Disclaimer: I'm not J.K Rowling . . .





Isabel MacDougal was mad. Isabel was rarely mad, but when she was, oh, it was a sight to behold. She stomped down the halls as she headed down to the dungeon, causing several heads to turn toward the short brunette. Isabel, however, was ignorant to the stares of her peers. As a group of three second year Hufflepuffs passed by, of whom she recognized Kevin Whitby and Laura Madley, she glared as ferociously as she could at them; their house was nothing but trouble to her. Madley blushed and lowered her head, having obviously heard the most recent rumors surrounding her schoolmates. Whitby, however, appeared thoroughly confused and looked as if he was about to approach her until Laura grabbed his arm, yanked on it, and pulled him down the hall behind her and into the Muggle History classroom. Hufflepuffs, obviously not the smartest in the bunch, she thought miserably. So how did I let this happen to me? I'm a Ravenclaw, I'm supposed to be smart, at least smarter than a Hufflepuff!

She continued down the stairs and into the Potions room. Several of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws from her year were already there. She made a point not to look at any of the Hufflepuffs as she sat down into the seat next to one of her best friends and fellow fifth year Ravenclaw, Kevin Entwistle. "Hey," he replied, closing the book he had been reading, Quidditch Through the Ages, and looking up at her. "What's wrong?" he asked, a concerned light flashing in his hazel eyes.

"You haven't heard? The first year Slytherins probably know!" Isabel exclaimed sarcastically yet truthfully, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"I've been in the library all morning," he admitted, showing her the book. "So, what happened?"

"I'll tell you later," she mumbled from the corner of her mouth, looking toward the door.

Kevin followed her line of sight and raised his eyebrows as he spotted his target, Zacharius Smith. "Ah, relationship problems?" he inquired quietly.

"What relationship?" the brunette replied bitterly. Kevin bit his lip and frowned, wondering what on earth happened this time.

Terry Boot and Michael Corner, two of their friends and Ravenclaws, dropped themselves into the seats two rows in back of them. "Hey, MacDougal," Isabel winced as Michael's voice sounded in her ears, and the ears of everyone around her. She knew what was coming. "I heard what happened! That's bloody rotten what that prat did!"

Isabel sighed and spoke, not turning around, "Thanks, Mikey. As if I didn't already know that."

Isabel heard Terry hit Michael and hiss, "Good work, tell the whole class!" Isabel moved lower into her seat. It didn't really matter, most everyone knew, and if they didn't they'd know before lunch. But really, she thought, I'm the victim, he's the bloody asshole and there is no way for anyone to put blame on me.

She didn't really blame Mikey, he had always had trouble keeping his voice down into moderate levels, that included his opinions as well. His mouth got him into a lot of trouble, especially in Potions, but it was worth it just to see Snape's face; besides, Mikey was absolutely brilliant, effortlessly so. He was just as smart as that Gryffindor, Granger; it was just that he didn't try and rarely handed in homework. Still, most of the professors knew that he was brilliant. He was rarely favored by any professor aside from Sinistra, though. In Isabel's opinion, she believed he was not chosen for prefect over Terry because of the professors' dislike toward his lack of work ethics and his big mouth.

Now, Isabel wasn't saying that the other Ravenclaws weren't incredibly smart as well; of course they were. It was just that he was indescribably smart. He knew any question you could ask him. While Ravenclaws were known for their logic and excruciatingly large vocabularies, Corner did not often listen to logic, and got himself into quite a bit of trouble. He often dragged along Isabel or one of the other fifth years on some of his late night escapades when Terry had decided to use his head or had too much homework. Luckily, Corner rarely got caught, he was too smart for that, and when caught with his girlfriend of the week, he could often get Professor Sinistra (who simply adored him and his theories on the sky) to believe that he was in the Astronomy Tower to study the stars. Yeah, right.

A slam of the door shook Isabel from her reveries. She looked up to see Snape stalk in with the usual scowl on his face. "Seeing as there is a certain lack of talent on this year's fifth year students," he paused to sneer at the Ravenclaws, who, apart from Mikey, hated to be called "lacking" in anything, "the advanced potions class for the quicker students, or, well, it is in comparison to some others, will be canceled. So," he paused to heave a dramatic sigh which sounded a mere hiss, "we will all have to go at the pace of my choice, which means if you can't keep up you will be gone. Remember this year is your most important year so far, because you have your Ordinary Wizarding Exams. With the prospects of what I've seen so far, a good decent amount of you will be in danger of failing your Potions O.W.L., and, from what I see here, none of you will make the Potions class next year because I accept nothing less than an Outstanding."

Many of the Ravenclaws narrowed their eyes and ground their teeth in anger against such blatant of an insult to their intelligence. Isabel glanced behind her to see if perhaps Mikey had taken offense to that comment, but her eyes widened in surprise as she realized he must have missed the entire speech, upon seeing him asleep skillfully, with his eyes open. He had bragged about that when he had taught himself to do it halfway through their first year. It used to freak her out to see him stare so blankly ahead, while asleep, but now it just annoyed her that he had such a helpful talent of which she obviously was lacking.

Just then the door opened. Snape stopped his lecture momentarily, turning to look at whoever it was. Hannah Abbott's head peaked out from the door as she causiously made her way in, head down. "Late on the first day, Abbott? Fifteen points from Hufflepuff. Next time you are going to be late, don't bother showing up and distrupting my class," he spat angrily. Even though Hannah was a Hufflepuff, she couldn't help feeling her heart going out to the poor girl. Hannah sat down in the seat next to Justin Finch-Fletchy and blushed brightly.

Isabel say Mandy Brocklehurst bite her lip and frown from her seat on the other side of Kevin. She and Hannah had always been good friends and Mandy was an honestly good person who had to restrain herself constantly from defending everyone.

Snape continued on with his lecture as Isabel took to quietly whispering to Kevin about their advanced courses for the year. Isabel was just asking Kevin if he had Advanced Transfiguration Wednesday when she was interupted. "Miss MacDougal, what ingredients are needed for the Ageing Potion?" At the sound of her name, her head snapped up, but she had not heard the question. She looked to Kevin who shrugged appoligetically; he hadn't heard the question either.

"Um, Professor, can you repeat that?" she asked quietly, several people snickered.

Snape's lips turned into a sneer. "Weren't paying attention? Ten points from Ravenclaw. I don't care about your social life, so wait until after my class to have one. Now, what ingredients do you need for the Ageing Potion?"

"Oh, you need knotgrass, scarab beetles, and, um, tubeworms," she said, counting them off on her fingers; she had never done very well in Potions.

He sneered at her again and she paled. "Does anyone know what happens when you combine scarab beetles and tubeworms?" He continued without waiting for an answer. "A catastrophe, that's what. If you drank that, results could vary according to the amount put in from blue skin to three heads oozing pus. With the amount you talk during my class, you don't need another two heads. Another ten points from Ravenclaw. If I hear you talking again it will be detention. Now, does anyone know the correct ingredients?"

He moved on to Ravenclaw Su Li, who apparently knew the answer ("You need scarab beetles, knotgrass, and Abyssian shrivelfig.") Isabel, who was feeling her terrible day get increasingly worse in the amount of five long minutes, sank down into her chair as far as she could, wishing to disappear.



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