Wow, thanks for all the replies!

Droo: Yes, he's a Puff. Sorry to say but Yannick being a Slytherin never entered my equation. It was Either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, and I went with the house of the badger.

Entropist: Thanks mate. You are one of the few that has already read the story so to hear from you that it is better with the re-write is heartening. Hope you like this chapter too.

Bubbles and LillyJames: I'm not about to kill off my main character. Yannick should be fine.

Miss Evi3e <3: Thank you. Hope you enjoy this one too.


Chapter 3: Presentations

Yannick lay there, flat on his back, the two golden eyes still locked with his own. The black shape revealed the white fangs of its mouth. Pitch black coat with some stray sliver hairs here and there.

"Altair... you scared me out of a years growth you big lug!" Yannick muttered, looking reproachfully into those two golden eyes. "But yeah... I missed you too." He added, smiling and scratching the animal behind its ear.

"Yannick?" he heard, somewhere behind him.

He quickly rolled over to see Alexandra, looking worried and still pointing her wand towards the animal.

"It's alright, Alexandra," he said, rising into a crouch next to Altair. "He was just playing around."

"He? So this big dog is a he?" she asked, lowering her wand.

"Actually," he replied, "it's not a dog. I know it might sound weird but... it is a wolf."

"A... a wolf?" she asked him, looking a bit worried

"Yes, a wolf. His name is Altair," he continued. "Altair, this is Alexandra," he said, pointing at her. "A friend."

The wolf looked at the Ravenclaw girl for a few seconds and then trotted towards her. When it arrived there it presented its right paw to her. Alexandra stood there, a bit surprised by the wolf's behavior, but then leaned down and took the paw in her right hand, giving it a gentle shake and saying, "Nice to meet you too."

Yannick looked at the two, as Alexandra had started to tentatively pet the wolf on its head, still feeling a bit cautious. He rose to his feet and then walked towards them. Alexandra straightened up and looked at him.

"So... you have a wolf as a companion?" She asked

"Yes, I do," he answered.

"But how can that be?" she asked him, "Aren't the only animals allowed at Hogwarts as companions Owls, cats and toads?"

"Well," he started, "that's true for Hogwarts. In my French school it could be any tame animal. One of my friends even had a golden eagle. Anyway, Altair here has been my companion since I was 6 years old or so. My father got the proper authorizations for him to follow us in England before we moved and he also arranged with professor Dumbledore that he would be allowed to stay in the forest while I was at Hogwarts. Hagrid keeps a eye on him."

Alexandra looked again at the black wolf

"It is quite big for a wolf," she pointed out.

Yannick smiled a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of his head

"I do take good care of him," he said, "Always have but he free to come and go as he pleases. I don't own him."

"You talk about it as if it was a person" Alexandra pointed out.

"I've known him for over 10 years now... our relation is... deep," he answered, "I'll explain you one day, if you want," he added quickly, looking at his watch, "but right now is not really good as we have less than twenty minutes to go to our common rooms before the curfew."

Alexandra nodded, not fully satisfied by his answer but not saying anything. They set out towards the caste's entrance, followed by Altair.

"That's a nice brooch, by the way," Alexandra told him, pointing to the brooch that held the cloak he wore, "special meaning?"

"Yeah," he answered, "it's my family crest, the silver leaf."

"Nice, yet simple," she said.

"Thanks, I'll tell my grand-mother that," he told her, "she is the one who made this design some years back, before I went to my first year in wizard school. The old design was not as nice."

"Now your family name makes a bit more sense," she said, "Yannick Silverleaf. Emblem a leaf of silver. You should tell me more about the origin of that name one of these days," she added.

"Uh... yeah..." he answered, "maybe I should, one day."

They reached the entrance and Yannick looked back at Altair, the wolf clearly wanted to follow him in. He shook is head and crouched next to him.

"Altair, you can't follow me in there and you know that. Dad went over with you what had been agreed with Dumbledore and you need to stick to it, alright?"

The wolf looked at him with pleading eyes, but then came closer and gave him a lick on the cheek and uttered a whine. Yannick took the wolf in an embrace.

"Come on!" he told him jokingly, "it's not like you will never see me again. I'll come to see you as much as I can."

The wolf pulled from the embrace and started down the path to the forest again.

"He does not like to be away from you, does he?" he heard Alexandra ask him.

He rose and turned to face her.

"No, he does not at all," he answered, "he was allowed into my French school before and he does not really understand why he isn't, here. I think a lot of student would be afraid of him at first, but try to make him understand that," he added with a small smile.

"Well he did scare me, at first," she answered, "but he was quite friendly, after all."

"Yeah, he was," Yannick said, "and thanks," he added.

"For what?" she asked him.

"For referring to him as 'he'. I know he prefers that," he told her, "well, shall we?" he asked, motioning to the entrance.

They entered the castle and Alexandra started towards her common room.

"Thanks for your help, tonight, I'll keep you in mind next time I need help on my beater practice," she told him over her shoulder with a smile.

"The pleasure was all mine Alexandra," he answered to her, looking at her going down a corridor and taking a left turn. He stood in the entrance hall, his eyes still on the corridor she had disappeared in. A snort from the entrance door made him turn around. Altair was looking at him from the door.

"I thought I had told you to go to the forest, you spy," he told him with a smile, "go on now, shoo."

Altair gave him a mischievous look and disappeared from the door's opening, heading towards the forest again. Yannick headed towards the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room. He gave the password to enter and went through the room, towards the corridor of the boy's dormitories. A few students, including Justin, Wayne and Zacharia were still up, finishing some homework, but most had gone to bed, already. He entered the dorm he shared with the other sixth years, halfway down the corridor. His entrance was greeted by Sean, who was already in bed and put a book down at his entrance.

"About bloody time, mate!" Sean told him "I was wondering if I had to send a search party for you. Had a good walk?"

"Yeah, it was good to take some fresh air," Yannick answered, undressing and getting ready for bed.

"Some walk, though! You were gone for a good bit!" Sean answered back.

"Well, I also help out Alexandra on her beater practice." Yannick answered.

He made a ball of his clothes, all dirty, thanks to Altair, who had managed to push him into a mud puddle, and threw them into the common laundry basket of the room. He heard the clothes land in the basket that had Hufflepuff's colors and then the distinct sound of them disappearing for wherever clothes got cleaned in Hogwarts.

"Uh...huh..." Sean nodded, "And... how did that go?"

Yannick looked at him surprised, turning slightly red. "You saw that, didn't you?"

"That we did, mate!" Sean answered with a laugh, "Cynthia and I were looking out from the windows of the third floor that look towards the lake and saw you two practising her beating skills."

Yannick sighed and went into his bed, that was on the left of Sean's.

"Well, she was happy for the help," he told him.

"I bet she was. Cynthia is probably grilling her as we speak," Sean answered. "sooo... Are you planning on inviting her out on a date? Hogsmeade maybe?"

"Sean, I did not really come to Hogwarts to woo girls you know," Yannick answered, "we just met. We are on friendly terms, okay?"

"Suuure you are, Nickie." He heard Sean say.

"Call me that name again and I will hex you to oblivion. Now shut up and go to sleep, will you?"

"Yow! Okay, okay..." he heard Sean say.

"But she is nice, isn't she?" Sean added after a minute of silence.

"Yes she is!" He answered. "There, I said it. Happy now?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sean answered.

After a few minutes, Sean broke the silence again.

"So you are really not planing on asking her out?" he asked.

"Sean..." Yannick said, "my wand is in my hand, pointing to your mattress and I am thinking of what to curse it into if you don't shut up and go to sleep."

"I get the message, captain!" Sean answered with a laugh. "Goodnight!"

"Yeah... goodnight." He answered back.

Yannick lay there his eyes looking in the dark of the room. Somehow the picture of a fair Ravenclaw girl with fiery red hair and blue eyes kept on coming back into his head. Sean had a point, she was very pretty indeed and she had asked questions that showed she was interested, even if just a little. Her pointed question about Altair. Asking him to tell her about his family history later on. But this meant getting closer in relation with a girl, and he was not sure if he wanted that yet. But maybe Sean had a point after all.

"You really ought to ask her out, you know," Sean said as if reading his mind.

Yannick let out a French swear word and put his pillow over his head.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Mister Silverleaf, what in Merlin's name are you doing?” Yannick heard Professor Snape say in front of him, causing him to look up from his in progress Antidote potion.

“Crushing ingredients to a fine powder, sir,” Yannick replied, a bit surprised at the question.

“And at which step did you see crushing the ingredients on what I had written on this blackboard before I erased it, Mr Silverleaf?” Professor Snape asked.

“Fifth to last step, sir,” Yannick replied, “Right after having let the brew at medium fire for ten minutes, stirred it clockwise five times, added dried beetle wings and stirred counter-clockwise four times.” He knew this potion well, his grandmother having taught it to him during the summer.

“And your potion is at this stage?”

“It is brewing, sir. I was crushing the ingredients to gain time.” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sean making a motion with his hand that clearly meant 'Stop answering back!'.

“Exactly! To gain time!” Snape exclaimed, “ One of the worst mistake a wizard can do when brewing a potion!”

Yannick was looking around the classroom a bit worriedly; all the students were looking in his direction, the Slytherins clearly gloating while some Gryffindors were frowning, but not at him.

“Doing the steps out of order in order to gain time, taking the easy path, is the surest way to make a mistake in a potion!” Professor Snape continued, “tell me Mr Silverleaf, would this have been a Draught of Peace and you had added the crushed moonstone after the hellebore, what would have happened?”

“The potion would have been ruined, sir.”

“Precisely! Five points from Hufflepuff for pointing out your mistake.”

“But...” Yannick started to say.

“Not another word, Mr Silverleaf, or I will make it a detention,” Snape cut him, before to look at the rest of the class, “are your potions going to brew themselves?” he asked, causing the students to hurriedly put their attention back to their potions.

Yannick put the mortar with the ingredients back on the table. He was fuming internally. It was so unfair! There was nothing preventing a brewer from preparing the ingredients while other steps took place. Time gained, as Gran put it, especially for antidotes was most of the times what decided between life and death for a patient.

He continued brewing the antidote, finishing crushing the ingredients in the mortar when he reached the step. He spotted Cynthia and Alexandra whispering to each other while brewing their own potion. Ernie on the other hand was looking at him sympathetically, most likely for having been on the receiving end of Professor Snape's wrath.

That overgrown bat! he thought as he put the finishing touches to the potion. While it simmered down, he took out several vials from his school bag and filled them up. Despite what Professor Snape seemed to think, he was pretty certain that his antidote was well brewed and he would not let it go to rot. He corked the first vial and left it on the desk while he got the others filled, sealed and stored in his bags. One could never be too careful, especially with the recent events in England. As he finished with the last vial, the bell announcing the end of lesson sounded.

“Please remember to fill a vial of your concoction and bring it to my desk before leaving,” Professor Snape said from his desk, where he was reviewing some papers.

His words caused a flurry of activity, with students cleaning their things and getting their vials ready. Yannick finished packing and went to deliver his. A number of students had already deposited theirs and the Professor did not look up as he put his on the table next to the rest.

“I'll be reviewing your 'potion' in details, Mr Silverleaf,” Yannick heard him say, causing him to stop walking, “However, if your skills are a testament of French brewing standards, I'm not surprised you got an O where I would at best have given an A.”

Why you... Yannick thought as he turned to face the Professor who was still reading his papers. He caught a look from Sean that clearly was a warning not to respond.

“I'll be sure to impart your appreciation of her teaching methods to my Gran, Sir,” he replied, “as she is the one who taught me potions so I could achieve that O,” he added, leaving the classroom before the Professor could reply.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Interesting way to vent out,” Yannick heard Sean say behind him as he let another arrow fly to the target, “anyone I know?”

“Take a wild guess,” Yannick said dryly, as he knocked another arrow and took aim.

“You do realize he was doing this on purpose, right?” Sean asked, sitting down on his left.

“I do,” Yannick said, letting the arrow fly and sighing, “I've seen him do the exact same things to the rest of the class, Slytherins excepted, of course. That Longbottom fellow is a regular costumer it seems,” he added, sitting down.

“Professor Snape's got a black sheep in all classes,” Sean answered, “from what I heard, Neville Longbottom was the one in Gryffindor up to the OWLS. He did not manage to score high enough so he's not there now, so he picked Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. When we had our classes with the Ravenclaws, it was first Hannah, before Ernie helped her out and then Michael Corner. Now, he's got all of them in the same class.”

“And I've just painted a nice big red 'harass me' sign on myself now, whoopee for me,” Yannick said sullenly.

“I'm afraid you have, mate,” Sean said, “although I do think your retort before to leave the class worsened your case.”

“I could not let that one go,” Yannick replied, “turn the other cheek when he just dragged my Gran's honour in the mud? He cannot even hold a candle to her potion skills.”

“Uhm, mate, I hate to break it to you but when it comes to potions, Professor Snape is probably the best there is,” Sean remarked.

“In England maybe,” Yannick replied, “France? Doubt it.”

“She's that good?”

“Sean, I was melting cauldrons on a regular basis at the end of my third year,” Yannick said, “yet, after she taught me, I got an O in our French OWLS. So yes, I'd say she's that good.”

Sean nodded and was about to add something but they were interrupted by a third year who came to tell Yannick that Professor Sprout wanted to see him in greenhouse number five.

“Want me to go with you?” Sean asked, getting up.

Yannick shook his head as he got up as well and started to pack up his training equipment. “Thanks, but not needed. I just hope that Professor Sprout can see both side of the argument.”

“I would not worry too much, Nick,” Sean said, helping him out, “Professor Sprout is very fair, much like Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall. She will only give out what is deserved and sometimes, she lessens it too.”

“Thanks mate,” Yannick said shouldering his bag, “I'll see you at dinner then.”

During his walk to the greenhouse, he wondered what Snape had told his head of house. He entered the greenhouse, taking care to avoid the Venomous Tentacula nearby. He found her preparing a lesson for the next day for fourth years which would cover Butotubers.

“Ah, Mr Silverleaf, thank you for coming quickly,” she said as she straightened up and wiped her dirt covered hands on her apron, “Professor Snape came to me today after classes had ended to complain about you, saying you had disrupted his class in a way. I would like to have your side of the story.”

Yannick nodded and went on to explain the details of what had gone on in the Potion classroom. He took care of just stating the facts and not add his own feelings on the issue himself.

“Thank you, Mr Silverleaf,” she said once he was done, “How do you feel about this whole issue?”

“I feel that in a way it was unfair Professor,” Yannick said, “I did not do anything wrong apart for preparing my ingredients for an upcoming step instead of staying idle while the potion brewed for ten minutes. The only thing I feel I should have not done is reply to his comment about my French teacher's potion skills as I left.”

“I quite agree on that last point,” Professor Sprout said, “my only advice on this is to not answer him. Just let his comments go unanswered, unless of course they are questions pertaining to the lesson. If he does not get a reaction from you, he will hopefully tire of it.”

“I will, Professor,” Yannick answered.

“Now, to clear up the matter of the detentions he wanted you to serve, I will not be assigning them to you, the situation does not call for it, I will however uphold the five points he took from you. Would you be a dear and get me the trays over there?” she asked, pointing to a number of metallic trays near the end of the greenhouse, “I will need them for tomorrow's lesson.”

Yannick went to get them and found that he could not carry them all in one go. He took out his wand and proceeded to levitate them, landing them to the spot Professor Sprout showed him.

“Thank you, Mr Silverleaf,” she said with a smile, “and 10 points to Hufflepuff for the help.”

Yannick looked at his head of house, surprised.

“Well, it was a good spontaneous help and that levitation charm was very good,” she told him.

“Thank you Professor.”

“You are a good student, Mr Silverleaf,” she said, “just be sure to not give Professor Snape anymore reasons to take more points from my house, will you?”

“I will Professor,” Yannick replied, smiling, “again, thank you.”

“Don't mention it, Mr Silverleaf,” she replied, “Now, best you head along to dinner, it is always best to tackle one's homework with a full stomach,” she added before to before to nod to him and leave towards the back of the green house.

Yannick smiled at what had just happened and left to head to the castle.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*

And voila! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

*Wolf*

["Discovery for a new student" © "Wolf" / "17 September 2004"/ reposted "27 September 2011"]