Classes and Conspiracies
Chapter Seven: Classes and Conspiracies
Thoughts || “Dialogue” || Letters
“I really hope Potions isn’t as big of a bore as Defence was. I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t a classroom stinking of garlic of all things and a stuttering Professor,” Pansy complained, rolling her eyes. She sat sideways in the armchair she'd commandeered in the lounge area of The Room.
The first year Slytherins had finished their second Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the week, preceded by Charms and followed by a Study Hall period they decided to spend in their currently unnamed room. The lunch period was next after the study hall hour, and the rest of their afternoon was another Study Hall period. Next week would be their first flying lesson, shared with the Gryffindors.
“I dunno Pans, his story sounds real,” replied Blaise, throwing himself on the three-seater sofa.
Draco sat on the other end of the same three-seater sofa and commented, “I think he might be forcing his stutter. There were a couple times when he didn’t have one while he was reading those passages, and there were other times when he asked questions where it was every word, sometimes twice in one word.”
Hermione let out a startled yelp when the two boys on the sofa both reached up to grab her arms and pull her down to sit between them, with both of their arms attempting to hang over the back. Theo claimed half the love-seat for himself but moved aside to make room for Daphne and Tracey.
“I wonder if anybody’s taken the turban off of him yet,” Vince whispered conspiratorially, “All I’m saying is, yeah?, is that he seems a bit too preoccupied about that turban of his than he is teaching us properly.”
“That was a four syllable word Vince, I’m proud of you!” Theo exclaimed, causing all other conversations to halt. Vince shot him a glowering look which Theo ignored to continue talking, “But I thought we already talked about classes and agreed that we’ll need to study Defence and History on our own. Why don't we talk about the classes we’ve had that we enjoyed, like Astronomy. Or Herbology. Or even bloody Transfiguration,”
“Nope, no way, not Transfiguration. The topic might be interesting, but McGonagall has it out for us. Hermione made way more progress than that Perks girl, but she only got a nod while Perks earned points and was made an example of,” Tracey piped up. Draco sighed.
“I don’t like that either, but Father said that all the Heads tends to favour their own house above the others and Slytherin least of all. He also told me that he’s always thought that the Head of Slytherin has the worst job of all Heads because they have to be stricter with the other three houses and a hell of a lot more lenient with his own house, just to balance it out. We’ll earn all the points we need in order to catch up when we’re in Potions, don’t worry,” he reassured, “To be fair, we’ll probably get more points overall in Astronomy too. Professor Sinistra was with Professor Snape during his ‘Welcome to Slytherin’ speech.”
“But what’ll it cost us for Professor Snape’s leniency?” Hermione asked, reminding everybody that she a different upbringing than the rest of them, one not imbued with hidden politics.
“We’ll be hated,” Pansy muttered under her breath. “Merlin, we already are hated and that’s just because of our family names.”
“Everyone who isn’t on the inside. They don’t understand, and therefore don’t agree,” Theo added bitterly. “If Hermione hadn’t met Draco and I first, she would’ve probably been one of them too. On the outside, not understanding.”
“That’s what our house rules are for, though. Protect our own? Don’t get caught? The entire school despises our house and the only thing we can do is make sure none of us are caught in the crossfire,” Draco insisted. Daphne sighed.
“With all of this being said, Hermione’s going to end up being the darling Slytherin in our year. It won’t be me. Far too many obvious reasons. But Hermione?” she said and turned to face the girl in question. Hermione felt her face heat up.
“The poor little muggle-born girl who doesn’t know what she got herself into by befriending us? She’s the one all the other Professors will say doesn’t belong in our house because she’s too sweet, or too smart, or even too naïve. Our parents will probably say that that’s a good thing. Being underestimated by those in power.” Daphne’s tone had been quite mocking at the beginning before it settled back into her normal tone of voice.
“They’ll try to tear us apart, or try and get us to tear ourselves apart but we can't let that happen. We have to stand by each other, and include Longbottom, we’ve seen how his house mates treat him, to protect ourselves from outsiders. If we end up having to remove the people in power then that’s what we’ll have to do,” Millicent said softly from where she stood next to Pansy’s armchair.
“Looks like we found our agenda.” Greg muttered, barking out a laugh. Blaise snorted from the irony which drew out nervous laughs from the rest.
After the conversation turned to less serious topics, Hermione pulled her two Potions textbooks from the depths of her overfilled book bag. The assigned textbook listed in the initial Hogwarts acceptance letter, Magical Draughts and Potions written by Arsenius Jigger, was the first book Hermione pulled out. The other, The Book of Potions written by The Half-Blood Prince, had been personally recommended to Hermione by both Lucius Malfoy and the ex-Slytherin shopkeeper and soon followed the first.
“Hermione, what are you doing?” Tracey asked curiously.
“She’s being a swot,” Blaise retorted, poking Hermione’s side in a teasing manner. Neither realized that the teasing would become their usual way of communication.
“We’ll need to break her out of that. Remember how Theo used to be?” Draco commented absentmindedly, shifting and turning towards her while looking over her shoulder to read the Potions textbooks with her.
“I’m studying the two Potions texts I bought to prepare a bit more for class tomorrow.” Hermione replied, swatting Blaise’s hand away and sticking her tongue out at him.
“Oh that’s real mature Hermione,” he grinned, looking over her books as well. The soft rustling of books being pulled from bags broke the brief silence that had fallen over the group.
The Great Hall’s contagious energy affected all who ate breakfast on that first Friday morning at Hogwarts - even the Slytherin’s weren't immune. Hermione jumped at the arrival of the post-owls, though not as bad as she had the previous day, when they flew through the rafters in a flurry of hoots and feathers.
Draco's Eagle-Owl had twice thus far delivered letters from his parents, alongside the Daily Prophet owl Draco paid each morning, and evening, but today marked the start of a new tradition for the two of them - his owl had a quite substantially sized box tied to his legs. Hermione looked across the table and made brief eye contact with Draco.
“So uhm, Hermes has a parcel?” Hermione asked casually, nodding her head towards the incoming owl.
“Oh, it’s Friday isn't it. Mother told me before I boarded the train that she would be sending us a box of cakes and sweets every Friday to enjoy at the weekend.” Draco explained, starting to clear off a space between the two of them. Hermione, Blaise, and Theo also helped and within minutes the two owls landed on the recently cleared off space. Draco untied the package from Hermes, while Hermione offered him some sausage as gratitude. Hermes took off after giving Draco a nip on the ear.
Draco pulled the card from his package and started to read it aloud, “Yes I was right. It's from Mother. ‘My dearest Dragon and darling Hermione, -”
Theo snorted in amusement, spewing the tea he just sipped all over Draco and the letter. Draco shot Theo a dirty look and wiped his face with a handkerchief. Hermione, on the other hand, had turned red at the courtesies offered by Narcissa Malfoy.
“Sorry,” Theo apologized, grinning and not sounding apologetic at all. Draco rolled his eyes in fond annoyance.
“Just let me read, damn it.” He muttered, continuing to read the now-damp letter from his mother. “ ‘I don’t believe we ever discussed this, but I will be sending you both sweets and cakes every Friday for you and your friends to enjoy on the weekend. There is more than enough for all of your house-mates in your year, so I don’t want any letters complaining how there wasn’t enough. I know you know how to share with others.’ This letter is just a formality as she knew I’d be reading it out loud because it’s also addressed to you, Hermione, I’ll open the packages after I finish reading this bit addressed to you.
“‘Now Hermione. I don’t mean to sound overbearing, but I do hope that Draco has been behaving, and not picking fights with Theodore and/or Blaise.’” Draco scoffed, “We haven’t picked any fights with each other! ‘I would appreciate it if you could tell me if they have.’”
Draco looked Hermione straight in the eye and said, “Hermione you will not be sending Mother letters about my behaviour. Ever. ‘But Draco’s Father, Lord Lucius of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Malfoy, and I have both discussed this, and we are well aware that you won’t have access to Magical News outside Hogwarts, so we went ahead and bought you a years worth of subscriptions to the Daily and Evening Prophets. If you wish to keep accepting the newspaper after this year, I’m sure Lucius would be happy to sort it out for you. I will also be happy to show you other magazines and newspapers you might be interested in if you happen to visit us during Yuletide. Meilleurs vœux, Dragon. Wishing you both the best first week as Hogwarts’ newest Slytherins, Lady Narcissa of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Malfoy and the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.’
“She knows she can just sign with Mother, right?” Draco asked his friends rhetorically.
“Draco, all of our parents sign with their titles. Even when they send us letters, if they send us letters.” Theo replied, drinking the freshly made tea in his cup. Draco nodded absentmindedly whilst opening the package left by Hermes. When Draco opened the box, he pulled out two smaller boxes with their first letter initial largely embellished on the top, marking each box to the corresponding recipients. Hermione watched as he took out a small cake for himself, and handed the box to Blaise. Blaise took one as well and held the box out for Theo. The boys all passed Draco’s box amongst themselves before it made its way back to Draco, who had now opened Hermione’s box for her. Hermione’s eyes had unfocused for a moment before she saw Draco’s smug grin and her open box of cakes.
“They didn’t have to do that for me. They didn’t have to do any of this for me. I’m just… me,” Hermione whispered, her expression one of shock for a split second before she snapped out of it to mockingly glare at Draco. “But also, don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Dragon, or I might just have to tell her about the argument you lot got into with the Gryffindors on Sunday.”
She accepted the box from Draco and grabbed a small cake with strawberries on the top, popping the entire thing in her mouth with a grin. Hermione passed her box to Tracey, who sat next to her. Hermione’s box made its way through the first year girls before coming back to her with a few cakes still in them.
Draco gaped at her for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and returned her mocking glare with one of his own, “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” she said smirking, after she finished eating the cake. “Thanks for opening the box for me.”
“Alright, children, we are in public, I hope you remember. Draco, dear, I know for a fact that your Mother taught you better. Anyways, we’d all better get going to Herbology. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave, and the sooner we’re able to get tidied up before Transfiguration.” Pansy said, draining the last of her morning tea and standing up. She snatched herself another cake from Draco’s box before she walked off towards the double doors of the Great Hall. The others followed her lead and the group of first-years walked off to Herbology. Hermione quickly stashed her own box into her shoulder bag and followed the group out of the Great Hall.
“Like I said on the train, Father said he had a good feeling about your future. If anything, he’s just investing in it early to guarantee your success. You might be normal, swotty Hermione right now, but before we graduate I bet you’ll be so integrated into our world that you’ll hardly remember anything but it,” Draco replied, throwing an arm over Hermione’s shoulders and grinning at her. “And you’re welcome. For opening your cakes box.”
“Hurry up, darling Dragon.” Theo taunted, walking backwards to make faces at Draco. Hermione looked at Draco and giggled when she saw the expression on his face.
The group of Slytherins nearly ran into Neville on the walk to the greenhouses.
A chorus of greetings were all shouted, cheered, or exclaimed when the Court reunited with its only Gryffindor member.
“Oh, hey guys. I’m alright. Did you know that we’re going to learn about Devil’s Snare today? I stayed behind after the lesson on Wednesday and asked Professor Sprout if I needed to read up on anything, but I’d already read up on Devil’s Snare because I want to grow some in my own greenhouse when I’m older and strong enough to take care of it. They need really specific surroundings to really flourish because they hate sunlight you see, so you’d need to have a greenhouse completely shaded and specifically only for Devil’s Snare so it grows to its full capacity, but it’s a great plant to have if you want to set impenetrable boundaries around something. There’s probably a way to use it for healing too, but nobody’s discovered it, but it has that vibe, y’know? It gives off a vibe that it can be used in healing potions or balms, or at least to me it does. That might be because it’s related to Flitterbloom, but I’m gonna ask Professor Sprout about it,” Neville’s mouth ran a mile a minute without stopping before he finally realized he needed to breathe and gasped for air. The Slytherin’s looked at one another, concerned, before turning back to Neville.
“Neville, what happened? Are the other Gryffindors still talking shit about us and calling us Death Eaters?” Blaise bit the metaphorical bullet and asked the question nobody else wanted to.
“Only in the dorms… and the classes you aren’t in… and meals… that’s why they’ve been laughing at you. Ronald Weasley’s trying to spread rumours about you but they don’t seem to be sticking with anyone but the other first-year boys in our dorm,” Neville confessed, seeming to shrink into himself.
“Pansy? Is this true?” Theo asked, turning to the raven-haired girl.
“I haven’t heard anything, so it has to just be an inside joke or something within their dormitory. Which reminds me, I have to start collecting my own group of informants from the other two houses who can share rumours and other information with me.” There was a sadistic glint in her eyes that made the others a bit wary. “I think I might start with the Patil twins. Parvati is in Gryffindor and Padma is in Ravenclaw. I know some things about them that would get them into serious trouble if their parents were to find out.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Blaise muttered, making Pansy smirk.
“Oh! Neville, do you want a cake?” Hermione asked, pulling her box from within her bookbag. The boy in question shrugged, but reluctantly accepted the cake after it became obvious that Hermione wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Thanks,” he mumbled. Hermione’s face lit up with a grin and they all continued the walk to the greenhouses.
“ - the sun. Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Snare, it’s deadly fun but will sulk in the sun. Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Sna-”
“Theodore Nott Jr! Would you stop that?! Just because it rhyme’s doesn’t mean it needs to be repeated all the bloody time!” Daphne finally yelled, throwing her hands up in the air out of sheer exasperation. Blaise, Vince and Greg started sniggering while Draco just looked at Theo sympathetically. They all knew what it felt like to be singled out and yelled at by her.
The Herbology lesson about Devil’s Snare had interested them all, up until they were told to read about it in the text and write an essay comparing the plant to another, completely harmless plant, called Flitterbloom. If the essay had not been completed by the end of the lesson, they had to be finished for homework and turned in during Monday’s continuation lesson.
Professor Sprout had also taught the class a rhyme towards the end that would help them should they ever encounter wild Devil’s Snare and Theo, in all of his “I-have-to-know-every-obscure-fact-about-everything”-ness, had been repeating the same rhyme during the ten minutes it took to walk from the greenhouses to the Entrance Hall and had finally succeeded in driving everybody up the walls.
“Hey, guys, listen. I’m sorry for being a nervous wreck at the beginning of class, I guess I was just really worried about telling you what Weasley’s been saying. I’m gonna head to my Common Room to tidy up now, but I’ll see you at Double Potions later, yeah?” Neville muttered when the group had reached the Grand Staircase in the Entrance Hall.
“Yes, of course, Neville,” Draco replied on behalf of the Slytherins, “We’ll see if we can save you a seat near any of us.”
“Great, thanks mate. See you in a bit,” Neville said and began the ascent to the Gryffindor Common Room.
The Slytherin first-years walked down the stairs towards the dungeons. After they arrived at the first landing on the staircase, Theo held back the tapestry to expose the supposedly blank wall behind. Draco looked around to make sure there weren’t any outsiders near them and pushed on the stone brick that opened the hidden passageway.
The illusion of the wall melted away to reveal the passageway that connects the corridor with the Slytherin Common Room to the staircase leading to Entrance Hall. The 10 first-years quickly made their way through the doorway and Theo let the tapestry fall back down. Torches illuminated the entire passage way down to the Slytherin Common Room, basking them all in a warm, golden light for the duration of the journey.
When the girls finished tidying up, almost an hour later, they all walked down the corridor from their dormitories to the Common Room, where the boys were waiting for them.
“Come on, hurry up! We have to get to Transfiguration! And our breaks almost over!” Theo said impatiently from the landing next to the entrance to the Common Room.
“Mate, calm down. We know the passageway to at least get to the ground floor,” Draco piped up before turning to the girls, “but we should leave now.”
After a relatively easy theory-based Transfiguration lesson meant to prepare them for Monday’s practical, the tight-knit group of Slytherins made their way through the crowded corridors to get to the Great Hall for lunch.
“We get two hours for lunch. If we eat quickly we could make it back to the Common Room to switch out our books and freshen ourselves up before Double Potions. We have to be better than Gryffindor in that class at the very least.” Pansy muttered to the other girls. Hermione and the rest all nodded their understanding and each picked something small and relatively easy to eat.
Hermione chose two portions of the cheese and cucumber sandwiches with some crisps on the side, which Daphne and Tracey had chosen as well. Millicent had grabbed herself a small serving of toad in a hole, which Hermione had eaten the other day and thought was delicious, and Pansy had a small steak and kidney pie. The boys, as expected, had loaded their plates up with a few bits of everything and were already making a dent in their food. In record time the first year Slytherin girls had eaten their somewhat small lunches and stood up from the table in unison.
“Woah, hey, where are you going? There’s still loads of time to eat,” Blaise said, as the only boy without his mouth full of food.
“We just want to freshen up before Potions,” Daphne explained, pulling her bag strap onto her shoulder.
“Wait for us in the Rooms if you finish before we do?” Pansy asked, looking Draco directly in the eye with her intense stare, who swallowed immediately in order to answer.
“Yes, of course,” his voice sounded choked but he nodded and shot Pansy a small smile. Hermione’s stomach shifted uncomfortably for a moment, which she brushed off quickly.
The first-year girls hurried out of their Common Room and down the corridor.
“Wait!” Pansy exclaimed, arms outstretched, skidding to a halt that had Millicent nearly crashing into her.
“What is it, Pans?” Daphne asked, a little startled at how suddenly they stopped moving.
“Why are we running when there’s literally a passageway that leads right outside Professor Snape’s office? A passageway that’s quicker than running down this corridor, up the stairs, and down the corridor above us? A passageway that's literally right next to us,” Pansy asked incredulously, motioning to a tapestry on the wall behind her when she turned to face the other girls.
“Well, thank Merlin you remembered that piece of information! We’ll have to stop by our Room to pick up the boys though. Merlin knows that they’d probably forget.” Daphne replied, relieved that they were avoiding excessive physical exertion.
A few minutes later and the Slytherin first-year girls emerged outside their Head of House’s office.
“I don’t have any cobwebs on me, do I?” Daphne asked the girls, running her hands through her hair quickly.
“Wait, Daph. Turn?” Tracey asked, looking over her friend. Daphne obliged and turned around a few times. “No, you’re fine.”
“Okay. Let’s go get our boys.” Daphne said, smiling brightly at her friends for a split second before settling with an emotionless expression. Pansy had an easy, slightly cocky, smirk, while the others settled for something in between. Hermione, not knowing what to do, copied Daphne’s expression. The girls had turned to find the shorter passageway to go up to the Courts Room, when they heard a couple coughs from behind them.
They turned and saw their male counterparts leaning against the stone walls casually. The boys, having seen the girls’ antics as they exited, had rolled their eyes in exasperation.
“Oh, hello. We were just about to go up to the Room to get you.” Hermione admitted.
“Yes, well. We thought it would be best to meet you outside Professor Snape’s classroom instead. Considering you took the rest of lunch to get ready.” Draco replied in a clipped tone, which left Hermione puzzled. They all walked to the Potions classroom, though, and not a second after they stopped in front of it, did the door slam open with Professor Snape’s silhouette looming over them causing them all to jump.
His eyes narrowed as he analysed the newest generation of Slytherin students and their expressions, before stepping aside and letting them in. The door slammed behind them. They all jumped again.
“How is Miss Granger settling in?” Professor Snape asked the group, focusing mainly on the girls.
“Aside from her asking a few obvious questions in private company, if I hadn’t known she was muggle-born, she could have passed for a half-blood.” Daphne replied. The other girls nodded in agreement.
“Gentlemen?” Snape asked, turning. Draco eyed his companions, then turned his gaze to Hermione and the girls, before speaking.
“She’d be better at passing off as a half-blood if she knew more of our etiquette. She’s good at faking it, but we do things that have been so ingrained in us because of years of lessons that we don’t realise we’re doing them anymore. That needs to happen for Hermione. As of right now she seems to be mimicking Daphne and Pansy - which is great for the outsiders, but we can all see right through it - and she'll eventually need to find her own... style, for lack of a better word.” Draco said slowly. Professor Snape nodded.
“I see. I recommend owling your Mother - and yours as well, Miss Greengrass, Miss Parkinson - and ask for any etiquette books that can help,” he replied. “Now get to your seats - and stick to one side of the classroom. You aren’t mature enough to not sabotage your own potions in order to sabotage a Gryffindor’s.”
The boys started sputtering protests about how mature they are, while the girls simply shrugged and walked over to the rows of tables on the right hand side of the room. Pansy and Millicent sat in the very back row, Daphne and Tracey sat in the row in front of them, but Hermione sat in the row in front of them because she wanted to sit near the girls but also close to the front of the room. Vince, Greg, and Draco sat in front of Hermione while Theo and Blaise joined her.
Eventually, the Gryffindors stumbled in, all of them panting and out of breath except for Neville.
Professor Snape began the class by taking roll, like Professor Flitwick had the day before.
“ - Parkinson?”
“Present, sir.”
“Patil?”
“I’m here.”
There was a momentary pause.
“Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our newest… celebrity.” Professor Snape drawled. Hermione saw Draco, Vince, and Greg grinning at each other, and heard Theo snort, try to cover it up with a cough, and end up in a coughing fit. Professor Snape shot them all a dark look and all noise ceased to exist outside of Professor Snape’s low voice.
“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe that this is magic. I do not expect you will ever really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame and brew glory, even put a stopper in death - if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually am forced to teach.”
Dead silence followed his speech. Hermione saw, out of the corner of her eye, the looks the Gryffindors were exchanging. She desperately wanted to prove that she wasn’t of the same material as the other muggle-raised children that had been sorted into Gryffindor - that she was better, and capable. Hermione saw, more than she heard, Professor Snape snap at Potter.
“Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”
“Powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.” Theo muttered under his breath, thinking out loud, mind running a mile a minute. Hermione’s eyes snapped up to meet Professor Snape’s and she briefly saw a quick movement from the Gryffindor’s side out of the corner of her eye. Neville had sat right up, having figured out the answer as well. Pride swelled within her for the boy.
“I don’t know, sir.” Potter replied. It took that time for at least three of us to figure it out. This is the savior of the wizarding world? A boy who can’t even read the introduction of his Potion’s textbook?
“Fame clearly isn’t everything….” Snape sneered. “Shall we try again? Tell me, Potter, where could I locate a bezoar?”
Blaise snorted. Hermione looked over at him, questioning, and he leaned towards her casually.
“Majority of the Potions Masters and Mistresses will have at least a dozen in their private stores, most of the time a hell of a lot more. They aren’t uncommon, but if Professor Snape’s expecting some sort of smart-arse response to dock points off, he asked the wrong side of the room,” he whispered, making sure to keep his eyes on the Gryffindor side of the room where Potter’s eyes moved frantically from one table mate to the other. Draco, Greg, and Vince’s shoulders shook with silent laughs.
“I don’t know, sir.” Potter replied again. Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically. Oh honestly. Did you not open your textbooks after leaving London?
It seemed Professor Snape also shared Hermione’s train of thought.
“So, you thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming to class, eh, Potter?” Snape asked rhetorically. “Let’s see if you can’t answer this last question, What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?”
At this question, even Neville, the groups prodigious Herbologist, struggled not to laugh at The-Boy-Who-Lived.
“I don’t know, but I think your House does. Did you give them the answers to cheat off before class?” Potter accused, causing Professor Snape to smirk triumphantly.
“I did not give them the answers. I simply gave them the book that would help them discover the answers on their own, as I did for all my other students. However, it is not my responsibility to ensure that every student in every House at Hogwarts prepares for their first Potions class beforehand. If you had asked any older student, they would have told you that I give a simple quiz at the beginning of the first lesson, to make sure my students have at the very least read the introduction - which you evidently have not. Let’s see who can answer the questions I asked you, Potter.
“Longbottom! What is created by adding powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Snape snapped, turning his attention to the lone Gryffindor at the back of the room.
“It makes a draught. Um… The Draught of the… of the Living Death. Sir. Draught of the Living Death,” Neville replied, stumbling over his words slightly.
“Work on your delivery, but correct, Longbottom. Zabini, where might I find a bezoar, since you were so interested in chatting about them with Miss Granger?”
“A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat, and you could probably find a few in your private stores, sir, considering you are the Youngest Potions’ Master in the most recent years. A fact which automatically means that you are, in fact, a highly competent brewer. That, and they aren’t that uncommon,” Blaise replied cheekily, half-smirking and half-grinning. Professor Snape sighed, but nodded.
“Acceptable. Miss Granger? Can you tell me the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”
“There is no difference, sir. The two are of the same plant which also goes by the name aconite, which just so happens to be poisonous to anyone without magic.” Hermione replied smugly, smirking over at the Gryffindors. Professor Snape nodded.
“Messrs Nott and Malfoy, you’ve each earned five points for Slytherin for making sure your housemates were prepared for this class, as well as another ten for including Mr. Longbottom in your study group.” That was the easiest 30 points we’ve earned so far.
“And for your insolent cheek, Potter, you’ve lost Gryffindor five points and earned a detention. Weasley, I’ll be taking five from you as well for spreading false information to your housemates” Snape said, prowling around the classroom with his cloak billowing behind him. “Now get into groups of three. We will be brewing a simple potion that cures boils.”
There was a scramble amongst the students to group up. Draco, Vince, and Greg were one of the few groups that didn’t have to move. Theo moved back a table to sit with Daphne and Tracey, Blaise moved behind them and sat with Pansy and Millicent, while the other Gryffindors grouped together, leaving Hermione and Neville as the two outliers.
“Longbottom, move next to Granger. The two of you will be working together and I hope you have enough common sense to realise that your marks are the least of your worries if you attempt to sabotage one another,” Snape instructed. “The instructions are on the board, I expect this potion to be finished before the class is dismissed.”
“Can we use my equipment? Lord Malfoy bought me an ingredients set that has better quality ingredients than what’s put in the first-year kit, as well as another textbook that’s more updated.” Hermione whispered-asked Neville.
“Y-Yeah sure. Sure, course we can. Go ahead,” He replied, his voice trembling a bit.
“Okay, so the assigned textbook says we need snake fangs, horned slugs, and porcupine quills but the updated one says we need those, along with dried nettles, pungous onion, flobberworm mucous, ginger root, and shrake spines.”
“On the board it says snake fangs, dried nettles, flobberworm mucous, horned slugs, and porcupine quills.” Neville pointed out softly.
“Oh, right. Youngest Potions Master in many generations. Highly qualified. Wrote instructions on the board. Yeah, let’s just follow the board, but maybe I could set up a brewing station in the… study room… and compare my two books.” Hermione suggested, opting to follow the instructions on the blackboard.
Step-by-step, the students all brewed the cure to boils. Professor Snape had nothing but praise for the Slytherins - Draco especially - and nothing but criticism for the Gryffindors. Surprisingly, he didn’t say anything at all about Hermione and Neville. Professor Snape was just pointing out how adept Draco was at stewing horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke started spewing from one of the Gryffindor’s cauldrons. The aforementioned cauldron also sounded like a den of angry snakes with all the hissing it let out.
A wave of panic took hold of the students, who had all climbed onto their stools and desks, and Professor Snape swooped down on the Gryffindors.
“That was Weasley, Potter, and Finnegans’ cauldron.” Neville whispered to Hermione. Theo and Draco both overheard the whisper and soon enough, all the Slytherin’s knew and silently laughed amongst themselves.
“Idiots! The instructions clearly state to remove the potion from the flames before adding the porcupine quills!” Snape snarled at the three Gryffindor boys who were drenched in potion. “But of course, Mr. Potter should have already known that and stopped you from doing so! Go to the hospital wing! That’s another ten points from Gryffindor for endangering the lives of your fellow classmates.”
“I’m suddenly relieved that you had us read each line of instructions twice before following it. I would have made that mistake, too.” Neville said faintly, moving from his stool to sit at an empty spot on his and Hermione’s table.
“Yeah, me too Neville.” Hermione replied, just as faintly.
“Everyone else, finish brewing and then start cleaning your stations while your potions stew for the remainder of the class time,” Professor Snape muttered, stowing his wand in his sleeve.
An hour later and the remaining students in the Gryffindor/Slytherin Double Potions class had successfully - for the most part - brewed a potion to cure boils. The Gryffindors were the first to exit the classroom, sending glares to Neville, Professor Snape, and the Slytherin first-years. The first-year court lingered behind in the classroom.
“You’d think we killed their cats, or something.” Blaise chuckled, leaning back on his stool.
“Felicide or not, I need to inform Professor McGonagall of the intricacies surrounding Mr. Potter’s detention,” Professor Snape said irritably. “If you want to socialize, go to The Room. Supper is to be served in an hour and a half. You can use the time to get started on the homework I know you have.”
“Professor Snape, I had an idea today during our lesson. I bought the assigned textbook, as well as another potions book that Lucius Malfoy said is more updated. Is there a way that we could brew the recipes from both at the same time to compare them?” Hermione asked, pulling out the two textbooks from her bag to show him. She looked up in time to see Professor Snape’s eyebrow twitch.
“Come to my office before curfew, I’ll see about arranging extra potions lessons for you, and everyone else in this room is free to watch,” he said after a contemplative pause, having taken the updated text from Hermione and skimmed through it briefly. He handed it back to her with a nod.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Hermione grinned, stowing her books away again and leaving the room with the rest of her year-mates. As soon as they left the classroom, the door slammed shut. Theo looked around the corridor for potential eavesdroppers, before he pulled the group into a huddle.
“Hey. So, get this. The goblins still won’t tell the public who broke into Gringotts this summer, or what they tried to take,” Theo whispered excitedly, pulling a page from the Daily Prophet out of his bag. Hermione caught a glimpse of Daphne rolling her eyes fondly at the boy. “We’ve already been told that it happened on the 31st of July, but the only new thing the Aurors discovered is that the vault had been opened earlier that day!”
“Theo, amico, do we really have to talk about this here. In an empty corridor where anybody could hear us?” Blaise hissed, motioning around them. Theo paid no attention to Blaise.
“Wait, 31st of July? That was the day I went to Diagon Alley. The day I met you, Potter, and the Malfoys.” Hermione replied. “Can I see that?”
Theo nodded and handed the article over. Blaise threw his hands up in indignation and stepped back from the group.
“That’s insane. Any one of us could have been in there when it was emptied,” Hermione murmured, reading over the article for herself. She passed it over to Draco when he motioned towards it, and caught a glimpse of Blaise pacing around their group, head in his hands and muttering to himself.
“Cazzo dell'inferno, questo è esattamente ciò che non si deve fare se non vuoi essere espulso. Avremmo potuto andare direttamente nella nostra stanza privata dove nessuno poteva origliare ma no! Dovevi disobbedire al Professor Snape e non potevi neanche ascoltarmi quando dissi di uscire dal corridoio aperto! Fanculo! Perché sono ancora fottutamente amici con te!” Blaise’s muttering seemed to be barely coherent. (Fucking hell, this is exactly what not to do if you don't want to get expelled. We could have gone straight to our private room where nobody could eavesdrop but no! You had to disobey Professor Snape and couldn't even listen to me when I said to get out of the open corridor! Fuck! Why am I still fucking friends with you!)
“Hang on, wait a minute. Wasn’t Potter in Diagon with the half-giant Gameskeeper? The one that sleeps in the hut down by the edge of the Forbidden Forest?” Draco asked Hermione after reading the article as well, pulling her attention away from the angry boy.
“Yeah, he was! Wait, you aren’t suggesting that he broke in?” Hermione answered.
“No, no, no! Not that he broke in, but did you notice that he seemed to be holding his chin a bit too high for someone who’s obviously part-giant?” Draco explained, absentmindedly passing the article to Blaise, who had angrily rejoined the huddle.
“Uh, no? That’s not something I typically look for,” Hermione said slowly.
“Oh, well he was.”
“Oh, okay,” Hermione paused, “so what are we going to do about it?”
“We’d have to find a way to ask him. Or we could just kidnap Potter and interrogate him when we get him alone?” Theo suggested, looking around at his fellow conspirators.
“Che cazzo! For the love of bloody magic, why on Earth would we kidnap The-Boy-Who-Lived?” Blaise hissed, pulling Theo by his shoulder, “Are you mental?! That has to be a one-way ticket to bloody Azkaban!”(What the fuck!)
“How about we take this to the study room!” Pansy stated loudly, startling everyone out of the argument.
“Great idea, Pansy. Let’s go. Now.” Daphne said, glaring at her companions. Theo took one look at her expression and sighed.
“Okay fine. We’ll conspirarize when we’re in a private room,” Theo conceded, snatching the newspaper article from Blaise.
“So you won’t listen to me but you’ll listen to them?!” Blaise muttered angrily once Theo stepped out of earshot, “Aspetta, certo che lo faresti da quando Daphne è stata quella che lo ha suggerito.” (Wait, of course you'd do it since Daphne was the one who suggested it.)
Theo began stalking off towards the staircase and, when he noticed nobody followed him, turned around with an air of impatience surrounding him. “Well? Come on! Let’s go! You know how I get when I come up with a theory and can’t tell anyone about it.”
“Alright, damn. Calm down, Theo, we’re coming.” Draco said. He made eye-contact with Vince and Greg and the three turned away from one another immediately, covering up their laughs with coughs.
“Merlin’s beard, you’re touchy.” Draco continued after he had finished cough-laughing.
“I am not! I just have the constant urge to share my thoughts out loud in order to appease my need for acknowledgement.” Theo protested, making the whole group laugh. Blaise followed the group at a distance. Hermione glanced at him and immediately felt worried for Theo. If looks could kill, Theo would be in the ground already.
When they arrived at the court’s room, Theo made his way over to the old Professor’s desk and slammed the article flat onto it.
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST:
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark witches or wizards unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
“But we’re not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what’s good for you,” said a Gringotts spokes-goblin this afternoon.
“Theo, there’s nothing informative in this article? Are you sure this is the whole thing?” Pansy pointed out, frowning. She hadn’t read it in the huddle.
“You think I didn’t bring the original article with me to Hogwarts?” Theo asked incredulously.
“Of course you did,” she muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes upwards. Theo shot her a dirty look before pulling a folded up paper from the depths of his satchel.
“Here, read it.”
BREAK-IN AT GRINGOTTS
8 August 1981
Believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown, Gringotts goblins, while acknowledging the breach, insist nothing was taken. The vault in question had, in fact, been emptied the very same day.
Gringotts now need to readdress their security system. Goblin security specialists are combing the land for a better breed of security dragon to replace the now deemed useless existing ones. They are even going as far as examining muggle security systems. Gringotts need to get another security system in place before any more breaches occur.
Wizards, Witches all over the country are scratching their heads wondering how safe their money is in the so-called safest wizard bank. Head Goblins are urging the wizarding community for calm.
“Now, honestly, what can we do about it?” Hermione muttered.
“Well we can’t actually do much, but I just want to know what Potter knows. We need to catch him off guard, alone. I don’t think he’ll speak to us with Weasley, Finnegan, and Thomas surrounding him.” Theo said defeatedly.
“I could probably ask him. Or if I pretend to be asleep tonight, Weasley might bring it up and gossip about it with Potter. He does that quite a lot, actually,” Neville suggested softly. Theo’s head shot up and he started grinning.
“Neville! You’re a genius!” He cried, pulling the sole Gryffindor into a hug. Draco coughed and Theo pulled himself off of Neville. “Sorry, uh, about that.” he scratched the back of his neck.
“It’s al-” Neville cleared his throat awkwardly, “It’s alright, I can come back here tomorrow after breakfast? With the information?”
“Yeah, that works!” Theo replied.
“Did you forget Quidditch tryouts are tomorrow morning after breakfast and that you agreed to sit out there and watch with me so I know how good I need to be next year? Neville can just meet us on the Pitch or something, yeah?” Draco reminded Theo, who tensed up a bit.
“Damn I did forget. Any idea how long it’ll take? I wanted to actually explore the library tomorrow without interference from the rest of you.” Theo replied, shoulders slumping.
“Hey! We aren’t that bad!” Greg protested at the same time Hermione scowled and said, “Well if that’s how you really feel, Theodore.”
“Guys, woah. I didn’t mean it that way. Hermione, you’re an angel. I finally have another book-lover to have intellectual conversations with. I just meant that the past two times we’ve been anywhere near the library, I was forcibly dragged away. Both times! It’s been a whole week and I’ve still barely been inside of it.” Theo muttered the last part to himself, though the whole group heard him.
“It is a good thing we're going to watch the Quidditch tryouts. Us and the Gryffindor first years have flying lessons together starting Thursday of next week.” Pansy informed the group. Cheers broke out from the boys, while the other girls grimaced slightly. Neville, on the other hand, had lost all colour to his face, as if he couldn't think of a single thing he’d rather not do.
“Wait, flying? Like on a broom? You actually do that?” Hermione asked, shocked. I didn’t think that actually happened.
“Yes! Flying is the best thing in the world! I’m aiming to be Quidditch captain before we leave Hogwarts. I’ve practised being Chaser and Seeker, with Vince and Greg as Beaters, Blaise as Keeper and sometimes we even convinced Theo to leave his books and play Chaser with me. I quite like being in the middle of the action as opposed to Seeking, but I’ll be happy with whatever as long as I’m on the team,” Draco’s face lit up like a Christmas tree while he spoke. “Father said if I get onto the team next year that he’ll make a donation of 7 new top-of-the-line brooms to celebrate.”
“Wow that’s incredible, but I’m sorry did you say Beaters??” Hermione asked incredulously. “I’ve got to go to the Library after dinner and find any books about Quidditch that could help me learn about it. And I have to go back to Professor Snape's office to talk about extra Potions lessons.”
“There you go, Theo. Looks like you’re getting an extra trip to the Library in this week.” Blaise commented sarcastically. Theo’s eyes narrowed and he shoved Blaise in the shoulder. Blaise shoved him back, but before the two boys could do more harm to one another, Draco waved Vince and Greg towards them and the two beefier first years easily interfered.
“I need to start exercising so you can’t bloody do that to me anymore.” Theo grumbled, wrenching his body out of Vince’s grip.
“If you hadn’t shoved Blaise first, I wouldn’t have had to do that, mate.” Vince replied, offering the smaller boy a cheeky grin.
Theo huffed and pouted for all of five seconds before shrugging his shoulders and sitting at the old Professor's desk in order to get started on their weekend homework. Following his lead, Hermione sat down at one of the old desks in the front row and pulled her own books out, the rest of their group soon joining as well.
A few minutes of silently working was interrupted by Theo, loudly gasping as if he's had a breakthrough idea.
"Can I add a corkboard or a blackboard to this room to map out my theories and ideas?!" He asked, looking at each of them excitedly.
"I don't see why not," Draco answered, glancing at everyone else. No sounds of disagreement were made and as a result, Theo looked as if his birthday and Christmas arrived early together.
"Fantastic! I'll need copied photos of everyone related to this Gringotts mystery - so Potter, the gameskeeper, me, Hermione, Draco and his family. Maybe Weasley the youngest too, connected to Potter. Oh and red thread too. Maybe blue, green, and black too." Theo trailed off, muttering about the meanings behind the different coloured threads. Maybe I can get him a set of highlighters and coloured pens from the Muggle world for Christmas.
Theo continued his muttering while the other first years worked on their first few homework assignments, occasionally asking a clarifying question out loud to be answered by somebody else absentmindedly. Sooner than expected, the remaining hour that they had before dinner flew by. Somewhere within the castle, the bells started tolling, signalling to the students to make their way to the Great Hall for dinner.
"Do we have time to drop off our bags in our dorms or should we just leave them in the lounge and pick them up after dinner?" Daphne asked, looking to the others in the group.
"I mean, we could probably just leave them here if we wanted to. Neville would have to take his bag to the Great Hall though, as he's up in a tower and not just two levels away." Theo mused, looking at the mess he left sprawled over the old Professor desk. "I'm leaving my stuff here. And nobody touch it. It'll mess up my 'mojo'."
"Theo, what the hell does 'mojo' mean?" Draco asked, looking very fed up with his friends strange new vocabulary word.
"I don't know. I just like the way it sounds!" He replied happily. Hermione looked at her own spread of books and parchment and made a split second decision to also leave her work sprawled out over the desk. It would take too long to tidy it up perfectly anyways. Then we'd miss most of dinner and go to bed hungry and that's definitely not a good thing.
"Right. Well. Is everybody else ready?" Draco turned to address the rest of the group. Various nods and words of agreement answered him. The 11 first years left the room, travelling as a pack through the secret passageway and into the Great Hall.
"Right, well. See you later, Neville." Draco muttered, leading the Slytherins to their own table on the opposite side of the hall from the Gryffindor table.
"See you later." came the muttered reply.
There were no announcements to make before dinner that evening, so once the first years sat in their designated section of Slytherin table, the food appeared on platters in front of them.
"Oh! I figured out what 'mojo' means. It's like.. a vibe." Theo exclaimed, not loud enough to draw outside attention but loud enough to get their attention.
"And what, pray tell, does 'vibe' mean?" Blaise asked, sounding a bit fed up, in Hermione's opinion. Theo's face fell.
"What do you mean "what does 'vibe' mean? It's like.. the energy something gives off. Like Weasley the Youngest brings a really bad vibe with him wherever he goes and ruins the 'mojo' of any room he walks into." Theo explained, waving his fork in the air. Luckily, it didn't have any food on it that could fly off onto somebody's face or lap.
"And us touching your mess of books and papers would ruin the... energy... of it?" Pansy piped up, raising a perfect eyebrow questioningly.
"Exactly! I have it all exactly how I like it and I want it to stay that way so I can pick up exactly where I left off when we go back to the room! We'll have an hour or so before our curfew anyways so I can finish up the last few things I need to for the homework that's due next week and then have the entire weekend - Quidditch try-outs not included - to explore the library and figure out the Gringotts mystery to my hearts content!" Theo said, waving both knife and fork while he spoke. Again, thankfully clean of any food.
"Theo. Please for the love of Merlin, don't forget to breathe every once in a while." Daphne reminded, almost automatically. As if Theo frequently gives long-winded explanations in one breath. (Spoiler alert - he does.)
"Oh! Don't let me forget I need to talk to Professor Snape about maybe having extra Potions lessons, or supervised experimentations, please. Somebody. Anybody." Hermione pleaded, glancing around to all of her friends.
"As if we'd let our newest swot be anything but." Blaise replied, grinning over at Hermione to let her know he was making a joke and not a jab.
The rest of dinner passed without fuss and the first years returned to their room, this time without Neville. Hermione made quick work of organising her homework and textbooks, triple and quadruple checking each assignment meticulously for error - of course, there were none - before quickly jotting down her reasoning for wanting to brew the potions in the two books side-by-side for analysis and why she believes it would do her good (she needs any and every advantage she can get her hands on to prove she belongs at Hogwarts, after all).
"Oi, Granger! D'you wanna head to Snape's office now? We've got a half hour before curfew," Draco called from where he stood, leaning against the doorframe to the lounge. The sound of her surname jolted Hermione from her focus and she glanced up at the clock on the wall with a start.
"Yes! Thank you, Draco! Are you all staying here or are you going to head to the common room now?"
"Greg, Theo, and I are going with you, the rest are going to return to the common room with mine, Theo, and Greg's bags. I assume you want to bring yours to Snape's office?"
"I do, yes. Also, it's Professor Snape."
"I know." Draco smirked, handing his bag to Blaise, who took it with a brief two-fingered salute. (The actual two-fingered salute. Blaise did not, in fact, flip Draco the V). Hermione rolled her eyes at the cheek, turned on her heel with her bag over her shoulder, and flounced to the door to leave. It did not take long for Draco to catch up to her (he's always been tall for his age), and grab Hermione's bag off her shoulder to pull it onto his own.
Hermione whirled around, hair nearly nearly whipping Draco in the face. She glared, eyes narrowed and mouth pursed, holding her hand out for her bag back.
"I was raised a gentleman. It would wound me greatly for my efforts to be rejected." He pouted, making a grand show of slowly lifting his hand to remove her bag from his shoulder.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but made the mistake of looking at Draco's attempt at puppy dog eyes (a very successful attempt, might I add) and any argument she had melted away.
"Fine. I just want you all to know I am perfectly capable of carrying my own bag and do not expect this every day, despite all of your attempts to do it." Hermione said, crossing her arms.
"Granger, I think he likes the fight you put up." Bulstrode said, having watched the entire interaction from the other side of the room.
"Millie! You can't reveal his secrets! It emasculates him!" Pansy giggled, tucking her arm into the bigger girls. "Now are you four going to move and go to Professor Snape's office or are you going to sit there and make all of us stuck here until curfew?"
"Phenomenal argument, my dear Pansy. Let's go. Now." Theo ordered, practically pushing a bag-less Hermione out the door, pulling Draco along behind him.
Following along the passageway that goes deeper into the dungeons, Hermione and the three boys said their brief goodbyes to the other first years, who were continuing down to the common room, to exit in the corridor that held the office of their Head of House.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione knocked on the door.
"Come in." came the reply, muffled due to the shut door. Before she could touch the doorknob, Draco had already opened the door, motioning for Hermione to enter first.
"Thanks." She said softly, then, "Hello, sir. You said to stop in before curfew?"
"Miss Granger." Professor Snape drawled, "And friends."
"Hello sir." The three boys said in unison.
"Take a seat, then." He said, motioning to the chairs on the side of the desk opposite to his own. Hermione quickly sat, holding her hands together trying not to wring them too much. "Now. Miss Granger. When we spoke earlier you said you wanted to brew every single potion in both of your potions texts, bearing in mind only one of them was on the required reading list for your year, meaning you will be brewing both potions twice. Why."
The 'why' came out more as a demand than an actual question. Taking another deep breath, Hermione glanced at Draco.
"Can I have my bag for a moment, please, Draco?"
"Oh, yeah. Of course."
Ruffling through her bag Hermione grabbed the parchment she had written her idea and supporting arguments on.
"Well, Professor Snape. When I went shopping in Diagon before term, I met Draco, his parents, Theo, and his father. They allowed me to accompany them because I was otherwise shopping alone, and Lord Malfoy recommended the second book to me, with agreement from the shop-keeper for the apothecary. In class today, before Neville reminded me that you had written the instructions on the board, I had pulled out both of my books and realised that while they had the same basic list of ingredients, the one written by the Half-Blood Prince had expanded on the list, and your instructions on the board fell somewhere in between. Now I'd like to think Neville and I did alright in class today, I was hoping that you'd allow me some time outside of class for me to brew both versions from both books to compare them and see if I can figure out why they do the same thing with a different list of ingredients and how the extra ingredients changes the final outcome."
Professor Snape was silent for a long while before Hermione finally dared to look up at him. When she finally did, he raised a single eyebrow for just long enough for her to realise he had done so.
"When you can come to me and request what little spare time I have for experimentation with confidence and brevity, I shall give you a final answer." He said, eyes almost glittering in the candlelight.
Hermione's shoulders drop minutely before she squares them and almost glares at Snape (almost. Hermione could never imagine disrespecting a teacher like that, and so holds herself back from showing her ire). Impromptu lesson number one.
"Very well, sir. Thank you for your time." She says, standing and allowing Draco to lead her from the room, Theo and Greg following behind her.
(When Hermione knows Snape better, she'll think back to this moment and realise it was her first test. Because he recognised himself in her and he was excited about her potential.)