SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Harry Potter: Discovery for a new student

Wolf · 10-03-2011, 07:59 PM

Wow, always nice to get replies to a story one is writing.

Thanks to all of you who have replied here or sent me a VM. LilyJames, you shall find out his house in this chapter.

Again, this story is already finished but going through it again, I've seen a number of things I can improve so I'm going through it chapter by chapter and rewriting where needed.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 2: Golden eyes

Yannick let out a groan of despair and smacked his head on his book, that laid on the table of the common room.

Life is just not fair! he thought, Why is it that I understand and can do most of what I learn here and yet be such a dunce when it comes to transfiguration?

He kept his forehead on the book, All about transfiguration, that he had borrowed earlier that day from the school's library. His ears picked up a giggle on his left side and he turned his head towards the sound to see a small group of first year girls sitting in a corner talking to each other and giggling.

I wonder what those four are talking about, he wondered.

His eyes took notice of a blonde one in the group which he knew was named Sasha Seriam. She had been sorted into Hufflepuff right before him during the sorting ceremony at the welcoming feast. The sorting hat had also chosen to get him into Hufflepuff as well but after now two weeks, Yannick was still at a loss to understand the reason. He did not think that Hufflepuff was a bad house either. The other students had mostly accepted him and he had gotten along well with professor Sprout, the head of the house and herbology teacher. He had promised her to ask his father to send her a copy of his work on the restoration of a French enchanted forest. The common room itself was quite spacious. Its entrance was on his left and a big fireplace behind him had an everlasting fire burning in it, brightly lighting the room. The tone of the room was gold and black, the colors of the Hufflepuff house. He rested his head on his chair's headrest and sighed. His eyes took notice of the chandeliers spaced evenly on the wall in front of him, three branches with a burning candle on each and the Hufflepuff badger engraved where the three branches met. A big coat of arms was in the centre of the wall, and in fact right in front of where he sat. The animated badger and the flapping Hufflepuff banner at the centre of the coat of arms made it look quite impressive.

He heard some noise behind him and saw that Sean, a fellow Hufflepuff he had become friend with, was playing a game of chess with another 6th year, Ernie MacMillan, on the round table at the centre of the room, right in front of the fireplace. Sean's tower had just been taken by Ernie's knight and he looked worried about the way his chess defense was going.

He closed the transfiguration book and stretched, only to let out a little yelp of pain from a pain in his back.

Merlin's beard! he thought, his right hand massaging the sore spot. Only two weeks into the term and I already visited the hospital wing. It will be a miracle that I survive the year.

He cast his thoughts onto what had caused his visit to the hospital wing. A week after having arrived, he was hurrying to attend his next class. He had had to go back to his common room to get a book he had forgotten and had been hurrying down the staircase only to be hit by something hard in the back of his head. He had then fallen down the stairs and fell flat on his face at the bottom, right in front of some Slytherins that had been going to their potion class. That group had started to laugh at his mishap and he would have had only a bruised honor if he had not received his school bag in the back right when he was starting to rise up again. That had knocked him out cold and he had awaken in the hospital wing, his back still throbbing with pain. He had found out afterwards from Sean, that it was Peeves that had taken him for target practice as he was going down the stairs and what had hit him had been a cricket ball.

"Bloody ghost is a menace if you ask me," Sean had said to Yannick, who had heartily agreed.

He looked at his watch and saw that he had still two whole hours before the curfew.

I am not getting anything done right now. He thought picking up his homework things. Let's see how Sean is doing on his game.

He stood up with his things and passed by the armchair where Sean was sitting, considering his next move. He took a look at the way the game was going, Sean was in a very awkward position and Ernie could get him mate in a few moves.

Except if... Yannick thought and bent down to whisper to Sean's ear “White bishop to E4. That should get him off your back for a bit. And do protect your King, it is completely undefended" He added with a wink.

Sean looked at the board and gave a small smile. "Thanks," he whispered back.

"No problem," Yannick answered, before to settle on a nearby seat to watch the game.

On his way there he heard Ernie complaining of the move that Sean had just made.

"Hey no fair!" he said, "How can I win if he helps you out when you are in trouble?"

"That's what friends are for Ernie," Sean replied.

Yannick smiled internally at that remark and looked on. Sean acted on his advice to protect his king, which made Ernie mutter a curse.

“I'll get you for this Silverleaf,” he said on a threatening tone.

“If you mean on a chess game, you're on, but not tonight,” Yannick replied, grinning.

In the time he had been at Hogwarts, he had found most of his other 6th years Hufflepuff dormmates enjoyed playing chess games, the boy Zacharia Smith being the only one who did not see any fun in it. He knew from the games he had played and watched that Sean was at the same level than Ernie, while Justin Finch-Fletchley was better than both. Wayne Hopkins was trailing behind them but he was gradually getting better, especially since his chess set was gaining confidence in the one controlling them. Yannick was as around Justin's level, having lately been able to beat both Sean and Ernie.

As he looked on the game he thought again of the letter he had received from his mother two days before. They had settled in London and work was apparently keeping both of them busy. St Mungo's had registered an increase of magical injuries on Muggles and wizards alike and his father was right now investigating on a new breed of plant that had started to appear in certain places of London. Other than that it had been work as usual for them. He had answered her with a long letter describing Hogwarts and the different things he had discovered during the first two weeks, his sorting into the Hufflepuff house and the rest although he had purposely left out his trip to the hospital wing.

Mum would have yanked me out of the school in an instant had she learned about her poor Nickie falling down stairs after being attacked by an evil poltergeist, he mused to himself, smiling at his silent remark.

Sean saying check yanked him out of his thoughts. He looked at the board and winced internally. Not a very good move. Sean had used his queen to take the knight that was blocking the line to Ernie's king. What he did not seem to have realized was that that knight was a bait, unprotected and tempting, that hid the real purpose, which Ernie showed by protecting his king with his own queen.

“Check,” he announced.

Sean looked at the board and looked surprised and for a moment seemed at a loss on what to do. Yannick felt sorry for his friend, the game would be over very soon, Ernie needing at most four moves to make it mate. A few minutes after, the game was over and Sean shook hand with Ernie while his disgruntled chess pieces made their way back to their box.

“Good game Ernie,” Yannick said as he stood up, “See? You can still win even if I helped Sean a little,” he added, with a smile.

“Too true,” Ernie replied grinning, “are you sure you are not up for a game?”

“Sorry but no. I need to go outside and take some fresh air before I go nuts and throw my transfiguration homework in the fire.”

“Oh, I'll accompany you a bit,” Sean said, his chess box tucked under his arm, “I'm supposed to meet someone shortly.”

“Right, well, be sure to get back in the common room before the curfew,” Ernie told them, “I'd hate to have to take points from housemates for breaking rules.”

“Sure thing Ernie,” Sean said as he headed to the sixth years dormitory, followed by Yannick.

He left his homework on his bed and retrieved his cloak from his trunk, went out the common room's entrance and headed towards the main hall with Sean. He decided to keep him company as he waited for the person he had to meet. They had been waiting for about five minutes when a group of Ravenclaws entered the hall from outside, chatting amongst themselves and some looking annoyed. Seeing the outfits of some of them, Yannick guessed they were the house's Quidditch team. He saw a slim girl with long brown hair leaving the group and heading towards them. Seeing the smile Sean sported, he knew it was who he was to meet. She was accompanied by another girl of athletic build, with fiery red hair and holding a beater bat in her hands.

The first girl reached Sean and embraced him, sharing a short kiss with him before to pull back and bit and smile.

“I'm glad you came,” she said.

“You know I would never miss a chance to be with you,” Sean replied grinning widely.

Yannick stood back, letting the couple enjoy themselves. The girl's friend had a small smirk as she did the same, looking at them.

After a minute, Sean stood back and turned towards him, keeping a hand around the girl's shoulder.

“Nick, I want you to meet Cynthia Swansson, my girlfriend,” he said, “and her best friend, Alexandra Dewitt. They are both sixth years in Ravenclaw, obviously, and Alex is a beater on their team. Girls, this is,”

“Yannick Silverleaf,” Cynthia completed for her boyfriend, “we were at the welcoming feast too Sean. We saw him getting sorted. Pleasure to meet you Yannick,” she added.

“Here too,” Alexandra agreed.

“Pleasure is all mine,” Yannick replied, making a courteous bow.

“So, you're the new French student some third years are talking about the whole time. Heard one of them beat you at wizard chess." Alexandra said with a smile, pushing a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Well, I am not that bad either... he was pretty good though," He answered, a bit embarrassed.

"He's definitely good," Sean said, “beat both myself and Ernie. Only Justin managed to beat him so far.”

“And that third year,” Yannick added.

“A humble one, interesting,” Cynthia said with a chuckle.

“How are you liking Hufflepuff?” Alexandra asked.

“It is a very good house,” Yannick replied, “I was surprised the hat put me there at first but now that I got to know it and the people in it, I feel right at home.”

“Glad to hear that,” Alexandra said.

“Say, how come the team is back already?” Sean asked Alexandra, “I thought you guys had practice tonight.”

"Oh, we thought so too,” Alexandra replied, “However, we found out that Professor Snape had booked the field for the whole evening for the Slytherin team.”

“Again? They had it booked yesterday too,” Sean said, “Our team could not train because of it.”

“Think Snape cares about that?” Cynthia asked.

“Good point.”

“Well, I guess I'm going to leave you to take some fresh air,” Yannick said, “I've been trying for the past hour or so to pound transfiguration spells in my head and I definitely need it," he added, ”Sean, I'll see you back at the common room. Ladies, again, a pleasure meeting you both.”

“See you Nick,” Sean said.

“I'm heading back out too,” he heard Alexandra, say as he neared the doors, “I still want to practice.”

She soon was walking down the path next to him as he headed towards the forest.

“Not planning to go in there are you?” she asked him, “The forbidden in its name is there for a reason you know.”

“I know, I was more planning to go around the lake or something,” Yannick replied, “what about you? How are you planning to train with the beater club?”

“I usually summon stones towards me and hit them with the club, aiming at where I want to send them. It is a bit hard to hex and beat at the same time though."

"Yeah... I can imagine," he said with a smile. Taking out his wand he added. "Tell you what, why don't I hex the stones towards you and you hit them of?"

She stopped a minute to think. “I think that could be fine. Are you good at making objects fly?"

"Me? Absolutely!" he answered "It is transfiguration I can't master yet. I literally blew up the tea pot I had to change into a duck last lesson! Earned me some extra homework."

She giggled. "Yeah, I remember that one. Professor McGonagall was not too happy," she added, "let's do this, we still have about an hour before we need to head back to the castle."

They set out to practice, Yannick levitating stones one at the time and sending them at different angles towards Alexandra and she hitting them away. A few flew in his direction at some point but a good protego spell deflected each of them.

"Sorry!" he heard her say after he deflected another stone.

"It's okay," he answered "Makes me practice this spell at the same time."

They continued the practice, Alexandra sending the stones flying towards the forbidden forest. Yannick had his back turned and both where oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by two golden eyes.

The sun was starting to set and Alexandra decided to call it off for the day. She had just called time out and Yannick was starting to walk towards her when she saw a dark shape leaping out of the forest and charging him.

"YANNICK! BEHIND YOU!!!" she screamed, reaching for her wand.

He spun around, his wand at the ready, and only had the time to see the black shape bearing down on him at full speed. He then felt a hit in the chest and was falling on his back. He tried to get away but the dark shape was keeping him on the ground, its two golden eyes looking into his own.

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Thanks for reading and for your feedback.

*Wolf*

["Discovery for a new student" © "Wolf" / "17 September 2004"/ reposted "27 September 2011"]

10-03-2011, 07:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
Wolf Horklump Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 36	Wow, always nice to get replies to a story one is writing. Thanks to all of you who have replied here or sent me a VM. LilyJames, you shall find out his house in this chapter. Again, this story is already finished but going through it again, I've seen a number of things I can improve so I'm going through it chapter by chapter and rewriting where needed. Hope you enjoy this chapter. ------------- Chapter 2: Golden eyes Yannick let out a groan of despair and smacked his head on his book, that laid on the table of the common room. Life is just not fair! he thought, Why is it that I understand and can do most of what I learn here and yet be such a dunce when it comes to transfiguration? He kept his forehead on the book, All about transfiguration, that he had borrowed earlier that day from the school's library. His ears picked up a giggle on his left side and he turned his head towards the sound to see a small group of first year girls sitting in a corner talking to each other and giggling. I wonder what those four are talking about, he wondered. His eyes took notice of a blonde one in the group which he knew was named Sasha Seriam. She had been sorted into Hufflepuff right before him during the sorting ceremony at the welcoming feast. The sorting hat had also chosen to get him into Hufflepuff as well but after now two weeks, Yannick was still at a loss to understand the reason. He did not think that Hufflepuff was a bad house either. The other students had mostly accepted him and he had gotten along well with professor Sprout, the head of the house and herbology teacher. He had promised her to ask his father to send her a copy of his work on the restoration of a French enchanted forest. The common room itself was quite spacious. Its entrance was on his left and a big fireplace behind him had an everlasting fire burning in it, brightly lighting the room. The tone of the room was gold and black, the colors of the Hufflepuff house. He rested his head on his chair's headrest and sighed. His eyes took notice of the chandeliers spaced evenly on the wall in front of him, three branches with a burning candle on each and the Hufflepuff badger engraved where the three branches met. A big coat of arms was in the centre of the wall, and in fact right in front of where he sat. The animated badger and the flapping Hufflepuff banner at the centre of the coat of arms made it look quite impressive. He heard some noise behind him and saw that Sean, a fellow Hufflepuff he had become friend with, was playing a game of chess with another 6th year, Ernie MacMillan, on the round table at the centre of the room, right in front of the fireplace. Sean's tower had just been taken by Ernie's knight and he looked worried about the way his chess defense was going. He closed the transfiguration book and stretched, only to let out a little yelp of pain from a pain in his back. Merlin's beard! he thought, his right hand massaging the sore spot. Only two weeks into the term and I already visited the hospital wing. It will be a miracle that I survive the year. He cast his thoughts onto what had caused his visit to the hospital wing. A week after having arrived, he was hurrying to attend his next class. He had had to go back to his common room to get a book he had forgotten and had been hurrying down the staircase only to be hit by something hard in the back of his head. He had then fallen down the stairs and fell flat on his face at the bottom, right in front of some Slytherins that had been going to their potion class. That group had started to laugh at his mishap and he would have had only a bruised honor if he had not received his school bag in the back right when he was starting to rise up again. That had knocked him out cold and he had awaken in the hospital wing, his back still throbbing with pain. He had found out afterwards from Sean, that it was Peeves that had taken him for target practice as he was going down the stairs and what had hit him had been a cricket ball. "Bloody ghost is a menace if you ask me," Sean had said to Yannick, who had heartily agreed. He looked at his watch and saw that he had still two whole hours before the curfew. I am not getting anything done right now. He thought picking up his homework things. Let's see how Sean is doing on his game. He stood up with his things and passed by the armchair where Sean was sitting, considering his next move. He took a look at the way the game was going, Sean was in a very awkward position and Ernie could get him mate in a few moves. Except if... Yannick thought and bent down to whisper to Sean's ear “White bishop to E4. That should get him off your back for a bit. And do protect your King, it is completely undefended" He added with a wink. Sean looked at the board and gave a small smile. "Thanks," he whispered back. "No problem," Yannick answered, before to settle on a nearby seat to watch the game. On his way there he heard Ernie complaining of the move that Sean had just made. "Hey no fair!" he said, "How can I win if he helps you out when you are in trouble?" "That's what friends are for Ernie," Sean replied. Yannick smiled internally at that remark and looked on. Sean acted on his advice to protect his king, which made Ernie mutter a curse. “I'll get you for this Silverleaf,” he said on a threatening tone. “If you mean on a chess game, you're on, but not tonight,” Yannick replied, grinning. In the time he had been at Hogwarts, he had found most of his other 6th years Hufflepuff dormmates enjoyed playing chess games, the boy Zacharia Smith being the only one who did not see any fun in it. He knew from the games he had played and watched that Sean was at the same level than Ernie, while Justin Finch-Fletchley was better than both. Wayne Hopkins was trailing behind them but he was gradually getting better, especially since his chess set was gaining confidence in the one controlling them. Yannick was as around Justin's level, having lately been able to beat both Sean and Ernie. As he looked on the game he thought again of the letter he had received from his mother two days before. They had settled in London and work was apparently keeping both of them busy. St Mungo's had registered an increase of magical injuries on Muggles and wizards alike and his father was right now investigating on a new breed of plant that had started to appear in certain places of London. Other than that it had been work as usual for them. He had answered her with a long letter describing Hogwarts and the different things he had discovered during the first two weeks, his sorting into the Hufflepuff house and the rest although he had purposely left out his trip to the hospital wing. Mum would have yanked me out of the school in an instant had she learned about her poor Nickie falling down stairs after being attacked by an evil poltergeist, he mused to himself, smiling at his silent remark. Sean saying check yanked him out of his thoughts. He looked at the board and winced internally. Not a very good move. Sean had used his queen to take the knight that was blocking the line to Ernie's king. What he did not seem to have realized was that that knight was a bait, unprotected and tempting, that hid the real purpose, which Ernie showed by protecting his king with his own queen. “Check,” he announced. Sean looked at the board and looked surprised and for a moment seemed at a loss on what to do. Yannick felt sorry for his friend, the game would be over very soon, Ernie needing at most four moves to make it mate. A few minutes after, the game was over and Sean shook hand with Ernie while his disgruntled chess pieces made their way back to their box. “Good game Ernie,” Yannick said as he stood up, “See? You can still win even if I helped Sean a little,” he added, with a smile. “Too true,” Ernie replied grinning, “are you sure you are not up for a game?” “Sorry but no. I need to go outside and take some fresh air before I go nuts and throw my transfiguration homework in the fire.” “Oh, I'll accompany you a bit,” Sean said, his chess box tucked under his arm, “I'm supposed to meet someone shortly.” “Right, well, be sure to get back in the common room before the curfew,” Ernie told them, “I'd hate to have to take points from housemates for breaking rules.” “Sure thing Ernie,” Sean said as he headed to the sixth years dormitory, followed by Yannick. He left his homework on his bed and retrieved his cloak from his trunk, went out the common room's entrance and headed towards the main hall with Sean. He decided to keep him company as he waited for the person he had to meet. They had been waiting for about five minutes when a group of Ravenclaws entered the hall from outside, chatting amongst themselves and some looking annoyed. Seeing the outfits of some of them, Yannick guessed they were the house's Quidditch team. He saw a slim girl with long brown hair leaving the group and heading towards them. Seeing the smile Sean sported, he knew it was who he was to meet. She was accompanied by another girl of athletic build, with fiery red hair and holding a beater bat in her hands. The first girl reached Sean and embraced him, sharing a short kiss with him before to pull back and bit and smile. “I'm glad you came,” she said. “You know I would never miss a chance to be with you,” Sean replied grinning widely. Yannick stood back, letting the couple enjoy themselves. The girl's friend had a small smirk as she did the same, looking at them. After a minute, Sean stood back and turned towards him, keeping a hand around the girl's shoulder. “Nick, I want you to meet Cynthia Swansson, my girlfriend,” he said, “and her best friend, Alexandra Dewitt. They are both sixth years in Ravenclaw, obviously, and Alex is a beater on their team. Girls, this is,” “Yannick Silverleaf,” Cynthia completed for her boyfriend, “we were at the welcoming feast too Sean. We saw him getting sorted. Pleasure to meet you Yannick,” she added. “Here too,” Alexandra agreed. “Pleasure is all mine,” Yannick replied, making a courteous bow. “So, you're the new French student some third years are talking about the whole time. Heard one of them beat you at wizard chess." Alexandra said with a smile, pushing a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. "Well, I am not that bad either... he was pretty good though," He answered, a bit embarrassed. "He's definitely good," Sean said, “beat both myself and Ernie. Only Justin managed to beat him so far.” “And that third year,” Yannick added. “A humble one, interesting,” Cynthia said with a chuckle. “How are you liking Hufflepuff?” Alexandra asked. “It is a very good house,” Yannick replied, “I was surprised the hat put me there at first but now that I got to know it and the people in it, I feel right at home.” “Glad to hear that,” Alexandra said. “Say, how come the team is back already?” Sean asked Alexandra, “I thought you guys had practice tonight.” "Oh, we thought so too,” Alexandra replied, “However, we found out that Professor Snape had booked the field for the whole evening for the Slytherin team.” “Again? They had it booked yesterday too,” Sean said, “Our team could not train because of it.” “Think Snape cares about that?” Cynthia asked. “Good point.” “Well, I guess I'm going to leave you to take some fresh air,” Yannick said, “I've been trying for the past hour or so to pound transfiguration spells in my head and I definitely need it," he added, ”Sean, I'll see you back at the common room. Ladies, again, a pleasure meeting you both.” “See you Nick,” Sean said. “I'm heading back out too,” he heard Alexandra, say as he neared the doors, “I still want to practice.” She soon was walking down the path next to him as he headed towards the forest. “Not planning to go in there are you?” she asked him, “The forbidden in its name is there for a reason you know.” “I know, I was more planning to go around the lake or something,” Yannick replied, “what about you? How are you planning to train with the beater club?” “I usually summon stones towards me and hit them with the club, aiming at where I want to send them. It is a bit hard to hex and beat at the same time though." "Yeah... I can imagine," he said with a smile. Taking out his wand he added. "Tell you what, why don't I hex the stones towards you and you hit them of?" She stopped a minute to think. “I think that could be fine. Are you good at making objects fly?" "Me? Absolutely!" he answered "It is transfiguration I can't master yet. I literally blew up the tea pot I had to change into a duck last lesson! Earned me some extra homework." She giggled. "Yeah, I remember that one. Professor McGonagall was not too happy," she added, "let's do this, we still have about an hour before we need to head back to the castle." They set out to practice, Yannick levitating stones one at the time and sending them at different angles towards Alexandra and she hitting them away. A few flew in his direction at some point but a good protego spell deflected each of them. "Sorry!" he heard her say after he deflected another stone. "It's okay," he answered "Makes me practice this spell at the same time." They continued the practice, Alexandra sending the stones flying towards the forbidden forest. Yannick had his back turned and both where oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by two golden eyes. The sun was starting to set and Alexandra decided to call it off for the day. She had just called time out and Yannick was starting to walk towards her when she saw a dark shape leaping out of the forest and charging him. "YANNICK! BEHIND YOU!!!" she screamed, reaching for her wand. He spun around, his wand at the ready, and only had the time to see the black shape bearing down on him at full speed. He then felt a hit in the chest and was falling on his back. He tried to get away but the dark shape was keeping him on the ground, its two golden eyes looking into his own. ------------- Thanks for reading and for your feedback. Wolf ["Discovery for a new student" © "Wolf" / "17 September 2004"/ reposted "27 September 2011"]