Chapter 23 – Defence and Other Things.
The castle was thereafter shown, as it zoomed in on the greenhouse where Professor Sprout walked in. "Morning everyone!" she cheerfully said.
"Good morning, Professor Sprout!" Everyone replied.
Professor Sprout sat a little straighter in her chair, as she watched herself come onto the screen with a smile.
"Welcome! This is greenhouse nr three, second year. Now gather around, everyone. Today we're going to re-pot Mandrakes. Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" asked Professor Sprout.
Hadriana was trying to nudge Neville to answer this because she knew that he would know the answer, but he just shook his head.
"Yes, Miss Granger!"
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been petrified, to their original state. It's also quite dangerous. The Mandrakes cry is fatal to anyone who hears it." Hermione answered it skilfully.
Professor Sprout beamed, while the others were just shaking their heads.
"I am so glad you grew out of quoting textbooks in our eight years!" Hadriana exaggerated when Hermione stopped quoting directly from a textbook.
"Me too!" Hermione told them with a laugh.
Sirius was just shaking his head at them, but it was fun to see that Hermione had some fun parts of the past. Hermione was after all one of his wife's best friends, and he even liked her because she had been with her since the beginning and held her together whenever he couldn't.
"Excellent, 10 points to Gryffindor. Now as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings their cries won't kill you yet. However, they can knock you out for several hours, which is why I've given each of you earmuffs, for auditory protection. So, would you please put them on right away?" Professor Sprout asked when everyone had followed her orders by placing them over their ears.
"Quickly – Clasp tightly down and watch me closely. You do it firmly, pull it up sharply up out of the pot…" she said, as the Mandrake let out a wail that could have woken up the dead and caused even those with earmuffs to cover their ears.
Hadriana quickly cast a silencing charm around the three of them, like many of the others that didn't want to hear it, and thereafter the counter curse before they could breathe easily again. While they were doing this, Professor Sprout was watching this gleefully to the other's irritated glare.
"Got it… and now… you dunk it down into the other pot… and our a little sprinkling of soil to keep it warm." She instructed her class, as the Mandrakes continued their crying and screaming.
Neville fainted.
Neville groaned as he remembered it happening to him.
Alice and Frank's eyes widened at seeing their son faint but seeing that the professor wasn't looking worried made them relax.
"Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs." Professor Sprout just said as everyone was staring at him.
Seamus just shook his head, "no, ma'am he just fainted."
"Yes, well then." Sprout told them and went back to her lesson.
The others just shrugged, while Hadriana wondered more about this school and the teachers, who just left someone who fainted on the ground? was her thought.
Professor Sprout looked at the screen sheepishly, why hadn't she done something? Though, it looked like no one was angry about it.
"Right, in we go. Plenty of pots to go around. Grasp your mandrakes… and pull up." The professor said.
Everyone followed her orders around the tables, as loud cries broke out all through the room.
Draco could be seen, tickling the mandrake under the chin, before it bit him, making him let out a loud scream.
Hadriana looked over to where Draco was, and quickly planted the mandrake and doing it before she broke out in hysterical laughter at seeing Draco laying on the ground.
Hermione tried to scold her, while Ron just looked towards Hadriana in confusion.
Noticing this Draco glared at the Mandrake and slammed it hard into the pot, while Hadriana's laughter continued without stopping.
Young Sirius and Sirius broke out in laughter at seeing this, more than ever they could see things in their own way.
The whole hall was also laughing over what was happening on the screen.
Draco just closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief over how he had been.
Hadriana was also laughing again, though, it was less funny now than it had been then since she had gotten to know Draco a lot more than she had back then.
Even some of the Slytherins were laughing hard at the young Slytherin.
It now changed to a hallway, where we could now see Sir Nicholas who was floating around as students were waving to him. "Hello Percy, Miss Clearwater." Sir Nicholas greeted them with a smile.
"Hi, Sir Nicholas!" They greeted him back.
With that, he flies away.
The great hall is now shown, where other students were mingling together and eating lunch, or they were studying.
Ron was now taping his wand together with Spell-o-tape, trying to get it to work, but soon deflates as the wand looked tilted to the side. "Say it. I am doomed!" he said, as he was holding up his wand.
Hadriana winched in sympathy, "You're doomed!"
"Hi Hadriana!" a voice from behind her was heard before a bright blinded her. "I'm Colin Creevy. I'm in Gryffindor too!" a cheerful blond boy said, and held up a large camera, as he stared at her in awe.
Hadriana groaned, "he's as irritating as I remember!" she told them all dramatically sinking back into the couch.
James and young Sirius snickered at the dramatics; it was so like James that they couldn't help themselves. "That's just so you!" Young Sirius said and looked towards his friend.
"I know!" James told them all proudly.
"Hi, Colin. Nice to meet you!" Hadriana greeted him with a smile, to the boy's delight.
"Ron, is that your owl?" Dean asked, and then pointed at the owl who was flying with a red envelope in its beak. Everyone cringed as it crashed into the table, making food and water spray across the table.
"Bloody bird is a menace!" Ron said and watched the bird fly off after having dropped it.
"Oh, boy!" Fabian Prewett winched seeing the red envelope. He and Gideon were ignoring Molly's glare she was sending them.
"Oh, no!" Ron said with wide eyes which showed his fear.
"Look, everyone! Weasley got himself a howler!" Seamus smirked, as everyone looked at them.
Hadriana was confused but knew that it was something bad.
"I've gotten too many of them through my Hogwarts years, so, good luck!" Young Sirius said, remembering all the times his mother had gone and done it to him.
"Also, it's from Molly." Shuddered Gideon
"Let the fun begin!" Fabian said, laughing for the fun of it
Ron just shrugged his shoulders, "it won't be the last, and George and Fred got more than enough of them from mother than I ever did." He said with a smile.
"Go Ron, I ignored one from Gran once, it was horrible," Neville said.
Frank winched at that remembering that getting one from his mother was the worst, much harder than everything else out there.
Ron opened the letter as slowly as possible before it was finally opened.
"RONALD Weasley! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOU FaTHER IS NOW FACING An INQUIRY AT WORK, AN IT ENTIRELY YOUR FAuLT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"
Hadriana looked at the envelope that had broken out in a speech in shock, and she couldn't help but love magic.
*I got letters like this all the time when I was in school! * Sirius told her through their link.
*You and dad, was that irritating at school? * Laughed Hadriana with a question mark.
"Irritating, you don't know the half of it!" Professor McGonagall laughed fondly at the two people sitting at the table with their friends and brother.
"Oh, how you wound me, Minnie!" James and the other whined dramatically.
Hadriana snickered at her husband, he was cute when he was younger, but she had to contend with that she loved Sirius as he is now. With that, she kissed Sirius fondly on the cheek, as the other was discussing the howler, and was shocked by the lungs of their friend's mother.
"Oh, and Ginny, dear. Congratulations on making Gryffindor! Your father and I are so proud!" Molly's voice told them. With that, the letter turned back to Ron, stuck out its tongue and shredded itself.
Ginny turned scarlet from embarrassment overhearing the last part, while Ron was just shocked over the screaming their mother had done.
A couple of days went by with school, and Hadriana had spent some days on her own in the room of reequipment, talking to Sirius and doing other things that needed to be done like trying out a couple of spells.
Then there was a change of scene, and it changed to a classroom. There were many pictures lined up on the walls, and the door opened. Hadriana had to hold in her laughter at who walked in.
"Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher… me!" Lockheart told them, giving them a ginormous smile and a wink.
"WHY? Why?" James said dramatically at the young Ravenclaw.
"Hey! I would be a good teacher!" Lockheart defended himself.
Many snorted and heled their laughed at hearing this because they knew he wouldn't at all be a good teacher.
Hadriana and Ron looked at their new teacher in disgust, while Hermione smiled at him in awe.
"Gilderoy Lockheart. Order of Merlin, third class. Honorary member of the dark force defence league and fiver time winner… of Which Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."
"No, fricking way!" Barty muttered loudly.
Lockheart couldn't help being smug over having won that award.
"Sadly not!" Hadriana mumbled, though, she knew that the only thing the Ravenclaw could be proud of was the smile award in witch weekly, nothing else. "The only reason you did have those awards is that you obliviate people and take their achievements for yourself!" she told him with spite.
Lockheart did not look as smug now as he had done before, he was pissed that someone could say so about him.
The others in the room looked at him suspiciously, wondering when it started so that they could stop him.
"But enough about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him." Lockheart told them laughing.
All the girls, excluding Hadriana, laughed along with him.
"I see you've all bought a complete set of books. Well done! Now I thought we'd start today with a… little quiz. Nothing to worry about. Just to check how well you've read them!"
Hadriana held in her laughter, as Ron looked on in disgust as they looked down when their test got there.
"Look at these questions! These are all about him!" someone said, outraged over what they were seeing.
"What's Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?" "What are Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievements known to date?"
Everyone snorted loudly at hearing this, while Professor McGonagall looked at Lockhart and Dumbledore while shaking her heads, not believing a word of it all.
Lockhart on the other hand just smiled and winked at the girls at the Gryffindor table much to their disgust and their boyfriend's anger.
"You have thirty minutes, starting now"
Everyone started doing them, while Hadriana just smirked with an idea of how to write the answers.
At the end of it. "Tut-tut. Hardly any of you remember that my favourite colour is lilac. But miss Hermione Granger, know that my secret ambition is to get rid of the evil of the world, and market my own range of hair care potions. Good, girl."
"Lockhart, you are a pervert – how anyone could have hired you," Hadriana told him disgusted overhearing it again. "Hope you didn't lay a hand on anyone!" she shuddered.
Sirius glared at the fifth-year Ravenclaw, for having dared to do something like this to underaged children. *Didn't anyone catch him? *
*No, * Hadriana told him.
James and the younger generation shuddered and gagged at hearing an adult say this to twelve years old children. They wondered silently how someone like this could even become a teacher.
"Now, be warned! It's my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind." Lockhart said, and place a rattling cage on his desk, which was covered with a cloth. Hiding the creatures from his students and making many of them sit straighter in their seats.
"You may find yourself facing your worst fears in this room. Know that no harm will befall you whilst I'm here. I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them." The teacher told them.
Hadriana was just rolling her eyes, 'I wonder how the heck he became our teacher when he seems to be scared of his own shadow!' she thought to herself.
Ron gulped in fear.
James just shook his head wondering where the heck this year of his daughter would take them, and subtly glared at the headmaster that he could just ignore the danger, and it made him wonder what the heck they hadn't been suspended or anything like it because of what they had done.
"What if it's something dangerous?" Lily quietly whispered to James worried.
"Don't think so!" James did his best to comfort his girlfriend.
Then he rips the cover off, like a drama queen revealing dozens of small blue Cornish pixies.
Hadriana did her best to not laugh and tried to look dumbfounded.
Laughs rang out throughout the great hall, no one was able to hold it in.
"Cornish Pixies?" Barty laughs, wiping his tears.
"That's what had you so serious? Oh, Lockhart, Lockhart, you are even more pathetic than I imagined." Young Sirius snorted, laughing then with the rest of the hall.
Even the more shy and reserved students were laughing.
"Cornish Pixies?"
"Freshly caught, Cornish Pixies!" Lockhart explained, with the class laughing loudly.
Only Hadriana looked at them all confused, though, she had read somewhere what they were but at the same time, didn't remember it quite well.
"Laugh all you want Mr Finnegan, but pixies could be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them… Now!" Lockhart said, locking up the cage door with a swipe of his wand. It let them go and fly free. The class let out screams because they didn't know what to do.
"Really? You empty-headed idiot! You never even told them what to do. How to even deal with them." James and Lily yelled at the embarrassed Ravenclaw.
Two pixies flew next to Neville, and picked him up by the ears, as everyone ran around shocked. Neville was now hanging by his cloak on the chandelier.
"Get off of me!" Yelled Hadriana as one of them was pulling on her hair. With a groan, she picked up a book, spun around and smacked it with a book, before hitting the ones that were attacking Hermione and Ron.
"That was one way to handle them!" Professor Flitwick said with a proud smile.
Lockhart raised his wand then and pointed it towards the pixies 'Peskipiksi Pesternomi' and nothing happened.
"Is that even a spell?" someone asked confused that a teacher could be so dumb.
"No, don't think so," Remus explained even though he was a little bit confused over the spell.
Professor Flitwick sighed wondering how the heck someone like that could have ended up in his house.
With the spell, the pixies suddenly take his wand making him run from his office, stopping to grab one of his portraits of himself and wrestling one of the pixies for it, before looking back at the trio.
"I'll ask you three to just nip them back into their cage," Lockhart said, before closing the door behind him.
"WOW, he is serious, isn't he?" Edward asked from the Huffelpuff table.
"No, I am!" Younger Sirius said with a smirk, though, Regulus smacked him over the head much to everyone charging.
"Honestly, Padfoot." Remus sighed, rolling his eyes at young Sirius who now clutching his head silently laughing.
*You were very weird. * Hadriana said and gave her husband a smirk.
*Yeah, * Sirius told her wiggling his eyebrows at her and then kissing her and Teddy's forehead in fondness.
"What do we do now?" asked Ron.
Hadriana and Hermione shared a look before they raised their wands. "Imobulus" they yelled together, it helped because they froze in mid-air, while Neville continued hanging from the chandelier.
"Why is it always me?" Neville groaned.
Hadriana, Ron and Hermione shared a look.
"This year is going to be awesome!" Barty said sarcastically.
"You have no idea," Hadriana mumbled.
Young Sirius laughed at hearing this together with his older self.
The others around them just shake their heads, knowing that things were going to be crazy later.