Chapter 15 – The Goblin Theif
The following morning, Lizzie woke to Hedwig nibbling on her finger and a ray of sunlight coming through the maroon curtain drawn around her four-poster bed. She sat up and stretched, immediately noticing the absence of soreness in all but what lingered around her face. Despite sleeping in the impossibly comfortable bed, her eyes refused to open all the way and she looked around in a slight daze.
It didn't take long to get ready, the other girls seemed to be early birds in comparison. After fixing her uniform, she grabbed her robes in her arm and headed downstairs with a book bag to the common room. People still turned to look at her and it made her feel increasingly self-conscious. She found Ron talking to Seamus and headed over to politely intrude before she found herself awkwardly alone for the remainder of the day.
"Hey!" He said. "Sleep good? We should go get breakfast, Percy said McGonagall is handing out schedules," he added. Lizzie nodded and they headed down to the Great Hall. Lizzie took her schedule from McGonagall over some coffee and read through it quickly.
MONDAY
Transfigurations
Professor McGonagall
Double Period First Years 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1st Floor Class Hall
Study Hall - Great Hall
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM
Herbology
Professor Sprout
Double Period Gryffindor/Hufflepuff - 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Greenhouse #1
TUESDAY
Potions
Professor Snape
Double Period Gryffindor/Slytherin 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Dungeons Classroom
Study Hall - Great Hall
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM
Charms
Professor Flitwick
Double Period Gryffindor/Ravenclaw - 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Charms Tower Classroom
WEDNESDAY
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Professor Quirrell
Double Period First Years - 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
5th Floor Class Hall
Study Hall - Great Hall
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM
Astronomy
Professor Sinistra
Single Period First Years 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Astronomy Tower Class Hall
Transfigurations
Professor McGonagall
Single Period First Years 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM
1st Floor Class Hall
THURSDAY
Potions
Professor Snape
Single Period Gryffindor/Slytherin - 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Dungeons Classroom
Charms
Professor Flitwick
Single Period Gryffindor/Ravenclaw 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Charms Tower Class Hall
Herbology
Professor Sprout
Single Period Gryffindor/Hufflepuff 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
History of Magic
Professor Binns
Double Period First Years 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
2nd Floor Class Hall
FRIDAY
Astronomy
Professor Sinistra
Double Period First Years 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Astronomy Tower Class Hall
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Professor Quirrell
Single Period First Years 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
5th Floor Class Hall
History of Magic
Professor Binns
Single Period First Years 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2nd Floor Class Hall
Flying Lesson
Madame Hooch
Single Period First Years 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Grounds
Lizzie looked up at the large clock and it was nearly 8:30. She ate a piece of toast and drank down another cup of coffee before heading off to Transfigurations. Percy had handed out maps that proved helpful on the vast campus. Lizzie hadn't read very much of the summer assignment yet but resigned instead to talk to McGonagall about catching up after class and hope for the best.
Lizzie followed Ron up to the first-floor class hall where at least two dozen two-person desks were scattered about. They sat down in one near the center of the room. Lizzie lifted the large, ancient wooden top of the desk and stared at etchings and notes written over the course of centuries it appeared. Hermione and Parvati were in front of them, Seamus and Dean behind them, Malfoy was toward the front with one of his oaf looking friends, Neville was sitting next to Justin off to the right, and Hannah and Ernie to her left.
Towler seemed to have a point about Gryffindors gravitating toward Hufflepuffs, it was as though Gryffindor and Slytherin repelled one another like opposite charges of magnets.
"So, there's no English? Maths? Science? Anything?" Lizzie asked Ron.
"What are you bloody on about? What do you need maths for?" He asked incredulously.
"Do they hit you here?" She whispered with apprehension in her voice. He stared back with a concerned looking frown. Lizzie rolled her eyes.
"They used to strap our hands for everything in school," Lizzie admitted.
"Are all muggles that mean?" He asked.
"I honestly wouldn't know," Lizzie said.
"No... I mean they could hit you I guess... but my brothers have been trouble from day one and never got thwacked for any of it that I know of..." Ron said. Lizzie eased up, even a thwack didn't sound that bad.
Lizzie started scanning the pages of the book for content that stood out in case they were asked about anything up front. The door creaked open, but they didn't see anyone walk in. Down the main aisle however, a tabby cat strolled down casually and turned at the hilt of the room by the podium before transforming into the woman they knew to be Professor McGonagall. Lizzie had to blink herself back into her body.
Professor McGonagall was about as stern as most of the nuns she knew, at least on the surface, but had a soft underbelly she picked up on immediately. Most students went flush when she insisted that acting up in her class would mean the train home, but Lizzie smirked and swore she saw McGonagall smirk back with just her eyes.
The lesson was interesting, and Lizzie found it much easier to pay attention when she wasn't using all her energy to curb the urge to fidget. Her knew tick was playing with the quill she was using and combing the surface of her thumb through the soft feathers. Writing with a feather was proving fun on its own.
When class ended, Lizzie hung back and packed her bag while she rehearsed in her head what she was going to say.
"Professor..." Lizzie said, and McGonagall looked up.
"Yes, dear," she said somehow both shortly and invitingly.
"I'm not caught up on the reading, regrettably. Was up most of the night but wasn't sure which class would be first... is there a quiz or an essay coming up this week? I'm just trying to prioritize which... you know... classes and such... it's a lot more than I realized," Lizzie explained. "I wasn't allowed to bring my books home... so I only just got everything back last night..." Lizzie added.
"I'm aware you didn't have your school things and your professors should all be as well. No quizzes or essays this week, but there will be one next week, so if it's possible to catch up by the weekend that would be best. However, should you need a few days extension, I would be agreeable this once, just let me know," she said.
"Brilliant, thank you. The weekend should be doable depending on the other courses. I really appreciate it," Lizzie said graciously.
"Potter, I should tell you... I'm one of the ones who spoke to your family about you coming here. They didn't follow through, though?" She asked.
"No... I'm not allowed back there..." Lizzie said. McGonagall looked like she shook slightly for a split second, the way she looked back at Lizzie seemed grossly out of character for her stern, uncompromising demeanor.
"I taught your parents, honey. Two of my best. Just focus on being here and your studies, the rest will sort itself out," she reassured. Lizzie nodded.
"Thank you again, professor," she said as she left the class hall for a study session before Herbology.
Lizzie skimmed through as much of the Herbology text as she could but couldn't stop gaping at some of the plants mentioned. It eats, what? I didn't read that correctly, she thought.
"Is there an assignment due?" Lizzie whispered to Hermione when she noticed she was furiously writing out at least a foot of parchment.
"No, just notes," Hermione whispered, but sounded annoyed by the distraction.
"Oh..." Lizzie said, frowning. Who takes notes like that? She thought, looking down at her notebook of chicken scratches and ink blotches.
Most everyone else was drifting off into a post-lunch haze so she figured she was in decent shape as it was, at least relatively speaking.
Lizzie headed down to the greenhouses with Hermione because they were both last to leave the study session, both milking every minute she supposed. It wasn't long before Hermione's rambling about the plant types completely overwhelmed Lizzie because she didn't remember reading anything she was talking about. Lizzie made an excuse to catch up with Ron instead.
"Leaving me for the brainiac?" He asked when she caught up to him.
"No... she's nice but it's making my head spin. I think she read the entire book before term started," Lizzie whispered. Ron choked on a laugh.
"At least you have an excuse for not reading... I tried to get Fred and George to give me their old notes when I fell behind, but it was all doodles. They get great marks somehow... especially in Potions... Percy's a prefect, top of his year... Charlie was quidditch captain, now he works with dragons. Bill was head boy...now he works for the bank... I'm doomed," he said pitifully.
Lizzie squeezed his arm. "You are doomed if you self-sabotage," she said curtly and smiled to lighten the gloom. It was a gloomy day, the polar opposite of what you'd expect for an afternoon gardening.
"You good with plants?" He asked.
Lizzie thought about all the times in the garden growing up and it made her queasy. She remembered being about eight the first time she watched Petunia dig through the dirt next to her and a white mass started to appear. Lizzie made out fingers and frowned, but Petunia wasn't fazed. She stared up at her aunt in horror as she brushed the dirt away from a face not the least bit concerned by what she was touching. Lizzie remembered looking down at herself in the dirt and freezing over in fear. When the eyes opened, she screamed. Lizzie stood up to run and her aunt grabbed both of her hips to pull her back down.
"Lil-! LIZZIE! What are you on about?!" She hissed.
Lizzie struggled to get away from the girl in front of her and her aunt did her best to restrain the episode. She found herself curled up in a fetal position against Petunia's chest shaking uncontrollably. Her aunt uncomfortably held her still and tried to calm her down, but the girl reached for her, and Lizzie started to unravel. Her shrieks to get away got her uncle's attention. She was frantic and he was uncompromising as he marched outside and picked her up in one arm. Her last memory was him taking her into the bathroom, she was breathing unevenly, panicked and crying involuntarily. He held her in a death grip in the bathroom while sedatives took effect, and then nothing.
It wasn't the only time she'd seen the buried girl. She just got accustomed to being silently terrified by it when it was painfully obvious nobody else could see her. The thought never escaped Lizzie's mind that her uncle had killed her at one point.
"Not particularly..." she admitted to Ron to answer his question about plants.
Sprout paired each Gryffindor with a Hufflepuff student to break ice. Lizzie got paired with Ernie McMillan, and he was trying excessively hard to be impressive in front of her.
They potted seedlings of something that Sprout assured was harmless, and he rambled about his pure-blood family, a relative being a quidditch star, them being huge Dumbledore supporters, and other things she hadn't a clue how to contribute conversation to.
"Nothing on you though... it's surreal really. We all grew up knowing your name," he said. "Rumor is you didn't know, is that true?" He asked.
"Yep, not a clue," she said simply, not wanting to go down this road again.
"The weird things you were surely able to do didn't tip you off?" He asked.
"On all this? No... You all don't seem to realize how strange it is to someone on the outside," Lizzie laughed.
"What was the first thing you did that you remember? Mine was making cole slaw disappear so we could skip to dessert," he laughed. Lizzie smiled wishing her episodes were that innocent.
"Um, well rumor has it that the first thing I did was bring down a dark wizard, but I think the first I actually remember was turning my uncle's brandy into battery acid. At least he yelled and said it tasted like battery acid and lost his taste buds for a week...brandy doesn't do that," she explained. "More recently I got my cousin stuck in a zoo exhibit on his birthday," she added.
"Harsh," he said.
"It wasn't intentional, even though he's an ass. The battery acid thing definitely wasn't intentional," she mumbled.
"They really told you nothing, then? You don't remember?" He asked.
"Nope, they never planned to... but no, my memory of anything before is hard to make out," she admitted.
"Class! I should warn you! Bury the seedling too deep and they will excrete a poisonous substance. Gloves are protective but don't touch your face if that happens," Sprout interjected more than halfway through the lesson as though it wasn't the slightest bit consequential.
"Jesus, I thought she said this wasn't harmful," Lizzie said. Ernie laughed.
"There's an essay due in two weeks on the properties of this root, at least 10 inches of parchment, please. See chapters one and three for the bulk of your information. More research for extra house points can be found in the library," Sprout explained. Hermione perked up at the word library, and Lizzie smiled to herself.
Lizzie was drained by dinner. She ate light and retreated upstairs alone to catch up on more reading. Potions and Charms tomorrow... she thought and pulled out the books. After about a half hour she decided to take Lee's advice and get some sleep, so she pulled a sedative after doing mental math on how often she could take them before running out and was out before eight o'clock.
Lizzie woke up the following morning feeling remarkably well rested but still in desperate need of caffeine.
"You don't want breakfast?" Ron asked, watching her cup refill for the fourth time.
"No, it hits better on an empty stomach," she said, skimming quickly through the potions book she neglected the night before. He nodded warily and continued to happily eat enough bacon and sausage for the both of them.
They walked down to the Dungeons and Lizzie took a stool next to Hermione when only two stools at each table were left.
Snape commanded a presence and silence much like the nuns did. Lizzie took veiled amusement in pretending he sounded like Sister Margaret, but also didn't think he could talk any slower or more condescendingly than he was during his introduction.
When she instead imagined Sister Margaret saying, "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind," she had to sink her head down to veil an uncontrollable grin.
"Potter," she heard him say and froze to look up at him.
"Yes, sir?" She asked politely.
"Tell me... what do you get when mix root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" He asked. Lizzie's mind blanked and she wasn't sure she'd read much on it yet.
"Forgive me, I'm partially guessing, is it a sleeping draft?" She asked.
"Name of the sleeping draft?" He asked, bemused.
"I don't know, sir," she admitted. There were some sniggers from Malfoy's table she tried to ignore.
"No? Alright, let's try again... where would you look if you were asked to find a bezore?" He asked.
She remembered this, sort of. "It's in the stomach of an animal..." Hermione's hand shot up enthusiastically to finish the answer.
"I don't award partial credit, Miss Potter, which animal?" He asked.
"Um, a lamb? a goat? a cow? No... not a cow. Forget I said cow. Goat?" She asked.
"It is a goat, but I don't award credit for guessing," he said sharply. "Let's try AGAIN," he said condescendingly and paced a little to the side.
"What is the difference between monkswood and wolfbane?" He asked. Lizzie thought for a moment while Hermione kept her hand up with unrelenting enthusiasm.
"I don't believe there is a difference," Lizzie said. Some Slytherins laughed and Snape made an annoyed face.
"Is there?" She asked, feeling stupid.
"No, Potter, there isn't a difference. Did you thoroughly read the materials or rather lazily skim through them?" He asked disdainfully.
"I've caught up on what I could so far, professor," she said, feeling thrown under the bus. She thought McGonagall spoke with the professors.
"A month should be more than enough time," he berated.
"Well, with all due respect, I've had my books for less than 48 hours, sir," she said a little more shortly than she intended.
"Really? So, you're not fabricating that to make it seem like you've been diligently catching up instead of having skimmed the material?" He asked. "I was previously under the impression you purchased the books in July," he added.
"That's correct, I did purchase them in July. I wasn't permitted to bring them home, so Professor McGonagall kept them here. Not trying to be flippant, but I was under the impression she told the professors that...sir...my apologies," she explained with a slightly abrasive underbelly.
"You expect me to believe that you weren't permitted to bring books home for summer assignments?" He asked harshly and it seemed to strike a chord she couldn't control.
"If I wanted to get my eyeballs fished out with a spoon or blinded with hot grease for reading them, sure," she said bitterly.
"5 points from Gryffindor, I don't tolerate sarcasm," he hissed. "I expect a foot of parchment on my desk for each of the first three chapters from you, Miss Potter, by Thursday," he insisted. Hermione looked over at Lizzie warily.
"Pity... clearly fame isn't everything, is it, Miss Potter?" He asked contemptuously.
Draco shot her a malicious grin and she swallowed back a snide retort.
"Sir, she got them all correct, didn't she? Sleeping draft, belly of goat, same substance... she has been catching up and there's other courses to..." Hermione started to say in her defense.
"I don't believe I asked for input, did I, Miss Granger?" He hissed. "I don't recall her shooting up her hand as obnoxiously as you did, so I do say her confidence is rather lacking," he drawled.
"You were asking me directly, why would I raise my hand?" Lizzie asked before she caught the words.
"That's another five points, Miss Potter, I hope for Gryffindor's sake you quickly figure out how to contain your cheek," he sneered. Lizzie's blood boiled at this, but she caught a wink from Seamus Finnegan for the comeback.
Lizzie was paired with Neville Longbottom who soon proved useless at Potions. Hers came out fine, but she hadn't been focused on what he was doing. Snape looked hers over and didn't have anything negative to say, but when Neville added the wrong ingredient, Snape berated Lizzie for not paying attention.
"You think it's a good idea to make your lab partner look bad, why didn't you tell him not to use that?" He asked poisonously.
"I was - " Lizzie started to say. Ron tugged her arm to stop talking.
"Did you think you'd earn your points back? You've lost another five," he jabbed. Neville gave her the most apologetic look she'd ever seen in her life and Ron shook his head at her but in was ultimately directed at Snape.
"Next time, you eat breakfast before Potions, alright?" Ron whispered.
"I'm not doing anything wrong here -" she said under her breath.
"We know... it's ok... he hates Gryffindors, but just keep your head down around him," he pled. Lizzie nodded with a clenched jaw but still seethed in contempt.
"Potter, not so quick," she heard Snape say when the class ended, and students filed out. Lizzie turned around to address him and he strode over assertively.
"Should your essays prove lacking in relevant information, you will not receive credit. There will be no extensions. Should you fail to turn anything of quality in, you will receive detention. Do you understand?" He asked.
Lizzie knew he was trying to prod her for a retort he could deduct house points for. "Thank you for the learning opportunity, professor. I appreciate it," she said as sweetly as possible, but he could tell it had a scathingly bitter undertone. His eyes were mean and uncompromising, but he said nothing.
Lizzie left the Dungeons feeling defeated. With less than two days to write the essays she felt overwhelmed to high heaven.
"I can help you," Hermione offered. "Take my notes," she said, handing her the parchment. "They're detailed but it'll be less time than reading everything again. That was really mean of him, I don't think any of those Slytherins knew those answers or they wouldn't have laughed at a correct response," she said bitterly.
"Thank you, Hermione. I appreciate that," Lizzie said with a weak smile.
During the study session in the Great Hall, Lizzie read through Hermione's notes, thoroughly impressed by her level of detail and depth, but also jealous by her uncanny ability to focus the way Lizzie usually failed to. There was a loud screech overhead and a slew of owls swooped in dropping letters and parcels overhead. Ron opened something from his mother and Lizzie asked to borrow a copy of the newspaper she found intriguing with moving photos on the cover.
On the front was a group of Goblins and a headline that read GRINGOTTS UPDATE. She scanned the article and took pause at the news.
Gringotts Break in Update
Information provided by Goblin Relations Liaison, Dirk Creswell.
Sources indicated report that the culprit behind the July 31 break in is still unknown. However, a diligent search was made, and the bank insists that nothing was taken. The vault in question number 713 had already been emptied earlier that day.
"Ron..." Lizzie whispered. "You said your brother Bill works for Gringotts did you not?" She asked. Ron nodded.
"He works in Egypt though. Branch out there," he clarified.
"Does he know a Dirk Creswell?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, so does my dad. He's the Goblin Relations Liaison in the Relations with Magical Creatures Department. Bill and him went to school together but he was a few years older. Got him the job with Gringotts. You know him?" He asked.
"He... gave me a ride to Kings Cross...I thought he was a muggle," she said quietly. Ron looked confused, but Lizzie didn't want to explain.
"Small world, Creswell is a nice bloke. Dad likes him because he's from a muggle family, hooks him up with muggle junk all the time," Ron said. Lizzie frowned wondering how he fit into the bank break in.
"When did Bill go to school here?" She asked.
"Started in the seventies, graduated in eighty something, I don't remember exactly, I was little," Ron said.
"So, if Creswell was older, he was probably in my parents' year or thereabouts..." she reasoned.
"Blimey, I forget that they weren't even that much older than Bill. They were really young..." Ron said.
"Yeah..." Lizzie said, on a different train of thought at this point. "Did you hear about this break in? This particular vault that was broken into... it's the vault Hagrid and I went to after we stopped at my dad's vault," Lizzie explained.
"When did you go to Gringotts with Hagrid?" Ron asked.
"He personally delivered my letter and then took me to get my things before dropping me off back at...my aunt and uncle's. But he needed to get something for Dumbledore. It sounds like someone was on his tail to get the same the thing," she said.
"Weird... really coincidental then. I don't know... foolish to break into Gringotts, I don't know how they managed it," Ron said.
Lizzie pocketed the page of the article with her school things, and they headed off for their second lesson.
Charms class went fine, Flitwick seemed to jump for joy when he read her name. "Your mother was one of my favorite students, she had a real knack for this, my dear," he said. Lizzie looked flushed and would have preferred to wear a paper bag on her head until this craze died out. I'm nothing special, she thought hoping someone would read her mind. Seriously, I can't live up to this... the expectations were weighing heavily.
Astronomy was interesting, though she rather didn't care for stargazing every Wednesday night for their charts.
Defense Against the Dark Arts seemed to put Lizzie in a different headspace entirely. She wasn't sure if it was because Quirrell kept the room dark, or because she constantly felt stared at by something. In any event, the hair stood up on her neck the entire period. Once it ended, considering what happened with Snape, she felt the urge to talk to him about the reading just to make sure.
"Professor Quirrell...?" She asked to get his attention. He looked up with an expression she couldn't read.
"Is there anything major due in the next week or so? I'm down to the wire on catching up on summer reading, wanted to know if I should prioritize anything in the meantime," she asked politely.
"Oh, no. Not for a couple of weeks. Professor McGonagall already explained... I'm sorry it put you in a bind," he said.
"Oh, ok great, and no worries... inconvenient but better than the alternative," she smiled.
"A-alternative?" He asked.
"My relatives have no tolerance for this, something straight out of Old Testament if I had brought any of it home," she explained with a forced laugh.
Lizzie looked down at a book on Alchemy and took interest. "This is studied here?" She asked with interest. He looked taken aback and awkward but nodded.
"They taught it in catholic school. Book entitled Heretics of the Fifteenth Century, so they had a different take of course. I'll have to check out some books and read up. All the things God apparently finds insulting are becoming all the more interesting," she said with a facetious grin. He smiled back weakly and reached for the book.
He's timid for a defensive magic instructor, she thought. Even she knew you should expect someone with nerve to teach a subject like that.
Lizzie was out of time on her Potions essays and was up late into the night before they were due working on them. She knew Snape would look for anything to criticize and overthought her content constantly.
"Do you need help?" Hermione asked, noticing Lizzie was still up at her desk writing.
"I've finished two, can you read them and see if they even make sense?" Lizzie asked desperately.
"Yes of course," Hermione said, and sat on the edge of Lizzie's four poster to read.
"You have nice handwriting," Hermione complimented.
"Thanks, I'm not used to quills yet. The nuns at school made us write verses in best penmanship for an hour every day, anything they deemed sloppy... well it didn't go over well," Lizzie explained.
"I always like maths, what was your favorite subject?" Hermione asked.
"My marks were best in history, but I enjoyed writing most. I got dinged for being creative, everything was supposed to be scripture inspired," Lizzie said.
"These are good, Lizzie, the writing is good, he can't ding you for that. The content is detailed. Which are you working on now?" She asked.
"Sleeping drafts," Lizzie yawned. "Properties, types, uses, common fatal errors..." she said.
"I'll get it done. I just need to stop overthinking it. He said he'd give me detention if he wasn't satisfied with them and that went to my head, which I'm sure was the point," Lizzie complained.
"He's mean... everyone's turning in for the night, but I'm sure the common room is pretty empty," she offered.
"Yeah, good call. Goodnight. Thank you again for the notes they made all the difference," Lizzie said. Hermione smiled.
Lizzie made her way down to the common room and sat down at the larger table across from Fred, George, and Angelina who were talking about Quidditch.
"We can't keep losing... the seeker tryouts were horrendous," Fred complained.
"Katie Bell is good for chaser though," Angelina said.
"Yeah, but you can chase for days without a good seeker," George said bitterly.
"Whatcha up to Lizzie-Liz," Fred said when she yawned into her fist over the parchment.
"I got assigned three rolls of parchment in Potions essays," she complained. "Last one... but can't concentrate anymore," she added.
"That's a lot, Ron said they didn't get anything substantial the first week," George said.
"They didn't. I did. Answered a few pop-quiz questions correctly and it ticked off the bat," Lizzie said bitterly.
"Ouch... got on his bad side already. He hates our house. Fred and I are best in our year, and he'll never admit it. Accuses us of cheating. Thank Christ for McGonagall," George said.
"She hates us and loves us," Fred clarified.
"She loves quidditch is what... but she has a soft spot for us no matter how many detentions she's given. She loves Percy, adored Charlie, made Bill head boy. We're imbeciles but still got a place in her heart," George said fondly. "Snape though, forget it, mean bat with hair that one," he added.
"Sleeping drafts, got essay ideas? I'm out of steam and this is sounding like rubbish so far," Lizzie said.
"Drought of Living Death, write a section on that, lot of filler material. If you use a couple grams more of the castor oil in it, it kills your brain. Not you... just your brain," Fred recommended. Lizzie perked up enough with that push to finish the essay but fell asleep in the common room and woke up to Neville and Ron shoving her awake the next morning.
"Crap," Lizzie startled and rushed to get ready. She skipped breakfast and made it to Potions with a minute to spare.
"Potter, you're late," Snape said coldly when she walked in.
"It hasn't chimed nine yet, has it?" She asked incredulously.
"Everyone is here, I've started class, you're late... sit, or do you enjoy the attention?" He asked scathingly. It took a considerable amount of willpower not to roll her eyes indignantly, so she closed them for a moment instead to not make matters worse.
Lizzie pulled out the essays to hand in. "I don't accept late assignments, Potter. You can make up the marks in detention, see me after class for details," he said unapologetically; even Ron gaped at this.
"She wasn't late, you just started class early," he said.
"I would be quiet, Mr. Weasley or you can compete with Miss Potter here on most house points lost in one sitting," he sneered.
It was all Lizzie could do to hold back a burst of rage. She also fought the urge to cry considering the effort put into these assignments that nobody else even had to do. But she didn't want to give Snape the satisfaction of appearing hurt or phased, so she rolled them up and took out her books for the lesson. Fortunately, it was a single period this time, but her jaw nonetheless hurt by the end due to how hard she clenched her teeth together through the snide remarks.
Lizzie hovered back and tried to compose herself best possible to avoid an outburst she'd regret and walked up to his desk.
"Potter, you have been in a school setting before, haven't you?" He asked condescendingly.
"Yes, I spent six years in catholic school," she said.
"So, I would imagine you understand the basics of respect for authority," he said.
"I do, sir, yes," she said.
"What about coming here makes you think you can flout that? Is it the fame? Has that gone to your head?" He asked with malice.
"I don't think I am flouting anything, sir. I apologize if it comes across that way... I'm rather overwhelmed by it honestly, not in a good way," she said.
"So, it's true you didn't know?" He scoffed. "You didn't wonder all these years?" He asked.
"About why I didn't have family? Sure, I did but wasn't allowed to ask..." she said. He considered her a moment and frowned.
"Sir, with all due respect, I put a lot of time into these... set myself back in catching up in other subjects. If you don't award credit that's fine, but I'd appreciate the feedback nonetheless..." she said and set the rolls down on his desk. He looked up at her like he was boring into her brain, and it made her uneasy.
"Leave them then. Detention will be Monday evening, my office, don't be late unless you want a week's worth added," he said.
"Sir... if you don't mind me asking, what do detentions entail exactly? I went to catholic school... detentions were about one grade shy of an inquisition style execution," she asked. He appeared ever so slightly amused but did his best not to show it.
"You'll be able to sit after if that's what you're referring to. I'll assign a task of sorts to complete without magic. Not that you know enough yet for that to even be useful," he said shortly.
Lizzie nodded but still felt slighted and apprehensive. How did I manage to land this? She thought. Apparently, the gravity toward getting into trouble for absolutely everything had transcended distance too. Well, I'm probably not dreaming after all then... she thought cynically and headed off to her remaining lessons.
"He has a lot of nerve. I'm sorry. I think every Gryffindor in our year hates him now for that," Ron said on the way to lunch. Neville nodded fervently.
"He didn't take more points, so I suppose that's a plus," Lizzie grumbled.
"Still... at least we have the flying lesson tomorrow. That should be a nice break from the books don't you think?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I reckon it will," Lizzie said.