The Girl Who Served - Chapter 2
First Day
A buzzing from her wand was what woke Harriet up on her first day of school. Climbing out of bed, grabbing her exercise clothes and heading into the bathroom, Harriet brushed her teeth and got ready for her daily exercise routine. In a rare sign of compassion, she decided not to wake her two room-mates to join her.
Heading out of the castle, she looked around before spotting the Quidditch pitch. Heading onto the grounds of the pitch she stretched against a wooden post before taking off to see how many laps she could do around the pitch. After her fourth, she noticed that she was being watched. After finishing off her fifth she grabbed her water bottle before heading up the stairs to the teachers box and sitting next to the aging wizard inside.
"I half expected you to call me into your office." Harriet said to the man.
"I completely expected you to be here this morning, it's the perfect place to do some exercise." Dumbledore responded, neither of them looking at each other. "It's a beautiful morning, don't you think? The only thing I really enjoy about Quidditch is being able to look out at the world behind the stands. That's probably-"
"What do you want, Chief Warlock?" Harriet interrupted the man. The old man finally looked over at the girl.
"Why are you here, Harriet?" Dumbledore questioned.
"To get a magical education like the other children here…" Harriet replied.
"Don't lie to me, girl. We both know that's about as true as you are an innocent child." Harriet stood up, cracked her back, picked up her bottle and walked towards the door back to the stairs. Completely ignoring the old man. "What did you do to Ronald Weasley?"
"I had a right to defend myself, he grabbed me, I took him down."
"Then why is he terrified of you?"
"For the same reason that you are terrified of me." Harriet responded, turning to face Dumbledore. "I know more than people realize." With that, Harriet left the box.
Walking back into the castle, she bent down to pet the cat that walked up to her. It meowed before it started purring at her.
"What are you doing out of bed?" The caretaker - Mr Filch - questioned the girl.
"Morning exercise. I am about to head back to my dorm, shower and then I will be back up for lunch." Harriet replied, not looking at the man. She was too busy playing with the cat. "She's beautiful, what's her name?"
"Mrs. Norris." Filch replied, a slight smile on his face. Usually the students of the school would torment him and the cat, it drove him to be the unlikeable man he was.
"Is there a Mr. Norris?" Harriet asked Filch, finally looking up at him.
"There was…" He responded, the smile dropping from his face. "Until the Weasley Twins got a hold of him." Harriet pulled out her wand and waved it over the cat. When Filch saw this, he demanded to know what she had done.
"She had fleas. Emphasis on HAD." Harriet answered, watching a smile spread across the Squibs face. "I also cast a protective charm over her. Lightweight spells won't hurt her from now on and harder spells will notify me so I can get to her as soon as possible." Harriet took that moment to stand up from her crouching position. "Have a good day."
"You too, Miss." Filch said to her retreating form, bending down to pick the cat up and check that she was okay.
Harriet had always had a soft spot for cats. Especially after THAT day. Squibs too. They were treated as a lower class when they should be a protected class within the Wizarding World. Walking past the Great Hall, she picked up a catalogue for cat related products before heading off to the Slytherin Common Room.
Once she had arrived back into her shared room, Daphne and Tracey had started to awake. Looking at her with confusion, Tracey sat up.
"What are you doing up already?" Tracey asked the girl.
"I went for a run. Great way to start the day to be honest." Harriet replied, grabbing her towel and clothes before heading towards the bathroom. Not long after that, she came out again. Clean and dressed, ready for breakfast. Daphne and Tracey had barely climbed out of bed.
"When do we start training?" Daphne asked, grabbing her toiletries.
"Technically, before you two woke up. I wanted to confirm that you would both be okay with waking up early. I will be training you the same way that I was trained. It will be tough and you will both grow to hate me but you will also be thankful should you ever need it."
"I'm still up for training, no matter the time. Like you said, I could need it in the future." Daphne said, walking past Harriet towards the bathroom.
"I guess I will give it a go…" Tracey confirmed, however her voice was more unsure than her cousin's.
Once all three girls were dressed, they all headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast. The rest of the house was giving them space as they were still weary of Harriet. Once Harriet had filled her plate with food, she took out the catalogue from before. Going through it, she decided to order some treats and a toy for Mrs. Norris to play with. She knew that she would continue to hate the students if things carried on and Harriet wanted to get to play with her as much as possible.
"Since when did you have a cat?" Tracey asked, looking at the catalogue.
"I don't." Harriet replied, "I saw that the caretaker did though and I wanted to get her some treats and such. It seems like she has had a hard life living in the castle."
"Who knew that Harriet Potter would have a soft spot for cats?" Daphne said, a smirk on her face. "Did you ever have a cat?"
The smile on Harriet's face fell before she put the catalogue away and grabbed her things.
"I did…" Harriet whispered before heading out of the door grabbing her schedule from Snape along the way.
Entering the transfiguration classroom, she saw a cat sitting on the teacher's desk. As she walked towards it though, she noticed how still it was. Taking out her wand, she waved it at the cat and watched as it transformed into Professor McGonagall.
"That was a very advanced spell, Miss Potter." The Scottish woman said, a small hint of pride in her voice. "How could you tell that I wasn't a real cat?"
"I happen to love cats, Professor. You didn't give off the vibe of you owning the entire school." She responded with a slight laugh in her voice. "Plus, you sit too still to be a cat."
"Ahh, Professor Dumbledore has said the same thing to me before. Five points to Slytherin, Miss Potter. Now, I ask that you stay silent over this while I surprise the other students."
Harriet simply nodded before taking a seat near the back of the class. As the room filled up with students, everyone either ignored or looked at the cat with confusion on their face. Daphne and Tracey came in and sat either side of Harriet.
"Listen, Harriet, I'm sorry for upsetting you, clearly the cat thing is a bit of a touchy subject and I will refrain from teasing you about it in the future." Daphne said, sincerely. Just then, Weasley and Longbottom ran into the classroom - just barely on time. Just as they took their seats, Professor McGonagall leaped from the desk, transforming back into a cat. Taking in the look of shock from the class, she began her lesson on the basics of transfiguration.
Having already been taught what the professor was saying, she took the moment to focus on the class around her. She took him the kids, weighed their enthusiasm against the database in her mind of what to look out for. So far, only two of the kids stood out as potential threats - both for very different reasons.
The first was Draco Malfoy, heir to the House of Malfoy. His father was supposedly under the Imperius Curse and forced to take the Dark Mark - however, every Death Eater questioned by her (whether they were under veritaserum or not) confirmed that it wasn't possible to take the mark while under said curse. So Lucius Malfoy was just a Death Eater with a lot of money. Money that would be inherited by Draco on the time of his father's passing. Money and a dark past could lead to the creation of a Dark Lord, a least a dark wizard.
The other was Ronald Weasley. While his family was firmly light, that didn't stop his chances. The youngest male out of his five brothers, he easily had the jealousy needed. Especially as his brothers start their lives and become successful while he was stuck at school. Not to mention the fact that he was coddled by his mother - according to Arthur - which would make him think that he could get away with anything and everything.
He had to either move away from that mentality the easy way or he would learn the hard way. Continuing to look around, he noticed Hermione Granger. Clearly muggleborn with how desperate she was to prove herself, as if she believed that she wasn't worthy to study magic. Like an imposter in the world around her. Harriet almost felt sorry for her, almost. She started to pay attention again when Professor McGonagall started handing out matchsticks to turn into needles. Deciding to get it over with as soon as possible, she simply waved her hand over the matchstick and sat back again.
"Harriet, can you help us?" Daphne asked.
"What do you need help with?"
"Everything!" Tracey moaned as she slumped onto the desk, her matchstick sticking to her face as she lifted her head back up. Reaching over, Harriet pulled the stick off of her face before holding it out in her two fingers to show the girls.
"Magic is all about intent and willpower. What do you intend to do when you cast a spell and how badly do you want it? Those are the questions that your magic is asking you every time you so much as touch your wand. So, tell me, what do you want your magic to do?"
"Turn this matchstick into a needle?" Daphne asked questioningly.
"Do you? You don't sound convinced?" Harriet questioned back. "Try again."
"I want this matchstick to turn into a needle." Daphne tried again.
"I NEED this matchstick to turn into a needle!" Tracey said.
"How much do you need this matchstick to turn into a needle?" Harriet asked Tracey.
"Like my life depends on it!" She replied, hyping herself up.
"Then do it." Harriet placed the matchstick back down on the table and Tracey tried again. This time, however, she missed the matchstick and hit the desk causing her desk to transfigure into a large needle and hit the stone floor with a loud thump. Crushing her bag in the process.
Professor McGonagall turned around to see what had happened and sighed.
"Miss Davis!" She called to the girl, "How is it that both you and your mother managed to do the exact same thing?" She finished off her question with a smirk before transfiguring the desk back.
Harriet had to struggle not to laugh at the situation and simply waved her wand to repair anything that had broken in the girl's bag as well as repairing the floor as it had suffered a small dent from the fall. Harriet turned to Daphne and pointed to her matchstick.
"Your turn," Harriet said with a smile. "At least you can't do worse than your cousin."
Daphne closed her eyes before waving her wand at the matchstick and watched as it transfigured into a needle.
"One point to Slytherin Miss Greengrass and five points to Slytherin Miss Potter for helping out your peers." Professor McGonagall said before turning back around to help another student.
After the lesson had finished, the girls walked towards their second lesson of the day, potions. Walking down the stairs of the Grand Staircase they arrived at the dungeons. Seeing the door open, the girls went in and took their seats - again at the back of the class. As everyone else took their seats, Snape strode into the classroom, his cloak billowing.
"There will be no incantations or silly little wand waving in this class." He stated to the children in the room. "Tell me Mr. Longbottom, what would I get if I added a powered root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"
The boy in question just stuttered at the professor.
"Where would you look if I told you to find me a Bezoar?" Snape continued. Again the boy had no answer. "What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfbane?" At this point, the professor was done with waiting and simply shouted: "Potter."
"Draught of the Living Death, Bezoar is found inside the stomach of a goat and Monkshood and Wolfsbane are the same plant, Sir." Snape looked up at the girl. Only she noticed the look of pride in his eyes, everyone else saw it as anger.
"Five points to Slytherin."
At this point, Weasley decided it would be wise to jump head first into no-man's land.
"That's not fair! She's in your house! You obviously told her beforehand." Snape turned to look at the boy, practically willing his eyes to melt the boy where he sat.
"It's not my fault that your mother was too busy having your sister to bother to teach you how to read. However, it is YOUR fault for what I am about to do. Twenty points from Gryffindor and a weeks detention, Weasley." Snape bellowed at the boy - who had practically wet himself - before turning around and placing instructions on the board for the cure to common boils.
"You have an until the end of the lesson, begin!" At that the class practically raced towards the ingredients cabinet to grab what they thought they needed, practically raiding it. Harriet, on the other hand - as well as Daphne and Tracey - pulled out their ingredients from their bag. After all, it had been on the letter that they would require them.
By the end of the hour, Harriet produced the best solution out of any first year in history. Walking over to the professor's desk, she placed the potion's unbreakable vial on the desk before turning around and filling her cauldron with water from her wand.
"Look at Potter, class!" The professor called out, "That is how you follow instructions and THAT is how you clean your cauldron once you have finished. Every single one of you has until the end of lunch to finish off your potions and clean your cauldron. Those of you that have finished, you may leave." With that, Snape left the classroom.
Turning to the girls next to her, Harriet quickly took over from a near panicking Tracey to salvage a somewhat usable potion while Daphne finished off her - which was next to perfect. That was expected as the Greengrasses were known for their potion prowess. As Tracey and Daphne took their vials over to the desk, Harriet quickly cleaned up their cauldrons before drying all three with her wand and the three girls left the room.
Heading towards the Great Hall, they quickly caught up with the professor with Harriet turning to face him.
"Professor, I think you dropped this." Handing him a note before dragging the other girls towards the Great Hall. The note said: "You could have also found a Bezoar in your supply cupboard before today." The man chuckled to himself before burning the note and heading off for lunch.
By the end of the school day, five people had detention with Snape for not finishing and / or not cleaning their cauldron before the end of lunch. Those five people spent the rest of the day hungry until dinner came along. At dinner, Harriet quickly scoffed down some food before telling the two girls to wait where they were for a second. Heading out of the hall, she looked around until she found a classroom that was clearly not in use before running to grab the girls.
"Right, self-defence." Harriet started, looking at the girls. "First thing's first, you can't learn with your cloaks on." At this, the girls quickly took off their cloaks before Harriet transfigured their clothes into workout clothes.
"Next time, you will need clothes that you can work out in." She explained. "Right, Tracey. Try and punch me in the face."
"What?!" Tracey exclaimed.
"Try and punch me. Daphne, pay attention to what I do."
Tracey walked up to Harriet and tried to punch her, however she was too quick for the poor girl and dodged every single punch before Harriet grabbed her arm and slid her feet out from under her. Tracey fell to the floor with a scream that lacked any dignity.
"So, Daphne, what did you notice?" Harriet asked the spectator.
"That Tracey can't punch?" Daphne asked back.
"No, that you should always try and dodge. Dodging will cause your opponent to lose their stamina. Losing stamina means that they are less likely to make a connection with you when you start to fight back." Harriet explained, helping Tracey back onto her feet. "Right, Daphne, I am going to try and hit you and you are going to try and dodge…"
Every step towards their beds was hell for Daphne and Tracey after their training session. Harriet just smiled, enjoying the role of instructor.
"Oh, don't be such babies!" Harriet teased, "I have been doing this since I was five years old. Imagine being five and taking a hit from a full grown adult."
Both girls turned to look at her like she had just told them that magic was made of cheese.
"Five?" Tracey asked.
"Yeah?" Harriet responded.
"You were getting beaten up by adults at the age of five?!" Daphne shouted.
"Please, you make it sound bad!" Harriet waved off the concern.
"Harriet, YOU make it sound bad. Next you are going to say that you were trained in withstanding the imperious curse!" Tracey said, hobbling towards her bed. Had either her or Daphne been facing towards Harriet, or not focusing on the pain all over their bodies, they would have heard her whisper.
"And how to cast it…"