A feeling of darkness overshadowed Alicia's thoughts in her sleep. She was right on the money when she told Snape that every Dementor within a thousand miles was there. Within 10 miles of Hogwarts the entire host of Dementors in this part of the world were gathered. A high number of them to be certain? all here apparently for Black. They must have numbered in the hundreds, maybe even the thousands, yet for the most part they kept behaved from what she could feel. No large scale psionic screams of pain and panic, no rampages of terror? yet. Of course, as the saying went, there was a first time for everything. Still, despite the fact that they were there for a good thing, it was not a good thing to have so many of these dark things gathered so tightly together. The chance of the things running rampant and out of control was just too great to risk such a thing happening. No matter what assurances the Ministry of Magic made on their behalf? It was clear that the chances of them slipping "off the wagon", and following their inner demons over their duty was too great. In short things were going to be quite interesting this year. But then again she didn't need Dementors to make life "interesting" for her. At times the living did more than an adequate job of that. At breakfast in the Great Hall, it seemed that Malfoy was up to his old tricks again. He was entertaining a large group of Slytherins with a "funny" story, accentuated by him doing a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit, obviously "fainting" like Potter. Alicia didn't speak to him. She merely walked pass him, grabbed his arm, and "fed" him what Potter was fed by the Dementor? and brought the entire room to silence as Malfoy began screaming horrifically. He had to be rushed to Madame Pomfrey, but the point was clear? at least to her in any case. The rest of the Slytherins avoided her, giving her a wide berth as she walked over and started eating. Finally, after much staring, she stood up and said "He wanted to know why Potter fainted? That's why. At least Potter was a man, and was only subdued by the Dementor's dark aura? Malfoy couldn't even take half of what they did without screaming like a baby. So don't go staring at me like that. He wanted it, after all?" She let her words drift off as the Slytherins turned away from her, fear radiating from them. Good. At least they'll remain behaved for awhile? except she shook up everyone else in the room. Eventually the room returned to normal, but the remembrance of what she did remained. It took a clean sweep mindwipe spell to get the room completely back to normal. 'Not even past day 1 and already I'm mindwiping short term memories?' she lamented, feeling abit uneasy for having to have done such an "easy out" so quickly. But even then it wasn't perfect. Not by a long shot. The only ones who weren't touched by this was Malfoy and his personal "fan club" of goons and supporters, who went with him to Madame Pomfrey. But they won't give her problems now? at least, she hoped they wouldn't. "You're in a mood, and it's only Day 1." George reminded her, passing her schedule as he did. He didn't need a memory of what she did to see that she was not in a good mood. "Not in the mood." she retorted. "Thinking of the Dementors." she half lied. "I know." George said, the memory of it still sticking in his craw, "They're horrible things, those Dementors?" "Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" said Fred. "You didn't show him? what it?" Harry stumbled, Alicia's eyebrow going up as she realized he still remembered what she did. Shaking it off quickly she merely replied "Let it go, Harry. He got only what was close to his own "heart"? not what is close to yours." The topic steered quickly to that of Azkaban, giving Alicia a "out" from having to explain further what she did to Malfoy? for now. But Potter stuck in her craw. Mainly how did he avoid having his memories retooled when she nailed everyone in the room with one shot? For a quick diversion, Alicia grabbed Hermione's schedule to compare notes. That's when she was hit with shock #2 of the day. Well, shock #3. Shock #1 came when she woke up with her fellow Chasers in her bed looking even more mischievous than usual ever since they became an item. And since that was a length of only hours for Alicia, this didn't bode well for her. "It's way too early for me to even humor this." she grumbled. "Isn't there two lesbian spirits over in the girl's bathroom on the fifth floor? Go bother them, they have all eternity? I don't." They wouldn't take no for an answer. So she finally pushed them out of her bed and crawled out, running a hand through her unkempt hair as she grabbed her robes. "I hate my life." This situation reminded her of the awkwardness of that other situation, only worse. The paper seemed right except for the fact that the schedule seemed rather impossible. "You've got to be kidding me?" she rasped, holding the paper up as Hermione tried to grab it back from her, "You're down for TEN subjects a day?!? No way! You crazy or something??" "I'll manage." she gasped, finally taking her schedule back, "I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall." "Then I hope she plans to start cloning you because this is impossible!" Alicia shot back, "You're down for Muggle Studies, Arithmancy AND Divination at 9'o clock alone!! No way you'll be doing all THREE at once, unless you have two evil twins you never told us about?" (Alicia's eyebrow raises in a bit of a Vulcan like manner) "Or are you the evil twin you never told us about." "Don't be silly!" Hermione quickly replied, "Of course I won't be in three classes at once." "Well, then how?" Ron started, only to be shot down when Hermione asked for the marmalade. A minute later Hermione said "Oh, Ron, stop pouting! What's it to you if my schedule's abit full?" "We care about you dammit!!" Alicia snapped back, causing Hermione to blush from Alicia's sudden surge of emotion. "?Alicia!" "What! Is it wrong to care about you?!? I?" Hermione puts a finger to Alicia's mouth, bringing her to silence as she looked at her in awe. Alicia simply fell silent at this, and looked at her, face burning as she blushed. Hermione smiles, and whispers "I told you I got this fixed with Professor McGonagall. Trust me." Alicia didn't know what to do, so she simply leaned forward quickly and kissed the tip of Hermione's finger bringing an deep red blush to Hermione's face. The two stared at each other, unable to speak as they tried to recover from what happened. Hermione blushed, then began to say something? slowly? as if she wanted to say? Just then, as if to break the tension between the two, Hagrid entered the Great Hall absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one of his hands. Alicia turned, looked at him, and said "No thanks, I already ate." "Eh? Oh?" (looks at polecat) "?right. Sorry about that." (puts polecat out of sight as he addresses them) "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five getting' everythin' ready?" (blushes) "?hope it's OK? me, a teacher? hones'ly?" "Just as long as you don't bring a female werewolf to class I think you'll do fine." Hagrid, grinning broadly at them (the blush still covering his face, no doubt from a memory of his predecessor and his predecessor's new wife) quickly retreated to the Staff Table. "Wonder what he's been getting ready?" Ron mused out loud, abit of anxiety in his voice. "Probably something fun? or dangerous? or both." Alicia remarked, "Take your pick." Everyone was beginning to head out to class, and so they had to head out as well. First class of the day was Divination? (and Muggle Studies + Arithimancy if you were Hermione). ------ The journey to the North Tower (where Divination was being held) was in itself an adventure. Mostly because they ended up becoming rather lost while looking for class. That's because they've been through a lot of the school, but never been to the North Tower before. Never. "There's --" (Ron gasped as he trudged up stairs #7) "-- got --" (long spiraling stairs #7) "-- to -- be -- a -- shortcut!" he rasped, the four finally emptying out into another unfamiliar landing. "Well sure there is but it could get us killed." Alicia remarked, all eyes turning onto her. "I could teleport us up, but since I don't know where we're teleporting we could end up inside a wall and? yeah? be "Terminated"? as it were." Nobody took her up on the teleportation offer after that explanation. "I think it's that way." Hermione remarked, pointing off in one direction, bringing out a "Can't be," from Ron. "That's south, look, you can see a bit of the lake out of the window?" "Behave you two or I'll teleport you both into the lake? I can see that just fi--" (Alicia stops as she notices Harry watching something) "?what are you?" A strange sight greeted them as something approached them from inside the painting. A strange female in a red riding outfit stumbled onto the picture, looking about left and right for something. "Last time I go through THAT painting! Damn people nearly gave me a fright and?" (she stops as she regards the four staring at her) "?Ah? right. Hi there?" (blinks) "?uh-huh." They watched, in amazement, as the little female rider turned and whistled, waiting in vain for something to show up. "It's never around when I need?" (stops, turns to look at her "guests" watching her from outside the painting) "?oh, bother." "Are you missing something?" Harry asked, moving closer to the painting only to be stopped by the small female who said "Not so close?" (Harry apologized as he stopped) "?remember my comfort zone, please? thanks." Finally a broom flew into the picture and ran the small female over, knocking her to the ground as it passed by, turning to stop just above her hovering. With a sad groan she pulls herself to her feet and grasp the broom, "I wish they drew me with something other than a mischievous broom for a "ride"!" "Excuse us," Harry said, taking advantage of her presence there, "We're looking for the North Tower. You don't happen to know the way, do you?" "I live up there. Come on." she motions, climbing on her broom -- stopping only to ask "Can you see my arse? I didn't rip my riding pants again, did I?" (everyone shakes their head in the negative) "?I hate it when that happens." It didn't take long to find the class, the four of them chasing after the small female on the broom as she led them from painting to painting. One painting in particular she zoomed past a group of females so fast she flipped their long skirts up as she flew by. This caused Herimone to grab Ron to drag him past as he ogled their panties. As they reached the class the female on the broom did an abrupt u-turn and sped off leaving them behind without so much as leaving a name. Just as well since they were almost late. Still, Alicia mused, she had to know who the strange little female was. Maybe a little research? They quickly climbed the last few steps and came upon most of the class, but there was no doors off of this landing (hence why everyone was still there). Ron nudged Harry and pointing towards the ceiling. There, where a circular trapdoor sat, was a brass plaque that read "Sibyll Trelawney, Divination teacher". "Right. How are we getting up there?" Ron asked. The trapdoor opening, and a silvery ladder coming down pretty much answered that question. As Alicia entered the "class", she found herself surrounded by the strangest looking classroom she had ever wandered into. It was abit like a cross between some quaint little fancy tea shop, and somebody's old attic. The room was filled with 20 small circular tables, while seating was provided by odd looking armchairs and little poufs. The entire room was lit by dim crimson lighting, and the room was dark since the curtains around them were drawn tightly closed. There were lamps in the room, but they all were shrouded by red scarves which gave the room a reddish glow to it. It was very warm in the class, and it smelled like the inside of a honeycomb since a strong sickly sweet perfume smell filled the airspace about them. The shelves were stacked to capacity with dusty looking feathers, a ton of candle stubs, packs upon packs of old tattered playing cards and countless crystal balls and a huge array of teacups. "Is she a fortune teller or a packrat." Alicia grumbled, eyes taking in everything about her. "Where is she?" Ron asked. The voice that spoke next answered that question right away, since the voice could only be that of the professor herself. "Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last." Alicia groaned, already sensing a bad experience from this class without even having been in said class for not even one minute. As Professor Trelawney moved into the light, Alicia looked at her with disdain. She was very thin, wearing huge glasses that magnified her eyes several times to an almost comical size, and she was draped in the most unnerving outfit of a spangled shawl, many chains and beads, and a ton of bangles and rings. She must be setting off metal detectors miles away from them even as they looked at her. "Sit, my children, sit." she said with a slight wave of her arms, everyone moving to sit on one of the awkward seating arrangements, Alicia taking one of the armchairs around the same table as Ron, Harry and Hermione. "Welcome to Divination." she started, eyes already panning about at her class sizing them up. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye." "Then you should go see an Inner Eye Doctor." Alicia snipped back without missing a beat. Professor Trelawney, not affected by Alicia's remark, continued. "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts." "It's a mandatory class. No actual decision making required." Alicia remarked bluntly, bringing Trelawney's big eyed gaze onto her for a second before she continued, trying not to let Alicia's remarks throw her timing. "I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field?" Hermione didn't seem too pleased to hear THAT, groaning silently as she clutched her book. "Many witches and wizards, talented though they may be in the art of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future." 'Like you can.' Alicia thought to herself, becoming already annoyed with this teacher. "It is a Gift granted to a few. You, boy," (her attention falling on Neville and his girlfriend May who barely manages to keep Neville from falling off his pouf at the sudden attention) "Is your grandmother well?" "I think so," said Nevelle tremulously. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear." Trelawney said snidely, bringing an angry protest from May. Alicia merely shrugged and said "Tell her in your next letter to have a little spell on hand for heartburn. Her next experiment with mexican cuisine will not go well. Trust me." At this Neville nods his head furiously, taking Alicia's words to heart. Trelawney, not thrown by Alicia's counter, turned her attention to the others. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," (she turns suddenly on Parvati Patil) "beware a red-haired man." Alicia quickly peeked ahead, and nodded her head. "Not Ron." she said (noting Patil's odd expression towards Ron) "You're going to be approached by a tall red haired man looking for his puppy during the Christmas holiday in Hogsmeade. Simply point at him and scream "PERVERT" and he'll be caught by Hogsmeade' Police and arrested for several charges of indecent exposure. Of course it could be worse. He could have been looking for Mr. Pus--" (silence) "--never mind." "In the second term--" Trelawney was back on it again, trying to shake Alicia's so far seemingly good "record" of countering every prediction with one of her own. It didn't help that Alicia was far more informative about her predictions, and far more confident about her predictions to boot. "We shall progress to the crystal ball -- if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu?" "I'll order flu shots for everyone before December." Alicia countered. "?I myself will lose my voice?" "Not if I can help it. One good dose of throat medicine for you before Christmas should handle that just fine." "?and around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever." "Make it two and you got yourself a "deal"." A tense silence fell on the class as the two "future seers" regarded each other. Trelawney, it seemed, was not going to have an easy time with one of her new students. In fact it looked like a long drawn out battle was going to take place until Easter at least. Trelawney suddenly derailed the silence by asking for a silvery teapot. Lavender, who was asked, retrieved the item and gave it to her with a bit of relief on her face. That didn't last long. "That you, my dear. Incidentally?" Alicia beat her to the punch. "Keep your rabbit indoors on October 16th, and have someone call Animal Control to pick up a wild animal that'll wander onto your property during the lunch hour." "Now I want you all to divide into pairs?" Trelawney announced, once again ignoring Alicia's counter predictions with a determination to steer the class her way. "I want you all to divide up into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me?" Alicia drowned out the rest. She already knew what to do so she went to doing it, taking Hermione as a partner. She did stop, however, to calm May down after Trelawney went after Neville (again) with her predictions. Once Alicia did what she had to do, she exchanged samples with Hermione and stared into it intensely. "What can you see?" Hermione asked. "I see a very good reason why I never drink tea in the first place. This stuff is majorly disgusting." Alicia remarked sadly. "And people actually set time aside for? this? ewww." This time it was her turn to be thrown off her "game" as it were, mostly thanks to the thick layer of perfume "air" that was around her. It could have been that, or maybe it was the stomach wrenching stuff sitting before her. One or the other, take your pick, was messing her up. Then again maybe it was the fact that she was disturbed by this future seeing stuff. She could, in fact, see Hermione's future if she wanted to. Hence the problem she faced. She could see her future, but she simply did NOT want to! She didn't want to use her own flawless skill, and end up seeing too much of Hermione's future, especially if it meant they had no future together. Dammit! She grumbled, slamming her fists down, why did she go with her first compulsion to pair up with Hermione?!? That was such a mistake! Briefly a thought crossed her mind. Her hand pushing aside the teacups, the other grasping Hermione to pull her forward, "I see a very beautiful future in store for us." she whispers as their lips touch, Hermione's eyes fluttering close as they kissed deeply? "What do you see?" Hermione asked again, bringing a distasteful expression to Alicia's face. "Alright, alright? hold your broomstick, Hawkins?" (examines cup) "?looks like you'll be majorly stressed from the bigger work schedule, so you'll need to probably grab as much down time here and there --" (blinks) "Hello? you're going to have quite abit on your plate, and more to come but the specifics seems to be rather shaky? you'll also find true love? where you least expect it?" (stops and steers the topic elsewhere) "?that and you'll have??" (stops) "?here's a sign of trials and hardships, but this -- is that an insect? Looks like a ? bug?" (shakes head) "Never mind. Forget I said that. Something about a bug causing hardships but really? a bug. What the hell does THAT mean anyway!" (sighs) "Ok. Humor me. What does my tea mish-mash say beside "recycle me"?" Hermione focuses on Alicia's cup, eyes glancing back and forth from the cup to her book, checking everything over and over again before speaking. "The sign of an enemy nearby. A foe you must deal with." 'No mystery there.' Alicia thought to herself. 'Must mean Black.' "Signs of trials and tribulations? tasks ahead of you? and a choice that leads to happiness. And then?" Hermione suddenly stops, turning the cup back and forth regarding the next "image". However it was the last "prediction" that caught Alicia's attention the most. 'A choice that leads to?' (Alicia's eyes widen) '?do I make my choice about?' Suddenly Trelawney bustled past them to grab Ron's cup that he was reading for Harry. That's when the world flips over and changes. She was now outside on the Quidditch field, and the Dementors were gathering. They were all agitated about something, and it was making them rather fussy. They drifted about in a frustrated state, tension and dark aura spilling all over the place. Before Alicia could ask one thing floated to the top of their "minds", and stuck there for what seemed like forever? before she found herself back in class as it wrapped up with everyone heading out, flustered over something. She missed the fireworks of Harry's reading, but it seemed worth it from what happened outside. One thing came up in the Dementors' "minds" over and over again, and were still going on even now from what she could feel? one word? "Diggory" Now if she only knew what a Diggory was, let alone why they were all flustered she'd be ahead of the game, as it were. Whatever that "game" was with the Dementors that is. ----- It didn't take Alicia long to find out why everyone was jumpier than usual. In fact all she had to do was go to her next class, Transfiguration, for that answer. Usually she was the only was who was completely jaded to Professor McGonagall's animorphic antics, which sort of hinted to Alicia at a whimsical childish side to her ultra serious demeanor. Today, however, she didn't seem to be the only one unimpressed by her shapeshifting and it seemed to stick in her craw as she regarded the entire class. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformations not got applause from this class past Miss Spinnet." Everyone looked over the Potter, and Alicia instantly knew it had to do with what she missed back in Divinations. However nobody wanted to say what it was, that is until Hermione spoke. "Please, Professsor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and --" 'The urge to bake scones and criticize BBC programming overcame us.' Alicia thought to herself. "Ah, of course." Professor McGonagall noted, frowning her usual frown as she did, "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger." she sighed, looking as if she's gone this route before. And, in truth, she probably has. "Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?" Everyone stared right at her, but more from the fear of looking towards the "soon to be deceased" than a desire to stare at her. Potter finally confirmed that he was the "victim". "I see," McGonagall grumbled, looking as if she was five seconds away from storming over to Divinations just to slap Trelawney upside her head. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sibyll Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class." "They do offer therapy for that kind of obsessive compulsive behavior." Alicia noted. At first she thought she made a mistake, and McGonagall would jump down her throat for that comment, but she merely shook her head and said "She thinks it grabs everyone's attention, and it seems to do just that." before falling silent. For a bit she simply stood there, eyes dark, before she finished by saying "If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues -- I would have crossed words to say of her." Her nostrils flared, and her mood darkened even more. "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not lie to you and proclaim respect for an art that I have no respect for, and less patience in tolerating such "antics" from a fellow teacher. True Seers are extremely rare, and Professor Trelawney is --" She falls silent, and then -- her mood flipped. Suddenly out of nowhere she tried to achieve a very uncharacteristic smile and remarked "You look in excellent health to me, Mr. Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that, if you do die, you need not hand it in." The tension vanished, and everyone relaxed and laughed. But Alicia seemed abit concerned. Out of nowhere McGonagall's mood did a 360 flip and she became -- cheery. What was with that? Not everyone was convinced though. Ron was still the perfect image of worry as he remarked "But what about Neville's cup?" "Power of suggestion." Alicia shot, turning her gaze to Ron quickly, "She simply marked him right off the bat as the class' weakest link and worked him like a drum. Nothing too spectacular there." The lunchtime crowd in the Great Hall looked pretty lively, and the food looked good too, but still the specter of Divination class seemed to hang over them, even in a small way. "Cheer up, Ron!" Hermione yawned, shoving beef stew towards him, "You heard Professor McGonagall, now eat your lunch." Ron dished himself the beef stew, but still wasn't entirely convinced. "Harry, you haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?" "Yeah, I have." he admitted honestly, "I saw one the night I felt the Dursleys'." Ron dropped his fork, but Alicia was on it quickly as her hand scooped it up. "Black dogs are a dime a dozen in London. Walk anywhere and you could fall over the damn things? unless you think the entire city of London is doomed that is." Ron looked at Alicia as if she had grown wings and proclaimed herself the living embodiment of Buffalo Wings. "ALICIA! If Harry's seen a Grim then -- then -- well that's not a good thing!" he sputtered, growing red with each second, "My -- my uncle Bilius? He saw one and -- well he died twenty-four hours later! That's bad!" "Mere coincidence." Hermione remarked without much interest, waving her head at the topic as if it meant nothing to her. "It's all in their heads. They see a "Grim", and drop dead. Completely psychological without any basis in fact. And Harry's smarter than that!" Ron wanted to say something, but kept his "thoughts" to himself. Though even if he wanted to say something it seemed Hermione had already drowned out the world and focused on eating and looking at her books. She pulled her new Arithmancy book out, propping it open again a juice jug as she ate. "I think Divinations is very wooly. A lot of guesswork if you ask me." "That's because Divination by it's very nature IS guesswork." Everyone's attention turned to Alicia, who took her direction and ran with it. "Divination is the foretelling of future events, but the future is always fluidic, and never set in stone. Hence Divination is mostly the forecasting of the future as it might transpire. Much like forecasting the weather, which is pretty good but not 100% infallible even with the best magicks employed." "But what about?" Alicia grabs Ron's cup and throws the contents onto the ground a distance from her as someone passes her, distracted as they talked to someone. "I predict a fall is about to occur." Ron jumps up and yells "HEY WATCH IT!!" bringing the person to a stop, and bringing their attention to the spilled liquid on the ground, but bringing his arm about which hit another student in the back of the head by accident (but not to any harm to said student). At this she points at Ron, "Unknown variable." "What are you going on about! That person almost fell and hurt himself!" Ron spat. Alicia merely shrugged and pointed at the glass, which was still full. "Slipped on what?" Sure enough the "liquid" on the ground vanished. "There are a great deal of unknown variables that could change any event seen in the future, changing the dynamics of the event, or even neutralize said event altogether or spawn new "sub-events" of greater danger than the original event." (points back to "spill") "He might have slipped. Then again he might have not. He might have hurt that person he bumped into because Ron caused him to spin, or the person he bumped may have dropped hot food on someone else. Anything could have happened, but the exact order cannot be predicted since the variables of the said event are too great to predict with any accuracy. Got me?" "?uh? no." Ron answered truthfully. "Yeah. Well I don't get it much either but it's the best answer I got, so there." And, with that, Alicia went back to eating. Hermione, who seemed to have absorbed the whole spiel with some understanding, merely shrugged at it and said "If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens to get a buzz out of people then I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer!" "You won't be. That person leaving in Easter is you." Alicia remarked, "I'll join you, by the way." "Well that's no fun if you spoil the surprise in advance." Ron grumbled. "You're a sad, sad human being." Alicia sighed. "At least the rest of the classes are better." Hermione - "Agreed. That lesson was worthless next to what I learned in Arithmancy today." She snatched her bag up, finished eating, and stalked off. Alicia sighed. "Don't need to be lying just because your cranky. Especially since you didn't even take Arithmancy today." "So I noticed." Ron said to Harry. ----- The next class was outside, which suited Alicia just fine. The sky was clear with a hint of gray, and the grass was rather springy with a hint of moisture remaining from the heavy rain yesterday. This was going to be the Care of Magical Creatures class. Alicia's worst class. If anything she didn't like the idea of having to raise anything living other than herself or another human being, so she knew she was going to be so terrible at this class. Ron and Hermione wasn't speaking to each other, which suited her fine since she could hang near Hermione and not have Ron interrupt them as they talked. But it seemed she was acting more as the "go between" for them than anything else since they insisted on using her to relay messages to each other. That, of course, didn't sit well with her. And, of course Slytherin class had to be there. It couldn't have been Ravenclaw, oh no, it simply had to be Slytherin, meaning Malfoy had to be there. 'Wondrous.' Alicia grumbled to herself. Hagrid was waiting for them at the door of his hut, standing in his moleskin overcoat with Fang at his side. He seemed rather impatient to start the class, so something had to have been up. "C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as everyone approached him, "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" The first thought that popped into Alicia's head was that they were going to take a trip right into the forest, which didn't suit her well. She wasn't there when Ron and Harry took the trip into the forest to find Aragon (who turned out to be a rather large mutant spider with a murderous kin that Alicia only had glimpses on while they were fleeing on the as-of-yet still MIA Weasley car after she teleported back to them only to land on said car's roof seconds before the chase), but she figured one brief encounter with them was plenty for her. However, much to everyone's relief, they skirted the outer area of the forest for about five minutes until they came to a rather large paddock, no doubt for containing whatever large beast they were going to be dealing with in class. At the moment, though, the paddock was empty. "Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it -- make sure yeh can see -- now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books --" Which everyone did. Alicia sighs inwardly as she rubs her chest, face flustered and blushing bright red, "I need to find a better way to docilize mad biting books?" "-- oh, good, you got it right. That's good." Hagrid noted, looking more surprised than anyone else that the books were now completely docile. "Very good? oh-kay, then, movin' on? now yeh need the Magical Creatures? yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on a sec?" He quickly strolled away, still confused by the turn of events, straight into the forest. "God, this place is going to the d-- ACK!!" Malfoy's book jumped for a second, snapping once and falling silent, promptly silencing Malfoy at the same time. He looked at it as if it was about to come to life again, as Alicia lowered her hand which she just used to briefly animate the book. Figures. Malfoy bought his book from the stock of pre-dociled books that Alicia calmed, so he didn't know they could do that. Oh, well. She couldn't reverse the spell, that was locked in, but at least she could "play" with him. Lavender Brown looks at her own book, and blinks, "Maybe it's hungry? OOOOoooo!!" she suddenly squealed, her eyes darting up as she pointed towards the opposite end of the paddock. Trotting towards them were a dozen of the strangest creatures Alicia had ever run across, but their identity was clear to her since she had heard of them. They had the bodies, hind legs and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings and heads of birds (in this case gigantic eagles). Their beaks were large, menacing, and steel colored as if made of metal. Their eyes flashed a bright, sharp orange tint which made them appear that much more menacing (if that was possible for such a beast)! Each of these beasts, in turn, wore thick leather collars which were attached to long chains which Hagrid had a tight grip on. He came jogging in behind them like Siegfred or Roy during a Las Vegas show, bringing the tigers out for everyone to see. "Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains masterfully as he urged the creatures towards the fence where the class stood. Everyone except Alicia drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them, tethering the creatures quickly to the sturdy fence. "Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, to which Alicia shot back "I know we are, but what of it." The class chuckled nervously, unlike McGonagall's quip this didn't have the effect of calming everyone's nerves? and with these huge beasts it's no wonder it failed as it did. "Beau'iful, aren' they!" Alicia nodded her head slowly, as did Harry. Despite their menacing size they were, in fact, quite a sight to behold. With their gleaming shimmering coats of hair/feathers, and the variety of colors that stretched the spectrum of the rainbow, they did indeed embody a wild beastly beauty. "So, if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer--" Nobody seemed all that willing to take Hagrid up on the offer. Even Alicia, who didn't back away at first, wasn't coming any closer either. The hippogriffs were big, large creatures -- but for a creature so big their "mental" profile was blank. They were like large voids of silence which unnerved Alicia. She couldn't sense their feelings, thoughts, or even what was rattling through their heads at that moment. Something was making them "silent" to her and she didn't know if it was the hippogriffs themselves or? Suddenly she noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione were already in motion stepping up next to her, coming closer to the fence. Hagrid, taking this as a good sign, went on. "Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud, easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do." 'Yeah, now there's a vote of confidence in my future plans to raise hippogriffs.' Alicia sighed inwardly. However it seemed the "Three Stooges" of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle weren't paying attention. In fact they were talking as if they had no intention of paying enough attention to the class to pick up something that might save their lives. "Yes always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid went on to say, "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh--" Something off to one side catches Alicia's eye. A quick movement. Something in the trees. It looks like her "stalker" may have made it to Hogwarts after all, despite the large force of Dementors protecting the school. But, then again, they were after Sirius Black, not an unknown Animorph that was only a danger to their new "mistress" and no one else. "Right -- who wants to go first?" At the mere mention of someone actually going "first" it seemed as if the rest of the class had taken that chance to put even more distance between themselves and the hippogriffs. Even Ron, Hermione and Harry seemed to have misgivings about the whole thing, with only Alicia standing her ground, but probably less from enthusiasm than a fear that they'd charge at her if she made any quick movements. And, with the hippogriffs making a rather aggressive showing as they tossed their heads back and forth while flexing their powerful wings, it didn't seem that anyone would take the "plunge" into hippogriff bonding anytime soon. Hagrid, almost pleading, asked "No one?" 'Make them stop doing that and I'll maybe risk my life at it.' Alicia thought to herself. Harry steps forward, giving Alicia her excuse not to step forward. "I'll do it." It seemed as if half the class suddenly sucked in air hard, their fears rising as Harry stepped forward. "Oooh, no! Harry! Remember your tea leaves!" "This isn't the time for a refreshing drink." Alicia snipped, trying not to worry Harry too much. Harry, ignoring the worrywarts behind him, climbed over the paddock fence and into the area with the hippogriffs. Hagrid seemed most pleased with this, his hands already moving to untie one of the smaller hippogriffs. "Good man, Harry! Right then -- let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak." The one in question, Buckbeak, was a gray hippogriff that was abit smaller than the bigger hippogriffs in the paddock. Only the Slytherins seemed uninterested in Harry's fate as he neared the huge beasts. Hagrid, however, was concerned. "Easy now, Harry?" Hagrid whispered near silently, he hands tensing as he watched with great interest. "Yeh've got eye contact, so try not to blink too much? Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much?" 'Words to live by.' Alicia chided in her mind as she watched Harry slowly draw closer to Buckbeak. "That's it?" Hagrid whispered, his eyes focused on the act, "That's it, Harry? now--" And once again the world went upside down. ----- The Dementors? shadows? something lurking in the distance, but a clear and present threat. The coming of something powerful. A war. And the truth that would set all free, and bring either the promise of life, or death. The class broke into applause, breaking Alicia's concentration as she focused on her thoughts. Harry did it, and Alicia was zoning out when he did it. Considering the events of the day? It seemed to have fit all things considered. "Righ' then, Harry. I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!" Sure enough he did, but it was the emotions felt in this moment that touched Alicia. It seemed so intense, and pure? is this what it's like to feel the energy of feelings from the source? The curiosity of it all. Sure, while Buckbeak was no Nimbus 2000, he was still flyable even by Alicia's standards. Watching Harry slowly get the hang of flight with the hippogriff got Alicia's mind to wandering? "Your mind seems busy." The voice called from a great distance. "But aren't you forgetting??" "Forgetting?" she muttered. "It's still there, watching you? just over there, moving as it watches? waiting for it's moment." "?!?" Alicia snaps to it, 'That's right!' she thinks quickly, 'It's still here!!' "Good work, Harry!" roared Hagrid, the flight obviously being over with, as everyone cheered? everyone except Malfoy and his flunkies that is. "Okay, who else wants a go!" As the class slowly moved forward, emboldened by Harry's success, Alicia continued to scan the treeline, looking for her target only to notice it was indeed in motion, staying one step ahead of her eyes as it scanned for it. Stepping towards the hippogriffs her eyes continued to scan, looking in vain for her one target. "Shouldn't have been distracted?" she grumbled to herself, causing Ron to ask her what she said, "Nothing? never mind?" Neville at first tried to back away from his since it didn't want to bend down, but May would have none of it. She strode forward despite everyone's protests and began to yell at the hippogriff? in elvish! It was a short rant, not enough to get Hagrid over to her to yank her away before she strode away, but the hippogriff apparently knew something of the elvish language and finally bowed to Neville. As he was dragged to the hippogriff by May, Alicia glanced at how Hermione was doing. She seemed to have better luck as she and Ron both were petting a huge chestnut colored one, as Harry watched from nearby. Malfoy, it seemed, had hit it off with Buckbeak (the one Harry had rode) and Alicia walked over to check it out as he petted the huge hippogriff with a careful touch. Oddly enough it seemed that he did, indeed, have a delicate touch despite his acidic attitude to everyone. 'Maybe the good mood only comes out at home.' she mused, watching him pet the beast. That good mood didn't last long, though, as his face turned disdainful. "This is very easy, I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it." he drawled on like an idiot, not realizing how close he was bringing himself to danger. "I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? Are you, you great ugly br--" Alicia didn't wait any longer. She grabbed Malfoy and threw him backwards, and was rewarded for her effort with a sharp pain as Buckbeak's claw dug into her shoulder. She clenched her teeth as the pain ripped through her, the world spinning abit as she felt Hagrid rush between them to wrestle Buckbeak back. She felt the hot flow of blood pouring over herself and knew it was a serious wound, but not so that she couldn't heal it -- that's when she saw the flash of light. She could barely cast "Displacer" to push everyone around her out of ground zero before the bioblast ripped into her. The shot threw her twenty feet slamming her hard into the ground, sending her rolling side over side as she felt her damaged arm wretch up in pain from the impact. Everyone was scattering, and May was already barking orders to the hippogriffs in elvish getting them to move in an orderly manner to shield the students. But for Alicia there was no shield. As long as the "stalker" kept moving, and kept firing off "breath cannon" shots at her she didn't dare take cover behind a student or a hippogriff lest she put them at risk. So she pulled herself to her feet, one hand grabbing her wound as she struggled to get moving. Another shot fired at her, only to be reflected by a hastily cast "Novashield" spell which protected her. But it wouldn't last forever. With her arm damaged it was nearly impossible to continue to cast defensive spells, and offensive magic was now impossible if she couldn't focus energy into both arms. Added to that the large amount of "non-targets" scattered about the field that could fall prey to a counterattack cast in haste she had pretty much no options open to her. She saw the next shot fire off, this time at Hermione who was moving with the other students behind the cover of a hippogriff. Her heart seemed to stop at the sight, her voice silenced that she couldn't even scream a warning if she wanted to. Slamming both arms forward out of panic she cast a blaster bolt that reflected the shot, but regretted it immediately. The action worsened the injury to her arm, and brought her to her knees as the spell shot off. Now crumpled onto the ground she was defenseless against further attack. No longer waiting, it was already in motion, taking the long leap from the trees barreling in from the sky towards her, it's claws extended and it's raptor-jaw wide open for the kill.
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