Chapter Three: Gym Shorts.
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"I don’t believe it."
Ron held up yellow gym shorts with "HOGWARTS" printed on the back, and a gray
t-shirt with a smaller Hogwarts emblem.
Hermione sighed. "They have them in Muggle schools. Apparently, you can work
much better in these than you can in robes."
Ron scowled. "I’m not wearing these."
"Wanna bet, Weasley?"
They turned to see Professor Morgan.
"Did you check these out with Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked.
Professor Summers smiled as she walked up. "He thought they were cute."
Malfoy walked out, wearing his gym clothes. "I hate Muggles."
Morgan snickered. "The shorts are a nice match with your hair, kid. Ron,
Hermione, Harry, please go put your gym clothes on."
Ron grumbled as Harry dragged him into the boy’s locker room.
Five minutes later, the Slytherins and Gryffindors were gathered with their
teachers in front of them, who were also dressed in the Hogwarts gym clothes,
except Professor Summers’ shorts were white, and Professor Morgan’s were black.
"Okay," Professor Summers said. "Even though things here at Hogwarts are kind of
scary right now, Professor Dumbledore has ordered that classes go on like
normal. Therefore, as planned, you’re all wearing gym clothes, and have your own
gym lockers. I know, it’s not terribly exciting, but who knows, you might have
fun."
Professor Morgan sighed. "Okay, first unit today will be sword fighting. Let’s
pair everyone up. Slytherin versus Gryffindor, just to make things more
interesting."
Professor Summers didn’t look pleased with her partner. "Is that a good idea?"
she asked quietly.
"We don’t want ‘em to get bored," Professor Morgan replied. "Potter versus
Malfoy. Weasley versus Crabbe. Granger versus Parkinson, Thomas versus Goyle,
Patil versus."
Hermione paled as she saw Pansy smile. "Bloody hell."
The list went on, and each student was handed a sword.
"These swords are enchanted," Professor Summers informed them. "If the holder,
intentionally tries to harm his or her opponent, the handle shocks them, forcing
them to drop the sword." She stared at Draco Malfoy. "Is that understood?"
Malfoy sneered at Harry. "You got lucky, Potter. I could slice you in two."
"When snakes fly," Harry growled.
"When one fighter knocks another one to the ground, the match is over,"
Professor Summers went on. "Each fighter will put their swords on the ground
after that. No cheep tricks. No spells. If I see any, points will be taken off.
A lot of them. And you won’t be happy. Trust me."
Professor Morgan smirked. "Okay, boys and girls. Get to it!"
**
They walked out of their respective locker rooms and onto
levitation class. Harry had had Malfoy on the ground in not time. Ron’s time
with Crabbe was even shorter. Hermione, however, had suffered a terrible defeat
at the hands of Pansy.
They walked into Professor Rosenberg and Maclay’s class and took their seats.
"I’ll get her next time," Hermione grumbled.
"Face it," Ron said. "You’re not cut out for fighting. You’re doomed to hide in
the library for the rest of your life."
"That’s not a bad thing," Willow said. "Besides what you lack in physical
strength you more than make up for in brain power. And it’s fun to outsmart your
enemies. Because most of the time, enemies are stupid."
Hermione smiled. "You really think so?"
"I live so."
"Today’s class will be spent levitating people," Professor Maclay announced.
"It’s challenging, but fun."
"Any student who makes another student hit the ceiling will be punished, by the
way," Willow told them. "So leave poor Neville alone this time."
The Slytherins snickered.
"So pair up! And no mixed houses!"
**
"Vampires suck."
The class fell silent.
Professor O’Brien smirked. "Blood. Lots of it."
The class snickered.
"They’re also very dead. And when I say dead, I mean pale, cold skin, they only
can pretend to breath, no heartbeat, no pulse, and some of them even have skin
decay, but that’s rare, because, well, vampires are very vain, even though they
can’t see their own reflection. They love clothing, nice places, makeup, money.
Anything that reflects wealth, It’s a big thing for them."
Hermione raised a hand.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"How does one. become a vampire?"
Professor O’Brien sat on his desk and scratched his arm through his black robes.
"Well. if a vampire takes a liking to a human. they drink their blood. but not
all of it. just enough so they’re almost dead. They feed the nearly dead human
some of their blood, and the human appears to die, but. they’re just sleeping.
The next night, they’re usually already buried by their loved ones, and they
rise."
"How come they’re so evil?" Ron asked.
"When a vampire rises, it loses its soul," their teacher explained. "Soulless
beings have no clear sense of right and wrong. They want what they want, and it
doesn’t matter how horrible it is, or who dies or is hurt in the process of
getting it. kind of like Malfoy over there."
The Gryffindors snickered, and Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"There was. once. a vampire with a soul," O’Brien went on. "Legend has it that
he killed the wrong girl, a gypsy, and her family became so angry that they
cursed the vampire with a soul. Well. he moved to America, and roamed around,
feeling guilty for eighty years, because for 150, he gave ugly death to everyone
he’d ever met." His expression became far away. "Family, friends. Complete
strangers. It didn’t matter."
He blinked and shook his head. "Anyways, eventually, he decided, with the help
of a few people, that he wanted to atone. So, he moved to LA and became a
champion for good. After about six years of this, of helping people, the higher
powers saw fit to turn him super-human. They say that he is still helping
people, still making a difference."
He leaned in, and his voice became low. "Some say he attended this very school."
Ron and Harry looked at each other, and then back at him. Harry glanced behind
him to see Hermione flipping the pages of one of her books furiously.
Professor O’Brien sighed. "For those vampires who aren’t just fluffy puppies
with bad teeth, methods of getting rid of them are- and write these down,
please."
Lunch in Professor Wyndham-Pryce’s classroom had been
canceled so he could do some more research in the Library.
Hermione smiled happily as she followed her uncle to the very back, and sat
down, as he began to slide books out of their places.
"What we’re looking for," he told her, "are a few spells that will hopefully
keep vampires from entering Hogwarts. Professor Rosenberg had a few, but. well.
we had a bit of a problem a few months back, and they were set on fire."
"I thought Professor Rosenberg had a computer?" Hermione asked.
"She does, But the one with the spells was thrown out of a window."
"Oh."
Wesley smirked at her. "Get searching. I’ll find more books."
"Uncle Wesley?"
"Yes, Hermione?"
"Is it true that a vampire went to Hogwarts. the one that Professor O’Brien
talks about. the one with a soul?"
Wesley’s lips turned up into a smirk. "Yes, I believe I read that somewhere,
why?"
Hermione shrugged. "No reason."
Waves of Fright.
****
Professor Faith Morgan walked by the Slytherin table in
the Great Hall during lunch that day. The most prominent noise was coming from
Draco Malfoy’s mouth.
"I heard that two of the teachers are having sex," he informed his fellow
Slytherins.
Faith rolled her eyes. "Malfoy, do you even know anything about sex?"
"Children are conceived from it," Draco snapped back.
At that point, Buffy walked by the table, and stopped to monitor her sister
slayer’s behavior.
"Lemme tell you something about sex," Faith smirked.
"Faith, no," Buffy whispered.
Faith muttered something into Malfoy’s ear that made him go ghostly white.
Buffy dragged Faith away from the table. "What did you tell him?"
"Something Lucius should have told him a long time ago. He’s fifteen, and he
doesn’t know anything about sex. No wonder he’s such an asshole." She smiled. "Scuse
me." Faith ran over to the head of the Gryffindor table. "Malfoy doesn’t know
what sex is!"
The whole table burst into laughter.
"I knew he was an idiot," Ron laughed. "But that’s ridiculous!"
Harry snickered. "Explains why he’s so cranky!"
"Even Ginny knows about sex!" Ron hollered.
"George! You wanna order Malfoy a whore for his birthday?"
"What a smashing idea, Fred! We could get Pansy!"
Hermione flinched. "I wouldn’t say that if I was you, she’ll kick your arse."
Buffy shook her head.
"Professor Morgan!" An outraged voice cried. "A word please!"
Faith turned to see Professor Snape bounding toward her. She cracked up and
beamed at Fred and George Weasley. "I’m in trouble now."
Meanwhile Angel stopped next to Buffy. "What did she do this time?"
"She’s become the patron saint of Gryffindors scorned," Buffy replied.
"Completely humiliated Draco Malfoy."
Angel sighed. "That’s our Faith. Did you hear that Filch is missing?"
Buffy nodded. "I think we found out who Spike and Dru ate the night we found
them."
Angel nodded solemnly.
**
"Professor Snape, what can I do for you?" Professor Morgan
leaned casually against the Gryffindor table, gazing politely at Professor Snape.
"You’re spreading rumors about one of my students," Snape hissed.
Professor Morgan sighed and reached into her robes, pulling out a small box of
Altoids. "Mint?" she offered.
He glared at her. "I don’t find you amusing, Professor."
"I don’t find you scary, Severus," she replied. "You’re kid gloves in terms of
scary. You glare and you yell and you’re ugly, but you’re not scary. I’ve known
Muggles scarier than you. I’m scarier than you. And I could have you begging for
mercy in five seconds flat." With that, she pushed past him and stormed out of
the great hall.
Buffy and Angel watched her leave without shock.
"Think one of us should talk to her?" Angel asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Nah."
At that moment, Ginny Weasley walked into the great hall looking like death. Her
three brothers began to rush over, seeing her look, but Angel got to her first.
"Ginny?" He knelt in front of the fourth-year. "What happened?"
"F-Filch. and. Mrs. N-N-Norris. I found where they went off to."
Angel nodded sympathetically and got to his feet. "Show me."
Ginny led him out of the great hall, and the boys tried to follow, but Buffy
stopped them.
In the hall, Faith spotted Ginny. "Gin? Y’okay kid?"
Angel sighed. "She found where Filch and his cat ran off to."
Faith paled. "Oh, shit."
The two teachers followed Ginny up to the Gryffindor common room and she opened
the far closet with shaking hands.
Filch and Mrs. Norris were hanging on two different coat hangers. The cat in two
different pieces. Filch’s hanger went through the skin and fit perfectly around
his shoulder blades. His eyes were still open. There was no blood. He almost
looked like a costume hanging there.
Angel pushed Ginny behind him into Faith, who put her arms around the girl.
"Take her to Madame Pomfrey. And go get the other teachers."
Faith nodded, and guided the stunned Ginny to the painting.
"Professor Morgan?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah?"
"Was it really vampires that did that?"
Faith sighed. "Yeah, Ginny. It was. Now come on. You look like you could use
some chocolate."
The girl nodded, and let Faith lead her out of the painting.
Ginny glanced back at the painting, and gasped.
Faith whirled around to see Spike’s handwriting on the painting in blood.
**Run, Run as fast as you can. You can’t catch us. We’ll eat you first.**
Ginny began to shake, and Faith pushed her away from the painting, muttering a
string of obscenities as she did.
Professor Dumbledore shook his head. "This is the last straw. They can get into
the dorms. We have to close the school."
"Headmaster, with our combined efforts, I’m certain we can have those two in no
time," Giles said.
Dumbledore nodded. "I agree, but the children cannot be here when that happens."
"What do we do with them all?" Tara asked. "There are so many."
"Don’t worry about that, Professor Maclay," Dumbledore replied. "I have a course
of action. But we have to be swift about this. Minerva, send owls to Durmstrang,
Beauxbatons, Plenard and Americus."
**
The next day in levitation class, the students were silent. Even Malfoy
refrained from saying a word.
Tara sighed. "Willow, I think these kids are really shaken. We should do
something."
Willow nodded. "Yeah. Any ideas?"
"Maybe. Maybe would could have a discussion about what’s been going on?" Tara
asked. "Try and make them feel a little better?"
Willow smirked. "Yeah. that’s not a bad idea."
Tara sat in front of the class and sighed. Willow hopped up to sit on the desk.
"Due to recent events," Tara started. "Willow and I have decided not to have a
normal class today. We thought that maybe you guys’d want to talk about what’s
been going on."
"Would anyone like to start?" Willow asked.
Draco Malfoy raised his hand.
"Yes, Draco?" Tara asked.
"How did vampires get into the school?" he asked.
His voice wasn’t mean, or snappy. He was seriously curious. Ever since she’d met
him, Tara had thought that there was something good about the boy. Unlike Faith,
Buffy and Angel, she tried to be as kind as possible to him, and Willow had
followed suit. The two witches felt that by showing the Slytherins some decency,
they could make a difference in their attitudes. Not just coddle them as Snape
had, or scold them as Faith, Buffy and Angel seemed so set on doing.
"We’re still working on that," Willow replied. "When we know, you will, too."
Malfoy nodded.
Ron raised his hand.
"Ron?" Willow said.
"Where do you think they’re hiding?" He asked.
Tara sighed. "We suspect in the tunnels underneath school. We’re still looking
into that, too."
Tara grimaced. She wished she had more answers for them.
**
"I suppose, since we’ve just finished our unit on
vampires, we should get into vampire slayers."
Professor Giles looked over his class, and noticed that all of them were paying
close attention. He smiled. "Since the beginning of time, demons have roamed the
earth, and when humans came along, things became quite. well complicated."
Ladies and Gentleman, the Fighting Styles of Draco Malfoy.
****
The great hall was packed, and almost completely silent.
Ron, Hermione and Harry sat together at the Gryffindor table as usual.
When Malfoy walked by, they began to snicker.
"Wonder if he even knows what masturbation is," Ron muttered to his friends.
Draco stopped dead in his tracks.
"Ron! That’s gross!" Hermione cried. "We’re eating!"
Draco turned bright red and gritted his teeth.
"I just wonder," Ron went on. "Think about it. If he doesn’t know what sex is
all about-"
Malfoy lunged across the table at Ron, knocking him to the floor.
"BLOODY HELL!" Ron cried.
Malfoy flung a fist that Ron dodged easily. "Bastard!" he yelled. "Kill you!"
"Malfoy, stop," Ron said. "You’re embarrassing yourself!" He got to his feet,
dragging Malfoy with him.
Malfoy struggled and swatted at Ron, who held the blond away from him. "Fight
like a man!"
"Oh, shut it, Malfoy," Harry said. "You fight like a Muggle girl."
Next to Harry, Hermione was laughing so hard, tears began streaming down her
cheeks. "Oh, god. Oh, hell. This is ridiculously funny. Stop!"
"Don’t stop!" Seamus cried. "This is the best floor show we’ve had in a while!
Slug ‘im, Ron!"
Dean yelled in agreement. "Give it to ‘im good for the lot of us!"
At that moment, Crabbe and Goyle rushed over, but were pushed away by a few
teachers beginning to circle.
"What’s going on down here?"
The group turned to see Professor Morgan, Professor Snape, Professor MacGonagall,
and Professor Maclay.
Snape glared. "Weasley."
"What happened, Ron?" Faith Morgan asked, crossing her arms.
"He started it," Ron replied, still trying to hold Malfoy away from him. "He
tried to kill me."
"I highly doubt that, Weasley," Snape snapped. "Malfoy?"
"He-"
Tara gave a sad look to Draco. "Please tell the truth, Draco?"
Malfoy paused, and then sighed. "I hit first."
Snape gave a glare to Tara.
"Malfoy, Weasley, come with me," Professor MacGonagall said.
Ron left amidst cheers from his table, as well as others. He gave a bow before
being pulled by the arm out of the great hall.
"Wait!" Dumbledore cried. He clinked his spoon against his glass, and
MacGonagall led the two boys back in.
Dumbledore sighed. "I need your close attention. This is very important. Due to
recent events, it has been decided to evacuate all students from Hogwarts until
our special vampyric guests are apprehended. Each house will be sent to a
different school. Slytherins will be sent to Durmstrang in Germany, Ravenclaws
will be sent to Beauxbatons in France, Hufflepuffs will go to Americus in
Canada, and Gryffindors to Plenard in the US. You have three days to pack your
essentials. Parents have already been owled."
The great hall burst into noise, as the students were obviously shocked.
Ron grinned. "Huh. An unknown amount of time away from Slytherins. What a
godsend!"
"Believe me, Weasley, the feeling is mutual," Draco snarled.
"Come along, you two," MacGonagall said, leading them out.
"Since you need your three days to pack, your detentions will be served right
now," MacGonagall told them. "You will both be helping the house elves in the
kitchen. Washing dishes. The Muggle way."
Ron sighed in defeat, and Malfoy’s jaw dropped, almost to the floor.
"And you’ll be working side by side," their teacher went on. "So, I suggest you
two make the best of it."
The two boys glared at each other.
**
Hermione sat in the forbidden section of the library with
her uncle Wesley, and Professors O’Brien, Rosenberg Maclay, and Giles, with
Professor Morgan and Summers pacing near them.
"I don’t sense them here anymore," Professor Summers said. "I don’t think
they’re in the school anymore."
"They got bored," Professor O’Brien commented. "They move a lot. They don’t stay
in one place because of Dru’s need for new scenery and Spike’s short attention
span."
"They wouldn’t go that far," Giles commented. "They still want to annoy us."
"Nearest town?" Professor Rosenberg asked.
"Hogsmeade," Hermione replied. "Older students spend weekends there."
Professor O’Brien nodded. "Right. Let’s go."
Hermione got up with the rest of the adults.
"Not you," Her uncle replied. "You’re not supposed to be up. Come on. I’ll take
you up to the tower." He turned to the others. "I’ll meet up with you."
Wesley led Hermione out of the library and through the halls, only to bump right
into Severus Snape.
"Wesley."
"Severus."
"Caught a student out of bed?" Snape asked.
Wesley sighed. "Actually, we were going over a few things in the library. I’m
escorting her to her dorm."
"A few things?"
"If you must know," Wesley said, gritting his teeth slightly, "We may have the
vampires cornered at Hogsmeade."
Snape gave a crooked grin. "Ah. I see. Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind my
tagging along, then?"
"I. I suppose not," Wesley replied. "Wait for me in the front hall."
Ron didn’t make his way into Gryffindor tower until midnight. When he opened the
door, he found Harry sitting up in his four-poster, surrounded by parchment,
scribbling furiously away with a quill.
"How was detention?" Harry asked.
Ron sighed. "Tiring. Draco kept throwing left-over food at me. So I whacked him
over the head with a plate. What are you doing?" Ron asked, flopping onto his
own bed, pulling off his shoes.
"Writing to Snuffles."
Ron sat up and raised an eyebrow. "All that is for Snuffles?"
"It’s not going to be easy to owl him in America, is it?" Harry muttered. He
sighed. "He better not do anything stupid while we’re away."
Ron smirked. "What do you think about this whole going to America thing,
anyways?"
Harry shrugged. "Could be interesting. Never been out of England before."
"I’ve only been to Egypt," Ron replied.
Harry snorted with a smirked. "Only Egypt."
Ron snickered. "Sorry."
At that moment Hermione burst through the door. "Good news!" she cried.
Both Harry and Ron jumped.
"Christ, Hermione!" Ron cried. "Knock first!"
She flinched. "Sorry," she said quietly.
"What’s up?" Harry asked, still writing.
"The professors might have a lead on the vampires," she informed them. "We may
not have to go to America."
"That’s kind of anticlimactic, isn’t it?" Ron commented.
"They found out that they’ve been spotted in Hogsmeade."
Harry looked up, a bit panicked. "Hogsmeade? As in. Hogsmeade, Hogsmeade?"
Hermione gave him an annoyed look. "What other Hogsmeade would I be talking
about?"
Harry paled. "The Hogsmeade where my letters go, Hogsmeade?"
Ron caught his drift. "Uh-oh."
Hermione’s eyes widened. "Snape’s going with.
"If he finds Snuffles." Ron added.
"Dumbledore made them shake!" Hermione cried.
"Do you honestly think that means anything to him?" Ron asked.
Harry reached under his mattress and pulled out an old rolled up piece of
parchment. The Marauder’s Map. " Ron’s right. Let’s get going."
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