1996: The Beginning of the End

3: Changes and Transfigurations

Eloise:

I could see them. The things that pulled the carriage that Hagrid had shown us in Care of Magical Creatures last year. I could see them and the bone chilling shock that had fallen over me when I had was yet to leave my body by the time dinner was over. The only thing that had slightly pulled me from my state of shock was that Snape was announced as the new DATDA teacher and my eyes rolled so far into the back of my head I thought they might fall out. DATDA was one of my best subjects, besides Transfiguration. I was beyond at exceptional at Transfiguration. "you've been staring into the abyss all day" a familiar voice said to me as we walked out of the Great Hall breaking me from my worries about teachers and timetabling.

"Dean, I'm not going to campaign to Ginny for you, I've explained this already" I turned to my friend with a grin. He had been begging all of last year to put a good word in with Ginny but I was yet to cave. He was playing a dangerous game anyway, Ron might kill him for even looking at her and Harry? Forget about it. If only Harry would buck up the courage himself to ask Ginny out, maybe with him as Quidditch captain this year and them spending more time together and Cho finally out of the picture something moght happen. But not if Dean could help it.

"Merlin's beard, you didn't even give me the chance to get the niceties out of the way before you blew my cover" he exclaimed sarcastically, "I was actually just checking how you are, everything okay? You rushed past me on the train earlier, I didin't even get a chance to say hello"

"I'm okay" again with that word, I thought to myself, I kept saying it even though I hadn't a clue what it meant or did it even reflect my feelings at all. "I'm sorry abut earlier I was just in a another world"

"well, you know, let me know if I can do anything" his face seemed sad and there it was; the pity that followed me everywhere

"and I'll let Ginny know that you have absolutely no interest in her, we're all square" I chuckled as I walked away. The corridors were full of first night excitement and nerves and chatter around the new teachers. "snape huh?" I said to Harry who was sat in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

"looks like you'll be top of the class Eloise" Ron replied for Harry, "no chance Snape lets him get a chance"

"it'll be one of the Slytherins" Harry said looking into the flames, as if he was waiting for them to come to life and speak to him.

"he can't deny that you're amazing and anyway, there's no way you're going to let me be the best without a fight" I smiled at him. He had a sad stillness about him. His nose was still bloody from when he had entered the hall earlier and he seemed tired. Hermione ushered Ron to talk about some summer reading he hadn't done. "how are you doing?"

"I guess, the same as you" Harry replied and I could only nod. Sirius was dead. He had died not long before my mother, he was the last family Harry had left. But he didn't seem keen on talking about it. He had never really been one to listen to anyone else's problems. I bid my goodnights, heading for the steps to the girl's dormitories when I spotted Ginny. I leant in beside her and whispered into her ear. "heads up, Dean is on the hunt"

"wonderful" Ginny sighed. She had always had quite the que of boys waiting on her hand and foot. Dean and Ginny wouldn't last long. She was too independent and he was far too protective. She'd kill him or he'd kill her or some combination of the two. "hey you doing okay? I never got to ask you earlier"

"I'm fine, just watch out for Dean, you know how he gets" she rolled her eyes in an all knowing way as a response and I headed for bed.

It all felt wrong. A place that once made me feel safe and happy and full of energy and joy now made me feel empty and lost. Even with the girls in the dorm I didn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Thestrals or the doors of St. Mungo's or Mum's face as I held her hand. I just lay there and counted the seconds as the moon rose and failed to win the battel against the sun. Lavender snored all night and Pavarti tossed and turned. We were all back home, except I had never felt so homesick in my life. Maybe home wasn't a place, maybe home was the heart of the person you loved most and if that was the case then my home was dead and gone and I would never get it back again.

"this is an exercise to assess your speed and accuracy and in order to make it slightly more exciting we'll make it a competition" Professor McGonagall said from the top of the classroom the next morning. The early September sun was beating through the windows forcing my extremely tired eyes to squint in order to see. "I will pick two students, the faster and more precise transfiguration of the two remains in, the other is eliminated" McGonagall loved a competition and she loved nothing more than to win, "fifty points to the house of the winning student". I could almost feel her eyes scanning each Gryffindor student around the room. Lavender Brown and Justin Flinch Fletchly were first up. McGonagall waved her wands and an area around her desk cleared. "let's start simple" she waved her wand again and two water goblets appeared. "water goblets to swords". Simple stuff I thought to myself. Lavender was quick, far quicker than Justin who was too busy getting caught up in the details. Lavender had a long silver sword with a large hilt in front of her before Justin had even thought about lengthening the goblet.

"Sorry" Lavender chuckled as Justin was sent back to his seat only to be replaced by Pansy Parkinson. McGonagall waved her wand again and two canaries appeared as the swords evaporated into thin air.

"Canaries to steal buckets" Lavender was first off the mark but it was close. Pansy was far more efficient in the end and Lavender was out. "Eloise Vance". I spotted Pansy roll her eyes as I walked forward. She was toast, she knew it herself. This time the steal buckets remained. "the queen of a chess board". In less than two seconds Pansy was already on the way back to her seat. I had Terry Boot beaten in less than minute after he failed to properly transform a golden retriever puppy into a desk chair, Hannah Abbott gave me a run for my money except that her robe remained with several raven black feathers from the eagle it had been transformed from. I had been through the whole class. Only two left. "Hermione Granger" McGonagall called,

"it's a win win either way" I said to her,

"let's just make sure it's my win" she grinned back. She hated loosing, she hated being second best and I loved nothing more than beating her. McGonagall waved her wand and the robes disappeared.

"I would like to you change each other's robes red". A smile spread across my lips. Finally a challenge. The room gasped in approval. These spells were tricky to get right and even harder to reverse if done wrong. She nodded,

"multicorfos" I whipped my wand from Hermione's feet to her head and her robes turned a bright rosy red colour and when I looked down, mine were the same. We looked to McGonagall.

"reverse it" and before Hermione could even open her mouth her robes were black once more. She gave me a begrudging smile as she sat back down. I reversed my own robes for good measure as McGonagall called on my final opponent. "Theodore Nott". I wasn't aware of Theo's transfiguration skills. I never really spoken to him before that other day on the train and even at that I wasn't sure if that had been him. I was in such a daze it could've been anyone. He walked up from his seat the back corner. His short sandy brown hair was tousled as if he had been running his hands through it all morning and he walked with a calm and cocky humour with his hands in his robe pockets as he took his position across from me. "I would like you to make one another disappear" the glass gasped. We were yet to cover this in class. This was going to be difficult, even for me. Theo looked at me in a funny way, as if he could see the whole way through me, "and for merlin's sake" McGonagall amended, "bring each other back in one piece". Theo lazily withdrew his wand from his robe. I looked up at the high ceiling of the glass room and waved my wand slowly.

"hey!" Theo exclaimed from across the room. I looked back at him with a sly smile. I had made his arm that which he used to hold his wand disappear. With one more flick of my wand he was completely gone.

"very funny Ms. Vance, now bring him back" McGonagall said sternly although she did seem pleased. I waved my wand one more time and Theo repapered slowly, all in one piece.

"fair game" Theo held his hands up in defeat.

"fifty points to Gryffindor" McGonagall announced, "impressive work Ms. Vance, that last one is an extremely difficult task to master and that is where our teaching for this year begins". I looked over my shoulder a few minutes later to fin every set of eyes n the room on our Professor except one. Theodore Nott had his eye firmly on me and a half smile tugging on his lips. I raised an eye brow at him and to my shock he didn't look away he just bowed his head slightly as if to say; "next time, next time I win".