Chapter 14: Rinaldi
After that day, Christmas holidays flew by. Hermione left the next day. Percy moved his things out of the house. He and Penelope had bought a small cottage nearby, so he would no longer be living with his family.
Christmas day went along uneventfully. They had a huge dinner and exchanged gifts. This is just the way a family's Christmas should be, Harry thought, as he headed up to bed.
It wasn't long before the students were back at Hogwarts. It was the first Potions lesson of the new term, and Snape didn't look like he'd had a merry Christmas. He was as sour as ever.
"No, Longbottom, the salvaio weed!" he snapped, "not the…. What's that?" The students looked up. There was someone knocking on the door.
Everyone at Hogwarts knew enough not to interrupt Snape's lessons. Harry looked up from the jar of dragon's breath he was trying to unscrew to see how Snape would handle it.
"He looks pretty mad," Ron whispered in Harry's ear.
With a look of fury, Snape strode to the door and opened it. "Yes?" he snarled. "Oh, yes, Dumbledore told me you would be coming. We're working on Zapping Potions."
A boy, no older than Harry, came into the room. He looked around the room. There was a dead silence.
"Wow, look at his eyes!" Lauren gasped. "The only person I've seen with eyes that green is Harry."
Harry stared at the boy's eyes. She was right. His eyes were just as emerald green as his, if not brighter. They were also somewhat familiar.
"Why not introduce yourself to the class?" said Snape, sarcastically.
"The name's Rinaldi. I'm a new fifth year. Oh, yeah, I'm a Slytherin. And I come from London."
"Sit down!" Snape barked.
"Alright, alright! You told me to!" Rinaldi snapped. The class gasped. No one ever spoke back to Snape unless they wanted a detention. Snape's face turned bright red, but he said nothing.
The new kid sat down in front of Malfoy and the other Slytherins. Snape finished his criticism to Neville, and the class started working on their potions again.
"Why didn't he give that kid a detention for talking back?" asked Ron angrily. "If I'd have interrupted class and spoken back, I'd have a week's worth."
"Maybe he's trying to be nice to the new kid. Or maybe it's because he's a Slytherin," replied Harry.
It wasn't long before Rinaldi had made new friends. He was already joking with Malfoy and his crew.
"Rinaldi!" Snape snapped. The class fell silent.
"Yeah?" he answered rudely.
"You're a new student. I would expect you to be the least likely student to talk during this lesson. Pay attention!"
Rinaldi rolled his eyes, but he stopped talking.
However, a few minutes later he had started again.
"Mr. Rinaldi!" Snape roared. "Perhaps you would like to demonstrate how to finish the Zapping Potion!"
Rinaldi looked around the room. Everyone was staring at him. He shrugged. "Alright," he said casually.
Snape stared at him. "Whoa! He wasn't expecting that," Ron whispered to Harry.
The class watched, spellbound, as Rinaldi produced a bright yellow potion which zapped Snape's hand when he tried to pick it up.
"Very nice," Snape growled. He scowled and knocked the potion onto the floor, where it shattered and spilled. "Clean it up," he barked, but Rinaldi just stood there. "I said, clean it up!"
"Why?" asked Rinaldi coolly. "You spilled it."
Snape turned a bright shade of purple. "You have no right to treat me like that! Get out of my classroom! Get out! Get out, now!"
No one said a word. Rinaldi casually walked to his seat and picked up his books, then walked out of the room slowly. On his way, he flashed a look at Harry. Harry's eyes met his.
And his scar began to burn.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked at lunch the next day.
"There's something about that new kid I don't like."
"Same here. Last night I saw her in front of the mirror and she looked different. Here eyes were greener and she had short black hair."
"Her? I'm talking about Rinaldi. There's something I don't like about him."
"He's a Slytherin."
"No, something else. Did you see the way he looked at me? It hurt." Harry rubbed his scar.
"His Dad's probably a Death Eater or something. Brighten up. What's anyone gonna do to you here? Not with Dumbledore watching."
"Still, I don't like him." Harry shuddered. "Plus, that's the second mysterious new student we've gotten this year."
"Even I've learned by now, there's nothing wrong with Lauren. Okay, so maybe she does look a little different in the mirror. She just transferred from an American school."
"We never got any new students before this year, though. Don't you think it's kinda strange?"
Ron shrugged. "You're being paranoid, Harry."
"Maybe I am, but the only time when my scar hurts like that is when I'm dreaming about Lord Voldemort."
"Do you have to say the name?" Ron muttered.
"Sorry," Harry said. He was silent for a few minutes. "Oh, you're probably right, Ron. I'm just being careful. Dumbledore and Sirius told me to be on guard. And besides, it was great the way he stood up to Snape. I've never seen him that angry at a Slytherin."
"What are we talking about?" Lauren asked, sitting down next to Harry with her lunch. Hermione sat on the other side of her.
"We were talking about that new kid," Ron answered coldly.
"That kid in Slytherin? What's his name…Rinaldi?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, him," said Harry. "I don't like him at all. Did you see that look he gave me?"
"No," said Hermione. "But I don't like him either. Look!" She pointed towards the Slytherin table, where he was sitting with Malfoy and his friends. "He's already hooked up with the wrong people."
"So?" asked Lauren. "He's a Slytherin, who do you expect he'd hang out with? He seems okay to me."
"What are you defending him for?" asked Ron. "All Slytherins are rotten!"
"Not all of them…what about Scott? He's a good kid," Hermione pointed out.
"He's just in the wrong house. Besides, I think he's cute," Lauren added.
"Scott? He's four years younger than you!" Harry exclaimed.
"Not Scott!" Lauren snapped. "Rinaldi! He has nice eyes."
"What?" Ron gasped. "He has the same color eyes as Harry! You don't go around saying Harry's cute all the time!"
"Well I never said he wasn't," Lauren said quietly. Ron's mouth dropped open. "Just kidding! No offense, Harry, but you're not my type!" Lauren laughed. Ron and Harry sighed.
"Can we talk about something else now?" asked Harry.
They stopped talking about it, but it bugged him all day. Why did that boy remind him of someone? He was sure he had never met anyone named Rinaldi, but he was equally sure he had met this boy before. And the way his scar burned…that was definitely familiar.
Harry wasn't worried as much as he was frustrated. He would never be harmed as long as Dumbledore was at the school. He was sure he could remember him eventually, but for now he tried to put it out of his mind.
This wasn't as easy to do as Harry thought. He was reminded the next day of his unlucky schedule. Care of Magical Creatures was also with the Slytherins.
"This is bad," Ron said, as they walked down to the classroom together. The day's lesson was being held inside. "That new Slytherin is even worse than Malfoy's crew."
"I think he's part of Malfoy's crew," Harry answered.
"I think he took over Malfoy's crew," Lauren said. "Look!" They followed her gaze to where there was a group of Slytherins gathered around Rinaldi. Pansy Parkington, who was usually attached to Malfoy's arm, was now walking closely next to Rinaldi, hanging on his every word. Malfoy looked slightly jealous.
"You know, I kinda feel sorry for Malfoy," Hermione said.
"Not!" they all shouted.
Malfoy, who had apparently heard the comment, strode over to them, glaring at them. He stopped when he came near them. He looked to his left, then to his right, and the evil look vanished.
"Not so strong without your goons, are you?" taunted Ron.
"Oh, shut up!" Malfoy muttered. He looked menacingly at Rinaldi. "They all think he's so much better than I am. What has he got that I haven't?"
"Could be the eyes," said Lauren.
Malfoy looked defeated. Ron pretended to throw up, but as he was about to make a comment, Hagrid called the class's attention.
"Alright. Let's get down ter business. I know you've forgotten what I taught ya before the winter break, so we need ter get goin'," Hagrid said. The class reluctantly came over. Malfoy went back to stand with his Slytherin friends. He couldn't be seen with the Gryffindors, especially Harry.
"The first animal we're gonna do is the Flidget. Now, due ter some circumstances…." He eyed Malfoy, who looked proud at being mentioned. The other Slytherins didn't look so thrilled. "We can't have one come ter the class until everyone has learned about it and how to handle it safely. So we have ter take notes on it first."
As Hagrid dictated everything anyone would want to know about Flidgets, the class unenthusiastically jotted down notes. Harry looked around the room. Lauren was looking extremely happy, because she was sitting next to Rinaldi. Malfoy kept rolling his eyes at whatever he or Hagrid said. Even Hermione looked bored, though she had two whole sheets of parchment full of writing.
Harry looked down at his own notes. He didn't see what was so dangerous about Flidgets, although he hadn't been paying attention for the last ten minutes. Neither, it seemed, had anyone else.
Suddenly, Rinaldi raised his hand. Hagrid looked startled. "Um…yes?"
"What's so remotely dangerous about a Flidget anyway? Why can't we have them in class?"
"Well, I was getting' ter that," Hagrid stammered. "They bite, and they sometimes shoot spells. They're very smart creatures, ya know."
"I know," said Rinaldi, "In fact, I know all about Flidgets. I could conjure one up right now, in this very room."
Hagrid looks stunned for a few seconds, then regained his posture. "I don't think Headmaster Dumbledore wants ya students conjurin' up creatures in the classroom. Ya'd better not."
"I don't care about that old hag Dumbledore," Rinaldi spat. The class gasped.
Hagrid's eyes grew wide. "What'd you just say?" he roared. "No one insults Albus Dumbledore in front of me!" He started to stalk towards Rinaldi. Suddenly, he stopped, as if frozen.
Harry looked around. The rest of the class seemed to be frozen, too. He looked down at his hands and clenched his fist. He wasn't frozen.
"Oh no, no, no. Better not do that. Rewind and Forget," Rinaldi said waving his hand impatiently. Hagrid began to walk quickly backwards. It reminded Harry of watching one of Dudley's videos in rewind.
"Stop!" Rinaldi shouted. The world was frozen again.
Rinaldi sat back down calmly and suddenly the world started moving again. They were at the part before Rinaldi had asked the question about why they weren't allowed to have Flidgets in the classroom.
Rinaldi looked over at Harry, and he could have sworn he saw him wink. But his scar hurt, so he looked away. He put his head down and listened to Hagrid's endless droning about Flidgets.
There was a small click as Lauren's quill dropped from her desk and floated under Rinaldi's chair. Rinaldi looked down at it, then at Lauren. She quickly looked away so Rinaldi wouldn't know she had been staring at him. Harry had the suspicion she had dropped the quill on purpose.
Rinaldi reached under his desk and picked up the quill. He examined it for a few seconds, then handed it back to Lauren, smiling.
After class, Harry told the others about the frozen scene. "You must have dozed off," Hermione assured him. "Rinaldi never said a word the whole time."
"Yeah, that must have been what happened," Harry answered.
