Chapter 3, Sophie

As Sophie carefully crushed a handful of fluxweed into a fine powder with the stone pestle, a bead of sweat formed on her temple. She placed a small sheet of laminate paper onto a digital scale and then pressed the tare button. After the scale's digital readout settled on zero, she ladled a teaspoon full of crushed fluxweed onto the laminate sheet, the scale read 3.58 grams, she removed a few grains, until the scale hit 3.5 grams precisely after which she dutifully noted the weight in her book. She had gone to the metric system years ago, and had even gone so far as to update some her favorite potions texts against the guidance of her peers who specialized in alchemical wizardry.

The click clack of heels and a high-pitched giggle interrupted Sophie as she started the process of slowly stirring the powder into a bubbling cauldron. Luckily she was just able to prevent herself from jumping at the sound and messing up the procedure.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me, Gliss." Sophie didn't even need to look up to identify the intruder.

"Someone has to bring some excitement into your dreary laboratory." Glissinda pulled the chair away from the desk set in the corner of the room and flopped into it. "Are you going to waste the entire summer in here making potions?"

"You know I don't have a choice. I have to restock Herbology, the hospital wing room, Mistress Granger, and some of the other professors. I don't have the luxury of fiddling around all summer. Once the students return, I won't have any time for really complex potions."

"But making potions is sooo boring."

"Only to you."

"Well, I have news. You will never believe who will be taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I take it you ran it our new professor in Hogsmeade." Sophie eyed the cauldron carefully, before placing a heavy iron lid over it and setting a timer on her watch for eight hours. After removing and discarding her latex gloves, she rested against the desk facing Gliss.

"I spent yesterday in town reading, and he just showed up. He had taken a room at Hog's Head."

"I'm surprised you didn't tell me yesterday."

"I couldn't find you yesterday."

"So, are you going to keep me in suspense?"

Glissinda tossed her golden curls over her shoulder. "Harry Potter. Mistress Granger somehow convinced the Harry Potter to resurface from wherever he's been hiding."

Sophie removed her glasses, which had fogged a bit under the humidity of the laboratory. The name didn't immediately ring a bell.

Glissinda sighed. "You remember the stories about Harry Potter. Don't be difficult."

"Yes, yes, of course. I do remember. All of that with 'he who shall not be named' was so long ago. I remember there was some entry about him in one of our history tests. No wonder you're excited. I'm surprised this Harry Potter fellow is still alive."

"Well no one's seen him in years. He went into hiding shortly after his wife disappeared on some expedition to Romania. It had something to do with Dragons I think. I'll have to go back and read the old papers."

"You don't think it would be kinder to let the man keep his secrets."

Gliss's lips twitched. "Hardly."

Gliss was such an odd girl. And their friendship - if one could call it that - was such a bizarre part of Sophie's life. They had met in their first year as students. Sophie Zabini, the shy dark bookworm, as a pure blood, had been placed into the Slytherin house almost before the sorting hat hit her head. So there was really no reason that she should have had any relationship at all with the bubbly blond beauty queen who had been placed into Ravenclaw and who just happened to be a mudblood. But, to Sophie's horror, despite their entire class adoring Glissinda, Glissinda had decided to attach herself, not unlike a leach, to Sophie. Gliss had even gone so far as to invite herself home with Sophie every summer for two weeks. Sophie's mother had warned her and her older brothers to be careful to be polite to mudbloods, even if the other Slytherins were outspoken against them, the Zabini's would toe the line. After the warning, her mother had filled their heads with the stories of ancestors who had been brutally killed and those who had been left alive - mostly children - were stripped of their lands and fortunes for taking the wrong side in Voldemort's war. And Sophie's mother was determined that the Zabini's would not relive such indignities. Therefore, her prime directive when entering school was to be polite to the mudbloods. Her older brothers had succeeded with minimal effort. But, when it was Sophie's turn she had been faced with Glissinda. During the first summer that Glissinda had come to visit, her mother had treated Glissinda with almost sickening sweetness, and after Glissinda left, her mother had nearly explosed. "Polite does not mean inviting one into our house!" Her mother had shrieked at her, causing her older brothers to crack up in laughter. But, even though, they had found the whole thing hysterical, they had come to her defense, and had assured her mother that it wasn't Sophie's fault, and that the girl, Glissinda, had invited herself. As the years passed, Sophie tried to distance herself from Gliss, but it had proven impossible. Her only reprieve had been the two years she had spend in America, studying Potions under an American master after she had completed her final year at Hogwarts.

"Earth to Sophie," Glissinda said, interrupting Sophie's train of thought. "Let's go to the kitchens and get something to eat."

"I'll meet you there. I need to clean up a bit in here. You know I can't stand leaving a mess."

Glissinda shrugged. "Okay, but don't wait too long. You know how the house-elves can get if you miss lunch too often. They'll fill your quarters with food."