Chapter 8
Ms. Lestrange's Office
As Ms. Evans headed toward the headmistress' office, she could hear Ms. Lestrange gleeful shouts on the other side. No doubt she's using her dartboard again., she thought. Alright, it's no big deal. Just don't be pathetic, and don't show fear. With those instructions to herself firmly in her mind, Ms. Evans knocked on the door.
"Enter!", Ms. Lestrange's voice boomed.
As Ms. Evans walked in, she was taken by surprise as a stray dart hit the doorway, narrowly missing herself.
The Headmistress grinned. "Almost got you there." She took the rest of the darts out of the board on her door, which had pictures of students on it, as Ms. Evans headed in. "Good to see you again, Lily. What brings you here at this time? Perhaps it's time for another "heart to heart" between us?"
Ms. Evans did her best to smile. "Well, actually, Ms. Lestrange, I've come to speak with you about the new student in my class. Her name is Harriet Dursley."
At this, Ms. Lestrange seemed to grimace. "Dursley, hmm? Her father warned me about that one. Said she's a real...freak."
"What? Oh, no, Ms. Lestrange, I can already see that Harriet is a very sweet girl, and quite bright for her age, as well!"
Ms. Lestrange's grimace turned into an amused smile. "Really? A bright child?" She was in disbelief of the very thought of such a thing.
Ms. Evans nodded. "She can multiply large sums of numbers in her head."
"So can a calculator."
"Well, you see, Headmistress, the thing is...I believe she'd be happier in an older and more advanced class, since her skills are - "
But before Ms. Evans could finish, Ms. Lestrange immediately interrupted. "Ahah! I knew it! You can't handle that little maggot, so you're trying to foist her off on one of the other teachers!"
"Oh, no, no, Ms. Lestrange, that's not - "
"Yes! Just typical, slothful, cowardice! Listen to me, Lily!" At that point, she picked up one of her heavy shot puts off her desk. "The distance the shot put goes depends upon the effort you put into it! Perspiration! If you can't handle the little brat, I'll just lock her in the Chokey!" With a mighty yell, Ms. Lestrange threw the shot put at the door of said room. It hit with a deafening BAM!
"Get it?"
Ms. Evans trembled, all courage drained from her body. "Yes, ma'am"
The Headmistress led her out of her office. "One day, Lily, you'll come to see that everything I do is for your own good. And the good of those putrescent little children!"
As soon as the door was closed, Ms. Lestrange grabbed her darts, and threw them all at her dartboard with the aggression of a bull.
A young man had been eavesdropping on both of them as he cleaned up the floors. He had messy black hair and hazel eyes behind round, black glasses. His name tag read, Mr. James Potter, Janitor.
Now, most people wouldn't want to eavesdrop on someone such as Ms. Lestrange, but Mr. Potter was the type of person to take risks. Especially when it came to Lily Evans, who Mr. Potter had taken a liking to ever since they met as children.
Damn that old hag Lestrange, Mr. Potter thought. He hated it when the headmistress was being unfair to Ms. Evans. Then again, she was unfair to pretty much anyone she saw fit. Ms. Evans seemed like the only good thing in Mr. Potter's life. Well, her, and his old school friends. But their lives were not really any better than his. They had Ms. Lestrange to "thank" for that. She had put them in an unfair debt that led to them having to work for her at Hogwarts Hall. Mr. Potter's two friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, worked as cooks in the school cafeteria. All three of them were forced to act grateful that Ms. Lestrange had even bothered to help them after they lost nearly everything because of her.
It was pretty hard to find hope in a life such as Mr. Potter's and his friends', but they still had good memories of the past to keep them going.
I just have to keep my chin up and remember the good times, he thought. Someday, somehow, we'll all be saved from this prison.
The first day of school was over. Harriet headed toward her house after the school bus dropped her off. The police cruiser parked across the street did not go unnoticed by her. As she opened the door, she could hear her mother in the living room talking with a friend on the phone.
"Mum, I'm home!", Harriet said as she closed the door.
"Oh, how was school?", Mrs. Dursley asked absentmindedly.
"It was really great! My teacher lets me do homework meant for Year Six students! Isn't that amazing? Look, I have algebra and geometry!"
However, Mrs. Dursley started to get peeved, not expecting Harriet to say so much after one school day. "Can't you see I'm on the phone?!", she grouched.
"Well, you just asked me how school was. I had a great day!", Harriet said, not letting her mother ruin her good mood. Mrs. Dursley ignored her and continued her phone chat.
"I think my teacher is wonderful', Harriet continued, 'but the headmistress seems quite insane. She threw a girl in my class over the fence by her hair!"
Mrs. Dursley covered her ear opposite the phone, so Harriet headed up to her room, still smiling. As she started up the stairs, she could hear her mother saying to whoever was on the other end, "Yes, sorry about that, Isabel, my youngest has been driving me mad! In my opinion, seven hours at school just isn't enough!"
Harriet skipped off to her room, grin still shining like a lucky gambler. "I'll say!"
