History Lessons

Chapter Two

"You as Head Boy? I wouldn't have guessed," said a voice ahead.

Lily paused. She stood in a passageway, hidden behind a tapestry. Junia hadn't shown up for lunch, and was missing even from the library; as Junia had stayed up till midnight the previous night finishing her herbology essay, Lily suspected that her roommate was re-doing the assignment so she intended to stop her before she got too far. Junia's special Cauldrons Café cookies were caffeinated and therefore ideal in late-night study sessions, but had a nasty side-effect of amnesia.

Now Lily stood stock-still in familiar passageway that led to the seventh floor, listening closely as another voice spoke.

"Come on, Ev, let's go down to lunch," it said, and Lily recognized it as belonging to her own brother, Albus. The tapestry in front of her was pulled open.

"Lily!" Albus exclaimed. "What're you doing?"

"I left my homework in my dormitory," she fibbed.

He frowned. "Maybe I should go get it for you..."

"Honestly, I'm not a first year," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't worry; I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Al, I thought you wanted to leave?" said Everard Macmillan, standing beside Albus.

Lily stepped into the corridor and immediately noticed a lack of Malfoy. Wasn't that who they were talking to?

Albus and Everard disappeared and Lily resumed her walk to Gryffindor tower. Where was Malfoy hiding? From all his talk the previous day about secret passageways, maybe he knew of one that she didn't.

No such luck.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked before she could stop herself. He was standing as before, casually leaning against a wall. Lily had turned the corner onto the corridor that led in one direction to the Fat Lady and, in the other, the stairs to the first floor and the strange patch of stone she'd noticed the day before. It seemed odd that Malfoy should appear in the same strange location twice in two days and both while she was present.

"Just wandering," he replied. "Nothing you haven't done before, I'm sure." He cut a sharp glance her way.

Lily wouldn't normally set any stock by that comment, but the accompanying glare caught her off-guard.

"Have you been spying on me, Malfoy?"

"Don't worry, Potter, I have other ways to spend my time."

"Oh really? What, such as hovering about a seventh floor corridor that you really don't have any business being in at all?"

"And how would you know if I've got business here?" He smirked and Lily felt the urge to hit him suddenly rise.

"Unless you've got some hitherto unknown Gryffindor mates --"

"Oh, good God, no."

"Go to hell, Malfoy," she said, and added, smirking, "or, better yet, go back to Slytherin --"

"And I thought Gryffindors were for inter-house equality?" Malfoy asked, finally standing straight and walking toward her.

"See, that's the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin," Lily said lightly, watching cautiously as he slowly approached. "Gryffindor only can't stand Slytherin and Slytherin hates everyone."

Malfoy stopped, thinking. "Well, now, that can't be right. I mean...well, Hufflepuff, obviously, and Gryffindor -- everyone would be better without Gryffindor--but Ravenclaw's not -- not --" And he stopped in mid-sentence, mouth hanging open, in the most comical expression Lily had ever seen on his face. Only a split second later, though, he regained his composure and smirked again. "Well, never mind about Ravenclaw."

Lily whirled around to see Phoebe Scamander walking toward them. Her wand was tucked behind one ear and her neck was weighed down with several chunky necklaces, none of which seemed to be made of anything but corks, broken quills, and carrots. Over one shoulder she carried her bag, a purple and lime green canvas thing bursting with what seemed to be all of her textbooks and several scrolls worth of loose parchment. Even as she walked, scraps fell out and littered the floor behind her. On her other side she had a long hat box tucked under her arm, orange in color, which Lily assumed carried her crown. However, despite what had to be a massive weight, she seemed to float across the stones, looking around and above her with great interest. About ten feet away from Lily and Malfoy, she stopped and stared directly at them.

Lily noticed, uncomfortably, that she'd been staring again, and jumped to attention, taking a step away from Malfoy. "Hello," she said to Phoebe, mustering a smile.

"Oh, hullo," Phoebe replied. "I'm sorry if I've interrupted anything important; I'm just spelunking, if you will...although this can't be a cave, but it's as massive as caves I've seen, and all the more interesting, and yet," she frowned, "severely more populated."

Lily gaped again, but caught herself more quickly this time. "Er, you haven't interrupted anything, no," she said. "Are you lost, or just spelunking?"

"Oh, just spelunking," she replied. "It's a beautiful castle."

"It is," said Lily.

"My name's Phoebe Lorelei Scamander. You've got beautiful colored hair -- both of you."

"Thanks," Lily said, not daring to glance at Malfoy's expression. "I'm Lily."

"Oh, I know," said Phoebe, looking almost surprised that Lily hadn't expected that. "Lily Andromeda Potter...and you're Scorpius, Scorpius Abraxas Malfoy."

Again, Lily didn't turn her head to see his expression behind her -- though it was probably quite entertaining.

"You'll miss lunch if you're just spelunking all hour," offered Lily, hoping that she didn't sound like she was trying to get rid of Phoebe. It wasn't that she didn't like her; it was that being in her presence, especially in this situation, made her feel a little awkward and uncomfortable.

"I've already eaten," said Phoebe. "I've got an entire supply of stewed piscrepo eggs, and I'm sure they'll last me all term."

"Oh...all right," said Lily, wondering what on earth piscrepo could be. "So have you found anything interesting?"

"Oh, yes," she said, nodding eagerly. "There's so much to see, here, and you wouldn't believe the number of chamel-lions I've spotted already; they're supposed to be really rare!"

Lily guessed that a chamel-lion was some sort of cross between a chameleon and a lion, but decided against asking. Phoebe seemed to set much by her beliefs.

"But I'm sorry if I've interrupted," she continued. "I was just glad to see you, Lily. And you, Scorpius. I hope you two aren't quarrelling; though if you need help in settling a dispute, I'd be glad to help. I've learned just the spell to tell right from wrong, but it only works when the moon is full and the stars are aligned so that Orion's belt is at the forty-second and a quarter angle to the highest peak in Scandinavia --"

"Oh, thank you, but he was just leaving," interrupted Lily.

Phoebe beamed. "Wonderful." She set off again down the corridor, past Lily, who turned and saw that her stop at Malfoy. "By the way," she said in a low tone that was still perfectly audible to Lily, "if you're really a Scorpio, you've got to know that fighting will never, ever, ever help. Everything will come back to you. It's all in your horoscope. If you want a copy, actually, The Quibbler does a weekly --"

"I'd rather not, thanks," Malfoy said stiffly as Phoebe dove into her bag, scattering even more parchment onto the floor.

"Oh, well," she said, looking up at him. "You wouldn't believe what you're headed for, anyway." She smiled and continued on and around the corner.

Malfoy stared after her for only a moment before turning back to Lily, making eye contact. Lily stared back, almost daring him to say something about Phoebe; wanting to defend her, though she herself was unsure of what to think.

Finally, Malfoy looked away, stuck his hands in his pockets, and said in an even tone, "That was fucking weird." And he left.

Lily stood still, stunned. Her right hand went feebly toward her wand, but before she could make up her mind, she burst into laughter. She wasn't laughing at Phoebe; but other than that, she could not explain to herself what had come over her. She just laughed.

~

Jocasta pulled off her gloves and did a quick, precautionary scourgify on her hands. Turning around, she was greeted by the sight of Lily and Jordan standing with their hands held out, still gloved and dripping in alihotsy juice.

"Don't you two ever think about safety?" she asked, though she smiled as she scourgify-ed their gloves.

"Of course," said Lily, shaking her hands loose from her gloves. "We do wear these, and they're totally juice-proof."

"Yeah," added Jordan, "we add spells on our wrists, too, just in case. Just because we enjoy ourselves in herbology while you sit there like a nancy --"

The trio left the greenhouse, bickering along the way, with the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years and made the trek back up to the castle. Jocasta and a couple others branched off along the way for Care of Magical Creatures, and Jordan ended up staying behind to finish his badinage with Jocasta. Lily decided that Ancient Runes could wait and stayed back as well. It wasn't that she wasn't looking forward to her first Runes lesson of term, but nearly nothing was as funny as watching Jocasta and Jordan bicker.

They stood on the grassy hill leading up to Hogwarts, Lily facing the castle. Another, older, group of students was now making its way down the hill; Lily recognized her brother, but he was in conversation with Everard. Straggling at the end of this procession was Scorpius Malfoy.

Lily stared as he walked alone, not watching his feet as he walked, straight-backed, down the slope. He looked almost majestic, as though tripping on a clod of grass was beneath his station, an embarrassment suited only to plebes.

"Fine, Briscoe," Jocasta shot.

Lily's eyes snapped away as she heard "Briscoe." All arguments between Jocasta and Jordan ended like this; Briscoe Jordan hated his forename and Jocasta would always pull it out when she wanted to end a quarrel.

"She didn't!" he gasped comically as Jocasta made her way down to the edge of the forest. "Nobody heard that, right?"

"No," said Lily. She glanced back to Malfoy, but he had already made his way past where she and Jordan stood. She was almost disappointed; his sudden presence in her life the past two days had at least made her first days of term interesting.

"Good," continued Jordan. "Because you know I just couldn't stand it if everyone knew my real name."

Lily knew he was joking; everyone knew he was Briscoe Jordan, but few said it out of respect for the generally well-liked Jordan. She also knew that she must look somewhat sad or disturbed; Jordan rarely made jokes that lame and obvious to a fun audience.

So she smiled and strode quickly up the slope to the castle, Jordan hurrying behind her to catch up. They separated on the fourth floor, with Jordan running north for Divination and Lily going east for Runes.

Upon entering the classroom, Lily realized that Scorpius Malfoy wasn't the only interesting phenomenon she'd encountered this term; Phoebe Scamander sat in the front row, hatbox on her desk and vibrant bag at her feet. The desks on either side of her were empty; a Ravenclaw girl stood glaring at her two friends, looking annoyed as she was forced to take one of the seats next to Phoebe.

Ancient Runes for fifth years usually consisted of seven students: five Ravenclaws, one Slytherin, and Lily. Usually, Zabini the Slytherin would sit in the back left corner of the two rows of desks, with the seat next to him empty; the three Ravenclaw girls would sit across the front, leaving the remaining front-row seat for Lily, with the two Ravenclaw boys behind her. However, Phoebe seemed to have thrown the entire arrangement for a loop.

Devon and Leander had arrived first and sat in their usual spots. Upon seeing Phoebe occupying her usual seat, Velma Bradley sat in Zabini's seat. Donna sat next to her, and Kathleen was forced to sit in front of Velma, next to Phoebe. Zabini had taken his seat in front of Leander, where Lily usually sat, leaving her to sit between Zabini and Phoebe, in front of Devon.

It was this sort of confusion that set the tone for the class ahead of them, and, Lily was sure, for the rest of the term.

Professor Stimpson entered the room and almost fell over at the sight of Phoebe. The Ravenclaw girls giggled and shot the professor understanding looks.

"So, how were everyone's summer holidays?" she asked, setting a stack of books on her desk.

"Oh, just wonderful," said Kathleen. "I tried that potion you suggested, Professor, and the results were marvelous!" She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder for emphasis.

"The shine is enough to nearly blind you!" giggled Velma.

"I told you, girls, shine and bounce-ability is what it's all about!" said Professor Stimpson, tossing her own hair over her shoulder. "Now, summer work? Anyone?"

Lily reached into her bag to draw out her essay. Over the rustlings of parchment, Stimpson approached Phoebe. "So, you're new this term?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I am!" said Phoebe.

"And where did you learn before now?"

Lily smoothed her essay out on her desk, attempting to listen to the conversation next to her over the parchment noise, Leander and Devon's argument over Quidditch, and the Ravenclaw trio's exclamation over Velma's new color-changing nail polish. However, straining to hear became quite unnecessary when Phoebe jumped from her seat and said, quite loudly, "Well, I was originally born in Saudi Arabia, so I suppose that's where I learned to breathe."

Leander and Devon abruptly ended their quarrel. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Devon with both hands clasped over his mouth, stopping his laughter.

"My first word was 'Snorking,' and I suppose I learned that in Thailand, as that's where we were at the time, hunting a newly discovered Asian breed of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

Now the Ravenclaw girls were quiet.

"I learned in the Congo how to make my own clothes out of vines."

Kathleen's mouth dropped open.

"I learned how to identify wrackspurt nests in Norway," Phoebe continued. "That is one of my favorite memories. We'd been climbing Mount Epplebourgen for nearly five days, and it was rather cold, and we found what looked like a rock, and it was nearly as big as my head, and my mum told me it was a wrackspurt nest, and we put it back where we found it so that the wrackspurts could breed in peace."

Now she looked around her at the stunned expressions and turned to face her classmates. "I know wrackspurts are not very nice, but they are extremely important to our ecosystem! If it weren't for wrackspurts interfering with our brain patterns, we would become much too smart, much too quickly, and would probably discover the secrets to eternal life and how to resurrect the dead, which would be awful, because some dead people are bad!

'No, it's true!" she added, as Devon made a strangled, choking sound behind his hands. "Nobody's bad anymore, of course, the bad people are dead...but imagine if they came back! We just can't allow people to raise the dead! If bad people were alive, horrid things would happen! Bad people cause innocent deaths, and so many good people die at the hands of bad people. And even if so many good people are dead...and there are so many good people who died, and that might not be fair, but we can't resurrect them because of the bad people, and that's a sacrifice we'll have to make. And, you see, that's why wrackspurts are so important. I learned that in Norway."

A few moments later, Professor Towler dared to break the silence. "So, erm, why are you here at Hogwarts?"

"I'm here," said Phoebe seriously, "because we can't resurrect bad people."