FicWad

Chapter Four: Education Begins:

The night had passed quickly and it was time for the first day of classes. Elizabeth looked forward, as she scanned her schedule, sitting at the Ravenclaw table, as she looked at it.

“Defense Against the Dark Arts to start off the day,” said Elizabeth as she looked at the table.

“I wonder if how long this teacher lasts,” replied Lisa with a yawn. “My brother just left Hogwarts a couple of years ago and he said he got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every year, some of them leaving abruptly, in mysterious ways.”

“Yes, and Savannah wasn’t supposed to be the teacher this year anyway, there was another one named Quirrel, but he got himself killed, attempting to steal an important item from Nicholas Flamel,” said another first year, Padma Patil. “They say it’s cursed and maybe it is, but it’s just difficult to believe.”

“Padma, all those teachers leaving, not lasting a year, it does point towards a curse on the position,” said Lisa but Padma just shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s difficult, but not impossible, but it would take a very powerful witch or wizard to curse something like a teaching position,” said Padma shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe like Dumbledore or You-Know-Who…”

“If it’s cursed, why doesn’t Dumbledore get rid of the class and bring it back under a different name, that way it’s not cursed anymore,” said Elizabeth. “Or does that make too much sense.”

“Actually that is kind of brilliant,” said Lisa. “I’m not sure if anyone would go for it though. All class additions or cancellations have to go through the Board of Governors and I can’t see them agreeing to do something like that. If I remember rightly, something like that has to be voted unanimously. I’d have to ask Dad, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case.”

“Yes, even if it does make sense, it might never happen, maybe someone should suggest it to Dumbledore,” said Padma. “He might be able to make a case for the Board of Governors.”

“I don’t think Dumbledore would entertain a suggestion from a first year,” said Elizabeth.

“He might from you,” said Lisa calmly and Elizabeth just shrugged, before she ate a few more last bites of her breakfast. She had eaten more in the past two meals than she had in ten years of the Dursleys.

“We better get to class, we don’t want to be late, Savannah might tear off our heads and mount them on the wall by the looks of him,” said Elizabeth, as she got up, with Lisa and Padma following her up the stairs. The rest of the first year Ravenclaws also joined the group sometime after, making their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

The bell rang and Savannah arrived at the class room, looking at the books that some members of the class had taken out through a narrowed eye.

“Put those useless things away,” grunted Savannah in a rough voice, and they hastened to obey. “Now this is Defense Against the Dark Arts class, perhaps the most useful class you will take at this school. I am your teacher, Professor Savannah. For fifty years, I was a hit wizard for the Ministry of Magic. Even better than some Aurors or so it was said. Yet, I left the Ministry shortly after, because they refused to acknowledge a serious threat to the Wizarding World. No doubt some of you have read by my exploits as a vampire hunter and I can tell you that they are true. While the Ministry refuses to employ vampire hunters, there are a small number of us who work beyond the Ministry and pay fines each year or get sent to Azkaban surrounded by the trash that the Ministry has helped create due to their weakness. They’d rather focus on werewolves, who are only monsters a handful of times a year, instead of vampires, who are monsters the second they accept the curse immortality for the rest of their existence.”

Savannah paused, he thought little about the Ministry from the tone of his voice.

“Enough about me, you are here to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts,” said Savannah. “To defend yourself against dangerous wizards and dangerous creatures, books will only get you to a certain point. The two most important tools will be your wits and your wands and in some cases, you may be deprived of your wand, so your wits are the only thing that can be used and that’s where many great wizards have failed, relying too much on their wands. This works two ways, if you find someway to take the wand away from an opponent, it is likely you may gain a huge advantage against them.”

Savannah stood in the classroom, looking at the students, having their full and undivided attention.

“You walk into my classroom as defenseless children and if you aren’t weak and soft, you will walk out seven years great duelists, able to defend yourself if someone decides to attack you,” said Savannah. “Some of you will collapse, others will thrive and survive. I fully intend to weed out the weak by the time we get to your Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. Now the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore forbids me from actually teaching you the dark arts, beyond mentioning what defensive spells can be useful for what dark arts, which is a shame. Without fully understanding the dark arts, you are stuck with the already invented defenses, that are known, and unable to adapt in the battle.”

Savannah scowled at this thought.

“But back to the wand thing, take away the wand and you weaken most opponents,” lectured Savannah. “The disarming spell is a common way to do this. The incantation is Expelliarmus. Visualize ripping the wand from the grasp of your opponent and if cast correctly, your opponent will be blasted away from you. It will stop them from grabbing your wand. Now pair up and practice this spell.”

The Ravenclaws hastened to pair up, as Savannah watched over them. Several cries of “Expelliarmus” echoed throughout the room but little headway was being made. Desks were overturned, chairs were overturned, and all kinds of mayhem, with very little of the way of the students being disarmed.

Elizabeth, who was practicing with Padma, was slightly frustrated at first, but her glee rose once she began to get closer to disarming Padma with each passing time. On the sixth try, she managed to knock Padma backwards, causing the wand to fly out of her hand and land on the desk. Quickly, Elizabeth stepped forward, to bend over to check on her.

“Are you okay?” asked Elizabeth.

“Fine,” said Padma wincing as she pulled herself up. “Just a little sore, I wasn’t expecting to get hit that hard, I mean it was just a disarming charm.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to hit you that hard, although if I ever use that spell on someone I hate, I will,” said Elizabeth with a smile as she handed Padma’s wand back to its owner. “Ready to try that on me.”

“Expelliarmus!” shouted Padma as the spell flew towards Elizabeth but while the wand lifted from Elizabeth’s hand just a fraction of a centimeter.

“You blocked it!” shouted Terry Boot, who was practicing with Lisa, causing both of them to stop, to turn to Elizabeth, mouths wide open and several other Ravenclaws had also seemed to stop what they were doing to

“I did?” asked Elizabeth in surprise before turning to Padma. “Try that again, I want to see something. Don’t hold anything back.”

“I didn’t last time,” muttered Padma, before she raised her wand, before concentrating, visualizing the wand being taken away from Elizabeth. “EXPELLIARMUS!”

Elizabeth felt a small jerk and instinctively, she had the intention in her mind not to lose her wand. Sure enough the wand remained in the tips of her fingers.

“So what, we’re just learning that spell, if an adult wizard attacked me right now, I bet they wouldn’t have any trouble disarming me,” replied Elizabeth with a dismissive shrug. “I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

“Well, you must be doing something right,” said Lisa with a frown, thinking that her friend was selling herself rather short, as she went back to practicing the spell. Padma had tried to disarm Elizabeth several more times before the period was over and while she had come close on one occasion, towards the end, the wand did not even budge from Elizabeth’s hand.

“The class is about over, everyone back to your seats!” barked Savannah and promptly, the Ravenclaws made their way back to their seats. “Now that your first lesson is concluded, I will say that a few of you show some small potential. Others have a lot of work to do. For homework, practice the spell and if you must, read up on the theory of the disarming charm, but use it only as a reference, not a strict guide of what you should. If you ever find yourselves in a situation where your life is in danger, you will not get a chance to look up a counter spell in a book. Remember, you wits and your wand. Class dismissed!”

The first year Ravenclaws left the class, with Savannah sinking into the desk, with an emotionless expression on his face. Elizabeth busily thought about the disarming spell, at the very least, she had found a way to block it, but she needed to look at this closely, to do it consciously. Something told her it would come in handy and maybe could work for other spells as well.

The first week of classes went by rather briskly after that class. Transfiguration came right after Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor McGonagall was a fair teacher, she made sure that all of her students got the help they needed, but also impressed on them that her class was one that they should take seriously. Anyone who was caught messing around, would be forced to leave and never return. Elizabeth doubted that they could be kicked out of one of the core classes of Hogwarts forever, but McGonagall’s expression like this was such that she doubted that very few would think of this. There was a lot of complex theory that made her head spin and when she tried to apply them to the matchstick she was trying to transfigure, she failed spectacularly. It was only until she tried to not focus on all the technical parts of the theory and rather visualize the matchstick changing into a needle, that she managed to make progress. She had come closest to making a change on the needle, with all of the Ravenclaws making some degree of process. As she found out, Hermione Granger was the only one who managed to do so, but Elizabeth was confident that she would have figured out the transfiguration sooner had she not been tripped up by the mind numbing theory.

Charms was much of the same, Elizabeth felt she could do really well in the subject, having looked over her textbook and began practicing some of the charms during her free time at the Common Room. She could already levitate, which was not to be taught for several weeks along with a few other charms. Right now, they were learning more magical theory, which was rather a necessary but frustrating part of her education. While Professor Flitwick said that the theory would be important later, it was still something that she did not focus on.

She liked Herbology much better than she expected. She thought she would hate it, mostly because she despised gardening when Petunia forced her to do it at home. Still, learning the magical properties of several plants intrigued her, as it got her thinking how they could be used in potion brewing, another subject that she had taken a time to read ahead. Still, it was far from her favorite class, but there were worse classes, like History of Magic. In the hands of a better, more interesting teacher, Elizabeth felt she would have loved this class. History was one of her favorite classes when she went to Muggle school after all. Yet it was taught by the most boring, mind numbing person imaginable and he was a ghost. He had been teaching the class for a long time, both alive and as a ghost, even before Dumbledore had even attended Hogwarts. Binns droned on and on for what seemed like days, but was really on an hour, in the most boring matter possible. She tried to stay away, but after about five minutes, Elizabeth gave up, after many others had and resolved to check out the library for any interesting books on history.

Thursday afternoon was a double period of Potions with the Hufflepuffs and other than another Herbology class on Friday, this was the final class of the week.

“Hi Elizabeth, how as your first week?” asked Harry as he arrived at the class, sitting down at the table with Elizabeth, with Lisa and Padma taking the table right on the other side of them. They had seen each other in the hallways, exchanged a few words, but the hectic schedule of Hogwarts, especially for the first week in the first year, had made it very difficult for those from different houses to socialize during the week. Harry, while he socialized with most of his year mates in Hufflepuff, kept to himself for the most part and had only talked to Draco briefly on a few occasions, while sending letters back and forth with both Luna and Ginny. Still Harry was glad that his sister had made friends inside her house, since he could not watch over her.

“It’s been brilliant Harry,” said Elizabeth. “Well except for History of Magic, that was just an excuse to catch up on my sleep but other than that, pretty good. It’s been the best week of my life, well at least since my parents died, but I can’t really remember any of them.”

Harry wanted to say something, but he decided not to, it might look suspicious. A part of him wanted to tell Elizabeth the truth about them being twins straight away, but he doubted very much that she would believe it this soon. She was relatively smart and would not except something at face value without truth. Harry thought it would be easy to figure out how to break the news to her.

At that more, Snape enter the classroom, robes billowing behind him, as he walked into the classroom and began to take roll.

“Ah, Elizabeth Potter, our resident heroine,” said Snape coldly as he looked at Elizabeth through his cold black eyes. She was stunned, wondering what she could have ever done to Snape, she had hardly met the man. Snape continued the roll call, before he fixed his cold, indifferent expression on the rest of the class. “Now for those of you who think waving a wand and saying a few words is all that magic is, you are in for a disappointment. You will be destined to fail in my class. The subtle and complex art of Potion brewing is not one that any dunderhead can master but at the same time, I expect that you all put out an effort to learn once you are under my instruction or I will be very displeased.”

Snape looked around calmly, letting every word sink in. He absolutely despised teaching children who did not have any potential on the art of Potion making, but Dumbledore had once again denied him the chance to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.

“Potter!” snapped Snape, causing Elizabeth to turn her full attention to Snape. “What do I get if I added a powdered root of an asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.”

“Draught of the Living Dead, a very powerful sleeping potion, that can knock out a person from up to a hundred years depending on the dosage, Professor,” said Elizabeth without missing a beat, she remembered seeing the potion in one of the books she purchased in Diagon Alley and Snape had a sour look on his face, before shaking his head.

“Well then where would you find a bezoar?” demanded Snape.

“In the stomach of the goat, it will save you from all but seventeen poisons, all of which that are listed in the Two Hundredth and twenty fourth addition of the Almanac of Potion making,” said Elizabeth smugly, Snape obviously wanted to make her look like an idiot, but that tended to backfire on people more often than not.

Snape took a breath, so the girl had read up, that mattered little, many had and were useless at the practical end of Potions.

“Very well, Miss Potter, one final question, what is the main ingredient for the Polyjuice Potion?” asked Snape, knowing full well that the potion was not listed in the first year textbook.

“A bit of the person you are turning into, it’s recommended that you use their hair, but toenails or blood works just as well, Professor,” said Elizabeth quickly with a frown. “Of course, I’m pretty sure that’s not a first year potion, but it’s a good thing I thought to read a bit ahead.

“Five points from Ravenclaw for flaunting your knowledge to make your peers look bad and five points for questioning a teacher, Miss Potter, I will not tolerate such behavior in my classroom” said Snape foully and Lisa and Padma looked absolutely enraged at Snape, while the other Ravenclaws were casting Elizabeth dirty looks, at losing them ten points. The Hufflepuffs seemed rather indifferent, except for Harry who seemed to be biting his tongue to prevent himself from lashing out from Snape. “Now you will complete a potion that will cure boils. It is one of the most elementary potions. I expect it to be done correctly. The instructions and ingredients are on the blackboard, the store cupboards or your personal supplies will have everything you need to adequately complete this potion. Begin now.”

With that the class went to work on their potions. Elizabeth studied the recipe intently, from what she knew about Potions, it would achieve a desirable result, but she felt it could be improved on. A few modifications, an extra stir here and there, an extra few degrees to heat the potion, and an added porcupine quill had enhanced the potion’s quality. The finished project was said to be a white color, but some of the other potions were mostly grey. Harry’s potion was the only one who was closest to being white and depending on where a person stood, either one could have looked better.

“Miss Potter that was most acceptable, you may not be as hopeless as I had thought, but do keep up that quality of work and improve on it,” said Snape as he looked at the potion. He was a bit impressed, if truth be told, it was nearly the quality that he had managed the first time he had completed this potion. If the girl had added a drop of newt’s blood, it would have been a perfect potion. Snape moved on to the others. “Goldstein that potion is an atrocity, it is an insult to the art of Potions. I would think that you would have known how to properly read instructions.”

Snape turned to the class, with his usual cold indifferent look.

“A sample of your potions will be placed on the box on my desk. For homework, you will write a short essay determining where you have went wrong and how you might have improved on the quality of your performance today,” said Snape as he watched the class clean up and take the samples to the desk one by one. “I expect only the very best, so I highly suggest some of you take a more proactive approach towards learning this art. Class dismissed.”

Elizabeth walked out, with Lisa and Padma following her from the classroom, exchanging looks.

“Don’t take this personal, but Snape hates everyone,” said Lisa in a quiet voice. “He always asks questions to one person, to make himself look superior. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. He seemed to back up when he saw how good your potion was.”

“I don’t know how you got it that good, but yeah, Black’s might have been just as good though,” added Padma. “Exactly what is the deal between you and him, you seem to be the one he freely talks to, well you and Malfoy. Don’t get me wrong, he’s nice enough, but he doesn’t seem to be too talkative”

“We met in Diagon Alley, he was the first friend I’ve ever had, at least the only one that Dudley hasn’t been able to scare away, in fact, I think Harry intimidated Dudley,” replied Elizabeth with a smile at the memory.

“I still can’t believe you’re related to him, Liz,” said Lisa with a shudder. She had encountered

Dudley went returning from the library one day and he rudely told her to get out of his way. She never wanted to hex someone so badly in her life.

“Believe me that makes two of us,” said Elizabeth.

“I can’t believe you didn’t say something to your aunt and uncle if your cousin bullied everyone that tried to be your friend,” said Padma.

“Are you kidding, they would have bought Dudley a new computer, they would have been proud their precious little, perfect boy put the little freak in her place,” remarked Elizabeth in an amused tone of voice. “Of course, I couldn’t expect anything else from the wonderful guardians who threw their own niece in her cupboard when she got blood all over the carpet, when their son threw her down the stairs and nearly cracked her skull open.”

Elizabeth just shook her head to clear these memories of her childhood. Lisa and Padma both looked very uncomfortable.

“So now, how about we head back to the Common Room and get a start on that Potions Essay before dinnertime,” said Elizabeth as if what she said was a common household occurrence. Both of her friends followed, wondering if abuse and neglect was not harshly punished in the Muggle World, as it was in the Wizarding World. It was widely known that if a witch or wizard was convicted of abuse of a minor, they could be sentenced to life in Azkaban.

In the distance, Harry had overheard the conversation. He would speak to Dumbledore about this, his sister was being put in harm’s way because of some kind of game that the old man was playing.

Harry found himself in the Headmaster’s office several weeks after Hogwarts began. It took him this long to get an appointment, because he wanted to speak to him about Elizabeth. Finally, Dumbledore would give him the time a day. Harry hoped that Dumbledore would at least take his concerns under account.

“Ah Harry, do come in and have a seat,” said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Headmaster,” said Harry with a nod as Dumbledore turned to acknowledge him.

“So tell me, how has school been going?” asked Dumbledore in a kind voice.

“Hogwarts has been fine,” said Harry shortly. “Headmaster, I want to speak to you on a very sensitive subject. As you know I have befriended my sister.”

“Yes, Harry and that was quite the noble thing you did, reaching out to her, even though you cannot reveal that you are her twin, it helped her be comfortable and make other friends,” said Dumbledore with an approving nod.

“And I’ve found out some things about her home life,” said Harry in a calm voice and Dumbledore became gravely serious. “Professor Dumbledore, Mum has told me that you have assured the Ministry time and time again that the Dursleys have done nothing to harm her.”

“Correct Harry, Elizabeth is perfectly safe at the home of her aunt and uncle, as I have told Andromeda every time she has written me” said Dumbledore. “Professor McGonagall brought a couple of concerns to my attention but I have looked in the matter and corrected it. I do realize that she had far from adequate clothing, but Petunia has assured me that was due to them having to cut certain corners, and considering she replaced them anyway the moment she was taken to her vault, I see no concern and no harm down.”

“The thing is, I do,” replied Harry and Dumbledore looked at Harry. “She’s mentioned incidents before, like her cousin throwing her down the stairs and her getting punished by getting blood on the carpet, also being forced to do chores in the heat of the day without any water, while Dudley lounged around and did nothing. Elizabeth talks about these things so casually, well it scares me and to an extent, I fear that if she spends anymore time at the Dursleys, she’ll be warped to the point of mental instability.”

“Harry, I feel you are greatly overstating the situation, your sister seems to be a well adjusted child from what I’ve seen, a little headstrong, a bit willing to speak her mind, and unwilling to get stepped over, but it’s perfectly normal,” said Dumbledore. “The cupboard matter has been solved, I talked to Petunia and Elizabeth has been moved to a normal bedroom…”

“You mean they forced her to live in a cupboard when they had another bedroom on hand,” said Harry in an incredulous voice and Dumbledore just remained silent. “Headmaster, I respect your abilities as a wizard, but I fear I’m losing your respect as a human being.”

“You are entitled to your own opinion Harry, as hurtful as it may be to me,” said Dumbledore. “But once again, if Elizabeth was in any real danger, she would have been pulled from the Dursleys in an instant. I would be forced to seek alternative options but as difficult as it may be due to their differences, Elizabeth will have to remain at the Dursleys.”

“Why?” inquired Harry and Dumbledore stared at him, thinking the best way to answer this inquiry, without revealing the blood protections.

“For her own safety, Harry, there is no other way,” said Dumbledore, sighing, seeing that Harry would not be appeased with that answer for long. “I appreciate and even admire your concern for your sister’s well being, but she’ll be perfectly safe at the Dursleys and will only have to spend the summer there, so she will only see a minimum of them until she becomes of age.”

“For now, Headmaster, I will take your word, but if you are wrong, it doesn’t matter what I will do, but rather what the rest of the Wizarding World will do to you because of your mistake,” said Harry.

“If it is I am mistaken, than I will bear the consequences, Harry,” said Dumbledore in a resigned voice. “But I feel everything will work itself as it is meant to be in the end.”

“Good night Headmaster,” said Harry, knowing that that there was an uphill battle to get Elizabeth away from the Dursleys, Dumbledore held many prominent positions in the Wizarding World and if he thought he was doing something for the best, than most of everyone went along with him. It was that sheep mentality that was plaguing the majority of the Wizarding World. Still, Harry refused to give up, his sister could not be left with these people. He worried what would become of her, it was a miracle she could even perform magic.

Hermione Granger was rather frustrated at the moment. Since she could remember, she had always been in the top of her class at school, it made up for her inability to make friends. At Hogwarts, she was still at the top, except for two classes. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry Black had surpassed her grades and in Potions, Elizabeth Potter had higher marks than her. Another class, Transfiguration, she was barely in front of the pack and in other classes, she could ill afford to slip up. In fact, it depressed her to think that the only class she was absolutely the top of her class in was History of Magic.

“Elizabeth!” called Hermione, as she saw the first year Ravenclaw walking down the corridor. It was time for her to find out exactly what Elizabeth Potter was doing different in Potions to get a better grade than her.

Elizabeth turned slightly, she was thinking about the last month at Hogwarts, how it had been wonderful, with the exception of Ron Weasley attempting his ill fated attempts to befriend her. Even Dudley had not been as much of a problem, although she did hear rumors that her oafish cousin found himself in the hospital wing. Given the rumors of the opinion of most Slytherins towards muggleborn witches and wizards, things could have been much worse for Dudley, not that Elizabeth shed many tears for him. He was just getting put through the same treatment his gang had put every other kid who disagreed with them through. Still, she enjoyed the classes for the most part and enjoyed having friends for once in her life, so overall, Hogwarts was a positive experience.

“Elizabeth!” shouted Hermione a second time and Elizabeth turned, she had better see what the bookworm had wanted.

“Yes, Granger, what do you want?” asked Elizabeth in a polite tone of voice.

“I noticed that you were doing well in Potions and I was wondering if you could help me,” said Hermione calmly and Elizabeth surveyed her suspiciously.

“What potion do you not understand?” asked Elizabeth and Hermione took a deep breath.

“No, but I was wondering if you could recommend me a book that might help me figure out what you were doing differently, I just want to improve,” stated Hermione and Elizabeth just began laughing, causing Hermione to look quite affronted. “Honestly, what’s so funny about asking about a book?”

“For your informative, I’ve read the textbooks and mostly followed the recipes, making logical improvements when needed, obviously there is no scientific method to doing it and nothing that can be simply learned strictly from a book,” said Elizabeth and Hermione’s eyes widened in terror.

“You were experimenting with potions, adding to the already approved recipes, don’t you realize how dangerous that is?” demanded Hermione. “You could get someone killed…”

“Listen, Granger, Professor Snape would have told me if he did not approve of my experimenting with the potions by now, he is quite vocal any other time he finds a fault with someone,” said Elizabeth with a sigh. “The recipes are guaranteed to get you a passing grade and a working potion, but they can be improved on. The book isn’t always right you know.”

“But you can’t just randomly add ingredients to a potion, it isn’t safe,” argued Hermione stubbornly.

“If you look at it, what I am doing is enhancing certain properties within the already established parameters of a potion, I’m not dumping ingredients in for any rhyme or reason,” said Elizabeth. “I can see why you were sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Hermione.

“You couldn’t create anything if your life depended on it, if it isn’t what the book told you to do,” said Elizabeth. “If you have a problem with what I’m doing, please feel free to take up your concerns to Professor Snape. That is if you think you know better than him. I’ll be sure to bring flowers to your funeral”

Hermione stormed off, as Elizabeth watched her leave. It was quite a shame, Hermione did have some potential, but only if she could think outside the box and beyond what the books told her.

“That Mudblood’s being an annoyance, again, I take it,” said a voice and Elizabeth turned around, to see Draco leaning against the wall, with a smirk on his face. “She seems to think she knows everything just because she read something in a book.”

“Pretty much yeah,” said Elizabeth. “Draco, I’ve heard the word Mudblood used a lot, especially towards Slytherins, but others, mostly directed towards my cousin and I couldn’t find what it meant.”

“Well, originally it was a word invented to describe muggleborn witches and wizards who think they know everything about our world, because they’ve read a few books, people like Granger in other words but it’s now just used to describe any muggleborn, mocking them for having dirty blood, because their blood line is soiled because of their muggle relatives,” said Draco lightly. “Of course your cousin does fall under this category in a way, even though he looks like it would pain him to pick up a book. He still acts like he’s superior, calling us freaks, you’d think he’d learn after a few visits to the hospital wing, but he does serve one purpose.”

“What’s that?” asked Elizabeth in confusion, she thought of her cousin as useless and was hard pressed to think of any purpose he could serve.

“Well he’s done wonders for raising Crabbe and Goyle’s self esteem, he makes them seem smart,” replied Draco and Elizabeth snickered behind her hand. “Don’t know exactly how he got sorted into Slytherin, definitely one of the Sorting Hat’s more questionable decisions.”

“Well to be fair, Dudley isn’t smart, brave, or hard working, so the hat must have decided that Slytherin would be the best fit, even if it doesn’t really fit, which does kind of show a problem with the sorting,” said Elizabeth. “Shoe horning people into four different categories is the problem, it’s just asking for trouble.”

“You sound exactly like Harry,” replied Draco with a slight shake of his head. “As I told him, the house system has been in placed ever since the founders founded Hogwarts. I doubt it’s going to change any time soon,” said Draco, before he looked around. “Pansy is no doubt wondering where I went, I gave her and her gang of airheaded bints the slip, I’d best get back.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want her to think we were having a torrid affair or something,” said Elizabeth jokingly and Draco smirked.

“No, despite the fact we’re a couple of years away from thinking about anything like that, she seems to get jealous when I even look in the direction of another girl,” stated Draco more to himself than Elizabeth, but he saw the approaching form of Pansy. “Good bye, Potter, see you in the corridors.”

“Yeah, I will, Malfoy,” said Elizabeth, as Draco made a hasty retreat. Elizabeth turned to return to the Ravenclaw dormitory, Padma and Lisa were waiting for her and she said she would not be long, as she was only returning a book. Plus, she did not relish meeting Pansy Parkinson, her eardrums could not handle the abuse.

Jack Savannah found himself currently in the Headmaster’s office, arm bandaged up, with Snape and Dumbledore looking at him. He had left Hogwarts when word reached him of a group of vampires terrorizing the people of a village that was within walking distance of Hogsmeade. As it turned out, it had been vampires and several members of the village had been drained of blood, left severely weakened from the lost and many had perished. It was by pure luck that they managed to catch one.

Dumbledore sighed. It was tiring that he had to deal with petulant children on a regular basis and then after he returned from the Wizengamot, there were his Headmaster duties at Hogwarts to attend to. He looked at his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a disapproving glance, he had never expected him to go out this soon to indulge his vampire hunting obsession. Especially considering he lost his eye the last time during his battle with the vampire queen five years ago and had claimed he retired from his activities all together.

“Jack, I am rather disappointed with you,” said Dumbledore calmly as he looked at the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, former hit wizard, and part time vampire hunter, with a disapproving glare.

“It was necessary, Dumbledore,” grumbled Savannah in a defensive tone of voice. “The vampires are close to Hogsmeade, they could very well breach the security around the school. Don’t think for one second they won’t try if they think they can get away with it.”

“Savannah, vampires cannot thrive in this environment for all that long,” said Snape coolly. “A few isolated incidents and you think there is a problem.”

“Severus the problem is there is very much of a problem, but I am confident that Hogwarts will hold itself under any invasion whether it be living or the living dead and the students inside these walls will remain safe,” said Dumbledore briskly, with a twinkle in his eye. “Sunlight and warmth tends to be an obstacle, we just tighten security measures around the winter months and naturally, Professor Savannah is here as an added security measure due to his experience with dealing with these creatures.”

“You talk about them as if they are Grindylows, Dumbledore,” said Savannah in disgust. “Those blood sucking demons will enslave all of humanity if they could find a way to bypass all of the limitations you mentioned. I may not be enough to deal with them if they find a way to get inside the school. All this fresh, young blood is a temptation for them, especially if Eskara is leading them.”

“Yes the mystical vampire queen,” said Snape snidely. “A fairy tale, the Dark Lord had investigated the matter and found no vampire queen. They are spread out, no vampire has a loyalty to another vampire. There are no packs like werewolves, it’s not organized or anything.”

“My eye was ripped out, several of my best men were slaughtered by her,” said Savannah. “If she saw something to be gained by aligning herself with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, she would have made herself known to him. It’s some sick game to her, making the world think that her followers are fragmented, but she is just ready to bring them together. You know who she once was and you do realize who is in danger if she is active once again.”

“Both of you raise valid points and I have heard the rumors of who Eskara was before she was granted the curse of immorality,” said Dumbledore. “Which in a roundabout way brings us to another point, that being Elizabeth Potter.”

Snape groaned, he would have liked to go one meeting without the topic of the Girl-Who-Lived being brought up.

“What about her this time, Dumbledore?” asked Snape in a tense tone of voice.

“I wished to ask your opinions on her, it seems like she’s adjusted well to life at Hogwarts from what I’ve seen, but I would like a couple more perspectives,” said Dumbledore.

“The girl seems to be willing to learn and adapt, which is more than I can say for some of the other students,” said Savannah gruffly. “Her spell work is a bit unorthodox but not necessarily a bad thing. If anything else, she looked at magic in a different way than most do or want to, not willing to conform to the status quo of what is generally taught and accepted.”

“Potter’s ability to brew potions is much more advanced than I suspected, it seems like she takes after her mother than her father in this area of her education, I’ve noticed she looks for ways to enhance the recipes I assign and improve their quality,” said Snape. “Parts of her attitude I don’t care much for, but it would be foolish of me to deny her abilities.”

Dumbledore just sat, he was reminded of another student sometime ago, who thought outside the box beyond what was established in the education. Quite frankly many had tried to reinvent the wheel so to speak, Dumbledore would be deluding himself by denying that he did not experiment from time to time. But those individuals had waited a few years into their Hogwarts education before stepping outside to try new things. A young man by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle all those years ago wasted little time in being inventive in many magical fields and Dumbledore knew how that turned out. Not that he thought he should discourage Elizabeth, a young mind was something that should be allowed to grow and expand. Still remembering the Prophecy and what he had found out when he had did the scanning spells to determine which child had been marked by Voldemort, Elizabeth’s ambitious nature could turn out to be a benefit or a danger.

“Thank you for that information, it was very enlightening,” said Dumbledore. “It was late, I think it would be best if we retire for the evening.”

Savannah and Snape left, as Dumbledore went to his bed chambers. He tried to not focus on the parallels between the Girl-Who-Lived and Voldemort but lingering doubts, including Harry’s own warnings had caused Dumbledore’s descent into sleep to be a rocky road. Still as he slept, Dumbledore was adamant that his decision of Elizabeth’s living arrangements was the correct one.

Halloween had arrived, which was a day of great celebration for most of the Wizarding World. It was the anniversary of the fall of Lord Voldemort. Ten years ago on this day, Elizabeth Potter had vanquished Voldemort and had broken the curtain of terror that descended all over Wizarding Britain. It was a jovial day, the employees of the Ministry of Magic got to leave their work earlier and Hogwarts had a grand feast on this day. To the majority Wizarding World, at least in Britain, Halloween was the happiest day of the year and worthy of celebration.

Elizabeth Potter absolutely despised Halloween. It might have meant the defeat of Voldemort to most but to her it meant the beginning of her residence at the Dursleys. When her parents got killed, she was shoved in Number Four Privet Drive. Some gratitude the Wizarding World showed their proclaimed savior. Her friends had at least sensed her mood and understood why she was a bit distant today. Other members of the school seemed to want to thank her for beating Voldemort, something that she did not member. Not one of those people who Elizabeth had never met in her life had talked about her parents, it was like their deaths did not matter. And if they did not die, she would have not had the displeasure of dealing with the Dursleys. Of course, she wished her parents would had her placed somewhere else. There were times where jail might have been better than living with the Dursleys. At least she might get more to eat, no matter how subpar the food was.

Currently, she was sitting outside the Great Hall, while the feast was going on around her. Perhaps she should be happy that Voldemort was gone and the role she played in it, but something told her that he might still be out there. So she was not feeling festive or hungry. She told Lisa and Padma that she would be heading upstairs to go to sleep early and left. In truth, she was not really tired either and she decided to sit out in the Great Hall for a few minutes to determine where she would go next.

She looked up and saw another figure moving in the distance. Tensing up, Elizabeth prepared to make her way quickly upstairs, the last thing she wanted was to run into the Hogwarts Caretaker, the surly Mr. Filch or that troublesome poltergeist Peeves, who had thrown water balloons at Elizabeth and her friends when they were coming down for Breakfast.

Leaning forward, Elizabeth recognized who was coming immediately.

“Harry!” called Elizabeth and Harry turned around, to see her sitting there, waving him over. Harry walked over.

“Oh, hey Lizzie,” said Harry in an absent minded voice, as he walked over, considering this was an anniversary of the death of his biological parents, he was a bit out of it.

“So what are you doing out here?” asked Elizabeth in a curious voice.

“I could ask the same for you but I think I have a pretty good idea,” said Harry and Elizabeth nodded, she could almost feel that Harry had figured out what she was talking about. “Ten years already, time goes by fast, but the world could care less what really matters, as long as they have their heroes they can triumph. They forget who falls, only remembering the successes.”

“I agree Harry, so what if I defeated Voldemort, I lost my parents,” said Elizabeth quietly. “I had gotten over losing them a long time ago, I mean, they’re not coming back but now everywhere I look today, it just brings everything all back. You think people would show a little tact.”

“They get caught up in the fame and the fall of Voldemort, to give a damn about the people who made the true sacrifices, I think the world and most certainly your life, would have been a lot better if Lily and James Potter had not been killed,” said Harry as he sat down next to her, also knowing that he would not have been able to concoct a false identity because Dumbledore got the bright idea that he should proclaim Harry Potter to be dead had their parents survived. “I don’t like it anymore than you do, you don’t even remember that night.”

“Do you really think Voldemort’s really gone?” asked Elizabeth suddenly, causing Harry to look up her with a confused expression, that question seemed to come out of left field.

“I don’t know,” said Harry slowly. “I and I think the rest of the world would like to believe he is but, there was never a body found.”

“I was afraid of that, he could still be out there, waiting for the right moment,” stated Elizabeth.

“Maybe, he might be out there, but who knows what state he might be in, he could be just hanging on,” said Harry in an encouraging voice. “He may come back one day, but even at his height of power, he never attacked Hogwarts. Dumbledore’s the only one that Voldemort is afraid of or so the legend goes.”

“I just wish I knew for sure,” muttered Elizabeth, she loved Hogwarts and everything about it, but she had a feeling she would have liked it a lot more if she had not been the one who was famous for defeating Voldemort.

“We all do,” said Harry as he got to his feet. “I think I’m going to return to the feast right now, all of the festivities should have died down by now. I might be able to stomach some food now. Coming, Lizzie?”

“Might as well,” said Elizabeth in a resigned voice, the truth was, a few minutes to clear her head properly was all she needed to remind herself that these people did not and should not matter to her. As Harry told her one time, these people would hail her as a hero one minute and then stab her in the back the next once the popular opinion changed.

In a dark musty shop in Knockturn Alley, a greasy looking man with a goatee looked around. He was expecting a very important client very soon that required some items of a sensitive nature.

“Do you have it?” asked a hooded figure, as she had two other imposing figures on either sides.

“Depends, do you have the gold?” asked the shopkeeper.

“Five hundred galleons just as you requested,” said the hooded figure in a disgusted voice as she dropped the bag on the table and the shopkeeper reached underneath, pulling out a box from beneath the counter. The hooded figure took it, looking through half of the items required for her plan. “This is only half of what we requested, human.”

“Yeah, well you get the other half once I’ve counted my gold,” said the shopkeeper in a greedy voice but the hooded figure grabbed the shopkeeper by the arms. “What are you doing, lady?”

“Teaching you a lesson about your shoddy customer relations,” said the hooded figure, as the hood went down, revealing a pale woman with a chalk white face and blond hair and piercing light blue eyes, opening her mouth to reveal a set of fangs.

“You’re a v-v-v-v-vampire,” stammered the shopkeeper.

“Very well, at least you’re educated, but then you should know that I’m past feeding time,” remarked the vampire in a bored voice as she looked into the man’s eyes, rendering him in a dream like, apathetic state, causing him to be unable to move. Seconds later, she sank the fangs into the neck of the shopkeeper, draining him all of his blood. His blood was common and only served to nourish her for a few hours but it would have to do. The shopkeeper slumped to the ground pale and withered, shuddering and looking extremely weak. “Track down the rest of what we are owed, take anything else that might be of value to our cause in the future.

“Yes Mistress Eskara,” chanted her two slaves in a dull, submissive manner, as they tracked down what the shopkeeper had been hiding from them in the backroom.

“Very well, let us depart, before the Aurors or any vampire hunters come calling,” said Eskara softly as she stepped forward but paused, before she walked over to the counter and reclaimed her bag of gold, stepping on the weakened shop keeper, as her two slaves carried out the artifacts and restricted potion ingredients that they required for her plans. It would take many months to set up but her immortality gave her all the time in the world.