Chapter 9.- Exciting Classes and Strange Dreams.
Ron woke slowly at the insistent beeping of his alarm clock. Lazily he moved to turn it off and call his best friend. But what finished waking him wasn't the beeping of the clock, but the empty bed next to him.
"Harry?" Ron asked, confused.
"You finally woke up Ron?" Harry asked from behind him.
When Ron turned around he saw his friend coming out from the bathroom, already dressed, and trying to towel-dry his hair.
"It's a good thing you finally turned off that alarm." Harry commented as he tried to arrange his rebel black-hair. "Honestly, it was beginning to drive me crazy."
"When did you wake up?" Ron finally asked.
"Uh?" Harry was confused by the answer.
"You are never one to wake up early unless…" Ron's face changed to one of worry. "Did our scar hurt again?"
"What? No!" Harry shook his head. "I'm perfectly fine. I woke up a while ago and decided to get a bath. I know it's strange to you, but I got used to it while being at Eriol's house. There everyone awakes early morning to tr…practice some things, take a bath and then have breakfast. I told you the Dursley's kicked me off the house, and Eriol took me in. So you can say I got some of their habits in that time."
"That I see." Ron nodded.
"But come on Ron, or we'll be late for breakfast." Harry said.
In the girl's dorm something alike happened, except that Parvatti and Lavender were already used to being the last to wake up; since Sakura and Hermione always got up first, and it wasn't a big surprise to see the same happened with Naoko, once they knew she has friend of the other two.
With Shaoran in Slytherin…well, no one really seemed to care what he did, or didn't do.
And as Eriol had his personal dorm, no one saw him.
.---.
Fifteen minutes later, in the Great Hall, McGonagall was eating her breakfast, and waiting for the sorcerers to arrive. She could feel them approaching. Being a High-level Witch, almost to the level of Dumbledore, she could feel the auras of everything with magic around her if she concentrated enough. Right at the door she could feel two of the auras getting away from the rest, as if trying to pretend they hadn't arrived together.
A second later McGonagall saw them entering: in a group were Harry, Hermione, Ron, Sakura, Tomoyo and Naoko. A moment later Shaoran entered, as silent as ever, and walking directly to the Slytherin table. After a couple of seconds Eriol entered the room, silently walking to the Teacher's Table.
The two men that entered after the first group didn't direct a single move of body or eyes to the others, as if they didn't know each other; even when McGonagall knew otherwise she was almost fooled.
'It's all nothing but an act.' The Professor thought. 'Li's coldness to everyone, Professor Eriol's apparent indifference, and the way the others seemed so immerse in their own thoughts. Everything is an act. So no one would know what they truly are.'
Suddenly McGonagall noticed one of the Gryffindor girls, Tomoyo Daidouji, was looking directly at her. Tomoyo smiled as if she knew exactly what McGonagall was thinking. And with everything the Transfiguration Professor had just discovered (or remembered) of the group of teens, she began believed that maybe she did.
.---.
A couple of hours after breakfast Gryffindor's and Slytherin's Sixth Years had Potions Class. Naoko had to return to the dorm right before the class, and as a consequence she was the last to enter the classroom. Almost all the seats were already occupied, and in the end she had to sit next to a blonde blue-eyed boy who was sitting in the second desk to the left.
"Good morning." Naoko greeted her classmate politely.
She didn't receive an answer. If she had known the one sitting next to her was Draco Malfoy, and the fame he had in Hogwarts, she wouldn't have been surprised.
Sakura and Tomoyo pitied Naoko, for having to sit next to such a boy. But Sakura was with Shaoran, Harry with Hermione, Tomoyo with Ron, and next to Neville was the new students: Elddir May.
"Books on page 134." Snape ordered as he entered, without even saying good morning. "Today you're gonna do this potion to control asthma. You have to be really precise with the ingredients and the measures or you'll get a poison instead of a cure. You have the ingredients you will be needing with you, and in your desks are the Menthol leaves you will be missing. It's individual work so I want complete silence. Understood? Perfect. To work, now."
Naoko was rather surprise by the way the professor spoke, but she said nothing about it. She brought out a cloth she extended next to her cauldron, and over it she laid al the different herbs in perfect order.
Everyone began working in silence, following carefully the instructions written in the book.
After a few minutes of difficulties, and when Draco noticed he was having more problems that normally. He turned to a side to see the new girl preparing her potion, it seemed as if it were the easiest thing for her.
And it was, Naoko wasn't even looking at the herbs laid over the cloth, she just moved her hand to take herb after herbs easily, cutting it, adding it to the mix, moving it with the butt end of her wand, it was almost as if she were preparing that potion automatically.
Draco didn't seem to like the idea of a new girl who sure enough must be another 'mudblood' as he called them, to be better than him at the eyes of Professor Snape. And so, in a moment of distraction Naoko had, Draco took her clothe with the herbs and changed it for his own; his cloth had the herbs all mixed one with the other, and it was almost impossible to difference one from the other.
But what left Draco truly in shock was that Naoko continued taking the herbs (this time his herbs) with no apparent difficulty. After about five more minutes Naoko put down her wand and smiled.
"I'm done professor." She indicated.
Snape turned around surprised, it seemed almost impossible to him that anyone might have finished that potion in less than half the class; that was until she noticed it was the friend of his granddaughter, from people like them he knew he should expect anything.
"Very well." Snape nodded. "Ten points for Gryffindor."
It was a big surprise for all Gryffindors to hear Snape had given them points.
Snape was surprised himself of what he had done. But what really got him over the edge was when he saw Draco's potion, it was a disaster.
"You've done indeed a good potion Miss Yanagisawa, a talent I hope you can share with Mr. Malfoy." Snape said seriously. "Mr. Malfoy, I hope your potion will be well done by the end of the class."
Naoko just nodded silently.
Malfoy just snorted, he didn't like the idea of being helped by a girl; he had to admit she seemed to be good in potions, but there was no way she could be able of solving the problem he had caused.
But what really surprised Draco was when he noticed Naoko taking some herbs, chopping them quickly, and adding them to his cauldron.
"Use your wand to stir it." She indicated Draco. "Two minutes clockwise, one minutes counterclockwise, then a break of three minutes, and you repeat the series."
Draco followed her indications with an angry pout, wondering what she could be planning. He noticed Naoko took various herbs and dropped them in the cauldron, some chopped, others complete, but she didn't seem to be getting the plants and measures of any book; it was as if she could do everything on her own, as if she knew it by memory.
Of course Draco Malfoy didn't know the girl who was helping her was a sprite, a chosen one with the powers of nature, from whom such things like potions and herbs were as common as reading and writing is to every cultured man.
And just as Snape signed the end of the class Naoko let in the cauldron some powder she had made out of some weeds.
"Stop stirring." She ordered Draco. "It's done."
And when Draco peeked into his Cauldron he noticed it was true, the potion was ready.
"It seems you did it again Miss Yanagisawa." Snape commented from behind her.
After hearing the comments of her friends Naoko knew that was as much of a compliment as she was going to get from Severus Snape.
"Come on, Naoko-chan." Tomoyo said from beside her. "We must go. We have Ancient Runes next."
"Coming." Naoko said.
And just then Draco saw as she extended her arm over his cauldron, took the cloth with the herbs, put it in her bag, and left the room. This left Draco dumbfounded, had she known all along he had changed the herbs? Why hadn't she said something about it?
Those were questions to which Draco wouldn't be finding answers, at least not yet.
.---.
That afternoon they had class with Professor Sprout. Naoko again proved her talent with all kind of herbs.
"Seems we have another brilliant student in this subject." Profesor Sprout commented. "I'm sure you and Mr. Longbottom will get along pretty well Miss Yanagisawa."
"I'm sure we will Professor Sprout. We both share the same passion for plants." Naoko said with a smile.
After class Naoko stayed behind, she wanted to have a little chat with Neville.
"Hello." She greeted him with a sweet smile.
"Hello, Yanagi…" Neville began.
"Just Naoko, please." Naoko insisted.
Neville nodded.
"I saw you're good with plants." Naoko commented.
"I like everything that has to do with plants ever since I was little." Neville explained. "But you are good not just with the plants, but in Potions too."
"Well, it's not that different. I mean, if you consider that most of the ingredients you use to make the potions are plants, it's like saying one thing is a part of the other."
"I had never seen it that way."
"You should. Think that in potions you use the same plants you like so much; forget
who teaches the class, or how, just think of what you're doing. You'll see, you'll be doing better in no time."
"Thank you for the advice."
"It's been a pleasure. Gotta go, Sayonara!"
"Good Bye."
Naoko smiled at him and left running. She believed she had done the correct thing, the only thing that boy needed was a little push in the right direction.
And indeed she would be seeing the results of that small chat in the following weeks and months when, slowly but surely, Neville good become one of the best students in Potions Class, to the surprise of, not just the professor, but of everyone else in the school.
.---.
The following day, the first class was a double hour of DADA with Eriol, Slytherin and Gryffindor together. All the students immediately entered the room.
"Ok." Eriol said. "Leave your bags in the back of the classroom, I want you to get into pairs. And in the pairs each member should be from one of the houses. We're gonna begin this year with a small duel."
They immediately obeyed and got next to one of the opposite house.
"Fine, Yanagisawa and Malfoy." Eriol called.
Naoko raised her wand and followed all the initial movements she had been thought by her friends, finishing in a neutral stance.
"This should be easy." Draco murmured to his comrades, considering Naoko's stance meant she didn't have the slightest idea of what to do next.
"Ready?" Eriol said. "Fight!"
"Petrificus totalus!" Draco attacked, deciding not to go too hard on this student, after all, she was new and didn't know what to do.
Naoko was thinking fast, she had decided not to use her Sprite powers this time, it had already been too much in the other classes, if she went on she might be discovered. And then she remembered a spell she had read about, easy and good enough to defeat Malfoy quickly. She raised her wand just as Draco attacked her.
"Reflectus!" Naoko attacked.
The spell, consisting on a reflecting shield, sent Draco's own spell back to him.
"Yanagisawa wins." Eriol said with a small smile as he broke the spell in which Draco had fallen.
It was almost as if the Slytherin couldn't believe it, he had been defeated by a Gryffindor, who was a girl, and new!
The class went on fairly well, until it was the turn for the last pair of students:
"Elddir and Daidouji." Eriol called.
One thing passed by his mind, and those of his friends: It was time for them to see what this new girl was capable of.
As Tomoyo didn't know what to expect, she got in the same neutral stance Naoko had, that way she would be able to change to a defensive or offensive depending what the other girl did.
The other girl took an offensive stance that took the sorcerers aback.
This looks so strange. Hermione commented mentally.
It's an Asian battle stance. Sakura explained.
Still, I have never seen such a stance in any magic duel. Hermione insisted.
That's because it's not a stance for a duel of magic. Shaoran interfered. But for one with swords.
And once they looked at Elddir May closely they could see Shaoran was right, she was holding the wand as if it were some kind of sword.
"Ready?" Eriol gave the signal. "Begin!"
For a moment, nothing happened, both gals seemed to be waiting for the other to begin.
"Fine with me." May murmured. "Spearus!"
The spell was new for some of the students, the light of the spell took the form of a spear that had been thrown at Tomoyo.
Tomoyo moved until from her waist up she was parallel to the ground. Immediately recovering from the surprise, she moved the wand and attacked.
"Inmovilus!"
May spun around, the attack missing her by mere millimeters, and then she counterattacked.
"Expelliarmus!"
Tomoyo managed to miss most of the spell, although she did lose her wand. Thinking fast Tomoyo flipped backwards twice, getting her wand back from the floor the second time her hands touched the floor.
Some of the students began moving backwards some steps, to give more space to the two duelists; after some minutes more they had all moved except Sakura, Shaoran, Naoko, Hermione, Shaoran and Eriol, who stood their ground, wands at the ready, to act in defense of their friend if need be.
It was truly a show for those present. Both gals seemed to be on the same level, attacking, dodging, defending, attacking again. Some began making bets on who would loose or give up; while others began believing that duel wouldn't be having an end unless someone stopped it.
When just a couple of minutes were left of the class Eriol had decided he would stop the duel, the gals seemed to make the same decision, but not the easy way.
They got one in front of the other and attacked:
"Expelliarmus!"
The impact of both spells having been thrown at the same time, one against the other, was incredible. A collision Eriol had to limit to just a small section or it would worry the other students and professors.
But the consequences could be seen: both Tomoyo and Elddir had been thrown away by the force of the impact.
Elddir fell over an open closet, where Eriol kept some cloaks and jackets; while Tomoyo fell over Eriol himself.
Trying to appear as nothing but a professor concern for his students Eriol declared the class had ended and he would be taking both Miss Elddir and Miss Daidouji to the infirmary. The rest of the students took their things and left for the next class.
Both girls would be returning by lunch, after having their minor injuries treated and some rest. In the end, the result of their duel had been declared as a tie.
.---.
The following days McGonagall would wake up at the sound of metal against metal, or a small explosion when two attacks crashed. It became a routine for her. And even when she knew those teens where experimented sorcerers, and good enough in what they did to avoid being seriously injured she could help but worry for them. She also noticed that even when the sorcerers had a time to begin their training, they didn't have a time to finish it, although most of the days they seemed to leave their spot right before any other student left their dorms.
.---.
Lost in the middle of the oddest dream she had ever had, she was walking through the darkness, it seemed to be around midnight, the dark sky with nothing but the stars to lighten even if just a bit her path. She walked, even f her mind didn't know where she was, her feet seemed to know the way perfectly well.
"Where am I?" she asked to no one in particular.
And when the moon finally came out from behind a dark cloud, she could see the stones lined to her sides, they weren't normal stones.
"They are tombs…" she murmured in shock. "I'm in a graveyard. What am I doing here?"
Just then her feet took her to the other side of that graveyard, where there was what looked like a circle of various flowers surrounding two identical tombstones that were made of white marble with the names of the ones laying there shinning with an unknown force.
"This feeling I get…" she murmured. "It's so strange…almost like…magic…"
A great surprise was what followed, at discovering the only two blossomed flowers, as the rest were still closed. Two single flowers: one red, and one white.
"Roses…" she murmured, as she got closer to the tombs, trying to make out the names written in them. "Rose Tsubame…Rose Midori…Why do these names seem so familiar to me?" by some strange reason she felt like panicking. "What do all this means!"
Finally I'm done with this chapter! I honestly was getting out of ideas. In the following you might see me jumping from one date to the other, so as to get to the important part of the story faster. I hope you're liking the story so far. Please leave reviews.
Oh, and about the voting. Up to now Draco remains good, and Snape, well, I'm not so sure but it looks like most prefer having him being bad. I believe this will be one of the last chapters to vote, so please don't forget doing so. Arigato.
Matta ne! See you in the next update.
