Rebekah sighed. She had Divination with Professor Trelawney, and Muggle Studies with Professor Burbage, and Arithmancy with Professor Vector. Rebekah began a journal that said what she did for the day, tallying up the extra hours she spent doing this and that.
"What do you have first?" Blaise nudged Pansy, looking at her time table. "I've got Muggle Studies."
"Hm, Divination with Trelawney," Pansy finished her mouthful.
"Yours looks weird," Daphne said as she peered over Rebekah's one.
Rebekah quickly placed it away and shrugged. "Yeah, I think it's just a typo, I'll have Snape sort it out later."
The Divination class didn't really know how to get to the classroom, then a ladder was shoved down.
"Yeah, no," Rebekah said and glared at the ladder that reached the ceiling to the Divination classroom. "I'm in a skirt, that's not happening."
"Who would put a classroom at the very top of the school? That's just asking for trouble," Pansy whined.
"Shorts it is," Rebekah pressed her wand into the hem of her skirt and it transfigured into a pair of black shorts.
There were twenty circular tables with armchairs and fat pouffes. The closed curtains and the lamps covered with red scarves gave the whole room a dim red light.
"Welcome to Divination," Trelawney had large bug-like eyes under her glasses. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye.
"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in this field…"
The whole lesson was going quite well until Trelawney took a look into Rebekah's tea leaves and she clasped a hand onto her chest, gasping.
"The falcon, a deadly enemy."
"And?"
Trelawney turned the cup and said, "A club. An attack. Dear, this is not a happy cup."
"It never is," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes. "So what's this club?"
"I can only tell you what the cup says," Trelawney let out a shaky breath and then a loud shriek. "You have the Grim!"
First thing Rebekah thought was Sirius Black and his Animagus form, that was probably what Trelawney was predicting.
"You poor girl. It is an omen, the worst omen, of death!"
"Again, and?" Rebekah said and shrugged. "Every year, there is another threat to me. I've become numb to it now, it's not surprising anymore."
Trelawney droned on about how Rebekah should watch her back and keep an open mind. Rebekah was already doing that, she had sewn protection runes into her robes and her mind was already open to anything that would happen.
Rebekah was grateful for having Muggle Studies and then Arithmancy to keep her mind from wandering. Time travelling was confusing but she was doing good, for now, being hungry didn't help so she went back an extra hour to have a snack before Transfiguration began.
"Really, what has got into you all today?" McGonagall was becoming concerned, the students seemed out of it and they were somewhere else. They were almost gloomy. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."
Rebekah sat at the front, slouching in her chair slightly. She didn't need to pay much attention, she had already become an Animagus and she knew all of this well. She fiddled with the fountain pen in her hand, swirling it between her thumb and pointer.
Everyone glanced to Rebekah but quickly looked away when she turned around with a quick glare.
Hermione raised her hand when everyone stayed quiet, saying, "We've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves."
"Ah, of course," McGonagall frowned, completely understanding their mood. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"
Rebekah flicked her hand up, sighing. "It's been me for the last two years, I'm not surprised anymore."
"You look in excellent health to me, Potter," McGonagall's eyes softened with an amused glint. "So you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."
"We'll see, professor," Rebekah smiled faintly.
"We can't even open them!" He said on the way to Care of Magical Creatures. Draco strapped The Monster Book Of Monsters closed with a belt and grumbled about being almost bit by it. Rebekah had already calmed her book and taught it to not bite or gnash at her.
"Give it here," Rebekah said and snatched the trembling book from him, grazing a finger down the spine. "You calm it by stroking the spine. Hagrid had already explained it to me when he sent one for my birthday."
"I can't believe they've let the school go to the dumps," Draco sneered but it dropped when Rebekah nudged him sharply in the side.
Hagrid waited at the door of his hut with Fang. He began to call out, "C'mon, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"
They followed Hagrid and he led them into a paddock on the very edge of the forest with nothing in it for a moment.
"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it. Make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books. Now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on . . ."
Hagrid walked off and into the forest without a care. Everyone gave each other a wary look as they couldn't open their books. Most of them belted, used ropes, or Spellotape to shut them closed.
"Stroke the spine of the book and they will become passive," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes. "Dear Morgan, the instructions came with the book."
"God, this place is going to the dogs," Draco started again, turning to Theodore next to him. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him —"
"Shut it," Rebekah snapped.
Time travelling was taking a toll on her already. This was her sixth lesson today already, and she was getting tired. She had a nap when she went back two hours instead of one and slept for an extra hour, then came to Care of Magical Creatures as it was the easiest class she had.
"Oooooooh!" Lavender Brown shrieked and pointed to the other end of the paddocks.
Hippogriffs. Half horse, half giant eagle, they were a force to be reckoned with. They had bright orange eyes with cruel beaks and deadly talons. Each Beast had a leather collar and a long chain that Hagrid held.
"Gee up, there!" Hagrid called them over as he attached the chains to the fence. "Hippogriffs! Beau'iful, aren' they? So, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer —"
No one stepped forward and Rebekah sighed, taking Daphne and Draco by their elbows and dragged them closer. The rest of the group came closer while the Gryffindors kept their distance as did Pansy.
"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud—"
Rebekah elbowed Draco lightly, saying, "Like you."
"Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't ever insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."
Draco nudged Rebekah with a smirk, she smiled and pulled a face.
"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.
"Right — who wants ter go first?"
Draco shoved Rebekah forward, and she sent him a dirty look which he shrugged off.
"Good sport, 'Bekah," Hagrid said and watched the Hippogriff come forward a little. "Yeh know what to do. How about yeh explain?"
"Sure," Rebekah sent everyone a serious look. "First, eye contact. Blink but blink slowly and only often enough to not become uncomfortable. Then when eye contact is established, you bow and bow low, you have to keep eye contact still," Buckbeak gave a hesitating glance but dropped into a beautiful bow. Rebekah slowly came up from her bow and approached the Beast. "Now you can pet them gently. Keep an eye on their body language and try to not insult them."
Everyone clapped and Rebekah turned a light rosy pink. Hagrid untied the Beasts and allowed everyone to begin practising. Daphne and Theodore went to a caramel coloured one, while Draco and Pansy walked over to Buckbeak and Rebekah.
Pansy tried to bow but she was trembling with fear as the Beast refused to bow. Rebekah stood in front of Pansy to block the view, gently persuading the girl to walk away slowly. She threw an arm over Pansy's shoulders to comfort her.
Draco saw Pansy's unshed tears and came up to the creature without bowing, and said, "I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?"
Rebekah stepped forward with a wary, "Draco, no."
He didn't acknowledge her and glared at the creature "Are you, you great ugly brute?"
She watched Buckbeak raise his forelegs and slash the air, narrowly missing Draco as Rebekah shoved him aside. A sudden spiral of pain blossomed in her left arm as she shielded her face. Buckbeak suddenly retreated and bowed deeply as Rebekah allowed the arm to drop. Blood dripped onto the paddock grounds as Hagrid pulled all of the Hippogriffs away and tied them up.
The group huddled around her as she dropped onto her knees and cradled the arm. She shrugged all of their hands off when they tried to look at the wound. With some help, Rebekah stood up slowly and peeled her robes away from her arm and then undid her button-down sleeve, pulling it back to reveal the cuts.
Three long slashes were deeply done into her forearm. They went from one side of her arm to the other, completely bloodying her white shirt and stained her skin dark red. Rebekah lifted the arm and placed it across her chest, holding her other shoulder to keep it in place.
"Alright," Rebekah said, not showing that she was in extreme agony from the deep cuts. "I'm heading to Madam Pomfrey."
The Madam was not impressed as she pulled her lips into a thin frown and kept mumbling, "I swear you can't keep yourself out of trouble. First the Dementor, now a Hippogriff," as she wrapped Rebekah's arm in bandages.
"When can I go?"
"Not until I know that your wound isn't infected,"
"What?"
"Magic isn't perfect and you were hurt by a Magical Beast, an infection can occur any time from being cut to moments before it's completely healed," Madam Pomfrey hummed as Rebekah flopped backwards onto the sterile bed and groaned. "I suggest you either spend the next week here or in your dorm. Which is it?"
"Dorm," Rebekah instantly said. "Last year was bad enough."
For the next seven days, there were about half a dozen Rebekahs in her dorm. She would go back in time to do this subject and then that, taking up almost five hours and going back to the present. She then would wait an hour and then go back again, to do more work. She didn't interact with her past or future selves, each version of Rebekah stayed within their little area and continued to focus on their books.
Rebekah made sure to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, otherwise, her group would go after her. On one very slow and boring night, Rebekah decided she had enough and sought some amusement.
Rebekah stood outside of McGonagall's office, just behind the door in her Animagus form. She knew McGonagall and Snape were having some sort of drink together as they began to create the correct lesson plans if anything went wrong. Rebekah stepped several feet back, readying herself to run into the office with a loud roar.
She slammed the door completely open and the roar echoed through the office. The two adults jumped up and were ready to go for their wands. Rebekah pounced and they moved out of the way. Quickly changing her form, Rebekah landed upside down on the sofa behind the adults.
Her beaming grin emphasised her laughter at their faces.
"How was that for an entrance?" Rebekah said, hooking her hands behind her neck.
"For goodness sake," McGonagall said and clasped a hand on her beating heart. "You'll give me a heart attack one day, I swear."
"Shouldn't you be in class?" Snape asked, narrowing an eye.
"Kind of, I am in my dorm, just not this time's me," Rebekah tried to make sense of time but quickly gave up. "Explaining time is hard. For me, it is about lunchtime but I went back. This week has been so boring and I've already done my homework for the next two weeks."
"Well," McGonagall said and gestured to a stack of papers. "You can mark the First year essays. Be warned, their handwriting and grammar are atrocious."
And that's what Rebekah did for the next two hours until lunch. McGonagall was right, Rebekah had to squint at some of the writing and others she couldn't read at all. Their grammar wasn't too bad but some of them needed to improve greatly.
It was painful to read some of the essays.