Chapter 9: [Benetnasch POV] Transition


Summary:

Sirius's behaviour in astronomy made Nasch start to reevaluate him, and she began to wonder what really happened on the train.


The next day they had Defense Against the Dark Arts in the morning, and Nasch sat next to Remus, knowing this would be a favourite for him. She was also pretty excited as well. To their disappointment, the lesson droned on without any significance, but they agreed afterwards that that was because it had been the first lesson and they didn't get to do anything.

That afternoon was transfiguration. Nasch had been separated from her friends on her way, but she was fortunate enough to ask Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor ghost, for a short cut, and she arrived first for her class.

She walked in and only found a tabby cat perched high on the front desk.

As she got closer, she noticed a faint ring of square spectacle markings around her eyes. The cat purred at her presence.

Nasch sat down on the front row, adjusted her position, and said to the cat, "Well, good to see you, too, professor." Nasch knew for a fact that Professor McGonagall had been a close friend of her father, and she had always looked forward to learning from the brilliant and clever witch.

Indeed, a split second later, after her words, the cat metamorphosed into a tall, black-haired witch. Her expression was solemn. And she said, "Your promptness is greatly appreciated, Miss Sovermerge."

They were both quiet after that exchange, but Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes and said again in a quiet, sorrowful voice, "He was a good friend."

"He was a good father."

And next, when she looked up, Professor McGonagall was almost in tears; her eyes were glassy, but she composed herself quickly. So, when Lily and the others entered the classroom, she was once again the tabby cat sitting at the table's edge.

Her transformation later for the class elicited a round of gasps, and Nasch could hear boys cheering from the back. She immediately started to give all of them a talking-to.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She was facing the class, but she was stopped in her advancement by what must have been a raised hand.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Wonderful demonstration of cool magic back there, Professor. So when are we going to learn that?"

Professor McGonagall's voice was stern when she answered, but Nasch thought she could make out the faint ghost of a smile at her lips.

"That is called being an Animagus, the ability for someone to turn into a particular animal at will; it is very advanced magic and has only been achieved by a few in this century. It is extremely dangerous to become one without guidance, as you may find yourself trapped in your animal form forever. But yes, Mr. Potter, if I think you are truly capable, you may find my help in becoming one once you graduate."

But they were far from learning how to become Animagi, and after taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match to start trying to turn it into
a needle.

It did seem that James Potter was specially gifted with this subject, as he was able to perform the magic in no time. In fact, he and Sirius Black were the only ones in the class to have succeeded in a long time before the end of class, which was when Lily and Nasch finally came through as well, making their matches go all silver and pointy as required.

Nasch believed she was motivated by her own phantom imagination of Professor McGonagall's anticipation. Whereas Lily, she observed, may have been driven by her spite for James Potter.

It appeared that a bad first impression would survive for a long time.

Potter, Lily adamantly insisted, was an arrogant toerag. Nasch shared her distaste for such qualities in people, but she listened without chiming in. "There was always more to it than what met the eye," she had long concluded.

She needed to reflect back on that, for it seemed that she had chosen a side in her battle of observing people this time. She, who was always proud of her ability to see through others, failed to remind herself to seek a reason for the train compartment incident.

The idea of befriending Snape, whom she wanted to prove to her mother that he was above her would-be initial judgement of him, had to have gone too far in her mind.

She had judged Sirius Black too harshly. In a way, she was ashamed of herself. Was it too late to redeem herself by finding out the truth? Perhaps Remus, who was their roommate, can help her figure it out.

Also, speaking of which, judging from her previous conversation with Remus, Nasch was vaguely suspecting that he was beginning to take a liking to the boys, although the pair were evidently and arguably more attached to each other than anyone else.

Nasch hadn't told Remus about her unilateral disagreement with Black. After all, he was living in close quarters with the subject in question; she had refrained from asking for assistance at the time, still conceit in her own abilities.

They ended their class with a groan as Professor McGonagall unleashed a huge amount of homework on them.

A day before the weekend, on Friday, they got Double Potions with the Slytherins.

Professor Slughorn, the potions master and head of Slytherin house, was practicality Hogwarts' third normalcy, right after the ghosts and Professor Dumbledore, so Nasch had expected some reaction from the wizard.

What was not expected was his unsubtleness. Up until then, the minor consoles given to Nasch had been strictly personal—just little expressions and soft squeezing here and there, just enough for Nasch to be grateful for their point and regard Hogwarts as the sacred grounds her father had walked for seventeen years. They never went beyond the line of making her uncomfortable, which was exactly what Professor Slughorn had neglected.

A bad feeling creeped up her spine when Professor Slughorn asked her and, of all the people, Sirius Black, to remain a bit after class.