Chapter Text
After the buzz that erupted after Professor McGonagall's announcement, Ellie and Luna were finishing up their dinner, and the former was about to get up from the table when she was stopped.
"El, we need to meet Professor Flitwick. Would you like to go now?" Luna asked.
Ellie blinked in confusion for a moment before she recalled that their head of house did want to see them after classes were done for the day. Usually, Ellie would not forget something like that, but her first day at Hogwarts was a lot more than she had bargained for. That thought also lead her to another.
"After that, I think we have detention with the Potions Professor..." Ellie said with a deep, tired sigh.
Luna blinked this time, then slowly nodded, "That's right... he's a rather strange man."
"Well, guess we ought to be off then," Ellie said in tired disappointment. She wanted to sneak off with Luna to go back home for the night, but it seemed she would have to wait longer to do so now.
Filius Flitwick was one of the most well-renowned charms masters in the world. His name was synonymous with excellence, and even as a half-goblin, his name was spoken with respect and sometimes reverence and awe (to those who truly understood just what exactly he had accomplished) even by the staunchest of purebloods.
As the half-goblin sat in his office, awaiting two curious first-year Ravens, he was still reeling at the events of the day. It all seemed so... unusual. Not to mention downright disgusting. He had thought the wards of Hogwarts would have been sufficient to thwart any evil intentions, but clearly, as the year prior had proven, that was not the case. It was a rather perplexing puzzle for him in all actuality.
Either the Hogwarts Wards were not as impressive as he thought, or it was a deliberate self-sabotage. But since the only one in control of the wards was the headmaster, that would mean Albus had allowed the events of the previous year to happen.
Not to mention, hiring that disgusting piece of filth this year. It made no sense to Filius how the esteemed mage had allowed such an oversight to occur. Not only was Albus a certified Legilimens, the man was also aware of the curse on the DADA position and seemed completely content in doing absolutely nothing about it, even as grades at Hogwarts plummets year upon year. There were a whole host of other problems too -
A firm knock on his office door interrupted his contemplations. He focused on the present and called out, "Come in."
"You wanted to see us professor?" Two girls came in, the redhead looking a little tired for a fleeting moment before she regained her countenance. If he wasn't observing carefully, he'd have thought it a trick of the light.
"Yes, if you don't mind, I'd like to conduct a little test for you both, and see if I need to adjust my plans when it comes to teaching the two of you."
Ms. Weasley's eyes lit up in joy and excitement at the prospect of learning something. Filius chuckled inwardly at the enthusiasm. If he had any doubts as to why the hat put this Weasley in Ravenclaw, they had all but vanished at that moment.
"I'm not very good yet professor Flitwick, so you should focus on Ellie first," the Lovegood girl said calmly.
The Professor nodded, and started, "Now then Ms. Weasley, how about you show me the first year charms to begin with, and we'll move up from there..."
Filius Flitwick leaned back in his chair somewhat speechless. He had expected some skill from the Weasley girl, but what he was witnessing was something totally out of the scope of his high expectations.
Ms. Weasley tilted her head slightly in question, "Would you like me to show you anything else Professor?"
The charms professor contemplated silently at that, and slowly nodded. The girl had already demonstrated incredible mastery over the full Hogwarts curriculum, casting every charm silently with nary a flick of her wand. He wanted to see just how far along the girl was out of academic curiosity more than anything else.
"How about the Fidelius?" Flitwick suggested. To his surprise once again, the Weasley girl nodded.
"Well, take this box and ward it with the Fidelius charm, and make your friend here the secret keeper and we'll see if it holds."
The girl set about the task, waving her wand in intricate patterns, and casting the charm before holding her wand to Ms. Lovegood's chest. The wand glowed even as the blonde girl hummed with a smile.
Flitwick blinked, slightly confused before observing his desk with a furrowed brow, feeling as though something was missing. The Weasley girl smiled at him before saying, "Professor Flitwick's box can be found on his office desk."
As expected, the box materialized in front of his eyes and he took a moment to gather his thoughts even as he marveled at the fact that an eleven year old girl accomplished one of the most power-intensive charms currently known in the Wizarding World. Granted, it was focused on only the small area on his desk, but the fact that the charm was cast was incredible.
"Ms. Weasley, how would you like to pursue a mastery in charms with me? Minerva also tells me you're rather accomplished with transfigurations so I shall ask her the same if you wish?"
Ms. Weasley's eyes lit up, glowing with power and magic before the girl nodded with an enthusiastic smile, "Yes, please professor!"
"Well, if that's what you want, please make sure you apply to take your OWL for the subject at Yule, and your NEWTs during Easter. We'll find work for you to do yet at Hogwarts."
With that done, the charms Professor turned to the blonde girl who had been waiting patiently in his office the entire time, partaking in some of his confectionaries, "Now then, I know you said you weren't so advanced yet, but I would still like to see what you can do Ms. Lovegood."
Filius Flitwick had been incredibly impressed that day. Though the Lovegood girl did not know as many charms as her friend yet, a brief description and demonstration of a charm was all she needed to replicate it, rarely ever trying more than once. She was as talented as his late favorite student, Lily Evans, perhaps even more so. That two future titans of magic were students of his house filled him with an incredible amount of joy and pride.
He watched them bow their heads towards him before leaving his office, and smiled to himself.
Ellie cast a Tempus for the time before making her way with Luna down towards the dungeons. Despite the crazy day they had, Ellie was whistling a jaunty tune to herself, much to Luna's amusement.
"It's just like you El to forget all your woes whenever there's new magic to be learnt," Luna said with a smile.
Ellie's eyes shone at that even as she skipped down a moving staircase, "Of course Lu! It's Flitwick. The Filius Flitwick! Three-time International Dueling Champion, world-renowned charms master Flitwick! And I'm apprenticing under him!" Ellie said with another giddy step as she skipped backwards, facing Luna with the most heart-melting smile.
"I'm happy for you El," Luna said with warmth and love in her eyes. Ellie could no longer contain herself, and casting a quick notice-me-not about them, embraced and kissed her tenderly.
Luna was left slightly red faced as Ellie separated herself from her as she continued skipping away without a care in the world. Luna was slightly bemused at the action, knowing it was something she herself would do.
As they continued down to the dungeons, Ellie bumped into someone as she turned a corner.
"Sorry about that. Corners should really give people warnings... huh, there's a thought..." Ellie muttered at the end of her apology with a faraway look in her gaze before she focused back on the figure that had fallen on the floor.
It was a blond-haired grey-eyed girl sporting robes with green accents.
Ellie gave her a smile and reached out her hand as Luna caught up beside her.
"Apologies again, Miss...?" Ellie trailed off with a question.
The girl seemed undecided on whether or not to take her hand before she eventually (albeit reluctantly) did so.
"Greengrass. Daphne Greengrass," She said coolly as Ellie pulled her up.
Ellie's eyes focused in recognition before she inclined her head, "Well met, Heiress Greengrass. I'm Ellie Weasley, and this is Luna Lovegood."
At the gesture, for some reason that Ellie and Luna could not quite understand, the girl seemed completely shocked.
Ellie cleared her throat, "Now that we've been fatefully acquainted, do you mind answering something for me?"
The Greengrass girl still seemed slightly out of sorts but gave them a nod of acknowledgement.
"Does Slytherin House still hold the holiday Rituals?" She asked straight-forwardly.
Albus Dumbledore sat in his cell, replaying the events of the day for the hundredth time. There was something severely off about the sequence of events, but for the life of him, he could not pinpoint exactly what it was.
Of course, he could have escaped whenever he wanted to but that would be counter-productive. If he did so, it would be seen as admitting guilt. That in itself would not be a problem any other time, but the crimes that would be pinned on him were perhaps the most heinous, sickening ones he could think of. Even Tom never went so far as to do such things. In fact, Tom rarely ever harmed a child.
The irony was not lost on Albus that both he and the Dark Lord had harmed the same child. Albus by his inaction and negligence, and Tom by a killing curse. In the headmaster's estimation, they both probably harmed little Harry just as much as the other.
And wasn't that a sobering thought? He did sincerely regret his actions and choices that had led to poor Harry's home situation. If it wasn't for the Weasleys unearthing that whole scandal with Peter Pettigrew...
Albus shook the thoughts of what-ifs from his mind. He was old, and that meant carrying the burden of regret on his shoulders until the day he died.
This latest burden on his shoulders, however, felt like too much.
He knew that he would not be put to task for this latest mishap at Hogwarts. For years, his hands had been tied by the Board of Governors, budgets allocated to unnecessary spending rather than crucial undertakings. He had not hired Lockhart, and had protested his employment, but at the time, he simply thought the man incompetent, not malicious or malevolent. How wrong he was on that assessment, and he knew just how badly he messed up when he viewed those memories.
Even as long as he lived, he had never seen a man so depraved. It made him shudder to think what would have happened had the man been allowed even a week at the school. None of his victims would have remembered anything, but there weren't nearly enough heads to roll should the scandal have been revealed any later than it did.
For as sick as it made him, he could only be relived that nothing seemingly untoward had happened. His murderer did get him on the first day, and the man would not have had the time or opportunity to indulge in his sickening habits.
He hoped.
The main thing occupying his mind at the moment was the identity of the culprit. He kept drawing a blank whenever he thought about it. It wasn't possible to enact such violence within the Hogwarts wards without him knowing about it. So either they had committed their torture and murder outside the Hogwarts wards, only to bring him back inside again, or someone somehow managed to find a way to bypass the detection of the wards enough to commit the crime.
It was a distressing thought. When he had first entered the DADA office upon receiving Amelia's Patronus, he had thought the body was left there by the Dark Lord for whatever unfathomable reason Tom would have to do such a thing.
But it wasn't Tom. The perpetrator clearly wanted everyone to know just what exactly the man had done and was going to do to deserve the treatment he got. The only way they could have known about those crimes would have been through either veritaserum, the Imperious curse, or some very skillful Legilimency.
None of the three possibilities boded well. He did not even know how to begin compiling a list of suspects. Either it was someone within the school or someone outside of it.
If it were someone outside, he would truly have no idea. It would perhaps be someone related to a victim of Lockhart or else someone else who decided justice should be brought from their hands. Not to mention the fact as to how they would have entered the school without his knowledge.
The more distressing thought, and one which Albus desperately hoped was not the case, was that the culprit was someone within the school. If it were a Professor, there were only really two suspects. Severus or Bathsheda. The former because of his skillset as a Master Potioneer and Dark Arts practitioner, and the latter due to the skillset necessary to bypass the Hogwarts wards.
Even so, something told Albus that this was not the case.
Which led to the even more sickening idea that it was a student.
And that very thought sent a shiver down Albus' spine, the like of which he had not felt since Tom Riddle roamed the school.
It was a distressing thought indeed that one of his students was a murderer.
"Enter." Came the surly voice, and Ellie could have sworn she heard the scowl along with it.
Ellie and Luna exchanged a wry glance before Ellie pushed the door open.
Severus Snape looked up to see two Ravenclaw girls enter his office, and he blinked in slight surprise.
"Yes...?" Snape drawled, unsure why they were present. In light of the shocking revelations of the day, combined with his earlier resolution to lock all thoughts away about the two girls, he had completely forgotten that he had assigned them a detention.
Ellie furrowed her brow slightly before giving the forgetful professor a gentle reminder, "Professor, you did assign us a detention earlier today, did you not?"
Severus frowned in thought, trying to remember before it all came back to him and he scowled.
"Brew a batch of Blood-Replenishing potion. Don't bother me. Don't waste ingredients. Don't leave until you're done."
Severus shoved all of his thoughts away in favor of reading the latest publications in The Stirring Cauldron as the girls set about their tasks without question or complaint.
After the two girls left in what seemed to be too quick for two first-years to competently brew anything, he made his way over to the neatly arranged vials.
He examined the color even as he swished around the vial, inspecting the potion with a critical eye.
With a scowl, he placed it back on the tabletop and retreated into his quarters.
He did not want to think about them, did not want to think about their perfect potions, did not want to think about...
"You know Professor, badgering your students won't bring back the dead."
Did not want to think about the frown and disappointment of the redhead.
Did not want to think about the green eyes whenever he saw Potter.
Did not want to think about...
"You're so silly Sev," those green eyes and laughing smile over the bubbling cauldron.
Did not...
"I plan to live for a long, long time," she said, as she swished the vial containing the Draught of Living Death they brewed with a critical eye before she winked at him and left to submit their assignment.
Breakfast came around, and Ellie felt a whole lot better today. The prospects for the future were looking bright, and today she was going to escape the castle for a few hours with Luna to meet with her parents. Classes were canceled, so she felt obliged to spend the time breaking some school rules.
They sat and ate in a comfortable silence between them even as the world around them buzzed and moved. Luna had her tongue comically stuck out in a facsimile of effort as she went about building a pudding-fort. It was altogether endearing and cute and Ellie had to resist hugging the girl there and then.
As she sat eating her breakfast, (adjusting it slightly from her usual fare to balance her meals. She had read in the book provided by the magical room that diet accounted for as much as physical exercise did in building a healthy body), a large flock of owls entered the great hall.
Ellie continued with her meal, greying out the world around her except for the pretty blond beside her with whom she continued to banter with, smiles on both of their faces.
The Crimes and Lies of Lockhart by Rita Skeeter
Dear readers, it is with great anger and sadness that I write this article. Yesterday, on the 2nd of September, the morning of the first day of classes for Hogwarts students, a usually excitable day for new and old students alike, a criminal was unearthed amongst the staff. Yes dear readers, bestselling author and newly appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart was outed as a fraud. Not only so, he was also discovered by our Minister for Magic, Amelia Bones, as a serial child rapist and plagiarizer. By extensive use of Obliviation charms, he had not been caught until now. Yesterday evening, the man was found dead with many memory vials beside his mutilated corpse which revealed the extent of his crimes. Beware readers, for below are images and stories not for the faint of heart...
The article was written with the sensationalist quill of Rita Skeeter, and as the Great Hall took a few minutes to read the full article, complete and utter silence ensued.
And then, at once, like a dam bursting, and a flood emerging, the voices and rage of the students drowned the silence in a loud and consuming wave.
"THAT BASTARD!"
"I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!"
"Which idiot hired the bastard?"
"Didn't you have a crush on him? I told you he was a fake!"
"How was a rapist allowed in the school?"
Daphne Greengrass observed the chaos around her even as she had finished reading the article and felt like throwing up her meal. She was not the only one. She could see a few girls from her table and a few others that actually did throw up. Daphne recalled that many of them harbored crushes on the man they called a professor. Daphne had always been one of the skeptics regarding the man's so-called accomplishments, but even she did not ever suspect him to be so deranged.
She had thought the man an incompetent fool.
Merlin, she could have been one of the victims. She knew she was pretty, and would have been somewhere near the top of the man's list of potential victims going by his preferred age.
The thought made her even more sick and she struggled to keep her stomach down.
If the man wasn't murdered on the first day, she would have feared the worst. Thankfully, he had no time to do anything, and she had not had a class with her yet, so as far as she knew, they were all safe.
"What do you think Greengrass?" A voice called. It was one of her year-mates, Blaise Zabini.
"Think about what?" She asked, having tuned out the conversation in favor of her own contemplations.
Zabini rolled his eyes, "Who do you think did it?"
"I don't know," Daphne said as her expression grew contemplative. She honestly had no idea. If it was a student, she would hedge bets on it being an older Slytherin girl. Older because of the skill required to accomplish the feat, Slytherin because they were not caught, and girl because...
She looked at the images depicting Lockhart's mutilated corpse.
Only a girl could enact such rage and venom against someone like Lockhart, or at least, that's what her intuition told her.
She inadvertently looked around the Great Hall at that thought.
As she did, her eyes took something in. A small piece of information that would be completely irrelevant at any other time, but this was different. Her intuition was niggling at the back of her head to focus on it. So she did.
There, among the cacophony of noise and rage and arguments and girls in hysterics, were two first year girls that seemed wholly unconcerned by everything around them, almost as if they existed in a world of their own. They were playing with and teasing each other with a carefreeness that did not belong in the current emotionally charged Great Hall.
It took a moment for her to recognize the two of them as the strange girls she had bumped into the night prior. She vividly recalled that interaction as it had put her completely off-balance. She had no idea what to think of the Ravenclaw Weasley and her friend. She had of course heard some rumors about them, but did not pay them any attention. But, something was off about this...
"Tori," Daphne turned to her sister sitting next to her.
"Yea, Daph?" The black-haired girl replied, still looking a little sick.
"Have you had any classes with the Ravenclaws yet?"
Astoria furrowed her brows, "Yeah, the last DADA class. Why?"
On a whim, Daphne whispered in her ear while gesturing the two carefree Ravenclaw girls, "do you remember them?"
Astoria and Daphne both looked over. The blond one managed to get some pudding on her nose to Weasley's snickering.
Astoria furrowed her brow as she closed her eyes. As children of a Noble House, one of the sacred 28, they had been instructed in the mind arts, but so far, both of them were merely beginners. It was a tough discipline, and it was already impressive that both Daphne and Astoria had managed to accomplish even that much, young as they were.
Astoria recalled that class with as much precision as she could.
One, two... fourteen, fifteen. Fifteen students entered the classroom. Those two girls... huh?
I can't find them? But they entered? Wait... One... twelve, thirteen. Thirteen students left the class at the end .
Astoria's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Daph... they entered the classroom but I couldn't see them in the class. I'm sure the class was empty when everyone left, but we were missing those two when everyone left..."
Daphne looked at her sharply, some half-formed suspicions entering her mind.
"Was your class Lockhart's last for that day?" She asked quietly.
Astoria focused, then slowly nodded, "Yeah... Daph, you don't think Lockhart did anything...?"
Daphne shook her head slowly, "No, I don't think Lockhart did anything. Father sent a letter saying the DMLE was called before dinner..." her eyes narrowed.
Those two...
Astoria's eyes widened further in realization, "You think they -?"
Daphne squeezed her sister's shoulder, "don't mention it."
Tori nodded slowly.
"Well, if they did... then isn't that a good thing?" Astoria asked with a frown.
Daphne muttered under her breath.
"Maybe, but... Tori, I have a bad feeling about those two. Ask yourself, if they really did it, why are they acting so normal?" Daphne whispered to her sister in concern.
Astoria nodded her head as she continued observing the two Ravenclaw girls, "It really doesn't seem like it was them. If it was..."
She let out a deep sigh, "Anyway, there's no real proof of anything. Until we go back home and see my memory of it in the Pensieve, we don't really know."
"Just be careful Tori," Daphne nodded and stood up, her appetite long since faded.
Ellie and Luna were both under a strong disillusionment charm as they made their way to the statue of the one-eyed witch. Ellie held Luna's hand as she guided her to the statue, then placed her other hand on the stone pushing her magic along with a whisper.
'Dissendium'
The statue inched away, revealing a hidden passage on the floor. They both descended into it and made their way along the tunnel.
"I really wonder how those two found this passage. One of these days, I'm gonna coax every secret they have about the castle out from them..." Ellie muttered under her breath.
"I think they'd tell you without the coaxing El," Luna's dreamlike voice brushed against her ear and the redhead shivered, the disillusionment making it difficult to gauge the closeness between them, especially in the cramped passageway.
Ellie hummed as they finally made their way to the end, pushing against what seemed to be the floorboard above them.
'Homenum Revelio'
After ensuring the exit was safe, they both climbed up into what she knew to be the cellar of Honeydukes. Ensuring that the both of them were as concealed as possible, Ellie led Luna outside of the store and into Hogsmeade, relishing the fresh air.
"Lu, I've never apparated before. Should we take the floo?" Ellie asked as they both observed the village for the first time.
"Okay, but I want to look around first, this place is rather nice," Luna said as she looped her arm around Ellie's, all but dragging her around the various alleyways to observe the stonework or whatever else had captured Luna's interest. Ellie merely allowed herself to be taken around, a fond smile playing at her lips as Luna continued to do Luna-like things.
They visited a bookstore, a clothing store, and then finally, a run-down pub by the name of 'Hog's Head' to access their floo. Ellie had asked why she picked this particular floo, to which the blond had simply said that it was the last place a professor would come to look for them.
"How are my sweet girls?" Pandora beamed at them as they exited the fireplace. Xeno was at work, and Pandora had just completed and sent off her thesis on Body-Enhancing Ritual Runic Arrays for her to be awarded her Mastery in Ritual Magic. It would be her sixth Mastery if it were to be approved. She had to attend the defence of her thesis in Athens in a few weeks, and so was spending a lot of time preparing for it.
Ellie looked up at the kind, beautiful woman, and all of her insecurities and weaknesses came flooding back to her like a tidal wave. As one, both Ellie and Luna jumped into her arms for the comfort and assurance they offered.
After calming down and curling up together on the sofa with some hot chocolate and warm blankets, Ellie began to extract a long memory thread from her mind, then weaved a series of complex charms around it, then carved some temporary runes upon the coffee table with her stick, before depositing the charmed memory upon the table.
Pandora's eyebrows raised at the seemingly effortless display of combining Mind Magic, Charms, and Runes together seamlessly. It really was an inspired and creative combination of magic.
The coffee table lit up in a soft blue glow, and then became a screen which showed the events of their first day of classes.
As the memory played on, Ellie elected to lean into Luna's side as she observed Pandora's reaction to the events.
She could see Pandora's amusement at her daughter's offhanded comment in Snape's class.
Pandora's smirk and pride at Ellie's unintentional demonstration in Transfiguration. Ellie blushed in embarrassment at seeing herself so oblivious to everything around her now that she had an outsider's perspective. When she saw memory Luna focus on her with warmth and love in her eyes as Ellie continued to transfigure, Ellie felt a peaceful current enveloping her. Even though the next events would be unpleasant to watch again, that singular look did enough for Ellie that she was no longer as frightened to see them again.
After a thoroughly amused Pandora observed the antics of Ellie's twin brothers at lunch, it was finally time for the recollection of the DADA class.
As if feeling Ellie's trepidation, Pandora gave her an assured smile before focusing, her expression blank.
She watched as the class went by, with Ellie focusing on a prolongated Legilimency attack.
She watched as the class emptied, and the conversation between Luna and Ellie.
Watched as they destroyed Lockhart.
And then she watched as Ellie broke down.
After it was all over, Pandora released deep breath. She looked at the two girls in sadness, made her way over and hugged them both.
"I love you both, don't forget that, okay?" She said softly as she looked between them, "do you want to leave Hogwarts?"
Ellie and Luna looked at each other for a brief moment in a silent conversation.
"Honestly, I don't know. There are some useful things there like that room we found, but other than my siblings, there isn't much there... oh!" Ellie's eyes lit up.
"I got an apprenticeship opportunity from Filius Flitwick, and perhaps I'll get another from Minerva McGonagall soon too!" She said, her liveliness returning to her eyes, then she looked at her witch, "But I don't really care about all of that if Luna doesn't want to go anymore. I'm wherever she is."
Luna hummed, "I don't really care Ellie. I'll be safe wherever you are, and the castle is rather fun. The forest seems nice. I'd like to go and explore it."
Ellie smiled at her, then the both of them turned their attention to the older woman who sighed.
"Alright, but be careful, okay?" She said with a sigh as she gave them a lasting hug.
They returned to Hogwarts in time for dinner, the buzz about Lockhart having not yet died. In fact, it had only gotten worse with many parents arriving to check on their children, and some even outright removing them from the school. Ellie and Luna did not bother with that though, and after having their usual banter with their dinner, elected to return to their dorm to talk and turn in for the night.
AN: Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review.
As you all may have guessed, this isn't exactly your typical HP fanfic. Ellie may seem considerably overpowered, but considering she has spent eleven years of her life dedicating herself to magic and with the last three of those years with access to a treasure trove of knowledge in the Lovegood Library, her progress makes sense, at least to me.
This story also won't focus on Voldemort too much. It'll be the wider magical world and Ellie and Luna's journey as they explore and discover lost histories, magic, and civilizations. There'll be a wider-spanning conflict and hopefully, it'll be a more interesting story for it.
Anyway, I'll be focusing on updating my other story 'The Third Side' for the next week or so. I'll be alternatively updating these stories from now on.
Until Next Time!