dungbombs and dances (s.b)

07 - ham?

The mystified old man with his lopsided mustache stood behind the counter, scrutinizing every inch of the small girl in front of him.

An unusual one, that was for certain.

"Let's not give up now, shall we? Why don't we try this magnificent alder wand, young missus. Twelve inches, dragon heartstring core, rather supple. Here, give it a wave."

Ollivander enthusiastically handed the eager girl one of his most prized wands. The dragon heartstring he had obtained himself quite some decades ago, and the wood had come from that centuries-old alder tree back in Albania. He had formed a strong attachment to this particular wand, but was equally excited to see it finally gone after all this time.

He beamed from ear to ear as pretty yellow sparks burst from the wand even before the girl's outstretched hand could come into contact with it. "And that, my dear, will be your most trusted companion for the many years to come."

At long last, that infuriatingly hot-headed alder wand had found its true owner.

"Oi!" Luette yelped as  unprecedented sparks emitted from the tip of her wand. The long-suffering redhead on her left managed to dodge just in time, but Pandora on the right wasn't so lucky and now her cloak was dotted with unsightly burn spots. "Sorry!"

"This was a new cloak!" The girl complained exasperatedly, trying in vain to charm the spots off somehow. To her horror, the spots only grew to a monstrous size, looking more grotesque than ever.

"Keep that stick of yours in check, will you?" Lily sighed,  helping the grateful brunette to properly syphon the spots off like the true charms prodigy she was.

"Holymerlinstoethatwassohotohmygod-"

"Down bad, bro!"

"Get a grip guys, you know she can hear you right-"

Lily abruptly turned around to glare at a certain group of boys ogling from the back of the classroom. "For heaven's sake, Potter! Wipe that disgusting lovey-dovey expression off your face before I rip out those goddamn eyeballs-"

Luette hurriedly clamped her hand over her angry friend's mouth, muffling out the colorful expletives that followed. She couldn't help feeling bad for James - he looked close to tears as his marauder friends attempted to comfort him.

After a particularly nasty Transfiguration class (she'd finally snapped and tried to dispose of her wand via window, but Peter Pettigrew had unwittingly caught it, only to be hit right on the face by a heavy explosion), the trio headed off to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year.

The first year DADA teacher, Professor Hemming (infamously dubbed 'Ham' by a few cheeky  first-years), had been 'away for urgent matters', which was the vague reason given to them regarding his prolonged  absence. DADA was a highly anticipated class, and Luette had also gotten caught up in the hype and excitement.

"After all, who wouldn't enjoy witnessing the great James Potter himself suffer a harmless bat-boogey hex?" Lily winked, causing the other two to chortle.

"Ooh! 3 galleons if you do it by next week, Lu," Pandora grinned cheekily at Luette.

"Eh, shouldn't Lils have the honor?"

Lily shook her head. "Naw, it's way funnier to watch  from the sidelines and see drama unfold. Besides, you're the only one who can keep a straight face in those types of situations! Even Dumbledore himself wouldn't suspect a thing!" She also added in a whisper, "And I'll add 5 galleons to the mix-"

"Say no more."

"See, I know our dearest materialistic friend the best!" Lily boasted to the pouting brunette.

"You're just rich, that's why!"

"Says THE Pandora Paxley, of the international gold-mining Paxleys..."

Luette had to smile at her two friends' childish bickering. Of course the reason she agreed was mostly due to the enormous reward, but really, that conceited Potter did need to get off his ridiculously high horse. The fact that he came from a highly respected pure-blood family, and topped both Lily and Pandora in potions, only made his already large head swell even more. 

(All reasons stated above were insignificant. Luette was actually doing this for James himself. Underneath that haughty exterior lay a warm, lovable, kind, insecure boy who simply wanted the girl he liked to notice him. Just that his method of obtaining it was a little over-the-top...

oh, and it wasn't as if Lily actually hated him either. She was just very, very salty over that fact that no matter how high she scored in potions, James would always be a grade higher. And how he and his friends constantly teased and mocked  her Slytherin friend, which was definitely a horrible thing to do. Severus Snape wasn't a bad person at heart, it was just his sinister fascination with the Dark Arts, coupled with not-so-good hygiene, that caused people outside of his House to avoid him like the plague.)

Her thoughts momentarily paused as soon as she entered the DADA classroom. Instead of the usual desks in other lessons, there was simply a huge, empty space, presumably for dueling. Many excited first-years had already gathered around a tall, old wizard with a strange dark mustache that stood out like a sore thumb amidst his pale features. His slouched back was supported with a bright red cane.

Once all first-years were present, he introduced himself as Professor Hemming. "Ham," Pandora giggled, causing the redhead to cough and Luette's lips to twitch.

"Ahem, Miss Paxley. Unwanted interruption is not appreciated here," The professor did not even glance in the girls' direction, and continued to brief the students on the safety rules of hexes and jinxes.

"Not another professor with razor sharp hearing!" The blonde groaned as they found a spot in the room to practice the expelliarmus spell. "Eh, there are three of us, I'll go find another partner then-"

"Stay right there, Dora. You and Lils pair up, I'll go find someone else," Luette said sternly and left despite their loud protests. Suddenly, it hit her that there was an odd number of students in this class, so one would definitely be left out...well, oops.

She must have looked so lost, standing at the side by herself, because Hemming himself walked over to her, his cane in rhythm with his footsteps.

"Hello there, little one. No friends to duel with, I see?"

Luette blinked, taken aback by the professor's bluntness. "Er no professor Ha- ahem, Hemming, my friends are already partnering each other, and there's no one else to duel with, so..."

He looked at her intently, his deep brown orbs boring into her amber ones.

"Come and duel with me, then."