Strangers Meet

2

"Watch it, Gryffindor." Draco spat as he pushed past me out of the common room.

"Are you blind? I'm literally in the same house as you." I call to him as he struts down the hallway.

My first period class was Defense Against The Dark Arts, and I was already running late. The school is a maze, every hall looked the same; aside from the different paintings that were hung on the wall. Every turn down the wrong hallway and every time I had to wait for the moving stairs cost me a minute, and for every minute that I would be late would change how I would be treated by my teacher this year. Turning down whichever hall it was now, I spotted a man with long, greasy, black hair and a long cloak that looked like a dress.

"Do you know where professor Umbridge's class is?" Asking him shyly, he slowly turns around and has no expression on his face, kind of like a brick wall.

"Down the hall, and to the left." He told me in a monotone voice.

"Thanks..." I mocked with equal expression. His eyes widened as I walked past him and in the direction he told me. The bell rang just as I stepped foot into the classroom. The teacher from the grand hall who was wearing all pink was standing by the door. Scanning the room, there was only one open seat, and it happened to be beside Draco. I groaned, dissatisfied with my searing. The sound earned me a couple of weird looks and whispers from one student to another. I placed my books on the table and took my seat. I paid no attention to Draco, but I could feel him looking at me.

Umbridge rambled on about some testing called "O.W.Ls", and faught with Harry Potter about spells. I, on the other hand felt like I was going to fall asleep. What about all the story's I heard about casting spells in class? Doing assignments about monsters? Has the school changed? I shut my eyes and let my mind start to wander off to the amazing things that would come this year as I let my head rest in my hands with my elbows on the table.

My daydreaming was destroyed by someone hitting me in the arm. "What the hell was that for?" I whisper - shouted at Draco who had a look of pure bitterness stuck on his face.

"I don't want Slytherin to lose any points so you better keep your eyes open, or after class I'll make sure you won't be able to shut them." Draco threatened me.

"I'm awfully scared." I said rolling my eyes, bringing my attention to the front of the room. The blabbering went on for another 20 minutes or so as she went on about the ministry of magic and the changing of the school.

"Please partner up with the person beside you and answer questions 4 and 6 on page 17." Umbridge chuckled. I turned glumly to Draco beside me; he held the same agonizing expression.

"I thought we did useful stuff at Hogwarts." I sighed and flipped to the correct page. I obviously came on the wrong year.

"Nothing is useful in this terrible excuse for a school." Draco mumbled and began to write with a quill.

"Honestly, did I say something for you to hate me so much or are you always this snotty?" I barked at him and crossed my arms.

"Detention for you two!" An annoying chuckle came from behind us. "There is no talking in my class. You will come here and sit, and learn to be quiet." Umbridge smiled at our frowns.

"Alright.... now you've got a reason." I whispered to Draco when she walked away. Draco shook his head with a scoff.

"What spell prevents the overhearing of conversations?"
How am I supposed to know this? Is this even related to the dark arts?
Peeking over Draco's shoulder, I noticed he had already written on half the paper. They had probably all learned this year's ago. Rolling my eyes at Draco's understanding of the work and at my parents lack of support, I flipped through the book pages to find an answer to the question. Potions, wand use, spells. The second I found the page, the bell rang. Everyone packed up their books and walked out the door.

The day went slow, but not as slow as detention was going to be. I glided into Umbridge's room and found only Harry sitting there. He turned in his seat and looked at me. I gave him a small smile and glumly took my seat. Seconds later, Draco walked in and sat at the table across from me. Umbridge walked in with the tip-tap of her little pink shoes announcing her arrival.  

"You two will sit here quietly and write lines on how you will not talk in my class. I expect 150 lines each when I get back. No magic." She giggled and extended her hand. Draco and I both stood up and handed her our wands. A piece of paper and a quill appeared infront of me once I sat back down. She walked out with Harry behind her and shut the door with a flick of the wrist.

I instantly stood up, picking up my quill. I had practiced this and home already. "Wingardium leviosa." I whispered to myself and the quill floated in the air just above my paper. I moved my finger in a circular motion as I spoke. "I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class." After a couple times of saying it, the quill continued to write gracefully on its own. "Thank you mother." I whispered to myself because I was taught wandless Magic at a young age.

"Sit down and cut that out or you'll get another detention." Draco snarled as I walked around the classroom, poking at the different books.

"What? So now you care about what I do?"

"No, I care about what happens to me."

"You're so full of yourself." I laughed as I walked over to his desk.

"Well Tyler, maybe you're not the stupid first year I thought you were this morning when you were looking at my paper, now I know you can do wandless magic- simple wandless magic." He placed his quill on his desk and looked up at me.

"Why didn't you stop me from cheating earlier?"

"Why should I? When you catch up it'll be me copying off of you."

"Gee thanks. Is Hogwarts always this lame?"

"Pretty much. The only person who makes it worse is Harry potter." His voice was full of venom as he said his name.

"I'm sure Pansy makes it better for you."

"Pansy? I don't believe a word she says. A girl like her belongs with the rest of the losers in Gryffindor."

"She told me you two had a thing?" I ignored the comment about Gryffindor.

"No chance in hell."

"You'd better tell her that." I laughed at him. Before he could say anything, the door clicked. Draco grabbed his quill and continued where he had left off. I jumped up and ran to my desk and also continued my quills sentence. Umbridge walked to the front of the room and I shot Draco a smug smile. Stopping to count my lines, I found myself at 46. I sighed and accepted the fact that I would be here for another half hour or so.