An American at Hogwarts

Family Secrets

Once we had sent the letter to my mom, it was time for breakfast and our schedules, so me and Marie headed down to the Great Hall. Hermione, of course, was already there, and waiting eagerly for McGonagall to hand her her schedule. She took a while. It seemed as if half the house was already down there. Doubtless excited to see when they would have class with Lockhart. Hermione was no different, much to me and Marie's disappointment. I couldn't see how someone as smart as her couldn't see through him. His facade was paper thin, at least once you saw him in person. The guy was one of the most blatantly incompetent people I'd ever met. I'd wager half the school was more proficient with magic than he was. Alas, she still believed his books to be true. Harry and Ron made it down just in time to get their class schedules. We all had the same schedule once again, as we had expected. Electives didn't start until third year, so I'd have to wait a little while to do those. Flitwick had decided that we would continue our private lessons, albeit with Marie joining in with us this time. I'd made him promise me that if I did well enough on my exam, he'd let her join, since I wanted her to be able to protect herself as well as I could. The end of last year had, frankly, terrified me. I wasn't sure what exactly would come next, but I had a feeling that those events wouldn't be the end of our troubles. I glanced over at Marie after looking over my schedule.

"Ugh. Do we really have to have him the first day? Can't even get one or two days free before whatever horrors Lockhart has planned for us?"

She frowned slightly. "At least we get it over with quickly I guess. Just rip the bandage off, you know?"

I was about to reply when Ron interrupted me.

"Hermione. Why do you have little hearts drawn around Lockhart's classes?"

I glanced over. "Oh you have got to be kidding me Hermione..."

She blushed deeply and yanked her schedule out of Ron's hands, storming off.

"For once, Ron, I agree with you about her. It's like she's lost all reason."

Just as I said that, the mail came in. I, of course, did not yet have anything, but Ron on the other hand...

"Oh no..."

I glanced over. Sure enough, he had received a howler, presumably from his mother.

I took Marie's hand. "I believe that is our cue to leave."

She giggled and we walked off.

"Good luck Ron!" I called over my shoulder as we left. Even through the massive doors that led out of the Great Hall, we could hear Mrs. Weasley screaming at Ron about how embarrassed they were of him. Marie glanced at me with slight concern.

"You think he'll be ok?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, probably. His mom doesn't seem the type to go too crazy or anything. Fred and George have surely done worse, and they're fine."

Later on, after rejoining with our friends (Ron was fine, albeit quite embarrassed), we made our way to our first class, Herbology. As we approached the greenhouse, to my great displeasure, both Professor Sprout and Lockhart walked out. I had decided to just call him Lockhart, by the way. He didn't deserve the dignity of being called professor.

"Ah, children! I just finished telling Professor Sprout about the proper way to patch up a whomping willow! Not to give off the impression that I know more about plants than her, I just have run across a few on my travels."

I stared at Marie, dumbfounded. "Far as I know, the willow is one of a kind. He's just straight up lying now..."

Professor Sprout seemed similarly baffled and annoyed, and was completely ignoring him. "Greenhouse 3 today, children! Come on! Don't dilly-dally!"

As we made our way in, Lockhart grabbed Harry. "Professor, may I borrow Harry here for a moment?"

Sprout glared at him, but reluctantly nodded. He pulled Harry aside as the rest of us made our way into the greenhouse. We waited around a bit, presumably for Harry and Lockhart to finish whatever it was they were doing, which thankfully didn't take too long. Just as he came in, a very excited boy approached us.

"You must be Harry Potter!" He said, staring at Harry.

"I... uh, yeah? Sorry, do I know you?"

"No! Justin Finch-Fletchley! And the others, Ron Weasley, of course, the red hair is a total giveaway, Hermione Granger, you had some of the best grades in the year, Y/N L/N, so did you, and, errr..."

Marie smirked, seemingly happy he didn't know her. "Marie Yinsby!"

His eyes went wide. "You mean..."

Marie sighed. "Yes. The rest of us aren't like him."

Justin, rather noticeably, shook all our hands except Marie.

I stared at her, utterly confused. She glanced back. "I'll tell you after class, don't worry."

I nodded and we moved on. We worked with Mandrakes that morning. If I am being honest, one of my least favorite classes yet. Utterly horrid creatures, but I suppose they are useful for potions. After class, I happily took off my earmuffs and darted out of the greenhouse.

"Ok, Marie. What was Justin talking about back there?"

She pursed her lips. "I... I was rather happy you didn't know. I thought most people had forgotten by now."

"Marie, if it's like a family thing, I'm not upset or anything. Just a bit confused. It seemed like he was scared of you or something."

"That's because he was. My grandfather. He... he worked with both Grindelwald and Voldemort. He was horrible. I never knew him, thankfully. Neither did my dad. He was in Azkaban ever since the 40's, at least until Voldemort broke him out. He's dead now, thankfully."

I pulled her into a hug. "Were you worried I'd judge you for what he did?"

She blushed slightly. "At first, yeah. After a couple of weeks, it was more that I'd hid it from you so long I thought you'd be upset about that."

"Marie, I love you more than anything. I'm not gonna judge you for what some old guy who happens to share your name did. You are the furthest thing from him."

She smiled lightly, seemingly relieved. "Thank you Y/N. You're the best."