Samantha glanced at the small calendar on her desk. It was a Tuesday – July second to be precise – and she was now on 2nd year coursework in all subjects except for Charms and Transfiguration. She privately admitted that she was a failure when it came to Charms. The easiest spells took her forever to master and she was barely finished the 1st year course. As for Transfiguration, her godmother raved about her progress. She had advanced so quickly she was midway through 3rd year's spells.
Her appalling results in Charms disappointed her father, but more importantly, it dragged on her Potions lessons. There were many advanced potions which required an enchantment. She couldn't understand why she had such trouble. She read all of the theory books she could get her hands on, she studied Professor Flitwick's wand motions and intonations, but it was as if her magic just refused to cooperate.
Footsteps echoing through her study room from the stairwell brought to mind her living situation. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were extremely kind to her, in the little time she saw them. Their children on the other hand… Ron and Ginny – she'd been told she had no right to use the short versions of their names so she made a point of addressing them that way – wasted no opportunities to besmirch everything from Samantha's parents to her House in Hogwarts.
In the beginning, little things had 'gone missing' from Samantha's room. She'd finally asked her father to ward her room and belongings. He had agreed, but instead of doing so himself, he had taught her how to do so. Now, things no longer disappeared, but the terrors – as Samantha considered them – took to making as much noise as they could in the afternoons.
None of this – the insults or the noise – occurred while their parents were home, but when the house was empty, it was no holds barred. Judging by the sounds of feet stomping up and down the stairs, the elder Weasleys weren't home. 'Hmm,' Samantha thought, 'perhaps this is a good time to try some practice with one of the hexes Harry taught me.'
Listening carefully, she waited until she could hear both of her tormentors descend past her room. Carefully opening her door, mindful of the fact that it squeaked past a certain point, she slipped her wand through the opening. Sighting the top of a blindingly-red head, she carefully aimed and whispered, "Rictusempra."
Gales on angry laughter told her she had hit her 'victim' spot on. Smirking wickedly, she watched another head appear, probably in aid of the other, and she repeated the hex. Now both were laughing and she opened her door fully. Stepping onto the landing, she kept her wand raised in their direction. "Now, keep the bloody noise down!" she shouted before removing the hex from both of them and retreating back into the study. She closed the door quickly, hoping neither of them could open it through the wards.
That didn't stop them from pounding angrily at the door. Nor did it keep their slurs out.
"Damn Slytherin whore! Bloody junior Death Eater! Come out here!" Ginny's voice echoed loudly through the room.
"Ginny, stop yelling and help me dismantle these wards," Ron's angry words cut across Ginny's tirade.
Samantha then realized she'd possibly miscalculated. She had to hope the wards held, or she'd be faced with two pissed-off people with a good deal more training and experience than herself. Glancing around, she took stock of the room. There wasn't much she could use to protect herself. The desk could provide shelter for a short time, but it wasn't very large. She glanced at the door and noted the space below. 'Well, hello there,' she laughed to herself. 'That could be useful…'
She grabbed her defense book from the floor and flipped through it… Magic Fog, nope, Sand Cloud, nope. Ah ha! The Coughing Cloud spell – perfect! She approached the door, wand in hand, and knelt down. She glanced at the incantation and instructions for proper wand movement. Carefully sticking her wand under the door just far enough so the spell would cast in the hall, she whispered the incantation. Holding her breath, she quickly rose and waited.
"What is that pink cloud?" she heard Ginny say.
"I have no idea! What did you do!" Ron asked her accusingly.
"Me? It had to be-" her sentence broke off into a coughing fit.
Ron's coughs soon joined hers. "We'll… get you… for this!" his sentence would have been more dramatic if not for the coughing fits.
Two pairs of feet could be heard stomping back down the stairs and Samantha returned to her desk, happily returning to her studies.
All three of them paid for their antics the next morning when her father arrived for her Potions lesson. She had been in the kitchen, finishing breakfast, when he arrived early. She could hear him conversing with Mrs. Weasley in the living room. Hurriedly choking down the rest of her eggs, she silently counted in her head. She reached five and then, "Samantha!" told her she was in trouble.
Quickly, she placed her dishes in the sink and hurried into the room. "Yes, sir?" she said respectively. She was careful to address him as her head of house rather than her father. She knew the Terrors were around here somewhere, probably listening in.
"Is it true you hexed Ronald and Ginerva and then cast a Coughing Cloud in the hallway yesterday?"
She kept her voice and face perfectly steady as she responded truthfully, "Yes sir."
"What possessed you to do such a thing?" he snapped.
"I grew tired of their torment, sir." She spared a small glance at Mrs. Weasley and was relieved to note the woman didn't appear to be angry before turning her attention back to her father.
He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dropping his hand, he moved to the couch and sat down, "Explain."
"Sir, they have done everything they can to interrupt my afternoon studies. They have also slandered my House and my parents, sir," and she admitted to herself that even though they didn't know who her parents were, that had hurt the most.
"As they couldn't possibly know who your parents were," he responded, "I don't see how this could bother you."
"It is more the principle of the thing, sir. Nevertheless, I have attempted to ignore their treatment of me, but I will admit that I lost my temper yesterday. It will not happen again."
"See that it doesn't," he said. His tone was serious, but his expression was anything but. "I will request that Professor Flitwick work with you on Silencing Charms."
"Oh, joy," she muttered.
"You are still having difficulties with Charms?"
"Yeah, I just can't seem to get the hang of it."
He nodded before turning to Mrs. Weasley, "Now that I have spoken to my charge…"
"Quite right, Severus," Mrs. Weasley said brightly. "Ron! Ginny! Come join us!"
The two red-heads walked calmly into the living room, throwing nasty smirks in Samantha's direction. "Yes, mom?" Ginny said sweetly.
"Samantha, have a seat," Mrs. Weasley said sternly, pointing to a chair adjacent to the couch. She turned back to face her children, "Now, Ronald, Ginerva, we have heard Samantha's side of things, I'd like to hear yours."
Ginny and Ron exchanged looks and Ron quickly spoke up, "We were minding our own business when she cast Rictusempra on us. Then she went back into her room and cast a Coughing Cloud into the landing."
"So you weren't doing anything? You weren't making excessive noise? You didn't cast slurs upon her house or her parents?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Of course not, mum!" Ginny said quickly.
"I don't believe either of you," Mrs. Weasley said angrily, her gaze flicking between her two children. "From the moment you met her, you haven't stopped harassing her. It ends now, do you understand me? I have never been so ashamed!" The woman's gaze turned wicked as she swiveled her head to look at Severus, "Perhaps, Severus, since Samantha is one of your students, you would like to mete out their punishment?"
"I'd be glad to, Molly" he replied coldly. "All three of you will write 24 inches on Ministry rules regarding the restrictions on underage magic – to be handed to me when I return for Samantha's next lesson. If you do not complete the assignment, I will remove 50 points from your House effective the moment you return to Hogwarts. Is that understood?"
Three voices quickly responded with, "Yes, sir."
"Good. I don't want to hear anything else about House rivalries being enacted in this house. Now, come along Samantha, we've already wasted enough time."
Samantha rose and began following her father from the room. Behind them, Ron was whining to his mother.
"But mom, he won't take any points from Samantha if she doesn't do it! It isn't fair!"
Samantha's father stopped and turned, "Rest assured, Mr. Weasley, I will take points from her if she does not do it." He turned and continued towards the study, Samantha hurrying after him.
They didn't speak again until they were ensconced in the study. "I'm aware that they instigated it, but you must control yourself better than that. We will consider that assignment to be your History work for this week."
Relieved that she wouldn't have a History assignment on top of the punishment, she nodded, "Thank you."
He silently nodded. "Today we will begin work on a Swelling Solution…"