Well, time for a new chapter, don't you think?

Evie, Droo, glad you enjoyed this last one. Yeah, starting to get a bit in the thick of it. Not saying what will happen though.

Hope this next one lives to your expectations.

Chapter 6: Crest

Yannick turned the Silverleaf crest in his hand, examining it at different angles. It was definitely of the same composition as his own brooch and he had little doubts it emanated from the same source. Yet, something was bothering him. The design of the crest was wrong. It was looking like the three leaf design of the Silverleaf crest, much like a Fleur-de-Lys. This old design had been in use in his family until Gran designed the new one, just before he entered wizard school. The crest he held in his hand, however, lacked some parts of that same old design, as if it were from even before. Yet, when he looked closely at the crest, he could not really detect any sign of age that would fit it. It looked too new.

He turned to Altair, who had come closer to him, and presented him the crest in his open palm.

"What do you think?" He asked the wolf

Altair came closer to the crest, sniffing it and looking at it intently. He then looked at Yannick again and uttered a low growling noise.

"Yeah, I don't like it either," he told the wolf, "There is something not right with it."

He kept looking at the crest, lost in his thoughts, until the sound of a bell from the castle brought him back into reality, making him look at his watch.

"Oh man! I only have fifteen minutes before breakfast starts," he turned to Altair, "Listen, I need you to be on the lookout for anything suspicious that could relate to this crest. I'm going to send it to Gran as soon as I can but if you spot anything, you let me know. Alright?"

Altair looked at him and then gave him a push on the shoulder with his head, showing his understanding. Giving the wolf a last hug, he stood up and ran back to the castle.

As he came in the castle he saw students of different houses already heading towards the Great Hall. He hurried to the Hufflepuff common room and as he entered, met Sean who was apparently waiting for him.

"Hey mate! You are late!" Sean said seeing him coming in.

"Yeah sorry," he answered, heading toward the dorm, "I was a bit delayed."

"You can tell me about it in the Great Hall," Sean replied, going out the entrance, "I'll save you a seat and food but you need to hurry."

Yannick took twenty minutes to get himself refreshed and ready. He grabbed his bag, making sure he did not forget any books for the day's lessons and left out again from the dorm and a few moments after, from the common room. When he entered the Great Hall he looked at the Ravenclaw table but saw that most of the 6th years had apparently eaten already and that Alexandra was not there. He went straight to the Hufflepuff table and sat down by Sean.

"So what happened mate?" Sean asked, "It is not really you to be late in the morning, even when you exercise."

Yannick helped himself with some eggs and bacon.

"Yeah, I know," he answered between bites, "It's just that... I found something that I did not expect while I was outside."

"Really? What is it?"

"This," Yannick took the crest out of his pocket and gave it to Sean.

"Nice! Looks a bit like the brooch you have on your cloak." Sean said.

"Yeah well," Yannick told him, grabbing some toasts and marmalade, "I am pretty sure that it comes from my family, we're the only ones to have this crest as far as I know. The only problem with this one is that it is an old design. The brooch I have is the latest one, about 6 years old now. This one bears part of the design that was used before my brooch, the Fleur-de-Lys one."

"Flour de what? Mate, you lost me here."

"Oh, sorry," he said, "The Fleur-de-Lys is a heraldic symbol in France that looks a bit like this crest, only that it is vertical and not horizontal. I think it was used in France by the King exclusively. Not too sure though, my Muggle history is not that good."

"I can't really help you on that part mate," Sean replied "I only studied Irish, English and Scottish Muggle history. Never got as far as France in my old Muggle school."

"No problem," he answered, downing his last toast and finishing his mug of juice. "How long do we have before the first lesson today? We are with Binns for the entire morning, right?"

"Yup, still fifteen minutes." Sean answered. "We'd better go though, I don't want all the best seats to be taken when we arrive."

"Well, lets go then, I am done eating anyway," he replied.

They stood up and grabbing their bags, left the Great Hall.

"Anyway," Yannick continued, "The problem with the crest I found this morning is it has a design that is similar to the old one, but is missing some of the refinements. That means it would be an even older design. For all I know, it could be over a hundred years old or more ."

"Wow!!" Sean exclaimed.

"Yeah... the only problem though is that it looks too new. I mean, I have seen some crests made in the old design before and none of them looked as new as this one. It is really weird. Plus, how it got onto Hogwarts ground in the first place. I really don't know."

They arrived in front of Professor Binn's classroom where sixth year students that had taken the option were waiting. In all honesty, Yannick did not really need this class. Gran had already taught him a lot in the area of Wizardry history and her lessons were much more interesting that Professor Binn's. But on the plus side, it gave him a period of time where he could relax and work on other things while keeping a loose ear to what the Professor said.

"Sounds fishy if you ask me." Sean answered him.

"That is exactly what I thought." Yannick said. "I even showed it to Altair. He did not like it either..."

"Who is Altair?" said a haughty voice behind them, interrupting him.

Yannick suppressed a shudder when he heard the voice. He turned to face the sixth year Slytherin he had come to know as Draco Malfoy. He looked at the pale blond boy who was overshadowed by his usual gorillas, Crabbe and Goyle.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked coolly.

"I asked you a question, Froggie." Malfoy replied "But perhaps your last flight down the stairs damaged your hearing?" he added with a sneer on his face.

Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at the remark. Yannick felt a sudden urge to punch one of them, any of the three would have done just fine.

"Altair is my animal companion," he answered, keeping his temper.

"You mean that big oversized black dog you were playing with this morning?" Malfoy asked.

Yannick nodded.

"Looks pretty stupid to me." Malfoy said.

Yannick felt Sean moving forward beside him but he held him back.

"First off Malfoy, it's a wolf. Not a dog. Second, that wolf is more intelligent than the pea sized brains of you and your goons put together."

Malfoy went livid.

"You..." he started, reaching for the wand in his pocket.

But before he could do anything, the door to the History classroom opened and Professor Binns asked the students to come in.

"You have not heard the end of this, Silverleaf," Malfoy muttered, passing in front of Yannick.

"Bring it on Malfoy, you might be surpised," he answered icily.

Yannick entered the classroom with Sean, who pulled him to a desk at the far left, away from the three Slytherins.

"Well that was intense," Sean told him.

"The jerk really gets on my nerves," Yannick replied.

Sean let out a low chuckle and patted him on the back.

"Welcome to the club mate," he said.

They waited for Binns to start his class, which did not take long. After less than ten minutes he was speaking about yet another Goblin rebellion that took place in the 19th century. This had a soporific effect on at least half of the class, which Binns, staying true to his nature, took no notice of whatsoever.

"So," Sean asked Yannick in a low voice, "What are you going to do about this crest you found?"

"I don't really know to tell you the truth Sean." he answered. "I think the best is that I send it to my family so they can take a look at it. I am sure my grand-mother will be able to discover where it comes from. She is the one that designed the brooch I have currently." he added.

"Sounds like a good idea." Sean told him.

Most of the students in the class were trying to show some interest to the endless speech of Professor Binns and several Ravenclaws were taking notes. Most of the Slytherins were not hiding their boredom though and several, including Crabbe and Goyle, were actually asleep.

"Doesn't he at least realize that people fall asleep? I mean Crabbe is positively snoring!" Yannick asked Sean.

"Who, Binns?" Sean asked "Forget it, mate! We are lucky if he actually hears the bell ring at the end of the class. The rumour has it that he actually was a very old professor here when he was alive. He fell asleep in front of the staff-room fire and got up the next morning to teach class. Only problem, his body stayed in the armchair. Wonder if he ever realized he was dead." he added with a chuckle.

Yannick suppressed a laugh. He continued to take notes but after thirty minutes stopped as he could not really see the point of doing so. Who cared about the names of the Goblin leaders anyway? He took a small piece of parchment and decided to write a note to his grand-mother about the crest he had found.

Dear Gran,

I hope all is well for you back in France. It is a bit weird to think that only a few month ago we were living very close to each other but that now we have a sea and countless miles that separate us. I miss France but I also like it here at Hogwarts. I never was in a more fascinating school and already made a few friends. I have been sorted into the Hufflepuff house, the house of the hard workers. Altair has well adjusted to England and I see him as often as I can. Just did some exercise with him this morning as a matter of fact.

I unfortunately am writing to you for something completely different. While I was wrestling around with Altair this morning I found the enclosed crest on the grounds of Hogwarts. I am puzzled by it. It bears resemblance with the old crest we used to have but it is lacking some of the finer details I can remember that design had. This one seems older in design but yet if that were true, its state is too new. It is almost as new as the brooch I have on my cloak. I also showed it to Altair and he does not like it at all either. He will warn me if there is anything unusual going on around.

I felt that you should know this as soon as possible. I will let you know o anything new I find and, of course, of anything Altair reports to me.

I miss you a lot Gran and I really hope to be able to see you for the Christmas holidays.

Lots of love, Yannick.

Yannick looked at the letter over. It was not too fancy but it was the best he could do during a class without being caught, not that there was much danger in that particular one anyway. He cautiously asked Sean for an envelope. After having written his grand-mother's name on it, he put the crest along with the short letter in it. He took out a piece of sealing wax he always carried around in his pocket in case of emergencies, took out his signet ring and then, having made sure that Professor Binns was still lecturing on while making sketches of a battle on the blackboard, he whispered a word to his wand.

The wand sprouted a small flame at its end and he used it to melt some wax on the envelope. When he had enough he blew the flame out and applied his signet on the still liquid wax, sealing the envelope. He looked around the class again cautiously, apart from Sean, no-one seemed to have taken notice of what he had done.

The class went on without any incident and when the bell rang, they packed and headed towards the Great Hall to have lunch. Yannick ate fast however. He wanted to make sure that the letter went before going to his next class. This was the one class he had come to really like, Herbology, and he did not want to be late for it at any cost. He rushed to the owlery again and sent his letter. Then he headed back down, making his way to the Herbology class. He had to take a sudden left turn into another corridor at one point. Malfoy had appeared at the end of the corridor he was going down and the last thing that Yannick wanted was to give a chance for Malfoy to take another hit at him.

He arrived to the Herbology greenhouse as the students were starting to enter. He sat again with Sean and was pleased to see that Cynthia and Alexandra were sitting at the table that was at his right. She gave him a smile when he looked at her. Many other students were around from the other houses, but interestingly enough, only three from Slytherin. The class began and Professor Sprout started explaining the different healing properties of plants and asked questions to students at random.

"Miss Dewitt," she asked at one point. "I am suffering from a dire toothache and I have in my hand some whistling leaves. Should I just eat them to make the toothache go away?"

Yannick noticed that Alexandra did not know that answer and he saw her look briefly at him. He mouthed a "No".

"No Professor," Alexandra replied.

"Ah, and why is that please?" Professor Sprout asked her, looking a bit surprised at her answer.

Alexandra hesitated, clearly not knowing the answer to that one. Yannick raised his hand.

"Yes Mister Silverleaf?"

"The whistling leaf has many healing properties and can cure many ills when chewed," he answered "This is due to its sap. However it needs to enter the bloodstream before it hits the ill body part. If it hits it before, it will almost always worsen the ill. A way to handle a toothache using this remedy would be either to infuse the leaves, making the sap bond with the water or dip a cloth in the sap itself and apply it on the part of the cheek where the toothache is located, letting it enter the bloodstream by the pores."

Professor Sprout smiled.

"A very good answer Mister Silverleaf, ten points for Hufflepuff and another ten points to Ravenclaw for Miss Dewitt's own answer."

"Nice save mate," he heard Sean whisper to him.

The lesson continued on for another hour until the bell rang. They packed their things and went out the room. Yannick was going out with Sean, ready to head to their next class when he heard Alexandra calling his name.

"I'll see you over there," Sean told him, leaving him with Alexandra while Cynthia joined him.

"Thanks for the save," she told when she reached him. "I really did not know the answer to that one."

"I would have been surprised if you had," he replied with a chuckle, "This stuff is advanced Herbology. You learn it in your seventh year I think." They started walking back towards the castle.

"But then, why did she ask us if she knew we could not answer?"

"I guess she was testing us," he replied

"And so how did you know the correct answer and the reason?" she asked him.

"Well, my father is an expert on plants and their use and my mother is a healer. I lived my whole life in France near an enchanted forest and that is where you can find whistling leaves. Their healing properties are one of the first things my parents taught me." he added.

"Makes sense." she said.

They continued walking until Alexandra spoke again.

"Hey... I was wondering. Are you... doing anything this evening?"

Yannick looked at her, surprised by her question. "Apart from my homework tonight?" he asked. "No. Nothing planned really. Why?"

"Well... Ravenclaw is having its last practice this evening before their match against Slytherin on Saturday and... I was wondering if you would be interested to watch it." she told him

"Sounds fun," he replied with a grin, "But are you sure your teammates won't object to that? I could be spying for my own team."

She laughed at the remark. "Nick, we are playing Slytherin, not Hufflepuff. Besides, you could then give pointers to your team so they have a chance to beat Gryffindor." she added with a sly smile.

"Touché!" He told her "Yeah I'll be there. When does it start?"

"Eight in the evening."

"See you on the pitch then," he told her, "For now, we have arrived to our superbly enjoyable class with the ever irascible Snape," he said as they closed in on the entrance to the potion class.

Most of the students had already arrived and they headed to join Sean and Cynthia.

“Just keep your cool to not give Professor Snape a reason to take points from your house,” Alex told him.

"Planning on it," he told her smiling a bit.

“Aaaw... little Froggie got himself a girlfriend,” Yannick heard Malfoy say out loud, making him cringe as many eyes turned towards him and Alex.

Alex did not seem to lose her cool though and turned to face the Slytherin. “Seeing how you are going to be humiliated by Ravenclaw in the next Quidditch match Malfoy, you should really not make fun of those who CAN find a girlfriend,” she said, making a number of student chuckle at that.

The Slytherins present rallied behind Malfoy, who sneered, “Cheap talk, Dewitt. Hope you Ravenclaws are ready to weep, because that is what you'll be doing when our team is done trouncing yours.”

“You mean you have finally learned to catch the Snitch, Malfoy?” Yannick heard Hermione Granger ask, which made more students laugh.

“When was the last time Slytherin beat Ravenclaw?” Alex asked Padma Patil, who had come next to her along with other Ravenclaws.

“I'm not sure,” Padma answered, “In second year maybe? Terry?”

“Might want to ask the sorting hat,” Terry boot said, “Perhaps he remembers.”

The Slytherins were fuming and while Yannick found the situation highly amusing, the location would be a bad place for a spellfight to break out. Not that he thought it would with six prefects being presents, not counting Malfoy, whom he hardly considered as one.

The tense moment was cut short however by the door of the potions class opening and Professor Snape stepping out.

“Well? Inside,” he said, after having looked at the students with a cold glare, causing all of them to enter the classroom quickly.

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

And voila! Another chapter done.

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"]