Chapter 3: Lessons
Lessons began promptly the next day, as the five
found out when they were given their timetables at breakfast. Having eaten everything
they could and, in the case of James and Sirius, stolen a few breakfasts while
people weren't looking, they set off for History of Magic. Try as they might,
(and they did, they wanted to learn a lot of magic very quickly), they could
not stay awake. Their teacher, a ghost, had obviously never heard of
interactive learning, as he droned on and on. Peter was the first to go, his
head hitting the desk with a thud the teacher didn't register, as he was still
talking about the Ban on Flying Carpets. Remus and James came to a mutual
agreement, leant on each other and slept away, whilst Sirius and Lily's eyelids
closed within seconds of each other's. They would have had a nice nap, too if
Remus' snores hadn't been so loud that Binns could no longer hear his own
voice. This earned them their first detention.
Second lesson was charms, which passed with out
event, except for Lily managing the Charm before the Professor had even told
the to begin. Flitwick, the tiny teacher they had seen the night before, was
delighted, and gave her 20 house points.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was not a good lesson.
The professor seemed to take an especial dislike to them as they walked through
the door (admittedly they were late).
"10 points from
Gryffindor." He snapped.
"But Professor Malfoy!"
five voices exclaimed. "Peeves attacked us!" Peeves, the school poltergeist,
was a terror.
"Good," the Professor
smirked.
They learned nothing in that lesson, as they spent
the entire time glaring at Professor Malfoy. This seemed to unnerve him, and he
got more and more erratic as the lesson went on, finally telling them that
Phoenix's were a type of pixie, so they doubted that what he was telling them
was true anyway.
Next came lunch, then transfiguration, which they had
with Professor McGonagall. She got annoyed when they greeted her as Minnie, and
seemed on the point of taking house points from them when they sniggered
through her "Transfiguration is the most dangerous of the magical arts" speech.
However, her attitude changed completely when James and Sirius' matchsticks
became pretty silver and gold patterned needles. She gave them 15 house points
each, but luckily missed Lily aiming the needles at the girls from her
dormitory with the flying charm she had already picked up.
Last lesson of the day was potions. All five were
excited at the thought of brewing a potion to get revenge on Professor Malfoy.
They reached the dark dungeon in high spirits, but quietened down on their
entrance. The dungeon was dark, cold, damp and slimy looking and contained
several ugly potions ingredients. Expecting an evil, foul looking teacher to go
with this, they were surprised to be confronted with the beaming face of
Professor Headly, a witch with long blonde hair, brown eyes and a graceful
figure. The jaws of all four boys dropped and Lily punched Remus, who was
unfortunate enough to be nearest to her. As the rest of the class filed in
behind them, a tall greasy haired boy stopped in front of Sirius and they
realised they must be having these lessons with the Slytherins.
"Cousin Sirius," the boy said silkily, inclining his
head.
"Severus," Sirius replied
curtly, turning his back on the boy, who reached out and spun Sirius back.
"Sirius, everyone makes
mistakes when they start school; when they're young." The boy smiled, looking
as if it was painful. "You might be hanging around with this trash now, but
that can change." Sirius looked furious. "You can be my friend, it's for the
best in the end." Sirius turned around again, but the boy carried on. "I know
the family said it was our side that made the wrong choice, that we are in the
wrong, but…"
He was cut off as Sirius' fist connected with his
face. "Don't ever talk to me about being like you!" Sirius hissed at Severus,
who was now on the floor. "The thought makes me sick." James whistled.
Severus hissed back, not
in the least worried. "If you're going to consort with Mudbloods and
Mudblood-lovers, then you'll get what's coming to you!" At those words both
James and Remus had started forward, but any action they might have taken was
cut short by Professor Headly.
"Fighting," she said quietly. "On your first day!
Well, it's obvious who's to blame here. 30 points from Gryffindor, and
detentions for you five." The started to complain at the unfairness of this,
but stopped when she threatened to make it thirty points and an extra detention
each.
They sat through her introduction to potions glaring
at her, but it didn't seem to work. "I, as you already know, am Professor Headley,
and I'm head of Slytherin house." She flashed a smile at her students. "This
does not mean I will be favouring you over the others." At this, Lily developed
a hacking cough that drowned out her next words. "… And I hope you will
continue to show the good work your house is capable of. As for the Gryffindor's,"
she added softly, menacingly, "I hope that you will prove to be better than the
rest of your house, who are the worst potion brewers I have ever seen."
"Because you teach them!" James
whispered.
"Pardon, Mr Potter?"
"I didn't say anything!" James
exclaimed, looking hurt. The professor looked sceptical, but let it pass. She
then gave them a potion to mix, and they quickly paired up, leaving Peter to
work with the fifth Gryffindor boy, Frank Longbottom.
Five minutes later, Sirius and Lily looked very
pleased with themselves. They had finished their potion. Professor Headley came
over and looked in. "Good," she said gruffly, before crossing over to Severus
Snape's cauldron. "Excellent Mr Snape, just brilliant! I don't think I've ever
had first years finish this quickly before! 20 points to Slytherin!"
"We finished first!" said Lily
angrily.
"The claws are out!" Sirius
joked, and slapped him playfully.
"Mr Black, Miss Evans,
keep your hormones under control!" Headley snapped, while the Slytherin's
snickered.
"Why doesn't she just take
a long walk off a very short pier!" Lily huffed. "Everyone would be so much
happier!"
*****************************
At dinner that night they discussed their house
points. "We're still 10 points up!" James exclaimed for the fifth time. "Even
after Headley took 30 points off us!" Lily looked confused; she was not good at
maths.
"But we're two detentions
down." Remus said gloomily.
"Yes, well, lets not think
about it," Lily said. "What have we got tomorrow?"
"Defence, Herbology,
History, Charms, then," Sirius' face lit up, "Flying!"
"With the Hufflepuffs," James
added. "The teacher'll spend the whole lesson trying catch them!"
"Can you guys fly?" Sirius
asked. "I had to, to get away from Esme."
"Ditto," said James.
The others shook their
heads. "This should be fun!" said Sirius, wearing his evil grin. Peter buried
his head in his hands.