Chapter 8: Potions and Bludgers
Classes were becoming quite pleasant. Except for Defensive Against the Dark Arts. Lockhart was a complete idiot! In Rose's first class, he had then take a quiz all about him. Rose (who always read all of her textbooks during the summer) was unfortunately among the few who passed the stupid quiz. Transfiguration was rather becoming difficult. Thankfully, Rose had annoyed Harry enough to study over the summer so that it wasn't too overwhelming for both of them. Charms, Herbology, and Astronomy were becoming more challenging as they progressed. Rose once again completely dismissed History of Magic and decided she would draw pictures of snakes fighting a ghost instead of writing the essays for homework.
Now, it was time for Rose's favorite class: Potions. She was possibly one of the few (read: the only one) who appreciated Professor Snape's teaching style. She found great pleasure in working over a steaming cauldron (although it left her hair feeling very greasy afterwards). Rose was also one of the very few who excelled in the class, both in the writing and practical sense of it. Draco and Harry often said it was probably because Snape was sweet on her which was completely absurd because he wasn't (he was).
"Miss Potter, please stay after class," Snape said as everyone was preparing to leave. Rose looked up surprised. She gave Harry, who was always her potions partner (it was the only way he was going to pass the class), a reassuring look and instructed him to go on. Once the class had cleared out, Rose swung her messenger bag over her shoulder and went to Snape.
"Yes, Professor?" She said.
"In my office, Miss Potter," Snape replied as opened the door to the connecting room. Taking a seat behind his desk, Severus watched Rose enter. Like her mother, Rose had put her hair up in a loose bun of vibrant red curls during potions class. She gave him a lovely smile, exposing her familiar dimples, as she sat down on the chair in front of his desk. Severus swallowed hard and tried to remind himself (again) to not get distracted by her green eyes.
"Miss Potter, are you aware that you received the highest marks on your potions exam last year," Snape said. Rose nodded her head. "Are you also aware that no one has scored higher than you in over twenty years?" Rose's eyes went wide.
"No, I wasn't Professor," Rose said, a spark of pride appeared in her eyes.
"It's rare for a student to excel in the subject of potions in such a young age. Usually, it isn't until fourth year that students become able to fully comprehend the subject." As he spoke, Rose listened attentively.
"Well the last time a student showed such a raw talent for the subject, he was offered the opportunity to become the apprentice of the current Potions Professor," Snape explained. He was talking about himself and recalled the enthusiasm Slughorn had when he offered him the apprenticeship.
"Really?" Rose's green eyes stared in wonder at him. Such pretty eyes…
Severus clenched his teeth.
"Yes, and I hope to offer the same apprenticeship to you," Snape continued. "Should you accept, you'll be taking advance potions classes after dinner three times a week. You'll still have to attend and excel normal classes however next year you will take the class with the older students. At the end of every year, you will be given different exams from everyone else. Should you do well, you will graduate Hogwarts with a degree in Potions. With this degree you will be able to apply for another three-year apprenticeship to earn a Master's degree in the subject."
"I would love to, Professor!" Rose exclaimed in excited. Without thinking, she had jumped to her feet and went to hug Snape. Snape froze.
If it was any other student in the entire castle, Snape would have yelled, pushed them away, and taken about a hundred points from their house. However, this wasn't any other student. This was Rose Lily Potter. Snape clenched his teeth tightly and meekly patted her back and waited for her to release him.
"You start tomorrow. Seven o'clock sharp; don't be late," He said.
"Thank you, Professor!" Rose yelled as she ran out of the office to her next class. Sighing, Snape sat back down and rubbed his temples.
…
During lunch, Rose was telling her friends everything.
"That sounds like more detention to me," Ron said.
"Honestly, Ron, can't you be appreciative of Rose's new opportunity?" Hermione said. "This is great, Rose. Imagine it! You'll be a Potions Master by the age of twenty!"
"Hopefully, you won't go dressing up in all black every day," Draco said with a smirk.
"Or develop a big nose," Harry added. Every laughed at the joke.
"That reminds me," Rose said. "I need to figure out a way to prevent my hair from getting greasy." Everyone thought she was joking and started to laugh again. "No, I'm serious. Every time I preform a potion by hair getting greasy from the fumes."
"That explains Snape's hair," Ron said.
"Professor Snape," Hermione corrected, but Ron just rolled his eyes.
…
Weeks passed, and Rose found herself suited up in Quidditch clothing and with her broom in hand. She sat next to Draco as they waited for the results of the tryouts. Since the seeker and one of the chasers had graduated last year, the Slytherin Quidditch Team was in desperate search for new ones. In the middle of the tryouts, Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, had appeared, delivering seven new Nimbus 2001's. It was apparently a gift from the Board of Governors, but Draco knew better.
"Urgh, that's so embarrassing!" Draco complained to Rose. He tossed his head back and covered his face with his hands. "Now, everyone's going to thing I'm trying to bride my way into the team."
"Nonsense, Draco, you're a great seeker and they'll figure that out on their own," Rose assured, not caring that her words of comfort were probably lies.
"We have the results," Marcus Flint announced as he exited the Slytherin Team's locker rooms. Everyone tensed up. "Our newest chaser is Rose Potter." Rose jumped into the air in excitement. "And our new seeker is Draco Malfoy!"
Rose smiled and hugged him. Everyone else who showed up for the tryouts groaned. How the hell did two second years manage to get onto the team? Oh right, Rose was the sister of the Boy-Who-Lived and Draco's father was Lucius Malfoy.
Before they knew it, it was November and time for the first quidditch match of the year. Unfortunately, a week before the entire school had been startled by a horrifying message written in read. It had said. "The chamber of secrets has been open. Enemies of the heir…Beware." Along with the message was a petrified Mrs. Norris. Fortunately, a good old quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin would lift the spirits of the school.
This time, Rose was no longer in the stands but out in the field. Unlike everyone else who accepted the Nimbus 2001 from Mr. Malfoy, Rose had chosen to stay with her Nimbus 2000 which was perfectly fine.
Unlike Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey, the other two chasers who were being demolished by bludgers, Fred and George Weasley couldn't dare send a bludger towards Rose. This gave her the perfect opportunity to retrieve the quaffle every time Angelina Johnson or Katie Bell dropped it (Marcus had placed a slippery charm on it that effected only Gryffindors) and send it soaring over Oliver Wood's head.
Suddenly, Rose noticed that the bludgers were no longer heading towards any of their chasers. Instead it seemed that both bludgers were flying at Harry at alarming rates. Rose couldn't concentrate on playing the game anymore; she was too focused of the life on her brother. He dipped and twisted around in hopes that the bludgers were go away yet they were relentless. The bludgers didn't even go anywhere near Draco, who had been tailing Harry during the entire game.
Fred and George were trying their hardest to keep the bludgers away from Harry, but it didn't help that both Slytherin beater were trying their hardest to send the bludgers towards Harry. Having enough of such nonsense, Rose dropped the quaffle, flew over to one of the Slytherin beaters, and yanked the bat from him.
"Hey!" He yelled, but it was too late because Rose had already flown away. She went besides her brother who was besides Draco as they were in the middle of a dive.
"Rose, what are you-"Harry said.
"Shut up!" Rose yelled. A bludger was heading right towards them. Using the beater's bat, she gave one strong swing and set the bludger flying up into the sky.
"Oi! Potter! You're a chaser, not a bloody beater!" Marcus Flint yelled at her. Rose rolled her eyes at the irony and hit another bludger.
Satisfied with the result, Rose went flying back to the pitch, returning the bat, and was able to score two more times.
"CRACK!" The obnoxiously loud sound echoed through the pitch. Rose turned her head in horror as she saw that the bludger had returned and had knocked her brother off his broomstick. Without thinking, Rose zoomed towards him, making a nosebleed dive. She reached out for him, and… got him by arm!
Holding him only by his forearm, Rose gently set Harry down on the pitch.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Harry winked at her than showed her his hand. He opened it to reveal the snitch. Everyone in the Gryffindor stands cheered. But then Rose smirked as Lee Jordan's voice was heard through the pitch.
"GRYFFINDOR GETS THE SNITCH, but Slytherin still wins by ten points."
The Slytherin stands exploded with cheers.
Both teams quickly brought their broomsticks down. The Slytherins were cheering and the two beaters lifted Rose upon their shoulders. Oliver Wood went to go help Harry. As Wood went to grip his arm, Harry let out a cry of pain. His arm was broken.
And like that Rose was by his side again, and students and professors flooded the pitch.
"I will murder who ever messed with that bludger, Harry," Rose cooed softly as she patted his face. Harry chuckled.
"It's just a broken arm, relax Rosie," Harry assured. Then something caught his eyes, and Harry appeared very worried.
"Oh, no, no, no, not you," Harry said. Rose looked up and saw what was bothering him. Lockhart was pushing through the crowd trying to get to them.
"Go away!" Rose shrieked as the blond man got close to them.
"Doesn't know what they're saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."
"No!" said Harry. "I'll keep it like this, thanks."
"GO AWAY!" Rose repeated loudly.
"Lie back, Harry," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times -"
"DON'T TOUCH HIM," Rose yelled and pulled Harry towards her. Lockhart frowned at her and tried again to get close to Harry.
"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" said Harry through clenched teeth. The pain of his arm was starting to get to him
"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.
"No - don't -" said Harry weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Harry's arm.
Rose stared in shock as every bone in Harry's arm disappeared.
Fred and George were barely able to hold Rose back as she lunged at Lockhart who looked terrified.
"YOU ARSE! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO! WHO WAS THE FUCKING IDIOT THAT GAVE YOU A WAND IN THE FIRST PLACE? DON'T YOU EVER THINK ABOUT EVER GETTING IN A FIVE FEET RADIUS OF MY BROTHER! I WILL RIP YOUR BONES OUT OF YOUR GIT BODY AND THEN WE'LL SEE WHO'S THE BONELESS ONE AFTER THAT, YOU TWAT!"
After her little outburst, Rose got seventy points taken away from Slytherin for threating and cursing at a teacher. None of the other Slytherins cared though because it was Lockhart after all and she had already just won a quidditch game for them. Along with that, Rose got a month of detention with Snape (who found the entire situation quite humorous and had her doing homework for an hour).
To make matters worse, lately Rose had been hearing strange voices while walking through the hallways. At first, she thought it was just coming from whispering or muttering students, but she knew better when she found herself in an empty corridor.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The voice hissed through the hallway. Covering her ears, Rose ran away from the deserted corridor,
…
The next day, Harry had come to see Rose (with all the bones in his arm, thank merlin). He told her that while he was at the Hospital Wing, Dobby had given him a special visit. Apparently, it was because of him that the bludgers attacked Harry: another attempt to get him out of Hogwarts. However, the small elf had let it slip that he was trying to protect him from the Chamber of Secrets.
"I have a feeling that we're going to have to start researching that," Rose commented.
"But, then Dumbledore and McGonagall came in pulling in Colin Creevy," Harry said. Rose gave him a confused look. "The first year who was taking photos of me yesterday." Rose nodded her head. "He was paralyzed, Rose. Dumbledore said that he had seen something through his camera lenses that had paralyzed him. He was a muggleborns, I remember because he told me before."
"I bet it's from the chamber," Rose said.
"Whatever it is, we need to find the heir of Slytherin and put an end to this," Harry said.
"Do we? Do we have to?" Rose groaned. Why were they always responsible for when things went wrong in this forsaken school?
"Come on, Rose, it's not like Lockhart is going to do so," Harry said. The two laughed. The idiot blond professor had quickly become the butt of most of their jokes.
"I'm still very worried though," Rose said. "What if one of our friends get hurt? What if the heir comes after a muggleborns like Hermione?"
"Then we will put an end to the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said, firmly.
"Alright, Hermione and I will start researching."
"Take my cloak so that you get into the restricted section," Harry said as he quickly transferred the shimmery cloak from his messenger bag to her bag.
Edited 6/4/2018 1:20AM
