• Published 3rd Mar 2021
  • 1,569 Views, 416 Comments

Scoti 2: Muggles and Mudbloods - SamuelK28



More hijinxes as the Crusaders embark on their second year at Hogwarts!

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The Chest (OLD)

The first half of Wednesday was uneventful for the Crusaders. The atrocious weather that had slowly rolled in across Tuesday refused to let up and they, along with their classmates, were forced to spend their entire double Herbology lesson plugging as many of the leaks in Greenhouse Three as possible to prevent the Mandrakes getting excessively cold and wet. After a quick breather, Scootaloo spent the first half of her Transfiguration double continuing to transfigure beetles into an assortment of chocolate buttons. At the mid-point of the lesson, she had proceeded to ask Professor McGonagall politely if she could attempt Reparifarge on them like Hermione and Sweetie Belle were continuing to do on Wallace, but her request had been rebuffed due to her impatient and reckless nature. The Transfiguration Professor had also added that “the last thing Hogwarts needs right now is a giant dung beetle destroying it to add to its dung pile or something equally chaotic”. Instead, Scootaloo had been assigned a reading assignment on the spell and had, by the end of the lesson, fallen asleep on her textbook, snoring loudly and drooling on it.

Professor McGonagall had opted not to punish the draconequus for her impudence, feeling that at least by being asleep the goddess of chaos was behaving herself for once and not giving her a headache. She already got enough of those from the Weasley twins.

Once Transfiguration finished the Hufflepuffs had gone to lunch in the Great Hall. It was as they sat down and began munching on sausage rolls, sandwiches and crisps that the first really interesting thing of the dreary day occurred. A solitary barn owl had appeared, perched on Scootaloo’s head and then proceeded to deposit a letter in front of her. Mail usually only came in the mornings and occasionally the evenings for special editions of The Daily Prophet and emergency communications. It was practically unheard of to receive anything at lunchtime and the mystery only deepened as Scootaloo examined the back of the letter to find it stamped with the Gringotts seal. She quickly ripped the envelope open to see what the matter was.



Dear Miss Prewett,

Whilst carrying out our annual inspection of your vault we have uncovered a small locked chest with a blood lock, the contents of which we do not have in our records. As you are well aware, for security and safety reasons, we must have a complete inventory of everything held within your vault. As such, we expect your attendance immediately to resolve this issue or will be forced to dispose of the undocumented item,

Griphook, on behalf of Gringotts Wizarding Bank

“Those goblins sure don’t beat around the bush, do they?” Sweetie Belle said reading the letter Scootaloo over the other girl’s shoulder.

“No, they don’t,” Scootaloo murmured in reply, too engrossed with what the letter had to say to be angry and chastise her friend for snooping on her personal mail. “Is Wallace under the table Sweetie?” Scootaloo enquired calmly.

Upon the mention of his name, said dog immediately lifted his head up and placed it upon Scootaloo’s knee.

“You know he is. Why do you…” Sweetie began to ask only to stop mid-sentence.

Scootaloo was gone.

*

When Gringotts had been formed in the 15th century there had been a number of competitors similarly just starting up with the goal of being the number one wizarding bank. By the end of the 16th century, only Gringotts remained. In a hundred and twenty-five years it had crushed every competitor in the wizarding world. To many it may seem strange how such a bank was able to prosper considering how goblins are often seen as inferior to many wizards and when considering the gruff and unfriendly manner of such creatures. The reason though is a simple one, security. Goblins are extremely greedy and protect anything of value, money or otherwise, at any cost, even their lives. Gringott the first himself was struck down by the Killing Curse in 1528 refusing to hand over even one knut to a group of would-be thieves. The thieves may have taken the life of the bank’s founder and head, but none of them left Gringotts that day alive, the bodies barely recognisable as they were disposed of.

With security such an important factor at Gringotts, it is to no surprise that even the goblins' usual stoic appearances faltered for a split second when the girl suddenly appeared in the main lobby with a dog, or was that a wolf, as big as them. It was rare for the goblins to even think about wanting to do anything aside monitoring their wealth, but every last one of them at the counters that lined the hall watched as the girl and the dog made their way to one of the free tellers while wondering just how she had managed to bypass all the security measures the bank had in place surrounding apparition.

“Yes, how may I help you,” the young goblin droned as Scootaloo approached.

“Hello there,” Scootaloo began with a smile. “I just received a letter from Griphook informing me that there is something within my vault that is undocumented and I’d like to see to the matter as soon as possible please. I’m due back in class in…” Scootaloo paused for a moment and looked up at the clock high up on the wall behind the goblin, “…twenty-eight minutes,” she finished before removing the key around her neck and placing it on the teller’s counter alongside the letter she had received.

“Of course, I’ll see if he is free,” the goblin replied looking rather uninterested. He’d only been working at Gringotts for a short time and, despite the flashy entrance, even he knew a girl as young as this would have very little in her vault and not be seen as a priority. He was as such surprised when he heard Griphook’s rapid footsteps behind him.

“Miss Prewett, I did not expect to see you so soon. I’ve the chest locked safely away in my office. I also hope my nephew was not in any way rude to one of my most important and influential clients,” Griphook stated giving his nephew a stern glare.

Grubuck stared at the girl in front of his counter suddenly noticing the metal hand and peculiar eye. How had he been so blind and stupid? Miss Prewett. The one client his uncle had told him above all else to be polite and courteous to if she ever popped in. She had earnt his uncle more in commissions than the rest of his clients put together had in the past year. He was so screwed.

“Not at all. I see the resemblance,” Scootaloo replied with a smile placing a galleon on the counter. “Thanks Grubuck for your help,” she said politely to the younger goblin before turning once again to Griphhook. “Now, shall we see to that chest? I’ve got to get back to Hogwarts before my next lesson or my father will…”

“What?” growled an all to familiar voice from behind her. “Deduct twenty points from Hufflepuff and have you cleaning the windows without magic on the Discord tower on Saturday for using Wallace’s teleportation inappropriately?”

Scootaloo shivered as icy cold breath hit the back of her neck.

“Hello Father. Sweetie tattled, didn’t she?” Scootaloo sighed turning to face the critical glare of her father.

“That she did. I’ll also be taking that chest. Maybe if you behave yourself for once, I’ll let you see what is inside of it after class this afternoon,” Discord said in an equally cold tone as his breath.

“What!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “But it’s mine. You can’t do that. Griphook said he'd dispose of it if I didn't respond immediately!”

“Either that or I snap us back to Hogwarts right now and let Griphook here dispose of it, your choice,” Discord responded emotionlessly.

“Fine,” Scootaloo huffed pouting and placing her arms across her chest.

“Aaah, you are so cute when you’re pouting,” Discord chuckled pinching his daughter’s cheek.

Blushing with anger and indignation Scootaloo snapped the fingers on her left hand causing a watermelon to fall on Discord’s head from out of the void, landing with a splat and covering her father in marmite.

Rather than be annoyed at what his daughter had done, Discord chuckled heartily instead. “Good one. Someone’s been practicing I see,” he cackled snapping his own fingers and making the marmite disappear in an instant. “Still, I may have to add an extra couple of windows onto the tower for that one,” he said with a sly smirk.

“You do that and I’ll clean them with black paint,” Scootaloo retorted with a smirk of her own before a cough from behind father and daughter brought both their attentions back to Griphook.

“I hate to interrupt, but I believe you stated time was of the essence?”

“Yes, it is. I’ve a lesson to teach in ten minutes!” Discord exclaimed looking at the dozen or so watches that had suddenly appeared on his left arm. “Lead on my dear sir. Adventure awaits.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes as her father suddenly adorned a suit of armour. “It’s twenty-minutes you dodo brain.”

“Takes one to know one,” Discord retorted sticking his tongue out at Scootaloo as they began to follow Griphook out of the main lobby and towards the back of the bank where the offices were located.

Grubuck just stared open mouthed as he watched the curious girl, her giant dog and her even stranger father disappear from view as they followed his uncle out of the main lobby to the back of the bank and the many offices contained there. He’d never believed the wild stories his uncle had told him of his new top client until then. How could one so young have so much wealth? he thought to himself as he shook his head in disbelief while picking up the galleon of his counter. Pocketing it, he turned to the next client that required his attention.

*

Whispers rang around the Defence Against Dark Arts classroom as the clocked ticked to twelve minutes past one. Every conversation centred around one topic. Where was Discord? Over the past year the god of chaos had not once been late to a lesson and the Hufflepuffs had learnt the hard way that tardiness would not be tolerated. Many of the conversations unsurprisingly centred around Scootaloo and the girl’s disappearance halfway through lunch as the reason for their professor’s late arrival. They were only stopped by a sudden bright flash at the front of the classroom accompanied by a loud pop.

“Settle down class,” Discord’s voice boomed across the classroom. “Scoti, take your seat please,” he ordered placing a small trunk down onto his desk as he did so. “I’m sorry for my tardiness. A personal matter arose over lunch that had to be seen to immediately.” He paused for a moment his gaze focusing upon his adopted daughter as she took her seat.
before he turned back to the whole class and continued. “As punishment for my misdeed, I might let you all have an end-of-term Christmas party if you all work hard. Anyway, let us not beat around the bush. Many of you will have seen Miss Prewett’s demonstration of a Corporeal Patronus on Monday and that may have given you the wrong idea. She was only able to cast such a spell through a combination of her wand’s power, her innate magical ability, diligent studying, proper wand technique, and, most importantly, being pure of heart and able to focus on the happiest and most positive memory she could think of, which she will now share with the rest of the class,” Discord finished with a sly grin.

Scootaloo’s face immediately went red in embarrassment. “Erm, that’s kind of personal sir, I’d rather not,” she admitted in a tone completely void of her usual cockiness.

“That was not a request. It is integral for your peers that they have…” Discord began.

“KISSING MY GIRLFRIEND, OKAY!!!!” Scootaloo blurted before burying her head into her hands as snorts and giggles reverberated around the classroom.

Hermione did likewise. Why did her girlfriend always have to be such an embarrassment?

“Thank you. That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Discord stated, his grin growing wider.

“Yes, yes it was,” Scootaloo mumbled into her own hands as Discord turned his attention to the entire class.

“Settle down class,” He commanded waiting for the laughter to dissipate before carrying on. “Even in spite of meeting all these criteria, casting such a charm was still extremely taxing for Miss Prewett and after just fifteen or so minutes it wiped her out for pretty much half a day and she was still suffering magical backlash the next day. It is because of this that we will be taking your studying of such a charm very, very, slowly, mastering the basics over the next two years before looking at the more advanced aspects in your fourth year. Only when I or whoever your DADA teacher may be at the time believes that you are ready will you be allowed to attempt an Incorporeal Patronus and then, for the more advanced students, a Corporeal Patronus. Despite my penchant for chaos, I must insist that none of you attempt such a spell until that time. Failure to adhere to this will result in severe repercussions. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Professor Discord, sir,” the class replied in unison.

“Excellent. Then to start I want you all to open The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection to the very final chapter entitled How to protect yourself from a Dementor. We shall discuss this chapter in depth as a class today. Then, for your homework this week you shall re-read the chapter with your work buddy and take detailed notes and answer the question sheet I hand out. Secondly, I also want you all to think hard about what your happiest thought might be and then concentrate on it as next week in our double lesson we shall be exploring staying focused under pressure through practical application. It is easy for one to stay focused in classroom conditions, but what about, for example, when emotionally stressed? Or actually facing a dementor? Or when being attacked by a classmate? There is no point in teaching you to cast such an advanced charm if you are unable to use it when you really need to,” Discord said seriously, pausing as Hermione’s hand shot into the air. “Yes, Miss Granger,” he added in an uninterested tone.

“What was that about being attacked by classmates?” Hermione replied somewhat nervously.

“Oh, that would ruin the surprise now, wouldn’t it? All I’ll say is that the final part of your homework this week is to learn the Stinging Jinx if you haven’t already,” Discord replied with a wicked smile causing numerous shudders around the room.

“That doesn’t bode well for us,” Ron muttered under his breath next to Harry.

“Agreed,” Harry replied as Discord finished addressing the class.

“Now, if there are no more questions, why don’t you start us off Miss Granger? I’ll let you know when you can stop reading.”

*

For poor Scootaloo the lesson seemed to drag on and on. It took all Scootaloo’s mental resolve just to stay focused on the lesson at hand and not daydream about just what the chest might contain, especially as her father seemed to be constantly targeting her with his questions to the class. Eventually, the end came. Hermione watched dumbstruck as Scootaloo practically threw her stuff into her satchel and bolted to the front of the class to confront her father.

“Please, just let me see what’s inside,” she pleaded as the entire class’s attention turned towards her.

“Hmm, let me think about it,” Discord teased, face hidden behind a stack of papers. “I suppose you were pretty well behaved and did correctly answer all the questions I asked you…”

Scootaloo’s face lit up for a single second until…

“But…”

Scootaloo’s face dropped. There just had to be a but.

“Just like with the patronus charm the other day you were very reckless going off by yourself like that and need to be punished adequately. You should have waited and asked permission from a faculty member before going. Remember, 6am Saturday morning outside the front of this tower whatever the weather, don’t be late. And just be grateful that what is in this chest has piqued my interest as much as yours, otherwise I wouldn’t be letting you open it for another week at least,” Discord said sternly making Scootaloo gulp nervously before the older draconequus went on. “My magic has thankfully determined there is nothing of significant danger within it, but hasn’t been able to determine just what it holds inside due to some significantly impressive concealment and defensive charms. Before we proceed though, let us retire somewhere more private, away from prying eyes,” Discord stated firmly looking up from his paperwork and beyond Scootaloo to the prying eyes of her classmates.

“Aww,” Sweetie whined. “But I wanted…” she began only to stop mid-sentence once more.

Scootaloo and Discord were gone.

“She’s got to stop doing that,” Sweetie grumbled before realising something. “Wait, if Discord’s gone, who’s going to get us down from the ceiling?”

Apple Bloom shrugged her shoulders next to her.

A note written in something Sweetie definitely didn’t want to know abruptly appeared on the blackboard at the front of the class.

P.S. Seeing as you’ve a free period and this classroom is not required for the remainder of today, have an extra homework assignment to improve your team building skills. I’ve rigged the room with numerous challenges and puzzles for you to find and complete to firstly get you to the ground and then to unlock the door. Your first riddle is an easy one. What has a face and hands but no eyes, mouth or ears? Don’t worry too much if my tasks prove too difficult for you and you can’t escape, you’ll automatically be released five hours from now. Good luck, Professor Discord.

“BASTARD!!!!” Sweetie screamed to the heavens.

*

There was only one-word Scootaloo could use to describe her father’s office, chaotic. To start with the whole room had been tilted ninety degrees so she was sat in front of what she was guessing was the desk but in actual fact was a live highland cow that seemed quite docile and happy to lend its back as a desk whilst munching the grass that replaced the carpet on the wall of the room. The cow wasn’t even the only live animal in the room. Above her on the opposite wall was a miniature belfry that had chimed as they appeared causing half a dozen bats to fly out, one of which was now nestled and sleeping soundly in Scootaloo’s hair, much to the girl’s annoyance. And that was only the start. Everywhere she looked Scootaloo found more and more unhinged chaos, from a portal of some sort on the ceiling to misshapen windows, curly straws and mugs and glasses with no bottoms to them. It truly was a being of chaos’s dream come true.

“Love what you’ve done to the place, Dad,” Scootaloo commented breaking the awkward silence that had accompanied the two beings of chaos since their arrival a few minutes before.

“Why thank you dear. Might I say I love what you’ve done with your hair,” Discord replied before taking a bite out of one of the mugs, the tea opting to grow wings and fly away.

Scootaloo simply scowled at her father in reply.

Discord coughed in his attempt to stifle a snigger at his daughter’s reproachful look. “Anyhow, rather than pass the time with small talk, shall we get on with the pressing matter at hand?” He lifted the chest up and placed in onto the back of his makeshift desk. “Don’t mind Bessy; she’s completely harmless as long as you don’t try to steal anything from me.”

“Okay, but what exactly do you need me to do?” Scootaloo enquired. “I mean, I’ve heard of blood locks from Apple Bloom last year after that whole incident with the exploding potions she made, but I’m not that sure on just how they work. Something to do with requiring the correct DNA for the lock to… YOW, what was that for?” Scootaloo yelped looking at the pin prick on her finger her father had just caused.

“Sorry, I could have got you to do it, but that was way more fun,” Discord replied with a devilish smirk. “Now, place your finger here if you don’t mind.”

Scootaloo grumbled under her breath as she did as she was told. Almost immediately the lock clicked open.

“Blood locks are set to a specific person’s or persons’ DNA which means only themselves or a direct blood relative can unlock them,” Discord explained.

Scootaloo was barely listening, the pain in her finger forgotten as she lifted the lid of the chest open and looked inside. It wasn’t filled with gold, exquisite riches or anything equivalent, just a book, a letter and a small jewellery box greeted her. Picking up the letter she unfolded it and read it to herself.

Scoti,

our darling bundle of joy who brings light to our lives in these troubling times. If you are reading this in the future then what we feared was going to happen, happened. We are so very sorry we were unable to be there for you as you grew up, but, as long as you are safe, that is all that matters. I hope the following items will bring you some peace and happiness and that one day you will have a use for the rings,

Mum and Dad

Somewhat confused, Scootaloo pulled her tail around and used it to wiped a tear from her eye as she placed the letter down on Bessy’s back. Then, she picked up the small jewellery box and opened it. Two rings stared back at her and she immediately put them down and went for the book. It wasn’t actually a book, rather a photo album of her parents’ wedding. The tears were flowing freely now as she looked over the album page by page at the family she had never had the chance to get to know aside Molly.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths as the hideous memories of her family’s demise flowed freely through her mind once more. Then she screamed. An ear-piercing wail that would have sent shivers up even the coldest blooded of creatures. The bat in her hair immediately woke up and shot into the air as the purple mohawk became a purple inferno.

And that’s when she found a comforting pair of arms wrapping themselves around her.

“There, there, let it all out. “I’ll be here for you when you’re ready to talk,” Discord whispered into Scootaloo’s ear.

Author's Note:

Damn this one was a struggle but it leads nicely into the next chapter and build up for Hermione's birthday. Hope you liked this idea and sorry took so long. Next one will hopefully be done in a few days, another slice of life with our to favourite girls having a heart to heart. Then, I hope the girls have been doing there homework because DADA is about to get crazy, its time for the Inferi.

Edited 02/06/2021