Chances Chapter 5
Hermione was happy to see
young Christopher carrying a 'Simple Satchel' on his first day. The
advertisement claimed it had the holding capability of two normal book bags and
was guaranteed to reduce its weight by 65.
'See who he took after,
indeed,' Hermione thought a bit imperiously.
Then she watched him sour
a house mate's milk when the other boy's back was turned. She took a deep
breath and rolled her eyes at the ceiling. She was glad he was Flitwick's
charge.
Snape uncharacteristically
took a seat near her.
"Before you over
react," Snape began under his breath. He had already begun to annoy her
and she hadn't even had a bite yet. The day was off to a wonderful start.
"The other boy is a Sixth Year. He used little discretion when divulging
information about his summer romance concerning a Hufflepuff Fourth Year to his
house mates. She was quite distressed."
Hermione looked at Snape
out of the corner of her eye for a moment. Then she nodded firmly. Once.
This was going to be a lot
harder than she expected.
&&
Snape swooped into his
classroom, frightening the flock of First Years as usual.
He did notice as he turned
to face the paled faces that his own son was tucking something into his bag.
The boy had heard him, but had not even noted his foreboding presence.
Snape frowned.
"Who here can tell me
the uses of Adder venom?" Snape barked out. This was addling. He didn't
even say his usual intimidating speech.
To his horror, the boy's hand
shot up. He stretched towards the ceiling, his face attentive.
It was going to be a long
eight years.
&&
"Can anyone site the
significance and event associated with the Underage Wizarding Act?"
Professor Granger asked her class.
She sat on the edge of her
desk, smiling at the First Years. She crossed her legs under her robes and
tried to appear relaxed.
They shifted nervously
under her gaze. Quite a few of them were muggle born and had never been exposed
to wizard history. What she was trying to determine was who had opened their
books yet.
A few hands rose.
Christopher's was among them.
Hermione all but smirked.
This was going to be an interesting term.
&&
Lunch during the first
week of term was always a bustling affair. The students buzzed excitedly
amongst themselves about new classes and teachers, who they liked and didn't,
and most of all, what to expect.
The teachers table was no
exception to the excitement. Thankfully, it gave Hermione and Snape the chance
to talk freely without being overheard or noticed.
"Overly bright,"
Snape sniffed.
Hermione snorted. He fixed
her with a piercing gaze that might have frightened her, had she been a first
year again. She rolled her eyes at Snape and his expression turned to annoyance
before he fixed his attention on the bowl of potato soup in front of him.
"Really, Severus. The
next thing you know, you'll be calling him a know-it –all."
Snape grumbled something
indiscernible into his soup. Hermione ignored him.
"Did you find out
anything about his family?" Hermione asked, reaching for an apple.
"Not as much,"
Snape said as he gazed out over the eating students. "He seems to be
thoughtful. If he is related to the Malfoys you are familiar with, it's
probably distant."
"You can't judge
someone's upbringing by their manners," Hermione argued. "He seems to
be bright. Perhaps he's a black sheep?"
"Perhaps you're being
paranoid," Snape snapped.
Hermione threw him a dirty
look, but remained silent.
&&
Christopher lay on his bed
in Ravenclaw tower, going over his potions notes and tentatively nibbling on
candy from a colorful box of Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans. He made a face as
a nearly acidic taste touched his tongue.
"Don't know why you
bother," Caleb Johnson sulked from over at his desk. The stocky blonde boy
was nearly a head taller than Christopher. A book on Wizarding history lay open
in front of him.
"I like
surprises," Christopher shrugged, without looking up.
"Not the beans,"
Caleb sighed. Sometimes if he didn't know any better he would think Christopher
was being deliberately thick. "The books."
"I like books,"
Christopher said.
"Doesn't mean you
have to live with your nose in them," Caleb said, annoyed.
"Well, curfew is in
effect, I have an essay due next week, and there's nothing else to do,"
Christopher said sarcastically as he turned a page. "I suppose in a few
years I can transfigure us a hang-glider and we can make a break, but I need to
hone my skills a bit to get there."
Caleb stared at
Christopher for a moment. Just because their mothers were second cousins didn't
mean he had to put up with cryptic muggle references.
Thank god, his other
roommates seemed to be obsessed with Quidditch and gob stones. There were seven
of them in their dormitory room. Flitwick had suggested splitting them into two
rooms, but finally decided to expand the size of their dorm room to twice the
size as normal to accommodate the boys and their pets.
Christopher looked up at
the sound of crumpling paper and dodged a ball of crumpled parchment hurling at
his head. He threw a bean at Caleb in response and snickered as it bounced off
the other boy's cheek.
"Ants!" a
high-pitched voice cried out.
"We can't get ants up
here," Christopher sighed as Duncan McGregor scrabbled for the piece of
candy. "The house elves would find it when they clean tomorrow. Even if
they didn't, the castles probably enchanted from ant attacks,"
"What's a house
elf?" Duncan asked, confused.
Caleb and Christopher
looked at each other. They knew Duncan was from a muggle family, but how
clueless was he?
Christopher quickly
explained house elves, their place in society, and their purpose.
"So the freed ones
have their own town?"
Caleb frowned as
"Oi!" Caleb
protested. "Half the places are missing."
"It's probably a
muggle atlas," Christopher said, reaching for his satchel. He pulled out a
thin red book and opened it. It seemed to be a lot larger when it was opened.
With hundreds of more pages.
"Incredible,"
Caleb rolled his eyes as
the other two rattled on about places