Chapter 4
Ivy stood and Timber fell in beside her as she shook out her white cane. Harry and Ron followed the two girls as they went back to their dorm to get their books and things for class. Within a few minutes, they were walking back down the corridor to the Charms classroom. Holding the door open, Harry let Ivy and Hermione enter the room first. Several students were already there, so Hermione led them to an empty table for the four of them. Ivy felt with her white cane to find the seat nearest her. Finding it, she folded up the cane and put it on the table. Placing her bag on the table, she sat down, Timber settling in beside her. They waited for the teacher to arrive, conversing quietly amongst themselves. The professor entered the classroom and the students went quiet. He began to call roll and then started explaining how charms worked. He assigned some reading for homework with the promise of actually teaching them spells during the next class. After the hour was up, he dismissed them and they all ventured to their Transfiguration class along with the Hufflepuff house. Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration, and when the class arrived, she was sitting on her desk in cat form. She always transfigured herself like this every year for the 1st years, it always impressed them.
At lunch, the four friends laughed and joked. Ivy felt she was being watched and leaned over to Harry. "Okay, who's staring at me?" she asked.
Harry glanced around the Great Hall and seeing Draco's eyes on Ivy he leaned back towards her. "Malfoy."
Ivy nodded and continued eating. After they finished, they made their way to the dungeons for Potions class. This class they were having with the Slytherin students. They all took their seats, Harry helping Ivy to a seat. Draco watched them and wondered about their relationship. Professor Snape entered and told them how he would teach them to make potions. He was very skeptical about having Ivy in the class, didn't feel that she could make potions, not being able to see. He had allowed McGonagall to add new labels to his ingredient stores that now included some sort of bumps under the words. He waved his wand at the board and the recipe for the day's potion appeared on the door.
"Today, you will be making this shrinking potion. You have until the end of the hour." He said, and the students all looked at the board, except for Ivy who was flipping pages in a book in front of her. She found the page she wanted and began skimming the page with her fingers. Intrigued, he made his way to her table. "And just what are you doing, Miss Mitchell?" he asked.
"Reading the potion ingredients, sir." She stated.
"And how do I know that you are reading the right one?" he sneered at her.
"I guess you will just have to wait until I've made the potion and then decide if I've read the right one or not, sir." Ivy stated, as if it were obvious. He snorted and then swept away to check on the other students. "Did he just snort at me?"
"Yes, he did." Hermione giggled.
Ivy read the ingredients for the potion carefully and pulled out her supplies. She heard something metal hit the floor. Bending down to hunt for it, her head met up with another in a painful bump. Lifting her head up, she held a hand to the place that had contacted the other, "Oh, sorry."
"No, it's my fault, should have said something first. Here's your knife." The boy said.
Smiling, Ivy held out her hand for him to place the knife in it. "Draco, right?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked.
"Your voice. Thank you for your help." She said, turning back to her cauldron. At the end of class, she placed a portion of her potion in a vial and took it up to the professor's desk as instructed. He took it from her, noticing that it looked perfect. Surprised, he opened the vial to test it, as she made her way back to her seat and began to pack up.
"Miss Mitchell, might I have a moment of your time?" Snape asked, almost quietly.
"Sure, professor." She said and made her way back up to his desk as the other students began filing out.
"Run along, Potter, this doesn't concern you. I'll make sure she gets where she needs to be." The professor snapped at Harry who was waiting by the door.
"It's okay, Harry, I can find my way back." Ivy said and Harry left the room. "Is something wrong with my potion, professor?" she asked, turning back towards Snape.
"No, no, nothing like that, Ivy. I just wanted to say something that I've never said to a student before." He began. Opening and closing his mouth several times, he wasn't sure that he could say it. "I'm impressed. The potion you made is perfect, exactly as it should be. I will admit that I'm surprised. When Professor Dumbledore told us that we would have a blind student this year, I was very skeptical. I did not believe that you would be able to handle the wand work and potion making, but you have proved me wrong. It's not every day that I admit to being wrong. If there is anything you need help with, just ask. Any of the other students or teachers will be happy to help you, including myself and those of my house, Slytherin. I see you have already met Draco." The professor told her.
"Oh, yes, he seems very nice. And thank you for the offer of help. I get underestimated all the time because of my inability to actually see things. No one takes in to account that I do still have my other senses." She said.
"Well, do you need an escort to your house?" he asked.
Patting Timber on the head, she laughed, "I already have one, sir, but thank you." Turning, she stopped at her desk to gather her bag and white cane and made her way to the door. Professor Snape marveled at her ability to find her way around rooms that she had never been in before. She was an amazing girl, with a ton of bravery to put up with all the stares and stereotypes that people placed on her.
Ivy stepped out of the room and stopped for a moment. "Let's go home, Timber." She said, and turned to her right to begin walking down the corridor. After turning down another corridor, she smelled vanilla and apples. Remember whose smell that was, she smiled. "Hello again, Draco." She said.
"How'd you know this time? I didn't say anything." He said, falling in step beside her.
"Your smell. Each person has a different smell, and yours is vanilla and apples. Very nice." She told him.
"Brilliant. Mind if I walk with you?" he asked.
"Are you sure you want to be seen with a Gryffindor?" she laughed softly.
He was quiet for a moment, "I'll survive." He said with a smile.
They walked in silence for a few moments, "Tell me about yourself, Draco." She said as they reached the first set of stairs. Using her white cane, she found the bottom step and began counting to herself.
"Well, I'm an only child, pure-blood, in Slytherin, and I love Quidditch." He answered.
"What do you mean by pure-blood? And what's Quidditch?" she said, stopping on the landing at the top of the staircase.
"Well, pure-blood means that your whole family is made up of witches and wizards, no muggles. Quidditch is a game we play on broomsticks."
"Oh." She began walking up the next set of stairs. "So, what is someone who is magical but their parents are not?" she asked him.
"Those are mu—muggle-borns." He almost said that derogatory name for them. "And those with one magical parent and one muggle parent are half-bloods."
"So, if someone is magical, why does it matter what their blood is?" she asked. He stopped and stared at her on the next landing.
"Well, I don't know really. My father is always saying that pure-blood is the only true witch or wizard." Draco told her.
Ivy nodded, thinking, and began the next flight of stairs. Draco walked beside her in silence. They reached the landing and she turned to him. "May I see what you look like, Draco?" she asked.
"But—But you can't see anything." He said, confused.
"With my hands." She said.
"Okay." He said, still unsure of what she meant. She folded up her white cane and placed it inside her robe. Holding her hands out, she found his face and began feeling the features. His pointy chin, his cheeks, his lips, his nose, his ears, his eyes, his forehead and stopping at his hair.
"You have a beautiful face, Draco. Your hair is quite nice, too. A very light blonde, almost white. What color are your eyes?" She said, lowering her hands and pulling out her cane again.
"How can you tell what color my hair is? My eyes are a steel grey color." He asked and answered at the same time.
"Colors have a different feel to them, and hair does as well. It's just something I learned a long time ago." Ivy said and began walking again. She liked talking with Draco, he was very nice.
"There you are. I was getting worried and was going to come get you." Harry said, coming out of the portrait door.
"I told you I could find my way back on my own, Harry. You should know by now that I like to do things myself. Draco was kind enough to keep me company on the walk here." She said to her friend.
Harry noticed Draco for the first time, "Malfoy."
"Potter," Draco replied. "I need to be going. It was nice talking with you Ivy."
"Thank you, Draco, for walking with me. I appreciate the company." Ivy said to him as he turned to leave. He stopped and looked back at her, watching her climb in the portrait door to her house.