited for them to dry before rolling them up and putting them into her bag as the bell rang for lunch.

She hurried over to the door where Lisa was waiting.

"How did your Potions homework go?" she asked as they headed down to the Great Hall.

"I had a blast writing two scrolls on the properties of wolfsbane," Lisa said sarcastically. She rubbed her hand. "I got cramp because of Snape. I hate him."

"I don't think anyone likes him," Padma said with a laugh.

They joined the crowds flooding down to the Great Hall and headed over to the Ravenclaw table. Padma sat down next to Terry who pulled sheets of parchment from his bag, handing them to Lisa.

"That's the lessons notes and homework," he said. "You'd better be grateful for that."

"Thanks for doing that, Terry," Padma said.

Lisa flicked through the parchment, glaring at Terry.

"You should have written more than this!" she said irritably, shoving them into her bag.

"That's gratitude for you!" Terry said bitterly.

After that, he ate his shepherd's pie in silence as Lisa ignored him. Padma ate little; she still felt bad about the argument with Parvati. Mandy was chatting to Su Li about the latest Weird Sister's song, and Morag and Kevin were swapping Chocolate Frog cards.

"I'm going down to Herbology," Padma said.

"I'll come with you," Terry said, grabbing his bag.

The two of them walked down to the greenhouses. Outside it was overcast and a bitter wind blew around the side of the castle. Terry scuffed his shoes against the grass as they walked.

"So," he started quietly, "are you okay then. After the argument with your sister, I mean."

"I've been better," Padma said, smiling at him. "But thanks for asking."

Terry nodded and fell silent again. He moaned as he spotted several figures at the door of the greenhouses. Four Slytherins stood there, watching Padma and Terry come towards them. Padma recognised them; Draco Malfoy, the boy she had stood in front of in the Sorting Ceremony, was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle and accompanied by the pug-faced Pansy Parkinson.

"What're you looking at, Patil?" Pansy asked. She cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Same goes for you, Boot."

"Shut up, Pansy," Padma snapped.

"What're you going to do about it?" Pansy grunted.

Pansy stepped forwards. She was a lot larger than Padma and glared menacingly at her, but she stopped as Professor Sprout hurried over, holding her hat down with one hand.

"Inside Greenhouse One, please," she said briskly, "before we all get blown away."

Padma hurried inside, avoiding looking at the Slytherin girl. She headed for the back of the greenhouse and sat down, stowing her bag under the desk. Pansy gave her a menacing look before she sat down beside Malfoy.

Terry waved the rest of the Ravenclaws over. They all looked very windswept, and Lisa's hair was all over her face. The greenhouse was hot and humid, filled with plants of all types. Vines and creepers wound about the pipes carrying water, and huge leaves blotted out some of the sunlight. Plants were everywhere; in huge pots, growing out from between the flagstone floor and creeping around one another.

Professor Sprout tapped her trowel against a plant pot.

"Attention class!" she said shrilly. "Take your places. Now, today we're going to be learning about Devil's Snare! Can anyone tell me something about it?"

Along the bench from Padma, Kevin raised his hand.

"Devil's Snare has tendrils that will ensnare any creature that touches it," he explained. "The more a victim struggles, the quicker they will be killed."

"Well done, Mr Entwhistle," Professor Sprout said. "Ten points for Ravenclaw."

The Ravenclaws smiled at Kevin, causing him to blush.

"Can anyone else tell me any more properties?"

Padma raised her hand slowly.

"It prefers a dark and damp environment," she said. "So, if you happen to be caught by one, fire is the only way to force it to release you."

"Good, Miss Patil," Professor Sprout said, "another ten points for Ravenclaw."

At the front of the greenhouse, Pansy turned around in her seat and pulled a face, mouthing something that looked like 'show off' to Padma.

"Now, I'd like you to turn to page fifty three of your books," Professor Sprout continued. "You will copy down the information on Devil's Snare and then I will show you a young specimen of the plant."

After they had done that, Professor Sprout brought out a small plant in a pot. It was a dark green with long, trailing tendrils. She put it down on the desk before her.

"Now," she said, "make careful note of how the Devil's Snare, even in its early life, reacts to touch."

The Herbology professor took a piece of cane and prodded the Devil's Snare with it. At once, the tendrils snaked around the cane, tightening so much that it started to crack and splinter. Professor Sprout pulled out her wand and waved it, muttering a spell. Flames burst from the tip and the small plant cowered away from them, unravelling from the cane.

"There you go," Professor Sprout said. "We'll continue with that next lesson. Homework is to find out any famous instances of Devil's Snare being used."

When she was gathering up her things, Padma knocked her parchment to the floor. She knelt down to pick them up.

"I'll see you back in the Common Room," she said to Lisa.

She was putting the parchment into her bag when she heard footsteps behind her. Padma looked around, finding Pansy Parkinson towering over her and sneering.

"Let me give you a hand," she said.

Pansy picked up Padma's bag and threw it across the greenhouse to Malfoy. Padma stood up, glaring at the Slytherin girl.

"What did you do that for?" she demanded, storming over to get her bag.

Crabbe and Goyle blocked her way. Behind them, Malfoy had hold her bag and was smirking. Pansy shrugged.

"I felt like it," the Slytherin said icily.

She walked over to Padma who was trapped between her and Crabbe and Goyle. Padma pulled out her wand from her robes, pointing it at Pansy's chest. Fear filled her and her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Leave me alone," she said, trying to stop her voice from trembling. "Or I'll…"

"You'll what?" Pansy mocked, clenching her hands into fists. "Cry all over me?"

Padma desperately searched her mind for a spell, anything that she had read over the past month or so. Suddenly it came to her and she hoped that it would work.

"Petrificus Totallus!"

She heard another voice cry the same spell and watched as both Pansy and Malfoy's arms and legs snapped together. They stood balanced for a moment and then fell to the ground with two large thuds. Padma still had her wand raised. She watched as Crabbe and Goyle glanced at her before grabbing the two petrified Slytherins and dragging them up to the castle.

"Are you alright?"

Terry stood at the greenhouse door, putting his wand back into his bag. Padma felt as though she could breathe again and lowered her wand.

"Yeah," she said, "I guess I am."

"I think you had the situation handled well enough," Terry said, handing Padma her bag, "but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to jinx Malfoy."

Padma smiled and they walked up to the castle together. She had the feeling that life at Hogwarts was only going to get more interesting.