Chapter 53: 2nd September 1991, Monday: Part 8

The next thirty minutes went by peacefully with George and Gemma eating their lunch privately at the end of the Slytherin table. George used his free time to think about his abnormally large eating habits. His dieting requirements would be overtaking the quantity of food offered to the individual students within the next few months, it was yet another problem to add to the to-do list. For now, George looked like a student with a very good appetite, but in the future, he may need to eat a portion of food unparalleled by any human even if they were a half-giant like Hagrid. He may resort to snacking on the ration packets in his enchanted sack if the professors took notice.

During that half-hour, the rest of the students had left their classes and arrived to eat alongside them. There seems to be no obligation for students to stay and eat during the dinner break as a lot of the older students simply grabbed some of the sandwiches from the middle of the table and left with them. Other students used their dinner time to study as they brought textbooks with them to read whilst eating at the table. Some others didn't seem to be interested in eating but instead spent their time in groups talking loudly to each other.

The first years appeared to behave exactly as one would expect from students who had only spent one day at Hogwarts, they sat down and ate their lunch whilst they excitedly talked about their morning lessons. George was discreetly watching the people around him but Gemma was being much more obvious in her observations, she barely spent any time eating because she was distracted watching everyone else like a hawk. She must have thought some Slytherin students would be bold enough to harass George during the dinner break. He personally believed that this would not occur considering the fact he was sitting at the end of the table in full view of the professors. They were far more likely to bully him in the corridors or in the Slytherin common room where they wouldn't be caught.

That being said, George could tell that there were plenty of unfriendly eyes watching him whilst he ate his tenth pork pie. He had the occasional glance towards his fellow Slytherin first-years, they weren't doing a good job of minding their own business. None of them had sat remotely close to George or Gemma as if they were carriers of the plague. With them only being eleven-year-olds, the students were unable to hide their emotions from George as they kept glaring at him whilst talking in hushed voices. He could hear murmuring about his violent outburst the prior night. Words such as 'he's probably crazy' or 'I think he's insane' were getting thrown around.

George scanned their faces only to find Theodore sitting at the opposite end of the first years with a meat shield of eight students separating them. Theodore was not talking to anyone and was taking great lengths to avoid looking even remotely in George's direction. His hands were also shaking as he slowly nibbled on a sandwich. George could very easily recognise the emotions Theodore was expressing as it was one he was personally very familiar with, the boy looked petrified. George recognised that he had been very aggressive yesterday, and Theodore's character was quite timid like Neville's, but this reaction seemed too much.

Theodore appeared to be treating him as if he was a monster, George knew of his monstrous side and didn't believe in coincidences. He was wondering if Theodore had seen something at the time that he'd frightened him, something only he saw and no one else. There was a possibility that in the excitement, George's eyes may have briefly turned red. This was unlikely as there had been no history of this ever happening before. Regardless, George could not think of any other reason that Theodore may harbour such strong fear towards him.

George would have to tread carefully around Theodore to work out exactly what he had seen. Then he could determine the best way of remedying their relationship. Worst case scenario and Theodore did see his eyes change, George might have to have a little talk with the boy. He couldn't allow rumours to start spreading so early into the year. For now, he knew too little and needed to prioritise other more important problems. One of these problems happened to be sitting on the Gryffindor table at the opposite end of the room.

The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table was separating Slytherin from Gryffindor which meant George could not see any Gryffindor students. However, he couldn't think of any reason why Hermione and Neville wouldn't be eating their dinner. George knew exactly what he wanted from Neville and Hermione, and right now their state of mind should still be in flux. He needed to use this opportunity to alter their opinions to best suit his needs before yesterday's mess began to fester.

George reached down into his pants and pulled out a large book with several pieces of scrap paper sticking out of it. The cover stated the title of the book was 'Advanced Transfigurations for the Curious Practitioner'.

Gemma saw the large book appear out of thin air and ask him, "where did that come from?"

George dusted off the book as he answered, "from my pockets, where else could it have come from?"

Gemma appeared perplexed as she looked at the size of the book and back at George, "that huge book came out of your pocket?"

George answered her question with another question, "I have deep pockets. Is that so weird?"

Gemma's curiosity about the origin of the book seemed to have waned as she shrugged her shoulders and returned to watching the other Slytherin students. Having hidden the origins of the book, George went back to examining one of the most valued members of his collection. This book had been the most useful piece of literature George had owned for helping him comprehend his affinity for fire. Therefore, he naturally made some notes which were kept inside the book. The notes were his thoughts contemplating his comprehension of conjuration.

There was still a large portion of this book George did not understand but he did have it all memorised inside his head, he didn't necessarily need to have the physical copy anymore. He opened the book and quickly looked through all the notes he had left inside it. He then pulled some of the notes out and placed them back inside the sack. With his secrets related to his other form redacted, the book had become a guide for comprehending the conjuring of a flame with his own experiences as a reference. George turned back to the first page and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and quill from his sack. He wrote the following;

Dear Miss Hermione Granger,

I am writing this note instead of telling you directly because I wanted to respect your privacy. I felt it necessary to properly apologise for my behaviour yesterday, both for my insinuations at Hogsmeade station and my plea for forgiveness on the boats to Hogwarts. I was not considering your feelings when I made fun at your expense and my apology could be best described as blackmail.

Although I would like to think the stress had impeded my judgement, my actions were still inexcusable. This book contains all of my notes on conjuration and I hope that it will be of some help to you. Although I have adhered to my end of the bargain, I expect nothing in return. The agreement we made is void and you should feel no obligation to do anything in exchange.

Good luck in Gryffindor and I hope you can find better friends than me.

Yours sincerely;

George Linwood

George put extra effort into ensuring his handwriting was incredibly neat as if he was writing a love letter. Hermione was an incredibly vain and egotistical person at this point in time. Therefore, she would probably appreciate the extra effort, also known as grovelling, on George's behalf. There was no need for him to become friends with Hermione until after October, this letter should only serve as damage control and nothing else. Neville will simply have to take up the slack for the next two months, completing the job originally intended for Hermione.

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George finished the letter and left it on the first page of the book, he then stood up from his seat and began to walk towards the opposite end of the room. That was until he was held by someone grabbing his robes. George turned around and realised that Gemma was holding him back, she looked very suspicious of him leaving all of a sudden.

She asked him, "and where do you think you're going?"

George gave her a mischievous smile, "you sound like my mother?"

Gemma's face wrinkled up in disgust as she pulled on his robes like a dog on a leash, "I'm being serious, George. You need to lie low for a few days."

George 'tried' pulling back on his robe to act as a feeble attempt to escape, "I'm only going to the Gryffindor table, what's the problem?"

Gemma rolled her eyes at George, "this is exactly what I'm talking about. Slytherins don't go to the Gryffindor table, they're meant to be archenemies or something like that. You're just going to be giving 'them' an excuse."

Gemma kept jolting her head to the right whilst darting her eyes towards the end of the Slytherin table, George obviously knew exactly what she was implying. She didn't have to worry, the Slytherin students already had enough reasons to hate him, what's the harm in adding a little more? It was like adding a match stick to a blazing inferno at this point.

George acted annoyed as he crossed his arms, "but I need to apologise to someone who's in Gryffindor."

Gemma's hand relaxed slightly from George's robe but not enough to set him free.

She asked, "and who would that be?"

George looked shy as he avoided answering the question, "you wouldn't know her, she's a first-year like me."

"She?", Gemma's face formed a crooked smile.

George acted nervously whilst he scratched the back of his hand, "she's called Hermione. I may have said some bad things to her before coming to Hogwarts. I felt like I should say sorry now before it's too late and she never talks to me again."

George was abruptly released from Gemma's grip, causing him to stumble. He was surprised by her one-hundred-and-eighty-degree change, his excuse had been far more effective than he'd initially expected. Did Gemma know who Hermione was? Why would she care about a girl in Gryffindor?

Gemma looked incredibly smug as she gave her consent, "sure, go ahead. Don't let me stop you."

"Really, you're going to let me go? Even after everything you said about being bullied?", George asked suspiciously.

Gemma stood up next to George and started to adjust his robes and swiftly fixed his tie. She finished by dusting off his shoulders and combing his hair to one side with her fingers.

She then looked George in the eye, and gave him a wink, "go get 'em, tiger."

Gemma then sat back down and began pretending George didn't exist, she picked up a sandwich and ate it whilst looking in the opposite direction. What on Earth was going through that girl's head? Perhaps she did have Multiple Personality Disorder, it was near impossible to predict what she'd do next. George decided to continue walking toward the Gryffindor table, playing around with Gemma was quickly becoming a chore. He didn't care what fantasies she had inside of her head, he had no intention of micromanaging every little impression he had on others.

On reflection, George had been initially concerned that Gemma was going to prevent him from leaving the table, but saying it was for a girl seemed to win her over. There was a possibility her actions were related to primitive human courting rituals, Dominic and Amanda had a habit of performing those acts of affection from time to time. He wasn't particularly familiar with these concepts, but he was willing to incorporate them into his persona if that help the mission. George would have to remember to use this method again if Gemma tried to stop him from doing anything in the future.

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