A/N: Hello all. I didn't apologize ahead of time, but I will apologize now. I have absolutely no idea how to make words italicized or bold, so some parts of the story might be messed up. Like when they want to emphasize something, you can't really tell because there're no italics. Oh well. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. If any of you reading this know how to make the words bold or italicized, please let me know in your review or please e- mail me. Oh well, on to chapter four. You must know by know, I don't own Harry Potter.











Chapter 4: The Trouble with Potions



"Our first class is" Ron groaned, "Potions." He, Harry, and the still unusual acting Hermione went over their class lists during breakfast the next morning. Hermione let out a groan while looking at her class list in utter disgust. She practically threw the list onto the table.

"Make that our first class is double Potions." Hermione said. Harry made a face as he looked over Hermione's shoulder and got clear view of the Slytherin table. This time Harry let out a groan.

"No, make that our first class is double Potions with Slytherin." Harry said. He watched as Ron cringed at the mention of Slytherin. He then shook his head.

"They could've set us up with Ravenclaw. They could've set us up with Hufflepuff. But nooooo, they set us up with Gryffindor's obvious rival, Slytherin." Ron said, cringing again. Hermione then got deathly pale as she looked up from her class list and at Harry and Ron. She really looked like she was going to pass out right then and there. She then looked back down, as if making sure of something. And then she looked back up, and she looked as if her worst nightmare had come true. Harry and Ron, at the time, didn't realize that it had.

"Guys...I think you should make that our first class double Potions, with the Slytherin, and double Potions, our last class on Friday, yet again, with Slytherin." Hermione said quietly. So much for not starting a commotion for right after she had said that, Neville spat out his porridge, splattering it all over Seamus.

"Dang it Neville!" Seamus exclaimed as he threw a piece of toast at Neville's head. Neville then turned to Hermione in panic, but then back to Seamus.

"I didn't mean to." Neville said quickly and then turned back to Hermione. "What did you just say?" Neville asked. Ron looked at Seamus in disgust, for there was porridge all over his robes, and, almost making Ron gag, on his face. Ron looked at Neville uncertainly.

"She'll tell you, just as long as you swallow all your food first or keep your mouth shut." Ron said, inching away from Neville slowly. Neville simply rolled his eyes at Ron and looked at Hermione.

"I know we have double Potions today, but did you say that our last class on Friday was double Potions also?" Neville asked. Hermione backed away a bit before nodding and turning away from Neville.

"Blimey! They'd never do that!" Seamus exclaimed, still wiping his robes.

"Read your class list, well, if Neville didn't spit up on that, too." Hermione said, scrunching her nose.

"But why do we have double Potions?" Neville asked.

"They want to torture us, that's why. They want us to go mad!" Ron said, finally looking down at his class list. He was now in hysterics. More hysterics than Neville, even.

Harry sighed and looked over at the Slytherin table. He saw Malfoy smirking as he skimmed through his class list. He must've liked what he saw; Malfoy loved Potions, mainly because he's Snape's favorite student. Plus, he loved watching Snape take points away from Gryffindor for no apparent reason, and add to Slytherin for Malfoy's, well, showing off. "Achievements" definitely wasn't the word to Harry. But then Harry stifled a laugh when he watched Pansy Parkinson practically throw herself on Malfoy. Malfoy looked like he was going to keel over, probably from embarrassment, or just plain disgust of having Pansy Parkinson practically joined at his hip. Harry grinned and then looked back at his table.

"I demand to see Dumbledore!" Harry saw that Ron was still going mad.

******

Harry, Ron, and Hermione practically dragged each other to the dungeons after breakfast. As if seeing Snape's ugly face once a week wasn't horrible, think about how horrible it would be after seeing him twice a week. The three got down to the dungeons a bit early, to their dislike, and saw, not so surprisingly, that the Slytherins were already crowding around the door. Unluckily, Malfoy spotted them.

"Potty, Weasley, and Granger. I definitely believe we Slytherins will win the House Cup this year, due to the fact that Snape will not only take points from you on Mondays, but on Fridays, too!" Malfoy exclaimed as the Slytherins behind him sniggered.

"Drakey-Wakey, sit next to me in class! Don't sit with Crabbe and Goyle, sit with me!" Pansy Parkinson had popped up again and was all over Malfoy, as usual. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were in fits of giggles. Malfoy glared at them as Pansy attached herself to him.

"What are you laughing at?" Malfoy asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, it's nothing, Drakey-Wakey." Hermione said, no longer able to hold a straight face. Malfoy was fuming. Pansy rolled her eyes and raised the eyebrows on her pug-face.

"You're just jealous, Hermione." Pansy said, glaring at Hermione, and then nuzzling her face against Malfoy's cheek. He tried to get away, but moving just made her grip tighter. Hermione then let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Jealous? What should I be jealous of? I'm not jealous of you and that slime-ball. I have better things to be jealous of." Hermione said. Hermione regretted saying that when Malfoy raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Like what, Granger, someone stealing your seat in the library? Or someone, let's say a Muggle, stealing your boyfriend." Malfoy drawled, and nodding over to Ron. Ron looked a bit lost, and Hermione blushed like she's never blushed before. Harry saw this was a touchy subject, and took it to liberty for him to talk.

"Go lock yourself in a dungeon with Pansy." Harry spat. Malfoy looked sick by the thought while Pansy thought nothing wrong of it as they headed into Snape's dungeon.

******

"Now add the sloth's heart to the rest of the potion. The potion should then turn red and start smoking immediately." Snape said as he peered over Harry's shoulder, watching for Harry to make some sort of mistake with his potion. Harry added the sloth's heart to the potion, as told, and it quickly turned red and started smoking. Snape looked like he was trying to keep his composure as he watched the outcome do exactly as he had explained. But then he smiled evilly as Neville's glass-breaking scream killed the silence. Then like the snap of a finger, Snape was at Neville's desk, looking closely at his potion. "Five points from Gryffindor for disturbing the class!" Snape said quickly. Harry heard Malfoy burst into laughter at this.

Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Professor Snape!" Hermione called out, waving her hand around in the air. "Professor Snape, the outcome of Neville's potion has somewhat become my concern because I saw that his sloth heart was still beating." Hermione explained as-a-matter-of-factly. "And I believe you should take points from Slytherin for Malfoy's uproar that obviously disturbed the class, too." Hermione said. Malfoy glared at her.

"Miss Granger, five points from Gryffindor for not informing Mr. Longbottom or myself of the sloth heart. Another five points will be taken, for not minding your own business. You should've been tending to your own potion and not watching to see if Mr. Longbottom's sloth heart was still alive. I will take five points from Gryffindor once again, for your telling me what to do. And lastly, five more points to be taken, on your expense again, for being a Smart Alec." Snape sneered. Hermione was floored.

"That's twenty points!" Malfoy exclaimed as the Slytherins laughed aloud.

Harry watched as Neville looked like he was going to pass out at the sight of the sloth's heart beating before his very eyes. Well, then again, he looked more like he was going to be sick. Neville had his arms around his stomach as Harry witnessed a revolting sight. Neville's stomach lurched and Neville vomited into his potion. Whatever it was he threw up didn't seem to agree with the potion, and it caused the potion to turn a shade of green, and then to sky blue, and then midnight blue, to black before exploding in his face and all over the dungeon.

Hermione was now open-mouthed in disgust.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for vandalism to a classroom!" Snape called, pointing a long, pale finger at Neville. Neville's stomach gave a lurch again. Neville was then heaving again, but this time all over Snape. "T-T-Ten points from Gryffindor for...for..." the bell that signaled the end of class sounded and the whole of Gryffindor gave a sigh of relief. "Ten points from Gryffindor for...oh, never mind." Snape seemed defeated as he got a handkerchief out of his robes and tried to wipe the muck from his black robes.

Neville, whom seemed to look a lot better, almost skipped out of the classroom to Gryffindor's next lesson.

******

"What've you got after lunch?" Hermione asked as she bit into her sandwich.

"Ron and I have Divination, and then History of Magic. You?" Harry asked before bringing his goblet to his lips and taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. Hermione, on the other hand, let out a groan when Harry mentioned Divination.

"Ugh, I still can't believe you people are taking Divination with the nutter Trelawney!" Hermione huffed as she banged her fists on the table, causing Neville's goblet to tip over and spill all over his lap. Hermione was broken out of her psychotic phase and back to normal when she realized what she had done. She smiled sheepishly and helped Neville clean his robes with a simple (well, simple for Hermione) Cleaning Charm. She then turned back to Harry and Ron, whom were still getting over her attitude change. "Well, anyways, I have Arithmancy with Professor Vector. And then History of Magic with you two." Hermione explained.

"Look, Divination is all right. Why don't you give it another try, Hermione?" Ron asked. Luckily, Ron and Harry didn't notice Hermione blush when Ron said her name.

"If it didn't work out during our third year, I bet it won't work out this year." Hermione said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Why don't you two try out Arithmancy?" Hermione asked, brushing her hair off to the side.

"Because it's boring. And, no Weasley has ever taken Arithmancy. Well, Percy has, but why should I? And see here: Divination and Arithmancy are both two boring classes. But at least with Divination you could make up things as you go along." Ron said, causing Hermione to gasp.

"I can't believe how you two could just go and make up your futures." Hermione sighed.

"Well, it's better than Arithmancy... What is Arithmancy anyways?" Ron asked. But before Hermione could give a very detailed answer, the bell that signaled the end of lunch sounded and Hermione got up.

"Time for class, you two. C'mon." Hermione said, walking quickly. Harry and Ron shrugged their shoulders at each other and then followed after her. The three of them then walked out of the Great Hall, and Hermione turned to them sharply.

"If you two ever change your mind about Arithmancy, you should join." Hermione said, and then turned on her heels and headed off to her class. Ron flailed his arms in the air.

"If you ever change your mind about Divination, you should join!" Ron called out. Ron sighed, knowing Hermione hadn't heard him. He and Harry then started off to the North Tower in silence when Ron stopped in his tracks.

"What's up, Ron?" Harry asked. Ron looked up at him.

"What is Arithmancy?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head and continued on.

******

"Oh Harry, I see-" Professor Trelawney started dramatically. Ron huffed and rudely interrupted her midway into her sentence.

"What? Another Grim? Look Professor, the last time you saw a Grim, you were way off-" this time Professor Trelawney interrupted him.

"I see a werewolf." Professor Trelawney said, and then looked up and glared at Ron. Ron blushed.

"A werewolf? What is it doing?" Harry asked. "Werewolf?" Harry thought.

"It's coming to Hogwarts. Oh, this isn't good. I believe I must inform Professor Dumbledore of this. " Professor Trelawney said. Her usual dreamy sort of state was soon washed away with panic as she practically jumped out of her chair. She then headed to the trapdoor without even realizing that her class was still there, looking at her like she was mad. She sighed, "Class will be dismissed early today. So...class dismissed." Professor Trelawney said and then she disappeared through the trapdoor in a rush.

"Must've been some werewolf." Parvati Patil whispered loudly to Lavender Brown while looking at Harry suspiciously. The same suspicious look appeared on Lavender's face.

"She said it's coming to Hogwarts." Lavender said.

"And it was predicted in Harry's near future." Parvati said. Parvati and Lavender were closing in on Harry when Neville let out an unsteady breath.

"A werewolf coming to Hogwarts! Why?" Neville asked.

"I happen to think werewolves are cool." Seamus said.

"Does it eat humans?" Dean asked as he and the rest of the class filed out down the trapdoor.

"A werewolf, Harry. What's that all about?" Ron asked as they headed up to the common room. Harry shrugged as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open.

"I may not know for sure, but I do have a hunch that it might be Lupin. Remember he is a werewolf." Harry pointed out. Ron nodded.

"But why would he be coming to Hogwarts?" Ron asked, "What if it's about Snuffles?" Ron asked.

"Snuffles? Why? What could possibly happen to Snuffles?" Harry asked.

"I dunno. Maybe you should be asking Trelawney. She's the one that saw the werewolf." Ron said.

"But it freaked her out. Maybe she's unsure of its sign." Harry said.

"Then maybe the werewolf thing isn't true." Ron said.

"Look, she can actually make predictions. I'm just scared of what she's predicting. Maybe Lupin is coming back to Hogwarts because he's hurt." Harry suggested.

"Maybe werewolves are wiping out." Ron said, shrugging his shoulders at his guess.

Werewolves wiping out, Ron couldn't have been so far off.

******

"Werewolves wiping out?" Hermione asked over her plate. She was sitting across from Harry and Ron at dinner, and they had just given her the news about Professor Trelawney seeing werewolves when she looked into her orb while predicting Harry's future. "She's a nut I tell you! A nut! The population of werewolves wiping out is impossible. I mean they've got potions and everything now. It's just impossible." Hermione said, "And how did she know that they're wiping out?"

"Well, she didn't exactly say that. She just said that she saw a werewolf in Harry's future." Ron explained. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Lupin is a werewolf, and what other reason is there for him to come to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Maybe he's just visiting." Hermione said, brushing a hair out of her face before taking a bite out of her chicken. "But then again, he's already coming to Hogwarts. Remember Dumbledore asked that Lupin and a bunch of other people be contacted. That could be it."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to admit that Professor Trelawney finally predicted something right." Ron said. Hermione suddenly felt bad. She didn't want Ron thinking of her in that sort of way.

"Look, maybe she did see some werewolf, but they're not wiping out. It's something else." Hermione assured. George and Fred Weasley then came to the table and squished in the seats near Harry.

"No need to worry about werewolves, Harry. I heard that they're trying to bewitch the school from werewolves now." Fred said, patting Harry's back. "But if those spells don't work, George and I would like to tell you.it was nice knowing you." Harry huffed loudly.

"Don't worry Harry, I promise that Fred and I will come to your funeral. We'll even write the epitaph for your tombstone. 'Harry Potter: Once Known as the Boy Who Lived. Now Known as the Boy Who Died." George said wistfully. Hermione pounded her fists against the table and stood up.

"There's no werewolf coming to Hogwarts! There's no werewolf coming to Hogwarts to kill Harry! So will everyone PLEASE get off it!?" Hermione was about to go on even more when Professor Trelawney flung the doors to the Great Hall open and ran inside.

"What's the problem, Professor?" Professor McGonagall asked from the staff table.

"Please! Please inform Professor Dumbledore that.that there's no werewolf coming to Hogwarts. Werewolves are coming to Hogwarts!" Professor Trelawney exclaimed. The dead silence in the Great Hall was broken as everyone began to scream.

A/N: Oh Merlin, werewolves are coming to Hogwarts. So, if there are really werewolves coming to Hogwarts (meaning Trelawney predicated correctly), what's their purpose at Hogwarts? Do they want to kill Harry? Would you consider the end of this chapter a cliffhanger? If so, too bad for you because there are many more cliffhangers to come. ::evil grin:: Please review, it means a lot to me. -Gryffindor Heiress