Severus moved slowly down the aisle next to the Slytherin table carrying a thick stack of parchment. He had organized the schedules by year and then alphabetically by last name.

"Mr. Wickes," he said, catching his seventh year prefect's attention.

"Yes, sir," Leander Wickes said, turning to face Severus.

"Your schedule. I've removed you from Ancient Runes, as you requested," Severus said, handing him a piece of parchment with his schedule.

"Thank you, sir," he said. "I appreciate that."

Severus nodded and then continued on. "Mr. Boyle,' he said, moving on to the sixth years.

Alex Boyle looked over the schedule that Severus had handed him. "I'm not in your Potions class. Why not?"

"Because you received an Exceed Expectations on your Potions OWL. I require students to receive an Outstanding on their OWL to continue in my class," Severus said, willing himself to be patient.

"But the other professors only require a pass. Professor McGonagall only requires an Exceeds Expectations," Boyle immediately countered.

"I'm not Professor McGonagall or any of the other professors," Severus said.

"I'll have my parents take this up with Professor Dumbledore," Boyle threatened.

"Be my guest," Severus said, making sure to turn his face away before he rolled his eyes. He moved onto his sixth year prefects. "Mr. Crue."

"Thank you, sir," Nathaniel Crue said, glancing over his schedule and nodding.

"Miss Farley."

"Yes, sir," Gemma Farley said, standing up to greet him.

"Your schedule," Severus said, handing the sheet of parchment to her.

She smiled as she looked over her classes. "Thank you, sir."

Severus nodded and continued down through the years, pausing to briefly assess each student as he handed them their schedules. Most looked as though they'd weathered their summer vacations well, though a few he decided to keep a closer eye on.

"Miss Snow," he said as he reached near the end of the second years.

Rachel smiled as she looked up at him and accepted her schedule.

"Are you doing alright?" he asked.

Rachel nodded.

"Please come see me if you need anything," he said, noting that it seemed Torey had been right about Rachel finding it difficult to speak when there were a lot of people around.

When he reached the first years he attempted to match them with the students he'd seen at the sorting last night. He liked to at least know his Slytherin students by name before they entered his classroom.

Fergus Cowley was the boy with dark skin and hair, Scarlett Lympsham was the girl with the dark red hair, and Michael Pike was the tall boy with brown hair.

"I believe you know my father, sir," Michael Pike said as he stood to receive his schedule.

"I am acquainted, yes," Severus said reluctantly. Matthew Pike was well known among Death Eaters for his particular interest in torturing muggle women.

"I'm pleased to meet you as well then, sir," Michael Pike said, inclining his head in a little bow.

"Indeed," Severus said, moving on to hand out the last of his schedules.

His only hope was that this year was quieter than last.

Rachel looked over her schedule as she finished eating breakfast.

Second Year Slytherin Time Table

1st period: 8:45 - 10:15

2nd period: 10:30 - 12:00

Lunch

3rd period: 1:00 - 2:30

4th period: 2:45 - 4:15

Transfiguration: Monday and Wednesday 1st and 2nd period (with Hufflepuffs) - 1st floor, classroom 1B

Potions: Monday and Wednesday 3rd and 4th period (with Gryffindors) - 1st level dungeons classroom

Herbology: Tuesday and Thursday 1st period (with Gryffindors) - Greenhouse

Charms: Tuesday and Thursday 2nd Period (with Ravenclaws) - 2nd floor, classroom 2B

Defense: Tuesday and Thursday 3rd period (with Gryffindors) - 3rd floor, classroom 3C

Astronomy: Thursday at Midnight - Astronomy Tower

History of Magic: Friday 1st and 2nd period (with Ravenclaws) 4th floor, classroom 4F

"We have double History after we have Astronomy the night before? Everyone is going to sleep through that class," Theo said.

"But at least we have three classes with the Gryffindors," Millie pointed out.

Rachel was also dismayed about the arrangement of their Astronomy and History classes, but there wasn't much they could do about it. She was glad they had classes with the Gryffindors for most of their practical classes, which would make pairing up easier.

"Shall we go get our books and then head to Transfiguration then?" Theo asked. "Before the halls get crazy."

Rachel nodded in agreement and shoved the last of her buttered toast into her mouth.

They left the Slytherin table, where Draco was loudly telling Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle about his summer trip to the Caribbean. It was a quick trip back down into the dungeons to get their copies of The Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration and then they went back up to the first floor. The classroom door was locked so they settled in outside to wait.

Two Hufflepuff girls approached. Rachel recognized them as Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones.

"We're not late, are we?" Susan asked.

"No, you're early," Millie said. "Professor McGonagall isn't even here yet."

"Oh, that's good. Did you have a good summer?" Hannah asked.

"Yes, I went to France, and my parents got me a cat," Millie said. "How about you?"

"Mine was fine. We spent some time with my aunt," Susan said.

"Mine too. Didn't do much," Hannah said.

"Me neither," Theo said, sounding a little bitter.

"How about you, Rachel? You spent your summer with Professor Snape?" Susan asked.

Rachel nodded and took an unsteady breath. All she had to say was 'yes'. She swallowed, but couldn't manage to force herself to speak.

The classroom door opened and they all turned to see Professor McGonagall approaching. They waited for her to go through first and then followed her inside and took their seats.

"It's probably reasonable that you're having trouble speaking to people you don't know well," Theo said quietly. "Give yourself some time to adjust."

Rachel nodded and then sighed. She was tired of giving herself time.

"It will be okay," Millie said, giving Rachel a small smile.

The rest of the students made their way into the classroom and silence fell as they turned to where Professor McGonagall was standing near the chalkboard.

"Today we will be reviewing the Transfiguration formula before we begin any practical work," she said, tapping her wand against the chalkboard, which revealed a complicated diagram.

Rachel pulled out parchment and a quill and settled in to take notes.

They were about halfway through the class when Professor McGonagall began asking questions.

She stopped in front of Rachel's desk. "Miss Snow, true or false, the extra body weight of a creature being transfigured can be ameliorated by the precision of the wand movements."

Rachel swallowed hard and focused on Professor McGonagall. All she had to do was pretend no one else was in the room watching her. "True," she said, barely audibly.

"Very good, Miss Snow, that statement is true. Two points to Slytherin," Professor McGonagall said before continuing her questioning.

Millie looked at Rachel and grinned and Rachel weakly smiled back. She had done it. She had talked in class. Now she just had to keep doing it, and manage to talk to people she didn't really know well. At least it was a step in the right direction.

"Some important things to note about this potion. While the instructions say to chop the Sopophorous bean, it is better to place the bean in a shallow dish and then crush it with the side of your knife. Then add the resulting liquid to your potion," Professor Snape explained as he paced back and forth at the front of the classroom.

Rachel quickly added 'crush the bean in a shallow dish, add liquid' to the side of the instructions she'd written out in her notes.

"The instructions also direct you to add a dash of essence of nettle. Do not simply tip some of the bottle into your cauldron. Instead, measure ten drops of the essence of nettle into a phial, and then pour that amount into your cauldron," Professor Snape continued.

Rachel made a note reading '10 drops, add all at once' next to the instruction about the essence of nettle.

"Finally, remember to stir clockwise unless the instructions specify otherwise. Inter-House pairs," Professor Snape instructed as he finished the lecture on the Sleeping Draught. "Send one person per pair to the storeroom to collect a single Sopophorous bean and four valerian sprigs."

Noise broke out in the classroom as students scrambled to find a favorable pairing.

"Theo, if you're okay working with one of the others, why don't I work with Millie and Rachel can work with Neville," Hermione suggested.

"As long as I don't get paired with Weasley, that's fine," Theo said, looking over to where Pansy had partnered with Lavender and Daphne had partnered with Parvati.

"I'll go get the ingredients," Neville said as Rachel moved to sit with him. Millie followed him as Hermione set up their caudron.

"Theo, we have more Slytherins than Gryffindors. Partner with me," Draco said.

Theo nodded and moved to join where Draco was sitting.

Before long Neville was back with their Sopophorous bean and four valerian sprigs. "Alright. I guess we do the wormwood first," he said.

"Wait," Rachel whispered. "Let's read the instructions again together, and then we'll say each instruction as we're doing it."

Neville nodded and the both sat quietly for a moment as they reread the instructions.

"Leander says crush means grind into a fine powder," Rachel said, placing two wormwood leaves into her mortar. "Why don't you chop the valerian into even pieces while I crush this."

"Okay," Neville said, taking his knife out of his potions kit.

They worked in silence for a few minutes. "I'm going to add the crushed wormwood to the cauldron and then stir slowly," Rachel said quietly, doing so when Neville nodded.

"I'm going to add the chopped valerian, and then turn the heat to high," Neville said.

Rachel nodded and watched while Neville poured the valerian into the cauldron and adjusted the heat.

"Now two scoops of flobberworm mucus," Rachel said, even though the instructions indicated to juice a flobberworm. They knew that two scoops was the amount of mucus contained in a single flobberworm. She added it to the cauldron.

"Stir vigorously, then turn the heat on low, and stir once more," Neville said, pausing. "Clockwise."

Rachel thought about it for a moment and then moved her finger in a circle to indicate which direction was clockwise. She picked up the Sopophorous bean, placed it in one of the measuring scoops, and then used her knife to crush it. She couldn't believe how much juice it contained. She removed the remains of the bean.

"Ready?" she asked.

Neville nodded and she poured the Sopophorous bean liquid into the potion. It turned dark blue.

"Stir clockwise and turn to a medium heat," Neville said, doing the stirring.

Professor Snape came by and peered into their cauldron. He nodded once and then moved on.

Neville exhaled. "I hate it when he does that."

"It's okay," Rachel said. "If something was wrong he would have said something. Could you powder the asphodel petals while I measure the essence of nettle?"

Neville worked at his mortar and pestle while Rachel carefully measured out ten drops of essence of nettle.

"Powdered asphodel petals first," Neville said, stopping to reread the instructions before he added them to the cauldron.

"And now essence of nettle and turn the heat back up. Once it's boiling we'll stir again," Rachel said, relaxing a little now that the majority of the work was done.

"Thanks," Neville said, looking around the classroom for Professor Snape before looking at Rachel.

"For what?" Rachel asked.

"For helping me, and going slowly, and making sure I don't mess up," Neville said, his cheeks going pink.

Rachel shook her head. "It's the same way we were doing potions last year."

Neville shrugged. "I don't think Hermione and Theo need to say the instructions out loud when they make potions. I don't think you do either."

"But it's the safest way to do it, because that way we're helping each other to do it right," Rachel said, reaching for the stirring rod now that the potion was boiling. She made the clockwise motion again, to make sure she was going the right direction. As she stirred the potion turned dark purple.

Neville turned off the heat. "Still. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for being your friend," Rachel said, catching Neville's gaze. "We help each other, that's what friends do."

"Okay," Neville said, nodding.

After their potion had cooled they filled two phials, wrote their names on the labels, and brought them up to Professor Snape.

"Adequate," he said after viewing them.

Rachel smiled. She knew by now that adequate was Professor Snape's way of telling them they'd done a good job.

On Thursday morning they walked from the Great Hall out to the greenhouses together.

"How do we want to handle classes where we're split into pairs or groups of three or four?" Hermione asked.

"I don't mind working with Draco or Blaise in Potions. That allows the four of you to have inter-House pairs and trade off between who works with who," Theo offered.

"Who knows what Defense is going to look like," Millie said. "Last year we didn't have any practical exercises at all."

"We'll have to wait to see what happens in Defense," Hermione agreed.

"We could trade off in Herbology," Neville suggested.

"We could," Hermione said. "But I'm not sure if Rachel is ready to talk to anyone but us, and are you sure you would be okay with being partnered with Draco, or even Ron?"

"In Herbology, I'd be okay. I know what I'm doing in that class. In Potions, not so much," Neville admitted.

"What about you, Rachel?" Hermione asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I'd be okay. They're used to me not talking."

"The other thing we could do in Herbology, if she asks for groups of four, we could have three of us go in one group and two in the other, that way no one is alone," Theo suggested.

"I like that," Millie said.

"Me too," Neville said.

Rachel nodded. That did sound better than only one of them having to be alone with other people.

"Okay, and we can trade around each time so that we all get a chance to work together," Hermione said. "Another thing I was thinking about. What if in our study group time, we put together a thorough set of notes and copied it into our two-way books? That way we'd all have a clean copy of our notes that is organized by date. I think it would really help when we go to study for year end exams."

"I think it's a great idea, but we are not worrying about year end exams yet, Hermione. It's the second day of class," Theo said. "Why don't we each take a subject, and two of us can take two subjects. I'm happy to take Charms and Astronomy."

"Herbology," Neville said immediately.

"Potions," Rachel called.

"Transfiguration and History of Magic," Hermione said.

"I guess I'll take Defense," Millie said.

"You're okay with that, Millie? I can trade one if you'd prefer one of mine," Theo offered.

Millie shook her head. "I'm alright with Defense. Though, judging from Lockhart's books, I think we're going to have to do a lot of the research ourselves this year. He included what spells he used against the creatures, but he doesn't go into detail about how to cast them or the theory."

"I noticed that as well," Hermione said. "I imagine he'll go into more detail about the spells he used in class."

"Greenhouse three," Professor Sprout called as they approached.

Neville grinned. "I bet Professor Sprout keeps all sorts of plants in there."

Rachel couldn't help but smile at Neville's excitement.

They went into greenhouse three and the first thing Rachel noticed - apart from a red plant with spikes and moving feelers - was the random collection of earmuffs on one of the counters. The rest of the Slytherin and Gryffindor second years trailed into the greenhouse, followed by Professor Sprout.

"Today we'll be repotting Mandrakes. Who can tell me their properties?" Professor Sprout asked.

Neville and Hermione both put their hands in the air.

"Mr. Longbottom," Professor Sprout called.

"Mandrakes are used in restorative potions, which return cursed or transfigured people back to normal," Neville said.

"Very good, ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said. "They're essential to some antidotes, but Mandrakes are also dangerous. Why?"

Neville and Hermione raised their hands again.

"Miss Granger."

"Their cry is fatal to anyone who hears it," Hermione said.

"Yes, exactly. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said. "These Mandrakes are seedlings, but their cry will still knock you out for a few hours. Come get a pair of earmuffs and make sure they're on securely."

"I'll get ours," Millie said. She came back a minute later with five pairs of earmuffs.

Rachel put her earmuffs on and watched as Professor Sprout rolled up her sleeves, grabbed the purplish green leaves in a nearby tray, and yanked out the plant. Rachel blinked a few times and reminded herself that magic was weird.

The plant looked like a green baby, which was moving and crying, though she couldn't hear it from under her earmuffs.

Professor Sprout put the Mandrake baby into a large pot and covered it in compost until they could only see the leaves. She motioned for them to take off their earmuffs.

"Four students to a tray, pots to your left, compose in the sacks to the right," Professor Sprout called.

"Neville, why don't you and I join Dean and Seamus," Hermione suggested.

"Okay," Neville agreed. "I'll get us some pots."

"Let's take a tray and see who joins us," Millie said. "I'll get pots if one of you gets compost."

Rachel nodded and went to go get one of the sacks of compost.

"Watch the Venomous Tentacula," Professor Sprout called. "Just brush the feelers away."

Rachel grabbed a sack of compost and quickly ducked out of reach of the questing feelers. When she returned she found that Ron Weasley had joined them.

"Hello," he said, though he was watching them carefully.

"Hi," Theo said, his gaze equally unfriendly.

"Pots," Millie said as she sat them down. "Time for earmuffs."

They all put on their earmuffs and got to work. It was much more difficult, and dirty, than Professor Sprout had made it seem. They spent the rest of the class shoving plant babies into pots and covering them with compost. Wizarding school was weird sometimes.

After lunch they went back up to the third floor for Defense. Rachel sat down between Millie and Theo and got out her books and some parchment and a quill to take notes and glanced at where Professor Lockhart was standing at the front of the classroom. Maybe she was wrong, but he seemed to be posing?

She glanced at Theo, who was looking at Professor Lockhart with an expression of distaste.

"My name is Gilderoy Lockhart and I will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor," he paused to smile at the class. "I am an Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, have attained the Order of Merlin, Third Class, and I am the five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award. However, I don't talk about that."

He smiled again, showing off his very white teeth, and Rachel found herself staring.

"I'm glad to see you each have a set of my books. Let's start today with a quiz. I want to know how well you've read the books," Processor Lockhart said, smiling once more before moving to pass pieces of parchment from his stack. Once they all had a test paper he returned to the front of the classroom. "You have thirty minutes."

Rachel found herself wishing she'd read the books a little more closely and then she started reading the first question.

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

She blinked and then continued on down the page.

12. Where was Gilderoy Lockhart's childhood home?

27. Where does Gilderoy Lockhart shop for robes?

41. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite vacation spot?

"You've got to be kidding me," Theo whispered. Across the aisle Hermione was busily writing.

Rachel shrugged and then started making guesses at the answers. They couldn't possibly be expected to take this seriously. She actually found that she remembered some of the answers, including Professor Lockhart's favorite vacation spot - Ibiza.

Professor Lockhart collected the tests at the end of thirty minutes and went through them as he stood at the front of the classroom. "Well, well. It seems some of you need to read more carefully. My favorite color, of course, is lilac - see Year with the Yeti. My childhood home was in Cobham. And, see chapter twelve of Wanderings with Werewolves for my ideal birthday gift. However, Miss Granger knew my secret ambition, and she got full marks. Where is Miss Granger?"

Hermione raised her hand, looking very pleased.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, well done indeed. Now, on with business," Professor Lockhart said, stooping behind his desk and lifting up a large cage that was covered with a black cloth. "Prepare yourselves! This class will dive into your darkest fears, but fear not. I am here to protect you. But, you must remain calm."

Rachel stared as he placed his hand on the black cloth and then whisked it off dramatically.

Inside the cage were bright blue, vaguely human-shaped creatures with pointy ears. They were about eight inches tall and they sounded like high pitched birds as they chattered.

"Cornish pixies?" called one of the Gryffindor boys as he laughed.

"Yes! Freshly caught, Cornish pixies!" Professor Lockhart said. "Don't underestimate them, they can be devilishly tricky. Let's see how you do!"

The pixies zoomed out of the cage as soon as he opened it and there was instant chaos. The pixies grabbed ahold of anything they could and tossed in the air, including the tests that they'd just taken and many students' books. Rachel grabbed her stack of books and dove beneath her desk, Theo and Millie following her example.

There was the sound of shattering glass as a window broke and tearing paper as parchment and books were shredded.

"Gather them up!" Lockhart called. "Peskipiski Pesternomi!"

The pixies continued to rampage.

"Immobulus," Hermione called in a clear voice.

Rachel peeked her head out from under her desk to find that Hermione had managed to capture two of the pixies using the Freezing charm. A pixie flew directly at Rachel and Rachel quickly made the wand movement and said "Immobulus." The pixie froze in midair.

Theo, Millie, and Neville came out from under their desks and the five of them started using the Freezing charm on any pixie that came near them. Before long several of the other students had joined them.

They collected the frozen pixies and shoved them back into the cage and then returned to their desks.

"Well done, well done," Professor Lockhart said as he crawled out from under his desk. "Let's see, let's do fifteen points to Gryffindor and fifteen points to Slytherin. Now what have we learned today?"

"That you're an idiot," Theo whispered.

Rachel couldn't disagree.