Chapter Five: Learning Something New Each Day
The sun shone brightly on the first day of school at Hogwarts, but clouds still hung over the heads of a few students. Today, a group of Gryffindor and Slytherin Second Years met up in Greenhouse Three for their Herbology class, which was first thing in the morning. The students were talking amongst themselves while waiting for their professor to show up. The Second Years students stood around a long table filled with many potted plants, but of an unknown species. What they were, would be revealed momentarily. An old woman with dirt brown robes and a wrinkled brown hat walked through the door to greet her class.
"Morning, everyone." she greeted.
The students did not hear her. They continued to talk amongst themselves. The woman rapped her wand against the nearby watering can to get their attention.
"Good morning, everyone!" the professor called again, loudly.
"Good morning, Prof. Sprout." the students answered.
Satisfied, Prof. Sprout then started her lesson.
"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years. Now gather around, everyone. Today we're going to re-pot Mandrakes."
As the professor turned to grab a nearby pot from behind her, she continued teaching.
"Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" she asked.
Hermione raised her hand into the air, instantly, and was called on.
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been Petrified to their original state, it's also dangerous." the Gryffindor female explained. "The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Prof. Sprout. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindors smiled proudly at their House's brightest witch.
"Now, as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet." Prof. Sprout told the students. "But they could knock you out for hours, which is why I have given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection."
The students were then instructed to put on their earmuffs and to make certain that they were secured, then the lesson continued. Prof. Sprout grabbed hold of the plant in the pot in front of her that she had moved, by the leaves, and looked at her students.
"You grasp your Mandrake firmly,..." she started, gripping tightly. "You pull it sharply up out of the pot!"
The Herbology instructor yanked out the plant by the roots, and it appeared to look like a baby that was covered in dirt. It wailed and screamed loudly, causing the students to clamp their hands down on their earmuffs.
"Holy Hell!" yelped Tony.
"It's piercing my brain!" shouted Riley.
Prof. Sprout looked around at the class, then back at the Mandrake in her hand.
"Got it?" she called, loud enough for her students to hear. "And now, you dunk it down into the other pot..."
The professor paused to place the Mandrake down into another pot beside the one she moved from behind her, then started to sprinkle some soil into it.
"...And pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm." she continued.
Her lesson was interrupted by the sound of someone collapsing. Prof. Sprout looked up, and saw that Neville had disappeared, and several of the students were looking down at someone, who she presumed to be him.
"Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs." Prof. Sprout sighed, tiredly.
"No, ma'am." Seamus corrected her. "He's just fainted."
It seemed to have happened more than once, because the teacher told the students to just leave him there, and the students started their classwork, which consisted of doing as she did. Yanking Mandrakes out of their pots, putting them into another, then sprinkling soil into them.
"No offense, Ron, but I don't think that'll help." said Riley.
He and Harry watched as Ron tried to repair his wand by binding the broken ends together with magical Spellotape. Hermione sat beside Riley, reading another of her schoolbooks. Ron gave up on repairing his wand, and sighed, then looked at Harry.
"Say it, I'm doomed." the former groaned, hopelessly.
There was no point in lying to him.
"You're doomed." said Harry.
"Write home for another wand." Riley told Ron. "I mean, you kinda need your wand to get through school, don't you?"
Before Ron could respond, Colin hurried over beside Riley, smiling at Harry.
"Hi, Harry!" he greeted, excitedly.
The boy stopped to take a picture with the camera in his hands, creating a bright flash that hit several of the students in the eyes, momentarily blinding them.
"I'm Colin Creevey, I'm in Gryffindor, too!" Colin continued, lowering his camera a little.
"Hi, Colin, nice to meet you." Harry responded, awkwardly.
Colin looked over at Riley, who was taking another bite of his sausages.
"Say, Riley, do you think you could take a photo of me and Harry standing together?" he asked. "You know, to prove I've met him?"
"Uh, maybe we should do this when a lot of people aren't looking." replied Riley. "Harry's sort of...the opposite of Lockhart. Prefers to be treated like everyone else rather than be reminded of how famous he is. He doesn't like the attention sometimes."
Colin looked over at Harry, who nodded in agreement.
"Oh, okay." he said. "It was for my dad though. He's a milk man, you know, a Muggle, like all our families been until me."
Harry gave a weak smile, as Colin went off about how nobody knew that he was capable of doing magic until he had gotten a letter from Hogwarts, and thought he was mental. Ron nodded, smiling, listening to the conversation.
"Imagine that." he commented.
"Did you manage to catch anything he said at all?" Riley asked, muttering to Hermione. "All I heard was buzz."
"That's pretty much all I heard, too." Hermione responded, continuing to read her book.
A screeching sound filled the air, as Dean looked at Ron.
"Ron, is that your owl?" he asked.
The other Gryffindors looked upward towards Errol, who was flying down towards the table, a red letter in it's beak. Riley grabbed his goblet, and got out of his seat, stepping back quickly. Errol seemed to make a clear landing towards the youngest male Weasley, then crashed into the dishes in between where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. Colin snapped a picture of the crash landing, and lowered his camera once again. The sound of laughter filled the room soon after.
"Bloody bird's a menace." muttered Ron.
He retrieved the envelope from his owl's beak, and looked at it, horror slowly filling his face.
"Oh, no." the young Gryffindor gasped.
"Look, everyone!" Seamus called to everyone. "Weasley's got himself a Howler."
Riley cringed upon hearing that, while most of the other students laughed. He saw Harry looking at him, confused, and explained it to him.
"When you make people angry, they send Howlers." the Muggleborn wizard told him.
"That doesn't explain much." responded Harry.
"It will in a moment. I've never been around to see it for myself, neither has Tony."
And speaking of the devil, Tony had rushed over to the Gryffindor table to see the Howler for himself.
"Is that it?" he asked. "Man, dad told me the Howler our old principal sent him scared him out of his pants."
"Looks like Ron's about to be scared out of his pants in a second." Riley muttered to him.
Ron shot them a glare, before looking back at his Howler.
"Go on, Ron." Neville encouraged him. "I ignored one from my Gran once. It was horrible."
Ron looked at him for a moment, then started to open the letter. His already-trembling fingers fumbled with the back, and suddenly, a loud, familiar voice pierced the air.
"Ronald Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley's voice shrieked.
Riley and Tony's jaws dropped in horror as the envelope started floating into the air.
"Now I know I read too many comic books." Riley said, stunned.
Tony merely took the camera from Colin, and snapped a picture of the Howler, for future proof that he had not gone insane, before returning the camera. The back of the letter folded itself up so it would appear to have a mouth, as it started to move, while Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed from the letter.
"How dare you steal that car!" her voice rang out, scolding Ron. "I am absolutely disgusted! Your father's not facing an inquiry at work, and it's entirely your fault!"
The letter now flew up towards Ron's terrified face for effect.
"If you put another toe out of line, we'll bring you straight home!" the letter shouted.
Ron nodded, shakingly, and to the surprise of many, the Howler calmed down, and looked towards Ginny.
"Oh, and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor." it said, in a much more quieter voice. "Your father and I are so proud of you."
Ginny looked away, smiling shyly, and the Howler blew a raspberry at Ron before ripping itself up into shreds. The room went deathly quiet, as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony looked at one another.
"Still think I should write home for another wand?" asked Ron.
"I think you're a lot safer with that broken one there." grimaced Riley.
It was almost the end of the school day, and with only one class to go. Unfortunately, for Harry, Ron, Riley, and Tony, it was Defense Against the Dark Arts. That meant only one thing, their professor would be none other than Prof. Lockhart. Tony and Riley sat at a desk behind Harry and Ron, and they looked around the classroom at the many portraits of their professor.
"I cannot imagine a more painful year in my life." grumbled Tony.
"That's 'cause we've never had to deal with a Lockhart before." Riley reminded him.
The class quieted down when their teacher emerged from the doorway at the top of the stairs, dressed in golden brown robes.
"And speak of the devil." sighed Riley. "It's him."
"I knew I should've swallowed some of my potion before coming here." grunted Tony. "This class cannot get anymore painful."
Prof. Lockhart was oblivious to some of his students' annoyance and disgust towards him, but not of the attention his fans were giving him.
"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,...me." he announced, smiling. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award."
Riley heard his best friend groaning softly, and turned to look at him. Tony appeared to be in pain, as he ran one set of fingers through his spiky black hair, while the other hand clenched into a fist. If he had to guess, Riley assumed that Tony wanted to throw up. He didn't blame him.
"But I don't talk about that," Lockhart continued, acting humble. "I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him."
He proceeded to laugh at his little quip, but received nothing from the crowd except mixed stares. He changed tactics.
"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books. Well done." the celebrity teacher observed, looking around the classroom.
Lockhart walked back over to his desk, and picked up a pile of papers.
"Now I thought we'd all start today with a little quiz." he announced.
Several of the students stared at him as if he was joking. Lockhart mistook the students' mystified stares as worried ones.
"Nothing to worry about." he reassured them, as he started passing out the papers. "Just to check how well you've read them. How much you've, uh, taken in."
Tony and Riley looked at one another after receiving their quizzes, then both proceeded to look through the questions. Harry and Ron appeared to be doing the same thing.
"These questions, they're all about him!" Ron whispered, looking at Harry.
"'What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?'" Harry read, looking at one question.
"'What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?'"
Behind them, Tony set his test back down, shaking his head.
"I stand corrected." he announced, quietly.
"I need an aspirin." Riley said, afterward. "'Which is Gilderoy Lockhart's best side for photographs?'"
Meanwhile, at the front of the classroom, Prof. Lockhart smiled at his students.
"You have thirty minutes." he called. "Start...now!"
The sounds of scribbling quills filled the air, and the students rushed to answer their questions. A half an hour later, Prof. Lockhart was checking the tests, and to his great displeasure, his students had done poorly.
"Tut, tut, hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac," he stated, astounded.
The professor then stood up, smiling, and started walking towards the desks.
"But Ms. Hermione Granger knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil, and market my own range of hair care potions." he announced, standing in front of Hermione's desk. "Good girl."
Several female giggles filled the room as Prof. Lockhart winked at the Gryffindor student. Then the DADA teacher stood up straight again, and held up another test.
"Now, uh, which one of you here is 'Riley Cross'?" he asked.
Almost all of the students except for Tony, Harry, and Ron pointed at Riley, who stared up at the teacher nervously.
"Is there any particular reason as to why you've left your test blank except for where you put your name?" asked Prof. Lockhart.
"I...didn't know the answers, sir." replied Riley.
"Quite alright, son. I'll let you take a make-up quiz tomorrow."
Riley looked as if he had been volunteered to taste test every single kind of poison that Prof. Snape had ever made.
"Th-That'd be...great, sir." he grimaced.
"When you're not reading your ridiculous comic books anyway." quipped Draco.
Prof. Lockhart looked between the two boys, interested.
"Comic books?" he repeated, curiously.
Riley took out a comic book that he had usually kept in his bag for after he was finished with his classwork, or when he was at meals. Prof. Lockhart examined the cover, and stared at the picture of Superman, puzzled.
"What kind of books are they making these days?" he asked, bewildered. "This man has no fashion sense whatsoever. Saving the world in his underwear."
Tony felt his mouth drop open slightly as several of the students started cracking up in laughter. Riley felt his face heat with anger, while his face turned a shade of pink. Prof. Lockhart handed the comic book back to the boy, turning away, chuckling.
"Take a note, kids. There are two kinds of fiction in the world: The good kind, and rubbish like this comic book, and The Quibbler." he told the students. "If you truly believe that it's okay to go out in public like this 'Superman' bloke, or write lies in a magazine and spread horrible rumors about people, then you truly need a reality check."
Tony quickly forced Riley back into his seat, in an attempt to get his best friend to calm down. Prof. Lockhart walked back to his desk, calmly, then he stopped. He turned back around, his wand out, looking at his class, dramatically.
"Now, be warned, it is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind." he spoke, seriously.
Prof. Lockhart paused to tap the cage sitting on his desk once. It started to shake instantly, and something rattled inside underneath the cloth covering it. The students leaned in, interested, as they held their breath.
"You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room." the professor continued. "Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. I must ask you not to scream,..."
Several of the students looked at one another, then looked back at the small cage.
"...it might provoke them!" Prof. Lockhart finished, dramatically.
The cloth was removed, revealing several small blue creatures flying around inside. Tony sat back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling, annoyed, while Riley faceplanted onto the table.
"Cornish pixies?" Seamus asked, laughing.
"Freshly caught Cornish pixies." confirmed Prof. Lockhart.
He smirked at Seamus, as he continued to laugh.
"Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters." he declared, moving his hand toward the cage door. "Let's see what you make of them."
It was as if he opened Pandora's Box. The moment the door opened, the pixies spilled out like water, and flew around the classroom. The students scrambled out of their seats, and tried to catch them, or hid from sight. Prof. Lockhart continued to encourage his students to gather up the little imp-like creatures, who started to tear apart the contents of the room. Two of them grabbed Neville by the ears and lifted him high into the ceiling until the back of his robes got caught on the chandelier. Riley felt a tug at his backpack, and saw that a pixie was trying to make off with one of his comic books.
"Hey, let go of that!" he yelped, snatching it out of the pixie's hands.
Tony quickly picked up a nearby book and flung it towards the pixie, knocking it to the ground. He walked over to pick it back up, and examined it.
"Guess we finally found a real use for these Lockhart books, buddy." he said, smiling.
"Let's do it." grinned Riley.
Tony picked up another book, while Riley took just one, and both of them started using the books to fight off the pixies. Harry watched this, and followed their lead. He picked up one of his school books and turned to Hermione, who was under attack by another pixie.
"Stop! Stop!" he shouted, gesturing for her to stop. "Hold still!"
Hermione did as she was told, and Harry whacked one of the pixies with his book. Then Prof. Lockhart decided that this lesson was over. He held up his wand and thought fast.
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" he shouted.
The spell did nothing, and the celebrity's wand was snatched out of his wand by a zooming Cornish pixie. It flew toward the ceiling, by the hook holding the skeleton of the dragon up, and shattered the hook, causing the dragon skeleton to drop.
"Yeehaw!" yelled a pixie that was riding on the skeleton like a cowboy.
Prof. Lockhart watched as the skeleton crashed to the ground, and decided to run for his life. He bolted up the stairs, trying and failing to save one of his portraits in the process, then stopped to look back down at Harry and his friends.
"I'll ask you five to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." he called down to them.
"Are you serious?!" Tony yelled, outraged. "Aren't you the teacher?!"
He watched as their teacher evacuated from the classroom, leaving them to deal with the chaos.
"We better get some good points for this!" the Slytherin tween growled, angrily.
"What do we do now?!" asked Ron.
Hermione answered him quickly by standing up, and pointing her wand into the air.
"Immobulus!" she shouted.
A blue pulse shot out of the wand, and hit the pixies, causing them to float into the air, paralyzed. Hermione smiled to herself, proud of her work, while Neville looked down at them.
"Why is it always me?" the latter asked.
"We'll get you down, buddy." Riley called up to him. "Guys, move these desks out of the way. Hermione, be ready to cast."
Several of the Gryffindors moved the desks away from underneath Neville, and Tony and Riley stood underneath him.
"Okay, Hermione, do it!" said Riley.
"Descendo!" Hermione called, pointing her wand at Neville.
Her Housemate suddenly flew down, and dropped onto Riley and Tony, causing them to crash to the ground. Neville sat up, and looked down at his friends.
"Sorry, guys." he apologized.
"Don't mention it." replied Tony.
Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.