First Year, Cake, Music and Lessons
Monday September 6th 1971
To Mary`s relieve their first lesson was Herbology and they wouldn`t be needing to use their wands yet. Professor Sprout, a plump short witch with a good-natured and grounded character, had started the lesson with announcing to them that they wouldn`t start working with actual plants until at least five lessons in. Lily, who had entered the greenhouses already wearing her gloves, ready to tackle some plants, had sighed disappointed at this statement and put them back in her bookbag.
Herbology classes were being held in the greenhouses, which consisted of a couple of glass hothouses with workbenches in the middle of them. All sorts of plants were growing up the sides of the glass panes and standing in pots between and on top of the benches. It smelled like fertilizer and dirt inside, Mary didn`t mind that too much, what she didn`t like however was the humidity. Upon entering the greenhouses she had quickly pulled her hair back in a twist, afraid it would otherwise explode. Putting her hair back proved to be a lot more difficult without the helping hand of her mother or younger sister.
`In this class we won`t only be covering magical plants, but non-magical plants as well.` Professor Sprout said, looking around at the students.
A couple of Slytherins groaned at this. During classes, all the houses were mingled together, Mary had been surprised by this at first, but supposed it wouldn`t make any sense to separate the houses any further than they already were.
`You may not like that now.` Professor sprout continued, looking reprimanding at the disappointed Slytherins. `But I assure you that non-magical plants have just as much merit as magical plants. Just because an oleander, a rather common garden plant, isn`t as exiting as…, let`s say a Venomus Tentacula, it doesn`t mean it won`t kill you any less.`
A couple of students snickered at this and Mary giggled along. Lily was feverishly scribbling down notes on a piece of parchment. Mary wondered if she also should be taking notes, but when she glanced around she noticed Lily was the only one taking notes and Marlene was also leisurely leaning against one of the workbenches, blonde hair pulled back in a high ponytail.
`All I`m trying to say is that every plant has it`s own personality, magical or not, and we shouldn`t try to compare the two. Just like any of you students for that matter, all unique.` the portly Professor concluded contently.
Mary turned around annoyed as she heard Sirius whisper something into James` ear after which he burst out laughing. Lily shot the boys a deadly glare, almost scarily alike to Professor McGonagall and Mary had to suppress a giggle herself.
`Potter, Black, can we keep it quiet?` Professor Sprout said, evidently impatient to continue her lesson.
The two boys fell silent, but the corners of their mouths kept twitching. Mary was sure that before the hour was over they would disrupt the lesson again, she didn`t mind that much, they were a nice sort of entertainment. Remus and Peter were standing next to the two gangly darkhaired boys, Peter was looking a bit nervous, but he always looked nervous Mary supposed. However, Remus looked like he was going to be ill, his skin had a greyish tinge to it and as she looked back at him she though he might just topple over. She wondered what was wrong with him.
`For every witch or wizard it is important to at least have a baselevel knowledge of plants. Not only for a personal level, but also for say, future careers. Herbology is absolutely essential for any future healers among you, or maybe some of you may want to go into the maintaining of ecosystems.` Professor Sprout went on.
Mary tried to keep her attention directed at her, but it was hard staying focussed in the sweltering greenhouse.
`It is necessary to know the different between certain plants, or otherwise you might just put yourself into a very deep sleep, while trying to cure your constipation.`
At this James and Sirius once again burst out into fits of hysteria. Marlene let out an almost inaudible chuckle, but Lily kept on jotting down every word the professor was saying.
`Black, Potter, final warning.` Professor addressed the two boys, brow furrowed.
Sirius and James nodded solemnly, but Mary could hear them breathing heavily behind her back and after a couple minutes of hearing Professor Sprout go on about various instances of wrongful identifications of various fungi, they apparently couldn`t hold it in any longer and started cackling again.
`Ten points from Gryffindor.` Professor Sprout spat.
The two boys looked around guiltily, but continued snickering in silence. Mary sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, she was sure the boys in their year would only get worse as time would pass. Marlene sought her eyes and they exchanged a meaningful glance.
Across the room, Mary saw Severus, Lily`s friend, standing in the corner, grinning unpleasantly, evidently very pleased with the loss of house points on account of Sirius and James. Mary rolled her eyes, how could they all be so incredibly childish.
If Herbology had been a breeze, Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall had been everything but. The stern witch had sat waiting in her classroom behind her desk, every fold of her robe impeccably in place. Mary, Lily and Marlene had almost been late thanks to a moving staircase, something that had Lily almost burst out in tears. Luckily, most of the other students seemed to have had the same problem and they weren`t even the last ones to enter the classroom.
Immediately upon sitting down Professor McGonagall had started lecturing them about midterms, which had made Mary feel nauseous. When the transfiguration teacher had been done with her spiel, she had started with the actual lesson. At first Mary had been relieved to learn that they wouldn`t be doing any practical work, until she found out that this meant they were supposed to do extra reading and a lot of homework so the professor would be able to gauge at their level of ability. At this Mary had wanted to disappear beneath her desk, she was sure her ability level was below zero, she didn`t even know what transfiguration entailed in the first place.
Marlene had looked white with shock. However, Lily, who was once again hastily scribbling in her notebook, had started beaming. With a little bit of luck Lily would help them, Mary thought. She still hadn`t dared to open her textbooks, but since she would be expected to start turning in homework, she supposed she couldn`t outrun it any longer.
`That was exciting, wasn`t it!` Lily said at the end of the day as all three of them sat on the rug in their dorm room.
`It`s what you call exciting.` Mary groaned, leaning her head back against her bed.
`I`m sure I`m going to fail transfiguration.` Marlene moaned, splaying out on the floor, hair fanning out around her head like a sun.
`Oh come on, it wasn`t that bad!` Lily chimed soothing, brow furrowed. `I`ll help you.`
`Is that music?` Marlene said suddenly, sitting back up again.
`What?` Mary asked confused.
`Don`t you hear that?` Marlene said, standing up and pressing her ear against the wall.
Lily and Mary sprang up as well and followed her example.
`Oh my god.` Mary said as she listened intently. Although faintly, she was able to hear a low musical vibration coming through the wall. `The boys are playing music! How come they are able to play music!` she said indignantly.
`They must have got a record player. Or maybe a radio.` Lily said, her green eyes big. `I think it`s The Beatles.`
`Do you get radio reception here at Hogwarts?` Mary asked. So much about this school was still a mystery to her.
`I`m not sure.` Marlene said.
`I think so, there is nothing about it in A History Of Magic.` Lily responded, bopping her head up and down to the tune.
`I could ask my parents for one for my birthday?` Marlene opted. `Then we could all listen to music here in the dorm.`
`Oh,` Mary cooed. `When is your birthday?`
`The tenth.` Marlene answered, grinning.
`Of this month?` Lily said excitedly, getting her ear away from the wall. `This week you mean, this Friday?`
Marlene nodded shyly.
`We should celebrate!` Mary announced excitedly. `Our first Hogwarts party!`
***
Friday September 10th 1971
`Haaappy birthday to you, happy birthday to youuuu. Happy biiirthday deaaaar Marlene. Happy biiirthday toooo youuuu!` the merry voices of Lily and Mary sounded, waking Marlene from her half sleeping state.
`How does it feel being twelve?` Mary said excitedly, jumping next to her on the bed.
`Let me open my eyes and think about it first.` Marlene groaned laughing and pulled the covers over her head, trying to block the light shining in through their dorm window.
`But we`ve got cake!` Mary replied impatiently.
`You`ve got what?` At this Marlene sat up in her fourposter bed and stared at the gigantic cake Lily was holding in her hands, supporting twelve blazing candles. `How- What-` she stammered.
`Cake!` Mary repeated excitedly. `Lily got it out of the kitchens.`
`You did?` Marlene looked surprised at Lily. She hadn`t held Lily for the kind of person to break rules and go into the kitchens which were strictly out of bounds.
`It was nothing really.` Lily said blushing. `Just a little levitations spell.`
`You what?` Marlene`s mouth fell open in shock.
During their first charms lesson their teacher, Professor Flitwick, had instantly made them practice a charm. The levitation charm. He had put a huge pile of pinecones in the middle of the room and instructed them make them come off the floor. Sirius Black had been able to make his whizz around and had eventually smashed a window, once again robbing them of precious house points. To her delight Marlene had been able to levitate hers slightly off her desk and Mary`s had jumped up and down a couple of times before toppling off the table. However, Lily had been able to levitate her pinecone at least three feet into the air. The past days she had been practicing the spell on all the objects in their room, much to the annoyance of Mary and Marlene. So it wasn`t that much of a surprise that Lily already had been able to pull off the spell on such a big scale.
`Well, blow them out will you!` Lily insisted, thrusting the cake in Marlene’s face.
`I will, I will,` Marlene giggled. `Calm down.` And she took a deep inhale of breath before blowing out the candles.
Lily and Mary clapped their hands in delight and clambered under the covers next to Marlene, the giant cake on their laps.
`Please don`t get my sheets dirty.` Marlene pleaded, looking from the chocolate on the cake to her impeccably white duvet.
`We won`t.` Mary mumbled, her mouth already filled with cake. `Truly.`
They grew comfortably silent for a while, eating most of the cake without cutting it, just using three forks. The sun shone in through the window and dappled on their bedroom floor, making patterns on the wood.
`How did you find out where the kitchens are anyway?` Marlene asked finally, wiping a crumb from the corner of her mouth. She knew that it wasn`t common knowledge to know where the kitchens were located and she was sure they weren`t really supposed to know.
`Dirk Creswell told us.` Lily said, sticking her fork in the cake.
Marlene`s eyes went wide. `That annoying git that has been bugging Mary all week?`
Mary nodded, ` That`s the one.` She leaned back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling of the canape over Marlene`s bed. `Honestly, I don`t know what his problem is. Did you know he almost tried to follow me up the stairs to our dorm room?`
At this Lily said up straighter. `But he can`t right?`
`What do you mean?` Mary asked, turning her head to look at Lily over the half-eaten cake.
`Well Alice told me that boys can`t go up to the girls dormitories. They physically can`t do it.` Lily responded. Alice was the other prefect of Gryffindor house beside Frank Longbottom.
`Oh yeah, Danny told me something about that, but he was rather vague about it.` Marlene chimed in. Apparently in his sixth year her brother and a couple of his friends had tried to surprise a couple of their housemates in the girls dormitories, at least that was what they had said, and they had been met with a rather unfortunate fate. Her parents had gotten a howler from McGonagall and everything. Danny hadn`t wanted to tell her what had actually happened.
`What on earth does that mean?` Mary sat up again. `Physically cannot?`
Lily shrugged her shoulders, `Alice didn`t want to tell me, she said it was way more fun if we found out ourselves.`
`Then I propose we should!` Mary said.
Marlene laughed, `Yeah right and how are we going to do that?`
They went silent, all three sunken in thought, Marlene biting on the end of her fork, already feeling rather sick from the amount of cake this early in the morning.
`We could sent an anonymous note?` Lily opted. `We can slide it underneath his door. Telling him to come up to the dormitories at eight at night or something. We wouldn`t even need to sign it.`
`That`s brilliant!` Mary said, springing up, almost making the cake fall over. Marlene groaned and was quickly able to support the side of the cake with her hand, covering it in chocolate.
`But when are we going to slide it underneath his door without him noticing? And how do we know which dormitory is his?` Marlene asked, gingerly stepping out of her bed to go and wash her hand in the bathroom.
`Leave that to me!` Lily called after her. `All you two have to do is make sure you are in the right place at the right time to see it happen.`
Marlene walked back out of the bathroom, wiping her wet hands on her pyjama bottoms. `What if we get caught? We could get detention you know?`
`We won`t!` Lily answered, evidently very sure of herself. `There is no chance Creswell is going to tell on us when the thing he was pranked in was trying to sneak into the girls dormitories. I`m telling you.`
`Lily you`re brilliant!` Mary yelped excitedly. `And with a little luck he will leave me alone after this.`
There was a loud thump against the window and Marlene looked disturbed at it. On the other side of the glass plane a gigantic owl was flapping its wings, holding onto a basket with its claws. Mary let out a shrill shriek, but Lily ran to the window, ready to open it.
`That must be your birthday presents!` Lily chimed excitedly.
`But the post is delivered in the Great Hall, during breakfast.` Marlene said confused as the owl dropped the basket in the middle of the room and sat in the windowsill, cleaning its feathers.
`Well but we aren`t there right now, right?` Lily said. `Come on open them!`
Marlene blushed and sat down next to the basket on the carpet. On top there was a singing card, she could recognise the voices of both her parents as well as Danny`s, Mary stared at it with amazement. The top present was from Danny, a new polishing kit for her broom, which she thought was rather funny since she didn`t have a broom of her own here at Hogwarts. Her parent had sent her a box of chocolate frogs, a quill set with invisible ink and, to Marlene`s delight, a compact dark green radio.
`Test it out, test it out!` Mary said excitedly, eying the contraption.
`I will. Patience Macdonald.` Marlene said as she started to extend the antenna.
The window was still standing open and a pleasant wind blew through the room, ruffling the bedcurtains and blowing Marlene`s hair out of her face. First, there was a lot of static and rustling, sometimes a word in between, but after having tinkered with the radio for a while Marlene was able to produce a song.
`We`ve got music!` Mary said excitedly and started dancing around barefoot on the carpet.
Lily hoisted Marlene up by her arms and started spinning her around, singing along to Carole King`s Where you lead. `All you have to do is caaale my name and I`ll be thereee on the next traaain!`
`Yes I wiiil, yes I wiiil!` Mary sang at the top of her voice, hopping onto her bed and using her wand as a microphone.
This went on for a while and Marlene could feel her cheeks ache from laughing as she pranced around their dorm room, all three girls in utter ecstasy.
`Oi!` someone was calling from the bottom of their stairs and thumping against the banister.
Immediately the three girls went quiet, the music still blasting in the background.
`Some of us are trying to study!` the voice called again.
`At this hour?` Mary mouthed to Marlene and she shrugged her shoulders.
`Maybe we should turn up the music just to see what will happen if he comes up the stairs.` Lily whispered, her cheeks turning red from glee.
All three girls dissolved into giggles, but turned to radio down a considerable notch.
***
The morning cheer was followed by a less cheerful potions lesson. At least less cheerful students, the professor was overly cheerful as he read the class register, stopping at almost every name to say something about it. Potions was taught by Professor Slughorn, the same one who had denied Severus to take advanced potions lessons.
Lily had promised Severus they would work together in potions and she was standing next to him in the back of the classroom. With them stood one of his Slytherin friends, Garrick Mulciber, Lily was a little afraid of him. He had a brutish appearance and kept shooting her contemptuous glances as if she was vermin he needed to get away.
`A Potter and a Pettigrew, eh?` the potions master chimed, reading from his roll of parchment. `Well, well, along with Mr Black here this class is quite the pedigree, eh?`
Lily saw Mary nudge Marlene on the other side of the room and she suppressed an unwanted giggle. She looked next to her at Severus and Mulciber, they looked stonily out in front of themselves and Lily whished she was standing next to her two dormmates now.
`Let me see…Lupin! I knew your father, not one of mine, but a damn good dualist. Nasty business…` Professor Slughorn went on.
Remus was standing not to far away from them an Lily shot him a curious glance. From their short interaction on the train she had found out that his dad had been a wizard, but more than that she didn`t know. She wondered what kind of nasty business the potions master was referring to, she would have to ask someone.
They were ordered to pair up into groups of four and Severus shot her a quick look as to make sure Lily would team up with him. Mulciber also joined them at their cauldron, so they only needed a forth to make their group complete. Lily looked around, seeing if anyone in their near vicinity didn`t have any partners yet. Remus was standing alone, dawdling to the side, looking at James, Sirius and Peter who were in a group with a boy Lily didn`t know. She felt sorry for Remus and she didn`t understand why his dormmates had excluded him.
Without consulting Severus or Mulciber she briskly walked towards Remus and grabbed his wrist. `Remus! You can join us!` She pulled him along to their cauldron.
Severus glared at Remus as the two of them approached and Mulciber huffed, Lily wanted to smack them both around their ears. However, he decided that it wouldn`t be of any use and she started chattering away while laying out all the ingredients they would need, trying to distract the three boys. Severus` book was laying in the middle of their desks, already splayed open, the margins covered in his almost undecipherable scribble.
She picked a small glass jar from the table. `Here`re the desiccated snail-eye stems.` she shook the jar. `I think we need a quarter of an ounce…`
She wanted to say something else but Severus cut her off. `You can be fairly liberal with them, Lily, they don`t add much overall.` he drawled.
He sounded bored and Lily was annoyed with him for immediately taking the spotlight. So Lily decided to ignore his comment and weigh the snail-eye stems out anyway before tipping them into the bubbling liquid in the cauldron. They couldn`t all be potions prodigies. Mulciber was stirring while Severus spat instructions at him how and which way to move. Remus was dallying next to her, paying attention, but not really contributing.
`Here.` Lily gave Remus the potions book. `It`s your turn.`
The boy stayed quiet and stared at the page. At first Lily just thought he was taking a very long time reading the text, but as she saw his eyes skitter across the page she realised he wasn`t actually reading it. Finally, Remus shrugged and looked away from the book, Lily furrowed her brow.
`Oh hurry up.` Severus nipped annoyed. `It`s not as if it`s difficult.`
Lily thought this was rather harsh, it was their first potions lesson after all and it wasn`t as if she was thinking it was all that easy.
`Leave him alone, Sev,` she reprimanded him. `The book is covered in your notes, no wonder he can`t find his place. Here, Remus,` Lily grabbed her own book and flicked it open to the right place, thrusting it Remus` way. The boy just shrugged again.
`Why don`t you do it, if you`re so clever.` Remus spat at Severus. Lily swallowed, but Remus unquestionably had a point.
Lily looked anxiously at Severus, his lip curling into a mean smile as he said, `Oh, Merlin, you can read, can`t you? I mean even muggle schools teach that surely?`
There was a pang in Lily`s chest at this comment, what was wrong with muggle schools and why was Severus being this mean?
`Severus!` she gasped, utterly horrified.
Severus opened his mouth to say something, but the skinny boy with the shaven head threw himself over the table, fists raised, almost knocking over the cauldron. In a flash Mulciber grabbed Remus by his collar and after pulling him back roughly he punched him hard in his face. Lily gasped and out of shock she started crying, looking angerly at Severus through her burning tears. Why had he had to pick the fight with Remus? Couldn`t he just have left it alone?
The whole class was staring at their table as Slughorn manoeuvred his way through the room and boomed, `Stop!` Everybody froze. `Get up, both of you!`
Lily started crying harder at the shouting of the potions master and felt her breath hitch in her throat as the boys clambered back to their feet. Marlene and Mary stood on the other side of the room, looking big eyed at Lily, clutching onto eachother. Lily wanted to run their way and hide.
`Explain yourselves!` Professor Slughorn shouted and when there didn`t come a reply, `Very well. Detention for both of you, two weeks. Ten points from Gryffindor and ten from Slytherin.`
From the back of the room there came an indignant shout. `That`s not fair!` Lily looked to see James standing next to his desk, brow furrowed. `Should be twice as much from Slytherin, it was two against one!` He had a point there.
`From where I was standing it was Mr Lupin who started it. Still, you are quite right- Mulciber, five points for punching Remus. Violence doesn`t solve violence, you know, as I`ve told your eldest brother on multiple occasions.` Professor Slughorn reprimanded the sour faced boy. `Miss Evans,` he now addressed her. `Please take Mr Snape to the hospital wing. Lupin, you can clean up the mess you`ve made.`
Lily kept on silently crying, but took Severus by his arm as she pulled him along to the door of the classroom. Severus was clutching his nose, blood leaking through his fingers.
When they were well out of earshot from the dungeons, Lily`s shock turned into anger, `Why did you have to be so mean Sev?`
The boy glared at her, `Did you see what he did, Lily? He attacked me. I`m bleeding. That Lupin is dangerous.`
`Well, of course he shouldn’t have hit you.` Lily spat back annoyed as they stalked along the corridor. `But it was really horrid what you said to him about him not being able to read.`
Severus shrugged his shoulders. `I`m sure it`s true.`
Lily rolled her eyes and didn`t respond. Even if it was true, even if Remus didn`t know how to read, it didn`t give Severus the right to be a prat about it.
`I bet it wasn`t suicide at all.` Severus said. `I bet it was Lupin who did him in. He is mental enough for it.`
`What?` Lily looked confused at the bleeding boy walking next to her.
`Didn`t you hear?` Severus scorned, still clutching his nose. `Lupin`s father killed himself.` He laughed and stomped out in front of Lily, leaving her frozen, standing in the hallway.
///