Chapter 10: Class Catastrophe
The world was shaking. Nico kept his eyes shut tight. "What?" He croaked.
"Get up mate. We need to get breakfast." A voice said from his left.
"Go away." Nico groaned. The boy beside him chuckled. Nico smiled to himself as he heard the person leave. Nico wrapped the covers back around him. That's weird, he thought at the sound of water running, someone must be taking a shower. He reasoned, too tired to think.
Just as Nico was falling back asleep, he heard someone walking back towards his bed. The next thing he knew, he was all wet and freezing. He sat up, opining his eyes. "Harry!" He yelled at his laughing friend. He grumbled as he climbed out of bed. All his roommates were laughing.
"I am a child of the night, doomed to room with morning people." Nico grumbled loudly (yea! DP quote! Yes, I'm obsessed. Don't judge.). That just made everyone laugh harder. Even Neville was chuckling. He slammed the bathroom door, grumbling while he got dressed and put on his robes.
He walked back out and saw that his roommates were still giggling. He glared at them and they stopped laughing but they continued to smile.
Whispers followed Harry and Nico the whole way to the Great Hall.
"There, look."
"Where?"
"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."
"Wearing the glasses?"
"Did you see his face?"
"Did you see his scar?"
They also talked about Nico, but not as much as Harry.
"See that creepy kid?"
"He scared the ghosts?"
"Can't blame them, anyone in their right mind would be scared of him."
Nico clenched his fists. The shadows must have reacted because Harry put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax. If they find out about your powers who knows what will happen." Nico nodded and took deep breaths.
Both boys found it very annoying when everyone stared at them. They were trying to get to class and didn't want to be late. Well, Harry didn't want to be late. Nico couldn't care less. There were hundreds of weird staircases at Hogwarts which made finding their way to class even harder, which was saying something when the school was a huge castle.
There were wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot.
Nico was shocked when he first found out that the portraits could move and talk. He was to tired the night before to notice. The ghosts were actually a huge help. While all they did was float through doors and scare other students, every ghost was happy to lead Nico, Harry and Ron in the right direction. Everyone was quite surprised when they found out Nico was able to touch the ghosts. Even Nico was shocked. Yet, the more he thought about it, the more it just made his head hurt.
Peeves was even worse than getting lost. Even though he didn't prank Nico, he still wouldn't listen to him. Although he was slightly upset by this, he learned to live with it.
However, the caretaker, Argus Filch, was ten times worse than Peeves. The three boys managed to get on his bad side almost right away. When Nico first met Peeves, he asked for directions, expecting him to help like all the other ghosts did. However, Peeves directed them to a locked door on the third floor, which just so happened to be the forbidden door. Although Nico was aggravated with Peeves, he was also thankful he wasn't like the others. It was slightly annoying when all the ghosts would bow to him and call him 'Master' or 'Lord'.
Filch also had an ugly cat named Mrs. Norris, which often ran to get Filch whenever she saw someone doing something wrong. Sadly, Filch knew all the secret passage ways better then anyone, except the Weasley twins and Nico himself. Nico was able to sense all the secret passage ways right away. He didn't know how to explain it.
Nico, for once in his life, was excited about his classes. He later discovered; however, that he was failing terribly. While he was good at Astronomy, he was horrible at all the others. Nico discovered that he knew almost all the constellations by heart as well as the stories behind them. While everyone else believed that was all they were, stories, Nico had a feeling they actually happened.
Herbology was taught by a very kind witch. However, even though he liked the teacher, Herbology was Nico's least favorite subject. As soon as he got within five feet of them, all the plants around him would die.
When Nico walked into History of Magic, Nico was very shocked to find out it was thought by Professor Binns, a ghost. While the rumor was that the way he died was that he simply left his body was quite popular, Nico knew what had really happened. It was impossible for someone just to get up and leave their body. What really happened was someone poisoned his food the dinner before. When he fell asleep, the poisen took affect. While it was true he did leave his body without knowing, it was because he didn't realize he was dead.
When the ghost was taking roll call, the funniest thing happened. When Professor Binns came across Nico's name, he somehow managed to pale. Incredibly, he tripped over his desk. For the whole lesson Professor Binns would beg a laughing Nico for forgiveness.
Something very similar happened to Harry in Charms. When Professor Flitwick called out Harry's name, he squealed in excitement and tumbled off the stack of books he was standing on. Thankfully, Nico did well in Charms. He wasn't top of his class but he was close. Nico's favorite class was Transfiguration. Even though McGonagall was hard on them, she warmed up to Nico. She gave a long speech which Nico ignored then turned her desk into a pig. Sadly, they wouldn't be able to do that until 6th year. She gave them matches to turn into needles. At first, Nico was a bit rough and his first match exploded. However, he was able to do the transformation on his fourth try.
Everyone (except for Nico) had been looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts. According to Ron, Nico WAS the Dark Arts. To Nico's relief, the teacher was nothing but a big joke. The classroom smelled of garlic. Everyone said that it was to keep the 'vampires' away. Nico had another theory. There was a hint of Dark Magic. Very hard to sense but it was there.
Nico also noticed this smell that seemed to come from the turban. When he mentioned this to Harry, all his friend said was, "Maybe he puts garlic in it so he will be safe wherever he goes." Nico really doubted this. For one thing, the Dark Magic seemed to be stronger around the turban. Somehow, Nico also noticed the air smelt of decaying flesh that seemed to follow Quirrell wherever he went.
Thankfully, Harry and Nico weren't that far behind the rest of the class. It seemed as though no one else knew much magic either.
After finally managing to get to the Great Hall without getting lost, Harry asked Ron what class they had next. "Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."
"Wish McGonagall favored us," said Harry. Nico silently agreed. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework on the first day.
Just then, the mail arrived. Nico had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.
Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far and Tenebris only showed up every once and a while. This morning, however, Hedwig fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. Nico looked over at the letter. It was written in very messy handwriting so it gave him a head ache just to look at it. Harry turned it around and wrote something down before giving it back to Hedwig.
Nico had a feeling that Snape hated Harry. He was a little nicer to Nico, but not by much.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and, also like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.
"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."
Nico clenched his fists. This class was going to be very stressful for him. He could tell right away. Nico heard Malfoy and his body guards laughing and glared at them. Harry seemed to have a staring contest with the professor.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
Nico was fuming and Ron and Harry exchanged looks. Hermione looked like she was ready to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Nico clenched his fists. He had heard some if the sixth years talking about it and they had just finished studying it the past year.
Hermione's hand had shot into the air. Nico couldn't help but be impressed.
"I don't know, sir," said Harry.
Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."
He ignored Hermione's hand.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Nico had a feeling they wouldn't learn that for a while either.
Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Nico could tell Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He glared at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.
"I don't know, sir."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
Nico couldn't take it anymore. "Excuse me sir but I skimmed through our Potions book a while ago and it never brought up what a bezoar is but if you must know it is a stone that is found in the stomach of a goat." Everyone stared at Nico in shock.
Snape sneered. "It wasn't your question to answer Mr. di Angelo. Don't tell me how to teach my class. Fifteen points from Gryffindor."
Snape turned back to Harry. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" He once again ignored Hermione.
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" Nico lost his temper again. It took all his willpower not to send the shadows at the git.
"Oh I don't know Professor. Maybe because you didn't tell us to?" Snape turned at Nico and glared. Many students shivered but Nico met Snape's glare with one of his own. The Potion Master turned away.
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment as everyone turned back to their papers. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter. di Angelo, you have detention this weekend."
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.
He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.
"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills?"
Nico stood up in his seat. "It's not his fault!" He yelled. All the shadows shifted towards the boy.
Snape wrote something down on a slip of paper. "Take this to your head of house." Nico stood up and snatched the note away, glaring at the Professor. Some Slytherins were smirking at him so he glared at them. All of them shivered and looked away, as did a few Gryffindors. Nico stormed up to the door and yanked it open. He glared at Snape some more and saw him shiver. Nico smirked happily as he slammed the door shut behind him.
He stormed into the Transfiguration class and handed the note to Professor McGonagall. The Professor read it over and took away ten points for talking back to a teacher and gave him another detention. Nico didn't even bother to go to all the other classes. He just sat in his dorm, staring at the pictures of his family.
