The next morning was the first day of classes. Val tugged on her green Slytherin robes, tied her hair into two french braids, and shoved all of her books in her book bag before grabbing her wand and heading out into the common room.
"Ah look who finally decided to join us" Noah said as she joined him, Damon, and June near the couches.
"It takes time to look this good, Noah" Val said with a smirk.
"Right, let's go. I'm starving" Damon said. He got up from the couch and made his way up the stairs, and the rest of them followed.
The four of them made their way up to the Great Hall for breakfast, all somewhat eager for their first day back.
"What class do we have first?" June asked.
"Divination, I think," Noah said through a mouthful of toast.
"Mm, yea we do. And then we have Care of Magical Creatures with the Gryffindors and double potions in the afternoon" Damon said.
"Ugh, why double potions" June groaned.
"I dropped Divination last year, so I have Arithmancy first instead" Val said.
"Ugh, I should have thought of that," June started, "Trelawney is out of it."
"One time she looked me in the eye and said 'it's no wonder your mother prefers your older sister'… just casually" Damon said, causing June to snort. "I don't even have an older sister, only my younger twat of a brother."
"Has she ever even taught us anything?" Noah asked as he leaned forward onto the table.
"That woman thinks reading tea leaves and looking into balls with nothing but smoke in them is teaching" June said with a roll of her eyes.
June, Damon, and Noah all continued to complain about Divination while Val just sat back with a grin on her lips.
"Erm- I'll see you guys later, I'm going to go talk to someone" she said as she got up from her seat.
"See you in Care of Magical Creatures" Noah said with a smile.
She left the three of them at the Slytherin table and began to make her way over to where the Gryffindors sat.
"Hey Valencia" Harry greeted as she approached them.
"Hi Harry" she responded with a smile. "Erm- Mione, you're taking Arithmancy this year, right?"
"Yes!" Hermione said. Her eyes lit up at the mention of the class. "I'm really looking forward to taking it. Are you in the class as well?"
"Mhm and I have absolutely no idea how to get to Vector's room" Val said with a nervous laugh.
"Oh don't worry, we can go there together" Hermione said with a smile.
"Great! I'll just wait here until you are all done."
Breakfast continued, and Hermione rambled on about how the kitchen elves were basically slaves and how they all needed to help save them. She glared at Ron as he continued to shove bacon and sausage down his throat.
"Come on Val, we don't want to be late" Hermione said. The two of them got up from their seats, said goodbye to Harry and Ron, and then exited the Great Hall.
When they arrived at Professor Vector's Classroom, Val insisted that they take a seat at the back of the classroom, but Hermione said that they should sit at the front. So they compromised and sat towards the middle of the classroom.
As the desks around them began to fill up, the two remaining seats to the right of Val stayed empty. Maybe they wouldn't be bothered by anyone else.
But all her hopes died when Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson came strutting into the classroom. They were the last ones to get there, and there were only two open seats; beside her and Hermione.
"Fuck" she whispered. She heard Hermione groan quietly beside her as Val's two housemates made their way over to the empty seats.
"Surprised you two halfwits made it into this class" Val sneered at them. Why did they have to be in this class? It was already enough seeing them in the common room and in her other classes. She had assumed that they would be taking Divination instead of Arithmancy and that she would have this class alone with Hermione. But no. Of course not.
Malfoy took the seat next to her and Pansy took the seat on the end.
"Why don't you shut up you little slut. And pull down your damn skirt" Malfoy snapped. Pansy snickered beside him, but when Val shot her a glare, she quickly shut up.
"Haven't heard that one before. Maybe try coming up with better insults, Draco. Slut shaming doesn't look good on you sweetie" she spat back. "Oh, and I'll wear my skirt however I want to."
And with that she turned to face the front of the room. She could hear Malfoy angrily huff beside her, and she could just picture him rolling his eyes at her with a disgusted look upon his features.
Vector had begun to teach without her even noticing.
"For the record," Hermione whispered to her, "I don't think you're a slut, and your skirt looks lovely." Hermione smiled at her before turning all of her attention to the professor.
Malfoy had never called her a slut before. She tried to not let it get to her, but something about the way he said it agitated her. However, she didn't pull down her skirt. Letting Malfoy get to her was never going to happen. His insults were hollow and he only said them to get on her nerves. She knew that by now.
"These will be your seats for the rest of the school year" Vector said, causing all four of them at their table to groan in annoyance. "I suggest that you get used to your peers. Any and all group assignments will be done with the people at your table, unless I tell you otherwise" she finished.
"Do you think she would notice if we switch?" Hermione asked her hopefully, even though they both already knew the answer to her question.
"I don't know but. Maybe she's as daft as Lockhart and we could switch without her noticing" Val whispered back.
"I wish," Hermione said.
The class continued on and so she took notes on the symbols and their meanings that Vector wrote on the board.
When Arithmancy finished, Val and Hermione left the class quickly and made their way to Care of Magical Creatures.
The two made their way down the hill towards Hagrid's hut, even though they had nearly fifteen minutes left before the class started.
"Hi Hagrid" Hermione greeted cheerfully.
" 'Ello Hermione, 'ello Valencia, good to see yeh" Hagrid said.
"Hello Hagrid" Val saw with a smile.
"Class don't start for a while. Would yeh like a cup of tea?" Hagrid asked.
"Sure," the two said together.
The three of them spent the next ten minutes drinking tea and talking about the year to come at Hogwarts. Hagrid seemed overly excited about something as he talked about the Triwizard Tournament, but she couldn't put her finger on what.
Students began to arrive in the next few minutes so they left the hut to join them.
"Hagrid, what are in those crates?" Val asked.
"Blast-Ended Skrewts!" Hagrid said proudly.
"Come again?" Ron said. He and Harry had joined them.
Hagrid pointed into the crates where the Skrewts were. They almost looked like shell-les lobsters.
"On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yourselves! Thought we'd make it a bit of a project in class" Hagrid explained.
The rest of the students trudged down the hill and formed a circle around the crates of skrewts before Hagrid began to explain what they would be doing with the creatures.
June, Damon, and Noah were the last ones to arrive. Hagrid had just about finished his explanation when they crept behind everyone to stand next to Val.
"How was Divination?" she asked.
"Painful" Damon grumbled.
"How was Arithmancy?" Noah asked. His posture was slouched as he leaned up against June, an arm resting on top of her shoulder.
"It was good, took notes mostly," Val said. She knew that telling them about what Malfoy had said would only cause trouble, so she kept her mouth shut about it.
After the class ended, the four of them made their way back up the hill and into the Great Hall for lunch.
"I'm already over this year," June said as they sat down. "I just want to get to when the TriWizard Tournament will take place."
"We still have to suffer through classes even with the Tournament going on" said Damon.
"I honestly would rather have the Tournament cancelled" Noah mumbled.
"Mm, right because of Quidditch. You're going to lose your touch as Slytherin's best Keeper, Williams" Val said as she brought a spoonful of soup to meet her lips.
"I wouldn't say best," Damon said before Noah could say anything. "He was pretty average last year."
"Shove off, yea?" Noah said as he shoved Damon in the shoulder.
The four of them continued to talk while they ate until it was time for their double potions class with the Gryffindors. They made their way out of the Great Hall and down into the dungeons to the potions classroom.
"Welcome to potions." Snape walked into the classroom just as Damon took his seat. "I expect you all know the rules, if you do not… well then I pity you."
He stopped at the front of the room to look down at all of them. "You will be brewing the Dreamless Sleep Potion for the first two months of class. You know where the supplies are. This is not an easy potion to make but I expect you all do make a perfect replica."
"I'm surprised we aren't going to be listening to lectures for the first four months," Noah whispered.
"I guess the lectures come after the potion making this year," June said.
Snape shot the four of them a glare before he continued. "You will each be assigned a partner for this potion. You will work with them, and there will be no complaints."
A few Slytherins groaned in irritation while the Gryffindors kept quiet.
Snape then began listing off the groups. "Zabini and Finnigan. Malfoy and Longbottom. Adams and Granger. Nott and Thomas. Hendrix and Potter. Williams and Patil. Goyle and Brown. Crabbe and Patil. Weasley and Greengrass. Martin and Parkinson. And lastly, Davis and Bulstrode."
"Why did I have to get Scarhead" Damon rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat with a huff.
"Stop complaining you piss pot" June groaned.
Snape made his way over to his desk and sat down, looking at them expectantly. "Well get going then" he drawled.
Val got up from her seat and separated from her friends.
Over the years, potions had become one of her favourite classes. In first and second year, Snape had seemed to do everything in his power to make her hate the class, but she refused to let him ruin it for her.
All of the other classes always came at an ease for Valencia, and so when Snape decided to make his class a challenge, she accepted it. He would make her life a living hell and assign essay after essay, and she would write them all without complaint.
In third year, he had decided to assign them all a potion that was two years ahead of their class, but to Snape's dismay, Val had recreated it almost perfectly while almost everyone else failed.
She had figured that the reason he didn't like her as much as he liked other Slytherins was because of how much time Val spent with the Gryffindors.
Valencia made her way through the shuffling people over to an empty table where Pansy was impatiently waiting for her.
"Pansy" Val greeted dully.
"Martin. I assume you know how to make this potion?" She quirked a brow at Valencia.
"Yes. I'll-"
"Great, so do I. You can go get all of the ingredients and I'll get the cauldron going" Pansy said as she folded her arms.
"Erm- alright. You know to set a low flame, right?"
"Martin. I said I know how to make the potion. Now go get the ingredients. I don't like to be kept waiting mudblood." Pansy rolled her eyes before turning around to start the flame under their cauldron.
Val made her way over to the shelves with the ingredients and gathered the Honeywater, Sopophorous Bean, Moly, Chamomile, and Lavender.
Valencia poured the Honeywater into the cauldron, and while she and Pansy waited for it to come to a simmer they sat in complete silence, glaring at each other.
Pansy had never gotten past the fact that Val was a muggle-born witch and always did her best to avoid her at all costs. The only time that she would come relatively close to Val was in the dorms at night.
The feelings were mutual. Val had never liked Pansy. Her stuck up attitude and her constant fawning over Draco Malfoy was simply annoying and she never failed to remind Val that she was a "mudblood".
Pansy added in the Sopophorous Bean into the cauldron once the Honeywater came to a simmer and then went back to glaring at everyone around the classroom.
Val worked on tying up the Chamomile and Lavender with a silk thread while the bean continued to sit in the potion.
"Could you possibly tie that any slower?" Pansy grumbled. "I've already taken out the bean and the Chamomile and Lavender need to go in like, now."
"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a second- there." She dropped the two ingredients into the potion and then picked up the Moly plant. She handed half of it to Pansy and the two of them began to chop it.
"I didn't know you were good at potions, Parkinson" Val said.
Pansy's eyes rolled to the back of her head before she looked back down at the Moly and continued to chop. "Anyone can be good at potions mudblood, don't underestimate people. It's not that hard. Severus said that this potion would take two months, but I say we will finish before the class ends… that is, if you don't somehow manage to mess it up."
Val's lips turned down at her remark. "I wasn't underestimating you Pansy. And you're probably right; I assume that every other group in here will take up the entire two months to create the potion. It's not simple and- and Seamus just blew his up and Neville and Malfoy's is currently in the shape of an amoeba on their table."
Pansy sharply turned her head to look at the other's around them and saw that Val was right. Seamus had blown up his and Blaise's potion, Neville was getting scolded by Snape for messing up, Damon and Harry hadn't even started on theirs, Hermione was attempting to show June how to start a flame with her wand, and everyone else was still gathering their ingredients one at a time.
Pansy scoffed. "Dung brains."
They finished chopping the Moly and added it into the cauldron. Val used her wand to make the wooden spoon in the cauldron turn clockwise seven times before Pansy turned off the flame.
"How long do we have to wait for it to turn purple?" Val asked.
Pansy checked her potions textbook for the first time during the class. "Five minutes. We just have to keep an eye on it until then. But don't touch it until it's purple."
Snape was walking around the classroom to check on everyone's progress but had a scowl on his face the entire time, most likely caused by their continuous failure.
The two girls sat in silence for five minutes until the potion turned a deep shade of purple. Pansy held a strainer over a large vile while Val poured the contents in the cauldron into it.
"Great. Well now that that's done, I'll take the next two months off" Pansy said.
"I don't think that's how it works-"
"What do we have here?" Snape had made his way over to their table and was leering over them with raised brows.
"We finished, professor" Val said. She grabbed the vile off of the table and handed it to Snape.
She could have sworn she saw Snape's lip curl up into the semblance of a smile but it quickly disappeared.
"I see," he said. He swiftly turned on his heel with the potion still in his hand and made his way to the front of the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at him with curiosity in their eyes.
"This," Snape began, "is what the Dreamless Sleep Potions is supposed to look like. However, it seems that you are all too incompetant to even know what a Sopophorous Bean is, all except for Miss Parkinson and Miss Martin who have been able to replicate the potion with ease."
He turned to look at the two of them. "Ten points to Slytherin, for each of you. You all should be embarrassed that it has taken twenty minutes to make no progress while they have finished. Parkinson, Martin… I assume you two know what Veritaserum is?" He quirked a brow at them.
They both nodded their heads. "Yes."
"Good. I happen to be running low on it in my personal stores. The new moon is three days from now, you will work together to make the potion starting then. Everyone else, you will continue to attempt to make the Dreamless Sleep Potion."
All eyes were now on Val and Pansy.
"What are you all waiting for" the professor snapped.
The rest of the class turned back to their potions while Snape strolled back to the two girls' table.
"You are both capable of making Verituserum, yes?" he asked.
They nodded their heads again.
"If you have any questions, ask. But I believe both of you are very capable of this. You are both dismissed for the remainder of this class. Until the new moon, you will attend class and aid those who need assistance. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Yes professor."
Snape abruptly set the vile of purple liquid down on their table before turning and walking away.
"Take it. I don't need it." Pansy gathered up her book, placed it in her bag, and left the classroom, leaving the potion for Val to take.
She carefully picked the vile up and observed it before placing it in her book bag. The amount of potion in the vile would only be enough for one or two nights.
Val set her bag down on her chair before using her wand to clear up their workspace. Once the cauldron had been cleaned and the table was cleared, she left the potions room and made her way up to the library to check out a book on advanced potions.
She signed her name on the piece of parchment along with the name of the book she was taking before starting out of the library.
There was still nearly an hour before classes ended for the day, so Valencia decided to make her way down to the small conservatory that sat against the castle near the greenhouses.
During her second year, Val had discovered the small building. It had been overgrown with plants caused by its years of neglect and disuse and so she had decided to clean it up. Valencia had kept the outside of the building overgrown with vines and other plants so that others would assume the inside still looked the same as it had for years; overgrown and unusable. She had decided not to tell June, Damon, and Noah about the conservatory and instead kept it as a place she could have to herself.
There was a small wooden table that sat four in the center of the room, a matching wooden cabinet against the left wall, and a small gray loveseat against the left wall where she would read. The rest of the area was filled to the ceiling with all sorts of different plants that Val would take care of when she got the chance. Some plants sat on shelves or the floor while the vines had made the wooden ceiling beams and the singular brick wall at the back of the room their home. A small Wiggentree sat in the corner to the right of the loveseat had grown to take the shape of the curved ceiling and had branched out against the walls. The glass that made up most of the walls and arched ceiling was covered with the plants on the outside, but there were a few small areas that were left bare, leaving room for sunlight to enter the conservatory.
It was her little sanctuary.
Valencia opened the door to the conservatory and then made her way over to the loveseat to read. She rested her feet on the armrest near the Wiggen tree while she leaned against the other. She skimmed the pages until she found the section that explained how to make Veritaserum.
She had been reading for nearly forty minutes when she felt something crawling on her leg. Val let out a small scream and went to brush whatever it was off of her leg before she saw what it was.
A small, green, stick-like creature was looking up at her with curious brown eyes.
"What the- erm… hello?"
The creature tilted its head to the side before beginning to move further up her leg.
She sat there watching the creature as it moved, doing her best not to anger it. "You're kind of cute. Just don't kill me."
"Valencia?" a small voice sounded from behind her.
The creature stopped moving and Val spun her head around to see Luna Lovegood standing in the door to the conservatory. Her pale blonde hair was partially tied back and her fair skin was blushed at her cheeks.
"Are you alright? I had just gotten out of my Herbology class and I heard someone scream." Luna carefully made her way further into the room.
"Oh- yes I'm alright Luna." Val gave her a reassuring smile.
"This is quite a lovely area you have here. I hope I'm not intruding in your personal space" Luna said.
"No, don't worry, it's alright," Val said.
"Is that a friend of yours? That Bowtruckle?" Luna made her way over to where Val sat to look at the creature that was now on her skirt.
"I wouldn't say friend, but it hasn't tried to kill me yet" she replied with a small laugh.
"Lovely creatures, Bowtruckles. It looks like there's a whole branch of them on this Wiggentree. Would you mind if I take a look?" Luna gave Val a sweet smile.
"Go ahead." Luna gave a short nod before making her way over to the tree.
"I had never noticed them before. I guess they just blended in really well" Val said. She closed her book and set it on the ground.
"Yes, I suppose they do tend to stay hidden in their homes, but it looks like this one was comfortable enough around you to try and get to know you" Luna said.
She reached up to the tree and gently rested her hand on one of the branches. Three more similar looking creatures peaked out from behind the leaves to get a better look at Luna.
"They tend to be rather shy around those they don't know," Luna continued. "But, once they get to know you, I've heard it's rather hard to get them off of you."
She had the same sweet smile she had given Val plastered on her face as she observed the tree.
"I think that one has taken a liking to you" Luna said with a faint giggle. "It looks to be a male."
"Oh- erm, but it will go back to the tree right?" Val asked.
The Bowtruckle was now climbing up her shirt, still looking up at her with its small brown eyes.
"Oh I'm not sure, but I've read that they like to stay rather close to those they get attached to and can sometimes become clingy" Luna said. "I think they are fascinating creatures."
"I'm not ready to be a mother," Val mumbled.
She quirked a mocking brow at the Bowtruckle who tilted its head to the side again before sticking out its tongue.
"Sassy little shit" she whispered, causing the Bowtruckle to roll its brown eyes. It climbed all the way up her front until it came to rest on her shoulder.
"Well, I must be going now. I have a bit of homework to do before dinner. I hope to see you around more Valencia." Luna waved her hand at Val and gave her a wide smile before moving out of the conservatory.
"Alright but seriously, time for you to go back with your little friends." Val attempted to pick the Bowtruckle off of her shirt but it clung to her relentlessly.
"No one likes a clingy person. Come on- oh my God why are you like this. Just- get… off… of… me." She finally managed to drag the creature off of her shirt and placed it back on the tree.
She rolled her eyes before bending down to pick up her book, but when she looked up, the Bowtruckle was on her sleeve again. It folded its arms and looked up at her with a glare.
"Oh so that's how we're going to be. I see. Fine, I guess you can come with me but you have to come back here later to be with the others. I'm not your mother. Alright?"
The creature only continued to sit on her arm, glaring up at her.
"Alright?" she asked again.
It rolled its eyes and uncrossed its arms before nodding its head in agreement.
The Bowtruckle moved to sit in Val's hand as she made her way back up to the castle.
"Do you want a name? What about Green Stick? Clingy? Twig? Tree?"
It shook its head angrily at each of Val's name suggestions.
"Ugh, okay what about Wiggen?" She looked down at it, waiting for a response.
The Bowtruckle seemed to be taking the name into consideration. It had brought its hand up to its mouth and began moving it as if it were stroking a beard.
"Well?" Val asked.
The creature shrugged its shoulders before finally nodding its head in agreement.
"Okay well just try not to be too annoying Wiggen, alright?"
Wiggen only stuck out his tongue before moving to climb up Val's arm once again.
She let out a loud snort as she looked down at him. "Shy are we?"
He stopped climbing up her arm for a few seconds to glare at her before he continued moving. Wiggen decided to hide in Val's front robe pocket as to avoid all of the people around her.
Classes had ended and so she made her way up to the library where she and Hermione would occasionally meet.
When Val reached the back of the library she picked out a book on magical creatures before making her way to the back wall with the two cream-coloured armchairs. She saw that Hermione was already sitting there. "Mione! My main man."
Hermione let out a small giggle as Val sat down across from her.
"Are you really already doing homework?" She raised an eyebrow at Hermione.
"Yes. I'm doing Vector's assignment" Hermione responded.
"I should probably get started on that as well." And so the two of them spent the next half hour working on the assignment and talking.
When it was time for dinner, Hermione waited for Val as she checked out the book on magical creatures that she had failed to open once while in the library. The two of them then made their way down to the Great Hall.
Val decided to sit with the Gryffindors and so she followed Hermione over to their table and sat down between Fred and Harry.
Fred rambled on about new products that he and George were creating for their joke shop and Hermione continued to scold Ron for how much he was eating saying, "could you possibly eat any more Ronald? You know that the kitchen elves slaved away to make that food and you don't even seem to care."
Ron only continued to shove more pie in his mouth before giving Hermione a smile, causing some bits of the food to fall out.
After dinner, Val went up to the Gryffindor common room and laid on the couch with her head in Fred's lap as he played with her hair.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George were spread out on the other couches while Ginny sat on the floor, leaning up against the couch Val was lying on.
"I still think it's rubbish that Freddie and I can't enter the tournament" George scoffed.
"You probably wouldn't get picked anyways" Ginny said.
"Yes but it's the thought that counts Gin. Besides, I would have rigged it so that my name would be the one to get called" Fred said with a grin.
"You should be glad Dumbledore isn't in here" said Ron.
"I better be off to bed" Hermione said, standing up from her place in between Ron and Harry.
"Night" the rest of them chorused together.
Everyone else began making their way up to the dorms one by one until it was just Val, Fred, and Ginny.
The three of them sat in front of the fire in silence while Fred continued to play with Val's hair and Ginny worked on her homework.
"Oi! What in the world is that?" Fred said as he looked down at Val.
"Oh shit! You're probably talking about Wiggen. He's a Bowtruckle. But I forgot to bring him back down to his home. Ugh, I should probably do that now" she said as she sat up.
"Where is his home?" Ginny asked.
"Erm- on a Wiggentree near the greenhouses" said Val.
"But it's past curfew. You could get detention if you are caught outside of the castle" Ginny protested.
"Gin… does it look like I'm a Gryffindor? I'm already out of my common room past curfew" Val said.
"Mm, you're right. I guess you'll just have to stay here then" Fred said with a smirk.
"Tempting, but I'm not sleeping with this sassy green twig. I need to get him back to his home" Valencia said.
"Alright, but if Filch sees you, just send a Bat Bogey Hex his way and make a run for it" Ginny said as she stood up from the floor.
Val said goodbye to the two Weasleys before making her way out of the Gryffindor common room and out onto the grounds.
After attempting several times to get Wiggen off of her, she finally managed to put the creature back in the tree.
"No following me, and no more clinging to me like that. I come here quite often and I can see you then, alright? I'll have quite a lot going on soon and I don't want to worry about possibly losing you in the castle and then having someone step on you. So just- stay here."
Wiggen angrily crossed his arms and rolled his eyes before reluctantly nodding his head in agreement.
Luckily, Filch didn't catch her and so she made it to the Slytherin common room with ease.