Against Gryffindor
Lilian and Hermione, who seemed to be getting along well, had offered Elinor help with the Ancient Runes-exams, and after some deliberating, Elinor had accepted. Both girls were very clever and knowledgeable, and they seemed to like helping others – well, Hermione often complained that Harry and Ron expected her to do their homework instead of helping them.
Elinor was rather surprised that Hermione didn't seem interested in Quidditch at all – sure, she wanted her team to win, but she wasn't crazy about the upcoming match like some other students were.
“The only thing I ever flew on was a Hippogriff”, she told the others. “And I didn't particularly like it.”
“Why n-not?”, Elinor asked.
“I just don't like flying. No matter on what. Well, planes are okay, but anything you have to sit on while flying is no good. Ah – do you know what planes are?”
Both Ravenclaws nodded. Elinor's parents had taught her about the Muggle world, as well as the many achievements the Muggles had, to underline they were by no means stupid or anything. Elinor actually admired them for managing life without magic as well as they did.
“Good. Most not-Muggle-borns usually look confused whenever I say something like that...”
“My parents taught me a lot about Muggles, since our family often interacts with them”, Lily replied. “I know more than enough to do some small talk, and I think that at least every witch or wizard should be able to do that. I mean, I don't expect them to be able to explain how a plane works, but they ought to know what that is.”
“It's not that I know how a plane works, either”, Hermione replied. “Most Muggles don't know exactly how a machine works, but they understand the general principle. I know that a plane works with fuel, just like a car. It's burned and that causes some kind of reaction that enables it to fly. But I don't understand the specifics.”
“Well, I suppose some would think it as beneath them to try and understand Muggles”, Lilian mused.
“D-does M-Malfoy a-always call you n-names?”, Elinor asked Hermione.
“Yes, he does. It started to get real bad in our second year. I don't think it's just because I'm Muggle-born, but also because I'm much better at school than he is. According to his philosophy, I'm some kind of inferior being who shouldn't be able to do anything right. And the fact that this isn't true must be frustrating for him.”
Elinor tilted her head to one side.
“P-possible. But i-it's not like you ch-chose to be Muggle-born. A-and he a-acts as i-if it was a-all due to his o-own e-efforts that h-his p-parents a-are b-both magical.”
“Yes, that's typical pure-blood attitude for you”, Lily sighed. “Unfortunately, those of us who have realised that blood or the circumstances of one's birth don't matter are still few. Most still think themselves better than others – even if not all of them are as extreme as the Death Eaters.”
“Do you think this is ever going to change?”, Hermione asked.
“Who knows... Things changed for the better during the last fourteen years.”
“And if we're unlucky, they'll change for worse now.”
“Yeah. Curses.”
“By the way, how did you find Defence so far?”
“Boring.”
Hermione laughed. “Yes, that's the word. Even Quirrel was a better teacher...”
“Lockhart was worse than her, though. Lupin was the best.”
“I agree. Why did Snape have to tell the whole school he was a werewolf...”
Elinor looked at them both, shocked. A werewolf as a teacher...
Am I glad I wasn't here back then...
Hermione had noticed the look on her face and narrowed her eyes.
“You're not prejudiced against werewolves, are you? Besides, Lupin was a very nice and understanding teacher. I'm sure you would have liked him.”
Elinor shook her head violently, appalled that Hermione had got her meaning wrong.
“N-no, i-it's not th-that. But w-werwolves – they a-are scary.”
Hermione frowned.
“I-I don't like m-magical c-creatures.”
“Werewolves are humans who have something like an illness”, Hermione said. “They're not 'Magical Creatures', not matter what the Ministry may say about that. And they are only dangerous at full moon. If they don't drink their potion.”
Apparently unhappy about the course their conversation had taken, Lily tried to change the subject.
“Hermione, I heard that Harry already managed to get on Umbridge's bad side.”
The Gryffindor sighed. “That's right. I told him to be careful, not to let her provoke him, but... it didn't work. Almost the whole school is against him – again – and if he gets into fights with her during every lesson, this won't help.”
“We have to do something”, Lilian said, frustrated. “Any smart ideas?”
Hermione shook her head.
“I-if we a-are caught - “
“We'd be in trouble, no doubt”, Hermione agreed with Elinor. “We'd better wait and see, maybe we'll find a way to do something without her noticing. It would be for nothing if we did anything rash.”
“Then I suggest we use the time to do some studying until anyone comes up with a brilliant pan”, Lily replied.
Elinor had decided to follow Lily's advise and spend as much time as possible outside, on her broom. She had copied down the times the other teams used the Quidditch pitch for practise and avoided them. Apart from not wanting to be thought a spy she also didn't want them to find out how well (or not well) she could fly.
Flying helped her greatly to get rid of all the stress and nervousness usually dominating her life. The big drawback was that as soon as she entered the castle, it all came back like tidal wave, drowning her.
Still, a little relaxation was better than none, and so she went to take a flight whenever she could. She knew that once Winter was here, it would be harder to go out anyway.
After spending most of the evening exploring the castle grounds on her broom, she made her way back to the shack where the brooms were kept. After putting it away and placing the usual enchantments upon it, she went outside and sat down on a small rock, not wanting to go back yet. Gloomily, she stared at the grass in front of her boots.
“Hello there.”
Elinor froze. She knew what this meant. A voice sounding like that could only belong to one creature. She looked around and had soon spotted the speaker. A ring snake.
“I'm not supposed to talk to you”, she told the snake.
“Why not?”
“My parents wouldn't want me to.”
“There's no-one else here, it's just you and me. What are you afraid of?”
“Everything.”
“Now why would an animal as big as you be afraid of anything? What could possibly harm you?”
“Others of my kind, silly.”
“Oh. You got me there.”
Elinor nodded, not happy about the fact she was right.
She had found out years ago she could talk to snakes. And if her parents ever found out, she would be so dead. Only willingly learning Black Magic or joining the Death Eaters could be worse.
Then again, she enjoyed talking to snakes. She wasn't scared of them, and felt they understood her. And she had never comprehended why snakes were generally considered evil. It wasn't their fault that Slytherin had chosen them to be on his crest. Had he been able to talk to fish, he probably would have chosen one of them. And then everyone would think fish to be evil creatures. Life really was strange sometime.
The snake moved closer and her tongue (it was a female one) darted out to taste the air around Elinor's fingers.
“Hm. You smell nice. And I don't mean just the food you've been eating. I like you.”
“Do you have a name?”
“No. Why would I need one?”
“Good point. We humans need names to interact with others. Otherwise, we'd be in some trouble...”
“We snakes usually don't interact.”
“I figured as much.”
“We do interact with any of your kind who understands us – or try, at the least. The other one is even less talkative than you are.”
“There is another Parselmouth here? Who?”
“A young man. Don't know his name, though. Like I said, he doesn't really want to talk to us.”
“Well... I wouldn't mind talking to you again, if there wasn't anyone nearby to hear it. It's nice not stuttering all the time because of nervousness...”
“You're always so tongue-tied around your own kind, hm?”
“Yes. Always afraid to say something wrong, and the consequences...”
“Well, you won't get that from me. I suppose I could try to bite you, if I wanted to, but I would probably end up tearing all my teeth out. And that would be bad.”
“Figures”, Elinor replied, laughing.
“I'll be on my way, then. All those nice smells around you made me pretty hungry... Come out here again, all right? Good hunt to you.”
“Good hunt to you”, Elinor said, wondering if that was a standard greeting among reptiles.
After sitting there for a while, she got up and made her way back to the castle.
The first match of this year's season would be Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. The reason for that was that Hufflepuff had troubles finding a new Seeker, and the Slytherins had come up with a reason why they couldn't play as well.
Since Lilian had known in time, she could work out her strategy accordingly. The new team-members fit in well and Elinor especially turned out to be very promising. Lily found out that not only her eyes, but her ears as well were very sharp, she could often hear a Bludger or another player approach. She was fast, agile and not scared of anything once in the air – something Lily found strangely fascinating.
I need to find out why she's so different while she's flying. Maybe that'll help me understand how she thinks.
Beating Gryffindor wouldn't be easy, and everyone knew the best thing to happen was losing not too high. Therefore, Lilian instructed the Beaters to focus on the enemy Chasers to stop their advance so their own could take the Quaffle and start an attack run. Their keeper luckily was good at what he was doing, and Elinor was supposed to keep Harry busy and shadow him. Something she was good at.
Lily had also written a letter to her mother, telling her about her new classmate, and asking if she knew anything about her. Unfortunately, Alice and Roland had only seen the girl on very few occasions, and they had never spoken to her, either. Alice displayed some curiosity in that matter and asked Lily to keep her informed on anything that happened.
Only one week until their first game left. Slowly but surely, Elinor felt the tension and excitement get hold of her.
As she was walking down a corridor in the dungeons she hadn't yet explored, she suddenly noticed two Gryffindors with red hair. Since they seemed to be the same age, she guessed they had to be the Weasley-twins.
She tried to follow them as quietly as possible, but abruptly, one of the turned around, pulling the other one with him.
“Well well, what do we have here? If it isn't the new Ravenclaw Seeker”, he said. Elinor had no idea whether he was Fred or George.
“Look how tiny she is”, the other replied. “We'd better make sure not to beat her up too badly.”
Elinor stared at him, her face slowly turning white.
“George, that wasn't a particularly clever thing to say. Hermione said she was easily frightened, remember?”
“I kinda forgot that.”
“Look, don't take us too serious. We love joking around and playing tricks on others, but we'd never wilfully hurt someone – especially not during Quidditch. You should beware of the Slytherins, though. They like playing dirty.”
“It's all they can do, incompetent as they are.”
Elinor smiled faintly.
“Say, would you like to come along? We were just headed for the kitchen.”
“The k-kitchen?”
“Where they prepare the food.”
Elinor resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course she knew what a kitchen was, but until now she had never given it a thought as to where the food was prepared. This kitchen had to be huge.
“I-I wouldn't m-mind.”
“Excellent! We'd take Hermione along, but she'd just try to liberate the house elves and they don't particularly like that...”
“Why i-is sh-she trying t-to do th-that?”
“Beats me. She thinks they should have a better life or something. I admit some wizarding families are quite cruel to them, but not here. She's making a big deal out of nothing.”
The twins led the way and stopped in front of a painting of a fruit bowl. They showed her how to open it and they stepped through the hole behind it.
The kitchen indeed was large, as big as the Great Hall, given the fact that there was an equal amount of tables here, the same size as upstairs. And everywhere house elves were bustling around.
Some of them soon notice them and came over to greet them with low bows and asked whether they would like some food. As a matter of fact, they forced the food on them. Elinor was amazed by their behaviour. And she didn't find them scary, either. Probably because they were small, and she could talk to them in a reasonable manner. Her stuttering had almost vanished entirely.
The twins were busy collecting food they apparently wanted to take back to the Gryffindor common room, but Elinor wasn't hungry right now.
But then she had an idea. Since it was always rather loud in the Great Hall, she had developed a habit of rising earlier than usual so that most people were still asleep. However, this only worked for breakfast. During dinner and lunch, it was always very loud. But now she had a plan that might just work.
She left along with the twins and listened to them joking and fooling around, not really understanding why they did that. Apparently, they liked it if people laughed at what they did.
Shortly before Dinner, Elinor left the library, where she had spent the rest of the afternoon, and made her way down to the kitchen. Some of the house elves recognised her.
“Ah, Miss, dinner will be ready in just a minute!”, one of them piped.
“Y-yes, that's why I'm here. I-I wanted to ask if – if i-it would be okay if I ate here instead of upstairs?”
She gave the house elf a questioning look.
“Here? In the kitchen? Why would Missy want to do that?”
“It's too loud up there... the other students – and I won't b-be a bother, I-I promise!”
The last bit seemed to surprise the elves, they apparently weren't used to people trying not to bother them.
“No, that wouldn't be a problem. To us, it doesn't matter if you eat here or upstairs – it's just that no student ever wanted to do that before, as far as we know.”
“So – I can eat here?”
“Of course, Miss! We're supposed to look after the students, and if you prefer eating here, that's fine with us. Wait just a minute, we'll prepare everything for you.”
After two days, Lilian had noted that Elinor was apparently skipping dinner and lunch, and asked her about it. So Elinor told her she had been eating in the kitchen, and that she hadn't known there were any rules against it. Lily had agreed that there weren't.
“However, you'd better not run around and tell everyone about it”, she advised. “The house elves might be able to handle one person eating down there, but if too many thought that would be a good idea – we'd no longer have a use for the Great Hall.”
“And th-that would b-be a shame”, Elinor added.
She liked the Great Hall, and the ceiling especially, but only as long as it was quiet.
That evening, she had stayed in the kitchen longer than usual, and on her way back, she sat down on a window sill, looking out at the starry sky, lost in her thoughts.
She had no idea how long she had been sitting there, when a voice made her jump.
“Enjoying the view, Miss Shiras?”
Elinor froze. She recognised that voice instantly. Slowly, she turned to find Snape stare down at her the length of his crooked nose.
“What are you doing here?”
“N-nothing. Th-thinking.”
“Did you know that thinking outside your common room at this time of the day is against the rules, Miss Shiras?”
“N-no.”
That was nothing but the truth. She had usually followed the other students around and mimicked their behaviour, but no-one had told her that she had to be back in the common room at a specific time.
“You didn't know that? And you expect me to believe that?”
He was staring right into her eyes now. Sensing a sudden feeling of danger, she quickly turned her head away. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see he was frowning.
“Did you know I am a Legilimens, Miss Shiras?”
“N-no.”
She felt panic rising inside.
Legilimens. People who can “read” minds. He is even more dangerous that I thought.
Snape's frown deepened.
“You didn't know that, yet you avoided my eyes the moment I was about to enter your mind? I don't believe in coincidence, Miss Shiras.”
“I-I c-can't e-explain i-it. I-I really d-didn't know, I-I swear, but I-I just g-got this f-feeling...”
“Hm. I guess you're probably too scared of me to lie me in the face”, Snape mused.
Yes, you got that right.
“You know, you really are a strange person. I've talked to several teachers, and all agree that you are talented and hard-working. However... I'm used to students being scared of me, especially the younger ones. I could say it's part of my job. My colleague Minerva also can be quite intimidating and even scary when she puts her mind to it. But ever since I entered this castle for the first time, I have never seen a student who was scared of Flitwick. Or Sprout. But you are.”
Elinor didn't feel she had to comment that, since it was apparently obvious to anyone.
“Come. I'll take you back to Ravenclaw tower. You can spend as much time as you want thinking in there. Also you should find yourself someone who teaches you the rules. And of course you will receive punishment for violating them.”
Feeling her stomach spasm, Elinor got up. This was the very thing she had wanted to avoid...
“You will sort through all the herbs in my office to see if there are any spoiled ones among them. Starting tomorrow at 5 pm.”
Amazed, Elinor tried her best to hide her relief. She had expected something far worse than that. But this – sounded easy. And – as long as there was no hidden meaning behind his words, not too unpleasant.
It was almost time for Quidditch practise, so Lily made her way down the Marble Staircase to the Entrance Hall. She was already wearing her Quidditch-uniform, so she was rather surprised when she saw Elinor, who was still wearing her school uniform and currently heading for the dungeons.
“Elinor? Where are you going? Hurry up and get changed!”
“I-I can't. S-sorry.”
“What do you mean, you can't? What's wrong?”
“G-got detention.”
“Detention? Now?! You've got to be kidding me! By whom?”
“S-snape.”
“Oh. Great. Well then, I'll just have to spring you. Come on!”
She turned and headed for the stairs leading down to the dungeons.
“Wh-what? A-are you c-crazy? Y-you c-can't - “
“Be quiet and hurry, we're late already! What did you do to earn yourself detention, anyway?”
“I-I didn't know students had to be i-in their h-houses during the n-night.”
“Oh. I suppose the one who should have told you that would be me, right? Well, can't be helped now. I'll just fix this mess.”
She could hear Elinor tag along behind her. To most students, this might be a surprise, but Lilian was on rather good terms with the potions master. She was one of the best students he ever had, interested in his subject, and he knew her parents. Though he was still far from being friendly, he still accepted her and acknowledged her skill. And Lily was pretty certain she would find a way to make him yield.
Lilian knocked at the door leading to Snape's office and entered.
“You are late, Miss Shiras!”, he growled at Lily, then stilled as he noticed his mistake.
“That would be my fault for keeping her”, Lilian replied smoothly.
“Miss Achura! What are you doing here?”
He eyed her Quidditch-uniform. Elinor, in the meantime, had sidled into the room.
“I'm here to bail my Seeker out of detention, Professor”, she replied. “Even though she is very talented, she still needs practise, so I'd like to take her with me.”
“You have practise now?”
“Yes, that is why I am wearing my Quidditch-uniform in the first place. I don't expect you not to punish her, I know you too well for that, but I would ask that you defer her punishment to a later time. As you know, we'll play against Gryffindor this weekend – we need to be in top shape for that.”
That had the intended effect. Lily knew that Snape would just love to see the Gryffindors lose – no matter against whom, just so he could spite the Weasleys and Harry.
“I see. In that case, I'll defer the punishment until after the match. It doesn't really matter when she does it. You may go.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Elinor was staring at them both, apparently not believing her ears.
“Come on”, Lily muttered. “Before he changes his mind.”
Once outside, she told Elinor to get her stuff. The girl was about to run off and Lilian just managed to grab her sleeve.
“Hey, where do you think you're going?”
“G-get m-my stuff.”
“I told you we were late. There is a faster way than that.”
Lily pulled Elinor out through the front gates.
“H-how?”
“Well... what do you think you have a wand for?”
“B-but! That's against th-the rules!”
Lily sighed.
“Looks like I have to teach you when it's okay to bend the rules...”
Elinor turned her broom around and surveyed the pitch beneath herself. Ravenclaw was currently in possession of the Quaffle, and Beaters and Chasers did their best to make sure Ravenclaw could score. Fortunately for them, Ronald Weasley, the new Gryffindor Keeper, was not very good at what he was supposed to do and Elinor had already wondered why he had been made Keeper in the first place.
But just as Lilly had said, the Gryffindor Chasers and Beaters were superb, and their own Keeper was busy defending the goalposts. Right now, Gryffindor was leading by twenty points.
Luckily, the weather was nice for Autumn – even though it was very windy, it wasn't raining, and the sight was quite well. Elinor turned again and fixed her attention on Harry. The Snitch hadn't been in the game so far, so she had nothing to do but watch the other players and dodge the occasional Bludger. But neither the Weasley-twins nor the Ravenclaw-Beaters saw any need to bother her or Harry, as long as they weren't chasing after the Snitch.
Elinor dived a couple of meters to get a better look at what was happening down below while scanning her surroundings for any sign of the Snitch. Gryffindor was in possession of the Quaffle right now, but Johnson's attempt to score was prevented by their Keeper.
It happened all out of a sudden. Elinor couldn't tell why, but everything had changed.
What – what is going on?! What happened? This isn't normal. But the others – they don't seem to notice anything...
Just as sudden as it had started, it passed, leaving Elinor confused and disorientated. Slowly, her mind started working again and put the pieces together. No-one was reacting to what had just happened, so the only conclusion she could draw was – that it hadn't happened yet. One look in Harry's direction told her that was right.
But I have no time to worry about whether it will happen or not. It's too risky. What I have seen – I can't let it happen. I can't.
Whirling around in mid-air, she changed her course and headed right for where Harry was, circling high over the pitch. Leaning forward so she was almost lying on her broom, she urged the Firebolt to accelerate as fast as possible. Luckily, none of the other players had noticed what she was up to – or she would have to run from Bludgers.
As she drew near, she adjusted her angle slightly and sped up even more. And by now, Harry had noticed that she was aiming at him.
“Hey, what are you - “, he began, but got no chance to finish his sentence, for Elinor smashed into him with full speed, knocking him off his flightpath.
She could hear him gasp for breath, and the next moment, something slammed into her back. She could hear someone scream, and her mind registered that it had been her own voice.
She felt her grip on the broom loosen as her brain desperately tried to keep things together. But to no avail... as darkness swallowed her, the last thing she knew was that she was falling.
