A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers out there! I really appreciate them! It helps me write better: please review for faster updates on chapters ;) Thanks! -innocentangel56
It was the next day, and school was about to begin
It was the next day, and school was about to begin. Lily rushed out of the library with three thick books in her arms, along with her Potions book, Beginner Potion-Makers, which she would most probably be using in her next class. She had discovered her Potion teacher to be none other than Professor Jaquel, as it stated on the schedule. Lily did not know if she was looking forward to this next period with Professor Jaquel or not, considering she didn't really like her at all.
"Lily!" said a voice behind Lily. Lily turned around, and saw Kendra jogging up to her. "Michelle's looking for you everywhere! Where've you been?"
"Oh, umm, library." Lily said, giving off a fake smile, which was true. The real story was that she had come to the library last night, looking for the evidence she needed. However, she had found it to be locked, and had crashed into Mr. Filch on her way back, who had told her to get to bed or he would report her to Professor Estrang. And nothing was worth that kind of punishment.
It was then Lily had rushed again today early this morning. She knew it was impossible to simply dissolve into the Hogwarts walls. Her father had told her himself when she was seven years old, when Lily yearned for details on the castle. She recalled it perfectly; both daughter and father were sitting in the living room. He had told her about the ghosts, about the four houses, about how the spells were fascinating, and so on. However, when Lily asked him if any strangers could get in, (her worst fear at the time) he had said it was impossible because Hogwarts had special enchantments.
So what happened to these enchantments now? The man did not apparate, he had simply dissolved into the wall. She knew it was impossible, and she now had proof of it in her arms. Although there was no proof that he had dissolved... If only Kendra didn't look at the titles...
"Ok-aay." Kendra raised an eyebrow, and then laughed at Lily's look. "You okay? You look...sort of...worried."
"Just worried I won't get to class on time." Lily said which was absolutely true. The hallways weren't exactly full anymore; they were actually pretty empty. A few Hufflepuffs walked past them, as the two of them continued to walk.
"Lily, Lily, Lily." Kendra laughed, and then said, "Your brother told me how much you worry."
Lily looked at Kendra, and stopped herself just in time from rolling her eyes. That twinkle in Kendra's eyes told the story. "He told you?"
"Well...no..." Kendra said shyly, biting her bottom lip, as the two of them picked up some speed. "I heard him talking to his friend..."
"Which one?" Lily asked Kendra.
"He had black hair, with bangs, and dark eyes--"
"Seth." Lily replied, irritated that James was telling stories of her to his friends. "Seth Ireweg."
"Well, yeah I heard them talking. How old is James?" Kendra looked at Lily from the corner of her eye.
"Fifteen." Lily said, sighing. Here came the questions about James. What's it like having him as a brother? Is he annoying? What does he do? Does he like anyone? Blah blah blah.
Luckily, Lily was saved from giving Kendra the moment to ask her any of these questions. At that particular moment, Michelle arrived.
"Hey!" Michelle ran up to Lily, Hugo and Gregory tailing behind her. Her brown hair was piled up on top of her head in a bun, and her earrings were huge silver hearts. It suited her well.
"Where were you?" Hugo asked, panting.
"We were looking everywhere for you!" Gregory added.
"Well, I was--" Lily said, glancing at Kendra, who was greeting Michelle. "Tell you later." she whispered to Gregory and Hugo.
"So!" Michelle said cheerfully. Lily, knowing her for only three days, did not know if this was a fake-cheerfulness, of if she really had had a sudden change of moods, although she highly doubted it. She concluded that Michelle must be an amazing and gifted actor.
The five of them walked towards the dungeon, finally arriving at the door. When they stepped inside the dull room, Lily looked around her. There were dusty, tan colored walls, with frames of different bubbling potions. The desks were arranged in columns, with spaced out rows, which Lily preferred better that the random-scattered seating arrangement.
"Come." Michelle said, as Kendra left their group and went over to hang out with Sophie, Olivia, and this other girl. Lily stared at the four others, and saw Olivia march away from the rest in fury. Lily smirked, but then allowed herself to be dragged by Michelle.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Gregory said, as the four of them sat in each of the columns, so they were next to each other. In the first column was Hugo, then Michelle, then Lily and last; Gregory.
"Shh." Lily whispered, worried that someone might hear them. "I will, loser." She smirked, and then looked forward to the front desk. Professor Jaquel had not arrived yet.
Lily felt a tap on her shoulder, and when she turned around, she saw Sabereth smirking down at her. "Potter, do you mind if I sit behind you?" he said in a sarcastic tone, as if testing her temper.
"Course not, Malfoy. Although I would prefer you admire me from afar." Lily flashed a fake smile, and turned back around, her lips curling into the smile that formed when her fellow Gryffindors laughed.
"Oh, I'm not here to admire." Sabereth whispered. "I'm here to annoy you during class."
"Well, I'll have to deal with it when the time comes." Lily said, turning only half-way around.
"Okay. I'm fine with that if you are." Sabereth laughed, and then whispered to his friends who were around his desk, now taking their seats in the same row. There were giggles that followed.
Just then, Professor Jaquel entered the room. "Silence!" she announced to the room, and it immediately became silent. "Please shut up for the entire lesson, and open your books to page 8!"
There was laughter. Lily simply smirked, but then stopped herself. She had to think right now, not laugh. She desperately hoped that they would be asked to read; she had already read the entire book during the summer. Exactly; she was a bookworm. A proud one too.
"Read from pages 8 to 15, which is about safety procedures. Then, be prepared to answer any questions I shall ask you. After this, we will begin to discuss the topic potions itself."
8 to 15. That would be enough time to ponder at what she had read today at the library. She opened her Potions book like everyone else, and pretended to read. Her eyes were looking at the book, although her mind was blank.
Okay. she thought. How did he dissolve into the walls if in the book Hogwarts, A History, it clearly states its impossible to enter or leave the grounds unless you're at the gates.
But then again, Lily thought, he might have been using some new spell, right? James and Albus had always been talking about new spells that were now forming at the Ministry; as wizards from all over tried their best to improve wizarding magic in every way possible. However, although there were a lot more defense spells, there were more dangerous spells as well...
That was what she would have to research. She knew it was impossible to simply leave the castle, but that was when her father was at the school. This must be some new...invention or something. Each generation, as James had explained to her, had some new type of magic. And this generations' was most probably dissolving spells or so...
Just then, a sharp object hit her neck. Lily rubbed her neck, and turned around. She saw nothing.
Sabereth. It had to be him. But he was reading so innocently, Lily doubted it. She must have imagined it...
She turned back around, to her book, and this time, felt four sharp objects poking her shoulders and neck. She whipped around, and caught Sabereth tuck his wand in his robes just in time. She narrowed her eyes in fury, but then smirked. She snuck her wand from her own robes, and desperately thought of the spell James had always used on Albus...what was it again? Oh yes..."Frindo." she whispered, tapping her wand on her neck slightly, as she felt liquid drip in her neck. She grabbed her hair, which was let loose, and put it into a ponytail with her scrunchie. Perfect.
"What the..." Lily heard Sabereth say, as Lily shot her hand in the air. "You're snitching? What a pathetic—"
"Professor?" Lily called out in a squeaky, loud voice, to the silent classroom, since Professor Jaquel was busy in stacking the piles of papers on her desk into a neat pile.
"Yes?" She looked up in Lily's direction, her glasses sliding off her nose. "Anything wrong?"
"Yes." Lily said, and then gulped. She pretended to wipe a tear, and then sniffed. "My n-neck."
"What's wrong with it?" Professor Jaquel said, worried, as she walked up next to her and looked at it. She gasped, and then immediately looked at Sabereth. "How...?"
"I felt sharp objects at my neck..." Lily said, sniffing. She looked at Michelle, who looked worried, and gave a slight wink. Michelle's worried expression hardened, as she raised her hand.
"Yes, Ms. Degen?"
"I remember Sabereth said before class began that he was going to annoy Lily."
"Me too." Gregory and Hugo announced.
"What?!" Sabereth said, trying his best to play innocent, but even he could not deny this fact. "But..."
"Sabereth Malfoy, get up immediately." Professor Jaquel said, furious. "Report to Professor Estrang's office, now."
Sabereth got up, glared at Lily, and left the room.
Lily couldn't help but smirk, but stopped when Professor Jaquel caught her.
"Back to reading." Professor Jaquel said. "Lily Potter, you may go to Madam Pomfrey, who is in the hospital wing."
"Sure." Lily said, gulping, making sure to carry on the act. She gathered her books and her tote. As soon as she left the room, she took her wand out, and said the counter curse to the spell, "Rindef." The "blood" disappeared immediately. She, obviously, had no intention of going to the hospital wing. She did, however, have other plans for the next forty minutes that lay ahead. What a perfect plan; getting Sabereth in trouble, and proceeding in her research. Lily couldn't help but sneer at her cleverness one last time, before she set off in the direction to which she desired. She needed all the evidence she could find before she explained to the other teachers that Professor Estrang was the murderer. She had already tried once...but they had all said that she was "believing things." The only one person who believed in her was Professor Longbottom.
She made a sharp turn, as she ran the rest of the way to the library.
--
"Excuse me?" Lily said to the librarian, who was a young lady with blazing maroon hair, and purple highlights. "I need a book on the new Ministry spells? The record of the ones for the past year?"
"I'm sorry, I cannot give that to a first year." She said, as she chomped on bubblegum. She flashed a smile, and went on twirling her wand, and forming hearts in the air.
"Oh my gosh, how'd you do that?" Lily asked the lady. "That's going to be really useful in the future."
"My, my." She giggled. "Aren't you naughty!" She continued to form red hearts, pink hearts, purple hearts...
"Can I try?" Lily asked, pretending to be interested. Hopefully she could persuade her into helping her find a book on Ministry-Made Spells.
"Say, Herti" She said, as she whispered it herself.
"Herti." Lily said, her wand forming a heart on its own. Her heart was green. Of course, she did it on purpose. Stella always made these hearts...
"Eww." Lily said, "How do you make them colored?"
The lady was getting annoyed now. "Why do you care, kid?"
"Because, I need to do a report on new spells. And this one's the only choice I have because you're not letting me look at the books."
She looked at Lily suspiciously, and then waved her wand in the air. Five books came bulging straight at her.
"Thanks!" Lily said cheerfully, as she grabbed the books, and sat on the table behind the bookshelf.
She opened the first book, and then sighed. She looked down at the table of contents. Let's see...she might as well go through all of them. She would learn alot, and she would be researching.
She flipped to the first page. There was a list of playful pranks. She smirked as she read the first one. "Qerify: a jinx that turns the victim rainbow for exactly a minute."
How would Sabereth look rainbow? She almost laughed aloud, grabbing her notebook and quill, writing down the jinx.
She went down the row, and sighed. Wouldn't it be better to check these books out and do this with Michelle, Hugo, and Gregory? Yes, it would. She quickly skimmed through the first book, deciding this would be good to checkout, although definitely not what she was looking for. She went on to the second book, which was just the History of how the Ministry preformed the magic. Hmm...this might help...
The third book was useless, although the fourth was good. It might have some curses, although definitely not dangerous ones, such as dissolving.
She would have to come back tonight, with Michelle as a distraction. She quickly checked the books out, avoiding the librarian's questions as to why she was not in class, and so on. When she finally left the room, she stuffed the books in her bag, and tucked her wand in her robes. The period was almost over, and she had Defense Against The Dark Arts next. She really couldn't wait...
As she made a right turn, she bumped into none other than Sabereth Malfoy. He was grinning, which surprised Lily. "Hey." He said in a mocking tone.
Lily narrowed her eyes, and said, "Why are you happy?"
"And why aren't you in the nurse's office?" said a voice behind Lily. Lily froze, staring at Sabereth with widened eyes. Sabereth was laughing, looking behind Lily.
Lily didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. The voice had haunted her nightmares for the last two nights. And now it was so close to her...inches away...
"I..." Lily began, gulping.
"Explain how you knew that spell so well to perform it on your third day at Hogwarts?" The man proceeded in questioning Lily's back, as Sabereth giggled in front of Lily.
"I would like to see you in my office tonight after dinner. Just the both of us, what do you say, Potter?"
Lily turned around, realizing the fact that deep inside, she had known this had been coming. She had known that she would have to face her new headmaster sooner or later.