Quinque Valens

Chapter 4 Weekend Worries

Disa hurried down the halls of Hogwarts to an empty classroom on the second floor. Professor McGonagall had sent her a note that morning telling her the exact location for her meeting. Disa's palms were sweating and she scolded herself for being so nervous. All she was going to do in that classroom was determine her future at Hogwarts, as she had to prove that she could do fifth year level work adequately. She picked up her pace a little, reciting incantations and spells in her head. The fact that the words of the spells rolled over her tongue easily reassured Disa to a great extent.

When she reached the closed classroom door, Disa took one last deep breath before knocking. That breath was promptly knocked out of her by a funny little man who bowled into her at full speed. Clutching her stomach and gasping for air, Disa looked up at the poltergeist that was now floating above her head.

"Think you can rip the Sorting Hat and get away with it without punishment, do you?" the spirit shrieked.

"N-no," Disa gasped, shaking her head. "I truly am sorry about that..."

"No matter," said the poltergeist. "I don't care about that silly singing hat."

"Then why did you run into me on purpose?" Disa asked, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

"Because it was fun!" the little man exclaimed, doing several back flips in the air and then racing off down the corridor.

Disa rubbed her stomach and shook her head. She had never experienced more unusual circumstances in all her life combined than what she had witnessed within the past two days. Turning back towards the classroom door, she was surprised to see the door open beneath her fingertips. Great, she thought, now I can open doors without a wand? I am becoming more and more of a complete freak.

To her surprise, and to her relief, she saw that Snape had pulled open the door from the inside. A dark look was on his face as he looked up and down the hall.

"Did that annoying voice that I heard happen to belong to Peeves?" he asked, looking at her.

Disa was about to answer when the little man who had flown into her raced by again in midair, and threw something at she and Snape.

A rotten tomato smashed into the doorframe, barely missing Snape's rather hooked nose. Snape looked at the broken fruit, his face turning a dull brick color. He cleared his throat and appeared to regain some composure.

"Well, I've seen you've met Peeves," he mumbled, opening the door wider so that Disa could step inside. "Unfortunately."

Disa smiled briefly at Snape before turning around to face the two other professors in the room. McGonagall looked at Disa with a fierce gaze, but Dumbledore looked at her quite kindly. He had a large donut in his hand.

"Care for one, Ms. Volyn?" he asked, extending his hand.

Disa shook her head. She was so nervous by this point that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to keep the proffered donut down.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, taking a bite out of his donut. "We are going to ask you to perform a series of tasks so we can evaluate your skills in the main courses we teach here." He glanced up at Disa, and, seeing her face full of fear, said, "Don't worry. This won't be too painful."

Disa swallowed and nodded. Arranged around the room were several tables, one with a tea set situated on it, one with a cauldron and several potion ingredients, and the last had potted plants and a funny looking lantern that had a large glass dome on the top.

"Come with me," McGonagall said, not unkindly, as she got up and walked over to the table with the tea set. "You need to transfigure each of the objects as I specify," she instructed.

Disa set her bag down and took out her wand. She turned the tea pot into a turtle, although the pattern on its shell was very reminiscent of the flowered pattern of the tea set, the sugar tongs into a clothespin, and a spoon into a fork, as instructed. The last transfiguration brought a smile to Disa's face as she was reminded of her summer days spent outside of Florean's ice cream shop. When she was finished, Disa looked at McGonagall for approval, but the professor's face showed no emotions. McGonagall finished what she was writing on a piece of parchment and then nodded at Snape.

Snape briskly walked over to the table with the potion ingredients and beckoned to Disa. She quickly walked over and listened attentively as Snape told her her task. Glancing at all of the ingredients around her, Disa's chest constricted when she realized that she did not recognize half of them. Fearful that she might fail a subject that she was naturally good in, Disa looked at Snape with wide eyes. Seeming not to notice her immense fear, Snape continued on with his instructions.

"Here is the situation you must remedy," Snape was saying. "A classmate of yours mistakenly touches the residue of a Streeler. The poison is seeping into his skin and without an antidote, it could kill him in less than thirty minutes. Make an antidote to save your classmate."

Disa tried to keep her breathing under control, but it was difficult because her mind had gone completely blank. Think, Disa, she said to herself.

She took a deep breath and pushed anything that did not have to do with the problem out of her mind. All, right, she thought, what in Merlin's name is a Streeler? She closed her eyes and mentally ran through the streets of Diagon Alley. She was sure that she heard that name there. It wasn't at the apothecary, not at Quality Quidditch Supplies, either. Where was it?

"The Magical Menagerie! Of course!" she exclaimed. She saw Snape give her a strange look at her unexpected outburst, and she smiled sheepishly.

The Magical Menagerie had a whole display case full of Streelers, the poisonous, but beautiful, colored snails. Now that she knew what Snape was talking about, she could easily make an antidote for the poison. All she needed was a few slices of mandrakes and...

Her hand stopped halfway over the bowl full of mandrake. She realized that this potion would not work in this situation. This particular antidote took at least a full half an hour to boil, and her unfortunate classmate could very well be dead by then. No, she needed a different potion.

Unbeknownst to Disa, Snape was watching her every move with great care. He could almost tell exactly what was going on in her mind, a trick that he had picked up over the years. When Disa had originally reached for the mandrake slices, Snape was disappointed, even though he expected that same potion to be the most obvious choice. When Disa started to crush scarab wings instead, Snape allowed the corners of his mouth to turn upwards slightly. A trick question that had fooled many of his past students was not going to dupe this one. She was indeed special.

After stirring the mixture of scarab wings, daisy roots, skinned shrivelfig and gingerroot for fifteen minutes, Disa carefully poured it into a pewter beaker and handed it to Snape. He sniffed it and dipped his pinky finger into it. A quick taste was all that was needed.

"Perfect," he said. "Well done Ms. Volyn. Not many see past the trick of that question."

Disa beamed. She continued smiling when she identified the plants on the next table and their benefits. When Dumbledore turned off the lights and lit the lantern, Disa's smile was almost as bright as the constellations projected on the ceiling by the lantern. She confidently named several of them, even pointing out several stars that she was not required to know. She even continued to smile when Dumbledore asked her about wizarding history, despite the boring nature of the subject. Her smile began to fade, however, when Dumbledore said, "One last task, Ms. Volyn. I want you to perform several charms for me, if you please." Dumbledore placed a large, red leathery ball on the table directly in front of him.

"Uh, sir, uh..." Disa whispered so quietly that Dumbledore did not appear to hear her. Disa thought she was going to faint. She knew that the probability of her performing the charm completely right was slim to none, but that was not the cause of her worry. Her greatest fear was that she would miss the red ball completely and hit the headmaster with the charm instead. It was fine enough to botch up a charm near Harry, as it had happened at the Leaky Cauldron many times before, because he was young, carefree and her friend. At least, he was. Performing a charm that would most likely backfire on Dumbledore was a completely different story. If only he would move the ball a little to the left...

First gesturing to the ball in front of him and then at a wastebasket on the far side of the room, Dumbledore said, "Using a charm of your choice, make this Quaffle go into that wastebasket."

Disa gulped. It was not that she did not know what charm to use - a simple banishing charm would do it - it was the fact that she was not sure it would actually work. She had practiced this charm in her room at Diagon Alley with semi-disastrous results. Disa redrew her wand, and, with a shaking hand, she pointed at the red ball that Dumbledore had called a Quaffle. "Sepono," she said, barely above a whisper.

The Quaffle remained still, but the pointed hat that Dumbledore was wearing whipped off of his head and soared through the air and out of an opened window.

Disa ran to the window and looked after the hat with horror. All three professors had turned in their seats to watch the rather graceful decent of Dumbledore's hat out of the window. Caught by a wind, the hat billowed and floated slowly down. Crossing her fingers, Disa hoped the hat would land somewhere nearby so that she could run out and retrieve it. While the hat did land nearby, it landed in a large mud puddle, and the wind tossed it around so that by the time the hat came to rest, it was not the midnight blue it had once been, but was, instead, a deep, muddy brown.

The professors turned to look at Disa. Her face was bright red. Snape and McGonagall glanced at Dumbledore, and the latter began to laugh loudly.

Disa was confused. She giggled nervously as she looked at Dumbledore. He continued to guffaw, and gestured for her to come back to the table. Disa walked over, sputtering an apology.

Dumbledore waved his hand in protest. "No apology is necessary, Ms. Volyn," he said. "I just find it humorous that you seem to have unusually bad luck with pointed hats, don't you?"

It was true. She had ruined two hats in two days. Disa allowed herself to laugh.

"You may attempt this charm again, if you like," Dumbledore offered.

Nodding and gritting her teeth, Disa focused all of her concentration on the Quaffle. This time, when she said, "Sepono," the Quaffle moved and no one's hat did. However, perhaps due to her intense concentration, the Quaffle slammed into the wall opposite with a large thwack! and missed the waste paper basket completely.

Dumbledore looked after the Quaffle with eyebrows slightly raised. A faint smile on his lips, he turned to Disa and said, "I would like you to perform these other charms for me now. Perhaps, however, with a little less, er, enthusiasm."

Blushing, Disa nodded and proceeded to evaporate a puddle of water that Dumbledore deliberately spilled on the desk by using a Drought Charm, to charm the teaspoon from McGonagall's tea set to stir sugar into a cup, and used an Engorgement charm to increase the size of one of Dumbledore's donuts, which grew to such a size that it broke the table it was placed on.

After all the charms were completed to the best of Disa's ability and all damaged furniture was fixed by the professors, Dumbledore wrote something down on a piece of parchment and magicked a chair to sit opposite him. Disa assumed he wanted her to sit there and did so, dreading what he might say about her rather poor performances.

"Excluding charms," Dumbledore began, "I can say with confidence that you are ready to join your fellow fifth year classmates. While your skills in charms are not top of the line, you are not the worst I've seen, by far." Dumbledore took out a document and signed his name along the bottom. The piece of parchment rolled up by itself and disappeared with a pop! "You are prepared to start your fifth year courses on Monday."

Disa felt relieved. To be able to learn magic with classmates her own age was something she had hoped for, but feared might not be possible, given how many years of practice she had missed. She knew that her ability to join her correct year was mainly due to the help of Aradia Watson. Disa was already composing a foot long letter of thanks to her in her mind. Maybe Harry would let her borrow Hedwig this evening, if he wasn't very angry with her...

"Now," Dumbledore said, interrupting the composition of Disa's letter, "Given your special case, Ms. Volyn, the scheduling of your classes was a little difficult to arrange, but we managed it. It worked out so that you have an equal number of classes with both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. We were also able to work in all the electives you had noted that you wanted to take," he explained while sliding a piece of parchment over to Disa across the table.

Disa glanced over her new schedule. She saw all of her basic courses written there, along with the times that they meet, but she noticed that some were written in red ink, some in green and others in black. She must have looked confused because Dumbledore started to explain.

"As you can see, depending on the class, you will need to be designated as either a Slytherin or as a Gryffindor. This way, if you earn points for your House, or lose them due to disobedience," here Dumbledore gave Disa a playful, but stern, look, "The points will go to the correct House. However, for the classes of Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, where the class is comprised of both Slytherins and Gryffindors, the professor will have to award or detract the points accordingly. The classes written in red ink are the ones where you will be seen as a Gryffindor and the green will be Slytherin. Any questions?" he asked.

When Disa shook her head, Dumbledore smiled and said, "Well, then you are free for the rest of the day. Good luck with your classes."

"Thank you very much," she smiled as she shook Dumbledore's hand vigorously. She grinned widely at Professors McGonagall and Snape. McGonagall smiled kindly in return and Snape acknowledged her with a small bow of his head.

Feeling as though her euphoria could never wane, Disa almost skipped out of the classroom and was promptly deluged with a waterfall of rotten tomatoes, which she proceeded to slip and fall on. Sputtering and wiping tomato flesh out of her eyes, she glared at the pesky poltergeist Peeves as he cackled overhead.

"What was all that for?" Disa said angrily, pushing herself up to a sitting position.

"Well, I missed the first time, didn't I?" Peeves laughed. "So I used a whole bushel, just to be sure this time around!"

"Peeves!" hissed a dangerous voice behind Disa. "The Baron will be hearing about this!"

A look of fear passed over the poltergeist's face. "B-but Professor Snape! The, uh, the tomatoes, uh, sl-slipped! Yes, that's it! They slipped right out of my hands!" Peeves stumbled, throwing his hands into the air.

Disa turned her head to see a livid Snape. His lips were stretched tightly across his teeth, making it appear as though they were bared. His arms were crossed, and Disa could see that he had a tight grip on his wand.

"Peeves," Snape said softly. "You will do as I say. Leave this hallway immediately or I will have the Headmaster, along with the Bloody Baron, deal with you. Is that clear?"

Peeves made a feeble whimpering noise and flew off down the hall with astonishing speed.

Snape narrowed his eyes as his gaze followed Peeves' departure. His glare disappeared, however, as he turned to Disa with an extended hand. Disa grabbed it, thankful, as she pulled herself to her feet. Spattered tomatoes dropped from her lap to the floor as she brushed off her sodden jeans.

"Here. Abstergo," Snape murmured, waving his wand from Disa's toes up to her head. The rotten tomatoes evaporated into nothing as he did so.

"Thanks, Professor," she beamed at Snape. It looked as though the potions master was about to smile back, but an expression that looked faintly like fear crossed his face, and he nodded briefly at Disa instead.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Volyn," he said, then briskly strode down the hall towards a painting showing a circle of three witches and two wizards discussing something seemingly important. When Snape passed the picture, the occupants did not call to him or take any notice of him, like most of the paintings in the halls of Hogwarts did, as Disa had observed. Four of the witches and wizards, instead, turned and looked at Disa with looks of curiosity on their faces.

Curious about Snape's behavior as the painted witches and wizards seemed to be, Disa sighed and headed back to the Slytherin common room with a suspicious sinking feeling in her stomach.

*

Disa was thankful to see that the sunny weather had emptied out the Slytherin common room quite nicely. She had been prepared to ward off a number of jinxes and hexes from Pansy Parkinson and her posse, but the need to defend herself was not necessary.

The relief she had felt due to her passing grade in her examination was beginning to wane as she walked down the corridor to her dormitory. It was replaced by feelings of worry, and those feelings mostly had to do with Harry and his behavior that morning. However, the more Disa thought about his reaction to finding that she was part Slytherin, the more she realized that she was also mad at Harry. What right had he to judge her just because she was placed in Slytherin? She was still part of his House, too, and she wasn't about to favor one House over the other just one day into the fall term. Maybe, Disa thought, pushing the door to the fifth year girls' dormitory open a little harder than usual, maybe I don't want to be his friend, if he is such a prejudiced, arrogant...

Disa's anger dissipated quicker than it had arisen when she saw a folded piece of parchment on her bedside table with her name printed on it in familiar handwriting. She practically ran over to get it, and, upon closer inspection, the parchment was creased and wrinkled, as though it was crushed under many school books, or wrung in a pair of hands. Using her wand tip, Disa cut through the wax seal and read what was inside eagerly.

Disa,

This will be the second note I've sent you apologizing for my behavior. My actions this morning were rude and I hope you can forgive me for them. If you can, or, more appropriately, if you want to, please meet me by the main staircase at 2 o'clock so I can explain myself better to you. I am sorry.

Harry

P.S. In case you're worried, I had Hermione put a Privacy Charm on this note, so no one but you can open the seal. While I trust you, there are other Slytherins near you whom I do not.

Disa smiled grimly to herself. So that explained the many creases and crumples on the parchment. Someone (and Disa had a very good idea of who) had tried to read her personal mail. Stuffing the note into her pocket, and making sure her wand was on hand, Disa headed for the main staircase, making a mental note to stop at the library on the way back. She was suddenly reminded of a book that boasted a jinx that involved broccoli and some very interesting results.

*

Harry fiddled with his wand absent-mindedly by the main staircase. It was almost two, and he had a sinking feeling that Disa would not show. This was the second time in three days that he had been sulky and most likely offended Disa. He hoped that she might understand why he was so moody lately, but that was a lot to expect out of Hermione and Ron, who had been his friends for years, let alone Disa, who had been his friend for a little over a week.

Checking his watch one last time, Harry sighed and turned to ascend the stairs. He suddenly heard the pounding of a pair of feet and someone calling, "Harry! Wait up!"

Turning towards the speaker, a smile appeared on Harry's lips when he saw Disa running towards him, a few stray owl feathers in her hair.

"Good," Disa gasped, nearly out of breath. "I thought I might miss you, but I'm glad I didn't."

"Me too," Harry said truthfully. "Want to take a walk around the lake? I can show you the Quidditch pitch, if you'd like."

"Sounds great. Let's just walk slowly, all right?" Disa said, trying to catch her breath.

"Of course," Harry laughed.

They walked out the front doors together, and once Disa had finally caught her breath, she excitedly told Harry about her examination that afternoon, including her fiasco with Dumbledore's now brown hat. Harry laughed and then heartily congratulated her as they passed the giant squid in the lake.

Still smiling after telling her story, Disa focused her wide eyes on Harry and said, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Harry could feel his cheerful demeanor darken as he realized he couldn't keep everything from Disa if he wanted her to be his friend. That fact did not make it any easier, though, to actually tell her anything.

"I guess," he began, "I guess this morning I felt so, well, weird because of your Sorting last night." Harry noticed that Disa looked confused. He continued. "I've never told anyone this, but my Sorting was similar."

Harry was so busy thinking about how to word the next part that he did not notice Disa's look of relief at his statement. She had opened her mouth to speak, but he unwittingly interrupted her.

"I mean, when the Sorting Hat considered putting me in Slytherin, I deliberately asked it not to put me there," Harry explained. "And so I ended up in Gryffindor. I suppose that, in your case, since you didn't ask one way or the other, the Hat couldn't really decide where to put you." Harry looked at Disa. "You didn't ask it anything, did you?"

Disa had an odd expression on her face before she answered. "No, of course not," she said rather quietly. Harry noticed that she was wringing her hands and biting her lip, but looked as though she did not notice either of these things.

"Are you all right there, Disa?" Harry asked, concerned.

Disa looked at him for a moment, then her whole demeanor changed. Any trace of worry that was on her face or in her body had disappeared. "I'm great, Harry," she smiled, then pointed at something in the distance. "Is that the Quidditch pitch?"

"Sure is," Harry replied. "You've never seen a game played before, have you?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"You'll love it," Harry said. He looked at the miniature figures flying around the pitch for a moment, then an exciting idea popped into his head. "Hey, Disa, have you ever flown before?"

She, too, was watching the flight of the distant witches and wizards, and didn't quite hear Harry. "No, if Nana and I ever needed to go anywhere, like London, we just took the train. Flights were too expensive."

Harry was amused, for he too would have assumed he was talking about flying on a Muggle airplane, not a bewitched broomstick. "No, no," he laughed. "I meant really fly, like they are." He gestured to the people on the pitch.

He felt his smile grow when he saw Disa's eyes widen at him in shock. "Of course not! Oh, I wished I had! Do you think you might be able to teach me sometime?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, sometime is right now, if you like," beamed Harry. "It's a good of a time as any, right?"

Harry was surprised to be knocked clean off his feet as Disa ran at him and hugged him with all her might. "Oh, can you? Really? Please, now will be great!" she said, hugging him around his middle. She looked at him and realized that she had knocked both of them down. "Ooops, sorry there Harry."

Laughing, Harry allowed Disa to help him up off the ground. "No problem. Let me just get my broom and we can go sign out one for you from Madame Hooch."

Disa was dancing around with joy as Harry Accioed him broomstick from his room. Disa practically ran down the path to the Quidditch pitch and Harry had to drag her back to the broom shed so that they could borrow a broom for the day. A handful of others were flying around the pitch, some practicing with Quidditch balls, others racing each other down the length of the pitch. Harry walked Disa to the center of the field and began to teach her the basics of flying.

After several minutes, Disa had gotten the hang of commanding her broom to jump in to her hands, despite its tendencies to wriggle around on the ground for a bit before doing so. Harry was also satisfied with her hand position on the broom handle, so he announced that she was ready to actually get into the air.

With a determined look on her face, Disa straddled the broomstick and looked at Harry. He, too, got on his Firebolt and told Disa to follow his lead.

"On the count of three," he said, looking at her. "One - two - three!" he shouted, and both he and Disa kicked off the ground. They were both holding their brooms steady about twenty feet off the ground.

"Are you ready to really fly now?" Harry asked.

Disa answered by giving Harry a playful look and streaking off to one end of the pitch. Harry laughed and chased after her.

They continued this chase around the pitch, sometimes with Disa following Harry and sometimes Harry would chase Disa. They rose steadily higher and higher and soon they were about a hundred and fifty feet into the air.

Disa stopped and held her broom still. Harry did the same, and when he looked at Disa, he caught an expression of pure exhilaration on her face, her black hair whipping around her head. She looked at him with a huge smile and shouted across the wind, "I think I'm getting the hang of this!"

It was true. Disa had caught on pretty quickly, perhaps due to her excitement about her new world, or because she felt she needed to catch up with her peers, or maybe it was due to some natural ability of hers. Whatever the reason, Harry thought she was an excellent beginner flier. It was, after all, only her first day on a broomstick.

"Want to head down?" Harry called. "Ron and Hermione will probably be wondering where we are by now."

"Sure," Disa answered. "I'll race you down!"

Harry was about to say that he did not think that racing from fifty yards above the ground was a good idea, especially with the strong wind that had just sprung up, but Disa sped away down the pitch. Still smiling to himself, Harry chased after her. He was just about to catch up when he felt as though he was frozen where he was as Disa began her sharp, unexpected plummet to the hard earth below her, and Harry could do nothing about it.

*

Draco walked quickly down the dungeon corridor and up the stairs to the Entrance Hall with his Nimbus 2001 slung over his shoulder. He checked once to make sure Pansy was not following, for she was known to have been his shadow on some days, much to his dismay. He made a face as he remembered his father mentioning how he and Pansy would make a good match, and that he should consider dating her. His father also hinted at how the Bulstrode family had quite a respectable status in their circle of friends. While dating Pansy would be the superior alternative to the well-built Millicent Bulstrode, Draco could not see how he would be able to stand spending more than an average of a half an hour with Pansy a day. Unless their dates could be efficiently cut down to a good twenty minutes, the possibility of having Pansy become his girlfriend was slim to none.

Draco noticed that the wind had picked up as he stepped outside. He was eager to get to the Quidditch pitch so that he could practice flying. It was true that he had originally used flying as an excuse to get away from Pansy, but now he was glad he was outside. He could sense that this year was going to be different from other years, and it was definitely going to be more stressful. The workload was going to be heavier, with O.W.L.s at the end of the year, and he knew that the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team was just as eager as he to beat the Gryffindors at the Quidditch Cup. That would mean more frequent and harder practices during the week. So Draco was thankful that he could start out this school year doing one of the things he loved most in life: flying.

There were a fair amount of people at the pitch by the time Draco got there. He got on his broom and did a few warm-up laps around the pitch to start. He had brought a small ball about the size of a Snitch with him and began to throw it up into the air and dive towards the ground to catch it. He smugly noted that many people in the pitch were watching him dive with impressed expressions on their faces. He knew he had improved over this summer as a Seeker, and could not wait to surprise Potter with his skills the first match of the season.

Speaking of Potter, he thought. He narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of Harry at the opposite end of the pitch, laughing away with Disa. This caused Draco to further narrow his eyes so that he almost could not see them anymore. Harry was chasing Disa, and vice versa, around the pitch, giggling like fools the entire time. Draco noted that Disa was not a bad flier, and was concocting a plan to utilize this information when Disa totally disproved this observation and suddenly began her nose-dive to the ground.

Draco immediately flew as fast as he could towards her, any logical thought gone from his head. If he had been thinking in a typical Malfoy manner, he would have wondered why he was flying at a break-neck speed to a girl who he didn't even like. But no such thought occurred. There was an intrinsic force that was making him go to Disa's aid, and she was all that Draco could think about.

As he neared her, he faintly registered that Harry was neck and neck with him, racing towards Disa, who was dangerously near the ground. Perhaps this awakened some competitive force within Draco, for he urged his broom to go even faster. Harry was right at his heels when he caught up to Disa, who could not have been more than ten feet away from the ground. Draco was about to grab Disa's broom handle when she herself pulled hard on it and straightened out, and now flew parallel to the ground, a few feet above it. Both Draco and Harry barely had enough time to pull back on their own brooms before they hit the ground themselves. When he had landed, heart beating and almost out of breath, Draco saw Disa turn her broom around and fly back towards he and Harry, who was inspecting the handle of his broom which now had ten semi-circular indents on it where he had dug his fingernails into it. Disa jumped off her broom, smiled broadly and exclaimed, "Wasn't that fun?"

"Fun?" both he and Harry echoed angrily. "You could have killed yourself!"

They both shot each other dirty looks as they said this at the same time. Harry looked as though this was the first time he had even noticed Draco's presence on the Quidditch pitch.

"What?" Disa said, her smile fading. "But, I..."

"I thought you were falling, Disa. I thought you had lost control of your broom," Harry said to her harshly. "What were you thinking?"

"I, uh, I thought you knew I was all right..."she began.

"Typical Gryffindor," Draco snarled, ashamed that he had rushed so quickly and willingly to Disa evidently unneeded aid. "Always assuming that other Gryffindors actually know anything."

Both she and Harry shot Draco dirty looks, and he mentally kicked himself for saying that about Disa. Insulting her was not the best way to befriend her, he reminded himself.

"And what exactly are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry spat. "Who asked you for your unwanted help?"

"Sorry for wanting to actually do something about Volyn's situation here, Potter. What were you going to do, gawk as she was splattered against the Quidditch pitch?" he hissed at Harry.

"I was fine. I didn't need any help," Disa said.

"How was anybody to know, Disa? That was really stupid of you," Harry said to her, angrily.

Disa looked shocked, then hurt, then equally angry as Harry did at that comment. Her face was turning red, her eyes were narrowed to slits and her arms were crossed. Draco saw his opportunity.

He crossed the few feet between them and stood next to Disa. "Don't blame this on Volyn, Potter. Just because you don't trust her doesn't make her the stupid one here." He put a protective hand on Disa's shoulder. "I was just making sure you were all right," he said to her.

Disa gave him a disbelieving look and glared pointedly at his hand on her shoulder. He took it off gingerly and smiled at her. She did not smile back.

"Get away from her, Malfoy," Harry said dangerously, taking a step forward.

"Why, Potter, let's not be too hasty. I'm just comforting one of my Housemates. Is that so wrong?" he asked in a saccharine tone.

"Stop it, both of you," Disa said. "Stop being so full of yourselves. Don't either of you think for one minute that I consider you chivalrous or brave for doubting me entirely. Yes, I know Harry, my nose dive was unexpected, but I would have thought you knew me well enough to know I wouldn't be so foolish as to risk my life for some cheap thrill," she cut Harry off as he opened his mouth to say something. "You don't need to protect me from myself, Harry. And you especially don't need to protect me from him," Disa said, turning towards Draco. "Thanks for being so concerned all of a sudden, Malfoy," she said sarcastically. "But your insults towards me and my House are not appreciated."

Draco bit his tongue so that no regrettable comments leaked out. He instead turned all the frustration he felt that was caused by Disa into a glare that he focused on Harry that would have quailed a chimaera. Harry just fumed right back at him.

Disa noticed this and said, "And what is this between you two? All of these snide remarks and evil looks are driving me mad! Don't tell me this is some stupid feud left over from first year, because if it is, you both need to grow up quickly."

Draco just crossed his arms at this comment. It was true that he hated Harry since first year, but that length of time just makes the victory that will crush him all the more sweeter.

When neither boy had said anything for a few minutes, Disa said, "Whether you two like it or not, I am going to have to deal with both of you constantly. I am living in both of your Houses and eating with you, not to mention I'm taking the same classes as both of you. While it seems to me that it is asking too much of you to be friends with each other," Disa paused hopefully. Draco and Harry just continued to attempt to burn each other's eyes out. Frowning slightly, Disa continued, "I will ask that you try to refrain from any open hostility, at least around me. That is, of course, assuming that you both want to be my friends?" she questioned.

"Of course I do," Harry answered, finally breaking away from the death grip his eyes had on Draco.

"Likewise," Draco said, smiling so that it was almost painful to him.

Disa looked skeptical for a moment, but then smiled and said, "Great then! I guess you two don't mind walking me back to the castle, do you? I think I've had enough excitement for one day."

Harry walked over to her side and after a moment, Draco did the same. As they walked back to the castle together, Disa had a triumphant smile on her face and did not notice that both boys had an extremely tight grip on each of their wands

*

The rest of the afternoon and the evening were not so eventful for Disa. Dinner, eaten with the Gryffindors, was the most delicious meat pie Disa had ever tasted, and any odd glances that were thrown her way during the course of the meal by her part-time Housemates were dispersed as dessert was served: a sundae smorgasbord. As the students piled their ice creams high with toppings, Disa heartily joined in joking and ribbing her fellow Gryffindors. By a quarter to eight, when most of the Quidditch team got up to go to their meeting, any doubts that Disa belonged in Gryffindor House were vanquished.

She walked halfway to the staircase to the dungeons with Hermione, Ron, and Dean Thomas. When they had to take the staircase up to Gryffindor Tower, Disa waved and braced herself for whatever she may encounter in the Slytherin common room.

Disa was relieved that, for the most part, her entrance into the common room was not met with hostility, with the exception of death glares from Pansy Parkinson. In fact, no one really noticed Disa come in. Satisfied, she sat down on an empty couch near the fireplace and pulled out her book that she had carried around all day.

She was just beginning the chapter entitled 'How to Treat a Doxie Bite and Other Common Ailments' when Draco sat down next to her.

"Hi," she said warily.

"Hi," Draco replied. He stared at her for a minute, then began fidgeting with his hands, then gazed into the fireplace for a few moments, and then looked back at Disa.

Bewildered at his odd behavior, Disa cleared her throat and said, "How are you doing?"

"Good, good," Draco said. He paused, then said, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said. This had to be the most awkward conversation Disa had ever had. Draco looked as though he was thinking desperately of something to say, and Disa could almost see his brain working overtime.

Finally, Draco said, "I'm sorry for being such a prat this afternoon with Potter."

Disa was surprised. Had she known Draco for any amount of time other than the two days she had, Disa would have been shocked at this apology. Not only had Draco apologized, but he admitted that there was some minor flaw in his personality. Even though she hardly knew him, Disa sensed that this was a big and unusual step for Draco, and it surprised her even more.

"I mean, you were kind of right, Potter and I act like idiots because of something that happened during first year, and I think its time we put that behind us," Draco went on to explain. "I'm ready to be an adult and take the high road here, and I hope Potter feels the same way."

Eyebrows slightly raised, Disa said, "That's very mature of you Draco. Thanks for apologizing."

Draco smiled knowingly. "You look very surprised there, Disa."

Blushing, Disa admitted, "Well, you don't seem like the type of guy who is known to apologize."

"You're right for the most part. I only apologize to those people I want to keep as good friends," he said, softly patting Disa on the back.

He can't be as bad as Harry thinks he is, Disa thought, blushing slightly more than before at Draco's touch. He did apologize, after all.

"I'm sure Harry would be willing to act like an adult, as well," Disa said. "I know he can have his immature moments, too."

Draco nodded slowly, then a brilliant idea popped into his mind. Casually, he said, "Well, he is a guy. I know we men can get pretty annoying and childish when, well, you know..."

Disa furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

Draco shrugged one shoulder. "Well, when guys can't say what's really on their minds, they start acting like they're in first year all over again. Especially around pretty girls."

Confused, Disa looked quizzically at Draco. "You're not talking about me, are you?"

"Well, you're a pretty girl, aren't you?" Draco asked.

"I wouldn't..." Disa began.

"Never mind, don't answer that question. You women are never honest with yourselves. So, yes, I am talking about you," Draco said.

Disa contemplated this for a moment. "Are you implying that Harry could have...feelings for me?" she questioned, incredulous.

Draco looked directly at her. "I just call them like I see them."

Disa turned her gaze into the fire, and Draco could see the tiny seed of possibility that he planted take root in Disa's mind and begin to grow. Digging a bit further, he asked, "You do think he's good looking though, don't you?"

Little spots of color appeared on Disa's cheeks. "I mean, he's not bad looking by any means..." she began.

Bull's-eye, Draco thought. Grinning, he said, "Don't worry about it, I won't say anything." Before Disa could respond that he needn't worry, there was nothing to say, Draco asked, "Do you want to play a card game called Dragon's Eggs with me and my friends? You can be on my team."

"Yeah, that would be great," Disa answered, putting thoughts of Harry out of her head and thinking that she was finally being accepted into both of her Houses.

Watching Disa gather her things up and head over to the table where Crabbe, Goyle and a few other Slytherins were getting ready to play, and into her place as a pawn in Draco's plan against Harry, Draco congratulated himself and murmured, "Malfoy, you devil, this really is too easy."

*

After a rousing game of Dragon's Eggs, Disa slept soundly and late into Sunday morning. Brunch with the Gryffindors was loud and fun, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell discussing Quidditch strategies, Harry and Ron seeing who could eat the most sausages in three minutes, and Fred and George Weasley trying to tempt people to taste their newest creation, a candy that looked like a peppermint humbug, but whose effects were more mysterious.

Afterwards, Harry, Ron and the Weasley twins went to the Quidditch pitch to practice for a bit, and Hermione invited Disa to go and rally the house elves in the kitchen with her to form some sort of union. Disa declined, muttering something about catching up on her reading. She instead tried to find her way to the Owlrey, wanting to send her letter to Aradia. The staircase that she wanted to take surprised her by moving when she was halfway up it. It let her out into a corridor she was not familiar with, one that had what seemed like hundreds of doors on its left side and even more pictures on the right. Intrigued by the many paintings and tapestries she saw hanging on the walls, Disa began to tentatively explore it

Many of the paintings had very similar subjects: two women and two men dressed in each of the Hogwarts colors. Some of the pictures showed these four together, and others were single portraits. When Disa leant in to examine the pictures more closely, she discovered the identities of its occupants.

No wonder there were so many pictures of the same four people covering the hallway. Disa had discovered all of the portraits of the four founders of Hogwarts: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazaar Slytherin. She smiled when Helga Hufflepuff waved at her from her frame, but Disa's smile faded when she noticed Salazaar Slytherin regarding her coolly. He gave her an ominous feeling. Disa was so preoccupied with Slytherin's gaze that she jumped, gave a small shriek and threw out her hands wildly when she felt something quick and hairy brush past her legs.

Gasping, Disa turned and saw that it was none other than Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat. Knowing that Filch was more than likely a few steps behind his beloved pet, Disa made her way down the hall, not wanting Filch to catch her in the act of loitering around. She slowed her pace, however, when she saw out of the corner of her eye that each and every one of the doors to her left had been opened, silently and suddenly. She stopped at one particular door that seemed to have faint music emanating from it. It was completely dark in the room the door led to, yet Disa was drawn to the sweet melody that floated from its depths...

BANG! The door slammed shut and Disa stared at the man who had shut it. It was none other than Filch, faithfully following behind his cat. He glared at Disa and pronounced, "My dear, are you in trouble."

Shocked, Disa tried to sputter her innocence, but Filch wouldn't hear any of it. "These doors are not meant to be opened by students. Opening one is worth a night of detention. You, however, have opened," Filch looked up and down the endless hallway, "two hundred, give or take a few. That's roughly a whole school year of detentions. Especially when Snape finds out..."

"Finds out what, Argus?" Snape asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere with a man Disa had not seen before.

"About these doors, of course," Filch answered. "And that this young lass has opened them all."

The man who was with Snape glanced at Disa at this comment. He had dusty brown hair and Disa was reminded, for some reason, of a favorite pair of jeans she had once owned. They were so comfortable that Disa wore them constantly, until they split at the seams and were completely worn out. This man reminded Disa of a favorite pair of jeans, ones that were comfortable and yet almost worn thin. Looking at Snape, she saw him raise one eyebrow at Filch and say, "Yes, Professor Lupin and I heard the alarm as soon as it went off. What makes you think that Ms. Volyn opened these doors?"

"She's the only one in here, that's what. Plus, she looked as though she was about to go into this door here," Filch said, pointing to the door behind him.

"I heard music," Disa said softly, by way of an excuse.

Disa thought she saw Snape flinch slightly, but she must have been mistaken, for he quickly said, "I think it is impossible to suspect Ms. Volyn here of opening these doors. As you can see, all of them are open. The alarm goes off the instant any door is opened, and Ms. Volyn would have had to be amazingly quick to open all of these within the few minutes it took Professor Lupin and me to reach this hallway."

The man with Snape, who Disa presumed to be Professor Lupin, glanced at her again, but not unkindly. He spoke to Filch. "There are over two hundred doors here, Argus."

Anxious that he might miss his chance to give one of the students of Hogwarts a year's worth of detentions, Filch quicky said, "If she used her wand, she could have done it!"

Now Snape looked at Disa. "True, although she would have had to use a very powerful spell. Not that I would put it past her." Disa did not know if Snape had just insulted or complimented her. "Why are you in this hallway, anyways, Ms. Volyn?"

"I was on my way to the Owlrey, Professor," Disa answered. "I got lost," she added sheepishly.

Professor Lupin smiled at Disa. "Did the staircase switch on you?" When Disa nodded, he whispered conspiratorially, "That's happened to me, too."

"That still doesn't mean she didn't do it," Filch interjected.

"Did you open these doors with your wand, Ms. Volyn?" Snape asked her.

"No," she said resolutely. Turning out her pockets, she added, "I don't even have my wand on me."

Crestfallen, Filch looked at Snape. The professor was looking at Disa, but then suddenly turned to Filch. "There still may be some way to find the culprit." Snape drew out his wand and waved it over the handle of the door that Disa heared music coming from, muttering some incantations. A pale blue glow appeared over the handle, as it did around the frames of all the doorways in the hallway. Satisfied, Snape waved his wand twice, once to get rid of the blue glow and once to shut and lock the doors again. Glancing at Filch as he put his wand away, he said, "This is proof. You may search for Peeves, if you like, Argus. This is his doing."

Elated, Filch practically ran down the corridor, laughing, "At last! This is the day Peeves leaves this castle forever! The Headmaster will never stand for this prank..."

Once Filch was gone, Professor Lupin turned to Disa and said, "Do you want me to show you a shortcut to the Owlrey? It's on the way to my office."

Smiling, Disa said, "Sure, that would be great." She glanced at Snape, who was looking at the door behind them oddly. "Thanks for saving me from a year's worth of detention, Professor Snape."

As if coming out of deep thought, Snape shook his head and said, "What? Oh yes, you're welcome, Ms. Volyn. I will ask you to refrain from any more encounters with Mr. Filch, if you can manage that." Pausing, he then added, "And I would advise you to start carrying your wand with you."

"Yes," Professor Lupin said. "There are some dangerous things in this castle."

Disa must have looked horrified, because Lupin laughed and said, "Not really. You won't find too many things more horrible than Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris."

Smiling, Disa started to make her way down the corridor with Snape and Lupin, who Snape introduced to Disa as the professor for Defense of the Dart Arts. It was hard to ignore the faintly veiled distance the two professors held between themselves, but they managed to keep things professional. Periodically glancing at the pictures on the wall, Disa came upon one that was vastly different from the rest. While many of the paintings were vividly colored in blues, greens, reds and yellows, this picture was very dark, with its subject dressed in all black. The other striking difference between this portrait and the rest was that the black haired woman was not facing her audience, but instead had her back facing out. Disa slowed and stopped to stare at the painting.

Snape and Lupin came to look at the picture too. Mesmerized by the strange beauty of the painting, Disa almost didn't hear the professors discussing it.

"The tragic Witch Queen," Snape was saying. "It must be the saddest picture we have in the castle."

Disa looked questioningly at Snape. He noticed this and explained, "This woman ruled over a large amount of land during her reign, including the area that Hogwarts was built on. In fact, she was a large beneficiary to the start of this school. She's really like an honorary founder of this school, hence her place on the Wall of Founders." He gazed at the queen, her long hair blowing softly in an unseen wind. "Legend has it that she was betrayed by someone very close to her, and she died at a young age because of that." Snape looked at Disa. "That is why she is so tragic."

Disa shivered, gazing at the woman.

Lupin turned to Snape. "Is it true that she never turns around?" he asked. As Disa was well familiar with by now, the occupants of pictures usually moved around quite freely. She was surprised to hear that this was not the case for this picture. "I remember it being a rumor while we were in school, but I never found out if it was true. Has she never turned around?"

"Never," Snape said.

Disa stared at the picture. It was the saddest picture she had ever seen, but she didn't know why she felt such sorrow. The woman seemed so powerful and yet so helpless at the same time, and her somber hair and robe added to the graveness of the picture.

"Poor Queen," Disa whispered.

The woman's head suddenly snapped to face profile. All three onlookers jumped at her sudden movement. The queen's long black hair obscured most of her face save for her bright blue eyes. They glanced at both professors and came to rest on Disa. Fear and sorrow and pity and a million other emotions grasped Disa's heart as those blue eyes looked into her own. After what seemed like an eternity, the woman slowly turned back around and hid her face again. Disa caught a glimpse of what looked like a black onyx crown resting on the queen's forehead.

Lupin laughed nervously. "I guess the rumors aren't so true after all."

Disa felt of the occupants of the pictures around her turn their eyes to her. She had the sudden urge to flee from that corridor. "I better get going to the Owlrey," she said to the professors.

"Right. Professor Lupin and I need to take care of something at the moment, but if you take your first left and go down the spiral staircase next to the statue of Roland the Rotund, you'll end up right outside the Owlrey," Snape told Disa.

She nodded and hurried down the hall, anxious to get away from the portraits of those dead and gone.

Snape and Lupin began to walk briskly away from Disa. Lupin said, "That was one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me during my stay at Hogwarts. And that's saying something."

Snape glanced at Lupin but did not answer.

Silent for a moment, Lupin started again, "Of course, never in my stay here have the Hallway of Doors been opened, either. That is right up there with odd occurrences."

This time Snape did answer. "It does look like the makings of a strange year ahead of us."

"Especially if pesky poltergeists suddenly have the ability to open two hundred doors that have been magically locked," Lupin said, looking at Snape. Snape stiffened, but kept on walking. "Why did you tell Filch that Peeves unlocked those doors? He couldn't possibly have done it."

"No," Snape agreed. "In the realm of all possibility, there is no way that Peeves could have opened a single door in this hall." Lupin looked as though he was going to ask a question, but Snape nodded curtly and said, "Good afternoon, Lupin."

Lupin paused, but then said, "Good afternoon, Severus," and the two men turned and went their separate ways.