Isn't Any of Them Normal?
"Mmmm," Harry, Draco, and Hermione all murmured together, wearing three nearly identical smiles after listening to Daphne's story—one she'd been forced to tell—while looking thoroughly entertained and interested.
Daphne, who was still bound by the chains, looked genuinely annoyed at the moment, seeing how much they seemed to be enjoying her situation.
"I never would've expected the proud and arrogant Miss Greengrass to be... a coward," Draco said in a somewhat contemptuous tone. More than anyone else, he seemed to be enjoying this just a little too much, as revenge for all the pranks Daphne had pulled on him so far. At the very least, he had to get a little payback.
"Shut up, idiot. Do you really think you're getting away with this? My revenge won't be long in coming," Daphne threatened.
Though Draco didn't feel particularly intimidated coming from her right now.
"So he said a few things to you and you just ran away. How pathetic," Harry added, unable to resist joining in on teasing Daphne.
"You're hardly one to talk. You're still stuck in that stupid flirting game with Fleur without taking the next step. Which one of you is dying for the other? It's obvious you're both so hopelessly in love with each other that you'll probably have three children before you finally admit it," Daphne shot back without hesitation.
This time, Harry couldn't help looking away, remembering Sirius had told him something very similar before.
Could that actually be true?
And maybe one of his children really would have to be called Albus.
Daphne, not finished yet, turned to Draco again.
"And you. Do you seriously think it's not obvious how you keep pretending to be a bloody idiot?"
Draco fell silent for a moment after hearing that before replying,
"I don't know what you're talking about," as he looked away.
Then Daphne finally turned towards Hermione and was just about to open her mouth to throw something at her too.
But Hermione, who suddenly seemed nervous, as though she somehow knew exactly what Daphne was about to say, spoke first.
"So... do you like Viktor Krum?" Hermione asked quickly, so directly that Daphne was left speechless.
Harry and Draco immediately turned to look at Hermione, who instantly looked away so it wouldn't be obvious she'd blurted that out completely on impulse.
Daphne, meanwhile, opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water.
"W... wh... what... what kind of nonsense are you talking about?" she finally managed once her mouth started working again. "I... you... him... what? Are you crazy? Why would I like him? Ha... hahaha!" Daphne said before forcing out a laugh that was just a little...
Too exaggerated.
The three exchanged puzzled looks before turning back to her.
"That's ridiculous," Daphne repeated. "You're crazy. Yes, you are. I only like teasing him because of what happened last year. You know, when he mistook me for one of his crazy fangirls, so I turned him into a woman and took pictures to blackmail him," she explained.
The others didn't say much.
They simply kept looking at her.
For some reason, she was explaining things no one had asked about.
"Hahahaha," she laughed, as though reacting to a wonderful joke.
But her smile still looked...
...strange.
"I think you broke her," Harry said to Hermione while they both watched Daphne.
Draco couldn't help nodding in agreement.
"Oh..." Hermione said guiltily. "Maybe we should let her go," she added.
The other two agreed, so Draco waved his wand, releasing the golden chains binding Daphne.
As soon as the chains fell away, Daphne kept laughing.
"I like Viktor, hahaha..."
But her smile suddenly vanished.
Then, all at once, she hiccupped.
"Hic."
"Of course I don't. Hic. I like... hahaha..."
Then she looked at her friends for a brief moment and, putting every ounce of strength into her legs, shot off at full speed, fleeing the scene while they could still hear the occasional "hic" echoing behind her as she disappeared.
This time, of course, no one made any attempt to stop her.
"Yeah... we fried her brain," Harry said, as though there was no longer any room for doubt.
"She'll get over it," Draco replied calmly.
"Well... at least she finished her homework," Hermione said as she picked up some of the parchments they'd brought over when they had dragged Daphne into a corner for a quiet conversation, while the other students cleaned up the mess.
"Yeah... I don't think so," Harry said, lifting the parchment Daphne had been writing on.
And the only words written across the entire page were:
Idiot.
Arrogant.
Moron.
Slave.
Over and over again.
So, in the end, that serious, emotionless act had only been that...
An act.
Hermione let out a sigh.
...
The next morning dawned beneath an overcast sky, with a light drizzle soaking the grass as though it had just been watered.
Ever since Hermione had asked that question, Daphne had been running away from them whenever she saw them. And not just from them. The moment she spotted Viktor sitting at the staff table, she'd immediately turn around and bolt like a frightened rabbit.
Hermione, Harry, and Draco had known her for a long time, and seeing her like this really was strange.
Though, precisely because they knew her so well, they also knew this might last a while before she finally calmed down.
It was rather pointless to keep running away from them, though.
After all, she'd still have classes with them every single day.
And so two hours of Transfiguration passed, followed by Charms, during which Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick spent a good fifteen minutes lecturing them about preparing for their O.W.L.s.
"What you must remember is that these examinations may influence your lives for years to come," Professor Flitwick said, standing atop the stack of books he always used to reach roughly the same height as his students, wearing an unusually serious expression. "If you haven't yet decided what career you'd like to pursue in the future, this is precisely the time to start thinking about it. Meanwhile, we'll have to work harder than ever to ensure you're able to perform to the best of your abilities in the examinations."
After saying that, the professor spent the rest of the lesson explaining charms and summoning spells that he insisted could appear on the O.W.L.s, before finishing the class by assigning a mountain of Charms homework.
"I'm certain every one of you can pass your O.W.L.s if you truly put your mind to it. I have great confidence in my students," Professor Flitwick said, offering them a little encouragement as his gaze swept across the classroom, though it seemed to linger a little longer on those who consistently ranked among the top students. "I'm sure Professor McGonagall has plenty to say as well, so we'd best end the lesson here, as we should, rather than waste any of her valuable time," the professor added, officially dismissing today's class.
As all the students stood up, ready to relax a little before their next lesson, a woman entered the classroom with hurried, somewhat anxious steps.
"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, but there's a small problem that may require your assistance," she said.
She was Alice Morgan, the trainee Charms professor and the last of the four new trainee teachers who had been hired.
The woman was rather tall and strikingly beautiful, almost like a runway model.
She could even be described as athletic, something fairly uncommon among witches.
Her dark hair framed a face many would have considered absolutely stunning.
Yet the first thing people noticed wasn't her beauty.
It was the nervous expression that seemed to follow her wherever she went.
Some students even claimed Headmaster Black had hired her purely because of her appearance.
After all, he'd also hired an assistant librarian who was just as beautiful, so many had begun suspecting that the Headmaster had some rather obvious tastes.
Though, of course...
Hardly anyone was complaining about that.
Even so, as Harry was gathering his things, he glanced at the woman for a moment.
She, apparently, had been looking at him as well.
She answered with a small, nervous smile before leaving alongside Professor Flitwick.
The contrast between them was rather remarkable.
She had long legs.
And he...
Well...
...didn't.
"Haaaa... Isn't there a single normal trainee professor?" Harry muttered wearily, shaking his head.