The next morning brought more lessons.
The first one was Charms with professor Flitwick and the Ravenclaws. The professor was tiny and very friendly. Like the other teachers, he read out the names first. After that the lesson began. It was about levitation. They were to attempt to levitate a feather.
Al thought it might be easy, for he had seen his parents do it on countless occasions. Levitation was, like the professor had pointed out, one of the most important skills for a witch or wizard. Whenever muggles carried heavy loads, magical folks levitated them. No matter whether it was about a shopping bag, a heavy cauldron full of soup or potions, a sleeping child or furniture, which was to be rearranged. Wizards levitated things all the time.
It wasn´t, however, as easy as it looked.
The class practiced the wand movement – a swish and a flick – for nearly all the lesson. Only ten minutes to the end the professor told them the spell they needed. Wingardium leviosa! They tried, but not a single student succeeded.
"As homework," said the professor, smiling at them kindly, "you will practice the wand movement and the incantation. I do not expect you to master the spell, but I will assume that you know the wand movement and the incantation when you come back for the next lesson."
The next lesson, a double period, was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Al hadn´t heard much about the subject before, but after all the talking about dark wizards and deatheaters he was eager to learn more. Especially what kind of magic his father had used to best the Evil Wizard.
The Defence teacher was a woman, professor Patrona. She looked a bit strange with her young face – she looked like she was eighteen – and her grey hair,which fell in long wavy strands down to her waist. She was, she told the class, an ex-auror. After an injury, received from a dark wizard, her left eye was nearly blind and she felt that she was a threat to her co-workers´ safety at the auror office and so she had resigned and taken on teaching at Hogwarts some years ago.
"During your first year," professor Patrona said, "you will not learn how to fight Dark Magic. To do that you need to have some basic magical skills, which you don´t – can´t have yet. Therefore we will concentrate on recognizing the Dark Arts and avoiding the dangers rather than fighting them. Well, I´m sure that many of you know something about the Dark Arts. Many of your parents fought in The War, many have lost loved ones to the Dark Arts. So, let´s hear what you know."
Several hands were raised. The professor smiled. One after the other the children told what they knew.
One girl described a dark item which strangled its victim, when not properly watched. Another knew about inferi, dead bodies bewitched to serve a dark wizard. A boy told about an unforgivable curse, which took the victim´s will away. Another knew a killing curse. There were tales about dark creatures, like dementors and werewolves.
Al started. Ted´s dad had been a werewolf. Ted was dad´s godson and came to visit frequently, he was like another big brother for Al. How could a nice person like Ted be a dark creature´s child?
Al felt a bit stupid. There he was, everybody talking about his father being a war hero and he knew nothing about dark magic. He only had become aware that his father still fought dark wizards, when the professor had explained what an auror did. Al knew that his father was an auror, but he had never cared to ask what that was. He had accepted that being an auror was a good thing, because everybody was proud of his father. His, Al´s, grandparents, his uncles, his mother, everybody. But up to an hour ago, he hadn´t known what aurors did.
Apparently Al wasn´t the only one, who felt stupid. Scorpius´ face looked exactly like Al felt. The blond boy was one of few students, who had nothing to contribute to the lesson. The others were muggleborns, who soon shivered with fear of the Dark Arts.
When they were on the way downstairs for lunch, Vern asked why Al and Scorpius hadn´t told what they knew. He´d assumed that they knew most, being the sons of a war hero and a dark wizard (Scorpius scowled at that).
"I had no idea about all that," confessed Al, "I guess dad didn´t tell me, because he doesn´t want the dark stuff in his family when he works with it."
Vern nodded understandingly. "And you?"
Scorpius shrugged. "I guess he wouldn´t want me to run around knowing dark stuff. It´d do his reputation no good. He´s mistrusted by most people anyway. Me knowing dark things would make things worse."
The four Slytherin first years walked the rest of the way to lunch in contemplative silence.
-x-
As they had Astronomy that night, the afternoon was free for the Slytherin first years. Al went to the library to catch up with his homework. Scorpius accompanied him and sat beside his working friend with a potions book. Whenever Al needed something, Scorpius´d put his own book aside and get it for him. With this help Al finished his essays quickly and they went back to the dormitory to do the practical parts of their assignments. Vern and Enrico were there, too. The four boys tried to accomplish professor McGonagall´s task together, but it wouldn´t work properly. The stick they worked on stayed a stick for some time, then it changed, but never into a pencil. The closest they got was a quill.
By dinner time the boys were frustrated. They decided to ask for help after the meal, which they did. Jonah, the prefect, lectured them on how to hold the wand and which incantation to use. Al thought it was boring and was pretty surprised to find the spell work five minutes later. The boys thanked Jonah enthusiastically and went back to their dormitory to practice.
As the clock neared eleven, they went downstairs to the Common Room to go to the Astronomy Tower together with the girls.
"Waiting for the first Astronomy lesson?" grinned one of the older boys, who were chatting by the fireplace. "Be careful when you go up there. Don´t let the ghost catch you."
"Ghost? What ghost?" Vern asked nervously.
"Don´t you know?" asked the older boy. "There´s a ghost up there! Nobody knows who he is, but he must be very creepy. Even the Bloody Baron avoids his presence. Though nobody knows whether this isn´t only rumour. The Baron is a very private ghost, he doesn´t share his thoughts with us mortals."
They had seen the Bloody Baron float by when they had arrived and James had told Al about Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, so the boy knew that there indeed were ghosts at Hogwarts. But he had never heard of one haunting the Astronomy Tower.
Was the boy lying? It was possible that he just wanted to scare the younger students. His grin definitely spoke for that. Nevertheless Al felt a bit shaky when they climbed the stairs to their Astronomy lesson a quarter hour later.
-x-
The caretaker stood by the door, which led up to the Astronomy Tower. He had a list of the students supposed to be there for the lesson and ticked off their names as they strolled past him.
The Astronomy teacher was a woman, professor Sinistra. She had her hair tied in a bun and she wore dark blue robes with pale, silvery stars on them. Al thought she must be nearly as old as professor McGonagall.
The professor didn´t dedicate time to reading out their names. Instead she explained how to set up their telescopes. Then she handed out star charts and set them their task for the first lesson. They were to look for some of the planets and describe what they looked like.
"The chart I gave you will tell you where to find the planets tonight. You´ll learn during the first term how to determine their position on your own, but that´s for the theoretical lesson on Friday. Today´s a practical and practical it shall be!"
Soon all ten Slytherins were busy with their telescopes. Al found it hard to find the planets. For him the sky looked nothing like the chart. There were so many more stars on the parchment than in the sky! Al swore under his breath. What a moment to find out that he, like his father, had problems with his eyesight!
As the lesson went on, Al tried hard to accomplish his goal, but it turned out he was slower than the rest of the class and once he had found a planet he had to watch it through narrowed eyes for quite a while to be sure of the details. Soon his eyes were moist with tears, astronomy was exhausting and frustrating for the boy.
Professor Sinistra walked from student to student in order to help and finally learn their names.
"You have to try harder, ," she said when she saw Al´s work. "What you did so far is inaccurate in parts and you´re too slow. We can´t stay here all night!"
"Yes, Ma´am!" Al piped.
When the lesson was over, everybody but Al had finished their task. The professor shook her head at the boy.
"Professor," said Al, and he couldn´t banish a hint of desperation from his voice, "I´m sure I can finish the task, if I can stay some more minutes!"
The professor looked as if she´d refuse him, but then she changed her mind and nodded. "You will stay no longer than half an hour, . I´ll carry my things down to my office and then I´ll return to collect your work and lock the door."
"Thank you, Professor!" Al set to work eagerly.
The woman smiled and shooed Scorpius, who wanted to stay with his friend, downstairs. "I don´t remember giving you permission to stay behind, !"
Then Al was alone.
-x-
After moving his telescope closer to the battlements – they were great for writing on – Al set to work. He still needed to find Mars and Neptune. He rushed to and fro between the telescope and the chart and parchment on the battlement. There! Neptune at last. Al narrowed his eyes. Was that a ring? No time to investigate further. He still needed Mars. Al noted down that Neptune had, in his opinion, a faint ring.
When he rushed back to the telescope, it felt as if he had stepped into an icy rain. Al shrieked. Somebody else shrieked!
Al tumbled back two steps and his eyes grew in horror. In front of him, right beside his telescope, stood a ghost.
The ghost had long hair and a rather big nose, his shirt was soaked in silvery blood, which seemed to come from wounds on his neck and torso.
For a moment Al and the ghost stared at each other, open-mouthed.
"Why are you still here?" snarled the ghost, who recovered first. "The lesson´s over!"
"I´m here to finish my assignment," piped Al.
"You got extra time?" the ghost eyed the boy suspiciously. Then he snorted. "A Potter obviously. It seems that the ignorance for rules is genetic for your lot."
"What?" Al was dumbfounded.
"Anyway," the ghost went on. "The lesson´s over, now get off my tower and don´t disturb me any longer."
"Your tower?" Al asked, astonished. "I wasn´t aware Hogwarts´ towers were personal property to anybody."
"Listen," the ghost said, teeth gritted, "I´ve been patient with you. Now leave! As long as I´m willing to let you!"
"What would you do, if I stay?" Al was determined to finish his work, Slytherin needed the points. "I still need Mars."
"What would I do?" the ghost echoed. "Kill you?" He moved closer until he stood nose to nose with the boy.
"Kill me?" Al piped and tried to withdraw further, but he felt the battlement touch his back.
The ghost grinned threateningly. "You wouldn´t be the first!" He pointed somewhere to Al´s left.
The boy looked where the ghost had pointed him. There, a meter or so from Al´s parchment, was a brass memorial tablet on the battlement, which the boy hadn´t noticed before.
"This is the place where Albus Dumbledore´s life was sacrificed by Severus Snape." Al read aloud.
"You see?" the ghost asked triumphantly. "You´d not be the first!"
Al grinned. "You´re Severus Snape? Then I have nothing to fear." He didn´t feel as confidant as he acted, but he thought that his parents wouldn´t name him for a bad man, would they? But then there was so much he had not known about his parents. Al squared his shoulders. "If you´ll excuse me, I´m looking for Mars."
The ghost – Severus Snape – stared at the little boy in front of him with disbelief. He had just revealed that he was a killer! Why wasn´t this child scared to death? He watched as the boy struggled with his telescope and narrowed his eyes again and again in order to see better.
"You need glasses?" the ghost asked after a little while.
"I guess so," replied the boy.
The ghost drifted nearer. "Let me have a look." He gazed through the ocular lense. "A little bit to the left."
Al did as he was told and finally found Mars. "Does Mars have two moons?" he asked.
"Mmh," the ghost growled and Al guessed it might be in agreement.
Al noted it down and packed his telescope.
"Thank you!" he said to the ghost, who now sat on the tablet.
"Don´t thank me," grumbled the ghost, "the sooner you´re finished, the sooner I´m rid of you."
Al looked a little disappointed. He bit his lower lip. Could he dare? He eyed the ghost from under his lashes as he sat on the battlement and dangled his legs back and forward, his heels disappearing within the stone from time to time. "May I ask you something?" the boy burst out at last.
"If you´ll go then."
"Why are you here?"
"What?"
"Why did you stay behind when you died?"
The ghost stared at the boy for a while. "Was afraid," he whispered then.
Al shook his head. "That´s a lie. My Dad says Severus Snape was the bravest man he ever knew."
The ghost swished closer in an instant. "Then why, Mr. Potter," he growled, "don´t you ask your father stupid questions and LEAVE ME ALONE?"
Al grabbed his school things and fled the tower. He met the professor at the foot of the stairs.
"Mr. Potter, right on time!" the woman smiled.
Al handed in his work with a shy smile and hurried back to Slytherin house.