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Old 10-17-2011, 04:07 PM   #19 (permalink)
Wolf
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Alright, chapter 5 is done, so now is a good time to post it.

Evi3e: If you thought that was a long one, you are in for some nice chunks as soon as the story progresses more. Kind of shows that while I was writing this fic the first time, I got more inspired and added things that were not planned beforehand.

Connie: Yay! A reply from you. And you are very right on the point of there being a back story you have not been told yet. Originally, the story was told in this chapter. But going back through it, I felt it rushed the story too much and was not natural, so I've decided to delay that bit. Will come on at some point though.

Droo: Yeah... although will he act on it? Time will tell.

Well, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.



Chapter 5: Letter


A few days later Yannick was sitting at his working desk in his dorm. He had realized earlier that day that it had been more than two weeks that he had written to his parents and had decided that it was better to get it done now than to risk receiving a howler reminding him. He had a blank piece of parchment laid out in front of him on the desk. He was however not writing but was nipping the end of his quill, his eyes looking at random on the room's ceiling. He glanced at the room's door as he heard some noise from the common room. His other roommates had not come back to the room yet and he was thankful for that, it would have been hard to write something with them around.

Where do I start? The past weeks have been packed...

He straightened back in his chair, dipped his quill in the ink receptacle and started.

Dearest mum and dad,

I take the opportunity that I am alone in my room to write you this letter. I had meant to write sooner but the days here at Hogwarts have been hectic. Very nice lessons though, I am learning quite a lot of things.

Charm class is going like a charm. He laughed internally at the unintended pun. We were mainly perfecting our skills at basic charms until now but yesterday Professor Flitwick demonstrated a rather complicated charm. A kind of advanced version of the levitation charm. We basically will use it to make a heavy weight levitate (right now it is only 30 kilos but he said we can lift up to 200 kilos or more with this charm) and move to another space in the room. He said that we should soon be able to use it to levitate unconscious persons, but that before that we would need to learn how to use another charm at the same time, to keep the person stable. Sounds hard to master.

Divination is actually much more interesting than it ever was in Morbihan's school for Wizardry. Firenze, the centaur who teaches us, really seems to know what he is talking about but he has a way to say things that keeps on making the subject mysterious. Makes you wonder if anyone ever really understood Divination but also make the classes highly interesting. We right now are learning how to draw predictions from the positions of the stars and this is where I am thankful that I was good at astronomy, some of the other students are having trouble there.

Speaking of astronomy, Hogwarts is ideal for that. The tower we use is the highest of the castle and you can really see all the constellations that exist in our hemisphere. I even discovered stars I had never seen before! Very interesting.

I actually think that my favourite class right now is Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now there are the skills that will help me in the future! And what is best, they have a great person teaching us and boy does he know what he is talking about! Just today we had a whole two hours practical lesson. We were practising our hexes in turn and then learning how to repel them. He told us today that we would soon learn a defence spell that could stop most hexes and curses. I can't wait for that one, I’m sure it will be very useful.

Transfiguration is progressing. I am not yet able to turn a kettle into a living duck (I blew up my kettle the last time I tried) but professor McGonagall says that I am improving. She might be a very strict teacher but she is very competent at what she does.

Care of Magical creatures is quite interesting as well. I know it is not part of my requirements as an Auror but it can always be useful. The teacher, Hagrid, is also the game-keeper of Hogwarts. He knows the forest that is next to the castle very well and a few days ago, he managed to capture some Unicorn foals to show to the class. I must say that I have never seen anything so pure. He also takes care of Altair who seems to have well-adjusted to his new environment. Just yesterday I heard him howling in a hunt chase so I don't think there is problems for him with his new surroundings. He just does not yet really understand why he can't follow me inside Hogwarts. I guess it is only a matter of time before he gets used to the idea of me being in a house he can't enter in.

This last week end, we also had an outing to Hogsmeade, the small village right by Hogwarts. It is nice to be in an all magical village. I got the guided tour by Sean and two fellow students from the Ravenclaw house, Alexandra and Cynthia. They showed me all the nooks and crannies of this village. I wish there were more villages like that one around, it would be so much easier for us to live peacefully.

Oh, if you could let Gran know, Alexandra commented that she really liked the design of our Silverleaf crest. "Nice, yet simple" she said. Knowing the time Gran puts into making them, I am sure she will appreciate the comment.

Anyway, enough about me, what about you all? How is work? Are the days still packed or back to normal? Has everything arrived from France to our new home now? How is my little cousin doing back in France? Any news from the rest of the family? I am thinking a lot about you all and can't wait until the Christmas holidays to see you again. I miss you both.

Lots of love.

Your son, Nick


He looked over what he had just written, feeling quite satisfied with himself. He corrected some errors here and there and then, having ensured the ink was dried, he rolled up the parchment and tied a silver ribbon around it. He then opened the drawer under his desk and took out a stick of red wax. Reaching under his shirt, he took out a silver chain to which was attached a signet ring. He held the ring in between his fingers for a moment, looking over at the complex pattern of leaves surrounding his two reversed initials engraved on it. He heated up the end of the wax stick with the lit up candle that was on his desk and carefully made an oval shape of liquid wax on the rolled parchment, making it go on the ribbon as well. He quickly pressed the signet ring on the still hot wax and then took it off. His signet was clearly visible on the wax now. He looked at his watch, nine thirty in the evening.

Too late to give it to an owl to deliver. I'll have to do it tomorrow morning, he though, leaving the letter on his desk.

He stood up and stretched, enjoying the feeling it gave him.

Man! I am so tired I could sleep a week!

He decided to undress and prepare for bed. He felt quite tired and tomorrow would be a long day.

Sean is still not back. I wonder what he is doing.

Putting his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, he went over to his trunk, at the end of his bed. He opened it and went through his clothes. He took out what he would wear the next day and then took out a book, Magical and mysterious creatures of the forests. His father had given this to him on his thirteenth birthday and although he had read it many times before, he always enjoyed going through it again. He sent the book on his bed and was closing his trunk when Sean came into the room, looking disappointed, Ernie following him. They were both holding their wizard chess box set and Sean's medium blond hair looked as if he had just gotten out of bed. Yannick knew that this showed he had had a rough game and from Sean's sullen expression and Ernie's cheerful one, he had not won.

"I just don't get it!" Sean said to him, "You make it seem so easy to play chess sometimes. Your chess pieces did not even object to the moves you made. Mine kept complaining, driving me nuts. How can anyone win a game that way?"

"Depends on how much control you have on your chess set," Ernie answered, "I rarely have trouble with my own set now, but I have it since quite a while."

"Say, Yannick,” Sean said seeing his friend, “your pieces don't give you trouble. Maybe you should lend me your set, one day."

Yannick let out a short laugh.

"Not unless you want to be severely trounced by your opponent, my friend," he said. "They only understand French."

"Oy." Sean said. "That's right. That is how you win then?"

"No Sean," Yannick laughed. "I pay attention to my game, that's all. Unlike you." He added with a grin, making Ernie laugh at that.

"Why you! I am not that bad a player!" Sean said, taking one of the pawns in his chess box and throwing it towards Yannick.

The pawn missed him but the boys distinctively heard it shout "TALLY HOOO!!!" as it flew and then as it landed "Ow! Ouch! Not only is he a bad player but he can't even bloody aim right!".

The three boys looked at each other and started laughing madly.

"See?" Yannick said between laugh, "told you so!"

“Betrayed by your own chess set, Sean,” Ernie said, patting him on the back, “how does it feel?”

"Sod off," Sean answered, chuckling and moving to pick the pawn up and put it back in the box, "I think they are conspiring against me," he added, laughing harder.

Yannick snorted. "Mine were that way as well when I first got them. Takes a little while for a set to adjust to a new user. That's why you don't really see players asking for the set of another person," he added.

"Could you imagine Justin's face if we made him play with your set?" Ernie asked, stifling a laugh and then mimicking. "'Come on you lousy stupid piece of stone! I said pawn to E4, so move already!' And then your pawn turning around to him and saying 'Pawdon? Vouz parlez Frwancais?'" **

Yannick burst out laughing again just at the thought of it.

"Man! That would be brilliant!" Sean said. "An event to capture with a wizard camera."

They continued laughing at different situations, each mimicking someone in turn. Justin and Wayne came in at some point and joined in the fun.

"Oy! Mates! I've got to do my patrol with Hanna,” Ernie said looking at his watch, eliciting some whistling from the rest of the boys. “Shut it,” he shot back with a smirk, “You lot should head to bed soon if you want to be fresh in the morning," he added before to head out of then room.

"I am planning on waking up early anyway," Yannick agreed, "need to do something before breakfast," he added.

"Ooooh," Sean said with a mischievous grin, "meeting Alex in a little 'tete-a-tete', by any chance."

"Thats dangerous territory, Sean," he warned playfully, "you know that."

"Right-o. So why do you need to wake up early then?" Sean asked.

"I just need to send this letter to my family" he said, pointing to the parchment roll on his desk.

"That's it? Nothing mysterious? No cloak and dagger stuff?" Sean asked.

"Nope. Just a plain letter," he answered.

"Awww, mate!" Sean complained, "Bo-ring!"

"Yup," Yannick laughed, getting in bed, "I guess I live a pretty boring life."

"You have no idea," Sean told him sarcastically.

"Right. Goodnight Sean," he said, rolling over to face the wall.

"Night, mate," he heard Sean say.

************

When he woke up the next day Yannick thought he had over-slept. After a little moment of panic and frantically looking for his watch, he was reassured by hearing Zacharias snoring at the other end of the room and Sean moving and grumbling in his own bed, still fast asleep. He found his watch which had fallen from his bedside table and looked at the time. He had still two hours before breakfast, enough time for him to send his letter and enjoy some exercise outside. He got out of bed and stretched, yawning at the same time and then shivered. The room had gotten colder overnight. He dressed in comfortable clothes took the letter from his desk and went out of his dorm, Sean still soundly asleep. He made his way through the common room. The two seventh year prefects of his house were already up and were talking together by the room's fireplace. The girl's prefect took notice of him as he passed.

"Where are you going Yannick?" she asked him.

"Just going to send this letter by owl and then a good hour of exercise outside." he replied.

"Alright," she told him, "just don't do anything stupid at the same time."

"You can count on me for that," he replied, going out the entrance.

He made his way towards the owlery. On the way, he greeted the Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar, and Gryffindor ghost, Nearly-headless Nick, who were chatting. He also waited a few minutes before entering a corridor at one point as Peeves was once again creating havoc in there throwing ink balloons in random directions. Being shot at by the school's poltergeist, especially with one of those, was the last thing he wanted in the early morning. He had to wait for Peeves to be chased away from that corridor by an angry Filch. Once the coast was clear of both Peeves and Filch, he continued and reached the owlery a few minutes later.

For some reason the place amazed him each time he saw it from the inside. Located in the West tower of Hogwarts, the stone room was the home of hundreds of owls of every breed imaginable and they came in every size. Some were the owls of Hogwarts but most were belonging to students. He slightly shivered at the cold air when he entered as the room had no glass on any of its windows. He then made his way towards the school's owls, walking on a floor that was a mixture of hay, owl dropping and regurgitated owl pellets of mice, voles or other rodents. Reaching a group of four owls that were huddled together on the same perch, he chose one and poked it gently to get its attention. The Tawny owl looked at him with its sharp eyes.

"I need this letter delivered to my parents," He told it, showing the rolled up parchment, "Can you take care of that?"

The owl blinked and stood still for a few seconds, as if considering his request. It then hooted and presented its right leg so Yannick could attach the letter to it. As soon as he had done that, the owl spread its wings and flew off through one of the windows of the room. Yannick looked at it go until it was only a small black dot in the morning sky.

Wonder how long it will take to reach them, he wondered, probably a day or so.

He set out of the owlery and made his way to the entrance hall of the castle, which was starting to come more alive as more of its inhabitants started to wake up for the new day. On his way down he saw two other students, Ron Weasley and a girl, sporting the same bright red hair but looking a little younger. They seemed to be going to the owlery as well. He heard them talking to each other, apparently arguing about something.

"I am telling you, Pig will not be able to deliver this package on his own," Weasley was saying, pointing to a package the girl was carrying.

"Well," she countered, "we'll have to find another owl to help him with it then."

They continued talking to each other while walking towards the owlery, not even sparing a glance at Yannick as he passed them in the corridor.

Pig? he wondered to himself, that's a weird name for an owl.

He came out of the castle a few minutes later. The air was still fresh but the morning sun was starting to warm it already. Yannick set out to jog making his way around the castle and going towards the forbidden forest. He did not enter the forest when he reached it but continued jogging near it. He was coming more close to the whomping willow when a howl coming from the forest caught his attention. He turned around and smiled as he saw Altair coming out of the forest and heading towards him. The black wolf seemed as healthy as ever.

"Hey Altair," he said as the wolf reached him, "how are you today my friend?"

The wolf answered by giving him a push with his head and then turning around him, letting his mass rest on Yannick's right leg as he came to a stop. Yannick started petting the wolf's head with his right hand.

"Glad to hear it. Not doing too bad myself."

Yannick paused, looking at the forest and continuing to pet Altair.

"Say," he asked, looking down to the wolf, "what do you say about a good wrestle? Like the ones we used to do in France?"

Altair looked up at him, his golden eyes looking into Yannick's own. Then, without warning, the wolf gave him a big shove in his legs, causing Yannick to struggle to stay on his feet.

"Yow! That's cheating! I was not ready you sly fox," he laughed, and then launched himself at the wolf, trying to catch him.

The game went on for a good half hour, neither of the two really having the upper hand on the other. Yannick played unconscious at one point, causing the wolf to stop and come over to look at him. Then, when he felt the wolf's muzzle near his face, he blew on it, causing the wolf to leap back, sneezing.

"Heh! Got you this time," he told his companion.

He was standing up again when he felt something hard under his leg. Looking down and still crouching he picked a piece of metal from the ground. He recognized the motif instantly, having seen it for years, but he wondered. What was it doing here? What was a Silverleaf crest doing on Hogwarts' grounds?

** The weird French spelling is intentional

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

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Comments are always appreciated.

*Wolf*

PS: My story follows the same time line than that of Entropist's fic, which can be found here. It is in my opinion an extremely good read.

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