Chapter two is revised and up! Thank you for reading, soon I will be done revising and will start updating new chapters!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters, but Sarah Knight and all plot alterations are mine.
Chapter II – Lots of classes
"I know it! Malfoy is totally up to something!" It was only the first morning after arriving in Hogwarts and Harry was already talking nonstop about some evil plan Malfoy was plotting, but none of his friends listened to him. All the students were in the Great Hall taking breakfast to begin another period of learning. McGonagall was distributing the schedule to the Gryffindors, it was taking longer, seeing that she was confirming the O.W.L.'s from each one of them. Hermione of course had excellent grades in every class and stormed out to watch her first one, which she had alone. Harry and Ron hadn't applied themselves to Potions, which the Professor found odd. "Potter, why didn't you apply to Potions? I thought you wanted to become an Auror."
Harry blinked a few times while looking at the Professor before answering. "But… You said I needed an O in my O.W.L.'s." Ron was interested in the conversation as well and approached to hear more. "And you needed, but only when Professor Snape was in charge of the class. Professor Slughorn is perfectly content in letting you in with an E."
Harry and Ron both were scheduled to the same classes and had a free period right now. Only Sarah waited for her schedule, smiling at McGonagall while she looked at her results. "Very well, let's take a look. O in Astronomy; E in Defense against the Dark Arts; E in Charms; E in Herbology; O in Transfigurations; O in Potions; E in History of Magic; E in Ancient Runes; and O in Care of Magical Creatures."
"I'd like to drop History of Magic, professor." The girl said and McGonagall touched the parchment with her wand and then handed it to the student before her. She had Runes with Hermione now, so she kissed her friends in the cheek and left after her friend that was long gone. Harry and Ron really didn't know how she managed to have good grades when all she did was sleep in the classes and only paid attention to Potions and Transfiguration.
After the class, Knight and Hermione headed to DADA and stood by Harry and Ron, the bushy haired girl complaining about the amount of homework. "We have a giant essay, two translations, a lot of reading and all until Wednesday." They couldn't tell if she was excited or already tired, it amazed them how her hair was still on her head and hadn't fallen due to stress.
"Enter." The professor said while opening the door for his students. The classroom contained the same aura as any other Snape would teach in; Sarah couldn't help and think it kind of suited him and the class he would be teaching. The Gryffindors called her crazy but she loved his style and his sarcasm, her friends could even think she was in love with him, but Sarah laughed at those comments.
The professor started speaking about how the dark arts are inconsistent, diverse, like a monster with several heads, almost like he adored it. They all knew he did, but it didn't matter at that moment, because he would be teaching them to fight it, not use. Then he began speaking about the methods of the Dark Lord, like the Inferi, and suddenly changed the subject to non-verbal spells.
"Which are the advantages of using a non-verbal spell?" Like always, Hermione's hand was up, but so was Sarah's. "Miss Knight, answer."
She breathed in and begun talking. "A non-verbal spell gives an advantage of seconds to the caster, because the opponent cannot predict which spell it will be, he must react faster in order to protect himself and depending on the occasion the speed is not enough."
Snape continued walking around the class, his eyes on the girl as she spoke. "Yes, correct. Those who master the non-verbal spell will have the element of surprise. But some without will and mental power cannot master the art." His eyes landed on Harry, who did not cut the eye contact. "Now, form pairs, one will try to enchant the other without saying a word, while the other will repel with equal silence."
Harry sat in front of Ron, while Hermione paired with Sarah. No one was succeeding, and lots were only murmuring the spell and after ten minutes of class only Hermione could repel the Expeliarmus Sarah casted in silence. But the Professor didn't even blink in amaze, making Harry even angrier at him.
The rest of the class passed by, with only one accident between Harry and Professor Snape. The boy swore that the older man was going to hex him, so Harry repelled by yelling Protego at the man, this caused an argument and the atmosphere tensed even more.
Sarah had been the only of the quartet to sign for Care of Magical Creatures, while the others found it quite stupid and dangerous; she really liked learning about the creatures and wanted to make Hagrid happy as well, so she headed along to where the class would take place in.
Much to her surprise, Malfoy and his goons were also in the class, she snorted and distanced herself from them, walking to her friend and teacher to hear his lesson from close.
After lunch they had a break, which Hermione was surely going to use to start her essay, and Sarah didn't mind keeping her friend company and even studying herself. Leaving the isolated table they managed to sit in, the blond girl went after a book a little far, there was no one around probably because no one cared enough to start the homework so soon.
She was concentrated reading the summary of one book and didn't even noticed as someone approached her, only when she sensed the smell of masculine cologne she turned around. Malfoy was looking at the shelf behind her, Sarah thought it was strange that he hadn't said something provoking, but turned to her book without a word.
"Do you know how to read this phrase?" His voice was low, almost without the sarcastic and cold tone. "Excuse me?" Sarah asked, looking at him once again, blinking without understand. "Phrase, read, another idiom."
She felt like punching him or simply hexing and giving him a pretty tail. "Let me see." The girl took a small paper from his hands, looking at the strange words for a few minutes, which made Malfoy a little anxious. "I don't know all the runes, at least not without looking at some books first. Do you want the translation? If it's a spell you'll need to know it's meaning before really casting it."
He took the piece of paper and turned around to go away, but was stopped by her words. "I can look into it for you, without asking questions." Draco turned around, looking the girl head to toe and simply handed her the paper and walked away again, without even thanking. "Jerk." She said, but couldn't stop wondering why she offered him help.
After the break, Potion's classes started. It was almost empty. There were four students from Slytherin, four from Ravenclaw and only one Hufflepuff, Ernest MacMillan, they kinda liked him, he wasn't cocky or a Slytherin for lack of a better – or worse -adjective. Soon the door busted open and Slughorn told them to come in, the lonely Hufflepuff sat with Harry and the others.
In the front of the class there were four caldrons with different potions in each one of them, as Harry and Ron didn't had the supplies the Professor provided them two rotten books and scales.
After this, Slughorn started talking about the potions in the front of class, engaging Hermione in a discussion about what potions they were and its effects. The one in front of Harry's group was Amortentia, the strongest love potion of the world. Sarah smiled as she heard Hermione's describe the smell she sensed, knowing perfectly well who she was interested in and then approached to try to catch anything, but nothing came out. "I guess I'm not in love or anything, at least it doesn't smell like shit." Ron looked at her and laughed.
The assignment was to do a Draught of Living Death potion; the best one would get a small bottle of Felix Felicis, liquid luck. After getting really interested in this everyone started working as fast as they could.
But something was wrong with Harry's book, the previous owner scratched lots of lines, sometimes even cutting and rewriting the ones in the book. Seeing he didn't have a choice, he begun doing as the book told, for Hermione's dislike. Being in love with the class, Sarah was also doing great and did not follow some of the instructions written in the book as well.
At the end of the given time, Slughorn told everyone to stop, and walked around the class, looking at the potions, smelling, evaluating. He was amazed at Harry's and was on his way to handle him the small bottle when Sarah called. "Professor, you didn't look at mine."
"Oh, I am sorry. Let's see." The old man approached her cauldron and stared intently at the liquid that boiled gently and his smile widened. "My, my, what do we have here? Seems like we have a winner! What is your name, dear?" He handed her the bottle without doubt.
"Knight. Sarah Knight, sir." His eyes seemed to spark at the mention of her name. "Are you related to the ancient family Knight? Sarah simply nodded; she was descendant of one of the oldest pure-blood family in history but didn't care so much, blood was meant to run in your veins and not rule the world.
While Malfoy tried uselessly to impress the Professor with his family tree, the girl tossed the bottle of potion to Harry and winked, he smiled at her.
Harry's book caused a lot of commotion on Hermione's part; she was preoccupied that it could have a link to dark arts like Riddle's diary. Harry, Ron and Sarah just thought someone smart wrote those phrases, especially the girl since she herself not always followed the instructions directly.
It was almost midnight when Sarah left Gryffindor's common room to watch her Astronomy class that took place at the Astronomy Tower at midnight. The castle was calm and desert, not many people were taking that class this year, Knight only recognized the blond Slytherin Prince.
"Now, class, this year we will work more complex movements of the stars and its meanings. Please take your telescope and let's begin!" Professor Sinistra said and the class started. Sarah also loved Astronomy, the stars were so beautiful and inspired her, she could begin singing right there, but she could live without that detention.
After the end of the class, everyone stormed out of the cold Astronomy Tower, but Sarah wasn't in a hurry, so she took her time packing her telescope and books. To her surprise, she wasn't alone, Draco Malfoy also didn't had left the Tower, he seemed apprehensive.
"Did you take a look at it?" He said, looking to each corner of the class, fearing someone would hear them talking, Sarah took a piece of paper out of her pocket and begun reading. "Yes, I have. It says 'Only in the darkest hour of the darkest time the sky will align, your deepest fear will arrive and life will never be as it was before.' I didn't know you were taking Divination."
The Slytherin took the paper out of her hands and without a word exited the Astronomy Tower, receiving a severe glare on his back, but Sarah wasn't going to let him get away with it and followed.
"You know, it's not nice of you to ask a favor and then leave me talking alone." His eyebrow raised in his cocky way as he looked at the short girl. "Sorry, sometimes I forget I'm even talking to you, you disappear from my view so easily." Sarah never minded being called short seeing that she barely even reached 5 feet. And he was over 6. But there was no way she would take the insult without fighting back.
"At least my ego fits inside me and doesn't burst from every cavity of my body like yours do." On their way down, they bickered like two old people, throwing insults at the other and without saying goodbye they parted ways.
None of them had the slight idea of how true those words would turn out to be and in the exact place they were pronounced.