Aesthete | George Weasley

Chapter 18

The next morning, Tia was alone on her way to Transfiguration. She had gotten up very early, had breakfast, and then found a quiet corner to draw and write a letter to her grandmother.

She had waited until the last minute before she went there – still, Transfiguration wasn't really her favorite subject, and she would still prefer to spend as little time as possible in this class.

Thanks to her sense of hearing and smell, she had found some secret passages since last year – some she had told the twins, others she kept to herself. The corridors were empty except for a few students from the sixth and seventh years, when Tia suddenly heard two pairs of hurried steps coming towards her and when she turned around the corner, she already saw the cause.

Two first years had probably lost their way because they seemed disoriented and confused. Tia recognized them, to her surprise, as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley – she had heard a lot about both, including from Fred and George.

"Can I help you?" she asked, and the two of them flinched from the suddenly loud voice and turned around. For a moment, they just stared at each other, and Tia wondered if she had said something wrong.

"I mean... you look like you can't find your way to your class, but of course, I might be wrong." she quickly defended herself.

"No, that's fine." Harry Potter said, and he seemed relieved. "We can't find Professor Flitwick's Charms class."

"You're already on the right track." Tia came to them. "I can take you there if you want. Maybe we'll make it before classes start."

"You're the chili girl." Ron remarked a little rudely. "Fred and George have told some stories about you."

"Did they? Really?" Tia smiled. "People usually call me Tia. Come with me, I know a shortcut."

Tia went ahead and led the two through a secret passage in the wall to the Charms class.

"Here it is." The bell rang to tell the students that the lesson was starting. "And, oops – I'm too late for Transfiguration."

"We're sorry – we didn't want that." Harry quickly apologized.

"No problem – it was always my goal to be late. I hate Transfiguration." Tia waved off with a smile. "Have a nice day. And... for starters – I would really go from room to room as a class, so you don't get lost easily."

"Maybe we'll do that." Harry confirmed. "And thanks again."

"No problem – have a nice day." Tia said goodbye before going on her awn way to Transfiguration.

Of course, McGonagall had already begun the lesson when Tia knocked on the door and cautiously entered.

"Miss Fuego – you're late!" McGonagall reprimanded her immediately.

"Excuse me, I showed two first years the way." Tia apologized, and waited for McGonagall's reaction, but she actually didn't take any points from her, she just snorted.

"See that next time you come on time for your own lessons before you help others." she ordered. "Sit down."

Next to Katie, the seat was still free and Katie looked at her questioningly, but Tia sat down silently and watched the class for the rest of the lesson.

|~|

For Tia, Defense Against the Dark Arts was more of a subject, of which she hadn't understood the meaning until now.

Professor Nogard, the Veela and dragonskin-loving teacher (also an admirer of all female beings), had actually met a Veela during the holidays. He had fulfilled his promise to drop everything to follow her and, it was said, had spontaneously jumped off a cliff to impress the Veela.

Tia was glad he was gone.

The new teacher, Professor Quirrell, didn't really seem to be any better. Tia learned that he had previously taught Muggle Studies and had now returned as a Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Quirrell was terribly nervous and stuttered terribly, making it almost impossible for Tia to follow the lesson.

In addition, his classroom reeked of garlic, and it was one of those moments when Tia wished she couldn't smell better.

The greatest agony for her was standing right next to the Professor because a horrible smell emanated from his turban, as if something was decaying.

"Probably a rat got lost in it and is now slowly rotting." Tia grumbled, as they left the class and were on their way to the Great Hall for lunch. "And the garlic is also unnecessary! I mean, I accept that you might think Snape is a vampire, but that's no reason to torture the students with it!"

"Aja! We thought we'd heard this tender voice scold before." Suddenly, Fred and George stood in front of the three friends and grinned at them.

"What are you talking about?" George asked.

"Tia complains about the stench around Quirrell." Leanne summed up.

"Oh, yes." Fred nodded thoughtfully. "That's a problem. I've been considering getting a breathing mask from Madam Pomfrey in the nest lesson."

"We think he hid a secret storage room with garlic bread under the class." George surmised.

"Tia thinks he's afraid of Snape – because Snape might be a vampire." Katie remarked.

"And the stench of the turban comes from a decaying rat." Tia added.

"It all sounds very logical." George nodded. "But we think that he just likes the smell of garlic and has therefore not only embellished his class aromatically with it, but also his turban."

"No matter what his reason is, the smell should disappear, or I will just suffocate." Tia swore and was the first to enter the Great Hall. Many students were already eating and Tia settled down between Katie and Leanne and to her surprise, Fred and George sat opposite them.

"How is your brother, Ron?" asked Leanne curiously. "Has he settled in yet?"

"I don't know." the two admitted honestly. "We hardly see him – but he's always out with Harry Potter, so he has at least one friend, or he's playing pathetic fangirl again and is just running after the poor guy."

"I showed them the way today." said Tia, who just remembered it. "Ron looked at me rather strangely, but Harry is quite nice."

"Ron has that in him – always a little inappropriate and rude." George nodded knowingly.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" asked Leanne excitedly.

 "Why should I?" Tia frowned, confused, and really didn't know what Leanne expected from her.

"You showed Harry Potter the way!" she said, shaking Tia's arms before she freed herself.

"I don't think it's special – he's a boy like any other. So far, he hasn't shown any truly extraordinary abilities. Also, I don't think he likes to get too much attention. I just showed them the way." Tia shrugged her shoulders.

In any case, Tia would hate it if anyone treated her the way people treated Harry, and he seemed really friendly.

Harry Potter was just another student who wanted to get through school, but most of them didn't seem to understand that and made his life harder than it already was.