Disclaimer: owned by JK
a/n: Sorry for confusion! But I added to the beginning of this chapter and so moved the end to a new chapter... Sorry if you'd already read it and had to go back.
March - April 1993
The events of Valentine's Day soon faded into the past, especially in light of what Harry had experienced in Tom Riddle's diary later that very night. He'd told Ron, Hermione, and Ascella what he'd witnessed and learned from the memory of Tom Riddle. Ascella had been mildly horrified that Harry had been sucked into the diary and the memory.
"Suppose you got suck there?" she'd mused aloud. "Magic like that is dangerous, you don't want to mess with it." But even that news hadn't been as shocking as what Harry had actually learned there.
"What? Hagrid? The Heir of Slytherin?" Ascella had commented unbelieving.
"I know," Harry said miserably. "But we did know that Hagrid had been expelled."
"Well yeah, but Heir of Slytherin? This is Hagrid we are talking about. Besides isn't it a prerequisite for the Heir of Slytherin to hate muggleborns? We know that's not true."
"Unless it is the monster that specifically targets muggleborns," Hermione had said. "You know Hagrid, maybe he was trying to tame the creature or something and it got out of his control."
Ascella made a face. That did sound like Hagrid. Still she didn't believe that there was such a creature. No creature would care about that, only if it was controlled by someone that did. But she hadn't voiced this opinion since Hermione had then asked if they should ask Hagrid about it. They'd then all decided not to unless there was another attack.
Despite the recent attack on Kevin, there hadn't been another and as they entered into March people were beginning to think that the attacks might have finally come to an end, the attacker having decided to retire, hopefully for good this time.
It was also in March that Ascella had been horrified to learn that some of the Mandrakes had thrown a loud and raucous party in Greenhouse Three. It was a fact that caused mixed reactions. The twins had jokingly complained that it wasn't nice for them to have not invited them, while Sprout was happy of all things. Ascella was just glad she hadn't been anywhere near it because a Mandrake party did not sound like a good time. She'd pass out for sure or knowing her luck, the Mandrake's would have matured enough that their cry would now actually kill her.
Sprout did explain her happiness to Harry though and he relayed the message to Ascella as she'd been shuddering at the thought of a Mandrake party. Apparently it meant that they were almost fully mature and that at maturity they would then be able to revive the petrified people in the Hospital Wing.
And so Ascella supposed that as long as she was far, far, far from the little brutes and their parties that she could be happy too; Merlin knew they were still all missing their friends in the Hospital Wing.
Aaron, while not nearly as happy and comfortable as he had been when Kevin was with him, was at least coping well. He wasn't ignoring his lessons and homework and he was even smiling more. It turned out that he and Padma actually got on quite well, a fact that both surprised Ascella and annoyed Terry. He'd confided in Ascella in her first Charms Club meeting that he missed his best friend. He understood and he knew he had Micheal Corner and Anthony Goldstein too, but and Ascella had agreed, Padma had never seemed to overmuch like Aaron before the attack on Kevin. Ascella couldn't help but wonder if their new found friendship would continue after Kevin was revived. She hoped for Padma's sake it would; she seemed a bit more attached than Aaron, Aaron still preferring to stick closer to Ascella, though he did hang with Padma and Terry in the common room when she was off with Harry.
Then in April, over the Easter holidays, came something new to think about; picking courses for third year. Hermione and the rest of the Ravenclaws took this matter very seriously, much to Harry, Ron, and Ascella's endless annoyance.
"The subjects we choose now could affect our entire future," Hermione stated primly one evening in the Gryfindor common room as the rest poured over the new subjects list.
"Oh give it a rest Hermione," Ascella groaned, falling dramatically back onto the plush couch she and Harry were sharing. She'd had enough of the talk about new courses in the Ravenclaw common room, thank you very much. In truth, she'd actually been quite contemplative about her choices as well, but like hell she'd admit it. She was lucky that Dora had already gone through school and so she already had a sense of what classes she'd want to take, not that they were the same as what Dora had taken.
"I just want to give up Potions," Harry said from next to her, eyes intent on the parchment in front of him.
"And me, Herbology," Ascella voiced.
Ron gloomily informed them that they couldn't. "We keep all the old subjects," he explained. "Otherwise I'd've ditched Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Hermione was so shocked at this admission that Ascella almost laughed.
"That's very important!" Hermione said.
"Not with Lockhart," said Ascella, while Ron and Harry nodded in agreement.
Ascella did, however, find it immensely amusing to watch poor Neville Longbottom pour over the many letters he'd received from all the witches and wizards in his vast family, all giving him very different advice on the best subjects to choose. He sat, tongue sticking out, hair almost as messy as Harry's from where he'd run his hands through it countless times, trying to find the easiest subjects that would also appease his relatives.
Dean Thomas's approach had been almost as funny. He'd grown up with muggles so he ended up just closing his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list and choosing those subjects that it landed on.
"Hope he gets Muggle Studies," Ascella said under her breath with a grin to Harry. Harry snorted to cover his laughter.
Ascella had completely ignored the advice Ron's older brother Percy tried to give both Harry and Ron, instead making faces at Harry from behind Percy's back. Harry had listened as well as he could and ended up choosing the same subjects as Ron, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. Hermione, for some asinine reason signed up for them all, including Muggle Studies, despite her being a muggleborn. Ascella merely shook her head at her friend, figuring McGonagall would sort her out and narrow her down to the 'at least two but no more than three' sign up instructions at the top of the parchment. Instead she'd turned to Harry and bent her head over his shoulder, her thick braid falling over her shoulder to look at what he'd signed up for.
"Terrible idea," Ascella tutted, shaking her head.
Harry looked up at her, green eyes wide behind his round glasses.
"Why? What did you choose?" he asked.
"Divination, Ancient Runes and Arithmacy," she said. Harry made a bemused face at her.
"Three Cella? And aren't the last two known to be quite hard?"
Ascella shrugged.
"I need to be challenged."
Harry smiled. "Maybe you are a true Ravenclaw after all."
She shoved him off the couch in response. He merely cackled at her.
When she finally let him back up on the couch next to her, he turned to look at her a thoughtful look on his face. Ascella almost thought she had something on her face but she managed to resist the urge she felt to wipe at her face.
"What?" she asked instead.
"How are you so good at school?" he asked.
She snorted. That was what he wanted to know.
"I'm not. 'Mione is a way better student than me," she said.
"Yeah, she's a better student sure, but she works at it. For you it seems effortless." Ascella made a face.
"It's not effortless for me. I just already know all this stuff," she said like it was no big deal, which to her it wasn't. Harry looked very much like he was trying to not roll his eyes at what had probably come out sounding arrogant. No, she took that back, it had definitely come out sounding arrogant; she'd never been one for humility.
"See, that's what I mean though. How do you already know all this? And don't tell me it's because you were raised in a wizarding family because Ron was too and he doesn't know all of this stuff."
"Yeah but he didn't spend his childhood doing what I did. Besides I've gotten no less than five burns and two bites from, and I quote Sprout on this one, 'harmless' plants this term alone in Herbology. Quite frankly it's a bloody miracle I haven't been knocked out by the Mandrakes yet. Or killed," Ascella tried to add to remind Harry she wasn't really all that great at every subject.
Harry instead rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but that's one subject. And quite frankly I'd still kill to have the marks you do in your worst subject. My Potions and History of Magic scores are always hit or miss," he said.
"Well Potions is only because Snape hates you," Ascella pointed out.
"Still. Look are you going to answer the question or not?"
Ascella grew quiet. She didn't understand why this mattered to Harry so much. Usually he found her immense knowledge base beneficial as it meant less trips to the library for him, less searching through their school books. She often spent time with him while he did homework answering any questions he had, while she sat curled up with her latest read from the library. Now more often than not it was some advanced Charms books Flitwick had signed for her to check out of the restricted section.
Sometimes, she was even doing the homework too, that is when she could be bothered. The biggest reason she wasn't anywhere near Hermione overall in their class rankings was because she was very hit or miss with the actual doing and turning in of her homework, usually more often a miss. Even on the hits she was as likely to turn it in half finished only doing the problems or addressing the parts of questions she found fun or entertaining; she couldn't fathom what the purpose of multiple transfiguration calculations for mass transfers were when they had to do five or more from each section of the book, when each in a section was more of the same. No, in her mind it was better to do one from each section, better and faster, so she left the rest blank.
More than one of the professors had accused her of cheating on exams and quizzes when she still got near perfect scores, for some reason McG wasn't one of them, but Snape was. The slimy git had given her more than a few detentions for it too. The only exams and quizzes she wasn't getting perfect scores on this year were Defense Against the Dark Arts because Lockhart was a moron and she refused to read his books. Oh and Herbology, but she got by well enough, but only because Padma insisted they study together and the girl had an scarily accurate knack for knowing just the precise information that they were most likely to be tested on and so they focused on only that information. Seriously though, the girl was a lifesaver; Ascella's Herbology marks would no doubt be much worse without her friend's help.
No, the only homework Ascella actively did was Flitwick's but that was mostly because she loved both Charms and her Head of House. It didn't hurt either that Flitwick always set her with extra prompts and challenge problems in an effort to challenge his best student.
"Come on, just what was it that you did if you didn't do what Ron did growing up?" Harry prompted, not letting up with the line of questioning that Ascella wanted him to stop with. What did it matter really? It just was. Ascella sighed though instead, seeing her friend wouldn't relent and so she told him.
"Growing up in a wizarding family isn't as entertaining as you would think. Ted and Dora, while two of the most loving people I have ever met with each other as well as Dora and I, kept mostly to themselves outside of the immediate family. That in combination with Dora being eight years older than me, made it so that there really weren't that many children to play with, especially when she went away to school, or anyone really. I hung out with adults almost exclusively. Adults and myself.
"So, for entertainment, I read. Anything and everything. Ted works at the wizarding library in Diagon Alley and he brought home any and all kinds of different books, in addition to the extensive collection already at the house.
"I also experimented. Meda, in addition to her magical herbs, spices, and other magical plants business, likes to brew experimental potions and research new spells to help with housework or just for fun. The fun ones were usually to entertain Dora and I.
"In addition to that Meda was a stickler about our education. She was raised in a strict pureblood family and while she didn't force us to practice penmanship or learn ballroom dancing she was still determined we would go to Hogwarts well educated. Even for Dora school wasn't especially difficult and she's training to be an auror now, which only the most qualified and best students get into and succeed at after school. And she'll be a shoe in as long as she doesn't trip. Dora is extremely clumsy. She once knocked the Christmas tree over and it was held up with magic.
"Anyway, I guess why it's all so effortless and why I know so many things about," Ascella squinted at the top of the essay Harry had been working on, "'Uses of Bicorn Horn in Sleeping Potions' as an example is simply a combination of the fact that I've already experimented with it in potions and read all about it already."
Harry looked almost convinced.
"But that still doesn't explain how you remember all of it. I could read all the books in the world and only remember a little of what I'd read. And you were still young learning all that. Young and wandless."
Ascella sighed again and burrowed her shoulders and back deeper into the couch behind her. She crossed her arms.
"Why does it matter?" she snapped at her friend, refusing to look directly at him.
She felt Harry shift away from her on the couch.
"Sorry," he said, the hurt evident in his voice. Ascella uncrossed her arms.
"Look I just don't like talking about it. But - " sighing, she finally turned to look at him. "I'll tell you. When I was little, no more than 3 or 4 Ted found me reading one of Meda's old school books. Ted thought I was just pretending - Meda had only begun teaching me to read a few months prior - until dinner that night, when I asked why you had to swish and flick your wand for the Wingardium Leviosa spell. Apparently Meda broke a plate at the question. Ted had told her about the book but neither had thought I was actually able to read it. And if I was, then they couldn't even begin to imagine I would be able to comprehend and remember it. Meda was the first to recognize what was going on having seen it in my father when he was a child.
"It's what's called a near perfect memory, if I read it, see it, experiment with it, I remember it. It's a familial trait. I'm told it was what allowed my father to breeze through all his lessons in school. - And its also one of the few things I actually know about my father. To everyone on the outside everything seemed to come easy to him too."
It was one of the few things she'd bothered to even ask about her father actually. She'd wanted to know what it meant, what the implications of near perfect memory were.
"My brain is like a sponge, knowledge like water, I absorb it right up. And as for being wandless, Dora wasn't actually the best at keeping track of her wand on breaks from school, or more accurately, I got good at filching it. I got her into more trouble with Meda than even she knows. Meda thought Dora was just being careless, when actually I'd stolen it. It was worth it even when they finally caught me. I was grounded for like a month, which was actually pretty funny considering I didn't really leave the house all that much anyway."
"Perfect memory? Really?" Harry said eyes wide, still stuck on that bit of knowledge. "That's amazing!"
Ascella laughed.
"Yeah, it's pretty nice. But it's why everything is easy," she said.
"So that's why you don't need to study!"
"Eh, I still need to study, review stuff mostly but it just doesn't take me as long."
"Yeah but like, you don't have to put in as much effort. That's great! Wish I could do that."
"Hey, I put in the effort. I just did it younger." Harry gave her a look like he didn't believe her.
"Whatever," she said, returning to her book. He didn't need to understand. She was used to people not getting it, only her fellow Ravenclaws really ever got it, in fact she was convinced Susan Redding of the fifth year was even smarter than her. It was her O.W.L year and she was hardly ever seen actually revising, while the rest were swamped with work, and still everyone knew Susan would still get all O's. Even Ascella couldn't manage that.
The rest of April passed uneventfully and they were soon into May. No new attacks had happened and the weather was turning warm and the Mandrakes getting older. Everyone was beginning to think the Chamber business was all behind them. Little did they know that it was about to get a whole lot worse.
a/n so I hope you liked the addition to the end of the chapter! I'd been meaning to explain in combination why I'd always thought Sirius was so good at school and why it came so effortlessly for him as well as why it was that Ascella would probably have inherited this trait! Also excited for last 2nd year chapter (ch 21 to be out by end of week) so we can see other habits Ascella unknowingly inherited from her father some not nearly as nice as this one...
