Defence Against the Dark Arts
The next morning Mathilde awoke to hear Walburga and Diana chatting vividly.
“Good morning.” she greeted, her German accent thick.
“Hello.” replied Walburga.
Mathilde stood up. It was still 20 minutes before breakfast was to begin. She sat by the window, looking in at the Black Lake. Some of the mermaids were approaching the window, waving. Mathilde was dumbfounded.
“Mermaids in the Lake?”
“Oh yes, Aunt Dorea said they are there often.” Walburga replied.
“Understood.”
Isolde stood up at that moment.
“Good morning, you two less noisy no?” she asked, annoyed, to Walburga and Diana.
“Oh hush, you, it's not like we were shouting. - Walburga said, - I already know, Alphard must be screaming because he surely has forgotten something.”
Riddle was the only one awake. Anton woke up at that moment.
“Morning.” said Tom.
“Доброе утро,” replied Dolohov.
Tom looked at him quite surprised.
“Oh sorry. - said Anton in English - I spoke in Russian. It was ‘good morning’.’’
“Does it happen to you often to change languages?”
“Quite a lot. I grew up in a family that only spoke Russian, so Russian comes more often than English.”
Riddle nodded.
“Good morning.” Alphard greeted.
“Hello.” said Anton, while Tom simply nodded.
Alphard stood up and started looking for his uniform.
“What classes do we have?” asked Anton.
Alphard thought about it.
“Walburga will know. I'd say to wait-”
“Transfiguration double hour, Potions, and then lunch. - Said Abraxas, who was reading the noticeboard with the timetable on it - And then Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Fly.”
Evan smiled.
“The smile comes from...?” asked Abraxas.
“Dumbledore teaches Transfiguration. Dumbledore is the only person who can defeat Grindelwald. And here there is his daughter. Two hours in a row.”
“Well isn’t that fun?” commented Alphard.
Tom had no clue about Grindelwald, but preferred to be quiet.
At breakfast, Mathilde was the first to arrive, followed immediately by Riddle.
“Morning.” she said, smiling.
“Good morning.”
“Ready for the next classes?”
“Quite. Down in my dormitory, there is talk that Dumbledore is in the next few hours.”
“Oh well, finally.”
“Finally?”
“Well, I'm Grindelwald's daughter, I want to see what he's going to tell me.”
Walburga and Alphard arrived at that moment. The four started to eat breakfast, when an older Slytherin girl reached Walburga and Alphard, who were sitting next to each other, and encircled both of their shoulders with her arms.
“Would you look at that! Have you forgotten about me?”
The girl had brown hair and blue eyes. Was she a Black? Maybe?
“Lucre!” Alphard hugged the girl in surprise.
“Lucretia. - greeted Walburga - We have not forgotten you, but you were not in the common room when we arrived last night. Nor today.”
“Okay, all right, sorry. How are you doing? Do you have everything? Do you need anything?”
“It's okay, take it easy. We have everything.” replied Walburga quietly.
“Okay. Know that I'm there in case you need a hand.”
“All right, all right, now go ahead.”
Lucretia walked away, sitting down next to the third-year girls.
Mathilde looked at the two siblings with a curious look.
“Lucretia Black. Our second cousin. Obviously Slytherin like us.” explained Alphard.
The Austrian nodded.
“My father says that since 1912 that there has been at least one Black at Hogwarts.” said Abraxas, who had just arrived.
“Yes. - said Walburga - Because when Lucretia was born our Aunt Dorea was about six years old.”
“That's the only reason there were two generations at Hogwarts of the family last year.” added Alphard.
“I'm missing out.” admitted Anton.
Walburga smiled. “I know, it's complicated. You would need to have a family tree in hand.”
Tom hummed. It’s not like he cared, but maybe knowing the people he would have been together for the next 7 years would have been a good idea.
Soon, Icarus, Diana, Isolde and Evan reached them and the whole year was reunited. And like the previous day, the whole group of friends that already knew each other, started talking vividly.
After an hour, the lessons started. The first lesson for them was Transfiguration. Mathilde was fast in reaching the class, but she didn’t want to enter first: the last thing she wanted was to sit alone with Dumbledore at the desk.
Was she being rude? Maybe. But that man loathed her father, and what if he loathed her too?
She waited patiently that at least another Slytherin would have approached the class, and when she was Diana, she grabbed her hand and walked into the class, sitting at the last row. Dumbledore was not there yet.
“Are you ok?” Diana asked her, worried.
“Uhm? Oh yes, absolutely.” she lied.
She thought herself that she was being silly, and she was extremely rude in grabbing Diana like that and forcing her to enter.
“Sorry for entering like that in the class.”
“Oh, no problem. Icarus can enter by himself, he is the oldest.”
“Is he?” she asked, just to make conversation.
“15 minutes older. First born and Heir, the combination is his.”
“I take in that being the Heir is important?”
“Well, my uncle is the Head of the House. I never liked him. My dad is the Heir and Icarus is the second Heir. A little bit like… Orion, I think?”
“Who?”
“Ah true, you don’t know him. Orion Black, second cousin of Walburga and Alphard. He will join us next year alongside my sister Lucretia and other of our siblings.”
She didn’t mind meeting more people, but she hoped they were not all… spoiled like Abraxas and a bit also Walburga. Well, it was not like Mathilde was never used to being around people. After all, she lived in the headquarters of the Alliance.
By that moment the class started to be filled by Slytherin and Hufflepuff students. Icarus was mumbling something against Diana, who didn’t wait for him. Diana, in all answer, stuck out her tongue.
Dumbledore entered, finally. He was… something, Mathilde thought. Definitely he had a lot of aura around himself, maybe similar to her father. But the clothes, a grey suit and a white shirt, were… killing a lot of his face, she noticed.
Dumbledore started by presenting himself.
“Goodmorning, first years. Welcome to your first lesson of Transfiguration. I’m your professor, Professor Dumbledore, and I will teach this class. For the next five years you will be called to use the art of Transfiguration in many different fields. Said so. It is time to do attendance, so I can properly learn your names. Forgive me, only one time yesterday was definitely not enough for learning all of your names.”
The first two were Alphard and Walburga, who Dumbledore seemed to know already.
Mathilde remembered her mother’s stories: the Black were like the British wizarding royal family, weren’t they? Her dad used to call them a “stuck up fake family” but her mum used to say they were the proper pureblood, everybody in Britain hoped to connect themselves to the Blacks.
Then a Ravenclaw, but she didn’t care about memorizing the last name, especially after hearing Diana call him a “mudblood.” Well, Dumbledore didn’t hear it, so nothing happened, except a glance from Icarus to his twin.
Anton was next. Except that Dumbledore pronounced it with such a strong British accent that it was clear it gave Anton the ick.
“Antonin, professor.” Anton said.
“Come again?”
“Just Antonin, it’s easier, I noticed.”
Dumbledore nodded.
“Very well, mister Dolohov.” he didn’t notice the stifled laughs from the Slytherin.
“Mathilde Grindelwald.”
Well, he said the last name with a German accent, Mathilde couldn’t help but notice that, while raising the hand. The class was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Dumbledore passed to the next name, like nothing. Walburga and Diana glanced at Mathilde and she simply shrugged. For now the lesson would have been calm.
Many of the students noticed how Dumbledore was fast with the pureblood and some half blood, while muggleborn and other half blood he took more time.
“Well, the pureblood community always celebrates the birth of their children. So he should know us.” Diana explained, whispering to Mathilde and Anton, who was sitting in the row after them, next to Tom.
As the attendance ended the lesson finally started. It was… dull. A simple spell, for changing a match into a needle, required no more than five minutes for most of the Slytherin to do it. Diana glanced at Mathilde. The Austrian didn’t even try once yet.
“You can try, you know?” Lestrange asked.
“Surely, if I can pronounce it first. I am not the best with English spells. I know German’s.”
“Well, try it in German.” she said, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
“Does it count?”
“I think so.”
Mathilde used the German version. And it worked effortlessly for her too.
Many of the Ravenclaw glanced at her. They didn’t understand a bit of her words. Dumbledore ignored her, like she didn’t do it. But he wrote the spell again on the chalkboard. He was not being subtle: he didn't like how Mathilde said it in German.
“If he needs it, I can do it non verbal.” Mathilde muttered, after the end of the class.
Walburga stifled a laugh.
“Non verbal? Yes, the next thing you can do is Patronus?” Abraxas mocked her.
“I don’t know about you, Malfoy, but I was surrounded by dark magic. And, I started training not long after my mother’s death.” She said, while walking.
The others stopped.
“Your mother’s death?” Alphard asked, worried.
“Yes, I was 5. No, do not say “condolence” or “I am sorry”. Yes, I am ok, and I miss her.”
The whole group was slightly silent at that.
“What?”
“It is just… - Isolde tried - you said it like nothing…”
“So? It was a while ago.”
“W… What happened?” Icarus tried.
“Anton - Mathilde changed the subject - so now we also have to call you Antonin or…?”
“It doesn’t matter to me, really. Antonin is fine.” he said.
The conversation took a much lighter side now.
They reached the dungeon where Potion was held.
“He is the professor Grandfather wants us to get on the good side, apparently.” Alphard told Walburga.
“Grandfather can be quiet, for all I care.”
Alphard nearly laughed.
“Sit in groups of four, quickly” the professor said.
“What is he wearing?” Mathilde asked, sitting with Isolde, Tom and Antonin.
Isolde chuckled.
“He is… eccentric, according to Father. But if you enter in his grace, you will have good connections with the important people. And for everyone whose parents are not in the Wizengamot, that is a one way ticket to success.”
“I don’t need success from him - Antonin said - it is like not caring of your abilities.”
“But surely it helps.”
Tom just listened.
“Welcome everybody! Welcome to the class of Potions!”
Mathilde nearly jumped from the strong voice, and suddenly also.
“Now in front of each of you there are cauldrons. You can go to page 5 and start doing the potions there. It is a simple one, you surely will be able, by the end of the hour, to do at least the first 9 steps”
Mathilde opened the book. Now it was the time when she regretted not buying the German version. Yes, she spoke clearly in English, but she always got trained in German, potions included. She glanced at Isolde and Tom, they started already, while Antonin was writing the translation in Russian.
Slughorn in that moment passed over their table.
“I take in you two are having difficulties?” he asked, the voice so… vivid and happy.
Antonin nodded.
“Yes, ehm… I prefer German, I will try, but I will buy for sure the German version of the book, unless-”
“Nonsense, buy it of course. It is not a problem!”
The professor then glanced at Tom’s potion, saying “Good” while he went over Isolde, telling her it was quite good.
“Never saw a professor so eager to let the students buy another book” Antonin said.
Isolde closed the book and showed the back.
‘With special collaboration from Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn’
“He helped write the book, he will surely get money from the translations.” Mathilde understood.
“I can’t do it. 100% now. - Antonin snapped. - there are a lot of ingredients I have never heard of before.”
“Ok, calm down. - Isolde said - It is easier than you can think. Start by starting the fire.”
For the rest of the hour Isolde told Mathilde and Antonin what to do. Was it fair? Maybe no, some Gryffindor thought surely that, but the two had a language barrier to also deal with it.
“It is so frustrating. - Mathilde said, at the end of the hour, walking with Isolde to lunch. - I can speak English, but I cannot understand the instructions of a Heiltrank gegen Furunkel!”
Isolde looked surprised by how quickly Mathilde changed language, and accent.
“I’m bilingual. Mum until her death spoke to me in English, dad in German. - she explained - After her death a few of dad’s friends started speaking to me in English too. And others in French.”
“Dad’s friends? You mean the A-acolytes?” Isolde’s voice was full of terror.
“Nothing to worry about.” Mathilde said.
“N-nothing to worry? They are… nothing, sorry.”
“I know. ‘Criminals’. And so is my dad. But with me they are nice, ok? I’m a child, they do not hurt children willingly.”
Isolde nodded. She was terrified of speaking bad of Grindelwald’s daughter’s friends.