Accidentally in Love / drarry

October, 1999

Come on, come on
Move a little closer
Come on, come on
I want to hear you whisper

***

"Today's class will be the first one in a series of five covering Human Transfiguration," McGonagall announced as she scribbled the words on a blackboard, her robe sleeve swinging fiercely as she did so. "I trust everyone has read the relevant chapters." It wasn't a question. Harry had crammed the pages the previous night with a speed that allowed his brain to retain none of the information it had so desperately been exposed to. The quietness of the class revealed he wasn't the only one.

"Right then, who can remember what Human Transfiguration entails?" McGonagall hadn't turned yet when Hermione's hand was already attempting to touch the ceiling in both speed and in vigour. "Miss Granger," the professor clasped her hands together when no one else in the room seemed to be willing to compete with Hermione's enthusiasm.

Hermione lowered her hand. "Human Transfiguration is a sub-branch of Transfiguration and a form of transformation in which one transfigures human body parts or an entire human being into another form, professor."

"Correct, Miss Granger," McGonagall nodded approvingly, and then seemed to catch herself before giving points to Gryffindor. "Human Transfiguration is more difficult than any other form of Transfiguration, and we shall only learn the theory along with minor practical exercises, nothing more," declared the professor.

Someone snorted behind Harry and Ron. "Good thing Malfoy's already mastered transfiguring into a ferret, eh?" Michael Corner cracked, not even attempting to whisper. A light chuckle went around the classroom, and while Harry wasn't particularly amused, Ron had to swallow his smile the second Hermione turned around in her seat to give him a chilling look. Harry saw Malfoy's head twitch towards them a little, but he apparently managed to stop himself before swinging around in his seat, and instead kept his eyes firmly on his notes.

Whatever hilarity had ensued was quickly extinguished by McGonagall's icy stare over her thin spectacles. "Mr Corner, am I understanding that you're volunteering as the subject of our Transfiguration exercises? I am sure the class will be happy to oblige." Another wave of stifled snickers spread across the room, and Harry even saw the corner of Malfoy's mouth twist upwards.

"No, professor, I'm not," Corner replied from behind Harry, and didn't sound too pleased. A few times Harry had had the displeasure of catching Corner's many rants about how the house of Slytherin should be disbanded altogether and how anyone belonging in that house shouldn't have been allowed to return to Hogwarts, especially 'the ferret'. He didn't by any means try to conceal his opinions, rather he tended to launch into his tangents whenever any former Slytherins were around. Harry found his never-ending rhetoric a little stale by now.

"Very well," McGonagall replied dryly, and turned back to the blackboard.

Corner wasn't about to back off. "It would be a shame not to demonstrate some spells that I managed to perfect over the summer, though, wouldn't it?" he whispered to Goldstein, and before Harry could so much as turn around to... what? Tell him to not do anything stupid? Stop him? Corner had already flicked his wand and, before everyone's eyes, little white ferret ears had grown on the top of Malfoy's white head.

The following events happened so fast that they would be nearly impossible to describe exactly the way Harry perceived them.

The first thing he saw was the raise in Zabini's eyebrows as he turned to look at Malfoy, and the furry ears that were protruding from amongst his hair. This made Malfoy raise a hand to feel his head, and proceeded to accidentally poke his other ferret ear with his finger. As he was turning bright scarlet, Malfoy then spun around in his seat to face Corner, whose smile had an almost feral quality to it. No one was laughing this time, and Goldstein had gone rather pale in the face. As Malfoy sent a Jelly-Brain Jinx flying through the air at Corner, Harry's wand was instinctively in his hand, attempting to block the spell. Now Malfoy's attention was at Harry, and he couldn't remember when he'd last seen such rage in Malfoy's eyes, which was probably the reason why – when the git tried to hex him with nothing more severe than the Bat-Bogeys – Harry overreacted, and accidentally hurled Malfoy across the room with his defence. Ferret ears and all, his face was twisted into a surprise as he flew over the rows of people.