A/N: Sorry it's taking me so long to update! I'm currently very busy with studying and other school stuff since I have a bunch of huge things due/tests the last week before Spring Break. I'm also writing four or five different stories at once, although this is the only one that I'm posting. Also, just to let you know, I won't be posting anything during my Spring Break because I'll be on vacation with my family. :)
Please read and review! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except my OC (Skylar Wolf) - All Harry Potter characters/plots/etc. belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :)
Word Count: 2,481
Skylar groaned as soon as she entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and saw the replacement teacher. The blonde author looked positively ecstatic as the students filed into the classroom, a brilliant smile plastered on his face. All the girls, save Skylar, were swooning under the blue-eyed gaze of none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry and Ron were too busy staring curiously at the rattling cage on the teacher's desk to watch as Lockhart paced rhythmically at the front of the room.
"Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Me." He flashed another dazzling smile at his audience, girls swooning, boys and Skylar rolling their eyes in distaste. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member…" Skylar drowned out the rest of Lockhart's self-promotion as she laid her head on her arms on the desk. She perked up when he mentioned a quiz, knowing it would likely challenge her knowledge on all things magic, although it wasn't an easy task. Like Hermione, she paid attention and retained every word the teacher deemed important, as well as possessing an eidetic memory. Skylar had the suspicion that Hermione had one as well; being that both girls got perfect scores on all their exams so far.
Lockhart handed out the quizzes, and Skylar struggled to hide both laughter and disdain as she scanned over the questions. That narcissistic, egocentric, egotistical twit! All these questions are about him! Skylar thought to herself. She knew all the answers and put down exactly what Gilderoy Lockhart would want to see, although she somewhat hated herself for doing so. However, honesty would get her nowhere with this man, so she refrained from changing her answers. Some of the questions were common sense, but she picked out the ones that really made her think for last.
1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite colour? Skylar scribbled down "lilac", knowing it was the correct answer. She found it odd that the author preferred a form of purple, for that usually meant you were compassionate, artistic, and unique; whereas Lockhart was the complete opposite. Skylar thought red would fit him much better; it meant that a person was bold, loud, and boisterous. Her own favorites were black and blue. Blue meant she was deep, calm, reliable, and trustworthy. Black meant she was strong-willed, determined, and enigmatic.
5. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition. Skylar just copied down what he wrote in one of his books; "To rid the world of evil and market his own range of hair products." She nearly giggle when she'd read that; seeing the serious goal along with the marketing idea. They were quite a contrast to each other.
9. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? Skylar knew that this was an opinion based question, so she just put down "banishing the Bogle-banshee in Kathmandu." Skylar didn't think any of Lockhart's "achievements" were real, unless he just stole them from someone else.
11. How many times has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile award. Five. Skylar wondered if the award was created just for him.
16. In his book Break with a Banshee, how did Gilderoy Lockhart bravely banish the Bandon Banshee? Well, he said that he hit her over the head with a broomstick," Skylar reflected, scribbling down her answer, But I don't think that would actually stop a banshee of any kind...whatever. I'm just putting down the answers he wants, anyways.
21. Which is Gilderoy Lockhart's best side for photographs? The left side. Although, Skylar mused, I'm sure he'd say every side. She nearly giggled at the thought.
29. Has Gilderoy Lockhart ever won the Dunstable Duelling Championship for wizards or just been pipped at the post? Skylar rolled her eyes and wrote, "always won", although she knew for a fact he hadn't won once.
34. What product(s) does Gilderoy Lockhart use to clean his teeth with to achieve his famous dazzling white smile? Gentleman's-tooth-pearling-paste and Fairy Spark Dust. Skylar had to admit that his teeth were just about as perfect as you could get.
54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would his ideal gift be? January 26, harmony between magical and non-magical peoples. Skylar thought that was pretty cheesy, but then again, he was probably just saying it to make himself look better. That was the last question on the "small quiz", which, in reality, was a trivia about Gilderoy Lockhart. She turned in her quiz with ten minutes left, shortly after Hermione, of course. When the thirty minutes were up, Professor Lockhart- it almost made it hurt for Skylar to even think it- rifled through his pile of finished quizzes.
"Tut, tut." He scolded the students before him. "Hardly any of you remembered my favorite color is lilac." He scanned the sea of students and locked eyes momentarily with Hermione and Skylar. "But, Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Skylar Wolf knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and to market my own range of hair care potions. Hermione beamed with pride while Skylar just blushed and hid her head in her arms. She didn't enjoy being called out in front of the whole class, like most. Professor Lockhart continued babbling, meanwhile, Skylar kept her head face-down on her desk.
"Now...be warned!" Lockhart cried, shaking Skylar from her daze and sparking her attention. "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourself facing your own worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here…" He dramatically turned to face the rattling cage on his desk. "I must ask you not to scream. It may provoke them." Skylar turned to her left to see poor Neville growing paler by the second. Harry and Ron, who were right behind her, leaned forward in anticipation. Skylar drummed her fingers on the desk as Lockhart whipped the cover off to reveal a rusted cage full of small, blue creatures. The had lanky arms and legs, two small antennae, pointed ears, and translucent wings. Skylar recognized the creatures from one of her books. They were-
"Cornish pixies?" Seamus Finnigan voiced her own thoughts. These creatures weren't rare, just plain annoying. It was bad enough to have one around, let alone...ten? There were so many, Skylar couldn't even count them all.
"Yes. Freshly caught Cornish pixies." Professor Lockhart looked particularly proud of himself. Seamus couldn't contain his laughter, and burst out with a snort. Skylar was having trouble hiding her amusement as well. The pixies, although troublesome, weren't that hard to capture. You just needed patience, something she knew for a fact that Lockhart didn't have.
"Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan," Gilderoy Lockhart gave the student a pointed glare, as if to prove Skylar's intuition correct, "but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them now!" With that, he opened the door of the cage, unleashing the rage of at least a dozen Cornish pixies upon his class. Skylar watched curiously as they spray some of the Slytherins with ink bottles, something she could see Peeves doing. Glass shattered on the floor as the creatures threw beakers around. A piece of glass grazed Skylar's hand, and a thin line of red appeared. Skylar whimpered and clutched her injured hand to her chest. To her surprise, the pair of pixies that had been previously levitating Neville and pulling his ears, were now set on her. They glided down to the redhead and she felt the change in their demeanor as they gently examined her hurt hand. She could sense that they had only been joking around, and now felt guilty for their childish actions. She used a simple spell to heal the cut, and reassured the pranksters that she was fine. After that, she noticed the pixies didn't seem to bother her at all.
"Come on now, round them up, round them up." Professor Lockhart insisted as most of the students ran out of the classroom. "They're only pixies." He brandished his wand with a flourish; the handle fancy and dark, the rest was light like birch wood. "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" His wand barely sparked, having no effect on the pesky creatures. One pixie with particularly large wings and ears seized the blonde man's wand and proceeded to toss it out the open window with a cackle. Professor Lockhart ran out of the classroom, following the stampede of second years. Before he reached the door, he stopped to look back at the remaining students. "I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." And with that, he ran off.
"What do we do now?" Ron asked, looking towards his friends.
"Immobilus." Hermione commanded, pointing her own wand at the pixies carrying Neville. They froze in midair and Neville was dropped onto Lockhart's desk beside the empty cage.
"Why is it always me?" He wailed.
The four friends made their way out of the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom, clothing shredded and hair askew, aside from Skylar. While their robes bore rips and holes, hers was untouched, albeit hanging off one shoulder like always. Her hair was as smooth and shiny as it had been when she entered.
"Can you believe him?" Ron threw his hands up in exasperation.
"I'm sure Professor Lockhart just wanted to give us some hands-on experience." Hermione quickly defended the author.
"Hands on?" Harry scoffed, "Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing!" Skylar giggled from beside the bespectacled boy.
"Rubbish. Read his books. You'll see all the amazing things he's done." Hermione argued.
"He says he's done." Ron replied wittily. Skylar only laughed harder.
"And how did you come out of this mess unscathed?" Hermione accused the redhead, quickly trying to avert attention from her beloved role model. Skylar's cheeks flushed pink as the three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her.
"Well, er, you know, I kinda have this...ability-sort of, to read people…" She began, cut off by Hermione.
"So, you can read creatures than as well?" She clarified. Skylar nodded.
"Well, that usually helps me bond with creatures." She explained.
"Well, then, couldn't you have asked them to leave us alone?" Ron argued.
"Well, yeah, but I doubt they would have listened." The redhead giggled. "Besides, you were the ones using spells on them." She pointed out.
"Whatever." Ron sighed, sticking his hands in his robe pockets.
Harry and Skylar were once again on the Quidditch pitch, circling each other on their identical brooms. After the difficulty of sharing a single broom, McGonagall had given in and bought Skylar her own Nimbus 2000. At first, Skylar had refused the generous gift, but McGonagall threatened to ban her from the team if she didn't. The Gryffindor team had managed to work out a schedule to give Harry and Skylar even playing time, switching off for each game. As she had hoped, Skylar's first game of her first year had gone well, arguably better than Harry's, in fact. She had spotted the Snitch within the first few minutes of the game, although she knew the Ravenclaw seeker hadn't. Her talent for reading people came in handy during the games. She managed to keep the seeker from capturing the Snitch until her own team had gotten a good amount of points, and from there, she worked her magic. Unlike her best friend, Skylar had managed to snatch the ball without swallowing it, earning cheers from the crowd and her teammates.
Various students of each house sat in the grass that surrounded the pitch, studying or chatting. As the Gryffindor Team lowered to the ground, the Quidditch team in green sauntered over to them. Skylar knew there would be trouble, for the Slytherin and Gryffindor houses were natural rivals. Hermione and Ron got up from their spots and joined Harry and Skylar beside the other Gryffindors.
"I smell trouble." Ron whispered, earning an agreeing nod from the other redhead.
"Clear out Flint!" Oliver pointed at said boy, "I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today."
"Easy, Wood," Marcus Flint sneered, "I've got a note." He brandished the piece of parchment, Oliver quickly snatching it away.
"I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker." Oliver Wood read with a frown. He looked up from the note to glare at Flint. "You've got a new Seeker? Who?" A small blonde boy pushed his way through the Slytherins, coming to stand beside Marcus. "Malfoy?"
"Draco?" Harry looked at him in disgust.
"I bet you my dessert that his father bribed them to let him join." Skylar whispered to Ron, earning a snicker from the young Weasley.
"That's right," Draco sneered, "And that's not all that's new…" The rest of the time brandished their gleaming, new broomsticks.
"Nimbus Two Thousand Ones?!" Ron gasped, regarding the upgraded tools.
"A generous gift from Draco's father." Marcus bragged.
"That's right, Weasley," Draco turned his gaze to the redhead boy, "You see, unlike some, my father can afford to buy the best." Ron scoffed as Skylar pat his hand sympathetically.
"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent." Hermione spat, earning giggles from her friends.
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." Everyone gasped, save Harry, who looked very confused. Skylar strode up to the blonde and smacked him across the face, the noise resounding across the field. "If you wanted to play rough, you could have just asked." Draco replied slyly, winking at her. Skylar raised her hand to smack the boy again, but before she could, Oliver pulled her back, restraining her arms.
"Save it for the match." He calmed her.
"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Ron cried, whipping out his broken wand.
"Wait!" Skylar called, "Your wand-" Ron paid no attention as he yelled what sounded like, "Eat slugs!", a beam of green light leaving the tip of his wand and hitting his own chest.
"-is backwards." Skylar finished quietly. Ron dropped to the ground, Hermione running to his side. He began belching, slugs falling from his open mouth. Colin Creevy ran up to the field and immediately began snapping pictures of the sickly second year.
"Wow!" He gasped, angling his camera in every direction. "Can you hold him still, Harry?!"
"Get out of the way, Colin!" Harry rushed in to pick up his friend. Ron leaned against Harry, his arm draped lazily over the bespectacled boy's shoulders. "Let's get him to Hagrid," Harry addressed Hermione and Skylar, "He'll know what to do." The girls nodded before proceeding to help carry the cursed second year to Hagrid's hut.