Three Werewolves, a Pony, a Seer and a Skepticist walk into Hogwarts...

by SamuelK28

Sleeping Cutey

Limestone awoke with a bump as Teeth dragged her from her bed onto the hard cold stone floor of her dorm room.

“For buck’s sake Teeth, couldn’t you have just gone to breakfast by yourself?” she grumbled before a second later finding herself in the Great Hall and staring up at a way to bright blue sky above.

Thankfully the unbearably bright light was swiftly eclipsed by a swarm of black fur as two blood red eyes stared inquiringly down at her.

“Was it really necessary to apparate me here in my pyjamas?” Limestone queried as Teeth began to nudge her with his head.

Teeth gave an ear piercingly loud bark in reply causing Limestone to let out an almighty groan that was instantly cut off as Teeth gave her face an almighty lick.

“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point,” Limestone groused forcing herself into a sitting position whilst rubbing her eyes as she adjusted to the sudden change in lighting and tried to gain her bearings.

“Pony girl, what is the meaning of this debauchery?” Professor Snape suddenly droned behind her.

Limestone closed her eyes. Of all the professors she had to apparate at the feet of it just had to be him.

“I apologise sir, late night for a variety of reasons and as such I was trying to catch up on my sleep but Teeth was unwilling to have a late breakfast. Did not even give me a chance to get dressed before he apparated me here,” Limestone explained truthfully finishing with a yawn. “So, if you don’t mind, I am going to have some breakfast before heading back to bed for several hours until History. Unless you would rather get between a hellhound and its breakfast.”

On cue, Teeth glowered at Snape and flashed his canines with a menacing growl.

“I really don’t mind which, play fighting is good enrichment for Teeth,” Limestone concluded, too tired to give a bucking shit what Snape thought right now.

Snape did mind, he minded a lot. But with Professor Sprout’s words still fresh in his mind from the previous afternoon and the fact that he wasn’t about to be an accomplice in the destruction of the Great Hall over something so silly as denying a dog its breakfast, he wisely chose to perform a tactical retreat. “I see. Unlike some of your dormmates, I am not hellbent on destroying the castle at every opportunity. Be aware though that I shall be bringing the matter to the attention of Professor Sprout in due course. Such indecency must not go unpunished. Lastly, you need to gain greater control over that hellhound of yours. Actually, don’t, even Professor Sprout can’t save you if it attacks anyone.”

“He will only attack in self-defence of its owner. Thus, Severus, might I enquire as to what you have done this time to antagonise Teeth?” A voice the Potions professor knew only to well interjected from behind him.

“Hello Professor Sprout. He was trying to prevent Teeth from having his breakfast due to my attire,” Limestone replied with yet another yawn.

Professor Sprout looked past her colleague and examined Limestone’s attire, a smirk slowly forming on her face. “I see nothing wrong with pony pyjamas on a pony at breakfast.”

Limestone closed her eyes and groaned. She was so tired she had totally forgotten it was Kendra who had sourced her nightwear for her. On the bright side, at least her pyjamas were not one of the horrifying pink pairs the older girl had chosen for her with either bunny rabbits or hearts on them.

A camera suddenly flashed somewhere of to her right. Limestone instantly opened her eyes wide and stared at Kendra who had a massive grin plastered across her face.

“That’s a definite keeper,” Kendra stated mercilessly.

Scrap that, there definitely was no bright side to this situation.

“Miss Abbot, unless you want me to confiscate that camera, I expect there to be copies posted on the Hufflepuff noticeboard in the common room and on the first years’ noticeboard just outside the Great Hall by the end of the day. Such unique breakfast attire should be shared and admired by all I feel,” Professor Sprout commanded.

“Of course, professor. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kendra replied ruthlessly.

Limestone’s cheeks went bright red as she tried to bury her head in her hands. “May I have my breakfast yet?” she said through them in a muffled tone.

“Certainly, my dear and do not pay attention to what Severus just said. Training a puppy is hard enough, a hellhound puppy on the other hand is on a whole another level, especially when it comes to meal times,” Professor Sprout explained kindly as she helped Limestone to her feet. “You are doing a fine job so far and it clearly shows from the affection he gives you in return.”

Perfectly timed Teeth gave a bark of agreement to both those statement.

“Thanks professor. You are still going to post those photos publicly though, aren’t you?” Limestone deadpanned.

“Of course. Next time though might I suggest coming to breakfast with the pink ones with hearts on if you are looking to truly standout from the crowd,” Professor Sprout said wickedly causing Kendra to chuckle in amusement in the background

Limestone quickly made herself scarce before the two of them conspired to have her do an entire photoshoot with the collection of pyjamas Kendra had chosen for her.

*

It did not take Limestone long to notice that, along with her fellow first-years, Professor McGonagall was absent from breakfast, much to her relief. The last thing she needed was the Transfiguration Professor seeing her in her pyjamas. She was getting enough curious looks and glances her way as it is. Thankfully, she did not have to wait long for her peers’ attention to be drawn elsewhere as one of the doors to the Great Hall slammed open and a girl with extremely long black hair and a trolley loaded with papers appeared.

“HOGWARTS HAWK SPECIAL EDITION. CIVIL WAR IN GRYFFINDOR. 1^st YEAR STUDENT BECOMES FIRST EVER IN HOGWARTS HISTORY TO DEFECT TO ANOTHER HOUSE,” she bellowed.

The hall fell silent, but only for a second before a rush of students charged towards the girl.

Limestone just took another sip of her fruit juice and returned to finishing her breakfast in peace at last.

*

By the time Limestone returned to her dorm with an extremely well-fed hellhound who now wanted to do nothing more than nap himself, an extra bed had already appeared in the corner of the room next to Susan’s. Limestone though was more interested in her own bed and asleep practically before she had even hit the mattress.

To Limestone’s relief she managed to sleep soundly for an hour and a half until she was awoken by a loud commotion and something heavy landing atop her.

“Guess who?” Lavender tittered from atop her.

“Was that entirely necessary?” Limestone groaned opening her eyes.

Lavender flicked her nose. “Yes. Tag your it,” she snickered before jumping off the bed.

Limestone rolled over and prepared to go back to sleep only for her mattress to start tilting.

“Buck, I hate werewolves,” she grumbled before rolling out of her bed onto the cold stone floor with a thump, something that was becoming a way to regular occurrence in her eyes.

This time though Limestone had managed to drag her quilt with her and refused to be defeated in her quest for sleep. That was until she heard Susan cry the single deadliest word in existence in Limestone’s eyes.

“BUNDLE!”

“Correction; I really hate werewolves,” Limestone grouched as she tried to ignore her mattress and dormmates falling atop her, another aspect of her new life that was seemingly occurring on all to regular basis.

*

It was shortly after eleven when Limestone found herself back in the Great Hall, only this time with her dormmates and properly dressed in school uniform. Even so, she still found herself the subject of stares, glances and hushed whispers of the occupants of the other tables. Although, for once, it wasn’t her they were actually talking about, rather the girl she was sat next to. Copies of the school newspaper still littered the tables clearly informing their classmates of Lavender’s defection from Gryffindor. Being an anthropomorphic pony in a world surrounded by hairless apes, Limestone had quickly learnt to deal with and ignore being the centre of attention. One thing she was still getting used to though was how complicated friendships could be and when she saw Hermione eventually come over to discuss the matter with them, well, even Limestone would have found it difficult to deny that she didn’t feel something upon seeing not only her friend’s tear-stained face but the hurt and harrowed look in her eyes.

“I thought for the first time in my life I actually had some friends,” she said distantly upon reaching the table across from Lavender.

“What do you mean? We are friends,” Susan quipped in response a little confused.

“Friends don’t abandon friends and leave them all alone,” Hermione stated slamming a copy of the Hogwarts Hawk down upon the table.

An awkward silence descended upon the hall.

“I’m sorry. I-I-I…” Lavender tried, staring glumly at the table.

“Don’t bother. I know exactly why you defected you traitorous scum. Because you wanted to be with your friends and I wasn’t good enough for you,” Hermione exploded angrily.

“Hey, now that’s uncalled for!” Susan barked back rising to her feet only to find Lavender tugging on her arm.

“Sit down, please,” Lavender pleaded. Once Susan had reluctantly done so Lavender turned her attention back to Hermione and forced herself to look the other girl in the eyes. “I wish things could have been different, I really do, but I need to do what is right for me. Can’t we still be friends?” she held out her hand for Hermione to shake.

Hermione lowered her eyes to the table. “I think Professor McGonagall was right. You lot are trouble and as such I feel it would best to stick to making friends in my own house in future. Good day.” And with that she turned and stormed out of the hall head held high despite the clear pain that was etched across her face.

The uneasy silence returned as the remaining five friends all looked at one another unsure what to do next.

“Okay, I am totally new to this friendship malarky but shouldn’t we go after her?” Limestone eventually suggested, a strange and peculiar new sensation having overtaken her stomach.

“Probably best to just let her cool off. I am sure Hermione will come around and see sense soon enough,” Leanne stated before swiftly returning to her mammoth plate of sausages and bacon upon noticing Susan eyeing it up out of the corner of her eye.

Limestone stared at the door to the Great Hall. Leanne was right. There was no way she could reason with Hermione right now. Annoyingly for her though, that also meant this queasy feeling in her stomach was unlikely to be leaving anytime soon. Letting out a deep sigh, Limestone opted to try and distract herself from the unsettling feeling that had overtaken her by watching Susan’s disastrous attempts to try and pilfer a piece of bacon or a sausage from Leanne’s plate having already finished her mountainous breakfast platter. It did little to help.

*

Despite Leanne’s reassurance, Hermione did not see sense for their remaining lessons of the day. She sat as faraway from them as possible in both History and Transfiguration, the latter of which was surprisingly taken by Headmaster Dumbledore due to Professor McGonagall not feeling well. Herbology was even worse. Hermione simply grabbed one of the variations of Asphodel they had yet to discover and moved as far away from Limestone, Scoti and Lavender as she possibly could before working silently on her own throughout the entire lesson. By the end of the lesson, the tension in the air could have been cut with a knife and Limestone was not surprised in the slightest when Professor Sprout asked them all to stay behind after class along with Susan and Leanne. The disharmony and animosity in their group was clear for anyone else to see and in stark contrast to the cohesion demonstrated on Monday.

“I guess you are all aware why I asked you to stay behind,” Professor Sprout said politely.

“Not really professor. I feel the level of work I completed was more than sufficient,” Hermione retorted feigning a look of surprise. She knew very well why Professor Sprout had intervened and asked them all to stay behind.

“Hermione, even after just two lessons I cannot fault either the amount of effort you put into your studies or the amount of work you complete. In fact, I would already class you as one of the most gifted students I have ever seen, especially considering your muggle heritage,” Professor Sprout explained. “The reason I asked you to stay behind is because I can clearly see something has happened between you and your friends…” Professor Sprout stopped in surprise as Hermione raised her hand. “Yes?” she said giving Hermione the go ahead to speak.

“Sorry to interrupt professor but I think you have been misinformed. I have no friends, nor do I need any friends. I am quite happy being on my own. Now, unless there is anything else you wish to discuss, I plan to spend the next several hours in the library reading up on Gamp’s law before dinner,” Hermione said curtly.

Professor Sprout placed her arms across her chest. “You cannot fool me that easily but I also cannot force you to talk either, even if I can see you are clearly hurting. Just be aware that you can almost always find me around the greenhouses if you ever feel like you need someone to talk to.”

“Thank you, professor, but I am sure I can rely on my own head of house if I ever have a concern that needs addressing,” Hermione replied with what was a clear jibe at her former friends and the Herbology professor.

Professor Sprout did not fall for the bait. “Understood. Just one final note before you go. Please be aware that a fair few of my classes will involve group work and no matter what is going on outside of this greenhouse, inside it I expect you to work together and cooperate with your classmates to successfully complete the tasks I set for you. To make it easier for you I shall assign Limestone as your dedicated study partner for this year and although unorthodox, I reserve the right at the end of the year to mark you down if I feel your teamwork and social skills have not improved. Do I make myself clear?”

Hermione stared at Professor Sprout mouth agape and looking like she wanted to argue with her professor but she managed to bite her tongue and reply, “Crystal clear Professor Sprout. In fact, we are also paired in Potions and still need to do some preparation I feel for that. We could continue that tonight I suppose.”

“Wait what?” Limestone interjected alarmed as Hermione gave her a merciless sideways glance that sent shivers down her spine.

“That sounds wonderful. Of you go now,” Professor Sprout exclaimed while directing a look at Leanne, Susan, Scoti and Lavender that clearly told them not to move. She wanted to gather as much information on the “Hermione” situation as possible.

Unfortunately for poor Limestone, this meant yet another gruelling two-hour study session with Hermione. In fact, this one was even worse as the other girl now clearly despised her for something she had played no part in and had little patience for any mistakes she made. Furthermore, any attempts at conversation were either ignored or quickly shot down. Leanne had definitely been right earlier but the questions now were; how long could Hermione hold a grudge? And, how could they help her calm down and see sense?

Limestone was still pondering these questions as she neared the Great Hall for dinner and saw a cluster of her fellow first years gathered around their noticeboard. It took only a second for her to realise just what they were all gawking at. There, pinned right in the middle of the board, was the photo of her in her pyjamas with a message underneath it:

We understand you must be extremely hungry first thing in the morning but please remember to get dressed before coming to breakfast otherwise you shall be photographed and shamed – Professor Sprout.

*

Dinner might have been extremely embarrassing for Limestone with her friends being only too happy to tease her over the picture despite having already had a giggle at her nightwear when they had first seen it, but at least it had provided a distraction from the troubles with Hermione. Afterwards, Limestone had been only too happy to sneak away from her friends with Teeth and have an early night to catch up on the sleep she had missed the night before. Unfortunately for her, her friends had other ideas and not long after she had drifted of to sleep, she found herself awakened from her slumber for the fourth time that day as Susan slammed a pillow into her face.

“Wakey wakey, Limey wimey. We took a wrong turn on our way back and found a cupboard full of pillows. Whose fortress do you want to be a part of? Mine and Scoti’s or Leanne and Laven…” Susan froze as something grabbed her leg and proceeded to throw her out of Limestone’s bed.

“Teeth’s,” Limestone groused reaching into a draw next to her bed where she kept a few dog treats. She threw Teeth one as Susan went barrelling into Scoti’s and her own fort.

“YES, WE WIN!” Leanne declared.

“No fair, outside interference!” Susan groaned from atop the pile of pillows that, until a moment ago, had made up the fort she and Scoti had built.

The only sign of the other girl was one solitary arm sticking out from amongst the pile. Limestone meanwhile had picked up her pillow and slammed it atop her head in a futile attempt to block out all the noise her friends were making and get back to sleep.

“Okay then. TICKLE ATTACK!” Leanne announced launching herself at her best friend.

A cacophony of uncontrollable laughter filled the air.

“Mercy, mercy!” Susan pleaded desperately.

“Do you admit defeat, surrender and swear your allegiance to the Lycanthropy Legion?” Leanne demanded rather than asked as she continued to relentlessly torture her best friend.

“Anything. Just please stop. I can’t take any more,” Susan wailed in between fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Leanne immediately ceased with her tickle torture. “Excellent, then come underling, we have a fortress to infiltrate and a princess to rescue from the monster hound of doom!”

“Eugh, what are they going on about… wait, monster hound of doom?” Limestone queried slowly peeking out from under her pillow.

The most horrific sight imaginable greeted her.

*

At the same time as one princess was supposedly being rescued, high up in a nearby tower another princess was sat up in her bed reading a book still awaiting her saviour. A single candle on her nightstand fought back the ever-growing darkness of the night and illuminated a single tear that graced her right cheek.

Comments

[Da Fennec]

looking forward to seeing how this develops very interesting twists and turns.

[SamuelK28]

11837675
Thank you for all your comments. In reality I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, there is no real planning more like, this is what I am doing today, what chaos can occur this time. This sounds good, lets go with it. I am though significantly trying to tone it down a bit from Scoti and make this more lighthearted, which is difficult considering Lycans number one playtime activity is wrestling and Limestone seems to have a knack for getting into chaos despite her best efforts. That is why I will be posting blocks of chapters at a time, so I can go back after a while, review a chapter and feel if it seems okay rather than just rush it out without thinking.

As for Harry, I would class this as a bit like the comic Marvels if you've ever read that. He and Ron will pop up here and there but they will only be background characters. I am glad you are okay with the differing view of McGonagall here. I am very much going with the stereotypical HP universe view on lycanthropy here despite the Ministry's cover ups.

Thanks once more for all your nice comments, next update will be May/June time or whenever I conjure up another 10 chapters, whatever comes first!

[Da Fennec]

11837876
You might be going with stereotypical HP universe view on lycanthropy but much like other houses beyond Gryfindor and a little of Slythrin we don't see much

[SamuelK28]

11840259
So pleased someone liked that.

[Frostgear]

Honestly, the interactions that have been happening seem pretty in line universe wise what with the hogwarts staff's views.