"You stayed up too late," Severus deadpans from my side. I pout as I look down at my food. I poke at my eggs before I look over at him.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Your hair looks like a literal bird's nest."
"It always looks like a bird's nest," I say before taking a bite of my eggs. "It only looked okay yesterday because Doris used a charm on it."
"Doris?" He raises an eyebrow as he puts some tomatoes on his plate.
"The maid at the Leaky," I tell him. "Although if it's between you and me, I think she and Tom are a thing and hiding it." Severus looks at me, his eyes set, and it's clear that he's annoyed with me.
"Snape, Turner," a voice says. I look up to see one of the professors from the head table standing behind us. He has straw blonde hair and pale green eyes that look down at us with excitement. "Welcome to Slytherin house, my name is Professor Slughorn and I will be your Head of House. Come to me if you need anything," he says as he hands us a piece of paper each. "These are your timetables, ask other students for help if you get lost. Don't worry about bringing a cauldron to class, save it, your scales, and your phials for homework."
"Thank you, sir," Severus says.
"Thanks, Professor," I say as I turn to look at it. I wait for the professor to walk away before I turn back to Severus. "What kind of school makes you take history for two hours first thing in the morning?" Severus snorts as he looks down at his own paper.
"At least we have Potions after lunch," he says.
"That's not going to be good, either." I sigh as I put the paper down and focus back on my breakfast.
"Why not? It's interesting."
"I'm terrible at science," I tell him before I take a bite of sausage.
"Magizoology is a science," he says.
"That's different."
"No it's not," he rolls his eyes. "In a way, Potions is more like cooking than the science we learn in muggle school anyways." The new information makes me feel slightly less worried. I was good at cooking, I had to learn when I was with that family. Since living with Laila though, cooking was for fun. So maybe Potions could be fun, too.
"You went to muggle school?" I ask him. He nods slightly.
"My mother hid the fact she was a witch, my father's a muggle."
"How do you know so much about potions now? Were you able to read a lot before we got here?"
"I read through our textbooks in a few weeks," he shrugs. "My mother saw how interested I was in learning so she got me some more potions and defense texts."
"I started reading the defense book last night!" I tell him, dropping my fork. "I was up until four because I couldn't stop reading it! What spells did you like from it?"
"You shouldn't have stayed up so late reading," Severus says. "And I think the disarming charm will be the most useful."
"Well, Lucinda and Meera wanted to play a game with Bertie Botts and that lasted till ten," I say as I pick my fork back up. "And after that I started reading because I couldn't sleep, textbooks have always made me fall asleep! But it was just so interesting I had to finish it!"
"Wait," Severus says as he looks up from his food. "You read the entire thing last night?"
"Oops?"
"Did you actually learn anything? Or did you just speed through it?"
"I learned a lot!" I say, crossing my arms. Severus raises an eyebrow before he reaches out and straightens my new green and silver tie. I feel my cheeks burn as he turns back to his breakfast.
"What does Fumos do?" He asks after a minute.
"It creates a defensive cloud that obstructs visibility."
"Lumos?"
"It produces light from your wand."
"What is a mixture of powdered silver and Dittany used for?"
"It helps to stop the bleeding from a werewolf bite, although it doesn't stop the person from being turned it just keeps them alive."
"Lovely breakfast conversations, you two. Really." Meera says from her spot down the table from us. Severus and I sat on the end closest to the head table while the other first years sat further away and closer to the other students. Severus doesn't respond and he seems to find the small bits of food left on his plate to be the most interesting thing in the world.
"We're here to learn, Meera," I say as I look over at her.
"You sound like a Ravenclaw," her nose scrunches as she goes back to her conversation with some of the first year boys.
"Why is that a bad thing?" I huff. I see Severus smirk as he pushes his plate away from him.
"Want to go back to the dorm to get our things?" Severus asks. "Lucius said that he'd be walking us all to our first class from the dorm after breakfast."
"Sure," I say as I stand up from my seat. "Who's Lucius?"
"He's one of the prefects," Severus says as he stands as well.
We take our time as we walk through the halls of the castle. I run my hand along the cold stone walls when I can. Severus has to pull at my sleeve multiple times to keep me walking through the halls. If he hadn't I'd be talking with or just watching portraits for the rest of the day.
Soon though, we're back at the portrait once again. The man tilts his head at us as we approach and begins speaking as soon as we're in front of him.
"It's not often that half-bloods are sorted into Slytherin," he says. "I expect you both to do your best." I force myself to not roll my eyes as Severus responds to him. Soon he says the password and the portrait swings open to reveal the common room again.
"Meet back down here in five minutes," Severus says as he walks towards the boy's staircase. I stick my tongue out at his back. "That's immature, Hayden." I stare at his retreating back before I walk towards my own dorm.
Once in my room I grab my new satchel from my trunk. I pull out my timetable from my robes and start adding all the textbooks I'll need for the day. A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot for my two hours of history. A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch for Transfiguration before lunch. Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger for Potions after lunch and then The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble for Defense. I finally grab One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore for Herbology as my last textbook for the day.
I also slip in a couple quills, inkwells, and plenty of parchment. I have no clue how much I'll actually need for classes yet. I also slip in the journal from Laila as well. Just in case I run out of parchment. Lastly, I drop my copy of A Handful of a Creature (another book on Nifflers, maybe I would have time to read between classes) and my timetable into my bag, too. I put my telescope on the top shelf of my trunk to make sure it's ready for class tonight, as well as my copy of The Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk for Charms class tomorrow.
I stand up and slip my bag on my shoulder as Lucinda and Meera burst into the room, both of them running towards their trunks. They start packing their bags in a flurry as I quietly slip out of the room. They were nice last night, but after Meera's comment at breakfast I feel a little weary of them now. I take my time walking up all the stairs, especially after how winded I got this morning on the way to breakfast.
Severus sits on one of the sofas by the fireplace, his nose is buried in A History of Magic even as I sit beside him. He turns a page and looks at me briefly before going back to his book.
"You didn't want to wait on your roommates?" He asks after a couple of minutes.
"I think I was already late," I tell him.
"What do you mean?" He finally looks up from his book again.
"You said five minutes, but I don't have a watch so I didn't know how long I was gone."
"Why don't you have a watch?" He asks.
"We didn't need them in muggle school, there were clocks in all the classrooms," I say as I feel my cheeks burn.
"How did you get up this morning?"
"Meera used an alarm spell that her mom uses, she taught it to us so I can use it from now on, too."
"Maybe you can ask the charms professor about the Tempus charm," he says. He turns to see my confused face and shakes his head. "It tells the caster the current time."
"Oh," I say as I lean back on the sofa. "No wonder there's no clocks."
"It can't be the fact that it's an old castle." I look at Severus before letting out a loud snort. And then a small laugh. And soon I'm giggling loudly while holding my stomach. It's not that the joke was so funny, but Severus hadn't made any jokes like that so far. And he said it with such a serious face, too.
"Is this all the first years?" A boy says near the entryway to the common room. I turn to see a tall boy with long blonde hair and gray eyes. I look around the room to see Meera and Lucinda coming up the stairs just in time. Severus stands up and I follow him, grabbing my bag and walking towards the boy.
"My name is Lucius Malfoy, one of the prefects in Slytherin. Your first class is History of Magic taught by Professor Binns. Do not lose us points for falling asleep in class." He stares us down as he finishes his sentence. "The classroom is on the first floor of the castle. After class, wait for Narcissa Black to take you to transfiguration." I'm tempted to make a comment under my breath, but stop myself when I see the boy's cold eyes sweep over me.
"Follow me," he says as he turns on his heel and walks towards the portrait. I wave back at the same shy person or mermaid, I'd need to look that up soon, as we walk through the tunnel once again. He leads us out of the dungeons and through the halls to a large wooden door. He pushes it open before stepping aside, counting each of us as we walk into the room. It reminds me of the time my class went on a trip to the zoo in kindergarten.
I follow Severus to the front desk on the left side of the room and settle in next to him. I take out my textbook, a quill and inkwell, and a couple pieces of parchment. Severus does the same beside me as I notice more students start to file into the room. A girl with blue hair sits across the aisle from me. The blue matches that of her tie. Were we allowed to have dyed hair at Hogwarts?
"Are you able to write with a quill?" Severus asks.
"Yeah," I say. "Tom made me practice every day, it took a couple days of only doing practice during the day for it to be legible."
"During the day," he says, looking over at me. "I assume that means you stayed up all night reading?"
"Not all night," I correct. He rolls his eyes before looking off to the side of the room suddenly. I turn to look at whatever it is myself and feel my mouth drop open.
A ghost floats over to the desk in the front of the room.
"Good morning and welcome to Hogwarts," the ghost says. "My name is Professor Binns and I will be teaching you about the history of magic." I'd seen ghosts at the welcoming feast, but the Bloody Baron barely made an appearance at dinner the night before.
A history class taught by a ghost.
What have I gotten into?
"My brain hurts," I say as we sit down for lunch in the same places we sat for breakfast.
"I didn't know something could be so boring but so fascinating at the same time," Severus says. "I just can't believe one of our professors is a ghost."
"I know, right! And one of our professors can turn into a cat! A cat!"
"I think one of the Hufflepuffs almost had a heart attack when she did that," Severus says.
"I almost did, too! And don't act like you weren't shocked, either!" Severus snickers as he grabs some food and puts it on his plate. I reach out and grab some salad and chicken before I mix it together on my plate.
"That's what you're having?" Severus asks.
"Well, yeah," I say as I look down at my plate. Suddenly there's a large piece of chicken and some pasta on my plate, too.
"You didn't eat enough last night, either," is his only explanation before he begins eating his food. His eyes are trained on his Potions textbook as he eats. Tom had said the same thing multiple times this week. Just as Laila had before him. But it's what I was used to eating. If I didn't I'd-
"Stop thinking and start eating," Severus says as he flips a page in his book.
"You're a mother hen," I tell him as I pick up my fork. He doesn't even respond and I let out a small sigh as I take a bite of pasta. He shifts his book to sit in front of both of us. I look at the page to see it's on the first chapter of our textbook. I start reading the page as I eat, nodding when I'm ready for him to turn the page.
We sit like that for the rest of lunch until my fork hits the plate instead of food. I look down and realize all of my food is gone, that I ate it all. And I don't feel overly full like I normally do when I eat.
"Thanks," I whisper to him after I put my fork down. He just turns the page again. We keep reading until another older Slytherin calls for all the first years.
"It's actually pretty interesting," I say to Severus as we start to walk back towards the dungeons. "I didn't know there were so many types of cauldrons, it's like the store only had what was required for Hogwarts stocked!"
"Most likely," he says. "I would like to go during another time of year to see what they have."
"Maybe they have catalogs for them too?"
"Catalogs?" Severus asks as we reach the dungeons.
"Yeah! They've got them for all sorts of stuff, there were a few mentioned in one of my Niffler books and another book had copies of a few of them. They focused on treats or shiny things for the nifflers, and well, some clothes for nifflers too which were really cute."
"Only you," Severus shakes his head as we walk into our next classroom. We sit at a table together in the front and pull out our supplies like we had in History of Magic and Transfiguration.
"I don't know if I'd trust the self-stirring cauldrons, though," I say after we've settled in our seats. "I mean, I'm sure they have a use if you're mass brewing potions, but if one thing is off it could make something explode, right?"
"At minimum," Severus says. "And what if the brewer walked away and forgot about it? That could ruin the potion even if it seems stable."
"Wonderful thoughts, Mr. Snape and Ms. Turner!" Professor Slughorn says as he walks by our desk. "Five points to Slytherin for each of you." I smile widely at Severus who ducks his head slightly.
"Good job," Meera says from behind us. I smile back at her before turning back towards the front. I see a boy across the aisle from me furrow his brow, his face makes it's clear he's unhappy. He turns his head back towards the front of the room, his black curls cover the side of his face so I can't see it anymore.
What was that about?
"Severus, Hayden," Lily says as she sits down behind the boy with black hair.
"Lily," Severus nods. I wave over at her.
"How was your first night?" She asks as she starts taking out her supplies.
"It was good, how was yours?" Severus asks.
"It was great! The common room is amazing and so are the dorms! Although the staircases do scare me a little."
"She almost fell off of one on the way to breakfast," Severus says, nodding to me.
"Severus!" I whisper yell. Lily fails at hiding her giggles behind her hand. I roll my eyes and lean back in my chair as they continue to talk. A few minutes pass by with students talking with each other until Professor Slughorn stops shuffling his papers and stands in front of his desk.
"First things first. I would like to welcome all of you to Hogwarts!" He claps and the rest of the class joins in. "My name is Professor Slughorn and I will be teaching you all about potions and potioneering."
"Now," he says after a pause. "We will go around the room to get to know each other. Your name, birthday, and hmm, the last book you completed. Let's start with you, Mr. Snape." Slughorn smiles as Severus looks like he wants the earth to swallow him whole. I don't blame him, I'm already dreading my turn.
"My name is Severus Snape, January ninth, and Potion Opuscule by Arsenius Jigger."
"Ah, a good choice! Next!"
"My name is Hayden Turner, September twentieth, and A Handful of a Creature." I say quickly, wanting to get it over with. Professor Slughorn tilts his head slightly.
"I haven't heard of that one before, what is it about?" He asks. Because of course he does. I hear Severus snort beside me and I tap his hand lightly.
"It's about nifflers," I say as I turn my attention back to Slughorn and try to avoid the stares of the rest of the class. "Specifically their life stages and development, and then ways in which you should train a niffler at different life stages."
"Wonderful!" He says, smiling widely. "Your father was quite the fan of nifflers himself, he ended up staying late for extra lessons for his certification." I sit up taller in my seat, a wide smile blooming across my face.
"Now, let's hear from a Gryffindor," he points towards the boy with the black hair.
"My name is Sirius Black," he says as he puffs out his chest. "My birthday is November third and I haven't read a book in ages."
"Well, I hope that changes soon, Mr. Black," Professor Slughorn laughs. "Next!"
"I'm James Potter, born March twenty-seventh and I just finished reading Quidditch Through the Ages."
"Ah, looking to join the Quidditch team next year?" Professor Slughorn asks.
"Of course!" James says, a proud smirk on his face. "I'll be the best chaser in the history of Hogwarts!"
"What's a chaser?" I ask Severus quietly. He shrugs. I huff and turn back to look at the next person talking.
"My name is Remus Lupin," he says quietly. "March tenth, and I recently finished Dark Arts Defense - Basics for Beginners."
"Another good choice my boy!" Professor Slughorn says. "Next!"
"I'm Lily Evans, born January thirtieth, and I recently finished A History of Magic."
"Good!" The rest of the class goes on like this and by the end I'm struggling to stay awake. That is, until Professor Slughorn claps his hands.
"Very well, very well! Let's get started, shall we?" He waves his wand and suddenly a chalkboard appears beside him. "We will learn about many things this year, but most importantly we will be setting a foundation for all of your future studies." I dip my quill in the inkwell as he walks over to the chalkboard.
"First, we will learn about safety both in the Potions classroom and outside of it." I struggle to keep up with how fast he's talking and writing. "Then we will learn about different tools and materials used to make potions, and then we will get started on making potions!"
"Everyone ready?" He asks as he turns around. I nod as he begins to walk around. "The number one rule in this class is to have a clear mind while brewing." I write that down carefully and put a star beside it. I see Professor Slughorn's lips quirk up as he passes me to walk towards the tables behind me.
"The next rule is to always double check your supplies. We've been having issues with the standardization of cauldrons which can end up in leakages. You could also grab what you think is the right plant, but be completely wrong." He taps the desk by a sleeping Gryffindor's head at the last word.
"Two points from Gryffindor for sleeping in class." He walks to the next desk before continuing. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes!"
"Rule number three is to never touch, consume, or smell any potion that you do not know for sure the contents of. That means to steer clear of any potion that is not labeled clearly. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor." I say along with a few other students.
"Good." He says. "Rule number four is to never rush your preparations. If you rush while chopping, you could chop a finger off. If you crush the wrong plant you could end up with a nasty infection. Always follow the preparation guidelines as carefully as you can."
"Rule number five, if for some reason a potion splashes on you or gets in your eyes or mouth, raise your hand immediately so I may help flush out the potion or retrieve an antidote." Professor Slughorn walks to the front of the room again and leans against his desk.
"Any questions about the safety rules?" No one raises their hands. "Very well! You may stay in here or you may leave early for your next class. I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!" Everyone begins to pack their things away and soon the Gryffindors practically run out of the room. Lily comes over before she starts talking to Severus quietly.
I decide to give them some time alone, so I grab my bag and walk towards the front of the room. Professor Slughorn sits at his desk, writing on a long piece of parchment, but he stops to look up at me when I walk up to his desk.
"Ah, Ms. Turner, how may I help you?"
"I was actually wondering if I could come for extra lessons like my dad did?" I ask as I play with the strap of my bag. "I don't know everything about certification yet, Hagrid said he'd ask Professor Kettleburn to get me the guidebook soon. But I want to get a head start!"
"You've just started your first term and you're already set on certification?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. I nod, standing tall. "You need the basics first before we can move onto the potions you need for your certification. We can talk about this again after Christmas, yes?"
"Yes, Professor." I say as I try to keep a straight face. I understand the logic behind his answer, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. "Thank you," I say as I turn to walk back towards the door to the class.
"You have time, Ms. Turner," Professor Slughorn says gently. "I'm sure you will do great things."
"Thank you, sir," I say. I hate how my voice cracks. I feel a set of eyes on me and turn to see Sirius Black looking at me again. I turn away from him quickly, him watching me isn't helping the burning in my eyes go away. I take a deep breath to steady myself and walk to stand with the other Slytherins minus Severus at the back of the room. A few minutes later, Severus stands beside me. He keeps looking up at me from his book every few minutes, but I try to focus on the Defense textbook in front of me.
Soon we follow another older Slytherin through the halls to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. The class breezes by quickly and I'm thankful I read the textbook last night. By the end of the class I don't feel as sad about Professor Slughorn's decision.
"Come along, first years," Lucius says. "Last class until dinner is Herbology." We're taken outside of the castle to a greenhouse. As soon as we enter the greenhouse, I'm in complete awe. Plants are everywhere. The only clear tables are the two that run through the center of the greenhouse. I sit beside Severus and across from a couple of boys in our house before I pull out all my supplies.
I look around the building at all the plants, those that move on their own and the ones that sit still. The earthy smell reminds me of my time outside over the summer in Laila's garden behind the house. Sometimes the repetitive motion of taking care of the plants was the only thing keeping me from a panic attack. I hope this class is the same.
"Alright class!" A woman with curly hair under her pointed hat says at the head of one of the tables. "My name is Professor Sprout and I will be your Herbology professor!" I easily relax as she continues to talk about the class, writing notes occasionally. It's the perfect end to the school day.
Minus the fact we have a class at eleven tonight.