LITTLE MISS MUDBLOOD – ACT 1 : SCENE 1 : CHAPTER 10
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Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow, and when Y/N had entered the common rooms, a chilly frost had covered the stone walls and snow was in the air. Through the window, the lake was seen to be frozen and very little light streamed through the windows. Her breath billowed out in front of her in large clouds as she rubbed her layered arms, quickly making her way out of the common rooms with Theodore and Blaise and heading for Professor McGonagall's office, where she was to serve detention for bulldozing into the teacher's box during her recent Quidditch match.
"Hey, boys," Y/N said to the Weasley Twins, who were sitting in the two red armchairs. She sat across Fred's lap, legs hanging over the chair's arm, and played with his hair, saying, "What'd you two do this time?"
"I'm hurt – always with the assumptions that we did something bad," said George, placing a hand over his heart. Y/N stared at him for a moment and he caved in. "Okay, fine. We bewitched several snowballs to follow Quirrell around and bounce off the back of his turban. Poor bloke was terrified. Reckon he's even more scared of the world, but I got a laugh out of Johnson so that's a win for me."
Y/N rolled her eyes. George was rather obsessed with Angelina Johnson, pursuing after her and flirting with her like there was no tomorrow.
Professor McGonagall entered the office, interrupting their conversation. She glared at the three of them and said, "I take it the three of you know why you are here today?"
Fred, George, and Y/N nodded.
"Good. I want the Transfiguration Department sparkling clean by lunch. You have the whole day. Magic may be used, but if the department is not up to my standards, I must issue you another detention and write to your parents – and do spit out that gum, Miss Granger."
She left and the three looked to one another. So this was how their Saturday would be spent? Mind as well make it fun, right?
With Y/N's shoes transfigured into a record and a record player, the Weasley Twins took turns spinning her around the Transfiguration Department as they shot the Scouring Spell in different parts of the wing and charmed mops and broomsticks to clean for them.
By the time Professor McGonagall came back, the three troublemakers were playing hide-and-seek, Y/N hiding from the twins as they looked everywhere for her.
"What are you doing?" she yelled at them, and Y/N snorted in laughter.
"Aha!" the boys sang and jumped out in front of her. "Thought you could hide from us?"
Y/N squeaked and escaped, running past Professor McGonagall as the Weasley Twins sprinted after her. The woman let out an exasperated sigh and tried to suppress a smile, but ultimately failed as she watched the three race down the corridor.
Pulling out her wand, Y/N sent the Stickfast Hex to the boys to give her some leverage. She escaped to the library and accidentally shoved Malfoy out of the way as she quietly made her way out of Madam Pince's sight before climbing the massive shelves.
"What in bloody Merlin?" he spat at her quietly. "Why are you up there?"
Y/N's heart pounded as she urged Malfoy to follow her up to the dusty and dirty bookshelf top. With a great sigh, he obliged and crouched next to Y/N, glaring at her.
"And why exactly are we up here?" he said, but was cut off by her hand slapping over his mouth, the other pointing at the library entrance.
Fred and George entered the room with scarily mischievous glints in their eyes and Lee Jordan by their side. Madam Pince glared at the boys, wary about their intentions as they cheekily smiled at her and strutted to the back of the library, huddling together. The three boys muttered suspiciously and peeked around in conversation, making sure nobody heard them.
"Stay quiet," Y/N whispered and took her hand off of Malfoy's mouth, cringing as the bookshelf creaked when she adjusted her position. The Gryffindors' heads snapped to their direction.
"'Stay quiet,'" Malfoy mocked, peering over Y/N's shoulder as she pulled a book from the shelf underneath her. It was a book on invisibility, and Y/N opened it to a random page, titled The Disillusionment Charm.
"Look here, Malfoy," she said, pointing excitedly. "'The Disillusionment Charm is a charm that disguises the target as its surroundings, not by rendering it invisible, but by making it take on the exact same color and texture of its environment, effectively turning it into a human chameleon!' We could use this to escape!"
"You can," he said roughly, crossing his arms. "I have no intentions of leaving."
Y/N's eyes widened considerably and she pointed at Fred, George, and Lee standing on levitating books with predatory grins on their faces. Malfoy, who started to panic, snatched the book out of Y/N's hands, looked over the incantation, and casted it on both of them.
But it was too late – the three boys had already seen them. Fred pulled a pouch out of his pocket and opened it, throwing the contents at them; green powder coated them, leaving the Disillusionment Charm useless. Y/N grabbed Malfoy's hand and descended the bookshelf, but before they could hit the ground, George and Lee were pointing their wands at them, levitating them in the air and guiding them in their direction.
Madam Pince's annoyingly clicky heels froze the floating students. They looked down to find the incredibly short-tempered woman marching around below them, a stern look on her face as she searched around, with one of Y/N's Hufflepuff classmates trailing after her.
The five students thought they were in the clear and were relieved when Madam Pince moved on, but within a second of her retreat, Lee Jordan sneezed and with the sudden sound they all went tumbling out of the air, Y/N and Malfoy's Disillusionment Charm fading. Madam Pince's head snapped to their groaning figures and a hard glare was fixed on them. She approached them. There was dead silence until –
"HOW DARE YOU!" she shouted, which was very unlike Madam Pince (especially in her library). They flinched. "YOU COME INTO MY LIBRARY AND NOT EVEN FIVE MINUTES IN YOU FIVE ARE MAKING ALL THIS RUCKUS! THESE STUDENTS ARE TRYING TO STUDY AND DO THEIR HOMEWORK FOR ONCE AND YOU – YOU BRING ALL YOUR RICKEY-RACKY SMICKEY-SMACKY RUBBISH-BUBBISH TUBBISH-SUBBISH IN WITH NO SYMPATHY! TEN POINTS FROM EACH OF YOU! OUT! OUT!"
Fred, George, Lee, Y/N, and Malfoy all begrudgingly stood, rubbing where it hurt as they limped out of the library, escorted by Madam Pince. The Hufflepuff silently giggled as they trudged down the corridor, blaming one another and heading for the Great Hall.
"Why is it that I have to be dragged into your shenanigans?" groaned Malfoy as he rubbed his side. "I didn't ask to be pulled up that bookshelf. You –"
"I didn't do crap," said Y/N defiantly, crossing her arms. "I merely suggested you hide from Fred, George, and Lee with me and you accepted. You could've left, but did you? No, you didn't."
Malfoy grumbled and went to sit with Crabbe and Goyle. Y/N rolled her eyes and sat between Theodore and Blaise, grabbing a ham-and-cheese sandwich from the silver platter and stuffing it in her mouth.
"What's happened with you?" asked Blaise as he bit into a piece of toast.
"It's nothing," Y/N lied, but she was still rumpled from the recent event.
"Are you kidding me!"
Y/N was reading The Hogwarts Herald (a newspaper made by students for students of the events happening in the school) at breakfast Monday morning and dug her forehead into her palms. On the front cover was a moving picture of her, Fred, George, Lee, and Malfoy lying on the ground with Madam Pince standing over them, yelling with her hands on her hips. She read the clipping aloud to the Slytherins around her,
"'Gryffindors Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Lee Jordan, (third year) and Slytherins Y/N Granger and Draco Malfoy (first year) lay, terrified, on the Hogwarts' Library ground as Madam Pince shouts, as quoted,
""How dare you! You come into my library and not even five minutes in you five are making all this ruckus! These students are trying to study and do their homework for once and you - you bring all your rickey-racky smicky-smacky rubbish-bubbish tubbish-subbish in with no sympathy!"
"The five were levitating in the air, three standing on books, when they came tumbling out of the air. It is unclear why they were in the air in the first place, but it must have something to do with Granger and Malfoy hiding from The Weasley Twins and Jordan. But what were Granger and Malfoy doing together in the first place? Is there something we don't know?
"Photo and article by Marietta Edgecombe."
Y/N slammed the paper down and glared down the table at Malfoy, who was glaring right back at her. The whole Hall was laughing by now and some were even shouting, "Granger and Malfoy sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" which was, by no doubt, led by the Weasley Twins.
Theodore and Blaise poked fun at Y/N all the way down to Defense Against the Dark Arts and throughout the whole week, and Y/N couldn't help but wish the holidays would come sooner. Almost everyone in their year was teasing Y/N – the Muggle-born that Malfoy, a blood elitist, couldn't help but fall for. Of course, it wasn't true one bit, but nobody could suppress a laugh at the disgusted faces they made.
Y/N and Malfoy ignored each other during Potions, turning away from each other as Professor Snape started his lecture.
"Today you will be brewing the Wiggenweld Potion," he said in his monotonous voice as he wrote Wiggenweld – page 40 on the chalkboard. The class shifted excitedly in their seats, the excitement of being able to brew a new potion after nearly a month getting to them. "The Wiggenweld Potion is a powerful healing potion that can be used to heal injuries or reverse the effects of a Sleeping Draught. I want two vials from you and your partner on my desk by the end of class. Begin."
Y/N turned Magical Drafts and Potions to page forty as Malfoy went to fill their cauldron with water. She gathered the ingredients, coming back a minute or two later to find Malfoy examining her book curiously.
"Why's it all. . . messy and written-in?" he asked, speaking to her for the first time since the library incident.
"I did a bit of research and modified the potion a bit before term started," Y/N shrugged, placing the ingredients down. "What's it to you?"
"Well is it better than the original or is it going to blow up the classroom like Finnigan blows up his face?" Malfoy spat. "Because I really do want a good grade in this class."
Y/N rolled her eyes. "Of course it's better than the original. I modified it."
Malfoy's eyes narrowed but he followed her recipe anyway. Halfway through class he started talking again, but this time not to Y/N.
"I do feel sorry," he said rather loudly, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
Crabbe and Goyle, who were stationed behind them, chuckled and Y/N shook her head in disgust. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual to Harry since the Quidditch match. Furious that Slytherin lost (and had at first tried blaming it on Y/N) he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.
"Don't be so mean," Y/N scolded as she measured out the powdered spine of lionfish Malfoy had crushed earlier. He scowled.
When Y/N left the dungeons at the end of Potions with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.
"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.
"I doubt you could do much, Ronald," said Y/N teasingly, earning a playful glare from him. "With those wittle noodle arms –"
"Alright, alright, I get it," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."
Ron dived at Malfoy just as Professor Snape came up the stairs.
"WEASLEY!"
Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.
"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."
"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Professor Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.
"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him –"
"I hate them both," said Harry. "Malfoy and Snape."
"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid happily. "Tell yeh what, come an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."
So the four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.
"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?"
The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.
"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.
"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me – Harry, Ron, Y/N, we've got the period off before lunch, we should be in the library."
"Can't, sorry," said Y/N. "Madam Pince is probably still pissy with me after Monday."
"I know the feeling," muttered Ron, quirking his brows, "the lady was mad at me all of October after I brought some pumpkin pasties into the library! The nerve!"
"Ronald, she had every right –"
"Hermione, she watched me pull the pasties out, open them, and take a bite, and then she yelled at me! I even took two seconds to open them! Two!"
"You were trying to provoke her!"
The two bickered as they headed for the library. Harry sent an apologizing look to Hagrid and Y/N and followed them.
"The library?" Hagrid asked Y/N. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh four?"
"Oh, we're not working," said Y/N brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."
"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here – I've told yeh four 'bout a million times – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."
"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Y/N. "Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble? We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere – just a little hint, please?"
"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.
"I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Y/N, and she smiled to Hagrid (who gave her a snarky smile in response) before heading for the dungeons.
"I can't believe you're making us study the night before the holidays," Theodore groaned as Y/N scribbled notes in her notebook. She glared from Blaise's bed, which she was perched on as Blaise read the The Standard Book of Spells on the floor. "Why?"
"Well, I know you won't study during the holidays –"
"Correct."
"But I know for a fact that we have three surprise pop quizzes when we get back," Y/N finished.
"What?" Theodore exclaimed, sitting up and accidentally shoving Daphne off his bed. She glared up at him. "How do you know? Is that even legal?"
"I have my connections," shrugged Y/N. "And they're not the Weasley Twins, so get to studying. And yes, it is legal."
Theodore grumbled and went back to studying Transfiguration. Just then, the bathroom door slammed open, and a shirtless, red-headed Malfoy came out, glaring. Y/N scrunched her nose.
"Ew, put a shirt on," she said and gagged. "Nobody wants to see all that."
"She's right, you know," Daphne muttered from the ground.
But Malfoy wasn't listening. He was glaring at Y/N, brows furrowed in anger and ears red with embarrassment. She couldn't help but laugh – he sort-of looked like Ron when he would rant about Professor Snape.
"You," said Malfoy menacingly, pointing his finger at her. "You did this, didn't you?"
Y/N smiled, nodded, and went back to working on Herbology. Malfoy marched in her direction, but before he could reach her, Theodore and Blaise were up, standing guard in front of her with their wands pointed at him.
Malfoy's face turned from anger to shock.
"Wha- what? You're on her side?" he said, frowning and confused.
"Yes, Y/N's a great asset to us," said Blaise, sitting on the bed to the right of her. "She helps us with our homework, knows whenever we're having tests and quizzes, helps us understand concepts we can't quite comprehend –"
"And has the best sense of humor and knows what's up," said Theodore, sitting on her other side and ruffling her hair. "And she's popular."
"And she dyed my hair orange!" Malfoy exclaimed. "Weaselbee orange!"
"You'll live," said Y/N, rolling her eyes. "Now put on a shirt before you make the mermaids vomit. I'm sure they'll just love it when they find out you're the reason the lake's soiled."
Malfoy grumbled and disappeared into his wardrobe.
Breakfast the next day was hilarious for Y/N. She sat in between Theodore and Blaise as Malfoy glared at her while everyone laughed at him. He still had the orange hair from last night, and no matter how much he washed his hair, he couldn't get it out. After all, it was permanent for two weeks.
Hermione and Y/N were soon boarding the train back to London, Goldfish and Hagrid and Fang seeing them off. They did as much magic as they could in the little amount of time they had (they couldn't use magic outside of school) and caught up with each other. They soon arrived at King's Cross and Y/N went to say goodbye to Theodore, Blaise, and Daphne as Hermione met their parents.
"I'd say I'd miss you but that would be a lie," teased Y/N as she hugged the three. "And I'm no liar."
"Gee, thanks," Blaise said, rolling his eyes.
"We'll miss you too!" Theodore cried as he dramatically clung to Y/N. Daphne shook her head.
Y/N frowned and said, "Merlin, it's only two-and-a-half weeks. You'll live."
"Nott! Zabini!" an annoying voice called. Y/N scowled as Malfoy approached them, glaring at Y/N and saying, "Come on, my parents aren't going to wait forever."
He stalked off and Y/N hugged the two boys one last time. Daphne waved as she joined her parents and a younger girl. Y/N waved back before joining her family at the barrier and heading home.
"So how was your first term?" Mrs. Granger asked at supper, after Hermione and Y/N had unpacked and rested.
The girls excitedly launched into their adventures at Hogwarts, leaving out Fluffy and practically everything pertaining to their non-school related research.
"Well I'm glad you've found a sport," said Mr. Granger to Y/N as he washed dishes. "What's is called again?"
"Quidditch," said Y/N. She shifted in her seat and looked to Hermione, who nodded. "Hey, daddy?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Do you know who Nicolas Flamel is?" she asked, twiddling her thumbs.
Mr. Granger furrowed his brows. "Who?"
"Nicolas Flamel," chorused Y/N and Hermione.
"I'm sorry," he said, "but no. Is he important for your studies?"
Hermione and Y/N looked to each other once again. They said, "No. It's for personal studies."
Mrs. Granger chuckled and said, "You two were always ones to go above and beyond."
On Christmas morning, Hermione and Y/N woke up as they usually would for a typical day at Hogwarts. They showered and dressed, and didn't realize it was Christmas until –
"Hermione! It's Christmas!" Y/N exclaimed, turning toward her.
Hermione shook her head, sighing. "And I thought Ronald was slow," she said.
"Rude."
"Not."
"Rude."
"Not."
"Rude."
"Not."
"Stop bickering and help make breakfast," scolded Mrs. Granger.
By the time they were opening presents, it was already brunch and all of Hermione and Y/N's grandparents had already arrived. Y/N had received an array of clothes and jewelry from her parents; her grandparents had gotten her posters and shoes; Grandmother Gertrude gave her Muggle money; Hermione bought her books she had desperately wanted; Harry and Ron had sent her candy (her favorite had been the sugar quills); Blaise and Theodore had both gotten her blankets; Fred and George had charmed a box to throw glitter all over her (but inside was more of their out-grown sweatshirts); Daphne had sent expensive chocolate; and last, but not least, a huge, dusty book with a green and silver cover had been sent by an anonymous person.
Y/N didn't open the book until her grandparents and Grandmother Gertrude had left after supper. She sat in her and Hermione's shared room, sitting on the floor with her sister by her side, and opened it.
Nothing was written in English. In fact, it was written in a language that Y/N had never seen before, but despite that, she understood it like it was her mother language.
"What does it say?" Hermione exclaimed once she'd told her.
"'Everything in Great Detail and More About the Wizarding World,'" said Y/N. "Oh, look, there's tables of contents within tables of contents within a table of contents. How cool is that?"
"Very," said Hermione, but a worried look overtook her face, "but who's it from?"
"I don't know," Y/N said, and looked at the book. "But whoever sent it must trust me."
Y/N spent all night reading the mysterious book. She briefly thought of translating it to English but dismissed the idea. What if it got into the wrong hands? What if the person trying to get whatever Fluffy was hiding got ahold of her notes? Y/N couldn't risk it. Besides, the person who sent it to her sent it for a reason, and there was probably an explanation as to why only she could read it. . . so why share that with anyone?