September 1942
When the first-years were given their timetables by Professor Dumbledore when eating breakfast at the Great Hall the next morning, both Ro and Minerva were disappointed to find that flying lessons weren't included. Poppy, on the other hand, was quite relieved. She'd heard plenty of stories from Ro about her brothers' various broom-related injuries, and that combined with the queasiness that great heights gave her make her reluctant to get her hands on a broom.
Despite the disappointment over the flying lessons, the first week proved to be anything but dull. Their first lesson had been Transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore, and his initial speech about the dangers of his branch of magic had brought terror to the faces of a few of the Hufflepuffs they were sharing the class with. This wasn't the case with William Tonks though; as soon as Dumbledore finished speaking he changed the colour of his hair from an auburn brown to bright blue and asked if that counted as transfiguring himself. After Dumbledore and the rest of the class had responded with enthusiastic applause, Dumbledore had apologised to him and said that metamorphmagus abilities were inherited rather than learned so it didn't. He'd then proceeded to change his wizard hat into a bright red parrot as a proper demonstration, which flew quite merrily around the room until he changed it back a few minutes later.
Once they started actually using their wands, much to everyone's excitement, it was instantly discovered that wand-work was a great deal harder than it was often made out. The only person in the class to fully transfigure their match into a needle had been Minerva, though Poppy was proud to say that her match was a lot more silver-looking that it had started out as. They'd all been given matches to practise with for their homework, then for the Gryffindors it was off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
This was the lesson that everyone had been looking forward to the most, and the atmosphere in the classroom while the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws waited for Professor Merrythought was almost electric with excitement. The Ravenclaw Head had bustled into the classroom a few minutes later, muttering hurried apologies and complaining about the huge amount of stairs leading down from Ravenclaw tower. After she called the register, in which Poppy missed her name due to being enraptured by the quill on her desk moving completely by itself, she turned to face the students.
"Good morning class, welcome to D, A, D, A. And before any of you start fretting, we won't be cursing each other just yet!" Professor Merrythought laughed, and Poppy's first impression of her was that her surname was very appropriate. "I'm afraid we'll be focusing mainly on some theory work for the next month or so before we start on any defensive spells."
There were a few groans around the classroom, and a couple of people went to put their wands away before Professor Merrythought waved at them to stop. "But I know you must all be eager to get your wands moving, so I've got something a little special planned for today." She picked up a small pot from her desk and said "Would you all mind holding your breath for a few moments?"
There was a rushing sound as the entire class filled their lungs with air, before Professor Merrythought opened the pot and tossed the contents into the air. Poppy was startled to see the lights dim instantly, even the sunlight streaming through the window appeared to have got gloomier. She could just about make out the figures of Minerva and Ro either side of her, but everyone else had disappeared into the gloom.
"That, everyone, was Instant Darkness Powder." Professor Merrythought's voice sounded, her words punctuated with the odd cough. "The British variant, mind, not quite as powerful as the Peruvian version. But in this case our own make is much more useful, as it allows me to easily demonstrate this to you all."
Several people gasped as a light suddenly shone through the darkness, illuminating Professor Merrythought's face. "The Wand-Lighting Charm, most useful for navigating through dark. It's a simple enough spell, but, as with nearly everything you will be taught in my classes, it requires care. If any of you notice your wands heating up I need to be notified immediately. Have I made myself clear?"
There were a few affirmative murmurs, which seemed to satisfy the Professor. "Now," she continued, "I would like you to all raise your wands. Wave them in a loop-the-loop pattern, and say 'lumos'. 'Looo-mos', nice and clearly now. Let's see you all have a go."
Slowly but surely, tiny lights started appearing all around the classroom. Poppy waved her wand and said "Lumos!", and was thrilled when the tip of her wand started to glow brightly. Ro's grin was lit up, quite literally, on Poppy's left, and it wasn't long before Minerva's wand did the same.
Excited chatter broke out as more and more students performed the charm, but the atmosphere changed instantly with a panicked half-shout that came from near the back of the classroom.
"Er, Professor Merrythought, I think my wand's about to melt!"
Professor Merrythought picked up her skirts in one hand and hurried to the source of the voice, where Hector Bones' frightened face was illuminated by his scarlet-glowing wand. "It's alright now dear, you've just overcharged it a little. Let me have a look." She took the wand from him and mouthed something; the light from the wand faded instantly with a quiet rush of sound. "There you go Hector, you can have another try now." When he tried the charm again the wand glowed the same sherbet yellow colour as everyone else's, and Professor Merrythought used the light of her own wand to guide her back to the front of the classroom.
"The charm I just used on Mister Bones' wand was the Wand-Extinguishing Charm, and it does exactly what it says in the name. You simply wave the wand like this," Professor Merrythought waved her wand in a pattern that looked to Poppy something like an ocean wave, the light leaving a trail through the darkness, "and say the incantation 'nox'."
The light on her wand flickered out instantly, and it wasn't long before the room had been plunged completely into darkness.
"You have the rest of this lesson and your homework to perfect this charm!" Professor Merrythought shouted as she lit up her wand, and the rest of the lesson was filled with tiny lights switching constantly from on to off.
In their dormitory that night, Poppy was forced to sleep with her head underneath her pillow due to the light shining from Ro's bunk bed. Ro had dark circles under her eyes the next day from spending so much time practising both the lumos spell and transfiguring her match, losing Gryffindor a point when she dozed off in Professor Beery's Herbology lesson. She dozed off in History of Magic too, but to Poppy's relief Professor Binns never faced the class long enough to notice a sleeping student.
Any trace of fatigue that she had left was instantly banished when a note appeared on the Gryffindor notice board after dinner that evening. It read 'FIRST-YEAR FLYING LESSONS WITH MISTER SPINNET: 12TH SEPTEMBER AT 3:30'.
"That's only a bit more than a week away!" Lyall Lupin said excitedly.
"And it's my birthday!" Ro added with an equally joyous expression, "It's like Mister Spinnet's given me an early birthday present- an excuse to get the Silver Arrow out!"
Poppy said nothing, too occupied with worrying about how her first time on a broomstick would end up.
It turned out she was right to be worried, as the lesson couldn't be described as anything less than utter carnage. Mister Spinnet had played Quidditch professionally for the Kenmare Kestrels 'back in his day', as he spent the first 20 minutes of the lesson telling them. Even Poppy was beginning to wish he'd hurry up and get on with it when he decided he'd get his first broomstick out to show him, leaving the combined class of Gryffindors and Slytherins alone on the practise field.
"I didn't need some rusty old Kestrel to teach me how to fly anyway." Abraxas Malfoy drawled loudly, earning him an admiring look from fellow Slytherin Druella Rosier. "I've got a Cleansweep Four, by far the best racing their broom there is. I hear that this is what the Chudley Cannons have all got."
"Those brooms must be bloody fantastic then," Ro shouted loudly with sarcasm thick in her voice, much to Poppy' horror, "seeing as the Cannons have been last in the Quidditch League for about the past 40 years! Just because they were top in Spinnet's Era doesn't mean they're worth a Knut nowadays!"
There was silence as Abraxas stalked up to Ro followed by his gang of Druella, Apollyon Pringle, and Owle Bullock. The Gryffindors cleared a space around Ro, though Poppy and Minerva stayed only a step or two behind her.
"What sort of old twig is this then?" Owle asked, pointing to Ro's Silver Arror which Poppy saw her grip tighten around. "I'll bet whatever Spinnet's fetching now is more up to date than this!"
There was laughter from the Slytherins, and as Poppy looked towards Minerva she saw her green eyes flashing with fury. Minerva glanced at Poppy, then as one they stepped forward to stand either side of Ro.
"Well if you and your brooms are all so very talented," Minerva snapped, her voice like ice, "Let's see how you fare up there."
"How about we have a little race?" Druella suggested with a coy smile. "The four of us have to fly all around the Quidditch patch one by one, at the same time as you Gryffindors, and the first House with all members back and dismounted are the winners. Except there are only three of you, so-"
"Not anymore." A voice sounded from behind Poppy, and she turned to see Lyall standing on her other side and giving Druella a harsh glare.
Druella didn't manage to keep the look of disgust from her eyes, looking at Lyall as if he was a piece of dirt she'd found on her shoe. "Alright then, we challenge you. Now don't be too disappointed if you don't win, seeing as our brooms are far superior to yours. I could say the same about some members of your team too," Poppy gulped as the sinister gaze was turned in her direction, well aware that Druella was referring to her Muggleborn heritage, but she just about managed to look Druella in the eye without quavering, "but that would be terribly unsporting, wouldn't it?"
"You're on." Ro growled before she beckoned the Gryffindors into a circle. "Right, we need to win this," she said firmly, "I'm going first, and then I want you to go next Poppy."
Poppy opened her mouth to protest but Ro interrupted her before she could start. "I know you've never flown before, so putting you second will give Lyall and Minerva enough time to catch up if need be. Lyall's got the better broom so he can go next, and Minerva you'll bring up the rear. All clear?" There were hurried nods from Poppy, Lyall and Minerva, which seemed to satisfy Ro.
They all lined up in order facing the Quidditch pitch as the Slytherin team did the same, headed by Owle who was followed by Druella, then Apollyon, then Abraxas at the rear. Druella gave Poppy a malevolent leer, but before she could react Owle had taken flight.
"Bloody cheater!" Ro screeched before she shot into the air, zooming after Owle and quickly starting to close the distance between them. It quickly became clear to Poppy that Abraxas' comments about the Silver Arrows were completely unjust, as it had overtaken Owle's Comet 140 despite his headstart by the time they were three quarters of the way around the pitch.
Before Poppy knew it Ro was zooming into land, and following the instructions that Minerva was shouting behind her she kicked off the ground and leaned forward. There was laughter from the Slytherins as the school-borrowed Oakshaft 79 nearly tipped her off, but she somehow managed to regain her balance and take control enough to steer it around the Quidditch Pitch. She could see Druella overtake her just under the halfway point from the corner of her eye but ignored her entirely, keeping her concentration focused on staying airborne.
Her stomach was churning by the time she touched down beside Ro, who swept her into a proud hug as Lyall's broom rose into the air and he followed after Apollyon. When Ro released her, they both cheered enthusiastically as Lyall caught up with Apollyon, and they both landed beside their teams at almost the same moment. Minerva was soaring in the direction of the Quidditch pitch before Abraxas had even lifted off, but as she watched them fly, Poppy could see clearly that the distance between them was getting smaller.
They were neck and neck whilst on the home strait, nearing the ground in preparation to land, but then Abraxas slammed his broom into Minerva's to the horror of the watching Gryffindors. With an alarmed shout, Minerva was thrown sideways and dropped like a stone to land on the grass below.
"What in Merlin's name is going on here!" a voice behind them shouted, and Poppy turned around to see Professor Dumbledore marching towards them with Mister Spinnet following not far behind. "Mister Malfoy, I want an explanation immediately!"
Abraxas, who was still in the air, landed immediately and took a few steps towards Professor Dumbledore. "They challenged us sir, said if we refused then they'd tell the whole school we were cowards! That one," he pointed to Minerva who hadn't yet got up, "tried to push me off my broom, and it was all I could do to keep my balance."
Poppo felt anger rush up inside of her, but was knocked aside by Ro who had launched herself in Abraxas' direction. "You lying scum!" she shouted, and had to be restrained by Poppy and Lyall clinging to each arm.
Professor Dumbledore raised a hand to silence Ro, before addressing the members of both Houses. "Seeing as I seem to be receiving a different opinion from each House, I am have no choice but to punish you both equally. Gryffindor and Slytherin House will each lose 20 points for this, and Miss McGonagall will be placed in detention. I will be informing Professor Slughorn of this, and I can only warn you that he will have a similar punishment awaiting you Mister Malfoy. Slytherins, you are all dismissed."
Ro, Poppy and Lyall didn't move as the Slytherins backed away, ignoring the triumphant glares that were sent away. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Poppy was forced to let go of Ro as she sprinted towards Professor Dumbledore.
"It wasn't Minerva's fault Professor, Abraxas Malfoy slammed into her and knocked her clean off!" She protested, but again Dumbledore silenced her.
"I am aware of that, Miss Hooch, I watched the entire incident from my office window." Professor Dumbledore said calmly, "Miss McGonagall will not receive detention, but I will be forced to take the House Points as I cannot be accused of favouring my own House over Slytherin. I'm sure Professor Slughorn will deal with them accordingly, but now we must turn our attention to Miss McGonagall."
Minerva had pushed herself into a sitting position by the time they approached her, giving Poppy a reassuring smile as she crouched down so she was on eye level with Minerva.
"Are you alright?" Poppy lifted each of Minerva's arms in turn, moving them around as her parents had shown her to check for breaks. When Minerva didn't respond to the movement she asked "Does anything hurt?"
"Nothing more than my pride," Minerva muttered, letting Lyall and Ro help her to her feet.
"All the same, Miss McGonagall, I think we ought to take you along to the Hospital Wing." Professor Dumbledore advised. "I think Matron Quinine would be very unhappy with me if I let you go to your dormitory without being checked over. Miss Hooch, Miss Pomfrey and Mister Lupin, I would like you three to escort the rest of your classmates back to your common room. This lesson will be rescheduled to a later date."
Without another word he was off in the direction of the door back into the Castle, an arm around Minerva's shoulders. Poppy looked back at Ro and was surprised to see tears brimming in the usually sharp yellow eyes.
"Well that must be one of the worst birthdays I've had so far!" she shouted, the pitch of her voice rising rapidly, before she snatched her Silver Arrow off the ground and strode away in the opposite direction.
Author's Note:
And our baddies get their first introduction! They're all canon, just stick their names into the search bar of the HP wiki and you'll see who I'm talking about.
Hector Bones is the father of Amelia and Edgar Bones, and William Tonks is related somewhat (I was thinking an uncle) to Ted Tonks. I know canonically Ted is a muggleborn, but I'd already written in his character by the time this was discovered and I liked him too much to ditch him.
Professor Merrythought is great, if it weren't for the fact that Dumbledore was Gryffindor Head I'd have given her that position in the story. You'll see a great deal more of her as the story progresses.