Disclaimer: See chapter 1. "Jellico Cats" belong to its producers, writers, and performers.
Chapter 38: First Day
Garion was shown to a small, three room suite consisting of a common room, bed chamber and a loo. An extra door had been added to the common room that joined his rooms to Professor Snape's living chambers.
The walls and furnishings in the sitting area were in neutral hues of creams and browns without any emphasis on House colors, much to Garion's relief.
The common area held a sofa with two easy chairs on either side. To the left of the fireplace, along the near wall sat a small table with two chairs. Under a charmed window that overlooked the Quidditch pitch on the far wall sat a writing desk flanked by several empty book cases, the rich oak of their wood contrasting pleasantly with the deep brown of the lush carpet that covered the floor.
Further inspection led Garion to his bed chamber where he found an oak four poster bed with curtains in muted blue, green and gold. A huge oak clothes press stood along one wall with a free standing mirror beside it. 'Well, at least there's no writing on this one,' Garion snorted to himself. He also noted another charmed window that overlooked the Forbidden Forest.
The loo was tiled in white with black and silver inlay and silver fixtures. All in all, it was a cozy set-up.
Later, after unpacking, Garion was sitting on a floor cushion leaning against the sofa. He was tuning his violin when Severus walked into the room.
"Are you all settled in, Mr. Williams?" Severus asked, making himself comfortable an easy chair.
Garion set the violin aside, leaning his head back against the sofa to look up at his professor. "Yes sir. These rooms suit me well."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "What? No burning desire for Gryffindor red?"
"You wound me, sir," smirked Garion, clutching his breast with one hand while laying the back of the other on his forehead. "I see my reputation is at stake, my fame is shrewdly gored!" He gasped dramatically.
Severus' mouth twitched for a moment, then a slight chuckle escaped as he shook his head. When he had agreed to this mad scheme he had wondered if he would even like this new version of Potter. He never realized just how insane Potter – no, Williams – was.
The Goblin King had explained to him that because of the abuse and blocks placed on Harry Potter, much of his personality and magic had been suppressed. Now, released from these blocks, the young wizard suffered from a form of hyperactivity, or what the muggles called ADD. When Harry had been exposed to the Killing Curse as a toddler, it had hyper-sensitized him to ambient magic.
In a way, Albus Dumbledore had done Harry a favor by placing him with his non magical relatives, but for all the wrong reasons. When he was with them, magic was not a problem and so it gave him a 'breather' from it's constant bombardment to the synapses in his brain and magical core. Unfortunately it also served to stunt Harry's abilities as well.
This Garion was nothing like the old Potter. In fact, he was more like James Potter that Severus had always accused Harry of being. However, Garion wasn't cruel or vindictive like Potter Senior had been. No, Garion was flamboyant, funny and demented, with Lily's sense of justice and fair-play. Severus had noticed this during his stay Underground. Williams was the prefect blend of all the best traits of his biological parents. The only negative thing he had inherited was Lily's fiery temper.
"Does anyone suspect who I could be?" Garion asked, breaking into the man's thoughts.
Severus snorted as he recalled Garion's entrance earlier that evening and Weasley's very loud comment. "No. You are nothing like the old Potter."
"Not even James Potter?"
Severus snorted again and shook his head. "I will mention that Minerva is a bit put out with you about your quotes from that muggle musical."
"Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul," Garion quoted.
"Now don't start that again," Severus chuckled, remembering the short staff meeting after the feast in Albus' office. In fact, both Albus and Minerva just didn't know what to make of his new apprentice.
When Garion had refused to be sorted, refused Albus' lemon drops, and insulted the many portraits in the Headmaster's Office, Albus was convinced that Garion was a dark wizard in training.
Minerva huffed at the total disrespect Mr. Garion Williams displayed as he pulled out his guitar. After that, Albus lost all control of the situation. Severus just sat back silently and watched the fireworks.
Ignoring the protests of the Headmaster and his Deputy, Garion proceeded to sing a song about how it was alright to hate a neighbor, and alright to cheat a friend, cause you could justify it in the end followed by a song asking questions that had no answers.
Albus was in tears as the last note died. Minerva huffed and started in on Garion for his disrespect. She stopped when he started a new song about Jellicle Cats which sent a fuming Minerva out of the room and Albus laughing.
What settled everything was when Fawks came to sit on Garion's shoulder and started to add harmony to the music, which stunned everyone in the room.
"So," Garion asked, breaking once again into Severus' musings on last night. "All your little snakes bedded down for the night?"
Severus gave a slight nod. "Indeed. Tomorrow will be the first day of classes. I will need you to help with the first and second years. Will you seek to re-acquaint yourself with the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio?"
Garion shook his head. "No. They were Harry Potter's friends, not mine. Harry is just a dream now, or rather a nightmare that has come to an end. They would not understand. Plus, they would run to Dumbledore in a heart beat. The Golden Trio has served its purpose and now has ended like any wishful fantasy."
"I see. So are you going to make any friends?"
"Luna and Neville. Luna already knows who I was and she won't tell. And Neville . . ." Garion looked over at Severus. "Now don't make that face! Neville isn't as useless as you may think. He has several blocks on his magic as well as a memory charm, if I am reading him right."
Severus looked shock. "Blocks?"
"Yes Severus," Garion said, rubbing his chin. "One was placed when he was a baby. It has the feel of his mother about it. One was placed not long after the first. It has a male feel to it and it's the more draining of them. The first would've faded to nothing if not for the second. The third, the memory charm is very old and has a female feel to it. I would suspect it was his grandmother. I remember Neville once told me that he was there when his parents were attacked but he doesn't remember much of it."
Severus leaned back in his chair to ponder what he just learned. Suddenly many puzzling mysteries made sense. Potter's and Longbottom's mediocre magic and intelligence when it was well known that their parents were strong magically as well above average in intelligence. And he could lay everything at one man's obsession for 'the greater good' – Albus Dumbledore.
0o0o0o0
Garion sat on the Head Table in front of Severus Snape's usual chair. He was playing a penny whistle while beside him two forks were performing an Irish Step Dance.
Students and teachers coming into the Great Hall stopped to watch in awe. In the middle of the performance the rest of the cutlery on the head table stood, developing arms and feet. The implements arranged themselves behind the two forks in an impromptu chorus line. It was like watching the muggle stage production of "River Dance."
"I would award points, Mr. Williams," came Filius Flitwick's voice as Garion finished up the tune and the cutlery returned to their normal inanimate state. "It is a shame that you refused to be sorted. That is a wonderful display of charms. However did you do this?"
"Magic just is," Garion shrugged. "No more, no less. Wizards tend to put limits on magic and forget their heritage." Then he stood and bowed to the small charms professor and responded in Gobbledegook as he held out a small letter. "Revered teacher, I must ask you to keep my secrets. I have a note that'll explain everything from his majesty."
Professor Flitwick plopped back into his chair. After checking for any hidden spells or hexes, he ran a thumb over the royal seal of the Goblins, shocked that he was seeing it outside of Gringotts. It was rumored that the Goblins had a king and Filius knew that to speak a certain name was to invoke unwanted attention. No one in the Goblin nation spoke it for that reason.
He looked up as Garion was greeting his master with a cheery good morning, then back to the letter.
In a very elegant script, it read: "Whatever my son needs, you will provide." Instead of a signature a signet ring had been used to affix the royal crest at the bottom of the note. With shaking hands, Filius folded the note and placed it in one of his many pockets. Glancing once more at the young man, the charms professor mused. 'This is going to be an interesting year.'
Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man. Last night, as he tried to sleep, he could hear rustling and tiny twitterings in the darkness of his room. They populated his dreams as well, when he finally dozed off. He dreamt of being tied and suspended upside down over the most foul, filth-ridden bog he had ever smelled. Lemons drops were falling out of his pocket and into the filthy water, stirring up the smell even more. Farting sounds were exploding from the sludge below him! All in all, a most disgusting and vile dream! He wondered what it meant.
Hungry students were milling around as the sleep deprived Headmaster entered the Great Hall. He overheard many discussing the wandless magic that Professor Snape's new apprentice had used. As Albus sat in his usual chair, he noticed most of the cutlery was out of place.
Mr. Williams looked innocently up at the Headmaster and smiled. Albus tried once more to read the lad's surface thoughts as he had last night, but failed once more as he was hit yet again with that silly song: "This is the song that never ends. . ."
Groaning Albus broke off his scan, clutching his head in pain. He was never going to get that song out of his mind!
His usual breakfast of sweet rolls and tea appeared before him. As he took a deep breath, his senses were assaulted with the stench from his dream last night. Try as he might, it was impossible to get rid of.
"Something wrong Albus?" asked Pomona Sprout.
0o0o0o0
Draco frowned as he looked up at the Head Table, the show was over as far as he was concerned. The display of wandless magic had impressed him. 'So, the apprentice that Uncle Severus had taken on is powerful.'
He had been ready to complain about the little shite who had so humiliated him on the train, only to see the toe-rag was Uncle Severus' new apprentice. 'Just who was this wizard?' Uncle Severus had warned Draco that his apprentice would not tolerate the teen's arrogant attitude and to be careful around him.
The only good thing so far about this new year was the fact that Potter wasn't around. The rumor had it that ol' Pot-head had skipped out since the death of his beloved mutt of a godfather. 'Maybe I should do the same? If Scarhead couldn't take the heat then how can the rest of us?'
Suddenly a hand clamped down on Draco's shoulder, breaking into the teen's musing. Startled, Draco spun around, wand in hand.
"Whoa, cowboy!" a grinning Garion said. "Just a quick word before classes start. Since we're going work together."
Draco snarled as he stood, brushing off the hand. "Just because you're my Head of House's apprentice don't think you can tell me what to do." Draco's two body guards stood to crowd the pair.
Garion smiled. "Oh I'm more than just your Head of House's apprentice, little boy. Much more." Turning to the two bodyguards, with a glint in his eyes, Garion 's voice took on a compelling tone, "There is no need for violence, gentlemen. Life can be easy but not always swell. Don't you know little boys, truth hurts, it hurts like hell. So my advice to you is to sit down and enjoy more breakfast."
The pair, much to Draco's shock, did just that.
0o0o0o0
There are three song references in this chapter. A cookie for anyone that can get them right.
The quote is from Troilus and Cressida act 3 scene 3.
Things will heat up soon. This was mostly a filler chapter.
Until next time. -GF and the Frau