Nadine Longbottom - Harry Potter Fanfiction

4. Sightings and infiltrations.

In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become almost everyone's favorite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins would pass snide comments on Professor Lupin's old robes.

But no one else cared that Professor Lupin’s robes were patched and frayed. His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed: in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten lost. From Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

Nadine had gone back to Professor Lupin after some days and requested him to let her try facing a boggart again and she had been successful the second time. Professor Lupin had told her that the accuracy and intensity of a boggart depended upon how big the fear was, because Nadine's fear of becoming evil was rooted deep inside her mind and made her question her ideologies, the boggart affected her more.

Nadine was enjoying all the DADA classes. But she wished she would enjoy some of her other classes. Potion classes felt like sitting in a torture chamber with insults as an added bonus. Snape was in a very vindictive mood these days and there wasn't a doubt why. The story of the boggart assuming Snape’s shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother’s clothes, had traveled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn’t seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin’s name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.

Professor Trelawney was giving Harry worried and pitiful looks in every lesson, which would affect Harry's mood instantly, and annoyed Nadine to no limit. Nadine found Trelawney's predictions and stories really interesting though. The predictions almost felt like fiction stories.

Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence. Nadine would visit Hagrid sometimes when she wasn't occupied and help him feed or look after the hippogriffs.

Nadine was in Arithmancy class with Hermione and unfortunately Malfoy. Arithmancy was a magical discipline that studied the magical properties of numbers, including predicting the future with numbers and numerology. Nadine and Hermione were really intrigued by Arithmancy, both the girls were really good at it.

Nadine would practice her Fire Magic on weekends, with either Neville or Hermione. She would open Chloe's mum's journal, follow the instructions and try to change shapes of the metal cubes. Till now she had managed to just curve the edges of the cubes and she was determined to get better at it.

Nadine had done good at her flying lessons. When Nadine was in first year, she was once watching Harry practice flying. She wanted to join Harry, so she had asked him to give her a go on his Nimbus 2000 and Harry had agreed. She had flown around the Quidditch pitch and Harry had genuinely appreciated her flying. They had done it quite often in first year but in second year the Chamber of Secrets was opened and students were restricted from going out in the corridors alone. This year after the boggart incident Harry had taken Nadine to the Quidditch pitch to make her feel better.

One evening the common room was buzzing with excitement. It was the beginning of October. The first trip to Hogsmeade was due on 31st October. Nadine, Hermione and Ron were doing their Astronomy homework, when Harry entered the common room after his Quidditch practice. Upon hearing about the Hogsmeade trip, Harry's high spirits ebbed away. His uncle had not signed his permission form.