Harry Potter and the Chalice of the Enchanter
Chapter Five
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've added a new feature! Whenever there's a break in the story and you see this *** ***, that means I've switch to another character's perspective.
Rachel woke up early the next morning to organize herself. She quickly changed into her robes, combed her hair, and started preparing for Potions. She read her copy of Potions: What They Do and How to Make Them twice over, taking in every detail. She wanted to be prepared in case Snape wanted to test her. She would not be humiliated in front of the Slytherins. Rachel Witt would not give anyone a reason to mock her.
An hour later, Hermione and the rest of the dorm room work up. They all washed up and headed down to breakfast with the Gryffindor boys. Breakfast was served in the Great Hall. This was the time of day when Dumbledore made announcements. It was also when the owls delivered letters. There were about a hundred owls already in the Great Hall when the students started coming in. By the time the whole students body had sat down, there were at least three hundred.
Dumbledore stood up in his seat. All eyes were focused on him. "Good morning. I expect that you all slept well." Dumbledore's eyes swept around the room and finally focused on Harry, Ron and Hermione. "There is one announcement that I forgot to mention yesterday. Once again, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds." He kept his gaze on Harry and gave a small wink. Was Dumbledore daring Harry to check out the corridor?
***
The dungeon where Potions was held was very intimidating. Professor Snape had obviously done some re-decorating because there were now some implements of torture in various spots of the room. Snape walked into the room and instantly everyone became silent. He smiled a crooked grin that looked like it hadn't been used in quite a while.
"So, this is my class? I'm glad to see you're all at your desks. Ah," he said looking at Rachel, "it's our very own Miss America. It's nice that you decided to join us." There was a sneer in Professor Snape's voice. Rachel didn't like it. "Since you've not been with us these last four years, and since you've been at an American school, I'm going to have to test your knowledge. I teach a very advanced class." Snape forced another crooked smile.
It was only five minutes into Potions and Rachel already hated her teacher. She would show him, though. From what she had gathered, she knew potions that were at a sixth-year's level. This little test of Snape's would go great for her.
"All right, Professor, I'm ready."
"Fine. What is a Provectus Potion and how is it made."
Rachel was cheering inside. This was in the first chapter of her book! Snape thought he was so smart. She'd show him.
"The Provectus Potion is an aging potion. Depending on how much is ingested; the drinker can age up to one hundred years older. The potion takes twenty-four hours to wear off unless the antidote is used. The antidote is the Parvulus Potion. They are both made from the root of the pristinus plant. The roots are boiled and then annunus powder is added to the mixture. For the antidote, add liber powder instead." Rachel smiled at the astonished look on Snape's face. He recovered quickly.
"Yes, I don't believe you'll have too much trouble. At least someone besides Granger will answer questions for once." Rachel felt her cheeks flush at this comment. It wasn't fair of him to compare her to her friend. Especially since she had just met Hermione. This might drive a wedge in their friendship.
The rest of Potions was boring. Snape lectured them on safety in the lab. He also told about the different ingredients they would be using in the potion they were making tomorrow. For the last five minutes of class, Snape allowed the students to pick lab partners for tomorrow. Rachel chose Hermione. Harry and Ron would be working together.
"Did you see the way Dumbledore looked at us when he talked about the closed corridor?" Harry asked Hermione excitedly. "He's got to remember that the third floor corridor is the same one that hid the Sorcerer's Stone! I bet that there's something hidden in there and he's challenging us to find it!"
"Hold your horses, Harry. Remember what happened in that chamber? That's right, you and Ron almost died. I'm not taking that chance again, just so you guys can have an adventure. Besides," she continued with a sly smile, "shouldn't we at least know what we're looking for? I say we start researching A.S.A.P. I'll pass by the teacher's lounge every once in a while to catch snippets of the conversations. You guys can ask the ghosts if they know anything. Not Peeves, just Nick and Myrtle. They've been a help in the past. Rachel, you can eavesdrop with me."
"Hold on, guys." Now it was Ron's turn to speak. "We don't even know if anything's going on! I say we wait until something strange happens before we start tearing the castle apart for clues."
Rachel cleared her throat. "I agree with Ron. We should take things slow, that was we can be sure of what we're doing."
Hermione laughed. "'Slow?,' 'Know what we're doing?' Rachel, I don't think Harry knows what those words mean! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to find out today!" Hermione stalked out of Potions muttering to herself.
"It's not you." said Harry. "She's just jealous that you knew something that she didn't. It's just a phase. So, what do we have next?" Harry looked at the parchment the Gryffindor schedule was written on. "Transfiguration. Let's go."
"Nice!" Rachel cheered. Transfiguration wasn't just her favorite class, it was her best.
***
Professor McGonagall stood in front of the class of eager students. The Gryffindors had Transfiguration alone, so there wasn't another house to deal with. "So, I expect your brains are thoroughly cleared out from your vacation?" McGonagall's lips were curled up in an amused smile. She seemed prepared to re-teach an entire year in the single week she put aside for review. Sighing, she pulled out a stack papers. "We will have a review quiz, now. You will transfigure these slips of paper," she indicated to a box where about two hundred slips of paper had been dropped, "into the objects on your paper. When you are finished, bring your objects up here for a grade. There is an extra credit object at the bottom. Good luck." She waved her wand and the test, as well as eleven slips of paper appeared on each students' desk.
The entire class, aside from Hermione and Rachel, groaned in dismay. How could she ask them to do this? Did she know how many steps were involved in transfiguring a piece of paper into a three-inch tortoise shell cat in the colors of autumn? McGonagall had definitely lost it this time.
Rachel just smiled. Transfiguration would be her easiest class this year; she could feel it. She touched her wand to the paper and muttered a spell under her breath. "Inflecto." Her last Transfiguration teacher had told her that this spell would allow her to see the warp and weft of each object's makeup. As predicted, a tapestry appeared before her eyes, each object's cloth was different. This one was plain white, with a loose weave. She knew from experience that all she had to do was rearrange the threads to get the entity that was desired.
She crinkled her nose at the bland, white weave that was the paper. Like the conductor of an orchestra, Rachel raised her wand. She looped it inside one of the warp threads and started tugging. The first item she had to make was a needle, two inches in length. The slip of paper was already that length; that made her task easier. She gave one final tug on the thread and the paper suddenly became a two-inch slip of metal. Then Rachel started waving her wand in and out of the threads, tugging, twisting, bending, and knotting them until there was a two-inch needle on her desk. She smiled, satisfied.
There were ten more slip left, including the bonus. The next item she had to make was a bouquet of daisies. There had to be 13 flowers. That was almost too easy for her. She picked up her wand and once again, she conducted an orchestra of threads to create a beautiful bouquet of perfect daisies.
*** ***
Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk. The class was quieter than she had anticipated. Each student was sitting at their desk, wand pointed at the slips of paper, concentrating hard on the transformation. Of course, Neville was having a bit of trouble, but overall, the class was doing pretty good. Professor McGonagall smiled to herself, 'Minerva, you've done a pretty good job.' She looked up again and scanned the class. Everything was in order, except one thing; what was Rachel Witt doing?
Rachel was waving her wand wildly through the air, swishing figure eights, loops and tying knots with the air, occasionally muttering a spell as she picked up each new slip of paper. 'Coming from the Phoenix School of Elementary Magic, she should know how to transfigure! Morwenna told me this girl was one of the best students she has! Is Rachel playing some sort of joke?' She watched Rachel continue to transform slip after slip of paper, until class was over. Minerva had decided that she would pull Rachel aside and simply ask her to explain her methods. After all, her transformations did come out perfect.
*** ***
Rachel had just finished her last slip of paper when class ended. The other students whined about not having enough time and how unfair it had been to have a test on the first day. "Rachel," Professor McGonagall called, "please come to my desk."
She obeyed, asking herself 'What could I have done? All I did was what she asked!'
"Am I in trouble?" the professor looked a little startled.
"Why would you be in trouble, you didn't cheat and your transformations where perfect." Rachel blushed at this comment. "I just wanted to know about your methods. They're a bit, peculiar." The professor chose the last word carefully.
"Oh." Rachel flushed, she had been afraid that Professor McGonagall was mad at her. Rachel certainly didn't want to be in trouble on the first day of school. "Professor Mage once told me that, considering the way I do magic, this would be the most practical way." The explanation was weak, she knew that, but Rachel hoped Professor McGonagall would take it and let her go to Herbology.
She was wrong. "What do you mean by 'the way you do magic?'
Rachel sighed. "I see the way magic works, when a spell has been cast, it lingers in the air and settles. After a while, it will disappear, depending on the potency of the spell. While the spell is still lingering, I can see it, tell who cast it, and what type of spell it is. I can also tell what kind of magic it came from." She paused, thinking of what to say next. "For example, when Harry transfigured a slip of paper into a chessboard, he used magic. For about a minute, the spell hung in the air around him. When I looked at the spell, I could tell that Harry had cast it using his wand and that it had changed a piece of paper into a wooden chessboard,"
Professor McGonagall looked astounded. "That's very unusual, but it still doesn't explain why you were waving your wand around."
"I am adept at Transfiguration. Professor Mage always told me that I'm one in a million; there were not many other people like me. To put it simply, each object has a certain composition. Most people don't see that, but I do. I see this as a cloth. There are warp threads and weft threads. By pulling on these threads, or knotting and twisting them, I change the composition of the object." That explanation was simple enough, Professor McGonagall should have no trouble understanding that.
This time, Professor McGonagall looked completely dumbfounded. "Do you mind skipping Herbology? I think Dumbledore will want to hear about this."
