Power of the Musea

Chapter 7: Home Sweet Hogwarts

Melanie didn't remember going to sleep, but she woke up when her alarm went off at seven. She sat up in bed and looked around her. She looked down hopefully at the foot of the bed to see if her trunk was there, waiting for her to take it with her back to Hogwarts. It wasn't.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked herself as she slowly walked downstairs. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, fully dressed, sipping on a hot cup of tea.

"Good morning," Melanie greeted slowly, walking to fix herself a bowl of cereal. She kept glancing back behind her, waiting for her mother to say something.

Her mother just nodded and continued to drink her tea. Melanie sat down and started to eat her breakfast, trying to keep herself calm and keep her excited hands from shaking.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't ask what your father and I have decided about this switching schools thing the moment you came down here," her mother said after a moment of quiet.

"Well, I didn't know..." Melanie stammered.

Her mother nodded and took another sip of the tea. "We've decided that transferring you to yet another school will just make things worse."

Melanie nodded, not breathing as her mother finished.

"So," her mother paused, "we've decided to send you back to Hogwarts."

Melanie's face instantly broke out into a smile, and some milk dribbled down her chin. She quickly swallowed and wiped off her chin.

Her mother laughed softly. "I thought you'd be excited. Your father's already loaded the trunk into the car, and we will leave for the city as soon as you can get ready."

Melanie hopped out of her chair and started to run upstairs.

"You need to finish your cereal first," her mother shouted after her, and Melanie slowly turned around and returned to her food. "Don't be in too big of a hurry. It's already one in the afternoon there. You won't be able to attend any classes today, but it should be enough time to settle some issues with Dumbledore and let you get settled back in."

Melanie nodded and ate her cereal as quickly as she could without being too obvious.

Once she had finished her cereal, Melanie changed out of her pajamas and was ready to leave in record time. Simon was just stirring when she and her mother climbed into the car.

The ride into the city seemed to take forever, but soon Melanie found herself in front of the dilapidated old building yet again. The man was still sitting in the corner, but looked at them when they walked in, Melanie's school trunk dragging behind them.

"Going back?" he asked.

Melanie's mother nodded and grabbed a handful of powder from what looked like an urn on the mantel.

"Do they know you're coming? You can't just floo into Hogwarts, they have to arrange it."

"It's all taken care of," her mother assured him as she motioned for Melanie to step into the fire.

Melanie nodded and tossed a handful of the powder into the fire and shouted, "Hogwarts!"

She was surprised when she didn't find herself in Dumbledore's office.

"Yes, Miss Harver. We've been expecting you." Professor McGonagall looked up at her from behind her desk.

"Where is Professor Dumbledore?"

"Gone on business, so I am to arrange your return to classes here," she said quickly, standing up as Melanie's mother and trunk came out of the fire.

"Professor McGonagall," her mother greeted.

"Mrs. Harver. You are slightly early."

"Melanie could barely move fast enough when I told her she was coming back."

McGonagall nodded. "That is good, though, because I have a class I must teach shortly and now I have more time to discuss the issues at hand."

"And there are several..." McGonagall continued, looking sternly at Melanie.

"I want to be positively sure that Melanie is absolutely safe here," Melanie's mother interrupted.

Professor McGonagall gave her a stern look, then nodded. "Our first priority is Melanie's safety, of course."

"You are sure that we are not putting her in any more danger by allowing her to study here?"

"Of course, Mrs. Harver. We have taken numerous precautions; your worries are not necessary.

"But neither are they avoidable," her mother returned. She sighed and looked at Melanie. "I expect to be kept fully informed. If I even suspect that Melanie's in danger, I'll be here to take her back home."

"Mrs. Harver, we have hundreds of students here at Hogwarts, and they are all under the highest amount of protection that we can give them. Melanie is perfectly safe."

Melanie's mother nodded disbelievingly and turned to Melanie. "Keep me informed of everything that's going on. I expect to hear from you at least once every week."

Melanie sighed. "Okay, Mom."

Her mother gave her a hug and turned to the fireplace. She turned and threw one more look towards Professor McGonagall.

"I'm trusting you to keep my daughter safe."

"And we will, Mrs. Harver," McGonagall returned, slightly exasperated. She and Melanie's mother locked eyes for a moment until Melanie's mother sighed and disappeared in a flash of green fire. McGonagall sighed and turned to Melanie.

"Well, it seems you will join us yet again, Miss Harver," she said, grabbing a few papers off of her desk. "I had asked Professor Flitwick to be here to go over a few things with you, but it seems as though he's been slightly delayed. So, I'll cover a few things until he arrives.

"First of all, since classes are nearly over today, I would suggest that you simply return to the Ravenclaw common room and do not attempt to attend classes until tomorrow. Most of your professors have been kind enough to provide me an overview of what you missed, and I would suggest that you spend this evening reviewing before classes tomorrow. Missing three days of classes isn't something to just toss aside."

"How much did I miss?"

"Three days, Miss Harver. It isn't the end of the world, and I've seen students miss more than twice that due to stays in the hospital wing. However, given the fact that you were already slightly struggling..." McGonagall trailed off. She looked at the papers in her hand. "I was hoping Professor Flitwick would be here to discuss this with you, but if I delay much longer, I will be late for my own class."

As though on cue, an out of breath Professor Flitwick walked in the door.

"Sorry, Minerva, but I had to attend to a group of troublesome first-years."

"That is fine, but we really must finish this before my class," McGonagall said, turning to Melanie. "Now, Melanie, several of your Professors have brought up the thought that you can properly handle your course loads. Of course, missing three days of classes has not helped this situation."

Melanie nodded shyly.

"Now," McGonagall continued, "the Headmaster's suggestion was to pair you off with a private tutor again to help you as necessary, not only with your current homework, but vital information that Miss Granger might have missed in her summer teachings."

Melanie nodded. "I could do that. Who would tutor me?'

"The first choice is Miss Granger herself. Not only does she know your current level of knowledge better than anyone else, she is also the most advanced student currently in this school. Other than utilizing a professor for assistance, she would be the best option."

Melanie nodded enthusiastically. An extra study session with Hermione every day was better than she had expected. "That would be wonderful."

"But I fear that that would not be enough," McGonagall finished, "and the Headmaster agrees that perhaps dropping one of your classes may benefit you, as well."

Melanie's heart dropped.

"That is why Professor Flitwick has been asked to be here. As your Head of House, he must agree to any course alterations."

Melanie simply nodded, not knowing what else to say.

The two professors exchanged looks.

"Well, Melanie, do you have any thought as to which class you would want to drop?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"I don't want to drop potions," Melanie blurted out.

"Now that didn't even cross our minds," McGonagall told her. "Not only was potions the only subject for you to get higher than an acceptable in, but Professor Slughorn has said that you are doing excellent in there. And, Professor Dumbledore has been quite insistent that you continue with defense, especially with current events as they are..." McGonagall took in a deep breath.

Professor Flitwick took up where she had left off. "Now, I believe that that leaves us with charms, transfiguration, and herbology. I also believe that you are noticeably struggling in all three."

"Yes, sir," Melanie agreed softly.

"Yes, well, I highly recommend that you stay with charms. After all, your fa...so far you has shown an aptitude for charms. Without the stress of other classes, your, er, natural ability might come out more," Flitwick stuttered.

McGonagall gave him a look before turning to Melanie. "How do you feel about charms? Is it a class you would want to keep?"

Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "I'd be fine. I like all of my classes, Professor McGonagall, and I'd be happy in any of them."

"Well, in that case I would almost insist that she remain in charms," Flitwick said. McGonagall gave him another look.

"What classes you take does not matter to me, Miss Harver," Professor McGonagall told her. "But you should think about what classes would best benefit you in the future before you make too many final choices."

Melanie looked at her blankly. She had never once wondered about what she would do with everything she was learning at Hogwarts. "Ummm," she stammered, "I don't really know what I want to do. I mean, if Professor Flitwick wants me to be in charms, I'll stay in charms, but I don't know anything about if it will benefit me in the future."

McGonagall sighed. "I don't have enough time to sit here and wait for you to choose a career before deciding which class to drop, and I must know before you leave. Everything with you has been rushed, and I'm afraid of what opportunities it's closing off for you."

There was a silence, and Melanie sighed. "Well, if I decided to stay in charms, that leaves a choice between transfiguration and herbology."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "I don't want to influence your decision, Melanie, but you are very behind in transfiguration and it's only going to get harder."

Melanie nodded, picturing herself back in transfiguration class. Could she see herself doing that after she left Hogwarts? Another image popped into her head: sitting in potions class, a smoking cauldron in front of her. What about potions? Surely someone made potions for a career. The thought made her smile.

"Well..." she began, "doesn't herbology kind of have a lot to do with potions? I mean, wouldn't it make potion brewing easier if you knew about the plants and could grow them yourself?"

A smile crossed McGonagall's face. "Yes. You are being very smart about this Melanie. Do you wish to drop transfiguration, then?"

Melanie looked from McGonagall to Flitwick, who was giving her a supportive nod.

"Yeah, I think so," Melanie agreed, and Flitwick gave a quiet cheer. McGonagall nodded.

"Good. It is decided, then. Now, I have already said that I suggest that you remain in your dormitory for the rest of the afternoon and begin classes as usual tomorrow. Here are the assignments you missed." McGonagall handed her the pile of papers and Flitwick waved his wand and raised her trunk off of the ground.

"If you will follow me, Miss Harver, we will let Professor McGonagall prepare for her class," he announced, magicking her trunk out of the room. Melanie nodded and excitedly followed him out of the room.

She kept waiting to run into some of her friends as she followed Professor Flitwick up to the Ravenclaw common room, excited to see their reactions to her return, but the only students they passed was a group of Gryffindor second years being chased by Peeves.

The Ravenclaw common room was empty when she arrived. She was slightly disappointed as she brought her trunk up to her room and once again placed it next to her bed. She sighed and looked contentedly around the room. She took a deep breath. It felt good to be back.

She finally broke away from her reverie and looked at the stack of papers sitting on her bed. She sighed, grabbed the papers and their corresponding books, and headed down to the common room to review.

"Melanie!!" a voice squealed an hour or so later as the portrait hole opened. Melanie laughed as she tried to surface from Rhonda's giant hug. "You're back!"

"Yup, I'm back." Melanie laughed, pushing aside her books as Rhonda sat down next to her. "My mom brought me back a little while ago."

"I didn't know what had happened. You didn't come back, and Professor Flitwick came to tell me that your parents had taken you out of school, but that was all he said. He didn't explain."

"Were a lot of people surprised?"

Rhonda shrugged her shoulders. "At first. Hermione, Harry, and Ron wanted to know more. But other kid's parents are taking them out of school, too, so..."

"It wasn't a big surprise," Melanie finished.

"Yeah," Rhonda agreed. Her face immediately perked up. "But now you're back! For good, I hope."

Melanie gave her an unsure smile. "I think so. I mean, I should be, but my mom's still worried that I'm in danger, and if something else happens she might come back."

"But you're not in danger! I mean, no more than anyone else here. It's not like they're actually targeting you or something."

Melanie stared at the table.

"Melanie? Is there something I don't know?"

"More like something I don't know." Melanie sighed and looked around, lowering her voice. "I heard my parents talking last night, and...I'm as confused as ever."

"About what?" Rhonda asked, leaning in to listen.

Melanie took a breath. "Well, they wanted me to be back home and for everything to be like it was before London..."

Rhonda laughed. "Like that was going to happen."

"...But the counselor at school said that I needed a change of scenery and wanted me to go to a different school."

"So that's why they sent you back?"

Melanie nodded. "But I heard them talking, and none of it made any sense. My mom didn't seem to think that the attack was random at all."

"But how could it not have been? They didn't know you were a witch, otherwise they wouldn't have used Avada murim. If they had known you were a witch, they would have really killed you. Besides, why would Death Eaters want to attack you anyway? They have bigger fish to fry than a random American muggleborn."

"I don't know. That's why I'm so confused. My mom said something about who I am, and that the Death Eaters must have found out. My dad kept saying that nobody knew, and that I was safe."

"Who you are? Melanie, you're confusing me! Why would Death Eaters care about an American muggleborn! I mean, sure, you're a muggleborn and all, but the way you're talking it's like there's something else..."

Melanie looked at her sadly. "I wish I could tell you. All I know is that my mom thinks there was a reason I was attacked, and she's scared that somebody will find out who I am."

Rhonda looked at her blankly for a minute, lost in thought. "What could there be about you that would make Death Eaters want to attack you?"

Melanie shrugged. "I don't know, either. I'm just as confused as you are."

Rhonda thought for a moment. "I mean, the only person our age that I can see the Death Eaters going after is Harry, and that's just because..." she trailed off. "That's it!"

"What?" Melanie asked.

"Well, the Death Eaters are after Harry..."

"No! Rhonda, I've lived in New York all of my life. I have no history in England that would make the Death Eaters come after me," Melanie interrupted.

"Will you let me finish?" Rhonda asked. Melanie sighed and nodded. "Well, at the end of last year, Harry, Ron, and all of them were involved with something at the Ministry of Magic with a whole bunch of Death Eaters. The Daily Prophet's been full this summer with stuff about prophecies and all that, saying that the reason You-Know-Who is after Harry is because there's a prophecy that says that Harry is the one who will defeat him."

Melanie's eyes widened. "Really? So it's not just because Harry survived his attack?"

Rhonda shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I mean, it's just a theory. My mom says it's pure fantasy. But it does make some form of sense..."

Melanie was silent for a minute and Rhonda looked at her.

"You can't be that surprised. I mean, if Harry has enough power in him to defeat the killing curse, don't you think he might be able to defeat You-Know-Who?"

"I guess so," Melanie admitted, "but I guess I just never put two and two together. I mean, I first heard about Harry through Hermione talking about him and Ron. I've just never thought of him as...so much responsibility...and he's only our age..."

Rhonda looked at her curiously and sighed. "Well, let's not talk about that. What were we talking about?"

"I don't know...we were talking about why the Death Eaters might have attacked me..." Melanie suggested.

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Rhonda exclaimed, sitting up enthusiastically. "But, if the Death Eaters are after Harry because of a prophecy, then maybe they're after you for the same reason!"

Melanie looked at her unbelievingly. "A prophecy about me?"

"It's a theory," Rhonda defended herself.

"It doesn't make any sense."

"It does too make sense! How else could the Death Eaters be after you when nobody even knew you were a witch?"

"Well, if there was a prophecy, how would they even know who I was? They had never seen me before."

Rhonda's face fell. "Oh. I hadn't thought about that. How could they have even been after you if they hadn't seen you before to recognize you?" Her face scrunched up in concentration as a thought popped into Melanie's head.

"Wait, my parents said something last night," Melanie said slowly. "My dad was saying something about how could the Death Eaters have even known who I was..."

"Yes?" Rhonda asked anxiously.

"My mom seemed to think that there was no way that they couldn't know. Oh, how did she put it? 'You take one look at her face and see Rimian.'" Melanie shook her head. "I don't know what she was talking about."

"That sounds like a name," Rhonda said, looking at her thoughtfully. "Melanie, are you certain your parents are actually your parents?"

"You mean, am I adopted?" Melanie asked indignantly. "Of course they're my parents!"

"Well, maybe..."

"Rhonda, I think I'd know if they weren't my real parents!"

"Maybe they didn't tell you!" Rhonda blurted out. Melanie shook her head.

"Rhonda, no. I look too much like them, especially my mother. People confuse us all of the time. How could they not be my parents?"

"Then, who is Rimian? And why do you look like him?"

"I don't know, maybe Rimian is a what."

"I've never heard that term before. And what could your parents be talking about, especially since they're muggles." Rhonda eyed her again. "You are sure that they're muggles?"

Melanie nodded exasperatedly. "Yes. Trust me. Besides, why would anyone choose to live life without magic, anyway?"

Rhonda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I've heard of stranger things happening."

Melanie shook her head. "I don't know."