A/N There is a French teacher in this chapter. Please use your imagination and pretend she is using a French accent as I suck at writing with accents. Whoever can tell me where I got the two new teachers gets a cyber-cookie.
Ch. 14
Susan quickly fell back into her routine after returning to school from the Christmas Holidays. To her immense satisfaction the majority of the school seemed to have completely forgotten about the attack on Miss Norris and the message on the wall. Only a few students looked at Harry with any suspicion anymore and the school seemed to go back to normal. Susan also noticed her friendship with Harry seemed to become closer after the ballet. There had been no major changes just small things that would have almost gone unnoticed by the casual observer. The way they would lean into each other on the couch while reading or the more frequent and longer hugs, shy glances when the other wasn't looking, all indicated a new found closeness with each other.
The start of the new term also brought two new teachers. For the first time in a long time the students were excited to go to their history class. Susan, Hannah, and Harry walked into the History of Magic classroom to find the teacher already waiting at his desk. He was an older man probably in his late fifties with thin greying hair and slightly on the pudgy side. He watched the students file into the class and take their seats with a jovial smile on his face. After the last person sat down he stood up and took out a piece of parchment.
"Good morning. My name is Professor Marcus Brody and I will be taking over the History of Magic class. First a little about me, I am the last person in the U.K. to earn their Mastery in History and apprenticed under Bathilda Bagshot and together we wrote the latest copy of your textbook. After I gained my Mastery I was unable to find a position teaching History in a Wizard Institution but I was lucky to find a Museum Curatorship at a University in the United States that specialized in what the muggles call the 'Occult'. I worked closely with one of their professors there to help locate ancient artifacts of historical significance. Now that you know a little about me, I'm going to go through the roll and try to put a name to your faces."
Professor Brody then proceeded to go through the class list calling names. Susan was felt a small smile grace her lips when he reached Harry's name and only paused for a second but otherwise made no special reaction to Harry's name. "OK, now that we know each other's name, I am going to pass out a short test. This is just to asses were your class is and if there are any special things I need to focus on. This is not for a grade but please do your best."
Susan looked down at the parchment in front of her and read through the test. The questions ranged from all areas of History of Magic from important dates to significant events. Many of the questions she learned growing up while some of the more obscure dates she remembered from reading through the book. After taking the test she was quite happy that Harry had insisted they read through the book instead of sleeping. She turned to look at her green eyed friend to see a satisfied smirk on his lips as he met her eyes.
After about a half an hour Professor Brody rose from his chair. "Ok class, let's call it time. Don't worry if you haven't finished." He pulled out his wand and with a wave summoned the test and they stacked themselves neatly on his desk. "I will look through the tests and let you know how you did next class. From there, I will be able to make a plan of attack. Now this class is going to be a bit different from how it was before. First of all, as you can plainly see, I'm not dead yet." He paused smiling as a few of the students' laughed. "Second of all, instead of just lecturing about important events in Wizarding History, we are also going to analyze and discus why something happened and the ramifications of the event. We will also look at how events in the Muggle world affected the Wizarding World and vise-versa. This is an important part of this class that many have scoffed at but it is important to remember that we are part of a larger world and actions in one can have effects on the other." He paused and looked around the room. "Are there any questions?" When no one raised their hand he smiled and dismissed the class for the day.
Hannah, Harry, and Susan left the class together and made their way to lunch talking about their new history teacher. "I think History of Magic will finally start to live up to my expectations" Harry said. "I was looking forward to this class before I stated but after our first class with Binns, my hopes were dashed."
"Agreed. Professor Brody will be so much better than Binns ever was. It will be nice learning about some of the effects of our History with the muggles." Susan added.
Hannah giggled, "I'm sure the bigots won't be happy about that aspect of the class. They prefer to think the Muggle World doesn't exist and if it does it has no bearing on anything in our world." The other two nodded at this and continued onto lunch. History of Magic quickly became a popular class with all but a few of the students who grew up in the more conservative families most of them from Slytherin. Proving Hannah's theory true, these were the same students who had the most problems with the new anti-discrimination rules that Headmaster Foote put into place at the beginning of the year. Susan even overheard Malfoy bemoaning the class to Parkinson in the library while working on an essay about the 100 Years war and British Wizards part in it.
HC
The other class that was in for a big change was Potions. Susan, Hannah, and Harry walked into the Dungeon for their first Potions class with the new teacher with high expectations. They had heard from other Puffs that the teacher was far superior to Snape in many ways with some of the older boys winking at each other. The class was in the same dungeon classroom as before but that's where the similarities stopped. The trio walked in and Harry immediately led them to the front of the class as opposed to their usual table in the back. After sitting down, Susan looked around the room. It bore no resemblance to the old potions lab. First of all it was a lot brighter. It looked like the teacher had installed some sort of glowballs that let off a soft white light.
Hanging on the wall were posters with charts of common ingredients showing their reactions with other common ingredients. There were also posters displaying safety practices and warnings showing ingredients that shouldn't be mixed with others. She looked at the office door when she heard it open. From the office, in walked tall, willowy women with light brown hair cut short just below the nape of her neck. Susan would guess she was in her mid-30s as she walked with a light sure step towards the front of the class. Susan now understood why the older boys thought the teacher was an improvement to Snape. When she made it to the front of the room she turned and looked over the class with a welcoming smile.
"Bon jour class" She welcomed with a slight French accent. "My name is Professor Marie Pasture. I will be your new potions professor. I recently taught at Beauxbatons and have had my potion's mastery for almost 10 years. I look forward to teaching you the fine art of potion brewing. First, before we begin, let's go over a few changes that I am putting into effect for this class." She turned and lifted a book off her desk and held it up to the class. "How many of you have a copy of this book?" Susan noticed that it was the same book that Harry had told her and Hannah to get at the begging of first year indexing potion ingredients and their reactions. She raised her hand along with Harry and Hannah along with a few Ravenclaws. "For those of you that do not have a copy already, please come up to get a copy. This book is a great resource for any potion you are working on. In it are lists of ingredients along with their reactions to other ingredients and how different ways of preparing them affects their properties."
After all the students in the class had a copy of the book and returned to their desks Professor Pasture continued to explain the changes. "Another change is the safety practices. I don't know why I have to implement these since these should have been in effect for the last 5 years but what's done is done. As you see in the corner, there are pegs with aprons and goggles on them. You are required to always where the safety goggles and aprons when brewing a potion along with your dragon hide gloves. Accidents do happen and this will help keep you safe. I will also teach you a shield spell that is designed to block potion accidents. If something does happen and your cauldron is about to explode then you are to cast this spell immediately and call for help." She took out her wand and with a sharp jab at the cauldron on her desk said "Potion Protego". A shiny shield appeared in front of her cauldron. "This is a variance of the protego shield that requires a lot less power. It can stop liquids and slow down and maybe stop flying objects but it only creates a small shield right in front of cauldron. Give it a try." Around the room students tried to cast the spell and it only took a few tries for all the student have the spell down.
"Excellent, now please go grab your protective gear and let's start with a potion that Professor Snape had you brew earlier this year. This isn't for a grade but to allow me gauge your skill level." She tapped her wand on the board and the instructions for a simple boil cure potion appeared on the board. Susan opened her book to the proper page and got to work. Professor Pasture walked around the tables as the students worked asking small questions about why they were doing something or about certain techniques. When she walked past their table she got the biggest smile on her face as she looked into Harry's cauldron. "Very good Mr. Potter, your potion is spot on. Is that mint I smell?"
"Yes ma'am" Harry replied softly not used to being addressed in this class. "I found that if I put a sprig of mint in the potion after the last ingredient but before it comes to a boil it increases the effect of the lace wings which in turns increases the effectiveness of the potion as a whole. With that a half dose can accomplish what a full dose does."
Professor Pasture beamed at Harry. "That is very good Mr. Potter. Come see me after class. That will be 10 points for Hufflepuff." Harry nodded and smiled as the Professor moved on to continue her laps around the room. With 5 minutes left in the class Professor Pasture got the classes attention. "Good job today everybody, don't worry if you haven't finished your potion, this was only so I could assess your techniques. We will not be brewing a potion for the next few classes though as we will be going over some of the basic potions techniques. After we have that down we will start brewing again. Since this class is twice a week, I will use one of those days to lecture on the potion we will be brewing and then you will brew it the second class. Your homework will be to research the potion and describe why certain things are done in the order they are done for this particular potion. How some ingredients will react with others and critical steps in the brewing process. After you brew the potion, your essay will be on what might have gone wrong and how you can improve the potion for next time. That's all for the day, see you next time."
Susan, Harry and Hannah got up and packed up their bags. "We'll wait for you outside Harry" said Susan. Together her and Hannah walked out the class and waited for Harry in the hall. "Well looks like Potions will finally be pleasant." At that moment Harry walked through the door with a big smile on his face. "What has you grinning like a loon?" Susan asked.
"Professor Pasture was so impressed with my work that she asked to see what else I had. I showed her my notes and she was quite surprised. She said that she hadn't seen such detailed and concise notes since she met someone named Lily Evens at a summer potions program when she was in school. She was surprised to find out that was my mum. I told her about my experimenting with Poppy and she asked if she could sit in sometime."
"Wow that's great Harry," Hannah exclaimed happily. Susan nodded emphatically as the trio made their way to dinner. Susan couldn't help but smile at the improvements that were happening in the school. Not only had two of the worst teachers been replaced component professors, but the first day back Headmaster Foote revealed that with the assistance of Professor Flitwick, and Snape, they were able to lift the curse on the DADA position using a combination of runes, charms, and arithmancy. With the injured Auror only available for the remainder of the year, Professor Foote now had a good long time to search for a competent professor who would hopefully last over a year.
HC
February brought the second Hufflepuff Quidditch game of the year, this time against Gryffindor. The weeks leading up to the match saw the Hufflepuff team working harder than it had ever worked before. Cedric was fairly confident that they would be able to pull out a win and his confidence was infectious.
Susan noticed that Harry had steadily started to get paler once again. The combination of long practices in the cold January weather combined with how busy he was with classes and other activities he took part in had Susan once again worried about her raven haired friend. Even after they were done with practice, Harry, and the other two chasers would huddle together in a corner of the common room over a model of a Quidditch pitch devising new plays to practice the next time while critiquing current plays. The week before the game Susan finally had enough and decided to say something the next morning at breakfast.
"Harry," Susan whispered at the Hufflepuff table in the morning. "I'm worried about you. You're looking pale again. I think you need to get more sleep."
Harry sighed and nodded slightly. "I know Suzy. I don't know what's wrong. I know I'm putting in a lot of hours into the Quidditch game but that shouldn't be affecting me as much as it is. Something feels off. Like something is pulling at me and I can't figure out what it is."
This just made Susan even more worried. "What do you mean 'pulling'?"
"I don't know, that's the best I can explain it. It's not always there but sometimes it get stronger and then fades away again. This is the strongest it's been for a while."
"Have you talked to Madam Pomfrey about it?"
At this Harry got a sheepish look on his face. "No. If I tell her than she will have to run tests and will keep me in the Hospital wing until she can figure out what's wrong. That would take me out of the Quidditch game this weekend, and it's not really that bad. It's just more annoying than anything else. Besides, if we win this match we will be first place for the cup for the first time in almost 50 years. The plays we are designing need me and I can put up with a little bit of sleepless nights if it helps my teammates."
Susan wasn't too sure about this. She enjoyed Quidditch as much as the next witch and wanted to see Hufflepuff win as much as the rest of her house, but she was worried. She worried her bottom lip thinking about it. "Fine, but promise me that as soon as this game is over you will go straight to Madam Pomfrey and figure out what is wrong."
Harry smiled at her. "Deal, I know your worried Suzy but really there's nothing to worry about. A little missed sleep isn't that bad and winters in Scotland to tend to make us all rather pale. I bet next summer when we go to some warm tropical place and I take off my shirt, I will blind the entire beach with my paleness." Susan couldn't help it but she laughed thinking about Harry blinding fellow beach goers.
The Saturday of the match dawned cold with a clear blue sky and a pale sun shining down on the pitch. Susan, Hannah and all the rest of the Puffs made their way down to the Quidditch Stands after breakfast wrapped snuggly in their yellow and black scarves and gloves. The excitement for the match today was at an all-time high for both the Lions and the Badgers. Sirius had sent Susan his giant foam finger for her to use and she was waving it for all she was worth. When it looked like the entire school was seated in the stands the magic microphone let out a loud squeal as it came online.
"Good morning Quidditch fans and let me welcome you to today's highly anticipated match of The Hufflepuff Badgers versus the Gryffindor Lions," came Lee Jordan's voice ringing across the pitch. Susan was hoping the Gryffindor fourth year at least tried to stay neutral in his commentating but she knew that his track record wasn't in his favor. "The winner of the game today will claim first place in the cup standings and both teams have been working hard to see their team win. Both sides have their strengths that they hope to parley into a winning game this morning but only time will tell which team will emerge victorious. On the Lion's side they have the attacking power of the Crimson Vixens backed up by the excellent keeping by Oliver Wood and two beaters who are almost human bludgers themselves."
"Jordan, who came up with such a ridiculous name?" came Professor McGonagall's voice over the microphone. "I will not tolerate the use of inappropriate names."
"Sorry Professor won't happen again." Lee said quickly to the laughter of the crowed. "On the Badger's side, they are led by an outstanding Seeker and a well-tested keeper. Their chaser line might be a little on the young side but no one can deny the talent that they showed in their last match." Roars of approval from both sides echoed through the stadium. At that moment, seven blurs of yellow shot out from the locker room and Susan focused her binoculars onto her favorite player as Harry zoomed around with the team meeting in the middle. They were quickly followed by the Gryffindor team dressed in scarlet. Madam Hooch called the captains together and after her usual request for a clean game had the captains shake hands and the players in the air.
"And Madam Hooch has released the Snitch as the players get ready for the opening toss. And there it is, look at the quick reaction of both chaser sides as they try to grab the quaffle, and yes, it looks like Gryffindor has won possession with Johnson taking the quaffle, a quick pass to Bell who tries to break to the Hufflepuff side of the pitch. Look at that girl fly it looks like she's in the clear as she draws back to shoot," A loud cheer arose from the Hufflepuff stands. "And Potter steals the quaffle right out of her hand. No one even saw him coming. He turns and the Hufflepuff chasers form the Hawk Head Attack flying in tight formation to the Gryffindor side passing between them." Susan jumped and cheered with the rest of her house as they moved down to the pitch. She saw a bludger heading towards Harry right as he was passed the Quaffle. The bludger was only about two feet away when he broke left into a tight barrel role allowing the bludger to not only pass right by him but it crashed into Wood leaving an easy shot for Harry.
"And Hufflepuff is first to strike with an amazing dodge from Potter." Hufflepuff roared in delight as the chasers took a victory lap around the field. The game only intensified from there. The three Hufflepuff chasers flew around like demons striping the ball from the Gryffindor chasers or intercepting their passes mid throw. They managed a few shots on goals but the majorities were stopped by the Badger's Keeper. "And there's another goal for the Badgers scored by Macavoy putting the Badgers up 80 to 10. And it looks like Wood has signaled for a time out. Let's hope he can say something to get his team back in this."
The Gryffindor team huddled under their goal posts and Susan could tell that Wood was not happy. He gestured wildly at his chasers and the Seeker. "I can't believe how well Harry and the other chasers are shutting down the Gryffindor girls. They usually do really well," Susan commented to Hannah.
"I guess all that practice they've been doing is paying off. It's like they are in the huddle with them." Susan wasn't able to say anything else as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and play resumed. Whatever Wood had said seemed to have made an impact as the Gryffindor Chasers immediately tore down the field and put a shot through the left hoop brining a cheer from the Lions. Their excitant was short lived as Harry, Heidi and Tamsim responded just as quickly scoring another goal for Hufflepuff bringing the score to 90 to 20. The game raged on with Harry scoring twice more before the Snitch finally made an appearance.
"And it looks like Diggory has seen the snitch," Lee's voice rang out. "McClaggen is in close pursuit but Diggory has the inside track." Both Seekers streaked through the sky after the snitch being led on a merry chase. Cedric was able to get his hand around it and ended the game with the final score of 260 to 30 in favor of Hufflepuff. Susan and Hannah followed the rest of her house down as they rushed the field in a flood of yellow and black surrounding their team. Not only had Hufflepuff taken first place put they handed Gryffindor their biggest loss in three years. Susan found Harry and jumped into him throwing her arms around him giving him a huge hug that he returned with just as much force.
"Congratulations Harry, you did awesome. I think you just took the top scoring spot, I'm so proud of you."
Harry had a huge grin on his face. "Thanks Suzy it was amazing everything just seemed to click for us today and the lions just couldn't gain any momentum." Together the whole of Hufflepuff house made their way down to their common room Susan never letting go of Harry's hand the whole way. The party that ensued that day was a legend for years to come in the Hufflepuff common room. Food, drinks, and music flowed freely throughout the whole rest of the day. Even Professor Sprout made an appearance for a few hours to celebrate with her house. The only person from the house who didn't seem to be in the party mood was the star of the game.
Susan found Harry sitting on the couch looking completely oblivious to the revelers around him. "Harry, you look like you're about to pass out where you sit. Why don't you head to bed I doubt anyone would miss you."
Harry looked up and blinked owlishly at Susan. "Yeah, your right Suzy, I think I'll go head to bed. See you in the morning." After a brief hug Susan watched as he made his way to the boy's dorm. Susan returned to the other girls and joined back in the conversation. About an hour later she thought saw the portrait whole open and close again but no one came in or out. She figured she must have just missed the person who left. Another hour passed and then a loud gong sounded throughout the common room brining an eerier quite to the entire common room.
"All students are to return to their common room immediately," the voice of the headmaster announced. Worried chatter broke out again throughout the common room as a few Hufflepuffs not already in the room started to return. Soon Professor Sprout came in and did a quick headcount including looking in on a still sleeping Harry.
"I'm afraid to say that there has been another attack. Everyone is to stay in their common room until further notice. Dinner will be served here, and possibly breakfast tomorrow. I will let you know more information when I have it." With that, Professor Sprout left a very anxious Hufflepuff Common room.
A/N I wrote the Quidditch scenes while watching the world cup and tried to capture some of the commentator's personality from it. Hope it worked out ok.