Chapter 45: Curse Be Gone
Thanks for reading.
Wow, y'all didn't like my last chapter, bummer. It almost made me not want to write this chapter with how much response I got to my last one.
I know a lot of people say don't worry about not getting reviews, but I keep trying to express that is the only payment I get for writing these stories. They make me want to write. If I don't think you like them, I don't want to finish them.
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Gandr did make the meadow for dinner, and the girls were very enthusiastic about it. It was a very pretty meadow that encompassed the entire Great Hall. There were birds, deer, a lake, a breeze and trees. There were flowers, grasses, and some will-o'-the-wisps. All in all, it was a nice springtime scene. And the girls ate it up, not to mention the teachers.
He also stood up and apologized to the students for his illusion in DADA class.
"I want to apologize for scaring the second-year students in DADA class this morning," Gandr said as he stood in front of the Staff Table right in front of Lockhart, "the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. It was not my aim to scare you, it was only my intention to out the fraud. I suggest that you call your parents and tell them what a fake person he is. And if you feel the need to rat me out as well, I completely understand that. Thank you." And with that, he went to his table and sat back down.
"Why did you tell them that they should rat you out too?" asked Harry turning to look at him. They were in their usual seats, even with the meadow scene playing out around them. There was a picnic type dinner going on, with cold chicken and all the fixings.
"I can take the heat, it's okay," the older boy said with a shrug. He really didn't care what the parents thought of his trick. They couldn't hurt him.
"Yeah, but they might want you to be expelled for scaring their little babies," said Neville, looking worriedly at his fellow Hufflepuffs that were already on their phones.
"Really, if they can't take an illusion like that, then they really need to toughen up," said Gandr, lifting his eyebrow to his housemates.
They sneered at him.
"This meadow that you've got going is really beautiful," said one of the Slytherin girls. Tracy Davis, he thinks her name was.
"Don't talk to him," said Pansy Parkinson, who was sitting and not touching her meal. She didn't want him to think she was happy with what he was doing.
"Shut up, Pansy, nobody's speaking to you," snapped Tracy.
"Thank you, Tracy," said Gandr, nodding his head in her direction. "I'm glad you're enjoying it. Now I just have to think of something to entertain the boys. Maybe a Quidditch game?" He had been wracking his brain all day over it.
"Oh, that would be neat," said Harry, picking up a drumstick and waving it around. "Have you ever seen a Quidditch game?"
"Of course I have. Ivy has taken me to a few. You know Tony's got huge pockets. Whatever Ivy wants, Ivy gets," the World Snake said with a chuckle in his voice. He had been to three games as a matter of fact.
"Not always. I talked to her this morning, and she didn't get the Avengers to back her cause," Harry said, smiling a small smile. She had been so sad and confused. He didn't like to see her like that. She bounced back, but for a second, it had been hard on him.
"Wow, she must be devastated," said Neville, who never heard anyone tell Ivy no for anything.
"She was for a minute, but she doesn't stay very sad for very long," confirmed Harry with a nod. He bit his chicken, chewed and swallowed. "She has most of the Avengers, so that's something, and the ones that aren't backing her are going to support her in the background, so she's okay." He polished off the rest of his drumstick and reached for some potato salad.
"Still, she was told no. That's gotta hurt," Neville said, tilting his head.
"You know Ivy Potter?" asked Susan Bones, leaning over and getting into Harry's space. She was getting kind of aggressive.
"Umm, of course I do, we're cousins. Distant cousins. I talk to her on the phone. Can we keep that a secret?" Harry asked, looking around to see who all was listening to them, which was half the table. Him and his big mouth.
"Busted," Gandr said, laughing at him. It was hysterical to him that Harry got caught talking about Ivy here at the table. True he started it, but still.
"Do you know where she lives? My aunt really wants to know," said Susan, pulling at his robes like that would make him talk.
"I've only met her a couple of times, and it wasn't at her house. I just happen to know her phone number," lied Harry, using his cute factor to make himself look innocent and adorable.
"How can you know her phone number and not know where she lives?" Pansy asked, being the bitch that she was.
"She lives in the United States. I live here. I don't go over there," the boy said, widening his eyes and making sparkles come from them.
The girls cooed.
"I guess that's reasonable. Can you ask her for her address?" Susan said, believing him. He was just too cute to lie.
"She doesn't give it out. She's a very private person. That and her daddy doesn't want her too," Harry said, which was completely true.
"I see," said Susan, sighing in disappointment.
"Besides, didn't you all write to her at one time trying to convince her to come to Hogwarts? I remember her telling me about that once," the adorable preteen said, keeping his cute factor on.
The girls swooned and batted their eyes at him. He was just so cute.
"That's owl mail. We don't have addresses for that," Hannah said, smiling at him innocently.
"I mean, you could owl her and ask her for her address, can't you? Or ask her for her phone number and then you can talk to her," Harry said, turning down his cuteness and returning to his meal. He didn't need to wow them anymore. They weren't going to bother him further about this.
"I suppose I can," Susan said, thoughtfully. She had received a letter back from Ivy Potter Stark when she had written to her all those years ago. She was sure she would again.
"Good, because I hate being the middleman," Harry said, batting his eyes at her.
"I'll do that. I'm sure she'd rather talk to me than my aunt," the redheaded girl stated, going back to her supper. She was the same age as Ivy, maybe they could be friends, or pen pals.
"All right then."
"Anyway, what do you think your mum's gonna do?" Neville said, changing the subject.
"Well, I'm sure she's going to call everybody on her phone tree and have them here by morning. Have you guys called your parents?" Harry asked, glad for the change in topic. He didn't want to talk about Ivy anymore. Dumbledore might hear and call him to his office again. While Loki had mind-whammied his mind, he still didn't know Occlumency. He had found the book in the library and was studying it, and it wasn't easy. He was going to ask Star if she knew anything about it. For a Flerken, she was pretty smart about magic.
"Not yet, but I'm going to when we get back to the common room," said Hannah Abbott. She had left her phone in her bag in her room.
"I'm going to call my aunt," said Susan Bones, who didn't want to have the conversation around all the other students. Her aunt could get quite loud when she was angry.
"That's because you are a bunch of tattletales," said Pansy Parkinson, just to be contrary. She was going to owl her parents. She didn't have a muggle phone. She was a proper pureblood and didn't believe in using those filthy devices.
"Shut up, Pansy. Nobody asked you," said Tracy. She was really getting to despise Pansy. She had been a bitch as long as she'd known the girl, but she was worse this year. Maybe she was getting her menses.
"That's right," said Daphne, pulling out her phone, not caring what the other Slytherins thought. "We're going to tell our parents, too. That fraud doesn't need to be in this school teaching us." She scrolled through her contacts and started texting her parents about what happened in DADA.
"Are you gonna tell your parents about me?" inquired Gandr, lifting an eyebrow.
"Probably. You did scare the hell out of me," said Daphne, not looking up from her texting.
"That's fine, I've already been punished."
"What was your punishment?" asked Tracy, leaning over Daphne's shoulder to read what she was texting. She giggled at some of the words on the screen.
"Twenty-five points from Slytherin and one weeks of detention," Gandr stated with an air of nonchalance.
"That's just punishing us too," said one of the upperclassmen with a great deal of menace. He glared at Gandr like he was ready to plummet the boy.
"Hey, I didn't make the rules," said Gandr with a shrug. "Blame the staff," he added, waving his hand to the headmaster.
"Typical," said the same classman.
"At any rate, I had to promise I wouldn't do it again, and if I do, do it again, I'll do it in the privacy of the frauds quarters. That way none of you will be scared," the World Snake stated, giving them a piteous look. Like he thought they were weak for getting so frightened over a small illusion.
"I think we would appreciate that," said Tracy, still reading Daphne's text. She missed the look he was giving them.
"Well, it looks like the dinner is over. Time to go to the common room," said Harry, making everyone look up and see the dessert disappear. "Has anybody seen Star? I've not seen her all day."
"Not since last night," said Neville, looking around as if she was in the rafters. She might be, knowing her.
"Huh. I wonder where she took off to."
"I'm sure she'll turn up," said Gandr. Though he too wondered where the non-cat was.
"I hope so."
"There's not much that can hurt a Flerken," The older teen said, hoping to ease the younger boy's worry. He took down the meadow illusion, making many of the girls sigh in disappointment.
"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, Gandr," Harry said, getting up and moving toward the doors, Neville in tow. He hoped Star was in the common room.
"Bye, Gandr," said Neville, waving at his Slytherin friend. The rest of Hufflepuff was going with them.
"Bye, you two. Try and stay out of trouble," Gandr said, still sitting at the Slytherin table with his housemates. They were always the last to leave.
"You're the one who keeps getting in trouble," said Neville, stopping to continue the conversation. Harry stopped with him, grinning. "You've only been here three days," he pointed out.
"Oi, I can't help it if I was sorted in Slytherin," Gandr stated, folding his arms, mock pouting. He was proud to be in the house of Salazar Slytherin. The man was a hoot and a half. He'd talked to the painting many times since he'd come here.
"We didn't ask you to be here," said Malfoy with some venom. He hated the upstart. He was always hissing at the portrait, showing off that he could speak to snakes. It was pathetic.
"Yet here I am. You are just going to have to deal with me," the taller teenager said, smiling sweetly at him.
Harry and Neville just laughed and went on their way. With that, the two Houses went to their common rooms and settled down for the night, waiting to see what was going to happen in the morning.
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Harry got on the mirror that night and had a conversation with Ivy. He decided to tell her what had happened in DADA class, and she said she was going to send a howler or a hologram to Dumbledore. Explaining in excruciating detail why she did not attend Hogwarts. Explicitly, the quality of the staff. The likes of Binns, Snape, and now Gilderoy Lockhart. And even though Snape was now gone, it didn't matter. The fact that Dumbledore would hire the likes of him and Gilderoy just showed that he didn't care about the studies of his students.
"I think that's an excellent idea," said Harry, clapping his hands at her idea. He couldn't wait to see it. He just hoped it got here in time. He wondered how she was going to do that.
"Yeah, so I'm going a hologram so he can just see how cute and adorable I am and what he's missing. I'll have Goose pop it over and then owl it from Hogwarts owlery. Or have a house elf do it," she said, bouncing up and down with excitement. She was getting very overjoyed over this.
"Don't forget your giggle," Harry said, knowing that that made her extra adorable.
"Don't worry, I won't."
"I think it's going to be awesome."
"I'll make sure to get extra dolled up just for it," Ivy said, looking at her closet as if already picking out her costume for the stunt.
"Alright, I'll wait for it," Harry stated, trying to picture what she would wear. He could see her all dressed up in something pretty, like a princess. "I'll see you then."
"Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight, Ivy."
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It happened during breakfast. It was halfway through the meal when the doors blew open and a gaggle of parents came marching in with the Board of Governors. Leading the pack was Molly Weasley. There had to be a hundred parents in tow. Never had there been such a contingent of angry adults come to Hogwarts for something like a fraudulent teacher. Not even Snape had warranted this. And he should have.
"Albus Dumbledore. What is going on here? You're hiring frauds to teach an important class in this school?" she all but bellowed as she marched down the middle of the Great Hall.
All the sound had stopped as the large group of adults came in. Everyone recognized someone, since they were the parents of one of the students. Siri decided to go casual this morning with jeans and a T-shirt, and Loki was in jeans and a polo shirt. Many of the other parents were dressed similarly. Unless they were pureblood, then they were dressed in robes, but they weren't dress robes.
"Now, Molly, we don't know that Gilderoy is a fraud. We only have the word of a student," Albus prevaricated, he wasn't going to tell them the truth. They would skin him alive. Then again, he was going to get caught out sooner or later, he might as well come clean. "If…" was as far as he got before Siri interrupted him.
"He left that class to suffer from an illusion. How could he not be a fraud?" Siri stated, coming to the front of the group. "Don't you dare try to cover up for this man. He could have gotten someone hurt with that stunt."
"That illusion fooled everybody in the class. Besides, no one was hurt," the old man said, making calming gestures and smiling his grandfather smile.
"They are twelve and thirteen years old. He is a grown man," she said, her hair starting to fly, causing those behind her to angerly mutter. "He claims he can change werewolves into humans. Yet when he was confronted by an illusion of a werewolf, he fainted. He lied," she all but yelled, pointing and accusing finger at the cowering man in purple robes.
Gilderoy was trying his best to look for all the world like he was the injured party in all of this. He was smiling and trying to look brave, but he was failing at both. He knew he was ruined. He'd never sell a book on adventuring again. The best he'd be able to do was his beauty suggestions and household tips.
"I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. We should take this into my office," the headmaster said, standing and gesturing for Lockhart to do the same.
The DADA professor did stand and ran out of the room to head to the office, but the rest of the group stayed right where they were.
Just then an owl flew in through the post window and landed in front of Dumbledore. A round metal disk was set on the table and Dumbledore looked at it like he didn't know what to do with it. There was a small red button in the middle of it. So, he did what anybody would do when confronted with the red button. He pushed it.
"Hello, Headmaster Dumbledore," said Ivy's sweet voice as she popped up from the disk in a hologram.
She was wearing a white sundress and had a white ribbon in her red curls, which were falling to perfection. She had black sandals on and was clutching a white purse and there was a beautiful smile on her pink lips. She was picture perfect. It all seemed to shimmer in the sunlight that was reflected in the background.
"My name is Ivy Harriet Potter Stark, and I just wanted to say how very, very thankful I am that I never came to your school. I heard that you hired Gilderoy Lockhart as your DADA professor, and everybody knows that he is a fraud. All one has to do is read his books to know that this man does nothing but spin tales. Even I, as a twelve-year-old girl, know that this man is nothing but a ponce. If you'll forgive me from saying so. That was very reckless on your part."
Here she giggled her cute little giggle and batted those huge green eyes at him and sighed.
"I heard that you had Professor Severus Snape working for you, and everybody knows that he is a mean man who does nothing but abuse the children. I am so very, very happy that I never came to your school because he would have abused me too. Then there was the ghost of a history teacher, who put everyone asleep. For shame, Headmaster. Do you not care about your students? Thank goodness for the parents. I hear they took care of those problems for you."
She looked at him with sorrowful eyes.
"I want to thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore, for putting me with my Aunt Petunia, because if you hadn't then my daddy would have never found me, and now I live a very happy and fulfilled life. So, thank you."
She giggled her cute little giggle again, waved at him, curtsied and signed off.
"Oh my, how adorable she is," said Molly Weasley, gushing for all she was worth. She had never seen such a cute twelve-year-old girl. Though her daughter came close.
"She's so cute," said everybody else, cooing at the Girl-Who-Lived and regretting that she wasn't there with them. They all looked and glared at Dumbledore. It was all his fault she wasn't there.
"Look what you've done, Dumbledore," said one of the Board of Governors. "If you had gotten rid of Snape before she had even heard about him, she would have come to this school." He was very angry.
"Now, now, now, I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding," said Dumbledore again, trying not to be upset at himself and Ivy. She was a cute kid, but did she have to publicly humiliate him? He had to find a way to get her to this school.
"No, you listen. You get this fraud out of this school right now and find a teacher that is competent," said Malfoy, the senior, looking around for Lockhart, who had yet to return. He wanted Ivy Potter at the school too.
"He was the only one who applied," said Albus with a lifting of his hands in a 'what can I do' gesture.
"I can fix that," said Loki, stepping forward with a shit-eating grin. He had been waiting for this moment.
"Pray tell, how?" said Dumbledore, looking at the man and feeling dread in his stomach. He just knew this was the Norse god Loki and he could mean trouble.
"I'm going to remove the curse on the DADA position," the God of Mischief stated, looking around the room to see how they took that bit of news. Everyone looked shocked, like they either didn't know there was one, or they didn't believe him.
"You can do that?" McGonagall asked, hope in her voice. She hated that there was a new teacher every year. It was hell on the parchmentwork and the students.
"I am a god," Loki said with a shrug, causing Gandr to facepalm. He had been hoping to keep that a secret for a while longer. Then again, maybe his housemates wouldn't connect the dots yet.
"Who are you?" inquired Lucius, looking down his nose at him. He didn't know this man so he must not be important.
"I am Loki Laufeyson," Loki said, looking at him with a sneer. "Did you not just hear me? I am a god," he reiterated.
"I've never heard of you. That is not a pureblood name," Malfoy stated, dismissing the god comment. There were no gods walking the earth. They died out years ago.
Loki turned to Siri and said, "Is everybody here this dense?"
"They just didn't study up on their Norse mythology. Or if they did, they don't believe in it," she commented with a shrug. She knew Loki could wipe the floor with this man, if he so desired. She hoped he didn't, yet she kinda hoped he taught him a lesson. She really hated Malfoy. "Besides, didn't you go by Odinson when you walked the earth last?"
"Right you are," he said, then rubbed his chin in thought. "Do they not know what happened in New York not too long ago?" Laufeyson asked, lifting an eyebrow. He knew they didn't, but he thought he'd bring it up and get them curious.
"It happened in the muggle world. They don't care," Siri said, shrugging her shoulder again. She knew the way the purebloods worked. If it didn't affect them, it didn't happen.
"Fools. At any rate, it doesn't matter. I'm going to take care of the curse on the DADA position." And with that he waved his hand in the air and cast a spell upon the enchanted ceiling and looked for the curse that was in the castle. He found it on the dragon that was above the DADA classroom. It was embedded in the spine. "Aha, there it is," he said. Everybody could see it shining there. He reached up as if to grab it, pulled the curse through the castle, and crushed it in his hand. "There you go, one curse gone," he stated when he was done.
"How do we know that that was the curse on the position?" asked Lucius, even though he was impressed. He had seen many stories up through the ceiling and saw the curse come to the man's hand. He could not have done that. Hell, he didn't think Voldemort could do that.
"Hire somebody and if they last for more than a year, you'll know that it was," said Loki, as if it was a given.
"Who shall we hire?" asked one of the Board of Governors, wringing his hands. They were at their wits end. The position was hard to hire for, it had been cursed for so long.
"How should I know, I'm a foreigner here? I got rid of your curse. It's up to you to hire somebody now. There are plenty of people standing right here. You mean to tell me not one of them has a degree in DADA?" Loki stated, looking around the room at all the parents and government officials.
"I do," said one of the parents, holding up his hand. He was a gangly fellow that stood above most of the other adults.
"I know many of my Aurors do," said Amelia Bones. She had always wanted to get one of them in this school to investigate what was happening here. She would have preferred it when Snape had been here, but now was good enough.
"There you go, hire one of them," the god said, waving to the group behind him, who were all volunteering.
"Can we please discuss this in my office?" said Dumbledore, who was standing there dumbfounded. He really wanted to get them out from the prying eyes of the students. It was time for them to go to class at any rate. "Students, go to class," he said, making shooing motions.
They grumbled but got up and started leaving. The staff did the same. The group of parents went to their children and gave them hugs, but none of them left the Great Hall.
"We can finish our talk here. There is more room," Siri said to Dumbledore as she finished hugging Harry. The preteen hurried out of the hall and off to class.
"Very well," the headmaster stated, sitting down and sighing. It was going to be a long morning.
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He was wrong, it turned out to be a short morning. Gilderoy was fired and one of the Aurors, Payne Proudfoot, was hired. He was hurt on duty and wanted to hire on for two years. He didn't want to stay longer than that, but it would prove that the curse was broken.
Everyone left satisfied.