Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, that's J.K. Rowling. I don't own any of the characters, except previously listed OC's and Seth Chang.
Herbology-
(Hufflepuff & Slytherin)
He wasn't worried. More like…concerned. He looked down at the blond-haired boy next to him, who was still blushing. He didn't think Jason ever stopped blushing, although, it was kind of endearing.
Anyways, he was worried-no, concerned- because he knew Jason could get flustered easily, and could, apparently, faint easily as well. Jason wasn't exactly the most confident guy; he'd probably get picked on at one point or another, and Ethan wasn't sure he could handle it.
'Well,' Ethan thought to himself. 'I'll just be there to make sure he's okay.'
After all, wasn't that what he was doing right now? He'd tried to stay with Jason, but Madam Pomfrey had sent him back to class with the promise that he could come back afterwards to take Jason to Herbology.
Of course, now Jason was worrying about whether their Herbology teacher would be strict, despite the fact that they had already met her. Professor Zales was Head of Hufflepuff House, and looked like she couldn't hurt a fly.
She was very slight, and could almost be mistaken for a student. She had light brown hair that framed her face in short curls, and she had glasses around her brown eyes. She seemed very shy, and Ethan was doubtful that she could scare Jason in the slightest.
Finally, they reached Greenhouse One, Ethan propping the door open for Jason and following him inside. The other Hufflepuff first-years were already inside, along with the Slytherins.
Professor Zales was standing at the far end of a long table, which was filled with an array of magical plants. Jason looked a bit scared, and Ethan moved closer to him. The students were all chattering away, but every Hufflepuff fell silent when Professor Zales cleared her throat a bit. She smiled at them, then frowned in the Slytherins' direction, as they had not stopped talking.
Ethan immediately felt bad. As a Hufflepuff, he had a great respect for his Head of House already, although he hardly knew her. He could tell, however, that she was a very quiet, shy woman, and wondered how on earth she would be able to handle the Slytherins.
Professor Zales walked down the row of Slytherins, presumably to speak with them; however, she merely walked out the door.
That alone was enough to render the Slytherins silent, but she returned a moment later with an enormous plant. The plant was green and spiky, and was snapping and hissing; its vines were moving about in an attempt to grab someone.
If possible, the room became even more silent. Professor Zales reached the end of the table, and set the plant down. One of its vines curled itself around her arm; she simply frowned and swatted it away. The vines then began creeping towards the Slytherins. A few panicked, while others backed away slowly. One boy looked unconvinced; he stayed where he was and looked at the plant. It curled a vine around his arm, and he attempted to swat it away as Professor Zales had. This time, however, the plant did not respond, simply winding more vines around the boy.
He had started to panic; the plant was inching itself towards him, and Professor Zales was watching quite calmly. Finally, it got near enough to sink its teeth into the boy, which is exactly what it did. The boy screamed, throwing the plant against a wall of the greenhouse; the pot shattered, and the plant seemed quite annoyed and began creeping towards him again.
Professor Zales calmly pulled her wand out of her pocket.
"Diffindo," she said, her voice sounding as steady as ever.
The plant stopped moving, the hissing that had previously filled the room vanished, and everyone visibly relaxed. Then she repaired the pot, levitated it onto the table, and levitated the plant back into the pot. Then she addressed the class.
"The name of this plant," she began calmly. "Is Venomous Tentacula. As you have just observed, its vines are mobile. This is how it catches its prey."
"The shoots," she continued, tapping the plant as she spoke. "Expel venom. The spikes are deadly, and the bite is highly poisonous. If unprepared, it is highly unlikely that you will survive an encounter with one."
At this news, the boy's mouth fell open. "Pr-Professor Zales! B-but I j-just-"
"Mr. Slewyn," she interrupted, in a measured voice. "Please, calm yourself."
"H-how did you k-know my-and calm d-down? But y-you said that I-I-"
"Mr. Slewyn, I knew your name because I take it upon myself to know every one of my students before I meet them. You need to calm down because you are in absolutely no danger. You also need to stop interrupting me, as it is highly disrespectful," she said all of this in an authoritative, although not unkind, tone.
"You said it was deadly," Slewyn protested, looking confused and angry.
"Really, Mr. Slewyn. One would think you could pay attention. The spikes are deadly, and you were merely bitten. The bite is only highly poisonous," she said, frowning at him.
"Highly p-poisonous?"
"However," she continued. "This particular plant has had all of its venom extracted. Otherwise, it would be far too dangerous to have around first-year students."
Every mouth in the room fell open at that.
"Herbology can, in fact, be quite dangerous if you don't know what to do. Continue not paying attention, and you could end up with a real injury. Remember that, Mr. Slewyn."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, looking down. His face was flushed, and he looked quite sheepish.
"Good," she said briskly. "I am going to return this to Greenhouse Two. I expect you to be silent when I return."
Everyone watched her leave, with expressions of fear and surprise. Ethan rethought his earlier opinion.
'Alright,' he decided. 'Perhaps she can scare Jason.
Transfiguration-
(Ravenclaw & Gryffindor)
Nicole walked down the hall silently. The girl next to her, however, was chattering away. Despite being roommates, she and Britney hadn't talked much until Charms class; now, Britney wouldn't shut up.
Nicole knew herself. She wasn't that social, she was highly skeptical, intelligent, and could tell when someone was lying. She was not, however, a patient person. Which meant dealing with Britney's insanity was incredibly difficult.
They reached the Transfiguration classroom, and Nicole raced to sit next to someone, anyone-as long as it wasn't Britney. She found an empty seat beside a girl with curly black hair. She introduced herself, and they talked a bit before the teacher came in.
The girl's name was Marissa; she was a Ravenclaw, and a Muggle-born. She didn't have any siblings, and she hated her roommate. In turn, Marissa found out Nicole's name, that she was a Gryffindor, a half-blood, that she had an older half-brother (Seth), and that her roommate never stopped talking.
They stopped talking when their teacher arrived, a stern-looking woman whose brown hair was pulled into a tight bun. She wore an emerald green dress and a pointed black hat. Nicole had seen Professor McGonagall a few times, as she was Head of Gryffindor House, but she didn't know at all what she was like.
Nicole tried to pay attention during the lesson, but was quite distracted, as Britney was sitting a few rows in front of her, looking miserable. Nicole immediately felt guilty; she resolved to apologize after class.
The girl to the right of Britney seemed to notice something was wrong, as she had started talking to her with a concerned expression on her face. The girl had light brown hair that was braided down her back, and was talking to Britney, looking incredibly sympathetic.
However, Nicole always knew when people were lying, and the girl definitely wasn't actually being nice to Britney. She felt a surge of anger when she realized the girl was completely manipulating her.
"Marissa," she hissed fiercely.
"Yes?" the girl responded.
"Do you know who that is? The girl with the braid, a couple rows in front of us," she whispered urgently.
"Yes, that's my roommate, Raina. She's a bit…nevermind," she finished hastily.
Nicole frowned. This girl-Raina-was lying to and manipulating her roommate. That was not okay. She was going to apologize to Britney and tell Raina to lay off.
Class ended, and Nicole gathered up all her stuff, hurrying into the hallway. She saw Britney and Raina disappearing through a crowd of people, impossible to follow.
'It doesn't matter,' she told herself. 'You and Britney have your next class together, without Raina. You can just talk to her then.'
And that's exactly what she'd do, she decided, as she headed off to History of Magic.
Hello! I have an idea...you should review/critique/etc. Yep. Seriously, though. It would make me super happy.
NEXT CHAPTER WILL INVOLVE MARISSA AND GREGORY. YAY!
Actually, I kinda love them. Which is funny, since I only added them to give Severus and Raina roommates. Whatever. They're still awesome.
