Back at it again with a new chapter! Just a reminded that we do not own any of JK Rowling's characters or settings. Please enjoy...

Not Potter and the Stupid Stone

Chapter 3

Noel

The next day, I arose at sunrise in the insulting red bed that was standard for all Gryffindor students. Gryffindor, how had I let this happen. My parents had always thought I was soft, but I had never gone against their will before. The repercussions of such an action would be plentiful. I took a deep breath to clear my head and stared to the dazzling pink-streaked sunrise, that was sending blooming pulses of orange and yellow light into the air. The only thing to do would be to stick to the rest of my parent's rules as closely as I could. That would start with always looking presentable for a meeting with the minister of magic. If one wanted to impress, they had to dress to the highest standard.

I started by pulling on a pair of seamless black tights, charmed to fit without wrinkles. Then I pulled on my white blouse and buttoning it all the way up before tying the offensive flaming red and yellow tie around my neck and carefully turning down and smoothing down the blouse collar. Next, I pulled on the gray, accordion-pleated skirt over the blouse, making sure to tuck the blouse in tightly. After that I tugged on the optional gray sweater with red and gold trim around the neck, cuffs, and bottom, leaving it to lay above my skirt, untucked, before finally slipping on the hooded robe with the Gryffindor insignia stitched above the left breast. I left the robe's singular clasp open to reveal the neat uniform underneath and moved onto my hair. I carefully brushed my long hair out before parting it down the middle and sectioning it into three parts. I twisted the middle section and wound it into a small bun and pinning it just above the nape of my neck. Then I took the left section and, beginning at my part, twisted it down so that it lay against my head until I reached the bun, when in, I twisted the excess hair and added it to the bun. I then repeat the same prosses to the right side, as I had done to the left. The resulting hair style was a crown of twists, staring from my part on each side and coming together in the back to create an eleven-centimeter wide spiral of hair on the back of my head. As I sprayed some of Speakeasy's Long Stay Potion Spray in my hair, I noticed Laura rolling out of bed and, haphazardly, tugging on her uniform, taking out the braids which she had slept in, and quickly running a brush through her hair.

She smiled at me before walking over, quirking a perky, "Good morning, breakfast time!" before grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the dorms. I ignored the idle chatter she was spreading as she yanked me along my way. This was definitely not obeying my parent's rule of "always move in a dignified manner" and we were nearing the common room which was going to demolish the rule of "always enter with grace". I quickly pulled my arm away before she could open the door to the common room. She stopped speaking rater abruptly, looking quite shocked as she regarded me up and down while I quickly returned my outfit to its pristine, wrinkle-less state.

"I thought you would have gotten over it by now." she sighed.

I stared at her, confused, "Gotten over what?"

She looked around, as if trying to find the words floating somewhere in the air, before finally responding, "Whatever you think you are that makes you so much better than everyone else. I'm a pure blood too but you don't see me acting like... like..."

"A proper member of society," I snipped, "No, I do not. I see you acting as a blood traitor. You are a Pureblood and I was taught that Purebloods must be held to a higher standard. A standard that those without a bountiful lineage would not understand." She confused me so much, talking to me like that on the train and then turning around and talking to mudbloods in much the same way. It was unthinkable. "And here I thought you were alright."

She sighed once more, looking almost sad, "But I am alright," and with that she blew out the door.

I waited for a moment before peering around the door. Laura had stopped at the foot of the stairs in conversation with that Granger girl. I strained my ears to hear their conversation.

"Back already?" Laura asked Hermione.

"Did you know that they start serving breakfast at four-thirty?" She replied, "convenient, because now I can squeeze in an extra hour of studying before class!"

"Four-thirty?" Harry questioned, coming down from the boy's staircase, "I thought breakfast wasn't open until seven-thirty?"

"Isn't it only seven right now?" Ron added, coming out of the dorms behind Harry.

"What did you manage to do for two and a half hours, at breakfast, when breakfast wasn't even supposed to have started?" Laura questioned her, puzzled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "But I already told you, it was served." She huffed before continuing up the stairs, towards me.

I panicked, I could not talk to her, if my parents found out I would never be allowed in their house again. I could see only one way out of this. Before she could reach the top of the stairs, I pushed open the door, ignoring everyone else in the common room and nearly pushing Laura over as I quickly strode out of the portrait hole, careful not to run, running is never dignified.

I paused outside the portrait hole to slow down and collect my thoughts. Even if I had not been running, I had not been exactly dignified either. If I were in Slytherin, I would not be getting into such mucky situations. Even the sorting hat knew that only Purebloods were worthy of Slytherin. I stared down at the bright red and dazzling gold that accented my uniform, it was quite pretty. No, I reminded myself, it was offensive but, I would just have to deal with it.

I continued down to the great hall, it was not too difficult to find, seeing as all the students were heading in the same direction. I stopped in the entrance hall for a moment, looking at all the other students pressing in for breakfast. The subtle blue and bronze of the Ravenclaws streaming between the Gryffindors, both coming down from above. The bold yellow and black of Hufflepuff emerging from a small corridor just to the side of the hall before quickly merging with the gleaming green and silver of the Slytherins coming up from the dungeons bellow. The different uniforms mixed and complimented each other in a visual harmony that was enhanced by the shine and glimmer of the different badges worn by Head students, prefects, and Quidditch captains alike. I admired the large flashing letters on one prefect badge as it glided towards me. When it continued towards me instead of veering off into the hall, I quickly looked up at the student who possessed it. My breath hitched as I came to a realization that it was my brother coming towards me, Javier.

I tried to merge into the crowd of people, but it was too late, he had already spotted me. He grabbed my arm as he walked past, pulling me into a small, empty corridor, out of sight from the other students. He shoved me against a wall before speaking.

He shook me, "How could you do this." he demanded.

"Please," I needed at least him to understand, "I did not want this. I really tried to convince the hat, but it would not listen."

He shook his head, letting me go, "Wining to me is not going to help you. You know I have no power against our parents."

"No one has told them yet; I still have time to fix this."

He shook his head sadly, "But someone has."

I stared into his steely blue eyes, "You would never."

"I'm sorry, you know I always write Mother a first day of school letter," he practically begged.

"Why do you always have to be the perfect little boy? Why can you not just think for yourself instead of following every little rule?" I scolded.

"Oh, like you have ever broken one of Mothers stupid rules," He roared back, "All I ever hear from you is, it is you are, not you're Javier. So how about I stop following the rules when you do!"

"Maybe I will" I spat back.

"Well then have fun being disowned" He proclaimed, walking away, "And don't come crying back to me for help."

I took a moment to calm myself once more. Too many things were happening this morning, too many times I had been dragged from place to place against my will. Next time someone touches me, I am going to hex them. I will learn a hex for this purpose exclusively. Once I had made up my mind on the matter, I walked into the great hall and quickly viewed the clock above the teacher's table, it was still only 7:16, I had plenty of time.

I quickly made my way to the farthest end of the Gryffindor table, which was largely deserted, grabbed a slice of toast and a plum, and made to exit. I had a hex to learn, after all. As I neared the end of the table Professor McGonagall, who I now knew as my head of house, appeared in front of me.

Peering down at me, she spoke, "Ms. Avery is it," she paused as I nodded confirmation, "well, here is your schedule, try to be prudent and on time."

I took the parchment from her before replying, "But of course, thank you, Professor." As I walked away, I paused only for a moment, I felt as if I had eyes drilling into the back of my head. I restrained myself from turning around, a confident person never second guesses themselves and turning around, if only for a moment, is second guessing your path. And my path is simple. Up to my dorm room which is, thankfully, devoid of annoying classmates, and into my copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Year One. I flipped through the book until, near the back, I finally found a hex. A stinging hex. It did not look too difficult, but I would need something to practice on. There was no one else in the room and I did not have a pet, so that only left one option. I would have to practice on myself. I practiced the wand motion a few times, a small movement of the wrist that consisted of an upwards slash and a small underhanded arch to the left, before pointing my wand at my foot and mummering the incantation.

"Idestpropagio," the first time nothing happened so I looked down at the textbook once more to ensure I had the proper pronunciation, E-dest-pro-pesh-E-O. I had been saying the first syllable as a short I sound instead of a long E sound. I tried again and this time managed to produce a small tingling sensation in my foot, as if it had fallen asleep. I kept trying and after a couple of attempts managed to produce a sharp stinging pain that would travel up through my body and felt almost and is someone was simultaneously sending a jolt of electricity through my leg and stabbing my foot with pins. I decided it was a suitable defensive spell.

Finished with that, I opened my schedule. I had it discarded upon my nightstand upon reaching my dorm. It read:

First Year Gryffindor Schedule:

6:30-7:55- Breakfast

(I guess they boys had gotten the start time wrong by an hour, although Hermione still could not have been down there as early as she had been)

A Day:

8:05-9:45- Transfiguration

9:55-10:40- History of Magic

10:50-11:35- Study Hall in Library

11:45-12:30- Lunch

12:40-1:25- Free Period

1:35-2:20- Study Hall in Library

2:30-3:15- Potions

B Day:

8:05-9:45- Charms

9:55-10:40- Study Hall in Library

10:50-11:35- Free Period

11:45-12:30- Lunch

12:40-1:25- Defense

1:35-2:20- Study Hall

2:30-3:15- Herbology

Note that:

Astronomy is on Wednesdays at 11:00 pm

I glanced at the clock Hermione had on her nightstand, it read 8:00. Damn it, I was going to be late for transfiguration. I quickly scooped up my schoolbooks from my trunk and dropped them into a magically expanded leather satchel, no time to organize them, I really need to invest in a watch. I walked out of the portrait hole and looked around; I couldn't see any other first years. Ok, what was I feeling, left or right? No, this was not the time for guessing games. I looked around once more before spotting the shiny gleam of a prefect badge. I quickly ran up to the prefect, who had curly red hair and horn-rimmed glasses.

"Excuse me," I inquired, "But could you point me in the direction of Transfiguration."

The boy stared at me for a moment before smiling, "First year, are you? All you need to do is take that staircase coming towards us right now, mind the trick step, third down, and walk along till you come to a suit of armor holding a shield with the Gryffindor insignia on it. The Transfiguration classroom will be just to the right of it."

"Thank you." I beamed.

"No problem," he proclaimed, "Always nice when a younger student can recognize a figure of importance."

I frowned a bit at his parting remark before remembering that I was running late and quickly moving down the stairs, being sure to jump over the third stair, wondering what its trick could be. I wandered down the hall a bit before coming to the correct knight and pushing into the classroom. Upon entering, I turned around to read the clock placed atop the door. I was two minutes early, perhaps Hermione's clock had been running fast?

I took one of the empty desks towards the back of the class and idly started preparing my things. I would need my transfiguration textbook, a sheet of parchment, for note taking, a quill, and an ink pot. I looked back at the clock, 8:05. Where was the Professor? I looked up at the other students, most of them were glancing nervously around the room, but a select few were staring fixatedly at a silver Taby cat which was lounging on the Professor's desk.

I decided to do some revising while waiting for the teacher to arrive, it can never hurt to brush up on the basics. About five minutes past classes supposed-to-be start, Laura, Ron, and Harry burst into the room.

"I told you we should try the third floor again," Laura scolded.

"Well, I would have," Ron reasoned, "If you hadn't only led us it circles the last time we tried it."

"Oh, and you racing up and down the same flight of stairs over and over again was sooo helpful." Laura bit back.

Harry sighed, speaking to both of them, "Well at least we made it."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, cooling down, "And the teacher's not even here yet, just some cat."

Just then that "cat" transfigured into none other than Professor Minerva McGonagall, who promptly took her wand out of her pocket and turned to address Ron.

"I think you will find," she began, "that I am much more than just a cat."

Ron sputtered a bit before moving to find a seat, followed swiftly by Harry and Laura. The latter of whom I was very displeased to find sliding in next to me.

"Here," she whispered, "This came for you at breakfast."

My stomach rumbled at the thought of my discarded toast and plum before I reached out to take the small black-enveloped letter she had handed me. My stomach turned as I viewed the emerald green Avery crest seal. The next time I saw Javier, he would be on the receiving end of my newly acquired stinging hex.

McGonagall continued, "Seeing as it is your first day, I will cut you some slack. But, NEVER expect such treatment again. Transfiguration is one of the hardest, and most precise, magics you will ever learn at Hogwarts. Foolery of any kind will not be tolerated in my classroom. You have been warned."

Laura, sitting to my right, began to zone off, as Professor McGonagall explained the basics of the class. On the other side of things, I sat, taking endless notes. Laura had all but fallen asleep, when Professor McGonagall's desk was suddenly transformed into a pig causing much of the class to burst out in applause.

"W-what?" Laura mumbled, waking up from her nap. "What'd I miss?!"

"Oh, just all of notes." I recounted, stiffly, "Of course I found it all quite interesting, not the type of class one would fall asleep in."

If Laura registered my insult, she chose to ignore it, "Can you share with me your notes?" She begged, "please, I really didn't try to fall asleep... I just, dozed off."

I rolled my eyes, and gave a bit of a huff, before preforming a small copying spell on the notes.

"Thank you, so much! I swear, it won't happen again." She sighed.

"It better not." I scoffed.

However, our next class was just about the most boring one you could take at Hogwarts. History of Magic. The, "teacher" was a stuffy old ghost who could drone on for hours, making even the bloodiest of goblin wars dreary. His name was Professor Binns, and it was rumored that one night he had fallen asleep in the staff room, grading papers, and died, then got up the next morning and continued teaching. Some even think he's not aware of his own death.

Laura

Soon after the introduction to our second class, it shocked me to see Noel, next to me, sound asleep. Determined to repay the favor, I wrote notes through the torturous class, while cracking whispered jokes with the kids around me, who were all nearly half asleep.

When the bell rang, I stood up, and passed Noel the paper.

Noel

"Here," Laura said, passing me her notes. "Now we're even."

"What?" I muttered, groggily, peeling my blank notes sheet from where it had stuck to my arm.

"You fell asleep. I wrote notes." She rolled her eyes. "I'm assuming you can use a copying spell...?"

"Of course, I can." I revolted, "wait, I fell asleep?"

From nearby, a student walking out of the classroom chimed in.

"Yeah, you did." He sneered.

I glared in the direction of the attack, trying to identify who had said it. Draco. Nothing good could come of an interaction with him. Being of a higher quality of pureblood, much like myself, he would surely register the betrayal of my Gryffindor sorting.

"I did not fall asleep, Laura," I fibbed, "I was simply resting my eyes. Not a word of what he said was useful, anyways."

"You seemed pretty eager to take my notes, Noel." Laura muttered.

"Yeah, well..." I trailed off, at a loss for a witty comeback.

"Just admit you fell asleep, Avery." Draco taunted from across the room. The formality of using my last name was clear - we no longer had a chance of being friends. He considered me beneath him.

"Can it, Malfoy." I sneered back.

Laura begged, "Please Noel, I didn't mean to fight, but you did fall asleep. As Draco says, just admit it."

"Oh, so now you're on his side," I could not believe the situation I had got myself into, stuck between Laura's unwanted friendship and Draco's obvious rejection. I had to end this quickly. "I thought you were stupid, Laura, but not stupid enough to side with a pompous git like Malfoy here." I finished. Without waiting for a response, I whipped out of the classroom. I would be late to study hall, if I wasn't careful.