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'Thought'
"Speech"
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Harry Potter, only my OC(s) and some plot twists...
"I'm done, Professor…" I said, massaging my aching wrists as I walked towards where Sinistra was, working on one of the more complex telescopes in the room "Will that be all?" I asked.
I waited patiently as she continued to fiddle with the telescope, but unfortunately (well, not really) couldn't keep my eyes from wandering while I did so. My Occlumency had progressed quite well, and I was now at a stage where my memory and power of retention had improved drastically. I had even begun to reinforce my mind's defences (the Sorting Hat had already helped build the foundation, so I didn't have to start from scratch) but I hadn't reached the stage where I could actively suppress my emotions.
Oh, I could keep my expression relatively impassive on the outside, inwardly though I was waging war with myself. One of the downsides of the potion was that it seemed to have kick-started the onset of puberty to full gear. I swear I've shot up at least an inch since the tower episode, and my appetite had grown a fold as well. Though in the latter case, it might've also been because I'd taken to jogging around the Quidditch pitch every other day.
I had the perfect excuse, stating that I was aspiring towards a spot in the Quidditch team next year, though not many asked about it. I was still Mr. Undesirable-numero-uno, among my peers after all. Though I did catch some of BigB's year-mates giving me an approving look every-so-often, at breakfast. Oh get this, BigB was actually a minor character featured in the books named Roger Davies, Bob was actually a cousin of his... go figure.
As for why BigB was mad at me? Aside from getting Bob and his friends in trouble, and the loss of quite a few points… his chances with Clearwater were ruined as well (not that he had any in the first place) so naturally, he blamed me for it.
She held him accountable for his cousin's behaviour and had been quite curt with him, stating that he should have tried to dissuade him and his friends. Instead of apologizing for his cousin's actions though, the stupid pounce - how did he exactly get into Ravenclaw again? - had actually tied to brush it off as a big misunderstanding of sorts, stating that the words of us 'Firsties' shouldn't be taken so seriously, and finished with and I quote "It's just prank gone wrong" a comment that backfired horribly, for him… poor guy.
Clarifying that going to Flitwick had in fact been her idea, Clearwater had given him a look of utter contempt, and had practically ignored him ever since. I was also pretty sure that he wouldn't have the good fortune of attending the Yule Ball this time around, not with Fleur Delacour as his date at the very least.
Especially if say someone accidentally let slip and shed light on his more than callous attitude during the course of this whole ordeal… of course, taking a leaf out of Dumbles' book, it would be all in the name of 'The Greater Good!' of course.
"Very well Mr. Creevey…" Sinatra's voice brought me back to the present, she'd just finished jotting down some of her readings, whatever they were for, and was now surveying my handy work.
My detention, so to speak, had me staying behind after my Astronomy class (held once a week) for the next three weeks and helping her clean/maintain the more specialized instruments (telescopes and the like) used by the upper-year students. I additionally was also tasked with organizing and cataloguing the various charts and star sheets (homework assignments, I guess) that were strewn across her office. The room in question was situated a few floors below the top of the tower, where classes were generally held.
'Damn!' I realized to my chagrin that I'd unconsciously been checking out her pert behind all this while. Not exactly surprising since my mind (soul?) which, unlike my body, wasn't that of a pre-teen. No, what had me worried was how obvious I had been about it. Luckily, she hadn't seemed to have noticed... nevertheless, I quickly schooled my features such that - by the time she'd turned back towards me - my face was a neutral mask.
"Everything seems to be in order, so that will be all... for today" she declared, her voice not containing any of the hatred (or anger) I'd been expecting from the start. She'd treated me like just any other student and her detention(s), though not exactly fair, wasn't exactly vengeful either.
"Thank you, Professor... I guess I'll be on my way, then" I was not willing to 'test the waters' so to speak, and I thought it best to leave before I said (or did) anything stupid that set her off. It was well past midnight, and I had classes to attend tomorrow.
"A moment…" she suddenly called.
I stopped mid-stride, 'Knew it was too good to be true' I inwardly sighed as I turned around, keeping my expression mildly inquisitive "Yes Professor?" at least my squeaky voice didn't waver now.
She pointed to the table while making a show of returning to her telescope "You will find a permission slip, along with a Pepper-up potion in the first drawer, I trust you understand their uses?"
I nodded in response to the latter and had an idea for what purpose the former served. I walked to her desk (that I'd also polished without her asking) and opened the said drawer. Aside from the vial containing the said potion, under which with a folded slip of parchment lay... no doubt the permission slip that would save me from Filch should he, or anyone else from the staff, catch me on my way back to the common room.
There was also an unrolled letter, in addition, its contents not exactly discernable to me at the moment. I did, however, note that beside her signature - at the bottom of the letter - was quite the prominent blank space... helpfully underlined, just in case.
She'd no doubt left it there for a reason "I'll be heading there during Christmas break… to claim my inheritance, it'll be validated the very minute after that" I explained, or rather assured, her while discreetly slipping all of the drawer's contents into my pocket "But we can only go about annulling it once I'm of age" I grimaced at the sudden stiffening of her shoulders "I'm truly sorry about all this, I know it's unfair, but I give you my wor–"
"You will find, Mr. Creevey that I am not one to entertain - or appreciate - students lingering in my tower, any longer than necessary," she said coldly, I was sure that I must've imagined an underlying tone of dejection (or was it bitterness?) in it, "I suggest you head back to your dorm with due haste... goodnight" she simply dismissed me.
"... goodnight Professor" I repeated and calmly walked out of the room, or tried to at least. I must've been quite woozy at the time, for I thought I'd heard a barely audible sigh, escape her... just before I closed the door behind me.
Okay, someone clue me in… what the actual fuck was going on here!?
Sinistra should clearly bear at least some animosity (if not outright hate) towards me, but she'd been nothing short of politely civil. Heck, the Pepper-up and permission slip were - dare I say it - nice of her... the letter, and her subsequent change in demeanour towards the end, notwithstanding. Though I couldn't help but get the feeling that I'd somehow managed to inadvertently offend her in some way shape or form, which only added to my already amounting confusion at the entire situation.
There was also the whole thing with Luna, well... need I say any more?
Wizards and Witches were truly a fucked up bunch.
'I guess I should actually be glad that I ended up here, of all worlds...' I grinned ruefully as I made my way back to my dorm while keeping an eye out for Peeves along the way, don't know why they cut him out of all the movies, but I count it as a major bummer. The Poltergeist was a little bigger than Dobby as shown in the movies, and had a longer nose, kinda like a Tengu's. His skin was an odd pale green-yellow and he was garbed in a clown suit, which was a startling shade of blood red, while the hat and boots he adorned were a dark green.
The hat was further fitted with golden bells on each of its three tips, with his boots having one at their ends as well. So as you might expect, they let out a loud jangle collectively, whenever he whizzed about... though I knew that he was quite adept in silently sneaking up on people as well.
He was an utter menace to the lower years and more of a general annoyance to the others.
Oh, did I mention his face was generally fixed with a Grinch-worthy smile? No? Well, that was the expression he usually had on, cackling merrily as he wreaked havoc on us 'innocent' students... and Filch, he and the Poltergeist did not get along.
I wanted Peeves on my side, or at the very least I didn't want him as an enemy. He and I would have a little sit down later, but for now, I was going to avoid him and his 'pranks' in general... to the best of my abilities, anyway.
Also, in case you're wondering if aside from getting in a little more exercise, I'd been simply been letting myself go for the last month or so (I know you were, don't deny it) then let me clear a few things up:-
I was ahead in all my lessons by three chapters at least, though I didn't try to stand out too much, I was one among the top students but not the best of the lot (my O.W.L's would no doubt paint a different story) and I found out that I was actually good at Transfiguration, what are the chances eh? (Animagus form here I come!) Charms and Potions were also among my strong suits.
Herbology and Astronomy I was okay at, though I had to put in some additional effort for the former. I'd all but given up on History of Magic, the class I mean. Instead, I'd spent many a day in the Library (both in the common room and the school's) going over and learning about the laws and rules that governed those that possessed Magic.
I'd also made it a point to learn about the Ministry of Magic and also about its variants in other countries as well (just a rough overview, nothing too in-depth) I'd also learnt about the Magical Creature Laws that governed the right to ownership of exotic beasts, though just in passing. It wasn't like I was gonna go looking for a beast of some sort. My extra-curricular reading also involved learning about the various nuances, beliefs and customs practised by most Wizarding families... both old and current.
I felt it prudent to know if (or when) my words could be perceived as offensive or provocative. Also, more importantly, I'd rather not be caught unawares if (in the event) I was being disrespected, or was actively being slandered against. To put it simply, I did not want to go through what Granger did, when Malfoy Jr. insulted her by calling her the slur-word.
In case it wasn't very evident I (Timothy Horton) was a bit of a Harry Potter fan, having read (and re-read) all of the seven books several times. I'd watched all of the movies and was also relatively up to date with my lore knowledge - Pottermore, and whatnot - on the Wizarding world as well. I was ultimately able to find the RoR and the Kitchens because of it, but in the larger scope of things, I knew that my knowledge was severely lacking. So all in all, I wanted to try and learn more about the Magical world in general.
Coming back to the topic at hand, my worst subject (if you could call it that) was Defence, I'd already gotten all the previous issues of the textbooks right up to the seventh year. I bought them secondhand from a few helpful seniors, who were eager to be rid of them - they would otherwise have been simply donated to the Library since the books were, technically, 'out of syllabus' at this point - and had begun the slow process of self-studying my way through them, and trying to get the spells down right.
I found out real quick that I wouldn't get by via books alone (no doubt a certain Gryffindor would hex me for saying that) I needed a Teacher and a good one at that, since almost all the D.A.D.A. Teachers during Harry's time ('cept for Lupin, Crouch Jr. and himself actually) were absolute wastes. Okay, maybe Snape was a little better than that - I'd found to my surprise that he was actually quite civil during our Potions classes - but the bottom line was that I needed help, the likes of which I wouldn't get here.
Another fact that hindered me, was Colin's wand. I don't really know how to describe it but using it felt… wrong, it was still warm to the touch but wasn't the same as before.
It worked alright for Transfiguration and Charms, though it felt quite awkward and uncooperative, and I still managed to get the required results. I barely needed it in the other subjects, but when it came to Defence I basically had to put in twice the amount of time to get it down and in my opinion, wasted a lot of Mana (it's the unit I'm using as a measure to my magic reserve) in the process.
My struggles with my wandwork brought forth an unexpected benefit though, as it helped me get a better sense and feel for Magic. I'd naturally tried to fine-tune it and ended up with a lesser equivalent of the famed 'Spidey-sense', only it'd be more prudent to call it 'Mage-sense' in my case I guess.
Basically, I was now able to detect magical signatures, to the point that I could tell if there was someone in close proximity around me. However, I could neither identify their potency (how strong a particular individual, or how dangerous a particular spell was) nor pinpoint their location if they were outside (roughly) a two-meter radius around me.
For the past week, however, I'd been solely focusing on a single spell, one that was primarily featured during Harry's third year. Yeah, I'm talking about the Patronus charm. But all I could manage after weeks of practice, and having to continually drain out my Mana reserve, was a thin sheen of white fog.
Let me re-iterate, I was nowhere near finished with my second (or for that matter first) year spellwork yet. I just wanted to ensure that I - at the very least - was able to form a non-corporeal shield in preparation for when, as ol' Dumbles put it "Hogwarts would play 'host' to the Dementors of Azkaban" in the coming year.
But if things carried on in such a manner, and I had the grave misfortune of meeting one when on my own, then I might as well put up a sign on my forehead saying "Come and get it!" instead.
Granted, I could avoid that scenario by simply adhering to the rules, but where was the fun in that!? Okay fine, the more reasonable reason I was hoping to get this down was that one's Patronus and Animagus form were generally the same, or similar… according to the fanfics I've read, at least.
Those would have to take a back seat for now.
Naturally, Ollivanders was added to my list of places I had to visit during the Christmas hols, the first being Gringotts of course. But before all that, I had quite the daunting task of meeting Colin's family. His father, as mentioned in the books, was a Milkman who was usually out working for most of the day. His Mother had unfortunately passed on, shortly after giving birth to his brother Dennis. The two siblings had basically been brought up by the kind - though slightly scatterbrained - man and the family of three were quite close-knit.
I held little to no hope that I'd be able to pull off the character of 'loving son and elder brother' but had vowed to try nevertheless. I felt that I more than owed it to the kid, and the family as a whole. Letters had - thankfully - been sporadic, given that they could only reply to my owls, I'd made up an excuse stating that students could only use the school owls a few times each month.
I was positively dreading the Christmas holidays... yes, the change in demeanour could be explained and rationalized away, to an extent. But pair that with my appearance - which had steadily undergone a notable change over the weeks - and I could easily pass myself on as a different person altogether!
In other words, the potion's effectiveness (and extent) had become all the more evident now. Colin's curly 'mousy' hair was a lot more wavy and darker now. His eyes had initially been a bright shade of blue, but my eyes were a much darker tone with flecks of black around the irises.
There was only so much I could explain away as a simple growth spurt 'Talk about a pain in the ass…" I grumbled, even if his father didn't take note of the changes, his brother Dennis surely would.
I shook my head and let out a sigh, suddenly craving a steaming cup of coffee. A glance at the pocket watch, which I'd found in one of the many unused classrooms during an earlier exploration excursion - Luna had helpfully instructed me on how to decipher it, but I still found it fairly tedious - showed that it was already past three in the morning.
'I have the Pepper-up so… Kitchens here I come!' after which, I promptly changed directions.
And no, before you get any ideas... I'd like to clarify that despite the growth spurt, I wasn't even remotely close to the six feet category. I was - in all respects - barely over the average height class for my age, and I for one didn't care for it in any case.
Flitwick wasn't exactly tall, was he? Yet, it was a well-known fact that he was quite the powerhouse. So I figured I should strive for something along the same lines: unassuming, easily dismissable... but not to be crossed.
Let me put it his way, the most venomous snake in the mundane world isn't the King Cobra, but the Eastern Brown.
You've never heard of the latter? Well, my point exactly...
It's funny (and kinda ironic) that my mind had brought up the topic of snakes just then. I was just at the head of the stairs, leading down to the first floor when suddenly... I heard a low, raspy but hauntingly familiar voice, echo in my ear.
§... finallyyy… iss almossst timee... to kill...§
I froze.
I stood there for a few seconds, and then did the most logical thing one would expect from anyone in my position. I hightailed the fuck outta there as fast as my skinny little legs would carry me, resolving to remain in the Kitchens until breakfast.
On a side note: the 'Potion' hadn't only changed my appearance, perception and (probably) my blood status, it would seem… there seemed to be a few 'abilities' added in as well, as I'd just found out.
'What. The. Actual. Fuck!?' it was thanks to my Occlumency exercises that I was able to quickly calm myself down to an extent, that I could mull over the facts objectively at least 'Looks like Harry and Voldy aren't the only Parselmouths in the country anymore' I reasoned.
I should've expected this, what with all the snake references and all... but here I was, shaken nonetheless.
I sighed, coffee wouldn't cut it. I briefly wondered if the House-elves would give me something stronger if I asked nicely, I certainly hoped so.
'Should probably also check to see if the rooster I'd asked them to look after is still kicking, while I'm at it' I stopped in front of a particular portrait and tickled one of the pears. Halloween was just a few weeks away… but me being a Parslemouth changed things, heck it changed everything!
Just in case, to clear things up...
§ Parsletongue §
With this, you've reached the end of the chapter!
As always, reviews and/or suggestions are welcome and appreciated, as is constructive criticism, though any and all flames will be ignored.
Until next time...
BerserkSpectre out
