AN: Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you saw the last of me. I have returned for the moment and might stick around for a while. Rereading the series and extended time off from work has brought my attention back to this. I hope anyone who reads enjoys.

The Potions Master

Hogwarts had One Hundred Forty-Two staircases. One Hundred Forty-Two confusing staircases at that. They moved in different directions on different days. Some cases had missing steps. Certain doors had particular tasks you had to perform to open them. Ghosts would glide through them, which was always a shock. Sometimes they weren't even real doors.

If not for David Boot, Selena and Terry would not have made it to any of their classes. They had made the mistake of asking Peeves for directions. Selena got an inkling that they shouldn't trust him based on his expression alone, but Terry didn't want to listen. Luckily David called out to them from across the way, "Oi Terry, come 'ere."

He scolded Terry and led them to their class. On the way, he explained that Peeves was a mischief-making Poltergeist who they could never trust. Another danger to their punctuality was the Caretaker Filch and his loyal cat Mrs. Norris. She tirelessly followed students that Filch thought might cause trouble and reported back to him when his suspicions were confirmed. Harry had already gotten into trouble with him.

In Astronomy class they studied the stars and planets. The teacher was a tall, dark, pointy-faced witch named Professor Sinistra. Once a week at Midnight she led them up the tallest building in the castle to look through the telescopes at the dark, twinkling sky.

Herbology class was all about magical plants. Professor Sprout was a short, stout witch and the head of Hufflepuff. Her cheery disposition helped to ease all of the students' nerves. It certainly helped Selena.

History of Magic was both intensely boring and deeply interesting. The source material intrigued Selena but Professor Binns, the ghost teacher, lectured so dully she could not focus.

Professor Flitwick, who taught charms, was the Ravenclaw head of house. He was quite short and stood in front of the class atop a stack of books. Selena found him much more palatable than the other professors because he reminded her of most of her former school teachers. The familiarity was comforting.

Transfiguration class prickled Selena's nerves. Professor McGonagall described the subject as complex and dangerous. The first exercise in class proved it was very difficult and Professor McGonagall was very talented.

Professor Quirrel gave off very strange vibes and his classroom was no different. The room was dank and smelled strongly of garlic. He told the class a ludicrous tale of how he got his silky purple turban as a gift for fending off a zombie. When Terry's hand immediately shot up to question him, he pretended he didn't see and carried on about a different, more mundane subject.

Professor Snape was by far Selena's least favorite teacher. He had a dark, ominous energy and his dislike of her was apparent. During the roll call, he paused and frowned- deeper than he already had been- before calling her name. She quietly answered the call and wondered what she had done.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. . . I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

"Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" The professor snapped.

Selena sat in stunned silence. All of the blood in her body rushed to her cheeks and her eyes began to prickle with tears. She couldn't speak. Terry kicked her under the table. "I-I don't know. I'm sorry sir."

He tisked, "Where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?"

Bezoar? Oh, she recognized that word. "Um, uh- a stomach- I think?" the words came stumbling from her mouth in a garbled mess. She couldn't speak properly with everyone's attention trained on her.

"I see you managed to flip through a book over the summer unlike your brother," Snape remarked scornfully. Selena bit down hard on her lip to keep from snapping back- something she often did with the Dursleys.

"Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons." Snape sneered at the class expectantly, "Well, why aren't you all taking this down?"

Students all around reached for their parchment and quills. He continued on lecturing but Selena was too busy trying to calm down.

Later in class, Snape set them into pairs to concoct a simple boil causing potion. She and Terry got to work with aid from the book. Selena let Terry do all of the brewing while she read off directions. Everything was going fine until Snape came up to watch and offer criticism to them. "Take the cauldron off the boiler and add the porcupine quills in," She instructed softly.

"Are you sure you're meant to take it off the fire first?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's what it says."

Terry removed it from the flames and quickly threw the quills in. Suddenly the potion started to bubble up. "I think something's wrong," he remarked leaning his face in closer to the boiling substance. One of the bubbles grew larger and larger until it could no longer contain itself. Pop. The slimy liquid splashed up onto Terry's cheek.

"Foolish boy," Snape snarled. "Don't stick your face in it!"

As soon as he walked away, Terry wiped it away with his sleeve to reveal boils and welts. "I've got boils on my face, haven't I?" he asked, defeated.

Selena nodded her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Lovely."

By the next morning, Terry's cheek had cleared up almost entirely thanks to David. Selena sat next to him boredly stirring her porridge as the owls soared overhead. Every morning owls flew around delivering letters to students. Selena never expected to get a delivery because the Dursleys would never send anything to her or Harry, so she was very surprised when Hedwig swooped down and dropped a parcel in front of her.

It was a barely legible note that read:

Dear Selena,

I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?

I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

"Who's it from?" Terry hollered over her shoulder.

"I'll be right back," she said getting up from her seat and not answering his question. She made her way across the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table. She promptly stopped when she came up to a head of messy black hair. She tapped on his shoulder.

"Oh, hi Selena," He said turning around on the bench.

"Are you going to visit Hagrid later today?"

"Yeah, Are you?"

"Yeah."

Around three o'clock she met up with Harry and Ron in the Courtyard. They made their way across the grounds to a small, wooden hut. Once at the door Harry knocked with a good bit of force. From the light sounds, it produced Selena could tell the wood was thick.

Even through the thickness of the door, they could hear a booming bark. "Back, Fang- back!" Hagrid commanded inside.

He struggled to let them in the door whilst holding back a huge, black Great Dane. His head was enormous and he was particularly wrinkly. As soon as Hagrid let go he jumped up and gave Ron a good lick.

"Make yer self at home," Hagrid said tending to a tea kettle. Selena settled herself on a chair next to Harry and motioned for Fang to come over to her. She cupped his giant head in her hands and scratched behind his ears.

"This is Ron," Harry informed Hagrid, who was now placing rock cakes onto a large plate.

"Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest. " Hagrid replied, glancing at Ron.

He placed the platter of cakes on the table for them to eat. In accordance with their names, they were hard as rocks. She had to shake her head back and forth to rip off a bite. It tasted vaguely of raisins and cranberries.

Fang had moved over to Harry now, to beg for cakes. Selena missed his presence but felt better when she saw a glob of drool fall onto Harry's robe.

They began to tell their stories of the first classes to Hagrid. They both complained of Snape and Filch.

Hagrid was not shy about his distaste for the caretaker, "An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her - Filch puts her up to it. "

Just as Hagrid was asking Ron about his brother Charlie, Harry nudged Selena's side. He found a newspaper.

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

Selena looked over at Harry waiting for him to finish reading the paragraph. He glanced at her before quickly interjecting "Hagrid! that Gringotts break-in happened on our birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

Hagrid dropped his shoulders and quietly mumbled. Clearly he was not allowed to tell them certain secrets. Selena was more than willing to drop it. But Harry was another story. He was not going to let go of this mystery anytime soon.

They left Hagrid's hut with an abundance of rock cakes that they couldn't refuse. She could see Harry's brain churning behind his bright green eyes. "Where should we start then?" Selena said suddenly.

"What?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"With the Gringotts mystery- Aren't you curious?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "I guess we'll just have to listen for a clue."