CHAPTER 3 "Outset"

The next morning, Lily didn't know where she was when she woke up. Her head throbbed as her deep sleep was interrupted. When she realized where she was, she smiled and forgot about her headache, and got dressed in her black robes.

The girls went to breakfast where they got their timetables. Lily couldn't believe her eyes: potions, transfigurations, charms, flying. FLYING. She was so excited. Today was potions, charms, and transfigurations.

They left a while after with their bellies full, towards the dungeons where they would have their first Potions class. When they arrived Lily felt the damp humidity against her skin, this was disastrous for her hair. She saw Sev as her eyes got used to the darkness.

"Hi Sev!" she said with a smile.

"Hey, Lily" he answered.

"We have potions together! Let's sit."

"Sure. Let's sit back here" he said, choosing a desk at the end.

"See? It won't be hard to stay friends, Sev" she said placing her bag on her chair.

"Welcome to Potions my dear students" a short overweight man had entered through a door at the back of the classroom. "I'm Professor Slughorn and I intend to guide each of you to be the best you can be."

Class went on smoothly, a little boring for it was an introductory class where they were learning the uses of every utensil they had. Lily enjoyed Sev's company and was happy they were able to talk.

"Read this, Sev," Lily said with 'Magical Drafts and Potions' book in her hands. "There is no one single sequence through which magical persons brew potions."

"So we can improvise?" Severus teased.

"I think it's super interesting. We have to study how each ingredient acts and reacts with other components to do that," she sighed. "It's going to be so hard!"

"Relax, that's advanced potions."

"Now that we have the basics" the Potion Master continued "We will try our first Potion. 'Cure for Boils' is a simple recipe," he said and with a movement of the wand the recipe was written on the chalkboard. "Let's see what you're made of."

Severus was very organized as he brewed his potion and Lily was inquisitive. Professor Slughorn was really pleased with their work and awarded them both house points. What Lily hadn't noticed, nor had Severus, was the rest of the Slytherins looking at them disapprovingly. When class was dismissed Lily said goodbye to her friend and left for Charms.

"See you, Sev!" she said.

"Bye, Lily," he said and as he turned around he saw his housemates with crossed arms.

Lily loved Charms, they learned Lumos today and she was the first to get it correctly. It also was the first time she ever performed magic voluntarily. Lily was exhilarated, she had tried only a couple of times before she found the trick in connecting the word with the movement and felt the magic flow through her body like never before. They had Transfigurations afterward, it was a little trickier, no one had been able to master the spell.

"I love this school!" Lily said after class in a loud voice.

"Relax Lily, you're yelling," Phyllida said.

"Sorry!" she said in a normal tone "It's just I'm so excited! I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"You can do whatever you want, just make sure you let me sleep," Meredith said.

"You were only lucky today, Evans" the blond girl from Ravenclaw had stopped Lily.

"What?" Lily said puzzled.

"In charms, obviously," Apraxia said, folding her arms "Just wanted to let you know that you shouldn't get used to it. Gryffindor's have guts, not brains."

"Talent is nothing a brain can teach. You just go study maybe you'll get it next time." Lily clenched her fists in anger. What's this girl's problem? Apraxia turned red and walked away.

"Someone's jealous," Mary said proudly.

"She's only mad because you got the spell first, so no one noticed her when she got it," Meredith explained.

"She seriously has issues. I guess Ravenclaw's aren't used to being challenged," she chuckled.

On the other side of the hall, James looked away smiling. He looked around for his friends and grabbed Sirius by the robes and pulled him to the side. "Come over here," he said. Remus and Pete followed them into an empty classroom.

"I'm bored," he declared.

"Me too," Sirius said as he sat on a desk. "We should do something epic on our first day here."

"Perfect," grinned James "Let's have some fun."

"I think we should start with our homework," Remus said, "I don't want to get behind."

"Oh Remus, there is so much we have to teach you," Sirius said.

"What do you do for fun?" Peter asked.

"I don't know about James, but I'd like to cause a little trouble."

"Are you sure we're not related?" James answered, putting an arm around Sirius' shoulders. "Since Pete and Remus are new to these kinds of activities we'll start from the beginning," he walked to the classroom's chalkboard and started imitating Professor McGonagall "We must begin establishing very important points. Our vision and our mission," Sirius burst out laughing as James lifted his head and placed his hands in a very McGonagall way.

"We should write this down," Remus said sarcastically, but Peter took it seriously and pulled out a lean parchment and his quill.

"I'll do that!" he said proudly and started scribbling quickly.

"Vision" James continued "Our vision is to…" he paused.

"To be the biggest freaking troublemakers in Hogwarts History!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah!" James bellowed. "And our mission is to drive the teachers crazy."

"Without getting caught" Remus added.

"Getting caught as little as possible," Sirius corrected with a mischievous grin.

"And causing as much laughter as we can!" James was blissful. The scratching of Peter's quill suddenly stopped. The four boys looked at each other, they were all smiling.

"Let's get to know why the Forest is Forbidden," Sirius said with a grin. Peter swallowed. Remus looked taken aback. James had the biggest smile yet.

"I'm going to the library and start reading Professor Slughorn's homework," Lily said. "Want to come?"

"We've just started school and we already have homework," Meredith whined as the girls walked down to the Library.

When they entered, Lily took a deep breath, there was absolutely nothing compared to the smell of books. The room was absurdly big with endless shelves and books. In the middle, there were a few long tables. The library was empty since it was the first day of school, so the girls chose where to sit and started reading.

They finished rather quickly, the types of potions hadn't been as many as they had expected. Mary, Meredith, and Phyllida left as fast as they could. Lily stayed, completely emerged in her book. She had found more books about potion ingredients and couldn't stop reading. She had lost track of time when the Librarian came up to her.

"Miss? You should go now, it's almost curfew" Madam Pince said.

"What? Really? Wow, didn't even notice." Lily grabbed all her stuff and a couple of extra books and put them in her bag, "Sorry!"

She quickly took her things and headed for the Gryffindor Tower. As she turned the first corner into a deserted corridor she felt an unusual silence. She suddenly had a really bad feeling, a cold chill went down her back. She heard a soft noise and stopped, slowly turning around she saw some green fabric before everything turned unexpectedly red and then black.

When Lily came to, she opened her eyes and found herself laying on the floor in an awkward position next to a wall. Her whole body was in pain and she couldn't move. Lily breathed in trying to keep calm, but when she exhaled tears started to fall down her cheeks. After a while, she realized that crying wasn't going to help. Using all her strength, she moved her aching body into a sitting position. As she did, she felt something crunch under her hand. She looked under it and found a brown paper, in green letters she read: "Mudbloods don't belong".

"Help" Lily tried to say, but only a squeak came out "Help!" She tried again and it was a little stronger. Lily didn't know how long she had been there, but it felt like an eternity. After a few more tries of calling for help, she saw a glimmer of movement. As it came closer she realized who it was, it was the Gryffindors ghost.

"Whatever happened to you, dear?" Almost Headless Nick exclaimed, "I'll go find someone!"

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DB