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Author: cryslin Story: Switched Rating: Young Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 12 Words: 20,411
Disclaimer: All characters in this belong to J.K Rowling. Be nice, don't borrow characters without due credit.
The Trio would rue the day that Dumbledore assigned Professor Serverus Snape to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. When the announcement came during the Feast, three of the four houses nearly walked out of the Great Hall in protest that evening. "Why did Dumbledore assign that git to Defense Against the Dark Arts?" "Ron, calm down. I'm sure Dumbledore has a perfectly good reason why." Harry meanwhile banged his head against the table thinking of ways to avoid Snape or opt for a different Defense tutor. There was no way he was going to be taught by Snape and that was final. He looked up just as Hermione was referring to the new Potions Professor. Professor Jennings of Beaubaxtons. She was definitely easy on the eyes, and it looked as though she almost had Snape's approval. Almost. ~*~*~ Professor Jennings grabbed the boys' attention like Lockhart had done with the girls when he was teaching. Glazed over eyes and longing stares were the expressions the boys chose for the day when looking at her. The girls in the class became annoyed rather quickly with the situation at hand. "Good morning, class." The boys gave a clear greeting while the girls muttered theirs. "In case you were wondering, no I am not Veela. There is no Veela blood in my family. So gentlemen, please stop with the ogling if you don't mind. And ladies, I am sorry for the trouble." The boys snapped to attention after that and the girls stopped glaring. Ron blushed when Jennings mentioned not being a Veela while Harry shook his head slightly in amusement. He was one of the few boys that hadn't gazed longingly at the teacher. Hermione was thankful for that. Now she would only have to watch out for Ron instead of both boys. ~*~*~ As the month went on, class work became harder and the homework load almost unbearable. October was coming with the promise of a new and fruitful Quidditch season. The only problem was Snape's classes. They were difficult and especially exhausting whenever he decided for the class to duel. Harry was already tired from the practices and all the schoolwork he had to accommodate in his busy schedule. His days usually went well, that is, until he got to Defense class. His times in Defense classes, he felt, were going to be long and exhausting. Snape's presence did not make his day any better, which added to his weariness. This day's class was impromptu dueling and the usual suspects were picked to go first: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. "Professor, why put Potter up first? It's just too easy," Malfoy drawled. He wore his usual smirk of confidence as he looked to Harry. Harry became annoyed at his cocky attitude and curled his hands into fists to control his temper. He took a deep breath and slowly counted down from ten. He wasn't going to lose it here, not in front Snape. Anyway this was a duel; he'd have his chance with the little ferret. As long as he kept his temper. "Quiet," Snape sneered. "This is not a competition of words, Mr. Malfoy. Duel and be done with it." Both boys got on top of the platform and faced each other. The tension increased as they leveled their wands at each other. "Expelliarmus!" "Protego!" Their spells flew in chorus as each boy tried to disarm and block offending spells. Snape kept watch over the battle. The two battled for almost fifteen minutes. They abandoned elementary spells, quickly moving to more complex, potentially harmful spells which could pulverize bones among other nasty possibilities. Both boys were exhausted to the point where they wanted to drop to their knees. They simultaneously uttered incomprehensible spells. The two unknown incantations accelerated towards each other at an alarming speed and collided head on above the platform. When those present talked about it later, they would all swear it all happened in slow motion. The combined spell looked like a thick rope that somehow connected both wands, crept up both boys' arms and curled around their bodies. Each looked stunned and frightened. To break a spell in effect would be dangerous to both and could potentially land what was left of them into the hospital wing - in a teacup. The spell wound its way down and enveloped each in a spidery cocoon of light. Snape looked uncharacteristically alarmed and cast spell after spell to break the connection. The cocoon repelled each with a force which threw Snape against the wall after every attempt. The class backed up, with the exception of Ron and Hermione who returned Snape to his feet after each impact, and pressed themselves against the wall in fear. Not that Snape was grateful for the help; he shrugged them off each time they helped him up. As Snape pressed forward for each new attempt, Ron would mouth 'serves him right' when he faced Hermione. Hermione shook her head and scrutinized the cocoons. The light cocoons covered Harry and Malfoy for another fifteen minutes before Dumbledore rushed in to survey the situation. "Finite incantatum does not work, Headmaster. I have tried many other spells to undo this damage. If they continue within this incantation any longer, there will be dire consequences at hand," explained Professor Snape. "I know, Professor. This is a very grave situation indeed. May I make a suggestion?" Both Snape and Dumbledore talked a moment more before Dumbledore pointed his wand at the closest boy. "Relashio." Fiery sparks flew out of his wand and hit the cocoon with full force. The whole class held their breath Hermione took a tense breath, waiting and hoping the spell did not hurt the one inside. Slowly but surely the cocoon pealed away with each new set of sparks. Harry looked petrified, but his eyes blinked rapidly as he surveyed the room. Snape performed the same spell on Malfoy. After the cocoon dissipated from both boys, the older wizards enervated them before stepping back. The first to react was Harry. He was livid. He turned on Dumbledore before scowling at Malfoy. Malfoy came to and also started to look around. His eyes grew wide and he seemed positively frightened as he looked at Snape then to Dumbledore. "Well?" Snape drawled. He looked directly at Malfoy but was interrupted by Harry's loud laments. While Harry was yelling about the incompetence (since when did he yell about that?) of the school and its professors, Malfoy turned his gaze from Dumbledore to Harry. "Something's not right…" Malfoy started to say. "Obviously! You've just now noticed?! Are you blind or just plain idiotic?" Harry shouted to Malfoy. Malfoy winced as he was addressed in that manner. Hermione and Ron were astonished at Harry's cheek when Dumbledore held out his hands silencing them both. "When I call your name, turn to me please," Dumbledore stated. "Harry Potter." Malfoy turned to him while Harry fumed in place, not acknowledging anyone near him. Snape stared at Malfoy as though he'd gone mad. "Thank you. Now then, Draco Malfoy?" Harry turned to Dumbledore with evil in his eyes, waiting for an explanation. When Harry turned to Malfoy's name, Ron stared at him in shock with his mouth imitating a fish. Hermione and the rest of Gryffindor house looked to Harry with mouths slightly open. "Interesting. Malfoy's mind is now in Harry's body and vise versa. This certainly makes for a tricky situation," he said as his eyes twinkled. "You mean that my MIND is now in this wretched body?!?" Harry yelled, gesturing to his new body. "Calm down, Mr. Malfoy--" Dumbledore began. "Calm down?! I – My mind should be in its proper place, my own body!" While this chaos continued, Ron and Hermione cautiously made their way to Malfoy. He appeared disheartened, looking across the room to Dumbledore and Harry. They watched as Malfoy looked at his hands and body, unsure as to what to do next. He held his hands out for a moment before running one through his hair. He grimaced when he got a fist full of Sleek Easy Potion. When they got to him, Hermione placed her hand gently on his shoulder and looked at him. He looked to the floor and would not return her gaze. "Harry?" "Yeah?" "Are you all right?" He thought about it. Was he all right? He looked across at his body and saw how obviously the real Malfoy showed through even though he was now had Harry's messy hair and brilliant green eyes. Harry knew that his mind was now in Malfoy's body with the slicked back, practically white hair and cold gray eyes. He felt so ashamed, disgusted and very uncomfortable in this new body. When he acknowledged Hermione it was Malfoy's icy, childish voice instead of his slightly deeper, more mature voice. He would hate to talk now that this happened. He finally looked up at Hermione and Ron. Seeing their worried faces did not make him feel any better; in fact, it made him feel even worse. He gathered his Gryffindor (or was it Slytherin now that he was in Malfoy's body) courage and looked at the rest of his classmates. The Slytherins were completely shocked and debated between going to the body of Malfoy or to the mind of Malfoy. The Gryffindors were equally shocked but leaned towards Hermione for clarification. The other houses were split between shock and amusement. The amusing part, in Harry's opinion, was that Malfoy now had an excellent chance to experience first hand the unwanted attention of every fan girl that resided in Hogwarts and the scrutiny of the wizarding world for each move he made. He finally looked to his opponent to notice that the professors put a Silencing charm on Malfoy in Harry's body while they conferred with each other. Malfoy still ranted (silently) and waved his arms about. Malfoy's goons were extremely put out by the fact that their leader was in a new body. The professors finally looked to the two boys and called them into the Defense office. "I believe we have a solution. It will unfortunately take about a month to accomplish, but it can be resolved. In the meanwhile, you both are to resume your normal class schedules. Your teachers will be notified of this incident, so that they do not dismiss you from classes. As for housing, your minds were the deciding factor in where to put you originally, so I don't see why that should change now. Mr. Potter, even though you are now in Malfoy's body, you will still reside in Gryffindor house. The same goes for you Mr. Malfoy, which means that you will still reside in Slytherin house." My body in Slytherin and Malfoy's body in Gryffindor? Oh this will be lovely…~*~*~ After an extremely lengthy discussion of the spell that happened and how to react to the current situation, class was finally dismissed. Most everyone literally ran from the room when the bell rang. Left behind were the Gryffindor Trio and the Slytherin Trio. Both sets stared each other down before Harry's body spoke to Malfoy's. "This is not over, Potter! When I get my body back, you will pay for this," Harry said maliciously while pointing at him. Without another word, he turned on his heels and left the Gryffindors alone. Malfoy's body looked over his shoulder towards his friends before silently walking out of the room. "Harry, wait!" "What?" "This is not your fault. Don't let him get to you." "Hermione. I know you mean well but look at me. All of me. Do you see messy hair, green eyes or anything that resembles me? No, you don't. How am I to live with myself looking like this?" "It doesn't matter what body you're in, it's who you are without the façade that I see. You're doing well with this so far, even in Malfoy's body, you are dealing with this with more dignity and maturity than Malfoy is," she told him while giving him a small hug. "And think of it this way, mate, you could colour your hair and we can mess it up for you," Ron said with a smirk. "It would be wicked to see a smile on this face. Think of the damage we can do to his reputation." "Honestly, Ron! That's hardly a good suggestion," huffed Hermione. Ron had a point though. Harry grinned at the idea and made a mental note to talk to Dumbledore about charming his hair temporarily until things get back to normal. With the grin still on his face, he followed his friends to their next class.
Author's Note: I would like to thank some fantastic people who helped me on this. Thanks to Melissa and Bart for being patient pre-betas and helping me through the mess of punctuation and canon flow problems. I also would like to thank Tante for being a brilliant beta and hacking her way through the ramblings to find the heart of the story. Thanks guys you're the greatest! One last thing, yes the love of my life gets a thank you as well. He was the one that introduced me to the world of Harry Potter and influenced my creativeness. Thank you so much for being there for me!
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