CHAPTER SEVEN: The Cheering Charm

Ellie went to see McGonagall after her last class of the day to ask about signing up for Quidditch.

"Miss Bretherworth," McGonagall greeted easily when Ellie poked her head through the door. "Come on in."

"You can really call me Ellie, if you want to, ma'am," Ellie mumbled as she stepped inside. Upon seeing McGonagall's sarcastic expression, she added quickly, "I was wondering if I might be allowed to try out for the Quidditch team these year, ma'am. As a Chaser."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at that. "You have experience with flying?"

Ellie nodded. "This summer, at the Burrow. The twins say I'm pretty good."

McGonagall considered for a moment, then nodded. "I'll leave your name with Wood. First years aren't permitted to own brooms, but we'll make an exception for you if you make the team. In the meantime, you can try out on one of the school brooms."

Ellie beamed at that. "Thank you so much, Professor."

She nodded. "Wood will get you the trial details when he has them. In the meantime, be sure to keep up with your studies—you won't make the team with low marks."

Ellie nodded obediently, thanked McGonagall, and headed back to the common room, which was so crowded with people, it took her a minute to track down the twins. Once she did, she was surprised to see that George's drumset and Fred's guitar were both out.

"Oi," Fred greeted her as he strummed a few notes on the guitar. "How'd it go with McGonagall?"

"Good—said she'd talk to Oliver on my behalf."

"Nice," said George. "Now, run upstairs and get your guitar. We're going to have our first practice session."

Ellie, who had nearly forgotten about the little rock band they had formed with Ginny, obediently headed up the stairs to fetch her guitar. When she came back down, she spotted Fred and George chatting with a rather handsome, older student.

"There she is," Fred said cheerfully when he saw her. "Ollie, this is her. El, meet Oliver Wood."

"Wotcher, Ellie," Oliver said to her with an easy smile. "Heard you got permission from McGonagall to try out for the team."

She nodded eagerly as she did her best not to melt into the floor. He was taller than any of the boys her age, and even than Fred and George. He kept his dirty blond hair cropped short and tidy, and his green eyes were all too dreamy.

"She's so excited that she's speechless," teased George as he nudged her playfully. "She's really good, though—definitely gonna keep poor Alicia on the reserve for another year."

Ellie didn't know who Alicia was, but she hoped the girl wouldn't hate her for taking a spot on the team if she did manage it.

"Right," said Oliver, grinning at Ellie. "Well, I suppose we'll find out on Saturday, won't we? Be there at noon, okay?"

And before he walked away, he winked at her.

"Ickle Ellie have a little crushy?" George teased her as soon as Oliver was out of earshot. "Never seen you so tongue-tied."

Ellie scowled at him, then glanced at Fred, who didn't look quite as amused. "I was just intimidated," she lied. "He's the captain of the Quidditch team, after all. Now, enough about that. Let's play some music."


The rest of the week seemed to fly by. She met the twins in the courtyard every day for lunch and spent the evenings with them in the common room, playing around with their instruments. She learned quickly that History of Magic, taught by a ghost professor named Binns, was her least favorite subject, but she truly enjoyed Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Herbology she could take or leave, and Potions, well… it was Potions.

"You two girls are some of the brightest I've seen in years," Flitwick gushed at Ellie and Hermione that Thursday after they'd successfully cheered up everyone in the classroom and even dried up a few drops of water using the Drought Charm.

Hermione tried to act happy for Ellie, but Ellie could tell she was a bit resentful of Ellie's success, given that much of it stemmed from paying attention to Hermione's handiwork. Ellie sympathized with that and tried to make an effort to fix it.

"Can't believe he called me bright," she joked weakly as the class ended and they gathered their books. "He should really see me in my other classes."

Hermione laughed, but her mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"You okay?" Ellie asked her, frowning.

"Y… yeah," Hermione stammered, seeming to blink her way out of her stupor and turn to face Ellie. "Sorry. I just get so in my own head sometimes about my studies. Probably a bit unhealthy, I suppose."

Ellie, who wasn't exactly a psychiatrist, shrugged at that. "Not necessarily. You are the best witch in our class for a reason, after all."

Hermione seemed touched by that, but before Ellie could say anything more, Dean and Seamus approached her.

"El!" exclaimed Seamus as he grabbed her arm and hugged it. "I feel fantastic. You're the best Cheering Charm-er around!"

Ellie shot Hermione a last, sympathetic glance, which was met with a warm smile, before Hermione headed off to find her seat and Ellie sat down with Dean and Seamus.

"Hermione did mine," explained Dean once Hermione was out of earshot. "Not quite as effective as yours, it seemed. Can't believe someone actually beat her at something."

Ellie couldn't quite believe it, either, but she was mighty pleased with herself.

"Silence," barked Snape as he made his way to the front of the class. "Today's potion will be a very simple and rather pointless Babbling Beverage. This potion causes the drinker to babble incoherent nonsense for a short period of time. Questions? No? Begin." He waved his wand at the blackboard, and the directions for the potion appeared.

"Don't you love his attention to detail as a teacher?" Dean muttered.

"Oh, don't be such a whiner," said Seamus happily as he poured a heaping serving of sugar into his potion.

"Seamus," said Ellie, "sugar isn't even one of the ingredients!"

"I know—I conjured it. Figured it'd make the babbler a bit happier…"

All of Ellie's other Cheering Charm subjects seemed to be suffering from the same problem. By the time Ellie and Dean were about halfway done with their potions, Snape caught on.

"Why, Mr. Weasley," he demanded, "are you adding honey to your potion?"

"Why, because honey is sweet, of course!" cheered Ron.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Who casted Weasley's Cheering Charm?"

Everyone turned pointedly to Ellie, who put her head in her hands.

"Miss Bretherworth," said Snape, seeming to enjoy the way she squirmed at hearing her fake last name said aloud. "Explain."

"It was for class," she said quickly. "Professor Flitwick told us to!"

He looked annoyed. "Can't punish you for that, I suppose. Well, I suppose Weasley will just have to receive failing marks, along with most of the other Gryffindors."

"But, sir," she said quickly. "It's not their fault—"

"Complain," he interrupted, "to the professor who assigned you that ridiculous task. Or perhaps you should've thought to reverse the charm after you performed it?"

Ellie sighed and pulled out her Charms book, which she still had from her last class. Sure enough, there was a section on the reversal of the Cheering Charm: Billis. It required more sullen thoughts.

Plenty of those, she mused grimly as she thought of the way the other kids at her old school had bullied her for being "different." She pointed her wand at Seamus and performed the spell. She sighed with relief as his smile faded.

"Phew," he said. "What a relief. Why'd I put so much sugar in this, anyway?"

With Snape's grudging permission, Ellie performed the spell on everyone else she'd bewitched in Charms. By the end of class, even those whose potions had been honeyed and sugared up managed to make them passable.

"I do not plan to tolerate this chaos again," Snape warned the class as they packed up their things. "Miss Bretherworth, stay behind a moment."

She glanced at Dean and Seamus, who both seemed to be awaiting her approval to leave. Even Harry and Ron lingered in the doorway of the dungeon for her. She waved all four of them away, not wanting to upset Snape further.

Snape, who didn't seem to miss anything, looked disgusted by the display. "You're far too young for all that."

She knew what he meant—male attention—but it seemed like a bit of a stretch. "They're just my friends. Making sure I'm okay."

He wrinkled his nose, but didn't comment further on it. "Performing that reversal spell was risky. When I suggested it, I meant in the context of your charms class, under proper supervision. To perform such spells otherwise is reckless and flat-out dangerous. I have no choice but to deduct Gryffindor ten points."

She was doing her best not to squirm at this point. She hated being in such close proximity to him when he looked at her with such loathing. Was it just because she was a Gryffindor, or something else? The only other person he seemed to hate quite that much was Harry.

"I'm… sorry," she stammered. She really hadn't meant to endanger anyone; that much, she could say genuinely.

He kept his eyes on her for a moment, then gave her a short nod. "You may go."

She darted out of the room at that, afraid he might change his mind if she lingered. She hated him. It wasn't just the way he seemed biased against her or the way he kept deducting points from Gryffindor on her behalf. It was the way he looked at her—like she was the bane of his existence.

She found herself running much faster than she was used to. It didn't make much sense, but she was so glad to get out of there quickly, she didn't question it. It wasn't until she reached the top of the stairs that she put her finger on why she was running so quickly: she was running on four legs.

And not just that… she was shorter, too. And people were staring down at her.

She glanced down at her feet, then shrieked to find that they were paws, not feet—then shrieked again to find that her shriek sounded anything but human.

She was a dog.


I know the dog thing might feel random if you didn't read That Girl, but I promise it will all make sense soon - at least, it will start to! Same for Snape's mysterious behavior towards her. Also, thanks to my first reviewer for the support! EllieCast4, so glad you are enjoying it. Hopefully not just because you share a name with the protagonist! ;)