Chapter 6: Troll or Treat!
Disclaimer: You know the drill; I don't own anything related to Bioshock or Harry Potter
Edited 25/02/2017: Made a minor change to fix a small section thanks to a reviewers input. Thanks for the observation
Note: Not around this weekend or the next so I'm going to be uploading this chapter early and the other one will be postponed a week. See note at end of the chapter
It did not take long for the Potions explosion to spread around the school.
And by not long... the entire school knew before dinner.
Elizabeth already knew she was going to get into some sort of trouble for it. She had acted completely unprofessional, destroyed a door and completely ran roughshod over Snape's authority.
She didn't care. She'd do it again in a heartbeat. What he had done was petty and wasn't right in the slightest. If that meant that he forcibly had to remove her from the class to make sure she didn't get involved, then so be it. "One week and you're already causing trouble." Bathsheda joked at dinner, the two sat at the end of the staff Table with Snape sitting at the opposite end, there was a dislike in his look but not hatred, something more akin to curiosity and pensiveness that made Elizabeth frown. He seemed too calm for what had happened.
"I did what needed to be done." She said abruptly, focusing on her food.
"You stood up for your students. a teacher... or an assistant shouldn't do any less." Bathsheda responded politely. "Though, tact may be better for the future, it doesn't do to undermine a Professor's authority in front of the students."
"If you think I'm going to let him get away with bullying other people." She started but Bathsheda held a hand up to stop her.
"I don't want you to stop that, to be honest the staff here have given him too much slack for way too long." Bathsheda sighed, pushing the food on her plate around with her fork, "Just think about it though, there is a time and a place for words to be spoken by people in authority." She said quietly and Elizabeth huffed, looking away from Bathsheda. She may have had a point. It didn't mean she had to like it.
Through the next couple of days, she heard people talking about her, rumours circulating about the argument even some going so far as to say she had duelled Snape after he had kicked everyone out. Which was crazy because she knew that she'd have lost in a heartbeat if that had come around. She could fight, but not with magic. And even then, she wasn't trained to fight, they were just instincts she had picked up on in the escape from Columbia and then...
She kicked those thoughts away, not wanting to dwell on what had been happening in the past. Here and now, that is where she was, here and now is where she was going to stay. There was one light in all of this. The Weasley Twins, notorious pranksters had spoken up, greatly impressed by her confronting Snape. Now referring to her as Queen Elizabeth when they saw her. She had laughed and that was all the encouragement she needed to give them for it to continue. So now, she found herself sat at the Gryffindor Table, one Friday evening, listening to the twins talk about some of their escapades, from a purely hypothetical stand point of course. They couldn't admit to what they were doing in front of a teacher now, could they?
She had sat at their table in the evening for the last two days, beginning to talk to other houses and interact more with the students. It was fun, they were all very suspicious at first, a teacher sitting at the student tables? It just wasn't done. Hermione had been insistent that it was against the rules but when she pointed out she wasn't an actual Professor but an assistant while studying to pay her way, it had cut the argument off. But she was looking forward to tomorrow, she thought as she finished her food.
Tomorrow was the first day truly free, she had caught up in the grading of the First Year classes, thankfully they were relatively short essays and she had been given strict guidelines on how to mark them. She also had noticed a pattern. Ravenclaw was nearly consistently highest in marks on the homework, they put a lot of effort into their work and generally had evidence and quotes in the essays to back them all up. She definitely knew the older students were helping them with the homework but at the same time, she was fine with that, after all, it showed strength of character to both ask for help with something instead of stumbling through in confusion and it was a good show of character to help those who needed help. Hufflepuff were another good example of this, they had good grades but there were more variations, they put a lot of effort into it but some of the information they supplied was just off the margin in places. Still a good handle of the basics. Slytherin were a strange bunch. the girls seemed to have the strongest application in the theory side of things and the boys seemed to struggle, it had been... interesting to say the least to decipher what Crabbe and Goyle had written. Finally, but not least were Gryffindor, again like Slytherin the division seemed to be down to gender, the boys almost to a whole were doing what felt like the bare minimum, just enough to scrape a non-failing grade and that was it. The girls were putting in effort on their homework but even then they were lacking in some of the basic aspects. The only one that blew it clear out of the water was Hermione but she had a different problem.
She wrote too much.
Her essays were coming in almost double in length to what was asked. Elizabeth had honestly tuned it out after reading up to the length required for the essay, she had covered the topic at hand and then to try and gain extra credit she had covered more obscure and totally irrelevant topics. She brought her thoughts back to the present time, looking at Hermione as she talked animatedly with another Gryffindor, Pavarti if Elizabeth recalled correctly, the twin sister of Padma. "Hermione, can I speak to you after dinner?" Elizabeth spoke softly and Hermione looked at her, eyes wide in concern before she steeled herself and nodded her head.
"Looks like little miss know it all is in trouble." Ron half mocked, half teased and Elizabeth turned to him giving him a piercing look.
"No one is in trouble Ron... though you might be if I have to grade one more paper like the last one you handed in." She retorted and Ron turned red, ducking his head. Elizabeth reached over, messing his hair slightly much to his chagrin. "It's fine Ron, I know not everyone is academic, but please could you put a bit more effort into it? I know it's not the most interesting thing but it'll help down the line." She said politely and happily to him. The redness in his face deepened and he nodded his head, not looking her in the eyes.
"Looks like ickle Ronniekins has a bit of a crush on the Queen." Fred... or was it George chimed in.
"Though who could blame him after how she went after Snape, ahh, if only you were here when we first started." The other twin stated wistfully, brushing away a fake tear. "So many things could have been different." He continued jokingly.
"I don't want to talk about that right now." Elizabeth said, blushing at the praise. "But I won't stand for bullies like that." She added carefully, she had taken Bathsheda's words to heart in a way, she wasn't going to go chew him out nor was she going to belittle him in front of the students but she wasn't going to avoid calling a horse a horse. He was a bully and she wouldn't deny that.
"It's a shame you weren't there during our class." Ron muttered and Elizabeth looked at him. "I lost ten points for 'breathing heavily' and Susan Bones lost five for talking to her partner about the potion they were making." Ron explained and Elizabeth frowned, it looked to her that Snape was taking out his aggression elsewhere instead of on Harry at the moment.
"My schedule changes week to week, I'm more with the Ravenclaw classes at the moment but next week I'm in more Hufflepuff classes." She explained, it was a simple attempt to balance who she was interacting with.
"When are you going to be with Gryffindor?" Hermione asked curiously, she had mixed feelings about the woman, she had spoken against books that she had read, dismissing them without reading what they had said but she was a person in a position of authority and seemed to have a level head on her.
"I'm going to be with your schedule in a couple of weeks, it's going to be interesting." She said with a smile. Dinner continued with idle chatter and Elizabeth sat listening to it, adding her own thoughts in if she was asked but otherwise content to just sit and listen. She learnt a few interesting things about the Weasleys that evening and her mind went back to the letter that she had received the night before from Narcissa Malfoy.
It is not that we are against Muggleborns and Half-bloods.
The letter had started after the usual pleasantries that were exchanged with letters. Everything she had heard when the Malfoy family was mentioned was that Dark Magic and Evil actions followed them as a black cloud over their head. The intense hatred that was alleged to follow them against the Muggleborns and Half-bloods but so far she had yet to see any of that in the Malfoy heir.
The division has always been there, tradition and old families having more powers than those who were new to the wizarding world.
Elizabeth had thought about that; the Magical World was very Victorian in its attitude to the world which did have a focus on Nobility and an Upper-Class society and then the people on the rungs below. It was those with money making the rules and keeping themselves in power. It was an inherently corrupt philosophy that created nothing but animosity and hatred, it had happened in the past, it would happen again. It always happened. You could not oppress a whole sect of people without the chance that they would stand up and say that enough was enough. The Vox had proven that with Columbia, nearly burning it all to the ground in their effort to fight the people who had oppressed them.
The fact that they had started after Elizabeth even before they had claimed Columbia just because of who she was had been enough to prove that they were less trying to be freedom fighters and more trying to just fight for the sake of fighting. She closed her eyes, sighing as she remembered it, so much death, so many innocents caught in the crossfire.
The problem arose when they refused to learn the culture that they were moving into.
Again, it was something that Elizabeth could understand from a certain point of view, a large group of people who were essentially migrating into a new society who refused to adapt to a locations custom. That would be seen not only as disrespectful and downright rude but it would also be one of the most dangerous situations that could come about, a large group that felt threatened by a new force would not be willing to stand by and let them get away with trying to tear out the very foundation that they had built from underneath them.
With the lack of a Culture class in the school, they think they have no need to learn how the Wizarding World works. I will not lie and claim there is no bias because there is. It is how all societies have worked and most probably will work for the future generations, there will always be bias created by those in a position of power to further empower their associates and those that fall in their social structure. But this dissention brings hatred and with hatred it brings conflict.
A conflict that killed hundreds of wizards and witches, wiped out entire magical families and killed who knows how many non-magical people. Elizabeth could tell the pain that had been brought about by that conflict, it lingered now, eleven years later and the underlying tension was there for anyone that had any inclination on this to see.
The Purebloods, the Old Families were hit just as hard in the war and in the aftermath the power struggle has increased on the political scale, the Half-bloods and the Muggleborns along with some more of what would be dubbed as the 'Light' side of the wizarding world are trying to change too much, too fast without any thought as to the instability that they would bring. With this brings more animosity and yet another cycle of hatred.
Narcissa had laid it on in the explanation, the fact that she could see the cycle that was happening, a war with a quiet aftermath that started almost immediately bringing in the hatred for the next cycle. Something was going to come up about this but the question was what and by who.
The Dark Lord did many repulsive actions there is no denying that but at the same time, he controlled a lot of the old families, ones whose powers and influence had waned over the years, bringing them under the thumb with either promises of reform and dominance over the Half-bloods and the Muggleborns but they were not the only ones that made up his ranks. He also had people of both kinds in his group, his Pureblood rhetoric was more for the masses to rally behind but he valued Magical Power and initiative. He had a way with words that could cause doubt to anyone who stood against him. And those that did, either ended up dead or under his control through magical means.
The books hadn't mentioned anything about that. Elizabeth wracked her brain trying to think of how the books had not covered Muggleborn and Half-blood wizards and witches joining Voldemort, but there was the old saying, History was written by the winners and didn't they win the conflict? She knew that the history would say whatever they had wanted to be told as the truth because their one main opposition was in hiding and anyone that spoke against it would show that they were not on the 'right' side of the conflict.
There are families like the Weasleys, once noble and well respected that had fallen on hard times financially have always been a light sided family but until this most recent situation they were still Pureblood. Now their beliefs have switched and they are focusing on being more inclined to push pro Muggleborn agendas without thinking of the effects that it will bring. In recent years Muggles have created weapons that are able to kill Millions in the blink of an eye. They have in the last one hundred years fought in two wars that left the death toll in the millions! combined, their battles have taken more lives than the wizarding world has population. This is why we are concerned about the Muggles learning about our world through their children, this is why we press more to stop the increasing influence. The balance that exists could shift so dramatically and it could cause something so damaging and so chaotic that it could end the Wizarding World.
There was an honesty in that statement. Elizabeth couldn't deny that in the slightest, she knew that people would take advantage of something if they could. They could cause conflicts that would destroy anything. The fear was real and there was a basis in history for it. The Salem Witch Trials were a prime example of it. People burnt at the stake for crimes of being a Witch. It was likely that it would happen again if they found the truth, if they didn't try to force them to do their bidding. It was probably for the best at least for now to keep the worlds separate.
With your permission, I would like to investigate into your family, I mean this as no disrespect but I am curious about how the American Wizarding Society has changed and I am curious as to whether or not we can find any traces of your family.
This was the million-dollar question and statement. Did she let Narcissa look into her history? It wouldn't add up if she did, there was gaps stemming from her disappearance and there was also the fact that she wasn't from here. The evidence that she found could be damaging if she wasn't careful. With these thoughts though, dinner finished, the food disappearing and the students were moving to head off and do their own things before the Curfew set in. Elizabeth looked at Hermione, "Shall we have our little talk?" Elizabeth asked kindly as the two stood, walking with the masses and breaking away from the group on the first floor into an unused classroom.
"What did you want to speak to me about?" Hermione asked hesitantly as Elizabeth sat on the edge of the Teacher's desk, looking around at the dust that layered the room. This was an old classroom, one that hadn't seen use in a very long time, she wondered what it had been used for before.
"I need to talk to you about your homework... and something else." She said bringing her attention back to the fuzzy haired girl.
"My homework?" She asked, wide eyed. "Is something wrong with it? I can redo it! I can do it better." She spoke quickly almost pleadingly and Elizabeth held her hand up to stop the girl from panicking.
"No Hermione, it's not that, far from it in fact, your writing has been fantastic, the effort you've put into it has been excellent and you've shown an understanding that surprises me." Elizabeth spoke, avoiding mentioning the fact that if it wasn't for the fact she had the answer guidelines to use for the homework she'd probably be completely lost with it. "The only problem is the quantity of it." She spoke softly. "It pains me to say this, because I don't want to make you sad, I don't want you to lose hope and give up on what you're doing but I need you to understand something." She pushed off the desk, walking forward and kneeling in front of Hermione, bringing herself down to a more even height. "You need to cut back on it slightly, the ones you've handed in are almost double the requested work that has been assigned. This isn't bad in a way, you show your knowledge and you cite sources. But it's too much with unneeded excess information. That can be used against you in grading. Diverging off topic to things that haven't been covered could come back to give you negative marks." She paused, trying to think of a joke to break the tension but the only one she could think of would make Elizabeth sound lazy. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" She asked and Hermione nodded slowly.
"I'll try and cut back on how much I write... I just wanted to make sure I covered everything," she spoke quietly and Elizabeth smiled.
"That's fine sweetie, but make sure you stay focused, it's the only thing I can really say against anything you write, you're currently the top at every bit of homework you've handed in." Elizabeth comforted, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But tell me something Hermione, are you happy here?" Elizabeth asked and Hermione looked confused. "I was asked to speak to you about this by Professor Sprout, she noticed you don't seem to be interacting much with the other students." Hermione let her shoulders slump in resignation as she heard this. Was she that transparent?
"I thought things here would be different." Hermione said sadly.
"What's wrong Hermione?" Elizabeth asked patiently.
"No one likes me, you heard Ron at Dinner, he's the only one that speaks so loudly and publicly but he's always calling me a Know It All because I answer questions and know the work and do the work. The others avoid me or barely talk to me but I hear the whispers." She said, tears starting to well up in her eyes as she begun recounting everything she heard. Elizabeth, still kneeling in front of Hermione pulled her into a hug as the girl broke down into tears.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Elizabeth asked, rubbing Hermione's back soothingly as she continued to cry.
"Because no one would listen, no one cares. I'm just a Muggleborn bookworm." Hermione choked out and Elizabeth pulled her back to look her in the eyes.
"Hermione Granger, don't talk about yourself that way. If you need someone to talk to, find me." She said and Hermione stared at her in surprise. "What you're doing is admirable, why you weren't sorted into Ravenclaw with how much you want to know things I have no idea. You'd fit in so well with them." She explained and Hermione ducked her head. It was one thing that she had wondered over the month that she had observed the first years. Hermione was brilliant with a mind for facts and details, even if she did lack the ability to put it into practice in regards to social skills. But there had to be a reason that she was in Gryffindor surely? It's not like the hat would just put her into a house that she was completely unsuited for just because she asked… though that in and of itself showed a form of bravery, to go against what your perceived nature is.
"I demanded Gryffindor... I heard that Dumbledore had been in there and wanted to be sorted there as well. It tried to talk me out of it." Hermione admitted and Elizabeth nodded her head in understanding.
"You look up to him, don't you?"
"How can I not? he's the leader of the light." Hermione said excitedly. "He's done so much for the Wizarding World, he defeated Grindelwald, he's always working to improve Muggleborn and Half-blood rights in the Wizengamot." Hermione declared and Elizabeth smiled again.
"I haven't had much chance to talk with him yet. He's always busy in his office." Elizabeth admitted and then turned serious again as she looked at Hermione. "Promise me Hermione, if you feel things are getting too hard to handle, you'll come and find me, speak to me and I'll help you. You don't have to worry about me running off to the other professors to deal with the situation, you won't have to worry about me punishing them unless you want me to." She suggested. "You can't keep this bottled up, it'll break out and with magic, that could happen in a number of different ways... I think... possibly, I haven't fully read into that yet." She admitted and Hermione laughed, hiccupping slightly as she tried to get her tears under control. "Is that a promise?" She asked and the girl nodded.
"I promise." Hermione muttered and Elizabeth stood back up.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She said comfortingly, leading Hermione out of the room, making their way to the nearest girl's bathroom. "So you must be looking forward to the flying lesson tomorrow." Elizabeth said happily, trying to cheer the girl up, it was Elizabeth's day off because the classes were an all-day thing, half of it taken up by Gryffindor and Slytherin, the other half taken by Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and she had thankfully not been required to attend the lesson. She had been toying with going to watch but decided against it for now. If she went, no doubt they'd try and rope her into trying to fly. Tempting but she was starting to like having her feet on solid ground.
"Not really... I'm scared I'll fall. And we have the Slytherin's and they'll no doubt try something. Malfoy keeps trying to make fun of me when he sees me." Hermione said and Elizabeth frowned slightly. She wasn't the first that Elizabeth had heard about Malfoy mocking but he was always quiet or polite when she was around. She'd have a talk with him later, without naming any names and see what he had to say. She snapped at Snape, a child was not going to scare her. She had faced down a war and no child was going to suffer if she could help it.
Harry woke the next morning, eager to start his day, he had Flying today, he was looking forward to it more than almost anything in the magical world. He had to wait till the afternoon but until that time he was free to do what he wanted to do. He walked out of the dorm, heading down to breakfast, making his way towards a different table, not completely ignoring the Ravenclaws, he waved at his friends as he walked by and made his way over to the Hufflepuff table. "Mind if I sit here?" He asked, looking at the red headed first year that was sitting near the end of the table talking to a blonde-haired girl.
"Sure, we don't mind." They said after a moment's thought, smiling at him as he sat opposite them.
"If I remember correctly its Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot, isn't it?" Harry questioned and they nodded. "Looking forward to Flying later?" Harry asked as he started helping himself to breakfast.
"I am, Susan's not, she's never liked flying." Hannah spoke with a smirk at the other girl.
"Oh? I'm sensing a story here." Harry said jokingly and Susan looked at Hannah.
"Don't you dare." Susan said with a warning edge to her tone. "Don't you dare tell him." She repeated and Hannah laughed.
"I'm sorry Harry, I'm sworn to secrecy on that." She said and Harry nodded his head in acceptance.
"Fine, fine, I know when not to push. But still, I'm looking forward to it, never flown before but that feeling of freedom people must get has to be nice." Harry spoke wistfully, his thoughts drifting towards the future and the lesson. He was feeling slightly nervous, the fact that he had never flown before was gnawing at the back of his mind but he didn't want to dwell on it. Stay positive, with the Hufflepuffs there he wasn't going to get mocked about it like he would if he had been with the Slytherins.
Mentioning the Slytherins he could hear Draco talking up his flying skills to anyone that would listen. "I've always been a good flyer, I remember when I was eight, I ended up going a bit far out and had to flee as I was chased by a Muggle Helicopter, I almost hit it when it came out of nowhere." Draco bragged, continuing on about how he was chased for miles as he tried to get away from it.
"If that's true, you're not really that observant." Another Hufflepuff first year called out, Ernie MacMillan if Harry remembered correctly criticized. "Muggle Helicopters are not only big they're loud. You should have heard it long before you saw it. And do you really want to admit to breaking the statue of Secrecy in front of so many witnesses?" He followed up and Draco, caught flat footed, closed his mouth and sat down to continue eating to the snickers of some of the students.
"The joys of bragging. He reminds me of my cousin in a way." Harry said, his head tilting as he thought about Dudley with Draco's blonde hair... and then pictured Draco with Dudley's body mass. Both thoughts were amusing to him as he chuckled.
"I think he's crazy." Hannah stage whispered to Susan, the two girls giggling as he was brought out of his thoughts.
"What was that?" He asked.
"Nothing Harry." The two said simultaneously, "so what brings you to the Hufflepuff Table?"
"I'm taking a page from Elizabeth's book." He said, gesturing over to the Gryffindor table where Elizabeth was sitting again, talking to a couple of older girls about something that he couldn't quite make out. "I want to meet people, to talk about things I don't know and learn new things. How can I do that if I talk to the same people every day?" He asked as he looked around the table. "Like Ernie," he started, the boy in question looking at Harry in confusion, "I know his name, I know nothing about him, Ernie, what do your parents do?" He asked a random question, truthfully the first one that came to mind.
"My Dad works with the company that supplies Butter beer to the UK. He's a researcher there." Ernie explained with a smile. "My mum chose to stay at home instead of working, looking after my kid sister." He explained and Harry turned back to Susan.
"See this is what I mean, I've not only learnt something new, but two new things." He said cheekily, "well actually three come to think of it. But I wanted to talk to others, since Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw don't really have any classes together I just wanted to meet some of you." He finished.
"Well you're welcome to the Hufflepuff table anytime Harry." Susan said politely. "What do you have planned for the morning?" She asked and Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"I haven't got anything planned, I was thinking of going to the Library but I'm up to date on my homework so I don't have anything in particular I need to look at." Harry explained, rambling slightly as he did.
"So in other words, no plans." Susan teased.
"That's what I said wasn't it?" He asked and rolled his eyes.
"We're going to take a walk around the grounds, the weathers only going to get worse and we haven't had the chance to look around properly yet. Want to join us?" Hannah asked and Harry nodded his head.
"Sure, it's something to do." Harry responded politely and the breakfast passed into polite chatter about the work they had been doing for the past month. With breakfast finished, they stood up and made their way out onto the School grounds, walking in a direction that was chosen purely by random they wandered, making sure to keep an eye on both the time and that they didn't go out of bounds. "So what do your parents do?" Harry asked, going with the same question he had asked Ernie. It was normally a relatively safe question but the looks that were shared between the two girls he realised that he had hit a sore spot. "I'm sorry if the question was something painful."
"It's fine, you couldn't know, I mean how could you, not raised in the Magical World." Susan spoke, slightly tense as she did. "My parent's died during the last war with You-Know-Who." Susan explained, her voice going quiet as she thought about it. "I don't really remember much about it. Just that they were killed in Diagon Alley. I live with my Aunt," Susan told Harry, smiling as she thought about her aunt. "Amelia Bones, head of the department of Law Enforcement in the Ministry, so many people are scared of her reputation but she's a really nice person." Susan explained and Harry nodded his head in agreement, well as much as he could agree without having actually met the woman.
"My mum works at St Mungo's." Hannah said, chiming into the conversation. "She's a Mediwitch there." She pointed out and seeing Harry's confused look, "St Mungo's is the Magical Hospital for the UK, there are smaller places that's help treat Wizards and Witches but with any serious problem, you go there." The three continued their walk, with Hannah telling Harry about some of the more unique cases that her mother had dealt with. Including a man whose spell had backfired and left him growing shrubbery out of his ears. Magical Maladies could definitely be interesting. They continued talking for a little while walking around the lake and making their way back in to the school, heading to their separate house tables, Harry dropping into a seat next to Terry who gave him a mocking look of betrayal.
"The Hufflepuff in the guise of a Ravenclaw, so nice of you to re-join us." He teased and Harry laughed, shoving him slightly as he poured himself a drink, "ready for flying lessons?" He asked.
"I'm ready, slightly nervous though, never been on a broom before, the only one I've ever used has been to sweep." He explained and Terry nodded in understanding.
"Maybe so, but you don't have much to worry about, you're not going to be held to any standards, Neville is a pureblood but he didn't do too well in his lesson." Terry reasoned.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard the Gryffindors talking about it... and the Slytherins laughing about it. Neville apparently fell off his broom, breaking his wrist. Poor guy, just doesn't seem to catch a break."
"So that's what they're sniggering about." Su Li muttered looking over at the Slytherin table to see them laughing about something, Draco and Blaize making grand gestures but keeping their voices down. "I suppose it's good we're with the Hufflepuffs, they probably won't mock us if we mess up." She said and Harry quietly agreed. A new, greater sense of dread sinking in. If someone who had been raised around magic could fall off and injure himself, then surely anyone could. He pushed the thought away, he wasn't going to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy by working himself into a panic. If it happened, it happened, he'd deal with it when he was there.
For now, focus on the more positive thing.
He was about to do what every book and movie in the muggle world tried to point out was a cliché, he was going to fly on a magical broomstick.
Elizabeth sat in Flitwick's office, the two talking about how she was coping with everything so far. "It's not been a problem so far; I'm learning the magic easily enough and heaven knows I'm having the theory drilled into me with every homework assignment I mark." She said, taking a sip of her cup of tea, looking out the window which gave a clear view of the Flying area. She was avoiding going down in case she had to participate, but she was enjoying watching the students in action. Many of them did seem quite talented though her heart nearly jumped out of her chest with shock at the sight of Neville falling but Flitwick had assured her that Madam Hooch would be able to take care of the situation and any injury could be fixed quickly in the Medical Wing.
"I can assure you, it'll pick up in the coming months." Flitwick forewarned and Elizabeth smiled.
"At the moment it's only one year that I'm having to deal with, it's been quite easy, the lot of them are quite consistent in their work, some more on a negative but they're still consistent, the only one I've had to speak to though has been Hermione." She said and that got a raised eyebrow from Flitwick.
"Miss Granger? I'm surprised at that; she seems like she knows what she is doing." Flitwick commented.
"She does know, she knows it very well, don't take me the wrong way, her work is probably the best of the bunch, she just does too much." Elizabeth explained and Flitwick chuckled as he begun to understand the situation.
"Yes, her work is a bit above what everyone else hands in. I hope you didn't crush her drive though." He added seriously and Elizabeth quickly shook her head, her hair flicking in front of her face slightly as she did. She brushed her hair back, readjusting the hair tie that she used to tie it back.
"No, not at all, I tried to encourage her but I also reminded her that there were limits, she could be marked down in the future for going completely over the target if she's not careful. Sometimes there is too much of a good thing." She explained and Flitwick nodded.
"That's good, she has her heart in the right place." He agreed, looking out the window to see how the Ravenclaw flying lesson was going. Elizabeth followed his gaze. "Oh my." He squeaked in surprise jumping up and dashing for the door, Elizabeth following after.
Harry and the group had been having a good lesson so far, things had gone smoothly and they were now practicing flying in the air and performing laps around the lake, he may have been going a bit faster than the others, but the freedom to be in the air just felt so right to him. Madam Hooch had even commented that if she hadn't known any better than she was sure he was lying about being on a broom for the first time today.
Harry drifted away from the class, gravitating towards the Quidditch pitch, his mind bringing up day dreams of playing in front of everyone, hearing the crowd chanting his name as he won. His day dreams were cut short though at the sounds of scared shouting trying to get his attention.
"LOOK OUT THE BLUDGER IS LOOSE!" A voice shouted and Harry snapped to attention, looking in the direction of the shout, a large black ball flying straight at him. With instinct he twisted on the broom, spinning it around, the bludger shooting over him and continuing on the way. He looked around as the person who had shouted quickly rushed by him and headed towards the area he had drifted from.
It was heading straight to the flying lesson.
Harry twisted the broom around, urging it to head straight for the class, he didn't know if he could do anything to help but he wasn't going to let someone get hurt if he could avoid it. He could already hear panicked sounds, he leant forwards urging the broom to go faster. He could see Madam Hooch trying to usher students to the ground, some of them already moving but others slow to react. The other student, the one who had warned him had already arrived and was doing his best to keep the bludger away. Harry arrived, Susan was on her way down as the Bludger veered past the older student, aiming at her. She turned, trying to move out the way and that stopped her from being hit,
But not her broom. The Bludger smashed through the front of it breaking it and sending her spinning. The girl who was already nervous on the broom screamed as she lost her grip, slipping off the broom. Harry dropped into a dive, reaching for her hand as she fell, she saw him coming her hand brushing against his as he pushed forward, sliding forwards onto the broom, his hand clasping hers, his other gripping the broom, pulling it up, slowing her decent as much as he could as they neared the ground. He could hear the whizzing of the bludger as it seemed to sense the awkward situation they were in and shot back at them. He looked to the ground, they were almost close enough now, the bludger was closing in and he twisted, still holding onto Susan as he slipped around the broom, holding on from underneath with his legs and one hand, grimacing in pain as he felt something click, his hand that held Susan burning in pain as he struggled to hold on.
They dropped the last bit, the tell-tale sound of the Bludger coming back again, when he was completely defenceless, Harry braced himself knowing it was going to hit him this time with no chance to avoid with how he was hanging to the broom.
"BOMBARDA!" Flitwick shouted from the ground, firing off a spell that hit the Bludger, detonating it, sending fragments of leather in various directions as Harry and Susan landed, Harry letting go of her hand and dropping to the floor, clutching his shoulder.
"Harry." Elizabeth called running over to him and helping him sit up, taking care to support the arm that he was holding. "Are you okay?" She asked in concern as he looked at her and smiled slightly, wincing in pain.
"Ow, that hurt, that really hurt." He muttered looking towards Susan who had gone pale as anything.
"I'm so sorry Harry," Susan said moving over to him and kneeling in front of him.
"Why are you apologising?" Harry asked in confusion as Elizabeth continued to examine his shoulder. "It's not like you released the bludger." He added and then smiled slyly. "Or did you do it just to have me save you?" He added teasingly and then hissed in pain as he laughed, "bad idea." He cringed, gripping his shoulder again.
"You prat." Susan laughed, leaning forward, messing his hair slightly before hugging him. "Thank you Harry, I owe you." She whispered to him before pulling back.
"You owe me nothing Susan," Harry replied but she just shook her head pushing herself back to her feet and moving away as Flitwick walked over.
"That was very impressive what you did Mr Potter." Flitwick spoke and Harry remained silent. "Your father would be proud as would your mother." He added, not as a dismissal of Harry's mother but to reinforce the fact that they would both have been happy with how he had acted in the crisis. "For saving another student from serious injury at risk to your own health, I award you thirty points." He said and gestured with his wand, a sling appearing around his arm supporting it as Elizabeth helped him get back to his feet.
"Harry!" Terry called, running over to him from where he had been standing along with the majority of the class. "That was incredible what you did, I thought you'd never been on a broom before!" Terry called out, looking at the raven haired boy-who-lived. "That dive, that save, there are professional Quidditch Players that would struggle to make moves like that!" Terry said and Flitwick nodded in agreement.
"You've definitely inherited your father's talent with a broom Mr Potter." Flitwick said happily, "Would you follow me please? I have an idea." He asked and Harry, glancing at Elizabeth nodded his head, following his head of house, keeping a pace that was equivalent to Flitwick's. "The Quidditch teams generally don't do something like this but I've been talking about it for the last several years now. I've always believed that we should have a reserve set of players, Students to train with the House Teams so they can substitute in when players are injured or if the game goes on for too long to let others rest. But we just haven't had those with the ability or the drive to do the training if there has been only a small chance to play. But you have potential, a lot of potential and natural skill." Flitwick continued, praising what he had seen when he had run to the grounds.
Harry followed numbly behind, half listening and half focusing on the pain in his shoulder, knowing it should be quick enough to fix if Flitwick wasn't rushing him to the hospital wing. "You want me to be on the Quidditch Team?" Harry asked and Flitwick looked back and nodded.
"We don't have any open spaces at the moment, but as a reserve you will more than likely get to play and I would like to see Ravenclaw with the Trophy in its hands." He said as they stopped at a door to a classroom, one Harry hadn't been to before. "Wait here a second Mr Potter." He said and knocked on the door.
"Enter." A voice Harry didn't recognise spoke up. Flitwick opened the door and looked in.
"Professor Vector, could I borrow Roger Davies for a few moments." Flitwick spoke and after a confirmation, the teen that he had called for walked out of the room. He looked at the three that were here, Flitwick, his head of House, the new Assistant Elizabeth who was busy watching Harry like a hawk, concern obvious on her features and Harry Potter, his arm currently in a sling looking pained but excited about something.
"What do you need Professor?" He asked respectfully and Flitwick gestured to Harry.
"I have found you a reserve Seeker." Flitwick spoke and Roger Davies looked confused.
"A reserve seeker?" He asked looking at Harry. "I mean he is the right build for it but why a reserve Seeker?"
"As a first year he's technically not allowed to own a broom and I know that the team has already recruited for the new year. I do not wish to take Ms Chang's position away from her that she earned. I witnessed Mr Potter save the life of another student after a bludger escaped and almost injured several students out on their first flying lesson." He explained, a look of shock on Rogers face at the potential disaster that had happened made the teen re-evaluate Harry. "After performing a successful dive he managed to not only avoid the bludger but also managed to do this while holding onto Ms Bones from Hufflepuff." Flitwick explained and Roger nodded.
"Good spatial awareness and grip, but he'd need a better broom than one of the school brooms." Roger said a pensive look on his face as he studied Harry again.
"This is all well and good, but can we get Harry to the Hospital Wing so we can get his shoulder fixed." Elizabeth questioned abruptly, stopping the sport talk. "I swear, it doesn't ever change, men and their sports." She muttered in amusement as Flitwick and Roger had the decency to look chastised.
"Yes, yes. You're quite right Miss DeWitt." Flitwick quickly agreed, "take Harry to the Hospital Wing, I need to sort some things out." He turned to Roger and nodded a dismissal. "Thank you Mr Davies, you may return to your class." He said and Roger turned, walking back into the classroom.
Elizabeth gently placed her hand on Harry's good shoulder and started to steer him away from Flitwick before another conversation could happen. "You did well Harry, I'm proud of you." She said giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "How have you been doing the last couple of weeks? We haven't had much time to talk recently." She said and Harry looked away slightly. During the first few weeks here, they had talked pretty much every other night, Harry sitting in her room working on his own homework, making sure to keep away from the check sheet, he didn't want to be accused of cheating and they'd just talk about the School mainly, a few of the secret passages that they had found the people they had met and just in general the fact that they were pretty much the first friend each other had in this area. But in the last couple of weeks, with both of them expanding their circle of friends and talking to people in other houses, they hadn't had much chance to talk about anything.
"I've been good; I don't know if it's just because I've been doing so much reading but things have just been really easy." He admitted, idly wondering if things would have been different if he had been sorted into another house. "The work just isn't challenging." He again admitted, the work that he had been given was normally just done in the lesson, he found the spells came easily and the actual theory work while a bit more difficult because he hated writing with quills, was still getting easier because of the help that the older years were willing to give if asked. He tried to avoid doing that though because he wanted it to be all his own work, to be able to look at the high grade and know that he had got it himself.
"Well... if it's that easy, perhaps I'll have them give you more." She mused aloud and Harry mock glared at her. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, though Flitwick did say the work load was going to get harder now you're all settled in." Elizabeth pointed out, the two entering the Hospital Wing. "Madam Pomfrey?" She called out.
"Yes Miss DeWitt? Another potions accident?" She called out as the Hospital Matron walked out of her office at the back of the room. "Oh, Mr Potter." She said in surprise, seeing Harry standing next to Elizabeth with his arm in a sling "What have you done?" She asked, heading over, wand already drawn to run a diagnostic spell.
"Saved another student from a fall." Elizabeth explained briefly and explained the situation to Madam Pomfrey.
"This isn't the first time an incident like this has happened in the First Year flying lesson. Why they don't forbid Quidditch Practice during this time I have no idea." Pomfrey muttered beginning to cast a simple healing spell. "It's just a small injury, we'll have that healed in a moment." She comforted and continued working. "You were lucky that it's only something so easy to fix. Honestly, a bludger in the First Years flying lessons." She criticized under her breath and finished her spell work. "There, take off the sling and tell me how you feel." She ordered and Harry did so, relieved to feel no pain.
"It feels as good as new." Harry admitted and she nodded her head.
"I don't see any reason for you to stay this time Mr Potter with something so minor, but would you do me a favour and make sure you don't make a habit out of getting injured." She finished with a small smile and Harry quickly nodded.
"I'll do my best." Harry said, standing slightly more at attention.
"Now off with you." She shooed and then looked at Elizabeth. "You seem a bit pale Elizabeth." She noted looking at the girl who was distracted by something.
"Huh? Oh, no I'm fine Madam Pomfrey." Elizabeth said, bringing her thoughts back to the present, she looked at Harry and smiled. "Harry, you can head back to wherever you want, I'm sure the others want to talk to you. Especially about the news you have for them." She said and Harry waved his goodbye before exiting the Hospital Wing.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Pomfrey said suspiciously but Elizabeth just waved off the question.
"I'm fine, really. Just a bit lost in thought. A letter I received has been on the back of my mind recently and I'm not sure how to respond to it." Elizabeth explained vaguely and Pomfrey nodded in understanding.
"If you need someone to talk to, I assure you that I will treat it with the confidence that I treat my patients with." The Matron offered kindly and Elizabeth smiled, nodding her head once.
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey, I may take you up on that offer in the future." She said politely and turned to leave, walking into the corridor and heading towards her room. While she had been in the Hospital Wing, her mind had drifted to the letter from Narcissa, the request to investigate her family again bore on her mind. Was there any out there? did she have any... well most likely grand nieces and nephews at this point. But the question had gnawed at her.
What happened with the DeWitt line? Curiosity was getting the better of her, feelings and attachments that she had thought long since gone were coming back and part of her wanted to truly know, what happened to the DeWitt line in this timeline.
It was decided, she'd get Narcissa to look into it. For good or for bad, she'd find answers.
Halloween was something that the Wizarding World celebrated in a way that made many think of some of the other big holidays in the year, there was an energy running through the Castle that was quickly becoming contagious to all but a small few. Those from the families that supported the Dark Lord, had little to celebrate with the destruction of the Dark Lord even after all these years. But it wasn't just the destruction of the Dark Lord that made them celebrate Halloween so excitedly. To the wizarding world it was one of their respected holidays that dated back years, Samhain, but more and more, like in the muggle world it had become more of an excuse to gorge yourself on sweets and in the last ten years it was now largely associated with the fall of Voldemort. There were still the families that followed the traditional aspects of it but their numbers were dwindling.
But that was the evening feast, for now, The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students were in their charms lesson learning the levitation spell. Today they had to practice levitating a feather. Elizabeth had been watching the class in amusement, also joining in on the spell casting, having practiced ahead of time, she found herself being slightly silly, the excitement of the holiday starting to get to her, she had never been involved in anything Halloween related and it was interesting to her how the kids were reacting. And the promise of sugar? There was nothing wrong with that and she was curious as to what kind of sweets they had that would be available.
When you spend the majority of the time locked in a tower with little access to the outside world, you end up deprived of certain things like sweets. And being able to have feather sword fights with other people like she was doing with Harry.
"No Ron, you're saying it wrong," the voice of Hermione cut in and Elizabeth chanced a glance at the two, the last week she had been in a lot of Gryffindor classes and had seen that the two didn't interact well, Ron was not one to be shown up in something, the blatant jealousy he had towards other people was strong and very visible when he interacted with anyone who did better than him. It didn't make him a bad person, he had lived in the shadows of older siblings with a diverse set of personalities, from the chaotic twins to the studious Percy and the apparently 'smoking hot' older brothers that had already graduated. At least that's what some of the other students had said. Ron was trying to make his own way in the world with a family name sitting over his head. Hermione had improved in how she had spoken to people since Elizabeth had words with her and did seem a bit happier but there were times, like this moment where she slipped back into an almost 'I am superior to you so listen to me' attitude. Elizabeth sighed, it was a work in progress that would be sorted eventually but for now, she'd keep doing it until something happened.
"Go on then, you do it if you think you're so good." Ron snapped back irritably and Hermione nodded her head, turning back to the feather that lay flat in front of her.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" She called and with a swish and a flick the feather started to rise into the air, shakily at first but as it got higher it started to float a bit easier.
"Excellent Miss Granger, excellent work, five points to Gryffindor." Flitwick praised and applauded her, she beamed under the praise and missed the glowering look that Ron had given her.
"Harry..." Elizabeth started, still watching the two students in concern. "Keep an eye on Hermione and Ron when you finish here would you?" She asked and Harry having seen what had distracted Elizabeth from their little game nodded his head, frowning slightly. Half an hour passed and more and more students had accomplished the spell the feathers floating about the room as the bell rung.
"Okay, no homework today." Flitwick called and resisted the urge to laugh as he heard the cheering from the class, even Elizabeth let out a quiet woo as that meant one less batch of papers to read through. "But don't think this will last," he warned half-heartedly as the groups started pouring out the class.
Harry followed behind Ron, the red head talking to two other Gryffindors that he had become friends with during his time here, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. "Honestly she's a nightmare. it's leviosaaa... not leviosur!" Ron mocked and Harry gritted his teeth. "It's no wonder she has no friends, the know it all... she can't make friends with someone who isn't in a book." Ron continued to insult and someone slammed into the back of Harry, pushing past and into the trio of boys, shooting off around the corner.
"I think she heard you Ron." Dean muttered as he picked up his charms book that had been knocked out of his hand.
"So? Maybe she'll learn the truth." Ron snapped though the signs of embarrassment could be seen as his cheeks and ears started to turn pink.
"Hey Ron." Harry said calmly behind the boy, his right hand closing into a fist and opening repeatedly as the red head turned around.
"Oh Harry! How are -" Ron stopped as Harry punched him in the gut, doubling over in pain as he gasped for breath. Harry followed up pushing Ron against the wall, Ron may have had height on Harry but the punch had stunned him.
"If I ever catch you doing something like that to someone who was trying to HELP you!" He snapped angrily, "I will make you regret it for every moment you're alive." Harry growled as Seamus and Dean grabbed his arms pulling him off of Ron. "How dare you Weasley!" Harry continued as he was held back, a group forming around them as he tried to get out of the grip of the two Gryffindors.
"This doesn't concern you Potter." Ron shouted angrily moving to take a punch at Harry.
"It concerns me when you bully someone else." Harry shouted angrily. He hated bullies, he hated anyone who acted like Dudley had all those years. He shook himself free from the grip of Seamus and Dean who stepped back as Harry glared at Ron.
"What is going on here!?" Elizabeth shouted as the students broke up. She looked between the two standing in the centre of the circle and glanced between the two. "Well?" She said, placing her hands on her hips as she looked between the two.
"What's the point, you're just going to take his side." Ron muttered angrily, he knew the two were good friends and already knew that he was going to get in trouble for this.
"You. What happened here." Elizabeth said, pointing at Neville. The boy glanced nervously between the two, before sighing, not wanting to lie even if it would protect his housemate. Ron had been in the wrong and so had Harry.
"Ron insulted Hermione, she heard him and ran by, I think she was crying." Neville started to explain and the looks that were sent in Ron's direction made him look down at the ground, shuffling his feet in embarrassment. "Harry reacted to it, punching him and threatening him." Neville continued to explain and Elizabeth looked at Harry, giving him a look of disappointment.
Harry closed his eyes, lowering his head, he knew he had over reacted, he couldn't help it though, Ron had gone too far with what he had said. "Continue Neville." Elizabeth ordered, bringing her attention back to the boy who was retelling the information.
"Harry was pulled off of Ron by Dean and Seamus and that's where you came in." Neville finished nervously and Elizabeth looked around at the others to see they were nodding their head in agreement.
"Fine, if that's what happened, Detention Harry, with Filch this evening." She said sternly, not even looking at him before focusing on Ron. "Detention for you as well Ron. With me, this evening." She continued and then turned to look at the rest of the students. "The rest of you get out of here now." She ordered and like lightning they were gone. "And here I was looking forward to going to the feast tonight." She muttered in annoyance. "Ron, be at Professor McGonagall's office for Six, I will meet you there." She dismissed him and he stormed off. "Harry. You will have your detention at 8pm." She ordered before walking off, not even glancing at him as she headed down the corridor.
She had asked him to keep watch on Ron, not get into a confrontation. Now she had to find Hermione to make sure she was okay.
"Miss DeWitt, pleasure to meet you again." A voice spoke and Elizabeth grimaced as Marcus Flint turned up again. Since he had first introduced himself, he had been loitering around in an attempt to talk to her. It wouldn't have been as bad if he had just tried talking like a normal person yet he always came off so slimy. "I am impressed with how you dealt with those two troublemakers." Flint commented as she turned to face him. He was leaning against the wall in an adjoining corridor.
"Now is not the time Mr Flint." She said seriously, trying to get rid of him.
"True, you do have to prepare for a detention now, don't you?" He said with a laugh and the look that she had given him turned into a glare.
"I'm busy Mr Flint... What. Do. You. Want?" She snapped out and Flint held his hands up in a calming gesture.
"There is a Hogsmeade Weekend next weekend, I was wondering if you would like to join me?" He asked and Elizabeth's glare turned into a frown. She was trying to be polite with the rejections and the telling him to go away but he didn't seem to take a hint.
"I haven't yet had the chance to visit the village." Elizabeth gave the half-truth, she hadn't visited it properly but Bathsheda had taken her and Harry to the Three Broomsticks before the School Year had begun.
"Then perhaps I can offer to show you around the town then?" He suggested and she sighed.
"I will think about it and let you know. Now, as I said I have something I need to do so good day Mr Flint." She finished and walked off, the annoyance gathering with each step as she walked away from the blatantly smirking Flint. It made her skin crawl, but she'd be polite. At least for now.
Six in the evening and Elizabeth now stood in the hallway outside of McGonagall's office as Ron walked around the corner. "You made it on time, good." She said simply, pushing open the door to the classroom that was opposite the office. "Take a seat." She ordered and Ron did so. "I don't want to do this Ron, you're a good person." She spoke Honestly, Ron focusing on his desk in front of him. "I know it feels like she publicly embarrassed you by performing the spell but she really was just trying to help you." Elizabeth explained and Ron looked up at her, glaring.
"I didn't ask for her help." Ron spat out and Elizabeth shook her head.
"It doesn't matter, you could have taken it the way it was meant, she wanted to help," Elizabeth repeated and Ron snorted derisively.
"She didn't want to help, she wanted to prove how superior she was to the rest of us." Ron retorted.
"Do you truly believe that?"
"Yes."
"Let me tell you something about Hermione, something that may make it a bit more obvious as to why she doesn't 'have any friends' like you said." Elizabeth started, leaning, back against the edge of the desk. "Hermione is someone who was shy when she was young, she spent her time reading and because of that she was seen as different, I don't doubt any accidental magic that she used also scared off anyone close to her. So she focused on her learning, become the best that she could be so people would like her for being so smart." Elizabeth started to explain, watching Ron's reactions as she talked. "Except you can't learn social interaction through a book." She paused, knowing all too well the truth behind that fact. "So she alienated people, she had facts but no way to talk and interact with others except by sounding bossy and 'all knowing' in her actions. It's not what she wants regardless of how much she may claim to be okay with not having friends because she's happy with her books, she isn't." She paused again, isolation away from your feelings and all social interaction never worked. "Trust me on this, she is alone and sad, she's learning, it takes time, have you not seen the changes she's made over the last few weeks?" Elizabeth asked and slowly Ron nodded his head. She had been less forceful and rude when interacting with others in that time but there was still something about her that seemed to slip into the bossy attitude. "She's learning Ron, give her time and you could find a great friend." Elizabeth smiled and then pushed off of the desk. "Right, let's get this detention underway. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here, I normally send people off to other people. I just wanted to talk to you." She admitted with a slightly sheepish smile. "Write lines, that sounds like something I've read." She said more to herself than Ron who grimaced at that thought. "One hundred lines, something simple, 'I will look at the action not the personality.' something for you to think about in regards to people." She finished.
Ron had begun to get his parchment and quills out when a silvery phoenix burst into the room.
"Troll in the dungeon, escort Mr Weasley back to his dorm." The voice of Dumbledore called out and Elizabeth looked at Ron.
"What's a troll?" She asked as the colour steadily drained from his face.
"It's a big creature, thick skin and thicker skull." Ron explained and grabbed his bag ready to head back to the room. "Hermione!" He suddenly shouted.
"What about her?" Elizabeth asked in confusion. Surely she would have been at the Halloween Feast?
"She doesn't know; she was crying in the girl's bathroom."
"What? Oh God. Ron, return to your dorm I'll get her and head back with her." Elizabeth ordered, running out the room.
"I'm not going to abandon her, it's my fault she's there in the first place." Ron called, chasing after her.
"Just do what I say!" She shouted running along the hallway, the red head struggling to keep up with her.
"No, I'm not leaving her." Ron shouted as they skidded around the corner, halting as they ran into a wall of smell.
"Oh what's that smell?" Ron asked looking at Elizabeth.
"I think it belongs to that." Elizabeth replied weakly, pointing up at the troll. "It's huge." She said in awe, trying to will herself to move. She had faced flame wielding Firemen, she had faced Handymen, she had faced the Mechanised Patriots. She could do this. "It's going into that room... perhaps we could lock it in and get someone up here." She suggested, the two moving quietly to get closer as it ducked through the doorway. "Now!" Elizabeth called, jumping forwards pulling the door shut and locking it. "Well that was easier than I thought." She muttered in disbelief.
"What room did we just shut it in?" Ron asked slowly, a dawning realisation hitting both of them as a scream tore through the air. "Hermione!" Ron called again, unlocking the door and throwing it open, running into the bathroom that was already damaged, the troll swinging its club wildly to get at Hermione. Ron picked up several fragments throwing them at the Troll. "Leave her alone you ugly brute." He shouted, bits of pipe and wood hitting the troll.
"It's barely feeling it." Elizabeth said already knowing what she would have to do as it swung its club again, destroying more of the stalls, burying Hermione in bits of rubble. "Ron, what I'm about to do must never be mentioned to anyone." She said and Ron looked at her in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"Promise me you won't mention this." She said again and he quickly nodded.
"Yes, I promise, just save her." Ron shouted and everything around him changed. Gone was the bathroom, gone was the wreckage, they stood in a field thick black clouds above them, water pouring down from the sky, the rumbling sound of thunder echoing in the air as large forks of lightning shot through the sky. "What is this?" He asked in fear and confusion.
"Stay close to me and you won't get harmed." Elizabeth muttered, focusing intently. The troll was confused, it wasn't smart and it wasn't very observant but even if it knew that something was wrong, from the inside of a large stone building to the middle of a field in a thunderstorm. The Troll was very confused as it looked around. Hermione took the momentary confusion to run, ducking between its legs and diving for Elizabeth.
The Troll turned, roaring angrily because it's prey had escaped it and made to move forwards. "Get us out of here." Ron shouted looking scared at the Troll that walked forwards, lifting its club up.
"Now." She called as a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, hitting the troll, the club exploding, fragments of wood scattering everywhere, the trio brought their hands up covering their faces but several fragments still scratched Elizabeth's face. The Troll fell, it's body twitching from the strike and Elizabeth snapped the tear shut, the body of the troll in the bathroom, the four beings all soaked to the bone. "I thought I timed that wrong." She muttered in relief.
A tear, to a storm, like she had done before in Columbia, she couldn't control the weather but she could time the tear, time it so it opened just before the lightning strike happened. She let out a deep breath, looking at the two students as they heard footsteps coming. Wordlessly, she opened more tears, water spraying out around the room soaking the floor and the walls as pipes continued to spray out water. She needed some way to explain how she had defeated the troll.
"My goodness." McGonagall gasped as she entered the bathroom, the professors had gone to the Dungeons but had been unable to find the troll and had tried retracing its steps, leading them up towards the bathroom. "What happened here?" She asked looking at Elizabeth and the two kids. "Miss DeWitt, why are you here with the students!?" She snapped, concern for the children evident as she spoke.
"I was in the detention with Mr Weasley when I received the message that the Troll was in the building." She replied almost automatically, "I was ready to lead him back to the dorm when he realised that Hermione didn't know about the Troll, still recovering from the... incident, earlier." She continued, a look of guilt flashing across Ron's face. "I told him to return to his common room while I found Hermione but he refused and followed me here to where the Troll had found Hermione." She paused and gestured to all the devastation. "The Troll destroyed the majority of the room, damaging water pipes and I used a combat spell I had been reading about. I zapped the troll, the water enhancing the effect of the spell." She finished and glanced at Snape who stood back, eyeing her with a look of both doubt and curiosity. He didn't believe the story and he knew there had to be something else that happened but he hadn't seen anything to prove it.
"Very well, Mr Weasley, detention tomorrow for disobeying a direct order from those who you are supposed to obey." She said to the Red Head who nodded his head in acceptance. "And Ten points to Gryffindor for your courage in a time of need." She finished. Elizabeth watched with a smile on her face, reaching up and wiping away a bit of blood from the cut on her forehead. "Miss DeWitt, perhaps you could escort these two to the Hospital Wing and get yourself checked out while you're at it." She finished with a nod of dismissal.
"Of course Professor, come along you two." She said tiredly, walking past the Professors and leading them towards the hospital wing.
It looks like things were getting slightly more interesting here after all.
TBC
Yes, I do know that until now I've been writing 'incorrect' descriptions when Elizabeth has been talking about her powers to Harry or Bathsheda but that's because she doesn't want the full extent of the powers known, at least not yet. She will explain more as the need arises.
As I said at the top of the page, I'm going to be really busy this weekend and the next so I won't be uploading a chapter next week. But I didn't want to leave a two week hiatus on my story so I'm uploading this chapter a day early. Hope you enjoyed