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Agena




JErosion




Chapter 05 – It's not easy being green – Year 1




Hogwarts wasn't exactly what Agena though it would be.




For one, she was in no way prepared for the amount of politics that took place within her own house. She had to wonder if any of the other students outside of Slytherin, had to put up with this. The head of her house, Professor Snape, wasn't helping either. He seemed to have/favorites/ in every grade level. Most of them came from old, well-to-do, purebred families. But in someways it went a little further than that. Because amongst those favorites, there were others that seemed /connected/. Like they were apart of some sort of elite club.




It didn't really seem all that fair. If she wasn't mistaken Salazar Slytherin had prided several things in his pupils. There was purity of blood, but he also sought those of intelligence, and great cunning. But after taking a good look at some of her house mates, she had to wonder how they were ever got sorted into Slytherin in the first place. There were a lot of students that were just like those two gorillas that followed Draco everywhere. They may have been pure-blooded, but that was just about the only thing that they seemed to have going for them.




Some of these kids, were walking proof that this pure-blood mania that had galvanized so many wizarding families, had done far more damage than it had good. How could it be justified, when each generation grew uglier and more stupid. And they called people like her Aunt ablood-traitor. If any one was betraying their bloodlines it was those that kept intermarrying the same families over and over again.




Agena shook her head. Maybe she was being a little bitter. It was just that she didn't see why Professor Snape thought so fondly of them. Or maybe it was because her cousin, Draco Malfoy. It was like he was Professor Snape's star pupil. And the worst thing about it was that the bugger knew it too. She had already seen him, along with his two bodyguards, pushing around some of the other first years.




There was one boy who already gone to Professor Snape to complain how Draco taken a book of his. But the Professor just turned him away, telling the boy in an angry voice, that if he couldn't handle his own affairs he should write his parents and beg them to allow him to be tutored at home. Snape then went on to say that unless it was something life threating he didn't want to hear about it. Fortunately for the boy aPrefect intervened and forced Draco to return the property. Agena couldn't help but feel as if the whole situation was a bit unfair.




Especially at moments like now. She had come up to the great hall for breakfast. She was joined by her roommate, Daphne Greengrass. Daphne was becoming the closest thing she had to a friend here. Well as least in her house. Granted she knew other, people that were sorted into the other houses, but they were little more than passing acquaintances.




But it was different with Daphne. Her mannerism, gave her a certain infectious quality. And in many ways she was a lot like Nymphadora. She was a little awkward and clumsy, but she also had a talent for making her laugh. Whether it be the things she said or some of the goofy things that she did. In the end she could have done a lot worse.




Agena had hoped breakfast would be quick and quiet, because there was no telling how long it was going to take them to find their Transfiguration class. But notion of having a quick and quiet breakfast was shattered when her cousin had plopped himself down directly in front of her. He was flanked on both sides by those two surly looking boys that followed him everywhere. Pansy was in tow also. She sat down on nearby as well. She leaned in with that disgusting smirk of hers.




“Your name is Culverin, right?”




“Yeah.” Agena responded, setting silverware down on the edge of her plate.




“I've heard a few things about you.”




“Oh?” Agena looked towards Pansy, who gave her a single wave of her hand. She was also looking particularly smug at that moment.




“From what I hear,” Draco said in his long drawl, that regain her attention, “You were raised by a Tonks.”




Agena's hands balled up into tight fists.




“Yes, I was? What of it?”




He smirked.




“I was just wondering, how my dear misguided Aunt was. I don't get to see her all that often. My parents don't really speak about her that much, ever since she started to consort with the wrong kind of people. A real shame. And she couldn't even marry a proper wizard...”




If his goal was to provoke a reaction from her, he was going a bang up job of it.




“And does all this have a point? Or do you just like to hear yourself talk.”




He smirked again.




“Well. I just thought I would come over and make some conversation. You know a little friendly chitchat. Because I'd like to clarify a few things.”




Agena's eyes darted over to the smug look on Pansy's face. Great, she's been talking.




“Like what.” Agena said quietly, traces of anger were starting to creep into her voice.




“I can see a resemblance.”




Agena paled. That was a great feat in of itself considering her complexion. But this was one of those things that she wanted to avoid. She needed to shut him up. She didn't want anyone to know who her mother was. Next to her she could could hear Daphne mutter her name. She could also feel her lightly tug at her sleeve in an effort to get her attention.




But Agena ignored her. She couldn't allow herself to become distracted. Because right now she was fighting the urge to plant her fist into Draco's pointed face. However she couldn't do that. Slytherin politics being what they were. Especially with Professor Snape watching over him. After all what did she have at this point? It would probably be a month before any of her teachers would recognize her without having to check there attendance sheets.




“So?” Draco kept talking,” Is Culverin your really you father's name or did somebody just make it up?”




“You need to shut your /mouth!/”




That last word came out in a hiss. And for a frightening moment she wasn't sure if she had said it in her normal voice or involuntarily switched to Parsel tongue. Her uncertainly in this was helped by the queer look that took hold of Draco's face. His eye's narrowed and his nose scrunched up like something fowl had been passed beneath it.




“I don't think I need to do anything. In fact I think...”




“Well I think, its about time for you four need to move further on down the table.” came a low and gruff voice.




Draco jumped, as did his comrades. Pansy almost lost her balance and fell off of the bench she was perched on. Towering behind them was an older boy. In fact it was the Prefect that had shown all of them the way to the Slytherin dorms. And it was the same one who had help that one boy get his book back from Draco.




It took a moment for Draco to regain his bearing. But it wasn't long before his face returned to that scowl her wore just seconds before.




“Oh, It's you again.” he sneered. “What makes youthink you can tell me what to do.”




“Yeah, it is me,” the older boy leaned in speaking quietly. He jerked his thumb at the shiny badge that was pinned to his chest. “And in case you forgot, this little trinket right here gives me every right. Second of all. We don't have these conversations in the Great Hall. If you gotta start slinging shite over parentage, Isuggest you save it for when the lot of you are in the common room, and not when your within hearing distance of a the Hufflepuff Table!”




He raised his voice in emphasis, being loud enough to causing a few of the Hufflepuffs, who apparently were eavesdropping on on Draco's'conversation', to jump. Not that they really had to strain to hear the what the little snot was saying, since he had made no effort to be discrete.




“You might have the Professor looking out for you. But do keep in mind, that I am looking out for Slytherin as a whole, so I'm not gonna sit backy and let some first year bring embarrassment to our house. And another thing,” The older boy spat. ”That girl across from you is probably about a few seconds away from putting you in the hospital wing. Since your too shortsighted to notice, she has been taking her anger out on the flatware. So I recommend you move on down, before you find yourself in a similar position.”




Agena blinked a bit, taking in the Prefect's words. Her eye's dropped down to her plate. The fork and the knife that she had set down on the edge of her plate were warped. It was as if they had been heated up to a high enough of a temperature, that they melted to the contours of the plate and the table. But it wasn't just her utensils. Along the middle of the table were stoneware vases that had held the forks, spoons and knives that they would use during breakfast. But in the vase that was closest to her, all of the cutlery that was in it were wilted over like dead flowers.




Daphne gave her sleeve another tug. In her hand was a fork that was bent over like a u-bolt. She let out a short and uneasy laugh. Across from them a touch of worry crept into her cousin's face. Even Pansy looked a little uncomfortable.




“Now!,” the Prefect clapped his hands together, once again causing those he was in back of to jump. “Move on down.”




The two larger boys went to move immediately. Draco's lingered on the damaged cutlery before he turned them back to Agena.




“Go on.” the older boy ordered, he had his arms crossed as waited for the boy to move on.




Eventually Draco face crinkled into a scowl as he moved to comply to what the older boy said. Pansy trailed after them. Once he and his friends had found seats further down the table, the Prefect sat down , filling up the spot that Draco had occupied just moments before.




“Good morning there.” He addressed the two of them, his voice raised up to a merrier tone, as if nothing had happened. Agena took a glance over at Daphne, but she could only offer her a shrug.




“Well, I see your already making friends.” Another student came up from further down the table and sat down next to the boy. It was Annette Yaxley. She was the tall and skinny blond girl that had escoted them back to the Great Hall, on at there first morning.




“Well you know me,” the boy said,”I can't resist talking to snotty little rich kids, that gloating about their heritage. No offense to you, of course.”




“Of coarse. But you better be careful about that one Hollis.”




“Maybe. But I'm not gonna kiss his arse just because everyone else does. He needs to learn that if he wants respect, he'll have to earn it... or buy it just like his father did.”




“Hollis!”




The boy smirked. He then turned his grin on Agena.



“Now what are we going to do about you?”




“uh, m-Me?”




“Yes, you. You let him get to you and you let your magic get away from you. In this school that's not considered acceptable behavior, no matter what year you are in.”




“b-But he was...”




He cut her off with a wave of his hand.




“Listen... Culverin, right? I know what he was doing. There is always going to be a someone who thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants. And theres not a damn thing that can be done about it. And if you go to ateacher about it, you'll only make things worse. However you can't just let people like him walk all over you. And your not going to do that by telling them to 'shut up' or by yelling at them to leave you alone. The only thing people like Malfoy understand is power.”




“But... um,... What are you saying?” Agena asked a little confused. Was he telling her to fight him?




“That's what I'd like to know.” Annette added, looking at her fellow Prefect skeptically.




“It's all about your spell work. Since this is only your first week, Ireckon that ole Flitwick and McGonagall will probably just go over Magical Theory and proper wand use. But what you have to watch out for, is that kids like Malfoy always show up to the school knowing acouple of jinxes and curses. At this point they might might not be able to do much with them. But in a month or so he gonna start waving that wand of his around. And unless your ready for it, you could very well wind up as his target.”




At that he reached into his robes and pulled out a scrap of parchment and a little bottle of a blueish liquid. He then withdrew a thin wooden stick that had an odd looking bit of metal on it's end. Agena watched with a bit of curiosity as he unscrewed the top of the bottle and dipped the metal end into it. It was a calligraphy pen. Agena could recall seeing a few of them in a dusty section of a quill and parchment shop in Diagon Ally.




Despite their innovation they weren't commonly used in their world. First, they tended to be costly when compared to feather quills. Second, they were a muggle invention. There were probably hundreds of other useful contraptions, that would never take hold in their world merely for the fact that they conceived by muggles.




With perhaps the exception of the camera, it could take decades before something of muggle origins would become adopted by witches and wizards. Especially with the older generations. Agena inwardly cringed at the fact that there were so many older wizards who had never even heard of the concept of wearing undergarments beneath their robes.




“Here. When you get a chance, go and look for these books in the library.” he said as passed her a short list of names he had scribbled out on the paper. Daphne leaned in to take a look herself.




“Counter-curses?”




“Yep,” he nodded. “If your looking to get ahead, it's the best place to start. But since you are a first year, Madame Pince won't let you leave the library with anything containing offensive spells in them. But for purpose of defense she'll let you check those out. And besides, with those particular titles, they list specifically what to look for in the event that you are cursed or jinxed so you can quickly identify the proper counter-curse to use. And if a student was particularly bright he or she could easily deduce just how to cast those spells in the first place.




“Besides anyone can learn how to cast a curse or jinx, but a good wizard or witch, will know how to undo them.”




“But... why are you doing this?”




He just shrugged. However the girl next to him, chose to speak up and answer the question for him.




“Well your would be benefactor, didn't have a lot of friends during his first and second years. In fact he was bullied a lot as well.”




“That I was.” he agreed, he wore an expression of mock sadness.




“And after a certain point he got tired of it all and started to fight back.” she continued. “Come to think of it, you still didn't make any friends.”




“And all this time I thought you were my friend.”




“Well that's what you get for being delusional.”




“Really?Well I guess, I'll be seeing you at lunch then.” He flashed her a wide smile that exposed deep dimples on both sides of his mouth.




Annette looked away, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. She then got up and moved back up the table to where some of her friends sat. Hollis followed her with his eyes, his grin only fading slightly as she walked away.




“Well, you two best finish eating, so you can get to class.” he said while taking one of the crooked forks from the vase to bend it back to it's usual shape. “Oh don't worry about the silverware. The house elves will straighten them all out in time for lunch.”




Agena tried to eat. But after dealing with Draco and his lot she wasn't feeling too hungry.




“um,” she started hesitantly, “Thank you for helping me.”




He nodded as he chewed on a mouthful of pancake.




“Just... keep one more thing in mind. There are some spells that some folks could never cast, just because they don't have the power to. But whether or not your magic is strong enough. All the wand movements and proper words aren't going to get anywhere unless you /believe/you can do it.”




Agena waited for Daphne to finish her meal, before the both of them left for their class. She tried her best to ignore both Pansy and Draco as she passed them. Neither of them would probably do or say anything. Well at least not when they were in hearing range of Hollis. But at least some one of the prefects were doing something. Well that wasn't entirely true. Annette was nice and did take the time to listen to them if they needed help finding something. But the sixth and seventh year ones seemed more apathetic to them.




She looked down into her hand, and at the peice of parchment that Hollis had given her. Sadly Hollis had a point, people like Draco only understood one thing, power. And she wasn't about to let herself become somebodies punching bag. Once they were clear of the Great Hall, she turned to her roommate.




“What did you think about all of that?”




“Well,” the brunette began, “He's not that good looking, but I can see why she likes him.”




“huh?”




“He's kind of funny, and willing to stand up for people. Not to mention those dimples,”




“Wait!What are you talking about?”




“Annette Yaxley. It's obvious that she likes him. Since he's a half-blood, her parents probably never approve. Which only makes her like him even more.”




“Whoa!Stop! That wasn't what I meant.” Agena cried with a wave of her arms.




“Yeah, I know you didn't. I just wanted to say those things.” Daphne smiled, and her pale green eyes sparked mischievously.




Agena just shook her head. She had to fight to keep a smile from growing on her face. It was a fight that she was losing.




“Are you going to look for those books?”




“I think I will.” Agena replied, taking a look at the titles written on the parchment again.




“After transfiguration then?”




Agena just nodded in reply.




-




Professor McGonagall started the class by lecturing them on how Transfiguration was one of the most complicated and most dangerous kinds of magic that they would learn, while they where at Hogwarts.




She then wowed the entire class when she transformed into a nearby stool into a young deer. The new transformed deer looked up at the class in a startled manner, before it tried to bolt out of the room. But with a quick wave of her wand, McGonagall transformed the skittish animal back into a piece of furniture.




They then spent the first half of the class, copying some very long winded notes dealing with matter conversion, and mass expansion and contraction. It would have made just as much sense if it had been written in Gobbledegook. The Professor then passed along a box that was full of matches and instructed them to each take a few of them.




“Now take several of them.” Professor McGonagall instructed. “You are going to turn these matches into sewing needles. This is a rather simple exercise, since both of the beginning object and the end result are of similar shape and mass. Now I want you to repeat after me. /Ferron