Chapter 10: Chapter 7
A/N Only 2k words, but I might release another chapter today. I want to show a bit of how Alex is in her lessons. Probably just 1 more chapter for that, I'm gonna skip Astronomy and History. So just charms, Potions and transfiguration - they're known as the big three
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"So we have double DADA, herbology and first year flying today" Mary says to us as we Professor Flitwick passes out our schedules
"When do we have the others?" I ask looking up at her, choosing breakfast in favour of looking at the schedule
"Let's see, tomorrow we have History, Charms and Astronomy at midnight" Ginny replies looking through her schedule
"And just Transfiguration and Potions on Friday" Luna finishes, putting her schedul down and continuing with her breakfast
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-DADA -
"Welcome students to your first lesson of the defense against the dark arts. And let me introduce you to your new professor, me! Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award – but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" Lockhart says smiling at all the students.
Say what you will about him, at least he's narcissistic for a reason. I've seen a lot of good looking people, and he's there in the upper half of looks. Nowhere near the top of course, but credit where credit is due.
I can see all the girls in Gryffindor looking smitten, and the boys annoyed and looking at him in disdain. Well apart from Colin, he's looking at him with stars in his eyes, more than even the girls. Mary looks confused, probably because she hasn't read any of his books. Luna is indifferent and just looks around dreamily and Ginny is sporting a light blush, but nowhere near as much as the other girls.
"Professor Lockhart! Could you sign my book for me please!?" Colin shouts at him, unable to contain his excitement
"Ahh a young fan I see" Lockhart says walking towards him "it fills me with joy to see my tales of heroics and bravery inspiring the younger generation, normally I would charge for a an autograph but I'm sure I can make an exception" he says theatrically
"Tell you what! As this is your first lesson and I'm nothing if not generous, charming and all around a good guy, well that's what everyone tells me" he says winking at the class "I'll sign all your books today"
"Hey, is he really that famous?" Mary asks "I haven't really read any of the books yet"
"Well he's documented a lot of his adventures in his books and some of them are really dangerous… allegedly" Ginny replies in a whisper
"Allegedly?"
"Well Ginny here used to be really into his books when she was younger, but Alex pointed out that there are a lot of inconsistencies in his books" Luna tells her
"Really? So he's never done any of that?"
"Well there's no evidence of that. At most all we can say is he just misremembered the exact details. I'd just take his books with a grain of salt and treat him like a really good fiction author" I tell her
"Oh, so there's no point in getting his autograph?" she asks
"What? Of course there is. He might be a potential con artist, but he's still famous. You're a mundane born so you don't have many galleons for supplies do you?" I ask her
"Umm no. My parents aren't that well off" she replies looking down in embarrassment
"Well then take all these'' I pull out a new copy of all his books from my expanded pouch and hand them to her "and get him to sign all of them. You can sell them for quite a lot, and get some extra money"
She looks at me in contemplation and then grabs the lot and joins the line
"You too Ginny" I tell her as I pull out another set of books and hand it to her
"What? But I don't.." she starts but I interrupt her
"Next time you want to buy something and Molly doesn't let you, you can use it to treat yourself. And I know you still enjoy his books even if it's as a good storybook"
"Oh, okay" and with that she follows Mary
"Why did you have two sets of his books?" Luna asks me with a teasing smile
"Well you never know when you need kindling for a fire" I smile back at her
"You're a witch, you don't need kindling"
"Shut up"
Like I said they are really good and well written books if you ignore the fact that Lockhart is a fraud.
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-Herbology-
"Professor Sprout! I have some questions" I call out to the elderly witch
"Yes Alex?" she says walking over to me
"It's about the soil. Do you use any special fertiliser for the soil? From what I can feel the texture, the smell, everything is different from the soil outdoors" I ask, all the Hogwarts books on herbology only go into how to take care of a plant, and how to harvest it.
"Well there are some plants that require special soil that needs to be imported from overseas, but this is just normal soil from the Hogwarts field, and there's nothing added to it"
"Hmm so the process of growing the plants itself changes the soil" I note "do you know if magical plants need high concentration of Magic to grow or if soil in a magic saturated area is enough for them?"
"Well we know that magical plants require magic to grow, that's what the purpose of this greenhouse is" she explains waving her hand around "they concentrate magic for the plants to use. The greenhouses in fact are the most magical areas in Hogwarts"
"Interesting, what about light? Could enough magic overcome lack of light? Or air?"
"Hmm I'm not sure"
"It probably could from what I can tell"
"How do you figure that?" she asks
"Well magic can already substitute for some things. All plants need nutrients in the soil to grow, and each plant is different as to what nutrients it needs. I doubt the Hogwarts soil has all the different types of nutrients. The fact that you can grow almost all plants in the same soil means it's getting the nutrients from somewhere else. I think that's why it needs magic, it substitutes the missing nutrients with it. And some of these plants are naturally found in warmer climates, so the fact they can grow fine in the UK with its generally cold weather means magic is again mitigating that need. It stands to reason then that with enough magic the plants can grow without air and light"
"I'm sure someone would've reported s phenomenon like that though"
"Well not if it requires a lot of magic. Hogwarts is one of the most magical places on earth, but you still need to water the plants, give it light and air etc. So maybe the plants can use just magic to grow, but they need a ridiculous amount to forgo the need of the essentials, maybe I'll look into it when I'm free" she looks at me funny at that statement and shakes her head
"Well take 10 points for Ravenclaw for asking questions and thinking outside the box" and walks off with confusion marring her face
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-Flying Lesson-
"Remember to firmly grab into the broom handle. One hand at the top and one behind it. And then kick off the floor, but with not too much strength" Madam Hooch shouts out to all the first years. There's a mixture of students who are confident and are telling exaggerated tales of all their escapades. Then there are those who are too scared to even touch the broom. And the ones in between are slowly floating off the ground.
"Ms Knight, I know that apples taste nice, but maybe you can eat it after the lesson?" Madam Hooch asks with a stern glare pointed at me. Passive aggressive much.
"Sure" I replied. I step next to the old Hogwarts broom and mentally command it into my right hand, with my apple still held in my left. I step over it and proceed to fly off at top speed towards the castle, doing both horizontal and vertical loops, and sharp turns. I then decide to go straight up and the nosedive towards the ground, whilst doing a corkscrew maneuver and right before I hit the ground I pull up and come to a stop, floating a bit above the ground. I can see all the first years, apart from Ginny and Luna, giving me an awed look. I decide to just lie down on the floating broom and continue eating my apple.
"MISS KNIGHT!" madam hooch screeches at me "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS!? YOU COULD'VE DIED"
"Eh, she's done much worse before" Luna replies cheekily
"Sigh, never do that again. It could've been bad. Not to mention some of the other first years might try to emulate you"
"Oops?"
"just forget about it. 10 points from ravenclaw for reckless behaviour. 15 to ravenclaw for a masterful display of skills'' she says to me "Have you thought about playing quidditch? A recommendation from me means you can try out for a position despite being a first year"
"Nah, not interested in quidditch. How about Ginny though?" I say pointing at her, who's casually flying about. If Harry can get seeker on his natural talent in his first year, then Ginny can do a hell of a lot better with the training I've been giving her
"I'm sure she's talented but I don't think it might be enough"
"Sigh, HEY GIN!" I shout at her
"What's up?" she says landing next to us
"Madam Hooch says if you can impress her, she'll recommend you for quidditch tryout so you don't have wait until next year"
"REALLY!?" she asks madam hooch with stars in her eyes "YOU MEAN THAT?"
"Y-yeah" Madam Hooch replies taking a step away from her
"Awesome! What do you want me to do?"
"Well how about you catch this snitch?" I tell her, taking one out from my expanded pouch
"Sure!" She replies
"Seriously! Why do you have so much random stuff in your pouch?" Luna interrupts before I can release the snitch
"What? I wanted to study the enchantments on it. With how famous quidditch is, they put some of the most masterful enchantments on the equipment"
And with that I release the snitch, and not long after Ginny takes off after it. The snitch heads to some of the trees dotting the black lake, and flies through them. Ginny follows, weaving between the trees with a masterful display of agility, and then flies upwards to follow the snitch out of the treeline. The snitch doubles back over her head and starts heading back to the field. Instead of stopping and doing a wide maneuver to turn herself around, she just does half a vertical loop so she's following the snitch upside down. She then does a corkscrew to get herself right way up.
She chases the snitch for another 30 seconds, zipping all over the field in a zigzag pattern, and heads straight towards the castle wall.
Right before she and the snitch can hit the wall she reaches out and grabs it, and does a sharp turn upwards and flies back to us.
"SO HOW DID I DO?" she asks Madam Hooch before she can even step off the broom
"Wonderful! Another 15 points to ravenclaw" she replies joyfully " I'll tell your head of house. The ravenclaw tryouts are this Saturday afternoon. Make sure you arrive on time"
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-POV CHANGE -
"THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!" Ginny shouts at Alex as they enter their dorm and pulls her into a hug "AHHH, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I GET TO TRY OUT FOR THE TEAM"
"Ahem" Luna says with a pout on her face
"Oh, sorry" Ginny replies with a blush and leans into her ear "don't worry, I won't steal her from you" she says teasingly, prompting Luna to blush heavily
"Ah so that's why you guys do it, it is fun" she continues seeing Luna's face "but I do get why you like her so much" she says to her in a teasing whisper once more
"Shut it" Luna replies pinching the girl
"Ouch!"
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