AN:
Thanks to all who favorited and followed this story! And thanks for all the reviews and constructive criticism.
English is my second language. Even though I have read the chapter several times and have let other people check it as well, I apologize for any mistakes. All possible mistakes in this chapter belong to me alone.
Chapter 4 – New Lessons and Old Experiences
When Harry woke up the next morning, he sensed a strange, penetrating smell that seemed to monopolize all his senses now that he was no longer sleeping. Opening his eyes, he looked around the room, but he saw no one else, and the curtains of the other beds were still drawn. What stank here though? It stank like vomit, and Harry thought it came from somewhere next to his bed. He looked at the spot where he suspected the source.
His suitcase, Harry screamed inside. He jumped out of bed and was immediately at his suitcase, which he had just left open yesterday. Yes, the stench came from his suitcase, more precisely his clothes, which were at the top. Taking out the cloak at the top, he felt that it was a little damp. He smelled the cloak, and the stench of a mixture of vomit and rotten eggs was so overwhelming that Harry almost vomited himself. What had happened here?
He then heard several people get out of their beds and turned to face them. Draco Malfoy looked at him with a wide grinning, smirking face.
"Is something wrong, Potter? Aren't you happy that your clothes smell like your mudblood family now?" he sneered, Crabbe and Goyle positioning themselves behind him. Malfoy hold his nose in disgust. "Yuck, it probably has to be the same smell as the Gryffindors."
Crabbe and Goyle and also Nott, who had joined them in the meantime, laughed maliciously.
Harry looked to Blaise's bed, seeking help. Blaise had also sat up now and pulled his curtains aside, but he avoided Harry's gaze and turned his head away.
Harry felt disappointed and helpless.
Malfoy stepped forward now, his grin replaced by a triumphant expression. "Here, you're nothing, Potter," he said, looking down at Harry in disgust. "This is MY house! You have no business here. I am in charge here. Never forget that. You had your chance. Now you're just a smelly, disgusting little mudblood."
Harry felt the anger rise inside him. "At least I'm not so cowardly as to only lay hands on someone else's things when they're sleeping," he countered, even if he would have liked to have a much more quick-witted rejoinder.
"Watch your mouth!" Malfoy's head had gone red. He then laughed out loudly and maliciously. "Anyway, have fun on your first day of class, you wandering cesspool." With these words, he turned around and went into the adjacent bathroom, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott in tow.
Blaise rose from his bed, and Harry again tried to make eye contact with the boy, but Blaise kept his head down, also disappearing into the bathroom.
Harry sighed. So much for Blaise being his friend. He then examined his suitcase. Apparently, all his clothes were doused with some smelly, slightly yellowish liquid - nothing was spared. He only had the pajama he was wearing at the moment, but he could not walk around in his pajama at Hogwarts, right? He should try to somehow wash the liquid and stink out of his clothes, Harry decided, before taking some of the smelly clothes and going to the bathroom door as well. However, when he tried to open it, it was locked. Harry rattled at the door again, but it did not open.
"No entry for mudbloods," he heard the mocking voice of Malfoy. "I suggest you find yourself a nice, smelly swamp somewhere." Loud, malicious laughter from the other boys followed.
Harry had no choice but to wait for his roommates to come out. Meanwhile, he spread his soaked, smelly clothes on the floor in front of his suitcase. Harry could have cried inside, but he could not allow himself this weakness, he warned himself.
After what seemed like an eternity to Harry, the boys finally came out of the bathroom, washed and dressed. "We're going to breakfast now. We left something to eat and drink for you in the loo," Malfoy scoffed again, which was followed by malicious laughter once more.
Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott left the dorm, only Blaise turned around, looking Harry in the face for the first time this morning, shame and sadness written on his face. "I'm sorry, Harry. I don't have another choice." His voice was barely audible.
"Why?"
Why are you doing this to me? That's what Harry wanted to say.
"Malfoy is too powerful," Blaise said. "He doesn't like you. Neither your friend Greengrass. We cannot oppose him. I have to go now, I'm sorry."
Blaise left the dormitory through the door, and Harry felt like someone had pushed him in the gut. It was the same as with Dudley. Everyone he had gotten closer to, with whom he could have developed a friendship, had been harassed by him and his cronies until, in the end, nobody had wanted to have anything to do with him. He had always been alone. And now he was alone again.
Eventually, Harry had to admit that he could not do it any better. For almost an hour he had tried to clean his cloaks and other clothing and wash out the stench. Despite all his efforts, though, there were still numerous yellowish spots and the clothes still smelled bad, though luckily not so bad that Harry feared to vomit. The clothes were still a little damp from his washing attempts because he had not been able to dry them somehow. There were probably no heaters at Hogwarts.
Harry decided that if he did not want to come to class in his pajamas, he probably had no choice but to put his clothes on. The class! Harry suddenly thought. He would have to hurry to get there on time!
With a disgusted face and resentment towards his roommates, he put his clothes on, finally his dark Hogwarts robe, before looking at himself in the mirror. He looked really mangy, and he smelled musty too.
With a sigh, he took his school supplies, left the dormitory, and entered the Slytherin common room, just as Daphne came from the direction of the girls' dormitory ... and Harry could not believe his eyes. She looked at least as bad as he did. Her clothes also had yellow spots and were damp in many places, and her normally slightly wavy hair looked terrible: unkempt, disheveled, and standing on end. Her eyes were red as if she had cried. Blaise's words from earlier came back to Harry. Malfoy did not like his Greengrass friend either, he had said. Did they do the same to her as to him? Because of him?
Harry felt like he had a heavy stone in his stomach. "Daphne," he tried to speak to her.
"Stop it," she replied irritably, passing him with quick steps. "We have to go to class. I don't want to be late already on the first day."
Harry quickly followed her. "Daphne, I -"
"No, I don't want to talk about it now. Better help me find the way. Do you know how we get to the transfiguration classroom?"
Harry didn't know.
So they wandered through the many corridors of Hogwarts, not meeting any other students on the way, apparently, they were still at breakfast or already in the classrooms for the first lessons which would start soon. Therefore, they asked the portraits hanging on the wall for directions from time to time, but those seemed to contradict each other several times regarding the best way. The fact that the stairs sometimes simply moved didn't exactly make it easier to find the way either. Finally, a ghost who introduced himself as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington agreed to accompany them to the classroom.
They reached the classroom when Professor McGonagall was about to close the door. "There you are, being late cannot be accepted. You two really should be…" McGonagall then seemed to notice their appearances, her face showing surprise. "Why do you look like you…," she gasped, before her face suddenly darkened. She then swung her wand, and Harry suddenly felt better. Suddenly it smelled pleasant, kind of like lavender somehow. His eyes wandered down his cloak. He was clean and dry again! Laughing inside, he looked at Daphne. Her clothes were also flawless again, only her hair was still standing on end.
Harry was about to open his mouth to say thank you when Professor McGonagall spoke again. "Now in you go and sit down. We'll start the lesson right in a moment," she said decisively.
"Yes, professor," Harry and Daphne replied. They entered the classroom where all eyes immediately focused on them. All Slytherin students sat on the left and all of Ravenclaw's on the right. Most of the Slytherins smirked at them. If they were disappointed that they now looked reasonably acceptable again, at least they did not let it show. The Ravenclaws whispered quietly to one another, and Harry noticed that they were mostly looking at him and not Daphne.
"Sit down," they heard the voice of McGonagall behind them again. Daphne then headed for a table in the back row on the right side of the classroom, on the Ravenclaws side. Harry did the same and sat in the seat next to her, also preferring to be as far away from their Slytherin classmates as possible.
McGonagall then started her class, giving them a speech about the basic nature of transfiguration, clarifying that she did not tolerate nonsense in her lessons. At that moment, she did not seem that different from Harry's previous teachers. When McGonagall turned her desk into a pig and back again, however, he was very impressed and could not wait to get started to turn furniture into animals as well. So he was a little disappointed when they were only given a matchstick and told to try transforming it into a needle. Nevertheless, Harry went to work motivated, after all, these were his first real experiences with magic!
His motivation was soon completely gone. After almost an hour of constantly trying, his matchstick had not changed a bit. It gave him the willies! In addition, he had become really hungry by now, which was no surprise considering that they missed breakfast. Daphne next to him seemed even more frustrated. Her magic attempts had become more vigorous over time, and in the end, her movements lacked any elegance that he had previously observed with Professor McGonagall, and she clutched her wand so tightly that Harry was afraid it might just break in two. At the end of the lesson, only their classmates Padma Patil, Terry Boot, and Draco Malfoy, of all people, managed to get their matchsticks slightly silvery.
"As a homework assignment, write me an essay with 1000 words on the importance of intent and imagination in transfiguration," McGonagall finally finished the lesson. "And practice the spell. Next time I want to see significant progress."
Harry had just packed his things and was about to get up when McGonagall called out again, "Mr. Potter, Miss Greengrass, please stay here a little longer."
So they stayed seated while the other students passed them and left the classroom. The Slytherins gave them mocking looks but refrained from making derogatory comments. Still, Harry felt deep resentment. At least Dudley had been family. Somehow.
When all the other students have left, Harry and Daphne went to the front where Professor McGonagall was sitting behind the desk, her hands clasped in front of her.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Greengrass, are you all right?" she started. "Do you have any problems, for example, with your classmates?" In doing so, her eyes were mostly on Harry.
Before Harry could say anything, Daphne took the initiative. "It's all right," she said dryly. Her bad mood could still be heard, even if it was no longer a comparison to her mood at the end of the lesson after the many failed magic attempts.
McGonagall looked at Daphne now. It was obvious that she did not believe her.
"Yes, professor. It's all right," Harry said quickly. It wasn't, but Harry really did not feel like discussing his problems concerning his classmates with a teacher. Back then, that had also never worked in elementary school. Daphne had to think the same thing, given her own statement.
Professor McGonagall sighed. "Well, if you say so. But please know that you can come to me at any time if you have any problems."
"Yes, professor," Harry replied. At that very moment, however, his stomach started to growl loudly. Harry noticed how hungry he really was, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, I haven't eaten anything today," he said, feeling awkward.
McGonagall smiled sadly now. "I see. You should go out to eat. But lunch will only be available in two hours. So I suggest you both go to the kitchen."
She then called "Mipsy" in a loud voice, and suddenly there was a loud bang. Harry was startled, for from one moment to the next a small, bald creature stood in front of them. It had large, round, yellow eyes and bat-like ears from which long white hair sprouted.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" the creature began to squeak.
"Mipsy, can you please take Mr. Potter and Miss Greengrass to the kitchen and make sure they get something to eat?"
Now the creature - Mipsy, Harry corrected himself in his thoughts - turned to them and a kind of grin appeared on her/his face. "Mipsy would like to do that, Professor," she or he said (Harry wasn't so sure about that). "Please follow Mipsy."
She (Harry had now decided that Mipsy sounded more female) started walking, waving behind her. Harry and Daphne followed.
"Remember your homework," McGonagall called after them.
Mipsy showed a brisk pace, but since she was smaller than Harry and Daphne, they could keep up pretty easily. What really annoyed Harry, though, was the reactions of the other students. A constant whisper followed them through the corridors, and all eyes were focused on them. Some students even stood on their tiptoes to get a glimpse of them, or rather, of him, Harry thought. He really did not like all that attention.
Finally, they left their watchers and pursuers behind and entered a part of the dungeons that Harry had not seen yet in his short time at Hogwarts. Mipsy stopped in front of a picture with a large bowl of fruit, stretching her arm as long as possible and starting tickling a pear shown in the picture. And indeed, the pear started to giggle and turned into a doorknob. Mipsy pushed the doorknob down and opened a door through which she led Harry and Daphne.
What Harry then saw took his breath away. It was a huge, sparkling clean room with lots of kitchen appliances on the walls. The center of the room was decorated with four large tables that looked exactly like the tables in the large hall at the meal last night. And everywhere were creatures like Mipsy! That had to be the kitchen of Hogwarts!
As soon as they entered the kitchen, they were surrounded by the many creatures who led them to a specially brought-in table. Food was brought to them, and not too short: sausages, fried eggs, bacon, beans, chocolate pudding, and much more. Harry tucked in. Daphne controlled herself a little more, but she also ate a large portion of everything the creatures brought them.
In between, Harry had asked Daphne quietly what these creatures were that served them so warmly. Her short answer stunned him: house-elves! So far, Harry had only known elves from the Lord of the Rings books, and there they were described very differently than these little fidgety beings here. Not that he had a problem with that, he thought, as he took another portion of the delicious chocolate pudding.
Finally, he was full and leaned back, satisfied, even if it was not so easy to make the house-elves understand that he did not want anything more to eat, but that this, of course, had nothing to do with their cooking skills! He noticed that Daphne, who had already finished eating, leaned forward, looking intently at her hands, which were folded in front of her.
"Is everything all right, Daphne?" he asked carefully.
Daphne looked up, and her icy eyes flashed. Harry would not have been surprised at that moment if her eyes had actually started firing lightning bolts. "No, it's not," she spat out through clenched teeth. "It's not okay. That was a humiliation this morning. I've never felt so humiliated before."
By now she had clenched her hands into fists that still trembled. To Harry, Daphne looked like a boiling volcano about to erupt, but she seemed to force herself to calm down. In any case, she closed her eyes, took several breaths, and laid her hands flat on the table in front of her. Opening her eyes again, she continued talking, "I'm going to the library now. You don't have to accompany me."
Harry still had to get something off his chest. "Daphne, I'm sorry. What happened this morning -"
"What do you mean?" Daphne looked at him in surprise.
Harry kept his head down as he spoke with feelings of guilt, "What the others did to you. The same they did to me. I'm sorry..."
He did not know what else to say. He was really sorry. It was all because of him. Because of him, her classmates had done the same to her as to him. Just because she had bothered with him.
Harry felt miserable.
For a few moments, there was nothing to hear but the busy elves' bustle.
"What our classmates did with my things had nothing to do with you," Daphne finally spoke in an almost emotionless voice. "The only reason that they did the same to both of us is that they don't like both of us. But for different reasons." When she saw Harry's questioning look, she added, "And I don't want to talk about them now. It's none of your business either. It definitely has nothing to do with you. You're not that important." With these words, Daphne got up and took her school supplies.
Harry felt somewhat relieved that Daphne's treatment did not seem to be his fault, but he still had so many questions. Daphne's defining tone, however, had made it clear to him that she was unlikely to answer these questions.
So Daphne wanted to go to the library now. But what should he do? He had no ideas. They wouldn't have lessons again before tomorrow. And he definitely didn't want to go back to the common room. Exploring the castle? He preferred to avoid the gawks and murmurs of the other students which he had just experienced. That left only one option for him.
"Wait, I'm coming to the library with you," he called to Daphne.
"Why?" She had turned to face him.
"I... um...," Harry pondered. Then a possible answer came to his mind, and he said, "I would like to do my homework for transfiguration."
"Well, if you think so." Daphne started walking again. Harry followed.
In passing, they said goodbye to the house-elves, who were urging them to come again. Harry smiled at them, assuring them that he would definitely do that.
Again, they asked portraits and ghost the way to the library since they preferred not to speak to the other students. A question came to Harry which he then asked Daphne, "Why did you ask me what I want in the library? Why do you want to go there?"
Without looking at him or stopping, Daphne answered in an ice-cold voice, "I'll look for spells to protect my things. And then I will practice them until I master them completely. Then none of them will dare to lay hands on them ever again."
Her voice was dripping with loathing, like a knife soaked in poison. Harry shivered.
Next chapter: Some Revelations
Preview:
He had never heard her laugh before. That was the first time. Her laughter sounded high and gentle, free from any mockery, and overall just sincere and carefree. Harry thought it was beautiful!
