Chapter 20
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
By mere luck the girls ended up arriving via the same fireplace, covered in soot. They were in a classroom, with shelves and shelves of books all around, which happened to be empty at the moment. Rory stood up shaking herself like a dog to remove the soot from her hair, while Tabitha looked around the room. Tabitha pointed her wand, "Santatioum" and instantly their uniforms were clean once more. Tabitha placed her wand back into its case and shoved it into her pack. "Well, where do you think we go now?"
As they were talking though, neither of them noticed that a cat was in the room, and had been staring at them with large reddish brown eyes. When it gave a mewl, Rory turned around. "Oooh, a cat," she cooed.
She went over to it, reaching a hand out to pet it. Before she could even touch it, a harsh voice called out, "Mrs. Norris?!" The voice belonged to Mr. Filch, the caretaker and chief "security guard" for Hogwarts. The cat mewled in reply to his call, and jumped from its perch upon a table, padding to the door silently. Filch burst in, panting and calling out, "Hah!" Tabitha jumped and Rory backed up a bit. "Well, well, well.you girls think yer too good to go to classes, eh?" he said in a sinister tone.
Tabitha shook her head wildly, and Rory stammered,. "We were on our way. sir, but we got lost."
Tabitha nudged Rory, whispering, "We gotta speak like we're from here."
"Ya mean British?" Rory whispered back.
"Alright knock it off, you two, get outta 'ere and git to class," Filch barked, ushering them out hastily. "An' don't let me ever catch yeh wanderin' around durin' classes, ya 'ere?" The two nodded quickly and hurried out. Filch and Mrs. Norris watched them the whole time as they hurriedly went down the hall, trying to figure out where they ought to go. "Git to class!" Filch bellowed, fed up with their hesitation. The two jumped and ripped open the nearest door, going inside.
The door they had chosen was actually the doorway to a stone staircase. They went down them, frowning at how eerie this place was with its candles that lined the walls on the way down. At the bottom of these steps was another door. Cautiously, Rory pulled it open.
The room beyond was a classroom, well actually it was a dungeon converted into a classroom. There were students, split off into pairs seeming to be waiting for something.
What they were waiting for answered for itself, as stomping footsteps started down from above. Tabitha hissed, "It's probably the teacher!"
The two slipped into the classroom, trying to blend in with the other students. They found a table with some space and waited for what was to happen next.
The door opened and the teacher stepped inside, slamming it behind him. He had lank, greasy black hair that hung down to his shoulders. His face was pale, with a crooked nose and thin lips curled in a mean scowl. His black robes billowed out as he strode to the front of the room, barking for them students to 'calm down lest they wanted detentions'. Rory gulped, thinking this guy sounded just like Professor Wardwell back at the SWI.
"Don't worry. Snape scares me too," came a whisper from the right. Both girls turned to see a boy a bit younger than they were. He was heavyset and had a nervous look to his face. He paused momentarily "Hey. do I know you?"
"Neville! You can chat after class!" the Professor snapped at them.
Rory whispered back, "Of course. uh.Neville! I'm hurt! You should remember me."
Neville scratched his head, trying to remember, "S-sorry I'm real bad at remembering things."
"Take out your cauldrons, and we'll get this blasted class started." Professor Snape snapped.
Rory nudged Tabitha "What's a cauldron?" Tabitha looked to the black iron pot that Neville and his partner had pulled out from under the table. Rory knelt down and looked for one, luckily there was an old dusty cauldron underneath. Rory sat it down, and Tabitha looked about curiously, wondering what sort of class this was.
"Alright, get the materials you'll need for a Caustic Potion." Snape continued, seemingly bored.
Rory thought a moment and looked under the table again, there were no ingredients underneath the desk, and this wasn't good. She nudged Neville, "Hey. could we borrow some. we're clean out."
Neville frowned, but eager to please he offered out a small amount of the ingredients.
Tabitha was staring at the cauldron, puzzled, "Rory we usually use test tubes, beakers and stuff like that. not this old fashioned junk."
Rory grinned, "We'll just improvise!"
Tabitha sighed and started to mix up the ingredients, they had already done this sort of potion last year, so it was no trouble at all. Soon they had a foul looking brew bubbling in the cauldron. They were finished way before the others were. Neville looked into their cauldron curiously, "So that's what it ought to look like." He turned back to his cauldron, which contained a potion that was bright red in color and hardly bubbling at all.
Tabitha stepped over, "Here, want me to help -"
She started but was interrupted by a barked order from behind, "Granger, for the last time, get your nose out of other people's business and let Neville fail on his own. Ten points from Griffindor."
Tabitha turned around, her mouth in a frown, she opened her mouth to argue, but Rory jerked her roughly, "He's gonna know we're not supposed to be here!" She whispered harshly.
But already the damage was done. Snape was towering over them, a nasty smirk on his face. "Well. it seems as if you two do not belong here." he snapped, "Turn around!" Tabitha and Rory turned around, obeying. Snape scrutinized them, "You are not in this class."
"We-we were just leaving. eh yeh!" Rory yelped and started backing up.
By now, the rest of the class had turned to stare, whispering amongst themselves, puzzled as to who the two were.
Snape grabbed the two roughly by the collars of their cloaks and started for the door. Before leaving, he growled at his students, "The Caustic potions had best be ready by the time I return!" He continued out the door, roughly 'escorting' the two up the stairs.
By mere luck the girls ended up arriving via the same fireplace, covered in soot. They were in a classroom, with shelves and shelves of books all around, which happened to be empty at the moment. Rory stood up shaking herself like a dog to remove the soot from her hair, while Tabitha looked around the room. Tabitha pointed her wand, "Santatioum" and instantly their uniforms were clean once more. Tabitha placed her wand back into its case and shoved it into her pack. "Well, where do you think we go now?"
As they were talking though, neither of them noticed that a cat was in the room, and had been staring at them with large reddish brown eyes. When it gave a mewl, Rory turned around. "Oooh, a cat," she cooed.
She went over to it, reaching a hand out to pet it. Before she could even touch it, a harsh voice called out, "Mrs. Norris?!" The voice belonged to Mr. Filch, the caretaker and chief "security guard" for Hogwarts. The cat mewled in reply to his call, and jumped from its perch upon a table, padding to the door silently. Filch burst in, panting and calling out, "Hah!" Tabitha jumped and Rory backed up a bit. "Well, well, well.you girls think yer too good to go to classes, eh?" he said in a sinister tone.
Tabitha shook her head wildly, and Rory stammered,. "We were on our way. sir, but we got lost."
Tabitha nudged Rory, whispering, "We gotta speak like we're from here."
"Ya mean British?" Rory whispered back.
"Alright knock it off, you two, get outta 'ere and git to class," Filch barked, ushering them out hastily. "An' don't let me ever catch yeh wanderin' around durin' classes, ya 'ere?" The two nodded quickly and hurried out. Filch and Mrs. Norris watched them the whole time as they hurriedly went down the hall, trying to figure out where they ought to go. "Git to class!" Filch bellowed, fed up with their hesitation. The two jumped and ripped open the nearest door, going inside.
The door they had chosen was actually the doorway to a stone staircase. They went down them, frowning at how eerie this place was with its candles that lined the walls on the way down. At the bottom of these steps was another door. Cautiously, Rory pulled it open.
The room beyond was a classroom, well actually it was a dungeon converted into a classroom. There were students, split off into pairs seeming to be waiting for something.
What they were waiting for answered for itself, as stomping footsteps started down from above. Tabitha hissed, "It's probably the teacher!"
The two slipped into the classroom, trying to blend in with the other students. They found a table with some space and waited for what was to happen next.
The door opened and the teacher stepped inside, slamming it behind him. He had lank, greasy black hair that hung down to his shoulders. His face was pale, with a crooked nose and thin lips curled in a mean scowl. His black robes billowed out as he strode to the front of the room, barking for them students to 'calm down lest they wanted detentions'. Rory gulped, thinking this guy sounded just like Professor Wardwell back at the SWI.
"Don't worry. Snape scares me too," came a whisper from the right. Both girls turned to see a boy a bit younger than they were. He was heavyset and had a nervous look to his face. He paused momentarily "Hey. do I know you?"
"Neville! You can chat after class!" the Professor snapped at them.
Rory whispered back, "Of course. uh.Neville! I'm hurt! You should remember me."
Neville scratched his head, trying to remember, "S-sorry I'm real bad at remembering things."
"Take out your cauldrons, and we'll get this blasted class started." Professor Snape snapped.
Rory nudged Tabitha "What's a cauldron?" Tabitha looked to the black iron pot that Neville and his partner had pulled out from under the table. Rory knelt down and looked for one, luckily there was an old dusty cauldron underneath. Rory sat it down, and Tabitha looked about curiously, wondering what sort of class this was.
"Alright, get the materials you'll need for a Caustic Potion." Snape continued, seemingly bored.
Rory thought a moment and looked under the table again, there were no ingredients underneath the desk, and this wasn't good. She nudged Neville, "Hey. could we borrow some. we're clean out."
Neville frowned, but eager to please he offered out a small amount of the ingredients.
Tabitha was staring at the cauldron, puzzled, "Rory we usually use test tubes, beakers and stuff like that. not this old fashioned junk."
Rory grinned, "We'll just improvise!"
Tabitha sighed and started to mix up the ingredients, they had already done this sort of potion last year, so it was no trouble at all. Soon they had a foul looking brew bubbling in the cauldron. They were finished way before the others were. Neville looked into their cauldron curiously, "So that's what it ought to look like." He turned back to his cauldron, which contained a potion that was bright red in color and hardly bubbling at all.
Tabitha stepped over, "Here, want me to help -"
She started but was interrupted by a barked order from behind, "Granger, for the last time, get your nose out of other people's business and let Neville fail on his own. Ten points from Griffindor."
Tabitha turned around, her mouth in a frown, she opened her mouth to argue, but Rory jerked her roughly, "He's gonna know we're not supposed to be here!" She whispered harshly.
But already the damage was done. Snape was towering over them, a nasty smirk on his face. "Well. it seems as if you two do not belong here." he snapped, "Turn around!" Tabitha and Rory turned around, obeying. Snape scrutinized them, "You are not in this class."
"We-we were just leaving. eh yeh!" Rory yelped and started backing up.
By now, the rest of the class had turned to stare, whispering amongst themselves, puzzled as to who the two were.
Snape grabbed the two roughly by the collars of their cloaks and started for the door. Before leaving, he growled at his students, "The Caustic potions had best be ready by the time I return!" He continued out the door, roughly 'escorting' the two up the stairs.