The Rewarded and the Bedeviled
Her day began earlier than what she cared for. Before Ezra left for the feast, he reminded all the prefects to be prepared to aid first-years on the first day of classes. They would alternate shifts every other hour to help lost-looking students get to where they needed to be. At this point, Dumbledore should mass-produce maps and mail them along with all acceptance letters, that way Andromeda could get an extra hour of sleep. It’ll never happen; it would ruin the mystery for the students too soon. Still, she would’ve loved one her first year.
The sun had barely breached the horizon, but light still covered a wall of their room. Outside the water thrashed against the rocks and the trees swayed with the wind as the air grew colder. She wrapped herself in her robes and began getting ready, trying not to wake her roommates. Two girls she shared a room with, Ameilia Greystone and Clara Palmer, were muggle-born. If her father had known this, he would have thrown her out of school and into Beauxbatons; probably. There weren’t any noticeable differences between them, the only one being the status they were born into. Sometimes when she watches them study, she thinks they lack the full magical potential that purebloods have. Only sometimes though.
The great hall was practically empty except for a few other prefects and some students. While the food never seemed to run out during meals, Andromeda noticed that she got the better half with fewer hands picking at the food. Pancakes now weren’t as flat, the sausage wasn’t as small, and the orange juice was fresh. It was also quite peaceful. With no obnoxious laughing or yelling in the morning her day might go better than expected. There were no clocks in the hall, the only indicator of the time was the rush of students that began flooding the room. She watched as all the other prefects got up and left, so she followed.
On the bottom of her patrol sheet in black ink, it read ‘Location: transfiguration and charms’. She sighed, her first class is potions, which is halfway across the school in the basement. Surely Professor Slughorn would understand. He was the one who appointed her to her current position and predicament anyway. Andromeda had also attended several of his “Slug Clubs” in her years at Hogwarts, so he’d understand, she was practically his favorite student.
For many years Andromeda has played his favoritism game. She attended his parties, accepted his propositions, and even visited him after hours to ask questions about that day's lesson. Slughorn was also the head of house for Slytherin, solidifying her position on his favorites list even further. She wasn’t a fan of his, she didn’t even like him; but through his parties over the years, he’s made connections throughout the wizarding world. If Andromeda can stay in his sights long enough, he can play a part in her getting a first-rate career at St. Mungos after school.
Students start roaming the halls. Many of them knew where they were going, there were a few that just moved with the crowd. She stood on a raised part of the wall so lost students could see her badge and find her. A young girl holding a parchment with shaking hands walked up to Andromeda and was almost swept away by the stream of people. Her eyes darted around the hall, then at her paper, and then up at Andromeda when she finally spoke quietly, “Do you know where I can find- I’m sorry I don’t know how to say their name. Professor Looty.”
“Professor Loughty. She’s just down the hall, the last door on the left,” Andromeda said giving the girl a warm smile. “She’s usually late for class so don’t leave early thinking she forgot today’s the first day.”
The girl ran off after muttering a thank you. After that, only two other students asked for her help. One boy claimed he’d been running around the halls for ten minutes looking for McGonagall's room and another boy asked if she had seen a black cat anywhere. Unfortunately, she had not. Now that the halls were mostly clear, she took the opening to head to class.
She might’ve left sooner than she was meant to, but she made it on time with only a few minutes to spare. Many seats were taken, and the only ones left were toward the front. No one liked sitting up there, but maybe this would benefit her partnership with Slughorn even more. At one table sat a group she didn’t recognize, at the other, a group of her family's friends had gathered with one spot left. Without hesitation, she sat with the other pure bloods like it was an instinct or a survival tactic. She wasn’t ashamed because they would be more successful after all.
Slughorn was a rounder man, he was old and gray, but he moved around with ease. If it were her first time meeting him, Andromeda would’ve never guessed he was over 60. He had paranoid eyes as if someone was constantly watching him, but maybe that came with age. When he walked into the room, his voice boomed with the kind of authority professors need when dealing with irresponsible children with magic, “Alright class there’s no time to dally, let’s get right into it!”
The class sighed, all pulling out their textbooks. Slughorn sniffled, “I know I know, I’m so terrible! Now if you flip to page one, you’ll find the first chapter we’ll be covering. You’ll notice I tend to go by the book, so if you have any further questions feel free to visit after class.”
Between taking notes and becoming familiar with potion ingredients, the class went by rather quickly. Slughorn roughly went through the first chapter, skimming through the material, and promised to go more in-depth in the future. As today was the first day, he let everyone leave a couple of minutes earlier and thanked them for their attention.
***
As her day went on it started to drag. She had one last shift helping first-years to their classes before she headed to Herbology, her last class of the day. This time around no students asked any questions, she’s not convinced it’s because they know where they’re going, but because they’re too embarrassed to ask. It was a common theme among the first years. The strong urge to look like they belong and fit in with the students who have roamed the halls only a year longer than them. Hoping they can avoid looking like a newcomer or outsider.
Once the students disappeared, she made her way to Herbology. Professor Beery was an eccentric man who cared very little for his title as an herbology professor. While it was considered an honor to teach at Hogwarts, he treated it as a temporary placeholder until he was promised a better position elsewhere. Apparently, during his time here, Beery put on the only ever Christmas play performed at Hogwarts or any play for that matter. Some say his play took a turn when a magical dragon went rogue. His reputation amongst students and presumably some professors was Professor Barmy, other people simply just call him the blundering professor.
It was all those reasons why he was her favorite professor. He brought a type of joy to the curriculum that made it easier to understand. His theatrics are often used during his lessons too. When discussing the dangers of different herbs and harvesting techniques, Beery will act out what would happen if something were to go wrong. All things considered, she thought he was a great teacher.
In the greenhouse, everyone lined up at the plant tables filled with soil. Beery stood up from his chair in the corner of the room after looking at his watch and announced, “It looks like it’s time for class eh?”
Another aspect of his theatrics was his peculiar choice of outfits. While everyone was required to wear aprons, he wore long brown overalls with small unicolor patches sewn sporadically around. His glasses were two sizes too big for his head and contained multiple lenses on top of one another. On the edge of the golden frames were extra lenses attached by hinges so he could pull them down to inspect things more closely. This made him an even bigger laughingstock to the school, especially the Slytherins.
“Today, if you look in front of you, it may appear like nothing, in reality, there are multiple seeds. I want you to dig them up, identify them, and see what you all remember from last year. Now, impress me.” Beery clapped his hands twice and sat back down.
She ended the class with dirty hands and arms. There was a small spigot outside the greenhouse where all the students lined up to clean up. Out of the seven seeds she was able to identify six, the last seed was so small she couldn’t find it at all. At the end of the day, she would consider her first day of classes as a success.
***
After dinner, she left for Slughorn's office. She figured if she were going to play his game, she might as well start early. Andromeda started her day with the rising sun and was about to end it with its setting. The soft glow of dawn painted the corridors a soft orange. Many of the paintings she passed shielded their eyes from the remaining rays that snuck through the panes. As she got closer to the basement, the sun suddenly disappeared leaving her with the warmth of the candles. Slughorn’s door was already opened when she arrived, and his voice trailed out into the hall. When she entered the room, she was greeted by not only the presence of Slughorn but another student. A Hufflepuff boy.
“Miss Black, welcome!” Slughorn exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize someone else was here. I’ll just come back later.” Andromeda apologized.
She began awkwardly leaving when the professor said, “No please stay, it might be nice to have another opinion. You know what they say, three brains are better than one!”
Andromeda squints her eyes in confusion, “Opinion?”
“Andromeda Black,” Slughorn gestured to a chair where the other boy sat, “Edward Tonks. Mr. Tonks was just asking about the validity of Golpalott’s third law from today's lesson. What do you think”
Her mouth fell open, stuck trying to produce a response. She urged herself to speak, “Well, I think it’s complicated. The ingredient to make the antidote could be many things.”
“That is a good point,” Slughorn said while pouring a drink.
“But what if it’s not? What if you need to combine multiple ingredients to make it? Then you need to find the perfect combination,” Edward counters.
“If you find one ingredient that works for all poisons you don’t need the excess ingredients. What happens when you use too many random substances?” She argues back.
“There can never be too much. Anyway, the one ingredient won’t work for every poison, it may only work for a few.” Edward says, cooly.
Slughorn chuckled from where he sat, the ice hitting the side of his glass, “I usually don’t teach this till later in the year, but I’ll give you both a hint to carry with you tonight. You’re both right.”
The boy looked over at her and smiled. She hated it. Andromeda was top of her class in magical medicine and Edward Tonks was on the verge of besting her and he knew it. He had a smug look on his face that screamed see I am better than you. There was a reason she didn’t play quidditch, she’d be too competitive. Too competitive to win, but too competitive to lose. She felt like she needed to exceed Slughorn's expectations now.
“Professor, I came tonight to thank you for your recommendation to become a prefect. It’ll look really good on my resume once I graduate.”
“You excel in all areas of school Miss Black, it was only right,” Slughorn praised, “Although I’m sure you’ll have no issues getting a job after school.”
She was shocked by his boldness. If there was sarcasm twisted in his words she couldn’t tell, but there was some kind of negative connotation. Andromeda didn’t see anything to be ashamed of. It wasn’t her fault she was born into a high-profile family. She always knew she’d succeed, she had the resources, the education, and the privilege. Whether people want to believe her or not, she also has the talent and skills to get into the positions she wants even if she doesn’t have her status to back her.
“Edward,” Slughorn turned toward the boy observing a small hourglass on the side table, “What do your parents do?”
“Well, my dad is an accountant, and my mum is a schoolteacher, sir,” He looked at Andromeda who must have had a stunned look, “Yes go on get your laughs out now, I’m a muggle born.”
She scoffed, “You think so low of me already and we just met, I wasn’t going to laugh.”
“Then don’t look so shocked.” He responded.
“As much as I have enjoyed our little conversations, I do have to prepare for tomorrow's lessons, so I’ll have to ask you kids to leave.” Professor Slughorn stated, getting up from where he sat. The two followed suit, leaving the room without saying another word to the other. Andromeda could have sworn going up the staircase she had just come down a few minutes ago had gotten longer. She also could’ve sworn she caught Edward Tonks staring at her as they left.