Luck of Nines

26

Class passed slowly, he managed a "visual transfiguration", where only the outside changed a few more times, but the inside remained stubbornly unchanged. A handful of times he managed small changes to the inside, such as the inside being grey rather than tan, but little more than that. As time passed five of the eleven people in Ravenclaw earned five points each for managing visual transfigurations as did Boyd- who then stealthily completed Greengrass's as well- and Carrow, earning Slytherin a total of fifteen more points, five for each of them.

The core of all of their needles stubbornly remained made out of wood. Behind him he could hear Crabbe and Goyle casting, muttering the incantation incorrectly, and Malfoy complaining, quietly after the first time Mcgonagall had called him out on it. Bulstrode had fallen silent and remained glaring at it sometime after failing to get her matchstick grey after managing that much once. Nott had attempted it twice, a large space between each try where he had fallen silent and stared at the matchstick. The first time it had changed shape, the second achieved a small spark and a slightly less round and slightly more grey matchstick.

Tracey Davis and Pansy Parkinson both were struggling as well, although Parkinson also had been reprimanded for complaining.

The class ended with no one successfully completing the transfiguration, a Ravenclaw earning ten points at the end of class for being the closest to a total transfiguration, an essay assigned to write a foot long essay on where they had possibly gone wrong and a promise they would continue this next class. Upon which he was confronted with the issue that he wasn't quite sure how to measure 'a foot' given everyone's were different sizes.

Phineas groaned, stretching his arms into the air as they finally exited the classroom, "This sucks, couldn't we be doing something more interesting, and useful?"

"And less tedious?" Parkinson made a face, the two seemingly united at least temporarily with their shared dislike of transfiguration, for now.

"Ugh, this couldn't get any worse," Greengrass agreed, "We have herbology next, and right after we just got our nails done last night!"

"Maybe we won't have to touch any of the plants?" Davis tacked on hopefully.

Greengrass shot Davis a scornful look, "I suppose you wouldn't have been told anything, the class is near totally hands on." She sniffed daintily, "My nails are going to be ruined, Agnes."

        It seemed no one there bought for even a second that it wasn't going to be Boyd doing the herbology work alone if the Professor wasn't watching, but no one commented on it.

Phineas laughed, "How bad can it possibly be, it's just plants, my great-great-aunt kept a small garden for her potions until she was one hundred twenty-six. Didn't trust the commercial stuff, you know, but still she could barely cast a warming charm at that point without her hand shaking. This is gonna be simple."

He quickly ate his words as they left the greenhouse later that day with their ears still ringing. Greengrass stared down at her nails which still had bits of dirt stuck underneath them, Malfoy had dirt in his hair as well from when a Hufflepuff boy had been using his trowel incorrectly and had flung clumps around. Carrow though had a small smile on her face.  She had spoken briefly with a Hufflepuff boy after class had ended, the Hufflepuffs had apparently had a class with the still unsorted students so she now clutched a slightly wrinkled piece of parchment tightly in her hands as she hurried away from the Hufflepuff boy to catch up with the rest of them.

      "Oh grow up," Greengrass snapped at her, frustrated that not everybody shared her current poor temper.

       Parkinson was quick to join in, flipping her short hair in the cliche manner some teen magazines advertised, "Yeah, what could your little lover boy have to say that has you with that dumb look on your face."

      Carrow scowled, hurt. "It's not like that and you know it."

     "It's just a joke." Davis huffed, "It's not like we actually think he'd like you like that."

       "Did your friend mention anything about how the sorting will continue?"  Harry smoothly inserted himself into the conversation, "I'm a little interested to see what they'll use." 

       "Oh." Carrow blinked and gave a small, sad smile, "he said the Professor's kept reassuring them that they would be sorted soon, but clearly still are too flustered to even know where to start..." she sighed, "It might be awhile."

      "Oh, that's too bad, I'm sure it won't be too much longer though."

       "Yeah," Carrow smile looked a little more real as she clutched the note to her chest, "He'll be in Slytherin soon."  But the look in her eyes said the exact opposite. She didn't say anymore, he could tell she hadn't wanted to let her mental walls down as much as she did. Here in Slytherin, even that small, barely there smile was too much real emotion. The picture was coming together quickly for him, despite not having known anything about the houses before coming here.

People had allies not friends, and there were very few exceptions to that, the exceptions kept closer to each other than most would find normal, or healthy, for fear of losing even that because somebody one way or another snatched it away.

He could feel Chipped Fang snuggled up and fast asleep on his chest. So it was just like back home on the streets then. He could live with that.

It was because of his familiarity with the setup, even if it was a new location, that he knew usually even those bonds were tainted with desperate need for survival. Created due to a need, one stuck relying on the other and so giving whatever they could to remain beside them. The other allowing it as loyalty that would be severed only by death was hard to find.

There was nothing pure and innocent about it.

He wondered which one Carrow was in that situation.

Knowing that, would make it easier if either of them became a problem. Carrow was too kind, which made her difficult to predict ahead of time. Even if she currently was not causing him problems and frequently siding with him, she remained unreliable.

"You seem deep in thought." He had fallen to trail at the end of the group, watching their interactions with keen eyes as they walked to the dining hall for lunch. Most of them were worn out, at least a little, and so like Carrow had let slip their guards the tiniest bit.

He glanced over, from the corner of his eye, to where Nott walked beside him. Nott's face remained as plain of emotion as ever, but it was quite clear he was more strained and tired than the others, who were merely slightly worn from having class, were.

"I suppose," he supplied. They fell into silence.

    Guess who keeps messing up their alphabet and adding characters into their future houses when they shouldn't be sorted yet? This author.  I did not know what I was signing up for when I stopped it at 'P'. Smith isn't sorted. Nor Weasley. Nor Thomas. And I look back and I'm like thank goodness Patil is before Potter otherwise who's in Gryffindor right now?? (I know, I know, canonically we've got Brown, Granger, Longbottom, Finnegan, possibly Kellah(?)- since she doesn't have a canon last name)