Rose:
I slept soundly that night. All the hype and excitement of our first day at Hogwarts made everyone exhausted. After eating a delicious feast, one that could top Grandma Weasley’s and then retreating into the dormitories, we all sat in the common room talking a mile a minute about everything. All except one person “ Scorpius.
He’d been so depressed since he was sorted into Gryffindor. I could sympathise with him “ if it was me, then I’d be freaking out too. I wondered if he was thinking of the ways to tell his parents that their only son was a traitor in their eyes, even though if it wasn’t his fault.
“Scorpius...” I asked him tentatively, while we were all resting comfortably in front of the fireplace, “Are you alright?”
“For Merlin’s sake, Rose, mind your own business!” he snapped.
“Fine, then,” I said angrily, before turning back to Albus, who was explaining Quidditch to Claudia. She was having difficulties. Claudia was the kind of person who always had a bubbly personality. I could see that Albus, Claudia, and I were going to become good friends. Perhaps Scorpius too, when he dropped the anti-Gryffindor attitude. Also sitting with the four of us was Adam Finnegan. He was okay, I guess, but not the sort of person I would hang around with by choice. He was constantly interrupting Albus and Claudia’s conversation with unhelpful comments of ‘epic Quaffle saves’ and ‘legendary flying expeditions’. As if.
“Bedtime,” called the Head Boy, Mason Wood. “Lights out in twenty minutes.” So Claudia and I said our goodbyes to Adam, Albus, and Scorpius and headed up to the girl’s dormitories.
When we entered our room, we found that all five of our roommates were already there. Jasmine Bell was sitting on the bed closest to the door. She was tiny with porcelain skin, and looked fragile. She greeted us shyly before resuming her unpacking. Next to her was Emma Wilson and Yasmine Depiesse, who both said quick hellos. Michelle Smith, a loud and quite ditzy girl, greeted us next. Her dirty blonde hair didn’t seem to match her large frame. I didn’t like her much. She was a little too rude and in-your-face. And then we met Nina.
Nina Jordan was very... beautiful, at the very least. Her tanned complexion and silky brown hair, teamed with mesmerising brown eyes, could make any girl within a ten mile radius jealous. She smiled when she saw us walk towards her, but the smile did not contain any degree of warmth to it. Nina greeted me first with her soft, silky voice.
“Hi, you must be Rose. My father talks a lot about your Uncle George. You’ve probably met him at their joke shop?” I didn’t like the way she said ‘their’. It was Uncle George’s joke shop. Almost instantly, I found that I didn’t like her at all. She continued, “I’m Nina Jordan. By the way, your red hair is the obvious trademark of a Weasley.” As if it was a bad thing. So what, not everyone could be natural beauties like Nina, or even Claudia standing next to me. Speaking of Claudia...
“I’m terribly sorry of my rudeness, but who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” she said, the words flowing out of her mouth with ease, with a tone that suggested she was not at all ‘terribly sorry’ of her rudeness.
“I’m Claudia Kelaney,” she replied, glaring slightly at Nina. Claudia had no doubt picked up the superiority in Nina’s voice.
“Oh, I’ve never heard of your family before. What do your parents do?”
“My mother’s a doctor, and my father died two years ago,” she said, still eyeing Nina with an irritated expression on her face.
“Excuse me, but what are doctors? I’ve never heard of them?” said Nina confusedly.
“They’re like Healers, Nina, but they’re not wizards or witches, and heal people without magic,” I interrupted before Claudia could respond.
“Oh... so you’re a Muggle then?”
“Is that a problem, Nina?” challenged Claudia, her eyes still focused upon her.
“No... not at all. Just curious.”
“Whatever, think what you like about me,” said Claudia, who rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The rest of us in the dormitory gazed at each other in shock, apart from Nina, who carried on arranging her beauty potions on her nightstand as if nothing had happened.
Merlin, I thought. For someone so tiny (Claudia lacked in the height department), she can be very feisty.
Scorpius:
I woke up the next morning, much too early for my liking. I pulled myself out of bed, only to notice my surroundings and groan inwardly as I saw the constant theme of the dormitory “ red and gold, the colours of Gryffindor. There was no escaping the fact that I was a part of this house now “ traitor to my family or not. I looked out the window “ the sky an ominous grey colour. It’d probably rain today. I sat there, thinking about nothing in particular, as I watched the sun rise above the dirty clouds.
“Hey Scorpius,” a voice said from behind me. I turned quickly, startled, only to find Albus standing there, dressed in pinstripe blue pyjamas. “How are you now?”
“I’m fine, I suppose,” I replied, not in an unfriendly way. It was nice of him to be concerned “ he definitely didn’t need to bother.
“Listen, I’m sorry about... everything. It must suck for you to be waiting for their reaction. Your parents, I mean.”
“Yeah... it does suck,” I sighed.
“Hey, now that we’re both in the same house,” said Albus, his voice choosing his words carefully, “then it’d be no problem if we were friends. It’d be hard if we were both in opposing houses, and I think you’re pretty cool...” His voice trailed off, embarrassed, as he realised what he was saying.
“Thanks, Albus. That would mean a lot.” He grinned as I said those words.
“Friends, then?” I said, smiling, as I lifted my hand in the air. Albus slapped me a high five.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Friends.”
Claudia:
Rose and I walked into the Great Hall together the next day for breakfast. We spotted Albus, Scorpius, and Adam sitting down the Gryffindor table towards the staff table, each devouring a large plate of bacon and eggs. They were chatting animatedly, and for once, Scorpius looked pretty happy. That was good “ he’d snapped out of his self-pitying state. As Rose and I walked down the Gryffindor table past students, we spotted Nina staring at me with a hostile expression in her eyes. Figures “ I’d just annoyed the new Queen Bee of the first years and I didn’t even know how.
“Morning, boys,” said Rose as we reached where the boys were sitting. I sat down next to Scorpius, across from Adam and Albus while Rose chose to sit next to her cousin. “Did you hear about the little disagreement Claudia may or may not have had with Nina Jordan?”
That was my cue to explain what had happened last night, and when I was finished, Scorpius grinned at me and gave me a high five.
“That girl annoys me too. I could see her staring at me when I was declared a Gryffindork,” teased Scorpius, smiling. While Rose pretended to hit him over the head, I glanced down the table only to find Nina staring at us again. I poked my tongue out at her (childish, I know) and she rolled her eyes, looked away and continued eating her bowl of oatmeal. While we ate our breakfast, chatting about Hogwarts and our first day of classes, Professor Morgan distributed the timetables. Dressed in blue robes, she looked a lot more fashion coordinated than the last time I saw her. Speaking of robes, it was the strangest feeling to wear them. They were so unlike anything I’d worn before. When Professor Morgan reached us she handed the five of us our timetables and she gave me a small smile before walking away to hand out more.
“Let’s see... we have Herbology with Neville first,” said Albus as he glanced down his timetable. “It’d be interesting to see how he is as a teacher.”
“Professor Longbottom is a family friend of ours. He and our parents went to school together, and he was a key part in the defeat of Lord Voldemort. We see him from time to time during the summers, when he’s home from Hogwarts.” As Rose said ‘Longbottom’, Adam snorted into his glass of milk. What a baby.
“Cool,” I said, feeling deflated, trying to not let them see how much this little piece of information annoyed me. I knew nothing about this world, and they were all in the middle of it. How much behind was I going to be from everyone else?
“Transfiguration with Macmillan before lunch,” sighed Adam.
“Then Charms with Professor Morgan,” commented Rose. “And then last is...”
“Potions “ with Zabini,” said a voice from behind Rose. It was her cousin, Fred. He was a second year, just like Albus’ brother James. “I don’t envy you. Professor Blaise Zabini is the most awful human being to ever walk this planet. He’s mean and vile and cruel and will try to scare the wits out of you guys in your first lesson, I bet you anything.”
“Sure... like he’d try and intimidate a bunch of first years,” scoffed Scorpius, rolling his eyes and turning back to his huge plate of food.
“You’d be surprised. I’m definitely not surprised that he does intimidate first years. He’s mean, but he sort of has a small right to be. Did I ever tell you about the potato joke? It all started back when Teddy Lupin was a first year himself, and Professor Zabini wasn’t having one of his best days...”
Adam:
The five of us finished our breakfast cheerily, and then as the bell rang, we got up and headed towards the greenhouses. It was a clear, brisk day with the grass still clinging on to last night’s rain. Carrying our new bags, filled with new schoolbooks and our most prized possessions - our wands, we walked together, chatting about classes and stuff. Combined with the fact that we looked much too small to fit into our new robes, we stood out clearly as first years.
We entered Greenhouse 1, as instructed on our timetables. The five of us gathered around the long bench. We were some of the first students to arrive. Ella was already there, and she greeted me with a smile, which I returned a little sadly, wishing she was in Gryffindor. We’d be sharing the class with Ravenclaw then.
Slowly, the greenhouse began to fill up as more kids began to arrive. Some looked excited, others bored, the majority nervous to some degree. The sound of a door opening, coming from a different direction, made everyone pay attention - Professor Longbottom had arrived.
“Good morning, everyone,” he greeted cheerfully to the twenty-eight kids gathered around the workbench. “I’m Professor Longbottom (seriously - what a stupid name) and I’m going to be your Herbology teacher for the next seven years.” He went on to explain the various plants that they’d be working with, but I let my mind wander, as per usual whenever an adult started a marathon speech. After about ten minutes, we were instructed to get into groups of five. That was no problem for us. We put on our safety gear as Longbottom handed out each group a basket full of items, and a pot with a tiny stem and a brown blot in it “ it was a disappointment. I’d hoped for Devil’s Snare, like Rose told me her mum saved her dad and uncle in first year from.
“The plant that I’ve put in front of each group is a very basic, non-dangerous example of a garden flower. Can anyone tell me what they are?
Rose put up her hand. “They’re Miamians, sir,” she answered. “Miamians are a magical sunflower, designed to be grown in garden beds and pots.”
“Correct ten points to Gryffindor. Now, can anyone tell me what makes them magical?” Nobody put their hands up besides Rose. “I’ll just show you, how about?”
“Okay, I’ll need a volunteer. He pointed to a boy near the front, whom I recognised as Joshua Stone, a boy in our dormitory. “Touch the middle of the sunflower for me.”
Joshua did, and as he pulled his finger back, the sunflower began to unravel its petals, the stem began shooting up and everything became more colourful, until there was a large yellow sunflower sitting in its pot. And then, suddenly, two eyes and a mouth popped out of nowhere on the sunflower’s centre.
“Miamians “ they are flowers with human personalities. These are one of the most basic plants to care for. Sometimes,” he said, “they will even talk to you. They gain their nutrients through water...”
Albus:
After Transfiguration, which would have to be the most boring subject taught by the most boring, pompous person, we headed off to lunch. Obviously, copying a million words into our books from the board and then spending the last ten minutes staring at a match, willing it to turn into a needle, made people hungry, as Scorpius, Adam, and I dug into the food almost immediately, while Rose and Claudia watched us in disgust.
“Do you boys ever stop eating?” said Rose in a disapproving tone, and she and Claudia began eating their lunch (with considerably less food on their plates) in a dignified manner.
We spent the break trying to work out our way around the school, trying to work out where the Charms classroom was and wondering if we could get back to Gryffindor tower without getting lost. It was easier going from the tower to the Great Hall. You just had to follow other students at mealtimes. All too quickly, the bell rang and it was time for Charms.
Charms wasn’t that bad. Professor Morgan was really nice, and patient. She explained that the first month or so would be learning how to use our wands properly, and the basics of spell casting. Swish and flick. Swish and flick.
Our last lesson for the day, Potions, was held in the dungeons. It took us ten minutes to get there from the second floor. It was really hard finding the classroom too. Eventually, we found it. We were five minutes late.
Professor Zabini looked sideways at the door when the door opened. He was obviously in the middle of a lecture and he was not pleased to be interrupted.
“It’s so very nice of you five to join us. Finally,” he sneered at us, his lip curling. “Five points from Gryffindor, for every minute of my time you’ve wasted. Consider this as a warning. Next time, you won’t be let off so lightly. Sit down.”
The five of us sat down at the table at the front, the only one occupied. Glancing around, I realised we’d be having Potions with the Slytherins. How perfect.
“As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted,” said Professor Zabini, emphasizing those last two words, “is that this course is very difficult and I will not tolerate any misbehaving or rudeness. Everyone is to work to the best of their ability. ” He glared at us as if to say, Or else.
Twenty-eight faces, some of them looking scared of out their skins (including Claudia next to me), blinked up at Zabini. We’d all heard the stories regarding this particularly evil Professor, but was he going to live up to his reputation? Suddenly he turned on me.
“Mr. Malfoy,” he said suddenly, acknowledging Scorpius’ presence for the first time. “I have to say, I was incredibly surprised to see you become a Gryffindor. I would have thought you would wish to become a Slytherin.”
“The hat knows best, Professor,” said Scorpius sweetly, sarcasm creeping in his voice at every possible angle.
“Indeed,” he sniffed, obviously not wishing to offend his close friend’s son.
He turned to face the class in one swift, sudden motion, his black robes fluttering at his feet. “Where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?” he fired off at the class. Unsurprisingly, Rose’s hand was the first and last to shoot up in the air.
“Miss Weasley,” he regarded Rose with an air of annoying superiority. “Another know-it-all, just like your Muggle-born mother, I suppose. You didn’t even have to give me your name. That flaming red hair is a dead giveaway. Just like your father’s. I didn’t have much patience for him “ he was a swot, a pest. Just like the rest of your blood traitor family.”
I felt my body tense up as I heard Zabini criticising our family. How dare he? His family was probably just the same... anti-Muggle, no doubt.
“Mr. Potter,” he said with an ominous smile, shifting over so he was facing me. “It’s such a... pleasure... to teach you this year, and the next few after this. I remember your father. He was in my year, did he tell you that?”
“No.” I replied, keeping my voice steady.
“No, sir,” he sneered, glaring down at me.
Suddenly, I don’t know what came over me, but I felt a weird sense of empowerment. I would not let this man torment me or my family and friends. I was a Gryffindor, for Merlin’s sake, I should be able to stand up to him. I came up with a deadly thought.
“There’s no need for you to call me sir, Professor,” I smiled innocently, just as sweetly as Scorpius. I heard everyone in the room gasp, and Claudia made a weird choking noise.
“How dare you, Potter,” he spat quite venomously at me; his eyes, the size of hubcaps, narrowed down at me as his face twisted up in rage.
“FORTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR, AND A WEEK’S WORTH OF DETENTIONS!” he roared at me, his face turning pink like Uncle Ron’s did when he was mad. This was beyond mad; this was immediate hatred and anger. “AND CONSIDER THIS A WARNING. NEXT TIME YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF IN DETENTION FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR!” He turned and faced the class again. “AS FOR THE REST OF YOU,” he suddenly calmed down till his voice was barely over a whisper, but just as dangerous, “I hope you’ve learnt a lesson today. This sort of behaviour IS and WILL NOT BE TOLERATED,” he screamed again, apoplectic with rage, and then hissed, “Or else.” A silence descended upon the dungeon.
I didn’t know about the rest of my classmates, but I had pretty much wet myself by now. Claudia was now shaking, Scorpius’ face was set into stone, Rose was making weird squeaking noises and Adam “ well, his jaw had been dropped for the last thirty seconds, and it had no intention of lifting in the near future. The rest of the class didn’t look much better, almost every face in the room petrified. Only a handful of Slytherins were relaxed and composed.
“I think,” spat Zabini in a menacing voice, “that we should continue with our lesson. Shall we?”
The few that could nod did so, and he began reading from the textbook, the rest of us barely following in stunned silence.
Rose:
Holy mother of Helga, I thought to myself, whimpering as Professor Zabini unleashed his terror at our class of first years, whom hadn’t even been within the castle’s walls for twenty-four hours. What in Merlin’s pants had Albus been thinking? James obviously hadn’t prepped Albus for Zabini’s evilness to this extent. That was... epic. I was almost certain that the rest of the school would be talking about Harry Potter’s son and his outburst at Hogwarts most feared and hated teacher - on his first day, no less. Albus would be regarded as a hero “ a stupid one, but a hero nonetheless.
After the bell finally rang (it seemed like an eternity), Albus was called back to receive the details of his detentions. The three of us (Adam had opted to head off to the Great Hall with Josh Stone, who were in a heavy conversation about what had happened). When he came out, Albus looked angry about something, and wouldn’t tell us till we rejoined Adam in the Great Hall for dinner.
“What happened in there?” asked Claudia inquiringly, who had seemed to recover a bit from Potions, but still tense nonetheless.
“He... apologised,” growled Albus, shovelling shepherd’s pie into his mouth, staring at his plate. He obviously seemed disgusted by Zabini’s actions.
“Isn’t that a good thing? I don’t get it,” I said, confused. This was definitely the wrong thing to say, and Albus glared up at me.
“Of all people, I thought you would be the one to get it. He was insulting your family “ our family. And you don’t seem to care less,” he spat at me. I gave him one of my famous Weasley glares, similar to my mother and grandmother’s.
“How on earth could you say that? Of course I care about my family! I know you’re upset about Zabini, but don’t take it out on me!”
“Whatever, Rose,” he sighed. “I know not to argue with you better than anyone else.” I had to give a small smile at this. He went on to explain what Zabini had said to him after class.
“And then,” he said, a few minutes later after explaining, “he let me off detention. Thank Godric - I’ll have enough on my plate with all these new classes this week. And the homework he gave us,” he groaned.
“I’ll second that,” said Adam in agreement, before helping himself to seconds of the curry.
The next morning, at breakfast, we noticed the staff table behaving in a peculiar fashion. Many were reading the Daily Prophet, and those who were reading it wore similar expressions “ fear. I glanced over at Yasmine Depiesse’s newspaper. The picture was of Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, speaking to several reporters and magical recording devices at one. Behind him was a familiar marble foyer, partially destroyed. The headline bore the chilling words,
“ILLUMINATI STRIKES AGAIN AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC”
The Gryffindor Gang by U-No-Poo
Chapter Notes: Well, Chapter One has been ready to be posted for about a month now, and I've had to wait until Chapter One was validated, which took about a month! But anyway, now I can finally post this one up.
Thanks to Katie for beta'ing this chapter on her little lonesome!
In this chapter we meet Nina Jordan (mentioned in the Sorting), the Potions professor (a scary, indimidating canon character) and end with a cliffie (that most people won't understand until the next chapter). Plus, the five have their first lot of classes - see how they react!
Again, J.K Rowling is creative enough to invent the Potterverse, so all credit goes to her. Schmerg_The_Impaler owns the potato joke, which will heavily feature in a later chapter! Thanks Schmergo for letting me use it! Oh yeah, and the chapter title is a parody from the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, who's a million times the writer I'll ever imagine becoming.
Voila! Here's Chapter Two!
Chapter Endnotes: Ooohh, gotta love cliffies! As you can tell, something bad has happened in the wizarding community. How does it affect the kiddies at Hogwarts though?
You must be wondering what the Illuminati are by now. Well, I'm not going to tell you! You'll find out soon enough. And there'll be a familiar face amongst them!
Nina Jordan. Anyone saw that one coming? She's a tiny bit racist (magicist?) She'll play a big part of this installment of The Gryffindor Gang, and possibly the other two. But one third at a time! Again, please leave your review after the beep... [insert beep.]